Merry Christmas!

Ah! We've almost made it through 2008! BUT WAIT, anything could happen in the next six days.

Regardless, I hope everybody is having a nice christmas, and they recieved many a fine gift, and gave many a fine gift also. As is traditional at Christmas, I type this while doubled up, about to be sick because I have eaten too much chocolate for my body to handle. Which isn't very much, I hasten to add.

I've been on a bit of a retro gaming binge. I have been playing:

Chrono Trigger - I played it once long ago and got a few hours in, but I didn't ever finish it. I'm playing it again on the DS now, and gadzooks I'm enjoying it. The character designs are absolutely hideous, but just about everything else is wonderful. Except maybe the villain; he's the wrong kind of camp to be cool. (See Shapiro Keats from Dancougar as an example on how to do it right). I love the TIME TRAVEL, which is really well done if you ignore the fact it's all wrong. Who cares when it's FUN FUN FUN. Props to you, Chrono Trigger.


Fallout 1 - I'm a big Fallout nut, and so this Christmas was time again to replay one of my favourite games. This time, as an all-muscle, super-lucky meathead. It was good! Very good! But the amount of dialogue options was miniscule. Also, everyone treated me as a bigger idiot than normal, aww. It really does shine infinitely brighter than Fallout 3, about which I must have a moan one of these days. I'll try not to sound too much like a whining fanboy, promise!


Fallout 2 - Having finished Fallout on Christmas Eve, it's only natrual that I move on to the sequel! I've completed it once, but I sort of rushed it drunkedly, so it feels like a new game to me now. It's good! Much harder than the first game though, it seems. Having said that, the first game on this playthrough was in 4 easy steps, namely:

1) Break out of vault
2) Find minigun
3) ????
4) Profit!

Fallout 2, in comparison, doesn't quite work like that. For one, they've actually placed baddies on the world map by strength, so you can't immediately bottle south, find a minigun and kill everyone without being chased by a deathclaw, sliced by a deathclaw, then presumably eaten by a deathclaw. Incidentally. has anyone managed to talk to the first lady of Vault City without proceeding to kill her?

I have this issue with Fallout, which is the reminders that pop up every so often on the world map. Nothing, nothing in the history of my life has caused me to jump and scream like those damn reminders. Black Isle, please! Having a freakish skull-mutant looking fella just POP onto your screen when you least expect it is TERRIFYING. Scares the arse off of me.

Age of Empires 2 - ROGAN. CHOPPER. DuDaaaaahhh!

And finally..!

THY GRAPHICS! - Which is just great. Please go and play it; there are some parts in that game are absolute genius. Well done Videlectrix(!)


For me, this is quite a lot of gaming to cram into one week, but it's back to work next week and the slog will be on! Until then my gamely brothers and sisters!