Gamer--freakz

Opening songs
OP 1 - Black + White (Iori Nomizu)

Ending songs
ED 1 - To Be Continued? (Kaori Sadohara)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Fantasy

Episodes:10



I don't animes with ridiculously long name so lets just shorten this one for the sake of the review. I'll nickname it "Mondaiji", just because that's part of the anime's title. 


"Mondaiji" is as awesome as it gets. It may not be the most popular thing ever, but I was hooked the very moment I started it. It gives off a very MMORPG esque feel, making it interesting and intriguing. I mean, it literally SPELLS MMORPG, with the talk about guild, towns, factions and the fact that it has different races walking around just makes the atmosphere even better! Throw in some very likable characters and a charismatic as f**k protagonist to create one hell of a ride. "Mondaiji" feels unique, its pretty much different from most anime out there, and feels akin to stuff like ".Hack" or "Sword Art Online" (though its not quite that level yet). It may be stupidly short, but its definitely a trip worth taking as long as you aren't too much of a stubborn prick.

Uh huh, the girls are sexy, that's for sure.

I've been growing a liking for Iori Nomizu, both for her musical talent and her seiyuu talent. "Black + White" is the anime's opening, its ang by Iori Nomizu (seiyuu of Kurou Usagi) and it sounds great, just like most of the songs I've heard from her. I am a sucker for songs with a badass fantasy feel, "Black + White" easily fits the bill, though I'm still waiting for something as awesome as "Passionate". The ending song is just funny, its "To Be Continued?" by Kaori Sadohara. It has a pretty catchy tune to it, and I guess it just tries to be cute and funky at the same time, which works. I always bob my head side to side when I see the ending dance animation :3.



Rating: 8.0/10



Despite its short length, there's not much of a downside to "Mondaiji". From what I can see, the potential to grow from what we've seen is IMMENSE, HUGE. There's so much that can add to the world and I'm so excited for it. The very brief first season serves as a great stepping stone for what's to come. The concept of the different characters and gifts just makes everything cool as f**k, combined with the talk about guilds, a different world, politics, wars.....you've got yourself a pretty badass franchise. Plus, the protagonist is one of the best I've seen in an anime yet, right there on top with some of my favorite anime protagonists (Lelouch and crew). Its not often that our main character isn't some snot nosed prick that acts like a pussy, doesn't like violence, wants to protect everyone no matter what, is weak, needs to train forever....etc etc. Izayoi is the pinnacle of awesomeness.

Meet the team, aka "Izayoi and his angels"

Meet the 3 problem children. Izayoi is a teenage boy who gets bored out his mind for no reason. He wants to have fun and take a challenge at anything, but because of his insane fighting ability, nobody in his world is able to subdue his taste for "fun" and "challenge". Asuka is a rich girl living in her world where she always comes first because of her commanding telepathic ability, and wants to escape from her boredom. You is just another girl who wants to communicate with animals. The 3 of them get teleported to "Little Garden", a world where denizens from other worlds are brought from because of their special talents, like the talents Izaoi, Asuka and You posses. These powers are called gifts, and the summoner of these 3 children, Kurou Usagi, explains their new found purpose in this world....


After all is said and done, "Mondaiji" is a great anime that doesn't disappoint other than its short length. I'm actually inclined to go read the light novel if they don't plan on doing a second season, because I just fell in love with its universe in these 10 episodes. There's so much that can happen, and I can't wait to see what. This is mostly a shonen anime, but I see no reason not to give it a spin.


Peace.

These villain posts have become so rare that they only probably come once a year.....Once again, everything is based on opinion.


Spoilers for the following anime:


Eureka Seven AO
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2012-2013)
Date A Live
Sword Art Online
Psycho Pass

My name is Truth and behold my awesomeness

5. Truth
From: Eureka Seven AO


The big bad dude from "Eureka Seven AO", Truth takes number 5 today. There weren't much "villains" in that anime anyway, so Truth comes to mind.


Why f**king Truth? I honestly think he was pretty damn bad ass. Borderline OP even. I never thought the "Eureka Seven" franchise would EVER introduce a character such as Truth that could go super saiyan and solo multiple LFOs at once. When they did though, I was pretty impressed, and honestly hyped that someone like him even MADE it into the anime.


In a scientific world where robots fight each other with lasers and rocket launchers, someone who can fly at mach speed, stop the entire impact of LFOs with a single hand and create masses of destruction, Truth IS a deal. Truth basically defies most logic that you'd partake in the anime, and his badass-ery really shows when he's always flying around, causing trouble and showing off that he can take on almost ANYTHING that the good guys could throw at him. 

In a world where your pose represents how fabulous you are

4. Kars
From: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2012-2013)


Kars takes number 4 today. Could have easily been Dio, but I feel that part 1 vampire Dio wasn't too badass of a villain compared to the sly, sneaky, god mode Kars.


"Jojo" honestly has a bunch of villains that I really like, SOLELY from part 1 and part 2 alone. Dio was mighty awesome, and Whamu is just a complete badass, but as a villain, Kars shines the brightest. He is crafty, tricky and plays on deception to win. He is the leader of the Pillar man, the smartest, most intelligent and most experienced of them all. He created the stone mask, which resulted in all the nonsense that happened in part 1 and part 2.


