Achievements of the Week – The Elusive Master of Fashionistas Edition

Well, it’s been a week, and a busy one at that, at least in terms of my Gamerscore going up, up, up. Since Grinding Down last ran this feature, I’ve unlocked 12 Achievements in total for a whopping 190G, which is nearly on par with an XBLA title that generally offers 12 for 200G; what’s even more amazing is just how meaningless all those numbers actually are. It’s all about e-peen. Nah, not really. Still, they give me content to post about, and that’s nothing to ignore, especially as I am finding myself struggling more and more to, I don’t know, write both intelligently and originally about videogames.

And now, the main event…some of my favs from this week:

From Fallout: New Vegas…

Master of the Arsenal (25G): Caused 10,000 damage with Gun Runners’ Arsenal (GRA) Weapons.

Initially, I was worried about this one as it seemed like every GRA weapon available to purchase at the beginning of the game was crazy expensive, save for Energy-based weaponry. Well, my fourth playthrough character is not going the Energy skill route so I had to save up some bottle caps. That took some time because it’s not like there’s a lot of employment available in the Mojave Wasteland; it’s all about just collecting everything you find and selling it no matter how bad the deal is. Anyways, after some scrounging, I purchased the 5.56mm pistol and a bunch of different ammo types for it and went to town, killing super mutants and nightstalkers and White Legs galore. Didn’t take long, and I’m still using the gun (until I can afford something cooler). Pew, pew, pew!

O Daughter of Babylon (30G): Crushed the White Legs.

Read about me completing Honest Hearts for a second time by utilizing your Comprehension perk and clicking this very sentence.

From L.A. Noire…

Give My Regards (20G): Shoot every letter down from the tower at the Broadway Hotel.

In The Naked City DLC, during the final showdown, you can either pop the criminal on the run quickly or take your time destroying the lit-up sign, one letter at a time. That’s what I did, and now I’m 20G richer!

The Big Unfriendly (20G): Complete ‘Nicholson Electroplating’.

Compared to The Naked City DLC case, Nicholson Electroplating was an extreme disappointment. I couldn’t believe it was over so fast. Like, under an hour and half, I think, while the other case at least stretched a little longer than that. And it had a lot of potential, with a crazy great explosion in the beginning, hints of suave espionage, and a big shootout at the end. Oh well. Might replay it for the other Achievements I missed, or I might just buy the other two DLC cases and see if they’re any good.

From Mass Effect 2…

Missing in Action (5G): Save your crew from an overwhelming attack

I’ve already covered how weird it was to actually earn this during the demo version of the game and then magically unlock it once Microsoft could confirm that I now owned a copy of Mass Effect 2.

Very Elusive (10G): Return to active duty

SPOILER! Shepard returns to active duty!

Fashionista (5G): Personalize your armor in your quarters on the Normandy

I turned Shepard’s armor a nice mix of green and yellow and then picked some odd cowboy-like attire for his casual wear. He looks ridiculous in cutscenes with it on, and I do plan to change him into anything else.

Merciless (10G): Make 20 enemies scream as they fall or are set on fire

I…guess this is something I did? I never actively pursued it, just shot dudes and aliens and robots that were, well, shooting back at me.

I’ve said this time and time before, but BioWare puts some freaking love into their Achievements images, both in their Mass Effect franchise and Dragon Age franchise. These war medallions look fantastic and are extremely detailed, making me want to unlock them all and then cover my shirt with them until you can’t tell I’m wearing a shirt anymore.

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Think that’s enough for now. This weekend is going to be full of snow (???) and a wedding, so I’m not sure how much gaming I’ll honestly get done. Plus, I’m trying to finish up my 31 Horribly Bad Horror Comics challenge and a number of other artsy projects. But, at some point, I’ll probably give all the above more time, as well as more puzzles with Professor Hershel Layton and, uh, Oblivion. I popped it back in the other night to refresh myself and also give me a point of reference for when it comes time to play Skyrim like woah. Which is soon. Oh so soon.

