Your 2016 Gaming Diary

I got that one last night.

 

I also got it on the 360.

 

http://www.trueachievements.com/Dig-Dug/achievements.htm?gamerid=354194

That was nearly ten years ago!

Suddenly I feel that much older, also that probably means I haven't played Dig Dug in a while so it has got to be time to go back to it.

I got that one last night.

 

I also got it on the 360.

 

http://www.trueachievements.com/Dig-Dug/achievements.htm?gamerid=354194

That was nearly ten years ago!

Suddenly I feel that much older, also that probably means I haven't played Dig Dug in a while so it has got to be time to go back to it.

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

I've given my full thoughts in the game thread. Here's the post itself:

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

I've given my full thoughts in the game thread. Here's the post itself:

so after wrapping up the Platinum on Wolfenstein: The Old Blood the other day I've now also managed to get the platinum on The Division thanks to @Hero\-of\-Time turning rogue agents so I could get that last pair of trophies!

I also forgot to add to my list that I played and completed Gone Home, obviously it's not much of a game, but I enjoyed the story and how it was told with you walking through the house picking up the clues as you went. Not 100% it yet since I can't seem to get the 1 minute speed run trophy despite me doing it almost perfectly several times

I also completed the "story" mode on NBA 2K16. Not played a basketball game in years and it's definitely a lot more technical than it used to be. Pretty enjoyable game, can see me playing the odd game here and there.

so after wrapping up the Platinum on Wolfenstein: The Old Blood the other day I've now also managed to get the platinum on The Division thanks to @Hero\-of\-Time turning rogue agents so I could get that last pair of trophies!

I also forgot to add to my list that I played and completed Gone Home, obviously it's not much of a game, but I enjoyed the story and how it was told with you walking through the house picking up the clues as you went. Not 100% it yet since I can't seem to get the 1 minute speed run trophy despite me doing it almost perfectly several times

I also completed the "story" mode on NBA 2K16. Not played a basketball game in years and it's definitely a lot more technical than it used to be. Pretty enjoyable game, can see me playing the odd game here and there.

Big thanks to @lostmario and @gmac for helping with the Division platinum.

Just platinumed Dig Dug (PS4). See, lostmario, I'm being a good lad and holding back on my Monster Hunter play time by playing other games as well.

Big thanks to @lostmario and @gmac for helping with the Division platinum.

Just platinumed Dig Dug (PS4). See, lostmario, I'm being a good lad and holding back on my Monster Hunter play time by playing other games as well.

Slow start to the month for me but managed to finish up two more games to add to the completion list over the last week or two. First up, Far Cry Primal. Started the not long after it was released and put it down as I got distracted by other games along the way. I don’t know why I didn’t stick with it because playing it again has reminded me how great the game is. I haven’t played through Far Cry 4 yet so I haven’t reached saturation point with regards to the IP (though it is sitting on my shelf waiting to be played) but I really enjoyed the change of pace from running and gunning to stealthily taking enemies down with a bow and arrow and spear.

For the most part, the story plays a back seat passenger to the action but settles on your pursuit to return your tribe, the Wenja, to their once great stature while taking down the adversarial tribes posing threat to your own along the way. There’s just enough there to act as the propellant for what’s happening but as said, it more or less stays in the background leaving you to your own devices and to explore the land of Oros as you please, taking on any of the numerous amounts of activities at whim. Many of these are copy and paste hunt down a specific beast, help rescue Wenja tribesmen and such and though they do lean more on the tedious side after a while, the gameplay itself I felt more than helped to carry the game through some of those points.

Use of the bow and spears feels very visceral and clattering someone’s head in with a club equally manages to match that feeling. It deliberately feels slow but purposeful but nails the feeling of overpowering enemies and strength through seeing an enemy taken clean out with a single spear to the chest. Some additional weapons along the way, such as throwing shards and bombs, spice things up and admittedly, to my own fault, I only experimented with these towards the end which is a shame because it can lead to some amusing effects.

Add to the mix the taming and use of animals, all of which pose their own league of threat to enemies from bears charging in and tanking, to big cats which can stealthily move in and take enemies out and even things like badgers, and having a harpy owl at your disposal to scan for targets and take them down, and there’s a surprising amount of depth to the combat. Sure, you can run into outposts swinging and throwing things about but you’ll likely attract more enemies leading to a drawn out encounter. Use of stealth and deployment of your animals is the way to go and makes for a swifter and more engaging experience.

