Pokemon Crystal [2] – Expanding the Team

February 6, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

The next couple of gyms in Pokemon Crystal really went by quickly. It’s not that the span between them is much shorter than in other games. My team just wasn’t able to grow, thanks to the game being inconsistent with the anime. I expected this, though. As I said, the only game in the Pokemon franchise which remains remotely true to the anime was Pokemon Yellow.

I was advancing Pikachu and Chikorita side by side, switching to the other one as soon as the first one went a level ahead. I think I’ll try doing this with my entire team in time. It really makes things simpler and more relaxed and enjoyable.

I really need to get an everstone, one way or another.

Soon after the Violet City gym, I was forced to start cancelling Chikorita’s evolution, since she only evolves much later in the story. Luckily, my old partner, Pikachu, doesn’t have this issue. I’m seriously thinking about cheating my way into owning a couple of everstones, simply to make it less annoying.

I solved the puzzle, but I’m not interested in Unknown.

I stopped by the Ruins of Alph and solved a puzzle there, but all that got me was the option to fight and capture Unknowns, which I’m not sure Ash ever encountered in the anime. It’s an interesting side quest, but not for me or this challenge. Pretty soon, I was in Azalea Town, beating the second gym. This one was bug based, so I used Pikachu again.

After that, I finally got to Ilex Forest, where Ash catches a Noctowl in the anime. There are only Hoothoots in the game here, though, so Noctowl will have to wait. I did get one very important thing, however – Headbutt. As soon as I got it, I backtracked to the area before Violet City and used it on some trees there. After a couple of tries, I encountered and caught my Heracross. My team is now 50% larger!

Bulbapedia’s Link to Ash’s Heracross

List of moves Heracross uses in the anime

Tackle
Horn Attack
Endure
Leer
Take Down
Fury Attack
Megahorn
Sleep Talk
Focus Punch
Hyper Beam

I spent some time helping Heracross catch up in experience and then moved on towards Goldenrod, passing through Ilex Forest and leaving my newly hatched Togepi at the Day Care Center along the way. The owner gave me another egg to carry with me, though.

Rival battles are always worth it.

Goldenrod City was the big city of the game. It had a bike shop, a flower shop, a gym and a department store, a game corner as well as an underground area full of trainers. Most of it didn’t interest me, but I spent some time at the underground area to train and to at least pick up the coin case, even if I won’t use it.

You actually need to talk to Whitney twice to get the badge. Evil!

The gym was normal based, so this time, all three of my Pokemon were able to contribute. The only difficulty I had with the place was with the gym leader’s last Pokemon, a Milktank. That thing is basically an overpowered Chansey. Well, I’m not sure if it’s overpowered, but it’s at least as powerful and annoying as Chansey was. By the way, is it just me, or the gym types in Crystal a bit “different” compared to the other games?

I moved on north of Goldenrod but soon found a Sudowoodo was blocking my way. A nearby NPC said it hates water, so I’m guessing I’ll need to go to the flower shop. More on that later, though. This is where my session ended.

Pokemon Crystal [1] – Finally!

February 5, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

You won’t believe it, but it actually happened. I actually got around to actually playing Pokemon Crystal. Let’s get some things out of the way first.

Pokemon Crystal Looks Awesome!

Well, no it doesn’t;not really. Compared to Pokemon Yellow, though, it might as well be a next-gen game. It really says something about the programmers achievement when you go back to an ancient sequel of an ancient game and it manages to impress you with technological advancements.

I’m loving the new Pokedex!

Pokemon Crystal is not Pokemon Yellow

The further I go with this challenge, the harder it will probably get to actually, properly, follow the anime. Pokemon Yellow was the only obvious choice, since the game was basically made to follow the anime. From that point on, the game protagonist had very little to do with Ash.

That being said, I’ll continue to do everything I can, within reason, to follow the TV show as closely as possible.

A grass type was very unsuitable for the early game.

The Road to the Violet City Gym

As I already said, I couldn’t really transfer my Pokemon to the Crystal in any reasonable time period, so I opted for a sort of worthy alternative. I “transferred” my Pikachu and added Pokedex entries to all the other Pokemon I caught. If i need any of them during the game, I’ll add them individually.

Now, in the anime, Ash obtains all three of the starters, but there was no way for me to do that in Pokemon Crystal or any of the other two Generation II games without cheats, so I decided to just pick Chikorita, since that was the first of the starters Ash obtained. This means I started the game with Chikorita and Pikachu. Pikachu started at level 2, to simulate the apparent reduction in strength he often goes through in each new region, but thanks to his attribute experience (similar to Effort Values of the later games), he quickly outgrew Chikorita by a large margin.

