Stalker 2: Scar

[Part of the Wasted Land story]   

My first stop in Pripyat is to assist the vanguard (another faction) defend their base from monolithians. Despite this their leader is very anti-ward and refuses to provide info, so Colonel K gets me to snoop around the vanguard's past operations and I find and report in details to an underground passage taken from a crashed helicopter (which I have to steal from a chimera who has made it his home).

There must be a leak though, because I soon come across hostile Spark forces vying for that same maintenance passage, led by Richter who meets his end in the gunfight. Colonel K and a squad of Ward arrive soon after, advising the now late Dr. Dalin was the traitorous snake. The next segment to get to the C-Consciousness requires lots running between bunkers between emissions, monolith defenders and two surprise bosses who get in the way as neither wants Ward to succeed:

Strelok himself, now wielding a powerful artifact is much like a wizard now - zipping around the chamber and throwing lightning anomalies left and right which really batters my gear. I end him from afar. And Scar, who has gone crazy after realizing his shining zone is not real, needs to be TV migraine induced to die just like Strelok did with Dark previously. With that Colonel K sacrifices himself to eliminate the C-Consciousness program, and I'm free to leave with a pretty decent report on what transpired within.

Duty above all.

Stalker 2: Strelok

[Part of the Wasted Land story] 

The Doctor turns out to be a pacifist who lives on a small island in a highly radioactive lake and is horrified to learn the C-Consciousness project is still running so he reveals Strelok is somewhere at the Cordon, an area near where I first entered the zone! The boss of the rookie village there (who is also feared by the local bandits) partners me up with a capable stalker named Dark who is already on Strelok's trail, which leads to another abandoned underground lab full of anomalies and mutants, including a pseudogiant we manage to slay!

Surprise!

Soon after, Strelok gets the drop on us and kills Dark with a TV induced migraine - revealing Dark was an unwitting C-Consciousness assassin sent to kill him. As we're on the same side about "killing" this C-Consciousness he sends me to turn on another installation nearby, this one with ghostly type poltergeists in the way and a trio of burers down below. These mutant dwarves have powerful telekinesis and can use scattered weapons to fire or throw at their prey meaning it pays to fight them in "clean" areas.

After turning on the power I'm jumped by Scar and his Spark fanatics, who question my allegiance with Ward. I basically tell them what they want to hear, that I support their vision of a "shining land" to make the zone paradise for all to trick them into letting me go without harm. To help me see the "truth" about Ward I'm told to go to one of their bunkers and ask about "FIBER", which seems like a reasonable request.

Stalker 2: Swamp

[Part of the Wasted Land story]  

On the hunt for the Clear Sky base I run into Richter again at the Sultansk loner base (and bar) who provides directions to get through the swamp to the distant village but warns about the defenses setup to protect it from outsiders. Sure enough, a number of psi-emitting towers need to be disabled before I can proceed - one guarded by a mutant cat in a dark church!

Even without them the swamp is a hellish place to traverse with all sorts of anomalies, mutants, and hyper radioactive water - but I make it to the ruined and empty village and find the scanner in a basement, but no Faust. Now of course I have to make the trip back and running face to face into a pseudogiant was not on my bingo card. I fight for a bit until it's apparent that I don't have the ammo to take this monster down so I jump a broken bridge and flee through a bubble anomaly field which seems to make it lose interest.

Exhausted, I try to rest up at the nearest ranger station but instead encounter the Sparker faction and their leader Scar, who know I'm on the way to SIRCAA with the device. They don't want to stop me, they just want me to open a door in an underground tunnel while I'm there. Before I can give a proper response, Ward troops arrive and begin a gunfight so I dash out the backdoor to let them sort it out while continuing to jog to the SIRCAA research facility. Good thing I'm loaded up with energy drinks!

Full Metal Alchemist: Scar's Revenge

After being left out of the first movie entirely, a serial killer who hunts State Alchemists comes to town and starts hunting everyone's favorite alchemical brothers. This second outing fixes the main flaw I had where the main character is near unlikable. Sure, he still has moments of trying too hard to copy his anime / manga form but all up he is much better this time around.

There's also a lot more action and pretty decent sequences at that, despite the CGI having the same "we're on a budget" look. The main flaws which are more pronounced here are the slow trigger fingers of anyone with a gun, because I failed to count how many times I said "shoot him in the head" out loud. This is probably a left over from the manga where people have soliloquys at gun point. What might fit on a single panel on a page does not translate well into minutes of talking on the silver screen. It's almost to the point where the rifle men should be getting tired of aiming for that long.

Fans unfamiliar with the story might also wonder about an unexplained block in one fight sequence, but its a blink and you'll miss it thing. All up, much better than the first movie but it ends with a "to be continued" sign so expect to be left hanging.

