While recalling that it had been a good while since I last blogged, something extraordinary occurred to me. Halloween has come and gone, and in all the time leading up to the holiday, and the actual day itself, I didn't have a single piece of Halloween candy. The sweetest stuff I've had in the past week has been Rice Krispies© treats and orange juice™.
I haven't been blogging about games recently because I haven't been putting nearly as much time into them. But I have played a few, and I can share some thoughts about those here.
Contact: This is the most recent game I've purchased, and it's definitely an interesting game, but I think the Intertron hype leading up to its release has misled me. I expected an off-the-wall, marvelous, deep, challenging and entertaining role-playing game with a distinctly hands-off approach to combat; what I got was a very difficult, almost frustrating, and ultimately not particularly interesting game. I'm not sure if I misled myself to believe that Contact would be more than it is, or if I just haven't invested enough time into it to see if it really gets good the further I get into it (the old "the game gets better when you get out of Midgar" rationalization). I will finish this game, but I find myself looking forward to the new RPGs coming out in the next few weeks so that I don't feel obligated to play Contact.
Lego Star Wars: There are two Lego Star Wars games, and I rented both of them; the first one covers the prequel trilogy, the second the original three. Just take the world of Star Wars and render it entirely in Legos, and that's what it is. Not a hard game by any means, but I loved both titles, partially from the action fix they provide and partially because I simply love the idea behind the game, having grown up playing with Legos from dawn to dusk.
Pokémon XD: Take the story to Pokémon Colosseum and expand it to include a new adventure and a lot more Pokémon. The concept of snagging and purifying "Shadow" Pokémon is one I've never been able to force myself to enjoy, and I tried rushing through the game over the period of a five-day rental just to see if I could reach the point where I could take all the Pokémon I've caught and transfer them to the Game Boy games. Eventually, I got tired of it and gave up; I'll come back to it someday, but only when the spirit moves me.
Dragon Quest Heroes - Rocket Slime: I picked up this little beauty a month ago. Imagine a Zelda-type game where the hero is an amorphous blob, who attacks by propelling his body forward like a rubber band. Now imagine that anything and everything you encounter can be collected, and eventually used as ammo in a series of tank battles. I love this game; so far, it's one of my favorites this year.
Capcom Classics Mini Mix: The NES versions of Bionic Commando, Mighty Final Fight and Strider together on a single cartridge. Strider stinks, and you can't save any of your progress on any game, but no one with a soul can resist the siren song of Bionic Commando, still one of the best action-adventure games ever conceived by mortal man. Lo, when the angels descend from on high, they will be playing Bionic Commando.
That's every last flake of brain dandruff I can come up for now. I'll try to blog more regularly in the future.
