Nana MarfoA student with a passion for game development and all things Japan. Archives
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Recovery of an MMO Junkie:First Impressions27/12/2017 I have wanted to watch this one for the longest time. I did see it want to watch when it first came out, but Autumn is stressful for me with exams and starting school. However, I was hooked by the look of this one, due to the fact that is was about an MMO player, and how they interacted with people in real life. As always here are the rules: Well, let's see what the world of MMO's has to offer us. This is: Recovery of an MMO Junkie. I love the opening, Saturday Night Question doesn't feel like a J-Pop opening, which is it's biggest strength. The visuals themselves are hard to make sense of, but I like them anyways.(No links this time, the song is hard to find on YT.) "I'm not your average NEET schmuck." "I chose the NEET life" "I'm a elite NEET." Those are the words of Morioka Moriko, a thirty year old corporate drop out. For those not in the know, a NEET is someone in anime who is Not in Education, Employment or Training(Thanks Maku). Does bring into question how she is paying rent, but whatever. She has to find a new MMORPG to play because NanterSG has shut down and she finds a game called Fruits De Mur. Anyways, she makes a hot guy character. After getting her ass kicked, she meet a cute girl named Lily, who helps her with the missions(Don't worry, this is Yuri, we'll to get that soon) and some time passes to where she becomes skilled at the game, and ends up falling for Lily, to the point where she wants to get a gift for Lily. Nothing much else happens, however, where this shows shines is the moment to moment humour and character interactions. When I saw Hayashi interact with his guild, it felt like they were a family. Shows how games can bring people together, though I will knock MMO Junkie for the fact it doesn't real show the effect in the real world. I understand that this can be seen as bad pacing, but the show is only 10 episodes. However, the one scene we do get of Moriko going to a shop is really funny, where she is hungry for chicken, and gets in the funnest circumstance. I also don't talk about ending themes in first impressions(They don't play them, they either use the OP, or just let the show roll), but here they play one. Hikari,Hikari is such a good song. The visuals also complement the song so well, showing off characters we are going to meet along the way. Overall I am really looking forward to where this goes. Let me know what you guys think of the first episode in the comments below!
Thanks for reading, have a great day/night, share if it's not too much trouble for you, and take care. Written by Nana Marfo Recovery of an MMO Junkie(Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life)(C)Comico
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Kingdom Hearts II:Final Mix: Review18/12/2017 Ah, Kingdom Hearts, how I love you so. These game define my teen years, like Sonic defined my Childhood. And I know it's weird to start with the second game in the series, but I can't go back to 1. Man, that game has AGED. Anyways, here are the rules for game reviews: 1.Spoilers are abounding, and depending on the game, can spoil the experience. For RPG, I suggest you play them first. 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. That being said, this is my review of Kingdom Hearts II:Final Mix. Story I won't give too much away, but I really like the story. We meet Roxas in a digital simulation of Twlight Town(You will know about it if you played Chain of Memories), where Diz and Ansem(Riku) are trying to restore Sora's Memories from KH1. After they awaken. they go and meet Yen Sid, Sora gets new duds... which I don't like that much. I know people love this design. I do and the color scheme is great. but there are too many belts. Zips, I don't mind (I love Kairi's design), but the belts are too much. I prefer his Kingdom Hearts 3 design. Anyways, from there, we go to all sorts of worlds to find Riku, and save Kairi(Axel took her to Organisation XIII's dungeon). The story it's self is filled with twist and turns which will take Sora to fight Xemans and a reunion on Destney Islands. I love the experence that we get through the eyes of Sora. I don't really like bland character types, but here I think it works. He has been taken through hell and back, and his goal still remains the same. To save his best friends. The story however, can't be played standalone. KH2 needs you to play Chain of Memories and KH1, in order to understand what they are talking about in some instances. Gameplay For the sake of reader convice, I will say that Sora controls the same as in KH1, with tweaks to the Camera to map it to the right analog stick(thank god) and the fire magic is now a shield, something which I don't like unless I am in a Drive Form, more on that later. The worlds are more barren, meaning that the world is filled with enemies, which I prefer, but I want to see how KH3 handles it, since it's going open world. Anyways, back to the game in question. Like I said before, Drive Forms added are to the game and they give extra ablitys to Sora, while having some downsides. For example, Sora can hit harder in Valor Form, and is able to run faster, but he can not use magic. These forms also cost 1 or both of you're party members, who are not really that useful. YOU(Sora) are the most important force on the battle field, and I think the form that shows that is Final Form. While you have no party members with you, if you have Firaga, with Bond of Flame, you can DESTORY EVERYTHING. Talk about a game breaker. A good gamebreaker though, as bosses don't have a hard time against forms. Anti Form is punshment for transforming too much, but you don't need to worry too much if you have Final because that resets the counter. Overall Games like this make me sad I started with the Wii, because I missed out on Gems like these. Descent Story, fantastic Gameplay and a beautiful soundtrack. Hope you all enjoyed my first game review! Also a Dragon Maid review is on the way. Hope you all enjoyed you're Christmas, and have a very Happy New Year! Written by Nana Marfo
Just for calcification, I played this game on an emulator, because I don't have a PS3/PS4 for the collections. Not having Money Sucks. Kingdom Hearts(C) Square Enix.
