I’ve completed all the basic weapons training now. If bowguns had a better range, I might stick with those, but they don’t. So I’ve settled on dual-wielding small swords/daggers for now.

I got an “urgent” quest from the village elder to go kill a big monster, the same one that I had to kill in the last of the general basic training missions I tried. The one I was stuck on, remember? I did it first time without any issues. Now, the monster in question wasn’t any easier, I don’t think, so the only conclusion is that I’ve got a lot better at the game in the last few hours. Which I find somewhat surprising, as I don’t really feel any better.

A lot of things are still a mystery. Can the cooks in my kitchen do anything other than cook my raw meat? Is it worth keeping all these items I find, or should I sell them if I don’t think I need them right now? What’s the better upgrade for my (very neglected) farm – another row to grow seeds in or a mushroom tree? Why do I have to visit the mountains with a quest, why can’t I just pop over to farm myself some items? Etc.

Still no closer to deciding whether or not I actually like this game, but it’s certainly got something.

I’ve done a few quests for the village chief and improved some of my weapons and armour and made some new gloves and trousers.

Right now, though, I’m going through the weapons section of basic training, trying to find a weapon that fits me. I think I like dual wielding best so far, but I’ve not tried any projectile weapons yet.

I had a brief addiction to the first game a while back, so thought that I’d remember how things worked.

I don’t.

Luckily there’s a full set of very thorough tutorials that I’m working my way through. So far I’ve killed some big shaggy things for their meat, cooked the meat (which is very difficult without having any sound, but I got there in there), gathered some herbs and honey and mined a whetstone.

If I can keep my momentum up and not leave it for long enough to forget how to play, I could probably get addicted to this all over again.

Boo! I fell unconscious twice doing it and so hardly got any money for it.

Three blue velociraptor type things called velociprey were causing trouble and I had to kill them. So I wandered around for a while until I found them, then slaughtered them. Ha!

Strangely addictive game, considering the annoying loading times between each tiny area and the rubbish camera. It’s just one of those games where you’re always getting new treats and where each new upgrade or item is just out of reach.

So far I’ve made myself a bone sword and a helmet of some kind. I’ve bought some nice blue pants and a vest of some sort. Annoyingly, I can\’t use the vest because it’s only for hunters who use guns and, after testing one out, I decided against going down that route.

I’m still not entirely sure about how everything fits together, but I’m getting there.

My current “huh?” concerns my inability to cook meat. There’s a fire in the starting area for the quests, but I can’t seem to use it. And the spit roasting item I was given for a quest was taken away again and I’ve not seen another. Better check the shops more carefully, I suppose.

I only stopped because – yes – the PSP’s battery died. It has a nasty habit of doing that.

However, I’ve not been in any danger yet. I might start to hate the game once I start to die.

And why can’t I pick up meat that I drop?