YES!!! Finally picked up a Vita earlier this year (to add to my portable-heavy 3DS and Switch home) and the main thing that's struck me is that darned sleep mode. I'll go a month without turning it on and when I do - BOOM - right back to whatever game I was in the midst of. Brave for highlighting an undersung feature.

Neat! Might pick up The Shapeshiftung Detective on Switch. I liked the Dr Dekker performances and the premise of changing shapes for different reactions is rock solid.

There is something weirdly engaging about watching excellent salesmen work. When listening to a Fils-Aime you have to remain skeptical (as his goal is explicitly to sell a product) but you can still appreciate just how good he is at it. Like the best salesmen, he knows how to make the sale not about the product but…

I disagree with the premise that Smash is a repackaging of previous content, but also like how you asked the question. As you noted in your interview, that’s how we get more interesting, meaningful responses. The interviewer’s job is to interrogate, not be friends with the subject. Thanks for all of your hard work, as…

Kirk, this review is a thing of rare beauty. Believe it or not, I had not intended to play this game (I was never a big fan of the previous one and tend to dislike Rockstar releases) but your review piqued my interest. I remain conflicted, primarily because of the work conditions at the studio, but it sounds like the…

Story updated: Sorry folks, Kotaku broke YouTube. More details to follow.

This weekend I’m playing Mega Man 11 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Both are extremely challenging! I finally managed to get through Fuse Man’s stage and defeat him. Can’t beat Impact Man despite my best efforts, and Bounce Man’s stage is extremely punishing. At least I got that sweet Block Man ability. And what…

Man, you are genuinely selling me on Shibuya Scramble. That sounds like a very Japanese game alright. Good gracious.

Finally downloading Discord for this. I’m very down for Spla2n tourneys.

Man, I don’t know what the heck to think about Shibuya Scramble. Sounds mighty odd. As for Record Keeper, it's fascinating to imagine Octopath and FF colliding - have they ever done a Bravely Default crossover?

You got it on Mario Odyssey. Like all good Mario games, the basic mechanics are so tight that you just don’t want to put it down.

Ohhh, that's probably where I found out about it!

This weekend I’ll mostly be playing Dragon Quest XI. It’s just so nice, you know? Puts a smile on your face and keeps it there. My wife has never seen a Dragon Quest game either, so she’s enjoying it. It’s no wonder that localization took forever, because the translation and voice acting are pitch-perfect.

Oh geez, the idea of MGS2 without having played MGS1 sounds challenging. Not sure how well it would work in that context. At least all the wild high-minded stuff at the end will still feel painfully prescient.

That’s happened to me on the US Mid-Atlantic more than a few times. Air patterns are mystifying, eh?

Good Lord, that must have been terrifying. Glad you pulled through.

Sounds like a good roster of games you got there. I’m a big fan of the Mega Man games (and wrote about them extensively elsewhere: https://the-avocado.org/2018/06/01/franchise-festival-14-mega-man/), but I’d probably take the bold step of suggesting that 6 is my favorite in the original lineup. I played 3 the most,…

This weekend I’ll be playing Okami HD (I’m shrunken in Sei-An City) and Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze (World 2), but will primarily be spending my time with…

Good gracious, Sonic Dreams Collection and What Remains of Edith Finch is as compelling a CV as it gets. I’ll be checking this out.

I don’t think this is a recent phenomenon. RPGs have had this issue since the early ‘90s, and action-adventure games have struggled with it since at least the rise of conematic storytelling in the ‘00s. Heck, even the hook- and gameplay-centered Nintendo has occasionally fallen short on this (see Twilight Princess).