God of War 2 -
After watching Riddles play a healthy chunk of the game while in Toronto, I decided to pick up God of War 2 where I left off…practically at the beginning. I’m a little further than where Riddles got to, and I’ve been able to fill in the gaps made when just observing from those times when I went to make food or take a pee break or whatever. The point is that I can easily say that I like God of War 2 more than 1. The locations are more interesting, it looks better, and it’s just a generally more polished experience. However, the series is still not much more than “pretty good” to me. It’s fun and epic, and the combat is polished and surprisingly deep, but there’s not much personality otherwise. Sure, Kratos is a badass and kills everyone he sees, but despite his tragic past, I feel no connection to him. I like the idea of playing as a sort of anti-hero, but Kratos comes across as one-dimensional to me. The CGI cut-scenes are a treat to watch, and the series certainly knows epic like the back of its hand, but there’s nothing really in the way of mood or personality. Add that to continuously annoying quick-time events and absolutely pointless button-mashing required to open many doors, I just can’t bring myself to call the games fantastic, incredible, or anything past “pretty good”. I’m glad I bought the collection, and I’m glad I’m quickly on my way to beating both titles, and I’ll buy God of War 3 and very likely like it quite a bit, but unless the end of God of War 2 gives me the most amazing 5 hours of gaming I’ve ever experienced, I expect my view on the adored series to remain the same.

I WANT MOAR GAMEZ 2 PLAY! -
Seriously, I’ve resorted to the type of “English” that makes me want to hurl babies off of cliffs. That’s how badly it frustrates me that Final Fantasy XIII comes out right after this ridiculously long break from work. It’s obviously not that bad. I have God of War 2, Magna Carta 2, Final Fantasy VI, Folklore, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, and Brutal Legend all in my collection waiting to be beaten. Wow, that’s actually a sizable list. What the hell am I complaining about? I must seem like a spoiled asshole. I better do something quickly to make me look good!

You all get free pizza! -
With extra cheese and chocolate covered pepperoni!

Okay, I lied -
No pizza for any of you. But at least I distracted you all from whatever I was trying to distract you from!

That’s it! My pride in this new cover look is enough to distract me from my depression created from Riddles’ departure. …for now…