The last few days...
By TaliciaDragonsong 10 Comments
All went like this, goddamnit.
Nintendo franchises we need to see again soon.
By TaliciaDragonsong 51 Comments
There's always been a few franchises that Nintendo seems to forget, I really hope any of these series will be back real soon with a real sequel!
4) Star Fox
I think I played through Star Fox 64 (Also known as Lylat Wars here) about twenty times, breaking high scores, taking alternate paths and beating the hard version of Star Wolf without a sweat in the end.
The characters were funny and never boring or annoying (even Slippy was just comic relief, like Navi in Zelda the internet just made it seem worse) and the surprise guests like Bill or Kat were always a pleasant addition.
I must add, I loved Star Fox Assault, especially the mulitplayer.
There's gold in those there airships, the dogfighting is grand and some of the levels in Assault were made for just that purpose I believe.
I can only hope that a new Star Fox will have a pleasant mix of all range mode and on rails shooting, as both are strong points of the franchise and I'm sure there's much to be done with it.
Star Wars The Old Republic kinda scratched that itch with this level, but I wanna Star Fox again!
You chase down a Dreadnaught that's been heavily damaged, the level throws all kinds of stuff at you.
While you dodge lasers, fighters and even huge assault ships that try to block your advance with some upside down blockading you have to disable the giant ship as much as you can for your allies, and their own big ships, to finish the job.
3) F-Zero
I'll give, I'm not one for racing, at all, but F-Zero and in particular it's icon Captain Falcon have always been great to follow.
Falcon was a welcome addition to Smash Bros from the first version and the story mode, with gorgeous visuals, on the GC version made it very fun to play.
And hard! Holy shit! That's the best thing about F-Zero innit? Blazing through tight corridors, soaring through the air above insanely cool looking neon cities and rushing along a tube suspended above lava.
I wanna see the Captain back in action, I wanna see speed that makes Wipe-Out fans cry (sorry!) and I want to see futuristic level design that will make you crash into a wall because you were gaping at its beauty.
2) Pikmin
Come on, have you played the first or its sequel? It looks great, has a quirky sense of humor and the Pikmin themselves were funny little beasts.
When playing the first and the second I can only remember I was so impressed with the enviroments, the lush look of the fauna and the water that looked so inviting to jump in (and then all your Pikmin drowned, what the fuck!).
All the manner of beasts out to get, or annoy, you were something that gave this game flair too!
From all the types of Bulborbs to the huge birdheads that came out of the ground to commit Pikmin genocide on your happy little squad and to the grotesque bosses, the wild life was varied and believable. They all presented a danger, although easily countered after the first few times, that had you on your toes every time you played.
Sure Pikmin were expendable, you could always get more, but there was a certain something to failing them, you genuinely felt bad.
I still remember the first time I forgot to call several Pikmin back at nighttime, and saw them get devoured as the ships took off.
Breaks my heart.
1) Earthbound
Do I need to explain this?
I guess I do, just a little.
I'll admit first that I never finished the game, I played to the second or third town but from what I played I can only hope there will be a remake one day (why isn't there?) and if the gods be good, a sequel!
The music was super catchy, the enemies weird as they come and the plot was pretty darn amazing.
As far as bad guys go, Gigyas was just mentally terrifying, the thing looks like some unborn baby but twisted...I dunno how to explain it but this picture of it gave me the creeps (how's that for immersion?).
I hope to see them, Lucas and Ness, back in action soon.
Pit got another shot thanks to Smash Bros, so Ness and Lucas should be next on the list!
But knowing our luck we'll get a ice climbers remake!
Any Nintendo franchises you've been hoping for every E3 Conference?
Still clinging to that copy of Mach Rider? Do tell!
The trick to 2012 is to keep breathing.
By TaliciaDragonsong 5 Comments
Happy new year to all you duders and duderettes!
I hope that this year we will get some truly fun and amazing games to play and not just sequels, shooters or lack of quality titles!
Many good and long awaited games have launched in the last stretch of 2011 and there's still more to come in 2012 for sure!
I could tell ya what I'm looking forward but truth be told I'm not looking that much into the future right now.
The few things I want are simple:
1) A new Timesplitters.
This needs to happen, if there's any shooter that can succeed this year it's gotta be Timesplitters.
Sure, Duke Nukem Forever (not played it yet, sue me) is kinda the same thing in terms of humor, but the difference is that Timesplitters was clever and, to put it in a good way, the Saint's Row of shooters.
I want to break all the windows in a chinese store with bricks while giant gooses and gingerbread men are trying to kill me, while playing as a circus bear with a hat.
