Trophy Huntin' (18/09/11 - 24/09/11)

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Playstation 3)

Technical Difficulties

Attempt to access DNA Sequence 9 for the first time.

You're good enough at video games that you can watch an intro movie. Congratulations, you've earned a trophy. Best take a break before continuing. You're going to need a lot of mental and physical preparation for the next scene, which actually involves picking up the controller. Think you're up to the challenge?

Battle Wounds

Complete DNA Sequence 1.

It's been a few months since I finished Assassin's Creed 2, and with Revelations not far off, it seemed like the right time to have a crack at Brotherhood. DNA Sequence 1 acted mostly as a tutorial, but presented an entertaining opening to the game nonetheless. By the way Ezio was cheerfully wandering around Monteriggioni, it was painfully obvious that all hell was about to break loose. Bad for Ezio, but exciting for the player. The sacrifices these video game characters make for us...

Sanctuary! Sanctuary!

Find a secure place to hide and re-enter the Animus.

...And the sacrifices we make for them. Following on from DNA Sequence 1, you're dragged, kicking and screaming, into the world of Desmond once again. This time, you get quite a lengthy climbing sequence and a fair few cutscenes, so there's plenty of time to get to know female romantic interest, sarcastic British guy, geeky tech lady, and of course, average guy.

I'm sure they have names, but I was too busy trying to hang myself with a white hoodie to be paying attention. Hey, now I'm sarcastic British guy.

Mailer Daemon

Access your email in 2012.

As if it couldn't get any worse, you now have the option of leaving the Animus and playing as Desmond, any time you like. Just to remind you, a very intrusive text box will flash up on screen, alerting you to a new email received in present day. I think the first email I read said: "Don't forget, this is just a video game. Don't go getting too immersed."

Golden Boy

Discover the Shrine in the Terme di Traiano

Finally, we're back with Ezio, the true main character of Assassin's Creed. Despite all the negativity so far, I am really enjoying Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I just have nothing good to say about anything involving Desmond Miles, if you haven't already guessed.

This area was a throwback to one of my favourite types of section in AC2: what I like to call the indoor climb-em-ups (I doubt it'll catch on). I ended up playing through this particular shrine 4 times, thanks to Ubisoft's new way of appealing to the perfectionist in me. Each DNA sequence consists of separate memories, as usual. Here, "memory" is interchangeable with "mission", as that's all they are: objectives that must be completed to progress. However, each mission now includes an optional "100% sync" objective. By completing a memory under extra criteria, such as without taking damage, or within a certain time limit, 100% sync can be achieved, rather than a lesser percentage that reeks of failure.

I couldn't ignore it, of course, when the game challenged me to complete this climbing section in under 8 minutes. That's why I played through it 4 times. I have a feeling this game is going to take a long time to finish.

Deja Vu

Replay a Memory.

Like I said, 4 times. I'm my own worst enemy. Good thing there aren't any amazing games coming out in the next few months that I need to clear my gaming schedule for. Oh, there's that sarcastic British guy again. Uh oh...

Rome in Ruins

Complete DNA Sequence 2.

Alright, I'm starting to remember how this works. "Requiescat in pace," and everything goes all Matrix-y as the next chapter is loaded.

Perfect Recall

Achieve 100% Synchronization in any Sequence other than Sequence 1.

I wasn't actually aware of the rewards you get for 100% sync of a DNA sequence. It turns out that I now have the option of immunity to injury when replaying a memory, and I can also turn all horses into unicorns. Worth it.

World of Warcraft (PC)

Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)

Does Your Wolpertinger Linger?

Obtain a Wolpertinger pet.

Brewfest is back! I have fonder memories of the first year, as there were a few more quests going on that have been removed for reasons beyond me. It still creates a good atmosphere though, so even though I was pretty much done with the festival after completing all the achievements a couple of years ago, I thought I'd still drop in to get into the spirit of things.

And of course, I couldn't resist picking up this little fellow, just so that I could click on it and listen to the strange noises it makes.

Down With The Dark Iron

Defend the Brewfest camp from the Dark Iron attack and complete the quest, "This One Time, When I Was Drunk..."

With all the years Brewfest has been going on for now, it's surprising to still see cries of "WUT I DO?" when the Dark Iron dwarves attack. Chug and throw. Chug and throw. Your reward: motion sickness.

The Empire of Zul'Drak

Complete 100 quests in Zul'Drak

Zul'Drak was the one zone I hadn't really explored fully in Wrath of the Lich King. I now see the error of my ways, as it's actually one of the best that Northrend has to offer, possibly second only to Storm Peaks. I might have a little bias for the zone, what with it being one big troll-fest, but I think the race deserved a little attention after being mostly ignored in the Burning Crusade. It was also good to see the return of ice trolls, which, as far as I know, haven't been seen since Warcraft 3.

