Narration Room: April 2011

Friday, April 29, 2011

Buddy Rush: Cutieblin's Ultimate Attack

Cutieblin in Chapter 7 is not to be underestimated. She has Booreye's No-yield Shot. She can rain arrows. And she has her Ultimate Attack:

Cutieblin Ultimate Technique: Sob Story!!!

This was after she had mercilessly knocked out one of my buddies...

Buddy Rush: Contents

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Buddy Rush: Horn of Succubus

I wonder how many horns does Esline the 'Sercubus' have.

A horny collection.

Maybe she has a factory mass-producing them or something.

In case you're wondering what the horn does:

Horn of Succubus.

What's weird is the unusual number of horns Esline's been giving out like business cards.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Buddy Rush: Skill Number

I just upgraded Betty Jr's skill and I found this:

I don't know what to make of this.

Did you notice the typo? At least I think it's a typo.

What if it is not a typo...?

Buddy Rush: Contents

Monday, April 25, 2011

Cross Edge: Action Count Timer

I still manage an hour of Cross Edge here and there. Game progress is slow since a lot of grinding is necessary and I haven't the time. Been very busy with my writing and you-know-what.

I can see that some people may not like the Action Count timer. This timer appears when the player selects a skill. The player then has to select the next skill before the timer expires. The timer refreshes after each skill is performed. Some people may not like the limited time available to evaluate the situation and decide what to do.

However, I find that the timer does add some challenge to the battle system. I have limited time to examine the situation and select the next skill. I also have limited time to come up with a solution if I meet a problem. Like not noticing a character has been disabled or the opponent's break gauge is not empty. Which is why I take the time to look around before I start the timer.

In addition to that, it keeps the action moving along. Combos look great since skills are performed one after another with little pause in between. If unlimited time had been given, combos would look less impressive.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

My Little Army

A lot of good free games have been released this month. Another such recent game is My Little Army by Rudy Sudarto and his team. It is basically a strategy game where the player recruits little characters to attack the opposition. I like the cutesy art style. It is quite pleasant to watch little large-headed characters go beat up other little large-headed characters.

The pumpkin is a projectile, not a unit!

Battle is a matter of summoning up units using mana to go beat up the opposing side. In addition to that, the player can cast spells to support troops and directly damage the enemy.

No the elephant-dude is not the target (there's an even bigger one later).

But summoning and casting spells is only half the game. Watching the fun is lumped into that first half, by the way.

Battles, however, tend to run slow. Update v1.02 introduced a fast-forward button to speed things along. I discovered that if I scroll the screen down such that the Flash window is not in view, the game moves very fast. Granted that I cannot see the fun - I have to guess what is going on based on the sound effects. It also speeds up if I scroll to a part of the battlefield with little action, though this is not possible on small battlefields.

Upgrading spells.

The other half of the game is in between battles, where the player upgrades his/her hero with basic abilities and spells. But the really fun part is selecting the types of troops available during battle.

Mix-and-match troops.

Mixing together units is where the real fun is. There are four unit slots are available. For each slot, first, the class is chosen, which determines the unit's base stats and type of weapon. Then a character is assigned to the unit, further modifying the stats. Finally, a weapon suited for the class is added.

This allows the player to create a large variety of units to bring into combat. The only drawback of choosing the best characters and weapons is the increase in mana cost to summon.

Overall, My Little Army is a fun little game to play over a few hours. And after the game is completed, the player can start again with a different hero.

Oh, I neglected to mention that there are three different heroes to choose from. The difference between the heroes is their repertoire of spells available to them. And their main mission stories are different.

After completing the game (or even before that), the player can start a new game with a current save game, bringing over all loot and achievements. Simply select 'new game' from the main menu and select the save game with the loot and stuff. Then click 'start!' (Don't click 'erase!'!). A confirmation window will be there to hold the player's hand through the process.

Oh, I guess I neglected to mention the achievements too. Who knows what else I neglected to mention.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Buddy Rush: Big Friends

Vampino can make some strange friends sometimes. Like this big one in 'Where are we?' (Chapter 4, Mission 3).

Big spider friend.

That's nice that the nice big spider wants to help but apparently, the exits are blocked by walls. The walls will not open until the big spider is defeated.

Sorry, big spider friend. Nothing personal. :p

Big Oblin friend.

Again at the exit, Vampino made friends with a big Oblin. And despite the exit being there, there is apparently an invisible wall blocking the way. It appears that the big Oblin has to be defeated in order to exit the maze.

