So yesterday i got 3 of the 6 packages i've been waiting on.
today i got number 4
way back when i ordered a lot from right stuff in order to take advantage of their free shipping.... one thing i didn't notice is that one of the items wasn't going to be released till feb 25.
oh well no rush right?
i dont think i asked for rushed shipping.... but here we are... feb 26 and it arrived.
so I ended up getting mostly aniplex stuff (cause wow is aniplex stuff expensive... and the sale made it reasonable) but to push my order over the free shipping threshold i added one last film.
Now i had seen the girl who lept through time (which one day i will buy but for now i'm not made of money) and i really really enjoyed it.... and while i haven't seen Sumemr wars i have seen the digimon movie which is pretty much the same film (cause it was done by the same person... and is most likely the film he wanted to make) and also, despite the fact that digimon wasn't my thing, was really good.
so we have established this director is really talented?
good.
this film will rip your heart out in no time flat.
i know it was going to make me cry, but i didn't realize it would do that to me.
the story is about Hana who falls in love with a man who just so happens to also be a wolf.
it focuses on the children they have and how they have grown up.
it's sweet, it's sad and the animation is probably the prettiest i have ever seen.
I don't know if it's rotoscoped backgrounds or really fluid cg modelling... i don't care... it's really pretty.
the story isn't perfect, something happens fairly late and i'm sorry but the way a character handles it is really selfish. things didn't need to happen like that and it's play up as hopeful but in the end... no... one word needed to be said and everything would have been fine.... but no... they had to take the hard route.
The voice acting in japanese is really good, i'll watch the dub later... like... after i recover from the amount of tears i shed... but considering how many awards this film has won and how high the production value is i highly doubt that the dub is half assed.
the music is perfect, accents the mood without being too in your face.
other then one little incident near the end i can't think of anything wrong with this film...
and neither can anyone else... this film has some pretty impressive scores everywhere and like i mentioned a ton of awards... i'm surprised it wasn't nominated for an oscar (no i'm not actually surprised but you know what i mean... it should have been)
if you liked the digimon movie, summer wars or the girl who leapt through time then you have probably already seen this film and know it's really good... but if you haven't seen it yet go see it.
if you have not seen any of those films, go watch them and this... cause they are all good (though summer wars is most likely better then the crappy digimon movie butchering we got in north america)
so yes.... good movie... go watch, then give everyone around you a hug.
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
Completed: Natsume Yuujinchou OVA
an excuse to talk about Natsume's book of friends?
hell yes.
SO.... today was a fun day, i ended up getting half of the packages i'm waiting on all in one day.
First were some gashapon sailor moon lockets.
they are adorable.
Then i got my Natsume OST/Natsume Art book/ kuroko no basket freebie.
The ost is lovely (other then one song that is litterally buzzing... and not cicada buzzing but bee buzzing.)
the art book is small but really pretty, it's classified a fan book but has more art then the other two fanbooks i own.
The freebee was a random chance and i didn't get the figure i wanted but it's still adorable.
Then as i sat down to dinner The OVA i ordered arrived.
Which on one hand is great... more episodes to enjoy.
on the other hand sucks cause... well... it's Raw.
when i saw the amount of extra stuff the special edition came with i decided why not? The language in Natsume yuujinchou isn't that difficult so if nothing else i should be able to follow along without subtitles.
so yeah i spent the pretty penny knowing full well that if NISA brought it (and maybe hotarubi no mori e? [wishful thinking]) i would be buying it again... which is fine by me cause i don't think it would come with the cd rom full of extra goodies or the sound theater dvd.
and honestly i'm so glad i did.
The first episode met my every expectation, other then one scene (where two ayakashi speak) i was able to understand it.
of course i am now watching a subbed version (i bought it so i feel no guilt) to see how accurate i actually was.
~after watching sub~
i feel so proud of myself, other then i few details i got pretty much everything... i still need to work on my japanese but i'm not as far off as i used to be.
the episode is sweet and it can probably be seen as a nice segway into a season 5 (though my calculations say we are still at least a year away from that being a thing... if it happens at all)
One snowy day Natsume goes out for a walk and comes across a snowman-like yokai.
it's searching for something warm and sparkly in the snow.
Natsume wants to help but it's freezing near the yokai and everything it touches instantly turns to ice.
despite the danger natsume figures out what it's searching for and tries to help it realize, even if the realization leads to an end.
The second epiode was a bit more of a pain.
when i saw kids were the focus i thought "great the language they use will be simple"
what i didn't realize that the whole running gag would be they were hard to understand.
and most of the episode is ayakashi speaking to each other so.... yeah i got the gist of the second episode but i wouldn't be able to 'translate'
hm... no subbed version yet...
well form what i gathered.
Nyanko-sensei gets separated from Natsume cause he chases something into the forest, there he finds two lost and frightened children... they tell him where they need to go but since they are kids they can't remember all the details/aren't saying it correctly.
he travels with them through the forest to try and get them to safety all while asking other for help... all their help being pretty useless.
eventually though he manages to help and goes home in time for dinner.
also theres something about a chocolate bar... i could not figure it out.
if i had to guess the ayakashi either use a different dialect or the way they speak gets in the way of my understanding... guess i gotta work harder at learning the language...
but yeah both episodes were really cute, the first was cuter but i may be biased by how much i got the first time around... watching nyanko get all flustered was pretty adorable.
i'll give my opinion on the sound theater tomorrow but i have a feel since it's live action i'll have a harder time understanding cause they talk a lot faster.
we'll see how it goes.
anyways... i love this show, still got my fingers crossed for season 5.. if not the manga will suffice (even though the current cliffhanger... ugh it makes me angry just thinking about it)
hell yes.
SO.... today was a fun day, i ended up getting half of the packages i'm waiting on all in one day.
First were some gashapon sailor moon lockets.
they are adorable.
Then i got my Natsume OST/Natsume Art book/ kuroko no basket freebie.
The ost is lovely (other then one song that is litterally buzzing... and not cicada buzzing but bee buzzing.)
the art book is small but really pretty, it's classified a fan book but has more art then the other two fanbooks i own.
The freebee was a random chance and i didn't get the figure i wanted but it's still adorable.
Then as i sat down to dinner The OVA i ordered arrived.
