Role-Playing

They Rolled the Dice and it Came Up Seven

HIGH My personal balls-out resolution to the Ultra-Luxe Casino quest.

LOW Getting confused and stuck in Vault 22—twice.

WTF Even after the last patch, several big bugs and glitches remain.

Completed Fallout: New Vegas the other day, and although it got a little buggier than I would have preferred towards the end, I still pushed on and rolled credits in support of the New California Republic.

Beautifully Boring

HIGH Climbing to the top of a mountain, seeing a location far off in the distance, and being able to travel to it.

LOW The endless series of repetitive filler quests that do nothing but pad the game's running time.

WTF Why is it okay that the main quest is so boring that people brag about not completing it?

It's the Journey, not the Destination

HIGH The culmination of the Dark Brotherhood questline.

LOW Being spoken to as a Nord, even though I'm an Argonian.

WTF *Shoots child in the face with an arrow* Stop! You're under arrest! *pays 1500 gold* Okay, you're free to go.

Brad's back with a vengeance, smacking down accusations that he's playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim incorrectly. Also: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Corpse Party, Fate/Extra, and, at last, our semi-epic fight over Batman: Arkham City. Plus: Details on how you can win BIG in our BIG holiday contest. With Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard Naik, and Tim "BIG" Spaeth.

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• Batman: Arkham City Review
• Corpse Party Review
• Fate/Extra Review
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Second Opinion

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HIGH Getting through an entire dungeon without taking a single hit.

LOW Accidentally missing one item and destroying my hopes of 100% completion.

WTF Is up with that clown?

After Skyrim bored me to the point that I did not care to continue, I was still in the mood for a Western-style RPG, and a quick look at my backlog reminded me that I still had an unopened copy of Fallout: New Vegas that I picked up but never played thanks to the widely reported of glitches and bugs that plagued it.

I really like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I want to state this now, since most of what I'm about to write will probably make it seem like I dislike it. However, just because I like something doesn't mean I can't criticize it as well. And believe me, there are things to criticize about Skyrim.

So I've formally bailed on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. However, after my initial post about being tired of it after fifteen hours, I was inundated with comments from people on Twitter and elsewhere regarding my lack of enthusiasm for it.

The Devil (Survivor) is in the Details

HIGH Fusing a kick-ass demon after 30 minutes of planning and multiple steps.

LOW The voice actress for Midori has as much appeal as listening to chalkboard scratching.

WTF So God imposed different languages on humanity as punishment for not living virtuously? Mind blown.