Board 8 > Guess my top 50 games, with twists, and a prize

(+) Yeah! (+)

Here we go, the list!

#49 - Disgaea 4
I was SUPER into Disgaea 1 and 2. Heck, Disgaea 2 is the game that got me to contribute to Gamefaqs! (I submitted a glitch). Then Disgaea 4 took the stuff I loved and added a great cast and a story that's just goofy enough to make the heartwarming moments land. I bought a PS3 to play this game. And yet I haven't played any Disgaea games since then. I just don't have that kind of time anymore - when I have a week off, I want to travel around the country, not play games!

#48 - Pokemon
The whole series, whatever's the newest game I'm in for it. Then once I've played it for awhile, I'm done with it. I carry a pikachu backpack and have an Alolan Vulpix hairband, but at this point I think I like the idea of pokemon more than playing the actual games. I still visit the Pokemon Store almost every time I go to Naha, and the one in Tokyo was super awesome.

#47 - Half Minute Hero
Heck yeah I love everything about this game, from the idea to the aesthetic to the humor. Ironically given the premise, it's actually not very fun to watch speedrun. You really gotta play it for yourself IMO. I guess there's a sequel? And, I guess I own it on steam? I should play more games.

#46 - Huniepop
I've only really enjoyed two "match tiles" games. This, and You Must Build A Boat (which barely missed the list). I think the thing that sold me on this game, even if I don't normally play silly porn games, is just how goofy and funny it was. Several of the dialogues in this game were genuinely hilarious, and the puzzle difficulty ramps up at just the right speed. I appreciate you can choose your gender and literally all that changes are pronouns and, uh, what it looks like... after you... finish... a puzzle!!

#45 - Castlevania Portrait of Ruin
I really liked the switching element of this game. It wasn't perfect but it made for some neat strategies. I also thought the exploration was streamlined in a nice way. The thing that really sticks out for me here are the Challenge modes, like low level and level 1, plus the different character modes. The most fun I had with this game was Sisters Level 1 challenge. Fighting bosses where you die in one hit and do 1 damage per icicle blast is so much fun! It's basically a Touhou game a that point.

#44 - Hidden My Game By Mom
These adorable mobile games are quirky and cute and I like to share them with my elementary students. None of the puzzles are overly complex, but if you mess something up you fail (and get caught by your mom, or maybe the police) so you have to line everything up just right. There's two Hidden games, a game where you're looking for a hiding place after eating your sister's pudding, a silly and very basic rhythm game, a running-with-toast-in-your-mouth simulator, and I'm sure more will be following. It's a great concept.

#43 - Fallout 2
I don't think any future games in this series have accurately captured the tone and humor here, nor been quite as open-ended with your choices for how to play the game. I briefly played a tabletop Fallout game heavily inspired by this engine, and it was a ton of fun too! Would love a sequel in this style~

#42 - Diablo 3
I used to be a Diablo 2 purist, but in the end I have more happy times with 3. This is pure skinner box fun, and almost like clockwork once a year or so I get the urge to reinstall. I usually don't, though.
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#41 - Terraria
This might have fallen more than any other game, tbh. There was a time when it was top 5. This is one of the few games on the list I have no desire to really go back and play, unless there's a total content overvamp from scratch. I just... beat it. I did everything, completed every challenge, and then used my superpowered mining robot to mine out every block on a map with some friends. It was cathartic destruction and I loved it.

#40 - Playerunknown's Battlegrounds
Public G is the only game on this list I haven't played. Is that weird? Some of my best gaming moments of 2017 came from this game, but all because of watching Awful Squad. From wigglers to the giant worms to the crazy game modes, the first incredible chicken dinner, to the times when Griffin would get seriously pissed at Justin for playing guitar while he was concentrating, this game is just the best. I'm not sure if I'll ever play it, but I still get 1-2 hours of it every week. (And it was surreal as heck to see my friend Jenna make her Awful Squad debut last week and get killed by Justin. 2 degrees of separation from my idols, wow!)

