Hello, New Year

Posting will resume come the beginning of 2013, due to a number of unforeseen events and activities (most of them good!) that have cropped up in the past month or so and that will continue through the end of this year.  I look forward to seeing you then.

Posting update

I realize that things have been pretty quiet lately.  Things have been really busy on my end and I haven't had much of a chance to write updates.  The newest entry will be posted late next week.

In case you were wondering, my play through of ME2 is honestly taking so very very very long because of one thing.  As much as I like Meriel, the writing part of my brain has not recovered from the "burned out" phase it entered when graduate work came to a close.  It is on the mend though, and trust me when I say that it is well time this game was over. 

ME2, however, is not the only thing I've been playing (or not playing ... since ME2 progresses as Meriel's journal does).  The first part of this year GOG had a number of very good sales on adventure titles, and I have been messing with a number of those.  I also fooled around with Fallout 3 and a number of PS2 titles (it is rather embarrassing to admit that Trivial Pursuit was a major time sink a few weeks back).  I am rather eager to finally install Jade Empire, and to begin making a major dent in that GOG shelf of mine.  With Two Worlds, Arx Fatalis, Nox, and a number of other titles calling my name I'm ready to put this chapter behind me.  Odds are that the division of Meriel's journal entries in the next months will reflect this.

See you then!

ME2 - Zaeed

Vengeance and anger.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - Miranda

Changes in perception.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - The Recruits

The motley crew.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - Rejection

A failed reunion.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

Let's Play - Oregon Trail

So I'm running a bit behind schedule.  (Big surprise there).  In the meantime, take a moment to revisit all those wonderful childhood memories of swapping out 5 1/4" floppy disks while trekking across America with a team of oxen and a covered wagon.  If you are especially lucky, your entire party may even die of dysentery along the way ...

The Official Oregon Trail website kindly links to a ready-to-play emulated version of their 1985 game for Apple II.

The Oregon Trail Apple II Emulator
Official Oregon Trail Website

Image: Source

Happy Towel Day

Happy Towel Day 2012 everyone!  Carry a towel in Douglas Adams' honor as you go about your everyday lives.  Give a people reason to say "Hey, you sass that hoopy <your name here>? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is."

Check the Towel Day website to see if there are celebratory events happening near you this year!  The website includes international goings on.

Image: Source

Coming Soon

I'm sorry about things being all quiet on the western front.  Life suddenly took me by surprise in the end of March/beginning of April, and has kept me hopping ever since.  Much to my chagrin, this means that I have not had a chance to pick up any game (much less Mass Effect 2) for the past couple of months.  Fear not though, for Meriel will be returning at the end of this week.  I hope to have the next entry in her journal up by the end of Saturday, and a second up by the end of the following Tues.  I am also working on pulling together a post on the Let's Player veriax.  In addition to that, you will see that the "Currently Reading" sidebar section has been replaced, as of today, by a Goodreads widget. I have finally taken the plunge and signed up for the website.  Should it strike your fancy, you will be able to track what I am currently reading, and see past books that I have read, through this website. 

See you soon!

Update 5/28/12 - Yes I am well aware I actually did not post as promised.  When writing this earlier I some how managed to forget two important things.  1) I was scheduled to commence spring cleaning  that week and 2) even in a place as small as mine, spring cleaning takes a really long time since you are essentially turning the whole house inside out, sorting through it all, and then putting/giving/throwing it all away.  3) Surprise dogsitting/housesitting this week means I won't have access to my computer/diles/game.  Since the great Spring Clean 2012 still continues, and likely will through the end of the week,  the amended dates for Meriel's journal are Tuesday the 5th and Friday the 8th.  Sorry about the delay but my brain completely ceased to function it seems.

Let's Talk About: Still Life

Spring has recently sprung, and what goes better with the celebration of new life than the contemplation of life expired?  Okay, so that was a little bit tortured.  Death, particularly homicide, is always an interesting premise for a video game though.  In this instance I'm particularly thinking about Microid's 2005 title, Still Life.  A detective style, point-and-click adventure game, this title does the developer's legacy proud as it follows the quasi parallel stories of FBI agent Victoria and her private detective grandfather, Gustav McPherson.

