Gamer--freakz

Romance an anime is super f**king normal, its so normal that its nothing to be surprised at anymore. Some couples are well developed, some love each other to the ends of the Earth. Some are just one sided, some are just too embarassed to tell each other they're true feelings, even though both of them really love each other. These kinds of relationships are there, like it or not, and today I'm here to discuss some of my favorite pairings in anime. Note that these are subjective, and well...to each his own I guess.

Kirito And Asuna





Let's start with the more well known couples. Kirito and Asuna's relationship strikes off as more interesting and is actually one that we can relate to....if you play MMORPGs. Relationships in real life are one thing, but if love blooms from an MMORPG, its hard to really confirm it. Maybe you'll stay as couples in game, but in real life you don't know each other. In a situation as dangerous and desperate as "Sword Art Online", it's normal that you'd want to protect a love one like you would in real life. Kirito's love for Asuna and her love for his is really something you can UNDERSTAND, especially when they return to their normal lives, and you see Kirito, all weak and shriveled up when he awakes, try to see his loved one. This is one pairing I really like, even though I don't really love Asuna as a character. Sorry Leafa.


Ryuji And Taiga




This one is obvious. Ryuji and Taiga may not be so well made out for each other at first, but they're definitely great together when misunderstandings are cleared up. Tiger and dragon just sound so nice together, but another thing that's so amazing about these 2 is how they grew to understand one another. It starts off as a love hate relationship, with Ryuji helping out Taiga to get close to Kitamura, and Taiga will try to keep it from Minori that Ryuji is actually crazy about her. As Ryuji keeps helping Taiga out, it becomes obvious to her how nice Ryuji actually IS to her, and then she starts to develop feelings for him. She grew to find out that she loved him, and that she NEEDED him as a person. When all shit breaks lose in that final confession, Taiga finally breaks free of her tsundere mode and tells Ryuji how he feels. A crazy high school relationship, but also a very beautiful one.



Okabe And Kurisu





Okabe and Kurisu are like two sides of the same freaking coin. They're both scientists, they both look at the logical (or in Okabe's case, the illogical) side of things, and they both work things out for the best of their interests. Of course, but how could two science fags fall for each other?! Especially when Okabe has the likes of Mayuri, Suzuha and more at his side?! Well, it all boils down to how Kurisu actually shows interest in Okabe, and that how he, no matter how freaking clueless he is, actually cares for her. Mayuri is more of a supportive childhood friend, and no matter how much he wants to save her, he still loves Kurisu. Their love truly blooms when Kurisu needed to leave for the states, but it didn't matter. No matter what timeline he gets himself into, Kurisu and Okabe will still know, that they share a bond that no other could.





Oreki And Chitanda




Oreki and Chitanda aren't exactly an official pair, but they might as well just do it already. Oreki doesn't really give a shit about anything else and wants a peaceful life, but out of the f**king blue comes Eru. KIRINARIMASU, was what she said, and Oreki could not resist those big blue eyes of hers. Time goes on as Oreki continues to solve Chitanda's curious mysteries, but have you wondered if they actually harbored any feelings for each other? Sure Oreki doesn't give a f**k, but he starts to grow more interested in Chitanda and what she was about. Chitanda doesn't really dive deep into romantic issues with Oreki, but perhaps she has a thing for him? Who knows, we'll never know. But hopefully they'll come to a point of agreement some day, these two would make a nice pair.



Kyouske And Kuroneko





I'm still really pissed about this one. Its a "What if" scenario because it really is. Kyouske and Kuroneko really got together in the anime for awhile, but then they broke up for the most stupid reason. Then when Kuroneko finally wanted to reconcile with Kyouske....he turned her down for his very own sister. Now that is just screwed up. The scene where Kuroneko bawled her eyes out and screamed into the night because of her sadness really ripped my heart into shreds. Think about it, if Kyouske said "Yes" to her at that very moments, things could have really gotten sweet for these two. I think Kuroneko really loves Kyouske, and even the Kyouske, who was a dick in that one moment, really loved her too. Two reasons why I think Kyouske rejected her at the time, he felt too strongly for his sister, and he didn't want to get hurt again, like what happened before when Kuroneko broke up with him. It was a blunder on both of their parts, but a more massive one on Kyouske, they could have been a wonderful couple.



