REVIEW - Steins;Gate (Anime, 2011)

When it comes to science-fiction, or any kind of fiction for that matter, it seems that no matter what the hardest thing to base a plot on is the theory of travelling through time. With so many complex theories such as The Butterfly Effect or the theories of John Titor, it's hard to wonder how anybody could even base a plot off of time travel. Well, today's anime certainly knows how to deal with the subject of time travel, and how to explain it in a fun, entertaining but very serious way.

Steins;Gate by WHITEFOX, 5pb and Nitro+ is simply a masterpiece.

The story of Steins;Gate takes place in the summer - specifically July and August - of the year 2010 in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, Japan. On July 28th, self-proclaimed "mad scientist" Hououin Kyoma (his real name is Okabe Rintarou) attends a conference dealing with the ideas of time travel. At the same time back in his "lab" (which is actually his apartment), his friend and "lab" member Hashida (everyone calls him Daru) is working on a Phone Microwave (name subject to change), a device which can manipulate objects and send things back to the past, such as text messages. At the conference, Okabe sees the stabbed body of one Makise Kurisu on the ground, and proceeds to text Daru about it. This text is unintentionally sent at the same time Daru's phone is connected to the phone microwave. As such, the text is sent back to the past, and changes the future immensely. Makise Kurisu is now alive and well, much to the surprise of Okabe. The rest of the show is about the Lab Members (of which 8 eventually join) trying to figure out what purpose the Phone Microwave could serve, and also trying to keep SERN, an organization researching time travel themselves, as far away from them as possible. If SERN finds out about Okabe and co's experiments, it coule mean the end of their lives - and the world - as they know it. The plot of the show is very well thought out, even if it starts off quite slow but the pace from Episode 9 onwards more than makes up for it. It's a show filled with unpredictability and it also helps to explain some time travel theories in layman's terms, to make it easier on people and to make the concept more approachable. It's more focused on the cause and effect side of things rather than characters travelling through time. I love the plot and it's just one of the reasons why I think this show has topped all others.

The characters of Steins;Gate are without a doubt some of the most eccentric and deep characters in the anime medium. While there are some that don't get that much development (Moeka and Feyris come straight to my attention), they all serve some purpose in the plot and all have implications on the plots direction. With the way the plot works, you can intricately read these characters and see their feelings for one another slowly develop as time goes on, and it's one of the wonderful things about this anime. As per usual, main character and my personal favourite will get a paragraph dedicated to them.

Okabe Rintarou (Hououin Kyoma)

You can't not love Okabe. You simply can't. He's an eccentric who thinks that the world can only be saved by him, and he's constantly switching between being the nice and caring "Okarin" and the mad and bombastic Hououin Kyoma. Okabe is sweet and cares about everyone's feelings, and does his absolute best to try and prevent anyone's fate from being fatal. He's not a quitter either and often puts himself in harms way to try and prevent anyone from being hurt. When he activates his Hououin Kyoma mode...he completely changes, and becomes an eccentric "mad scientist". Wanna see an example of his humour?

It's scenes like that that make me love this show.

Makise Kurisu

Probably the deepest character in the cast, besides maybe Okabe, is the girl who should've died on July 28th, Makise Kurisu. Believe it or not it was her design that actually got me interested in watching Steins;Gate, with those bewitching grey eyes and crimson red hair of hers. I went in Makise was going to be a serious, somewhat depressing character actually. Turns out, she's actually a loud mouth Tsundere who is very smart and intricate with her thought processing. She's the character that pushes the plot forward most of the time, as she is the one who develops the time leap machine and figures out how the Phone Microwave works and what the conditions are for time travel. She's my favourite because of her amazing design, thinking and her development is the most expanded on in the whole series.

The animation in Steins;Gate was done by a company known as WHITEFOX (yes, all caps) with assistance from the original Visual Novel developers, 5pb. and Nitro+. What I love about the show is how bright and stylized it is. People's eyes in this show are definitely unlike anything I've ever seen in any anime prior to Steins;Gate. It's hard to explain how I find it different, but once you see the show you'll understand where I'm coming from. The animation itself is bright and colourful, with plenty of detail in background, and characters look solid and built right with a smooth frame-rate to boot. For a show that's more "realistic" (as realistic as anime can be) than moe, the world and art of Steins;Gate looks simply fabulous.

The music in the show was composed by the same person who composed the original Steins;Gate visual novel, Shikura Chiyomaru. I must hand it to Chiyomaru-san....this soundtrack is gorgeous. It's actually flawless. I love every single song on this OST, but if I had to pick my favourite it would be - of course - Gate of Steiner. Then we have the opening and ending themes, 「Hacking to the Gate」and Toki tsukasadoru Juuni no Meiyaku, both of which have become my favourite Opening and Ending themes to any anime ever. The pace of the opening along with it's animation is just out of this world and the ending is sombre in tone and just picks up with a bang and it all culminates together near the end. The soundtrack to Steins;Gate beats out Shingeki no Kyojin as my all time favourite anime soundtrack. It's THAT good.

