Nana MarfoA student with a passion for game development and all things Japan. Archives
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NM GameWorks #17: The Crash Recovery31/10/2018
Hey all! Sorry for no gameworks post last month, but October was a bit intence with some school issues...and my computer crashed... and then GameMaker MeetUp... and then triple header... but we are BACK!
Let's start off by saying that Different Spirits script is going well. During one of my University open days talks I heard about a program that allows people to get funding to create a studio. This is some I will consider down the line, but that's for when I get a team of people along side me.
I might try and model this sometime... I need to learn a lot about 3D modelling, so this may take some time. I also am working on a character design project, which will involve me doing everything needed for a character to come to life in a game. This has also given me the chance to hone my drawing skills, of which, I have none.
I don't think I can make full out drawings like someone like Hellyon could(you should also check her out by the way), but as long as I can make conspect drawings, at least it fills a gap in my knowledge.
But moving on! Unity Chan Dash is going well, and I'm working on the 3rd Level at the moment!
As I have said multiple times on twitter, I have planned to make this level a bit more challenging. This has lead to me having some issues with the controls, but I'll be honest, at this point, the controls are one of the easier things to fix(considering how many problems I have had with the first one controller). Still, at this rate, hopefully I can get this out soon!
The big thing here is the Stealth Project, which I nearly lost because of the crash. The big thing I'm learning Enemy AI! So far it's in early stages, but once I get something animated, I will show a video of the project off!
Finally, I did mention that I went to Unofficial GameMaker Meetup at London SouthBank University! Thanks to both of the speakers, I really enjoyed going there. I don't have any pictures(hence why I didn't review the event), but it was fun and I met Jupiter Hadley! Awesome!
Either way, that's it for now! Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care. Written By Nana Marfo All content used(C)Their respective owners.
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Time to go back to the 1410's as we head into the next anime I am watching this season. Though the designs are a lot more badass than the ones in 1410's, but whatever, they look cool.
Rules: 1.Spoilers are abounding here folks. If you want to watch it blindly... go watch it. Spoilers are here. 2. Depending on the Anime, this can get NSFW. 3. I am watching the subbed version. This is my first impressions of Ulysses:Jeanne D'Arc and the Alchemist Knight. France and England have been at wars for 80 years. In the future, this will be known as the Hundred Years War.
The year is 1415, and a young man named Montmorcery go to meet up with a scientists named Nicholas Flamel so he can learn Alcamaly, but he refuses. The intro plays at the end again, so I will speaking about it here.
Liberation is a really good theme, and I think it suits the war tone well. Some of the visuals seem a bit more in place of a harem anime than here, but I think it works never the less.
Anyways. we move on to a class that focuses on 3 girls, Richemont(pronounced Richmon), Charlotte and Philip. After class, they go to see Montmorcery, as he has been skipping class to learn about Alcamly, as well as the fact that he wants to become immortal, so that he can help people and so he can stop people from dying. I am sort of getting Kouta vibes from Montmorcery, he's a good kid that just wants to help people, even saying that, he doesn't to be a knight because he doesn't want to take lives.
Anyways the four end up in a forest, and they have to fight off some English Solders, and while there the 4 ponder their futures, and vow that they will stay friends. Oh boy, with a vow like that, I can tell this anime is going to deep into the feels, and it has already started. Richemont is sent to fight the English, and this hits the dark spot in Montmorecy's heart. As such, he asks Flamel one last time to help him, but he still refuses, however, he does mention that he was trying to change his fate. However, he manages to summon a fairy from the stone called Astaroth, and the episode ends with seven years passing while Montmorecy tries to make the Elixr that will give him power. I know that timeskips are a hated anime trope, but at least this was the backstory for all of it.
The music feels atmospheric, something which suits this anime, with the sound of France always in the back ground. The anime has some really good designs and visuals, and I think that designs are still very modern while complementing the time period.
Overall, this was the back story episode. However, it was a great start, and I can't wait to meet Jeanne.
The triple header is over. Whew. This was a bit more stress-inducing that it should have been due to some outside factors(my computer breaking down being one of them), but I still enjoyed it neverless.
