Miners not minors...

The story of Renza continues...

“Taste arrow death!” shouted Renza as she charged into Torchlight. But no one was there to sample her offering of pointed demise. The town was relatively vacant save for the few merchants who began to peek out from behind their stalls. An elderly man dusted off his cap, glancing up to see the Vanquisher’s puzzled face. He arched his brow and pointed to the other end of town.  

Renza dashed off with Chevron at her heels, fresh corpses of villagers and beasties littered the streets. The Vanquisher followed the now clear sounds of battle. The mouth the mine could be seen and two humans battling a mess of furry faced Ratlins. A square-jawed man bashed the whiskered  face of a red eyed rat-man with his shield. The dazed creature was then made a pin cushion by Renza's arrows, dropping it in dead heap.  The other human was magically blocking the bridge that led into town from the mine with ball of crackling force. Chevron took off and began snap his jaws at a cave troll as Renza continued her volley,  quickly launching several arrows into mix dropping two of the small  rat creatures in the rear of the mob. The melee ended, but the man chased after the retreating monsters. The dark haired woman quickly introduced herself as Syl. She pleaded with Renza to follow her friend into the mines. She went on about her Master or some such, but all Renza heard was the part where she said,  

"I can pay you well. Please catch up with Brink before he gets himself killed." 

Renza chased after Brink into the Orden Mines in Torchlight, grinning. 'Shortest. Interview. Ever.'

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to...Torchlight?

As I recently stated on the podcast (Lobbycast ep. 121) I am attempting a fun little self-imposed writing assignment. I have started yet another playthrough of Torchlight on hard AND hardcore (permanent death). I will be writing a sort of character journal, a bit of the ol' roleplaying if you will. So pull up a chair and welcome to Lou's Storytime Lunch Break-

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The Vanquisher

Meet Renza the Vanquisher

Renza had to pee. She really, really had to pee. The floodgates were being knocked with each footstep. Torchlight was just up the road so she didn’t want a denizen of the boomtown to catch her with skirt down. ‘I am a Vanquisher. I am the Baroness of Bows, Radiant Countess of Revolvers. I can snipe a ratlin’s wart from across a field. Now please let me finish my tinkle,’ was something she didn’t want to deal with so early in her prospective employment. The Vanquishers had standards, and public urination was not among them, at least not chiefly.

Her short-legged companion trotted alongside her obediently. His fur was matted and his breathe wreaked of dog, but he was an excellent co-worker. He was always ready for his shift, carried his (and Renza’s) load and worked for table scraps. She called him Chevron, for he was like an insignia of honor and loyalty. He called her Jiggly. He was bred to be an adventurer’s pet infused with hyper intelligence. Hyper intelligent for a dog is still not that far from the cognitive capacities of a 12 year old boy. And she did wear a leather corset very well. Give the dog a break.

 It’s not like he could talk, but Renza felt that her scruffy companion did occasionally eye her too intently to be comfortable. She would just distract him by saying, “you wanna get the ball? Get the ball Chevron, get the ball,” only to throw the classic invisible object. Magically enhanced mutt or not, dogs love balls.

The lovely Vanquisher squirmed the last few paces until she saw Torchlight; the town where the Ember flows like water. Ember, that magic and rare ore that can be used to imbue crafted items with great power or corrupt the most pious heart. However things did not seem well in Torchlight the day that Renza first arrived and it didn’t look like it was going to get any better any time soon. The town was under attack.

Renza looked down at Chevron and said, “Pee first, then, we battle!”

A return to simpler times

You hit the spot Torchlight, and for that I love you

In the midst of E3 with Nintendo putting their lot in with Sony and Microsoft, I look towards a more, dare I say it, casual experience. I long to throw myself into harsh and frightening new Tomb Raider. It created the perfect emotional response, making me have actual concern for Lara Croft (who looks considerably better with her redesign, nicely done Crystal Dynamics). I cannot wait to delve into the depths of Skyrim, but the prospect of the time involved is intimidating. Though my question is, when will be able to immerse myself in this world  when so many other worlds, virtual and real also call my name. Can I casually play these games? I don't think so. I recently tried my hand at Fallout New Vegas, and the looming size of the game sent me scampering. I suppose it's not so much that I want to play casual games, that I need to play games casually.


It was a thirty minute delve into Torchlight last night that I realized that I have become a different kind of gamer. I am simply enamored with Torchlight. It is honest, simple but tasty. I have managed to get towards the end of Dragon Age: Awakenings, though at a handicap. As in previous posts, I have had to dial down the difficulty I play on. So I can enjoy my gaming experience. I have forsaken multi-player, so I can enjoy my gaming experience, and I now I regress to my want of accessible, enjoyable gaming, in lieu of harsh, hardcore experience. Maybe not regress, it feels more like a side-stepping of the blitz of the Modern Warfares, Battlefields, Halos and Gears of Wars. They are awesome achievements of storytelling and gaming, but not for me.

You may be a little too much for me Skyrim, gosh I hope not....

I think it's like this; I have been helping myself to bowls and bowls of ice cream for years, now I just want a scoop. I want to remember why I like games. I have a SNES that sits under the entertainment center that peeks out at me, hearkening back  to those days when I could feel the game in the pit of my stomach. I am sure there will be a time when I can spend more time playing games, but until then, I will opt for the bite sized experiences without feeling bad for not playing more.

