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Are Mario Kart Games Always Great? Mario Kart 7 Is!

jdodson gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

jdodson gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Mario Kart 7 came out on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 and I picked it for the first time this month. I got a 3DS in December and have been slowly picking up some of the best titles on the system so Mario Kart 7 seemed like a good idea. My first exposure to Mario Kart was playing Super Mario Kart at my cousins house back in the 90's. I wasn't very good at Super Mario Kart but it's a really fun game and when I got a Wii and heard Mario Kart Wii was coming out I picked it up immediately. To date Mario Kart Wii is the best Mario Kart game I've played and the best game that released on the Wii. 4 player local split screen, online multiplayer with friends, karts and bikes and a... Read All Mario Kart 7 came out on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 and I picked it for the first time this month. I got a 3DS in December and have been slowly picking up some of the best titles on the system so Mario Kart 7 seemed like a good idea. My first exposure to Mario Kart was playing Super Mario Kart at my cousins house back in the 90's. I wasn't very good at Super Mario Kart but it's a really fun game and when I got a Wii and heard Mario Kart Wii was coming out I picked it up immediately. To date Mario Kart Wii is the best Mario Kart game I've played and the best game that released on the Wii. 4 player local split screen, online multiplayer with friends, karts and bikes and a bunch of new tracks that are incredible fun. My only gripe about Mario Kart Wii is that it has some racers and karts that were behind some very crazy unlock gates that I was never able to achieve.

Mario Kart 7 launched after Mario Kart Wii and it is an even further enhancement of a game that was darn near perfect. Mario Kart 7 ditches the bikes and sticks to karts but allows more kart customizations and the ability for each kart to fly. The flying is a fun mechanic that you can strategically use to get yourself a bit further than the other karts if you can manage it and take some very fun track shortcuts. Mario Kart 7 does require you to unlock kart customizations by collecting gold coins during races.

Mario Kart 7 allows for local multiplayer by pairing over bluetooth with other nearby 3DS's. This is made dead simple in the game and I was able to easily link with a friend and go head to head locally. If your friend doesn't have Mario Kart 7 you can beam over a copy for your friend to play making it super easy to play with anyone that has a 3DS. This is a cool feature of a couple 3DS games and something Nintendo doesn't seem to be continuing with the Switch.

Like Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart 7 has online play functionality with your friends where you can race them online or challenge your friends with track time trials. I loved the time trail challenge feature of Mario Kart Wii and it's cool to see it added to Mario Kart 7. That said, you need to magically friend someone in person on your 3DS in a way I haven't figured out so Mario Kart 7 registers that friend in game. So far how to do this is totally lost to us and even after looking online I can't see to figure it out. This is pretty frustrating because part of the fun of Mario Kart is challenging friends to track time trials and playing with them online.

Mario Kart 7 is a great addition to the Mario Kart franchise and whereas it's an old game now if you just got a 3DS or plan on picking it up there is a ton of game here to enjoy and it's not expensive. The tracks it adds are fun and inventive and the game play is buttery smooth. Each Mario Kart game in the franchise is a fairly substantial incremental improvement on the last and Mario Kart 7 builds on the amazing foundation of Mario Kart Wii. I wonder if Mario Kart will take a page from Super Mario Maker and enable some kind of user track creation toolkit in some future release? If Nintendo did that I think that would be the greatest thing to happen to the series but until then Mario Kart 7 is a good addition to an already great series.

When Is It Time To Take a Hearthbreak?

