Hi, hello, howdy, hey there, and h-welcome!

I guess "hiya" would also work as another h-way to say hello... Anyways! This week is Sunshine and Smiles week! And, frankly, that's probably how every week should be. I want your cheeks to hurt from being up all day with those grins and to tan, freckle, burn, and peel from all of that exposure to the sun! (Please don't forget to use your SPF so that no pain comes to you when you soak up the joy. I don't mean for y'all to really suffer!)

I'm going to try and write up a little somethin'-somethin' over the next few days in between my classes and watching the GB staff Extra Life stream, which should be totally rad and helps the kiddos! So supporting everyone who is participating this weekend either with your kind words in the chat or a charitable donation would be hella cool of ya! (If you're interested in what the community does for the event, you should probably visit explosiveruns.com, too! It's a good time. Be sure to thank @chaser324 for it, btw. Dude works hard, man!)

I know I did my own Extra Life stuff on the 18th and had a pretty good time. A lot of Pix The Cat was played and I think that's my favorite game ever oh god it's so cute I can't stand it and I just spent so much time gushing over it. I focused mainly on PS4 games and had a blast. Managed to pass my goal of $200, too! :D I had a few stretch goals as well which will still be totally valid if I can manage to get $500 before the year is up! (And I'll donate my hair to charity. (:O!!!))

There are a lot of local Halloween festivals going on this weekend, too. Oh shit, and a party with friends that I just remembered. The 25th is going to be a busy ass day for me. (That and some of my instructors keep pushing back midterm projects and my attention is all over the place. I think this is what it's like to be a hummingbird. Shit's stressful!) But it'll still be super fun! I know my boyfriend wants to do his own little marathon for Extra Life in the next few weeks, too, and that'll be more entertainment for me to look forward to. :D

I'm pretty stoked about being this busy, it's been a long time and it'll be good to shift my focus and I hope you guys and gals out there in the mythical world of cyberspace get to take some time to enjoy yourselves, too! October is a dope ass month filled with so many wonders.

Anyways, I derailed a bit. Extra Life is rad, kids are cute, and October is a pretty cool month. I'll finish this by asking:

What games do people plan on playing or hoping to see this weekend?

*Audio Lives Here*

Hello and welcome everyone to the first ever episode of the Giant Modcast! A podcast brought to you by the moderators of Giant Bomb (dot) com!

In our inaugural episode, we are joined by Chaser324, Sparklykiss, Sweep, and Trace as they rush into something with little to no real prep (thanks to Sparkly!) and discuss things like Destiny, EVE Online, and... Sailor Moon? Sure!

The featured blog/forum post in this episode was written by Giant Bomb user MikeLemmer and is a pretty interesting take on the impact leveling has on things like MMOs and EVE.

We also talk about strange and bizarre things like Disneybounding and the failed attempt at Americanizing Sailor Moon. Is it professional to link people to random websites? Probably not, but who are we to stray from the Giant Bomb Way™?

If you've got any questions, comments, or even hate-mail, feel free to hit us up on Twitter at @GiantBombSquad, send us an Ask on our Tumblr, or (the best way) PM Sparklykiss here.

Thanks! :D

PS. I had a corrupted audio file so the quality is super dodgy and I might have thrown my hands up in the air in disgust so if it sounds turrrrrible, now you know why~

God, I am way too lazy to keep a consistent blog update nor do I feel like making or asking someone for new banners. Won't someone think of the children? (This was much funnier in my head and I was going to remove it, but this is a blog about sharing my shame so allow me to make a fool of myself all over the place here. Thank you.)

I'll confess that this summer (YOU GUYS, IT'S SUMMER! :D) is looking to be super hectic, despite my still being jobless. I forgot how hard seeking employment really was, then you combine that with all the stuff that's going on here at home and with my extended family and ooo-boy it's kind of a mess. Hopefully everything improves and I can get back into the swing of things in time for GenCon, school, and PAX Prime.

GenCon, School, and PAX Prime?!

