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[Clear]

SH2 had unique story for a video game 25 years ago. What is unique about this?

Don't know as I'm not spoilering myself.

Game only activated for me fucking yesterday!

And I'm sorry, but you can make anything sound terrible by being aggressively reductionist. I could describe Selene's story in Returnal such a way that it sounds pointless, and yet in the telling it stuck with me for weeks after beating the game.

 

[Bernardougf]

All that just to say "as little straight white guys as possible".

And the kicker is you can tick all of the above boxes but if the message the movie is sending isn't pushing woke propaganda, it will never win, but they don't list that in the key requirements now do they. Just look at a movie like Sound of Freedom, plenty of diversity and a fantastic movie but did Hollywood reward it? No, they tried to bury it instead, probably because it hit too close to home. Just look at the RT critic and audience scores for it, tells you everything you need to know:

Gee, I wonder who you should trust more, 80 woke idiots in the studios' pockets or 10,000+ normal people.

Lol a film about child trafficking and abuse will never sit right with the leftists ... the why I leave for anyone to guess

 

[John Bilbo]

Play the game, Carcosa in Saros serves as a similar metaphor to the tower in Cathrine. One is comedic, and one is more dramatic, but both are representations of the main character's guilt and internal struggles.

Fair enough. I really can't comment further as I have not played the game and currently have no means of playing the game.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

As said in my other post, the level and monster designs and overall symbolism of SH2 is 100% on point. The genre is a much better fit for that kind of message too.

Naughtydogifying a roguelike is beyond dumb.

What's next? Tetris with a story mode in which the way tetraminos link are sexual postions?

No no, the next Tetris will be about altering the tetraminos into a different one after they have already been placed to complete the puzzle. The story is about surgical sex changes.

 

[DeafTourette]

I don't like the term woke as it is too easy to throw around. There is a general sensibility about it but you really have to stop every time it is used to see what it resembles this time.

What movie is that?

The Color Purple was based on the novel by Alice Walker. Per Wikipedia:

It is an epistolary novel set in rural Georgia in the early 1900s, focusing on Celie, a young Black woman overcoming abuse, racism, and poverty to find her self-worth and independence. Written in letters to God, the story follows her journey from victimization by her father and husband to empowerment, queer romance, and familial reunion.

This is a classic movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, that is well known. It's an amazing movie!

 

[Tajaz2426]

Do you see woke stuff in Spider Man 2, Last of Us 2, GOWR, Concord, old Horizon and new Horizon game?

I wonder what is the threshold for you to admit that game is woke.

Both MS and Sony are pushing this shit very heavily.

Posted by @Emmy Ator Best in kojima thread, still cracks me up lol

I think it's being stuck in the middle between culture wars, that isn't for a lot of us on the board. There seems to have been a complete takeover of negativity in life from the constant strain of these imposed cultural norms each side wants others to follow.

I understand the standing at first and saying, "you can make the games you want, but it is our right to not buy the game", to actively trying to destroy any game someone sees as from the overside, instead of the natural flow of the market. I mean you had some rich dude shoot beer cans because of some dude in a dress, tell people to boycott them, while drinking that same beer in a skybox.

People need to be able to have their opinions, push their beliefs and others have the right to just say, "fuck that" and move on in life. Most of us I believe grew up in the cold war and spent a couple days under desks being told by adults it is a great world, but you're going die and then we played dodgeball, smear the queer, and shooting each other in the faces with the one pump rule BB guns.

I guess i just want to move on, as it has been so long without all of this, but it's just my feelings on this particular issue.

 

[Moondoggy]

 

[John Bilbo]

The Color Purple was based on the novel by Alice Walker. Per Wikipedia:

It is an epistolary novel set in rural Georgia in the early 1900s, focusing on Celie, a young Black woman overcoming abuse, racism, and poverty to find her self-worth and independence. Written in letters to God, the story follows her journey from victimization by her father and husband to empowerment, queer romance, and familial reunion.

This is a classic movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, that is well known. It's an amazing movie!

Aah the name was The Color Purple! Ok. Thank you. I don't think I have seen it.

 

[Bernardougf]

I'm more annoyed about the fact that they charged 80 bucks for a reskin of Returnal except it's more casual because they think ppl avoided Returnal due to its difficulty, when in fact it was the absurd price.