Which on one hand is great... more episodes to enjoy.
on the other hand sucks cause... well... it's Raw.
when i saw the amount of extra stuff the special edition came with i decided why not? The language in Natsume yuujinchou isn't that difficult so if nothing else i should be able to follow along without subtitles.
so yeah i spent the pretty penny knowing full well that if NISA brought it (and maybe hotarubi no mori e? [wishful thinking]) i would be buying it again... which is fine by me cause i don't think it would come with the cd rom full of extra goodies or the sound theater dvd.
and honestly i'm so glad i did.
The first episode met my every expectation, other then one scene (where two ayakashi speak) i was able to understand it.
of course i am now watching a subbed version (i bought it so i feel no guilt) to see how accurate i actually was.
~after watching sub~
i feel so proud of myself, other then i few details i got pretty much everything... i still need to work on my japanese but i'm not as far off as i used to be.
the episode is sweet and it can probably be seen as a nice segway into a season 5 (though my calculations say we are still at least a year away from that being a thing... if it happens at all)
One snowy day Natsume goes out for a walk and comes across a snowman-like yokai.
it's searching for something warm and sparkly in the snow.
Natsume wants to help but it's freezing near the yokai and everything it touches instantly turns to ice.
despite the danger natsume figures out what it's searching for and tries to help it realize, even if the realization leads to an end.
The second epiode was a bit more of a pain.
when i saw kids were the focus i thought "great the language they use will be simple"
what i didn't realize that the whole running gag would be they were hard to understand.
and most of the episode is ayakashi speaking to each other so.... yeah i got the gist of the second episode but i wouldn't be able to 'translate'
hm... no subbed version yet...
well form what i gathered.
Nyanko-sensei gets separated from Natsume cause he chases something into the forest, there he finds two lost and frightened children... they tell him where they need to go but since they are kids they can't remember all the details/aren't saying it correctly.
he travels with them through the forest to try and get them to safety all while asking other for help... all their help being pretty useless.
eventually though he manages to help and goes home in time for dinner.
also theres something about a chocolate bar... i could not figure it out.
if i had to guess the ayakashi either use a different dialect or the way they speak gets in the way of my understanding... guess i gotta work harder at learning the language...
but yeah both episodes were really cute, the first was cuter but i may be biased by how much i got the first time around... watching nyanko get all flustered was pretty adorable.
i'll give my opinion on the sound theater tomorrow but i have a feel since it's live action i'll have a harder time understanding cause they talk a lot faster.
we'll see how it goes.
anyways... i love this show, still got my fingers crossed for season 5.. if not the manga will suffice (even though the current cliffhanger... ugh it makes me angry just thinking about it)
Completed: Trigger Happy Havoc Danganronpa
Makoto, you keep using that word.
I do not think it means what you think it means.
thanks Dictionary.com .... i knew i could always count on you.
i wanted to make this point in my first impressions blerb but no... i wanted to save it for this.
So anyways.
Trigger Happy Havoc Danganronpa (DR) is a Visual novel type game with 1st person exploration and murder mystery elements.
The premise is 'simple'
You and a handful of other ultimately gifted students are trapped in the school, you can either live a peaceful life resigned to the fact that you will never leave or you can "graduate"
the only problem is that to graduate you need to commit murder AND get away with it. if you can manage you get to leave but if you are caught you get punished.
Before i go any further i am going to avoid spoilers as much as i can.
So are quite a few different elements to the game.
Theres the time where no one has been murdered. You can strength bonds or sleep during this time... it tends to be used to progress the plot.
Then there's body discovery and investigation... after 3 people find the corpse an alert sounds to start investigating, this involves going around the school, speaking with people and checking for clues... after a 'certain amount of time' a class trial begins.
and this is where the game gets awesome
Class trials are phoenix wright style debates but on a time limit and fully voice acted. There are A LOT of elements to keep the trials interesting and unique... however not all of them are good.
There the most common one of making your argument. you listen to everyone debate and shoot down contradictions with 'truth bullets' you can only shoot down certain phrases and there can be anything blocking your shot. you are capable of slowing down time but it's very short. in some cases you may need to memorize a line and shoot it at another one but they are all pretty obvious.
Then there's when a character simply wont listen, you must keep to a certain rhythm and shoot some sense into them, eventually they are weakened and you must shoot their final comment with the correct Truth bullet to bring them back to their senses. This wasn't my favotire mode but it only happens a few times and is fun enough i guess... if not a little silly.
There is Hangman's gambit where you have to shoot down letters in order to fill in the blanks.
theres nothing complicated or special about it and again, they are all pretty easy.
Finally theres the closing argument.
and i never liked this part of the trail...
you have comic book panels reading from right to left and you have to fill in the blanks with bubbles.
it was fine and the hint system make sure you never get lost but it just felt a little tedious sometimes.
i loved watchign them play out but setting it up... ugh...
maybe had it continued with the theme of shooting things down it would play out in real time and you would have to hit the correct next panel? i dunno it just felt out of place.
once you have convinced everyone you vote and after that who ever has earned the punishment gets killed.
the cycle then starts over however more of the school is available after each trail.
Normally this is where i say "the game is really fun and while a little easy it's still worth getting" but i'm not quite done yet.
This game was not easy to play... it's an 'easy' game and it's mostly about the spectacle but there were times where i had to put the vita down and walk away.
Now i should clarify, i'm only a little squeamish... i'm not a fan of blood and gore but i can handle it to a point in games and anime... as long as it isn't there for the sole purpose of being shocking... then it's just stupid.
what gets me is when you start thinking about the bigger picture and what that means.
In the game even though nothing is outright brutal, I mean the blood is bright pink for crying out loud, many of the scenes and especially the punishments are completely horrific.
I found it difficult to play more then one chapter a day simply cause what i was seeing was too sad or disturbing.
At the end of the first punishment i realized how goofy and stylized it was trying to be on the surface but what happens is really quite horrifying and making everyone watch is just... unpleasant. not to mention that considering you completed to goal of solving the trail and should be happy... but all thats left is despair. i could elaborate but it's a bit too much of a spoiler...
However despite the unpleasantness of some of the story elements you do see everyone start working together more and working towards solving the greater mystery... so you want to continue even though you know it'll mean losing more characters and having to go through the pain again. Which makes it a very well done story and even a time bit meta.
not as meta as 999 but hey... i don't think anything can pull something like that off so perfectly ever again.
