Monster Hunter Retrospective

Image by Capcom from Nintendo Wikia
Monster Hunter is a game franchise from Capcom that had its beginnings in the PS2 era and although it didn’t catch on in the West at least until the PSP title Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, it was immensely popular in Japan and Asia. Monster Hunter has gotten popular enough that a live-action movie is in production directed by Paul W.S Anderson (the director of the live-action Resident Evil movies) and starring Millia Jovovich and Tony Jaa.

Image from: imdb

In Monster Hunter you are a lone hunter tasked with either killing or capturing monsters, getting certain items or delivering wyvern eggs. To aid you in this task is a variety of weapons that cater to different play-styles. For example if you are the type that prioritizes speed over power you may be inclined to use dual-blades or if you favor range you can use the light or heavy bowguns. 
Image by Capcom from gameface.in
Monster Hunter had its humble beginnings on the PS2 when it was originally released in 2004. While it was a huge hit in Japan it didn’t sell as well in North America and Europe. It was one of the few games on the PS2 that offered online play through the use of the PS2 network adapter that would connect to the back of the original PS2 model or the built-in one from the slim models.
The network adapter attached to the original PS2. Image from popscreen.com

The basic gameplay in Monster Hunter was go on a quest, kill the monster and use the rewards from the quest to craft new weapons and armor to hunt bigger and stronger monsters. Often times you will need to slay one particular monster multiple times in order to get enough materials to craft new equipment. Monster Hunter is very grindy and players may be turned off by the tedium of hunting the same monsters just to complete a new weapon or armor set.
Luckily you can play online with other players to reduce the tedium of the grind. The difficulty of quests will be adjusted depending on the number of players and players share continues. If any player uses up the continues everyone will fail the quest.  The game was built with co-op in mind with players using certain weapons fulfilling certain roles such as Great Sword users dealing heavy damage while ranged hunters help to weaken the monster from far-away.
The first Monster Hunter didn’t catch on in the West as it did in Japan. For one thing the game was not advertised as much as it was in Japan. In addition the game itself had some questionable control decisions that made it very difficult to get into the game.
The Dual-Shock 2 the OG controller of the PS2. Image by Sony from Amazon UK
Take a look at the controller above. In most action games you control your character with the left stick, perform actions with the four face buttons square, triangle, circle or x along with the L1, L2, R1 and R2 buttons on top with the directional buttons acting as shortcuts to menus and the right stick controlling the camera.
In Monster Hunter however you perform attacks with the right-analog stick. For example if you were using the Great Sword you perform the forward overhead slash by flicking the right stick forward. Flicking it sideways will perform a side slash and flicking it back will perform the rising backwards slash.
So with the right stick controlling how the player attacks how does one control the camera? With the infamous claw technique that would later be used in the portable games as well.
The infamous claw grip. Image from: Dreams of a Gamer
As you can see it’s quite uncomfortable to play with but people got used to it especially on the portable versions seeing as it was the only way to control the camera and move around at the same time.
Back to Monster Hunter on the PS2. So how did this game play? Badly. It was an incredibly clunky control scheme and there was no way to change it. I remember playing this not long after playing Ape Escape 3. Suffice to say it took a lot of getting used to. In Ape Escape you attack in the direction you flicked the right-analog stick at but that wasn’t the case in Monster Hunter so I never really progressed far in the game due to my frustration at the controls. Didn’t even get to kill my first real monster.

In addition the online community in the West for Monster Hunter was quite weak compared to what was available in Japan. Furthermore, a year later in 2005 an updated version called Monster Hunter G was released only in Japan that included new content including G-rank quests that were much harder than High rank quests as well as a new skill system. The West would not get this content until Monster Hunter Freedom on the PSP in 2006.

Due to its popularity in Japan the sequel Monster Hunter 2 was only released there in February 2006. It included new locations as well as new weapon types such as the Long Sword which would become a favourite among fans. Luckily for fans in the west Capcom released the portable version of Monster Hunter 2 Monster Hunter Freedom 2 as well as its upgraded version Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite proved to be hugely successful. According to VgChartz Monster Hunter Freedom Unite sold 5.47 million units. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite’s success was mainly due to the simple fact that the PSP was a handheld gaming device and although the Freedom series on PSP did not have a true online mode the Ad-Hoc mode made it possible for PSP players nearby to play with one another and complete quests alongside friends. In addition Monster Hunter Freedom Unite had many gameplay improvements compared to its predecessors such as better combat and more content.

In 2009 Monster Hunter Tri was released exclusively on the Nintendo Wii in Japan. Originally planned for the Playstation 3 it was decided to move it exclusively to the Wii due to it having a broader audience at least in Japan. It would later see release in the West in 2010.

The various control options in Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii. Image by Capcom from the Monster Hunter Wiki
Monster Hunter Tri introduced new weapons and the swimming mechanic. It also streamlined gathering slightly; in older games you had to make sure you had the gathering item in hand. Then you need to have it selected in the item menu before using it on the gathering point. In Tri however there are pop-up icons that appear when you are standing next to a gathering point and if you have the right item you can simply press and hold the a button to begin gathering.
In 2010 Monster Hunter Portable 3rd was released as the last of the Portable series on the PSP. Due to the PSP’s limitations some of the content in Tri such as swimming had to be removed. Despite this it still sold really well in Japan. Unfortunately it never officially came out in the West though an English patch was available for those using PSPs with modified software.
In 2011 Monster Hunter 3G was released in Japan for 3DS and the Wii U a year later as Monster Hunter 3 G HD. It would later see release on both platforms in the West in 2013 as Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate featured improvements that helped to make it more accessible to newcomers such as the Target Camera that allowed players to lock on to giant monsters and focus the camera on them with a press of a button.

Wii U and 3DS players could play together in ad-hoc mode though only the Wii U had proper online functionality. Save data can also be transferred between the two consoles as long as they were in the same region. Unfortunately due to the Wii U’s poor sales this would be the only Monster Hunter title on that system.

Due to the 3DS’s popularity however the next entry in the series Monster Hunter 4 would release exclusively on that platform. And it did in 2013 with the updated version Monster Hunter 4 G  a year later and released as 4 Ultimate in the west in 2015. Several improvements were made over the previous game.

The swimming mechanic from Tri and 3 Ultimate was removed in favour of being able to mount monsters and attempt to topple them to leave them vulnerable. In addition wall climbing and platforming were made more fluid making traversal much easier. Once again new weapons were added: the Charge Blade and the Insect Glaive.

Mounting a monster in 4 Ultimate. Image by Capcom from Hardcore Gamer
For the first time in the series’ history there was an actual story. Well it isn’t exactly Oscar-award winning, but it did help to motivate players to progress through the single-player campaign as they gather people for their caravan by visiting various villages and completing various quests along the way and solving the mystery of a new virus causing certain monsters to go berserk. Players felt a sense of progress as they progressed through the single player campaign.

The game also had a proper online mode, allowing 3DS users to play with each other worldwide. Players can create lobbies to host and go on quests with other players. This opened up the game to a much wider audience.

The game sold really well worldwide. In 2015 Capcom announced that they shipped 4 million copies worldwide, physical and digital sales combined and it was the first game in the series to sell 1 million copies combined in North America and Europe.