This Mass Effect 2 Achievement certainly isn’t missing in action

I unlocked an Achievement before I even began playing Mass Effect 2, and this left me momentarily confused, wondering if I’d ever escape game glitches or if I was doomed to be trailed by them until biological aging takes me down into the dirt. I have Tara as my witness that this Achievement popped on the main menu’s screen after selecting to start a new game with my simian character from the original Mass Effect:

Missing in Action (5G): Save your crew from an overwhelming attack

Blinking back into reality, I then realized that my save data from when I gave the demo version of Mass Effect 2 a spin back in June 2010 had been accessed. That demo consisted of the very beginning stage, and then a stage much later in the game wherein Shepard and company were trying to rescue a biotic named Jack on some crazy, floating prison. I remember a message popping up that told me my data for the first chunk of the demo was being saved, but nothing further than that would get collected. Okay. So, in the demo, I saved Joker and as many crew members as I could as the Normandy tore asunder, earning me the above Achievement without it actually popping. Then, when it was clear that I had a full copy of the game, a year and some months later, the Achievement pops. Yet I still have to play through that opening part again because I loaded up an older Shepard character and not the one I used in the demo. Weird, but whatever.

Disappointingly, Mass Effect 2 suffers from tiny text syndrome, which the original game did not. Most of the dialogue is spoken, making this not a problem, but the dialogue choices left to Shepard are not said aloud, meaning a lot of squinting and sitting directly in front of the TV to make sure I’m going the Paragon route and not the dickhead one. And I can forget about actually using the Codex, which, like in Dragon Age: Origins, is just brimming with cool lore and details, but is no use to my bad eyes/lame TV. So yeah, that’s that.

Otherwise, it’s fun so far, with interesting characters and crazy-looking aliens. At this point, I’ve changed Shepard’s armor and casual attire, learned how the hacking mini-games work, and got a fast-talking alien scientist to join the cause to stop the Collectors. Seems like there’s plenty of others I need to recruit, and I’m looking forward to it. Not sure where to go next, but I’m sure Shepard doesn’t mind bumbling along across the galaxy; also, I totally forgot who I saved–and let die–in Mass Effect, so it was nice that I got a little refresher before the game began. Refreshers are great. Saves me time from reading wikias and getting spoiled prematurely.

Five things make a post, and eff you up button

Well, it’s been a busy few days at Grimmauld Place in terms of videogaming. Good thing I have this bloggy blog of mine to put all these random happenings and thoughts. Otherwise, the world might never know what it’s like to play a dancing game on a breaking pad or how deep my love for all things LOTR goes. Anyway, let’s get to the Heading 3s and text below them…

Moar Used Games

After the great success of my first trip to the local GameStop near our new abode, I decided to head back and see if I could find any other titles off my “desired PS2 games” list. Alas, nope. I mean, yeah, some of the bigger titles are there, like Bully and Kingdom Hearts, but those are still around the $20+ mark, and I’d rather find the rarer titles first and wait for those numbers to eventually drop. Instead, I got Mega Man X7, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ($1.99 ha!), and Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA (for my wife, I swears). Haven’t tried the first two yet, but a good portion of my weekend was spent watching Tara put DDR SuperNOVA to the test; if you’re my friend on Facebook, there’s a video of her going through the song selection while two dogs look heavily uninterested. Also, the UP button on her DDR mat isn’t as responsive as the other buttons, leading us to scream “Eff you up button!” a whole bunch. Not “Eff you, up button!” but “Eff you up button!” The missing comma is important.

Pre-order Hoarder

Generally, I’m not a pre-order kinda gamer. There was that one time eons ago when putting down a few bucks on Final Fantasy VII not only nabbed you a guaranteed copy of the game, but also a t-shirt. I like t-shirts, and this liking of t-shirts strikes again. I also pre-ordered Radiant Historia to get a bonus CD, but other than that…nothing else has made me feel the need for lockdown. Well, until 11/11/11, I guess. Yup, I pre-ordered Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and LEGO Harry Potter, Years 5-7. Why LEGO would come out on the same day as Skyrim is beyond me, but both games feature dragons, and so that’s a-okay. Also, I believe I am getting a t-shirt with my LEGO Harry Potter pre-order; something about Dumbledore’s Army, but I wasn’t asked for a shirt size so it’s probably one of those XXL or a child’s small. Time will tell.

