Sounds great! I hope it goes well!

Yeah, "aesthetic variation" is the one thing they didn't try to achieve in Luigi U!

I'm a big fan of Skyward Sword. I wouldn't want it to become the model for the series (it is far more narrative-driven than any other Zelda game), but I'm very happy that it exists. It has great characters, from the plot-important ones to the brilliantly animated denizens of the bazaar. Cool dungeons, neat…

THC is a wonderful gaming companion as long as I'm not trying to play a 3DS game with the 3D on!

In fairness, the ending of Dragon Age: Inquisition is pretty aggressively unmemorable, since they were holding off on resolving the storyline until the DLC!

Best of luck!

There's a lot of potential to do things "out of order" in Bloodborne, particularly since there are quite a few "optional" sections that you can encounter in ways that make them seem like they're the route you're expected to take. I certainly had several experiences where I finally beat a boss only to find that beating…

Ooh, what are you planning to do?

Besides "too much Mario in a row," what were your impressions of Luigi U?

Have never played World of Warcraft and probably won't. Not an MMORPG guy. I did see the Warcraft film in theatres with some D&D friends. It was very unmemorable! Showed several minutes of promise when it seemed like it was going to be told from the Orcs' perspective. Then… all the humans and elves and other…

That's excellent news!

Yep: don't pre-order anything that you wouldn't buy anyway in the face of bad reviews.

Sony did a really excellent job of managing the hype cycle for this. Team of 15 people and an indie game budget, but they got it into the Destiny/Watch Dogs/etc. position of "next big thing that will revolutionize gaming forever" and then got people to pre-order it for a AAA price!

I find those Nintendo reminders to take a break pretty charming generally (reminds me of Miyamoto's story where a young woman asks him the best game for her son to play and he replies "Tell him to play outside.") but it really irritates me how often Navi beckons me in Ocarina 3D just to tell me I've been playing for…

Wait, there were actual ruins to explore around you and your friends' homes?! That's a top-tier environment for childhood wandering!

I'll be entering this new one, for sure! Still have to go watch the ceremony for the last one!

Depends on how much you value challenge: Luigi U adds literally nothing in terms of aesthetics: same map, same backgrounds, same "narrative" with Mario removed.

I get a lot of mileage out of taking one night pre-campaign to set aside all the rulebooks and just scribble down every dumb idea that pops in to my head over the course of a couple of hours. As you say, you can figure out how it's a story later!

Aw, thanks!

I wish I had time to actually read your entire post right now, because you make this game sound awesome!