Holy crap I played Final Fantasy Tactics so much. And spent so much time online talking about it. And thinking about it. I'm actually mentioned a few times in the Solo Straight Character Challenge FAQ on GameFAQs because while I didn't actually do any solo challenges, I knew enough about the game's clockwork to…

It’s Merlin Has Actually Played Some of These Games Week on the Keyboard Geniuses Leaderboard! [Link] I, for one, am excited.

I'm hearing from the booth that we have a video replay on that.

Even that arguably would've worked if it just culminated the Statue of Liberty scene and skipped the the Auld Lang Syne nonsense at the end.

She hit on you like crazy for the first three S.Link levels or so, then that vibe got dropped almost entirely. Also, accepting her advances (one of which involves a pretty suggestive fade to black) is actually not the most productive choice in terms of advancing the social link. It's kind of a weird one.

That could really be great. One of the things that bugged me about Invisible Inc. (try not to get whiplash from that topic swerve) was that hacking and sneaking were so directly related. IE you could hack things when you physically saw them, whereas it would've felt a lot more cyberpunky (and generally interesting)…

Huh. My work internet lets me putz around on all kinds of social media, but it apparently has "Alternative Spirituality/Belief" filter categories that block the first tarot card info site Google gave me. That's… weirdly specific.

Yeah, and the choices involving those frequently hit the same issue as Mass Effect Renegade/Paragon ones, in that the line between choices requiring a stat and improving a stat is all kinds of blurry. The best work that social stats actually do, I think, is keeping the designers conscious to make your silent…

It's pretty unusual as tactics games go, and as much as it wants you to feel like you're barely scraping by, it's actually pretty forgiving in a few respects. Most notably, your units never truly die in battle, they just disappear from the fight and have a temporary penalty while they recover from their wounds. (They…

I do wonder if a better approach might've been to change the scope of choices rather than the frequency of them. To echo your Bioware point, Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition at least attempted to bridge the gap between half a dozen guys slugging things out in a warehouse vs. empire spanning politics sim.…

There've already been a few defenses of the combat system, but to add my own: it's just baseball, guys. Each side sets up a batting order and takes turns cycling through it. It's unusual in the genre, but I don't think it's terribly complicated or any less sensible than the typical player phase/enemy phase setup.

And jeez, it's like the wildlings just waltzed in…compare that to
the bloodbath that was their last attempt in Watchers on the Wall.

Y'know, I was about to say how much I enjoy Roose as a character, then the scene kept going and it just came out as "God I'm so bored of Ramsay." The best/worst part, though, is the Karstark totally not reacting. Yeah, sure, vendetta against the Starks. But really, this is the guy you want to hitch your wagon to? I…

It’s a lightning round on the Keyboard Geniuses Leaderboard! [Link]

DIVERSITY!

Can't post the scoreboard until later this evening - foolishly chose to attend a company presentation/event. (Send help.)

Sadly, it's also easier to see Eiko's ridiculous wader-overall-thing.

His model's thong is much crisper in the remake, so at least that part isn't quite as much of a shock when you see it in the cutscenes.

Let's just go for broke and say that you're going to beat AssCreed: Brotherhood this weekend, too. :P

I too am bingeing on Final Fantasy IX, having just gotten the airship and started polishing off sidequests. It's a pretty solid port, especially by Squeenix standards. (Seriously, for the number of ports & remakes they make, their batting average is astonishingly bad.) I'll try to keep this quick.