I've been lowkey working on something about how rules can create meaning and context for a while now using Life as a case study, because that game is really, really weird with its rules. Lieke, you can choose to go to college before entering the workforce, but all it does is slightly increase your odds of getting a…

The first 50 Archie comics really are great, mega-angsty "Endgame" arc notwithstanding. The silver-tinted 25th Issue, the Sonic CD adaptation, was especially great if I remember. I think I've still got my original issues somewhere, although for most of them the covers have long since fallen off. In addition to the…

KNOCK KNOCK IT'S KNUCKLES

I caught the premiere of this at TIFF, and it was pretty interesting. The screening, I mean, less so the movie. Everyone in the audience was a diehard fan of the band (including myself), so the reception was pretty warm, even if the film's faults as described by the review were easy to pick up on even in that sort of…

Getting caught is not a huge deal at all, and in fact getting competitive times on a lot of the maps requires you to get creative and risky with allowing yourself to get caught. If a guard sees you, and you stay in his line of sight for too long, he'll fire a shot at you and you'll restart from the last checkpoint.…

Yup. I didn't have time to mention it really, but about two-thirds through the game the main antagonist brings to light some of the unforseen consequences of your actions, and the tone becomes a lot more reflective from that point as some of the characters who had been supporting you begin to doubt you. What's…

*emerges from the brush, perfectly camouflaged*

I don't pre-order games. I live within walking distance of a half dozen or so game retailers, so securing myself a copy early has never been a problem, even for those titles that sell the fastest (the closest I've ever come to being unable to buy a game on day one because all the copies were sold out was when I went…

Sonic music has gone on an interesting journey, but right now I think it's actually in a general upswing. The Masato Nakamura/Michael Jackson Genesis era stuff is obviously still the high watermark, but even the most middling Sonic games have tended to at least have decent music. The Jun Senoue era, roughly Sonic…

KNOCK KNOCK IT'S KNUCKLES

This is the latest to the party I've ever been, but the first time I played Shining Force II I hated it. I was about six, and found it frustratingly difficult. I had been coddled by the original game, which gives you a balanced squad of like a half dozen folks and a lump sum of spending money before the first fight…

"Final Preparations" is in Novigrad, right? If so, you still have to do "Battle Preparations" in Skellige, which is another couple of hours. After all that, though, you're at the finale. It's a pretty rad finale, too, I think at least.

For confirmed fall releases, definitely MGSV, which, holy crap, is out in just over two weeks.

Just tell us how your day's going, it ain't all about games at Gameological!

Yeah, Witcher contracts are safe to skip if you don't want to bother with them. I quite like them—I even downloaded a few of the free DLC ones so I would have more of them to do—but if they're not your bag, you can earn more than enough money, gear, and experience points just playing the main quest.

If you're at Ugly Baby then you're a few hours away from my favourite part of the game and a big surge of adrenaline and motivation, so even if it feels like you're going nowhere right now, things are about to start getting real heated. Pretty soon the game's overarching story is going to go from "fart around the…

Mukumuku would make a pretty good pet too.

I think that Pokémon Origins anime miniseries they made a little while back basically confirmed this. In that show, Gym leaders choose their lineups based on how many badges the trainer challenging them has already earned, deploying tougher 'mons against trainers with more badges.

Malboro meat would be like a cross between fugu and calimari.

Eat, Pokémon Category: Kingler. I quite like crab meat, and Kingler would provide an embarrassment of seafood riches.