Flashbacks

How do I describe Oblivion?

It's fun. It's really, really pretty. It has just the right amount of wackiness. It's fairly accepting of my complete lack of skill. The voice acting is good. It has the Best. Road Trip. Ever.

And then there's the main quest.

I freaked out when I finished it. Kept having these flashbacks. Eyes glazed over, zoning out, thinking about that last cut-scene. My friends thought that I was crazy. Or that I'd started dating. (Which ought to give you an idea of how weird I was acting. Any wacky theory started to sound good.)

It's not like this hadn't happened before. I still have to be careful about DragonballZ stuff. But that's because it reminds me of being twelve, and how I spent the first two days of the California-Virginia move in a fugue state. Oblivion flashbacks at least make sense. The Oblivion ending is awesome.

How awesome, you say? Two hundred foot tall dragon awesome, you should say. And it's ON FIRE. Which is pretty awesome.

What I haven't decided is if it's actually good. As in, is this the best possible ending? Was it the right ending? I've been thinking about it a lot. Sure, it's awesome, but there are other issues to consider. Thematic relevance. Plausibility compared to other possible endings. Emotional resonance. Game play experience. Set up and foreshadowing.

All of which I'd like to expand on, but it's late. And this way, I have material for at least a week. So, I'm going to discuss all those things, and probably a few more I think up along the way, in future posts.