There have been a lot of open world games but I will say that riding atop a sabretooth tiger and running through the forests has to be one of the best and most memorable experiences from one of these styles of games in recent memories. The game as a whole, while there are shortcomings in terms of mission variety, I thought was equally as memorable and I loved it from start to finish. I’ve still got plenty to do in terms of activities and only a couple of trophies to pick up to nab that platinum but think that can wait. As it is, though, one of my favourite games of the year.

Next up, started up and finished Infamous First Light. I’ve had it sitting there waiting to be played for a while now and just felt the desire to boot it up. My only experience with the games was with Second Son and while I did enjoy that game, I felt that it dragged a bit towards the end and became a bit tedious despite throwing in some late game conduit powers. Playing this, though, I felt those problems never cropped up leading to a short but sweet story that was tied up quite nicely before things went that far.

You play as Abigail Walker, otherwise known as Fetch, who has been captured by the DUP and is being more or less interrogated about the events which have occurred two years previous to her capture. It’s about half way through that you begin to see why you’re undergoing the interrogation as memories of events past blossom in the form of new powers for use. As said, it’s a short but sweet narrative that explores the character well and presents a suitable set up for what’s happening. My only real issue with it is that I felt that the ending wasn’t quite up to snuff but that’s it really as the game settles the back story for the character that was left unanswered in the other game.

With neon powers at your disposal, you traverse half of the city of Seattle (half of what Second Son gave you which again helps to focus the game a bit more taking on missions and picking up the optional collectibles. The missions themselves are pretty straight forward and could have been a bit stronger given some of the ones in the other game but getting to explore the neon powers a bit more was nice and use of the singularity power is always a satisfying conclusion to any encounter with enemies. The inclusion of arena based optional missions seeks to flesh things out but truth be told, having to play through a couple of those through the run of the story was enough for me and isn’t something I’ll be jumping for more of.

I enjoyed the game but I think I’d have liked a little more of it. I thought the character was interesting and the neon powers were great, it’s just the missions didn’t hold up to it. In many ways, I think Fetch would have made for a more interesting character than Delsin in Second Son. Still, a nice prologue that I enjoyed playing and it would be awesome to see one for Eugene (think that’s his name. The kid with the conduit powers for creating the video game stuff) but think the time has passed for that.

Slow start to the month for me but managed to finish up two more games to add to the completion list over the last week or two. First up, Far Cry Primal. Started the not long after it was released and put it down as I got distracted by other games along the way. I don’t know why I didn’t stick with it because playing it again has reminded me how great the game is. I haven’t played through Far Cry 4 yet so I haven’t reached saturation point with regards to the IP (though it is sitting on my shelf waiting to be played) but I really enjoyed the change of pace from running and gunning to stealthily taking enemies down with a bow and arrow and spear.

For the most part, the story plays a back seat passenger to the action but settles on your pursuit to return your tribe, the Wenja, to their once great stature while taking down the adversarial tribes posing threat to your own along the way. There’s just enough there to act as the propellant for what’s happening but as said, it more or less stays in the background leaving you to your own devices and to explore the land of Oros as you please, taking on any of the numerous amounts of activities at whim. Many of these are copy and paste hunt down a specific beast, help rescue Wenja tribesmen and such and though they do lean more on the tedious side after a while, the gameplay itself I felt more than helped to carry the game through some of those points.

Use of the bow and spears feels very visceral and clattering someone’s head in with a club equally manages to match that feeling. It deliberately feels slow but purposeful but nails the feeling of overpowering enemies and strength through seeing an enemy taken clean out with a single spear to the chest. Some additional weapons along the way, such as throwing shards and bombs, spice things up and admittedly, to my own fault, I only experimented with these towards the end which is a shame because it can lead to some amusing effects.

Add to the mix the taming and use of animals, all of which pose their own league of threat to enemies from bears charging in and tanking, to big cats which can stealthily move in and take enemies out and even things like badgers, and having a harpy owl at your disposal to scan for targets and take them down, and there’s a surprising amount of depth to the combat. Sure, you can run into outposts swinging and throwing things about but you’ll likely attract more enemies leading to a drawn out encounter. Use of stealth and deployment of your animals is the way to go and makes for a swifter and more engaging experience.

There have been a lot of open world games but I will say that riding atop a sabretooth tiger and running through the forests has to be one of the best and most memorable experiences from one of these styles of games in recent memories. The game as a whole, while there are shortcomings in terms of mission variety, I thought was equally as memorable and I loved it from start to finish. I’ve still got plenty to do in terms of activities and only a couple of trophies to pick up to nab that platinum but think that can wait. As it is, though, one of my favourite games of the year.

