Last day of the year... no, DECADE!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): And after the WoW-ness - or technically, multiboxing, with WoW rocking in the background - I finally finished up my BLU quest, then went ahead and unlocked NIN as well. WWWYKI!
World of Warcraft (PC): Prior to the dual-boxing, I began working on First Aid. Tam and I did a few Argent dailies, finally finishing up my Stormwind representing to move up as a full-on Argent Tournament participant. Before doing more dailies, we finished off a few cultists (a quest I totally would've skipped on principle!), then hit up Zul'Drak.
From there, it was back to Dalaran, and after some annoyances gave up on First Aid. Alas, I'm petty and silly, so after Tam insisted on throwing a ton of cloth my way at a discount, I dropped enough money to make it like I had paid market price, only to learn I had way too much cloth, and without thinking, sent it back to her. D'oh! So I was out a good 70 gold.
From there, it was basically just farming for Mithril and working on smithing while I flipped back and forth between XI and WoW.
Good progress on both today!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
December 30th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): XI, last on the list, ended up being quite a long adventure, and I quite enjoyed it! Tam helped for the first part of things. We got cards to trade for stoves and costumes and did the Beginner Smilebringer run to get ourselves a Jeuno Christmas tree each, then did some Cassiopeia card trading, traveling around all three major cities.
Tam chunked the deuces, so I finished up, getting my holiday fame to max and getting a Dream Hat +1, then did the Intermediate and Advanced runs to get bunny hats, so by the end of it I had every item of furniture and clothing.
But it didn't end there! Since Eireen was in Jeuno, I ran her through the Batallia course (at level five!) to get her a cute hat with a practical speed buff, then took her back to her hometown in Windy. Got her a Dream Hat and Robe, nabbed a Jeuno tree, and then did a page so she'd have enough to repat from Jeuno again when needed. Productive!
Did read over the recent patch notes... wow! Some nice changes! Some are vague (allied campaign NPCs strength "bolstered"), but there's some neat new job abilities, and you can have 20 instead of just 10 merit points stored. Looking forward to getting back into XI a bit!
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Rang the bells for all four characters, got crap for Christmas - er, Starlight - gifts, but Tam already had a full Santa outfit for me, so I figured I was good there!
Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 (360): As the last day of Sega's digital sale, Sonic 3 was dropped to $2.50, and S&K to $1.50! So I nabbed them, and played about two seconds into them locked together. I coulda swore I picked "Knuckles" but it started me as Tails. Has it been that long since I played?
Tam chunked the deuces, so I finished up, getting my holiday fame to max and getting a Dream Hat +1, then did the Intermediate and Advanced runs to get bunny hats, so by the end of it I had every item of furniture and clothing.
But it didn't end there! Since Eireen was in Jeuno, I ran her through the Batallia course (at level five!) to get her a cute hat with a practical speed buff, then took her back to her hometown in Windy. Got her a Dream Hat and Robe, nabbed a Jeuno tree, and then did a page so she'd have enough to repat from Jeuno again when needed. Productive!
Did read over the recent patch notes... wow! Some nice changes! Some are vague (allied campaign NPCs strength "bolstered"), but there's some neat new job abilities, and you can have 20 instead of just 10 merit points stored. Looking forward to getting back into XI a bit!
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Rang the bells for all four characters, got crap for Christmas - er, Starlight - gifts, but Tam already had a full Santa outfit for me, so I figured I was good there!
Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 (360): As the last day of Sega's digital sale, Sonic 3 was dropped to $2.50, and S&K to $1.50! So I nabbed them, and played about two seconds into them locked together. I coulda swore I picked "Knuckles" but it started me as Tails. Has it been that long since I played?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
December 29th, 2010
Mom's birthday! She wanted to see the Expendables, and it was soooo worth the wait! I loved it, can't wait for the sequel! Now I gotta watch the A-Team, hehe.
World of Warcraft (PC): Just did the Argent Tournament dailies! One more day till I'm done with the Stormwind entry quests! From there, hit up Ironforge and got some presents. Nothing too amazing, but some neat stuff, and I got all my alts there for gifts too, so I may have extras to sell. Tam got Megumii a newer, cuter, less showy outfit, so that's neat as well!
World of Warcraft (PC): Just did the Argent Tournament dailies! One more day till I'm done with the Stormwind entry quests! From there, hit up Ironforge and got some presents. Nothing too amazing, but some neat stuff, and I got all my alts there for gifts too, so I may have extras to sell. Tam got Megumii a newer, cuter, less showy outfit, so that's neat as well!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
December 28th, 2010
Dead Rising: Case West (360): Just started, only a little into it. It's neat to see Frank again, but unfortunately, I have yet to get to PLAY as him! There's also no save data that transfers over, so you start at L40, and the factory setting thus far is pretty bland.
I guess you could say I'm not overly impressed, especially considering this was 800 MS points - er, ten bucks - as opposed to Case Zero being a mere $5. But I'll play through it and beat it regardless, and hopefully at some point get a chance to control Frank.
Dead Rising 3 is confirmed anyway, and I hear Case West is really just a bridge for 2 to 3.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not much, opened a few Starlight boxes and got WAR a level. If I stick with XI, it'll probably eventually become a sub for DRG when more firepower is needed.
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Got Cinnaris his gifts, got Temporarea-whatever her gift and timer started, then "bought" all the rest of the character slots. Made a male galka named "Xmas Giftguyforcinna" and a female lalafell named "Cinnariss Xmasmidget" and got both their initial gifts and timers started too!
Maids with Balloons (360): The game is horrible, but there's a handful of cutscenes with real life maids, looking like they were pulled right from an anime convention, spouting generic, awful anime dialog. And yet, I paid the $1 for it.
Hey, the girls are cute!
Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (360): Both refreshing to be back to PSU and frustrating that everything I knew about it is gone. Did do a quick run of the Absolute Zero event and got some new music outta it. I'm telling myself I need to level hard now during the even and get back to the S, S2 and S3 ranks, but we'll see! A lot on my gaming plate lately!
I guess you could say I'm not overly impressed, especially considering this was 800 MS points - er, ten bucks - as opposed to Case Zero being a mere $5. But I'll play through it and beat it regardless, and hopefully at some point get a chance to control Frank.
Dead Rising 3 is confirmed anyway, and I hear Case West is really just a bridge for 2 to 3.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not much, opened a few Starlight boxes and got WAR a level. If I stick with XI, it'll probably eventually become a sub for DRG when more firepower is needed.
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Got Cinnaris his gifts, got Temporarea-whatever her gift and timer started, then "bought" all the rest of the character slots. Made a male galka named "Xmas Giftguyforcinna" and a female lalafell named "Cinnariss Xmasmidget" and got both their initial gifts and timers started too!
Maids with Balloons (360): The game is horrible, but there's a handful of cutscenes with real life maids, looking like they were pulled right from an anime convention, spouting generic, awful anime dialog. And yet, I paid the $1 for it.
Hey, the girls are cute!
Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (360): Both refreshing to be back to PSU and frustrating that everything I knew about it is gone. Did do a quick run of the Absolute Zero event and got some new music outta it. I'm telling myself I need to level hard now during the even and get back to the S, S2 and S3 ranks, but we'll see! A lot on my gaming plate lately!
Monday, December 27, 2010
December 27th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): The most successful gaming today, I did the little quest to get my Dragoon job emote. It's fairly neat, blue wings appear, and I can run around with 'em for a few seconds. I have a DRK and a WHM quest available to me, I should do those too!
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Not much at all! Simply got Cinnaris to the Starlight Celebration bells to get my present-timer counting. EIGHT HOURS between gifts, was only an hour in XI, yikes!
Shenmue (Dreamcast): Not a ton here either, just ran a bit around Dobuita, fed the kitten, did the first QTE, all that good stuff!
World of Warcraft (PC): Not much! Did the Argent Tournament dailies, and that's about it! Almost had forgotten, too!
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Not much at all! Simply got Cinnaris to the Starlight Celebration bells to get my present-timer counting. EIGHT HOURS between gifts, was only an hour in XI, yikes!
Shenmue (Dreamcast): Not a ton here either, just ran a bit around Dobuita, fed the kitten, did the first QTE, all that good stuff!
World of Warcraft (PC): Not much! Did the Argent Tournament dailies, and that's about it! Almost had forgotten, too!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
December 26th, 2010
So I bought the PC Fallout 3: GotY collection for $29.99 while in-gratefully exchanging my Expendables DVD for the Blu Ray combo back (which was oddly cheaper, so Santa will get $4 back!). I have 3 on 360, but now that I have a half-decent PC I just feel like I gotta play stuff like that on the computer, even though I have yet to hit up Morrowind or Oblivion mods! Hopefully I'll get it fired up (and looking nice!) in the next couple days. Mimi's been playing FO3 lately, so it's brought it back into my mind, and I never gave it a fair shake initially anyway.
Actually, now that I think about it, I believe I have Fallout 1, 2 and Brotherhood kicking around that I never bothered installing or playing. Bad Chuck!
World of Warcraft (PC): Did a couple more Argent Tournament quests, having advanced past the initial few to the home cities quests, and then hit up some stuff in Storm Peaks. Helped out the goblins, then did a few more quests helping the Brunnhildar. Still weird how their bear riders randomly die at the end of their patrol, and are replaced by new riders!
Actually, now that I think about it, I believe I have Fallout 1, 2 and Brotherhood kicking around that I never bothered installing or playing. Bad Chuck!
