I don't have much to write about because all I've been playing is Destiny and I don't want to write about that again. I will say I've been a little dissapointed with the games that have come out so far this year, with PT (which isn't really even a demo) being the most impressive thing I've played all year. Sure Wolfenstein was fun for a while and Destiny is certainly addictive but I'm still waiting for a truly fantastic game to get sucked into. Maybe it'll be Shadow of Mordor, in which case I dont have long to wait. The thought of a Lord of the Rings RPG taking up a lot of my time seems fairly unbelievable, but with Monolith at the helm it just might work out. Alien Isolation looks promising, but I don't think will warrant the full price tag. I don't want to be that guy, but if the game turns out to be terrifying, but only 4 hours long, I'll probably wait for a price drop. Dragon Age 3 also looks good, but that being said I didn't particularily enjoy the Dragon Age game that most people like the most. If the game nails the action-combat as well as tactical elements, I may pick it up.

What games are you guys looking forward to? Do you think 2014 has been slightly lackluster, or do you think the game output has been phenomenal? Let me know.

After playing Destiny pretty much non-stop for the past 4 days, I can safely say that I'm hooked. Whether or not this means I think the game is great though, well that's an entirely different story. It's worth noting that I have been either playing the game alone, or matching up with strangers for PvP and Strikes. None of my friends are playing the game, so I haven't been able to enjoy that side of the experience.

After completing Destiny's story, the sense of satisfaction is negligible. Sure you get a gun which is most likely better than the gear you've had prior, but so does everyone else after they finish the story (correct me if I'm wrong). The story doesn't conclude so much as it fizzles out, being left open as this really isn't "the end" of Destiny at all. But because Destiny is essentially an MMO, there are more exciting tasks to be conquered once the main story missions are finished. I've made it to level 22 so far, and surprisingly my interest is showing no signs of waning. I say surprisingly because the gameplay of Destiny after the main story is even more repetitive. Each day, I collect bounties, patrol planets to grind out faction reputation, and complete a cycling playlist of Strike missions. This process is a pure grind, but because the core gameplay is strong enough, it hasn't been any more of an issue than it was during the main story. I still haven't reached Vanguard Rank 1, which is the culmination of all Vanguard Rep acquired from afore-mentioned activities. To get any legendary gear, I'll have to get my Vanguard Rank to level 2 and 3, for armor and weapons respectively. Only time will tell whether I'll stick with the game this long, but so far there's a good chance I will. My main problem with the game is there aren't enough areas to explore. Sure the game is relatively large when you take into account the ammount of gear available and the hours needed to attain it; But when all you're doing to attain this gear is visiting the same locations over and over, you start to wonder where all the money went in the development of Destiny. It really bums me out when the gameplay is so fun, and the addiction level so high. Yes, the grind is a big part of most MMOs, but in most MMOs, there is enough landmass and mission variety to support this repetitive nature. The cynic in me wants to believe that the upcoming "expansions" were simply ripped from the core game, but there's really no way of knowing whether that's true. If I do grow tired of the game (at least there isn't a subscription model, so I can take breaks without worry), I may finally try and make some progress in The Jak and Daxter Collection. I picked up the game a while ago, but haven't gotten around to really devoting time to it, which I hope to do soon. I'll post some thoughts on that when I get around to it, but for now I think I'll play a few more Strikes.

