Victorious Boxers Revolution review

A Wii boxing game that''s based on the anime and manga,Hajime no Ippo,was brought over here by XSEED,a publisher that would soon be somewhere on the top of my list.But should they have bothered?

The story covers the humble beginnings of Ippo Makanouchi,to the fight with Sawamura,currently shown only in the manga.The series is known for some great character development,but like most video games based on an anime or manga,they tend to not explain stuff and strictly for fans of it's source material.

The voice work isn't particularly good,some of the characters voices tend to not fit them at all or just don't sound as good as their japanese counterparts,speaking of which,there's no Japanese dub included.
The announcer during the fights is annoying,mostly because his voice tends to overlap,it's common to hear "Makanouchi..straight right...right..uppercut...ma.ma..makanoucstraight right!"
It's pretty terrible,I'll just put a video down here so you can hear it.You can turn it off thankfully.

If you watched the video,you noticed the art style,and I really like it.Unlike the PS2 games,Revolution went for a manga style of art,and despite the lack of the Wii's power,it looks good on the surface.The character models look good at first glance,but their animations are not,they tend to look a little unnatural.
The crowd is more lazyness rather than lack of power of the Wii.They are blurry,pixelated cardboard cutouts that you'd swear are lifted from a N64 wrestling game.

The Wii brought us Xenoblade,so it's an issue of lazyness here
rather than power.

The controls are also at fault,being a Wii game,of course you would expect motion controls for a boxing game.Again,being a pre-motionplus era game,it just doesn't respond right.You tend to flail around and your boxer just does his own thing.The game has Gamecube and Classic Controller support,but that kinda defeats the purpose of it being on the Wii,doesn't it?

You have special moves,like the Dempsey Roll and the Jolt Counter,but some other moves like Aoki's Frog Punch are novelty but ultimately useless,just like in the manga.One other notable thing to note about the fights is that if you hit your opponent hard enough,you get a cool little x-ray scene that denotes that you broke his jaw or ribs.You don't actually see the bones break like in the anime,but you do get that satisfying sound effect.

There's alot of characters,from Hammer Nao,to Brian Hawk but is missing some characters like Jason Ozuma.

The music is also generic,no remixed anime music or anything,just generic stuff.

It does have multiplayer and as bad as the motion controls are,me and my cousins had fun flailing around,executing the techniques we all saw in the anime.That's not really a positive towards the game itself,since me and my cousins generally always have a great time with anything really,so take that for what you will.

Overall,the negatives outweigh the positives,so it's hard to reccomend even to fans of Hajime no Ippo.In the end,I kinda like the game,but it's not anything special.

Zone of the Enders the 2nd Runner review/thoughts on

Right off,the intro movie was better than the intro from the first game,so I was excited already.
The intro song,Beyond the Bounds,is easily the best song in the entire HD collection.
Playtime was 5 hours and 51 seconds according to the end result screen.


The protagonist,Dingo,was more cooler than Leo in the last game and the whole game felt a little more badass because of him.
Gameplay is pretty much the same,but it feels a little bit better here,more polished with more weapons.My favorite of the new weapons is the Zero Shift,not gotten until the last part of the game.Speaking of which,like it's predecessor,it's only 5 hours long,

Music,apart from the intro song,is nothing special.I liked what I heard but it's just not very memorable.

While I made an effort to understand the story,I really didn't care in the end.I'm just not a fan of typical mech war stories,they need to be more interesting like Code Geass or Evangelion for me to give a shit.

Graphics have a cel-shaded look and according to the gameplay videos I studied,the cel-shaded look was added for the HD release.One thing to note is that the awkward character models are gone,mechs are the only ones with 3D models,and whenever they show someone inside the cockpit,they are in anime form.
While in the cockpit,you can now view the characters talk like in a mecha anime via some portraits.
The 3D cutscenes just scream Hideo Kojima,if you played (or rather,seen) Metal Gear Solid,you WILL notice similarities on presentation.

Voice acting didn't annoy me this time,and while it's not ideal,it's better than the first game.

There's also a multiplayer,but it feels tacked on,the camera isn't what you want in a multiplayer game.
They force you to share 1 screen,no split screen for you!

You noticed a theme here,and it's that this game is better in everyway to the first,even the developers seem to notice that,as the HD anime intro has a minute and a half covering the 1st game and the other 4 minutes are about the 2nd Runner!

The 2nd Runner is much better than the first,in fact,I'd almost say picking up the HD collection for the 2nd Runner alone is worth it...if it wasn't so short.
Yeah,there's replay value and all that,but I want to move on to other games and I have to return this copy to my friend anyway,as he didn't finish it yet.

