Frustration of the Calligraphic Kind

So I've been playing Okami since Christmas, and I thought I was doing pretty well, but it turns out I've missed a ton of stuff and looks like I might have to start over.... bleh. Either that or back track to the very beginning. Gah. This is like that one flag I left back in Damascus... that I still have to go back and get.

I really am beginning to see the benefits of striving for completeness.

Running, jumping, climbing, and drowning

So I'm taking a brief break from my long morning of playing Assassin's Creed to complain about the water. Evidently it's highly toxic, but only if you fall into it from great heights. At first I thought it was just the rivers and canals and such that are to be avoided, but I jumped off a rooftop, aiming for the ivy-covered safety of a garden trellis, but as I am not good with judging distances, I fell short and hard, into a fountain. And drowned.

In a fountain.

A six-inch deep fountain.

I am going to attribute this simply to a glitch in the game and go back to my stupid canal jumping, chasing after those stupid flags. And yes, I'm having a horrible time of it.

But I still love it.

On Dying My Hair

So last night I colored my hair. It was a temporary dye, but I assumed it would last longer than it did. The box declared "washes out in 8-10 shampoos," so I assumed that I would still have full color for at least one or two shampooings. Nope. Turns out this morning, when I got out of the shower, I only had three quarters of the color that I had when I went to bed the night before. Thankfully it didn't look too horrible... or at least I thought it didn't.

Then, when I was sitting in class this morning, Shannon leaned over and asked, "Why is your hair lavender grey?"

I was shocked, and after class promptly went to Walmart and got the permanent version. It's sitting in my hair now, all blue and purple. Hopefully it won't be a complete disaster.

Down! I need a Phoenix Down!

So the four of us are traveling down this tunnel, four hundred or so feet underground, trying to kill off all the mimics before they suck the power out of the wiring and knock out the lights. Supposedly, if the lights go out, creatures much worse than mimics show up.
I soon find out that the lights do not have to go completely out for those nasties to show up. No, the power only has to drop to about 40 %. Then zombies and undead skeletal warriors and all sorts of beasties come popping up out of the dust to greet us. We die. Repeatedly. 
And, to make matters worse, due to my own ignorance in flying through the introduction screens and not really paying attention to how the party system works, I completely ignored my ability to use a very crucial skill. As such, I went through some extreme potion mismanagement and was almost stuck.
Then I got help. ^.^
And now I'm just facing a boss I can come two swords hits from defeating. Oh well. There's always tomorrow.

How many does that make?

Ok, so I finished my favorite game for the nth time last night. It never gets old.
Sometimes, my time is improved, sometimes not. Sometimes I finish in six and a half, sometimes in twelve. My first try took me twenty. Ugh.
I don't fall so much.
I rarely die.
I know every corner, every twist and turn and drop.
Almost every line of dialogue.
I finally mastered that one move (D up, hold R, then A+B) where you run a bit, back up against the wall and charge off with your sword ahead of you - the one move that instantly drops anyone. Well, almost anyone. It doesn't bother those guys with the chains. They just block you. How I don't know. But they do.
This last time, I increased my health meter more than any time before.
I also had more attack capability than ever.
Somehow, the end boss took a really long time. Why?
I still got lost in the library. I always do. I finish 2/3 of it and then, when it comes time for the last bit, I get turned around and go the wrong way.
The only question I find myself asking is, "When one finishes a game however many times I've finished this game, and I've memorized almost everything about the game and the platforming finally seems easy and everything goes by in a blur - is the game really fun anymore? Is it possible to do the same things forty-nine million times and still enjoy it?"