Hayate And Hinagiku





This really needs to happen, even though I don't think it'll be the case. Hayate has a long running series now, and he has a lot to choose from. Honestly I think he'll take Nagi or Athena at the end, just because the plot wills it, but I think Hinagiku deserves his love. She's just like Hayate in so many ways, just that one is a lot smarter than the other. Both come from poor backgrounds, have scumbag parents, and if they kind of think alike as well. Hinagiku seems to like Hayate, and he sort of has some form of fondness for her, he just doesn't know what to do....just like Hinagiku in many ways, when she goes uber tsundere. I think Hinagiku just needs that little push for her to get to Hayate's heart, but she has many obstacles in the way though. More specifically, Hayate's thick skull and his lack of knowledge about girls.





Yukiteru And Yuno





Oh yeah, these two are a couple alright, but it almost makes you wonder if they REALLY just did that. I mean, yeah, they DO love each other at the end, no doubt about that, but man were they freaking crazy. Yuki is the poor victim, and Yuno was the crazy stalker. How many times did Yuno almost kill Yuki? How many times did Yuno go bat shit insane FOR Yuki? And Yuki is freaking insane as well. After all that Yuno did, HE STILL LOVED HER! He still continued to care for her, he still looked out for he. Sure he might give her the look of fear from time to time, but in the end, he overlooked everything Yuno did, and still loved her. He stayed alive for tens and thousands of years as the next god, all looking for an opportunity to see her again. These two are nuts.



Peace.

Gamespot Score: n/a

My Score: 7.8


(+) Pros: - Beautiful visuals, both artistically and technically, - Action packed, combo styled game play, - Feels incredibly fast, - Decent story for an MMORPG, - More skill based than anything else, - PvP feels intense, - Great boss fights.

(-) Cons: - Repetitive enemies with similar attack patterns, - Some game breaking glitches, - Leveling up requirements spike VERY quickly.


Gameplay time: -

First off let's just say one thing before we begin with this review: Fuck You NcSoft! We were promised an English "Blade And Soul" release back in 2012...or was it late 2011? Either way, it doesn't matter, f**k it. 3 years have past and nothing was done, it still isn't stateside. I don't know what they're smoking...but luckily for us, Blade And Soul Dojo's savior made an English patch for the Chinese client of the game. If you're wondering, that's how I managed to get a good taste of "Blade And Soul", by an English fan made patch for the Chinese client. So was it worth it? Of course! "Blade And Soul" is one of the most beautiful free to play MMORPGs I've ever experienced to date, though of course, it has its flaws as well. Let's put everything aside and get to the game for now. REVENGE!!!!



I'll say it up straight, "Blade And Soul" is an MMORPG that actually has a story. It follows you, a disciple of the great master Hon. You're living in a temple, training under Hon alongside his other disciples. You never really knew much about your master, but trained under him anyway, to master your soul and inner spirit. Of course, this all changes immediately when the dojo is attacked by strange individuals. Jin, the leader of the group, attacks and kills master Hon, and in a last ditch effort to save you, you are blown off a cliff. Your character is sent flying to the bottom of the ocean, where you are saved by other kind souls. And thus begins your quest for revenge, as you roam the land, seeking the truth of Master Hon and the people behind his murder.

Character creation is pretty sexy.

For an MMO to have a credible story...its quite impressive actually. As I mentioned before in many of my reviews for MMORPGs, story isn't something that many MMORGPs manage to nail down, even if the game does have any sort of lore in it whatsoever, it isn't explained well. The storytelling just isn't there, or its just not effective enough to get us sucked into it. "Blade And Soul" manages this part exceptionally well, with fully voiced characters, good animations and best of all, full CG cutscenes. These do well to really tell the story proper, as there tends to be a lot of to be emotional moments in the game, especially when you get to the conclusion of the game's story.


To me, the story is a bonus, since I'm used to MMORPGs with horrible storytelling. Let's get to the main reason why everyone wants to play "Blade And Soul", the visuals. The game is absolutely stunning if you play on high or above, and believe me, its not hard to achieve. Both technically and artistically, this game excels when it comes its visual aspects. The environments, while sometimes a little bit repetitive, look fantastic, and everything else from the enemies to the character models themselves are pretty damn amazing. There are plenty of character types and classes, ranging from Jin, the regular humans, Gon, the big bulky dudes, and Lyn, the little squirrel chibis. The character models especially....wow! I literally drooled a little when creating my character. While the customization choices are pretty normal, everything just looks awesome to behold.

The gon are awesome.

And of course, this translate well to combat, it looks flashy as all hell with a massive amount of visual flair that'll be enough to pop your eyeballs out. Speaking about combat, its easily the selling point about this game. Nowadays, most MMORPGs are skill based, instead of the standard point and click, then watch an animation play out....while that style of play has a charm of its own, its getting stale nowadays with all the action packed, skill based games out there. "Blade And Soul" is another one of those games, instead of pointing and clicking then watching an animation play out, "Blade And Soul" is all about controlling the flow of battle by yourself.


