REVIEW - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (2007)

Continuity is something that should always be upheld when it comes to sequels. Forgetting what happened in previous iterations of the show/movie/game series and just starting new (unless it's intentional, like Halloween III or Final Fantasy) can lead to some fans being pissed right the fuck off and not liking the product anymore. However, what if there was a series that almost completely changed everything from the last series....including it's main character?

Studio Deen's Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai is one of the best anime, let alone sequels there is.

Higurashi Kai takes place, as did the original series, in June, Shouwa 58 (1983) in the rural Japanese village of Hinamizawa. The same rules of the first series apply here: Every June on the Watanagashi festival, someone goes "missing", and somebody dies. However, as revealed halfway through the original Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, this is all an elaborate scheme by an underground organization, who are only known as "Tokyo". With the main character role swapped, we now see EVERY arc played out from the perspective of someone who was actually minor-ish in the original series: Rika Furude. Rika is actually the reincarnation of the Hinamizawan God, Oyashiro, and when she dies, a disease that is unique to Hinamizawan's (Called the "Hinamizawa Syndrome) kicks in. When Rika dies, mass hysteria occurs in the village, causing everyone in it to die . Rika's role in the four arcs of Kai is to find out what the purpose of the killings are, why people go insane, the drug's true nature and above all: Find out who is carrying out the murders. While the original had more fear installed in it, the second season definitely has a more action./thriller element to it. Sure, we don't see as much Yandere-esque Shion as we did in the original series, but getting to see Akasaka kick ass is just something we should all relish in. The story isn't what makes Kai, it's the actions that take place over the course of the plot that makes it interesting. By that, I mean finding out who the perpetrator of the murders was and how to stop them (very elaborately mind you..) and how to FINALLY get out of the Hinamizawa Time Loop and end Oyashiro-sama's curse.

On the characters side of things, you'd expect things to not be that much different. however, people who were minor before are major now, and vice-versa. Kai is one of the rare cases where an anime actually switches it's main character for the entirety of the show. It's something that you'd never see coming unless you'd played the original Kai Visual Novels. By the way, the main villain's reveal will blow your mind away, you'd just never expect it to be THAT person.

Rika Furude
Talk about the strangest choice for a recast main character. I expected maybe Rena Ryuguu or Mion Sonozaki if anyone were going to replace Keiichi Maebara, but Rika? Well to be honest, she does have a very sinister back story. I mean, she's the re-incarnation of a damn Demon God. That's gotta mean something, right? The way Rika is portrayed in Kai is actually similar to the way she was in season one, with a more darker tone to add seriousness to her character. It works, and her dual personality gimmick is actually one of the show's highlights, as it makes her reveal the whole Hinamizawa Time Loop thing to everyone very clearly.

Keiichi Maebara
Well, this is depressing. Going from the lead character to somebody who barely get's any screen time, how could Keiichi possibly end up being my favourite character? Because what he does do in the little time he has, is heavily influence the plot or  make the main character (Rika) seem as though not all hope is lost. keiichi is more of a motivational character, who serves a small but important purpose. Sure, he's not the Harem God he was back in season one, but he didn't need to be, and the writers saw that. He's a good minor character, and one of the best in the show.

One of the main improvements of the second series is the much better animation. Characters eyes now have more life to them than they did in the first season, and a lot more detail. Of course, it wouldn't be a Higurashi related product without Hyper-realistic/over exaggerated expressions, and Kai certainly delivers in that aspect. The frame rate and backgrounds have been significantly improved aswell, and it's just an overall cleaner looking anime.

On the sound front, not much has changed from the already excellent soundtrack of the original series, if anything, it's been improved thanks to a much better opening (Naraku no Hana) which really set's the mood and is timed well with it's opening credits scene, so top marks to the sound team go there.

Overall, Kai is just so much better than the original that it's hard to believe. It surpasses the already masterful original series and becomes something truly kickass, scary and fearful. One of the all time best horror/thriller/action anime you will ever experience.

Story: 10
Characters: 10
Animation: 10
Sound: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR HIGURASHI NO NAKU KORO NI KAI: 10/10

FLAWLESS

REVIEW - School Days (2005/2010 [HQ])

How can something be full of everything? I mean, trying to combine the best elements of all the major genre's (and in this case, A FUCK TONNE) could be seen as a jumbled mess. If something like that could be pulled off, it would be not only a miracle, but a goddamn achievement. Today's game excels in some genre's that it portray's and falls short in some of the others. And no, this isn't the anime I'm reviewing, that's for another time.

It's 0verflow's School Days HQ

The plot of School Days (and therefore School Days HQ, an updated version with two extra endings) is pretty much what the title is. It stars three central characters: Itou Makoto, Saionji Sekai and Katsura Kotonoha as they live out their days in school. The game's story begins on the train to school, as Makoto tells us that he is in love with a girl he sees every day on the train, who just so happens to be Katsura. He hears a rumour going around school that, if you take a picture of the person you like and set it as your phones wallpaper for three weeks and keep it  secret, they'll end up loving you. Unfortunately for Makoto, he ends up revealing his wallpaper by accident to Sekai, who he sits beside in class. Sekai also has a crush on Makoto, but thanks to the phone incident, she decides to help Makoto out in trying to woo Katsura, which he does because - conveniently - Katsura likes Makoto. What follows is upto you, as the HQ version of the game has 23 possible endings for you to discover. Some of them could be you getting with one of the girls, both of the girls or Makoto getting his head chopped off by a Yandere and it being stuffed in a bag. While it all depends on the route you take, the basic plot to School Days is pretty much a typical anime story with everything thrown into the mix: love, sex, horror, gore, comedy, drama you name it. While the set up is generic, the execution is fantastic. For a personal recommendation, I recommend following the path which leads to the ending entitled "The Final Chapter: The Bloody Conclusion.", which is arguably the reason School Days is as popular as it is. If you're someone who's into Japanese gaming and you haven't seen The Bloody Conclusion, get yourself a copy of School Days and watch it. It's very damn good.

