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

Games: Still playing Dark Souls. I plan on doing the Second Opinion review at GameCritics so I'm trying not to say a whole lot about it here on the blog, but I have been putting quite a bit of time into it and I do think it's a pretty superb game. Is it better than Demon’s Souls? That's hard to say. If nothing else, I feel comfortable stating that the two are similar, yet neither one seems head-and-shoulders above the other. At least, not yet...


A couple of quick Dark Souls helpful tidbits:

- if you’re lost and you don't know where to go, open up your menu and start reading the descriptions of the keys in your inventory. Most of them give a general location, and if you are remember which you've used and which you haven't, they end up being pretty good clues as to where you should be heading to next.

- always carry a remove curse item.

- always carry a Homeward Bone (or two or three) since they can get you back to the most recent campfire instantly. If you are rich with souls and you're afraid you're about to get picked off by something lurking in the dark, use this item, level up, and then head back to where you were. The sting of death is a lot less painful if you just used up all your souls gaining a few levels.

- if you accidentally hit an NPC and they become hostile, you can leave the area without killing them and pay a certain character to turn them friendly again.

- in the Blighttown area, there are actually two campfires that can be activated. The second one is hard to spot if you're not looking in the right direction, but if you make it there and get the fire going, the area is much, much, much easier to finish since it acts as a checkpoint about half or two thirds of the way through. This particular part of the game suffers from a poor frame rate and there are lots of areas where it's quite easy to fall to your death, so save yourself some frustration and search out at second campfire.


The Instantly Twisted Shadow Planet DLC add-on called Shadow Hunters should be available on Xbox Live for 400 MSP by the time you read this. I covered it in depth HERE, so if you're a fan of this game (and really, who isn't?) make sure you check it out.


TV: I had no idea it was in the works, but apparently there is a Persona 4 anime that's pretty good. You can check out the first episode HERE for free.


I've also just discovered that the complete Torchwood: Miracle Day series is now available on Netflix for instant download. Looks like I know what I'll be doing this weekend...


Politics: I rarely, rarely talk about politics here at the blog, but @Kweenie posted this link today or two ago, and I found it a worthwhile read if for no other reason than I appreciated how clearly and distinctly the author talks about the current problem of a plutocracy ruining the United States for everyone else.


I don't have any problem with people being rich, but when small number of rich people arrange things so that they get richer while everyone else gets poorer, that's when the trouble starts. The way I see it, every empire eventually crumbles due to corruption at the top, and there's no reason in the world why our own country will be any different if the 'haves' can't rein in their greed and let other people have a chance to enjoy a decent quality of life.