March 2011’s flotsam and jetsam

It seems like, at least a few times every year, I am a little overwhelmed with multiple games at once and little time to play ’em to their fullest. Such is March 2011 then, a month where I’m playing three to four new titles, as well as working on older games or miscellaneous purchases. Throw into the fight the fact that I’m also scrambling to get Supertown minicomics drawn and printed for MoCCA 2011, and well, yeah, there’s a lot to juggle. Here’s kind of a short rundown on what I’m currently playing:

Torchlight (XBLA)

Right. Diablo II on a console, but much more cartoony and fast. I’m digging it, and normally by now I’d have written up some early impressions of the title, but the truth is that I’m almost at the end, meaning all my big boy thoughts will have to wait for the final review. Still, I like a lot of it except for one big caveat–the tiny font size. And when a game stands on a mechanic such as loot, being able to read and compare magical spears is vital. I’m pretty sure I’ve sold a lot of excellent gear simply because I couldn’t read what it did or its requirements for wielding.

Pokémon White (Nintendo DS)

Only have two gym badges so far, but that’s okay. It’s not a race, no matter what my rivals say. I like finding a good team of ‘mon and then training them to be, roughly, around the same levels. Right now I’m rocking Victini, Snivy, Timburr, and Audino, and the other two spots haven’t been truly filled yet. I’m giving that trash bag Pokémon a chance though since many others probably won’t. Its Sludge move is pretty good. But man, oh man…it’s a trash bag?

Radiant Historia (Nintendo DS)

I was stuck for awhile in this one, unsure of which timeline node to jump back to, but Greg Noe steered me in the right direction. Now I’m working my way through the Closed Mine in hopes of learning a sword dancing move from somebody to help Stocke progress with a circus act in the alternate timeline. Yeah, it can be a bit confusing. Still, the combat is fantastic. Really do need to schedule more time with this one.

Fallout: New Vegas – Dead Money (Xbox 360)

Having now beaten this game twice, my second character, an evil woman named Zelda that loved hitting enemies with s-weapons only–sticks and shovels and sledges–was perfect for attempting the DLC add-on again. My first fly with Dead Money didn’t go very well. But it’s going much smoother now that I can handle the Ghost People more effectively, as well as heal better from radiated food. Just finished gathering Dog, Dean, and the mute. Now to get each of them where they need to be…

Penumbra Overture (Mac)

Started this on a whim, and have only played a wee bit of it, but I dig its mood and atmosphere and the way opening a drawer feels. Seriously. It feels good, true, like I’m actually doing it myself and not with a mouse. I would have loved to see this technique used more in games like Fallout, as it makes searching a room actually feel like searching. There’s a special kind of warmth that comes from opening countless empty drawers and then opening one to find batteries there, yours for the taking.

FlingSmash (Nintendo Wii)

Every week, usually Friday, sometimes Saturday night, Tara and I go visit her brother to play some videogames. We call it “games night,” and we focus mainly on all things Wii (but I swear to teach him Munchkin before too long). Wii Sports Resorts is so much fun with a good group, but two players had to share one remote, and I got tired of this after several weeks. So I purchased FlingSmash, which is basically a Wii MotionPlus controller ($40) with a game thrown in for good measure ($10). The game is just an excuse to shake the remote around, but I hope to examine it more closely soon.

::deep exhale::

Whew. Too many games. There’s the possibility that I’m not even writing about more.

Also, a friendly reminder that by the end of this month I’ll also be picking up Monster Tale and a Nintendo 3DS…so yeah, more to come. Woe is me? Naaaaaaaaaah.

How to catch Victini

Victini is a legendary Psychic/Fire rodent-like Pokémon in Pokémon White/Black. It’s also a pain in the 8-bit butt to catch. Here’s a little step-by-step guide to getting victory on your side.

STEP ONE – DOWNLOADING the Liberty Pass

Select MYSTERY GIFT from the main menu screen. Then select RECEIVE GIFT and tap YES. Select GET VIA NINTENDO WFC and tap YES. If your settings are in order, a connection will be made, and a new screen should declare that you can pick up the Liberty Pass at your local Pokémart.

STEP TWO – RECEIVING THE LIBERTY PASS

Head to the closet Pokémart and speak to the deliveryman in blue. He’ll hand over the Liberty Pass to you, and now would be an excellent time to save your progress.

STEP THREE – GO TO THE LIBERTY GARDEN

After earning two gym badges, you’ll be able to cross a huge bridge and reach Castelia City. Once in the city, head all the way to the left without going down any streets or alleys, and you’ll hit Liberty Pier. Take the boat here to the very not-garden-like-at-all garden and get ready to fight some Team Plasma grunts; they have Victini cornered in tower’s basement. Once you’ve defeated all three grunts, you can challenge Victini to a battle.

