PixlBit

I ran through half a dozen games on Original Xbox today to see which ones I wanted to keep. Then I joined my friend playing Minecraft on Xbox One and got seriously lost in the world. I managed to knock off a few more achievements though.

Original Xbox:

My Halo Edition Original Xbox

Top Spin: It wouldn’t play. I’m using the original Xbox my friend gave me earlier this year, and it seems to work great, but this disc was too scratched. Darn. I really wanted to try it. I have the other Top Spin games for Xbox 360 though, so I’ll try them next month.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance: About five minutes into this I knew I wanted to keep it. In fact, I looked it up on Xbox One because I knew it was for sale there, or, it used to be. It looks like the license has lapsed on it. Darn it. I wanted to get back into this online. It’s basically an isometric-view brawler like Balder’s Gate Dark Alliance. And it’s good. I only play as Wolverine though. And Doctor Strange.

American McGee’s Scrapland: This is a very cool third-person action game set in a futuristic world. You are a robot, I think, and enter this city that reminds me of The Fifth Element. The first major task, aside from learning the controls, is to chase down some enemies of the Casino in your space ship. I didn’t like the aiming controls. They were way too sensitive. My targetting was all over the place. The space cops kept blowing me up.

Metal Dungeon: The game was scratched up and wouldn't play.

Call of Cthulhu: This was a Bethesda published game. It’s pretty good too. The graphics are darn good for the time. It made me think of Alan Wake. You are an investigator uncovering a cult worshiping elder gods/aliens that are apparently real. It’s not an action game, more like an adventure one, but there are stealth elements. I stopped just where I did the last time, in a grocery store crime scene where the local cops kept finding me and kicking me out. Oh man, I dislike repeating things.

Enclave: Wow, it’s like Dark Souls before Demon’s Souls. It's a third-person sword and crossbow fighting game. You have limited health and have to fight wisely to get through the gloomy medieval settings. I liked it, but enemies tend to rush you in suicide fashion which makes it hard to keep the damage down. There doesn’t seem to be a dive roll to avoid it, just a shield.

Otogi: Myth of Demons: Take Enclave and make the hero a samurai or ninja. It’s more forgiving, but not much more. A section where I had to do third-person platform jumping while being attacked really annoyed me. It was fun though. I couldn’t get my magic to work. I’m not sure what makes it active. I just wacked demons with my sword.

I had many more to check out, but it was time to get back to Xbox One.

Minecraft: The oceans have been much upgraded this Summer. I discovered underwater ruins and shipwrecks. Inside them there are chests with treasure maps. I figured out how to use them and got several burried treasures. This unlocked several achievements. Another achievement unlocked by just swimming across many different underwater biomes.

Then I discovered Sea Pickles and unlocked an achievement for bringing them to land and placing them. They light up. You could use them as room décor, I think.

Boy did I get lost in the infinite world of this game. I had a map to start but I soon left it and never turned back. I just wandered and wandered, gathering resources and figuring out things to do. I fed a dolphin for an achievement and tried to feed a Sea Turtle. The Sea Turtle yields a shell you can use to stay underwater indefinitely, but I can’t figure out how to get one. Killing one only yields some sea grass and they won’t be fed kelp or fish. Uh, and don't attack the dolphins, they go crazy and attack you like sharks.

In one of the treasure chests, I found something called the Heart of the Sea. I don’t know what it is but if you combine it with nautilus shells, it becomes a Conduit. This is something that is like an automated defense system against mobs. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I want to make one for an achievement and see how it works. I have the Heart of the Sea but Nautilus Shells were causing me trouble. I tried fishing a lot but only got one that way. Then I fought a lot of Mermen but only got one that way too. I needed to find a quicker way to get 8 for the Conduit. Maybe next time I’ll make another attempt.

That’s it for the week. Next week is a new month and a new retro adventure, this time covering the years 2005-2009. I’ll be breaking out the Wii first, then PS3, and finally Xbox 360. I’ll also hook up my DS and see if I can get a few minutes here and there with that. I’ve got a stack of games for all these systems that need to be trimmed.