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Yup, I'm a gamer. I've heard this makes me a supposedly rare breed, seeing as I'm female (the guys who whine about there not being any gamer girls to play with need to unplug and have a shower more often). Many of my female friends are gamers too. : )
I'm a pretty casual gamer in that I'll usually start playing something and take a long while to get through it. I don't often obsess; instead I tend to have a number of games going all at once! Below is a listing of of what I'm playing or have played, with some notes and thoughts. Enjoy!
Other Games I've Played
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Beyond Good & Evil
Platform: Xbox
Replay? Yes!
My Score: 8/10 |
| Since buying it, I've played this game a couple of times. It's one of those adventure/puzzle-type games and I enjoyed it a lot. The puzzles were good but not overly demanding, which was nice for when I wanted to play more to relax rather than drive myself crazy. I liked the photography aspect of the gameplay. The graphics style was pleasing, but it was a shame the story was so short. The one thing that drove me crazy was the air hockey-esque mini game, which made me want to throw my controller at the TV more than a few times. The developers had wanted to make a sequel but, initially, those plans fell through. Now I hear UbiSoft has picked up the rights. Hopefully they do the sequel justice! |
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Drakan: Order of the Flame
Platform: PC
Replay? Yes!
My Score: 9/10 |
| Order of the Flame is one of those games you just have to play. In my experience it's one of the only games worth playing where the player can ride a dragon. Considering how old this game is, the world is quite large with a number of secrets and side quests to keep you occupied, if you are willing to explore. The story is good, and while the voice acting is sometimes cringe-worthy, I still found myself getting into it just as much as a good book or movie. One of the most fun options was the highest gore setting, which allows the player to hack the enemies into tiny pieces, and said pieces are still governed by the physics engine, so you can play with them. Yeah, morbid, but in-game, it's fun, honest. : ) Alas, the ending leaves a bit to be desired and screams for a sequel, but thankfully there actually is one. Bonus to make up for it: the game CD includes playable WAV files of the game soundtrack. |
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Draken: The Ancients' Gates
Platform: PlayStation2
Replay? Yes
My Score: 8/10 |
| I bought this game long before I even owned a PS2 because I was so psyched from playing the first release. The Ancients' Gates, in my mind, didn't quite live up to its predecessor even though it was better in a lot of ways. There were subtle changes in this release that would have made this game a 10 if they had been left alone, such as the voices and some of the character designs (especially the size of a number of NPC bosoms). I also missed not having the gore option from the first game. If you aren't a hardcore Drakan fan and/or can just overlook those subtleties, you'll love this game. The soundtrack is very good (but no playable tracks included on the game disc) and there were a number of sidequest puzzles that left me stumped. |
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Everquest II
Platform: PC
Replay? Yes
My Score: 8/10 |
| Yup, I'm atypical and did not get sucked into WoW. I tried WoW once and just hated it. In comparison to EQII, WoW is just too clunky, too cartoonish, too...childish. I liked EQII for the graphics and the wide range of choices you got at the beginning. It also has a more serious air about it, which doesn't at all equate to it not being fun. I just happened to like the maturity. The quests were pretty interesting and in getting up into level 40 or so I was able to see quite a lot of the map. I soloed or teamed up with Ranakanth and I wasn't a member of a guild. I liked being able to do pretty much what I wanted without being forced into raids (though I have tagged along on a few as a volunteer) and that I could find content that didn't require me to be in a group all the time. I did eventually lose interest in EQII, probably because I've been more involved with EVE Online, but it's still something I could go back to when I feel the hankering for some fantasy-based sandbox play. |
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Final Fantasy
Platform: NES/PlayStation
Replay? Mostly
My Score: 7/10 |
