@dixavd: I find myself getting into the cutscenes and reading the subtitles, then hearing the end or middle of the conversation and not knowing what the hell Vinny and Jan are talking about, so I rewind and rewatch to find out. KH might be too story/cutscene heavy of a series to truly balance that out. Then again, Dan and Drew got through the entirety of Metal Gear Solid 1-5 . . .
KH2's intro is painfully long, but it kind of has to be in order for the intended effect to be felt. As someone who, at one point in time, cared about the plot of Kingdom Hearts, it was very intriguing and even a little sad.
Asking for a full series playthrough is a tall order. If Jan and Vinny at least spend a little time with each game, that would be cool. Vinny has enough tolerance to put up with Kingdom Hearts' bullshit to make that an enjoyable feature. I'm a fan of KH but it's such an easy thing to poke fun at.
Jan likes Kingdom Hearts, and I feel that Vinny is the only staff member who has the patience to put up with Kingdom Hearts, so if this site has any desire to play through the entire franchise in earnest, then this is the only possible combination that could pull it off. I would be down to go along for the ride. Full disclosure: I unironically love Kingdom Hearts. You really have to go into it with tempered expectations to keep from gnashing your teeth whenever anybody speaks, though.
Man, my initial reaction to this release is to ask "Why?" and I guess that the answer is "Why not?"
I do get a kick out of seeing these old games, though, especially on original hardware, because I always find myself squinting and trying to decide if I'm looking at a PS1 or PS2 era game. And then I'm in awe that this shit was impressive at one point in time.
Skyward Sword is a game that I've always intended to give a whirl, fully aware of its reception. Seems like a good time to finally dive in.
Legend of Mana is one of my favorite games of all time, so I'm all over this rerelease, if for no other reason than to hear that new soundtrack.
I shall continue to pray that Bayonetta 3 becomes one of Nintendo's patented "We are showing and/or telling you about this game for the first time and it'll be out in 2 months" announcements. It's been nearly 4 years. That thing's gotta come out soon, right?
Not quite done with the podcast yet, but, every year, the music category always breaks my heart the most. FF7 is getting no love and that makes me super sad. I have a feeling that Hades will be brushed aside as well, much like Pyre was.
And I love Giant Bomb and the people who work here now and have worked here in the past, but I've realized that my taste in video games does not run parallel to those of the GB staff at all. While 2019 in particular was the real eye opener, because I cared about a meager two games on their top ten and absolutely loved a game that they barely mentioned (Devil May Cry 5), this retrospective really hammered the point home.
Ben's contributions will be missed, but I totally understand the choice to leave because I absolutely would not want to be in the public eye like the video game coverage biz now demands.
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