STEP FOUR – CATCH VICTINI

Not as easy as it sounds. Speak to Victini to begin a battle with it. The legendary Pokémon is level 15, knows some good fire moves, and can be a little tough to wear down to a teeny, tiny fraction of health. Once you have it there, be prepared to throw a lot of Pokéballs. A lot. I went through at least twenty-plus: Heal Balls, normal Pokéballs, Great Balls, and several Nest Balls. Just keep throwing them and it’ll eventually happen, I promise. Or you can try to put Victini to sleep or paralyze it, which my Pokémon team could not do.

If Victini faints, exit the room and re-enter to try again. And don’t forget that the officer at the top of the steps can heal your Pokémon for you.

Best of luck, Trainers!

—

The adorable artwork headlining this post comes from DeviantArt user Aonik.

Chop their heads off with Munchkin Axe Cop

Don’t worry, I just double-checked, too: it’s March 11, not April 1.

Anyways, big announcement time from Steve Jackson Games as they have just thrown into the limelight their very first licensed Munchkin game. It’s Munchkin Axe Cop, based on that hilarious webcomic series that exploded on the Internet last year. Written by Malachai Nicolle (age 5) and drawn by his older brother Ethan Nicolle (age 29), Axe Cop has all the workings for a Munchkin game: it’s random, it’s erratic, it’s funny, it’s beyond belief, and it’s all about fighting enemies with whatever one can. I’m still a littled bewildered over this, but also curious to see it pan out. Munchkin Axe Cop will be a third quarter release.

This gives me hope that maybe one day, my very own webcomic (Supertown–please go read it!) could be turned into a Munchkin core set. I just need to fill it in more with crazy adorable characters…

Pokémon White/Black strategy for earning easy EXP

I know I’m not the first to stumble upon this easy EXP-earning strategy for Pokémon White/Black, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to share it with y’all nonetheless. I’ve been falling back on it each time I reach a new location, as the Pokémon there are most often several levels higher than my team.

Right, well, in all Pokémon games, grass is where the wild pocket monsters are most often at. The Generation V games have added a new addition though: shaking grass. Occasionally, a small patch of grass will shake, and if you run into it you’ll encounter a rarer Pokémon, specifically Audino, a hearing Pokémon with high HP and a lot of pink to it; you can catch one if you want, but I suggest making them faint more because they yield a ton of EXP, ranging from 200 to 700 depending on their levels. Seeking these out by running back and forth in front–not in–of a grass section will help you raise your Pokémon extremely fast. They aren’t tricky to defeat as two of Audino’s moves will, 9 times out of 10, fail because he/she is using them incorrectly (Helping Hand and Refresh). What a n00b!

I did catch a female Audino and nicknamed her Audrey; surprisingly, she’s a powerhouse, with a high amount of hit points and DoubleSlap (more like QuadrupleSlap, am I right?!), but I don’t know how much longer I’ll use her. Normal Pokémon can only get a trainer so far after all. Audino certainly helps make grinding more bearable, as well as faster, and I do know that other rarer Pokémon can be found in a similar fashion in dust clouds and water ripples.

Hope this helps! I’m gonna be taking down plenty more Audinos before I try to make it through the Pinwheel Forest unscathed.

Munchkin Zombies wants brains, and I want to help them eat brains

Munchkin Zombies is debuting at PAX East this weekend, which is very exciting for two reasons: 1) the sooner it debuts there, the closer we zomb-crawl towards a retail release and 2) it’s the first core set in many moons since Munchkin Booty back in 2008 and early musings of it seem to indicate that it is above and beyond a traditional core set. This is great because, while traditional Munchkin gameplay is fine and fun, I was worried that we’d just get that with a zombie skin (ewww gross). That does not seem to be the case. For instance, instead of players playing as Munchkins, we’re actually in control of the zombies and can acquire different mojo that will tell us how we ultimately became part of undead society. Here, take a look at some sample preview cards:

Either way, I’m excited about this despite my wishy-washy feelings towards the zombie epidemic spreading across all media as of late. Guess I can credit that to John Kovalic‘s adorable and hilarious take on the undead. And there’s already an expansion set to drop this fall, along with more themed booster packs for Halloween and Christmas. That’s cool, that’s cool, but first things first: braaaaaaains…

Prepare for trouble, Pokémon fans, and make it double with White/Black

I bought Pokémon White this past Sunday, the day it was released, and it was much more than an impulse buy. Much, much more. There’s a story to it all, but it’s very sad, and I don’t think I can type it up just yet–or even explain in a way to make sense outside of the clusterstorm that is my processing of life and all that jazz–but yeah, I went out and bought the newest Pokémon game without really completing the previous one enough (HeartGold).

