GAMING

Why Mass Effect: Andromeda is not my fav

The Mass Effect trilogy is some of the best gaming I've experienced to date. The story, the gameplay, the cinematics - all were impressive. I was thus understandably excited for the new title from the ME universe to be released earlier this year.

Despite some familiar and enjoyable bits, Mass Effect: Andromeda was overall a letdown for me. Many of the things that disappointed me were the same ones that didn't work for me in Dragon Age: Inquisition (the third title in that series, also created by BioWare). It used to be, in earlier installments, you would meet a character with a problem and he or she would explain what was going on and what you might consider doing about it; similarly, you might encounter a situation in progress and choose how to act in response. These would initiate a new quest.

Mass Effect 2 hosts a fun and colorful crew
(although Commander Shepherd was a
woman in my playthrough)

FemShep as "designed"
by another player

Morrigan from Dragon Age. You do NOT
want to cross this mage.

The Hawke family from Dragon Age II

In ME:A and DA:I, instead you just read a lot (and I mean a LOT) of letters/notices/journal entries/e-mail/data pads, usually found just lying around. There were so many of these to peruse that I eventually would just skip the reading altogether, knowing that once I selected the writing in whatever form, the quest would automatically pop up in my active missions. The new entry would tell me where to go and what to do, but I would have no idea WHY. Sure, reading each and every example of writing I found in the game would enlighten me, but there was just so darn many of them it became tedious. Thus, I was further removed and less engaged in the story.

Additionally, ME:A has an awful lot of combat. I stuck with it and played the game for a while, hoping I would become more invested the further I got, but with all the fighting (and fighting the same enemy types over and over) and the busy work, it was hard to keep hanging on to the hope I had pinned on the narrative pulling it all together. Which is really too bad, because it could still be a pretty epic story.

Le sigh. I guess I am just in the minority when it comes to what I like in my video games, especially since one of my favorite genres is still the point-and-click adventure. You know, the inventory-based ones where the story introduces quandries you have to puzzle your way through? Ah, the days when Sierra and LucasArts were at the height of their game!

Good ole King's Quest!

The Monkey Island series -
still one of the best!

And as good as the Gabriel Knight series was overall...

...let's just forget that whole attempt at FMV
(full motion video) in the 90s, shall we?

Those games have gone by the wayside over the past many years (they still get developed, but the quantity and quality have taken a hit since popularity and demand have plummeted), but not all is list since I do still enjoy other types. Such as the early installments of Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Quantic Dream also puts out popular titles that I tend to enjoy. I hope they don't take the same route as BioWare with future games (come on folks, don't let me down with Detroit: Become Human!)

Indigo Prophecy (or Fahrenheit, as it was known
everywhere besides the U.S.) by Quantic Dream

If I do decide to tackle ME:A again someday, perhaps I should preface it with a replay of Jade Empire as a palate cleanse. Plenty of combat there, but boy was I hooked! What happened since then?!

Jade Empire
Gosh, that was a good game! 

Hello. It's been a while. How have you been?

Myself, I've been better. Depression and anxiety have made real bitches of themselves in my life this past year. And a few physical health concerns as well. (Who gets primary hypertension in their early thirties? Whose retinal blood vessels randomly spring a leak, causing a small area of permanent vision loss? This lady, that's who.)

I'll show you in the inside of my left eyeball if you show me yours...

But I'm in a bit of a better place right now, I think primarily because of the summer weather - the sunshine helps improve mood in general, but also allows me more opportunities (or, I suppose, the will) to get outside and get active.

(Shout out to one other thing that helped see me through the winter: Jenny Lawson's blog and her book, You Are Here:

An Owner's Manual for Dangerous Minds.
Also a coloring book with perforated pages.)

(Can I place the first parenthesis at the beginning of the sentence, then the close it off at the end of a picture caption? BAM, I just did, deal with it!)

Physical activity has never been a priority in my life. Of course I'm aware of the many benefits, but with my favorite activities being reading and playing video games, I just never found the willpower to get out and do more. Until now.

