Never Was A Gamer @neverwasagamer

Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're looking back at some of Michelle's formative games for once - the Mass Effect series, Bioware's space marine RPG trilogy. This is a long, rambly episode that is a bit of a change from our usual format, but we'll be back in 2 weeks with our last (more traditional) game episode, featuring the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Oh, it's a legend alright!
Enjoy and we'll talk soon.

Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're saying our last goodbyes to 2021 and the games we played.... including the last chapter of Final Fantasy Tactics! We briefly talk through the ending and what Tactics amounts to after 100 hours of playtime, then dig into some of the trends that shaped our 2021 in games, and finally conclude with some thoughts on the future of the show. 
Timecodes:
0.00 Intro
1.38  Wrapping up Final Fantasy Tactics
19.00  "Games in Michelle's Wheelhouse" didn't really work
21.15  BREAK
22.00  Wrapping up our 2021
1.07.00  BREAK
1.07.30  The future of the show

Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're diving into Final Fantasy Tactics - or at least the first 3/4 of it!  Come on, Michelle's playtime is like 90 hours. Maybe we should have looked up the zodiac metrics after all....
Timecodes:
0.00  Intro
3.00  Tactics games
18.50  Final Fantasy Tactics context
46.30  BREAK
47.00  Final Fantasy-ness
 

Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're continuing our now-annual tradition of wrapping up the calendar year with a light episode of awards and a gift exchange. Dimitri and Michelle each gave each other a game that they thought the other would like, and so to break up the awards we're also discussing the sensational first-person photography shooter, "Umurangi Generation," and the high concept open world detective game, "Paradise Killer". 
Stay safe and have a very cozy holiday!
Timecodes:
0.00 Intro: Cozy December games (Unpacking, etc)
7.45  Awards: Naughtiest Boy
10.50  Bad Dad Award
12.35  Gamers Are Wrong Award
18.10  Katamari Damacy Presents: Second Best Soundtrack
22.00  BREAK
22.45  Gift Exchange: Michelle gets Umurangi Generation
39.20  BREAK
39.50  Hideo Kojima Memorial "Auteurist Trap" Award
43.30  Biggest Boss
46.05  Best Villain
47.30  True Villain
49.40  BREAK
50.10  Gift Exchange:  Dimitri gets Paradise Killer
1.12.00  BREAK
1.12.40  The Black Spot
1.15.45  Best Moment
1.18.30  Tier List: All Season 2 Games

Today on Never Was A Gamer, we continue our year-end arc of games in Michelle's wheelhouse with the weird world of Undertale! There's so much to say about this game - not about Sans though. He's just a guy.
We'll be back in 2 weeks with our holiday episode!
Timecodes:
0.00  Intro
1.00  Michelle's history with Undertale
10.45  Actual history of Undertale
17.10  Starting over
31.30  BREAK
32.30  The battle system
47.40  The problem of Alphys (Mettaton rules)
59.30  Asgore, endings, and the big picture
1.14.00  Final thoughts
 

Today on Never Was A Gamer, we're discussing System Shock 2!... mostly the first 2 hours of it, because for the first time in the history of the show, we both bounced off the game (for very different reasons). We're digging into what we liked (lots!) and why we quit, and trying to think through the broader experience of bouncing off a game that you generally like. Please, come sit in our failures with us.
Timecodes:
1.00  Why System Shock 2?   
9.45  Immersive sims   
13.00  5 times Michelle loved System Shock 2....
40.00  ... and one time she didn't.
52.00  Dimitri's odyssey and conclusions
1.00.10  BREAK
1.00.40  Bouncing off good games
1.18.50  Final thoughts