E3 2013

So some exciting news already out at E3.  Dragon Age III had a debut trailer with Morrigan taking over Flemeth's usual voice over.  Also new outfit for Morrigan.  She looks kinda like Lulu from Final Fantasy X.

Speaking of the FF series:
Final Fantasy XV Gameplay Trailer

So I'm not exactly the biggest FF fan, but the main character here (Noctio?) seems pretty cool.  I'm also a fan of his predilection for hanging off of high places with one hand.  There is a return of a buster sword because nostalgia.  I am a fan so far of the Japanese track so I'm going to try like hell to get Tony to play with that one instead if possible.  XD

Also really exciting/overdue news (for those of you living under a rock):
Kingdom Hearts 3 (Official)

PS4, here we come!

Undead

I'm the living undead now, returned to the world as a nerdy zombie. Only explanation I have for neglecting this blog for so friggin' long. For reals.

Watching Comic Con footage of The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra and it's moved me so much I had to post for the first time in forever:

Korra and her mantourage look awesome. I'm having fangirl squealing moments that make me extremely ashamed of myself because I was beginning to think I had finally grown up and reached my mature phase.

Cannot begin to describe how pumped I am for the show...nor how much artwork I've collected over the past year.

Also excited for Mass Effect 3 as it looks amazing. We might also get a FemShep trailer! How cool would that be!?

And everyone is drooling over the steampunk wonder that is Bioshock: Infinite. If only I could play FPS without motion sickness. Or stop jumping everytime someone fires at me. This one will be relegated to me watching Tony as I just can't do FPS. Still looks amazing and thematic and everything we've come to expect from these developers.

Batman Arkham City is also a big fangirl moment for me. When I saw the Catwoman stuff I was very excited, but then a little sad. Her lines seem very cheesey. I'd hoped we'd moved on from Selena making all the cat references and just have her be a real person like Bruce. He doesn't make goofy bat references at all.

Still, most excited about Korra. It's been a long time since I've been looking forward to American animation like this.

Whoa

Whoa, I haven't touched this in a while. Real life has sucked me dry on things to do in my free time. I hate pretending to be a responsible adult.

Good news: Dragon Age II is coming out soon. Bad news: it's not soon enough. Sometime in May.

Rockband 3 is now available along with the spiffy peripherals (keyboard, Pro Guitar, actual guitar, Pro Drums, etc) and currently screwing with my head. I can't wait for my friends and I to be done with the tour mode yet because being forced to play the "random" songs that keep popping up at the gig we're at is making my eye twitch out of my socket. I DON'T WANT TO SING SLIPKNOT. They suck. Harmonix is re-releasing previous songs with keyboard added to it--for money. Why would I want to pay again!? Thanks Harmonix, you just went from awesome to kinda retarded. If they had released twenty-to-thirty songs for free they'd have generated a ton of goodwill that they could've gotten away with murder next. Right now they just stand at "suck".

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow was good. Kind of a Prince of Persia 4 meets Devil May Cry love child but it worked its stuff well. Until that ending. I mean, it was a great ending but kind of WTF!?!

*sigh* I really want a game where the protagonist is female and a strong character and not just fanservice. Like a female version of the Prince from the Sands of Time trilogy. That'd be really fun and new. Down to earth, friendly, kind of a brat at times, but doing the best she can because she feels she ought to. Absolutely no one fits this description unless you count the female versions of the Bioware RPG heros. Frankly it's a little disturbing to think on that.

I'm tired and need sleep. Will try to update more thoroughly in the near future. And yes, I realize I never reviewed Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for you guys (it's on DVD this week). Sorry.

Dragon Age 2

For fans of Bioware, Dragon Age, RPGs, or any combination thereof, there is the new CGI trailer just released by Bioware for Dragon Age 2.

Have a link for viewing pleasure.

Some of what I know: You're not a Grey Warden. You play as Hawke, a human who is either male or female. The story follows you throughout your life (i.e. decades) in Fereldan, starting with the end of the Blight in the last game. You have a conversation wheel a la Mass Effect, and the art style will be stylized. The fangirl in me is totally squealing like piglet on crack. Or something. That's about all I know for right now. Feel free to comment and tell me how wrong or insane I am.

Actually not dead...Really...

So, yeah. I kinda gave up on this blog 'cause I got busy at work and then I thought no one would miss me ranting on random stuff on the Internet, but then I was told I was wrong! (Also that's a huge run-on sentence I just typed.) Apparently someone actually missed my blog. Color me surprised.

