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Archives for 2012

Guild Wars 2: An Asura’s Tale (Part 2)

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Welcome Back!

Solymir here;

Lets continue with our story where we left off in Ventry Bay:

After swimming out into the bay I peered down through the water and saw something that captured my attention. As an inquisitive Asura, of course I had to check it out!

I decided to take a dive down and see what was going on under the surface.

Turns out some poor souls had crashed their ship to the bottom of the bay. There were some cages with frogmen locked inside. That wasn’t right! Turns out the snake men (they have a specific name but, I didn’t catch it) are not to happy with the frog guys.

After saving some frog guys and unlocking some underwater attacks (being underwater makes you use a different set of attacks then on land) I started to head to shore.

Looks like the frog – snake war made its way onto land. The fight seemed neverending…

and there were losses…

After doing what I could to help frog guys I moved further inland.

Oooo! This little mound of dirt says its a skill challenge. What kind of skill challenge could it be? Maybe it is a challenge to see who could dig the most dirt? Lets find out!

Uhhhhh… why is the earth shaking?!?

Oh. Crap.

Only one thing to do in a situation like this:

Look out for: An Asura’s Tale (Part 3) coming soon!

(Catch Part 1 if you haven’t already)

Gross Anatomy

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I have probably already mentioned this before, but Jeremy Parish is one of my favorite video game writers/historians. I add “historian” to that description because his knowledge of video game history (particularly console/Japanese video game history) is deep.

Lately he’s been doing these “Anatomy of a Game” posts and recently he started examining The Legend of Zelda for the NES. He hasn’t finished the series yet, but I am thoroughly enjoying all of these articles.

The Legend of Zelda is probably the most important contributor to me becoming a “gamer”. I had played many games before then (I owned a ET cartridge for the Atari 2600, people) but I have vivid memories of hours spent playing Zelda. My exploration of Hyrule actually mirrored those formative years of growing up for me. We moved to a new city the year I turned twelve years old. I went from going to schools in the not-exactly-the-pinnacle-of-education Cleveland City School District to the relatively successful schools in the peaceful suburb of North Royalton. At the start of the seventh grade I didn’t have any friends and video games served to fill that vacancy for a while.

I was playing The Legend of Zelda and, quite honestly, I was pretty lost. Not making a lot of progress in the game nor in the game of life. I happened to bring my fold out map of Hyrule to school one day and a girl in my class noticed that I was studying it before class started. She took it from me and started drawing on it. Horrified, I asked her what she was doing. “Just helping you out,” she replied. She proceeded to mark out places where bombs would open new caves, bushes would reveal secret passageways and where I should go first. She didn’t reveal everything (I honestly don’t know how she had memorized as much of the map as she did), just like the game. Her hints and suggestions gently guided me on the path to discovering things for myself. My eyes had been opened to the possibilities.

I don’t know how many times I actually finished The Legend of Zelda, but I will never forget the sense of wonder I experienced exploring that world. Jeremy’s posts have definitely stirred those emotions almost twenty fives years later.

(You can see all his Anatomy of a Game links here.)

October Releases

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Fall is my favorite time of the year for oh-so-many reasons. Weather, foliage, FOOTBALL and the holidays. While the real TRIPLE-A titles are still waiting in the wings of November, October 2012 is no slouch of a month for releases. If you can pull yourself away from Borderlands 2 or Torchlight 2, there’s quite a few games coming out this month worth your time.

Week of October 2nd
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013
Dead or Alive 5 – Looks like she still “kicks high“.
FIFA Soccer 13
The Testament of Sherlock Holmes – Interested to know why this is budget priced at $40.
Angry Birds Trilogy – Speaking of forty dollars, it seems insane that anyone would spend that on basically a collection of 99 cent games. But hey, achievements, guys!
NBA 2K13
Resident Evil 6 – I’m torn about this version of Resident Evil. I enjoyed RE5 enough and of course RE4 is one of the best games of all time, but I just don’t know how much love I have left. Seriously considering passing on this one. (If this is your first foray into the RE world, though, the Resident Evil 6 Archives is a great starting place.)
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission

Week of October 9th
Just Dance 4
XCOM: Enemy Unknown – I did not play the original XCOM but I am still very intrigued with this game.
Fable: The Journey
Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants
Dishonored

Week of October 16th
Doom 3 BFG Edition
Rocksmith Guitar and Bass
007 Legends
Wheel of Fortune
Skylanders Giants

Week of October 23rd
Medal of Honor: Warfighter – Limited Edition
Just Dance: Disney Party
Forza Horizon

Week of October 30th
WWE ’13
Zone of the Enders HD Collection Limited Edition
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
LEGO Lord of the Rings – So LEGO has officially run out of IP to LEGO-fy, right?
Assassin’s Creed III with Steelbook
Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth

Week of October 2nd
NBA 2K13

Week of October 9th
Just Dance 4

Week of October 16th
Skylanders Giants Portal Owner Pack

Week of October 23rd
Just Dance: Disney Party

Week of October 30th
LEGO Lord of the Rings
Transformers Prime: The Game
WWE ’13
American Mensa Academy – So… This is a thing?
Wreck-It Ralph – Meta going meta, I guess.

