In The Meantime

While waiting for Myst Online : Uru Live to get itself pulled together .. I've been keeping myself busy with other games. Besides "There Online" .. I've actually become an avid fan of Guild Wars .. but .. as stunningly beautiful as that game is and as much fun as I am having with MC and the GoG folks I know .. I NEED to keep my mind engaged in things that keep my grey matter working.

So .. I grabbed with both hands the latest installment of the Aura game .. The Sacred Rings. Gosh .. I really LOVE Aura .. I've played it a few times .. alone a few .. and also .. 'with' a friend .. he in his game .. me in mine .. and voice chatting while we explored 'together'. It was a lot of fun and a neat way to play the game. :)

I have been waiting for a year and a half for this second chapter of Aura. The release dates kept getting moved back .. and back .. and back .. till finally one that stuck. :D

I'm loving it too !! The game is beautiful in the same art style as the first .. lush plants .. and gorgeous environments .. buildings have an organic look and feel to them. Music that is beautiful whether it is an eerie graveyard or a spectacular vista. The Sacred Rings is everything I loved about Aura .. and everything I crave in an adventure game. :)

There is a story .. yes .. that's right .. an actual plot that has carried over from the first game .. yet stands on it own .. keeping me rooting for Umang in his quest. And the puzzles .. oh .. my .. gosh .. the puzzles !! It wasn't until the fifth battery that I figured out exactly what I was doing that made the whole thing work. :D

I am enjoying it so much .. all of it .. and taking my time with it as I want it to last. No spoilers for me .. no hints .. no walkthroughs or forums where spoilers are posted as a matter of course. It's just me puttin' my brain through it's paces on a treadmill of puzzles and clues. I'm even writing things down .. making notes and crude (in my case VERY crude .. O_o ) drawings of things I've seen that I feel will be important. And I'm enjoying every second of it !! :)

There is .. has always been for me .. this great satisfaction in figuring things out. Before I discovered there was such a thing as adventure/puzzle games with finding Myst III Exile .. I played word puzzles and logic problems .. not crosswords .. but things that make you work the brain cells .. and I was very good at them. Must just be the way my mind works. I love these sorts of games .. and thank God they're out there for me to find.

I've followed threads where others love Aura as much as I do. Or couldn't get into it .. those people usually being of the group that behaves as if ALL other adventure games shrivel when the light known as Myst is shone on them. Some folks are very protective of the pedestal that they've placed Myst upon. Seems a good way of dismissing any competition by labeling it as NOT Myst .. ergo .. NOT important. Well of course they aren't Myst .. nor should they be !! There is a good number of really good .. outright great .. adventure games that are .. thankfully .. NOT Myst.. that stand solidly on their own .. and I've played a lot of them too. :D

In my NOT so humble opinion on this .. Aura .. and it's sequel .. are darned fine adventure games .. keeping me busy .. drawing me along as the story unfolds .. and giving me that wonderful sense of "Ah-ha" .. when I "get" what's going on .. or an "I DID it !!" when I figure it out and get to see the cutscene reward for all my hard work. Like I said .. I'm REALLY LOVING it !! :D

Alright .. 'nuff o' this .. I'm headed back in .. Umang has a problem that needs my help. ;)