Successfully blending two distinct game genres is not an easy task, especially when one of the two genres is an MMO. Destiny, at least how it stands as an initial product, does a very good job of offering both snappy, rewarding FPS combat, and the ever addictive MMO cycle of leveling up and equipping better gear. To simply label Destiny as "Halo meets Borderlands" would be incorrect, as Destiny has a lot more in common with something like say, World of Warcraft. So far I've reached level 10 in Destiny, half way to the "soft level cap", and it only took one day. This may seem fairly worrying for a full-priced game, but I remain confident that there will be enough to do once I reach the cap. From what I can tell, at level 20 Destiny becomes focussed on Legendary and Exotic items, as opposed to a purely XP grind. The story missions are where I'm spending the bulk of my time currently, while occasionally dipping my toes into The Crucible (Destiny's PvP) and Strikes (Harder Co-op missions with larger bosses than the Story missions). The story missions are basically the same formula repeated over and over, go to a point, send your small robot-orb (called a "ghost") to examine something, then either defend the point, or move on to fight a wave of enemies. This level design is very MMO-like, in that it emphasizes getting XP and loot, over actual story progression. The story in Destiny is truly piss-poor, but this didn't bother me a whole lot because I rarely care about the story in a game, especially an MMO. The story seems fairly simple on the surface, with a copy-and-paste light versus dark rivalry, but is convoluted when new races are introduced and it isn't even remotely clear what the player's role is. But I didn't really care because the core gameplay of Destiny is phenomenal. Taking out enemies with a variety of weapons never got old, even after playing all day when I got the game. This rock-solid foundation is what makes Destiny so damn addictive, and combined with a slow, but still enticing loot system, you have a game which stays on the mind even when you're not playing. Even though Destiny has numerous, fairly obvious issues, like the repetitive mission design and boring story, the gameplay carries the experience at every turn. Also, since many of the flaws are characteristic of many other MMOs, they are somewhat forgivable.

I also played a few matches of The Crucible, the competitive segment of Destiny. While I enjoyed these matches, competitive multiplayer has never really been my thing, so I doubt I'l be going back to it for any other reason then to complete bounties (goals acquired from an NPC in the game's hub). The matches are fast paced and fun, but the amount of ways in which players can be killed in one hit are slightly frustrating. Strikes on the other hand I found much more enjoyable. These are longer missions which must be completed with a 3 person team, and culminate in a few difficult boss fights. Unfortunately these bosses normally amount to nothing more than bullet sponges, but there are some fairly basic strategies which keep the fights from growing dull. Bungie can always introduce new boss designs as the game ages, and I sincerely hope they look into this. I matched up with strangers for the Strikes, which turned out to be enjoyable, even if we weren't actively conversing. Not much strategy is needed for these encounters, at least not at this stage of the game, so matching up with strangers isn't detrimental to the experience.

But perhaps the biggest flaw of Destiny as of this writing is there isn't enough content. Sure, what is here is meant to be repeatable, but after playing the game for around 7 hours I've already visited all locations on Earth and The Moon. From what I've heard, there are only two more planets to discover, and this seems fairly worrying. Sure, I will be revisiting areas and completing new Strikes and missions, but as it stands, the world of Destiny seems fairly small. Of course, only time will tell how Bungie expands upon the game, and I for one am very excited to see how the expansions play out. Currently, Destiny's foundation (while extremely solid from a gameplay standpoint) seems tiny from a landmass standpoint. That being said I can't wait to jump back in and journey towards the level cap.

Even after hearing a lot of negative feedback, much of which sounds entirely justified, I still want to play Destiny. $70 is a lot to spend on a game that I could very well find repetitive and dull, but for some reason even the negatives of Destiny sound manageable. Sure, you're going back to the same environments multiple times, but as long as my character is progressing, and the combat is enjoyable, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. My main problem with Diablo 3 lately has been that the game just seems too easy, and too mindless. I realize that it becomes anything but later on, but I simply don't have the drive to push on to the second or third playthroughs, to grind for gear like I will in Monster Hunter. The main difference with Monster Hunter, that makes the game so addictive and enjoyable, is that I love the combat. As long as the central game element is engaging, replaying the same level upwards of 6 times doesn't bother me at all. Now that I think about it, perhaps Destiny is just the game for me.

I also will not be playing with other people, but that doesn't really bother me either since I normally enjoy playing games alone anyway. Even in games meant for player interaction (like World of Warcraft), I much prefer to go it alone. My main worry now is that much of the raid content will be impossible to complete alone, but as long as that isn't a sizable chunk of the game, it should be a non-issue. On the most recent Bombcast, Brad said that, even though the game certainly has flaws, he can't stop playing it. I love games that are addictive, because I love getting completely lost inside a game. So what do you guys think of Destiny? Did you enjoy it more than the general consensus from critics? Is it worth the price tag? Let me know, even though I'll probably get it regardless of the community feedback.

