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Zurai posted:I've found NPI's reviews to be extremely hit-or-miss, and very often not at all impartial or objective. There is no such thing as an objective piece of game criticism. Reviews are always shaped by the beholder and are always going to be subjective, even though they might strive to be objective about certain elements. I've followed dozens of reviewers over the years and I don't tend to care for any purported balls-and-strikes "objective" reviewers because they are kidding themselves -- and me. I don't always agree with my favorites, be it SUSD, NPI, or SVWAG but I know what their vantage points (and weird blind spots) are going into their reviews. Efka's take on Tainted Grail wasn't one I agreed with and i wound up buying and enjoying it at the time. That said, I watched his take on the mechanics of ATO and agreed that, much like him, they were not for me. Too much random nonsense and vestigial systems, not enough focus and control. Some folks may love those parts and that's awesome - I already dumped way too much into Oathsworn and I think that's the boss battler I prefer to anticipate. But, right or wrong, Efka is almost always a thoughtful watch and, importantly, a sincere one, compared to the bullshit add cult of the new enthusiasm vomit I see on most other hobby channels.
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Jun 8, 2023 03:18
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Memnaelar posted:The hour they put into praising and criticizing it felt pretty fair to me. They suggested Oathsworn as a better boss battler and Sleeping Gods as a better exploration narrative and their reasons for prioritizing them as such were pretty sound by my tastes. You should give them a watch, agree or disagree, because they're some of the most thoughtful games discussion to be found on YT, dumb name notwithstanding. I have watched a review or two of theirs and have not enjoyed them, so I didn't continue. This is entirely separate from whether I agree with their take on games - I disagree wholeheartedly with SU&SD most of the time but I enjoy their videos. As for AT:O specifically, I haven't played Oathsworn or Sleeping Gods yet, but while I'm confident those are both good games I don't think it's really responsive to say "this game that is an excellent combination of multiple aspects of play is exceeded in this specific aspect by this game, and this specific aspect in that, therefore you should play one of those instead." I'd also point out there's lots of control (I was worried that the dice and other random elements would put me off but you have far more mitigation and options than in KD:M) and vestigial systems sounds like not understanding what the systems are doing there, because I haven't seen any. I'd try it on TTS rather than just take the word of a reviewer. malkav11 fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Jun 8, 2023 |
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Jun 8, 2023 03:25
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Memnaelar posted:There is no such thing as an objective piece of game criticism. Reviews are always shaped by the beholder and are always going to be subjective, even though they might strive to be objective about certain elements. I'm not talking about lacking subconscious biases, I'm talking about Efka putting out reviews that are nothing more than crude hatchet jobs that invent issues to get offended about. Some games he gives a fair shake to, but others, particularly Kickstarter games, he very often goes into with clear preconceived notions about them and doesn't put any effort into investigating whether those notions actually exist or not.
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Jun 8, 2023 03:41
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Zurai posted:I'm not talking about lacking subconscious biases, I'm talking about Efka putting out reviews that are nothing more than crude hatchet jobs that invent issues to get offended about. Some games he gives a fair shake to, but others, particularly Kickstarter games, he very often goes into with clear preconceived notions about them and doesn't put any effort into investigating whether those notions actually exist or not. Nah. I just disagree with that premise. His GOA2 review was way off base, he was called out on it, he walked it back. Don't know that I can think of another video of theirs that you could shake that stick at but I'm open to being proven wrong.
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Jun 8, 2023 03:57
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HidaO-Win posted:What have you backed in the campaign? Just the summer. I figured it was the cheapest port of entry, and it won’t ship for two years which gives me time to build up my resolve.
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Jun 8, 2023 04:01
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Efka went through the event horizon of his own navel a while back and is doomed to eternity. Just because he talks about serious topics doesn't mean he has anything to say or add to the topic. In fact, he loses the thread in his own videos more often than not which is how you get the live action Winnie the Pooh film critique in the Kanban review (while also missing the very obvious problem with the plot of that movie that could actually tie to Kanban). I think hes harmed serious games discourse more than he's helped at this point.
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Jun 8, 2023 06:23
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Bottom Liner posted:Efka went through the event horizon of his own navel a while back and is doomed to eternity. Just because he talks about serious topics doesn't mean he has anything to say or add to the topic. In fact, he loses the thread in his own videos more often than not which is how you get the live action Winnie the Pooh film critique in the Kanban review (while also missing the very obvious problem with the plot of that movie that could actually tie to Kanban). Strongly disagree. I think he has a lot to say, and his takes on colonialism, for example, are really important discussions that need to be much more common in boardgaming. I don't always agree with him, but he always explains why he feels positive or negative about this or that game, so I can determine if I feel the same.
