The Energon Pub

[Shadowman]

Delicious bacta. Don't leave home without it. Well, that and a Bryar Pistol.

Well, Bacta hasn't been invented yet, I don't have a pistol because I'm a Jedi with a Lightsaber and the ability to fling loose objects and also bits of things I tore out of other things at people with the Force. So I guess I'm boned.

An NPC on Nar Shaddaa also hit on me. Though, to be fair, he's justified.

Oh my unf.

Oh yes. I have a nicer pair of robes, but it covers basically all of her head except her face, and there's no option to not wear hoods. Unless you're a Twi'lek, in which case the hood won't show up. And I'm the kind of person who favors aesthetics over stats.

(And I'm only bothering with Photobucket because I don't want to write the scripts to let the game run through Steam)

I like to extend that rule to "Don't trust anyone on Nar Shaddaa." Even in KOTOR2, every moment you spend on the planet involves being mugged and backstabbed. Often both at the same time.

Hey, at least you weren't disintegrated by kriffing Rodian snipers while fighting your way through garbage, eh?

The planet has actually been really simple. It has levels 20-24 recommended, and I'm level 24. I'll be overleveled before I'm done here. I heard someone mention in chat that's how it goes, you'll hit level 50 (The cap) long before you're done with the story.

And of there is story. This is Bioware, they never skimp on the story. The game even holds the Guiness World Record for most lines of recorded dialogue in any media ever. At over 200,000. That's a lot of talking.

Star Wars: The Old Republic:
Like I said, Nar Shaddaa. Took down a gang to help a Trustworthy Hutt, (He keeps saying he's running legit business and no longer has any ties to criminal activity, and urges officials to keep an eye on him if they don't believe him) and now I'm helping that NPC that hit on me (A female AI he made also hit on me, unf to the maximum) to find another Jedi Master, seeing as the Consular's story involves stopping a Make Jedi Go Crazy Plague.

[1337W422102]

Delicious bacta. Don't leave home without it. Well, that and a Bryar Pistol.

Well, Bacta hasn't been invented yet, I don't have a pistol because I'm a Jedi with a Lightsaber and the ability to fling loose objects and also bits of things I tore out of other things at people with the Force. So I guess I'm boned.

Well, your character isn't Kyle Katarn (who is, after all?), so that is acceptable.

An NPC on Nar Shaddaa also hit on me. Though, to be fair, he's justified.

Oh my unf.

Oh yes. I have a nicer pair of robes, but it covers basically all of her head except her face, and there's no option to not wear hoods. Unless you're a Twi'lek, in which case the hood won't show up. And I'm the kind of person who favors aesthetics over stats.

(And I'm only bothering with Photobucket because I don't want to write the scripts to let the game run through Steam)

You could always use Xfire, assuming there's Xfire in-game support, which I'm assuming there is.

I like to extend that rule to "Don't trust anyone on Nar Shaddaa." Even in KOTOR2, every moment you spend on the planet involves being mugged and backstabbed. Often both at the same time.

Hey, at least you weren't disintegrated by kriffing Rodian snipers while fighting your way through garbage, eh?

The planet has actually been really simple. It has levels 20-24 recommended, and I'm level 24. I'll be overleveled before I'm done here. I heard someone mention in chat that's how it goes, you'll hit level 50 (The cap) long before you're done with the story.

And of there is story. This is Bioware, they never skimp on the story. The game even holds the Guiness World Record for most lines of recorded dialogue in any media ever. At over 200,000. That's a lot of talking.

It also means the story is going to get real convoluted and turn into a dating sim soon. Just try not to end up with a Rodian, a Gran, or a Trandoshan, okay?

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Did all of the Assassination missions that I can so far, which means that I won't be bale to finish every one in the game since the ones I'm missing will only be available once I meet another character, or something. Which sucks, because by the time I get that far into the story, I'll have finished all of the Takeover gameplay which will make any Assassinations that need high gang heat real hard.

Doing the Chop Shop side missions, too. Almost done with them, I think.

[Shadowman]

It also means the story is going to get real convoluted and turn into a dating sim soon. Just try not to end up with a Rodian, a Gran, or a Trandoshan, okay?