:)

A couple nights ago, I fought the Great Jaggi (the first large monster in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, if I'm not mistaken) around 7-8 times. You see, after doing some research online I found that the general consensus on the best armor set after the initial Leather, is the set acquired from the Great Jaggi. This however isn't as simple as killing the monster once, and then unlocking the set for purchase. No, this isn't the case because Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is, essentially, a loot grind. To build a piece of armor, or upgrade/build a weapon, one must meet the material requirements. I had received all of the materials to build the Great Jaggi set, except for one which requires the player to first wail on the monster's head, until a shattering animation is seen, at which point there is a chance that, at the end of the quest, the player will recieve the "King's Frill". I needed two of these to complete the armor set, but for my first 6 or so tries, I had no luck. But here's the thing, the one component of Monster Hunter that will perhaps keep me wrapped in the experience for weeks to come: I never got bored of this task. On my first try, defeating the Great Jaggi was a hassle. Between the seemingly endless amount of damage that needed to be caused and the frequent knockbacks when I was hit by the monster, the fight was long and tiring. I used a sizable amount of my healing and stamina items, and wasn't too keen to go back in and try again to get the King's Frill. But on my second (or perhaps third) try, I changed up my strategy, instead opting to use my shield a bit more, and dodge a bit less. This worked phenomenally with my rather hefty lance (which doesn't allow for particularly quick dodges while equipped), and after a few more tries, I had learned the monster's entire moveset. Now, it was simple to find the monster, block attacks, while occasionally jumping out of the fray to heal or sharpen my weapon. This, more than anything, is one of the most rewarding aspects of Monster Hunter, completely learning when and how an enemy will attack, and utilizing this knowledge to dispatch the enemy as quickly as possible. After about 2 hours of trying time and again to recieve the King's Frill, I was finally successful, and subsequently built the armor, shifting my sights to the next lance upgrade.

So begins the lengthy loot grind of Monster Hunter, but to call it a grind would be a bit of a disservice. Because the combat is so rewarding, and the enemies attacks so readable (after a few tries), the act of "grinding" for loot drops becomes significantly more entertaining than say, an MMO with hotkey-based combat. Instead of looking at cooldowns for hours on end the player is in the heat of battle half the time, and gathering and combining materials for the other half. While this second activity may not seem all that engaging, after a while it becomes less of a chore, and more a simple requirement to have the tactical edge in battles later on. I will admit it takes far too long to learn exactly what needs to be crafted, gathered and upgraded, but once the player has put in the time to learn these systems, the game opens up and becomes that much more exciting. Currently, I'm about to take on my first Arzuros (another large monster in the game), and hopefully will be able to find a few "Jumbo Bones", which are needed for my next Lance upgrade. After switching to the 3DS game from the Wii, I was initially worried that the controls would be cumbersome. While this is true in some cases, for the most part the rather complicated control scheme is entirely learn-able, it just requires a bit of commitment. The biggest problem so far has been underwater combat, but this is rare enough that it hasn't hampered the experience in any notable way. As long as I'm interested in Monster Hunter, I'll keep giving these updates, which could mean I'll be writing about the game for some time to come...

It took quite a few tries, but I've finally gotten into the behemoth that is Monster Hunter. This Japanese phenomena has never done particularly well in the western market, but of course everyone knows that and most people know exactly why. Similarly to the "Souls" games, Monster Hunter requires the player to unearth a lot of information about the game on their own. I found however, that Monster Hunter was considerably harder to get into than Dark Souls, because the game is a lot more open ended early on. True, on a very first play-through of Dark Souls it can be hard to figure out where you need to go next, but once you've found the right path it takes a while to get lost again. In Monster Hunter Tri (the version which I've been playing), aside from some smal text boxes and early gathering quests, you are tossed headfirst into a world filled with a myriad of resources and monsters. For anyone new to the series, I strongly recommend picking up the Monster Hunter Beginner's Guide, which covers the basics of the entire series, so no matter which version you're playing it will be of great importance. There is some guidance by the game itself, but the intricacies of combat (which I'll elaborate on later) are never truly explained to the player. For example, it is extremely important to roll after each attack, as this will give you an opportunity to strike again sooner than simply letting the previous attack animation play out.

