MIDI Week Singles: "The Beginning" - Kholat (PC)

"The Beginning" from Kholat on the PC (2015)

Composer: Arkaduisz Reikowski

Album: Kholat Original Soundtrack

Label: Self Published / Bandcamp

Developer: IMGN.PRO

[To date, I have only played the demo for Kholat, but once I finish up with SOMA, I have a feeling that Kholat will be close behind.  But now onto the music.]

It should be noted, that while the music is written by Polish composer Arkaduisz Reikowski, the vocals were sung by Penelopa Willmann-Szynalik, whom I cannot find out much information apart from the soundtracks she has sung on and her personal youtube page.

For me, what first comes to mind with this song, is Javier Navarrete's soundtrack from Pan's Labyrinth, specifically the opening track, "Long, Long Time Ago / Hace mucho, mucho tiempo" which contains the lullaby often heard throughout the film, although less fantastical feeling here in Kholat, but still melancholy.  And what you may not be able to decipher from just the song, without any context, is that this music is from a survival horror game that takes place around the Dyatlov Pass area of Russia.  I love that, for myself at least, the song works very well on its own without context from the game, although I am very excited to find out how this theme is worked into or around the narative of the game.

One of the things that I love about Penelopa Willmann-Szynalik's voice here, are the different tones she uses.  There is the humming tone, the "nuh" tone, the "huh" tone, and then at the end (2:26.83) where it almost sounds like she is screaming or yelling in the most subdued and musical way possible.  It is sad, beautiful and haunting all at the same time all without any words, which for someone who doesn't sing (aside from death metal growling) is quite impressive.

I thought this song would be a fitting end to our month long selections of "scary" music, in part because of its sad tone, which I somewhat interpret as in remembrance to the nine students who lost their lives in the Dyatlov Pass, but more than likely, because of the events that take place in-game, of which I know nothing.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Instrumental

First Impressions: The Witcher (PC)

This is a (sort of) First Impressions article for the similar reasons that my First Impressions-type post for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind took me about 35 hours of gameplay before I felt comfortable putting my time and experience down into words.  So after 22 hours and 29 minutes with The Witcher, I wanted to talk a bit about this first game in The Witcher series and not about The Witcher III which more recently came out in May of last year (2015)  This is The Witcher from 2007.

I first started playing a few months back, and even just the game asking a question about control settings took me a bit my surprise.  The question was if I wanted to play with the keyboard/mouse or just the mouse.  My preconception of the game was that it was Skyrim-esque, in that it was a 3rd person, over the shoulder fantasy adventure game set in an open world..  As it turns out, The Witcher could actually be played more like Diablo or Neverwinter Nights, with a semi-isometric camera angle and clicking where you want the protagonist to go.  I decided to use the mouse/keyboard option as I at first didn't know what the "mouse only" option entailed and that was what I became used to in the first area.

One thing I noticed was that your character, Geralt of Rivia, seemed to move a lot faster than the number of footsteps he was taking; it probably also didn't help that in the close up camera mode you are unable to even see Geralt's feet.  In the farther away view (mainly usable in the Mouse mode, but still usable in Keyboard/Mouse), Geralt seems to move more naturally, but I still personally prefer the up close, over the shoulder view.

Something that I love about the game so far, is the visual asthetic to this foreign world.  Maybe because the story of the game is Polish and developed by a Polish company, the game feels more foreign to me than say, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or even Baldur's Gate.  And even though this world is populated by high fantasy standards such as Elves, Dwarves, werewolves, and wizards, there are flavors such as the names of characters and places, fist fighting in taverns, gambling by dice, and copious amounts and types of alcohol which all lend to  a very eastern European flavor that is not present in other swords and sorcery tales; now I feel like I am stereotyping and I apologize.

