Always Burning Brightly

Finally.

Finally, I could set my sword down, could rest my weary bones and know relaxation in this damnable world.  Scant as it was, it was my only reprieve these days and I dare not go a moment without cherishing it, holding it dearly as it deserves.  This bonfire - these bonfires, I should say, as they're scattered about the lands - was simple in appearance, but were vital little structures and I cannot recall just how many times I had silently hoped and prayed to witness one while exiting the throes of one battle and staggering blindly to the next.  Though, to call some of the encounters I had been in a 'battle' would be rather charitable to me, and I'm not sure I deserve such a kindness.

Looking across the flickering flames surrounding the buried sword, I was nearly startled to see the form of another man, but quickly contained myself.  It happened sometimes, seeing these figures that I had been told were 'shadows' of other worlds similar to this one, but it never ceased to raise the hairs on the back of my neck at the very least.  I knew I had fled from the first one, thinking it was yet another opponent set to kill me in this land that was filled with creatures of a similar interest, but returned when I saw him settle before the fire and fade.  Who knew where he was now - his armor was fairly impressive and heavy and I guessed that his survival was not in question, but it was a more existential query than that.  I wondered where he was now, for I had no idea just where I was going myself.

Details had been offered to me piecemeal, little bits here and there from the few 'friendly' faces that I could hope to see, yet it pained me to even call them that.  Too many times had I looked into the eyes of a human while they desperately sought to hold onto their sanity, only to look into those same eyes as they died by my blade because they'd lost it.  Logan, his shy eyes beneath his titular big hat, Rhea, her pure gaze amidst the white garbs that framed her face, and the sad, sad man whose name I never was entrusted with, only knowing him as the debased warrior who mocked me in my initial pursuit in this world.  Their killings, on the back of so many that I had performed, were the ones that stuck with me, that still found a way to disturb me in these quiet moments that were supposed to be peaceful.

'Disturbing' was a good word for yet another of the few that I knew, however.  Not a man or a woman, but rather a.....beast who called himself a Primordial Serpent.  "Kingseeker Frampt", or simply Frampt as I had come to know him.  He stretched on for what I believed to be miles, as I never had the chance to see his tail, only knowing that he poked his disgusting head out of a pit that looked bottomless.

"Chosen Undead," he had said as I wandered into his realm for the first time, "Chosen Undead, who has rung the Bell of Awakening; I wish to elucidate your fate.  Do you seek such enlightenment?"  'Yes,' I had cried, 'Yes, tell me, tell me everything, make me understand just what has transpired, who I am, what I am!'  I was desperate, eager to finally know that which kept me bound to this world that I had no knowledge of, to finally know just what this world actually was.  I would have settled for simply walking away from the encounter knowing anything more than I had that would assist in making things clearer.

Frampt only left me with more questions.

"Very well.  Then I am pleased to share."  Frampt's maw had contorted into something that I instinctively knew was meant to be a smile, but it was very far from.  "Chosen Undead, your fate is...to succeed the Great Lord Gwyn, so that you may link the Fire, cast away the Dark and undo the curse of the Undead."  Who was the Great Lord Gwyn that Frampt was so pleased to mention, yet never describe?  What was the Dark?  And what of the Undead?  He spoke as if I were one of these, though right now in my human form, I felt air in my lungs, I felt blood pump through my veins and, at times, out of them when I suffered a wound and I knew the warmth of fire in all its forms as well as the biting cold which was rare and not something that permeated my form often.  I knew life, yet I was dead in his eyes.  He did not know of my confusion, or did not mind it, as he simply moved on with his speech.

"To this end, you must visit Anor Londo and acquire the Lordvessel."

"Of course," I had said bitterly.  My grip on the sword in my hand tightened and I looked down to its long, darkened blade.  I had retrieved this from a fearsome enemy, a Knight wearing charred-black armor, a being that should have been dead, immolated, yet walked and fought on.  The sword of this Black Knight had been particularly effective and proved to be my saving grace on more than one occasion.  And though I gathered more and more weapons, not a one hoped to match the power that this blade offered.  With it, I could fell enemies in a slice or two and my strikes that rang true more often than not spelled an instantaneous death for those who found themselves gutted by it.  That should have gone without saying, but I had seen creatures lose limbs and not know the difference even a second later, so I had little doubt that 'death' was malleable to them in how it was delivered.

I could kill him with it, surely.  I could end his life with a single swipe, removing his head from his serpentine body.  I could cut a bloody swath through any that stood in my path here in the place known as Firelink Shrine.  I had considered it, even, but never acted on it.  There was no need to, though.  While I did not consider those that remained close or dear to me, I also harbored no ill will towards them....or at least most of them.  I had never liked the look the supposed Cleric, Petrus, had given Rhea while she nor her bodyguards watched and when I told her that she was dead after she'd gone hollow and attacked me, the first look he gave me seemed to be that of unguarded resentment, as if I had yanked away a trophy that was only moments from his own grip.  He feigned it as a sour look of loss that a grieving man would have for the person who brought news of a fallen companion but I knew better in my heart.  It was the only genuine moment that I had seen from the man and it still chilled me to think of it.

A sigh emerged from my cracked lips and I shook my head in slight revulsion.  I hated this part of relaxation, finding that my mind always wandered to the mystery that I lived in.  I was currently living another one of those things that I could not understand, for beneath the grey armor that wrapped about me, I was little more than literal skin and bones.  I was Hollow thanks to a careless mistake that resulted in a painful death and took me to another bonfire in the world.  I always found myself awaking at a bonfire, glancing into the merrily dancing flames with a new coldness radiating from my core.  Even in this form, I was alive, but I was closer to 'Undead' than I cared to be.  Still, I found that sometimes I preferred this form, because dying when you're almost dead anyway hurt a lot less than when you were a human.  And I had died a lot.  I knew the true pain as everyone else did.  I understood their struggles with madness, for sometimes I didn't know if I had lost my own.  For death to be a repeatable act....well, it was not originally meant for beings so fragile of mind as we.

Perhaps that is why I chuckled at the strange idea that I had.  My memories always arose in these situations, so perhaps it was time to make use of it.  In my head, I saw the man who had been a mere shadow across from me, sitting just as I was.  And I saw more, others, sharing this bonfire with me.  We all sat, we all stared into the fire as it burned and offered comfort and we all knew of the others presence.  I could see them, and perhaps they could see me.  Perhaps if I wished it, they could hear me as well.

"Friends," I croaked and coughed, shaking my head.  This form would not do for what I had planned.  So leaning forward, I offered a little of myself to the flames and felt the muscles and definition return to my frame, felt the mass of blonde hair that hung to the sides of my head untangle and regain its volume from the stringy wisps it had been reduced to.  I could moisten my lips again and so I did, looking from the fire to the eyes of the many gathered here in my head.

"Friends, I don't know you and you don't know me, but we share this hell in a sense.  That makes us comrades in arms.  So let me ease your minds a little with a tale.

Let me tell you my story."

Bonus Post: The Fiction of Kupowered

Folks might notice that I've added a little something to the sidebar, something that might seem rather curious at first glance, but it should become fairly obvious as to what it is in short-order.  Still, I didn't want to just throw it up there (especially at the top) without giving it a little explanation first.  Especially since it's kind of a big thing for me.

The new gadget that sits atop my sidebar is "The Fiction of Kupowered" which is something that I'm going to use to collect and keep the posts that I do in a sort of story-like manner.  It started back last year when Far Cry 3 inspired me so damn much I had to tell my story of a completely random situation I found myself in while playing the game.  A situation that was more or less unique to me thanks to just how many random elements were involved.  I was impressed with Far Cry 3 itself because of this and I was also ecstatic for the story that came of it.  And what do you do with good stories?  You share them, of course.  My blogpost that night served as a nice little way to do that and while I don't get a lot of feedback, generally, I did get a few of the people who I know check the site out every now and then point that post out specifically as a good thing.

It was something new, something different, than what I'd done with this blog before and it felt good.  It still does.  Story posts are things I can't obviously do every night, but when I get to do them, they're something quite different and fun in a different way than other posts.  I specifically started this blog as an attempt to write more consistently and thus hopefully improve my skills with it, and my story posts are a bench-mark of that progress I think.  I have mixed feelings about them in all honesty because I like them and am excited about them, but there's always the under-current of "perhaps I'm too close to them" or "everyone is their own worst critic, I should be harder on them" that keeps me....nervous(?) about them, I suppose.  Basically, I like them, but I don't want to seem like I think they're awesome super-great pieces of writing that you should like.

Personal things are always a bit awkward to explain, I suppose, which is why this is weird for me.  As I've said, however, Story posts are rather fun for me, so I intend to keep writing them, and some feedback has indicated that the story posts are also quite enjoyed, so I wanted to feature them in a way.  I worry that top of the blog is a bit much, so I -might- move it down, and as I write a lot, I might have to condense it further somehow, but for now, it's what it needs to be.  At least, that's what I think, but I'm always open to hearing otherwise, of course.

