Wee-mini-pre-impressions of Skyrim

I just played Skyrim for an hour, which in Skyrim time works out to be about five minutes.  My settings are just about at the very bottom of the graphical settings, and it runs pretty well.  The framerate isn't great, but it's definitely playable.

The good:  yep, this game is gorgeous.  Even at low, low settings, it is a sight to behold.  The ease of wandering combined with the graphics and sound and I can see how I can waste a million-billion hours in Skyrim.  I enjoy looting and building my equipment, making choices about how heavy I want to run etc.  I really love my Spark spell so far, and I think magic will be an important part of how I play this game.  I also enjoyed building my character, even if it wasn't anything special.

Also:  Butterflies.  There are butterflies.  nice touch.

The not as good:  I'm still getting adjusted to the controls.  I need to increase the mouse speed, but I can't do that in-game.    I made an important change to make both mouse buttons correspond to my attacks - this was helpful.  And at first when I was looting, I just kept dropping things without meaning to!  It was aggravating.  Another thing that annoys me a little is that you can't climb up onto things.  Like, there's a rock in my way and I can jump half way the necessary height, and if my character would just grab hold and lift herself up.  But alas.  I can swim in armor, but I can't climb.  Seems like a strange oversight given how explorable this game is.

My next order of business is to wander around for the forseeable future.  I don't care to die any time soon, so I am somewhat concerned, as I'm still getting a feel for the battle system.

I think I'll check out morrowind soon.

-D

P.S.  Gosh darned if I can't seem to get my screencaps working right.  More to come!

First Impressions: LIMBO

On Friday I got sick, and by Saturday evening, I had played through and beaten LIMBO.  Here are some notes on my gaming experience:

1. I cheated twice.  I looked up solutions on the internet to two puzzles.  I am not ashamed.
2. When I got to the end, I said "I'm definitely playing through this game again."  Without cheating.  
3. The Atmosphere of this game is fantastic.  I give the game maximum score for graphics and sound.
4. I recommend everyone play this game for one hour.  If you're not hooked by then, you're not going to be. 
5. The spider is so awesome!
6. My only gripe is with the gameplay is around the controls and a couple of the puzzles.  On the one hand, the limited agility and ability of the player adds to the atmosphere.  On the other hand:   Sometimes it takes away from the atmosphere when I just keep dying over and over again.   The feeble little jumps just aren't satisfying and sometimes I feel like the button response could be just a little tighter.  Maybe it's my PC.   Also: Why does this kid drown in three feet of water?!  Can't he just dog paddle or something?  
7. No, I don't have any suggestions for solutions to the problems in #6.  Puzzle games are bound to stump  you some of the time.  And everyone who plays it will have a different experience.  I breezed through some puzzles, struggled and was rewarded by feeling smart when I finished other puzzles.  And then some of the puzzles I flipped-off the game and looked it up on the internet.