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Timothy Monbleau

@timmonbleau.bsky.social

590 followers 190 following 700 posts

Former Guide Editor at Destructoid, bylines at PC Gamer, Kotaku, and GamesRadar+. I write about video games and even play them sometimes. He/Him

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · Oct 18

Guess I'll do an introduction too.

Hi, I'm Tim and I write about video games! I was an editor for Destructoid, and nowadays you can catch my words on PC Gamer and Kotaku. If you enjoy celebrating the ways games make us laugh, cry, or just entertain us, you might like my work! Highlights are below.

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 44m

Don't sleep on Absolum. Dotemu and Guard Crush's follow-up to Streets of Rage 4 combines meaningful variety with crunchy mechanical depth, and its story about the rise and effects of tyranny inspired ~700 words of analysis out of me. Absolutely loving this, even 30 hours later. My full review below:

Review – Absolum

Before I completely gush about Absolum for approximately 3000 words (grab the popcorn for this one), we’ve got to set the stage by talking about 2020’s Streets of Rage 4. Developed by Lizardcube, G…

maxutmost.com

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Reposted by Timothy Monbleau

i’m just ken @shepardcdr.bsky.social · 1h

Hey Absolum absolutely whips and you should not sleep on it. Roguelikes are usually harder sells for me because I don't like banging my head against a wall until it breaks, but this one's fantasy beat-em-up dressings got its hooks in me.

Kotaku @kotakudotcom.bsky.social · 1h

The Streets Of Rage 4 Team's New Fantasy Beat-Em-Up Breathes Fresh Life Into The Genre https://kotaku.com/absolum-review-streets-of-rage-4-impressions-beat-em-up-2000633646

Absolum Is A Refreshing Fantasy Beat-Em-Up

Absolum’s fantasy roguelike dressings keep things interesting after multiple runs

kotaku.com

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 19h

I had the privilege of actually growing up with a TurboGrafx, so I can confirm that Legendary Axe was regarded as the system's killer app by at least my immediate family. Bonk was for the kids, the adults booted up Legendary Axe so they could exclaim "man, this game is *tough*."

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

I just checked, and would you believe that I still have a copy of my fetish blog

It's not nearly funny enough to repost (the jokes were more embarrassing than any revealing truths would have been), but I can safely say I am proud of this one paragraph. #blutoid

A screenshot of an old blog I wrote on Destructoid. The text reads:

"2: Humans

Out of all the people that I have felt attraction towards over the course of my lifetime, 100% of them have been human. I’ve talked with my doctor about this, asking questions like why I was never confused by the likes of Knuckles the Echidna or Rainbow Dash, but he just told me that he wasn’t my doctor and asked if I’d like to pay for my groceries with cash or credit."

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

Think that unfortunately applies to a lot of us. They never knew how good they had it with you there.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

I was actually in such a deep state of despair that my soul left my body and floated outside my building.

It hasn’t come back since.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

I remember talking about how I wanted to do more community soundboard stuff on the front page, since I felt that was important to the site’s identity.

Then they gave Moyse the boot like two weeks later, so I abandoned all those ideas and spent most of that weekend in my bed staring at the roof.

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

Played it back in the 90s when I was still but a child, and yeah combat hit hard. Kids were struggling with concepts like buffs and debuffs, so the simple system of waiting on the enemy position or charging up double/triple checks felt awesome.

Game also gave me anxiety about 1999. What a classic.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

We never realized how good we had it when the Cblog tab was filled with everyone ranking their fetishes.

A screenshot from Blade Runner during the famous "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain" monologue.

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

Now that's what I'm talking about

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

Genuinely messed up that just writing that one fake headline reminded me of the joy I used to have on that site. A sad reminder in case anyone isn't aware of just how much the place has been gutted.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · Mar 26

Here's a sobering thought. Since my departure 14 months ago, every full-time writer I worked with at Destructoid is now gone. A group of synergistic writers who I was repeatedly told made 2023 a success is just dust in the wind.

My Destructoid Writers Past and Present starter pack is just "past."