#39 - Tales of Berseria
Yeah after a decade of b8ers telling me to play Tales of this or that, I finally caved when I saw the badass woman protagonist and heard it was a dark story about revenge. Yes please! Ended up falling in love with all three of the heroines, and the guys all grew on me as well. I'm not the BEST at the combat, but I did eventually turn the difficulty up pretty high (except for the fight against Phoenix, eff that). Cristina Vee turned in a stunning performance playing all 3 sides of her character. I'll definitely check out the next Tales game whenever that is! But... I probably won't go back.

#38 - Super Hexagon
When someone asks me to show them a mobile game, this is the one I hand over. It takes 10 seconds to learn to play, but it's one of the most difficult games I've ever seen. My times:
Hexagon 62:35 (clear)
Hexagoner 44:32
Hegaxonest 10:37
Hardester 11:23

#37 - Super Mario World (and Hacks)
I used to casually speedrun and race this game. I don't really get into Let's Plays in general, but I've had a lot of fun following two Mario players (Ryukahr and CarlSagan42) and through them I started playing again. When I got my SNES Classic I threw Super Ryu World on there and sank a ton of time into it, but I'm really bad! I love this game though. It just feels good to play.

#36 - Starcraft: Brood War
I still think if SC and SC:BW were their own self contained thing, they'd have one of the best stories in a non-novel-esque game. It's just so tight, with so many great characters, and perfectly executes playing as not just 3 different sides, but really 6 sides across the two games. It's just a shame Blizzard has done everything in their power to ruin that ever since!

#35 - Tragedy Looper
Possibly the most obscure game on this list. The barrier to entry is high - you pretty much need to have played Umineko to really get it, and you have to be willing to play an exceedingly complex game. While this game essentially pits a GM against players, it's interesting in that the GM is figuring it out as they play as well, so they're never more than 1 or 2 steps ahead. It's really, really difficult, but because of that every time the players fail at the last minute and have to do another loop, it feels like a very close game. If you can find this, you should absolutely give it a shot.
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#34 - Kittens Game
I used to be pretty big into clicker/idle games, and this is by far the best one I've seen. It's essentially a management sim mixed with a tech tree, but once you've fully conquered the technology and upgrades you start to realize you're only scratching the surface of the endgame. This is still updated occasionally, so I go back to it and grind out a few more runs. You get a real sense of satisfaction comparing the difference between the early game, barely scraping by, and late game millions of resources per second. Plus - kittens!!

#33 - A Dark Room
Start by stoking the fire. Keep it up til you're warm. This is a game about expanding your understanding of the world you're playing in, and it tells a cool and concise story as you play. The prequel is also very good, and very difficult. I recommend the Mobile versions so you can listen to the Developer Commentary - does that sound strange? It's actually super fascinating from a game design/philosophy standpoint.

#32 - Pripara
On the surface this is a children's rhythm game tie in to the Pripara anime. You tap the buttons along with the beat, and even the most difficult songs are pretty easy. You're not in danger of "failing." But if you think about it like that, you're missing the point! This game is about creating your character, the Pripara version of you. Just like in the anime, you can express yourself like you never could in the real world. It's so empowering and delightful to see your cute digital self dancing and singing on the screen. And then - the best part - you earn a ticket after every play, each with a new article of clothing on it, and this real physical ticket that pops out of the machine has something else on it as well. The top snaps off to give you a tomochike - short for tomodachi ticket (friend ticket). You exchange these with your friends, and they can bring your character into their games. This social element is so much fun! I don't think this game is for most people, but if you see a machine while you're in Japan, throw 100 yen in there and make a MyChara. I don't think you'll regret it.

#31 - SD Gundam G Generation Overworld
The prize for most obnoxious title goes to...! I'm a big fan of games that let you unlock stuff as you progress and make you feel good about it. I fall for skinner box games like anyone else. And when the thing you're unlocking is also that Gundam from that show you love, I'm even more into it. The best part for me is I can field a team of my favorite mechs and my favorite pilots, almost none of which are canonically connected in their series. This game series has a really different feel, strategically, than Super Robot Wars, but I think they're both worth playing.

