Mahou Shoujo Madoka

The highlight of last year's AFA, wanted to see how good it was so i gave it a try. Starting was as 'magically childish' as i thought it would be. Fighting scenes arent that impressing to watch. Oh yeah, so it was a bitch anime after all? OF COURSE NOT!! Show gets progressively better over episodes, not just the girls but also the story. Background about the witches and magical girls etc. were well conveyed. The plot is well twisted, the girls are awesome. It wasnt a bad experience overall. Released on January 2011, 12 episodes in total.

Rating: 8/10
In a world where strange creatures, kyubey existed, any wish can be granted to the chosen girl. In exchange, she becomes a magical girl and fight against the darkness(witches) that is unknown to the rest of the world. A girl, Kaname Madoka was approached by this strange creature who offers her the deal. However theres this one magical girl, Akemi Homura who tries to prevent that from happening by hunting down the kyubey. Madoka in turn gets drag deeper into the affairs of the magical girls, learning about the bright side but also an even darker side of being a magical girl. What will she do next? Watch and learn~
This show is definitely a good start for me on the mahou shoujo series. Firstly, it was easy to understand as everything was well and clearly explained. Secondly, the girls tough and cool personalities makes me want to learn more about them hence staying and continue watching. Lets also not forget about the plot, it was awesomely twisted! There are times when you will be shocked by the sudden change in events and still have mixed feelings after that. It was actually not a bad show, but to be the most popular anime in 2011 was really over-exaggerated. 

Action-wise was pretty basic. Fights were simple and quickly done and over with. Well at least it wasnt as childish as i thought it would be, holding a staff saying some spell and then act cute etc. Instead the girls even have non-magic weapons like guns, swords, spears and even bows! Starting may be a little boring, but fear not as it will get better soon.

Opening song is connect by claris. All i could say is it has a magical feel to it, which indeed suits the show. With a little of a cute tune to it, matches these girls really well!

Have a nice day!

Steins Gate

About time for an anime review. Steins gate had been a very 'long' anime for me, given its ridiculously non-sensical front episodes and still continues being draggy right after. Only about like episode 9 or so, it then starts to get on track and interesting things began hoping in. Despite the downcomings, it still manages to give us audience a satsifying experience throughout. However, that will only come in later episodes. The show itself also is accompanied by fun characters. Every single one of them has their own unique feature that differentiates them from the norm, in terms that it makes us want to remember them! Released on April 2011, a total of 24 episodes and 1 ova episode.

Rating: 8.2/10
Okabe Rintarou is a self-proclaimed 'mad scientist' who calls himself Hyouinn Kyouma all the time. He has his own lab(his house) and lab members(his friends), which he think serves to act against the evil organisation(self-proclaimed) and thus change the world. He and his friend Daru unintentionally created an oven(time machine) able to send messages to the past. As they venture deeper into their invention, they trampled upon an actual organisation that is indeed into time machines and worse still now the organisation are after them and their oven. In order to stop this, they must leap through time and find solutions. Can they do it on time before its too late? Watch and learn~
Pardon me for saying this, but this show seriously starts off horrible! Not a shit was told of anything in the 1st episode, i was even trying my best to understand the fuck they are talking about but in the end no balls were caught. This moves on for a few episodes, you can notice the episodes going in sequence but you will NOT understand what is exactly going on. Things also do get draggy at times, something that i seriously dread watching.

Thank god the rest of the show went fine and manages to pull me back in. One thing i really like about this anime is the mindblowing moments. Moments that the protagonist faced, the critical decisions he have to make. Its mindblowing for him, but its pure satisfaction for us audience to watch! However, you must first endure the shit in front. Stein gate characters are a ton of fun to watch, they all have their own unique features that makes them stand out from the rest. For example, a girl who always says her quote whenever she meet anyone or a fat geek who always say perverted stuff in a flat tone etc.

Opening song is 'Hacking to the gate' by Itou Kanako. Pretty twisted song suited for a such a twisted anime. I am also beginning to like kanako's voice, its kind of different from those feminine girly voices. MOAR!!!!!

Have a nice day!