Rule Expansion!

When I started Pokemon Crystal, I decided to try to expand on the rules a bit. From now on, I’ll aim to also only use moves Ash’s Pokemon have used in the anime. I probably won’t be able to follow this absolutely, but I’ll do my best to make it as close as possible. Of course, I’m limited to four moves per Pokemon, so I’ll have to pick which four I’ll be using:

Chikorita’s Moves in the Anime

Razor Leaf
Vine Whip
Tackle
Sweet Scent
Body Slam
Headbutt

Pikachu will be sort of an exception, since his repertoire constantly changes throughout the series, so I’m having a hard time finding his move set for the Johto region. I’ll mostly use his signature moves, which means Slam and Light Screen need to go away as soon as possible.

Thunder vs Flying? No problem!

I was supposed to catch Heracross right away at route 29, but the only way to encounter it was by using Headbutt on trees in mountain regions. Route 29 is a mountain region, but I won’t get Headbutt until Illex forest, so Heracross will have to wait. The other two Pokemon Ash obtains before the gym in Violet City are the starters, so Chikorita and Pikachu ended up being my Violet team and will probably remain the only members of the team for a while.

Speaking of the gym, it was a flying type gym, meaning that, just like in the anime, Chikorita wasn’t at all suited for it. On the other hand, Pikachu had absolutely no issues with defeating the two trainers and the gym leader.

The first badge is mine! I got an egg from one of Professor Elm’s aides at the Pokemon Center and was ready for my next gym. The egg will hatch into a Togepi, by the way.

Pokemon Crystal [0.5] – Attack Plan

February 4, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

Since I missed a bunch of things in my Pokemon Yellow playthrough, I decided to do some research on Pokemon Crystal and the Johto part of the anime series, so I could develop a sort of plan about what I’ll be doing. I’m still going to make a bunch of mistakes, probably even more than before, but at least I’ll feel a bit better about it.

The first thing I did was to see which episodes the major game events happen in and which Pokemon Ash obtains. This is what I’ve figured out:

No new screenshots, so here’s some from Yellow

List of Pokemon Ash Obtains in the Johto Region

Heracross
Chikorita – evolves in Johto
Totodile
Cyndaquil – doesn’t evolve in Johto
Noctowl – caught already evolved
Beedril – given to a friend right away
Phanpy – doesn’t evolve in Johto
Larvitar – not really caught, leaves soon

The list isn’t exactly huge, that’s the first problem. The second problem is that there’s no version of the game which “follows the anime more closely” as Pokemon Yellow was in the first generation. Sadly, this means that I can only pick one out of the three starters. Overall, other than my Pikachu, by the end of the game, I’ll be using Heracross, Bayleef, Noctowl and Phanpy. It’s not exactly a huge team, but it can work. I might have to catch an HM slave, though.

I got both Kabuto and Aerodactyl, for the collection.

In the anime, Ash obtains Heracross, Chikorita, Totodile and Cyndaquil before the first gym. Chikorita evolves into Bayleef after the fourth gym and kicks major ass in the fifth gym. Both Phanpy and Larvitar hatch from an egg, but I think I’ll be catching them around the time when they’re supposed to be hatched, since eggs are too unpredictable.

I’ll pick Chikorita as my starter, simply because that was the first starter Ash got. If I ever get a chance to catch the other two in later games, I’ll do it. As for Heracross, I’m supposed to catch him at the first route, Route 29, but I need Headbutt to encounter him, so I’ll get back to it after Ilex Forest.

Other than that, I’ll also need a navigation route.

Pokemon Crystal – Quick Walkthrough

New Bark Town (Get starter)
Route 29 into Cherrygrove City
Routes 30, 31 into Violet City (Gym)
Ruins of Alph into Route 32 into Azalea Town (Gym)
Ilex Forest (get Headbutt)
Back to route 31 and catch a Heracross (needs to be a mountain tree)
Back to Ilex Forest, Day Care Center, Goldenrod City (Gym)
Catch and release Beedril (Headbutt in a forest)
After gym, find Sudowoodo and go back to flower shop for the watering can.
Get rid of Sudowoodo (catch?)
Routes 36 and 37, catch Noctowl
Ecruteak City (Gym)
Routes 38 and 39, evolve Bayleef
into Olivine City (Gym)
Routes 40 and 41 into Cyanwood City (Gym)
Mt. Mortar, Lake of Rage (shiny Gyarados), Mahogany Town(Gym)
Ice Path into Blackthorn City (Gym)
Routes 45 and 46, catch a Phanpy, keep it for later

After this, it’s straight for the League. Once that’s over, I can go to Mt. Silver and possibly catch a Larvitar. Ash technically never caught one, but he did use it.

