My first comic!

   Or should I say graphic novel?  I don't know, I'm still new to this.  Is there a difference?  I admit, I'm a snob when it comes to books.  I couldn't see a book with a ton of pictures and little thought bubbles holding my attention.  I love the artwork, don't get me wrong.  But I'm not three anymore and I didn't see the appeal of a picture book.  However I thought I should at least give one a try.  We should all try everything once, right?  Well maybe not everything....ahem.  Anyways I loved the Wolf Among Us game, so I thought I'd give the comic book a try.  So I picked up the first volume.  It was actually a close call between Wolf Among Us and the original Fables, but Bigby won.  He's an awesome character and I wasn't sure how much presence he had in Fables.  I have to say, I really enjoyed reading it.  The artwork is gorgeous and it adds to the story, rather than distract from it.  I haven't finished it completely, but I'm already looking forward to volume two in June.  And I've ordered the first three volumes of Fables from Amazon.  I think I'm officially hooked.  I can't say as I'll read any other comic, but for now I'm definitely enjoying this one.

Firewatch review

                            

   I have mixed feelings about Firewatch.  The artwork was done very well and exploring the map was a real pleasure.  The compass definitely comes in handy, as I got turned around a lot.  The lag is terrible.  TERRIBLE.  I'm used to indies having some lag.  But they seriously need to patch it.  I almost lost my breakfast at one point.  But the main focus of Firewatch is the story, so maybe they weren't too concerned with the lag.  I love games with a good mystery and Firewatch looked like it would really fit the bill.  I don't want to spoil it so I won't go into a lot of detail.  At the beginning the game really draws you in with the backstory of Henry, the main character.  By the time he makes it to the watchtower you know his story and why he took the job at the tower.  And then the mystery begins.  They don't spring it on you all at once, there's a slow build up to it.  By the time I was halfway through the game I was pretty enthralled with the story.  I was imagining something along the lines of an X Files type ending, with government conspiracies and UFO sightings.  Ok maybe not aliens.  But something like that.  So the ending was kind of a let down in many ways.  Now there will be spoilers, so stop here if you don't want it ruined.  I guess they thought they wrapped up the story neatly, but it really didn't make a lot of sense.  Let me explain.
   There was a guy and his son working at the tower a couple of summers ago.  They disappeared one day and Delilah (the other main character and Henry's supervisor) assumed they'd had enough and taken off.  Well at the end of the game Henry discovers the dad, Ned, is still hanging around.  His son died in a climbing accident, and Ned wants to make sure no one finds the body.  So he's been spying and eavesdropping on Delilah and Henry to make sure they don't have any idea about what happened.  Apparently he didn't want to deal with the police and answer a bunch of questions.  Nice guy.  Which is all well and good, not too bad of ending, right?  Little wonky but mostly makes sense.  Wrong.
   Number one, Henry discovers Ned's base camp.  He's been stealing supplies from the rangers to eat.  There's also a huge tent, 3 cots, and very expensive equipment lying around.  Henry even points out how expensive the setup is. Looks like a major operation, which is why I thought government conspiracy.  So how did one guy living off the land (and ranger supplies) manage to afford that equipment?  And why on earth was he taking soil samples?  It makes no sense.  The game would've been stronger if they'd just left the mystery out and focused on Henry and Delilah's story.  Their interaction was already one of the best parts of the game.  But I guess selling a game about how people deal with life won't make you a lot of profit.  Which is a shame, because it had a lot of potential.  It's still worth a playthrough, but I would recommend waiting til it's on sale.  $20 is a little steep for what you get.
       

Dive into Hell

 

   PS plus subscribers received Helldivers for free this month.  I was really excited by this since it's 4 person co-op.  I'm forever looking for co-op games that are worth playing.  There's not that many out there without a Battlefield or a Call of Duty in the name.  And I'm not that big on FPS.  So I got four friends together and we eagerly signed in.  Only to be told over and over that we couldn't join each other.  The servers were really bogged down.  So we tried again a few nights later.  This time we could play together.  It's a fun game and we had some laugh out loud moments.  One of the best parts of the game is it's satirical portrayal of democracy.  One of my favorite lines is "how about a nice cup of liber-tea?"  It's cute and adds a unique personality to the game.
   It does suffer from a few problems.  The servers are still spotty.  I get kicked a lot.  The gameplay is good; there's a ton of stuff to unlock and upgrade.  It does get repetitive because the objectives are the same no matter what planet you're on.  So far I've seen maybe 6 different types of objectives.  And there's anywhere from one to four on a planet that you have to complete.  After awhile it's a little boring.  The harder planets might have different objectives; I wouldn't know because the game is very unbalanced.  We can do a level 4 mission no sweat.  A level 5?  There's cursing and screaming and blood trails everywhere.  Some of the blame is probably on us; we're not the most co-ordinated of teams.  And teamwork is definitely essential.  But I don't really care because while the game does provide some fun for four people, I can't see it holding my attention for long.  It's
only helping me kill time til the Division comes out.  Three more weeks!