Like the "Souls" games, Monster Hunter uses "animation-priority", meaning that when the player uses a button input, the animation doesn't happen immediately like in a hack and slash. The animation (which can be quite long for the larger weapons) must completely play out before the player is able to strike again, and the player is also vulnerable while they are attacking (but not while they are rolling, making this technique all the more valuable). When I first picked up Monster Hunter, this system frustrated me more than it did in Dark Souls. But after pushing back at the game and making an effort to learn the ins and outs of combat, the system became extremely rewarding. By committing to actions the player must truly mean what they are about to do, because a slip up could cost them health. In the early stages of the game a healthy stock of potions is all that is needed to avoid death, and not many enemies deal a whole lot of damage. But I imagine later in the game this will not be the case. Simply put, I now love the combat in Monster Hunter, and from trying a few different weapons it's clear that the variety will be staggering.

The monsters do not have visible life bars in the Monster Hunter games, instead the player must discern the various "tells" that the monsters make. For example, a monster may develop a limp, or start drooling when they are low on health, signalling the player to give it all they've got to finally defeat the beast. This seemed fairly frustrating at first, because I normally like to know exactly how much damage I'm dong, but after time the system grew on me.

From what I can tell so far, the gameplay loop of Monster Hunter seems to be: gather materials, to combine and make items and upgrade and build new weapons, to complete quests and defeat larger monsters, to get yet more materials and upgrade weapons further. Breaking it down this much is selling the game short, and even knowing this is really all there is to the game, still excites me. I'm currently using a great sword and progressing through the various quests. I will say I've only spent 3 hours and I've barely scratched the surface yet. But I can't wait to learn all there is to learn, and try Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate when it arrives here early next year.

What does the GiantBomb community think of the Monster Hunter series? If you have any helpful info for beginners, it would be greatly appreciated!

Because they were both on sale, I decided to pick up Dirt 3 and F1 2012 on Steam. I've only played Dirt so far, but after sinking well over 5 hours into it in a single day, I think it's safe to say I love this game.

To preface this, racing games have always appealed to me, although I sometimes find it difficult to get over the initial learning curve that a lot of them have. For the most part, all racing games feature cars that handle a little differently. In the case of simulations, this handling can be shockingly accurate to real-life, and a large hump to get over. Dirt 3 is not a simulation, instead opting for a looser, more accessible style. This isn't to say the game is all the way on the other end of the spectrum, as cars will realistically rattle and budge while navigating the dirt, snow or tarmac. The handling feels responsive, while still offering up enough realism to shake things up a bit. Rally racing initially seems intimidating, as there is much less traction and spinning out is a constant worry, at least in the begginning. Once the player starts to learn the ins and outs of drifting through some difficult challenge stages, it becomes second nature to apply these skills to standard races. The way the game teaches the player it's systems is completely seamless, creating a very fluid experience.

The game is segmented into events, which are selectable from a series of sleek menus which all have a triangular theme. At this point, I would rather all racing games be open-world, as the process of selecting each race and waiting for loading screens seems antiquated, but maybe that's just me. In any case, the events are varied, offering up point-to-point sprints, standard races, trick-based Gymkhana events, among others. The tracks are similarily varied, ranging from snowy mountaintops to sandy desert roads. My only gripe with the tracks themselves was that they tend to be repeated. This would be alright if there were breaks between recycled tracks, but sometimes an event consists of racing the same course three times. It doesn't happen often enough to be a significant flaw, but it is noticable.

The presentation of the game is excellent. From the afore-mentioned sleek menu designs to the gorgeous locales on which the races are set, Dirt 3 still impresses over 2 years after it was released. Mud and snow are kicked up from behind the cars, sometimes obscuring visibility and further immersing the player in the experience. The cars sound suitably gutteral, along with the occasional gasp from the crowd after the player collides with a barrier. Occasionally, in-race commentary provides insight on what kind of turn to expect up ahead, something which I've never seen in a game before but I enjoyed a lot. The two voice actors encouraging you throughout the menus and at the beginnings of events are annoying, and become tiresome quickly. Along with their need to remind you to "upload that race to YouTube", they simply seem unnecessary, and only serve to tarnish the experience.