The story isn't too hard to get a grasp of, no worse than any piece of Star Wars fiction. As for the dating sim aspect, from the looks of things there's only two romance options per class, one for each gender. You can look through a character list and figure out who you can (Potentially, no one's making you do anything) have sex with. Except for the Smuggler and Agent, they can have one-night-stands like you wouldn't believe.

[1337W422102]

Except for the Smuggler and Agent, they can have one-night-stands like you wouldn't believe.

Well, that goes without saying.

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Finished all the Insurance Fraud and Escort Activities. The "Love/Hate Relationship" Achievement is still bugged, so despite meeting the criteria three times on two characters, it still won't unlock. Fun.

Renegade Ops [PC]:
Cleared Mission #2, got Roxy to Level 14.

[Shadowman]

Star Wars: The Old Republic:
Decided to go back and do all the Heroic quests on Coruscant that I skipped. Despite the missions recommending being done with two-to-four people, since I was level 26 (10-15 levels higher than recommended) it was a breeze. And by Breeze, I mean, I could block and parry everything. That is what it was like to be a Jedi; untouchable with Godlike damage-dealing abilities. I also got an an unf-y new top.

[The Happy Locust]

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Finished all the Insurance Fraud and Escort Activities. The "Love/Hate Relationship" Achievement is still bugged, so despite meeting the criteria three times on two characters, it still won't unlock. Fun.

Only a problem for those of you who find achievements pointless.
Unless this is preventing an unlockable bonus. Then you have reason to be annoyed.

[1337W422102]

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Finished all the Insurance Fraud and Escort Activities. The "Love/Hate Relationship" Achievement is still bugged, so despite meeting the criteria three times on two characters, it still won't unlock. Fun.

Only a problem for those of you who find achievements pointless.
Unless this is preventing an unlockable bonus. Then you have reason to be annoyed.

Well, the in-game bonus was even more useless than an Achievement. That and a buddy challenged me to an epeen race to 100%. Personally, I'm more interested in 100% game completion.

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Finished the Vehicle Thefts and kept the Condor for myself. 'Jacked a VTOL too, but that didn't even get saved. Not that it matters, since I now have one after the Convoy Decoy mission. Also did the Learning Computer mission for Kinzie. Took over all of the city. 83% game completion. Only about 6 Challenges, left, too.

[Shadowman]

Star Wars: The Old Republic:
Nar Shaddaa was fun. The story was much better, and it didn't feel like I was there for a hundred damn years.

But now I've moved on to Tatooine. "Oh, Tatooine, I bet that's a real crap hole!" Actually so far it's been one hilarious event after another. Right now I'm fighting a completely insane Czerka Corporation executive. He bombed the crap out of me from low orbit, I survived.

Then, to get one of the much-sought-after Datacrons I had to find and ride on a Jawa hot air balloon. Unfortunately, I misinterpreted a set of coordinates another player gave me, and ended up on the wrong side of the planet. (The balloon only passes the point you need to be at for a few seconds every 20-30 minutes) On my way back, I accidentally walked into a camp meant for Imperial players, and learned exactly what level 50 sentries are like in battle. Escaped with about a quarter of my health. Made it to the point I needed for the balloon, only to find a Sith Assassin there waiting for me. Since it's a PvE server, instead of fighting we had a dance off. The balloon made it, a Jedi Knight and an Imperial Agent joined us; we continued out dance party while also sharing jokes all the way. (It was like a 15 minute flight)

That paragraph? That wasn't a mission. It just...happened. Goddamn I love Tatooine.

EDIT: Also I used, in chat, the phrase "Damn it, Jim, I'm a Consular, not an air traffic controller!"

[1337W422102]

Shadowdude, I am seriously running out of internets to give you, but here, have another one. You've earned it.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
Found two mirror shards in one go, how about that? Four down, four to go. Mustard Mountain wasn't too bad, and Kracko (the cycloptic cloud) was too easy. Carrot Castle and Mega Titan, not so much.
Now that half of the worlds are done, the Rainbow Route Hub is out, so I have to look at other worlds for new worlds to explore. I found two, where's the third...

[Shadowman]

Assassin's Creed II:
UGH! I love this game, I really do. But I'm nearing the end, and I have to do 9 assassination missions. Except all of them require being completely unseen. Seems easy, except the guards react to every little thing, often reaching full alert after only a split second; one of the was alerted to my presence (Thus causing me to fail the mission) right as I killed him. Even OUT the missions, at this points guards will instantly attack me, no matter my notoriety, so traveling becomes a huge pain. And apparently they've been doing some cardio, because several of them are now faster than me, so it's easy for them to run up to me and shank me (Causing me to fall over and lose all my momentum) while I'm running at full sprint.