In November 2015 Capcom released Monster Hunter Cross for the 3DS with the west getting it in July 2016 under the title Monster Hunter Generations. The game introduced Hunter Arts and Hunter Styles. Hunter Arts are basically special techniques that give a variety of effects such as delivering a powerful attacks or doing a special evasion technique with plenty of invincibility. But the most exciting thing was the Hunter Styles.

Hunter Styles are basically new gameplay styles that cater to certain playstyles that can how the player engages in combat. There are 4 Hunter Styles: Guild Style, Striker Style, Aerial Style and Adept Style. These Hunter Styles and Hunter Arts gave more players more options and helped to make combat feel more exciting and dramatic.

Of course an upgrade to this game was released in 2017 called Monster Hunter Double Cross for 3DS and later the Nintendo Switch, This upgrade gave new quests and new Hunter Arts and 2 new Hunter Styles Valor and Alchemy Style. The west got this game as Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate though it was only released on the Switch.

But the biggest game in the Monster Hunter series was Monster Hunter World, featuring new locations, new monsters and a wealth of new mechanics.

Monster Hunter World Steam banner. From Capcom by Steam
If you are interested in getting into the series I recommend starting here in Monster Hunter World. The game’s new mechanics help to ease newcomers into the game. For example the player has a scoutfly that can track monster prints and eventually the monsters themselves in subsequent hunts reducing the amount of empty time players used to spend just looking for the monsters. Also there are multiple camps in each hunting zone where players can actually swap their gear and access their itembox giving players total freedom in what weapon to use.
The player at one of the camps in World. Image by Capcom from gosunoob
The game emphasises online play allowing players to seamlessly join with other players in the same lobby. In fact other players can join you mid-quest and if you find yourself in a pinch you can launch an SOS-flare to seek aid from other players. But be warned that players still share continues so if you’ve died twice and you seek aid from another player and they die… well you just failed the quest. Or if two of them die at the same time, happened to me once.
The game also receives free updates and additional content along with collaborations with other games/companies. The game has equipment themed after Horizon Zero Dawn, Street Fighter, Devil May Cry etc.
This is easily the best Monster Hunter game for newcomers to jump into with plenty of content and a lot of players to play with. 
Like any popular series it wasn’t long until it started receiving spin-off titles. One such notable title is Monster Hunter Stories, a turn-based RPG where you play as a Monster Rider. Instead of hunting monsters you ride them in battle as you go through turn-based battles 
Not your typical Monster Hunter game. Gameplay is from the 3DS version from nintenfan
There is also the online-only Monster Hunter Frontier only available in Japan, Korea and Taiwan and Macau. The latest version in the Frontier series is Monster Hunter Frontier Z Zenith. The Frontier series have tons of new monsters and it even has two unique weapons the Tonfa and the Magnet Spike introduced in Monster Hunter Frontier Z Zenith. As far as I know there are currently no plans to bring any of this content over to the west which is a damn shame because I would love to play this.
Monster Hunter continues to grow in popularity and it has also inspired games such as God Eater and Toukiden, both games having you hunt giant monsters and get materials to craft better gear but with more focus on story and lore. If you are interested in trying out the game for yourselves I recommend starting with World which is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC through Steam. If you want a more traditional Monster Hunter experience you can get Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate on the Switch or Monster Hunter 4 on the 3DS.
References: 

Super Smash Bros Ultimate review

Remember when Marvel was hyping up Avengers Invinity War calling it the most ambitious crossover yet?

Nintendo: Hold my beer.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the latest entry in the famous Super Smash Bros games. Its basically a crossover fighting game featuring characters from various Nintendo franchises such as Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem, Mario and so on with plenty of guest characters such as:
Final Fantasy 7’s Cloud Strife.
Available in his classic and Advent Children designs

Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter.
Complete with Tatsus, Hadoukens and Shoryukens that can be inputted just like in Street Fighter for extra oomph

And for the first upcoming DLC announced during the VGAs Joker from Persona 5
Take your heart, or in this case your wallet as the Phantom Thief  makes his debut.
The basic gameplay of Smash goes like this: Instead of a health bar the fighters have a damage percentage that starts at 0 and goes up as they take damage. The higher the percentage the further they get knocked back. The basic objective then is to knock the opponent out of the stage either by sending them flying upwards to the edge or to the sides or all the way to the bottom,
What basic gameplay looks like

It sounds simple at first but as the screenshot above shows it can be quite chaotic at times. You can have a maximum of 8 fighters on screen at the same time and the game will perform at a consistent 60 fps even in handheld mode. That is also taking into account all the stage transitions as well as trophies or Pokeballs that summon random assist characters to aid you in battle. You can 1v1 matches or team matches or hectic over the top free for all brawls as you fight for supremacy against your friends.
There are three main rules in smash: timed. stock and stamina.  In timed you and your friends will compete to see who can score the most points by knocking each other off until time runs out whereas in stock you have a limited number of lives and the last person standing wins. In the event of a draw there will a sudden death where you and your opponent have one hit to decide the winner. In stamina the game becomes more like a regular fighting game where you try to reduce the opponents HP to zero.
Smash is the main way to unlock characters. At first you only have 8 but as you play through you will be challenged by a new challenger and if you beat that challenger you unlock that character for use in Smash. There are a total of 70+ characters in the game however a few of those characters share movesets with others. These fighters, dubbed Echo Fighters, do have different properties from the characters they’re based on. For example Lucina an Echo Fighter based on Marth has different attack properties; her sword deals equal damage throughout whereas Marth deals more damage on the tip of his sword.
There is a Classic mode where you take one character and go through a series of fights usually ending in a fight with Master Hand or a special boss character like Ganon. You can select the intensity or difficulty from the start with 2.0 being the default. As you progress the intensity will increase. If you are defeated you can spend gold to continue but it will decrease the intensity. If you have a special ticket however you can continue while keeping the intensity. Finishing the game at a certain intensity will net you better rewards.
Finishing at higher intensities will also show more of this mural here.

There is also an adventure mode called World of Light. There you play through a story where you start off as Kirby as you go forth saving the other fighters from the clutches of Galeem. Though you start off as just Kirby going through the game you will unlock the other fighters. It has adventure mechanics as well as some light RPG mechanics with the use of the spirits as well as being to unlock different upgrades for your party.
Unfortunately now we have to talk about the WORSE thing in the game; the online.. To put it simply, it sucks. Lag happens quite frequently even for 1v1 matches. and there is no way to filter matches through communication strength like most other fighting games. Smash is best played with other players offline rather than online as a lot of the modes sans the Adventure mode can be played with multiple people.

Nevertheless Super Smash Bros Ultimate is a great game to play with friends and being able to bring it around with you at all times ensure that you’ll have a fun time throughout. The Adventure mode is tons of funs and the Classic mode has a lot of throwbacks for certain characters encouraging replayability.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is now available only on Nintendo Switch.

Reference:

Command And Conquer Rivals

Command and Conquer a long running and beloved RTS series originally developed by Westwood Studios before they were bought by EA hasn’t had a game in years since the widely reviled Command And Conquer 4.

What killed the Command And Conquer franchise

So when a new game was announced to be coming out people got excited… then those hopes and dreams were dashed away when it was announced as a mobile game.

As you can see the fans reacted in anger. 

For the sake of clarity this is a screenshot from Command And Conquer 3:

And this is what Command And Conquer Rivals looks like:

As you can see there’s a massive difference between the two games. For die-hard fans of the series you’re better off skipping this article and this game altogether; this game was not made for you. It caters to a mobile crowd looking for a RTS-like experience on mobile. If you are interested to know  if it succeeds in this regard then read on.

