PixlBit

I'm not knocking sales, especially the ones that have games I already want. I'm knocking my dumb, knee-jerk response to them. 

I don't necessarily experience most media of any sort beyond entertainment, unless it's a very specific, gripping work. I still felt I was in a game in TLoU, but REVII nearly gave me a heart attack in a way movies just can't do. But then, nothing can get me inside a character's head as well as a book, and movies/TV have been my favorite visual medium for a while. They're great because they are easy to experience, but sometimes cause you to think about hard subjects. 

Basically, I really don't see any medium as "better" than another, but different with different strengths. Honestly, if there's one medium that speaks to me more than any other, it's music, which I realize is part of most of those other mediums. 

Agreed.

Or demonic dragon. 

My anti-reflux diet calls buckshot. 

I also should have worked paradox of choice and/or analysis paralysis in here somehow. Hmmm ...

I gotta fight da powers that be!

My backlog starts out as a bunch of games I want to play, but then I start trying to either play too many of them or grind through one I don't really feel like playing at the time. 

And I think you made that thing point about being an adult who can't just do everything we want to with limited time more clear than I did in my blog. It could use some editing, since I'm switching between first and second person for what is ultimately a personal experience I'm only assuming other people have. I wrote it in part because I feel I need to write more. I wanted to just get it out there, so it's pretty rough, I'm sure. There are probably some tense changes in there that are out of place ...

But that's just it: if you enjoy the experience of something meant purely as entertainment, it's worth it. But I feel books and games especially can lead us to believe our unfinished entertainment pursuits are moral failings, and that's where I'm starting to see the error of my grindy, sunk-cost-fallacy ways. 

I don't disagree or have a counterpoint, but it just didn't bother me as much as it did you. I think because I was too focused on the characters the game actually explored to care.

It's a silly motivation, but it's not so crazy it took me out of the game. Again though, I don't really disagree with you. I understand exactly where you're coming from and do wish the motive was better.

Voodoo Vince and Bubsy are the surprises of the year for me ...

I did enjoy 's action combat system despite the demo making it seem more repetitive than it is in the actual game, so we'll see. It's been in my Q.

I couldn't get past how loose the controls felt in YL, which is something I think a platformer needs to nail. I also thought some of the challenges early on were a bit too much and only served to bring more attention to some of the game's issues.

I agree about Chloe. She came across as somewhat of a bully from the grade above Max rather than a long lost best friend, and she honestly pissed me off more than endeared me to her. I think Kate would have made more sense as Max's best friend.

The villain is something I didn't necessarily see coming, but then just kinda went "huh," when it happened. It was a bit of a surprise, but kind of a deflating one. I actually really liked how dark it got though as a lot of it was genuinely creepy and quite a mind f*. My only issue was shoehorning in that stealth section, which would have been fine had it been a bit easier to navigate without getting caught imo. The whole series had been a game for non- gamers up to that point, so I found the ransom difficulty spike annoying.

Having said all that, taken as a whole, it's still one of the best games I've played recently and I was emotionally invested in the story and characters throughout. I loved how the game let you fast forward and remind without ever letting you be sure you made the right decision. I felt vindicated when I picked the villain correctly based on the fact that response was really the only one Max could know for sure, having witnessed it herself.

I'm still excited to see how Chloe became such an asshole...