Hahaha I feel that feeling of too busy with other stuff. I've been busy with work this and last week, but... things are starting to calm down a little I think??

There's so many games I wanna get on switch. I'm half considering just splurging next month because I sometimes worry I'm going to miss out on stuff that ends up not being available for too long that I'd like to play, but that's probably a terrible idea,especially with how many games I have right now, HAHA. (about to add seven more, too... a couple used game stores in the area were having sales for summer and I grabbed a few I had been wanting for years)

Yeah the majority of them I've put at least 30-1hr into. A lot are from sales, a lot are from humble bundle (both from bundles and from doing humble monthly)... there's a few that I got really close to the end and didn't quite finish. Others, like VA-11 Hall-A I bought as soon as they came out with every intention of playing through but then life things would come up and I'd get distracted and forget I was playing them, HAHA (I did play a couple hours of it and loved what I saw). I'm hoping this will help me keep better track of everything >_< I have even more games that I haven't logged yet since I forgot about things like GOG and Origin and I haven't relocated all my PSone games and had to try remembering off the top of my head what all I have (missing a few DS and PS2 games for that reason as well). I like that I can say what I'm working on and hope that'll keep me more focused so I'm not jumping around quite so much from game to game as I have a bad habit of doing before I finish things.

YEAH I loved Night in the Woods. I'm a big fan of more narrative games in general so it was cool seeing someone take that and put it in a platformer and have it focus more on story than game mechanics, 'cause often times if a platformer does have a narrative it's just stuff being narrated at you in the background (which is FINE BUT... I like how night in the woods decided to do things)

ALSO Minit is really good and I highly recommend it. It's honestly not that long as I was able to beat it under 3 hours. Also the music is amazing. I didn't find myself getting too stressed out by the time mechanic until I started doing hard mode (which gives you even less time and you die in one hit) as having a whole minute is more than enough time to do pretty much everything. The only things that really push it to the edge of the time you're given are all either optional or you're given a new reset point nearby so you're not getting set back too badly. Also if you find yourself needing to pause and think for a moment you can just pull up the inventory or menu and it'll pause time.

OH I'm glad you mentioned bastion because I did finish the story on that one... gonna go and fix that BD I do wanna go and complete it though, because it's such a beautiful game. I got really close to finishing Castle Crashers as well, but am just not quite there. I just finished getting my steam library in so now I gotta get all my console and non-steam PC games in, HAH.

It wasn't just the difficulty of Meat Boy, but the style of platforming that didn't connect with me. Of course, I haven't really enjoyed a 2D platformer since Rayman Origins. The story in Celeste sounds great, but it is probably a skip for me.

Hyper Light Drifter on the other hand is a game I've had my eye on. I believe the Vita version was cancelled. Shame as it is the kind of game I would prefer to play on a handheld. I will keep an eye out for it. You will be happy to know I've been watching for a sale on Half Genie Hero and will give it a shot when the price is right.

So what did you think of Pyre? Even though it is my least favorite SuperGiant game, I still enjoyed it. Rukey was my first character liberated. Haha. My favorite to use was the girl you had to name.

Odin Sphere works surprisingly well alongside BotW. Back on the PS2, I didn't play for more than an hour but I am having a lot of fun on the Vita. I will probably be one of those 200 hour people. I just keep exploring without any particular goal or objective. I love that about the game though.

I'm a big fan of adventure games anyway so Night in the Woods has been on my radar for awhile. I watched the very beginning of the game on Jesse Cox's channel and the amount of dialogue was really impressive. I try and do most everything in every game I play so no worries there.

I do need to make time for XCX. So much to play and so little time. I only beat one game on the WiiU, but I played a couple hours of Nintendoland, an hour of Smash, and like 45 minutes of Tropical Freeze. Haha.

Souls-like games certainly aren't for everyone. At least you gave it a shot. I've only played 3 Legends of Heroes games and no Adol, but the series is much bigger than just those games so it is possible. Steins;Gate does start off slow. I actually don't mind that though as it lets me get to know the characters and background. I've watched some of the anime but prefer the game. Not saying you would too but figured I would mention it.

I so know how it is. Haha

I hope to get to Ys VIII and V3 soon, though they might have to wait until after Breath of the Wild as it is taking up most of my handheld time right now. I have heard great things about both though, particularly Ys.