There is also a small part of my brain that tells me that I am either not "playing this game correctly" or vastly under-utilizing certain traits and skills in the game such as using magic, and brewing potions and oils.  Only last night did I realize that I missed acquiring a fire spell, something that would be of great use in the swamps and against these damnable plants sporting rotting corpses.  (Next time I play I'm going to see if I can backtrack to the camp where the fire spell was first supposed to be picked up).  I also forgot about how to brew potions and oils since it was briefly covered in the opening area, but I have been collecting everything that I am able to collect to, potentially, brew into a potion. One other area that I am pretty sure that I am deficient in is the money gathering department.  22 1/2 hours in, and I have only had one piece of chestal armor, which is the one that is given to you.  The armorer in the first large city you come to, Vizima, sells a suit of. . .some kind of armor that I'm not 100% sure about, but it costs 5,000 Orens (the unit of currency) and I only seem to have between 1,500 and 2,200 Orens at any given time.

As far as how the game looks and runs, some of the character animations seem off, the clipping of hair/hands/weapons and bodies move around, as well as parts of the character models glitching and extending off into infinity, you know, 2007.  All of these graphical defects aside though, the game is still very much playable and I have yet to come across something that completely hampers my ability to play the game (looking at you Fallout: New Vegas!).

So that is kind of where I am at right now, occasionally sexed, underpaid, under-knowledgeable and frequently killed by that bloody damn stupid carnivorous plant bastard.  I guess I just need to do some more grinding.  LEVEL grinding!  Jeez.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Instrumental

P.S.  One last thing.  I love how the cities are populated.  You have characters who might typically be found at an inn, but maybe only during a certain time of the day, such as between dusk and midnight because that's when the musicians are playing, but not because the musicians are playing, but music helps to make a atmosphere more conducive to drinking.  Or, a Dwarf might wander between the inn and another named Dwarf's residence because they know each other.  Basically, these fictional digital people have fictional lives of their own (kind of).

P.P.S.  Oh, and another one last thing that I thought was pretty cool which happened when I was out by the docks and it started raining.  Everyone, with exception of the local guards ran from where they would normally be, and all huddled under the overhang of the walkway down to the docks.

Thoughts About The Nintendo Switch

Just to get it out of the way, Nintendo's new console/handheld hybrid, the Nintendo Switch has me excited more than either the Wii or the Wii U when they were first announced (2006, and 2011 respectively), which is probably why the last Nintendo console I bought was the GameCube sometime back in 2002.

If you haven't yet watched the video that Nintendo released yesterday (10/20/16), I highly recommend that you go and watch it.  Or you can watch it here/below, because that's the way the Internet works nowadays (hey, "nowadays" is actually a legit word).

What I gather from this long (but very welcome) announcement trailer, is the following:

• The Switch looks like the Wii U gamepad with detachable controllers.
• The Switch will use game carts, visually similar to the DS and 3DS carts.
• The Switch connects to your TV via docking station which doubles as a charging station.
• The Switch will be open to more initial 3rd party developers than Wii U.
• The Switch will be able to communicate with other Switches, at least when in close proximity.

And as for what I want to know:

• As is the case with everything that charges, what is the play time/life of a single charge?  What about the difference in life between the detachable controllers and the screen unit?
• Will the screen of the Switch be a touch screen? (Since it wasn't shown to have this functionality in the video, I'm feeling that it won't be.
• Which games, if any, will be backwards compatible via Nintendo's Virtual Console?
• Will the Switch be able to communicate with the 3DS?  (I actually don't know why I'm wondering this as I am not expecting it to be the case, just curiosity I guess).
• What are the online capabilities?  Wifi, 4G/3G?
• Will there be a built in web browser similar to the 3DS?
• What will the hard drive size of the Switch be since I do not see Nintendo doing away with digital downloads?  Will there be multiple units with different size drives at vastly different prices?
• Current rumor is that the unit will cost $300?
• What will the starting package include?  Docking station, controller, game(s)?
• Will the package come with a travel case?  I don't like the idea of carrying around, essentially a gaming tablet without some kind of dedicated storage case.