In the classic C&C games you deploy armies, explore the map and expand your base as you outwit your opponent(s) and destroy them. In Rivals however there is a missile base that is conveniently located in the middle of the map and you basically have to take it over and protect it as it attacks the enemy base destroying it within a few minutes. However while it sounds simple there is a bit of strategy involved.

Just like in classic C&C you have to manage your resources. You can only deploy units or build buildings to make more units if you have enough resources and you have to consider what to build first in order to seize victory. Do you build a barracks and get infantrymen to capture the missile base as quickly as possible or save your resources for a war factory to build powerful tanks? You must also consider the different unit types and what they are weak against. For example the regular rifle infantryman are strong against other humans but they are weak against tanks whereas their rocket-launcher equipped cousins are strong against tanks but not as effective against other humans, You also have a Commander who can use a particular perk. One Commander for instance has the ability to allow you to deploy turrets that you can use to defend the missile control points.

As you win fights you will gain EXP which will increase your rank and give you access to other modes as well as access to the Brotherhood of NOD. Of course since this is EA there are lootboxes in this game, hence the in-app purchases part. These lootboxes will unlock new units or powerup existing ones but of course whether you get what you want or not is dependent solely on luck. Thankfully winning in this game is not tied to how much money you throw at the game but by your strategies and outplaying your opponent.

This is game is multiplayer only and thus like many mobile games requires a constant internet connection. There are also no live-action cutscenes, a staple in many C&C games and  there is no real story, just quick matches against another player in battle for supremacy

They gave a game a certain irresistible charm

E-Sports was the main focus of this game and so battles are quick and tide can quickly turn against you if you are not careful. Those looking for a simple RTS game to play on the go will pleasantly surprised but die-hard fans of the series wanting a true C&C experience on mobile will be left wanting as it simplifies the entire game and it only resembles the C&C of old in name only.

Command & Conquer Rivals is available now for free for both Android and iOS platforms.

References:
Metacritic
Youtube
PlayStore and AppStore

Fate Apocrypha anime review

Ever since Fate/Zero the Fate franchise has seen a massive boom in popularity with studio ufotable producing Unlimited Blade Works and the Heavens Feel part 1 movie but for Fate Apocrypha A1-Pictures was handling it. How does it stack in comparison to the other Fate shows? Let’s find out.

Prepare for a different kind of Holy Grail War

Adapted from the light novel of the same name, Fate Apocrypha takes place in an alternate timeline from the main Fate series. In this timeline the third Holy Grail War was interrupted when a Master took the Holy Grail from Fuyuki and disappeared only for it to appear in the city of Trifas. Due to the unique circumstances of this war things have changed; where once it was a battle royale between 7 Masters and their 7 Servants there are now 14 Masters and Servants divided into two factions Red and Black. When all Masters and Servants of one faction are defeated the remaining Servants and Masters fight amongst themselves to finally obtain the Holy Grail.

And thus the stage is set for the confrontation between the Masters of the Red faction made up of Mages from the Mages Association and the Black faction made of the Yggdmillenia the family responsible for taking the Holy Grail in the first okace. Supervising this Great Holy Grail War is a special Servant independent from the two factions with the ability to control all the other Servants with her Command Spells, Ruler. Unlike the other Servants who are summoned and given form by their Masters Ruler possesses a compatible human in order to materialize in the real world.

You would think that a setup like this would make for interesting battles but unfortunately in contrast to the Fate/Zero where each individual character were given a clear set of goals and motives here there are far too many characters similar goals and motives and apart from the main characters none of them get any real development. Said main characters are Ruler whose true identity is Joan of Arc and a homunculus with free will named Sieg.

Ruler as mentioned is the supervisor of the war and is there to ensure that the war runs smoothly and no one gets caught up in it. Sieg on the other hand is just there looking for a purpose and wondering why he was given free will.

The show’s best waifu

While Ruler is an alright character Sieg is rather boring. He doesn’t really have any motivations or reasons to get the Holy Grail. All he wants is a reason to why he was created and given free will. And thus he gets wrapped up in the Holy Grail War despite Ruler’s wishes.

Even his character design spells LAME and FORGETTABLE

As for the supporting characters the only notable ones are Rider of Black also known as Astolfo, Saber of Red Mordred and her Master Kairi Sisigou as well as the leaders of the two factions, Shirou Kotomine and . Astolfo acts as a supporting figure to Sieg being the one who saved him when he had just gained his freewill whereas Mordred and her Master develop a sort camaraderie with each other. Astolfo’s mostly in the Great Holy Grail War simply to fight for his Master but more often than not he tends to do what he wants and is responsible for getting Sieg involved in the whole thing.

In the immortal words of the great Admiral Ackbar: “ITS’ A TRAP!!!”
Mordred on the other hand wishes to obtain the Holy Grail War and replace her father King Arthur (whom Fate fans will know is really a woman) and become King of Britain, mostly to prove her worth. Unlike her father though she is brash, cocky and not at all what a knight should be like.
Discount Saber

Her master Kairi Sisigo is a necromancer hired by the Mage’s Association to take part in the Great Holy Grail War alongside six other Masters. As they have similar personalities the two have a strong bond and are probably the best Master/Servant duo in the anime in terms of chemistry.
He looks more like the main character than Sieg does
He meets up with another Master from the Red faction whom all the other Masters have joined up with, a member of the church Shirou Kotomine.
What happens if Shirou and Kotomine  decide to fuse together with the Potara Earrings

A member of the Church this mysterious Master was given control of all the other Red Servants by their Masters as they retired from the war. However Sisigou is suspicious of him and decides to act on his own throughout the war.
Keep in mind these are some of the characters that take part in the show. I haven’t gotten into the various Masters of Black and their Servants or the only Master of the Black faction that isn’t part of the Yggdmillenia family, a young woman who had inadvertently summoned a Servant of the Assassin class who views her as its mother and is basically like a wild card until the halfway point.
Loli Jack-the-Ripper, cause Japan. Fun fact: She’s voiced by same seiyuu who did Sakura from Cardcaptor. Basically she’s that Sakura but a yandere. Also the voice of best Saber. UMU.

All of that doesn’t matter as none of the characters are worth caring about since we learn nothing interesting about them and they don’t have any compelling character arcs or any worthwhile development save for Ruler, Sieg, Astolfo and to a lesser extent Kairi and Mordred. 
In terms of animation quality while not in the same level as ufotable’s Fate Zero or Unlimited Blade Works adaptions is passable. The characters animate well and there aren’t many noticeable off-model areas.
However in the end this is easily the weakest anime in the Fate series and while its better in quality than the Studio Deen Fate Stay Night adaption the weak characters, plot and poor pacing issues mar the experience greatly. Die-hard fans may tolerate the story issues and proclaim twill like Assassin of Black, Mordred, Ruler and Astolfo as their latest waifus. But if you’re not really a Fate fan or if you want to get into the series I recommend skipping this one.
Fate/Apocrypha is available now on Netflix along with Unlimited Blade Works and Fate/Zero, both far superior shows. Oh and Fate Last Encore is available too.
References:
http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/
http://myanimelist.net
*All images belong to their respective copyright holders


Fate Grand Order review (ios/Android)

Prepare to save the world with waifus and husbandos

Originally released in Japan first in July 2015 before making its way to English audiences in  June 2017 Fate Grand Order is a free to play mobile game based on the popular Fate series.  The game is incredibly popular in Japan though it’s also quite popular worldwide as well.

