Video Games
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
I discussed this before and my opinion hasn’t changed. They really improved upon the water travel from Wind Waker, aka, I rather like it now. And digging for treasure is much more entertaining.

What I liked most, though, is the way the story is laid out. In other Zelda titles, I tend to get annoyed at the process of things, with having to do certain things in order to actually play, get to a temple, etc. (Twilight Princess intro, anyone?) Here, even though I had to gather metals and find a blacksmith and all that before facing the final battle, it was presented in a way that was actually part of the story.

In short, I love this game. It’s a little on the easy side—I got through it much faster than expected—but I guess not everything I do has to be a mental challenge. Right?

Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Full rambling about this game’s finale is found here. I run the risk of repeating myself, but… I love this game. The characters, the storyline, everything. I like that they made the tactician part of the story (that is, me); it made me feel important. My only regret is that its sequel isn’t available in English, and thus I can’t learn the adventures of the character’s kids. Unless I have a PC and an emulator… which I don’t. (Yeah, someone actually translated it.) This is, easily, my second favorite Fire Emblem title thus far (the first being Path of Radiance. Check it out).

I promise I’ll start venturing out from these two series games soon. Really.

Books (click for reviews)
How to Be Alone: Essays; Jonathan Franzen
Eating Animals; Jonathan Safran Foer
Lowboy; John Wray

Seriously, it was not planned that all my books this month were written by a Jo(h)n. And I haven’t been slacking off in my reading, either—I’m about 3/4 of the way through John Updike’s Rabbit Angstrom, but I’m so sick of reading about Rabbit that I couldn’t force myself to finish it by month’s end.
Also: I’ve declared Jonathan Franzen one of my new favorite authors. Welcome to the elite.

Monday, 31 May 2010   ♦   books, games