Grandia [3] – Over the End of the World

February 3, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to play on my PSP too much, so Grandia was played very little since the last time I wrote about it. I did advance the game a bit, but not too much. However, I also got through a pretty big game event.

Most of my time in the game was spent going back and forth through the forest around the village of Luc. The forest was extremely disorienting and I never got the time to finish it in one sitting, so I kept forgetting where I was and where I needed to go when I got back to the game. Since enemies reset if you leave the area completely, and this happened several times, I ended up basically repeating most of the forest more than once. Eventually, though, I got through it and finally reached the End of the World.

Now, this is a huge wall, with many floors, but it wasn’t really to complex. There was a short break half way to the top, where the group had a nice talk, but eventually, they got to the top realized Justin’s guess was true – it wasn’t really the end of the world. There was plenty to see beyond. Then Sue promptly got picked up by a machine and got thrown off the edge to the jungle bellow. Justin and Feena got thrown soon after.

Guess what happens five seconds later?

On the other side, I got control over Justin and Feena and needed to find Sue. The area was pretty big and divided into three or four smaller areas, so I spent a long time exploring, making sure to find all the important stuff. About half way through, I got to a house shaped like a wish, with some soup cooking in a cauldron outside. Sue’s shoe was nearby, so the two jumped to conclusions. Once a large man approached and said “he ate it all”, Justin attacked. The big man was Gadwin, Knight of Dight and a brand new and extremely cool playable character. Of course, he just ate soup and didn’t do anything bad to Sue. She was resting inside his house. Now at this point, the game decided to show me how strong Gadwin really is, so Justin isn’t able to do any damage at all to him. I don’t even get a zero, the hit’s just seem to be deflected. This drags on for about a minute, at which point Gadwin uses his Dragon King Slice and Justin get’s hit for 9999 damage. This is sort of important for later, so if you’re regularly reading this, try to remember it.

Remember, kids. Gadwin is really strong.

Soon enough, I had all four characters under my control and I could continue exploring the jungle, on my way to Dight Village. Exploring the place thoroughly was well worth it, since the jungle contained two fresh mana eggs, as well as some other less important items. Eventually, I got to the village, where our next quest was about to begin.

Rain was about to start pouring, which normally wouldn’t be an issue, except this was poisonous, deadly rain. In order to stop the rain from doing the damage, two heroes needed to go to Typhoon Tower and retrieve a special spear from it. Gadwin would, naturally, be the first one, so Justin volunteered to be the other one. This got us to our next dungeon, but before I went there, I decided to use those mana eggs. Gadwin already knew two elements – fire and earth. Additionally, his other two elements were disabled, so he wasn’t able to learn them. Because of this and the fact that I’m 99% sure I didn’t miss any of the mana eggs yet, I decided to finally spend one and teach Sue an element – wind.

After I bought the spell and spent most of my money on fresh gear, I went to the tower. The outside area was simple to navigate through, but also extremely large, so it took me a while to explore all of it. When I got inside, it was suddenly the other way around. The inside of the tower was small, but I had to constantly go back and forth, hitting various switches and opening new passages. Eventually, I got to the top floor, where I had to fight the king of the enemies I fought throughout the area – some strange bird people. Of course, he turned into a multi-headed dragon before I fought him, just to make it a bit more interesting.

The tower falls, but everyone is safe.

I defeated the boss and entered the chamber behind the throne room, where Gadwin revealed the catch with the quest. There are two doors. One of them leads to the spear, while the other kills whoever goes through. This is why two heroes are needed – so that one can continue if the other one falls. Gadwin decided to go first, but he’s to big so he can’t fit through the door (remember, this is mostly a kid’s game). This means Justin needs to do it, so he asks Feena to choose for him. Feena picks the door of the Stars (I’m not sure if this is the same in every game) and Justin goes through. It’s the right choice, so he takes the spear, but the tower ends up collapsing on top of him anyway. Luckily, his spirit stone transports him to safety and the village is safe.

To spend, or to save. Tough choice.

Next target? The ruins far to the south. Right now, I’m in the village of Dight, trying to decide if I should spend the two mana eggs I have (I got another one at the tower) on Sue, or If I should save them for later. I’m pretty sure Liete and some random thief character are my final two characters, and I’m pretty sure that Liete starts with all the elements already learned, but I’m not sure about the other guy, and I’m not sure how many eggs I can still get before the game ends. I’ll probably spend them, but I might change my mind before my next chance to play the game.

