Game Review: Fantasy Life

This game had something of an advantage with me before it even started simply for being an RPG. I'm not necessarily a competitive person but I dislike losing and lose interest quickly if I can't complete levels easily. This usually leads me to puzzle games with hundreds of levels that allow quick progress or RPG's where I can move at my own pace.

Fantasy Life was something of an impulse buy for me really. The game store was having a sale and I just happened to have some money set aside. The back of the box looked ok and I was pretty sure I had read about it somewhere on the net so I just went for it. Best snap decision ever!

The basic idea is to choose a career and complete quests to master your skills. There are 12 'Lifes' to choose from and you can chop and change at will. Learning skills in one Life can give advantages to another and I would definitely recommend dabbling in as many as possible. Another bonus to having more than one Life on the go is that you can complete quests while also moving along the main storyline. If I was to start the game again (which I probably will at some point) I would start all the lives as soon as possible and collect as many of all items that are lying around as almost everything will have a use later.

There is also a main storyline which will open up new areas on the map but to be brutally honest I found it rather dull and charged through it as fast as I could. It involved a fair bit of reading which I found to be rather tedious but if I had spent more time training up my levels instead of rushing through it all at once it would have perhaps been more bearable.

Another mistake that I made simply through ignorance was to start and settle in a career that didn't focus on fighting. I wasn't aware that the main quest would involve me having to defeat monsters and half way through I had to swap to paladin and train up simply to make any more progress. If I had spent more time trying out other Lifes I would perhaps have been more prepared.

One advantage to rushing through the main quests was that it opened up the full map to me pretty quickly and now I can level up in each new Life quicker as I have access to more ingredients/monsters/tools/materials etc. So I don't regret the way I chose to play but next time I will try something different. Of course the main joy of an RPG is that you get to choose the way you want to play and how fast you want to move. They are also plenty of side quests to keep you occupied and help you earn experience and new items too so it should be long time before you get bored.

My favourite game of all time is Harvest Moon and although this game is slightly different it has ranked a very close second for me. If it had the option of starting up a farm after the main quest I could play forever! There are animals available in game, pets to help you fight and a horse to ride, which is a nice touch. Another reminder of HM for me was collecting items from around the map which can be sold to make money or, even better in my opinion, used in recipes or quests later. It gave me more of a purpose to collecting everything I saw.

So in summary Fantasy Life is a great game. Recommended to anyone who likes the Harvest Moon series and although the main quest can be a little dull at times it is relatively short and opens up new map areas so can be forgiven.

8/10

A Somewhat Depressing Post About Depression

Today has been a busy day. A day for keeping busy, for distracting myself and trying to change my attitude to life. I like to tell anyone who will listen (which is next to no one) that I am a strong and independent person who does what she wants and doesn't care what other people think. In truth, at the moment, I am none of these things and that worries me. More than I am already worried since anxiety seems to be my new go to mode. I have been sliding into a destructive pattern lately, feeling worthless and miserable and it's time for it to stop.

My first move was to tell my boyfriend or whatever he is (we are supposed to be fuck buddies but it has become more complicated recently and I hate complicated) that I don't want to see him for awhile. Everything he says and does lately seems to make me feel insignificant, petty or boring. He doesn't mean to make me feel that way and tbf he's treating me pretty much the same as he always has. The problem is my self esteem is at an all time low and anything less than praise or being the most important person to someone else is leaving me depressed. Pathetic right? Especially since I used to be so strong in my belief of myself. I've told him not to contact me mostly because that means that I won't be disappointed when he doesn't. I won't be constantly checking my phone, stalking his fb page or getting annoyed when he hangs out with his friends while I sit alone. I won't feel worthless or boring when he doesn't txt me or invite me over. I guess this either makes me seem like a horribly needy person or makes him sound like a terrible friend and perhaps both are true at the moment but neither of us mean to be these people and things will change. They have to.

I'm striking out on my own for awhile. I need to find that girl that I know is inside me that can be her own hero, her own cheerleader and her own best friend. I need to learn to rely on myself again as I am the only person that I can trust to understand and take care of my feelings, to boost my moral. How can I expect anyone else to want to spend time with me when I can't stand being around myself.

