My Rant about Collector's Editions

No, i'm not gonna bitch about price. Why? Cause enough people bitch about price. If I cant afford one, I don't buy it, or I wait and hope there will be some later on when I can afford it.

Prime examples of the waiting game?
Bioshock 2
Alan Wake
Deathsmiles
Catherine
Force Unleashed 2
Witcher 2 PC CE
Otomedius Excellent
Record of Agarest War Zero
Lord of the Rings War in the North

Those 2 I bolded, Italicized and underlined are 2 I just received last night. I will be taking pics of their contents and unboxing them during my next Youtube video which will probably happen tonight or tomorrow.
Those 2 right there, well one of them in particular has led to my current rant....



ok...publishers need to seriously figure this out...

NO MORE FUCKING PLAYING CARDS FOR CHRISSAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look, I was down with the Fallout New Vegas ones, cause every card had an image, the backs were from all the different Casinos. Pretty sweet. of Course the down side of that is...who's gonna actually USE them to play cards? you dont wanna ruin those. So rather than using them or displaying them they sit in my CE box.

Then came Fable 3 CE...
What a lovely case. Appealed to the game and book collector in me. I open it and i love that little pull out drawer with that lovely guild seal coin (love it so much I'm planning on getting the Fable Guild Seal tattooed on my lower back..on the side, not  a tramp stamp.) and next to this coin?
Playing Cards....i carefully open the box and take the cards out to look at them and....only the face cards have images, the rest are standard cards...really?
Not only do they give me playing cards I'm not going to play with because...again...collector's item...but they half ass it with only the face cards having artwork, unlike the gorgeous cards that came with New Vegas.
Disappointed :(
There they sit, in their box, in the CE box.

Now..on the flip side real quick...I DID buy a set of Hakuoki playing cards that I will never play with probably because I love Hakuoki. but those were like $5...I'm actually thinking of buying a second pack so me and the kids CAN play cards with them and save one pack... The CE for the game brought a gorgeous artbook and a BEAUTIFUL soundtrack. Man, I can't rave enough about Hakuoki...

btw..new Hakuoki games has been announced and unlike Fleeting Blossom which was a choose your own adventure Otome game, this one will be an action game with actual combat. WOOT!!!!

ok back on topic....

Yesterday I open up my new games and Record of Agarest War Zero brings a lovely box lined with purple satin in which sit nestled 2 small boxes.
One, a set of collectible skill cards...for...well, to collect.
the other box contains...you guessed it..PLAYING CARDS!!!!!!!!!! and again, not the NV kind but the face cards have images only type. *sigh* Another set to sit in a box never to be used...At least the box is pretty?

Now..you might ask... Well Sihaya, No one made you buy the damn CEss right? So why bitch? Not only that BUT CEs tend to tell you what they contain in them before you buy them, so if you have a collection of playing cards its kind of on you.

And I would say, "Fuck you very much for being a smart ass" and after that I'd say "yes you're right..sort of..."

See I bought the above mentioned CEs for numerous reasons, playing cards weren't really factored into that.
What was it that led to me buying them?
Artbooks, Soundtracks, DLC, Making of Videos etc. However, those playing cards take up space and money that could have gone to something more...useful or at least aesthetically pleasing and displayable. So it bugs me.

I guess there's only one thing left to do...

Combine all the packs of playing cards I've gotten. finally learn Caravan and start gambling!

Impressions: Now with less Hatorade...Fable 3

   As promised I'm sneaking in the time to write my Fable 3 impressions and AW my Halloween costume of course.  As I suspected, I like Fable 3 far more than I do Fallout New Vegas. So now, where do I begin....

    I got the game early Tuesday morning and proceeded to play for 11 hours straight. I got the CE and while the playing cards are a little underwhelming (New Vegas did have that one over Fable 3, their playing cards are awesome) The case that looks like a book is absolutely gorgeous. I set the purty box aside and sat myself down for a long gaming session, which it was.
   The intro made me chuckle, the obsession with chickens in Fable games is just odd and hilarious. I was also charmed by the brightly colored, beautiful world. Even the uglier sites like Bowerstone and its grey and brown industrial area are beautiful. Its just a more vibrant grey and brown than the usual games (I know, that makes no sense but in my head it does.)
   I of course chose to be a princess, and I was glad to see the improvement in character looks. She's actually pretty and the male hero kinda reminds me of John Barrowman (so dreamy). Right off the bat I was hit with a hard choice that made me pause and think about it. I made the "right" choice but its bothered me ever since. That to me is a sign of a good game. The fact that I was able to quickly take on this role and feel the impact of my choice.
   I dont want to spoil anything so I'll just say that while the story itself isnt particularly deep or original it does enough to engage a person and keep you moving on...