It shall be known that it's not easy to get a perfect recommendation off of me, especially when it comes to anime as it's a lot harder to judge an anime than it is a game in my opinion. Let it be known though, that Steins;Gate could never ever be anything less than perfect. Some argue that the show's slow start and themes bring it down, but I don't see how.The slow start is needed to ease the viewer into the ideals of time travel and to show us the way the gadgets of the "lab" work. The characters are great, the animation is superb and the soundtrack is simply gorgeous. Steins;Gate may not be for everyone, but to me, it is without a doubt the best anime I've seen, and completely trumps Clannad After Story in every way possible.

Story: 10

Characters: 10

Animation: 10

Sound: 10

Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR STEINS;GATE: 10/10

A Masterpiece.

REVIEW - Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode I: Legend of the Golden Witch (2007)

Visual Novels normally have some gameplay element to them in order to keep the player invested in what they're interacting with. After all, without any sort of interactivity between the player and game, how is the player going to be happy with their purchase? Well, a certain Japanese company known as 07th Expansion thrive on making a certain type of visual novel, called a sound novel. It first started in 2002 with the infamous "Higurashi When They Cry" games. Higurashi was praised by people around the world for it's intricate plot, characters and - as is the selling point of a sound novel - an amazing atmosphere. It didn't have any interactive elements, no choices no nothing. It was an appalling game to look at too, with characters having hands that resembled boxing gloves. However, what if you took the best elements of a Higurashi game, threw in Battler Ushiromiya and added some elements that are reminiscent of Kara no Shoujo?

Umineko no Naku Koro ni I: Legend of the Golden Witch would be your answer.

(Note: This is a review of the 2007 original with a Translation patch by The Witch Hunt. The graphics have not been altered and the game does not have voice work. There is a version with a voice and graphics patch available on the PS3 or as a mod for the original)

If you're familiar with the Umineko no Naku Koro ni anime, you'll be comfortable with the plot of the Visual/Sound Novel. The plot centers around the Ushiromiya family coming together for their annual family conference on the island of Rokkenjima. The first game focuses on Battler Ushiromiya and him returning to the conference for the first time in six years. If you've watched at least the first five episodes of the anime, the story to Legend of the Golden Witch should be a tad familiar to you. There are extra descriptions as to what goes on in the story, but as such, the basic plot and major scenes are the same.

October 4th, 1986 - Rokkenjima, Japan.

The Ushiromiya family gathers on Rokkenjima, a small island off the coast of Japan, for their annual family conference to discuss how the inheritance of the ailing family head, Kinzo, will be distributed among his children and their spouses. Battler, who has not attended the conference in six years, notices a new painting in the foyer of the mansion. He is told that it is a portrait of the "Golden Witch" Beatrice, who had supposedly given Kinzo all his wealth, and who Kinzo desires to see again. Battler, however, does not believe in witches or magic, and doubts she exists. A typhoon approaches the island, and Maria is left outside by her mother Rosa while searching for a wilted rose George had marked for her in the garden. When it begins to rain, Battler, Jessica, George, Kanon, and Rosa go outside to find Maria with an umbrella she did not have before, which Maria says Beatrice gave her.

During dinner, no one admits to giving Maria her umbrella, leaving them to wonder if there is a nineteenth resident in addition to the original eighteen guests. After everyone finishes eating, Maria reads a letter she claims to have received from Beatrice earlier, reading that Beatrice will take everything from the Ushiromiya family if no one can solve the witch's cryptic epitaph, much to the guests' concern. Later, George proposes to Shannon, and asks her to wordlessly give her reply the next day by wearing the ring on a finger of her choosing. The following morning, Krauss, Rudolf, Rosa, Kyrie, Shannon, and Toshiro have gone missing, and the phone lines are out. Natsuhi is informed of a strange symbol drawn on the outdoor tool shed. While the others investigate the matter, Battler, Jessica, and George follow to discover the missing people brutally murdered inside, with Shannon wearing George's ring on her left ring finger. 

While attempting to figure out what had happened, the remaining guests discover that their radio is not working, effectively leaving them stranded on the island with the culprit until the typhoon passes. They also quickly discover that Kinzo has gone missing as well. Battler and the rest of the family come up with the theory that one of the eighteen people on the island is posing as Beatrice in an attempt to claim Kinzo's inheritance. The three primary suspects are the servants, who have access to the entire mansion; Natsuhi, who was the last person seen with Kinzo; and Eva, who has the most to gain from the murders. However, after a heated argument between Natsuhi and Eva, they are unable to come to a definitive answer and return to their rooms. Later, Eva and Hideyoshi are found to have been murdered in their locked room. 