World of Warcraft (PC): Did a couple more Argent Tournament quests, having advanced past the initial few to the home cities quests, and then hit up some stuff in Storm Peaks. Helped out the goblins, then did a few more quests helping the Brunnhildar. Still weird how their bear riders randomly die at the end of their patrol, and are replaced by new riders!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
December 23rd, 2010
Eternal Sonata (PS3): Some nice progress. Not sure if it'll happen all game, but the PC switched to Reto for a time, so I did a quick run through the sewers (what RPG doesn't like utilizing them as dungeons?!), then it switched back to Polka. Not quite sure where the story is going exactly, but the battle system is a lot of fun, actiony, but turn based.
Shenmue (Dreamcast): I'm up to Dobuita. Did the usual quick romp through the first couple areas to open up the main place, and oh, it feels increasingly good to be playing Shenmue again. I even briefly did the levitating trick, just for the heck of it - with I many times as I've played Shenmue, I actually haven't done a whole ton with glitches and codes yet. Eventually I'd like to make a pretty nice Shenmue tribute site, so I suppose I better get back into the groove!
World of Warcraft (PC): Not a whole did. Hit up the first few Brunnhildar quests with Tarina, and we did our second day of Argent Tournament dailies just to get that whole thing started (takes three days of dailies). I dislike how WoW forces you to do some bad things to advance sometimes, but I try and not think too far into it sometimes (obviously, some things do just cross the line into unacceptable, but I also try and use my best judgment, don't wanna become some serious and stodgy that I can't game!).
Shenmue (Dreamcast): I'm up to Dobuita. Did the usual quick romp through the first couple areas to open up the main place, and oh, it feels increasingly good to be playing Shenmue again. I even briefly did the levitating trick, just for the heck of it - with I many times as I've played Shenmue, I actually haven't done a whole ton with glitches and codes yet. Eventually I'd like to make a pretty nice Shenmue tribute site, so I suppose I better get back into the groove!
World of Warcraft (PC): Not a whole did. Hit up the first few Brunnhildar quests with Tarina, and we did our second day of Argent Tournament dailies just to get that whole thing started (takes three days of dailies). I dislike how WoW forces you to do some bad things to advance sometimes, but I try and not think too far into it sometimes (obviously, some things do just cross the line into unacceptable, but I also try and use my best judgment, don't wanna become some serious and stodgy that I can't game!).
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
December 22nd, 2010
Eternal Sonata (PS3): Finally got this started. I keep forgetting it's a tri-Crescendo production, and, like Baten Kaitos, it's got a fantastic use of color. It really is fantastic.
Combat seems neat, about what I remember from playing a few battles on Bevis' save back in GTMO, and Polka is amazingly cute! Lots of cutscenes thus far. Looking forward to really sinking my teeth into it though!
Shenmue (Dreamcast): Loaded up my save just barely started on my birthday, December 20th, where I loaded up US Shenmue through the opening, then debated firing up the PAL version, then decided I'ma take it slow, easy and not be picky, and just play my reliable copy from launch day in 2000.
Explored the home a little big, got a couple cutscenes with Iwao, creepily rummaged through my seventy year old housekeeper's things and robbed my fellow student. Soon the world starts opening up!
I'm really torn on the VGA thing. I'm using a VGA connection and playing it on a 1080p, and it's horribly jaggy. Eek! I suppose that's just gonna be the case over the next several years, all my old games are gonna end up looking jaggier and more polygonaly!
Combat seems neat, about what I remember from playing a few battles on Bevis' save back in GTMO, and Polka is amazingly cute! Lots of cutscenes thus far. Looking forward to really sinking my teeth into it though!
Shenmue (Dreamcast): Loaded up my save just barely started on my birthday, December 20th, where I loaded up US Shenmue through the opening, then debated firing up the PAL version, then decided I'ma take it slow, easy and not be picky, and just play my reliable copy from launch day in 2000.
Explored the home a little big, got a couple cutscenes with Iwao, creepily rummaged through my seventy year old housekeeper's things and robbed my fellow student. Soon the world starts opening up!
I'm really torn on the VGA thing. I'm using a VGA connection and playing it on a 1080p, and it's horribly jaggy. Eek! I suppose that's just gonna be the case over the next several years, all my old games are gonna end up looking jaggier and more polygonaly!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
November 23rd, 2010
Alan Wake (360): Wow, the LE is pretty nice. Free themes, developer's commentary for while you play the game, and a full book to read! Books must be the thing to do this year, because Final Fantasy XIV, Fable III and Alan Wake all came in faux-books for their Limited Edition boxes, hah.
So it's pretty neat. It actually vaguely reminds me of Alone in the Dark: the New Nightmare in regards to the flashlight usage. The combat seems decent, but the initial stretch actually reminded me of Deadly Premonition.
Getting through the prologue into the city, thought... whew. Gorgeous game. My mind was pretty blown getting to the cabin, and I was actually a little jealous of Alan. Successful writer, good looking, with his wife, in an idyllic cabin literally on the water! Of course, things go sour from there, and it's a very atmospheric run through the forest at night...
World of Warcraft (PC): And I probably would've kept going, but the WoW servers came back up, heh. The Shattering... seems mostly aesthetic. Sentinel Hill has been changed drastically, and Stranglethorn Vale has been split up, but a lot seems minute.
No Defias in Westfall or Duskwood anymore, and no Samantha Swifthoof it seems, d'oh! Naga got... erm... wider, apparently as well, but I haven't seen them. Tons of new flight points, though, which is most excellent.
Which is what we did, initially, till we hit the Searing Gorge. Tam and I went through most of the questline there, really initially just trying to get the Chambermaid Pillaclencher quest going. It was somewhat, funny, with a pacifistic spider-riding ogre named Lunk, slaves who attacked us for freeing them, and surprisingly not a ton of running around - most questgivers gave quests nearby, and even followed us into the dungeons!
Also neat is that you can turn in certain quests without returning to the original NPC - neat.
So we had fun, and got multiple trinkets in the process, including two slowfall pillows from the lady with "gigantic pillas." Oh, you're so subtle Blizzard.
So it's pretty neat. It actually vaguely reminds me of Alone in the Dark: the New Nightmare in regards to the flashlight usage. The combat seems decent, but the initial stretch actually reminded me of Deadly Premonition.
Getting through the prologue into the city, thought... whew. Gorgeous game. My mind was pretty blown getting to the cabin, and I was actually a little jealous of Alan. Successful writer, good looking, with his wife, in an idyllic cabin literally on the water! Of course, things go sour from there, and it's a very atmospheric run through the forest at night...
World of Warcraft (PC): And I probably would've kept going, but the WoW servers came back up, heh. The Shattering... seems mostly aesthetic. Sentinel Hill has been changed drastically, and Stranglethorn Vale has been split up, but a lot seems minute.
No Defias in Westfall or Duskwood anymore, and no Samantha Swifthoof it seems, d'oh! Naga got... erm... wider, apparently as well, but I haven't seen them. Tons of new flight points, though, which is most excellent.
Which is what we did, initially, till we hit the Searing Gorge. Tam and I went through most of the questline there, really initially just trying to get the Chambermaid Pillaclencher quest going. It was somewhat, funny, with a pacifistic spider-riding ogre named Lunk, slaves who attacked us for freeing them, and surprisingly not a ton of running around - most questgivers gave quests nearby, and even followed us into the dungeons!
Also neat is that you can turn in certain quests without returning to the original NPC - neat.
So we had fun, and got multiple trinkets in the process, including two slowfall pillows from the lady with "gigantic pillas." Oh, you're so subtle Blizzard.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
October 10th, 2010
Castlevania Lords of Shadow (PS3): Just a few more levels. I'm getting pretty good at timed-blocking, which is making the game a lot easier. My biggest complaints so far is that it really doesn't feel all that much like Castlevania, despite being beautiful, and that it's VERY structured.
Even the old-school Castlevanias, left to right movement, did a better jump of covering up the structure, but that's not all that big a deal. It's still a ton of fun.
My conclusion is that these sort of games are essentially mini-game reliant, they keep you interested and entertained through numerous mini-games to vary things up. You've got the core battle system, then you're riding a horse, then you're balancing across rails, then you're riding a tamed spider or creature and use their abilities to access areas you couldn't, then you're sawing your way through an obstacle, then you're climbing up a boss, then you're engaging in various quick-time-events.
And it works great, don't get me wrong, but that's essentially what these games are.
Comic Jumper (360): I tried the demo, liked it, and ended up buying the full game right there. It was actually a review downing the game that sold me on it. Despite being all about finding the "deeper meaning" in games, said blogger decryed the game as unfunny and not-politically-correct. Naturally, that pretension made me decide I *needed* to play the game, and lo and behold, it's pretty darn funny.
Difficult, too! I'm only on the second level. I'm pretty excited to see some of the other worlds, particularly the manga-inspired stages!
Dead Rising 2 (360): Just played some more Terror is Reality online. Pretty fun, and I'm decent at some of the games. I unlocked a Champions Jacket and actually came in first overall on one of my runs, as well as have several hundred thousand for my main game. Sweet.
Even the old-school Castlevanias, left to right movement, did a better jump of covering up the structure, but that's not all that big a deal. It's still a ton of fun.
My conclusion is that these sort of games are essentially mini-game reliant, they keep you interested and entertained through numerous mini-games to vary things up. You've got the core battle system, then you're riding a horse, then you're balancing across rails, then you're riding a tamed spider or creature and use their abilities to access areas you couldn't, then you're sawing your way through an obstacle, then you're climbing up a boss, then you're engaging in various quick-time-events.
And it works great, don't get me wrong, but that's essentially what these games are.
Comic Jumper (360): I tried the demo, liked it, and ended up buying the full game right there. It was actually a review downing the game that sold me on it. Despite being all about finding the "deeper meaning" in games, said blogger decryed the game as unfunny and not-politically-correct. Naturally, that pretension made me decide I *needed* to play the game, and lo and behold, it's pretty darn funny.
Difficult, too! I'm only on the second level. I'm pretty excited to see some of the other worlds, particularly the manga-inspired stages!