And so far, it’s good and all, but a bit too much like HeartGold in terms of the first hour or so. You start out as a fatherless trainer (boy or girl) who picks one of three special Pokémon to call their own. Once that is decided, it’s off to collect ’em all, conquer gym leaders, and stop an evil corporation from doing something justifiably evil. It doesn’t feel very different except for the battles, which are nicely streamlined and presented with much more pizzazz (not to be confused with pizza). I am pretty stoked about the seasonal changes and what that will do; right now it’s autumn in-game, with some nice leaves blowing in the wind action.

Right, here’s my team of five, all at various levels:

Pretty adorable designs, but I am a little tired of battling Patrats. Are they the new Rattata? I surely hope not. Yeah, the minute I saw Snivy, I had to have him–he’s too smug to be left in the distance. As for his name and Lillipup’s name, well…they seemed fitting. “Are you going to name every Pokémon after Harry Potter characters?” my wife asked over my shoulder. No. Not all. But maybe 75% heh heh.

Still waiting to catch a sixth Pokémon. I personally don’t like using doubles of any pocket monster, even if they are different genders or have unique abilities. I was hoping to add Victini to the party right away, but it seems like I can’t acquire it (genderless Pokémon!) until I’ve collected two gym badges and reached a specific city. Wah. Thankfully, I found a free WiFi access point during my lunch break and downloaded the Liberty Pass, so I’m ready to go.

But yeah, Pokémon White. I’m playing it, as well as looking forward to the game opening up more.

All Achievements Achieved – Fallout 3

Gee, that didn’t take long, right? I mean, I only got my first Achievement in Fallout 3 on October 14, 2009…and my final one last night. Let’s not actually count those days up. Instead, let’s talk about why it took me so long to unlock everything Fallout 3 had to offer Achievement-wise because none of the 72 ding-pings are terribly difficult to get–they just require time and, sadly, online guides.

For the longest while, I had unlocked just about everything but five Achievements: the four for playing as a neutral karma player, and the one for finding 100 steel ingots in The Pitt DLC. Again, nothing terribly difficult, but very time-consuming, especially when more and more new games were coming out. Did I really want to play Fallout 3, a game I really do enjoy and love despite its clunkiness, for a third freakin’ time? Well, no. So I didn’t go at it with the same ferocity as previous playthroughs, playing only a little bit at a time. Neutral karma is a juggling act, and not as easy to maintain as straight good or evil, constantly requiring me to realign my character as I inched closer to those magical Achievement levels of 8, 14, 20, and 30. Actually, not for 30. I got the Achievement for level 30 neutral karma another way, one I’m not proud of.

Moving on…I found myself many hours later with only one to go: the dreaded Mill Worker. This requires the player to locate and turn in 100 steel ingots to Everett, the Mill’s foreman and a lazy one at that. Sounds easy, but it’s not. The 100 steel ingots are scattered across a decent sized map brimming with trogs and wildmen, and one can quickly become confused as to how many they’ve collected and where they’ve already looked. I’ve tried twice before during playthroughs one and two, but was unsuccessful. This time, however, I had a strategy: I wouldn’t trade in any ingots until I had them all.

You’re required to turn in 10 as part of a quest, meaning I needed to have 90 in my inventory to truly know I had found them all. This also meant opening up 90 lb of space, since each ingot weighs 1 lb. I dropped a bunch of armor and set off to find those lucky pieces of steel. It didn’t take long to find 85 of them, but then I was at a lost for the remaining five. Didn’t I already look there? Would I have to go back through the whole map, corner by corner, space by space? Ah, no. These five were right under my nose; well, to be more precise, right behind a fence. After I found them all, I went back to Everett, turned them in 10 by 10, got rewarded with prizes I didn’t care about, and unlocked this:

Mill Worker (20G): Found All 100 Steel Ingots

Then I put the auto-ax against Everett’s face and gave him a haircut.

And that’s that. Have a ★, Fallout 3. You earned it.

Don’t see the point of Microsoft Points

I ran out real quick during my lunch break today to spend money on “money” to buy Torchlight with next week. Talking about the Xbox 360’s version of Space Bucks here, their Microsoft Points, which I still find to be a stupid process altogether. Why can’t we just charge the actual game price to a credit card rather than figure out how many MPs to deduct from our allotment?

