REVIEW - Tokyo Ghoul (2014) (Plus some extra Thank You stuff)

First things first, Damn, I missed the blogs anniversary!!! I'm so sorry that I didn't do anything special for the anniversary! Anyways, it has been a great year for this blog. I'm surprised that people actually visit this site every day just to read my reviews in some random Game or Anime, so to all of you who actively read my blog I want to say a huge thank you to you guys. I may not update so frequently (considering that in December 2013 I did a review a day) but whenever I do I'm glad at least some people are reading this. Also it may be almosta  week late, but Merry Christmas to all of you who believe in Jesus Christ (I don't but if you do, more power to you) or to be more politically correct, Happy Holidays to all of you.

Anyways, time to do a review. And I guess we'd better close off the year with 2014's most talked about anime (at least on Facebook and Tumblr anyways).

Studio Perriot's adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida

Tokyo Ghoul is a 12 Episode long series produced by Studio Perriot. The essential basics of this story almost feel a bit like Attack on Titan's to a certain extent. In modern day Tokyo, humans live in fear of creatures known as Ghouls. Ghouls are basically the exact same as humans apart from their sense of taste and digestive system. Ghouls taste differs in that everything they eat - minus the flesh of a human being or coffee- tastes like something dirty or slimy. Their hunger can only be satisfied by the consumption of human flesh. Of course the Japanese government has a contingency plan in the form of the CCG, an organization which deals with the elimination of Ghouls. The Ghouls go into hiding so to speak, only eating when they need to. Enter one Ken Kaneki, a college student who's to be honest a pretty normal and decent guy. Halfway through the first episode, Ken's world and life comes crushing down (almost literally in a sense) as he struggles to come to terms with a reality he must face and accept, which to me is what is Tokyo Ghoul's driving force. The story is told through Ken's view of the world as he slowly descends into madness, which is what I love. The action is also a justifiable reason to view this show as it's amazingly well done. What makes the plot work so well though is that, although it's a gruesome horror story, Tokyo Ghoul is a tragedy story which involves physical and psychological torture. It's definitely not for the feint of heart. 

The characters in Tokyo Ghoul are for the most part very well done, minus one glaring exception. Ken Kaneki is a good main protagonist who reminds me a lot of Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion because he's whiny, soft and doesn't quite understand the situation he's involved in, and it's Ken that really pushed Tokyo Ghoul to be the tragedy it is. Touka Kirishima is however, one of the most negative and downright unlikeable characters I've seen in anime. She's so negative and so dismissive of almost everything Ken does that it's almost unbearably annoying in later episodes. She does have her moments yes in the second half, but she's not quite the character that Tumblr fangirls make her out to be. The rest of the cast, without going into too much detail, are all interesting in their own unique ways (particularly Amon of the CCG and the Café owner) and help to flesh out the world a bit more, which I like a lot.

As regards animation, Tokyo Ghoul is visually appealing as it's filled with colour (particularly red, although there's no need to explain why) throughout. It also moves quite fluidly, even during the most intense of action sequences. The scenery - especially during the night - looks breathtaking to say the least, and the characters all look particularly well drawn. Out of any show that came out this year, Tokyo Ghoul I think easily looks the best.

The soundtrack is Mediocre to say the least. There's no real standout BGM track I could really find on the OST that could grab my attention. The ED is the same kinda story, it's a generic rock song that just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

HOWEVER

I do not know how in the name of God they pulled it off but, the opening is even better than that of Evangelion's  or Attack on Titan's. The song is Unravel by TK from Long Suitre, and my God it's just an out of this world Opening. The build up, the vocals and the instrumental all go well with animation that fits the show's themes and events to a tee. It's the best opening I've heard in anime without a doubt in my mind.

Tokyo Ghoul is an anime that just blew my expectations out of the water. I heard some bad things about this show such as the horrific TV Version's censoring (which isn't an issue now thanks to the BRD Version) and the fact that the main character is a 'whimp' but, does a whimp make an entire show bad? No, no it doesn't. In fact Ken Kaneki's story is one of the best I saw this year in terms of anime. With beautiful visuals, great but sometimes flawed characters and a fantastic story, Tokyo Ghoul is an anime that should be watched by those who love the horror/thriller genre.

Story: 10
Characters: 8
Visuals: 10
Sound: 7
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR TOKYO GHOUL: 9/10

REVIEW - Tales of Xillia 2 (2014)

Boy it's been a LONG time since I last did a game review. When was it, May with the Bioshock review? I guess a game review is long overdue, and I'm returning with one heck of a weight on my shoulders. I've said it before in the past that this games prequel is my favourite game that I have ever played, so when I got this game day one I didn't know what to initially think.

Luckily, Namco Bandai's Tales of Xillia 2 is a worthy sequel, though flawed in it's own ways.

