DefaultGen

I figured it out while trying to calculate the minimum amount of criminals I actually had to catch because there was no way I was going to sit through that game catching all the speeders. The answer was zero (plus a few to repair the car at your leisure). I actually did end up catching every named criminal just for the cash, which isn't hard when you don't have to focus on the rest of the game, so don't quote me that losing in one day is impossible.

Motor City Patrol is done All you need to do in this game is collect the 16 items on each map then wait out the timer, since this essentially resets your lives every day. Patrolling criminals is an extremely exhausting waste of time. You can't game over in a single day, even if every criminal escapes. This makes the game much faster to complete too since you don't have to keep bringing up the map. This game shouldn't be a stick in the mud, it's a freebie. I beat it in 2 minute spurts over 3-4 hours while multitasking, the vast majority being dead time waiting for the timer to run out.

This is why you're a fighter pilot and I am not.

I'm still not over Holiday Road.

NESMania is a sham. TMR couldn't cut it

Pirates is done. I ended my journeyman campaign with an angry, thieving, mutinous crew who stole half my gold and 90/100 score. A short 10 minute expedition later where all I did was marry the best wife and retire bumped me up to 100/100. I tried the prosperous 1600s a couple times but had a real hard time making everyone happy because the non-Spanish nations kept making war with each other rather than the Spanish. 1560 is great because everyone just hates the Spanish. In 1560, you have to repeatedly attack weak Spanish towns to install English/French/Dutch governments so you can rise in their ranks (almost everything starts out Spanish).

People think Super Mario Bros and Pokemon will matter forever, meanwhile in 15 years people are going to be talking about Jetpack Joyrride like it was the birth of "real" video games.

When can we get this video

I'm done with graph paper for a bit. I'm going to try Pirates, which looks like I'll have to play a few times to hit the top rank.

Simple solution: Don't collect NWC

In AC if you die you desync and just respawn. Just 2 years earlier the same company, the sameish genre: Prince of Persia Warrior Within has game overs like it's 1981. Xbox 360 is definitely the dividing line between old and new for me where most games became really "lean back and win" experiences.

Shout out to Oblivion for its just-run-at-this-arrow HUD being a major influence in ruining my immersion in video game worlds for the past 18 years. (Still love Oblivion tho)

AD&D: Pool of Radiance is done. This game is very long, but more enjoyable than M&M because you always have new clear goals and the maps are full of more actual stuff even if it's just fun little flavor. It does get tedious, but lots of areas have logical ways to stop or get around random encounters. The relatively low stakes are cool, helping out a town with the local kobolds and a weird guy in a pyramid polluting the river. It does feel like a low level D&D campaign. Fun stuff. I ended up with a party of F, F/C, F/M, C, M which seemed fine. I never needed more than my F/C to heal and the mage spell Stinking Cloud is incredibly OP, so if I was powergaming through again I might try 4x F/M, 1x M/C. I would also make absolutely sure to roll 18 constitution for all my guys for that precious HP. Thieves are useless. This game doesn't have many traps and I simply ran through all of them with no issues. M&M and Pool of Radiance are definitely the longest NES games I've ever played. I wonder how @ZeldaFreak is doing with Mutant Virus and Bases Loaded IV

Is @Johnny making you buy silly Disney GBA games

I mean it's not all legislation but 3 Supreme Court picks and striking down national abortion rights and affirmative action, Masterpiece Cakeshop, reduced EPA oversight of fossil fuels, maintaining the gun control status quo of thoughts and prayers, etc. It might not be popular but conservatives certainly are effective at achieving their goals. What are the Biden admin's biggest wins? An infrastructure bill, Covid economic soft landing, and ending the occupation of Afghanistan? While great, that sure doesn't feel like some win for the left, it just feels like, you know, stuff that everyone should agree is good? And so we ratchet on.

Gameplay doesn't get better than Path of Exile with no loot filter

Maybe 6 tho

Get Holiday Road out of my head. I didn't ask for this. One, singular, earworm word cannot make an entire song. 3/10. RoooOOOOHhAAAHhhhooooHOOOoAAd.

Benstylus? What's up? Branching out from the ol' UGTZ?

SOTN is a foundational game! We wouldn't be forced to deal with the term """Metroidvania""" without it, and you're not going to tell me anyone would ever say that if only Simon's Quest existed. 10/10 by default.

Zoo Keeper rules. I've had this Taito multicade thing in my office for the longest time and literally the only thing I ever play on it is Zoo Keeper.

"Meh. There's plenty of better alternatives to this" sounds very right. AC2 alone made the original feel boring and repetitive, let alone all the pirate shanty singing, Greek naval warfare simulation stuff the series got later on. 4/10

10. We must embrace the 10.

I work with a middle-aged Korean woman who doesn't play video games, but interjected when me and a buddy were talking about competitive SC2. We said "Wait I thought you don't play video games" and she said "Well Starcraft, everyone plays Starcraft".