This was fast. The game isn’t that long and it seems much easier than the earlier sequels (even with the kid mode turned off). I cleared all of the goals in every level and maxed out most of my stats. There’s still the classic mode I can tackle, but it isn’t part of the story, so I consider it a bonus. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes skating, as it’s probably the best one on the DS.
Category: Status
Titan Quest – Immortal Throne (PC) (COMPLETED)
The game is finished. I crossed the river Styx and fought and defeated Charon there. Now a bridge is built across the river and everyone will have the right to pass. Afterwards, I’ve reach Elysium which was under attack by Hades’ forces. Fighting my way trough, I solved a bunch of quests, and in the end entered Hades’ fortress. In there, I first freed Persephone from her chains and then fought my way towards the throne where Hades was waiting.
Hades wasn’t that hard. I think Typhoon was way harder. The first form was disposed of in a few seconds. The second took a little longer, but it still wasn’t that hard. I was able to just stand and hack away most of the battle. Finishing the game unlocked the legendary difficulty, but I’m not that eager to play it. It’s a good game, but not Diablo.
Stronghold (PC) (COMPLETED)
I’ve gotten through all of the military missions, and I’ve finished the economy campaign. The Pig and The Wolf are dead, so my father is avenged. It’s a really great game, although not your standard RTS (which is what I like about it).
The last mission wasn’t too hard. It was one of those where I’m the one attacking, but since I could build trebuchets and catapults, I could easily destroy most of the enemies’ fortifications before they could do any harm. Since I was aware of traps this time, I lost just a few of my guys while triggering them. My swordsmen and knights took care of the leftovers. I do have the crusader expansion, but I don’t think I will play it right away, since I have other games to finish.
Castlevania – Portrait of Ruin (DS) (COMPLETED)
I’ve defeated all but the final boss (Dracula). Braunner was pretty tough, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I’ve also solved most of the quests from Wind. One of the quests unlocked the Nest of Evil, which is an optional area filled with tough enemies and bosses. Another quest asks me to kill one of the bosses with the Blank Book which is one of the weakest weapons in the game. I’ve managed to defeat the first three bosses in the Nest of Evil.
One of the new enemies there (Gold Skeleton) drops Gold Rings which increase the amount of money I get from candles, etc. I got two of these rings and put them on Charlotte. Then I cast Speed Up and started running up and down the staircase in front of Dracula’s throne. There’s a bunch of torches there, and since most of them now drop either 500 or 1000 gold, I got allot of money fast. This allowed me to buy two Master Rings which increase the amount of skill points I gain from enemies. Right now, I’m mastering most of my skills. Jonathan actually has three skills missing from his list so I’ll have to look for them. Charlotte has a bunch of spells missing to.
I have 5 quests left and the Nest of Evil to clear, and then I’ll fight Dracula and complete the game. I hope this unlocks a bunch of stuff like in other Castlevania games.
This game is not without its problems though. It constantly freezes when I switch an area (the music changes) or when I try to activate a teleport or open the menu. It doesn’t do that every time, but it’s quite often. I’m sure it’s not my DS because I tried other games and I have no problems at all.
EDIT: Notice the change in the title? Yup, the game is completed. Not a 100% but pretty close. I got 1000% on the map, all of the skills, all of the enemies, and most of the items. I also solved all of the quests and got the best ending (I think). I’m not sure what’s unlocked, but there’s time for that later. Right now I have other games to play.
Tasty Planet (PC) (COMPLETED)
It’s one of those simple, online bought, cheap games. Basically, you control a blob that eats and gets bigger and bigger. You start out in a lab, only 1 micro meter in diameter, and end up a hundred billion parsecs big, eating time itself and creating a new universe. It didn’t take long to finish (just about two or three hours), so I installed and completed it today. The game is fun, but nothing I’ll be going back to.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 Grimoire of the Rift (DS) (COMPLETED)
I’m 75 hours in to the game, and I’ve completed 210 quests. The story is almost complete, and as far as I know, I have one more quest until I finish it. Luso is level 58, and I have recruited Vaan and Penelo. Vann will be my new thief, as his skills are quite useful in that area. Adelle is level 32, and I have unlocked her special job – the Heritor. The job has some nice skills, but I’m keeping her as a Seer until she learns all of the level 2 Black Magick spells. Hurdy is level 46 and I’m training him as a thief to increase his speed. My Viera Red Mage/Summoner has learned double cast, and is now one of the most powerful characters I have. I’ll go play some more now.
