Are the bugs really initiating the attacks? Because with the distance between Klendathu & Earth it seems pretty obvious the movie is trying to imply the bugs aren’t the ones sending meteors at the humans.
When I rewatched the movie with a friend recently he was surprised that the movie ended with what felt like an anticlimactic resolution - because the war keeps going forever (or so it seems). I really like the interpretation that Starship Troopers (the movie itself) is an in-universe propaganda film used to recruit soldiers to feel important and make a difference in the war effort.
I love this thread! I’ve been definitely shying away from AAA games towards Indies with lots of love. Here’s my contribution:
Venineth: One of the best entries in the niche “marble rolling” genre. You explore beautiful alien worlds, solving puzzles, and going very fast. Each world is incredibly unique, and has its own set of challenges to conquer. There is no dialogue and all text is in an alien language, which does an amazing job of immersing you into it’s landscapes store.steampowered.com/app/976500/Venineth/
Hypnospace Outlaw (Just above 3,000 reviews): Late 90s Internet simulator with a lot more to it than meets the eye. The game weaves a complex tale of people’s lives brought together by their community found on the Internet, and the havoc wreaked by a company in pursuit of profit above their users. The soundtrack is amazing, and I was genuinely surprised at how attached I got to the quirky Internet pages by the end. store.steampowered.com/app/…/Hypnospace_Outlaw/
Going Under: A rogue-lite adventure about unpaid intern Jackie treading through her startup’s basement to fight the monsters of former companies. The game’s tone and humor is amazing, and the “corporate marketing” art style works so well. The gameplay incorporates a lot of Breath of the Wild elements such as weapon durability, locking onto a single enemy, and throwing weapons. store.steampowered.com/app/1154810/Going_Under/
Ah that’s a shame about Mother 3, I really loved it. Seeing the gradual decay of a town affected by tragedy after tragedy (& a heaping dose of capitalism) become a shadow of itself was so beautiful. The pacing of the game is a bit odd at times, but overall I was surprised how much it resonated with me.
Pathologic 2 is a game that makes you feel like the entire world is against you. From the moment you start the game you’re presented with a scenario in which you’ve already failed to stop the deadly plague infecting the city, and you get a chance to do it all over.
You are Artemy Burakh, a surgeon coming back home to his home in the Russian Steppe at the request of his late father. From the moment you arrive in town, things are off. You are quickly branded as a criminal and must hide away or risk being attacked by citizens. Slowly but surely, you keep encountering strange things in the town: an impossible spire stretching into the heavens, a building where an infection has seemingly taken over the walls, a band of children who have broken away to form their own gamg, and the plague itself speaks to you - warning you about the devastation to come.
The game is brutally tough. It has difficulty settings if you struggle too much - but the intended difficulty is meant to crush your will to continue. While fighting off the plague you must manage your own hunger, thirst, and health. Which becomes increasingly harder to do as the plague grows in strength. In addition - at the end of every day the game randomly rolls who in the town gets infected with the plague and for those already infected they could possibly die. Everyone, including you, and I mean everyone in the town has the potential to die. You are tasked with keeping them alive.
On top of that the game is an excellent journey into the psychology of those you meet, and comments on the blend between the supernatural culture of the steppe and the growing industrialization of the city. There’s so much stuff there in the game (mind you there is some jank), and its the kind of game I think about all of the time. Also the soundtrack is beautiful and haunting, with the perfect emotion for each scene.