In March 2013 I wrote a post about a upcoming new digital card game Blizzard was developing called Hearthstone. I got access to the beta and thought it was wicked fun and when it later launched on mobile I was absolutely hooked. Like the kind of hooked where you play it every day to grind your quest dailies for gold, follow every expansion closely, read up on strategies online as well as new deck recipes and then create your own web show hooked. You know.... hooked. And I have no regrets about that because Hearthstone has been a nearly free hobby that has simply cost me time and has been an immense amount of fun. It feels like I win more than my fair share of the time... Read All In March 2013 I wrote a post about a upcoming new digital card game Blizzard was developing called Hearthstone. I got access to the beta and thought it was wicked fun and when it later launched on mobile I was absolutely hooked. Like the kind of hooked where you play it every day to grind your quest dailies for gold, follow every expansion closely, read up on strategies online as well as new deck recipes and then create your own web show hooked. You know.... hooked. And I have no regrets about that because Hearthstone has been a nearly free hobby that has simply cost me time and has been an immense amount of fun. It feels like I win more than my fair share of the time and I haven't historically had any huge objection to the game or it's direction. Lately Blizzard has made some changes to the game I think aren't great but those don't really contribute too much to where I am right now. All that said, i've been playing Hearthstone for nearly every day for 4 years(honestly I think i've missed only a handful of days in that time) and i'm thinking about stepping away for a while. At least, I really want to and am trying to figure out how.

I don't think i'm hooked to the point of having a problem. I'm pretty sure I'm not so crazy about Hearthstone that I can't actually bring myself to stop playing it but when you do something so much(like playing a game every day for four years) not doing it feels weird. Or at least thinking about not doing it feels weird. But I think that may be a good reason to stop playing. That and the game is starting to feel like a chore. Gaming is a fun hobby I have, it shouldn't feel like work and when it does I think it's time to think about stepping away for a time. But it's hard to step away from some kinds of games, especially Hearthstone because of it's free to play reality.

To win at standard Hearthstone you need to have good decks. The way to get good decks is to open packs. To open packs you need in game gold or money. If you want to not spend money in Hearthstone and open packs you need to win quests. Winning quests means you need to grind your daily quests. To open the most amount of packs you need to clear your daily quests and not have them stack up which means you, mostly, need to grind quests daily. Doing this and rerolling lower gold quests for higher value ones means you can open about 78-ish packs per expansion which means that if you do that you can have a good shot to get a fair amount of good cards to keep playing the game and repeat this cycle. So far, it's been a really fun cycle but it's starting to feel more grindy and WAY less appealing to me. I don't think it's anything to do with the game design but just something i'm less interested in doing after doing it this long.

Hearthstone did just launch the new Un'Goro expansion that just blew the door open on the amount of legendaries it added to an expansion set. What I mean by that is that they increased the amount of legendaries you can get which means it is no longer reasonable for a free to play player to be able to play with even a modest amount of the power cards in a set. Before, the amount of legendaries in a set that were good was limited therefore it was easier to acquire the good ones. Now that each class has two legendaries (one being a very cool class specific quest) it is harder to get all the fun cards if you play for free. It's even harder(if you can imagine) if you pay $50 for 50 packs for each expansion. Because of the increased legendary count and the fact that the fun class quests are legendaries many people felt the pinch and honestly the only way to get all the legendary class quests is to spend a lot of money on packs.

As a free to play player I never cared about owning all the cards. I really still don't, it's just something you have to live with. But it's sad to see the free to play aspect of the game seem to slip further away. I get that Blizzard might want to make a bit more money with Hearthstone but annoying me and annoying someone that spends $50 each expansion is really different and the latter pays to keep the lights on for the game. I've always enjoyed that Hearthstone has other players that spend lots of money in the game because I never did and wanted to keep playing it so I was happy other people could fund it's development. But I wonder at what people will people feel like it's no longer worth it?

At this point i'm trying to figure out about how much gold I should bank in my account before turning off the lights and taking a long Hearthbreak. The thought is that at some point I might want to come back to play it and having some amount of gold to spend on whatever new expansion is out would help get fresh with the game again. Not to say I couldn't come back and play the game in a month or so but I'm thinking of just stopping for a long period because it just feels like the right thing to do.

And I do want to thank Blizzard for making Hearthstone and up to now it's been one of the best games i've played. It's just time to take a break for a while and see what else is out there.

This In Absolutely Crazy Gaming Achievements - Grinding To Level 99 In The Final Fantasy VII Reactor!

In 2015 YouTuber CirclMastr had a dream. Slowly... and I mean slowly... grind to level 99 with Cloud in Barrett in the first reactor in Final Fantasy VII. It's an impressive feat he captured over a recent Twitch stream you watch above as he finally hits level 99 in an hour long stream.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 04/11/2017 at 05:21am

Oh god why!?

