PixlBit

What I learned yesterday is that many games follow a pattern of: level progression, then a boss fight, then repeat. I've developed a sort of dread of those boss fights as I sense their approach. They do, however, make a good bookmark in a game, a place to stop for a while just after they're done. Notes to follow.

Minecraft: I created a random world and searched in vain for a village. So I dug a mine and got all my matterials to build the Nether Portal, went there, and couldn't find the Fortress. Well, that sort of ended it. I didn't want to revisit the same old seed, but this randomization can get very annoying at times. 

Star Wars The Force Unleashed: This was next on my list of short-to-long games I own list. I watched Mark play it years ago and it seemed good. I've vanquished my second Jedi master.

I really like this story of Vader bringing up a force sensitive child to help him defeat the emperor. It should totally be a Star Wars film. It's probably too dark for hollywood though.

The gameplay is pretty great too. You are totally a badass force weilder, picking up just about anything and throwing it at foes, throwing foes themselves right into orbit, and - my favorite - using force lightning. You can upgrade all these abilities as you level up.

There is some exploration as there are glowy cubes (forget the name of them) you can find that give you points which, I think, help with XP. I should mention too, that even though you are totally powerful, the battles with Jedi Masters are no walk in the park on the default, challenging, difficulty. 

Oh, and this game begins by having you control Vader at the height of his powers. Those Wookies didn't have a chance. Perfect!

Rayman 3 HD: I was worn out by that second Jedi Master fight, and so was the main character, so I started the next game on my list, Rayman 3 HD. I'd played this before but got stuck, I think, in an area where you have to break down three doors in sequence with a time limit. I figured it out this time, but now I'm not sure if that was the place I stopped the first time. I'm thinking now I got all the way to the final boss and stopped there. I'm not sure, but if an achievement pops up, I'll know I'm in new territory. 

This is actually a very smooth 3D platformer. I think it controls really well. I'm overly sensitive to camera and control issues in platformers because they task my patience, and any technical fault really contributes to my frustrations. Not a problem here, I think. I like the music too. There's quite a bit of funk. Interesting in a French game. 

Well, that was a day. I'm in a kind of summer break right now for a few weeks. Work starts again in a few weeks and I start another class next week. So, there'll be a lot of gaming, I think.