tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17266133428916148772024-03-06T04:35:28.538+00:00Grimtooth GamingGrimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-29846296580950963672011-11-27T20:10:00.001+00:002011-11-27T20:45:12.555+00:00Giving Bitmob a TryI've been writing this blog for around 7 months now, and while I am enjoying it, I have one major problem: I don't know how well I'm doing. Since I've had no previous experience in writing articles and reviews, the only knowledge I have is my own. Editing, in particular, is something I've mostly guessed at. That's not good enough if I want to eventually write professionally.<br />
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I've come across a website named <a href="http://bitmob.com/">Bitmob</a>, which seems like a good place for amateurs looking to improve their writing. I only started visiting it last week, but I've already learned a hell of a lot about editing, as they have some <a href="http://bitmob.com/articles/bitmob-writing-tips-a-look-into-our-editing-process">great</a> <a href="http://bitmob.com/articles/reminder-bitmob-writing-challenge-extended-to-august-7">articles</a> on the matter. If I were to look back on some of the stuff I've written here, I imagine I'd find plenty of cases of stylistic features that should actually be avoided.<br />
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They have a team of staff writers, all of whom have had plenty of experience writing within the video games industry. Voluntary writers can submit their own articles, and the Bitmob staff pick out any they deem front-page material, edit them, and put them up alongside their own posts. Along with a few writing exercises every now and then, the whole thing seems to be designed to help rookie writers improve their work.<br />
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I'm going to try it out. I need feedback, and this seems to be the place to get it. There was a <a href="http://bitmob.com/articles/bitmob-wants-you-to-write-about-skyward-sword-andor-skyrim">post</a> last week, asking for more articles about Skyrim. That seems like as good a place as any to get started. I wrote a short piece about the game I've been obsessing over for the past couple of weeks, and I've spent some time focusing on editing, paying attention to some of the advice I've read.<br />
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From now on, I'll be writing articles for Bitmob. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this blog yet, but if I do happen to have any regular readers, you can follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/IronGoldfish6">Twitter</a>, where I'll be posting links to any articles I write for Bitmob.<br />
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If there really is anyone out there, thanks for reading, and may your nets always be full!Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-35455338872135164402011-11-20T10:42:00.001+00:002011-11-20T18:38:00.269+00:00This Week, I 'Ave Been Mostly Playing (14/11/11 - 20/11/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Skyrim (PC)</b></span></div>
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Like so many others, Skyrim has me. The amount of buzz surrounding this game is incredible, and I can't remember the last time I heard so many people talking about one game. It's strange to think that it was only two games previous that the Elder Scrolls series wasn't that well known, and was mostly for hardcore western RPG fans. I'll admit that I didn't even know what Morrowind was until a few years after its release. By the time Oblivion came out, a lot more people knew of the series, and now the latest entry is towering over this year's Call of Duty game, with at least 3 times as many players. I guess you could say the series has... gathered steam (ho ho ho).</div>
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It's all I've played this week, and I'm enjoying it a lot. I skipped Oblivion, but I heard that it was a little repetitive, and empty compared to Morrowind. I did play some of the third Elder Scrolls game and enjoyed the open world that, despite its size, was still packed with things to see and do for the inquisitive explorer. Skyrim seems to follow that style, but looks a lot better, and brings in a slightly streamlined skill leveling system that makes it more accessible. I appreciated that, for once, I was able to begin playing this game without too much prior planning. I merely decided on a race that started with bonuses to the skills I was interested in, and they've developed naturally as I've played in my own preferred style.</div>
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I've barely touched the main storyline. Whenever I'm on my way to the next objective, I find caves to loot and new quests to embark on. Merely visiting a new town fills your quest log up with plenty of opportunities to completely ignore the main questline and enjoy the feeling of freedom.</div>
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I decided on an orcish character, as I tend to favour orcs in any game that doesn't represent them as dumb beasts. I'm going with my usual approach of wielding a one-handed weapon and shield, and playing defensively, bashing enemies in the face with the shield and striking when they're open to attack. It's working out well. Meanwhile, I've been dabbling in a bit of smithing and enchanting. I love crafting in RPGs. It's even better when you can actually use the stuff you create. I'm currently working on a full set of orcish armour, in order to look the part.</div>
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I haven't decided between the Stormcloaks or Imperials yet. It seems there are plenty of reasons not to join either, but it's probably something you should get involved in at some point. I guess I'm leaning towards the Imperials at the moment, seeing as the Stormcloaks hate everyone that isn't a Nord. Yes, the introduction to the game gave a pretty good reason not to join the Imperials either, but hey, we all make mistakes. Maybe they deserve a second chance.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Anything Else?</b></span></div>
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My druid reached level 83 in World of Warcraft, and we're nearly done with Deepholm. I still have Arkham City to finish, but it's really difficult not to play Skyrim when I sit down to do some gaming. I'll try and get round to it this week. All it would take is to log out of Steam. I can never remember my password, and the effort of resetting it might serve as enough of a block to sway me towards switching the PS3 on instead.</div>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-26365117914980354612011-11-15T22:19:00.001+00:002011-11-19T15:54:02.815+00:00Review: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Release Date </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>(PS3, Xbox 360): NA: </b>November 16, 2010<b> EU: </b>November 19, 2010<b> AUS: </b>November 18, 2010<b> JP: </b>December 9, 2010<b> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Release Date (PC): NA: </b>March 22, 2011<b> EU: </b>March 18, 201<b>1 AUS: </b>March 17, 2011<b> JP: </b>June 3, 2011</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Developed By:</b> Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Annecy</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Genre:</b> Third-person action-adventure</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Platforms: </b>Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Mac</span></span></div>
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<i>This review focuses on the single player component of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. With Revelations now out, most players of Brotherhood's multiplayer will have likely moved on to the latest game in the series, so to review it would perhaps be somewhat redundant.</i> </div>
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Annual releases of the same franchise are becoming a common thing. With such little time to improve on the previous game, you might wonder if it's worth investing more of your own time and money into something that could be a little too familiar. That's why Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is a big surprise. Released only a year after Assassin's Creed 2, you may be fooled into thinking it was a convenient way of putting out a game in the series with multiplayer in it, with a mandatory single player mode tagged on as a formality. After all, it would have been simple enough to continue Ezio's story just by putting out more DLC for Assassin's Creed 2. But what actually we have here is a follow up that proves its worth as a standalone entry in the series.</div>
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Set immediately after the events of Assassin's Creed 2, Desmond Miles is still looking for the piece of Eden and is once again thrown into the time of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the hooded hero that has grown into a wise, skilled assassin. And he really has come a long way from the boyish rogue he was at the beginning of the previous game, which is made very apparent when you experience some of the flashbacks Brotherhood takes you on. After an attack on Monteriggioni by the Templar Borgias, Ezio travels to Rome with his family to take revenge, and put an end to their tyrannical rule over the capital city.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>When in Rome...</b></span></div>
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The game starts out slow as it has to cater for anyone new to the series, and spends a good few hours refreshing your memory of old Assassin's Creed concepts, while introducing you to the new ones. It's not until a few chapters in that the story reaches a point where it can truly open up and allow you to take on all the different gameplay elements Brotherhood has to offer.</div>
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Every action you take as Ezio is a step towards taking down the Borgia. The main story missions are traditional in the sense that they have you taking out important Templar figures using the proven methods of assassination you learned in the last game. Meanwhile, every side mission has you disrupting a specific part of their rule. Side missions are plentiful, and involve tasks such as taking control of Borgia guard towers, destroying war machines, and rebuilding derelict buildings to gain support of the citizens. Rather than feeling like arbitrary tasks that have been tacked on, each side mission you complete ties into the story of taking down the Borgia really well, and the more you get involved with them, the better experience you have as a whole. </div>
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Not only that, but many of them are just plain fun to play through. Special mention has to go to the sabotaging of war machines sequences, which feature scripting on a level that you'd usually only expect in the main line of missions. You also encounter new game mechanics when you get to spend a little time trying the machines out before their inevitable destruction. It gives the impression that the developers put equal amounts of effort and polish into every aspect of the game, rather than just focusing on the main sequences.</div>
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If that weren't enough, many of the main and side missions have optional challenges too, in the form of '100% sync' objectives. An example of this could be during a combat heavy section, where you're tasked with not losing more than 3 squares of health, or you'll sometimes get out of the ordinary goals such as staying out of
water that would have otherwise made for a convenient escape route. You can play through the entire game without paying any attention to these, but completionists will find themselves busy trying to get 100% in every mission. It provides an extra challenge to those who may find the main objective of the mission too simple.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Stabtastic</b></span></div>
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One of the drawbacks of Assassin's Creed 2 was the eventual repetitive nature of the combat. It generally boiled down to waiting for an enemy to attack and countering, which felt slow. Brotherhood improves on this with a new kill streak ability, which allows Ezio to smoothly move from kill to kill, cutting through large crowds of guards with ease. </div>
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It's still on the simple side, and it doesn't seem like Ubisoft's goal is to actually challenge the player during combat anymore, which may not even be possible without a major overhaul to the system. While that would have been appreciated to make combat more engaging, the increase in overall fluidity and speed means that it at least doesn't suffer from repetitiveness as it once did, and always feels satisfying. </div>
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Sneaking is still where the real danger of failure applies, and there are plenty of sections where detection isn't an option, forcing you to use all your assassin skills to remain unseen. There were times in Assassin's Creed 2 in which this created an unnatural spike in difficulty, but Ezio now has a few more tools at his disposal to relieve some of the frustration you may have felt in his last outing. A crossbow makes for a more suitable silent, ranged weapon, as opposed to the noisy pistol you had last time (though you can still use this, if you like everyone to know where you are). </div>
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The only problem that comes up in these sections is that it sometimes seems that the game wants you to play through the sequence in a very specific way, and it's not always clear what that is. If you don't catch on, sometimes even the most logical of plans can fail simply because you're unaware of what is and isn't permitted.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>With a Little Help from My Friends</b></span></div>
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Of course, the title feature of Brotherhood is just that; the brotherhood of assassins that you take charge of. Recruits can be found causing civil unrest, and when aided, will join your cause in liberating Rome from the Borgia. These brothers and sisters in arms can then be called upon at any time, subject to a cooldown after each use, to take out any target in Ezio's sight. Since this doesn't count as detection for Ezio, it can make for a really powerful tool in sneaking through a heavily guarded area, or for keeping enemies busy while you're chasing down a specific target. And most of all, it just feels really stylish to whistle, and have a fellow assassin instantly leap off a nearby building, striking your enemy down.</div>
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Recruits can be trained up through a new system of overseas missions that they can be sent on. Missions have a varying difficulty level attached to them, with a proportionate reward on offer when successfully completed. Up to 5 recruits can be sent on one mission, and the combination of recruit levels, mission difficulty and number of assassins add up to a percentage chance of success. Once sent on a mission, assassins are unavailable for around 10-20 minutes, so there's a lot of management involved in sending away recruits for training while keeping some available to help you out on your mission, at least until you unlock more recruitment slots by completing other side missions. All of this is done through menus, but it does well in creating the illusion that you're heading up your very own assassin's guild and taking on Templars across Europe. If you put enough time into it, you'll ultimately be rewarded with a small army of Ezio clones. A sight to behold.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Presentation... by Da Vinci?</b></span><br />
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This is a beautiful looking game, more so than Assassin's Creed 2, which was a great looking game in its own right. 15th/16th century Rome is just as majestic as you would imagine, and it all seems to be down to some dramatic improvements in lighting and shadows. The framerate is a little more consistent now, but still suffers from slowdown in busier areas due to the massive scale of the cityscape. The music still consists of a romanticised Middle Ages style, with some dramatic pieces to accompany the more action orientated sequences. The voice acting is, as always, brilliant, and each actor is on top form, smoothly interlacing Italian into English when the script calls for it.</div>
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The main drawbacks of Brotherhood are mostly technical. Loading times still feel just a little bit too long, which is noticeable if you find yourself failing a sequence a few times in succession, leading to some irritation. It also still suffers from interface overload, as the screen can become busy with distracting prompts which often aren't necessary. They can also pop up at inappropriate moments; one that comes to mind being a romantic scene in the beginning of the game which was hard to take seriously when a loading icon kept appearing, yelling "video game!" profusely.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Overall</b></span></div>
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These are only small complaints, however, as Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is pure fun throughout. "The sum of its parts" is a term often thrown around when it comes to video games, but in this case, it describes the game in question perfectly. Every mission and gameplay element, whether side content or part of the main campaign, adds up to form a plot about rebellion and uprising that you always feel fully invested in. </div>
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Considering this is a sequel to a sequel, Brotherhood fully earns its place in the Assassin's Creed series by improving on the previous entry in many ways. For the developers to have achieved that only a year after releasing their last great game is no simple feat.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Rating: 9/10</b></span></div>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-51115279748575447322011-11-06T20:21:00.000+00:002011-11-06T20:33:42.334+00:00This Week, I 'Ave Been Mostly Playing... (31/10/11 - 06/11/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<i>Trophy Huntin' wasn't working out. It seemed like a good idea when I started it, but I've discovered that some achievements and trophies offer very little in the way of something to comment on. Team Fortress 2 is a good example, as most of its achievements are earned by accident. On weeks where I'm playing a game that dishes out frequent trophies for even the smallest thing, I end up with quite the intimidating list to tackle. One look at all the plot-based Arkham City trophies I got this week made me realise it was time to scrap Trophy Huntin'.</i></div>
