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So I've not been around much on LJ recently, and there are several reasons for this.
The first of these is that I had university work to do, which I just about got done no thanks to being ill for two damn weeks. I don't hold high hopes for a good mark, though I at least hope to pass it so I can put it out of the way. It's hard to enjoy a module when you don't like the professor.
The second reason is the new games that I've got. These are Fallout 3, Borderlands, Ninety-Nine Nights, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and The Last Remnant.
Fallout 3 I had already played, but the copy that I had wasn't mine, and my sister bought it for me. I. Love. Fallout. It's the first game like that that I've played where I've actually managed to stick with it. I also have and have completed all five of the DLCs for the game, with varying success (I got bored with Mothership Zeta and changed the difficulty to 'very easy' just so I could get the hell off that stupid ship).
Okay, so, to the games.
Borderlands is a first person roleplaying shooter (ie, an FPS with RPG elements) and is actually quite fun. It reminds me a lot of Fallout 3, though the difficulty curve seems to be a little sharper. I had some trouble navigating around at first, and it took me about half an hour to figure out how to access my inventory, but that may have just been me being dense. Probably just me being dense. The visuals are... different, to say the least. It's very much like walking through a graphic novel, if you can imagine that. I discovered very early on that I hate Skags. Skags are very annoying. They have this tendency to sneak up on me and nom on my ankles, and I'm stood there turning 'round, because I struggle with FPS games as it is, not able to find these little fuckers. I'm playing as the only female character (Lilith), who has this awesome 'palm strike' thing that I now have to the point that I can take out Skag Pups with one hit. Needs levelling up more... Haha. I might try playing as Mordecai soon, just to see how that goes. He looks pretty cool.
On to Ninety-Nine Nights, AKA N3. N3 is a fantasy based hack and slash game that is both very entertaining and very frustrating. I quickly learned that you need to be at least one level above the mission that you're trying to complete (ie level 6 for mission 5, and so on) but levelling up isn't as quick as I'd like, so re-doing of previous missions is needed quite often. I spent over an hour stuck on Inphyy's mission 5 before I finally managed to complete it. Oh yes, about 'Inphyy'. At the beginning you can only have one character, out of about six or seven that eventually become available. Inphyy is the first one that you can play as. I find her a little irritating, but I have the feeling that I'm supposed to. I'm far in favour of her brother Aspharr, who, while his attacks are slower, seems to build up his Orb Attack (a powerful unleashing of Light Energy) far quicker and uses a staff, so has a much longer reach. Though I'm getting needlessly esoteric for those who haven't played it.
It's rather satisfying, when you get into it, to cut through hoardes of enemies (sometimes numbering in the thousands) per mission. It's a nice stress-reliever, until the constant failing of missions starts to become annoying.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a third person shooter that takes place on an alien planet in the grip of an ice age. Lots and lots of snow. The planet is populated by a hostile alien species called the Akrid, hostile human Snow Pirates, and you - Wayne. Aside from the friendly voices of your allies that occasionally contact you during missions, and the cut-scenes that show communication between you and said allies, you're on your own in the snowy tundra. At least, that's how it is so far - I've only completed one mission. I suppose I can't say that much about this game just yet.
Lastly, The Last Remnant is a turn-based roleplaying game. Once again I haven't played too much of this yet and so far the storyline seems to be mostly Rush (the protagonist) being dense and annoyingly single minded about rescuing his younger sister, much to the exasperation of everyone around him who is trying to help. One thing that I've found pleasing is that the characters who have English accents (albeit very stereotyped ones) are the good guys. I'm not sure what it is about an English accent that makes a character immediately sinister but it's nice to see the change.
The combat system is fairly simple, though it's not for the kind of person who likes to charge in and cut down everything in their path. Think Final Fantasy.
So yes, that's what I've been up to. I haven't been writing at all, even for university, mostly because when I finally get to it I'm too tired to concentrate properly. I have written a little of chapter thirteen of my current Hetalia fic, so here's a teaser.
There we go. Hopefully I'll have a finished chapter soon. Not sure if I'd count on that, though... I've had Dragon Age: Origins bought for me, and if it's as epic as amazon.co.uk makes it sound, then it's going to be very distracting.
The first of these is that I had university work to do, which I just about got done no thanks to being ill for two damn weeks. I don't hold high hopes for a good mark, though I at least hope to pass it so I can put it out of the way. It's hard to enjoy a module when you don't like the professor.
