Whispers of A Machine and Several Updates
This is likely going to be a long post. I don't usually tack on a lot of things in one post, but I kind of procrastinated and didn't have time. I still don't have a lot of time because I have things to do today, but anyway I finished Whispers of a Machine yesterday. I enjoyed it well enough. It takes place in the future. I'd say the closest thing it reminds me of is Technobabylon and Beneath a Steel Sky, but unlike those games, in this world AIs and CPUs are banned due to an event that caused a Collapse (That just makes me think of The Longest Journey). I'm thinking there was a robot uprising or something, but details are kept vague about that. You play as a cop named Vera Englund who is trying to solve a multiple murder case with the help of her augmentations. Apparently these are allowed and given by an injection of stuff called Blue. I think they're like nanobots, but I don't remember. They give you special abilities like for example super strength and the ability to tell when people are lying. You start off with just a few, but with each new day you get a new ability. There is also the personality meter, or whatever I don't know what to call it. Basically there are three points: analytical, empathic, and assertiveness I think was the last one. Depending on how you interact with people you move towards one point or another. I hovered around empathy myself, but I don't know how exactly it affects the gameplay. Although looking into this more it would seem you can get different abilities depending on what choices you make and even visit different locations, so this game definitely has replay value. As for the story, I was into it, but like Kathy Rain I think it drops the ball a little bit in the end. You know who the antagonists are and what they're trying to accomplish, but their motives still aren't all that clear about what they're going to do once they accomplish their goals. But unlike Kathy Rain, at least the ending made more sense. Vera is also being haunted by hallucinations of her dead boyfriend? Husband? And he plays a factor in a final decision during the game, and let's just say I didn't really trust the guy. I expected surprising twists, but there weren't really any. Art is your usual pixel graphics. It's not the most stunning or anything, but it works for this game. There are several locations you get to visit, but they're all contained in a fairly small area. The music wasn't all that memorable to me, but I did get the edition of this game with the soundtrack, so I guess I'll have to listen to it on its own. The puzzles are probably the highlight because like Kathy Rain I felt a sense of satisfaction in solving them. There were a few times I got stuck, but most of the time I could figure out what to do next with some thought. Literally at times I would sleep on it and the next day I could solve the puzzle. Overall, of the two games Clifftop Games has put out so far, I think I preferred Kathy Rain more. They're not up to par with Wadjet Eye, but I wouldn't expect them to be and the reason I compare the two is because they're the closest in similarity, plus the both have Dave Gilbert involved in some capacity. As always thanks to his and Shelly Shannoy's help too, the voice acting is top notch. I still look forward to what Clifftop Games will put out in the future. I'd continue to support them and hope they continue to improve. Here's a screenshot. You basically end up at this balcony at the end of every day.
I'm now playing that Hidden Object Game I got by mistake from Amazon when I ordered the second game in the Drawn series. It's called The Clockwork Man and I'm actually liking it so far.
On to the next subject. This is something I've put off writing because I don't really want to talk about it, and I still don't. I'll just say it involved taking Luke to the vet a little over a week ago and my mom leaving him with me while she paid, and him almost biting someone, which really freaked me out. That's all I really want to say about that. But otherwise, Luke's in pretty good health. Of course he's skinny from losing muscle mass, his back legs are either weak and/or have arthritis, plus he can't hear that well at all anymore. It's a bit sad, but par the course for his age. It's good to hear he's generally healthy aside from that. The vet gave him this anti-inflammatory for him to try for a couple weeks for his legs. I'm not sure if it's working or not though.
Then my mom and I went to this Water Festival yesterday. Again I don't want to go too much into details so I don't have to write so much, but basically there were booths set up explaining ways to conserve water and other things having to do with water. It was actually smaller than I thought it was going to be and it was really crowded. There were plenty of activities for kids, so it was mainly for families to enjoy. The most interesting parts for me though was the little tide pool tank, which had some interesting sea creatures, and another area where you could look at and touch reptiles (well there was a toad or frog too, which isn't a reptile). I touched a snake twice. I'm not afraid of snakes like a lot of people. :P But most impressive was the hot dog assembly line lol. They gave out free hot dogs. There were free snow cones too. Actually the whole event was free, so that was nice. My mom thought it was one of the best hot dogs she ever tasted and we found out they were Costco brand. And since it was May the 4th, they were celebrating Star Wars too. Darth Vader and Princess Leia were there. But the main attraction of this whole event was the tour of Orange County's largest reservoir of recycled water which is currently under construction and due to be finished next year. It's a bus ride up in the hills. We got stuck in the back with annoying kids. Why do you bring kids on this tour when they're not going to understand the significance? Anyway the reservoir is absolutely huge. We stopped in two places. Unfortunately I couldn't really hear what the guide was saying. He needed a microphone. All the while my mom was busy staring at him. She found him really attractive lol. Not a bad tour I guess for free. So that festival was all right, but probably not something I'd do again. But it was something to do over the weekend.
