The Lull that I can’t look away from

  Sorry guys,

  I blog when I get either the time or the ambition.  The early stages of Rune Factory 4 inspired me, but that inspiration has since dropped off.  I’ve completed the first “arc” of the plot, and my version of Lest is now waiting around for the second arc to kick off.  Much of the stuff he is doing in between is killing time, watching the mini-missions, and farming, crafting, and cooking. 

  The mini-missions really represent a nice supplement, as they introduce and detail the characters of the npc townsfolk.  It just feels a little dry, safe.  I really don’t like that the content can only be watched, never gamed.  Easy tasks like “I’ll go and round up …“ (blank) sounds like a made the measure mission or side quest, but even these are not playable.  Scene fades out, scene fades in, and all of the characters are already assembled.  If we are lucky we witness a scene in between, but there is nothing for the player to do but watch.  This part surely feels like a waste, like there is nothing to do and even less that the developer, Natsume, trusted us to do.

  I’ve quite forgotten a lot of the plot’s fine points, so I really am not going to continue giving out a blow by blow narration; the game is pretty good and keeps me checking in, and I feel that if anyone is on the fence about trying this game, this deep lull of boredom is not going to change their minds.

  I’m over my dislike of the main theme; while it played continuously throughout the whole town in a loop, it changed officially at the start of summer, so that’s a plus!  If it keeps changing season by season, we may just be able to bear it. 

  In other news, I got word of a deal on the eShop: Atlus is offering their greats Etrian Odyssey 4 and Code of Princess, online at $20 again.  I already purchased Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor and didn’t like it.  With my heels cooling on JRPGs generally, and already cool on Atlus specifically, I chose Code of Princess and dropped the eShop credit that I’ve been saving for over a month on it.  I don’t have any current/recent brawlers, so we will see how that goes.  My only complaint so far is that my 3DS has taken all day to download!

  And in still other news, my pre-order is in!  Wow, I haven’t pre-ordered much of anything this year.  Anyway, I now have Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, complete with the musical treasure chest bonus, coming to my door.  Expect good things from me November 22^nd (adjusted for delivery times).

  Now all that I have to do if get busy buying gifts for other people.  Sigh!  I have this problem every year!