No, they just carry a moralist banner, they just like it because [BIG SPOILERS HERE, RUN IF YOU HATE SPOILERS] In the end is all about a homosexual character who selfishly ran away from home forcing evryone to leave the place chasing her. That does not make it a good game, a good game must be entertaining and provide fun. A good game requires a well written story or be fun to play. a game where the whole plot is "You find yourself back at your home which is empty because your homo relative ran away, and nobody told you" and which is just a walking simulator has no good game qualities. Even Minecraft has a better story and gameplay than that arrogant overglorified walking simulator. It is like Amnesia minust the challenge, puzzles, and story. It is an empty shell of a game.

And now I rest my case.
I think all retailers are playing safe in some way, because we all know how moralists will do everything they can to fuck retailers if something they don't like is being sold. You could say both GOG and Steam are held at gunpoint by some sort of moralist bunch or another. Which makes me both angry and sad because those companies are no longer really free to sell what they want under the law.

You do realize how incredibly preachy and moralist you sound, right? I happened to like the story quite a bit. It's true, the motivations were bad, but the writing was actually good and I liked the way in which the game delivered the storyline, starting off with something that looked like a haunted house horror story, slowly turning your attention elsewhere. Can't say I agree with motivations of the said character, but I also disagree with two people around me who did a similar thing with very similar motivations, even if the core reason was a bit different.

I don't think Gone Home has ever pretended to be anything else than a walking simulator - what I do know is that it was a damn fine one, dealing with very real subject matter which I've never seen explored in a videogame before. I'm grateful for games which allow me to experience something unique that I've never experienced before, and it did actually offer me a new view on something I've previously encountered in my life, which is pretty much what I look for in stories in general. So, am I now carrying a "moralist banner", do you still insist on hiding behind "Everyone who disagrees with me is corrupt or wrong", or could it just be that the game has dealt with a genuinely controversial topic in a way which actually did reach out to some people? Because that's something Hatred can only dream about.

Honestly. If it was not because of the homosexuality part the game would have never seen any praise at all. And that does not make it good. It is just like clickbait articles and shock art. They are not good, just controversial. I have nothing against homosexuals, but using them as an atention tool is not good at all.

On the contrary, without the homosexuality aspect, the storyline would not have worked at all. Well actually, that applies given their chosen time period - if the game was set 80 years earlier, it could have tackled interratial issues. Still, surely, even disliking the storyline, you must see that without a controversial subject for the time (honestly, it's 2015, I wouldn't think homosexuality is controversial at this point), the storyline would have not made any sence. And before you pull "But it didn't make any sence artsy rubbish hipster bababa" or anything of the sort - it did make a lot of sence, and it was well-written. There can be no real argument about that. I'm sorry it didn't captivate you in particular, but you not liking something doesn't mean it's shit, it just means you don't like it.

Oh look, it's the hatred threads.

How are you doing, this evening ?

I disliked Gone Home immensely, it didn't captivate me at all even though I myself am in a same sex relationship. Felt like a cheap attempt at using that topic to garner respect from overly preachy LGBT types.

Also I don't think Hatred ever wanted to reach out to people. Do you hear that dialogue The Antagonist spouts? Do you see the over the top violence and chaos that he ensues? Do you see The Antagonist himself? Long greasy hair, trench coat, gruff voice... It's hilarious dark satire. Nothing more.

It's like Metalocalypse: The Game.

fine, thank you. We are now on the level of "everyone who do not like the same thing I do are wrong and corrupt". Not sure if the level is increasing or decreasing...

No, what makes it shit is the shitty gameplay considering the elevated price and the fact that the ethical integrity of the contests it won is in doubt.
The story by itself just makes it a "too deep for you" kind of game, which makes it as bad as Hatred's "too edgy for you" attitude storywise. Come on, it is the 21st century, being homosexual or having a homosexual character should have no more merit than having a straight character or being straight nowadays. Otherwise it would be kind of heterophobic don't you think? I mean, we have gone too far already to make everyone be treated fairly just to ruin it all by giving merit just based on their sexual preference.
And it is true, it had no impact on me because I did not live that kind of things. But many other games with experiences I did not live had an impact on me. I don't have to experience things to have empathy.
Gone Home is an inflated bag of hot air with a single blue colored (Or whatever color is fashionable by the "progressive" tumblrinas nowadays) hair inside.
I don't care if it is "progressive" or whatever people call it nowadays, it is just not worth its price.