I know! All of those things are expensive! And I've no income. But I have my means. Yard sales are pretty rad! And I've also been helping people with yard work and the like, feelin' a helluva a lot like a super late bloomer in that regard. Next I'll be figuring out how to run a lemonade stand. #YouKnowYourA90sKidWhen #HiImKortneyAndWasShelteredAndSpoiledAsAYouth #AlsoWasProAtLemonadeStandsTBH

So, yeah! GenCon (which is a 4-day long gaming event here in Indianapolis, focuses more on tabletop than vidya) is going to be August 14 - 17. And I'm going to be busy with it and related events from the 14th to the 19th. I can't say anymore, but I'll be working (even if it's only for a week!) and I'm incredibly excited about it. It's possible I'm allowed to talk about it, though. I never asked! I'm not the usual type to brag but I've been so god damn giddy about this that I am full to bursting.

Fall semester starts on August 25th. And I decided it'd be a good idea to try and get all of my class time condensed to 2 days and I regretted that immediately because now I'll be at school for 12 hours on Mondays and 8.5 on Wednesdays. Remember me for who I was. My brain is already liquid just thinking about how tired I'll be. Hopefully Tuesdays will be restful and not have too much sobbing.

And then the week after that is Prime. My eyelids are so heavy right now just thinking about it. But it'll be my first Prime. I really felt the need to go because of my worry that PAX will be less fun in the future. Is that silly to say? Probably. Man, do I not really like the few knuckleheads at PA. Makes it super awkward!

Anywho...

Hopefully this summer break can be something I enjoy. Only time will tell. Lots of stress all over the place, ahhhhh!

But fear not, people of Giant Bomb (and the one weirdo from my personal life who likes to look up my online handle and spy(?) on me so that they have some fuel(?) to gossip with. It's a post on the World Wide Web, why you actin' a fool?) for I have a means of stress relief!

I've been playing a lot of games lately. I wanna play Mother and Mother 3 but my moral compass is saying not to. Derp. So instead, I've been going bonkers for:

Bravely Default

I may be a wee-bit of a slowpoke into getting to this one. But then again, I'm borrowing it and my backlog is massive. I've only just completed the part with the Wind Crystal, but it's hard to press on.

The reconstruction of Norende Village is actually creating more stress outta me, haha. I just want it to be done! I'm usually the type who takes her time when chuggin' through an RPG and the job classes and costuming aspect of it really speaks to me. I'm a sucker for games where the character model changes and reflects what they do. Final Fantasy X-2 really had me with the magical girl changing sequences. Whoops, tangent! Sorry!

But, yeah. I usually already do take my time and can be annoying to watch because I am incredibly thorough in my games. I hug the surfaces looking for special loot, speak with NPCs 2-3 times, back track, grind on monsters and try to collect everything I can early on, etc. The pace at which Norende is getting restored is borderline agonizing. I've only got 11 workers at this current writing. Trying oh-so-hard to be patient for midnight, when I'll be able to get 4 more. For each project you have one worker on, they'll complete the task at the time listed (which can be as high as 99 hours!) while each additional worker can cut the time down by about 50%, making a project completion time drop to about 15 minutes. My urge to collect and have cool things available to me while running around on the map is heavy. It's almost taken away from the game a bit. That, paired with most of the summons I've received only hitting with 1 or 0 damage, gotta say, it's rough! After some snooping, I found out that grinding for Job Points is pointless until about chapter 4/5 as well. (I get about 8-9 per battle. That ain't shit!) Kind of tough feeling very limited in the classes that I do have.

I've really no choice but to take this game at a slower pace and try not to roll my eyes too often when Ringabel says something perverted or super creepy. I do like Bravely Default, I just think this pace is nearly unbearable and can't wait until I'm just running around and being totally rad.

Tomodachi Life

Man, image share, why won't you work for me right now, I have so many dumb things to share and say about this game.

Like how I have Alex Navarro in my game and he is fond of wearing a hot dog suit. He wore it when asking my mom(?) out on a date and she rejected the weenie. After some random events and talking with the other residents, my mother is now married to Alex Navarro and this cracks me up beyond belief. I'll have to not be lazy about those images and post them. It's really entertaining!

