Five Things I'm Pretty Sure I Think

Here's another installment of the Five Things I'm Pretty Sure I Think:

1. Psyched that the Patriots won this week against a very tough Ravens team, but I was disappointed in the officiating. The roughing the passer penalties were just ridiculous, and that's coming from someone who's team benefited from the calls. It's a shame when (arguably) the outcome of the game was affected by questionable calls. It's far better to win or lose based on talent and execution, as opposed to needing the ref's whistle. Here's to hoping the frequency and accuracy of these calls improve.

2. Haven't yet completed Arkham Asylum, because of my frustration with the final boss battle. Considering how great the game to this point has been, the tone of this encounter just doesn't fit with the rest of the story and atmosphere. This probably isn't the case, but considering that the mechanic is very similar to other boss battles (the swarms of thugs to fight through) and that the tone feels out of step with the rest of the narrative, this particular sequence feels rushed and not very polished. I'm going to give it another shot this evening, and hopefully put it behind me. Definitely looking forward to going back through and solving the Riddler challenges.

3. Finally moved on from being 'stuck' in Final Fantasy PSP (just plain stupidity on my part, nothing else), and made good progress over the weekend. Sitting at level 30, having completed the class change quest, getting the airship, and now moving on to lighting the other three crystals. After this, I'll move on to Final Fantasy II PSP, in an incredibly slow but dogged attempt to complete all the major numbered Final Fantasy games, with the notable exception of XI, the MMO entry. I just received an e-mail from Goozex that Final Fantasy III DS is in the mail. I own IV already (on GBA), I have requested V through Goozex, and have VI on SNES. I also have other games for the PSOne and PS2, but I do have some holes to fill in the catalog.

4. I started Dragon Quest V on DS a couple of days ago, before being consumed again by Final Fantasy. This game has a lot of promise, just from the couple of hours I've put in already. The game displays a refinement from its predecessor, which I played and thoroughly enjoyed, and the combat mechanics 'feel' good. I'll have more to say on this one as I progress further into it.

5. Though I don't normally talk about it here, work has been an absolute bear over the past few weeks, cutting drastically into my time for anything else. I think there's a light at the end of the tunnel which is encouraging for me, considering my 20-month old daughter's favorite phrase appears to be, "Bye Daddy!" Makes me proud and sad at the same time. One of my goals is to be there with them every morning when they wake up, and be there to help read stories and put them to bed every night. It makes putting in the extra hours at work a challenge, but I hope the results will be kids that know and love me, and see me as a part of their lives, instead of an outsider looking in.

That's all for now. Talk to you all again soon. I'd love to hear from you (if there's anyone out there reading this), so please leave comments if you feel so inclined.