He is already strong enough as the leader of the pillar men, but still used a doppelganger, tricked Lisa Lisa and beat her using this cheap ass method. He then forces Jojo to make a move by threatening her life. His arm blades are sharp and gleam like light, cutting through almost anything that it touches (he instantly cleaved Stroheim's new cyborg body made with strong metal). Later he gains godlike abilities, with the power to manipulate matter itself. He cannot be killed by the sun then, and even at the end, he didn't truly die....he just went floating in space. I wonder if someone would pick him up in a later part where he would be another cameo villain.....

Yanderes, say hello to your newest addition.

3. Kurumi Tokisaki/Nightmare
From: Date A Live


I haven't reviewed "Date A Live", but it doesn't matter, because this girl is just too awesome and bad ass for me to not post about her. Kurumi takes villain number 3 today.


"Date A Live" is a pretty normal/light hearted show for the most part, so there really isn't much room for a "villain" of sorts...until Kurumi steps in. Her normal human form is sexy and attractive as f**k, but when shit hits the fan, she goes all out....and I do mean ALL OUT. With that crazy time eye of hers, Kurumi marks herself as pretty overpowered as far as the "Date A Live" universe goes.


First of all, you give anyone the ability to control the flow of time, their going to be broken in terms of power, 100%. Kurumi has two pistols and her angel that hovers behind her (its a gigantic clock). She absorbs the power of time into her pistols to shoot herself or her enemies for some effects. Using it on herself can speed her up and using it on enemies make them stop in their tracks. Also with the power to control time she can call forth Kurumis of the other timelines to come in and kick ass like the true yandere that she is.

You'd never see it coming.

2. Heathcliff/Kayaba Akihiko
From: Sword Art Online


Look at this magnificent bastard, doesn't really look like a villain, doesn't he? Well , he takes second spot today as a badass villain.


You'd NEVER see this one coming, you would have to be mother f**king PSYCHIC to know that he'd be behind EVERYTHING. Kayaba Akihiko created his revolutionary MMORPG experience in "SAO" to trick and trap players in his imaginary world, that much everyone knows. He even disappeared after that, so no one could locate him. Whoever knew that he would be in the actual game itself, hiding as a player, gaining trust and fame from other fellow players?


Heathcliff is the leader of Asuna's guild, a regular frontline fighter, and a man respected by many players. He is usually seen fighting with his famed shield, in which he blocks all incoming damage from enemies. It is said that his health never drops below the yellow zone. When noticing that Kirito is in a relationship with Asuna and wants that she wants to leave the guild, he challenges Kirito to take him in, and wins. Later when Kirito realizes that he is Akihiko after the battle with Skull Reaper, he reveals that he was supposed to be the final boss at the end of the 100th floor.....

Sakurai as Seiyuu = f**king Bijinn badass

1. Makishima Shougo
From: Psycho Pass


And the top villain today goes to Makishima Shougo from "Psycho Pass". He may be bijinn as f**k, but he f**ks with your mind so hard that you'll go down to Chinatown. 


Makishima is like, the fighter of the government. He exists as a thorn to all that spells politics. In a world ruled by something as screwed up as the Sibyl System, Makishima tries to bring it down as one with power. He is one of the very few in the world gifted with an inner ability to always be clean when measured for a criminal coefficient value, no matter what he does. He's probably killed lots, but his case still comes clean as a sheet when being measured. He uses this to his advantage to do some nasty things which he calls revolution.


Makishima doesn't like the current world ruled by the Sibyl System, and wants to take it down so that man can once again take control of his own fate. However he also knows that since mankind has been ruled by this system for so long, they'll collapse when he takes it down. By manipulating many psychopathic individuals, he manages to test the state of the world and prepare for his true master plan (as well as entertaining himself). As his plans are constantly thwarted by Kougami he takes huge interest in him, though its certain that most of the time Makishima is more entertained than endangered. He just gives zero f**ks. He f**ks with the minds of others so well that he deserves an award.



Peace. 

Gamespot Score: n/a

My Score: 8.2


(+)Pros: - Incredibly stylish feel and atmosphere, - Chibi characters look great (and cute), - Amazing soundtrack, - Different classes, each with different abilities and allows tons of experimentation, - Bleak story and world, - Great select-able character voice work, - Lots of visual flair during battles, - Tense and exciting boss battles, - Provides a good challenge for most of the game, - Great presentation.

(-)Cons: - You can only put 3 characters in your party, - Environments aren't too varied or impressive, except for a select few areas.

Gameplay time: 30-40 hours

God I haven't touched my handhelds in a long time (blame my internship and "Atelier Meruru"), but I sure as hell will some time in the future (have to get to playing "Class Of Heroes 2" and "Pokemon White 2"). I'm a sucker for JRPG dungeon crawlers, stuff like "Etrian Odyssey" and the "Shin Megami Tensei" series always get me all riled up, so its no surprise that something as stylish and good looking as "7th Dragon 2020" would slip by me. I was hoping for an English release, it was a no-go, so like any sensible gamer, I refused to pass this up just because it was in Japanese. I looked up a translation spreadsheet and dived straight in, needless to say I didn't regret it one bit. "7th Dragon 2020" is an extensive dungeon crawler experience that has a theme different from most, but feels stylish and is fun to play.



Enter the year 2020. Humanity has been mostly wiped out by the dragons. The entirety of Japan has been plagued with flowers that the dragons use to mark their territory. The pollen these flowers are dangerous to mankind, which makes Japan almost a state that is unlivable in unless something is done. To deal with the dragons, the corporation known as Murakumo has stepped up, recruiting brave individuals with battle infused talents to fight against these dragons. They live in an underground base, and want to take control of the central building in the city for base operations. Assembling soldiers and skilled fighters all around, they decide to storm the building and its inhabitants, the monsters and dragons. You are among the many of brave individuals who wish to fight for mankind, you and your team of adventurers must fight for Murakumo and liberate Japan of its existing dragon lords.

