Six Percent Of My Blogging Skills On DisplayAugust 8, 2012 by

One of the gravest of injuries that can be visited upon me is the devious insult of mistaking Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn with Baldur's Gate II: Dark Alliance. Sure, Blask Isles Studios had a large part in both games, but that is no excuse! So, I'm joking (for the most part, BGII:Shadows of Amn IS my favorite game), but after once again seeing somebody make the innocent mistake for the umpteenth time it made me thinking about my time spent playing the red-headed stepchild in the Baldur's Gate franchise.

In case you are unaware Dark Alliance II is a dungeon crawler, a sub-genre of RPG's that (usually) entails creating a character, then sending said characters into countless dungeons to fight hordes of monsters (usually) in third person with the (usually) random loot drops and (usually) fun and exciting combat as the largest factors to keep interest in playing the game as dungeon crawlers (usually) have little emphasis on the story. I don't play many dungeon crawlers, as I (usually) don't enjoy them, seeing as story is (usually) the most important things to me in a game besides platformers (usually). So, I'm banning myself from using usually (hyuck hyuck) again in the blog. A good example of a dungeon crawler is the Diablo series.

So, Dark Alliance is what you would expect from a dungeon crawler. Though you can only choose from premade characters, the other aspects of the game generally make up for that. The combat is simple but fun; the story is interesting, yet nothing remarkable; and the graphics range from pretty to some damn impressive - for the times - water effects. However, what really makes the game stand out as a wonderful gaming memory is the ability to play with a friend. (Random, I really miss co-op being a norm in video games. Hell, it got to the point where even some RPG's - of the more traditional variety - would allow a second player. I play a game of splitscreen co-op adventure in Uncharted 3 last night with my best friend, and a huge heart flag took up 1/3 of each of our screens. What the hell Naughty Dawg? Anyways, I got the platinum so I'm happy...oh right I was writing a blog wasn't I?).

Somehow, without the aid of Al Gore's internet machine, I discovered a "glitch" in the game. Pardon me for not remembering exactly the serious of events, but there was a way to send items/equipment from one character to another and starting over, so I just grinded the hell outta that game to get gear for me and my friend and we played through and beat the game. After we unlocked Drizzt and Elminster (obviously I played the drow) we decided to do a speed run a few days later at the Alabama State Chess Tournament.

I cannot tell you how geeked I was. I won't even get upset at being called a nerd. The first thing we did after checking into our hotel rooms was to walk across the street and basically single-handedly help the run down gas station make it into the black that year. Hopped up on more snacks than a Ryan Scott last meal, we proceeded to beat them game that night, though it took into the AM. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have stayed up but speed runs are serious business.

I know what you are thinking, we got destroyed at the chess meet right? Well, I sadly only managed a stale mate, but as fate would have it we actually ended up winning the championship! First time in school history. In the back of my mind, if we had not completed the speed run somehow that would have resulted in us losing.

So why do I write this blog? Well, I'm still working on the blog I'm supposed to be writing but honestly didn't feel like continuing it, at the moment. Oh, and after reminiscing over Dark Alliance II, I remembered another game similar to it that I thought would be utter garbage but I actually consider quite the PS2 gem: A Bard's Tale.

A Bard's Tale has the feel of a dungeon crawler, though fewer actual dungeons, except the combat was slightly better than mediocre. However, the entire game is basically a parody of RPG's, including the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance series. The humor in that game is hilarious, and though no Portal is without a doubt on of the funniest games I've played. If you are one able to play older games without cringing at the antiquity of the design then check it out, if you don't like the summoning based combat system then you will assuredly get a kick out of the comedy.

Well, that's what a blog from me looks like when I just woke up and put about 6% effort into. Hopefully this doesn't loose me followers :P

Stay Classy MyIGN.

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