I would like to end this bonus post by saying Thank You to all of the folks who do read this blog on at least a semi-regular basis.  I write because I like to and I want to, but I enjoy constantly doing it at the pace that I do because there are people that like what I put out.  It's encouraging and humbling and all sorts of positive things.  So honestly, thanks to everyone who reads this and I hope you continue to enjoy as I hopefully keep improving.

The Fall of the Arisen

"Master, please don't!"

I heard the voice, but I couldn't place an identity to it.  Regardless, I paid it no heed.  My hand was already gripping tightly the hilt of my new sword and yanking it from its sheathe, perhaps a little faster than I meant.  I missed the heft of my old broadsword, I admit, but what this new blade lacked in density, it more than made up for it in sharpness and speed, impressing even me with the ease that it felled our recent foes.  For that alone, there was no chance that I would not turn this opportunity down, this chance to test my new weapon on an old foe.  Perhaps it was misplaced anger, but since that night that neither I nor my companions spoke of, I found that I could not control my rage when presented with an Ogre.  Seeing one now in the bright light of day, of the wide open space that this cliff-side offered us, it was my chance to slay yet another of them, if only to sate my own irrational distaste.

My feet were running long before I intended to and my blade was already thrust outward - I found myself standing next to my quarry with sword hilt-deep within its thigh before I knew what was happening, allowing me only a moment to pull back as it lurched in surprise and anger.  It wheeled on us in a hurry, growling and announcing its displeasure, but I simply didn't pay attention - I was much more focused on my sword as it re-entered the flesh of the beast again and again.  A frown drew across my face as I realized that it rent flesh from muscle and bone on this creature just as well as my broadsword did, or at least the improvements seemed minimal at best here.  Though this was not, of course, its most sensitive area to strike.  Only then, after realizing that much did I look up, did the voices of my partners start ringing in my ears loudly once more.  Only then did I feel a tinge of regret for my decision.

"They hold the advantage!  We must flee!"

'They' was the operative word, indeed.  I know not how, nor where a second Ogre appeared, but there it was before my eyes, real as the sky was yet blue.  My resolve weakened for but a moment before I gripped harder, set my jaw and grinned a grim smile.

I laughed.  I'm not sure why, really, given the context.

"Bring them all on!  We'll slay the lot of them if we must!"  My boast was near-hollow as I truly worried for our chances with the second Ogre, but as leader, I had to put up a strong front, I suppose.  Or perhaps I simply had to talk myself into it, into the realization that two of them were no match for us, seasoned as we were now.  Though the situation had changed, my desires had not, which I swiftly expressed through another slash at the ankle of the Ogre I fought before my feet left the ground and my hands sought purchase of its flesh.  As I had time and time before, I climbed my way up the creature as I heard the clashing and the clatter of my teammates fighting as well, feeling relieved that they were yet by my side even though my attentions had not been on them for some time.  My hand reeled back and I stabbed forth just as I heard Zero grunt with a similar attack below.  Our coordination sent him back in step, but my assault did not halt until I fell the strength leave my left arm and I toppled to the ground below, shaking my weary appendage to breath life back into it.

It was....a strange battle, to say the least.  I'm not sure how, but we had seemed to communicate a team effort between the four of us, with Zero and I taking one Ogre and Yoko and Aya taking the other on for a time.  After a series of particularly rough hits, I saw Yoko collapse to the ground and rushed to her side once more, finding myself able to bring color back to her cheeks and even life back to her bones.  It had something to do with the connection between Arisen and Pawns, I was sure, but that was where my assumptions ended, unable to surmise anything else about the phenomenon as it occurred.  We both had to roll away as one of the Ogres charged forth and I found myself then teamed with Aya and Zero teamed with Yoko for a time.  Our combat experience seemed to be paying off, as our efforts spoke of a trained unit and not of a mob which surprised me to no end.

I was the one to break rank first, however, as I saw Zero grabbed up in the large hand of the beast she fought, who then began to run off to do nothing I cared to think of.  I gave chase and counted myself and Zero lucky as it stopped and stood straight to gaze over its 'prize' in my companion held firmly in hand.  We were lucky, because it presented an opportunity that I capitalized on, leaping onto its back and climbing around to slash down with the express purpose of separating arm from body.  I failed in my task, unfortunately, but Zero found air in her lungs and ground beneath her once more with energy to spare in battle.  She let out a loud shout as her sword, my old sword, lurched back and struck forward, sinking in deeply to the bone of its knee, causing it to stagger back and even fall to the ground.  I moved swiftly as it fell and found myself level with the top of its head as it was dazed from the fall.  It was simple.

Much as Zero had, I found myself bringing my sword back for a strong thrust forward, sinking my blade deep into the skull, into the brain of our conquest, killing it utterly and completely in one decisive blow.  It had been showing wear, but I shuddered to think of the idea that such a blow would not have been deadly otherwise.  There was no time to rest, however, as the second Ogre was in a frenzy and I turned just in time to see Aya knocked through the air as if she weighed nothing, toppling to the ground with a thud and rolling before finally coming to an all-too-still stop.  While I still did not understand the link I had with these beings, I was thankful that a mere touch awoke them from what would be a deathly slumber otherwise as not only Aya, but Yoko again lay in crumpled heaps on the ground in the wake of the frenzied creature they fought.

I knew it was time to end this, and that simple thought surged through my mind, propelling my tired body forward towards the back of the beast that yet roared and fit, perhaps at the death of its companion or perhaps at its own wounds.  When my blade sank into its back, into its flesh, my thoughts went away as I cared not for its being, its reasoning, but only of its death. 

I was not prepared for how swiftly, nor how strangely, my desire would be met.

The beast lowered itself to all fours which brought vivid flashbacks to my mind of that night in the mines, but I did not get a chance to relive them as it charged forth towards the cliff-face that our battle had precariously took place near the precipice of.  My eyes widened in....surprise, fright, I don't know what, as we drew nearer and nearer.  My sword slashed viciously at the back, the spine of the beast I could not seem to let go of, trying merely to steer it off to the side or stop it altogether.  I knew what was coming, yet perhaps I didn't truly understand it, but then again, what happened was something that is perhaps simply not understandable in the first place.

I'm not sure what is supposed to flash through one's mind when they understand that death is not but a minute away.  For when there was no longer earth beneath the feet, the paws of the Ogre I rode, that is what I realized in an instant.

I was going to die.

I, the Arisen, the supposed hero of the land could see only water below myself and the creature.  Water that we were falling towards at an alarming speed.  Water that I knew held a creature, the 'Brine', would be the cause of my death all the same as it was the death of thousands of others who braved the seas, the oceans of the lands, perhaps foolishly in knowing such a beast existed.  I had seen the beast's handiwork up close when I kicked a goblin off of my sword, launching him into the sea only to witness as a pillar of blood erupted from the depths not a moment later.  It was....terrifying.  Because of this damned creature, that was to be my fate as well.

I suppose it would have been grander if my last visions of this world were of the expansive vista I could overlook from the sky that I was falling through, but my battlelust saw fit to ensure the thing I saw before my death was the demise of my foe.  I'm not sure if the repeated stabs I managed actually finished the Ogre off, but it was a way to vent the frustration I felt in the final moments of my life, in the final moments before our freefall came to a stop.  Though it came to a stop with a lot less of a splash than I anticipated and more of a bone-crushing impact that was thankfully cushioned by the newly-dead Ogre I found myself laying atop.  I stood, frantically looking around to let loose a cackle that surely sounded mad.  We had managed to land on a narrow bank of the massive, deep river that was no more than a foot away from my feet where they stood.  I hurried onto the land as the Ogre was drawn in and disappeared before my very eyes and did not look back as I ran along the narrow earth for I saw a shore and I was going to get to it.  My breath hitched and as my feet stepped in the solid sands of land that offered security from the depths, I allowed myself a reprieve, bending at the waist, hands to my knees as I wanted to laugh, to cry, to retch all at the same time.

I was alive.

I rode on the back of an Ogre as we fell through the air - a distance that I could only squint to see the top of now, it was that far - and managed to survive.  A chuckle escaped my lips after a gasp of breath that was as soothing as the hand that touched my shoulder just then.  I turned to look, expecting the face of Zero, but found that it was Yoko instead and as I straightened and turned fully, I saw only her.  There was a grimness to her eyes that made my question moot, but it had to be asked.  It had to be breathed, to exist, to be communicated that we both knew why it was stated.

"Where's Zero?  And Aya?"