I thought I was crazy to grind enough to learn Meteorain before leaving midgard! This is insane on another level.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/11/2017 at 01:02pm

/\
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What he said. I guess the answer is always "because you can." But damn.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/11/2017 at 05:59pm

47:12 "Life has no inherent purpose and things have no inherent meaning. It's up to us to assign meaning and create metaphor for our own lives and our own actions."

Timogorgon Member wrote on 04/12/2017 at 03:03am

Alright, now I want to hear everyone's most insane gaming "accomplishment."

Travis Admin wrote on 04/12/2017 at 03:16am

I got the highest ranking on every level and collected every single item in We Heart Katamari. I made spreadsheets. I hated those gray boxes where items should be!

When Beautiful Katamari came out for Xbox 360 all that practice paid off, by some measures of "paying off," because for about two weeks I had the highest score on the last level's leaderboard. But I never obsessed over it, or any other Katamari game, like We Heart Katamari

(interesting side note: don't use the less-than symbol in comments. Trying to make less-than-three hearts broke the comments!)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/12/2017 at 04:04am

Well I did this:

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/656/super-turbo-turkey-puncher-3-high-score

But that's not insane crazy but it is pretty high I guess.

But Travis is the king of trophies and achievements and i've asked him to write a post about his Steam achievements, trophies and badges and talk about his most impressive ones for games like Terraria and others. Like seriously, I have nothing even close to the collection he has.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/12/2017 at 04:08am

> 47:12 "Life has no inherent purpose and things have no inherent meaning. It's up to us to assign meaning and create metaphor for our own lives and our own actions."

I actually think that's really beautiful and something to really think about. I know not everyone would agree, but there is some courage in that kind of outlook because it means you are on the hook for your choices in a way other outlooks might not. Glad he found meaning here, I wouldn't maybe but I respect it even before I knew he had such a cool quotable viewpoint.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 04/12/2017 at 06:23am

Hmmm... I already mentioned my grind for Meteorain. I beat Link to the Past using only one bottle, the least amount of hearts possible (only picking up hearts from bosses) and never upgrading my armor/tunic.

I was less successful in playing Ocarina of Time without a shield. There are certain parts of the game that require you to use one, so I'd have to equip it, use it where needed, then find a way to lose it since you can't completely unequip one manually.

The craziest thing I've tried to do was master all jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics as soon as the first random/repeatable battle opens up. I never made it, but I came closer than I'd like to admit.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/12/2017 at 06:44am

> Hmmm... I already mentioned my grind for Meteorain.

That reminds me. Back in High School in FFIII/VI, for some reason, I wanted to grind up to 99 experience eggs and you can do that by betting a tonic and fighting up to the experience egg. Some quick googling found the old grind which was Tonic->Elixir->Rename Card->Marvel Shoes->Tintinabar->Exp. Egg.

Not really sure WHY I wanted to do it but I did it. Because, you know, we assign meaning to our lives.

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Dragon Age: Inquisition Review

Azurephile gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Azurephile gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Review

Recommended

Import saved date from previous games

Visually superior to Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2

New battle system

Strongly open-world RPG including mounts

Dragon Age: Origins was difficult to get into. In fact, it wasn’t until my third attempt at playing it that I finally made some progress and finished it. The combat system was definitely something I had to get used to. The graphics weren’t quite up to par with today’s normal, but they weren’t horrible either. In the end, I enjoyed DAO. I’ve seen some replay value in it, so there’s a chance I may play it again.

One of the things I’ve loved about the DA series is the ability to import saved games. I... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/11/2017 at 04:13am

So after playing them all it seems like you like DAI a bit more than the others? Makes sense, again i've heard good things about it from friends though I don't think they completed it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/11/2017 at 06:02am

I haven't finished DAI yet, but I think I do like it best of the three. I liked DA2 more than Origins and I still liked Origins. So, I think it's all good. I think that at some point I got used to the game and cared about the characters and what I was doing. It's pretty cool.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/18/2017 at 01:04am

Does Origin tell you how many hours you've spent playing a game? I wonder what my hours look like for DAI. Well, I know the game can tell me, it's in the title of my saved games. It does auto save, some what often, so it seems unnecessary to save so often. I ran into that with DAO, having to make sure I saved, so I don't lose progress after getting killed.