Anyways, that's it for now! Thanks for reading,have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed and take care. Written By Nana Marfo Ulysses(C)Funimation/AXsiZ
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Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary:First Impressions18/10/2018
Finally, I'm watching anime at the time it's relevant! I'm not going to do episode, by episode reviews(I have no time for that, even if I wanted to do that), but this and Ulysses:Jeanne D'arc and Alcamist Mage are what I'm watching this season. This is also my first time watch anime when it's airing, so this will be exciting!
Rules: 1.Spoilers are abounding here folks. If you want to watch it blindly... go watch it. Spoilers are here. 2. Depending on the Anime, this can get NSFW. 3. I am watching the subbed version. This is my first impressions of: Xuan Luan Sword Luminary. This is the story of a group of young men and women caught in the currents of fate amidst this twisted history.
Couldn't have said it better myself. The group at the moment consists of Yin, Ning(pronounced Neigh) and Pu Zhou. 3 years before the current events, their village was attacked by the Taibai Empire. We will get to them in a bit. What I can only assume is the Intro plays at the end, so I will talk about here.
I love it personally. Nageki no Hana is a really good opening theme(no links this time to the recentness of the anime) and the visuals are amazing. One thing that is evident here the anime's link to Chinese Mythology, but I'll get into full presentation later.
Either way Ning and Yin are travellers now, and Ning lost arms in the indecent 3 years ago. However, Zhou was captured, and is now a slave of the Taibai empire.
We then get a lot of introductions, Consturct Commander Meng Ji of Juanyuan meets with minister Balil and Commander Meng to discuss the war in the seventh sector, and a possible rebellion in other sectors that the empire have already conquered. We then meet, Chief Engineer Ho Meng, who is buliding a new Weapon called the Zhengtian for the empire. That night Pu Zhou meets up with a mysterious girl who sees that he has a passion for engineering, learning it in his own time. We then go back to Yin, who has a dream about what she happened 3 years prior. Afterwards, she go to fetch some water for her and Ning, but she runs into a snake demon, and ends up with a braclet containing a summon named Yun, and she is to do Yin's bidding.
I am kinda skimming through things here, because a lot happens. I can see this as a sure fire way to keep viewers interested, as you can play up the mystery but at the same time, it is a little bit overwhelming. I will say that this show at least keeps things interesting at every turn, not stopping to explain much, and engaging the viewer.
Meanwhile, a rebellion group plan to attack the Taibai supply unit coming through their village, and we get some introductions of people like Can Lang, Yuan and Chi. I don't know if the characters will be important or not. Meanwhile, Ho Ming betrays the Taibai empire, and Ph Zhou meets with that girl again before getting arresting for possibly being involved in Ho Ming's escape. While tracking Ho Ming, the Taibai Empire attack a village where Yin and Ning are staying to make money, but with the help of Yun(who explain she was crafted using the art of Muija), Nin gaining a sword and Yun turning into Bladewolf, they force the empire back.
As for Pu Zhao, he is given a higher rank of Chief Engineer, thanks to the Empress giving him a higher rank, and thank to the Empress, known as Empress Long Chen being that girl he met, who now gives him the name Lord Zhaoyang. He also has the plans to the Zhengtian that Ho Ming gave him before being possibly killed, and it looks like the 3 chlidhood friends will fight at some point.
The Chinese Mythologly theme oozes with personally in this series, and the visual to a great job to reflects. The CGI is a also really good.
Overall, this was a very solid start. A lot happened... in fact I needed to watch the episode while writing to get some details I missed... but it sure as hell kept me interested.
If you are new around here, welcome. If you are here from the first of the Triple header post, welcome back. Ulysses should go up Saturday Evening UK time, but I am out that day, so I will let you guys know if anything happens that cause it to be late.
