Let’s Play / AARs

Single-player Let’s Plays and AARs

Let’s Play FTL: Faster Than Light! (Finished)

Part 1: The Voyage Begins (Sectors 1-2, Kestrel, easy difficulty)

Part 2: Things Get Real (Sectors 2-4, Kestrel, easy difficulty)

Part 3: A New Hope (Sectors 4-7, Kestrel, easy difficulty)

Part 4: Return of the Kestrel; or, The Federation Strikes Back (Sectors 7-8, Kestrel, easy difficulty)

The World that May Have Been, a Europa Universalis IV Let’s Play (Finished)

Part 1: Never Pick on Someone Your Own Size (England – the Hundred Years’ War and aftermath)

Part 2: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times (England/Great Britain – colonisation, trade, and religious strife)

Part 3: If You Can’t Beat Them… (Great Britain – religious strife, continued)

Part 4: The Death and Rebirth of the British Empire

Part 5: Bend with the Wind

Let’s Play Shadow Empire: Oceania (Hiatus)

Part 1: The Rise of Avalon

Part 2: War of the Machines

Let’s Play Total War: Shogun 2! (Takeda Clan, Finished)

Part 1: Awakening the Tiger

Part 2: Patience and Preparation

Part 3: Ride Forth Victoriously

Let’s defend Scandinavia in Wargame: AirLand Battle! (Finished)

Part 1: Something Rotten in Denmark (Campaign #4)

Part 2 (FINAL): Who Dares, Wins (Campaign #4)

Let’s Play XCOM: Enemy Unknown! (Finished)

Part 1: Baby Steps (Battle 0, 1 March 2015 to Battle 3, 20 March 2015 – Classic Ironman): in which XCOM fights its first battles and discovers the virtue of caution

Part 2: Winning battles, whither the war? (Battle 4, 21 March 2015 to Battle 6, 11 April 2015 – Classic Ironman): in which XCOM meets the Floater and Thin Man, and discovers that there is sometimes such a thing as too much caution

Part 3: Terror and Triumph (Battle 7, 15 April 2015 to the first terror site, Battle 9, 17 April 2015 — Classic Ironman): in which XCOM says hello to the Chryssalid

Part 4: The Turning of the Tide (Battle 10 to Battle 13 — May 2015 — Classic Ironman): in which panic, poison, and chain reactions rear their ugly head

Part 5: Pride Goeth Before A Fall (Battle 14 to Battle 17 — June 2015 — Classic Ironman): in which XCOM runs into Mutons and Cyberdiscs. It hurts.

Part 6: SHIVs, Stopgaps and Archangels (Battle 18 to Battle 24 — July to August 2015 — Classic Ironman): in which XCOM claws its way back

Part 7 (FINAL): Avenger (Battle 25 and Battle 34 — September and November 2015): in which XCOM defeats the alien invasion!

The Stompers of Comps

 

Writeups of cooperative multiplayer games, by myself and the other players involved.

#1: Sins of a Solar Empire 2v2, with Josh

Competitive multiplayer AARs:

Let’s Play the Empire: Total War Multiplayer Campaign!

Introduction

Episode I: The War Begins (France)

Episode II: Havoc on the High Seas, Losses in the Low Countries (Great Britain)

Game diaries

In which I tackle multiple aspects of gameplay, share cool things that happened to me, and give some feel for what it’s like to play these games.

The Banner Saga (finished): (1) the battle system, (2) story & concluding thoughts

Wargame: AirLand Battle (finished): (1) choosing an army, (2) fighting it out  (3) the verdict (and also see the LP above)

Bioshock Infinite (finished): (1) the review, (2) the spoileriffic story post.

Tomb Raider (finished): (1) gameplay impressions, (2) the verdict (and a reflection on cover shooting).

XCOM: Enemy Unknown: see the LP above; the verdict

Sleeping Dogs (finished): (1) The moment I fell in love; (2) The verdict.

Jeanne d’Arc (finished): (1) Speed smiting: the tactical combat of Jeanne; (2) The quick verdict.

Wargame: European Escalation (finished): (1) The Panzer General’s grandson: an introduction to W:EE; (2) Attack, defence and the art of Wargame; (3) The verdict.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (finished): (1) Preview; (2) the verdict.

Crusader Kings 2 (guest series, ongoing): (1) One hour with CKII; (2) Feudalism: domain thing; (3) How to lose CKII: a very short guide; (4) On the importance of swooshing cameras (or, personal meanderings how minor details add up to significant effect).

Conquest of Elysium 3 (finished): (1) First impressions; (2) The verdict.

Demon’s/Dark Souls (on hiatus): (1) Co-op, (2) “Progress”, (3) What difficulty has to do with behavioural finance; (4) Impressions of Dark Souls.

Distant Worlds (finished): (1) First impressions: the galaxy is a big place; (2) How the opening moves play out – a mini-Let’s Play; (3) The verdict.

The Witcher 2 (indefinite hiatus): (1)  First impressions; (2) Strengths and weaknesses (as of early Act 2).

Persona 3: Portable (finished): (1) Impressions/overview; (2) Roleplaying and time management; (3) Setting; (4) Combat system (the quick and the dead) ; (5) Initial thoughts on the ending; (6) The retrospective verdict.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (finished): (1) character profiles; (2) four things it does better than FFT (and one it doesn’t); (3) how I used different character classes in battle; (4) an unfortunate mishap later in the game; (5) the verdict.

Europa Universalis III (finished): (1) The Byzantine Empire and puzzle-like gameplay; (2) The Manchus, hordes, and the consequences of deficit spending.

Total War: Shogun 2 (finished): (1) Initial impressions, (2) Diplomacy, (3) The verdict; (4) NINJA FAIL (a video); (5) the Mori clan’s last stand (a screenshot); (6) Fall of the Samurai first impressions; (7) the Fall of the Samurai verdict.

Civilization V (finished):(1) How the city-states capture the feel of real-world great power politics; (2) Overall thoughts; (3) One year later; (4) Gods and Kings: the verdict.