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Why is it that when you know there's a game out there that you want to play, but can't afford it and renting it is no longer an option, you can't find anything else to fill the void? I pick up a game that I think I'm in the mood for, and without fail, ten minutes later I can't play it anymore. Something about it becomes annoying and I no longer have the urge to play. Then what do I do? I pick up a book.
Now, what is it about my favorite games that I can't seem to get myself back into lately?
Final Fantasy VII. With the upcoming NA release of Final Fantasy: Advent Children, playing through Final Fantasy VII again would make sense, wouldn't it? Of course, it makes too much sense. After playing as far as Don Corneo's Mansion, something about the game quickly gets old. Perhaps it's the fact that the analog sticks have become so much of the norm in games these days that using the d-pad effectively becomes a chore. Maybe it's the bad translation in parts of the game with classic phrases such as "This guy are sick". Regardless, this game started the downward trend.
Breath of Fire. As in, Breath of Fire anything. Having never beaten the first Breath of Fire game, one would think that it would be easier to get back into it. That just simply isn't the case. Overplaying the first couple hours of the game, for various reasons, has made it impossible to get past those hours. Why? Because after five or six attempts on playing the game, the beginning just gets old. Once the beginning's old, it's a fight to stay awake through it. Breath of Fire III is another game I've never truly beaten. It's right up there with the first one. Due to unforseen memory card issues, my game kept getting corrupted at the same point in the game. Since acquiring a new memory card, that didn't happen again, but I just never got around to beating the final boss. Breath of Fire IV is one game where there really is no explanation for why I can't replay it. I just have no urge to play more than ten minutes of it. So there's
nothing specific about the Breath of Fire games that cause me to not want to play them. Just some bad technical issues.
Final Fantasy VIII. Something about not having a game in your possession brings out the need to play it. Then you get it back. Although the urge to play this game was very strong, the desire died very quickly. Now it collects dust on the shelf some more. Final Fantasy VIII had a very specific draw for me, and that was the story. The game play left something to be desired including the draw system and the junction system, but the story had some interesting plot twists. Now, some games can be played through just for the story and the overall game play can be successfully ignored. Final Fantasy VIII doesn't seem to be one of them anymore.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant. After fighting to stay into Koudelka just to understand the history of Shadow Hearts and then really enjoying a replay of Shadow Hearts, I decided to replay Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Then, Atelier Iris came along and I haven't been able to pick it up since. There is no reasonable explanation for it. Atelier Iris killed the replayablity of most of my games.
So gaming as a whole has been a little off for me lately. While I don't think its a permanent affair, it is kind of disconcerting. I mean, how would you feel if you woke up one day and couldn't pick any games up for a month? I blame it on Atelier Iris though I'm not sure if that's quite right either. Perhaps its just that time of the year when you know there are some good games coming out, but can't even look forward to them. With my funding as short as it is, I won't be able to get anything fresh to jumpstart my gaming needs any time soon. So what is there to do outside of gaming?
I've found my nose in a total of seven books this past month as a result of my gaming slump. Suddenly I've had a burst of creativity and ambition, so perhaps not playing games for a month has been a good thing for me. A few authors have taken up my interest lately, including Laurell K Hamilton, Iris Johansen and Kim Harrison. Iris Johansen writes excellent suspense novels. The other two write supernatural fiction novels.
Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels are the most interesting to me. They are refreshing compared to traditional vampire books. Although most of the recent novels are more for women, I believe they are a good read for anyone. Anita Blake is a necromancer who raises zombies for a living. Because of her job she finds herself an ideal candidate for being caught up in vampire politics and were-animal affairs.
Kim Harrison has a similar writing style to Laurell K Hamilton, but is still unique. She writes the Dead Witch Walking books. Rachel Morgan is a bounty hunter who lives in the Hollows of Cincinnati where vampires rule the darkness. A contract for her life is put out when she leaves Inderlander Security after getting nothing but worthless runs. Making deals with demons and leaving the IS are the least of her worries, however. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys vampire novels.
Iris Johansen's best novels are her Eve Duncan forensics books. They start with A Face of Deception. Eve Duncan is a forensic sculptor that focuses on children after her own daughter's murder. The body was never found. She tries to bring children "home" so their families don't have to endure the same pain by doing reconstructions of the skulls. Eve's job peaks the interest of many dangerous people who will stop at nothing to stop Eve. Each book is full of action and suspense. A definite must for those who enjoy murder mysteries.
So what should you do when playing games isn't an option? Read a book.
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