Glutton for Punishment?

I have to say I wasn’t very impressed with Angel and Spike After the Fall. The art isn’t that great and the story is very convoluted. I read them because I loved the TV show Angel and the comic Buffy was good, but these are just a mess. They jump around too much. One moment you’re following Angel’s story then for a couple of pages you’re onto Conner’s story, then Spike’s, and etc… I guess I like that I get to see what happened after the show but right now it’s like the later seasons with no hope and everyone dying. I guess I was hoping that it would be more like the first season with at least a few light moments. With Buffy there is a lot of end of the world moments but there are characters and other story lines that keep things lighter. There needs to be that humor element in Angel After the Fall. I guess I can’t have it all, either way I’m going to continue to read.

Maybe it's just all the boobs talking

“Playboy: The Mansion” is the game I’ve been playing lately. It’s been very entertaining and has served its purpose of keeping me from re-activating my WoW account well. It is very much like the Sims in that you have to maintain relationship levels and keep people happy, but it adds a new element. You are publishing Playboy issues and trying to promote the company. The Sims games on consoles did something similar, you had goals you had to meet and were unable to progress to the next level without completing them; but I think that the Playboy game has actually done a better job at it. Not only do you have the goals they’ve given you to complete but all the time you have to keep pumping out magazines to continue to earn money.

As I’ve progressed the game has gotten a little redundant, but it has still managed to entertain (that might have something to do with the fact that there are topless women everywhere). You spend the majority of your time throwing parties, networking with people, trying to get the next big name to either do a cover shoot or an interview for your magazine.

There are a lot of little details you have to keep under control. If your journalist isn’t happy she might not write a very good article, which is why you need to keep her satisfied *wink wink*. It also pays to get your photographer and your bunnies talking; if he likes her he’ll take better photos. Once again lots of micro-management, just the way I like it.

On a scale of 1 to 10 I would probably rank this a 6. It entertains and keeps you busy, but I feel there was a lot more they could have done. It is over all just a bit too easy and repetitive. Each new mission is almost like the last with just one more extra party you have to throw. There is also a lot of load time, which I guess I shouldn’t complain about because it is just a PS2 game and it’s still not as bad as some other games. I guess I would describe it as a light game to play in between intense high action games.

All I could want in a game, except hookers

As someone who has been a fan of the Harvest Moon series since the gamecube, Rune Factory already had an appeal; but when I was told there was monster killing in it as well I knew I had to try it. It tied both of my worlds together, now if I only I could kill hookers it would be perfect, oh well.

The character you play as has amnesia and ends up in the small town of Trampoli. You’re given a farm by a young woman named Mist, who to be honest fits the profile of a blond ditz to a “T”. You then must find your place in town. You get to farm, fight monsters, and woo a beautiful woman; and that’s just a few of the things.

As you progress a story unfolds and you must save the land around you; but don’t worry no pressure what so ever. The story can be done at your own time and pace. There is no deadline, well for most things there isn’t; one woman will leave for most of the year unless you give her a baby elephant but you know no biggie she’s a spoiled brat any way.

The point is that you get to set the pace at which the story unfolds. If you like to rush through it that’s fine, you might not get to go as fast as you like since you will need to grow some crops to be able to forge certain weapons, but you don’t have to spend the majority of your time doing it if you don’t want to. The same goes for if you prefer to farm and spend some time with your family and get to the fighting when you feel like it. This game is played differently by everyone.

My game strategy is to build up my farm; I feel I can’t be a productive fighter if I know my fields are full of large stones and stumps. I like things all nice and orderly at home with the wife in the kitchen where she belongs. Then I go out and fight the big bad. To some that might seem backward but it’s the way I prefer to do things.

This is definitely not a game for someone looking to kill a couple hours. 100 hours can easily be spent and you’ll still have things left over to do. I have spent over 40 hours on the game already and to be honest I feel like I’ve barely made a dent in all there is to do. I still have yet to get the girl, level my house all the way up, or even progress too far into the Lava Ruins. There is always something that needs to be done to the point where sometimes you have to step back and put a few things on the side burner. I can easily see spending 100 more hours playing.