Day 26: How many floors does this thing have?

I played Dark Cloud a lot today.  I am still working on the first dungeon.  It can't be too much longer that I will either reach the center of the planet or I will finally meet Dran, the person I was sent to find in the cave.  I have gotten much better at keeping my weapons from breaking and keeping myself alive in the cave.  If a weapon does break or I do die, I simply reset the game and try again.  Though the real world doesn't have a reset button, this game does and I make full use of it.

I have Macho's House and the Item Shop in Norune Village finished.  I still have Toan's house, Paige's  house, and Claude's house to finish.  And the small windmill.  And whatever else there is to put in this place.  I don't know.  I thought I was getting close to finishing the village when the Atla in the levels started decreasing, but then it went back up to eight per floor.  So, who knows when it will be finished.

I still really like the game.  And most likely I will spend the night playing.  Since tomorrow's Saturday, I have no obligations other than washing laundry and feeding my pets.  So maybe a marathon gaming session is in order.  I don't know.

I also played some great songs in Osu! this evening.  I went up against a first-class Portuguese player and had several close matches.  One song only had 127 points between the two of us.  Unfortunately, I lost every song we played.  But I was having so much fun that I didn't mind losing.  Going up against such an advanced player and coming so close every time was more fun than winning against a whole room of new players.  I did that tonight as well.  It isn't fun for me.

Well, I didn't play anything else today, and I wrote about all I had to write about, so I am going to get back to playing.  For the coming day, have fun with whatever game you play!

Michael, aka me3lingual, aka 情郎

Day 25: A Dark Cloud looms overhead.

The only game I played today was Dark Cloud.  I am still not finished collecting all of the things for Norune Village.  I still like the game, but I have learned a couple things that really frustrate me.

1. You lose half of your money when you are "nearly destroyed".  And it wasn't something I learned by chance.  I was told by a NPC that that is what happens.  I really just want to start the game all over from the beginning so I can prevent myself from losing my money every time I die.

2. Once you arrange the shop, the mayor will no longer give you items.  I have no money for even a bottle of water, because I keep dying in the cave.   So how in the world am I supposed to prevent myself from dying if I can't afford to buy restorative items?  Especially when I keep getting floor layouts that don't include a spring.

3. If you have items equipped to your weapons and it breaks, the items disappear.  This is a biggie for me.  I have learned to only equip items to the weapons when it is time to upgrade them.  But I don't like that they go away should the weapon break.  And, the weapons are really lame.  Other than my starting dagger, I have a kitchen knife.  If I had a fork and spoon, I could just make a meal of it.

4. Caves get new layouts each time I have to try them a second time.  If I were to die on one of the floors, I don't get the same layout when I go back in.

The only good thing I have learned is that the Atla I collect before I die I get to keep.  That way I can still make the town layouts and advance the game some.  So it's not all bad.

Despite all of these things, I still really like this game.  I am frustrated with it to no end, but I like it.  And with that, I have nothing else to write about today.  So, in the coming day, I hope you enjoy what you play!

Michael, aka me3lingual, aka 情郎

Day 24: Dark Cloud on a Sunny Day

I received a copy of Dark Cloud today in the mail.  I have had a copy once before, but it wasn't mine.  It also didn't work in my PS2 either.  My silver PS2 doesn't play some games, like Xenosaga I, Metal Gear Solid 2, Gran Turismo 4; and Dark Cloud is another on that list.  But all of those games are playable on my black PS2.  So I wanted to finally try it out.  I have to say, I really like this game.  But before I played it, I didn't like the concept of it.

For those that don't know, the main character in this game has to basically put the world back together when it was destroyed by the Dark Genie, being controlled by some guy in a military suit (I haven't reached the part where I find out his name, or I missed the part that tells it).  No, the world isn't physically in pieces just floating around waiting for the hero to come by some magic glue to stick the pieces back together.  But all of the houses, people, belongings, trees, fences, roads, rivers, etc. are all in these magical spheres.  The Fairy King put all of these things in the Atla (the magical spheres), and it is up to the chosen one (whose name is Toan) to collect them and put them back on the world.

That is the main thing that separates this game from other RPGs, the ability to make towns however you want.  Yes, you will fight monsters and search dungeons and whatnot; but you also find the Atla to restore the world to how it was.

When I was first told about this game, I didn't think that rebuilding the world would be fun.  I thought that it would be just a boring mini-game that would unlock special areas or something.  I am glad I still gave the game a chance, because I like it a lot.  I die a lot, because I forget to heal myself sometimes; but I like the game.  Right now, I am still in Norune Town (or whatever it's called).  I forgot to save, so I have to go and start the dungeon all over.

I actually have more experience with Dark Cloud 2, because I borrowed both of them and only 2 would play in my PS2 at the time.  However, I couldn't take the game seriously.  When your first weapon is a wrench, I can't believe you are serious about a journey to save the world.  And the game was really slow to open up for exploration.  I didn't have access to the one mechanic that the Dark Cloud games have going for them.  I have a bid on a copy of Dark Cloud 2, but the auction for it ends in two days.  So, only time will tell on whether or not I will complete the set.

The only other game I played today was Pokémon White.  I finally earned my second Gym badge.  It was surprisingly easy now that I had two Fighting-type Pokémon in the party.  There were I think only five turns I made in the entire battle.  And now I am in the Forest looking for the Team Plasma people after they stole the dragon skull from the museum.  Here's a question: Why would the curator of a museum ask a ten-year-old kid (I assume they are still ten) to go chase after a gang of thieves, rather than alerting the authorities to the theft?  Just because they have Pokémon with them means they are suitable to do such a thing.

Anyway, I will be going back to the Pokémon Center to switch out a couple of my team members, as they aren't really suited for the next Gym's Pokémon.  I tried finding out the main character's age, and discovered the names and preferred Types for the Gym Leaders.  My current team won't do too well against Bug-Types.

Before I forget, I should tell you all that I completed Katamari Damacy last night before I went to bed.  It wasn't too hard at all.  I love that game and I knew beforehand where I needed to go in order to get the required sizes as fast as possible.  I only had to redo one level, and I only had to redo it once.  Sure the night sky isn't as full of stars as it could be, but I reached the credits, and rolled up most of the countries.  It was 171 regions of the world by the end of the song.  In the end, a completion is a completion, and I completed one more game on the list.  So, that's 9 finished, and only a whole lot more to go.

Well, that's is everything I played today.  I hope to see you back here tomorrow, and I wish you lots of luck finishing every game you play in the coming day!

Michael, aka me3lingual, aka 情郎