| The very first Final Fantasy title. I wholeheartedly believe you cannot call yourself a fan of the series until you have slogged through every painful minute of this game. Don't get me wrong! At the time when I first played this game on NES (I was about...seven years old), it was the hottest thing out there and it was a fantastic game. FF is still a good game, but given its age and the circumstances behind its creation, it does have to be taken with a pretty big grain of salt compared to what is available now. There is a gross lack of plot and character depth that will leave many younger generation gamers bored and disappointed. Additionally, there is no arguing the original FF is a hard game. The bad guys will wipe the floor with you many a time before the end. I think that's one aspect that has drawn me back to this game numerous times: knowing that it isn't a walk in the park, I want to see those end credits just so I can be self-satisfied that I vanquished Chaos again. |
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Final Fantasy II
Platform: PlayStation
Replay? Probably not
My Score: 5/10 |
| I first played this FF release as part of the Final Fantasy Origins pack for PlayStation. It took me a long time to get through it and while it definitely had more plot and more character depth than the first FF, I don't think I'll be playing it again. I didn't much care for the "levelling" system and while the keyword information system was novel at first, I quickly grew bored and irritated with having to spend so much time fruitlessly trying to gather information. I spent a whopping forty-four hours on this game and by the end felt like I never wanted to see little square pixel characters ever again. |
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Final Fantasy VIII
Platform: PlayStation
Replay? Yes
My Score: 8/10 |
| In the course of my gaming history, I originally pretty much went from playing the original FF on NES to FFVIII on PlayStation without really hopping on any of the games in between. So, it was really kind of a shock for me. FFVIII is one of my favorite releases; I liked the battle and junctioning systems and thought the story was pretty good, though perhaps a bit confusing the first time through. What bugged me the most was the Draw system, and Selphie needs to die a horrible, horrible death. |
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Halo
Platform: Xbox
Replay? Yes!
My Score: 10/10 |
| Need I say anything? It's Halo. It's worth buying an Xbox just to play this game. Do it. Do it now! |
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Halo 2
Platform: Xbox
Replay? Yes
My Score: 7/10 |
| Not as good as Halo but still a kick-ass game. I think it plays through better on co-op than solo. There were a few places where getting to the next part of the game was really confusing and frustrating, almost to the point of "shut it off and give up". I didn't really like the makeover Cortana got and the overall gameplay was pretty short and felt rushed. I think if I played it again a few more times it might grow on me some more. |
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Halo 3
Platform: N/A
Replay? Yes
My Score: ?/10 |
| Again, not as good as Halo. I've only played it once, at a friend's house really, really late at night (powered through the whole thing in one sitting on co-op). There were a lot of confusing map areas and I felt the story didn't quite connect to the way the second game ended. I think I need to play it again to really give a fair review, but alas, I don't own a 360 (yet?). |
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Kingdom Hearts
Platform: PlayStation
Replay? No
My Score: 3/10 |
| When this game was first announced I was in the camp that didn't know if it was such a good idea to mix Disney with Final Fantasy, but the actual game was okay and they pulled it off rather well. I really enjoyed it...right up until the end. You work your butt off in this game, you work your fingers raw for the last battle and then the ending sucked so bad that it ruined the entire experience for me such that I instantly didn't want to pick it up again and promptly traded the game in for something else. Thereafter I found out this is one of those games where the story is being stretched across multiple platforms (ie, cellphones and other junk) and there is Japan-only story content not released in North America, so...what's the point, exactly? |
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The Longest Journey
Platform: PC (Steam client)
Replay? Sort of
My Score: 7/10 |
| I played this game after playing the sequel, Dreamfall, because I wanted to know what the backstory was. In retrospect I think this was the better way to do it. The first time I played through The Longest Journey I was quite fascinated and gladly took the time to uncover all the copious quantities of tidbits and character threads there are to uncover in the game. But when I went back to it a second time I found I was pretty bored because I knew everything already. It may be that the replay value of this game is dependent on having a long gap to allow yourself time to forget. The Longest Journey is an adventure-puzzle game, but you'll spend more time listening to/reading dialogue than actually playing the game. This makes it more akin to an animated book than anything else. This format appealed to me but if you are the type of gamer that needs a lot of involvement and action, you won't like this game. Additionally, there were a number of puzzles in the game where the solution was so mind-blowingly obscure (I needed to do what with the monkey's eyeball??) that I wasted a lot of time going back and forth trying to get things figured out. |
