PixlBit

    So I know I've been whining a lot the last few weeks over my friend not being available to play games, but I have actually played a fair amount on my own.

    Late night has become the time for me to get moving on my handhelds games. I usually only have a few hours before bed, or less, and console games always seem to be a big time and energy commitment that I don't want to get into at 1am. So, I've made it past my previous progress in Okamiden and am actually fighting King Fury which is close but not actually the last thing to do in the game. The boss battle is long and tricky and I failed it the first time. Now I dread picking up where I left off knowing I have a long boss battle to contend with.

     So I started up another game on my number ones list, Valkyria Chronicles II on PSP. Man, do I love a watercolor art style. I saw five books on it for sale at the library and I almost bought them all so I could start learning it. Anyway, I had to dust off my PSP since it's probably been a year since I picked it up. The system feels delicate to me so I'm really carefull with it. The screen is dynamite though and those watercolor style graphics in VCII are just gorgeous on the PSP. The characters in VCII are pretty rediculous, I see that now, but it's the battles that really interest me most anyway. Still, the game does put in some interesting things related to how different characters get along and how that effects their performace in battles. It's an incredibly deep system, but also readily accessible if you just want to ignore all that stuff.

      On the nights that I have more time, I've gotten a few more hours into Ni No Kuni and begun rescuing broken hearts. The dynamic of switching from Motorcity (real world) and Second World (fairyland) to discover what's ailing certain characters and fixing them by giving them some emotional rescue with a Give Heart spell is interesting. Every time I do it, I get a little choked up. 

     Then, on the weekend nights at home I continued Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion like I would have had I been at my friend's place. On my home TV, which is a little higher resolution then the one I use at my buddy's place, the environmental graphics are really stunning. I couldn't help taking a few awkward screen shots with my pocket camera. 

     

     Oblivion, day or night, looks amazing. I'm really into looking closely at environmental art in games lately. I think it's amazing what they can do now. Oblivion has so much real-estate. Every inch of it is unique and what you would expect in a real world. I can't get enough of it. 

     I'm deep into the Dark Brotherhood missions. I had to knock off a whole family scattered across Cyrodiil and then knock off all my compatriots as possible traitors to the cause of The Black Hand. I feel bad about all of it, but what can I do? This all started with an accidental death that got me kicked out of the Fighters guild. Now I gotta do crimes for The Black Hand. I find myself running from towns a lot and forced to ride through the countryside unable to fast travel because I am supposedly still being pursued. Well, I waited by the roadside for a long time to see if the Imperial Gaurd would catch up, but they didn't. So what's the problem? Let me get on that flying saucer for Pete's sake!

   And that's my last few weeks of solo gaming.