tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6568374954396969072024-02-06T21:59:55.695-08:00The Errant Clusterrelic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-38203844423730213982014-11-04T09:28:00.004-08:002014-11-04T09:29:23.390-08:00Guns Girl ZNot seeing much love out there for this incredibly well done anime brawler, so hoping to remedy that. It's free to play and available on iOS, Android, and PC (via Bluestack.)<br />
<br />
<b>Download Here:</b> <a href="http://www.4inch.com/act1/">http://www.4inch.com/act1/</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8X0zgDVkxDtHYpEJUZQVeSo__0RTXfgGPNpEpjOeKVh-RSELfcaSzF9MeY6jYC4poWBF6S0LcXZOMLIC2YzDlbE9SXyCXCVB4dH41lCIquDnWNPZZcPPmBEFm09XzHlAx-nqjF8S_d3J/s1600/ggz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8X0zgDVkxDtHYpEJUZQVeSo__0RTXfgGPNpEpjOeKVh-RSELfcaSzF9MeY6jYC4poWBF6S0LcXZOMLIC2YzDlbE9SXyCXCVB4dH41lCIquDnWNPZZcPPmBEFm09XzHlAx-nqjF8S_d3J/s1600/ggz.jpg" height="85" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
"Guns Girl Z" is a side-scrolling gun-based anime beat-em-up. You walk from left to right, shooting or slashing at the zombie girls and eventually killing the boss. You collect new equipment, money, and experience points, which you use to make yourself stronger. There's guilds, friends, crafting, and fully supported chat.<br />
<br />
<b>Pros: </b><br />
- Crisp, colorful graphics<br />
- Great run-and-gun gameplay<br />
- Best on-screen-gamepad controls I've ever used<br />
- Android/iOS/Bluestack support, as well as cross-device play<br />
- Anime design, all girl cast<br />
- JPN/CHN Voices and decent OST<br />
<br />
<b>Cons:</b><br />
- Once you get far in the game, it's a huge grindfest<br />
- Anime design, all girl cast<br />
- F2P via a gashapon... you pay a lot of money and get a random item.<br />
- Engrish everywhere. Really bad instructions, lots of unexplained features, and nonsense story dialogue.<br />
<br />
All in all, it's a fun game, especially if you grew up playing arcade beat-em-ups. It's free and I think you can definitely get some enjoyment out of it, even if you only do a few levels before the grind-wall starts to bother you. I think it plays on a tablet best. <br />
<br />
I'm including some tips, since the game does a poor job of setting you off in the right direction. Hope it's useful, please add any tips you can. And feel free to copy this text verbatim to other forums and stuff... you don't even need to give me credit. Just want to see more love for this game.<br />
<br />
Also, if you enjoy the game, please 'Like' the facebook page. They'll hand out some free items if it gets enough likes. Thanks!<br />
<br />
Official US Facebook Page for news: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ggzUS">https://www.facebook.com/ggzUS</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3yYTtyrX0d2jstsgo16SJ2keSnmrwDyVkdrVec21KmZAuOVla7Ia1Mg3L8nsDd4LxkJ87Kv1IrbSPcdCUxpGiDzk3n6CMwcj7RHI-zu6HOlyRvieJh6EHnLFMvu3OYNfNhEwc95FgAXw/s1600/6-140G1111QVH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3yYTtyrX0d2jstsgo16SJ2keSnmrwDyVkdrVec21KmZAuOVla7Ia1Mg3L8nsDd4LxkJ87Kv1IrbSPcdCUxpGiDzk3n6CMwcj7RHI-zu6HOlyRvieJh6EHnLFMvu3OYNfNhEwc95FgAXw/s1600/6-140G1111QVH.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>TIPS AND TRICKS</b><br />
<br />
- Keep the starter fifle Flintlock. It's a really good weapon that can last you until end-game. If you get rid of it, it will be difficult to get another copy.<br />
- Consider getting the rare FN2000R drop from Stage 1-3. It's an auto-rifle that levels up easily to 5*. It can last you until at least Stage 10.<br />
- Consider getting the rare Supercond Sniper Rifle drop from Stage 2-5. It levels easily to 5* and is a great gun.<br />
- 'Deathbreath, Ha' from 4-6 is a great farmable skill that increases Critical Hit damage. 'Deathbreath, Shun' is another great farmable skill that increases Critical Hit rate. These skills go very well with FN2000R.<br />
- SupplyMultiply is a good farmable skill that increases the health and ammo you receive from drops. QuickEscape is another good farmable skill.<br />
- The best stage drop costumes is the 5* Secret Service Uniform in stage 5-5<br />
- Melee weapons seem nice in the beginning as they don't require ammo, but they quickly become ineffective because the enemies get too much life.<br />
- Keep replaying Stage 4-9 to most efficiently grind up to Level 50<br />
- Make sure to play treasure box events each week and go as far as you can. They're cheap, short, and you get a lot of EXP<br />
- Use material/meow events to collect any materials you need for enhancing or refining<br />
- The item drop rate doesn't increase in hard mode, so farming easy mode is fine. Hard mode waves are spawned by a set timer.<br />
- Find friends with auto-healing or loot-range powers. Nice passive skills can be much more useful than a high level buddy.<br />
- Summoning a buddy can be used sacrificially against the kamikaze zombies.<br />
- Using the gacha is tempting, but increasing slots might be a better option if you're not intending to spend money. The more slots you have, the easier and quicker it is create lots of hamsters and enhance your equipment. I ended up getting a lot more enjoyment by increasing slots (maybe between 80-100) than hoping for good gacha drops. The stage drop gear will take you deep into the game<br />
- Stage 11 is the easiest place to grind King Meows, but good luck getting there<br />
<br />
<b>ENHANCING, FORGING and REFINING</b><br />
<br />
This is the part of the game that vastly needs more in-game explanation. The basic idea of upgrading is simple: push in items and level up your gear, then upgrade your gear by collecting a specific list of materials. So, basically, do a ton of grinding and inventory management. However, if you know the following, you can save yourself a lot of grinding:<br />
<br />
1. The number of stars is the "rarity" of the item. You can only refine an item until all the stars are filled in. Higher rarity items can level up to better stats, but cost more points to equip. When you refine an item, it will go back down to level 1. <br />
2. The higher level the equipment, the more gold it costs for any enhancement<br />
3. Although you'll get less experience in the end, it's much cheaper to combine your low level items before enhancing your high level item with them.<br />
4. If you use the same type of equipment (clothing/weapon/skill), you'll get more experience (1.5x) from an enhancement<br />
4. For Meows: Silver are for Weapons, Gold are for Skills, and Diamond are for Clothing<br />
5. Hamsters can be forged to give a ton of experience. Like the meows, different types are meant for different equipment<br />
6. The easiest way of collecting forging items is to wait for an event day, but this requires a lot of free storage slots<br />
7. In order to refine an item, you must have a free inventory slot and it MUST NOT be currently equipped in any of your set ups<br />
8. If an item has a '+X' attribute and you use it to enhance another item of the same type, the entire '+X' will be inherited<br />
<br />
Lastly, the hamster is a great way to gain experience, but isn't really explained in game.<br />
<br />
The trick is, you need to upgrade the hamster to MAX level and then refine it before it's worthwhile. It takes 2600exp to upgrade a hamster, which is roughly 2 tiny meows of any type. Then it takes 2 tiny meows of the hamster's type plus an upgrade item (from Thursday event) to forge the item. After that, you'll get a whopping 45000 exp from a hamster, which is great.<br />
<br />
Getting hamsters, meows, and upgrade items are best done through Events. But if you rely on events, you'll probably need more storage because you can only collect one kind of thing in an event.<br />
<br />
King Meows (75000 exp) can be dropped pretty reliably starting around Level 11.<br />
<br />
<b>EVENTS</b><br />
<br />
Treasure: You have a time limit to beat waves of enemies, it resets every week. You'll be able to progress further as you get stronger. Great for quick experience and sometimes drops.<br />
<br />
Emergency: At 12:30 and 6:30, a special stage opens for an hour where you can collect a certain kind of meow/hamster. Great for enhancing.<br />
<br />
Weekday: Each day, you can play a few stages that will drop a certain material forging type. Great for forging.<br />
<br />
Boss: Beat a boss character for special items. You'll need to be pretty high level for this. The boss rotates periodically.<br />
<br />
Tower: Play in the tower without needing to spend stamina. Collect points until you lose. You get no experience and very little gold, the only point to this mode (besides for fun) is to get a few achievements.<br />
<br />
<b>DAILY LOGIN</b><br />
<br />
Login every day for a login bonus item. You can get a lot of free crystals this way. The Login Bonus list changes every month, so you start from the first square every month.<br />
<br />
<b>CRYSTALS and MPASS</b><br />
<br />
Crystals are the currency in this game. They're pretty expensive to buy with real money, but you can get a lot of free crystals. Do the daily logins. Check for codes on the facebook page. You also get crystals for achievements, for beating stages with crystal icons, and for finishing all stages in a level on HARD. This game is pretty generous with crystals.<br />
<br />
There's a thing called an MPASS, which is a great deal if you want to spend real money. You get 300 crystals right off the bat, then you get an additional 60 crystals each day (via message) for the next 30 days. This is 2100 crystals total, including the original 300 crystals. If you buy multiple MPASSes, you'll get the 300 crystals immediately, but the extra days are added to the end of your period. So if you buy two MPASSes, then you'll get 600 crystals and 60 crystals a day for the next 60 days. You will not get 120 crystals a day.<br />
<br />
<b>GACHA</b><br />
<br />
Lucky: 180 FP (friend points from people using your character) - You can only get items you could grind from stages. There are some 5* equipment and meows that are worthwhile.<br />
Prime: 98 crystals - guaranteed 2* and higher.<br />
Gold: 280 crystals - guaranteed 3* and higher. <br />
<br />
Your 11th Gold Gacha pull is guaranteed to be 5*<br />
Your 25th Gold Gacha pull is guaranteed to be 6*<br />
<br />
Prime/Gold Gacha is the only way to obtain alternate characters. Alternate characters are basically skin/voice swaps... they have very, very minor benefits. Raiden gives you +100HP and Bronya gives you +5 weight limit.<br />
<br />
<b>GUILDS</b><br />
<br />
Join a guild and contribute to the guild's level. A guild gains experience based on how much stamina was used by its members to successfully complete stages. You don't contribute points if you don't beat the stage. So if you want to contribute as much as possible, burn stamina on event stages, but make sure you beat the stage.<br />
