As recently mentioned, I played a little bit of Wuchang and Mortal Shell 2 for a bit. I haven’t continued playing for around a week now, but I might this weekend - not sure yet. I’ll definitely be playing more Slay the Spire 2. There’s been a new update that adds an entirely new character to the game, the Fool, who is a lot of fun and adds new character-specific mechanics that are very unique.

The Fromsoft soulslikes are notorious for many a thing: the difficulty of the game (levels as well as bosses), the lore, the fandom. What stands out to many is the atmosphere, the feeling of being thrown into an (un-)inhabited world that existed prior to your playing and will likely do so after you have finished your playthrough (bar specific endings with world-ending implications).

Is there any piece of media that evokes a similar feeling in you? Maybe a book, or a movie, or even another game?

I am not sure if I can come up with any non-game examples, but even though I am yet to finish the game, Outer Wilds or Subnautica give me a similar feeling. These vast open worlds (even an entire galaxy) exist outside the meddling of third parties (mostly). They have existed before I have entered the world and will likely do so after I am gone. Not a lot is explaiend about these worlds - you just exist and try to figure things out on your own.

The Mass Effect series gives me a similar feeling. You’re all alone with your crew, visiting all kinds of planets and races and whatnot. A lot of things are explained, you have a codex entry for pretty much everything you could imagine, but a lot of the story predates Shepard’s existence - think the Reapers, for example. Pretty astounding stuff.

I’m very curious to hear your thoughts! Have a nice weekend, folks. :) ✨