Character: Zulgrim (Troll Death Knight)

50 Quests Completed

Complete 50 quests.

What's this? A death knight? I played through the starting zone when Wrath of the Lich King was first released, but never took it any further. Being quite partial to plate wearing melee classes, I always had some interest in death knights, but didn't really have the time to level one.

The perfect opportunity has now arisen, as I want another character at level 75, giving me access to two more professions. What could be more convenient than a class that starts at level 55?

The majority of these 50 quests made up the starting zone; a fine example of quest design and the use of phasing to simulate progression. There hasn't really been anything like it since, in my opinion.

Level 60

Reach level 60.

It doesn't take long. You leave the starting area at level 58, and the next two levels fly by in Outland. This is going to be a pure grind. I've read the Outland quests enough times now that I can just accept them and get straight on with it. I'm a killing machine. I'll be 75 in no time.

Into The Wild Blue Yonder

Learn the expert riding skill. 

I splashed out on the eery looking winged steed of the Ebon Blade. I need to look the part.

Team Fortress 2 (PC)

General Achievements

Escape The Heat

Jump into a pool of refreshing water while on fire.

Steam reports that I've played 32 hours of Team Fortress 2, and it's only now that I've made the smart decision to jump into water when on fire?

Soldier Achievements

Where Eagles Dare

Get the highest possible rocket jump using jump and crouch.

Awesome drum intro. Piece of Mind is a great album.

During the victory screen, when it doesn't matter how much I hurt myself, I've been practicing rocket jumps. This was a good 'un. 

Soldier Milestone 2

Achieve 11 of the achievements in the Soldier pack.

Thanks to this achievement, I'm now in possession of the Direct Hit, a rocket launcher that favours those who can aim well. Not for me, then. I like the one that fires rockets really fast. The less I have to make each shot count, the better.

Spy Achievements

High Value Target

Backstab an enemy who is dominating 3 or more of your teammates.

There's nothing I hate more than a demoman with that irritating sword and shield combo. Neither a shot to the head or a backstab compares to the pure frustration felt when a demoman charges towards you, and it's too late to do anything about it. It's always too late. This was a very satisfying backstab.

Spy Milestone 2

Achieve 11 of the achievements in the Spy pack. 

I've been rewarded with the Cloak and Dagger, a new method of cloaking that recharges when standing still. I've not really got to grips with it yet, but I imagine it's good for hiding in strategic locations, waiting for the opportunity to strike. I suppose the choice between this and the default cloak depends on how much I want to move around the map.

Review: Demon's Souls

Release Date: JP: February 5, 2009, NA: October 6, 2009, EU: June 25, 2010
Developed By: From Software
Genre: Action RPG
Platforms: Playstation 3

Note: The online mode referred to in this review will eventually be shut down. However, you still have plenty of time, as it has been recently announced that the game will remain online until at least some way into 2012.

Whenever a game gains a reputation for being difficult, the hardcore gamers who yearn for the tougher days of gaming past seem to crawl out from their shrines, where greats such as Viewtiful Joe and Ninja Gaiden are worshipped, to quickly initiate the newcomer into their dark cult. Demon's Souls is one of the most recent games to grab the attention of hardcore gamers, boasting unforgiving gameplay that does not suffer fools well.

I'm a Soul Man

Set in the kingdom of Boletaria, the story is based around the use of 'soul arts', dark magic fuelled by souls. Overuse of such power has awakened the ominous Old One, bringing with it a deep fog that has trapped many a hero, taking their own souls from them. What makes you so different is anyone's guess, but you enter the fog in the hopes of freeing the troubled kingdom. Your courage is your downfall, of course, as you are slaughtered only moments into your quest.

This introduces the first major component of the gameplay; body and soul forms. You begin the game alive, in body form. Dying while in body form returns you to the deep fog as a soul. In soul form, your health is cut in half, while your attack power is increased. The only way to restore your body is to defeat a boss. Yes, this is the first deliciously cruel punishment the game has in store for you: dying makes it easier for everything to continue killing you. Unfortunately, the punishment isn't quite as devilish as it first seems, as it's possible to obtain a ring, very early on in the game, that increases your soul form health to only marginally less than your full, body form health. Amongst others, this is one of the reasons that playing in soul form is actually a more preferable choice, at least the first time playing through, and it's a decision I went with, even going so far as to commit suicide after each boss kill to instantly become a soul again. It's a shame, because what could have been a very inventive way of punishing failure actually turns out to be quite cosy and safe.

Another reason that most prefer soul form is due to the game's next major mechanic: world tendency. Certain actions push the 'tendency' of a world towards black or white. Achieving pure white or black tendency in a world can unlock new events, areas or items. Dying in body form pushes the world tendency towards black, whether you want it to or not, whereas dying in soul form has no effect. It's yet another reason why body form seems redundant, and it's not really clear what From Software were trying to achieve with this system.