While you can only equip up to a few set of abilities at once, these play a major part in battle. Blademasters, Assasins and Kung Fu users all attack up close, either flaring opponents up with combos, netting them with stuns, slows and knockdowns. There isn't a clear cut specification of what's suppose to do what in this game, everyone does their own thing. Summoners are supposed to be a support class, but they can dish out a ton of damage on their own too with their kitty cats. In "Blade And Soul" you can dodge enemy attacks, counter them, then inflict all sorts of pain on your own. Every encounter with an enemy will be a tough one, especially later on, since the game spikes up in difficulty quite quickly. 

Run! Run like the wind!

Why does the game spike up in difficulty? Its simple. Quests don't give you new weapons too often, and its also true that armor does not grant ANY defensive stats whatsoever. Its all the soul pieces that grant you stats, stuff like critical chance, critical damage, parry percentage, so on and so forth, and if you use these pieces for defensive stats, you're missing out on a lot of offense. The game also feels VERY fast, true to its theme. This applies to most things, like combat or just simply running around. Combat feels fast because you'll have to be on the ball most of the time. Running around feels fast only because the game has some slight parkor physics. You can sprint around the field INCREDIBLY quickly, you can jump massive heights, and you can even glide through the air to get around places quickly.


I know this is just a good addition to replace mounts if the game would have it, but this feels a lot more efficient to get around places. There are also jump points, where your character can use after a certain point in the game to do a little flight mechanic, where you jump incredible heights to get places. It looks cool as heck. When it boils down to it, the game just knows how to make things look very stylish, and with that it scores with flying colors.

No no no...you ain't touching me!

Remember how I said the game was skill based? Yeah, it matters when fighting regular enemies, but it matters more for PVP. During a certain point in the game, you are faced with a decision to join two factions, and then later on, if you meet somebody of the opposite faction...its time to fight. Like in most games PVP is a matter of reading your opponent, but more so here because one mistake can really cost you in this game. There are a lot of factors to take into account, like dodging or countering your foes.


What more can you look forward to? How about the fact that there are some pretty good instances in this game. Most MMORPGs have decent instances, but what really nails it for "Blade And Soul" are the boss fights. You can't beat these things by just muscling them to death, you really can't. And considering how this game doesn't have a specific classification of their different roles, there's really no such thing as a "frontline" or "backline", just the manifestation of everybody's skills on how to predict, dodge, and take down a superior enemy.

Come on swag fags lighten up!

There are quite a few issues that make "Blade And Soul" a lot less enjoyable than it should have been, for such a high production value game. First off...they could really use some more enemy types. ITS ALWAYS THE SAME HUMANOID ENEMY TYPES FOR THE WHOLE FREAKING GAME! It gets kind of annoying that all you fight are regular dudes with rifles, halberds and swords all the time during story missions. There are also glitches laid around here and there:game breaking glitches. Sometimes you get stuck in a wide open spot for no freaking reason, you try to move and then you keep getting teleporting to the same damn spot. There is an escape function, but sometimes even that isn't enough to help you, you'll need to aggro monsters to your position for them to KILL you, then respawn in town. And this is just a personal gripe, after lvl 20, leveling up requirements take a massive spike, and that's just cheap.


That's "Blade And Soul" for you. For the state its in right now, its good for what it is, but could have been better. As for NCsoft, I have no idea what they're smoking, but its because of them that many don't get to enjoy this game. As I mentioned earlier, the chinese version has a patch right now so go for that if you want to play the game.


http://www.gameskinny.com/3nzea/blade-soul-china-guide-to-downloading-and-registering






Happy gaming!

Opening Songs
OP 1 - Goyia No Machiawase (Hello Sleepwalkers)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Heart Realize (Tia)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Supernatural

Episodes: 12



Wonder how gods live their lives? Sometimes its not as complicated as you would think...with the way "Noragami" presents it to us. Instead of something serious or overwhelming, "Noragami" shows us a lighthearted story about how a wandering god lives his life, and how he deals with his ups and downs. With a lot of emotion, some great characters, and wonderful storytelling, "Noragami" is one of those shows that you'll have to see for yourself. Its really not too special or unique, but it does enough to please the average viewer. It does its job nicely, and honestly seeing life through the eyes of a carefree god and his troublesome shinki might be a little bit more interesting than you think.

All for 5 yen!

The opening song is "Goyia No Machiawase" by Hello Sleepwalkers. Not really anything too spectacular or crazy about it if you ask me, its kind of just....there. Its a simple rock song, but I figured a band like Uverworld or Rookiez is Punk'D would work better here. The ending song is "Heart Realize" by Tia, and its not too bad. Its what you'd expect out of a Supercell song, since Ryo composed it. Its lighthearted and simple...nothing much else.



