Finally… A SHT pays off!

With the rerelease of the Final Fantasy IV guardians in Storm Reach I decided to use my Special Hunting Ticket (SHT) that I got for filling my 24 login card there.

A good friend of mine in game gave me some great advice about hunting with SHT’s, it was not to expect to catch anything that way you are never disappointed. An easy thing for me to do with my legendary bad luck hunting 5*’s.

After using some normal hunting tickets to get warmed up I selected my SHT. Taking my friends advice I expected to get some feeders for my Almighty Fortuna and little of anything else. After the first few kills I spotted a flashing Giant shadow and was rewarded with +10 seconds and ….

To be honest it’s felt like eternity since I managed to acquire a 5* guardian white hunting. When I saw this guy show up I smiled! It had been about 6 months since I landed my other 2 hunted 5*’s and Thor is by far the best.

I have been lucky playing Guardians Cross and making some friends who have been very influential in keeping my playing. We help each other out whenever possible with both cards and stones.

One of them, ManAcus, has recently had enough with and quit. He was one of the first guys I met playing and has been generous gifting me over 140 Silver Slimes! We shared a common bond in that his luck at hunting 5* guardians was as bad as mine. After competing in a recent coliseum and getting beat by teams filled with reborn 5*’s, he decided to turn his attention to other games and I wish him all the best.

Is there any Love for Insomniac’s Fuse?

I have following this game for a while since Insomniac Games are one of my favorite developers. I enjoyed their Ratchet and Clank series and love The Resistance Trilogy which I usually play split screen with friends.

Since Fuse has been announced (as Overstrike) it has taken a barrage of criticism from every angle. The demo was released yesterday (May 7) and seems to be a nice introduction to the game and it’s 4 playable characters. The game also looks great and with the ability to freely switch between each character and their unique fused weapon offers up some strategy. The game offer some platforming stretches to go along with its cover based combat. You have different options on how you want to upgrade each character as well as the ability to play with friends online or split screen.

I have had this game pre ordered for a few months now and the demo reinforced my belief in the game. Hopefully the demo will spark some positive conversations about this strong new IP.

Where does the time go….

It’s amazing how fast time flies with the addition of another little one to your family! My little man has only been here for 9 great weeks and what a difference.

My daughter was a sleepy baby where my little man is awake and looking around all the time and requires lots of attention. One of the problems we are finding right now is that both kids around bed time want Mommy. Whenever I try to settle one the water works begin, which is a little frustrating when I know my wife is tired and could use the help.

Another challenge we are progressing through is potty training the Little Princess. She is doing well but there have been a few bumps along the way.

I hope things settle down a bit so I can get back blogging more but I have no complaints because I love spending time with my family.

Frustration Growing in Guardian Cross

When the rumors of Final Fantasy V cards being released started, I began saving up the Special Hunting Tickets i got on my iPod’s account.

With their recent release I decided to spend all 13 of my SHT’s in one sitting hoping for the best. I have been shut out over the last 4 months on my special hunts without landing a 5* or even an Ace 4*. With over 40 special hunts under my belt (some bought, some free) and have only 2 5*’s (Ifrit, Phoenix) to show for them.

Just as I finished my setup an was all ready to start hunting, my little girl started coughing and got sick on her bed. So the hunt got delayed as my wife and I changed her sheets and gave her a bath at 10:30pm. Once everything was settled and the rest of the family was sleeping I sat down and focused on the hunt.

As I hunted I recorded the spoils of each ticket. Ticket after ticket I hunted, growing just a little more frustrated with each. When the 13 tickets were gone I even bought 2 more trying to get me over the top. Once the dust settled I looked over the guardians I got more frustrated with the game then ever. The final count was 94 3*’s (about 7 Aces) and 12 4*’s (with an Ace Atar), and ZERO 5*’s!

Wow…..

That’s about all I can say, I was trying to be optimistic and hope just for one Deadmoon 5* in 15 special hunting tickets. I could not imagine how angry I would have been if I payed for all those tickets and came away with nothing!

I have now passes the 200 days playing mark with only 2 hunted 5*’s to show for it.

To say the least my motivation for this game is wavering. Square-Enix is just lucky I have some good friends in game that keep me coming back for more. Hopefully the ratios for hunting 5*’s go up because I cannot see myself dropping any more money into this game unless something changes.

The ball is in your court now Square…..

Knights of Pen and Paper

I have been keeping my eye on this game for a few weeks and finally picked it up about a week ago.

The game lets you select up to 5 characters and classes then puts you in the hands of a Game Master that guides you through your adventure. You get a choice of 5 classes (Paladin, Wizard, Cleric, Druid, and Rogue) to choose from to start them unlock more as you go. Also you earn in game money by adventuring and can spend it upgrading your weapons and armor or buy items for your table to boost stats.

My first group started with a Paladin, Rogue and Wizard. The trio worked well but when I unlocked the Bard class I restarted. My new group was Paladin (tank), Wizard (DPS), and Bard (healing). Using this group I saved money and quested to unlock the rest of the classes (necromancer, hunter, barbarian, and knight). Along the way I added a Knight and Hunter to my party to see how the classes work.

After unlocking the development team (5 new characters to chose from) I restarted again using those characters. My team now consists of a Necromancer, Paladin, Hunter, Cleric and Wizard. I found this combination to give me amazing balance with a tank, 3 DPS with AOE ability and a healer.

The game has a unique sense of humor having quests like Bhostguster with the quest giver maned Mill Burray. The game gives you lots of choices on how you can build your team and how you play each class. It has a simple base game that hooks you, but has a lot of good strategy hidden underneath the surface.

I am addicted, it’s on of the best games I have played this year. Best of all it’s a game you play off line so I can play it at work!

Final Fantasy V invades Guardian Cross!

Square-Enix let lose another round of Final Fantasy characters into Guardian Cross. This time it’s to celebrate Final Fantasy V being released on iTunes. The art work on these cards is amazing and I would love to get my hands on a Odin or Shinryu (even an off type) just to have in my lineup!

So far I have used 4 special hunting tickets in the Deadmoon dessert and have only landed 3 4*’s and 19 3*’s. As you can tell my poor luck has not changed! Because real life has been hectic this week I am aiming for a C+ rank in the Coli for another special hunting ticket and another shot.

I really hope my luck changes so, I want one of these guys

A new adventure in the Elder Scrolls universe!

Now that the house has calmed down a bit as we slowly get use to having our new Little Guy around, I decided to look through my catalog of old games (I am still interested in playing a good JRPG but just cannot justify the expenditure at this time).

After sifting through by back log the game that jumped out at me was Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I bought the game at release and played it for a while until all the bugs started popping up in the PS3 version. Now that most of the bugs have been addressed I think it’s time to head back and give it another try.

I decided to start my character again from scratch. My first adventure in Skyrim I created a Mage dealing death and distraction with fireballs and lightning, but had trouble staying alive. This time I wanted a more robust character and decided on a Dark Elf roughly based on the Shadow Warrior build I found The Skyrim Blog character building site. It uses Heavy Armor, Shields and Stealth to improve survivability.

I just hit level 10 and am loving it. I am working on leveling my stealth, illusion and block skills. Archery looks to be my biggest challenge, I have yet to get the hang of it. My next goal is to join the Bard college for the speech boost then off to become a member of the Imperial Legion.

With two little ones and a full time job this game will be a long term project, but one I think I’m up for.