  Moving on...thats the first thing that bothers me.
I understand that the game is divided in half, or maybe thirds really..First you must gather supporters to your cause, by doing menial tasks and giving them lots of gifts. Second comes the much touted Revolution and finally you will establish yourself as King or Queen. That's all well and good but, I cant help but feel that I'm being rushed along.
   I'm one of those people that gets lost in a game, exploring all corners, climbing up on things that weren't meant to be climbed on etc. and the sense of urgency in the game while understandable to the plot, leaves me feeling rushed and frustrated. Especially when I get stuck in an interactive cutscene that leaves me listening to someone while following them at a snails pace. This isnt the only place where Fable 3 gets points off from me.

   If you've played previous fable games you know that you're hero is a silent protagonist who communicates by using a handful of pre-determined expressions that you cycle through with the D-pad. While you can always choose from a "nice" or "naughty" gesture you are free to choose whatever expression you'd like. NO MORE says Fable 3.
   While you still pick up a multitude of expressions (I will cover the level-up and skill progression shortly) you no longer get to choose which one you will perform aside from choosing "nice" or "naughty". So if i want to dance with someone or hug them, first I'll have to shake hands and whistle and maybe even strike a pose before it cycles to the expression I wanted to use. Streamlining at its worst and most unnecessary.But, alas, that isnt the only place where they've trimmed the lean with the fat to horrid results.

    First up is your inventory. This one is a change for the better. Instead of having to search through half a dozen menus and hundreds of items everything is automatically sent to your Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is your secret lair where your butler  keeps all of your items neatly on display in multiple rooms. There's a room for your weapons, clothes, trophies, and Xbox Live settings, along with a main room with an interactive map, which you use to choose quests and fast travel. Its a nice, efficient and fun way to keep track of your items. What isn't so fun or efficient is your skill progression and the attainment of abilities.

   In Fable 2 you got different color experience orbs, each color representing one of the 3 skills you could level up: melee, ranged and magic. Not so in Fable 3. You now collect "guild points", these guild points are then used to open chests containing different skills and items. You will purchase skill levels, the ability to buy property, get married and even steal. That's right. You now have to purchase the ability to own real estate, which is divided into property and shops (you have to purchase each ability separately) and you have to buy the ability to marry and have kids. Who thought this was a good idea? Not only that but these chests are along a gated path called "The Road to Rule" You unlock gates on this road as you complete certain goals in the main story line. Each gate you open has rows of chests to unlock with your guild points and leads you closer to your goal which is of course the throne of Albion. What this means is that you'll have to progress a bit into the main story before you can marry or buy a house etc. Its an unnecessary hoop to have to jump through.
   Combat is a simple affair, spam a button and go to town. I had fully intended to fight with my sword with a little magic thrown in for those moments when you need to crowd control with some  AOE spells, however, I found myself using ranged weapons and magic and forgetting all about my sword. Then again if you bought Fable 3 for the combat, you've got problems.
    Overall, the game has a few improvements over Fable 2 but it does have its share of missteps as well. But if you liked the first 2 fable games, particularly the second one, you'll probably enjoy this one as well. As I've said, I'm not too far into the game just yet. Haven't even gotten to the Revolution part of the story line but I have enjoyed my time in Albion so far immensely, definitely a lot more than I've enjoyed the Mojave Wasteland.

 


  





  

Fallout New Vegas and other stuff

Hellos.

  Another sporadic post from the queen of the procrastinators lol.

  Work keeps piling up and I keep putting it off. I need someone to stand behind me with a whip and make me work.

  Tuesday I got Fallout New Vegas and Wednesday I got my lovely Xbox back. I missed it so much.... So I've played a little under 20 hours of NV since getting it and so far, the best part of it was the pointless goodies in the CE. 

  Where should I start?

  I started by reading the..(way too tiny to call it a graphic novel)comic book All Roads, which left me in the exact same place I was before starting it...clueless.

Then I fired up the game and sat through the opening while thinking, "ok then"

Then it was time to create my character...Which is done by being grilled by some bald doctor. Seriously, I thought that whole stat choosing, SAT test would NEVER end. When it was all said and done, I was a fugly mannish woman and had no idea why that had to take so long. 

