Yep, and now people can make fun of it without the obvious dog whistles because it has been so far removed from Black people. I've seen people make fun of the way Black influencers talk online under the guise of making fun of "Gen Z speak".

Had no clue there was an ash of war to help with parrying. How have I never heard of that?

I don't find any aspects of the game any more difficult than previous souls-likes that I've played. It's just that I want to be much lazier when I play now.

Yes! I still enjoy a challenge but if a game has many other attractive gameplay elements, I may just want to enjoy everything else

Yeah I think after playing Dark Souls games with the mindset of having to beat bosses and enemies "the right way" I forgot that there's so many tools to use to cheese. There's no need to put imaginary constraints on myself

Mods are a suggestion I hadn't thought about much. Sometimes I do forget thay I'm on a PC.

Haven't played yet and definitely don't plan on purchasing it at full price but I had a hint that it might be over hyped when I saw someone post a negative review and everyone in the comments told him to "go back to playing CoD." Seems like a lot of people frothing over this game never played NMS and I can guarantee this game won't have nearly as much added free content as NMS either. I'm okay with admitting that I like a game just cause it's fun to look at and that's what Starfield seems like it is, but you're out of your mind if you think I'm paying $70 for that.

I think a lot of fans are trying to convince themselves that their favorite AAA game studios are still making bangers and they're not.

It's something you will never have to do a second time

I definitely appreciate this point of view

You're right. I often forget to take pride in my improvement. I think it's just that after all the theory and reading on capitalist exploitation, especially exploitation of vulnerable groups of people, I feel like I was still unable to prevent being subject to a business practice that more than likely targets and exploits people like myself.

Edit: also thank you very much for your comment

Did not expect to get so many answers so quickly. Thank you all.