Well, originally this was going to be a Wednesday post but circumstances redirected that effort so it was revised to a Thursday post, initally created, then lost completely when Blogger went down for Emergency Maintenance so it's now a Friday post that will hopefully get completed as such.
David picked up a XBox 360 + Dead or Alive 4 early on in the week, I nearly got Guitar Hero as well since $45 for the entire thing is easily dwarved by the $60 cost of 360 games. He went out again later and traded in the old XBox to pick up Condemned: Criminal Origins, Morrowind 4: Oblivion, and Ian got Wario Ware: Touched for the DS.
I haven't seen Condemned, but I did play a bit of Oblivion. Actually, my father and both brothers did too. David's playing a Cat-race Stealth-type, Archery, Sneak, Hand-to-Hand, Acrobatics, Athletics, under the Rogue sign. Clive's got a Warrior, Blade, Heavy Armor, High Strength, etc, human. Ian's playing a mix of the two, Blade and Stealth Cat person. I'm playing the Mage. Wisdom and Endurace Focus, Sign of the Mage; Alchemy, Blade, Heavy Armor, Destruction, Restoration, Security (Should've chosen Alteration, just cast Unlocking). It's odd for me to play this style of RPG and not have a Personality/Speechcraft character, but at least most games aren't as unwise as Fallout was (I could literally take a Signal Flare into a store, and end up with the store's entire stock). Oblivion is pretty cool in the short time I played. Lots of travel nothingness to deal with at the start, and I really hate murky questlines (Ie: Not set with giant blinking objectives or concise journal objectives), but it's still fun.
DoA4 has at least a few new characters. Haven't unlocked anything past Gen Fu and Leon so far, plus a few costumes. They've added a Brazilian Masked (Mardi-Gras style) Wrestler, Gen Fu's Apprentice who's a very girly looking boy who uses what looks like a combination of Crane Style and Gen Fu's martial arts. There's also Kokoro who's another generic Japanese girl, traditional dress and fighting style. Brad Wong has an outfit that looks just like Gen Fu. Christie's main Costume (Costume 1) is a open-front black jacket with no undershirt. Zach still has the horrible alien/teletubby costume. Tina now has a cowgirl outfit, complete with hat. And Bass is even bigger than before.
Story mode now ends with different enemies for different characters, and an uberboss like DoA3 had (much as I hated his cheapness) isn't present. There is, however, an equal evil that some characters get to face. DOATEC's Alpha 152, which is a transparent-greenish energy being, built off of, I believe, Kasumi's model. She's a floating enemy with the ability to teleport as a counter or just of her own free will. Her attacks are lightning fast and her knock range is obscene. She has a few combos that involve swinging her legs at an incredible rate. Most of her combos can deal 1/4th - 1/3rd of your life, and in one particularly nasty juggle I did lose more than 2/3rds of my total life without a chance to counter or break. She has 3 grabs, all wicked. One is Kasumi's jumping leg neck break, but is executeable from a much much greater distance. Another begins like Kasumi's leg-based should grapple throw, but instead of using her legs to throw you, she drops you to a leg-based neck lock and spends awhile pummeling your head (a long ass, duration, combo). The third is absolutely the nastiest, she grabs your character's head, cracks their neck, and holds them with one arm while holding her palm in front of their face and charging energy, then releasing it in a blast of force sending you flying away.
The stages are a bit more dynamic, though not alot. There are a few object here and there that can be broken. The game also introduces low collison barricades, which someone can jump over, or be knocked over, but otherwise act as barriers. Things like fallen logs (outdoors) or the lane divider for the street (Casino Street level). There are also a few enviromental effects: T-Rex in the background, speeding cars on the Casino Street, that can do a bit of damage and add a bit of fun.
I'm thinking I need to at least look at the demo of Heroes of Might and Magic V, though from what I've read via Penny-Arcade's Rants, it's just a magically colorful as the IV, still probably worth my time though. I'm also considering Civ 4, because it is a good series, even if Civ 3 was a rather botched product.
Till then I'll just be waiting for Disgaea 2 and Final Fantasy XII, or for Atlier Iris 1 and 2 to crash a bit more in price.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Anime Outlook
But before that. I've just learned that apparently Nora Jones uses the word Mother-fucker in one of her recent songs. There's something really unsettling about that. I obviously need a new way to get music, since it's mostly Anime OSTs that supply my Winamp's growth these days.
So, the perspective as we near the Summer Season (Yes, Spoilers, and lots of them):
Black Lagoon -
OP: Fantastic. CG'd bullet reflections, fun stuff with Levi.
ED: Has an ED of last season's quality (Aka, on par with Tactical Roar, Solty Rei, Mai Otome, or Cluster Edge; which is to say static and boring without even an appealing song).
Upside: Fantastic show, humorous and shounen. Strong, diverse characters, building relationship tension, well drawn gunfights and brawls.
Downside: Uhh...I'm not really certain where the plot is going, if there is one. Seems like a string of loose jobs without any visible overarching connection.