There’s a midnight release party too, which is just another reason I should schedule to not work that Friday. Too tempting to pick up the game and then not play it for 7.5 hours.

Informed about games

I also decided that I was tired of constantly being asked if I wanted to upgrade from a regular GameStop Power Playa thingy to a silver account. So I did that. Bonuses include coupons for “buy two used games, get one free,” which is fine by me as that’s mostly how I shop, as well as a subscription to Game Informer. I haven’t subscribed to a gaming magazine since the PSM days, and I do miss it despite everything now being available on the Interwebz; still, the magazine is put together rather nicely. Hopefully it’ll fit in our mailbox, let alone reach it.

Ass Neglect Zoo

I’ve been putting this off for a long, long time, but I finally bought a copy of Mass Effect 2.

A new copy, too, which means I got some kind of activation number for the Cerberus Network. Not sure what that means, but it looks like I get a new dude for my team. I’m sure I’ll find out eventually. The reason I’ve waited so long is that I was hoping for a “Game of the Year” or “Master” or “Super Space Marine” edition, which then collected all the DLC and little add-ons the game’s been harvesting since its debut back in…oh my, the beginning of 2010. I’m sure a month before Mass Effect 3 comes out, some special edition will be released. Oh well.

Garnet Tries Harder and I am Trying to Finish This Comic

Zac Groman of Magical Game Time is putting together a zine all about Final Fantasy IX and is asking for submissions. Despite it not being a paying gig, I can’t resist and am working on a little comic about my favorite scene from he game, where Garnet is trying to blend in with the common-folk of Dali. Gotta complete it before the month’s end, but here’s a little preview for y’all:

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Okay, that’s five things, which is good enough for a post. Expect plenty more content this week though as I’ve only skimmed the surfaces here. Didn’t even get into the horribleness that is Monster Rancher EVO. Just you wait. Just you wait…

The Top 10 Games I Didn’t Get to Play in 2010

Well, another year is coming to a close, and this is the time I like to look back and see which games I wanted to play, but really never got to. This is because I’m usually always late to the party and am willing to wait out big blockbuster releases until they drop in price or GOTY editions are released so I don’t have to scrounge around for miscellaneous add-ons and such. Plus, I mostly play RPGs, meaning that I could potentially play a single game for a very long time (i.e., Fallout: New Vegas).

In short, 2010 was quite a year for videogames. Lots of AAA titles, lots of indie tryouts, lots of RPGs for handheld devices. I didn’t play many of them. Trust me, I wanted to. Oh so many of them. But there’s only so many hours in a day, as well as so many dollar bills in a bank account. Thankfully, I do have some Christmas money for GameStop, but I think I’m gonna actually save it for Radiant Historia, which comes out in February 2011 and looks to be right up my alley. Yay, another RPG to sink my teeth into!

And so, without any further fluffing, here’s the 10 games I didn’t get to play in 2010:

10. Shantae: Risky’s Revenge

Classic platformer gameplay and some of the most gorgeous looking animation work for a videogame–supposedly that’s what Shantae: Risky’s Revenge is. It initially didn’t jump out as me as something I’d like for my Nintendo DS collection, but I’ve seen its name constantly referenced over the last few months, in a good way, and now I’m pretty put off that I didn’t seek it out sooner. If anything, the Super Metroid-like map in the bottom right corner is appetizing.

9. Final Fantasy XIII

Now here’s something ironical. Final Fantasy XIII was one of my most anticipated games for 2010, and then it came out and I completely paid no attention to its existence for awhile. When I did start to read up on it, the news wasn’t good. It seems like the game didn’t start to get “good” until about 17 hours in, and that it was linear, town-less, and uninventive. A shame really, as I always used to want to play the next Final Fantasy game no matter what; going forward, I’m gonna have to be more cautious with the series.

