I forget - have you played Skyward Sword? That one might have my favorite soundtrack in the series, but they're all pretty great.

Yeah, where'd KG go?! How will I know to whom I should direct my respect?

With regard to Philly, it's probably my favorite city in the Mid-Atlantic. I live in the DC Metro area, which I love for various reasons, but Philly has so much heart (and the most consistently excellent dining, hands down). As for other museums there, this past visit we only got to check out the art museum and…

Ever Oasis is so delightfully meandering too. Feel like exploring the wilderness? Go ahead. Feel like helping out specific villagers? Talk to them and take them up on quests. Feel like concentrating on acquiring stuff for your booths to sell? Farm some critters/plants for a while. It's a surprisingly versatile game,…

There's a reasonable amount of randomness in Hearthstone, both in what cards you get as you earn booster packs and in what cards you draw from your deck. I gave it up once I stopped being able to win without committing to some carefully crafted strategy, which sucked a lot of the the fun out of for me, but you might…

From your current roster, I'd suggest Hearthstone or Dragon Age. Hearthstone is free, so you could see how it stacks up to Gwent, and Dragon Age is a pretty compelling series that falls a bit short of The Witcher but is still something of a historical touchstone for the medium and very compelling in allowing you to…

Absolutely heartbreaking, isn't it? I'm so sorry for your loss.

I had no idea that any of the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games were on Steam! I know what I'll be getting in the Steam sale now. Thanks!

I'll be adding you this evening! Also, good call on your first buys - I liked Shovel Knight back in 2014, but I only loved it once I played it on the Switch and, more specifically, played Plague Knight's campaign. Playing side-scrolling platform games is among my favorite things to do, and Plague Knight really offered…

Those are the moments I love in Splatoon - it's rare that the game is lopsided enough (assuming both teams are fully stocked with players) to feel like a shut-out. I've had games that turned on the last :05 seconds before, and it's always exhilarating.

My staggering lack of skill at the hobby I spend the most time on also keeps me from most competitive online gaming, haha.

I loved Battlefield 1942 way back when, but skipped out on the genre once voice chat became a thing and I also worked in a call center for a few years, rendering headsets one of my least favorite items.

I'm in entirely the same position as you with regard to Nintendo's lack of open chat functionality. It has had the consequence of me only playing Nintendo games online, a bizarre paradox given Nintendo's aversion to doing anything online particularly well. Still, I never would have picked up Splatoon if I had to hear…

I got whooped by a Master Mummy once without having managed to lay a finger on him, then got an almost-perfect victory on him in Round Two. I don't know what I was doing differently, but I think you just kind of automatically adjust your strategy a lot of the time.

My neighborhood game group plays Mysterium sometimes - love it!

Kudos on looking into the Splatoon campaign. I, too, only played multiplayer for the first year that I owned it and then finally played the campaign earlier this year in anticipation for the Switch. The final boss is tough, but outstanding. The bosses overall are one of the game's high points, but the final one really…

Oh yeah, as a general rule prices tend not to get significantly reduced on Nintendo stuff for a long time (if ever); heck, sometimes they manage to go up, though I would doubt that given Zelda's ubiquity. Which is strangely something of a double-edged sword - it's a bummer for people like me who, prior to my Wii U,…

Are these nested spoilers? Didn't know that was possible!

The SuperFX thing is pretty mysterious, right? One of the Starfox 2 developers, when reached for comment, asserted that Nintendo had the rights the whole time, which adds an odd wrinkle to the story. My money's on him being somehow misinformed, though, since it's hard to imagine any technical reason preventing…

So much to comment on here - serious congratulations on the baby announcement! The world can be a tough place sometimes, but the only way it improves is through people raising good young folks to push back against the darkness; the next generation is always better than the last. You're going to do great!