<br />
Once a day, guild members can collect the guild bonus. The guild bonus varies depending on the guild's level, but it's some amount of stamina.<br />
<br />
<b>FRIENDS</b><br />
<br />
You can add buddies, which you can use during a stage. You gain any passive effects they have (skills equipped or passive costume skills) during that stage. You can also use their character for a short period of time, so it's useful to have really strong buddies. You have to wait about an hour before you can reuse a buddy. When someone uses your character, you get FP, which can be used in the Lucky Gacha.<br />
<br />
<b>INVITATION BONUS</b><br />
<br />
You get 50 crystals for each of the first six people to use your invitation code. You get Hatsune's Leek (a melee weapon that can change non-elite zombies into an Alice that only drops gold) after six people. From then on, you get nothing. Honestly, the Hatsune's Leek is not a very good weapon, but the crystals are worthwhile.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF1kdb4lSuJd7qcJrvtcdG4yMUU4ZGA32uZwKzaW_EbiG94zXrr5FL7bpcbjgURuxdfmXLAjPKzZzvrPyv3ETWxxxCyI4AYAm9SL2Lu2pBRn2FkQGfDpv1zie6wXCA6oAJDSi12yW9KkZ/s1600/10532657_527085744058981_2980571822291342918_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZF1kdb4lSuJd7qcJrvtcdG4yMUU4ZGA32uZwKzaW_EbiG94zXrr5FL7bpcbjgURuxdfmXLAjPKzZzvrPyv3ETWxxxCyI4AYAm9SL2Lu2pBRn2FkQGfDpv1zie6wXCA6oAJDSi12yW9KkZ/s1600/10532657_527085744058981_2980571822291342918_o.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>RESOURCES</b><br />
<br />
Official US Facebook Page for news: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ggzUS">https://www.facebook.com/ggzUS</a><br />
Official Forums: <a href="http://asia.4inch.com/bbs/forum.php?gid=45">http://asia.4inch.com/bbs/forum.php?gid=45</a><br />
List of all equipment: <a href="http://ggz.wikia.com/wiki/Equipdex_All">http://ggz.wikia.com/wiki/Equipdex_All</a><br />
Character Growth: <a href="http://ggz.wikia.com/wiki/Character_Growth">http://ggz.wikia.com/wiki/Character_Growth</a>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-31287798306806117642014-08-01T20:21:00.002-07:002014-08-08T21:20:24.552-07:00Artists I FollowSo, Comic Con just finished up and it motivated me to revisit and share the list of artists I follow. The list isn't really in any particular order, they're all pretty great. Protip: For the tumblr links, add a "/archive" to any url for a nice, quick overview.<br />
<br />
<style>
#artists tr { vertical-align: top; }
#artists tr td:first-child { }
</style><br />
<table id="artists"><tbody>
<tr><td>Alina Chau</td><td><a href="http://alinachau.tumblr.com/">http://alinachau.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://alinachau.com/">http://alinachau.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://instagram.com/alinachau">http://instagram.com/alinachau</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Victoria Ying</td><td><a href="http://victoriaying.tumblr.com/">http://victoriaying.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://eca-la.com/blog/">http://eca-la.com/blog/</a><br />
<a href="http://eca-la.com/victoria-ying/">http://eca-la.com/victoria-ying/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Zac Gorman</td><td><a href="http://zacgorman.com/">http://zacgorman.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Pascal Campion</td><td><a href="http://www.pascalcampion.com/sketch-of-the-day/">http://www.pascalcampion.com/sketch-of-the-day/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pascalcampion.com/">http://www.pascalcampion.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://pascalcampion.blogspot.com/">http://pascalcampion.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Anthony Holden</td><td><a href="http://anthonyholden.tumblr.com/">http://anthonyholden.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://sketchadventure.blogspot.com/">http://sketchadventure.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://anthonyholden.deviantart.com/">http://anthonyholden.deviantart.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Genevieve Tsai</td><td><a href="http://genevievetsai.tumblr.com/">http://genevievetsai.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://charicreatures.blogspot.com/">http://charicreatures.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Mingjue Helen Chen</td><td><a href="http://jigokuen.tumblr.com/">http://jigokuen.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Alex Ahad</td><td><a href="http://o-8.tumblr.com/">http://o-8.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://oh8.deviantart.com/gallery">http://oh8.deviantart.com/gallery</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Joey Chou</td><td><a href="http://joeyart.tumblr.com/">http://joeyart.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Jen Wang</td><td><a href="http://jenwang.net/">http://jenwang.net/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Cynthia L (Koyamori)</td><td><a href="http://maruti-bitamin.tumblr.com/">http://maruti-bitamin.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://koyamori.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://koyamori.deviantart.com/gallery/</a><br />
<a href="http://instagram.com/maruti_bitamin">http://instagram.com/maruti_bitamin</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Anthony Andres</td><td><a href="http://anthonyandres.blogspot.com/">http://anthonyandres.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://gpanthony.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://gpanthony.deviantart.com/gallery/</a><br />
<a href="http://gpanthony.tumblr.com/">http://gpanthony.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Bill Washington</td><td><a href="http://billwash.blogspot.com/">http://billwash.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Raymond Griego</td><td><a href="http://raymondgriego.blogspot.com/">http://raymondgriego.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Roberta Tam</td><td><a href="http://robertawtam.blogspot.com/">http://robertawtam.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Max Barrow</td><td><a href="http://maxbarrowart.tumblr.com/">http://maxbarrowart.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://maxbarrow.blogspot.com/">http://maxbarrow.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Ben Seto</td><td><a href="http://benseto.carbonmade.com/">http://benseto.carbonmade.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Sean Galloway (Cheeks)</td><td><a href="http://cheeks-74.tumblr.com/">http://cheeks-74.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://cheeks-74.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://cheeks-74.deviantart.com/gallery/</a><br />
<a href="http://gotcheeks.blogspot.com/">http://gotcheeks.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Luigi Lucarelli</td><td><a href="http://loaduniverse.blogspot.com/">http://loaduniverse.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://luigil.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://luigil.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Pakie Seung</td><td><a href="http://pakieseung.blogspot.com/">http://pakieseung.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Cory Loftis</td><td><a href="http://coryloftis.tumblr.com/">http://coryloftis.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Martin Hsu</td><td><a href="http://instagram.com/martinhsuart">http://instagram.com/martinhsuart</a><br />
<a href="http://martinhsuart.blogspot.com/">http://martinhsuart.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Bruce Timm</td><td><a href="http://fuckyeahbrucetimm.tumblr.com/">http://fuckyeahbrucetimm.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Elsa Chang</td><td><a href="http://elasmosaurus.tumblr.com/">http://elasmosaurus.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://elasmosaurus.tumblr.com/tagged/watercolor">http://elasmosaurus.tumblr.com/tagged/watercolor</a><br />
<a href="http://elsasketch.blogspot.com/">http://elsasketch.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Rebecca Sugar</td><td><a href="http://rebeccasugar.tumblr.com/">http://rebeccasugar.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Mariel Cartwright (Kinuko)</td><td><a href="http://kinucakes.tumblr.com/">http://kinucakes.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>J Scott Campbell</td><td><a href="http://j-scott-campbell.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://j-scott-campbell.deviantart.com/gallery/</a><br />
<a href="http://instagram.com/jscottcampbellart">http://instagram.com/jscottcampbellart</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Jeffrey 'CHAMBA' Cruz</td><td><a href="http://artbychamba.tumblr.com/">http://artbychamba.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://thechamba.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://thechamba.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Teekatas Suwannakrua</td><td><a href="http://www.raindropmemory.com/">http://www.raindropmemory.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://raindropmemory.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://raindropmemory.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Mecha Fetus</td><td><a href="http://visublog.mechafetus.com/">http://visublog.mechafetus.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Arnold Tsang</td><td><a href="http://arnistotle.deviantart.com/">http://arnistotle.deviantart.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Paul Robertson</td><td><a href="http://probertson.tumblr.com/archive">http://probertson.tumblr.com/archive</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>David Davis</td><td><a href="http://deighvid.tumblr.com/tagged/my-stuff">http://deighvid.tumblr.com/tagged/my-stuff</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Tyson Murphy</td><td><a href="http://tysonmurphy.tumblr.com/">http://tysonmurphy.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://murph3.deviantart.com/">http://murph3.deviantart.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://gardenturtle.blogspot.com/">http://gardenturtle.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Ry Spirit</td><td><a href="http://ry-spirit.tumblr.com/">http://ry-spirit.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://ry-spirit.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://ry-spirit.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Sho-N-D</td><td><a href="http://sho-n-d.tumblr.com/">http://sho-n-d.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://sho-n-d.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://sho-n-d.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Mike Maihack</td><td><a href="http://mikemaihack.tumblr.com/">http://mikemaihack.