Pokemon Crystal [0] – Preparation

February 3, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

Over the last few days, I’ve been doing some googling on how to somehow transfer my Pokemon team from Pokemon Yellow to Pokemon Crystal, which is my choice for the second generation game I’ll be playing. I’ve found a couple of possibilities and with plenty of pros and cons for each. Pikasav seemed like the most promising one. It allows editing of first and second generation save games. You can edit individual Pokemon, your team, and PC boxes, stats and can even export a Pokemon and import it into another save.

Pikasav – A Generation I and II save file editor

It has a serious problem, though. It can only import Pokemon into another save of the same generation, possibly even only to the exact same game. I’m sure of the former, but I haven’t tried the latter, so I can’t say for sure. In any case, I could not export my Pokemon from Pokemon Yellow and import them to Pokemon Crystal. I did some more research and for a moment, even considered switching to the DS releases HeartGold and SoulSilver, but I ended up deciding against it because it would only make the eventual switch to Ruby/Sapphire even harder. I also tried looking for other tools that might be able to do it, but apparently, the generation II games have some weird save format which hasn’t been completely cracked yet.

I couldn’t even make any screenshots, due to the emulator locking up, so here’s the title.

My next option was to manually add a Pokemon to my crystal save by creating a fresh one and then copying the IV and EV values, experience and moves. For a few moments, I actually thought this would work, but it created a whole new set of issues. Each time I would add a Pokemon or an item, my game would freeze upon selecting that Pokemon or item. Clearly, this wasn’t an option. I did progress a bit, though. I realized I can easily changed my Pokedex data, so I at least managed to add the data from Pokemon Yellow to my Pokedex in Pokemon Crystal.

I then tried playing until I got my starter, saving my game and then editing that starter. I created a copy of it, then changed its species and sprite to my Pikachu and modify its attributes to their proper values form Yellow. This showed promise because my game didn’t freeze this time and I could use my Pikachu fine. All of its data was there to, compared to the previous attempt, where its name and some other information seemed to be corrupted. It didn’t last long, though. After I fought a battle, I realized this wouldn’t work either, because after each battle, I would have several instances of “??? is evolving” and a corrupted sprite being shown on the screen.

And here’s professor Oak, in all of his colorized majesty.

For my last try, I resorted to gameshark. I added a couple of pokeballs to my inventory and went to route 29. I then enabled a cheat to make all the random battles against a wild Pikachu and caught one. I saved my game, opened up the save in Pikasav and edited the new Pikachu’s IV’s and stat experience (the EV equivalent of the first two generations) to the values from my Pikachu in Yellow. I decided to leave it at level 2, simply because it feels like in the anime, Pikachu somehow gets weaker in each new region, having to regain and surpass its strength. Thanks to stat experience, this might actually work here to. I also added its old moves and modified them according to my usage of PP Ups in Pokemon Yellow.

Gamefaqs – Gameshark Codes for Pokemon Crystal

This was the first thing I did that worked without causing any issues in the game. It did present an issue for me, though. I would now have to enable a cheat and catch each Pokemon I had in Yellow, then save my game, exit the emulator, open it in Pikasav and modify the values. I decided not to waste my time on this, since in the end, this challenge is about making the game fun for me. Instead, I’ll just modify my Pokedex to add the data from my first game and then add any Pokemon on an individual basis, depending on if and when I need them. Honestly, though, I don’t think I’ll need anything other than my Pikachu.

The change in graphics really is dramatic. And they say the game changes very little…

In any case, I had my starter and I had my Pikachu. I was ready to start Pokemon Crystal

Pokemon Yellow [7] – How to Get All the Pokemon Ash Caught

February 1, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

Since I now have a game from the first generation behind me, I though I might write some sort of guide on how to follow Ash’s story in the first generation of Pokemon games. Of course, since I played Pokemon Yellow, I’ll focus on that game, but I’ll try to look at the other two as well. I think the best way to do it is in the form of a step by step list of events in the game, compared to the anime.

How to Follow Ash – Pewter City, Rock Gym

This is the birth of the friendship stat, right here.

Route

Pallet Town -> Route 1 ->Viridian City -> Route 2 – > Viridian Forest -> Pewter City -> The Rock Gym

The Anime

In the anime, Ash get’s a Pikachu as his first Pokemon and catches a Catterpie as well as a Pidgeoto by the time he reaches Brock’s gym. Catterpie almost immediately evolves to Metapod and further to Butterfree.

How to Follow

In Pokemon Yellow, Pikachu is easy. In Pokemon Blue/Red, the earliest you can get one is Viridian forest, which is still before the first gym, but not as true to the anime. Catterpie and Pidgeotto can both also be caught in Viridian forest, but it might be easier and faster to catch a Pidgey and quickly evolve it to Pidgeotto with some grinding. In Red/Blue, you could pick any starter, probably, since you can’t catch any of them in the wild. Since Ash get’s all three of the starters quite early in the anime, Pokemon Yellow is, again the superior choice for this challenge.

