I got Remember Me on sale. The art direction on it is really really lovely. A lot of other things less so, but I have been digging the combat. I want to like the platforming bits more than I do. They're kind of a mediocre version of the Assassin's Creed/Price of Persia platforming without the puzzle-esque pleasure of…

I can't believe no one's referenced the Goat Simulator trailer yet.

I am going to be finishing up Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall and then chugging along with Shadowrun Returns: the Editor.

This is one of those games where I can see why it is worthwhile and important and even enjoyable, but which I have no desire to ever play myself (see also: Hotline Miami). Just watching the trailer felt brutal and exhausting beyond my tolerance.

I'm super excited for Act 2! It's such a lovingly crafted game.

I have done that, but I feel like I must not have done it in the right places at the right times or something, because it was just dark and nothing happened. Maybe I needed to turn the volume up.

She really did, though I was pleased to see her cameo in Xanadu, just as another way for all these stories to intersect. I don't know if we'll ever get a reunion with Shannon, but I would love to see a flashback of them talking together.

Hmm, it's weird. I feel like the series didn't become creepy until Act III. There's been a spookiness and a strangeness to things from the beginning, but it never turns over into something genuinely unsettling until we visit the Hall of the Mountain King, I feel.

This article is excellent, but I do feel like it's an analysis of half-a-thing. This isn't to say that such analysis isn't worthwhile or valuable, but from the way the ending of this act plays out, I believe we will see a lot more of Hard Times and the structures therein in the acts to come.

Hmm, I have to say that I think there's a difference between story games with genuine adult ideas and themes (I just played The Shivah, so it is on my mind) and games that can use its gameplay to explore themes of adulthood. I haven't played Passage, but I do remember hearing about The Castle Doctrine and thinking…

Yes, 100%. Somehow, the games industry (gamers?) seems to think that 'mature' = 'adolescent', and that's colored our ability to talk about them.

I like Kai as a foil to Mako and Bolin. Anything that gives Mako some good character stuff to do besides brood and cause romantic drama is a-ok in my book.

I picked up XCOM, since it was just released on Linux. I am being a wuss and save scumming on easy. I would say I'm ashamed of myself but I'm not.

I suspect that they included it in the beginning to create a strong through-line between the games, because originally it was planned as a different protagonist and a different time period each game. This was all before it ended up being a yearly title, of course, and I guess they underestimated how much people cared…

Yes! I loved exploring that location in the 'real world'. Sure, it's just the same exact location redressed with new objects, but that's part of the charm.

I haven't played IV yet, but I've played all the other games, and I have to say that I have a soft spot for the 'real world' parts. They're not really any good, but I do enjoy them as change of scenery from the main action, and I enjoy how willing they are to go bugfuck nuts on the Templars vs. Assassins (plus…

Super late to the party, but Double Fine released a 12 min video that acts both as a retrospective into the making of Grim Fandango and a bit of an explanation for how the deal with Disney (who still own the IP, I assume) and Sony came about.

I loathed Limbo by the end of it. I realize that it makes me a weirdo, but I think my experience was the same as yours, where it was pretty great at the beginning, but then it leaned on its atmosphere to sustain it the rest of the way through, which isn't the same thing as gameplay or story.

The thing about the big AAA games is that they're like these giant sprawling novels with incoherent, often contradictory themes and messages. It's probably a result of both commercial pressures and a too-many-cooks thing, but especially with the open world titles, they turn into these weird messes of ideas held…

I definitely went through Acts I and II again this week, as well as Limits and Demonstrations and The Entertainment, and now I'm gearing up to play through Act III this weekend, too.