Now.
2) Mass Effect 3 - RPG
I want it to be an RPG, I want to experience what Mass Effect 1 made me feel.
I had played a load of games on the next gen (ps3/xbox360) before I tried Mass Effect 1 but not 20 minutes in I stopped, took a breath and said to myself: This is next gen.
Truly magnicifent combination of action, story and immersion.
Back then, Mass Effect was the new Star Wars.
Then ME2 happened, which was still a good game that made my gaming hobby more then worth it, and suddenly there's a linear plot, a dirty dozen kinda thing, DLC and pre order shit all over the place and very little focus on the actual story.
I could rant on about how you just did random levels so you could get Thane to talk more about his fishy-ness or how the combat felt good yet not very mass effecty but I'll save it.
I do want to close off with this:
Weapon modifications in ME3 are supposedly bringing back the RPG in the ME3...so I guess Ghost Recon Advanced Warsomething is also an RPG? It has deeper and more complex weapon modding then ME3 claims to have...
3) Lowered prices on accessoires and some games.
Come on, 45 euro for a wireless controller? 35 for a wired?
You know what, I'll take that 45 euro and buy 2 or 3 used games for that.
I also don't mind paying a certain price for newly released games but there comes a time where you just have to lower your price.
I'm looking at you Nintendo and Starcraft 2.
I don't care what you offer me, time's been changing and I'd rather spend my 40-60 on several things then one thing.
Yes, both companies are known to give you your money's worth but not everyone thinks the same or plays the same amount as others.
I'd be more happy with say 2 DS games (Lets say Zelda Hourglass and Mario and Luigi Partners in Time) then I will be with other higher priced things.
But that will probably be me, I got things to pay for that don't leave me much to work with.
Which brings us to the next piece, my personal life.
Lets sum that up too, it seems to work for my inspiration.
1) I survived NaNo!
Yeah this is old new by now but I did and I feel better because of it, I found a passion that makes me feel even better then videogaming and it's something that I can entirely control myself. It's not limited by money, resources or time (well..perhaps a little!) but it's all up to my own dedication.
Discovering writing as a passion was like Neo becoming the One, all of a sudden I think in words, in sentences, in arcs and plots and characters.
A friend of mine had an accident awhile ago and my first thought upon hearing it was: How would this translate to writing?
I know, lil on the sick side but I never claimed to be normal.
So this year I hope to finish a new story I've started working on.
Don't care if its gonna end up at a publisher someday, I just want to get it out this year.
2) I survived/learned to live with two diseases.
Yeah, this is a lil hard to put down but I was diagnosed with Tietze Syndrome and a stage 2 breast cancer last year.
Tietze is probably gonna stay a chronic problem, my docter claims, but that's something I can learn to live with (already working on that) and I can actively prevent from disabling me too much.
It's basically giving me trouble breathing, moving my limbs or intense chest pains.
The other thing, the breast cancer, has been under treatment for the last half year, thankfully my body did not reject the meds or the treatments and early februari there will be a surgical procedure that will (hopefully) completely remove the threat.
Finger's crossed! I count myself very lucky, I've known several people who weren't...
When the doctor informed me two weeks ago I was very happy and that alone was the best christmas/new years present I ever got.
I've thanked every deity I could google for that news.
Not sure what else there would be to tell, so lets skip to the games right? Right.
I wanted to make a top 10 but my wrist hurts and I'm not that into top tens.
At least not the kind with pictures and links and clickable names, so excuse me!
Let's have a lil top 5 shall we?
5) Gears of War 3
I love co op shooting, I love a little story and I do love Horde modes, so GoW3 took a lot of my free time and I had great hectic fun playing this overall.
I never was a big fan of the franchise (nor shooters in general) but I really liked this game's execution of it, cover based is just kinda neat.
4) Skyrim
I love dragons, I love fantasy, I love vikings.
3) Dark Souls
One of the few challenges I faced as a gamer in awhile.
Sure there's games that are a little hard but Dark Souls kinda just rips you a new one for the silliest mistakes.
And yes, you can get insane armor, farm souls or poke everything with your spear (man, the, fuck, up) but I decided to go in with a scimitar and I had a grand old time.
I'll admit, I'm still in New Londo and have not finished the game but I will, as soon as I feel the need to challenge myself some more, it surpised me as Monster Hunter Tri did last year and it gave me a challenge, for that alone it's one of my favorite games ever.
2) Star Wars The Old Republic
I love Star Wars, I love(d) Bioware, I love storytelling.
