Monday 30 November 2015

Bloodborne

Gamespot Score: 9.0 (Editor's Choice)

My Score: 9.0


(+) Pros: - New setting is interesting and well executed, - New environment types are great to look at,- Reworked game play is superb, making the game faster and more aggressive is a great idea, - New weapons are unique and fun to play, - Plenty of build paths and high replay value, - Great enemy types and boss fights all around.

(-) Cons: - Long load times and crappy chalice dungeons.


Gameplay time: 100 hours +







"Bloodborne". Seriously, what is there to say about this game? I got a PS4 not too long ago and its mostly to play this game along with "MGSV". "Bloodborne" is just a godlike experience, that goes without saying. All of the games in the "Souls" series have been absolutely godlike in terms of gameplay and immersion, being the spiritual successor to those games, "Bloodborne" achieves those same heights of greatness with flying colors. In some aspects, "Bloodborne" even far exceeds those of the "Souls" game, especially in terms of immersion and the combat. Unfortunately, I'll have to say that compared to the other games in the franchise (I consider "Bloodborne" to be in the same franchise as "Souls", they are SO similar, after all), "Bloodborne" is easily the "shortest" and has the least amount of content. Otherwise, quality over quantity, "Bloodborne" has become one of my few guilty pleasures ever since I started playing, and I've finished the game 4 times since then. Its an amazing experience for fans of the franchise, and even if you're not, this has NOTHING to do with the previous games AND has new mechanics...it's a good place to start.


Yharnam is a city of death and bloodshed. Hunters are consumed by the scent of blood, and transform into blood hungry beasts that are void of any sense of morality. Beasts are then in turn, hunted by other hunters, this vicious cycle repeats itself in Yharnam. Your character, a foreign hunter, finds themselves in Yharnam for an unknown reason, and has the blood administration ritual performed on them. When all is said and done, they are blessed with the old blood, and with it, they are now as good as any other Yharnam citizen. However, since you arrive on the night of the hunt...everything has already gone to shit. Beasts roam the street, crazed villagers roam around trying to kill anything that isn't siding with them: which includes you.




The hunt...is on.

First things first, as the "newest addition" to the franchise, "Bloodborne" takes a much darker tone and a more unique setting when in compared to previous games. Sure, its supposed to be a whole different thing on its own when compared to the "Souls" games, but damn, this is WAY too different, so much to the point of awesomeness. As much as I love the medieval setting of "Souls", "Bloodborne"'s gothic setting looks and FEELS amazing. Immersion is greater than its ever been, and I find myself pretty much ABSORBED into the game. The feel and thrill of the hunt just got to me, and at every turn of almost every area, monsters of various grotesque appearances wait to jump you. In a way, it feels a little bit more like an action/horror game this time around because of how horrifying the game feels.


Yharnam is a doomed nation, instead of knights in armor and spell casting mages we are treated to bloodthirsty hunters with their very own muskets and cleavers. The transition is quite magnificent, and you'll adapt to the game soon enough. And speaking of which, because "Bloodborne" took on a whole new setting, the environments are a lot more different than in previous games. Sure, there's the shitty forest and swamp level (even that was done well), but the city of Yharnam is home to a lot more varied looking places than Drangleic or Anor Londo. The world is a lot darker, streets are filled with lighted up dwellings of bystanders, and beasts roam the streets. There are a lot of urban areas in "Bloodborne", the architecture of the streets, churches and multiple districts make the for some interesting encounters in mostly congested areas. Then there are areas like the nightmare realm and woods that seem a lot more fantasy themed, but are also fun to play through.



Confused villagers love to stare at fire.

With a brand new theme and game comes a brand new reworked combat system. While most of the core controls and feel of the game are similar to that of the other "Souls" games, "Bloodborne" is a lot more aggressive compared to its predecessors. The shields of old have been mostly removed, and with a secondary weapon on your left hand instead of a shield, the game is instantly a lot more action based. Defensive play is actually punished in "Bloodborne", and because of this, highly aggressive play is rewarded. You can both kill your enemies faster and even regain lost health if you just go completely ham on your enemy. To compensate for the lack of any defensive play, "Bloodborne" gives you a health regeneration system in combat; whenever you're hit by enemies, you can quickly hit them back after taking damage to restore some, if not all of that lost health. This means that instead of sitting back to bait out enemy attacks or attempt to dodge them, you dodge TOWARDS them most of the time and keep hitting them.


The new "fast" combat is excellent. While I feel that the overly aggressive game play makes the game a little bit too easy at times, its a lot more fun, its a lot more interactive, and its a lot more engaging. More than ever, you'll need to pick your fights properly, with defensive options nerfed you're going to have to try your best NOT to get grouped up against, and when you do, you need to be able to burst them down quickly, or you'll suffer. And since you can pretty much heal off your attacks like lifesteal, they've limited your healing resources. In this game, blood vials, your new "Estus Flasks", are not replenished upon death, no, like the grass in "Demons' Souls", they must be looted and hunted from by enemies. While that means you'll have to grind for these things from time to time as you'll be using these things quite a lot, its the game's way of telling you to BE MORE AGGRESSIVE. When you get hit, don't back off to heal, CHARGE IN, hit the bugger who hit you, get your health back. This makes encounters more intense and exciting.



The hunter's dream is where you'll be adding stats and
smoking the blood echos of your fallen foes.

With the game actually encouraging you to go ham more than ever, they've got to give you the right tools for the job. Enter the world of "Bloodborne"'s arsenal...the trick weapons. These are EPIC instruments of death that far outshine almost every other weapon to be created in other "Souls" games. These weapons, while little (compared to other games in the franchise, this game's weapon count is far inferior), pack variety and uniqueness in their move list. Every trick weapon has an alternate stage or form that can be swapped on the fly during battle. Be it the Saw Cleaver unfolding its blade for longer reach, the Thread Cane unleashing it flay of blades, or using the sword in Kirk's Hammer as a handle for lifting the massive hammer behind your back...you've now got 2 ways to fight for each weapon you have equipped. And since you can hold 2 of these...you pretty much bring 4 ways to fight all the time.


It's take me hours to sing praises and write about all the interesting trick weapons in the game, so we'll move on to your secondary arsenal. Primarily, your guns. Since there aren't any shields left in the game anymore other than the crappy Plank Shield, your left hand's gotta be occupied, and that's were your firearms come in. While there is a stat completely dedicated to firearm damage, these bad boys usually aren't used as your main form of damage, that's for the trick weapons. Firearms are more of a means to parry and stun your opponents as you go in for the kill. Guns are limited by Quicksilver Bullets, and even though they run on bullets, their damage isn't on the high end most of the time. Guns are a way to open up opportunities for your character to either go in for the kill or regain their footing from a bad engagement. These are MEANT to be saved and not spammed, since they also, do not replenish upon death, like the blood vials. Of course, not ever gun has to be used to utility, there are firearms meant for damage. This only opens up for more build paths.



Paarl you motherf**ker, calm the f**k down with those
lightning bolts!