I guess for the obligatory score at the end,I guess an 8.5 out of 10 reflects my feelings towards it.
I'll be picking up my own copy of Zone of the Enders HD collection in the future,and with that,I'm out.

Tales of Toys

I'm a huge fan of the Tales series,while I haven't played all of them,I know they're all great.These games are system sellers to me,just look at my PS3,I pre-ordered Graces f before I even had the system,so that should give you an idea on how much I love this series.


On to the main point,I wanted to buy something cool merchandise from the series,so thanks to my loving mother,she pre-ordered some "Nendoroid Petite:Tales Of Series Mini Action Figures",6 of them to be exact.
I'm lucky that she even agreed,how many parents would buy their 17 year old son 40 bucks worth of anime toys?Thankfully for me,she's open minded.

The pre-order was done all the way back in August 2012,with the release in Dec 2012,according to PlayAsia.There was never a concrete date,so I never knew when they were coming in.As of January 12,2013,these arrived at my doorstep.

The boxes look really nice.

First toy was Sophie from Graces f

Second was Estelle from Vesperia

Third was the "secret" character
Leon from Destiny!

Fourth was Asbel from Graces f

Fifth was Jude from the upcoming
Xillia.

Finally,Yuri from Vesperia

 

While I didn't get Millia from Xillia,I'm happy with what I got,

they're cute,they have stands and they're about the same size as a

GBA cartridge.

 

It's a regular sized 3DS by the way.

The stylus is mightier than the sword!

Anyway,I'm pretty pleased with the Nendoroid figures,they're a little smaller than I imagined but,they were only 6 bucks when we bought them,so I guess that's fair.The accesories like the swords are really small,so be careful to too lose them!

The only complaints are the little plastic stands,they're kind of a pain to put on.Once you hear an audible click,you should be good to go.
Sophie's left pigtail was a bitch to put on though,I couldn't attach it right,so it's just left hanging loosely like a branch or something.






 

Anyway,this was fun to write about,and I hope you enjoyed the cute anime characters,so until next time!

 

Here's the link to buy these things http://www.play-asia.com/Nendoroid_Petite_Tales_Of_Series_Mini_Action_Figures/paOS-13-71-92-49-en-70-55sd.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zone of the Enders review/thoughts on

I never even heard of these games until a year ago and I was interested as soon as I heard Hideo Kojima seeing as how I enjoyed Snake Eating...in 3D!
Anyways,my mecha loving friend bought the HD collection and I borrowed it from him so I can see what I missed out on.This is just my thoughts on the first game,for anyone wondering.
Total playtime was 4 hours,55 minutes and 23 seconds to be exact.

I obviously start the first game,after a pretty anime scene,I got some uncanny valley looking characters.I know this is a PS2 game,but man did they look creepy.Anyway,after a cutscene and minor fight,I finally get into a tutorial,and it was during this part that my eyes kinda hurt due to the camera.The camera is a little dizzying at first but after half an hour or so,I got used to it.

Gameplay was really fun,it's simple and I loved every second of it.It's pretty much how I wanted a mech game to play,not that I played too many,but it was really fun.

The graphics are basiclly PS2,so aside from a few FMV cutscenes,it didn't hold up to well.The environments are very samey,I often got lost because all the towns and factories looked so similar,and I had to bitch out and just look it up on internet.Considering how short the game was,would it have killed someone to made everything look a little more diverse?

The voice acting was kinda monotone,not too great considering the Metal Gear Solid guy worked on this but I assume it was due to localization issues,or they didn't just didn't care since the original probably sold only because it included a Metal Gear Solid 2 demo.Oh yeah,a Metal Gear Rising demo is also included with the HD collection,so no matter what Hideo Kojima does,he's always tied to this series.


The music was just there,I really didn't care about it.I didn't notice it until after I beat the game but it turns out you can play your own music on the PS3,but I listened to podcast instead while enjoying the great gameplay.

I really didn't care about the story at all,probably to the voice acting,so whatever.It was 4 hours,so I guess I shouldn't expect any huge plot twists or in depth story,but the gameplay made up for it.

Overall,I'd say it nails the gameplay,but doesn't pass everything else,but that's really the only important part.If the gameplay wasn't there,then the game would just be forgetable.
If I had to rate it,I guess a 6 or 7 out of 10,since people like a score at the end,I guess.

Anyway,2nd Runner is up next,I'm looking forward to that.

Pokemon X and Y

I know everyone's talking about these,and I shouldn't contribute but this is one of my favorite franchises and my username is from said series,so imma talk about my feels,man!
This next part is pretty much what I was thinking as I saw this,so it's abrupt but that's the point.