Really though, there aren't many complaints I can level at Dirt 3 as of now. It's an extremely polished racing game which has impressed at every turn (pun not intended) and I look forward to hopefully finishing the game in the next few weeks. I'll also post thoughts on F1 2012 once I've played enough of it.

Not only have I listened to a fair bit of music in the past few days, I'm also playing games again after a week-or-so break. Some of the album thought go more in-depth than others, because some interested me more than others.

Albums

Bones - Skinny

Putting out a mixtape every few months can't be easy, especially when you're trying to maintain quality, while also innovating. Over the past year or so Bones has developed his style considerably, resulting in some fantastic mixtapes (DeadBoy, Garbage, PaidProgramming) and really only one (arguably) failed experiment (TeenWitch). With Skinny, right from the start it's clear that Bones was perhaps going for a slightly more ominous tone. On "HollisterJeans" his flow has begun to disintegrate, with more slurred words giving the song a dirtier feel. Somehow, Bones has managed to craft a mixtape which sounds simultaneously familiar, and unique. The production has taken a step up from Garbage, and is now more varied and distinctive. Bones' flow resembles previous efforts on "Protein", but not entirely. There is a feeling throughout the mixtape that perhaps Bones is going for a bleaker sound, especially clear in the artwork. Of course, Bones' somewhat divisive singing style is back, depicting some rather gruesome themes on "IfYoureGoingToSpew,SpewIntoThis". Song lengths are just as brief as Bones' most recent tapes, something which I've never had a problem with, but may bother some. From what I can tell, Skinny seems to be the polar opposite of PaidProgramming: considerably less catchy, more moody, with some of the campiness cast aside (although not completely lost). Lyrics on Bones' tapes have never been particularily hard to decipher, but on Skinny they seem to have advanced slightly, evident on "TheNoiseInsideMyHead", among others. Bones' persona however, hasn't changed in the slightest, still aggressive, and sensitive when needed. Not only are his styles intact, they are perhaps more honed then ever before. Another highlight is "ShrimpPizza", on which Bones comes through with a violent verse, that seems to be cracking under the pressure. Bones seems genuinely tired on the track, and whether or not this was intentional, it fits the somber instrumental. "CranbrookEstates" has a beat which sounds like it would have fit SurrenderDorothy (Bones' singing side-project), and perhaps is not quite as suited to Bones' flow. "EmilioEstevez,TheMightyDuckMan" sees Bones telling a story through his flow, (see 1968 on "DeadBoy") one of his biggest strengths in my opinion. "Bubbles" is accompanied by a new style of singing from Bones, and while it isn't entirely successful, it shows that Bones is still taking risks at every turn. The bonus track, "SketchersBackToSchoolSale" has a fantastic instrumental, along with some solid verses from Bones. Why it was labeled as a "bonus" I'm not sure, as it could have easily been the ending track, closing the mixtape off quite nicely.

As with most Bones tapes, it will take a few more listens to discern the staying power of Skinny, but on first listen, it's certainly promising. Perhaps not as fantastic as DeadBoy before it, but still wholly unique. If you're interested in listening to Bones, all of his mixtapes are free, just look for them.

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

I'd never listened to Doom Metal before Dopethrone, so I didn't know what to expect. The genre sounds deep, slow, and just generally a lot more dirty than other genres of metal. It isn't as hard to get into as something like Black Metal, as it isn't as depressing and the vocals sound more aggressive than saddening. There are extended guitar-only sections throughout the album, at times seeming improvised. This didn't bother me particularly, but I did notice it and after a while it got a little tiresome. Of course, I probably need to give it a few more listens and try the rest of the genre, to fully appreciate the sound.

Cocteau Twins - (More than one album)

Over the past few months I've grown more and more fond of Cocteau Twins, to the point where I haven't found a single thing they've made that I don't enjoy. To be fair I haven't listened to everything, but my favorite albums so far are Heaven or Las Vegas, Four Calendar Cafe and Treasure. They've also put out some amazing EPs, specifically The Spangle-Maker and Tiny Dinamine. I'll have an in depth review of one of their albums next time I write one of these segments, but for now I'll move on to games I've been playing.