The gameplay is something of an oddity, as the gameplay to School Days and HQ is pretty much that of a Visual Novel. Other than making choices that may or may not influence the plot, you're pretty much a bystander to what's going on in the world of the game. However, something School Days has over other Visual Novels is the fact that, when a choice appears, you have a time limit to pick your choice. If you don't pick a choice, the game chooses a third hidden choice. This means that you can actually go through the entire game not doing a single damn thing. However, making random choices will probably lead you to a boring ending, so there is some strategy involved with the gameplay here. Sure it's basic, but it has 23 endings if you're playing the HQ version. And, since an average route takes about 4 hours to complete, including skipping things you've seen before, you'll be playing the game for around 92 hours, give or take 1 or 2 hours off of that..

Well Shit.

So while the game isn't exactly diverse in any way, it has a very sufficient length to make it worthwhile.

Graphically, School Days is without a doubt the best looking visual novel of all time, simply because it's actually an animated novel. OOOOOOOOH, FANCY. However, there are some problems with the animation. Now, I dunno if this is just a technical problem, an oversight from 0verflow or just plain laziness, but there are more than a few occasions where characters mouths were moving when they weren't speaking, or they weren't in time with the voice a all. In short, it's kinda all over the place. Don't get me wrong, it looks very pretty, especially for the standards of a Visual Novel, but I honestly feel as though 0verflow's Quality Assessment team put too much effort into the sex scenes and just kinda shrugged off the bugs on the other, more important ones.

Musically, the soundtrack is serviceable. I remembered a few tracks, especially the track entitled "Still, I Love You - Piano Version." However, a good few songs on the Soundtrack don't really stick out to me, the ending theme for all episodes included. The menu theme and the theme mentioned above are the two highlight tracks, and there are some other good ones, but something about the music in this feels really off for some reason.

Something that's always impressed me about School Days is that, even though it's not much of a game, it ended up being more replayable than Skyrim, Morrowind or even Final Fantasy VII. It's got graphical issues and it's got a somewhat dull soundtrack, but what it does right  -story and gameplay - it does right well. It's one of the better Visual Novels I have played, and one that you cannot miss out on due to how infamous it is and fucked up it can be. School Days has been described as the "Ultimate Love Triangle" and in all fairness, it pretty much is.

Story: 10

Gameplay: 9

Graphics: 7.5

Sound: 6

Personal Enjoyment: 8

FINAL SCORE FOR SCHOOL DAYS: 8.1/10

REVIEW - AnoHana: The Flower We Saw that Day (2011)

Drama anime are hard to come by, and even then, when you do find them, a good chunk of the time they can be quite boring. However, when drama is done well, it's done really well (see: Clannad After Story and the Visual Novel Kara no Shoujo). But, what if you were to add a comedic and a semi-supernatural element to the mix, and characters that truly remind you of your own life?

You'd probably get A-1 Pictures AnoHana: The Flower We Saw that Day

AnoHana is the story of five high schoolers who used to be the best of friends in middle school, but have now drifted apart due to the tragic death of their friend, Menma, who died when they were all playing together. Jintan Yadomi has become a shut-in hikikomori recluse who hates society and doesn't even go to school. However, Jintan possesses something special: he can see Menma, for a reason which was explained closer to the end of the show. Menma remembers that she had a wish that she wanted to be fulfilled, however she died before it could be granted. She can only remember one thing about it: everyone of their friends has to be involved somehow. The rest of the show's 11 episodes (which by the way, isn't a negative in this case) is about Jintan reuniting with his friends and also coming to terms with what actually happened on that day many years ago, since Jintan - or most of his other friends - haven't gotten over Menma's death. AnoHana has often been described as a show where that you'll be in tears by the end of it, and while the show definitely tugs at your heart strings, it never made me break down like I did when I was watching Clannad After Story. The story and plot are well done, however, if you went into it with really high expectations and or are expecting a comedy, then you will be slightly disappointed. It's good, just not as good as people made it out to be. One thing I do like however is the way the show handles flashbacks, and how well they are integrated. One thing though that did really disappointed me was, we are never actually told what happened to Menma on that day. It is implied that she hit her head off of some rocks and then fell the river and proceeded to drown, but we are never actually told, and the only real reaction to the death we see is Jintan's. Quite annoying to be honest.

Like Death Note, Shingeki no Kyojin and Clannad After Story, AnoHana's real strength lies within it's characters. The cast is quite diverse and don't really fall under any tropes per se, and - for once - I like every single character in an anime.Every single person in this anime made me actually think about myself, very hard in fact. The amount of effort put into these guys is unreal. As per usual, I'll be talking about the main and my favourite.

