The Etrian Odyssey series is number 1 on my list, I'm not going to even list every entry... As for the rest, I've never been more than occasionally interested in Persona and SMT myself. Some of the older ones catch my eye though. Atlus usually has interesting 3rd party publishing deals, sparse they may be, so I'm including those in the rest of my list:

1. Etrian Odyssey 2
2. Trauma Center
3. Knights in the Nightmare
4. Run Saber
5. ESP Ra. De.

Pop Tart: Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection.
Even though the stylish action genre is one I don't stick to very well, NG1 has a great reputation, so I want to try it and you should too.

Toaster Strudel: Deathloop
I like the original definition of "Toaster Strudel" which was simply like "a game you want to lower the status of". Deathloop went from interesting to eh for me, even though I know most people are legitimately excited. That's a toaster strudel.

Turok 2 (1998) is more fun than Turok 2 Remaster (2017) because it is more frustrating. People should be ashamed of their words and deeds.

A thread for examining the new games of April! Share your personal picks, interesting curios, and not quite there possibles...

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Did you discover some small game that not everyone knows about?
Share that and let us know what it is about!

Already know a thing or two that interests you?
Make a list of your interests and/or possibles!

Don't know what's so great about an upcoming game you keep hearing about?
Ask here!

Don't follow gaming news that closely and just want to passively see what BigGames™ people care about?
This is the place!

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Thread concept:

The basic idea is to list new games that you are interested in, as well as games you are potentially curious about or want to give wider attention to. You can briefly describe them or ask other people to help fill you in. The hope is that regular threads like these can act as a collective filter/discovery mechanism to help people decide what is worth checking out.

"New games" means any new title that is being released or ported this month in any capacity (not "backlogs/what you are playing this month"). The angle here is sharing your anticipation and promoting game discovery (as opposed to sharing comments about a first playthrough in progress - that belongs elsewhere).

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• If you want a handy list that covers most of the major upcoming games of the month, here's a couple text lists of upcoming games:
  • Giant Bomb
  • Game Informer
  • Wikipedia

Feel free to post other lists or list videos of upcoming releases that you find useful.

• Final request: If you are the first person to mention a game please provide (at minimum) a short sentence description. (If it is a very big AAA release though, then don't worry about it.) This is a good convention that makes the thread more useful as a discovery mechanism, and especially helps out anyone who doesn't follow the news as closely as you.

I've watched many a Lets Play by "Brickroad" and recommend him. He has amassed a big catalog over the years, although much more retro and indie than Christopher Odd. He does fit the inoffensive humor you are seeking quite well though. I've also made several LPs myself which I'm proud of and I recommend people check out (again, older games).

The funny thing is, I've enjoyed quite a number of LPers for at least 1 game that they've done, but it's hard to really give them a blanket recommendation, you know? I've also never really clicked with channels that LP games soon after they come out, which may be what you are looking for.

@Yoshi I think you just caught me mixing them up.

I forgot about Baby Bowser. No one likes Baby Bowser.

There's that kid in Wind Waker with the giant snot trail coming out of his nose. I'm not sure if he's anybody's favorite.

Your "friends" at the start of Secret of Mana ditch you and help get you banished from your hometown. Practically speaking, they've got to be some of the worst.

Personally, I don't think there's an abundance of good "interesting" examples like Oliver, because children in games usually have small roles and they have a narrow range of narrative development/plot involvement. Or if they are the main characters, then they occupy very straightforward protagonist roles.

Rydia from FF4 is one good one, probably the one of the most compelling child protagonists in an RPG. She starts out being profoundly affected by her mother's death and an associated fear of fire, and throughout the story she grows up and turns around to be the one to save Cecil from his biggest enemy. A very elegantly told character arc given how it use gameplay mechanics and plot related events to tell her story, rather than just dump a bunch of text and loyalty missions on you.

One child character that I'm fond of is 'Teddy' from Actraiser. Despite being a small boy (I think), he tries to solve the mystery of the blood red lake on his own. As God, your charming role in this sequence is to accept his worried mother's loaf of bread, and then leave the bread for Teddy to find so that he might get homesick and return home. Teddy is also involved in being one of the unfortunate townspeople randomly chosen to be sacrificed to the region's monster (before you intervene, of course). In the Japanese version, you learn much later during the credits that Teddy had rigged the random selection so he would get one of the short straws. Quintet is the master of small vignettes, and this one echoes the importance of home and being eager to take on responsibility for your family/tribe.

Character action games for me. It's something about the speed of combat that makes me feel I'm never getting as good as I think the game wants me to be.

@hazz3r said in That's News!:

Elden Ring trailer is starting to leak. Be careful out there if you want to watch it fresh when it's officially released.

Thanks for the very useful heads up.