World tendency itself is an interesting mechanic, though, as it has you returning to levels you've already completed for further exploration. For instance, you might find that a particularly nasty dragon that was blocking access to a plethora of tasty loot decides to take a holiday when world tendency is pure white. You may also discover that the locked gate that was previously just a curiosity is now open, beyond it a whole new area full of items and potentially, an optional mini-boss. When you get the hang of manipulating the world tendency, you find yourself with a lot more interesting objectives.

And then we have the backbone of Demon's Souls, the traditional gameplay elements of an RPG. Everything from statistical customisation and weapon and armour upgrading is here, with a striking amount of freedom. The class that you choose at the beginning of the game is by no means a blueprint that you're forced to stick to; it merely defines the abilities you start with, and it's from then on that you can shape your character in any way you like. Doing your research can help immensely here, as characters that have been carefully planned out will end up much more powerful than those that are based on 'on-the-fly' decisions when it comes to leveling. I absolutely don't mean that in a bad way either, as it just goes to show how deeply you can be drawn in to the obsession of shaping a perfect hero.

Nerf Hunters

The combat is in real time, and involves a great deal of timing on the player's part. The enemies are ruthless, and only by learning their attack patterns and identifying the safest time to lower your guard and attack will you make it through alive. Choices between melee, ranged and spellcasting are all available to the player, depending on the type of character they have in mind.

I began playing with the intention of fighting toe-to-toe in traditional melee style. Some of the bosses I fought this way were suitably tricky, and required multiple attempts before finally being put down. Somewhere along the way I acquired a rather beastly bow, allowing for some sneaky ranged combat. Because I'd focused on the dexterity stat, good for both melee and ranged combat, I was already set up to deal significant damage from afar. This is where I discovered a major imbalance, as boss battles quickly turned from nerve-wracking events to simple target practice. Whether intentional or not, many of the arenas of combat included a 'sniper perch', allowing for complete safety while firing off arrows at the now completely helpless boss.

It's true that by sticking to melee combat, I might have faced more of a challenge with some of these bosses, but with the option there, and the game's unforgiving threat of returning me to the beginning of the level if I died, the easy way out was always too tempting. The point is, in a game so revered for its brutality, 'cheese tactics' shouldn't exist at all.

Other than that, Demon's Souls does live up to its arduous image, providing a journey of just the right levels of frustration and satisfaction. Its difficulty shouldn't act as a deterrent to anyone, though, as with a little practice, patience and persistence, you end up getting a feel for it, and attack patterns start to become clear.

It was at around the last quarter of the game that the difficulty seemed to wane, but this is mostly a consequence of its design. Each world can be completed in any order, meaning you're going to naturally out-level a couple of them before you get round to playing through them. It's also around this point that the game has no more surprises for you. You'll have developed a sixth sense for when an enemy is about to ambush you, and you'll likely have become proficient enough in combat to take care of yourself. While it would have been great for the difficulty to persist until the very end, it's not a huge problem as by this point, you're having way too much fun with the game to care.

Silence is Golden

Presentation wise, Demon's Souls captures the spirit of dark fantasy well, creating a grim, harsh atmosphere. Its various settings carry a different category of horror theme, from a rotting prison to a diseased bog, which serve to unsettle the fearful souls who enter. The character models are well done, and in particular, the armour is nicely detailed with some impressive lighting effects making it shine. Music is mostly absent, which actually works in the game's favour as it heightens the tension, the unnerving silence concealing the hidden fiends lying in wait just around the next corner. The only time immersion is really broken is when the overactive rag doll physics kick in. Corpses of your defeated foes will fall naturally over walls and down stairs, but a simple step over the motionless dead causes them to leap about as if puppets, controlled by a puppeteer who has just tripped over the strings.

Ghost Town

The game includes an online mode that offers some highly innovative features. While connected, players can leave messages on the ground, offering hints to others, such as a warning about an ambush up ahead. Pools of blood will also litter the ground, which, when touched, will replay the death of another player, showing you how you might avoid a similar fate. Occasionally, you'll even see ghosts of other players that are in the same areas as you. All of these ingenious features add up to make you feel part of something big; a world in which you're not the only lost soul.

More directly, you can call upon the souls of other players to help you defeat bosses, an action which will grant any soul their body back. If you're into a little player versus player action, you can invade someone else's game and murder them, purely for the thrill. Of course, you can be invaded too while in body form, another reason that pushes many players into sticking with soul form.

