Yeesh, I just zoned on a whole week.
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_e_confused.gif)
Lots of real world crap going on, plus it's cold as balls now, so wee.
Games added: I grabbed LEGO 2K Racing this week in a Xbox digital sale, don't think I've picked up anything else in the last couple of weeks.
Last...whatever: Finished Broken Age, played Star Ocean Second Story R
This week: Mainly Star Ocean, also dabbling with Goat Simulator 3
Broken Age. Hrm. Broken Age was...a game? I think izzy pretty much nailed it, it starts out promising but severely sputters in Act 2 and ends like a wet fart. There's one interesting story beat at the end of Act 1 - I'm not going to necessarily say it's a GOOD one, but at least it's interesting - and after that, nothing of note happens. I chalk a lot of the issues I had with it with their tight budget - there are a LOT of reused areas, which means a ton of backtracking. There's also some really annoying puzzles towards the end, enough to where I just said "screw it" and pulled up a guide. Those wiring puzzles? Yeah, those can die in a fire. Definitely a bottom-tier Double Fine game, and it gets a hard pass from me - you're time is better spent doing pretty much anything else.
OTOH, Star Ocean is scratching me right where I itch. Square & Enix (they were still 2 entities) were in their prime in the PSOne days (and arguably PS2 as well) and this is, for me, a lost gem I never got around to back then. They've jazzed up the visuals some, added some quality of life tweaks, but otherwise left the gameplay as-is, and it is fantastic. It has a really in-depth skill system where you earn skill points as well as xp from battles and then can spend that on a ton of different skills which can affect your stats and/or allow you to craft weapons/armor/items/etc. or give you other cool abilities in & out of combat. Different skills combined - ie, multiple skills leveled up to a certain point - can open up new more complex skills. It's all extremely addictive. Combine that with the very cool characters (for the most part, but you can choose who joins your party so if you hate them *cough*Leon*cough* just turn them down) and fast-paced combat that makes encounters (which are not random) a very quick & fun affair. I'm about 25 hours in now, and I feel confident in recommending it to everyone here. It's fantastic.
And Phase, here's wishing you a speedy recovery - hang in there!
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis
![Image](https://card.exophase.com/2/0/112337.png?1631559155)