#30 - Taiko no Tatsujin
I got really into this on PS2 and was good enough to clear any song on it on Oni difficulty. Didn't play for a long time, but last year I started playing Taiko - the REAL kind - so now I play Taiko no Tatsujin every time I get the chance. It's a really different experience, but it's very fun to pull out my custom engraved taiko sticks instead of using the arcade ones.

#29 - Shovel Knight
I don't play a ton of platformers, and when I do, I don't get that into them. Shantae is fun, but it doesn't stick with me. Shovel Knight though! Shovel Knight! I was already sold just by the nature of the absurd premise (see also the novel Rising of the Shield Hero), but then it had just the most well-crafted platforming I've ever seen. I die pretty often, and every time it's my fault. I learn and improve and do better. And the story isn't bad, either! Add on to that the two literally full length free games you get and I can't sing enough praises for this game.
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#28 - Desert Golf
Hole 3307, Stroke 9725
This is my go-to mobile game to mindlessly pass some time with low investment. It's perfect for my hour flights to the mainland, or when listening to podcasts without anything to do with your hands.

#27 - Persona 3 Portable
I'm sorry but it really did mean a lot to me to play as a girl. Call it an aesthetic difference or whatever but it just made me happy. I'll ship her and Aigis forever, and that rooftop scene... god, unforgettable. I think P4 might be a better game, but I just get so exhausted when I think about it. I don't wanna get too much into it, but Kanji and Naoto are characters I really wish I could love.

#26 - Touhou: Subterranean Animism
I enjoy playing all the games, but this one is my favorite. They each have a slightly different system for scoring and powering yourself up, and have little quirks on your girl's powers. I love this game's setting, diving deeper and deeper into the earth until you have a climactic battle against a hellcrow with the power of nuclear fission. Plus it has my favorite Touhou character of all time, the loyal and wonderful Rin Kaenbyou. I come back to this one more than any other, and just loaded it up and 1CC'd it last week. Utsuho always gets my blood pumping.

#25 - Princess Remedy in a Heap of Trouble
This tragically overlooked game series is about healing people. Each encounter is a little puzzle and only takes a few seconds to complete. The aesthetic is strange and charming, and this sequel ups the difficulty and adds so much more content. I briefly worked on a speedrun here, but decided the grind was taking away the parts of the game I love the most, so I quit.

#24 - Kindred Spirits on the Roof
So many wonderful gays. This game gives me life! It manages to tell a handful of separate love stories all at once without relying on a "route" system that means some people are always unhappy. You can make everyone happy! For once! I relate a lot to several of the characters in this game, and while that's a little problematic in one case, it still means I have a lot of love for it.

#23 - Last Night on Earth
We played this every weekend for so long. We got so accustomed to the rules, we homebrewed it a bit to fix imbalances and did all kinds of custom scenarios. We had our own in-jokes and lore, and the cheesy soundtrack just makes it.

#22 - Ever17
Honestly, most of the visual novels I played early in my weeaboo career have just fallen out of favor. There was a time when I loved Sengoku Rance, but now it makes me grimace to even think about it. And yet here I am, a decade later, still thinking about how cool and clever this game's narrative structure and storytelling was. I'm a sucker for Uchikoshi (as the top 5 proves) and I'd love to replay this game with a proper translation (and editing) sometime.

#21 - Danganronpa 2
I've never seen a game have such an amazing buildup to an explosive climax. I stayed up all night and finished the game with tears in my eyes. Chiaki is one of my favorite game characters of all time. I haven't played any sequels yet but I really want to!

