ArbitraryWater

@wagrid: Mask of the Betrayer is a great recommendation. The base campaign for NWN 2 is a pretty stock-and-standard D&D romp without much flash, but MotB is weird and smart in the way that the best Obsidian games are known for. I actually like it more than KotOR 2, but that's its own discussion.

As far as I'll go, I think no one talks enough about The Temple of Elemental Evil. Well, maybe except me and Dave Snider. In terms of games that I think are singular and unique, it's up there because of its rather uncompromising approach to adapting the source material (both the original D&D module and 3.5 rules) and infamously brutal combat. Obviously, being a Troika game, it's only really playable with a fan mod that fixes all the serious bugs, but I think it's one of the closest examples of capturing the essence of a P&P roleplaying module in the framework of a single-player CRPG.

I'll also throw in the "capture" mechanic from Fire Emblem Thracia 776. Because you don't get a ton of gold, the main way of acquiring new weapons is by capturing enemy soldiers and taking their stuff. Some characters are also only recruit-able if you capture them, so that's an added bonus. It makes sense in the context of the story (you're basically an insurgent force working against the evil empire) and has never shown up in any of the later games in the series (probably because it's part of the reason that game is so hard).

I'm pretty excited to see Vinny play through Rondo of Blood and Bloodlines so that we can reach the TRUE pinnacle of the series. I'm of course talking about Castlevania 64.

The game has only been out for 3 days and I'm already starting to get fatigued by Fallout 4 talk. That probably doesn't bode well for my final hour count with that game (which I'm enjoying, but not loving).

Also, @austin_walker is a Mass Effect 3 ending apologist? I'd love to hear that reasoning, because almost 4 years later that ending and the entire debacle surrounding it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

It's been long enough since the last Bethesda RPG that I am totally okay with this being more Bethesda RPG. I've come to terms with these games being what they are (janky, inconsistently written giant sandboxes with shallow RPG mechanics for a mass audience) though I certainly understand the perspective of people who have had enough of these games' problems. I wonder if I'll be as willing to give said problems a pass when I start playing the game tomorrow.

So what you're saying is that Black Lamp is basically the Dark Souls of single-screen platformers the same way Knack is the Dark Souls of 3D action-platformers. Am I getting this right?

Hearing that this game is better than Unity doesn't really inspire me with much confidence, sadly. I just think I'm sort of done with this series in general.

This game continues to be far more interesting than the quality of some of its writing would suggest.

I have fantastic news for you if GBeast doesn't follow through.

This game looks like something I would very much pay money for once it leaves early access.

EDIT: Also this Quick Look facilitates the best discussions between Austin and Vinny.

You know, when Brad talked about Tomb Raider in the context of "I skinned an animal and turned it into an ammo pouch!" I actually became less interested in it. I think Far Cry 4 broke me to the point where now I can't see those sorts of mechanics as anything other than padding to give the illusion of player progression.

It's weird listening to someone actually bring up Etrian Odyssey on this podcast. I like that series quite a bit, but between its anime aesthetics and old-school dungeon crawler sensibilities it isn't really a game that screams "Giant Bomb" to me. For what it's worth, I think Persona Q is a decent fanservice delivery device if you like Persona 3 and 4, but I think the actual RPG parts aren't as good as any given EO game.

Oh maaaaaaaannnn. I know what I'm doing this weekend. That's right, watching a sleep-deprived Drew and Alexis try to beat Halo 5 on Legendary.