Self reported deaths and words instead of voice
I actually had a moment of OH MY GOD I NEED TO TALK ABOUT GAMES. And I think perhaps I am going to work something out where you may hear me and Wife again. But for now, let's talk with text and words and the printed page of the screen you are looking at if for some reason you decided to click on this.
Let's talk about FTL. Holy fuck. FTL is one of the best games in years. Because it scratches that Syndicate/Dune 2 itch. It reminds me of bleary nights in college when all my friends were trying to get laid and I was drinking Natty Light whilst explaining to a disinterested party that the 486-40DX was the sensible choice and that my roommate's DX25 was VASTLY inferior.
Those games were all about risk management- and moving little blips around a screen to maximize your performance. And I loved them so. They seemed so vast, so limitless. There's really been few times since that I've felt that. GTA 3. Civilization. Sim City. The walls around these games are hard to see, even though they are there.
FTL doesn't compete with that wonder- but it does distill all the things I loved into a $10 game available on Steam. And it was a Kickstarter! I feel such shame at not being there from the beginning. I DIDN'T KNOW. I'm sorry.
I also bought Borderlands 2. But do you see the game that has my heart? Not the one I thought. The one I bought waiting on Borderlands 2 to come out. That's the one I can't stop thinking about.
I downloaded a game maker and made a game. It's absolutely terrible and basic. But I did enjoy the process and think I may try that again. This post should be an indication to you that I'm feeling restless. I've been playing less and reading more. I've been thinking about big picture-y things. None of that lends itself to Borderlands 2, which demands you trod through similar areas and click on things until they die and you see green arrows that give you better ways to click on things. I'm not enjoying the grind. I feel like I'm wasting my time.
But the funny thing is that you can level that at FTL. in FTL you start over from scratch every time. It seems like the height of futility- and believe me I've seen the end boss that is the grand maestro of futility (on Easy, nonetheless). But it's a game I am marveling at- thinking about how it was made and how tough it must have been for TWO PEOPLE to make the decisions that they made. Borderlands 2 is safe and beautiful and more Borderlands.
That's not bad. It's really not. It's just not inspiring.
Next week? XCOM. You'll be hearing from me.