Little chibi samurai = awesome.

"7th Dragon 2020"....is a stylish game. There is no denying that. I have played a lot of dungeon crawler JRPGs, first person, 3rd person and what not. Every one of these games has its own feel, but nothing quite speaks for itself like "7th Dragon 2020". The entire setting of the game, the (somewhat) post apocalyptic feel, the remnants of a destroyed modern day Japan, stylish characters, so on and so forth. The characters in the game are just so effing stylish and cool, it basically drew me in the moment I saw the Japanese website. 


The atmosphere is great too. I mean, it might be post apocalyptic, but part of me just felt that the game gave off a really "groovy" atmosphere. Character art and portraits are beautiful but in-game models are cute little chibis which look pretty cute. With how everything is designed (monster and character wise), the chibis actually fit surprisingly well and everything looks great.

F**king deers

Dungeon crawlers have always been about a single formula that has been changed every now and then. Bring your party of characters, go into a dungeon, explore, fight enemies, get treasure, kill the boss, get out, go to the next dungeon. Then along the way you get side quests which require you to backtrack. "7th Dragon 2020" doesn't do it too differently, but it makes sure that us as players are entertained pretty much all the time. Enemies are encountered randomly like in "Etrian Odyssey", displaying an orb that glows red signals an approaching enemy encounter, and battles are your standard turn based affair.


 The soundtrack during the entire game is f**king KICKASS, especially during regular battles and boss battles. Hell some of the map OSTs are pretty damn funky as well. Hatsune Miku is in the game, and if you make her join you, you can change the soundtrack into Miku singing.....which is rather weird. Well if you aren't a Miku fan the original soundtrack is already f**king OP, if you do like Miku, having her tune into your speakers is always a good thing (some of the Miku esque boss themes sound REALLY amazing).

Yes yes...KILL THAT DINOSAUR....dragon....thing...

Spicing up your party with the right characters is always important. You start the game creating your character, followed by the rest of your party shortly afterward. There are plenty of character types, both male and female for you to choose from (5 males 5 females), followed then by 5 different classes in the game. The classes are as follow: Samurai (a consistent DPS, self buffer), Trickster (okay DPS, inflicts status ailments), Berserker (insane DPS, needs to charge up, like a glass cannon), Psychic (magic DPS, primary healer class) and Hacker (buff your team/debuff enemies, inflict status ailments). 


All classes have a massive pool of skills, and you choose which skills to add when your characters level up. The game's skill system follows that of "Etrian odyssey", when you get points, which you distribute into the skills you want to learn/level up. Also, you get to choose the seiyuus for your characters, and trust me, there are some really amazing voice works here. You want your characters to sound good for your entire 30 hour + game don't you.....

Loli tactics

Battles can be a visual flair, especially during boss fights. Your characters can dish out some pretty neat looking attacks, ranging from screen splitting sword strikes , bazooka explosions and colorful magical blasts. Each class will get their own special moves later in the game, and those look even more badass than usual skills. Speaking of these boss battles, the game has plenty of them. While there are only so many "main" boss fights in the game (probably 1 at the end of each chapter), there are dragons sprinkled around each dungeon which you can kill, kind of like "F.O.E"s in "Etrian Odyssey". 


They just lurk around, sometimes blocking your way...I'll count them as bosses. Bosses are powerful (duh), they can wipe out your party in mere turns if you aren't careful, and it helps that the intense boss theme plays in the background, making you all excited and shit. Of course, with big bosses at the end of dungeons, mini bosses lurking around every corner to whoop your ass up....its safe to say this game is pretty challenging. At least for a good portion of the game.

Emiri Kato?! Yes please.

For a dungeon crawler, "7th Dragon 2020" has some pretty saddening party restrictions. You can only bring 3 characters along for the ride (you can create plenty more though), which is sad. Other games allow you to bring up to 4-6 members, which allows for so much more variation in tactics. Also, the environments aren't too amazing except for a few. The entire game is based on a city area, and most areas are in the city, which makes sense, but many feel the same with plants and flowers sprouting everywhere. Other than the ice map, the desert factory and that 2nd map with train tracks forming a globe, everything else doesn't feel too spectacular. 


"7th Dragon 2020" is a dungeon crawler that is a lot of fun. It doesn't stray too far away from the regular formula when it comes to the overall gameplay, but the style and atmosphere make it one hell of a unique experience. It's one of the more visually appealing PSP games, it has a bleak story, it presents itself well (the menus and stuff look amazing), and overall it feels like I'm playing something different. It definitely doesn't look like a dungeon crawler JRPG at first glance. The sequel is up now, and I'll get to it, that's for sure.





Happy gaming!

Pinwheel
HP: 1326
Skills: Clone, Fireball
Souls: 6000

Difficulty: 0.5/5
Times died on 1st playthrough: None



Its actually recommended by many sites to kill Pinwheel early in the game, because he is so pathetically weak. The reason why Pinwheel is stated so late in my boss profiles is because I would rather stay the hell away from the catacombs until late game. The boss may be easy, but the stage itself is terrifying, with skeletons littered everywhere. Its highly recommended that you do not attempt the catacombs until at least this late in the game when you forge yourself a GOOD divine weapon....or you can just brute force your way through, though that is going to be a little difficult. When you finally go through the hellish Undead Catacombs, you face its mastermind, the Pinwheel. He is the boss of Undead Catacombs.