Sorry, big Oblin friend. Nothing personal. :p

One wonders if one should be concerned about being friends with Vampino...

Buddy Rush: Contents

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Buddy Rush: Betty Jr's Skills

(This article is obsolete. An updated version for Update 1.2 can be found here.)

I have played with Betty Jr for a while now, so have an idea of what he/she/it can do. Basically, Betty Jr is a tank, with offensive active skills and a passive skill that increases durability. All the active skills are the same as Betty, the hidden boss of chapter 4. However, the skills execute faster with less delay. At least it seems that way to me.

I had been concerned that the delay would be too long for the skills to be useful.

Superhard Stonehead

For the first active skill, Superhard Stonehead, Betty Jr flies into the air, then comes down hard, causing a shockwave that deals damage to surrounding Oblins. The skill does damage twice, with a significant radius. I think the radius increases with skill level.

However, while executing the skill, Betty Jr is immobile. And, despite flying into the air, Betty Jr is still susceptible to attacks.

Update 22 April 2011:
I find this skill good when there are a number of Oblins on screen. The skill's large attack radius easily hits many Oblins. However, because of the significant execution time, there is a good chance that it is interrupted by Oblins with stun ability.

Nobody can stop me

The developers were really short with the description on this one... Anyway, after a very brief, nearly insignificant, delay Betty Jr will charge forward, dealing damage to all Oblins in the way. And stunning them.

Like Nagne's QuickStep Slash and Kiss of Death, this skill will move Betty Jr away from fellow Buddies. However, unlike Nagne, Betty Jr is much more durable, along with the fact that 'Nobody can stop me' stuns. This drastically reduces the danger Betty Jr will be in.

Note that Betty Jr does not attack towards the end of the charge, so the attack range is actually shorter than it looks.

Sometimes after using this skill, Betty Jr will walk faster than normal for some unknown reason. Sometimes, Betty Jr will walk slower, usually after fighting a boss that have skills that reduces speed (like Anuvis or Bearnardo). I have not observed enough of this to form theories.

Update 14 April 2011:
The slowdown in walking speed may still happen even if 'Nobody can stop me' is not used.

Increasing skill level may also increase the range. After leveling up my skill, I find that Betty Jr does attack at the end of the charge.

Update 22 April 2011:
This skill is good at the start of battle against melee Oblins. They'll come charging into the path of this skill. Because of the quick execution time, Oblins with stun are less of a problem.

However, this skill is bad against ranged Oblins who may not be standing in a nice little line. Even if they are, the player has to aim Betty Jr properly to hit all the Oblins in the line - not really easy.

Update 26 April 2011:
Not sure if this is a typo: Buddy Rush: Skill Number

Update 2 May 2011:
Be careful using this skill if your party has range buddies that have low defense (especially a Wizz with the List of Death equipped). Many times I charged at Oblins with this skill only to have my buddies run after me, out of safety and into danger.

Burping Fire

This skill was pretty annoying when Betty used it. It is still annoying for Betty Jr. It has a much shorter range than Betty, it has a delay before firing and it takes time to incinerate Oblins. However, it is useful against an immobile boss and is very satisfactory in the faces of a few approaching melee Oblins.

If this skill is used targeted, Betty Jr will adjust his/her/its aim if the target moves. Also, note that Betty Jr is immobile for the duration of this skill, unable to step out of the way of Oblin attacks.

To target an Oblin simply click on it. To use this (or any) skill untargeted, click on the ground and drag in the direction you wish to attack. Then activate the skill. Betty Jr will blast fire in that direction and will not change his/her/its aim.

Update 14 April 2011:
Considering that the range of 'Nobody can stop me' increases with skill level, it is possible that the range of Burping Fire also increases at higher skill levels. Yet to be confirmed, though.

Bone of dinosaur

Bone of dinosaur passive skill makes Betty Jr more durable. Not sure if the increase in HP regen (as in the description) is true.

I am planning to go with either the Rampage or the Tank build. The Rampage build takes advantage of Betty Jr's second active skill. With some cooldown and a little MP Regen, Betty Jr can leave a wake of stunned Oblins.

With the Tank build, Betty Jr puts all into HP and defenses, with a little into Atk to still pose a threat to Oblins.

However, after playing a bit with the first skill, I find it to be good too. Superhard Stonehead does considerable damage to Oblins (at least in Chapter 3) and is easy to target. Betty Jr's durability reduces the danger of rushing into the middle of a group of Oblins to use this skill.