By the time you read this, there will have been hundreds of dozens of other sites with their own speculations about additional accessories, games that are, are not, or should be released on the Switch, as well as their own criticisms of Nintendo's design for their new system.  As of this writing, there are currently 322,000 results on Google for "Nintendo Switch," (1,8600,000 as of this posting) but I do not mind throwing our proverbial hat in the already densely crowded pool of Internetal thoughts.

I obviously have more questions about 3rd party support for both past and future games and auxiliary specs (battery life, hard drive, colors, memory card, et cetera), but I am sure that those will be revealed in the coming months.  So until then, we all will just have to sit back, speculate and filter through everyone else's reactions, speculations, and trolls out there.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

 Instrumental

MIDI Week Singles: "Ghost Mansion BGM" - Super Mario World (SNES)

"Ghost Mansion BGM" from Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991)

Composer: Koji Kondo

Album: Super Mario World 

Label: Warner - Pioneer

Developer: Nintendo EAD

I thought about using this song for today's article because "World Clear Fanfare" came up the other day, and I immediately though that "Ghost Mansion BGM" would be a perfect selection for this month.

One of the things that I love about "Ghost Mansion BGM" is that it is never able to fully make it through the main theme from Super Mario World, which is first used as the "Overworld BGM" in the first stage (Yoshi Island 1).  It's almost like the creepy  piano-esque tone of the "do-do-dee-do" and the "aaaahhhh" ghostly noise are too much for the melody to continue and it cuts off after a few bars.  I just think it's a pretty cool way of presenting a song that you will have heard at least two variations of by the time you reach the first Ghost House (Donut Ghost House in the Donut Plains), which is probably why my brain "recalls" hearing the entire Overworld BGM in the Ghost House, but that is actually not the case.

So enjoy this slightly creepy and exceedingly nostalgic diddy from the ever great Koji Kondo.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

This Temple Is Reduced To Ash

First Impressions: The Hat Man: Shadow Ward (PC)

The Hat Man: Shadow Ward is an inexpensive game developed by Game Mechanics LLC that I picked up a while back (last year?) when it was on sale (so, it was about $1, which included the soundtrack apparently), and for that price, I am kind of okay with that.  Had I paid $15, I would be upset, a little annoyed, but ultimately I would probably stick with my purchase as I do not feel the need to demand a refund every time I purchase something that I am not happy with through no fault of the developer.  What research I did before purchasing The Hat Man: Shadow Ward consisted of watching the trailer, looking through the available pictures, seeing the price be somewhere around very cheap, and bought it, so ultimately, no arguments.  Now that that is out of the way, let's talk about The Hat Man: Shadow Ward.

The description of the game on Steam says that you "discover the horror of the Canton insane asylum as you attempt to rescue your daughter."  Okay, pretty vague, yet you know the basic plot.  The trailer too gives a pretty decent depiction of what to expect.  

To date, I have spent 38 minutes with this game so I can only comment on what little of the game that I have played, which is pretty much the whole point of these First Impressions articles.  But after the 38 minutes, my reaction was kind of, "Meh."

Initially I was a little confused as to what I was supposed to be doing, after finding out in-game that my daughter was not in her room in the asylum/hospital that she was staying in.  Without giving too much away, everything went from this:

to this:

in nearly the blink of an eye.

So you the player, who has the option of playing as either the Mother or Father (and both are fully voice acted (not great, but not Resident Evil on the PSX bad) end up looking for your daughter who has inexplicably gone missing.  The rest of my time was spent playing a clone-esque skin of Slender: The Eight Pages, all the way down to actually collecting pages through what seemed like a procedurally generated lower floor of a not very well maintained psychiatric hospital.  Once I realized that, at least this part of The Hat Man: Shadow Ward, was the game that I was playing, my interest plummeted dramatically.  Similar to how my interest in the full game Slender: The Arrival dropped off when I reached the stage in the game that was paying homage/a remake of Slender: The Eight Pages.  This was not the game that I thought I was signing up for and I am not sure how I feel about that.

