Saturday, February 18, 2012

The traveling gamer


So I am currently travelling. I have been so for over 6 months now. And while travelling I have been listening to many gaming podcasts. This is great for keeping up with current discussions and news, however the the downside is that it really is making me miss gaming.

I've been trying to do a little gaming when I can, mainly on my iPhone. I recently picked up Ghost Trick for iOS which is amazing, and I'm still somewhat addicted to Tiny Tower. But I still long for my 360. I'm dying to sink my teeth into Batman: Arkham City, Dark Souls and Skyrim. I want to plant myself on a comfy couch and get lost in a game for hours on end.

Then I had a revelation. I got back from a 9 day trek in the Himalayas with an injured knee and ankle and was confined to my hotel room. Before long I got through Ghost Trick and was out of new podcasts to listen to. Then I remembered that I had my DS buried deep in my backpack which I had not yet played during my travels. I dug it out and looked at the cartridges I had with me. To my delight there was The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass sitting snug in it's little pouch. Back in 2007 I started the game but gave up due to the repetition. But it is a different story now. I didn't have a pile of games I need to play. I  didn't have a job I need to go to. I literally had nothing but time. Hell, a little repetition sounded like a good thing.

I boot the game up and start fresh. And you know what, this may be the most enjoyable experience I've had with a Zelda title. The key to this is that I didn't rush. I didn't feel like I just needed to smash through the core story line. I took my time. I explored. I spoke to the townsfolk. I hunted for treasure. I explored new islands. And I loved it. I finished the game last night and am a little sad that it's over. It's a valuable lesson I've learned. I need to take my time. It may be hard when I have a huge backlog of titles leering at me. But what's the point of blasting through a game if I don't enjoy it?

When I do finally get my 360 and my comfy couch I'm totally sinking 100+ hours into Skyrim

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