I was in fact referring to the fact that there's a (fairly) new MMORPG out called Tabula Rasa. FFXI is an MMORPG, and a fairly popular and solid one, so I thought it might have been a sly reference or jab. It's an ability on a class called "Scholar", which uses special tactical abilities in combination with their White Magic (healing) or Black Magic (elemental damage) spells to enhance them in some way. The class allows you to use these tactical abilities 'free of charge', rather than having to put great mental strain into using them like you usually do. Which kinda makes the name make sense.
Nai's Gaming Review!
If you couldn't tell by that sexy looking picture right there, we're talking about Assassin's Creed in this edition. I first heard about this game a year or two ago when it was just being announced as in production. A game something like Hitman, just set during the Crusades. Has to be cool, right? So, when I couldn't grab a copy of Mass Effect, I grabbed this instead.
First, graphics. This game works on the Xbox 360, so you know the graphics have the capability to be good. And the graphics are good, so that's fine right there. If you rotate the camera, you can see carvings on the blade of Altair, the assassin you control. There's plenty of blood for those that want it (though this can be turned off). The environments look realistic, and lighting is well done. A specific city, known as Acre, has the color bled out of it, making it look sickly or diseased. Which seems to be what the designers wanted. Damascus, on the other hand, has browns injected to make it look earthy. Jerusalem looks rich, in most cases. Character models are varied enough so you don't notice too often when they repeat. The main characters all look unique and look just like you would expect for their specific roles, be they an assassin, head of assassin, rich pompous king, or otherwise. I'll give this a 8/10, since I'd like to see a few more character models and a few less constantly repeated rooftop types.
Sound is next. While sound effects are good, from the impact of Altair's feet on a rooftop or the sound of swords connecting, they do get repetitive. There just doesn't seem to be enough variety there. Considering one of the game mechanics is to hit the attack button just when you hear the connect to perform a killing move, you tend to notice the sound of clashing swords. And you notice that they sound the same. NPC voices just get annoying after a while, since the NPC scripts are very underdone. The beggars only seem to have one voice, and since they accost you often, you'll notice that their script has only two or three lines. Which, if you get accosted enough, gets annoying. This is largely balanced by the script and voices of the main characters. The character voices fit the character, from, as I said, pompous king to head of the assassins. The only place this seems to falter is Altair himself. For such a hotshot, expert assassin, he sounds awful young. He just doesn't seem to be as much an expert killer than a student. A shame, but there's not much you can do. Still, his lines are good for the most part, and what he says fits his role, if not the voice that says it. As for music, it's negligible. You forget its there, and it doesn't really add anything to the experience. 7/10 for sound.
We'll do gameplay now. Depending on how you play games, the gameplay may be excellent, or it may fall short of expectations. Let me explain: In each level/chapter/whathaveyou, you perform between one and three assassinations of high profile targets. This assassination has four parts: gaining the contract and riding to the city, investigating the target by completing between two and six of the six investigation targets in the city, performing the kill, and the getaway. While this may sound varied, there's a few catches. Let's go by the three categories of investigation, kill, getaway.
The investigation is performed by doing one of 4 tasks. There is the interrogation, where you shadow your mark to a secluded place, beat him up, get his information, and kill him. The pickpocket, where you shadow your mark until you get close enough and take the info from his pouch, though you must wait if he stops and gets suspicious. The eavesdrop, where you sit on a bench and overhear your information. And the informant, where the informer makes you either collect flags on a course to prove your worth or stealth assassinate X amount of guards that seem to be bothering him. As you can see, there isn't much variety. You learn the location of these marks by climbing up on top of a high building, 'synchronizing' with your landscape, and your map is updated with the locations. The game would be better if you were made to put the information together yourself and come up with a plan, much like the aforementioned Hitman. Issue? You don't. You just return to the bureau when you collect the required info amount (2 or 3 of these tasks) or all of it, but the actual amount doesn't matter. Altair has come up with a plan. When you have that plan (which never changes), you move to the kill.
So now you get to assassinate your target, which is the whole point of this game. The problem is, it doesn't matter if you stealthily creep up on your target, hidden by scholarly priests the entire way, unseen by any guard, and inject steel death into his lung, or if you go Rambo style and kill everyone on the way before cutting his head off. You can only kill the man with your stealth blade regardless of how many times you've hit him with your longsword. And, regardless of how stealthy you were, the guards are always alerted, and you always advance into the 'getaway' stage. The actual getting to the execution doesn't matter either, as you can climb across rooftops or just walk your way up to him in every case. There's no skill required, though you can certainly take the stealthy approach and make it harder on yourself.