I will say that very often the game looks very good, which the occasional exception, such as door handles being two dimensionally "printed" onto doors, but that is purely cosmetic.  One other annoyance I noticed, was that early on, there was a door that was partly opened that I was unable to interact with.  Sure, the closed door that I could not open or interact with, the fact that it was closed with no door handle meant that I could not open it, but a door five inches open should be able to be opened.  Unless of course that there is a corpse blocking the door.  One other instance that bothered me was that a particular item was established, early on and in an obvious manner to have a secondary effect, that I have not found to be universal.  Yeah, that is a bit of a vague statement, but give yourself 10 minutes in the game and you will realize what I meant.

One last interesting thing, is that when you start the game, you are prompted to set the screen size and graphics quality, which for me I have it at "Good" rather than "Fantastic" or "So So" since "Fantastic" runs very slow for me.  Even on "Good" which is playable, runs at about 20 fps max, and even on "So So," I max out at 20 fps.

Well, that is my limited experience with The Hat Man: Shadow Ward, a seemingly Slender: The Eight Pages clone set in a procedurally generated asylum.  And while the game is pretty scary, it is scary for similar reasons that Slender is scary: that you know you are being hunted in a contained area while forced to collect pages before you either die or beat the game.  There is even an achievement for beating the game in under 30 minutes, so it is at least obvious to the developers that there is, at the absolute bare minimum, 29 minutes 59 seconds worth of content here, and honestly, if you loved Slender: The Eight Pages and want to play a similar game with a different setting, then The Hat Man: Shadow Ward is right up your darkened alley.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I Live In A Dark World, Where No Light Shines Through

P.S.  But do not forget:

Game Review: Fantasy Life (3DS)

I had previously written a decently sized article (~1300 words, or 4 doubles spaced pages for the schooling types) for today about the 2014 Level 5 3DS game Fantasy Life, but after looking over the article, I realized that I said a fair amount without covering the game to the extent that I wanted to.  I will use snipits from what I had written, but this article will (hopefully) be much shorter and more concise.  Let's do better this time.

Fantasy Life in a nutshell, is a semi open world high fantasy game set in the world of Reveria, centered on the Kingdom of Castele, where after designing your avatar and selecting one of 12 jobs (referred to in-game as a "Life") you are tasked with saving the planet from prophetically being wiped from existence as "Doomstones" fall from the sky, turning normally passive creatures into aggressive monsters.  On the surface it is pretty standard JRPG fare, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, which is all for the better.

One of the main difficulties I have found in attempting to write an accurate review of Fantasy Life though, is because of the 12 Lives to choose from.  Each Life has its own skills and quests, which do take up a good portion of time not involved with the main storyline.  I had my character Jaquon live as a Blacksmith (mainly because of how much fun I had playing Weapon Shop de Omasse, although I figured that the smithing of the items would not be as intricate) and I only played the introductory quest for the Paladin and Hunter Life, so combined with the main storyline, that is all I know of the game.  And, I did not even finish the Blacksmithing quests since I was unable to find a store to buy the necessary parts for additional smithing of more difficult gear, so I cannot comment on how fulfilling completing the Blacksmith Life was.

As far as the main storyline, I would say that I enjoyed about 75% of it, and the rest I felt was a bit slow.  Granted there was a lot of dialogue here, almost more than I would have expected (which is not a bad thing), but a number of the main quest points involved checking in back at your house, then going back to the area you just left in order to talk to the person you just turned the previous quest into so that you could see how they were doing.  It definitely felt like the game designers wanted the player to explore the world or work at their job/Life before going back to talk to people, but after 20 some odd hours I just wanted to get on with the main quest.  I believe this is because with the Blacksmith job, I had progressed it as far as I was able to (without looking up online for a solution).

One of the highlights for me was the art style, which I discovered was illustrated by Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D) and was conceived by Takuzuo Nagano, who was also the principal artist for the Professor Layton series.  And, as I mentioned in the MIDI Week Single I posted back in May, Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy, Rad Racer, Terra Battle) composed the soundtrack, which has a large collection of songs that exude the "Let's go on an adventure!" sentiment, which is what this game is when you break it all down.