Other residents include: Tyrion Lannister, Nicki Minaj, Sam and Dean Winchester, Castiel, the Inner Senshi, the mane 6 from My Little Pony, Gary Whitta's wife, and a few other Internet and RL friends of mine.

Tomodachi Life is interesting. The game isn't fun unless you have a lot of Miis. But it's hard to take care of the Miis when they aren't people/characters you know/are familiar with. Maybe I'm just a snob? Although it's cool being able to be a fangirl and throw in people I like this way.

I'm thinking Merlin will be next. Right after I break my boyfriend and AppleJack up. Curse these hands of mine for hitting the wrong prompts! I guess my Mii is destined for the single life.

Okay. So rad stuff. First, GenCon 2014 is going to be cool. Other cool things:

You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Stand Up For Yourself!

I'm not sure if this is immediately obvious to people who have met me, apparently I'm one hell of an actress. But I'm super timid. And my means of reacting when I'm super nervous and embarrassed is to up the number of words that are pouring out of my mouth and get really weird and talkative, and looong awkward pauses. Or if you're someone I'm super close to, I talk even faster and interrupt my own train of thought with more tangents than a trigonometry class.

That said, I have a tough time standing up for myself and speaking out with my unpopular opinion.

Have you seen some of the comments sections on various websites? My word.

[The original text I was going to put here has been removed because I'm not quite ready to go on about my issues with white feminism here with y'all on Giant Bomb. But I spoke up in a face-to-face setting! And that was liberating.]

You Also Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party

My best friend, who is a person I met from the Internet because that's how friends are made, came to visit last weekend and I'm still super happy about being able to hang out with all my favorite people and have us all be in the same room. I'm also kind of super sad because TJ had to go back home at some point but it's really refreshing to know that I've got a really good, tight knit group of people I can rely on. I got to play the role of caretaker and cook dinner for my friends and we had a small little party and played games. Had a few heart-to-hearts with my friends, too. God damn, was that nice. Hopefully TJ can visit more when my friends' house is complete this September.

Man, my friends are cuties and I'm so super duper happy to have people I can be 100% open with.

I really wasn't able to say that before.

:')

I... I am actually really digging these crappy little subtitles of mine as I read them in some super excited anime voice actor tone. Anyways... Cue the banner!

There Will Be No Pretty Images In This Blog

So no handsome and insanely creepy anime men for y'all this week. I probably could have waited to do this blog later, but ehhhhhh, that'd be actually preparing myself and putting in an effort. And I truly cannot be arsed to do that. Also mostly wanted to talk about some cool games I've played lately and totally try not to dwell on the fact that I've been called lazy and told I have no aspiration to be anything by someone who didn't finish high school until they were 22, what a rude and thoughtless person who also hasn't held a job in over a year so I will have NONE OF YOUR SASS TODAY OR EVER, DAMMIT... not to use run-on sentences. Yes. That is what I meant. Yep.

I've played a couple of things lately that I feel like sharing! I'm actually pretty damn shocked I haven't been back to Mesteros lately. As a reminder, Mesteros is only THE most average ACNL town ever. Be jealous.

Stick It to the Man!

So did y'all know this game was free for PS+ members right now? Yeah, I'm a sucker for those freebie. Anyways, for those who don't know what Stick It to the Man! is about, you play as Ray, a dude who tests hard hats for a living because of some messed up shit that happened with his pops when he was a kid.

Ray is suddenly struck by an unknown object that fell from the heavens and wakes up to find a really like pink spaghetti hand sprouting from his head. Personally, I thought it looked more like those cheap slap hand capsule toys I used to get at K-Mart when I was younger, the ones I would immediately throw away because I somehow got a fuckload of dirt and hair stuck on it and water did nothing in terms of removing the sickening filth. Barf. Waste of 50 god damn cents. Coulda gotten those cute little aliens instead...

