More Reviews
Yes, that time again. When I finally become not-lazy enough, or rather have enough that I’m in danger of forgetting about, that it’s finally time to write up some thoughts about stuff I’ve been watching or playing.
Anime
Bakemonogatari: I really wanted to wait until the web/DVD/BD-only episodes finish before reviewing, but I think I’ll just treat the initial TV-aired 12 episodes as its own entity. I really wasn’t all that familiar with the works of director Akiyuki Shinbou previously (only series of his I’ve seen was Maria†Holic), but BMG is definitely a showcase of his unique style. Animation is kind of uneven, and there are absolutely massive amounts of text that show up on screen for very short periods of time, making it a pretty hard watch at times (I often had to pause and go back to catch everything – heaven knows how someone watching it as a TV broadcast can possibly see it all). But the story and the characters more than make up for it. Araragi is a high school student who briefly turned into a vampire but has become (mostly) human again, and run into various girls who also have problems with the supernatural that he helps solve by bringing them to Oshino, and each subset/chapter of episodes deal with the ghost/apparition/spirit/what-have-you that’s plaguing a particular girl. What really elevates this series though, is one of those girls – the first heroine introduced, Hitagi Senjougahara. She is honestly one of the most fascinating anime characters in recent memory. From being a tsundere when she first meets Araragi to the cheerful girl who still mercilessly teases him at the end, she’s just a joy to watch anytime she’s on-screen. And the ending to the TV-aired episodes is probably the best of any romance series I’ve seen in the last few year, made all the better by the fantastic ending theme.
Verdict: 9/10.
Darker than BLACK: Waited until BD rips were out to watch this, and kicked myself for waiting so long. Set in a supernatural modern day world where some some people (Contractors) have gained superhuman powers albeit at the price of having to perform some rituals which are often painful or self-mutilating, it follows Hei, one such Contractor who’s working as an assassin known as “The Black Reaper”. There is actually a fairly wide cast of characters of importance, and they’re almost universally well done. Season 1 ends on a spectacular note, and while season 2 is also quite good, it does suffer a bit from it’s shorter length, where new characters (Contractors especially) seem to keep getting introduced for not much reason. Also, there is not nearly enough Yin in season 2. An OVA that bridges the two is still being released, hopefully that will shed more light. But overall, a good to great series. The opening theme to season 2 is also one of the best anime OPs I’ve ever heard.
Verdict: 8/10 for DTB: The Black Contractor, 7/10 for DTB: Gemini of the Meteor.
Kimi no Todoke: Nothing wrong with watching a little Shoujo now and then, is there? The main character is a girl for whom the description of “socially inept” would be generous, who of course is also the kindest girl you could ever meet. She then makes friends with some 2 other girls who are themselves somewhat outcasts, and meets, and captures the eye of, the most popular boy in class. They’re both way too dense to realize their feelings for each other in any reasonable timeframe, and too shy to even think about admitting it to each other, even after 25 episodes. So while it’s certainly got some questionable pacing, but characters and some of the situations that arise are indeed quite fun, and maybe the next season will offer more development (not counting on it though!).
Verdict: 7/10.
Summer Wars: From the director of Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo / The Girl Who Leapt Through Time comes this anime that’s kind of a cross between War Games and .hack. The animation is superb, the setting is quite imaginative, and the (main) characters are very likable. It won Animation of the Year at the Japan Academy Prize for 2010, and I can’t say it’s a bad choice. Very enjoyable.
Verdict: 9/10.
