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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Pikmin (series)

Pikmin (pronounced pick-men) is video game series that's about this guy called Olimar (pronounced Ol-e-mar) commanding a huge army of creatures called Pikmin. Strange fellows they are. when idle, they stare at Olimar, sometimes mimicking his actions. Another strange fact is they are spawned from onions. That's right, onions. Giant onions.



This is (by far) the smallest video game series, having only one sequel but it has a remake for the Wii. Same thing for the original's sequel Pikmin 2. They are a total of seven discovered species of Pikmin. Here's a list.
  • Red Pikmin - Reds are immune to fire, thus they can walk though it without getting torched.
  • Yellow Pikmin - Yellows originally can handle explosives, but this was changed into becoming immune to electricity in Pikmin 2.
  • Blue Pikmin - Blues can survive in water and have something called Lifeguard power, where they rush in to save drowning Pikmin.
  • White Pikmin - Ever seen a poisonous frog? The Whites are Pikmin versions of those poisonous frogs. Their deaths are not in vain when eaten, for then the eater is poisoned. They can also find buried treasure and are immune to poison themselves.
  • Purple Pikmin - Imagine such power! Weighing 10xs the amount of the average Pikmin (Purples are all muscle, literally!), these can be used to solve weight related puzzles.
  • Parasite Pikmin - I have no clue on what this species looks like. It (unlike all the other Pikmin) can control a host, even if it is another species.
  • Mushroom Pikmin - These are poisoned and attack Olimar and any unaffected Pikmin.

Olimar works at a shipping company, being a pilot for the cargo ship S. S. Dolphin. In Pikmin 2, the Dolphin was sold by the President of Hocotate Freight (Hocotate Freight is the name of the company.) to pay a debt. The Debt was later revealed to be new employee Louie's fault because while he was shipping a cargo of Hocotatian carrots, he ate them all. And when he reported back to the President, he lied to his boss, saying that vicious space bunnies attacked him and stole the carrots. Space Bunnies... Who would believe such nonsense!? That excuse has "lie" written all over it (metaphorically, not literally)! Anyway, thanks to Louie, Olimar has to enlist the help of the Pikmin (again) to gather treasure, and then sell said treasure to pay off the rest of the debt (which as of selling the Dolphin, was lowered to 10,000 dollars, or in Hocotatian sense, 10,000 Pokos).


I think I should tell you how Olimar met the Pikmin. It was all thanks to an accident during a vacation. A meteor hit The S. S. Dolphin and caused the ship to get caught in Pikmin Planet's (extremely) powerful gravity field. Olimar survived the crash, but the Dolphin...was dismantled. While looking for the missing parts, Olimar met the Pikmin, who were more than happy to help with repairs. The game has three different endings, a happy ending, an average ending and a bad ending. If you get happily ever after ending (gained by collecting all thirty parts before day thirty), here's what happens: Olimar is overjoyed to see is ship fully restored to it's former glory. Later that night,Olimar is about to take off. Before boarding, he turns and looks at the Pikmin, who tilt their heads in curiosity. Olimar waves them goodbye, but the Pikmin just tilt their heads in the opposite direction. Olimar sighs and shakes his head, and climbs aboard the Dolphin. The Pikmin, after spending the past days with Olimar, start aggressively attacking a Grub-dog (which happens to be the natural predator of Pikmin). If you get average ending ( to get it you must collect 25 - 29 parts) here's what happens: Basically it's a shorter version of the happy ending, with a scene where the Pikmin instead of attacking a Grub-dog, stare up in the sky, possibly wondering if they will see Olimar again. If you get bad ending, here's what happens: Olimar realizes it's the last day before life support systems fails and hurries in the Dolphin. The engine explodes Olimar (knocked out from the explosion) is taken by the Pikmin to a onion, where the onion re-spawns him as a Pikmin.


TRIVIA TIME 
  • Olimar has a ship part called the Nova Blaster. He said that it easily destroy things as big as a star. It's unknown why he didn't use it on the meteor. Perhaps he didn't notice it? To further support this theory, the instruction manual says that he had the ship on auto pilot while went to the ship kitchen to make tea when the meteor hit.
  • The purpose of the Libra and Sagittarius parts are unknown. Maybe their some GPS system? Maybe they don't do anything at all, and are just decorations?
  • Olimar is married, because he makes references to his wife in his journal. He also makes reference to his two kids, who apparently gave the Libra and Sagittarius parts to Olimar before the events of the game.
  • Louie has a big appetite which explains why he writes recipes to deep fry, grill, and make five coarse meals out of enemies. For example his note for cooking Emperor Bulblaxes is "To prepare the tongue for cooking, marinate in olive oil and chop into cubes. Stir in a pot of carrots, potatoes, chives. Cover and simmer for several hours. Accompany this mouthwatering, rustic stew with a hearty roll".

