u/AzureRipper

I've been living alone since maybe 2018 or so. Initially, I absolutely loved it! I grew up in a dysfunctional family which zero respect for boundaries (also have CPTSD), so living alone helped me feel safe for the first time ever. Before that, I had already moved out of my parents' home by 2014 but was living with roommates.

I've spent the last 3 years doing a lot of heavy trauma work, which kept me occupied mentally. But recently, in the past 6-8 months or so, there's been this quiet loneliness creeping in. I'm still happy living alone and having my own space, but it does get very lonely after work and during weekends. Most of my time outside of work is spent on the internet, playing video games, reading, or maybe going for walks or coffee.

I realize I'm probably conflating two things here: living alone is not necessarily equivalent to being lonely in life. But for me, right now, life does feel lonely. I'm not wishing to go back to living with my family or roommates, but it does feel like living with other people adds some kind of background socialization that living alone doesn't provide.

How do you peeps meet your needs for socializing and connection while living alone?

I have CPTSD (like we all do) and started EMDR around October '23 after a major PTSD relapse. I did EMDR with that therapist until February '25. At that time, she had to move and get a new job due to life circumstances. I was absolutely devastated and it felt like the end of the world. Somehow, I made it through. I couldn't find a perfect replacement for her but I somehow managed to find someone I could continue the work with. I then reached all my EMDR goals by October '25, roughly 2 years from when I first started EMDR.

However, I didn't exactly get a break from life. Some work stuff happened that was massively triggering and I had to navigate that for 4-5 months. Finally, as of April '26, I'm in a much better place at work and in life. Everything feels so much calmer and I feel safer and more alive.

This has made me realize how empty my day to day life has become over these past few years. EMDR and the trauma work took up so much space that I lost touch with my local friends circle. Some people also moved away and I didn't get around to making new friends. Now, I'm in a place where I finally have the energy and motivation to interact with the outside world again but have no idea where or how to start.

I live abroad and have a dysfunctional family, who I only visit for 2 weeks in the year. I do have a couple of close friends where I live, but they're caught up in their own lives. Most of the people I consider safe and close are a 7+ hour flight away. I do manage to meet them 1-2 times a year but that's it.

All the inner work I've done has also made me realize how lonely my life is. All these years, I think I probably adapted to it because I've been lonely my entire life. I thought it was normal and I didn't have a choice. Now, I want things to change because I'm tired of being alone, but I don't know how to do it as an adult. I'm 32 (and single), which is also an age where it's much harder to make new friends. Most people my age are busy with family and kids, so its hard to make plans with people I know through work.

Has anyone been in a similar position? How do you get started to start doing something different and re-learning to socialize after all the inner work?

I've been living in Copenhagen for around 4 years now. I've been to Stockholm and Oslo but never Helsinki. I liked Stockholm for the city vibes but absolutely love Oslo for the accessible nature. I've spent most of my life in huge megacities, so being able to take a metro into forests and hills has been a breath of fresh air (quite literally!) Oslo has been my go-to for short summer trips, especially when I'm looking to slow down and reflect. The last 2-3 years have been really rough for me, and I've found that being in nature helps.

How accessible is nature from Helsinki? Is it possible to stay in the city center and just do day trips for hiking, using public transport? And what kind of nature is there around Helsinki? I don't really like the flat bushes and grass that Denmark has, but absolutely love the nordic forest vibe of Norway and parts of Sweden (national parks in southern Sweden). How does Helsinki compare to those?

I'm playing in immersive mode and understand some of the Japanese (currently around N3/intermediate but very rusty). They're clearly not saying "kakushiba ikki". It sounds more like "kaku-shya" but I can't figure out exactly what it is.

For those whose 日本語 is better than mine, what is the Japanese term they're using? And is it an actual historical organization or something made-up?

I just started Act 2, where they formalize the group. So no spoilers beyond that please.

I'm playing in immersive mode and understand some of the Japanese (currently around N3/intermediate but very rusty). They're clearly not saying "kakushiba ikki". It sounds more like "kaku-shya" but I can't figure out exactly what it is.

For those whose 日本語 is better than mine, what is the Japanese term they're using? And is it an actual historical organization or something made-up?

I just started Act 2, where they formalize the group. So no spoilers beyond that please.

(Jeg vil skrive på dansk og unskyld til små fejl, dansk er min 4th sprog. Håber det er okay 😄)

Jeg bør i København og vil rejse til Oslo denne uge, fra 14-16 mai. Jeg har været is Oslo før, (dette er min 3rd rejse), so har jeg allerede gjorde touristy stuff, f.eks., Frammuseet, Bygdøy, fjord cruise, osv.

Jeg vil gerne en dag-tur til skov for at opleve "norsk nature vibes" men er en tur-begynder og har leg/hip skader fra gym workouts. Jeg kan gør 10-15 km MAX or det skal være tilgængelig med offentlig transport. Vejr forecast også forventer regn denne uge 😞 , så regn-friendly ruter er fortrukket.

Jeg er interesseret i Bjørnsjøhelvete men det ses hårdt og ikke so regn-friendly? Hvad anden muligheder er god for mig? Jeg vil gerne opleve skov og sø, ikke so picky om udsigtpunkt.