The Basics:

Victoria and Gustav

Still Life's most defining feature is the manner in which the story is framed.  Victoria is working in present day Chicago when a rash of murders go down. Eerily, the victims of her cases closely mirror the work of a serial killer that Victoria's grandfather, Gus McPherson, tried to track down in 1920s Europe. Despite the fact that 75 years separate our main characters, the number of similarities between their cases is unmistakable.  By alternately focusing on these two investigators, Still Life sends the player on an engaging adventure in the hopes that someone will finally bring the serial killers to justice. Along the way, gamers meet a number of well characterized NPCs and stroll through one breathtaking environment after another.  Microids, after all, is the patron saint of beautiful adventure game settings.  The player also faces a number of questions as they fill the shoes of Victoria and Gus.  Who is committing these atrocious murders? Is Victoria dealing with a copycat serial killer, or have the current crimes been committed by the same person Gus investigated?  Is that even possible? 

 

The Good:
Still Life benefits from solid characters, a compelling story, and (for the most part) very natural puzzles.  Not only are the main characters strong enough to carry this game but even the less important NPCs are strongly characterized.  One of the things that impressed me the most was the prostitutes Gustav spent a significant amount of time interacting with.  Each woman had a distinct personality, and each woman was treated with dignity without the game resorting to tropes and stereotypes in an effort to streamline the tale.  Gustav corresponded with the women in the same way that he did all others.  Most charmingly he even afforded them nods of his head, a tip of his hat, and other social pleasantries one would not expect given their station.  In the end, character interactions throughout the entire game are very well done.

Since I do not want to spoil the story, let it suffice to say that Still Life's tale is well constructed and it maintains a steady pace throughout. I genuinely wanted to know what would happen next, and the script manages to continue luring you forward without resorting to cheap tricks. Plot points are not unnecessarily belabored and little time is wasted with needless backtracking. A few of the story elements may require some suspension of disbelief on the player's part (depending on how jaded they are regarding adventure game logic), but the shifts between Victoria's and Gustav's timeline are well placed and they flow naturally from one to the other.  I personally never felt like too much emphasis was given to either character, and I very quickly felt the (natural) emotional connection that Victoria shared with her grandfather.  Overall, there is very little to complain about here.

The Bane of My Existence 

Perhaps most important for me was the natural implementation of Still Life's puzzles.  While my old nemesis puzzle locks made a number of appearances, I suppose that is to be expected of any point-an-click adventure game.  The majority of the puzzles not only made sense in the context of the story, but with some careful thought they were possible to solve without resorting to gamefaqs or walkthroughs.  Likewise, character interactions made it clear where the player was supposed to go and what they were supposed to do when arriving there.  In addition, I only ran into a handful of instances were objects I needed to pick up blended into the background.  Environments are designed in such a way that points of interest were clearly defined without being extremely obvious.  No pixel hunting here.

The Bad:
While I found little truly "bad" about this title, there are certainly a few of things that Still Life could have done better. The most notable of these being the character models.  While most of the models fall well within what one would expect from an adventure game circa 2005, there are a couple which are extremely sub-par.  The prostitutes of 1920s Prague are particularly guilty of this.  It is clear that their clothing and hair styles attempt to follow era appropriate fashion, but something about their appearance never looks quite right.  The women end up looking far younger or far older than their intended ages.  One woman in particular, who was supposed to be very popular with the men (for her beauty among other things), does not even resemble the role she plays. A shapeless dress, boxy grandmother heels, and swollen cankles make me wonder how she ended up with the number of clients she reportedly entertains .  For a developer that clearly put a great deal of effort into every other visual aspect of this game (something that some of the other character designs reflect), I am perplexed at how characters like this woman slipped through the cracks.

Dialogue Options
(click to enlarge)

While a minor gripe, there is also this game's conversation system. Instead of opting for a dialogue tree à la Syberia or Broken Sword, Still Life institutes a rather unique method of navigating its extended dialogue sessions.  Upon initiating verbal contact, Victoria or Gustav generally speak for a while and receive a reply from their contact, and then image of a mouse appears.  If there is more detail to be uncovered about the recent exchange, then the right mouse button will be highlighted red.  If there is additional key dialogue to add to the most recent exchange, then the left mouse button will also be highlighted red.  There is no on screen indication to show what will be discussed, there is no tree that will let you revisit pas dialogue points, and there is nothing telling you what the purpose of the right and left mouse buttons are.  I only discovered the difference between the right and left buttons by testing them out.  One can assume that old dialogue options (even from the current conversation) cannot be revisited because everything they say is added to the character script log.  One shouldn't have to open a new screen and scroll through mountains of text to find something if they missed a detail though.  I can sort of see what the developers were doing here.  After all, everything else in the game tries to flow as naturally as possible.  The story elements flow smoothly into each other, puzzles fit naturally into the world, and even cut scenes mainly exist to advance the story so that it doesn't stagnate.  When mixed with these aspects, a traditional dialogue   tree or "notepad" element could easily feel stilted.  By using their mouse system, conversations flow smoothly and have beginning, middle, and end.  I can't help by wonder though why the dialogue tree was axed when equally awkward lock puzzles were left in.  After all, you cannot tell me that people actually use complex systems like that to secure their chests and safes.  In the end, Still Life's dialogue system is not a deal breaker, but it does not really do this title any favors either.