Speaking of build paths, as with all the previous games in the franchise, you have options here in "Bloodborne". I've played the game 4 times, with a total of 3 character builds. but there can easily be more. While they completely streamlined the game and took out the different kinds of addable stat types, there's still fun to be had experimenting with the various build options. Strength, Skill, Arcane and Bloodtinge are the 4 main offensive stats, but by no means does that mean that the game only has 4 ways to be played. There's a lot of fun to be had experimenting the various kinds of shenanigans and the different weapons combinations only serve for us to have more fun f**king around. While there aren't as many ways to play the game like in "Dark Souls" or "Dark Souls 2", the replay value here is still strong enough to warrant a compliment.


The game wouldn't be "Souls" if not for the enemies and bosses you face (technically, it isn't a "Souls" game, but still). I'd say that there are a lesser variety of enemies in "Bloodborne" than in the "Souls" games, but the game makes up for it with their strange behavior and algorithms. While most enemies before are straightforward, some enemies in this game are tough to take down and behave in strange ways. Crawling corpse enemies lay in wait for you to pass before striking, the masked cleric enemies bombard you with a variety of attacks, the brain suckers tend to run from you, then binding you with magic before they close in for the kill. Mosquito men assault you to build up your frenzy meter, nasty bell ringing ladies make her allies respawn over and over. There are some TRULY BIZARRE enemies in this game, and its because of its setting. I love it though, while the game doesn't let up in terms of difficulty in its monsters and levels, its still a great experience.



Watch out for the 3 fat naked men that attack you without mercy.

Boss design in "Bloodborne" is severely improved and are a massive jump in quality compared to some of the bosses in "Dark Souls 2". You face beasts and foes that come in a variety of shape and size. As usual, they are hard, but admittedly, there aren't any EXTREMELY difficult bosses in "Bloodborne". Before, every "Souls" game had a boss that's the very definition of soul crushing regret and never ending sorrow...I find that "Bloodborne" lacks such a boss. While there are some great fights, none of them had me die like more than 10 times a row to win, where as in previous games, there are bosses where I died upwards of 20-30 times or more just to even come close to winning. That's cool though, I'd rather they focus on the quality of the boss rather than just making it cheap, the bosses in this game, other than 1 battle, are mostly fair and fun to play against, especially the final battle. Its a DAMNED good battle, probably the best final battle in the franchise thus far, NOT counting the follow-up boss battle if you intend to go for the true ending...that one wasn't as epic.



Eileen is badass indeed.

The game does suffer from exceedingly long and frequent load times, I won't defend the game for that. I mean, holy shit, every time you go to the Hunter's Dream or enter a whole new area, loading screen. You get one when you die too. I used to be fine with this, but load times in "Bloodborne" are pretty long, so you'll be stuck reading item descriptions, I hope you have fun with that! Chalice dungeons are also an awkward new addition. Sure, they add to your play time with the randomly generated dungeons and almost rogue-like play style. But these chalice dungeons, no matter how many times they are randomly generated, while they have different layouts, they look devastatingly bland, and have plenty of glitches. These don't hold a candle to the main game, and are pretty boring. The boss battles in the chalice dungeons are even just supersized versions of normal enemies with health bars. Yeah, that's not impressive.


I can take about this game for hours but let's just end it here. "Bloodborne" is a fantastic addition to the franchise, not counting the DLC that just released recently. Even as somewhat of a side project, I think Miyazaki definitely went for broke here. This is another amazing game in the franchise that stands equally to the other games alongside it. Fans of the franchise will definitely not be disappointed, and trust me, when you get a taste of this new aggressive playstyle, you can't ever go back again.







Happy Gaming!



Opening Songs
OP 1 - Knight March (Angela)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Requiem (CustomiZ)

Genre: Action, Science Fiction

Episodes: 12



After a short break, its time again for everyone's highly acclaimed, favorite CG mecha alien busting series. "Knight Of Sidonia: Battle For Planet Nine" is the sequel to the original "Knights Of Sidonia", and probably takes on a more character driven arc than the previously more action packed one. Obviously, fans of the original should take "Battle For Planet Nine" with a more conservative approach, because there's honestly a lot less explosions and lasers going on in this one (not to say they are completely absent, just slightly toned down). Strangely though, I enjoyed this second season a lot more, because there's just so much more character interaction here that made me feel more at home with all these characters that just didn't get too much screen time in the first season. Also, they introduced a core new character that's almost possibly the MOST likable character in the franchise thus far! This whole second season as a whole feels more accessible and honestly, even more fun than the original, in my opinion, that's an improvement by itself. "Battle For Planet Nine" brings more laughs, smiles and can still easily satisfy mecha fans at heart with its well orchestrated CG space battles that it has done well since the first season.



Behold, the unlikely heroes of Sidonia.


The opening theme is "Knight March" by Angela, which is a band that's recently been getting better IMO. "Knight March" doesn't quite improve their standards too much, but its still a good song worthy of the franchise, its actually even better than their opening for season 1, "Sidonia", though not by much. The ending theme is "Requiem" by CustomiZ, which is another slow song. Nothing much to see here, moving on.



Rating: 8.0/10



This is easily a better run than the first season for me. "Battle For Planet Nine", despite having a title that hypes up some sort of an epic fight, has a lot of character building that brings us a lot closer to the cast than season 1 did. Not only that, it introduces a brand new character called Tsugumi who's interesting and quirky as hell. Tsugumi ALONE made this sequel a lot more compelling and fun to watch! Aside from that the story takes a little bit of a slower pace here, though its sort of justified because they're circling an entire season around this new Tsugumi character that they had to build up from the ground. The CG animation STILL doesn't sell to me, but as mentioned in the previous review for the first season, the CG in "Sidonia" is good enough to not make you puke, and shines especially in the space mecha battles with their flying tentacle aliens, laser rifles and fancy looking team formations. Its also worth noting that it has....some sort of a mini harem field in this second season. However, it doesn't take away from the overall action and awesomeness that this second season provides.



Tsugumi has gotta be the cutest little Pokemon looking alien EVER.


Following the events of the first season, Tanikaze is now known as a hero and savior to the floating planet of Sidonia. He has gained respect and recognition throughout, but somewhere in the dark depths, his friend, Kunato, has encountered a problem. After opening the forbidden area of his mansion, he is possessed by some...otherworldly specimen, alongside his aide. He then resurfaces as a genius who intends to incorporate alien technology to protect Sidonia. Through retrieving the homunculus already stored deep in the planet's premises, Kunato managed to create Tsumugi, an experimental alien creature that has the mind and consciousness of a human being. She was taken to battle to prove to Sidonia that she wasn't hostile...and she succeeded. Despite being the target of positive acclaim, the only one to ever accept her as a person was Tanikaze. He started to meet her on a regular basis, and alongside Izana, they became good friends quickly.



"Battle For Planet Nine" is a very successful sequel that manages to build up a lot of powerful character relationships. With the manga finally over, I hope we see a conclusive season 3 to end all of it, and I want to see them do it WELL.