By the end of the game, I was a little surprised that it ended how it did, but at the same time, how the game ended was very fitting for how the rest of the game played out.  In total, I spent 34 hours 20 minutes playing, with an average playtime of 35 minutes, which I feel is a good representation of how I played the game.  I never found myself settling in and investing hours into the game in a single sitting, I never felt that Fantasy Life needed that kind of an investment.  Playing it in half hour bursts seemed just about right, at least for how I played the game.

Would I recommend Fantasy Life?  Sure, it's a fun, well written game with a really good soundtrack and an unintimidating (sp?) storyline that would be accessible to pretty much anyone who might enjoy an RPG.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
The Good And The Bad Times. . .

P.S.  In my first attempt at this article, I had included the opening cinematic, which shows off both the artistic style, the music and the general feel for the game, but I could not find the perfect way to fit into the body of the article, so here it is for your visual and auditory enjoyment

MIDI Week Singles: "Annex - Silent Madness" - Castlevania (N64)

"Annex - Silent Madness" from Castlevania (aka Castlevania 64) on the Nintendo 64 (1999)

Composer: Masahiko Kimura, Motoaki Furukawa, & Mariko Egawa

Album: Castlevania The Original Game Soundtrack

Label: Konami of Europe

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe

Well today I found out that two of the Castlevania soundtracks that I had purchased (one on eBay, and the other from an old video game music store based out of Southern California) are bootlegs, which makes me a little sad.  All of the music is the same, but the packaging is different, and obviously the money didn't go to either Konami or the composers; although even if it had been the official soundtrack, buying off of eBay wouldn't have given anyone deserving of the money their cut anyway, but that's a whole other ball of onions.

That aside, I felt like using a track from Castlevania during the month of October would be expected, but I wanted to use a track that you, our dear reader may not be as familiar with as say, "Vampire Killer," "Bloody Tears" or "The Wicked Child."  This track, "Annex - Silent Madness" is much more subdued than the aforementioned Castlevania songs, as well as others from NES, SNES, Game Boy and later systems, but it fits in very well with the rest of the music from Castlevania (64).  This music plays when your character, either Reinhardt Schneider or Maria Fernandez, explores in the inside of The Villa, a large house, somewhat reminiscent of the Umbrella Mansion in Resident Evil, although much smaller, and was based off the Château d'Azay-le-Rideau in France.  

But that is beside the point.  What I love about this song as well as the whole Villa area, is that there is a sense of exploration and less about trying to whip at flying Medusa heads or charging zombies.  There is almost no sense of urgency and is replaced by a feeling of uncomfortable calm.  If I recall correctly, within the Villa, there is only one monster that you end up fighting, which is very unlike any Castlevania game to that date.

I wish I could tell you which of the three composers wrote this track, but all the information that I have been able to find only lists the composers as a group without separating who composed which track.  Additionally, I am not as familiar with any of the composers and their discography to be able to tell whose style the song was written in.  So, we will just have to credit all three with this wonderfully subtle and hopeful, yet creepy tune.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Dancing With The Devil

Smonthly Update: Smocktober

(there will be no further references to smocks)

Hello and Good morning.  It's a sunny day and the weather has been beautiful.  Definitely the mornings and evenings are much colder now, but the afternoons can still be warm.  It's hard to adjust, and sometimes I complain about it when I should be enjoying it.  

Since last month, I've seen and done lots of little things of note, except that I haven't constructed any posts to talk about them.  Yes, I'm still having trouble with that one.  I like to think of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency,  I just want find myself guided to make posts, I don't want to artificially force myself to post, as though it were a job.  I already have a job, and it is long and boring.  

I haven't been writing lately, even in my journal, which is my main writing practice.  While in real life, I am a financial assistant, I think I still have the fantasy that I'm actually a novelist.  A novelist without a book . Something like that.   

