While I don't think it stands up to their first full-length, the new Black Crown Initiate is pretty killer. Been jamming that one most recently (also seeing them live for the first time Sunday night, opening for Ne Obliviscaris out of Australia. Fever pitch excitement over here).

For sure Vektor, like Fear… said. Also, from last year, Trials, This Ruined World is a must listen for thrash fans.

I love how everyone has such different experiences with the difficulty. For example, by death count, one of the hardest bosses for me was the Deacons of the Deep, which is another boss most people say is among the easiest.

The really bad monster-in-a-box I remember is in FF4 at Castle Eblan. There's one that has 3 beefy ogres in it that would always wreck my shit. Like, even knowing it's there didn't seem to help.

Describing Bioshock or a ride on the subway?

Those damn shark giants. It's the only thing I haven't accomplished in Bloodborne. Beating those two guys and getting the Rakuyo. I understand you can make them fight each other with the shaman bone blade. Guess I should try that one day.

I'm now on day 8 of a 12-day vacation from work, only two days of which were spent out of town. In this time I've accomplished precious little on the gaming front. Like, ashamedly little. This is not because I don't want to play games. This because inevitably I end up day drinking and watching Dark Souls lore videos…

They also seem easier to me in DS3. Even knowing a mimic was a mimic, I still got chomped a few times in DS1 and died a few. I think I only ever died to the very first mimic on the High Walls in DS3. And he didn't chomp me. Just beat me in a fight.

I'm loving the fast-motion option in Final Fantasy IX. Except for the rare case when I need to concentrate, click a very specific point, or fight more strategically, I'm playing the entire game in fast motion, and I don't really feel like I'm missing out on anything doing so. Just have to try to remember where the cut…

Haven't played, but I doubt it. I understand that the melee kills are essential to the gameplay, because enemies drop health when you do them. These health drops are necessary to survive, especially on harder difficulties, since the game's pace is more about give and take than it is avoiding damage.

Oh for sure. I'm eager to have the full FF collection on PC, or at least all the games I like, which is most of them.

Yeah, the Champion was the only boss that I couldn't beat solo (not counting NK). Finally gave up and summoned the Sword Master, and even that took two tries.

That's really impressive. Actually, I'm more impressed that you beat the Pontiff at the low level than Yhorm, who really you shouldn't be getting hit by.

This is really well said. Zidane's positivity, especially compared to the brood factories that were Cloud and Squall, has always been one of the most appealing factors of the story. It helps to make the game's darker elements - Vivi and the Black Mages especially - more palatable.

Seriously though I loved all those VH1 "I Love the …" and "100 Greatest…" series. They were perfect channel surf "whelp, I guess I'm watching this" fodder.

Should maybe also say that Final Fantasy X/X-2 for Steam is currently 20% off, so if you're interested at all, you may want to grab it sooner than later.

Started the new Ratchet and Clank and am maybe an hour in. Enjoying it so far. It looks great, though the ultra-modern graphics almost look wrong for the series. The dynamic lighting results in big chunks of the early game appearing dark and shadowy, not a look I associate with the series. And there's no option in the…

I am victorious over Dark Souls 3. The only boss I left alive was the Nameless King, so it's cool that I can continue my run before proceeding to NG+. I'll go back and try him again eventually. I might have tried harder to beat him, but I was so eager to dive into the lore videos that I decided to push through to the…

Wow, yeah, I'm surprised to read this. Certainly I hoped it would be good, but I hadn't read a lot of positive things about it.

I think I barely played it for even an hour. That was such a strange case, because Crackdown 2 felt noticeably worse than the first game. The way the character moved, the way the camera and reticle moved, the sluggishness on the jumping. It's one of those games that had a very obvious lag between input and result on…