The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

When I’m all depressed, sometimes I make silly little purchases. This is my excuse for buying a cheap copy of Lost Planet 2 for 360 off of Gamefly.

Now, you may be thinking, “Wait, you already played through that.” And you’re right. On PS3. Which means my save didn’t carry over. Which is fantastic.

Yeah, that’s mostly sarcastic. I dunno. But I did it to myself, so…

Still, I was in for a surprise when I booted it up at random today. For whatever reason I really felt like playing it, mostly due to the revelation that I could equip different weapons in the campaign. I beat the whole game without knowing your “multiplayer” weapon loadout affected the campaign. When I learned of this, I felt stupid, and wanted to see if it made the campaign feel more varied. I booted the game up and went to play with random online people.
And I found some.
I figured the only people playing the campaign at this point would be people doing high-level runs for loot because, I dunno, they really liked the game. But surprisingly, I found people to play the first couple missions with. Not a full group, of course, but I found random online dudes to play with. It was pretty fun! Mostly because people on the internet are way better at video games than me, so when I ran with them through the game on normal, they easily picked up my slack. Or maybe I just have a better knowledge of how the weird-ass game plays now that I’ve beat it once. Who knows.

Anyway, I have no idea if I’ll play through it all again, but I had some fun for one day, so that’s certainly something. And hey, if the Talking Time people whose conversation got me to pick it up ever get on, then that’s something else to do with my purchase, certainly.

I now have functional, working teeth.

Well, okay, I mean, they were working okay before. They just were overdue for maintenance. But now I did that, and now I’m cavity-free, and have functional teeth.

Huzzah.

I’m glad my parents helped me out with all this, and I am doing more to take care of my teeth now. Had been for awhile. Still, I had taken so long, and neglected everything about my personal upkeep for such a long time, and they were kind of completely shitty. They’re fixed, though. That’s a thing.

My own weakness and self-issues keep coming back to haunt me like that. Even if I say that I’m doing better, and I’m moving ahead, and things are happening, stuff like that still makes it clear how fucked up I am, to some extent. Hell, I should have been applying to colleges and shit over the past few weeks, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t add another worry to my pile. There is way, way too much shit going on, at least internally. I needed to clear something off the pile before I try to add that to the list. But that’ll have consequences, you know? Who knows what will happen?

I’ll be fine, and I’ll survive, but, you know… it’s a thing, for better or worse.

I have been having nightmares about things not working out, to top it all off. Dreams of plans falling through. Things failing. Me failing. Again and again. I’ll wake up at 9 and force myself to sleep for a few more hours, but I’ll simply toss and turn and worry. Again and again.

Something has to give. Something has to improve…
Right?

Because really, anything with the word “Raven” in it is reason enough to cue Raphael the Raven’s music.

We continued our tradition of playing the board games I got on Christmas on New Year’s Eve, and busted open my copy of Castle Ravenloft. This game has the most giant box I have ever seen, and is supposedly filled with Dungeon-crawl-y goodness.

BUT WAS IT?
Hell yes it was.

The game is basically 4th Edition DnD Lite. Many parts are streamlined. For instance, everyone just has an AC, instead of many different defenses, and HP values for enemies are more in the 1 to 2 HP range. The basic combat, however, is DnD. You have a level 1 hero that you get to pick powers for, which are very close to the basic power choices in the Player’s Handbook. For example, my Fighter that I played still had Cleave as an at-will, which was very similar to how Cleave works in actual DnD, just without damage rolls. Enemies and traps and things were basically defeated quickly with a good strategy, or utterly destroyed the party. It was quick, tactical, and fun, and I felt like everyone enjoyed it a lot.
When we play DnD, one of the problems everyone has is how slow the combat moves. It’s hard to design encounters which are dynamic, interesting, difficult, and fair. Either everyone is a pushover, or you end up in a long, drawn-out slog fest where you’re beating against an enemy’s high HP, even though he doesn’t pose a lot of threat. This game basically didn’t have that: every fight was perfectly tuned because the designers knew what the possible party combinations were. It was difficult, but intense and fast-paced. It was just what my group wanted.