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Jun 8, 2023 06:31
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Just off the top of my head, his closing remark about you playing either Soviets or Germans and that being problematic in a WW2 game set in the Eastern Front (Undaunted Stalingrad) was disjointed, meandering as hell and overall very confusing, the GoAII video had a comment about the game's art and Efka essentially threatened to withhold his 'game of the year award' until they changed what he understood to be fashy art was very weird, and then criticizing Aeon's Tresspass for not hiring a cultural consultant for *checks notes* Greek mythology was also funny as gently caress. I do think he sometimes makes great points and can clearly communicate why he liked or didn't like something from a game, but everyone now and then he comes with a hot, steamy take he can't wait for everyone to check out and it's just the most bizarre thing imaginable lol I wish Elaine featured a bit more in the most recent videos Azran fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Jun 8, 2023 |
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Jun 8, 2023 07:54
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Captain Theron posted:Strongly disagree. I think he has a lot to say, and his takes on colonialism, for example, are really important discussions that need to be much more common in boardgaming. I don't always agree with him, but he always explains why he feels positive or negative about this or that game, so I can determine if I feel the same. It's not that he's on the wrong side of issues or never gets things right, it's that he seemingly feels the need to make every game review bigger than a game review to chase that style of social critique or whatever his schtick is now. In doing so, especially as sloppily as he's done it, it turns people off on the whole idea of having those conversations. Then he has the ridiculous "I can't possibly be wrong" stands like the ruckus he made over the visual style of 18XX where he says a lot of bafflingly dumb things in the face of people with decades more experience playing and designing games, art, etc. Then he accused them all of harassment or something and blocked anyone that said that wasn't how it went at all. Bottom Liner fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Jun 8, 2023 |
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Jun 8, 2023 09:10
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Bottom Liner posted:Then he has the ridiculous "I can't possibly be wrong" stands I'm glad he has them all the way over there on YouTube and that we never have to deal with that sort of stuff here in the good Ole S of A. ;-)
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Jun 8, 2023 09:17
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPJoRWz8Sc
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Jun 8, 2023 09:44
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Memnaelar posted:I'm glad he has them all the way over there on YouTube and that we never have to deal with that sort of stuff here in the good Ole S of A. ;-)
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Jun 8, 2023 09:49
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I think it's good that someone like Efka is at least trying to bring a higher-minded perspective into the board game world. Back in the day, you'd only get it by getting blindsided with a social issue at the end of the SUSD Istanbul review. I recall his Colonialism and Sleeping Gods videos being good, the others slightly less so. I disagree this is somehow a net regression: There are still huge headwinds in the gaming world to try and silence these types of voices and I think the art of board games or board game reviews can only be improved by the attempt to take them seriously, but that also doesn't mean we have to grade on a curve. Efka is an rear end in a top hat and probably not quite as smart as he hopes/needs to be (though I don't get the feeling it's about ego, others might disagree), but NPI is still one of the better projects in the space by a long way. I enjoyed the two interviews I heard on their revamped podcast Talk Cardboard with Paul Dean (formerly of SUSD) and Jesse Earl (of the YouTube channel Jesse Gender who is the pro-est of proclicks if you're living under a rock and don't know who she is).
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Jun 8, 2023 10:09
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Captain Theron posted:Worldbreakers has just launched their expansion campaign! It's a bit like netrunner crossed with magic, set in an alternate history Mongol empire. The base game is fantastic, can't recommend it highly enough. Please say more about what you like about Worldbreakers.
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Jun 8, 2023 13:35
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homullus posted:Please say more about what you like about Worldbreakers. Unlike Magic, you don't win by beating your opponent to death, you have to gain power, which you can get through several different ways. Developing locations, spending time and resources on them is one way, as is attacking without being blocked by your opponent. Further, your locations go away after being fully developed, and followers generally don't last that long. This means that there is a great tempo to the game, as you build up, gain some power, then have to build up again before going for your next, while trying to respond to your opponent doing the same. Much like Netrunner, there's a great tension as you race to the finish line, and it's hard to have a one sided blow out. Even if you're behind, there's a chance you could make it. You also take turns trading actions back and forth, four actions each per round. But whoever takes the last action in a round gets the first action of the next one, allowing you to make some great pays. The art and theme is also fantastic, and the flavour text even identifies the parts which are fictional and which are based on actual history. SUSD gave it a quick review here if you want more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htkoJp9PfBE&t=721s
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Jun 9, 2023 00:58
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Slightly annoying thing here on a game I backed: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zeroicgames/helionox-chronicles I backed this because I own the previous game and liked Rahdo’s final thoughts and am always looking for solo/co-op games. Well, I obviously didn’t look over it enough because in the latest update, I check the artwork of the cards and realize it’s AI-generated. I then look at the campaign page and realize a ton of the art is, I just missed it. The creator confirmed in a reply that he used AI but claims that each pic is then gone over and revised by an artist. Yeaaaaah, not good enough if I can still easily tell. I requested a refund. AI artwork just makes me feel dirty looking at it, even disregarding the stolen art it uses.
