Plus, RDR has a pretty terrific final act whereas GTA IV slowly but surely turns into an excruciating tour of New Jersey capped off by that maddeningly long, checkpoint-free final mission (which I still haven't finished because of that freaking motorcycle jump you have to do).

I started playing Bravely Default this week, so I'll continue with that. Just five hours in at the moment, but thus far I'm really impressed. A great blend of tried-and-true JRPG conventions and interesting new ideas. Loving the music, too.

Caught some of their set at Bonnaroo last year. They seemed okay. In fairness, it was like 2 or 3 AM and I was completely exhausted. Thus ends my Empire of the Sun story.

It's been a while since my oft-neglected Wii U has gotten any attention, so this weekend I'm thinking I'll jump into Wind Waker HD or Pikmin 3. I want to pick up Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, but I feel like I need to clear out a larger portion of my back catalogue first. I'll also probably continue to…

Talk about stuff n' fluff…

It was okay the first time… and tolerable enough the second… but there were what, like six or eight of them? And they all had the same sort of bland design. After a while, I found them to be a momentum-killing chore.

I've heard a lot of people say this, but I found Demon's Souls slightly easier than Dark Souls. Mostly because I never encountered a boss which I felt simply couldn't be handled solo.

My weapons were fairly simple, too - used a Longsword through Anor Londo, and a Silver Knight sword after that (upgrading both as I was able). As for Bed of Chaos… yeah, I don't know, but that thing was giving me fits. The one I found surprisingly easy was Four Kings - managed to beat them on my first try, though it…

Tomb of the Giants isn't too terrible, but that place would be about five times easier if someone turned the lights on.

The thing about the dialogue in Puppeteer is that it's all recorded, and it's all recited by actors employing some silly, occasionally grating voices. I'm generally fine with long-winded games too, but this one… it's a bit much. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the story were more engaging, but there were several…

Well, maybe not, but that's more of a RPG/puzzle game than a traditional platformer, no?

I've been playing it on and off the past few weeks. It's fun, though it takes a little while to get used to the controls and it's quite possibly the chattiest 2-D platformer I've ever played.

I finally beat Dark Souls! Uh, the original one, not the new one. Still, what a feeling of achievement that was. Once I finally managed to take care of Anor Londo, the rest of the game felt entirely manageable. I had looked up a few different things online at various points, but I was completely surprised (and…

The second was a big step up from the first for me. A more compelling story, stronger characterization and missions which were generally a lot more fun (man, I got tired of those endless "jump around a sewer and turn on a generator" missions in the first one). Looking forward to checking this one out.

Sen's Fortress is a real pain - figuring out the timing of those swinging blades gave me fits the first time through.

The Monster Hunter III tutorial makes no damn sense whatsoever. The only time I've ever had to use a guide during the tutorial stage of a game.

We're in pretty much the same position. I can't wait to play Dark Souls II, but I feel an obligation to beat the first one before I start. Haven't actually fought Seath yet (well, I did get murdered by him in the Duke's Archives), but I just reached the Crystal Cave so I'm sure I'll be doing that soon. Not sure how…

I used a magic build for Demon's Souls, but I'm currently wrapping up a Dark Souls playthrough using a warrior build. Ignoring magic entirely and focusing on a solid combination of endurance, strength and dexterity has given me enough flexibility to handle just about everything thus far. Thinking I'll probably take a…

This. My first attempt at playing Dark Souls was basically guide-free, and I basically screwed myself by leveling up the wrong way ("Resistance" sounds a lot more useful than it is) and upgrading the wrong weapons. By the halfway point, progression was proving to be near-impossible. Recently re-started the game after…

*high voice* "I think it's perfectly acceptable!"
*low voice* "I agree with that person!"