One of the perks of my job is that I am always moving around. I purchased a Fitbit Charge 2 with some of my birthday money this past May, and I'm often clocking in 3-5 miles a day at work alone. Right there I have one advantage I would be missing if I worked a desk job.

The Fitbit has also helped keep me motivated to try to hit my daily goals as far as steps taken and active minutes, as well as water and calorie intake. I take my dog for more walks (she's certainly not complaining!) I walk to the library instead of driving - it is 0.5 miles from my house and it LITERALLY never occurred to me before that I could easily walk there. On rainy days I occasionally stop over at my parents' house to use their treadmill while listening to the Sword & Laser podcast or an audiobook. Recently I have even taken the next step and started going for runs - albeit, very short runs during which I feel like I just might have to collapse and call my husband to tell him to come find me on the side of the road somewhere in our neighborhood.

My library is puuuurdy - and within easy walking distance

Another thing that helps when I'm feeling down: my children! I suppose there's actually a double-edged sword there, when they constantly ask me to play with them and sometimes it's all I can do to get out of bed. (Over the winter when the depression was worse, I spent an exorbitant amount of time in bed and felt guilty about it, my counselor suggested I could think of it this way: it's okay if there are times in my children's lives when I'm just a quiet, loving presence.) But seeing them happy and delivering them new experiences and hopefully fond memories helps put a smile on my face.

I think we may have achieved some of that a couple of weeks ago when we rented a camp at Sylvan Beach along with my parents for a week. The camp's yard opened directly onto the beach, where the boys played in the sand while I read in the sun, and we all waded into the waters of Oneida Lake. There was a firepit in the yard and we spent one evening roasting marshmallows and lighting sparklers. We had missed the 4th of July festivities, which had happened to week before, but the people at the camp next to ours set off some of their own fireworks, giving us an impromptu but fun show. We went on the rides at Sylvan Beach's amusement park, and visited the nearby Fort Rickey Children's Discovery Zoo. And of course we made a few trips out for ice cream.

Our deer friend at Fort Rickey Children's Discovery Zoo.
Dat pose, doe! (Credit for the latter pun goes to
Ian "Rocketsoup" Hooman)

Impromptu fireworks show!

The good life.

My older son dreams of being a YouTuber. I wish we could help him meet that goal of his, but my husband says our current system wouldn't support that kind of thing. Maybe some day.

In addition to working on my fitness, mental and physical, I still make plenty of time for reading. (Not so much writing, because...well, when I'm depressed I just don't have it in me.) I have joined in with two online book clubs through Goodreads.com. One is Vaginal Fantasy, the hosts of which are Felicia Day, Veronica Belmont, Bonnie Burton and Kiala Kazebee. This group reads mainly fantasy novels with romance elements (the sexier the better). At the end of the month there is a live Google Hangout get together to discuss everyone's thoughts on the book.

The second book club also features Veronica Belmont, along with Tom Merritt, and is called The Sword and Laser. Here we alternate between reading fantasy and science fiction novels. There is usually a weekly podcast that, in addition to talk about the current book, delivers news from the worlds of sci-fi and fantasy.

As far as video games, I have to say I haven't been playing much of them lately. I was excited for Mass Effect:Andromeda, but bored with it quickly - it seemed like too much combat and not enough story to see us through all the busy work. I also played a nice, creepy little point-and-click adventure game titled Goetia.

Other than that, most of my video game experience these days probably comes from watching Ryon Day's Twitch streams. He tries to stream once a week, and I like to catch it live because it's also a chance to "hang out" with a bunch of online buddies, the same core group who usually tune in to watch. A wonderful community called Team Hooman has sprung up from fans of Felicia Day and her brother Ryon. I sometimes catch Felicia's Twitch streams too, but since she's a celebrity, the chat is flooded with comments, making it less likely that any one message will get noticed. Either way, both Days are hilarious, and seem like all-around Grade A folks.

Yes, I have an autographed head shot of Felicia Day.
No, I did not get it in person; it came with a book I
pre-ordered, written by an acquaintance of hers

I do hope to feel up to writing again some day. Until then, you can find me reading, participating in online book clubs, watching Day Twitch streams, or collapsed on the side of the road-I mean working on my fitness. Thanks for reading!