Other than the combat, you have a book of scenarios with different quests to do in the randomly generated dungeon. This is also something my friends like, so that’s a plus. Whenever you move to the edge of a tile, you “explore” and draw a new tile, putting a monster on it. Otherwise, you draw an “encounter” card, which could be a trap, a global effect, a sneak attack against your hero, or even something sort of positive sometimes. Some of those encounter cards are kind of a bitch, but they end up working really well.

Our initial outing was pretty screwed. Cara drew a “Spear Gauntlet” trap very early on, and we failed to disarm it several times. That thing is a total bitch, and it left us all hurting on HP. Spaeth was the Cleric, but he only had one use of Healing Word, and could otherwise only heal in 1 HP increments, which was useful, but since we had lost so much life, he couldn’t get us stabilized. We eventually went down to some fire-flinging skeletons.

Still, I cannot wait to play the game again. It really didn’t take that long to play, which is nice, and the gameplay was super-fun. I look forward to really figuring it out and seeing if we don’t do better next time!

Finally, my phone can stop telling me I’m making appointments in the past!

I don’t know. Every time I write a new year post, it’s always optimistic. Things are going to get better, I tell myself. Things are going to turn around. My life will work out. It’s always a personal pep talk to myself.

I’m kind of tired of it. I’m out of energy for that, I really am. This year is filled with unknowns, some good, some bad, and some questionable. I don’t know what’s going to happen, and it’s unlikely to work out the way I want. Will it still be in my favor? I guess that’s something I’ll have to find out.

Still, this is going to be posting while I’m sitting around with my good friends, playing board games, and having a fantastic time. That means something, right? That means a lot to me, certainly. I have people who want to hang out with me. I have fun with these people. They’re some of the most important people in my life, and hopefully I’ll get to add some other important people to their IRL ranks soon. Hopefully things will work out.

Hopefully things will get better.

Start your new year off right. Make things better for yourself. I’ll wish you luck with your personal quests if you wish me luck with mine. Deal?

Yeah.

Here’s some of the games I had to painfully prune to get my list down to 10. There aren’t in any order, but they are fantastic games.

League of Legends: Cut because it technically launched last year, I didn’t really get into it until this one. This is pretty well the best DotA game I’ve played. It’s tons of fun, has lots of fun characters, and is very accessible as a free to play game. The system of Champion rotation is really smart. Anyone can play this and have a good time, whether they want to spend money or not.

Cut the Rope: Probably the second best iOS game this year, Cut the Rope is really mainstream, but for a reason. It’s a ton of fun, and filled to the brim with puzzles that use the touchscreen to its greatest advantage. Plus, with them adding free sets of puzzles with the Cosmic Box and Holiday Gift, they’re making you continue to come back again and again. A fantastic game.

Super Mega Worm: Speaking of iOS games, Mega Worm is incredible. I never thought I would enjoy a “pure” arcade experience like Super Mega Worm, but they do such smart things with presentation and the leveling system that I just kept wanting to play more. It’s a fantastic game to play for a few minutes while waiting, and the screams of the people as they die never stops being hilarious.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero: Compressing the “start all over with all your stats” mechanic of Dead Rising into a short, 1-2 hour game creates something downright magical. I haven’t played DR2 yet, but I feel pretty safe in saying that Case Zero is a much more fun experience. For $5, this is an amazing value, and I really enjoyed playing through it.

Monday Night Combat: Snoopy beat this because Snoopy was such a shock, but that doesn’t make Monday Night Combat any less of a fantastic multiplayer experience. Combining DotA with Team Fortress 2 was a genius decision, and they really make it work. Plus, you get an added “defense” mode for good measure. It’s a shame the tutorial doesn’t show you Crossfire mode, as I bet that turned some people off to the game. Still, it’s worth your time, and is about to come out on PC as well.

Well, enough looking back at 2010. Let’s look to the future. Or, I guess, to whatever bullshit I write about tomorrow. Yep.

All the everyone forever is starting to do their game of the year lists, so fuck it, I’m doing one too. I mean, I would have, eventually, either way, but the podcasts have put me in the mood of doing it today. So let’s see what my top 10 games of 2010 were, shall we?

10. DJ Hero 2: I loved the first DJ Hero, and this game basically fixed all the problems the first had, and added so much more. I wasn’t planning on buying it, but I’m so glad I did. For whatever reason, it gives me this enjoyment high other games simply don’t. It’s certainly not the most creative, or most polished, or most technically competent game of the year, but it’s my guilty pleasure of the year, and I love it a lot.