Looks like a good boss fight, but it really isn't.

Pinwheel holds the title "Nominee for weakest boss of all time", because he is so, so SOOOO easy to kill. His damage is pathetic, he only has 1326 HP, and at this point of the game you can practically down him with one full stamina bar of normal attacks. The difficulty isn't 0/5 because he can at least do SOME damage to you, but in all seriousness, he is a joke. He might be slightly harder early on, but as I said you shouldn't be tackling the Undead Catacombs until you are strong, and when you are strong enough for the Catacombs, Pinwheel is probably as threatening as a regular knight from Undead Parish.


Clone - He makes clones of himself, end of story. Similar to Fool's Idol in Demons' Souls. He starts off with only one clone, then slowly expands that amount. Hitting the clones does NOT damage the real Pinwheel, and they all have their own health bars.

Fireball - His only offensive skill. He shoots a ball of energy at you, dealing minor-medium damage depending on your armor. The clones shoot these as well.


With only one attack and one non-damaging ability, there is really not much reason to fail here. I have not died to this boss EVER in ALL of my playthroughs. You will only take damage when you fall into the pit he is in, to trigger the boss cut scene. The best way to kill him is to do so after the cut scene finishes. At the beginning of the fight he will taunt you, jumping into the air slowly and raising his "arms" for a few seconds. During this animation, run up to him, hit him until you run out of stamina. He will flinch, so you WILL get the full brunt of your damage. If he dies, congrats, you just won. If he DOESN'T die, you may be a little too weak to proceed....


If you somehow didn't kill him with your first barrage of strikes, he will begin retaliating. He will start to clone himself, though he'll only have 1 clone at the start. The clone takes damage to its own health bar, so its actually really easy to spot them out. If you hit the Pinwheel an its health bar doesn't go down, you've got the clone, switch immediately. The fireball is a slow, straightforward projectile that doesn't do much damage. Its easily blocked and dodged, though since all clones cast it together at the same time as the Pinwheel, it might get sticky if you are assaulted by multiple fireballs at once.

He sucks.

Still though, its IMPOSSIBLE for you to drag the fight so long that there will be more than 2 Pinwheels around. If you ARE having trouble (highly doubt it), the real Pinwheel has a different aura around him when he clones himself (I think the clones do not have auras when they perform the clone spell). Hit that one and you should be good.


He gives 6000 souls upon his defeat, which is pathetic for a boss, but kind of worth it considering that you killed him with almost no effort. I was hoping that they'd buff him with the "Artorias Of The Abyss" expansion, but alas, they left him in his current saddening state. Truthfully the easiest f**king boss in the game, nothing to see here folks. 

Next time, we fight the real deal.


Peace.

Opening songs
OP 1 - Abnormalize (Ling Tosite Sigure)
OP 2 - Out of Control (Nothing's Carved in stone)

Ending songs
ED 1 - Monster With No Name (Egoist)
ED 2 - All Alone With You (Egoist)

Genre: Action, Science action, Psychological, Thriller

Episodes: 22



Ever watched "Minority Report"? If you have, then "Psycho Pass" will be immediately familiar to you. It mixes some themes that normally aren't seen in anime and makes it appealing to otakus. It has an interesting concept, and since it touches some common themes with today's society, its something that we can all relate to. Most media nowadays touch on the same main topic that "Psycho Pass" tries to make clear, and honestly, the way "Psycho Pass" does it, is incredibly badass. Think a modern "NCIS" crew, anime style. They are incredibly charismatic, individually interesting, and their different personalities just makes everything one hell of an entertaining ride to watch. In most cases, it's f**ks with your mind, and since its a detective esque anime, there are some really deep mysteries and psychological themes at hand. 

TLDR, its different from most anime and its awesome.

Sexy

The songs in "Psycho Pass" are kind of hit or miss to me. Both opening songs are NOT my type. The first opening is "Abnormalize" by Ling Tosite Sigure, and well, I'll say it up straight, its too high pitched for me. Now I don't want to bash it too much, but I don't like it at all when guys try to sing like that, it makes me cringe a little. The second opening "Out Of Control" by Nothing's Carved In Stone, and it didn't really strike me as something I'd like as well. It sounds a little bit old school, which I kind of like, but its also a little "bland" at the same time. Man I suck at explaining these little details....


The endings of the anime however, I DO like them, particularly because they are both sang by Egoist (the same group from "Guilty Crown"). The first ending, "Monster With No Name", is an AWESOME song on its own, because its a tempo/momentum based song. It starts off slow, goes in hard with the chorus, then comes off slow again after that...I love songs like this. The second ending however, "All Alone With You", is a little weaker in my opinion. ITS STILL GOOD, just not as good as "Monster With No Name", just because it feels and sounds a tad slower.


Rating: 8.5/10


Its only receiving such a score from me because I haven't seen anything quite like "Psycho Pass" in anime. The closest things that come to mind are "Darker Than Black" and "Ghost In A Shell", though those don't quite touch on the same themes that "Psycho Pass" does. Its also worth noting that the cast of "Psycho Pass" is uber badass and probably tops the casts from the above mentioned animes (in my opinion of course). Character growth is also pretty in depth here, as we see the characters change over the cause of the anime, and that is always great to watch, HOWEVER though, not everyone goes through this in depth character development, because the anime likes to focus on its core few main characters, which I'm down with. Also, this futuristic world ruled by a system....its pretty tough to think up of such a theme.

