I've come to the conclusion ideologies are a sort of mental poison which utterly stifled any actual thought in its victims. Case in point this slapdash discord rant masquerading as an essay. In this case it seems the primary game design ethos of the author is escapism. They want to escape and exist in another world and mechanics serve as a barrier to that. This betrayed in the cliche 2000s teenage girl writing style which show a desire to exist as someone of a different age in a different time (your wannabe 2000s cringe culture is dead sparkle dog bimbo brainrot disease aesthetic isn't unique its an epidmic).

This leads to some baffling claims like talking about how comfy the world of the half life games, a military installation and eastern Europe respectively, are. None of the locations except the alien planets are particularly unrealistic in half life the author could always just fly over to eastern Europe and see some brutalist architecture. Ultimately its not the locations in games OP wants to escape into but into the simplistic feeling of a game. An abstraction of reality where hunger, drinking, insecurities, ugliness, and complexity don't exist. Where cutting grass and slashing slimes can give you enough honest days pay to keep you going. The pixels and polygons smooth over so much of the harshness of reality making even a dystopian world like half life seem comfy in comparison to the real world. Its like Japanese anime where a common plot trope is someone killing themselves and being transported to a magic world just like mmorpgs and jrpgs the protagonist/watcher are familar with. Its not an escape to a new an unseen world (like many past fish out of water stories) but instead an escape into a simple and familiar world. Its creepy and shows a lack of imagination (I seriously question the normalization of suicide and sexually charged fanservice in a country with a high suicide rate and gender segregated train cars) . You have only one life and one chance in this world don't waste it wishing you were something else in a world of 5th gen polygons. I promise the real world is not as scary as your toxic online communities and brainrot ideologies have made you think.

During the Dreamcast's short but oh-so-sweet time in the spotlight, no developer more distinctly encapsulated the brands ethos and aesthetics quite like Sonic Team. Although criminally cut short due to the consoles lacklustre sales, the catalogue of varied and creative titles they put out during this time were overflowing with that special Sega sauce; colourful, fun, pick up and play classics like Sonic Adventure and Chu Chu Rocket managed to instill themselves in the hearts and minds of gamers for decades to come.

However, their most groundbreaking game by far would come at the tail end of the consoles short life, in the form of the seminal Phantasy Star Online- an insanely ambitious experiment that redefined the joy and wonder of co-operative play by introducing console gamers to the world of online play- and it would do so with that signature Sonic Team style.

From the title screen alone you knew you were in for something truly special- lulled in by its hypnotising, ethereal sci-fi intro theme, you're invited to imagine the endless possibilities that lay ahead of you at the frontier of this new age of gaming.

As a young polaroidplayboy, I was totally enamoured by PSO, and many a sleepless night ensued as I found myself teaming up with strangers (who quickly turned to friends) to explore this beautiful new and strange world, helping each other to learn the ropes, fighting ever increasingly difficult monsters as we progressed, trading the weird and wonderful rare weapons and loot we found along the way, feeding our mags and even just shooting the shit back at home base at the end of a tough boss fight. Gamers today take these simple things for granted, but at the time there was nothing else even remotely comparable.

With its stunning and vibrant cyberpunk aesthetic, married with an otherwordly, ambient techno soundtrack and a simple but seriously addictive gameplay loop, PSO helped shape my tastes for years to come.

One of my most nostalgic gaming memories by far, and unquestionably one of my all time favourite games ever.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to cook some bacon and eggs with this new weapon I just found.