Dead Rising 2 (360): Just played some more Terror is Reality online. Pretty fun, and I'm decent at some of the games. I unlocked a Champions Jacket and actually came in first overall on one of my runs, as well as have several hundred thousand for my main game. Sweet.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
October 5th, 2010
Dead Rising 2 (360): So I took down the first boss and went into Overtime! He wasn't too bad. After it turned out my pink chainsaw was worthless (he kept disarming it like anything else), I used my Sniper Rifle and shot him at point blank a few times, then simply dropped 'bows on him.
Overtime was a bit of a let down. Whereas DR1's OT was *epic*, 2's was simply running around, grabbing a few items, then taking on a fairly easy (but fun) final boss. Someone on the GameFAQs boards mentioned they considered the upcoming "Case West" to be the true OT, and I'm expecting that'll be the case!
The final verdict? Better than the first game. I liked the original's overtime, storyline and picture taking, however, gameplay-wise the sequel fixed most of what was wrong with the original.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Hit up Jeuno since there was no Swarm attack coming, putting up some of Ham's old, low level stuff up for AH and NPCing various crap I had on me. I did give a group of five a quick Mea port: at first I was ignoring them because the guy kept spamming the shout, then one of his friends sent me a tell. He then upped his price, to which I shouted back, "Wait, if he keeps going up, should I wait a lil longer before offering to port them?"
His next shout dropped from 7k to 1k, and he said, "Oops, too late!"
I gave them the port for free.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
September 26th, 2010
Last home game of the season at Comerica Park! Tigers win, yay!
Etrian Odyssey III (DS): Not much, made Megumi, this time as a Monk. The new class system is so confusing!
Etrian Odyssey III (DS): Not much, made Megumi, this time as a Monk. The new class system is so confusing!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
September 25th, 2010
A couple MST3K's, some World's Dumbest, not a bad day!
Etrian Odyssey III (DS): Fired it up, and didn't play! So weird with their classes, I gotta look at EO I&II and Class of Heroes and decide who all will translate as what.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Stood around Whitegate for a bit, ported and repatted home, fed the bird, and that's about it!
Etrian Odyssey III (DS): Fired it up, and didn't play! So weird with their classes, I gotta look at EO I&II and Class of Heroes and decide who all will translate as what.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Stood around Whitegate for a bit, ported and repatted home, fed the bird, and that's about it!
Friday, September 24, 2010
September 24th, 2010
Etrian Odyssey III (DS): Whoa, an artbook, and it's cool! Guess that explains the weird packaging. Turns out it covers all three games, which is great, because I don't feel like I'm missing out on something, hehehe.
Whoa, all new classes! I made Charles as a Hoplite, thinking they sounded like Defenders, but other than that, I'm lost! I stopped after that, 'cause I'll need to check out the previous two games to see what characters will transfer over as what.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Attempted Bastok 7-2 again and found out they were true hearing when I attempted to sneak around back, whoops! From there, I hit up Campaign, and after a bit Tamberly joined up. Eventually I got my Wings, yay.
Hit up Clearite's tactics pearl quest in Promy-Mea, then headed off to Whitegate. Not bad!
Whoa, all new classes! I made Charles as a Hoplite, thinking they sounded like Defenders, but other than that, I'm lost! I stopped after that, 'cause I'll need to check out the previous two games to see what characters will transfer over as what.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Attempted Bastok 7-2 again and found out they were true hearing when I attempted to sneak around back, whoops! From there, I hit up Campaign, and after a bit Tamberly joined up. Eventually I got my Wings, yay.
Hit up Clearite's tactics pearl quest in Promy-Mea, then headed off to Whitegate. Not bad!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
September 23rd, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Did a chunk of Campaign today, then teamed up with Div for some pages in Ro'Maeve. Good stuff, but not a very good day for games. Just wasn't feelin' it!
Sonic Adventure DX (360): Made it through the Carnival area as Sonic, then played around a bit as Amy, just did her first level. Fun stuff! I really do like Amy's gameplay, but people don't seem overly thrilled with it on the GameFAQs boards, hmm...
Sonic Adventure DX (360): Made it through the Carnival area as Sonic, then played around a bit as Amy, just did her first level. Fun stuff! I really do like Amy's gameplay, but people don't seem overly thrilled with it on the GameFAQs boards, hmm...
Monday, September 20, 2010
September 20th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Time to level the White Mage job so I'm not gimped when playing Dragoon! After a mishap with an IT goblin forced Clearite and myself to teleport, we ended up in Altepa and decided to stay. Clearite finished up her mobs before I could hit L41, and shortly Tamberly showed up as a Warrior to help me finish up that level for the day. Not bad, not bad at all!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Not much, got a Vanquish and Skies of Arcadia sticker from the Lotter Insiders, and did a single mission. Eventually I'll go back and cheap my way through that main March story mission, ehhehe. It's nice right now just to unlock various characters scenes...
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Not much, got a Vanquish and Skies of Arcadia sticker from the Lotter Insiders, and did a single mission. Eventually I'll go back and cheap my way through that main March story mission, ehhehe. It's nice right now just to unlock various characters scenes...
Sunday, September 19, 2010
September 19th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not much, did an Undead Swarm Besieged with Nanabi, Tam and a few randoms, Nanabi being from Abyssea last night. From there, I helped Div get some skillups. Pretty badass now that I can solo Infernal and Apocalyptic Weapons!
Sonic Adventure DX (360): Really only meant to play for a level, but naturally ended up playing for a couple. Messed around the city a bit, forgot how silly it was! Moved from there to the Casino since night had fallen...
I totally forgot how great a feeling that was to play NiGHTS into Dreams pinball. The NiGHTS inspired backdrops, the little scene where NiGHTS flies through loops and through a miniature version of "Spring Valley," all while "Message from Nightopia" plays. It's such an awesome feeling.
I got all 400 coins I needed right there, didn't even bother with the other games or options, hahah.
From there, I hit up Ice Zone, and then a quick lil boss battle with Eggman. Unlocked Knuckles, which makes me a cringe a little with all his awkward digging levels, but I thiiiiink Amy is next. IIRC enjoying her levels after Sonic's, so I've got hopes!
Sonic Adventure DX (360): Really only meant to play for a level, but naturally ended up playing for a couple. Messed around the city a bit, forgot how silly it was! Moved from there to the Casino since night had fallen...
I totally forgot how great a feeling that was to play NiGHTS into Dreams pinball. The NiGHTS inspired backdrops, the little scene where NiGHTS flies through loops and through a miniature version of "Spring Valley," all while "Message from Nightopia" plays. It's such an awesome feeling.
I got all 400 coins I needed right there, didn't even bother with the other games or options, hahah.
From there, I hit up Ice Zone, and then a quick lil boss battle with Eggman. Unlocked Knuckles, which makes me a cringe a little with all his awkward digging levels, but I thiiiiink Amy is next. IIRC enjoying her levels after Sonic's, so I've got hopes!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
September 18th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Big day! Started off with some campaign, but still didn't get any further on my evaluation. From there, I unlocked all the Abyssea maws I didn't have done yet (Konchtat, and the three new Scars of Abyssea ones). Got my time maxed out, bought a thingy that let me carry a forth traverser stone, and then came time for the big event...
Abyssea Abyssea Abysea! Spent probably a good six hours total between hunting for a party and leaving for church. Had some good fun, too, Nanabi, Red and Senko amongst others being pretty cool people.
The downside? Our buddy in charge, Alex, was a total control freak. Initially only myself and Tam said anything when he snapped at people, but as time went on we had others joining the cause to the point where he eventually learned not to say anything to us.
I can't complain too much, I guess. I capped at L85, yahoo, and even got 10/10 merits.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Accidently failed "A Golden Opportunity" when I let out base camp be captured. Whoops! Did hit up Sega's blog and got several new things, including a bunch of stickers and Selvaria from the first game. Way cool!
Abyssea Abyssea Abysea! Spent probably a good six hours total between hunting for a party and leaving for church. Had some good fun, too, Nanabi, Red and Senko amongst others being pretty cool people.
The downside? Our buddy in charge, Alex, was a total control freak. Initially only myself and Tam said anything when he snapped at people, but as time went on we had others joining the cause to the point where he eventually learned not to say anything to us.
I can't complain too much, I guess. I capped at L85, yahoo, and even got 10/10 merits.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Accidently failed "A Golden Opportunity" when I let out base camp be captured. Whoops! Did hit up Sega's blog and got several new things, including a bunch of stickers and Selvaria from the first game. Way cool!
Friday, September 17, 2010
September 17th, 2010
Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (360): Just a little more progress. I'm still not sure about all the controls, and the constant but brief loading screens between areas are jarring and ugly. Still, it's nice that it's easier to indulge in smaller doses, and the graphics just look gorgeous.
I've nabbed a couple more Wu generals now, but still have yet to really sink my teeth into things. Did the Yellow Turban battle though... classic stuff, if again a little more small-scale.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Two big events today: Windower, and Divineempress. With a buddy taking up the Windower thing as well, and XIV/PSP2 coming up, I figured I'd give it a go again (the problem didn't work last time, whoops!). It took a lot of tweaking, but it's pretty nice. Being able to see cooldowns without navigating several menus, use a controller while the game is in the background, and simple logging ability (as in, not logging like a lumberjack, which you can do in game, but chat/battle logging).
It also removes the fog in the distance, which is nice. It doesn't show you anything further away, just removes the gray.
And Divineempress made her return to XI, and it came down to me to help her get back into the swnig of things. We just did a quick page in Terrigan, took on some crabs and raptors, nothing special!
Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP): FINALLY! ...or not, all I did was install it to the memory card. I think I'ma create Dyne in the PSP demo, move him to the full game, then back to the PSP2 demo, then to the full game!