Haha, aliens. Anyways, Stick It to the Man! is a fairly simple puzzle/platformer and using the abilities of your fuchsia goo arm is pretty fun! I managed to play all of this game in one sitting and was fairly impressed by how few the number of vocal talent was in the game (and for how many vibrant and lively characters they all played. Truly amazing, fellow duder.). Some of the combat, if you can really call it that, was a bit tricky due to me being impatient, but if you're in the mood for a quick and quirky story, I can't recommend this title enough. I am also a huge sucker for animated characters who talk by having the top portion of their head bop around. Something about it just amuses the ever loving crap outta me. :D

Trials Fusion

I feel like most people have moved on from this game and that's a bummer for 2 reasons:

1. I don't have as many ghosts to "race" against later on. (Please, add Sparklykiss on PSN. Be my ghost friend.)
2. My friends have some insanely stupid scores on the leaderboards that cripple my hope for success.

Which makes me super terrible at this game. I just don't want to be on page two of my leaderboards. That makes me super sad! And those challenges frustrated me because I tried to do as many of them as I could with the starter bike and just... I was a bucket of sad. Sad sad sad.

And does anyone else think the story stuff in this game is a bit odd? I don't know how to handle it since I haven't played that many tracks (just unlocked the ability to do tricks, after all) but hearing the dialog is just super weird. And U-Play is a hot mess and will never work for me. I don't know where I'm going with this post. Probably flipping all over and somehow not crashing because I have some odd luck in that regard.

Mercenary Kings

If you haven't noticed the trend here, I'm pretty biased to the PS4. And I really like this game! It's a damn shame I'm too nervous to play this online with anyone. I should probably invest in a headset at some point. I really dig being able to just sorta fuck around in a level and barely finish the objective. I'm the "gotta get as much loot as I can and finish in the last possible moment" type of gal. I've been repeating a lot of the early stages to try and get stars instead of checkmarks once I realized that was thing. I should probably progress and buy things that are useful instead of pizza decorations for my tent.

This game is pretty strange and I can't help but want to return to the Scott Pilgrim game because, gosh, I keep forgetting the DLC for that is finally out. It took so long!

Also as a bit of an aside, this game was no fun to try out at PAX East. I was a teensy bit offended that the guy I met in the booth had no interest in answering my questions and didn't seem to take me seriously. But ah well. I try not to hold grudges, game's still fun to me so...

I should probably learn to put my thoughts into a more coherent and understandable pattern at some point. Instead of just letting what the heck ever pour on out. So.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER

Still making the wise choice of not tagging this to the forums. I'm proud of my restraint. So, yeah, I'm finished with the spring term. I'm still kicking myself for taking so long to get back to school even though I've been back at school for a year and a half now. It was a really stressful term, but I managed to leave with much higher grades than I thought I would. It hasn't been the biggest self-esteem boost, but it's something and I'm trying to take this all in stride instead of reverting back to being sad/bitter/angry/whatever-other-negative-thing-a-person-can-be. I guess this is a big surprise to people that I can have such a downward swing. My usual preference is to just force myself to be the opposite. But I decided a ways back to be much more honest. So hopefully with no school to distract me for a bit, I can find some decent work and really enjoy and better myself! Progress! It's totally radical!

Chicago is Fun

So one of the big changes I want to make in my life is to move to Chicago and go to school there. I've already made a few impromptu visits (like for the Tabletop Deathmatch screening that Cards Against Humanity hosted, I got to play Discount Salmon, too! That game is really fun and I enjoyed it quite a bit.) and will be returning for the Giant Bomb meet up so that should be fun! It's always really cool to meet and greet with some like minded duders and focus on something exciting. Hopefully I can play my cards right and be living in the city for school next fall. I've been telling my family that I want to take summer classes so that they'll actually help me out and I will be moved out come fall, my true goal. I am an evil mastermind from a family of slowpokes.

Whoa, does anyone remember this banner? Anyways, I figured I'd get back into the business of writing. And should probably change my avatar back to kawaii apples? I dunno.

For those who are curious, a few years ago I had a blog that focused on the games I was playing, the embarrassing things I would do to myself, and the good/cool things that had been happening in my life. It was a weird little blog of mine and it had segments and structure and that is just something that I hardly ever do. Definitely out of character for me! So I figured I'd bring it back and give it a tagline like an end-of-episode anime title preview. Isn't that thrilling?!