Ayumi Fujimura




Here's another girl I wouldn't mind voicing my big sisters....or my busty, sexy females. Ayumi Fujumura's kind of hard to make out because like many others, she has quite a range. I do seem to think she has a knack for the older sister characters, because I do kind of like it when she goes slightly funky. Girls like Yuzuriha (UNIB) and Roe2 (Log Horizon 2) hit the mark well for the sexy onee-sans. She uses the same tone for Ibuki (Street Fighter Series), but she's a whole different character overall. She can also do a semi protagonist-esque voice with characters like Misaki (Maid Sama!), Mary (.Hack// Quantum), Masami (Rolling Girls) and to some extent, even Fukiyose (To Aru Majutsu No Index). How about young cute guys like Mitsuru (Ladies Vs Butlers)? Arguably her best voice though, belongs to Chiharu (Hayate No Gotoku), who's a strict high school girl that also plays as a maid. ....Kind of like Misaki, but deeper.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Fukiyose (To Aru Majutsu No Index), Yuzuriha (Under Night In Birth), Misaki (Maid Sama!), Roe2 (Log Horizon 2), Mary (.Hack// Quantum)

2nd row: Ibuki (Street Fighter Series), Masami (Rolling Girls), Chiharu (Hayate No Gotoku), Mitsuru (Ladies Vs Butlers)




Junji Majima






Here's another guy who's done his fair share of protagonists. To be fair, like many other seiyuus, Junji Majima's "protagonist voice" is rather distinct and easy to tell apart since he uses this for almost all of his roles. That's not to say he doesn't do a damn good job at doing these characters, because to some extent, his main characters do sound a little bit tough/rough, which brings forth an aura of awesomeness in comparison to other seiyuus who do a lot of main characters, like let's say, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka or even Yuki Kaji. Majima's protagonists, Toru (Hitsugi No Chaika), Ryuji (Toradora), Kimihito (Monster Musume) and Ayumu (Kore Wa Zombie Desuka?) sound pretty badass. Not to say he can't do other roles as well, he's got the older figure voices down with Shimomiya (Shirobako), Roreil (Log Horizon 2) and even Run (Akame Ga Kill). How about a downright comedic voice with Prinny (Disgaea series), or an emo kid like Ryunoske (Assassination Classroom)? I feel like we haven't seen this guy's final form yet.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Toru (Hitsugi No Chaika), Ryuji (Toradora!), Kimihito (Monster Musume), Ayumu (Kore Wa Zombie Desuka)

2nd row: Shimomiya (Shirobako), Roreil (Log Horizon 2)

3rd row: Run (Akame Ga Kill), Prinny (Disgaea), Ryunoske (Assassination Classroom)




Sakura Tange





Here's another voice actress who's been around for quite awhile. She may not be the most popular seiyuu around, but for sure, she has done some incredibly memorable characters that'll stay in my memories for a long, LONG time. First and foremost, let's just get one thing out of the way, she's the voice of the legendary Sakura...from "Cardcaptor Sakura", one of my long lost childhood shows. With that done, let's get down to what she does best at the moment: teachers! Ono (Mahouka) and Remi (Sket Dance) are both likable senseis, when it boils down to it, she has a great voice for the soft, loving and caring teachers. Need a villain? She did a great job as one of the final baddies as Chaika Haltgen (Hitsugi No Chaika: Avenging Battle). Need a modern day high school girl? Mei (If Her Flag Breaks) is kind of 2 sided, and Chloe (Girlfriend BETA) is just a foreign cutie. Saber (Fate/Extra) is kind of cocky, and she does a fine job as an AI as X (Gatchaman Crowds).


Characters from left to right


1st row: Chaika Haltgen (Hitsugi No Chaika: Avenging Battle), Ono (Mahouka), Mei (If Her Flag Breaks), X (Gatchaman Crowds)

2nd row: Chloe (Girlfriend BETA), Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura), Saber (Fate/Extra), Remi (Sket Dance)



Sayuri Yahagi






Hereee we go! See all these beauties, there can be no doubt about it, Sayuri Yahagi's got some nice girls in her resume. I'd like to say that she has range, and without a doubt, she DOES, because half the time, I never know that its her behind the character. I can't find a similarity between her characters other than the fact that she has voiced a good share of twin tailed blonde loli characters...yeah, let's just go with that. Ania (Asura Cryin) is serious as an adult and super cute as a child, Hagimura (Seitokai Yakuindomo) is just a girl who tries TOO hard to act like her age, and Himegami (Maken-Ki!) is an over the top tsundere. 3 twin-tailed blondes, all 3 are...quite different, to say the least. Other than that she voices her share of school girls. Okuda (Assassination Classroom) and Haruna (To Love Ru Series) are quite and shy, Izumi (Hayate No Gotoku) is kind of a doofus, Noa (MM!) is as much as a seductive loli as you can get, and Michiru (Saekano: How To Raise A Boring Girlfriend) is pretty easy-going. She can do young boys like Zack (Plastic Memories) and villains like Mysteltinn (Yumekui Merry), so there's that too.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Okuda (Assassination Classroom), Izumi (Hayate No Gotoku), Noa (MM!), Mysteltinn (Yumekui Merry), Zack (Plastic Memories)

2nd row: Ania (Asura Cryin), Hagimura (Seitokai Yakuindomo), Himegami (Maken-Ki!)

3rd row: Haruna (To Love Ru Series), Michiru (Saekano: How To Raise A Boring Girlfriend)





Kazuhiko Inoue






The last boss. The old man. The badass. The teacher. The ultimate voice actor of the ages. The list of aliases goes on. This man is insane, having done voices for anime for well over 30 years, he's a freaking beast in the industry. It says something when your voice is still wanted for most modern games and anime when you're over 60 years old. Seriously, this man is a legend. Sure, his voice range isn't the most amazing thing ever, but, his voice is SEXY. Its calm, its magnificent, and it fits some of the most badass characters around, whether they are villains or heroes. Reiji (Namco X Capcom), Kakashi (Naruto Series), Angeal (Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core) and Ozpin (RWBY) all fit this category. Then we have the sexy villains in Kars (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) and Truth (Eureka Seven AO). When it boils down to it, he can even get rough and gruff with characters like Gotou (Parasyte) and Kuraha (Noragami). Sure, he has PLENTY of other voices to add to his insane pool of roles, but again, what do I know? He's too awesome to put behind.


Characters from left to right


1st row: Reiji (Namco X Capcom), Kakashi (Naruto Series), Kars (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure), Gotou (Parasyte)

2nd row: Truth (Eureka Seven AO), Angeal (Final Fantasy 7:Crisis Core), Ozpin (RWBY), Kuraha (Noragami)











Opening Songs
OP 1 - After School Revolution (Hokago Rakuenbu)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Paradise Fanfare (Hokago Rakuenbu)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Slice Of Life, Supernatural

Episodes: 12



Enter one of the most fun shows of the year. There are shows you watch for the badass factor. Shows that you watch to satisfy your inner shounen. Shows you watch for the fan service. Then there are the shows you watch just to have fun. "Mikagura School Suite" is one of those shows. To be honest, its probably the most "fun" show of the year, it's been non-stop smiling when I was running through the series. Sure it gets more serious towards the end but even so, its such a bright show with such bright characters, its hard not to get...excited. Like "Mekakucity Actors" before it, "Mikagura" is an anime based off a series of vocaloid songs, this time by an artist called Last Note. While the series of songs by itself isn't as interesting as "Kagerou Daze", its safe to say that in terms of their anime adaptations, "Mikagura School Suite" is leaps better to watch as a standalone. Featuring one of the brightest and happiest protagonists ever, this is one show to start your day off with a smile.