When she said nothing purely because she did not have to say anything, anguish crippled my form and my face dropped into my hands.  Flashes of things I had seen but not registered finally seared into my brain now.  I had looked up during my descent and had seen my three companions similarly falling, though I could not, even now, assume to know why.  Nor how Yoko had survived it as had I.  The Mage spoke now, but I didn't hear it, at least not until her voice was firm, attempting to stem my despair.

"Sir...fallen pawns can be recovered at a Riftstone."

My eyes shot up to hers which seemed to hold confusion in my emotions, but in truth it was my turn then to be confused.  She spoke as if it was nothing, as if their lives were nothing.  I didn't believe her, simply, but I remembered all the times I breathed life into these beings simply by picking them up off of the ground and my doubt wavered.  I allowed myself to hope as we left the beach we had stumbled upon and headed straight for Gran Soren, to the Guild where many Pawns had congregated, had come together for the arrival of the Arisen.  To the Guild that was built around a Riftstone that I had every intention of getting to and nothing was going to stop me.  We made record time, I'm sure and as I saw the odd rock, I almost couldn't approach it.  No, I almost dared not to, fearing the worst.  Still, I drew near to the Riftstone and placed my hand upon it, causing a bright light to shine not only from the stone, but to my left.

I turned to see a form I knew all too well emerge from the light.  With something of a meek wave and a smile, Zero had appeared before my eyes once more, alive as could be.  The rush of emotions surged through me anew and I could not help myself.

I struck her.

She seemed genuinely confused as she straightened from the punch across her face I'd delivered, but that expression melted into one of understanding under my withering gaze.

"Of all the stupid things you could do...", I began, but could not muster the effort to complete the thought.  Nor did I have to as she looked down, understanding the level of disappointment I held in her lack of worth for her own life.  My hand pressed to the Riftstone again and moments later Aya reappeared as well, though I spared her the attack, merely expressing the same amount of disappointment to her in a steeled glare.  All three of the women I had surrounded myself with, entrusted my life with and protected in our travels were back together again.  Our party was complete once more, just that easily.

Yet I made it obvious as I left that I wanted nothing at all to do with them for the time being.

Let Me Actually Talk About Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

I have really said a lot about Dragon's Dogma:  Dark Arisen, without saying very much -about- it at all, I think.  Mostly that I really like it and still really like it a couple weeks later.  I like those stories.  I liked writing them, I like reading them over, and, thankfully, I don't seem to be the only one who likes them, so I will probably continue to do them.  More as a testament to the fact that a game like Dragon's Dogma can inspire me to write those by simply playing it.  I just really don't want there to be any misconceptions associated with my stories and the game itself, because I understand that someone who has no knowledge of Dragon's Dogma:  Dark Arisen might read those stories and go "Well, gee, I wonder how much of that actually happened in the game?".  It's a fair question.

The answer is 99% of it.  I give myself a 1% margin of embellishment for adding character to the pawns, cutting out the bulk of big-bad fights and the occasional NPC interaction.  Which I'll explain in a bit.

Dragon's Dogma is an interesting breed of game that allows -so much-, and you're not really sure as to how it manages to do it.  It is this living, breathing world in a sense, with so much of a background to it that, at times, it almost asks you to sort of 'know' things already.  I assume some of these things are in the Digital Instruction Manual, but I didn't read that because my time with the PS3 is short when I use it and I can't be assed to 'waste' some of it reading inconsequential things that I will eventually figure out on my own.  However, the point is simply that the game is large and impressive alone for that feat, but it offers so much more than that in a way I'm struggling to really explain.

The easiest way around it, I believe, is simply to point out the embellishments that I made in my two little stories to allow you to re-read them and find the full breadth of what Dragon's Dogma actually has and can do.

• Pawns talk a lot more - Seriously, if there's one singular gripe that every single person to play Dragon's Dogma (and Dark Arisen) has, it's that Pawns do not shut the fuck up.  99% of the time, it's inconsequential nonsense that you wish they would stop spouting constantly, and that 1% of the time is the first time they say something useful about a situation or enemy.  Every instance thereafter becomes part of the 99%.  So while I sort of made Rook seem like a twit with the shit he was spouting, the sad fact is that Zero kept saying the same things too.  They both did.  Constantly.  Over and over and over again.  Through the entire ten to fifteen minutes spent on the Cyclops fight alone.  The absurdities of the context with Rook are why I high-lighted them - while I could've used magic items, I assume, neither my character nor Zero can wield magic, being the melee-focused Fighter vocation.  I shouldn't have to say why telling me the eye of the creature is vulnerable while I am literally attacking it is absurd.
• Big fights take a long time - I sort of allude to it in the latter post at least, but if you come across a big beast, you're in it for the long haul if you don't run away.  The fun of it lies in the fact that every big creature that I've encountered so far has a sort of Shadow of the Colossus quality to it where you -want- to climb on them and attack the weak spot for massive damage.  Not only because it makes them go faster/smoother, but because it's badass.  Only thing is, you'll end up doing that a lot, because your stamina only lasts so long and your weapon doesn't do a hell of a lot of damage, even on the weak spot, initially.  (Mind, I'm not super geared out or anything)  So I cut a lot of time by simply inferring time spent, because I don't want to write something that will have a Minutes to read : Minutes to do ratio of 1:1.
• Your pawn is just as dumb as the rest of them - Worth saying again - I really like Zero, but I more like the -concept- of Zero than anything.  (Yes, she is based on Drakengard 3's Zero and yes, my MC is based on Drakengard's Caim.  They are ~Murder Buddies~)  Functionally in Dragon's Dogma, she is the same as any other pawn - there's no real special abilities or anything granted by having her around as opposed to not/having others around.  It just makes for a better story to have these two characters matter, obviously, so it just makes sense to do it that way.
• You cannot murder NPCs - NPCs are invulnerable to a point, from what I can tell.  So while my second story ended with Caim running that merchant through and leaving him for dead, in reality it was just me being frustrated and striking out at something.  I might as well have hit a wall, all told, because the result is the exact same.  The Merchant didn't get mad at me or anything - just sort of got up and went back to his spot.  It's....anti-climactic, unfortunately.

Really, aside from the personalization bits that I added to my main character, those are the only things I really had to change in the transition from what happened in game to what happened in what I wrote.  Which I think is damn impressive, personally.  Everything you do feels personalized, feels like your -own- encounter or scenario, which allows you to have these little stories in your head like this.  For me, that's one of the neatest things that a game -could- do, so it's no surprise that I'm basing my urging on people picking up the game on that alone.  (Relax, Chance, it's not going anywhere so you don't have to get it -now-)  Really, that's -why- I'm probably going to write a few more of these little stories from my DD experiences before all is said and done.  Not just because I like them and enjoy them, but because it's just that easy, and it's just that possible to do so.  I just wish I had played this game -last year- when it came out.  But I wouldn't have gotten the Dark Arisen version (which adds a host of improvements, I'm told, as well as, you know, the big DLC) if I did, so it's something of a wash.

So, as stated, you haven't seen the last of the Arisen.

oh, okay, so really it was less flowery when I yelled at Rook, too.  "ROOK.  SHUT THE HELL UP.  I AM ATTACKING THE EYE YOU DUMB FUCK" is basically what I said, but that didn't fit too well

In Which I Still Enjoy Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

I was still a little befuddled as to how this damnable contraption was supposed to work.  It seemed simple enough; I was absolutely sure that it was a weighted plate of some sort, yet even with the combined weight of myself, Zero, and our two other traveling companions, we were not able to push it down.  It occurred to me that all three of the women with me were rather slight, but I have my doubts that four men of my weight would be able to push it down either.  It seemed a little more....specialized, but as to what, I wasn't sure.  All I knew was that it stood in my way and the way of a wayward merchant who had bid me to find a way through these mines for him.  If anyone had coin worth its actual weight, it was a merchant to be sure, so I was rather eager to see his task done.

Still, it was proving difficult and I could only think that there was something to it, something that I was missing.  Something I would have to search for.  As I looked, however, I came across nothing that struck me as different, as out of ordinary, which was still a surreal feeling.  All of this, so far, had become normal for me, for my life as the Arisen.  Yoko's magic enchanted my sword with a sheen of fire before I gutted a dead man walking, setting him ablaze and returning death's embrace to him.  Aya's twin daggers stabbed into the final of a score of bandits we had encountered that set up shop in these mines.  Zero griped that there was nothing worth our effort as she cleft a pesky bat in two with a single slash.  I shared her sentiments briefly, but recalled some of our more difficult battles, and at that moment, I did not hope to relive them.