Now for the last and most important update. My family and I are going on a mini vacation to San Diego again. That would be my parents and my brother again. This time we're staying at a different hotel. It's one we haven't stayed at since about 2003 I think was the last time. I've always wanted to go back there because it's pretty neat and there are quite a few activities. It's across the way from Sea World. My parents got two rooms though. I have to stay with my brother in a separate room so my parents can get alone time, which makes me nervous about how awkward this is going to be. But maybe it won't be that bad. I'm just going to have to suck it up. I hope we'll get to go to the San Diego Zoo too even though my brother didn't want to...anyway hopefully it will be a nice get away. It usually is. We leave on May 22nd and come back the 25th.
And I think that's everything. I'm done here. Oh and Happy Cinco De Mayo!
I'm now playing that Hidden Object Game I got by mistake from Amazon when I ordered the second game in the Drawn series. It's called The Clockwork Man and I'm actually liking it so far.
On to the next subject. This is something I've put off writing because I don't really want to talk about it, and I still don't. I'll just say it involved taking Luke to the vet a little over a week ago and my mom leaving him with me while she paid, and him almost biting someone, which really freaked me out. That's all I really want to say about that. But otherwise, Luke's in pretty good health. Of course he's skinny from losing muscle mass, his back legs are either weak and/or have arthritis, plus he can't hear that well at all anymore. It's a bit sad, but par the course for his age. It's good to hear he's generally healthy aside from that. The vet gave him this anti-inflammatory for him to try for a couple weeks for his legs. I'm not sure if it's working or not though.
Then my mom and I went to this Water Festival yesterday. Again I don't want to go too much into details so I don't have to write so much, but basically there were booths set up explaining ways to conserve water and other things having to do with water. It was actually smaller than I thought it was going to be and it was really crowded. There were plenty of activities for kids, so it was mainly for families to enjoy. The most interesting parts for me though was the little tide pool tank, which had some interesting sea creatures, and another area where you could look at and touch reptiles (well there was a toad or frog too, which isn't a reptile). I touched a snake twice. I'm not afraid of snakes like a lot of people. :P But most impressive was the hot dog assembly line lol. They gave out free hot dogs. There were free snow cones too. Actually the whole event was free, so that was nice. My mom thought it was one of the best hot dogs she ever tasted and we found out they were Costco brand. And since it was May the 4th, they were celebrating Star Wars too. Darth Vader and Princess Leia were there. But the main attraction of this whole event was the tour of Orange County's largest reservoir of recycled water which is currently under construction and due to be finished next year. It's a bus ride up in the hills. We got stuck in the back with annoying kids. Why do you bring kids on this tour when they're not going to understand the significance? Anyway the reservoir is absolutely huge. We stopped in two places. Unfortunately I couldn't really hear what the guide was saying. He needed a microphone. All the while my mom was busy staring at him. She found him really attractive lol. Not a bad tour I guess for free. So that festival was all right, but probably not something I'd do again. But it was something to do over the weekend.
Now for the last and most important update. My family and I are going on a mini vacation to San Diego again. That would be my parents and my brother again. This time we're staying at a different hotel. It's one we haven't stayed at since about 2003 I think was the last time. I've always wanted to go back there because it's pretty neat and there are quite a few activities. It's across the way from Sea World. My parents got two rooms though. I have to stay with my brother in a separate room so my parents can get alone time, which makes me nervous about how awkward this is going to be. But maybe it won't be that bad. I'm just going to have to suck it up. I hope we'll get to go to the San Diego Zoo too even though my brother didn't want to...anyway hopefully it will be a nice get away. It usually is. We leave on May 22nd and come back the 25th.
And I think that's everything. I'm done here. Oh and Happy Cinco De Mayo!