DR 2 has been confirmed for localization (i think in part cause someone accidentally let slip that he was voicing a character that wasn't in DR but who knows... maybe the timing just happened to work out) and considering how DR1 ended i look forward to seeing more.
Now to talk about something completely different.
The art:
Spike chunsoft always make games with such interesting art styles and this is no exception... i love the art, i love the painterly feel while almost lookign like paper cutouts... it just fits so well and with all the dramatic camera angles in the court room... it's just so nice to look at.
The voice acting:
both english and japanese voice acting is stellar. i played the game in english but tried the japanese to see how everyone sounded and yeah they are both good. the only thing thats fully voice acted are the courtroom elements... otherwise it's just some one word quips or foley.
The music:
The one thing i didn't like, it is good and fits the mood of the game but i don't plan on listening to any of it stand alone.
The controls:
they are decent, easy enough to customize to your liking. the one thing that annoyed me was in first person mode you eye level is at everyones waste level/door handle level.... it just made makoto feel really short.
The bad:
DO NOT LOOK UP ANY ARTWORK FOR THIS GAME.
months and months before i ever heard of this title i ended up seeing some fan art.... didn't mean anything to me then but when i played this and noticed some things were amiss... i immediately knew the ending. Which kinda sucked... i probably wouldn't have guessed the ending till much later...
i was also spoiled on one of the characters that didn't survive so that was kinda a bummer.
the other spoiler eneded up not being too bad but still... i would have been nice to experience it.
i think i'm spoiler free for the other game but who knows... something similar could happen where i just don't realize i know the ending.
so yeah... try and keep yourself away from it all if you want to avoid any spoilers.
Now there is an anime but from what i understand it's 13 episodes which doesn't seem like enough time to get the feel across... still going to check it out.
I really liked this game, it is as good as the Zero escape series (which my friend has informed me that they are having a hard time getting enough money to make Zero escape 3 and that makes me sad cause the cliffhanger on 2 is unbearable) so if you like those games then give this a shot...
The game isn't too long but it's really really well done and, for me at least, the visuals and story made it all worth it.
Also Makoto is adorable... just saying.
oh and there is one 'bad ending' that i found, pretty funny and enjoyed every moment of it.
so yeah... go get this game for the PS Vita...
Edit:
So i've watched an episode of the anime from Funimations website and all i can say is this.
It is EXACTLY like the game... some things feel like they were just put rigth in (and made to look a bit more animated)
it's pretty neat...
however
wow is it just rushing through everything, i'm finding that i just can't know as much about the characters in this amount of time... if you can pick between the two then pick up the game instead.
Edit 2:
After watching what equates to the first chapter i can say without a doubt.
Get the game, don't bother with the anime.
the anime is very faithful but it it's rush to tell the overall story is misses all the heart and charm and character development of the game... so yeah.... just play the game
I do not think it means what you think it means.
i wanted to make this point in my first impressions blerb but no... i wanted to save it for this.
So anyways.
Trigger Happy Havoc Danganronpa (DR) is a Visual novel type game with 1st person exploration and murder mystery elements.
The premise is 'simple'
You and a handful of other ultimately gifted students are trapped in the school, you can either live a peaceful life resigned to the fact that you will never leave or you can "graduate"
the only problem is that to graduate you need to commit murder AND get away with it. if you can manage you get to leave but if you are caught you get punished.
Before i go any further i am going to avoid spoilers as much as i can.
So are quite a few different elements to the game.
Theres the time where no one has been murdered. You can strength bonds or sleep during this time... it tends to be used to progress the plot.
Then there's body discovery and investigation... after 3 people find the corpse an alert sounds to start investigating, this involves going around the school, speaking with people and checking for clues... after a 'certain amount of time' a class trial begins.
and this is where the game gets awesome
Class trials are phoenix wright style debates but on a time limit and fully voice acted. There are A LOT of elements to keep the trials interesting and unique... however not all of them are good.
There the most common one of making your argument. you listen to everyone debate and shoot down contradictions with 'truth bullets' you can only shoot down certain phrases and there can be anything blocking your shot. you are capable of slowing down time but it's very short. in some cases you may need to memorize a line and shoot it at another one but they are all pretty obvious.
Then there's when a character simply wont listen, you must keep to a certain rhythm and shoot some sense into them, eventually they are weakened and you must shoot their final comment with the correct Truth bullet to bring them back to their senses. This wasn't my favotire mode but it only happens a few times and is fun enough i guess... if not a little silly.
There is Hangman's gambit where you have to shoot down letters in order to fill in the blanks.
theres nothing complicated or special about it and again, they are all pretty easy.
Finally theres the closing argument.
and i never liked this part of the trail...
you have comic book panels reading from right to left and you have to fill in the blanks with bubbles.
it was fine and the hint system make sure you never get lost but it just felt a little tedious sometimes.
i loved watchign them play out but setting it up... ugh...
maybe had it continued with the theme of shooting things down it would play out in real time and you would have to hit the correct next panel? i dunno it just felt out of place.
once you have convinced everyone you vote and after that who ever has earned the punishment gets killed.
the cycle then starts over however more of the school is available after each trail.
Normally this is where i say "the game is really fun and while a little easy it's still worth getting" but i'm not quite done yet.
This game was not easy to play... it's an 'easy' game and it's mostly about the spectacle but there were times where i had to put the vita down and walk away.
Now i should clarify, i'm only a little squeamish... i'm not a fan of blood and gore but i can handle it to a point in games and anime... as long as it isn't there for the sole purpose of being shocking... then it's just stupid.
what gets me is when you start thinking about the bigger picture and what that means.
In the game even though nothing is outright brutal, I mean the blood is bright pink for crying out loud, many of the scenes and especially the punishments are completely horrific.
I found it difficult to play more then one chapter a day simply cause what i was seeing was too sad or disturbing.
At the end of the first punishment i realized how goofy and stylized it was trying to be on the surface but what happens is really quite horrifying and making everyone watch is just... unpleasant. not to mention that considering you completed to goal of solving the trail and should be happy... but all thats left is despair. i could elaborate but it's a bit too much of a spoiler...