Jintan Yadomi

Jintan is a hikikomori recluse. He doesn't care what society thinks of him, and he prefers being alone ever since the events of Menma's death. Until that is, Menma's spirit manifests itself as Menma herself, and only Jintan can see her. Jintan is determined no matter what to break away from his hikikomori self and try to grant Menma's wish, and to try and get along with his old friends again. Jintan grows in confidence and starts to become more social as the plot progresses, and we see that he does try really hard to grant Menma's wish (by finally going back to school and getting a few part time jobs.). He's one of my favourite male leads in anime, and one of the most touching too. He will make you think a lot about yourself.

Naruko Anjou

So, you can now add Naruko "Anaru" Anjou to the very very small list of Tsundere's that I actually like, and this is actually surprising since A-1 Pictures are responsible for Asuna Yuuki - The worst anime character since the dawn of time. But enough about that. Since the events of Menma's death, Anaru has drifted further from the group that anybody else except maybe Jintan. As a kid, Anaru always loved Jintan and always slightly hated Menma for the way she always spent more time with Jintan than she did. However, Anaru grew up hating herself for hating Menma, and so, she now tries her hardest to stay away from her old friends and tries to fit in as much as possible with her new ones.  I find her character to be not generic at all, and considering she's a Tsundere that's quite an achievement. She's a reminder that you should never give up pursuing what you love though, as she never really did stop loving Jintan....*holds heart because of the feels*

The animation is probably the best work that A-1 Pictures has ever produced...which actually surprised me since Sword Art Online came out AFTER AnoHana yet it looks significantly worse. This show is pretty damn good, with a few nagging exceptions mind you. There are some points where half a characters face won't be present when you see them talking from a short distance away, and sometime the frame rate can be choppy but overall, the show looks very well done and again, this is the best work A-1 has ever made.

Musically, it's just kinda...meh. I love the opening and the ending, but the rest of the soundtrack is just kinda....there. It's alright, but it's not on the same level of rememberfulness as Shingeki no Kyojin, Death Note, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or even Sword Art Online. The soundtrack marrs the show, and it is easily the worst thing about it. Not saying it's awful, just forgettable at times.

Overall, while it does have it's faults, AnoHana is an example of drama done right, although at the expense of a great soundtrack and some story and animation issues. I enjoyed it, and while I did feel that something was missing, I did think that the characters and the plot really make this show what it is. Sure, it may not be as emotional as people say, but it does tug on your heartstrings quite a bit.

Story: 8.5

Characters: 10

Animation: 8

Sound: 5.5

Personal Enjoyment: 9

FINAL SCORE FOR ANOHANA: THE FLOWER WE SAW THAT DAY: 8.2/10

REVIEW - Final Fantasy VI (1994)

If there is one thing I am truly disappointed in with this blog, is that there is a lack of retro reviews. I think the earliest game or anime I've reviewed here came out in 1997, and that's the same age as I am. So, I decided that, rather than review The Last Story today, I'll be looking at a game from before my time, a game that I truly adore with all of my heart because of it's exceptional design.

Final Fantasy VI for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Final Fantasy VI takes place many years after a certain event known as The War of the Magi, when Human's and Espers went out in an all out war against each other/ Several years later, technology has provided humans with the means to use magic even without the powers of Espers. However, unbeknownst to the Empire, there are still Espers out there, one of whom is the half-human Terra Bradford. Terra was under the control of the Empire until one fateful night in the mining town of Narshe. On a mission from the Emperor to go and retrieve an Esper, Terra comes into contact with it and blacks out. She wakes up later in someones house to find out that she was indeed under the influence of the Emperor and that she has lost her memory for everything minus her name. Terra then meets a band of colourful characters, such as Locke the thief Treasure Hunter, Edgar the vibrant King of Figaro, Sabin the Monk and Celes Chere, the former Imperial general who switched sides after betraying the Empire. The party's main goal is to stop the Emperor and his ambassador Kefka Polazzo from misusing magic and Espers, which could ultimately destroy the entire planet as they know it. What follows is one of, if not the most emotionally gripping plot in a Final Fantasy game to date. The basic plot itself, is just that. Basic. however, Final Fantasy VI's cast are truly the star of the show. The way they deal with situations thrown at them, Locke and Celes in particular is just unreal, and it shows the true talent developers have when creating game narratives. If you're somebody who finds making narratives difficult (AKA My Father), you should look no further than Final Fantasy VI, arguably the best story told in not only the history of Final Fantasy, but in the history of 16-Bit Role Playing Games.

Final Fantasy VI builds upon the gameplay set in both Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V. The usual Japanese Role-Playing Game tropes are all here. A Huge expansive world to explore, unique locations full of character, random encounters, leveling up though Experience Points, recruiting Party members and going through a menu based combat screen. What set Final Fantasy VI apart from every other RPG at the time however, was it's unique battle and party mechanic. FFVI used the now-patented Active Time Battle system, which had been in use since IV. Characters would take their turn when a bar filled up at the lower-right side of the screen, and they would all fill up at a different pace. However, what was brought to the table in FFVI became a permanent addition to the series (at least, until XIII many years later): equippable Espers. As the plot progresses, you gain access to more Magicite: magic rocks that contain the power of an Esper. When equipped, you could use that Esper and learn it's abilities with MP Gained in battle at a given percentage rate. This meant that anybody could learn any spell at any time. This huge amount of customization makes Final Fantasy VI one of the more flexible Final Fantasies, only topped by Final Fantasy VII in terms of what you could do. Characters also have unique character abilities, kind of like jobs in Final Fantasy III or V. For example, Edgar could use tools such as a drill or a crossbow in battle, Locke could steal enemy items, Sabin could perform Street Fighter-esque button commands, Celes could block incoming Magic attacks and so on. This made it difficult for picking your favourite party members, as no ability, except for maybe Runic was actually a throwaway ability. Final Fantasy VI is full of tactics and wit, so you better be mentally prepared for the quite difficult challenge ahead.