The second reason is the new games that I've got. These are Fallout 3, Borderlands, Ninety-Nine Nights, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and The Last Remnant.
Fallout 3 I had already played, but the copy that I had wasn't mine, and my sister bought it for me. I. Love. Fallout. It's the first game like that that I've played where I've actually managed to stick with it. I also have and have completed all five of the DLCs for the game, with varying success (I got bored with Mothership Zeta and changed the difficulty to 'very easy' just so I could get the hell off that stupid ship).
Okay, so, to the games.
Borderlands is a first person roleplaying shooter (ie, an FPS with RPG elements) and is actually quite fun. It reminds me a lot of Fallout 3, though the difficulty curve seems to be a little sharper. I had some trouble navigating around at first, and it took me about half an hour to figure out how to access my inventory, but that may have just been me being dense. Probably just me being dense. The visuals are... different, to say the least. It's very much like walking through a graphic novel, if you can imagine that. I discovered very early on that I hate Skags. Skags are very annoying. They have this tendency to sneak up on me and nom on my ankles, and I'm stood there turning 'round, because I struggle with FPS games as it is, not able to find these little fuckers. I'm playing as the only female character (Lilith), who has this awesome 'palm strike' thing that I now have to the point that I can take out Skag Pups with one hit. Needs levelling up more... Haha. I might try playing as Mordecai soon, just to see how that goes. He looks pretty cool.
On to Ninety-Nine Nights, AKA N3. N3 is a fantasy based hack and slash game that is both very entertaining and very frustrating. I quickly learned that you need to be at least one level above the mission that you're trying to complete (ie level 6 for mission 5, and so on) but levelling up isn't as quick as I'd like, so re-doing of previous missions is needed quite often. I spent over an hour stuck on Inphyy's mission 5 before I finally managed to complete it. Oh yes, about 'Inphyy'. At the beginning you can only have one character, out of about six or seven that eventually become available. Inphyy is the first one that you can play as. I find her a little irritating, but I have the feeling that I'm supposed to. I'm far in favour of her brother Aspharr, who, while his attacks are slower, seems to build up his Orb Attack (a powerful unleashing of Light Energy) far quicker and uses a staff, so has a much longer reach. Though I'm getting needlessly esoteric for those who haven't played it.
It's rather satisfying, when you get into it, to cut through hoardes of enemies (sometimes numbering in the thousands) per mission. It's a nice stress-reliever, until the constant failing of missions starts to become annoying.
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is a third person shooter that takes place on an alien planet in the grip of an ice age. Lots and lots of snow. The planet is populated by a hostile alien species called the Akrid, hostile human Snow Pirates, and you - Wayne. Aside from the friendly voices of your allies that occasionally contact you during missions, and the cut-scenes that show communication between you and said allies, you're on your own in the snowy tundra. At least, that's how it is so far - I've only completed one mission. I suppose I can't say that much about this game just yet.
Lastly, The Last Remnant is a turn-based roleplaying game. Once again I haven't played too much of this yet and so far the storyline seems to be mostly Rush (the protagonist) being dense and annoyingly single minded about rescuing his younger sister, much to the exasperation of everyone around him who is trying to help. One thing that I've found pleasing is that the characters who have English accents (albeit very stereotyped ones) are the good guys. I'm not sure what it is about an English accent that makes a character immediately sinister but it's nice to see the change.
The combat system is fairly simple, though it's not for the kind of person who likes to charge in and cut down everything in their path. Think Final Fantasy.
So yes, that's what I've been up to. I haven't been writing at all, even for university, mostly because when I finally get to it I'm too tired to concentrate properly. I have written a little of chapter thirteen of my current Hetalia fic, so here's a teaser.
“I woke up this morning, yeah? And what you said to me last night totally came back to me, and I thought, you’re right, you know?” The Pole pushed a hand through his hair and worked out a couple of snags. “I’ve spent like, years stuck in this rut of thinking I’m alone, but you were right. I’m totally not, ‘cause I have all you guys!” He grinned, and settled back, draping one arm over the back of the chair. “And it’s like, well, I finally thought properly about Toris, and he totally wouldn’t want this. He warned me so I’d stay alive, and he wouldn’t want me living as a dead man, right?”
There we go. Hopefully I'll have a finished chapter soon. Not sure if I'd count on that, though... I've had Dragon Age: Origins bought for me, and if it's as epic as amazon.co.uk makes it sound, then it's going to be very distracting.