#20 - Doki Doki Literature Club
If this were JUST a game that was about subverting your expectations, it would still be worth playing (especially for the price, which is free). But since it's also a secret and super clever ARG, I am just in love with it. What a brilliant idea, and I can't wait to play the next game!
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#19 - Legend of Zelda (Randomizer)
I've loved this game since it got me through my parents divorce when I was in 2nd grade, haha. I've watched speedruns and races of it for years, and when the Randomizer came out I was super interested. I started actually doing runs of it last year, and while I never got super good at it, I did complete runs. I'd love to actually race against people sometime once I live in a place with good internet! (Teaching myself to block clip and screen scroll in a game I've been playing since my childhood was a real trip)

#18 - Dungeons and Dragons (5th Edition)
I've been playing D&D since I was a kid, and I have plenty of great memories of it. But in the past couple years I've fallen back in love with it, hard, thanks mostly to listening to The Adventure Zone. TAZ is my favorite thing. Like, out of all the things I've ever done or watched or played or read, it's the thing I feel most passionate about. I like 5th Ed because it's just user friendly and accessible, and I play D&D to socialize just as much as I do to game. I'm working on a One Shot for some local friends, and I can't wait to see how it goes!

#17 - Fire Emblem Awakening
The only game I've ever bought all the DLC for, hehe. I loved this so much! I mean I enjoyed previous games, and L'Arachel is still my absolute favorite FE girl, but Awakening had just the right amount of... anime, I guess, to hook me in its world. On a replay I realize how shallow the world really is though, and it just seems bigger because it has an outstanding cast. Making the player not just some shadowy robed figure but an actual playable character was such a good choice, and I'm ALWAYS down for a "fight against your fate" type story. Especially when Time Travel is involved.

#16 - Bananagrams
I've played this game against my stepmom, against friends in the US, and against colleagues at a work event in Japan. It's absolutely delightful fast paced wordplay and I never get tired of it. Being able to deconstruct and rearrange your words is simultaneously freeing, and ridiculously cruel! I just want to keep this awesome 7 letter word, forget how hard it makes future setups!! Best word I ever played was quixotic; using q and x together along with a pesky c was so exhilarating! My heartrate always soars in those last 30 seconds when everyone's close and there's only a couple tiles left. I wanna play right now!

#15 - Suikoden II
I've cooled a lot on Suikoden since starting Trails, and this game will probably continue to fall. It's a shame they never made any more in the series past the first two!

#14 - Betrayal at the House on the Hill
If this game were just one of its enclosed possible scenarios, it would be fun to play with friends. But because there are dozens, you can play for ages without repeating one. It makes things so much fun! Some of them are hilariously unbalanced, but as long as you're playing to socialize and not to win, you'll have a blast. Even if you end up "hating" the betrayer by the end.
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#13 - Butterfly Soup
Never before has a game grabbed by heart so quickly. I'd pay a lot of money for more of this! It's just so clever, and loving, and gay. I laughed, I sobbed, I had my queer heart completely overfilled and healed. This was my GOTY 2017.

#12 - Super Robot Taisen Original Generation 2
This used to be a top 5 game for me. It's still really high, but as the GBA generation ages, it's harder to actively recommend this (and especially its inferior, but required prequel). However I did replay this last year and it's still every bit as fantastic as I remember. Your motley crew faces down not one, not two, not three, but four foes threatening the Earth. It's so cool to see how all that ties together! I'm pretty desperate to play more games in the OG series, so I'm gonna get back to studying Japanese now~

#11 - Umineko
Heck yeah, a game I can just sing the praises of forever even knowing its faults. Best soundtrack of any game. I recently spent about two months playing homebrew Umineko style puzzles (both as a witch and as a detective) and it was a TON of fun, even all these years later. Shame b8 wasn't active enough for it to really work here, but oh well!

#10 - Rabi Ribi
I've played this game for about 110 hours and all I can think of is how much more there is for me to do. Mixing a metroidvania and a bullet hell game is just such a perfect fit for me, and the characters and art are so cute as well! The whole aesthetic is just really charming, and whether you're going for 100% or 0%, it's a ton of fun to get around the map. I love when designers put backdoors and hidden entrances to make sequence breaking possible, once you have the technical skill to pull it off!