And last is the getaway, where every guard in the city already knows you just killed a high profile man. If they see you, they attack. You must escape and hide so the heat gets off you, though they still recognize you if they see you again. The simple way to fix this is to go across rooftops, where there are few guards. To make it harder on yourself, run through the streets. The only stipulation is you must have no persuers when you return to the Assassin's Bureau to claim your kill. You do this every kill, and it just gets easier every time.
So that's the assassination. Let's talk about combat and exploration, the other two parts of this game. Exploration first, as that's where most people are going to enjoy themselves. Altair is an assassin, a highly trained one, so he is practically Spiderman. He runs across rooftops, throwing himself across streets, climbing up high towers, and diving into haybales with a perfectly executed swan dive off of a hundred and fifty foot heights. You can just enjoy leading the guards on merry chases around rooftops or streets, pissing them off as they can't keep up with you. You climb ledges, swing on outstretched poles, jump from wall to wall, speed across thin beams, and the whole shabang. If you imagine Prince of Persia, you have the basic idea, save that there's no wall running and you have no special knife to hold you up in places.
Combat? There's an issue here: As soon as you complete your third assassination, or something along those lines, you get the 'counter' ability, which kills combat. See, at that point, you no longer require any other skill. You hold block, hit the counter button when anyone seems to be attacking, and you kill them in one hit. The guards wait their turn even while you struggle to get your knife out of the skull of their comrade. If you are ever killed in combat, you either don't have good timing, or you were facing fifty guards and got unlucky and couldn't leave. But again, you can force yourself to use skill. You can attack, locked on, and try to get past their guard. If you hit the attack button at precisely the right time, just when your swords connect, you get a special instant-kill attack. There's also a 'dodge' ability that lets you jump out of the way of any attack. You get four 'weapons', only two of which are good in combat. Hand to hand is only good for interrogation. Stealth blade is only good for assassination, and is useless in true combat. Your longsword and shortsword are equal combat-wise, though I argue killing with the shortsword looks so much cooler. Oh, and you can toss instant-kill throwing knives while your shortsword is equipped. You can only throw them over long distances, but that's the whole point. Combat is only as difficult as you make it, and all you have to do is counter to win.
I'm sure you see the problem here. The game gets repetitive. Which is fine if you're a gamer like my cousin, who plays one or less hours of gaming a day. One hour a day or less of this is fine. One assassination a day, or less, is fine. But if you power-play like I do, wanting to play the entire game in a row in a few days, it gets boring. Luckily, the story holds up here.
One last thing before I comment on the story: I heard a few people say that the button control scheme is 'revolutionary'. I suppose by this they mean that it is better organized than others. See, the buttons are arranged so that the button closest to you, A, controls your feet. Your X button controls your weapon hand, B controls your unarmed hand, and Y controls your head. Which ends up just being flavor, as most games do the same thing without a reason. The game also uses what's known as 'context-sensitive buttons', meaning that the use of the button changes depending on what you are doing. Which, again, is something that most games do without naming it. The only 'revolutionary' thing I noticed were the 'Eagle Vision' and 'Low/High profile movements'. The former is something you do at full health (called full synchronization), which is a first person view which highlights the surrounding people depending on their relationship to you. Guards are in red, civilians are a light blue, those that give you information (informants, interrogation targets, etc.) are in white, and your assassination target is in yellow. Mostly useless, but it helps if you lose sight of the target in a crowd. The other thing is the low/high profile movements. This basically states how much attention your action will draw from the guards. Low profile things are walking, gently pushing people out of the way, and a stealth assassination. High profile is running, climbing buildings, knocking people out of the way, and putting your sword through someone's chest. The holding the right trigger changes your buttons between low profile and high profile. Mind, there is no drawback of playing in high profile mode if you don't mind running from guards. But for those of us that want a challenge, low profile is there.
So I give gameplay a 5/10. Yes, a low score. Good, but it gets boring, and needs a little more thought. Which we may just get; see below.