Our protagonist is a cute, naive woman. Meet Akane.

In a world ruled by the Sibyl system, talent rules over everything else. The system calculates your worth to society through scores from tests and examinations, then follows up by giving you choices on areas where you could provide your talent to. Tsunemori Akane is a young woman whom is highly valued by the system with her incredibly high scores, and she has a lot to choose from when it came to her future. She chose to join the public safety bureau and work with the enforcers. A psycho pass is the measurement used to measure the mental state of an individual in this world, and those with a very high level will be deemed as a criminal worthy to be executed. The public safety bureau handles criminal cases and is dispatched with dominators to go against said criminals. Dominators are guns that measure the psycho pass of a criminal and the shots fired against said criminal are determined by the psycho pass lethal...it can be used to subdue or kill its target. So how does our young naive woman stack up against these criminals?


Even if you don't initially dig the premise, you should give "Psycho Pass" a shot. It feels a little bit awkward at times, but its different from anything you've probably ever watched, and it'll probably knock your socks off. It has an amazing cast of characters and a really badass villain, but the best thing about the anime is that it gives us, the viewer, some really good food for thought. It may be just me, but its one of the most thought provoking anime I have seen in a long long LONG time, right behind the likes of "Steins;Gate" and "Chaos Head'.


Peace. 

Gamespot Score: n/a

My Score: 7.7


(+)Pros: - Can be scary, it makes your heart pump fast at some moments, - Great story which has some cameos and relevance to "Misao", - Interesting characters, - Hunting for gems can be both challenging and intriguing, - Plenty of little secrets which can affect your ending whether or not you end up discovering them, - Good puzzles and good ways to die.

(-)Cons: - Ends up being a little TOO linear, - Atmosphere is a little "lacking", - Its still short, though to be fair its longer than most in its genre.


Gameplay time: Less than 5 hours

More pixel horror RPGs. I remember mentioning on my blog that there was a period of time not long ago when I rushed a TON of pixel horror RPGs that were translated by 'vgperson' (still have to lay this out there, she's awesome for doing what she does), "Mad Father" was among them. "Mad Father" is a game made by Sen, the guy who made "Misao", and since Orge makes an appearance in this game (people who play both games will know), its safe to say that both "Misao" and "Mad Father" take place in the same universe. That alone, gives me a huge reason to play this game, and I'm happy that I did. Whehter or not  "Mad Father" is a sequel or a prequel to "Misao"...I don't know, and we can only wait or speculate. Still, it follows the formula for these types of games pretty well. Explore, get scared, explore, get f**ked a few times, finally solve a problem, get scared and get f**ked some more.


In "Mad Father", you play as Aya, a young black haired girl living with her father and his maid (why do most Pixel horror RPGs have to star young girls as their main characters?). For a long time, Aya has lost her mom to an unknown disease, and she only had her father by her side. She checks up on him time to time in his basement, where she hears screams of pain and blood curling cries. While she is never shown what happens behind the door, it doesn't take a genius to know that her father is doing something cruel behind those doors in the basement. Still, Aya loves her father, even knowing that what he's doing is probably bad. One day though, Aya hears a scream from her father while in her room, she moves to investigate and sees zombies all around the house. That escalated quickly....

Zombies, they always rape little girls.

As a pixel horror RPG, "Mad Father" still does its job being scary. I mean, zombies and dismembered bodies moving around the hallways of the mansion can be a little silly at times, but the things that always get me are the silhouettes that zoom past the hallway at insane speed, or the things that chase you for extended periods of time with tense, blood pumping music in the background. Also, having a little girl suddenly appear next to you for only a SPLIT second is always something that gets on my nerves. Most of these relate to the story, which is great, and I like the fact that it has some sort of relevance to "Misao". Scary games do have a lot in common, especially if they are pixel horror RPGs. End of story, beware of zombies, and no, the chainsaw does not save you from them.


The characters in "Mad Father" are interesting, in a different way. They are in no way similar to characters from "Misao", there's too much of a difference, and there a fewer characters here. Aya is a naive girl, but the rest that you meet are....different, to say the least, ranging from psychopathic to downright depressive at times. Also, the game likes to play with your mind which results in very detailed guesswork or high, intense amount of in-game research. It keeps you guessing who is the "good guy", or who is truly out there to get you. Its pretty cool, and "Mad Father" actually does this better than other pixel horror RPGs, which makes it a little "different" in that sense.

Yes, people die, as they do in these kinds of games.

If you've played similar games you'll know the drill. You explore the area around you, until you hit a dead end, locked door or something of the sort. You then look around for puzzles, problems or situations that you think might need solving, followed by looking for the corresponding items that you'll need to open up the earlier said door or solve said problem. Its the rule of thumb for games like these, though "Mad Father" throws in something different in the form of gems. Gems are strange, optional collectibles that affect your game, the more you collect the better. In most games you'd think that fulfilling the conditions for a good ending will get you that, in here gems play a part of it. The best part is that gems are usually hidden, most away from the main part of the game.


