Finally, I have come to what is likely the worst part of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - the key hunt. After defeating the giant 4 stage boss of the Temple Sanctuary, I need to find 9 Sky Temple Keys. Fortunately for me, I had already uncovered 2 of them before I got the mission to do it, and was able to get 3 more before I went to bed last night. This means that I probably have the 4 hardest to find that remain. I actually know where one of them is, but I can't see my way to get to it just yet. This also strongly implies that I have gotten all of the items/suits/powerups that I am likely to get, and I was able to track down a couple of hidden weapon upgrades, too. Samus is now the complete bad ass that I look forward to having: Light Suit so she doesn't take damage in Dark Aether, Screw Attack, Light Gun, Dark Gun, Annihilator Gun, Echoes Visor, Dark Visor, Power Bombs, loads of energy tanks, almost 200 missiles, 150 Ammo, and Missile combos for all of the guns.
Based on scan percentage, I have gotten the highest percentage of scans that I have ever managed in a Metroid game. I can also tell that I'll be squaring off against Dark Samus two more times, I just hope that she is the Ing defender of the Sky Temple's energy, and not a follow-on boss. Either way, I look forward to finishing this game. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it is past time to be done with it. Then it is on to Psychonauts!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Social Gaming Guilt
Tonight, Wednesday night, in theory, means Puzzle Pirates with Keith and Jen. Mondays and/or Thursday are normally Team Fortress 2 with Lars, Jason, Lenny and potentially Chris. Fridays are Gears of War night with the GWJ crowd (Goo-Jers? GuJers?) This essentially leaves Tuesday night for the wife, Saturday and Sunday night for whatever. The problem is that sometimes, I don't want to play the "scheduled" game. I know, it's no big deal, just don't play that game that night. The problem is that despite the stereotype, gaming is a tremendously social thing for me, and for whatever reason, I am the unofficial leader of the gaming groups that I'm a part of. When we played Rise of Nations on Wednesdays, if I didn't pull everyone together, the game didn't happen. I know Lars will play Team Fortress 2 regardless of me showing up, but in the BF2142 days, lots of players wouldn't join the rest of the crew if I wasn't there.
So tonight should be Puzzle Pirates. I don't know what it is, but I seem to have lost some of my love for the game. When we first played, not only did I look forward to the weekly scheduled time, but I was getting some time sailing around pretty much every night. I think part of it is that I'm not as good at the puzzles as I used to be, which is driving me nuts. The other part is probably just that I haven't been as outgoing this time around, so I haven't met any interesting people. I love Keith and Jen, but I'm a big fan of "the more the merrier". Back in the old days, we'd have my local crew plus Mettrey, Saltyhog, Bladebuckle, Baldwin and their extended circles. It was really so much fun.
It's really the same thing with WoW. When I played my Priest, I think at least half of the time I was playing to hang out with the Team Totally Awesome guys, or whatever they are called now. I hear rumblings that Jim is asking for me to resubscribe, says I "owe him for all the times he got sick playing BattleField". I have to admit, it is tempting. The idea of grinding up to level 60 (or probably 70) is just too depressing when I have a stack of games that I REALLY want to finish and already strapped for time. It is certainly something I will consider if I can burn my stack down.
So tonight should be Puzzle Pirates. I don't know what it is, but I seem to have lost some of my love for the game. When we first played, not only did I look forward to the weekly scheduled time, but I was getting some time sailing around pretty much every night. I think part of it is that I'm not as good at the puzzles as I used to be, which is driving me nuts. The other part is probably just that I haven't been as outgoing this time around, so I haven't met any interesting people. I love Keith and Jen, but I'm a big fan of "the more the merrier". Back in the old days, we'd have my local crew plus Mettrey, Saltyhog, Bladebuckle, Baldwin and their extended circles. It was really so much fun.
It's really the same thing with WoW. When I played my Priest, I think at least half of the time I was playing to hang out with the Team Totally Awesome guys, or whatever they are called now. I hear rumblings that Jim is asking for me to resubscribe, says I "owe him for all the times he got sick playing BattleField". I have to admit, it is tempting. The idea of grinding up to level 60 (or probably 70) is just too depressing when I have a stack of games that I REALLY want to finish and already strapped for time. It is certainly something I will consider if I can burn my stack down.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Of Mice and Men
The plan this weekend was to play a bunch of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, hopefully get a good deal closer to the finish mark. You know what they say, though, best laid plans and all that. It isn't that bad, not really. I did get a good handful of rounds of Gears in, and aside from the pummeling that I took, it was fun for a few minutes. I could really only stand to get raped for about an hour, but it worked out well, because a ninth player was interested right when I was ready to bail. I didn't check in later to see if the host transition went well, but I imagine the rest of the guys figured it out. After Gears got to be too much for my frail ego, I loaded up skate., with the notion that I could send it back to GameFly on Saturday, while Burnout Paradise was still listed as High availability. The strangest thing happened: I was really enjoying playing skate.! A big part was that I was doing better, and I was getting a better feel for the waypoint system they have set up, so you can basically teleport to where you want to go. Before too long, I was manual-ing down hills, flipping into and out of manuals, grinding rails, and "owning" locations. Worked out really well, because Burnout went back to Medium availability on Monday, so I think I'll hold onto skate. for another week.