So, lots of news I totally haven't updated on. Quick rundown on what's currently taking up my free time as of right now:

• Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood and the Fullmetal Alchemist manga. After swearing I was done after that godawful movie Conqueror of Shambala (honestly, Nazi!Hughes?) Tony managed to pique my interest in what I thought was an unnecessary remake by telling me it was actually following the manga this time and then proceeded to spoil the manga for me because I thought I was done with it. Anyways, it's totally awesome and Arakawa is a friggin' genius, and anyone who thought they were done with the Elric brothers should give it another chance. Also the dub is pretty sweet if you hate subs. There's more I can fangirl on this, but I'll have to do it later as I really need to get to bed soon.
• Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour or just the whole Scott Pilgrim series in general. The last (sixth) book finally came out and the wait was totally worth it. This comic series is a genius blend of real life ennui, geekdom and video game obsession rolled into a truly hilarious ball of fun and craziness. Honestly, if you like parody, comics, hilarity, video games, love, music, etc. this is for you. Check it out. Also, bonus movie directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) coming out in August that I'm really looking forward to.
• Ouran High School Host Club is almost done in manga form! It's wrapping up pretty fast, so I think there's only one (at most two) chapters left. Those who love Haruhi and Tamaki will squeal like crazy.
• Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins had hijacked my life. I'm replaying the former for the bizillionth time as I finally broke down and paid for DLC. I had to download Kasumi when I saw part of her loyalty mission on YouTube. Worth it. I love her. Also, for the record Bioware officially owns my soul. When I saw The Old Republic trailer I was hyperventilating until I remembered it's an MMORPG and I hate playing with others because they ruin my fantasy/happy place/escapism. MAKE KOTORIII DAMMIT!!
• Inception was brilliant. If you haven't seen it, close down your browser window and head to your nearest theater to see it right now. It's so refreshing to see a competent, well-made movie with real actors and practical effects and solid writing. Also great directing.
• Still haven't played new PoP. Also wishing they hadn't abandoned the Elika/Nolan North one. I loved that one, really wanted to see where they were taking that. Though the combat sucked, they could've fixed it easy. Why did Ubisoft listen to the twelve irritating fanboys of the last franchise and abondon the new one!? IT WAS GOING PLACES! There were characters I friggin' cared about! GAAAAAAAAAAAH . (Also dragged poor Tony to see that stupid movie. Words can't describe how much fail that movie had. But also shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal, so I can forgive some of it.)
• Kick Ass was great. Loved every moment, even if it was different than the comics. Sometimes you need to stray from the source material because of the medium it's currently in.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'll sit down for real in the very near future to torture all two of you who read this thing with my incessant fangirl squeals about something previously mentioned or something I haven't had the chance to gush on yet. So...fear me?

Oh! True Blood! Totally awesome. Really the only thing I'm watching consistently on TV right now. They are totally making shit up, but I don't care because it is amazing. Mostly. Sick of Sam's deadbeat family and Jason's obsession with Crystal. To be fair, I hate Jason and Crystal in the books too.

Soooo...I've Apparently Been Busy...

Sorry about the monthly absence. That was rude of me. I also missed informing people of some important dates beforehand, so in case you didn't know, let's get some of this out of the way.

• Fallout 3 has already descended on the masses. Having played a bit of it myself it is by all means a fantastic game and I'll get more in-depth on it later. I have some personal issues with the game, but I'm spoiled (apparently) when it comes to RPGs.
• Fable 2 has also hit shelves. Since Peter Molyneux actually kept his mouth (more or less) shut on what happens in this one it has been delighting fans instead of disappointing them. I want to play (very badly) because I'm missing my fantasy RPGs, no thanks to Bioware delaying Jade Empire 2 indefinitely, but that's a different matter entirely...
• Ouran High School Host Club (season 1= episodes 1-13) has finally come out Stateside and so far it's bloody fantastic. I haven't bothered to listen to the dub yet because I adore the Japanese voices to pieces, so I don't know how it sounds. It's a Funimation dub...so chances are it's okay but slightly irritating. Anyway, not having to rely on my dubious Internet connection to watch one of my favorite series is a true joy, and I get to see it on a whole TV screen! The subtitles are incredibly well-translated, even funnier than what the fansubbers translated. I know, I was floored too. The colors pop, the sound editing is amazing, and the extras are fun. The animation is stellar (it is Bones, after all) and the humor is over-the-top, but in a good way. I highly recommend this series, and I personally hate shoujo. Combine that with 13 episodes crammed on two DVDs for the low price of $42.00 and you have a winner. Seriously.
• Prince of Persia by Ubisoft has been pushed back by another week or two. Gametrailers has been updating regularly with gameplay videos and trailers that are fun to goggle at. I'm excited for it. I'm hoping that it gets back to the Sands of Time aesthetic. (And yes, I played a little bit of Two Thrones but had to quit when I heard Farah with a replaced voice. WTF!?)
• Lego Batman came out and was suprisingly fun. Pure fun. Except I hated the vehicle sections. Why do games do that? No matter what genré it is games always have a vehicle section. And they're always annoying as hell and pull you right out of the game. Especially that POS in Mass Effect. That thing would be a law suit in real life with all the whiplash it could hurl out. Plus all the puke smell from passengers emptying the contents of their stomachs...

