Hey, you want to talk about some thing interesting. Roleplay. In the context of playing pretend, like say a Roleplaying Game. Like say... FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS. So, here's some of my Vegas charactors.
My first proper playthrough was with Texas Red. A somewhat world worn lady who got a job as a courier to transport some, "platium chip" junk to the Mojave Vegas Strip. So, she took the job, likely hoping on getting a gig as a gunslinger or guard when she does get there. New starts and all. Of course, the usual happened, Benny shot her and plot.
I kinda messed up my states from the start, so Red had a fantastic state of charisma but horrible perception and strength. So the game more or less defaulted to running away or trying to chat my way out of situations. I feel like that worked out quite well. It felt like getting shot in the head did actually weaken her. Lore wise, I'm thinking she was some sort of gunslinger with a silvery tongue, before getting shot in the head. Twice.
The playthrough was really insane, I backstabbed everyone and everything, including myself. Like you know when you could get the securetron army underneath the Legion camp? Well, Red blew it up. Why? Well, Red is a bit paranoid. Very paranoid, and what if Yes Man tries to backstab her? Which, fair, Benny was a part of her story, but she really shot herself in the foot.
Also, you guys know that one Omerta's quest? Where you supposed to help this guy get his girlfriend out of the Gamorra. Well, unfortunately, uh... Red kinda heard that Joana was uh... offering one on the house, and since Red had Black widow and Cherchez La Femme, was like "oh hey, free stuff". Uh, pretty awkward to than tell her afterwards that her boyfriend is still trying to save her. In Red's defense, she is legally blind. Like to the point Boone was my only compainion so that I could steal his spotter perk to actually see enemies before they were in my gril.
Anyways, the game ended pretty badly. Red didn't help get rid of the Fiends or the Powder Gangers. The sercuritron didn't help keep Freeside safe. The Kings were actively attacking NCR on site but at least the Legion and NCR left the place alone.
Third playthrough, we have Cass. A ex-NCR trooper who retired and turned to being a courier for the caps. Cass went a bit better as a run. She was a gunslinger, less of a silvery tongue but I had around 80 speech at least by end game. This run was another Wild Card, but I was trying to be nicer.
The major changes is mostly that I was playing more morally upstanding. I dealed with the Great Khans of Boulder City and managed to make sure that the Boomers got their plane. Cleared out most of the Fiends. Left the Powder Gangers. Stopped the war between the NCR and The Kings. Also, got Rex's brain patched, so the poor pooch wasn't hurting anymore. Helped Cassidy, sorry I mean Sharon Rose of Cassidy, get her revenge against the Silve Rush. Stopped the Omertas plot to nuke the Strip. I did let the White Glove continue eating people. And Helped Veronica with the Brotherhood plot. Worked out pretty great.
Oh, I also did the Honest Hearts DLC. I had Fight the Power and Sneering Imperilist so I was really mean to the White Legs in dialog, which was mildly funny with Cass being otherwise a nice person to the other two tribes. I think she was just mad at the White Legs for killing of the Sorrows and the Dead Horses. Plus being ex-NCR, she may have slipped into old habits and all.
Oh, and how I killed Benny was also pretty funny. I had Lily in my party, and Rex, by the time I got to The Tops Casino. I got a little distracted, don't judge. And Cass used the tried and tested Black Widow flirt on the guy. He looked scared, I will not lie. But he went with it until I realised halfway to his room, I could just kill him now.
Okay, I'll level with you and say that I don't actually remember this runs name properly. So, Astrid it is. Anyways, Astrid is a tribal, skilled in the art of medicine but wanting to see the world she sets out as a courier. Plot happens and she ends up in New Vegas. This run I mostly focused on getting the NCR ending. I didn't actually have Boone with me, I mostly stuck with Raul, Lily and Cass.
I managed to convince Papa Khan to side with the NCR, get the Kings to like the NCR. Off Mr. House. Run through the Legion camp at the end and well, that's all. It was mostly the same as the other runs, but honestly I don't have much to say. Oh, other than this one time I was sitting down in front of the Major and I tried to move one of the cups out of the way but misclicked and stole it instead. But yeah.
Uh, duh. Yeah. What, you don't have any faith in me?
Alright, here's the point. I like when games let you roleplay. Both mechanic wise and storywise. And I will say Fallout New Vegas is fantastic! You can have wildly different stories, and yeah the example above aren't all that indepth, but that's cause I have lik six playthroughs under my belt and they're merging, man.