I proceeded to loot the good doctor's house, because nothing brings out my inner kleptomaniac like a sandbox rpg.

  Once that was done I stepped out the door and began my long roam through the wasteland. Emphasis on the LONG.

  I havent' really done all that much in my roughly 20 hours of adventuring, unless you want to count how many times I've gotten my ass handed to me by radscorpions. But in that time I've formed some decided opinions on New Vegas.

  First, Wayne Newton was cool for the first couple of hours, so was the music. Now its all just starting to grate at my brain like a rusty cheese grater. Love ya Peggy, but I'm really wanting to find "Johnny Guitar" and cut off his fingers one by one with a cigar cutter at this point. Fallout 3 had an infinitely better soundtrack and Three Dog kept things fun. Hundreds of hours of Fallout 3 and I never got tired of hearing Three Dog make dumb jokes about farting in vault 101 or listening to Danny Kaye and the Andrew Sisters sing Civilization. Hell, I've got the soundtrack in my  car and was listening to it this morning. Not so with New Vegas, I cant picture listening to these songs EVER again if I can help it.

  Second, the whole awesome concept of modding weapons, breaking down and creating ammo and the wider range of items to repair with. Couldn't they have made this a little less...well...shitty? I'm sure that as I level up and I explore more places these abilities will expand (at least I  hope so) but for now... I find it somewhere between "meh" and "utterly useless"

Breaking Down Ammo

  So, I've got all this 5mm and 12ga. ammo I dont need. Breaking it down into useful parts in order to create ammo I *do* need seems like an awesome idea.  I find a bench and I go to town. When I'm done breaking it all down I discover...I cant make any of the ammo I actually need...I can however make 12ga. and 5mm ammo, Yeehaw! I thiank god...or the creators of the game that the broken down parts dont weigh anything in my inventory,because I am carrying enough lead to destroy every single child on the planet with lead based paint-painted cribs. Cant even sell this crap as its not worth anything.

Modding Weapons

  I haven't really done much with this aside from getting a new barrel for my .357. Unfortunately right after I did I picked up a much more effective weapon and my newly modded magnum became obsolete again. Haven't seen much opportunity for modding things but I'm still just trudging along the vast nothingness of the wasteland.

Repair

  Repair is always a pain in my ass. Finding the exact same item to fix things with and the broadening of this part of the game is quite welcome...Its just...not enough. Now, i'm no expert on guns, but I remember watching a video to do with the difference between hunting rifles, semi-automatic rifles and automatic rifles.  One thing I remember is that by changing a few things the three looked incredibly similar while being very different. So, going by that, and taking also some game liberties....why can't I use parts from my shotgun to fix my cowboy repeater? Or to fix my double shotgun? No really, why not?

  Repairing my armour is an even bigger pain in my ass. Sure I have all the Powder Ganger (stupid name) armour and Wastelander outfits I could ever possibly want and/or need for repairs or making a tent mansion. But Metal and Leather Armour? Much harder to come by and so far, in all of the area I have roamed there is only 1 person...ONE DAMN PERSON who can repair it for me...at exorbitant cost. Someone glibly suggested to me that if I didnt want to repair my armour I should "not get shot" Brilliant! I'll keep that in mind when 5 radscorpions are chasing me across the hills because I hid behind a rock, shot one and the other 4 just appeared and decided nothing would be tastier than my ass (must say, my girl Triss has one hell of a swing when she walks).

  Ideally I would never get hit, but since I'm going to get hit eventually, it would be nice to find something to fix my damn armour with. Why is there no armour repair kit like there is a weapon repair kit?

Creating....stuff

  Now  I can create my own stimpaks and other concoctions in order to dominate the dumb creatures of the wasteland. Pity its such an inconvenience. Now I know, you hardcore gamers are sitting here reading this going "Man she's a whiner. Man up and play the game right, in hardcore mode, livin off the land, eeking out a pathetic existence in this post apocalyptic hell" You know what I say to that? STFU. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not "hardcore" i'm not seeking to develop awesomely leet gaming skills. I play because its fun and  I stop when its not fun. I'm not ashamed to play on Easy if I need to and I shouldnt have to play on Hardcore to get what the game has to offer. Much like that review savant Yahtzee's view on Multiplayer in games, "A game should stand on Single Player alone", I say a game should show me its good side regardless  what mode I play in.

