One distraction with another...
Without the laptop, I turn to consoles. Briefly:
Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) needs to figure out how to move the plot along without a million and one goddamned cut scenes. If I wanted to watch a slow, entirely too long, and poorly edited movie about a confused boy and a half, I'd have rented a DVD which vaguely fit those guidelines. I would not, however, sit with controller in hand just waiting for the opportunity to hit a few buttons or play a mini-game several times over just to be shuffled along into another series of crappy cinematics. Sure, I can skip all the cut scenes, if I want, but then I wouldn't have any sense of what's going on. Pacing is important, people. The first game did this better. As did every Final Fantasy game in my recollection. Why was this experience ignored? And why the hell is it so linear all of a sudden? Am I still so early into the game play (almost ten hours in) that I've yet to be trusted on my own?
Guitar Hero II (PS2) was made for multiplayer co-op play. It makes me happy. What does not make me happy, however, is that after a couple hours poking about in practice mode on hard, I've been reassured that I will never be able to use the fifth fret button. My brain and body reject the orange button. This is not the game's failing but my own.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS2) is another great co-op game. Sure, it's fairly boring action adventure fare, but I like being able to play cooperatively with another Justin, and this game does that well. As did all the X-Men games. It plays very similarly, though leveling up the heroes is a bit different. All in all, very solid for multiple players. Boring and linear for solo play.
Mortal Kombat Armageddon (XBox) was dismissed after the first play... but then I picked it up when I was alone and bored to see how much of a Soul Calibur III rip off it was. It had a Konquest mode that I figured would be like the RTS bits of Soul Calibur III, but it proved to just be a very straight forward adventure mode. Kind of cheesy, really, but is sucked me in with the promise of unlocking features. I don't know why, but unlocking stuff, even if it's nothing I want, so does it for me. That part of the game, though, is not what makes it stand out. What makes it worthwhile is the Kreate a Kombatant mode (or whatever it's called). Not only do you get to design the appearance of your character (not quite as cool as Soul Calibur III, but I still managed to make a seriously badass fighter with white bat wings and vinyl), but you get to pick each and every move they have for both their hand to hand and weapon forms, as well as stances and weapons. I wish I liked the MK combat style better. It feels old and choppy in comparison to SC. It always has. This is why I've loved the SC franchise: the combat is just more fluid and better fits my style of play.
Kingdom Hearts II (PS2) needs to figure out how to move the plot along without a million and one goddamned cut scenes. If I wanted to watch a slow, entirely too long, and poorly edited movie about a confused boy and a half, I'd have rented a DVD which vaguely fit those guidelines. I would not, however, sit with controller in hand just waiting for the opportunity to hit a few buttons or play a mini-game several times over just to be shuffled along into another series of crappy cinematics. Sure, I can skip all the cut scenes, if I want, but then I wouldn't have any sense of what's going on. Pacing is important, people. The first game did this better. As did every Final Fantasy game in my recollection. Why was this experience ignored? And why the hell is it so linear all of a sudden? Am I still so early into the game play (almost ten hours in) that I've yet to be trusted on my own?
Guitar Hero II (PS2) was made for multiplayer co-op play. It makes me happy. What does not make me happy, however, is that after a couple hours poking about in practice mode on hard, I've been reassured that I will never be able to use the fifth fret button. My brain and body reject the orange button. This is not the game's failing but my own.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS2) is another great co-op game. Sure, it's fairly boring action adventure fare, but I like being able to play cooperatively with another Justin, and this game does that well. As did all the X-Men games. It plays very similarly, though leveling up the heroes is a bit different. All in all, very solid for multiple players. Boring and linear for solo play.
Mortal Kombat Armageddon (XBox) was dismissed after the first play... but then I picked it up when I was alone and bored to see how much of a Soul Calibur III rip off it was. It had a Konquest mode that I figured would be like the RTS bits of Soul Calibur III, but it proved to just be a very straight forward adventure mode. Kind of cheesy, really, but is sucked me in with the promise of unlocking features. I don't know why, but unlocking stuff, even if it's nothing I want, so does it for me. That part of the game, though, is not what makes it stand out. What makes it worthwhile is the Kreate a Kombatant mode (or whatever it's called). Not only do you get to design the appearance of your character (not quite as cool as Soul Calibur III, but I still managed to make a seriously badass fighter with white bat wings and vinyl), but you get to pick each and every move they have for both their hand to hand and weapon forms, as well as stances and weapons. I wish I liked the MK combat style better. It feels old and choppy in comparison to SC. It always has. This is why I've loved the SC franchise: the combat is just more fluid and better fits my style of play.