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · Mar 26

I personally witnessed this guy tackle huge guide projects no one else had the patience for, turn around reviews for 100 hour games faster than I could blink, and pivot in every direction that was asked of him. If you need a writer with a tough-as-steel work ethic, this is your guy.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 2d

If Destructoid never entered the Gamurs era, this article would have been called "New Buyout Turns Electronic Arts Into Electronic Sharts" and everyone in the comments would be complaining about how no one should buy Electronic Arts unless it's at least 50% off on Steam. #blutoid #darksiders2

i’m just ken @shepardcdr.bsky.social · 2d

very cool of destructoid to post this, and, lo and behold, if you ctrl+f "queer" or "lgbtqia+" you will find zero instances of it on the page.

"the deal could be good actually if you don't talk about any of the very real harm it could do."

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 4d

Doing some prep work ahead of Dragon Quest I+II HD this month, and man, Dragon Quest 1 remakes are such satisfying bite-sized games. Can’t think of many RPGs that I can play for an hour and go “You know, I’m already this far in, I might as well finish it.”

A screenshot of Dragon Warrior 1 on the Game Boy Color. The hero is in a town by the weapon shop.

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 4d

Mick AND Motoi Sakuraba on the OST. I’ve been dying to talk about Absolum all year tbh.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 6d

~15 years later and we're finally getting closer to realizing this legendary pitch. #blutoid

An old tweet from petermolydeux, a parody account of Peter Molyneux. It reads "You know, my dream for gaming is where in one game you'll shoot someone and then during a game of say Fifa you'll see their son crying.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 12d

I'd like to clarify that Dogi does indeed belong in every single video game as Adol's husband, and Falcom did make the right call with this decision.

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 12d

You gotta love Falcom's priorities.

The land of Ys, which the series is named after: Who needs it after game 2?

Funny blue hair guy that breaks a wall: Omg let's make him Adol's best friend, this is an essential part of the series' identity.

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 14d

After an hour of playing Fire Emblem Shadows, I can safely say that I still have no clue what I'm playing. And based on reactions I'm seeing, I don't think anyone else knows what they're playing either.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 14d

I am literally playing this video game right now and I still have no clue what I’m playing. #blutoid

A screenshot of Fire Emblem Shadows. I’d be more descriptive but I don’t know what’s going on.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 14d

My guess is that the imposter needs to contribute enough to avoid suspicion, but not so much that they put themselves at a disadvantage?

Which I get to a degree, but I'm concerned that the guy with the best stats can just overpower the whole game regardless of the social deduction anyway??

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 14d

So I just did some friend battles for *science*, and we were all joking about how it's obvious who the bad guy is, but then we had a game where we ruled out the guy who was killed by enemy auto attacks who actually turned out to be the imposter??

Long story short I have no idea what the rules are.

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 14d

I am literally playing this video game right now and I still have no clue what I’m playing. #blutoid

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Reposted by Timothy Monbleau

Imran Khan @imrankhan.bsky.social · 19d

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Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 19d

This new Ys game is so good. #blutoid

A screenshot of Trails In The Sky 1st Chapter. Joshua's outfit has changed to give him red hair, making him look vaguely similar to Ys protagonist Adol Christin.

Timothy Monbleau @timmonbleau.bsky.social · 20d

Breaking: The backlash to Dave Chappelle saying he was "team TERF" in a then newly-released special was not cancel culture.

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 21d

Watch them twist themselves into pretzels to justify the hypocrisy

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Reposted by Timothy Monbleau

Marc Normandin @marcnormandin.bsky.social · 21d

My latest for @endlessmode.bsky.social is my entry into the remakes debate. They should have purpose and justification to exist for reasons other than dollar signs, and the literary tradition of revisions and new translations of classics like The Iliad have already shown the industry how to do that.

There's a Right and Wrong Way to Remake A Classic Video Game—And The Iliad Explains How

What justifies a remake? Between Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter and endless translations of Homer and Shakespeare, we've found some answers.

www.endlessmode.com

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