Thoughts on a few games I've been playing lately

Well since finals week is over I have had some much needed free time I have been able to indulge in quite a bit of gaming. There may be a few spoilers throughout so I've split each discussion into its own paragraph with the name of the game being discussed in bold.

I was very excited to finally get Dark Souls 2, got it for $15 on the steam winter sale. I absolutely loved the first Dark Souls, and Demons' Souls as well. I loved the creative array of environments that you find yourself in, and the difficulty level gave one a feeling of accomplishment that was addictive. I had heard since it's release that Dark Souls 2 wasn't quite as good as the first, but so far I am finding this to be untrue. I am just about 10 hours in so far and I have loved every minute. I just got to the Lost Bastille and have really found the game to be just as creative in enemy design as the first. In particular, I found the creatures in No Mans' Wharf that are afraid of the light particularly cool, as well as the dual-sided boss in this area. I have gotten a continuous sense of discovery and intrigue with the world, and can't wait to continue with the rest of the game.

I have also been tremendously enjoying replaying an old favorite of mine, Fallout 3. I picked this up soon after it came out on my old Xbox 360, so I was just 14 when I last played it extensively, and I love that game! It's graphics still hold up well on my PC, and the VATS targeting is so much fun, an extremely important aspect of enjoyable games. I love the post-apocolyptic wasteland setting that includes a healthy dose of humor. I completed the main quest and several side quests, as well as the Broken Steel and Point Lookout Expansions. I loved the swamp wasteland in Point Lookout, Broken Steel was good as a means of extending the main storyline, but I didn't like how one miraculously lived after the conclusion of Fallout 3's story, although I suppose it was necessary. It just gave the final choice you made in the game have little meaning. Overall, I find Fallout 3 to be one of my very favorite games of all time.

In the interest of giving games I've bought previously on Steam but never played, I have given Mirror's Edge a shot. I really appreciate games that try something novel, and the parkour style traveling in Mirror's Edge to be a lot of fun, and enjoy the puzzles one has to navigate. I don't remember this game getting a lot of press when it came out, which is unfortunate because I think games that put forward something new deserve support.

Well that's it for now I suppose.

Introduction

Hello. This is my first blog but I found myself suffering from a terrible bout of boredom lately and I like writing so I figured what the hell, I've always kind of wanted a blog.

I've got a pretty wide-reaching web of interests. I am currently being educated in chemistry and biology education, I love science and the natural order of things, and am eager to pass on this attitude to my future students. Being in the chemistry lab, reading about biological structures, and coming up with possible organic syntheses are what I stay up late thinking about on a friday night. I am attending a wonderful university very close to my home, with connections to a larger university that I also take classes at and love. I'm even going on a trip to Italy in a little over a week to study the chemistry of food and art and am looking very forward to this, there will surely be a blog post about that. I have also fallen in love with a wonderful girl, and find life in general pretty swell at this point in time.

I also am a huge fan of gaming, with most of my free time being devoted to this wonderful interactive art form. I will be writing a bit about games I suppose, I built my own PC a few years ago and have quite a few games I have yet to dive into in my Steam library. Regarding my favorites, I love Civilization V, Dark Souls, Fallout 3 & New Vegas, and last but certainly not least the Elder Scrolls series, with Oblivion holding a particularly special place in my heart.

My final significant interest is rather taboo, I find that most of the time I find myself rather "in the closet" about it. I find great interest in psychedelic chemistry. Substances such as L.S.D., Psilocybin, Dimethyltryptamine, mescaline, and even the cannabis plant, the possibilities that lie in these substances hold immense potential. It seems obvious to me that nature holds a remedy for any ailment, whether of body or mind. But I only research experience reports and notes on the chemistry of these molecules, I find that conducting in first hand research a prohibitively daunting task.

Well I suppose that's all for now, look for a few thoughts on gaming coming up next!