Roderick

OK I finished it, and then watched some more snippets. I'm going to have the weirdest dreams tonight.

The few movies I saw (aside from Dead Zone and the Trunks and Bardock specials) were terrible and worse than the filler bs in the series itself. I guess what I really liked about the show were the cool villains. Freeza and Cell are masterful designs. Though I'll always hold that the manga is way better. Toriyama's drawings have incredible energy, which is slightly diluted when animated by a studio of copy artists. Still, both are pretty nice. I don't think I'd watch it nowadays if I came into contact with it, but in the time when I was 18-ish and anime was still rare, it hit hard.

On the topic of difficulty:

Have you seen the rather good "Bardock special" minimovie about what happened to planet Vegeta? It's a good accompaniment to the series. Don't watch any of the other movies, they're rubbish, apart from maybe the first one with Garlic Jr. that ties directly into the start of the show. (There's one film that features Hitler coming from hell, so that could be worth a look.)

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I had to stop watching that. I'm at work right now and it's NOT GOOD if I burst out in pathetic sniggering here every two minutes. I made it past the new year's list filled with desks, but then he just starts eating spaghetti, I can't do this.

Nick is a class act. Kind of a shame he'll never read that here. Wow, what a crazy gift, all those canvases and artworks and diptychs! GOod job organising, Subbes, and great handwriting.

I'm curious if there are stats about who played which part first. I went with Vella, and I think that's both consciously because I was attracted to the landscape and the mysterious sleeping baker girl, and subconsciously because her story was on the left side of the screen, and in the West, that's where you begin. Additionally, since time moves chronologically, I think there's an inherent urge to start in the [perceived] pastoral past before tackling the sci-fi future story.

Now hold on. Wasn't it actually Gohan who defeated Cell, with the help of Goku (now dead)? That was such a beautiful climax, passing down the mantle from father to son. I didn't even watch the show anymore after Cell. I really liked the show, faults and all.

Wow, it's been a wild ride, Twig, but so good to hear you finally get that job! YYYYES!

Finished!

Tough situation, Thrik, but I'm happy you're feeling good about it.

Naaaww, it's such a short game anyway, no problem just playing it again when it's fixed. They're aware of the issue, no use bothering them even more,

Ungh, I'm really enjoying this so far, but there's a bug where I can't switch back to Vella after finishing Shay. I'm pretty much stuck. I came very close to finishing Vella.

Hahaha, did this really happen? "In a matter of minutes, a couple will enter this box, have sex, and then talk frankly about it." It's all so deliciously matter-of-factly. Have fun in your box, horny couple!

Fabelhaft!

I think I went on a similar trajectory. When I saw that Grim trailer (10 MB!) I was blooooooooooown aw-IGN.com-ay.

Zeus: you are totally in the clear here, just to make that absolutely certain.

I'm gonna tout my Gamse of the Year 2011 here: Catherine. Though the sex itself has no gameplay function, it's so embedded in the storyline that it's integral to the game. The whole thing is about you as Vincent being seduced into cheating on your girlfriend / being too weak-willed to withstand it / or even secretly wanting it, and the ramifications on your relationship. Before the regrettable final act, this theme is explored really nicely, supported from every side by the levels, the cinematics and the in-between gameplay segments where you're talking to your friends and strangers inside a bar about your struggles. It became my GOTY2011 because I had played no other game before that that dealt with that specific problem at that specific age before. It felt mature and considerate as well - lurid covers and ads aside.

But how is The Secreeeeeeet (whispering) not proof of a worldwide conspiracy to keep us all in the blind?

A controller is a good investment anyway, since a lot of games get a lot better with it, nowadays. I wouldn't want to play a third person action game with mouse and keyboard, frankly.

Haha, that's the first time I gave thought about the way in which my avatar might spoil something. For the record: hardly. Another open expanse of adventure gaming I had was in Deponia, where you get to run around a town freely for half of the game. I really liked that part, so I concur that a measure of freedom and non-linear exploration can work to create something more than a straight succession of scenes/screens could.

Would you say you were... ?

Good job, Erkki!

Even at the time, when those five CD-ROMs came rolling out of the box, it felt like the CD-ROM era should just come to an end already.