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Sep. 7th, 2010 07:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
switchbladesisCurrently watching on Netflix: Top Gear! I don't know if my complete lack of understanding of cars or car culture is making this show better or worse.
Currently knitting: Butterfly hat in malabrigo. I might have a few more ends to weave in the layering shrug, but . . . malabrigo. It's so soft, and squishy, and ooh. . .
Currently listening to: Romantica, America This is shaping up to be one of those purchases that seemed like a good idea after an awesome set, but isn't actually anything I want to listen to on a day to day basis,
Currently open in other tabs: Somewhat old article about what it's like to be black in Utah. It came up earlier.
Clothes on Film A collection of essays about. . . clothes on film.
The political implications of fast vs. slow zombies.
A dozen job applications I said I'd finish this weekend. Whoops.
Sherlock (why yes, I'm late):
After I finished watching this, I realized that I'd recategorized it as a superhero comic adaptation.
I'd like to say it was because the series was all about getting back to Holmes' pop fiction origins: there's a direct line from Holmes knock-offs in pulp to the first vigilante superheroes. Updating the time period while keeping the style of the original just brings out the similarities. It doesn't hurt that the plot boils down to 'a man with an extraordinary gift and his sidekick solve crimes outside of the bounds of the law and works to beat his nemesis-who is an amoral version of the hero. The police are sometimes the original source of information about the crimes, but otherwise are considered obstacles to be overcome. The hero, while suited for a life of solving crime, has difficulties with some aspects of mundane life'. Sound familiar?
But really, I suspect that the horribly choreographed fight scene in the planetarium made me thing of Adam West.
I liked it-it was a little oddly paced, and it seemed to introduce more characters than it could possibly deal with-then not really resolve anything with anyone (another aspect that reminded me of a superhero comic). But it was fun, and the updates to the characters worked out well-I even liked what they did with Lestrade-and I was left wanting more episodes at the end.
Dragon Quest IX
In the back of my head, I was hoping for a Dragon Quest VIII port to the DS-and I suspect that's where most of the issues with this game come from. Because there's plenty that it does similarly, but not as well-but the only thing it does better (multiplayer function) is something that I'm not interested in.
The story and gameplay are very much Old School RPG. Hero travels around, fighting monsters to save the world-random encounters, boss battles, treasure chests, a sub-par English translation, a silent hero-the works. But the build in multiplayer options, where you can build your own character and go dungeon crawling with your friends, ensured that none of the characters in your party had any personality-your party consists of four silent heroes. There were mistakes in the game layout that would have been understandable if they hadn't done it better many times before-I'm looking at you, item creation, and the gameplay seemed to encourage just pressing 'fight' most of the time.
On the other hand, just having the game on the DS improves the game's value immensely- it's been a while since I've played a game this low intensity, and being able to play it while doing other things/waiting around was the main reason why I finished it.
For example:
Sadly, these times did not quite work out as well for me:
Currently knitting: Butterfly hat in malabrigo. I might have a few more ends to weave in the layering shrug, but . . . malabrigo. It's so soft, and squishy, and ooh. . .
Currently listening to: Romantica, America This is shaping up to be one of those purchases that seemed like a good idea after an awesome set, but isn't actually anything I want to listen to on a day to day basis,
Currently open in other tabs: Somewhat old article about what it's like to be black in Utah. It came up earlier.
Clothes on Film A collection of essays about. . . clothes on film.
The political implications of fast vs. slow zombies.
A dozen job applications I said I'd finish this weekend. Whoops.
Sherlock (why yes, I'm late):
After I finished watching this, I realized that I'd recategorized it as a superhero comic adaptation.
I'd like to say it was because the series was all about getting back to Holmes' pop fiction origins: there's a direct line from Holmes knock-offs in pulp to the first vigilante superheroes. Updating the time period while keeping the style of the original just brings out the similarities. It doesn't hurt that the plot boils down to 'a man with an extraordinary gift and his sidekick solve crimes outside of the bounds of the law and works to beat his nemesis-who is an amoral version of the hero. The police are sometimes the original source of information about the crimes, but otherwise are considered obstacles to be overcome. The hero, while suited for a life of solving crime, has difficulties with some aspects of mundane life'. Sound familiar?
But really, I suspect that the horribly choreographed fight scene in the planetarium made me thing of Adam West.
I liked it-it was a little oddly paced, and it seemed to introduce more characters than it could possibly deal with-then not really resolve anything with anyone (another aspect that reminded me of a superhero comic). But it was fun, and the updates to the characters worked out well-I even liked what they did with Lestrade-and I was left wanting more episodes at the end.
Dragon Quest IX
In the back of my head, I was hoping for a Dragon Quest VIII port to the DS-and I suspect that's where most of the issues with this game come from. Because there's plenty that it does similarly, but not as well-but the only thing it does better (multiplayer function) is something that I'm not interested in.
The story and gameplay are very much Old School RPG. Hero travels around, fighting monsters to save the world-random encounters, boss battles, treasure chests, a sub-par English translation, a silent hero-the works. But the build in multiplayer options, where you can build your own character and go dungeon crawling with your friends, ensured that none of the characters in your party had any personality-your party consists of four silent heroes. There were mistakes in the game layout that would have been understandable if they hadn't done it better many times before-I'm looking at you, item creation, and the gameplay seemed to encourage just pressing 'fight' most of the time.
On the other hand, just having the game on the DS improves the game's value immensely- it's been a while since I've played a game this low intensity, and being able to play it while doing other things/waiting around was the main reason why I finished it.
For example:
- On the bus
- while watching Top Gear
- on the exercise bike at the gym
- on the elliptical at the gym
- on the elliptical on the gym, while also paying attention to the CNN crawl.
- In the bathroom at work, because I fail at being an adult.
- While waiting for those two minutes for the laundry to be done.
Sadly, these times did not quite work out as well for me:
- In direct sunlight, because I'm still too cheap to spring for a DS lite
- While knitting (though I tried)
- While going backwards on the elliptical and watching the CNN crawl (I . . . also tried)
- Not playing at all, and getting my cat to play for me (he wasn't interested, and his paws are too big for the buttons)