 And the best part is that some of these gems are hidden in places where you'll discover a little something "extra" about the game that you'd never find out if you just played it normally. These then, in return, lead you to learning about the many hidden secrets the game has to offer. Like a spirit of an experimented person who wants you to guide the spirit back to the body, the ghost of a dead girl yearning for her mother, so on and so forth. These take no affect on the main game's story itself, but looking out for these little secrets and discovering them can be satisfying and in some cases, intriguing. Like in most games of its genre, "Mad Father" also manages to create some incredibly well done and immersive puzzles (most of which require a lot of thought, repeated exploration and backtracking), as well as introducing some very interesting ways to get killed.

This is an actually a jump scare moment in game, prepare your anus.

Being short is a recurring thing in pixel horror RPGs, though to be fair they are made for FREE for OUR pleasure, so its all good. It is however, longer than most other pixel horror RPGs (comparable only to "Ib" and "The Crooked Man"). Also, this is probably the most linear out of all the pixel horror RPGs, as you have only one specific way to do most of tasks (not counting gems and hidden secrets). I also do tend to find pixel horror RPGs to be less terrifying when in areas like houses or mansions, because there is a lack of tense atmosphere, which is the case here as well (also the case in "Paranoic" and "Mermaid Swamp"). At least "The Witch's House" doesn't really feel like a freaking house. I mean, which house has forests, dimensional holes and lakes inside it (Also it has a portable prison alley)?! 


And that's the review for "Mad Father". These pixel horror RPGs are great in the sense that they sometimes pack more feel and likability than full blown horror games this generation. Also, since they're free, they are great experiences to all who actually give it a try. They're short anyway, and don't take too much of your time. "Mad Father" tells a story of a girl and her strange father, which pretty much ends up as one of the most satisfying story ends I have ever seen (yes, I have seen the true ending, I dig it, do not question me). I can't wait to see what Sen has in store for us next, because this universe he created has a lot of potential to be mind f**kingly amazing.







Happy gaming!

Here are some more seiyuus for you. From now on I'll try to add more seiyuus with a common theme in them, you'll be able to see so from the title. Though this batch of picks were rather random in my opinion...


Asami Imai

I swear to god she needs more roles. She doesn't have a lot of roles compared to most of the other awesome female seiyuus BUT SHE NEEDS MORE. She has one of the most tsundere-ish seductive voices in the voice acting industry, and when she goes all out its SUPER hot. All of her voices have this sexy tone to them, which makes it seductive. Chihaya (Idolm@ster), Kurisu (Steins;Gate), Tsubaki (Blazblue), Ikaruga (Senren Kagura) and Noire (Hyperdimension Neptunia) have all her default tsundere-ish voice. Her more "mature" tone comes from Cecilia (Atelier Totori) and Kiryuu (Kiss x Sis). Ayumi (Corpse party) and Solva (Needless) share a lot of similarities. Normally they are both sweet girls, but darkening Ayumi and crazy mode Solva become psychotic bitches right away.


Characters from left to right

1st row: Chihaya (The Idolm@ster), Tsubaki (Blazblue), Kurisu (Steins;Gate), Ikaruga (Senran Kagura)

2nd row: Ayumi (Corpse Party series), Solva (Needless), Noire (Hyperdimension Neptunia), Kiryuu (Kiss x Sis), Cecilia (Atelier Totori)





Mamoru Miyano




FUAHAHAHAHHAHAHA! That's Mamoru Miyano in a nutshell. Other than voices mostly bijin characters, he has a pretty badass voice which he will use for certain characters. Bijin character VAs are everywhere and almost all the guy seiyuus can do it, but it takes something special to do the voice of a maniacal mad scientist in Okabe (Steins;Gate), a badass scheming motherf**ker called Light (Death Note), and a power hungry bastard, Saruhiko (K). Death the Kid (Soul Eater) was also pretty badass, but he was laid back in the same time, kind of similar to Kida (Durarara!). Riku (Kingdom Hearts) is just bijin, similar to Flynn (Tales Of Vesperia), though Flynn has a more "gentle" side to the voice.


Characters from left to right

1st row: Death The Kid (Soul Eater), Saruhiko (K), Kida (Durarara!), Riku (Kingdom Hearts series)

2nd row: Light (Death Note), Okabe (Steins;Gate), Flynn (Tales Of Vesperia)




Yui Ogura



What can I say? Seiyuus who voice loli characters have ridiculously cute voices. Even though I'm not one to fap to lolis and flat chested girls, I still do think having that incredibly cute is a plus to most characters that look cute. Yui Ogura is stupidly young (she's 19, I believe), and the characters she voices have VERY cute voices. Since she is still fairly young, she doesn't have the diversity, but I can work with some moe. My favorite of her characters is Alice (Kamisama no Memochou), and Kuroe (C3:Cube x Cursed x Curious)  is a very close second because of her kawai personality. She didn't get much screen time, but she did voice Choco (Mayo Chiki). She can do a "villain" as well with Athena (Campione) and Hinata (Ro-Kyu-Bu) is probably the cutest voice she has done yet....


Characters from left to right

1st row: Alice (Kamisma No Memocho), Kuroe (C3)

2nd row: Athena (Campione), Choco (Mayo Chiki), Hinata (Ro-Kyu-Bu!)



Daisuke Ono



If you don't know him you're not an otaku. Daisuke Ono is probably one of THE most highly regarded seiyuus in today's anime industry. He has done an EPITOME of famous characters, including the favorite of all fan girls around the world, Sebastion Micheals (Black Butler). His versatility is crazy high, and he can do very different voices, sometimes you wouldn't know its him. His calm, bijin voice is probably the most liked among his many others, characters like Koizumi (The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), Sebastion (Black Butler), Kuroh (K) and Satsuki (11eyes) fit nicely. Then you have the slightly louder, shonen hero type voices like Snow (Final Fantasy XIII), Arthur (Ao No Exorcist) and Tenzou (Kyoukai Senjou Horizon) fit the bill. However, his badass voice is the best, Jotaro (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure), Shizuo (Durarara) and Battler (Umineko) are all f**king awesome characters.