The wonders of a new, crazy high school.


Both the opening and ending theme are performed by Hokago Rakuenbu, a group that consists of the voice cast of the characters in the show. Its also worth noting that both themes go full blast fun and cutesy, especially the opening theme, which is "After School Revolution". Its catchy as hell, with all the cheers/chanting in the background and is the clear stronger song of the two. The ending theme is "Paradise Fanfare", its also nice, but slightly weaker than "After School Revolution".



Rating: 8.0/10



Its quite hard to properly describe "Mikagura School Suite". Sure you can easily call it another "High School Action/Battle" anime with its own twists, but its...slightly more than that. Sure, almost everyone has a power and everyone fights for school related reasons. Its also worth noting that while the overall visual quality and production value of the anime is average at best, I think the fights are at least very well animated. The anime introduces a cast of mostly likable characters that each get their own separate episodes for screen time, while some of them may not have the most interesting back stories, they all come together to form a perfect blend of characters in a well written story. Speaking of the story...it starts of light and kind of goes nowhere for awhile before somewhat piecing itself together towards the end, so that's kind of a downside. The best thing about "Mikagura" though, is Eruna, EASILY. She's so upbeat and energetic that even the dull moments are made bright because of her just being there to blabber something silly. She caries a good portion of the anime, that's for sure.



Unfortunately, she didn't. She deserves to, though.

Ichinomiya Eruna is the most energetic girl around who's kind of a bi. She swings both ways when it comes to romance, though she tends to favor fellow girls, which is troubling, to say the least. She doesn't let this slow her down though. She's graduating from middle school, and is looking for a high school that she can enjoy enrolling into. Her weeby cousin Shigure introduces her to Mikagura Academy, the academy that he's currently attending. Eruna is attracted by the cute school uniforms, but the nail in the coffin was the model in the school catalog, the girl who's the granddaughter of the school's owner. The model, named Seisa Mikagura, caught Eruna's attention IMMEDIATELY, and she wanted to enroll into Mikagura ASAP. After an incredibly questionable and laughable entrance exam with a talking cat, Eruna was enrolled into Mikagura. That's where she realized, that she was going to be in for one of the most memorable phases of her life.


"Mikagura" will be sure not to disappoint fans who like light hearted shows. Its likable protagonist and simple premise makes it an extremely easy show to watch. Surely its not quite as up there as many of the top shows this year, but I can safely say I enjoyed the hell out of "Mikagura School Suite".





Opening Songs
OP 1 - X.U (SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]: Gemie)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - scaPEGoat (SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]: Yosh)

Genre: Action, Drama, Supernatural

Episodes: 12



Here we are with one of the contenders for the most popular animes in the year. Sporting an amazing visual style, fancy character designs, a unique story and great character development, "Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign" is a solid first offering that the franchise has to show for it. And this isn't even counting season 2, which is airing at the moment. Considering the quality of many similar anime in terms of quality alone, "Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign" is a little bit of a godsend to those seeking their daily dose of Action/High School shows that can ignite the spark for their inner shounen soul. I say shounen, but "Seraph Of The End" is slightly more hardcore than your average "Ao No Exorcist" or "Tokyo Ravens". Just for the premise of a vampire invasion alone, I'd recommend "Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign" for the amusing and interesting setting that it brings.




Shinoa is a lot more of an amusing character, and she's
cute too.


"Seraph Of The End: Vampire Reign"'s opening and ending themes are done by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] (which is still a weird name), the same group behind the "Aldnoah Zero" themes. For "Seraph Of The End", the opening theme, which is "X.U", is pretty good, as it fits with the whole tragic backstory that the main character has. However, it lacks a punch to it which makes almost every action anime opening theme work, which is somewhat of a shame. The ending theme, "scaPEGoat" is actually quite rock heavy and probably works at least as well as the opening theme, or maybe even better.



Rating: 8.0/10



I do love me some demon slaying high school students! Instead of demons, I guess its vampires here, but you get what I mean. "Seraph Of The End" builds up a great opening episodes and eventually delves into the wonders of its ruined world. The ideas and premise behind "Seraph Of The End"'s setting just drives me to admire it more so than I should, despite it being a LITTLE bit too..."gay"-ish for my tastes. It quickly grew onto me, the simplistic story that opens up to being something more complicated that it seems, the likable characters that just continue to grow, as well as the whole idea of a vampiric domination. Oh, and the action, its pretty damn solid too. The animation quality is top notch for the most part, and the visual style is honestly impressive. There's little to NOT like here, other than the fact that on a 12 episode schedules, some of the parts do seem a little bit rushed. The show keeps a consistent pace through and shows content that is relevant, though the flash backs can get rather draggy (this show is quite flash back heavy sometimes). Otherwise, its a great experience that keeps you peeled to the screen.



Ah, nothing like spilling the blood of children early in the morning!


Yuichiro is an orphan that has led a tough life, just like any other one of his kind. He was accepted into the Hyakuya orphanage at a young age, and during his time there, he met and befriended all the other orphaned kids who shared his fate. He was close to all of them to the point of being family, and was especially close to another boy of his age, Mikael. Yu, Mika and the other kids were inseparable, they lived closely knit lives until the calamity hit. Those above the age of 14 were killed off, and the kids who stayed alive were taken in by the calamity's cause, the vampires. For more than a year Yu, Mika and the other kids lived under their rule, as they constantly offered blood to their vampire overlords in exchange for food or supplements. They had enough of it, and Mika cooked up an escape plan. They tried to go through with it, they were this close to escaping, but they were stopped by a vampire noble, Freed, and they were all killed while attempting to escape. All, except Yu, who managed to make it out of the Vampire's holdings despite watching his family members die one by one. Being the sole survivor of his family, he was left alone once again, he was then picked up the by federation, a faction made to combat the vampires threatening Japan. He swore to avenge his family and to kill off the vampires, fast forward 4 years later, he is now a member of the military, with skills sufficient enough to fight against the average blood sucker.


"Seraph Of The End" works for most people. Its rather good story telling and compelling characters make the entire viewing experience a pleasurable one. A second season is airing right now, and I can't wait for it to end so that I watch it as well. The fate of the Hyakuya brothers is just too compelling interesting to give up.







