I’m glad I’m not the only one! Though if I play something for a second time I do tend to up the difficulty a bit.

Yup, I have. I liked it, but it did not make the top 10 for me, purely because two of the storylines were amazing imo (Connor & Kara) and one was centered around a trope that I absolutely despise (Markus). It didn’t ruin the game for me, I still loved it and will play it again at some point, but because of that I cannot put it in my top 10.

Enjoy the new games!

Ranking is tough but I’ll give it a go. The ranking is based on the impact and enjoyment I got out of them regardless of playtime.

1. What Remains of Edith Finch & Kentucky Route Zero (shared 1st place)

2. Life is Strange

3. Stray

4. GRIS

5. Cyberpunk 2077

6. SOMA

7. Heaven’s Vault

8. The Town of Light

9. FAR: Lone Sails

10. Portal 2

That last one is a bit of an outlier but I have laughed so much while playing it, it deserves a place at the table.

Her life is not your choice though. Thankfully.

I think that it could distract in the forefront, certainly. However, the ideological discussion it sparked in character was a great moment for everyone to roleplay according to their differing values and cultures between them and the locals and between each other. Therefore, in our case, it worked quite well.

It certainly has a basis in real-world history, I simply feel it is underutilized in fantasy worlds, especially for a society that is deemed civilized, as these rituals are typically used by societies which are depicted as “barbaric.” In this case, the country that uses it is the richest one in the region, and has very distinguished high, middle, and lower classes like in 1700’s/1800’s Europe. Not a society typically associated with those kind of rituals, which made it extra interesting to me.

Descending into a mad god’s mind to save the world is a very cool adventure hook indeed!

That is quite a cool system, and definitely something that I feel fits Orcs quite well, given their general emphasis on survival of the fittest. With this system, it is simply extended to a population rather than an individual; the tribes with unpopular (or popular but bad) ideas will eventually die out. It’s very cool!

If I could upvote you twice, I would!

Sadly, it’s not just the US. A whole generation of students here in The Netherlands were made to take loans. They did change it back, but it was in place for 7/8 years. And, as a cherry on top, there was no interest initially. Then a small (~0.5%) interest was added, and now a few days ago they announced that the interest would be five-folded. It sounds too American to be happening here, but sadly it is the truth.

Yeah those are worms! Very cool things. They manipulate the mantis to go into the water where they can crawl out and complete their growth. To the detriment of the mantis, of course.

Be gentle…

I’d recommend looking out for rabies in general ;) even without zombiefying, it’s a horrible way to go.

And, of course, get your shots!

Let me put your mind at ease. The zombie ant phenomenon is nothing to be scared of as a human.

In nature, there are many pathogens/parasites. Some of them are able to manipulate their hosts to their own benefit. The zombie ants are not actual zombies, rather they are still alive ants that are manipulated before their death. This disease is caused by fungi of the Ophiocordyceps family. These fungi infect the ants and change their behaviour over the course of roughly one month. First, the ants social behaviour is surpressed and their biological clock disrupted. Then they start wildly walking around in nonsensical patterns. Eventually, when the infection has reached its peak, the ant climbs up some vegetation (grass, reeds, bushes, etc.). Here, it bites and clamps onto this vegetation, and that is that for the ant. It dies in this position. After a few days, a fruiting body (somewhat akin to a mushroom) sprouts from the body to release spores. If the spores manage to infect an ant, the cycle repeats.

Ophiocordyceps is not the only manipulator in nature. The Massospora fungi hijack cicadas and replace their genitals. Then, they induce mating behaviour. When another cicada tries to mate, they get infected instead. And there are many others like them. The way they manipulate their host is different between all of them, but they do have one thing in common: they are all highly specialized. For example, the Ophiocordyceps fungi species generally are only able to infect one ant species. They have co-evolved in an arms race over millions of years, where the ant develops mechanisms to defend themselves from pathogens and the pathogen develops ways around it. The chance of these highly specialized fungi to suddenly work on humans is zero. The same goes for Massospora. So, no need to worry about being forced to climb a tree or grow a fungal penis or vagina (or fungussy, if you will).

While these pathogens are no harm to us, there are, of course, pathogens that do manipulate humans. The most infamous example is the rabies virus. Luckily, there is a vaccine against it.

So, in short, no need to panic. Not about this, at least.

I tend to use Karlach, Gale, Shadowheart, and Astarion most often. I do switch decently regularly, especially for background quests. Karlach and Laezel cover the same role mostly, and Wyll and Gale can also be decently interchangeable. Shadowheart is there most of the time for radiant damage and some healing, and Asterion sometimes pops in if I need to be sneaky. I did some respeccing for some companions, such as making Asterion a ranger/rogue and Laezel a Paladin.

It really is

While I recognize it’s not for everyone, online D&D can be just as fun as in person. I’ve been playing twice a week with my group that I’ve been playing with for almost two years. Of course, not every group you get into is immediately the right fit, I think I got quite lucky as it was my third group I got into.

There are various websites to play. Personally, I use Roll20. While I recognize it has flaws, it is still pretty decent overall, and a free account gives you all the necessary functionality to play. Even GM’s can just use a free account if they manage their resources well.

I’m Dutch myself so nope, not assuming so XD

Nevertheless, as a European, it is my continental duty to shit on Americans, which is (partially) why I made the meme :P

They already lived together huh…

So they were roommates?