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<i>So, I'm giving this format another try; a casual overview of what I've been playing during the week. This blogging thing... it's a learning process.</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood</b></span></div>
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Finishing one set of distracting side-quests led to another. After completing the fantastic 'Leanardo's Machines', I just couldn't bring myself to continue with the story until I'd paid a visit to each of the Romulus shrines, which would eventually lead to the locked treasure room. For once, I hadn't read any spoilers as to what was unlockable in the game, so I had no idea what I was going to be rewarded with. It makes for some surprises, and without spoiling anything, the reward for destroying Leanardo's machines came completely out of nowhere and provided a new, fun way to travel around Rome, and even pull of some ridiculous looking assassinations. The eventual reward for completing all the Romulus shrines was more traditional, but still worth it.</div>
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I've really enjoyed the assassin guild system, which allows you to train up your recruits by sending them away on missions around Europe. It may feel more involving than it actually is, but it keeps up the illusion well. The outcome of half a dozen Ezios to call upon at any time is worth the time spent training them up.</div>
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With side business taken care of, I finally found myself on the home straight. The last few sequences weren't particularly long, but built up to a suitable climax. There was a strange moment where, in the penultimate Ezio sequence, the gameplay became absolutely terrible. For plot reasons, you were unable to use any weapons except for a certain item you'd recently retrieved. Using it didn't make a lot of sense, and I'm still not convinced I worked out the correct way to complete that section. I ended up calling on my assassin recruits to do the killing for me, but I can't imagine what it'd be like for someone who hadn't paid a lot of attention to assassin leveling. A minor glitch in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable game.</div>
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And I finished it. I'm glad it was 1am when I did, because it was the perfect time to have my mind blown. The ending had me interested in Desmond's story for the first time ever. That's how much of a shocking cliff hanger it was.</div>
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I'm looking forward to Assassin's Creed: Revelations, but I'll probably give it a few months before playing it, and let the hunger for some more assassin action build up.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Batman: Arkham City</b></span></div>
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I'm not going to hide it; I was a massive fan of Arkham Asylum. The combat was engaging, the gameplay was solid, and there was a generous amount of Batman villains, all of which were very well represented. So far, these qualities have all been carried over to Arkham City.</div>
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Though a lot of time is still spent inside buildings, the environment feels a lot more natural now that it's a city, rather than the confines of an asylum. It means you run into more spontaneous brawls, and even groups of armed henchmen outside of the structured stealth rooms. It also allows for a lot more side missions, all of which are distracting me just as they did in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. The Riddler's puzzles are back, but there's a much needed sinister edge to them this time, as there are now hostages involved that can only be rescued by playing his insane games.</div>
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The Catwoman sections seem interesting enough, but only from a story point of view. She plays mostly the same as Batman, with a few moves swapped out to be more Catwoman-esque but retaining the same function. They do tie in well with the main story though, and I'm glad I'm not missing out. Whether or not it'll be a significant hole for those who buy used copies of the game, I can't say just yet.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>World of Warcraft</b></span></div>
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My alt, the troll druid Grimtoosk, is still making his way to level 85. He reached a milestone this week and hit level 80, so our little leveling group is finally up to Cataclysm content. It doesn't seem that long ago that I took my orc warrior through these zones, but I'm enjoying them again all the same. Hopefully we might hit a few of the dungeons while we level, as I'm still yet to see any of the Cataclysm 5-mans. It's about time I picked up the tanking reins once again.</div>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-44040983364600464402011-11-04T18:32:00.000+00:002011-11-04T18:32:18.365+00:00DLC: The Cupcake to the Expansion Pack's GateauxThe age of downloadable content (DLC) began with the rise of the online platform for consoles, as well as internal storage space and the ability to install game data. Previously, it was mainly PC games that received additional content in the form of the much meatier expansion packs. Though console hard drives began with a small amount of storage space, there was the potential for expansion packs to become a trend on consoles too.<br />
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However, the console market is very different from the PC gaming market, and that's most likely why DLC rose as the dominant method of adding to existing games. For console owners that had never really gamed on a PC, it might have appeared as a strange, alien concept to pay £20-30 for extra content in a game they'd already paid full price for to begin with. The appeal of DLC is that it provides content in smaller, more affordable, easy to swallow chunks.<br />
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Whether for good or for bad, DLC has spread to PCs and has begun to stamp out the expansion packs we once knew. Take Civilization V, for example; past Civilization games have had one or two expansion packs, including the rather successful Beyond the Sword for Civilization IV, which included new mechanics, units, buildings and a multitude of playable civilizations. Since the release of the fifth game in the series, several playable civilizations have been released as individual DLC packs. It's looking less and less likely that there's even going to be an expansion to Civilization V, because Firaxis are leaving themselves with less to put in it. The result is that even though we are getting some of the extra content we're used to, the big expansion pack that provides something of an overhaul to the game is unlikely to ever see the light of day. Though games like World of Warcraft and The Sims 3 are sticking to tradition, in many cases, the expansion pack is dying out.<br />
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I see several problems with the DLC model, one of which is that, whereas you knew you were getting something substantial with an expansion pack that almost felt like an entirely new game, you can never be quite sure what you're getting for your money with DLC. How many hours of gameplay are you going to get out of it, and is it worth the cost being asked for? You can't really be sure until you take the plunge and play all the way through it. There's not a lot you can do if you finish the content in a couple of hours and feel dissatisfied.<br />
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We're potentially getting less out of a full release too. Cosmetic items such as costumes used to be unlockable, but are now only available for a small fee. Detaching this content from the main game has also led to pre-order nightmares such as with Batman: Arkham City, where several different stores in the US were offering a different costume for Batman if you pre-ordered from them. <br />
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From an enthusiasts point of view, several DLC packs released over the course of a few months to a year can fragment the experience. When you return to a game that you finished months before, it takes a while to refamiliarise yourself with the controls, gameplay elements, and the storyline. To achieve that re-integration and still have plenty of time to enjoy new content afterwards was possible in an expansion pack. It brought you back into the game's world, and you were reminded of all the great things that you enjoyed about it the first time round in a fresh new experience. It was almost like rejuvenation for a game you thought you'd left behind. DLC, on the other hand, brings you back for two or three hours, then asks you to spend more money on a another pack that's usually completely unrelated and disjointed from what you've just completed. <br />
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You also have to ask yourself if it's even worth returning to a game you've moved on from for as little as a couple of hours. This was my experience with Mass Effect 2. I thoroughly enjoyed it when it was first released, but never revisited it to try out any of the DLC afterwards. Short stories were released, introducing new characters or revisiting old ones, even tying up certain plot arcs that have been part of the series since the beginning. But I've had no desire to dive back into Mass Effect 2, even though there's new content waiting for me. This may be all down to personal gaming behaviour, but when I'm ready to start something new following completion of a game, I look for something I can really sink my teeth into. A short, fleeting visit to an older game just isn't something I'm looking for.<br />
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It looks like DLC is here to stay, though, as it's seen great success in a business sense. Rather than resist it, I just have to hope that there are developers that can make it work. After recently playing the first Portal 2 DLC pack, I may yet be convinced.<br />
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It seems like a winning formula; Portal 2's co-op doesn't really focus on an overarching plot and is more about pure Portal gameplay, which just so happens to be very strong, even without the set pieces of the single player. It still had the problem of re-adjustment to game mechanics, but I happily played through each new chamber with my co-op buddy, and can safely say that I would pay for more. The puzzles were more smartly designed than ever before and posed a satisfying new challenge.<br />
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But the real reason I returned to Portal 2 at all was because this DLC was free. With the absence of a price tag, even I couldn't resist at least trying it. Steam downloaded it without me even noticing, so it was all ready for me to play without having to do anything at all. It lured me in with promises of no commitment, and now I have a taste for it.<br />
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It's a skill that developers are going to have to pick up if they want DLC to be accepted by the non-believers. Those few hours are going to have to be jam packed with so much quality that we really feel like we've made a valuable purchase. No longer can they provide more of the same and expect us to be sold by the mere addition of some extra plot. It wouldn't hurt, either, if developers followed in Valve's footsteps and started offering their initial DLC packs for free as a taste of what's to come.<br />
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I'll miss expansion packs, but I have to hope that there's potential for the DLC model; potential that hasn't yet been fulfilled.Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-45281728272619307882011-10-29T15:09:00.001+01:002011-10-29T15:09:30.615+01:00Pandamonium<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Blizzcon has been and gone, and we now have the name of the next World of Warcraft expansion: Mists of Pandaria. This is a very risky expansion that doesn't follow the usual format of being centred around a known villain. Instead of all the hype being focused around taking on lore favourites, such as the Lich King or Deathwing, Blizzard now has the task of building up excitement for the overall experience, and is hopefully ready to present a storyline that's just as epic as you would expect.</div>
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From what I've seen, opinions are divided on Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard is either going to surprise, disappoint or prove a lot of people right.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pandas, You Say?</b></span></div>
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The headline feature of the new expansion is the introduction of the pandaren race into World of Warcraft, as well as their homeland, Pandaria. The race of anthropomorphic pandas has actually been around for some time, and made an appearance back in Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne as a neutral unit. Still, by bringing them to the forefront of Warcraft lore in the new expansion, Blizzard has surprised many who may have only heard of them as an old April Fools joke.</div>
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It's easy to agree that a race of pandas seems a little out of place in a fantasy setting, but from the look of the artwork we've been treated to so far, they've made it work. It came as a relief that they don't look overly silly as you might first presume they would. Once you get over the fact that you're looking at a fluffy panda warrior, the creature you're seeing starts to become endearing. Somehow they fit in with the rest of the races, and I can easily imagine them fighting alongside orcs, tauren and goblins (my pandaren is going to be Horde, obviously).</div>
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The land of Pandaria also seems to be in keeping with the rest of Azeroth. I've always enjoyed the variation in landscapes when travelling between Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms and Northrend, so it's interesting to now see an Asian inspired continent being added. What's impressive is that they've taken this Asian theme and made it look like it still belongs in World of Warcraft.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Furry Fists of Fury</b></span></div>
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Another risk that Blizzard has decided to take on is the introduction of a new class; the monk. The death knight, introduced in Wrath of the Lich King, caused all sorts of balance issues that have taken a lot of work to iron out, so it does appear to be very brave of them to be adding another new class so soon. Perhaps the revamped talent system (covered later) has somehow simplified the process of adding a new class. Whatever the case, a new class is always exciting, especially one that will have the low level zones full of pandas fighting boars and raptors.</div>
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The monk is a melee class that will rely primarily on his or her fists. The roles of dps, tank and healer will all be available to the monk, most likely in an attempt to increase the numbers of tanks and healers to shorten queue times for dungeon groups. I'm very much looking forward to following in the footsteps of Chen Stormstout and taking on the illusive title of Brewmaster, which will be the tanking specialisation for the monk.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>War! Huh!</b></span></div>
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After putting down some of Azeroth's most troublesome
foes, many were wondering "who are we fighting next?" It came as a
surprise then, that Blizzard answered with "each other." Mists of
Pandaria will further the story of the growing hostility between the
Horde and Alliance.</div>
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It's been building up throughout Cataclysm, and Mists of Pandaria could
be when it all comes to the crux, and full on war breaks out between the
two factions. Thanks to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNHq-jJswuE">certain events</a> in Northrend,
and a shift in leadership to a more vicious, warmongering chieftain,
the Horde is fragmented, while the Alliance is standing as a more
powerful, united force than ever. I'm sure it's not going to be quite as simple as one side against the other. Blizzard loves its shades of grey.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Cookie Cutters</b></span></div>
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Possibly the most drastic upcoming change is the revamped talent system. Talent trees, which have been in the game since the beginning, are to be thrown out. Specialisations will remain, so there'll still be such a thing as Arms, Fury and Protection for a warrior, for example. The difference is that you'll now be automatically given the abilities and bonuses that would have been in the talent tree, and you'll only make a choice once every 15 levels between 3 different talents. The aim is that none of these talents will be mandatory, and that it will all come down to personal choice and how useful you'll find them for your own style of play.</div>
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As expected, I'm seeing the knee-jerk words "dumbing down" being blurted out all over forums. If you actually stop and think about what's happening here, Blizzard is just removing a redundant system and replacing it with something that'll allow for more character customisation than ever before.</div>