Velstadt, The Royal Aegis
HP: 6290
Skills: Overhead Smash, Lunging Strike, Stomp, Bell Swing*, Sacred Oath*, Dark Bead
Souls: 50000


Difficulty: 3/5
Deaths: 2



So the Undead Crypt is a pretty shitty map. I know its not your day and all but don't worry, you're about to meet one of the most epic bosses in the game. You come all this way to look for King Vendrick, and when you're about to meet him, you're stopped by his aide. Venrick's right hand man stands in your way, and clearly, he doesn't want you to proceed. Enter Velstadt, The Royal Aegis, the most Garl Vinlind looking motherf*cker in the series other Garl himself. Veslstadt may be incredibly intimidating, but with the right moves, he can be taken down without TOO much difficulty.




Quit Stomping around.

So with old Velstadt, you just have to keep in mind that he's one hell of a slow bastard. Usually, that's a good thing, but here, it's actually a little bit of both good AND bad. He does a crap ton of damage, and while he doesn't pack too many attacks, he can kill very easily with a couple of hits at most. Coming into this battle, you should be prepared to dodge a lot - this is one of those bosses that I won't recommend relying too much on the shield for, just like the Smelter Demon, except this time, Velstadt is considerably easier because of the massive arena and his lack of exceptionally terrifying attacks.


Overhead Smash - A straightforward smash after lifting his bell over his head. Does a lot of damage, but is probably the most predictable out of all his attacks. 

Lunging Strike - He dashes at you while piercing his bell forward from a distance away. The startup of this attack isn't as obvious as others, but its still an attack that takes awhile to execute. Does good damage.

Stomp - If you're around his feet, he stomps once for some damage. Doesn't do as much damage as his other attacks, but its extremely easy to get tagged by this if you aren't careful.

Bell Swing* - A tricky attack where he swings his bell in a wide arc around him to get you off him. Has little startup and does quite a fair bit of damage, it also leaves you exposed to more potential attacks. Always back off after a few strikes to avoid this.

Sacred Oath* - He stops moving completely and goes into a prayer position. After a short while, he buffs himself up, increasing both his attack and defense parameters by large margins. This buff persists for the rest of the battle.

Dark Bead - Similar to the hex with the same name, it fires off a spread of dark bolts in an arc in front of him. Easily dodged by moving to the sides.



Make use of the big arena that you have when confronting Velstadt. His attacks are slow, most of them have quite a bit of range thanks to his size and weapon, you should mostly be safe strafing around him looking to take hits. His attacks are very slow but do a lot of damage, this makes the timing to dodge his attacks quite manageable. The dude is massive, so hacking away at his ankles is the way to go. He doesn't have much to hit you with, at close range, he'll most probably try his hand at Overhead Smash, which is a slow and easily dodged attack. If you're hacking away at his feet, he might try to tag you with Stomp.



Ready...fight!


If you ever need to heal, its not particularly a good idea as Velstadt likes to use Lunging Strike from a distance, which will almost always net you if you're in the middle of flasking animation. Finally, he has Bell Swing, which is an attack he loves to use if you're strafing him too much. Honestly, this one has the least recovery time and the widest arc, so it may unintentionally tag you, then he'll follow up with another attack (probably Overhead Smash) for some dirty damage. Other than that, most of his other attacks have ridiculous recovery times so you can get in some free damage. At about 50% HP, he moves on to his second phase.


He'll start to cast Sacred Oath, rooting himself in place for the entirety of the spell's casting time. During this time, he takes reduced damage, but you can get plenty of free hits in. When the spell in complete, Velstadt takes reduced damage and dishes out a whole lot more for the remainder of the fight. During this phase, you'll need to be even more careful than usual, his already high damage becomes absolutely ridiculous and you may find yourself being unable to block attacks that you were able to before. The overall strategy though, remains the same, strafe around him, dodge his slow attacks, and slowly chip him down. Also, during this 2nd phase, he gets access to Dark Bead, a spell which is rather common for you to have seen now, but it takes Velstadt quite awhile to charge up. Just run up behind him and enjoy some free hits.



Nailing Velstadt grants you 50000 souls, a rather hefty amount for a big guy like him. You then get access to Vendrick's tomb and can pick up the King's Ring to further progress into the game. 



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Guardian Dragon
HP: 5270
Skills: Fire Breath (Ground), Fire Breath (Air)*, Fireball, Tail Whip, Bite, Stomp
Souls: 37000


Difficulty: 1.5/5
Deaths: 0



For the guardian to the Dragon Aerie, one of the coolest areas in the game, we get to fight a boss that's pretty much going to be a staple normal enemy in the next map. That's just disappointing. Anyway, after taking the King's Ring and making it through the dreaded Aldia's Keep, you are stopped by this massive thing in a birdcage that's blocking your way to see the ultimate dragon that foresees everything. If you've braved the likes of Kalameet in the original "Dark Souls", prepare to steamroll this pup of a dragon.



A dragon that can't breath out fire isn't a dragon at all.

The Guardian Dragon is probably one of the easiest dragon bosses in the history of "Souls" games outside of Dragon God. In terms of boss design he reeks of unoriginality when you consider how similar his attacks are to Kalameet before him. Plus, the fact that he's pretty much a normal enemy in the next map just shows how...bland of a boss this guy is. His attacks are pretty bland and basic, check it out.


Fire Breath (Ground) - He breathes a fan of flames in a cone area in front of him. Easily dodged by either staying out of range of running away from the flames.

Fire Breath (Air)* - He flies into the air and spews forth a torrent of flames. Deals AOE damage below him. Run the hell away when he flies upwards.

Fireball - He fires a simple bolt of fire in the air. Easily dodged or blocked.

Tail Whip - He swings his tail in an arc when you're around his backside. Can be blocked or dodged, its a rather slow attack.

Bite - A simplistic sweep attack using his mouth. Only affects you if you're in front of him or below his neck.

Stomp - He...simply stomps on you when you're around his feet area. Rolling away works.



Sharing a dumbed down version of Kalameet's kit, this bugger is very easily dealt with by the average player. Being a dragon, his hitbox is massive so its very easy to cut him down considering his relatively small health pool. Most of his attacks aren't too impressive as long as you stay beneath him to hack away at his ankles. With that in mind he can only retaliate with Stomp or Tail Whips depending on which part of the ankles you're at, both of which are ridiculously easy to dodge. If you're in front of him, he might try to Bite you, but even that is easily seen coming as his head cocks back a fair bit before he takes the bite.



Get beneath the dragon!


From afar the Guardian Dragon's arsenal is slightly more intimidating with his various ways of spitting fire. He has two forms of Fire Breaths, one of the ground and one in the air. The ground variation simply sweeps in a cone fashion in front of him, which is easily bypassed by running around him, the air version is a weaker spinoff of Kalameet's Flying Flame Breath. Still, its powerful enough to inflict significant damage on you if you aren't careful, so move the hell away when he starts to fly up. Finally, in the air, he can fire a straightforward fireball that is easily dodged or blocked.


This pup of a dragon poses little to no threat to most adventurers, so quickly dispatch him and move on. He's a normal enemy later on and to make matters worse, the normal enemy variation of this guy has even MORE health than he has. A pathetic showing, really. Killing him nets you 37000 souls, which is a lot more than you can bargain for against such an easy boss, but at this point of the game, its quite little.