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Jun 9, 2023 01:01
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I recently finished ATO's first campaign and liked it enough to back Herakles. Maybe it's not the #1 boss battler or exploration game ever made, but it's a good boss battler, a good exploration game, combines those elements well, and I like all the set dressing. The minis in particular are some of the best PVC board game minis I've ever seen; I don't back a ton of games so maybe that's just the state of the art now, but I've had some pretty big disappointments when it comes to mini quality from prominent manufacturers. My biggest gripe with the game is that it's very tightly balanced. That may sound like a good thing, and for many players it probably is, but bear with me. In a lot of boss battlers and dungeon crawlers if you know what you're doing you can build your characters well enough to make some fights a breeze, or just select easier fights. In ATO, due to the escalation mechanics in battle (both on the monsters and your titans) and the fact that the enemies are always leveling up over the course of the campaign, every fight ends up being at least a little "sweaty". If all you want is one more infused mechanism to build a bull aspis for your mazerunner, you're still going to need to engage in a high stakes battle for survival to get it. There are definitely lower points on the difficulty curve, but you never get a relaxing "victory lap" or "resource farming" kind of battle. It is possible I'm just not very good at the game, but I don't get the impression that that's what was going on (although I did remove the pursuer's "toying" trait like 40 in game days earlier than I should have...) Oh and it pretty much requires a lot of time, space, and an aftermarket organization solution (I use a tacklebox) so don't get it if you don't want to deal with that. Apparently Herakles changes up the game based on feedback they received and makes it if not more casual then at least more casual friendly.
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Jun 10, 2023 13:55
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Full disclosure: my friends designed this game: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smirkanddagger/adventure-party-the-role-playing-party-game?ref=user_menu In all honesty, it's a really good, fun party game and a great option for groups that like RPGs but don't have the time or availability for a full campaign. Stores are getting demos of this in the Free RPG Day kits if anyone is interested in trying it out. Played several iterations of it along the way and it's been a hit every time. If you're a hardcore RPG'er it's obviously not scratching your itch from a depth/complexity standpoint but if you're someone who's been trying to get other people into RPGs or you lack the group consistency for something dedicated, this is a great option.
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Jun 14, 2023 20:49
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That's a neat idea for a game, and making it a party game is a nice touch.
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Jun 14, 2023 23:59
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I’ve gotten a few funny emails over the last two weeks. I backed Middara back in 2019 and received the first and only box more than a year ago when they did their first fulfillment. I backed no other waves or product by them. Now they’ve started sending me emails for an additional $9 in shipping I owed them because I guess they recalculated shipping a year after I received my order. Who is going to pay them extra shipping more than a year after fulfillment???
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Jun 15, 2023 00:39
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They did an update pack for the first core box, is it possible they are trying to ship you the 1.2 or whatever materials?
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Jun 15, 2023 00:47
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Saltpowered posted:I’ve gotten a few funny emails over the last two weeks. I backed Middara back in 2019 and received the first and only box more than a year ago when they did their first fulfillment. I backed no other waves or product by them. Now they’ve started sending me emails for an additional $9 in shipping I owed them because I guess they recalculated shipping a year after I received my order. Did you back the first campaign or the second? If it's the latter they may be trying to send you a Wave 2 item, like the update kit.
