Tired of Easy Games?

A Short Apology To My Loyal Followers

2011-09-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. I'd just like to start out with a quick apology for the past couple weeks of inactivity, but I'm sure it's happened to everyone at least once in their blogging career. This is my third week at my new job, so things are finally slowing down a bit. It's also the last week of my semester (I go all year round for a Medical Lab Technician associates degree). So please check back daily, and expect new content. The next few play sessions are probably going to be quite uneventful since I'm down to two Pokemon... I'll likely grind out several levels before continuing. But, I will be going back to daily updates regardless. I will also get back in the habit of checking in on my followers daily.

Per Aspera ad Astra

2011-08-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, this post is going to be a bit pic heavy; so, bear with me.

First off, I ran into rival#3 just outside the Gym.

He was a pushover.

I then cleared the Gym. Now, this is the weirdest Gym in Pokehistory.

Notice the ordinary exterior.

Upon entering, you will notice it's a museum...

With a skeleton of a Dragonite. Oooooo.

In the backroom is of course a Gym.

No, wait that's a library... I know it's around here somewhere...

Of course, under a bookshelf. (It's always under a bookshelf...)

After that insanity I have no idea what's next. Let's check Team ToEG.

Okay here we go.

What!!! The first responsible Pokepartent, and now the first black trainer! This is fantastic.

Lenora sent out Herdier. ToEG sent out Morrow!

One hit crit death... off of a freaking takedown...

All right, MUNKMUNK you're up. MUNKMUNK crit against the Herdier! We're gonna do it guys!

The. Herdier. Crit. Again. Nooooooooooooooo!

Booboofina got revenge, then she sent out the crazy evolved version of Tweak. And, I'd just like to say; I named tweak well. The evolved form looks even crazier. Booboofina mopped up.

And...

Victory!!! But, at what cost...

I tried to run to the Pokemon Center. Maybe if I could get there fast enough they wouldn't have to die! Then these guys stole that stupid Dragonite's skull.

I watched them steal it. Holding my dieing Pokemon, weeping...

I finally arrived at the Poke Center.

They died... and the nurse didn't even care..

As I looked to Steven and Booboofina I realized. Team Plasma would pay for this!!!

That's it for this post. I'd just like to say I'm as surprised as you are... I'm not writing this story anymore... lol

More Pain and Progress

2011-08-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

I have work at 8:00 a.m., so I'm going to go ahead and post tomorrows post now. This has been the most painful slog in Pokehell...Basically I'm grinding out a few levels in the most unforgiving place I've ever seen in a Pokemon game. It started with one of those crappy Crit kills I was so afraid of when I started.

Sorry the pic doesn't show the crit... I might have been screaming when it happened.

If that's not enough the whole place is full of Fighting types with the move Bide. If you aren't familiar with that move, it takes hits for two turns then unleashes double the damage received.I don't have a picture of Tweak dieing, but I know for a fact I was screaming when he died. I was using my Flying type Morrow to wipe out the fighting types. Somehow a particularly high defense Fighting type of five levels lower than Morrow went first. He used Bide, then immediately took a hit of about 45% health. Since I couldn't take back that hit, and another equal hit wouldn't kill him before he unleashed it... I had to chose who would die...

But, I've saved the good news for last. Booboofina evolved!

After my leveling it looks like this.

I think I'm ready to at least scout out the gym... (I don't want to look up anything for this game, since I know none of the Pokemon nor the Gyms it's more exciting.)

A Title Would Give to Much Away...

2011-08-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

Since I've blogged last a few things have happened. First I fought those Team Plasma guys a couple more times.

I'm not quite sure what they were doing here... They were attempting to acquire something called "Dream Mist" from some little balloon Pokemon. It is my stance not to judge so...

I also fought Creeper again. He said something that moves him back to the front of the line of rivals.

I also met a few new bros. One is a freaking lightening unicorn zebra! His name is Steven.

Yeah he's my new favorite of this Generation.

In a nearby cave I found Zubat's replacement (about freaking time they replaced Zubat...)

I know... Woobat, real freaking different from Zubat. I give Nintendo an A for effort.

I even met this Gens Pidgey. The next gym is a normal gym, and of course I got this instead of the any of the three or so fighting types I've seen in this field. O well beggars can't be choosers.

I named her Morrow after (don't make fun of me) Princess Bubblegum's bird. If you haven't seen Adventure Time then open a new tab and go to youtube and check it out now.

High off of my three Pokemon catching streak, I ran headfirst into disaster. I had seven Pokemon for all of ten minutes... Since I don't have a Pokemon that's strong against Normal, I figured if would take a while to grind out all six Pokemon. Of course, I wanted to beat all the trainers first... Then this happened.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooouuuuggggghhhhh....

To make matters worse, that ugly Pokemon CRIT killed him...

And, that Pokemon is the Fighting type the game designers planned on me beating this gym leader with... I'm not sure what that says for my quest.

Nevertheless, We have resolved ourselves to continue this through till the bitter end. Steve picked up Arbuckle's Miracle Seed, and hasn't put it down since we buried him...

Yeah this crazy thing makes you roleplay pretty hard. It's kinda sad but I actually care that a digital lizard died... If you think I have issues check out the original at nuzlocke.com lol. He gets waaaaaay more into it than I have.

