u/MoseSchrute_Day_841

The more I watch MrBeast’s videos, the more I feel like we’re not just watching people win money : we’re watching people, often from modest or financially difficult backgrounds, agree to increasingly extreme psychological and physical challenges because the prize could completely change their lives.

Isolation, sleep deprivation, being handcuffed to strangers, resisting temptation for days, pushing themselves to their mental and physical limits… the more intense the struggle, the more entertaining the content becomes.

It sometimes reminds me of historical spectacles where crowds would watch people endure extreme hardship for the chance at a life-changing reward. I’m not saying this is equivalent to gladiator games, participants are volunteers, they’re paid, and nobody is being forced into anything. But the structure of it still raises an uncomfortable question: are we watching generosity, or are we watching vulnerability turned into entertainment?

I get the obvious counterarguments that people choose to be there, few walk away with life-changing sums of money, and MrBeast seems to have clearly helped a lot of people in ways most creators never do.

But that’s also what makes it worth questioning. If someone is struggling financially, how “free” is that choice really? When the reward is big enough to potentially change your entire life, do people end up accepting conditions they would normally never agree to?

I can’t help wondering if we’ve just normalized turning human vulnerability into entertainment, as long as it’s framed as opportunity.

We’ve had three games now in the current Spider-Man series, and all of them are built around New York. I get why: the city fits the character perfectly, the web-swinging fantasy is basically tied to that skyline, and Spider-Man without NYC almost feels wrong on paper.

But personally, I felt a lot less excitement exploring the map in Spider-Man 2 compared to the first game. Even though the third game (presumably) expands access to more iconic NYC locations, I’m a bit worried that by that point most of the city will already feel explored and familiar, which kills a lot of the sense of discovery that made the original game so fun.

So I’m curious: would you actually want a Spider-Man game set in a different city, or even multiple locations depending on the story (like a globe-trotting structure, or a spin-off in a totally different setting)? Or is New York just too core to the character to ever change?

One thing that's been killing my immersion in Shadows: I genuinely don't know why I'm doing half of what the game asks me to do.

The soldiers/enemies scattered across the map are generically "bad guys," but the game never really makes you care about who they are or why they're there. You storm a castle, kill everyone, grab the loot, leave, and two hours later the whole camp has respawned like nothing happened. No consequence, no narrative weight, no sense of progress.

Compare that to Ghost of Tsushima: you attack an occupied fort because Mongol invaders have taken over a region and are terrorizing the local population. Every outpost you liberate visibly weakens their grip on the island. There's a clear cause-and-effect loop that makes the open world feel like it matters.

In Shadows, the open world activities feel completely disconnected from anything meaningful. Outside of the main quest targets, I have no idea what I'm actually fighting for. It's pure loot-driven busywork with zero narrative grounding.

Maybe the story explains some of it and I just zoned out because the writing wasn't engaging enough to hold my attention, but that's kind of the problem too, isn't it? If players aren't connecting the dots between world activities and the story, the design has already failed.

Anyone else feel like the world just doesn't give you a reason to care?

It's literally just "pick Yasuke or Naoe" and that's it. You can do most missions with either one of them while completely ignoring the other character, and that feels like a missed opportunity.

They could have designed missions that actually require both: sneak in as Naoe, open a gate, switch to Yasuke to clear the courtyard, switch back to Naoe to complete an objective inside... Making the dual protagonist system a crucial gameplay element rather than a cosmetic one.

As it stands, it feels like they never fully committed to the concept. Two separate protagonists, two separate playstyles, but no real synergy between them at mission level. A shame, because the premise had so much potential.

What do you guys think? Did the dual protagonist system land for you, or does it feel like an undercooked mechanic?

My rubber fork gaiters cracked from heat and sun exposure, and I’m looking to replace them with leather ones. The only options I’ve found are from Baak, which cost over 200€. Do you have any other brands you’d recommend?

Thank you !!

Hey guys! I guess this topic has probably already been discussed somewhere, but do you know if the recent remaster has been a success for Sony? And does it have any influence on a potential follow-up game?

Cheers!