All of this integrates well, and it seems that From Software's intention was to create a single player game that could be played online, passively or actively. Unfortunately, there came a point where I was forced to choose between remaining online or playing offline. World tendency shifts to the average of every connected player when you log in, making it much more difficult to manipulate, as it 'resets' every time you begin a session. Online players have the option of helping others in boss battles or invading another's world to shift their world tendency, but these appear to be more mandatory if you find that the average tendency is a few levels away from the pure white or black that you require. By playing offline, world tendency stays just as you left it, meaning it's the better choice if you're aiming to see all the game's extra tendency-related events, but don't want to stray from single player. In the end, it splits single player and multiplayer in a way that contradicts the game's intention of having an always-online experience that blends the two.

Overall

Despite some minor faults, this a very rewarding game. While the difficulty eventually lowers, and there are definite 'cheese' tactics that have snuck through, the pure fun of playing what is otherwise one of the most brilliantly designed RPGs in years remains throughout. The online features feel new and inventive, and will make for many impressive moments should you decide not to get too wrapped up in world tendency manipulation. With satisfying combat, deep systems and various ways to build your character, this is one you may even find yourself starting up for a second time after completion. It's at that point that the game may restore your faith in its tribulation, as its new game+ mode increases difficulty to the point where it won't matter how much health you have. It's going to destroy you, one way or another. And you'll love it.

Rating: 9/10

Trophy Huntin' (11/09/11 - 17/09/11)

WoW achievements only this week. I played some Starcraft 2 also, but what were the chances of me getting any achievements in that?

World of Warcraft

Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)

Explore Zul'Drak

Explore Zul'Drak, revealing the covered areas of the world map

We're actually far from finishing the zone. I got this while waiting for the others to catch up on a gathering quest, in which the druid's flight form gives you quite the advantage. I decided to just fly all the way around the zone and take in the sights. It's a very gloomy, evil looking place, but for once it's in an appealing way. The remnants of a corrupt and ruined troll empire make for some interesting environments. I'm very much looking forward to getting to the troll part of the questing.

Working Day and Night

Obtain 450 skill points in two primary professions

We finally hit the coveted level 75; the level at which you can start crafting at cataclysmic levels. I took the opportunity to sink some gold into jewelcrafting, unlocking the daily quests in the process. Time to see how profitable this profession can be.

Safe Deposit

Buy 7 additional bank slots

The amount of glyphs I'm producing per crafting session was getting far too vast for my existing storage space. I spent a fortune buying glyph and herb containers to make the crafting process a little less time consuming by taking out the need to mill the herbs in batches. I'm sure the amount of time saved will be worth it overall.

Character: Grimtooth (Orc Warrior)

Help the Bombardier! I'm the Bombardier!

Kill 10 Schnotzz infantry with one artillery shell during the Fire From the Sky daily quest in Uldum

I could pretend that this was due to incredible judgement and timing skills, but it was all down to luck. I wasn't trying to hit 10 at once, it just happened. Yay?

 

Unearthing Uldum

Complete 105 quests in Uldum

Following on from two zones that seemed to regress back to the old style quests of grindy killing and looting, Uldum was a breath of fresh air, presenting plenty of variety. While Deepholm took me quite a while to finish due to it being a long slog, I completed Uldum relatively quickly, mainly because of how much fun I was having with it. It was also great to see cut scenes being put to so much use, as they really flesh out the story. When your main mode of narration is a text box, you need to make use of all the extra tools available. I think cut scenes like the ones you see in Uldum are vital to the evolution of WoW's storytelling. Hopefully, we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the next expansion.

Explore Uldum

Explore Uldum, revealing the covered areas of the world map

It was only a matter of time before a zone heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian architecture surfaced. It's a setting that's been used in many games before it, and I'm honestly surprised that it's taken this long.

I would like to ask though; what are these cat things? I wasn't really following WoW when Cataclysm was being previewed, so they came out of nowhere for me. It's not uncommon for Blizzard to introduce new non-playable races in an expansion (when Ethereals do become playable, I am on that), but for some reason, these Tol'vir took me by surprise more than any other race ever has. I can't really decide whether they fit into Warcraft or not.

In a Thousand Years Even You Might be Worth Something

Compete the Coffer of Promise quests in Uldum up to and including Harrison Jones and the Temple of Uldum

Alright, it's time to come clean. I'm aware that this questline was a massive Indiana Jones reference from start to finish. I have a terrible admission to make: I have never seen an Indiana Jones movie. It's true, and it means a lot of these quests were probably lost on me, but I still enjoyed them nevertheless.

I should rent those movies.

Level 85

Reach Level 85

There it is. This is the third time that Grimtooth has reached the level cap. This time, the momentous ding was attained by the rather anti-climactic act of mining. Still, I was relieved that I hadn't leveled moments before when I was doing a quest that involved killing naga. That would've been so, so wrong.

Now that Grimtooth is level 85, he'll wait until Grimtoosk's party has caught up, before grabbing sword and board and taking on the role of my main once again.

