There wasn't anyone for miles.Something inside him died.He knew that he was going to die alone,without the presence of all his loved ones. Going to die fighting a battle where his only enemy was his own self. Fighting against the very restraints that made him who he was. Then something inside his stomach lurched. He felt a feeling rising slowly within him. A feeling of slow realization. Realization that brought upon him that he had done something wrong at some point in his life. And it was his responsibility to atone for it. Then and there he realized he would atone either by dying amongst the lonely sand dunes and the empty hollowed sky or he would die attempting to fulfill his responsibility.He had already committed the mistake.The guilt was irreversible. The death inevitable. It was the atonement that was going to be his redemption for the unforgivable mistake.It was the responsibility that was going to be the phoenix tears to his funeral ashes.
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Hello everyone,
It's been 3 1/2 months since I last blogged. It's not like I've been absent from this site nor have I been suffering from a gaming bump(quite the contrary actually).It's just I haven't felt like writing a blog. I sure had plenty of things to discuss and write but somehow I was too lazy to write anything. So the result is I have an insane amount of things to tell and it's going to be a packed blog. I'll keep most of the things short since there is quite a lot I have to cover,so without further ado let's go on with it.
Life
It's been a busy three months. First there was the tech fest in our uni where I participated in loads of events be it in stuff like breaking the code,debate on tech stuff or robotics workshop. Also had a small seminar on ethical hacking and OS Testing so it was interesting all around. Uni has been amazing so far. The people,the professors and in general the atmosphere is much MUCH better than the shatteringly depressing atmosphere I was in last two years.
From the six topics we had to take I took the four mandatory -- Maths,Chemistry,Physics and Computer Programming along with the two optionals as Electronics and Mechanics/Civil. The optional list was really pathetic for the first semester so those two were the only ones I was remotely interested in. Right now, all my assignments and projects have been finished and submitted and there are two more exams left between me and the semester end.
Social life has been quite good as well. I've basically got two sets of friends--the uni ones and the HS ones. Both are cool and hanging out with them is fun but in a different sense.As most of you may already know,I am not the wild partying one so I stay rather away from such wild parties. Not my $tyle. :P
Nothing else, you'll probably hear more about the extreme polarities of my life in the year-end blog but that is for later not now.
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He had been walking for how long he had no idea. He wasn't running. No that was not only tiring but also reminded him of those days when his life existed little outside his room. The room where he would spend his days and nights gazing lifelessly over the instruments that would grant him a better life. His elders and the members of his tribe had said to the Warrior that he must live two years of darkness in a competitive atmosphere to ensure he lived a better life in the future. An atmosphere so brutal that it crushed anyone who was weak.Where friendships were governed by numbers. Where smiles were rarely hearfelt and mostly always forced.Visions of people hanging lifelessly from the sky came to his mind as he slowly broke into a run.
He was running...again. But not from himself. But from his dark past. That part of his life was over and he didn't want to remember it anytime soon. He was running from his very own regret.
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Gaming
I'll be honest. The last one and a half month has been possibly my biggest gaming addiction month since well the summer vacations. :P
In last 1 1/2 month I finished 4 games, 1 expansion and 9 DLCs.
Let's start then.
Fable III (X360)
What can I say about this? I had a lot of expectations on this hoping this would be the series big breakthrough point. The premise looked promising,the delivery was half-baked unfortunately. Fable III is a game of inconsistencies. The missions/quests are most affected by this. On one hand you have these superbly written, filled with amazing humour and witty writing and cleverly directed quests that you can't help but love. But on the other hand you have a dozen other quests that are so horribly boring and repetitive that just thinking about them numbs my mind. "Go to this cave,kill X monsters,over". This kind of template is used over and over again that it becomes boring. Whatever happened to level design to make quests more varied?
