schneefink

I finally finished playing SOMA! Took me much longer than expected, about/almost 17 hours (I left it running while paused sometimes so idk), but I did most times try to find as much of the story as I could. I didn't get all the answers in the end that I'd hoped for but the ending was still satisfying despite the open questions, and it'll probably take me a few more days at least to think it all over.

( Spoilers )

I'm glad I played this game, and almost entirely without spoilers too (I didn't even watch the trailer.) I enjoyed it a lot, and it also made me more willing to give other horror games a try. (Inscryption sounds intriguing...) I'll most likely play it again in Safe = Story Mode eventually, not sure how soon. In the meantime I look forward to looking at the extra materials and resources etc. online. I already found a helpful timeline.

I've also decided that I won't start playing another new game this month, there's too much to do. (Even though there's so many games I already own that I want to play… still no time machine though.) I'm so busy with work that I've had barely any time (or more accurately, brain/energy) for uni or even Christmas preparations. At least I managed to finish a second draft version of my Yuletide fic that I'm quite happy with.

This morning on the radio someone said "…very worried about Omicron," and my tired brain thought "but I only just reached the station yesterday! …oh."

( Spoilers )

Today was a bank holiday, which was great. I should have used it for studying but did not, same as usual. I thought having a class during very busy work month December would be okay because the exam is in late January, but turns out there are things I need to write until Christmas and it is very hard to motive myself to study after doing overtime hours.

Anyway, I used the opportunity to play some more of SOMA, a game I enjoy a lot but can only play when my nerves are up for it and not before bed. Some parts of it are gorgeous and I spend a lot of time exploring. ( Spoilers )


DD and I watched the first two episodes of The Great *an occasionally true story, and it's, uh, entertaining? It was described as a "satirical fictionalized drama about Catherine the Great's rise to power," and it's certainly that, and also occasionally really dark, which… it's overall weird but I definitely want to keep watching.


Recently we also watched the five available episodes of The Wheel of Time. I never read the books because from I heard I was not interested, but I heard the show already made some significant changes so I have some hope that it might be good or at least entertaining. So far so good, and I look forward to the next episodes.
Early on we joked that it's very "Star Wars in Lord of the Rings," especially because Rand's face occasionally looks a lot like Anakin. I also keep thinking of the minor characters as NPCs for some reason.

( Spoilers )

On a friend's rec I started playing SOMA. Horror is normally not my genre (says a person who really loved The Magnus Archives but that was an exception) but he said the SF story is fantastic. So far, 3.5 hours and seven locations in (I suspect I'm rather slow), the story is promising, the locations are cool (I especially enjoyed ( spoiler )) and the horror is effective. The monster escape sequences are very stressful! I do check a walkthrough every now and then, especially so I don't go the wrong way while avoiding monsters, that would be annoying. There is an option to play the entire game in safe mode where the monsters can't hurt you but he was right in that the constant caution and occasional adrenaline rush add to the atmosphere. But next time I should plan for a little more time between finishing a session and going to bed, I'm still too keyed up.