While not everything in this game is as good as it should be, it is a very good mmo that has potential to be around for a long while.
My only gripe is that I'm not looking forward to certain planets on my second character and I'm quite sure I'll be sick of all of them on my third.
Which is strange as I will gladly start up Warcraft or Lord of the Rings right now and level yet another character to the level cap with all the joy in the world.
The quests in SWTOR are super but the story element kinda makes you feel part of it...but only the first time, after that you're spacebarring you way to the next dialog choice to hear your characters awesome comment, and then you spacebar the fuck out it again.
I already lost dozen of hours in this game and I will for at least the next year, if only to level my smuggler because I rarely had this much fun with a story before.
Oh and I will be leveling a Bounty Hunter and Inquisitor too sometime next year, I want to experience 'the dark side' too!
1) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
I got a Zelda tattoo on my shoulder, I cry when I hear the theme and I got a fetish for- nevermind.
I've only completed the first two (three?) temples but I am in love with the art style, the new races and the overal feel of the game.
There's more to do, stuff to upgrade and there's even a few puzzles that made me scratch my head, which is a rare thing for games to accomplish nowadays, especially a Nintendo title.
The gadgets are fun and make great use of the Wii-mote but hot damn I'd be lying if I didn't admit I'd rather have a controller.
But that's not stopping me though, the game is great and I'd play it with my feet if I'd have too.
Zelda <3.
I always end up totally loathing what I wrote at the end of these things, so I'll just wish you all the best for 2012, hope you make those dreams come true (Remember, WORK FOR IT, it's not gonna happen by itself, and if it does its not worth it) and hope to see you all next year again.
Special shoutout to AhmadMetallic, he gave me the yearly sub a little while back and I'm still very grateful for that! Thankee!^^
Now I'm gonna hit submit before I decide to ctrl + a + backspace this motherfucker, put on some Garbage and play some more SWTOR.
Take care, stay creative and challenge yourself everyday!
So I broke a quest...Hircine's Hunt Spoilers.
By TaliciaDragonsong 30 Comments
So I was playing Skyrim, having a grand ole time when I come across some sad geezer.
Tells me his little girl was ripped to shreds by a man and he was devasted.
I felt sad for him for about a second before I ran towards city jail to get specifics from the (by now) prisoner.
He informed me he was actually a werewolf, but tricked by Hircine (some Daedric motherfucker).
Funny Daedric boy gave him a ring said to control his bloodlust.
Guess what, he lied.
So he's in jail, wanting me to help out.
I agree, and promptly he gives me the ring (which auto equips and stays locked...bloody fantastic) and tells me to go find Hircine, asking me to slay a great white stag to get the Lord of the Hunt's attention.
I make a beeline for the woods, telling my companion to stay put, as I didn't wanna mess up my reputation as a non werewolf to...well...werewolf.
Finding the stag by a small body of water, it curiously raises his head towards me and before he could grasp what was happening he had an arrow in his head.
So a wild Hircine appears and asks me what's up.
I tell him about the ring and that I don't want it.
He considers it while I should appease him some more, ironically sending me after werewolf boy (who transformed and got out of jail I guess) to teach him a lesson.
So I do, meet some other sods hired (forced?) to do the same yet most are either dead or dying.
Finding mr werewolf not far into his hiding cave he's genuinely shocked by my presence.
I tell him what Hircine asked me to do.
He urges me to reconsider, he would stay secluded and be my ally.
I agree and together we finish of the rest of the hunters without much trouble.
He thanks me for his help and tells me he will make this spot his home.
I find that I can unequip the ring and drop it quickly before...
Planting both my axes in his hairy behind and taking his skin.
Appeasing mr Hircine (fight a werewolf or fight a god? I know what I like) enough for him to manifest as a spirit of sort.
Thanking me greatly and giving me a nice piece of armor fashioned from wolfboy's fur.
I pick up the dropped ring for future purposes (reverse pickpocketing a transforming werewolf ring into a king/or such's pocket? Yes please!) and loot the hunters.
I then walk outside the cave, get confronted by Hircine again who is angry with me for not killing the werewolf...
But wait, didn't he just thank and reward me?
He tells me its no matter, since in slaying his other hunters I still proved myself enough in his eyes.
He happily skips off into the realm of gods in his stag spirit form (queer fellow) and I'm left a little confused.
While I'm not complaining, at all, I was a little disappointed they missed this in testing.
I tend to find the limits or break the quests often in these type of games and it reminds me that its not all as open as lead to believe.
Thanks for reading!
TL:DR version: GET THIS FUCKING GAME.
