April... Snowshowers?

Snow? April... Why...? Oy vey.

Haven't played FFXI since I suspended in January. I haven't had much desire to return, to be quite honest. I've been very busy with life and in the free time I have, I play Xbox 360 or watch movies.

I've seen darn-near every recent movie that seems worth a view, using Netflix to keep a steady stream of new and "new-to-me" content coming. I'm a movie fan but not so much a movie critic. I know which movies I like but I can be entertained pretty easily overall. I don't tend to find a movie to be a waste of my two hours, so it's a decent way to entertain myself.

As far as my gaming goes, I did finish up Oblivion's various questlines. I got 1000/1000 on the achievement score (there's an additional 250 available via expansion pack, but I don't have that currently). I played some more of The Darkness as well but haven't finished hard mode or the side quests yet.

I bought quite a few games recently, as well. Assassin's Creed being the current favorite. I get to be (what else?) an assassin running around with various stealthy tools of the trade, helping citizens and abolishing corruption where I can. The developer, UbiSoft, really likes their acrobatic protagonists. Prince of Persia, the TMNT movie-game, and now Altair in Assassin's Creed are all able to run up or along walls, swing on poles, make hair-raising leaps of faith, dash across various obstacles and platforms, and so forth. Creed has a fun crowd system in the towns, which makes the environment all that more dynamic and realistic. I have to blend in to the crowd as best I can in order to avoid the attention of my target and/or the authorities. There are plenty of abilities and maneuvers to accomplish your tasks as stylishly as you can manage. The argument could certainly be made that Assassin's Creed is repetitive in its methods, with its similar goals and progression in each town you come across. However, I enjoy this type of game (Tenchu being one of my favorite series, and they share similarities). It keeps me entertained.

I also picked up The Simpsons Game which is quite funny. Played some Madden football and picked up a game I had played about a year ago, but recently found it cheap. Bullet Witch is a guilty pleasure sort of game in that I find it fun despite its obvious and glaring design flaws and some poor gameplay aspects. LEGO Star Wars II, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe have been recent additions to my library for the purpose of cooperative play.

On May 1st I will be reactivating FFXI once more to visit with TheSolonavi members and see whether or not I get the desire to go whole-hog again. Time will tell.