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://mikemaihack.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://mikemaihack.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Mike Vasquez</td><td><a href="http://mikegoesgeek.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://mikegoesgeek.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Bryan Lee O'Malley</td><td><a href="http://radiomaru.tumblr.com/">http://radiomaru.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Alicexz</td><td><a href="http://alicexz.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://alicexz.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Gigi Digi</td><td><a href="http://gigidigi.tumblr.com/">http://gigidigi.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Nargyle</td><td><a href="http://nargyle.tumblr.com/">http://nargyle.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://nargyle.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://nargyle.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Johane Matte (Avatar)</td><td><a href="http://rufftoon.tumblr.com/">http://rufftoon.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0">http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Qing Han (Night Light)</td><td><a href="http://qinni.tumblr.com/">http://qinni.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://qinni.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0">http://qinni.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=0</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>lack</td><td><a href="http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?id=83739">http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?id=83739</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Katie J Rice</td><td><a href="http://katiejrice.tumblr.com/">http://katiejrice.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://funnycute.blogspot.com/">http://funnycute.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Eunjung June Kim</td><td><a href="http://hediun.blogspot.com/">http://hediun.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://junesketch.blogspot.com/">http://junesketch.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Pando Sketch</td><td><a href="http://pandosketch.tumblr.com/">http://pandosketch.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Sarah Mensinga</td><td><a href="http://sarahmensinga.blogspot.com/">http://sarahmensinga.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Chris Sanders</td><td><a href="http://www.chrissandersart.com/blog/">http://www.chrissandersart.com/blog/</a><br />
<a href="http://alohalilo.deviantart.com/">http://alohalilo.deviantart.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Genzoman</td><td><a href="http://genzoman.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://genzoman.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Kurko Boltsi</td><td><a href="http://kurkoboltsi.tumblr.com/tagged/my-stuff">http://kurkoboltsi.tumblr.com/tagged/my-stuff</a><br />
<a href="http://kurkoboltsi.deviantart.com/">http://kurkoboltsi.deviantart.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Tokki</td><td><a href="http://tootokki.tumblr.com/">http://tootokki.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://instagram.com/tootokki">http://instagram.com/tootokki</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Ukilog</td><td><a href="http://ukilog.tumblr.com/">http://ukilog.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>[LIN+]</td><td><a href="http://www.pixiv.com/users/24594">http://www.pixiv.com/users/24594</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>[ysms]</td><td><a href="http://ysms-ik.blogspot.com/">http://ysms-ik.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Sakimi Chan (Gnd Disney)</td><td><a href="http://sakimichan.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://sakimichan.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Nina Matsumoto (Spacecoyote)</td><td><a href="http://space-coyote.tumblr.com/">http://space-coyote.tumblr.com/</a> <a href="http://spacecoyote.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://spacecoyote.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Naiiiade (Tokaido)</td><td><a href="http://naiiiade.blogspot.com/">http://naiiiade.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Kesuwabe</td><td><a href="http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?id=24517">http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?id=24517</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Ben Balistreri</td><td><a href="http://benbalistreri.blogspot.com/">http://benbalistreri.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Brittney Lee</td><td><a href="http://britsketch.blogspot.com/">http://britsketch.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Chapter 56</td><td><a href="http://chapter-56.blogspot.com/">http://chapter-56.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Cooked Art</td><td><a href="http://cookedart.blogspot.com/">http://cookedart.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Ryan Lang</td><td><a href="http://ryanlangdraws.blogspot.com/">http://ryanlangdraws.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Nate Wragg</td><td><a href="http://n8wragg.blogspot.com/">http://n8wragg.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Bill Schwab</td><td><a href="http://billschwabdesign.blogspot.com/">http://billschwabdesign.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Stephanie Laberis</td><td><a href="http://stephsketches.blogspot.com/">http://stephsketches.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Nathan Fowkes</td><td><a href="http://nathanfowkes.blogspot.com/">http://nathanfowkes.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Erin Hunting</td><td><a href="http://erinhuntingart.blogspot.com/">http://erinhuntingart.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Miranda Yeo</td><td><a href="http://snarkies.tumblr.com/">http://snarkies.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Alu</td><td><a href="http://rainingcats.tumblr.com/">http://rainingcats.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Chaichan Artwichai</td><td><a href="http://tinsart.tumblr.com/">http://tinsart.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://chaichan-artwichai.blogspot.com/">http://chaichan-artwichai.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Tam Nguyen</td><td><a href="http://timtam13.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://timtam13.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>TweedleBop</td><td><a href="http://tweedlebop.tumblr.com/">http://tweedlebop.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Omar Dogan</td><td><a href="http://omar-dogan.tumblr.com/">http://omar-dogan.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://omar-dogan.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://omar-dogan.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Tam Nguyen</td><td><a href="http://timtam13.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://timtam13.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Redminus</td><td><a href="https://www.facebook.com/redminus">https://www.facebook.com/redminus</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Joe Vriens</td><td><a href="http://joevriens.blogspot.com/">http://joevriens.blogspot.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Bobby Chiu</td><td><a href="https://plus.google.com/106306945062511966344/posts">https://plus.google.com/106306945062511966344/posts</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Asagiri</td><td><a href="http://asgr01.tumblr.com/">http://asgr01.tumblr.com/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Kim Min Ji (Little Prince)</td><td><a href="http://www.ki204.com/main.htm">http://www.ki204.com/main.htm</a><br />
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/iseniz/kim-min-ji/">http://www.pinterest.com/iseniz/kim-min-ji/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Endling</td><td><a href="http://endling.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://endling.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Ein Lee</td><td><a href="http://einlee.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://einlee.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Bloochikin</td><td><a href="http://bloochikin.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://bloochikin.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Abyss Wolf (Pixel Art)</td><td><a href="http://abysswolf.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://abysswolf.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>OverlordJC</td><td><a href="http://jc125.tumblr.com/">http://jc125.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://overlordjc.deviantart.com/gallery/">http://overlordjc.deviantart.com/gallery/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Cowbell Tiara</td><td><a href="http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/cowbell/">http://www003.upp.so-net.ne.jp/cowbell/</a></td></tr>
<tr><td>Z-Studios</td><td><a href="http://z-studios.deviantart.com/gallery/31622109/Animated-Jolly-Rogers">http://z-studios.deviantart.com/gallery/31622109/Animated-Jolly-Rogers</a></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><hr /></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/painfully-talented-illustrators-on-pixiv">http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/painfully-talented-illustrators-on-pixiv</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-53782503659208308962014-04-03T20:53:00.000-07:002014-04-03T21:07:07.094-07:00Half Minute Hero InterviewsSo... as you may have heard...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/1939975_847710848578197_1856134202_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/1939975_847710848578197_1856134202_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Awesome, right? Make sure to buy it! <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/240970/?snr=1_200_200_253_105">It's on Steam!</a><br />
<br />
As I'm writing this, there's less than a day left until release. To help hype up, here are all the Half Minute Hero Interviews I've found! There's a lot of juicy information here...<br />
<br />
Famitsu Interview on HMH1:<br />
<a href="http://www.psphyper.com/psp/famitsu-interview-yuusha-30s-aka-half-minute-hero-flash-origin-development-process/">http://www.psphyper.com/psp/famitsu-interview-yuusha-30s-aka-half-minute-hero-flash-origin-development-process/</a><br />
<br />
Kenichiro Takaki Interview on HMH1:<br />
<a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2009/10/15/our-half-minute-hero-interview-takes-longer-than-30-seconds-to-read/">http://www.siliconera.com/2009/10/15/our-half-minute-hero-interview-takes-longer-than-30-seconds-to-read/</a><br />
