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As you might know, I used to almost exclusively pirate games. A while ago, I decided to stop, in order to get more enjoyment from my gaming, which seems to be working for now.

Bastion was one of the games I pirated. To this day, I consider it one of the top games I’ve ever played, right up there with Final Fantasy VII and some other games. This, and the fact that I pirated it in the past, made me decide to obtain this game legitimately and play through it again.

Bastion Art - The Characters

Playing Bastion is a magical experience.

So now that I’ve finished the game officially, with a legit copy and on Steam, I’ll probably also tackle the achievements and try to reach 100% completion. It doesn’t look too hard, but it might take a while, since you have to basically complete the game a total of three times in order to get all the achievements. I’m not sure if I’m going to do it right away, but I definitely intend to do it with this one.The first half of this decision was done weeks ago, when Bastion was part of the Humble Bundle. The second half began and ended today. I started a fresh game this morning and completed it this evening. It’s still the perfect experience I remember from over a year ago, and it’s still one of my favourite games. The soundtrack, the graphics, and the story combine with the gameplay perfectly, making it a one of a kind experience. Seriously, any gamer should at least invest a couple of hours on this game.

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Over the last few days, I forgot to mention I also started playing Osmos.

There’s no need to mention it, really. I didn’t like it, and this is one of the first games I’m abandoning outright. If I could remove it from my Steam library, I would.

I gave it a shot, I really did, clearing well over half of it. Eventually, though, I realized what I’m doing isn’t fun. I was just playing the game out of some obligation, some idea that, since I own it, I have to at least clear it once. What would be the point, though? First of all, I got it as part of a bundle, meaning I didn’t really pay for it, I paid for other games in the bundle. Secondly, even if I did make a mistake of buying it, throwing money away and suffering through it is worse than just throwing money away.

Osmos Screenshot

Osmos is pretty, but that’s all it is.

It’s a pretty.. experiment, but there’s nothing compelling about it, really. You float around, avoiding getting eaten by larger bodies, eating the smaller ones and growing. It’s a basic “food chain” concept, and nothing more than that. The levels get harder, making you restart them over and over again, until you manage to stumble into a good enough path to eventually end up on top of the chain.

It’s pretty, and frustrating, and annoying. I’m putting it under the “crap I won’t play” category. It just isn’t worth the hassle. I gave it a shot, and I’m not giving it any more
.

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I’ve completed the last few levels of this game’s campaign yesterday. As it turns out, after the second six missions in Tokyo, I had to return to Baghdad for two more missions before it was all done. I also unlocked several more units, but in the end, all I used for the last few missions was the shield generator, a tank, a dragon and two missile launchers. I simply seemed more effective to get as much damage as possible and use my commander unit as an extra decoy for when it’s needed.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Random Screenshot

It’s hard to capture a truly memorable moment in a game like this, so here’s just a regular pretty moment.

For now, though, I mark the game as “completed”.The last mission was hard, but I found the mission before that slightly harder, with more enemies and more need for my suit abilities to keep my army alive. Still, both were pretty tough to get through, even at the casual difficulty I played at. From what I can tell, there are achievements for beating all the missions on a higher difficulty, so I might have to revisit all of them eventually. There’s also extra game modes I can try out, as well as achievements linked to those modes.

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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?

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My task was not yet over. I had to deliver the parcel to a captain in Steelport. He was found at the local museum, under attack by a bunch of Aqua grunts. I disposed of them and gave the captain his parcel. With this done, it was time to continue on my journey.

Route 110, north of Steelport, was next. I caught an Electrike there – a girl which I named Jude. I was hoping for something rarer, but this will suffice. Jude can learn flash, and I good electric Pokémon is always a welcome addition.

With some training, I managed to evolve my Silcoon, which I called Fluffy, to Beautifly. A bit farther north on the route, I’ve met with May, who challenged me to a duel. It was an extremely difficult fight, with her grass Pokémon having evolved, but I somehow managed to beat her without losses.

