I’m sort of torn on the camera. There are times when it really sticks out as a kind of unnatural format that warps the way characters stand and behave to accommodate it. The fight with The Stranger is probably the worst. There’s one point in the fight where the camera races to keep up with Kratos as he is knocked…

That sounds like a good change, because that is most definitely not what it is in the book.

What really pissed me off is that he used the supernatural story as an environmental fable in which the Victorians, having ushered in the Industrial Revolution, are slaughtered by a monstrous symbol of what the world loses from climate change. I think that’s terrible for two reasons:

I didn’t think that helping out the rest of the crew was running against Hickey’s character at all. He is vain and attention-seeking, and quick to assign external blame for his troubles even as he goes out of his way to antagonize people, but he’s also considerate to those in trouble. Remember just last week when he…

A) Bernard was never in the main tracking systems. He was always secreted away by Ford in back channels.

I never really thought it hurt the characters. The situation in Spira has radically changed, and so we see new sides of the characters, but they aren’t really different than before. Yuna is still restrained and motivated by self-sacrifice, even if she is trying to carve out some fun now that she doesn’t have to martyr…

I’m fine with moving in a new direction, it’s just that this particular direction seems iffy. I think my biggest issue is that I don’t know that I like the idea of a melee-focused game that uses an over-the-shoulder camera. It seems like it runs counter to the core systems.

You could always get a Playstation TV. I got one for like 50 bucks, and it’s compatible with both a Dualshock 3 and Dualshock 4.

HMMMM. Interesting...

Yeah, unrest is annoying, though you can exploit it for XP by stationing an army where you are having problems and basically feeding them the rebels.

The thing about Threads of Fate is that the narratives aren’t going on simultaneously; they are mutually exclusive, though playing through both on the same save file unlocks an ending that suggests some combined version of events happened. Rue’s side feels like the “true” version, since it’s longer and delves more…

Good choice.

Square’s PS1 library is full of cult titles. Is there any other game that works like Threads of Fate, where you basically have two different versions of the same game in one package?

I have my own issues with it, but I like Endless Space 2's more characterful, smaller-scale weirdness better.

Also, I keep poking and prodding at Endless Space 2. I think my core problem with the Endless games compared to, say, Civ, is that they are very unfocused. In Civ, there are multiple victory conditions, but the game systems are designed such that you’re always being funneled down at least a few of their tracks. You…

I wish I liked Stellaris enough to get to the point where crazy, fun stuff happens. It always feels like doing my taxes.

Yeah, Chaos will do that, the scamps. Before you perform the ritual, you can actually check to see which cities will be participating. One will always be your capital, but the other two seem to be randomly selected, or possibly influenced by size.

Those are all excellent picks. I’d go to bat for largely-forgotten Secret of Mana sequel Legend of Mana. Quirky, rough around the edges, ahead of its time, charming, and lovingly made, it has a devoted fan following but has always been largely ignored by the wider gaming public.

Also, if Doctuar comes along: what are you thinking of Total Warhammer so far?

I’ll be playing God of War. As a fan of the original series—even being an outlier in my opinion of Ascension as being “pretty good”—I’m going in with a bit of skepticism about the new direction. We’ll see what I think of it.