Sonic Adventure DX (360): First actual level today, and it felt nice to be playing again. Surely the controls are a little wonky by today's standards, but it's still highly playable and a nice dose of nostalgia.
Ho boy, that camera though... almost makes me nauseous, hahah.
Took a little stroll around the city, hit up the ruins area and had all sorts of memories of digging around as Knuckles during one of Sega's SA internet contests back in the day. So much I've forgotten, like the battle with Robotnik outside of Tail's workship, before you even get to the Mystic Ruins (which I played through as well!).
Gah, wish there weren't so many games on my plate right now, I really wouldn't mind replaying SA in depth.
I've nabbed a couple more Wu generals now, but still have yet to really sink my teeth into things. Did the Yellow Turban battle though... classic stuff, if again a little more small-scale.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Two big events today: Windower, and Divineempress. With a buddy taking up the Windower thing as well, and XIV/PSP2 coming up, I figured I'd give it a go again (the problem didn't work last time, whoops!). It took a lot of tweaking, but it's pretty nice. Being able to see cooldowns without navigating several menus, use a controller while the game is in the background, and simple logging ability (as in, not logging like a lumberjack, which you can do in game, but chat/battle logging).
It also removes the fog in the distance, which is nice. It doesn't show you anything further away, just removes the gray.
And Divineempress made her return to XI, and it came down to me to help her get back into the swnig of things. We just did a quick page in Terrigan, took on some crabs and raptors, nothing special!
Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP): FINALLY! ...or not, all I did was install it to the memory card. I think I'ma create Dyne in the PSP demo, move him to the full game, then back to the PSP2 demo, then to the full game!
Sonic Adventure DX (360): First actual level today, and it felt nice to be playing again. Surely the controls are a little wonky by today's standards, but it's still highly playable and a nice dose of nostalgia.
Ho boy, that camera though... almost makes me nauseous, hahah.
Took a little stroll around the city, hit up the ruins area and had all sorts of memories of digging around as Knuckles during one of Sega's SA internet contests back in the day. So much I've forgotten, like the battle with Robotnik outside of Tail's workship, before you even get to the Mystic Ruins (which I played through as well!).
Gah, wish there weren't so many games on my plate right now, I really wouldn't mind replaying SA in depth.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
September 16th, 2010
We were totally gonna hit up an Abyssea party around noon, and I totally slept in late. Bad, bad, bad, Chuck, ugh.
Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (360): Just played a little to get a taste for it. The small areas are way uncool, but the hub town and freedom is way cool. And the graphics are gorgeous on my 32" 1080p, heehee. I'm really excited to sink my teeth deeper into this.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): We did finally get an Abyssea with a leader who didn't know what he was doing. We were passing on ruby lights because he wanted loot and supposedly they would inhibit the appearance of chests. After much debate and consulting of the Wiki, we finally convinced him that not only does ruby light increase the speed at which we gain EXP, it also INCREASED both the quality AND quantity of the red chests he wanted! Ugh, that really hindered our progress.
Still, I did nab the last Kindred Crest I needed, as well as the four merits required to beat Limit Break 7, so I made that progress!
Sonic Adventure DX (360): Just did Emerald Coast and unlocked Tails. Memories. <3
Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce (360): Just played a little to get a taste for it. The small areas are way uncool, but the hub town and freedom is way cool. And the graphics are gorgeous on my 32" 1080p, heehee. I'm really excited to sink my teeth deeper into this.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): We did finally get an Abyssea with a leader who didn't know what he was doing. We were passing on ruby lights because he wanted loot and supposedly they would inhibit the appearance of chests. After much debate and consulting of the Wiki, we finally convinced him that not only does ruby light increase the speed at which we gain EXP, it also INCREASED both the quality AND quantity of the red chests he wanted! Ugh, that really hindered our progress.
Still, I did nab the last Kindred Crest I needed, as well as the four merits required to beat Limit Break 7, so I made that progress!
Sonic Adventure DX (360): Just did Emerald Coast and unlocked Tails. Memories. <3
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
September 15th, 2010
Nabbbed some new stuff today, just doing general shopping... turns out the new Lord of the Rings is out! I finally broke down and got Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce as well while waiting for PSP2 to come out, and it turns out Sonic Adventure hit Xbox Live! Naturally I had to nab that one!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Hit up another Lamia Besieged while trying to get an Abyssea party, and alas, it was getting too late, so we had to throw in the towel. Still, any day with snake ladies is a good day!
Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (PS3): The character models look goofy, and everything about the package screams, "cheesy." And yet, the game's a lot of fun, and a lot more varied than previous LotR releases. The Shire acts as a hub world, and from there you can experience Aragorn's story. You don't just fight, you actually get to run around, explore, do mini-games, and on top of that Gandolf plays significantly different than Aragorn, so it's not just cookie-cutter.
Momy and myself played for an hour or so, enjoyed some White Castle, then hit it up again, this time passing the controller between the two of us and Abby. Ahh, good times!
I think we stopped... after evading the Nazgul in that first city area after the quest begins?
Sonic Adventure DX (360): I think I... looked at the title screen? Gotta sink my teeth into it later, LotR was the focus today!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Nothing special. Used the code from Sega's online "Lotte Insider" to unlock Faldio (oh boy, how decidedly not exciting), and did the "Tunnel Offensive" mission. Slow but sure progress!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Hit up another Lamia Besieged while trying to get an Abyssea party, and alas, it was getting too late, so we had to throw in the towel. Still, any day with snake ladies is a good day!
Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest (PS3): The character models look goofy, and everything about the package screams, "cheesy." And yet, the game's a lot of fun, and a lot more varied than previous LotR releases. The Shire acts as a hub world, and from there you can experience Aragorn's story. You don't just fight, you actually get to run around, explore, do mini-games, and on top of that Gandolf plays significantly different than Aragorn, so it's not just cookie-cutter.
Momy and myself played for an hour or so, enjoyed some White Castle, then hit it up again, this time passing the controller between the two of us and Abby. Ahh, good times!
I think we stopped... after evading the Nazgul in that first city area after the quest begins?
Sonic Adventure DX (360): I think I... looked at the title screen? Gotta sink my teeth into it later, LotR was the focus today!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Nothing special. Used the code from Sega's online "Lotte Insider" to unlock Faldio (oh boy, how decidedly not exciting), and did the "Tunnel Offensive" mission. Slow but sure progress!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
September 14th, 2010
Dead Rising: Case 0 (360): Popped on just long enough to check my status... I really need to rebeat it with Ending A before the full game comes out!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not... much? I stopped on for just a minute, and ended up spending a chunk of time talking to the ever-amiable Aralya. Good stuff, can't complain!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not... much? I stopped on for just a minute, and ended up spending a chunk of time talking to the ever-amiable Aralya. Good stuff, can't complain!
Monday, September 13, 2010
September 13th, 2010
With Phantasy Star Portable 2 coming out tomorrow and Final Fantasy XIV a week later, the big issue is, what MMO gets my time?! There's still things on XI that I'd like to accomplish as well! They've all got their pros and cons: XI has a ton of content left and I'm already established, and level cap increases will only make it easier (going from 75 to 99 by the end of the year, and levels mean a ton in XI), but it's also an eight year old game, meaning it's lifespan is probably shorter than XIV's and it does look/feel older.
Final Fantasy XIV is gorgeous and new, but also has some issues. It runs far from optimized (it's taken player-made tools to make it run quicker, give it a hardware mouse and allow you to tab out!), and the Fatigue System is just bad precedent and an overall annoyance.
Phantasy Star Portable 2 is honestly what I'd like to play, but the whole portable aspect is an unfortunate turnoff. It might look great (for a portable) and be a nice improvement for Phantasy Star Universe, but it'll always be limited. It's harder to communicate on portables, and that's a big issue for MMOs. Although I expect my circle of friends to end up a lot smaller than XI, it'd be fantastic to play with Helena again!
What will happen? We'll see!
Afterburner Climax (360): Played for like... one life. So it was pretty quick!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Feed the bird, Hamartia (Bevis) gave me all his stuff so he could cancel his account, hit up an Undead Swarm Besieged, then stopped by a rather miserable Abyssea party. It started off well enough till a Notorious Monster spawned and wreaked havoc! Still, I got *a* Merit Point and four of the five Kindred Crests I need, so it wasn't awful.
Final Fantasy XIV is gorgeous and new, but also has some issues. It runs far from optimized (it's taken player-made tools to make it run quicker, give it a hardware mouse and allow you to tab out!), and the Fatigue System is just bad precedent and an overall annoyance.
Phantasy Star Portable 2 is honestly what I'd like to play, but the whole portable aspect is an unfortunate turnoff. It might look great (for a portable) and be a nice improvement for Phantasy Star Universe, but it'll always be limited. It's harder to communicate on portables, and that's a big issue for MMOs. Although I expect my circle of friends to end up a lot smaller than XI, it'd be fantastic to play with Helena again!
What will happen? We'll see!
Afterburner Climax (360): Played for like... one life. So it was pretty quick!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Feed the bird, Hamartia (Bevis) gave me all his stuff so he could cancel his account, hit up an Undead Swarm Besieged, then stopped by a rather miserable Abyssea party. It started off well enough till a Notorious Monster spawned and wreaked havoc! Still, I got *a* Merit Point and four of the five Kindred Crests I need, so it wasn't awful.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
September 12th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not much, fed the bird, and that's about it!
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): This is getting absurb. I can't tab out without crashing it. I can't access UAC without crashing it. There's no hardware mouse. It runs only 30-40 FPS running two Radeon HD 5770's CrossFireX - CrossFireX, which it doesn't support on it's own.
