SYMBOLISM
I think this is the end of the Phase phase for Editorial Miscellany. I do not think it is a structure that is providing me with the creativity I hoped it would. So look forward to no mascot and no theme words in the title next week, LusiCarrots! Until then, how about I talk about some video games, huh?
Bravely Default Check-In
Still not released in North America.
Lightning Blah Blah Holy Crap Eyeroll Demo
Yeah, I downloaded it and it was exactly what I expected: Full of atrocious dialogue, mishandling of themes the staff is obviously not smart enough to tackle, melodramatic characters, a larger bust and less clothing on Lightning, and enough indulgence to make Assassin’s Creed III look like a dissertation on humility. However, all that being said, the battle system is incredibly promising – despite the very short and limited demo – and the game is a visual treat. So, it is essentially just another game in the Final Fantasy XIII series and everything that comes along with that.
What makes me more excited for this title, however, is that my expectations are finally in the right place. Lightning Returns is going to be trashy fun. It is going to fail spectacularly at story-telling and soar triumphantly with its RPG mechanics. I still do not know how the timing mechanic will work, and so I currently have no opinion on the matter, but I do expect to get my money’s worth from the title. Think Final Fantasy X-2 but less bearable cutscenes (what can I do for you?). At least X-2 is campy. XIII-3 thinks it is pulling off its badass end-of-the-world shtick, and it makes me uncomfortable.
But who knows, I only played the demo, maybe the game will surprise me!
But I doubt it. I look forward to the battles and menus.
Not life-changing, but solid.
Sound Shapescapades
The PS4 has no games. This is not shocking to me. I knew there would be a drought the day I bought it, but that does not make me any less impatient in waiting for Infamous: Second Son. I suppose I still have Assassin’s Creed IV but the PS4 version is a next-gen game the way that Kingdom Hearts 1.5 is a current gen game: it is not one. Enhanced versions are nice. They are enhanced. But that is all they are.
The point is that the PS3 feels slow to go back to now, and because I stupidly left a PlayStation power cord and my spare HDMI cable at my mother’s house over the Christmas break, it is now a big to-do to switch to my PS3 anyway. The next point after that is that I am constantly on the PS4 version of the PlayStation Store and wow is there nothing there. Bare. Bones. Of course that makes suckers like me buy anything that is under $10 and looks remotely interesting. Luckily Sound Shapes was worth it. Of course there is absolutely nothing about that needs the PS4 hardware – the thing could probably run fine on a GameBoy Color – but it is a great game to play at night when I do not want to be so alert as to play Tales of Xillia or Assassin’s Creed IV, but am not quite ready for bedtime with Pokémon X or Etrian Odyssey IV. The controls are simple, but the moods are effectively crafted with simple tools and a simple idea. It is the sort of game that I would spend hours with as a child, creating my own levels and becoming a more creative and bright human being. Instead I am twenty-seven and must sleep in order to go to a job that does not creatively or personally satisfy me and instead turns my only shot at existence into a mediocrity in line with every other Canadian. I even went to Ikea on the weekend.
I Am Actually Quite Happy
Just tired and grumpy today and would rather be writing sonatas for a living. But one has to earn such things, I hear.
The Point Is…
…That I have to stop saying “the point is”. And that Sound Shapes is fun.
Right, Back To Pokémon
I am playing it again. I realized that all I needed to do was turn off the Experience Share and ignore the stupid stat-boosting mini-games and the game was fun again. I just wish there were a more official way to shut off Easy Mode. Either way it is exciting to still have unplayed Pokémon sections.
Final Thoughts
It is on a week like this that it is most obvious why I have this format for my articles now. I barely have one coherent thought in my head right now. It is funny how at one moment the mind can feel like it is noticing all patterns in the world converging, like all one needs is just a little more focus and patience and it will only be a moment before divine truth reveals itself, and then the next moment the mind decides to fart for three weeks straight. January is a bleak month. How about you guys type some words now?