I may be calling upon you someday old friend

I think I just lost gamer street cred

Not that I ever had it, but seriously, ever since the little one arrived I have to do what I have never done. I have to play games on easy. Yes. I said it. It is freaking embarrassing. But you just don't understand. I would not be able to make any progress on any game if I played above the most elementary of difficulty.


Is this some sort of noob-again experience? I am not sure. All I know is I thoroughly enjoy my gaming time now that I have so LITTLE of it. I tried trudging through Dragon Age: Awakenings on the normal difficulty setting, but it just wasn't happening. I looked around, over my shoulder, then adjusted the difficulty mid-battle.

I hope my son never finds out, it's downright shameful.

New game to play...GO TO SLEEP BABY!!!! Now for the Kinect!

Seriously, why not? I know that I would buy this game! Heck you could base it off this totally awesome bedtime book. I find it insane that this 8 pound creature can eat for AN HOUR AN FUCKING HALF and not pass out! Then when he is playing drowsy my wife and I glow, in awe of our adorable creation. Until his eyes shoot open as if to blast us with baby lasers. But I digress.

Imagine it's late at night, you are bored to tears from trying to get the little bugger to sleep. Just turn on the Xbox and use the Kinect to sway, swing, bounce, plead and pray for respite. Achievements could be, Restrain Your Primal Scream, DON'T SHAKE THE BABY!, or Sing-Nonsense Words In Hopes Of Hypnotizing The Child And Finally Get Some God Damn Rest.

Kinect Rock-a-Baby, in stores soon!

Parenthood is grand.

Forsooth, it's Forsaken

A little review written by me for a F2P mmo, enjoy!

Forsaken World you are a tricky vixen. I truly wanted to despise you. To begin, the character race and class choices would be familiar to any who have played a fantasy mmorpg within the last 10 years. Relatively uninspired and borrowed models and themes hinder customizing your character looks. After selecting an effeminate male elf (though nearly all of the male choices are effeminate) and choosing the bard class (what can I say, love destroying my enemies with power of song) I started my journey. Not before I choose a birth date for my toon, which would come into play later I assumed.

At the initial launch I was surprised and disappointed that the graphics settings were already at the highest settings. Visually Forsaken World is dated. The characters glide over the terrain not planted in their virtual existence. After accepting several standard fare quests I pushed past the lack luster presentation into the combat mechanics. Not being terribly different from its competitors, Forsaken World’s combat mechanics plays it safe for the most part. However, while playing the bard a set of musical scales and treble cleft is floating on the left hand side of your screen. Using certain abilities in succession acts as notes being played and those notes can then activate a song, which imbues a temporary buff. For that I gave points for being interesting at least. The particle effects of the spells are actually quite nice, and gave me pause to really look at the concept of the art for the game. After destroying several miscreant treants, I eased up on the graphics a bit.

The aforementioned birth date is tied in with the game’s storyline and prayer function. Depending on the in game date your character may be affected by celestial events, providing in game benefits. You can also say a little prayer to gain items and experience several times a session. Though I could not tell if being under the affect of particular sign truly benefited my play it added something a little different to already typical experience.

The npc enemy designs are fairly typical and re-spawn incredibly soon after being defeated. Huge fields filled with bloodthirsty beasts, just waiting for you to destroy ten of them. Though vicious they may seem, standing in their midst did not incur their wrath, even as I slaughtered their brethren. It was after slaying a handful of creatures I was nearly ready to turn off the game. I checked the quest book to see who to turn the quest into and noticed that the npc’s name was hyperlinked. I clicked on it and my character started moving towards the npc, across the zone. The game had me at that point for some reason, call it hand holding or putting the game on rails, whatever, I liked it. I think some may argue that this can discourage some players from exploring, but it kept me playing for a little longer than I planned for some reason. Maybe it saved me the time of searching for the npc in huge city or that it cycled me from one quest, regardless, it’s a nice function for those who tend to get lost or easily distracted.

Through the auto-routing option I leveled my bard to level 10, acquired my trade skills and several pets. I would find other aspects of the game as my elf ran from place to place, exploring menu options and such. I discovered a calendar of events and planner that suggest appropriate activities based on the amount of time you have for that session’s play. 
 

There is something charming about this game. It is not polished, groundbreaking or breathtaking. It probably won’t win any awards or be a fan favorite, but it has a thin veil of charisma. In a sea of F2P options, a little charm can go a long way.

Bottom Line: If you have run to the bottom of the well of mmorpg choices, you could do worse than Forsaken World.            

Add son, subtract gaming?

Hello all! It has finally happened. On 03/27/2011 my son was born! It is an amazing, profound shift in how you view your priorities. I am not surprised that I am generally more interested in baby TV than I am my Xbox, though I have put some hours in over the past couple of weeks while the little guy naps on my chest or his bouncy chair. I know I have become much more sensitive to the type of game I play, even though he isn't aware of it, I am. I guess I am editing myself for content from here on out, no easy task to say the least.

I did take advantage of a discount sale on XBLA last week for Costume Quest. I am a huge Double Fine/Schaeffer fan, I mean I actually liked Brutal Legend. Costume Quest had a flavor of Earthbound for the SNES, great fun, funny dialog and great concept.

I have a challenge for you all, and it is a timely one!

Do something nice for a 1st time parent-

These past weeks have been made easier by friends and family dropping off dinner every night to help us make an adjustment. I really don't know what I would be eating if weren't for these folks. 

Or.

Walk their dog or take out the recycling or some such chore. It makes a difference.

So while its not a "major" charity, it does help your immediate community. Do it!