To giveaway or not

In other words, do you people want free stuff?  I was thinking it should be a Witcher medallion. I know there's lurkers out there; yes I can tell how many people view my page. So if anyone is interested in this let me know, otherwise I'm not doing a giveaway. No sense in having a contest if no one participates.  ;)

Hearts of Stone review

   I finally stopped procrastinating and finished it.  I was really reluctant because I knew I'd have to wait for Blood and Wine to come out before I'd have something new to do.  But I'm glad I got it done; once again CDP told an awesome story.  I won't give too much away in case anyone is still playing it.  I really wasn't sure Olgierd was worth saving until the last few hours of the storyline.  That's one of the things I love about Witcher; the choices are never black and white.  While Olgierd was definitely not what most would call a good person I think he had enough redeemable qualities to warrant saving.  I still regret bringing about the death of the Baron and his wife in the original game.  So I knew if I didn't save his sorry butt I'd never forgive myself. 

   One of the things I really love about Witcher is the characters.  O' dimm and Olgierd are very fleshed out, as is Olgierd's wife.  They really did an awesome job in this area; even the minor characters stand out.  It's hard to say who's the most memorable but I think O' dimm stole the show.  He was an evil little demon but he did it with such relish that I really enjoyed his parts.  Kudos to whoever did the voice acting. 

    Instead of a boss fight for a climax they did something a little different.  In order to save himself and Olgierd Geralt has to solve a riddle.  It's not a multiple choice test either.  You must run around an area and look for the right answer to the riddle.  Well the answer is pretty obvious but finding out how to get the answer to appear is somewhat frustrating.  The area is kind of a maze and you will get lost if you don't pay attention.  Well at least I did but my internal compass is broken so that could be a personal problem.  

  All in all it was an awesome expansion to an already great game.  I'm really looking forward to Blood and Wine, especially the new area.  I'm ready for new places to explore so hopefully its somewhat large.  Oh and if anyone hasn't checked out the enchanting, you might want to do so.  It costs a pile of gold to get to mastercrafted level.  And another pile of gold if you're missing even one of the runes for the enchantment, but they are very helpful in combat.  One of the enchantments I bought automatically casts quen when I start fighting, another lengthens the time of my potions, and the other one heals me.  Nothing to sneeze at.  

Possible giveaway

     So I've been thinking about doing a giveaway if I can generate enough interest. And if I can figure out how to do it without the possibility of getting sued. Why is giving away free stuff so complicated???  Between the contest rules and terms and conditions, it's an exhausting process.  If you'll excuse me, I need a nap now.

Welcome to the dark side

   

     Or perhaps the emo side would be more accurate.  But more on that in a minute.  I really wanted to love Star Wars.  I went in expecting to be blown away, and for the most part I was.  The acting and special effects were top notch.  The storyline flows pretty smoothly for the most part, and it was great to see Han Solo and Chewie back in action.  (Yes they're my two favorite characters from the original trilogy).  There were a few miss-steps, however, that seemed completely avoidable.  Kylo Ren, for example.  The actor did a great job, no complaints.  He was a little emo but I blame the director for that.  I was completely buying it until I learned he was the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia.  In no reality, if those two had a kid, would he look like that.  Tall, olive skinned, and black hair?  I don't think so.  That little thing called suspension of disbelief?  Just went right out the window.  In a movie about magic, essentially.  I don't know why, but it just seemed like an really odd casting choice to me.  Shouldn't they have picked someone at least halfway believable?
     Another thing that bothered me was Han Solo's death.  This is more a personal thing, since he is one of my two favorites.  But why bring him back just to kill him?  It was traumatizing and very sad.  Then everyone was like "oooo they found Luke Skywalker."  No offense to Skywalker fans, but I could give two shits.  Give me Han Solo back!  Ok end of that rant.
     Just one more thing bothered me about the film.  (This is the last one, I promise.)  Rey defeating Kylo Ren in lightsaber combat?  Unlikely.  Sure she can use the force, but so can he and he's had a buttload of training.  It'd be like me picking up a sword and expecting to defeat a medieval knight in combat.  (Sort of.)  I'd get my butt handed to me.  And the move where she kept trying to hit Kylo in the shoulder with the tip of the saber?  What is that called again?  Perhaps the "I have no clue what I'm doing"?  Ok I'm done now.  Will I go see the next Star Wars?  Absolutely.  For the most part it was a very enjoyable film.  Let's just hope it's got a few less kinks than the Force Awakens.