Of course, I love more railroady RPG, you know? Skyrim or Cyberpunk 2077 or VTM: Bloodlines. But I can't easily list out every unique character I had in Skyrim, or explain how my Cyberpunk V is different from lore V.
Although, Vanny, my VTM Bloodlines Malk is very rememberable. Like I remember rolling up to the Giovanni manor, trying to use the romance dialog on one of them, having her call Vanny a slur and than killing everyone. In the ladies defense, Vanny had two humanity, so she was more or less a spooky vampiric serial killer. I wouldn't wanna date Vanny either. Also, uh... Because the Giovanni are dead in newer VTM lore, this is cannon now. Vanny killed off the Giovanni. It's lore. Fight me.
Honestly, I do think I have a grasp on Vanny's personality. She's a newly turned Malk fledgling, who is mostly on a power trip against humans and follows a sort of Kindred kinship ideal. Like, she was nice to Heather, her ghoul, but throughout the game was slowly spiraling into worse and worse of a person to the point where Jenette, another Malk, was a little freaked out by her. And if you know with Heather, you know. She no shit, she went a little balistic. Although the ending with Vanny was siding with the Anarchs, so hopefully she mellowed out afterwards. Love the power corupting plot I got outta it either way. Especially since my brother played a high humanity Ventrue the whole game, to the point where he couldn't do any real evil acts by end game.
I think the most unique things I remember from Skyrim is maybe have Lydia shout out "Skyrim belongs to the Nords" while I was playing as a Khajit, and one time and Altermer, and really wishing I could have has an interaction based on that. Or maybe, killing Alduin as a werewolf Khajit for double claw damnage. But not much else.
Actually, now that we're talking 'bout Skyrim. Wouldn't it have been interesting if race actually was a machanic like clans are in VTM? Like I read some lore for Altermer, Khajit and Bosmer and it would've been so cool if they felt like there lore reads in-game. Cause so far it feel just like different skinned nords with mild power perks or weakness.
Like imagine if characters reacted to your chosen race like they do in VTM. In VTM if you play Malk everyone kinda sounds exsaperated at dealing with a "lunatic" except of course the main Malk npc who mildly teases that you got the curse worse than she did. Love Jeanette by the way. But imagine if NPCs trusted you less or at least slower if you play Altermer, since it's the Altermer that are cutting of Talos worship in Skyrim. Or if some NPC was more concerned about a Khajit, the sterotyped theif race, walking around Riften. Or if a racist anit-elf Nord in Solitude, the most racist city in skyrim apparently, didn't turn to an Altermer, an elf, to bitch about another elf. Like? Bro, you do see the ears, yes? I am literally taller than you and slightly orange, I am clearly not a Nord!
I don't know, I feel like if race was going to part of the setting, which it is with a apparently racist faction of the Stormcloaks and cultural errasure with the Thalmor trying to force people to stop worshiping Talos, that you'd include it in the gameplay. Like, you let me play as a Khajit and no one seems to react? I can be a Bosmer that just eats fruit and veg which is kinda against the Green Pact? Or I could be a Altermer who the Blade treat like any old Nord. Ignoring the fact that the two blades we meet either hate the Altermer or have trama because of them.
Again, Imagine if this game was well written. Imagine if being a Altermer and Dragonborn was an interesting thing. To have a Nord symbol of strenght be in the form of an opressor race from outside of Skyrim. It would alter how people react, it would be a massive change to some interections. Imagine Ulfric realising that his perfect Nord symbol of strenght is the one thing he hates more than anything else in the world. Or imagine the mild horror for the Altermer pc, as Altermer culutre usually rejects mortals becoming gods, hence their hatred of Talos.
Or what if being Dragonborn was played with more? Like, it is a more fundimental part of your character than being, anything else. If you're a werewolf, or a vampire, or a theif, or a warrior, it is secondary to being dragonborn. I would imagine that would alter something about your playthrough? Like maybe it's almost like VTM Humanity, where leaning more into your draconic elements alienates yourself from your humanity. Yes you can now, say fly, or breath fire that burns brighter, but you're starting to become more dragon as you play into that half of yourself. Than choosing to go get more dragon souls and shouts become actually more than just power-ups you collect so there's no gaps in your collection.
Or what about your faction choices? Like I was a Nightengale of the theives guild, a Listeners of the Dark Brotherhood, the leader of the Compainions, the Blades favourite bitch, Arch-Mage of the Colldge of Winterhold, Thane of almost all of skyrim including Solitude while I was still a high elf mind you, Member of the bards colldge, member of the Dawn Guard and all of that on top of being Dragonborn. But it doesn't really matter. No one suddenly treats you better or worse depending on factions. And yeah, some make sense. Being Nightengale or Listener is a unknown thing to the normal people of Skyrim, but shouldn't people acknowlegde me being an Arch-mage? Or a leader of the fighters guild or part of a conspiratoral vampire hunting guild?
