PixlBit

Sunday may have been blah but Monday was much better. My friend was able to log into Xbox Live and we played EDF 2025 most of the day with a couple hour break for me to play some Silent Hill: Book of Memories with daftman here at Pixlbit. Then I switched my schedule around so I could get some handheld play in the wee hours instead of my usual blogging and what not, which I moved to the daytime right after breakfast. All together, it made for a game filled day. My only regret is that I didn't get in any Demon's Souls like I wanted to for the Pixlbit Club, but after Sunday, I didn't want to do much else than lots of EDF 2025 co-op.

We played Earth Defense Force 2025 up to about level 92. I kept thinking we were on the last level, but there was always another. I do think the game is coming close to an end though. We've beaten off the main battle group of Ravagers and are on mop up missions now. One mission in particular stands out. It was probably 91 or 92, I forget which, but it was a country mission where you have to take out three enormous bee hives and several ant and spider holes. As Wing Diver, I played distraction for the bees while my weapon heavy Ranger friend launched missile after missile at the hives. It took more than 20 rockets for each hive! I was surrounded by giant bees the whole time keeping them off me just long enough to pick up health packs to stay alive. I discovered the spiders seemed to drop the most health. It was a blast. This game is so much fun.

Then I saw daftman log in on Vita, which I had on beside me while playing EDF, and took a break to play Silent Hill: Book of Memories with him for a few hours. He'd clearly done some homework and had a flaming sword. I had played hookie and still had my assortment of cleavers, pistols, and crowbars from last week. I ended up dual wielding pistols, which was very satisfying. I was trying to get critical hits. Apparently if you build up a rhythm of attacks, a execution move prompt will appear. I think I got it a couple of times, but I'm not sure in the confusion. Often you are in fairly small dark rooms and creatures are swarming all around you. Locking on to an enemy with the RB button helps and I used that when necessary.

                                    "daftman look! What's that?"

There's this special power thing that you can get if you step on red or white blood stains. If you build up a meter with either one, special effects can be chosen. I knew at the beginning what each one did, but this time I forgot, and there wasn't time to look it up, so I just guessed and chose one when it was available. I think one of them made me temporarily invulnerable, but I'm not sure. There are also rooms with a design on the floor, which when stood on, give you one random special effect you can trigger by touching the icon on the screen. I had the invisiblity one once and then the invincibility one, which I used in one monster filled room to good effect.

I find it hard to follow the story. The text is incredibly tiny and hard to read with my eyes just beginning to lose fine focus in dark situations. There are TVs, which when found, spout audio dialog which I try to listen to, but without being able to read the text carefully, it's hard to figure out how it all fits together. It's ok though, because the main fun is exploring the levels and fighting badies.

You have two weapons you can equip which degrade over time. You can repair them with wrenches you find in the levels or buy at the shop placed on each level. You also level up and add points to your stats. Then the weapons you use most also level up. It is hard to stick to one weapon though since they degrade and eventually you have to use whatever you can find.

SHBM is really fun on the Vita. My memories of Untold Legends on the PSP played local adhoc co-op come easily to my mind. I'm amazed at how seemless the online experience is now for even handhelds. It's marvelous.

Oh yeah, and there are boss fights against giant monsters. Not every level but every several levels or so. And there is a puzzle at the end of each level and a special objective given you by a mysterious demon. Usually it's collecting some item. The puzzles are sometimes very crypticly described, but I go with my intuition on them if I can't get it right away and that usually works. One of them I aced in one move, which surprised me, because it seemed to make little sense to me logically. Sometimes you go with instinct and that is enough to get past the horror. That should be a life quote or something.

After Silent Hill, I went back to EDF for a few more hours and then home to play a little Weapon Shop de Omasse on 3DS. I'm still liking this game despite not being able to ace the weapon creation rhythm game. It does seem totally random, but doing well on the ryhthm game does seem to help, I think. There seem to be places you touch on the screen that net you more points, but whether that's hitting a soft spot or hard spot on the weapon, I'm not sure. I just try different things and hope for the best. My best one got me a "good" rating on all categories. I usually get "not bad" on most though regardless of how well I think I do in the rhythm game.  It's fun though. The characters are funny, I just got the giant cross-dresser Mr. Kiss, and I'm trying to fit the weapon with the NPC and his or her specific quest each time. That's pretty cool. The Grindcast feed is funny too if you have time to read it as it scrolls by.

                       Mr. Kiss likes big nobby clubs. Really?

And that's about it for "funday Monday" this week. Next week, I'll get to Demon's Souls for the club for sure. I'm bummed I missed it this week.