The Cursed: Fool's Crown

[Part of the Cursed story line]

After breaking out of prison (again), the quartet head for the Iron Throne headquarters and find it in shambles with the remaining people furious at Sarevok for taking their funds to become the next Grand Duke. Only one Sarevok loyalist is found and killed, holding proof of his treachery.

The girls then use the sewers to avoid the guard patrols but instead run into an assassin pair employed by Sarevok, who have already killed Scar and Duke Eltan. The assassins are defeated and their invites to his coronation ceremony looted from their corpses. These trump being wanted apparently as the guards at the palace just wave the party through.

Sure enough, Sarevok is there wearing the same armor he used when killing Gorion. Half the audience shift into doppelgangers and attack the other lords but the party manages to save one of them who then looks over the evidence gathered and agrees that Sarevok is an asshat. The mighty Sarevok then runs away (via gate) like a little bitch but the duke manages to divine his location through his god (holy sheet!) and teleports the party in pursuit.

Because clerics can be bad ass too.

Insight: This is the only time you need to make sure you hang onto those important documents as they actually come into play.

The Cursed: Secrets of Candlekeep

[Part of the Cursed story line]

With all things Durlag finally out of the way, Catharina, Elizabeth, Lu Lingqi and Party Girl return to Baldur's Gate where Scar introduces them to Grand Duke Eltan who sends them immediately (via gate) back to Candlekeep to investigate the Iron Throne leadership. Wait... so the bad guys were there the whole time? Lol!

Back to the beginning!

Despite a cameo of said guys, Catharina is distracted by the presence of doppelgangers within the walls, finding out via letter from Gorion that her real father is actually a dead, murderous god and her blood brother Sarevok (same guy leading the conspiracy) is acting out a highlander style, "there can be only one" deal.

The team is soon arrested and convicted of the murder of those Iron Throne guys (framed) but manage to escape using some doppleganger filled tunnels. To speed things up, Catharina just turns everyone invisible and walks past them all escaping easily only to then wind up right back in prison when they return to Baldur's Gate and are arrested by the flaming fist.

Insight: You actually run into Sarevok here, but can't kill him since he's immune to damage.

The Cursed: Beast Masters

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Needing party members Catharina decides its finally time to return to the basilisk garden, this time fully prepared for the beasts and wiping them and their crazy mage master out easily. Unfortunately the mage seemed to have had his fun with Yuria, and her mangled statue which looks more like a pleasure toy is in no shape to be restored.

Fortunately Lu Linqi, Sir Erland, Elizabeth, and one other random victim are freed with the first three rejoining the team. They head into Baldur's Gate where Scar, impressed by their investigation in the merchants league, tasks them with unraveling the mystery of vanishing citizens.

Close, but not quite.

A quick jaunt through the sewers reveals the culprit to be an ogre mage feeding his pet carrion crawlers. With the easy warm up out of the way and new tactics learned from lycanthrope island, Catharina decides that it's time to return... to Durlag's tower.

Insight: I've pretty much used all the game party NPCs at this point so I had to get my original characters back. Really not sure what happened to Yuria though as her statue was just gone.

The Cursed: Is this Azkaban?

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Down the well the party runs into a dead end by way of locked doors and without a thief or knock spell, they have no choice but to leave Durlag's tower for now. Instead they head North across the previously closed bridge at meet Flaming Fist captain Scar who asks them to investigate the Merchant's League at Baldur's Gate.

The smarty pants gnome cleric Quayle joins them for this task, but Catharina decides to detour to the unexplored Northern lands first - helping a farmer against a zombie horde and discovering the small settlement of Ulgoth's Beard. This quaint village is curious due to its fascination with Durlag and his tower. They even have regular tours to the place!

An arch-mage runs the town and he asks for aid in recovering his cloak. A simple task on the surface, but when Catharina accepts she her team are teleported to a wizard island prison where most of the inmates equal parts powerful and crazy. Shar-Teel is immolated by a flame strike early on, but the team manages to clear all the scum and recover the cloak, which earns them a return trip to the village.

Flaaaaamestriiiike!

Insight: Damage over time attacks such as Melf's acid arrow or poison works well against spell casters as it increases the odds of having their spells interrupted - basically wasting their move.

Nameless: No Freedom from Fate

[This is part of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

With one final push, the large metal gate finally broke from its hinges, collapsing with a deafening crash inwards into the torch lit hallway behind it. The gladiators were now in uncharted territory but there was no time to be cautious as the heavy foot falls of the armored guards drew closer from all directions. Gigal, bow in hand, quickly leaped ahead of everyone, her slender long legs letting her reach the upcoming intersection first and following her nose, turned right. The kitchen contained the means to their escape.