Tak på forhand!

I'm a little bit into Act 2 and learning to play Yasuke. The last AC game I played was Syndicate, so I'm also new to the "modern" combat in general.

I'm playing on Story difficulty but still keep dying with him often enough that it's frustrating me. The combat sometimes feels like random button mashing and I don't really know what I'm doing.

• How do combos work? What buttons am I supposed to press?
• How does the Heavy Attack (RT on Xbox) work? When I press it, nothing happens. When I hold it down, sometimes something happens. But then there are moments when Yasuke is in a weird stance and doesn't do anything when I hit RT.
• I know the red attacks are unblockable, so I need to dogde. But what about the blue attacks? Are those blockable?
• What is the timing to block/dodge attacks? Is it when I see the dot or later?
• How do I use ranged weapons (bow or teppo) during combat? I used to love doing random throwing knives at enemies in Revelations. Is there something similar here? When I try to use the teppo, Yasuke gets stuck doing some weird animations (reload?) that just takes forever. When I try to use the bow in combat, I get hit before I'm able to aim properly.
• How do I switch between the katana and teppo/bow during combat? Is it LT + RT or something else? Again, is there something akin to how throwing knives in combat work in Revelations?
• Are there any other videos / guides / anything that can help me?

I am really trying to give this game every chance to grow on me 😅

I'm a little bit into Act 2 and learning to play Yasuke. The last AC game I played was Syndicate, so I'm also new to the "modern" combat in general.

I'm playing on Story difficulty but still keep dying with him often enough that it's frustrating me. The combat sometimes feels like random button mashing and I don't really know what I'm doing.

• How do combos work? What buttons am I supposed to press?
• How does the Heavy Attack (RT on Xbox) work? When I press it, nothing happens. When I hold it down, sometimes something happens. But then there are moments when Yasuke is in a weird stance and doesn't do anything when I hit RT.
• I know the red attacks are unblockable, so I need to dogde. But what about the blue attacks? Are those blockable?
• What is the timing to block/dodge attacks? Is it when I see the dot or later?
• How do I use ranged weapons (bow or teppo) during combat? I used to love doing random throwing knives at enemies in Revelations. Is there something similar here? When I try to use the teppo, Yasuke gets stuck doing some weird animations (reload?) that just takes forever. When I try to use the bow in combat, I get hit before I'm able to aim properly.
• How do I switch between the katana and teppo/bow during combat? Is it LT + RT or something else? Again, is there something akin to how throwing knives in combat work in Revelations?
• Are there any other videos / guides / anything that can help me?

I am really trying to give this game every chance to grow on me 😅

I pre-ordered this game for the Japan setting but couldn't really get into it last year. After getting through some other games on my backlog, I finally decided to come back to it a couple of weeks ago.

I just finished Act 2 and unlocked Yasuke. The first sequence with him was a high point for me - with the tension, the unknown motivations, and the sudden change of pace. I was excited to try him out... but then that excitement faded and the game went back to feeling boring, repetitive, and shallow.

Most of the game (so far) has been a cycle of: here's a new target --> go do 2-3 missions to find the target's location --> go kill target --> rinse & repeat. There is a lot of traveling involved, the viewpoints are also a massive chore because half of them seem to be in well defended castles. To unlock or fast travel to a castle viewpoint means I need to sneak around and worry about getting caught. I feel like I'm spending more time traveling in betwen the action than actually being in the action.

The scenery is beautiful, the gameplay mechanics are really fun, probably the best stealth in an AC games, but the game as a whole feels flat. I booted up AC Mirage again a couple of days ago, and I'm finally having fun again.

Then I come to this sub and find people posting about playing 100+ hours, getting platinum trophies and starting NG+ 😅 Am I doing something wrong or is am I just not the right audience for this game?

I pre-ordered this game for the Japan setting but couldn't really get into it last year. After getting through some other games on my backlog, I finally decided to come back to it a couple of weeks ago.

I just finished Act 2 and unlocked Yasuke. The first sequence with him was a high point for me - with the tension, the unknown motivations, and the sudden change of pace. I was excited to try him out... but the game feels flat again.

Most of the game (so far) has been a cycle of: here's a new target --> go do 2-3 missions to find the target's location --> go kill target --> rinse & repeat. There is a lot of traveling involved, the viewpoints are also a massive chore because half of them seem to be in well defended castles. To unlock or fast travel to a castle viewpoint means I need to sneak around and worry about getting caught. I feel like I'm spending more time traveling in betwen the action than actually being in the action. The scenery is beautiful... but that makes this a weird mix of an action game and a walking sim game.

Is the rest of the game like this or does it get better? I love the gameplay mechanics and the setting, but the pacing feels very blah. I'm ignoring side-quests and just focusing on the main quests, but even those have a "filler" vibe to them.

I'm still early on in the game, currently around level 8. I just noticed that this game has a skill tree and I have around 12 points to spend. This is my first RGP AC game, so I want to play this as close to "classic AC" as possible.

What are the weapons & abilities I should focus on?