Graphically, for a Super Nintendo game, this is quite an achievement. The environments in this game are simply drop dead gorgeous and stunning, and the characters are very expressive, you can see all the personality exuding from them, even if they are only 48 Pixels tall. Scripted scenes are well choreographed, and animations are fluid and precise. Was there even a need to update this games graphics for the recent iOS/Android ports? No, there wasn't! It's fine the way it is, leave it be!

On the musical front, holy freaking balls, I am impressed. The fact that they got this almost exactly to sound like an orchestra truly astounds me. The Super Nintendo was really pushed to it's limits when running this game, because hot damn this is one high quality soundtrack. Tracks like The Battle Theme, the Prelude, Aria de Mezzo Carattere, the Unforgiven, Save Them, Locke's Theme, Terra's Theme, Kefka's Theme, The Decisive Battle and - of course - Dancing Mad round off what has to be one of the most stellar 16-bit soundtracks ever, even if some tracks can be a bit dull and forgettable.

Overall, this is THE template RPG for all RPG's to follow. After this game, Square released Final Fantasy VII to universal acclaim, but after that the series started to go downhill. There are arguments in the community as to whether VI or VII is the better game, and while I think VII has the better gameplay, VI has the most charm and the better plot. It is one of the best games I have ever played.

Story: 10
Gameplay: 9.6
Graphics: 9.8
Sound: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 9.7

FINAL SCORE FOR FINAL FANTASY VI: 9.8/10

REVIEW - Death Note (2006)

Well, it's time to do an anime review, and it has certainly been a long time since I did one. Rather than look at something more contemporary and modern, I decided to go into my list of anime that i needed to watch and I found one particular anime that's nothing short of a legend in the community. It's one anime that if you find an anime website or fan page on something like Facebook or Twitter, you're bound to hear about it very soon. Which anime am I talking about?

MADHouse's Death Note.

Death Note's story spans a whole seven years, beginning in 2006 and ending in 2013. Light Yagami - our main protagonist- is a genius schoolboy who despises Evil. Unfortunately for Light, there's not much he can really do about it, so he's pretty damn bored. One day, out of sheer luck, he sees a black Notebook falling from the sky (why no one else notices this is beyond me). After his afternoon classes, he goes outside and picks up the notebook, which is entitled "Death Note". Inside the front cover, he sees rules, the most striking of which is "The humans whose names are written in this note shall die" Light, like any normal person, doubts the books power until he tests it on a robbery being aired live on the evening news. To his honest surprise, the notebook actually causes a heart attack towards it's victims 40 seconds after their names are written into the notebook. Light then makes it his mission to rid he world of evil and "become the God of a new world".  Light can now also see the notebooks real owner, an apple loving God of Death known as Ryuk. Unfortunately for Light, to do that, he has to kill people, and of course as we all know, Murder is a crime. The UN Notices all of Light's killings but have no idea what's causing them or who. They realize that they are all not a coincidence and that something must be done. However, with a case of this nature, the police force can't do much, so they turn to the world's greatest detective, someone who's never lost a Case before: L. L is an unusual genius who finds out the region where Light is almost instantly. This starts a game of cat and mouse between Light and L, with Light being determined to kill L as he is "defying the God of the new world". The story is great at times and then average at others. The highlights of the whole show are definitely when L is just being so damn weird that you can't help but think he's broken, but he's not. It's just the way the characters work. I've heard a lot of negative things about this shows later episodes, and let me try to clear this up now: Episodes 26-37 aren't that bad, they're just inferior to the rest of the show, and for good reason but for the sake of spoilers I'd rather not say why.

The characters are easily the highlight of Death Note. As per usual, I'll talk about the main character and my personal favourite (who I think is also everyone's favourite)

Light Yagami (AKA Kira)
Light was  a normal teenage boy heading into his final year of high school on a low. He was getting great grades sure, but he was also extremely bored of the same things happening every day of his life, until of course, the Death Note is dropped into the realm of the humans. Light's motivations are as clear as day: he wants to rid the world of evil. I personally can't blame him for this I mean I'd want to live in a world where I feel safe no matter where I went. However, as smart as he can be (trust me he thinks ahead like nothing else), he can also be kinda arrogant towards others, especially women and members of his team later on in the show. I actually like Light a lot, but there's one character that stands out more than Light in Death Note.

L (AKA Ryuzaki)
Where do I even begin with the world's greatest yet most unconventional detective? L is an odd character that's for sure. The way he sits, reads books, talks on the phone and deals with people is extremely different and odd, but it's one of the reasons he's so likable. The way L can figure out what Kira (Light) is doing is just extra-ordinary. He'll take no prisoners apart from the man he wants (unless they're needed to get the man he wants). The way he speaks is also really funny, and for an anime character, I have to admit I like the way he's designed (well, technically he's a manga character but let's forget about the Manga for a few minutes). He's funny, methodical and just an overall likable character and it's a shame that he's not in the entire show.

On the animation side of things, for something drawn in 2006 Death Note is pretty good, even if it's animation is it's shortcoming. It's very detailed, stylized and the expressions are hyper-realistic at times like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (was 2006 the year of hyper-expressiveness in anime?) however, there are times when characters are speaking and their lips aren't moving or the lip movements don't match the voice over (I watched the Japanese version just for clarification). The animation's not bad but there were some scenes that were definitely over looked. The characters are well drawn however, and are true to the manga source.

