A short blog series on the games I'm playing and, more interesting, why I'm playing them
This is, ooooh, my fourth or fifth attempt to get into this game. Demon's Souls, to me, is the quintessential game that represents the type of gamer I wish I was: Hardcore. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, Demon's Souls remains elusive. It's not so much the extreme difficulty as it is just how intricate everything about the game is. The sheer amount of time needed in order to learn the intricate game mechanics and stats to be successful requires a level of dedication I am incapable of. The detail included in every facet of the game overwhelms me. This is a game that requires independent study in order to grasp just the basic understanding of how everything works and interacts with each other. Not to mention the game isn't very clear in terms of what to do and where to go next. Demon's Souls is like an unfit mother that doesn't give a damn about her child. And no matter how much you cry she will never help you.
It is precisely because of this uncaring feeling that I have decided to watch a Let's Play of this game; to try and at least get some semblance of a "starting point" of what to do and how to do it. I've tried diving head first into this game on my own and that tactic backfired on me multiple times because I didn't know what the hell to do and I became discouraged and quit. Hopefully after watching this Let's Play I'll have a better understanding to help guide me and keep me motivated to continue playing.
Sleeping Dogs is a game that originally went under my radar for the longest time. But as I watched more videos of it and heard more people talk about it, I got the bug in me to try it. Unfortunately for me it's been a long, hard wait to get this game through Gamefly as it literally sat in my game queue for close to two months because of its limited availability. Not to mention, on two separate occasions I was cruelly tricked in to thinking it was going to be the next game to ship due to its higher availability and optimal timing by me sending back the game I had out at the same time that Sleeping Dogs became available. Both times failed as I was shipped the next game in my queue instead of Sleeping Dogs and both times I was mad as hell. But I digress, all that is behind me because as of today I finally received this game in the mail. Now I just hope it was worth the wait and anguish I went through to get it!
The most recently released game I'm playing at the moment. I've been a fan of Studio Ghibli ever since watching Spirited Away which was my first introduction to the famous Japanese animation company. Level 5 is a much respected JRPG developer that I don't have much firsthand experience with, but their pedigree is so well-respected that I trust them. The game so far is charming, although if I must be honest it does tend to dip into the hokey department more often than I'd like. If Demon's Souls is an unfit mother that doesn't care about you, then Ni no Kuni is the mother that has separation anxiety and can't cut the umbilical. I'm well over sixteen hours into the game so far and the hand-holding is still present. I don't know if this is a big oversight or if they really did mean to market this game to kids and thought it necessary. Regardless, the game is truly an instant classic despite its saccharine-like appearance and overprotective mother mode.