Halo, certainly... spent a few days with it before just going back to Quake.

The Last of Us as well... a video game can't be good if you can get an equal or better experience by just watching the cut scenes on Youtube. There's quality stuff there, but it's just not in video game form. Same can be said about pretty much everything Bioware or Bethesda have made.

The year 2015 won. The year 2014 definitely lost.

But toe-for-toe I'll take Sony's exclusive games over Microsoft, especially considering that they really seemed to be withholding Japanese stuff for TGS. I wouldn't even rule out Nintendo yet.

Microsoft for me basically had Ori, some more stuff from the Limbo guys, and Scaleborne. My disinterest in any of their franchises still remains.

Has everybody at EA just spent the last year trying to fix BF4 or something? The stuff they showed was so early prototype that this year pretty much felt like their main goal was just to hold on to their spot for next year.

They had nothing ready to show, but the ESA would've given their conference to somebody else if they didn't show up.

Ori and the new stuff from the Limbo guys looks interesting. I have faith that Platinum will make a fun action game. Evolve looks like it will be neat on PC if you have 4 friends who actually want to play.

That's about all I got out of it aside from wanting to stab the next person to say "dedicated servers." It's 2014. We had those in 1995.

Oh, and Halo 2 multiplayer was never special.

She kills Booker at the fork in the road between baptism (Comstock) and going home and getting drunk (Booker). It doesn't matter which Elizabeth is killing which Booker, only that she's killing him at the point of divergence before he can make up his mind about the baptism. As he says, at that point in time, and only that point in time, he is neither Booker nor Comstock, but "both." Keep in mind that Elizabeth has become the Mommy of space and time by that point. You aren't dealing with Elizabeth and Booker from the game anymore, you're dealing with something closer to Platonic Forms of those characters, likely as soon as they end up in the Sea of Doors.

That being said, the post-credits scene removes any thread of consistency they had, because, as you said, Elizabeth should not have been born had the loop been closed--unless they failed to close the loop, which isn't any less detrimental to what they were going for.

Xillia outsold 13-2 in Japan... at this point it's probably not even in Namco's best interests.

Your premises are insufficient, and your conclusion does not logically follow. Your definitions of "need" and "desire" are unproven (various theories of well-being have argued against happiness having any importance in relation to desires), and your assumption that a perfect being would lack desires is baseless even if your definitions hold true.

"God" as you're describing it sounds familiar to that of Plotinus' "The One," but the Neoplatonists do a much better job of both explaining it and covering their tracks than you have here.

If you want to disprove an Orthodox God, you're better off sticking to Russell or Mackie.

Pretty much proving my point... everything here is either a) not actually difficult, or b) can be seen in a past game, in either equal or more difficult ways.

Get a bow, dodge better, make use of the vast quantities of ore and the overly simplified upgrade system, or the unlimited healing items, or the bonfires every three feet, or the babysitter covenant, or the easy-to-find, devastatingly strong weapons that will kill a gargoyle before the next one manages to spawn. Read one of the dozen inevitable player messages beside the windmill that say "use torch." I can't relate to most of your list because I never noticed it despite going through the game three times. Every attack can be dodged even without a point in adaptability. I've already seen someone finish the game at level 1 using fists only, because things haven't changed--you dodge, and then you attack. If you got hit, you did it wrong. So it has been and so it will be. It's the exact same formula we've seen twice before, except now they give you more tools than ever. They've even provided you with an entire stat devoted to making your dodges more effective than ever. If you've been along for the ride since Demon's Souls, I can't imagine finding this game to be more frustrating in any way. It's bland in comparison, but mainly because everything is so straightforward. The atmosphere suffers because there's a distinct lack of fear or tension; it never gives you a reason to be afraid. At least NG+ tries some things that Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1 didn't, but by that point you're still generally a killing machine anyways.

It's fair to call it disappointing, but everything in this game is, for the most part, objectively easier and more friendly than it's predecessors.

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls 1 both had much more irritating areas (World 5, Blighttown, Lost Izalith, Sen's Fortress, Tomb of Giants) and "cheap" difficulty (Dragon God, Bed of Chaos) compared to Dark Souls 2... DkS2 was incredibly plain and straightforward in comparison, outside of the Chariot. Knowing where the dodge button is on your controller gets you through the entire game.

Not my biggest disappointment, but my complaint would be that it was just too easy compared to the others. They even throw cheap, high scaling, high damage weapons at you from the very first vendor.

The kind with rum in it.

Also not sure where Ginger Ale goes.