Sound wise, I personally think that the soundtrack to Death Note is probably my second favourite behind Shingeki no Kyojin. I can remember every one of the songs and how well they are used. The soundtrack is extremely diverse and well done. As regards openings and endings, they're all great - minus the Second Opening. the WORLD by Nightmare is an amazing song and works really well with the first opening animation, and while What's up People? is well timed with it's animation, I personally find the Death Metal and screaming vocalist a bit too much.

Overall, I think Death Note is a brilliant anime that just falls short of being a masterpiece. A Great story, brilliant characters and soundtrack are marred by a questionable later half and some animation issues. Death Note is not flawed, but rather skewered away from it's potential of being the best anime ever made. You should all definitely check this one out, in English or Japanese since both dubs are excellent.

Story: 9.5
Characters: 10
Animation: 9
Soundtrack: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR DEATH NOTE: 9.7/10

REVIEW - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)

Games....games have changed. In the last 14 years, it's become less about being unique and having an amazing gameplay concept and more about seeing which game can draw in the most money by being as generic as possible ( See Every Call of Duty game released after 2010). It's an endless cycle, and sure as sure can be, gaming is slowly becoming more mainstream in the wrong kind of way in my opinion. However, This past generation has produced three amazingly good and unique games. The already reviewed and stunning Tales of Xillia, today's game and a game I'll review next time. What am I reviewing today you may ask?

Konami's final chapter (chronologically) of Solid Snake's life, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

It is the year 2014, five years after the Big Shell went under in New York City during Sons of Liberty. Due to his status as a clone, Solid Snake - at the Age of 42 - has begun rapid age acceleration. Since the events of MGS2, things, specifically the way the world works, are different. In the opening scene, Solid Snake gives us a monologue describing the situation: 

"War has changed. It's no longer about nations, ideologies or ethnicity. It's an endless series of proxy battles, fought by mercenaries and machines. War, and its consumption of life, has become a well-oiled machine. War has changed. ID tagged soldiers carry ID tagged weapons, use ID tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their abilities. Genetic control. Information control. Emotion control. Battlefield control. Everything is monitored, and kept under control. War has changed. The age of deterrence has become the age of control. All in the name of averting catastrophe from weapons of mass destruction. And he who controls the battlefield, controls history. War has changed. When the battlefield is under total control, war... becomes routine." - Old Snake

This is all the doing of the Patriots, the organization bent on ruling the world by "creating context" and censoring the world. Someone who wants to get rid of the System the Patriots run is none other than General Pain-in-the-ass Liquid Ocelot, who wants to take over the world by destroying their AI's. Snake is sent out on a mission by the United Nations to stop Liquid at all costs, and as secondary objectives from Otacon and Raiden (who has now become a Ninja) he must destroy the System with a virus and take care of a former friends daughter. The story...is truly something else. I've commented before on how game narratives can be about true struggle, but nothing quite on the level as this. You're an old tired war dog, who's final mission is the task of saving the world. The game's final act actually portray's this in a brutal and tortuous way, but it's also fulfilling too. It brings everything full circle with every character in the Metal Gear Universe, even people who were minor before this game have some significance now like Mei Ling. It's an amazing story and a fine conclusion o one of the most confusing yet astounding game stories since the industry began.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is similar to Snake Eater in terms of it's gameplay, although of course there are differences. While stealth is still a viable option and the game encourages you to use stealth, the gameplay is actually a bit more action based than anything. This is due to the gun launderer, Drebin. Due to the way that the economy works, Guns are I.D tagged to a soldier via nanomachines. When Snake picks up an I.D Tagged weapon, he sells it to Drebin who unlocks the gun for Snake to use. Drebin also sells a bunch of after market guns and ammo too, and since points are extremely easy to accumulate, you're going to spend the majority of your time shooting enemies in the face for the lols. It's this more action-oriented style of play that kinda makes MGS 4 Lose a bit of it's nostalgic charm, but at around Act 3 Stealth starts to become more needed although the action still drowns it out. The camouflage system has been updated thanks to the OctoCamo system. The suit automatically detects environment patterns and shapes and changes it's design to match that of the surface it's touching. With that said, Stealth is again dumbed down a bit in order to encourage more action oriented gameplay. One thing I do love about this game however is it's customizability. You can customize most guns wdown to everything minus the colour and gun performance. You can attach a Shotgun to the bottom of your M4, with a Laser Sight, Suppressor and an ACOG sight to boot. There is so much depth to this system that you'll be economizing for ages trying to save up for that one part you need to increase your accuracy with a weapon or trying to see which attachments you prefer on your gun. You also can download songs, Camo and guns off of the MGS 4 Extras menu for free, which is Konami's way of saying thanks for playing. I love it when developers do that in their games. Overall, I think it's extremely fun, but the stealth is a bit too muted for a Metal Gear game.

I think it's hard to say that this game looks anything butt stunning. Until this game came out, people were doubting he power of the PlayStation 3. Sure, Uncharted looked nice and all but there was nothing really impressive until this beast came along. it's a similar story to Metal Gear Solid 2: it's the attention to detail that matters the most here. You'll be walking around and one minute you walk on top of a counter and then a glass bottle smashes and alerts a nearby guard. Meanwhile, the glass bottles contents are leaking out everywhere, staining the carpets and walls. The environments look simply beautiful, from the dreary and drab Middle East, to the lush South American Jungle to the harsh snowfields of Shadow Moses Island (which makes a glorious HD Comeback), Metal Gear Solid 4 is simply a technical triumph.