However despite the unpleasantness of some of the story elements you do see everyone start working together more and working towards solving the greater mystery... so you want to continue even though you know it'll mean losing more characters and having to go through the pain again. Which makes it a very well done story and even a time bit meta.
not as meta as 999 but hey... i don't think anything can pull something like that off so perfectly ever again.
DR 2 has been confirmed for localization (i think in part cause someone accidentally let slip that he was voicing a character that wasn't in DR but who knows... maybe the timing just happened to work out) and considering how DR1 ended i look forward to seeing more.
Now to talk about something completely different.
The art:
Spike chunsoft always make games with such interesting art styles and this is no exception... i love the art, i love the painterly feel while almost lookign like paper cutouts... it just fits so well and with all the dramatic camera angles in the court room... it's just so nice to look at.
The voice acting:
both english and japanese voice acting is stellar. i played the game in english but tried the japanese to see how everyone sounded and yeah they are both good. the only thing thats fully voice acted are the courtroom elements... otherwise it's just some one word quips or foley.
The music:
The one thing i didn't like, it is good and fits the mood of the game but i don't plan on listening to any of it stand alone.
The controls:
they are decent, easy enough to customize to your liking. the one thing that annoyed me was in first person mode you eye level is at everyones waste level/door handle level.... it just made makoto feel really short.
The bad:
DO NOT LOOK UP ANY ARTWORK FOR THIS GAME.
months and months before i ever heard of this title i ended up seeing some fan art.... didn't mean anything to me then but when i played this and noticed some things were amiss... i immediately knew the ending. Which kinda sucked... i probably wouldn't have guessed the ending till much later...
i was also spoiled on one of the characters that didn't survive so that was kinda a bummer.
the other spoiler eneded up not being too bad but still... i would have been nice to experience it.
i think i'm spoiler free for the other game but who knows... something similar could happen where i just don't realize i know the ending.
so yeah... try and keep yourself away from it all if you want to avoid any spoilers.
Now there is an anime but from what i understand it's 13 episodes which doesn't seem like enough time to get the feel across... still going to check it out.
I really liked this game, it is as good as the Zero escape series (which my friend has informed me that they are having a hard time getting enough money to make Zero escape 3 and that makes me sad cause the cliffhanger on 2 is unbearable) so if you like those games then give this a shot...
The game isn't too long but it's really really well done and, for me at least, the visuals and story made it all worth it.
Also Makoto is adorable... just saying.
oh and there is one 'bad ending' that i found, pretty funny and enjoyed every moment of it.
so yeah... go get this game for the PS Vita...
Edit:
So i've watched an episode of the anime from Funimations website and all i can say is this.
It is EXACTLY like the game... some things feel like they were just put rigth in (and made to look a bit more animated)
it's pretty neat...
however
wow is it just rushing through everything, i'm finding that i just can't know as much about the characters in this amount of time... if you can pick between the two then pick up the game instead.
Edit 2:
After watching what equates to the first chapter i can say without a doubt.
Get the game, don't bother with the anime.
the anime is very faithful but it it's rush to tell the overall story is misses all the heart and charm and character development of the game... so yeah.... just play the game
Friday, 21 February 2014
Trigger Happy Havoc Danganronpa - First impression
So if Teddy from persona 4 and K III from virtue's last reward had a baby and let Kyubei from Madoka magica babysit that creation would probably be something close to Monokuma.
Interesting.
Not to compare it too much to the Zero escape series but i have a feeling if you like those games you'll probably enjoy this one.
a large cast of characters is trapped in a situation where they will either live out their days or become a murderer to secure their own freedom.
an over the top concept? yes but hey it's a interesting stage to set this story on.
Now i am lucky, despite tumblr's best attempts i know very little about this game.... just that it's got visual novel elements with a hint of phoenix wright thrown in.
still first impressions
If the one who's guilty doesn't get found out everyone else gets 'punished' while the guilty one walks away....
if the guilty one is caught then they are punished.
when you find the culprit and deem them as guilty you then see their punishment (and see everyones reaction to the punishment).
you have won, you should be happy that you cleared your name and avenged your friend, right?
but there was no joy in 'winning' only shock and horror.
i dunno i think it takes a lot of guts to make the player feel like shit for accomplishing the goal.
i have a feeling it'll build up to beating monokuma at his own game (cause thats how these stories HAVE TO go) but still right now i'm just left very pensive and wondering how this will all play out.
Is the game good?
yes, or more so it's very interesting but wow is it dark. if you cannot handle death, swearing, violence or anything like that then may be best to avoid
was the special edition worth it?
*thinks hard about it* not really. I do not regret buying the special edition but i thought it would be in a nicer box... and i ended up not liking the music so.... but still only cost me a little more so i don't mind.
but in the end the Limited edition was just that... limited and only from NISA's store as well as selling out pretty fast.
i look forward to playing the rest and hopefully Danganronpa 2 is also good and helps streamline some stuff... but for now... i think i need to go rest.
Interesting.
Not to compare it too much to the Zero escape series but i have a feeling if you like those games you'll probably enjoy this one.
a large cast of characters is trapped in a situation where they will either live out their days or become a murderer to secure their own freedom.
an over the top concept? yes but hey it's a interesting stage to set this story on.
Now i am lucky, despite tumblr's best attempts i know very little about this game.... just that it's got visual novel elements with a hint of phoenix wright thrown in.
still first impressions
- Controls are fairly easy and compared to other Vis Novels you actually can do quite a bit.
- Voice acting is good though a little limited... i know it's not cheap but now a days anytime a game isn't fully voice acted i do sigh a little. i dunno i feel like it adds to the characters.
- the music....... so far is kinda terrible... i got the special edition so i'll probably listen to some of the songs outside of the game but yeah... i don't think it's going to be my cup of tea.
- The art is lovely... i can see that it's probably not to everyone's taste but i think it's really interesting and adds to the entire feel of the game.
- Investigations are fine although there were a few points where i wasn't familiar with the controls and i needed to go to a certain location and i just didn't know where that was. still it's in a first person view as you walk the halls looking for clues and it feels a little more interactive then other games like Phoenix wright.
- it does suffer from "you really shouldn't leave this room till you check EVERYTHING" but pretty much any game with point and click elements does
- you can tap things with your finger since the vita does have a touch screen but i dunno... it just doesn't feel natural right now.
