Anime Review: No Game No Life

No Game No Life has gained pretty high popularity in the anime community. It is a psychological thriller much like Death Note or Code Geass except with a much lighter tone to the whole experience. But does this show deserve to be compared to such great shows in its genre? Or is it just a failure? Let's find out!

STORY
POSITIVES
The way each situation is laid out and plays out gave me feelings similar to the ones i felt while watching Death Note. A show that is widely considered to be among the best. The different races also add to the show with some being better at certain things and having different abilities that affect they way some of the games are played.

STORY
NEGATIVES
The plot is quite un-inspired. The 2 main characters are dropped into a world where everything is determined by the outcome of games. While on the surface this may seem like a very original idea, it is very similar to a show about a certain "King of Games" you may have watched when you were younger. Also the driving force for the plot is not done very well in my opinion with no satisfying conclusion for the actual anime. (Although i bet there is one in the manga)

ART
POSITIVES
The art is very unique! This anime has a color pallet which even extends to the outlines of the characters. Often being a dark purple instead of just solid black. There is also an excellent use of bloom which isn't present in many other animes.

ART
NEGATIVES
This show resorts to loli fanservice in the first few seconds of the first episode. While usually the fanservice in this show isn't too intrusive and most of the time i didn't mind it, this just sets a bad tone as the first time you see Shiro, you see her panties first.

SOUND
POSITIVES
Intense/Cheerful songs mixed with silence for more serious moments works well in this show as the tone of the whole show is rather upbeat. I also quite enjoyed the intro song.

SOUND
NEGATIVES
Nothing Special.

CHARACTER
POSITIVES
The genius duo in this show are quite entertaining to watch. As the show repeatedly says, the duo are one person known as Blank. 2 halves of the same genius. They are so closely tied together in fact, that one cannot function without the other. I found this a very interesting character trait that i rather liked.

CHARACTER
NEGATIVES
All characters besides Blank are rather bland. Once you get past their interesting appearance, there really isn't much that's memorable about any of them.

ENJOYMENT
POSITIVES
I absolutely loved the interesting games that were in the show along with how Blank went about winning each one of them. The shows appeal is not in whether or not Blank will win but HOW they will win and how their opponents will TRY to win.

ENJOYMENT
NEGATIVES
You are taught very quickly that Blank is not going to lose. This takes away from the enjoyment a little bit. The show also doesn't make you feel very invested in the subplot involving the kingdom. You also don't get a satisfying conclusion to the MAIN plot.

OVERALL
If you are interested in a show about psychological warfare similar to Death Note and Code Geass without expecting an incredibly satisfying ending, this is for you. With the exception of the weak story and side characters, This show was a joy to watch!

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One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 Review (from a One Piece fan)

I am a huge One Piece fan. I read the manga, I watch the show in both english sub and dub and I plan to buy merch when I actually get some money to do so. That by no means indicates that this game will easily impress me. Quite the contrary actually. Being a rather big fan of the show, I was incredibly critical of the game. Especially when it came to lore friendly-ness. So did it live up to the name of my favorite show of all time?

Story

The games Legend Log goes through the main parts of the Straw Hat Pirate's adventure. Once you beat a level in Legend Log, you can use any character you unlocked to play that level again in Free Log mode. Along with that, there is also Dream Log mode where you can unlock characters and coins by playing certain pre-made scenarios.

Gameplay

If you played One Piece Pirate Warriors 1 or 2, you pretty much know what to expect. The basic Musou gameplay of wailing on thousands of weaklings and the occasional strong baddie. They have added a few new features this time around. One such feature is the Kizuna Rush system. The Kizuna Rush System involves a bar in your HUD filling up as you fight baddies and lowering when you receive damage. The bar has 3 levels. level 1 doesn't really do anything special but level 2 allows you to summon a team mate to unleash an attack by pressing an extra button at the end of your combos. If you fill the bar all of the way, you can activate Kizuna Rush. With this active, each enemy you defeat gives you “!” (The means by which your characters level up) and “Beli” (The currency of the game). As you level up, you unlock new combos and more power for your characters. Defeating strong characters also gives you a coin of that character which can be used to increase your stats.
Each character has 2 separate kinds of levels. The first kind of level goes up to level 5. Each level unlocks a new thing with the 3^rd and 4^th unlocking character head shots and voice gallery for that character. A very nice touch if you are a hardcore One Piece fan. The second kind of level goes up to level 50. This is what actually increases your characters stats. The level cap can actually be moved up to 100 if you unlock all of the required coins.