Of course, fate had other plans for us.  Down one of the labyrinthine paths of the cave, we came across the hulking figure of an ogre, crouched over and not paying attention to us.  Granted, we could have simply left, simply ignored the beast and continued on, but I could see the desire burning in Zero's eyes and I know she saw the very same in my own.  It was not the smart thing to challenge the creature, but it was what we wanted to do and very soon, the simultaneous whine of our blades being drawn rang out through the mines.  Our partners shared in the coordination, as I already heard the low chanting of Yoko, and the similar sound of Aya's knives coming from their sheathes.  But it was brief, as I was already on the move.  We had surprise on our side, and I intended not to waste it.

He heard our approach, but could not react swiftly enough and a leap allowed me onto his back.  Fistfuls of his fur were gripped tightly in my hands, allowing me to scale the beast higher, who was already objecting to my presence.  His flailings were nothing new to me - better creatures had tried to shake me off, and some even succeeded - but they were futile, because I felt the rush of combat pumping through my veins.  I was going for the kill already.  Nearing his shoulders, my hand raised back and prepared to surge forward at the ogre's neck, eager to end things before they became trying.

The sudden movement upward was a surprise, however, as was the disorientation I felt when my eyes saw the roof of the mines and not the walls.  I had only a moment to realize what was going on and let go, a foot allowing me to kick off from his back before it connected with the hard, stone floor.  My landing was not graceful, nor was it painless, but I found comfort in the fact that I did not land with the full weight of that being atop me as he intended.  It was a strange tactic to be sure, one that I had not honestly considered he would attempt, but I cannot argue the worth of the move.  It succeeded in removing me from his back, after all and now as I struggled to my feet, I began to re-think my approach.

"Master!  Are you alright?"  Zero's eyes were on me, not the ogre we fought, and for a brief moment, I felt frustration.  I never disliked the woman's devotion to me, but at times, I wished she would show it when it was more opportune.  Still, she was not in immediate danger, as the ogre was only now getting to his feet, a fact that I thrust my hand towards to point out.

"Yes!  Worry about that for now, not me!"  Thankfully, there was not even a hint of reproach in her gaze as she gave me a single nod and turned her attention to the monster we fought.  The other two 'pawns' in our ensemble did not share Zero's concerns quite so loudly, but I imagined that that was more because they seemed to defer most of that to her, as she was my main companion.  From what I could tell, all Pawns served the Arisen equally, but they were human enough that a pecking order had been created without my input. All it meant to me was that Aya and Yoko were concentrating on felling this creature we had engaged, and that was all I desired.  I was a warrior just as they were, and I could hold my own without any of them fawning over me.

It quickly became obvious that fire was something of a bane to him, which was fairly standard with the monsters we'd fought to this point and soon I found my sword ablaze as it had been so many times before.  Learning from my mistake, I stayed on the ground for now, slashing at his feet and his hands whenever they were available.  If I could not end this with a single strike, I would simply settle for a thousand if that's what it took.  So long as I drew blood, enough blood to kill him, it mattered not just how it happened.  It was combat for survival, not some duel for some petty reward.  This was kill or be killed, and I did not have to be fancy, did not have to be graceful, nor did I have to be merciful.

Our battle raged on for minutes that felt as days, yet we were the only ones tiring it seemed.  He was surely injured severely at this point, perhaps mortally, but there was a fight within him that was almost respectable if it was not detestable as well.  Frustration mounted as I stabbed him once more, wondering to myself why he just wouldn't die after countless stabs, slashes and blasts of fire from our group.  So it was no wonder that I finally gave in, shunned common sense, and repeated my earlier maneuver.  I climbed onto his back, stabbing with every pull before he did something much different than before.  Rather than lean back, he leaned forward, to all fours and began sprinting away from us, or rather, away from my three companions.  I still held firm to the fur of his back, only barely ducking the stone opening that passed for a doorway as he ran under it.  Once more, I let go and kicked off of his back, landing on my feet this time, as I looked around.  The room was familiar somehow, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Click.

My gaze went back to the ogre and I instantly recognized the device he stood on.  I couldn't help but let out a laugh as I looked to the door behind him and saw it raise up.  His weight was certainly enough to collapse the pressure plate, and thanks to the happenstance of the scenario, the path was now open, even if it wasn't clear.  With renewed vigor, I charged even before I heard the footsteps of my group catching up.  By luck, his charge had worn him out and his head bowed close to the ground.  It was my chance.  I held the sword down instead of up and grabbed the fur of its cheek, as if I could control or limit its movement before my other hand stabbed in, sinking the steel of my blade into his face.  Not once, not twice, not a number of times that I counted, but rather simply 'enough' times, as before he could stand, before he could fling me away, he was finally defeated, and was in fact on the ground, dead, before my hand had stopped.  Only Zero's calming hand on my shoulder stopped my assault, and her gaze not on me, but on the path that had opened to us reminded me of our charge.  It was time to see if this did indeed lead to the other side.

The path was rather long, though all we encountered were overgrown spiders, thankfully.  Hideous beasts they were, they were not particularly dangerous.  I did spot a curious higher path that could be climbed to along the way, but paid it little mind and in time, we came across the wooden door that lead out of the mines.  We all heaved a sigh of relief before a heavy impact shook the very walls around us, coming from the direction we'd just been.  My first instinct was to worry that the door had fallen again - after all, I had not thought to prop it open or anything of the like - but the reality was much, much worse.  We ran back down, expecting the scenario I presented, but instead we ran into a rather familiar sight.

It was not the same ogre, but it was an ogre all the same, and it was not amused.  Wearily, we readied our weapons and entered combat with just as we had the last one, meeting with much of the same success - the lack of it, honestly - as the battle raged.  I could feel the energy draining from my body as we fought.  My vision became hazy, my head light.  It became harder and harder to lift my sword up.  It was no surprise when I opened my eyes to see a rather large hand heading in my direction and I could do nothing but watch and feel the impact of it as it sent me flying, rolling along the ground before I came to a stop.  The world was black behind my eyes shut against the pain, but the sight was hardly clearer when I finally opened them, feeling a wheeze of breath pass my lips as I did.  Perhaps this would be where my journey would end, where I would find death again.  Death from which I would not awake this time.

"Help me!"  The exclamation hit my ears and sent a power through my body, power enough to allow me to stand and look over at the battle.  In one of its gigantic hands, the ogre now held Yoko tightly, much too tightly, as if he were squeezing the very life out of her.  I felt myself gripping my sword tighter, setting my jaw with energy that I simply did not have.  While I did not fancy myself a hero, Yoko was fighting for me and I was not about to let that be one-sided.  I was not about to let this beast take her from me, take anything from me.  It's arm was too high for me to simply slash at, so my eyes went beyond the creature, to the ledge that I only now realized it had come from.  There was no time, so I sprinted towards it and climbed up the rock face.  As I turned around, I could almost see the last of Yoko leaving her body and that alone sent me forward.  That brought my arm up and, more importantly, down on the ogre's arm, causing him to drop her to the cold stone floor with a thud that sent a shiver through me.

I wasn't sure how, but she was not dead.  More surprisingly, as I touched her, I pulled her up slightly, she smiled to me, pleased that I was paying the attention to her that I was.  What I was not prepared for, however, was to see the color return to her cheeks, and to feel her moving to her feet with a strength she should not have had at that moment.  She spoke appreciation to me and instantly turned her attentions back to the beast, to vengeance, leaving me momentarily baffled.  It seemed these Pawns had more secrets to them than I thought, but I simply shook the thought from my head, just in time to see that Zero was carrying in my stead, bringing steel to the skull of our quarry, and bringing a smile to my lips when I saw that it lay still, indicating that it was finally over.

Our path was secure, we learned, as we moved back towards the entrance through which we had come in initially, what felt so long ago.  Yet, I found surprise in the fact that the sky was dark when we exited.  Night had fallen while we fought within, and that fact drew a groan from my lips, knowing just how dangerous the landscape became when the sun set.  Still, the merchant we had talked to was here and he would likely be glad to know he could enter the mines now, instead of stay out here and have a run-in with any sort of creature.  At least, that is what I had thought his opinion would be, but his response drew an ire from me that I didn't know I possessed.

"There were monsters in there, you say?"  He sneered a little at that - he knew as well as we did what lay within the mines, and I cannot fathom why he played stupid - and looked us all over for a moment.  "Well, I'm glad you opened the door, but I'm a little worried that it's still dangerous.  Best not to leave the job half-finished, hm?  Why don't you go back in and clear out the rest of the monsters so I can go through in peace?"  A growl rumbled low in my throat as my blood boiled.  My gaze was smoldering, I'm sure, yet he never shrank under it, which angered me even more.  After what we had gone through to ensure he would be able to pass, and he had the nerve to suggest that our mission wasn't complete?  After I explained to him that he could move from one door to the next unmolested?  This would not do.