You play as a Master as you go through space and time defeating various enemies in order to save the world. Story sequences play out in a visual novel format with dialogue choices that don’t really affect anything other than what characters say in a particular scene. In addition to story scenes there are also limited event scenes and Servant bonding scenes that can obtained by strengthening your Servant through grinding endlessly.

In case you don’t know the Fate franchise started out as a visual novel, a NSFW one at that.

Gameplay wise there’s really nothing special. You set up a team of 3 Servants with 3 more for backup and one Servant loaned from a friend or another user. Each Servant belongs to a particular class such as Saber or Archer and each Servant has a Rock-Scissors-Paper relationship, for example Sabers are strong against Lancers but weak against Archers, Berserkers are strong against everyone except Rulers etc.

What a standard battle between servants looks like

In battle you are given a random set of 5 cards of 3 different types Arts, Buster and Quick with each card representing a Servant that will attack the enemy. If you select 3 of the same type you will get a bonus depending on which type, for example chaining together 3 Buster cards will increase the damage you deal that turn. If the cards you chain represent the same Servant that Servant will do a bonus attack. In addition to the attack cards servants can also use skills that can buff the party or give debuffs to the enemy. Lastly they have a Noble Phantasm bar that if filled can be used to perform a powerful Super Move.

They do look quite nice

To be honest there really isn’t anything special about the gameplay. You just fight wave after wave of enemies with a boss wave at the end. Alas every battle boils down to one strategy, use your best servants and just wail on the enemy to farm for materials to level up your Servants and do it again. Thankfully you can speed up battles so you can complete battles faster but it doesn’t help with the monotony of the gameplay but an auto battle option would’ve helped. It’s really not that fun or engaging to play at all. At least the attack animations are good to look at but when it’s sped up you can’t really enjoy them. 

What really matters in this kind of game is how much money you are willing to give in order to get the best Servants possible. In fact according to an article from pocketgamer published on July 16th 2018 Fate Grand Order has raked in over $2 billion worldwide. All this comes from buying an ingame currency called Saint Quartz.

The bane of mobile gaming

What are Saint Quartz used for? They can be used for a variety of things such as increasing the amount of Servants or Craft Essences you can have or reviving your party if you get wiped out. But the main purpose of this is for the Gacha.
Believe it or not this is from an official Fate Grand Order comic. Yes even the developers make fun of the players

For those who don’t know Gacha is basically using a form of currency in order to get a randomized result. With a Gacha you will always get something in return, but often than not it would usually be either something undesirable or a duplicate item. It is through this Gacha system that you obtain Servants and power-ups known as Craft Essences that can be attached to your Servants for added bonuses. Of course there is the Friend Gacha that uses Friend Points you get from using Servants belonging to friends but these usually result in low-quality Servants and Craft Essences that would be better off used as leveling material for your main Servants. You can get free Saint Quartz by playing the game, logging in every day and completing missions. But with free Saint Quartz you can roll for the regular Servants.
The Servants that are most desirable are the limited event Servants that only appear i for a set period of time. Once the event ends these Servants disappear until another event comes and these limited event summons can only be summoned using the paid Saint Quartz. Which means having to spend money in order to get powerful limited-time only Servants you can’t get otherwise.
Now you may be asking what are the chances of getting these Servants. Well according to a table from grandorder.gamepress the odds are like this:

Rarity Servant Craft Essence
5* 1% 4%
4* 3% 12%
3* 40% 40%
From the same website the projected cost for drawing these odds are:
Cash Shop Saint Quartz 5* Servant Odds 4* Servant Odds
3x $0.99 3 1% 3%
3x $3.99 15 5% 14%
3x $11.99 48 15% 38%
3x $23.99 108 30% 66%
3x $39.99 195 48% 86%
3x $79.99 420 76% 98%

And for the featured Servants:

Cash Shop Saint Quartz Rate Up 5* Servant
3x $0.99 3 <1%
3x $3.99 15 3%
3x $11.99 48 10%
3x $23.99 108 22%
3x $39.99 195 36%
3x $79.99 420 62%

Good luck getting that Jeanne or Altria Lancer

As you can see those chances are abysmally unless you’re willing to work out money for it, and even then you might only get a regular 5* Servant instead of the featured limited event Servant

This picture says it all 
This desire to roll the gacha in the hopes of getting a particular waifu or husbando is what drives revenue for the game.
Besides where else can you get a harem of similar looking yet very different waifus?


Each servant is illustrated in an appealing way to entice users to get them and thus roll the gacha, and in order to increase the odds of their favorite waifus and husbandos (otaku terms used to describe attractive 2D male and female characters) appearing they would spend money for in game currency all to gamble for the chance of getting that one time limited Servant. And they will spend as much as they need to even dipping into their own savings just for their favored Servants
The descent into Gacha Hell.

If you think it’s unlikely for anyone to be hooked into spending so much money on virtual waifus and husbandos remember that the game has earned $2 billion worldwide with a famous example being a 31 year old Japanese player by the name of Daigo having spent about $70,000 USD as shown in the video from Wall Street Journal below:
From the Wall Street Journal youtube channel

Now I won’t tell people how to spend their money, but one should be aware of how much they spend. Make no mistake this game preys on people’s willingness to spend for their favorite characters and since the Fate franchise has such a huge fanbase that means a lot of diehard fans willing to spend as much as they can in order to get their favorite Servants in the game. 
Normal players can’t escape this either, the best way to get powerful Servants is through the Gacha system and thus they may be enticed to spend real money as well in order to get powerful Servants and blow through the game.
And before anyone says that this isn’t gambling or that none of this have any real monetary value I would like to point out that people can sell their accounts online (though not legal and may result in account ban)  through trading account codes via social media like on Facebook or even sites like epicnpc.com where you can buy another person’s account with real money and that there is a market for that.
In the end, what is my verdict on the game? If you strip away the Fate name and look past the characters this is nothing more than glorified gambling where you gamble ingame currency for a chance to get your desired waifus and husbandos with getting undesirable ones the only throwback. If you are die-hard Fate fan who needs to have their favorite Servant on their phone then this game is for you but for everyone else I advise to stay away.

References:
https://www.polygon.com/2018/4/18/17247246/fate-go-free-to-play-abuse-gudako-gacho-grand-
https://www.pocketgamer.biz/asia/news/68582/fategrand-order-rakes-in-over-2bn-in-revenue-worldwide/
https://fategrandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Battle
https://www.resetera.com/threads/sonys-fate-grand-order-was-the-top-earning-mobile-game-worldwide-in-january-app-store-google-play.22054/
https://criticalindex.net/fate-grand-order-and-waifus-why-they-work-7689524280f7
https://grandorder.gamepress.gg/saint-quartz-summoning-odds
https://www.epicnpc.com/forums/fate-grand-order-fgo-accounts.889/
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Waifu
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=husbando

Honkai Impact 3rd (iOS/ Android) Review

When one mentions mobile games most hardcore gamers usually react in disgust, just take the Diablo Immortal announcement over at BlizzCon as proof.

What happens when you announce a mobile game… to a crowd of PC gamers

Mobile games have gotten a bad rep mostly because of their often shoddy quality and emphasis on pay-to-win, not to mention their use of lootboxes or gacha.