One of the ingenious ways that the soundtrack works is the implementation of the Apple iPod, a Gadget that allows you to play music you've acquired via download or on the battlefield. Containing classic tracks from previous games and one of the all time, if not THE all time best Final Boss theme song, there is no other word that can describe this games soundtrack quite like the word masterful. I give full credit to the composer and Sound Director and the terrific job they did here.

As the finale to the greatest over-arching gaming plot in history....how does MGS 4 fare? Well, simply put it has to be one of the greatest games ever made. A plot worthy of the silver screen with identifiable and relatable characters, intense although at times misguided gameplay, AMAZING graphics and sound....MGS 4 has it all. While not perfect, it's damn close to being perfect.

Story: 10

Gameplay: 8

Graphics: 10

Sound: 9.2

Personal Enjoyment: 9.5

FINAL SCORE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS: 9.34/10

REVIEW - Pokémon (1995)

If there's one thing that I've never understood about Japanese RPG's, it's the fact that a lot of the time, they're limited to the older crowds. Whether it's due to complex game mechanics, mature themes of a sexual nature or a combination of both, JRPG's haven't been friendly to children. Until Satoshi Tajiri got an idea in his head in the year 1990. It took him 5 years to convince Nintendo - the biggest game company on the planet - about his unique RPG designed towards children. And well, you all know what came out of it.

Pokémon Red and Blue for the Game Boy.

What made Pokémon such a hit, apart from the fact that you Gotta Catch 'em all was it's very humble but yet charming and fruitful plot. You assume the role of a boy which you can give any name to, but officially, he is known as Red (original name there guys). You also get to name your rival who is NOT Gary Motherfucking Oak unless you name him so (good luck with only 6 characters). His official name is Blue (HAHAHA GET IT? BECAUSE BLUE IS COMMONLY CALLED THE OPPOSITE OF RED? HAHAHA). On Red's tenth birthday, he goes to see the local Pokémon professor, who's name is Oak. Oak gives both Red and Blue two red and white balls with a button on them. What do they contain? The elongated name of these creatures is Pocket Monsters, shortened to Pokémon. Pokémon are kinda like animals except they are not because the game said they aren't. Mostly for domestic use, Pokémon can be used for competetive battling against other Pokémon trainers. Red and Blue are given the Pokédex, a device that allows you to build your own Wikipedia of Pokémon when you see and catch them. The main plot consists of travelling from town to town and fighting Gym Leaders, who are the game's version of boss fights. Also as a sub-plot, Red has a run in with a member of a group called Team Rocket early on in the game. Team Rocket are an organization who plan to use Pokémon for evil and even end up killing one in their quest. During his run in's with them, Red eventually manages to defeat the group and stop their schemes for the time being. I Personally think that for 1995, the plot to Pokémon is serviceable. It's not as grand or epic as a Final Fantasy game because it didn't need to be, and I appreciate that. Characters are all memorable and funny, and Pokémon's story remains one of the best on the Game Boy.

Pokémon is a run of the mill basic Japanese Role Playing Game. What set it apart however was the desire to Catch all 150 (technically 151) Pokemon. However, and this is something I disagree with to this day and I hate about the franchise: you need both versions to complete the Pokedex. Only about 130 Pokémon are in a version, with each version having it's own exclusive Pokémon. In order to complete the Pokédex, you need to buy both Red and Blue versions. Personally I believe that's just stupid and a way for Nintendo to say that two games - which are pretty much the exact same apart from names and 20 exclusive Pokémon - are different and you should get both for your kids. Anyways, moving on, you can pick a party member of 6 to bring into battle with any other Pokémon you own being digitally stored on a PC. Pokémon's battle system follows the "Rock-Paper-Scissor" way of playing. You see, if you have a Fire Pokémon, your strong against Grass. However, that Pokémon is weak to water. You have to carefully strategize in battle when it comes to what Pokémon you have in your party for which gym and what no. It's sort of annoying trying to pick 6 from 150/151 Pokémon, but when you got the perfect combination you're unstoppable...and this makes the game way too easy. You can actually tank through the whole game with your starter if you wanted to it's that easy. I know Pokémon is marketed towards kids, but older fans of this game who have massive Nostalgia boners, please put on your pants and accept reality. The gameplay of the original games is flawed up the ass. It's fun to walk around and talk to townsfolk and to evolve Pokémon, but in all seriousness, the battle mechanics are broken. Once you get a psychic type, it's game over basically.

Graphically....how the fuck am I supposed to evaluate a game that's in Black and White?

Okay, bad joke aside, Pokémon is good for the standards of the Game Boy. Sprites are detailed, Towns are lively and the interface is easy enough to work with. The game is lacking in animations, and it's lacking diversity but there's a certain character to the world of Pokémon that I enjoy. The Kanto region (not the real world Kanto like in Sakurasou) is a living breathing world which changes, only slightly, every time you do something significant. I like that in games.

Without a doubt, the games strength is it's musical score. The themes in Pokémon are so damn catchy and good that it's hard not to call the soundtrack anything less than magnificent. Whether it's battle music, travelling themes or the unforgettable tune of Pallet Town, Pokémon has one of the best 8-bit soundtracks around.