Another nitpick is the manner in which this game compensates for Gustav's lack of current forensic technology.  While Victoria has the FBI's resources at her fingertips, Gustav is a private directive with few resources beyond his wit and connections he has made over the years.  I will not go into how the game compensates for Gustav, but let's just say that the talent it introduces does not make a great deal of sense without context.  A bit of reading on my part seems to indicate that it makes more sense if one has played the related game Post-Mortem, but a passing mention in Still Life of how this talent was acquired would not have been amiss.  (Released in 2002, Post-Mortem is essentially a prequel to Still Life, and features Gus as its main protagonist.)

Last but not least is the English voice acting.  As you can tell I played the game in French.   On one hand, this was partially because doing so helps me maintain a grasp on the language.  On the other hand, it was done so because the English voice acting is atrocious.  During the first chapter some of the voices (like Victoria's) are tolerable, but others are so mind-gratingly awful that I actually turned on subtitles.  With the dialogue not readble, I could skim the text and then skip through the spoken dialogue at a much faster rate.  That, my friends, is never a good sign.  The voice overs are not a game breaker, but I really wish that Microids would have hired decent actors for just one game in their library.  As for the French actors, I found their VO to be pretty good.  Not every character was excellent, but they were certainly more tolerable than their English counterparts.

The Worth Noting:

Victoria's GPS vs Gustav's Map

Still Life's attention to visual detail is one of the things that makes this title so special.  There are always amusing little features like the Microsoft "flower box" screensaver seen on the computer in Victoria's father's office, but Microids also took a great deal of pain to differentiate between the early-2000s and the 1920s.  Details and settings found in one era often found their way into the other as if to reinforce the year gap.  For instance, Victoria's SUV is a prominent game feature since it is used to navigate from one part of the city to another. While Gus uses a paper map (instead of a GPS like device) to move from location to location, era appropriate cars are scattered throughout in order to emphasize changes in technology.  These vehicles would be easy to dismiss, except for the fact that Still Life makes sure you see them.  The first time we meet Gus, one vehicle is blocking a one-lane road near the river.  The sole purpose of interacting with this object is to have Gustav wonder what kind of jerk would park his car there.  In another example of era comparison, both Victoria and Gus speak with coroners and morgues.  The FBI Bureau's morgue is a pristine, metallic locale with bright lights, modern technology, and clean white linens.  You can almost smell disinfectant in the air.  Gus' coroner (Chap. 2), however, is an former, accidental army surgeon who operates out of an abandoned chapel. Blood stains the floor, the table, the medic's apron, and the player almost gags on the smell of death, dust, and decay.  In 2005, the deceased was placed on a brushed metal table and covered in a clean sheet.  In 1920's Prague, the deceased was placed on an old stone altar and still wore the old burlap police had used as a makeshift body-bag.  From a visual standpoint it also bears mentioning that cut scene camera angles are both varied and interesting.

Character Specific UI

To only focus on the environments though, would be doing the game's interface an injustice.  That is right, the interface. A title's UI is generally something one does not usually pay attention to past the point of noting whether it is intuitive, functional, or a pain to use.  With this game, however, one must go a step further since it changes in appearance according to the character using it.  Victoria's interface is predictably electronic in nature, and puts one in mind of a palm pilot (or other early-2000s data storage device).  Here she can access extensive case files and conversation notes.  The usual inventory management and save features are located here as well.  Gustav, on the other hand would not have had access to this kind of technology.  A such, his case notes and and past conversations are recorded on faded notepaper.  It is as if he is flipping though a handwritten notebook or file folder to obtain the information he needs.  Other visual cues differentiate between the eras as well.  For instance, where  Victoria's character picture is color and on an FBI card, Gustav's head shot is black and white and on a yellowed ID card.  In the grand scheme of things something like this may seem small, but it is one detail which convinced me that playing this game through was a good idea.  Any developer that cares enough to change features like that, things which most people would not have noticed had it stayed the same, has most likely dedicated equal, if not more, attention to the game play features that really do matter.