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Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
Platform: Xbox
Replay? Yes
My Score: 9/10 |
| Dreamfall is the sequel to The Longest Journey . This game sucked me—and Ranakanth, who was only watching—in so completely that we did nothing but eat, sleep, and breathe this game for about two weekends straight. Like its predecessor, you spend more time watching the story than playing the game, but it was so good!! I would definitely play it again when I'm hankering for something just a little bit different to while away the time. The ending is a cliffhanger and unfortunately this game doesn't answer a lot of leftover questions from both this story and the first release, but further chapters are due to be released and I'm looking forward to them. |
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Myst
Platform: PC
Replay? Sort of
My Score: 7/10 |
| Seriously, who hasn't played this game? Myst was a phenomenon and for once I was actually a part of it while it was happening (instead of finding it after the fact as usually happens). For its time this game was awesome, but the replay value is pretty low (or non-existent). Even years later, I was able to go back and finish the entire game in about ten or fifteen minutes. Thankfully, the later releases are much more extensive and challenging. : ) |
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Myst II: Riven
Platform: PC
Replay? Yes
My Score: 8/10 |
| Riven was a huge improvement over Myst, though with the PC I had at the time I wasn't quite able to run the in-game movies smoothly, and later on I needed a patch to be able to move past a crucial point in the game in the right way. Even now, years later and on greatly superior equipment, there are still one or two in-game movies that don't run smoothly, which I blame on the game rather than my hardware. What makes Riven really interesting to me is that it is not only directly linked to events in Myst but also to events in the books written by one of the game's creators, Rand Miller. Once you've played through these two games and read the novels, the entire story really falls into place. For me this isn't the same as the trend nowadays to stretch game stories over multiple platforms like PlayStation, cellphones, and Nintendo DS, which forces you to spend quite a lot of money in order to get the entire picture. Books are, by comparison, cheap and easy to acquire. This game has replay value for me more for the experience of the story and the rich world with all its details rather than for the challenge of figuring out the puzzles, which, for the most part, stayed with me even though it had been upwards of five (or possibly even ten) years since I had last played the game. |
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Myst III: Exile
Platform: PC
Replay? Yes
My Score: 9/10 |
| Just as how Riven was an improvement over Myst, Exile was a vast improvement over Riven. Once again the story draws from threads alluded to in Myst and the supporting novels. The live action acting by Brad Dourif as Saavedro, the game's villain, was superb. More than that, I found this game difficult. Often I found myself stumped, but not necessarily in a bad way. The puzzles were unique and quite clever, and upon finally figuring them out I felt justifiably pleased with myself. My one gripe was the organic settings sometimes made it difficult to recognize when something was just a part of the background or was actually meant to be interacted with. I really enjoyed how this game used more animals (the Squee is disturbingly cute) and the multiple endings were fun to toy with. : ) |
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Myst IV: Revelation
Platform: PC
Replay? Yes!
My Score: 10/10 |
| This game is gorgeous and the story is compelling, continuing with certain threads from all of the previous games. The puzzles were sometimes a bit daunting but overall Ranakanth and I enjoyed the journey together. It was really nice to see richer environments and more animals! There was also a lot more live-action acting in this game and that added to the richness. |
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Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
Platform: PC
Replay? No...must resist...