Ditto for the setting.On one hand there are wonderfully designed and beautiful world and on the other there are bleak boring caves that give you a repetitive sense of deja vu. Then there's the combat. The combat was never the strong-point of Fable series and here it becomes more evident than ever. Fable III is a long game and always keeps putting you in battle. This gets old after about 2 hours. Every fight boils down to pressing the same buttons,for the same time and killing every enemy. It's boring. It's not addictive as in button mashers or in hack-n-slash. It's just boring.
But it's not totally bad either.The story is great.Some of the characters are amazing. The trademark British humour is sharper and more visible than any Fable game before. The streamlined parts of main menu(Sanctuary,similar to Terranigma's) and leveling system(Road to Rule) are wonderful alternate translations of such traditional elements. Fable III succeeds at times during the "king" section as well but a poor design choice at the end which I won't mention will potentially spoil and annoy many gamers if they weren't lucky.
Overall a decent sequel. Not the sequel I expected and still is more of a sidestep than anything else but still worth buying once it gets cheaper.
Score : 7.0/10
Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition (PC)
So finally. I get my hands on the "so-called" spiritual successor of Baldur's Gate II. I'd finally know how BioWare fares a decade later.
103 hours later, I completed every bit of this Ultimate Edition and left with a very satisfied mind. This. THIS is the role-playing game of this generation. Nothing comes close to it this gen. Mass Effect games may earn higher scores and acclaim but most of the things about Mass Effect right from general writing,dialogue and characterization utterly falls flat in front of Dragon Age. The characters are amazing.Possibly some of the best I've seen in a BioWare game since BG2 and coming from me that's high praise alright. The story rises from it's cliche and so does the setting to become something thoroughly unique. The Origins concept is well-utilized. The missions are enjoyable and some of the decisions are impactful. Lack of morality system adds more weight on such decisions by introducing grey shades into it.
The combat. While it was mostly enjoyable,parts of it fell short of my expectations. The cla$$es are firstly unbalanced. Take a mage and you'll literally steamroll the entire game. Take a rogue and well you'll find difficulty in the Tower of Ishal. The combat also succumbs to a hack-and-slash nature when the battles are not strategically set. Like for example,if only three enemies are coming to you,it becomes a hack-and-slash affair rather than a strategic one.
Another thing I had problem with was the lag between the "behind the screen" battle engine and the on-screen animation. This lag is noticeable in many battles across all platforms and this is something that could be improved in DA2.
Also was it just me or is Origins a really easy game. I was on Nightmare difficulty throughout my very first playthrough and had not much difficulty. At times I had to even check whether or not the difficulty was on Nightmare because it felt like Normal.
And Awakening,the expansion. My main character didn't fall down even once in the combat. Bah that too a warrior. I bet my Arcane Warrior/Mage/Blood Mage/Battlemage (aka the Power Gamer cla$$) will totally steamroll the enemies. :D
Overall I would say this is BioWare's finest RPG since KotOR or maybe even Neverwinter Nights.Definitely superior than any other RPG this gen IMO.
Score : 9.5/10
Short thoughts on other content of Dragon Age Ultimate Edition
Awakening -- Great expansion.The sombre post-war theme and the development of the "nature of the foe" are some very interesting themes this expansion explores. Characters are sub-par and the battles besides one or two are mostly straightforward and hack-and-slash nature(that's on PC,imagine on consoles :P ) --8.5/10
And here's my scores of the DLCs
Warden's Keep -- 6.5/10
The Stone Prisoner -- 7.5/10
Return to Ostagar -- 7/10
Leliana's Song -- 7.5/10
Golems of Amgarrak -- 6/10
Darkspawn Chronicles -- 4/10
Witch Hunt -- 7/10
Average DLCs. None are really worth recommending except Leliana's Song and Witch Hunt(ONLY if you romanced Morrigan)
Fallout New Vegas (PC)
Up next are the two Obsidian games. As everyone may know I am an Obsidian skeptic but only because I always have huge expectations from their games. First up was Fallout New Vegas.