If the one who's guilty doesn't get found out everyone else gets 'punished' while the guilty one walks away....
if the guilty one is caught then they are punished.
- i wish this game was purely court scenes... wow that was really really fun.
- it's like phoenix wright on crack and with a time limit.
- there are multiple elements each with their own little tutorial (though i didn't understand the BTB tutorial till i had already lost a bit a health... i got it by the end but it did bring down my rank a little)
- the tutorials don't overwhelm and as long as you are on the right path the entire court session is fully voice acted.
- the only element i wasn't thrilled with was the closing statement game mechanic... the mechanic works fine but it has you working from right to left... yes almost all manga is published that way but it's still tricky to wrap my brain around something that is flat unlike a book... it's just harder for me to pick up right away
- the music is a lot more fitting for this part of the game... though still not really my cup of tea and i had to turn it down so i could hear the voice acting.
- the english voice acting is fine though some are better then others and some i wish would shut up moreso cause the characters are annoying.
when you find the culprit and deem them as guilty you then see their punishment (and see everyones reaction to the punishment).
you have won, you should be happy that you cleared your name and avenged your friend, right?
but there was no joy in 'winning' only shock and horror.
i dunno i think it takes a lot of guts to make the player feel like shit for accomplishing the goal.
i have a feeling it'll build up to beating monokuma at his own game (cause thats how these stories HAVE TO go) but still right now i'm just left very pensive and wondering how this will all play out.
Is the game good?
yes, or more so it's very interesting but wow is it dark. if you cannot handle death, swearing, violence or anything like that then may be best to avoid
was the special edition worth it?
*thinks hard about it* not really. I do not regret buying the special edition but i thought it would be in a nicer box... and i ended up not liking the music so.... but still only cost me a little more so i don't mind.
but in the end the Limited edition was just that... limited and only from NISA's store as well as selling out pretty fast.
i look forward to playing the rest and hopefully Danganronpa 2 is also good and helps streamline some stuff... but for now... i think i need to go rest.
Friday, 14 February 2014
Characters it would be fun to receive valentines chocolates from
chrunchyroll posted a poll result for the same question to both men and women
so i thought it would be fun to share my own opinion on something silly like this.
it's not going to be numbered though just who i think it would be fun to get chocolates from and why... maybe even how i think they would do it.
so in no particular order.
Kuroko Tetsuya - Kuroko no Basket.
you would just be walking along and then sudenly there is chocolate in your hand and a note with something along the lines of "will you be my light?" and yeah... would be adorable.
Kyon - Haruhi Suzumiya Series.
i know in japan it's mostly girls giving chocolates but being that i am a girl and i live in a country where it's kinda a mutual giving thing... most of this list is male
anyways Kyon would probably have to go through hell, alternate time lines and al that jazz and haruhi wouldn't know a thing... all she'd see was a simple chocolate and that would make me happy.
also for fun if she gave him a chocolate... bet she'd be wearing a ponytail
Onodara - Yowapeda
It would probably some extremly obscure random and rare toy or chocolate but he would just be so happy and saying something along the lines of "i biked as fast as i could to akihabara and it was the last one" and it may not be something you enjoy but you can tell theres a sweetness to it all.
Takashi Natsume - Natsume's book of friends
i could see him being really shy and embarraed about giving someone a chocolate (i actually hope he never gets a love intrest in the show cause i think it would get in the way... if it were taki i could tolerate it but still... no....) but yeah his chocolate probably wouldn't taste too good (since i can't think of a single instance where he cooks) but again at least he tried.
Seiji Matoba - Natsume's book of friends
he's shoot an arrown a hairs distance from your face and while smiling he would apologize since his depth perception is no good.... and knowing him he'd probably do it through your window just to add the creepyness of 'hey this creepy guy with a blindfold also happens to know where you live despite never having gotten your name.... and this happens in the manga so yeah.... i can see it happening.
Shuichi Natori - Natsume's book of friends.
he would just give chocolates to himself and practice his sparkle effect in he mirror. also he probably would send small store bought chocolates to every girl he knows with some non-descript message like "you will always be special to me" that shows n0 commitment but makes people think he's a nice guy.
i was going to come up with more but now it's the day and yeah... hope you have a happy valentines day... however you spend it
Edit: i thougth of another one.
Adol Christian - Ys
he would kick ass, take names, potentially destroy the god/devil/diety equivelant and make it so magic can no longer be used all to give you a simple chocolate.
Dogi - Ys
he would burst through a wall...
nuff said
so i thought it would be fun to share my own opinion on something silly like this.
it's not going to be numbered though just who i think it would be fun to get chocolates from and why... maybe even how i think they would do it.
so in no particular order.
Kuroko Tetsuya - Kuroko no Basket.
you would just be walking along and then sudenly there is chocolate in your hand and a note with something along the lines of "will you be my light?" and yeah... would be adorable.
Kyon - Haruhi Suzumiya Series.
i know in japan it's mostly girls giving chocolates but being that i am a girl and i live in a country where it's kinda a mutual giving thing... most of this list is male
anyways Kyon would probably have to go through hell, alternate time lines and al that jazz and haruhi wouldn't know a thing... all she'd see was a simple chocolate and that would make me happy.
also for fun if she gave him a chocolate... bet she'd be wearing a ponytail
Onodara - Yowapeda
It would probably some extremly obscure random and rare toy or chocolate but he would just be so happy and saying something along the lines of "i biked as fast as i could to akihabara and it was the last one" and it may not be something you enjoy but you can tell theres a sweetness to it all.
Takashi Natsume - Natsume's book of friends
i could see him being really shy and embarraed about giving someone a chocolate (i actually hope he never gets a love intrest in the show cause i think it would get in the way... if it were taki i could tolerate it but still... no....) but yeah his chocolate probably wouldn't taste too good (since i can't think of a single instance where he cooks) but again at least he tried.
Seiji Matoba - Natsume's book of friends
he's shoot an arrown a hairs distance from your face and while smiling he would apologize since his depth perception is no good.... and knowing him he'd probably do it through your window just to add the creepyness of 'hey this creepy guy with a blindfold also happens to know where you live despite never having gotten your name.... and this happens in the manga so yeah.... i can see it happening.