For all her speed she lacked the reflexes to evade as a door on her right suddenly opened with shield-bearing guardsmen charging through and knocking her off her feet. She screamed in agony as one of them then stabbed her in the thigh with a stone sword while the rest of his companions rushed down the hallway to combat the other escapees. In desperation Gigal flailed wildly against her bearded attacker but the man simply caught her hand and after staring down at his beautiful, scantily clad prize for a moment, dragged her helplessly back into the room he had come from and locked the door.

The rest of the Sisters of the Sand along with the slowly dwindling numbers of Scar's group were being pushed back by the sudden appearance of the guardsmen - their numbers compensating for the lack of skill. Seeing that it was a losing battle, Scar suddenly whistled and he and his two remaining men broke from combat and ran in the opposite direction leaving Ash and her girls to handle the ever growing number of enemies.

"We have to fall back," muttered Nessa with gritted teeth, just as she parried away an enemy blade. Ash knew that but without a clear opening not all of them would make it. It was then she saw the dilapidated, secondary support beam above them.

"Indas! The beam!"

The towering woman knew what Ash wanted and right after pushing back a pair of guards, jumped up and slammed on the aged timber with all her might, sending it loose from its bearing and right into the line of guardsmen, knocking them all to the ground. Before Ash could give another order, Nessa and Nerith tumbled over the downed enemy line and quickly slit as many throats as they could. Only three of the guardsmen made it back to their feet with Ash spearing one through the face and the other two having their skulls crushed together by Indas' huge hands.

The sounds of battle ringing down the hall signaled that Scar's escape hadn't gone so smoothly either. While the brunette sisters looted what gear they could, Ash and Indas reached the door the guards had come from and, seeing Gigal's bow lying on the floor as well as hearing her cries and whimpers from the other side, they tried desperately to break it down.

It did not budge.

Screams of death followed by marching feet indicated that they were out of time. With tears of frustration on her face, Ash signaled the rest of her team to keep moving; towards the smell of roasting meat, towards the kitchen, towards freedom and leaving Gigal to her fate.

Nameless: Sisters of the Sand

[This is the start of my Creative Writing Experiment.]

The crowd cheered as Ash rolled to her side, just before her opponent's heavy stone axe slammed down on the spot she had just been. The ugly brute didn't have time to raise it again as an arrow suddenly found it way through his neck, spouting blood like a fountain as he fell to his knees and slumped forward - dead on the sand. Blowing a strand of red hair out of her face she nodded thanks to her savior, the blonde archer Gigal. The woman reciprocated the nod and let her piercing blue eyes find her next target. There weren't many to choose from.

The brunette sisters Nerith and Nessa were finishing off one more opponent between their jagged bone knives while Indas, the towering and muscular giantess was busy choking the life out of her adversary - his legs kicking the air in vain as he tried to pry free from her grip. With a loud snap the kicking stopped and the broken body was tossed like garbage to the side, much to the pleasure of the crowd. Ash grinned as she retrieved her spear. These were her team mates. These were...

"The Sisters of the Sand win again!" exclaimed the green robed announcer from a high balcony, his skinny arms outstretched. "Surely their luck cannot hold out forever! Send in the next group!"

Ash cast the announcer a deathly sideways stare as the rest of her comrades regrouped around her. That name was something he branded them after their all female group happened to win a few rounds in the previous weeks. They weren't expected to survive as none of them started out as fighters. They were all slaves. Slaves gone "bad" in the eyes of their masters, and now just entertainment for the crowd. Even the lecherous Merzol and his gang of rapists - the ones now lying dead in the sand were just entertainment.

"Always time for a fuck," was Merzol's motto, and Ash heard it a lot in the shared slave pens beneath the arena. Women, men, girls, boys, dogs, rats, dead, alive - it didn't matter to Merzol. That's why she made sure to kill him first.

As she watched the next group of five men march in she knew their next fight would be a lot different from the last one. Different from any they had already fought. It would be their last. This was Scar's team, the reigning "champions" composed of barbarians and renegade soldiers. People who were adept at the art of killing. People who long lived in the underbelly of the bloody arena.

The bald, muscle bound leader signaled his men to stop just as they neared Ash and her girls. The crowd hushed in anticipation.

"Are you ready?" he asked in his usual deep, monotone voice. Ash looked to each of her friends and nodded.

Both teams suddenly sprinted in unison for the old, and often unused western gate of the arena. It took a few seconds before the onlookers cottoned on to what was happening.

"GUARDS!" yelled the green robed announcer. "THE GLADIATORS ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE!"