Saturday I wound up basically not gaming at all. I got a few turns of Civ in, and showed off my mad Mario skillz to the kids (up to 54 Stars!), but aside from that it was watching movies with the wife and trying to get some chores done around the house. Really thrilling.
Sunday was supposed to be Rock Band day. The Foo Fighters would be on from 3-4pm and the Harmonix developers from 7-10pm. Allison had claimed me after 10, so I knew I better get my time's worth while I could. Of course, we were out grocery shopping from 3-4 and I had to help get the little monkeys into bed until nearly 9. Finally I get down to the Xbox, and start up Rock Band. I figure I may as well try getting some Score Duels going on Drums, and I wound up losing every round. Most of them were pretty close, at least. Then I saw Keith was playing, and decided that playing with someone I like is better than maybe winning some Achievement or some free swag. I invited him to some duels, I was even doing Medium, just like him. I lost to him, 3 songs in a row, but I eventually beat him in "Dani California". It was great, I started out ahead, and had a solid lead at one point, then we get to a break in the drums, and he and I both look at the scores at the same time. Then we both notice that we are dead even. I figure he probably has won again, since he is sitting with a 3x multiplier, and I only have a 2x multiplier. I, of course, miss the first note after the break. I still managed to pull off a win, even though I had 83% notes hit and he had 84%. The benefits of Overdrive to save the day. After that we did a bit of jamming, me on Guitar, him sticking with Drums. So much fun, no Metroid, but fun.
Saturday I wound up basically not gaming at all. I got a few turns of Civ in, and showed off my mad Mario skillz to the kids (up to 54 Stars!), but aside from that it was watching movies with the wife and trying to get some chores done around the house. Really thrilling.
Sunday was supposed to be Rock Band day. The Foo Fighters would be on from 3-4pm and the Harmonix developers from 7-10pm. Allison had claimed me after 10, so I knew I better get my time's worth while I could. Of course, we were out grocery shopping from 3-4 and I had to help get the little monkeys into bed until nearly 9. Finally I get down to the Xbox, and start up Rock Band. I figure I may as well try getting some Score Duels going on Drums, and I wound up losing every round. Most of them were pretty close, at least. Then I saw Keith was playing, and decided that playing with someone I like is better than maybe winning some Achievement or some free swag. I invited him to some duels, I was even doing Medium, just like him. I lost to him, 3 songs in a row, but I eventually beat him in "Dani California". It was great, I started out ahead, and had a solid lead at one point, then we get to a break in the drums, and he and I both look at the scores at the same time. Then we both notice that we are dead even. I figure he probably has won again, since he is sitting with a 3x multiplier, and I only have a 2x multiplier. I, of course, miss the first note after the break. I still managed to pull off a win, even though I had 83% notes hit and he had 84%. The benefits of Overdrive to save the day. After that we did a bit of jamming, me on Guitar, him sticking with Drums. So much fun, no Metroid, but fun.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Failure and Victory
So, I played TF2, as expected, and got frustrated, as expected. At least it wasn't all-sniping, all the time. It was all-spy, all the time, but I usually don't have as big a problem with them. Apparently, the backstab angle is about 180 degrees wide, based on how often I got stabbed with my back to a wall. Ever since the more regular players started forming teams to compete against other websites, the level of play has gone up so high I don't think I can take it anymore. There was a Heavy/Medic combo that actually killed 3 engineers (me being one), two of our turrets, all three dispensers, two teleporters and at least 3 other players in one 10-second uber-charge. I was honestly having fun for a while, but after getting steamrolled so many times, the frustration level got way too high. Talk about failure...
On to the victory: I did "Run To The Hills" on Hard Guitar and Hard Vocals last night. After getting fed up with TF2, I decided to grab a few more achievements on the 360. I did a few arcade games, then loaded up Rock Band to kind of wind down for the night. I go into my one-man-band, and hit the last location in Boston. It was a crazy set, it started with some of the easiest songs: "Say It Ain't So", "In Bloom", "I Think I'm Paranoid", "Go With the Flow", then, out of the blue: "Run To The Hills". I was freaking out, I can really only manage three stars on average when doing both at Hard, and that song is really tough. I still only got three stars, but I don't think my two meters ever dropped into the red, and I might have kept them both out of the yellow. I was so thrilled, it felt great. Of course, that meant I had to keep playing, cause I was so pumped up. I had some trouble with Faith No More's "Epic", but was able to handle "Ballroom Blitz" with flair - which was awesome.