However not all mobile games are like that, and here we will look at one such example a mobile game that goes by the name of Honkai Impact 3rd.

From left to right: Raiden Mei, Kiana Kaslana and Bronya Zaychik

Developed by mihoyo Honkai Impact 3rd takes place in an alternate Earth where there are monsters called Honkai that plagues the world. An organisation called Schiksal exists to combat these monsters and the main characters Kiana, Mei and Bronya are part of the fighting force called Valkyries.
There is actually quite a bit of lore and story in this game that is a bit hard to describe in this blog post so you really should try to experience the story for yourself.
The first thing that strikes you when you boot up the game for the first game is the graphics. This is easily one of the best looking games you can get on mobile. At first glance you could mistake it for a console game.
An actual shot of gameplay
However graphics do not make a great game. Thankfully Honkai Impact 3rd excels in this department as well. The game is a 3D action RPG that plays with combo attacks, timing your dodges to trigger special effects like slowing down time ala Bayonetta and character switching. You take control of one of your 3 selected Valkyries and go through the stage taking down hordes of enemies along the way with a boss/bosses at the end. Fulfilling special conditions in these stages rewards you with the gacha currency of the game crystals.

Each playable character plays differently and there are variations of the same characters with different movesets as well as different strengths and weaknesses that correspond to a different enemy type. There are 3 enemy types: Mecha, Psychic and Creature and they have a rock-scissors-paper relationship. Mecha are weak against Creatures, Creatures are weak against Psychic and so on.

For a mobile game though the gameplay is quite varied. In addition to regular stages there are also special limited-time events with unique gameplay elements such as controlling a mech and using it instead of your Valkyries or using the mascot of the game the HOMU. 

 The main menu of the game
There are other components of the game that unlock slowly as you progress through the game and increase your level. You have a base with various features, an Armada that acts as a guild and allows you get rewards based on your participation with the guild and the option to upgrade your Valkyrie and equipment.

The different Valkyries and their various battle suits each with their own unique abilities

Valkyries can learn various skills depending on their current battlesuit, upgraded if you have enough character fragments, leveled up quickly if you have the required items and be equipped with different weapons that can be upgraded as well as accessories that take the form of something called Stigma. These Stigma come in different forms and can boost the capabilities of those equipping them.

In the base you can access the dorm where chibi-sized versions of your Valkyries frolic around that you can fill with decorations and furniture. As you decorate and increase the comfort level of the dorm you can upgrade it and get various benefits. The dorm room is also home to the training room where you can train your Valkyries and get them bonus points you can use to boost their levels and skills.

Another thing you can access is the base proper where you can have several functions that unlock as your captain level increases. Here you can farm for additional coins, send your Valkyries on expeditions and even increase the stats of them and give them bonuses in battle. You unlock more facilities as you increase your Captain Level.

The gacha part of the game is in the Supply option. Here you can spend your crystals and other items to get items or use the Crystals to get this game’s versions of lootboxes. 280 crystals will give you one pull with 2 boxes while 2800 crystals will give you ten pulls with 2 boxes each with a guaranteed A-rank material. Therefore it is usually advisable to save up your crystals for this pull as you can get great items and even additional Valkyrie to add to your party. Of course like any other mobile game you are also given the option to use real currency to purchase more crystals and thus get more chances to get the pulls you want.  However as of this writing I have never needed to use real currency to buy the gacha currency. Furthermore, the game is designed in a way that you never feel that you need to spend real money to get ahead

The gacha results screen.
For a mobile game it’s surprisingly quite fun to play in short bursts. I can only imagine what it would be like if they could port this on the Switch. If you’re looking for a fun action game to play on mobile devices check out Honkai Impact 3rd on iOS or Android. 

Referenecs:
EDIT (22/12/18): Made a few additions to clarify some points and fixed some typos.

Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/ Let’s go Eevee Review

Cute and cute

The latest entry in the Pokemon franchise and the first entry on the Nintendo Switch Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee is basically a retelling of Pokemon Yellow whereby your partner Pokemon is either Pikachu or Eevee depending on which version you bought. That said there are quite a few differences both gameplay-wise and story-wise that will keep this iteration fresh in the eyes of Pokemon veterans.

Just like in Pokemon Yellow you play as a young trainer from Kanto who has received their first Pokemon and together with your friend and rival you journey discovering and catching different Pokemon and battling other trainers. Along the way you will battle various gym leaders to collect their badges and members of the nefarious Team Rocket. Although the basic premise is the same there are a lot of differences in the story this time around. For starters your friend and rival IS NOT Blue from the original games though he is present and you will encounter him throughout the journey

Gameplay wise is where the game differs greatly especially in the catching department. After the phenomenal success of Pokemon GO the developers have implemented a catching system similar to that game.

Catching Pokemon in Let’s Go Pikachu/ Eevee is incredibly easy though perhaps too easy. You encounter Pokemon in the wild and when you touch the one you want to catch you enter a catching mode similar to Pokemon GO.

Anyone who has played GO will find this very familiar

Just like in that game you can use berries to make it easier to catch the Pokemon and then you time your catch when the circle is just small enough then you throw the Poke Ball.  This can be done either with the controller if you’re in handheld mode or by using the motion controls of the Joy Con. . Successfully catching a Pokemon will give your party experience points and if you fulfill certain conditions you may be rewarded with bonus points. Some Pokemon such as Snorlax and the legendary Pokemon do still need to be battled and their HP reduced to zero before you can attempt to catch them but you can’t accidentally defeat these Pokemon.

I appreciate the fact that you can see wild Pokemon roaming around in the field. This makes it incredibly easy to get the Pokemon you want and not feel frustrated when you can’t find the one you want and I do hope to see this feature again in the next Pokemon game. However the fact that it’s so easy to catch Pokemon now may rub veteran players the wrong way, who may feel that the game caters too much to the casual crowd. In addition using the motion control to catch Pokemon feels a bit awkward and takes some getting used to.  On the other hand though thanks to this catching system you don’t have to worry about accidentally fainting the Pokemon you wanted to catch.

Another change in the game compared to the original Pokemon Yellow is the removal of HMs. TMs function like they did in Sun and Moon but HMs have been replaced by Secret Technique that can  your partner Pikachu/ Eevee can learn that can only be used outside of battle.

In addition there is no fishing and bike riding. Instead you can ride on some of your Pokemon in your party in order to traverse faster. Other Pokemon can also help you detect hidden items in the field particularly in bushes or other inaccessible areas.

By far the game’s greatest strength is its visual. Seeing these Pokemon in action and in traditional battles on the big screen in 3D is incredible and the visual effects are excellent as well. You and your partner Pokemon can be customized with different clothes and your partner can even have different hair styles

I mean look how ADORABLE Pikachu looks
Seeing this game in glorious HD like this makes me excited to see what the next main one would like on the Nintendo Switch.

The game also links up to Pokemon GO. If you link your Pokemon Go with this game you can bring the Pokemon you caught in GO and bring them into Let’s Go

As great as the game is there is no mistaking that this game relies heavily on nostalgia. While thats not a bad thing on its own if you didn’t Pokemon fever before you won’t be getting it in this game and veterans may be a bit put off by how dumbed down certain mechanics are.

