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Skylanders (360): COMPLETED!

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Look! Look at that thing in the post title! And the tag list! LOOOOOK!! It says “completed”!!

That’s right. About 18 months after starting the game, my daughter and I finally completed it today. We’d been just a couple of levels off the end for months and months, but every time we got a new Skylander we played some earlier levels to level it up a bit and get money to buy upgrades.

Today, we went for one final push and did it. OK, so she dropped out of the final boss battle (there was just too much going on for her to cope with), and until I figured out that Double Trouble seemed to be the best at dealing sustained damage on Kaos we went through about ten Skylanders (although Spyro and Dark Spyro both hung on for ages).

The main issue with the final boss was that it took aaaaages. Like, a good 40 minutes. There’s only a short window in each “wave” where you can deal damage, and Kaos has a massive energy bar. The assorted minions weren’t a problem, and the hydra’s attacks were mostly simple to dodge (especially with [Dark] Spyro), but it just took forever to whittle that bar down to nothing. Eventually though, he was bested and Skylands was safe once more. Well, for a while anyway. Skylanders Giants beckons.

Just in time for Skylanders Swap Force, the third game, to be released. Ho hum.

Pikmin 3 (Wii U): COMPLETED!

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pikmin3end15 hours, apparently. Which equated to 39 in-game days. That’s how long it took me to find the Cosmic Drive key, best the final boss, and escape from Certainly Not Earth and head home with all the fruit juice and seeds I could carry.

Well, most of the fruit juice and seeds. 43 of the 66 fruits available, in fact.

And rather a lot of carrotmen died for the cause. Er, about 700, all in. Which sounds horrific, but you have to remember – without my intervention there’d be only 5 of the things in total. It’s only thanks to my Pikmin Breeding Programme that almost two thousand tasty, tasty Pikmin were even brought into existence, so it’s worth it, overall.

But the game! I haven’t mentioned the game!

It’s Pikmin. In fact, it’s just like Pikmin 1, only without the hard limit on how many days you can stay on the planet before you perish. Sure, there’s a movable limit (it’s determined by how much juice you have – but I had enough for another 30+ days when I’d finished), but it takes away all the stress of rushing the game. There’s still a daily time limit, but that’s not so bad. Aside from when you get near the end of the game and SPOILER happens and you’re left with no juice at all and have to get some quick sharp that very day (and, probably, the next couple of days too).

You have a couple of extra Pikmin types over the first game (and lose the purple and white ones from the second game) – weak but flying pink ones, and heavy rock ones – but the main difference is the graphics. Oh my, the gorgeous, HD, colourful beautiful graphics.

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I controlled the whole game with the GamePad. Sure, lots have said it’s better with the remote and nunchuk, but I couldn’t be bothered with that. I didn’t feel out of control at any point anyway, and having the map in my hands was very useful, especially for directing my crew around.

Next task is to return to the game to get the last of the fruit, which I’ll enjoy doing because it is an utterly fantastic game. It might be almost a year later than expected, but it was well worth it.

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS): COMPLETED!

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I am not a big fan of the Donkey Kong Country series of games. I didn’t like the SNES ones, I didn’t like the Game Boy ones, and although Donkey Kong 64 started well, the collecting killed it for me.

As a result, I didn’t even have a slight interest in the Wii game “Donkey Kong Country Returns”, of which this is a 3D “remix”. So why then did I play it? Firstly, curiosity. Secondly, it was free. And thirdly? Lots of people raving about it.

And today, I completed it. And it was hard.

Oh boy was it hard. I don’t think I’ve played such an unrelentingly difficult game in ages. Certainly not to completion, anyway (and Cloudberry Kingdom and VVVVVV don’t count due to unlimited lives and instant, nearby, respawn points). Somehow, though, it’s the difficulty that I enjoyed. The satisfaction of finally beating one of the hard-as-nails barrel rocket levels. Or besting that robot chicken boss even though it seemed impossible for the first 27 lives.

And not once did I resort to using the Super Guide flag-waving pig thing. Woo!

My impressions of the game besides the difficulty, then. Well, it’s pretty. So very pretty, especially in 3D. It plays really well too, and I’m not really understanding the control problems people have had with it. Sure, “grab” on R is a bit odd, but you get used to it. The timing for “bouncing on a baddie to boost jump” is tricky, especially on the later levels where it’s essential, but not really a control issue. From the comments people have made, it seems lots of players seem to be randomly rolling off cliffs and dying. Not really sure how they’re doing that.

I’ve said that the game was free (it was part of the “So Many Games” promotion a few months back), so would I, with hindsight, have bought it? Yes. Probably. Not for the full price, but maybe £15. Will I be going back and 100%ing the game? No. Some of the levels are too stressful to complete normally, let alone grabbing jigsaw pieces and KONG letters. I think it’ll go back on the virtual shelf with a 3/5 sticker, and I’ll be happy it’s done, but not sad to see it gathering dust.

Dead Space – Completed

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After all that it was my mind playing tricks, Nicole was not even alive. I've killed Necromorphs by the bucket-load, battle with the hunter, leviathan & finally the hive mind. The marker & even the planet is now destroyed.

I was a bucket of nerves all the way through because you just never knew what was around the corner, would anything jump out at you or drop down from the ceiling. The tension created by the music & sound effects had me on the edge of my seat until I reached the safety of the tram. 

I love the tram system it was the one place I could breathe easier knowing that  I have reached the end of another terrifying chapter. This relief would only last for a few seconds before it would transport me to the next destination.

The Pulse Rifle & Plasma Cutter almost became an extension of the rig armour. Eventually when fully upgraded they could kill any necromorph with a couple of shots.

Fifteen hours of horror gameplay took me back to the first time I played Resident Evil. Technology has moved on over the years but the fear remains the same.

This was no Mario saves the princess expedition. The Princess was dead before Isaac had even arrived. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to play the next game in the series. I also don't think the next  game will have the same enjoyment, fear or tension that I experienced with the first game.

But I do admit to being a little curious to see how the storyline develops. I may yet decide at some point to return to space. If I can muster up the courage.

Dead Space – Completed

Posted on Written by

After all that it was my mind playing tricks, Nicole was not even alive. I've killed Necromorphs by the bucket-load, battle with the hunter, leviathan & finally the hive mind. The marker & even the planet is now destroyed.

I was a bucket of nerves all the way through because you just never knew what was around the corner, would anything jump out at you or drop down from the ceiling. The tension created by the music & sound effects had me on the edge of my seat until I reached the safety of the tram. 

I love the tram system it was the one place I could breathe easier knowing that  I have reached the end of another terrifying chapter. This relief would only last for a few seconds before it would transport me to the next destination.

The Pulse Rifle & Plasma Cutter almost became an extension of the rig armour. Eventually when fully upgraded they could kill any necromorph with a couple of shots.

Fifteen hours of horror gameplay took me back to the first time I played Resident Evil. Technology has moved on over the years but the fear remains the same.

This was no Mario saves the princess expedition. The Princess was dead before Isaac had even arrived. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to play the next game in the series. I also don't think the next  game will have the same enjoyment, fear or tension that I experienced with the first game.

But I do admit to being a little curious to see how the storyline develops. I may yet decide at some point to return to space. If I can muster up the courage.