Whoops, Did I Say 'Phantom Thief'?

When I was talking about perhaps attempting Metal Gear Solid 2 a couple of weeks ago, firefly99 said that entering the Metal Gear Solid series with the second instalment would be a terrible mistake. The exchange went something like this:

rionaleonhart: Perhaps I should play Metal Gear Solid 2.
firefly99: You have to play Metal Gear Solid first.
rionaleonhart: Really? I don't know; I've already got a copy of the second game, and I thought I'd just see wheth
firefly99: I'VE BOUGHT IT FOR YOU
rionaleonhart: ...what?

And she had!

(I do not deserve the LJ friends I have, seriously.)


So, Metal Gear Solid. I have been playing for about an hour, and here is what I have learnt:

I am not good at this game.

I am, in fact, upsettingly, humiliatingly bad at this game, and by 'humiliatingly bad' I mean 'four Game Overs in less than an hour of gameplay on Easy Mode' bad. Between this and Shadow of the Colossus, I am beginning to wonder whether firefly99 is not just being ridiculously lovely and is instead plotting to destroy my self-confidence by introducing me to games at which she knows I will be completely rubbish.

(It was ridiculously lovely of her, though, and I shall persevere!)

Possibly part of my problem is the fact that I'm refusing to kill any of the guards. (I initially typed this as 'refusing to kiss any of the guards'. Whilst admittedly I haven't been kissing any of the guards, this is more due to gameplay restrictions (or at least I don't think the game allows one to kiss the guards) than any conscious refusal, and I don't think refusing to kiss the guards would really be a problem, as kissing a guard would probably precipitate one's discovery. Oh, unless Solid Snake is in fact a Jynx and his kiss sends people to sleep, in which case it would be an excellent infiltration strategy. But I would be surprised to learn that he is a Jynx.

Perhaps 'knockout lipstick' is an item one can acquire in the Metal Gear Solid games? If not, perhaps it should be.)

ALL RIGHT, BIT OF A DIGRESSION THERE. Possibly part of my problem is the fact that I'm refusing to kill any of the guards. I do not quite know why; they do not hesitate to kill me. It is probably Iji's fault. WAY TO MAKE ME INTO A VIDEOGAME PACIFIST, IJI. THANKS. NOW I CAN'T PLAY ANYTHING BUT TETRIS.

'Oh, No! It's Evolving!'

( Torchwood, 'Children of Earth', Day Three. )

On a perplexingly related note, I was playing Pokémon Gold earlier, and Wade the Bug Catcher suddenly called me up just to say 'Hey, how are you? My Caterpie's really energetic! And I almost caught Rattata the other day! It was soooo close, too!', and all of a sudden my heart was exploding. POKÉMON TRAINERS. CALLING EACH OTHER UP JUST TO TALK ABOUT THEIR POKÉMON. I love the original Pokémon games, but never did I realise just how much adding inane telephone conversations would improve them. It made me feel so much more immersed in the world! Yes, all of the trainers say variations on the same thing, but I don't even care.