Impulse: I'm not certain I want a relationship to get settled yet, as much as I complain about FMP stalling Sousuke and Chidori so much, I think I prefer things massively unresolved, or only slowing working towards resolution. Rock better get to fight something sometime, and more Levi doing the music killing please.
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi -
OP: Interesting and lively, with enough foreshadowing to make me smile. I don't know how many of the Haruhi images are actually straight from an episode, but there's few enough to not feel like a cop-out tactic.
ED: Spawned a ton of knockoffs and a minor dance/parody craze. Not enough said? It's a good song and has great animation to boot.
Upside: Besides being a rather massive hit across the anime boards, the show merits all the praise. Massive art quality, great characters, an interesting plot.
Downside: Depends if you want your episodes to come in the proper order. Not going to be enough episodes of this goodness.
Impulse: Honestly, I think I enjoy the later eps (the true later eps, not the early eps ordered near the end) just for Kyon and Haruhi's relationship. Take the end of the Baseball Ep (4/7 , in order/truth) where Kyon talks Haruhi out of continuing with the Baseball Tournament; or the Split into Groups and tell Kyon your secret (Ep 5/?) episode with Haruhi's failed pairings and the angry straw-sucking. That all said, I don't really like Mikuru, she's sorta an obstacle to Kyon x Haruhi (And my tastes are for the dominant, not the submissive, and definately not the Meido / Loli)
Ergo Proxy
OP: I think I could spend 5 hours analyzing the images of the OP. I'm not going to, but it's that deep and fun. Yes, I know the text repeats alot, but there's still enough of it.
ED: Radiohead - Paranoid Android. Last Season styled though, just scrolling credits. Fortunately the lyrics work for me, so it's not a double whammy, the song isn't suck as well.
Upside: High art level, tons of references and hidden meanings, truly mysterious. Growing relationship and Pino. Pino is victory, pure and simple. Goth makeup.
Downside: Dinkiest fights ever and the weapons are pretty dull for a post-modern setting. Some of the character designs really take some getting used to, and our hero's dream sequences I could do without.
Impulse: Usagi-Pino is like victory^3. I'm really curious about all the plot that's yet to be expositioned. The "villian" is pretty crappy so far, especially after his spacing out in Ep 2. Seems that anyone not in the OP is pretty much assured to die, which is sorta bothersome, but it's been good for plot and development.
Ouran High School Host Club
OP: This is the Jpop-y, sugary stuff that makes me smile. It's not the greatest OP of the season, but it's still firmly rooted on the "like" side of the scale.
ED: The ED is growing on me. It may be static images, but at least they have color (unlike Shakugan no Shana's ED) and the song is both fast-paced and interesting.
Upside: Haruhi's for the win. A full cast of loveable (or detestable) characters, fantastic art, and a Gakuen Alice styled Academy (Bestest School setting, trumps the standard boring-school (See Suzumiya Haruhi, FMP, School Rumble, etc.)
Downside: Kyoya need a bit more development. I'd like the running debt-tally to factor into things a bit more.
Impulse: I think I prefer all the Host Club over Tamaki, but perhaps that to be expected. The first episode with the lightbulbs was so victorious I don't think anything after it can match that level of awesome, but they sure are trying. Honey-sempai's Ninja skills could use a bit more showcasing perhaps.
Eureka Seven -
OP3 (Fly Away): Decent song, shitty shitty animation quality. Also features the damaged Eureka appearance, definately not a plus.
OP4 (Sakura): Good song, though the start is alot stronger than the actual song.
ED3 (Tip Tap Tops): Black and white + new art style = inability to recoignize anyone. That said. Hali Cali is great and the art, while different, is fantastic.
ED4 (Coolon): Credit heavy ending, haven't seen it more than once so I can't really impose judgement.
Upside: I think we're past all the awkwardness as of now (Ep 38 atm) and ready for the drive to the grand finale.
Downside: I can't really root for an underage relationship that extends beyond friendship. I liked old Talho alot better.
Impulse: The last few eps have had some glorious moments (like Grandpa evading the military to deliver the board to Spec2 Nirvash). Still need to see what happens with Anemone. Gotta wonder what'll be resolved with Renton's father's / sister's stories.
Tsubasa Chronicle Season Season
OP: It's a good song, but it's a bit too slow for my liking, especially for an OP that features fighting. I like the portrayl of the shadows of the characters.
ED: I love this song, and the animation is as good as the show, even if it's not much more than static. Enough said.
Upside: More of what we love.
Downside: Mokona seems to be like 20% less cute noises, however the goggles from the dragonfly race totally made up for that for at least 10 eps.
Impuse: While I totally support Syaoran and Sakura getting bolder, I kinda liked just having Kurogane and Fye fight. Not a big deal, they seem to still be doing their basass interplay while hiding from their pasts, so we've still got all the stuff that made last season great, and more.
Well, that's enough text for now.
So, the perspective as we near the Summer Season (Yes, Spoilers, and lots of them):
Black Lagoon -
OP: Fantastic. CG'd bullet reflections, fun stuff with Levi.
ED: Has an ED of last season's quality (Aka, on par with Tactical Roar, Solty Rei, Mai Otome, or Cluster Edge; which is to say static and boring without even an appealing song).