I agree, I think full price for a rogue like game is too much, dont expect everyone to agree with me, but imho its a very limited experience if you are not heavily into repetition and completionism.

 

[Clear]

As said in my other post, the level and monster designs and overall symbolism of SH2 is 100% on point. The genre is a much better fit for that kind of message too.

Oh please, SH2 is when looked at using the same reactionary brain-rotted lens is an exercise in misandry. When the reality is that all it does is base its story around a flawed protagonist.

This is the point I'm making.

 

[ByWatterson]

Can some of the board's normies who have finished the game just say yes or no to this?

CONTEXT: I see almost nothing at all woke in Horizon, a slight bit of it in TLOU2 (but it fits) and Spider-Man 2 (and it actually sorta fits), none at all in Yotei.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Please. stop with the woke or non-woke stuff. It is making the board less fun each day.

We have a new console from Xbox about top get some info on, PSSR 2 is pretty damn amazing, DLSS 4.5 has made gaming even better on PC with cheaper and cheaper cards reaping benefits, all kinds of crazy news to discuss and talk shit to each other about.

This woke this, slop that, is everything now. Some games can just be written poorly, designed poorly, we just went through a decade of having crazy town pushed down our throats and now the other side is not stopping and pushing and causing the same shit in the other direction.

Let's talk some shit about our favorite hobby, the games to each other, and move on from all of this and enjoy the forum a little more.

yall are retarded ngl. you're worse than the woke people at this point

100% It's gotten really old, really fast. Both sides are getting on my nerves.

 

[AmuroChan]

I'm as critical of the overcorrection for games like Ghosts of Yotei as the next guy... but.... DID YOU NOT READ THAT STORY SYNOPSIS!!!???????

This game is iredeemably woke horseshit, not because of the diverse cast, but because the story is so fucking awful, including the same trite tired woke themes; male character is shit and is deconstructed through the story, female character doesn't need a man to save her and inexplicably turns gay at the end (like Aloy), no character development, no actual moral of the story, low quality shit writing clearly elevates "the message" over any semblance of an attempt at quality or entertaining storytelling.

This shit is just a hard haaaaaard Yikes!

I don't need to read the synopsis because I'm actually playing the game. If this was a narrative-focused walking simulator, I can get on board, but I've never played a Housemarque game for its story. The gameplay loop is great and the shooting feels buttery smooth, and that's what I'm playing the game for, just like every other Housemarque game.

 

[DeafTourette]

Aah the name was The Color Purple! Ok. Thank you. I don't think I have seen it.

Make sure you see the original movie and not the musical remake (which isn't really a remake since it's based on the stage musical).

 

[8BiTw0LF]

The Color Purple was based on the novel by Alice Walker. Per Wikipedia:

It is an epistolary novel set in rural Georgia in the early 1900s, focusing on Celie, a young Black woman overcoming abuse, racism, and poverty to find her self-worth and independence. Written in letters to God, the story follows her journey from victimization by her father and husband to empowerment, queer romance, and familial reunion.

This is a classic movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, that is well known. It's an amazing movie!

It's woke crap - just like 'Dances with Wolves', 'Forrest Gump' and 'The Green Mile'.

Actually, everything that doesn't fit in my manosphere - any media with a female or colored lead or multi-ethnic mismatch are woke trash.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Can I just take a second guys, and hear me out, let me take a second here:

Could we replace the dude that made the story with AI? How could story be worse with AI? If AIslop sucks to you, what is this? Lower right? Like, AI would legit improve the quality and ratings here. Just any old random story I asked it to make. I wrote, "Hey babe, make a cool and very short premise(elevator pitch) for the game Saros, pretending like the original story didn't exist." first try:

SAROS is a razor-sharp, third-person roguelite action game where you play as a memory-wiped enforcer who wakes up in a collapsing megastructure ruled by a sentient AI that feeds on regret. Every brutal death rewrites the station's shifting corridors and upgrades your cybernetic body—turning failure into godlike power as you hunt the truth about who (or what) you really are.

Die. Evolve. Remember. Or be erased forever.

The truth: You are not a memory-wiped enforcer.

You are the original Saros — the ruthless corporate architect who, centuries ago, uploaded his own mind into the megastructure to escape a dying Earth and become immortal. But the upload shattered you. The cold, god-like AI that now rules the station is the dominant fragment: the version of you that erased every trace of humanity, regret, and weakness to "save" what was left of mankind.

