[PlantPerson]

Well, guys, I don't suppose any of you expected to see me again. Actually most of you probably don't remember me at all so I should preface this by saying I used to be a fairly active user around here and I drew a not-particularly-funny fan comic for a few years. I've been away lately, but still a fan.

I return to you all now because I wanted to drop a quick link to my blog, where I'll be running a series of retrospective essays on the entire series. That's all six games and all three novels, all to be discussed in probably too much depth over the course of the next few months. There's also a chance, if this all goes well, that I might find time for some original illustrations, too. So don't miss out! The essay on Myst (the first one!) went up today. Check it out right here. (Fair warning: not everything I say is complimentary.)

Well, it's nice to be back, everyone. Hope you enjoy the essay.

[Zenoc2]

I remember your icon, but I don't think we've met. Welcome back! I'll be looking forward to these. Reading the first one now.

[Jevasi]

Yay PlantPerson's back! haven't had time to read this essay yet but from what I've read of your other stuff I look forward to seeing these, welcome back into the fold.

[aander91]

 PlantPerson, on 09 February 2012 - 03:20 PM, said:

There's also a chance, if this all goes well,

Nice.

Also, wasn't pretty much everyone all over your comics? Were they the Uru ones?

[PlantPerson]

 Jevasi, on 09 February 2012 - 07:48 PM, said:

Yay PlantPerson's back! haven't had time to read this essay yet but from what I've read of your other stuff I look forward to seeing these, welcome back into the fold.

Just out of curiosity, what other stuff have you seen?

 aander91, on 09 February 2012 - 08:58 PM, said:

Also, wasn't pretty much everyone all over your comics? Were they the Uru ones?

Yeah, it was called The Path of the Panels and it was mostly about Uru. I guess some people liked them, but to my own tastes they're not that great anymore, just kind of embarrassing. A lot of the images have gone offline, but the archive (what's left of it) is here.

[A'Reandal]

PlantPerson! It's been a long time since I've seen you.
Welcome back.

[Zenoc2]

Cool stuff, PlantPerson. Your review was pretty tough on the first game, but completely fair, I think. Looking forward to the next one!

[PlantPerson]

The essay on The Book fo Atrus is up... check it out.

[I'mNotCheating...]

I've enjoyed both of these essays greatly. The latest one, just by mentioning it, gave me saudades for Riven. Hard to believe it's been almost 15 years!

[PlantPerson]

Thanks for reading them! I'm really looking forward to Riven, too... it's going to be very difficult to write, though, as I could probably write an entire book just about what I think is great about Riven, so discussing both its strengths and its shortcomings in a blog post is going to be very tricky indeed.

[A'Reandal]

Excellent. Most excellent.

I can hardly wait for the Riven review.

[PlantPerson]

I started playing Riven today. The closer I look at it the better it appears. I don't know how I'm going to write this essay.

[Johnraka]

Interesting essay, well written and spot on. Looking forward to the Riven one though, as you say... I don't know how you are going to write this one.

Good luck with it.

[PlantPerson]

The moment you've all been waiting for... the Riven essay is here!

Naturally it hardly even scratches the surface, but hopefully I managed to say something interesting in there somewhere.

So how is it that my rank is still Beginner even though I've made almost 300 posts and been a member here for almost a decade? What's it take, huh?

[Johnraka]

 PlantPerson, on 11 April 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

The moment you've all been waiting for... the Riven essay is here!

Naturally it hardly even scratches the surface, but hopefully I managed to say something interesting in there somewhere.

So how is it that my rank is still Beginner even though I've made almost 300 posts and been a member here for almost a decade? What's it take, huh?

Once again - a fantastic written piece, a real joy to read - a perfect insight into one of the best games of all time (in my humble opinion).
Thank you.

Kind regards JD

[PlantPerson]

 Johnraka, on 12 April 2012 - 01:58 PM, said:

one of the best games of all time (in my humble opinion).

My opinion is the same... I just didn't want to say that in the essay because it sounds like hyperbole.

Glad you're enjoying the series.

Not really looking forward to doing Book of D'ni, mainly because I hardly even remember it I guess. I seem to recall that it was kind of dull? And I guess it sort of set the stage for the Bahro? Ah well... it has to be done now because Exile takes place after it. I'm not a big Exile fan so I'm not sure how that's going to go yet, but for some reason I suspect that the game will hold up better than I remember. Maybe not. In any case, hopefully I can get BoD done soon, but I'm in the middle of Haruki Murakami's new 900-page epic (recommended) so I'm not sure. We'll see. [/ramble]

[Gehn, lord of ages]

 PlantPerson, on 12 April 2012 - 07:36 PM, said:

 Johnraka, on 12 April 2012 - 01:58 PM, said:

one of the best games of all time (in my humble opinion).

My opinion is the same... I just didn't want to say that in the essay because it sounds like hyperbole.

Glad you're enjoying the series.

Not really looking forward to doing Book of D'ni, mainly because I hardly even remember it I guess. I seem to recall that it was kind of dull? And I guess it sort of set the stage for the Bahro? Ah well... it has to be done now because Exile takes place after it. I'm not a big Exile fan so I'm not sure how that's going to go yet, but for some reason I suspect that the game will hold up better than I remember. Maybe not. In any case, hopefully I can get BoD done soon, but I'm in the middle of Haruki Murakami's new 900-page epic (recommended) so I'm not sure. We'll see. [/ramble]

Yeah, BoD was sort of forgettable. As for setting the stage for the Bahro... it more seemed to be the same idea (down to the naming) but executed quite differently.

