MIDI Week Singles: 'Opening Menu' - Blackwell Legacy (PC)

"Opening Meu" from Blackwell Legacy for PC (2006)

Composed By: Peter Gresser

Released By: Something Else Works

Developer: Wadjet Eye Games

Hey, why not?  Trifecta on Blackwell Legacy.  The opening track is pretty good, slow, spooky piano melody layered with even slower, spookier cello.  The timing is off, which makes it work.  It all adds up to a pretty solid spooky track.  Which I suppose is appropriate in a game about ghosts.

-D

Second Impressions: Blackwell Legacy (PC)

Wow, that was fast.  Seriously, it took 3 hours to beat Blackwell Legacy, and it seemed to pass by in a snap.  Nonetheless, Jane and I enjoyed ourselves enough for me to move forward and buy the 'Blackwell Bundle' on Steam for $20, which has the first four games of the series.  Unfortunately, that leads to me re-buying Blackwell Legacy, which is a waste.  Oh well.  I wanted to sample the series first, and I did.  I hear it just gets better from here.

Good story, voice acting, a little buggy.  The puzzles weren't too tough, but there's a cool notebook mechanic that I like.  All in all, I'm hooked, I am excited to see where the series goes from here.  It's a shame the games are so short though.

-D

First Impressions: Blackwell Legacy (PC)

I've mentioned in the past that I have a subscription to the google + account of Indie Game News, wherefrom I get a lot of my favorite Pak Watch featured games.  One thing I have noticed about Indie Game News is that they report a lot about point and click adventure games.  For this reason, I have paid more attention to that particular genre of late, and It has piqued my interest.  I pitched the idea of playing an adventure game to Jane, and she was really into the idea.  I review the best rated games at Adventure Game Studio, and settled on Blackwell Legacy.  Jane approved of my choice, and we started playing.

So far, so good.  The writing and voice acting is solid, though it takes a minute to get used to the sort of stiff flow of conversation that happens by necessity when you control the flow of scripted conversation.  It's really fun to play two-players, putting our heads together and solving puzzles.

That said, the game falls into the same problem so many games fall into:  when you can't solve a puzzle, and you just click on everything in one location, go to another location, click everything there.  Go back to the previous location, click things, talk your way through every conversation tree.  Check gamefaqs.  The answer is just some small detail you neglected, and thank god the game has begun to flow again.

When it is flowing, Blackwell legacy has interesting characters and a compelling story.  I happily anticipate the next time we get to play it.

-D

Monthly Ramblupdate - May 2015

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me a better introductory phrase!  I need only to get started, and I will proceed on a ramble of most ramblonic ramifications.  According to the online Etymology Dictionary, the word 'ramble' comes from a dutch word meaning the 'nightly wanderings of an amorous cat.'  I think this is hilarious, especially since we use the word so much.  I really love etymology.  

Alright, what's up?  Well, on this very day I am going to start a garden at a local community garden.  I'm pretty happy about that.  I really love gardening, and since I don't have a yard, or even a porch, it will help get me outside.  Of course, the weather is heating up, 90 degrees this week, so outside is kind of a shitty place.  Still, it's worth it.  

In other news, I'm looking forward to playing an adventure game with my best girl.  We've picked out Blackwell Legacy,  which is supposed to have a good story.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  She's also a big fan of Mario Kart, and to that end, I've been hunting around for a used Nintendo Wii and copy of Mario Kart Wii (6?).  Granted, it's not Mario Kart 8, which is really a fantastic game, it's not a Wii U either, but it's a much cheaper alternative, which fits my budget.  I spent $100 on Magic Cards last month, and I really need to take it easy on spending.  

Yes, Magic the Gathering has devoured my brain.  I play it regularly, I even started a Magic Online account.  Magic Online is clunky, but it's nice to have a digital way to organize my cards.  The game has a learning curve that could wrap around the world,  but I finally feel like I'm catching up to todays standards.  It helps that I started listening to the Limited Resources Podcast.

Oh, that's right, I've been consuming other media as well.  I'm currently reading 'Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro.  He writes a lot of British stuff.  This book is the most unusual genre fiction story I've ever read.  It's the sort of book that is really easy to spoil, so I'll try not to.  There is an air of mystery that pervades early on and carries through the whole book.  However, there is also a powerful sense of sentimentality, but I wouldn't say it was sappy.  I recommend this book, though it may not be quite what you're used to, if your into Sci Fi and other nerdy things.  Nonetheless, I really do recommend giving it a chance.  

On a more sci-fi front and center note, Jane and I just finished up "Other Space" a sci-fi comedy released by Yahoo.  Yes, even Yahoo has TV now.  But Other Space is really funny, and actually tends to contain at least one legit science fiction plot point in every episode.  It's a bit like a live-action Futurama.  I recommend it and I hope it gets picked up for a second season.  The first one is kind of short.  

Hmm, yes, I think this may be all the nerd fit to print.  Looking forward to Blackwell Legacy and Nintendo Wii!  Hasta Pasta,

-D

P.S.  I think the entertainment world is long overdue for a sitcom about hens and roosters.