Next up, started up and finished Infamous First Light. I’ve had it sitting there waiting to be played for a while now and just felt the desire to boot it up. My only experience with the games was with Second Son and while I did enjoy that game, I felt that it dragged a bit towards the end and became a bit tedious despite throwing in some late game conduit powers. Playing this, though, I felt those problems never cropped up leading to a short but sweet story that was tied up quite nicely before things went that far.

You play as Abigail Walker, otherwise known as Fetch, who has been captured by the DUP and is being more or less interrogated about the events which have occurred two years previous to her capture. It’s about half way through that you begin to see why you’re undergoing the interrogation as memories of events past blossom in the form of new powers for use. As said, it’s a short but sweet narrative that explores the character well and presents a suitable set up for what’s happening. My only real issue with it is that I felt that the ending wasn’t quite up to snuff but that’s it really as the game settles the back story for the character that was left unanswered in the other game.

With neon powers at your disposal, you traverse half of the city of Seattle (half of what Second Son gave you which again helps to focus the game a bit more taking on missions and picking up the optional collectibles. The missions themselves are pretty straight forward and could have been a bit stronger given some of the ones in the other game but getting to explore the neon powers a bit more was nice and use of the singularity power is always a satisfying conclusion to any encounter with enemies. The inclusion of arena based optional missions seeks to flesh things out but truth be told, having to play through a couple of those through the run of the story was enough for me and isn’t something I’ll be jumping for more of.

I enjoyed the game but I think I’d have liked a little more of it. I thought the character was interesting and the neon powers were great, it’s just the missions didn’t hold up to it. In many ways, I think Fetch would have made for a more interesting character than Delsin in Second Son. Still, a nice prologue that I enjoyed playing and it would be awesome to see one for Eugene (think that’s his name. The kid with the conduit powers for creating the video game stuff) but think the time has passed for that.

Dark Souls

After six weeks and over 100 hours, I've finally finished this epic. I had never played a Souls game before this one, so to begin with it was a real struggle to play through - not used the combat system and dying every few minutes - but I persevered and despite my inability to be good at video games, I started to get addicted to it. After making it through the Undead Burg and defeating (through sheer luck) the Taurus Demon, I started to farm souls. I got better at the combat, knowing when to drop my shield to speed up stamina recovery, I got used to the AI movement and attack patterns and started to really enjoy slicing up Hollows. The game continued to be a bit stop start, still dying quite regularly when I encountered stronger enemies like the Black and Silver Knights, but I was definitely enjoying it and I could feel myself getting better and more comfortable with the game.

After struggling through the entrance to Blighttown - hands down the most infuriating section of the game - things really clicked and I started making real progress a lot faster than I had been doing beforehand. I think if I had played a Souls game before then the first few areas would have gone by an awful lot faster and I could have knocked 20 or so hours off my overall playtime, but the baptism of fire that seemed so hopeless at times definitely helped me in the long run. Boss fights that I seemed to get through by sheer dumb luck started to look like surmountable challenges and I started to enjoy figuring out how to fight each enemy, even if it meant dying on my first few attempts.

As the game went on, the speed of my progress only seemed to increase and once I had picked up the Lord Vessel I seemed to be making my way through the new areas in a fraction of the time it had taken me to traverse the easier parts of the game. I was also playing through the 'Prepare To Die Edition' which includes the games DLC, so I was able to experience the fantastic 'Artorias Of The Abyss' section of the game, which features one of the greatest boss battles in gaming history against the Knight Artorias. After such an epic battle, the final showdown against Gwyn was something of an anti climax. It was a similar battle in a lot of ways, so I was able to apply what I had learned from the Artorias battle to this one and was able to defeat him after only a couple of attempts, as opposed to the 20 or so that it took me to take down Artorias. I still felt a great sense of achievement upon finishing the game, but nothing that came close to the pride I felt after taking down Artorias.

After a poor start, I'm really happy that I stuck with the game to the end. It's been an enlightening experience that I'm sure has made me a better gamer and I'll definitely be checking out the sequels in future, but it has absolutely consumed all of my gaming time over the last 6 weeks so I'm going to take a couple of months off Souls and try and clear a lot of my backlog before I get stuck into the world of Lordran again.