That is awesome that Night in the Woods is your all time favorite. As soon as it shows up in a good sale (just a matter of time) I will pick it up. I've seen a few episodes of Gravity Falls and always found it entertaining. I do love a good VN. Seeing a couple of Valhalla reviews, I kept getting a Papers Please vibe. Thanks for the heads up on the good ending.

I am with you on 2017 and 2018. My wife actually bought the Switch - I am just a beneficiary. I hear you on the PS4 - so many great games. I am still really early, but I am really enjoying Breath of the Wild so far. Really hard for me to stay on task though as there are so many distractions.

I do own Chronicles X. My WiiU gamepad is acting up but I recently learned that it can be recalibrated. If it works, I still plan on playing X.

As for standout games, my favorite I beat this year is Salt and Sanctuary. It really did capture the spirit of Dark Souls. Last year, I played some of my all time favorite Vita games. The Legend of Heroes games in particular remind me of Persona and Steins;Gate tells my favorite time travel story regardless of medium. You can actually watch the anime series on Youtube for free if you are curious. Finally, the Utawarerumono games combine VNs with SRPG's and are way better than reviews would indicate. How about you? Anything not on my radar that you've played recently that has really stood out?

Long time, no speak. Looking at your list of games played in 2018, you are playing a lot of games in my backlog (just way faster than I get to them). Good to see you've been enjoying quite a few as well, such as Ys VIII (the series you got me into) and Danganronpa 3. You've also really enjoyed several games I want to buy, such as Night in the Woods and Valhalla. Good to see you playing some great games. Hope all is well with you and your family!

I'm playing Overcooked with my wife, too! Just finished the fourth world.

Yeah, those bouncing gears were so irritating; I swear they were intentionally slowing down or speeding up based on whether you were moving or not. I actually didn't think of using the Monkey Form, huh; I just tried ducking most of the time, haha.

I did play Pirate's Curse but I think I like Half-Genie Hero a little more due its aesthetic and soundtrack. PC has a lot of good to it as well, especially its dungeons and such, though part of the reason I like RR a little more is because I felt the absence of the Genie Moves made it a little less fun for me. Still a good game though!

Man, I hope we don't have to wait more than another couple years for the next Shantae game. I remember that WayForward kept saying HGH would be out pretty soon after PC, but it ended up being a full two years after the fact.

Saw that you just beat Shantae: Half-Genie Hero; I actually JUST beat it too. Looks like we both beat it in the same day?

And yeah, I agree on that last part; totally frustrating. Was it just me or were those bouncing gears in the Tinker Brain boss battle almost completely unavoidable? And that last battle was not fun in the least. But overall it was pretty great; it might actually be my favorite in the series (although I haven't beaten Risky's Revenge yet).

Hey man, saw you were playing Triforce Heroes and decided to drop a line. I just got that the other week from Target when they were having their B2G1 sale! Will probably have to wait until 2017 before I play though since there are a lot of 2016 games I'd like to get to before the year ends.

Other than that, how've you been? It's been a while! I mostly keep up with some of the older bloggers from MyIGN on Twitter nowadays, but I really should drop in over there once in a while.

Hey, man. I kept meaning to get back to you but wanted to catch up on your comic first. Finally made some time today. That first full pic of Gemini is fantastic with the sparkle effects! Looks like you are getting a good amount of comments on your newest panels. You seeing your subscribers going up? Anyway, looking forward to part 19. I'm sure our pink haired heroine has nothing to worry about. haha. Anyway, I doubt I will comment much on Taptastic but I did subscribe today.

Looks like you have found a couple of old school games you can get into in Downwell and Axiom Verge. Good to see you finding some games that really click.

Yeah, Hatsune Miku is fantastic. I find myself listening to the OST at work, that is how crazy catchy these songs are. I beat every song legit with no help items on Hard, but there are some songs in Extreme that I can't ever see myself beating with or without help items (Envy Catwalk, The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku), but the plat doesn't require you to do more than attempt songs in Extreme and I have cleared more than a few. It is without a doubt right there with Guitar Hero III, Elite Beat Agents, and Persona 4: Dancing All Night as one of my favorite rhythm games. Do you think you will pick up and play Project Diva X? I'm pretty excited for it as apparently there is some type of story mode.

Wasn't me. I need to catch up on your comic and actually give myself some kind of user name after registering for Taptastic. That is actually a good thing though meaning you are getting even more subscribers!