#9 - Trails in the Sky SC
It's currently in the lead in my heart as far as Trails games goes. Everyone on b8 knows why by this point, right? Other than the stuff that normally gets mentioned, I'll just say it's so very nice to see queer representation (not played as jokes) and Estelle is a fantastic protagonist.

#8 - Factorio
This is a little complicated because a lot of my feelings of this game are tied up with a relationship that ended really bad, but still, this has to be my number one chill out game of all time. Over winter break, when I had to deskwarm for 8 hours/day with nothing to do, I started up a new map and just played the heck out of it.

#7 - Life is Strange
the best part is the Spirits Within callout am I right
I think this game made me cry more than any other game. Making me choose between being a good person, and just wanting a gay couple to have a happy ending FOR ONCE... god, I just sat there and sobbed.

#6 - Dance Dance Revolution
TWIST - Sometimes I'll just include the entire series in the case of series where I don't really care which one I'm playing. Just whatever's newest, or available locally, or whatever. But yeah DDR was my life for about 5 years and I still play it literally every chance I get.

#5 - Zero Time Dilemma
Don't get me wrong, I fully acknowledge Virtue's Last Reward is an objectively superior game. But I loved ZTD more, so it's higher on the list. It was such a treat to really start to feel like I was understanding and taking agency in this world that's been toying with me for so long. I actually figured out some of the twists faster than the game wanted me to, leading to some REALLY confusing moments. I know this game gets a lot of crap but I'll stand here with Griffin McElroy in our little 2 person "ZTD is great" hill.
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#4 - Battle Century G
This isn't a flawless tabletop system, but it's absolutely a lot of fun to play. Rather than being designed for overarching campaigns, the emphasis here is on simulating robot anime tropes and dividing things into scenes and episodes. I kinda sorta ran a 3 year campaign using this as the base, with 36 Episodes, and it was basically the most fun I've had in a social game. At this point my group is probably more well-versed in BCG than anybody else in the world. Sometimes we talk to the creator about errata, but more often we just homebrew it since I'm so comfortable with it and have such a feel for what will be fun.

#3 - Final Fantasy 7
P good game, can and have replayed it countless times

#2 - Earthbound
All my top 3 games tend to shift around each other, but this has been "favorite game" quality since the mid 1990s, so that's pretty impressive.

#1 - Undertale
It's fitting you spend the battle segments of this game as a heart because I really feel like it has more heart in it than any other game. Not just from the creator, but from the community around it as well. Undertale has forever changed the way I think about games. It's had a profound impact on me, and I love it forever.

#X - Muv Luv
I'm playing this right now (literally, I have it on my other monitor) and I'm absolutely loving it. Even though the protagonist is a dork, I fell in love hard with Sumika and it's carrying me through. Spoil this and die! (I'm currently playing a tabletop game and the GM based the setting on a mashup of Gundam and Muv Luv)
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7 Icon
5tarscream
3 Mana Sword
2 Drakeryn
NFUN
Dante
Raka Patra
5 Blackscar
3 Snake55555
4 kateee
Mewtwo59
Jonaleon
azuarc
6 Eerieka
Cody11533
5 ninjablade300
trdl23
DamianAngel

Shuuto Yamada - Today at 1:40 PM
/r 1d48 # Hold me accountable and don't let me down, Evil Eureka!
Evil EurekaBOT - Today at 1:40 PM
@Shuuto Yamada: 1d48 Hold me accountable and don't let me down, Evil Eureka! = (27) = 27

How fitting she'd choose my favorite number <3

kateee what game do you want from the list? :)

btw about 10 of these games are free to play or very cheap, so everyone should check out Hidden My Game by Mom, A Dark Room, Kittens Game, and go play Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (the free first game).
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Congrats Kateee
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!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKiO37AdNa4

i've only played 11 on this list so i'm unfamiliar with most of them. i'll look into them to see what i think i'd like

i would have guessed Rabi Ribi since i do remember a random moment where you mentioned it. and i was thinking about Huniepop the whole time but never pulled the trigger!