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When a character reaches the level cap, the majority of WoW players will look up the talent spec that's best for their character, because someone has crunched the numbers and worked out the most optimum way of distributing talent points. It's usual that you'll find a 'cookie cutter' spec, with a few talent points left over to make your own choices with. Since you're only going to be putting yourself at a disadvantage by taking anything other than the optimum talents, most players will copy the spec they've found, and dump the remaining points in some filler talents.</div>
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The only part of this that Blizzard has removed is the mindless allocating of points to the talents that someone else has worked out as the 'correct' ones. Looking at the new warrior talents (my class of choice), it looks like I will have some real decisions to make that could change my style of combat significantly.</div>
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Of course, another advantage that comes with this is that players who DON'T do their research when deciding on their talent build no longer have the risk of ending up with a sub-par character. Coupled with the item level restrictions on the dungeon group finder, putting players on equal ground like this might be one more step to making pick up groups a little less painful.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Not All About Raiding</b></span></div>
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I don't raid, these days. I did once, and I enjoyed it, but through all the repetition and scheduling, it's a lifestyle I just couldn't keep up with in the end, at least not if I wanted time to play games other than WoW. I'll probably give the raid finder a try since it'll require less of a job-esque commitment than regular raiding, but I still need something more to keep me entertained at the level cap, or I might find myself just endlessly leveling alts.</div>
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That's why I have a great amount of interest in some of the new in-game activities announced.</div>
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PvE scenarios, for a start, could be a brilliant evolution of the now abolished group quest. The problem with group quests was that they only worked during the first month or so of an expansion, while everyone was leveling. Several months down the line, it's difficult to find enough people to help you with group quests as most people are done with leveling altogether until the next expansion. By moving these types of quests to the end-game and integrating them into the group finder tool, they could work again. Not only that, but by turning them into a series of quests with an ultimate goal, they should bear a little more meaning. The rewards won't hurt, either.</div>
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Dungeon challenges could add new life to the 5-man dungeons that would otherwise grow stagnant. Just as achievements nudged players into doing things they might not have usually thought of doing, challenges that reward medals (read: bragging rights) and vanity gear for transmogrification should offer plenty of fun goals for non-raiders and raiders alike to strive for.</div>
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And then there's pet battles. Let's take a look at the feature list:</div>
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<li>Companion pets can be leveled and used in battle against other players' pets. </li>
<li>You can capture wild pets, some of which will only appear in certain locations, at certain times or during certain weather conditions. </li>
<li>You can train up a team of battle pets.</li>
<li>Combat will be turn based, with each pet using a set of abilities.</li>
<li>Pet masters will be found all over the world. When beaten, your pets can take on one of their abilities.</li>
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It's not in the least bit subtle, is it? I wouldn't be surprised if Blizzard decided that being part of the Alliance or Horde denotes playing Blue or Red version of WoW, respectively.</div>
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For now, I'm going to call it an interesting idea and leave it at that until I can actually try it out for myself. Playing Pokemon while playing WoW is not something that's ever had a place on my wish list of features, but if Grymtooth the Hallowed, equipped with the Horseman's Helm and Blade, can send his Sinister Squashling into battle and strike fear into pet battlers everywhere, I might be on board. Maybe we'll all unwittingly catch pet battle fever, and there'll be an entire section on <a href="http://elitistjerks.com/">Elitist Jerks</a> (The Elitist Four?), theorycrafting pet teams. Who knows?</div>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-16479610831977394242011-10-23T21:54:00.001+01:002011-10-23T21:54:41.345+01:00Trophy Huntin' (25/09/11 - 22/10/11)<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>(Playstation 3) </b></span><b> </b><br />
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<b>Fixer-Upper</b><br />
<i>Complete DNA Sequence 3</i><br />
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This sequence acted as another introduction to some of Brotherhood's mechanics, focusing on the various guilds (thief, courtesan and mercenary), which I haven't paid much attention to since. The different NPCs act the same way as they did in Assassins Creed 2, and you now get to choose which of them to deploy in each district. Honestly, with all the other tools Ezio has at his disposal, I've rarely made use of thieves, courtesans or mercenaries. Fellow assassins make them a little bit redundant.<br />
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<b>Principessa in Another Castello</b><br />
<i>Complete DNA Sequence 4</i><br />
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With regards to stealth sections in games, I've been spoiled by Metal Gear Solid. It was the first game of its kind that I played, and got me used to playing with a radar that clearly pointed out the field of vision of guards. Many games that have you sneaking about don't include such a luxury, and I generally choose head-on combat when given the option.<br />
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Escaping from the manor in this sequence, fighting my way out was indeed an option. But Brotherhood hit me with another of its '100% sync' objectives, challenging me to sneak out without being detected at all. Usually, I wouldn't have bothered with remaining stealthy as killing is so much quicker and easier, but a challenge like this is not so easily ignored. <br />
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Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun approaching the mission this way. It required some concentration and observation, but it really made things interesting to be playing in a totally different style to what I'm used to. Thank you, Brotherhood, for putting me in touch with my rogue-ish side and making me feel like a true assassin.<br />
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<b>Fundraiser</b><br />
<i>Complete DNA Sequence 5</i><br />
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More of the same; sneak in, kill a guy, run away. The target was one of those annoying debt collector types hidden behind a small force of armed help. I hate characters like that. Ending him was a pleasure.<br />
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<b>Forget Paris</b><br />
<i>Complete DNA Sequence 6</i><br />
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Attack of the pallet swap guards! The blue uniforms mean they're French.<br />
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One of the things I enjoy about Assassins Creed is the variety of scenarios you're given. This time, I led a fairly sizable group of men, all disguised as guards, right into the middle of the enemy's base. There was no giant wooden rabbit involved, unfortunately.<br />
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<b>Undertaker 2.0</b><br />
<i>Discover the Shrine in the Catacombe di Roma</i><br />
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That's the second of the Shrines of Romulus done, and I believe there are four more to go. There's a locked off room with a big, shiny treasure chest in the middle of it that I can only get to by completing all the shrines. I'm sure curiosity won't let me complete the game without finding out what the treasure is.<br />
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<b>Bang!</b><br />
<i>Destroy the Machine Gun</i><br />
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<b>Splash!</b><br />
<i>Destroy the Naval Cannon</i><br />
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<b>Kaboom!</b><br />
<i>Destroy the Tank</i><br />
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As far as side missions go, Leanardo's machines have to be the best in the game, by far. The amount of scripting in them is impressive, and these could easily be part of the main line of missions.<br />
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I'm glad I did get myself acquainted with sneaky tactics in earlier missions, as all of these have included a section where detection is an instant fail. They require a lot of patience, but the pay off is that you get to play with a unique weapon of some kind, before destroying it for good so that it doesn't end up in the wrong hands.<br />
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So far, I've fired a machine gun from the back of a horse and cart during one hell of an escape sequence, fired a cannon from a small boat at the sails of some gigantic ships, and driven a tank. That last one doesn't even need further description. It's a tank.<br />
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<b>Home Improvement</b><br />
<i>Renovate 5 buildings in the Antico district</i><br />
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I've got to the point now where money is no object. If I see a building pop up on the minimap that hasn't yet been renovated, I'll do so. It's not something I've had to pay much attention to; I'm just idly rebuilding Rome, as you do.<br />
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<b>Brotherhood</b><br />
<i>Recruit 3 Assassins</i><br />
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This is the game changer, so much so that the game has been named after it. Having a guild of assassins that can be called upon at any time, at any location is unbelievably useful. Where they actually come from, I don't know, but they're very efficient and will arrive at the scene as soon as you make the call. <br />
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Best of all, having your assassins spotted by the guards doesn't count as detection for Ezio, so it's a very convenient way of removing a few pairs of eyes (not literally, blurgh) when you're trying to stick to the shadows.<br />
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<b>Dust to Dust</b><br />
<i>Find 1 Artifact in 2012</i><br />
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Scanning the list of trophies, I found that this was the only one I had left that I'd need to obtain as Desmond. <br />
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Reluctantly, I returned to the present to grab it, before stupidly sticking around long enough to check Desmond's emails. I'd gone from the epic tale of a guild of assassins trying to overthrow Rome's evil dictators, to the story of a stolen yoghurt. And then my face rested firmly in my palm.<br />
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<b>Spring Cleaning</b><br />
<i>Kill a guard with a broom</i><br />
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Trophy or not, why wouldn't you?<br />
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<b>Your Wish is Granted</b><br />
<i>Throw money in a well</i><b> </b><i> </i><b> </b><i> </i><br />
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I wished for a trophy. It came true.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Katamari Forever (Playstation 3)</b><i> </i></span><br />
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<b>Single Player</b><br />
<i>Played through 50 single player Requests in a row</i><br />
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I never did finish Katamari Forever. Last time I played, I got stuck on the level that involves lighting a bonfire with a fiery katamari that annoyingly extinguishes when you're several minutes in. Loading it up again this week, I completed the level on the first attempt. It's an odd phenomena, but I find that happening quite a lot.<br />
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I made a lot of progress after that, before hitting another wall with a level that has me increasing the temperature of a katamari up to a certain point. Cold items are my worst enemy, and they are everywhere.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>World of Warcraft (PC)</b></span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Character: Grymtooth (Orc Warrior)</span></u> (Formerly Grimtooth. Transferred to a server where the name was already taken... /sniff)</b><br />
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<b>Working Around the Clock</b><br />
<i>Obtain 525 skill points in two primary professions</i><br />
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Blacksmithing was a lot easier to max out this time around. I now have even more stuff to sell for profit! I'm sitting on a respectable 50000 gold right now. Let's see if I can double that by the end of next month.<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Zulgrim (Troll Death Knight)</b></span></u><br />
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<b>Dual Talent Specialization</b><br />
<i>Visit your class trainer when you are at least level 30 and activate your Dual Talent Specialization</i><br />
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I wanted to try my hand at some group quest soloing, and picked up a second specialization (blood) purely for that purpose. It worked out pretty well, and I managed to finish all the group quests in Hellfire Peninsula all on my own.<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimrott (Undead Hunter)</b></span></u><br />
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<b></b><i></i><b></b><i></i><b>Level 10</b><br />
<i>Reach level 10</i><br />
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Another alt? Since returning to the game after Cataclysm's launch, I haven't really touched the Eastern Kingdoms. There are a few things I want to do before the end of the expansion, and completing all of old world zones again is one of them. I started this undead hunter, and I'll be sticking to the Eastern Kingdoms while leveling. I'm sure there's a lot of new lore to discover there, and I don't want to miss any of it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Team Fortress 2 (PC)</b></span><b> </b><br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>General Achievements</b></span></u><br />
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<b>Hardcore</b><br />
<i>Accumulate 1000 total kills</i><br />
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1000 people have been unable to "outsmart bullet."<br />
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<b>Impenetrable Defense</b><br />
<i>Successfully defend Dustbowl without giving up a capture</i><br />
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Dustbowl has become a favourite map, alongside Badwater, and tends to be part of our weekly rotation. I don't know what the blue team were up to, but apparently it wasn't pressing forwards.<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Demoman Achievements</b></span></u><br />
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<b>There Can Be Only One</b><br />
<i>Decapitate your nemesis</i><br />
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I finally picked up the sword to go with my chargin' targe. I've never really played a demoman, but I've been killed many times by one charging towards me, sword swinging. Turns out it's quite fun when you're the decapitator, rather than the decapitated.<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spy Achievements</b></span></u><br />
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<b>Counter Espionage</b><br />
<i>Backstab a disguised spy</i><br />
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I could claim that I've been observing spy patterns, and learning all their tricks, but I think this happened when a spy disguised right in front of me. A fluke, as usual.<br />
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<b>May I Cut In?</b><br />
<i>Backstab an enemy and the Medic healing him within 10 seconds of each other</i><br />
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I crafted myself 'Your Eternal Reward', a knife that instantly disguises you as whoever you kill, and doesn't show the death animation to anyone around the victim. It's as if the kill never happened. This unfortunate medic didn't notice that the heavy he was healing had actually become me. It's a fun knife.<br />
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<b>A Cut Above</b><br />
<i>Kill a gun-wielding Spy with your knife</i><br />
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I tend to panic when I'm discovered as a spy. Instead of switching to my gun, I usually flail around with my knife. This time I was lucky enough to be discovered by a spy who was a really bad shot.<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Engineer Achievements</b></span></u><br />
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<b>Quick Draw</b><br />
<i>Kill a spy and two sappers within 10 seconds</i><br />
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<b>The Wrench Connection</b><br />
<i>Kill a disguised spy with your Wrench</i><br />
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"Spy sappin' mah sentry!" Both of these achievements were earned at the same time. This spy clearly hadn't realised you're supposed to run away when you've sapped a sentry gun, as it always results in an angry engineer, swinging his wrench around.<br />
<b></b>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-52105002930381377182011-10-22T14:27:00.000+01:002011-10-22T14:30:51.388+01:00One Previous Owner, Liked to Dress as a Cat<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
Batman: Arkham City's release this week has been accompanied by the news that the Catwoman sections will only be available to owners of a brand new copy of the game. Anyone that buys it pre-owned will find these sections missing. This type of strategy to convince consumers to buy a game new has popped up on numerous occasions recently. Online passes are being utilised in more and more games, restricting online functionality to those that either buy a game new, or pay an extra fee on top of what they paid for their used copy.</div>
