I think the original Zelda is an open world RPG like game. When I think about it though, I view Zelda as one of the first open world games though. I played that a few times and tried to do things out of order and it totally worked.

I wanted to get the Dragon Warrior Nintendo Power deal too, I just couldn't rustle up the $20 or $50 dollars you needed for a subscription. I think that was the best Nintendo Power deal ever though. I mean, they gave away game guides but a game? Whoa.

That's awesome you got the deal. Child jdodson is jealous :) Mega Man 2 was a fun game. I loved The Woodsman and Metalman abilities. Well that and I found out the saved game code algorithm to get max energy tanks to start the game off with.

If you want a really weird feeling, grab a famicom emulator and a Doki Doki Panic! rom. It's so weird to play what I always thought of as SMB2 with entirely different characters. What we came to know as the Lost Levels was freakin' hard though. Like, painfully hard at times. I understand why they rebranded Doki Doki Panic! as SMB2 for the US.

I wish I could edit comments :)

At any rate, it was always so weird going from 1 to the US version of 2 and then 3. The style changed so drastically to 2, and then back to a more Mario formula for 3. It was actually kinda comforting to me when I realized that the SMB2 I knew and loved was originally a different game entirely, because I always wondered why they changed things so drastically. They explained it in the end with it all being Mario's dream, but that explanation fell flat for me.

Doki Doki Panic is actually a little harder than SMB2. To properly beat the game, you have to beat it with all four characters.

Some of the look of SMB2 (US) is explained by the origins of Doki Doki Panic. The game took place in an Arabian storybook (thus the Arabian setting for much of the game, and the level intro screens being pages from a book). It's a family of 4 (thus the 4 characters) trying to save captured children.

Overall I'm glad they rebranded it. I'm glad we got what we knew as SMB2, even if it wasn't quite accurate, because I doubt I would have ever played a game called "Dream Factory: Heart Pounding Panic" and SMB2 is one of my favorite games of all time.

This makes me want to play TMNT2 on the NES. I played that game so much.

TMNT2 was a port of the arcade game. It was more of a beat-em-up than the first game.

I stayed over at a friend's house one weekend, and we spend all day playing it. We eventually got to the technodrome, and the power went out. I'm not sure I have played it since.

I started Nightmare last night after a level 60 friend popped into my game and made the last mini-boss and Diablo a cakewalk (I think I might go back in and solo that last stretch in a few levels, but that last mini-boss was kicking my teeth in).

I haven't had any trouble at all in Nightmare so far. I have yet to face the Skeleton King, which is where I imagine the real challenge will show itself. But overall, I have learned so much about the monk class in Act 3 and 4 that I'm applying better strategy in Nightmare, and that's where most of my success is coming from. It was interesting to see some fairly low-risk enemies using freeze spells. I can tell even though you're doing the same thing over again, it's going to feel very different.

I have problems with the online-only aspect. I don't think it's *necessarily* DRM, but it certainly functions as such. They could have made it offline and still let you stay connected to your friends with no problem. I wonder if it's in part due to the Diablo 2 character sales on ebay. Overall, it bothers me, but I see why they did it and it certainly doesn't matter enough to change my opinion about the company or the game.

As for the auction house, I like it the way it is. Exactly the way it is. When the real money AH comes out, I worry that all the good gear will be put on the real money AH and/or with gold sales sanctioned and performed by Blizzard the price of items on the gold AH will skyrocket.

But yeah, I've been upgrading my monk's gear every 7-8 levels, never paying more than 5k for any one piece of gear, and getting way better stuff than you can find in the game. Since you generally find loot that's 5-10 levels below your level, I wonder if they planned it like that, so you almost have to go to the AH for the best gear. It does take away from the excitement of getting loot, but it's fine.

Skyrim: "I forgive you Adym. Remember unlike happiness, I will always be here!"

That wasn't just some old guy, but I understand your lack of spoilers :) That questline was one of my favorites.

Any sense of how far you are from beating Skyrim?

Gotta collect EM' all!

You never finish an Elder Scrolls game, you just stop playing when it's finished with you.

The pacing is very good. Id say for me the act with the least good pacing was Act 3. Act 4 was the best followed by Act 1. IV is great because its like a bunch of mini-boss fights to the end and that was really fun.

I just started Nightmare and its much more difficult and as such I need to change my play strategy as its not working as well as it was.

32. Some people beat it in less time round level 20ish though.

Trying out Nightmare. So much harder and as such I die often. Really fun though.

I have been doing a bit more multiplayer in Nightmare. Its quite fun and now that I am back home on my Desktop I plan on playing more of that.

I think you will like it, its much harder but fun. Talked about it in my latest post. Hard to pin why, but it is.