Games

Fez

From the beginning, Fez seems like a gorgeous, albeit simplistic platformer. By using perspective-based platforming, Fez crafts an experience which is nice to look at, but not challenging in any way. The only initial goal is to find cubes scattered throughout the world, which in turn open doors (similar to Mario 64 or other platformers of old). The game looks amazing, with some of the best pixel-art I've ever seen, but the only thing preventing the experience from becoming boring is the sense of exploration from filling out the expansive and confusing map. But even this seems overly complicated, and the gameplay loop becomes somewhat dry after an hour or so. From hearing a bit about the game when it released, I found out that there is definitely more than meets the eye. Tales of filling out pages and pages of notes to solve the ultimate puzzle in Fez sounds very interesting to me. But unfortunately I feel like I may have to trudge through the first part of the game to get to the more in depth puzzles. I wouldn't say the game is bad in any way, but I feel like if the art wasn't as phenomenal as it is, I would have given up. I will say that the NPC's confusion at the world around them is charming, and lends to the atmosphere of the world. This is a place where the only familiar shapes are 2D, and once the first cube is discovered early on the game the world is sent into dissaray. The characters are adorable, but the world around them is not, twisting and turning to reveal beautiful art at every corner. I'm going to try and make some more progress today and will report back once I have.

I've been progressing through, finding more cubes and generally getting more and more confused. The map is intentionally obtuse (I think), with many overlapping paths making it difficult to find out how to get where. Honestly, this has only frustrated me and seems kind of uneccesary. Fez wants you to be lost, but I'm not sure if I enjoy that aspect of the game. I'm currently stuck at 22 cubes, and one anti-cube, and I've decided to take a break to make room for an urge that takes a hold of me every September, when rain is prevalent.

Dark Souls (Playthrough 3)

I've played Dark Souls twice already, and gotten pretty far on a few other characters, but the game's brilliance stops it from ever becoming boring. As I stated earlier, I tend to get back into Dark Souls when I'm stuck inside because of the weather, such was the case today. Since I'm so familiar with the early areas it was easy to progress to The Depths, an area which I normally rush through but plan to thoroughly clear out this time. I'm using a dexterity build with an Uchigatana (which I'm upgrading as need be). I'm not sure which kind of armor to use, and have stuck with the thief's starter equipment (any suggestions?). I'm going to try and conquer each and every boss, be it required or not. I'm thinking of just getting Havel's Ring and then the set, but something tells me this may not be the best equipment for a dexterity build, but maybe I'm wrong. I think I might enjoy Dark Souls the most now that I've learned everything there is to learn and essentially trivialized the entire game. Now that I know where most of the best items are and how to beat all of the bosses, it's extremely satisfying to go through with a new character build. I would like to learn a ton about Dark Souls 2, but so far I haven't enjoyed the game as much as the first, but that's a subject for another time.

Here's a new blog theme that I think I'm going to stick with for a while. Basically I'll give an update on what music I've been listening to, along with recommendations and impressions of everything. Of course some will go more in depth than others, but for the most part I'll try to give a good critique of all the games and music I'm consuming. This first entry in my "Music + Games" segment won't include much on games however, because there aren't many games I'm into right now.

Music:

Pale Cocoon ‎– 繭

An ethereal wave album that I stumbled across yesterday, after looking for similar artists to Cocteau Twins. While Pale Cocoon technically shares a genre with Cocteau Twins, the music is completely different, a lot less catchy and much more experimental. I loved 繭, as it conveys a wide range of emotions very well, and seems to have been completely overlooked. It creates a lot of sounds that are somewhat alien to me, and while it definitely doesn't have the melodic genius of Cocteau Twins, that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try. Ethereal Wave is an interesting genre that I hope to familiarize myself with a bit more.