The Verdict:
It should be noted that Still Life has a sequel (Still Life 2) in which some of its events are (hopefully) resolved.  The game does end with a cliffhanger and an end-credit cinematic tells us where the next game will take place. The credits also urge gamers to continue the experience online at stillife-game.com.  No longer an active website, the Original Official Still Life website can be found here via the Wayback Machine.  I have not played the sequel yet, which recently became available on GOG, but I see myself picking it up very soon.  In the end, Still Life is a point-and-click adventure game which makes you forget that it is a point-and-click adventure game.  The story is compelling, the characters are memorable, and the environments are beautiful.  I can unreservedly recommend this game to anyone looking for a good story, even if adventure titles are not usually your "thing."

Let's Talk About: Let's Player Aeterna

By Way of Introduction:
One thing I have been doing a great deal during the past months is both watching and listening to Let's Plays on  YouTube.  For the uninitiated, Let's Plays are similar to walkthroughs in the sense that they are a series of videos where someone plays through a game. In my mind what sets walkthroughs  and Let's Plays (LPs) apart though, is that LPs more often than not feature constant commentary from the Let's Player (LPer), whereas walkthroughs are commentary free.  Sometimes LP playlists feature only part of a game, but more often than not LPers record these games in their entirety.  This means that RPG LPs, like CD Projekt RED's The Witcher, can be hundreds of videos long.  Each LPer has their own style, and in the past few months I have found quite a few individuals with varying styles that I enjoy.  Since YouTube is flooded with LPs of all kinds, this blog will sporadically feature Let's Players whom I feel do things right.  At the end of each entry I will include basic information about their LP style, and ways to follow their exploits.  The latter information comes exclusively from public information on YouTube profiles.  A content advisory will also be included just in case you have children running about, are sensitive to language, or play LPs in the background at work.

The Basics:
With 80+ Let's Plays (both complete, partial, and ongoing) under his belt, LPer Aeterna is currently in the process of posting CD Projekt RED's The Witcher 2 and Remedy Entertaiment's Alan Wake.  While there does not appear to be any particular theme to the games he plays, all of the titles are of notable quality and varying ages.  While the three I have watched (Fallout: New Vegas, TES IV: Oblivion and Dragon Age: Origins) were roleplaying games, there are a number of other genres represented on his channel. Some of the titles on the list are: 

• Bastion [completed] 
• Neverwinter Nights 2 [ongoing] 
• Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magicka Obscura [completed] 
• Dwarf Fortress [an introduction]
• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey [completed] 
• VVVVVV [completed] 
• Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1 [completed]

He says the following about his play style:

• I WILL fail a lot
• I work in sets
• I keep as much footage as I can intact
• I do these for my own enjoyment
• I don't want any spoilers of games I'm playing.  There's a big difference between hints and spoiling of course.

Details and Observations:

• Genres: rpg, adventure, indie, shooter, strategy, classic 
• Platform: PC
• Commentary Style: Serious but fun loving. Commentary sticks to topics related to the game and gameplay. Casual/conversational tone of voice. Thoughtful gameplay.
• Commentary Language: English  
• Mod Usage: Yes.  Mainly cosmetic changes and minor gameplay tweaks.
• Content Advisory: Occasional Language (d-n, s-t, f-k).  Occurs most often during times of frustration, puzzlement, or in-game trouble.

• YouTube: Aeterna's Let's Plays 
• Game Anyone: Aeterna
• Website: Aeterna's Blog (Life, Upcoming Projects, LP Mods, Forum, etc.)
• Twitter ID: xAeternax
• Facebook: n/a

ME2 - Breeding

Déjà vu.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - Prisoner

Powerful and unpredictable.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - Mordin

Realizations in the plague zone.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

Let's Watch - Elder Geek's Non-Violent Skyrim

I am quite the fan of Elder-Geek.com's video game reviews because of their even handed approach to assessing games.  As a bonus, they keep an older audience in mind during the process.  Just the other day, Elder Geek posted a rather fantastic four minute video entitled Non-Violent Skyrim Playthrough.  I am still finishing Meriel's log entry for tomorrow, so in the meantime here is this video for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!