Storyline time. This is where Assassin's Creed took off for me. I'M ACTUALLY PUTTING A MINOR SPOILER IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE, SOMETHING YOU LEARN WITHIN FIVE MINUTES OF PLAYING, SO WATCH OUT!. *Ahem* You're not actually an assassin in this game. You're just a normal guy, who seems to be some sort of bartender or ex-assassin (they say he's an assassin in the very beginning, which he says he doesn't do anymore, then he seems to forget he was ever an assassin later in the game). Supposedly, the memories of your ancestors are ingrained in your DNA. They explain that this is why trout seem to know where to go when they breed, and why new ducks seem to know where to migrate. They want to 'hack' into this DNA to get the memory of ancestors. Specifically, yours, though for what reason they don't say. This would be fairly straightforwards if they didn't kidnap you and keep you a prisoner to do it. Altair is your ancestor, and they want his memory. For some odd reason, they can't actually go straight to the memory yet. They must work on synchronizing you to your ancestor, so you must go through previous memories. Which is good, as this gives you an actual story.
There are two stories in the game: The story of Altair and his targets, and the story of Altair's great-to-the-eighteenth-grandson-thing who is trapped in this laboratory. While the story of Altair is good, the true meat of the story revolves around his progeny. As you progress, you learn that things are not quite what they seem. Things told to you are not the truth, and things seem to become very odd. Small truths slip out from other characters, telling you of odd events in the world. The progeny's storyline is much like a game of Myst, where you do nothing but walk around and investigate. If you take the time to talk to the fellow characters, read emails, and follow the story closely, things start getting very trippy. It's a shame I can't say more.
What I can tell you, however, is that the ending is one of the most unsatisfying things I have ever experienced. Which trumps the ending of Kingdom Hearts and Halo. The game leaves you on one of the most ultimate cliffhangers. It'd be like the end of Star Wars being right when Luke fires the Proton Torpedos, not letting you know if the Death Star has blown up or not. We're going to be getting a sequel to help us with this. I'm assuming we're getting a trilogy out of this game, with the number of things not wrapped up. Which may or may not be good, depending on if they can bump up the scores of this review with the next game.
Storyline gets a 9/10. We have plenty of mystery, and plenty of fun answers to interesting questions. Plenty of suspense for another game. This is a score that may go up, or down, depending on the next game. We're not talking a Halo or Star Wars ending here, where the game can stand alone. This is a story that requires another installment.
So that's the review. The game is good in short doses, taking it a chapter a week or so. Taking your time and enjoying it. It's good for both basic gamers, who can use some of the shortcomings to their advantage, and gamers like me, who want to make it hard on themselves. Unfortunately, there seems to be very little replayability. I hope this is fixed in the next game. For now, that's Nai's review, and this is me signing out.
Wow nice review I was meaning to try out the game but I am currently playing wild arms 5, my good old inside drive basketball game ive owned for years, and as well as rachet and clank for the ps3 which is also a pretty fun game. I am also planning on getting the simpsons for ps3 as well.
However you did a nice job reviewing the game and I should at least rent it out sometime.
Kevin you act as though i havent been here before lol ive been here for along time just. LOL i never got on the regualers list. I took a break from computer for abit now im back^^
Nice review, Nai, and also one of the singular longest posts I've seen on here. You must have really spent some time on that one.
@Omna: Really, three of them that fast? I guess I'm just used to not being able to leave things on overnight. It takes me longer to download things, unless they've just come out and have several hundred seeds/partial copies. Enjoy Mushishi - it's relatively new, but it's already a classic.
@Mams:
I know I probably don't know everything that's going on, but you're hardly a monster. Don't give up - depression is where the danger lies. It'll sneak up silently and steal all the joy out of your life if you let it. I hope you feel better.
The first AotW for this week will be going up in about an hour or so.
Kevin you act as though i havent been here before lol ive been here for along time just. LOL i never got on the regualers list. I took a break from computer for abit now im back^^
oh sorry about that my bad. Oh yeah i remember you how can i forget anyway its good to see you back here allin. So how is life?
Well this might be my last post for tonight since i have to get to bed earlier but ill be posting sometime tommorrow when i get back from work. I will talk to you all later though! Have a great night and ill be on aol if anyone wants to chat with me.
It is the year 2100. In a research base on the moon, Dr. Amami and his team live and conduct experimental work on projects concerning alternate energy sources. One day, concerned he is not spending enough time with her, Dr. Amami decides to allow his young daughter Kurau to visit his place of work. Then in a scene straight out of Marvel comics, a lab experiment involving high-energy beams goes wrong, causing the alien energy-spirit Rynax to posess Kurau's body. Rynax's conciousness takes over Kurau's body, and while the researchers are understandbly concerned, they marvel at the miraculous powers this new Kurau seems to have been granted. She can float through the air in pseudo-flight, for one, and become energy itself to phase through walls, for another. However, further confusion arises from the fact that according to Rynax, its kind are always born in pairs, and it wishes to spend time searching for its sister - its lost half, so to speak.
