The Community Spotlight - 08/13/2016

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Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Community Spotlight and I, @zombiepie, am once again honored to be your host this week. Well, with Summer quickly drawing to a close life appears to be returning to normal. That is before the Autumn and Winter onslaught of video games causes us to file for bankruptcy. Joshing aside, the community had plenty to show this week between the highly anticipated release of No Man's Sky and The International. With this all behind us let's review some of the fun bits of housekeeping!

  • Giant Bomb ROM 3 may be over, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't feel free to play any of the Giant Bomb themed community creations that came from the __game jam. You play all of the wonderful community creations from the event over here!
  • Have East Coast streams been a bit wonky for you when trying to watch them on mobile platforms such as iOS? Well Vinny has an idea as to what may be causing the problem and the solution they have devised to address it.

Giant Bomb Galleria

Persona 4: The Golden Duder Project (GB Crew As P4 Characters) (By: @supernormalstep)

We now have the whole team! SupernormalStep has finally created a smattering of Persona 4 avatar characters for Dan and Jason! Marvel at how he managed to perfectly convey their shadows and personalities in the world of Persona 4.

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Bombcast Sketches (By: morehandclaps)

morehandclaps is back with another pair of awesome Bombcast inspired sketches this week. This time she managed to include the wonderful goofballs from Iron Galaxy Studios!

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Community Activities

Lincoln Force NEEDS YOU!
Lincoln Force NEEDS YOU!

Giant Bomb Community No Man's Sky Explorer's Club (By: @jonny_anonymous)

If you have found something especially fun or interesting in No Man's Sky share it on our "Explorer's Club" for the __game where you can share your experiences in a community "live journal" of sorts.

Lincoln Force [EU-Khadgar-PVE] Is Looking For Members! (By: @shagral)

The Giant Bomb EU community guild for World of Warcraft, Lincoln Force, want YOUR HELP as they prepare for the launch of World of Warcraft: Legion!

Best of Blogs

Learn more about how Gundams could possibly help your quality of life on Feralchemy
Learn more about how Gundams could possibly help your quality of life on Feralchemy's blog

Gundam Saved My Life (By: @feralchemy)

Feralchemy shares how Austin Walker rekindled his love for Gundam, as well as how his return to the franchise and hobby helped him through a rough patch in his life.

Metroid and Me, Bonus: Series Ranking (By: @majormitch)

MajorMitch closes the book on Metroid and Me this week, wrapping it up with a ranking of every Metroid game that he has played from worst to best.

Revisiting Mass Effect: Part 3 (By: @meteora3255)

meteora3255 continues his retrospective on Mass Effect 3. This week he discusses corporate intrigue and buggy bosses.

Replay: Mass Effect (By: @thatthereitalian)

thatthereitalian also revisited a Mass Effect game, but he decided to replay the originator of the franchise. Read how his perspective on Mass Effect has changed after replaying it.

How You’re Supposed to Play Overwatch Heroes vs. How I Play Them (By: @darth_navster)

Darth_Navster attempts to get to the bottom of why he's struggling in Overwatch with an examination on how he plays, and how the game wants him to play all of the character classes.

Surprisingly two users decided to re-explore entries in the Mass Effect franchise this week.
Surprisingly two users decided to re-explore entries in the Mass Effect franchise this week.

One Small Step For Mankind (By: @shivermetimbers)

While shivermetimbers recognizes that No Man's Sky is far from being a "perfect" game, he articulates why he thinks it is an important step forward for the progress of the industry.

Kentucky Route Zero, and the Dangers of Episodic Gaming (By: @sam_lfcfan)

Sam_lfcfan uses Kentucky Route Zero as a case study on how that game unfortunately fell into one of the most dangerous pitfalls of modern day episodic game design.

How I Spent My Summer Semi-vacation (And Other Great Uses Of Time And Money) (By: @arbitrarywater)

From Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE to Monster Hunter Generations, ArbitraryWater updates you on his recent gaming ups and downs this week.

Is Deadly Premonition a
Is Deadly Premonition a "timeless classic?" Check out Nomad175's blog on why he certainly thinks so.

Welcome Back to Greenvale: Revisiting Deadly Premonition (By: @nomad175)

Nomad175 shares his impassioned love for Deadly Premonition, and why it is still stands as one of his favorite games of all time.

