I loved Dark Souls II, myself. I can understand how people were disappointed with the world layout after the crazy, looping, integrated world of Dark Souls (well, integrated if you ignore the existence of Anor Londo and the Undead Asylum). But I suspect if they had just repeated that idea for the sequel it wouldn't…

Consider the possibility that different people enjoy different games, often for reasons that have nothing to do with wanting to seem hip.

Dark Souls elitism is deeply silly, although I feel like a lot of it is driven by really young people (for instance, I just don't see how this remarkably unfunny attempt to parody the "casuals" and their perceived need for an easy mode could have come from someone who isn't in middle school) who don't remember that…

The resistance stat is useless: no matter what your build, don't ever level it.

I "killed" her on my current playthrough and something very cool indeed happens.

Re: Dark Souls 2 character build problems, you can always go back to Things Betwixt with a Soul Vessel and respec!

I love my Mario-themed Hanafuda cards so much.

Miniatures on a table for reference and to help remember who's engaged with whom, but no precise grid-based play. I hate drawing maps!

I know! But I talked a good game about giving them flexibility, so I really don't want to go that route, even though I have high Charisma and could totally pass the bluff check!

I'm playing the latest edition and using a setting that is mostly just generic fantasy that I made up/stole entirely from other fantasy stories I enjoy, combined with random snatches of official lore that I find interesting as I pick monsters from the manual.

I don't think there's a boss fight tougher than the Cave of the Dead fight, but I bet if I thought about it I would come up with something.

I got bogged down in Xenoblade sidequests a few years ago, and wound up getting so overlevelled that even bosses in the main story would drop in about thirty seconds. Kind of sapped away my desire to keep playing, which was a shame, because it was a sweet game and had a really fun story (even if you can see the…

Break a leg!

Something about Nintendo of America's policies about religion, wasn't it? Which is weird because I would have sworn that was a late 80s-early 90s thing, and besides that Bayonetta 2 just came out and you spend most of that game summoning devils to drag angels down to hell.

My existential conflict with video games is I'm playing, having fun, and I think "why can't life be like this? Colorful and exciting and with clearly defined goals that make sense and are achievable?"

Binding of Isaac seems like something I should just go down the rabbit hole with, but it's that "crying baby protagonist wanders a landscape of shit and blood and mommy issues" aesthetic that has dissuaded me from diving in.

It's been almost a decade since I saw this film and I was reliving the ending as soon as I saw the headline for this piece.

Honestly, I would just skip The Wonderful 101 if that's been your experience. And I'm saying that as someone who LOVED the game. If the constant excursions into new control styles for vehicles and the like, the endless boss battles, and the huge number of characters on screen at once are bothering you, that's never…

That reminds me that someday I have to go unlock the challenge levels on DKC:TF, a very worthy addition the series.

One of my great memories of my parents' old Great Pyrenees Lexie, one of the friendliest creatures that ever lived, was when my ex-girlfriend walked into the living room wearing a Harley Quinn costume and Lexie was just like "OH HELL NO, THAT FREAKY-HEADED MONSTER IS NOT COMING IN MY LIVING ROOM WITH MY PEOPLE!"