<br />
Another Kenichiro Takaki Interview on HMH1:<br />
<a href="http://otakuxgamer.com/story/359/interview-half-minute-hero-producer-kenichiro-takaki/">http://otakuxgamer.com/story/359/interview-half-minute-hero-producer-kenichiro-takaki/</a><br />
<br />
Kenichiro Takaki Interview on HMH1 XBLA Port:<br />
<a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2011/08/03/half-minute-hero-super-mega-neo-climax-bonus-round-making-of-lightning-interview/">http://www.siliconera.com/2011/08/03/half-minute-hero-super-mega-neo-climax-bonus-round-making-of-lightning-interview/</a><br />
<br />
Another Kenichiro Takaki Interview on HMH1 XBLA Port: <a href="http://gamasutra.com/view/news/128051/HalfMinute_Heros_Kenichiro_Takaki_On_Retro_Graphics_XBLA_Experiments.php">http://gamasutra.com/view/news/128051/HalfMinute_Heros_Kenichiro_Takaki_On_Retro_Graphics_XBLA_Experiments.php</a><br />
<br />
Kenichiro Takaki on HMH2 (Part 1):<br />
<a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2011/05/12/creating-memorable-characters-a-half-minute-hero-second-interview/">http://www.siliconera.com/2011/05/12/creating-memorable-characters-a-half-minute-hero-second-interview/</a><br />
<br />
Kenichiro Takaki on HMH2 (Part 2):<br />
<a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2011/05/19/how-half-minute-hero-second-improves-upon-the-original/">http://www.siliconera.com/2011/05/19/how-half-minute-hero-second-improves-upon-the-original/</a><br />
<br />
Interview with HMH2 Composers:<br />
<a href="http://gamasutra.com/view/news/127667/Interview_HalfMinute_Hero_Sequels_Multiple_Composer_Soundtrack.php">http://gamasutra.com/view/news/127667/Interview_HalfMinute_Hero_Sequels_Multiple_Composer_Soundtrack.php</a><br />
<br />
Esteban Salazar Interview on HMH2 Localization:<br />
<a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2014/04/03/marvelous-half-minute-hero-2-bringing-games-pc/">http://www.siliconera.com/2014/04/03/marvelous-half-minute-hero-2-bringing-games-pc/</a><br />
<br />
And... if you're interested... a link to my Half Minute Hero Tumblr page:<br />
<a href="http://heckyeahhalfminutehero.tumblr.com/">http://heckyeahhalfminutehero.tumblr.com/</a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-57129651341099429492014-01-17T10:29:00.002-08:002014-01-17T10:33:15.051-08:00100 Turn Hero Mini Guide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Avypgnx7EePspbgYSmFsvWMzkox3aJxTTOOOqoPqaYsxmxmLEvhiHWJbQQktX-w-GfnHVqbHPrZ11dirDRxtP6cb5ZBi3X7t6dTcb1KJHDuZlUX-2e-1d_ygKszHZrcxltV9VSGhCjGH/s1600/IMG_1582.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Avypgnx7EePspbgYSmFsvWMzkox3aJxTTOOOqoPqaYsxmxmLEvhiHWJbQQktX-w-GfnHVqbHPrZ11dirDRxtP6cb5ZBi3X7t6dTcb1KJHDuZlUX-2e-1d_ygKszHZrcxltV9VSGhCjGH/s1600/IMG_1582.PNG" height="200" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHSpsvkOI6cPm-VuBOWXMzDtNvfTKi0GPX4lFrKsZ-fxDtkj2va2BnP8JgKwbKdtv2y5VmE4DqpzfREcJW9ymQ2QWUqwUgGVliUHHegTIHNWTEReGrQD9IgddcwWH9kewWmzzWZtLMf_7/s1600/IMG_1587.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHSpsvkOI6cPm-VuBOWXMzDtNvfTKi0GPX4lFrKsZ-fxDtkj2va2BnP8JgKwbKdtv2y5VmE4DqpzfREcJW9ymQ2QWUqwUgGVliUHHegTIHNWTEReGrQD9IgddcwWH9kewWmzzWZtLMf_7/s1600/IMG_1587.PNG" height="200" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUQBuJRA91EqZgKPSKKyfegtUhfL60xThr0eDxpnjea4g9Oklo1SWoazMIrCZ9UF3k-VJHUYuqFUVM9v1I42xDTwm2sCGWUosIqZh4xCUt7mu1nVvFVj21daGcaP-TEBomxnSdEgNGitO/s1600/IMG_1588.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUQBuJRA91EqZgKPSKKyfegtUhfL60xThr0eDxpnjea4g9Oklo1SWoazMIrCZ9UF3k-VJHUYuqFUVM9v1I42xDTwm2sCGWUosIqZh4xCUt7mu1nVvFVj21daGcaP-TEBomxnSdEgNGitO/s1600/IMG_1588.PNG" height="200" width="112" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
100 Turn Hero is the latest game by Kotaro Yoshida and a spiritual sister to Half Minute Hero. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
US iTunes Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/100turn-yong-zhe/id722163359?mt=8">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/100turn-yong-zhe/id722163359?mt=8</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This one is Japanese language only. Although it's playable without knowing Japanese, it requires a lot more patience than his other games, plus there's a fair amount of dialogue you'll be missing out on. But even without knowing Japanese, it's pretty fun. It's not free (about a dollar) and it also features in-app purchases (although they're totally not necessary.) The in-app purchase are for jewels to level up your weapons, but you can quickly get the same amount of jewels through playing stages.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You play as Hero Fundel, who is on a quest to save the world with the ninja Shadow Maru. You're on a different island full of visible monsters each stage and need to kill the highlighted boss to win. You have free movement, you level up by killing monsters, and the monsters don't move or attack... but you can only attack a maximum of 100 times before the stage ends. You bring three weapons with you and switch between them at will. You'll want to use multiple weapons not only because of their different skills (ex. strong against water monsters or strong against land monsters), but because the weapons hit a different pattern around you. When you beat a stage, you get jewels and, depending on the number of turns it took you to beat the stage, another weapon. You can use jewels to upgrade your weapon. Choosing an efficient path through the stage is important, this game gives you plenty of aha moments that let you shave a lot of turns.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Honestly, I was hoping for more out of this game. The concept is interesting, but the game doesn't really do as much with it as I had hoped. The strategy of the game is 10% figuring the right order to kill monsters in and 90% about bringing the right weapons. Bringing the right weapons requires a fair amount of grinding, which I dislike. I think the main reason for my disappointment was that I was hoping the game would be more like Half Minute Hero, which attempted to be a JRPG. I had hoped there'd be more to a stage than just killing monsters. The stages in 100 Turn Hero could have had multiple paths through it... quests to complete that give you shortcuts to the boss, searching for secrets in a stage, or party members to recruit. I think it would have be a perfect touch screen based Half Minute Hero, but instead it's much smaller in ambition. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game and it's definitely worth a dollar. I hope ritterz decides to localize this game. But I would have rather paid for a five dollar game with more charm and surprises.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
To play without knowing Japanese isn't impossible, you'll just need to rely on trial and error. I've added descriptions of some of the various menus. These descriptions will help keep you from wasting your jewels. Hopefully this helps with the less obvious parts of navigating the game.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizi8ckNqrHTI7wkah6ZqvfJSwutVLxL-ctXGT4vuiIhslGaeKWqOiHaKZqG2AWk1AREuA38xlgDT-hnWSf4hQMMA000FJjihCSnNeJv7lDI2eJEQ_g-jNXfuaN4SmqLpGc6v1XfFH9p7lF/s1600/Untitled-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizi8ckNqrHTI7wkah6ZqvfJSwutVLxL-ctXGT4vuiIhslGaeKWqOiHaKZqG2AWk1AREuA38xlgDT-hnWSf4hQMMA000FJjihCSnNeJv7lDI2eJEQ_g-jNXfuaN4SmqLpGc6v1XfFH9p7lF/s1600/Untitled-2.png" height="276" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljq2IblBhLDohsgu0LbNVg7XgBuFoq6IhGsNtnO83DypVnX2MQu6SXngxo5-fnqNW0M7C4_8j7p2MeCg3UotTcp7s6SBU4SbQRTOpMir_zNo41svqF8FGT_R8VZaMS7HMVd_vzHGOxIMz/s1600/Untitled-3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhljq2IblBhLDohsgu0LbNVg7XgBuFoq6IhGsNtnO83DypVnX2MQu6SXngxo5-fnqNW0M7C4_8j7p2MeCg3UotTcp7s6SBU4SbQRTOpMir_zNo41svqF8FGT_R8VZaMS7HMVd_vzHGOxIMz/s1600/Untitled-3.png" height="273" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9gFQzGijizrR5jqPP-_3qCWkzJg1S1YHCfxADdSu0998XnNdjxhyphenhyphenrjBfbkcqOfVvZ8SvkCxYnM9Xu4qqh7VA9xqkj0dSL16avH40bZt3icSq8avkVFvWPADZyux4fL1JFxrJahRf2kvr/s1600/Untitled-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9gFQzGijizrR5jqPP-_3qCWkzJg1S1YHCfxADdSu0998XnNdjxhyphenhyphenrjBfbkcqOfVvZ8SvkCxYnM9Xu4qqh7VA9xqkj0dSL16avH40bZt3icSq8avkVFvWPADZyux4fL1JFxrJahRf2kvr/s1600/Untitled-1.png" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Lastly, I thought I'd go over some tips. <br />
<br />
Always visit all the buildings in a stage. You'll often get gold you can spend at the shops. You buy food at the shops in exchange for stat increases that will last for the remainder of the stage. You can increase Attack, Charge, Guard Shave, Range, or Everything. Each type of food corresponds to one of those increases.<br />
<br />
At the end of each stage, your remaining Gold is converted into Jewels you keep. Quest 14 is really nice for grinding money, you just need a weapon that hits the boss over the water. That way, you bypass needing to kill the strong guys. You can easily end the stage with 300 Gold, giving you 100 Jewels.<br />
<br />
When fighting a Boss, the critical and guard shave stats are much more important than your attack or level. It's common to do 1 damage normally against the boss, then have a 20 or 40 damage critical hit.<br />
<br />
Most of the "strategy" of this game is bringing the right weapons into battle. Like in Gun Spirits, weapons can have skills. They're the orange text on the upgrade screen. Most are obvious (EXP/Attack/Guard/Charge/Gold increase), but the following require a little special mention:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7YjdH8QSD9XQD8Mm83ctGjttUeCQ46JEdeF1RTZcxbnNxWqeg49pbuHTija9tRxuJ49zc68ZeAhGY52fIx5M_3_V5RPXuUNI1_sFKNxeq4mJ6bwORo8S6x38AnF0D6eKjCv7OuYQADzr/s1600/Untitled-4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7YjdH8QSD9XQD8Mm83ctGjttUeCQ46JEdeF1RTZcxbnNxWqeg49pbuHTija9tRxuJ49zc68ZeAhGY52fIx5M_3_V5RPXuUNI1_sFKNxeq4mJ6bwORo8S6x38AnF0D6eKjCv7OuYQADzr/s1600/Untitled-4.png" height="144" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
These stats significantly increase your damage against that type of monster and are the key to progressing through the game without spending money.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hopefully these tips help you enjoy the game. So, have fun~ And here's hoping to more Kotaro Yoshida localizations!</div>