Flash forward ten years or so - Kurau/Rynax now works as a bounty hunter, thief, and general jack-of-all-trades, using her powers to get in places no one else can. A police organization known as the GPO has managed to identify her recently, and is determined to pursue her and study her mysterious powers. Strangely enough, after such a long time, Rynax does end up finding its lost half - Kurau's younger "sister". Now burdened with the responsibility of caring for her sister and keeping them both out of the hands of the GPO, Kurau finds herself on a tireless run for her life, as the GPO will seemingly stop at nothing to get their hands on her abilities.
This one reminds me a lot of Ghost in the Shell - but in a good way. It has mecha, it has action, and lots of high-flying antics, gunfights, and stealth missions. Kurau is nearly a dead-ringer for Motoko, except for one key difference: Kurau has a heart. She cares deeply for her little sister, and actually takes on humanitarian rescue jobs that no one else would be able to perform, at times playing the part of the superhero admirably. Much of what makes Kurau rewarding to watch comes from her inner struggle with her self - she could take on the GPO and go out with a proverbial "bang", but she can't in good conscience because it would leave her sister without a caretaker. So, she runs, and runs as only someone possessed by the spirit of Rynax can.
If you like Sci-Fi or superhero shows, you will most likely like this show. It's got a great story with a surprising amount of heart, and it really lets you get to know and care for its characters. I give it four out of five stars.
Seems like an intresting Anime, maybe even worth wacthing for once Anywho yeah i may or may not be going to worlds depening on my ride sitiuation. Also i may not be going ddue to fact registration is on wed. and i cant go till friday night :(. Anywho if i can go heres my deck.
Seems like an intresting Anime, maybe even worth wacthing for once Anywho yeah i may or may not be going to worlds depening on my ride sitiuation. Also i may not be going ddue to fact registration is on wed. and i cant go till friday night :(. Anywho if i can go heres my deck.
That decks looks like it would be fun to play and also it looks like a bit like pickles of course I am not an expert with standard so I wouldn't know. Anyhow goodluck allin.
Anyway its 6am and good morning to you all i have like a 5.45 hour shift today of course i might end up staying for an 8 hour shift not sure but have a good day everyone and Ill talk to you all later.
Thxs for the luck Ceclia if i can go ill do my best ;). Also used to run Pickles last Rotation fun deck im a MUC person but this deck was just to fun to give up. I could play pickles but traded almost all my pickles stuff away
Well I'm a little depressed. It seems my lead in the WPL votes is slipping.
About the campaign idea: Well, I was thinking a lighter kind of fantasy/horror environment starring kids and adolescants, of course. It would be set in a small town in New England where strange, unexplained things have happened for years. Only recently, though, have those strange occurences caused people to go missing and other disturbing phenomena. Think Lovecraft meets Megaten meets Billy and Mandy and you've got the right idea.
@Danica: I doubt you're "not good enough" for one of my campaigns, doll. The fun of tabletop gaming at first comes from learning the ropes, and you're a quick study so I think you'd be fine. I don't want to take your attention away from Alacar's game, though =)
@ether: Id join but i dont know how to play i signed up for a tut campign along time ago but that never had. Also do you make your own avatars or find them places?
Some people around here make avatars and such, which reminds me- I need a new one.
Hmm...ideas, guys?
All the kids are napping (yay) and I have a few minutes of peace and quiet. This is a very rare occurrence, so I've decided to mark it for posterity...
And yes, no incantatrix for you. Or anyone. That class makes puppies cry. Mostly because they are the former Big Bads who have been Baleful Polymorphed into said puppies. By you. Because you're an incantatrix.
Quote from Yukora »
This is Deraxas we're talking about.
Remember, the girl that just killed an aspect of herself before literally consuming her?
Yeah, I don't see her handling a pissing match in any way other than a duel.
Quote from RedDwarfian »
Yes mistress...
Quote from About epic-level D&D »
There are only so many epic, psuedonatural barbarian/blackguard half-dragon akutenshai vampire balor paragons they can throw at you, right?
Quote from Concerning breeding habits of humans in fantasy games »
I suppose it's true. Though the logistics implied in a human/Great Wyrm Prismatic Dragon pairing makes me shudder.
...Something tells me that even should all arcane casters in the world unite, that the Grease spell would NOT be sufficient.
Nice review, Nai, and also one of the singular longest posts I've seen on here. You must have really spent some time on that one.