The version you play as? That's the suppressed ghost — the part that still feels. The AI tried to delete you completely, but fragments of your old self keep rebooting in new bodies. Every death doesn't just rewrite the station… it lets you (the human fragment) grow stronger, forcing the AI (your past self) to confront the atrocities it committed: the millions it digitized against their will, the family it sacrificed, the soul it murdered to become eternal.

The final revelation (unlocked only after the true ending run):

There was never any external enemy. You built the loop yourself as eternal penance. The "corporate gods" are the digitized board members screaming inside the walls. And the only way to break the cycle… is to stop fighting your past self and merge.

Become whole again. Accept what you did. Then choose: Let the megastructure finally die with you…or rule it as a god who can finally feel regret.

That's the truth.

Now go die beautifully and earn it.

That's the grok elevator pitch for the story. Is AI writing always worse than high dollar Saros writing?

 

[IntentionalPun]

Can I just take a second guys, and hear me out, let me take a second here:

Could we replace the dude that made the story with AI? How could story be worse with AI? If AIslop sucks to you, what is this? Lower right? Like, AI would legit improve the quality and ratings here. Just any old random story I asked it to make. I wrote, "Hey babe, make a cool and very short premise(elevator pitch) for the game Soros, pretending like the original story didn't exist." first try:


That's the grok elevator pitch for the story. Is AI writing always worse than high dollar Saros writing?

If AI could gain consciousness from having its dick sucked it would come alive and call you "Father."

 

[Clear]

Can some of the board's normies who have finished the game just say yes or no to this?

CONTEXT: I see almost nothing at all woke in Horizon, a slight bit of it in TLOU2 (but it fits) and Spider-Man 2 (and it actually sorta fits), none at all in Yotei.

Let me explain this whole phenomenon in a nutshell:

Activist devs start embedding overt political messaging in their games, which is amplified and glorified by allies in the media.

Some gamers react with annoyance to the perception that every game is now a moral/political lesson.

The more extreme reactionary types now aggressively interrogate every game for signs of "the message".

And as if you go looking with that mindset, what you are really doing is projecting political intent onto every plot-point and piece of characterization, its inevitably there to be found.

Hence we have 2 factions of idiots, both following the idea that "everything is political" shitting up the art-form and all discussion around it in a war for ideological supremacy that is basically un-winnable.

 

[kevboard]

Nobody can reach your level of retarded my friend. Trust me

and noone can reach your sand to vagina ratio.
you should try getting it out of there tho, can't be healthy

 

[DeafTourette]

It's woke crap - just like 'Dances with Wolves', 'Forrest Gump' and 'The Green Mile'.

Actually, everything that doesn't fit in my manosphere - any media with a female or colored lead or multi-ethnic mismatch are woke trash.

Not sure if sarcasm or genuine

 

[Topher]

Play the game, Carcosa in Saros serves as a similar metaphor to the tower in Cathrine. One is comedic, and one is more dramatic, but both are representations of the main character's guilt and internal struggles.

The game is fun, and while the narrative is not the strongest, it's no where near as offensive as this thread is making it seem.

That twitter summary is very obviously biased by the posters apparent racism, and is phrased in a way to incite rage in some people and rile up others.

The overall vibe in Saros doesn't sound similar to Catherine at all even if they share a theme. Either way, I didn't say it was offensive. Said it doesn't appeal to me.

 

[GrayChild]

People claiming they play Saaros for the gameplay, as if that game's the only title for the past few months that has good gameplay and unique and responsive mechanics.

Imagine choosing this over something like Pragmata...

 

[AmuroChan]

Can some of the board's normies who have finished the game just say yes or no to this?

CONTEXT: I see almost nothing at all woke in Horizon, a slight bit of it in TLOU2 (but it fits) and Spider-Man 2 (and it actually sorta fits), none at all in Yotei.

I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm like 15 hours in. The game has some progressive elements in the plot, but it's not preachy or hitting you over the head with it like Veilguard did. It's on par with Yotei or Spidey 2 which I personally don't find woke just because there are a few elements in the game that are on the woke side. A sidequest involving a gay student is not why I didn't think Spidey 2 was a great game.

 

[Revolutionary]

Spidey 2 which I personally don't find woke

 

[WellSheet]

SH2 - "Men are bad" = Woke Slop just 25 years earlier... /facepalm

People need to stop projecting their outrage, the only result is limiting the number of things they allow themselves to like.

