I don’t think Putin has shown the ability to pull such a maneuver so far outside propaganda and I don’t see a reason to see some ulterior play here either. Not when he has the means to do his purges in less riskier and embarrassing ways. Edit: Also Putin’s last speeches corners Wagner into a win or die situation, which might cause things to get dirty.

I agree with the main idea that Putin is yet to be done for but not sure about the individual points.

Russia is good at defending and attrition-based war, yes, but the blunt of their forces is in Ukraine, the inner territories of Russia is not well fortified because the nuclear threats should keep enemy armies at bay and it’s Russians marching, which makes it hard to sell a “neonazi marching to moscow” story to motivate soldiers.

I’m not sure how “useful” it is to have a 50 thousand man strong army marching towards your capital while you’re trying to spin a “everything going according to plan” story and Ukraine is making its counteroffensive.

Last I checked, China and India were purchasing oil from Russia but at a heavily discounted price, which does not bode well for Russia when it just lost entire Europe as a client.

As for English sources, you just need to choose well. Reuters and AP are respectable sources with no strong bias and the op-eds from sites like Cipher Brief have been very moderated in my opinion.

So Old Vlad, how’s the 3 day special military operation is going?

Ah the Genghis Khan method of environmentalism.

Fallout 1: I’m not good with isometric RPGs, the top-down view makes me feel less immersed in the game. Because of that, I didn’t feel engaged by Fallout 1 the first time I tried. I was able to enjoy it when I revisited it years later.

Armored Core 1: I loved this game when I was a child but trying to play nowadays the lack of analog stick support makes the control really suck and I stopped playing before even finishing the first level.

There’s probably more but I can’t remember right now.

Then Google sucks.

FromSoftware and Nintendo? As far as I know, their games are both successful and polished. You might not like their games, of course, but if you do it seems like a safe bet.

Ar Tonelico 2 has one of the most beautiful musics I’ve heard, not limited to games. Not too surprising, given how the entire franchise is basically about glorifying music to divine levels and brings top notch singers like Shikata Akiko and Shimotsuki Haruka to sing songs like METHOD_IMPLANTA and EXEC_SOL=FAGE/.. The BGM is also great, with tracks like Rustling Throb Cloche.

Other great OSTs that never leaves my phone:
-Einhander (Sample: Bloody Battle)
-Omega Boost (Sample: Orbital Flight)
-HellSinker. (Sample: Apostle of the Seed)

Finally, special mention to Space Invaders Extreme 2. I wouldn’t say it’s the best OST but it’s the most fun example of adaptive music I’ve seem (heard?). Edit: Also Silver Surfer from NES, given the miracle Tim Follins does to play this through its sound chip.

Kowloon Highschool Chronicles does it really well.

Buying items is done through encrypted online store, mini quests are received from the official site of the treasure hunting association you’re part off and so on. The game expands this immersive ui further by making your stat screen be a report card and with skill names being curricular subjects.

I can see why the time mechanic is there but I agree it can be a negative point to the game. You’re not the first person I see complaining about this.

I liked the game enough but needing to get a rare fish that can only be fished at certain season, certain time period and only when raining to complete quests was annoying, as was needing to get out of the dungeon while I was having a good run because of time. It would have been better if there were alternative means to get the fish, like buying from the fisherman, and the option to camp in the dungeon.

I wouldn’t say I hate Witcher 3 but it didn’t engage me at all because of the “everything sucks” aura it gives. There’s nothing really nice to look forward to or that makes the fight against the Big Bad worth it. However, now that I’m writing this, maybe that was intended and I should get back to the game with the mentality of a jaded mercenary only doing it for money, as I believe the Witchers are supposed to be.

Any game made by From as in their Souls series or that includes Armored Core and Another Century’s Episode too?

Super Hero mod for 1.6 was awesome, though. Zipping around the map like Spider-Man with a rifle was so fun.

I used to play LoL back in 2012 or so but got tired of not being able to play as I wanted so I left and never looked back.

Having to choose characters based on the needed role was bad enough, not being allowed to explore new builds and possibilities but what the current meta dictated was so ridiculous. I felt some vindication when a build I was exploring later turned out to be considered too powerful and got reworked (AP Yi, fuck you those who shit on me when I bought the magic ring as my first item).

I don’t even have a child yet the work related fatigue is enough to make me avoid intense/stressful games that I’d play when younger. I can’t imagine choosing to play a game rather than sleeping if I had to also take care of a newborn.

I wouldn’t buy such game. “Would” because so far none of the games that interests me required constant connection. I don’t play multiplayer games to begin with so it’s easy to avoid.

Are we going to see NMS like redemption story on Cyberpunk? Hope so.