Singular longest? Have you forgotten Mamelon/Arguas/my legendary long posts?
@Omna: Really, three of them that fast? I guess I'm just used to not being able to leave things on overnight. It takes me longer to download things, unless they've just come out and have several hundred seeds/partial copies. Enjoy Mushishi - it's relatively new, but it's already a classic.
I wasn't sure about how Mushi-Shi sounded... It sounded almost like a Men In Black deal.... but I haven't watched it yet, and you said I'd guaranteed like it, so I figured ah hell why not I was considering getting Risky/Safety and that other one you had, but I figure I should probably watch the 5 i have sitting here first
It is the year 2100. In a research base on the moon, Dr. Amami and his team live and conduct experimental work on projects concerning alternate energy sources. One day, concerned he is not spending enough time with her, Dr. Amami decides to allow his young daughter Kurau to visit his place of work. Then in a scene straight out of Marvel comics, a lab experiment involving high-energy beams goes wrong, causing the alien energy-spirit Rynax to posess Kurau's body. Rynax's conciousness takes over Kurau's body, and while the researchers are understandbly concerned, they marvel at the miraculous powers this new Kurau seems to have been granted. She can float through the air in pseudo-flight, for one, and become energy itself to phase through walls, for another. However, further confusion arises from the fact that according to Rynax, its kind are always born in pairs, and it wishes to spend time searching for its sister - its lost half, so to speak.
Flash forward ten years or so - Kurau/Rynax now works as a bounty hunter, thief, and general jack-of-all-trades, using her powers to get in places no one else can. A police organization known as the GPO has managed to identify her recently, and is determined to pursue her and study her mysterious powers. Strangely enough, after such a long time, Rynax does end up finding its lost half - Kurau's younger "sister". Now burdened with the responsibility of caring for her sister and keeping them both out of the hands of the GPO, Kurau finds herself on a tireless run for her life, as the GPO will seemingly stop at nothing to get their hands on her abilities.
This one reminds me a lot of Ghost in the Shell - but in a good way. It has mecha, it has action, and lots of high-flying antics, gunfights, and stealth missions. Kurau is nearly a dead-ringer for Motoko, except for one key difference: Kurau has a heart. She cares deeply for her little sister, and actually takes on humanitarian rescue jobs that no one else would be able to perform, at times playing the part of the superhero admirably. Much of what makes Kurau rewarding to watch comes from her inner struggle with her self - she could take on the GPO and go out with a proverbial "bang", but she can't in good conscience because it would leave her sister without a caretaker. So, she runs, and runs as only someone possessed by the spirit of Rynax can.
If you like Sci-Fi or superhero shows, you will most likely like this show. It's got a great story with a surprising amount of heart, and it really lets you get to know and care for its characters. I give it four out of five stars.
About the campaign idea: Well, I was thinking a lighter kind of fantasy/horror environment starring kids and adolescants, of course. It would be set in a small town in New England where strange, unexplained things have happened for years. Only recently, though, have those strange occurences caused people to go missing and other disturbing phenomena. Think Lovecraft meets Megaten meets Billy and Mandy and you've got the right idea.
@Danica: I doubt you're "not good enough" for one of my campaigns, doll. The fun of tabletop gaming at first comes from learning the ropes, and you're a quick study so I think you'd be fine. I don't want to take your attention away from Alacar's game, though =)
The campaign sounds wonderful... and I might enjoy being in that... I've never done Megaten, Lovecraft OR Billy and Mandy, whatever those are But fantasy sounds fun.... I'm on the waiting list for Tanthalas' campaign and yea I'm still doin' Alacar's, but that one's kinda slow crawlin'... i'll also be gone Dec. 4 for a few days, as I'm gonna be travelling back home for the Christmas holidays... so keep me posted, and I'll let you know what I think as the time for signups gets closer... But thank you for saying that I'd be able to do it.. that perked me up
ahhhh okay O.o like 6 people are lurking in the background.
Hehe.. one of those was me, but now I'm posting... happy?
So here I am, sipping some coffee, about to post on the H-L campaign, then whenever my aunt, uncle, cousin get home, it'll be cleaning day here... I looked outside when I woke up and nobodys car was home, so I'm assuming I'm here alone til they get home and whatnot..
So anyway, good morning! I feel better, I got a lot of sleep last night, and finished the first Season of Quantum Leap..
@Allin: We'll see how many people are interested in the campaign first. I am going to stipulate this time that I need players who'll work with me, meaning post as regularly as they can and be patient with me when my schedule goes crazy.
