LadyCrimson

I don't even remember if I finished BG2. All I remember is ticking off the mage cops early when you reached some town and getting my butt kicked. And not really liking the graphic/map overhaul that made exploration feel ... smaller or more claustrophobic somehow. Something about map FoV maybe. ============== I keep thinking about Stray. The short "main plot" didn't bother me at all, but the game just needed a little more to do on the side, something to make lingering in the world/areas more interesting. More collectables to hunt for, extra side puzzles, simple quests (fetch or not, just something). After that first town the linearity became more all encompassing, with not even a "collect music sheets" type aspect for new areas. If they'd had more to do like that, to make it a tad more than just virtual tourism, I would've given it an 8.5 instead of a 7. Ah well...maybe they'll make another cat game with the lessons learned and improve it. I think Stray showed there's a huge indie market for a cat-game that isn't just a one-note pixely joke type of game.

I tend to ... not overly dislike most things. But that doesn't mean I like them, either. My main issue is the other thing - boredom or sense of detachment. I also tend to be bored by a lot of presentation styles of themes others may find meaningful or impactful, where I remain detached. And that leads into... ...I finally rented Everything Everywhere All at Once. For some reason I was expecting more of a light superhero movie with maybe some more chr. weight than typical or something. It is not that at all. What I got was just overt weirdness, with a heavy dose of "this is life-profoundness, don't cha get it." I neither disliked it nor liked it - it's one of those films where I keep watching because "how bizarre is this going to get" vs. "I enjoy this." And sure, there were chuckle moments, actors were all great/fine, fun short action bits and visuals. I was not bored, exactly, but I wasn't all that interested either. It failed to make me care about the chrs. even if I "understood" them - thus detachment. So I'm left with something that makes me raise an eyebrow, go "wtf," and chortle now and then. Maybe I'm some soul-less demon. I did, however, really like the brief bits with the rocks, especially with googly eyes. I think it reminded me of some stop-motion short I saw as a kid somewhere. That and I recently saw some video about those Pet Rocks from the '70's - which did not come with googly eyes.

I don't know how true it is but the early stuff I remember hearing was he originally didn't want them associated with Alien much at all or something but maybe was semi-forced (studio politics?) to include more of that direct connection. Maybe that's why it felt disconnected from itself, or ... not sure. I didn't hate it/them either (or Alien3 and 4) - there were at least small bits I enjoyed within - but they were pretty disappointing overall. For me personally, I think even in horror, or "pretentious sci-fi idea/rambling/techspeak etc", I need to feel at least some minor emotional connection to something in some way - even if it's just dread or knee jerk sympathy - and those four movies have nothing for me.

After finishing the cat game Stray, I've spent idle time watching other people play Stray, which is rather fun, their reactions. Apparently Jackson Galaxy (that "cat whisperer" guy) played the intro as a YT video and people loved it so much (it was great/funny, I saw it) that he's right this minute live streaming some more of the game via YouTube. the hilarious thing is he's so not a gamer, they're basically guiding him thru it at points. It's fun to watch him struggle thru it (to quote him, "probably doing something stupid (streaming)"). Also, cat commentary. I dunno if he's gonna stream very long but I hope it's a couple hours. *settles in*

At this point I barely even remember A: Resurrection. I do recall us sitting in the theater and for maybe the first 20 minutes, or the first third, or something, I was thinking maybe this would be at least a decent film. Then it went downhill from there. Alien3 isn't the worst movie in the world either, sure - I liked the alien-gestating from a dog (or whatever it was, I think it was a dog)=changing alien aspect for example. Made sense. The problems I had with both of those tho is that they weren't good enough for me to really like them, and not bad/cheesy enough for me to find it funny or just brainlessly entertaining. Mostly I sat and groaned, grimaced, or rolled my eyes. It's basically how I felt while watching Prometheus and its sequel, as well.

Ok, actually finished Stray. My ratings notions still stand. The campaign/story ending was a bit ambiguous in some ways, without real clear cut answers. Some won't like that but I don't mind. I don't think it's as deep as some might believe but considering it's ... y'know, a cat ... it was still good. In a way the story isn't really about the cat itself, either. Anyhoo...had fun, no regrets, probably the first game in a while that I actually kept turning back on and finished (yay for short games? )

I'm rarely logged into my YouTube account. Logged into it some days ago. Tried to go to a YT video link today. Got a page asking me to verify it was really me. I logged back in again. Got a page telling me there was unusual activity on my YT account and to please give them a mobile phone number so they could help me. Closed browser, wiping cookies. Can view YT videos again. Pffft. Looking at my account video page, my avatar is now a blank image with a line through it, maybe because it's on google security lockdown, or who knows. I can't imagine anyone would care about my almost never used, hardly any subscribers, non-monetized YT account and I'm suspicious Google just wants my mobile phone number. Maybe I'm wrong and some hack wants my cat and FO:NV videos. Regardless, whatever.

Stray - think I'm really close to the end, just a minor bit or two left probably. There's a long stealth type section (nothing serious but...) which might be stressful for those who just wanted a "cat simulator" since such is more than just zig zag running from zurks. At any rate, it's probably the most "gamey" gameplay section of the game, which some might like a bit more. The save system still annoys me, because while I'm playing I'm constantly pausing to see if I triggered a new save point, in order to decide if I want to stop or not, which is disruptive. I did test it, where I found a couple Memories and quit without a new checkpoint save happening - when I reloaded it set me back at the last checkpoint location/moment and I had to locate/click on them again. >.> Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and say I'd give this game a 7/10, but in terms of cats, including the great animation of stuff even down to the ear twitches, a 10/10. I'd have no desire to replay it per se but loading up a mellow chapter just to cat-sim for a few might be something I'd do, since I have no real cat anymore. lol. "Cat roaming around in Bladerunner" ... yeah, sorta felt like that at times.

