I've thought about this a lot for the past ~15 years. I described Ys Seven on Destructoid in the early 2010s as fast-paced Secret of Mana since that was my best frame of reference then. A decade later, I do one battle in Final Fantasy XVI and go "I can't believe Square Enix is making Ys now."

Well then. #blutoid

Hello. I just want to say that trans and non-binary people deserve infinite love at a time when the scant few rights they had are being so cruelly torn away. I am so blessed to have trans and non-binary friends, colleagues, neighbours and relatives, who inspire me every day. Love to you all.

Questions for people who have played Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake. 1: Did you keep Gwaelin with you for the second half of the game? 2: If not, did you realize that you could? And to answer your question, yes I have now beaten this game twice.

Questions for people who have played Dragon Quest I HD-2D Remake. 1: Did you keep Gwaelin with you for the second half of the game? 2: If not, did you realize that you could? And to answer your question, yes I have now beaten this game twice.

This week's issue features links to @solfleet.bsky.social, @marioprime.bsky.social, @jmariye.bsky.social, @timmonbleau.bsky.social, @mads.haus, @darylbaxter.com and others ⤵️

“We can’t give in to fear. If we run, then what happened to us will happen to others. The world won’t be safe. So we have to be strong. And we have to keep going.” Beautiful work, @timmonbleau.bsky.social 💖 kotaku.com/dragon-quest...

It means the world to me to see this piece so warmly received this past day. The last few weeks have been beyond hard for me, and so much of this was driven by my own struggle to find the strength to keep my chin up. I feel that weight lifting seeing these feelings resonate, thank you all.

Beautiful interpretation of the new Dragon Quest remakes. And here I simply walked away marveling at how DQ1 took me twenty hours to beat! (Among other positives, of course.) We could use more of the spine-tingling hope Mr. Monbleau offers -- or perhaps reminds us -- at the very end here.

Not to spoil the ending too much, but “a bedtime story for the broken” is such a *bar* that I need a cigarette. kotaku.com/dragon-quest...

I'm beginning to think DQ1+2 HD-2D have a legit claim to being the best "game" of the year with how everyone I know and respect on the genre are talking.

wonderful piece. i really resonate with how overwhelming the emotional core of dragon quest 2's remake in particular can be. i find myself bowled over constantly playing this thing, which is all the more shocking given the original game's reputation as "the worst one."

absolute cookery from Tim here. putting this in a tab to read through later, but i spied the last graf and it's some good stuff. hell yes.

A phenomenally insightful piece. Timothy interrogates the themes of these games with refreshing optimism. He also gives voice to my own feeling of loneliness playing DQIII HD-2D. I yearn for the catharsis of camaraderie embedded in its pre/sequels. Guess I’m getting on with those sooner than later.

Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake is not Dragon Quest I or Dragon Quest II, but it is a a classic song of hope for our modern, hopeless times. In one of my deepest dives yet, I unpack how these games have changed, and how the meaning of Dragon Quest has evolved for me through these remakes. #blutoid

I know being anti-AI isn't brave, but I can't stand tech bros going "with AI you can talk to grandma again!" I spent nearly a decade caring for my grandparents as I watched them deteriorate. Their AI ghosts won't fix me, but a world that offered them the care and dignity they deserved would have.

With the power of AI, you too can live every waking moment of your life as if you were Omori from the hit RPG Omori.

Final Fantasy XIV should make Culinarian a healing class so they can have a move called Eggs Benediction.

I drew the duck blue because I've never seen a blue duck before and, to be honest with you, I wanted to see a blue duck.

Holding off on a verdict until I see the end credits (twice), but I’ve been enjoying Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake. It’s so wildly transformative that you could call it a new game, but its story-driven focus on keeping hope alive is just what we need now. More to come on this soon. #blutoid

It's crazy that my girlfriend @lunardove.bsky.social is not only an amazing and supportive partner, she can also snap some damn good photos too. I was long overdue for a new profile picture, especially now that I've got some stuff on my face.

Thank you EGM and Seanbaby for goading teenage Tim into playing this. I'll be honest, it's not the WORST thing I've ever seen. Lunar: Dragon Song single-handedly ensured I'd never buy a game without reading reviews again, and that's coming from the man who beat the Diabetes platformer.