Dating Sims for iOS

Oh gosh. So... about a month or two ago I download every single free app from the iOS store that could be labeled as a dating sim. I was mucking around with titles like "[Office Lover] dating sim for girls" and "Love Academy - Target:HAKU". And they were totally awful! I think I had only tried to play 24 of the god-knows-how-many titles I had downloaded.

It was pretty darn annoying even opening these games because the app would always redirect to a website and then it would struggle to find your information so that you could even get to the main menu. They all had that super bullshit free-to-play format where I had to earn energy to have the potential romance options even talk to me. The games usually all featured 3 prominent men with a path for you to select and the more popular characters had side quests and story arcs that you could buy. There was also the doll making aspect (which had some inferior art) where you had to put on a particular outfit to have your crush give you *very slightly altered* conversation topics and responses. It'd be something along the lines of taking a slightly suggestive line of text to being a slightly suggestive line of text but this time he winks or flicks his hair back and, ugh, were those just terrible.

Even more alarming was that I had selected all of the guys who were introduced as the kind-hearted and gentle softies with a heart of gold and they had the most direct/forward dialog that was so insanely creepy. It was like simulating a conversation with a dude from the many Nice Guys of OK Cupid blogs that have popped up in recent years. I have never aborted a little side project so quickly.

I guess it was also pretty awful that one of these starts out with you being sold as a servant/slave at an auction. I should not be allowed to have this smart phone anymore.

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Actual Depression and Other Real-Life Related Anxieties

If you'd rather not read me go on about things that are bothering me personally, I would recommend skipping this part. Sometimes a person just needs to vent a bit, y'know?

Hm, hopefully this isn't awkward as we zip on over to...

Now that I've got the time for it, I've... Not really played very many games to be perfectly honest! I've mostly been playing:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

This is the only game I've really played with any regularity. I haven't had much, I dunno, drive(?) to commit to anything else or want to play something new. I don't know where I'd be without the ability to time travel and spend time with Keaton. He's a smug villager who wants to go to dance clubs that play anime tunes. I find this to be incredibly endearing and he always sends the kindest letters right when I need them. ...I am getting far too sentimental about this eagle. It's eerie, it's like the game knows when I've had a rough day because I'll get these in-game letters of encouragement and it's always surprisingly uplifting.

Sometimes, though, it's kinda tough to play ACNL because I've had this as my town flag since day one. I made it a habit to actively avoid town hall and the train station for a little bit there.

But now I find it really comforting and a lot of super good memories are triggered by just hanging out with Isabelle. Something about this game is just therapeutic for me and it's been really good at distracting me from the nonsense I've been going through lately. It's pretty rad!

Just as long as Keaton never moves away.

Man, these banners are hitting me with waves of nostalgia. At least nostalgia isn't sticky like Dr. Pepper is.

Summer Break

It's not here just yet, but that doesn't stop me from being excited for what should be a pretty good summer. It's cool to see that Indianapolis (guess I should mention that's where I reside. Southside represent?) is growing and that growth includes lots of really nifty gaming and comic conventions. I like this popularity growth in nerd/geek culture and I take a lot of pride in knowing that my city hosts such things like GenCon, Indy PopCon, and the like. There are going to be a lot of events during this summer that I'm looking forward to and lucky for me, I've already paid for about 85% of what I need to, unemployment be damned!

Having a break, and the slight anticipation for it, is always a bit refreshing. Here's to hoping everything is super awesome and that I continue to post these with more frequency than every 3 years!

So Marino tends to make a list of 100 words that sum up his PAX 2014 and I'm totally doing that because I cannot form thoughts very well at the moment because some cray-cray stuff happened to me in the last 2 days! Woot!

• Homemade Jerky
• Dangerous Time To Get Directions
• Borderline Delicious
• Ice Cream Bar
• Ice Cream Bar Part 2
• Swiggity Swag, What's In the Bag?
• Assassins
• Learn You A Thing
• Tearful Introductions
• Velvety Smooth Exchange
• Oprah Moment
• Large Luscious Labias
• Dumplin' House
• SNAX East
• #NotDrunkEnough
• Only 10¢
• Pop Tart Lobby
• Roaming
• Making Friends
• CORNDOGS
• Awkward Handshake
• Backpack to the Face
• 4th Row Forever
• Game Dad!
• Beating The Irish
• Photo-Op
• #StillNotDrunkEnough
• BFF Bracelet
• Uh-Oh
• No Sleep
• Trin It To Win It
• YOU WERE A SPY
• GOD DAMMIT
• Cat Farts and Education
• Jazz Hands
• Island Survival
• Goodbye, Bro
• Weddings and Wine
• Tokyo Spies
• HUGS

So, I'm not entirely sure what to say here. But I felt it best to try and articulate myself and throw my feelings out here like everyone else is.

