Nana MarfoA student with a passion for game development and all things Japan. Archives
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The Devil is a Part Timer:First Impressions22/10/2019
More anime! So before we start finishing more anime, we need to start some more because priories. This is something which I heard about a lot, but never got around to. However, the anime society at my university has started to watch this, so I figured I should review it.
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 impression of The Devil is a Part-Timer. In the ocean, Ignora, lies a conspicuously large landform. It surrounded by 4 lslands in the shape of a cross. This is the land protected by Gods, Ente Isla.
So we begin with a war breaking out in Ente Isla, and Satan with 3 of his servents are leading the charge. After 2 of them are killed, and a hero invades his main hideout he retreats with Alsiel, and swears to take over Ente Isla when he returns.
We then cut to several 1000 years in the future, when Satan and Alsiel are now human, meaning that they are no longer able to use magic. Because there is no record of who they are, they are taken to the police station and questioned. I'll be honestly, I do like that there was some stakes here, as it sets it's self out from other comedy series.
After questioning, they learn more about how the world of Earth works, getting new names, oping a bank account and getting a house thanks to the landlord of Shiba Miki, who wants to take on people from unknown backgrounds. They seem to be settling in well, and I will says that the transltion was pretty fast, but I like it, gets things rolling and at a good pace.
After a trip to the hospital, where Satan gets an IV drip, he realises that he needs to take on a part time job, because the IV costs about the same as a month of rent. As such, he gets part time job at MgRonald's, named that because copyright laws, while Astral find a way to get their magic back. We also meet Satan's coworkers, who call him Maou in the work place. Is that short for Waga Maou? The link has the reference for those that don't know, and for those that do know some how anime has given the chance to make a Kamen Rider reference for the 2nd week in a row.
Ok I'm getting off topic. We meet Chiho Saskiai, Maou's co-worker and Kizaki, his boss. Maou is currently working setting a record on how many Black Pepper Fries that he can sell in a week, to beat the MgRonald's in the district, but the deep frier breaks, and he's unable to finish his shift well, but despite that, he becomes a full time employee. Nice, though the title makes no sense now.
However, in one last twist, it's revealed that The Hero who stopped Satan all those years ago survived, and she turns out to be a girl name Emilia, who he ending up helping earlier because she didn't have an umbrella. I'll save my comments on the ending theme for my full review. I do like the twist at the end, and I'm interested to see what hijinks come from it, especially if Emilia tries to go to work at McDon- I mean MgRonalds. I also wouldn't be surprised if Japan ends up being Ente Isla. The anime looks good for the most part, and I link the contrast of the medieval battle at the beginning, contrasted with the standard anime style of the rest of the episode. Overall I enjoyed this episode, and I'm glad I got to start this anime, as it feels like a good slice of life that will turn a LOT of concepts on it's head.
Well this was fun to watch! Thanks to the anime society at my uni for introducing me to this anime. I won't say what uni I go to just yet, but if you know me, you probably already know hehe.
Anyways, that's it! Thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written by Nana Marfo The Devil is A Part Timer(C)White Fox
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My Hero Academia Season 3: Review15/10/2019
Ok, so full transparency, this took way longer that I wanted it to, but I managed to get it done! Right around the time the new season is starting.
Eh. Anyways, we continue our journey into the life Izuku Midoriya and UA High school. But it seems there is an even bigger threat on the Horizon. Rules as always: 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. Time to go full hero mode! This is my review of My Hero Academia Season 3.
Let's jump to the end of Season 2 for a second. During the last episode, Tomura met up with Himiko Toga, a girl who has caused multiple murders and Dabi, a dude who honestly doesn't make that much of a first impression besides the fact that he looks like a patchwork quilt. This was the beginning of something we will see as a constant theme in this season, the growth of Shigaraki Tomura's cause.
So Class 1-A and 1-B end up going on a summer training camp. Training them is the Wild Wild Pussycats, a 4 person hero agency, who send Class 1-A on a wilderness hike to destroy monsters. Watching them is Kota, a kid that hates the idea of the Super-Human society obsessed with heroes. During a nightime training exercise. Both Classes get attacked by the Vanguard League of Villains, a group that is an extension of Tomura's original league of villains. They are looking for Bakugo, but Deku ends up saving Kota from Muscular, a dude that just want to be able to fight for the sake of fighting. He killed Kota's parents(hence why he was with the Pussycats), and Deku learns that they are after Bakugo. After taking on Muscular, is what a is a VERY well animated fight, Deku joins up with Todoroki and Bakugo are trying to stop both Moonfish, a convicted murder on death row(JESUS CHRIST) and Tokoyami, who quirk Dark Shadow is out of control because it is nightime, and that is when his quirk becomes harder to control.
They defeat Moonfish in part thanks to Tokoyami's quirk, and the Group meets up with Uraraka and Tsuyu who have been fighting Himiko Toga. She's a yandere, but I'll get into this fight when I analyse Uraraka's arc for this season. Bakugo and Tokoyami are taken by the Vanguard League of Villains, and despite a spirted effort by Deku, Todoroki and Shoji(He had been with the group since the Moonfish incident), they end up losing Bakugo to the League of Villeins. Deku ends up injured thanks to his effort against Muscular and all of Class 1-A go to visit him, with Kirishima and Todoroki having a plan in order to go a save Bakugo. Momo made a tracking device that she gave to the police and All Might to track Tomura's movements, and using a copy of that tracker, Deku, Kirishima, Todoroki, Momo and an uneasy Iida head out to save Bakugo. However the heroes end up going to the hideout, but the 5 students end up going to the Nomu factory where artificial Nomus are made.
The pro heroes and Police invade both the League of Villans hideout and the Nomu Factory, however their plans are stopped when Nomus start warping into the city, and Bakugo and the Villeins are warped to the Nomu factory by All for One, who presence ends up giving the now hiding students "hallucinations of Death". All Might arrives and soon afterwards, Bakugo is saved and Tomura and his gang of villains are sent away. All for One and All Might have their final battle which involves a lot of mind f**kery from All for One.
So early when Tomura was asked where All for One was, he had a flashback to his past, and we learn that his name was originally Tenko Shimura, and All for One tells us that he's the Grandson of Nana Shimura. This breaks All Might, but he manages to take out One for All with what I call the Godsend Punch, despite it costing him what remains of All for One.
After that, UA end up implementing the Dorms System, and while there was some pushback from Enko, Deku's mother, all of the 1-A students enter the dorms as part of Training to get their hero licences and this where the story once again stops for a bit to look more into how individual characters can improve themselves as heroes. An example of this is Kaminari, where he ends up adding a shooting disk drive that allows to concentrate electric shocks better in one spot. This ends up them taking an exam with all the other hero academics that ends up with everyone but Bakugo and Todoroki passing.
Bakugo after this calls out Deku to a fight, have figured out that Deku's power is passed down from All Might, with Bakugo feeling partially responsible for the end of All Might. The two fight with Bakugo winning through, however due to this they are put on house arrest. After that, Deku ends up meeting the Big Three of UA. Mirio Togata challenges Class 1-A to a fight... and they get their asses handed to them. And that's the story. I honestly found a lot better than season 2 character focused story, not that season 2 was bad, but there a lot more done to flesh out the bigger picture here. There is one new villain that I am skimming over, but he doesn't really do anything here.
The villains are a mix bag this season. While I like the expanded league of villains, Spinner and Magne don't really stick out, Magne especially, he honestly feels like an afterthought. I'm fine with Moonfish being a one off villain because he's a convict so like Muscular, he may have just wanted to kill people. Twice has the same problem, but his backstory is that he cloned himself and nearly got killed, and Dabi is pretty interesting. I wouldn't be surmised if he was one of Endeavour's failed experiments.
What do you want me to say about Toga? She's a Yandere. Yandere's are scary, though that does make me wanna watch Mirai Nikki, but that's besides the point. She can also clone people. She doesn't really use in any meaningful way beside using it to flirt with Deku. That was a thing. All for One is the best villain of the season hands-down, and I want to say the series so far. His motivation is the same as Tomura's, the idea that society is twisted against certain people, but his power is insane! I need to see the first fight between All Might and All for One, just to get a scope of how powerful this guy can get. On top of that, he ends working his way into All Might's brain, bringing up Nana Shimura just to taunt him. For those wondering, Nana Shimura is the former One for All holder. The way he is presented as villain is just amazing, and I really hope he comes back in some shape or form.
In terms of character arcs, there is a lot less to talk about this season, as most of the character development was pushed to Ochako, Bakugo and Deku. Aoyama get's a small hint of story, talking about wanting to be equal, though it's not expanded on.
Ochako's arc involves her feelings towards Deku, which involves her trying to put her feeling aside after realising Deku is not letting anything distract him. Her fight with Toga involves her confronting those feelings head on because Toga figures out what's going on with her. It's small, but I like Ochako's smaller developments. It's honestly refreshing to see. Bakugo Arc is the big one for the entire season, and it's focused on him coming to terms with the fact that Deku, who was behind him for a lot of his life, is now as strong as him, and the one that All Might chose, as well as the fact that he feels if he was stronger, he could have helped All Might, and he would have to give up his power. The thing is, Bakugo is kinda of a prick. If it wasn't for Mineta he would probably be my least favorate character, because the way he acts is no where near what a hero should act like. This development made him better a character and maybe he'll get better later, but for me? I don't see what makes him so great. I do admitly like him a little bit more now, but he's still not that great to me.
Deku's arc this season is learning 2 things, the first being to surpass his limitations, which allows to use One for All:Full Cowl Shoot Style, where he uses the powers of the rider kick and DID NO ONE MAKE THAT JOKE YET?
