<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Grinding Down]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://grindingdown.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Paul]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://grindingdown.wordpress.com/author/mylifecomics/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Not a videogame-heavy&nbsp;weekend]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>As usual, my weekends are pretty booked up. I rarely spend them in my apartment, meaning I can only travel with my Nintendo DS if there is time to game it up. Alas, most often, there isn&#8217;t. Like this past weekend. The fiancée and I went out to visit some family, as well as register more for our wedding in October. Busy, busy, <em>busy.</em></p>
<p>The most gaming we did together was played some more levels in <strong>Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten Ruins</strong>, a hidden items game borrowed from my mother&#8217;s collection:</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="626" data-permalink="https://grindingdown.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/not-a-videogame-heavy-weekend/a4-screenshot/" data-orig-file="https://grindingdown.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/a4-screenshot.jpg" data-orig-size="256,384" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}" data-image-title="a4-screenshot" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://grindingdown.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/a4-screenshot.jpg?w=200" data-large-file="https://grindingdown.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/a4-screenshot.jpg?w=256" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-626" title="a4-screenshot" src="https://grindingdown.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/a4-screenshot.jpg?w=256&#038;h=384" alt="" width="256" height="384" srcset="https://grindingdown.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/a4-screenshot.jpg 256w, https://grindingdown.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/a4-screenshot.jpg?w=100&amp;h=150 100w" sizes="(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px" /></p>
<p>It&#8217;s pretty straightforward. You have a list, you find the items hidden in the picture, you play a mini-game, you skip the superfluous plot-only text, and you search the new locale. But it&#8217;s not the worst thing in the world, and it&#8217;s a  fun way to kill thirty minutes.</p>
<p>Then, upon my return to my apartment, I popped in <strong>Dragon Age: Origins</strong> to&#8230;not play it. The server was down? Um, okay. That was odd. I&#8217;ve never been locked out of a videogame I purchased for a system I own on a TV I own and so on. Restarted the Xbox 360, and got in just fine the second time around. Weird.</p>
<p>Anyways, I wasn&#8217;t actually having much luck combat-wise with the mage so I tried out a new character, completing the Human Noble origin with a dual-wielding rogue. She was fiesty, but still not what I was looking for. So I decided to go for another origin opening, this time with a Dwarf Noble. He specializes in sword and shield attacks and has a cool beard. I&#8217;m liking him&#8211;and his intro story&#8211;very much.</p>
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<p>However, I might go and do the origins for everyone else left (Dalish Elf, City Elf, and Dwarf Commoner) and then pick who&#8217;d I really like to play the full game with from there. I thought the mage would&#8217;ve been great, but all my other teammates rush to their deaths too quickly and he&#8217;s just then left in the corner casting Cone of Cold like a goof-head.</p>
<p>However, before any of that, I want to work on whatever my next review for <strong>The First Hour</strong> will be. <strong>XIII</strong>? <strong>SimCity DS</strong>? I really don&#8217;t know yet. Hmm&#8230;</p>
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