This post is for Kim Harrison (and book lovers)

   

     For anyone who doesn't know who she is, she wrote the NY Times bestselling series the Hollows.  I loved the Hollows series and think she's an awesome writer.  She just released a new book at the beginning of October called the Drafter.  It's very good, a lot different from the Hollows but definitely worth a read.  Now you're probably wondering why I'm devoting most of my post to her book instead of just mentioning how awesome it is.  There is a reason.  I follow her on Facebook and she posted a blog earlier today.  Apparently the Drafter sold so poorly that her publisher is thinking about canceling the sequel, which would suck because I would really like to know what happens to Peri (the main character).  So even though I don't have a huge audience for my blog, I thought I would show my support.  Her Hollows series was hugely popular, so why the Drafter failed to sell is mystifying.  I find it really sad I might never get to read one of her books again.  I might just buy a bunch of copies and give them away as christmas presents!  If you'd like to check the Drafter out and help spread the word here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Drafter-Peri-Reed-Chronicles/dp/1501108697/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444698949&sr=8-1&keywords=the+drafter

Also here's a link to her Hollows series, which is now complete:http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Witch-Walking-Hollows-Book/dp/0060572965/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444699468&sr=8-1&keywords=dead+witch+walking

Star Wars Battlefront beta impressions

   
I played the beta for a few hours yesterday and today.  I love Star Wars and I've really been looking forward to this game.  I know a lot of people are not having a good first impression.  I don't think I've read a single positive thing actually.  (I'm sure there are some positive reviews I've just missed them).  It's hard to judge the beta because I don't know how deep the main game is going to be.  The graphics are beautiful.  There is some lag but hopefully the kinks will be worked out before release day.  The weapon variety isn't great, hopefully there's more weapons to be had than what I've seen.  The drop zone is kind of meh, it's the standard control match.  The walker assault is a lot more fun.  My only complaint is I saw jedi knights running around and people flying vehicles, but for the life of me I couldn't find those powerups on the map.  There's seven different multiplayer modes, so we're just getting a taste of what the game has to offer.  I can imagine how much fun the fighter squadron is going to be.  I'm assuming it's an all vehicle battle (hopefully) so that will just be wicked.  I want to run out and pre-order it, but I'm going to have to wait for reviews on this one.  It looks fun but I'd rather play it safe.

Taken King last impressions

     After playing pretty much nothing but Destiny for the past few weeks, I have a few new thoughts and observations.  The Taken King was a step forward in a few ways for Destiny, and I do like some of the changes they made.  But they got a lot of things wrong.  I was maxed out on my characters for Vanguard and crucible marks when the Taken King dropped, and I got no legendary marks to compensate for them.  Bungie could've easily worked out a system to translate those marks and given us something, even if it was a small amount.  I realize they probably wanted everyone to start off at the same point so it was fair to all.  But wouldn't giving everyone a few new marks in return for the old marks do the same thing?  I'd like those hours of my life back!
     Another big problem is the tweaking and recycling.  Bungie gave us new strikes?  Awesome.  Not so awesome?  Taking an old strike and inserting some Taken into it randomly.  Its lazy and unnecessary.  And everyone keeps asking when I'm going to go back and get the Stranger's Rifle again because apparently there's a rumor it might be worth a crap one day.  Never.  That's when I'm going to go get it.  Never.
     Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of things I love about Destiny.  The repetition is not one of them.  I'd really love to try the new raid, but I can't because I don't have enough light.  I can't even do nightfall yet!  My biggest problem is I simply don't have enough time to sink into the game.  It's great if you want to play with friends for a few hours, but when those hours get you nowhere it's kind of pointless.  If they'd cut back on the grind just a little bit, it'd make the game a lot more accessible for those of us with jobs and a life.  The only people I know that are uber powerful are old dudes and young kids who apparently have too much time on their hands.  Seriously, how do they have time do to schoolwork?  In any case, this'll probably be my last Destiny expansion.  I've enjoyed it, but I have too many other games I'd like to finish.  