ME2 - Reflection

Serious conversations.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

Known Photo Album Issues

Update 3/27/12 - Whoops!  I forgot about this.  The last five posts are now complete which means that all images should finally be re-linked.

Update 2/7/12 - Only five more entries to go!

Update 2/6/12 - Only January and February 2011 remain picture-less.  I will have those fixed by late tomorrow night.  As you can see, the latest ME2 post "Reflection" has already been posted.  Be looking for another ME2 post come 2/11/12, and at least one or two non-ME2 posts in between.  See you then!

Update 2/1/12 - It turns out that all the images except maybe five of them needed re-linking.  What on Earth, Picasa?  I have a little over half of the blog restored, and hope to have the rest of the images restored come the middle of next week.  Sorry things are dead this week.  I've had unexpected car trouble, and a number of other things have been keeping me busy.  The next post is taking place aboard the Normandy, and I will have it up before Wednesday.  After that, it is back to Omega in search of this doctor that Aria is so keen on.

I want to make a quick apology for the number of missing images this blog currently has ... especially in the older posts.  Picasa (the program that blogger uses to hold this blog's pictures) has been freaking out on me by showing some images, but removing others.  Some images are alternately available and unavailable depending on when I load the page, while others are simply missing altogether.  The funny thing is that it has only happened to this blog and not the art ones I have.  Maybe Blogger doesn't like video games?  Who knows.

Google searches have informed me that the only real way to fix this is to re-link the offending (read: not showing up) images to the blog. A little testing on my part shows that this does indeed fix the problem.  The main issue, of course, is that re-linking images in a screen cap-heavy blog like this is no small feat.  Even so, I will be engaging in this process this afternoon in an effort to return to normal.  In the meantime, I beg your patience as the process will be tedious and time consuming.

I will try to have Meriel's new log entry up today, but given this unexpected turn of events, it will most likely be pushed off until Tuesday.  See you then!

Image: Source

ME2 - Archangel

The unexpected ...

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - Omega

A resolution is made.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

Let's Watch - Toegoff's Plea to Gamers Regarding SOPA, PIPA, and Piracy

This is my last post on the subject.  I promise.  The Let's Player Toegoff, however, just posted a very good video regarding his opinion in SOPA/PIPA, piracy, and the need for gamers to take responsibility for their actions and personal decisions.  While, unlike him, I would advocate innovation on the industry's part to deter piracy (as opposed to laws with vague terminology), his thoughts on piracy itself just about mirrors my own thoughts on the subject 1:1. As I said before though, L'Épée Magique is not a political/advocacy blog and I have no desire/intent to turn it into one.  This is the last you will hear from me on the subject.

Tune in tomorrow for the next entry in Meriel Shepard's personal log.

Edited to add: Follow up video specifically about piracy.

Let's Talk About - SOPA/PIPA Blackout

As you may have noticed at right, I am a member of the Entertainment Consumers Association (the ECA) which is dedicated to preserving the rights of gamers and advocating for the gaming community as a whole.  I am not a very political person, but some recent United States legislation has had me quite up in arms since it was first introduced - the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.  While not directed at gamers, this legislation (if passed) could have negative effects internet wide - both inside and outside of the United States' borders due to bills' extremely vague wording - wording that would make abuse of the law far too easy.  The potential impact on the internet gaming community/industry alone could be detrimental.

As such, I have decided to join that January 18 online SOPA strike.  I have installed java code into this blog that should replace my blog with this, or forward you to a similar screen.  There is no guarantee that this forwarding will work, but I have at least made a full faith effort.  Either way, L'Épée Magique will not be updated in anyway for the whole of the 18th.  This is something I feel very strongly about, and hope that you will understand the reason for this inconvenience.

For those of you who live outside the United States, take a moment to read what GOG.com has to say about the legislation.  Good Old Games (GOG) is a much loved and much respected digital distributor that is best known for their classic computer games and strong anti-DRM stance.  They are also the sister company of CD Projekt RED, the developer behind The Witcher and The Witcher 2: The Assassins of Kings.

Everyone please also take a moment to watch the video below, and help keep yourselves informed.