On to the victory: I did "Run To The Hills" on Hard Guitar and Hard Vocals last night. After getting fed up with TF2, I decided to grab a few more achievements on the 360. I did a few arcade games, then loaded up Rock Band to kind of wind down for the night. I go into my one-man-band, and hit the last location in Boston. It was a crazy set, it started with some of the easiest songs: "Say It Ain't So", "In Bloom", "I Think I'm Paranoid", "Go With the Flow", then, out of the blue: "Run To The Hills". I was freaking out, I can really only manage three stars on average when doing both at Hard, and that song is really tough. I still only got three stars, but I don't think my two meters ever dropped into the red, and I might have kept them both out of the yellow. I was so thrilled, it felt great. Of course, that meant I had to keep playing, cause I was so pumped up. I had some trouble with Faith No More's "Epic", but was able to handle "Ballroom Blitz" with flair - which was awesome.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Snipers
Being a Thursday, I'll likely be playing Team Fortress 2 tonight. I enjoy the game, at least most of the time, but I don't have the words to describe my distaste of Snipers. In any game that has Snipers, they are the most annoying, hardest to counter, and generally most chickenshit class of players out there. Right now, I'm of the opinion that only Shadowrun got Snipers mostly right: you get kicked out of zoom if you take damage, you can't headshot Dwarves, your position can be revealed by techs, your bullets can be negated by Smoke. I think the biggest problem with Snipers in most games is that aiming so accurately is really, really hard. Most games make it too easy (for anyone who isn't me, at least). Get out of your hiding spot and play the damn game!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
One long week
It seems I've missed quite a few days without updates so I have a lot to get around to.
Weighing heavily on my mind is the Superbowl... It was really a great, great game. Most sports analysts are calling it one of, if not the best Superbowl ever. It's a little hard to swallow my team losing, especially after the season they had, and the level of effort they put into the game. So strange to see Matt Light get dominated, and to see Brady not be able to pull off the final game-winning drive. I'm bummed that the Pats lost, but I think it was a lot more expectable than most of the points spreads indicated.
Metroid Prime 2 update: Got the Spider Ball! W00t! It was a really clever boss fight to get it, too: all Ball battle. Took me quite a few tries to actually pull it off, stupid platform that I didn't notice until my second attempt. The section I'm in is so thematically different from the rest of the game that it is a little off-putting, even though I love the look of the place. I'm still having fun with it, but I've getting very ready to finish it. I have 80% of the scans, so I might ease off the scanning, and just focus on getting the game plot finished, instead of hoping for 90+% scans.
I think I decided that Psychonauts will be the next game on my list. I was growing tired of it before, despite the clever humor and general good gameplay. I think that the darker themed platformer, coupled with the shooter elements just rubs me the wrong way. I'll definitely give it another shot, I think I was stuck on a "funky camera" boss battle the last time I played, so I don't want to be too harsh, loads of games have boss battles I dislike.
I made some progress on Guitar Hero 3 achievements. Such a silly thing to focus on, but I was able to get the "Meet your maker", for 20 points, then I decided to get some of the potentially other low-hanging fruit: Tone Deaf, Easy Career, and Hendrix Reborn. That last one took the use of a mirror to un-Lefty mode playing in Lefty mode. Maybe it's cheating, but I think I'm just being clever. I also got the Jet unlocked in my one-man Rock Band band. I had to notch it down to medium/medium to get past "Train Kept Rollin'", but even though I really got no fans, I got the jet, opening a slew of new cities and venues. I was able to squeak by "The Hand That Feeds" on Hard Vocals, Expert Guitar: it was actually the Guitar that almost killed me! I'm maybe halfway through Expert Solo Guitar Career, but I still can't finish Hard Career in Guitar Hero 3...
I got to spend a little bit of time with Zak & Wiki, mostly because Metroid isn't the best spectator game. Archer was flipping out every time I did something that would result in my death; which was about once per level, twice for a couple of them. So, so funny when you get killed, they have some really great, inventive ways to kill you in the game. It's already up at a decent level of challenge, which is slightly scary, since I'm maybe 4 rooms into it. I look forward to playing this one straight through. For the same reasons (playing for a crowd) I was able to spend more time in Super Mario Galaxy. That game is so amazing. It manages to stay true to the Mario formula, but feel completely fresh and interesting. The challenge is a little light, but I'm at around 30 stars, and I think you need 60 to get the end, with a total of 120 stars out there. I know I'll be getting all 120 eventually. That reminds me, I never did figure out how to get the final star in the DS New Super Mario Bros. game. I finished every level, and got all of the Dino coins... I think there is one alt-route that I'm missing. I should really try to find that one.