Next up I'm going to finish Super Mario Galaxy 2 before playing through MGS3: Peace Walker HD and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

Dark Souls

After six weeks and over 100 hours, I've finally finished this epic. I had never played a Souls game before this one, so to begin with it was a real struggle to play through - not used the combat system and dying every few minutes - but I persevered and despite my inability to be good at video games, I started to get addicted to it. After making it through the Undead Burg and defeating (through sheer luck) the Taurus Demon, I started to farm souls. I got better at the combat, knowing when to drop my shield to speed up stamina recovery, I got used to the AI movement and attack patterns and started to really enjoy slicing up Hollows. The game continued to be a bit stop start, still dying quite regularly when I encountered stronger enemies like the Black and Silver Knights, but I was definitely enjoying it and I could feel myself getting better and more comfortable with the game.

After struggling through the entrance to Blighttown - hands down the most infuriating section of the game - things really clicked and I started making real progress a lot faster than I had been doing beforehand. I think if I had played a Souls game before then the first few areas would have gone by an awful lot faster and I could have knocked 20 or so hours off my overall playtime, but the baptism of fire that seemed so hopeless at times definitely helped me in the long run. Boss fights that I seemed to get through by sheer dumb luck started to look like surmountable challenges and I started to enjoy figuring out how to fight each enemy, even if it meant dying on my first few attempts.

As the game went on, the speed of my progress only seemed to increase and once I had picked up the Lord Vessel I seemed to be making my way through the new areas in a fraction of the time it had taken me to traverse the easier parts of the game. I was also playing through the 'Prepare To Die Edition' which includes the games DLC, so I was able to experience the fantastic 'Artorias Of The Abyss' section of the game, which features one of the greatest boss battles in gaming history against the Knight Artorias. After such an epic battle, the final showdown against Gwyn was something of an anti climax. It was a similar battle in a lot of ways, so I was able to apply what I had learned from the Artorias battle to this one and was able to defeat him after only a couple of attempts, as opposed to the 20 or so that it took me to take down Artorias. I still felt a great sense of achievement upon finishing the game, but nothing that came close to the pride I felt after taking down Artorias.

After a poor start, I'm really happy that I stuck with the game to the end. It's been an enlightening experience that I'm sure has made me a better gamer and I'll definitely be checking out the sequels in future, but it has absolutely consumed all of my gaming time over the last 6 weeks so I'm going to take a couple of months off Souls and try and clear a lot of my backlog before I get stuck into the world of Lordran again.

Next up I'm going to finish Super Mario Galaxy 2 before playing through MGS3: Peace Walker HD and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

Got Platinum medals on both The Division & Fifa 16 over the weekend.

For The Division, Big thanks to @Hero\-of\-Time, @Hero\-of\-Time giving me the push I needed yet again to get the platinum.

The trophy holding me back on Fifa 16 was the online ultimate team Draft. I had attempted it a few times with me always coming up short.

I got incredibly lucky with the players this time with a top goalie, stong defence, midfield and an amazing forward line (Neymar, Ronaldo & Messi).

Dominated the first 3 games then met my match in the 4th and final game, I somehow got 2-0 infront even though he was completely outplaying me. For both goals I went crazy, my neighbour must have thought I was being murdered with the noises I was making during this game.

He pulled it back to 2-2 with 5 minutes left and I was stuck in my half with me defending for my life hoping to hang on for extra time. 90th minute he had a corner, one of my defenders cleared it to Messi on the right, 1 v 2, got past one, cut in, driven pass across to Ronaldo in the box, 3-2 and the trophy was finally mine.

The other trophies were career mode trophies which weren't a chore as it gave me a chance to try both manager & player career modes which are really good. Looking forward to giving them a proper go on 17.

I know some on here give Fifa a bad name for its yearly releases with few changes but I have got my moneys worth out of a Fifa game once again.

Pro clubs has been great again with us now having a good solid team, constantly in the top 2 divisions with all the cups won numerous times.

It was also my first time playing Ultimate Team this year which is incredibly addictive.

Roll on Fifa 17!

Oh and I finished Doom the other week, that game is amazing. One of the best FPS I've played in a long long time.

Got Platinum medals on both The Division & Fifa 16 over the weekend.

For The Division, Big thanks to @Hero\-of\-Time, @Hero\-of\-Time giving me the push I needed yet again to get the platinum.

The trophy holding me back on Fifa 16 was the online ultimate team Draft. I had attempted it a few times with me always coming up short.

I got incredibly lucky with the players this time with a top goalie, stong defence, midfield and an amazing forward line (Neymar, Ronaldo & Messi).

Dominated the first 3 games then met my match in the 4th and final game, I somehow got 2-0 infront even though he was completely outplaying me. For both goals I went crazy, my neighbour must have thought I was being murdered with the noises I was making during this game.