So, today I spent $20.00 on 1600 MPs. Torchlight is marked to cost 1200 MPs, which in real terms is around $15.00. And that sucks because now I’ll be left with 400 MPs, an amount that can rarely get you a decent downloadable game except for when DLC add-ons goes on sale. I hate spending money like this; sure, I will eventually use the points on something, but right now, it comes across as a waste. Again, I repeat myself: why can’t games cost what they cost, and let the customer pay that amount via Paypal or a credit card or, if they are so inclined, Space Bucks?

And of course, you can’t just purchase 1200 MPs. No, no, that would make everything far too simple.

Options are a good thing, Microsoft head-honchos. I promise.

So, anyone know of anything worth getting for 400 MPs? Not the Pac-Man game that’s currently on sale.

P.S. Right now, without adding the 1600 MPs I just bought, I have a strangely odd amount of 10 MPs in my account. See how bizarre this process is? Bizarre and without a point.

Games Completed in 2011, #8 – Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3: ODST ends a fraction of a fraction after you think to yourself, “Wait, it can’t be over yet, right?” Guess ODST really stands for Oh Do Stop Trying.

The game takes place between Halo 2 and Halo 3, which means nothing to me as this is the first Halo game I’ve ever played. A group of soldiers are dropping down to the planet New Mombasa, which is being attacked by disgruntled aliens calling themselves the Covenant. However, something goes wrong fast, and the party is split up. Everyone in the ODST gangbang has ridiculous names like Romeo and Dutch. Suprised Bungie didn’t toss in a Fabio for good measure. There’s also the Rookie, which nags the silent protagonist role even though you will also play as other members of the group.

The aspect I liked the most about Halo 3: ODST‘s story is that it’s broken, told in pieces, wedged together bit by bit. See, each level switches around who you play as, and it’s also a different time since being dropped on the planet, meaning one level will be bright and sunny on a coastline and the next level might have you running through dark, nighttime streets, desperate to make contact with something that doesn’t want to shoot your face off for dinner. Made for a great mix of settings and styles though the night hours are really dark.

But that’s where the enjoyment ended. Each level felt very much the same to me, and they went a little like this: level start, move forward, come across a group of enemies, shoot and hide, hide and shoot, move forward, come across a group of enemies, shoot and hide, hide and shoot, discover a clue, cutscene. Do that eight to ten more times to get the full effect. There were only a few moments during Halo 3: ODST‘s campaign where the gameplay varied, and these usually involved piloting a vehicle.

There’s some famous voices in the game, too, with actors from Firefly and Battlestar Galactica. They were a little weird to hear at first, especially since Nathan Fillion’s character in Halo 3: ODST is a lady-charmin’, sarcastic captain–a real stretch. Alas, the script they were given did not allow them to act, only read one-liners and make stupid quips in the heat of battle. Kind of a waste.

I had been hoping that I’d finally see the magic that makes everyone go crazy for this series, but alas…no. It’s just a sci-fi FPS in my eyes, with nothing special to it. Some of the enemy designs are interesting, but other than that, it’s just a game where you shoot wave after wave of bullet-bags until something happens. I have to wonder if that’s the same premise for the other games; there wasn’t even a memorable final level here. I escorted the alien worm thing to a safehouse, and then a Covenant ship swooped by to drop off like five waves of enemies, all of which got tougher each wave, but that was it. Several tossed grenades later, the game was over. In that case, the game could’ve really ended on any level.

There’s Achievements for completing the game on higher difficulty levels, but I think I’ll just stick with this one:

Campaign Complete: Normal (100G): Completed the Campaign on Normal difficulty.

Generic alien-fighting solider OUT!

For some strange reason, Netflix is coming to the Nintendo 3DS

Let’s clear this up at the beginning: I’m a huge fan of Netflix, and I’ve only had the service for about two months now. It’s wonderful and stocked with stuff to watch, and Tara and I use it more for TV shows than actual movies, but it works when we need it, perfect for background noise, and I’ve yet to have any kind of problems streaming media. For the first month free and then $8.00 every month thereafter, it’s a strong package, hard not to want.

That said, the fact that, according to this report from Kotaku, Netflix is going to be available on the Nintendo 3DS makes me laugh. And not like “ha ha I’m so happy I’m giggling” but rather “ha ha did you see that idiot stick his tongue to the frozen pole hee.” Sure, portable Netflix sounds dreamy, but considering the weak battery life of the Nintendo 3DS, as well as the teeny tiny screens and limited audio (unless using headphones), I can’t see much use for it. Oh sure, it’s biggest billing for the 3DS will be streaming 3D programming, but considering one has to hold the device in such a precise manner to get the full 3D effect, would someone really want to hold it like so for 30 minutes? An hour? A twelve-hour Lord of the Rings marathon? Methinksnot.

Sorry, Netflix. You can just stay on my Xbox 360 for now.