Halloween pictures

As promised I'm posting pics of my halloween decorations.  It won't really be done until Halloween proper.  I've more spiderweb to add and more props to set up, so I'll take some final photos in a month.  I might even do a video of the motion activated props, if I can get my camera to cooperate.  I apologize in advance for the night time shots.  I have two lights that make the yard look really cool, but its hard to get night shots to turn out.  I did my best!  I'm off to play Witcher, hope you guys enjoy.

    I'm sure you've all heard Konami is no longer making AAA titles.  I'm a big fan of Castlevania, so his makes me very sad.  I decided to change the background of my blog to a Castlevania theme in protest.  I'm sure that will make them change their minds and make more Castlevania games.  Not.  Oh well.  I never did finish the sequel to Lords of Shadow, so I'll have to give it another crack.  It was a disappointing game to be honest but I have to get my fix somehow.  Maybe I'll just replay Symphony of the Night instead!  I really can't believe that they're going to drop a series as popular as Metal Gear Solid is, or was.  I've heard the new game is struggling to sell units, so perhaps it's not as popular as it once was.  It'd make sense financially for Konami to sell the rights to another developer, so maybe we'll see more games in the future?  Probably not but I'll keep my fingers crossed.
     To mention something totally unrelated next Thursday is the 1st of October so I'll be decorating for Halloween.  Its my favorite holiday so I go all out, I'll post pics when I get everything done.  One crappy thing about living in the south, Halloween isn't a big deal.  Actually a lot of people refuse to celebrate it, which really sucks.  But anyways I'll get pics up if anyone is interested, probably by Friday. It takes two days to decorate so hopefully it'll be done by then.  If anyone wants to share their Halloween photos, or anything gaming related, they're welcome to post them to my facebook page.

Destiny the Taken King first impressions

 I know I said I wasn't going to start anything new until I finished up some old games, but I
couldn't resist getting the Taken King.  I'm glad I did, for the most part.  Bungie obviously put a lot of effort into telling a better story this time around.  The cutscenes are one of the best parts of the Taken King.  Cayde is by far my favorite character, and of course it doesn't hurt that he's voiced by Nathan Fillion.  I do love Firefly!  The new content is a lot of fun, and they've added a lot more variety to the missions than the standard run and gun.  They also gave me a lot of free stuff, more than I expected.  I got a couple of free guns, armor shaders, new class items, and a new vehicle.  That being said, its still way too short.  It took me less than an hour to do the main missions.  Granted I still have miscellaneous quests to do but for $40 I expect a little more content than that.  Still its a step in the right direction and hopefully future expansions will be even better.  

Thoughts on Ethan Carter

 I finished the Vanishing of Ethan Carter tonight.  Very good game, if you haven't played it it's definitely worth a buy.  Its short but the story makes up for it.  The graphics were gorgeous, if the town hadn't been abandoned, creepy and a little depressing I would've wanted to visit!  But the best thing by far was the story.  If you haven't played it yet you might want to stop reading here, cause there will be spoilers.  It's a pretty heavily influenced by a few things, to the point that it could be described as unoriginal.  In fact it borrows from so many sources that its quite a list.  Lovecraft, Shakespeare, Poe, the Sixth Sense, and a short story I'm sure most people have read, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.  If you haven't read it you should give it a try, its short and worth the time.  It was required reading at my high school, I spent an hour googling it because I couldn't remember the name!  I'm sure it has other influences I didn't pick up on but those are the ones I caught.  There isn't much action, other than running away from a creepy guy at one point.  The focus is on the story rather than gameplay, and it does have the twist ending that's become somewhat standard.  The ending can be interpreted a few different ways.  Was Ethan the sleeper?  Was Paul his imagination or something else?  Did he die at the end or did his family save him?  There's more than one way to interpret it, which is pretty standard for the genre.  But Ethan Carter manages to pull it off without feeling like a carbon copy.  The game is definitely multi-layered and worth a closer look.  I'll know I'll be playing it again, just to see if I can get anything else out of it.