Opening Songs
OP 1 - Ring Of Fortune (Eri Sasaki)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Starmine Of The Morning Glow (Asami Imai)

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama, Science Fiction

Episodes: 13




Time for the feels! It's been awhile since I teared up watching ANYTHING, really, but let's be real here, its hard to NOT shed any tears at all watching this thing! "Plastic Memories" is one of those shows that reminds you of "Clannad", "Anohana", or even "Angel Beats", in a sense that when somebody asks you, "Hey! Any emotional shows to recommend?", you show them this. Its tragic love, to say the least, in that sense, its a lot more like "Clannad" than anything. Come prepared with tissues, though I must warn you, "Plastic Memories" is far from perfect. In this imaginary world where robots can feel, a lot of time is wasted on unnecessary padding. It most definitely rewards those who stick with it till the end with one of the most emotional scenes in romance anime history, but before that, prepare to brace yourself with a ride that drags on for quite a while. Still, don't listen to me ramble, "Plastic Memories" is a good journey at the end of the day.



Admittedly, Isla is great, but I see her as little sister quality at best.


The opening theme is "Ring Of Fortune" by Eri Sasaki, which if you ask me, is quite an inappropriate name for a song about an anime this this. Anyway, its a powerful and somewhat emotional song, though it shows from the opening sequence that "something" is going to happen between Tsukasa and Isla. The ending theme is "Starmine Of The Morning Glow" by the wonderful Asami Imai, and its a slow song. Imai's voice is amazing, and the song is a wonderful ballad, but a ballad is still a ballad. As an ending theme to a show like this, it works well.




Rating: 7.5/10




It would have been 8.0 if the show was 6 episodes long. After the 1st half of the series, there is a lot of unnecessary padding that honestly isn't needed. The first few episodes up until the end of Marcia arc were good and felt necessary, but the ones after those were just padding. The relationship between Isla and Tsukasa were good enough to warrant the last few episodes during the time. Anyway, character development between the main characters are solid throughout, though they did NOT need to go to 13 episodes. The story is great, and the setting of the world is interesting enough. The overall theme of the show is quite....dark to be honest, though its taken rather well. There are plenty of emotional moments when it mattered, and those moments are when "Plastic Memories" are at its best. The comedy is rather stale and repetitive though, the jokes that worked are usually re-used to the point where they...start getting boring. "Plastic Memories" only has one thing going for it, the relationship between Tsukasa and Isla, though it works, its heavily overused, and that's what's preventing it from reaching greatness IMO.




Free fall~~


In a world where humans and androids live together like we do, its not uncommon for humans to eventually fall in love with androids like they do with real people. Androids soon became a staple in the world, and many of them are part of families or relationships like normal people would. However, an android only has so much time to live before their memory space is used up, when that time comes, they need to be put down, and the ones who do that are the terminal service. Described to have one of the worst jobs around, their jobs are practically to tear families apart. Tsukasa is the new kid around the block, he's posted to the terminal service as the new guy. The terminal service is composed of pairs that go around retrieving the expiring androids. As if he wasn't unlucky enough, he gets paired up with the most awkward android of them all, an older model named Isla. Together, things start getting...weird, to say the least.



"Plastic Memories" is one of the...more popular shows of the year, to say the least, though its certainly strong on the feels, I can't say that its entirely consistent. You may want to stick for the ending, but the road to get there might be tough as its mostly repetitive and not very funny or interesting. Still, it packs a massive punch to the feels, and you'll definitely feel it.







"Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds" might not exactly be a fighting game (though there is a PVP segment to the game), but being the brawler with the most "fighting game" centric system out there, its hard for me not to fall in love with trying all the characters. I DID get a majority of the characters to decent levels, at least unlocking all of their skills, at least. Here are my opinion on all the playable characters in the game, minus the Clone Mikotos and L. These characters are all graded BASED ON MY OPINION, of course.




Mikoto Nishina





Mikoto is the main character of the game and would probably be the first character that most players would try. I mean, she's a black haired college student with clothes that resemble Gothic Lolita fashion. Oh yeah, she uses a freaking great sword, and is voiced by Nana freaking Mizuki. Well...damn. Wielding a great sword, she has good range on melee attacks, she does good damage, and she brings forth a surprisingly good variety of special attacks. She's not bad to start with, but I wouldn't say that she's the easiest of the 4 starting characters. Clearing the game once or twice with her on normal/hard modes are doable, but on Nightmare and above, she starts having some trouble. Out of the 4 starting characters, I'd say she's the 2nd easiest to play.


Mikoto's combos are easily to link on most, if not every enemy in the game, so there's little issue with her killing off most enemy types. Her damage is quite high so she kills most normal mobs quickly enough, though against huge mobs her effectiveness takes a dip. Out of her 3 specials, the regular one fires a projectile called Schneidend, the double forward one has her dash through all enemies through a short distance (this one is called Gestrichen), and her down special is an uppercut (called Geschwind). Gestrichen is great for AOE clearing but the other 2 specials aren't. Schneidend ends on the first enemy it hits and the EX version has her fire multiple Schneidends, but if the enemy numbers are massive it won't have much of an effect. Gechwind can be comboed into Gestrichen into the air, which is nice for a combo. Her Phantom Break, Schaurig, fires a massive projectile across the screen which is perfect for AOE clearing. Honestly, its possibly the best Phantom Breaks in the game as it does an insane amount of damage to bosses as well.


Combos: 3.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 2.5/5
P.Break: 5/5
Difficulty: Easy-Medium


+ Has a wide variety of specials to compensate with different situations
+ Powerful combos that do a good amount of damage overall
+ One of the best Phantom Breaks in the game

- Quite slow on move speed and combo speed
- Sub Par AOE clearing




Waka Kumon





Design wise Waka is probably one of my favorite characters in the game. She's one of the starting 4 characters in the game, she wields a halberd and because of that, her range exceeds that of the other characters. To round that off, she's really slow and has some of the lowest starting damage in the game. Her specials are mostly based around zoning and control, with one special that focuses on rushdown instead. She's really weak early, but rounds out to become stronger later. Out of he 4 starting characters, she's the hardest to play. Even when compared to some of the unlockable characters, its debatable that she's even harder to use than they are.


Waka's combo strings can be quite awkward to fully link on most enemies because of her range. If you start the combo on some enemies at max range, mid-combo you'll start to lose hits on them. You'll need to distance yourself appropriately from enemies before you start to combo with Waka. She's probably horrendous at 1v1s, especially boss battles, but later on, she's quite strong against mobs. With 2 of her specials, Suitouha (which summons a shockwave as a projectile, going through enemies) and Kouryuha (a spinning uppercut with a decent travel), she controls enemy swarms well as long as they are in front of her. Sougetsujin is great for closing the gap as well. Her Phantom Break is a massive anti air tornado, which is decent up close, but doesn't have any full screen properties.