And finally, numbers:

Level|PtTolv|TotalPt| Skill1 | Skill2 | Skill3 | Skill4
1   | -   |   -   |Att 100%|Att 200%|Att 300%|Max HP +2%
2   | 1   |   1   |Att 110%|Att 215%|Att 315%|Max HP +4%
3   | 2   |   3   |Att 120%|Att 230%|Att 330%|Max HP +6%
4   | 2   |   5   |Att 130%|Att 245%|Att 345%|Max HP +8%
5   | 3   |   8   |Att 140%|Att 260%|Att 360%|Max HP +10%
6   | 3   | 11   |Att 150%|Att 275%|        |Max HP +12%
7   | 4   | 15   |        |Att 290%|        |Max HP +14%
8   | 4   | 19   |        |Att 305%|        |Max HP +16%
9   | 5   | 24   |        |Att 320%|        |Max HP +18%
10   | 5   | 29   |        |Att 335%|        |Max HP +20%
-----|------|-------|--------|--------|--------|-----------
11   | 6   | 35   |        |Att 350%|        |Max HP +22%
12   | 7   | 42   |        |Att 365%|        |
13   | 8   | 50   |        |Att 380%|        |
14   | 9   | 59   |        |Att 395%|        |
15   | 10   | 69   |        |Att 410%|        |

Buddy Rush: Contents

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Buddy Rush: Unsealing the Chest

In Chapter 2, Mission 7, titled 'The legendary weapon', the player's task is to guard four dolls until it unseals a chest.

Any second now... as long as someone's tail doesn't knock a doll over...

Not a very difficult task with Betty Jr(s).

Chest is unsealed!

When the time is up, the chest is unsealed. The lid disappears and I assume the treasure (usually, it is the Light Saber - light as in featherweight light, not radiant light) is within.

That is all well and good except that... did anyone notice that the lid was not covering the chest in the first place!? Why not just reach in and grab the loot from the start? :p

I like this game.

I don't remember seeing this in the original Buddy Rush 1.0, though. Maybe it is a newly added joke. :)

Buddy Rush: Contents

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Special Someone: The Start of the Date

So that handsome someone comes over to your place to pick you up for the date. Note the time that he arrives. If he arrives late without a good excuse, he may not be taking you seriously. Practice your stare-at-the-wall-clock pose. Have that ready to greet him if he arrives late.

If he arrives early or on time, be a little in slow getting ready (ladies' prerogative - abuse it liberally). Give the guy some time with your parents. Let him get to know your parents.

If you are already out (he's late and/or you answered the door) make some excuse to get away for a while. Like you have to look for something in your room. Leave him alone with your dad for a few minutes. Give your dad the time to properly intimidate the guy into proper behavior.

Before leaving, be sure to hug your parents goodbye. It shows that guy (this is at the point of your relationship when he is still a 'that' and not yet a 'your') that you are close to your parents and that he needs to be close to them too if he is really interested in a relationship with you.

Also, anything can happen during the date. That may be the last time you get to hug your parents. :p

Friday, April 8, 2011

Orbital Onslaught

Orbital Onslaught by nerdook is another free game on the Internet.

It claims to be a real-time/turn-based tactical-strategy game where the player's character commands a force of mercenaries out to capture fugitive criminals. In my opinion, it is more like a real-time tactical-strategy game.

At every fixed interval of time, the player gets to deploy units. This is the turn-based portion of the game. Once that is done, the units are deployed and the game plays normally in real-time. Troops will go charging to the assigned waypoint or the opposing leader, capturing territory along the way.

Capturing territory is an important part of the game, since the player can deploy troops on territory he/she owns. The opponent can also deploy troops behind the player's line of troops if it has territory behind the player's line.

Battle continues on, with deployments at fixed-time intervals, until a leader is down.

Battle under heavenly eyes.

Don't mind the ominous Orbital Bombardment warning at the top of the screen. It is just a little game mechanic to keep the battle from going too long. Play the game to see what it actually does.

(Writer cop-out strikes again! :p)

In between missions, there is the Mission Selection screen where the player can check out details of the next battle. Then the player can prepare his/her troops accordingly.

Planning the next battle.

Concerning the three skulls at the top left of the screen, apparently the player is only allowed to lose a battle three times before there are 'penalties'. Not sure what the penalties are since I do not plan on losing three times.

The player starts with basic units. New units unlock after each battle. With money earned from battles, the player can buy new units or upgrade existing ones.

The early-game lineup.

New units that are hired will replace existing ones. However, money does not seem to be a major issue. So there is no need of a 'reserve' roster.

