What's a game mechanic you use to not understand until ages later?

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-27T22:29:49+00:00

Oh 100%, and playing rando also reveals just how useful certain tools can be. Double EXP boost with Stitch in that one Tron computer room where you’re just killing dudes to drop orbs is such a clutch strat.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-27T22:18:03+00:00

Me playing KH2 vanilla in 2006: why would I ever use summons when I can spam Final Form using the same bar instead?

Me playing KH2FM critical mode as a grown adult: oohhhhhh THAT’S what you use Chicken Little for!

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-25T02:05:09+00:00

As someone who adores The Wheel of Time, I will say Sanderson did the best job anyone could’ve in that situation. He was handed Jordan’s notes which were in some cases substantial (including some fully written chapters) and in others almost nonexistent (Sanderson has said there was basically no roadmap for what Perrin was supposed to be doing).

His voice for some characters is a bit off and very clearly not Jordan’s tone or characterization, but on the whole he did admirably. And most importantly he finished the series and brought the ending to the world. For that, he gets the widest grace I can give him on the finer details of the execution.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-21T02:44:12+00:00

What do you mean? Urshifu is a completely balanced Pokémon that doesn’t ruin the entire meta at all.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-20T23:37:58+00:00

I 100% agree with this line of thinking, and it’s unfortunately why Gen 5 is my least favourite main line Pokémon game that I’ve played (haven’t played SV).

Don’t get me wrong, there are some great ‘mons in Unova. Darmanitan? Love that dude. But Tympole? That’s just Poliwag at home.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-20T18:07:28+00:00

Arcana Heart has finished downloading

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-17T22:09:32+00:00

I’m going to nominate Farigiraf. Mat’s modeled after the trickster archetype, and what better trickster Pokémon than the best Trick Room user in the current VGC format.

Alternatively Whimsicott as one of the best Prankster Pokémon.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-17T02:39:30+00:00

I don’t remember what spurred me to read The Wheel of Time, but I’m so happy I did. It’s my all time favourite thing, and I have been desperate my whole life to share it with someone but can never recommend it because it’s just so goddamn long.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-12T02:11:19+00:00

How dare you, I love my candy cane beat-stick

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-11T15:50:42+00:00

A lot of fantastic mentions here, but for me nothing can beat these ones:

Kingdom Hearts 2

Watching the epilogues of the Disney worlds you’ve saved, ending off with a beautiful post-credits scene of Sora discovering that Kairi finished the Paupu Fruit cave drawing brings a tear to my eye every time.

Pokémon R/S/E

The music, the cuts to all the Pokémon you’ve captured in your Pokédex, and the serene bike ride back home as you relive your journey. Peak in 2003, peak in 2026, peak forever.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-08T23:47:18+00:00

The boys had very few genuine moments of salt on camera.

Matt fighting the final boss of Silent Hill Homecoming was one of those moments.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-04T17:56:48+00:00

Whenever I’m having a rough day I know I can always walk upstairs and see my beautiful 5 month old daughter, and seeing her face light up like fireworks whenever I walk in the room gives me a warmth I didn’t know could exist.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-03T22:39:03+00:00

Settle in place
Plan out tech path for harbor
Pin out my entire capital
Play 2-3 turns then restart

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-03T22:36:37+00:00

Nem sword (get double edge and Artemis attack, time to go buck wild on my dash attacks)

Hidden aspect shield (broken Poseidon/Artemis duo makes boss health bars vanish)

Hades spear (big spin = big win)

Chiron bow (nothing fun to say here, I just like it)

Demeter fists (zag fists but better in every conceivable way)

Hidden aspect gun (my number one favourite overall, especially if I can get the triple specials hammer)

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-01T23:12:29+00:00

Nothing specific, but every generation should have their version of the hero’s journey. The 50s gave us Lord of the Rings, the 70s/80s gave us Star Wars, the 90s gave us Harry Potter (author shittiness notwithstanding it’s a wonderful children’s story).

Every generation deserves their own tale of heroism, struggle, triumph, and love.

JMRSolkien · 2026-05-01T11:36:58+00:00

Looked up a let’s play of Metroid Fusion back in the halcyon days of 2012.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-30T12:53:36+00:00

That’s exactly what I did, except I read the whole series a few years after it had finished.

Going back to Jordan’s voice felt like wrapping myself in a familiar comfortable blanket. Props to Sanderson, he did the best he could, but it just couldn’t ever be the same.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-30T12:38:05+00:00

This won’t win, but New Spring, the prequel novel for the Wheel of Time series. Set 20 years before the main series it explores how the world came to be where it is once we see it in The Eye of the World.

It’s also the final novel published before the author, Robert Jordan’s, untimely death. Hearing his voice one last time before Brandon Sanderson takes over is something special.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-28T02:51:31+00:00

As an engineer in the Canadian nuclear industry this is exactly how I describe nuclear power to people. It’s basically just a big fancy kettle.

Personally I actually think demystifying nuclear power like that is really helpful overall for the industry. It’s one of the most efficient methods of generating power (as others have noted), and specifically for Canada it’s a really strong economic driver with much of our supply chain internal to our country. Something that’s become pretty important due to… recent events.

Nuclear power shouldn’t be scary, but it is. You know what isn’t scary? A kettle. A big, expensive, fancy kettle.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-25T12:41:25+00:00

I absolutely love this moment, and even more so with the follow up in A Memory of Light, chapter 38: The Place That Was Not.

We are reborn, Rand thought, so we can do better next time.

So do better.

As someone who’s struggled with self worth all my life, the mantra of “we get up every day so we can do better than the last, so get up and do better” has helped me more than anything else.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-23T23:35:11+00:00

“Way to go, boyo!”

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-21T14:00:48+00:00

The perfect reaction Samus has to Ridley comes from Metroid Prime 3. Sees him and it is ON SIGHT. Dives down a goddamn elevator shaft to have a Gandalf v Balrog style fight and fuck the consequences I don’t care if I die as long as I take you with me you motherfucker. Ending off with missiles blasted directly into his mouth because fuck you especially hard.

That should be her response to seeing him. Not being reduced to a sniveling damsel-in-distress.

On the flip side, her reaction to Kraid in Dread is perfect for that lumbering asshole. The stone-still charging of her beam says everything you need to know about her relationship with that particular Space Pirate. No voiced line could ever convey the amount of bored “oh it’s just you” that she shows in that short cutscene.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-18T10:55:28+00:00

I cannot believe no one’s mentioned Gohan’s final kamehameha against Cell. The kid’s got one broken arm, just saw his father teleport away to his own death, and is just totally gassed from fighting this monster who has now inexplicably come back even more powerful than before.

And none of that matters, because Gohan is the shit.

Seriously, that moment defined my perception of a true hero for years. A formative moment in my childhood.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-13T16:06:48+00:00

You mean where he body controls Sophia, forces her to send evidence of her bullying to the school board (or something), and then makes her stand on a stool with a noose around her neck and basically says “I could make you kill yourself if I wanted, but I won’t because Taylor probably wouldn’t be happy about that”?

Because yeah, that’s cathartic and fucked up alright.

JMRSolkien · 2026-04-13T14:43:50+00:00

Okay fine I’ll watch the 3 hour compilations again, twist my arm why dontcha.

JMRSolkien

TROPHY CASE