Retro Weekend Bombs, Diablo 3 Takes Over (BaDay 16)

On 02/16/2015 at 12:30 AM by KnightDriver

Linked to Article Series: Blog a Day (BaD) 2015

Retro weekend lasted about an hour. I tried to play Metroid, and I tried to play Mega Man. I downloaded them on my Wii from Virtual Console, used my classic controler, and just couldn't handle those crazy platform jumps - drove me absolutely nuts. I didn't even got past the very first screen in Mega Man. But, you know, I'm glad I got these games and experienced them, even if it was for only one screen. I loved the presentation of both and even admired the controls, which were obviously carefully worked out. These types of games are just not cup of tea, sad to say.

So it was back to Diablo III. Take a gander at my Demon Hunter as he nears level 30 on Hardcore Mode.

d3hard

I love that longbow. It's just how I want to play in this game.

My friend Mark, during the week, leveled up a Demon Hunter to my level so we'd be the same when we started. It was fine for a while but he got killed (in Hardcore Mode it's one life with no respawns). Then he brought in his Barbarian who was one level ahead of me, and we played that way the rest of the night. I managed to catch up to him in level and then surpass him. I ended up a full level ahead when we stopped. Why this happened, I'm not sure. I think the game tries to bring different level characters closer to each other by giving greater XP to the lowest level character, but that wouldn't explain my continuing to gain XP faster even after we were the same level. I must be doing something right. We compared stats at one point and I had twice the damage level he had, half the defense, and twice the health. I was surprised.

Well, I think Hardcore Mode has really helped me focus on a few things in the game like the blacksmith and jewler and getting the most out of both of them to inch my gear up to higher and higher quality. I also switched skills everytime a new one opened up which probably helped my ability to dish out better damage. The Demon Hunter has some cool skills that augment his ranged attacks and provide some defensive manuevers to keep you from being surrounded. I used all of them in order to keep my distance and rain down destruction as constantly as possible. By the time I was level 28, I was pretty confidently handling everything.

Tomorrow it's more of the same. I'm going to get to level 30 and the achievement and then wonder at how I am going to get to 5 million in gold.Very likely I'll just start new characters and level them up, but I'm thinking about gold farming strategies as well.

Good algorithms pixlbits!

Aboboisdaman

02/16/2015 at 12:48 AM

Despite how blasphemous this may sound, I don't think time has been so kind to the first Metroid or Mega Man. MM is brutally hard, and takes a lot of patience and practice if you want to get through it. Have you tried MM 2? It's much easier.

KnightDriver

02/17/2015 at 03:49 AM

I'm going to try the other Mega Man's sometime. I hope to get farther than the first screen.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/16/2015 at 01:15 AM

I've never liked the original Metroid. It's great it exists and lead to great things, but it's too damn hard to navigate and enemies spawning in doors is infuriating especially when jumping near lava.

As for Mega Man, I do like the first one, but Aboboisdaman is right, 2 is WAY easier.

02/17/2015 at 03:51 AM

I quit Metroid on the part where you jump vertically from platform to platform. Her turning into a ball was cool though.

avidacridjam

02/16/2015 at 06:04 AM

Your progression in Diablo 3 is admirable. Bravo!

02/17/2015 at 04:00 AM

Just topped 100 hours and still going. I usually burn out about now.

xDarthKiLLx

02/16/2015 at 10:35 AM

One of the best games I've played in a long time. I really want to get the UEE for the ps4. I was glued to the TV for hours on end playing it a few months ago.

02/17/2015 at 04:07 AM

I'm starting to see why MMO players play for days on end. I mean, this isn't an MMO, but it kinda feels like one with the endless loot, gear tweaking, and hoards of badies to smite. Oh yeah, and co-op.

Ranger1

02/16/2015 at 11:00 AM

I have the Metroid remake for the GBA, and I've maybe made it through two screens? Yeah, those games are HARD! And that's a direct quote from my then 14-year-old nephew when I introduced him to Sonic's UGC.

02/17/2015 at 04:08 AM

Is that Metroid Fusion? Because I have that and need to play it. I found Sonic really difficult too.

02/17/2015 at 09:25 AM

No, it was the original ported to the GBA as part of the NES Classic series.

02/18/2015 at 03:56 AM

Oh yeah. I remember now.

goaztecs

02/16/2015 at 04:20 PM

You know what always drove me nuts about Metroid was that one area where you had to keep planting bombs under you to get up onto a platform. Couldn't do it as a kid, and as of a couple of years ago when I tried it again, still couldn't do it.

02/18/2015 at 02:42 AM

I wish I'd gotten that far. I'll play it again sometime on another retro weekend and see if something clicks and I start "getting it".

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/16/2015 at 07:30 PM

Metroid is tough. Games have changed a lot. But Mega Man! Phew, even when I was a kid I couldn't handle those. Just no my cup of tea either.

I sometimes play the SNES metroid game though. That game is cool.

02/18/2015 at 02:52 AM

I'll definitely give the other games in the series a try on a future retro weekend. Next one I have scheduled is for St. Patrick's Day in March.

Alex-C25

02/16/2015 at 08:22 PM

I do believe you that time hasn't been kind to the original Metroid. Bad game? Not at all and it was pretty revolutionary for its time, but other games and Metroid itself have improved the formula. Still, deserves a place in history.

The first Mega Man I do really like, difficulty and all. That said, frak the Yellow Devil!

02/18/2015 at 03:05 AM

I like the controls in both games: the rolling into a ball in Metroid and the slick jumping in Mega Man. However, I get so impatient after falling off a platform for the seventh time.

02/18/2015 at 07:26 PM

Seems you don't have reflexes for jumps. Maybe that's why you aren't that much into plataformers.

02/19/2015 at 03:23 AM

I was thinking about this. I do have good reflexes it's just that I like to improvise in my gaming. What I don't like is to be asked to perform precise maneuvers. I would never be a gymnast, but I'm a good player of sports that ask you to think quick and react to changing situations. I need to do things my own way or I get frustrated. It's just who I am.

rmsk8r05

02/16/2015 at 09:21 PM

Mega-Man.....

I know how you feel, it shocked me that dying sent you back right to the beginning. Brutal stuff.

02/18/2015 at 03:14 AM

Same with Metroid: although, I think they give you a code you can put in to get you back to the screen you died on.

VisuaLIES

02/17/2015 at 01:44 AM

I love retro games because of the 2D artwork, but they can be extremely frustrating to actually play. As a kid with no money, I only got a few games a year, so I had to play the same ones repeatedly until I got good at them. That shit doesn't fly these days. Most people's attention spans are too short and they need instant gratification.

I think achievements and trophies are a good thing, at least for me. They give me goals to try to reach to get the most out of the games I'm playing. Of course, many of them are stupid hard and I end up spending way too long on one game (currently Diablo) while neglecting five others.

02/18/2015 at 03:36 AM

I like hard but not impossible. They could've at least let you get a little ways into the game before pummelling you. I was trying these jumps in Mega Man and it seemed like you could only jump from a platform at exactly a certain spot or you'd bang your head on the platform above. At the same time there are enemies moving along the platforms so you have to execute this precise jump with exactly the right timing. Now do that across four platforms to get to the ladder. Grrrr.

PixlBit

Retro Weekend Bombs, Diablo 3 Takes Over (BaDay 16)

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