トラ爺

I WAS GONNA MAKE A WHOLE POST REVIEWING THE FIRST HALF OF HOTEL DUSK but then I lost interest in it (the post), so here is the SparkNotes. The production value is quite high for a DS, it looks very nice. The sprites are all fluid and feel like real human movement. The characters all act and talk like people (as opposed to caricatures) and are deceptively complex. Louis is adorable.



I like how it manages to be simultaneously deadly serious and self-parodying. It's pseudo-noir that knows it's pseudo-noir. I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY MANAGE IT but it gives the story a particular feel that I really appreciate, because even as it plays everything straight, it pretty much opens itself up to and welcomes spoofing, and if there's one thing I love more than great new fandoms it's making fun of them. Kyle cracks me up omg, he is everything you'd expect from a GRIZZLY EX-COP ON THE EDGE character and the game doesn't shy away from using that. I make him knock on every door just to hear him complain about how the doors are out to get him.

Anyway, I'm probably less than halfway through the game at this point--I honestly have no idea how long it is, actually--so I can't really say how well it works as a complete story, but so far it's been pretty interesting. I just hope the payoff is as good as the buildup, or I will look back at this entry and feel silly. Or just bitch, as I tend to do. My only real complaint thus far is how easy it is to get game overs. OH WHOOPS YOU'VE SAID THE WRONG THING now Dunning is pissed at you and is throwing you out of the hotel SORRY LOL

OH RIGHT CATHERINE. I AM SUPER STOKED FOR CATHERINE OMG, a trippy/nightmarish action-oriented HD Personateam game is basically everything I want from life. Well, except I watched the trailer and uhhh. It and the interviews referenced in the Wikipedia article (the developers describe the game as "more adult-oriented") seem to indicate that the game will have heavy sexual overtones. Which is fine, but I admit I'm a little worried about whether they will be able to approach those topics in a suitably mature (by which I mean on the part of the developers, not the characters) and tasteful manner. That's nothing against Personateam specifically, really, because it's pretty hard to pull off in anything. Of course, nothing definitive can be said until we see something more concrete, so we'll just have to wait and see where they go with this. In any case, I hope it doesn't end up being too graphic (or it's all concentrated in one or two scenes), just because I'd personally be very uncomfortable playing it otherwise. But if nothing else, it looks really pretty!

I wish I could open up my mouth as wide as Vincent :(

We're not talking about Heroman 21, the fuck even was that. (ADDITIONALLY ME AND BLEACH ARE NO LONGER SPEAKING)