And all those issues, including the graphics performance issue, can be taken care of with user-made add-ons only done over the course of a couple weeks. Yes, in the course of a couple weeks, users have added things SE has yet to, fixed ten year old issues like not being able to tab out of fullscreen without crashing the game, added CrossFireX support and increased performance by 5+%.
Seriously guys?
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): This is getting absurb. I can't tab out without crashing it. I can't access UAC without crashing it. There's no hardware mouse. It runs only 30-40 FPS running two Radeon HD 5770's CrossFireX - CrossFireX, which it doesn't support on it's own.
And all those issues, including the graphics performance issue, can be taken care of with user-made add-ons only done over the course of a couple weeks. Yes, in the course of a couple weeks, users have added things SE has yet to, fixed ten year old issues like not being able to tab out of fullscreen without crashing the game, added CrossFireX support and increased performance by 5+%.
Seriously guys?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
September 11th, 2010
September 11th: never forget!
I got to play around with my toys today, which was cool. Got a second Radeon HD 5770 in my rig, only to learn it's core clock is slightly faster than the primary, so I need to switch them around, hah. Debating upgrade the motherboard to one that can do CrossFire with x8 PCI instead of x8 and handle DDR3 RAM as well as all the various USB ports I can't access currently!
Battle Fantasia (360): I got this in the mail yesterday ($7 from Amazon new, and I had been eying it for a bit!), but wasn't in much of a condition to play, heh heh. Seems pretty neat, if unexceptional. I do like the concept, though, a fighting game with RPG elements.
All the characters are based of typical JRPG archetypes, and it actually shows, in addition to their energy bar, a numbered hit points counter, and damage numbers appear on screen as attacks connect. It's cute, didn't quite hook me, but it's cute, and I like the concept.
I made it several battles in on the "Very Hard" setting on my first try, mostly because the guy I grabbed ending up playing like Ryu. <_< Final Fantasy XI: Checked for Besiegeds, didn't get one! Come along now, lamia! Final Fantasy XIV: Didn't play so much as tested. It took a third party program to get CrossFireX working, and it seemed to up the graphics to where they often hovered around 40 FPS, but I noticed I'm actually getting high 20s/low 30s with just one card! Now I'm completely confused - has the code just been optimized that much in the last several days? Has server lag decreased, as well as the load with the initial rush gone? Also XIV doesn't support hardware mice, and CrossFireX isn't supported, and performance can be increased by third party programs that have been in development a few weeks. Go Square! Either way, my hope is that by the time it launches CrossFireX will be available and in Windowed mode too. Regardless, I'm happy to see XIV playing at a decent speed! I was worried it'd be unplayable for me when it came out. >_<
I got to play around with my toys today, which was cool. Got a second Radeon HD 5770 in my rig, only to learn it's core clock is slightly faster than the primary, so I need to switch them around, hah. Debating upgrade the motherboard to one that can do CrossFire with x8 PCI instead of x8 and handle DDR3 RAM as well as all the various USB ports I can't access currently!
Battle Fantasia (360): I got this in the mail yesterday ($7 from Amazon new, and I had been eying it for a bit!), but wasn't in much of a condition to play, heh heh. Seems pretty neat, if unexceptional. I do like the concept, though, a fighting game with RPG elements.
All the characters are based of typical JRPG archetypes, and it actually shows, in addition to their energy bar, a numbered hit points counter, and damage numbers appear on screen as attacks connect. It's cute, didn't quite hook me, but it's cute, and I like the concept.
I made it several battles in on the "Very Hard" setting on my first try, mostly because the guy I grabbed ending up playing like Ryu. <_< Final Fantasy XI: Checked for Besiegeds, didn't get one! Come along now, lamia! Final Fantasy XIV: Didn't play so much as tested. It took a third party program to get CrossFireX working, and it seemed to up the graphics to where they often hovered around 40 FPS, but I noticed I'm actually getting high 20s/low 30s with just one card! Now I'm completely confused - has the code just been optimized that much in the last several days? Has server lag decreased, as well as the load with the initial rush gone? Also XIV doesn't support hardware mice, and CrossFireX isn't supported, and performance can be increased by third party programs that have been in development a few weeks. Go Square! Either way, my hope is that by the time it launches CrossFireX will be available and in Windowed mode too. Regardless, I'm happy to see XIV playing at a decent speed! I was worried it'd be unplayable for me when it came out. >_<
Friday, September 10, 2010
September 10th, 2010
I didn't play a single game today, not at all! I was horribly sick, and outta nowhere. Went to bed super late after gaming with Frank till close to 6 AM, woke up about four hours later just sick as a dog, all sorts of messy. Yuck. <_<
Thursday, September 9, 2010
September 9th, 2010
Wow, it's the Dreamcast's ELEVENTH birthday in the United States! Crazy! I'm still dreamin', and it's still resting comfortably right next to my 360, PS3 and Wii, while most of my old systems are packed on a shelf somewhere.
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not an overly-heavy FFXI run today, but it began with an Undead Swarm. Started off with two Besiegeds, hooking up with Unicornessence and some randoms, and it ended up being pretty fun. It was a two and two alliance during the lamia fight, and our ranks "jumped" up to six total for the savages.
It was enjoyable on the whole (perverted lil taru...), I'ma make it a point to hit up more alliances during big battles!
LEGO Batman (360): Fun stuff! Initially we passed around the controllers, alternating between myself, Frank, Abby and Mom, and made some nice progress. The levels are shorter, but not too short, making it easier to digest than, say, the massive, meandering levels of LEGO Star Wars. It's interesting they choose to use the 1989 Batman's soundtrack, but not in a bad way considering how epic it was. It repeats a little too often, though.
Found out after beating the Riddler's campaign that the corresponding evildoer's missions are unlocked, as well as the Arkham Asylum. There's where the create-a-character mode is (whew, we were worried there wasn't one!), as well as the massive collection of random NPCs to battle. Neat!
It ended up being myself and Frank, and we played pretty deep into the night, doing the first Riddler mission as well as doing a few into the Penguin battles. We also debuted our new heroes, his "Nude Man," a naked lego guy with a purple turban (he ditched the purple cape), and my generic badass, "Dog Puncher," making his first appearance since WWE RAW 2 on the original Xbox.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Not a whole lot, didn't bother trying the VIP Escort again, but I did knock out "Being Cruel to the Kind" as well as Lotte's special mission "Recovering the Camera." I normally don't dig the reporter types like, at all, but Lotte's pretty cute! Will almost be unfortunate if I'm nearing the end of her story path, though!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not an overly-heavy FFXI run today, but it began with an Undead Swarm. Started off with two Besiegeds, hooking up with Unicornessence and some randoms, and it ended up being pretty fun. It was a two and two alliance during the lamia fight, and our ranks "jumped" up to six total for the savages.
It was enjoyable on the whole (perverted lil taru...), I'ma make it a point to hit up more alliances during big battles!
LEGO Batman (360): Fun stuff! Initially we passed around the controllers, alternating between myself, Frank, Abby and Mom, and made some nice progress. The levels are shorter, but not too short, making it easier to digest than, say, the massive, meandering levels of LEGO Star Wars. It's interesting they choose to use the 1989 Batman's soundtrack, but not in a bad way considering how epic it was. It repeats a little too often, though.
Found out after beating the Riddler's campaign that the corresponding evildoer's missions are unlocked, as well as the Arkham Asylum. There's where the create-a-character mode is (whew, we were worried there wasn't one!), as well as the massive collection of random NPCs to battle. Neat!
It ended up being myself and Frank, and we played pretty deep into the night, doing the first Riddler mission as well as doing a few into the Penguin battles. We also debuted our new heroes, his "Nude Man," a naked lego guy with a purple turban (he ditched the purple cape), and my generic badass, "Dog Puncher," making his first appearance since WWE RAW 2 on the original Xbox.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Not a whole lot, didn't bother trying the VIP Escort again, but I did knock out "Being Cruel to the Kind" as well as Lotte's special mission "Recovering the Camera." I normally don't dig the reporter types like, at all, but Lotte's pretty cute! Will almost be unfortunate if I'm nearing the end of her story path, though!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
September 8th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Big version update today, which means... not much to me as a Dragoon, since the last two updates have been pretty worthless. Two new jumps, but they take the place of previous jumps and it's arguable if they're a genuine improvement! Somehow I managed to get my update done with, but apparently several people, Tam included, were stuck in a congested mass!
I did play around with the character creation briefly to get an idea of what someone looked like for a fanfic I'm writing, and checked for any Besieged. Evonna was up in the new Scars of Abyssea, but got no response - understandable, tends to be pretty spam heavy there!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch ouch. I failed the "VIP Escort" mission SEVERAL times, once or twice just due to silly little mistakes. The difficulty definitely spikes with this mission, so I might just grind a bit.
I did complete Noel's special mission, "Rescuing Father." One thing I really do like about Valkyria Chronicles II is that you actually get to know all the little characters a lot better. That's pretty cool!
I did play around with the character creation briefly to get an idea of what someone looked like for a fanfic I'm writing, and checked for any Besieged. Evonna was up in the new Scars of Abyssea, but got no response - understandable, tends to be pretty spam heavy there!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch ouch. I failed the "VIP Escort" mission SEVERAL times, once or twice just due to silly little mistakes. The difficulty definitely spikes with this mission, so I might just grind a bit.
I did complete Noel's special mission, "Rescuing Father." One thing I really do like about Valkyria Chronicles II is that you actually get to know all the little characters a lot better. That's pretty cool!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
September 7th, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Tamberly and I teamed up to take down the Undead Swarm yet again! Wasn't too much else to XI this day outside of that. I came up short the cash to do the final Mog Locker expansion, but Tam helped me out with a few Gold Imperial Pieces or whatever. Thanks! :D
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Did a few of the March missions as well as made some progress with Lotte *waggles brow*. Slowly but surely! The game does seem a bit padded but I'm still really enjoying it.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Did a few of the March missions as well as made some progress with Lotte *waggles brow*. Slowly but surely! The game does seem a bit padded but I'm still really enjoying it.