I am sorry for the heavily political nature of this post as L'Épée Magique is not a political or advocacy blog in any form or fashion.  In fact, I make a habit of never discussing politics IRL either.  Let that alone tell you how important this is to me.

ME2 - Rejected

Betray me once, shame on you.  Betray me twice ...

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME3 - Will Not Happen Unless Changes Made

The Bad News

Bioware/EA announced today that all PC copies for Mass Effect 3 (both digital and retail copies) will require the installation of EA's Origin client.  I, under no circumstances, will install Origin on my computer.  This is extremely disappointing for me, but there are some corporate decisions that I simply cannot financially support and this is one of them.

The Good News 

This in no way affects Meriel's story in Mass Effect 2.  It just means that unless the Origin requirement is removed for retail copies, there will be no Mass Effect 3.

ME2 - The Crew

... the rest has been replaced.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - Amusing Oddities 1

It has been a while since I did one of these, since there really was not a great deal odd about Mass Effect despite the prolific nature of convenient boxes for cover-based shooting.  Now that I am more familiar with Shepard's world though, there are a number of Amusing Oddities that have already reared their collective head in Mass Effect 2.  Below are a number of things in the game that were rather befuddling or simply made me laugh.

Eternal Makeup

You have to admire Miranda's attention to detail.  The Illusive Man told her to make sure Shepard emerged from the Lazarus Project the same as she was before death.  He wanted her personality to be intact, he memories intact, and her appearance intact.  Apparently he also wanted her makeup to be intact.  In Meriel's case this is actually rather appropriate, since she wore red lipstick for a very specific reason.  It is unlikely that Miranda could have known that though.  I wonder how many times the resurrected Shepard's lipstick was repeatedly, freshly applied during the two years she spent on the laboratory table.  Was it Miranda's job to apply the lipstick, or did she simply tattoo it (in a realistic manner) on Meriel's face?  I suppose the world will never know.

Click to Enlarge

Missing Scar

While we are on the subject, what happened to Shepard's scar? In Mass Effect, Meriel had a facial scar which began above her right eyebrow and crossed diagonally across her face, ending halfway down her left cheek.  Like the red lipstick, Meriel had proudly wore this scar (choosing not to have it medically removed) for a very specific reason.  As such, I was very sad to see it missing post-Lazarus Project.  Granted, Meriel now has those glowing facial scars working in her favor, but they are not quite the same.  The scar from ME1 was a testament to her past with the Tenth Street Reds.  During her time in the slums, had been in a vicious knife fight (in a world ruled by biotics and guns), and managed to emerge the proud victor.  By retaining the scar, Meriel was warning everyone she met that she was not someone you should mess with.  Again, it is possible that Miranda did not know this, but the Illusive Man knows so much about Meriel that you think he would have known this as well.  Why would he have taken such pains to have her brought back "as is" (right down to her makeup) and yet not have Miranda replicate facial scarring?

Bathrooms!

I would like to take this moment to rejoice.  The new Normandy not only has one bathroom, but it has three! There is a common men's room, a common women's room, and a private bathroom in Shepard's quarters (seen above).  If femShep walks into the men's room, she even hears an audio message telling her where to find the women's shared bathroom.  Brilliant.  These restrooms not only have showers and sinks, but you can even flush the toilets! This seriously makes me all kinds of happy.  It does beg the question though, of where crew on the first Normandy used the restroom.  Did they simply hold it in between planetary missions? Come to think of it ... I do not believe there were any bathrooms on the planets they visited either.  It is nice to see that the galaxy wised up during the two years that Meriel lay dead/unconscious on a table.

ME2 - Returned

Some of what was lost is now regained ...

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

ME2 - Collected

The missing colonists.

There are spoilers after the break.  Continue reading at your own risk.

TES - Digital Spy's Morrowind Retrospective

Digital Spy has a very brief, but highly nostalgic, Morrowind retrospective that can be found here.  It is no secret that TES III remains my favorite video game to date, and nearly ten years later it still remains the gold standard by which I personally judge all open world games.  Skyrim certainly made very valiant effort to supplant it this year last year, but I simply do not think that it is possible for this very awesome (and very flawed) game to be replaced.  

Happy New Year folks, and I'll see you in a few hours with yesterday's entry in Meriel's story.  Sorry for the delay.  I unexpectedly spent the evening with friends last night and decided that Meriel could wait.

Image: Source

Bonne Année

Happy New Years, Everyone!