Overall....Pokémon is starting to show it's age. Nearly twenty years later, it's still an okay game, but it's gameplay is arguably it's weakest link. Now, while this first entry may not be all that great, the rest of the series - especially this games remake, Pokémon FireRed - is something you should check out. But as for the original game, it's not all that special. It's like the first Zelda game, good for it's time but it's showing it's age all too well.

Story: 8

Gameplay: 6.5

Graphics: 7.5

Music: 10

Personal Enjoyment: 7.23

FINAL SCORE FOR POKÉMON: 7.84/10

REVIEW - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

Has there ever been a game that you always thought something would never surpass it, and that as a child it was literally the only thing you would play on your console? Throughout all my years playing video games, there has only been one video game that I have come back yearly to play ever since I first beat in in 2002 by myself. It was actually the first game I ever completed (although not 100%). And with this game's reputation, It's easy to see why.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time  by Nintendo. Enough said.

Speaking in terms of the ever popular and confusing Zelda Timeline, Ocarina of Time is the fourth game on the timeline just before it splits into three. A boy is sleeping in a tree. He is having a dream where he is in front of a castle and a horse with a young maiden riding on it speeds by him. Not only a second later, a green coloured man appears and proceeds to....I dunno give him candy or something. Anyways, the next morning, the Great Deku Tree tells Navi the Fairy aka The annoying little shit  to accompany the boy on his journey throughout Hyrule. The boy wakes up after a rude Navi storms into his house and proceeds to annoy the crap out of him. He gets up and after acquiring a sword and shield, he goes to the Deku Tree. The Deku Tree tells Link that he must defeat the curse placed upon him as a test of courage. After giving the world's easiest boss a Stone Cold ass whoopin', The Deku Tree tells Link that he needs to go and collect three rocks and talk with a princess in order to stop the green coloured man from earlier from taking over the world. The journey Link goes on is actually a very simple one until a major plot twist, but even as the plot twists occur, your objective never strays from getting the plot device at the end of a dungeon with a bit of drama every now and again to keep things slightly cinematic because this is 1998 DAMNIT. The plot itself is basic, but it works and it has two very well done twists (even if one of them came to bite Nintendo in the ass years later)

According to gaming press at the time, Ocarina of Time was a necessary upgrade to not just Zelda but gaming in general in he way that it handled combat, progression, player immersion and item implementation. Since this is the first Zelda game in 3D, combat had to be vastly altered. As such, Nintendo developed the now famous "Z-Targeting" Lock on Camera System. When Navi hovered over a point of interest, such as an enemy, sign or person, the camera would snap in that things direction and lock onto them, and Link could now perform a variety of new moves. These ranged from a backflip and side jumping, to the ability to easily strafe around enemies while staying locked on. While it doesn't seem like much now, this was a HUGE upgrade for gaming back in 1998. If you look at a game like Castlevania 64, which had no lock-on feature and compare it to this game, you can see why people prefer Ocarina of Time. The progression was praised for being extremely well paced, and I would have to agree with that. The game world is constantly changing it's time of day, so players would have to know what places were open and available to travel to during the day/night. The dungeons - and how to reach them - aren't too cryptic (yes, even the Water Temple) and therefore are over in less than an hour if you have an idea of what to do and use your equipment correctly. Player immersion was one of Nintendo's biggest goals with this game, and while some features were cut from the game such as more towns and being able to leave footprints in the sand (The N64 Didn't have enough RAM for that), the amount of depth and scope to this world is amazing...even if the overworld is kinda barren. It's just a green field with a few holes in it, which in all fairness isn't impressive. At least in Majora's Mask, Termina Field was full of things to do (even if it was small as fuck). Items are well implemented into both gameplay and story, with them being able to help you get to new places, solve puzzles or change the time of day (which is a GODSEND). Like I said, Ocarina of Time offers an amazing amount of depth with it's vast amounts of side-quests. What's normally just a 20 hour journey can turn into a 60+ hour one trying to 100% the game. It's things like these that make me come back and play this game year in year out.

Graphically, well, the game certainly has a charm to it. Don't get me wrong, it's not that great but I can appreciate the game world and it's diversity. What I can say is that, although the games visuals are dated and the framerate is only 20FPS...there's an undeniable charm to the land of Hyrule and it has so much colour to it that a lot of the time, I stop and just smile at it...and then I realise Link has a triangular nose and then i get moving again.

Musically, this game is what I'd like to call a "Good but it can be better". now before fanboys come and eat my corpse while men wearing Green Cloaks try to stop you from doing so (I HOPE YOU ALL GET THE REFERENCE), I do like this soundtrack and it's one of the most memorable things from my childhood. Honestly. However, you can't help but think that too much of this games music is ambient. Sure, songs like The Forest Temple, Fire Temple '98 and Ganon's Tower are all Oscar worthy pieces but then you got songs like Inside Cave, the Shadow Temple and Jabu-Jabu's Belly which all sound incredibly dull to me. If I had to pick out a standout track, it would either be the final boss theme or the Spirit Temple theme. Overall it's okay but it could by way better knowing Koji Kondo.

Overall....well, holding the world record as the highest rated video game of all time, Ocarina of Time has built itself quite the reputation. While I personally do NOT think that it's the best thing ever devised by man himself, Ocarina of Time is one of the all time classics that shall never be forgotten because Zelda fans won't shut up about it. It's revolutionary, colourful and is a heartwarming story chocked full of Nintendo magic. It's one of the best games on the Nintendo 64, and one of the best Action-Adventure games of the 1995-2006 era.