It was a different feeling, pulling out a blade against man who did not have weapon drawn.  The fact didn't even seem to register to him that he was the target, not some goblin nor some corpse granted movement.  I am not sure why, and I don't think I will ever know how he didn't realize what was coming before it happened.  Perhaps he simply was that daft.  All that I know, all that I remember is the pure look of surprise in his eyes as I ran him through with my broadsword, clean to the hilt.  He screamed, or tried to, but it was much more of a gurgle than anything else.  There were only a few twitches from his form before he went limp and I brought a foot up to banish him from my blade, looking on with disgust as he crumpled to the ground in a dead heap.

It was.....an overreaction.

Yet, as I looked at my companions, I saw no judgment in their eyes.  They understood.  They wished the man as dead as he was now; I was simply the first to draw steel and see the deed done.  It was only then that our injuries caught up with us and we looked around to take stock of our situation.  The dark of night surrounded us and the scent of rotten flesh wafted to my nose.  I could see the fires of goblins on the horizon.  This was not a place to be in right now, especially not after the battles we'd fought.  The irony was that now the mines would serve as our refuge until morning, when I briefly considered they would be the place that would keep me from seeing a blue sky ever again.  Yet it was the danger we knew very well at the moment, when put against the unpredictable nature of the night.

As we settled in on the crates just inside the mine, to catch the slightest bit of respite, nobody spoke of the merchant that lay just outside.

Back to Normal Soon, I Promise

So, this week has been sparse in terms of posting and the reason for that is basically that my sleep schedule has gotten progressively more and more fucked with every passing day.  When I started this post at 10:30 PM, I had been awake for 20 straight hours and as I near the 11:30 mark because I have been trying to collect my thoughts, well, I'm sure you can guess the divide between the 20th hour and the 21st.  It is a gap that is not meant to be crossed by mere mortals and I cannot help but wonder what actual insomniacs go through when they're on the 37th hour, the 48th hour and so on.  It cannot be pleasant, whatever it is and though I have sleeping issues, I dare not suggest I have that, even in jest, because it is kind of a serious thing and it gets thrown about far too loosely and too much for being something as awful as it is.

Moving away from that, I will instead spin a few little yarns to you fine folks about my adventures in Deus Ex:  Human Revolution.  You might have heard that it's getting a Wii U Super Port and you can thank me for that since I started playing the game on PS3 the day before it was announced.  Sure, I didn't get -far- into it, but I -did- play it and, well, that happened.  Sort of like Persona 4 Golden finally getting a release date literally right after I beat Persona 3 Portable.  Except that wasn't horribly depressing in a "oh god, am I going to do -everything- in this game -twice?-" sort of way.  Maybe 'depressing' is too strong of a word, but I'm sure you can gather what I am sort of shooting for here.

Rather than talk about the mechanics of the game, whether or not I'm enjoying it and the like, stuff that you generally save for a review or, indeed, just discussing the merits of the game, good and bad, I will pull from the file of stories I created today in my absurdly long session of play that I may entertain you.  Or at least entertain myself as I relive the memories because they are honestly pretty enjoyable for me if nothing else.  I dub the stories "The Adam Jensen Files:  Fun with Cyber-Strength".  I am pretty sure you can imagine -what- the stories entail, and I will try not to spoil things, but there are some things that are sort of vital to understand.

Now, at a certain point in the game, you're expected to go into a place known as Derelict Row, which is an area that is populated by one of the street gangs.  That's fine enough, right?  Except you're expected to go rather deep into it and not be detected in the process, which is a bit of a difficult thing.  What makes it doubly different, of course, is if you're playing like me, going full-lethal, and you haven't found a fucking silencer yet, seriously, where the fuck are they.  It degenerated, basically, into me picking off bangers one at a time while running back and forth from cover when they came over and started moving back to their patrols.  What I'm getting at is that it was a bit of a slog and I never wanted to go back to Derelict Row ever again.

So, of course, later on you get a mission where you have to do just that.  At first, I was annoyed.  "Guh!  This fucking place!" I exclaimed, and then I remembered, "Oh...I don't have to be undetected this time.  And I have a shotgun.  With the dual-burst mod."  As a meaningful grin crossed my lips, I made my way over to the area and, making use of one of the maintenance entrances where only two bangers were stationed, I decided to make it a little fun.  I would rile them up and get them all mad at me and then take them down with my awesome shotgun.  So I grabbed one of the (apparently heavy) tall crates and threw it at one of the bangers.  I expected it to sort of bounce off of him like most objects did for...some reason, but that is not what happened.  Instead, the crate just kept moving in a straight line and his face met the hard concrete of the room in a hurry.

He lay there motionless for moments and I crouched down to move up to him - he was dead.  The crate was so heavy and the throw so strong that it killed him and I was almost too shocked for a moment to do anything.  Dutifully, however, I grabbed his arm and tugged him around the corner, lest his partner see him.  "That had to be a one-time thing," I told myself.  "No way could that happen again."  So I grabbed the murdercrate and moved over towards his buddy.  Once again, I let loose and once again a body met the ground, sufficiently 'body' and less 'living person' as the time before.  Suddenly, I flashed to the guy calling me a 'cabròn' and telling me to get out and I remembered his buddies on the other side of the door I was heading towards.  I had an idea and it was not a very nice one.

"Fly fly, Cabròn!  Bring me bangers to shoot!" I exclaimed, throwing my latest victim several feet into the air and out into the area before the building I had just exited.  It may come as a surprise, but a corpse flying through the air at a sustained speed tends to draw attention, so I just pressed my back to the wall next to the doorway and waited.  Sure enough, they came to investigate and when one of them was sufficiently close to my little 'bait', I activated the dual-burst and popped out, giving him a little long-distance heart surgery before popping back in and waiting for the gunshot to alert his friends.  One by one, they filed over for something a little more close and personal, finding themselves standing in my doorway before being propelled back against the slight railing the platform had, as two or three steps elevated it from the ground.  When they were taken care of, it was merely a matter of moving further into the compound, barren of life from my earlier visit.  I entertained myself by whistling a jaunty little tune.

Later on, I found myself in a situation where an undercover cop I had been working with informed me that they had all the evidence needed - if I wanted the collar, or just to gloat to the perp before things were over, I was more than free to take a crack.  "Yeah.  I would like that," I thought.  So I went to his apartment building and made it the short trip there with ease.  The door was already open from my earlier excursion into there and I quickly took stock of my weapons.  Everything was...quite lethal save for my stun gun which I keep for moments just like this.  Fortunately for me, this one wanted to have a little chat before we ended things.  He knew the noose was tightening and thought credits would grease my palms enough to let go of the rope.  He was incorrect.

He drew a revolver, but I was faster and one shock later, he was a heap upon the ground.  Almost by instinct, I grabbed his wrist and started dragging him away, heading for the front door.  It was only when I was in the little open area in front of the entrance of the apartment, however, that I suddenly questioned what I was doing.  He needed to stay here to get cuffed.  Though I -knew- he wasn't going to get up, I wanted a little more....insurance, so I considered my options for a moment.  I just wanted to make sure he was properly captured and wouldn't be able to regain consciousness before the handcuffs found their way around his wrists.  Was that going to happen?  No.  But I'm Adam friggin' Jensen, I have augmentations and I'm going to use them, damnit.

So I grabbed the refrigerator, moved over to his prone form and promptly dropped the heavy appliance onto his legs.  He wobbled a bit and the entire thing ended up tipping over, laying flat across his back and, because of the way he had lay arched, his protruding spine.  "There," I thought.  "All secured."  I briefly checked to make sure my little antics hadn't killed him and, when I was amazed to learn that they didn't, I promptly left to report to my contact.  I informed the contact that he was, er, 'taking a nap' and assured them that they weren't going anywhere.  And as I walked away, I couldn't help the burst of laughter that overwhelmed me from the truth in my words.  I could already imagine them walking in on the scene and wondering how in the hell they were going to get the fridge off of him.  It was a good thought.

So, I submit to you the question that comes from all of this.  Adam Jensen:  Great Jerk?  Or Greatest Jerk?

We Want The Kid's Gloves Off, Right?

We've all had the moment described above, whether or not it stems from the same issue or the same game or not.  (It's a Penny Arcade comic, btw, which might not show up since the site is getting absolutely slammed for some reason.)  Basically the issue comes about when we start getting tutorials for things that honestly need no tutorials for us, since by far the most annoying ones are the ones in shooters telling us how to take cover, how to shoot a guy and how to run of all things and those things are, by and large, similar from one game to another.  Usually not the exact same of course but close enough that a few moments fiddling about with the conroller leaves us fairly assured that we know what the hell is going on.  So we complain, we bitch and we moan about how these forced tutorials are still around in the day and age where they are clearly not needed because we don't need hand-holding, essentially.

