Hmmm, I’d better post something before we’re overrun by del.icio.us posts.
I’ve been putting in lots of overtime, and as a result not been playing much. I need to finish Galaxy, but the remaining levels are going to need a lot of practice - mainly the long jump which I seem to always mistime. In Puzzle Quest I’ve headed up to an area populated by minotaurs, #1 has also started playing (the game allows two saves) so I may eventually get him hooked on RPGs.
I’ve captured a Wolf Rider (which I found much harder than I should have) and a scorpion (which was insultingly easy). I’ve also completed lots of side quests for an ogre named Drong; he is one hungry ogre and so far has eaten spider, “crazy” goblin and ice troll meat and now wants me to get some wyvern meat for him.
I’ve finally defeated Dugog the double headed ogre. I’ve also completed a few quests set by dwarves (including defeating/capturing an Orc Lord), collected some runes and investigated some of the other game features. My wolf has moved up a few levels, learnt some spells and combined runes to make some equipment. It is a nice touch that using runes isn’t “combat bejeweled”, but more like “classic bejeweled” (i.e. a single player random grid) - to learn spells you have to capture enemies and that is done in a puzzle mode (you are presented with a non-random grid and have to figure out how to clear the board).
The second frustrating game of last night. I had a go at the purple coins in freeze flame galaxy, I got to 98 coins easily enough (now that I know how to get the summit), but unfortunately I think the last two coins can only be reached by a well timed long jump and I’m absolutely useless at them.
Aargh! I’m stuck, I’m helping a dwarf get into his city (Dhun-kor), but I’ve got to battle a double-headed ogre (Dugog) first and so far I’m getting nowhere - he can do much more damage than I can. I think I’m going to have to go do some side quests and hope that I can find a nice weapon for sale somewhere.
I completed Sea Slide Galaxy by getting the Purple coin star. Getting this star was a bit tedious really; lots of flying in a bee suit from purple coin to purple coin, none of which were hidden away.
I bought Puzzle Quest with the intention of playing this while away over Easter. Unfortunately the game arrived after the weekend, but it has sucked me in. It is a simple RPG where battles are won by playing a Bejeweled-like game and, since I like Bejeweled and Zookeeper, I’m not exactly surprised that I’m really enjoying it. The touch screen response is not perfect, but I’m currently happy to overlook its failings.
My character is a druid and has just joined the knights of Siria - I guess it will take a replay to find out what difference those choices really make.
Hidden star in freeze flame, turns out this requires me to go exactly the same path I’ve been struggling with on the purple meteor. The only real difficulty is getting ice mario to jump high enough fairly near the start.
3 more stars: speed run (simple although my arm was left aching from all the spin attacks) and the hidden star (although “hidden” is overstretching) in dreadnought, and a purple coin star in melty molten galaxy (fairly straightforward). The hardest star was definitely the hidden star, just because the time limit was fairly tight (30 seconds) - if I’d been given 5 seconds more I’d have completed it fifteen minutes earlier.
Over in the corner sits another Mario game feeling all unloved (Super Paper Mario since you asked), since Super Mario Galaxy has taken over my gaming life. In one sense I’ve completed the game, Mario has rescued Princess Peach, but in another more real sense I’m not yet there. So far I have 106 stars, all that is left is a handful of hidden stars (two of which I’m completely unsure of) and several meteor stars (including the purple coin star in a toy galaxy and I swear it is impossible). So far I’ve avoided the lure of gamefaqs and I’m hoping that’s the way things will remain.