The holidays have gone on, and life along with it. For me, I attended another funeral- granted, not my grandma this time, but a great uncle. I was rather amused and impressed with his request (beforehand, of course) that everyone dress up casually. I don't know whether to say if I prefer it more than a gathering of formal dress, but there was something simple and authentic about it that I liked quite a lot. And although I knew less family members at that gathering, it was nice, all the same, to become just a little more familiar with those beyond the circle of my familiarity, even if I interacted with them very little.
You know, it's interesting; growing up, I considered myself a pretty involved gamer. I played a good handful of N64 titles, PlayStation titles, and a fair amount of games on the PC. After awhile, I kind of got into the groove of playing my favorites. By the time I had really grown into an adult, I still considered myself a gamer, though I found myself exploring new games less and just going back to some favorite nostalgic titles and replaying them. The only modern game I really find myself revisiting is Minecraft; but I don't often go out of my way to play a new title. Part of this, I think is due to something that probably sounds odd, considering the context, and that's commitment. My friends or relatives will talk about such-and-such game, and when they talk about it, or as I look more into it, sure enough, it looks pretty dang awesome, fun, or intriguing. But then my frazzled mind starts thinking about all the things on my backburner to-do list (and it shouldn't- it's on the backburner for a reason, but it does anyway) and I mentally back out, in fear that I will just get so enthralled by the game, that I won't make time to do the things I need to. Is it an irrational fear? Yeah, probably. Wow, this was a side tangent... back to what I was talking about.
I love a good game that has a great story and a good message, and tells it well. Now and then, I will pick up a new game that fits this category, and recently, I found such an one. If you aren't familiar with Kan Gao or Freebird Studios and their games, and you are like me and love a good game that tells a great story, take the opportunity sometime soon to look them up. It might well throw you off, because the visuals are very basic, for the most part- it's a grid-based top-down RPG-style game. What's so special about Kan Gao's SigCorp series? It takes this simplistic style and utilizes it perfectly.
Going on one more quick tangent, the N64 and other systems of the era, and those prior to it had an advantage, I think, and it's one that probably sounds weird considering what the reason is- limited graphics. Why is the limitation of graphics an advantage? Because the less you can see clearly, the more it makes you think- and not in a stressing your brain kind of way, but in an engaging way. Kan Gao's games have this advantage, and the reason is more than limited graphics. He is good at setting up a story, and putting you, the observer, at a place where you start by knowing very little; but the more you learn, you are sent on a journey with these characters, through their whole lives, even, at times, and you see both the best and the worst they go through. For me, I feel like I'm in their shoes, and just when things are going so great, tragedy strikes, and you feel your heart break for these characters- they may not be real, but you know something like this has happened to someone, somewhere. This, combined with Kan Gao's no less than phenomenal music, invites me into a story that not only sends my emotions on a ride, but leaves me with a feeling of happiness in the end.
Once again, this was a bit of a tangent; but seriously, if you haven't, maybe try playing a bit of "To the Moon". I would also highly recommend Larua Shigihara's content, as well- notably, Rakuen, for all the same reasons. Anyway, I started playing the third game in the SigCorp Series, Imposter Factory, and finished it on the first day of the new year. I will forbear revealing any spoilers, here, but I LOVED IT. And curiously, I think it was part of the reason I accidentally made some resolutions. For the sake of personal relevance, I don't think it useful or necessary to cite them here, but there I found myself, late at night, thinking, "hmm... yeah, maybe I should work on being better at that."
So, by accident, I have some goals I mean now to achieve. I am admittedly not the most likely to succeed, as I seldom set a way of measuring those goals... I'm kind of primitive and even foolhardy, sometimes, and just put my hands to the plow without planning it out. But I figure even that's better than nothing, perhaps. Frankly, in the end, all I hope to have done is the best I could in the worst of times. What about any of you- did you set goals you mean to pursue this year?
Also, my wife and I stayed home this latter part of the holidays, as she was sick; but we watched the entire extended editions of the whole Lord of The Rings trilogy; and, as always, I loved it. And it would feel wrong if I didn't end this blog out with my favorite quote from it... so here it goes:
“It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going, because they were holding on to something. That there is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.”