The second is him now coming to terms that All Might is gone, and very soon the fate of the world and the shape of his dream is now in his hands alone. I found myself heavily invested in Deku's arc this season because it felt like was closer to becoming a true hero. In fact let me say this right now, I think is the best all-around hero of the 1st years, it's just that his power levels are inconsistent is all.
The animation levels have been turned up to 11, as all of the fight scenes a bring a spectacular energy to them. Make my Story by Lenny Code Fiction is a great opening theme, which I feel fits the theme of passing the torch. The use of Long Hope Philla as the ending theme is probably more for movie promotion than anything else, but I love the acoustic mix that is used here. And it's sung by Phillp from Kamen Rider W, so that's makes like it by default.
If I were to rank the seasons of MHA so far, I would put season 3 just above season 2, and far above season 1. I think that this season does a better job of expanding the overall story given to us, and I can't wait to see what's next.
This took me WAY to long, and I apologise for that! Now that this out of this is out of the way, we can get other anime's! I won't be watching season 4 as it is airing because I am MHA'ed out. However there are some other anime's that I want to look at, including Fairy Tail! Look forward to it!
Before I go, I want to take a moment to plug the Animator Dormitory Project. This was brought to my attention by Uniquenameosaurus, and they are a team looking to improve how young animators are treated in Japan. They have so far made 4 animator dormitories, and have housed 11 animators. As someone who is wildly against how corporations treat people, I think that this is a great inshitive, and that you should support it! Help young people! We want to shape our own futures! And that's it! Thank you all so much for reading, and I will catch you guys later! PLUS ULTRA! Written By Nana Marfo My Hero Academia(C)Toho Animation/Horikoshi
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In Review:September 20194/10/2019
The most stressful month of the year at times, September! A month of a LOT of new starts, but we will get to it.
Writing this month I sadly only wrote one thing this month, but I'm fine with that because I'm getting used to Uni life, and a lot of other things happened. I also wrote a few things for Game Savvy this month. Website posts I wrote this month Top 5 Characters I want for Smash Bros. Ultimate Game Savvy Posts this month Indivisable Demo Review Favourite Art posts this month
Awesome things I saw/read/did
-MoeGamer wrote a great article about differing tastes! He's also currently featuring Senran Kagura, so go check it out. -Kenshi Yonezu put out an AMAZING video for his new Song, Uma to Shika. I urge to please check it out if you can. -Harmonia has been working on her own Kingdom Hearts based Project! Go check it out, I can't wait to see it. -Tokyo Game Show brought us Trailers for both Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind and Final Fantasy VII Remake! -We also got a lot of info about The Last of Us Part 2, which I'm going to use an excuse to shout out my friend,SydneySushiChef! -Nintendo also announced that Terry Bogard is coming to Smash! -We also FINALLY got the announcement of Tokyo Mirage Sessions coming to Switch! -Some gameplay of May from Guilty Gear 2020 also caught my eye, and we also got all of the characters announced in BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle 2.0! The first Reiwa Kamen Rider, Zero-One, began airing this month and it's pretty good so far! Games Played this month So my controller broke at the end of this month, which put a damper on my progress with Hyperdimention Neptunia. I am loving this game so much!
I also ended up playing a lot of Maplestory 2! The game is really fun to play, I'll probably play it more with my friendPrincessUsagi! Also congrats on your TwitchCon Trip Cece, I can tell you enjoyed it, and you deserved it!
Merch bought this month
WHERE IS THE FAIRY GOING?? I bought a Fairy Tail wallscroll! My first wallscroll as well, which is awesome!
Final Thoughts
September was a stressful month, as my course had to be changed at the last minunit, so I'm now doing Animation. My parents pushed against it, but I managed to get what I wanted. However, uni has been pretty awesome so far, however no pressure has come on to me yet, so that might have something to do with it. Shoutouts to my flatmates(sorry I'm so boring) and the people I met at the student's with disabilities mixer. October will probably be the month I forget to do some stuff,so bare with me on that regard, but I should hopefully have something out Tuesday. Also I hope I can finish MHA and review that finally. With that being said, thank you guys for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written By Nana Marfo
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Hey all! Once again, today we are doing something different once again! I wanted to talk about Smash Bros. last week as they confirmed that more DLC fighters are in development! With Terry from Fatal Fury confirmed, the possibilities for fighters are endless. So I figured, why not suggest my pretty obvious picks! Well if you know me, at least.
The only rule I have no suggesting fighters that could be Echo Fighters. For those wondering, my picks for those would be Sakura from Street Fighter IV and V as a Ryu Echo fighter, Zack from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII as an Echo of Cloud and Shadow the Hedgehog from the Sonic the Hedgehog series as an Echo of Sonic. No other rules then that, so Let's go!
1 - Sora - Kingdom Hearts Series
OK, so my 1,2 and 3 are all in all wanted about the same amount, which is basically the most wanted ones. Sora is someone I've wanted in Smash since the hype for DLC fighters started in Smash 4! While Sora has not had any mainline games on Nintendo consoles, all of the handheld entries besides Birth By Sleep have been on Nintendo Consoles. I think he would a good fit with a focus on his magic and FlowMotion, with a final Smash of any of his Limits from KH2, or the flash bang attack from Ultimate Form in KH3.
The only the thing I can see stopping him getting in is if Square Enix decide not to put to allow him in, because of the Hero getting in. Still I would love for this to happen. 2 - Lightning Farron - Final Fantasy XIII series
What, you thought this wasn't going to come up? No, of course you knew it was. Lightning is one of my favorite heroines in any video game, and I think with her move-set being a combination of her 2 classes, Commando and Ravager. Not medic because that could break the game. Her Final Smash would be the powerful Army of One.
I would love this were to happen for a few reasons. First being it would be very cool to Lightning Vs. Samus in a video game. Second being that it would show that Square has some interest in the remastering the 13 trilogy of games. However, I can see her not getting in for the same reasons as Sora. 3) Neptune - Hyperdimention Neptunia Series
Nep-Nep in smash would be worth it for the Meta references alone. Seriously, have her stage be Planetune, and have something like Palutena's Guidance, to where she makes comments on the characters people play as in the stages. This is a bit of a hopeful pick however, because she's only had one game on a Nintendo System(The most recent Super Neptunia RPG), and I don't know if it sold well, so that's something going against him, but I think she could be a great fit.
4 - Shantae - Shantae Series
This pick seemed impossible a while ago, but with the addition of Sans from Undertale as a Mii Costume, I think the door has opened up for Shantae, at least as a Mii costume, but I don't think fighter is out of the question. While her move-set could be a little complex, she could at least have her hair whip as her light attack. She also has a ton of designs that could be used as alternate outfits e.g. her Ninja and Jammies mode outfits.
I'm Hopeful that she could get in Smash, and Matt Bozon has said he is open to the idea. Here's hoping Sakurai sees it as a good idea. 5). Juri Han - Street Fighter IV and V
This is my pure "I can hope for it" pick, because I really don't think it would happen(if a SF girl got in, it would be Sakura as a Ryu Echo, or Chun-Li because of Recognition), but I really want Juri because she would fit better for Smash because she has personality and character that is AMAZING in my opinion. She just want to have fun, and in Smash, that's always welcome.
Honorable Mentions Quote - Cave Story - I don't see Quote NOT getting in because he's a Japanese Indie character, especially given the fact we have Sans now, so it's very doable as long as Nicalis and Pixel(Daisuke Amaya) allow it to happen. Byleth - Fire Emblem Three Houses - Given the success of this game, I don't see Sakurai not giving The Three House avatar a slot.
Who do you guys think will join the fight? Let me know in the comments!
But for now, thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written by Nana Marfo.
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In Review: August 20186/9/2019
My Birthday month has come and gone! More on that later! But for now let's look at the month in general.
Blog Posts written this month Life is Strange: Review NM Gameworks #22:What I use Rambelling about Feathery Ears Game Savvy posts written this month Oninaki Demo Review Going into the future Favourite Art Pieces this month
Favourite things this I saw/watched/read/did this month
Also, as a side note, since there was a lot of J-pop stuff this month, I 'll be going into that last. -We got an announcement for Megaman Zero and ZX collections! Zero is my favorite series of Megaman games, so I think I'll enjoy this collection! -I'm not really into story-time animation, butRelachi made 2 good videos on her First Straight Guy Crush. She's really funny, but maybe she should watch for more red flags. -SGB did an let's play of Mortal Kombat 11 and Sonic Colours! -Ellen of Livid Lightning answered 121 Blogger Tag Questions, including my Sunshine Blogger Tag. I don't know how I read all of them. -Kamen Rider Zi-O ended the Heisei Era of Kamen Rider on August 25, 2019. Farewell Heisei Riders. -I don't know if I shared this before or not, but Emirichu is one of the bigger YouTubers I find pretty cool, particularly her second childhood crushes video. -We got another trailer of MHA Season 4! I can't what happens from here on out! That opening theme also sounds pretty good. Speaking of Music, time to go into the J-Pop stuff. -Kenshi Yonezu released a cover of his own song, Paprika, which was sung by Foorin, and the cover is pretty awesome with a beautiful video. There was also a video for his new single but that came out this week, so that's for the next in review. -Reol released a video for Phanto(me). Oh my God, watch this video. It is amazing, so unique and creepy at the same time, go watch it! -Eve released a video for his new song, Baumkuchen End, and it's awesome! -I found a J-Pop classic that my friend Lyneriaa wrote about. Plastic Love by Mariya Takeuchi. -Finally, Yoh Kamiyama, an artist that I haven't really heard of till now, released a video for his new song, CUT, and it's also pretty unique. You see why I prefer Japanese things over the west quite a bit?