Shuichi Natori - Natsume's book of friends.
he would just give chocolates to himself and practice his sparkle effect in he mirror. also he probably would send small store bought chocolates to every girl he knows with some non-descript message like "you will always be special to me" that shows n0 commitment but makes people think he's a nice guy.
i was going to come up with more but now it's the day and yeah... hope you have a happy valentines day... however you spend it
Edit: i thougth of another one.
Adol Christian - Ys
he would kick ass, take names, potentially destroy the god/devil/diety equivelant and make it so magic can no longer be used all to give you a simple chocolate.
Dogi - Ys
he would burst through a wall...
nuff said
Monday, 10 February 2014
Completed: Robocop.... but
I'm not really going to 'review' it... or at least thats what i told myself before i didn't get a credit...
okay but seriously i wont be saying much on the negative side cause
a) i'm not a fan of sci-fi... it can be fun but doesn't tend to be my thing.
b) i can't hate something that gave me a paycheck.
now.... i think it's story time.
Back in the days of old (5 or so year ago?) i started my first day of college. I was scared but excited to learn more about art then i would if i just continued to self teach.
one of my classes focused on Colour theory and we spent the entire semester painting Achromatically.
at the end chunk of every class (after about 1-2 hours of painting) we would stand everything up and critique it cause one cannot grow if one does not have their hard work torn up in front of them (metaphorically of course)
one point that came up with damn near every student despite talent or amount of years they had been doing this was that we always needed to up the contrast of the values.
Contrast is a funny thing, when you have things like colour you can kind of trick the eye into seeing something as brighter.
however, depending on the value the 'lighter' colour may actually be darker... or in the worse case scenario it may be very similar to everything around it.
i think it's about time to shit on my own art~
this is a one layer thing i did for fun to play around with some stuff in photoshop (before i moved over to sai)
I like it because the pop of colour helps define her in the space.
however
same exact picture, i just desaturated it and it's all just a very similar gray mess. no pop, no definition (other then the lines) and just pretty boring.
While this one the other hand....
i'm not terribly thrilled with how this all turned out... i do have lots of contrast in colour thanks to having a fairly limited pallet but in the end... it just doesn't click... however if i desaturated this
theres a lot more definition, she pops from the background a lot more cause there is contrast which makes this picture more 'interesting' to look at despite the fact that i like the other one more.
SO.... that out of the way....
i felt like some scenes were lacking in contrast.
mostly ones where the black robot fought other black robots in a dark room. it made the action a little hard to follow cause it was hard to focus on what was the main character and what was he supposed to be fighting.
coupled with shaky cam (which i'm not a fan of but i understand it's use in the film) just made me wish he stood out more.
the shaky cam also made me sad cause it made it really hard to see the sets, which i know from experience were really really cool. specifically this one set which is huge and had the incredible painted marble and is used in a close cropped shot of a talking head.
however the film wasn't terrible, better then some other things i've worked on, there were some odd choices but i understand why they were made even if i don't agree with the outcome. i'm happy i got to see it with the audience i had and yes... i'm a little bummed that my name didn't show up at the end... or if it did i didn't see it.
The story was a fairly decent update considering we have different sensibilities now compared to when the original was made. The pacing was good, never felt like i needed to check the time or wondered when it was going to end.
but all that being said, this film would have been that much better had they kept him silver... the black was just a little too hard to track during the action.
still i had fun, which was more then i expected. (cause yeah.... i really don't like sci-fi)
though i know a lot of die hard fans probably are not going to be happy... can't please everyone... there are some nods to the original... some good and some.... forced but hey their heart was in the right place.
oh but if you have epilepsy, when you get to the scene where they turn off the light just leave the room for a bit... even i was feeling queasy at that.
now i just need a certain other film to be remade and maybe i could end up working on all three.... *nods* doubtful though. (but funny to think about)
i believe the film comes out on wednesday, if you are at all minorly curious about how they updated it go see it, if not then maybe just wait a bit... it'll probably be more enjoyable if you're not paying 15 bucks just to see it (cause ticket prices are really really high here)
okay but seriously i wont be saying much on the negative side cause
a) i'm not a fan of sci-fi... it can be fun but doesn't tend to be my thing.
b) i can't hate something that gave me a paycheck.
now.... i think it's story time.
Back in the days of old (5 or so year ago?) i started my first day of college. I was scared but excited to learn more about art then i would if i just continued to self teach.
one of my classes focused on Colour theory and we spent the entire semester painting Achromatically.
at the end chunk of every class (after about 1-2 hours of painting) we would stand everything up and critique it cause one cannot grow if one does not have their hard work torn up in front of them (metaphorically of course)
one point that came up with damn near every student despite talent or amount of years they had been doing this was that we always needed to up the contrast of the values.
Contrast is a funny thing, when you have things like colour you can kind of trick the eye into seeing something as brighter.
however, depending on the value the 'lighter' colour may actually be darker... or in the worse case scenario it may be very similar to everything around it.
i think it's about time to shit on my own art~
I like it because the pop of colour helps define her in the space.
however
While this one the other hand....
SO.... that out of the way....
i felt like some scenes were lacking in contrast.
mostly ones where the black robot fought other black robots in a dark room. it made the action a little hard to follow cause it was hard to focus on what was the main character and what was he supposed to be fighting.
coupled with shaky cam (which i'm not a fan of but i understand it's use in the film) just made me wish he stood out more.
the shaky cam also made me sad cause it made it really hard to see the sets, which i know from experience were really really cool. specifically this one set which is huge and had the incredible painted marble and is used in a close cropped shot of a talking head.
however the film wasn't terrible, better then some other things i've worked on, there were some odd choices but i understand why they were made even if i don't agree with the outcome. i'm happy i got to see it with the audience i had and yes... i'm a little bummed that my name didn't show up at the end... or if it did i didn't see it.
The story was a fairly decent update considering we have different sensibilities now compared to when the original was made. The pacing was good, never felt like i needed to check the time or wondered when it was going to end.
but all that being said, this film would have been that much better had they kept him silver... the black was just a little too hard to track during the action.
still i had fun, which was more then i expected. (cause yeah.... i really don't like sci-fi)
though i know a lot of die hard fans probably are not going to be happy... can't please everyone... there are some nods to the original... some good and some.... forced but hey their heart was in the right place.
oh but if you have epilepsy, when you get to the scene where they turn off the light just leave the room for a bit... even i was feeling queasy at that.
now i just need a certain other film to be remade and maybe i could end up working on all three.... *nods* doubtful though. (but funny to think about)
i believe the film comes out on wednesday, if you are at all minorly curious about how they updated it go see it, if not then maybe just wait a bit... it'll probably be more enjoyable if you're not paying 15 bucks just to see it (cause ticket prices are really really high here)
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Completed: Ano Hana: Letters to menma
*sobbing* so *sniffle* aniplex showed this movie in north american theaters... and... and.... so sad *more sobbing*
Ok but seriously though this movie.... i was doing so well... even when you see the flower they saw that day.... i didn't cry but i did gasp...
even when they are reliving their guilt i tears up but i didn't cry.
but then.... stupid hide and seek
i HATE hide and seek thanks to this show.
just..... GAH *sob*
i despise crying in public places... so a packed theater with friends is like... the worst.
i'm not the only one of my friends that cried though so.... yeah... good...
SO... Ano hana (which has a stupid long title that i don't remember right now) is about a group of friends who play together all the time until one of them dies in a tragic accident.
Skip a few years and the group barely speak to each other anymore after dealing with grief at such a young age and also having to deal with the fact that being around each other brings up memories.
That is until Jintan, the 'leader' of the group of friends suddendly gains the ability to see the girl who died and all she wants is for her wish to be fulfilled... she doesn't remember what that wish is... other then it involves getting everyone together again.
Now i won't go into details but the show hits a little too close to home for me. When a lot of people felt like it was pandering and just trying to make you cry i saw it as being fairly sincere having gone through a lot of what these characters went through.
But it makes this show insanely hard for me to watch... it brings the "what if" question to mind and it just hurts thinking about it.
So i was worried when my friend invited me to it... this kind of plotline breaks me down pretty easily.
But in the end i'm really glad i saw it.
It was, once again, a great depiction of people dealing with grief over time, they no longer blame themselves as much and now they think more about how that person helped shaped them into who they are today... and how just the memory is enough of them. It was really really sincere.
And really really sad. there was not a dry eye in the audience and considering it was mostly male... thats pretty damn impressive.
Also watching this made me realize why little busters pissed me off so much. the stories don't share much except the theme of loss. Little busters phones it in for a happily ever after while Ano Hana deals with the fact that song things in life hurt like hell and while the pain never goes away you can't just be miserable all the time either.
So go see the movie if you get the chance and enjoyed the series. it's very very very well done.
Spoilers:
the title of the show roughly translates to
We still don't know the name of the flower we saw that day.
in this film we see the flower.... and i'm pretty sure it's a forget me not.
they never say it but thats what it looked like to me.. .and yeah... i almost broke down there.
great use of flower symbolism.
Ok but seriously though this movie.... i was doing so well... even when you see the flower they saw that day.... i didn't cry but i did gasp...
even when they are reliving their guilt i tears up but i didn't cry.
but then.... stupid hide and seek
i HATE hide and seek thanks to this show.
just..... GAH *sob*
i despise crying in public places... so a packed theater with friends is like... the worst.
i'm not the only one of my friends that cried though so.... yeah... good...
SO... Ano hana (which has a stupid long title that i don't remember right now) is about a group of friends who play together all the time until one of them dies in a tragic accident.
Skip a few years and the group barely speak to each other anymore after dealing with grief at such a young age and also having to deal with the fact that being around each other brings up memories.
That is until Jintan, the 'leader' of the group of friends suddendly gains the ability to see the girl who died and all she wants is for her wish to be fulfilled... she doesn't remember what that wish is... other then it involves getting everyone together again.
Now i won't go into details but the show hits a little too close to home for me. When a lot of people felt like it was pandering and just trying to make you cry i saw it as being fairly sincere having gone through a lot of what these characters went through.
But it makes this show insanely hard for me to watch... it brings the "what if" question to mind and it just hurts thinking about it.
So i was worried when my friend invited me to it... this kind of plotline breaks me down pretty easily.
But in the end i'm really glad i saw it.
It was, once again, a great depiction of people dealing with grief over time, they no longer blame themselves as much and now they think more about how that person helped shaped them into who they are today... and how just the memory is enough of them. It was really really sincere.
And really really sad. there was not a dry eye in the audience and considering it was mostly male... thats pretty damn impressive.
Also watching this made me realize why little busters pissed me off so much. the stories don't share much except the theme of loss. Little busters phones it in for a happily ever after while Ano Hana deals with the fact that song things in life hurt like hell and while the pain never goes away you can't just be miserable all the time either.
So go see the movie if you get the chance and enjoyed the series. it's very very very well done.
Spoilers:
the title of the show roughly translates to
We still don't know the name of the flower we saw that day.
in this film we see the flower.... and i'm pretty sure it's a forget me not.
they never say it but thats what it looked like to me.. .and yeah... i almost broke down there.
great use of flower symbolism.
Saturday, 8 February 2014
First impressions: Bravely Default
Silly title aside this game kinda snuck up on me.
I was planning on placing a preorder on the games limited edition but unfortunately after i started working i kinda sorta forgot about it. oops.
so i just got the standard one and in the end thats just fine with me.
Now i'll be upfront, i think they artist for this game is amazing..... but the face that no one has a nose has ALWAYS driven me a little batty.... happily though the full scale characters do have noses so at least thats better.
Also i never had a chance to play the demo, i didn't have the time.
So after turning on the game.
The fact that this game has them built in... makes me feel a little sick, had i known this game had micro transactions i would not have bought it new... i would not have supported a game with that kind of system in play (at least not off the bat).
You are probably thinking "wow what an over-reaction, if you don't like it then just don't use it" and trust me i wont but thats not the issue at play here.
Micro Transactions in a handheld game represent a move towards a mobile game mentality. things will start having time limit walls that involve real cash to get past if you don't want to wait. Content will end up behind paywalls disguised as "premium items" or even more insidious "Downloadable content" (which i'll go into more after my MT rant). You will end up paying simply to play the game (which in the case of handheld games you've already payed a good 40 bucks for) and that is why i do not play crappy face book games or mobile games....
and you know who is known to be the worst about having insane micro transactions just in order to enjoy the experience in their crappy facebook games and mobile games? Square Enix... the publisher of this game.