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Understandably, many gamers are not happy with this. It's not an uncommon view that a game, no matter how it was purchased, should be complete. After all, that part of the game is on the disc, it's just locked away to anyone who purchased the game used. Developers should be persuading us to buy their games new with the overall quality of the title, and promises of longevity that'll ensure we get our money's worth. There's nothing illegal about buying a pre-owned game, and there are many legitimate reasons to do so. Gaming can be an expensive hobby, and sometimes it's nice to get a good deal on a game that's been around for a while, and has started to show up in the used section of game stores.</div>
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That was perhaps the case a few years ago, but for some reason, video game retailers appear to be getting into competition with games publishers. Games that have only been out for a couple of weeks can be seen with a big fat "pre-owned" sticker on them, diverting attention away from the new copies of the game on the shelves a few feet away. Retailers stand to make more money from used games as they take all the profits, as opposed to with new games where the developer gets their cut. It appears that retailers are pushing for more used game sales than ever.</div>
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I was actually shocked at some of the tactics being employed. A games retailer here in the UK is running an 'experience points' system; your typical way of rewarding customers for their purchases with points that can be redeemed for discounts. However, there are extra ways of earning these points. Keeping up with the times, this retailer advertises 'achievements' that can be completed for extra experience points. Many of these achievements involve trading games in, an example being "trade in a game within 14 days of its launch." They're filling up their pre-owned shelves with the latest games by coaxing customers with promises of discounts and good deals.</div>
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The fact of the matter is every used game sold in place of a new copy is one less sale for the company that actually produced the game. This may not matter as much for a game that's been out for a couple of years, but when it's only been out for a couple of weeks, it affects the sales statistics drastically. Since sales figures play a large role in determining the success rate of a title, developers may only be seeing a portion of the success they were expecting. Revenue from games put out by a developer allows them to flourish, and continue making their next great game. When used games hurt the sales, budgets are going to be lower, and that affects the quality of the games that they can put out. And most obviously, if it's the developers that have spent time and effort making the games, shouldn't they be the ones that are rewarded for it?</div>
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This is why developers are resorting to drastic measures, such as charging owners of pre-owned copies of games to access online content, or by keeping certain content exclusive to new first time purchases only. It's not devious; they're just trying to do what they can to make money off the games that they've put so much work into.</div>
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I'm not arguing that we should all stop buying used games altogether. We can't help it. When faced with two prices for the same product, most people will choose the cheaper option, as it's usually the smart thing to do (yellowed Wii controllers that stink of smoke being an example of when it's not the smart option). What I'm arguing is that games developers are in their right to be using these new tactics to get us to buy their games new, as the stores now appear to be working against them, and their actions will ultimately damage the developers.</div>
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Rocksteady shouldn't need to do this with Arkham City. The general consensus from the press is that it's a high quality game that's of a decent length. It has plenty of side-content, challenge modes, and a higher difficulty level unlock that makes a second play-through of the main game worthwhile. That sounds well worth the £35-40 price tag for a new copy of the game. However, with used copies of the game being aggressively harvested and sold back to customers, can you blame Rocksteady for trying to add a good enough incentive to sway them back to a brand new copy of the game?</div>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-70770256238896566262011-09-26T23:48:00.001+01:002011-09-26T23:48:19.628+01:00Trophy Huntin' (18/09/11 - 24/09/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Playstation 3)</span></b></div>
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<b>Technical Difficulties</b></div>
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<i>Attempt to access DNA Sequence 9 for the first time.</i></div>
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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?</div>
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<b>Battle Wounds</b></div>
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<i>Complete DNA Sequence 1.</i></div>
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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<span class="st"><em></em></span>, 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...</div>
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<b>Sanctuary! Sanctuary!</b></div>
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<i>Find a secure place to hide and re-enter the Animus.</i><b> </b><b></b></div>
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...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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Mailer Daemon</b></div>
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<i>Access your email in 2012.</i></div>
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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."</div>
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<b>Golden Boy</b></div>
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<i>Discover the Shrine in the Terme di Traiano</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Deja Vu</b></div>
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<i>Replay a Memory.</i></div>
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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...</div>
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<b>Rome in Ruins</b></div>
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<i>Complete DNA Sequence 2.</i></div>
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Alright, I'm starting to remember how this works. "<span class="st">Requiescat in pace," and everything goes all Matrix-y as the next chapter is loaded.<em></em></span></div>
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<b>Perfect Recall</b></div>
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<i>Achieve 100% Synchronization in any Sequence other than Sequence 1.</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">World of </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">Warcraft (PC)</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Does Your Wolpertinger Linger?</b></div>
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<i>Obtain a Wolpertinger pet.</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Down With The Dark Iron</b></div>
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<i>Defend the Brewfest camp from the Dark Iron attack and complete the quest, "This One Time, When I Was Drunk..."</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>The Empire of Zul'Drak</b></div>
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<i>Complete 100 quests in Zul'Drak</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Zulgrim (Troll Death Knight)</b></span></u></div>
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<b>50 Quests Completed</b></div>
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<i>Complete 50 quests.</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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?</div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Level 60</b></div>
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<i>Reach level 60.</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Into The Wild Blue Yonder</b></div>
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<i>Learn the expert riding skill.</i><b></b><i></i><i> </i></div>
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I splashed out on the eery looking winged steed of the Ebon Blade. I need to look the part.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Team Fortress 2 (PC)</b></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>General Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Escape The Heat</b></div>
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<i>Jump into a pool of refreshing water while on fire.</i></div>
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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?</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Soldier Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Where Eagles Dare</b></div>
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<i>Get the highest possible rocket jump using jump and crouch.</i></div>
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Awesome drum intro. Piece of Mind is a great album.</div>
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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. </div>
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<b>Soldier Milestone 2</b></div>
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<i>Achieve 11 of the achievements in the Soldier pack.</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spy Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>High Value Target</b></div>
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<i>Backstab an enemy who is dominating 3 or more of your teammates.</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Spy Milestone 2</b></div>
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<i>Achieve 11 of the achievements in the Spy pack.</i><b> </b></div>
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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.</div>
Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-71459222831768387392011-09-25T20:40:00.002+01:002011-09-25T20:40:13.871+01:00Review: Demon's Souls<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Release Date:</b> <b>JP: </b>February 5, 2009, <b>NA: </b>October 6, 2009, <b>EU: </b>June 25, 2010<br /><b>Developed By:</b> From Software<br /><b>Genre:</b> Action RPG<br /><b>Platforms: </b>Playstation 3<b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>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.</i></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I'm a Soul Man</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.<b> </b>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.<b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Silence is Golden</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Overall</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Rating: 9/10</b></span></div>
Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-56002948737758744232011-09-20T23:46:00.000+01:002011-09-20T23:46:08.624+01:00Trophy Huntin' (11/09/11 - 17/09/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
WoW achievements only this week. I played some Starcraft 2 also, but what were the chances of me getting any achievements in that?</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>World of Warcraft</b></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)</b></span></u></div>
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<b> Explore Zul'Drak</b></div>
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<i>Explore Zul'Drak, revealing the covered areas of the world map</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Working Day and Night</b></div>
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<i>Obtain 450 skill points in two primary professions</i></div>
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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.<b> </b></div>
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<b>Safe Deposit</b></div>
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<i>Buy 7 additional bank slots</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<i> </i><u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimtooth (Orc Warrior)</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Help the Bombardier! I'm the Bombardier!</b></div>
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<i>Kill 10 Schnotzz infantry with one artillery shell during the Fire From the Sky daily quest in Uldum</i></div>
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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?</div>
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<b>Unearthing Uldum</b></div>
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<i>Complete 105 quests in Uldum</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Explore Uldum</b></div>
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<i>Explore Uldum, revealing the covered areas of the world map</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<b>In a Thousand Years Even You Might be Worth Something</b></div>
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<i>Compete the Coffer of Promise quests in Uldum up to and including Harrison Jones and the Temple of Uldum</i></div>
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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.</div>
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I should rent those movies.</div>
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<b>Level 85</b></div>
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<i>Reach Level 85</i></div>
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There it is. This is the third time that Grimtooth has reached the level cap. This time, the <i></i><i></i>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.</div>
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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.</div>
Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-72103556968486377192011-09-18T09:52:00.000+01:002011-09-18T16:09:00.030+01:00Highly Defined Final Fantasy X<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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.</div>
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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.</div>
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Today I'm going to reminisce, and talk about a few of the things that made Final Fantasy X so enjoyable to me.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Keep Calm and Cast Haste</span></b></div>
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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.</div>
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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. </div>
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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. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Finally, a Limit Break System That Works!</b></span></div>
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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.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">"The wind... it's nice."</span></b></div>
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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.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Why Not Try a Holiday in Spira This Year?</span></b></div>
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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.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A Matter of Life and Death</b></span></div>
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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.</div>
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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!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The End-Game - So Many Bosses</b></span></div>
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I mentioned this as one of my <a href="http://grimtooth.blogspot.com/2011/09/unconquered-mountains.html">unconquered mountains</a>, 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.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>And finally...</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqjsWPY21Xo">This is how it opened.</a> That's going to look good in HD.<b> </b></div>
Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-1846043390283673262011-09-12T20:05:00.002+01:002011-09-12T20:05:32.860+01:00Trophy Huntin' (28/08/11 - 10/09/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Demon's Souls (Playstation 3)</b></span></div>
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<b>Flying Dragon's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Blue Flying Dragon"</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>False King's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "False King"</i></div>
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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.</div>
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It took me a few attempts, but once I'd got the pattern down, the False King was vanquished.</div>
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<i> </i></div>
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<b>World Uniter's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Old One Put to Sleep & World United</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>World of Warcraft</b></span></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)</b></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Professional Grand Master</b></div>
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<i>Obtain 450 skill points in a profession</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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In fact, it quickly led to the next achievement...</div>