Sorry, one more...I got tired of being orange. Plus, a hat. Because adorable.

I think the first time I saw David Warner was in The Omen, where he made a memorable impression on my child mind. Then maybe Tron, some Star Trek stuff, smaller chr. roles here and there. A face/voice I always immediately recognized/new who it was, but I really haven't seen all that much of his work.

After being a little too lax for a few months, I was doing really well with my diet/eating habits again for over a month now. Even lost the few pounds I'd gained back. Then hubby's away and I went (in person) to the store to grab yogurt and salad dressing (not worth delivery service). And bought a bag of pepperoni sticks and 2 Lindt. dark choc.-orange candy bars. And over a span of 4 hours, I ate them. I am all urgh and bloated feeling, now.

They missed the perfect opportunity to make those cat-nap spots a "save progress" feature. >.> So you could at least run back to one of those where available to save your game if you want to exit before going to/triggering next save point. I reached the next section, next town, then next town. The latter of which is larger then the slums, but outside of oodles more vista-overlook climbing spots, feels more devoid of points of interest. I saw someone describe the exploration in the game as virtual tourism ... which I think is pretty apt, at least for some sections. I do like the sense of confusion I get while trying to keep track of large areas/alleys while at a low ground perspective of an animal. Btw, for anyone interested, if you are not interested in total achievements/collectables or wasting hours with "virtual tourism", the main path is definitely feeling short time-wise. There's even an achievement for doing the story under 2 hours - you'd need foreknowledge for that ofc, but I could see it being possible. I think 5-8 hrs. first-run would be average. Of course, I'll probably clock 15-18 hrs. >.>

*Tries not to spam images of Stray .... fails* ==================== Mommeeeee! WTF? ... hmm. A.I. - A.Eye. Ahhh, horror joke. Maybe. That's better.

1:45 - seems pretty similar to Aliens style and stuff. To be fair, I don't think it's that her acting is actually bad, maybe it's more that ... well ... some people have a facial expressiveness and/or tonal style that we emotionally connect with on camera (and make us not-uncomfortable for some reason) almost no matter what, while others simply do not. I am quite sure that if you caught a hidden/candid video of me shouting/crying in anger at something, and then tried to post it saying I was actually acting, ppl would say I was a terrible actress, if you get what I mean. I'm probably over analyzing here but eh, that's what I do sometimes. Gorilla's in the Mist is a decent movie, btw. Not a favorite of mine (I was a little bored here and there) but not bad.

I love Ms. Weaver, but imo she is not the best dramatic actress (especially if it's loudly dramatic) . She is always better with more understated or quieter moments - or comedy, sometimes. I feel the same way about Linda Hamilton. When she had those "emotional" moments in T2 re: the cpu inventor, I cringed - only thing I didn't like about that movie really. Alien is a great suspense/horror film. Aliens is great action/popcorn film (except for the child actress screaming constantly) if one likes such. The extended edition of Aliens doesn't add much unless you're into the mom/daughter dynamic I guess. There are no other "Alien" movies.

Not that I particularly care about Ivana per se, but ... stairs suck.

Is there a Xan romance mod? Huh? Huh? Huh? ... asking for a friend.

Woke up early this morning and hubby was already gone. Alone in the house for two days. Whatever shall I do. ...think I will start with ... every auditory thing he dislikes, at volume 10.

I saw the trailer for Netflix's The Sandman, which was visually interesting. I'm not sure I care about the show but it did make me curious about the comic. Edit: oh wait that should've gone into the TV thread. Sorry. Heh. >.>

Reminds me of me jumping onto grocery store shelves.

Stray - Two things I really like about this casual/chill game: ---sound design. From water/environment noises to enemies to yes, the cat's padded cadence footsteps and sporadic meowing when it lands, as well as the overall "silence" or bits of music. To the point when there are verbal language noises I feel like it disturbs it all. Thankfully there is little of that you must listen to. ---using visuals to set an emotional mood. Game made me feel a bit of sad early on, pensive and curious, and I have a feeling it's not going to be especially happy in the end. Not saying it's depressing, but it's not sunshine and rainbows either. Two things I don't like in this game: ---even using a controller, avoiding the zurks in those segments is annoying as all get out. Controlling the cat's movement at run/trying not to die-screen speed is very stiff/limited feeling, with some sense of too much input and game action delay (like, runsweverrunrun wait for an "x" to appear, try to jump) and It takes me several tries every time - (edit: if you mess up/don't figure something out, it's death-screen, not forgiving at all) the 2nd time you encounter them is a rather long extended sequence. Supposedly you get some auto-weapon thing to deal with them later and I hope that'll make it better. I think the game could have not used/had a direct enemy threat element at all and been just as good and/or eerie a game. ---there are cute cat things to do, but they mean nothing in terms of gameplay. As a cat person, I still enjoy them, but it would've been nice if such things were more incorporated into actual gameplay vs. just decorative. Like, you can drink out of water puddles, but there is (so far) no reason to. Maybe there should've been at least a minor thirst/hunger survival aspect.

The game is artistically very nice, imo. The environment is very atmospheric/dystopian. ...with occasional almost horror atmosphere. Also, more "zurks", because while they're not cute, I do find them sorta funny. Even moreso when animated and making their weird squeaking noises.

Technically/ultimately, just to survive, probably not. Practically/health-wise, it could shorten lifespans by being more prone to certain conditions/diseases that would weaken us over many years. And I'm sure human tech could create artificial lights that would minimize such. Also, underground cities to avoid a worldwide 120F+ environment doesn't mean we couldn't go "outside" occasionally. Or have "sunrooms" as upper-level parks, for example. You don't need very much sun exposure at all - we're not plants.