That's a distressing thought for me since I really used to love myself (perhaps too much) I was unique and daring, witty and adventurous. I used to be interesting.

I don't really know where I'm going with this. I guess I just needed to tell someone how I'm feeling, that I'm trying to change and that I'm determined to succeed. Today was a good start. I stayed away from facebook as it always seems to depress me. Everyone saying how great their lives are, how much fun they had with their friends and I can't help but compare them to my miserable, lonely existence. Most of it is lies of course but lies can still hurt. Facebook is optional though so why do I still punish myself by trawling through it everyday? Why not opt out? Because I'm weak, I want to know what I'm missing, I want to get a cheap thrill by posting some crap on my page for attention but then I feel cheated when no one sees it or I only get two likes. Well enough of that. I'm not good at fishing for attention so I'll stop trying. No more Facebook every minute of the day. Instagram however is still allowed XD

Today I've kept busy and tried to achieve things to boost my sense of purpose. Firstly I baked some cookies and iced them, they didn't turn out as well as I hoped but my expectations are always too high considering I'm a novice baker. I also made crème brulee which is an easy recipe and always turns out well so that cheered me up. 

 

I went for a walk as exercise is good for the endorphins. We are looking after my Uncle's farm dog which is kennelled during the day so it felt good to give her some freedom and explore a paddock with her. I was thinking of starting up a routine of squats and sit ups but I'm not sure I'm quite that motivated!

 

Next I decided change is good so as well as cutting myself off from humanity I figured I should do something positive. I settled on moving my desk into the lounge since it's the only warm room in the house and it means that I can do some projects to keep my mind busy without suffering in the cold. I've been meaning to move it for a few weeks now but never found the motivation.

To feel good inside I need to like the outside so I changed all my ear bars to bright colours and comfy studs. I put my fav ring on my finger and swapped my necklace for one that has a cute disc which says 'Dream' on it. It seemed appropriate. 

 

I've also changed around the layout of my room, made it more airy and moved my bed closer to the window. I've disabled my tv and dvd player in there as I have been reading a book before bed the last few nights and it has really aided my sleep and eased my bad dreams. So no more screen time before bed for a while and that includes my phone and gameboy. Half an hour of reading will serve me better and it's not like I'm short on books. 

 

After posting this I plan to break out my colouring book and felt pens as that always seems to relax me but still keeps me occupied and gives me a sense of achievement when I finish a page. A little stress free therapy.

I'm not sure whether to be worried or impressed about how easily I can pretend that I'm ok to everyone that knows me. Maybe I'm just such a moody cow most of the time that they don't notice when it's actually serious. Perhaps I internalise too much, after all I don't confide in anyone when I'm feeling good so how would they know when I feel bad. Ultimately though I am the only who can help me so I think admitting to myself that something needs to change is a good step.

I'm sorry for blahing on. I guess I had more to get off my chest than I thought. I will keep you updated with my return to my former arrogant, weird, hopefully interesting self. Wish me luck!

The Bitch Can Bake

Life has been pretty slow around here lately. The grass is barely growing and the weather has been pretty terrible so work is patchy at best. This week I have managed to do 2 hours in two days so far. I am also house sitting in the evenings though which is lucky for my bank account but not quite a substitute for a real pay check.

The upside to lack of work though that I have energy to burn around the house and at the moment my new little fad seems to be baking. I've done sugar cookies, dog biscuits and cupcakes in the last 2 weeks as well as getting a bit more adventurous about making dinner.

What I really want to write about though is a new experimental recipe that I've been playing with. In my head I like to call it Lembas after the elven bread in the Lord of the Rings but I think Traveller's Biscuit is perhaps more accurate and lowers expectations!

The weird part in all this (if it wasn't weird enough that I try to bake fictional food) is that the idea originally came to me from making food for a dog. The dog biscuit recipe I have is so simple and lends itself so well to adaptations that I wondered if it could be made palatable for people. Turns out it can! Well palatable to me and Mum but we aren't fussy eaters.

Anyway! My plan was born from laziness really as I have been doing a lot of house sitting lately and I hate having to cook in kitchens I don't know, also it seems like a lot of effort for one person. So I decided I would make a meal in a biscuit, a 'complete and balanced diet' to keep me fuelled while I was away with minimum effort. Ta dah my travelling biscuits were born!

