The Energon Pub

[Shadowman]

Diggin' the new avatar, Shadow.

Thanks. Tweezy changed the character's design in our comic, so I figured I should change my avatar to match.

Portal 2 [PC]:
Started the Peer Review process with a friend. Got to #5, I think. Got the Achievement for dropping a friend into the drink when they're doing a gesture.

Quickest way to end a friendship: Portal 2 Co-op.

Oh yeah, strange change. Or at least something I never noticed before. When you do the gesture that makes your character go into a spastic spin and then shoot a portal, it ACTUALLY shoots a portal now. So don't do the gesture when you're in a chamber and you, ya know, NEED your portals open. We found this out the hard way.

I found that out when trying out new taunts with Tweezy. We agreed that is the most awesome way to fire a Portal ever.

[1337W422102]

I found that out when trying out new taunts with Tweezy. We agreed that is the most awesome way to fire a Portal ever.

You're thinking of a Hadouken. Now THAT would great.

Portal 2 [PC]:
Finished the Peer Review chambers. Some were pretty tough. Ending made no sense and wasn't funny, though.

[The Happy Locust]

CastleVania: Portrait of Ruin
Making progress in every way but the story. I'm one room away from the final boss, but rather than head that way I've instead chosen to finish a specific quest. Took forever but I finally unlocked the Nest of Evil. Let the fun begin...

[1337W422102]

Viewtiful Joe ['Cube]:
Surprising amount of depth to this game. The speed/slow mo/zoom adds a lot of variety to combat and puzzle solving.

Reached the Rhino Hotel.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Stormed Shroob Castle, a little bit unprepared as I had less items than I would have liked, especially Bros. Items dropping into the 30's and 20's. But if I may give some tips from experience:

- The Cure Budge A and Drain Badge A help a great deal, as you will get hurt a lot. The enemies are fast and have multiple attacks, and you'll need lightning fast reflexes.
- Remember the Rexes from Super Mario World? They're back and Shroobified. Stomp them down to size first.
- Be aggressive for once and defeat every enemy you see, so you don't have to worry about avoiding them when splitting up and backtracking. They won't respawn until you completely leave the Castle.

The Castle is harder than it looks, especially the first floor and the saucer sections. And just as I was about to reach the top, a stupid Chain Chomp reroutes the pipes, dropping me off in the sewer instead! Bad dog! I got back at him though, and now I'm about to face Princess Shroob. Wish me luck.

[Shadowman]

Viewtiful Joe ['Cube]:
Surprising amount of depth to this game. The speed/slow mo/zoom adds a lot of variety to combat and puzzle solving.

Reached the Rhino Hotel.

From the company that also made God Hand. And it's from the same director as Devil May Cry. And Alastor doesn't just share the same name as Dante's lightning-charged sword in DMC1. And yet I never did get around to finishing it.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion:
Skyrim is approaching fast, so I figured I should high-tail it through story mode. Seeing as I finished the major sidequest chains. Level 30, some swank-ass equipment, and a major chip on my shoulder.

Got the four books to find the Mythic Dawn hideout. It's supposed to be a complex code, and if you think "Take every ostentatiously highlighted letter and spell it out" is complex, then yeah.

[1337W422102]

Unreal Tournament 3 Black Edition [PC]:
Finally got MapMixer configured properly. No need to go back to the main menu anymore (most of the time). Feels good, man.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
GAME OVER BEATEN!

Found Princess Peach (why does she get kidnapped a lot?), but the Shroob Mothership decided to end this by attack me! Luckily I found another Shroob UFO and shot it down crashed into the castle. Princess Shroob is peeved, but is a bit of a pushover when you know what you're doing. So yeah, easily defeated. But why won't Peach let reassemble the Cobalt Star?
Simple as it turned out: the second Elder Princess Shroob was inside! Mad at me for killing her sister, she is the opposite of pushover, with 2 forms! The first was hard with many attacks, the second was harder. Like Cackletta in Superstar Saga I had to get rid of certain parts to reveal her weak spot. But I still did it, turning her into a Shroob Mushroom. Weird...
So yeah, everything back to normal, traveled back to the present and guess who I found? An unconscious Bowser. Who woke up after eating that Shroob Mushroom. Bad idea, as he's possessed, again. This is the real final battle, that's made of only dodging and counterattacks, no attacking or using items (crap, I want my mushrooms!). Barely made it out alive, and watched the ending. Joy

This marks me completing all three Mario & Luigi games. I maybe I should tackle Luigi's Mansion next, or actually finish Wario Land: Shake It! Or just buy Super Paper Mario for cheap.

[SirSoundwaveIV]

Just beat first playthrough vanilla Blands with Lilth, going into zombie island with her now (unsure what route I'm going to do, but I feel like killing some zombies right now soooo)

Also not my first playthrough, I have level 69 and 42 soldiers, level 61 mordecai, level 49 and 36 lilths, and a level 29 brick

[Shadowman]

Just beat first playthrough vanilla Blands with Lilth, going into zombie island with her now (unsure what route I'm going to do, but I feel like killing some zombies right now soooo)

Also not my first playthrough, I have level 69 and 42 soldiers, level 61 mordecai, level 49 and 36 lilths, and a level 29 brick

My Brick is better than your Brick, mid-low 30s I think. And my Lilith is maxed out. Your Mordecai and Roland are better than mine, though.

