Grazza

This probably looks like the best "2D" game on the Wii, because it has great graphics and the gameplay doesn't seem at all gimmicky.

In terms of gameplay, I think there should be two distinct categories of game, like Mario - 3D and 2D (or 2.5D). The 2D games can stick to handhelds, but they do need more buttons than the Wii remote. L and R are essential for diagonals and missiles. A and B are enough face buttons, although it doesn't hurt to have X and Y as well. I know a lot of people have a problem with "hand holding" and, whilst I love Metroid Fusion, I think Zero Mission had the better balance of gameplay and map design. Let's not forget though that Metroid games are immensely overwhelming, and whilst I don't want someone telling me where I can and can't go (such as in Fusion), it wouldn't hurt to have icons showing which rooms have uncollected Energy Tanks, Missile Expansions etc, as well as location pointers for the next bit of the game. The 3D games should be on consoles and be as high-tech as possible if we ever want another Metroid to impress us as much as Prime. I advocate a system where we can switch between 3rd- and 1st-person at will. Not every Metroid game has to be like Prime, but why throw away the good work Retro Studios did? I'm also an advocate of stacking the weapons systems, like in Metroid Prime 3 - Nova Beam supercedes all other beams, Ice Missiles supercede other missiles, etc. What I do not want is someone telling me when I'm allowed to turn them on. In terms of story, I'm in favour of throwing most of it out. Samus should land on a planet and the rest should be a complete mystery. A spooky atmosphere will immerse us more than a complicated story ever could.

It's funny how, eventually, you wonder why you ever needed Gold Bars, Slime Crowns or Orichalcum, and certainly not Royal Soil (which is one that particularly used to elude me)! Hopefully I'll get to the point where I don't need Metal Slime gear anymore. By the way, Metal King equipment is truly awesome in its physical defence and spell-resistance. When an enemy casts something like "Snooze", Dave (who wears it) never falls asleep. I was playing earlier - Saturday night is "Saturday Night Grottoes" for me - and Fowleye dropped the Hallowed Helm whilst I was watching Strictly Come Dancing! Such a sense of euphoria!

This highlights how differently we've been playing the game. I just checked my Defeated Monster List, and I've received 20 Slime Crowns (and 14 Orichalcum) just from Metal King Slimes. Now, I just need more Metal Slime equipment so I can do something with it...! By the way, has anyone here personally ever had more than one orange Slime on the loading screen? I'm wondering if it's a bit of a myth. PS - Great Roger Moore sig!

At last, the Halloween sale is over! It's now a Royal sale. Keep an eye out for the Pallium Regale - I bought one today and it's actually better (higher defence) than the Tropotoga (which is a 2% drop I don't yet have), albeit not the alchemised version.

Honestly, it's better for us, the gamers, if companies can copy others. The Wii has proven that we can't always rely on Nintendo to make good consoles. What if Sony hadn't been able to copy the analogue stick? All the great games you wanted to experience on PlayStation would have terrible controls. What if parallax barrier technology is really good and you wish the PSP2 used it? It's a mug's game being loyal to one company.

OK, thanks. I think I'll alchemise them into Metal King Boots - can't resist! That's strange. Don't worry, you can feel the strength when you've maxed-out all the traits. Personally, I've now maxed-out every single trait for every character, so I can do all the Quests without wondering if I've got the abilities. Think I'll concentrate on those for a while. Had a bit of a windfall yesterday, literally fought Nemean 40-60 times until he dropped another pair of Invincible Trousers. I think I'm going to be happy if I can get just one of each 2% drop! My current total: Rank 9 Equipment Metal King Helm Metal King Armour Metal King Shield x2 Rank 10 Equipment Dragonlord Claws x2 (bought them) Vesta Gauntlets Invincible Trousers x2 PS - Was nice to see King Trode.

It'd be dishonest of me if I said I wasn't passive/cautious. Regarding the comic strip, I'd probably spend a few days in the chamber, learning as much as I could about the surroundings and the teleporter itself. Perhaps I could test it with a bit of fruit or something? After I'd ruled out any other option, I'd probably use the teleporter. And yes, I am cautious in real life, but you have to be assertive, otherwise you'll build up resentment about people walking all over you. At a guess, I'd say this is a big issue for a lot of teenagers, which is why you get the "EMO" concept of being quiet but resentful, or outright aggressive. Learning how to be assertive and decisive at the right time is just a normal part of growing up.