What I played this month
Did some grinding in Neptunia. Not much to really talk about there. I've also been playing Maplestory in my downtime, and honestly for an mmo, it's pretty fun to play alone.
I also finished Life is Strange! It was a fun ride, but you can read my review for more thoughts.
Also the day after I posted that Feathery Ears ramble, I bought Wings of Glass! I'm currently at the factory section, and it's pretty fun.
Merch This Month
I did actually buy a wall scroll this month, but Shipping is taking a while. Final Thoughts August, besides a few mental hiccups(which I know how to work through) was AWESOME! It's always been a turning point month for me ever 2017, and this year there was a lot of good things that happened. Firstly, I PASSED MY A-LEVELS AND GOT INTO UNI! I was so nervous that this wasn't going to happen, and I'm so thankful it did! Secondly, I MADE A SALE! Yea my friend Ellen(who you may known from above with the 121+ Question) bought one of my designs on a Mug! Thank you so much Ellen! And Finally, I TURNED 18!!! I AM NOW OFFICIALLY A MAN!Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes!! TBH though, lately I have been having a few mental hangups, but I've been working through them. One of them is just feeling pretty lonely, but I'm trying my best to break that feeling. Uni should help with that, hehe. Speaking of September will still have some stuff going on, but since I start Uni, my focus is probably going to be on that, so I may skip most of this month in terms of Blog posts. For that I apologise in advance. That being said, at least expect the MHA review, plus an All in The Character with it. But for now, thanks so much for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written by Nana Marfo All content use belongs to their respective rights holders
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Rambling about Feathery Ears 羽耳27/8/2019
Hey all! So today going to be something a little bit different that I've wanted to try out for a while. I'm just going to be talking about a game with no real rhyme or reason to it! Because it's fun.
As most of you know, I'm a big fan of Eager Passion, the one-gal studio run by Artsy Sayuri. She made Wings of Glass, which I would get around to properly playing and reviewing, but I've been busy if you can't tell. I'll try and get around to it soon as I can, it's not like Mayfly is in this game anyways. No, this game, called Feathery Ears 羽耳 or Feather Ears Hane Mimi is very different to Wings of Glass. Just a head up, most of my Wings of Glass experience comes from the Demo, which was known under Glass Wing Capstone.
Sayuri is still working on what she calls "Wingsverse", but is making this game in a month. In the image above with the Logo is the protagonist Misa Ikko, a character in the story drawn by Ashley Dengara, a ninth grader. I am already in love with this idea. Exploring the mindset of teenagers trying to design characters is a great idea, honestly it looks like Misa fits right in with the game. I do hope that we can get some of Ashley's perspective on things though out the story. And despite being about questionable teen character design, the game visually looks great, even though it's re-using some of Wings of Glass assets, mainly the source code, so I don't expect too many differences in art style.
The gameplay it's self seems to be a more combat focused Wings of Glass. For those that don't know, in Wings of Glass, you had the same tools, but they were weaker and used only for puzzles, and you mostly use stealth to get around hazards in the game.
Here weapon seem more powerful, and it seems like you have all the abilities in Wings of Glass, so it should be an solid action-platformer. Misa also seems to be interacting with a lady shark called Coral, an NPC in the game. I hope that we get more NPC's that are unique her.
Overall, I 'm really looking forward to this game, and I really want to see where this game goes! Teenagers are super creative, and I want to see how she interprets the idea. If you want to try out Wings of Glass, you can buy it from the links at the bottom(one is for Steam, one is for Itch.Io), and these link are NOT affiliate links, I just like the game.
THIS WAS VERY FUN TO WRITE! I want to do something like for a while, just spouting bulls**t on something that I love. I will do more of these for sure! In other news, TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!! I'M 18! Thanks to everyone that's I've met over the past 2 years, you all are awesome in your own ways.
But for now, thanks for reading, and to quote Sayuri herself: Be creative and have fun. Hugs and headpats for everyone!
Take care guys.
Written by Nana Marfo Feather Ears and Wings of Glass(C)Eager Passion
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NM Gameworks #23:What I use20/8/2019
Disclamer: This post will have some affiliate links. You can read more about them here.
Hey all! Today I wanted to do something different today, and since it's my Birthday Month, I wanted to give you guys some of the stuff I use! This will cover hardware and software, beside my Laptop, which I need to replace for reasons I can't disclose. I'll also recommend a book that I use for game design.So Let's Begin! Headset - EasySMX A55 HeadSet
This thing is awesome! I use it mostly for talking with friends or just playing games, the sound quality is loud, I've little to no audio peaks during my call sesstion with friends, and I found that the headset itself is both very flexable and sturdy. However, it only comes in one colour, orange.The headset costs £10 so snag it if you fancy one from Amazon.
Controller: IFYOO ZD-V+ Wired GamePad
This controller is also awesome! I have dropped mine on a few occasions, but it works pretty well! The controller feel comfortable in my hands, and even with intensive play, I don't get hand cramps. The controller is also in 1 colour scheme: Blue and Back and has the XBOX Face buttons with a PS4 Styled D-Pad. It's £16, so if you fancy one, grab it from Amazon.
Game Making Software:Unity 3D
Unity has been my Game making software of choice, because it's so easy to use with holding your hand. I believe a good program(at least for me anyways), should have ease of access, but should at least teach you the basics of a generalised workflow. Blueprints is fine, I just don't see the need for it because I'm trying to learn everything that I can. Unity is free, although be warned, they do put out updates VERY frequently, so be warned on that fact if you decide to download it.
3D Software: Blender 3D
If you going to do any sort of free course, get Blender. Maya and 3DS are VERY expensive, and even with the free student edition, after that runs out, you can't use it unless you have an absurd amount of money that you can pay yearly. Blender, on the other hand, is free, open source, adaptable and has just gotten an update that streamslines to make it closer to Maya. I'll talk about that more next week. If you want to get started, download Blender here.
GFX/Photo Editing Software: GIMP
GIMP is admittly a very flawed program, but I honestly still use it when I want to do photo editing, and with a few work arounds, it's not so bad to use.Like Blender, the program is open source, so you can add some add-on if you want to make the experience more like Photoshop. Again, GIMP is free, so download it here.
Book: The Art of Game Design
I'm not sure if this book is need for students studing game design, but I think it's a great book regardless. It gives multiple perspectives on game design for stories, gameplay and characters. I would recommend getting the first edition or looking on Ebay if you are tight on money, but if you can, get the second editionfrom Amazon.
And that's it! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys next time! Written By Nana Marfo
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Life Is Strange:Review13/8/2019
Well this took too long to write. School can do that to you, my friends. Make you forget you have games to play. Well that and making a bunch of other content, but that happens sometimes. Rules:
1.Spoilers are abounding, and depending on the game, can spoil the experience. This one in particular is very story heavy, so be warned going into the review. 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 covering the PC version. Also, this game deals with sensitive topics, and again, while I will talk about it, besides teens smoking, I will not show screen-caps. And be warned, I'm spoiling this game rotten, so if you haven't played it, please do, because regardless of my opinion on the game, I believe this game is something you should experience for yourself. And for those that have played before, I believe that where I made choices are clear with what I chose for certain choices. So, let's jump into the rest of this story. This is my review of Life Is Strange.
Story
*deep breath* OK, let's do this. Episode by Episode. I'm assuming you read my episode 1 review for the details on that one. Out Of Time So after Max and Chloe figure out there is a storm coming to the Bay, we spend some time helping Kate March, who is being bulled and picked on by Victoria among others.. She's someone that ended up that affected thanks to Nathan, a common theme in the story. Nathan drugged her and raped her, and recorded this and put it up on the internet. Kate asks Max if she should go to the police, and in my play-through I advised her that she should. After that, we ,meet up with Chloe who at her mother;s diner called the 2 whales, where she learns more about Max's time rewind power, but after going to the junkyard with Chloe, we learn that her power is limited, as Max begins to suffer headaches. We also meet Frank, a person that Chloe owes money to for drugs, and save Chloe from impending doom via train tracks. However this take a turn for the dark when Kate wants to JUMP OFF THE ROOF OF BLACKWELL. Max ends up saving her in my play-through. Also, note that Kate spoke to her teacher, Mr.Jefferson, before trying to jump off the roof. Overall, I would say the story of this episode was good, as it was still some setup, but gave the feeling that something big is starting to happen.
Chaos Theory
Max and Chloe infiltrate the school after hours, as Max suspects that something was up, where they find more dirt on Nathan, and then go to the pool. More on this in at the end. They then head to Frank's place due to him saying that he had a relationship with Rachel, and they are able to confirm this. This pisses Chloe off, knowing that the person she cared about a lot was with one of the people that they both hated. Seeing all the pain that Chloe has gone through, Max inadvertently goes BACK IN TIME. She ends up going far enough to the point where she able to stop Chloe's father, William, from dying. However, Chloe can't seem to catch a as ends up in a wheelchair for her troubles, as a result of getting into a car crash on with the car she got on her 16th birthday. I personally enjoyed Episode 3 as it feels like the one they want you to bond with Chloe the most. And I really felt that bond between them, but more on that later.
Dark Room
So it turns out that Max ended up in an alternate timeline, where William lived, but Chloe ended up paying the price instead. She's not able to use any of her limbs, and her days are mostly spent in a hospital bed. After talking with Max and going through memories, Chloe then asks you ASSIST HER SUICIDE BY TURNING UP HER IV. The devs like us making hard choices, huh? I chose not to because I couldn't bear to see her die. Max goes back in time again to fix things, letting William die, returning her to the current timeline. After that, Max and Chloe do some investigating, going round gathering clues from David, Chloe's douchebag father, Kate, Nathan and Frank. It leads them to an abandoned warehouse where they find the place called the dark room, where photographs of people have been taken, and they find a folder of Victoria with nothing in it, meaning that she's next. However, they also find a folder with Rachel's name and gruesome photo, and after going back to the Junkyard, they find Rachel's body, leaving Chloe pissed at Nathan. They head to the party to warn Victoria, but when they leave, Nathan implies that he plans to burn Rachel's body, but it turns out the real culprit was... Mr.Jefferson, working with the Prescott's, taking Nathan under his wing, and pretty much becoming his father figure.He sent the text from Nathan's phone, DRUGS MAX AND KILLS CHLOE. But things are not over yet. Episode 4 was pretty heart breaking to watch at points but I didn't expect that plot twist, and kudos to the developers for adding that assisted death choice.
