Thanks, that's a lot to think about. I can tell you that I've gradually come to see the whole time-travel aspect as being symbolic (or something like that) of Max gaining a kind of miraculous, God's-eye-view insight into how all of these events are connected, and they are beautiful and awful as they are— no need to…

So how is Banner Saga 2 compared to the first one? I seem to remember hearing some complaints that it didn't do various things (notably gameplay issues) as well as the first, but I can't remember much in the way of details.

There's something about Little Nightmares that's really scary! Those weird puppet-like monster people… Somehow they feel darker and more foreign/strange than the more ordinary "guys with guns and dogs" in INSIDE.

You mean the twins? I've tried a few variant choice paths with those guys, they are OK fighters but I seem to recall that on my second failed playthrough, they bailed out in the middle of something important…

Crypt of the NecroDancer is a high priority on my backlog list. Only problem is that I am not that great at rhythm-based games. But it's so damn fun that I'll definitely get back into it soon. There's no more enjoyable way to kill cute cartoon undead than to a groovin' electronic beat!

I've talked about this on here before, but the settlement thing just didn't do it for me. I would have been interested (and I do try, to some extent), but frankly I just couldn't get the hang of the settlement-building interface.

Oh cool! Well, I'm making good progress back towards that point now (Rook & co. just made their way inside the city walls at Frostvellr, and the big varl contingent is battling their way through endless waves of dredge), so it's nice to know that once I get there, I'll be approaching the final stretch.

Yeah, I understand the basic mechanics (strength vs. armor and all that), and I definitely really like the concept that weakened opponents do less damage— if there's an XCOM mod for that (or even, reduced weapon accuracy with reduced HP), point the way and I'm all over it.

Heh, this is basically the only one I've ever played too (unless you count Analogue: A Hate Story, which I don't because I didn't like it much). I want to say it's not completely representative of the genre, what with the bird thing and all. But it is totally hilarious and demented, in a highly enjoyable way.

"Ashing" a weapon, is that where you craft a homebrew adapter to secure it to the bloody stump of your severed hand?

I tried working out some of my kinks with guns back in college, but I was back on the streets within a few years and ready to start my new, rehabilitated life.

(stares blankly)

I put Fallout 4 aside just before the Glowing Sea part a few months ago and haven't looked back. I was thinking I'd try going back in at some point and focusing more on just getting through the main story instead of exploring every damn side quest (it was getting overwhelming).

I've got one of my once-a-decade playthroughs of Buy All The Things coming up too. I'd like to think that my choices at the end of the current chapter will make things easier, but the new place is so far off (moving from Canada back to the US), and we can't rent the truck size we want because it requires a special…

Hatoful Boyfriend is unbelievable. Make sure you play through a bunch of times to collect multiple endings— I forget the exact combination that does it, but eventually you unlock a super-secret ending which doubles the length of the game and triples— nay, quadruples— the insanity. And that's saying a lot for a dating…

Totally looking forward to that XCOM 2 expansion too. My initial reaction (I only learned about it recently) had a bit of "God damn it, I don't have the time or money for this much awesomeness!", though…

We were thinking of you! I guess I didn't come around here enough to sell it to the AV Club, but you were mentioned in at least one early comment (thanks to Stew Bum). You can still jump in now! (I realize your normal annual playthrough is still a couple of months off ;)

Back for more…

Bummer about Game of Thrones. I think I was kind of burned out on the Telltale games by then anyway (having consumed all Walking Dead-related material voraciously), but also I heard rumors that GoT was kind of a bust.

See my reply to caspiancomic's "GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN" comment above…