Monday, September 6, 2010
September 6th, 2010
Dead Rising: Case 0 (360): Did another day, this time focusing on getting the 1k zombies killed achievement, as well as just cleaning up. Pushing the motorcycle cart around took care of that fairly easily, and I did manage to figure out another combination (Traffic cone + Spraypaint, which gave me an air horn). It gave me a Scratch card instead of a Combo card, though, which seems to lack details on it... but I don't really know more than that.
So I'm close to having my first ever 100% complete game, Achievements-wise, on 360. Sure, this one is only a 200 pointer, but still. I did glance at recipes while looking for info on the Scratch/Combo thing, and feel a little guilty cheating, but I'm running out of combination ideas!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Fed Stardust Typhoon, finally saw Brutus for the first time on a "long" walk, and... that's about it! Talked to Evonna for a bit, idled for a while, then xxskyxx told everyone they needed to go to bed, since apparently Miips and myself were two of the few people on that late!
LEGO Batman (360): Not much, just installed it to the hard drive for playing later, not tonight as it turned out but hopefully later this week!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Just a few more missions, winning the first of the Laevatein matches and moving us into March. I did unlock a special mission with Noel, which should be pretty cool!
The class tree is definitely a lot more involved than it was in the first game. I've got a couple of my Shocktroopers eligible to advance to either Trooper Veteran or Gunner, and then from each of those two there's another two further upgrades! Crazy. Of course, it hardly tells anything about the advanced classes, so I'm hesitant to use the points it takes!
So I'm close to having my first ever 100% complete game, Achievements-wise, on 360. Sure, this one is only a 200 pointer, but still. I did glance at recipes while looking for info on the Scratch/Combo thing, and feel a little guilty cheating, but I'm running out of combination ideas!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Fed Stardust Typhoon, finally saw Brutus for the first time on a "long" walk, and... that's about it! Talked to Evonna for a bit, idled for a while, then xxskyxx told everyone they needed to go to bed, since apparently Miips and myself were two of the few people on that late!
LEGO Batman (360): Not much, just installed it to the hard drive for playing later, not tonight as it turned out but hopefully later this week!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Just a few more missions, winning the first of the Laevatein matches and moving us into March. I did unlock a special mission with Noel, which should be pretty cool!
The class tree is definitely a lot more involved than it was in the first game. I've got a couple of my Shocktroopers eligible to advance to either Trooper Veteran or Gunner, and then from each of those two there's another two further upgrades! Crazy. Of course, it hardly tells anything about the advanced classes, so I'm hesitant to use the points it takes!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
September 5th, 2010
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (360): Accidentally booted this one up! Good game, I like it, but that's not what I was going for, was just telling my bro about it prior to hitting up Ultimate Alliance 2 and opened it for some reason without thinking!
Dead Rising: Case 0 (360): I was only playing this till Frank got off the phone, but he promptly lay down on the loveseat and fell asleep. So I stuck with it, and what a way to get me hyped for the Dead Rising 2! I had loved the first, but it's been so long that, while I remember adoring it, the literal feeling was gone, replaced by a vague memory of utilizing just about anything to take out zombies.
What a great reminder Case 0 is! It looks a little more serious in tone than the first, but there's a new ability to combine weapons to make them more deadly, and the graphics are a nice little step up.
Case 0 is pretty thorough for a demo, but the downside is it costs $5 and is treated as an Xbox Live Arcade title, which does make it a little short. Even so, there were survivors to rescue (whoa, they can fight this time around!), tons of items to use, and just some awesome fun.
The first time through I died at the boss, only to learn my last save was from an hour earlier. With my bro asleep, I was left to my single player gaming, so I went ahead and tried again, this time finding a lot more stuff, like survivors, which I hadn't seen any of previously besides the Pawn Shop guy and the guy on the roof. This time I came across Tia, Sharon and Nikki. Sharon needed some Zombrex, which left me short on the one needed for Katey, the main character's daughter, so it was game over once it passed the time needed for her dose. D'oh!
Turns out you can replay the game and your stuff carries over (the max level is 5, but your level and some other things carry over to the full game, sweet!). Armed with both new found knowledge and power, the second time went much smoother. I found Gemini and her hubby, saved the three bachelorette party girls, grabbed the two goofy guys, assembled the bike, and then got the gun guy and his daughter, before taking down the boss and escaping town.
So cool.
I was totally going to run grab the full game on Tuesday, but it turns out it was delayed till the end of the month! D'oh! Looks like I'll be delving back into Case 0 to get my fix and finish things up!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not much, fed the neglected, lonely bird, and that's about it! Oh, hey, Windurst dropped to third again, behind San d'Oria, then Bastok.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360): This one dominated most of the day. I forgot how long these games take to open up, because we've barely got a chance to use anybody besides the default characters and the downloaded guys. I had also forgotten how much this had been simplified from the original, for better and for worse.
It is pretty awesome that the download guys aren't just reskins but full on new characters. Juggernaut has his own voicework, moves and size compared to the other bruisers, for example.
Anyway, it was awesome to play four player, with myself, Frank, Abby and Mom. We made it through the first part of the game, juuuuust one short of where we choose pro-registration or anti-registration, having finished the Lucia Von Barda battle on the boat, and we finished the day by doing a TON of trivia - too bad it loops after about forty questions, we're thinking you had to unlock more in the first game and hoping it's the same here.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Just a few more missions, moving us up to the tournament qualifier match thingy. I really am enjoying this game, it really summons memories of Dreamcast-era Sega, just like it's predecessor.
Dead Rising: Case 0 (360): I was only playing this till Frank got off the phone, but he promptly lay down on the loveseat and fell asleep. So I stuck with it, and what a way to get me hyped for the Dead Rising 2! I had loved the first, but it's been so long that, while I remember adoring it, the literal feeling was gone, replaced by a vague memory of utilizing just about anything to take out zombies.
What a great reminder Case 0 is! It looks a little more serious in tone than the first, but there's a new ability to combine weapons to make them more deadly, and the graphics are a nice little step up.
Case 0 is pretty thorough for a demo, but the downside is it costs $5 and is treated as an Xbox Live Arcade title, which does make it a little short. Even so, there were survivors to rescue (whoa, they can fight this time around!), tons of items to use, and just some awesome fun.
The first time through I died at the boss, only to learn my last save was from an hour earlier. With my bro asleep, I was left to my single player gaming, so I went ahead and tried again, this time finding a lot more stuff, like survivors, which I hadn't seen any of previously besides the Pawn Shop guy and the guy on the roof. This time I came across Tia, Sharon and Nikki. Sharon needed some Zombrex, which left me short on the one needed for Katey, the main character's daughter, so it was game over once it passed the time needed for her dose. D'oh!
Turns out you can replay the game and your stuff carries over (the max level is 5, but your level and some other things carry over to the full game, sweet!). Armed with both new found knowledge and power, the second time went much smoother. I found Gemini and her hubby, saved the three bachelorette party girls, grabbed the two goofy guys, assembled the bike, and then got the gun guy and his daughter, before taking down the boss and escaping town.
So cool.
I was totally going to run grab the full game on Tuesday, but it turns out it was delayed till the end of the month! D'oh! Looks like I'll be delving back into Case 0 to get my fix and finish things up!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not much, fed the neglected, lonely bird, and that's about it! Oh, hey, Windurst dropped to third again, behind San d'Oria, then Bastok.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360): This one dominated most of the day. I forgot how long these games take to open up, because we've barely got a chance to use anybody besides the default characters and the downloaded guys. I had also forgotten how much this had been simplified from the original, for better and for worse.
It is pretty awesome that the download guys aren't just reskins but full on new characters. Juggernaut has his own voicework, moves and size compared to the other bruisers, for example.
Anyway, it was awesome to play four player, with myself, Frank, Abby and Mom. We made it through the first part of the game, juuuuust one short of where we choose pro-registration or anti-registration, having finished the Lucia Von Barda battle on the boat, and we finished the day by doing a TON of trivia - too bad it loops after about forty questions, we're thinking you had to unlock more in the first game and hoping it's the same here.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Just a few more missions, moving us up to the tournament qualifier match thingy. I really am enjoying this game, it really summons memories of Dreamcast-era Sega, just like it's predecessor.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
September 4th, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): I finally made it into the beta. You know, the open beta that isn't open because applications must be approved, and they keep closing apps for sometimes a day. Of course, stupid me, I couldn't get the installer working, only to see a similar issue on a forum with the solution being "restart." I did last night, and it worked, so it took a few more hours throughout the day to get it going!
Impressions? It's gorgeous, but I think I'll need an upgrade, because I'm only rocking mid-teens in terms of framerate unless I drop the settings all to the lowest. Then I'm hitting early thirties, but it looks a lot worse!
Tam and I palled around a bit, messing with the paltry list of emotes (better than XI's, but still pretty chintzy... I miss PSU, where we had close to triple digits. :/ Did some fighting, and there's no auto-attack, which is weird, but kinda neat because it keeps you active. No death penalty, which is cool, and you seem to run faster than you did by default in XI.
Overall? I'm still pretty stoked for XIV, although I'm really worried about the system requirements and the dread "Fatigue System."
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360): Myself, my bro and my mom all joined up and fired up the game, making some decent progress on the Legendary difficulty mode! Pretty hardcore! We only had about an hour an a half though before Mom's Bleach show came on, but still! A good start, I think we beat the first boss or so!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Just a little further! One mission in February, slowly but surely!
Impressions? It's gorgeous, but I think I'll need an upgrade, because I'm only rocking mid-teens in terms of framerate unless I drop the settings all to the lowest. Then I'm hitting early thirties, but it looks a lot worse!
