what I got for Christmas
Not a timely report, but I've been busy. The house repairs are partly (mostly?) done, but now the dining room chandelier seems to make sparks every time the workers try to hook it up and use it (water was dripping off it like crazy during the storm, as you might expect). I sort of expected and feared that something like that would happen. This house needs new wiring, and we've been talking about doing it for a long time. I wish we could do it on our own timetable, but at the same time, we've only talked for years, and now it is time to act.
The floor of the dining room is really shiny now, and makes the rest of our hardwood look kind of pitiful and shameful.
But what has really been taking up my time: Persona4, an RPG for PS2. I play a student in a small town in Japan, investigating some mysterious disappearances with my Scooby friends. The game is really of two sorts in one: part of the time I have to focus on being a student, studying, doing my part-time job, hanging out with friends, and doing my extracurriculars. But I also have to work in time to be a dungeoneer and find the kidnap victims and rescue them from their (mini-boss) captors. Maybe it's best if you read the review that I read, which was surely better written than this.
The dungeoneering part is a lot like the Final Fantasy series, wherein you and some allies meet random encounters, and you beat them up to earn experience, cash, and loot. It's also a bit like FF in that you call on personas with magical abilities to help you defeat your enemies (remember Summon Materia?). Concept and I are both enjoying the game, although only one can play at a time (for 2-player fun, invest in Lego Star Wars). I don't have a clue how far I have to go, but I do know -- from looking at the character screen on the website -- that I've only got three friends on my team, and I'm supposed to meet at least two more. I think I'm about to get a fourth friend soon, since I've found the second victim (well, really the fourth victim, but two died before I was on the case, and I rescued the third, who is now on my team too).
P4 is not an RPG of the Fallout variety -- your skills go up in predetermined (random?) ways that the player has no say in. However, the protagonist has five areas that the player can improve, choosing to focus on one all the time, or spreading out the activities to increase them at about the same rate (my inclination on this first go-through).
And the music is c-r-a-z-y! My favorite isn't on the soundtrack, but I found it online somewhere this afternoon. Listen!
The floor of the dining room is really shiny now, and makes the rest of our hardwood look kind of pitiful and shameful.
But what has really been taking up my time: Persona4, an RPG for PS2. I play a student in a small town in Japan, investigating some mysterious disappearances with my Scooby friends. The game is really of two sorts in one: part of the time I have to focus on being a student, studying, doing my part-time job, hanging out with friends, and doing my extracurriculars. But I also have to work in time to be a dungeoneer and find the kidnap victims and rescue them from their (mini-boss) captors. Maybe it's best if you read the review that I read, which was surely better written than this.
The dungeoneering part is a lot like the Final Fantasy series, wherein you and some allies meet random encounters, and you beat them up to earn experience, cash, and loot. It's also a bit like FF in that you call on personas with magical abilities to help you defeat your enemies (remember Summon Materia?). Concept and I are both enjoying the game, although only one can play at a time (for 2-player fun, invest in Lego Star Wars). I don't have a clue how far I have to go, but I do know -- from looking at the character screen on the website -- that I've only got three friends on my team, and I'm supposed to meet at least two more. I think I'm about to get a fourth friend soon, since I've found the second victim (well, really the fourth victim, but two died before I was on the case, and I rescued the third, who is now on my team too).
P4 is not an RPG of the Fallout variety -- your skills go up in predetermined (random?) ways that the player has no say in. However, the protagonist has five areas that the player can improve, choosing to focus on one all the time, or spreading out the activities to increase them at about the same rate (my inclination on this first go-through).
And the music is c-r-a-z-y! My favorite isn't on the soundtrack, but I found it online somewhere this afternoon. Listen!