So, now got a Paladin +5, been doing Grottoes and I haven't received anything good from chests (or bosses) since last time, apart from a Dangerous Bustier so I could complete the Quest related to it (I alchemised my first into a Divine Bustier). However, a smile was brought to my face just now when I was mucking about with some Quests and received a Metal Slime Shield. It was quickly alchemised into a Metal King Shield, as Oricalcum and Slime Crowns are items I do have plenty of! If you want the Metal Slime Shield and Metal Slime Helm, check out these Quests:

I forgot all about Starcom! They were so cool, the way they moved using buttons and magnets, especially the Shadowbat (although I think I just had one of the smaller ones). I loved anything with moving parts. PS - Looks like the Tri-Force on their wings!

ZOIDS for me. Coolest toys ever!

For all my weird ideas, I hardly watch sci-fi, only if it's superb in its own right (Alien, Back to the Future). I actually find it hard to watch the "ideas" sci-fi like The X-Files, because I know it's not real (not seen any Star Trek either). The sad thing is, if we don't, we're done for. Humanity will eventually need to colonise inhabitable planets in other solar systems. It may well be that all the Earth-like planets have life on them and there's no room for us. I've depressed myself now!

I'd change my middle name to "G-String"!

What phone masts? No one said he was actually making a call. In theory, it could be a stunt, as in "I'll go back in time, appear in that film and hold my phone up to my ear. Tell me if you can see me.". Anyway, it's a ridiculous idea. The fact is there is no mobile phone visible, just someone holding their hand up to their head in the way we now associate with making a phone call. That's probably all there is to it.

It does look like they're clutching something to their ear. The rational side of me thinks (assuming it's not an outright hoax) it must be some sort of audio device of the time. After all, it's not impossible that there might have been some sort of speaker that gave instructions to the extras. It might simply be them clutching part of their outfit, in order to make it stay on. The "dreamer" side of me thinks that, perhaps, this is not entirely unrelated to CERN's work with the Large Hadron Collider. After all, it was speculated years before it was finished that it was some sort of "Time Tunnel".

Bear in mind though that the better-quality Grottoes are calculated by how many times you've Revocated in one class. So, once you've got all your Revocation Medals (assuming you want all 12), it'd be a good idea to choose a favourite class for your Hero and aim towards Revocating again. Personally, I've got a Paladin +4 at the moment.

Unbelievable. I'd love to know how they ruin anyone's lives. Does it really harm you when Dale Winton appears on TV?

Alien is brilliant. The atmosphere is amazing, helped by the huge sets and spooky music. It's brilliantly directed, right down to the way the stasis pods open in a hexagon. Aliens is not as good, but it's good enough, and it reminds me of my teenage years. The main monster in it is one of Stan Winston's best creations. So, I would certainly like to see those two on Blu-ray. You like Alien 3 though, Scoop?

No, it does matter, because not everyone likes horror films, but they may be curious about ones like this and Blair Witch. The only one I've ever liked? Alien. Brilliantly atmospheric and actually quite restrained, as long as you don't mind blood.

Look, there's no point inventing things that don't happen. Ghosts get seen by people who, by any standard, are sane, intelligent, critical thinkers. People who hear voices, on the other hand, can be proven to be insane. At the end of the day, a Court of Law has to base its rulings on scientific fact. No one in their right mind would say there's enough evidence to prove ghosts exist. Nor is anyone telling you to believe in ghosts. Now that would be gullible, totally believing in something because someone told you so. Sadly, people lie. My point in this thread has been that it's quite irrational to tell someone they didn't see a ghost, because the witness has more data than the sceptic. As long as the witness is, as I say, sane, intelligent and a rational thinker, they are the person best-placed to decide if what they saw could have been a hallucination, a dream or a misidentification. A murderer does not deserve to be credited with those qualities.

Whoah, that's big for a freebie! Oh, Ike, I forgot to say, there are Revocation rewards, which take the form if equippable accessories. You can only get each once.

Ah well, I don't believe in any of that. I suspect they're a visual phenomenon and that's about it.

Who says they can move objects? It sounds like you're taking the TV programmes too seriously.

Quite simply, a crime's a crime. He's demonstrated a level of insanity/evil by killing someone, not by claiming to see a ghost.

Argh, yes, so many times! You have to scroll though the last page of all your items to see if it was anything good like Metal Slime equipment! It's got to the point where I check there are no monsters around (or defeat them), then run to the chest!