Will let you know about Axiom Verge if I do see it on sale. I think my prospects for playing a Shantae game have gone down significantly, but it still isn't out of the question. I took a long look at what I've played over the past 20 months, and in general there is a huge disparity between how much I enjoy games that were on my wishlist prior to purchase and everything else (PS+ freebies, flash sale impulse buys, bargain bin bad decisions, etc.). With the realization that I am slowing down quite a bit with the volume of games I consume, I have decided to focus only on playing and purchasing high priority titles. Not saying I won't ever try a Shantae game, but it really isn't a game that is a must play for me like other games that I have yet to purchase and while I have a hard time resisting a good sale, I know it is a much better use of my time and money to put funds toward games I really want to play instead of letting a cheap price decide what I play.

I do need to give Tropical Freeze a try at some point. Eventually, I would like to move the Xbox 360 into my son's room and the WiiU downstairs. When that happens, I can definitely see myself spending some quality time with a few WiiU games (add Tokyo Mirage Sessions to the three other games mentioned).

I did sign up with my e-mail address and checked out all of the pages I had missed. I haven't really looked too deep into the site options though. I know when I signed up it didn't ask me to create a user name so that is definitely something I would need to look into before subscribing or posting comments as I don't want my e-mail address to display for all of the other subscribers to see. Anyway, I will try and get that figured out before long. In the meantime, the new pages are very impressive. I was a bit surprised to see the expletives (they don't bother me or anything, just not sure I've seen you type a bad word before - haha) but it does make sense in the context of the story. In your latest page, I read the comment from the guy who said the first panel gave him video game vibes - perhaps that is why it is my favorite panel that you've put up yet. The light effects are just too cool. I also checkout out your Twitter banner. So many characters yet to make an appearance - it is like my daughter showing me a Bleach poster she really wants yet I've only seen the first 4 or 5 episodes. The third guy on the banner reminds me of Guile from Street Fighter. haha.

I can understand that regarding last gen games. I feel the same way until I actually sit down and play a game on the PS3, and then I get sucked in all over again. We'll see if this still holds true when I get around to playing Assassin's Creed Rogue and Yakuza 5 (possibly the final two PS3 games I play).

Your choice, man. We all have different priorities and things we want to do. It took way too long, but it seems that I've finally realized it is okay to slow down and really take my time with games. I have only finished 15 in the past 5 months (extrapolates out to 36 games per year), which is still quite a few but way less than any other time since 2011. If I spend 2 months with Zelda like I did with The Witcher 3, so be it.

Interesting. For me, Yosuke was always an incredible character. My last playthrough on the Vita, I mostly used the 4 original party members from start to finish. Maybe when I replay it next, I will make a point to use Teddie.

Nice play on words there. Are you still enjoying working on the comic? Don't work on it so much that is starts to feel like work. If I'm remembering correctly, that seemed like part of the reason you burned out on video games.

I liked the original Xenoblade quite a bit. I haven't met too many open world RPG's that I don't like. I will probably get to Chronicles X eventually, though I'm not sure when. I've really slowed down on purchasing games recently and now that I am taking longer to finish games, I can be a lot pickier about what I buy and how much I pay. Sounds like you really loved the game for the exploration and the atmosphere. I didn't see any Bethesda RPG's on your list of played games, though I swear you've at least played some of Fallout 3. Since you enjoyed Xenoblade so much, perhaps you would enjoy other open world RPG's. Kingdoms of Amalur might be up your alley as it has the open world and the atmosphere, but not really the traversal system.

Until the Zelda team proves otherwise, might as well have faith. I know some weren't enamored with Skyward Sword but I loved it, so no reason to doubt them now. I can understand that with either buying it right away or skipping it. My wife and daughter will have to have it right away so that is a no brainer for me.

I tried to check out your comic but it looks like I will need to sign up for an account as the last 3 or 4 pages are all marked as mature content.

As much as I liked Teddie, I rarely used him in my four person party so even if I love the cat, not sure I can commit like you have. haha.

Thanks for the Shantae recommendations. I will watch for Pirate's Curse to go on sale. Wish it was on the Vita instead of the PS4 though. I seem to like most indie games better when they are on handhelds, which is a big reason why I haven't bought Salt & Sanctuary yet. Yeah, let me know how the new one is as obviously it is coming to Vita. Since you are big into Metroidvania's these days, have you looked into Axiom Verge? I've heard good things.

