This is the level 2 boss, the Ice Widow. What do you guys think about her? I’m still working on getting the coloring right. Any comments/concerns?

Uh oh. He’d better not even touch xkcd.com

Level 3, the MAGMA SPIRE, is ready to go. This level will rely on a lot more agility than previous levels, cuz the floor is made of Laaaavvaaaa… Let me know what you think!

Oh boy! I hear this game sucks ass! Let’s find out…

The roommate’s out of town on holiday, so what better time to comandeer her Wii and enjoy the latest installment of the Zelda series? Although I think another DS sequel has been released since LoZ:TP came out. I just finished it about a half hour ago.

I think I have an unusual quirk. When I finally decide to sit down and try out a new console game, I don’t usually STOP playing until the game is complete, or I have a need to eat, sleep, or evacuate waste. I get pretty wrapped up in the artificial world of whatever game I’m playing. It’s a fantastic feeling, especially when I know that what I’m actually interacting with is thousands of man hours of art, production, programming, and imagination.

But, it’s usually okay for me to get as wrapped up as I do. I’m a pretty solid gamer, so usually games only last a little longer than a day. Metroid Prime, Halo 3, HalfLife 2 are fine examples. Great games! Fun to play. No one heard from me for 24 hours. All was well…

Twilight Princess is a completely different story. After a solid 3.5 days of gameplay… I’m finally off the binge. That is by far the longest game I have ever played. I feel funny. Almost as if I have some sort of gamer hangover. It’s most likely symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. Makes sense. I’ve been staring at the backside of some Hyrulian elf-man since Monday morning.

LoZ:TP is stunning. If you haven’t played it, I highly recommend trying it out. The story, character design, production value and gaming experience are top notch! In my opinion, the best title there is on the Wii (sorry Mario). The landscape is beautiful and masterfully varied. There were many times when I literally stopped to look around and smell the roses.

The range in game play is phenomenal. This is largely due to the staggeringly large inventory of weapons and tools that you aquire throughout the game. Add to this the fact that you can change into a wolf with various wolf-like traits ( hieghtened senses, scent following, speed, ferocious attacks, etc. ) The final dungeons are so complex, and rely on utilizing so much of your inventory that it’s easy to get stuck. I shamefully admit to using an internet walkthrogh toward the end. You would do the same if you were circling a small room for 45 minutes looking for an exit.

Fighting the bosses in each dungeon walked the line of a grab-your-nuts joyride or mind-numbing frustration. Thankfully, I was grabbing my nuts more often. Learning each boss’s weaknesses was endearing and memorable. However, LoZ:TP will go down in history as having the most drawn out death scenes EVAR. Each boss, upon finally being defeated, puts on at least an entire minute of staggering around, clutching their chest, screaming into the camera, reeling back and forth in agony, then finally crashing to the floor with a morbid death rattle. I think I remember one guy doing a silly little dance before finally keeling over. Sheesh. I know it hurts. I must have stabbed you 30 times with a glittery broadsword. Now please, just die and drop whatever item I need so I can move on to the next minute-long death opera.

The sub-games are a blast, such as fishing, bug collecting and other various missions. I didn’t think fishing would be much of a diversion, but surprisingly I found myself spending hours waiting for my bobber to start twitching.

The only downside to the game was the Wii’s insane controls. I’ve never been a fan of using the Wii-mote and Nunchuck. Wagging your wrist to swing your sword is an interesting new way to fight off monsters, but after a while, your hand just ends up getting tired. You wag that thing A LOT. Yet, it wouldn’t be so bad if the controls weren’t so inconsistent and laggy.

I’m finally done. Now I have a lot of catching up to do on MageQuest. On the brightside, MaestroRage sent me the first few drafts of the MageQuest theme song! It sounds fantastic!