Speaking of novels, I read Haruki Murakami's massive tome: 1Q84.  It took a long time, but I pressed forward, steadily.  I got the book from the library, but it was so huge, that I hated holding it and lugging it around, so I downloaded a copy and put it on my phone.  I use the UB reader app to read on my phone. My phone is big enough and the app is clear enough, that I find it not a bad way to read.  It definitely is not the same thing, and I generally prefer paper books, but it sure is convenient, especially for reading on my lunch break, which is my current pasttime.

1Q84 was an odd, slow-moving book.  I cant recommend it to everyone, and certainly not as a first Murakami read.  I believe it's the fifth book of Murakami that I've read, and it seems like about the right timing.  As with all the other Murakami books I"ve read, 1Q84 employs dream logic liberally, which creates a sense of strangeness and mystery.  The plot rises in falls in ways far different from the usual sort of tension building, climax, finale sort of adventure books I often read.  When I finished I had to ask myself if I actually enjoyed it.  

I decided that I did.  The slowness and the length allowed me to really sit with the characters for a good long time, and become invested in them.  And while there were answers for very few of the many questions raised in the book, I was okay with the resolution.  This is a big part of why I can't recommend the book to others, because there are many who will not be happy with having mysteries that are simply never adequately explained.  I find with Murakami it is best to interface with the ideas on a primal level, decide how they make you feel, and accept that their purpose is to make you feel that way, while serving a plot function as well.  It's hard to explain.

Since finishing my book, I've moved on to 'A Storm of Swords' by George R. R. Martin.  I have a copy of this series on my phone, so I usually just turn to it when I'm between books.  These books are a really easy read, and I never have trouble getting into them.  This is either the second or third time I've read through them, but this time I'm going through in reverse order.  It started over a year ago when I wanted a refresher on books 4 and 5.  I can't say I recommend it, as this time through, I'm taking note of many of the various names and places, and I can't recall if they go on to do anything in the later books.  

I will say that Martin's world-building continues to impress me.  While the books may seem somewhat rambling and expansive as they move along, I find that the history of Westeros seems pretty tightly bound and well-managed.  There are many reminders that the place and time of this story is just one in a long, long history.  I get a sense of the laws and rules of the world and how much the characters are caught up within them, sometimes without realizing it.  There's no justice in this world, but there are also no winners.  Everyone loses, it's just a matter of when.  Grim, but gripping.  

Further media notes include:  Saw the first two episodes of Luke Cage on Netflix last night.  So far, it is very good.  The characters are interesting, and motivated, there are some who are set up to be bad guys, but at the same time are victims of circumstance.  Similar to Game of Thrones, there are just some things that are out of their control.  I am very interested to see how this plays out.  

Finally, Jane and I watch Steven Universe almost every night.  It's... really great.  I kinda want to ramble endlessly about it, but I'm just going to keep watching and see what happens next.  Peridot is my fav, for the record.

-D

Monthly Update: October 2016

Well how's that for an update for September and now October!?

Sorry, I shouldn't get all snipity.

This post was supposed to go up on Monday October 3rd, but I became busy with upcoming weekend activities and became unable to complete writing this article, so you will have to deal with a Friday October 7th posting for my Monthly Update.

So what have I been up to these last couple of weeks?  Finally nailing down an internship which included an interview for a temporary state job located 43 miles to the south as well as one conference call (and almost a dozen emails) with a local accounting firm for whom I am now interning for.  Oh, and another state job, but local this time who I have emailed a couple of times and have sent in a letter describing why I would be good for the job, but I will not be taking, mainly because I do not think that it would meet the requirements for the internship which is required for me to finish the accounting program that I am all but finished with.

But all that boring normal life stuff aside, September was semi-productive.  I finally finished Fantasy Life, which I have been meaning to complete and post the associated article.  I then decided to start up Resident Evil: Revelations, which I still haven't looked up where it falls in the Resident Evil timeline, so I may decide to put that one off it takes place after Resident Evil 5 or 6 as I have yet to play either of those games; although I do have RE5 sitting patiently in my Steam Queue, as well as a few other games.  And continuing with the horror games, last week I decided to boot up Outlast again, but this time to start the Whistleblower DLC, which is a prequel to the main story.  I am, I believe, about 2/3's of the way through (based on achievements acquired) and at least at the moment, I am not enjoying the game as much as the main game, but that could be that it just stresses me out a lot, frequently letting myself be killed by whatever happens to be chasing me in the particular area that I am trying to escape from, all so that I do not have to use up a holy battery (this is because in Outlast, whenever you respawn, your existing battery is returned to a fully charged state and saves having to use up a holy battery).