Music

The music was a bit lack luster. The songs aren't bad but they aren't really good either. Just kinda meh. Also, right before you start a map, there is an annoying and unneeded 5 second loop of a song that will repeat over and over until you start the game. Why they didn't use one of the many ACTUAL SONGS I will never know.

Graphics

I wasn't expecting breath taking graphics and I got exactly what I was expecting. The graphics are mediocre with the exception of during the cinematic cutscenes. These cutscenes look beautiful and were a treat to view. Not so say they are stunningly realistic. They are beautifully stylized while still keeping faithful to the art style of the show. However, (and this may be because I have the PC version). The character's skin during the comic strip cutscenes look . . . . . really just awful. What is supposed to be sweat is poorly done and just makes the characters look terrible with the sweat textures phasing in and out of their bodies.

Lore Friendliness

I feel as though it is necessary to add in this extra category for this game. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this game stuck to the One Piece lore. From Usopp not being effected by Perona's Negative Hollows to Sanji being very weak against female enemies. Should not disappoint.

Overall

I enjoyed this game and I still play it with over 90 hours played on it. I still have yet to unlock every single character. I have about 5 more to go. I really wish there were certain people I could play as that were only available as support characters. I will not divulge any of the playable characters because I believe part of the fun of playing is discovering who you get to be. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

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Friday Nights at Freddies Movie Adaptation Licensed by Warner Brothers

As you read in the title, The people you used to watch on saturday mornings has acquired the rights to make a Five Nights at Freddies movie. Not much else is known but i for one am excited to see what WB does to the point and click horror game. No writer or director has even been announced yet.

Every Hair Dynamically Rendered!: Square Enix's DirectX12 Tech Demo

Square Enix shared an absolutely fantastic tech demo the other day. It depicts a scene from Final Fantasy XV that appears to be a cutscene but is actually rendered in real time! Each hair on a womans head is said to be individually rendered, shaded, and affected by physics.

This kind of technology is going to take a while to make it to the mainstream as this is being run on a machine with quad GTX Titan Xs but it is a rather exciting thing to look forward to in around 5 years or so. The top of hill at the end of the uncanny valley is finally within view!

Yandere Simulator: An Indie Game to Look Out For?

I recently discovered a rather interesting game about a week ago. While still in the very early stages of development, it managed to hold my attention for hours both playing it, and watching my brother react to playing it. That game is called Yandere Simulator.

Yandere simulator is a Hitman-like game where you play an obsessed high school girl whose goal is to stalk her "Senpai" and ensure nobody else is able to get too close to him. By whatever means necessary

In the game you can stab, tranquilize and harass other students you believe may be giving senpai too much attention. Currently, the game is a sort of testing field where the player can experiment with various features of the game with no real objective because it is unbeatable in its current state.

I have observed another blog stating that this game trivializes violence and sexually exploiting young girls and stuff of that nature. I personally love it when a developer is willing to push the boundary of what is acceptable in a game. Yes. Pantyshots are used as currency in the game. And yes you are able to kidnap, murder, and harass people until they commit suicide. Who cares? If it doesn't live up to your moral standards, walk away. I love all of those things but i wouldn't have my grandma play it. Its not for everyone.

With all of the games playing it safe and following a generic story with generic mechanics nowadays, I find myself thinking "Yeah but what is unique about it?". But with Yandere Simulator, i equate it to taking my head out of the murky ocean of monotony and being able to see the horizon of what could be. If a game can make me feel that without even being in a demo stage, It is doing something right.

I really have high hopes for this game and I am voting for this developer all the way. If my article interested you, watch some lets plays. check out Yanderedev's blog. I look forward to your next release!

Dragon Ball Back After 18 Years?

image from AnimeNewsNetwork.com

Not having had any new TV anime in 18 years, most people probably thought Dragon Ball Z was dead. But apparently found all 7 of the dragon balls and decided to wish that the show should come to life!

Starting in July at 9:00 am, a new show by the name of Dragon Ball Super will be added to the lineup of Fuji TV and other channels. The show will take place after the defeat of Majin Buu and said the show may feature "The most powerful villains yet. I for one, am extremely excited.

Dynamic Window Resizing Disabled in the Newest Version of Minecraft.

I have been accused before of being a Microsoft fanboy because i wildly prefer Windows to Mac. That is not true at all. I disagree with ALOT that Microsoft has done in the past. I never bought any of their consoles, i disagree with many of their policies regarding software, and when they bought out mojang, I was skeptical to say the least. I really hope that what i am seeing now is not a reflection of what is to come.

So i was playing minecraft the other day after downloading the newest version and was very displeased to learn that i couldn't have my game take up half of my screen anymore.