   I know it sounds like I just hate the thought of creating my own items and gear, but thats not it at all. I have very fond memories of going nuts with the alchemy in Oblivion and making hundreds of potions and poisons for fun and profit. (nothing more hilarious that using a paralyze potion that only lasts 2 seconds on someone repeatedly.) My problem is with the inconvenience of it. In Oblivion I carried repair hammers to fix my weapons and armour, and I carried an alchemical set to create my potions. I could do this anywhere at any time. Had too much flora and fauna in the ole pack? consolidate by making a shitload of potions that weighed 1/4 as much and were actually useful. Not in Fallout New Vegas, find a campfire, a workbench, an ammo bench, can  I have a "make the wasteland suck less bench"? How about a "replace the DJ" bench? No? Of course not, then I wouldnt be playing it right would I?

  Its post nuclear war hell, it should be hard, it should suck, you should feel small and helpless...Well, somehow I got all that from Fallout 3 but without a lot of the useless aggravation.

  

  But, lets throw out all of my drama with my inventory. Because I can forgive much if a game can grab me by the (figurative) balls. Alas, this game does not. 

   I'm the kind of girl who likes porn with a plot. I love a good story. A nice twist or touching narrative can do much for me. (Bioshock knocked me on my rather ample ass)

   Gripping story? Arthritic grip maybe. Where Fallout 3 got me with family, New Vegas got me with..."How the hell does one survive a shot in the head and being buried alive?"  As Ron Perlman tells me at the beginning....I am a courier for the Mojave Express...you would think as such I'd know how to take better care of myself in the wasteland right? Then why is my character just as clueless as my vault raised softy from Fallout 3? i'm not talking about getting shot in the head...that plot device that didnt hold my interest for more than 3 seconds. I'm talking about after Doc Mitchell patches me up and sends me on my merry way.

  ...Where was I going again?

   I have no idea where i'm going...and I dont actually care. 

   The only fun I've had in this game is when I'm running around shooting Night Stalkers and praying one isnt behind me ready to hump my leg. Can't say I care about any town, any faction, any plot device..dont even care about the guys who tried to kill me, which I think is who I'm supposed to be looking for...maybe..I dunno.

  

  I'm gonna stop because this is almost as hate filled as my thoughts on Castlevania HD. really, its not that I live to hate on games, its just that lately games have done nothing but disappoint me...oh that reminds me...

  Tomorrow Fable 3 will arrive on my doorstep..That game I have high hopes for.  I know, I know...Everyone always has high hopes for Fable games which are always crushed upon release...Not I.

  Fable 2 was the first game I ever actually pre-ordered...I was so excited and giddy. When I finally got it and started playing...Well, even now I cant find a thing to hate about it, except maybe my own choice at the end of the game.  With that in mind, I highly doubt I will dislike Fable 3.

  But..but...how can you hate on New Vegas yet love Fable 2? Molyneux didn't deliver a third of what he promised!!

  

   That may be so but what he did deliver was a game that was (aside from the messy inventory) easy to get into, fun to play, with beautiful landscapes and memorable characters (I love you Stephen Fry but I cannot STAND Reaver) and most importantly he gave you an actual investment in the story line. So much so that I didnt even realize how much so until the end.   As far as I'm concerned the game gave me what I wanted from it. Could it have given me more? certainly... I mean, we could have real-time growth of plants or it could make my bed and make me breakfast but I've no complaints.

Wow, it seems my quick impressions are never as quick as I intend them to be....

   Before I go however I have a couple of things I gotta address... I will probably pop back on in a week to give my impressions of Fable 3 (hopefully to counterbalance all the haterade I've been drinking). But after that I will be silent for a while yet again. No, no, I'm not predicting my procrastination now. I'm planning on doing Nanowrimo

and will be busy trying to get it done. You would think with all the yapping I do 50,000 words would be no problem, however, its making those 50,000 words be part of a cohesive whole that causes me fits and starts. 

  

   After the month of November and my attempts at novel writing have come to an end, I will post all those back posts I've been putting off for like what? a year?    

                        

                                     Witch's Honor

  


Edit: I wanted to add something I forgot...you might be wondering why I have not said a word about the copious amount of glitches in the game...I want you to know that I did not miss them and yes I have seen plenty...Its just that this topic has been covered everywhere ad nauseaum. I wanted to give my feelings on the actual game...the glitches have gotten so much attention that they are overshadowing some real issues with the game itself.