This game really looks comparable to a shiny new car. There are a lot of shiny things in the game.

Leveling up seems to take a while. I'm only level 20 or 21 right now. But, I feel more powerful than ever. I killed one or two Higher Dragons on my own, but another two or three were destroying me when I was about level 17. The dragons were higher leveled than me, around 20. Once I came back to those fights when I reached 20, they were so much easier. Honestly, I think my mage is more powerful than anyone else in my part. My character is a Warrior, but I keep another Warrior (Cassandra), a mage (Vivieene), and a rogue (Sera) with me.

I'm still enjoying it!

Travis Admin wrote on 04/18/2017 at 02:08am

yep, when you click on a game it tells you in that panel, far right of the play button.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/18/2017 at 04:17am

I see it! I've been playing by right-clicking the icon in my system tray and then clicking on the game. Thanks, Travis! Origin says I've played DAI for 50 hours.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 05/01/2017 at 05:38am

I finally finished DAI and I really liked it. It was fun, interesting, and looked good. If there's another DA game, I will certainly be interested.

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Clean Your Retro Games With Metal Jesus!

If you have retro game karts that need cleaning or repair this Metal Jesus video talks all about how you can go about that. Jesus and Kelsey also talk about how you can go about fixing game discs that are scratched to the point that they don't work. They even have some tips on how to get remove someones name they've sharpied on a game kart! Really good advice here for getting longest life possible out of your old games.

Hearthstone Nightlies For Ghosts Ep. 14 - Un'Goro Pack Opening & Maiev Shadowsong Quest

Hearthstones latest expansion Journey to Un'Goro is out and I was able to open 78 packs! Watch to see what I open and stick around to see some absolutely incredible matches. I play with a fun Shaman Elemental deck and take down a Warlock in what could only be described best as a 3 tier boss fight. Plus Dinomancer. Always Dinomancer.

The Witness Comes To Mac on Steam And The Apple Store!

Jonathan Blow released his follow up to Braid last year called The Witness. The Witness is a Myst like puzzle game that blends incredible visuals, a compelling story and deep puzzle mechanics that garnered rave reviews from gamers and the press. The game initially shipped on PC and PS4 and today released on Mac on Steam and the Apple Store. Recently The Witness was featured in the Humble Freedom Bundle and if you picked it up there on Steam you can now install it on your Mac like I did today.

Is anyone still playing Pokemon Go?

So, I recently got my first Android smartphone. There are very few apps I’m aware of, Pokemon Go is among them. Since my son and I love Pokemon and it’s free, I figured I’d check it out. I didn’t know very much about it before getting in because I mostly ignored it before I had a smartphone. I just read that it seemed popular and there were some, even controversial, events related to it.

I initially thought I would join Team Mystic, because it’s the blue team, and so I have. When I first started, I couldn’t find any Pokemon even though there were some around me. “Research” provided the solution of turning off the AR camera mode. It’s a nice feature, I think, but isn’t... Read All So, I recently got my first Android smartphone. There are very few apps I’m aware of, Pokemon Go is among them. Since my son and I love Pokemon and it’s free, I figured I’d check it out. I didn’t know very much about it before getting in because I mostly ignored it before I had a smartphone. I just read that it seemed popular and there were some, even controversial, events related to it.

I initially thought I would join Team Mystic, because it’s the blue team, and so I have. When I first started, I couldn’t find any Pokemon even though there were some around me. “Research” provided the solution of turning off the AR camera mode. It’s a nice feature, I think, but isn’t compatible with all phones, some people just don’t like it anyway. I managed to catch some Pokemon around me, I’m not sure which ones. I made a lot of wrong assumptions, but over time, my knowledge has grown.