<span id="goog_1587052575"></span><span id="goog_1587052576"></span>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-85922208591003110922013-12-19T23:48:00.002-08:002014-04-03T09:48:01.237-07:00Kotaro Yoshida GamesKotaro Yoshida, best known for his work on Half Minute Hero, is one of my favorite game designers. His games are japanese-quirky, easy to pick up and play, encourage exploration and experimentation, and have JRPG elements (leveling up, equipment, party members, and killing monsters for gold). I also like the faux-retro sprite style his games use and although his characters are pretty one dimensional, I think they're fun and I enjoy their banter. But best of all, every game focuses on a new gameplay mechanic. He doesn't refine existing ideas, he tries new mechanics (albeit to varying degrees of success.) The games are simple, but still require some thought; they almost always have a sense of "puzzle" to them.<br />
<br />
Anyway, for fans of his, I decided to list out the games he's been heavily involved with. Since each game is pretty fresh, they're all worth trying for a bit. He's been doing a lot of mobile games recently that really fit his style, but have no kind of media attention. They're all really easy to play, even with the occasional language barrier, but maybe I'll do 'Let's Plays' on some of them someday. If I make any links to Japanese pages and you don't understand Japanese, Google Translate is your friend.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Half Minute Hero [Marvelous] - PSP / XBOX Live / PC</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2009/10/09/half-minute-hero-20091009002241290-3018864_640w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2009/10/09/half-minute-hero-20091009002241290-3018864_640w.jpg" height="113" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://assets2.ignimgs.com/2009/10/09/half-minute-hero-20091009002240431-3018863_640w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://assets2.ignimgs.com/2009/10/09/half-minute-hero-20091009002240431-3018863_640w.jpg" height="113" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
This one is in English (among others) and available on many different platforms.<br />
<br />
Likely his most well-known game, it's usually described as a JRPG parody. I'd say its genre was RPG-Puzzle. You have "30 seconds" (although you can reset the timer) to defeat an Evil Lord in a minuature JRPG. Each stage features towns, monsters, leveling up, equipment, sidequests, and a boss to defeat. The story is fun and touches lots of JRPG cliches. In addition to the RPG mode, there's 30 second shooter, RTS, and action modes. <br />
<br />
There are a lot of reviews of this game out there for you (<a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/09/half-minute-hero.html">including my own...</a>), so I won't go into anymore depth. It's unlikely you've found your way to this page without knowing what Half Minute Hero is. The definitive version of the game is the recent PC Steam release. You can often get it on sale for 75% off.<br />
<br />
Steam Link: <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/214830/">http://store.steampowered.com/app/214830/</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Half Minute Hero 2 [Marvelous] - PSP / PC</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://storage.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/hmh2_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://storage.siliconera.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/hmh2_thumb.jpg" height="109" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.destructoid.com//ul/238443-h1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.destructoid.com//ul/238443-h1.jpg" height="113" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
This one is Japanese only on PSP, but in English and Japanese on PC via Steam.<br />
<br />
It's the sequel to Half Minute Hero and features only the Hero 30 (JRPG) gameplay, although the mode has much more depth this time around. Where the first felt like a take on 8 Bit Era RPGs, the second feels like a take on 16 Bit Era RPGs. There's an overworld, global leveling, and a much more involved story. I did a <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2012/07/half-minute-hero-2-review.html">detailed review of it here</a>.<br />
<br />
Steam Link: <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/240970/?snr=1_200_200_253_105">http://store.steampowered.com/app/240970/?snr=1_200_200_253_105</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Battrix [Opus Studios] - iOS</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/fe/61/58/fe61589c-b71b-e8fd-57ab-3962df0dac68/screen480x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/fe/61/58/fe61589c-b71b-e8fd-57ab-3962df0dac68/screen480x480.jpeg" height="200" width="133" /></a><a href="http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/10/de/c7/10dec794-4c4c-0981-c119-a8b7a48c99c8/screen480x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/10/de/c7/10dec794-4c4c-0981-c119-a8b7a48c99c8/screen480x480.jpeg" height="200" width="133" /></a> <a href="http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/f9/d1/01/f9d101eb-989f-4761-3084-712f3f99f816/screen480x480.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a1.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/f9/d1/01/f9d101eb-989f-4761-3084-712f3f99f816/screen480x480.jpeg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
<br />
This one is in English and is free to play, but you almost have to spend $1.99 on it if you want to get to the end.<br />
<br />
Based off of one of his PC Game experiments, Battrix is a pure RPG-Puzzle game. Each tile in the world has either a battle or a town on it. By winning a battle, in addition to standard JRPG rewards, the adjacent world tiles appear. So instead of wandering the world, you liberate it into existence.<br />
<br />
The battles play on a grid with a particular enemy distribution. Each enemy attacks after a certain number of turns. Your weapons can only hit a certain pattern of tiles and use up a certain number of turns per attack. The goal is to kill all the enemies before you are killed. You bring 3 weapons into each battle, which you can level up and synthesize into better weapons.<br />
<br />
You're guided by a fairy and fighting against an Evil Lord who has stolen all the land in the world. There are towns to discover and tons of secret areas, plus a competetive arena. You can bring your friends into battle to help you. It's a fun, unique iOS game, although it can get grindy. I really recommend this game.<br />
<br />
US iTunes Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/battrix-floating-continent/id521959688">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/battrix-floating-continent/id521959688</a><br />
There's a good wiki for this game here: <a href="http://battrix.wikia.com/">http://battrix.wikia.com</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Run Run Hero [Line/MAQL/Opus] - iOS / Android</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/line_pr-aaa/imgs/a/7/a7a6ee56-s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/line_pr-aaa/imgs/a/7/a7a6ee56-s.png" height="200" width="133" /></a><a href="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/line_pr-aaa/imgs/8/5/8567efa7-s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/line_pr-aaa/imgs/8/5/8567efa7-s.png" height="200" width="133" /></a> <a href="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/line_pr-aaa/imgs/1/7/17807c8d-s.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/line_pr-aaa/imgs/1/7/17807c8d-s.png" height="200" width="132" /></a></div>
<br />
This one is in English (among others) and uses a free to play model.<br />
<br />
It's an endless runner: You automatically run (left to right), swiping to avoid obstacles, fight monsters, or collect money, until you run out of life. It's flavored to evoke Half Minute Hero, but it has none of the story elements. The story is simply that an Evil Lord captured a princess and you have to run through various stages to rescue her. I don't think Yoshida had that much to do with this game (he's listed far down on the credits), but it uses a lot of his concepts.<br />
<br />
The features of this game are the Kotaro Yoshida sprites, 5 lanes, fever mode (kill enough enemies and you're invincible for a few seconds), the RPG elements (equipment, leveling, and party members), and the bosses. The bosses are fun, you need to avoid their attacks and they can only be damaged in a certain lane.<br />
<br />
As far as social aspects go, you can compete against your friends and use their avatars in your own runs. You can also send each other items.<br />
<br />
As I write this, the game is six months old. There has already been one huge update that broke the one endless running stage into several stages. This helped the game a lot, but the stages still aren't very exciting. Hopefully we'll see more updates.<br />
<br />
But for now, there are issues with the game. The first impression is bad, I didn't start enjoying the game until I got used to playing it with my left hand as playing with the right hand blocks upcoming obstacles. The controls are not nearly as friendly as something like Jetpack Joyride. Also, the game starts to get grindy fast. Once your in-game stamina is high enough, the game does a good job of feeling skill based... it's kind of like playing an old NES game.<br />
<br />
My main complaint about the game is that the charm and soul aren't there. There aren't any events, characters, or dialogue... which greatly lower my desire to make it to the end. Maybe it won't bother you, but I would have liked the game a lot more with little story segments the first time you make it to a new stage. On a similar note, unlike most of the other Yoshida involved games, this doesn't feel very unique compared to other games in the same genre. Endless Runner with RPG Elements is a very accurate description of the game. Maybe I'm just not a big enough Endless Runner fan.<br />
<br />
Anyway, please post your LINE ids in the comments so we can help each other out!<br />
<br />
Strategy: <span style="background-color: black;">Sending invites to Line friends gets you useful items, mates, and a ton of money. So add a bunch of "friends" to Line (<a href="http://n9neo.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/line-ids-for-line-games-app/">this is a good list of accounts made just for game invites</a>) to bypass a lot of grinding. Also, don't use gems for money, as this trick makes money pretty easy to get. Add jediscar on LINE for a strong partner.</span><br />
<br />
US iTunes Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/EN/app/id670849460">https://itunes.apple.com/EN/app/id670849460</a><br />