That's it for now! Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care. Written by Nana Marfo Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary(C)Studio Deen/TV TOKYO
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The Blog turns 1!16/10/2018 WOW. What a year. I started this blog in order to have a reason to review anime(and as something to share what I was doing), and now it has turned into something I want to do alongside making games. I can't explain the joy that this blog has given me at times. I also have released 3 games, 2 of them for game jams: Dual in the Desert - I HATE THIS GAME. I liked my achievement of creating my first game, but MAN, the more I look back at it, the more I hate how I rushed this. Then again, this was made in 10 days, and I was in school at the time so... yea. I don't want to touch this one. I don't even have the original files on my laptop anymore. Unity Chan('s) Dash! - This is probably the game I am most proud of, as I made it in a week, while on work experience. I like this one more than other games because of the fact that it feels like something that with enough tweaking, could be a payable game. I hope I can make that happen, but we will see. Ball Chaser - I think this game is rushed, but there I can blame the time limit, as this my first 48 hour game jam. This was fun to make, and I while I am still unsatisfied with the final product, at least it is something I feel proud of. These games were my first steps towards getting into the game industry. And now I know this is something I want to do, but that's beside the point of this post. Let's look back some of my best blogs I have written. I would love to train to be a fighter with my friends! My first Later Levels Question of the Month! This was where I started interactions with the wider community, and I look at this and think I did well, though I didn't win.. but still it was fun! Also, I will put my Sunshine Blogger award here(Also here's a link to A Geeky Gal's one!)! Kamine: Who chokes on their first kiss? Knowing me, I might, and if you think I'm joking, watch me develop feeling for girls easily. I like making jokes about me striking out don't I? See the MMO Junkie review for more. Either way, this is the first anime related post, and Tsurezure Chlidren was a really fun quick look to write, just because this is when I first got into anime, and I think after Aho Girl, this is something that really allow me to get into anime proper. The episode where she goes meow is awesome! Ah, New Game. The first anime that became very close to my heart. I really, REALLY love this anime. I feel Aoba is more successful and older me. I can't wait to get to Season 2! This is a review I wrote in a night, it was fresh off my mind what I wanted to write. Their art has inspired me, and sometimes, isn't that all that matters? This GameWorks post was really hard to write, because it was really personal, and this was posted a few days after my 17th birthday. I was really happy with the response to this, so thanks for the wonderful response. Shoutout to Drakulus for commenting his story. Get this, it is 100% FREE! Life is Strange is on my backlog for the moment, but I really enjoyed the Captain Spirit demo, which really felt like it's own spin on things to the LIS universe. I do still reccomned Life is Strange Ep 1(and now Ep 2) over this, but I do still think you should play this.But enough looking back, time to look forward. The Above Slideshow are some new website graphics I have come up with(which should already be up). From now, whether it's real life or online, I want to be me, not someone trying to fit into 10 different crowds(which was me mostly in secondary school), which includes, but is not limited to:
I don't really like promoting my Buy Me A Coffee that much(because I don't like being "In your face" about that stuff), but if I want to get serious about this, I need to promo more. So from now on, I will have the BMAC down at the bottom of each post. Again, don't feel you have to donate(let alone support monthly now since that's an option now), but I would really appreciate it if you would. I do want this website to start to pay for it's self at some point. But enough about business. Let's go on to plans. It has been nearly a year in the making, but I have started drafting the Final Fantasy XIII review. I really love this game, and I want this review out by the end of 2018, early 2019 latest. Kingdom Hearts:Birth By Sleep is next up for my Kingdom Hearts reviews, and that should be up around November-December! I am very close to finishing the game at the moment. Post Editor's note: I lost the save file, so it may take some more time. Sorry folks. Anime will be some seasonal stuff, like Ulysses: Jeanne d’arc and the Alchemist knight, as well as some stuff I want to watch personally, like Musaigen no Phantom World, or New Game Season 2. As for game dev? Well, I am nearly done with the Fighting Street demo reel, which despite my mentor's advice, I will keep the way it is(because Uni Applications),and I should get that posted soon. Besides that, more Game Jam stuff, should be in the next GameDevNetwork jam, and I might do a review of an event I am going to! I also have some other things in the works, such as the 10 questions series and a character analysis series, which will come out in due time. Anyways, time for some big thanks you's. I have to thank everyone who read, my blog, shared it with friends, and so on. My view count for the year(as far I know was, Weebly's trackers aren't the most accurate) around 12,000 views, averaging 2,000 a month, that's insane! Thanks to Failbetter Games, all of the team there were really great to work with, and I really enjoyed that work experience week, I love that I was able to work with a team of experienced game devs, and the best of luck with SUNLESS SKIES. Thanks to everyone in the StarSeeker and RedMakuzawa's discord. It's really fun to share fun all of this with you, and thanks to everyone who has given me help. I have to thank all the blogger's I have met over the past 12 months, and in particual Pix of Shoot the Rookie and Ellen of Livid Lightning, because without them, I don't think I would be in this position now. And here something for everyone to read, if your dream gives you happiness, makes you want to try new things, gives you a zest for life, help you meet new people and gives you confidence, then find a path towards(which can be VERY hard to do), follow it and fight for it. My dream(running an Indie Game Studio) may be far away, but I already feel like I'm living it. Here's to more success this year. Thanks for reading, have a great day/night and take care.