I didn’t know how to tell how great a Pokemon was until I found out about “appraisal.” The appraiser will say different things based upon which team you joined, but you can find that online. Each individual Pokemon has stats that are hidden and the appraiser can help you figure out which is strongest and how the Pokemon would fair in battle. If you’re looking for a “perfect” Pokemon, you’ll want to read more about IV or use an IV calculator. I have often overlooked these values in all the Pokemon games I’ve played. However, having “perfect” Pokemon does have it’s advantages.

Pokestops are cool and important for collecting free daily supplies. There are many of them in my little area and I usually stop for at least two of them once a week on my way out for groceries. I don’t play while driving, of course, I hand the phone to my son and let him take over while we’re out. On my own, I’ve found some hotspots, including a place where a lot of Pokemon spawn, because a lot of people in the area play.

I don’t do a lot of walking with the app, so I’m not making incredible progress with raising Pokemon and hatching eggs. At least two eggs have hatched and one of them was a really good Eevee. I may evolve it into Vaporeon, Espeon, or Umbreon. A friend has a book with some early information and I found out how to evolve Eevee. It involves renaming it and that information is best found online.

Right now I’m just trying to see what’s out there and fill in my Pokedex. At level 12, I don’t have what’s needed to take on or help defend a Gym, so I’m not in a hurry. Many of my local friends are in Team Insight, who is control of my nearest Gym. Still, there are a lot of cool things you can do, it’s not all too basic and simplistic. I think it’s fun and interesting. I also like how it has evolved our local communities.

So, is anyone else still playing? What level are you, what’s your best and favorite Pokemon? Do you have anything you want to share here?

Sources:
http://www.polygon.com/2016/8/23/12614406/pokemon-go-iv-calculator-appraisal
http://www.ign.com/wikis/pokemon-go/How_to_Evolve_Pokemon

jaelte wrote on 04/07/2017 at 07:37am

I've been playing on-and-off since a few weeks after release. I'm up to level 28 now it's really starting to feel like a grind, but I still mostly enjoy the time I put into it. I find it very helpful to catch at least one Pokemon and tag at least one stop every day, as the seven-day streak bonuses are a nice plus.
My main concern lately is inventory space -- I don't attack/train at gyms regularly enough to spend my potions and there are some potions which are way overkill for any Pokemon I have so they end up stacking up, leaving not enough space for balls and candy. I also wish the game would provide extra incubators more frequently or lower their cost, as it takes me awhile to earn the 150 coins necessary to buy one -- and that's if I haven't spent the coins on lucky eggs or I'm not saving for another space increase. I admittedly have spent a little bit of money on deals during special events, but overall I say it's been worth it.
All that said, I'm enjoying the game despite knowing pretty much nothing about Pokemon before starting (never got into it as a teenager). It helps that I have a few friends that play and we're all, like you, on team Mystic, so we occasionally go take down gyms together.
Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy your playing experience!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/07/2017 at 11:46am

Awesome, thanks for the comment. I haven't paid much attention to my inventory, but I should look at it. I don't plan on doing any Gym battles, especially any time soon, so I should probably make sure I sell whatever extra items I have.

I do have some issues with the app. Often, if my screen goes off and I unlock it again and get back into the app, I usually have to restart the app as it has trouble logging back in. I wish the pedometer would work while you normally carry your phone around, instead of having the app open and staring at it while walking. I often walk such short distances that I'm usually where I'm going by the time the app is open and ready for me to play.

I've been surprised by how many Pokestops I've seen in my little area and I've heard about more of them I haven't visited yet.

Anyway, thanks again and go Team Mystic!!!!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/18/2017 at 01:05am

I've been learning about this game and I feel like I'm getting better at it. I was level 12 when I wrote this and now I'm level 17. I've found some really good Pokemon and I'm enjoying it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 05/01/2017 at 05:35am

I am almost level 21! I really enjoy this game. It's another one that makes me wonder why it's free. One of my friends is surprised by my ability to find rare Pokemon. I've caught 4 Pickachu already and I found a Larvitar, which he says is the most rare and best Pokemon in Pokemon Go. After I spotted it, other friends were able to get one, too. I also found a Dragonite, but I got a Dratini from an egg.

