Travis: Yeah, I was never sure exactly who was talking, I assume Jacob was the one giving us all the info, but without him we would have been so lost. I would have anyway.

Who am I kidding, I *still* was ;)

jdodson: Yeah, it was Jacob I was the one making the bad jokes and swearing.

Travis: Wow, it's been so long since the initial release I'm surprised we're getting DLC this late. I'll definitely be checking this out.

Travis: And from what I can tell from the screenshots on the site, this looks way better than the vanilla game. They might be photoshots though.

jdodson: I am going to do a Let's Play about this sometime, but one thing I do in The Legend of Zelda for NES is max out my hearts, get the blue right and white sword and such before I hit level 1. That said, that makes level one easier... So. Harder...

Hm.

Well I had a dream with the Legend of Zelda that one could beat it without the sword entirely. I tried it a few times but couldn't seem to crack the nut, but some great souls have.

http://faqs.ign.com/articles/559/559800p1.html

Travis: In the Elder Scrolls games, I always set out to make different characters with different stats and different focuses, but I always end up playing a sneaky thief archer/dagger wielder. So I'll frequently put these self-imposed rules on myself to force me to play in a different way. I just love that play style, it's hard not to go back to it, but it's worth it to see all the different ways you can play.

vdogmr25: If a game has a difficulty setting, I usually choose the hardest available for my first play through. There's a few games where this doesn't work out; namely the Command and Conquer games, but it keeps things challenging. In games like Elder Scrolls, I try do at least one run though using fists only. There's a strange satisfaction in punching a giant to death.

Travis: vdogmr25-- Elder Scrolls unarmed reminds me of this. If you haven't seen this, it's hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBiNx749Zw

MAJOR language warning on this. Don't watch unless you're ok with numerous f-bombs.

TonyJapMayo: Soo Good, great video as always =)

jdodson: Yeah, it was!

jdodson: My parents picked this up for me when I was a lad. Surprised me because I had never heard of it before and the cartridge is shaped funny. That said, I played it and loved every second of it. I memorized all the questions as well.

Since it had a save feature, I did finally beat it but it took some doing. You get the Sword of the Spirit and then you have enough firepower to go to the Hell stage. If memory serves the entrance to hell was in two places? It was always pretty fun to go to Hell and kill the Devil, I think thats why when Doom came out later I was so into it.

gmlawton: I think the questions section planted a seed that eventually became my obsession with bowties...

After weeks of playing it, I finally found the password system, but the 20 character-alpha-numeric-case-sensitive passwords were impenetrable to me at the time. I only ever got as far as the airport. Not that I died at the airport, but it was just that I had been playing for what seemed like hours at that point, and I simply could not go on.

Playing through this time, there was magic in getting past where I had ever been, and seeing things I had only ever imagined, like Samson's Jawbone and the boots and whatnot.

I love the idea of this being a spiritual predecessor to doom! Thinking back, it was somewhat interesting how you're in this utterly normal world (park, city, houses...) and there are demons, and devil dogs that slowly work their way in...

WhiteboySlim: I'm kind of surprised how many people know about this game. I thought my cousins and I were the only ones!

The game is actually pretty good for being kind of a Zelda clone. The banana was my weapon of choice if I remember correctly. :)

jdodson: @gmlawton: The password system was ridiculous for sure but somehow I was able to navigate it, but sometimes I wrote it down wrong clearing my progress. Samson's Jawbone is a great item, my other fav was the vial of God's truth. But the most OP item of all was the Sword of the Spirit, after you get that its basically "Game Over" for the Devil.

@whiteboyslim: The Banana was the first weapon(if memory serves) that was fast AND went all the way across the screen. If was a front runner to the Sword of the Spirit but when the Sword hit, it blew up with a radius of two "truth bombs."

Did you both find all the hearts in the game?

Travis: I only know of this game because of the AVGN review of all the different bible games. That said, I did buy Bible Adventures a few years back, and it's just as bad as AVGN says.

gmlawton: The banana was great to find if I recall, you're in the hotels and you talk to this old guy that says something about patience, and if you stand still like 30 secs, a wall moves and that's where you find it!

jdodson: @gmlawton: I think you might be right about that. How many pears did you find? Or... Well there was a fruit weapon you could get that you could get 4 of, grapes or pears... I don't remember.

Travis: It's fantastic. One of my favorites of all time. I play with mods now, but very few. The vanilla game is great as it is.

Gary_Butterfield: I love Oblvion and Skyrim but I think the FPS Fallouts are a lot better. Fallout has one of the most unique settings in gaming. The Elder Scrolls games, though I love them for their freedom, always seemed really generic setting wise.

gmlawton: For me, it was like my experience with Morrowind. I didn'tget into either right away. It took until I was able to work up the patience to get myself immersed. Also both games, their best foot isn't put forward in the main quests, it's the guild missions imo. It took mea while to figure that out, and that rushing through things wasn't the way to enjoy the games, but relazing and soaking in the universe.

Overall, I think it's The Elder Scrolls games helped me really mature as a gamer. They're great games... they just don't really pull you in, they grow on you if you give them the timeto.