I got to Mauville City and found out the gym there was electricity-based. I decided to train for a bit, so I explored the outlying routes to fight trainers. I wasn’t very smart about it. Soon, Fluffy, who I just started to like, was lost to a random trainer. It was a shock, but I had to move on. It was time to give Bob, the Makuhita, his chance to shine.

Horrible Pokemon Drawings

Instead of a bunch of bad drawings, you get one large horrible drawing.

Bob was tough. It was very easy to train him and he was level 18 in no time at all. When he got to 20, I decided to challenge a family of trainers living north of Mauville. The daughter and the mom and dad were beaten with no difficulty. It felt great to have a Pokémon who can dispose of his opponents so easily. It was almost too good to be true. I got confident….

The grandma was much stronger. Bob was hurt from the previous three battles and all it took was one hit. Another friend lost to my stupidity…

With only four Pokémon left, I needed to figure out something, and fast. Luckily, I was yet to find wild Pokémon on any of the outlying routes. Route 117 gave me an Oddish I named Mr Ploppy. A grass type could be a good addition, so I decided to train him for a bit. However, it was too weak to train alone, so I used Jonathan to help him. Pretty soon, Jonathan evolved to a Pelipper, which made him even more awesome.

When Mr Ploppy got to level 18, I decided it was time for Jude to catch up. I haven’t trained her at all since she was caught on route 110. I didn’t train her for long. Again, I got careless, and again, one of my friends paid the price. It wasn’t even a trainer battle that time; just a random fight with a wild Pokémon was enough to rip another friend out of my life. No more! I promise I’ll be careful from now on.

I trained for a while longer until I was completely confident I’ll be able to get to the next town, at the base of Mt. Chimney. I had to traverse to routes to get there, as well as a cave between them. At the first route, I caught a Numel, an excellent fire type. I named him Smokey. In the Fiery Path bellow Mt. Chimney, I caught another fire type, this time a Torkoal which I named Smokey. Once out of the cave, I finally caught a Skarmory on the next route. I named her Lancelot, because it can be a girl’s name, dammit!

Finally, I got to my destination, Fallarbor Town. Wait, Fallarbor Town? I thought Lavaridge was next! It seems I’ve taken a wrong turn, or something. Oh well, I’m here, so it’s time to check the place out.

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I did some research before starting and decided to pick Mudkip as my starter. Apparently, it makes the first several gyms simple to beat and its ground attacks can easily handle the grass Pokémon I might encounter. Since this is Emerald, and usually the main protagonist’s name is picked based on the game on these challenges, I named my trainer Irish.

Bad Drawing of Mudkip

A horrible drawing, I know.

I got through the usual motions and got my Mudkip. She was a girl, so I named her Alice. I soon realised this game makes you miss the first two routes on a Nuzlocke challenge. On the third route, which was route 102, I caught my first new friend – a boy Zigzagoon I named Stardust, due to obvious reasons. I remained on this route for a while, and trained both Stardust and Alice to level 10. Stardust learned the move Headbutt at level 9, which made him absolutely awesome.

Horrible drawing of Zigzagoon

Who’s that Pokemon’s got nothing on me.

The Petalburg Gym was owned by the main character’s dad, so that one was off limits until later in the game. Moving through Petalburg, I got to route 104, where I caught a Wingull, out of all. I was honestly hoping to get this one because I love its evolution and I remembered it as being quite tough in my previous Sapphire/Emerald/Ruby playthroughs.  I named him Jonathan, after one of the books I liked as a kid.

Horrible drawing of Wingull

My future star player!

Route 104 was followed by Petalburg woods, where I encountered several bug Pokémon. The first one I encountered was a Silcoon, so that was the one I caught. This one was such an awesome catch. I actually can’t remember what I named it at this time. Suffice to say, it was not used in battle yet. I do intend to train it to its final form later, though.

Bad drawing of Silcoon

It almost looks like the real thing this time.

Rustboro City housed the first gym I could actually fight in. It was a rock gym, so Alice had no problems soloing it from start to end. This got her to level 16 and made her evolve to her next form, Marshtomp.

Horrible drawing of Marshtomp

If this Marshtomp could talk, it would ask to be euthanized.

