Study Break

Spyderbyte | 5/13/2008 7:12 am | Game On

I've been studying a lot lately.

Have you heard the phrase "it's been a long week today"? Well I've made it my own, having crammed months of activity into just over two weeks. I've done well on exams, even acing one. I've grown closer to a number of people.

Oh, and I've defeated more Shadows than I can count.

Ok, yes, so I was speaking of my continued forays into the haunted halls of Gekkoukan High via Persona 3:FES. Did I forget to mention that at the outset?

By this point in most games I'm typically itching to try something else and often tempted away by them, never to return. This game is altering my behavior significantly. Even as I type I can't wait to get back to playing more P3. But a few days ago, I did still have the urge to pick up my guitar and try mind rusty hands at some Guitar Hero II. I'll think of it as a study break, I told myself.

The last time I played GHII many moons ago (Full Moons? I digress...) I was slogging through the Expert solo campaign until I got stuck on The Trooper by Iron Maiden. As I shared a few weeks ago about my Rock Band strategy, when I get stuck, I tend to put it away and revisit it from time to time, not with the goal of winning, but simply improving upon any song I play. If I can win, all the better, but improvement seems good enough to drive me.

I booted up GHII and started not with The Trooper in section seven, but rather with Salvation in section one. I gained a star. Improvement. Success. I worked my way through a few more songs down the list. Mostly improvements. My confidence was building, but I still felt uncertain. Bah, I'll try it. If I fail it again, so be it. I had fun making a few hundred virtual bucks already.

I did fail it, but I did get very close to the end. So I tried it again. And I crawled through it! Adrenaline ensued. I found myself advancing through Laid to Rest, Carry Me Home, Rock This Town (I don't know how I did that!), Psychobilly Freakout (insane but short), and YYZ. I honestly do not know how I progressed through a number of those. If I tried again today, I don't believe I would make it. My fingers really felt disconnected from my mind and were running on their own. Trust me, these were not 5 star performances by any stretch, but they were (suprising to me) solid threes and fours.

But my study break came to an almost laughable end when next on the playlist was The Beast and The Harlot. One attempt at that song and I knew I'd found a new nemesis which will keep me from progressing any further in GHII for some time.

Does this upset me? Not at all. I still can't believe I made it past The Trooper much less any songs beyond it, so I'm actually quite pleased. And it also gave me the perfect excuse to get back to school. Look at me - excited by the prospect of getting back to class after all of these months! Not quite as frightening as Iron Maidens or Shadows, perhaps, but beware to both - I can take you down on an occasional Moon.