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Showing posts with the label gamer

“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads...
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Ramblings of a Gamer: Open World Maps

I love the freedom of an open world map. I've spent endless hours traveling across Skyrim, climbing mountains and discovering hidden altars and caves, enjoying the scenery, and meeting other travelers on the road. Of course, there's danger; a dragon could swoop down and roast me, bandits could (attempt to) waylay me, or I could get caught in a magic battle between two random mages. Most of the time, though, I can go about my business, hunt a few bears, and take in the countryside. Sure, there's a story line to follow, but the game doesn't demand it of me, and I can venture into it at any time. FFXV allowed me to roam for the most part, too. I repeatedly left my car behind to enjoy a chocobo ride with the guys, visiting my favorite fishing spots and seeing how far I could get before night fell and the hordes of fiends came out. I spent a lot of time exploring the map, searching out hidden places until I reached the point of no return and was funneled to the ending. ...
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Ramblings of a Gamer: FFXII: Zodiac Age II or I Sometimes Miss Random Battle

Life's been busy, so gaming's been slow, but I managed to get a little time on FFXII: Zodiac Age. I'm currently hanging out on the Phon Coast, woefully unprepared for the flying fiends and in need of better equipment. There are way too many birds for me to not have found Telekinesis. I'm, of course, out of gil from my last shopping spree in which I loaded up on some spells I'd neglected early on, so I decided to go hunting. Unfortunately, hunting means finding the monsters on the map, battling, and then moving on to another map area to locate more monsters until I've made a circle back to my starting point. I kinda need a lot of dough. It's moments like these when I miss random battle systems. Need money or to harvest a drop item? No problem! Just spin around in this spot until the screen does its flashy transition to a battle. Need to fill your pockets with the equivalent of the king's coffers? Go for it. The enemies won't run out here. Od...
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Ramblings of a Gamer: Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age

I played the original FFXII way back in the day, and I didn't love it. The graphics were great, but Vaan annoyed the crap out of me, no one really stood out, the game battle mechanics were meh, and--a personal pet peeve--Ifrit and Shiva and my other favorite summons had been relegated to airships in favor of a new crop of espers. When Zodiac Age came out, I decided to give it a second shot--and it fell into my queue because my game TBP list is greater than my free time. But, at last, I found a moment, and I'm once again exploring Ivalice. And I still have mixed opinions. Vaan is still grating, though he doesn't seem as bad after he finally understands Basch didn't kill his brother. I didn't find much use for him in my original go-around, but this time, with the job system, I've been using him in battle a lot. As a shikari, so far he's fairly well-rounded when it comes to health/speed/strength, though I'm struggling with what I want his second job t...
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Ramblings of a Gamer: Detroit: Become Human or an Interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure

If you're looking for a game with a lot of action, then this is not the game for you. However, if you're looking for a game that challenges the way you think and every decision affects the outcome of the story, look no further! DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN lets you play as three different android characters in a not-so-distant future full of rising tensions between humans and the androids who serve them. As you play, a timeline is created for each character based on the decisions you make for them, which is cool because you can see how one simple choice bends the future in several different ways. I've only completed a single playthrough so far, and while I was mostly satisfied with the outcome, I have a couple characters that I would like to improve their futures. A single playthrough doesn't take too long, but the replay value promises to give me my money's worth--which, by the way, was a bargain in the Quantic Dream collection with HEAVY RAIN and BEYOND: TWO SOULS. T...
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Ramblings of a Gamer: On the Final Fantasy VII Remake (from an FFVII Fanatic)

Happy 2016, folks! First off, I’ve decided to stop calling myself a casual gamer. I may not be a hardcore gamer, but I do take my games seriously; therefore, I am a gamer. What does this have to do with Final Fantasy VII? Everything. FFVII was the RPG that opened my heart to gaming. The immersive story pushed me to keep going even after I died repeatedly trying to get past that giant freaking snake. (If you’ve played, you know the one.) I was so in love with the characters that I didn’t want their stories to end, and when they were continued through spin-offs, I eagerly bought them to live in their world for just a little bit longer.. Thank you, Crisis Core, for the uncontrollable sobbing, by the way. Over the years, Square-Enix has teased us with demos for the new platforms, showing us glimpses of what a remake could be like, planting the dream of traveling through a HD Midgar with a detailed Cloud Strife and crew. And now it’s going to be real. I’m ...
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Gamer Remorse: File Backing Isn't Just for Computers

Tragedy struck recently: In the midst of a bout of Skyrim, my 60Gb, backwards compatible Playstation 3 gave up the ghost after six years of faithful service. There was no warning, and it wasn't a simple overheat. No, this was much worse. The Yellow Light of Death. Needless to say, I was distraught. My entire gaming history was saved to my PS3's hard drive, from my first PS1 save to my 166th hour of Skyrim. And to rub salt into the wound, my Skyrim disc was caught in the BluRay drive. And here's my epic fail. It never occurred to me to back up my save files. Not one time. Even after the death of my first Xbox 360, I didn't think about it. The hard drive from my old Xbox slapped right on the new one, and there wasn't anything lost. I could kick myself. Everything I've read says I can't do the old hard drive switch with a PS3 that I could do with the Xbox. Popping it in another PS3 will only format the thing. There's no way to pull ...
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Rambling of a Casual Gamer: Skyrim and Why I Love the Bows