Characters from left to right

1st row: Battler (Umineko), Arthur (Ao No Exorcist), Sebastian (Black Butler)

2nd row: Satsuki (11eyes), Jotaro (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

3rd row: Shizuo (Durarara!), Kuroh (K)

4th row: Tenzou (Kyoukai Senjou Horizon), Snow (Final Fantasy XIII)




Hiroshi Kamiya



He can basically voice any bijin/bishounen type character in the world, he just has that perfect bijin voice. Like almost most of his characters are freaking bijins, what the heck? ALMOST ALL OF THEM SOUND THE SAME! He has his main character/helpful young man voice in Otonashi (Angel Beats), Hibiki (Devil Survivor 2) and Koyomi (Monogatari Series). He has his share of badass voices, though they don't sound too different from his main character voice, Levi (Shingeki No Kyojin) and Lilio (Black Rock Shooter:The Game) come to mind. Then we have his "bad guy", "scheming bastard" voice in Izaya (Durarara) and Mephisto (Ao No Exorcist).


Characters from left to right

1st row: Otonashi (Angel Beats), Levi (Shingeki No Kyojin)

2nd row: Hibiki (Devil Survivor 2), Koyomi (Monogatari Series), Mephisto (Ao No Exorcist), Izaya (Durarara!), Lilio (Black Rock Shooter:The Game)




Eri Kitamura



Another versatile voice actor!....Sort of. Eri Kitamura has voiced some of my absolute favorite characters, but she has so many tones to her voice that I find it hard to believe at times. She sounds best while tsundere, in my opinion, because there are actually different tones to different seiyuus when they have to do tsundere characters, Eri Kitamura's tsundere voice is excellent! See Cordelia (Atelier Rorona/Totori) and Liliana (Campione), you'll get what I mean. Her ojou-sama voice is also pretty good, characters like these are Kanade (Mayo Chiki) and Ami (Toradora). Karen (Monogatari series) sticks out like a sore thumb because she's the most normal girl out of all she has voiced. She has her share of cute airheads like Yuka (Corpse Party), Eve (Needless) and Yui (Angel Beats). Juri (Super street fighter IV) and Nikaido (OniAi) are are fierce voices.


Characters from left to right

1st row: Cordelia (Atelier Arland series), Juri (Super Street Fighter IV), Yuka (Corpse Party), Eve (Needless)

2nd row: Yui (Angel Beats), Kanade (Mayo Chiki), Ami (Toradora), Karen (Monogatari series), Liliana (Campione), Nikaido (OniAi)



Probably more to come. Peace for now.

Opening Songs
OP 1 - Dramatic Market Ride (Aya Suzuki)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Naguse (Aya Suzuki)

Genre: Comedy, Slice of life

Episodes: 12



"K-on" anime lookalikes always get me, first "Hyouka", now "Tamako market". "Hyouka" was pretty good, but "Tamako Market" not so much. I mean, I do enjoy various genres of anime, "Slice of life" included, but sometimes its the sheer silliness of these slice of life animes that get me going. "Tamako Market" doesn't have much of those, other than having an incredibly ridiculous talking bird. Everything else just seems a little too normal and uninteresting to get my attention. Still, the tale of a mochi making girl belonging to a mochi making family and running into unexpected events can be entertaining. Most of the characters are pretty streamline normal, which makes it rather difficult to gather some gut busting funny moments. If you're just overall bored however and want something super casual, "Tamako Market" isn't bad to the point that it won't at least put a smile on your face.

Yo man, that's not how you do it.

A happy, easy-going anime like this means that its going to get a happy, easy-going song for its opening, and "Dramatic Market Ride" does just that. Its sung by Aya Suzuki (seiyuu of Tamako), and while it fits the anime, I'm not too much into the actual song. Same with the ending though, its also sung by Aya Suzuki, and the song is called "Naguse". It takes on a slower pace to fit the ending, but still feels too easy going for my tastes to be honest.


Rating: 7.0/10


I don't find "Tamako Market" too amusing or funny, but I don't find it bad either. Its entertaining at times, and its just one of those where you sit down, watch it, and just keep clicking the next episode when you're done with one. There's nothing too exciting about it, but if you don't hate the slice of life genre, "Tamako Market" is easy to watch. It does its best during the times where it tries to exploit its funny, fat talking bird, but other than that, most of the other characters....aren't too interesting or funny. There are probably only 4 worthwhile characters in this entire anime, the rest are just paper cut stereotypes. Also, it had the romance genre tagged on, but honestly I didn't catch anything of the sort....(You know me, I won't put the label "romance" unless there's REAL love going on). The animation and art style is cute, just because it reminds me of "K-on" and "Hyouka".

Dera is one funny ass bird.

Tamako is a regular girl that lives in a busy shopping district where all its residents are bonded like good friends. Her family runs a long time mochi making shop, and her family has been in the mochi making business for as long as they can remember. As the daughter in a mochi making family, she joins in on the hard work in making mochis as well. While going about her day as per normal, she suddenly runs into a fabulous looking bird in the local flower shop. She sneezes on to the bird, and the bird suddenly talks, saying that he is honored to Tamako confessing her love to him. Apparently this bird comes from a faraway land, seeking a bride for his prince, and that a custom to his kind is that whenever someone sneezes at him, they confess their love to him. Dera decides to stay in the district to seek his perfect bride, but was actually forced to stay after eating too much mochis and growing too fat, he is unable to fly away.....