So should you get Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/ Eevee? It’s undeniable that this game is super fun and super addicting like any good Pokemon game. The catching mechanic is incredibly easy particularly in handheld mode and this is the best looking Pokemon game in ages. It’s a wonderful throwback to the classic Pokemon games with nods to other games in the series such as an Alolan Geodude you can get by trading a regular Geodude with an NPC. At the same time its simple nature may turn off more hardcore players. Ultimately it’s main purpose is to get players eager and waiting for the next main game to come out which is slated to be next year.

References:

Note: This review is still incomplete as I have not touched on some of the other features of the game. This review will be revised as time goes on.

EDIT (25th November 2017): Updated the review slightly, explaining that some Pokemon do need to battled such as Snorlax and the legendary Birds.

The story of Final Fantasy XV and my worries for Kingdom Hearts 3 (SPOILERS

Final Fantasy, one of the most beloved JRPGs in existence. For many people, myself included, Final Fantasy 7 was the gateway to the JRPG genre. With a memorable cast of characters, an intriguing plot and plenty of content FF7 was and still is considered the greatest Final Fantasy.

 What most people think you say Final Fantasy

But we’re talking about this one

In comparison however the recent titles 13 and 15 have not been received well, 13 in particular. These problems stem from production issues, story, characters, world-building, etc. So let’s take a look at one JRPGs greatest franchises, how it exploded in popularity and how we got to where we are.
Let’s turn back time to the year 1987. After the hit release of Dragon Quest by rival company at the time Enix a man named Hironobu Sakaguchi who had wanted to create an RPG for a long time was given the chance to realize his wish. At the time Square was facing financial difficulties and thus it was decided to call this new RPG Final Fantasy as it was considered at the time to be Square’s final game.

The game that started the franchise
The game turned out to be a commercial success and Final Fantasy established itself as a hallmark of the JRPG genre. Subsequent entries in the series such as the critically acclaimed 6th entry as well as spinoffs like Final Fantasy Tactics also went on to sell well among gamers. Even when transitioning to the PS2 era Final Fantasy remained strong with X and XII receiving favorable reviews. But it was when the series was about to transition into the HD-era, the era of the PS3 and XBOX 360 did things start to change drastically.
By then the company had already been known as Square Enix, the merger occurring in the year 2002. On May 8 2006 during an E3 conference Square Enix announced the latest entries in the Final Fantasy series . That’s right entries. Square Enix had announced not one, not two but three Final Fantasy games under the umbrella known as Fabula Nova Crystallis. These three entries were known at the time as Final Fantasy XIII which would serve as the flagship game, Final Fantasy Versus XIII which would be directed by Tetsuya Nomura of Kingdom Hearts fame and Final Fantasy Agito XIII which would be aimed at mobiles.  All three games would take place in different worlds but would share the mythology. 
What people were hyped for the most for was Final Fantasy Versus XIII as it was promised to be a much more different game compared to what we knew. It was going to be a real-time action game similar to the Kingdom Hearts series and when the first trailer was shown people were blown away. The main character stood alone against an armed group of soldiers. With his magical swords he decimated the armies single-handedly. It was a far more violent Final Fantasy and people were psyched.

The very first trailer of the then Final Fantasy Versus XIII
As time went by though and more information about XIII came out there was barely any mention of Versus XIII. The next time anyone heard about was in 2009 at a private showing in Japan. In 2010 Final Fantasy XIII launched and more resources could be devoted to Versus XIII. However there were technical problems as the engine used in XIII could not be used in Versus XIII. A similar engine problem would also contribute to the disaster that was the original FF XIV. This set back forced Square to develop a new engine called Luminous Studio in order to develop Versus XIII. Becasue of this the game would not show in E3 that year. 
This wasn’t the only problem with the production, in fact by 2011 the game had still not entered full production. According to people who have worked on it, the game’s story was rapidly changing every 3 months and yet again Final Fantasy Versus XIII was not shown either in E3 or the Tokyo Game Show. By this time Square Enix had their first look at the next generation consoles of that time the PS4 and XBOX ONE and they were considering developing for those consoles instead of the PS3 exclusively as originally planned.
By this time with all the scant news about the game many people myself included concluded that the game had been cancelled. However in E3 2013 a huge announcement was made. Final Fantasy Versus XIII was going to come out for PS4 and XBOX ONE and was being rebranded as Final Fantasy XV. It was no longer a spin-off but rather the next entry in the main series. That wasn’t the only change however. Hajime Tabatha became the new director of the project and his goal was simple: get Final Fantasy XV made and released to the public.

The first trailer of the now rebranded Final Fantasy XV
In order for this to happen though many parts of Nomura’s original vision had to be scrapped. Years of work that originally went into Versus XIII had to be removed or reworked to fit with the new Final Fantasy XV. One such as example was a female main character named Stella Nox Fleuret who in Versus XIII would’ve been a reluctant enemy of Noctis and would have similar powers to him being able to magically summon weapons. Instead she was replaced by Lunafreya who plays a far different role in XV serving as Noctis’s fiancee. The story of XV in fact starts with Noctis and his friends going on a road trip to meet with Lunafreya for their wedding.

Lunafreya the new heroine with Noctis at the end
The canned Stella, a potentially more interesting character

In March 2015 to coincide with the HD release of Final Fantasy Type-0 which was the rebranded Final Fantasy Agito XIII that came out exclusively on PSP in Japan a playable Final Fantasy XV demo was released to the public. Titled Episode Duscae the game took place in a region called Duscae as they took the role of Noctis and his friends performing various quests. Although the game’s performance was a bit wonky at times the game impressed players with its open-world.

On March 30 2016 another demo called the Platinum Demo came out that centered around a young Noctis in his dreams as he explored different locales trying to find a way out. The combat was slightly tweaked and the game was mostly used to demonstrate other environments as well what the game’s engine could do.

A prologue movie called KingsGlaive detailing the story of the king’s royal guard the Kingsglaive and showed the fall of Insomnia was released in July of that year as well a 5 episode anime that was free to watch on Youtube and Cruncyroll from March 30 to September 17 2016. Each episode was about 10-15 minutes long and detailed the characters’ pasts and how they came to know one another.

On November 29 2016 the game was officially released and it was a commercial success. The game was praised for its open world which was a stark contrast to Final Fantasy XIII’s narrow corridors. The game served as gateway for newcomers while still catering to the hardcore Final Fantasy fan. It seemed that all was well.

However, overtime cracks began to form among the gaming populace. Namely with how the story was handled  Many gamers felt that the story felt disconnected with certain gaps to be filled with DLC. And indeed those DLC did fill in those gaps and helped to make the story make more sense. DLC that should’ve been part of the base game to begin with. But no, Square in all their wisdom thought it would be a good idea to have critical character development be held by a paywall. Those DLC episodes are Episode Gladious, Episode Ignis and Episode Prompto with each episode focusing on each individual character and what they did when they were separated from Noctis.

It didn’t help that most of what the 2013 trailer showed wasn’t even in the game, the whole segment being relegated to a cutscene. The fall of Insomnia that was shown in Kingsglaive is present in the game as well but the movie itself has no audio, it’s just a clip of the movie played to some generic music.

Of course the gameplay was also a target of much criticism as well. The game was indeed an Action- RPG but in my opinion it felt like a poor man’s Kingdom Hearts. Attacking is done by holding the attack button which on PS4 would be the Circle button with the Square button used for dodging. The main strategy of the game is to just wail on the enemy by just holding the attack button with the occasional dodge here and there. And if you’re about to die? No worries, you’ll be sent to weakened state with a short period of invincibility and enough time to pop in a potion and heal yourself.