The basis of the recipe is oats and flour which I could say are my carbs, eggs and chorizo for protein. Carrot, leek and parsley for fibre and vitamins. Beef stock for flavour and salt and cheese for fat. Pretty well rounded huh.

Of course all the fresh ingredients can be swapped in or out or added to. The amounts change depending on what I have in the fridge at the time or what I fancy. My ultimate hope for these biscuits is that I can use them as exercise food, for long walks with the dog or perhaps even exploring by myself whether by foot or by car. They have a flexible consistency so don't crumb in the pocket and wouldn't break if accidentally sat on. They can last about a week with out needing to be in the fridge and taste alright hot or cold. They aren't a five star meal but they have everything necessary and if followed with a chocolate bar I reckon they could keep someone going all day. As a side bonus they are even safe for my furry friend if I feel he needs a snack.

So there you have it. The latest instalment of the weird things that I come with to fill time in the winter. What odd things do you do to while away the dark hours?

My Life May Be Odd Because I'm Odd

This morning was another cold one and I couldn't resist taking pictures of the frost. At the moment I find it hard to resist taking pictures of anything. During the work day I got a pretty good snap of a heron and also a kingfisher, both of which were hanging around areas which are normally dry but are currently under water.

After work we picked up Rush again and brought him home and I took him for a walk along one of the lanes just so that he had a little exercise before we slobbed in the house. At the end of the lane we saw some cows with covers on which was totally cute but so strange as most farmers would just let them deal with the cold. They may have only been old grain sacks cut in half but the thought counts.

Just outside our house I found a baby hedgehog which is definitely odd for this time of year as they should all be hibernating. Its a real small one though and oddly tame so I picked it up and brought it in. I can pick it up without it curling into a ball and it has a kind of weird cough/sneeze going on so I think it's underweight and ill. I've popped it into my old rat cage on the porch with some hay and an egg to eat. We are planning to buy some cat meat tomorrow and we will fatten it up over the winter and release it in spring which we have done before with another hedgehog a few years ago. Hopefully the little cutie lives.

Rush had a bit of a hissy fit this morning and refused to eat his breakfast. Mum is determined that he doesn't like his dog food because the biscuits are burnt. They aren't but the fact remains that he wasn't keen so since he had to stay with us again tonight I decided to bake his dinner for him and he got tonight's serving still warm from the oven.

I have changed the original recipe so many times that now only the oats, eggs and flour remain from the ingredient list. Tonight I wanted it to be a meat and veg dinner so I added beef stock, garlic, carrots, parsley and silverbeet. I mixed it all up, rolled it out and baked for 30 mins. Don't ask me what nutritional value it has as I have no idea but Rush loves it and ate 2 biscuits in a matter of seconds! I reckon tomorrow he might decide breakfast is worth eating after all.

The Oddities Of My Life Never Cease To Amaze Me...

Last weekend our closest town was turned into a disaster zone with flooding. It was quite a shock really even though we'd had a lot of rain our town usually only floods from the river but this year we had a lot of surface flooding too which made things a lot worse. This was the worst flood I have experienced in the 10 years that I have lived here and they reckon it is the second worst in the last 50 years.

To make matter worse for me, I had been staying away from home pet/house sitting. A lot of the main roads got closed due to slips and surface flooding and the owner of the dogs I was looking after couldn't make it home. I had been booked to stay for 2 nights but ended up staying 4!

By Sunday the entire town was on lock down. There were literally no safe routes in or out of the city and all of the bridges over our main river were closed to traffic. We were an island. I got stuck on the wrong side from home so had to spend the day, somewhat lost, at my boyfriends house.

This might have been fun except that he is a rural fire officer and had been drafted in to help save the town, he worked 56 hours in three days! So I spent the day at his house alone, tidying up and stoking the fire in the coal range that he never uses. I on the other hand have fallen in love with it and could almost tolerate living at his house if I got to play with that stove every day. I need one in my future house!

After another night spent away from home I was very keen to get back and set off before true light. One bridge had been opened and two routes were now available out of the city so I headed for home with Rush in tow as it felt mean to leave him behind when his master didn't know when he would be home. Later in the day we headed back to town to asses the damage to the places where we work. A lot of the lawns and gardens will have to be left for a long time to recover so we will have to tighten our belts for a while.