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Spore (series)

I know I did a blog post on this when I was starting out, but this is an improvement. And is about the whole series. Including add-ons (An add-on is extra content for a video game) for the original game.


 Spore has three add-ons. Here's a list.
  • Spore Galactic Adventures - Turn your creatures from a zero to a Galactic Hero! With this expansion, you can turn one of your creatures into a Space Captain. NOTE: before the creature you want to use as a Space Captain can be used, it must evolve all the way down to where the species invents UFO technology.
  • Spore Bot Parts Pack - Turn your creature from a fleshy pipsqueak to a robotic beast! With this add-on, your creatures can become cyborgs. NOTE: Creature must be in Creature stage for use.
  • Spore Creepy & Cute Parts pack - Turn your creature from a creepy monster to a cute animal and back again! With this add-on, your creatures can become creepy, cute, or both.  NOTE: Creature must be in Creature stage before use.


Spore also had a few sequels. Here's a list.
  • Spore Creatures - A DS spin-off. Your dude is in Creature stage during the whole game.
  • Spore Hero - a more story based game for WII. The most advanced species in the game is Meejee's tribe, for it is the only species that so far that made it to Tribal Stage. Everyone else is still in Creature stage.
  • Darkspore - a upcoming game. Perfect for those that want to see more.........realistic violence. What I mean by that is blood (there, I said it). Weirdly, the evil dudes are called Darkspore. And another thing, from what I seen, the player can't make their own creature but can edit the ones they can use (Like Savage or Vex.). Fan theory; possible sequel to this game (Because at the end, the Corruptor's Mask's eye-holes start glowing.).
  • Spore Creature Keeper - Another upcoming game. It allows you to raise your creatures like pets.
  • Spore Hero Arena - the DS version of Spore Hero.

Here's the story for Spore.
The game starts with you naming your chosen homeworld. A short cutscene plays showing a Meteor Shower on your planet. Your creature emerges from a meteor shard. After playing through the Cell Stage, Your creature gets a brain. It (after evolving) swims up the surface of the water and summons the rest of it's kind. They swim to shore no longer single-celled organisms, but even better, multi-celled creatures. After a few (in-game) days on land, your species migrates (helpful tip: Follow the dirt trail and you will find your species' digs in no time.) once or twice. Event in game: Giant beasts called Epics appear and can kill with one blow (unless you either have the Sneak Power or if you have at least 200 health points. If your lucky you will survive the first blow.). There's an reward for killing Epics. There are two ways to do so. One: Lure it to your species nest and have the rest of the species fight it for you. And two: keeping Spitting at it and when it charges run into a body of water. But anyway, after evolving and gaining a bigger brain, a cutscene plays. Your playable creature discovers fire and throws a burning stick in the air. But the stick hits himself in the head. Before you know it, your playable creature is now a Chieftain and now rules over a whole village.In Tribal Stage, you (and five other tribes) are trying to become the most successful tribe on the continent. You can either savagely crush your foes or peacefully join forces with them. After Evolving yet again. Your dudes will discuss on how to improve modern lifestyle for themselves. One says vehicles, another says better tech, and another says "PIE!!!". So the Chieftain turns his small town into a massive customizable city. In Civilization Stage, the only competition now are unfriendly civilizations of your own species. The only things to do here is collect Spice (which is fuel, energy, and has a dozen other uses) and become the most successful civilization on the whole planet. After that comes the Space Stage. Here You must Take over whole Universe. To do that, you must reach the Deadliest place of all...the Galactic Core (Helpful Tip: if you have NOT defeated the Grox, use the treasure you find at the Core to transform Grox-inhabited planets. Not only will it destroy them, but it makes the planets habitable for you to expand your colonies to those planets!). You Meet a dude called Steve. Steve gives you a device call the Staff of Life and invites you over for a free breakfast and representation. THE END




