Steerpike said:

A dog trial? What is this dog accused of? Do dog trials follow the same rules of jurisprudence as human trials? Are you the dog's representation, or are you prosecuting?

It's all pro bone work for the dogs (and us for that matter) [Image Can Not Be Found]

YouTube has many a video clip of dog agility, which is the sort of dog trial we'll be at and which will be distracting me from further explorations of Magician's Quest.

Well, at the dog trial, we all acquitted ourselves in respectable fashion in spite of a bout of food poisoning and afternoon of thunder and lightning. For those of you waiting for the verdict, there's my summation.

Last night was the first time I really had a chance to sit down with the game and see what was what. My character, who is about to be deleted now that I have my bearings, seems to have made it through the principal's introductory classes and got knocked out by ghosts at the haunted house, caught a few bugs and (finally!) fishes, met a bunch of people, turned down play dates, missed the first session of Mr. Vlad's class, explored many places on the map, and learned a bit about the berry market. And got a Mysterious Time key from the principal and tried to use it, but heard a knock on the Other Side. But then, MT seems to have started anyway. Confusion reigns. I quit before MT ended, because I'd been playing for oh, about 3 hours straight at that point and realised it was an hour later than I thought, which explained my dry and sleepy eyes.

Catching fish is a lot more Lost in Blue than Animal Crossing, without the loss of precious resources when the line breaks. I can't yet interpret when I should X-key faster or slower in order to avoid the fish getting away or breaking the line. I DO know exactly what I would like to do when the game gives me its supercilious "Your line is empty. You should reel in harder or the fish lose interest." message. [Image Can Not Be Found]

Maybe, since you already played AC, you don't really want to play it again dressed in different clothes?

I have now solved two mysteries: creating the homunculus and helping the gargoyle. It's cute how our character sits down in sudden astonishment and wonder when we get the "You helped a magical creature!" message. Downloaded 7 brooms and discovered the true depths of the safe deposit storage at the bank. Planted some berry bushes several days ago, but Sith Cat hasn't been around to sell them to. Money for what I want--a silly hat, a piece of furniture or new wallpaper once a week or so, Charlie's noodles and the juice lady's juice--is easy enough to come by just by gathering a few mushrooms and gaming the Emporium-keeper. Totally failed at Mr. Graves' first riddle--he wanted things that light up at night and congregate around clean water. This turns out to be fireflies, which show up in one particular location that is NOT near clean water, and I surely didn't find any during that Mysterious Time. This failure resulted in a scolding telegram the next day. Too bad.

I think it will turn out that there is plenty for me to do in this game, but it is going to be measured out in weekly/monthly/seasonal dollops. While at the moment, I am content to pick up the game for 20 minutes each day, it remains to be seen if it still has my attention after 30 weeks.