US Android Link: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.naver.SJLGRANRAN">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.naver.SJLGRANRAN</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">100 Man Hero (Hyaku Nin Hero) - iOS / PC</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://attachment.bbs.ptbus.com/data/attachment/forum/201212/28/14305335ikn85k2ys3nb2p.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://attachment.bbs.ptbus.com/data/attachment/forum/201212/28/14305335ikn85k2ys3nb2p.png" height="150" width="200" /></a> <a href="http://attachment.bbs.ptbus.com/data/attachment/forum/201212/28/1430520zuf0u49d92vozup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://attachment.bbs.ptbus.com/data/attachment/forum/201212/28/1430520zuf0u49d92vozup.png" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
This one is Japanese language only. The PC version is free, but the iOS version costs money.<br />
<br />
In this game, you play a king trying to defend his castle against an Evil Lord and his cronies. Instead of running out and fighting, you hire soldiers to do the dirty work for you. You send them out, they fight monsters, they collect money for the kingdom, they level up, and then they eventually get defeated and return to the castle to be dispatched again. You can buy items and reequip your heroes before sending them out again.<br />
<br />
This app is not free on iOS. IMHO, you're better off just playing the PC version. The iOS version has different difficulties and an infinite mode, but it's not really all that different than the PC version. There is an extra surprise if you beat all the difficulties on iOS, but it's still not worth the effort. Also, the iOS version has no music at all, which is weird and disappointing.<br />
<br />
Strategy: <span style="background-color: black;">The trick to the later difficulties is that you usually want most of your soldiers the same level. That means frequently shuffling equipment around.</span><br />
<br />
US iTunes Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bai-ren-yong-zhe/id463172823">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bai-ren-yong-zhe/id463172823</a><br />
PC Link: <a href="http://uue.holy.jp/game/hero100_touch.zip">http://uue.holy.jp/game/hero100_touch.zip</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Gun Spirits (GUN SPIRITS) - iOS</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://a2.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/38/c2/80/38c2804d-aab1-76c5-bc96-b35baa2aead7/screen568x568.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a2.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/38/c2/80/38c2804d-aab1-76c5-bc96-b35baa2aead7/screen568x568.jpeg" height="200" width="112" /></a> <a href="http://a2.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/1a/82/4c/1a824c24-6318-4944-b205-386484b9ab86/screen568x568.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a2.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple/v4/1a/82/4c/1a824c24-6318-4944-b205-386484b9ab86/screen568x568.jpeg" height="200" width="112" /></a> </div>
<br />
This one is Japanese language only and probably the least experimental of all his games so far. It's not free and it also features in-app purchases (although they're totally not necessary.)<br />
<br />
It's a bullet hell shooter consisting of 73+ stages. You only have 60 seconds to beat each stage. Every time you beat a stage, you either collect a new weapon, new wings (for defense and movement), or gold. The gold is used to level up your equipment. There's a large variety of weapons and some weapons are much better suited to certain levels than others. Weapons have very different shot patterns. <br />
<br />
The levels get a lot harder as you progress. After about level 65 you'll likely need to grind (or partake in microtransactions) to continue. <br />
<br />
In addition to the story mode, there's a Challenge mode where you play through all the stages as one huge stage: No continues, no chances to re-equip, and no health ups.<br />
<br />
This game isn't free, but it's quite fun. As a bullet hell game, the CAVE offerings are probably better. But you'll get very good value for your dollar here and it's much better than CAVE games for short bursts of play.<br />
<br />
There's a pretty good wiki page for this game here: <a href="http://www54.atwiki.jp/gun_spirits/pages/41.html">http://www54.atwiki.jp/gun_spirits/pages/41.html</a><br />
<br />
US iTunes Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gun-spirits/id673975114">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gun-spirits/id673975114</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Piyo Piyo Quest [ritterz] - iOS</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://app.famitsu.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/piyo-main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://app.famitsu.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/piyo-main.jpg" height="200" width="112" /></a><a href="http://app.famitsu.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/piyo-kotu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://app.famitsu.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/piyo-kotu.jpg" height="200" width="112" /></a> <a href="http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple4/v4/b2/b1/19/b2b119e2-6cab-e106-3025-3f444082c57c/screen568x568.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Purple4/v4/b2/b1/19/b2b119e2-6cab-e106-3025-3f444082c57c/screen568x568.jpeg" height="200" width="112" /></a></div>
<br />
This one is Japanese language only and is an RPG-puzzle game.<br />
<br />
The puzzle portion is like collapse, where there is a grid of blocks and touching a block removes it and all neighboring identical blocks. In this game, destroying blocks causes the hero to do a particular action (attack, use magic, heal, get money, strengthen monsters, or collect a chick). The monsters attack the hero after a set number of your actions. Your goal is to collect chicks, which you can then take out on your quests for stat bonuses.<br />
<br />
It's a pretty fun game and really easy to play. It could have benefited with a bit more depth and content. As it is, there's a fair amount of luck involved. The game is free, but it has microtransactions that don't actually provide you with much benefit.<br />
<br />
There's an interview with Kotaro Yoshida that lists out all the chicks: <a href="http://app.famitsu.com/20131022_254123/">Page 1</a>, <a href="http://app.famitsu.com/20131023_254396/">Page 2</a><br />
<br />
Strategy: <span style="background-color: black;">Take the opportunity to clear out your useless blocks if you know you can survive the next turn.</span><br />
<br />
US iTunes Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/piyopiyokuesuto/id689177545">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/piyopiyokuesuto/id689177545</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">100 Turn Hero [ritterz] - iOS</span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Avypgnx7EePspbgYSmFsvWMzkox3aJxTTOOOqoPqaYsxmxmLEvhiHWJbQQktX-w-GfnHVqbHPrZ11dirDRxtP6cb5ZBi3X7t6dTcb1KJHDuZlUX-2e-1d_ygKszHZrcxltV9VSGhCjGH/s1600/IMG_1582.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Avypgnx7EePspbgYSmFsvWMzkox3aJxTTOOOqoPqaYsxmxmLEvhiHWJbQQktX-w-GfnHVqbHPrZ11dirDRxtP6cb5ZBi3X7t6dTcb1KJHDuZlUX-2e-1d_ygKszHZrcxltV9VSGhCjGH/s1600/IMG_1582.PNG" height="200" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHSpsvkOI6cPm-VuBOWXMzDtNvfTKi0GPX4lFrKsZ-fxDtkj2va2BnP8JgKwbKdtv2y5VmE4DqpzfREcJW9ymQ2QWUqwUgGVliUHHegTIHNWTEReGrQD9IgddcwWH9kewWmzzWZtLMf_7/s1600/IMG_1587.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEHSpsvkOI6cPm-VuBOWXMzDtNvfTKi0GPX4lFrKsZ-fxDtkj2va2BnP8JgKwbKdtv2y5VmE4DqpzfREcJW9ymQ2QWUqwUgGVliUHHegTIHNWTEReGrQD9IgddcwWH9kewWmzzWZtLMf_7/s1600/IMG_1587.PNG" height="200" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUQBuJRA91EqZgKPSKKyfegtUhfL60xThr0eDxpnjea4g9Oklo1SWoazMIrCZ9UF3k-VJHUYuqFUVM9v1I42xDTwm2sCGWUosIqZh4xCUt7mu1nVvFVj21daGcaP-TEBomxnSdEgNGitO/s1600/IMG_1588.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUQBuJRA91EqZgKPSKKyfegtUhfL60xThr0eDxpnjea4g9Oklo1SWoazMIrCZ9UF3k-VJHUYuqFUVM9v1I42xDTwm2sCGWUosIqZh4xCUt7mu1nVvFVj21daGcaP-TEBomxnSdEgNGitO/s1600/IMG_1588.PNG" height="200" width="112" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
This one is Japanese language only. Although it's playable without knowing Japanese, it requires a lot more patience than his other games, plus there's a fair amount of dialogue you'll be missing out on. But even without knowing Japanese, it's pretty fun. It's not free (about a dollar) and it also features in-app purchases (although they're totally not necessary.) The in-app purchase are for jewels to level up your weapons, but you can quickly get the same amount of jewels through playing stages.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
You play as Hero Fundel, who is on a quest to save the world with the ninja Shadow Maru. You're on a different island full of visible monsters each stage and need to kill the highlighted boss to win. You have free movement, you level up by killing monsters, and the monsters don't move or attack... but you can only attack a maximum of 100 times before the stage ends. You bring three weapons with you and switch between them at will. You'll want to use multiple weapons not only because of their different skills (ex. strong against water monsters or strong against land monsters), but because the weapons hit a different pattern around you. When you beat a stage, you get jewels and, depending on the number of turns it took you to beat the stage, another weapon. You can use jewels to upgrade your weapon. Choosing an efficient path through the stage is important, this game gives you plenty of aha moments that let you shave a lot of turns.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Honestly, I was hoping for more out of this game. The concept is interesting, but the game doesn't really do as much with it as I had hoped. The strategy of the game is 10% figuring the right order to kill monsters in and 90% about bringing the right weapons. Bringing the right weapons requires a fair amount of grinding, which I dislike. I think the main reason for my disappointment was that I was hoping the game would be more like Half Minute Hero, which attempted to be a JRPG. I had hoped there'd be more to a stage than just killing monsters. The stages in 100 Turn Hero could have had multiple paths through it... quests to complete that give you shortcuts to the boss, searching for secrets in a stage, or party members to recruit. I think it would have be a perfect touch screen based Half Minute Hero, but instead it's much smaller in ambition. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the game and it's definitely worth a dollar. I hope ritterz decides to localize this game. But I would have rather paid for a five dollar game with more charm and surprises.</div>
<br />
I wrote a mini guide for this game: <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2014/01/100-turn-hero-mini-guide.html">http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2014/01/100-turn-hero-mini-guide.html</a><br />
<br />