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Jun 15, 2023 17:51
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5-Headed Snake God posted:Did you back the first campaign or the second? If it's the latter they may be trying to send you a Wave 2 item, like the update kit. Very first one. I have 0 pending items. Looks like it’s a common issue people are having and I should just keep ignoring it
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Jun 20, 2023 01:09
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Seems like the new Gloomhave project launch has crashed Backerkit.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:12
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Sefer posted:Seems like the new Gloomhave project launch has crashed Backerkit. When I could see the pledge levels, the minis were shockingly affordable.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:23
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dwarf74 posted:lmao yeah it ain't working at all. I managed to add two things to my cart over the course of about 5 minutes before it went down again. E: I guess the cart is stored locally because I had to start over once it was up again. Each action on the site is really slow but I managed to check out this time. I'm sure if Backerkit could handle the load it would be well on its way to funding already, as it is it's at $85000. Sefer fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Jun 20, 2023 |
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Jun 20, 2023 18:25
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I was trying to find expected shipping date info, specifically for the minis. Anyone found that info anywhere yet? I will probably skip them anyway and play with the standees, more because I don't want to have to store them and complicate setup than because they're stupidly expensive.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:44
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armorer posted:I was trying to find expected shipping date info, specifically for the minis. Anyone found that info anywhere yet? January 2025 for the minis. So many backers will miss that.  
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Jun 20, 2023 18:48
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This is a significant chunk of change to look for all in one go. You'd also make more money running this as 2-3 separate pieces of crowdfunding.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:48
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armorer posted:I was trying to find expected shipping date info, specifically for the minis. Anyone found that info anywhere yet? There's a Shipping, Taxes, & Timelines section at the bottom of the campaign. Minis are last to fulfill, supposed to start in January of 2025.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:49
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gschmidl posted:January 2025 for the minis. So many backers will miss that. Ah thanks, yeah that's a no go for me then (except maybe for Frosthaven, but probably not that either for my spoilered reason above). I'm in the middle of Gloomhaven campaign (second go at it, first playthrough/group got pandemicked) and just started in on a two player run through JotL. I expect to be done both of these by Jan '25 barring another pandemic or the equivalent.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:50
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HidaO-Win posted:This is a significant chunk of change to look for all in one go. You'd also make more money running this as 2-3 separate pieces of crowdfunding.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:51
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They're also doing separate pledge managers for each wave, so you could buy in for $1 and pay separately as each wave comes up.
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Jun 20, 2023 18:54
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Sefer posted:Seems like the new Gloomhave project launch has crashed Backerkit. Lol explains why i cant confirm my address for Hobgoblin
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Jun 20, 2023 18:54
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I might just go for the Second Edition GH since I have the very first printing and still haven't really gone through it. It always bugged me when the second printing changed a bunch of class cards and there wasn't really any way to get the revisions besides rebuying the game. Good thing I waited it out since this looks like way more changes.
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Jun 20, 2023 19:20
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JazzFlight posted:It always bugged me when the second printing changed a bunch of class cards and there wasn't really any way to get the revisions besides rebuying the game. That sucks.
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Jun 20, 2023 19:21
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JazzFlight posted:I might just go for the Second Edition GH since I have the very first printing and still haven't really gone through it. My take on it is.... play the copy you already have? It's not like anything is broken in there. I see absolutely no reason to buy the new copy if you have a copy of Gloomhaven 1.
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Jun 20, 2023 19:22
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armorer posted:My take on it is.... play the copy you already have? It's not like anything is broken in there. I see absolutely no reason to buy the new copy if you have a copy of Gloomhaven 1. If I’m finally gonna play through it, I’d want to start with the revamp.
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Jun 20, 2023 19:32
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JazzFlight posted:Ehhh, they’re making these changes out to be a huge overhaul of systems, quests, lore & story, etc… So much so that they’re saying it’s pretty hard to do any sort of upgrade pack (the one they’re offering says it might not work well with the original missions’ balance). I know they got a lot of input about racism from Gloomhaven that they took to heart and completely redesigned the lore and story going into Frosthaven. I was under the impression that a good deal of the reworking done to Gloomhaven was to similarly address those concerns in Gloomhaven. There are definitely some other balance changes that have been made to classes from what I've read, but I'd be surprised if the overall game is so inherently changed that you would have a different experience with 2nd edition than you would with first. I dunno, I'll wait for a review from someone who has played through both I guess, but it seems to me like if you're sitting on 1st edition you should just play that. I say this as someone who played 15 or 16 scenarios in 1st edition before the pandemic shut down that group, and has since re-started with a new group and is ~12 or so sessions into that playthrough. The game is good and playable and doesn't need a second edition to fix any balance issues or anything.
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Jun 20, 2023 19:36
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Play GH 1 now, if you like it play GH2, if you still want more play the remastered 1 because by the time it hits you'll have mostly forgotten the stuff that carries through to the new edition (which sounds like very little).
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Jun 20, 2023 20:00
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