Fred the Barber

Thanks for this - this kind of context helps things make a lot more sense, for those of us who are newer to the VN scene.

Cool, thanks guys! I don't really know where to look for this stuff, especially since I can't read nearly enough Japanese to get buy on the JP-only sites (so, yes, playing the game will be a trial... but I will persevere!), and the my search-fu usually fails pretty hard at it. JList didn't have it last time I looked a day or two ago, but I just saw it there when I checked back, so I picked up a copy from them since I've used them before and it's worked out well. Will definitely check out Amiami in the future.

I have a copy of it in in a storage container in my closet somewhere, and only played a couple hours of it way back when it came out. Is it that good? Confession: It feels a little weird to give a normal smile-and-nod greeting to a co-worker, when running into her is what snaps you out of the intensely erotic daydream about her that you were having.

This. When it came out, FFX was far and away the best romance story in a game, and also had easily the most drama in a mainstream RPG. The mere fact that it had so much voice acting was also a big deal. Nowadays, it's probably only playable for nostalgia factor (and blitzball, which is actually really fun).

If that's directed at me, I was actually asking for a link to a place to buy it legally, since it seems like some people in the western hemisphere in this thread have managed to import it from somewhere (LinovaA mentioned waiting for his physical copy to arrive)...

Nope nope nope. Next person enjoys red bean desserts.

Did you do it? Because we're not going to let you get away with putting it off, either. Confession: I'll find something to put here eventually.

For hot tea, never. Nor sweetener. Boba tea is different. Next person has the thing with the stuff.

Normally I don't actually do much nostalgia gaming, but I'm making an exception for the Rare Replay collection on Xbox One when it comes out in August. Not for Banjo Kazooie. Not for Conker's Bad Fur Day. For freaking Blast Corps. Blast Corps is the most perfect game ever created. It has no sequel because it didn't need a sequel; it was whole and perfect from the day it was released. I am so very excited for this.

This. Forever. Not only does it completely remix and make exciting again the best Final Fantasy, it even includes an Ancient Cave mode which is basically the Ancient Cave bit from Lufia 2, FF6 style. There is also an Ancient Cave romhack for Final Fantasy 5, but I don't feel confident enough in my knowledge of that game to attempt it. So, like, you play through all of FF6 with everything (literally everything from colors to abilities to what magic each Esper gives you) randomized and then if you ever get tired of doing that you can do the 200+ floor randomized dungeon runs. It's essentially the game no one who likes Final Fantasy should ever stop playing. I'm pretty sure I won't. Ever. That is nuts. If I had more willpower, I would tear myself away from playing Destiny all the time and play that instead. But I don't have willpower, so I'm still playing Destiny all the time.

Agreed - I'm starting to seriously consider that maybe there will only be three party members, which would definitely lower my initial level of interest. Also, the female Persona user has a cat tail as part of her cat burglar outfit. WTF.

I don't get the appeal of Shiina at all. As depicted in the anime, she has no personality and is dumb as nails. Preternatural agility doesn't make up for those two problems. Iwasawa is obviously best girl, Yuri comes in second, and then everybody else is miles back. If anybody's importing this, got a link?

I'm not voting since I'm not watching, but you guys clearly made a good choice last time with Nodame. You should make a good choice again and watch Welcome to the NHK, since it's amazing. Though admittedly I haven't seen any of the others...

I loved Mondaiji way more than I expected to. The setting is freaking amazing, and the characters are surprisingly interesting for the genre. I'll need to take AM's advice as well and read the light novels. And, yes, the ending dance is the best thing ever. Definitely Black Rabbit for best girl, though, not You Kasukabe, despite You being voiced by Britney Karbowski in the dub. Kasukabe doesn't kick enough ass; Black Rabbit's hair changes color; Black Rabbit can go toe-to-toe with overpowered Izayoi; and last but not least, Black Rabbit has an enchanted skirt. Enchanted. Fucking. Skirt. No contest. I've been hesitant about Engaged to the Unidentified since I hadn't really heard anything about it, but with the sudden outpouring of support here I'll have to give it a try. I have weirdly stalled on Shin Sekai Yori, despite my significant, but ambivalent, enjoyment of it; I need to pick it up again, but video games keep getting in the way.

whirled peas. I should have known that...

True. Bacon is ok and all, but not the amazing thing the internet would have you believe. http://www.amazon.com/Only-Paranoid-Survive-Exploit-Challenge/dp/0385483821 Next person likes science.

... you should just ask Nayleen to give you read-only access to the SQL database. Your code will be trivial instead of probably rather painful, and the load on the server will be a lot lower. .. but that said, I still think what you're doing is super cool. I love data. Since you do too, I seriously suggest you learn to be a data scientist, feel useful, have fun, and get real paid: https://hbr.org/2012/10/data-scientist-the-sexiest-job-of-the-21st-century/ Confession: I used to play college quizbowl. You seriously cannot fathom what that is like, unless you actually did exactly that (no, high school quizbowl is not the same thing; you seriously have no idea). However, this article does it justice, and reminded me of all the joys and horrors (mostly horrors) of the game: http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/i-was-a-quizbowl-champion-1707805654. TFW you recognize the names of people a decade after you last saw them, who had already been playing college quizbowl for a decade at the time, and apparently were still playing it for at least another 5 years hence.

And sometimes, I'll even know you're an asshole.

True. The one time I remember, in college, the person was really impressed that I actually did a decent job wrapping their present... yay low standards! You have no idea how true, but it's totally not my fault. I work in software... Next person can project their voice quite loudly.

When I first read this, I thought it was a response to all the social anxiety + relationship difficulty talk, and I was thinking "that's a bit harsh...". Now I see it's in response to the senseless nutella hate. Preach on, Funya!

I dream of marshmallows. Whenever I look outside, ...

I think it's more accurate to say that everybody (every post that I recall reading, at least) agrees it is hit-and-miss. Sometimes it's quite pretty, and sometimes it just looks off and weird, for character art. For background art, there hasn't been as much discussion, but I find it similarly hit-and-miss; sometimes it's detailed and nice, sometimes it's super bland.