As interesting as it looks it really isn’t all that engaging

Ok so regular combat sounds a bit dull. What about the magic system? Magic has always been a big part of Final Fantasy so how does the magic system fare? To put it simply, it sucks. To use magic in this game you need to craft certain items. That’s right magic in this game is relegated to being items that work similarly like grenades. This means that magic will hurt not only the enemy but you and your party members as well. Some enemies have weaknesses to certain magic and weapons but you don’t have to really worry about it since holding the attack button and occasionally dodging seems to work most of the time. Magic is severely under-utilized and its a real shame too, the effects from magic grenades look really nice. If you use a fire bomb the whole grass will be burnt, use ice and you can see frost forming on the character’s clothes as they shiver and using lighting will create amazing sparks on the ground

Surely there must be some form of strategy vital to the game right? Oh if only. There is a Wait mode, but it’s so finicky. It only activates if you’re standing still and you can’t even control the camera or get a bird’s eye view in order to plan strategically while the game is paused. In fact it will even activate itself if you stand still after killing all enemies. Its a useless feature with no real use in combat. Why couldn’t the Wait mode be used when the player enters the Tactical menu to use items? It would’ve made Tactical mode far more useful than just the menu the player goes to in order to use a potion.

Alright what about summons? Final Fantasy is famous for summons and their over-the-top attacks, surely this game is no different right? Unfortunately summons or astrals as the game calls them work much differently in this game. As you progress through the game you will obtain an item used to summon the astral but to actually use it you need to meet a certain requirements. These can range from having one of your party members incapacitated to having a battle go on for a certain length of time. These requirements remove any strategies that could’ve been used in the game. In the past games summons could be used anytime in battle and were great for dealing loads of damage and though they handled summons differently in the past they were all activated through a menu at any point in battle unlike XV where after fulfilling the requirements you then have to press a button that shows up to use the summon.

They do look impressive though

One last thing I have to add is your party members. In past Final Fantasy games had a wide diversity of party members such as Celes from VI, Balthier from XII and Vincent from VII. Part of the strategy in Final Fantasy was figuring out which characters to bring in a party of 3-4 members. However in Final Fantasy XV for most of the game you’ll be stuck with Noctis and his friends Ignis, Prompto and Gladios with guest characters joining or replacing one of them during certain story segments.  Now there’s nothing wrong with this, the characters are likable (except Prompto who’s more concerned to take photos than actually saving you in battle) and they have a chemistry with each other that makes you believe that they’ve been friends for a long time. The problem is some of the guest characters that join you are so interesting that you wish you could replace one of the boys with them.

Case in point: best girl Iris.

Now the game has been given a lot of content post release with DLC that expands upon the characters and their time away from Noctis (which should’ve been part of the main story). And there have been patches and fixes to add a bit of story content in the infamous Chapter 11 of the game.

So why are we talking about this? Final Fantasy XV is already and is selling quite well and there isn’t anything new here that other people haven’t already talked about. So what’s the reason for this article? Well there’s a really good reason and its called Kingdom Hearts 3.

The real reason for this discussion

Announced in E3 2013 just like the rebranded Final Fantasy XV Kingdom Hearts 3 is the long awaited sequel to the Kingdom Hearts series and the first numbered game since Kingdom Hearts 2, way back in 2005. Before this game the story of Kingdom Hearts was expanded upon through side games such as Birth By Sleep and Dream Drop Distance. Though these games expanded the story of Kingdom Hearts they were not Kingdom Hearts 3 as they all featured drastically different gameplay mechanics compared to 2 and they mostly focused on characters other than Sora except for Dream Drop Distance. The fact that all these side games were originally released on handhelds did not help matters as most people wanted an entry on a console.
The latest trailer featuring the Tangled world

As of this writing the game is slated to release in January 2019 and it looks impressive particularly the Toy Story world with the toys looking just like they do in the actual Toy Story movie. 
Looking good there Woody

From the trailers shown the game has all the elements from previous games and is aimed to be as ambitious and revolutionary as Kingdom Hearts 2 was. So what’s the problem then? My biggest problem is the story and how they plan to wrap up the Dark Seeker saga.
According to Tetsuya Nomura Kingdom Hearts 3 will be the end of the Dark Seeker saga though the story is stated to continue past that. This means we can expect huge changes to the story that will change the status quo. The problem is how are they going to tell that story and how it will conclude. Tetsuya Nomura himself has stated the ending will be hard to accept.
 Will it be as hard to accept as this guy being alive, or the fact that his original self Lauriam was involved with other Keyblade warriors?
Considering how ambitious the original Versus XIII was and how much was cut in XV I can’t help but be concerned about how the story will be told. Tetsuya Nomura has expressed interest in post-launch DLC though he has stated that there will be no Season Pass (we’ll see if that’s true) but given how big and ambitious the story is and how the game is supposed to be coming out in less than 2 months from now and given what happened to XV’s story I can’t help but be worried.
I’m calling it: Episode Lea and Kairi, where they journey together, fall in love and Sora’s completely forgotten and alone as he becomes the new villain. For only $10.00 USD! Sold separately

I am cautiously optimistic, depending on how it goes I might buy it day 1 but I’m more likely to wait a couple of months or even a year once they release all the content with a deluxe Master Edition or Ultimate Mix or whatever they’ll call the special Edition.
Looking at you FFXV


References:

On a side-note I really hope this game has a story that makes sense without requiring players to play through numerous other side games and the mobile game.

Worst anime of 2018: My Sister My Writer

*Disclaimer: All images belong to their respective copyright holders. I own nothing.

The current anime season is ripe with plenty of winners from Jojo Part 5 to Goblin Slayer. But out of all the anime currently showing there is one that stands out for being utterly horrible. From its animation to its characters, its plot, its… well everything! It is easily the worst anime of the year. I’m talking about My Sister My Writer or in Japanese Ore ga Suki nano wa Imoto daekdo Imoto ja nai.

 The general art and animation looks WAY worse than this

From the title alone you should know already how ‘riveting’ this work of art is. The story stars a young teenager who lives with his sister (No I don’t plan on giving their names, to do that would be to give this show more recognition than it deserves). Their parents are often away for long stretches of time so basically the two of them are living alone with each other.

The boy is an aspiring light novel author (how original). However no matter how hard he tries he hasn’t made his debut yet. His little sister on the other hand is the ‘perfect’ being. The best in athletics, academics and is even student council president at her middle school. In fact as you can tell by the English title she is the one who actually debuts as an author and not the brother, despite only writing it on a whim and not having any real interest in otaku culture. When she finds out she won the award she pleads with her brother to be the face of the writer in her stead as it would jeopardize her school life since her school prohibits part-time jobs.

What’s the title of her novel you may ask? Something about how much the brother loves the little sister. Surprise, surprise the little sister is a bro-con (wow never seen THAT before). And thus the two work together under one pen name to ensure the novel’s success and keep the sister’s secret.

There are of course other characters in the anime but there’s no point in mentioning any of them by name. There’s the classmate whose also a light novel author who happens to be a fan of the brother as he appeared in an awards show in his sister’s stead, the big-breasted artist who makes pervy drawings and is the one drawing the illustrations for the novel and then there’s the voice actress girl who will voice the main heroine when the novel gets turned into the anime. None of them are particularly very interesting and they’re all just there.