Week of October 2nd
Pok̩mon Black Version 2 РGood-night, Sweet Prince. (The Nintendo DS is the prince in this instance)
Pokémon White Version 2

Week of October 30th
LEGO Lord of the Rings
Transformers Prime: The Game
Wreck-It Ralph
ThunderCats
Moshi Monsters Moshlings Theme Park

Week of October 9th
Code of Princess
Spy Hunter

Week of October 16th
Rollercoaster Tycoon – I thought this had already been released, but I stand by the statement that this could be an awesome 3DS game.

Week of October 23rd
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward
Professor Layton and The Miracle Mask

Week of October 30th
LEGO Lord of the Rings
Transformers Prime: The Game
Wreck-It Ralph

Week of October 2nd
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission
R.A.W: Realms of Ancient War [Download] – Someone pointed Realms of Ancient War to me a few months ago and I remember thinking it looked pretty interesting. Now seeing that it’s a mere fifteen bucks, I am even more interested!

Week of October 9th
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants
Dishonored

Week of October 16th
Doom 3 BFG Edition – Funny how a release that was “optimized for consoles” is getting a PC re-release as well.
NBA 2K13 [Download]

Week of October 23rd
Medal of Honor: Warfighter – Limited Edition

Week of October 30th
Painkiller Hell & Damnation
Need for Speed Most Wanted
LEGO Lord of the Rings

Week of October 2nd
Resident Evil 6
NBA 2K13

Week of October 9th
Dishonored
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Just Dance 4
Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants

Week of October 16th
Skylanders Giants
Doom 3 BFG Edition
Mugen Souls
007 Legends
Rocksmith Guitar and Bass

Week of October 23rd
Medal of Honor: Warfighter – Limited Edition
Killzone Trilogy Collection

Week of October 30th
Assassin’s Creed III
WWE ’13
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
LEGO Lord of the Rings

Week of October 9th
Spy Hunter

Week of October 16th
Silent Hill: Book of Memories
Ragnarok Odyssey

Week of October 23rd
Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward
Street Fighter X Tekken
Super Monkey Ball Banana Splitz

Week of October 30th
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
LEGO Lord of the Rings
Assassins Creed III Liberation

Week of October 2nd
NBA 2K13

What are you picking up?

(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)

Weekend Gaming

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It’s going to be another Borderlands 2 weekend for me. I’m actually contemplating an early afternoon of work so I can get some Borderlands 2 in while the kids are at school and I’m actually 100% awake. Being a busy adult sure has cramped my gaming time. It doesn’t help that we’re still trying to keep the kids away from the more violent games and Borderlands 2 definitely ranks up there with all the blood and headshots.

I’m also going to be digging into my Steam pile and possibly some Diablo 3. With all the changes and what not, I figured I’ll keep the lootfest from BL2 going with my Demon Hunter. It’s about time I find my first Legendary!

What will you be playing this weekend?

FTL: Faster Than Light Review [PC]

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“Captain!” shouted Commander Woolf through crackling of the on-board communications system. “Multiple hull breaches in the rear compartments and I think we’ve got hostiles in th–”

An explosion erupted from the communications console throwing metal bits into the cabin and interrupting the Captain’s first officer. Cursing to himself the Captain flipped a few switches in an attempt to regain access to the sensor array.

It was no use, the system was gone and he was cut off from the rest of his ship.

His environmental systems had been destroyed venting O2 into space. His weapons systems were disabled and his shield generators were fried. The captain knew his situation was grim.

He looked down at the console splayed out before him. The lights were flashing every warning available but he didn’t care about any of them save one. That particular light flashed the ominous warning that signaled the end of his mission and the end of his life.

INCOMING MISSILE

As he looked through the clouded cockpit glass at the rocket heading his way he thought that he should be seeing his life flash before his eyes. His triumphs, his failures, his loves, and his family.

Instead he only saw the future of his people. With his destruction came the demise of his mission and the only chance this intergalactic war would end.

His last thought was of a single grim reality.

There would never be peace.

The missile found its target and all became quiet in the vacuum of space.

The Mission Ends
The Mission Ends

 

 

This is how most of your playthroughs of FTL will end: the complete and utter destruction of your entire crew. Yet for some reason the game compels you to continue sending them to their doom over and over again.

The Jump Selection Screen
The Jump Selection Screen

FTL is a superb “Roguelike-like” game that puts you in command of a starship tasked with the mission to cross the interstellar expanse to deliver a message that will end the rebellion and bring peace to the Federated galaxies. Each playthrough can take anywhere from a couple minutes to about an hour and a half.

The game follows a simple pattern. You choose a star system to jump to where a wide variety of random events occur.

Some are good. You can happen across shops that will repair and upgrade your ship for a small fee or you can stumble across a civilian ship that rewards you after you rescue it from certain doom.

Many are bad. The universe of FTL is a hostile place filled with aliens that want to destroy you and pick your spaceship clean of any materials they can find. Pirates will raid you, slavers will bombard you, and aliens bent on destruction will fill your hull with holes.