jaelte wrote on 05/02/2017 at 07:27am

I'm up to level 29 now. I recently evolved an Alakazam and a Rhydon and I hatched my first Snorlax and Chansey (still need to hatch a few more for a Blissey, but it's a start). I went ages without ever getting a 10k egg -- I think I got my first one at level 26? -- but I find them regularly enough now, so I'm hoping I won't have to wait *too* much longer.
I'm jealous about the Larvitar and Dragonite. I have an excellent Dragonair and I cannot wait until I have enough candy (just 21 more!) to evolve it into a Dragonite, so I'm sure you feel the same about the long-term goal of turning that Larvitar into a Pupitar into a Tyranitar. :-) A long way to go, sure, but at least you're closer than I am.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 05/02/2017 at 06:09pm

Awesome! Have you participated in any Gym battles? I stay away from them, because I haven't had anything that could do much against a Gym.

jaelte wrote on 05/03/2017 at 05:22am

Yeah, I take down a gym from time to time. I have a plethora of decent attackers I keep leveled up as best I can. You'd be surprised at how with the right type bonuses, stats, and timing a seemingly too-small Pokemon can take down one twice or more its CP. It may be worth doing some research into which attackers/attack combinations are good counters which defenders. Of course you can also take down gyms with sheer attrition and time, but that'll use up a lot of potions and revives.
Good luck in your future gym battles, if you ever do decide to get into them. :)

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Re-Logic Shares Terraria: Otherworld Woes and Plans for the Future

As many surmised and/or feared, it looks like the silence on updates *was* a result of issues with development. Re-Logic has announced today that they were unhappy with the development from Engine Software, and are bringing in Pipeworks Studios to continue development.

"Our team had a clear vision for this game – one that we shared with all of you with much shared excitement – and, as much as we hate to say it (and in spite of all of the reforms we tried last year) - the current state of the game is still equal parts far from that vision and well behind schedule.

As a result, we have made the decision to move on from having Engine Software continue development of... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/05/2017 at 05:26am

I'm glad the silence has been temporarily broken after so long. Initially I feel optimistic about it and can wait for a really good game, at least that's my hope of the product. I look forward to seeing more news ahead. Thanks for sharing!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/06/2017 at 02:14am

Reading more into the replies on that post is interesting. The developer perspective is obviously real and most often invisible to gamers. In recent years, since playing Terraria and Ark, I've been paying more attention to game development news, particularly with these two games ("Terraria" includes Otherworld). It's fascinating what I've learned and experienced over the years and yet I obviously can only see a small fraction of what's going on.

We mentioned before that we're not too impatient for Otherworld, although we eagerly eat up anything Terraria. It was exciting to first find out about it and have that hope of seeing it "soon" two years ago.

I'm glad when developers fill us in on what's going on "behind the scenes." I was disappointed for the "radio silence," but I didn't get frustrated. Although we now don't have a timetable for the game's release, we at least know that Re-logic is working hard to make sure this game meets what seems to be extremely high standards, which should produce a very good game. So, I'm hopeful and optimistic, maybe even more so now that I know what's been going on and it's not a dead project.

I haven't really played many tower defense games. I remember that quest at Fort Condor (I think that's it's name) in Final Fantasy VII. I wasn't too fond of it. Later, I found a Final Fantasy game on the Wii that was a tower defense game (I don't recall it's name). It was free or a demo, but I didn't spend much time with it nor did I find it too interesting.

So, I'm a bit reluctant regarding the tower defense aspect of Otherworld, however, I think Re-logic could perhaps do something amazing with it. That kind of mechanic does seem to fit well into Terraria as you're trying to protect your NPCs from the Blood Moon and such. In Terraria, we build arenas for this, so the tower defense aspect is already there.

Hopefully we'll see more development news in the next few months, though it doesn't look like we'll see the game this year (and I'm ok with that).

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/07/2017 at 01:47am

TOW's budget is apparently over $4 million. Check out ChippyGaming's new video: https://youtu.be/8MupkdeRlK0

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From Dragon Age Origins to Dragon Age 2

I had a bit of a slow start with Dragon Age Origins on the PS3 and Steam, but I finally completed it. At first, the combat system was a bit different than I was used to, so it took some time for me to feel comfortable with it. I even turned down the difficulty even though there were still some incredibly difficult battles, especially within DLC.

