Matt J

The trackpads actually have a really cool use other than "mousepad." They can also be set up so that pressing different parts of them activate different hotkeys/input shortcuts of your choice.

It's actually a really convenient option for emulator hotkeys, which usually use keyboard keys.

I am going to evaporate into the sky

if i had known that this was the starting point of the initial skeet, the last 40 minutes of my life would have been different

I don't think I'd go so far to call it revisionism, I just think the internet has exposed too many people to the far extremes of any given trait. I can see how easy it can be to sorta lose sight of sentiment coming from the average reasonable person.

Obviously. Shit's fucked. It's not like I DON'T know that. I just think you're casting a way wider net than you need to. Sometimes personality traits and taste are just that.

The only thing I've been arguing is that if you're looking at spoiler-averse people who want the most positive first experience with media possible, and deciding that the root cause of this trait is marketing and social manipulation, that's cynical as hell!

When I was in elementary school, my sib spoiled a late game plot point from Tales of Symphonia, and even back THEN, I knew that I wished I could have been surprised by learning it in-game instead.

You MIGHT have just forgotten what it's like to just casually enjoy the twists and turns of fiction.

I'd probably be rolling my eyes a bit less at some of these takes in the thread if I had ever met even a single person like that. I have no reason to doubt that they exist though! Just never had a convo like that myself.

Attributing the enjoyment of not being spoiled and experiencing something blind to marketing and linking it back to the broken industry? C'mon. Like yeah obviously the industry is all kinds of messed up, but not EVERYTHING people enjoy about fiction is the work of The Mass Media Machine.

this is all a really bizarrely cynical way of framing the honestly really simple idea that people know they like to be surprised by fiction

SC with this level of care and production MIGHT just be one of the best video games ever made.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PS5)
Absurdly excellent remake from top to bottom. The combat is the best it's ever been, and the QOL is insane. Some of the field areas lost a bit of their vibe from the OG, and I miss that XSeed flavor in the English script, but other than that, truly NO COMPLAINTS.

If the kingdom of Liberl is so damn sophisticated and cultured, then why can't I find even a single copy of "Woo Baby" or "Christ, who's gonna die first?"

DC2 cont.
There's plenty I didn't engage with too. I could see myself having fun with the fishing systems, but it felt like more of a timesink than I wanted. As for Spheda........I guess I developed some amount of a taste for Spheda. I liked the game, but it left me wanting in a few ways. (3/3)

DC2 cont.
I'm sorry, but for a game with SUCH a high-maintenance system for maintaining your weapons, the combat was WAY too simple to justify it. Game's got several other activities in play though! I loved being a photography fiend and inventing shit. (2/3)

Dark Cloud 2 (PS2)
This one's considered a real classic iirc, and I get it! I got some mixed feelings about this one though. The world, writing, and vibe were all SUPER pleasant, sweet, and fun, but I kinda felt a significant lack of...characters actually interacting with each other?? (1/3)

I just want a retranslation of Wild Arms 2 so damn baddddddddddd

YouTube video by Saint Mauve [Ar Tonelico II] Various Bossfights (Hard mode)

10. Best gameplay:
LOADED-ASS QUESTION. Obviously I DON'T have a definitive answer to this, so instead I'll showcase an RPG with a battle system I find super underrated and was happy to fight every single battle the game threw at me. More devs should steal from them tbh.
youtu.be/JFxCnnOef3o

YouTube video by davidramons Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 - Cutscenes 8 "The sacrifice of Roland and Argilla" [HD]

9. Saddest game scene:
Cheating a little bit on this one, since I think this is a couple different cutscenes compiled together, but it all basically takes up the slot of a sequence that was very affecting to me.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXTo...

YouTube video by Taneomi Lies of P Overture [OST] - New DLC Record: Nightmare [HQ | 4K]

10. Favorite song from this year
youtu.be/eTrw_XENjDk
"Nightmare" from Lies of P Overture. I wonder how the OST to that new Layton game is coming along.

Mr. Driller: Drill Land Soundtrack - YouTube Featured on What They Call Games: http://whattheycallgames.blogspot.com/2012/10/5-puzzle-games-with-puzzlingly-good.html

8. Best Soundtrack:
This one is an absolute KILLER, cause there are just so many soundtracks I know and love, but I'll just throw down one that's short, sweet, and SUPER consistent in its very high quality.
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
More people need to hear the Mr. Driller Drill Land soundtrack.

YouTube video by Wang Luke Deemo-I Race the Dawn(Official soundtrack vol.2)(官方cd完整高音質版本)

9. Favorite Rhythm Game Song
youtu.be/2eavC2Zl4K4
"I Race the Dawn" from Deemo. Don't even really have to think about this one.

7. Favorite Game Couple:
had to scrape my brain a little bit but I don't think I could pick anyone but them

6. Most annoying character: I want to drop him from a very high altitude

YouTube video by IwannalickMenatsFeet 6 Mullen - Grandia OST

8. Best Orchestral Theme
youtu.be/IRZB6zRoTrQ
"Mullen" from Grandia just absolutely hits the spot.

So like, are we at the part where you ignore every reasonable stance and statement people offered up and pretend the weird crashout takes are the only ones that exist so you don't have to admit that you may have said something slightly off-base?

Astlibra cont.
This was SUCH a fascinating experience. The plot was fun and wild, and kept throwing twists at me up to the very end. I love weird, indulgent shit like this. Keizo really made a game just for himself and I vibe with that. It's a BIT of an acquired taste, but this one's special. (2/2)

Astlibra Revision (PC)
WHAT A WILD-ASS GAME. It gives off an early awkward & janky impression of being slapped together with such heavy use of royalty free music and art, but this game is deceptively polished. I felt like I was playing an early 2000s Falcom game from an alternate universe. (1/2)

Donald Trump is an anti-constitutional president who finds new ways every day to violate his oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States"

Here, he tells military leaders they will play a major role in fighting the "war from within" in American cities

Unconscionable

Gregory Horror Show Soul Collector for the Sony PlayStation 2