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Installed it on Saturday, completed it today.

The game, like most CoD games, is very story driven, so I didn’t really want to spoil it to the few readers I have. Anyways, It’s a blockbuster, like all of the recent games in the series. There is nothing revolutionary in there, but the presentation is great and It’s really fun to play. The campaign doesn’t drag for to long and it ends before it gets boring or tedious.

I had issues with some minor bugs, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

Really, there is nothing to say. It’s a good, fun game to play and if you played any of the previous games because of the campaign, you should play this one. As for multiplayer, I’m not into it, so I can’t comment on that. Should you buy it? I’m not sure. It can easily be completed during rental, so if, like me, you don’t care about the multiplayer, maybe you should skip buying it.

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After lots and lots of justice dispensing and pure, 100% heroism, I managed to rescue 6 out of the total of 8 orphans, but the major still wasn’t satisfied. I also made a unicorn crap himself, helped a Leprechaun escape from the Leprechaun mafia, helped a guy build a high class village for the rich and wealthy, brought some stone and dirt for food for a really, really poor village, reconciled a smelly farmer and his wife, killed some demons, exorcised a village full of ghosts, killed a bunch of orques and all kinds of truly, truly heroic stuff.

More DeathSpank Art

A truly heroic man, that DeathSpank.

Since the major would do nothing, I decided to try and go find the other two orphans, at the castle of lord von Prong, the big boss behind the artifact and orphan theft. As luck would have it, they were looking for the remaining six orphans so, since I already had them, they decided to lower the drawbridge and let me in. I killed a bunch of orques in there, saved the last two orphans and ran into a locked gate.

I decided to go and return all of the orphans to the major, who organized a huge press conference, got some major publicity for his election and, in the end, instead of giving me the promised 100 000$, game me an I.O.U., stupid major. I went to talk to the old retarded grandpa to ask how to open the locked gate and, more importantly, how to defeat lord von Prong. He said that I need a sword, the Pronginator 3000 or something, and he will make it for me, if I get him the ingredients. He needs some 6×6 plain pelt, a lock of von Prong’s hair and some demon ore.

First I went and got the ore from the Demon Mines, that was easy enough. Then I went to look for the pelt salesman on the road east of town. He wasn’t on his usual spot, but I did find some dragon poo there, and more of it down the road. I followed the trail of poo to an old orc camp, where I found and defeated the dragon. Turns out, the dragon ate the salesman, so he climbed out of him now. I bought the plain 6×6 piece of pelt, and all that was left was the lock of hair. I remembered there’s a wig that von Prong wore in his museum so I went to try and take it, but the guards wouldn’t let me touch it. I asked them when they are leaving and they said at pi’o’clock, when it’s lunch time. I spoke to the guy next to the clock outside, but he wouldn’t ring the bell, since it wasn’t pi’o’clock yet. He also said that there’s a song that the lord usually sings which always brakes the clock, so I went back to the museum and played the song on the record player there. The clock shattered and the orque outside asked me what time it is. I said it was pi’o’clock, so he rang the bell and the guards went for lunch.

I took the hair and brought all of the stuff to the retarded grandpa. He gave me the sword, so I went back to the castle, where I promptly kicked von Prong’s ass. The mysterious, yet strangely attractive red-haired woman appeared again and thanked me for killing von Prong. However, she also said my mission is not over and revealed that von Prong was wearing the same type of thong DeathSpank was wearing. The difference is, my thong gave me the power to be the dispenser of justice and a hero to the downtrodden, while his just corrupted him. Anyways, there are more people in the world with the same thongs, so I have to deal with them to.

That, however, is a story for another time, since the narrator is really tired now.

THE END.

A Poster for DeathSpank 2 - Thongs of Virtue

A Poster for DeathSpank 2 – Thongs of Virtue

Anyways, see you guys in the next episode…

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Good things come in small sizes, right?

Well, this game fits that proverb perfectly. I installed it a few days ago, tried it for a bit, but got busy soon so I didn’t play for a while. A few days later, I completed most of it in one sitting.

Shank, Random Chainsaw Art

I went through Shank so fast, I didn’t even have the time to take a screenshot.

The story is simple and not at all important. Shanks girlfriend gets killed in a Kill Bill style scene and he is left for dead. Seven years later (or that is how I understood it) he is back for revenge and kills each and every member of his former gang, including a stripper, a butcher/wrestler, a priest and the big boss.