8. Red Dead Redemption

I love the freedom and span of Grand Theft Auto IV. That said, I absolutely hate the story, its characters, and the frustrating-as-all-gets mission structure. A switch to the Wild West had me from the get-go, and it seems like a lot of cowboys and cowgirls really enjoyed riding horses and shootin’ vermin. Oh well. Maybe in 2011.

7. Heavy Rain

Sure, I’m not thrilled about a game that is brimming with mundane actions, but I love the suspense around the edges and the weight of one’s decisions and how they factor into the murder mystery slowly unfolding. Granted, a stupid message board poster already spoiled the game for me, but I’d still love to play it and see for myself if everything clicks.

6. The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest

Shut up. I love anything LOTR-related.

5. Fable III

Fable III, like Final Fantasy XIII, was also a game I was eagerly anticipating for this year. Alas, it was released right around the same time as Fallout: New Vegas, and between those two, I’d rather shoot ghouls in the face than fart on citizens. And so the kingdom of Albion will have to wait.

4. Costume Quest

A bite-size RPG? And I didn’t gobble it up? For shame! Granted, this was released around the time I had just gotten married and gone on my honeymoon. It’s about kids on Halloween dressing up and turning into their actual costumes when it comes time to do battle. A fun, quirky idea, and it’s also been getting some DLC love as of late, which is good for the longterm.

3. Alan Wake

It’s been awhile since I’ve played a scary game, and so Alan Wake would be right up that alley. It’s also about writing. Well, a writer writing. A writer writing about a writer also writing about a writer. I think. I don’t know. This is just stuff I’ve heard. But I heard it’s pretty good. Reminds me a bit of Stephen King’s Bag of Bones, but only loosely.

2. Donkey Kong Country Returns

2010 was heavy on nostalgia, giving us games like the retro Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game, as well as updated versions of Kirby and Donkey Kong Country. As an SNES kid, I was a Donkey Kong Country junkie. I played the levels again and again, learning all their secrets, trying hard to get that elusive 100% (or was it like 103%?). And so this new version looks to be much of the same, if a bit more difficult. Would be a perfect game for Tara and I to tackle together.

1. Mass Effect 2

This being #1 on the list will either make Greg Noe very happy or very angry. He loves his massive effects. Anyways, I did play through Mass Effect once, enjoying its story and world. The sequel came out and was instantly loved by fans. It seems as BioWare knocked it out of the park galaxy. The only thing that concerns me is that the RPG elements were turned way down for simplifying purposes. I did play Mass Effect 2‘s demo and had a good time, but now I think I’m just waiting for a Game of the Year edition to drop before Mass Effect 3 surfaces since there’s like 196 pieces of DLC floating around, and I’d hate to miss anything cool or stellar.

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Okay, that’s it for the list. Here’s to 2011 and the games I won’t play then as well!

More like the Illusive Demo from Mass Effect 2

Look, I don’t claim to know and fully understand how this videogame industry works. I just have opinions and thoughts and sometimes I put them down on e-paper here for a couple of people to read. But this is just plain confusing. Most videogames release a demo a few weeks prior to their shipping date so curious consumers can get a taste of what they’re selling and maybe–just maybe–decide that they’d really love to play the full experience.

Mass Effect 2 came out on January 26, 2010. The demo for the game hit Xbox Live this week. A-buhhhhhhh…

Right. Well, I somewhat enjoyed the first game and have been curious about what was changed for Mass Effect 2 so I downloaded the huge demo (I think it’s around 1.6 gigs) and…watched a lot of cinematic scenes for a bit. It opens like every episode of LOST, with a “Previously on…Mass Effect” as if this is some kind of high drama TV show that we’ve been watching for years. Our narrator tells us about Shepard and the things he/she did to better our galaxy. The beginning of this demo is basically the beginning of the actual game going off of Greg Noe’s first hour review. The Normandy gets blown to bits, Shepard dies, his DNA is recovered by the secretive Lazarus project, and he’s brought back to flesh through the miracle of science. And you thought you’d totally get to keep your level and hard-earned stats from the first game! Ha!

