Happy Monday, folks, and welcome to the Weekly Video Games Thread!
In honor of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, which has just come out and is threatening to take all of my free time, today’s prompt is on the critical hit. You know, that silly thing (mostly turn-based) role-playing games do to simulate those moments outside easy manipulation in which a stupendous attack lands. Fortune’s Weave has a ton of them, all with some kind of cool animation and pithy phrase as your hero absolutely ravages some utterly screwed bandit, monster, or mustache-twirling, Chris Parnell-soundalike supervillain.
Pokémon, Dragon Quest, EarthBound, Diablo, XCOM, Fallout, Final Fantasy… you’ve experienced this. What are your favorite examples of them in a game? What are your favorite examples of executing one?
And, as ever and with shouted full throat, what did you play this weekend? EDIT: And remember to check out Lily Bones’ latest “Game News Roundup!”