I decide to start this day's adventures with my last Pure Action game, God of War. I have seldom played a game that both impressed me, and caused me true hatred as much as this one. I'll tell you why. The combat is absolutely awesome. Fun beyond belief. The storyline is also great, and the voice acting superb.
But I hate jumping around. And in this game, you have to jump around a lot.
I had to start this gaming session by jumping around, across a couple of pillars. Super jumps aren't always easy to execute, especially for this uncoordinated spaz right here. So, after slaying some skeletal archers with my Zeus-powered lightning bolts, I attempt to jump across and die 32 times in a row.
Yes, I said it. 32 times. In a row. Fortunately, I'm a Taurus, which means I'm stubborn as hell. On the 33rd try, I make it! I make it I tell you. Then I get to the save point, and the machine malfunctions. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
I do it again. I get it on the eleventh try. I pray to Zeus for real. The save point works! Thanks Zeus.
I step on the biggest button of all time. It's a secret elevator. Whut? I go down into the ground. I run through a thin tunnel, and then there's an icy beam. Why is there ice on this beam? No suitable explantion to be had, I try to cross the beam. I fall on my ass. I reboot.
I try to cross the beam. I fall on my ass. I reboot.
I try to cross the beam. I fall on my ass. I reboot.
I cross the beam!
I get to the Oracle's temple. Cut scene! The flying monkeys, er no, wrong movie, these are Harpies, fly with my girlfriend or whoever she is, I never really understood who this girl was, though Kronos seems to care about her a lot, well whatever. I will save you! I am the hero!
What? Force fields in the courtyard. I face off against about thirty harpies and two medusas. The first time I get turned to stone in mid-leap and break into little itty bitties. Doh! Reboot!
This time I turn to my Poseidon power. Lightning from the sky! Eat it!
They eat it! They don't like it! I win! I move forward...cut scene!
A thin, old, creepy guy crawls out of a hole in the ground, he's got a shovel. He made the hole. Oh it's a grave he tells me. Who's it for? What? It's for THIS GUY? Why I outta--- he gives me a cryptic message. When things look bleak later he'll be there for me. Hmmm...I have a feeling this is Hades or something. Just a gut feeling. We'll see about it later in the game.
I open two chests. A magic feather. I've collected six. Now my magic gets a huge boost. In the other a gorgon eye. I need one more for a major health boost. Wonder if I missed one somewhere. I know a few gorgons that are missing one! Suckers! So, I'm not going back to find out. Save point.
And since I advanced the story, this is a checkmark. Pure Action category defeated for round 2! Four more games to go, two of them are level grinds. We're nearing the finish.
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I queue up Dragon Age Origins into my computer. This is one of the best fantasy quest games I've ever encountered. Loving it. I'm in the Dwarven city of Orzammar and at the end of the last round, I polished off the leader of the underground and her large band of Dwarf ruffians. Lord Harrowmont, who I am supporting to become the new King, wants me to go into the Deep Roads to find the one person who can ensure he ascends to the throne: a Dwarf engineer who was raised to a higher plateau of respect due to creating some kind of new energy system that advanced the entire technology rank of the race. Good one. Then she disappeared into the Deep Roads, and hasn't been heard from in two years. Doh.
I'm beat up though from my adventures, and I have some small things I need to get done to prepare.
I am about to head out of the city when I encounter the Engineer's drunk husband who was left behind. But he wants to go with me into the Deep Roads. He joins my party. He's a 16th level fighter. Hoo Hah. I give him a giant meat cleaver I have in my pack, but we're not heading into the Deep Roads right now.
We leave the city! You didn't know we were going to abandon the quest you joined up with me for immediately, did ya Dwarf dude. Too bad, you're part of my party now. I'm in charge of you! Yeah. Whatever.
I go to my base of operations and put some things in my storage chest, then head to the main human city where this wacky blacksmith is making me armor out of some dragon scales I acquired the hard way. The armor is done, it's light armor but flame resistant. I give it to my assassin! Yes, I have an assassin in my group. Cause we're the good guys! And bad guys need a' killing. Actually, he was originally hired to kill-i-fy my character, and after a nasty fight, I defeated him, and then spared his life. He joined up with me after that.