My Score: 4/10 |
| I'm trying to resist including Uru as a Myst game but once I started playing Myst V: End of Ages it was hard not to see it that way. But Uru just doesn't feel enough like a Myst game! In Myst you are not supposed to see yourself, you're not supposed to come across white trailer trash living in the desert, you're not supposed to read someone's random journal about which football team is going to win the Super Bowl. That's not how Myst works. This game brings you crashing into Earth's reality and I just didn't like that at all. In the end I never actually finished this game. There was supposed to be an online component but that never got off the ground. On the other hand, there's one particular Age that has the distinction of making this game the first game to ever freak me out while sitting at my computer. That's saying something, but it isn't enough to redeem this game in my eyes. Still...I find myself wanting to go back to it just to fill in some gaps in the story. *sigh* |
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Currently Playing
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EVE Online
Platform: PC
Replay? Yes!
My Score: 8/10 |
| Although I did play Everquest II's "Trial of the Isle" long before I knew what EVE was, EVE Online is actually the first MMORPG I actually subscribed to. It's Ranakanth's fault; he sucked me in. : ) EVE is science fiction based, taking place many thousands of years in our future and in another galaxy. There are lots of pretty spaceships and big explosions (pew pew!). :3 For a PvE player like myself, sometimes EVE can be a tad boring, but CCP (the developer) is working on improving story content and they do very well at presenting lots of opportunities for people to team up to play together. The other nice thing is that (with the exception of Chinese players), EVERYONE in this game is on the same server! This game is definitely worth a try, but be warned: the learing curve is steep. Patience and completing the tutorials are a must! |
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Final Fantasy XII
Platform: PlayStation2
Replay? Yes!
My Score: ?/10 |
| So far, this is my absolute favorite FF game. The story, gameplay, graphics, characters, etc appeal to me on all levels. I also can't help but *squee* because this game takes place in the same world as Vagrant Story, a game I own and enjoyed but have yet to properly tackle. I can't wait to revisit it! I still have quite a bit of playing to do on FFXII but I can't see my opinions changing. My only real complaint is that the story could easily have been written without Vaan and Panelo and would have been stronger for it. These characters are essentially just along for the ride and the editor in me occasionally reminds me that isn't really enough justification for their presence. Fran and Balthier FTW! |
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The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Platform: Wii
Replay? Yes!
My Score: ?/10 |
| This game has eaten my brain. Seriously, it's so good, and I'm so addicted to it, that I dream about it. I haven't played many other Zelda games before, so I'm glad this one has sucked me in and been such a good experience. Fishing really is just so much fun that you'll set up a separate save just so you can spend time hanging your rod in the pond (never mind that Hyrule needs saving, who wants to waste time doing that when you can go fishing?). |
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Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Platform: Wii
Replay? Yes!
My Score: ?/10 |
| Even if you have some or all of the previous Lego Star Wars releases, I highly recommend getting this version for Wii. My boyfriend and I have played through all six movies with about forty hours of game time and we are still less than halfway through all the content. There is so much to see and do in this game it's ridiculous, but super fun! You can play solo or as a two-player team which is great for couples. My only gripe is the controls when flying a ship or other vehicle could have been done a lot better and the gameplay in these ship-only areas made more straightforward, as it's easy to get lost or have no idea what the objective is. Otherwise, great game. |
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Myst V: End of Ages
Platform: PC
Replay? Not sure yet
My Score: ?/10 |
| This is the last chapter of the Myst games. I'm not very far into it but already have found myself stumped by the puzzles, which is great! So far the game is gorgeous, just like its recent predecessors, but I find myself missing the live action characters. There are interesting references in it to the previous games; the story is being presented through a mature Yeesha's eyes as well as via a new character and it deals with the lost D'ni civilization, which gives it strong ties to Uru as well. |
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Super Mario Galaxy
Platform: Wii
Replay? Yes!
My Score: ?/10 |
| If you've ever played any of the Super Mario games and liked them, you'll like this one. I think Nintendo has redeemed themselves, and Mario, in this release. It's a great deal of fun and the gameplay is really unique, especially when gravity comes into play. So far I only really have issues with the controls for swimming (which had me yelling at the TV I was so frustrated). Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to getting past those worlds and back onto dry land. |
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