Tam and I palled around a bit, messing with the paltry list of emotes (better than XI's, but still pretty chintzy... I miss PSU, where we had close to triple digits. :/ Did some fighting, and there's no auto-attack, which is weird, but kinda neat because it keeps you active. No death penalty, which is cool, and you seem to run faster than you did by default in XI.
Overall? I'm still pretty stoked for XIV, although I'm really worried about the system requirements and the dread "Fatigue System."
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360): Myself, my bro and my mom all joined up and fired up the game, making some decent progress on the Legendary difficulty mode! Pretty hardcore! We only had about an hour an a half though before Mom's Bleach show came on, but still! A good start, I think we beat the first boss or so!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Just a little further! One mission in February, slowly but surely!
Friday, September 3, 2010
September 3rd, 2010
So I'm finally in the XIV beta! Now I just need to get this installer working... oh, wait, all I needed to do all week was just restart! Ugh, you KNOW that's the first solution, Chuck!
Of course, it's partly SE's fault since I NEVER have to restart anymore after installing something, particularly a game. But Square Enix's has to be Square Enix. :/
Valkyria Chronicles (PSP): Nice progress, all the way up through the January missions to February! While VCII doesn't have that epic sweeping feel yet that VC did, I'm really enjoying it, it definitely keeps up the spirit well!
Favorite cadets so far? Lotte, because she just seems fun, and Noel, because she gives off that laid back, nice girl vibe!
Of course, it's partly SE's fault since I NEVER have to restart anymore after installing something, particularly a game. But Square Enix's has to be Square Enix. :/
Valkyria Chronicles (PSP): Nice progress, all the way up through the January missions to February! While VCII doesn't have that epic sweeping feel yet that VC did, I'm really enjoying it, it definitely keeps up the spirit well!
Favorite cadets so far? Lotte, because she just seems fun, and Noel, because she gives off that laid back, nice girl vibe!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
September 2nd, 2010
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Fed the chocobo, then stood around chatting for a long time with my buddies Aralya and Evonna. That's about it! Only intended to be on long enough to handle the bird, but it's hard to pass up an opportunity to chill with friends!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Some decent progress! I'm at the academy now, and got to see the new Armored Tech class. It's weird, they carry shields and big hammers to hit guys with, and they pick up mines and repair sandbags while Engineers are more healing focused this time around. But Isara's on of the Armored Techs, so it's awesome to get to directly play her!
Okay, I guess since she was piloting the tank in VC you were technically playing as her, not Welkin, but you know what I mean!
It's also sillier than the first game, very much like a high school comedy-drama anime. Some people are up in arms about this, and while I did prefer the atmosphere of the first, VCII is pretty cute!
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Some decent progress! I'm at the academy now, and got to see the new Armored Tech class. It's weird, they carry shields and big hammers to hit guys with, and they pick up mines and repair sandbags while Engineers are more healing focused this time around. But Isara's on of the Armored Techs, so it's awesome to get to directly play her!
Okay, I guess since she was piloting the tank in VC you were technically playing as her, not Welkin, but you know what I mean!
It's also sillier than the first game, very much like a high school comedy-drama anime. Some people are up in arms about this, and while I did prefer the atmosphere of the first, VCII is pretty cute!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
September 1st, 2010
So it's back! We'll see if it sticks this time, my original lasted closed to three years! I figured today marked both endings and beginnings, endgame of FFXI and the start of XIV, finishing Valkyria Chronicles I and moving on to II. Both series are high on my list and mean a lot to me, so it seemed like a good day to get started again!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not too much... DynaDeviants cancelled Dynamis again, I got Clearite killed accidently in Boyahda Tree, did a Level 1 Besieged against the Undead Swarm that took about 30-40 minutes, far more than L1 should, messed up the Tactics Pearl quest and only got my NPC 2900 instead of the max 5800 EXP I could've, and got Stardust Typhoon, my chocobo, to learn the Gallop ability. So I guess it was at least forward movement, even if it was sloppy.
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Oh, wait, this shouldn't be on here! First off, the installer doesn't want to work with me, second, the open beta (that requires registration and your application to be selected by Square, making it not an open beta) is overloaded and not accepting new entries at this point. Ah well, they're already disappointing me with this Fatigue System crap (and I suppose numerous things since the 32-bit era), so why am I surprised?
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360): Turns out the download heroes (Juggernaut, Magneto, Black Panther, Carnage, Cable and Psylocke) had been re-added to the Marketplace, so in preparation of playing it soon with Frank while he's in town, I snapped them up!
Phantasy Star Portable 2 Trial Edition (PSP): Not much, got it onto the PSP and fired it up long enough to lock in my guild card number! It's pretty high already, like 20k? 2k? Either way, pretty high! I did import Dyne from the first game, and... yeah, I don't see how it imports, it looks NOTHING like Dyne!
Hopefully Lindz is around soon so we can play!
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3): I had started up the sequel and made it a couple missions into it, but it just didn't feel right leaving the original unfinished. After a frustrating battle against the final boss, we won, and finally I could say I had beaten VC.
And the ending was so fitting with the rest of the game, just very sweet and heartwarming. I really need to watch the anime sometime.
The downside? Having unlocked New Game+, it was hard not to keep playing! It was wonderful to see Marina, Nina and Wendy back, my three casualties from the first play through.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Woohoo, it's finally here, and I even received it the day after it shipped. Unfortunately, I had to buy it from GameStop to get a couple pre-order missions. Regardless, I was ready to play!
Or not, because you can't just play a game anymore. First, I entered the code for my GameStop missions on PS3, then transferred them to the PSP. Then I brought over my VCI save. Then I added in the passwords from the VCII website to unlock various things, including all of Edy's Detachment (whoa, way cool!).
Good to go, so I hit up the Tutorial... only to read online you need to have Phantasy Star Portable 2 data on the memory card BEFORE you started a game in order to get Emilia, and Sega is releasing the two games in reverse order here with PSP2 a few weeks off. So I nabbed a Japanese save and started over... only to learn that information that I needed a save before starting was false.
There's apparently even more stuff you can unlock, mostly characters from VCI and the manga Valkyria: Wish Your Smile, so hopefully all that good stuff gets a US release.
Anyway, the game! Just did the first couple missions, and it feels like Valkyria Chronicles. The graphics are quite a step down, and the areas are now segmented into smaller zones that make up one level, presumably because the PSP couldn't handle the massive, fluid levels of the original. The storyline has a potential to be epic, but right now it is a little high-school drama shoujo-ish. Not a bad thing, just departures from the original.
But serious complaint time: why can't I save in mid-battle on a portable system, when I could on a console? If anything, it should be the other way around!
Hopefully I'll get to sink my teeth deeper into it over the next few days... I do so love VC!
Final Fantasy XI (PC): Not too much... DynaDeviants cancelled Dynamis again, I got Clearite killed accidently in Boyahda Tree, did a Level 1 Besieged against the Undead Swarm that took about 30-40 minutes, far more than L1 should, messed up the Tactics Pearl quest and only got my NPC 2900 instead of the max 5800 EXP I could've, and got Stardust Typhoon, my chocobo, to learn the Gallop ability. So I guess it was at least forward movement, even if it was sloppy.
Final Fantasy XIV (PC): Oh, wait, this shouldn't be on here! First off, the installer doesn't want to work with me, second, the open beta (that requires registration and your application to be selected by Square, making it not an open beta) is overloaded and not accepting new entries at this point. Ah well, they're already disappointing me with this Fatigue System crap (and I suppose numerous things since the 32-bit era), so why am I surprised?
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (360): Turns out the download heroes (Juggernaut, Magneto, Black Panther, Carnage, Cable and Psylocke) had been re-added to the Marketplace, so in preparation of playing it soon with Frank while he's in town, I snapped them up!
Phantasy Star Portable 2 Trial Edition (PSP): Not much, got it onto the PSP and fired it up long enough to lock in my guild card number! It's pretty high already, like 20k? 2k? Either way, pretty high! I did import Dyne from the first game, and... yeah, I don't see how it imports, it looks NOTHING like Dyne!
Hopefully Lindz is around soon so we can play!
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3): I had started up the sequel and made it a couple missions into it, but it just didn't feel right leaving the original unfinished. After a frustrating battle against the final boss, we won, and finally I could say I had beaten VC.
And the ending was so fitting with the rest of the game, just very sweet and heartwarming. I really need to watch the anime sometime.
The downside? Having unlocked New Game+, it was hard not to keep playing! It was wonderful to see Marina, Nina and Wendy back, my three casualties from the first play through.
Valkyria Chronicles II (PSP): Woohoo, it's finally here, and I even received it the day after it shipped. Unfortunately, I had to buy it from GameStop to get a couple pre-order missions. Regardless, I was ready to play!
Or not, because you can't just play a game anymore. First, I entered the code for my GameStop missions on PS3, then transferred them to the PSP. Then I brought over my VCI save. Then I added in the passwords from the VCII website to unlock various things, including all of Edy's Detachment (whoa, way cool!).
Good to go, so I hit up the Tutorial... only to read online you need to have Phantasy Star Portable 2 data on the memory card BEFORE you started a game in order to get Emilia, and Sega is releasing the two games in reverse order here with PSP2 a few weeks off. So I nabbed a Japanese save and started over... only to learn that information that I needed a save before starting was false.
There's apparently even more stuff you can unlock, mostly characters from VCI and the manga Valkyria: Wish Your Smile, so hopefully all that good stuff gets a US release.
Anyway, the game! Just did the first couple missions, and it feels like Valkyria Chronicles. The graphics are quite a step down, and the areas are now segmented into smaller zones that make up one level, presumably because the PSP couldn't handle the massive, fluid levels of the original. The storyline has a potential to be epic, but right now it is a little high-school drama shoujo-ish. Not a bad thing, just departures from the original.