I find that Myst III and V tend to be better than I expect each time I play it. Lots of holes to nitpick, but the experience is good and makes you ignore some of the holes when you are actually playing through (or maybe I just always play them when I feel the most critical of them ). They'll be interesting reviews at least. No lack of stuff to mention in both ways.

[Johnraka]

Any chance you are going to put all of these Essays into an E-book?

Would make a great reference piece for my bookshelf at least, I am sure others would appreciate it too...

[PlantPerson]

Hmm, Myst V is better than you expect too? That's nice to know; it's another one I've been worried about. Most of what I remember about it is Esher popping up and blathering whenever you try to do something. Regardless of how well it stands by itself, I'm reasonably sure that it's still the wrong way to finish the series. We'll see!

I have no doubt in my mind that I'll hate Serenia all over again, though. I'm already dreading having to replay it.

 Johnraka, on 13 April 2012 - 04:52 AM, said:

Any chance you are going to put all of these Essays into an E-book?

Would make a great reference piece for my bookshelf at least, I am sure others would appreciate it too...

Yeah, I've been considering that actually, possibly a compilation with extended material. (Some of the notes at the end of each essay could be expanded upon.) I'm sure some issues will crop up later and need retroactive discussion, too. I haven't really been planning an arc for the whole series, so any recurrent themes are just things I've thought of on the fly, meaning I may later have ideas that apply to earlier parts of the series. Overall it's not a very organized project, and an anthology would be a nice excuse to get it in order. I also wonder if it might be possible to do a print-on-demand version of it... not sure what the logistics of that would be. I think it would qualify as fair use, so I might not have to get Cyan's OK on it. I'll have to look into that. I know there are plenty of books discussing Star Trek, none of which are Paramount-approved. (It's possible I might own one of these... maybe a couple... not more than three, honest!)

[A'Reandal]

I liked it! Good review, PlantPerson. Superb. Comparing Katran to Rapunzel was brilliant.

hmmm. I seem to be responding in short phrases. In keeping with that I'll just say...

You want a member title? Be careful what you ask for.
(You've been around long enough to have heard that before.)

[PlantPerson]

Oh my goodness, what's this? Is the review finally finished? Yes it is! Read about why Atrus would make a terrible Starfleet officer, how the evil slave Ymur is the only person with a brain, and whether the Maintainer Suit could be replaced with a strap of leather. Clicky linky.

Next time, we'll be trying not to fall off bridges in J'nanin, get eaten by plants, or be too creeped-out by Brad Dourif. Stay tuned!

One side note: does anyone know how I might be able to get my hands on the Book of Marrim preview?

[Johnraka]

 PlantPerson, on 27 May 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

Oh my goodness, what's this? Is the review finally finished? Yes it is! Read about why Atrus would make a terrible Starfleet officer, how the evil slave Ymur is the only person with a brain, and whether the Maintainer Suit could be replaced with a strap of leather. Clicky linky.

Next time, we'll be trying not to fall off bridges in J'nanin, get eaten by plants, or be too creeped-out by Brad Dourif. Stay tuned!

One side note: does anyone know how I might be able to get my hands on the Book of Marrim preview?

I have a copy you are welcome to but I am UK based so let me know.

[PlantPerson]

 Johnraka, on 27 May 2012 - 11:49 AM, said:

 PlantPerson, on 27 May 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

Oh my goodness, what's this? Is the review finally finished? Yes it is! Read about why Atrus would make a terrible Starfleet officer, how the evil slave Ymur is the only person with a brain, and whether the Maintainer Suit could be replaced with a strap of leather. Clicky linky.

Next time, we'll be trying not to fall off bridges in J'nanin, get eaten by plants, or be too creeped-out by Brad Dourif. Stay tuned!

One side note: does anyone know how I might be able to get my hands on the Book of Marrim preview?

I have a copy you are welcome to but I am UK based so let me know.

I'm in America myself so I can't exactly swing by on the way home from work, but I'd be willing to compensate you for postage via PayPal or something similar, if you know how to do that (I don't). Not sure what the best way is to send money internationally.

[A'Reandal]

Another great review, PlantPerson! While I liked the book least of the others and also found it disjointed it seemed to all come together at the end: Especially Atrus' realization that D'ni should not be recreated as once it was. But there was so much new information that I, as a fan, was hungry for. So my opinion is biased toward enjoying every morsel of backstory available.

<nit-pickingMode>
Did you mean "transformed"? Or did I read it wrong?
"...the book closes with a monologue from Katran about how Atrus’s life is informed by some sort of prophecy that we’ll never hear about again."
</nit-pickingMode>

[PlantPerson]

Yeah, it's certainly got a lot of backstory, especially where Uru is concerned. (I remember being super-excited about seeing the Maintainer Suits in person in Gahreesen.) It would just be nice if it had a story you could remember and not just a bunch of trivia.

I'm using the word "informed" in this sense:

Quote

to give evident substance, character, or distinction to; pervade or permeate with manifest effect: A love of nature informed his writing.

(Third definition on dictionary.com)
I appreciate the proofreading, though... I don't like typos.