So what do I think of the game? I think the perfect way to describe it would be with one word – STYLE. This is what the game is all about. Anything you do in it, you do with style, no exceptions. You kill with style and you die with style. You speak with style and you jump with style, and you love every single bit of it. For pure awesomeness, I would give it a 10/10. For duration, maybe a 5/10, but that does not matter at all. The game is the perfect size for what it does, and it does that perfectly.

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In the two dungeons, I’ve found more people, but no villagers this time. Both of the people accused me of being “the alien who abducted them”. One of them was a woman who was also missing her husband. After clearing these two, I managed to find a few more dungeons, saving more unknown people. Soon, Annela gave me the password past that one room in the first “techy” dungeon so I went there two, which just created even more mysteries.

While doing all of this, I started finding chisels and flower seeds, which I would give to the villagers so they could make stone statues for the plaza and plant flowers around the village. The village started to look really nice because of it. I even managed to raise the red fupong to the max level, but I never got the chance to use it.

Away: Shuffle Dungeon, A Sad Fupong

A sad fupong.

After clearing all of the available dungeons, Annela finally woke up, so I spoke to her. She said she remembers allot of things now. It was Sword who abducted her from her world, even though he doesn’t remember. After hearing all of this, Sword promised he will do anything to get to the bottom of the mystery. Annela said she had a dream while in the hospital, about a portal opening up under Swords bed, so they both decided to spend the night at his place (nothing sexual, you pervs). The dream turned out to be true and a new portal opened up. This one took them to a control room of a spaceship and that is when they realized the truth. The whole of Webb village is just an Illusion created in the spaceship. The ship was hit by a meteor and is malfunctioning so this is why the earthquakes started happening in the village.

Before I could do anything, the control robot, which also malfunctioned, attacked Sword and Annela. Sword managed to kill it in basically one it, but it was to late…

Annela was dead!

Sword tried to do everything he could think off, but it was to late. All he could do was to give her a burial in space. I explored the rest of the ship and found the main computer. According to the diagnostics program, a part was missing. The computer said that it indeed was Sword that brought all the people to the village. Why he lost his memory was unknown, but it was probably due to the malfunction. All of the caves he was exploring were actually subspace passages to various locations in timespace. I also found the place where the meteor hit, and discovered the Subspace Dungeon. At the bottom of it, I’ve found the missing part and used it to repair the computer. Once this was done, the autopilot was engaged and the ship suddenly started moving to an unknown location. Sword tried to stop it, but the ship wouldn’t listen.

The location was Earth!

He used the transporter to exit the ship and he was greeted by a bunch of scientists, one of which was professor Atom, who explained everything. Humanity is dying out. There is a strange disease that is systematically destroying the human DNA and the cause of it is unknown. The doctors are trying to do everything, but nothing is working. They considered time travel to go to the past and find people with healthy DNA, but there is no technology that could send a living organism to the past. This is when they got an idea. They sent a ship with an artificial intelligence to the past to find Sword. The ship would then travel at the speed of light and thus use time dilation to “travel to the future” and get more people on the way to the present. Their DNA could then be used to restore the missing pieces and cure the disease. Just as the last people were found, the ship was hit by the meteor and the mission could not be completed. Now that the ship is back, though, Sword could use the minimizer machine in the lab to shrink to a microscopic level and restore the DNA.

Off course, this is what I did and humanity was saved. The “dungeon” was a tough one and I had to try several times, but in the end, I got to the bottom level, defeated the boss and fixed the DNA. The problem now is, there is no technology that could be used to bring the people who’s DNA saved humanity back to their own times. They decided to all stay and live in the Webb village, as there is nothing else that could be done.

This is when professor Atom got an idea. Why not use the ship to continue traveling to the future until such technology is invented? Sword agreed and started the ship again. A few generations later, he got back to Earth and was greeted by professor Tatom, the great, great, great, great granchild of professor Atom. He managed to invent the technology needed and everyone could now return.

One by one, the villagers entered the machine and went back to their homes. The professor gave each of them a gem to remember him by. The last person to go was Sword, but then he got an idea. Instead of going back to his own time, he went back to the moment he and Annela were attacked by the robot. This time, the battle was much tougher, but I managed to win and Annela was saved! He got her back to Webb village and then it was time for her to return to her own time to.