But serious complaint time: why can't I save in mid-battle on a portable system, when I could on a console? If anything, it should be the other way around!
Hopefully I'll get to sink my teeth deeper into it over the next few days... I do so love VC!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
April 27th, 2010
Afro Samurai (360): Just played for a minute or two. Topless ninja strippers are always cool, but on the whole I'm just not feeling this game!
Deadly Premonition (360): Made a nice little bit of progress, advancing through the art gallery. The infinite-ammo SMG is nice, but it still takes a good ten minutes to drop a single wall-crawling baddie, which made it very frustrating to have to go through FOUR of them! At least the other part of the level was fairly short!
I do like the optional stuff that fleshes characters out. I was given the option of hitting the bar with the sheriff before retiring for the day, and it nicely fleshed out his backstory a little bit more.
Completed: Chapter 12-2.
Super Street Fighter IV (360): Finally here! Of course it took UPS till almost 1730 to deliver it - oh well. It's Street Fighter IV, with more characters! I gave it a go as Adon and did half-decent, naturally leaving it on hard mode, losing at the second fighter. I took Ryu for a spin afterwards and made it up to his destined battle or whatever, destroyed Ken till he had a sliver of life, then he came back and got me in both rounds! Hah hah, oh well.
It's nice that everything character is unlocked from the beginning, although I'm worried my fickle wireless won't be good enough to handle a lotta online combat, alas.
Deadly Premonition (360): Made a nice little bit of progress, advancing through the art gallery. The infinite-ammo SMG is nice, but it still takes a good ten minutes to drop a single wall-crawling baddie, which made it very frustrating to have to go through FOUR of them! At least the other part of the level was fairly short!
I do like the optional stuff that fleshes characters out. I was given the option of hitting the bar with the sheriff before retiring for the day, and it nicely fleshed out his backstory a little bit more.
Completed: Chapter 12-2.
Super Street Fighter IV (360): Finally here! Of course it took UPS till almost 1730 to deliver it - oh well. It's Street Fighter IV, with more characters! I gave it a go as Adon and did half-decent, naturally leaving it on hard mode, losing at the second fighter. I took Ryu for a spin afterwards and made it up to his destined battle or whatever, destroyed Ken till he had a sliver of life, then he came back and got me in both rounds! Hah hah, oh well.
It's nice that everything character is unlocked from the beginning, although I'm worried my fickle wireless won't be good enough to handle a lotta online combat, alas.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
April 7th, 2010
Tenchu Z (360): Just played a little more, did a few missions. I'd like to start unlocking more of the skills for my female ninja, but it takes a while! Hundreds of Steath Kills, and I still suck at stealth!
Does turn out an old PC/PS2 PSU buddy plays, so we might hit up the multiplayer sometime soon!
Does turn out an old PC/PS2 PSU buddy plays, so we might hit up the multiplayer sometime soon!
Monday, April 5, 2010
April 4th, 2010
Deadly Premonition (360): Explored the hospital a bit, and there was a neat little segment where you were put in control of York as he inspected the dead girl's body himself. You end up finding what appears to be a little red seed (which would make sense, with the Japanese name of the game being "Red Seeds Profile."), and in a comedic moment, he pulls out a baggie with a few little red seeds inside.
Then another, and another, and another, till there's a half-dozen little bags of seeds. The game is full of little moments like this, where it's almost jarring the sudden silliness. Next it was off a little bit of forest (a several-minute drive, real-time) to interview the the two little twins who discovered the body, followed by another few minutes of investigating and profiling.
From there it was to an old lumbermill, which dragged on a little bit, but ended on a high moment via an elongated Quick-Time event. It started off by hiding, using the left trigger to hold your breath, before turning into a genuine chase. Waggling the left analog stick to run was a little excessive, but on the whole it was fun, with my variety and a neat payoff.
Hopefully I'll have some more time tomorrow, both in real life and in the game, to do a little more exploring. Doing two dungeons in a row is threatening burnout, and the open, Grand Theft Auto meets Shenmue feel of the city has me curious to take a deeper look around and see what there is to uncover.
Completed: Episode 1, Chapters 3-5.
Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing (360): I didn't play it at all today, but I did spend $4 just to download "Forklift Ryo." A waste of money, sure, but I gotta have my Shenmue!
Then another, and another, and another, till there's a half-dozen little bags of seeds. The game is full of little moments like this, where it's almost jarring the sudden silliness. Next it was off a little bit of forest (a several-minute drive, real-time) to interview the the two little twins who discovered the body, followed by another few minutes of investigating and profiling.
From there it was to an old lumbermill, which dragged on a little bit, but ended on a high moment via an elongated Quick-Time event. It started off by hiding, using the left trigger to hold your breath, before turning into a genuine chase. Waggling the left analog stick to run was a little excessive, but on the whole it was fun, with my variety and a neat payoff.
Hopefully I'll have some more time tomorrow, both in real life and in the game, to do a little more exploring. Doing two dungeons in a row is threatening burnout, and the open, Grand Theft Auto meets Shenmue feel of the city has me curious to take a deeper look around and see what there is to uncover.
Completed: Episode 1, Chapters 3-5.
Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing (360): I didn't play it at all today, but I did spend $4 just to download "Forklift Ryo." A waste of money, sure, but I gotta have my Shenmue!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
April 3rd, 2010
Deadly Premonition (360): Just a little further today! Since I had saved prior, I drove again to the Police Station, then explored it for a bit. There was a brief side-quest where I needed to find the sheriff's work-out buddy "Arnold," and it turns out it's the name of his dumbbell - and apparently there's a second one named "Sylvester," hah hah!
A cut-scene describing a bit about Anna's death - the reason York is investigating Greenvale - came next, and from there it was off to the hospital for the autopsy report. This time the sheriff and the assistant tagged along, and I got to hear another conversation between them. Before that, on the way to the station, I accidentally hopped out of the car, and York said something to effect of, "Do you have a hunch, Zach? If you wanna look into it, I'm with ya." I like neat little touches like that.
I wonder if he's speaking out loud to Zach/the player? It looks and sounds like it, but nobody has acknowledged it, so maybe he doesn't.
Anyway, I didn't bother exploring the hospital, since it looked a little big and would probably take me a few minutes. I do rather like "Freckly Fiona," the nurse working the desk there. Tomorrow!
Completed: Episode 1, Chapter 2.
A cut-scene describing a bit about Anna's death - the reason York is investigating Greenvale - came next, and from there it was off to the hospital for the autopsy report. This time the sheriff and the assistant tagged along, and I got to hear another conversation between them. Before that, on the way to the station, I accidentally hopped out of the car, and York said something to effect of, "Do you have a hunch, Zach? If you wanna look into it, I'm with ya." I like neat little touches like that.
I wonder if he's speaking out loud to Zach/the player? It looks and sounds like it, but nobody has acknowledged it, so maybe he doesn't.
Anyway, I didn't bother exploring the hospital, since it looked a little big and would probably take me a few minutes. I do rather like "Freckly Fiona," the nurse working the desk there. Tomorrow!
Completed: Episode 1, Chapter 2.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Journal Reborn April 2nd, 2010
Deadly Premonition (360): Finally got around to starting it, and I'm quite liking it. Despite the exceptionally negative reviews, it sounded like something I'd like, and the day/night cycle and living town had earned it mention on the Shenmue circuits.
And it wasn't the day/night cycle that got me, I only barely got to that before I had to call it a night. The prologue takes place has an atmospheric, Resident Evil 4 sorta feel to it, and the combat plays similarly. York is entirely too close to the camera, and he dominates the screen.
Then there's the quirky "Twin Peaks" feel to it. York constantly talks to "Zach," who is apparently the player, and the split personality of the main character. And, of course, when the game starts you in a big, red room, with two prepubescent angels whispering amongst themselves, discussing your fate while clocks spin, leaves fall and various oddities occur, you know you're in for something strange.
From there it went to a dark style feel, heading into a forest late at night, the rain and shadows obscuring everything, while zombie-esque humans chased after me, bent over backwards and staring through empty sockets.
As far as the Shenmue-esque open feel? Didn't get enough time to really try it, but I did get to drive a squad car through some farmer's land when I got lost en route to the station, taking down fencing and horses along the way!
Even better, along the way York and Zach discussed - by name - classic 80s actors and movies, including Attack of the Killer Tomatos, Tremors and Kevin Bacon. A nice little touch, that makes the character feel that much more real, and in turn the game as a whole.
Chapters Done: Prologue and Episode 1, Chapter 1.
And it wasn't the day/night cycle that got me, I only barely got to that before I had to call it a night. The prologue takes place has an atmospheric, Resident Evil 4 sorta feel to it, and the combat plays similarly. York is entirely too close to the camera, and he dominates the screen.
Then there's the quirky "Twin Peaks" feel to it. York constantly talks to "Zach," who is apparently the player, and the split personality of the main character. And, of course, when the game starts you in a big, red room, with two prepubescent angels whispering amongst themselves, discussing your fate while clocks spin, leaves fall and various oddities occur, you know you're in for something strange.
From there it went to a dark style feel, heading into a forest late at night, the rain and shadows obscuring everything, while zombie-esque humans chased after me, bent over backwards and staring through empty sockets.
As far as the Shenmue-esque open feel? Didn't get enough time to really try it, but I did get to drive a squad car through some farmer's land when I got lost en route to the station, taking down fencing and horses along the way!
Even better, along the way York and Zach discussed - by name - classic 80s actors and movies, including Attack of the Killer Tomatos, Tremors and Kevin Bacon. A nice little touch, that makes the character feel that much more real, and in turn the game as a whole.
Chapters Done: Prologue and Episode 1, Chapter 1.
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