What I Played Today: April 24

Reckoning, Guild Wars

I tried to play Reckoning today...it was kinda boring. I mean, I just ran through a dungeon and then fell asleep. Sleep time. I also played Guild Wars, but that's not a surprise. I've been doing vanquish quests, because vanquish runs are already highly profitable, and the quest just makes it that much easier of a choice. Although it took over an hour to clear this huge zone, which was kinda bullshit.

What I Played Today: April 7

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Xenoblade Chronicles

So, I am a dumb goddamn guy, and I decided to complete the "find the missing books" quest, despite the fact that I was explicitly warned that it was not worth it, and I was right. It is not! 500 gold? That is literally all you can offer? You have no fucking idea what I went through! So many crimes committed! So many dangerous castles I ventured into! You have got to be shitting me.

Also, I purchased Xenoblade Chronicles, because I heard it was pretty awesome, and I'm not going to lie, it is pretty great. A lot of things are done simply, and the story is pretty well-crafted. Sure, I don't understand it, but the fact that there is a ton to do and the system is intense if not complicated. I like it!

What I Played Today: April 5

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I explored some dumb swamps and ran into some winter fae. Apparently a select few winter fae aren't bad guys, but rather mopey jerks who hang out in places like the House of Sorrows. And they want me to join thier clubhouse! Maybe work on a better sell, guys.

What I Played Today: April 3

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I basically ran around and activated lorestones, because I want bonuses that I don't have to work for. There was one that I couldn't find very well even with detect hidden because it was behind a door and down a hallway. You could see it on the map in one area, but the entrance was 100 yards away down a completely different hallway. That was mean.

What I Played Today: April 2

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I have returned to Reckoning, because I haven't touched it in a while, and I probably should get around to finishing that. In some kind of cross-promotional gimmick, I received a set of Omniblades because they detected a Mass Effect 3 save on my harddrive or something, and man do they suck! Shepard is going to have a hard time fighting the Reapers with these. (Okay, I know it's a gift for new players, but still.) I did a dumb quest that required me to rebuild three crappy staves, and as a reward, I got to keep them! Yeah, thanks, asshole. I really want these three staves that are worse than what I already have. Destiny totally wanted me to put these in my junkpile and autosell to the next idiot I come across.

What I Played Today: March 10

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Buffalo Bison Revenge, Earn to Die

I did something super impressive in Reckoning, today. I killed a giant thing called the Balor. It was not completely unlike the Balrog, just not on fire and a lot bigger. It was going to destroy this city, but I stopped him. Go me.

Also played a few flash games, one involved driving a truck through some zombies (it was dull) and the sequel to a flinging game, which had pretty much the same set-up as the first one, and reused a lot of the same assets, so it felt a bit cheap. I couldn't really tell the difference between the two, which is not a problem just should have. I also didn't finish because it was taking forever.

What I Played Today: March 7

Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning

I activated all the whatever stones, which is good? I don't know, I got bored before I found out why I was even doing this. I don't know, it's going alright, I'm just getting bored. Guess it's good I'm focusing on the main quests here.

What I Played Today: March 5

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Meh, Reckoning. I tried to walk to a place, and instead I passed out and was teleported to a location 200 yards away, and was kinda forced to fight some difficult creatures, including three trolls at once. That's a lot of trolls to fight at once. And then the questgiver exploded. I don't know why. But it was implied that this quest triggered because I read all the lorestones in the area. You know, those things that I had been trained to seek out and investigate due to their decent reward? Yeah, thanks game. Now I feel like a jerk for accidentally killing this one fae.

What I Played Today: March 1

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Magic: The Gathering, Assassin's Creed: Revelations

I have switched up my game! I have adjusted from magic/thief to magic/warrior, and it's a good change, because while the special abilities of my off-class are pretty much the same, the added defensive benefits are really helping out, especially since I have acquired some gear that is great for the magic/warrior class. The longsword may be marginally slower, but deals at least twice as much damage as those dumb knives.

I have finished the House of Ballads chain, and because everyone else is pretty much dead, they put me in charge, which isn't that big of deal, except occasionally when I talk to a fae, they get really uptight and bow and stuff. It is nice that they acknowledge that I'm a person of stature...of course, I'm never allowed to boss them around, but at least they say, "Hey, it's you!"

A few games of Magic: The Gathering, and I can't help but notice how absolutely fair this game is. So well balanced. By that I mean I lose a lot. I have no idea what I'm doing, but for reason I keep coming back to this computer game, because it's quick and easy and itches my CCG niche pretty well.

There is quite a bit of buzz about Assassin's Creed as of late, including confirmation that those not-so-subtle clues laid out in the DLC of Brotherhood are totally coming true and it's going to be awesome. So I figure it's time to catch up, and I played some missions in Revelations. Ezio is still old as shit, and he is totally going to sleep with this redhead. But before that, he needs to hang out with this prince, and I got to do this awesome mission where I wandered around with a lute, occasionally cluing in my assassin friends that they should totally kill the guy I'm pointing it. It was cute, especially since all the songs boiled down to, "I am terrible at playing this song." Heh.