Highly Defined Final Fantasy X

This week's news that Final Fantasy X is getting a HD re-release was obviously going to be met with many reactions of "why not Final Fantasy VII?" The answer is most likely that it's just a lot more simple. Many PS2 games are getting upgraded to 1080p for a re-release, but how many HD remakes of PSOne games have we seen? I fully expect Final Fantasy X HD to be exactly the same game I played 9 years ago (wow, really?), just a lot prettier. Final Fantasy VII, on the other hand, would need to be built from scratch, which sounds like quite the mammoth task.

My reaction was a lot different. As soon as the news popped up on my twitter feed, I let out an audible gasp of joy. Final Fantasy X was one of my favourite games in the series, and probably the last one that truly gave me that Final Fantasy feeling; the feeling that drives you to sit down on Saturday morning, just to play for a couple of hours before you get on with whatever else you had planned for the day, and the next thing you know, it's June.

Today I'm going to reminisce, and talk about a few of the things that made Final Fantasy X so enjoyable to me.

Keep Calm and Cast Haste

Square-Enix (or Squaresoft, as they were known at the time), decided to move away from their staple Active Time Battle system to try something new for the tenth game in the series. Rather, battles were played out in true turn-based style, with each character and enemy getting turns in a sequential order determined by their individual speed. The faster characters had more turns, while the slower characters had less. On display at all times was a summary of the upcoming turns, which allowed for some real in-depth planning to take place.

Generally, slower characters like Auron could deal a larger amount of damage with one attack, and break through otherwise sturdy armour. A good strategy, then, was to use the faster characters to prepare, by casting buffs, debuffs or top-up heals, for the slower, harder hitting characters to reach their full damage dealing potential when their turn came around. Similarly, when an enemy's turn was coming up, it was a good time to prepare your party to survive any attacks. Say, for instance, a boss had a physical attack that dealt a hefty amount of damage, it was a good idea to cast damage reduction buffs, such as protect and shell, before the enemy's turn came around. 

Sometimes, a few extra mechanics would be thrown into the battle that would require even further thinking ahead. One such battle had you fighting on the deck of an airship, in which you could bark out orders to have the ship moved closer to or further away from the boss. With a set number of turns passing in between the order and the ship actually moving, you had to carefully plan ship movements in order to avoid certain attacks while still dealing sufficient damage to the boss. There was a lot of tactical decision making about the timing of your actions in Final Fantasy X, and it resulted in a very engaging battle system. 

Finally, a Limit Break System That Works!

Following on from the disaster that was the trance system in Final Fantasy IX, which always activated during a random, run-of-the-mill encounter that you really didn't need it for, Square turned the whole system around to great success with overdrives, in which you could actually choose when to unleash its devastating attacks. Accompanying it was the option to choose how each character's overdrive bar would fill up, which allowed you to specialise for more frequent overdrives. For instance, the default setting of the bar filling up when taking damage wasn't really suitable for Yuna, the healer, as it was good practice to have her take as little damage as possible, being as fragile as she is. The mode that allowed her bar to fill up through casting heals was much more appropriate.

"The wind... it's nice."

Yes, Final Fantasy X had excruciatingly bad voice acting, but it was the first time a Final Fantasy game actually included it at all. Returning to a Final Fantasy game released before this one now has an initial uneasy adjustment to all the characters being mutes. It really added a lot to the characters, as it gave them manerisms, as well as a voice that wasn't just a variation of your own internal voice that reads text for you. My internal voice had real trouble figuring out what Quina Quen sounded like.

Why Not Try a Holiday in Spira This Year?

I love Final Fantasy's futuristic/fantasy hybrid style, and I think the PS2 did wonders in bringing some colour to it. Despite the world being constantly ravaged by the beastly Sin, it's a bright, luscious world. It's probably because of the lack of technology that there's so much of the landscape that can be seen, rather than the bustling cities that would usually cover them. Don't get me wrong, I think the city of Esthar in Final Fantasy VIII is amazing, but it was nice to be traversing a more natural world for once.

A Matter of Life and Death

The story of Final Fantasy X is an interesting one, with a heavy emphasis on the theme of a circle of death. Spira, the world in which the game takes place, is stuck in a cycle whereby the giant monstrosity Sin brings destruction to settlements when they've begun to advance too far in technology. The only way to defeat Sin is by sacrifice of a summoner; more death. The worst part is, Sin eventually returns and the whole thing starts all over again.

It has a real effect on the characters and residents of every town you visit, as the whole world is putting a brave face on things. No-one could be happy living in a world where every morning could be the beginning of the day in which your home is destroyed. And how disheartening it would be to enjoy a short period of peace before the fear returns to cast a shadow over everyone. What else could you do except pretend that everything is fine and find as much distraction as possible to forget just how miserable your existance is? That's what the people of Spira are doing. They fight to keep the one city they do have which plays host to the sport that lets everyone escape the madness for a while. I genuinely felt sorry for these people. Thanks for making me feel, game!