So, with a new Shepard, we can give him/her a new look. I choose to make him look very simian again, with a low brow and big pouty lips, plus an extremely bad complexion. Scars, pock-marked face, the whole thing. Dark hair and a chinstrap beard round him out perfectly. I was really surprised that the demo came with this as I fully expected them to just give us a static Shepard design to play with. After this, we see a scene with some scientists named Miranda and Wilson looking over Shepard as he suddenly wakes up. Drugs put him back down. The second time he wakes up, the entire base is under attack and he’s being ordered to get moving. Grab a pistol and some armor and then take cover behind some boxes; taking cover is very easy now with the press of a button. It feels natural and awesome at once.

The demo then shows me some stuff I already know, like how to fire my weapon and select a new one. These aren’t geth attacking us, but mechs on the fritz. Find some audio logs and listen to Miranda talk about the progress they made reconstructing me. The hacking mini-game is a bit different from Mass Effect, but not the worst thing in the world galaxy. I meet up with Jacob and Wilson and get a few answers to some burning questions, but we need to get to safety and find Miranda. Wilson believes she sabotaged everyone as the mechs were theirs and rewired to attack innocents. Hmm. I am a born-again Shepard so I don’t really know who I can trust at this point…

Well, for spoilers-sake, I learned that I can’t trust…Wilson. A shame, as that’s a great name. Miranda tells me a bit about her boss, the Illusive Man, and then we’re off this trashcan. Does it explode behind us like a good l’il cliche? Hmm, nope.

This section of the demo ends, and I’m told that everything I’ve done so far has been saved and can be readily used once I purchase the full game. All right. The demo will continue (yay!), but anything else will not be saved progress, and we’re also jumping ahead in time. Text on screen tells us that the Illusive Man has given us the quest to collect a ragtag team of the most elite and deadly characters around. Miranda, Jacob, and I are visiting a prison cell planet called Purgatory (wink wink) to collect a biotic named Jack. There’s a pretty tense scene in the beginning where a turian (I think that’s their race; it’s been some time, people) tells me I can’t bring weapons on-board. I convince him otherwise, and I’m glad I did. Turns out it’s a trap, and we’re doing a lot of fighting here. There’s some larger mechs that are harder to take down, and I eventually died after releasing all the prisoners from their cells in order to free Jack, who is not what we expected. I’m sure the demo goes on a little more from there, but at that point I was extremely tired and decided to call it a night. Might have to give the demo another swing later on as a female Shepard; I’m both surprised and pleased at how much is given to us and how smooth the shooting is. Maybe, just maybe I’ll get a little excited about Mass Effect 2 in the near future.

First Aid Specialist in the House

That’s right, readers. I guess I can push Y like a true pro because I finally unlocked the following achievement last night:

First Aid Specialist (15G): Use medi-gel 150 times

Funny, considering that the previous achievement unlocked for Mass Effect was eight months ago and it was this:

Medal of Honor (100G): Complete Mass Effect Playthrough

Er, but yeah…all this recent excitement about Mass Effect 2 brought me back yet again. This time I saved more frequently because the biggest problem for me was I’d forget to save, go on these long planetary treks, and then get shot in the face and have to restart from the very beginning. If you don’t know what that feels like, stick a wrench down your throat and twist. You’d think Fallout 3 would’ve taught me more about frequent saving, but then you’d be assuming…and we all know you’re a monkey’s uncle.

Right, moving on. Finished up Noveria last night though with the turian Garrus and doofy-faced Kaidan. That was a tough section to get through. Frustrating, to get the wording right. I died twice just driving the MAKO to Peak 15, and then I further died six times trying to take down Benezia. Call me a n00b (editor’s note: please don’t). I was so annoyed by this that the Rachni Queen felt the full brunt of my frustration. Death to all hive-minded insectoids! Genocide FTW!

Not sure where I want to go next. Continue with the story to Feros or to find Liara? Hit the Citadel back up for those 1,067 sidequests? Explore some boring planets for things like minerals? Funnily enough, all the planets I want to explore I can’t, like the ones tinted blue from way too much methane. Boo to that.

Also, does anyone know if the achievements for biotic skills (i.e., Lift, Throw, Neural Shock, and so on) carry over into the next playthrough? I’m not actively keeping track of how many times I’ve used them, but between this playthrough and the previous one…I suspect I’ve Thrown enough Geth to get it. Seriously, I love Lift and Throw.