That's what we tell ourselves, of course, but is it the truth?  Are we, as gamers in general, well-enough on our own to really get by without these things, this perceived hand-holding in all forms?  After seeing a few games I enjoyed quite a lot panned for what were thrown about as 'plots holes' and 'poor writing'....I'm not too sure.  Obviously, there's a difference between being told "Press X to Jump" and throwing out a heavy-handed explanation for every little thing that isn't necessary.  Few games are accused of over-writing, though there are certainly some games that this is leveled at and rightly so, but it really stems from us being spoon-fed narrative and complaining when even one tiny bridge isn't made for us which I think is basically the same issue at heart here.

While I'm not suggesting that actual plot holes are perfectly fine if someone can hand-wave them away with a line of reasoning only derived from someone with a burning passion for whatever it is he's trying to defend, I'm saying that a leap of logic that most people could make off-handedly is, in fact, not a plot hole and shouldn't be spoken of as one.  There is a difference of course, and it'll be hard to really explain the difference without spoilers so I'm going to have to actually spoil a few things, but I'm going to be trying a new method here to discuss them to keep the pure pure and allow the rest of us to figure it out.  I can't have fancy spoiler tags that I know of in here and I can't eloquently black bar/hover for text like on SomethingAwful, but that principle is more or less the driving one here.

As you may or may not know, I really really liked Heavy Rain and as such my opinion of its writing and narrative is probably a little skewed, but I believe I can talk about it at least a little bit objectively.  Disregarding the line where I say "While I may hand-wave away the plot-holes I don't like" and then focusing more on the part directly after it stating, "as most of them can be rationally explained away in a way that isn't giving too much credit" you can see this is sort of a philosophy that I've been cooking up for quite a while and it's really just taken me this much time and evidence to really put it down in a way that makes sense.  Of course, the unfortunate bit here is that I haven't been able to play Heavy Rain again since that post because of the Move Patch that I cannot be arsed to download for being something between one or two gigs.  My internet is nowhere near capable of pulling that down, so even though I have a Move Wand and have wanted to experience the game with it...well, there's just that little step in-between.  I'll get it sorted some day after I clear my incredible backlog of games.

The above was said for a reason, as the unfortunate bit about it means that the narrative and story is nowhere near as fresh in my mind as I feel it should be to talk on it, but I'm going to attempt to anyways as there's always the one 'plot hole' that sticks out in my head as well as the one that I can't explain without giving the game too much credit to show the contrast here of my ideas.  Of course, this goes without saying but I'm going to be spoiling the game (and one other one, see the tags) pretty heavily, so I'm inserting a page break.

Misadventures in Bargain-Shopping: Vampire Diaries Season One

So, I haven't really mentioned it, but on Monday I did just as I said I would and indulged a little in all that Halloween could have offered.  While I didn't throw in Dead Space or a movie, I delved deep into the core rulebook of Vampire:  The Masquerades and really really started getting into the mindset of the game.  I figure the knowledge will likely go unused save for maybe making a character for the fun of it, but it's interesting to think of a game of that sorts that isn't Dungeons and Dragons (or Exalted, but I haven't really read into those either) and especially with such a lore that's been crafted for the game.  It's...quite impressive, really, how much effort they put into creating this real, detailed world while still leaving enough vagueness to allow everyone and anyone to really create just what they want to make.  Which is the point, of course.

But that's not the point of this post, as the point of this post is to talk about my growing interest in vampire things because of really getting into V:tM.  Now, I know it's fairly 'easy' to get into Vampire things nowadays as they're so mainstream it hurts, but as we are wont to do, we try and seek out the 'best', whether it's objective or to our tastes so that does add a little challenge, at least.  Vampire Diaries, as my good friend Saki-Chan assures me, is one of those things to seek out.  But don't take my efforts as an official endorsement of the product of course; I've yet to watch the first season (what I purchased....eventually) and likely won't for a week yet, as I'm waiting for a time when I can watch it along with Saki-Chan, since she's so mired in its collected knowledge already.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't even be making this post if the way in which I got it wasn't so hilariously counter to the last misadventures post I made, which was on purpose for that reason entirely.  Re-familiarize yourself with that experience before we go on; it makes it better I assure you.  So it all began Sunday night, after I'd put up the Halloween post, while I was talking to Saki-Chan and she, as she has done lately, was talking about the Vampire Diaries in an excited manner that mirrors much of my own when I'm going on about something I really enjoy.  While she's throwing out plot lines and character backstories, I'm taking it in as best as someone completely unfamiliar with the territory can (read:  not very well) but gain more and more of an interest in it.  Seeing as a trip out was in order the next day, I told myself I'd take a look around to see if the first season was on sale anywhere.  Not too far-fetched to imagine, right?  Vampire show being on sale on Halloween Day seems almost a given.

It was not, of course.  Interestingly enough, Target was selling the first season for $45, another store for $50, and neither were on sale.  It was a little odd, I thought that the price wasn't the same at two different stores, but it's hardly surprising, and as much as I trust Saki-Chan's judgment, I don't trust it enough to throw out $45 sight unseen.  To be fair, I don't trust -anyone's- judgment enough to throw out $45 sight unseen.  No offense, anyone who may be offended by this, I'm sure you can understand.  So, with that prospect out of the air, I decided simply to wait; a deal would come, I'm sure, or I would find a way to force one.  The latter, as you might suspect, happened.

The following day, the first of November (or the day that will forever be known as the day I spent $119.19 at GameStop, yet only walked out with a single game*, Uncharted 3) I was out and about once again and happened to land at Wal-Mart where I, again, checked to see what the price of Vampire Diaries Season 1 was there.  To my continued surprise, it was different there as well priced at $39.96 (or, for all intents and purposes, $40 a full $10 less than another local store) which was unfortunately still too much.  That's when my plan, bitter as it might have been to consider, began to form.  From the last misadventure, I still had a gift card from Best Buy with a slight amount of money on it burning a hole in my wallet, and it was at least worth a shot to see what they priced the show at.

Upon going into the store, I made a detour first to the Customer Service desk to find out just how much my gift card had on it.  There behind the counter was a girl who I'm going to call Victoria because I -think- that was her name, but I forget.  She was more than happy to help and, in very short order, I was informed the card still had $16.15 on it and with that in mind I went off to the Movies section.  Here, it was less surprising to see that the show was not on sale (the first season anyway), but the price of $45 made me a little more than annoyed.  Why couldn't it be $40, like at Wal-Mart.  I'm sure you can see the writing on the wall, but just then the idea struck me and I couldn't help but start to laugh at the reflective nature of it all.

Another visit to the Customer Service desk saw me asking Victoria if Best Buy's Price Match guarantee extended merely to sale items, or to the normal price of items and being informed that it was the latter.  So long as it wasn't from a store akin to Sam's Club (basically a store that sells bulk items and thus might have naturally lower prices) and the much-loathed "the competitor has to have it in stock" restriction was met, any price could be offered.  Having just been at Wal-Mart fifteen minutes prior, I knew it was there, well-stocked, and priced nicer, so I asked if she would set it up, and one call later to Wal-Mart to confirm what I already knew, she wrote out a note that guaranteed the price, asked me to get the set and take it up to the registers as per normal.

I'm having a hard time explaining it, but I'm sure you can just imagine what I was feeling at that moment, having such a pleasant experience in much the same circumstances as a previously terrible experience...it was a little strange.  Victoria's help was wonderful, however, and I was more than happy with my dealings with her and, as you might've already worked out I ended up walking out of Best Buy having only really spent $24 on the complete first season of Vampire Diaries, which is a fair enough price, I think.  I'll know more when I watch it, but if nothing else, I have this story of the journey no matter how I enjoy the outcome.  A story that can only make me laugh for reasons I can't quite place, and one that reassures me that there are still real bargains to be found out there if you work hard enough at them.

A Look Back - Drakengard

Drakengard is one of those games where I'm going to gush about it for quite a few paragraphs here, but I need you to understand here and now that it is actually kind of a not good game.  In that the actual gameplay of it is like a Dynasty Warriors game (well, the ground portions), but 100x more stiff and wooden and just...not fun.  As a general statement of course, I had fun with it, but my enjoyment isn't a statement of fact and my warning that you will likely not have fun playing it should be enough.  So, how is it that I can sit here and claim that there is something to praise about this game, when in fact I have just said the game is not that good?  Easily.

You see, much like you don't go to an action movie expecting a deep, involved plot, you shouldn't go into Drakengard expecting good gameplay; instead, you should simply go into it expecting to have one of the most....unique story experiences any game around can offer.  It's hard to say much without spoiling the game, and I cannot promise that I won't do that, but if I'm going to, I will let you know first obviously.  But something that can be said for the game without spoiling too much is that it has five different endings, each one more insane than the last.  And the way it's handled is quite interesting, really.