Polarised
Mr.Jefferson takes Max to the dark room, and Jefferson does his creepy photography, toying with Max in the process. However, Max manages to find a photo to take her to the start of the week, making sure she hands in her entry for the Everyday Hero's contest, which changes the timeline to her winning, and the day is saved... for all of 20 minutes, as Chloe is caught out in the storm, so Max goes back to make sure she doesn't hand that photo, but ends up back in the Jefferson torture chamber, and with Chloe still dead. Max puts a fight and with some help from David, Max is able to escape the chamber, and goes to find Warren, her nerdy friend from school, so she can a photo that that they both took the just before the vortex party to save Chloe from going bang. She saves her, but passes out from her efforts, and the game then taunts in a Nightmare, where you apparently fall in love with the deranged photographer, show go through a stealth section that has the other taunting you on what you could have done, be taunted by dead spirits of William and Rachel, and reminisce your memories with Chloe, more on this a bit. When Max wakes up, Chloe realises that she might be the catalyst, and you are forced to make the ultimate choice, save Chloe or save Arcadia Bay?
Before I reveal my choice, I want to say that Life is Strange's story... is good! I really like the writing in particular, the interactions with characters make them feel like they are teenagers, and I like the atmosphere that the game gives you. The big problem that I have is that the game keeps playing up that the choices you make in this game affect the past, present and future. Of course I though that this meant that this affects the ending, but in reality, it doesn't because in the end,you have to choose between Chloe and the Bay no matter how you treat people. Hell when I took the photo back to where it all started in Episode 5, I thought that guaranteed me what I though was a bad ending, but then I realised that even if I did I still had to make that choice. That choice is HARD. VERY HARD. But this leads me into the what I think is the defining feature of Life is Strange's story, the relationship between Max and Chloe.
From the moment these 2 met, it honestly feels like they are grown up childhood friends. Max, while still a character that represents the player for me, feels like her own character because she actually has personality traits that make her feel like her own character. Though I will admit, she does feel a bit like a Mary Sue. Chloe is what I would call a tortured character, where she has had almost everything ripped away from her and when Max comes back, she's found some happiness in her life again.
The bond between these two feels like a romantic bond, no matter what happens they have each other, and you even get the option to kiss Chloe in Episode 3. Which I did do admittedly. The moments that Max and Chloe felt like it deepened their bond, and felt heart warming in most instances. For this reason, I saved Chloe. I thought to myself "F**k me if I let her die, she deserves some happiness in her life." That being said the nightmare also drove this choice because dream Chloe taunts you by being with other people while you are in the Dark Room, and this made me tense. Like I said before, I thought I got the "bad ending". I do like both endings though, the Chloe dies ending for the immense effort the devs put in, and the Chloe lives ending for the starting their Brave New World, just like Chloe and Rachel were going to do, in Life is Strange:Before the Storm. Life is Strange asks you in it's ending, "Is one person worth the world?". And for me, Chloe was.
Gameplay
Life is Strange plays like a point and click adventure. You go around an area and you look at thing, making sure that have the item that you needed to progress. Life is Strange also has you talk to people, and with certain interactions, you can the use the information given to help with other interactions. I like this, although the game is pretty slow because of this, and while I don't mind it because of the setting, I understand why it can be an issue for some. The big feature of this game how Max can rewind time at any given moment. This is mostly used for changing the outcome of choices, and at certain points see different outcomes. I found this helpful during major choices, where it was said that this action would have consequences, you can tell from the butterfly afterwards and the haze before you make the choice. You can also do this at will, but the game is very linear in where you HAVE to use the time travel mechanic, which makes sense, but again,this limits the impact the choices you make really have.
Looks, Sound and Final Thoughts
The game looks great, as the use cel-shaded graphics and quality of the models are on point, but the factual animation is awful to point of where I found it distracting. I understand that I may have more of an eye for this than others, but it still bothers me that a game that is 70% movie has facial animations this bad. Hell, I even got a glitch where Max's mouth DIDN'T MOVE FOR A SCENE. IT'S CREEPY. Thought I can say the voice acting makes up for it. Ashly Burch as Chloe and Hannah Telle as Max put in amazing performances, and the music choices for them are perfect. The vocal music(which, despite what REACT says, I don't think is Royalty Free) in this game is awesome, and the atmospheric music is pretty good too. Overall, I really enjoyed this game, but I feel as if Life is Strange is more of a experience that a game, which makes it hard for me recommend. However, if you are interested in this game at all, I urge you to pick it up, as it is an experience like no other in my opinion.
Huh. I'm surprised this isn't as long as the FF13 review with how much story I needed to cram in. And for those wondering, yes I'm planning to pick up the Comics that take place after the game, and the FF13 prologue book. Money is just hard to get atm. If you want to get them yourselves and help out the blog, you can get them at the affiliate links in the description.
Anyways, this week is A-Level results week so I'll let you know how it goes. And to any A-Level student reading this: Good luck on your journey. But for now, thanks for reading, and I will see you guys next time.
Written By Nana Marfo
Speical Thanks: Gwen AKA HellyonWorks and Omar, for the recommendation of this game. I hope this review did it justice. Life is Strange belongs to Square Enix and Dontnod Entertainment
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In Review:July 20192/8/2019
Summer has always been a turn point for me, and July was the start of that. So let's get into it!
Writing in review July was where I got back into the swing of things, now with a lot of free time, I managed to get 4 blog post done(including the store launch), as well as something experimental. Personal Blog Posts Kamen Rider Bulid: Be The One: Review My Take on ArmChair Devs: Final Fantasy XVI Cutie Honey The Live:First Impressions Update:Store is Open! Game Savvy Posts What to expect from Kingdom Hearts 3: Re:Mind Favourite Art Pieces this month
Awesome Things I saw/did/read
-Ellen of Livid Lightning did a great post on mostly the awesome ladies in media, but mostly Final Fantasy XIII. -The Super Gaming Brothers just started their let's play of Sonic Colours! These are some funny people, so go check them out. -My friend Jennifer is doing custom versions of the My Hero Academia girls! She just did Momo, Jiro and Tsuyu! The Gaming Diaries did a great post on one of the Daily Inkings by Normal Happenings. - I went to both POC in play and BAME in games, and they were great events! New Merch I got some photo prints from an app called FreePhotoPrints! I just choice 3 at random this time, but I will choose some better ones next time!
Final Thoughts
Ok, so besides the last few days of the month, July was AWESOME! I WENT TO SO MANY EVENTS AND I LAUNCHED MY STORE! Thanks so much for the support. Like I said on twitter, I haven't made a sale yet and I don't expect to make a sale from a while, but it's amazing to know people like my that I'm making. August is my birthday month! Yea I turn 18 this month, and my future is also decided this month, because it's A-levels results month. I'm pretty sure got the grades needed to head to my uni of choice(it's pretty low, but I like the vibe I'm getting from it). I don't think this month will be slower in terms of stuff getting done, but if I forget a few things... bare with me. Anyways, I won't be posting this Tuesday, because... I'll be honest, I've just ran of ideas haha. It happens to best of us. As always, thanks for reading, and I will see you guys next time.
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Update: Store is Open25/7/2019
Hey all! This is going to be a short one since I am posting this the day I'm recording this, but I just want to say that my store is now open!
This is mostly for people who want to support the site as a one off venture. My designs(as with everything I do are inspired by pure creativity, and a love Japanese mediums of entertainment(some more than others). The links on the store will take you to the appropriate page on RedBubble, when you can get these designs on T-Shirts, Sticker, Posters, Hoodies and more! Take a look at the designs below, and if you see something you like, head to the store, or go to https://www.redbubble.com/people/nanamarfo1. While here I would also like to promo my Buy Me a Coffee(like Ko-fi but works with credit cards) with commission options available at the button below this post.
By extension, I want to shout out my co-writer at Game Savvy, Kiley Wilde, who is kinda like my online mother to be honest, who runs a small business in T-Shirt and printing business herself called Bamboozie. Check her out she makes good stuff.
But yea, get some stuff if you want to support us! See you guys next week for the in review!
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Cutie Honey:The Live: First Impressions23/7/2019
So MHA is kinda of on the backburner for now. Not in bad way at all, in fact, I would say Season 3 is best season of MHA so far, but that's for another day.
This show is a Toku Show, and did hear about it in some capacity(I even mistook it for the 2004 live action Cutie Honey film), but this keeps on being talked about by fellow Toku Twitter person, KiwamiCube, or just Cube. So I figured, why not? I need to watch more Toku anyways. Rules: 1. Spoliers are abounding folks. 2.I am using TV-Nihon subs. Also as a disclamer, this will get NSFW. This is my first impression of Cutie Honey: The Live.
We begin 3 criminals escaping different jails, and they have all been convicted of at least murder. The police but up an effort to stop them, but they end up getting special guns that end helping defeat them. We then cut to our intro theme, which is a bit... unorthodox, to say the least?
The song itself, Cutie Honey, is pretty nice despite some questionable lyrics. As for the opening... I would link to it, but I can't find it on YouTube... and for good reason.
