I’m curious about:
Esoteric Ebb
Fermi Paradox
Tooth and Tail
They all look like games which could be great and could also be ruined by having weak ideas. Disco Elysium spoiled me
Esoteric Ebb is great fun but also a bit lib. Fun and good game though. I enjoyed my time.
I would call the game in some ways progressive if that matters.
EDIT I dont think any of the games on your list are rightwing in any real way if thats what you are asking. Doesnt mean they are marxist pieces of propaganda ofc.
My problem with esoteric ebb was that it shoehorned contemporary political ontology into a fantasy DnD setting. I don’t think it worked. Like the freestriders’ libertarianism feels really out of place. Libertarianism is borne out of capital ownership being concentrated in the hands of a few. But in a setting where there is magic and no modern industry people harping on about the free market feels really out of place.
Thank you. What do you mean by “a bit lib”? My tolerance is nonzero but low
It just seemed a tad to pro electorialism for my taste. Though I do think progessives are painted as force for good in the game.
It feels like a game created by a well meaing social democrat. Where as disco elysium feels like a game made by communists if that makes sense.
For something positive I do enjoy Esoteric Ebbs humour and whimsy.
Omg I’m trying my hardest to play as an Azghalist with the strong urthguard cleric build and
disagreeing with a point of framing in the game's writing
I’m at a point where passing the wisdom check gives me the option to do literal peace-policing to prevent a workers rally. I’m liking the other aspects of the game and I’m still curious about it, but it was jarring.
I picked “Azghal would be proud”.
Whatever. It’s been amusing so far. I’m just going to play with my own moral compass / whatever seems funniest and hope for the best.
Wisdom is the azgalist attribute if I recall correctly . Basically all excpet one ? Attribute follow a specific political movement/idea in the game.
Esoteric Ebb is great, I very much enjoyed it. it’s no Disco Elysium, that’s a very hard bar to clear, but I enjoyed my time with it.
Esoteric ebb is great I loved it so much. As it has been said the politics part of the game is a bit crap but its not prominent like in disco you can kinda just not read too deep into it and enjoy the game for what it is. As far as a DnD game though its utterly brilliant and the main issue I had with disco was feeling yhe need to save scum which is absolutely not a problem here. You can have every bad roll and the mechanics will handle it just fine i didnt save scum once.
Fermi Paradox is a little lib, but not really bad, it does understand socialism is a better path forward and even has potential socialist revolutions in the game, it just kind of imagines a “post socialist” society as a fairly empty lib techbro utopia focused on treats. Don’t go in expecting a game that actually has a materialist understanding of how societies develop and you’ll be fine.
Fermi Paradox is fun and I haven’t seen anything actually reactionary in it. That doesn’t mean it’s based on dialectical materialism, it’s just a game.
Sure, I don’t need every game to be based, just not cringe and reactionary. Thanks!
I’m also somewhat curious about esoteric ebb. Is it Reddit?
I just wrote a followup post about Esoteric Ebb: https://hexbear.net/post/8994456
Thanks for the writeup. It sounds like it was Reddit after all…
Its a bit lib but not a bad game imho.
Tooth and Tail is about a revolution, but the revolution is about the right to eat the dwindling supply of meat. The one armed revolutionary hero who champions the downtrodden is one armed because she fed her one arm to the poor, because they all refuse to eat grain. The only ones who eat grain are fully sapient pigs who in return for being provided all their needs are eaten. Your basic squirrel troops are starving because they will not eat a vegetable.
There is a whole attempt to comment on this through the medium of 4 different political factions, and discussions of how to gain access to the existing meat. With factions supporting eating “Useless eaters” (I.e. the poor and those who can’t work), voting for who to eat, or a lottery.
The choices for who is sympathetic and what to do are all the wrong ones. This is a game with a totally warped sense of morality. It’s fun though.
That sounds unhinged enough to be fun, regardless of the politics and world building being wacky. Thanks!
