Here is it: The fabled 'falling and wind' that Kya is so well known for - all in one screenshot!

This past weekend I returned to, and completed a game that I put down almost a year to the day - Metal Gear Solid 2. I'll admit that main reason I picked it up again was because I had just finished Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, and I really wanted to see if Kojima would stick in a final, awful twist after the credits finished rolling. For that I wasted many more hours than I should have. However, I at least had a reason to keep moving and sit through the thirty minute long codex sessions where I'm bitched out for my 'emotional inadequencies'. I was grabbed by the game, I had enthusiasm for it that was tied to something other than 'check this game off the completed list'. I had a vested interest in it, however minimal (come on, I dropped it and didn't think about an entire year).

It is simply not enough to place objectives and hope that the player feels the need to complete them just because they are there. When games are released with that lacking detail, what I would call the 'heart' of the game, playing it feels like an exercise in monotony. Sadly, I end up slogging through the game like I'd sit through a wretched movie in the theater, just because I shelled out ten of my hard-earned dollars to sit in an ill-fitting chair and watch this dreck.

He's not hairy - he's my brother!! ..yeah it was about here that I ditched the game too.

Unfortunately, I fell into this very spell with Kya: Dark Lineage for the PS2 - a Zelda/Rayman venture with a few unremarkable twists, mostly involving lots of falling and wind. As action/adventure goes, Kya contains very little that goes outside the mold. The characters and story are surprisingly wafer-thin, with nothing but a cursory brief two minute opener where sister and brother get dragged into some crazy word populated by wolf-like creatures - all thanks to a portal apparently left behind by their deadbeat dad. Thanks Dad. I wonder if he's to blame for level design and pacing bland enough to cure insomnia, with overly lengthy sections of the world to explore and convoluted methods to get to each section. And don't get me started on the bugs and two crashes I endured.

Yes, I spent 14 hours in this game not feeling the slightest bit immersed or invested other than a desire to complete the current goal - just so the game completed percentage would notch up another few digits. Despite a healthy combat system that is much more in-depth than most action/adventure/platformers, I rarely exploited it unless in the actual practice arena which does you a whole lot of good . Those twists with the wind and falling? Infuriating beyond measure at times. When you're choosing to die rather than save your own character's life, you know that something is amiss. Of course, a good deal of those problems are also instigated by a sticky camera that has problems in close quarters. What this boils down to is a lukewarm, lackluster and tepid game that triggers absolutely nothing in the pleasure center of my brain but like I said, I still ended up putting 14 hours of gameplay in it.

So what will I do about this quandry, other than complain publicly? I will invoke upon myself to 'become a better, more efficient gamer'. I swear to stop forcing myself through games that can only be called bubblegum for my Hand/Eye coordination. When I first realize that my interest in a game will only decrease over time (or hasn't been provoked at all in more than a few hours of play), it is time for me to drop it like the bad habit it will become. Will this come back to bite me? Perhaps. If so, there will be an addendum to this article for sure. However, I am sick of games that just do not offer me something - anything - to continue playing. I don't care if it's the off the wall, over the top craziness of Lowrider, the engrossing character interaction of Ico, or the customization available in Animal Crossing - I require something unique, something compelling to keep going. Even fantastic sound design or say, unique use of scripted events (like in Disaster Report) can do wonders to keep the controller in your hands. It's time for me step up and respect myself more as a gamer instead of wasting my time on medicority that ends up being nothing but forgettable.