[Early] Democracy 3 Review

It should be noted that I'm pretty piss poor at this game at the moment. There's a lot of moving parts and that leaves me questioning how to aptly play this game in order to get ahead. There's one big thing I've already noticed: making big changes means big public outcry. Even if what you're doing is for the best, the public either doesn't see the big picture or just isn't looking for true change. In many ways this mimics real life politics and almost makes me feel bad for the politicians. Almost. I've only played D3 for a couple hours last night and bought it on a whim for it's low price point and because it's sat on my Steam Wishlist for a long time collecting dust. It's a pretty straightforward game with a lot of complicated information, you defiantly have to think here and plan before you execute an order.

The biggest problem I've faced with D3 is how overwhelming it feels. Your nation starts with so many problems, it can feel like a bit much just getting started. The easiest thing I've found is to simply focus on one problem and see what small changes you can make to improve it, without a lot of major changes.

However, that hasn't stopped different groups from assassinating me for various reasons. I've had Conservative Patriots to Liberal Immigrants shoot me. But hey- can't make everyone happy. Having recently been watching House of Cards, one of the first things I toyed with was Frank's plan to empty welfare and deposit all the extra funds into state employee positions. Unfortunately, that too backfired as many of the state positions required a firm education or simply took time to see growth in that area.

One of the more annoying features of the game- which might actually have a good reason for being this way (although I haven't found it clearly) is the bubbles on the main screen. While the bubbles themselves are fine, however hectic they may be. The problem is they change position nearly every turn, which makes returning to that bubble confusing. Especially for new players who aren't aware of which bubble represents which function. The other issue is providing me with the right information- when I need it. When I decide to drop spending on something- lets say Military Funding, I really wish it provided me with automatic calculations on how much I'm saving, how my debt per turn will change and other graphical hard data. In a way, it almost seems like public opinion matters more than the actual hard numbers. Which might be the point all long. As long as the nation is happy it doesn't matter that Blacks are being put behind bars, the Religious Right is teaching Creationism and we're Nuking Korea.

The game is pretty intriguing and I'm happy I picked it up- it just seems to have a steep learning curve even with various tutorials. More updates soon- hopefully I get the swing of things shortly.

The Gentle Weekend

This weekend has been one of those dream like weekends that can only be accomplished by not having children and the proper application of ignoring responsibilities. Yesterday was dominated by nearly an 8 hour House of Cards marathon which left me shocked and yearning for more as the final episode of Season 3 ended.

I was overall fairly happy with the third season, however I felt it very jarring to see Francis struggling to keep things together. Unlike previous seasons, it felt like things were constantly unraveling and just barely being held together by clinging bloody fingers. That's not to say the season wasn't good- but I left the season feeling unaccomplished. While season 2 left Francis taking control and achieving his dream, Season 3 was more of the struggle to keep what he had earned. So the ending wasn't nearly as grand as the previous season, but led to what should be a very interesting Season 4.

Today however, I decided to actually get up and take care of a few things. Which ultimately led to me to Starbucks where I met up with numerous friends and old coworkers. I was really happy to speak with Ronnie, who I spent close to two hours talking about the grandness of the universe, politics and sci-fi movies. It was really encouraging to talk to someone else who understood the largeness of it all and yearned to know more, like myself.

There's been a lot coming up, in regards to game updates and movies. I'll be writing more in depth reviews soon. So keep an eye out for those-