Kameo

Let me tell you a little bit about my history with Kameo. It needs to be said, or I don’t think it’ll make much sense, my feelings about this game. My inability to truly feel much about what’s going on.

Once upon a time, I decided to try GameFly. I thought that it might be a good idea, renting games, getting to see what I might like and what I might hate without paying for a whole game. In theory, it’s brilliant. I suspect that for most people out there, it’s a wonderful tool. For me? Utter failure. Complete waste of time. Even though I didn’t pay anything at all for my two week trial with them, I feel like I wasted a lot of effort.

I tried games that I thought I might like, and when I did like them, I went out and bought them anyway. With my track record of games I like when I buy them VS games I hate, there’s not a lot of risk there. I could see where it would be risky for people who just pick up every game they see and give it a try. GameFly would be great for them. So you can see, effort wasted. Time wasted.

One of the games that I tried with GameFly was Kameo. I did like it pretty goddamned quickly, and it also happened to be at the very end of my trial. So I sent it back, went to the store with the intent to buy it and promptly saw something shinier. I can’t tell you now what it was, just that I had to have it more than I had to have Kameo.

Months later, I was back in the store, and lo – Kameo. Cheaply. So I picked it up. Why not? I’d had fun the first time, though I hadn’t gotten very far at all. I took it home and put it directly into my machine, happy as a clam.

And I shit you not, the next day something came out that would once again eclipse my playing of Kameo. And once again, I cannot tell you what that thing was, just that it was bigger and bolder, and called to me so deeply that I ignored the small cries of this newly bought game as I pried the disk out of the tray and shoved it back into it’s case, then onto the shelf. I should note here that I got exactly as far through the game as I had the first time.

A year later. Kameo again. Again it is usurped.

Forgotten in the stacks of games to play, I finally came upon it this year in my quest to finish every half touched game that I owned. I decided that now was the time to let this game shine. Now was the moment. I placed it where it needed to go and sat my ass down on the couch, ready. I restarted my game, because by this time, I had no memory of what I’d learned – however little – and what had happened in the story.

After about a half hour, I realized that I hadn’t gotten very far at all and caught up to where I recalled leaving off very quickly. Kind of sad, really, given all the efforts I’d gone to previously (*cough*). It also occurred to me that not once in my former tries had I ever gotten further than this into the game. Always, something more had come forward and taken my attentions away. For a few hours, I played with fear and trepidation. What if something fantastic were to fall into my lap as I held the controller in my hand? What if it demanded to be played instantly and once again Kameo was thrown to the wayside?

And then I got over it, because I realized I am my own downfall, and if I didn’t go seeking new shiny games, they would not appear.

It didn’t take me long to get through this game. And I did have fun with it. But I just have this kind of apathy going on about it. I don’t care that I played it, really. I guess I’m glad I did, it’s done with, it’s not on my shelf anymore. It’s not waiting for me and mocking me every time I walk by. But I have no sense of satisfaction. I have no feeling of accomplishment. I didn’t put down my controller and think to myself “Holy shit, that was a good game” and I didn’t by any means desire to play it again. It wasn’t a bad game, it really wasn’t. Plus, I am an avid, nearly insanely so, replayer, thus my lack of desire to go through again was and is surprising and confusing.

I don’t know where this feeling – or lack thereof – comes from. Is it because I just let it sit for too long? Is it that I tried too many times to get into this game and it never happened, thus leaving me with an empty hole where my enjoyment should be? I don’t know. I just don’t.

I have passed this game on, a thing I don’t really do, as I like to keep them around so I can play them again at a later date. But I know that I will not ever pick up Kameo again. I won’t ever give it another go round. PLEASE. SOMEBODY EXPLAIN THIS. My world is upside down (I’ll get over it).

Dragon Age: Classes

I’ve played two games of Dragon Age thus far. One as a rogue, the other a warrior. I think the stories would have differed greatly even if my two characters hadn’t been so vastly different (My rogue was a female elf, my warrior a male noble). Just because between the casts the abilities and how people respond to you are so vastly set apart.

I sort of hated not being a rogue. The fact that you ALWAYS then have to cart around either a whiny chantry cunt or a horny assassin elf is a little annoying. (Can you tell my characters aren’t exactly nice?). They both disapprove of so many things I wanted to do, of course, Zevran disapproved of less. Thus, I attached him to my team at all times. I hated not being able to pick my own locks, or guile my way through things. Obnoxious. Always having to switch characters to open a chest or deactivate traps, obnoxious.

