Bjorn

That's an amazing gaming achievement, congrats. I wasn't even able to see all the endings, I think I bailed on the last or next to last one. Just got too frustrated at getting 95 percent of the way there on most runs, but not being able to finish the run.

I took down the two big optional bosses tonight! The really big one, , I got on my first shot. Of course I respecced back to a lightning slinging faith build. Last night taught me that my melee-fu was not the equal of that fight. I also took down a third optional fight that requires NG+ or a Bonfire Ascetic, That was the single hardest fight in the game. Then I did some more PvP on the Iron Keep bridge. I continue to love my punching crossbowman. Getting through the Company of Champions was totally worth it. Anyone else doing much dueling, or mostly sticking with single player and co-op stuff? I'd agree that it's one of the best designed areas of the game, in all ways (mechanically, visually and audio). Yeah, it's really hard, but beautiful and everything fits.

Aaaaaand, somebody always manages to get it wrong. I'm sure Peter Moore doesn't mind having to apologize for whatever intern runs the Twitter account.

There are going to be people who are very upset that this isn't real. Garrus Vakarian Body Pillow

I was actually referencing the "Recommended Headline" that Twitter suggested be checked out at the bottom of the image And I just got this press release from the Jim Butcher mailing list (author of the Dresden Files). This one actually took a second for me to catch on to, since there have been some pretty amazingly silly musical adaptations of geek properties.

NPR: It's Not A Sled Anymore: Remaking A Cinematic Classic

Exactly.

YES IT IS!

Most exciting thing I learned about the Royals today: They do not offer a wedding proposal package, unlike most other teams in the league.

They are titled Sizzling Bacon and Rotisserie Chicken.

But sometimes those clear lines are political or social in nature. Take his point about SimCity: Completely ignoring those societal mechanics in a city building simulation is certainly a developer drawing a line, but part of the reason for that line is "political" in the sense that it is concern about the nature of those issues and how society perceives and reacts to them that they are left out, not necessarily due to a technical limitation. You can see this piece that examines some of the controversy about how SimCity already handles environmental issues (and whether or not its really saying anything with its mechanics). It really makes me want to play a game that has themes like white flight and gentrification present. That would be fascinating.

Make sure you log into Netflix today and check out their latest Netflix Original.

The text in the last scene of that trailer is the best:

Gamespot article on addition of new item to Dark Souls 2

I'm only partway through this, but this piece on the absolute implosion of the GAME_JAM is super interesting.

See Spelunky videos for examples of how to trap yourself in an enclosed area with a ghost.

The thing with some gaming April Fool's Jokes is that they actually sound awesome. Like a war game mode where players have to co-operate to take down a Kaiju.

Troika's games (from what I remember) were an incredible mix of brilliance and catastrophe.

Way to take the fun out of April Fools Day Twitter.

Are there places that posts aren't counted?

Well, I "finished" Dark Souls 2 last night, turned out I was even closer than I had realized. I think I had a loose grasp on what was going on by the time I finished. I still have 2 optional bosses to fight before going into NG+, both of which look really, really hard. I tried one of them last night, and got OSKed a few times before deciding to quit for the night. Overall, judging DS2 against its predecessors, I feel it holds up very well. It's not the best game in the series, and it has some problems, but it's still a damned fine game. I'd break down the games like this: Demon's Souls: Best atmosphere, good world, great difficulty, but marred by the World/Character Tendency system, which is a broken, terrible idea Dark Souls: Best world and characters, good difficulty, but marred by some technical issues and lack of dedicated servers. I also feel like the combat in it is the least balanced. Dark Souls 2: Best combat and difficulty, many small improvements like no longer needlessly punishing a player for experimentation (losing progress in a covenant, ability to respect). Lackluster world, story and characters. I'll explain the combat and difficulty thoughts. Combat finally feels like there are thousands of possible combinations that are all going to be really good, for both PvP and PvE. Dual wielding and twin blades add new dimensions to the combat. Previous gimmick weapons (whip and fists) now have really good roles to serve. As for difficulty, the base game is probably easier than the previous two. But, From Software gave you tools, the Company of Champions and Bonfire Ascetics. You want a harder game, you can have a harder game. I'm going to play more, at least take this character partway through NG+, then probably take a break for a few weeks until the PC version comes out, which I still have pre-ordered.

If you write Kierkergaard three times in one post, is it like summoning Beetlejuice?

I feel like I'm posting too much in this thread, but I really am loving this game so much, and learning new shit every day. Dark Souls 2 officially delivers the biggest troll move possible. Spoilers regarding the boss at the end of Drangleic Castle if you want to avoid knowing too much about that.

I DID NOT KNOW THIS EXISTED! I really want to watch it now, sadly it is not on Netflix yet.