Diablo 2: the penalties of grinding

Level 75 now, approaching the end of Hell difficulty, Act 2. According to the experience chart [1] I should stay in Act 2 until level 80, but the xp penalty of playing through Act 3 instead is minor. I should probably just advance the story, so I can get what I came for and get out of here.

I thought the immunes would be a big deal, but you just have to work around them instead of trying to steamroller through everything. Some of the lesser bosses are a much bigger pain than the actual Act level bosses, but sometimes you don't have to even fight them (teleport in, get quest item, teleport or portal out).

As long as I'm still making progress, so to speak, I can keep going. Really, though, this grinding is all quite pointless. I just want to get to the mountain top for the sake of getting there, I'm not actually enjoying the view any more.

[1] [ http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Guide:Diablo_2_Level_Up_Guide_v1.10]

Braid: nameless longing

[warning: There are Braid spoilers here, increasing as you go along]

I'm sorry that this great work of art was packaged in the form of a twitch game, and I just can't play those anymore. I am watching video recordings of the ending(s), and I'm not sure if I feel like I'm missing something because I'm supposed to, or because I needed help to get there.

[real spoilers from here on]

I love that its several stories at once, all overlapping and informing each other. The whole relationship gone sour and how regret colors our perception, and how you can be the bad guy in your own story - all this would have been greatness on its own. It really goes to the next level with the atomic bomb, and somehow making an analogy between seeking the princess and seeking scientific discovery.

Time, regret, loss, and a bitter lesson possibly learned.

And its all there in the soundtrack, which is what drew me to this game in the first place.

Braid: tough slog

I finished World 1 of 6 (or 2 of 6, whatever), but I only got two puzzle pieces by watching a playthrough. There are some game mechanics required of you that I would never have guessed, but seem almost reasonable now in retrospect.

Well... no, not really. Whatever it is, this is not really my kind of game after all. I want to really absorb the story and ending. I really like the little bits of story that you get at the opening of each world, so cryptic yet banal. I like how the puzzle pieces come together, and how the final image might tell you something about the story.

I don't like that I'll probably need a walkthrough for the bulk of the game.