After getting the badge, I taught Cut to Stardust and used it to get some items on route 104 and in the forest. I then went north of Rustboro and soon saw the first Team Aqua event, where they steal some stuff from a Devon employee. I chased them to route 116 where I caught a Poochyena. I named her Neera, after a dog I used to own. I then followed the Aqua grunt to Rusturf tunnel and beat it. For some reason, I returned to the tunnel and promptly forgot about my challenge, which means I killed a potential new friend by accident. So long, nameless Whismur…

Bad drawing of Whismur

At least it died before I could fail it.

I returned the goods to Devon Company and was promptly asked to deliver them to Slateport, as well as delivering a letter to a guy named Steven in Dewford Town. May was nearby, so she told me I can get to both those places by hitching a boat ride with a guy living on route 104.

Dewford town had another gym, this one completely dark and filled with fighting Pokémon trainers. I fought through it and managed to easily beat it thanks to Jonathan and his Wing Attack. My new badge allowed me to use the Flash HM, which I didn’t have yet. In town, I was told Steven was at Granite Cave, north of Dewfort. That’s where I got flash, but sadly, none of my Pokémon could learn it.

There was one good thing coming out of visiting the cave, though. I caught a Makuhita! I named him Bob, but decided to still focus on Stardust, Jonathan and Alice for a while. I will soon learn that this was a mistake.

Bad drawing of Makuhita

Makuhita actually has some potential.

After collecting myself, I got to the Pokémon Center and gave him a proper burial. So long, my friend.I got the letter to Steven and moved on to Slateport. The beach was filled with trainers, so I had to go through a couple of battles with Stardust. Then it happened. I got into a team fight with Stardust at half health and Alice as his partner. I foolishly thought they would be able to handle a Wingull and a Tentacool, but the Wingull got a lucky first strike. Stardust was gone.

Pokemon Emerald - Releasing a Pokemon

So long, my friend…

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I was a bit bored, so I decided to try another Nuzlocke challenge. I already did one with Fire Red, but the rules ended up a bit too forgiving, so I didn’t have many issues in beating the game. This time, the rules will be slightly harder, but again, not by much. The game I picked was Emerald, because I needed fresh Pokémon. The rules are the following:

  1. Name your Pokémon for more emotional attachment.
  2. If a Pokémon faints, release it. It’s gone forever.
  3. You are only allowed to catch the first Pokémon in each new area.
  4. No going back this time. Once you leave an area, you cannot catch a Pokémon there under any circumstances.
  5. No fishing, no special Pokémon. You can only catch Pokémon through battles.
  6. All levels of a cave count as one area.

Anyway, those are the rules and Emerald will be the game. On a side note, I also decided to draw every single Pokémon I catch, as well as maybe some other things. I suck at drawing, though, so at best, it will be good for a laugh or two.

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With the help of the Greybeards, I started gathering shouts all over Skyrim. Some were easily acquired from dragon lairs, while others were hidden deeper in various dungeons, caves and ruins. After a while, I started getting upgrades instead of new words, so I decided to ask the help of the almighty Google.

Skyirim - Throat of the World

Once more into the breach!

I quickly found a list of all the shouts and their locations, but I’ve also learned one other thing, which I should have known already. Four of the twenty shouts that exist in the game can only be learned throughout the main quest line. Now, I had learned twelve shouts in total by now, so I continued to learn the remaining four I still could. Once that was done, though, I had to tackle the main story on my second character. What follows is a list of all the shouts and their locations. I’ll put the words I learned and/or consider faster to get to in bold.