One Badge Down...

2011-08-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

After being challenged to battle by a no-name first gym leader: I set out to train. I fought a few schoolchildren and then when I went to beat up the last kids Pokemon...

Since I had nothing to go by except a Pokemon name, and a vaguely monkey thumbnail I named him after every Mankey I ever had. In all caps.

Then since they wouldn't let me go anywhere else, I went to the gym.

I didn't lose anyone but I had two extremely close calls... in the same battle.

When I got to the gym leader, I learned that there were in fact three gym leaders. Of course you fought the one who is the type strong against your starter, but since they gave me MUNKMUNK...

Afterwords,

Victory!

It wasn't even too hard on my team. I'm not saying I'll never lose a Pokemon, but I WILL be the Champion.

Route 2 to Striaton City

2011-08-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Upon arriving in no-gym town number two, I was treated to a boring tour of the Pokemon Center. To my surprise the Pokemart is now in the Center; good work Nintendo. Anywho, after that I walked outside to this.

For once the "bad guys" aren't after money, world domination, filling the world with water, or any combination of the three. They just want Pokemon to be free. But before I could sign the roster...

Now I don't know who or what this guy is, my vote is for Rival #3, but he wouldn't shut up about my Pokemon being unhappy about being in Pokeballs. I thought the cockfighting was the crime, but evidently this weirdy thought it was the Pokebals... He then released his Pokemon from a Pokeball...

That was when I knew I hated this guy. His only Pokemon was a freaking cat; not just any cat, but one that was one level higher than my strongest. Since Arbuckle is a certified champ, we won anyway.

I then walked to Route 2, in order to meet my next teammate.

I caught her, and based on the red eyes and this Pokedex entry.

I named her Tweak.

After grinding out a few levels on my three partners, we continued down Route 2, and into Striaton City. Fighting Bubbles as we entered, and Creeper in the Trainer's School. I was right about them. Bubbles was barely worth mentioning, and Creeper threw me for a loop by leading off with his starting Pokemon. Since ToEG v. Creeper was a 3:2, it wasn't too difficult.

I then found my way to the Gym. Where I met the worst NPC of all time

That's right. He asked me what I had then planned appropriately. Challenge freaking accepted you cheater.

Here We Go Folks

2011-08-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

Okay here goes. Just in case you've never played Pokemon White, in this game you have two rivals for some reason. The girl seems a bit bubbly, and since she gets the Pokemon that's weaker than yours while picking after you: I'm just going to rename her Bubbles. The second guy is a bit tougher. He's a hardcore studyholic, and with the Pokemon that's strong against mine. I'm gonna rename him Creeper, and assume he's my actual rival. He's. A. Jerk. He almost killed me... One fight in and I almost died. I'm only an hour into this and it's already scaring me.

But Arbuckle and I persevered.

After the two "rivals" and I destroyed my room with our Pokemon fight, my completely irresponsible video game mom had some words of wisdom.

That's right... She could "hear their cries of pain," and she probably kept knitting or something...

And if that wasn't weird enough, I then walked in on a disagreement between Bubbles and her dad.

Afterwords due to my completionist issues I talked to her dad. Lo and behold I met the first responsible Pokeparent in my fifteen years of Pokemon.

I then crossed Route 1, caught my first Pokemon. It's something called a Lillipup. I'd call it this games Rattata, since it's a normal type in the first zone. But, during the catching tutorial the Prof. used a mouse to catch a rat...

I took a break upon reaching town safely. Someone mentioned a tour of town so I took a break there. With this much health.

That much health was actually cutting it a little close. I'm starting to doubt if I'll get past the first gym or two. Wish me luck, see you next time.

Pokemon White Anyone?

2011-08-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Although the goal of this blog is to try out hard-modes on new and classic video games, I think I'll kick off the blog with a Nuzlocke Challenge. Just in case anyone hasn't heard of the legendary Nuzlocke Challenge, here's the creator's website (www.nuzlocke.com). Be sure and visit his site. Since the Nuzlocke Challenge is the original hard-mode for an overly easy game, it seems a logical place to start out the blog. Hopefully through this play-through I'll gain an audience that will stick through the multiple failures of future trial hard-modes.

Here are the rules:
1. Nickname all Pokemon
2. Only catch the first Pokemon encountered in any area
3. IF A POKEMON FAINTS, YOU MUST DELETE IT.

These are the original rules used by Nuzlocke in a FireRed run. I tried this once about six months ago on Sapphire, and lost at the fifth gym. Needless to say, it's insanely difficult. I'll be starting this in the next day or so. Just for the record, I've never played Pokemon White before. Feel free to comment away.

If you want an easy way to follow along with what's happening, follow me on twitter. My posts may end up a bit unpredictable, so I highly recommend it. Just search iamtoeg on twitter and follow away.

Just a Quick Introduction

2011-08-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

I am ToEG. Remember when games made you pay to play? I'm not talking a monthly fee, or addons that are purchasable for a few bucks. I'm talking time. Back when you had to grind out for an hour or two to get strong enough to tackle that next boss. When it wasn't all about market availability. When beating a game was an accomplishment, not an achievement. My goal is to put a little bit of challenge into new video games, dust off a few classics, and have fun. So kick off your shoes, have a seat, and enjoy the ride.