Written By Nana Marfo All Content used(C)Their respective Owners.
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Question of the Month time! This time it comes from A Geeky Gal, who I featured before on the blog! She asks: In honour of Halloween, tell me what video game scared you the most. What is it about the elements, environments, music, or characters in the video game that scared you? I'll be honest, the game that scared me the most was 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider. I hadn't played a Tomb Raider game before this, but I knew this game was a bit darker than the other. There is a lot of dark themes in this game and this oozes in the game, from the cult themes to the pool of blood scene. You can really tell that this is a different Lara than before, there is a lot of gore in this game. There are a lot of "do or die" quicktime events. A lot of them with the wolves, which come out of nowhere. However, I don't think this is a bad thing(beside the amount of quick time events), in fact it adds to game experience for me. Helps you learn about the environment, and think I design wise it makes the world feel more real in this game.
Anyway's that's it for now! Sorry for this being really short, but I want to focus on next week's post for obvious reasons. Either way, thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed it and take care. Written by Nana Marfo Tomb Raider(C)SQUARE ENIX
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Final Fantasy XV X Terra Wars: Review2/10/2018 I honestly don't know if I will review Final Fantasy XV outside of the DLC episodes. I just keep getting lost in this game's world. However, I don't want to leave people without a taste of game. So, crossover review! This is probably going to be really short, but either way rules: 1.Spoilers are abounding, and depending on the game, can spoil the experience. 2. I will not put aside any bias, but will try to be fair for games I do not like. This is my personal opinion. If you want to send your opinion, please do so in the comments below. 3. I am reviewing the PC Version. So, what does this have in store for us? This is my review of Final Fantasy XV X TERRA WARS. Story For a Final Fantasy game, not to mention the CREATOR of Final Fantasy, who was working on this, I was surprised how simple this story was. Noctus wakes up in this mystoris world and meets a girl named Sarah, the protagonist from Terra Battle 2. As someone who has not played Terra Battle, I do like Sarah's design, it really screams, old school Final Fantasy, while having a place in the modern era. Anyways, the story from there focuses on the Hiso Aliens. Sarah and Noct have to stop a force called The Eroder, as they are known as the saviors. After some chance encounters, and the Hiso Aliens taking some of Noct's stuff, they meet the Hiso Elder, head to The Eroder, Sarah gets her power coped into The Eroder, they defeat the Eroder, and Noctus and Sarah return to their own worlds. Overall, the story is very basic and fast, the DLC is no more than 45 minunits. However the interactions between Sarah and Noctus feels very natural, and I do like dealing with the Hiso Aliens. Noct even confuses Sarah for his friends at some points, which is really funny! Gameplay So I won't go fully into Final Fantasy XV's mechanics, but for now I can say Noctus handles the same has he does in the regular game, but your weapons are fixed to 3 weapons, with no guns or magic. Sarah has a special attack which has some good artwork, and Noct and Sarah have a special attack which is activated at random. A bit annoying at points. Speaking of, you are some what railroaded into a set path for this crossover. A big attraction of XV for me, is the open world, going from city to city and doing sidequests. Here, there is not a lot to explore, and makes it feel like a different game. It's not a bad thing for me, but it does take from the experience. Looks, Sound and Final Thoughts The World is a sight to behold in Final Fantasy XV, and the world they have made here is no exception. While you are railroaded, it helps give a really grand sense of scope. The soundtrack is a remix of classic Final Fantasy tunes, which is really nice on the ears. Overall, a really good crossover which combines the feelings NES/SNES Final Fantasy games with the untraditional Final Fantasy game. Go out of way to play it if you have the game, it's really fun. Well, this was short. Still with the MHA review, and the Final Fantasy XIII review on the way, I am kinda of glad this is short.
In other news, my blog is turning 1 this month. I will be putting on some new Website Graphics on this Friday, and on October 16, I will upload a special blog post. In any case, Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if you enjoyed and take care. Written By Nana Marfo Final Fantasy XV(C)SQUARE ENIX TERRA WARS(C)Mistwalker |