Changed my desktop wallpaper image again. B and I spent so much time on the old one it was hard to replace, but I’ve positively fallen in love with the artwork from this series. The new image is from Spellforce: The Breath of Winter, the first addon to Spellforce: The Order of Dawn. I really can’t say enough about this series - it doesn’t have the best interface or graphics in the genre, but the original has a lot of heart, a fantastic storyline, and quality presentation. The main problem with it, really, is that JoWood published it, and their label is summarily associated with bad games (and it’s not entirely the fault of said games’ developers either). It’s kind of like how Burnout was under the Acclaim label.
Breath of Winter is okay so far, but it is slow to play through, like the original, so we’ll see. The opening cinematic and the first map aren’t really coherent–it’s like I was dropped in the middle of the story. I’m confident that the main story arc will be revealed, and I hope that they explain a little of what’s happened in between the two time periods.
This game is yet another import, from a dev studio based in Germany, I believe. I’m really amazed that an American studio can’t put out a game with a good presentation and story. Something is always lost in translation, so I’d like to see an original piece for once. All of the best video game stories come from Japan, Canada, or Europe, it seems. Half-Life is the only title I can think of that even comes close, and even then, the games are very light on story and more focused on action. What’s there in narrative is good, but there’s just not much of it.
On a more sour note, I really should be asleep, but everytime I tilt my head sideways I get dizzy. Dizziness is horrible–I realized it’s probably been a while since the last time I was dizzy last this, and I’d rather be in horrible pain than dizzy. I tried sleeping a few hours ago, but just drifted in and out of consciousness with no sleep, I think. I’m going to try again.