So I just woke up and took a shower like any other day,when suddenly,I saw that it was 6:40 am,that means that Pokemon announcement happened!
I rushed and checked out the Nintendo Direct and after watching Nintendo pat themselves on the pat,we got the trailer.
Oh shit,3D graphics in a chibi-fied style!Ah!The starter Pokemon,grass one looks cute and ah my god,the battles look more dynamic than I imagined!The firefox pokemon looks cute as well and Munchlax and Kirlia?Is this game a mish-mash of old and new Pokemon?That frog Pokemon!...is going to take some getting used to...but he looks cool in the battles at least.
After some blink and you miss it gym footage,this black Pokemon was flying,it's obviously a legendary and he was shaped like a Y for a second,looked pretty badass.
Then this blue deer legendary Pokemon's antlers kinda took the shape of an X,and then the titles were revealed!Pokemon X and Y,I guess it sounds ok,better than Magenta or something.Oh damn,a worldwide release?That means we can traverse the internet without worrying about spoilers and crap,how cool,I haven't felt this way in forever.


Anyway,that wasn't a disappointment.I originally thought that X and Y were chronosomes and related to gender but then I heard that they're based on the corrdinates and that Z was going to be the third version.
I like that explanation alot better,and I'm sure that'll be the case.
Basiclly,all we saw was a 3D world,3D battles and 5 new Pokemon and yet the internet is freakin out.
In hindsight,maybe I shouldn't be freaking out but I'm just happy to see the series take a step forward.
I'm sure this will eliminate any doubts about the 3DS now,those random analysts can be all like "3DS is a failure,I make money for talking out of my ass!"
I'm sure the games will take full advantage of the 3DS's features,I'm looking forward to Streetpass and the Nintendo Network,mostly for Streetpass since Pokemon was always a more social series and this is a right step for Pokemon.


Who knows how many Pokemon we'll have for Gen 6 but I'm really looking forward to them,9 months seems like a long time away,it was only 2 years since we heard about Black and White and we're here already with Gen 6.

I can't say anymore than that,I know these games will be good at the very least and no matter what I say,these things will sell a jillion copies day one anyway.
Hope you enjoyed my thoughts on X and Y,probably not any different from anybody else.

Prediction for the Jan 8th Pokemon announcement

There's not too many things that this announcement can be,although it's fun to speculate anyway.
First off,I have to assume the worst due to my nature and have to say that it's just an event Pokemon.Meloetta hasn't been distrubuted yet,which is weird since it's showed up already on the English dub of the anime already,so it could be that and Japan practically gets event Pokemon on the walk to school,so who cares if they get another Pokemon.

Now for the more optimist guesses,It's likely a 3DS game,the Wii U is barely out of the gate and I doubt we'd get a Pokemon game this soon on the console,unless it's a spin off,which would be anticlimactic.The only spin off that everyone wants is Pokemon Snap 2,but I doubt they would tease it like this,they would just announce it randomly during a Nintendo Direct or something.

Alright it's on the 3DS,so it has to be a main series entry,let's say Pokemon Magnesium or Pokemon Gemini,some random color shade or element to the titles.
Coming off of Generation Five,it's reasonable to expect some surprises going into Generation Six,maybe expanding the narritive more,and more dynamic battles.

I doubt this announcent is the Ruby and Sapphire remakes,since Pokemon remakes always show up after the new entries,going by the pattern of Gen 3 and 4.But you never know,full of surprises....

My last guess is weird but I can sort of see it happen anyway.
The next main games are coming simultaneously for the Wii U and the 3DS,the 3DS version makes use of sprites and the 3DS's features while the Wii U edition uses 3D models and uses the Wii U's online features.
There's no indication at all that this will happen but it would make for one hell of a surprise.

Anyway,we'll find out on Tuesday,maybe even on Monday night due to the time zone differences here and in Japan.Like I said,I would still not get my hopes up because this wouldn't be the first time a big tease was just a dissapointment,but we'll see what happens.

The Anime rut I've been in

I was originally writing what anime related things I was looking forward,but then I could only mention Sailor Moon,Dragon Ball and that Devil Survivor 2 anime.

Pretty much,I've fallen out of watching new anime for some reason,I think the reason is time.Having RPG's as your favorite genre kinda takes alot of time away,and I plan to keep playing them.

The last new anime I watched was Cashern Sins,and Deadman Wonderland,but after the initial joy of Toonami's return was over,I didn't feel like watching one episode of anime a week.I still watch Toonami,but I don't make an effort to be there every Saturday.

And it's such a pain to even begin watching it in the first place,the dvds cost more money then they should,and the companies often take down videos on YouTube.I understand you want some money but I don't want to pay 40 bucks for a 12 episode anime I might not even like.

And then you have to find other websites that have these anime and hope that all the episodes are there,or else you need to find another website.It's a slight bother but that's enough for me to just give up on new anime and just continuing playing the game of the moment.