Skyrimjob.
By TaliciaDragonsong 3 Comments
I'm conflicted.
Currently immensely enjoying Battlefield 3.
Writing for NaNoWriMo in my spare time (when I'm not gaming that is).
Still slodging around in Dark Souls.
Doing some skirmishes in Lord of the Rings Online.
Which is all fine and dandy, but there's a big problem.
Saint's 3 comes out the 15th, which is the date I will receive it since I pre ordered it.
Yet Skyrim comes out the 10th or 11th (my gamestore wasn't too sure, so who knows when they will get it).
Saint's 3 I have been waiting for since I first picked up a controller when I was a toddler and now its finally here.
But Skyrim! I love dragons, vast forests and other fantastic areas like frozen peaks or bustling little villages...I'm exactly that type o' gal!
Yet Oblivion's (and fallout 3/NV's) combat totally burned me out.
I set it to easy to have a little sense of real battle instead of whacking away at a rat for a minute to murder it, which was not fun.
I'm more a real time action person when it comes to this style, just totally done with it.
Will the combat have changed enough for me to love it (and play it loads) again? Wtb demo! :(
I could get Skyrim, things worked out financially better then first thought, but at most I would have 5 days to play it.
Can I really combine BF3, Saints3, Dark Souls, Lotro and Skyrim and still have time to do other non gaming related stuff?
Back to leveling my Champion in Lotro meanwhile I guess...
DC Universe Online
By TaliciaDragonsong 4 Comments
So I downloaded it through steam!
Then I installed it!
Now the SoE launchpad won't work!
So I uninstalled it!
My life is so much fun!
The goddamn internet.
By TaliciaDragonsong 11 Comments
About time to blog, because I cannot stop writing words! Yay!
So, sup?
- AhmadMetallic gifted me a yearly sub, he just got promoted to coolest guy I know, he has good music taste too, score!
- NaNoWriMo, Hizang already made a topic on it, but I decided to go for it and join in.
- Still playing Dark Souls. Very much loving it.
- Busy month coming up.
- What's with the hate?
AhmadMetallic rocks.
True story, guy is sound as a pound and has very good music taste!One of the awesome members of Giantbomb and he proved that this site, and its members and their actions, are the best on the internet.
I have not felt so much at home and ease at a site before then here.
Thank you Ahmad and thank the rest of you sods! <3
National Novel Writing Month
So I've been thinking 'bout this for awhile.I like to call myself a writer but doing so without any real accomplishments is foolish.
NaNo is the perfect experience to well...gain experienc!
The goal is to get a 50,000 novel done in a month.
Its more about quantity then quality, showing you can work under pressure and a deadline.
Pretty confident I will at least make half of it happen, got a basic plot and charactes outlined, going for the fantasy genre.
I found that in my regular stories, often based on real life events, I am too much chained to reality and its laws/what is accepted, fantasy will let me conjure up motherfucking dragons and wizards on giant squids.
Yes, I did take my medicine today, hush.
Dark Souls
Seriously fuck this game, fuck it fuck it fuck it.I love it so much, its really challenging me.
And I already hear people complain but oi, say what you want, I am enjoying it and I feel like its challenging me.
And since I'm the one buying and playing it, sod off!
I already lost huge amount of souls to stupid mistakes, got smashed a dozen times by a titanite demon in Sen's Fortress basement (seriously, guy has too much hp compared to his bro's earlier) or just mauled by a random axe wielder because I was rushing.
I love it...
I will play this for a long while!
Busy month, yo
November, ah, how lovely.Besides three birthdays of people dear to me and my own, NaNoWriMo, Saints Row The Third and the new Zelda...
I'm also looking forward to War in the North, I want it to be good!
And ofcourse Skyrim, hell its gonna be ace but I have no spare cash to get it.
First up I need to get birthday presents, pay my bills and treat myself to a new piercing (or perhaps tattoo, if money allows) for my birthday.
Lets not even begin to talk about all the appointments I have this month.
Is it December yet?
What's with the goddamned hate?
No really, what's up?There's blockbusters coming out soon and I'm already getting sick of all the shallow hate.
Don't like Uncharted? Don't play it and don't open topics about you not liking it.
Same goes for BF3, Skyrim or anything else coming out soonish.
Leave people be.
And really, if people go out of their way to proclaim one game bad and their own favorite game better...well, why the fuck are you wastin' your time internet bitchfighting if the game is so goddamned good? Go play it then and shut up.
You know, I have to apoligise, these blogs are usually pretty horrible since they're so anchored to rules and stuff, which is why I prefer the fantasy writing.
