nickelndime

Good afternoon Coil friends!!! I wanted to talk about an awesome computer game that I love playing called Risk of Rain 2.

Having two young kids, I don't usually have four or five hour chunks of time to dedicate to a game in one sitting. Risk of Rain 2 is a great option if you're looking to hop in, play a quick round, and hop out. Now, if you're saying to yourself, “Woah, wait a minute, NickelNdime, I didn't play the first, 'Risk of Rain.' Won't I be out of the loop?” No, because I'll fill you in right now. Ready?

You kill monsters, and creatures. And bosses.

Pretty good story, huh? I thought the story arch was a little too in depth but, you know, to each their own.

The game runs like a typical 3rd person shooter in a sci-fi universe. A player gets to choose from eight different character classes:

- Commando

- MUL- T

- Huntress

- Engineer

- Artificer

- Mercenary

- Rex

- Loader

Each character has their pros and cons, and I'd love to talk about them all in depth, but I can't. I haven't played all of them. In fact, I've only played one so far, the Huntress. Why, you ask? Because she's the best one? That's why! No, I don't think it's arrogant of me to say that seeing as I haven't played any other character. I think it's insulting for you to think that... Where was I?

Each level starts pretty much the same way every time. A character's pod crashes on a planet's surface. The player then has to find the boss and destroy it. Rinse and repeat. There doesn't seem to be much to it, but the fun is in the subtleties of this game. First, there is a meter in the top right of a player's screen. The longer the player is alive, the harder the monsters and the creatures become. This detours a player from hanging around on a level collecting power ups. Typically a good game will run about 45 minutes to an hour of play time. There have been the one or two times I've made it an hour and a half. Just don't ask my wife how long I could last....she would say I could never last that long. *ba-dum-bum-tshh*

Coming soon to Cinnamon, “The NickelNDime Comedy Hour!” If it's anything like Nickel's first time at love makin' it will be quick, awkward, followed by a lot of apologies.

What makes this game so darn addictive are the buffs and power ups! Their value ranges quite a bit. White are typical/common, green are special, and reds are extremely rare. There are so many that each time you play the game the characters develop differently depending on the different buffs and power ups. Another great feature is that the buffs and power ups stack! For instance, if you get the attack speed power up twice, your character's attack speed increases two-fold.

Another great aspect of this game is it can be enjoyed playing single or multiplayer mode. This game supports up to 4 players, so maybe we could get a game together for the next steam. Lately I've been playing single player only because having two little kids I never know when I will have to pause the game. Oh yeah, a player may only pause a game on single player mode. So, if you're playing multiplayer, you might want to make sure you have gone to the bathroom and have your beverage and snacks of choice before hand because you might be there for awhile. Just saying.

Here is a basic run through of my game last night. I didn't do a commentary due to the fact I had my 12 week old son sleeping on my chest.

Lvl 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbOnn5-gAJI

As you can see, there is not much in the way of difficulty on the first level. In fact, a player will typically have to wait for monsters to spawn to get power ups. I summoned the boss at about 7:49.

Lvl 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpwORU3Mvj8

Still pretty easy as far as the game goes. I entered this level at the game clock at 9:49. That's almost ten minutes of play. Typically I want to try to get each level done in 7 to 8 minutes, so in this run through I was a little bit behind. On this level I did pick up a red power up I had never had before called, “Shattering Justice.” This power up reduced enemy's armor with each of my attacks. I had also picked up the, “Electric Ukes” power up. That power up makes lighting jump from creature to creature when I attack. Boss summoned at 7:00 during this level.

Lvl 3:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqY49CAUTL8

As you can see the game is starting to become challenging. I was not too happy with the power ups I found on this level, but that's just random anyway. Sometimes you can get lucky, other times you get power ups that would be better for another character. Boss summoned at 6:17 this time.

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