Autopsy ‎– Severed Survival

A fantastic Death Metal album from the late eighties, Autopsy truly takes advantage of the grotesque imagery that Death Metal can convey. The guitar and blast beats combine with the gut-wrenching vocals to create an album to unsettle anyone looking to immerse them self in the genre. I've enjoyed Death (perhaps one of the most well known names in Death Metal) quite a bit, but I don't think it comes close to Autopsy in terms of shear brutal sound. As a part of my journey to understand the many types of Metal, Autopsy was vital.

At the Gates - The Red in the Sky is Ours

Not a whole lot to say about this one, but perhaps that's because I've listened to too much metal in the past few days. While I definitely enjoyed this album, after a while a lot of Metal starts to sound the same to me. Perhaps I should take a break, or maybe this album simply isn't as good as Severed Survival. I'm not saying the album is bad in any way, just that it didn't stick out to me like other Death Metal albums have.

Talk Talk - Laughing Stock

Another fantastic album from Talk Talk, Laughing Stock sees the band truly embracing their new sound. As one of the pioneers of Post-Rock, Talk Talk was definitely influential, but just leaving it at that is selling the band short. Give the album a listen, and you'll start to discern some sounds which have been imitated for years to come, but few can live up to. Laughing Stock is dense and cinematic: everything a good Post-Rock album should be. It even toys with jazz, which works wonders to make the album sound even more diverse. I don't think it's my favorite Talk Talk album, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Games:

Not really anything to put here, because I haven't been playing anything consistently, instead filling up my time with listening to music. I might try and get into Torchlight 2 again because it's easy to play while listening to music. If anyone has any ideas for games that pair well with music, let me know!

I've been listening to a lot of music lately, so here's an update on what I'm really into. After trying time and again to get into Black Metal, I've found that the style is simply too depressing for me. There is no hope in sight throughout a Black Metal album, a theme which certainly has appeal for some, just not for me. I've realized that I enjoy Death Metal a whole lot more, which admittedly isn't exactly uplifting, but I think of it as angry rather than depressing. Death, Gorguts, and others have been filling up a lot of my listening time, and I couldn't be more happy that I've finally broken into this genre. There's no better feeling than getting into a genre which I have little to no familiarity with, because there's so much out there for me to discover! Hopefully by the dead of winter I'll have a better grasp on the details of Death Metal, as I currently don't feel confortable passing judgement on a Death Metal album, simply because I don't understand the genre very well.

To balance out the furious nature of Death Metal, I've also been listening to some New Wave, namely Japan and Talk Talk. Japan is great, no doubt about it, offering up some catchy New Wave tracks which may very well be among the best in the genre. Meanwhile, Talk Talk took me completely by surprise and after listening to Spirit of Eden, It's My Life, and The Colour of Spring, I've yet to find an album by the band that I don't completely LOVE. If you want an example of why Talk Talk is phenomenal, try Tomorrow Started off It's My Life, or turn off the lights and listen to Spirit of Eden in it's entirety (one of the originators of Post-Rock). I find that I enjoy early Post-Rock like Slint or Talk Talk much more than Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as Godspeed can get a little pretentious (my opinion). I find it amazing that Talk Talk put out an amazing New Wave album with It's My Life, then moved onto something a little different with Colour of Spring, and finally introduced and entirely new genre with Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock. I haven't listened to Laughing Stock yet, but I picked it up on vinyl the other day so I plan to try it soon.

While the majority of the music I've listened to in the past few weeks has been great, there were a few dissapointments. I for one can't even begin to understand the hype behind FKA Twigs newest album, LP1. I thought the album was decent, but not memorable in any way, similar to How To Dress Well's album from earlier this year. Perhaps my expectations were too high after reading the extensive praise lavished on the album, but I saw the album as a 6/10, fine, but nothing special. Rustie's new album, Green Language was also dissapointing, offering up some generic beats with mediocre guest appearances. I liked Glass Swords (his previous album) because it put Rustie's producing efforts in the forefront, but the new album is cluttered with too many guests that only serve to send the album in a hundred different directions at once.

That's my update for today, if you enjoyed reading it let me know because I'd love to do more. I can write about music on a daily basis because I consume so much of it, so hopefully it was fun to read!