i got it down to either Rabi Ribi or Umineko. any input?

mah steam:
http://steamcommunity.com/id/ligray/

accept my friend request when you get a chance, kateee <3

angryaria on steam
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done

since you have really good taste I just bought them both :)

if you like them and wanna play the DLC for Rabi Ribi (new content areas) or 2nd half of Umineko (the answers) you'll have to buy them yourself though~

you don't have to, like, do a playthrough topic or whatever but I'd be glad to hear your thoughts during or after you play!
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wtfffffff what did i do to deserve this

thank you!

i mean i'll definitely get to them at some point now lol

haha, it's my birthday (week) so I like to give other people presents, you know :D

but really I had a lot of fun with this topic. I don't really think about my own favorites or rank things very often! (of course, because of that, take the actual numbering with a grain of salt haha)
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well have a wonderful birthday week

Curious as to why you arent a fan of Kanji. Naoto I can guess why (even though I strongly disagree) but Kanji is fantastic and seems up your alley.
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this was a fun topic, thanks for doing it Rose!
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trdl23 posted...

Curious as to why you arent a fan of Kanji. Naoto I can guess why (even though I strongly disagree) but Kanji is fantastic and seems up your alley.

In both cases they queercoded a character without being willy to fully commit to it. kanji is less egregious, but the "no homo" stuff even after he's supposedly taking steps to accept himself is grating. His entire S link reads like "gosh I thought i was gay, but maybe it's just okay to like crafts" which... isn't wrong, but it's frustrating because a internally homophobic gay character fits so well in persona 4's setting.

naoto is basically the same thing but way worse. not surprising given the developers. Don't queercode a character then back out of it once you've earned your brownie points, god

iiicon posted...

this was a fun topic, thanks for doing it Rose!

<3 thanks for playing

this topic is the first time I've thought about the big shift in my life away from a bunch of classic console games toward a much wider variety. There's several straight up time-wasters on this list, which would've been unheard of in like 2008! I've also essentially stopped caring about critical reception entirely, and just base my feelings on a game on just that - feelings. How much did it impact me, stick with me, make me want to love and share and play again.

That said, I probably have a dozen games on steam atm that I haven't gotten to yet, that'll work their way to my top rankz. Guess next time transience does a list and I have to piggyback we'll find out!
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Yeah this was a great idea for a topic and executed really well too.

Also looking forward to your next Life in Japan series.
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Raka_Putra posted...

Also looking forward to your next Life in Japan series.

I'll be doing some traveling this year for spring break and golden week, so maybe after that! hoping to go to yamagata prefecture for spring break... we'll see how it goes~
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Ooh sounds fun! Have a good time~
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wonder if I'll meet any b8ers in tokyo for golden week
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installed muv luv alternative after work yesterday

played 7 hours without stopping...

i really really really wanna just take the day off work and keep going
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just found out about Restoration Queen, the fe8 hack that changes sexist language and gives the ladies more agency. awakening's gonna be in a run for its spot as my top FE game if this is as good as I think it'll be!! will play soon
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Started Restoration Queen, twitter thread: https://twitter.com/AngryAria/status/958521928179892225

but I won't really be getting into that for now (I had some time to burn at work today so I started it up)

for now it's all about Muv Luv Alternative. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how good it is, but still it keeps blowing me away
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muv luv has coasted into my top 10 and might end up top 5 at this rate. I can't believe how good it is
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idk why i'm so shocked i mean it's literally the highest rated visual novel in the west

there's gotta be a reason for that lol
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yesterday was the first day this week I didn't get home and immediately spend the whole day on muvluv. I took a little nap to catch up on sleep and went to taiko practice

still, i was thinking and dreaming about it the entire tiem
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played another 9 hours...

this game is huge. some of the stuff that happened in this game, feels like a lifetime ago
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i had to stop for the night just before what I can only assume is the final mission

i love this game
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Muv Luv is now my favorite game of all time, thanks for playing everyone

seriously push everything else on the list back by 1
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