It's been pretty civil around here since Mr Congeniality logged off.

You explained my point better than I do myself. I admit I am not good at explaining myself.

Not to go off topic, but worth chiming in....

Actually, that is exactly part of what I don't like about the story. The fact that it is so completely generic. Its like any other bad teenage love story where the parents just "don't understand teenagers". It works perfectly well and perfectly the same if it was boyfriend and girlfriend and the parents just felt they were getting too close, too soon and were mildly overprotective. They would very likely have acted the exact same way.

The storyline still makes perfect sense without that one aspect. And I thought the ending was horrible unless you really like watching train wrecks...

I swear that was a film I saw a couple of years ago - "Mr Congeniality logging off". If not, someone should make it.

I really don't watch gaming politics, it's quite pointless. All I do know is that it seemed like a game I might like at the time and so I bought it, and I liked it quite a bit. As for shitty gameplay, it's a walking simulator. Talking about "Gameplay" would be a stretch. It does have some, but that's extremely minimal - more than in, say, Dear Esther, still, minimal. Nonetheless, I like diversity in my gaming (or non-gaming, whatever you want to call Gone Home, I don't really care TBH), and I firmly believe (non)games like that have their place and can be entertaining if done well. I've played quite a few of these, and Dear Esther is by far my favourite.

Come on, the story didn't pretend to be anything it's not. I felt it was quite straight-forward. As for the homosexuality aspect, as I said, it could have been replaced by pretty much any other controversial one, the main point of the game wasn't homosexuality after all - it was basically one big statement on conservatism, and I felt it carried that statement quite well.

That was a crappy appeal to emotion by me, I even realized this and edited it out, hoping you won't notice - I apologize.

Of course it's not progressive, even calling it innovative would be a stretch. Nonetheless, it's quite unique in its own way.

Eeeeh, it's not good enough to match Metalocalypse :-P

I suppose, to an extent. I still believe the story tried to get a bit different point than that of overprotectiveness across, but it is an issue tightly related. And yeah, I could probably do with a better ending and a bit less of the teenage angst :-P I never said the game's perfect. Nonetheless I liked it quite a lot, and it's not like the whole "My parents don't understand me!" doesn't exist.

Trying not to spoil anything, but it seemed to me the idea of the ending was supposed to be something beautiful and empowering, but I just couldn't get past the individual characters irresponsibility.

Taking it to what I see as its logical conclusion, means the relationship is doomed to early failure. If you think seriously about the big things the two of them gave up, what Lonnie did probably leads to extended jail time and a terrible start to any employ-ability, and while Sam is better off than Lonnie, the offer she gave up she should seriously regret. Not to mention whether their parents deserve what happened...

Edit: And to be clear, while I do think its over-priced, rather generic, and has a poorly optimized engine. To be fair, its certainly not terrible. There are plenty of other titles that have their flaws on GoG, so I believe it does belong in the catalog.

I guess getting back on topic a bit, after seeing a number of playthroughs, I don't think Hatred would have been misplaced either. Seems most people agree its a decent, but not ground-breaking, twin-stick isometric shooter with an intriguing physics engine and rather an impressive destructive environment. Not without a few bugs, the biggest gripe seems to be its repetitiveness and lack of story, but I'm not sure it is that different from most other shooters, even Call of Duty, as the "reasons" for each mission are often weak. I know most people are going off Totalbiscuit's review, but he is known to be notoriously bad at actually playing some games. His big gripe about level respawns seems silly. A lot of games make you complete a level entirely to move on, otherwise one can save every two inches until you get it right. I've read there are a few unique levels (such as fighting through a train), but most are similar to the open-world design of the first level.

I'm just a little sad that GoG didn't support a native Polish developer. $19.99 isn't a bad price point for a Day 1 release and looking at the playthroughs, it actually does look decent enough (look at some of the other price points we have had of late and the user reviews). Obviously now it's too late. A Day 1 release cannot occur and $19.99 is a bit pricey for an "after-market" game...