Sword, on the other hand, decided to stay on the ship. After all, he would have probably died in his own time line, as he was taken from a shipwreck. He would use the ship to travel through space and live out his days with his only company being the fupongs that were left behind.

One day, he was walking through the village, when a strange light appeared in Annela’s old house. He opened the door and she was there. Annela was back! The game that the professor was giving to all the villagers is actually a device that she used to return to Sword. As she was explaining this, all the other houses lit up to. All of the villagers decided to return. They loved their time in Webb village and they missed each other and sword, so they all decided to live there, instead of in their own times. They will use the ship to go on more fun adventures and live out their lives together in happiness.

THE END

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I went on and solved the remaining 8 puzzles in the game, as well as the 15 bonus puzzles I could now access from the main menu. This, of course, means that i decorated the inn rooms, and assembled the painting.

It took me 12 hours and 50 minutes to do all of this and finish the game. My final score is 5181 and i have 53 coins left. There are some weekly puzzles you can get by WiFi, but those do not count towards anything, so I will leave them for when I have nothing else to do. In any case, I think I can safely mark this one as 100% completed. There would of course be the ultimate option of starting a new game and getting the maximum score, but since the puzzles do not change, I see no point in doing this. I might try the sequel now, or maybe some other DS game.

As for the reader puzzles, I will put up answers tomorrow if no one solves them by then.

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Zappone didn’t know anything so i was back at the start. I continued to explore the streets and soon found a strange note mentioning someone building “models for every situation” for his boss. After solving some more puzzles, I went to the market where one of the merchants, Giuseppe, gave me a flower vase which was given to him by a strange man. I also found a few more notes, one of them by the same man who wrote the last one, this time saying that he will “make one in honor of lady Violet”. I stumbled into Archibald at the market, and he finally told me that he was a good friend with the baron. The baron did not leave him a note, but he did give him an old desk. Archibald agreed to let me search the desk, and this is where I found another note, this time with a red “X” on it. After all of this, Chapter 5 ended and I got a message that the innkeeper, Beatrice, needs to talk to me. I went there and she said that a guest ran off without paying the bills. She described him as a sinister looking guy in a trench coat and a sharp mustache. Sounds like the guy that we saw in front of the manor much earlier. We left the in and, since the investigation was going nowhere, decided it was time to visit that sinister tower at the back of the village. Chapter 6 started and we were on our way.

Professor Layton Artwork

Even the empty streets look nice.

We solved a few more puzzles and then continued north, past the market, to try and find a way to the tower. Sadly, we reached a dead end. This is where we met a young girl. She wouldn’t tell us her name and soon ran off, startled by something. She dropped a ticked to the ferris wheel at the park so we decided to go there next. As we left, the same mustached man from the inn appeared saying how Layton was a thorn at his side for a while now and how he will get what’s coming for him. Chapter 6 ended.

We got to the park, but the entrance was closed again so we decided to ask around in town about it and Chapter 7 began. I went to the town hall and was told that managing the park was the caretakers job. He also manages the sewers, but no one could tell me where to find him. There was a sewer entrance on the way to the park, so I went there and entered it. A man named Pavel was right at the entrance, so I asked him if he was the caretaker. As it turns out, he was just a tourist who got lost, but he did say he saw a man in working clothes pass by recently. After doing some exploring and puzzle solving, I’ve finally found Sylvain, the caretaker, trying to fix something. I helped him by solving a puzzle and he opened the park doors for us.

There was a poster at the park entrance with Flora on it. It seems the baron built the park specifically for her. Everything in the park was old and run down. It seems it hasn’t been used in years. Another note, found on the ground in the park was saying that “the little miss was catching on on the village secret” and that the boss asked the author to built the park for her. The “little miss” must be Flora. We explored the rest of the park and, other than a locked shed on a lake, we found nothing. We were about to leave, when the ferris wheel broke out of the frame and almost ran us over. We managed to avoid it, but it crashed into the shed. All that was left was a passage leading underground, so we decided to follow it.