Oh, and the walker up in the screenshot, I sneaked that in. :)

Overwhelm the opponent!

Overall, Orbital Onslaught is an easy game to understand (especially with lots of hints everywhere). It is simple and enjoyable to play. The game does not last long but the player can replay the game after it ends.

I have already beat the game three times. :)

Buddy Rush: Challenge Mode Loot

Look what I just scored from Challenge Mode!

Sweet!

After many, many games in the arena, finally, something good. Granted it is not Centurion equipment. But it is Red!

Challenge Mode is a special game in Buddy Rush where the player takes a character into the arena to fight Oblins. It is accessible through the girl with the lollipop on the side-road next to the mission guy.

The player will be randomly assigned two of his/her Buddies close to the character's level. Then the player fights wave after wave of Oblins. After a wave, the player may quit and choose a reward chest. Getting KOed will give no reward.

At the start of each wave, the player may get lucky and have some HP replenished or super lucky and have even more HP restored.

If the player loses a Buddy, a new one may join at the start of a wave. However, the new Buddy will enter the arena through the gate - one of the same gates that the Oblins use. Isolated, the new Buddy may get beaten up.

If the player is lucky, the Oblin wave may be easy. Or he/she could get the Not-Easy wave. Or the OMG-We're-Dead wave.

Challenge Mode Loot: Gladiator's Armor

Challenge Mode gives some Unique Items not found elsewhere. Items from the Gladiator set or the Centurion set that have better stats and lower requirement. Like the Gladiator's Armor above that I got when I quit after the 30th challenge.

Challenge Mode Loot: Gladius

I also got the Gladius. A number of times.

Challenging the 31st is a real risk. Most of the time, I get two minibosses and one end-chapter boss. With beefed up stats.

Update 29 April 2011:
Look what I just scored from Challenge Mode!

Centurion's Armor!

Just got it from ending the 30th challenge.

The stats don't look so good, though.

Some notable loot I've got (the number after is the challenge number when I quited):
Gladius (red) - 29, 30, 30, 27, 31

Gladiator's Armor (red) - 30, 31, 30
Centurion's Armor (colorless) - 30
Gladiator's Shoes (red) - 30
Dragon Kitchen Knife (red, level 45) - 22
Iron Shiled (red, level 49, [sic]) - 13
(Updated 3 May 2011)

Loot I have received after Update 1.3 (no notable loot for 1.2):

Gladiator's Shoes (red) - 32
(Updated 28 June 2011)

Loot I have received after Update 1.3.3:
Centurion's Armor (green) - 32
Centurion's Shield (green) - 35
Centurion's Armor (colorless) - 31
Centurion's Shield (colorless) - 35
(Updated 6 August 2011)

The following is the loot I received after the Fifth Wave:

Centurion's Sword (red) - 69

(Updated 27 October 2011)

The following is the loot I received after the Sixth Wave, after the introduction of Arena:
Centurion's Shield (blue) - 21
Centurion's Armor (blue) - 16
Centurion's Shield (blue) - 22
Centurion's Shield (green) - 14
(Updated 29 February 2012)

The following is the loot I have received after the second mini-wave of the Seventh Wave:

(Yeah, I had not tried Challenge in a while.)

Gladius (red) - 14
Centurion's Helm (red) - 24
(Updated 10 June 2012)

The following is the loot I have received after the Daily Quest mini-wave of the Eigthth Wave:
(Yeah, I had not tried Challenge in a while.)
Pioneer's Telescope (red) - 40
Pioneer's Telescope (red) - 52
Pioneer's Globe (red) - 40
Pioneer's Globe (red) - 42
Pioneer's Compass (red) - 40
Pioneer's Sword (red) - 42
Centurion's Helm (red) - 20
Centurion's Shield (red) - 25
Centurion's Sword (red) - 25
Centurion's Shield (red) - 25
Centurion's Armor (red) - 25 (There is no red Centurion's Set)
Gladius (red) - 15
Centurion's Sword (red) - 25
(Updated 8 January 2013)

The following is the loot I have received after the Challenge Mode mini-wave of the Ninth Wave:
Bloody Shield (purple!) - 71
Commander's Merit Medal (red) - 35
Pioneer's Globe (purple!) - 66
Commander's Boots (red) - 33
(Updated 21 April 2013)

The following is the loot I have received after the mini-wave of the Ninth Wave with the second half of Chapter 12:
Commander's Pistol (red) - 35
(Updated 1 May 2013)

Buddy Rush: Contents

Buddy Rush: R U Ok ?

