these carcasts are finally starting to get weird:

i spent the week agonizing over a cover letter for a job, which i'm trying to temper my expectations about, despite being excited at the prospect of it. now that i'm done with that, i can enjoy a weekend of gaming before the flurry of next week's continued job hunt-- which is a more full-time job than a real full-time job. it's making enjoying games harder than ever because i feel like i should be putting all of my energy into finding work, but then reminding me that if i'm not playing games then i'm not participating in the only industry i've ever cared about

so fuck it, it's the weekend and i'm going to treat it like one. the first game i turned to for stress relief was obviously The Witcher 2

there is a save file near the end that has a branch i've been curious about exploring since i finished the game like three months ago. i guess that says a lot about The Witcher 2, and affirms the score i gave it when i wrote the review. generally after reviewing a game, i have second thoughts on the final score i leave it scarred with, and generally end up feeling like i was a little gracious. sometimes i go back a month later to see how well it held up and usually feel okay with that final mark, which i was happy to find out about The Witcher 2 as well

in any case, while the game ends up in the same place, the 16 paths players take tend to feel more unique than other branching storylines in other games, thanks to unique environments and great care put into all the areas that your decisions treat you to. the first game had more blatant decisions, but despite how much more subdued some of the branches are in TW2, i still feel like everything matters. i forgot how much i love that universe, and it probably helps that it has one of the best game trailers ever attached to it

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what i should be playing is Child of Eden, which i would have finished a week ago if i didn't give up on the fifth level due to lack of sleep. it's going to need to grow on me like Rez did, but that game is Rez 2. it's more organic and less structured than Rez, and that's for better or worse. one thing's for sure, though, and that's how gorgeous the game is. i plan on writing a feature on it if i can scrounge up enough content for one, but the fact of the matter is that i'm glad i bought that game and will treasure it like i do the few dozen that i still own

a part of me wishes for some more geometric-based environments as well, rather than the plant life, but that would contradict the game's prerogative to stylize earth and its living organisms. knowing nothing else about CoE, i also wonder if there's anything ese to play after the fifth level, but i know i'm going to dig through this game until i know its every pixel

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and then there's the Catherine demo, which i wish i never downloaded. i can't afford any new games right now and i already want it. it's easy to watch video of something and enjoy the idea of that game, but just like seeing that animal in the shelter after only knowing its picture-- getting to interact with it is something altogether different. now i have an idea of how much fun that game could be, of the ways it could challenge me, and the strong presence of the Persona team it carries with it

i may have found the final push to sit down and play Persona 4 for once. then again, Catherine's intro practically made me place a pre-order right on the spot. that part of me that loves style and art direction is really being fucked with over the last few months. this bodes extremely well for the state of video games, though

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i'll link my Half-Minute Hero Super Mega Neo Climax review once it's up, but i also dug that game. it's cute, charming, and a great way to preven tmissing a great PSP title. other than that, i appreciate you lending me your ear for a while. if you can't get enough, there's a carcast from last week that i never got around to attaching a blog post to

who knows what i'll play tomorrow, but i'm going to let myself god damn enjoy it after this week