So yeah... i do not want this becomming a trend....
also to clarify i'm not saying all Micro transactions are bad or all DLC is shit... just that it so easily has the potential to be abused.
sometimes there is awesome DLC that adds to the experience or even story of the game, i haven't played the last of us but that DLC chapter looks like it has a lot of love and care put into to and is probably worth every penny.
but for every amazing use theres also tones of blatant cash grabs which add nothing to the experience. I can't actually think of a good example of micro transactions being used in a way where it feels like i'm not missing out by avoiding it... it always feels like they make the game more frustrating so you'll be forced to pay to have any fun... but again i avoid games with micro transactions for the most part so maybe there is a good example....
but i know this game will not be an example of MTs being used well.
you wanna know how i know?
you get the item that lets you attack in real time, it uses SP which take 8 hours to replenish 1 point.
or you can buy something to get 3 points.
the first sp drink is 49 cents, the next is probably .99 - $1
which hey, thats not to bad right?
it's a convenience.
right?
yeah.... a buck here and there adds up pretty damn fast ESPECIALLY considering that after tax this game cost me 45 bucks just to be able to buy it. (the tax in my province is stupid high in my opinion though)
so yeah... screw you and your micro transactions. I hope that I don't see this in other games... it's just so easily abused and games are expensive enough as is (especially for me considering the CAD is hovering around .90)
But if you still think i'm over reacting please feel free to do whatever you please... maybe i'm wrong and they aren't trying to get every cent out of your pockets... but to me this feels like gaming comapnies see this as a way to continue getting income even if the game is a used copy by any means... which is fine i want them to get paid for their investments... but not like this, this is a bit of a slippery slope in my eyes and yeah... i'm worried.
Other then all that though... i think the game is really really good, the combat could be better but i see where they are trying to change things up and take risks. But seriously i hope they don't see a cent from the micro transactions.... i know they will but i can hope that this trend dies away.
I was planning on placing a preorder on the games limited edition but unfortunately after i started working i kinda sorta forgot about it. oops.
so i just got the standard one and in the end thats just fine with me.
Now i'll be upfront, i think they artist for this game is amazing..... but the face that no one has a nose has ALWAYS driven me a little batty.... happily though the full scale characters do have noses so at least thats better.
Also i never had a chance to play the demo, i didn't have the time.
So after turning on the game.
- Wow this is pretty, the 3d is pretty decent too but i will be playing more in 2d... i just prefer it.
- Auto play cutscenes are wonderful... moreso causei have limited use of my right arm and hand at the moment so it's nice not having to tell the dialouge to continue to move forward.
- Is that Wendy lee (maybe... not sure) and Adol? way to give me Ys feelings.... Bryce paperbrook hm? i'll remember that... yeah the voice acting in this is pretty damn good so far.
- That music, it has this Ys feel to it which makes it REALLY enjoyable. i have heard a lot of music for it already cause friends keep sending me samples but yeah... really really pretty.
- omg the visuals in town... they almost look like a storybook... so details and almost painterly. even with the 3d off the movement of things in perspective make me make these odd happy giggling noises cause it's just so damn cool.
- Combat is standard random encounter jrpg fare, i'm hoping it gains more depth as options open up to me cause right now it's just a little same old same old. though with the little bit of how the job systems mechanics being explained it does seem interesting... i just hope it's not too focused on the need to grind cause thats where games tend to lose my interest.
- This game has micro transactions? Now i'm worried
The fact that this game has them built in... makes me feel a little sick, had i known this game had micro transactions i would not have bought it new... i would not have supported a game with that kind of system in play (at least not off the bat).
You are probably thinking "wow what an over-reaction, if you don't like it then just don't use it" and trust me i wont but thats not the issue at play here.
Micro Transactions in a handheld game represent a move towards a mobile game mentality. things will start having time limit walls that involve real cash to get past if you don't want to wait. Content will end up behind paywalls disguised as "premium items" or even more insidious "Downloadable content" (which i'll go into more after my MT rant). You will end up paying simply to play the game (which in the case of handheld games you've already payed a good 40 bucks for) and that is why i do not play crappy face book games or mobile games....
and you know who is known to be the worst about having insane micro transactions just in order to enjoy the experience in their crappy facebook games and mobile games? Square Enix... the publisher of this game.
So yeah... i do not want this becomming a trend....
also to clarify i'm not saying all Micro transactions are bad or all DLC is shit... just that it so easily has the potential to be abused.
sometimes there is awesome DLC that adds to the experience or even story of the game, i haven't played the last of us but that DLC chapter looks like it has a lot of love and care put into to and is probably worth every penny.
but for every amazing use theres also tones of blatant cash grabs which add nothing to the experience. I can't actually think of a good example of micro transactions being used in a way where it feels like i'm not missing out by avoiding it... it always feels like they make the game more frustrating so you'll be forced to pay to have any fun... but again i avoid games with micro transactions for the most part so maybe there is a good example....
but i know this game will not be an example of MTs being used well.
you wanna know how i know?
you get the item that lets you attack in real time, it uses SP which take 8 hours to replenish 1 point.
or you can buy something to get 3 points.
the first sp drink is 49 cents, the next is probably .99 - $1
which hey, thats not to bad right?
it's a convenience.
right?
yeah.... a buck here and there adds up pretty damn fast ESPECIALLY considering that after tax this game cost me 45 bucks just to be able to buy it. (the tax in my province is stupid high in my opinion though)
so yeah... screw you and your micro transactions. I hope that I don't see this in other games... it's just so easily abused and games are expensive enough as is (especially for me considering the CAD is hovering around .90)
But if you still think i'm over reacting please feel free to do whatever you please... maybe i'm wrong and they aren't trying to get every cent out of your pockets... but to me this feels like gaming comapnies see this as a way to continue getting income even if the game is a used copy by any means... which is fine i want them to get paid for their investments... but not like this, this is a bit of a slippery slope in my eyes and yeah... i'm worried.
Other then all that though... i think the game is really really good, the combat could be better but i see where they are trying to change things up and take risks. But seriously i hope they don't see a cent from the micro transactions.... i know they will but i can hope that this trend dies away.
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