joshth

I gave it a shot. I fell off of the bombcast and dumptruck around the middle of summer. I stopped watching their videos about two months ago. I cancelled my sub as soon as they made clear they weren't going to be doing premium videos anymore (been a sub since I joined the site in 2011). The vibes just aren't right for me, and I don't feel connected to this crew the way I did any past incarnation of GB.

The one positive in my mind that has happened since Gerstmann left was getting Grubb on board. He seems like such a great guy, and as others have said, fits seamlessly into basically anything.

I'm just glad I have Nextlander, which has largely been what I wanted, and I've been following all of Gerstmann's stuff, though I do hope he gets someone else on board with him soon. I've also found myself way more drawn to waypoints stuff recently, Rob Zacny rules.

It's sad to me that what I thought of as Giant Bomb is clearly dead, but I've also had to face the facts that its actual death was a while before this change. No disrespect to those who are enjoying it, but it saddens me that I'm only still coming here based on pure habit.

@bisonhero: I had actually thought about this exact thing quite a lot in the wake of Gerstmann being fired. I think I would have been a lot more comfortable with this "next generation" of GB if that "generation" had actually grown with the original group. And the weird thing is, that was kind of happening for a moment there! Ben, Abby, and Jan all joined at basically the same time and very much had a vibe of the young ones are who going to learn the ropes from their "seniors" (Jeff, Vinny, Jason, Etc.). But then you had both Abby and then Ben leaving shortly after the Pandemic started.

If a hypothetical world existed where Ben and Abby wanted to stay, and the Nextlander crew and Gerstmann stayed on for another couple years (with maybe 2 more staff hired along the way), it would be very easy to see a comfortable transition to a next generation of GB. Ben as trained by Gerstmann, Abby as trained by Vinny, and Jan filling the Drew/Jason void.

As things stand, the only one who actually feels like they have any real connection to original GB would be Jan, and I guess Dan a little bit, but he was already pretty well "defined" before coming to GB. Jess was too new to know most of the crew or learn from them, and the rest only joined once everyone else had left. I'm sure a lot of this probably doesn't matter to most as long as the content is to there liking, but it's a big part of why GB leaves such a sour taste in my mouth when I look at it now, it has all the trappings of the thing and people I loved without the real connection to it.

TLDR: I think GB had something going for a passing of the torch, but a number of factors led to that not happening, it's hard to say what's to blame.

I've been keeping up with this thread for a while now, reading everyone's thoughts. Personally I have found myself increasingly dissatisfied with the direction the site has gone over the last year, and old standbys like the Bombcast and UPF just don't seem to be doing much for me anymore. So I'll admit I've been struggling to decide whether to stay a premium member and continue investing time in GB content. The main thing that keeps me from making that change is this sense of loyalty and weird parasocial relationship I've had since 2011 when I joined as a premium member. It honestly makes me feel sad to even consider breaking off this relationship I have with a website and the people who work at it.

The thing that really frustrates me though is the thing that many of you have pointed out, a lack of communication on where we are, and where we are going. I always point back to the time when GB was being bought by CBS that they had "pancake day" at Dave's house. In the middle of all of the craziness that came with that move, they took some time to explain to the fans what they could. They couldn't answer every single question but they gave people a good idea of what was and wasn't going to change, and that more videos and podcasts would be out soon getting into those details further.

The fact that so many fans, especially premium members, have been asking for an update on recent changes and what we can expect in the future for so long now with not a single response has been really frustrating. Thanks to everyone else who has shared there thoughts on some of this, I think it has helped organize my own thoughts a bit.

Absolutely gut wrenching for me. I haven't been around since the absolute beginning, but it's been a little over 10 years. These people who I have this parasocial relationship with have seen me through high school, college, multiple jobs and moves, all these transitions in life, they have been a constant to help keep me sane and grounded. I know they don't owe me anything and they are allowed to move on and do what they want with their lives, but it still leaves a hole in my heart.