Nothing has to make sense, since everything does in your head.
I'm looking forward to the coming times, despite all the bad things happening in my life and the usual problems...but I'm optimistic!
5,000th posts?
By TaliciaDragonsong 7 Comments
Hell, this is my 5,000.
What exactly did I contribute to Giantbomb so far I thought earlier today?
I wrote some blogs, earned 2 wiki points for adding a cover and mostly pissed a lot of people of.
Made some enemies, made some friends, made some cyberstalkers and made some people cry (with or without laughter involved).
I often hear that my opinions/comments are neutral and levelheaded, well thought out or just amazingly fitting ( yep).
Truth be told that's all very nice but I just comment for the hell of it, when I feel like it, I'm glad people can agree with me on some points and saving them the time to type because my sayings are quotable is nice.
Nothing was ever accomplished by being silent, except for hiding in a closet holding your breath until the rapist walked past but that's hardly linked to a forum.
So I ain't stopping now.
Basically, I have no clue what to say, what to do or how to continue.
I just stalk these forums in my spare time since most of the people here are amazing and the discussions here are often of higher quality.
So that's worth coming back to.
I'm not even posting this to the forums, since I can't seem to care for it.
So yay, that's 5K and I ain't leaving for a long while.
Music makes the game.
By TaliciaDragonsong 32 Comments
Don't you agree?
It often does I find in genre's like RPG, MMO or Sports (blazing down the mountain with SSX3 radio pumping!).
The mere sounds can either invoke emotion or inspire you to some crazy antics, possibly becoming a great memory if anything remotely reminds you of the song.
I want to take a look at the music from The Lord of the Rings Online.
I've started playing this game a long time ago, on and off, but have been a steady player since it went free to play.
The music in the game is amazing and very memorable, that's why I'm gonna share my top 5 with you.
You should really give it a listen, the game's music is amazingly well crafted!
On with the show!
5. Baruk Khazad
Its the battle cry of the dwarves, this tune is filled with menacing vocals with some great drums and trumpets (I guess? xD) setting the amazing melody.You'll find this sticking in your head...and the voices are just downright impressive.
This song is often playing when encountering evil Dwarves (Dourhand clan or such) or when doing a skirmish in the city of Gondamon.
4. Gondamon's Theme
This song is a bit slower, it often plays in either Gondamon or Thorin's Hall (the dwarves' home) or in some off their inn's/auction houses/banks, generally where things are quiet. The tune is amazingly fun and slow, it sounds like what must be a dwarven dance, very simple yet alluring. Picture in a fortress and snowed woodland as far as the eye can see and you'd have an idea how this song made me feel when I first walked into Gondamon.
3. Theme of Men (Bree town)
If you'll spend anytime around human settlements, particulary Bree town, you'll hear this jig and you'll come to love it.It sounds cosy and fun, a bustling city full of trade and quite a downtown feeling, like walking past a streetband.
The clapping, foot tapping and finger clicking makes it sound down to earth and honest.
2. War Pipes
I engage a harmless harvest fly and this starts blazing...I was sold.This often plays in the area of Evendim when engaging in battle but its also the main theme for the Trouble in Tuckborough skirmish.
I think its bloody amazing, the start with the pipes goes right into the sweet rythm and the drums keep pounding for what is surely to be an epic battle (with an harvest fly, no less). Easily one of my favorite's.
1. The Shire
When I first walked into the Shire and this started playing, greeted by the rolling lush landscapes, farms and overall simple life of the Hobbits...I nearly cried.Amazingly simple, yet so catchy and so heartfelt. I don't have much love for Hobbits but the Shire is an amazing zone to behold, listen to and play in.
Hobbits are like children, often not grasping the bigger things at hand and all they often care about is food, love and fun.
Which is exactly what more people should do!
Well, that's a top 5.
Looking these links up I came across another dozen of great tracks.
The battle music is really catchy without getting too annoying, there's bombastic tracks (try walking into Loth-Lorien the first time without gasping) and there's subtle guitar jigs in the inn.
Lord of the Rings Online might have some flaws, not everyone will be as commited to it as I have been these past few years but if you have any love for music, you should at least take a gander in the game if you ever find the time, its free anyway!
Thanks for reading/listening!
Typical girly blog #1
By TaliciaDragonsong 6 Comments
Never was a girl with a wicked mind,
But everything looks better,
When the sun goes down.
I had everything: opportunities for eternity
And I could belong to the night.
Your eyes, your eyes,
I can see…in your eyes, your eyes.
Sue me, its weekend.
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