The newest version of minecraft has disabled dynamic window resizing and i am actually quite surprised to find out nobody else is talking about this. The fullscreen option is still available by pressing F11 but otherwise, the only option you have now is a really small window if you want to use the latest version. While it may be a minor thing right now, it may perhaps be a precursor of what is to come with minecraft. Messing with something that never needed to be messed with.

I personally may stop playing minecraft as much because of this change. I often like to have minecraft take up one half of the screen and youtube take up the other. and the default size of the window is just too small for a 27' 2560x1440 monitor.

I am watching you Microsoft.

Steam offers a solution for modders to sell mods for a profit . . . and its gone!

Yes just a few days ago, Steam announced that they would be starting to allow modders to make a profit on mods that they put on the steam workshop. It started with Skyrim and was planned to spread to other moddable games as well. Keyword "was".

There were many problems that arose when the feature was added. Firstly, modders would only receive about 25% of the profits from the mods they sold. Another issue was people were uploading mods that they themselves, did not create. Without a large enough staff to look over every single mod that was published, this became a huge problem for valve and they decided to remove the future shortly after it was created.

It is not often that people are seen revolting against the great Lord Gaben but mod users picked up their torches and pitchforks over this matter and understandably so.

One of the main draws to PC gaming is the availability of free mods to improve and change the game and you like. Fan made mods are just not something i think could see being something you ever had to pay for. While many great mods are made by people everyday, the fact of the matter is that mods made by fans can conflict with other mods and/or make the game un-stable with any mod other mod installed. Most modders would never allow themselves to be tied down to 1 single mod. You could play a game for 100 hours and run into a spot where 2 mods conflict and the game crashes. Then you have to make the decision to un-install at least 1 of the mods that you paid for.
That, along with the very small margin the creator would make off of the sale ment to the idea was simply dead on arrival.

I really hope valve never makes good on its statement to revive this feature in the future. I am all for businesses making money but this is just simply not the way to go about it.

Anime Review: Pupa

Pupa is BY NO MEANS perfect. However, i don't believe it deserves the flack it is getting.

I watched this immediately after watching Corpse Party. (I was in the mood for some violence) I am saying this to tell you that when i sat down to watch Pupa i was wanting and expecting violence.

STORY

POSITIVES

I thought it was genuinely sweet how the brother and the sister cared so much for eachother. If you watch the last episode first, it shows this pretty well.

I also think that their relationship with each other was an interesting take on the disease they both had and how they dealt with it.

STORY

NEGATIVES

There were many aspects of the story that were . . . . inconsistent or missing. Firstly, both of them have the disease but only one of them shows the symptom of craving human flesh.

Next, the dog at the very beginning of the show was never explained. The little girl had the disease since birth so what was the relevance of the dog? Why did THAT trigger what it did?

Also, these siblings had been together through thick and thin. They had abusive parents and led a very harsh life. So why is it that neither of them had realised they had regenerative abilities until they were in highschool. Why did neither of them seem to eat people before the start of the show?

Just the fact that everything starts when it does is just convenient to the plot.

Moving away from the siblings, another one of the main plots involving the witch is never followed up on! I genuinely wanted to know where that was going! Maybe to know to witches backstory too! Maybe if the show was 2, 22 minute OVAs and not 12, 2 minute mini-sodes, it would've been better in that aspect.

ART

POSITIVES

Any show that has very little / no censorship gains bonus points with me as well because when i watch a horror, i want to see the blood and gore. Good job Pupa!

ART

NEGATIVES

The art style is pretty un-inspired and alot of looping of animations was used to cut costs.

SOUND

POSITIVES

Nothing special.

SOUND

NEGATIVES

Nothing special.

CHARACTER

POSITIVES

Some people may think that the overly devoted siblings troph are un-inspired and annoying. I think its sweet especially with the last episode.

CHARACTER

NEGATIVES

The characters relationship means very little unless you watch the last episode and even then, it still may not satisfy many viewers.

ENJOYMENT

POSITIVES

I went in wanting violence and really didnt care much about the story.

ENJOYMENT

NEGATIVES

I was still left disappointed at the end. I wish there was more really.

OVERALL

Pupa is something you may watch if you are looking for excessive violence, into cannibalization in your shows, don't care much about story, and/or want a very fast show to watch. I fell under every single on of those categories so i enjoyed it enough. Im glad i watched it but i won't be watching it again. If there was more to it, i would've given it a much higher rating. Too bad they leave you hanging on so much.

If you like this review, check out some of my others! Tell me what you think! ^_^