But as you say, it's a right place, right time thing. You might get a good game out of their inspiration, but it'll still be an attempt to recapture a moment that has long passed (in some cases, because things have gotten better since then). Obsidian making a Baldur's Gate / Planescape-inspired game was mostly…

I'm always confused when people get excited about an IP being revived, 10-15 years after its previous installment, with absolutely none of the original creators attached. The quality of a game usually comes from its writers, designers, and artists, not from some inherent source of quality in Lore or Continuity. The…

Between the punishing puzzles and the constant gruesome deaths, KQ5 taught me that life is a brutally unfair struggle which marches ever onwards towards the grave. Which, I think, is a valuable lesson for a 10-year-old girl.

One of my most prized possessions as a 10-year-old was a King's Quest Walkthrough guide. A nice thick volume with all of the puzzle solutions which I purchased at a local Electronics Boutique after experiencing real emotional distress over the endless KQ6 labyrinth.

Fenris wins the romance competition for the sexy wall-push kiss. Though Anders is fabulously broken and Isabela is flawless. Romancing Merrill is troubling. Wait, what were we talking about? This article was about DA2, right?

Oh hey, this fantastic show is finally going to get a second season??? It feels like it's been gone for over twelve months, during which time absolutely nothing showed during its time slot and no gratuitous shaggy blond haired douches and tedious witch wives slowly eroded the great rapport between Ichabod and Abbie.

Ah, this is excellent to hear - awesome! :)

It's got achievements now, too, if that's the kinda thing you like!

Mass Effect 2 got the "dark side" tone just right. Less space racism than 1, less genocidal mania than 3. Just pure badassness. And rudeness, but, like, rude in a COOL way. *Pushes that one dude out a window!*

I haven't played it, but Jade Empire's got m/m/bi romance with a hunky young rogue! So there's that. (Yes, Merve, I know. I'll play it soon!)

Do it do it do it!

Nah, these were the bad old days. Hell, even the straight male love interest in KOTOR1 was…lacking. Fuckin Carth, man. Plus side: he's voiced by Kaidan's voice actor! Minus side: he's Han Solo if Han Solo had a sad beard, surgically removed sex appeal, and the same condescending sexism. (Though no male BioWare…

Soooooo, I installed Knights of the Old Republic 2 on my laptop yesterday, after the big, unexpected Steam update allowed for both Mac play, high resomalutions, and easy Workshop support for the Restored Content mod. I booted it up 'just to see if it ran okay' and lo and behold there I was three hours later still…

Bull and Vivienne are fantastic as well. He's utterly terrified of and deferential to her.

Also, it's not splitscreen, but Towerfall: Ascension has REALLY fun local multiplayer and is on PS4. Nothing but shooting arrows with/at your buddies.

Seconding BeardtobeFeared's suggestion of PCPartPicker. I just built a brand new system for my sister, and that site helped immeasurably for ensuring compatibility and keeping stuff organized. They have a lot of user-sourced guides for builds, as well, which you can tweak for yourself. I usually end up buying the…

Cole + Dorian + Bull = my absolute favorite party combo, in terms of banter both interesting and hilarious. And sexy. Er, though Cole's unrelated to that part.

I've always thought it game from the same Tumblr mindset that produces Cumberbatchophilia / Sherlock fandom. He's the sardonic, emotionally cold, intellectual, arrogant bastard who, if you're a Lavellan, nonetheless opens up to YOU. And then dumps you COLD. I think he's a wonderfully written character, and his…

The book review section's really gone downhill the past few years here. Previously, I got introduced to Ian M Banks and David Mitchell via reviews here. Nowadays it seems mostly like celebrity crap or bestsellers I already knew about. Sometimes something good will show up, but it's really lost its discovery value.

I fucking love this review so much. I'm almost happy that the book exists so that Laura Hudson could savage it. Almost.