I also, albeit briefly, got back into Morrowind, but that was because I kept putting off the main quest in the Tribunal expansion and I really want to know/see/find out what happens with Almalexia and Sotha Sil in Mournhold.  Although there is a really annoying Bosmer whom I dread coming across in the Temple Court Yard district. . .ah well, so is the plight of the Nerevarine.

In non-horror game related news, I have also created, roughly six characters in Dragon Age: Origins as I am either not happy with the design/look of the character, or I may have forgotten to pick the particular voice and wasn't happy with the one that I accidentally landed on.  It also doesn't help that DA:O has six opening stories (which I am sure will all whittle down to one main story point that each starting point will eventually reach), and I am semi on the fence about which one I want to fully pursue, presently I have a Human mage and a Elven thief.  In similar fantasy related gaming, I'm picking The Witcher back up again while waiting for the Skyrim: Special Edition to come out later in the month.

Oh, and an update about my time with Fallout: New Vegas, which came to a grinding halt a few weeks back.  Apparently the game did not at all like one of the updates that Windows performed and now the game crashes after I select a game file to load.  I'll be further perusing Nexus for fixes, but until I find something, my cumulative 21 hours (spread out among three different characters and only one who made it past Goodsprings) in the wastes of the Mojave Desert will have to wait.

And it was this not working of F:NV that got me to finally going through the DLC campaigns for Borderlands, since I felt like I needed a break from that world after finished the main campaign sometime last year when we were still over at our original digs.  I'm, about 85% of the way through the Dr. Zed story, which has provided a consistent amount of new area zombie killing fun.

Lastly (at least for now), I have again misplaced my stylus for my 3DS.  There's a little nubbin on the end of the stylus that keeps it in its little cubby-hole in the back of the 3DS unit, but that nubbin is worn very small and so the stylus has a habit of not wanting to stay put.  Last week I lost it for a few days and Conklederp found it by our front door, and yesterday I misplaced it again between putting the 3DS in my man purse, taking it out a few hours later to have with me when I was in the grocery store, then when I took it out a few hours later, the stylus was missing.  So the hunt is on again, although hopefully contained to a much smaller area.

So this will wrap things up, at least for now.  I'm pretty sure there were other updatey things I wanted to go over, probably something about our D&D group (and we had a great session in the end of September where I nearly one hit killed two people with a single attack. . .trap. . .thing.  It was pretty great.

Looking into October, hopefully my posts will be more consistent than the last couple of weeks.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Into The Heart Of Cold

MIDI Week Singles: "Lux Tenebras" - Amnesia: The Dark Descent (PC)

"Lux Tenebras" from Amnesia: The Dark Descent on the PC (2010)

Composer: Mikko Tarmia

Album: Amnesia -The Dark Descent-

Label: The Sound of Fiction

Developer: Frictional Games

In case you were wondering, the title roughly translates to "Light the Darkness."  Having only played through Amnesia: The Dark Descent once, I cannot recall where specifically this track is played, but it really feels like it is the climactic realization denouement scene, possibly where you realize that all you have done to regain your memory (because it's in the game's title) has been for naught.  Mentally, I am conjuring up memories from Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, which was developed by half of the same company, but a different composer (Jessica Curry).

All of the preceding paragraph was why I decided to use "Lux Tenebras" for today's MIDI Week Single, and also because since we're entering the hallowed month of October, I figured I would continue with what I did last year and use either creepy music or music from creepy games.  And while "Lux Tenebras" may not be traditionally scary, the game it hails from definitely gave me a number of starts, both out of fear and frustration.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Constant Chill Deep Inside