Everybody tries to determine how Eva and Hideyoshi could have been killed when an odd smell begins to fill the mansion. Kanon goes to investigate the boiler room along with Chiyo, but is mortally wounded in the process. The rest of the family and staff arrive and discover the dying Kanon, as well as Kinzo's partially incinerated body. They decide to retreat to Kinzo's study, which should be the safest room in the house. After they enter, however, a letter from Beatrice mysteriously appears. Since Genji, Terumasa, Chiyo, or Maria are the only possible suspects for planting the letter, Natsuhi forces them to leave the study. Later that night, the phone rings with Maria singing on the other end. Natsuhi, Battler, George, and Jessica rush downstairs to find Genji, Terumasa, and Chiyo murdered and Maria standing in the corner, still singing. 

Upon being pressed about the murders, Maria tells them that Beatrice is the culprit, though Battler refuses to accept this explanation. As they argue, Natsuhi bars everyone inside the room and demands Beatrice show herself. By the time everyone breaks out of the room, they see Natsuhi as she drops dead, apparently having committed suicide. Golden butterflies soon fill the room, and the remaining survivors are killed. Afterward, everyone is brought to Purgatory, revived and joking about how they should have solved the epitaph rather than determine who was committing the murders. However, everyone except Battler is convinced that the culprit is a witch. When Battler insists that everything that happened could have been carried out by human means, he is confronted by Beatrice herself, who challenges Battler to prove that the murders were not caused by magic. Later, Beatrice discusses the events she has set into motion with a rival witch, Bernkastel , who plans to lend her own powers to assist Battler.

Now as confusing as that is to some, if you follow the plot along and don't skip anything, you're in for one of the most intense plots a visual novel could ever have. Twists and turns come along every few pages, and the gore just absolutely seals it for me. Scary, intense, full of character and atmosphere. A perfect VN plot line.

Unfortunately, this "game" doesn't actually have gameplay. You're just sitting and reading what's going on in the story while occasionally looking at the menu to see if anything new has been added to the Tips, Character Profiles (which change when a character goes missing or dies) and - if you're playing the English version - the Grimoire. While it's a trademark for a sound novel to not have gameplay...I'm sorry but no gameplay is just not good enough.

Graphically speaking the original Legend of the Golden WItch surprised me heavily. Completed only a few months after the final Higurashi game, Umineko looks as though it was done by a completely different artist. It's not a great looking game by any means but as someone who came straight off of Higurashi this looks much better and it goes to show that 07th Expansion aren't afraid to improve themselves. The opening movie is well animated, even if it uses a lot of stock images. The characters are well stylized and shoe emotions well and the background, while just a bunch of posterized photo's, work well with the atmosphere of the game world.

The soundtrack that is played during Legend of the Golden Witch is actually pretty good. Sure, one or two songs get ear gradingly annoying but as a whole, the soundtrack is pretty good for the second project by 07th Expansion. The opening song isn't as good as the anime's, but it still goes well with the whole "latin bomba" thing the series seems to have.

Overall, Legend of the Golden Witch gets the Umineko ball rolling. While it's a terrible game to play due to the lack of gameplay,  it's an amazing one to experience with some decent graphics and a stellar soundtrack. If you liked Higurashi, you'll like Umineko.

JESUS, GEORGE LOOKS FUCKIN' CREEPY HERE

Story: 10

Gameplay: 1

Graphics: 7

Sound: 9

Personal Enjoyment: 7

FINAL SCORE FOR UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI I: LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN WITCH: 6.6/10

REVIEW - Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014)

(Note: this is a review of the PlayStation 3 version, running at 1080p @ 30FPS)

Games nowadays are often made to be something epic. Something that represents the industry's rise in culture over the last few years. To go in tandem with this, games are often made to be as long as possible (unless they are something like Battlefield where the campaign is pretty much an afterthought.) in order to give players a sense of satisfaction and reward for paying money for the game itself. So, if you're someone who doesn't like downloading games AND owns a PS4/Xbox One, what does that leave you with with today's game? You might feel ripped off. Why?

Because today's game is Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes for PS3/4, 360/XB1

Before talking about the storyline to Ground Zeroes, I want to go through this game's pricing, since it depends on the version you get, and to be honest, if you get the Physical PS4/XB1 Version, you're being screwed over. I'll get to why later though. Also, all these prices will be in Euros.

PLAYSTATION 3/ XBOX 360 DOWNLOAD VERSION: €19.99

PLAYSTATION 3/ XBOX 360 PHYSICAL VERSION: €29.99

PLAYSTATION 4/ XBOX ONE DOWNLOAD VERSION: €29.99

PLAYSTATION 4/ XBOX ONE PHYSICAL VERSION: €39.99

Now that that's out of the way, let us talk about the most disappointing aspect of Ground Zeroes: it's story.

