Most of them aren’t outright risque (it’s not like The Witcher 1, nor is the context), it’s mostly the concept itself that’s a little out of place.

Like what Lunar does? It’s pretty rare outside of the ecchi/outright eroge subgenres.

I’m playing a 90’s fantasy anime and it’s wholesome as shit

Yep, it’ll meet those expectations (and probably not exceed them).

As for being wholesome, well…there is a small part of the game that’s on the pervy side.

What’s funny is the voice of Navi has turned out to be one of my favorite Japanese voice actors.

Man, I wanna live in your neighborhood. I’m surrounded by bougie people or people with bougie fantasies. They talk all the time about drinking wine on a boat.

After finishing Citizen Sleeper, I’ve been trying again to get into Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. I’m still struggling, and it’s kinda bewildering. I’ve been an Ys fan since I was little and this is the first time I haven’t been able to get into one of them. I’m happy when I’m in a dungeon. Otherwise, I can’t get on with the story and cast (like Ys VIII, it’s a heavier focus here).

A friend suggested I continue on with Horizon, so I’ll probably pick up The Frozen Wilds this week, too.

Unfortunately the open world content in The Witcher 3 is quite tacked on, the kind of generic stuff you’d find in any game that uses the same sort of system to fill out its maps. The actual side quests are often very good, however. Many of these have far-reaching consequences or plot twists sending you down rabbit holes you wouldn’t have seen coming when you first pick up the job.

If you ever do find a reason to try the game again, just avoid the generic map markers entirely. As I’d tell anyone reading, there is rarely good reason to dip into them.

Yeah, it took me longer than that, but there was certainly a point after which I wasn’t too concerned about money.

The Witcher 3 is one of the best games I’ve ever played, and I do think The Witcher 2 is worth trying going back to beforehand, considering how much the previous experience enhances the third game. I usually tell people that Chapter 1 (not the intro, which is good) is pretty rough. It’s a bit aimless and the first boss there can be too difficult for an early game challenge. After that, it really picks up and sprints through the finish line, in my view. I disagree quite a bit on the writing; I think there’s some excellent writing to be found in the game, both with an interesting core cast that continues its level of quality banter and intrigue into the sequel, and also on the politics of neutrality and the ripple effects that a set of small changes can have on the broader power struggles of the continent.

The Witcher 2 is also rare in that it has a genuine branching storyline. It’s not quite to the insane degree that Baldur’s Gate 3 went with it last year, but it’s still very much the kind of design modern AAA publishers/developers shy away from, not wanting to invest resources in whole swathes of the game that half your players aren’t going to see. Helps a lot for replay, especially since that first chapter gets smoothed out quite a bit once you know what you’re doing.

Nice to see OC ReMix get a mention.

I was specifically referring to quality. There were several underperformers this year.

Considering it’s a press award, I’d be shocked if one of the lowest reviewed games ever to get nominated won. Feels like compensating for none of these being huge sellers (which might also be part of the reason that DLC is in there). And even then, BM:W only sold one out of four outside of China. Says a lot about the state of Western AAA gaming this year.

I enjoyed Batman Returns. It’s nothing more than a Final Fight clone with a licensed property slapped on it, but hey, I liked Final Fight.

If you’re into the nuts and bolts of game development at all, the commentary is fantastic.

Typing out the code from the book and then trying to figure out where you got the code wrong was half the fun!

Yeah, they’re gonna have to take my Windows 10 from my cold, dead hands.

As long as one is okay with the requisite time tinkering to get it up and running, the gaming PC still seems like a no-brainer to me at these prices. So much utility, including doubling as a work station.

I guess a bit can be saved on games by selling the discs later, but that requires the disc drive add-on, so we’re already looking at more up-front cost. And yet somehow, the base unit is still cheaper than the PS3 was, adjusting for inflation.

It was literally the Pinkertons. Long-time union infiltrators.

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Also my first deep dive into a gacha. One of my friends also plays Genshin and ZZZ and I’m like, hoooow? 😂

There were so. many. quests. that I’m just now getting to the “log in to spend energy” mode with HSR. The game’s absolutely packed with one-time content and being an MMO player, I’m so not used to this rapid release schedule.