 Here's the Story for Spore Hero
Meteors crash into an unnamed planet, and two eggs pop out of meteors located at Creature Beach and the Mushroom Valley. The red meteors crash upon the planet causing devastation where they land. From the core of the red meteor hatches Zarkhator. The red meteors make creatures go out of their minds if they go near them. The blue meteors then crash with little damage. Blue meteors make new parts. A creature called Meejee takes an egg from the core and takes it to safety.
Your creature finds itself in the Mushroom Valley, where it learns basic living essentials from Meejee and how to fight by another of Meejee's Tribe, Espee. After talking to them, you meet up with the Big Chief of Meejee's Tribe. Before you get a chance to talk him, Zarkhator appears and attempts to crush you with a red meteor. He misses, but the meteor corrupts the Big Chief. Your creature destroys the meteor, and is rewarded with an ancient idol piece. You are told to take the ancient idol parts to the Sage in the Ancient Grounds, but Meejee won't let you. Meejee tells you to cure the Spikees, a tribe that are friends with Meejee's Tribe, from the influence of the Red meteor. After curing them, Meejee allows you to go to the Ancient Grounds. You also have to fight the Spikees.
In the Ancient Grounds, you meet up with the Sage, who tells you to put the piece on an Ancient Idol. After doing that, the Sage tells you to seek the Yeti in the Moonlit Stoneway. You an also do several minigames with the combat master, the dance master, sing master, and pose master. Later in the game, all worlds become accessible from Ancient Grounds.
On the way to the Stoneway,you are ambushed by Zarkhator, who recalls your previous encounters on other planets. He then attacks you. After defeating him, you continue going to the Stoneway. You are met by a Singer who requests a Moonfruit. After giving him one, he lets you pass. The Yeti is trapped in a crystal and the Singer you just helped requests you to find the other Singers. One of them is trapped by bullies, and you'll have to defeat them. After, you have to bring the Singer safely through the tuber tongue plants (hungry plants). When you find the other two and bring them back, they all start singing, and the crystal containing the Yeti  cracks open. When you make him happy (by destroying red meteors and giving him a Moonfruit) he gives you an Idol piece. When you bring it back to Sage, he gives you wings (Antisoptera, or Fauxry Wings to be precise.)
You can go to two different worlds from here. When evolving the wings, one option is to go back to the Mushroom Valley. Using the wings, your creature flies over a gap, and gains access to the Mushroom Grove, where you are shown how to get through certain plants by a red creature called a Krikat (you can also go through a waterfall in Ancient Grounds, and although a guard will block you from continuing, he can be hopped over easily). You are also shown to be being watched by another Krikat with Wareyes for eyes, Monstrumtalons for hands, and Starfeet for feet. The first Krikat shows you a creature sleeping under a tree, and says all the creatures are too scared to go near it because it appeared when the red meteors appeared. Your creature destroys the red meteor the strange creature is sleeping next to, the strange creature asks you to find its tribe. It then falls asleep. When your creature destroys all the red meteors (which is hard because the energy from them regrows each other) satyr-like creatures called Vakatroz come to the tree. They question the strange creature, called Yacque, about why he is under their sacred tree, and Yacque says to show your creature respect. The Vakatroz state they weren't talking to your creature, but to Yacque, who states he is one of the them. The Vakatroz refuse to believe this, and they send the Yacque away. Your creature follows him, and starts exploring. The evil-looking Krikat offers fruit, but when it's eaten it sends you to sleep. After fighting the evil-looking Krikat (who is really Zarkhator in disguise), you and Yacque gain access to another area. After destroying the red meteors (which also heal each other), the Vakatroz confront Yacque again. Yacque states that a red guy changed him into what he is. After exploring, your creature finds a cave painting describing the Vakatroz. The clues are: Proud and ARMORED CHEST. GIANT HORNS, and SKIN as colorful as the SUN. Legendary JAWS that can call its tribe from afar... You use that information to re-evolve Yacque back into his former self. Then you see the evil Krikat go behind a tree and then comes back out as Zarkhator. Yacque tells you about secret passages to other areas.
Another option is to go from Moonlit Stoneway and enter Moonlit Caverns. Upon entry into the Moonlit Caverns, a Kazamalope named Smurlop will greet you in a small area and advise you to stay back from two red meteors that happen to be in the area, assuming that the meteors will make you crazy, and that they regenerate one another. As you get close to the meteor and destroy it, it regenerates in a cutscene. After the player destroys both meteors (which are not that far from each other), Smurlop will realize who you are, as the Sage told him. Smurlop leads the player out of the cavern to his nest, where the others of his kind are brainwashed by the meteors. Smurlop will explain that his tribe was drawn to the meteors because of their apparent shininess, and they were brainwashed as a result. The player must then destroy this meteor, and the other meteors that are linked. After this, your creature has to re-illuminate the nearby crystal trees with special crystal plugs obtained from a large crystal tree to satisfy the Kazamalope tribe's need for shiny objects.
"After you collect the Idol Part from each world, Sage gives you level 2 wings. You then use it to fly to the Pose Master. She then gives you the final Idol part. After you complete the Idol, it grants you access to Creature Beach. Your creature enters the final place in the entire game. You find some Scorpion like creatures who are brainwashed by Red Meteors which Zarkhator puts down there. They attack you. Once you beat both they give you Claw of Courage. Then you give it to the Ancient Guardian. He destroys the odd creature blocking the way. Then destroy the regenerating red meteors. You must then give a pearl to a creature called Long-Beak. Then pose with him. Go talk to the creature on large island. He will give you the Feather of Charm. Then you give it to the Ancient Guardian. He opens the creature's mouth but suddenly Critters attack you. Once, the critters are defeated Zarkhator attacks you. Once Zarkhator is defeated he goes inside the big creature. You then must race him to the brain. One you win you get the Ancient Brain. Once the Guardian gets it he can talk. (which is shown in a cutscene.) Then he gives you the ultimate weapon known as the Spor-o-Mega. Once you defeat Zarkhator 3 times you get to change his powers and look so he is not a threat anymore. Then, the game ends and you win."