He pulled it back to 2-2 with 5 minutes left and I was stuck in my half with me defending for my life hoping to hang on for extra time. 90th minute he had a corner, one of my defenders cleared it to Messi on the right, 1 v 2, got past one, cut in, driven pass across to Ronaldo in the box, 3-2 and the trophy was finally mine.

The other trophies were career mode trophies which weren't a chore as it gave me a chance to try both manager & player career modes which are really good. Looking forward to giving them a proper go on 17.

I know some on here give Fifa a bad name for its yearly releases with few changes but I have got my moneys worth out of a Fifa game once again.

Pro clubs has been great again with us now having a good solid team, constantly in the top 2 divisions with all the cups won numerous times.

It was also my first time playing Ultimate Team this year which is incredibly addictive.

Roll on Fifa 17!

Oh and I finished Doom the other week, that game is amazing. One of the best FPS I've played in a long long time.

You trophy whore! You're worse than me with your trophy hording.

You trophy whore! You're worse than me with your trophy hording.

But it's so blue and shiny and zoomed in hilariously close!

HOW COULD I NOT!?

I finished Zero Time Dilemma yesterday.

In keeping with the overall theme of the game, I'm gonna leave whether I recommend it or not up to you.

You decide your own fate this time!

But it's so blue and shiny and zoomed in hilariously close!

HOW COULD I NOT!?

I finished Zero Time Dilemma yesterday.

In keeping with the overall theme of the game, I'm gonna leave whether I recommend it or not up to you.

You decide your own fate this time!

The N64 game I've been chipping away at over the last couple of weeks has finally been cleared.. Duke Nukem 64 : peace:

I never played the game when it was originally released and only picked it up a few years ago on ebay for a very good price. It definitely took me a little while to get into it but I eventually started to feel relatively comfortable with the controls and had some decent fun shooting everything in sight (except for the 'babes', of course )

Having experienced Goldeneye all those years ago, I doubt if I would have been particularly impressed with the enemy sprites in Duke Nukem 64 or the selection of environments and I'm certainly not impressed in 2016.. but I did get used to it!

I didn't feel like there was any great rhythm to the game or much of a sense of progression as I felt like the levels could basically have been thrown together in any order and it wouldn't have made much difference. The difficulty seemed consistently inconsistent throughout with the odd moment of frustration due to repeated death at certain sections but this was usually followed up by a couple of stages that I would breeze through without much concern. The worst parts were always when I'd get unexpectedly obliterated from an unknown source and be sent straight back to the start of the level. This may have been common in the 90s but it almost seems harsh in the present

Anyway, Duke Nukem 64 is ultimately another game scratched off the list and one that I was never certain to ever get around to. I'm glad I did but the game probably won't be going down as a classic in my mind :wink:

The N64 game I've been chipping away at over the last couple of weeks has finally been cleared.. Duke Nukem 64 : peace:

I never played the game when it was originally released and only picked it up a few years ago on ebay for a very good price. It definitely took me a little while to get into it but I eventually started to feel relatively comfortable with the controls and had some decent fun shooting everything in sight (except for the 'babes', of course )

Having experienced Goldeneye all those years ago, I doubt if I would have been particularly impressed with the enemy sprites in Duke Nukem 64 or the selection of environments and I'm certainly not impressed in 2016.. but I did get used to it!

I didn't feel like there was any great rhythm to the game or much of a sense of progression as I felt like the levels could basically have been thrown together in any order and it wouldn't have made much difference. The difficulty seemed consistently inconsistent throughout with the odd moment of frustration due to repeated death at certain sections but this was usually followed up by a couple of stages that I would breeze through without much concern. The worst parts were always when I'd get unexpectedly obliterated from an unknown source and be sent straight back to the start of the level. This may have been common in the 90s but it almost seems harsh in the present

Anyway, Duke Nukem 64 is ultimately another game scratched off the list and one that I was never certain to ever get around to. I'm glad I did but the game probably won't be going down as a classic in my mind :wink:

Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing (SNES) is another one of those games, like Mickey Mania, that I had borrowed off a friend when I was younger but never completed only to buy it on ebay many years later due to fond memories

I've never been a huge fan of F1 or racing simulations in general but Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing provides a fun arcade challenge that I have thoroughly enjoyed and beat this morning

It's been on my shelf for years and I always felt it deserved to be there but I wasn't sure if I'd ever actually sit down and play through it all. That's exactly what I've been doing this week and it was a lot of fun

Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing (SNES) is another one of those games, like Mickey Mania, that I had borrowed off a friend when I was younger but never completed only to buy it on ebay many years later due to fond memories

I've never been a huge fan of F1 or racing simulations in general but Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing provides a fun arcade challenge that I have thoroughly enjoyed and beat this morning

It's been on my shelf for years and I always felt it deserved to be there but I wasn't sure if I'd ever actually sit down and play through it all. That's exactly what I've been doing this week and it was a lot of fun

Just finished battling Bowser in Super Mario Galaxy 2, I've still got a few stars to get but as I've seen the end credits roll I thought i'd make my obligatory post in here. The game is obviously incredible, a worthy successor to the original that in some ways surpasses it. There are so many ideas in the game that lesser developers would base entire games around and Nintendo seem to just push aside to give new ideas centre stage. The only negative for the game really is that Spaceship Mario doesn't come close to the Comet Observatory of the first game as a hub world, and the addition of the map navigation to select levels removes the exploration that was so exciting in the first game.

It feels strange to say it, but I felt more under pressure earning some stars in this game than I did defeating the bosses of 'Dark Souls', the strange gravity of each stage offering a warped camera angle that was never confusing but added to the challenge. The game is a masterclass in level design and despite not being in HD, is one of the most gorgeous looking games available.

I seem to be in the middle of a SNES phase at the moment as I'm getting boxes made for loose cartridges and I've just cleared my third Super Nintendo game of the month in the form of Super R-Type

This game is extremely punishing If you get hit a single time at any moment of any stage, you're sent right back to the start of whichever level you're on. There's absolutely no room for error and, having played it a little yesterday, I wasn't sure if I had the stomach for it as it's not exactly the best game I've ever played. It was certainly decent, however, and it stirred up those old school memories of repeating stages until you had them perfected and eventually beat

Bought a copy of Pokemon HeartGold last week off the internet, so been playing that a lot during the last week. Lost Pokemon Gold years ago and been meaning to get the remake sometime so I thought why not now?

Currently right before the Elite Four having played this game a lot. I decided to base the team off my original Gold team but then expand on it since said team was effectively only really two Pokemon (a Feraligatr and an Ampharos). There was also a Piloswine on there but he was somewhat lower levelled and I only had him on because of Endure.

So, the team on the remake is as follows:

Feraligatr Lv. 44

Bold Nature, Torrent Ability

Waterfall

Crunch

Surf

Ice Fang

Ampharos Lv. 44

Quirky Nature, Statis Ability

Hidden Power (which unfortunately is Poison...)

Signal Beam

Discharge

Thunder Wave

Jumpluff Lv. 44

Naughty Nature, Chlorophyll Ability

Leech Seed

Giga Drain

Aerial Ace

U-Turn

Togekiss Lv. 44 (Traded a Shiny Stone over from Pearl to evolve it before E4)

Naughty Nature, Serene Grace Ability

Air Slash

Fly

Extrasensory

Metronome

Mamoswine Lv. 44

Bold Nature, Snow Cloak Ability

Blizzard

AncientPower

Ice Shard

Earthquake

Hitmontop Lv. 44

Quirky Nature, Intimidate Ability

Revenge

Gyro Ball

Fake Out

Rapid Spin

Playthrough highlights so far:

• Togekiss using Roar of Time, Spacial Red, Luster Purge (twice), Doom Desire and Judgement from using Metronome. A fair amount of these came after only the first badge too which was when it became a team member.
  
• Battle against Whitney's Miltank which was extremely close thanks to my team being a bit underlevelled for it, but my Togetic eventually managed to win the battle after Metronome lead to Conversion which turned it into a Psychic type and made Extrasensory more powerful while removing Rock weakeness, eventually wore down Miltank with this and killed it despite being affected by Attract.
  
• Catching the Red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage in a Moon Ball.
  

That said, having to put so much effort to evolve Tyrogue into Hitmontop was painstaking... I must say I'm looking forward to doing the Battle Frontier though since I never bought Emerald or Platinum.

Unfortunately this is a US version of the game which I'm trying to play on a UK 3DS which has lead to all sorts of issues, mainly game freezing every now and again during battle, but it has also rendered the Game Corner unplayable which means I cannot get the TMs which you can get from there, I would like to have Thunderbolt on Ampharos rather than Discharge...

There are still other non-Pokemon games I need to finish like Xenoblade X, Final Fantasy X and Zelda: Oracle of Seasons but right now there doesn't seem to be much other than Pokemon that I want to play.