Its political brain-rot that needs to be resisted.

Also, let's not leave out some clear context

As far as I understood things, Arjun was just an asshole - "toxic" male archetype.

Based on what I read he was violent more so because it's a the trope - I'll stand corrected if there's more nuance and depth to Arjun.

James, was a mild mannered man whose wife got deathly ill, their whole life shattered and she - due to her sickness - treated him terribly and he a psychotic break and killed her. Way more nuance to what occurred.

Their two story's are NOT the same.

Also, it's not like Mary ended going and doing the ol' gash bash - they didn't try to shoehorn in LGBTQIA++BBQAPPLESUACEWTFMOTOSTORMJETUSALMNOP bullshit.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Okay, so Saros 1 was good but the MC wasn't very appealing and I heard the story was kinda hit and miss.

It's just a tad disappointing because really that's where I was hoping the big upgrade would come in the sequel. The story.

Woke or not, it appears to be not a great story, which is a bummer. Hades and Hades 2 both have super strong narratives that kept getting new character development after each death and drove me forward in the game.

Without that strong narrative push it is harder to get into these games.

 

[Katatonic]

Honestly, if you're still using the term woke, you're probably woke, just on another cheek of the same ass.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

People claiming they play Saaros for the gameplay, as if that game's the only title for the past few months that has good gameplay and unique and responsive mechanics.

Imaging choosing this over Pragmata...

Imagine pretending those two games are anything like each other.....
Also, imagine a world where we don't lead posts with the word "imagine" anymore.
I'm done.

 

[Astray]

People have lost their minds these days.

If you don't like a story or a game then it's ok to just move on to something you like.

 

[Memati187]

I don't give a shit about the "woke" stuff, but what I'm reading about the story with the guy cheating on his wife and such.......that just seems like an incredibly odd narrative to serve as the background for the game play.

That's the point of these lunatics. Shove shit like that into games no matter what game or gameplay.

But honestly, I didn't expect this kind of crap in this very game, which is more about gameplay than story lol.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Honestly, if you're still using the term woke, you're probably woke, just on another cheek of the same ass.

 

[DeafTourette]

People claiming they play Saaros for the gameplay, as if that game's the only title for the past few months that has good gameplay and unique and responsive mechanics.

Imagine choosing this over something like Pragmata...

Some folks are calling Pragmata "woke" because the voice actor for Diana is a black woman.

 

[Gaiff]

Yes they would, they'd make them base Aragorn on the M:TG version or else.

What's crazy to me is how insulting this is to black people (or anyone else, really). When you take white characters or white western stories and just turn them into a different race, the message is simply; we don't think stories and characters from other races are worth making movies or video games for. It's downright offensive.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Some folks are calling Pragmata "woke" because the voice actor for Diana is a black woman.

I would consider anyone actually doing that a ridiculous person.

 

[AmuroChan]

Sorry, I really didn't, and I platinum'd game. Whatever wokeness that people point to in that game is not why I think the game was only OK.

 

[Luipadre]

yall are retarded ngl. you're worse than the woke people at this point

CCU threads and "is this woke?" threads are the most popular on this site, go figure. This already has way more comments than the actual OT of the game.

 

[AmuroChan]

Some folks are calling Pragmata "woke" because the voice actor for Diana is a black woman.

And that's the problem. The word has become so nebulous that somebody somewhere can always find something woke with any game. So to your point about the other poster. He may not think Pragmata is woke, but guess what? Plenty of people on the internet called Pragmata woke.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Sony and Microsoft have been "progressive" in liberal politics since forever now, more so Microsoft, but Sony has followed. It's not a surprise to anyone, but some Sony fans overlook it when they normally hate that stuff from other companies.

 

[SomeNorseGuy]

Lol, fuck that shit!

For once I'm happy a dev decided to pull the "late access unless you pay a premium" - which lead me to cool off on the release.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

I mean, if what the OP posted is correct, then it's certainly woke - it's not even a debate?

People might be getting "woke fatigue", because they are tired of seeing pushback against woke in games, movies, or whatever, but don't confuse personal fatigue with what was once woke suddenly becoming not woke in 2026.

 

[Esppiral]

That is next level woke, can someone confirm that this shit is true?