Games
Final Fantasy XIII: From the start on PS2 to the shift to using the “next-gen” Crystal Tools to the shocking news of becoming multi-platform, this game has been years in the making, and this year it finally was unleashed upon the world (outside Japan). The PS3 version is still obviously the superior one, and technically, it’s certainly nothing to sneeze at. The FMVs in 1080p look absolutely amazing, and the cut-scenes rendered in real-time using higher-quality models look so good that sometimes you may question if it’s not in fact pre-rendered CG. The music is excellent, especially the battle themes, even if the whole package isn’t quite up to the levels of the soundtracks of Chrono Cross or Final Fantasy VI (but then, what is?). The characters and story are about par for the JRPG course, though somehow a “token black guy” who has a baby Chocobo in his afro ends up being a well developed character – possibly the best of the protagonists, in fact. And the pacing is an issue that raises most people’s ire – slowly introducing game concepts is something I can get behind, but taking 25 hours to get to the point where you’re finally experiencing the entirety of game mechanics is admittedly pretty patience-wearing. But the battle system is really what makes the game for me. Limiting player control to only one character does feel restrictive at first, especially at the beginning when the deeper mechanics are not utilized, but once all the elements are in place, it’s fast-paced, strategic, and really limits the necessary of grinding… for experience at least. Unfortunately, obtaining gil (money) is pretty difficult, especially when trying to be a completionist in obtaining and upgrading all the weapons/accessories (which also has an associated trophy). And as I am nothing if not obsessive-compulsive when it comes to things like this, 100-some odd hours, 60+ of them after beating the game, passed before I was finally “finished”. Overall… I enjoyed it.
Verdict: 7/10. Definitely isn’t going to surpass FFVI, but I had fun, and when it comes down to it, that’s what matters. Now just to see if I can actually make myself finish any other JRPGs…
Heavy Rain: Touted as “interactive drama”, this has been on my radar for quite a while. Switching between 4 different characters, the story revolves around the search for the “Origami Killer” who targets young boys. At it’s core, the gameplay is movement with RE-style “tank” controls along with series of Quick Time Events. No, that doesn’t sound very promising at all, but surprisingly, it works pretty well. I still had some problems with the movement, especially when camera angle changes, but the QTEs are among the best I’ve ever seen in a game – the locations of the prompts work very well with the flow of game events, and the button actions required “fits” the action on screen. But the most important part of the game/experience is, of course the story and characters. Questionable voice-acting aside, the characters are pretty good, and the plot is gripping even if there are some holes. And in terms of emotional impact, this game features more grimace and shudder inducing scenes than almost any others I can think of, and that’s actually a positive. Those thoroughly uncomfortable events really brings the player/viewer into the story, and makes for some highly memorable moments. So as far as the drama aspects go, I would say it’s a success. Unfortunately, this is also probably the buggiest game I’ve played since the original The Witcher. Despite a 1.01 patch that was pushed out right at launch, freezes and crashes seemed to be quite common. I experienced several freezes, and the last one resulted in my progress being lost when the save file got deleted (which has even further increased my disdain for the most-hated feature of this console generation, locked save files). I was probably 70% through the game at that point, and it made me just put it down completely to play FFXIII instead. I eventually came back to finish HR, but even with the 1.02 patch, I still experienced a few freezes, though thankfully didn’t have the lost save problem again.
Verdict: 6/10. 6.5 is probably more accurate. If it wasn’t for the technical issues, this would probably be a 7, but despite the promise it shows, it’s still too rough in some areas to be considered great.
Mass Effect 2: Continuing on where Mass Effect 1 left off, Commander Shepard is back. New allies to gain (and some old ones), new enemies (and some old ones) to fight. Gone are planet-side missions with the terrible Mako driving segments and cookie-cutter buildings/enemies, along with an inventory management system so obtuse I had to use a spreadsheet to keep track of what I had, and the dialogue system gained more depth due to the new Paragon/Renegade interrupt actions, but not everything is a gain. The weapon and character upgrade system is simple to the point of being annoyingly restrictive, and whoever at BioWare came up with the planet scanning minigame for resources ought to be fired. But the story, characters (Tali and Garrus’ triumphant return are especially fantastic), and a whole lot more information on a wonderfully developed space opera setting makes up for all that. I’m not so sure I can still consider this game a RPG – a third-person cover-based shooter with some RPG-lite elements would probably be a lot more accurate. But either way, it’s still the best released-in-2010 game that I’ve played.
Verdict: 9/10. Absolutely cannot wait for the final installment of the trilogy, and will probably play through all the DLC available before then too.