What I Played Today: February 29

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Played just a little of Reckoning today, in which I started the grand wrapup of the House of Ballads story arc, in which some lady had kidnapped everyone somehow, and it's up to me to save them. I ran into the actual Sagrell, which was interesting, I wasn't exactly sure how Fae immortality worked, but I guess he's alive again, and he's like, "Oh, dang, guess I'm not me anymore, oh well." Must be superweird to be a fae.

What I Played Today: February 25

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Magic: The Gathering, Cities XL 2012, Driver: San Francisco

Put a lot of time into Amalur today. Apparently there are these jerk Fae who are attacking everyone they meet, and this is because of some weird disease, so the Fae who are not jerks (well, not that big of jerks) conscript me to go into dungeons and pick plants to solve the problem. Eventually I do, finding out some fae in charge of the mana source or whatever has been corrupting these guys on purpose, so I kill him and I'm told that the problem will totally resolve itself. I still have a feeling that I'm going to keep running into the fae who want to kill me though. Call it a hunch.

Also got to have a knockout dragout fight with that asshole gnome who tried to get me killed. It was pretty epic, on scaffolding in which he constantly fled from me and sent more assassins after me. I ended on a huge note by building up my reckoning gauge to summon a Fate Mace that I used to send him flying through a stainglass window onto the floor of the senate below. It was a pretty cool fight. Then I hit some weird quest loop that failed to take what I'd done before into account, as I was sent to talk to a lady who became my benefactor after my defeat of the asshole gnome, but in this questline she acts like she's never seen me before. It was pretty bad writing, especially when another guy in the chain apparently thought my character was male (um, noooo).

I played a bit more of Magic: The Gathering game, it was pretty entertaining. I finally beat one of the overlords...those guys are ridiculously tough because of their special deck that lets them, say, steal all of our monsters from us and attack with them that turn. Kinda bullshit. But hey, three on one isn't all that fair, I suppose.

I bought Cities XL 2012 edition because it was $10, and man it is a poor man's Sim City. The interface isn't that good, and while it allows for a great deal of customization, and the fact there are so many different plots available is pretty neat, it still feels a little flat. I don't know, maybe there's a more freeform edition...I just never like how you can't just build a neat city in these city games.

I bought Driver last week, for probably more than it was worth, but I recall Driver seemed really fun and that the last mission is fucking bananas, and I want to see those bananas. I played through the first chapter, through my favorite cutscene where the main character jumps his sweet ride off a hill and his partner turns to look at him as if to say, "What the fuck are you doing?" For some reason I really like this part.

What I Played Today: February 24

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

So, I went to this gnome city, and it was full of all these jerk gnomes. Apparently they gave me lodging a house that has this weird dark history or something, like it's Bo Radley's old place or whatever, but they never make clear WHY I wouldn't want to stay there. And of course their political system is so complicated that in the course of walking up to three different guys, I managed to get one of the senators to resign. It didn't make much sense.

What I Played Today: February 23

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Quarriors, BattleCON, Mario Kart Wii

I ran one quest in Reckoning, in which some guy who is apparently a jerk sent me to find the guy who brought me back to life and then sent assassins after us. A lot of assassins too, like twenty or so. That's overdoing it a bit. But they are all dead now, and that guy who I thought died is apparently alive and well. Hurray!

A not super-involved game of Quarriors, with the new tainted dice expansion, which bothered me so little that I barely noticed. The game ended quickly because of some cheaty monsters who give 4 VP per score for some reason. Also a three-way match of BattleCON. I played the assassin guy, and I like his style a lot. The way he flies around the board is fun. But someone was playing the leveler, and since that game went into extra innings, of course she won, because she was swinging for five damage a turn there in the last few turns. You cannot ignore that character.

Then a couple of rounds of Mario Kart. I did okay, although that ghost house level can suck it.

What I Played Today: February 21

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I played quite a bit of Reckoning. After some screwing around with the end of a quest that I barely remembered, I went to the arena, an area exclusive to people who buy the game new, and it was fine. Not great, and for some reason I have to go through multiple load screens during each quest, but I managed to plow through it, only dying twice, and got the key to the manor, a card that gives me +5% damage forever, and thousands of dollars! Seriously, tons of money, and now some guy will just randomly hand me more whenever I want. Now I can go buy up all the skills...maybe reset my fate so I can buy the lower levels of the ones I use a lot, etc. 

What I Played Today: February 19

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Mage Knight Board Game, Rhythm Heaven Fever

I played some Reckoning, in which I met a fae who was being all buggy, and then I helped a bunch of dummies with their dumb problems. Some guy was too lazy to go to some ponds and get some water to pour into another pond, despite the fact that failing to do so would, according to him, break magic for all of time. What a lazy dick. Another guy just didn't want to talk to some uptight fae with fancy titles, and I can hardly blame him for that.

