Even though a lot of these shows are starting or have started to air this is still an extremely advanced preview for me as I can’t shake my inability to watch anything other than completed shows (WEEK TO WEEK IS FOR PEONS!). Continue reading…
Category: review/consume
My opinion on whatever products of the mass market which have had the joyous task of helping me waste my time. Anime, TV, Films, Games, Books, Music, Microwave Meals, Pot Noodles – You get the idea.
Best of 2012 – Games, Anime & Manga – An abandoned post
Planned to have these three finished in January. That clearly did not happen. I no longer have the motivation, or seemingly the ability, to put together even a mini-review for stuff. I think I’ve spent too long wallowing in the extremely toxic environment of online anime and gaming forums. Where “discussion” is largely people screaming at one another about their subjective opinions. It’s driven me to a standpoint where I just want to enjoy what I enjoy without having to explain or justify why I enjoy it. I may get around to filling in the missing entries when I re-read/watch/play the stuff in them. But some of them I havent looked at in over a year (I really should do rolling Top X lists as it would be easier to keep stuff fresh in my mind). The gaming part is mostly complete, 7 out of 10 more or less complete. Anime and Manga are more or less just list/links. Continue reading…
Brief thoughts on The Last of Us
Finished The Last of Us earlier on, my post game reverie was interrupted by having to dump a fridge (literally, not slang for a heroic bowel movement). So I’ll need to think on it further. But as it stands the ending of the game surprised me, not in a “PLOT TWIST” kind of way but more in “Oh, they actually went with that?” way. The storytelling overall was great, while the bones of the plot might not be fresh the characters and characterisation really sold it. After been unable to get into TWD, this felt like it effortlessly achieved and surpassed what that game was trying for. The story itself is perfectly suited to the world presented in the game, and the world presented is also pretty amazing. Sometimes I’d just stop and spin the camera around because the world just looked amazing. The gameplay, both stealth and combat, were tough but enjoyable. While I died a good few times it never felt cheap and it never felt like something I couldnt surpass. I’d love to see more stuff set in this world, whether its starring the same characters or not. Its probably the most believeable post apocalyptic world I’ve seen in a game. The games only shortcomings were entirely technical, while it was lovely looking (and probably the nicest looking game on the PS3) it was clearly held back in places due to lack of processing power/ram/etc. I’d love to see a “HD+” version on the PS4 or PC. The game has a “listen mode” which basically lets you look through walls, I turned it off from the beginning (which I’d recommend). But the game lacks a button to see around corners, so sometimes you can end up dicking with the camera just to see whats going on. The pacing was generally excellent, I found the game extremely hard to stop playing. There was one short sequence towards the beginning (about 2 hours in) that I did find a little tedious. But it was short and if the rest of the game wasnt so good I wouldnt even mention it. It’s easily the best game I’ve played this year. Looking forward to giving the multiplayer and NewGame+ a go.