On the other hand, I didn’t use nearly as many health poultices as I did when I was a rogue. So by the end, I had stacked up well over a hundred, without ever once having to buy one. I had so many injury kits that I really just didn’t know what to do with them. As a warrior, I was such a powerhouse that nobody even had a chance to get hurt. Plus, as a warrior noble, I was apparently a chick magnet. Not only did I bed Morrigan long before everything I read said it was even possible, but I had the ability to bat my manly eyelashes and lure any unsuspecting female into my tent. Who KNEW there were so many NPCs you could make out with in this game?

My problem with both of the characters I have already played is that neither of them could bed Leliana. She just wasn’t interested in them. Considering they were both quite attractive, I’m leaning toward ‘She just doesn’t dig evil’. Well, I’ll show her, won’t I? I’ll be nice with my next character. Yes sir, I will. Then we’ll play Bag The Bard, and see who ends up in bed with who.

Heavy Metal

Sometimes you can’t go back, and sometimes, even if you can, you shouldn’t. You should just hold in your memory the way things were way back when. There should be no attempt to reclaim youth, or fond memories.

Becomes sometimes those memories fall short.

If I ever needed a clear example of that, I could find it easily in Heavy Metal. Some things can stand the test of time, others make you wonder what the hell you were thinking. Heavy Metal kind of makes me sad to have watched it again. When I was younger, I remember I thought this was one of the best things I’d ever seen. I even remember the magazine of the same name.

I have to believe, now that I’m significantly older than the last time I saw this, that the entire purpose to the movie – and magazine – was the boobs. Perhaps the violence, too. Back then, this must have been one of the goriest things ever. Outside of those two things? I suppose the art is okay, despite some of the characters being ridiculously misproportioned. Funny enough, it’s not just the women. At the start there’s this guy running around with a torso twice as big as the rest of his body.

The last chick in the whole story, the so-called badass? She seems to be less of a badass and more of the “ideal woman”. She’s strong. She’s got HUGE breasts. Long flowing hair. She got make-up tips from The Misfits (oh, not the real life band, the all girl band from Jem). She’s dangerous. Also? She never says a single word! That’s right boys, everything you’ve ever wanted in a girl. Can kick your ass, but can’t tell anybody about it. For some unknown reason.

Really, should have left this one in the past. Where it belongs. So destroyed what was once a nice childhood memory. Take my advice, and leave it the hell alone.

Also – extra slow motion in cartoons is ridiculous. It just leaves things feeling sluggish.

Prince Caspian

A million and a half years ago, I read the Chronicles of Narnia. I’ve only read the set twice, and both before the 8th grade. I remember the most about the first book, because there’s also an animate version of it that I used to watch frequently.

When the first of the modern movies came out, I entertained a re-reading. Now I’m thinking about it again. To fill in the bits I’m sure didn’t make it into the films.

As it stands, this movie is brilliantly stunning. Beautiful to look at the whole way through. It was easy to become involved and lose myself in it because of how fantastic the visuals were, and how well done the story was. Some of the scenes literally gave me goosebumps.

And. And. There’s nothing like a great big Root For The Underdog ballte to get the heart pumping. Boy does this flick have one of those.

Then you add on top of that trees that move like octopus and I have to declare this movie a winner.

The one thing I’m confused about is why the soldiers would jump into the river when the river itself has become the Giant God Of Watery People Soup? Seems to me like one should flee for dry land in the face of that.

Eddie Izzard popping up as a mouse was a very extra special touch.

Wit’ch Fire – Finished

Sometimes, all it takes is a good little rant to push aside the little tiny things that annoy you so that you can become entranced with a story. Luckily, that’s all I needed with Wit’ch Fire.

I’m still bothered by the apostrophes in the common words, but not as much as I was. It didn’t halt my progress as badly, and once the story really got flowing, I hardly noticed.

I actually ended up liking the story enough to put the other books on my to-buy-used reading list. Hopefully they can keep my attention as much as this one eventually did, so that I don’t have to come back here and reiterate my loathing of certain things.

And just for your information: It’s always good to read a non-fantasy between fantasy series. Otherwise your brain will try to uproot information from the other books and try to implant them in the current ones.

Or that could just be me.