Playing for fun
Since we started GameShard, my gaming habits have changed. A lot. Its strange to think that, whilst I still spend a lot of time gaming, the majority of it is done for work, rather than fun. There's a strong distinction between the two; strange as that might seem, but with so much of my time spend playing games for work I only get to play a select few for fun. Its every reviewer’s hope to find a game that you start for work and continue for fun, but its rarely achieved.
The games that I end up playing, and returning to, often surprise me. Sometimes its a no-brainer; I’m still ploughing through Final Fantasy XIII mopping up the various sidequests and optional bosses, and I expected as much. But the ones that endure, that I keep going back to, aren’t always the games that I would rate the highest.
Take Sacred 2, for instance. I gave it a healthy 7/10 when I first played it back in July last year, and praised its massive scope. But I certainly didn’t think I’d be going back to it almost a year later, and absolutely relishing it. The sheer depth of Ascaron’s swansong is awe-inspiring, and it still looks absolutely stunning today. In fact, between writing this blog and putting the finishing touches to our Final Fight Double Impact review, I’m plotting development courses for my newest Dryad character and working our where I plan to spend my next advancements, things I never did even when I played the game originally.
Oh, and then there's the need to try out the Inquisitor class that I never got around to trying before…