I think I said it the other day, but the pictures I used for my new avvy/banner are from a bara game called Kamisama dattei iranai. I found the CG oack in a pretty...uhm...adult place, so yeah.
When I don't use barazoku guys for my avvys and banners I usually go for RPG images, either from a game I'm anticipating or one I've recently gotten into.
Well, "barazoku" is kind of an Americanized term, but it's accurate. It refers to larger-built men, either chubby or muscular, drawn in a manga style for the entertainment of other men. It differs from yaoi in this regard because yaoi is drawn for women. The term "bara" comes from an old Japanese magazine called Barazoku that featured men like that. The name basically means "rose tribe," a term referring to the heavy masculine symbolism the rose culturally has in Japan.
That was long-winded of me >_>;;
I would know what the name of the game means but the definition of "dattei" always eludes me. I know kamisama is basically "god" as in a singular part of the plural "gods," and iranai is a term denoting negativity or refusal. Whatever the title, I know it refers to the boys in the game either being or being named after Norse gods. The guy in my banner is named Baldur, for example.
I wasn't sure about how Mushi-Shi sounded... It sounded almost like a Men In Black deal.... but I haven't watched it yet, and you said I'd guaranteed like it, so I figured ah hell why not I was considering getting Risky/Safety and that other one you had, but I figure I should probably watch the 5 i have sitting here first
Mushishi is definitely not Men in Black, hehe. Just the thought of it amuses me. For one, it's set in a Japan-like nation of long ago. It's more like... the guy is a kind of shaman/herbalist that goes around to different towns and helps people with Mushi-related problems. Mushi aren't evil or anything, they're just there, trying to live like any other organism (Mushi is related to the Japanese word for "Bug", and you might almost think of them as invisible spiritual or magical bugs). Of course, when they come into contact with humans, problems can arise, but just like regular animals, some are beneficial and some are harmful. There is a new problem or story that he figures out how to deal with in each episode. More than anything, it's an amazing world setting. The storytelling and mythology are incredibly well done.
BTW, Billy and Mandy is a cartoon on Cartoon Network that features dark humor - one of the three main characters is the Grim Reaper, affectionately referred to as "Grim".
@Ether: I'm not sure if adding the "i" on the end changes anything, but "datte" is a conjunction that means the same thing as "but". That would make the translation something like "But there is no God" or "But God isn't here". I think. In the event that dattei is a word unto itself, I'd be completely wrong.
Do my little eyes read the word campaing and run? *sep starts acting like a hyper 6 years old* i want i want i want i want i want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sorry just had a few delicious cinnamon rolls and that always make me act bubbly :p... cinnamon+chocolate is like the best drug cocktail ever for me :laugh2:.
anyways, ether, this campaign of yours... d20 system or something different altogether? you know my posting rate so i hope you are ok if i say i would like to try this game :D.
Edit: Billy and Mandy: Yes title of the cartoon is The grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, they tricked Grim into being their best friend forever:D, oh and it seems the Grim Reaper was born in Jamaica at some point mon:laugh2:
Wow nice review I was meaning to try out the game but I am currently playing wild arms 5, my good old inside drive basketball game ive owned for years, and as well as rachet and clank for the ps3 which is also a pretty fun game. I am also planning on getting the simpsons for ps3 as well.
However you did a nice job reviewing the game and I should at least rent it out sometime.
Love,
Cecilia
@Omna: Really, three of them that fast? I guess I'm just used to not being able to leave things on overnight. It takes me longer to download things, unless they've just come out and have several hundred seeds/partial copies. Enjoy Mushishi - it's relatively new, but it's already a classic.
@Mams:
I know I probably don't know everything that's going on, but you're hardly a monster. Don't give up - depression is where the danger lies. It'll sneak up silently and steal all the joy out of your life if you let it. I hope you feel better.
The first AotW for this week will be going up in about an hour or so.
oh sorry about that my bad. Oh yeah i remember you how can i forget anyway its good to see you back here allin. So how is life?
Well this might be my last post for tonight since i have to get to bed earlier but ill be posting sometime tommorrow when i get back from work. I will talk to you all later though! Have a great night and ill be on aol if anyone wants to chat with me.
Love,
Cecilia
on a related note, i finally replaced my broken ps2 with a new fat one with 2 controllers for 50 bux
Ding
thanks to all who helped
It's time...