Upside: Fantastic show, humorous and shounen. Strong, diverse characters, building relationship tension, well drawn gunfights and brawls.
Downside: Uhh...I'm not really certain where the plot is going, if there is one. Seems like a string of loose jobs without any visible overarching connection.
Impulse: I'm not certain I want a relationship to get settled yet, as much as I complain about FMP stalling Sousuke and Chidori so much, I think I prefer things massively unresolved, or only slowing working towards resolution. Rock better get to fight something sometime, and more Levi doing the music killing please.
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi -
OP: Interesting and lively, with enough foreshadowing to make me smile. I don't know how many of the Haruhi images are actually straight from an episode, but there's few enough to not feel like a cop-out tactic.
ED: Spawned a ton of knockoffs and a minor dance/parody craze. Not enough said? It's a good song and has great animation to boot.
Upside: Besides being a rather massive hit across the anime boards, the show merits all the praise. Massive art quality, great characters, an interesting plot.
Downside: Depends if you want your episodes to come in the proper order. Not going to be enough episodes of this goodness.
Impulse: Honestly, I think I enjoy the later eps (the true later eps, not the early eps ordered near the end) just for Kyon and Haruhi's relationship. Take the end of the Baseball Ep (4/7 , in order/truth) where Kyon talks Haruhi out of continuing with the Baseball Tournament; or the Split into Groups and tell Kyon your secret (Ep 5/?) episode with Haruhi's failed pairings and the angry straw-sucking. That all said, I don't really like Mikuru, she's sorta an obstacle to Kyon x Haruhi (And my tastes are for the dominant, not the submissive, and definately not the Meido / Loli)
Ergo Proxy
OP: I think I could spend 5 hours analyzing the images of the OP. I'm not going to, but it's that deep and fun. Yes, I know the text repeats alot, but there's still enough of it.
ED: Radiohead - Paranoid Android. Last Season styled though, just scrolling credits. Fortunately the lyrics work for me, so it's not a double whammy, the song isn't suck as well.
Upside: High art level, tons of references and hidden meanings, truly mysterious. Growing relationship and Pino. Pino is victory, pure and simple. Goth makeup.
Downside: Dinkiest fights ever and the weapons are pretty dull for a post-modern setting. Some of the character designs really take some getting used to, and our hero's dream sequences I could do without.
Impulse: Usagi-Pino is like victory^3. I'm really curious about all the plot that's yet to be expositioned. The "villian" is pretty crappy so far, especially after his spacing out in Ep 2. Seems that anyone not in the OP is pretty much assured to die, which is sorta bothersome, but it's been good for plot and development.
Ouran High School Host Club
OP: This is the Jpop-y, sugary stuff that makes me smile. It's not the greatest OP of the season, but it's still firmly rooted on the "like" side of the scale.
ED: The ED is growing on me. It may be static images, but at least they have color (unlike Shakugan no Shana's ED) and the song is both fast-paced and interesting.
Upside: Haruhi's for the win. A full cast of loveable (or detestable) characters, fantastic art, and a Gakuen Alice styled Academy (Bestest School setting, trumps the standard boring-school (See Suzumiya Haruhi, FMP, School Rumble, etc.)
Downside: Kyoya need a bit more development. I'd like the running debt-tally to factor into things a bit more.
Impulse: I think I prefer all the Host Club over Tamaki, but perhaps that to be expected. The first episode with the lightbulbs was so victorious I don't think anything after it can match that level of awesome, but they sure are trying. Honey-sempai's Ninja skills could use a bit more showcasing perhaps.
Eureka Seven -
OP3 (Fly Away): Decent song, shitty shitty animation quality. Also features the damaged Eureka appearance, definately not a plus.
OP4 (Sakura): Good song, though the start is alot stronger than the actual song.
ED3 (Tip Tap Tops): Black and white + new art style = inability to recoignize anyone. That said. Hali Cali is great and the art, while different, is fantastic.
ED4 (Coolon): Credit heavy ending, haven't seen it more than once so I can't really impose judgement.
Upside: I think we're past all the awkwardness as of now (Ep 38 atm) and ready for the drive to the grand finale.
Downside: I can't really root for an underage relationship that extends beyond friendship. I liked old Talho alot better.
Impulse: The last few eps have had some glorious moments (like Grandpa evading the military to deliver the board to Spec2 Nirvash). Still need to see what happens with Anemone. Gotta wonder what'll be resolved with Renton's father's / sister's stories.
Tsubasa Chronicle Season Season
OP: It's a good song, but it's a bit too slow for my liking, especially for an OP that features fighting. I like the portrayl of the shadows of the characters.
ED: I love this song, and the animation is as good as the show, even if it's not much more than static. Enough said.
Upside: More of what we love.
Downside: Mokona seems to be like 20% less cute noises, however the goggles from the dragonfly race totally made up for that for at least 10 eps.
Impuse: While I totally support Syaoran and Sakura getting bolder, I kinda liked just having Kurogane and Fye fight. Not a big deal, they seem to still be doing their basass interplay while hiding from their pasts, so we've still got all the stuff that made last season great, and more.
Well, that's enough text for now.
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