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NM Game Works #03: MY FIRST GAME!!!17/12/2017 Hey everyone! I know said the project would be next, but I FINISHED MY FIRST GAME! It's called Dual In the Desert, and I made for the Game Dev Network's Big Festive Jam. He're a look of how I made it. I won't beat around the bush, I think I screwed up big time. The game if functional, but there is no end to it. The theme was surprise, so I trying to make a FPS, and try to make the surprise in that there is one stupid looking enemy. A big lesson I learned from this was to not over-extended yourself when working under a time limit. I knew how to create enemies with health, but I did not know how to make enemies follow you. I wrote my own script, but when I marked the player as a prefab instance, it didn't follow. This is the problem I was trying to fix most of the weekend. I fixed it.. but it was the middle of Sunday. I am still learning.
However, I can say I enjoyed this a lot, as it was fun creating games. In fact, I think I find more fun to create them than to play them. You can vote on it here: https://nana-marfo.itch.io/dual-in-the-desert And for the record, go all out on the critique. I know it's bad so my feelings won't be hurt. Anyways, that is it for today! The project will be next week, I promise. Here's another hint: "It happened before you were born". Thanks for reading, have a nice day/night, take care, and I will see you guys next time. Game Created and Blog Written by Nana Marfo. Special Thanks Game Dev Network(If you are a game dev of any age, check out their discord.) DevAssets(Guns and Desert environment(sans Terrain))
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So.... I missed the point of the pun last blog, which was I learned how to do shape keys in the eyes. Not much else to talk about, but I learn how to make a character move! Praise the Lord!After animating the Axl Model from Megaman X8, I managed to make it move in a scene. I need to work on a few things, such as the animations for running and jumping, but it seems good so far. As you can see from above, I am working on a 3D model, as I want to gain modelling skills. I also did some cool photoshops, as you can see here: I have more to show, but that might be up in the new year(I am doing it as part of the BTEC unit).
Finally, I am working on a marketing project in my own time I hope to have ready by Christmas! Won't spoil it for you, but let's just say... I have 3 strikes of Lightning. Thank you for reading, have yourselves a nice day/night, share if it's not trouble for you, and take care. Works done and Written by Nana Marfo Models from Kingdom Hearts 2 Kingdom Hearts(C) Square Enix Megaman Zero(C) Capcom
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New Game! Season 1: First Impressions13/12/2017 No real story for how I got into this one, but the idea was interesting at least. I know I am a year late, but I just got into Anime.Here are the rules again: 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. I have a warning for an image I use, but you should be ok here outside of one scene. 3. I am watching the subbed version. Kamen Rider has got me used to reading subs off a screen, and I am sticking with that. This is my first impressions of New Game!Season 1. "It's Spring." "I've graduated high school, and I start my new job today." "I'm going to be working... at a game company!" "Today's the day I become an adult." We start off by watching Aoba Suzukaze, a high school grad, going to her first day working for Eagle Jump, a developer who made the Fairies Story games. Naturally, she is scared of going in to the company, and it takes one AD(Art Director, not Assistant Director) Toyama Rin to help enter. This feels relatable right off the bat. Why? First of all, she just finished school, meaning that is 18(this is also told to us later), so she is trying to put her foot in the industry. Secondly, working at any company for the first time is nerve-racking, so it makes sense that she would not want to work there. THE INTRO IS AMAZING AND I LOVE IT. Not just the song Sakura Skip, which is a great song in it's self, but the visuals really top it off, getting excited to watch the show. I loved how it started with the characters singing the song. I urge you to check it out here(sorry for the quality, it was the best I could find). Anyways, we go to the company and Aoba is introduced to her desk. She then asks for black coffee. Even as a coffee drinker, that is a bit much. Do you want to choke yourself from bitterness? Then again, I don't drink coffee that much, so maybe I am exaggerating a bit. Aoba wants to be seen as an adult and is glad that Rin seems nice but this is when things start getting fun and weird. (Warning: The image below may not be safe for work). You see the women in the pants with the blonde hair? That is Yagami Ko, or Yagami-sensei as Aoba calls her(See the metaphor?) who worked on Fairies Story 1 and 2. After a quick intro to the team, we learn she is the only new recruit this year. Knowing there is a season 2 of this, it would be interesting if the dynamic was Aoba teaching another new recruit. After being freaked out by the team around her, we meet Takimoto Hifumi, who has social anxiety problems. Somehow, I relate to more than one character now. Anyways more introductions! Hazuki Shizuku, the director of the game. Mozoku, the cat. Umiko, Shikuku's higher up,and has a small ball gun for anyone that pisses her off. Like I said Hifumi has social problems,meaning leading to some very funny interactions. Also, I know licences are weird, but Autodesk Saya? Just say Autodesk Maya. Aoba begins to learn fast on how to use Ma-Saya, and meets Ijima Yun and Shinoda Hajime over lunch. After some bathroom problems and a tea party, the end of episode reveals that they are work on Fairies Story 3, the original game that got Aoba into the industry. Aoba is amazing, and I like her already. She has character, and she fits into the team very well. However, we don't get plot threads to create an obvious arc for the season. I do think it will be more about Aoba in adult life. Seriously, the next episode is a drinking party, which I am looking forward to. Overall I enjoyed this episode a lot! I can't wait to see what will come next. Tell me what you thought in the comments below.
As always, thanks for reading, have a nice day/night, share if it's not to much trouble and take care. Written by Nana Marfo NEW GAME!(C)Kadokawa Pictures Inc. |