Also tried to play Mage Knight by myself again, and I am just cranky about how the game is initially set up to be impossible. You have to kill monsters to start getting some interesting cards, but there is not a single monster that you can take out without taking damage. And damage in this game is the worst thing ever, as it is a card that sits in your hand and you are never allowed to get rid of unless you waste time to heal the damage. And it take so much movement to get anywhere. Seriously, 5 whole movement points to step on desert during the day? If I don't have a movement card, that is my entire hand!

Also some Rythym Heaven, because it's fun and I have nothing better to do. They are getting ridiculously hard now and expecting me to make sense of some crazy dang scenarios. In one of them, they don't even tell you what you'll be doing, just some you some of those crazy drinking bird things, an octopus, and they are like, "Okay, let's go do that thing we do." Apparently that thing is fly through the air on a blimp! I didn't know you could fly blimps that way.

What I Played Today: February 14

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Triple Town

I did a dungeon in Reckoning, in which there was a troll, and she was a huge bitch! It was the first legitimately challenging fight, which was nice for once, really got to stretch out my teleporting ability. But otherwise, meh.

Also got really close to the fourth tier village in Triple Town. I do not know how you get over 3,000,000 points without spending $20 in this game, because the game tries to screw you constantly. I kept buy bushes until I realized it was diminishing returns, and I could get my trees where I needed them. The fact that they keep on handing you grass, the lowest level building, like it's a favor despite what your board looks like is just nonsense.

What I Played Today: February 12

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Mage Knight Board Game

I completely zoned out playing Reckoning today! I just fell asleep in this terrifying land full of spiders. While I jumped around here and there, I mostly spent my time saving a poor village from a fae called the Widow, who wanted to take over this town for reasons that were not superclear. Oh, and she commanded a horde of terrifying spiders. So many spiders. But this path gave me my first stash location, so now I can store that Shepard's armor I'm never going to wear, and really upgraded my gear. Having heard that health regen is really good to have, I visited some monks who are all about gem crafting, and they hooked me up, and it is a little better, but doesn't make you invincible by any means...it just gives you some buffer so you don't walk into a fight with low health. But I'm having a great deal of fun, and I haven't even left the starting forest yet. There are still two more biospheres I can travel to.

Also tried a full game of Mage Knight board game, and made it to round 5 (three hours later) before I realized I was boned and it was 1 in the morning and I should just go to bed. I think I know how to play now, but there are a lot of tiny decisions to make all the way throughout. The combat is unforgivably aggressive, and since only about 30% of the cards actually grant you combat abilities, it can be hard to swing against the big guys. The fact that you can only go through your deck once each round also makes things tough if you forgot that you tossed all the cards you needed already. But it's an interesting thing, with a lot of give and take, and it's one I will try to avoid playing with some players I know get paralyzed by decisions.

What I Played Today: February 11

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, Rift

Still in Amalur, I've found out a little more about my destiny and got a stone of some kind, and then participated in some song to take the seat of a former fae (A fae my very existence probably helped kill, now that I think about it), which should be against the rules, but for some reason everyone just goes along with it. I did get an awesome ring from it, just straight up +5% to all damage, no questions asked. Lot of little modifiers and such in this game. I also now have a teleport ability from climbing up the magic/thief tree, which is a super helpful ability.

I put in a few minutes with Clash of Heroes, because I remembered that I owned it. It was okay...

Also played Rift, which was also okay. Everything was okay today.

What I Played Today: February 10

Mage Knight Board Game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I got the Mage Knight board game, finally, after weeks of hemming and hawing, then finding out it was sold out, then realizing it was going to be sold out for a while, so I finally ordered it from Atlanta. I played a turn to try and get my bearings, and it an unusually little beast. There's a small deck building mechanic, because of course there is, but there's a lot of fiddly bits to worry about. I can understand why they suggest playing a simple intro game beforehand.

Also tucked into Amalur, it's coming along nicely. I did a bit of screwing around, trying to get all the talking stones in one area, seeing what the deal was. It's a fine enough mechanic, I just don't understand why I have to completely max out the detect hidden tree to be told where to find these.

What I Played Today: February 9

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

I bought Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which I wasn't excited to do, for some reason, but then I started playing and I really enjoy it! The beginning was about as bluh as the demo, but after I got out and learned some more of the system, it was really starting to come together. I like the class system, in which the more you invest in the talent tree, and once you hit a certain threshold, you unlock a destiny, which gives you bonuses to stuff you care about. The combat is smooth, and the various dumb quest givers you meet all have interesting little stories. I'm cool with it, is what I'm saying.

I also like this world in which fate is very real, but you can totally trick it if you want, like the case where I help this thief steal a ring by reenacting this song, and it works! Somehow, by playing the appropriate roles in this little play, a troll actually shows up, holding this ring that the lady wanted. History is literally repeating itself, including certain characters just walking straight out of the ether. How does that work? So I like it, it's good fun, and I'll play this thing.