Summer Games Challenge 2017 - Begin when ready!

[Ack]

And lo, did the avatar step forward to slay more monsters willy-nilly because it was a lot of fun-

...er, sorry. I've been enjoying Key's posts. Let's try that again.

And lo, did the party step forward to slay more monsters willy-nilly because it was a lot of fun (that's better). Ack, Bone, Exhum, Noise, and a couple of NPCs who got suckered into joining this motley crew pressed on into the second tower of Darkmoon, the Moonmark Tower. This tower was loaded with moving pit traps, illusory walls, secret teleports, and all manner of beasts whose blood provided an excellent means for Ack and Bone to keep their swords well lubricated. They slaughtered creatures left and right, with an NPC cleric healing and Noise providing the occasional fireball while Exhum peppered oncoming foes with arrows. A labyrinth of medusas, hordes of basilisks, and even the mighty bulettes were no match for the party.

But then, on the fourth floor after slaughtering a handful of ghosts, Ack took things too far and went full buzzkill. "Do you think these spirits may be the dead souls of people Dran has killed?" Wait, so now I'm killing the souls of the good guys? Man, that Ack guy is a real jerk. You suck, Ack.

Not to be deterred that we were now forever ending the existences of previous adventuring parties who simply weren't good enough to hack it, the party pushed on to the end of the level, where the evil Dran appeared and revealed it was all a trap! He sealed the party in a glass cage and then sucked them up to the fifth level of the Moonmark Tower, where moving pit traps lined the floors and giants literally crawled their ways down the halls towards us. Forget the dungeon levels where we could not rest or the disintegration-happy Beholders of the Four Wind Tower, the giants could reach the entire party with a single blow and repeatedly beat the mages into a fleshy pulp. It was only through extensive amounts of resting and murder that the party emerged victorious, and the imprisoned Giant King read us a shitty poem he probably took a century to compose before vanishing into a cloud of dust that I'm sure the party managed to inhale. Got giant bits in the lungs. Gross.

With the Moonmark Tower complete, it was now time to approach the Talon Tower, full of hidden teleports, fireball-happy mages, and moving walls. However the floors were short, and the party swiftly made its way up the tower to level 7. But level 7 proved the most challenging of all. Zounds! Hordes of mind flayers attacked if the party opened the wrong door! Let me give you some advice, don't play with mind flayers. One of them can wipe out a chunk of your party with a single psychic mindblast. Four of them can wipe your party in a heartbeat. This room spawns a continuous mass, so it's best to keep the door closed, though there is a crystal ball hidden within which reveals images of a possible past or possible future depending on how you interpret the images.

Moving up one floor, the party was now confronted with the big man himself: Dran Draggore, leader of the Darkmoon Temple. Dran revealed the capable soldiers of the party had wiped out a legion of his undead forces in the dungeon in a wave of breaking bones and screaming undead agony, but he had dozens more at the ready poised to wipe out the nearby town. He then resolved to kill the party himself. After a great battle of dodging lightning bolts and beating Dran into submission, the party felled him...only for him to reveal his true form, a great and terrible form that I will not spoil for those of you who choose to play this game. Combat ensued, and though a single hit was enough to nearly wipe the party, soon enough Ack, Bone, and Exhum stood valiantly upon the felled corpse of their enemy while Noise cowered in a corner and I'm pretty sure the NPCs died. I don't really worry so much about them though. They're NPCs.

And with that, I beat Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon.
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1. Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon
2. Descent II
3. Thief II: The Metal Age
4. Ultima III: Exodus
5. Dungeon Master

So, of my short list of five summer titles, I have finished the first. I'll post my thoughts on it in the Games Beaten thread soon. In the meantime, I'm thinking it's time to hit up Descent II.

[marurun]

And lo, Key's adventure through Britannia continues.

...madness ensues...

I do hope you keep writing these. Your prose style is entertaining and you share exactly the kinds of details that make the game sound even more fun than it probably is.

[MrPopo]

Oh man Ack, you're doing Descent II? That's making me want to stop what I'm doing and play it myself. But I promised myself I'd be strong and stick with Trails in the Sky.

[Ack]

Oh man Ack, you're doing Descent II? That's making me want to stop what I'm doing and play it myself. But I promised myself I'd be strong and stick with Trails in the Sky.

Yeah, that's the plan. I beat the first Descent last year, so this time I'm going for the sequel and in it to win it. I'm looking forward to it, and it'll be a nice break from the multiple RPGs I have on my list.

[Xeogred]

==================================================================================

1. Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon
2. Descent II
3. Thief II: The Metal Age
4. Ultima III: Exodus
5. Dungeon Master

So, of my short list of five summer titles, I have finished the first. I'll post my thoughts on it in the Games Beaten thread soon. In the meantime, I'm thinking it's time to hit up Descent II.

Ahhhh yeah Thief 2, excellence. Just brace yourself for the last level being as long as the entire game itself. Can't wait to hear what you think of that level.

[Exhuminator]

Did you already beat the first Thief, Ack?

[Ack]

That I did. Last year or the year before that.

[Exhuminator]

Exhuminator's "summer themed" 25 Summer Games Challenge

6 down, 19 to go.

Battle Shark (Arcade)
Deep Blue (TG16)
Dive: The Medes Islands Secret (Wii)
Everblue 2 (PS2)
Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude! (GEN)
Submarine Attack (SMS)

Just beat Battle Shark.

The goal here is I'm aiming to complete at least 25 ocean/tropical themed games before September 1st. That's the personal challenge I'm doing. Instead of posting a list of 25 games I'm working on, I'll just update this list as I beat one. That adds some mystery, but it's also because sometimes I'll start playing a game and realize it's just crap, so I'm not going to finish it. No use making a list of games that's so malleable as that would be.

[Ack]

I booted up Descent II and realized I had not tested it, so I decided after some modifications to the controls that the only way to be sure was to play a little. One level down, 23 to go. Those fast little anklebiters with Vulcan cannons piss me off.

[Xeogred]

System Shock 1 is proving to be a challenge... mixed emotions for sure.