Your ship is controlled by energy which you can allocate throughout the ship to power critical systems. If a section is damaged you can reroute that power to other systems while your crew work to repair the damage.

You can find new crew members along your journey to help control your ship and there are a handful of races that have unique abilities. Some have a large amount of hitpoints, some are weak, some produce an energy that charges a single system.

Engaged in Combat
Engaged in Combat. It’s more exciting than it looks!

A large part of what makes FTL so satisfying is that while you may come across similar encounters no two playthroughs are exactly the same. The combination of all the elements mentioned really give you an authentic starship command experience.

The nerve-wracking tension brought on by the “Game Over” screen that roguelikes are famous for really encourage you to try and try again until you beat the game by making it to the end of the galaxy.

TL:DR; FTL is worth the price at 10 bucks and it’s a quick download. It’s a great game you can jump into and jump out of anytime. Give it a go and send that crew to their doom again and again and again and again…

Torchlight II – First Impressions

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Torchlight II … I never played the first torchlight because the Diablo-esque video game genre always seemed to shine with MULTIPLAYER!

Thankfully they decided to listen to what the players want and added two multiplayer options (Internet and LAN). This is probably the thing that stood out the most to me. The problem I had with this was that I wasn’t able to register and create an account to use Runic’s game system. In all honesty I was hoping that it would be integrated with Steam but, it wasn’t…sadface.

FYI: I’m not going to be comparing this to Diablo 3 because everyone else is and I feel that every game should be judged by its own merits.

Anyway, on to the good stuff!

The gameplay is your standard button-mash fest but, it has several unique things that deserves some extra fanfare. Let me preface this by saying that I was privileged to have a brother who is a video game a·fi·ci·o·na·do and decided to buy the 4-pack that steam had on sale not too long ago. The first thing he told me about the game that sparked my interest was the ability to equip an item based on the level requirement OR the ability requirement. For example, you could use a weapon if you were lv 15+ or if you had 40 Str. This is a nice take on how to give multiple options for players to access different gear.

Another thing that I found very earlier in my time in the world of Torchlight II was that there are ‘Phase Beasts’ that will leave a portal behind after they die that will take you to a challenge world. An example is one that had 4 torches to light up in a specific order while you are being attacked from all sides and then once you complete this task…you are attacked by a boss! After killing this boss the screen was filled to the brim with gold and there were several dropped items that made the fight worth it.

I decided to pick the ‘Outlander’ class because I felt it would be good stealth/ranged class to play and so far the class itself has been underwhelming.

Take this with a grain of salt though, I haven’t made it too far into the game to make any judgement of the class but, I am really thinking of starting an ‘Embermage’ and seeing if it is more my style.

(Check out those flames!)

The boss encounters have been interesting – a decent challenge and a reward that fits.

I appreciate the fact that there are many hints at pop culture items in the game (Goonies!!!) and the art style.

The art is simple but, I really like it. The intro cut scene was a cartoon that looked really good and is a nice change of pace from the uber-realistic CGI with most AAA titles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mMyRiPPeJI

So far, I am digging Torchlight II but, I have a feeling that Guild Wars 2 will last me longer.

Time will tell…

Weekend Borderlands 2’ing

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Or, alternatively “Weekend Torchlight 2’ing”.

I mean you could be playing something else, but why would you?

We won’t hold it against you, that’s for sure. But if you’re not going fall in line, what will you be playing this weekend?

Guild Wars 2: An Asura’s Tale (Part 1)

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Hello Fellow Buttonmashers!

This post will be about an adventure I took as my Asura Elementalist with my Asura Engineer friend.

***Side Note: Look out for a post here on Buttonmashing, from that friend, soon.***

To start things off I was running around the Human starting area and bumped into this guy:

There were some others trying to kill the big guy, so I decided to help out! Firestorm anyone?

After the worm, I went to meet up with a friend in the Sylvari newbie area – basically a forest/jungle/plant area. Coming into the basin where we had planned to meet, this grabbed my attention. Yea, floating rocks!

My friend who had been waiting for me was already doing the ‘Jumping Puzzle’, as I later found out they were so named, and I joined in the fun. That was for the first five minutes, then ten, then I lost count. One thing that the ‘Jumping Puzzle’ taught me was that you pretty much have to turn off the option to double-tap a direction to roll/dodge. I don’t know how many times I had to start the jumping puzzle over again because I was moving ever so slightly in one direction and felt I could take one more step and then boom, off the edge. At a certain point you were so high up you died if you feel to boot.

In the end, I made it! Thankfully there was a chest at the end of the jumping puzzle to make my efforts a little more worth it.

Whoa whoa whoa…what’s this?!?

Lets see how far the rabbit hole really goes!

Wow, okay so it goes pretty far!

Like any good explorers, we decided to kill everything in the picture (sarcasm). The most annoying part was the flower mortars that bombarded us from all over – we were always trying to find where they shot at us from. From here we found a back entrance hidden in the bottom of a mountain that contained this area inside.

NEXT TIME!!! On An Asura’s Tale!

We delve into the murky waters of Ventry Bay!