Damn, now I want to play some more Borderlands.

Not sure what you mean about routes, though. You don't mean which skill tree you want to focus on, do you? Because you can reset skill points at a New-U Station.

[The Happy Locust]

Epic Mickey
Picked up where I left off, as savegames are wont to do.
Repelled an attack on Oswald's throne, defeating the blot in the process (redeemed it, actually). Too bad it was just a dripping of the real blot, who Oswald then accidentally releases. Oops.
Blot is Satan in watercolors and sucks all the paint from the world. I destroyed the 'Bloticles' in each area, allowing us to use the rocket for a direct attack. After getting shot down, trying to regroup with Oswald for plan B.

[SirSoundwaveIV]

Just beat first playthrough vanilla Blands with Lilth, going into zombie island with her now (unsure what route I'm going to do, but I feel like killing some zombies right now soooo)

Also not my first playthrough, I have level 69 and 42 soldiers, level 61 mordecai, level 49 and 36 lilths, and a level 29 brick

My Brick is better than your Brick, mid-low 30s I think. And my Lilith is maxed out. Your Mordecai and Roland are better than mine, though.

Damn, now I want to play some more Borderlands.

Not sure what you mean about routes, though. You don't mean which skill tree you want to focus on, do you? Because you can reset skill points at a New-U Station.

I mean which playthroughs I want to do of the DLC, I don't want to do all 3 first playthroughs because then it'll start scaling up to my level and I don't really want that. I'll probably end up doing just playthrough one of zombie island before roaming back for round 2 of vanillia.

And yeah, I love me some Roland, I have some nuts weapons on my level 69 (my main) from doing countless runthroughs of Knoxx's armory (armory glitch ftfw)

[Shadowman]

I mean which playthroughs I want to do of the DLC, I don't want to do all 3 first playthroughs because then it'll start scaling up to my level and I don't really want that.

I'll probably end up doing just playthrough one of zombie island before roaming back for round 2 of vanillia.

It's not that bad. Zombie Island caps at mid-30s, and Secret Armory caps at mid-40s or so, except obviously Crawmerax. Robot Revolution starts at the 50s or so, but if you've beaten and turned in Crawmerax's mission, it'll hit be around 69. And Underdome is, obviously, always the same level as you.

[SirSoundwaveIV]

I mean which playthroughs I want to do of the DLC, I don't want to do all 3 first playthroughs because then it'll start scaling up to my level and I don't really want that.

I'll probably end up doing just playthrough one of zombie island before roaming back for round 2 of vanillia.

It's not that bad. Zombie Island caps at mid-30s, and Secret Armory caps at mid-40s or so, except obviously Crawmerax. Robot Revolution starts at the 50s or so, but if you've beaten and turned in Crawmerax's mission, it'll hit be around 69. And Underdome is, obviously, always the same level as you.

I'm talking moreso for the second playthroughs than the first. I want to do all of them and not have zombie island PT2 start scaling (it scales if you're level 51+ when you enter iirc)

[1337W422102]

Saints Row 2 [PC]:
I think my friend and I have a bugged campaign. A Mission is calling for us to burn down some enemy buildings, but we already did that during a Stronghold, and now the Mission is pointing us to buildings that don't exist.

Borderlands [PC]:
Finished our co-op Ned's Island run (did that last Brains mission), and starting Dat Moxxi's area now. Needless to say, we're only doing the Prove Your Worth mission.

[Shadowman]

Borderlands [PC]:
Finished our co-op Ned's Island run (did that last Brains mission), and starting Dat Moxxi's area now. Needless to say, we're only doing the Prove Your Worth mission.

I tried going through one of the longer version of the Gully with a friend, but for some reason one enemy ended up getting stuck behind a wall somewhere during the teens, made the whole match unbeatable. It's where I learned to grenade jump up to Moxxi. I'm not normally into MILFs when I know their kids, (And when I know their kid might bury me where he buried Lucky) but it's hard to say no to Moxxi.

[1337W422102]

Borderlands [PC]:
Finished our co-op Ned's Island run (did that last Brains mission), and starting Dat Moxxi's area now. Needless to say, we're only doing the Prove Your Worth mission.

I tried going through one of the longer version of the Gully with a friend, but for some reason one enemy ended up getting stuck behind a wall somewhere during the teens, made the whole match unbeatable. It's where I learned to grenade jump up to Moxxi. I'm not normally into MILFs when I know their kids, (And when I know their kid might bury me where he buried Lucky) but it's hard to say no to Moxxi.

Scooter can't do crap to the Hunters and you know it.
Also, unf, dat Moxxi.