I know late-game missions are supposed to be a pain, but damn.

[BeastProwl]

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
Found two mirror shards in one go, how about that? Four down, four to go. Mustard Mountain wasn't too bad, and Kracko (the cycloptic cloud) was too easy. Carrot Castle and Mega Titan, not so much.
Now that half of the worlds are done, the Rainbow Route Hub is out, so I have to look at other worlds for new worlds to explore. I found two, where's the third...

Kracko is the frikkin bain of my existance! It's not the fact that he's hard to beat, and if you have the game (Super star ultra is the example I'm using here) Memorized, you know when he's going to show up, it's just how OFTEN he shows up that gets to me! He grinds little bits off my health, and before too long, that adds up...

[BeastProwl]

Peace Walker:
Beaten. I destroyed Peace Walker and stopped full on neuclear war. The fight makes you feel really heroic too, the music and all, and just how hard it was! After grinding it to metal dust with my LAW and air strikes and other means of explosive weapons, I watched the end Cinamatics and sat through the credits just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
I do have a question though, I know the game's not through yet, but seriously, were do I unlock all those extra missions? The Monster hunter missions I can unlock by listening to all of Chico's audio files, right? Well, It appears the "Briefing Files" Option has dissapeared, (Or was never there to begin with)
I Have the HD collection, Please help me out! I want to unlock EVERYTHING, and I can't seem to find a game FAQ or site to help me much... Currently playing Metal Gear (NES) in my down time. Looking for the Bomb Blast suit. I know exactly were it is now, so it's only a matter of time

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
Found two mirror shards in one go, how about that? Four down, four to go. Mustard Mountain wasn't too bad, and Kracko (the cycloptic cloud) was too easy. Carrot Castle and Mega Titan, not so much.
Now that half of the worlds are done, the Rainbow Route Hub is out, so I have to look at other worlds for new worlds to explore. I found two, where's the third...

Kracko is the frikkin bain of my existance! It's not the fact that he's hard to beat, and if you have the game (Super star ultra is the example I'm using here) Memorized, you know when he's going to show up, it's just how OFTEN he shows up that gets to me! He grinds little bits off my health, and before too long, that adds up...

Be thankful you don't feel that way towards Whispy Woods, the tree. He just about appears in every single Kirby game!

[The Happy Locust]

Batman:Arkham City
GAME.OVER!
I rate this ending 4 , but in the best possible meaning of the term. A comic book ending with a sense of finality in something. this is unheard of.
The ending does jump around a bit with the plot twists but I think that was due to the writer's trying to make everyone happy. "So-and-so didn't get a good role, oh wait he's running things. But this guy should have been the final villain... oh wait, he is. What about <cameo> from the first game? Make him a boss."

I still have trophies to collect, but I'm nearly done with this. A bit annoyed that challenge maps count towards ending percentage. I'm at 58% when in-game I should be closer to 90%. Catwoman's bits were a complete bust. She's not nearly as fun to travel as and her movement style is annoyingly inconsistent.

[BeastProwl]

Whispy Woods

ALL OF MY HATE!

[The Happy Locust]

Batman:Arkham City
I'M.DONE!
After beating the game, went and found the last of the riddler trophies, riddles, and camera hubs. Finished tracking down the Identity thief and rescued all political prisoners. Catwoman took down Two-face and got half her stuff back. I can't be bothered to help her get the rest since it would mean playing as her again. Not interested...

This game was awesome! I just have one request for Rocksteady. DO NOT MAKE A SEQUEL! The first was story perfection, the second was sandbox perfection. There really isn't anywhere else they could go from here that would take the series higher. And considering how this one ended, the next one would be missing something important.

[Shadowman]

Star Wars: The Old Republic:
Completed the starting planets of all eight classes! I still need to get my Jedi Knight, Republic Trooper, Imperial Agent, and Bounty Hunter up to the end of their prologues, though.

[The Happy Locust]

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Still on my quest to find the dragons and learn the song that leads to the Triforce. Water dragon was kind enough to give me her part after flooding Faron woods and making me go on a scavenger hunt. Made a trip to Eldin but an eruption sent me crashing down. Woke up imprisoned and had to break out and get my stuff back. Did so and reached the summit to meet the Fire dragon. Traveled to Lanayru desert and found the thunder dragon, but he's sort of.... dead.

