Amanda Kay Oaks

So funny you mention Dragon Delves. It's the book that made me want to try being a DM, because I absolutely fell in love with one of the one-shots in it. And I really would love to try the Marvel Multiverse RPG, too. Sounds like a fun one. I know that actual plays have made me a better player, for sure. The Glass Cannon literally taught me to play Pathfinder. I've had trouble finding a D&D actual play that represents learning the rules in quite the same way. I definitely think feeling more comfortable with the game mechanics in general will help me DM... probably. We'll see after I actually run the thing on Tuesday lol.

I'm about to DM my first Dungeons & Dragons one-shot after being a forever player for years. Naturally, that has me reflecting on my favorite DMs from actual plays like The Glass Cannon and Dimension 20. So I'm curious... do you watch any actual play streams or listen to any podcasts for D&D or any other TTRPGs? Which ones do you recommend?

I liked the first one, but I did feel like we had some pretty big unanswered questions. If Jinu isn't fully evil, what about all the other demons? Are they all trapped forever with the new honmoon situation? Hoping to see that ambiguity explored a bit more.

State of Play tends not to be my favorite. The action games kind of blend together for me, if I'm honest. It was cool to see the Kena sequel and new footage for Beast of Reincarnation, though.

Yeah, it's a lot more game than I was expecting all around!

Haha yeah Human Ditto is still a very weird choice. But honestly you get used to it faster than you'd think in my experience.

Yeah I went into that preview play session ready to be disappointed, and was so pleasantly surprised! I hope that your girlfriend loves it. As a fellow Pokemon and Animal Crossing fan, I think she will!

Husband and I just started Season 2 of Frieren now that the English dub is starting to drop on Crunchyroll. It's off to a good start so far!

Obviously, as a big fan of Pokemon and cozy games, I cannot wait to sink hours into Pokopia. But I'm really curious to know how many Pokemon fans are planning to pick it up, since it's pretty different from the typical Pokemon offerings. I got to check it out early at a preview event last month, and I had a lot of fun with it. But it is very much a life sim/cozy game with Pokemon in it, so I'll be curious to see what the fan base thinks of it.

Raising them right! lol

It's got to be "I am no man" for me. Chills, every time.

It's almost definitely the 2002 Spider-Man. I used to rewatch it at least once a year. Probably The Princess Diaries is a close second comfort watch.

It's a longshot, but with Square Enix rushing out the first two on Switch 2, I wonder if we'll hear about FF7 Remake part 3 at one of these in 2026. Since they typically launch at PlayStation exclusives, seems like a likely place for the reveal.

Oh yeah, I forgot that was even supposed to be happening. I've been impressed with how it runs third-party action RPGs so far but that one in particular seems like a challenge.

I got to play the Pragmata demo early! It's definitely worth checking out... even if the Capcom rep kept feeling like they had to come help me not die lol.

Definitely agree! I miss when the commercials were a surprise. I don't care for football at all, so I only participate in Super Bowl festivities for the food and the commercials. I try to just avoid watching any of them ahead of time but it's still less novel than it used to be.

Yeah, I was surprised we didn't hear anything about The Duskbloods. I thought that one was kind of a given.

The long-rumored Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase finally dropped this morning, and it was a pretty long one! What did you think of it? Here's the link, in case you haven't had a chance to tune in yet. I wasn't ready to see Todd Howard, but I wasn't surprised to see a release date for FF7 Rebirth on Switch 2. A lot of anime games this time around, too.

Ohio buddies! It's funny because so many of the players in early comics history were themselves from Ohio. Apparently not fans of their roots.

A cursory search tells me there aren't any major superheroes from my home state of Ohio, sadly.

There are quite a few big anime that I never got into even during my big anime phase as a kid. I didn't watch Full Metal Alchemist or Bleach, for instance. And I've still never seen One Piece.

I'll probably go see "Wuthering Heights" (I am putting some theories behind the use of quotation marks in the trailers). And I'm also hoping to get out to see Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Beginning of a New Era when it hits US theaters later this month.

I'll also be going to see this! Though, as a former lit major, I suspect I might leave the theater FURIOUS based on the trailers and marketing.

It probably won't happen, but I'd love a remake of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. That game was my childhood and while it holds up pretty well still, it'd be fun to see what it looks like with modern tech.

One of my most anticipated games of the year, Starsand Island, just confirmed it's hitting Early Access on Steam & Xbox Game Pass before fully releasing later this year, and it's got me thinking about the pros and cons of EA. It's a great opportunity for developers to get feedback (and often cash flow). But as a gamer, how do you feel about Early Access releases? Do you like to play games early, or wait until they fully release? Personally, I don't mind playing in Early Access, but I feel like the mileage varies a LOT with quality and amount of content. Plus, most EA titles are only on Steam/PC, so that can be limiting for those of us without high-powered gaming PCs.