There was a room at the end of the passage with a key hidden in the wall behind a picture. The key was decorated with a miniature model of the castle, so we decided to take it to the dead end we were at before to see if we can use it somewhere. This ended Chapter 7. As we were leaving the park, the professor decided to visit the inn before going to the dead end. He thinks someone is after us and that the inn would be the place to find a clue who it is. Chapter 8 started. We asked Beatrice to show us the newspapers from the last few days, but she couldn’t find any. Then Ramon showed up and asked us to go to the manor. On the way there, we’ve encountered the mysterious girl again. She said we shouldn’t interfere with the tower and left.

We came to the manor, and the inspector accused the professor. It seems that the vase I was offered at the market was the same vase that was in the room where the murder happened. Since I held it at the market, my fingerprints are all over it. I confronted him with the claim that he is the only one who seems to be hiding something. According to a newspaper article we’ve found earlier, the inspector’s favorite food are sweet-potato fritters, yet when he was offered candy earlier, he got mad and claimed he doesn’t like it. He said that he just happens to like his wife’s, Amy’s fritters and nothing else. However, the name of his wife is Amelie, not Amy. To add to this, he said he received a report to come to St. Mystere right after the murder happened, but the crank to lower the drawbridge was stolen, so there was no way for him to enter the village. Finally, he somehow knew about the key we found before we told it to anyone and said he would take it. After being cornered like this, the inspector had no choice but to confess. He was wearing a disguise all along. He wasn’t the inspector, he was Don Paolo, the same man that skipped paying at the inn, an evil genius and professor Layton’s arch nemesis. Before we could catch him, he jumped through the window and ran off. Chapter 8 ended and the mystery of inspector Chelmey was solved.

With the murder accusations out of the way, it was time to focus on finding the Golden Apple again. We went to the dead and and, as expected, there was a small keyhole on the wall. right at the spot where the “X” on baron’s note was. The wall moved and uncovered a door. Chapter 9 started and the mystery of the key was solved. We went through the door and instantly fell into a trap. The floor bellow us opened up and we fell into the hole. We fell into a room filled with strange machines. One of the walls was covered in pictures of everyone from the village with a key next to each of them. We found the stairs and went up, but soon encountered an old man. He said something about us trying to interfere with his work and asked us to return number 38 to him. We explained to him that we are here by accident and that we are just looking for the Golden Apple. He said that the Apple was on top of the tower, but it’s filled with extremely difficult puzzles.

In the end, he told us the whole story. His name was Bruno and he works for the Reinhold family. His job is to manage St. Mystere from the top of the tower. To be precise, he manages the “life” of each villager. All the villagers are actually robots created by Bruno. The baron believed that an heir worthy of his legacy would one day arrive and had Bruno build the city and everyone within it to prepare for that day. Then he stored his greatest treasure, the Golden Apple, on top of the tower. Bruno was ordered to protect it with his life and, until the person arrives who can solve the puzzle of the Golden Apple, he will continue to protect it. It seems that there was no murder or abductions to begin with. Bruno was simply taking the villagers to repair them, and a cog or two got left behind every now and then. This means the mysteries of the cogs and the abductions are solved.

I started to explore the tower and solve the puzzles along the way. Luke and the professor started talking and concluded that the crank was also stolen by Bruno so he could give himself some time to evaluate us and Don Paulo before deciding if any of us is worthy. Moving on, we also realized that it really was Don Paolo who skipped paying the bill at the inn. As for Simon’s murder, it wasn’t really a murder. He simply malfunctioned and Bruno didn’t get the chance to take him for repairs before it was noticed. Now, since repairs needed machinery operating, people started to associate abductions with the sounds from the tower, where the machinery was. Anyway, Don Paolo probably stumbled into Simon on the floor and decided to disguise himself as an officer of the law to make use of the situation. The mysteries of Ramon and the rumbling tower are thus solved. The mystery of lady Dahlia and lady Violet is also easily explainable. Lady Dahlia is also a robot, built to resemble the late lady Violet. Flora couldn’t accept a robot replacing her real mother.

After much walking and puzzle solving, we have finally arrived to the top of the tower, where, obscured from the ground, a pretty little cottage was built. We stepped through the door and found Flora. This is where she was living. She is the Golden Apple. The whole purpose of finding her wasn’t to gain access to the baron’s wealth but to find a worthy guardian for his daughter. A few moments later, Don Paolo attacked with his flying machine. We ran down the tower as fast as possible before it collapses from the attacks, but soon, Luke was cut off from Flora and the professor due to damage on the stairs. The professor used some items from the cottage to build a kite which he then used to escape with Flora. As they landed, the tower finally collapsed. It would seem that the noise that scared Claudia, the cat, was Don Paulo’s flying machine, so this also solved that mystery.

