Skyrim

So as it turns out, I did manage to get Skyrim to work.

Zu'u los faal Dovahkiin!

Anyway, so I'm playing a female Nord named Silvia:

Thus far, I've completed the Companions, Saved the College, got to Alduin's Wall, and just joined the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood.

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So, that's what I wrote back in July.....

Since then, I've finished the game with Silvia, then started over with another character to play Dawnguard. It's been a lot of fun.

Half Life 2: This irks me.

Hello everyone, it's been a long time.....

Anyway, so I finished Half-Life 2 recently, and I'm a tad unhappy with it. I've always heard great things about the Half-life series in general, and I feel like a lot of it is well placed. However, I feel like there is a lot wrong with Half-Life 2 as well..

For one thing, the story is all over the place. Now, some of this may be because I've never played the first, but that is little excuse for the complete lack of exposition and explanations for anything? I thought I knew the basic storyline of the first, but I guess I as wrong Even as a sequel, at some point there needs to be a base summary of world events within the game. Who the heck were those aliens with the mind lasers? Who are the Combine? Why exactly is Freeman so revered? What the crap was up with that ending? Is there even an overarching plot between the two games?

Nevertheless, I can see where the praise comes from. It certainly feels like a predecessor to the modern FPS. It's got all the weapons, except notably a sniper rifle..... It has a strong physics engine, it is very effective at leading you the right direction without being overly obvious, and it was definitely fun.

However, it is not as solid a shooter as many I've played recently. That is of course because it is the basis for the others. That's like comparing the NES Mario Bros to Shovel Knight, and yelling that Mario sucks,

As a final note, am I missing something by not playing the Episode 1 and 2 things? What even are those?

Keep Gaming,
Joseph

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

So recently I borrowed the first Professor Layton game from my cousin, and it's been quite a lot of fun. It's full of a bunch of cool puzzles, including some old classics. The main story seems a little bland, but I think it'll get more interesting as I go on.

The story revolves around famed puzzle solver Professor Hershel Layton and his apprentice Luke. They are called to a small town out in the country to help solve a puzzle revolving around the will of the late Baron Augustus Reinhold. The Baron apparently left his greatest treasure, the Golden Apple, hidden somewhere in town. And so the rest of the game goes along with Layton and Luke poking around town trying to dig up information on the Apple and solving puzzles along the way. It gets hilarious what lengths the game goes to to present puzzles to you. Often, the town's people refuse to answer Layton's questions until he has solved some random puzzle they thought up.

I love the system that the game uses to present the puzzles. As I said, everyone and their mother has a puzzle for you to solve, and the game makes allowances for when you have a brain fart, and can't figure things out. It rewards you for getting the answer on your first try, but you can try as many times as you want. There are also hint coins that you can find by exploring which let you get a hint, up to three times, on any puzzle. I'm proud to say that I haven't used them too much.

Speaking of the puzzles, they are really varied in difficulty. Of course, the difficulty is relative to how you think, so I've had more trouble with an "easy" puzzle than some of the "harder" ones.

The game uses the DS's touch screen to great effect, having you drag and drop items, circle answers, and examine the world solely through the touch of your stylus.

Well, I'm gonna get back to playing this game. Until next time,

Joseph

Steam Summer Sale - My "Haul"

So, for the first time in my life, I bought a decent bit from a Steam Sale. Here's my Haul:

• Braid
• FEZ
• FTL: Faster Than Light
• Skyrim(though I'm not sure if I'm ever gonna get it to work on my computer.)
• Knights of Pen and Paper
• Terraria
• The Stanley Parable
• BattleBlock Theatre

Besides that I own Portal 1 and 2, Thomas was Alone, Oblivion and Deponia on Steam.

I've been playing a lot of FTL, but I have yet to "beat it" by destroying the flagship. It's really addicting, in all honesty.

I also started Braid and FEZ. FEZ is cute and interesting, and I can't wait to get to some more of the cool puzzles. Braid is being a pain in the butt right now. I cannot figure out most of the Puzzle pieces!!!! It's so HARD!!!!

The Stanley Parable is a treat to mess around in. I keep finding more and more hilarious scenarios as to how the game could end. I even saved a baby from a giant FIRE!

Come to think of it.... I never beat Portal 2........ meh. I need to get on that!

Until next time,

Joseph

Oblivion Part 1

Hello all the peeps!

I picked up Oblivion at the end of April, and I've been having tons of fun with it. I started with a Khajit Thief, but eventually I restarted with a Breton Nightblade. I know, I know, dark elves are better for that, but I wanted to do a Mage character who could still use a weapon, so...... I picked the mage race.

Anyway, I've been doing all the quests I can, including the long and convoluted Mage's guild quest, and I even started the Dark Brotherhood. I plan on doing the Fighter's Guild with another character, likely a Nord or Orc Knight.

Mod wise, I've been flipping through Nexus mods a bunch. I have a sucky computer, so I had to grab up a few mods to increase performance. I also tried the Neeshka companion mod. Currently, I'm using a "pack Pony" mod that lets you store things in a ride-able Pony. It's pretty useful for storing expensive heavy armor, which is too heavy for my mage to carry.

Okay, completely random thing, but I'm sitting in Biology class and a Skyrim Elven Shield popped up on the Slides to symbolize "defense against disease". Wow.....

Anyway..... I'm planning on finishing up my vanilla run, then grabbing some big mods to change the game a bunch. Any suggestions on cool game-changing mods? If you've got some, put them in the comments below.

Oh yeah, and I have the two main DLCs, Knights of the Nine, and the Shivering Isles. I've started on Knights, but don't want to start Shivering Isles until I beat the main game. Is SI really that good? People keep telling me it's the best DLC for anything ever.....

Anyway, until next time, feel free to comment if you want to hear more about my playthrough.

Joseph

It's been awhile.....

Hello everybody.

Sorry, I meant to have posted something else recently, but I procrastinated. I thought my friend was going to send me a Dragon Quest 9 guest review, but they never did.

I'm back now, and I plan on posting again.

Look forward to some thoughts on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as I'm playing it for the first time right now.

Until next time,

Joseph

Ico

I just got Ico, a masterpiece of game design for the PlayStation 2. I can't wait to play it!!!!

Also, those of you who read my blog regularly, you do know that there's a comment section, right? I dunno, I just thought people would have commented on stuff.........

EDIT: Ico didn't work with my PS2..... Mine can't run the blue CD ROM Discs..... I now have a bunch of instore credit. Comment some of your favorite PS2 games you think I'd enjoy.