Still kind of feels like a dream, I was out all day and read about this news in a PM amongst the mods. I was being careful to avoid Twitter and the site's landing page because I knew if I did, I would have been distracted from the tasks I needed to complete today. It read as some kind of joke and no last name was said, so I assumed it couldn't have been thatRyan.

Ryan was that affable ass with a heart of gold that every duder admired in some aspect. With the amount of time I've spent lingering around here at Giant Bomb, all the guys (and some of you in the community) feel like the cool cousins that I wish didn't move so far away.

I'm remembering back to the first time I met Ryan back at PAX East 2012 at dinner and being my first time meeting the staff I was pretending to text my sister and I just took a bajillion stalker creepy photos of the staff. ...Anyways... His personality was something I've always admired from afar and so I was incredibly terrified to approach him out of all of the staff. I felt like my significance paled in comparison to someone as energetic and loud as Ryan. But he was very gracious and exceedingly kind. Every tease and joke aimed your way was super soaked with acceptance and sincerity and just, god dammit, the man was beyond kind.

Yet I was still intimidated by these personalities I'd been following for a few years now. I remember approaching Ryan at the Giant Bomb meetup for a brief moment of some one-on-one time before I headed back to bed for the night. He was smoking a cigarette and just being jovial and in such a great mood for being dead tired. Instinctively, I opened my arms up for a hug and had a brief moment where I felt like a part of an extended family. It was awesome.

THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IS KIND OF DUMB

Fast forward to PAX East 2013 and it's dinner and I started an accidental trend of dropping silverware and moved Ryan's silverware out of my way when he stepped out and it unrolled his napkin and it just fell everywhere and no one knows it was me who did that by mistake and oh god I wanted to die it was just raining flatware all over the place and Patrick just laughed and I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide because I did that and ohgodohgodohgod. (At this point, I was intimidated by the staff again, but everyone was super nice and relaxed until Vinny was all "Let's talk about serious stuff" and I died on the inside again.)

I made the mistake of trying some of Max Temkin's present to the staff after their panel so I don't remember much because I was what I call "Sweep Drunk." I think I made Jeff uncomfortable and I was bouncing off the walls because the panel was awesome.

My last interaction with Ryan Davis was after the Cards Against Humanity panel. Most everyone had taken their milk and cookies by then and the crowd was thinning out. I remember talking to PsEG and Ozone and being so excited over such a great time I was having and really loving my cookie (seriously, they were amazing) that I was being really freaking weird and twirling/skipping around and I nearly barreled into Ryan. He made a face and said something like "look out, she's crazy" and I nearly ran into him about 2 more times after that and, yeah. That's my terrible story.

Also going to throw into the end here that you all are a wonderful and beautiful community. As a mod, I've seen quite a bit of the bad but it is immensely outdone by how great you guys are and how well we all come together as a whole. I've never felt more comfortable around a group as massive as y'all. It's still so exciting and new to me, thanks for being so god damn great during these recent events.

I love you guys.

Also known as "The Blog That Ruined Christmas."

I don't know how exactly, but... My Christmas has been a mixed bag of awkward and such. And because of that, I decided to spend some time writing up my Game of the Year stuff instead of figuring out how to work those new-fangled gifts! (Also formatting is annoying and I stopped doing pretty pictures at the end. I know. I'm lazy!)

Onward! Starting with

Number 10: Pokemon Conquest

Okay. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Dynasty Warriors and an even bigger adoration for the Pokemon franchise. This title kind of threw me off guard and I think was missed out on by quite a few people. It's set in a feudal Pokemon world, that idea alone is incredibly dumb and I love the incredibly dumb and how this was a bit of a strategy game.