[1337W422102]

The Ultimate DOOM [PC]:
In the fourth Episode; reached Level 6, I think. These are some tough levels.

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Did the "S.T.A.G. Party" mission; chose to keep Birk since I've already taken over 100% of the city. Then I blew up the aircraft carrier and ended Act II.

[The Happy Locust]

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
GAME.OVER!
Managed to destroy the source of darkness, but on bittersweet notes as 2 friends are gone forever.

Mini-review separated into non-spoiler and spoiler items:
Good: I enjoyed the game overall, but this does not win my top spot. I do like how the designers were trying to set up a true origin story for how everything else in the games started. It does make a lot of sense, actually. Some of the side-character development (Groose especially) is very welcome and helps show the progression of the overall story.
Gameplay wise, the boss battles were overall very unique and entertaining. I was panicking during the first boss fight in the Eldin volcano.
Bad: The harp is a complete bust. Turn a string instrument into a metronome, really. Also, Fi's design fits the aesthetic but her personality is completely out of place. Being an android doesn't really fit when even the actual robot workers in the game have personalities.
Girahim made for a very creepy villain, but the re-use of him as a boss battle just seems a bit lazy.
Sky world is way too sparse. Only one town and the 3 areas worth visiting. Could really have been fleshed out some more. Maybe have a town as a gateway to each realm.

Spoiler comments:
Less criticisms than questions, but I expected Skyloft to be taken to the ground along with the goddess statue. As it is, it's still up in the air just sitting there. I'd think it may end up being the city in the sky from Twilight PRincess, the but aesthetics really don't match.
The credit vids showing Zelda's quest was a nice touch as a way to fill in the blanks. But if she could make the entire Journey on foot while Link takes the flying shortcuts every time, who's really the hero here?

[Badass Grimlock]

I didn't know where to post this, so I'll just post it here. I have created a Spore version of G1 Slag for all you Autobots out there. I didn't know what to color it, so I'll just leave that open to the people who download him (Though if you do come up with some sweet colors, please reply back).

Slag.png (24.06 KiB) Viewed 469 times

[1337W422102]

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Took down the candy-ass Decker punk. Annoyed that he tried to beg for his life, especially since both of his offer sucked. Really, kid? You couldn't have offered to clear the Saints' name and reveal that the incriminating video was fake? Ugh.

If I had the choice, I would have derezzed his sorry ass without a second process. End of line, punk.

Then continued the missions until I finished the Murderbrawl XXXI bit, which wasn't as much fun as I was hoping. Also, story-wise, if Angel needs to regain his honour by winning the mask back and SPECIFICALLY says he can't just take/steal it back, then why the hell does he just steal it from the casino vault and let the protagonist de-mask Killbane? Does not compute.

Oh, and met Burt Effing Reynolds, the mayor of the damn city because he's the only one who can clean it up. I love how there's a model on his desk of a familiar black muscle car.

[The Happy Locust]

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Having left Riverrun, made my way to Whiterun and fell into the Jarl's good graces through a few favors. His wizard needed a tablet I happened to have already picked up while exploring. Delivered a few goods, stopped a girl from bullying a boy, played hide-and-seek with another kid, assassinated a bandit leader, killed a mammoth, and killed my first dragon (and earning the shout ability in the process). Got a follower but didn't take her with me.

[1337W422102]

Saints Row: The Third [PC]:
Finished up all of the Activities in co-op with my friend (STAG Takeover assisted), finishing the Crew Of Two challenge. I have just a few shops left and I'll have the whole city taken over. Did the mission where we got the power plant as a penthouse.

From Russia With Love [GameCube]:
In typical EA fashion, you can't skip cutscenes, which sure made trying to get to main menu after booting it up the first time annoying, having to watch that intro twice. And the logos and crap.

Finished the first mission. Flew through an exploding helicopter using a jetpack to save a lovely lady. Sean Connery would be impressed. I'm not sure how to feel about him providing his voice and likeness to Bond. Naturally, it's a selling point. But he sounds so indifferent, like he doesn't care at all, which kills the performance. Or he's so damn laidback and suave that it sounds like he's phoning it in.