Everything fell into place now, and the treasure was easy to find. Flora’s portrait at the mansion held a hidden switch, which moved the bookcase and revealed a secret passage leading to a room filled with gold. The room also held a recording for Flora from her father. It also said that if we remove the treasure, the inhabitants of St. Mystere would all go into a deep sleep. Flora decided, and we agreed, that the treasure should stay where it is, as the villagers mean far more to her than wealth. Flora left the village with us, and we decided to keep the secret of St. Mystere to us and keep it safe from the rest of the world.

THE END!

Final Score: 3752 Picarats, 112/120 Puzzles Solved, 62 Hint Coins Left

So, what to say about the game? Play it! It’s fun, you can play it in long sessions or in small chunks and allot of the puzzles are really interesting. The game has charm, the story is fun to follow and the character design and atmosphere are great to, reminding me of old cartoons like Dr. Dolittle and others. You get a recommendation from me!

For the readers:

Help Stachenscarfen move the wolf, sheep, and cabbage from one side of the river to the other while obeying the following rules.

  • In addition to its captain, the raft can only one animal or item at once.
  • When Stachenscarfen isn’t near, the wolf will eat the sheep, and you’ll have to start over.
  • The sheep will eat the cabbage when Stachenscarfen isn’t around. If you let the sheep have its way, you’ll have to start over.
  • You can shuttle the raft back and forth as many times as you like, but the shortest solution takes seven moves.

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After waking up, I searched the town again. I’ve found an abandoned house by the south gate and easily broke in. In there, I’ve found a body and on it a note explaining how to enter the Repository. I need to register at the inn under a fake name. The innkeeper took me to a special room from where a secret passage led to the repository. I got in, showed my amulet to the Vault Keeper and opened my chest. It contained the legendary Crux of Ages and another note.

The note said that it was in fact me writing the notes to myself. I somehow came into possession of the Crux of Ages together with my brother and was hunted by a powerful goblin shaman. He uses a technique based on memories in order to track people, so the only way to hide was to erase my identity. The problem is, my brother didn’t manage to do that and is now being held captive and tortured by the goblins at Vela. I am to go there and set him free.

Since I already have the waypoint, I quicktraveled to Vela and started scouting the place. The place was filled with traps, so I had to go back to Blackwater a few times to rest and restock on recovery items. I decided to explore to the north first and found another goblin warlord. Thanks to some nicely placed explosive barrels, he was disposed of easily. He dropped a golden key, so I took it and went south.

Eschalon: Book One, Nice Misty Scene

With good styling, any game could look good, no matter how low the tech.

After defeating a minotaur-like monster and a bunch of goblin archers, I have finally found my brother in a building in the south. He was chained to a cross in a way that it would be impossible to free him without killing him. He told me that the goblin shaman is somehow controlling the chancellor and this is why there is no one defending Thearmore. In addition to that, the Crux of Ages might somehow prevent the mind control and that is why it’s so important. In the end, he asked me to end his suffering and I complied. It was either that, or leave him die in agony.

Eschalon: Book One, Nice Lighting

Even lighting effects can look good in low tech.

I now have to go to Shadowmirk and warn the wizards there of an impending goblin attack. According to my map, Shadowmirk is actually the strange tower I passed by on my quest to clear the slimes from the Marshes of Boradan. Since I have already found the back entrance and opened the front gate, it was easy to enter this time. I’ve killed the floating eye and then continued to explore a tower. I’ve encountered an empty candlestick with some jeweled eggs engraved on its surface and soon encountered a puzzle room which would send me back to start if I stepped on the wrong tile. Past the room were two chests, each with a sign above it that contained a riddle. One was “give me strength”, and the other was “ease my pain”. My guess is, I need to put an item in each chest, but at this point, I have no idea which item to put where. I assumed I will get the items in the tower, so I continued to explore. In another room, I’ve found an apprentice mage named Walter, who told me that the mage I’m looking for resides on the top floor of the tower. The only way to get there is to solve the tower riddles and this is what he is attempting to do as well. The problem is, he dropped the key to the necromancy lab in the arachnid chamber and is now too drained to get it.

