Cured. I hope.

I'm feeling much better, thanks for asking. I'm currently on a steady stream of vitamins, de-toxifiers, supplements and nasty tasting, but healthy powders you mix with water.

When I saw a Doctor he told me nothing to explain why I was sick, but gave me pills anyway. I decided after the first couple days that it was stupid to take pills given to me by someone who couldn't tell me what was wrong...

So we went to Whole Foods and got a huge amount of natural, organic hoohaa to see if any of that helped. And maybe it did. Or maybe I'm just finally getting better and it just so happens to be right after I dropped some cash of some herbal goodness.

Either way, I don't care. I'm feeling good and that's all that matters.

Last night I beat The Lost and Damned. I thought it was pretty great. I liked GTA 4, but as I've said before, it just dragged on too long, and the story didn't feel important as a result.

LATD was much, much shorter, thankfully. And it's brevity helped make every mission important to the overall story arch so I didn't feel like I was grinding or doing anything superfluous during the game. I always had a place to be, and reason to be there. The missions also seemed they like were tuned to be slightly more forgiving than in GTA 4, and not only because of the mid-mission checkpoints (finally!).

I also like the smaller cast of character, a couple of whom I actually gave 1/2 a crap about by the end of the game, if only because they are super helpful. Terry and Clay, especially, earned my thanks and affection, mainly because I could call them for backup at anytime. They'd also deliver bikes and weapons to me anywhere in the city which is awesome, too. Not to mention Clay's voice acting was especially charming.

Johnny, the main character, whom I wasn't too keen on at first, ended up being someone I really liked by the end.

So overall, I would totally recommend it. I can see how a lot of people might have never even gotten close to beating GTA 4, so they wouldn't need more content. But even if someone was playing GTA 4, just got bored and quit, I'd probably recommend The Lost and Damned.

Overall, it's tighter, more interesting, and a better overall game. I was sad when it ended, and that's high praise indeed...