Drakengard's story takes place over chapters and verses, not unlike a book, and once you clear the first ending, new verses open up that eventually lead into new chapters that take the game in entirely different directions.  Believe me, when I say entirely different directions, I mean entirely different directions.  Like, things that make you go "What the Christ?!" loudly and unapologetically.  But not in the traditional "Let's throw shit against a wall and see what sticks", but in a way that's....hard to explain, really.  It's very deliberate and while it doesn't make sense, it does.  Again, this is a lot of talking out of both sides of my mouth here, but short of spoiling the game, that's about all I can do.  I think I'll just do a section here in a few paragraphs about it.

On the same level of the story are the characters which, in stark contrast of 99% of the games out there, are in fact designed to be the absolute worst types of people.  And not in the campy sort of "Haha, he's a killer, but it's okay because he has a rogueish grin" or anything of that sort.  Just in the "These are the worst types of people in the world, yet they're trying to save it because they're not wimps" way.

Take our main character Caim, for example.  At the start of the game, Caim's goal is simply to protect his sister Furiae, who possesses (or rather, -is-) the Goddess Seal, one of the six seals that keeps the world together, from the "Empire" who has gone to war with, essentially, the rest of the world who bands together to form the "Union".  Seems fairly standard, right?  Well, it starts getting a little more involved when you realize (almost instantaneously) that Caim's parents were murdered by an Empire's Dragon, so his fighting against the Empire might not be, and in fact isn't, so altruistic.  He hates the Empire so much that, after being dealt an assuredly mortal wound in a battle with the Empire, he decides to enter into a Pact with a dragon that the Union had managed to capture during the battle. Being a non-Empire dragon doesn't make it any better, as Caim still hates Dragons as a whole (who could blame him), but his need for blood was greater than his hatred of the beasts.

This is where I need to stop and explain the principle behind "Pacts" since they are a central focus of the game.  A Pact, in Drakengard world, is when a human and a beast merge their life force into one for any number of reasons, whether they be that the two are friends or that they're both trying to avoid death.  The latter being Caim and the Red Dragon's reason.  Upon entering a pact, both become bound to one another in such a way that, should one perish, the other will as well.  They also gain the ability to speak to one another telepathically, and on occasion, hear the telepathic conversations of other pact-partners.  Of course, there's a downside (as if the whole 'one life' thing wasn't enough of one) where the Human in the deal pays what is known as a "Pact Price".  It's different for everyone, and varies by the person and the pact-beast, but some notable examples through the game are:  Caim loses his ability to speak, another party member loses his ability to see, and a third party member loses her ability to conceive.  (Also, possibly her sanity.)

As I stated, through the Pact, Caim loses his ability to speak (shown by the pact-mark on his tongue, every pact price has a mark) but gains strength, not only in being healed but in having a new Dragon ally, reluctant as she might be.  Now, able to take it to the Empire harder than ever before, that is exactly what Caim does.  Sure, you end up learning their true motives and the like, but the most important part to Caim is that he burns the Empire alive.  And does he ever.

One of the mainstays of the game is that you'll collect an entire arsenal of new weapons to stab, slice and otherwise maim any Empire soldier, beast or....thing that looks at you funny.  And while this is fairly standard, what makes it so nice in Drakengard is that each weapon has a story attached to it that you unlock as you power it up more and more.  Weapons in Drakengard "Level Up" so to speak, after set numbers of kills.  With the level up, the weapon A) Changes in appearance, B) Gets Stronger (usually), and C) Opens up a new paragraph of the story.  (Each weapon only has four levels, which is worth mentioning, so the stories are ~four paragraphs long.  Just enough to be a neat or, in some cases less neat tale.  And they get worse than that.)

The actual gameplay of the game, as I've mentioned a few times, is nothing really to write home about.  The weapons all have their own...'combos' which are, again, akin to Dynasty Warriors and other such hack-n-slash games, but is nowhere near fluid or, really, 'fun'.  At its best, it's tolerable, but at its worst it becomes what can be called with no exaggeration, "a slog", which is unfortunate really.  It does get slightly better, of course, with Dragon-back combat, which takes two forms.  In aerial missions, you have several flying targets and the Dragon controls more like it's in a Star Fox or Panzer Dragoon game than what you'd expect.  You have an aiming reticule, and the dragon has two forms of fireballs:  One standard that you can fire semi-normally, or you can charge that to lock-on to a target and launch several smaller fireballs at it.  The other form of Dragon-back combat is when you can simply jump on the dragon on a normal ground mission and burninate all your foes (provided they don't have a magical shield).  While fun, it does completely neglect your weapons and eventually just feels like you're cheapening yourself out of wholesale slaughter.

It's easy for someone to look at the game and come to the (wrong) conclusion that the game is just being Grim-dark for Grim-dark's sake.  It's not, though, not at all, and there's really not an easy way to say it to you so that you'll know it for true other than just trying to assure you that the game has actual, tangible depth in the story, and it's really not that heavy-handed or poorly done.  And I really mean this; it's easy for me to try and assure you that it's a worthy game since it's a game that is one of my favorites, but I already warned you away from playing it, so there's nothing for me to lose here.

Indeed, the best way, I think, so experience the depths of batshit crazy that Drakengard dips into is by reading the wonderful Screenshot Let's Play of the game by The Dark Id.  He's quick to point out the game's flaws, which are numerous, but he also does a fantastic job of letting the game speak for itself when necessary, even going so far as to let us know some of the details that are exceedingly toned down for the Non-Japan release of the game.  Interestingly enough, he then goes on to do Nier (which I advise you heavily against reading until you yourself have played the game, ironically enough) and Drakengard 2 (which he claimed he wasn't going to do, going so far as to do a whole update at the end of Drakengard to spoil everything about the ill-gotten sequel) which are equally entertaining in their own ways.

I have a lot of fond memories with the game, as well as a lot of not-so fond memories.  One of the latter being that I spent two years trying to beat the last boss of the game.  I don't mean that in the cutesy "Tee-hee, it too me forever" way, I mean that every now and then over the course of TWO YEARS, I put in Drakengard and tried to beat the very last boss, which was jarring not only in setting, but in the fact that it turned into an entirely different game.  Where Drakengard was a Hack-N-Slash, the final boss was....a rhythm game.  Yes, you read that right, and not only was it a rhythm game, but a rhythm game born from the deepest depths of Hell, intent on stomping you over and over until you were its bitch.

The result was possibly one of the most infamous "Trollings" a developer and/or a game has ever delivered unto a player, and again, I won't spoil it for you, but it is, in fact, hilarious.  Whether it was the fact that I had finally beaten it put me in a state of such advanced euphoria that I laughed it off, or because it's genuinely a goddamn good trolling, I could do nothing for ten minutes after finally completely beating Drakengard but laugh and laugh and laugh.

And the truly magnificent part of it, is that that ending is directly related to Nier, which as you may know is one of my other favorite games.  I can't say how, and you might know already, but it's an amazing feat that I can only applaud and appreciate, and it makes the whole experience of both games that much better.

So while Drakengard is definitely a flawed game, to me it's an important one, since it really actually does things with its story and goes places other games dare not go in a way that most games would do nowhere near as well as Drakengard managed.  And that's why I look back on it fondly.

Kids do not like Yakuza 4, apparently.

At least, not when you can play Sly 3:  Honor Among Thieves.

I did manage to get my hands on a copy of Yakuza 4, today, thankfully, and the first thing I did when I got home was pull it out of the case and just as I was about to put the disk in the PS3, my three-year-old nephew, who I help babysit, came out, as he often does, wanting to watch me play a game.  Standing there, frozen for a moment, he looked up at me and said, "Are you going to play a game?"  to which I answered, "Y...yes, I am, but you probably sho-"  "Are you going to play Sly Cooper?"

Oh no.

"N.....no, I wasn't planning on i-"  "I WANT YOU TO PLAY SLY COOPER!"

Ffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-

So that's the story of how I spent all day playing Sly 3 instead of Yakuza 4.

Misadventures in Bargain-Shopping: Dragon Age: Origins: Ultimate Edition: Colons

So, as some of you might know, down here in the States, Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition on Consoles was 50% off.  Which is a pretty sweet deal and all.  The only thing that's a shame is that the K-mart in my area is...well, first off, it's not -in- my area, it's a 40-minute drive away.  It is also in a less-than-safe location, and the store is in fairly massive disrepair and unmaintained.  It is, for all intents and purposes, a Shithole.

But I loves me some deals, so I was thinking "If only there were another store that I could buy the game for that price in."  And then I thought, "Hrm, who does Price-Matching?  Oh!  Best Buy does price-matching!  And I just happen to have Best Buy funbux right here!"  So, that was it, then.  Best Buy is only slightly less of a terrible drive than K-Mart, and as I said, I had currency that needed to go there.  I called ahead and asked about their Price-Matching, and he said as long as it was a local competitor's ad, it would be gravy.  This is a key fact.