Loved it. Similar to Fallout 3 in the basic way. But otherwise superior to Fallout 3 in the subtle more finer role-playing elements that were clearly missing in Bethesda's title. New Vegas being developed by ex-creators of Fallout franchise om Obsidian, finally included some of the deeper more enjoyable elements that made Fallout 2 such a memorable game. Reputation counters the effect of Karma and makes working for guilds both a rewarding and risky experience. Work with a guild and you will earn discount and help from the guild members.Work with a rival guild too much and you risk turning enemies out of them. Hardcore Mode is a new addition that makes "survival in Wasteland" as an actual gameplay element. Very well-done. The perks are more varied this time.
The story is FAR superior to Fallout 3. In many ways it's similar to Fallout 2 in the sense it involves more complex stories set in the nuclear wasteland. Tons of references to 40s and 50s,good jazz soundtrack,some stellar voice-acting and rewarding gameplay decisions makes New Vegas a winner through and through and the best Fallout game since Fallout 2.
Score : 8.5/10 (compared to 8/10 of Fallout 3)
Alpha Protocol (PC)
A game I feel has been unfairly criticized and bashed by critics. This is a GREAT game. If you can look past it's flaws,there is a very enjoyable and rewarding experience waiting for you. The biggest strength of Alpha Protocol is decision and it's effect. Small decisions make such a huge impact on storyline that it automatically warrants multiple playthroughs. Some of the sequences and missions are well-designed and the stealth elements while broken are great when they come together. Shooting is stat-based and is what you'd expect in a stealth game like MGS (MGS never had a good shooting mechanic,wonder how critics overlooked that ;) :P ).The dialogue system is ME-inspired and so is the Radial Menu. Despite the influences,AP does a good job of standing on it's own.
The characters are great. I'd even hazard a direct comparison that they're better than any Mass Effect has seen. Steven "Don't Call Me Steve" Heck (MOST AWESOME GUY IN A SPY WORLD! :D ) and Albatross and Sis (a mute teenage girl who's more expressive than Jacob/Kaidan).
This was potentially a big game. There are flaws some huge,some small stop it from reaching it's peak. But no first entry is perfect barring few exceptions. If Alpha Protocol 2 is made I am sure Obsidian would make a game that can potentially become a big rival to ME2's status. Unfortunately Sega has killed that idea. :(
Score : 8.0/10
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Future
Well I've still got two exams,Electronics and CP to get through. I'll try writing a blog during Boxing Day possibly detailing when and how my Year-End and Best of Blogs are going to branch out.
Otherwise nothing much to add. I am sorry I haven't blogged this long and I hope it won't happen again. :P
So what's been up with you guys and gals? :)
Ta ta and Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all! :D
C ya
Lightwarrior179
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As much as he tried running from those ghostly visions and those lonely nights and mornings of being shattered by boredom and nothingness,the feeling of lack of any purpose, he realized he couldn't run from those things no matter how hard he tried. He realized that those visions and those memories made him who he were today. He wouldn't be the same person without those two years. Without those two years, he would still be the little boy with little sense of what the world has in store for him. Without those two years, he would still be the naive teenager who thought he was everything that mattered. Without those two years, he wouldn't have known that life was something more beyond the happiness and strings of successes. It's also about survival in the darkest deepest valleys. It's about surviving alone in a hostile environment where friendship is as strong as the shape of the clouds in the sky.
He realized that those two years had made him what he was today and he would and could never run away from it no matter how horrible those memories may have been. Suddenly slowing down to a halt, he turned back and looked at the fast-approaching storm of darkness. He embraced it with a smile knowing that the storm of darkness was a part of him.
Visions and memories fleeted past him of those two years. Visions that WOULD have disgusted him and shocked him. Memories that WOULD have saddened him and made him feel alone. But all that had no effect on him now. He knew all that belonged to him and felt at peace.He knew.
He knew that by this act of self-acceptance, he had taken all but the first step into the future. It will be a harsh and difficult journey. But knowing that he had the courage to go through those two years will give him strength to do so all over again and again...and again.