All in all that's about it. "Tamako Market" probably won't impress too much of the people who would watch it, but I'm sure that was not what it was trying to accomplish anyway. You won't need a huge attention span to watch "Tamako Market" (just like "K-on") and actually that is beauty of it. Feeling lazy, want to watch something but don't know what? This might be just your thing if you're feeling lazy as f**k.


Peace.

Gamespot Score: 9.5 (Editor's Choice)

My Score: 9.0

(+)Pros: - New areas are interesting and absolutely mesmerizing, - A LOT more difficult than the rest of the original game, - Great new bosses, weapons, spells and enemies, - New PvP arena allows for PvP specific fights, - Come on, its more "Dark Souls", we all love "Dark Souls".

(-)Cons: - Needs a little bit of balancing in my opinion.

Gameplay time: 10 hours or so

I'm not the kind of guy that gets too much of a kick out of DLCs for games. If I buy DLC for a game, its probably going to be characters for a fighting game (Makoto, Valkenhyne and Platinum for "Blazblue:Continuum Shift" cost me $20), and nothing else. Unless of course, the game for the DLC is badass, in this case, "Dark Souls". Easily on my top 5 favorites list and easily one of the best PS3 games ever released....I'll be damned if I don't get it. So, you don't need my influence to buy this if you own "Dark Souls", hell you probably already played this if you have the game. If you don't what are you waiting for, this is one of the best DLCs for a game to date!


In the DLC, your character finds himself sucked into the realm of Oolacile, the entire area of the Darkroot Garden in the past. It was a sanctuary used for its residents, and people there lived in harmony, until they dug up the pilgritive pigmy. The abyss spread, and the denizens of Oolacile fell into a terrible state. Infected by the abyss, they lost all sense, and became nothing but a horde of mindless savages. Dusk of Oolacile was kidnapped in the distorted time, and your character is tasked by a giant mushroom to rescue her from the clutches of Manus, the father of the Abyss. Looks like shit is getting real for our hero after all.... 

Have a taste of dark magic!

As you step into this DLC, you will immediately feel a chill running down your spine. You haven't played "Dark Souls" for 2 years, and you're suddenly back in this new environment that you've never been to before. Everything looks surprisingly different, and the very moment you step into the fog of your new playground, you are greeted by a massive manticore that lunges at you with all its might. You look around, you see trees, you see a great grove, and many other things. Oolacile looks amazing, and it absorbs you in, just like every other new area in "Dark Souls". You'll feel immersed again right from the get go, and you'll love the feeling of being in "Dark Souls" again.


Fans will be glad to know that the DLC is no walk in the park. In fact, I think its actually EVEN HARDER than most parts of the original game can offer. The denizens of Oolacile hit harder than you'd like, and they don't really give a lot of souls for the effort you need to put in to kill them. Like in most areas in the original game, the enemies in Oolacile gang up on you. Exercising caution is a must, and it doesn't help that in NG+, you'd probably get one shotted by those pesky black phantom mage enemies. Every single boss in the new DLC is rage inducingly difficult (I'll cover them in my boss profiles when the time comes), making most of the bosses in the original game look like pansies.

SHHHHHIIIIIIEEEEETTTTTTTTTTT-

Of course, when you walk into a new area, you expect many new things. The crazy enemies and insane bosses are just part of the overall package. You'll be meeting new NPCs, some that you'll find intruiging if you are into the "Dark Souls" lore. You'll find your bout of exclusive new loot, weapons and armor included. This in the end, opens up more builds for players in the long run. A staff that scales of strength? Yes please! Dark magic for my mage? Why not? More than anything, this just opened a bigger set of possibilities for player builds.....Also, who wouldn't want Chester's armor? You'd look like Hazama with V for Vandetta's mask, its awesome!


The new PvP arena is also a sweet addition to the game. Tired of getting invaded when you don't want a fight? Or tired of trying to invade someone when you want to test your new PvP set? Never fear for now you can pair up against other battle hungry fighters thirsting for a good fight. The battle arena pits you and another opponent in a single arena where you can duke it out. Stats are recorded, your wins, loses, so on and so forth. This is a small addition to me, as I'm not a huge fan of PvP, but it might be bigger to others.

Yo, why the hate?

There's not much to bash about a DLC, especially if there are flaws with the DLC, they would probably be the same flaws as the ones in the original game. However if I were to iron out something, it would be the un-balanced difficulty of the DLC. It seems like Oolacile enemies and bosses have some mighty high resistances to anything that isn't raw physical damage, which is beyond. Its like they are trying to punish INT/FAITH builds, because I don't deal nearly HALF the damage that I can deal to other bosses, which is bull. If only they'd balance out the resistances of the bosses, or make their raw physical defense higher, it'll be more fair.


I don't really review DLCs often, so forgive me if its a tad shorter than normal game reviews. End of story, ITS MORE "DARK SOULS", there's nothing more you can ask for here to be honest. At the end of the day, you get to play more new content for one of the greatest games ever made for the PS3, which is in my opinion, something that's already all too amazing. It provides more of that hair-pulling sensation that we all know and love, what more can you ask for?





Happy gaming!