The April 2013 MONDAY FINISH thread

[JasonPratt]

Lord, that's a lot of hardcore Diablo3 all right...!  :o

[JasonPratt]

It's still Monday somewhere, right? Whew! Last Monday of the month, too.

I have to say my resolution has basically fallen apart, thanks to Steam and Gamergates sales. At the moment I'm technically hanging on only in the sense that I haven't bought a single big-money game. But I'm pretty sure I've dropped nearly $200 over the past week. {hanging head}{in shame}

Nevertheless, my resolve to keep on finishing games lives on. Last week I finished Injustice: Gods Among Us, which is hardly a great accomplishment as the main campaign lasts maybe four hours tops. But I enjoyed it immensely. I don't know if Timm/Dini had anything to do with it directly, but if their writing stable didn't put it together, definitely they were fans of the Diniverse DCAU: aside from some overconvenient plot holes (hardly unknown in the Diniverse, to be fair) the writing was on par with the JL/JLU series, and several veterans of the Diniverse DCAU returned to voice famous roles like Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman.

(I preordered Injustice months ago, so it doesn't count as breaking my resolution by buying a big-money game. SO THERRREEE!!! :( )

I'm looking forward to scoping out the smaller campaigns, which unlike this game's spiritual predecessor (DC vs Mortal Kombat) can only be unlocked in sequence: I have to beat all of Superman's minicamp first, or a significant number of those missions, to unlock the beginning of other minicamps. On the other hand, while this is annoying, the campaigns themselves seem more varied than just going from one fight to another.

The cutscenes, music and costume designs are several steps up from DCvsMK, too. Just a top-notch effort all around. I hope the designers get to play in the DC universe again!


While I'm looking forward to more of the minicampaigns in Injustice, I've been spending my time methodically working through the campaign of Stronghold 1 (not to be confused with the late 90s game of the same name). Just beat the campaign against the Rat tonight. Despite the game being solidly set in the late sprite era, it's packed with charm and detail, and despite a few bugs it seems much more stable than SH2 (which I played several missions of years ago). I feel like I'm getting a real hang for the missions in this earlier game; perhaps that means when I move on to SH2, SHCrusader (which I've routinely heard is the high point of the series) and SH3, I'll continue to feel like I'm having fun. (I may skip SH2, which from what I recall is a remake of SH1 anyway, and the fantasy SH which I've heard dubious things about, although I can't help being curious about the material.)

I suppose in a way I also ranked a "finish" in Dom3, since I was recently put out of my first multiplayer game (or out of my 3rd mp game, but I'm still holding on by my fingernails in my 1st and expanding steadily in my 2nd.) While my defeat in the game was quick, I can't really blame the other player under the circumstances, and I think I can say I did my best given what I had to work with, while striking at least one surprising blow -- which didn't ultimately work for various reasons too complex to get into, but still at least I annoyed my vanquisher. Alas, that game was also by far the largest of the three on the most epic map (Faerun/Forgotten Realms), and the game looks shaping up to be an exciting one. Visitors and members can check our new special AAR subcategory for that and the other two games currently running (Early, Middle and Late Age, one each).


So who else managed to finish a game this past week(end)?

[Kushan]

I finished Skyrim: Dawnguard. Not sure why everyone was so down on it, I really enjoyed it. Had a couple of really challenging fights which is not something that I've really had this play through after the first few levels.

I had to work more then I was planning to this weekend, so I didn't get to spend much time with Steel Wolves. I did unbox it, and read the scenario guide and the rule book but wasn't able to get beyond that. I'm hoping to be able to start a single boat patrol sometime later this week, after I free up a little bit at work.

[Anguille]

Finished Commander: The Great War as the Central Powers

[Martok]

^  Victory or defeat? 

[smittyohio]

Finished Inferno level on my Witch Doctor in Diablo III...  if it weren't for the auction houses and their effect on loot drop rates, I could see myself playing a lot more... but at this point I might just shelve it until either they fix that or release the PS3 version.   They've admitted they made a mistake, but they are really slow in fixing it.

[Anguille]

^  Victory or defeat?

Victory

[JasonPratt]

I've pretty much decided to skip Diablo3 and stick with Torchlight 2 (and maybe finally install my copies of Titan Quest + expansion someday).