One of the features I enjoyed about the DLC was being able to import characters from another saved game. I didn’t necessarily do everything in a specific or correct order and sometimes that lead to some issues. One issue was resolved with a mod. I also ended up with things I didn’t need later. Had I known more about what I was... Read All I had a bit of a slow start with Dragon Age Origins on the PS3 and Steam, but I finally completed it. At first, the combat system was a bit different than I was used to, so it took some time for me to feel comfortable with it. I even turned down the difficulty even though there were still some incredibly difficult battles, especially within DLC.

One of the features I enjoyed about the DLC was being able to import characters from another saved game. I didn’t necessarily do everything in a specific or correct order and sometimes that lead to some issues. One issue was resolved with a mod. I also ended up with things I didn’t need later. Had I known more about what I was doing, I would probably have done some things differently. So, I do find some replay value in it.

I’ve moved on to DA2 and was able to import my DAO data, which apparently changes some things based on decisions I made. I have a feeling that the decisions I make in the game actually carry some weight. That definitely makes things more interesting and replayable.

So far this game looks and feels much better. I decided to lower the difficulty at a certain point. I also downloaded free DLC, including a high definition texture pack. I read that some of the DLC should be accessed later in the game, but you can still visit the Black Emporium for some good equipment. I also learned that companions come with their own armor and can’t use what you find, it’s locked to the main character. This is different, but not completely unwelcome. Companions can still equip weapons and accessories you find.

DAO wasn’t always stable and DA2 suffers at times, too. The game sometimes crashes and the Origin overlay doesn’t seem to work. I remedied that by letting Steam open the game, but now that overlay isn’t working either. I most cases, I don’t need the overlay, but in these games it’s sometimes helpful to have that feature.

After some time, I enjoyed the DAO story along with DLC. I’ve enjoyed the story thus far in DA2. It’s quite dramatic, but interesting. At times it reminds me of The Witcher 3, especially tavern music. It’s nice to see pieces of DAO within DA2, such as characters that have returned. I’m really enjoying this game and I seem to recall that Dragon Age: Inquisition is quite popular. Now that I’m close to the end of DA2, I have more eager eyes looking at DAI.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/04/2017 at 03:12pm

DAO 2 didn't seem to review as well as the first one so I didn't pick it up. But Inquisition got crazy reviews and does look really good. Bout how far are you into DAO 2 now?

Travis Admin wrote on 04/04/2017 at 04:07pm

It's interesting that the critics went in that direction. Everyone I've spoken to who has played the games say the second is the best and Inquisition is just incredibly disappointing.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/04/2017 at 06:59pm

They are all different games with very different play mechanics, which is weird and I think where they lost people. The action of DA2 feels nothing like the more strategic, methodical pace of DAO, and Inquisition is a kind of mix of the two. They're all very fun, but going from one to the other can feel disruptive.

Greg, are you playing DA2 with keyboard and mouse? I played it originally on the XBox 360 (I believe it was designed more for console play), and when I tried it on Origin I just couldn't get the hang of the keyboard/mouse setup.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/04/2017 at 07:17pm

Jon, I'm in the 3rd Act it seems.

Yes, scrypt, I am playing with the keyboard and mouse. I like it. I pretty much agree with you about the action of DA2. It doesn't feel as though combat strategy is as important as it was in DAO. It is still helpful and necessary at times though and I think that's why DA2 feels a bit easier to play.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/04/2017 at 09:50pm

I finished it, but I don't have any of the paid DLC. I thought it was pretty cool and I'll be moving on to DA:I.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/05/2017 at 03:03pm

Be interested in your ranking of the games when your done with Inquisition.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/08/2017 at 08:29pm

DAI is awesome. I see what scrypt was saying about combat. It's different, a mix of the first two games. It's an open world game and reminds me a lot of Oblivion and Witcher 3. Hopefully soon I'll get started on my initial "review" so I can get a post here. I really like it.

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