I really love anime,from the stories to the different art styles,but alot of those problems are why I stopped seeking out anime and just watch the same old series and play anime styled video games.

As you can see,I can get my anime fix from just video games alone if
I really wanted to.

 

 

 

If anything,what's been getting back into anime are these very games,with their anime adaptations and Ovas.The Valkyria Chronicles anime was enjoyable,but the Tales of Symphonia Ovas and their respective bonus ovas just remimded me on how much fun I had while watching anime.

 

 

I've been watching two series I've never watched so far,Code Geass and Gueran Lagann.
Gueran Lagann seems ok,so far,one of those "turn off your brain and enjoy the ride" kinda animes,currently on episode 2.

But Code Geass,currently on R2 episode 13,is really fucking good.I've been watching it on Bandai's official YouTube channel,but I forgot that they were shutting down in 2013,so I couldn't watch the last episode of season 1 at the time.So I had to find it somewhere else,going through various websites,just like I ranted earlier but I feel that it's worth it.

The series is so good and I want to support it,but Bandai's out of business,and if I were to spend like 100+ bucks on the series,I want the money to go the creators and licensors,not some random dude on eBay.

Is it unethical to pirate an anime when the distributor has gone under?I know people justify their crimes by saying it's a victimless crime,but what situation does that leave Code Geass?I barely started watching it about a month ago  and then the company dies out,that usually doesn't happen while I'm watching an anime for the first time.I'll finish watching it online,but I'm always for supporting the offical release,but that still doesn't stop me sometimes,pretty hypocritical of me.
I guess try not to pirate everything,that's my cop out answer.


Anyway,after Code Geass,I plan on seeing Madoka Magica,and I do plan to buy the dvds...which will cost me 90 bucks,which is alot for an 18 year old without a job so I guess I have to get a job,I hear those things give you disposable income.

What games I'm interested in 2013

Alright there's alot of stuff that I want,so much,that I might forget about some,so this doubles as a checklist for me.These are games that caught my eye,so I probably won't buy of all them,especially since alot of these are releasing in March for some inconvinent reason.

I liked the skit presentation better in
Graces,but can't win them all I suppose

-Tales of Xillia.This game is my most anticipated game by far,I just can't wait!

-Fire Emblem Awakening.I love these games,they tend to have pretty interesting characters,and judging from all that I heard,it seems to be pretty great.

-Castlevania Mirror of Fate.I never really played Lord of Shadows,so I'm probably going to skip on this one,until a price drop that is.

-Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- F for the PS3.I don't know anything about the Vocaloids but I have an affinity towards rhythm games,and this one seems pretty fun.Since this will be an import,I plan on buying it during summer or a time during a game drought.

-Metal Gear Rising.Not really too interested it the game so far,but my friend is,and that's enough of a reason for me to have some interest in it.I need to know more about length and combat to make a decision.

Unlike everyone else,it takes more than random screenshots to hype
me up for a series I got tired of.

-Grand Theft Auto 5.I'm bored of GTA honestly,but everyone I know will pick it up,so I'll inevitably be hearing about it later.I may buy it once they release a GOTY edition,since it's pretty much guaranteed they'll do that for the holidays or something.

-Ni no Kuni:Wrath of the White Witch.I'm not really too sure about this game,I'm adopting a wait and see strategy with this game.

-The Last of Us.Naughty Dog's behind it,and that's pretty much all I need to be interested in it.I'll pick it up eventually

-Sly Cooper:Thieves in Time.I'm wary of this one since Sucker Punch isn't behind it,but it's still Sly,so I feel obligated by my childhood to pick it up.

-Deadpool.I don't know anything about the comics,but I know this is a character that frequently breaks the fourth wall and I really like stuff with self awareness and how they poke fun at themselves.Hopefully the game will be as good,but again,I'll wait and see.

-Luigi's Mansion:Dark Moon.I liked Luigi's Mansion on the Gamecube but it wasn't exactly a great game,and ever since Sticker Star,I worry what Nintendo will do with it,so I might get it after a price drop.

-Shin Megami Tensei:Devil Summoner:Soul Hackers.I liked Overclocked,and I know this is one of the stranger entries,so I don't know about this one.

 

-Unchained Blades.Its a dungeon crawler but alot of interesting people are behind this game,so I'm interested.

-Pokemon Mystery Dungeon:Gates to Infinity.I really like the Mystery Dungeon games,so I'll pick it up a couple of weeks after it's release.

Yeah,only about 3 or 4 of these games are guaranteed to be purchased by me,but as always,I'll buy some old games as well.And I bring this up again,but the Vita might be mine this year,the allure of Persona 4 and Gravity Rush is getting to be too much for me.