The next morning there was a record low temperature in New Zealand of -20c! Luckily it wasn't where we live but it still felt cool enough here at 0c. We had a good frost all round so had to wrap up warm before we left the house. We managed to do a few jobs in town before heading home to sit by the fire again. There had been reports during the day of a radar fault that had grounded all flights across NZ which is apparently a very rare event and then at 10pm, just as we were thinking of going to bed, a big boom sounded through the house. We thought something must have hit the house wall although we had no idea what. We went out to look and the neighbours were checking their house too. Turns out the boom had been heard as far away as Waitotara (1 hour drive north) and possibly Wellington (2 hours drive south). Theres still no explanation as to what it was. Some kind of explosion or possibly a meteorite seem to be the most popular theories so far. Hopefully an answer will be found.

So there you have it. One of my stranger weeks and it's only Wednesday! Sorry that this entry has bee a bit blocky too, I'm still having comp trouble and have to work around brief fits of frustration when nothing happens!

Photography Lessons - Day 1

It's day one in my self training for how to use my new Canon SX530 and things are going pretty well considering I have no idea what I'm doing! Jack was keen to help this morning, he's not a very good model though as he was too busy trying to press all the buttons with his teeth.

He did round up two of the girls for a group shot though. Dusky, on the left, takes these things very seriously and made sure her pose was just right before I took the picture!

I had a bit of a play with the settings too and had a go at depth. I think it turned out rather well but I'm not sure what setting I was on when I took it so I guess I'll be doing some more practice.

I never realised that shutter speed could make such a difference. These three pics have no filter on them and they were all taken within minutes of each other. The only thing that I changed was shutter speed!

Also while playing around I found out that I can remotely control my camera while in a wifi area . This one was taken while my camera was sitting on my desk and me and Mum were warming up by the fire. It's a cool little trick but only works in wifi zones I think so I'm yet to determine how useful it will be.

I just had to stop in and visit Rush of course and he is such a good poser when I ask him. He was a bit confused about the size of my new beast though I think, it's rather larger than the phone he is used to.

Last one for now and I really like this one. I actually took this at the gas station. I was being lazy and didn't even bother to get out the ute to take it which is perhaps why I like it so much.
It's quite hard to find subject matter at this time of year with the weather so bleak but if today was anything to go by then I guess I'll find enough to practice on before my holiday.
Do you have tips or tricks for taking great pics that I should know? Let me know in the comments.

What a Weird Weekend!

I'm finally back!  My comp has been away for awhile now as it's on the go slow and went away for servicing. It's better than it was but still not brilliant tbh but then I have been told "What can you expect from something you only paid $200 for over 2 years ago...' I guess tech these days doesn't last as long as I think it should. Although I think the actual problem is that I really HATE the windows 8 system on my current model so just want to upgrade at all costs to anything that doesn't run a shitty block system. Unfortunately I have been spending up large on other things lately so it will just have to be added to the wish list along with the S6 Edge that I'd like to replace my poor cracked S4 mini with!

In better news say hello to my new camera! It's still sitting on my desk though waiting for it's battery to charge. I'm dead keen to get playing with it but I guess I'll have to wait (please hurry up battery!) I actually don't have any idea how to use it and since I currently take all my photos on my phone it will be something of a learning curve! Expect some better pictures in the near future (if I can work it) although 'better' is perhaps a matter of opinion as the subjects will still be much the same.

Also on the subject of 'new' and 'tech' I have acquired two second hand phones to play with. I am hoping to teach mum how to use one for music and checking her fitbit etc. They are windows phones though so I have no idea how to use them myself yet... They have the same stupid block system as windows 8 which is the most user UNfriendly system ever invented and my patience is rather thin already. They are most likely to be returned where they came from before tomorrow as, after a quick play, I haven't worked out how to even turn them on or off which should be a 3 second discovery.. I think the new windows can make even the most tech savvy person angry to their core but maybe I'm just having a real hate on windows. I can't be the only one?
Do you have a tech wish list like me? If so let me know what you are dreaming of in the comments.