My large party of nine heroes keeps growing. Neat. You can take three of them with you at any time along with your main character. So you get different combinations with different powers and abilities. It's a nice part of the game that keeps things interesting.
I head to the Wizard's Circle Tower. I had cleared this place of demonic abominations, which was a hell of a long mission. As a result the Wizards are in bad shape, but they are part of my army now. My character is a mage and I started the game as one of them, and joined the Grey Wardens during the early stages of the game. Anyway, enough backstory.
My two reasons for coming here are to buy ingredients to make mana-regaining potions so I can replenish spell casting abilities in combat with a sip -- tastes suspiciously like apple martini's too. Weird!
And to tell the main mage that a dwarf girl in Orzammar wants to study magic history in the Circle. He is intrigued by the idea, and says yes. I return to Orzammar and tell her, and she gives me a magic rune as a reward. She's off, without telling her parents because she has to abandon her assigned family working caste to do this, which is taboo in dwarf society. But she'll be the first dwarf to study with the mages since the 13th century, since dwarves can't actually cast magic. I did a good thing maybe. We'll see if it has any effect on the story later in the game.
A bunch of minor tasks and that particularly easy side quest completed. That's a checkmark. In Round 3, I'll head into the Deep Roads. Hoo Hah.
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Level Grinding Xenosaga style.This is the third session in round 2 for Xenosaga grinding, and it won't be the last. I need a little more than 6000 XP to get my characters up to 35th level. I go back into the virtual simulator. I crush more soldiers and helicopters! I cut it down to about 3200 XP that I need. Cool. One more session in there and I'll be ready to advance to the next plot point of the game. Booor-iiiing!
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Level Grinding .Hack Infection style. I am level 7, and to get the checkmark I need to be level 8. I store some equipment, buy health potions, sell some useless equipment and treasure items from last session, and call up Mystral who is good at healing, and Black Rose, who kicks ass, onto my party. We go into a random Level 4 dungeon through the portal, because why sweat it right?
We don't sweat it! We maul our way through low level monsters through three levels of the dungeon, and I get up to Level 8. Easy! That's a checkmark.
Only 2 games left!
Huh. Xenosaga and a Rockstar Category game. Same as the final two games in Round 1. This time its GTA Liberty City Stories instead of The Hulk, but even so....
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Here's where we are on the ol' scoreboard: Round 2!
MIND TEASERS: COMPLETE
Chess Titans - 2
Gabriel Knight - 2
Mahjong Titans - 2
Sherlock Holmes - 2
Spider Solitaire - 2
World Series of Poker - 2
STRATEGY: COMPLETE
Civilization - 2
Europa Universalis - 2
Gladius - 2
Space Empires - 2
Suikoden Tactics - 2
World of Mixed Martial Arts - 2
SHOOTER: COMPLETE
Crysis - 2
Fallout 3 - 2
Freedom Fighters - 2
Killzone - 2
Ring of Red - 2
Star Wars Battlefront - 2
PURE ACTION: COMPLETE
Devil May Cry - 2
God of War - 2
Madden Football - 2
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams - 2
Soul Reaver 2 - 2
Soul Caliber - 2
SWORD SLASHERS COMPLETE
Champions: Return to Arms - 2
Dark Cloud - 2
Drakengard - 2
.Hack Infection - 2
Oblivion: Elder Scrolls - 2
Shadow of Rome - 2
EPIC - FANTASY - COMPLETE
Dragon's Age Origin - 2
Dragon's Quest 8 - 2
Final Fantasy 12 - 2
Suikoden 3 - 2
Suikoden 4 - 2
Suikoden 5 - 2
EPIC - OTHER GENRES 5 of 6 defeated
Kingdom Hearts - 2
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - 2
Mercenaries - 2
Rogue Galaxy - 2
Star Ocean - 2
Xenosaga - 1 (level grinding in progress)
ROCKSTAR MISSION BASED 5 of 6 defeated
Assassin's Creed - 2
GTA: Liberty City Stories - 1 (Pimpin' Ain't Easy!)
Hulk - 2
Manhunt 2 - 2
The Warriors - 2
Urbz - 2
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