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As some of you may know, I’m a pretty loyal guy and that extends into my video game life as well. And I chose the games I play carefully, just as I chose friends. It’s not that I’m a picky gamer–au contraire, mon frere! I can pretty much play anything, and while I enjoy certain genres more than others, I certainly don’t discriminate; but my time is limited so I rarely ever play two different titles concurrently. The harsh realities of growing up I suppose! Anyway, I was on a brief gaming hiatus after completing Dragon Age: Origins partly due to being too busy but mainly just being indecisive on my next game. I finally settled on Puzzle Quest 2 after spotting it on Steam for only $10. ‘What a great deal!’ I thought, and promptly purchased a copy. I’m starting to wonder though if the $10 price-tag wasn’t a discount but a proper valuation of the game. In other words, perhaps I shouldn’t have expected so much out of a game that was only $10 (discounted or not). Perhaps it was my own fault to have premature expectations of the game. Alas, I was disappointed to find out that this wasn’t a sequel but an entirely new game almost; one that does away with many of the things that made the original so much fun: capturing monsters, seizing castles, mounts, and crafting your own weapons. All of that, stripped away to become more “streamlined”… more “accessible”. Unfortunately, the result is a game that is extremely repetitive, yet barely offers any incentive to keep grinding. It wasn’t much more than a flash game to be honest. So I’ve decided to give up and move on, but I did make an honest effort to keep playing, to uphold my own laws of gaming; however, there wasn’t anything to look forward to at all–not even a mediocre story (which progresses really slow and so far is worse than the original’s).

I found myself back on Steam to peruse the library for deals (I wouldn’t be so cheap if you donated some money). I was indecisive yet again, but luckily an email promo landed in my inbox from Stardock’s Impulse service to announce that they are selling Mass Effect 2 for only $20 (50% off weekend deal). Having read 2D’s glowing review of the game, I decided I had to act, especially since it was the Digital Deluxe Edition (meaning extras and goodies not available in the regular version). It was pretty impulsive of me, but I just couldn’t bear the thought of only having Puzzle Quest 2 to play as I try to hibernate through the winter. Besides, I needed to play Mass Effect 2 for gaming credibility.

The game actually just finished installing and I’m all set to start playing… see ya!