US iTunes Link: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/100turn-yong-zhe/id722163359?mt=8">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/100turn-yong-zhe/id722163359?mt=8</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Game Experiments</span></b><br />
<b><br />
</b> All of these are found on: <a href="http://uue.holy.jp/">http://uue.holy.jp/</a><br />
<br />
100 Nin Yuusha Touch - PC<br />
Battrix Touch - PC<br />
Battrix - PC<br />
100 Nin Yuusha - PC<br />
30 Nin Yuusha - PC<br />
Lionyx (side scroller) - PC<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Other</span></b><br />
<br />
Kotaro Yoshida's Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/uue_yoshida">https://twitter.com/uue_yoshida</a><br />
<br />
His current studio is ritterz: <a href="http://ritterz.com/">http://ritterz.com/</a><br />
<br />
Lastly, the artist Ayako Suda often collaborates with Yoshida on his games. Ayako's homepage, with a bunch of art, is here: <a href="http://as-em.serio.jp/">http://as-em.serio.jp/</a><br />
<br />
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and that I didn't write this long article for nothing.relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-8948373439966532372013-04-22T00:40:00.000-07:002013-06-08T00:04:21.153-07:00Delayed EmbarassmentThis is another page of stories culled from reddit. Unfortunately, I didn't save the link to post... I'll add in commenters and stuff if someone can find it. I think the topic was "What did you do that you later realized was really embarrassing?" <br />
<br />
<b>Warning: Some of these are somewhat inappropriate</b><br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
Some ingenious bastard bought and installed a clapper (the thing where you clap and the lights turn on/off) and decided that it was too much of a hassle to clap...so he recorded himself clapping onto his computer so that he could just do it with a mouse click.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I was curious about man parts when I was young. My stepdad was in the shower, so I knocked on the door, said "It's mom" in my lowest voice, and walked in.<br />
<br />
We've never had the same relationship.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I was a little kid on a road trip with the family. My dad had done something to embarrass me in front of all, everyone was laughing at me. I was clearly very upset. He said he was sorry and asked what he could do to make it up to me.<br />
<br />
I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me explain that I thought "family jewels" were actual jewels and treasure that every family was just given by the government when they became a family, or every family had a bunch of jewels passed on throughout their family line.<br />
<br />
So, I told my father that to make it up to me, he had to give me his family jewels. I may have even just said "let me hold your family jewels" :(<br />
<br />
There was a distinct pause for about 3 seconds, then everyone burst into laughing at me again, with my brother telling me "haha you just asked to hold dads balls!" I was mortified. My dad actually have to pull over because he was laughing too hard to drive.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
It's not my story but my old roomates, apparently as a kid he would shower with his dad. And his dad happened to be well hung. One shower, mid washing his hair, his dad looked down to see him drinking the shower water as it streamed off his penis.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I did lots of weird shit. When I was like 9 my friend came over and I made him take a bubble bath with me. He looked uncomfortable. Even when I forgot the bubbles.<br />
<br />
<b>An imaginary scenario: </b><br />
"Haha let's get in the bath!"<br />
"Uh. I don't really think--"<br />
"That wasn't a request, Billy..."<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
When I was 6 my dad took me hiking in the woods. I had to piss, but there was no bathroom around. So I asked him where a bathroom was, to which he responded "Just pee on a tree. It's okay, you're a boy." so the next week in kindergarten I was at recess and needed to pee, but I didn't want to go all the way back to class. Besides, there was a tree right there on the playground! So I promptly whipped it out and started to piss in front of everyone. I little girl screamed and that got a teacher's attention. Straight to the principal's office. I was understandibly confused. "My dad said it was okay!" Luckily they called my dad and he took responsibility. Unfortunately he still loves to bring that story up whenever the family gets together.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
When I was six or so I grabbed my dad's penis and talked into it because I thought it looked like a microphone.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
My mom took me and my younger twin sisters to the beach when I was about four (they were two). She had just unpacked the stroller and set up camp when I announced that I had to pee. The bathroom itself was up about eighty concrete stairs, and my mother didn't want to pack everyone back up, so she said "Just pee in the water." I was understandably shocked by this, but she insisted that it was okay, and everyone does it. I was a pretty literal kid, so I walked out into the water (ankle deep) and dropped my shorts and started peeing for all the world to see. My mother was horrified when she realized what was happening but was powerless to stop me. She likes to tell people that had she yelled down to me, it would have just drawn more attention, and I would have just yelled back "YOU TOLD ME TO PEE IN THE WATER" thereby humiliating her further.<br />
<br />
She still cringes about it, although I think it's mostly awesome.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
My third grade teacher used to say how fat she was at least once a day. She was actually in Decent shape. Eventually I became conditioned into believing it too.<br />
<br />
I sent her a Christmas card that said "Sorry that you're fat."<br />
<br />
She cried.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
Had that board game "Operation" where you take tweezers and gently lift out crap from this board game shaped like a human. If you contact the board and don't gently lift up stuff such as bones, an annoying buzzer would go of and the guy's nose would light bright red.<br />
<br />
Well, when I was 5 I had enough shit from this annoying pansy ass who would buzz when you simply took out his femur with tweezers so I twisted the bulb on his nose and simply ate it. Well, after I shat blood a day later, my parents figured out why the light bulb on the nose was gone.<br />
<br />
Oh, and the same day I threw sand in my own eyes since I wanted to know how it felt like. Yup, also learned the words "fucking" and "retarded" from my father shortly afterwards.<br />
<br />
<b>Reply:</b><br />
You were like the new Dog that eats rocks<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I was taking a group picture of a bunch of people attending the product school we host at my company. At one point, I was trying to get everyone together and said "Uhh, bald guy, I need you to step to the left". I instantly realized what I said.. and he had a sort of defeated look on his face.<br />
<br />
The international sales manager was right next to me as I said it.. and he leaned in and told me his name and that he was a higher up at a subsidiary..<br />
<br />
ohgodwhy. I apologized to him later and he was really cool about it, but still..<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
I masturbated infront of my entire family and several of their friends when I was about 10. I had just discovered that holding the back massager to my penis felt really good if you held it there for long enough, and not knowing that feeling good in that way was meant to be kept private, I decided to do it at a Christmas gathering. I brought the massager downstairs, plugged it into the living room wall, and went on to massage myself on the couch. The worst part was that nobody even cared or said anything; I finished right there in front of everyone and then brought it back upstairs. Later that night, my mom told me not to do it ever again, and I don't remember exactly when, but I remember looking back on that moment years later and cringing.relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-40395506827602599352013-03-15T16:44:00.000-07:002013-03-15T20:22:55.459-07:00Short Stories<br />
<br />
I made a list of (mostly free and online) short stories I enjoyed. They're all in the science fiction/fantasy/speculative realm of fiction. I'll try to keep it updated as I find new stuff. The entries are listed by date added rather than title. Since they're short stories (and all generally free), you can easily just step in and read without any synopsis. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
Pillowman - <a href="http://www.taghawaii.net/The_Pillowman_clean.pdf">http://www.taghawaii.net/The_Pillowman_clean.pdf</a><br />
Cambist and Lord Iron - <a href="http://www.freesfonline.de/content/Abraham1.pdf">http://www.freesfonline.de/content/Abraham1.pdf</a><br />
Impossible Dreams - <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070422075939/http://www.asimovs.com/_issue_0704/Impossibledreams.shtml">http://web.archive.org/web/20070422075939/http://www.asi...</a><br />
Eight Episodes - <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080610031054/http://www.asi...">http://web.archive.org/web/20080610031054/http://www.asi...</a><br />
Magic For Beginners - <a href="http://smallbeerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Kelly_Link_Magic_for.pdf">http://smallbeerpress.com/wp-content/uploads/Kelly_Link_Magic_for.pdf</a><br />
Magic For Beginners - <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060111060529/http://www.sfsite.com/fsf/fiction/kl01.htm">http://web.archive.org/web/20060111060529/http://www.sfsite...</a><br />
Faery Handbag - <a href="http://smallbeerpress.com/free-stuff-to-read/2005/07/01/the-faery-handbag-by-kelly-link/">http://smallbeerpress.com/free-stuff-to-read/2005/07/01/the-faery-handbag-by-kelly-link/</a><br />
The Ray Gun: A Love Story - <a href="http://www.thinkage.ca/~jim/raygun.htm">http://www.thinkage.ca/~jim/raygun.htm</a><br />
26 Monkeys - <a href="http://www.kijjohnson.com/26_monkeys.htm">http://www.kijjohnson.com/26_monkeys.htm</a><br />
Exhalation - <a href="http://www.nightshadebooks.com/Downloads/Exhalation%20-%20Ted%20Chiang.html">http://www.nightshadebooks.com/Downloads/Exhalation%20-%20Ted%20Chiang.html</a><br />
Lost Odyssey - <a href="http://lostodyssey.wikia.com/wiki/A_Thou...">http://lostodyssey.wikia.com/wiki/A_Thou...</a><br />
