I don't think I can have a discussion about this with someone who’s response to mass violence and erasure is “that's how things have always been, people are just whiny now 🤷"

You’re right, the US didn’t colonize them, but we did coerce them to open their borders by a show of force, performed the most destructive act of war in history *twice*, forced a total restructuring of their government, made them almost entirely dependent on foreign military aid, and then maintained a major military…

Oh yeah, I hit the epilogue already! Now that the story has wound down I’m not quite as motivated to keep playing, but I’m still hanging around because Persephone and Hades are still getting development. 

I literally have over 80 hours in this game. It would be a little upsetting if it wasn’t so fun.

I don’t think “please be thoughtful and respectful when you use something that you aren’t familiar with and doesn’t belong to you” is too big of an ask. That’s literally kindergarten level kindness lol

I feel like you didn’t read my comment, because you used a Western European example when I specifically addressed that point? And you’re also equating the horrors of colonization with “becoming part of a culture,” which is... no.

It doesn’t need to be used in its original context, but you should try to understand and respect the original context when you use something. You should be thoughtful in your usage, because it’s something that you’re not familiar with and that you’re borrowing from another group of people.

As someone who usually doesn’t enjoy super-hard games, I 100% recommend Celeste. The combination of Assist Mode and checkpoints at the start of every room (with less than 1 second respawn time when you die!) make it SO much friendlier than Super Meat Boy et al. If I got too frustrated with a room I’d just turn an…

You can utilize imagery and symbols from other cultures without appropriating.

It’s totally possible to represent things from other places without appropriating. If you respect the original practice/imagery/etc., most people are 100% okay with it.

I mean, it’s a bad thing to use Japanese imagery as set-dressing rather than respecting their original context.

It’s funny that you mention plantations, because since George Floyd was murdered a lot of restaurants and food manufacturers have started removing references to plantations, antebellum, etc. from their products precisely because people don’t appreciate flippant references to slavery. (Needless to say, a lot of White…

Not entirely surprising. Reminds me of when Facebook games were big in general, with Farmville and Candy Crush and whatnot.

I mean if you play Genshin for more than a few hours, I think it forms its own identity. The combat and character switching alone makes it feel really different, as does the quest structure.

My point is that tons of games have attempted to clone the rest of the Zelda series; it’s weird to me that so few people have even tried to clone BotW.

this is an EXCELLENT headline

A formatting comment not about slideshows:

who tf is telling you to wear masks at home unless you’re actually sick with other people around

um

I think I’ve made the same comment on an earlier article, but I’m surprised that so few games have even attempted to clone BotW. I imagine it’s partially because it must take tons of resources to create a world so large and rich with discovery, but you’d think at least a few devs would have tried.