In a moment of weakness I re-downloaded the Burnout Paradise demo again. It still makes the 360 freeze up, so I guess it is consistent. I worry about the full game, especially since I think I want to buy it, but at the same time, I got skate. in the mail from Gamefly, and it is basically the skateboarding version of Burnout Paradise. I never made the connection from the skate. demo, but it is an open world, with different challenges scattered about the city, and different events in which to partake. Thing is, I am almost already done with skate., and might just send it back to Gamefly really soon. I'd love to nail some Achievements for it first, but the open world is a little annoying when it takes so long to get up a hill, just so that I can go down it quickly. This just makes me worry about getting BP, and hitting the same bored wall so quickly, that and the "kill the 360" thing.
Weighing heavily on my mind is the Superbowl... It was really a great, great game. Most sports analysts are calling it one of, if not the best Superbowl ever. It's a little hard to swallow my team losing, especially after the season they had, and the level of effort they put into the game. So strange to see Matt Light get dominated, and to see Brady not be able to pull off the final game-winning drive. I'm bummed that the Pats lost, but I think it was a lot more expectable than most of the points spreads indicated.
Metroid Prime 2 update: Got the Spider Ball! W00t! It was a really clever boss fight to get it, too: all Ball battle. Took me quite a few tries to actually pull it off, stupid platform that I didn't notice until my second attempt. The section I'm in is so thematically different from the rest of the game that it is a little off-putting, even though I love the look of the place. I'm still having fun with it, but I've getting very ready to finish it. I have 80% of the scans, so I might ease off the scanning, and just focus on getting the game plot finished, instead of hoping for 90+% scans.
I think I decided that Psychonauts will be the next game on my list. I was growing tired of it before, despite the clever humor and general good gameplay. I think that the darker themed platformer, coupled with the shooter elements just rubs me the wrong way. I'll definitely give it another shot, I think I was stuck on a "funky camera" boss battle the last time I played, so I don't want to be too harsh, loads of games have boss battles I dislike.
I made some progress on Guitar Hero 3 achievements. Such a silly thing to focus on, but I was able to get the "Meet your maker", for 20 points, then I decided to get some of the potentially other low-hanging fruit: Tone Deaf, Easy Career, and Hendrix Reborn. That last one took the use of a mirror to un-Lefty mode playing in Lefty mode. Maybe it's cheating, but I think I'm just being clever. I also got the Jet unlocked in my one-man Rock Band band. I had to notch it down to medium/medium to get past "Train Kept Rollin'", but even though I really got no fans, I got the jet, opening a slew of new cities and venues. I was able to squeak by "The Hand That Feeds" on Hard Vocals, Expert Guitar: it was actually the Guitar that almost killed me! I'm maybe halfway through Expert Solo Guitar Career, but I still can't finish Hard Career in Guitar Hero 3...
I got to spend a little bit of time with Zak & Wiki, mostly because Metroid isn't the best spectator game. Archer was flipping out every time I did something that would result in my death; which was about once per level, twice for a couple of them. So, so funny when you get killed, they have some really great, inventive ways to kill you in the game. It's already up at a decent level of challenge, which is slightly scary, since I'm maybe 4 rooms into it. I look forward to playing this one straight through. For the same reasons (playing for a crowd) I was able to spend more time in Super Mario Galaxy. That game is so amazing. It manages to stay true to the Mario formula, but feel completely fresh and interesting. The challenge is a little light, but I'm at around 30 stars, and I think you need 60 to get the end, with a total of 120 stars out there. I know I'll be getting all 120 eventually. That reminds me, I never did figure out how to get the final star in the DS New Super Mario Bros. game. I finished every level, and got all of the Dino coins... I think there is one alt-route that I'm missing. I should really try to find that one.
In a moment of weakness I re-downloaded the Burnout Paradise demo again. It still makes the 360 freeze up, so I guess it is consistent. I worry about the full game, especially since I think I want to buy it, but at the same time, I got skate. in the mail from Gamefly, and it is basically the skateboarding version of Burnout Paradise. I never made the connection from the skate. demo, but it is an open world, with different challenges scattered about the city, and different events in which to partake. Thing is, I am almost already done with skate., and might just send it back to Gamefly really soon. I'd love to nail some Achievements for it first, but the open world is a little annoying when it takes so long to get up a hill, just so that I can go down it quickly. This just makes me worry about getting BP, and hitting the same bored wall so quickly, that and the "kill the 360" thing.
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