I still distinctly remember the first time I used a bedroll in Divinity: Original Sin 2 and knew immediately it’d be impossible for me to ever go back to the first one.

I enjoyed the original D:OS a lot more later once I had more chances for XP. Both D:OS games are brutal about punishing you for trying encounters while underleveled, to the point where I didn’t feel like I had much flexibility. That’s tough when freedom to roam and not worry about skipping things–or saving them for replays–is one of the things I most like about Western RPGs. I wasn’t a fan of spending a ton of time in town early on, too, for that reason. Was itching to get to the combat again and I just kept getting stomped. So yeah, okay, I’ll go chat everyone up for every last bit of experience.

For historical perspective developed in parallel with Half-Life 2, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is worth a look. With Call of Duty being the revenue juggernaut it is now, I think we sometimes forget how it started. Allied Assault is a landmark game that’s an ancestor in CoD’s lineage.

On the other end of the timeline, the founders of the studio that developed the original Call of Duty went on to make Titanfall. Titanfall 2 has an excellent single-player campaign that holds up very well.

It wasn’t for me, but I’ve heard that some people like Noita, which is built around granular physics interactions.

Oxygen Not Included was more my speed, but that’s more about complex, larger systems (like fluid dynamics and heat) than collision.

This is me with current books and music. For books, common styles of prose or an abundance of certain tropes used now simply don’t hit with me, and I’ve even gone back to mid-to-late 20th century books recently to try to avoid all that.

I’d say the best way to try to broaden your taste is to make sure you’re touching on the hits in different genres, and–if you can handle dated gameplay and visuals–to go back and try games from previous generations as well.

Zero DRM isn’t the only reason games aren’t published on GOG right away, and that may not even be the main reason for the countless games that release day one without Denuvo.

GOG also doesn’t have the best infrastructure for pushing updates. Stories abound of it being a slow process, whether physically uploading the files or authentication taking a while. Invariably, game updates will show up later on GOG than they will on Steam. GOG also has a very consumer-friendly return policy. All that, combined with it being simply a smaller marketplace, doesn’t place it well in cost-benefit analysis.

The first Suikoden is on the shorter side, at least. Should be able to get through it in 25 hours or less.

Lot of not-JRPG time again for me last month. However, I did start playing Ys IX: Monstrum Nox again, and I think I’m finally at a point where I’m into it. Really struggled with this one, which is super unusual for me. I’m a fan of the series, and I usually tear right through these games even when I’m not liking them super much.

Only other plan for December is more Atelier Escha & Logy. Now that is definitely a series where I usually have to dip in a few times before I get rolling.

I think it’s one absolutely worth pursuing, especially if you’ve yet to play the story to the end. Steam version is on deep discount right now if you have a PC or Deck.

Darkest Dungeon, Jedi Fallen Order, and Titanfall 2 are all super cheap. Darkest Dungeon pissed me off 15 hours in or so, enough to ragequit the game, and I’d still consider it well worth the current price.

Disco Elysium and the original Hades are also great buys at 10€.

Did you ever play Divinity: Original Sin 2? Since you mentioned Baldur’s Gate 3, it plays a lot like that, just minus the license and a much greater emphasis on environmental effects. It was super well-received at the time.

That’s me with Atelier. Usually I’m good to go right away with Ys right from the start, even with the ones I don’t like as much. Ys VIII was especially good as soon as the island landing.

Honkai: Star Rail and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. Took me multiple chapters to get into Ys IX (very unusual for me, I love the series) but I’m finally starting to enjoy it.

Also started a replay of The Witcher 3.

Some slightly more obscure ones:

• Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
• Planescape: Torment

Also surprised Metal Gear Solid hasn’t been mentioned yet.

Someone hasn’t played NieR!

For a differing opinion, the artwork is great, but as a metroidvania it’s below rate for my taste. I went four hours with the game and didn’t see any new enemies and virtually the same environments. In this genre, that’s a long time to go without seeing something new.

Maybe I went in with the wrong expectations and should have looked at this as a platformer/2D action game. The combat is certainly the centerpiece of the game, but that wasn’t enough for me.

I’ve had pretty good success recommending Chrono Trigger. Was even my brother-in-law’s first video game outside of simple arcade stuff, and he loved it. It’s one of those that seems rare to get a negative response from, even if it doesn’t always become a favorite in the end.

As you’ve already discovered, the answer is to instead focus your listening on simpler material like Nihongo con Teppei. I’m an acolyte of Krashen’s i+1 input hypothesis for second language learning: we progress in language learning when we’re exposed to input that is slightly ahead of our current level. I do think intermediate level can be a real struggle because there is tons of beginner-level material out there and (of course) endless native material, but the stuff in the middle is much harder to find. It really does have to be modified/simplified in some way from native level to be effective. Even native materials for kids doesn’t always work out because they learn the language differently than we do.

Also, while I read more than I listen personally, within groups of material that we know is an appropriate level it’s a good idea to push right past the stuff that’s totally incomprehensible–it happens–and concentrate on the i+1 content. Do a quantity over quality approach when possible. I find this naturally easier to do when listening; it’s too easy to stop constantly and go on a text parsing or copy/paste spree to dissect sentences when reading.

Similar story for me. I bounced off this game several times, going back to it repeatedly because (to this day) Matsuno’s games are some of my all-time favorites. Then maybe 15 years after release, I realized I’d stopped just short of the crafting station which was such a strong hook for me I ended up with multiple spreadsheets!

Unfortunately, as I began to realize as I delved into the game, it had a lot in common with looter ARPGs, a genre that ages so rapidly. I probably would have loved the game back in 2000 but didn’t give it enough of a chance back then. By the time I did, it was just too dated.

Was the big one, misskey.io. I found a federated instance I was able to register at, I just wonder just how federated it’s all going to be if the big instance is restricted.

I can still hear Toreno’s voice in my head. “Communism in Ohio. People sharing. Nobody buying stuff. That kinda bullshit!”

I have an eye on the upcoming game Keep Driving, been thinking I’ll put on the Vice City or San Andreas soundtracks while playing it.