The story in Tales of Xillia 2 is by far its greatest strength, and what is arguably one of the most depressing, powerfuk and somewhat topical game stories anymore. The schisim dividing Rieze Maxia and Elympios has been dispelled by Milla Maxwell and Jude Mathis, so now the two nations have been connected by a Bridge of Unity at the town of Marksburg. Elsewhere in Elympios, aspiring cook and rarely spoken (he literally only speaks in grunts, short one word replies or an occasional 'OH CRAP!') Ludger Will Kresnik wakes up late on his first day at being a cook at the Spirius Corporation in Trigleph. On his way to work he gets caught up in some nasty business with a little girl, Elle Marta who accuses Ludger of robbery or something (do you really expect me to remember such a minute detail) and Ludger chases her onto the train where he also meets up with Jude Mathis, complete with an EDGY redesign. What follows is a terrorist attack on said train and Ludger is thrown into debt by a fucking dick named Rideaux which wouldn't be a bad thing if IT WASN'T A 20,000,000 GALD DEBT. What follows these events are some of the most emotionally involving and depressing moments in gaming history. Seriously, Xillia 2 plays on and amplifies the originals biggest strength - the characters - and puts them into some dire situations, heightened even more by the fact that characters have their own side-stories now which you can undertake throughout the main storyline. I also love the way it subtly hints at racism aswell, showing the divide between Rieze Maxians and Elympions quite well (one character side story is purely about fixing relations between the two nations). Also added to Xillia 2 was a choice system. At certain parts of the story, you're given the option to chose one of two choices. Sometimes, they're kinda insignificant and only change a characters immediate reply but most of the time it helps build affinity with other characters and also change the ending you get. To conclude, It gets its points across perfectly and never becomes too complex or convoluted, and is one hell of an emotional story.

What annoys me about Xillia 2's gameplay the most - apart from the debt system which I'll get to in a second - is the new level up system, which has been changed to be needlessly complex and complicated. Rather than expanding on the Lilium Orb system from the original, Xillia 2 introduces the Alium Orb. The Alium Orb extracts skills and artes from elements such as Fire and Light as you level up, which is fine but the game never really explains how it actually works and how it affects your stats, unlike the original which gave a decent tutorial on how the Lilium Orb worked. Moving onto the other negative change; adding the Debt. The debt is literally one of the stupidest ideas in the history of the Japanese Role Playing Game. Not because its bad from a plot perspective or because you don't get rewarded (which you do actually) but its because its such a pace breaker. As soon as you complete a chapter, you have to pay off some more of your debt before you can advance which is so annoying especially if a chapter ends on a real OMG moment. Moving onto the positives, and oh my GOD has combat been improved (something I thought not even possible due to the sheer perfection which is the originals battle system). Ludger doesn't have one, not two but THREE INTERCHANGEABLE ON THE FLY Weapons to use in battle, all of which come with their own strengths and weaknesses (some more than others mind you). Another improvement is the new Chromatus system which is basically a temporary God like mode where you can unleash a can of whoop-ass on your opponent with no risk to your own health. The combat is addicting as fast, but also noticeably more difficult than before, due to the INSANE HP of the boss monsters (Even on Easy some of them gave me a hard time) and some ridiculous strategies (CHRONOS I'M LOOKING AT YOU, YOU FUCKER). Most of these bosses come in the form of rare monsters you can find on the new job bulletin, which is basically there for fetch quests, monster hunts and other things just to help repay that awful debt.

Graphically, not much has changed in a year has it? I mean it still looks amazing and the anime cutscenes by studio ufotable ( of Kara no Kyoukai fame ) look gorgeous but...there are a LOT of reused environments from the first game. Now this isn't really a bad thing since there are plenty of new places aswell but I was expecting more from this game (perhaps my hopes were just a bit too high). The game does have a more noir and tech-esque tone to it though, which does save it to bring that graphical fidelity back upt a 10 (the world looks bloody fantastic I have to say)

Tales of Xillia had my favourite gaming soundtrack of all time because it gave the world a perfect atmosphere (remember the first time you went on the Aladhi Trail in the original game and the music started playing? THE FEELS MAN), and thankfully - even though a lot of it is a reused soundtrack - Tales of Xillia 2 keeps the ball rolling with an almost excellent soundtrack, the highlights being the final boss theme (which is a remix of the lackluster Main Theme 'Song 4 U by Ayumi Hamasaki, which is a shame since she did so amazingly well in the original game) and the games first battle theme which is so catchy and is STILL Stuck in my head.

 

 

FUCKING MADOKA MAGICA DLC

Overall....Tales of Xillia 2 is a masterpiece in storytelling, direction, tone, and character although its flawed gameplay, heavy reliance on the original games resources and music do bring it down from being one of the best games ever. While it may not be a perfect game by any means of the imagination, I do think it's one of the best sequels in gaming and a perfect way of showing the importance and power of choice in video games.

STORY: 10
GAMEPLAY: 9
GRAPHICS: 10
SOUNDTRACK: 9
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR TALES OF XILLIA 2: 9.6/10