9. Snoopy Flying Ace: Purchased on a whim to play with Brer, this game’s multiplayer devoured my life for awhile. You’d never think this game would work, but it’s so polished and so much fun. Add to it that you can play split-screen online, and hey, you have one damn good game here. I’ve barely even played the single player, but I’ve sunk a lot of hours into this. It’s good times.

8. Deadly Premonition: If you want to talk about guilty pleasures, here’s one. Man, oh man, this game is amazing. I mean, it’s terrible, but it is also an experience I am so glad I had. There is so much raw creativity in this game. Francis York Morgan is one of the strongest characters of the year, and the game itself just must be seen to be believed. Somehow, despite all its problems, it works. It works so well.

7. Costume Quest: Double Fine doesn’t always nail it with their mechanics, but they know how to make a funny game with an incredible setting. Costume Quest is just that, but unlike Brutal Legend, which had mechanics that were hard to get over, Costume Quest’s simple combat never gets in the way. It’s not hard, but since the game is a short downloadable title, it doesn’t matter. If you care about Halloween, this is a game to play, though maybe wait until next October to give it a go, for the proper mood.

6. Dragon Quest 9: A classic-style game, but done with so much polish that you can’t help but completely fall in love with it. All the systems in this game are honed to perfection, and the story is constructed in a very interesting way, considering all the player characters are generated by you. It’s a shame America doesn’t get to use a lot of the cool functionality, but there’s still plenty there to make this a winner, and it certainly was to me. I’m glad I beat it.

5. Game Dev Story: By far my “iOS game of the year,” Game Dev Story is a very simple simulation, but the way it is presented is done so well that I haven’t met anyone whose life it hasn’t devoured for a few days after its discovery. It certainly did as such for me. A fantastic little game, well worth the price of admission. It simply would not let go of me, and that speaks to its awesomeness.

4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Forget CODBLOPS, Metal of Honor, and any other shooter. This is, by far, the best shooter of the year, in both single and multiplayer. Granted, the multiplayer is the key selling point, which brings just about the best objective-based play out there, on console or PC. But the characters in the single player are also fantastic, and shouldn’t be forgotten either. This is a mind-blowingly awesome package, and anyone who enjoys shooting dudes really should play it.

3. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: If you had told me that I would ever love a game starring Lara Croft as much as this game last year, I would have thought you were insane. However, this almost “reboot” of Lara in a completely co-op based puzzle shooter was just so fantastically done, I fell in love immediately. If you have a friend to play it with, there is no greater co-op experience that came out this year.

2. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker: Another game I wasn’t expecting to love, but did, there is no doubt in my mind that this is pretty well the best PSP game made so far. Peace Walker somehow manages to deal with the horrible control scheme of the PSP and create an incredibly awesome shooter that keeps all the key elements one would want from a Metal Gear game while also getting rid of all the headaches that a Metal Gear game brings. The story is silly, but doesn’t devour the game like MGS4, and the game has all the awesome gameplay of MGS4, and looks fantastic to boot. And even though I stand by my statement a second ago about Lara being the best co-op experience of the year, Peace Walker is a close second if you have some buddies. If you have a PSP, this is a game you must own.

1. Mass Effect 2: Because it came out so early in the year, I nearly forgot this game. Luckily, I was reminded. Mass Effect 2 completely deserves to be Game of the Year. Not only are the characters in your team in the game completely fleshed out and interesting, the game goes to great lengths to make your decisions in the previous game, and this one, matter. You really feel like you’re making a difference in the game. On top of that, the revised combat system is fantastic, and turns the series into one of the most fun third-person shooters out there. Even if you haven’t played the first (though you’ll get more out of it if you do) you really should play through Mass Effect 2 if you have any love of sci fi games at all. Bioware has done great things here.

That’s it! Tomorrow I’m going to look at some Honorable Mentions which were on my list before I had to make some cuts down to 10, because why not? I can do that. It’s my blog.

Feel free to tell me my list is wrong, but I’m pretty happy with it. For me, these are the games of the year.

I used to love Christmas. I’d walk downstairs, look at the tree, and be filled with awe and joy. It was a truly magical time of year, not because there was magic, perse, but simply because it was bringing me together with my family, and friends, and everyone.