Rating: 7.5/10



For something like this, its plenty good. "Noragami" has some solid ground work right off the bat. Its gives off a fantastic first impression and continues to do well all the way, though it never really IMPRESSED to the point of no end during any part of the show whatsoever. It just managed to maintain this steady pace of goodness...but never really stepped beyond that. What really carries it through though, are the great characters that are presented to us, especially the likes of Yukine and Hiyori. Yato is just awesome as he starts off and remains so all the way. Then there are others who just made the experience a lot more satisfying, but I won't go too in depth. The storytelling and pacing are excellent, though overall the anime did feel short. Of course, its funny, Yato and Hiyori are pretty damn hilarious when they need to be.

That's right Yato, laugh more.

The story features Yato, a Japanese god of war who wanders the earth. Yato is pretty pathetic for a god, he doesn't have his own shrine, and he goes around with his Shinki, Tomone, to grant the wishes of the people...earning 5 yen every time. With this in mind, its easy to tell that Yato is going to need a LOOONG time to finally earn enough for a meal...let alone a shrine. One day Tomone couldn't stand Yato any more, and she left his side as a Shinki. Without a Shinki, Yato is defenseless, and can't kill impurities. He sulks and sulks until he sees a job for him:to find a cat named Kami-sama. Of course, he just had to screw it up and he almost got ran into by a vehicle, but a human girl named Hiyori saved him. Hiyori, surprisingly didn't die, but instead her soul became loose, and she's regularly able to leave her body. She hires Yato to solve this problem for her, and he agrees...for 5 yen. This is how Hiyori became connected to Yato...for the rest of her life.


Its a pity how "Noragami" only had 12 episodes, but it wasn't as if that it ended prematurely. I think that it ended well...just that I do think that it had more room for potential, with the world that it has built with these 12 episodes. Let's just hope that there's more to come, if possible.


Peace.

Danganronpa:The Animation

She's the best, seriously.

Celestia is seriously the best character in the series IMO, hands down. Both for the game AND the animation, Celestia nails the best character spot for many reasons. She has the most personality, she actually kills for her own accord, and the fact that she managed to sneak in multiple personalities into her fabulous ojou-san manor only made her all the more amazing of a character. Yeah out of everybody else, maybe only Kirigiri or Togami comes close, but other than that, she tops everyone else.


Let's really talk about Celestia for a bit. First off, her character design is fabulous, in my opinion at least. She's got this gothic lolita thing going on even though she really isn't loli at all. THen we've got her split personalities. She's usually nice. Very factual (she always goes on and on about the cold, hard facts and rarely uses feelings, friendship or human emotion to negotiate), but she's nice overall. Then, when things don't go her way, she can really become...fierce. 


Then, when she actually STARTS to kill someone, you feel that her reason is so selfish and inferior compared to everyone else before her...that's true, but that's also why I love her. Beneath all of this tough girl act, she's actually just a poor girl who acts like a spoilt princess, and is willing to do whatever she can just to get her hands on that. The way she snaps is so...awesome. I also felt that her murder case was one of the most interesting ones, and that if she really DID think through the whole thing, she's a genius as well.



Kill La Kill

The mark of awesomeness.

MEN DOU KOTE MEN DOU KOTE MEN DOU KOTE! Let the screams of Nobuyuki Hiyama flow into your head and sink deep into your memories, because Sanageyama is easily the most memorable character in "Kill La Kill". I'm sure everyone agrees when I say that "Kill La Kill" is filled to the BRIM with amazing characters, but nobody strikes me as awesome as much as Sanageyama does, the dude is a freaking beast from head to toe.


Each and every one of the elite four is well explained and developed, but I felt that we had the deepest connection to Sanageyama. If not for Satsuki or Nui, Sanageyama...would probably be Ryuko's next rival. He's a man that learns from his mistakes. First things first, he challenges Ryuko in an attempt to prove himself to Satsuki. He loses, then instead of begging for forgiveness like a cocky fella, he accepts change and SEALS his own eyes that he was so proud of. Then with his eyes shut off, he hones his other senses and becomes extremely powerful, eventually overpowering Ryuko for a short moment.


However after that, he never gets the chance to face of with Ryuko for real again. Instead, when shit gets real, he stands alongside the other elite four and follow Satsuki's orders as usual. As a wearer of the 3 star Goku uniform, his Blade Regalia never fails to impress. With its impressive offensive stats and brutal melee strikes, he strikes his enemies down without mercy. To make things even better, he follows the code of honor, that means he believes in fighting the "manly" way.