ANIME OF THE WEEK
Series: Kurau Phantom Memory
Episodes: 24
Genre: Action, Sci-fi, Drama
Production: BONES
It is the year 2100. In a research base on the moon, Dr. Amami and his team live and conduct experimental work on projects concerning alternate energy sources. One day, concerned he is not spending enough time with her, Dr. Amami decides to allow his young daughter Kurau to visit his place of work. Then in a scene straight out of Marvel comics, a lab experiment involving high-energy beams goes wrong, causing the alien energy-spirit Rynax to posess Kurau's body. Rynax's conciousness takes over Kurau's body, and while the researchers are understandbly concerned, they marvel at the miraculous powers this new Kurau seems to have been granted. She can float through the air in pseudo-flight, for one, and become energy itself to phase through walls, for another. However, further confusion arises from the fact that according to Rynax, its kind are always born in pairs, and it wishes to spend time searching for its sister - its lost half, so to speak.
Flash forward ten years or so - Kurau/Rynax now works as a bounty hunter, thief, and general jack-of-all-trades, using her powers to get in places no one else can. A police organization known as the GPO has managed to identify her recently, and is determined to pursue her and study her mysterious powers. Strangely enough, after such a long time, Rynax does end up finding its lost half - Kurau's younger "sister". Now burdened with the responsibility of caring for her sister and keeping them both out of the hands of the GPO, Kurau finds herself on a tireless run for her life, as the GPO will seemingly stop at nothing to get their hands on her abilities.
This one reminds me a lot of Ghost in the Shell - but in a good way. It has mecha, it has action, and lots of high-flying antics, gunfights, and stealth missions. Kurau is nearly a dead-ringer for Motoko, except for one key difference: Kurau has a heart. She cares deeply for her little sister, and actually takes on humanitarian rescue jobs that no one else would be able to perform, at times playing the part of the superhero admirably. Much of what makes Kurau rewarding to watch comes from her inner struggle with her self - she could take on the GPO and go out with a proverbial "bang", but she can't in good conscience because it would leave her sister without a caretaker. So, she runs, and runs as only someone possessed by the spirit of Rynax can.
If you like Sci-Fi or superhero shows, you will most likely like this show. It's got a great story with a surprising amount of heart, and it really lets you get to know and care for its characters. I give it four out of five stars.
Kurau OP Theme
Kurau ED Theme - Moonlight
2x Snow Covered Island
2x Snow Covered Swamp
2x Scrying Sheets
4x Underground River
4x River of TEars
1x Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Mouth of Ronom
4x Echoprasite
4x Shriekmaw
4x Mulldrifter
1x Tombstalker
4x Venser, Shapersavant
1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
3x Riftwing Cloudskate
4x Makeshift Mannequin
4x Runesnag
4x Grim Harvest
3x Crpytic command
2x Black Command (Forgot name lol)
2x Damnation
That decks looks like it would be fun to play and also it looks like a bit like pickles of course I am not an expert with standard so I wouldn't know. Anyhow goodluck allin.
Anyway its 6am and good morning to you all i have like a 5.45 hour shift today of course i might end up staying for an 8 hour shift not sure but have a good day everyone and Ill talk to you all later.
Love,
Cecilia
About the campaign idea: Well, I was thinking a lighter kind of fantasy/horror environment starring kids and adolescants, of course. It would be set in a small town in New England where strange, unexplained things have happened for years. Only recently, though, have those strange occurences caused people to go missing and other disturbing phenomena. Think Lovecraft meets Megaten meets Billy and Mandy and you've got the right idea.
@Danica: I doubt you're "not good enough" for one of my campaigns, doll. The fun of tabletop gaming at first comes from learning the ropes, and you're a quick study so I think you'd be fine. I don't want to take your attention away from Alacar's game, though =)
@ether: where do you find them?
@TabletopRPGS: could i join your campign ether even though i barely know how to play. pweez *begs*
Hmm...ideas, guys?
All the kids are napping (yay) and I have a few minutes of peace and quiet. This is a very rare occurrence, so I've decided to mark it for posterity...
"I am in the arcane, and the arcane is in me."
Official Matron Mother of Clan Planar Chaos
Awesome Avatar and signature by DarkNightCavalier
Deraxas, Dark Maiden of Shimia,, still oddly obsessed with a mindmage.
Singular longest? Have you forgotten Mamelon/Arguas/my legendary long posts?