E3 2012: Games worth looking forward to

You gamers out there would probably know E3 2012 just ended couple of days ago. Lots of great games were showcased on stage like crysis 3, darksiders 2, resident evil 6, the last of us, borderlands 2, hitman absolution and many others. In this post i would i like to talk about the 3 games that captured not only my eyes but also my soul! Well then, lets get started~

1. Devil may Cry
Date set for release: 15th January 2013
Set 10 years before the first devilmaycry game, dante's new look and slightly 'punk' personality sure caught the attention of fans of the dmc franchise. I am not really too affected by dante's change of appearance. He is just being more of a teenage gangster, something really different from when he was cool 10 years after. The change of personality and looks after 10 years, i think it is possible. Dont ask me about his age, i am as clueless as you!
After seeing E3 stage demo on this game along with released trailers, i am totally hyped up on how far this game is able to go! In a world controlled by demons, their CCTV watches us, their media brainwashes us, their drinks posions us.......... blah blah blah. All these put together fills the game with so much conspiracy and plot, something that i personally liked alot. Some of you guys might not like the idea of 'government conspiracy' related to dmc, suit yourself. Weapon choices are mostly close-ranged(Angelic scythe/Devilish axe etc.) Dante's classic choice of weapons, the 'rebellion' and 'Ebony & Ivory' are still present of course. All these weapons can be upgraded in terms of skills, like in previous dmc games.
Lets talk about something that bothers me. The environment of the game. Everything was well-designed with europe-like buildings/rollercoasters/bars etc. All these really draws me into it until after spending a little time thinking about how all these comes about, you will realise that these doesnt really make any sense. Matching it with common sense, shouldn't the environment in this game look abit more traditionally old. In dmc1, there are only cliffs and castles at most. This game set 10 years before dmc1 looked so much more flourished with everything being so modernised, anyone would go thinking....HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???
Me and my friend had a talk about it, ending up with several crazy conclusions. Dante being trapped in his own world of delusions, trapped in a time paradox or even as crazy as dante going destroying the entire world until nothings left. Something also about the world being distorted and shit. Capcom and ninja theory sure have alot of explaining to do on this.

2. Dishonoured
Date set for release: 12th October 2012
Set in a london-inspired world, when you were once the bodyguard of the empress. Framed for murder, you lose everything. So now you are going to set things right by taking revenge against those who set you up, clearing your name off the crime. You, the protagonist somehow have the ability to wield magic which is something we, the audience want to know how is that possible. We saw something in the trailer, like a guy offering you the mark as a 'gift' or so.
After seeing E3 stage demo along with developers interviews, i got attracted to this game given how the background of the story is being set up along with the 'half-life x bioshock' gamestyle. This game is 'gorgeous' when it comes to the environment. On streets off the empire vision(basically the poor places), corpses were dumped off trains, plague infestation, demolished buildings, patrol guards(three-legged war machines) rules over the rundown streets. On streets within the empire vision(basically the rich areas), everything is so clean and bright. The contrast between the areas shows how broken the parliament is, and you are going set those right.
Gameplay simply works like half-life, with a bit of bioshock in it. By utilizing the mark on your hand, there are a tons of magic you can use. Ranging from blinks to time-freeze to even POSSESSIONS!! and many more. All these are cool as fuck, rather than just shooting a fireball out of your palm like a douche. You can also play the game any way you like, either stealthy or headfront. Anyway you can think of, UP TO YOU.
Now, just some enquiries. The freedom of killing anyone? Multiple savefiles? Aftergame features? Size of the 'world'? Difficulty settings?(as seen in gameplay footages, killing is way easy without putting much effort). Members of parliament look all the same, which somehow makes me doubt the variety in the game. October isnt far from now, hope i will get the answers that i want.

3. Persona 4 Arena
Date set for release: 7th August 2012
Set 2 months after Persona's 4 true ending, persona 4 arena is something people have been looking forward to as a 'sequel'. No longer as an RPG, but as a 2D fighting game instead.Teddie's sudden disappearance and then found hosting a fighting tournament 'Ultimate Persona User' through the midnight television. The group confused by the sudden turn of events, they decided to enter the tournament to find out the truth and at the same time test out their abilities. I would not say its a sequel, instead its more of a stand alone.
Atlus working with Arc system on this one, NEED ME SAY MORE?!!?! You can already see for yourself how beautiful this game looks! Arc system has like one of the best 2D fighting game mechanisms(blazblue for example), this game no doubt will be a success! Characters made over like Mitsuru and Akihiko(brought over from persona 3 FES), story mode will have alot of explaining to do on these oldschool characters which i know it will be well done.
Gameplay is as balanced as in blazblue, in addition you can even use your persona as an assist! Think it as blazblue + mvc, but more to the blazblue side. Still, persona 4 arena stands out being an individual given its own unique playstyle. All-out-attack, furious-action, persona gauge etc. could only be found in this game itself! Its persona 4 man, fans of the franchise definitely shouldn't miss this!
Number of characters could be a limitation. 13 characters on list, which already includes Labrys and Elizabeth. Perhaps in future they will add more P3 characters, who knows. I am also curious about the number of modes. Bonus artwork?? Something like that would be cool!

Have a nice day!

Corpse Party

School's finally starting to calm down a little, so i decided to put some time on blogging. A game review for today. Since i completed quite a few in the past few weeks so there is a need for me now to rush these reviews. Corpse party is an horror adventure role-playing game, pretty much successful in creeping the fuck out of me! What you did expect in any legit horror games, this one has it all (suspensed, panic, dialogues, sounds etc.) along with its own unique list of bad endings!! Released on the psp, august 2010.

My rating: 8.2/10
Gamespot rating: 7.5/10
Estimated gameplay: 5 hours +

Goods: Classic highschool horror, free-roaming gamestyle, top tier setup(environment/dialogue/sound etc.), multiple savefiles available, aftergame features.
Bads: Poor graphics, clues and hints arent even helpful for most of the time.
The goods!! Highschool horror would probably be the most classic horror of all time and corpse party gives that to you. The story is set in Kisaragi Academy, where a class of friends and their homeroom teacher were sharing ghost stories of the school(Heavenly Host elementary school) that was once in place before the construction of Kisaragi Academy. Everything was fine until they did a online ritual, being told that their friendship will lasts forever if they perform it right. These students then found themselves on the site of the old school itself. Being trapped in the school filled with conspiracy and terror, how will they survive this ordeal..........!!
The gameplay is kind of oldschool pokemon, where you walk around the mysterious-broken school pressing O most of the time. You guys might ask, 'So there are gonna be creatures to be fought?' The answer is NO, no fights in this game. The gameplay might sound boring, indeed it is. But once you get your head into the story, you would probably be busy racking your brains to solve the mysteries and escaping ghost grasps instead of being too bothered with how the game moves and works. This game requires you to walk around alot, so get prepared to plunged yourself deep into the fear of suspense!!

The setup is just top notch! Set in an elementary school where kids were murdured. Dead flesh bodies were lying around, windows were shattered, holes in the ground, last words of students were written in papers left on the ground. Everywhere was basically black and eerie, you will never know what is there awaiting you in the dark.
-Background musics were good for the suspension feeling, just that at some moments it just doesnt feel quite in place. For example, when you are required to find something(no time was given) and there was this funky-ass music that get me so hyped up. I just felt that it was so inappropriate for a horror game like this.
-Dialogues and sounds were basically the main tools in striking fear. Dialogues were written in a way that it was so direct and cruel, reading it and imagining is pure mindfucked!! Sounds were also meant the same way, sound of the scissors stabbing into the eyeball a couple of times. THE SOUND IS THERE!!!! Get fucked bros~
Multiple savefiles are available. Thank god for this feature!! Got a bad ending and wanting to save it?? You can. Wanting to reminisce those endings?? You can. Except when there are some chapters that have too many endings than savefiles, it is impossible to collect all endings.

Aftergame features. Well there are the 'extras', which you can collect them during playing through the story, getting certain specific endings or by other means. The 'extras' are several scenes that are not featured in the story, some are mini-games while some are just scenes. Replaying the story, making new decisions to unlock more bad endings can be done as well after the 1st playthrough. FOR THE BRAVE~
The bads!! Poorly-made graphics. Remember that i said early that this game resembles pokemon? The graphics itself looks pretty dam similar to pokemon when it was still functioning in GAMEBOY ADVANCE or SP!! But still, it doesnt really matter as you will focusing more on the story itself rather than how 'beautiful' the game looks.

Clues/hints arent even helpful for most of the time. For those who played this game will probably know this. Most of the time, you will be spamming O on random walls/planks/windows etc. hoping that the thing you want to look for is there(this can be really irritating sometimes). Clues and hints basically gives bullshit directions and some dont even make sense. For example, '5 steps to right, 3 steps down'. IT IS NOT THERE!! And guess what, i am better off randomly pushing O than to rely on these clues.
Thats it for what i have to say for the game. Flaws arent really important as long as the game succeeded in performing its purpose right. Its purpose of scaring the hell out of the player, is pretty dam well done!!! Parts where you did really panic, i probably did shit my pants.
Story's pretty well-told and explained. Inputting fear into the player was well-managed. Bad endings never fails to intrigued me. Flaws can be forgiven or you can just convince yourself that the ghosts are just being playful. Everything would then be quite in place.

Have a nice day!
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