This anime has horrible animation with faces that just can’t stay consistent, the plot is unoriginal and the whole thing is just BLEH. There is nothing good to say about this show because there is nothing good in it at all. No humor, cliched anime tropes and characters its just not worth it. Do yourself a favor and stay far, far, far away from this one. If you wanted a fun, stupid imouto show this is not it. You’re better off watching Eromanga-sensei or Oreimo. At least those two have some redeemable qualities (though Oreimo’s ending can burn in a cold pit of hell)

This picture pretty much sums up the whole animation quality

I give this a show a STAY THE HELL AWAY/10. As of this writing there are about 4 episodes all of them trash. You have been warned

Dragonball FighterZ review (PS4, XBOX ONE, PC, Switch)

If there’s one anime that is well suited to being a fighting game it’s Dragonball Z. This anime has spawned countless fighting game classics such as the beloved Budokai series and the Raging Blast games. FighterZ however is a whole different beast.

Developed by Arc-System Works famous for their Guilty Gear and Blazblue franchises DragonBall FighterZ and released on January 26th 2018 for Xbox One, PC and PS4 as well as the Switch on September 2018 is a 3v3 fighting game similar to the Marvel Vs Capcom games with easy to learn controls and plenty of possibilities with different character matchups.

The first thing that’s evident is the presentation; it’s AMAZING. Utilizing Unreal Engine 4 the game is easily the best looking fighting game this generation with characters looking just like they do in the anime and even better. Almost every punch, kick and pose is taken straight from the manga and anime making it a joy to watch in action. The game uses the same graphical style as Guilty Gear Xrd; 3d models given 2d shading to give them an authentic anime look. This and Toriyama’s distinct art style makes this one of the most visually appealing games to date.

But it isn’t just presentation that makes a game great; the gameplay has to be good too. And Dragonball FighterZ delivers in that regard as well. Unlike other Dragonball fighting games the gameplay is strictly 2D wtih special moves similar to those in another Arc System Work game Blazblue Cross Tag Battle. Special moves are triggered with a quarter circle forward or backward motion and an attack button with supers triggered with two attack buttons instead of one.

The mechanics are easy to learn with autocombos made possible just by mashing either the light button or medium button. Mashing the light button repeatedly will start a combo that sends the enemy into the air while further mashing sends them back to the ground. Mashing the medium button will start an autocombo that ends with a super move if the player has enough meter.  The heavy button acts as a launcher to set enemies airborne and open them to air combos or send them back to the ground from the air. Finally there is a special attack button that lets most characters fire off KI blasts.

While the autocombos make it easy for newcomers to get into the more experienced players will be able to use the system to create their own combos as they start to learn the intricacies of each character. For example, Adult Gohan has a super move that if used to power up to max level completely changes how his combos work making a beast in battle. Mashing autocombos will only get you so far.

There is also a Dragon Rush mechanic that acts a way for players to get to the opponent quickly and deal some good damage. It’s also a good tool for chasing after airborne opponents to start up an air combo. It isn’t infallible though and a player that spams it often can be knocked back with a well-timed crouch launcher which will send him airborne and leave him open to a counter attack.

As the game is a 3v3 fighting game similar to the Marvel Vs Capcom series Dragon Ball FighterZ also has a tag team mechanic. You can call on your other characters to do an assist attack for combo extension, or use them to create an opening. You can even call upon your partner characters to perform a super after performing your own. And with the wide variety of characters to choose 20+ on launch with 8 DLC characters for sale now the team possibilities and strategies are endless.

Where Marvel Vs Capcom 3 had X-Factor Dragon Ball FighterZ has Sparking Blast. With a press of a button you can activate this mechanic and gain a significant boost in attack and regeneration. The less fighters you have left the greater boosts. This can create great comeback opportunities and ensures that you will always have a fighting chance.

No DragonBall game would be complete without teleporting (called Vanish) and charging your KI or in this case the super meter. Charging the super meter can be done by pressing the light attack button and the special attack button together. The super meter is important as not only can it be used to power up special moves when performed with the heavy button and the super moves it is also used for the Vanish mechanic. By pressing the medium and heavy attack buttons together you can teleport behind your opponent and send them into a wall bounce for some good combo opportunities. You can also use the Vanish mechanic mid combo to extend them or even use them to dodge devastating super moves and punish the opponent.

One particular mechanic that sounds interesting in paper but isn’t really well implemented is the DragonBall mechanic. Basically you need to knock down your opponent by spamming the light autocombo in order to receive one of the seven Dragon Balls. By getting all seven Dragon Balls you will be able to summon Shenron and he will give you one of four wishes: immortality, extra power and so on. Players share the Dragon Balls and the one who managed to get the last one will summon Shenron.

The problem with this mechanic is that it doesn’t really add anything to the overall combat. It’s not uncommon to go through regular fights without even noticing the Dragon Balls. In addition getting the Dragon Balls themselves can be quite finicky and battles go through at a really fast pace, by the time you’ve collected even half of them the match is almost over.

Aside from your standard story mode you also have a story mode that tells an original story involving new character Android 21 and the clones she made of the characters as they wreak havoc. The story consists of three arcs that come together to form a whole story. It’s always refreshing to see new stories from beloved franchises and the story modes does a good job of introducing its new character and settings. Completing all story arcs will unlock Android 21 for regular and online play.

There is also the classic arcade mode where you take your characters through several paths. The better you perform the better your score. Completing some of the harder arcade challenges also unlock Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta who both play slightly differently from their regular Super Saiyan counterparts with different specials and supers.

New modes have been implemented since release such as party mode and an online 2v2 and 1v1 fights with many more to come in the future. The game is regularly being supported and it ‘s always interesting to see how the game will continue to grow.

Speaking about online modes we need to talk about the network play. You have your standard Network mode with Ranked and Casual play where you will fight against other players around the world. You can also set up Ring Fights where you will get to fight with other people in the same lobby.

While the online modes provide loads of entertainment and there’s always someone to fight online we need to address one the biggest issues, the matchmaking. When the game first came out the matchmaking was atrocious, one could spend hours trying to get a fight with a good connection. In addition Ring Fights did not work at all with many frustrated players going through message boards and other places to find fixes and tips to alleviate the problem. Although the matchmaking has been improved since then some platforms like PC are still experiencing problems.

In addition on PS4 at least there is no way to invite your friends to play with you. In Tekken 7 and some other online games you could invite a friend from your PSN account by going through the menu and sending an invite to a friend. But that option is sadly unavailable in DBFZ making playing friends a chore. I once tried to set up an invite with my friend from Indonesia but we found to our dismay that we could not invite one another like in Tekken 7 or Monster Hunter World. We had to communicate with each other through voice chat to meet up in the same lobby but even after setting up a Ring Match we could not fight each other. In fact when one of us created a room the other couldn’t even see it.

Despite the online problems the game is still a lot of fun to play offline. Among all the fighting games currently released it has the presentation and looks extremely faithful to the original anime and manga. With additional modes and characters coming DBFZ is probably one of the best Dragonball fighting games right now, almost on par with the legendary Budokai series. I give it an 8/10.

DragonBall FigherZ is available now for PS4, XBOX One, PC and Switch with a DLC Characters and anime music pack available as well.