PixlBit

SUNDAY:

Super Mario RPG. Got second star. There's seven to get all together. I had to fight Bowyer who shoots arrows. I gained another party member, Geno, to fight him, but it was a little bit rough. I beat him just as Geno got knocked out. It took a while for me to figure out Mario's Super Jump was my best option as long as I hit the button presses accurately during the attack to increase the number of jumps. You could call this game a RPG for babies, but I like it's simplicity. There is some platforming involved but not much that I've had to do yet.

Then I forced myself to stop so I could get in a few hours of Diablo III before heading off to my nephew's drum recital. I gained another level for my Monk and my friend Mark jumped into my game just to give me a couple new dyes he found from a merchant. There's a challenge we're going for that asks you use every dye in the game. Apparently, the merchant's stock changes randomly, so you just have to go back to them and check from time to time. Mark's also gotten to 4 million in gold. He'll definitely get the achievement for 5 million before me.

On my way to the recital, I stopped off at a McDonalds for a dollar menu burger and a soda. I was curious about the Nintendo Hot Spot there and wanted to see what Miis I would get. Later I discovered I got 8 just from that one Mickey Dee. Whohoo! I'll be finding some reasons to stop into those on a regular basis now.

Then I played some Fantasy Life before bed. I switched from Alchemy to Angler jobs and am now just going around talking to people and fishing. I'm not sure how to handle combat now though. Do I need to switch jobs again just to get farther out from town? [Later that night I discovered that, no, you keep all your skills from all jobs. The only thing you can't do is turn in challenges to your master in a job you don't have currently selected].

MONDAY:

In the morning, I went to a diferent Mickey Dee and got a McMuffin. The muffin was good, but I didn't get any Miis. Maybe the Hot Spot is cleared every day and it's better to go at night. I'll have to continue to figure this out.

After I got to my friend Mark's place and fired up the Wii, I played Super Mario RPG and got the third star. For this one you have to fight Punchinello in the Mole Mines. After that I backtracked to buy some stuff at the Juice Bar on Tadpole Pond. I got a membership card to allow that somehow (I forget how I got it). Then I attempted the Pipe Vault. In this area there is some platforming and I couldn't figure out how to make longer jumps. Finally I looked it up and other people had trouble with it too. It seems the game doesn't tell you about the "run" button, or I missed it. You press "Y" to run (if I remember right) and then "B" to jump and you'll jump farther. That allowed me to get through the area and get to Yo'ster Isle. This is a place where you can ride Yoshi and race against Boshi and the other baby dragons. You just have to hit "A" and "B" in rhythm to the music and eat a cookie for a boost. After I won a few races, Yoshi gave me Yoshi's Cookie by which, you can call him into a battle if you're in a tight spot. Then I went back to Moleville and talked to a bunch of moles, bought some fireworks, traded them to a girl for a shiny rock (what was I thinking), and then saved. I figure I'll do a star a day on the weekends until I finish it. 

Then I got back into Diablo III. I leveled my Monk up to 50 and Mark and I found out how to get the remaining dyes. He just reloaded the game several times and checked certain merchants. After each reload, new dyes showed up, and very quickly, we had all the ones we needed. This is kind of "gaming the system", but I couldn't stop him if I wanted to. Once he had the ones I needed as well, he jumped in my game, and I used them to unlock the challenge. I was a little bit disappointed they weren't harder to get. I thought you had to meet one of these randomly generated merchants that show up from time to time, but apparently not. 

                 

                                  My Monk's quicker than a Honey Badger after a Cobra.

I was also going for the remaining Lore Books and Dungeons for each Act. I found some more books and a new dungeon, but some of this stuff is strangely hidden and I have no clue how to find them. I spent some time destroying everything I could find in several areas to see if a new book would pop out, and scoured maps looking for new dungeons. I found a few, but I don't know how I'm going to find what I've missed. There are very few clues and i was getting tired of combing every inch of the game.

The day ended with Mark and I playing the last Act co-op. Between his level 60 Barbarian and my level 50 Monk, we made melee mincemeat out of Diablo. I'm interested in creating a Barbarian and Witch Doctor next. I think I'll make them female and see how the dialog may be different and how your AI followers react. As it is, the female sorcerer makes suggestive remarks to my male character. I wonder what a male follower says to a female character?

Finally, when I got home, i had 9 Miis in the Plaza and played through the games again. As I write this, I'm halfway through them. I had 8 Miis from my Mickey Dee stop yesterday and got another one from Gamestop today. I was tempted to stop at a Giant supermarket on my way home. I know someone there has a 3DS because last week, I picked up a Mii there on a late night stop, but I didn't. 

That's my weekend, and don't forget: always the hard way pixlbits - always the hard way.