Log Horizon

Behold, the most badass and fabulous cat of all time.

Nyanta is indeed, the most badass cat in our generation. Never would I find myself praising a cat for its badassery...until I watched "Log Horizon" of course. Nyanta's moments of true badassery don't really last very long, but it was well enough to make him one of my favorite characters in the show. While he never really showed off TOO much in the series after that, he still contributed enough for him to be a potently important character to the story.


Nyanta once belonged to the Tea Party, and is an acquaintance to both Shiroe and Naotsugu. It was shown when he could call upon griffons as well. Also note that Shiroe and Naotsugu both call him "chief", either he was someone of great importance or it was just that they showed great respect to him...or maybe even both, because this cat kicks ass. During the arc where Shiroe and party went to rescue Serara, Nyanta easily solo-ed Demikas even when he had healers.


Then Nyanta made possibly one of the biggest contributions to the history of "Elder Tale"...making food taste great. Proving that his level 90 chef subclass would pay off, he made the inhabitants of "Elder Tale" understand the wonders of food once again, something that they had long since missed. He then joined Shiroe's guild "Log Horizon" and contributed in his own way since. He seems to be fond of Serara, though he doesn't quite see her as she sees him yet.



Peace.

The Last Giant
HP:2530
Skills: Foot stomps, Arm swipe*, Extended arm swipe*, Fall
Souls:10000


Difficulty: 2/5
Deaths:2



And so begins our new journey...a whole new series of the bosses about "Dark Souls II". After covering bosses from "Dark Souls" for the past 3 years or so, its time to start a new one. And of course, as with all beginnings, we'll start with the very first boss of "Dark Souls II"....The Last Giant. Considering the trend in the "Souls" games, the first bosses are always pretty easy, so is it safe to assume so with The Last Giant? You might actually be in for a surprise....he's a lot harder than I thought. Instead of pushovers like "Phalanx" or "Asylum Demon", this guy can actually kill you if you aren't careful. Either how, you'll have to tread carefully with this first boss. He is the boss of the "Forest Of The Fallen Giants".

Okay buddy, let's go.

For a first boss, he's pretty intimidating, and he should be. Because of his size, you can expect him to hurt. A single swipe or two will be enough to kill those with low health builds. His attacks are slow, but pack a huge punch, especially this early in the game. Blocking isn't recommended, because his attacks do take up a huge portion of your stamina and may leave you open to being attacked by something else. Make use of what you have over him: your speed.



Foot stomps - He stomps his feet when you're below him. This is heavily telegraphed and if you're underneath him, you can see this from a mile away. Dodge or simple move away.

Arm swipe* - He swings his arm below in a wide arc, attempting to get to you. If you are quite a distance away from him, you can see this one coming. But if you're below him, this is going to be hard to predict as it can get you from behind. Dodge away,

Extended arm swipe* - He only uses this when his health is below 50% and he tears his arm off. Its a wider and more powerful version of Arm swipe.

Fall - He falls on top of you. This one is very easy to see coming, simply run away at full speed when he starts crouching forward.



Not much attacks to talk about, but he can still kill you. As I mentioned earlier, his damage is very high for being the first boss, and one mistake can really set you behind for the entire fight. If you're ranged, this fight is going to be about keeping the distance from him. As long as you stand more than a third of the arena's space from him and fire your projectiles, he shouldn't be able to touch you, he's slow as heck. If you're melee, then there's only one thing to do: you need to chop away at a vulnerable point, one where only you can reach, his feet.


Chopping away at his feet is an easy task, but you'll need to look out for foot stomps. Its easy enough to see coming, and rolling away from that won't be a problem. Take note though that he might stomp multiple times if he doesn't like you, so you'll have to keep away for a bit. Anyhow, just keep hitting his feet whenever you have the chance for some easy damage. Its even better if he falls over, though hitting any other part of his body won't amplify the damage that you're doing, so just keep hitting his legs.


Next up you'll need to keep an eye out for his arm swipes. The initial arm swipe is already deadly enough, since it has a wide range and if you're underneath him most of the time, you can't really see him coming at you with this skill. Rolling away is the proper action here, but its going to be even harder when he hits 50% health. He'll rip off his arm and use it as a weapon for longer reach with his initial arm swipe. Not only does this do more damage but it has a larder range as well.

That's a wrap, folks.

Beating him grants you 10000 souls, which is quite a hefty amount for a first boss. Still, I feel that its a fitting reward for the following bosses to come. Spend it wisely, as "Dark Souls II" isn't going to let up. The Last Giant...is just the tip of the iceberg.


Peace.