Oblin, U look down. R U Ok ?

Normally, I am too slow to screen-capture a dead Oblin. But for some reason, this Oblin's body was not removed from the scene. I thought the screenshot was cute.

Update 27 April 2011:
And again...

What R U 2 doing?

Update 21 June 2011:
After Update 1.3...

R U Ok?

And the bodies just keep piling up.

We've been busy!

Update 4 July 2011:

Did I step on something?

Update 1 September 2011:
Now a big one!

R U Ok?

Buddy Rush: Contents

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Cross Edge: Moving Along

So I have been playing Cross Edge for a few days now.

What I find enjoy about the game is to find combos and try them out. Finding combos to build my list in the Arcane Tome is one of the things I find fun. One way to learn combos is to find/buy Arcane Books. The other is by trial and error. In fact, I learned one combo by accidentally performing it during actual combat. From that, I can guess a few other combos.

After that, I go looking through my characters for party members that can perform the combo, then arranging them in a formation. After a trial run in the Battle Practice, I am off to try the combo in actual combat.

Hunting for hidden souls on the game map is not that fun since it gets interrupted by combat once in a while, unless I spend precious Gold on items to prevent combat. On the other hand, I sometimes sit and press R1 to summon a battle or two so I can try out new combos that I have found.

A smaller part of the fun is creating and customizing equipment for my characters. Granted the limited ingredients and resources available to me, I have restrict my experiments a little. Otherwise, I may not have what I need to upgrade the equipment of a character that I had neglected but suddenly find that I need.

So far, most of the fun I had is from discovering and trying out new things. This does worry me about replayability, since after I have completed the game, there will be less things for me to discover. The next playthrough may be significantly less exciting.

Previous Cross Edge: First Impression

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Deep Realms: Introduction

I tried out Deep Realms by Playdom Games on Facebook the other day. It is a simple RPG game. The player explores dungeons, beat up baddies, gather loot - the usual RPG fare. As with many Facebook games, this one you can play with friends.

I am in a dungeon.

Exploring dungeons is done by clicking on unexplored squares. Each square explored costs one energy. Energy replenishes over time - the usual Facebook game mechanic.

The RPG system is simple. There is no stats to worry about, other than health. The player gathers equipment and skills to equip his/her character with. Each move has a certain hit chance and damage, along with any added buff and/or debuff effects. Equipment modifies the chances and damage. There is not a lot of complicated mathematics involved. Just simple chance of success and damage done.

Look at my equipment!

Combat is simple. Choose a skill. Check if it hits. Do damage and add debuff effects if it does. Then the opposing side gets a turn. However, the combat animation is really slow. I wonder how many other games can play at the same time while waiting for the baddie to perform his move.

Let's fight!

There are boss fights at the end of certain dungeons, baddies with lots more hit points, that the player can fight with his friends. There is an additional, though simple, game mechanic involved with bosses. It is left out here, since it is easier and more fun to learn it through experience rather than reading about it.

(This is the writer's cop-out lazy excuse to escape describing the game mechanic. :p)

Heroic music plays during boss fights.

Yes, really. Heroic music really does play during boss fights.

As with many other Facebook games, friends can give each other gifts. And leave messages. Though, I doubt that leaving messages is the selling point of this game.

Real money can be used to buy in-game gems and gold. However, this is not necessary to enjoy the game. Gold can be easily found in dungeons. Gems are awarded for completing achievements and beating up bosses (rarely). And this is where the fun comes in with friends. More friends mean more bosses to beat up and hence, more gems.

Deep Realms is a simple RPG for the casual player, best played for a few minutes every few hours. It is easy to understand and it is playable even without many friends or spending real-world money.

Buddy Rush: Contents

Now that I have posted quite a few articles on Buddy Rush, I thought I should make a contents page so you readers would not have to get creative with the search engine to find them all.

Buddy Rush (Copyright © 2010. by Company 100, Inc.) is a single-player (plus friends), action role-playing game available on Facebook. It is also playable on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The game is like the traditional MMORPGs where the player forms parties with friends to go do beat up the opposition, complete objectives and score loot. However, unlike traditional MMORPGs, the player does not have to wait for friends to be online to play as the friends' characters are controlled by AIs.

Take a few friends and go beat up Oblins. Score sweet loot. Share a few with your friends.

Contents:

Buddy Rush: Pink Assault

Buddy Rush: Bamboo Blades
Buddy Rush: Nagne's Skills (Obsolete)