Okay, so I promised more in-depth on Fallout 3. It's a FPS RPG (though you could switch to 3rd person view, and you don't have to fight with guns) made by Bethesda (Oblivion: the Elder Scrolls). You create a hero (they can be female too!) that you will pilot for the rest of this adventure and there are literally too many frickin' choices for a face you'll almost never see. The game is incredibly deep with about a million game-play choices for literally everything you do. And not the fake choices most games give you where you have to choose between doing the good or evil thing. There is a real neutral path in this game. The choices you make are governed by a karma system in the game. Nice choices (helping others, not killing people, etc.) lead to good karma while nasty choices (blowing up a town, killing NPCs, eating corpses (yes, you can become a cannibal)) lead to bad karma. No karma is neutral, or karmic choices that balance out leads to being neutral.

The game doesn't discriminate against any of your choices. You can kill anyone you meet (except for children, that's the only line the game draws). You can destroy entire towns (not the actual town, but those in it). You can become a ninja fighter (there is a perk for it!), and fight only using stealth and your bare hands. You can wield swords, or guns, or even make a mini-nuke launcher. You can mutate yourself with enough radiation to grow back limbs...and other stuff. You can sell you companions or kill them, develop relationships with NPCs, or decapitate them using the VATS system. The dialogue options are hilarious no matter what side you play on, and entertainment is unceasing. There's literally too much to do, or you could skip it all in favor of just doing the main quest.

The world is varied and beautifully rendered, and your environments are often chilling as you survey how the nuclear blast caught people unawares. It's strange to see downtown D.C. as a virtual wasteland with roaming super-mutants and feral ghouls. The monuments are eerie reminders of a more stable time and seem to have lost all meaning in this hellish day and age.

Now for the flip side: the uncanny valley rears its ugly head here. As great as the voice acting is (and it's truly award-winning) looking at any character (including your own) will cause you to shudder as their dead eyes stare unceasingly into the camera. NPCs and enemies (as well as yourself in third person) move in a really stupid way, and the ragdoll physics will glitch about half the time. I could get over it except that I learned most character interaction is mainly for taking quests and no actual character development whatsoever. No real romance here, folks. No friends, either, unless you count Dogmeat (the dog) and he's not much for conversation. Now, those who read this know I'm all about character development and connecting with the characters in every story I play. And while I'm incredibly impressed with Fallout 3's story, aesthetic, and game play, this is a huge downer for me. If I can't find a character to connect with I tend to care a lot less what's going on around me. What sucks is that a lot of thought and about a million details went into the making of this game, and it shows. So why would adding character connection be so hard!? Bethesda hit all the right notes literally everywhere else except here. I can overlook it, but not as easily as others. I guess that's my real downfall.

I did pick up one fun perk called Black Widow for being a female that gives me 10% more damage against male enemies as well as extra dialogue options. It has proved entertaining so far.

Games I Wish I'd Played Pt. 1

One of the games I wish I'd seen or played would have to be Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. After reading a synopsis and seeing a few videos on YouTube, I'd have to say that this particular game is a real stand-out. Sure, the combat seems punishing at times, but the characterization, gameplay and plot more than make up for it. The Prince and Farah are downright interesting (and fun) and watching the Prince do his acrobatics off of walls is really cool, not to mention inventing the whole slowing-down/rewinding time thing. Prince of Persia seems very whimsical with a great story and unique setting. This is a classic that I really wish I'd been able to play, even if it was made by Ubisoft. Maybe I should hop to a GameStop for this one.

Another game I wish I'd seen (not necessarily played) is Resident Evil 4. I've seen all the cutscenes and read the story as well, and I know a lot of the franchise's storyline. I'm just not a fan of zombies. There, I said it. I hate imminent armageddon and killer robots that have already wiped humanity off the face of the earth as well. Those are my top three on the list of Stuff Jill Can't Stand. So I refused to watch this when Tony got it. Now I'm seriously regretting it. I've just started to absolutely adore horror/action games, and this is one of the best of all time. Doubled with Capcom's punishing gameplay it would've been a rollicking good time. Plus Leon's really hot. Y'know, for pixels. So while I'm looking forward to Resident Evil 5, I still wish that I'd seen 4 from start to finish.

*Spoilers Ahead*

This is a little off-topic, but I also wish I'd played the Knights of the Old Republic series in order. Or at least not known that you're Revan in the first game. I played the second one first (and it was actually my introduction into RPGs) and am still in love with it to this day. Yes, I know it's a very broken game, but at its core it has real soul. And it's Lucasarts' fault that it was unfinished for rushing Obsidian the way they did. I love the character of the Exile. How fragmented her identity is, how ripped apart she is inside. She tries to put a good face on it at times, but she's a real mess. And Atton...boy, don't get me started. I adore Atton. He's a scoundrel-turned-decent because of his protective love for the Exile and can't help but continually crack jokes all the time in his sexy voice...*sigh* Love it. I can't tell you how sad I am that I can no longer play these games on PC. (I got Vista not too long ago.) The first one is of course excellent because Bioware made it. But the second one will always be my favorite. The idea of a broken Jedi will never stop being cool to me. I wish that someone would make a follow-up game to complete the story. Anyone. Please?

*Spoilers End*

That last paragraph reminded me of something I'd been meaning to write. One day you'll see me write about Bioware on this blog at length and going through all the games of their's I've played.