The End-Game - So Many Bosses

I mentioned this as one of my unconquered mountains, but one of the things that really made this stand out in terms of replayability was how much there was to do after completion of the main story, specifically the amount of optional bosses to fight. I'm hoping that the HD remake includes the extras that the international and european releases of the original game did, as this could be a good opportunity for me to have another crack at those dark aeons that previously eluded me. I imagine that there'll be trophies/achievements, which could be all the encouragement I need.

And finally...

This is how it opened. That's going to look good in HD.

Trophy Huntin' (28/08/11 - 10/09/11)

Demon's Souls (Playstation 3)

Flying Dragon's Trophy

Slayer of Demon "Blue Flying Dragon"

Biorr made a guest appearance again, tanking the blue dragon for me. I say tanking, what I actually mean is he stood in the same spot, getting toasted over and over again. It took a lot of arrows, but as has become common with a lot of Demon's Souls bosses, the blue dragon was taken down with minimal effort.

False King's Trophy

Slayer of Demon "False King"

After a string of painfully easy bosses, it was a pleasant surprise to face something I actually had to pay attention to. This guy was ruthless, even having an ability that drained my soul levels. This wasn't temporary either. Your soul levels are contained in the usual blood pool you leave behind on death. This means that dying again before reclaiming them means that the levels you lose are gone permanently. That's one terrifying boss ability.

It took me a few attempts, but once I'd got the pattern down, the False King was vanquished.

 

World Uniter's Trophy

Old One Put to Sleep & World United

In English, that means "completed Demon's Souls". The final boss was mainly a formality that posed no real challenge. I suppose I'd be disappointed, but I've seen this happen in games before and it's actually a good way of rewarding the player who has fought enough bosses and just wants to see the ending. When it follows a particularly brutal end-game boss, it comes as a relief that you get to strike down the main antagonist without the fear of having to go back and fight any preceding bosses again.

The final section of Demon's Souls was set up such that this wouldn't happen anyway, but by this point, I'd had my fill of the game and was more than ready to see its conclusion. Review coming... eventually.

World of Warcraft

Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)

Professional Grand Master

Obtain 450 skill points in a profession

From 1, might I add. I've been making a bit of a gold with inscription on a low level character, and I decided it was time I took it a step further and trained the profession on a high level character. Grimtoosk is a high enough level that he can potentially craft every glyph in the game, which gives me much more stock to sell. With a few thousand gold set aside, I spent a long afternoon taking inscription from 1 to 450, which included a hell of a lot of herb milling.

It was worth it in the end, though, as I'm now raking it in. Selling the glyphs I made while levelling the profession has allowed it to pay for itself already, and my profits are increasing with every new glyph technique I learn through daily research and books of glyph mastery.

In fact, it quickly led to the next achievement...

The Right Stuff

Learn the artisan riding skill

Epic flying! It may be crazy to buy this for an alt, but after getting used to the speed of it on my main character, it's a luxury I just can't be without. Plus, the troll's epic flight form is way too funky looking to pass up on.

Veteran of the Wrathgate

Complete the Dragonblight quests leading up to and including the Return to Angrathar

One of the greatest moments in WoW questing, and the first time we saw a real cutscene in the game (as far as I'm aware). It was the turning point in the relationship between the Horde and Alliance, and led to the increased power struggle between the two in Cataclysm, which I'm enjoying immensely.

What a disappointment that the follow-up, the Battle for the Undercity, one of the best quests in the game, has been removed. Why, Blizzard?

1000 Quests Completed

Complete 1000 quests

At least half of those probably rewarded me with stuff I couldn't use. Spell leather? Yuck.

Character: Grimtooth (Orc Warrior)

Professional Illustrious Grand Master

Obtain 525 skill points in a profession

Don't worry, this was achieved more naturally than the inscription grind. I love mining. It's the first profession I ever picked up, and I've never had the desire to let it go. I know I could probably profit more from something like enchanting, but the feeling of pure joy when I see a yellow dot appear on my minimap is something I would miss dearly. I also enjoy the anticipation of discovering what crazy metals they've come up with for each new expansion. My favourite was titanium. No, not like our titanium. Titanium; metal of the Titans.

Explore Deepholm

Explore Deepholm, revealing the covered areas of the world map

In a way, Deepholm's charm is along the same vein as Outland's. Getting away from Azeroth allows for some uncharacteristic and 'out there' environment design. Outland was a different world that allowed Blizzard's art team more creative freedom. Deepholm, being the elemental plain of earth, offers the same. The result is one very cool looking place. I'm surprised I haven't broken my print screen key.

Deep into Deepholm

Complete 110 quests in Deepholm

While it may look pretty, I felt the quests were somewhat lacking. The storyline is great, and it succeeded in making me feel like I played a large part in repairing some of the more major damage of the cataclysm.