How Overwatch Out-tfed Team Fortress 2 And What It Can Still Learn From It (By: @cav829)

Cav829 comments on how Overwatch has supplanted Team Fortress 2 in his books in terms of providing a fun team based multiplayer shooter, as well as what Valve Corporation can learn from the budding shooter.

Coming To Accept Being A "Bite Sized" Gamer & Abzu Is The Most Beautiful game I've Ever Played (By: @bigsocrates)

BigSocrates delineates the term "bite sized gamer" and why it is the best way to describe his current gaming lifestyle. BigSocrates also illustrates how he fell in love with Abzû's visual style and art direction and extrapolates why he thinks it cannot be compared to the likes of Journey or Flower.

Sunday Summaries 08/07/2016: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain & Mento Gear Solid V: The Fandom's Pain: Part 2+ Part 3 (By: @mento)

Mento continues his mad descent into the crazy world of Metal Gear Solid V
Mento continues his mad descent into the crazy world of Metal Gear Solid V

First, Mento is back with a summary on his progress on the Giant Bomb wiki as well as with his gaming backlog. Next, Mento also continues his detailed look at Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain with a pair of blogs on a handful of missions in the game, both good and bad.

Path of Exile's Templar: Faith in a Godless World (By: @mikelemmer)

MikeLemmer played Path of Exile and briefly comments on the interesting take on religion that the Templar class showcases in the game.

August Vita Lineup And Upcoming Titles (By: @blacklagoon)

A new month means that BlackLagoon is back with a extensive and helpful list annotating all of the games coming out for the PlayStation Vita this August and beyond.

Join the Discussion

No Man
No Man's Sky predictably dominated the forums this week.

No Man's Sky Impressions Sharing Thread (By: @acidbrandon18)

What are your early impressions of No Man's Sky? Whether your opinion is positive or negative feel free to join our community discussion about the game right now.

No Man's Sky Help, Tips, and Tricks Sharing Thread (By: @bofooq)

What are the tips, tricks, and hints that you have for people just starting to play No Man's Sky? Help out other intrepid explorers in their journeys over here.

No Man's Sky Pictures/Videos Sharing Thread (By: @mirado)

Have you taken any breathtaking screencaps of your adventures in No Man's Sky? Feel free to post them and discuss the context of what is happening in them over here.

However, you can always count on Overwatch to inspire a new discussion thread on Giant Bomb.
However, you can always count on Overwatch to inspire a new discussion thread on Giant Bomb.

No Man's Sky Planet Name Idea Thread (By: @alistercat)

What names have you given the planets that you have explored in No Man's Sky? Please share them, especially the Giant Bomb inspired ones, so is that other community members can look out for them in their explorations.

Is Overwatch Becoming Unplayable? (By: @devise22)

Can a new user jump into Overwatch without fear of running into a wall? Feel free to join our discussion thread debating whether or not Overwatch has become more or less accessible to new players.

Lovable Lists

Learn how this asshole ranks on CountDeDeDe
Learn how this asshole ranks on CountDeDeDe's list

Metal Gear Solid Games: Ranked By Their Boss Fights (By: @countdedede)

CountDeDeDe ranked every game in the Metal Gear franchise that he has played based purely on the quality of their boss fights and nothing else.

"Game of the Year" of Gaint Bomb's Game of the Years (By: @devoureroftime)

Tackling a recent Bombcast e-mail, DevourerOfTime went ahead personally and "ranked" all of GB's Game of the Years.

Useful User Reviews

  • @laxbro19's review of Abzû shares why he found the game to be a visual treat and enthralling ride no one should miss out on.
  • @mogarth outlines why he fell in love with Human: Fall Flat's minimalistic charms, and how it's more than just goofy fun.
  • @riostarwind reviews why he was pleasantly surprised with the visuals, gameplay, and design of Unravel.
  • @darth_navster's assessment for The Fall delineates why he thought the game squandered its potential with its "half-baked" story.

Wonderful Wikis

No Man's Sky

It is the game that has the Giant Bomb community practically buzzing! You can learn more about why so many people are excited to share their opinions about No Man's Sky by checking out our wiki page for the game.

Filed under:
No Man's Sky
Dave Lang
Adam Boyes
Chelsea Blasko
World of Warcraft
Gundam
Metroid
Mass Effect
Overwatch
Kentucky Route Zero
Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE
Monster Hunter Generations
Deadly Premonition
Abzû
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Path of Exile
Human: Fall Flat
Unravel
The Fall