I’ve been too busy to feel that magic, really, but upon reflection, man, it’s still doing that. I had a great Christmas party with my friends, and I’m going to have some great Christmas times with my family today. It feels more mundane, perhaps. Maybe that means I’ve been closer to them in general? I don’t know.

Still, I’m going to have a good time. I’m going to relax this post-Christmas week. I’m going to be happy. I’m going to be with my family. You should be too, if you can manage it. Holidays are excuses. Who cares why these traditions started, the important thing is to enjoy the occasion to really… enjoy the occasion. That’s how I look at it. Give people a hug. Be awesome. Merry fucking Christmas. You know?

Always so much going on, but Christmas… that brings everything together, doesn’t it… hopefully so.

Man, the Chrissymas is almost here! I’ve already received an awesome Festivus gift from Sheana, for one. As of this writing, the Mike and Ikes still exist… but barely. I’m also going to Droid’s F’in Christmas Party tonight, and I managed to wrap up all my gifts… I’m also finishing up all my preparations for my Festivus victim, and should be done with that this weekend.

It’s like Christmas is almost here.

I don’t know when I started being the sort of person who was all prepared for Christmas far in advance, but I really feel like I am again this year… I also feel like I’m not too excited about it like I usually am. I mean, it’ll be great, but fuck, there is so much shit to do, and so much going wrong. I’ll survive, though, and enjoy it. And you should too, blog-reading person!

Also, can we get a couple more different versions of Run, Run, Rudolph into Kohl’s sometime soon? I don’t think 3 is nearly enough.

Anyway, I’m going to make merriment tonight, so enjoy this shitty blog post. I’ll be back tomorrow with more serious stuffs! Huzzah!

Dear Whatever is Broadcasting on 87.7 FM in Cape,

Fuck you.

You cannot even begin to imagine how much rage I have at you. If I could injure you, I probably would. Every day I scream at you. Every day.

Did you know that 87.7 is the only setting at which my FM transmitter can get a clear signal? It’s true. It’s the only one, and it works all the way up to St. Louis. It’s the perfect setting.

However, in Cape, at completely random intervals, you feel the need to broadcast extremely, extremely loud screeching.

Now, I don’t know if you listen to podcasts. I do. You have to have the volume up to hear them talk sometimes. So when you blast my ears out with this screech, I get a little annoyed. When it happens again, I get more annoyed. A third time, and I want to injure someone.

Seriously, I have tried to find another station. But 87.7 is perfectly clear, except your fucking screeches. So just stop it, okay? Please, just stop it. Let me listen to my podcasts. That’s all I want. Please.

With deep, searing hatred,
poetfox

P.S. Fuck you.

Have you played One Chance yet? Go ahead and give it a go, then we’ll talk about it. I’ll wait.

You played it?

Good.

On the Jick and Skully show, Jick said that he thought the way that the developer actively doesn’t want you to play the game a second time is “really cool.” Or something to that effect. That’s certainly what sets this game apart, I suppose, from other games of its ilk. You can’t go back and play it again. Feel free to try, but without actually working at it, there’s no way to restart.

I suppose that does say something, I guess, about how your own actions can’t be rewound like a video game. At the same time, there are only a few very binary decisions in the game, so it really kind of lessens the impact to some extent. I chose to work hard every day but the last, where I gave up and spent time with my daughter. It really seemed to be the only way to go for me. I suppose other things might have been fine options for other people to do, and I saw that there were options, but I didn’t really feel like I could make them. Maybe you made different decisions.

Still, I guess I’m just not struck by something like this, because when I play a game with multiple outcomes, my initial reaction is to not WANT to play it a second time, because it belittles the experience by letting me see the systems. For example, watching my brother play through Mass Effect after I had beaten it kind of cheapened the experience for me, as it let me see how tricksy the game had to be to give you the illusion of choice. I certainly don’t want to replay Mass Effect 2 for that reason. I understand that some people would, but I’m not that person. So the fact that this is a game that doesn’t let you restart doesn’t really affect me. Hell, I wouldn’t even had noticed if I hadn’t heard discussion about it after I played it.

So… yeah. I guess it didn’t affect me as much as other people. I felt my interaction to be so limited that many of the things happening didn’t affect me as much as some other sorts of art games. If you’re someone who wants to see every possible outcome, maybe this would affect you more? Who knows. It’s an interesting little tidbit, anyway.