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<b>The Right Stuff</b></div>
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<i>Learn the artisan riding skill</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Veteran of the Wrathgate</b></div>
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<i>Complete the Dragonblight quests leading up to and including the Return to Angrathar</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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?</div>
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<b>1000 Quests Completed</b></div>
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<i>Complete 1000 quests</i></div>
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At least half of those probably rewarded me with stuff I couldn't use. Spell leather? Yuck.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimtooth</b><i> </i><b>(Orc Warrior)</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Professional Illustrious Grand Master</b></div>
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<i>Obtain 525 skill points in a profession</i></div>
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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. <b>Titan</b>ium; metal of the Titans.</div>
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<b>Explore Deepholm</b></div>
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<i>Explore Deepholm, revealing the covered areas of the world map</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Deep into Deepholm</b></div>
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<i>Complete 110 quests in Deepholm</i></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Team Fortress 2</b></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>General Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Dynasty</b></div>
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<i>Win 20 games</i></div>
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Considering I've been playing TF2 for a couple of months now, this must mean I've lost a lot more than 20 games.<i></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<b>With Friends Like These...</b><i></i></div>
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<i>Play in a game with 7 or more players from your friend list</i></div>
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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...</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Heavy Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Party Loyalty</b></div>
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<i>Kill 50 enemies within 3 seconds of them attacking your Medic</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Stalin the Kart</b></div>
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<i>Block the enemy from moving the payload cart 25 times</i><b> </b><i> </i><b></b></div>
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Out of all the game modes, payload is by far my favourite. Here's to another 25 payload blocks!</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spy Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Come In From The Cold</b></div>
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<i>Get a Revenge kill with a backstab</i></div>
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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.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Dr. Nooooo</b></div>
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<i>Backstab a Medic that is ready to deploy an Ubercharge</i><b> </b></div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Agent Provocateur</b></div>
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<i>Backstab your Steam Community friends 10 times</i></div>
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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.<i> </i><b> </b> </div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Engineer Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Doc, Stock and Barrel</b></div>
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<i>Repair a sentry gun under fire while being healed by a Medic</i></div>
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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!<b></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Sniper Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Be Efficient</b></div>
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<i>Get 3 kills with the Sniper Rifle without missing a shot</i></div>
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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?</div>
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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.</div>
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<b>Australian Rules</b></div>
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<i>Dominate an enemy Sniper</i></div>
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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.<b> </b></div>
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<b> </b></div>
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<i>Phew! I've really got to stop leaving this for 2 weeks.</i></div>
Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-18271998171552978492011-09-10T20:32:00.001+01:002011-09-10T22:05:42.406+01:00Unconquered Mountains<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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.<b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Learn Starcraft 2</span></b></div>
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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.</div>
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<b> </b></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Finish Every Final Fantasy Game</b></span></div>
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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.</div>
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<b> </b></div>
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<li><b> </b>Final Fantasy - I got to the point where I upgraded my character classes, and gave up due the sheer slog through mindless random battles.</li>
<li>Final Fantasy 2 - I've owned 2 different versions of it. Never played it.</li>
<li>Final Fantasy 3 - I've never even owned it, despite a shiny DS remake.</li>
<li>Final Fantasy 4 - Again, I never bothered to pick it up, let alone play it.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>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?</li>
<li>Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, 10 - Actually finished! Hurrah!</li>
<li>Final Fantasy 11 - Now, we all know this one doesn't count.</li>
<li>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?</li>
<li>Final Fantasy 13 - Finished.</li>
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5 out of 13. Nice going Captain Attention Span.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Defeat Every Dark Aeon, Penance and Nemesis in Final Fantasy 10</b></span></div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Disgaea</b></span></div>
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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.</div>
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<b> </b>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. </div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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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.<br />
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<b>Got any failed gaming ambitions you want to share? Comment!</b> </div>
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Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-4889754237650532782011-08-29T14:05:00.000+01:002011-08-29T14:05:36.503+01:00Trophy Huntin' (21/08/11 - 27/08/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Demon's Souls</b></span></div>
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<b>Penetrator's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Penetrator"</i></div>
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"Sounds like you're fighting a porn star" were the words of encouragement from my significant other. I suppose it did.</div>
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It was good to get back to Bolatarian Palace, which I found to be relatively light compared to the dark, moody settings of underground mines, old prison cells and diseased bogs. Working my way up to this boss, I realised that Demon's Souls no longer held its power of trickery over me. I now know this game too well to be deceived by its traps. As a result, I had no trouble in reaching the boss of world 1-3, who would have been pretty terrifying had I not been helped by an NPC I rescued a moment before passing through the fog gate.</div>
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Biorr fought valiantly, and very nearly died while drawing the Penetrator's gaze away from me as I let loose with the usual barrage of arrows.</div>
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<b>Leechmonger's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Leechmonger"</i></div>
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I think it's safe to say that I was a tiny bit over-leveled for world 5-1, as I cruised on through without so much as a grazed knee. As far as I could tell, this boss didn't even see me. From a high up place I was able to shoot at it with no threat of retaliation whatsoever.</div>
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<b>Dirty Colossus' Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Dirty Colossus"</i></div>
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At last, a boss gives me a reason to return to my melee roots. There was no way this guy was going to succumb to puny ranged attacks. Once again, though, I think I was just too high a level for this to be challenging. His melee attacks were fairly strong, but easy to recover from, and his habit of covering me with swarms of flies was merely an annoyance.</div>
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This is the problem when you're given freedom of choice in which order you complete the levels in; by the end, you're going to be left with some encounters that pose no difficulty. Had I ventured into world 5 earlier on, it might have been quite an enjoyable experience, but I get the feeling that another world would have suffered in its place. Perhaps some sort of level scaling wouldn't have gone amiss.</div>
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<b>Maiden Astraea's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Maiden Astraea"</i></div>
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It's becoming all too familiar now that I'm given somewhere to stand that a boss can't reach. There's honestly nothing I can say about this encounter because once again, I just shot arrows at her until she was destroyed. The only thing that might have stopped me was her healing spell, but the damage of my bow easily outweighed it.</div>
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One boss left to go (three if you count the optional bosses that I'll probably have a crack it).</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>World of Warcraft</b></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimtoosk</b></span></u></div>
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<b>I've Toured the Fjord</b></div>
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<i>Complete 105 quests in Howling Fjord</i></div>
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I have indeed toured the Fjord, and I'm going to stick to my controversial opinion that Borean Tundra is far, far better. The story arcs there are just a lot more Horde-ish.</div>
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That said, Howling Fjord comes out the winner in the category of environment presentation. The way that the frosty green slowly turns to snow as you venture further away from the coast is a great introduction to Northrend. It's as if it's easing you into the harshness of the frozen wastes before you travel deeper into the continent, to the treacherous Dragonblight. I may have enjoyed the quests of Borean Tundra more, but there's no denying that its broken up landscape was much less characteristic of the icy northern continent.</div>
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<i> </i></div>
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<b>Got My Mind On My Money</b></div>
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<i>Loot 100 gold</i></div>
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Nothing to see here, just a milestone to make you realise how many times you've right-clicked a corpse.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Team Fortress 2</b><i> </i></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spy Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Fyi I Am A Spy</b></div>
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<i>Backstab a Medic who has healed you in the last 5 seconds</i></div>
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So much for 'quitting' the spy. There were many situations during this weekend's TF2 session in which a heavy just wasn't going to cut it, due to either a lack of medics or too many enemy sentries to be cut down by. Like a fool, I chose the spy once again.</div>
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It actually went better than it ever has. I'm still pretty easy to suss out as spy, but I managed to get a fair few backstabs in.</div>
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And as for this achievement, I'm happy to say that it wasn't accidental. I spotted a lone medic and decided to act as if I was waiting for him to accompany me for some ubercharged fun times. He took the bait, began healing me, and as soon as he ran on ahead, I sent him to meet his maker. When it all goes exactly to plan as it did here, the spy is a very satisfying class to play.</div>
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<b>Spies Like Us</b></div>
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<i>While cloaked, bump into an enemy cloaked Spy</i></div>
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Oops. At least it wasn't a pyro like it usually is. Perhaps we had some form of mutual spy respect, because we both continued on our merry way, choosing not to engage each other in pistol to pistol combat. Mostly it was because I panicked and ran away immediately, so as to not be given a taste of my own backstabbing medicine.</div>
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<b>You Only Shiv Thrice</b></div>
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<i>Backstab 3 enemies within 10 seconds</i></div>
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You see? That's a lot of backstabs for little old me. Sniper perches are one of my favourite places to hang out.</div>
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<b>Slash And Burn</b></div>
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<i>Backstab an enemy, who then switches to Pyro before they respawn</i></div>
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Pyro being the anti-spy class of choice, it's good to know that I managed to make someone rage enough to make this switch.</div>
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<b>Spy Milestone 1</b></div>
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<i>Achieve 5 of the achievements in the Spy pack</i></div>
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And there you have it. After almost giving up on the class altogether, I managed to have a really fun evening playing as the spy, collecting a handful of achievements which will act as my encouragement to continue.</div>
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<i></i></div>
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<i></i>My reward for this achievement is the Ambassador, a pistol that's suited to someone who makes a lot of headshots. Not me, then.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Engineer Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Frontier Justice</b></div>
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<i>Have your sentry kill the enemy that just killed you within 10 seconds</i></div>
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Should've been aiming for the sentry, pal.</div>
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<b>Engineer Milestone 1</b></div>
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<i>Achieve 5 of the achievements in the Engineer pack</i></div>
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As with the spy, it was another semi-successful evening as the engineer. A few of the token sentry spots were free, so I was able to set up and join the battle for once.</div>
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The reward for this achievement is the shotgun known as Frontier Justice, which grants you revenge crits for every kill by your sentry, following destruction of said sentry. I see no reason why not to switch to this, as I barely rely on the base shotgun for damage. The chance to dish out a little revenge sounds good to me.</div>
Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-66349206888912160732011-08-25T20:06:00.000+01:002011-08-25T20:06:51.019+01:00I've Been Through the Desert with a Robe and No NameToday, I want to talk about Journey. No, not the 70s/80s rock band that has been permanently ruined by a certain musical TV show that shall remain nameless; I'm talking about Thatgamecompany's upcoming PSN release that has so far been perplexing press with its bewildering simplicity. For a long time, I've been confused as to what Journey even is. I've been reading previews since it was first announced, which have, up until recently, danced around the question as to what the game entails.<br />
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It seems that the clue is in the title. Journey is just that; a journey that you embark on and nothing more. What we know so far is that you play as a robed figure in a desert. There are no quests or objectives other than heading towards a mountain in the distance. There will be obstacles along the way, but presumably nothing that could cause you to die. Jumping is limited in a power-up fashion, so the main challenges are going to be earning the jumps you need to continue on your way. The game is online, and features co-op with other players. Strangers that you meet on your way will be able to assist you by boosting your jumps.<br />
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For the moment, that's about all there is. It sounds incredibly simple, and you may scratch your head as to how it's going to compete amongst games where you, you know... do stuff. Of course, this is in development by Thatgamecompany, who released the enigmatic Flower in 2009, a game that had you guiding flower petals through the wind. I didn't personally play it, but when you consider the premise and then look at the high review scores it received, you start to understand that this a company you have to have a little faith in, and not judge Journey until you've actually sampled it yourself.<br />
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According to an <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/25/journey-beta-preview-feeling-small/">interview posted on Joystiq</a> back in July, the overall aim of Journey is to provide a new kind of cooperative experience. Every character will be completely anonymous and there'll be absolutely no communication outside of a simple non-verbal shout. By removing all speech and personality from each player, Thatgamecompany may have created the perfect online experience. I'm no stranger to the colourful personalities that the <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19">anonymity of the internet has bred</a>. I've played World of Warcraft for years, and during several lapses of judgement I've been involved in a lot of groups of random players. While you can mostly ride out the resulting bumps in the road, every now and then you run into someone who seems determined to make it as difficult as possible for everyone involved. I wonder how those same situations would have gone if all our characters looked the same and the only communication was a non-verbal system (raid icons?) that purely served to facilitate teamwork. Journey seems to be exploring that reality.<br />
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In that sense, Journey is more of an experiment than a full game, but it'll certainly be interesting to see how people react to it, and to actually try it out myself. I'm usually quite hesitant to play online games with strangers as I tend to feel pressured into playing perfectly, so as to not feel judged as a simpleton when I make a perfectly reasonable mistake, as opposed to when playing with friends where I can feel much more relaxed in my idiocy (ask my old WoW guild about the "slowly reversing into fire" incident, it's always a favourite). Perhaps being completely anonymous with no worries of griefing could take the edge off.<br />
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Last I heard, Journey was set for release later this year. I look forward to satisfying my curiosity.Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-85617426306131831192011-08-21T22:59:00.000+01:002011-08-21T22:59:30.842+01:00Trophy Huntin' (7/08/11 - 20/08/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Demon's Souls (Playstation 3)</span></b></span></div>
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<b>Master Bowman's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Obtained Best Bow by Spiderstone</i></div>
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This is an unusual trophy for me in that it's one of those rare moments where I committed to farming for more than ten minutes. I was looking at upgrading my weapons, specifically my bow due to my recent found love of ranged combat. I discovered that my best option was the Sticky Compound Long Bow, a bow that's of benefit to characters with high dexterity. Initially, I was only thinking of upgrading it a few times, but looking through my items revealed that I already had a few of the rarer items I needed to upgrade it fully, including a pure spiderstone, which is needed to make the final upgrade. With that in mind, I set out to farming the shards and chunks of spiderstone I still required.</div>
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It was disheartening at first, when not a single shard was dropping despite multiple runs through the area that contained the beasts that held onto them. It was then pointed out to me that items drop much more often when in pure black world tendency. So, I committed suicide in body form 7 times to achieve this. Around the same time, I discovered a crystal lizard that dropped a nice amount of the items I needed, and I was able to kill it twice before it stopped respawning. That sped things up a little, but I still had a few more chunks to find, which thankfully all dropped at the same time after another stretch of farming.</div>
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Does all of that sound ridiculous to you? If you've never played Demon's Souls, I'm sure it does. But that's what this game has you do. You have to kill crystal lizards, kill yourself and spend a couple of hours running through the same tunnel over and over again to get the weapons you want. I'm happy with the outcome, though, as I now have a pretty fantastic bow that's dishing out respectable amounts of damage. I've decided not to do the same for my melee weapon and shield, which would involve yet more hours of mindless farming, instead choosing to focus on actually completing the game. Funny, that.</div>
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<b>Maneater's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Maneater"</i></div>
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This was bordering on Flamelurker levels of annoyance. The strategy seemed simple enough; shoot at the Maneater as it was running towards me down a long platform, run past it and to the other end of the arena when it got too close and fire at it again while it continued to run towards me. Unfortunately, I was finding that it was always a little too close behind, leaving me little time to fire at it. The wonderful thing about this battle is that a second Maneater enters the fray after a certain amount of time. If the first one isn't one or two hits away from dying, your chances of survival are lowered significantly.</div>
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I died over and over again, even giving up before I went off on my holiday to Dublin, vowing to destroy it when I returned. It turns out I was making the whole thing difficult for myself, as I hadn't noticed one massive detail; the platform continued and the arena was actually twice as long as I thought. With this extra length to run into, it was much easier to get enough distance to get a few shots in before the Maneater reached me. Following this facepalm-worthy discovery, I killed both Maneaters first time.</div>
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<b>Old Monk's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Old Monk"</i></div>
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This is one of the most interesting bosses in the game and makes very innovative use of online functionality. If another player is available, he/she takes on the role of the final boss for this world. It's a brilliant example of PvP as it brings a whole new meaning to the fight, as there's so much more at stake. You're no longer fighting to stave off a mild annoyance, you now have to defeat another player in order to progress through the game. Meanwhile, the other player gets to feel the power of acting as an end-boss, and has the chance to bring a stall to another player's progression.</div>
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Of course, this would have been interesting had I not been playing offline. I'm trying to unlock certain areas and events by bringing each world to pure white tendency. Unfortunately, world tendency resets to an average of every other Demon's Souls player's tendency every time you load up the game while logged into PSN. For that reason, I've remained offline so that my world tendency persists, as I just don't have the time to go through other means of bringing it up to pure white. As such, this boss was merely an AI stand-in that's very much a pushover, meaning a very easy silver trophy. A shame, but it's my own fault for playing offline.</div>
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<b>Old Hero's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Old Hero"</i></div>
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I'm coming across quite a few scenarios now in which it seems I've automatically entered as the victor, purely because I'm fighting with a bow. Perhaps I am reducing difficulty by playing it safe with a ranged weapon, but surely a game like this should be balanced around making it hard for any style of fighting. Sometimes it feels like I've broken the game.</div>
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This boss is blind, and locates you based on what it can hear. Make too many loud footsteps and it'll come right at you. Attack it with your melee weapon and it'll lash out. Stand at a distance and fire arrows at it, and it'll just throw a bit of a tantrum, but never actually find you. Once again, an interesting boss with an intriguing mechanic made trivial by my choice of weapon.</div>
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<b>Storm King's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Storm King"</i></div>
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Honestly, I think this boss fight was a reward, allowing me to deal out a little payback to the airbourne manta things that have been causing so much irritation so far. The battlefield's sky is littered with them, and they're all shooting their barbs at you. But in a small corner of the arena lies salvation; a sword named "Stormruler."</div>
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This thing cuts through the air at quite a sizable range, allowing you to kill flying enemies from the ground just by swing it in their general direction. It makes this battle very easy, but I honestly think that the aim here was satisfaction more than anything else.</div>
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This trophy and the last 3 were all achieved in one session, which has brought me considerably closer to the end of the game in just a couple of hours. I now only have the fifth world to complete before returning to the final two levels of the first world.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">World of Warcraft (PC)</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Explore Howling Fjord</b></div>
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<i>Explore Howling Fjord, revealing the covered areas of the world map.</i></div>
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We're so close to reaching the required level for Dragonblight that it seemed a waste of time to go all the way over to Borean Tundra to grab that last chunk of experience. With over 30 quests remaining to get the quest achievement for Howling Fjord, we decided to stay in the hopes of leveling up without leaving the zone. This achievement was a consequence of us having no idea where those 30 quests were hiding. We explored the whole zone mostly by accident trying to locate them. It turned out that we'd already passed the quest giver that starts the entire chain off earlier, but we weren't a high enough level to accept them at the time. One sneaky talking walrus-man had us flying around the whole zone...</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Team Fortress 2 (PC)</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>General Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Master of Disguise</b></div>
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<i>Trick an opposing Medic into healing you.</i></div>
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I'm not sure why this is listed as a general achievement; surely it's a spy achievement? In any case, I don't remember this happening at all, and I can assure you it had absolutely nothing to do with any skill in deception.</div>
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<i> </i><b></b></div>
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<i> </i><u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spy Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Burn Notice</b></div>
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<i>Survive 30 seconds after being ignited while cloaked.</i></div>
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Following on from my dabbling in spy play last Team Fortress 2 session, I gave it another go this weekend. Unfortunately, it went just as terribly as last time. There's something about it that I just can't get my head around. I managed to pick this achievement up due to the sheer amount of time I spent on fire. I'm probably going to abandon the spy for now. Clearly, it's just not my style.</div>
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<u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Engineer Achievements</b></span></u></div>
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<b>Doc Holiday</b></div>
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<i>Have a dispenser heal 3 teammates at the same time.</i></div>
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On the other hand, while I'm still fumbling a little with the engineer, I'm finding it infinitely more accessible than the spy. This achievement shows that I'm useful for something, as I managed to keep a dispenser up long enough for it to be used more than once. Incredible.</div>
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<b>Deputized</b></div>
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<i>Get 10 assists with another Engineer where a sentry gun was involved in the kill.</i></div>
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Playing in 2fort, I was trying out different places to build a sentry gun. It's a bit of a hit and miss map when you're playing as an engineer, as it all depends on whether the opposing team is actually trying to capture the briefcase or not. When they are, there are strategic points which need defending, perfect for a sentry gun camp. When they're not, you often find yourself standing in an empty room with nothing going on. This session's 2fort was one of the latter.</div>
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I didn't let that stop me, though, as I was still keen to practice as the engineer. I found a spot just inside the entrance of the base that was seeing some action every now and then. For some reason, 2 other engineers decided to set up their sentries right next to mine, making the whole thing trivial. No-one could step into the doorway without being ripped to shreds in a second.<i> </i>It was a very dull situation, and it was at this point we quit for the evening.</div>
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It was this wall of sentries that got me this achievement, as unsatisfying as it was. I'm still waiting for that one game in which I finally place my sentry gun and dispenser in a great position, and get to play the engineer properly. Perhaps next time. </div>
Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-3327171713972182822011-08-12T17:59:00.000+01:002011-08-12T17:59:22.418+01:00So Much For Weekly...I'm off to Dublin this weekend, so no Trophy Huntin' this Sunday. I'll combine the achievements from this week (all two of them) into the following Sunday's post.<br />
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Before anyone asks, yes, I will be drinking at least one pint of Guinness.Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-38925943506320247482011-08-11T15:23:00.000+01:002011-08-11T15:23:20.100+01:00Cash Cow LevelBlizzard has been causing a lot of discussion amongst gamers lately, after some fairly surprising announcements about its upcoming sequel in the Diablo series:<br />
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<li><a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/08/01/diablo-3-cannot-be-played-offline/">Diablo 3 requires an internet connection to play. Offline play will not be possible.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/01/diablo-3-to-feature-player-to-player-real-money-auction-house-fo/">Diablo 3 will include an auction system that allows players to buy and sell items for real money.</a></li>
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One of these in particular stood out to me as the most shocking, but oddly, it's not the one that has been perceived by others as the most controversial. Blizzard has received an outcry of rage and frustration at the announcement that you won't be able to play Diablo 3 offline. It's difficult to argue for either side as it entirely depends on the experience you've had with online connectivity in games, as well as the quality of service you receive from your ISP. Honestly, though, the announcement of Diablo 3 adopting an 'always online' model didn't surprise me.<br />
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To me, the real money auction system is (so far) the most controversial announcement about Diablo 3, and it seems to have been somewhat overshadowed by the 'offline only' news. <br />
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I believe that introducing an auction system, in which players can buy or sell in-game items for real cash, goes against one of the main attitudes Blizzard has had with regards to its other games, especially World of Warcraft. The view that players shouldn't be able to gain an advantage over others in a game by spending real world money<b> </b>has resulted in the banning of many a World of Warcraft player trying to sell their in-game gold or even their entire account.<br />
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So, why now? What makes Diablo 3 any different, when what's on sale is exactly the same as in World of Warcraft? In the linked Joystiq news article above, Blizzard argues that Diablo differs in that its items are completely random, rather than being "deterministic, dependent mostly on skill, progression, and time spent playing." While it's true that your gear naturally improves as you progress in World of Warcraft, with a lot of 'gap filling' gear being on offer for various in-game currencies, much of the gear from raids and dungeons still remains random, and may very well include the best items for your character. Since these items are random, there's every chance that you'll never see, for example, the best shield for your character drop at all. Now imagine if that shield was available to purchase with real money, from someone who had been lucky enough to see it drop. Some might argue that this is exactly what Diablo 3 will be doing.<br />
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Of course, items from World of Warcraft raids could never go on sale for real money for the same reason that they can't be auctioned for in-game gold right now; there has to be an incentive for players to keep raiding. Teamwork within guilds thrives because of the model of progression that raiding provides. To have raid items available for anyone to purchase would kill progression. Diablo is more of an individual experience. While multiplayer is available, it isn't mandatory, and the entire game can be completed alone. So yes, it appears that Diablo 3 may be more suited to this new way of acquiring items, because it doesn't matter how far ahead of everyone else that shiny new, self-bought sword puts you, everyone will eventually finish the game anyway, you'll just get there faster if you spend some money on your character.<br />
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But why real money? If the aim is to allow players to buy the items they've been too unlucky to find themselves, couldn't the same have been achieved by sticking to an auction house that uses in-game currency? Item drops may be random, but gold is predictable; every character is capable of attaining gold without relying on chance, meaning that it would be fully possible to remove the random factor in obtaining certain items by focusing on saving up enough gold. The difference would be that the item had still been earned by playing. No-one would be gaining an edge just because they're willing to put extra money into a game that they've already paid the full price of a PC game for. Yes, an in-game currency-based auction house is being implemented too, but how many people are going to use it to sell items when the alternative is to sell for real money?<br />
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The reasoning given for the option of trading with real money effectively sounds like "if you can't beat them, join them." Diablo 2 items are wrongfully sold outside of the game for cash, and Blizzard believes that the new auction system will encourage people to undertake this activity officially, within the game, rather than underhandedly outside of it. This brings us back to the initial question: why take one attitude for one game and a different attitude for another?<br />
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What if Blizzard tried to eliminate illegal gold selling in World of Warcraft by incorporating it into the game in an official capacity? They could introduce a currency exchange in which real money could be converted to gold, and vice versa. It wouldn't create a problem with progression as the best items would still only be obtainable through raiding. Instead, players could pay a little extra cash and not have to spend as much time doing daily quests and farming materials to sell on the auction house in order to afford some of the game's high-gold cost luxury items. Boil it down to the simple formula of real money being exchangeable for less play time being required to obtain certain items and it starts to sound a lot like Diablo 3's micro-transactions.<br />
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Finally, how does this affect gameplay? Are certain achievements going to be easier for the player who paid to gear up their character? Is PvP going to be ruled by players with the most cash to spare? And what effect is this going to have on the game's economy? By offering two separate auction houses, the market is already split. Ultimately, it's going to be the 'gold farmers' that dominate. How are you going to handle the competition of their stockpiles of items they've farmed up, when all you want to do is sell the axe you found that doesn't suit your class? Blizzard has a lot to consider when implementing this, and will have to be careful not to upset the balance of the game for those that intend on closing their wallets following the initial purchase of the game itself.Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-31237902860149294542011-08-07T13:53:00.001+01:002011-08-07T13:56:46.192+01:00Trophy Huntin' (31/07/11 - 06/08/11)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<i>Welcome to a new weekly post tracking all the trophies and achievements I've earned over the last week. This may turn out very similar to "This Week I 'Ave Been Mostly Playing", but the focus on individual achievements will allow for a more structured post, rather than just a general overview of my gaming week. Let's begin with the past week...</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Demon's Souls </b><b>(Playstation 3)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Adjudicator's Trophy</b></span></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Adjudicator</i>"</div>
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There's not much I can say about this boss. It looks interesting, being a big, bulging brute with a floppy, but destructive, tongue. Unfortunately, it was one of the easiest encounters I've faced so far.</div>
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I can imagine if I was trying to fight using a melee weapon, I might have found more of a challenge, and generally, the type of character I like to play is melee focused. Usually you would expect to have to pick between melee or ranged, the two being almost mutually exclusive, but in Demon's Souls, I've found that by focusing on increasing my dexterity while keeping my strength high enough to wield certain weapons, I'm quite capable of dishing out the damage both up close and from afar. It was quite a shock when I found a decent bow, fired at an airbourne enemy and the arrow killed it instantly. It was an identity crisis for a while. I'd defined myself as a man of melee, bravely fighting toe to toe with every monstrous demon that crossed my path. But now I found that I could stand safely at a distance, firing arrows like some sissy hunter? Unthinkable.</div>
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It certainly worked against the adjudicator though. Its weak point was its head, it could only hurt me if I was standing in front of it and it was extremely slow. Simply by strafing around it to keep at its back and shooting a handful of arrows at its head, it was vanquished within minutes.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Dragon God's Trophy</b></span></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Dragon God"</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now this is more like it. I wouldn't say that this was a particularly difficult fight either, but what it lacked in difficulty, it made up for in epic style. This thing was huge, its fist alone being at least three times the size of my character. As you can imagine, one strike from a Dragon God and you're dead before you hit the floor. You can't attack it directly, so what are you to do?</div>
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<br /></div>
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One of the mechanics I love to see in boss battles is the use of objects in the environment to bring the enemy down. In this scenario, there are two ballistae, one at either side of the chamber. A corridor filled with rubble leads to each ballista. Stealth is the name of the game here, as the tactic is to make your way along the corridor, hiding behind conveniently placed columns that act as a blind spot to the Dragon God. At an appropriate moment, you run out from your hiding place, smash through the rubble and pray that you're going to make it to the next pillar before you're crushed by a giant dragon fist. Once you get to a ballista, you fire it. The combination of both projectiles on ropes pins the dragon down. You can then proceed to the centre of the chamber to administer the extremely satisfying killing blow.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And that's my first silver trophy in Demon's Souls, as well as one of the worlds complete.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>Fool's Idol's Trophy</b></div>
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<i>Slayer of Demon "Fool's Idol"</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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A boss that creates false images of itself to disorientate you; ah yes, that old chestnut. Unfortunately, there was one thing that made it glaringly obvious which was the real Fool's Idol. Locking onto a target usually brings up its health bar, except on bosses where it's displayed at the bottom of the screen throughout the encounter. All of the Fool's Idol's false images had health bars when locked onto, so it was merely a case of cycling through targets until you found one without a health bar. Apparently, you can also tell by watching which image her minions worship, but I killed them all before starting on her.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Despite this, it was still an interesting level overall. The setting of a rotting, torturous prison has been the most disturbing so far, and I appreciate it for its creepiness.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>World of Warcraft (PC)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><u><b></b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Character: Grimtoosk (Troll Druid)</b></u></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Level 70</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Reach level 70</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Level 70 means something to me. I began playing WoW when The Burning Crusade was the current expansion, so my first level cap was 70. It may not mean anything now as there are still another 15 levels and a slog through Wrath of Lich King content before reaching the maximum level, but I still get an odd nostalgic feeling when I see the number 70.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Team Fortress 2 (PC)</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>General Achievements</b></u></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Riftwalker</b></div>
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<i>Kill an enemy within 5 seconds of you traveling through an Engineer's teleporter.</i></div>
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I don't actually remember doing this, but such is the nature of Team Fortress 2 that you end up earning a lot of achievements by accident. It must have been a shock for the poor soul on the receiving end.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Heavy Achievements</b></u></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>Heavy Milestone 2</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<i>Achieve 16 of the achievements in the Heavy pack.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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As you may have guessed, Heavy is my favourite class and the one I've played the most. In a genre that I'm mostly inexperienced and terrible at, the Heavy has allowed me to feel at least a little competent for the first time ever. I've noticed I can get a pretty decent score, especially when teamed up with a friendly medic.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Earning 16 Heavy achievements came with the reward of a new mini-gun named Natascha, which sacrifices damage and speed for the ability to slow down enemies. It seems very situational, its usefulness being based on the class make-up of the opposing team, but then, this applies to most of the Heavy's weapons. I've found myself mostly sticking to the default mini-gun, only switching to the alternatives in very specific scenarios.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Onwards to Heavy Milestone 3!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Permanent Revolution</b></div>
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<i>Kill 5 enemies without spinning down your gun.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Obviously, I was paired up with a medic buddy for this one. The ÜberCharge is a wonderful thing, and allows for great moments like these. What a rush.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>Vanguard Party</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<i>Be the first on your team to start capturing a control point in a round.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Another accidental achievement, though another possible product of the ÜberCharge. In fact, this may have occurred at the same time as <i>Permanent Revolution</i>. The capture point would certainly be clear after 5 enemies met their demise.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Spy Achievements</b></u></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>Identity Theft</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<i>Backstab the enemy that you're currently disguised as.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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This week I experimented with a couple of classes that I've never really played long enough to work out what to do with them. The Spy is one of these classes and has always interested me, despite being of the sneaky play-style I'm not usually accustomed to. The Spy is quite a tricky class to play well, considering that your main tactic is to convince the enemy that you're one of them. I actually pulled this off a few times this evening, and managed to get a few backstabs in, including the hilariously insulting one mentioned in this achievement.<br />
<br />
I'm still mostly awful at playing the Spy though, so I have a lot of practice ahead. And by practice, I mean deaths at the hands of enemies who see right through my guise. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Engineer Achievements</b></u></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>Uncivil Engineer</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<i>Provide an enemy player with a freeze cam of you and the sentry that just killed them.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
The Engineer is the second class I decided to try out in this weekend's Team Fortress 2 session. My main problem with this class is that I'm not a very good judge of where to place a sentry gun. I suppose that just comes with experience. I did enjoy the difference in pace and the overall play-style of the engineer during those moments where I did get a few kills with a sentry gun. I'll definitely be coming back for more.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I gather that I earned this achievement just by being stood next to the sentry that killed an enemy.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<b>Land Grab</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<i>Help a teammate construct a building.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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There's no "I" in "Engineer"!<i><br /></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></div>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-20802080026164176602011-07-31T16:00:00.000+01:002011-07-31T16:00:32.560+01:00With A Little Help From Some Strangers On The InternetMin-maxing is a habit I've picked up from the various RPGs I've played over the years. It could be described as obsessive; to fully enjoy any game that involves character progression or multiple side-quests, I'm not happy unless I'm completely informed in the choices I make. To give you an example, I've played through Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) twice, and before I'd even started each play-through, I'd already planned out how my character was going to level up, as well as how each of the party members were going to level up. That may not sound so unusual for a second play-through, but it's quite strange to start researching for a game that you haven't even begun to play at all. The result was that I breezed through most of the combat in the game, and by the end I had a character that perhaps felt a little overpowered. Had I jumped straight into the game and tried to wing it, I would most likely have struggled at certain points and ended the game with a mish-mash of stats and abilities, some of which I'd wasted precious experience points on.<br />
<br />
Judging by how easy KotOR was with a bit of planning, it's safe to say that it doesn't require the player to go through such a process if they want to complete the game. So what happens when such precise character building and knowledge of the ins and outs of the game feel more mandatory? I've recently been playing Demon's Souls, the notoriously difficult RPG that includes many options for character stats, abilities and gear, and quite a lot of choice in how to progress through the game itself. Before starting the game, I had a friend give me advice and spent some time reading the unofficial wiki that he recommended. Now that I'm some way into the game, I can't imagine how I would have managed without this pre-gameplay planning. I'm confident that I'm building my character to a 'good spec' and completing the levels in an order that is advantageous to my character in terms of armour and weapon loot. Even as prepared as I am, it's still far from a walk in the park. Without the knowledge I've picked up from my research, I might have given up in frustration by now.<br />
<br />
One of the major warnings I received about Demon's Souls was the different ways in which you can entirely ruin your game. With the auto-save feature making it impossible to go back on yourself and correct anything, it's possible to make one simple mistake and lose access to certain items or even cut off access to the services of certain NPCs for the rest of the game. This is a case where a lack of prior knowledge could have ruined the entire experience for me. Similarly, but not quite as harsh, in KotOR there's a certain part of the game in which you make a transition as far as character class goes. To take advantage of the more powerful class you become, a good tactic is to hold off on leveling up until you reach that part of the game. Not knowing that could easily result in a character that has a bunch of obsolete early class abilities and less of the superior advanced class abilities of the mid to late game.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXgbAqsMNNdcDE4C2bgwIinZByiFh9chaX_bCcT03JYkl-Eigw4-KvwVyzl-B1U0Z3-r2BLM58Q06ciMiwuo63sYst8IEf6K1FocSd03rB6kQEnP244YD_CFtEqINzi5-BVIid1QWk4I/s1600/da12.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWXgbAqsMNNdcDE4C2bgwIinZByiFh9chaX_bCcT03JYkl-Eigw4-KvwVyzl-B1U0Z3-r2BLM58Q06ciMiwuo63sYst8IEf6K1FocSd03rB6kQEnP244YD_CFtEqINzi5-BVIid1QWk4I/s400/da12.png" width="370" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A typical Bioware character creation screen (Dragon Age: Origins). Do you go with your gut instinct and just pile on the strength, or have you already done your homework and have a more specific build in mind?</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It's times like these where I'm thankful for the internet. Back in the day, your main sources of gaming information were magazines, word of mouth and TV shows involving Sir Patrick Moore's head. All the information I need about any game is readily available and easy to find. One can wonder, then, if developers working on games like Demon's Souls take into account the information that'll be available to players shortly after the game's release. It's safe to say that the majority of gamers have access to the internet somehow, especially considering the focus on online integration by this generation's consoles. I mean, if you're reading this right now, you have access to the internet in at least one way. Can developers assume this, and create more complex or difficult games as a result?<br />
<br />
Such a decision could actually enhance a game with RPG style character development and side-quests. It's in the nature of RPGs that a character will only be as good as the player makes it. Players who have spent some time getting to know a game's system and planned out their character accordingly will naturally end up with something significantly more powerful than a player that just winged it. Ultimately, the game will be a lot more satisfying if there's a reason to have such a perfectly defined character. Many RPGs reward such work with optional bosses that only the prepared
have a chance of beating, while your run of the mill 'jack of all
trades, master of none' character won't last two seconds against them.<br />
<br />
It was rather brave of Demon's Souls to extend this to the whole game. The unprepared will struggle significantly more than those who have done their homework. The game received favourable reviews for its difficulty, suggesting that gamers may indeed be accepting of the necessity to carry out some extra legwork. This is already happening in certain online games, World of Warcraft being one that immediately comes to mind. It's common practice for those raiding to extensively research and plan their character's builds and gear sets, as well as reading up on and watching videos on boss tactics, all before the first attempt at actually fighting bosses. Research is all part of the raiding experience.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRc20q79QVBrahTQjpZHYtPjdUbyfGErU3GvWW0CcGhsqL_hQBaiDWkWgiWrjoWIVkp1gJghfQo_N5gqdmFeOipFRtw2fb22q7WyrIct6piZU5Stau9IzsdkuJETxEPSV_WDZKalzhzoc/s1600/WoWScrnShot_073111_152103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRc20q79QVBrahTQjpZHYtPjdUbyfGErU3GvWW0CcGhsqL_hQBaiDWkWgiWrjoWIVkp1gJghfQo_N5gqdmFeOipFRtw2fb22q7WyrIct6piZU5Stau9IzsdkuJETxEPSV_WDZKalzhzoc/s400/WoWScrnShot_073111_152103.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>World of Warcraft now deters newer players from making a 'jack of all trades' by locking them into a specific talent tree while leveling. This at least teaches the player to specialise before they reach the end-game.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So how could developers help out the player in a world where extra study of online material can put them at a huge advantage? The special edition of Demon's Souls was released with a strategy guide. While that's a great way of getting information to a player without even pushing them online, it's still a little too much to pack into a regular edition of a game and is best left to collector's editions, which the more enthusiastic gamers are going to buy into. Since the internet is always going to be the most rich and easily accessible source of information, it could be a good idea to provide a link to the game's official forums in
the manual, or even somewhere on the title screen. Once you've found
your way to official forums, you tend to find a sticky listing fan sites
or an unofficial wiki that can provide you with further information and
guides. <br />
<br />
Of course, it all comes down to the target audience of each individual game. While some of us may enjoy spending hours looking at character stats, drawing up leveling plans and reading about advanced tactics, many gamers just want to stick to the game. For some, it needs to be enough that they can just glance at the controls or run through a tutorial and be capable of finishing the game just by playing it. Demon's Souls was an exception in that it was clearly catered for the more hardcore RPG fans and gamers who miss the harsh difficulty of older games. The developers, From Software, could assume that you'd do at least some research because they knew what type of gamer you were.<br />
<br />
Companies like Bioware and Square-Enix are trying to cater to a larger spectrum of gamers and will generally allow their games to be beatable regardless of how deep the player goes. They stick to the inclusion of higher difficulty levels or optional bosses (respectively) to keep the more knowledgeable players of the game interested, and this a trend that will most likely continue. One has to hope, though, that developers are aware of how powerful a tool the internet is when it comes to mastering a game, and take it into account when designing these optional, high difficulty scenarios. Those perfectly calculated stats have to mean something.Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-48623441578674091212011-07-31T15:51:00.001+01:002011-08-01T19:38:46.756+01:00I Return!Yes, I'm back and ready to start blogging away. I've got a new entry ready to post shortly after this.<br />
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I haven't had time to finish any games while I was in the process of moving, so there are no reviews to be written just yet. I have got a main game on the go though, so I'll have a review of it written somewhere in the near future. Until then, I'll be writing other gaming-related articles.<br />
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Unless anyone would really miss it, I don't think I'll be carrying on with "This Week I 'Ave Been Mostly Playing." I didn't really get much joy out of writing it and sometimes struggled to come up with anything to write about certain games other than "I got a bit further. It's still pretty good." Of course, if there was anyone out there that really enjoyed it, let me know and I'll see about continuing it and maybe planning for it a little better.<br />
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Anyway, time for the first post of my return...Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-91160413004073303782011-06-26T21:25:00.000+01:002011-06-26T21:25:58.682+01:00This Blog Is In Another Castle (Temporary Hiatus)I'm about to move to a different city, and as such, I have quite a lot to do at the moment. Finding and applying for jobs alone takes a large amount of time and a number of other bits and bobs to sort out keep popping up. Obviously, these things have to take priority right now, so I'm going to have to put blogging on hold for a few weeks, until I've moved and got settled into the new place.<br />
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I had planned on trying to keep up with it, but everything else is taking a little more time than I thought. I'm sure you noticed how long it took me to put out just 3 posts about E3. Any writing I do now is going to be rushed, and I don't really want to post anything that I haven't put 100% effort into.<br />
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I'm moving on July 15th, so I should be back shortly after that. Until then, may your nets always be full.Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-14448901929743867812011-06-23T19:45:00.000+01:002011-06-23T19:45:06.094+01:00Commentary on E3 - Part 3: MiscellaneousThe PS Vita and the Wii U were the only real 'big' announcements of E3 2011. Everything else was either an upgrade to existing systems or more information on games we already knew about. In this last part of my E3 commentary, I'd like to share my views on some of the things on show at E3 that don't really warrant a full blog entry, but can be summed up in a paragraph or two.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>New New New Xbox Live Experience</b></span><br />
<br />
I appreciate that Microsoft are still improving their existing console, despite how close we are to the next generation. Something I've enjoyed about the current consoles is all the extra services on offer that turn your games console into more of an entertainment centre. Sure, a games console should be, for the most part, all about the games, but it is convenient having those extra services, such as BBC iPlayer and LoveFilm streaming on the PS3. Live Television is along the same lines of convenience. I'm not sure what it'll entail here in the UK, but I can imagine it might double as a Freeview box, offering a small selection of free channels. But wherever you are in the world, it just means you have even less reason to turn off your Xbox 360 during your downtime.<br />
<br />
Adding Youtube to Xbox Live is a no-brainer. It opens up an easy way of bringing Youtube to your living room TV, meaning you can now waste all those hours watching funny cat videos from the comfort of your sofa! The future is here.<br />
<br />
I don't own an Xbox 360, but I'd be very happy with these new additions if I did, and it would've been nice to see Sony announce similar new services to their own dashboard.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Kinect</b></span><b> </b><br />
<br />
Following the showcase of new titles supporting Kinect controls, I'm still firmly in the camp of "it's not for me". Mass Effect 3 was probably one of the best examples of this. It may have sounded 'cool' on paper to be able to communicate with other characters by voicing your responses to the TV, but when it was shown at Microsoft's press conference, it just looked awkward. For starters, in Mass Effect you've always picked a general summary of the response you want to give, and Shepard then communicates it in his own way. Voicing your response and then having Shepard say something completely different just doesn't feel normal. Furthermore, with the inclusion of voice commands to order your squad around, I can't see myself wanting to be constantly yelling at my TV. That just sounds tiring.<br />
<br />
I also still have no inclination to pretend I'm holding a gun and play out character actions, when using a controller has always got the job done just fine. Playing games with Kinect still appears to be very limiting compared to playing with a controller, and probably makes games more difficult than they need to be.<br />
<br />
But I'm not the target audience of Kinect. The people Microsoft are trying to appeal to are more on the casual side of gaming interest, and just want to have a bit of fun with new technology. I understand that, but the amount of time spent on Kinect at Microsoft's press conference meant that quite a large chunk of it held no interest to me or, I'm sure, many 'core' gamers.<b> </b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pikmin</b></span><br />
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I was a massive fan of the Pikmin games on the Gamecube, and thought it was a brilliant effort by Nintendo of bringing an almost RTS style game to a console and making it work well. I was very happy to hear that a new Pikmin game is still in development, and I'll be interested to see how it'll make use of the Wii U's controller, as an extra screen could be valuable in improving the game's control scheme even further.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Uncharted 3</b></span><br />
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Watching the trailers for Uncharted 3 reminded me just how much I enjoyed the characters in the second game. These are some very strong personalities that were instantly interesting despite the fact that I missed the introduction to them by not playing the first game. The third entry in the series looks just as cinematic as ever, and it's honestly becoming difficult to tell apart from Hollywood films. That's a good step forward in an industry that's still fighting to become as accepted a medium of entertainment as film, television and literature.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Final Fantasy XIII-2</b></span><br />
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I'm going to agree with Square-Enix's decision to leave the battle system mostly unchanged in the direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII. It was one of the successes amongst the flaws of the first game, and the familiarity with it may come in handy when new mechanics are to be introduced, such as the intriguing new "Feral Link" system, that has you fighting alongside a beastly companion, akin to a World of Warcraft hunter.<br />
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The reason FFXIII-2 interests me in particular is that, while the game was flawed, I did enjoy the world and characters of FFXIII. Hopefully, Square-Enix will take note of the complaints against the first game and make it a worthwhile return visit to its world.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Playstation 3D TV</b><b> </b></span><br />
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As far as I know, this hasn't received a lot of attention from the gaming press, which I find surprising. Obviously, an affordable 3D TV is Sony's way of pushing 3D gaming on the people who are still unable to play 3D games on the PS3, which I imagine is a large majority. But the interesting thing about this TV is its ability to display separate images to two different players. 3D or not, I think that's a really cool feature. It combines the fun of having your friends in the room with you and the convenience of having an entire screen to yourself as you would when playing an online multiplayer game.<br />
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There were many other trailers I enjoyed watching, but mostly for games I was already planning on purchasing anyway. You can't really get me more excited about games like Bioshock Infinite or Mass Effect 3 because I'm already as pumped about them as you can get.<br />
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All in all, it was a fairly tame E3 this year. There was nothing particularly groundbreaking announced, but there was enough to assure us that there's plenty to look forward to in the coming year.Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1726613342891614877.post-1778654630819526612011-06-19T18:22:00.000+01:002011-06-19T18:22:36.389+01:00This Week, I 'Ave Been Mostly Playing... (19/06/2011)<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Katamari Forever</b></span></div>
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Now that I've got used to the controls again, I'm having a great time with this. I'm slowly plodding along through each level, running into the occasional difficult stage that has me retrying a few times. I'm happy to say that I've finished a couple of levels that have had my katamari grow big enough to roll up continents. The greatest feeling in the Katamari series is starting off with a tiny katamari that's no bigger than a paper clip and having it grow bigger and bigger until you've rolled up the table the paper clip was on, the room the table was in, the house the room was in, the city the house was in, the country the city was in and the continent the country was on. That level of progression in the space of 10 minutes is wonderful. </div>
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I'm glad to see the presence of 'Eternal' mode, something that was missing from We Love Katamari, that allows you to keep on rollin' until there's nothing left to roll up. It means that people like me, who panic under the pressures of a time limit, get to enjoy a slower, more relaxing journey to a massive katamari.</div>
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As it turns out, I'm not brilliant at Katamari games. I'm good enough to complete a level, but not without being scorned by an unimpressed King/RoboKing. Some practice in advanced rolling techniques may be required.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>World of Warcraft</b></span></div>
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The journey into Outland begins. This is the first time I've been able to fly as soon as I stepped into Hellfire Peninsula, and already I'm wondering how I had the patience to travel around it on foot. We're level 61 and at around the halfway point of the zone's quest achievement. We haven't suffered a painful death at the hands of the Fel Reaver just yet, but there have been a few close calls. He still instills just as much terror in me as he did the first time I saw him stomping up behind me several years ago.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Little Big Planet 2</b></span></div>
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It's been a few months since I played this, but I had a hankering for it this week. I've decided to attempt the gold trophy for finishing all the single player levels without dying, a challenge I really enjoyed stepping up to in the first game. So far it seems a little easier, which may be due to the levels being more of a means to introduce and give an overview of the new game mechanics, rather than being a progression of increasingly difficult and devious platforming levels as in the first game.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What's Next?</b></span></div>
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I don't really have a main game on the go at the moment. Katamari Forever is sort of acting as my main source of gaming, but I'm still only dipping into it when I have the time. Things are getting pretty busy in the real world. I'm moving to a different city in less than a month and I need to find a new job there. Obviously, that sort of thing takes priority, so I've decided not to start playing anything that I'll need to get heavily invested in until after I've moved and got settled in to the new place.</div>
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For now, I'll carry on with my one or two WoW nights a week and my Team Fortress 2 night on a Saturday.<b> </b>If I do get any other smidgens of free time to play games, I'll either carry on with Katamari, or go back to some PS3 games I've already finished and grab a few trophies.</div>Grimtoothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16438762561051739934noreply@blogger.com0