I got the key to the necromancy lab and opened it. All the rooms were filled with bones but there were no enemies. I went to the last room where I got a bunch of items and potions in a chest. Sure enough, as I looted this chest, a bunch of skeletons spawned from the bones, so I had to fit my way out. Since I explored everything I could, it was time to go back to the puzzle room. I tried putting a healing potion in one chest, and one of the two unidentified potions that I got in the lab in the other chest, and it worked. I stepped on the teleporter and appeared in another room. I got the key from a nearby barrel and opened the door to level two.

The second level was much easier. It started off with a short and simple teleporter labyrinth which led me to the main residential area. After doing some looting and stealing, I’ve soon found the proving room where a leaver released a raptor and two giant lizards to attack me. I killed one of the lizards while the other one attacked the raptor, and then I finished both of them. I continued up the stairs to the third level. This was the top level so I’ve found Erubor here. He was already aware of the impending attack and of the fact that the chancellor is being controlled. According to him, the Crux of Ages needs to be found (the last note I wrote to myself said I should not tell anyone I have it) and brought back to its rightful place, the Bastion Spire. The problem is that every conceivable entry to the Spire is blocked now, since the chancellor isn’t allowing anyone there. The only way to access it is the way the goblins took when they stole the Crux in the first place – the portal at the goblin citadel.

Eschalon: Book One, A Nice View

This view was a nice reward for climbing the lighthouse.

In order for me to get to the citadel, I need four keys, one in the wizard’s chamber, and three in possession of various goblin warlords. I already have two, so I just need the last one. Lucky for me, the giants managed to acquire that one and the wizard has already sent word of me coming for it. The giants live in the deserts to the southwest, which, as I’ve been told, is pretty much the toughest place in the region, so I decided to go there, since I’m brave, and a hero and all. On the way there, I got the last waypoint which is also in the middle of some ruins. I also had to fight 2 taurax to get to it. After passing through the southern gate, I decided to do some exploring and arrived at an abandoned lighthouse. I’ve cleared it of enemies, found a boat at the docks in the back and managed to turn the beacon back on. As I was getting out I got ambushed by a heap of goblins and I have to say, demon oil turned out to be extremely useful.

Eschalon: Book One, Mountains.

The mountains seem a bit out of place on a static screen, but in motion, it looks fine.

After this, I decided to try and get to the giants, but not before finding a wrecked caravan and a letter addressed to a woman in Blackwater. I decided to deliver it, but first, I wanted to get to the giants on the western shore of the area. On the way there, I’ve found a strange building with three teleporter pads. Only one of them was working and it transported me a bit to the west of Blackwater in a tiny area completely walled off by mountains. There was nothing there as far as I could see, so I went back and finally got the giants’ village. I talked to the chief and, after explaining to him what my goals are, he agreed to give me his key, but only after I do a task for him. I need to recover their last chieftains’ skull from a hunting camp in Baron’s Thicket. At first, I thought I will have to fight the hunters, but it seems they had a sort of Jurassic Park thing going on and kept live raptors to hunt for sport. Off course, the raptors broke loose and killed everyone. I got the skull and I came back. Oh, by the way, as it turns out, that teleporter in the strange building near the village actually was a shortcut to Blackwater. It was dark when I got there so I didn’t see a lever that opens a passage. This will definitely be useful, no matter how you look at it.

I quicktraveled to Loneloft by the south gate to try and find that oasis from which the talking tree asked me to get water. It wasn’t too hard to find, but it was protected by traps and taurax so I had to do some tedious kiting. Since I can’t quicktravel in the desert, I had to use the teleporter. On the way there, I brought the skull to the giants. The chieftain gave me the key and even promised the giants’ aid in the assault on the citadel. I used the teleporter and then quicktraveled to Bordertown to get to the tree. After giving the water to it, it told me about a bow, made from its branches, buried with a hero in the Tanglewood Ossuary to the south. Before going there, I went to Blackwater to heal and rest up. I went there, fought a bunch of ghosts, zombies and skeletons and got the bow. The problem is, while it does do more damage than my current bow, it also weighs a lot, so the only way I can cast spells while wielding it is if I remove my gloves completely. I guess I have to put a few points into strength finally. I went on through the tunnels, pulling levers and killing zombies, and finally realized that the tunnel leads to Crakamir (the desert). I got out in northern Crakamir and decided to go assault the citadel now. I have a few side quests left, but at this point, I really don’t think it’s worth it to waste my time on those.