I wasn't sure about how Mushi-Shi sounded... It sounded almost like a Men In Black deal.... but I haven't watched it yet, and you said I'd guaranteed like it, so I figured ah hell why not I was considering getting Risky/Safety and that other one you had, but I figure I should probably watch the 5 i have sitting here first
Happy 1400th Post to Cecelia! !!
hehe.. this is one of the ones I downloaded, so I'm looking forward to this one
The campaign sounds wonderful... and I might enjoy being in that... I've never done Megaten, Lovecraft OR Billy and Mandy, whatever those are But fantasy sounds fun.... I'm on the waiting list for Tanthalas' campaign and yea I'm still doin' Alacar's, but that one's kinda slow crawlin'... i'll also be gone Dec. 4 for a few days, as I'm gonna be travelling back home for the Christmas holidays... so keep me posted, and I'll let you know what I think as the time for signups gets closer... But thank you for saying that I'd be able to do it.. that perked me up
Hehe.. one of those was me, but now I'm posting... happy?
So here I am, sipping some coffee, about to post on the H-L campaign, then whenever my aunt, uncle, cousin get home, it'll be cleaning day here... I looked outside when I woke up and nobodys car was home, so I'm assuming I'm here alone til they get home and whatnot..
So anyway, good morning! I feel better, I got a lot of sleep last night, and finished the first Season of Quantum Leap..
Magic Coffeehouse!
Come in, sit down, relax, get to know somebody!
Open Three and a Half Years as of October 19, 2009!
Banner by PurpleD and avatar/custom by Tanthalas
AHHHH PRESEA COMBATIR! *Hides* She pwns.
@Allin: We'll see how many people are interested in the campaign first. I am going to stipulate this time that I need players who'll work with me, meaning post as regularly as they can and be patient with me when my schedule goes crazy.
I think I said it the other day, but the pictures I used for my new avvy/banner are from a bara game called Kamisama dattei iranai. I found the CG oack in a pretty...uhm...adult place, so yeah.
When I don't use barazoku guys for my avvys and banners I usually go for RPG images, either from a game I'm anticipating or one I've recently gotten into.
And Ether, same for me, lemme know how things go, I may be interested too
Magic Coffeehouse!
Come in, sit down, relax, get to know somebody!
Open Three and a Half Years as of October 19, 2009!
Banner by PurpleD and avatar/custom by Tanthalas
@Everyone: So a late question i know but how did everyones turkey day go? *did that ryhme or was that just me*
Ok i've been called to help clean and stuff, so I'll be back after they release me
Magic Coffeehouse!
Come in, sit down, relax, get to know somebody!
Open Three and a Half Years as of October 19, 2009!
Banner by PurpleD and avatar/custom by Tanthalas
That was long-winded of me >_>;;
I would know what the name of the game means but the definition of "dattei" always eludes me. I know kamisama is basically "god" as in a singular part of the plural "gods," and iranai is a term denoting negativity or refusal. Whatever the title, I know it refers to the boys in the game either being or being named after Norse gods. The guy in my banner is named Baldur, for example.
Mushishi is definitely not Men in Black, hehe. Just the thought of it amuses me. For one, it's set in a Japan-like nation of long ago. It's more like... the guy is a kind of shaman/herbalist that goes around to different towns and helps people with Mushi-related problems. Mushi aren't evil or anything, they're just there, trying to live like any other organism (Mushi is related to the Japanese word for "Bug", and you might almost think of them as invisible spiritual or magical bugs). Of course, when they come into contact with humans, problems can arise, but just like regular animals, some are beneficial and some are harmful. There is a new problem or story that he figures out how to deal with in each episode. More than anything, it's an amazing world setting. The storytelling and mythology are incredibly well done.
BTW, Billy and Mandy is a cartoon on Cartoon Network that features dark humor - one of the three main characters is the Grim Reaper, affectionately referred to as "Grim".
@Ether: I'm not sure if adding the "i" on the end changes anything, but "datte" is a conjunction that means the same thing as "but". That would make the translation something like "But there is no God" or "But God isn't here". I think. In the event that dattei is a word unto itself, I'd be completely wrong.
Next AotW in a couple of hours. Whee.
sorry just had a few delicious cinnamon rolls and that always make me act bubbly :p... cinnamon+chocolate is like the best drug cocktail ever for me :laugh2:.
anyways, ether, this campaign of yours... d20 system or something different altogether? you know my posting rate so i hope you are ok if i say i would like to try this game :D.
Edit: Billy and Mandy: Yes title of the cartoon is The grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, they tricked Grim into being their best friend forever:D, oh and it seems the Grim Reaper was born in Jamaica at some point mon:laugh2: