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Other than a single, but lengthy Diablo III session, I also managed to squeeze in some time for two more games today.

Titan Attacks

The first one was Titan Attacks. As I said last time, I managed to get to the Saturn world. Today, I tried to get past it, but I couldn’t even get close after several attempts. In fact, I have yet to reach the boss. The enemies that get to me are those big guys that drop down and leave a few of those mines behind. I find it nearly impossible to get in front of them to even be able to shoot them. The window of opportunity is extremely small, and if you get unlucky enough to get a few of them behind each other, it get’s pretty much impossible. After several failed attempts, the rage got to me, so I’ll try again some other time, perhaps in a few days.

Toki Tori Screenshot

Toki Tori is an extremely colorful game.

Toki Tori

The second game was a new one I decided to give a try. Toki Tori is a puzzle in which you use a limited inventory of items to avoid enemies and collect all the eggs on a level. It looks simple, but pretty, the music gives it a happy atmosphere, and overall, it feels fun to play. I’m not sure where or how I got the game, but I’m guessing it was part of a bundle I bought in the past. I have this problem now where I need to get almost every bundle released, so I suffer from a clogged backlog of games. To think I used to almost exclusively pirate…

I managed to complete the first world and got a few levels into the second one. There were some hiccups along the way, but overall, the puzzles were relatively simple up to now. When it gets down to it, it’s about navigating the level in the correct order by using the items you have available. Right now, I’m stuck on a level where there’s only one egg to collect, but I’m not sure how to use the combination of Bridges and Brick Switches to get to it.

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This morning I had another session of Diablo III. This time, I managed to clear the normal difficulty with my monk. All in all, it wasn’t very difficult, as expected for the first difficulty. Nearing the end of act 3, I got extremely lucky with some item drops, which made my dexterity skyrocket, meaning I was killing most basic enemies with two or three hits from a one-handed weapon.

Diablo 3 - Ending Cinematic

Normal difficulty cleared!

I started it up on Nightmare immediately, just so I could see if it will be a steamroll in the first act, and it looks like it will. Over the next few days, I might not play this one as much, though, because real world obligations are kicking in, and Diablo is a game with lengthy gaming sessions.

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I got a bit tired of my wizard, so I decided to give it a try with a monk. I named him Aang, for obvious reasons.

It was definitely fun. I had some hard time properly targeting enemies because i was used to attacking from ranged and leading my shots, so I ended up running around stuff a lot, but I’m slowly getting used to it. I’m mostly using the third primary skill, the one that attacks in the circle. For my secondary skill, I use the one that makes you charge through and knock back enemies around you, with the rune that reduces spirit cost. It helps me get around easier and charge towards health orbs when things get tough.

Diablo 3 - Optional Boss

This is an optional boss, blocking the way to an optional area.

As for the rest of my skills, I use the self heal with the damage rune, the dash, the seven palms one and the dodge increase buff. I found that I do plenty of damage pretty much with my primary skill alone, so as you see, most of my other skills are utility or survivability. This allows me to move around mobs, destroying groups from the side, instead of allowing them to surround me. If they do, though, I can hold my own for a while, do some great AoE damage and heal myself if necessary. Once it gets too tough, I just knock them back and charge out.

I managed to get to act III, pretty much in one sitting, and I had a lot of fun. Also, my first legendary/unique item dropped – an awesome two handed hammer with insane damage, considering it’s required level is only 14. I used it for a while and then put it in the stash. My future barbarian is going to love it.

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This morning, I played some Diablo 3 again, and I was still having fun. For now, the patch seems to be working.

I managed to clear the entirety of the first act and get to the beginning of the second. For the most part, it was challenging, but not impossible. I died a total of about a dozen times, but considering my gear was still mostly below level 60, it wasn’t surprising.

Diablo 3 - Desert Screenshot

Back to the desert.

My play style is still the same. I use Venom Hydra and Arcane Orb with the increased AoE rune as my main damage dealers. The Eletrocute recharges my arcane power via Surge of Power, and Diamond Skin and Mirror Image are used defensively when needed. Energy Shield is my offensive/defensive buff of choice.

In any case, I’m act two now, but I haven’t tried actually playing yet. From what I hear, the difficulty should ramp up quite a lot now.

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As a lot of gamers are probably aware, Patch 1.0.4 for Diablo III was released this past week. The two of you that are actually reading this blog might also be aware that I kind of got bored of the game a few weeks ago, and possibly even wrote about it.

Suffice to say, I was hopeful with the game, and it is a good game, but it doesn’t have that magical something that Diablo II had. I’m not sure what it is, but it doesn’t have it. The game felt more like a grind than an addiction. It might be even possible we, as gamers, outgrew the formula, but I doubt it. It was probably just the combination of a bunch of minor things being not quite there at the same time.

Diablo 3 - Hell Screenshot, Wizard

Hell hath no fury like a wizard scorned.

In any case, patch 1.0.4 tried to add some of that magic back in. I gotta say, it may be a successful attempt, to a degree. I tried playing my wizard again, and I actually enjoyed myself. The fights aren’t as annoying, or as hard, those unbeatable enemy combinations don’t seem to happen anymore, there’s more drops, everything is just less annoying. Now, It might be that this is because I haven’t played in a while, but I truly think the patch had something to do with it. There’s hope for this game yet, I guess.

Anyway, I played my wizard, and I managed to beat Hell. I also managed to get to level 60, so it’s time to do some grinding (hopefully the fun kind) in Inferno. Thanks to some of the gear I bought (for gold, not real money), Diablo wasn’t that hard. I had to be alert, but I managed to kill him on my first attempt, almost dying only twice.

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He really doesn’t. I just don’t have the willpower for anything more complex than that. Again, it was hot as hell today, and again, this was the only game I could play.

Binding of Isaac, Steam Achievements.

One Step Closer (Linkin Park works here in more ways than one).

In the end, thanks to the high damage technology, the Cathedral was easy to beat. Since this was the first time beating it with Judas, this makes me one step closer to unlocking the Chest.I did a bit better, though. I only played for two sessions as Judas, but this was enough to beat the Cathedral on my second run. This unlocked another achievement, and another item – The Curved Horn. It was a pretty sweet run to. I managed to get Technology early on, followed by several damage upgrades. I was also lucky with trinkets and consumables. I managed to get the safety cap just a couple of rooms before getting mom’s coin purse, allowing me to get a huge amount of upgrades. I was low on natural health, but lucky for me, I also got the Mitre, basically making me drown in spirit hearts.

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Today, we measured 38 degrees Celsius here in Croatia. Suffice to say, I’m hardly in the mood to do anything, let alone do any serious gaming.What I did was to try and play a few rounds of The Binding of Isaac.

I’m not sure if it’s the heat, or if it’s because I haven’t been playing it for a while, but I got rusty, extremely rusty. I mean, I was never an awesome Isaac player, but right now, I’m having a hard time actually reaching mom, when satan used to have a common appearance.

Still, I was persistent, so I managed to eventually finish the cathedral once with Cain, and also managed to finish a challenge, the one called “Dark Was The Night”, which unlocked The Candle as a new item. I’ve seen it in action on some Youtube let’s play’s, so I’m looking forward to using it.

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Puppy Games gave this game (or any other one from their library) for free a few months ago. I tried it back then, but I never played it extensively, since that’s probably not the way this game is meant to be played.

Basically, it’s a Space Invaders clone with blocky, but flashy graphics, which allows you to earn cash and upgrade your tank between levels. It’s a simple formula, but one that’s highly engaging. There are plenty of levels and upgrades to go through, as well as a lot of achievements to unlock.

I’ve been playing it sporadically since the day I got it, but I’ve been stuck on the moon “world” for a while now, because I kept getting killed by the boss. This morning, I finally managed to get past it, and then I went past the next world, Mars, on my first attempt.

Titan Attack Screenshot

The difficulty curve basically goes flat during the Mars levels.

Saturn followed after Mars and I managed to reach the end boss there on the very same attempt, but I didn’t manage to beat it. Still, I got a new high score (which is pathetic, compared to online scores) and I managed to upgrade all of my add-ons, which got me an achievement.

All in all, it’s a very fun game, so don’t be surprised if you see more of these posts.

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So that was my second attempt at a Nuzlocke challenge. I’d love to say I lost because of the rules, but I would be lying. I lost, because I played dumb. I didn’t have the patience to grind, I used fast forward on the emulator too much, and I made stupid mistakes. There was literally no reason to lose any of the Pokémon I lost.

It’s not the end. I’ll definitely do more of these runs eventually. For now, though, all I can say is, If you love Pokémon, you should try it yourself. It really, truly makes the game new for you. You don’t have to focus on getting the best team ever, and you get to enjoy some of the less popular Pokémon. It also makes you play more strategically, since you can’t just sweep through your opponents as usual. Some of those defensive and utility moves actually start making sense then.

In any case, that’s it for now. I dub this Pokémon Emerald Nuzlocke challenge a failure.

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Fallarbor Town was just a temporary stop. I needed to go south, in search of Team Aqua. I’ve caught a Swablu on route 114, which was an excellent catch, since I believe it learns Dragon moves at higher levels. I named her Poof, because I think the name fits the looks.

Team Aqua was at Meteor Falls, fighting with another team, Team Magma, over who gets to take some guy with them. I wasn’t really paying attention since both teams sound dumb as hell, so I can’t tell you who the guy was. I’ve chased them off and caught a crappy Zubat before moving further south to Route 115. I don’t even remember what I named the Zubat at this point.

Route 115 didn’t have any bushes, so I guess I’m going to have to catch a Pokémon there by swimming, if I ever get to that. Since I was at Rustboro, I decided to pay a visit to the president of Devon Company, who gave me an Exp. Share for helping him earlier.

Then I took the cable car to Mt. Chimney, where I had a throw down with one of the Team Magma leaders. He was easy to beat, but it was obvious I was starting to fall behind in level grinding. Chasing away Team Magma opened the way to Lavaridge Town, through Jagged Pass. Sadly, I was an idiot and forgot this was a new area, so I killed what could’ve been the best and only Machop I ever owned.

The Gym was easy, deceptively so. I cleared pretty much every Pokémon with no difficulty, since most of them were fire types. This boost of confidence ruined me. Alice was at half health when the gym leader’s final Pokémon entered the battle. It was a Torkoal, and it took one critical Body Slam for Alice to go away, forever. I got my new badge, and lost my most powerful fighter. It was at this point that I knew it wasn’t going to end well.

Terrible Pokemon Drawings

I might actually be getting worse at drawing.

I started training Smokey, hoping it would soon replace Alice as my top Pokémon. It was looking good. Soon he was able to one-hit-KO most of the Pokémon below his level. I got him to 22 before I got bored, and then I decided to try my luck with my dad’s gym. Before that, I also went to the desert on route 111 and caught another potential asset – a Trapinch I named Chompette.

I should’ve waited. I should have prepared more. I didn’t. The rooms before the final one, I was able to clear, though with difficulty and a couple of close calls. Vigoroth and Spinda fell, but I was hurt badly. Then Linoone entered the battle. Headbutt, and my Jonathan was gone. Another one, and there goes Mr Ploppy (who evolved in the meantime, by the way). I was left with 3 Pokémon at around level 20. Care to guess how that ended?