Story: 7

Gameplay: 10

Graphics: 7

Sound: 8

Personal Enjoyment: 8.5

FINAL SCORE FOR THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME: 8.1/10

REVIEW - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)

Just a heads up guys, the blog will be devoid of anime reviews for a while since I've actually run out of animes I've seen. I'm currently watching one at the moment and I'm carefully judging it, taking notes and what not and so far I can say a lot of good things about it. So for the mean time, it's gonna be exclusively game reviews just until I finish watching the anime. So, what're we tackling today you ask?

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater by Konami.

Like Sons of Liberty before it, Snake Eater is split into two chapters: the Virtuous Mission and the titular Operation Snake Eater, which both take place within the same week. Late July to early August.....1964. Yep, for the first time in the series history we're going back to the Cold War...so what about Solid Snake? Well, although the main character is called Snake for the majority of the game, we learn that he is indeed Big Boss, Solid Snake's biological father and the villain in the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Snake is sent into the Soviet Jungle to retrieve a scientist by the name of Sokolov, who is apparently developing a "weapon of mass destruction". After successfully rescuing Sokolov, Snake is ambushed by a unit of the Russian GRU known as the "Ocelot Unit" headed by the young Revolver Ocelot. After taking out the unit, Snake and Sokolov are stopped on a bridge by Snake's former mentor, only known as "The Boss". The Boss states that she is defecting to the Soviet Union with a GRU colonel named Volgin and is giving him A Davy Crockett Recoiless Nuclear Warhead along with Sokolov. After throwing Snake off the bridge and leaving him for dead, Volgin fires the Davy Crockett at the facility where Sokolov was making the WMD. Snake is recovered by his mission team and something interesting happens between the time of the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater...

US President Lyndon B. Johnson (I probably misspelled that but whatever) get's a call from the head of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev about the nuclear explosion at the facility. The President exclaims that America had no involvement in the explosion, however, Soviet radar picked up the gunship that dropped Snake into the jungle. In order to clear America's name, Snake has to go back into the jungle and:

• Rescue Sokolov
• Destroy the Shagohod (WMD)
• Eliminate The Boss
• Get rid of Colonel Volgin

MGS 3 has got nothing but praise for it's story, And I have to agree with all the praise it gets. While the characters aren't really emotionally involving, I think that the plot itself is pretty good and there are some moments in this game that will make you drop your controller in awe. The final boss fight is something that is simply unbelievable and must be experienced by everyone.

Something that I was worried about when Snake Eater was first announced was how in the name of God would traditional MGS gameplay work in a 1960's setting. A lot of Metal Gear Solid 2 consisted of using neat gadgets to overcome obstacles and bosses and it was really fun. So, by removing all of that, how does 3 stack up? Actually, with all of it's additions, pretty damn well. A camouflage system was added, so now you had to apply body and face paints that blended well with your environment in order to stay undetected. Suppressors could now break after extended use and now, you had to worry about something that was cured simply by ingesting rations in the previous games. Snake regains his health automatically, however he has to maintain his stamina by eating wild animals and food, which will actually deteriorate over time (if not captured live). Snake can also be injured, and therefore players would have to heal him with Serum and Splints and what-not to cure broken bones, cuts, burns etc. What this all adds up to is an almost sandbox like experience within the boundaries of the games Jungle setting. While a lot of the modern gadgets such as the Codec, Digital Camera and Nikita Missile Launchers, the sense of stealth in this game is pretty high. Well, Metal Gear IS a stealth franchise so i guess it makes more sense to make it more based on survival and undetection than anything else. Overall, I think 3 is not as fun as 2 in terms of gameplay, but it's still very fun and worth trying out.

Graphically, it's actually hard to think that this game is ten years old. This game still amazes me on the PS3, and when I went to play it on PS2 and 3DS I was still in awe at how detailed this jungle is. Sure, the immersion kind of detail is lacking from MGS 2 (what I mean is that environments are much more restrictive and less interactive that before) but this game is sure as hell pretty. It's not just good looking but also diverse and well thought out. Environments are perfectly suited to the challenge you're faced with when dealing with the situation in that environment. Whether it be a stealth approach or an all out assault, there's something about the way the environments were designed that make this one of the best looking and thought out games in the last decade.

In the sound department. first things first (this is required by MGS 3 review law):

"AND IIIII'M STIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLL IN A DRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAM, SNAKE EEEEEEAAAAAAATTTTTTEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!"

Now that I got that out of the way, what do I think about this games music? Kinda good, but at times forgettable. What I mean by this is that a lot of the battle themes are actually really forgettable, and in a Metal Gear Solid game that is a crime amongst itself. However, when the music is good.....it is damn fucking good. The game's main theme, Snake Eater sung by Cynthia Harrell is amazingly corny but catchy as hell, and the ending theme, Way to Fall by Starsailor is just brilliant and goes well with the games ending.

This image is also required by MGS 3 review law.

Overall....hmm. I do really like Snake Eater a lot, I really do, but - and I know I'm going to get stick for this - I honestly prefer Sons of Liberty. Snake Eater looks better and has a better story, but Sons of Liberty's gameplay and sound are just way better than what Snake Eater offered. However, in its own right, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is one of the best stealth games ever made and it's a good survival game too. I reccommend it to any PS2, PS3, 360 or 3DS owner.

Story: 10

Gameplay: 8

Graphics: 10

Sound: 6.5

Personal Enjoyment: 8.5

FINAL SCORE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID 3: SNAKE EATER: 8.6/10