Here's the story for Darkspore.
"The Crogenitors were a race of unrivaled scientists and had built a large galactic empire. They had mastered genetic manipulation and used their knowledge to create an army of genetic heroes, that became known as "Living Weapons". But the discovery by Crogenitor Xylan of the E-DNA, an experimental amino acid that bonds to DNA, changed everything: it was used to weaponize life itself, and it was capable of achieving millennia of evolution in hours. However, the E-DNA was unstable and all of the subjects who came in contact with it were transformed into a genetic nightmare and connected with a hive mind known as "The Darkspore". The E-DNA rapidly turned into a virus that spread all over the galaxy, killing everything in sight. The end result was war. All genetic heroes were slaughtered, almost all Crogenitors were killed, and the Crogenitor empire dissipated star by star. Six surviving Crogenitors were put in cryogenic pods. Xylan was thrown into exile and E-DNA usage was outlawed. In his exile, he injects himself with E-DNA and becomes The Corruptor, master of the Darkspore. Five of the surviving Crogenitors were sent to planets with surviving genotypes, accompanied by the AI network HELIX, and tasked with constructing new Living Weapons untouched by Darkspore. The final surviving Crogenitor was left asleep indefinitely, awaiting the moment when the HELIX network had stabilized the E-DNA. After 1000 years the HELIX succeeded. The 7th Crogenitor was awakened and began to gather the new Living Weapons, strengthening them with the stabilized E-DNA.
Starting with only a few brave heroes, the Crogenitor Insurgency, as it became known, grew to the size of a small army. The Insurgency raided all Darkspore strongholds, discovering more comrades along the way. They grew ever closer to their ultimate goal of purging the Darkspore from the galaxy, moving ever closer to your ultimate goal of destroying the Corruptor.
In the end, the Corruptor's hideout is located on the ruined desert planet of Scaldron. After an epic battle that reflects the other boss fights, the Corruptor, master of all genesis types, is defeated, and he explodes into a burst of white light and his roar of anguish slowly echos away. After his demise, all that remains of him is the mask of Xylan, lifelessly laying on the ground.
HELIX then informs the player than without their leader, the Darkspore forces are splintering; The mutation mines orbiting Verdanth were shot down, the sun finally arose on Nocturna, the energy fields on Zelem's Nexus were restored and repaired, the technology on Infinity was reclaimed by the natives, who proceeded to eradicate the remaining Darkspore, and the ice that has been plaguing Cryos for centuries is finally starting to melt away. The game then zooms back down to Scaldron where Xylan's mask lay dormant on the ground, but one of the mask's eye holes flickers red before the screen fades out."




 TRIVIA TIME
  • Steve is the only character to speak English when he talks.
  • Steve is also the only character to have a human name.
  • In Spore, many aliens worship spiritual beings like the Source, Spode, and others.
  • The Spore Galactic Adventures mission Monster Town is a reference to Godzilla in the fact that a Godzilla-like monster attacks a small town.
  • Also in Galactic Adventures, the Ruins of Doom makes several references to Indiana Jones. First reference is the fact you have to solve puzzles to reach a artifact known as The Golden Llama. Second reference is once you collected the Llama, an Epic appears and you must run away from said Epic while it chases you. Third and final reference is the name of this mission, being similar in title to the Indiana Jones movie "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom".
  • The mouth parts that come with the Bot Parts pack can only be used by Omnivores.
  • The most powerful race in Spore is the Grox. But the Grox's biggest weakness is they can only survive in T0 conditions. If you have the game and fighting the Grox, use this to your advantage and make the conditions better so the Grox will die.
  • Another helpful tip is to ally with them. Then, when they least expect it, BLOW UP THE GROX COLONIES!!! Well, that's what I would do if I wanted the whole galaxy to myself. But yet again, allying with them is pretty useful I mean you would have the most powerful race ever as your partner.
  • In Spore Hero Arena, a humble blacksmith named Yeedo made medals out of red meteors, which you collect but Yeedo is overwhelmed by their power and mutated into a Spore version of Gigan. In Spore Hero, the same thing happened with King Yaque (but he didn't turn into Gigan).
  • In Spore, in the Creature Stage, there are gear-shaped statues and drawings on rock formations, hinting that there were sentient beings before your creature evolved.
  • There are also crystal clusters, giant bones, crashed ships (most of which belong to the Grox empire), and various other things you might see in Creature Stage.
  • In Spore Hero, the Social Masters have two arms, can fly and have four legs. But the Combat Master has four arms, is flightless  and has two legs.