Been reading criticism of roguelite systems today, which I typically agree with. Absolum's take on it did manage to work for me, which I discuss here. My advice: Spend those first 8 hours learning enemy tells and your defensive options. Gaining that knowledge is as important as the stat upgrades.

@timmonbleau.bsky.social is here to tell us all about Absolum and its place in the hierarchy of bemups! maxutmost.com/review-absol...

Don't sleep on Absolum. Dotemu and Guard Crush's follow-up to Streets of Rage 4 combines meaningful variety with crunchy mechanical depth, and its story about the rise and effects of tyranny inspired ~700 words of analysis out of me. Absolutely loving this, even 30 hours later. My full review below:

Hey Absolum absolutely whips and you should not sleep on it. Roguelikes are usually harder sells for me because I don't like banging my head against a wall until it breaks, but this one's fantasy beat-em-up dressings got its hooks in me.

If Destructoid never entered the Gamurs era, this article would have been called "New Buyout Turns Electronic Arts Into Electronic Sharts" and everyone in the comments would be complaining about how no one should buy Electronic Arts unless it's at least 50% off on Steam. #blutoid #darksiders2

Doing some prep work ahead of Dragon Quest I+II HD this month, and man, Dragon Quest 1 remakes are such satisfying bite-sized games. Can’t think of many RPGs that I can play for an hour and go “You know, I’m already this far in, I might as well finish it.”

~15 years later and we're finally getting closer to realizing this legendary pitch. #blutoid

After an hour of playing Fire Emblem Shadows, I can safely say that I still have no clue what I'm playing. And based on reactions I'm seeing, I don't think anyone else knows what they're playing either.

I am literally playing this video game right now and I still have no clue what I’m playing. #blutoid

This new Ys game is so good. #blutoid

Breaking: The backlash to Dave Chappelle saying he was "team TERF" in a then newly-released special was not cancel culture.

My latest for @endlessmode.bsky.social is my entry into the remakes debate. They should have purpose and justification to exist for reasons other than dollar signs, and the literary tradition of revisions and new translations of classics like The Iliad have already shown the industry how to do that.

Looking out for Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter in this sizzle reel

I am officially announcing my availability for guide and review work for Nester's Funky Bowling

Oh man I can buy Super Mario Galaxy again on Switch, again

So this is very funny, I assume one of two things are happening here. 1: RPG Maker 2K(3) can get funky playing MIDIs. Songs going totally sour wasn't the most common glitch, but I've seen it happen. 2: A terrible DQ theme rendition would be 100% on brand with Japanese shitpost RPG Maker games.

Liked this, from Defector defector.com/the-critic-c...

I don’t think Silksong is a super hard game, but I would take suggestions for controllers with D-pads that are more comfortable than what’s on the PS5 Dualsense. #blutoid

I always took "respect your time" to mean that the time spent playing a video game is meaningful. Losing progress feels bad when a blatant beginner's trap kills me. Meanwhile, I'll gladly smash my head against a well designed boss if I enjoy the process and can really chew on the mechanics. 🧵 (1/7)

The nanosecond Silksong's scheduled release time hits, Steam crashes. Classic. #blutoid

It's been fun to make my first *real* start with Trails by playing Trails In The Sky FC on Nightmare. Every battle is like a game of chess where I'm not sure what all the rules are, and getting a new stick that gives +10 attack feels like I just won the lottery. #blutoid

I'm here to review ninja games this year, so naturally I talked about Shinobi: Art of Vengeance for Kotaku. I liked it, and you'll see here that I played a lot of it! That said, I didn't feel like the combat system got to shine in the way it deserves. Check out my full breakdown here!

Everyone talks about all the minigames in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth but no one told me they straight up put Earthbound in the game. #blutoid

Trails FC demo drops Silksong is real. Ys is now imminent again. The past 13 hours have been absolutely wild.

My sleep schedule is never going to recover from this

"Oh man I need to catch up on Dandadan, I loved this goofy little anime about a boy looking for his balls." *One s1e7 later* "Life is pain and I'm never going to smile ever again."