Progress on this game has been slow. Part of it is that I've just not been feeling well for the last few days, but I don't think this is a sufficient explanation. I think a bigger part of why I've not yet finished the game is because I've gotten into the pattern of doing a single mission, upgrading my equipment, and then quitting the game.
I guess what's going on is that "Dragonfall" feels more difficult to me than "Dead Man's Switch." Cover is much more important, accuracy rates are lower, and damage is much more widely varied. This makes combat feel more unpredictable while ensuring things like movement and positioning are much more important. I like it, but it can be mentally exhausting. I've fallen into a pattern where I play the game for an hour, walk away for the better part of a day, and then play for another hour.
Which isn't really all that bad a way to play games, all things considered. In fact, in contrast to my usual way of sitting down and doing 3-6 hours in a single session, it's downright healthy (don't worry about me, though, I work the night shift, so my social life is pretty much a non-starter anyway). The only problem is that it takes a long time to blog through.
It's likely that writing this blog has changed the way I relate to video games. Whereas before, I'd play a game obsessively if it caught my interest and for maybe an hour or two at most if it didn't, now my awareness of the clock colors how I approach these games. I'm now forcing myself to play games, even if I don't particularly feel like it. Which is definitely a change of pace from when I used to play games purely to relax.
That's not a complaint, by the way. The structure this brings my hobby is a welcome one. I'd have never played many of these games at all without it. Shadowrun: Dragonfall would probably not have been one of the unplayed ones, however. It's exactly the sort of game I ordinarily like, and if I were in different mood, I'd have sailed through it like I did with the original Shadowrun Returns.
It is likely only a quirk of fate that I happen to be playing it while my mental energy is low.
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