We then cut to a women going to a place called the Hayami Detective Agency, where she meets private detective Hayami Seiji, a detective who lives in poverty in order to expose the problem with capitalism in Japan. She goes there to ask him to find his brother Yamashita Jirou, one of the criminal that escaped. I'll bring this up here so we can come back to it later, but we also keep cutting to a high school where girls are getting their medical check up.
Jirou was convicted for murder, and his sister, Nana think he should turn himself in, and we learn more about him and his motive, but for reasons I'll get into, knowing this is kinda pointless.
We then go to a swimming pool where we see a dude who's actor also plays Kusaka from Faiz talking about who is going to win "this match". It seems that 3 people have bet on the prisoners on how long they can outrun the police. If they win they get a prize and if the prisoners get caught they die. This is demonstrated by Kishima Naoki, who gets caught, and ends up dead. While this works and the game itself is explained fairly well through the episode, I would have preferred some sort of exposition to explain what's going on, but I don't think that's this kinda show.
Nana and Seiji go to the spot where her brother commited her murder, and then Jirou knocks out Seiji, and takes off with Nana, where we learn it was Nana that commited the murder and that Jirou was in jail because he want to keep his sister out of jail. However, someone gave him "a chance". The police show up, and then escape in a car Nana shows herself to be a psycopath, attempting to kill her brother, until the police show up. However, the police,Jirou Nana and Seiji are assulted by a group of hitmen and Kusaka(his name isn't mentioned so I'm calling him Kusaka for now). I think he has multipal people in one body, as he seems to switch between playful and serious on a whim. I like his introduction though, as he still comes across as pretty threatening. But if you think things are weird now... well, be prepared.
Jirou ends up killed as Nana runs and Seiji calls a girl name Kisargi Honey, who's in the medical check-up we talked about early, a he begins running towards a park. However, she gets to the scene pretty fast, and seems overly naive at first. After the hitman begin attacking again, she transforms by RUNNING NAKED THROUGH THE PARK AND KICKING ONE OF THE HITMEN.
YES I JUST TYPED THAT. I needed a moment when saw that, but it is either the dumbest thing I have ever seen, or the coolest thing I have ever seen, and I'm still not sure which.
Her suit is pretty nice, even if it is just red and black leather, though I do like the metal/silver(I can't really tell) on her fingers. Looks like a bunch of rings. Anyways, the last criminal survives and winner got... uh... sexual favours. Huh. Kusuka turns his fingers in FEATHER SWORDS. That's pretty cool. The ends with Cutie Honey being tossed around. Oh and Nana dies as well, probably because she's no longer needed.
The ending is pretty nice, just Honey fighting mooks while a nice little ending theme plays. Honey is a intresting protagonist in the fact that she's pretty childish and innocent all things considered, and I can't wait to see where that goes.
Overall, this reminded a LOT of Senran Kagura, but honestly I'm curious to see where this goes, as the opening teases more heroines, and I want to see how they affect the story. Plus, it's Japanese kind of abusurdly that is fun to watch, because you it's going to be a fun ride at worst.
This was fun to write, it was very different to the stuff I usually watch and I had a lot of fun with the jokes this time. Either way, thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written By Nana Marfo. Cutie Honey the Live belongs to TV Tokyo
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"For over 30 years, across 15 mainline titles, the Final Fantasy series has been delivering thrilling RPG adventures to players,featuring icon characters and stories that people love or get really mad at. The series has been constantly reinventing it's self when it comes to gameplay and setting."
KZXcellent took 3 pitches for this in the Armchair Devs podcast. Today(in a more serious and "professional" manor) I will present my ideas for the next game in Square Enix biggest franchise. This is my take on Armchair Devs: Final Fantasy XVI.
Elevator Pitch
This is the part where I have to write a pitch in around 30 secs: "The setting for Final Fantasy XVI will be set in the modern world, where our hero must go through the both the suburbs and the modern city in order to bring justice to the world." What is the General Setting going to be like? Like I said, our protagonist will have to adventure between the urban and suburban environments, exploring the city and looking at different places in order to save the world. The world has been overtaken by the corrupt government and monarchy, oppressing the people and it's up to the resistance called Dyna, who are looking to find out what is going on in with this oppressive rule, but will find out that a sinister force pulling the strings. Speaking of, who is the main antagonist? The stories main antagonist is a female who felt as if she was oppressive by social norms and values within society, because of the fact that she learned to use dark magic and mind control. However, this will only be hinted at in the main story, as a lot of the main moves will be made by the government. Who will the main protagonist(s)? Our main protagonists are a part of this resistance force. A boy named Mike and a girl named Rachel are the main 2 fighters in this resistance, Mike uses the element of Fire and Clare uses the Element of Ice, and this would be reflected in their weapons, fighting style and magic. I would have art, but I'm broke and can't draw that well, so sorry?
Speaking of what will the gameplay be like?
The gameplay will be an action RPG, in the style Final Fantasy XV, but with improvments such as enemies counting within a middle of a combo, and different button inputs to peform different combos. As such, it takes elements more from the hack n'slash genre of games. If you had the choice, who would be your Character designer, Director and Composer? I want this Final Fantasy XVI to have some style and flare to it. As such, if I had the chance, I would ask Mr Kingdom Hearts himself, Tetsuta Nomura to direct the game. After seeing his work on Megaman Zero and his interptations on the Kamen Rider series, I would ask Toru Nakayama to design the charaters for this game.
As for the sound track, I would hire Yoko Shimomura, because she has proven that she is able to make music for a range of different settings via the Kingdom Hearts series and Final Fantasy XV.
What is the projected time scale for this game? I would hope to have this game completed in 3-4 years, unless we are working with a unknown Console Artcutre, which would require an extra year or to iron out any bugs. And that's about it! Thanks to the GigaBoots PodCast Network inspiring this post. What do you guys think? Would it be good or bad? Anything else you want to know? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written By Nana Marfo Inspired by Armchair Devs #2:Final Fantasy
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Kamen Rider Bulid:Be The One: Review9/7/2019
Bulid was a good Kamen Rider. I fell off towards the end because school got hard, but I caught up afterwards in the main series, and while there was a bit too much politics in play, and I felt that Evol was pulling BS out of his ass towards the end, it was fun. But how does the movie hold up?
Rules as always: 1.Spoilers(and I'm talking series, not just the film this time) are abounding folks. 2.I am watching TV-Nihon subs. This is my review of Kamen Rider Bulid: Be The One.
So before we begin, I should note that this film is canon to the Kamen Rider Build story between Ep. 45 and 46. If you go from here, I am assuming you have watched up to those episodes.
We begin with a flashback to Shinobu Katuragi, who talks about the energy of Pandora Box and how it could destroy Earth, and that the fate of Earth depends on someone, though if you watched the show, you know who it is already. We then cut to the present day, where Sento is talking to Sawa and Misora about the weather, as well as where the other Kamen Riders are. Gentoku is sleeping, while Banjo and Kazumi are visiting the graves of their fallen ones. The new governors of Touto, Seito and Hokuto make themselves known, with Kengo Ino, the new governor of Touto, saying to the people that Build should be eliminated He then puts them under mind control, and the Hunt for Bulid begins. Saigo Ryouka, the governor of Hokuto, goes to fight Bulid, but Grease(Kazumi) and Rogue(Gentoku) fight her off so Bulid can keep running from the people.
Banjo Ryuga on the way back hears about what is happening, but he ends up in a car with Goubara Mitsuomi, the new governor of Seito. He was also the one that chose Banjo's girlfriend to become a smash, because Banjo needed a reason to be pissed off? Maybe I'm forgetting something in the series, but this kinda comes out of nowhere. Ino shows up, activating Banjo's alien nature, making him pure evil, and granting him the power of the Great Cross-Z Dragon once again. Oh and Kamen Riders aren't affected by the mind control, probably because of the Nebula Gas injected into them.
Sento goes into the government Labs again to research the the Kiwami(extreme in Japanese, though I have seen it called Zenith in relation to Kiwami Arms from Kamen Rider Gaim) Project. This is where Sento meets Kengo Ino, who is a part of the Blood Tribe. This is the tribe that Evolto is a part of, and they were going to destroy earth together, but Evolto had his own plans of course. They also manipulated the wars for each region somehow, though they all saw of the light of Pandora Box(that's not a typo btw, just saying), which increased their motivation to go to war. Himuro Taizan wouldn't have of course(he sent Gentoku, his son in his place), so if we subtract Touto wouldn't Hokuto and Seito gone to war in the first place? Maybe I'm over thinking it.
With the help of Evil Banjo, Kengo is able to retrieve the Hazard Trigger, and combines that with the power of the other 2 governors(who can turn into smash) to become Kamen Rider Blood, a really cool looking dark rider form. He tries to kill Sento(they ended up fighting for the Hazard Trigger), but Evolto keeps him alive, probably to advance his own plans later in the series.
Sento ends up wandering in the rain for a bit, speaking to Katsugri Takumi, and if you haven't watched Bulid, why are you still here? Takumi is still worried about Banjo destroying the Earth, though in a flashback, we see that Shinobu said that Banjo holds the key to the Earth's fate. In that flash back Sento(possessing Takumi's body), asks why he became a scientist.
The next day, Sento goes to fight Kengo, and despite the people being against him, fights valiantly. Misora is saddened, despite being under the mind control, probably because of Vernage's infulence and Sawa seems to be the same way because of her smaller exposure to the Nebula Gas. Sento says he'll keep fighting even if no one is on his side, and using the Gold Rabbit full Bottle(they explain later that riders with High Hazard Levels can make bottles evolve), he's able to free Banjo, however Blood activates the Hazard Trigger to dig into the earth and destroy it from the core. Kamen Rider likes set piece final battles for the movies don't they? Ghost had the 100 Eyecons Battle, Ex-Aid had the City Being trashed while fighting Gamedeus, and now this. It's not bad, in fact it works for the movies, just a trend I've noticed.