So.  I went there, grabbed DA:O:UE:C and a shiny, shiny new Dualshock 3 controller (Red~), went to the customer service desk and presented the ad.  And....suddenly the guy picks up the phone and calls K-Mart to inquire whether K-Mart had it in stock.  Was.....he going to tell me to go there if I wanted that price?  What, what the hell was this.  After finding out that they apparently did not have it in stock (Mind you, this is today.  I saw 3 copies of the game in K-Mart's shelves -yesterday-.), he went on to explain to me that if the competitor doesn't have the item in stock, then Best Buy won't honor the price.

I was dumb-founded.  "But I was just there.", I explained.  "They had it!"  "Well, the person I talked to said they don't, so there's nothing I can do."  After telling me this, he went, "Do, uh....you want me to keep this, then?"  And I assured him with a notable amount of snark that I was not going to buy it, so that would be the wisest course, yes.  Burned and seething, I took solace in the fact that with just the controller, since my gift cards would cover that and then some, they would not actually be getting any of my money.  Actually, at first, I almost refused to go through with my purchase of the controller on principle, but realized there wasn't much of a moral victory in refusing to use store credit.

Something really bothered me about what he said, though, and it didn't really click until I was almost home.  "She said they only had the regular version.", he said.  "Wait a minute.  The Regular Version?  Of what?  There's no other Origins/Awakening pack-i-Oh balls.  Dragon Age 2."

Shitshitshitshitshit.

So when I got home, I called K-Mart and spoke with the lovely-sounding Erin after about, uh, 20 minutes of being on hold, and after convincing her that she was looking for the wrong game, she looked where I instructed her and said, "Oh, no you're right, I've got a copy right here."  Damnit!  She had mentioned that someone else had called about it earlier and this was the point where I explained the circumstances, which, I must say, did nothing short of mortify her.  I could tell that she felt really, genuinely bad about being an unwitting cog in the machine of Stupid that kept me from getting my Dragon-Slaying simulator.

And with another call to Best Buy, they informed me that, since I had been right three hours prior, I was definitely deserving of the game....provided I went all the way back there right that minute and bought it.  "I...really can't get out again today," I explained.  "Best Buy is a terrible drive from here and, in all honesty, it was your screw-up."  Of course, I was speaking to the same Customer Service rep that I had spoken to on the phone the first time and in the store.  Of course I was.  "Well....let me talk to my manager and see if the deal could be extended."  After a few more minutes of holding, he informed me that, nope, that was the deal.  I waste gas that apparently becomes more precious by the second, time, and patience that I simply don't have, to pick up a game I could have had three hours prior because Timmy McFucknugget couldn't be assed to get an assurance on the status of K-Mart's stock.

"Well, I might be in, but if not, then the lost sale is kind of your fault, y'know."  "Have a nice day Sir."

And that is the story of how I almost got Dragon Age:  Origins:  Ultimate Edition.

Almost.

...

Goddamnit.

Less-Short Story - Technologic

One of the ideas presented in my "Mission Statement", for lack of a better term, was that I would use this occasionally to write a short story.  And, in this case, I plan to, but what I'll be using today is a story I've written already on my Ficly (which is mostly defunct by now) as a base to expand upon.

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“R6-6Y Active..Sensors online..Visuals at 75%..Self-Scan complete..Moderate Damage detected.”

A loud ‘clank’ sound reverberated through the small chamber as an arm of the automaton met the floor.

“Performing at 53% efficiency. Recommendation: Seek repair soon.”

The large structure of metal and joints, switches and wires shuffled forward, one foot dragging behind, the joint holding it on having been loosened by time. It’s goal seemed to be the derelict computer standing as a beacon amongst discarded or destroyed parts. No scan was run; it would be a waste of resources.

His hand, as it were, moved over a panel of the machine, letting wires string down into the appropriate slots, allowing the abandoned device to scan the robot. A series of lights flashed on and off as a schematic of the construct appeared on the screen, cross-hairs and words pointing out flaws, errors, for inspection. Almost harshly, the wires snapped back into it’s hand as it stumbled back a bit.

“Diagnosis: I have been discarded.”

 Only now did he take the few moments to look about, his optic sensors spotting parts scattered throughout the rubble that matched his own, rather, parts that must have belonged to other members of his series.  The Creators would often refer to units of the same series as "Brothers" and "Sisters", drawing a direct parallel to their own familial theme.

After lingering on one such part, a line in his visual display drew out as text spelled out the fact the part was registered to him:  a screw that his leg required to increase efficiency from its current state.  By sheer luck, it was close enough that he could reclaim it with a wire from his hand.

"Self-Repair protocols initiating.  Temporary upgrades required."

As he reattached the part to his leg joint, his visual sensors switched filters, beginning to seek out other parts in the area that were reusable to further regain efficiency.


Two more parts, both registered to him, were nearby, while another two, not his own, but those of R6-7Y, the next Automaton in his line, were further still.  All in well enough condition to be acceptable for use in a temporary length of time; enough that he would be able to seek out the Creators for further repairs. 

"Error:"  His protocols stopped him before he could move closer to the parts.  "I have been discarded.  Self-Repair is excluded from my current list of executable tasks.  Scanning Memory for Disposal Request."

A distinct hum filled the room as he stood still, searching for the file that would outline the disposal process he underwent, including the reason for disposal, which would assist in determining what tasks he would be able to perform in his current state.

"Error:  Disposal Report is incomplete.  Blank Fields include:  Date Issued for Disposal Order, Requested By, Authorized By, Authorized Signature, Reason for Disposal.  Recommendation:  Seek out Creators for further assistance."

"Error:  Creators location unknown.  Accessing stored building schematics."

The click of a series of internal fans starting echoed through the chamber as the series of errors and procedures began to take their toll on his programming.

"Error:  Building Schematics appear out-dated.  Recommendation:  Seek out Creators for further assistance."

"Error:  Creators location unknown.  Paradox Protocols initiated...Warning!  R6-6Y is over-heating.  Recommendation:  Full Restart....Restarting in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4..."

The automaton, the only one among the destroyed or damaged parts, suddenly went off-line.  Sensors turned off, along with lights that dotted his rusted frame as the fans that had just clicked on slowed to a stop.  As it was before, there was total silence in the room for a moment, before it was shattered as the unit clicked into activity again.

“R6-6Y Active..Sensors online..Visuals at 73%..Self-Scan complete..Moderate Damage detected.  Independent Procedures activated.  Objective confirmed:  Seek out location of Creators.”

His sensors scanned the area, once again in Self-Repair mode, indicating to himself the same parts that he had scanned moments ago.

"Secondary Objective confirmed:  Upgrade efficiency to assist in Primary Objective."

Now allowed, in consideration with his new protocols, he made his way to each part individually, reclaiming them and installing them as part of one process, re-confirming that they were the only ones suitable before exiting Self-Repair mode.

"Self-Repair protocols concluded.  Currently performing at 78% efficiency.  Secondary Objective updated.  Recommendation:  Resume Primary Objective."

Independent Mode proved to be most invaluable as he moved about, scanning the location he was in to try to correlate it with an area in his stored schematics.  The assuredly endless string of Errors he would have encountered had it not loaded would have caused irreparable damage, leaving him unable to complete his objectives.

"Data Collection complete.  Diagnosis:  This area is not in my schematics.  Unable to discern location.  Recommendation:  Acquire updated schematics."

Turning back to the computer he had accessed before, he approached it once more and once again allowed wires from his hand to connect to the device, searching for schematics within its memory.  His search yielded success and after a few moments, the updated schematics were downloaded to his memory, overwriting the old ones with no complication, again attributed to Independent Mode.

"Download complete.  Updated schematics acquired.  Secondary Objective updated.  Proceeding with Primary Objective."

The wires had barely retracted into his hand before a new sensation, a sudden impact caused his optical sensors to scramble for a moment.  When they were allowed to re-focus and begin scanning again, it was immediately clear that the robot had been knocked down, and a new object was seen above it in the new field of vision.

"Scanning.  Organic life-form detected.  Accessing memory for Identificat-"

Suddenly powered down, R6-6Y was unable to finish stating his process, leaving the only sound in the chamber being from the organic life-form, the human.  He was chuckling.

"Loud piece o' junk, ain'cha?  Well, I can probably fix that..."

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That's all for this new first part.  I would like to state now, that I realize it's rather dryly-written; and that's the point, hard as it was to keep with that.  The focus is on R6-6Y who is, at this point, a damaged robot with no personality or anything of the sort.  The intention, of course, is to adapt the style to him as the story goes along, to get a little more interesting as the character itself gets more interesting, to grow as it grows.

Though, I can understand if it comes off as just boring.  Which I would hate, really.