Raiden Regrets, a Comic

Now I'm hungry...

The couple that plays together, stays together.

Well Aaron and I are taking that one step further: We're making a game.

A card game, that is. Aaron and I are both huge fans of table top and card games, so using Aaron's game design knowledge and my mad art skillz (HA!) we're nearing completion of the first of many games we hope to create.

Everyone is very, very excited

Our current project is a fast food themed card game called Employee of the Month. Players work with and/or against each other to fill orders and appease customers. Right now were still in the process of working out kinks, writing the rules and working on the art.

Honestly the artwork has proven far more time consuming than I had thought. It's severely cutting into my 'other stuff' time. The project needs about 100 individual pictures, all drawn, inked, cleaned up, and colored. As you can see, I still have quite a bit of work to go.

It's like this, but with drawings. 

Stay tuned for any future developments, and wish us luck!

Yankin' My Chains

One of my favorite things in Guild Wars 2 is something called the Living Story (or Living World. It got changed at some point, but I prefer the old name), which is a great overarching story line that affects the entire game, rather than a small instance created for a player(s). The story so far has been running for about a year and a half, with the rogue Sylvari Scarlet Briar as the delightfully insane antagonist.

Now, I won't go into details about what's going on so far (find those here!), but long story short Scarlet has managed to build an army consisting of Tyria's least desirable forces: The mole monsters Dredge and the Charr's fallen Flame Legion make up the Molten Alliance, the worm-like Krait and the Sylvari's Nightmare Court joined as the Toxic Alliance, and the Aetherblade pirates all joined to help Scarlet achieve...Well, we don't really know what she's after. Not exactly yet. But it involves alot of watchwork robo-butts.

And robo-stilettos.

As of this posting Scarlet's great watchwork Marionette hangs above the Shiverpeak Mountains in Lornar's Pass. Defeating her is a trial requiring literally a hundred great warriors and mages to band together for the goal of cutting her down.

And there in lies the problem.

See, I play in the server Dragonbrand. And Dragonbrand players...are dicks.

"Oh nooooooooo, I don't wanna go fight the marionette...I already finished the thing and we'll just fail anywaaaay"

Well with that attitude we will, jackass!

With barely enough players to fill one of the five lanes needed for the fight (around 20-25 are needed for each) it became almost impossible to pull off even a single chain cut, let alone the five needed to ground her. Sick of my server's lack of enthusiasm (and frankly, their overall bad attitude), Aaron and I paid a quick visit to our original sever, Tarnished Coast.

Why...Why did we ever transfer? This place..it's almost magical how much more seriously the players take the Living Story... and the game overall. They actually discuss the game's lore, instead of moaning about how unoriginal and boring Scarlet is. They encourage each other rather than belittle...

The best part of all? Despite this being its final night, people are still doing the current Living Story: The actually marionette has five full lanes! We're still failing, but damn it there's effort!

Really, a little effort is all we can ask in light of robo-nipples.

While Aaron and I collect the necessary resources to make our stay in TC a little more permanent, a dark wind begins to blow. Scarlet has her next target in her sights: Tomorrow, the most prominent city in all of Tyria, a central hub of trade and activity, will fall.

This-is-gonna-be-AWESOME.

Griffe de l'amour

Happy belated Valentine's Day and Singles Awareness Day! I believe my recent tardiness to be excusable, as I have been stuck in bed for two days! Yay!

Valentine's Day has come and gone. Some couples spent the day of love on romantic candle-lit dinners or exchanging tokens of their affections.

Aaron and I exchanged germs.

Now, being sick on Valentine's day would ruin most couple's plans, but not us. We spent our holiday vacationing in beautiful Tyria, in the province of Frostgorge Sound. A chilly local to be sure, but perfect for hunting Claws...of the Jormag variety.

Yes, we spent Valentine's Day (and today. Don't judge us, we're still sick) on the ultimate multiplayer game: an MMORPG, and Guild Wars 2 was the perfect choice.

Now, the Claw of Jormag fight is a type of event called a world event, one which is both more difficult and more rewarding than other events. The Claw is an icy level 80 dragon, lieutenant of the Elder Dragon Jormag, and can be, quite frankly, a bitch of an event.

Isn't he cute?

Now, usually the group taking down the Claw numbers in the dozens: 30, 40 players all manning bazookas or protecting bomb wielding golems.

Usually.

On this day our numbers were closer to ten. Just ten players to take down the Claw's protective wall, while besieged on all sides by the Claw's minions. Players would be rezzed only to drop again seconds later. Yet despite the overwhelming odds against us the Claw's defenses slowly but steadily fell. It seemed we may yet stand a chance...

As the Claw again took to the air the NPC forces on the ground shot it down, grounding it a short distance away. For this leg of the battle we were lucky to be joined by another ten or so players, but the clock was still ticking down. We had very little time to chip away a whooping half of the beast's health, something we could only achieve if the bomb-carrying golems managed to survive long enough to deliver their packages.

With but with two of our thirty minute time limit remaining we finally felled the beast. It was by and far the most satisfying Claw battle either of us have ever taken part in.

Sweet, sweet challenge.