Grease and Rogue take on the 2 smash, while Sento thinks of a using Gold Rabbit and Silver Dragon to stop Kengo, but Misora(now with the Vernage personality)combines 2 Gold and Sliver bottles with Genius to form Cross-Z Bulid, a really good looking form which you can is based off the Rabbit Rabbit and Tank Tank suits for inspiration.
Rogue and Grease defeat the smash, while Cross-Z Bulid, in what is a really cool fight scene, fight Blood, and reveals that Shinobu became a scientist for the reason that Sento and Banjo fight: Love and Peace. They defeat Blood, returning the people to normal, and Sento ends the film saying he's happy as long he can create a future for others, along side Everlasting Sky, which is a nice ending theme.
After the credits, Sento is taken to a world where other Riders are fighting, when Zi-O steps in and explains who he is after kicking the monsters asses. This is better than the Ex-Aid movie, because at it feels like the slot at the end was intended.
The story overall is pretty good, though one thing I will levy against it is that the Blood Tribe are not that interesting, which is a shame considering Evolt's character and personality. Kengo does comes off as a charismatic leader, and while a bit bland, I do like what they do with him, as he comes off as a more serious Evolt, but I feel like Goubara and Saigo could have been removed and we would have nothing really missed.
Another complant that I have is that Kazumi and Gentoku are absent for most of the movie, as you can tell the writers want to focus on Sento, more on that in a second. Utsumi also made a cameo, but it's nothing noteworthy. I also think that Misora could have been freed from the mind control earlier, given that she has Vernage's power within her, but for how she was used it was good. However, I can apprecate the focus of this movie on Sento.
Ever since Kamen Rider started doing post-series movie with a focus on the main Rider, just to wrap their story or see how they got on after their series. This feels like that, a wrap up of Sento's character and everything surrounding the relationship between him and Banjo, as well as him accepting that even if people hate his existence, he has to fight.
Overall, I can say that I liked Be The One. While there is a lot of pacing issues, characters that go missing and a few uninteresting elements, those are minor flaws for a good written story focusing on our hero Kiryu Sento.
Been a while since I reviewed a Toku show or movie. Hopefully I can get around to doing the Rider Time shows for Shinobi and Ryuki.
But for now, thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written By Nana Marfo For Daichi Nobe, the suit actor for Hammer Bros. Kamen Rider/Kamen Rider Bulid (C) Toei
Note: If your thinking about buying either of the 2 belts, please check others sites first! Kamen Rider products have a tendency to be over priced on Amazon, even when new and in box.
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In Review:May and June 20195/7/2019
Hey all! Bumping 2 months into 1 this month, because they were overlapping exams, and June has just been hectic in general. But how did I do writing wise?
Writing in review May was still a big month for me writing wise, as I wrote a big article on creativity. June I had to slow down, but I still got an all in the character out. Blog Posts NM GameWorks #21:What is Creativity? Daily Inkling:Broken Memories All in the Character: Oerba Yun Fang NM Gameworks #22:Always Learning More GameSavvy Posts N/A Favourite Art pieces
Awesome things I saw/did/read
-First and foremost, huge shout to my friend Jennifer, who is back doing art now that exams are over! She's done pieces of Kasumi from Persona 5 and Nessa from Pokemon Sword and Shield! -If your a female wanting to get into games, speak to Anisa Sanusi, she runs a female mentorship scheme for girls want to get into game development. -Kiley Wilde, my co-writer at Game Savvy, made a really good video on living with BPD, and how it affects her. - I sadly did not have a prom, but if you need a hair-do females, my friends Beverly and Mary will do hair for a cheaper cost than most! -Thanks to everybody that came to my Sixth Form show last week! It was pretty awesome! -Japanese music was all sorts of awesome. Kenshi Yonezu released a song called Spirits of the Sea, and Reol released a new video for Lost Paradise. -My friend Philip has started streaming! Go check him out! He's currently playing Arkham Knight! Games Played I ended up starting Final Fantasy VII thanks to a friend, and it's been fun so far! Man, why do I have so many JRPG's to play?
I also started playing Forward to the Sky! It's pretty fun so far! I really do like the look and feel of the game, even if the voice acting is...meh.
I also went back to Re:Birth 1! Just grinding at the moment, but I will say Pluta and Peachy are pretty cool to play as.
Final Thoughts
May was kinda a normal month in my mind TBH. Yes, I was still doing exams and other things, but I was still regularly going into school. However, as some of you may know, my teacher of 4 years,died in this time period. I wish him and his family the best, and like I said before, I hope he finds peace wherever he is now.
June... has been hectic. Between E3, my last exams, the funeral of said teacher, my A-Level show, putting up and taking down said show...yea it's been a lot. However, July will not be the same! I am trying to tick off goals one at a time! And now with school over, I can do this at will. I'm also looking for a job to support this website, and I'm launching my T-Shirt brand this month!!
But that's all for now. Thanks for reading and I will catch you guys next time.
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NM Gameworks #22:Always Learning more25/6/2019
For Michael Tudor 1965-2019
Hey all! Sorry that these have been absent, but I have been busy, if you can't tell. However's that's not an excuse to slack off! I've been hard at work in the world of 3D, working on things such as new artworks, weapons, and also animation though that last one is mostly becaue I have started for another game.
Recently I've been using Blender 2.8, which I do think is better than 2.79, but the new interface is a bit simpler, and very hard to get use to(and seriously, who decided to change Blender to LEFT CLICK DEFALT? That screwed me over in the first few days). I'll do a more direct comparison at somepoint, but I feel that Blender 2.8 is much easier, to use, esphally since Eevee(the new engine), runs in real time. That is awesome. I will probably continue to use slowly transition to Blender 2.8 soon enough.
The second thing is I've become more confident in my abilities to make 3D models! My mentor wants me to keep start practice sculpting, so I'll see what I can come up with! I have used the techniques for sculpting in one of my pieces so far, a piece I made based on Ghost Of The Sea:
Here the rock which Kairi is standing is all sculpted. I did this because I wanted the rock to look a bit more natural. I'm going to keep working on these skills, so stay tuned!
Finally, I'M WORKING ON A NEW GAME! Though this one will be kept secret, so stay tuned...
Oh and IDK when Unity Chan Dash will have it's next update. I want to fix a lot of things first. But for now, thanks as always for reading, and I will catch you guys next time
Written By Nana Marfo
Kasumi from Shubaruu on DeviantArt, ported from DOA5 Chun-Li from Chrissy-Tee on DeviantArt, ported from SFV Water Palace from deexie on DeviantArt Branch Dagger created and designed by me Iris Torso created by me, original Character design by Keiji Inafune
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All in the Character:Oerba Yun Fang16/6/2019
Hey all! Welcome back to all in the Character, the series where I take a look at different characters from games and anime, and break down their design, story and personality. Final Fantasy XIII is a game that I wholeheartedly adore, and most of that is thanks to the charters. Today I'll be taking a look at one of the who doesn't seem that important at first, but becomes important later. The only rebel not to be with the crew at the start of the game, Oerba Yun Fang.
Design
Fang's designs has always stood out to me as one my favourites in gaming. She wears a modified version of a blue Indian Sari, alongside a black sport bra and tribal garments. I see this as her version of a martial arts get up, but I also think this ties into the idea her and Vanille are from the world below, because their dress sense is more eastern compared to someone like Sazh, who wears a more Western style of clothing. Another interesting thing about her design is the dragon tattoo(which also somewhat resembles the tips of her weapon) that is on her right, which could both be a reference towards her summon, the Bahamut dragon, but I also see it as a her seeing herself as a Dragon's Fang.
Personality and Story
Major spoilers are incoming for Final Fantasy XIII, and if you're continuing on, I'm assuming you played FF13, or at least read my review on it. There will also be some light spoilers on the Final Fantasy XIII book, Episode Zero. We have a lot to get through don't we? So Fang's story begins with her becoming the beast known as Ragnarok, in order to furfill both her and Orbea Dia Vanille's focus. After they cracked Cocoon's shell, they were then Crystallised before completing their focus, but when Fang awoken, she did so with no memories.
Fang and Vanille are talking about their fate, and Fang's desire to destroy the fal'Cle known as Kujata ends up with Dajh, the son of Sazh in Final Fantasy XIII, becoming branded as a l'cie. Fang is taken in by the by the Sanctum, letting Vanille escape. This show to me that Fang sees Vanille as her daughter is some regards, but I will touch on that more little bit later.
Fang then has some banter with Snow once she meets him, and I think this does a great job at establishing her personality as a very cheeky, fun, but strong heroine. One that could have been very different. Fang was meant to be a male, and Lightning was going to be a bit more flirty, but these traits were transferred to Fang so Lightning could be more serious.
Fang and Snow escape the Sanctum, and Fang is left to talk to Lightning, and Fang explains everything to her. Watch the scene below before continuing if you need a refresher, or just to get some context.
There is a clear contrast between these two characters, and it works well. Fang has gone through this, and her goal now is to help her friend, who is once again going through this. Fang doesn't have this burden anymore, and all she can do about it is laugh. Lightning, however, with the burden of past traumas, is a lot more serious about this, and as an ex-soldier, can only be really serious about this. These two for me work as twin sisters, as their personality are very paralleled to each other. Lightning is the serious one, and Fang is the chill one.