[Shadowman]

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion:
Completed the last of the Daedric Prince quests, netting me the Ohgrum Infinium, a fancy book that, when read, will increase two attributes and three skills by ten points each, depending on which choice I make when opening it. (It only works once, though) Mind you, that's enough to level up several times. And it even ignores the skill point cap! I have a natural 101 in Sneak now, 1 point more than should be possible.

[Shadowman]

Double posting, sure, but I got things people need to hear:

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion:
BEATEN! Mehrunes Dagon and his invasion is defeated, the Oblivion gates are closed, but would-be Emperor Martin died...by turning into a bitchin' dragon made out of fire and having an awesome fight with Mehrunes Dagon! As a result, by the time TES5 rolls around, half of Tamriel is threatening to secede or already seceded, and Skyrim is literally tearing itself apart so hard it's going to cause the end of days. Not all bad, though. Tamrielic Emperors are designated "Dragon Born."

Duke Nukem Forever:
Something I didn't think I'd say: it's not that bad. Great? Hell no. Okay? Yes.

Just completed the dream sequence with the actually pretty good shout-out and foreshadowing.

EDIT: And because of the First Access Club, I get the DLC free. Hooray!

[The Happy Locust]

Castlevania: Portrait of ruin
Cleared the nest of Evil. not an easy task but worth it for the prize at the end.
moved on to Drac and Death. They were easy, but then they combined. They were still easy except for their ultra-screw-you attack of creating a crushing death wall of spikes. AAAAGH! If not for that, I'd have won. As it is, waiting for the clumps of hair I ripped out to grow back before going back.

[Shadowman]

Castlevania: Portrait of ruin
Cleared the nest of Evil. not an easy task but worth it for the prize at the end.
moved on to Drac and Death. They were easy, but then they combined. They were still easy except for their ultra-screw-you attack of creating a crushing death wall of spikes. AAAAGH! If not for that, I'd have won. As it is, waiting for the clumps of hair I ripped out to grow back before going back.

That fight is the reason I never finished Portrait of Ruin.

Duke Nukem Forever:
BEATEN! If you can push past the lame dirty jokes, this game is...actually okay. Sure as hell isn't worth 14 years of waiting, and I certainly wouldn't pay a lot of money for it. But otherwise, it's enjoyable.

On the Multiplayer side of things, beefed myself up from level 11 to level 15 when I ended up on a server where the enemy team consisted of one guy who wasn't even there. Then the server shut off and I lost all that progress. FFFFFFFFFFFF--fortunately, I leveled back up to 14 the normal way.

[The Happy Locust]

Castlevania: Portrait of ruin
Cleared the nest of Evil. not an easy task but worth it for the prize at the end.
moved on to Drac and Death. They were easy, but then they combined. They were still easy except for their ultra-screw-you attack of creating a crushing death wall of spikes. AAAAGH! If not for that, I'd have won. As it is, waiting for the clumps of hair I ripped out to grow back before going back.

That fight is the reason I never finished Portrait of Ruin.

In response to that...

CastleVania: Portrait of ruin
GAME.OVER!
the secret top surviving the claw crush is two-fold. you spam your rapid hit attacks and tock up on potions. i managed to get the "good" ending so I'm happy with this.

The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass
Started the game, got separated from my crew and washed up on an island somewhere. Met a memoryless fairy and an old man. Survived the Ocean king's temple and got a map to the isle of Ember. Traveled there, went to the volcano, found a 3-part fire boss and killed him. Obtained a new fairy and returned to the starting island.

[Shadowman]

Duke Nukem Forever:
Let's get one thing straight: this multiplayer is a bitch. They leave the most overpowered weapons out on the open, and even if you get a chance to use them, somehow, everyone else can use it better.

Reached level 18. Got some new stuff for "My Digs." Fun stuff, like a catgirl who is supposed to be Asian but is instead just kind of offensive.

Team Fortress 2:
Nothing particularly new; the only new thing I got out of the Manniversary was the cool paper hat (Made out of the Jarate comic!) but then everyone got one of those. Didn't stop people from desperately trying to get them through trade.

I got a pair of Strange weapons from Tweezy (Weapons with no special effect, but they DO have a kill counter, with a title that changes depending on how many kills you got with it); an Axtinguisher (100% crit on burning players) and Half-Zatoichi. (Katana that heals you with each kill) They are awesome.

[1337W422102]

Douk Noukkem Forever [PC]:
Death comes swiftly in Douk. Multiplayer's hectic as hell and you will die often. But it's actually pretty fun.

Tried some of that new multiplayer content. The Hot Potato mode is pretty fun, but I had a blast in the team-based Freeze Tag. Great way to work on those Freezethrower challenges. Teamwork, people.

And the Doom level is fantastic.

[Shadowman]

And the Doom level is fantastic.

Inferno is amazing. Though I'm partial to Sandbox mostly because it's Blood Gulch from Halo. You'd think it'd be 2fort, my favorite TF2 map, but then they only made the base exteriors the same as TF2 while the interiors are entirely different. And not like a 2fort mod map, like 2fort_freak or 2fort_dusty, I mean that once you step inside, you are clearly not in 2fort anymore.