Like I see why everyone simped for Serana, she actually had writting unlike everyone else. Although, the only person I ever marry is Lydia. It's just cute to marry her after fighting along side her from the start of the game. If only she wouldn't keep saying "Skyrim belongs to the Nords" while right next to her Altermer Wife. Is this the Doomed Yuri people keep talking about?
Ha, maybe I should write the doomed Altermer dragonborn x Lydia yuri the world doesn't only yearn for but needs.
Okay, off topic, but cyberpunk 2077, eh? I know I complainded about it earlier but Cyberpunk is actually pretty fun still. It's not a RPG in the manner of your playing a character you made and more of you playing as a V. Either Nomad, Streetkid or Corpo V. It's pretty good in that context with the whole plot being around V and their inevitable death. I'm broke so I don't have the dlc.
Like one of the endings is you seeling out to a corp to try to avoid death and the hell that brings. It works because the story is about death. How death is real, and how it hurts everyone it leave in it's wake and more interestingly what your death would mean. If you knew you were going to die, what would you do? How would you spend your last desperate months?
I also love that the three good love interests, River doesn't count, play into this. Judy is stuck with death. She is surrounded by her plans not working, her ex dying and potentially you dying to. But you can be the mild light for her. Be something she can try again with. Or what bout Panam, my love although she will never swing my way. Panam is honestly really good. She is mostly in denail, firmly believing that Saul isn't growing older, firmly believing that V will be fine, they just need to try. And I love that. It's nice for a game to finally give me a character that is also willing to do anything for my character instead of it always just being the player that does everything. And Kerry is the moving on from the old. He was around back with Silverhand and now, he needs to carve his own path. Learn to not live in the shadow of another.
Ugh, fine, I suppose I have to. River also has death as a plot point. His father and mother died and his Nephew was kidnapped by a serial killer, welcome to night city. Look, I don't hate River he just feels like he was kinda there to give a straight female V love interest and was jury rigged to be that. He is kinda pushy, and it's very awkward if not uncomfortable, but I get him on the other parts of his plot. I suppose you could aruge he is the justification half. Trying to rationalise why Death is a thing, just with the reason usually defaulting to theives and serial killers I guess.
Look, my complaint with River is that it's feels too much like a buddy cop story. One one hand, I don't see either my Nomad V or my Corpo V falling for him, Nomad V was way too feral and only worked with Panam and Corpo V is way too professional to date a business partner or a man in uniform. Not only that, I was honestly just more invested in saving Rivers Nephew and kinda didn't feel the apparent romantic tension. Plus investigating a serial killer who preys on young boys tends to put me outta the dating mood, you know?
Honestly Misty and Viktor are better, with Misty dealing with the whole spiritual aspect of death and Viktor being more of an older role model trying to keep his cool, trying to be professional while someone he knows is slowly dying in front of him.
I think one of my most favourite and least favourite endings in the ending of Path of Least Resistance. It's brutal, and listening to the other characters voicecalls afterwards fucking hurts. Jesus, Judy's sobbing and too broken up to really make sense. Honestly, only Cyberpunk 2077 and maybe DDLC hit me in the gut on that topic that hard. It's fucking amazing, honestly. Most media does try to do that, but they don't ever really get it right. I guess Cyberpunk gets kinda close.
It is also, ironically the only of two endings in which you don't end up resulting in someone elses death, either Rogue or Sauls. I guess that works, if you haven't unlocked the (Don't fear) The Reaper ending you're only real option to not hurt anyone is that but uh... It's not my recommended ending unless it fits your V or you're trying to 100% the game.
THe other endings are also pretty narly, with the Aldacaldos ending being my favourite. At least for Nomad V and Corpo V. For Nomad V it feels fitting in a manner. Like she rolls up to the city, scorned from her last pack, and she makes a family in Jackie, before everything happens and then she leaves Night City, different but with a new family in the Aldacaldos. For Corpo V it is more along the lines of a ambitious corpo flying too close to the sun, burning and then coming to terms that greed and power doesn't fill the hole in their soul, family does.
I guess my point is rather simple, I like how pessimistic Cyberpunk is. Like you will die in a few months, now, you need to figure out how you want to spend that time.