Problem: Seems like the point of this game is victory. The absence of defeat on all fronts. Victory in business ventures and creative undertakings. Victory in love and over other people. Political victory. Ideological victory. Hell, even sexual victory. Definitely a lot of object-based victories, too - having things and not losing them. One problem, though: not a lot of victors in sight. Everyone’s mostly losing. Why is that? And how do you not lose?
Solution: How not to lose? It is impossible not to. The world is balanced on the edge of a knife. It’s a game of frayed nerves. You’re pushed on by numbers and punitive measures: pain, rejection, and unpaid bills. You can either play or you can crawl under a boat and waste away - turn into salt or a flock of seagulls. Your enemies would love that. Or you can fight. The only way to load the dice is to keep on fighting.
“Snake? Snake? Snaaaaaaaaaaaaake!”
It’s probably not a problem… probably
Chingada madre!
(Jackie, Cyberpunk 2077. See you in major leagues, my dear friend)
Since so many other quotes are already claimed, how about some Outer Wilds:
Seriously, I tried everything I could think of […], and neither idea worked.
" " - Half-Life 2
“It’s a beautifull day outside. Birds are singing, flowing are blooming… and kids like you those days… Should be burning in hell.” - Sans, Undertale
Ah shit here we go again.
And remember, bad times are just times that are bad.
“Were it so easy.” - the Arbiter, Halo 3
“A toaster is just a death ray with a smaller power supply! As soon as I figure out how to tap into the main reactors, I will burn the world!” Toaster, Fallout New Vegas (Old World Blues)
“If you can hear the police knock on your door, the music isn’t loud enough” -Guitar Hero
“I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee”
I don’t remember the exact line, but in Metal Gear Rising: Revengence they say something to the effect of “Just like the WMDs and Iraq!” Referring to how the US used a lie as a false pretext for invasion. It was just so straightforward and direct. Even today that would still be crazy, but that game has been out for a while. Pretty bold to put it in.
I recently replayed Metal Gear Rising, and when Armstrong kept talking about how much of a pussy America has become and started yelling that with him at the helm, he’d MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, I was fucking shocked.
Granted, I know that term was an old Reagan term, but fuck, with Metal Gear Solid 2 (2001) being all about the internet flooding with misinformation and AI making it so that you don’t truly know who you’re talking with… And with Rising (2013) being about a dude thinking America is too woke and wanting to make it great again… AND WITH DEATH STRANDING (2019) being all about everyone being locked inside their homes, isolated with little physical connection to their friends and families, only waiting for the mailman to arrive with packages…
Whew, if I had to point out a person I suspect may have a functioning time machine, Kojima might be it…