Combos: 2/5
Speed: 1.5/5
Specials: 3/5
P.Break: 3/5
Difficulty: Very Hard


+ Great Combo range compared to the rest of the cast
+ Good at AOE clearing

- Starts off very weak
- One of the hardest characters in the game to use




Itsuki Kouno






The maid of justice is here to serve, and boy does she hit hard. Despite wielding a hammer, Itsuki is surprisingly a pretty fast and heavy hitter. Out of the 4 starting characters, she probably boasts the best offensive arsenal, thus, she's perfect for newcomers who prefer a more aggressive style. I mean, come on, its the hammer, it HAS to be the most powerful weapon when you compare it to the likes of a Sword, Spear and some wimpy knives. Itsuki is solely based on rushdown, her combos are powerful and her specials all have her going IN on the enemy. Honestly, she's so darn good at it that she makes other characters look downright wimpy. Out of the 4 starting characters, she's the easiest to play.


Itsuki's combo damage is insane, and honestly, for a maid using a hammer, her combo hits fast as well. You'll be mashing ABC most of the time, and before you know it, you have a pile of dead bodies in front of you, its that ridiculous. Because her range isn't the best, her combos are easy to connect, you can probably hit anything and everything. And because she swings around like a madwoman, her AOE is quite impressive, even in just a normal combo. Her specials are all used for close ranged combat, with the exception of one that acts as a gap closer, making her shallow in terms of attack variety. Vapor Wave and Bullet Stinger are great for stun locking or knocking down enemies in front of you, while Fike Helix is a gap closer that also knocks enemies away in ridiculous fashion. EX versions of Vapor Wave and Fike Helix are just amazing for taking out waves, while an EX Bullet Stinger gets you out of a bind. Her Phantom Break, Grand Slam, summons a big ass bullet bill to consume the entire screen. Its probably her only ranged attack, and as you can guess, its amazing for AOE clear, but not so much against bosses. It only hits once.


Combos: 4.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 2/5
P.Break: 3/5
Difficulty: Easy


+ Ridiculously easy combos and high overall damage
+ Aggressive playstyle is very easy to adjust to

-Very melee oriented, lacks any ranged attacks outside of Phantom Break



Yuzuha Fujibayashi





Yuzuha is probably my favorite out of the starting 4 characters. I mean, a super energetic ninja girl is always nice to have around. Plus, she's voiced by Aki Toyosaki, and she uses the very same tone she used for Yui in "K-on!" for Yuzuha, making her sound super moe. Anyhow, despite being adorable as shit, Yuzuha is deadly on the battlefield. I mean, she's a freaking ninja. Boasting the highest speed and having the best mobility of the starting 4 characters, she's a more techinical character for those who love a bit of a challenge. She's not as hard as Waka, but compared to the likes of Itsuki and Mikoto, Yuzuha doesn't have that monstrous damage. She lacks that, but compensates in terms of tricky attacks and high hit count combos. Out of the 4 starting characters, she's the 2nd hardest (or 3rd easiest) to play.


Yuzuha's damage isn't amazing, especially not at the start, but its enough to get by. Her long combos mean that she's quite good at keeping the opponents locked down, but that also means she's open to being attacked from different angles. However, she's fast, so she can come in on her foes fast and hit them fast as well. Because of her speed and high combo count, she's great in boss battles, especially with level 2 Overdrive, you just start shitting on them so fast. She has a variety of specials. Hyou Hail is a spammable projectile that can be chained an unlimited amount of times, Reppashou is a melee attack that knocks enemies away, giving you space, while Rakuhouzan has Yuzuha disappear, then appear a set amount of units forward, before damaging enemies behind her. Other than Hyou Hail, Reppashou and Rakuhouzan have situational uses, but make for some great set-up opportunities. That said, her AOE clearing is bad...outside of her Phantom Break, Kasumi Warriors. This one has a massive AOE, and does insane damage, it can miss on occasion.


Combos: 4/5
Speed: 3.5/5
Specials: 3.5/5
P.Break: 3/5
Difficulty: Medium


+ Long, lengthy combos
+ Variety of special attacks
+ Spammable ranged poke, probably one of the safest characters in the game

- Lengthy combos leave her wide open to attacks from other enemies
- Lackluster AOE clear outside of Phantom Break and EX specials



M





M is cool beans. Design wise, she probably takes the cake when compared to all the other characters, just because she looks so unique. She's one of the unlockable characters, and honestly, she's probably one of the best ones in terms of play style. M is a trickster, she has a little bit of everything in her arsenal, and she's marketed as some sort of a trap character. Well in reality, she's not, M is more akin to a mixture of Mikoto and Itsuki. She brings moderate damage and speed to the field, as well as a variety of special attacks used for a multitude of situations. She is among the first batch of unlockable characters alongside Cocoa.


M's basic combos are decent, though against some enemies they do tend to not connect all the way. She also isn't the fastest character around, so she sometimes struggles trying to get hits in against some of the faster enemies. M needs to get up close and personnel for her combos to do full damage, but its hard to do that when her speed is so subpar, so in that sense, she falls off in that department. However, she has some mean specials to make up for it. Meteor Blast is an awesome projectile with little to no recovery time, Rubble Crash is great AOE damage in front of her, and Junk Rolling is probably one of the most broken specials in the game, which has priority over almost ANY attack. Ever got stun locked so hard in a boss battle against M when she spams Junk Rolling and you just CAN'T hit her? Yeah, it works against enemies too. Any of her EXed specials are deadly as hell and work wonders against enemy groups. Her Phantom Break though...is probably the most inconsistent one in the game. It summons countless bombers to rain down, hitting whatever they please. Its okay in a dire situation when you're swarmed by enemies, but its completely useless against bosses. Even if you're surrounded, EX Junk Rolling works better.


Combos: 2/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 4.5/5
P.Break: 1.5/5
Difficulty: Medium-Hard


+ Godlike Specials
+ Attacks have Decent power behind them

- Overall slow speed and her combos can be wonky
- Inconsistent Phantom Break




Cocoa





Cocoa is nuts. Probably the character I "WTF"ed at the most when I first saw her as a boss. She is ABSOLUTELY crazy, and when you finally get to play as her, you'll get to experience the craziness yourself first hand. I mean, she's a beast girl with a demonic claw that talks like a cat...that's kind of awesome. Anyway, if you've fought Cocoa in boss battles, you most probably know how she rolls. She's a full on rushdown/grappler type character that goes full ham on her enemies, kind of like Itsuki, though Cocoa's harder to use because she doesn't have that many high priority attacks. She doesn't have a lot of reliable attacks other than a select few, but those few alone make her extremely powerful. Cocoa let's you go ballistic on her foes, and it can be pretty fun. She is among the first batch of unlockable characters alongside M.


