Up late talking games & writing? You're...

Jeez, I didn't realize I hadn't updated the blog in so long. This was a pretty crazy week and time definitely got away from me in all the hubbub, I suppose. Anyway, my bad. Let's rectify that right now, shall we?

Games: Still putting time in with Monster Hunter Tri. At this point I've unlocked the four-star offline quests and I've got almost all of them done.


Although I have great affection for the Switch Axe, I have to say that jumping over to the Lance was a smart move. After getting my ass handed to me several times by the Barroth and the Gobul (above), the Lance’s combination of defense, countering, and three-hit combos really turned the tide. Not only was I able to get past both of those beasts, farming them for item drops became quite do-able -- although it’s still tedious.

Right now I'm trying to put together a set of Barroth Armor and upgrade to the Rugged Lance, but I have to be perfectly honest in saying that I really wish the game gave up the necessary elements a lot quicker than it does. I don't see any point in making players grind for so long, really... some might argue with me, but I think the game would be better if you only had to kill a certain creature once or twice to be able to get what you need to kit up.


In other news, we just recorded the latest GameCritics.com Podcast tonight, and it should be available for download within the next few days, or so. On it, I give a quick overview of Monster Hunter Tri, host Tim breaks down Super Mario Galaxy 2, and we all discuss whether or not games were better "back in the day". It was a fairly interesting talk and we had to rein ourselves in a bit from going too far afield, but I think we raised a few good points in the end. However, I guess the important thing is to see whether or not you, the listeners, agree…


The next installment of the Podcast is going to be centered on the imminent E3, so if you've got anything you'd like us to discuss (games, publishers, trends, hardware, etc.) drop us a line and we'll try to work it into the script. We will also have a man on the floor at the show, so if there's something you specifically want us to take a close look at, we are taking requests.


Writing: Edits are beginning on the first draft of the recently-completed book. Since editing goes a hell of a lot faster than the initial writing process (at least, it does for me) I'm hoping that my co-author and I will whip through the text in short order. I'm also going to begin revisions on my earlier book (Speaking in Forked Tongues) and except for some tweaking that I might do to the ending, I'm hoping that's going to be quick work as well. If you're interested in reading either of these works when they’re finally published, keep your eye on the blog... more details will be coming soon.


Books: Just picked up a copy of Unholy Ghosts, by author @StaciaKane. Haven’t cracked it yet, but I loved her earlier work and I'm sure this one will be no different. From what I've gathered, it contains the undead, a ghost hunter, a drug lord, black magic, human sacrifice, demons, and I'm guessing there's probably a sex scene or two. I don't know about you, but that particular list of stuff checks all of my usual boxes.


As a brief aside, this book has a blurb from Charlaine Harris on the front cover, and all I have to say about that is… I’M SO JEALOUS!!!