mcity

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7434133/1/Blue_Sky

Hello! It's me! Wheatley, from Portal 2! I'd like to just point you in the direction of this fanfic, and it stars me! Wheatley! And if that weren't enough--can't imagine why it wouldn't be--it stars Chell, and GLaDOS, and, um, others, that's all I'm going to say right now. I'd tell you more, but it'd, well it'd be spoiling the fic and Portal 2, and I am fairly certain that would be a very bad idea. Just take my word for it, it's brilliant. Click the link up top there! Or if you'd rather--if you'd rather see the Livejournal version with some nice pictures, you could just click here instead! Just keep clicking "Next 10". You know, if you feel like it.

No pressure.

Nooo pressure.

A Good Man Goes to War

To all those who said River Song was a Mary Sue...what have you to say now?

Let's just hope there's no corresponding fall.

I bought the game as part of the Humble Indie Bundle #2, and took a while to get around to playing it.

I normally hate adventure games. They tend to have a lot of contrived nonsense that makes no sense withing the context of the game world. In Resident Evil, f'r example, apparently get custom locks that use large, bulky pieces of metal instead of normal things like keys or keypads. In God of War, by contrast, anyone with any knowledge of mythology at all should be fully expecting the key to open the door to be half-a-mile away on the other side of a boss fight. Also, the key is probably someone's head. It takes a certain type of mind to enjoy adventures games, and that mind simply can't comprehend why someone might not find a fake moustache puzzle with a dozen odd, illogical steps fun. And any pitiable fool who's played text adventures has tried to figure out the exact verb to get ye flask.

Machinarium is not like those games.

For one thing, the adorable robot protagonist is limited. He can get taller, shorter, reach out to things, store items, combine items, use items, and look at things. He can only interact with things that are in reach of his current position, which makes it easier to tell which of the dozens of absurdly detailed objects onscreen you should be trying to grab. There are a few times when you can miss something, but not often, and the game offers a robust hint system. You get one hint for free, and you can play not-Space Invaders to open up your Prima.

I'm not joking. There's actually a game guide in the game. I'm not sure if our hero can see it, but it's non-linear; since you might have multiple tasks in the same area, you might have to come back and play the game again to open the book. Or CopyPaste it into Paint or something. There are a few puzzles that seem unnecessarily complicated--such as a safe being locked with a puzzle instead of a combination, which is inside a room with a combination lock on the door--but most of them are problems, not puzzles.

That aside, the art direction is lovely, the controls are simple, the music is great (and I got the soundtrack for free! Yay!), and the protagonist endearing. And it's only $20 regular price. I recommend it.