Swords, Cars, Pyramids & Dogs
Hey guys. I've not got very long, but I felt the urge to blog, so figured I'd give you all an update on what's happening in my world right now. It's mostly game-related, but there are some other interesting developments to note as well. In terms of its gameplay, Lost Odyssey is 100% old-school JRPG In an attempt to cure another bout of the JRPG blues, I decided to start playing Lost Odyssey . I...
Hey guys. I've not got very long, but I felt the urge to blog, so figured I'd give you all an update on what's happening in my world right now. It's mostly game-related, but there are some other interesting developments to note as well.
In terms of its gameplay, Lost Odyssey is 100% old-school JRPG In an attempt to cure another bout of the JRPG blues, I decided to start playing Lost Odyssey. I've been playing it for nearly twelve hours now and I'm completely hooked. In terms of both plot and gameplay, the game feels like the spiritual successor to Final Fantasy X that I've been searching for. The storytelling is trademark Hironobu Sakaguchi, and as a result it feels more like a Final Fantasy than some of the more recent Final Fantasy games do. Kaim is a great main character, and the blatant use of the "amnesiac protagonist" cliché is offset by the beautifully-written Thousand Years Of Dreams sequences that it results in. I love the Skill Ring system, as well as the fact you can change rings on the fly. It brings some genuine tactical thought into the battle system, which feels incredibly well-balanced. There's also the levelling system, which doesn't appear to be truly experience-based but instead grants faster levelling when taking on stronger foes, and slows it right down when fighting weaker enemies. It's a system that appears to discourage the concept of grinding, while still ensuring the player doesn't fall too far behind to deal with future challenges. Battles are tough and require a great deal of planning, which is nice when compared to the power-level-X-mashing attitude associated with some other JRPGs. My girlfriend has also taken a great deal of interest in Lost Odyssey, albeit for slightly different reasons - she thinks Kaim is "hawt".
Forza 2 + mild OCD = countless misspent evenings I'm also playing quite a lot of Forza Motorsport 2 at the moment. I've just hit 73% completion, I'm Driver Level 42 and I have over 2,000,000 Credits to my name. I don't know what it is about racing games, but they've always had a knack for bringing out the completist in me. Back in 2007 I devoted three weeks of my life to Gran Turismo 2 and completed the game's career mode 100%. Now, two years later, I'm feeling the same compulsion with Forza 2. The presence of race-completing and car-collecting achievements in the game certainly isn't helping, either. I've set myself the target of hitting the 100% mark before Forza 3 hits store shelves, which gives me two months to finish the rest of the races (less two weeks - more on that later, though). I also intend to do a fair bit of car-collecting before my time with the game finishes, to snap up some of those achievements. Which reminds me, does anybody know if changing your region gives you access to cars that can only be unlocked by hitting certain levels in that region? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
The Last Revelation may not have aged well, but nostalgia is a powerful motivator It's not all been about the Xbox 360, though. The third and final game that's been getting a lot of play time over the last few days is Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. I've always had a soft spot for the Tomb Raider franchise. I even forced my way through Angel of Darkness a grand total of three times, an exercise that taught me the definition of pain. I really enjoyed the most recent instalments in the series, but lately I've been feeling the urge to return to one of the original games on PlayStation. Eventually, I gave in to the temptations of nostalgia and fired up the fourth game in the long-running series. First impressions aren't so hot, admittedly - the game hasn't aged well in terms of either graphics or gameplay. Thankfully, it's something that I seem to be able to overlook, as I can still appreciate the game for what it is. For a PS1 game it looks very impressive, with surprisingly detailed character models and environments. Unfortunately there's not much I can do about Lara controlling like a tank, but I'm slowly readjusting to it. I'm about two hours into the game, and I'm looking forward to getting further reacquainted with one of the games that contributed to my deeper interest in the medium that started around ten years ago.
This is Maya, and I can't wait to meet her In other non-game-related news, I'm still living with my girlfriend in our new flat near Colchester, and things are still excellent. It's her 21st birthday on September 17th, so we're heading back to her place for a couple of weeks next month to celebrate. I'm looking forward to meeting more of her family - her parents are really great people, so I'm sure the rest of her family are equally nice. Also, those of you who are long-time readers of this blog may be aware that my family lost our dog, Freckles, back in March. Well, a few days ago I received a phone call from my mother telling me that they've got a new puppy. Her name is Maya, and she's a ten-week-old border collie/Alaskan malamute cross. They sent me this picture of her and she looks absolutely adorable. It's a shame I'm not at home at the moment, because I'd love to meet her. I'm sure she's running rings round my parents and getting away with murder.I think that'll do for now. Thanks very much for reading, guys. I'll see you around. In the meantime, I'm going to force myself through another endurance race...
DanK
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Currently playing - Lost Odyssey (X360)