Three Notes from the Fourth

This post's material actually began last night,when my wife celebrated the lack of work today by staying up late playing Dragon Quest VIII. This left me bereft of my usual entertainment source, so I fired up Baldur's Gate for the first time in a week and a half and pushed through a few side quests. I am now almost out of things to do before attacking the main quest of Chapter Three. Well, I could go back and clear out the bow-wielding hobgoblins from whom I had to retreat, but I find missile-launching enemies to be one of the banes of the Infinity Engine. Honestly, monsters with bows, crossbows, throwing daggers, and so forth tend to be more trouble than they are worth. My trip back into the second-edition D&D rules has convinced me that save DC's for spells are a good innovation; having an opponent blow through my web spell regardless of how well my mage does her job is just stupid.

After Sandi hit the hay, I worked my way through the training mission of Deus Ex. I like the game mechanics, but the controls will take some acclimation. I struggled with disarming mines because I would either take too long reaching them or let the cursor slip past them. PC gaming gurus will undoubtedly take this opportunity to climb upon their soapboxes about the superiority of mouse-and-keyboard controls. They may be right, but I struggled to aim with a mouse as far back as Dark Forces. Perhaps my years of console gaming have dulled my catlike reflexes. Maybe my hyperactivity makes it impossible to get the targeting reticle to move with the precision I hear lauded at every turn. In any case, I will take a whack at the actual game later tonight.

This afternoon, we finished playing through Tomb Raider: Legend. In the interest of keeping things spoiler-free, you may highlight what follows. For starters, Lara Croft has the most deceptively powerful arms in the universe, given the ease with which she whips a freaking falchion off her back. The plot was fairly involving, but it could have left fewer questions at the end. How did Amanda know so much about the sword and its powers? About what exactly was Lord Croft 'right' for so long? Perhaps I am lost here due to my lack of experience with the Tomb Raider franchise, but I consider that a poor defense of the story department. More likely, the conclusion was meant to lead into a sequel. In closing, that pistol-whip at the end looked particularly painful.

The platforming and puzzle-solving of Legend really seemed to pique my wife's interest, so I suggested we take Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time for a spin next. Upon playing the game again, I find myself wondering why I have not revisited this game since finishing it in 2004. The storytelling still enthralls me; the level designs are slick; the combat, while not outstanding, gives me the chance to feel awesome on a frequent basis. I can only conjecture that I hate having to disconnect my DVD remote's sensor from the system. For some reason, it always freaks out the game's main menu. I remember taking back my first copy of the game, convinced it was defective. At some point, I really should complete the other games in the series, but that only tacks more games onto my playlist.

Have a great weekend, and may your consoles be red-ring-free.