Now to be honest, I never liked the saga of Big Boss after Metal Gear Solid 3. And look, you all may hate me for saying this, but I just need to say it because it's what I honestly feel;

Peace Walker was and still is an underwhelming Metal Gear Game.

So, when they decided to make a direct follow up to Peace Walker, how do you think I felt? Certainly not happy! But that's for another time.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes takes place in the months after the Peace Walker Incident in the year 1975. Paz, the traitor who betrayed Snake near the end of Peace Walker, and Chico, a child soldier who works of MSF but is not abused by any member of MSF, have been kidnapped and taken to a camp known as "Omega" by the CIA. The reasons for this are unknown (at least to me). As Snake (AKA Big Boss), it's your job to sneak into the camp and rescue the two prisoners. And that's it. Nothing more. There's an ending cutscene with some amusing dialogue ("THEY PLAYED US LIKE A DAMN FIDDLE!!!") but that's it. Wanna know how short Ground Zeroes is?

My completion time: 58:07:09. That's in Minutes and Seconds.

That's criminal to be charging €40 just for something that's less than an hour long!!!!!! Yeah sure, there are extra missions, but for the main campaign to be absolutely minuscule is just criminal. The actual story itself is alright though, with some spotty writing here and there. I know it's only a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but even still, it's really damn short.

Gameplay is by far Ground Zeroes' strength, because for the first time ever, Metal Gear Solid has an open world approach. You can approach the mission any way you want. Want to take out that guard silently? There's plenty of ways to distract him...if you don't get caught first yourself. The AI for the enemies is actually pretty competent this time around, noticing every.small.thing.you.do. Your shadow, the noise you make, your footprints, heck even your bullets can be tracked and traced to you. You have to be extremely careful in the world of Ground Zeroes. In terms of control and layout, I was confused slightly at the start. Select doesn't activate the Radio anymore, it's switched to L2. Furthermore, Start does not pause the game (it brings up an in-game item known as the iDroid....guess who the manufacturer is), Select now pauses the game. Those minor button swaps aside, Snake controls beautifully in MGS V. He adapts perfectly to the new FOX Engine. Covering is now not done by a tap of the X button, but is now done as you touch something to hide behind. It's an adapting style of gameplay, as you have to adapt to the environments and weather around you and use them to your advantage. Shooting is the same as in MGS 4 and the new diving mechanic let's you dive into cover with ease. I think this is by far the best system of any Metal Gear game to date.

From trailers and pictures, I can confirm (like everyone else) that Metal Gear Solid V runs best on the PlayStation 4, since it runs at a locked 60 FPS at 1080p. However, it doesn't matter what platform you get this game on. Regardless of if it's Xbox 360 or PS4, this game...is just absolutely fantastic to look at. It totally blows Final Fantasy XIII out of the water. The environment (yes singular) looks astounding, especially during the main mission. Everything looks amazing thanks to the new FOX Engine. Character models are extremely detailed, right down to the last pixel and the framerate never drops below 30 on the PS3/360 (not sure if the Xbox One runs at 60 FPS @ 720p). Trust me when I say this, I think that apart from the upcoming Final Fantasy XV, we won't get a better looking game than Ground Zeroes for Quite some time.

Sound-wise it's actually very underwhelming. Apart from the amazing performance of "Here's to You", not one song sticks out in my mind from MGS V. Re-listening to the soundtrack on YouTube, the songs are at best, okay, but nothing memorable. The main draw however of the sound in this game was the new voice actor or Big Boss, Keifer Sutherland. Now, I was upset that David Hayter was not doing the voice in this game, but times change and so do people. To be honest, he does a really good job at the voice, especially for his first time in the role. The other voice actors do the job and keep the high quality that the series has kept ever since 1998. However, there is something that genuinely freaked me out when I played the game. You see, you can collect audio tapes that describe Chico's time in Camp Omega....and one of them...well, I thought that The Phantom Pain would have this scene and not Ground Zeroes, but you can collect a tape...with a rape scene. Granted it's audio only but Jesus H.Christ, Kojima there's pushing the boundaries and then there's just destroying morales by blowing them up the ass!!

Overall, Ground Zeroes shows us the future of Metal Gear at the expense of a good story and a decent soundtrack. It's an amazing game to play and a gorgeous sight to look at, but the story and sound truly break the experience. It's not bad for a download game on PS3/360, but as a download on PS4 or a Physical....it's nowhere near worth it.

Story: 4
Gameplay: 10
Graphics: 10
Sound: 6
Personal Enjoyment: 7

FINAL SCORE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES: 7.4/10