Metropolismania
Incredibly tedious city builder for the PS2. Holy Christ, someone should go back in time and throw Anno at them.
The premise is that people aren't communicating any more, instead preferring the convenience of electronical communication (eh? get it? GET IT!?). So an organization is founded to do something about it, because stagnation and doom. All of this is explained to you by a French guy with a Hitler mustache, the leader of the organization.
So your avatar, out of a billion of people, is the most communicative, popular and beloved person and hence chosen to war against convenience by being a city-building social conduit. You also have to wear a yellow suit with a matching top hat because that's what the saviour of humanity should look like.
It begins innocently enough. You build your first street, decide where the first citizens and a couple of shops should go and then the real game begins. You introduce yourself to your citizens and befriend them. They will then introduce you to their friends who you can then invite to move to your town and pick a spot for their house, which is the only way to grow your population. Once you reach a certain popularity level people will just call you and with applications, but that is a short-lived power-up.
The process is the same for every type of building, mind you, not just residential buildings. The only thing you can build whenever are streets. Citizens will occasionally mention a friend who wants to start a business, but also their cop friend, doctors, postal workers, etc. which is how you get those facilities that your citizens will eventually demand.
If you don't stumble upon the citizens that refer these people you need to just, well, walk around your ever growing city and fucking talk to everyone until you do, because isn't that fucking fun!? You're more likely to stumple upon someone who knows someone who knows someone else who knows a doctor. You see where this is going. Oh, yeah, the What'shisface Smith might know someone? Well fuck me if I remember where I put his fucking house! You can buy a notebook to keep track of your friendships and matching phone numbers, but it doesn't help the fact that you have to meet and befriend them in the first place, so you better remember to go back to that house once it's finished.
This - is mind-numbingly tedious. And I imagine it only gets worse the longer you play. The first mission you get is to build a town that has 200 residents. Two. Hundred. With the above process. I already wanted to blow my brains out at 100. :suicide