Travis: Gary, allow me to nitpick a bit. I don't think the Fallout games can realistically be called FPS games. I'm open to being convinced otherwise, but...

The VATS system means that you never really have to aim. Sure, it's obvious that Bethesda put a ton of FPS elements in their games. As an FPS though, Fallout 3 would fail miserably. It uses some pretty clunky FPS mechanics, when treated as an FPS. New Vegas improved on it quite a bit. It's substantially better. I used VATS far less in New Vegas because of the improvements, but still, VATS is front and center.

But otherwise I agree. The Fallout games really have some of the best atmosphere in any games I've ever played. I don't think the Elder Scrolls is generic, but the modern Fallouts are definitely more interesting and unique. I can't wait to see what Fallout 4 can do with the Skyrim engine!

jdodson: @panicked @gary The new Fallout games have elements of a Shooter for sure. The game is in first person. I don't know the game doesn't feel like a traditional shooter but it has those elements.

I played more Oblivion that I have Skyrim, I ended up stopping my play of Oblivion on the PS3 due to me becoming a Vampire and not wanting to undo that. I didn't realize a Vampire had bitten me and then I turned. Walked out side and, yeah it hurt. :D

WhiteboySlim: Oblivion is fun, but I kind of hate the leveling mechanics. You have to put in a lot of work to make sure you get the most out of each level up. After sinking somewhere around 15-20 hours into the game i ended up having to start over because my character kept leveling up but getting horrible stat gains. That soured my experience (pun intended) pretty bad, and after putting a couple hours into my new character I got bored and moved on to other games.

I actually have not tried any of the mods for the game. Maybe a mod or two would help bring me back to the game.

WhiteboySlim: As far as Fallout goes, I'd say it's a FPS / turn based hybrid. The FPS features are a little clunky I agree, and I really only use them when sniping or up close with a shotgun. The setting is great too. I love the sort of retro-futurism of everything.

jdodson: The Fallout story blew my mind. I don't sink 8-10 hours a day into a game, but with Fallout 3 I did.

Gary_Butterfield: I just meant First Person. Reflex!

Travis: Gary, yeah, I get that. I had actually just been discussing the very same thing earlier in the day on another site, so I was primed ;)

jdodson: Primed for EVIL!

Travis: THE PRIME EEEVILLL. THE LORD OF TERR-OR.

jdodson: Dude that totally a different game!

Travis: Right, but you said "prime" and "evil." What choice did I have?

jdodson: :D

Gary_Butterfield: You know what's free? Frog Fractions. You know what's fucking rad? Frog Fractions. http://twinbeardstudios.com/frog-fractions

jdodson: Wow, Frog Fractions kicks Number Munchers right in the feels.

Gary_Butterfield: Frog Fractions: GOTY.

jdodson: Hopefully they wrap up all the DLC and package it up for a re-release.

Gary_Butterfield: By the way, that board game store I was talking about is called "Unplugged Games" not "Brick and Mortar Games." Not sure what I was thinking.

jdodson: Thanks for the clarification. This time I will let it slide... But next time? Horrible consequences.

Oscar_Hermoso: Woah, this game looks awesome! I've been looking for a new RTS that has a similar style to the AOE series for a while now. Cheers for showing me this game :D

jdodson: Glad you think it looks good. The free price isn't too bad either :D

Age of Empires: Online is also free on steam as well.

jdodson: I didn't know Torchlight mods added co-op, thats interesting! Like you I found the original Torchlights grind to be a bit much as well. Playing with friends does make Torchlight 2 more awesome!

Will_Owens: Correction: "May be afraid to seek help." It's been a hard day at work, folks.

jdodson: Thanks Will this is a great resource!

Travis: Dude! That's awesome. The Steam crew are pretty good to their users. It makes me happy to hear good customer service stories like this.

jdodson: Another great Steam deed! I want to take a moment of silence to thank Gaben.......

TonyJapMayo: I've heard of that name.. Forgot when or where.. Steam Admin guy? anyway, Thanks Gaben =P

Travis: Yep, Gabe Newell is the head of Valve. Gabe Newell, shortened to Gabe N., then further shortened by 4chan to Gaben.

jdodson: I think they picked that because its his email at Valve and its totally awesome to pass that around? :D

TonyJapMayo: Ah, ic.. Thats awesome.. Head of Valve must have lots of games, best job ever =P

jdodson: New life goal: If I meet Gaben find out how many games he owns.

Travis: These are kinda hit or miss but I was a fan of this one. I'm a fan of Brea Grant, she was great on Heroes and Dexter and she's the best part of this series. Her and the boss who is desperate for money.

jdodson: I think they started hit or miss but the last bunch had been great. I dig the length and format a lot.

Travis: I was just coming to post this. Gotta love GOG. I just wish there was optional Steam integration. *Optional*.

jdodson: Ha yeah it would. Funny thing, I have a load of GoG games all obtained through free giveaways. I need to kick them some coins, I totally love what they do!

Maybe it's time to get Planescape.....

jdodson: Awesome, thanks for posting!