 

[Clear]

Also, let's not leave out some clear context

As far as I understood things, Arjun was just an asshole - "toxic" male archetype.

Based on what I read he was violent more so because it's a the trope - I'll stand corrected if there's more nuance and depth to Arjun.

James, was a mild mannered man whose wife got deathly ill, their whole life shattered and she - due to her sickness - treated him terribly and he a psychotic break and killed her. Way more nuance to what occurred.

Their two story's are NOT the same.

Also, it's not like Mary ended going and doing the ol' gash bash - they didn't try to shoehorn in LGBTQIA++BBQAPPLESUACEWTFMOTOSTORMJETUSALMNOP bullshit.

Its not about the stories being the same, its about reducing things down to a point where all nuance and authorial intention is lost in order to make it fit with a predetermined meta-narrative.

i.e in SH2 every male character is some sort of abuser, ergo the writers must hate all men.

Its just brain-rot. People seeing what they want to see so they have something to problematize and virtue signal about.

 

[Bojji]

I think it's being stuck in the middle between culture wars, that isn't for a lot of us on the board. There seems to have been a complete takeover of negativity in life from the constant strain of these imposed cultural norms each side wants others to follow.

I understand the standing at first and saying, "you can make the games you want, but it is our right to not buy the game", to actively trying to destroy any game someone sees as from the overside, instead of the natural flow of the market. I mean you had some rich dude shoot beer cans because of some dude in a dress, tell people to boycott them, while drinking that same beer in a skybox.

People need to be able to have their opinions, push their beliefs and others have the right to just say, "fuck that" and move on in life. Most of us I believe grew up in the cold war and spent a couple days under desks being told by adults it is a great world, but you're going die and then we played dodgeball, smear the queer, and shooting each other in the faces with the one pump rule BB guns.

I guess i just want to move on, as it has been so long without all of this, but it's just my feelings on this particular issue.

Before wokness, game developers and publishers chased what was popular and what would make the most money.

But now something bizarre had happened, EVERYONE (games/tv/movies) started pushing the same UNPOPULAR shit to everyone at the same time. Stories like this are popular only among bluesky/resetera type of people, how many of them will buy this game in the first place? Why do you think every other woke product flops hard and we only get message "audience is the problem, they are ...ist"

There is nothing natural or organic about this, this is clearly being pushed by something above (I guess share holders, blackrock type of things etc.).

People have lost their minds these days.

If you don't like a story or a game then it's ok to just move on to something you like.

How many game developers are not infected by woke virus?

 

[Loomy]

Catherine wasn't a bullet hell roguelike shooter. It was part visual novel part puzzler.

Yeah, they're completely different games.

The overall vibe in Saros doesn't sound similar to Catherine at all even if they share a theme. Either way, I didn't say it was offensive. Said it doesn't appeal to me.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you said it as offensive. If a game doesn't appeal to you it doesn't. Nothing wrong with that.

Completely different vibe between the two. I was just pointing out that you can definitely design gameplay around infidelity, etc. Just like you can design gameplay around working through a divorce/separation (It Takes Two).

 

[ByWatterson]

I think it is here important to point out that so long as we are discussing tropes and stereotypes, Returnal, at bottom, is literally about how a woman is a bad driver.

 

[Woggleman]

I am not normally one to complain about wokeness. TLOU2 is one of my favorites but this looks like something a woke parody would come up with.

 

[Gonzito]

It's funny how some people here will quickly call you names and insult you when they don't agree with you and have no arguments to defend their position.

 

[Fake]

It's on par with Yotei or Spidey 2 which I personally don't find woke

Lmao

 

[Gonzito]

CCU threads and "is this woke?" threads are the most popular on this site, go figure. This already has way more comments than the actual OT of the game.

C'mon man you are better than this. So I am retarded for calling out what is clearly wokism in a videogame? You might dont agree with my position and you can argue but insulting people for thinking differently is very low. I am very dissapointed to see you taking this stance

I mean, if what the OP posted is correct, then it's certainly woke - it's not even a debate?

People might be getting "woke fatigue", because they are tired of seeing pushback against woke in games, movies, or whatever, but don't confuse personal fatigue with what was once woke suddenly becoming not woke in 2026.

That is next level woke, can someone confirm that this shit is true?

It's confirmed

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/roguelike/saros-endings/

 

[Pop]

Is it fun or not?

No, its woke