It was good for passing the time and decently memorable. Words aren't my strong suit. MOVING ON.

Number 9: Scribblenauts Unlimited

I have a WiiU and Scribblenauts seemed like a no brainer. I was just looking for any excuse to make it rain shining handsome dapper sugar daddies much like I have always wanted in reality...

Wait what? Pfft, as if! Team Tiny Pink Cthulhu all the way! >.>

Number 8: Lollipop Chainsaw

I've always had a bit of a massive and completely uncontrollable lust for crush on Tara Strong. Her taking the role of Juliet Starling was insane happy making for me, since I'm always looking for titles that are lighthearted, silly, and chaotic. Much like the persona that Tara seems to have. I'm quite alright with playing "Fan Service: The Game" and don't have much else to contribute since I'm still a bit busy collecting all of the outfits. And giggling at the

Number 7: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Rhythm games have always been fun on the go. Final Fantasy has a bit of an impact on me as well. (One-Winged Angel, anyone?) It had a play style that reminded me greatly of Elite Beat Agents and just the assortment of characters to bring back some Final Fantasy nostalgia. The game just felt and looked really really good, with enough challenging aspects to have me paying all of my money for more songs. It was a real treat. Even if I still have no idea how one would exactly say "Theatrhythm."

Number 6: Paper Mario: Sticker Star

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STICKERS. STICKERS STICKERS STICKERS. SHINY SHINY SHINY. STICK, JUMP, KILL, REPEAT. MUSEUM. STIIIIIICKER...

Number 5: Botanicula

I like whimsy, puzzles, mad clicking, and mushrooms. Something about how vibrant it was and such made me think of a cross between two movies from my childhood: Ferngully and Once Upon a Forest.

The more I think about the beginning of Once Upon a Forest, the more my eyes well up. Poor Michelle. :(

Botanicula is just visually appealing and quirky.

Number 4: Mass Effect 3

All of the issues surrounding the end of the game aside, the journey to that point was worthwhile. Sure, the urgency of my tasks didn't feel very believable and a whole slew of other constant issues... (Javik is ESSENTIAL, god dammit) I had a wonderful time. My expectations were wildly high for this title, but I'm glad that it was able to reach an end. I liked seeing the major and even minor decisions I had made previously carry over. I mostly liked sweet talking Liara and paling around with Legion... The multiplayer hasn't grown old yet and I doubt it will for some time to come.

Number 3: Journey

It didn't feel so much like a game as much as it did a visually and audibly stunning experience that had me connecting and discovering with people who are very much unlike myself. Journey also made me wish I knew how to chirp and could wear a 30-foot long scarf without tripping.

Number 2: The Walking Dead

Racially ambiguous children are pretty common. And Clem's my favorite in a game. And everything nice that could be said about this game has been done... I adored growing fond of and attached to protagonist's that don't fall under the norm of a middle aged white guy. Love ya, Lee. <3

...I love ya so much. T_T

Number 1: Borderlands 2

More of the same! And I loved the first game. Just pump it straight into my veins. AW FUCK YEAH. TORGUE TORGUE TORGUE.

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So... Yep. Those are my games and I'm not one for blogging as I'm lazy as hell. But here are some honorable mentions for you~

Games That Didn't Quite Make It Because I Spaced On Them Existing or Didn't Get In Enough Time For A Real Opinion!/Honorable Mentions!

Gravity Rush, Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, ZombiU, Persona 4 Golden, Nintendo Land.

...IS NEXT WEEK. OH MAN.

I'd put some effort into some sort of Giant Bomb meet-up but that ended up being like... 2 people last year. And I'm lazy.

I am going to make chainmail for a monkey plushie and it will look like shit and everyone ever will be jealous of my sub-par crafting skills. And and and... Yeah. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY CONVENTIONS.

So I went on a little mission when I went to PAX East to hug as many people as I could. I would write more about my experience, but it all still feels like a weird fever dream and I've already missed that window of opportunity because it feels like that was forever ago already! So, uh, I'm just going to put two of the best moments of my young adult life down here, cool?

Cool.