When it comes to combos, Cocoa isn't the best around. Her attacks are slow, and while they do connect well with one another, she gets interrupted all the time by enemies faster than she is...which are aplenty. They do some nice damage, but they're just not easy to pull off perfectly. She also isn't that quick to move around normally...but of course, that's where her specials come in. Cocoa excels up close, 2 of her specials are melee based, while the other is a gap closer. Kurzes Messer is probably one of the only low hitting specials in the game, and its great for nabbing blocking targets, similarly, she has Barbarischer Nabel, a grab special that explodes the enemies in her grasp. She can grab multiple enemies at once. However, these are useless if they're in front of Cocoa, that's where Stumpfer Flugel comes in. This is her annoying NYA NYA NYA spam attack that has her fly across the screen and bag ANY enemy in her way. Its spammable, its deadly, and it sets enemies up for her other attacks, this is probably one of the best specials in the game as well. Her Phantom Break, Unendliche Angst, has her rush to an enemy for a powerful combo. Its a powerful Phantom Break against bosses, but its lack of AOE splash makes it really horrible for mob clearing. If that's the case, you can just use Overdrive against a boss instead.


Combos: 2.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 4/5
P.Break: 2/5
Difficulty: Medium-Hard


+ Very powerful at melee range
+ One of the most powerful specials in the game with Stumpfer Flugel

- Quite slow overall
- Phantom Break is poor against mobs of enemies




Infinity





This bastard is good, REALLY good. Infinity is easily one of the most overpowered characters in the game, I have no doubt about that. Maybe him being the only dude in the game played some sort of role in that, but let's not go there, he's quite a fabulous fellow. Infinity is the zone heaviest character in the game, with ranged specials that focus on keeping enemies away, he's really hard to be closed in upon by most enemies. In order words, he's the cheesiest character in the game to play as, you can shoot enemies all day and move around with his lightning speed so that you'll never be caught. That being said, he dies quicker than other characters, so its always in your benefit to stay away as Infinity. Probably one of the least fun characters to play as, but damn would I be lying if I said this dude wasn't strong. He's among the second batch of unlockable characters alongside Nagi.


Infinity has melee combos despite being primarily a ranged fighter, and honestly, they're not too shabby. They do decent damage as well! I guess to link up with his ranged theme they gave his normals some decent range too, meaning that he has one of the safest combo ranges in the game, though he's still slightly behind Waka in that respect. He is CRAZY fast, so he has that going on for him. Obviously if we're going to talk about Infinity we need to talk about his specials. Edge Of Extinction and Horizon of Horror are both simple projectile attacks that attack forward, though Edge doesn't pierce through enemies, so Horizon Of Horror is better for AOE clearing. Both are amazing with EX though. Edge flies onward until it hits an enemy while Horizon only goes until a certain range. His other special is Flaming Judgement, while its decent, it pales in comparison to his other 2 specials since it takes awhile to execute and it awkwardly throws Infinity into the air. His Phantom Break, Pennance Of Confession, is another AOE screen wipe that's somewhat similar to that of Mikoto and Itsuki's breaks, though I'd say his is a tad bit weaker in terms of damage.


Combos: 2.5/5
Speed: 5/5
Specials: 3.5/5
P.Break: 3.5/5
Difficulty: Easy


+ Ranged Cheese
+ Insane Speed

- Lack of break out moves makes him very vulnerable when swarmed




Nagi Kumon






Nagi is great. Towards the end of my playtime with the game, I was debating whether to raise Kurisu or Nagi level 99, because both were just amazing. In terms of the the play styles of the characters in the game, I'd probably pick Nagi as my absolute favorite. Sure, she probably has the most uninspiring designs in game, but her play style is just so fun and badass, its tough not to like her. Like Infinity, she's a little overpowered, but in a different sense. While Infinity spammed the living f**k out of projectiles, Nagi fights with a combined pack of mid ranged specials and deadly combos. Like most other characters in the game, she likes to be deep into the front lines, chopping up any and everything in her way. How the hell did she get kidnapped again? She's ridiculously powerful, much more so than her sister, at least. She's among the second batch of unlockable characters alongside Infinity.


First thing's first, Nagi's normal range is quite high. Its about Infinity's Range, which is still lesser than Waka, however, Nagi's combos are smooth and steady. They connect easily and do good damage, which is better than most other characters, to say the least. She's also pretty damned fast at moving around, not at Infinity's level, but if you take him out of the picture, she's faster than anybody else. 2 of her specials are ridiculously powerful, while the other is mediocre. First of all, for a ranged attack, she has Space Time Slice, which has a very awkward hitbox. It hits an enemy from afar while forgoing all other enemies that are BEFORE said target....yeah. It comes out fast and gives Nagi a short frame of invulnerability though. Thorn and Moonshine Formation are insanely good. Thorn calls forth a bunch of swords from the ground, stabbing everything in front of her. It comes out quick and does plenty of damage, similar to Moonshine Formation, which has her dash forward to perform an arc slash. This one has massive AOE, stuns all enemies, and does good damage, which is further amplified to godlike levels with EX. Her Phantom Break, Arc Moon Blade, hits everything in front of her for massive AOE damage.


Combos: 4/5
Speed: 4.5/5
Specials: 4/5
P.Break: 3.5/5
Difficulty: Very Easy


+ Fluid combos with high damage
+ Great speed that's second to Infinity's
+ Powerful specials that work well against bosses and enemy swarms

- Awkward hitbox on Space Time Slice




Makise Kurisu





Yeah, we all worship our beloved guest character, especially when that character is none other than Makise Kurisu. When I heard her theme play out in 8 bit format during the tutorial stage, I knew I was in for a treat with this character. She's the only character I brought to level 99 and also the only character which I beat Nightmare+ with in the Arcade Mode. Kurisu is a bit of an oddball, bringing a very weird combat style to the game. She excels in zone control for sure, but she also has plenty of weird tricks up her sleeves. I mean, her combos involve summoning Ruka and Amane to...beat her enemies? And she throws banana skins on the floor to...trip incoming foes? I don't know what's up with her, but I can say this: Kurisu is a blast to play as. Her completely unorthodox fighting style make for a pleasant and enjoyably experience. She's DLC, so obviously, you'll have to pay for her (in steam, she comes together with the level 99 cap).


Being mostly a zone control character, Kurisu suffers from wonky combos and mediocre speed. Early on, her combos hit worth shit, and while they severely improve as she receives upgrades, its still rather wonky against some enemy types. While she can do damage with them, the purpose of Kurisu's combos is to knock enemies away for further use of her specials. Using 2 of her Future Gadgets, number 1 and 5, she controls space very well. Gadget 1 fires a piercing laser beam that hits across the ENTIRE SCREEN (though it does shitty damage), and Gadget 5 burns the area in front of her, knocking enemies back. Hell, even her only melee special, Future Gadget 4, has her push an enemy back with an explosion. For Kurisu, its all about spacing, she needs her space to safely spam Future Gadget 1 for simple enemy extermination, in that sense, she's incredibly cheesy against enemy mobs. She does suffer somewhat against bosses though because of her lack of speed and proper combos. Her Phantom Break, Selection Of The Steins Gate, calls forth a massive...science thingy to collapse in an area in front of her for high damage. Good for mob clears, only okay for everything else.


Combos: 2.5/5
Speed: 2/5
Specials: 4/5
P.Break: 2.5/5
Difficulty: Easy-Medium


+ Ranged Cheese
+ Most of her arsenal pushes enemies back, so that she can safely cheese them with specials

- Mediocre combos and speed up close