The next big moment shows that Fang is a lot deeper than seems on the surface. While the others want to defy their fate, Fang(probably to save Vanille) says that she would destroy Coccon, bringing out her summon, the dragon Bahamut. After the fight, Fang agrees to help them fight fate. This and one other moment shows Fang's major character flaw; She is very impulsive and often acts on her instincts, wanting to be the hero that will save Vanille. This does make her seem desperate at some points, but I think this works well given the context that they are in.
Fang and Vanille talk on their way to the Taejin Tower, where Fang regains her memories, and understands that Vanille lied to protect her.
After that. Fang's last big moment for me comes in the final battle, where after the defeat the Bartandlus and fight the first form of Orphan the crew get overwhelmed. Fang offers to transform herself into Ragnarok, morphing herself into this mutant beast. However, she fails, and then gets tortured for her troubles. This is again an example of Fang's impulsiveness, and what I believe to become a hero, not just for her, but Vanille. She has a strong desire and will to protect Vanille, and they end up both saving the rest of the crew, and the world of Coccon together. And I believe it, she's often re-enforced as the strongest character gameplay wise.
In a One Sentence Summary
With the power of Bahamut at her side, and a strong desire to save the one that is most important to her, Oerba Yun Fang is as dangerous, as she is beautiful.
THE BLOG IS BACK!! I'm sorry for not posting for a while! Been busy with exams, but I'm going full steam with this and my game development! Please look forward to it! I also want to shout out @rorvk who has been writing about Final Fantasy XIII and Rose Utena(which I will watch at somepoint).
But anyways, thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written By Nana Marfo Oerba Yun Fang is a character designed by Tetsuya Nomura
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Daily Inkling:Broken Memories7/5/2019 This is something a little different, but today marks the first time that I have written a Daily Inkling! The theme here is Broken Memories, and as someone who likes being a little different, I'm going to put my own theme here. Enjoy this creative monologue. All this, I've been trying to remember who I was. But I've also been questioning my feelings. If I'm truly alone, then who do I go to? It's like I'm a figure with no head. And that it! I wrote this based on the feeling of Roxas at the start of Kingdom Hearts II, and the song Donut Hole by HACHI. That being said, thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys later.
Written by Nana Marfo
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Hey all! It's time for another deep dive! Sorry it's been a while since the last one, but ideas for these were running low, and I wanted to commit to one properly. But this one should be interesting, as we look at the meaning of "creativity"! Well, at least in my eyes. Unlike most of my deep dives, this was spurred by nothing in particular, just the fact that I really wanted to look at what I think this word means. First, I want to go into the official meaning of creativity: Creativity: noun, The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness. I can mostly support this definition, as it is the basis for most pieces of art, games and music. But what about when something takes inspiration from something else? What about things like fan art and fan games? I guess you could say that it does count for a few reasons; fan art bulids on ideas that are set within the universe the characters are in, and based upon that, they can be placed in different situations. It can also be used to tell the artists interpretation of that story. A good example of this is shipping. While ships are a very controversial thing, it really depends on the way a person views the story. For example, I personally ship Sora and Kairi from Kingdom Hearts. Some people will ship Sora and Riku, but I see Riku as a lone wolf who wants to be there for his friends. Stories can have many different interpretations depending on what the player is feeling and experiencing at that time. One of my general RE teachers, who is very interested in the study of Philosophy(it comes under the same course at my school), told us about his life experiences, and always talks about how he relates his study of Philosophy to his life, which got me thinking: Don't we relate games and other creative mediums to our own lives? Can't we relate to certain characters experiences, even though the circumstances may be very different? We all want to fall in love, have close friends, go on adventures. I know I'm going off topic here, but think about it. We play games to experience these experiences. And then some of us want to create these experiences for others. These can be experiences of our own lives, of a trama that we don't people to live through, or experiences of an entirely new world, where you fight a demon overlord in order to save the world. The problem for many creators of these experences comes in the word "Originality". What is the meaning of this word? Originality: noun And that is where I believe every creator gets stuck. What I have learned is that no idea is completely original, there is always a basis for something that has been done before, and no idea is going to be more or less original that the other in my eyes. This is why I do not believe that creativity is the use of just original ideas and imaginations to create, but it can also be buliding upon what has already established, and putting your own personal spin on it. YOUR idea. YOUR viewpoint. How YOU see a certain world or character. For people with OC, it becomes even greater. It's about how you can fit your chatrater in certain sitculations. Can your fight with your friend? Can you save everyone? How do you interact with others? It's about taking the rules that are given to you and breaking them, but still making it believable. For example, look at the image above. This was texture mod of an already existing Kairi model, that I coloured the hair and eyes to fit more with my friend PrincessRose. I have a lot of ideas on how she would fit into the world of Kingdom Hearts. Another example is this interaction between Lightning Farron and Sarah from Terra Wars, using the Final Fantasy XV model for Sarah. I thought about how the 2 would be like to each other if they interacted. I don't think there should be any limits to creativity(besides obscene things such as chlid rape), because that lets ideas shine, and can give us some amazing stories to tell. One of the reasons that I love Japanese media so much is because they are able to take the stupidest ideas and make them into moving stories(such as Kamen Rider Gaim) or just make it funny and charming(such as Aho Girl). And I hope going into the next decade, Japanese creators and other creators do not lose sight of this limitless creativity. Thanks to everyone that read this! On the week this goes up, I am going to do the last 5 hours of my 15 hour exam(it's graphics, don't worry, it's normal), so I don't think there will be a blog post next week.
But for now, thanks for reading, and I will catch you guys next time. Written By Nana Marfo All Images used are made by Nana Marfo, character models and certain environments were taken from DeviantArt
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In Review:April 20193/5/2019 The last month of full freedom before exams start. When this goes up, I have just finished 10 hours of my 15 hour exam and my body is crushed. Anyways, lets get into it. Writing in review This month was fun month in terms of writing, with Kill la Kill and Space being some of the subject themes, along with my first mobile game review. Blog Posts this Month Kill La Kill:First Impressions Solbot: Energy Rush:Review Later Levels Question of the Month: April 2019 Game Savvy posts this Month Steam isn't respecting indie developers Favorite art piece this month Awesome things I saw/did/read -Gigaboots and KZXcellent did a really funny stream of Castlevania:Lords of Shadow. And I'll just direct you to the supercut because it's the game is really bad. -LightningEllen went on a Rant! And she ranted about why Canadian health care is complete crap! -Cece(now going by the name PrincessUsagiXO) is pushing for Twitch Partner status! Go follow and sub to her! -Eve made a new song "This world to You", and it's a really good song. Go check it out, the video is also amazing! -Speaking of, I haven't watched Kamen Rider Zi-O in a while(not that show is bad, school just got hard), but I really like the theme for Rider Time: Kamen Rider Ryuki's theme, Alive a Life Neo. It's also sung by Rica Matsumoto, or Japanese Ash from Pokemon. Games that I have been playing So despite school ramping up, I manage to play a good chunk of games. I'm still on episode 4 of Life is Strange, and sorry to spoil this little tidbit, but it's sad to see that Chloe in her current state, and to see that either way she suffers a horrible fate. I can really commend the writer for making this story really moving and relatable with the dialog. I also played Hyperdimention Neptunia: Re:Birth 1 for a bit! I don't think I will touch for a while because my exams are on the horizon, but I love it so far, but somehow, I'M STILL NOT FINISHED WITH CHAPTER 1. I've also been playing Final Fantasy XIII! Shocker? No? Didn't think so. After Exams I do want to start a new play-through, just to experience the game again, but for I'm going for 100% Steam Achievements. New Merch
Been to busy and too broke to buy any new merch lately. General and Final Thoughts April was a crazy month, lots of bad things happened to me, and I honestly scared because... I think my parents won't take a gap year if I fail my exams. I know clearing is a thing, but we have no idea how it works(I'm the first going to uni in England in my family), and it's just a scary thing for me in general. Plus I don't really think anyone in my family really truly believes in me, and that's... heart-breaking. May will probably only consist of a Question of The Month post(+one other thing), because exams are about to start and I want that to be my main focus. Either way, thanks for reading, and I will see you guys next time. Written by Nana Marfo All content used(C) Their respective owners.
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Kill la Kill:First Impressions23/4/2019
I'm really excited to FINALLY start watching this anime, as it's one of those that has eluded me even before I started watching anime. And knowing Studio Trigger, the crazy is about to go off the wall. I'll probably go into Gurren Lagenn and Darling in the Franxx someday, espally Darling in the Franxx, I want to know exactly what makes that series so decisive.
Rules as always: 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. There's no nudity in this one, but be prepared for some lewdness. 3. I am watching the subbed version. So where does this action anime take me? This is my first impressions of Kill la Kill.
We begin with a class learning about 1930's Germany and Fascism. Then out of no where, the Disciplinary Committee Chair, Ira Gamagori, steps in to the classroom asking for the one who wants to inflict harm to the school know as Honnouji Academy. We learn that this rebel stole something known as a Goku Uniform, and the person stole a one star uniform, which is helpful as the uniforms grant super human abilities, but Ira's uniform is a 3-star, given to him to the Student Console Presendent, Satsuki Kiryuin, who you can tell right of the bat is a dictator.
Meanwhlie, at the bottom of the Honnouji Academy, we see a girl that goes by the name, Ryuko Matoi, a transfer student. The intro theme plays at the end, with no visuals. As my first introduction to Eir Aoi, who I have heard about, I can say Sirius is a pretty nice song. I just hope the visual match it well.
Anyways, on her way, Ryuko gets into a fight with a young boy, who is the sister of Mako Mankanshoku, a girl who seems to have SEVERE ADHD. On her way there, she ends up sitting class with Mako, and learning about the school. However, the real reason why Ryuko is here lies in the secret of the scissor blade. It was the last invention of her late father, and Satsuki could know who killed him. Ryuko does try to fight the Student Committee, but gets her ass handed to her.