How to Follow Ash – Cerulean City, Water Gym

Pikachu kicks but here!

Route

Pewter City -> Route 3 -> Mount Moon -> Route 4 -> Cerulean City

The Anime

In the anime, Ash beats Brock with Pikachu by super charging him. No new Pokemon are caught during this time at all. He wins the Cerulean badge for helping the gym against Team Rocket

How to Follow

Basically, just play. As I said, no new Pokemon are caught during this time and all the Pokemon you can catch on the two routes are available later. You’ll need to catch a Mankey later, so you might as well do it now, since otherwise, you’ll have to go back here all the way from Vermilion or even Celadon City. Just don’t use it until you clear go past Lavender Town.

How to Follow Ash – Vermilion City, Electrical Gym

You’ll be seeing a lot of him, so get used to it.

Route

Cerulean City -> Route 24 -> Route 25 -> Cerulean City -> Route 5 -> Route 6 -> Vermilion City

The Anime

Ash receives the three starters during this period, but doesn’t really properly catch any of them. They just agree to go with him and let themselves get caught. He also manages to “catch” a Krabby. He beats the electrical gym and only then goes to the SS. Anne, where he temporarily trades his Butterfree for a Raticate, but trades it right back.

How to Follow

In Pokemon Yellow, you receive Charmander from an NPC on Route 24/25, and a Bulbasaur from a person at Cerulean city, as long as your Pikachu is happy enough. Sadly, you can only fish up Krabby if you have the Super Rod, which you won’t have for a long time. Once you do, he can be found on routes 10, 24 and 25. He can also be encountered at the Seafoam Islands. As for Raticate, I don’t see the point of getting one, but you could catch a Rattata and grind it to evolution if you really want to. Peronally, I don’t count him as one of the Pokemon Ash caught. In Pokemon Red and Blue, there’s no way to get the starters other than picking one from Professor Oak. They will have to wait until you can catch them in a later game.

You can get Squirtle at Vermilion City, but only after you beat the gym, which happens only after you clear the SS. Anne, which means the game does it in a different order compared to the anime.

How to Follow Ash – Celadon City, Grass Gym

There’s no everstone in the early games, sadly.

Route

(Skipping the optionals) -> Cerulean City -> Route 9 -> Rock Tunnel -> Route 10 -> Lavender Town -> Route 8 -> Route 7 -> Celadon City

The Anime

During this period, Ash releases Butterfree, hangs out with a Haunter for a while, to clear the Saffron City Gym, but doesn’t catch it. Then he catches a Mankey, which quickly evolves into Primeape and leaves him.

How to Follow

Release or permanently store your Butterfree at one point, probably before the Rock Tunnel. Also catch a Mankey, train it until evolution and then release/store it to. This part, you should probably do after Lavender town. You’ll need to return to routes 3 or 4 to do this for Pokemon Yellow, though. In Pokemon Red/Blue, they’re also found o routes 5,6 and 7, while Blue also has them on route 8, so it’s a bit easier in these two versions.

How to Follow Ash – Saffron City, Psychic Gym

Saffron City is out of order with the anime.

Route

Pokemon Tower – > Saffron City (give drink from Celadon Store roof to one of the four guards)

The Anime

Ash did all of this before the Celadon City Gym.

How to Follow

Since you’re doing this in different order, just go to Saffron City and beat the gym. Of course, you need to tackle Team Rocket first. During this, you get a chance for a completely free Lapras at the Sylph Co.. I’d take it since Ash does have one during the Orange League and there’s no Orange League game. I just probably wouldn’t use it yet or even at all.

How to Follow Ash – Fuchsia City, Ninja Gym (Poison, Psychic)

The Ninja Gym is outside of Fuchsia City in the anime, so Ash doesn’t enter the city until later.

Route

Route 12 -> Route 13 -> Route 14 -> Route 15 -> Fuchsia City

The Anime

Between this and the previous gym, Ash catches a Muk.

How to Follow

Ash catches a Muk, the earliest you can catch one is at the Power Plant or the Pokemon Mansion on Cinnabar Island. For Pokemon Red and Blue, they’re only found at the mansion. You need surf for both. However, on Route 12, you do get a Super Rod, so you can go and catch that Krabby on routes 24/25. Fuchsia City is also where you can finally enter the Safari Zone. Keep in mind that Ash caught a total of 30 Tauros at the Safari Zone, so you need to do the same if you wan’t to be faithful to the series. After you beat the gym, you should also consider going to Route 16 and catch a Snorlax by waking it with the Pokemon Flute. Ash get’s one during the Orange Islands Adventures so this might be your best chance.

How to Follow Ash – Cinnabar Island, Fire Gym

No Magmar at the Cinnabar Gym, sadly…

Route

Route 19 -> Seefoam Islands -> Route 20 -> Cinnabar Island

The Anime

This is a long period in the anime in which Ash doesn’t really catch anything other than the Tauros at the Safari Zone. His Charmander soon evolves into Charmeleon, though, and later into Charizard

How to Follow

Focus on using Charmander until it evolves all the way. You should have Charizard read for the fire gym, and teach him some attacks that aren’t fire based. At the Seafoam Islands, you can catch a Krabby, if you haven’t yet. At the Pokemon Mansion, you can get a Muk.

How to Follow Ash All the Way to the League and Beyond

…and no fighting Jesse and James at the Viridian Gym either.

Route

Viridian City (gym) – > Indigo Plateau

The Anime

No Pokemon are caught in the first season any more. However, Krabby evolves into Kingler during a League battle, and Pidgeotto evolves into Pidgeot shortly after back at Pallet Town.

How to Follow

Get Krabby to level 27 and keep him close to 28 until the League, then just start a fight with him and immediately switch him out, so he’ll evolve into Kingler. I did the same with Pidgeot, though you might decide one waiting until after you win to evolve that one. Of course, you could also train Krabby and keep cancelling his evolution so he’ll actually be a useful part of the team. Again, same goes for Pidgeotto. If you want to keep it truly real, never win the Indigo League. Go there, lose once while evolving Krabby and leave. Train for a while in some other place until Pidgeotto evolves and then transfer everything to the next game.

You win!

In any case, that’s it. If you got to this point, you followed the first anime season as close as you could, without trading or cheating, I think.

Path of Exile [2] – Not So First Impressions

January 31, 2013 by Nikola·1 Comment

The Positive

Over the last few days, I’ve invested several hours into Path of Exile. Biljeznica, my Witch, got close to level 20 and finished Act I as well as several quests in Act II. For now, the game is still quite fun and I’m greatly enjoying it. I got a few more respec points, so I completely shifted focus from minions towards fire spells. Once I get more, I intend to also drop focus from mana regeneration, since I’m really not lacking mana at all, thanks to my Clarity aura.

This “sword” basically doubled my DPS. It dropped from one of the unique bosses.

The Fireball seems to be getting less useful, with Firestorm doing more damage even against single enemies. As for the Fire Run, thanks to a +Dexterity amulet, I’m still using and leveling it, but it’s becoming more and more obvious it’s really meant to be Dexterity skill.

I also found a couple of gems belonging to a new type – the support gem. Instead of giving you a new skill, support gems add special bonuses to the skills they are connected to via a socket. For instance, there’s a support gem that increases the life of minions summoned by the summon gem it’s connected to. It’s a bit limiting and I actually think I’d prefer if they didn’t have to be connected to another gem via socket connections, but it’s still an interesting feature to mess around with.

The Negative

The more I play, the more obvious it becomes that the complexity and the amount of choices are all just an illusion. There’s a couple of paths I can pick from on the skill grid, but once I pick one, that’s it – 90% of the skill grid becomes off-limits.

The story is told in the style of Diablo 2, but it doesn’t really capture me.

The same goes for active skills and equipment. The game is old school both in a good and a bad way. Right now, I’m still looking forward to the next level, but I can see myself not seeing the point of it as soon as I realize my improvised build is not good enough, which will probably happen eventually, since I’m not a theorycrafter and I haven’t done any research in advance.

Diablo 3 and it’s “change builds as you please” approach isn’t the perfect solution, but neither is this. I’m not even sure that there is a perfect solution at this point, but the way it is now, I probably won’t play for a lot longer.

Pokemon Yellow [6] – The End

January 30, 2013 by Nikola·3 Comments

In my final two sessions of Pokemon Yellow, I beat the Elite Four and my rival and then spent a couple of hours wrapping things up.

Training was very creative. I figured it was faster to get less experience directly than constantly switching in battle.

I made some “creative” choices with training. I got bored constantly switching Pokemon in and out at the Victory road, so instead, I did a couple of suicide runs against the Elite Four. Lorelai was easy to beat with Pikachu and Charizard easily destroyed Bruno’s team. I even managed to beat Agatha relatively consistently. It was only Lance that gave me trouble, really. At one point, Squirtle got strong enough to beat Bruno’s rock types, so I started training him a lot faster to.

Surprisingly, Squirtle took the victory.

Kingler and the rest of my team gave me trouble, though. I actually started wandering around the world, looking for trainer rematches to get some money and train the weaker Pokemon in my team. I had to grind for a long time to finally beat Lance with most of my team intact, but once I did, Gary was easy in comparison. He did almost kill me, but that was only because I ran out of PP on Pikachu and almost ran out of PP on Charizard. In the end, Squirtle took the victory with critical health and none of my other Pokemon remaining conscious.

The state of my team before the victory.

The game was technically beat, and the session was over, but I wasn’t done yet. Today, I loaded up the game again and went straight for the Unknown dungeon, to catch Mewtwo. The place was a maze with tough enemies, but Pikachu and Charizard made it easy for me to get to the bottom of it and reach Mewtwo. I decided not to beat my head against a wall and just used the Master Ball on it, so the fight was won instantly and Mewtwo was mine.

Remember when Mewtwo used to be “the strongest Pokemon ever”?

Next up, thanks to some reminders on reddit, I went to route 4 and caught a Mankey. Technically, Ash encountered a Mankey in the early episodes, but only caught it after it evolved into Primeape, but I don’t think that’s an option in Yellow, at least not that early, so instead, I did what I did with Pidgey and just rush-trained it to level 28 instead.

I kind off forgot about Primeape. Thanks, reddit!

After that, all I had to do was to catch 29 more Tauros. This took me a good hour of playing, even with generous use of the fast-forward feature, but eventually, even that was over. I wish I could prove it , but sadly, the Box interface of the first generation games is horrible and there’s no way for me to show how many I had. I’ll transfer them from game to game until I’m able to display them in the GBA games.

No, I don’t want to give a nickname, for the 19th time!

Also, it was pointed out to me that I didn’t catch a Muk. I actually did, I just didn’t write about it. I caught one at the Electrical Plant but haven’t used it at all. If i remember correctly, Ash’s Muk evolves at one point, but I don’t think it’s in the first season, so there’s plenty of time for that.

In any case, I believe I did everything I could and needed to do in the first game. I also did something extra – I got a Lapras. Ash saves one at the beginning of the Orange league season, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to catch one then, so instead, I got it now, for free, as a reward at some point in the story.

Pokemon Yellow [5] – The League

January 29, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

I ended my previous session of Pokemon Yellow at Cinnabar Island, just about ready to tackle the gym. There’s one minor detail I forgot, though. The gym was locked and I had to get the key from the Pokemon Mansion.

I really dislike Pokemon Mansion. Its’s a huge place and I made the mistake of learning mostly Low PP moves, meaning I was running out of PP before I could get to the end of it. Because of this, I had to leave the place and re-enter several times before I finally got the key on the bottom floor.

One of my least favorite places in the game – the Pokemon Mansion

The gym itself was extremely easy, thought Squirtle definitely wasn’t the MVP in the fight (Most Valuable Pokemon – it fits!). That title belongs to Charizard, mostly for being high leveled and highly evolved, unlike Squirtle. While we’re on the topic, I’ll say it again, Ash is a dirty cheater. There’s no way he’s able to beat all of those high level opponents with unevolved Pokemon. The only two Pokemon in my team able to carry their own right now are Pikachu and Charizard and Pikachu is decent simply because his level is about 10-20 above any enemy we encounter.

Sadly, Cinnabar Island’s Gym uses the same theme.

In any case, I beat the gym and then promptly used Fly to get to Veridian City, to beat Giovanni’s gym to. Squirtle was actually way more useful in that one, though I had to rewind twice to prevent him from evolving.

Squirtle was starting to get usefl in Giovanni’s gym.

Once all of that was out of the way, I went to the Victory Road, towards the Indigo League. The place was relatively easy to clear but again, I was getting low on PP towards the end of it. Other than beating a lot of trainers and getting to the exit on the other side, I also managed to catch the third legendary bird while in there – Moltress. As usual, it went straight into Bill’s PC, since it’ll just be a collectible.

The third legendary bird Pokemon was mine!

Finally, I got to the League, healed my Pokemon at the Pokemon Center and saved my game. I wasn’t ready to tackle the League yet. First, I had to prepare my Krabby. If I remember correctly, Ash’s Krabby evolved in a league battle, so mine needed to do the same. However, there’s no chance whatsoever to beat a league Pokemon with a level 27 Krabby, so I decided to do it a bit differently.

All I need to do now is to beat the Indigo League.

I leveled Krabby to 27 at the Victory Road and kept training until he got very close to the next level. Once I got to that point, I also decided to level my Pidgeotto until it evolved into Pidgeot. I know Ash’s Pidgeotto evolved only after the League battles, but I figured I won’t be playing a lot after I win, so I might as well do it now.

I evolved Pidgeotto before the league battles, since the game wont last for long after I win.

Once the leveling was out of the way, I made my first attempt at the League. Lorelai’s ice and water Pokemon were easy to beat with Pikachu and Charizard took care of Bruno’s Ground and Fighting types. Agatha’s ghost team gave me some trouble, but Charizard took care of most of those as well. Lance was where I got stuck. Only Ice and Dragon itself have an advantage against Dragon types and I had neither. Suffice to say, I got my but handed to me.

Technically, Ash didn’t become Indigo Champion, so Krabby evolving in a failed attempt is canon!

On the positive side, Krabby evolved into Kingler (it counts, I don’t care!), but on the negative, I now had to do a lot of grinding. Even worse, I used most of my restorative items on my first attempt and I was all out of PP restoring items in general. Since you can’t buy those in the game, this meant I had to level most of my team at least for a while, so all of them can take a couple of hits and do some damage before fainting.

This is my team before my first attempt.

For now, though, it was time to end my session. Soon enough, Pokemon Yellow will be the first game of my Pokemon challenge to be beaten, one way or another.

Path of Exile [1] – Jumping on the Bandwagon

January 28, 2013 by Nikola·0 Comments

The acclaimed Diablo-killer, Path of Exile, finally got into open beta a few days ago, so I decided to succumb to the hype and install it. Almost everyone praises the game and the annoying part of the fans also keeps comparing it to Diablo 3 and saying how much better than Diablo 3 it is, so guess what? I’m going to do the same, kind off.

Is it a Diablo killer? That’s really a question not very bright people usually ask so I’m going to skip answering it, because my audience isn’t dumb. Is it a good game? Well, the first couple of hours are good, which says a lot.

I started out with the Witch. She seems fun.

I like the skill system, and I like the passive system. I also like the weirdly skewed isometric camera perspective and graphics which use modern effects but somehow, in a way I can’t exactly explain, they feel old school, more akin to the late 90’s ARPGs like Diablo 2.

There’s no money in the game, which I also kind of like, but I’m not sure how it will work later in the game. For now, you basically trade items for materials, which you can then trade for different items, skill gems or different materials.

Skill Gems?

Yup, skill gems. The classes are exclusively defined by the passive skills they have available, of which you can learn one per level by activating them on a huge skill grid, similar to the sphere grid of Final Fantasy X. As for the active skills, you use them by equipping skill gems which drop randomly from monsters. You place these skill gems into slots on your equipment, but you can easily remove them and put them into another item, so you aren’t limiting your gear in any way.

The voice acting is actually pretty good, especially if you consider it’s a relatively low-budget game.

The more you use a skill, the more experience it gains and the faster it gains levels. An increase in the level of the skill means more damage, more life for summons or some other increase in power which fits the skill. I might be lying here, but I don’t think the skills get bound to your character, so it’s possible you can trade these highly leveled skill gems between your characters as well as with other players. Overall, it seems like a very fun system with a lot of things to explore. For now, it’s extremely fun, but as I said, I have no way of knowing how much fun it will be later.

As for the passive skill grid, there’s no option to respec directly, but you do get a couple of respec points from quests throughout the game, which allow you to reallocate a few skill points you’ve previously spent. You can also earn these respec points from Orbs of Regret, but I’m not sure how you get those. They probably become available later in the game or something. In any case, this to feels like it’ll be a lot of fun to experiment with.

Path of Exile is a Great Game

There! I’ve said it. Heck, I’ll even compare it. At this point, I’d rather play Path of Exile than Diablo 3. That might be because I played Diablo 3 for a long time, or it might be that it actually is a better game overall. I don’t know and I don’t care. What I do know is that I’m having fun with Path of Exile right now.

But What About the Game

I actually didn’t say anything about what I did. I picked the witch as my starting character. I went for extra mana and mana regeneration with the passives first, then switched to summoning bonuses, and recently decided to drop those via the two respec points I got from an early quest and switch to damage and cast speed. As for my spells, I’m mostly fire focused. I use Fireball as my left mouse button attack, Fire Trap on my right mouse and Firestorm as my first extra skill. On my middle mouse button, I use Summon Zombie, purely to have some meat between myself and the enemies.

The caves are nice and dark, though it’s a bit hard to target the enemies.

I’m having a lot of fun, but it’s getting sort of obvious you can’t just invest points at random, since respecing isn’t as easy as with Diablo 3. It means I get to experiment less, but it also means I need to think more every time I gain a level. Fun, but different fun!