Mento

@chamurai: Wow, was not expecting that. Especially considering, as the comments on that video are quick to mention, they still haven't done Smash Bros or Donkey Kong 64 yet.

Guess this means I can scratch Extreme G off the list too.

@ben_h: "One in One" would've certainly been a lot easier on my sleep schedule, I'll say that much.

Ghoulies is fine. It just put me through the wringer so I'm happy to also dunk on it.

@bigsocrates: Am I getting counter-fooled? Is there an Uno reverse card in play? We're talking about a game where, after you defeat the final boss, there's a timed sequence to rescue all the prisoners you've been spotting and you only get one chance (because, and I quote, the key stops working after thirteen minutes or it blows up or something) and if you fail this sequence then the game ends anyway (after it calls you a loser) and you can't repeat it.

It's like at some point I forgot that Rare also invented Battletoads. They're all psychos.

You got two explormers in here and the roguelike survival game is what strikes you the most like a me game?

There was a time where I subsisted almost entirely on shareware and demos but I've got such a massive backlog of fully-built games these days that I don't think I'll ever be enthusiastic for demos again. That said, NextFest is always a cool zeitgeist-y way of getting eyes on new Indies (which traditionally struggle to get much attention outside of Direct/State of Play sizzle reels) and I do appreciate that so many demos come out now that let you carry your progress over, as it's a smart way to retain players curious enough to check it out.

Hope you get better soon, Zoop.

@manburger: Oh wait, is it not showing up? I'm the only one allowed to edit anything, but the idea was to give folks a quick overview of all the games that have been featured so far. Easier than manually putting links into the blog every time I mention a previously-covered game (or keep updating that enormous table of links to previous entries). I could publish the document, but for some reason that removes all those useful (?) little notes I keep adding.

Edit: Ah, I think I fixed it. So it was just private this whole time, huh. Whoopsy.

Heck yeah, Frieren. I'm guessing the second reason it didn't make many "best of year" lists is because it's still only half done? Very few anime shows were as pretty as Frieren (or Trigun) this year, that's for sure.

The stuff about the demons of that world is real interesting because they're not actually people but predators that have adjusted their hunting techniques over millennia to better entrap humans. That they're human enough makes us feel sympathy for them, which makes them that much more effective at homicide. But I guess your point is that we really only observe the human (and elf) perspective and maybe there actually is more to them than being really devious maneaters. It reminded me of Parasyte a little; the way those creatures could possess an intelligence high enough to converse with us and remain undetected while also being so singleminded about exterminating mankind.

Shout out to my fellow Paranormasight freak. I'll admit to only rating it highly because it was one of just two games of note I played that year, but still. Hope it finds a bigger audience before Square decides the sequel should be written entirely by AI to save money. Poor, poor Portopia.

@manburger: S'all good. Just me throwing dark again.

The Homestar guys are back to making games (or at least commissioning same) so there's a chance we'll get a Homestar Heroes someday. Not a great chance, but I can dream at least.

@bigsocrates: Damn, you scored a critical hit by reminding me of my beloved explormers. That was a major memory lapse. Different skillsets is probably the right answer as to why I can't get enough of either 2D or 3D platformers, and why 2D brawlers don't gel as well for me as LaD's approach. Kaze was definitely a case where I couldn't imagine playing a game that demanding in 3D (though Demon Turf was determined to be that type of skill-intensive game for the 3D platformer crowd regardless).

I'd argue that the combat in LaD is still central to the gameplay even if it's not the only type of gameplay available. It's like the turn-based combat in the Persona games: on the whole you probably spend the same amount of time (or less) fighting stuff in dungeons that you do talking to peeps and levelling up social links and fusing demons and choosing how to spend your free time slots, but most of those systems are geared towards the combat mode regardless. All of LaD's mini-games reward cash and/or XP that contribute to your continued survival in the story critical battles, so it still feels like everything is subservient to that main mode to some small extent.

As to LaD being a turn-based franchise too at this point, well, I won't argue that it doesn't fit but I still prefer the brawlers in the series. I'll have to check out that Gaiden game sometime soon; as long as that gameplay style is retained in the spin-offs I'll show up for them.

@bigsocrates: There is some significant distance between RCR and LaD, not just chronologically, but I'm not sure they're fundamentally different games. The amount of time I spend in either just beating up dudes and then waltzing into a nearby restaurant to replenish health, or maybe stocking up on healing items and gear to improve my combat skills, for instance. I guess my argument was that I get most of my old-school brawler fill from LaD and much more besides, and that's why going back to its roots is a little tougher. If one of these brawler throwbacks ever put in a Komaki Tiger Drop counter move I'd change my tune pretty quick.

Now you've got me wondering if there's any significant fundamental differences between 2D and 3D platformers, since I play a lot of both. The former's more challenge-based and the latter's more exploration-based? But that's not universally the case. I still enjoy both the older and newer style of those games, conversely to these brawlers, but maybe that's just a genre preference.

No arguments from me that RCG's presentation is excellent, though. I'll be dipping into that OST frequently in the future I'm sure.

@manburger: Sorry about all that. I must've salmonned those puns from the depths of hell.

@chamurai: Thanks for the translation work, as always. I wasn't even going to try with most of those kanji. At least I figured out "amemasu" by myself?