The quests themselves consisted of far too many of the bog standard 'kill this many mobs' and 'gather this many items' objectives. I seem to remember a lot more variety in the Wrath of the Lich King zones. Even one small unique mechanic can make a difference, but quests that strayed from what we've done over and over again were few and far between here.

Team Fortress 2

General Achievements

Dynasty

Win 20 games

Considering I've been playing TF2 for a couple of months now, this must mean I've lost a lot more than 20 games.

With Friends Like These...

Play in a game with 7 or more players from your friend list

Bug! I was actually playing with 2 players from my friend list. We think the presence of bots that somehow copied our avatars confused the game enough to award us this achievement. It would be nice to play TF2 with this many of my friends someday...

Heavy Achievements

Party Loyalty

Kill 50 enemies within 3 seconds of them attacking your Medic

Achieved thanks to my medic usually yelling panicked warnings over voice chat. Sometimes my reflexes actually kick in, and I'm able to save him.

Stalin the Kart

Block the enemy from moving the payload cart 25 times 

Out of all the game modes, payload is by far my favourite. Here's to another 25 payload blocks!

Spy Achievements

Come In From The Cold

Get a Revenge kill with a backstab

Snipers. As a Heavy, they're my worst enemies. I'm now in the habit that when a sniper begins to dominate, I switch to the spy and hunt them down personally. This was my first of hopefully many revenge kills of an irritating sniper.

Dr. Nooooo

Backstab a Medic that is ready to deploy an Ubercharge 

Something I've learned in my pursuit to becoming a semi-decent spy is to choose my targets wisely. A medic with an ubercharge is the most dangerous player on the battlefield, and I'll always be sneaking up behind them first.

Agent Provocateur

Backstab your Steam Community friends 10 times

It's taken far too long to get to this point, because you can probably multiply that number by 10 and you'll have the amount of times I've been backstabbed by them.  

Engineer Achievements

Doc, Stock and Barrel

Repair a sentry gun under fire while being healed by a Medic

Apparently, repairing your sentry as it fires, while receiving metals from a nearby dispenser, is known as 'tanking'. I was tanking, and I had a personal healer keeping me alive. There's WoW in my Team Fortress!

Sniper Achievements

Be Efficient

Get 3 kills with the Sniper Rifle without missing a shot

Something was in the air during this weekend's TF2 session, and it wasn't just rocket-jumping soldiers. It was an air of what could only be described as 'dossing about'. When you end up playing on 2fort with a bunch of bots, what else can you do?

Somewhere along the way, a spontaneous sniper battle emerged between me and my chums. It was the first time I really touched the class, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Somehow, I managed to wrangle this achievement. I'm not sure it would have gone quite as well if the server was full of real people.

Australian Rules

Dominate an enemy Sniper

Sadly, this wasn't one of the participants of the 'great sniper battle of September 2011'. This was either a bot, or a really terrible player who repeatedly stood still for far too long. 

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Phew! I've really got to stop leaving this for 2 weeks.

Unconquered Mountains

The half painted shed. The unfinished novel. The unread web scripting book sold on eBay. We've all had projects that we didn't quite finish. For whatever reason, there are some ambitions that we begin enthusiastically, but lose interest somewhere along the way. The same applies to gaming. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has started some grand gaming project, never to finish it. Today I'm going to talk about some of my unconquered gaming mountains.

Learn Starcraft 2

This applies to every RTS game I've ever played, but Starcraft 2 is the most recent. With an integrated league system, achievements and the general buzz surrounding the game just after its release, I was giddy with excitement at the prospect of finally putting some meaningful time into an online multiplayer RTS.

Upon finishing the campaign I set out to learn the basics of playing as the Terran. I read up on build orders, practiced openings against the AI, watched replays, and even played a few games in the practice league. Surprisingly, I wasn't terrible. I managed to win a few games, and it felt as if I'd earned the victories just by having a grasp of some of the main concepts of competitive Starcraft play.

Fast forward to a few nights ago, when I jumped into a few team matches with some old WoW guildies. As I bumbled about, trying to find hotkeys and wondering what I should have been building, it felt like it was my first time playing, all over again. It might as well have been, since it was the first time I'd played since the 7 practice games I'd managed over a year ago. It made me think back to when I was planning on becoming a Starcraft 2 regular. That was going to be my place in the world of competitive online play.

I think it was the pressure. I play games to relax, and there's nothing more relaxing than a single player game, where there's nobody to judge you. Scripted AI doesn't care how bad you are, it just gets on with it's pre-scripted role without passing judgement. Starcraft 2 requires a lot of intense concentration and multi-tasking, and I think it's the latter that's my achilles heel. There's always something I'm forgetting, whether it's building more supply depots, calling down MULEs, expanding, or even building units at all. And all the while, I'm supposed to be watching the enemy and deciding on which units will best counter theirs? It's overwhelming, and I think it's what led to a few decisions to play something instead of Starcraft 2, and slowly my attention was diverted to other, more relaxing games.