I wish all three the best, and I'm looking forward to hopefully exciting new territory for GB and the remaining crew. Thank you for making this thread so I could take a moment to get all of this out.

Really enjoyed this video, well done! I'm a huge fan of the trails series, and this is yet another reminder that I should really look at some of the other stuff in Falcom's catalogue. I was particularly fascinated with the fact that so many developers of various stripes seemed to get their start at Falcom and then go on to make some really big/important titles elsewhere.

Obviously they can choose to play whatever they want to, and I certainly don't want someone playing through a long game out of some kind of obligation, but I'm pretty disappointed this keeps happening. Kingdom Hearts, the Trails in the Sky series, and Dragon Age Origins are all some of my favorite games that I was super happy to see finally played on this site. So far each of those series have had one or a couple of episodes and then never again. It's just disappointing.

Here's my first level: H89 171 JLG

It's a little tricky but nothing terribly hard. Remember you can spin jump on thwomps!

Like every game I play, I will enjoy what I enjoy while still being critical of its "faults" or problematic elements. I will also do what I can in the future to support gaming's unionization.

This has made my day. I would list both of these series as a top 5 video game series for me personally. Very excited to see where they go with these.

1. Persona 5 - without a doubt this was a bit of a disappointment in comparison to my favorite game of all time: Persona 4. However, despite a few gripes with its cast and parts of its ending, Persona 5 takes the winning formula of 4 and streamlines it, makes it look better than ever. The style and music alone are worth awards in my mind, but many of the social links in this game are the best of the entire series, and the dungeons are actually fun to be in this time. I'm so glad I took that 100 hour journey with Persona 5 this year.

2. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony - I love the danganronpa series, and while I think I might still say 2 is my favorite overall, this game might have my favorite ending to any game ever. It was INSANE, in the best possible way

3. Super Mario Odyssey - Any other year this should have been my number 1. Mario 64 was basically my first game I ever played, and I have loved all of the 3d mario games (yes, that includes Sunshine, though it is the worst of them all). This game is literal joy put into a video game. The costumes are maybe my favorite addition, they add such a great element to the already fun photo mode. I will still be exploring around these worlds collecting moons for months to come.

4. NieR: Automata - I have more mixed feelings on this game than perhaps any other in quite some time. But the highs of this game are perhaps unmatched. Ending E just might be the most emotional I have felt about any video game in several years, not just this year. Also A2 rules.

5. Yakuza 0 - This is probably the best Yakuza game. The story has all the best elements of previous Yakuza stories, without really any of the bad. The sidequests are easily the best in the series. and despite some tedium with the real estate and Cabaret club mini games, they add a lot of neat side stories. The real stars here are the two main characters Kiryu and Majima, who are both written and voiced so well.

6. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - PLAY THE "TRAILS OF" SERIES. I started playing this series last year, and blazed through Trails in the Sky 1 and 2, as well as Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2. They are the best written games I have ever played, the world building is second to none. The more these games are localized the better, and that only happens if more people play this series, so please give these a shot. As for 3rd, it's probably the weakest of the five I've played, but that's not saying much. While the main story takes forever to get somewhere interesting, the "doors" provide interesting context for what's happening in the middle of this series, and allows you to get to know some of the secondary characters way better.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - It did it. It shook up the Zelda franchise, completely for the better. I loved just exploring in this world and doing shrines. I did fall off of this game hard though and have not found a good reason to go back.

8. Steins;Gate 0 - A sequel to my favorite Visual Novel/Anime: Steins;Gate. This is more Steins;Gate, and that's a very good thing. I love how it fits into the original Steins;Gate story, and I like the new heroine they bring into the story quite a lot.

9. Yakuza Kiwami - A slightly less good Yakuza zero. It's hampered by having to stick to the same story of the original Yakuza, which I feel is the weakest story of the series. But all of the side stuff is just as good as 0

10. Mass Effect: Andromeda - Yeah it was a disappointment, but I still had fun messing around with the tried and true formula of a Bioware RPG. I was never as bothered by its flaws as most of the internet seemed to be.