Video games. I feel like I live in their culture but spend very little time playing them.
Cataclysm
I finally hit 85 recently and even met some guildies I didn’t know at a party at my place the other day. Very cool guys! I haven’t even done all the normal instances nor have I tried the new battlegrounds, but I enjoyed the instances I did. Moving the quest givers inside the instances is a fantastic change. I still feel like I’m not sure what’s going on in some of the instances. That said, I only quested in Vashj’ir, and the Throne of the Tides probably felt the coolest to me. I guess the instances are better when I have the lore of the zones backing them up.
Speaking of zones, I still think there are too many quests. Blizzard did a great job making new and interesting quests, but there’s too much padding. Every quest should have some meaning and progress the story in a meaningful way. But I do enjoy the new Orgrimmar quite a bit even if Hellscream won’t even consider a peaceful existence. I’m curious to see where the story will go, but I’m okay with him in the game (even if I wouldn’t care for his politics in real life). Also, “Thrall’s balls” and “Hellscream’s eyes are upon you” are great lines. I’ve always really enjoyed the difficulty of healing and how I need to use many more spells than I previously did.
Force Unleashed 2
Edward bought this game for me for Christmas, and I’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s very similar to the first one. I really enjoy how much it feels like I’m in Star Wars. It’s obviously a bit of a button masher, but I’m not always looking for a deep game. In Force Unleashed 2 I’ve found a good way to allow me to feel like I’m in the Star Wars universe, really throwing around my lightsaber and using cool force powers. The way the quick time events play out to kill certain larger enemies is always the same, which is disappointing, but I’m definitely having fun. I also love the cutscenes progressing the story and the cool transitions.
Super Meat Boy
I haven’t been putting as much time into this as I’d like, but it’s definitely a well designed platformer. I loved N and N+, and Super Meat Boy fits in quite nicely. It has superb graphics, music, and bits of polish. Of course it’s very challenging, but it doesn’t make me angry like bad people in WoW do.
Beat Hazard
Beat Hazard, which features procedurally generated levels based on music, is fantastic. Not only is it fun, but it also provides me with entertainment in short bursts, and I don’t always have a lot of time to play video games. While I’m definitely behind all of my roommates in terms of progress, I am nearing the final rank. Yay!