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I’m quite a ways into Skyrim now, and of all the weapons I can choose from, my favorite is the bow. I’m far enough along now that I have a Daedra bow (well, two). My enchanting is crap, but my knock-down power is excellent. The best part is I’m not even done with the Archery perks. I will get stronger! I like the bow versus the other weapons because it’s long range. I pop enemies before they ever get a glimpse of me. And unlike some games, the Skyrim bows are nicely effective. The targeting works well. For most things, lower level arrows are fine, and since iron and steel arrows are easily obtained in battle, ammo is usually free. Nothing makes me happier than taking down a dragon with my bow. Except maybe turning their bones and scales into my armor. Dragonscale armor, oh yeah!   On a practical note, I like the bows best in Skyrim simply because they don’t mess with my line of sight like the melee weapons. I have a staff and a war-axe I carry for close-up situati...
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Rambling of a Casual Gamer: Glitches Make Me Twitch

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My Bosmer, Fayruz. Wood Elf, FTW! I am 115 hours or so into Skyrim. The awesome part about that is, I’ve barely touched the main quest, and I’m not bored. My character has a dresser full of dragon bones and scales, just waiting for the moment I hit level 100 on my smithing. (I’m at 92. Soon, precious dragon armor, soon.) I am Arch Mage and Harbinger. And I’ve only been eaten by a dragon once. While I love all the fantastic dragon-slaying, bandit-smiting, ore-mining goodness of Skyrim, I have just one problem. Glitches. Most of them aren’t a big deal. The lag when I’ve played for a while is annoying, but by then it’s usually time to quit anyway. The inability to start a mission because I already have a mission at the same destination was a bit eye-twitch inducing, but I got around it, and it was fine. After I picked up a staff that was quest-oriented and it wouldn’t let me hand it over until I placed it on a weapon display…okay. But the one that sits like a white el...
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Casual Gamer: Initial Thoughts on Skyrim

I recently started Skyrim. (Yeah, I know, I'm behind. Don't judge!) I'm not too far into it, and I'm still getting used to the controls, but so far, I like it. What's my favorite thing? The crafting. I absolutely love the fact that I can tan the hides from animals I hunt and use the leather to make new armor and weapons. I also love that I can make jewelry at the forge as well.  I like playing with the alchemy table and mixing random things to see what I get. Everything I pick up in the world has a use, from the wild flowers along my path to the simple food items out of barrels and gardens. And nerd that I am, I like the books. Not just the ones that let me learn spells or boost my skills, but the ones that give me hints about the histories of the world, too. I'm carrying too many of them right now while I eek out enough of a living to buy a house to store them in. But I can't bear to part with them. I like the variety of weapons and how I can use a o...
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Rambling of a Casual Gamer: Don't Make Me Throw Something

Ah, breaking the blog silence at last. Life likes to say, “Oh, you have a schedule? Let me fix that for you!” And then all my plans are dashed. But, here I am, and with a new game rant, to boot. I just finished a certain game that shall remain nameless. And I got a good dose of game rage for my 75+ hours of gameplay. Now, I know that not all games are going to have satisfying/happy endings, but this was just downright fit-inducing.   Because no matter what options I was given, the outcome was the same. Death. Bad guy laughing at me. I defeated him.   At the high level my characters had obtained, it was ridiculously simple. At the end, I was given a choice, but the outcome of that choice ended up being the same no matter what. And that’s where I get mad. I’ve become spoiled, I suppose, with other games where my choices count. So, maybe I make a bad choice and don’t get the best ending the first time. That’s okay. It gives the game replay value. Some allow me to...
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Ramblings of a Casual Gamer: Final Fantasy and Why I Don’t Love the Latest Ones

In a previous post, I talked about my late-found love of video games and how Final Fantasy VII was my entry into the gamer world. Now, I want to talk about the franchise and why so many fans are pulling their hair out. Many of us are hoping against hope that FF: Versus XIII will revive the joy we felt playing the older games. There’s a lot of talk about how the new games have lost their Final Fantasy feel—not that they’re exactly bad games, but like the movie FF: Spirits Within, they shouldn’t be called Final Fantasy. Here’s my deal: Like a good book, Final Fantasy VII had characters. Real, fleshed-out, past-bearing, issue-having characters that felt real. As I progressed through the game, new tidbits would come out, and there was always another story behind the one I was experiencing. It gave FFVII a depth that allowed me to immerse myself in the world.   Now, others had great characters, too, but some (ahem…XII) the characters fell flat. Honestly, the only one in FFXII...
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