Fire Emblem broke my one year streak of only playing games with trophies. I still enjoy collecting them and they have certainly helped me spend more time with the games I enjoy, but Fire Emblem reminded me that other systems have great games too. Still probably won't sink a ton of time into the Wii U, but the 3DS is back in regular rotation.

I will try and get signed up so I can keep following Don't Be a Hero!

No worries. We like different things and there is nothing wrong with that. We may have different opinions, but I certainly don't take offense or feel the need to defend either game - I didn't make TLOU, I just loved playing it. Yeah, if you have doubts maybe Breath won't be worth a full price purchase for you, though Nintendo games are notorious for holding that initial retail price. As you know, I rarely buy a game at full price so $90 has always seemed expensive to me. Haha.

Persona 5 looks just incredible. I love P3 and P4 as they are, but my biggest complaint would be the repetitiveness of the dungeons. If the dungeon they have showcased in the trailers is an indication of the others in P5, it should be something special indeed. I haven't heard of any bugs in ZTD, but I haven't paid that much attention. I did read that the framerate is smoother and visuals are better on the Vita, so everything else being equal you may want to go that route.

I am totally onboard with Phoenix Wright 6 and Danganronpa 3 as well. I've enjoyed a few Metroidvania type games in the last few years - I think Outland qualifies as one, but it isn't my favorite genre and I'm only trying to buy high priority titles these days (though I sometimes stray). Of course, all bets are off on a flash sale so if I see a Shantae game for a couple of bucks, I will give it a shot.

Not sure how much worse TLOU looks on PS3, but I played the Left Behind DLC on PS4 last year and while the visuals didn't blow me away, they didn't detract from my experience either. I actually enjoyed the gameplay in TLOU quite a bit. I'm not usually big on stealth, but I always felt like I had options despite resource scarcity. I also thought the game mixed things up, from having to work together to reach certain areas to set piece moments like having to shoot clickers while hanging upside down. I felt that way about the first act compared to the prologue my first time through as well, but upon replaying it I grew to appreciate the first act much more. Like I said before, it isn't my game of the generation but it is top five.

So what was it about Xenoblade Chronicles X that made it one of your favorite JRPG's? I enjoyed the first game quite a bit, but it felt somewhat MMO-like to me with all of the fetch quests. I don't know how much stock I would put into the treehouse presentation. Sounds like journalists who got hands on time with Breath of the Wild came away almost universally impressed. There may be more to this whole cooking thing than we know. I wouldn't be surprised if you could bottle up what you make to restore health at a later time or something similar. The weapons breaking constantly does sound annoying and the durability in the vids I've seen seems incredibly low, but I will withhold judgement until we see how this all plays out. I like loot, so if there are weapons of varying power and rarity, it could be a pretty cool system if they don't break after a dozen whacks.

I guess when I am playing a video game, I'm not too worried about things taking a bit longer. I usually take my time anyway, so a bit of cooking here and looting there shouldn't be too big of a deal for me. I understand you can only make judgments based on what you've seen, but don't be too quick to translate the slice that was shown into the entirety of the experience.

I figured it wasn't an easy task coloring the comic despite being able to do it on the tablet. I am definitely okay with some ridiculousness in a story. I do like South Park after all. haha.

Checked out your recent pages. Like the move to color! Guessing your tablet makes that so much easier than if you had to use ink. I like how you put the link in your sidebar so that I can just go there to check it out. Not really into using Facebook for anything for creating a sign on.

I know you've expressed before why you don't really like open world games so it isn't too much of a surprise that you aren't super excited for the new Zelda. I guess I'm not really surprised at your reaction to The Last of Us either, though I think it was one of the best console games of last gen (behind Fallout 3, Red Dead, and Skyrim). I am guessing that at some point you will pick up Zero Time Dilemma as I know you enjoyed 999 and VLR. The game has been getting great reviews. Oh, and happy Canada Day!

Congrats on posting your first couple of panels online! You are a talented artist. I like the art style - kind of an east meets west thing with western features but anime influences. The evil planet (perhaps controlled by the guy in the crater?) really reminds me of Majora's Mask. haha. Anyway, looking forward to seeing more.

I've been playing quite a bit, just haven't updated much. I've been spending a lot of my online time watching Let's Plays of Dark Souls 3 since I'm totally obsessed with it right now (but I only ever go up to where I actually am at in the game). I haven't been buying many games recently though, but with Father's Day and a birthday coming up, I am hoping for Uncharted 4. How are you liking Golden and the new social links?