Love is Golden: A post by Aaron

I'm lazy today! As a result, today's post on the SEGA game Golden Axe is brought to us courtesy of Aaron:

Ah, Golden Axe. How long has it been since I have given you a serious playthrough? Whenever I think of Sega, Golden Axe is one of the first games that pops into my head, along with the obligatory Sonic, Mutant League Sport Series, Comix Zone and Aladdin. Yes, Disney did make a game from a movie that is really good and worth playing. I knew this game to be slightly difficult in the past and I was hoping time would not have made it any easier.

I had beaten the game several times in the past. Golden Axe is not in the same class of difficulty as Dark Souls or Ninja Gaiden. Those games are difficult until you learn their patterns. Even after you learn their patterns they can still make you feel like an armless man in a boxing match. But I knew and remembered the patterns for Golden Axe. Now all I have to do is remember how to ride this particular bike... with another person making me do all the peddling. (*GC note: HEY!)

From the beginning I knew this was going to be rough seeing as how I was being battered by Melissa more than the enemies. We had not even passed halfway through the stage and my first life was almost destroyed. What was happening to me? Why was I so gracefully dodging the enemies but unable to evade any strikes from her? It was almost as if her blade had a Dwarven magnet in it.

*GC Note: Let it be known: I got hit by him just as much. Have you ever been headbutted by a horned Dwarf? Didn't think so. 

All was well until we started to encounter the skeletons. Skeletons in Golden Axe have always been the bane of me with this playthrough being no different. At one point I recall trying to get out of a double team by the skeletons when I look over and see Melissa's character just staring at us. I was sitting there being curbstomped and all she could say to me was "I thought you had it under control". Don't worry about me, my possum like defense will lure them into a false sense of security. (*GC Note: I did! I thought he had it!)

This entire experience reminded me why I hate games that had friendly fire. It would turn a fun peaceful game into essentially what every game of Monopoly turns into: alot of yelling, fighting and crying.

Older co-op games sure haven't changed much.

Super Comic Bros.

Valentine's Co-op

With Valentine's Day at its heart February is the month for luuuuuuuurv.

So in spirit of the month of togetherness, I'll be playing two-player/ co-op games with my very own Valentine, Aaron. From Army of Two to Super Mario, Aaron and I will team up and duke it out. All in the name of love.

Finally Free

A day late sure, but I did save my best (at least favorite) free game for last. It is a game that Aaron and co. have hounded me to play in the past, but being the stubborn mule that I am I left it until now. Realm of the Mad God is by and far the funnest game I've played this month (not including Catlateral Damage).

Let's have Steam give us the low down:

Realm of the Mad God is the first ever free to play Bullet Hell MMO. Team up with dozens of players and battle through the Realm of the Mad God, Oryx. With a retro 8-bit style, Realm is an evolution of traditional MMO gameplay. A dozen classes and hundreds of items to discover means Realm is easy to play but difficult to master. Players can jump in Realm for 5 minutes or stay online for hours because there is nothing to install or download.

The beginner classes are Rogue, Wizard, Priest, and Archer, with each of the other like 20 classes unlockable via either paying money (boo!) or leveling up with the other classes. After beating the tutorial you get sent to the Nexus, or the base area where players gather and merchants reside. From the Nexus you can enter the Mad God's domain.

It can get a little....Mad.

WASD to move, left click to fire. F to drink a potion and E to high-tail your cowardly ass back to the Nexus. I spent hours running around like an idiot, never taking my finger off the fire button. Why would I? There's nonsense to kill literally everywhere. But that nonsense is there to kill you too, a fact that becomes especially painful once you realize death is permanent. Period. You could be level 19, half an experience bar to the level cap of 20, and be just as perma dead as the level one that pissed off an enraged bunny out of the gates.

My first Wizard got squished around level four. I'm still not entirely clear on what did me in. All the better for my foe, as my vengeance is swift and burns like the sun.

My second Wizard, like my first, skipped gleefully from quest to quest, swarm to swarm, until about level 11. About that time caution pokes its ugly head from its dark and sweaty hole, screeching "heeeeeeey better be caaaaaaarefuuuuuuuul or you'll have to staaaaaaaaaaaart agaaaaaaaaaaaain"

Can it, asshole, I know.

Nothing excites the caution monster more than the frantic cramming of the F key while a Tree Ent Ancient attempts to make me fertilizer.

No no, I make the sound effects, you do the work. 

Remember, though, this is a multiplayer game! I was joined by my good buddy Elpizo, aka 'Mat' in the 'Real World', with his level 20 Ranger, who proceeded to wreck face while I kinda 'helped'. However, not all was well, as I encountered a far more dangerous foe than any the Mad God could throw at me: A crappy connection. Every few minutes or so the game would chuck me out on my butt. Well crud.

After hitting 20 with my Wizard on Realm's website I switched over to the Steam version, which is connected to the website version. Besides handing me an additional character slot (you only get one. Delete your character or die to get a new one. Or buy more slots), it also proved to have a better connection. So I repeated the tutorial with a brand new Ranger, who was promptly smashed into oblivion at level 14.  Le sigh.

Play It or Pass It: Play it. Realm of the Mad God is a game that you can either pick up for 10-15 minutes or play for hours. Definitely a great pick to end Free in '14.

Play it yourself! Get it on Steam, or play it here:

http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/