EDIT: I’ve completed the main quest line, and with it, completed the game. The final quest consisted of three battles with a possibility to save between the first two. Luso ended up on level 59, with most of the characters (except for Adelle) closely behind. After the end credits stopped rolling, I was offered to save the game one more time. This gave me a “game completed” title on the save I chose. I’m guessing that completing the game unlocked some extra side quests. The final quest count was 211. I will off course continue to play the game and finish the rest of the side quests, but right now, I think I’ll start another game.
Devil May Cry IV (PC) (COMPLETED)
What a great game! I was wrong yesterday, I wasn’t at mission 12, I was at mission 10. However, today I’ve finished it. It took me about nine hour’s total. Off course, this is just the Human difficulty, and there’s still a bunch of them to go. I also need to improve my rank on every mission, and finish all of the secret missions. Clearing Human got me The Legendary Dark Knight difficulty, some gallery images, and it changed the title screen picture. I also managed to save Kyrie in the Credits video, which got me another epilogue video. I really recommend this game to everyone. It’s fun, cool, and extremely optimized, as it runs at full speed on my mid-end computer.
Mass Effect (PC) (COMPLETED)
What a great game! I just loved every minute of it. I completed the game on level 46, but I think level 50 was the maximum. Completition earned me the right to replay with the same character and to get up to level 60. It also unlocked an extra difficulty. There were some sad moments, including a situation where I had to choose between the lives of two of my starting teammates. I thought I could save them both, but in the end, Ashley died.
It turned out; the Reapers are a race of machines that live in the dark space outside the galaxy. Every time an organic civilization would get advanced enough, they would come and destroy it for some unknown reason. The ship that Saren used, the Sovereign, is actually one of the Reapers, and Saren was really under his control. The Citadel itself was a mass relay trough which the reapers would invade. This would grant them a fast way in to the galaxy, and at the same time isolate all of the Council races by disabling the relay network. Off course I had to stop it.
The Protheans actually managed to create their own mass relay which gave me a back door entrance to the Citadel. This allowed me to reach Saren before he could activate the relay to the dark space. I managed to convince him that he was under control of the Sovereign, so he took his own life. The Sovereign didn’t like this, and activated Saren’s implants, which transformed him in some sort of cyborg. While I was fighting him, the Alliance fleet managed to save the Ascension, an Asari ship on which the Council took refuge. After disposing of the Geth ships, they combined their forces and attacked the Sovereign. I defeated Saren about at the same time as the Sovereign was destroyed.
As an expression of gratitude, Humanity was granted a place in the Council as an equal to the other races. Sheppard decided to find a way to defeat the Reapers once and for all. The End!
I strongly recommend this game to everyone even if you don’t like role playing games. It’s really great in almost every aspect.
Early to rise…
I woke up early this morning for some reason, so I’ve been playing Mario some more. I managed to clear World 7 and find all the hidden passages in World 8. All I need to do now is get all the star coins from World 8. Easier said than done.
EDIT: Notice the subtle change in the completed games list. That’s right, boys and girls, World 8 is now cleared of star coins, and New Super Mario Brothers is 100% complete. Now, how should I celebrate this? I know! I’ll play another game!
EDIT2: I solved a few more Final Fantasy quests. The story didn’t advance, but I completed a side quest group. My main character is 2 skills away from becoming a ninja, which he will continue to be, until the Parivir job is available. I don’t really know what to do with my Moogle. He learned all the Thief and Juggler skills, so he doesn’t really have anything to do right now. I will keep him as a Juggler tough, because I think the class has superior stat growth compared to the Thief.
The Summer is on!!!
So after another long break, the summer has finally begun. I got a bunch of games I missed trough last year, and I’m currently catching up on TV shows I missed. I recently finished New Super Mario Brothers for the second time. Right now I’m collecting all the gold coins I missed (the first two worlds are cleared). I’m also playing Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, currently about 25 hours in, and nowhere near the end. I’ll try to get some work over the summer, so I can pay for my tuitions (and maybe invest in some new entertainment gadgets), but mostly, I’ll be playing games. I will also try to turn my blog in to a daily routine.
EDIT: I invested a few more hours in FFTA2. It’s really a great game. I managed to become region champion in all regions of the starting continent, and I did a few item auctions already. I got a Genji Helm, and a few other nice items. My main character is now level 36, and I’m planning to train him as a ninja for a few levels, because he’s really slow right now. I also tried Civilization Revolution for the DS. I like it, but it could have been better. I really hate the constant animation stuttering. It’s pretty obvious that the DS wasn’t the primary platform.