Cautiously Optimistic about Mass Effect 2

Evidently, there’s some crazy popular new game coming out tomorrow that everyone’s super excited for…I think it’s this one, but I’m not 100% sure:

No? Hmm…well, I’m surely stumped then. Oh wait. Wait a sec. It might be Mass Effect 2. Yeah, I think that’s releasing tomorrow, too. Poor epic sci-fi game. It’s gonna get lost in the flood as sales of Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans take over, forcing BioWare to go bankrupt immediately. I kid, I kid. It’ll do just fine.

Anyways, I just checked out IGN’s video review of the game. I also dropped Mass Effect back into my Xbox 360 earlier in the week, and between these two things…I’m cautiously optimistic. To set the scene, I’m still trying to finish a second playthrough of the first game, with a mean Shephard and a strong supporting cast of biotics brutes. It’s not going well. I hate driving the M35 Mako, I hate having to wait between rooms as I ride the Elevator of Boring, and I hate trying to navigate the inventory system, which, ultimately, is completely useless and all I do now is turn everything I get–and I do mean everything; I don’t even care what it is–into medigel or whatever it is that heals you. These things really do work against me and my brain and the idea of having a good time. On the other hand, I love everything else about Mass Effect.

And from what early reviews and impressions hint at, BioWare kept what I loved and dropped all the bad. A new menu interface, no more aimless Mako excursions, elevators are a thing of the past, and even more customization for characters. Plus, you can transfer your character and his/her decisions over. Still, early reports say that not all is great, with glitches and freezing occuring, but I’m gonna keep my mind open. I know I said this was a game sequel I was not interested in, but if BioWare was able to fix the broken and make the shiny even shinier…well, I guess I will just have to eat my words.

Maybe just knowing that things will get better will be enough for me to push through Mass Effect for the second time. Or maybe not. I could always give Dragon Age: Origins a try, too.

Mass Effect 2 cover art is out-of-this-world lame

See?

It’s not terrible art, but it lacks a certain punch. The hero, the lady with poised gun, the multicolored alien, the lens flare…it’s all just a bit generic, which is a shame as previews would have you believe that Mass Effect 2 is bigger and better than its predecessor. The first game’s cover definitely gave off a “explore the galaxy!” vibe while this one merely says “shoot things!” and “be disgruntled!”

Oh well. Can’t win ’em all, Bioware.

The Top Five Sequels I’m Not Interested In

What? My second list already?

Yes, people. This is what chaos looks like. Enjoy this list of game titles with the number 2 at the end…

5. Left 4 Dead 2

I’m no good at shooters. I’m just as no good at horror games where the littlest of things make me jump. Hence, I was never meant to excel at shooting frenetic zombies, and this sequel looks to be more of the same.

4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Oh hey, look! Another shooter where you shoot things…just like you did in that first game where you shot things!

3. Bioshock 2

I’m still late to the party when it concerns Bioshock, which is a story-driven adventure, a solo game, all about immersion. Seems like the sequel is adding in multiplayer…why? Because that’s what people demand now in every game? Seems forced.

2. Mass Effect 2

I’ll admit that I greatly enjoyed Mass Effect though I’ve only been able to play through it once despite its design for multiple run-throughs. Truthfully, the storyline isn’t that captivating nor does it differ terribly based on who I play as and how I play them. That’s pretty much going to be the same with Mass Effect 2 and rumor has it Shepherd is biting it in this murky middle. Meh.

1. Assassin’s Creed 2

Repetition, repetition, repetition. Good for learning a new language, horrible for a videogame. And this is something that Assassin’s Creed suffered from greatly. Switching scenery might fool me at first, and giving Altair the power to, y’know, swim is nice, but I get the feeling that this one will not have learned from its mistakes and will just be more climbing, more running, and more stealth kills. Plus, I’m still totally bitter about the first game’s “ending”…

And there you have it. Feel free to argue, but it’s pointless. These are games I’m not interested in; your wants and desires will surely vary.