  • Animal Allegiance – Ancient’s Ascent, Angarvunde, Ysgramor’s Tomb
  • Aura Whisper – Northwind Summit, Valthume, Volunruud
  • Become Ethereal – Ironbind Barrow, Lost Valley Redoubt, Ustengrav
  • Call Dragon – taught during The Fallen
  • Call of Valor – taught during Dragonslayer
  • Clear Skies – taught during The Throat of the world
  • Disarm – Eldersblood Peak. Silverdrift Lair, Snow Veil Sanctum
  • Dismay – Dead Crone Rock, Lost Tongue Overlook, Shalidor’s Maze
  • Dragonrend – taught during Alduin’s Bane
  • Elemental Fury – Dragontooth Crater, Shriekwind Bastion, Statue to Meridia
  • Fire Breath – Dustman’s Cairn, Sunderstone Gorge, during The Throat of the World
  • Frost Breath – Bonestrewn Crest, Folgunthur, Skyborn Altar
  • Ice Form – Frostmere Crypt, Mount Anthor, Saarthal
  • Kyne’s Peace – Ragnvald, Rannveig’s Fast, Shroud Hearth Barrow
  • Marked for Death – Autumnwatch Tower, Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, Forsaken Cave
  • Slow Time – Hag’s End, Korvanjund, Labyrinthian
  • Storm Call – Forelhost, High Gate Ruins, Skuldafn Temple
  • Throw Voice – Shearpoint, all words together
  • Unrelenting Force – Bleak Falls Barrow, during The Way of the Voice, during Jurgen Windcaller
  • Whirlwind Sprint – Dead Men’s Respite, during The Way of the Voice, Volksygge

Additionally, it seems Dawnguard adds a few more shouts, so what follows is a list of those, in case it’s required for the future. Since I have yet to play the expansion, I can’t really say which ones are faster to get.

  • Drain Vitality – Dimhollow Crypt, Forgotten Vale, Arcwind Point
  • Soul Tear – taught by Durnehviir on each summon from Soul Cairn
  • Summon Durnehviir – learned after Beyond Death

Luckily, the main quest line is relatively short, and I was already familiar with it, so it wasn’t to hard to get through. During all this, I discovered a small detail I liked. You see, on my last character, a mage, I’ve dealt with the civil war before dealing with the dragons. On this run, the war was still on when I asked to trap a dragon in Whiterun, so the jarl demanded a peace treaty to be arranged until I resolve the dragon threat. I actually had to invite Ulric and Tulius to High Hrothgar and mediate the negotiations. I guess I’ll be discovering new things about Skyrim for a long time.

In any case, after a few more quests, I’ve learned the remaining four shouts and also reached level 54 along the way, meaning I got the final two achievements. Or so I thought…

Skyrim - Steam Achievement List

FML…

Apparently, in a recent update, they decided to add the Dawnguard achievements to Steam, meaning I will not see 100% next to Skyrim for a while longer. Since I won’t be getting Dawnguard any time soon, it might be quite a while indeed. However, I’ve finished the base game and cleared all of its achievements, so I’m considering this one 100% complete from now on.

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As expected, the rod opened the mirror portal, and I entered the Halls of Reflection. The place was basically a teleporter maze, but not too complex in design, so I managed to get all the loot and find the exit soon enough. At the exit, Zava was waiting for me with a trap. Luckily, Roy got there in time to free me and I managed to beat her eventually. There was a huge price, though.

Ys: Origin - Yunica Death Scene

Nooooo!

Defeating her revealed the stairs to the top level, the Devil’s Throne. It was not a very difficult place, but the enemies definitely took longer to kill. Eventually, though, I managed to clear it and get the final piece of my gear, a pair of boots with a chance to negate any attack. Once this area was cleared, I had access to the tower summit, where Dalles was waiting.

Ys: Origin - Boss Battle Against Ax Man

It’s payback time!

Before that, though, there was one more fight to win – Yunica’s father’s murderer was there. He was beaten on the first attempt. It was a close call, but thanks to one last boost attack, he well with me critically low on health. I ascended the stairs and approached the summit to face Dalles.

Thanks to all of Yunica’s friends, I managed to get past his defences and engage in combat. It was a hard fight and I lost several times, before I decided to try and get a few more levels. I returned to the Devil’s Throne and gained a single level, bringing me to 50. This was enough to finally beat the boss and finish the game, at least with Yunica. The ending sequence was bittersweet, revealing there was one more, huge price to pay, but I was done.

Ys: Origin - Yunica Ending Scene

The End

Time to try my luck with Hugo Fact now. I hear he’s a bit more difficult to play with.