The giants kept their promise and the assault on the courtyard was easy. Once we killed everyone there, I had to go in alone as the giants are too big for the goblin structures. I was running a bit low on arrows, but I decided to risk it and go in anyway. The main entrance was blocked, so I had to find another way to the next floor. I was exploring the side passages, clearing goblins and other monsters on the way and eventually got into the main chamber from the back. After clearing the area, I pulled the levers to open a way out and used the keys to open the gates to the next floor. I was extremely low on arrows by now, but luckily, I’ve found a teleporter that takes me back to the strange building I mentioned before. I used it to get there, and then used the other teleporter to get to Blackwater. I bought a bunch of arrows and other supplies and went back.

Eschalon: Book One, View of the Throne Room

The Throne Room.

The second level was pretty straightforward. I had to fight some spiders first, then I went through a labyrinth inhabited by three taurax (minotaur) and finally I have reached the shaman. He tried to offer me money to leave, but I decided to use the opportunity to attack him by surprise. I kept a stack of 9 assassination arrows just for this battle and I used all of them to kill him. After this, I plundered his riches and then used the teleport to get to Bastion Spire. I put the Crux on the pedestal and went to see the chancellor. The effect of the Crux was instantly noticeable and the chancellor thanked me and summoned a council to question me. My quest was completed.

Eschalon: Book One, Ending Screen

The game ends with text, which was to be expected from a low budget title.

This was a great old school game which I recommend to all fans of the genre. If you loved games like Baldur’s Gate or even the older D&D style games I cannot recommend this one more. It has all the elements that make these types of games great.

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I just realized i haven written anything about this game in a while. I have prepared a post but it somehow slipped my queue. There is no point in writing to much now, but I just wanted to say that I have actually completed the game, only a day or two after my last post. It was not hard at all and I even managed to defeat the green dragon, who was the toughest enemy in the game. My assassin was also max level so I had no real reason to continue playing that character. I actually even completed all the side quests, including all the extra spells I could learn.

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So, yesterday I decided to ditch the dungeons for a while and just try to make money. Week three was easy as pie and I actually had lots of inventory and items left for week four. I started to stock up on items when their prices drop and then wait to sell them when it rises. I also upgraded my shop because it seems that, the more expensive the furniture and the decorations are, the more money the customers have. I started buying and reselling more expensive items and pretty soon I got the 200.000 I needed for week four.

Recettear -

I know it’s probably a cultural difference, but characters like these make the game harder to play publicly.

After week four, I had about 100.000 and an even bigger inventory left. For a while, all the items were insanely cheap, but I decided to risk it and kept buying. I also bought a vending machine and started using it to sell food and other lower value items that I could buy an unlimited amount off. Since my merchant level was over 20, I was making lots of money even selling at base price. The deadline was getting close and I was at about 300.000 when the market exploded. Pretty much all the items I was buying at decreased prices suddenly greatly increased in price. I ended the week with over one million pix. Since all I needed to pay was 500.000, I had another half a million left.

Recettear - The Annoying Character

This one is part of the whole “annoying and mean, but in reality insecure” troppe.

As it turns out, this was the last week of payment so my store and house are now mine to keep. I stayed through the credits and the game told me I unlocked New Game+, which allows me to start a completely fresh game but with the items, shop and cash I had in a save slot I choose. I also unlocked survival mode in which the payments never stop and grow bigger and bigger every week. The last mode i unlocked is endless mode which allows me to continue the completed game with no pressure and no more payments.

In any case, the story is completed and I can now decide to continue and try to unlock more stuff, or I can go and play a different game. Whatever I choose, this game will probably stay on my hard drive for a long time. I definitely recommend this game to anyone who likes cute characters and fun mechanics.

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I had a Starcraft II marathon yesterday. After doing some WoW stuff I started playing and didn’t stop until the game was finished around midnight. It took me a while, but it was completely worth it. The story and the presentation is amazing, and even through the campaign, I can tell that there could be some awesome skirmishes later on.

Sadly, since it’s a pirated version, I can’t get any achievements or play proper multiplayer. It’s probably better that way. I can save those for when I buy the real thing. Sadly, since college is getting closer and I will be extremely busy, that probably won’t happen before next year. Still, I can’t wait.