csl316

@gyratyne: Yeah, Grubb has been awesome. I was aware of him before and followed Grubsnax for awhile. He came on board and I figured he'd just be the dry news guy in the morning. But he's so much more, and seems to be down for the dumbest shit that gets thrown his way. He's excellent, thoughtful, and gels well with anyone he's working with.

@therealturk: I go to Easy Allies for the couch vibe. But yeah, I certainly miss the office stuff. Since the staff is all over the country now, that really is a thing of the past. I'll occasionally see a clip of an old show and it's a different era.

I remember lamenting when they left the Whiskey basement and they felt so isolated. The at-home transition gave me a similar feeling. Which is why the Brooklyn meet up thing was so cool, and why I hope they can do an E3 thing next year. A few months back, Alex stopped by Vinny's basement for Def Jam and I freakin' loved it. Being together really adds a lot when it comes to chemistry.

But that hasn't been GB in nearly 3 years so I guess I've come to accept it.

So yeah, 6 months since Jeff G. left and there was doom and gloom, til less than 24 hours later when the site basically got a reboot with another Jeff G. and Dan and the combo of Tamoor and Lucy.

Personally, most of the Covid era wasn't working for me. But since this summer I feel like the site's been completely revitalized. I'm enjoying most of what I watch, and the stuff that isn't for me can be skipped and I'll catch up on Nextlander that evening or something. Grubb's been doing a stellar job, and Dan is Dan (not complaining, been following him and Jason since GI).

Original Jeff G. seems to be doing well, GB is doing well, and Nextlander is trucking along so games criticism is being critiqued all over the place.

I'm curious what happens with Fandom but nothing's really stood out as a bad thing so far. I understand that Sonic Frontiers link pissed folks off (I didn't care). So I'm sure there's valid criticisms people can bring up here, too.

But yeah, I dunno, GB is firing on all cylinders as we head into 2023. And that's kinda nice since this site's felt like a warm blanket for me when I'm looking at video games internet. And that feeling's there again.

@rorie: Yeah, I have no idea what comes next for story, but since this is supposedly the next 10 years of Halo it can't just be multiplayer updates. So a full sequel? Campaign DLC? A Netflix series? Who knows, maybe The Game Awards will show us something new!

This got bumped by a bot, but here are my updated Infinite thoughts a year later:

- The multiplayer is growing and evolving. A ton of modes now, some new maps, Forge just came out and look excellent, and I've grown to enjoy the core gameplay a whole lot (despite some weapons I never use and a strong preference to Halo 5).

- I have not touched the campaign again. I'm debating going in and mainlining the missions and skipping the open world tasks, but if I want a Halo campaign it's hard to ignore MCC being readily available with much better missions. Maybe next year.

- I'm still curious what the way forward is. The live service aspect of this game has been botched, to be honest. I guess when we're comparing live games to Fortnite, anything else seems underwhelming. But it feels like 343 just didn't have an achievable roadmap and they're being forced to pivot into something more traditional (occasional new maps, new modes, and a bunch of cosmetics). No chance of Goku joining Halo anytime soon. It's like the live service dream had to be adjusted after release, like the Guardians story must've went through massive changes during development.

- Still optimistic about the future, but since it came out that large chunks of the campaign were cut... I have no idea when we'll see more story content (or even some sort of PvE). And that's what I really crave: 343 doing killer campaign levels like they did in 4 and 5.

Starcraft: Brood War ending for life.

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater is the game that got me to stick with video games, after thinking I'd no longer have time in college. And that whole ending sequence was a big reason why.

The last 3 hours of the first Mass Effect blew me away, from Ilos to the end.

And the Revengeance intro was truly incredible. The game peaked there for me, but that opening is flawless.

I love Doom and metal and rhythm games but man, I hated this game. Finished the first level and couldn't go on. I was absolutely terrible at it and constantly felt like I was hitting a wall with the gameplay.

If a big Doom: Eternal fight felt like a choreographed danced, me playing this game felt like QWOP.

The very end of the Asura's Wrath true ending.

It's called A Life Well Lived and I had an idea that he'd die based on that, and he does die saving everyone. Then his daughter tells the story ending with "and that... is how my father lived." Oh man.

And no joke, the final battle of Devil May Cry 3. "My soul... is saying it wants to STOP YOU!"

This is one of those albums where I rarely listened to the actual album. For me, it was all about the One Cold Winter's Night concert. Hell of a show, and the songs felt more raw and lively.

In fact, I wound up covering Karma from that very show since I gravitate more towards Kamelot's earlier albums. Khan's performance here is something else.