What anime’s worth watching on Netflix
If you’re looking for streaming anime I’d suggest Cruncyroll, even the free subscription has a fairly solid selection. There’s also Neon Alley which has a solid selection. Both of these also have simulcast stuff from the current season of anime in Japan. (Of course what I actually recommend is tweaking your media player setup to a ridiculously anal level and then only watching 1080p 10bit BD re-encodes). But for those of you who already have a Netflix subscription and want to know what to watch here is my (super brief) opinion on the anime available. Continue reading…
The Kanzume Goddess Kickstarter and why I’m never buying another Japanime Games product
Last July I backed a project on Kickstarter. It was for a cardgame called Kanzume Goddess which was being translated and produced by Japanime Games. I have still not received said card game, despite the Kickstarter having a target of September 2012. Here’s a look at the timeline of this ongoing debacle. Continue reading…
Top 25 (recent) Anime for people who dont watch anime
What’s this all about then? Well this is some suggested viewing for people who are only passingly familiar with anime in general or with anime thats come out in the last few years. If the last time you watched some anime it was prefaced by this:
or the words “Studio Ghibli” then this list is for you. If you think all anime is shallow super powered adventures aimed at teenage boys or heaving tits and demon penises, then this list is for you. I’ve tried to cover as many of the major genre’s as I could (so now you have no fucking excuse for referring to anime as if its a genre rather than a medium ;)) without a) sacrificng quality or b) sacrificing accessibility. So the majority of shows listed here require no prior knowledge of or familiarity with anime or japanese culture in general to fully enjoy. If you do end up checking any of them out let me know what you think. Continue reading…
Best of 2011 – Anime – Unfinished
Note: This isnt done (well theres a full top 10, just not a full entry for each), but I’m not going to finish it and I’m sick of seeing it floating around in Drafts
I thought I’d watched a lot of anime this year. But looking back I only watched around fifty shows, actually, I suppose that’s nearly one a week. Is that a lot? Who can say. Not I anyhow. Well, whether I watched a lot or not is really secondary to the main issue, which is quality and based on that metric it was an excellent year for anime. It’s been a while since its been a meaningful chore to decide what to include. But this year it really was a struggle and some great stuff didnt make it, like C – The Money of Soul and Possibility, Highschool of the Dead, Code Geass, One Out’s, etc. To be honest there was so much good stuff out there that I would suggest taking a look at my complete anime list over on Myanimelist if you need some viewing suggestions. Of course, I only watch an anime when its complete, which means that some great looking stuff wasnt even eligible for inclusion (I’m looking at you Persona 4 Animation and Fate/Stay Zero, among others). Continue reading…
Bioshock Infinite – My (brief) thoughts
Just finished it, it really picks up in the last third of the game. I thought the ending was predicatbly telegraphed, but worked in the context of the game. Its probably something you dont want to look to hard it. Overall the last part of the game really redeemed it for me, I still think it was trodding old ground but it did it very well. Solid 8/10 if I had to give it a number. Not sure how much replay value there is, got more or less all the collectibles and the combat wasnt engaging enough to make me play through it again. Took about 11 hours to complete, for once I actually would have preffered if it were a little shorter. Continue reading…
(Upcoming) Games of 2013 – Prelude to the deluge
This list is likely to change/expand pretty drastically after E3 when its likely the launch lineups for the PS4 and XBox720/Durango are announced. I’m not sure if I’ll be jumping to next gen straight away because as I mentioned over here I’ve got back into PC gaming in a big way. Well, thats most likely a lie. Unless the launch line-up is absolutely shit I’ll probably grab a PS4. Though I am interested in how theyre going to handle backwards compatability, particularly considering the amount of donwloaded/PSN content I’ve purchased.
Even without the infusion of next-gen stuff 2013 is looking like a pretty amazing year for gaming. A large number of titles that were originally slated for 2012 got pushed back and a number of highly anticipiated sequels to popular franchises are coming out this year as well. As well as looking at whether or not I’ll bother with next gen consoles theres also the question of whether or not I’ll bother with the Wii-U. My luck with Nintendo systems is mixed. While I owned a SNES I preferred my Megadrive. I never had, or played more than once, a N64. I got a lot of play out my Gamecube (worth it just for Eternal Darkness, Super Monkeyball and Animal Crossing). I was excited about the Wii, bought one and played it literally twice. On the other hand there’s a number of Wii-U exclusives that I really like the look of (SMTxFire Emblem, Monolithsoft’s X, The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, maybe Zombi-U). I might pick one up when the majority of those games are out and the systems dropped in price. Knowing Nintendo I dont want to get stung when they do an early hardware revision. Continue reading…
EVE and I – Part 06 – Can you hear me, major Tom?
Well its been two days since my last post on EVE. In that time I’ve done some more mining and finally got around to trying out missions. I’ve also completed my goal of securing a +3 version of the basic attribute implant for four out of five stats. Continue reading…