Side note, since I'm probably going to go off on how awesome Ryuko is later, but the animation in this show is amazing. Everything pops when it needs to, and the fight scenes are amazingly done. Studio Trigger knows how to animate well.
Ryuko goes to her the ruins of her old house, only to find a sentiant sailor uniform thanks to a teacher behind the scenes. She saves Mako, and fights the head of the boxing club, revealing a design which I think is really badass, and showing off the great animation and cinematatography of the anime. The episode ends with Ryuko demanding that Satsuki tell her what happened to her father.
The plot of this episode was really interesting, and the characters all felt enjoyable, Ryuko in particular. I already love her as much as I do Lightning, Kairi, and Aoba, as she is a very strong character in my opinion. I also love all of her designs, they just suit her really well. Watch for an All in The Character about her soon.
I should also say that is a quite a bit of Japanese weirdness here, but as always, I love that about shows like these.
Overall, I can say that I did really enjoy this first episode a lot, I had a lot of fun watching, and I can't wait to see where this goes.
This is probably going to be the last anime related post for a while, but I will be doing some review as when these return, so stay tuned for those!
But for now, thanks for reading, share if you enjoyed, and I will catch you guys next time. Written By Nana Marfo Kill La Kill(C)Studio Trigger Buy the new Kill La Kill game: PlayStation 4 Nintendo Switch
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Hey all! April has started, and this month we have been asked to come up with a plot to fit within this space game!
This is where it becomes important to tie all the themes we had so far together. So far, we have a space game with a detective protagonist and A.I antagonist. This is also a bit harder as I don't think we can have too many mentions to NPC or external lore. I'm going to try my best with this folks!
So lets moving into the idea that detective is living on the ship because they agreed to stay there in case of criminal activity. As thing begin to go wrong, the detective is forced to step in. They are pretty reluctant at first because the idea of this being in space. Remember, this is the one place not corrupted by politics, so they would want to keep that way. I can't really go into gameplay, but I can say that the detective will have tech that would help scan the system for bugs, gitichs and viruses.
The idea would be that each piece of the puzzle would tie themselves together. For example, the detective would be able to go into one part of the area which would lead into another clue that would he would have to report to the leaders on the ship. Through this, he or she(I think a custom character would fit well here) would have to reflect on the time here, how they are dealing with missing loved ones and what they think is next for them. I also think that something like the Secret Reports would work well here, as these would to serve to expand the content of the game.
"It's been an interesting day. This ship seems to be less and less under the control of the people that own it. Even the creator doesn't know what is going on. I wonder... just what is in control?"
And that's my summary of the plot in this space age game! This was hard, but also really fun to do! Hopefully I win this one!
But for now, thanks for reading and I will see you guys next time. Written by Nana Marfo Space scenes all from Siamon89
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Solbot:Energy Rush: Review9/4/2019
First of all a big thank you to the folks at Freakout Games for asking me to look at this. This is not a sponsored review for the record, but they did approach me on twitter to review this, and gave me the PR kit. However, I will not yet that affect my personal view point on this game.
Rules as always: 1.Spoilers are abounding, and depending on the game, can spoil the experience. This one in particular is very story heavy, so be warned going into the review. 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 covering the Android version. I won't enforce Apple products for various reasons. Time for my first mobile review! This is Solbot: Energy Rush.
Gameplay
Like Bladeball Arena, this game doesn't have much of a story, so I'm just going to go into the game's mechanics. The game is one that you typical see on moblies, move left and right to dodge orbs, but also to collect them as well. It's very simple but it's fun at the same time. The game also has a wide array of power-ups.
The one I found the most was fun was the Magnet power-up where it draws in orbs from around you that you need in order to get to the next level. One thing I can say that I didn't like was the idea of going through the number of the next level to get to it, instead of dying if you don't go through that part. That's stupid. The controls are a little stiff, which is stopping me from finishing all 50 levels, but I want to. The gameplay is fun enough for me to keep going back to it.
Looks, Sounds and Final Thoughts
The game it's looks fine for a mobile game, and I do like the design of the and the music is very catchy. Overall this game is pretty fun. I do think there are somethings that can be improved upon, such as the controls, and some perks in the gameplay, but this is very fun to play. Also it doesn't hurt that it is free on the IOS and Android stores.
Once again, a big thank you to Freakout Games for reaching out. I want to take this chance to say I will be Trafalgar Square for the London Games Festable, and thanks to everyone that was at the Game Characters Parade, cos-players are awesome.
But for now, thanks for reading, and I will see you guys next time. Written by Nana Marfo Solbot(C)Freakout Games
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In Review:March 20195/4/2019 Welcome to "In review" for March 2019! Like the new graphic? I really want to being wearing my heart on my sleeve, and I want to have more dedicated graphics on the website. Anyways, lets go into it! General Overview March was a month where I said I would go in hard, and I did, releasing a game, writing 2 Game Savvy articles, and of course a question of the month. There was also a lot I did outside of the blog. Things I wrote this month NM Gameworks #20 - Unity-Chan Dash Update 1.1 Later Levels Question of the Month - March 2019 Game Savvy Articles written this month Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Review Favourite Art Pieces this month Awesome things I read/things/saw -pandagin is an awesome dancer, and thanks to her moves, I got introduced to this artist named SRIUP. His song Rain is awesome, go check it out. -Speaking of, pandagin also made a cover of Face My Fears! -gingnator made some good art based on The Promised Neverland! I still need to watch it, but from what I hear, it's very f**ked up, and that's what I love about Anime. -Went to 2 uni open days this month! Was really fun! -I also walked across London on St.Patrick's day!! All 8 Major Bridges, all for charity. -Went to the first POC in play as well! Was really awesome! Games Played this Month This has been a CRAZY month for me, both online and IRL, so the only thing I've really played is KH:BBS and KH2 when I feel I've had the chance. Was going to try and finish Life is Strange, but look how that turned out... I also played a lot Dissida NT for the opening week it came out on PC, it's REALLY fun. I'm playing this as much I can until I can buy the full version. Really good fighting game. Just hope the story is good... New Merch
Nothing this month! Been a bit tight on money lately, but hopefully I'll get out of this state soon. General and Final Thoughts I did only write 2 posts this month, but considering one of them was a game release, and how crazy this month(and in particular this week) has been, I'm ok with it. I am hard at work with T-Shirt designs, and hard at work preparing for a bunch of Final Exams. April, May and June, are going to be steps back in my mind, making quicker content, and working on things I can release in the long run. I also won't be working on games(scripts not included, those I can work on whenever)., just to make sure I pass these exams. Sorry if that is a little disapointing to you, but I want at least make sure I have a short term future secure. Anyways, thanks for reading, share if you enjoyed it and I will catch you guys later. Written by Nana Marfo All content used(C)Their respective owners. Life is Strange(C)Square Enix
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After nearly winning last month's Question of the Month, March's asks up to come up with the antagonist. Every hero does need a villain, and kudos to Brandon of That Green Dude for coming up with a detective hero. For a villain, I think that the supernatural could work here, if thinking of games like Danganronpa. However, I think personal vendetta really make for more compelling story when it comes to these types of games.
One big thing will be important later on is bringing all these ideas together, to make the story cohesive and flow properly. However, if we stick to the theme here, I think that villain working on the inside would fit well with the games current theme. The detective could be called help with the current epidemic in the space hull, but that's going in too far
For this I think 2 types of villeins would work well here:
1. A person that hates the evolution of technology on the Space Hull This is a bit stereotypical, but here's what I think could be done with this theme. The person could be not only be sabotaging the new technology, but activity try to make go backwards to the point where survival is near impossible on space hull, forcing them to bring in the detective, in what would be essentially a race against time. A bit cliched, I know, but here's the thing for me: this would interesting because the villain could easily change over time. With lives on the line, everything is possible. This also brings in some interesting opportunities for side charaters, but that's not for this blog.
2. A personal vendetta against the creator of the hull
Space involves one of the most diverse things known to man: science. The villain here would be doing similar things as the one in the first description, but this time, it's about someone that volunteered to help out, who died a tragic death. The person, who was close to this volunteer, wants revenge, but is go about it the wrong way, because they are blinded by both the hate and fear that is held in their hearts.
And that's it! This was a hard month to come up with something, since I really had to think about what the villain would do. Still this was very fun to do!
But for now, thanks for reading, share if you enjoyed it and I will catch you guys later. Written By Nana Marfo All Images used(C) Their respective owners
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Whew. So I finally Managed to finish Unity Chan Dash Update 1.1, and I wanted to take you through some of the main features of this update.
New and Improved Controls
Most of this is documented in the video above, but one thing I didn't like in the original release was how the controls felt. They were very stiff and it while it was acceptable, it lead to a lot of start and stop within the animations. This has now been tweaked to so it feels more natural. I still want to do some more refinement, but I think it's good.
2 new levels
Like I said in one of my devlogs a while back, the game's scale has gone down severaly from what I wanted it to be. This is so I can put more effort into other areas of the game without rushing anything entirely. This first area doesn't really have a theme to it, but I hope you guys can enjoy the music and graphics of this area! VA and New fonts A big thing about games for me is that it's a way to express personality through things such as animation. However, here I'm limited by the fact that this is a pre animated asset pack. Thanks so much to Amanda Fredette for voicing her, you did a great job! I also want to thank castpixel for the free fonts that I used within this game!
And that's it! Thanks to everyone that has supported the development of the game up to this point! I will not only keep working on this game, but other games that I have ideas for.
But for now, thanks as always and I will catch you guys later! Written and Game Made by Nana Marfo Unity Chan(C)Unity Technologies Japan Unity Chan Dash(C) Nana Marfo |