I'm sure it's something you get used to. I still really like Starcraft 2 despite being rubbish at it, and it may even be something I haven't truly given up on yet. Since the multiplayer session earlier this week, I've been watching replays and idly looking at Terran strategies for dummies. I think I can see where this is leading.

Finish Every Final Fantasy Game

A classic. I'm sure I'm amongst hundreds of thousands of gamers who got into Final Fantasy late, either in the PSOne or PS2 era, and upon finishing a couple of games in the series, slammed their fist on the table, proclaiming "I'm going to finish every last one!" Let's take a look at my progress, shall we? It's worth noting that I challenged myself to this somewhere in between Final Fantasy 8 and 9, which was over 10 years ago.

• Final Fantasy - I got to the point where I upgraded my character classes, and gave up due the sheer slog through mindless random battles.
• Final Fantasy 2 - I've owned 2 different versions of it. Never played it.
• Final Fantasy 3 - I've never even owned it, despite a shiny DS remake.
• Final Fantasy 4 - Again, I never bothered to pick it up, let alone play it.
• Final Fantasy 5 - I at least had a crack at this one on an emulator. I'm not sure where I left it, but it was far from the end. I don't remember a thing about it, it was so long ago.
• Final Fantasy 6 - There's a playstation memory card somewhere in the back of a dusty cupboard that has a save file right before Kefka's tower. I dragged myself through the entire, poorly emulated playstation port with horrible loading times, only to suddenly stop playing right at the end. Why do I do this to myself?
• Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, 10 - Actually finished! Hurrah!
• Final Fantasy 11 - Now, we all know this one doesn't count.
• Final Fantasy 12 - I was playing WoW at the time, and not just a few times a week like I do now. This was full on WoW time, when I would play whenever I had a free moment. During this period, it took me weeks to finish a playthrough of the extremely short Fable. How was a really long RPG going to stand a chance?
• Final Fantasy 13 - Finished.

5 out of 13. Nice going Captain Attention Span.

Defeat Every Dark Aeon, Penance and Nemesis in Final Fantasy 10

I have a soft spot for optional bosses. That's why I was foaming at the mouth at the prospect of taking on a dark version of every aeon, souped up versions of pretty much every enemy in the game in the arena, and the two unlockable 'uber' bosses that each of these side quests unlocked. So much to do after story completion. So many reasons to powerlevel my characters to insane proportions.

It seemed like there was a good way to cheese it too. By creating weapons that converted my overdrive bar (filled up by taking damage) into experience, and adding a nice ability that tripled said experience, it was merely a case of finding an enemy that was going to dish out some intense pain, and reap the massive amounts of experience rewarded for my overdrive bar constantly filling up. Thankfully, such a monster existed; the Don Tonberry.

But of course, this was long before World of Warcraft broke me through the grind barrier. After the initial setup, when the actual grinding began, it wasn't long before I gave up out of sheer boredom. Perhaps I'd be more successful these days since I'm a little less resistant to farming in RPGs. But until the day comes when I decide to dust off the old PS2 and pop FFX in, this remains another achievement I gave up on.

Disgaea

I have a very strange relationship with hardcore strategy RPG Disgaea. In a way, it's the perfect game for me as I absolutely love min-maxing. The amount of character development is incredible, and would allow anyone with enough patience to create an army of indestructible super-demons.

But maybe there's a little too much. I'm the type of gamer who has to be getting the most out of their characters at all times. If I'm offered ways of improving, even optionally, I always will before progressing through the main part of the game. In Disgaea, very early on you're able to create a multitude of different character classes, of which upgrades are unlocked when you reach certain level milestones. Items can be upgraded by entering their own item world, which can sometimes consist of a dungeon with as many as 100 floors. It's due to all this that I've barely scratched the surface of Disgaea's story.

The advice I've read is that you can get through your first playthrough simply by using the main character, who should level up enough to get you through mostly on his own. But that's not good enough for me. I've created one of every class. I want them all to be as equally powerful. That means hundreds of runs through item worlds and levelling characters from scratch every time a new class is unlocked.

I just can't do it. I've started Disgaea on 4 separate occasions, trying to focus on the story in the latter couple of attempts, but each time, I get distracted by all the side-content, which eventually becomes overwhelming enough that I stop playing.

Maybe it's for the best. The max level in Disgaea is 9999, and then there's the option of returning a character to level 1 with higher base stats in order to level them up to 9999 again and get even better resulting stats. I'm not sure I want to know what such a game mechanic would do to me.

Got any failed gaming ambitions you want to share? Comment!