Neal Stephenson - <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/05/free-neal-stephenson-stuff.html">http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/05/free-neal-stephenson-stuff.html</a><br />
Great Simolean Caper - <a href="http://kuoi.com/~kamikaze/Text/simoleon.html">http://kuoi.com/~kamikaze/Text/simoleon.html</a><br />
Occupation - <a href="http://www.abelard.org/asimov.php">http://www.abelard.org/asimov.php</a><br />
Orson Scott Card Short Stories - <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2008/09/orson-scott-card-reads.html">http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2008/09/orson-scott-card-reads.html</a><br />
Maps In A Mirror - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Maps-Mirror-O...">http://www.amazon.com/Maps-Mirror-O...</a><br />
Sword of the Yue Maiden - <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/05/sword-of-yue-maiden.html">http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/05/sword-of-yue-maiden.html</a><br />
What's Expected of Us - <a href="http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/21st_century_science/lectures/whats_expected.html">http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/21st_century_science/lectures/whats_expected.html</a><br />
Understand - <a href="http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm">http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm</a><br />
The Last Question - <a href="http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm">http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm</a><br />
Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Merchant-...">http://www.amazon.com/The-Merchant-...</a><br />
The Last Wish - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish...">http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Wish...</a><br />
Nanny's Day - <a href="http://www.asimovs.com/pdfs/Stories/NannysDay.pdf">http://www.asimovs.com/pdfs/Stories/NannysDay.pdf</a><br />
<br />
One Shot Manga: <a href="http://www.batoto.net/read/_/68967/hotel_v1_ch1_by_illuminati-manga">Hotel</a>, <a href="http://www.batoto.net/read/_/23567/island_by_kefi">Island</a>, <a href="http://www.batoto.net/read/_/158679/koe-no-katachi_by_futari-wa-pretty-anon">Koe no Katachi</a><br />
<br />
Japanese Light Novels: <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/04/fatezero-translation-complete.html">Fate/Zero</a>, <a href="http://www.princerevolution.org/halfprince-main/halfprince-chapterlist/">1/2 Prince</a>, <a href="http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Toradora!">Tora Dora</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=haruhi+novel&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aharuhi+novel">Haruhi</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=spice+and+wolf+novel&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aspice+and+wolf+novel">Spice and Wolf</a>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-76123316523708531962013-03-14T19:28:00.003-07:002013-03-14T19:28:47.429-07:00Manga In the US<br />
So, I went on a <a href="http://myanimelist.net/profile/relic-nt">myanimelist</a> bender, obsessively creating <a href="http://myanimelist.net/mangalist/relic-nt">manga</a>/<a href="http://myanimelist.net/animelist/relic-nt">anime</a> lists and eventually adding lots of titles to my plan-to-read lists. So naturally that was followed by a manga reading bender. It's been a long time since I'd looked for new series to read. I normally read manga on my desktop computer using MangaMeeya, which nicely opens local archived files. Nowadays, it's difficult to download manga, especially older chapter releases. The easiest way to read manga is using an online reader, which I generally dislike because it slows my reading process down. I use the "<a href="http://www.allmangasreader.com/">All Mangas Reader</a>" plugin for Chrome, which keeps track of new releases and preloads pages. Preloading lets you read a whole chapter vertically on one webpage instead of relying on paginating. However, the plugin has recently slowed my browser down considerably, so I uninstalled it. Even when it wasn't killing my browser, I didn't enjoy long reading sessions using the page down button.<br />
<br />
I picked up an old iPad1 my friend wasn't using anymore and decided to try using it to read manga. Using the safari browser was unpleasant. So I tried two apps that provide a much nicer interface to online manga readers: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/manga-storm-ultimate-manga/id417341160?mt=8">Manga Storm</a> and <a href="http://blog.notabasement.com/tag/manga-rock-2/">Manga Rock 2</a>. They were both awesome apps with very nice interfaces and both offered free versions with slightly limited features. Using these apps really makes reading manga on the iPad easy and pleasant. The size of an iPad suits manga much better than a smartphone. I might even enjoy reading on a tablet more than reading an actual book.<br />
<br />
The paid versions of those two apps allow you to pre-download chapters, which allows a smooth, internet-less free reading experience later. Unfortunately, the downloads aren't perfect. This was a critical problem for Manga Rock 2 because the downloads would often silently fail. Manga Storm downloads were much more consistently successful and still let me read the successfully downloaded pages for chapters, even if some pages failed to download. Maybe the problem was due to memory issues from using an iPad 1, but I was disappointed to have spent money on Manga Rock 2. I recommend Manga Storm, even though its list of available titles is slightly smaller.<br />
<br />
I fully expect these apps to be unusable some day. Either Apple will take the apps down, the apps will cease to be maintained, or the websites these apps scrape will go away, by being shutdown or otherwise made inaccessible to the apps. Note that neither app supports reading most licensed titles (which I 100% agree with.) There's still plenty of unlicensed titles to read. <br />
<br />
Anyways, this is all besides the point. Manga is a huge hobby of mine and I prefer it to most other forms of solitary entertainment. It was exciting to see its popularity surge 2000-2005, but a lot of that excitement seems gone now. The manga sections in bookstores steadily dwindles and its not surprising to guess why. Manga is a very niche market targeted largely to people without the money to buy it. US versions are expensive and manga is easily pirated. I've always believed in supporting the industries I love. Manga is harder to support because books take up so much space and I feel really bad throwing a book away. I've always been on the fence about purchasing manga that I'd never consider lending to someone or reading more than once, even moreso if I think the manga set looks ugly. But nowadays, legal digital manga is an option and I loudly embrace it. I think Viz is especially forward thinking. The Digital Manga reader is nice, downloads are fast, and the prices are at least half of the printed versions.<br />
<br />
I recently subscribed to <a href="http://shonenjump.viz.com/">Weekly Shonen Jump</a>, mainly to read Rurouni Kenshin Restoration. I think they're doing everything right with Jump. The printed version always seemed wasteful, but the digital version is perfect. New chapters come out at the same time as the legal release of the Japanese chapters. There are lots of fun bonus one-shots, series that aren't being scanlated, and interesting interviews, so there's new content even if you prefer illegally obtaining manga. Last of all, it's really cheap. The only downside is that there's no way to get back issues. But that's a legal issue, not a technical one. If you read Shonen comics, you should definitely subscribe. If you have the money to spare and want to support the industry, you should consider it.<br />
<br />
My main concern with Viz's digital manga isn't the quality of translations. I'm not too anal about liberties taken in translations as long as I feel the spirit is preserved. I'm concerned about what will happen when Viz either goes out of business or otherwise closes its digital manga division. Will the things I've bought still be readable? Or will it go the way of <a href="http://www.jmanga.com/">jmanga</a>? Secondly, I wonder about the fate of printed manga. I love having hard copies of my favorite manga. But if they end up being unprofitable, will will printed manga one day cease to exist? There really aren't enough series I want to dedicate my space to. Time will tell, but for now, I'm happy to be supporting an industry I love for a cost I find incredibly reasonable.<br />
<br />
Lastly, I'd like to end today's meandering rant by providing a link to <a href="http://www.insidescanlation.com/history/index.html">The History of Scanlation</a>, which I found to be very interesting and personally nostalgic.relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-61201706326451015392013-03-13T23:14:00.000-07:002013-03-13T23:14:41.237-07:00Katamari Damacy<br />
Katamari Damacy is my favorite video game franchise for mindless gaming. The concept is really simple: As the early games were quick to point out, it's the video game version of rolling around a snowball. Instead of collecting snow, you collect whatever you roll over: dirt, rocks, toys, animals, children, houses, continents, planets... The bigger you are, the bigger the items you can roll up. Although the objective of each stage can vary, you're usually simply given a time limit to reach a certain size. Each stage's layout is fixed, so the challenge is finding the most efficient path to getting big. It's not very difficult to reach the target size, so the player is given a lot of freedom in whether they want to relaxing roll or intensely try to reach a huge size. Lots of collectables, gameplay options (untimed mode, speed up mode), and stage mixups (become as big as possible only collecting 50 items, avoid this item) add a lot of variety.<br />
<br />
The second aspect to the series, which in this case is just as important as the gameplay, is the presentation. The graphics are purposefully blocky, which is probably primarily a performance constraint, but ultimately creates a distinct style. Katamari Damacy relies on being goofy and absurd. The story is generally your tiny character's father, the King of All Cosmos, rudely ordering you to do this or that. The music is relaxing, kind of folksy, video game tunes that are a crucial part of the Katamari Damacy experience to most people. To quickly sum it up, this is a game that personifies the eccentric, weird side of Japanese pop culture.<br />
<br />
For me, I love the feeling of getting big enough to swallow the galaxy while listening to relaxing music in a cartoonish world. And while the series definitely peaked early on, I still play through each incarnation of the game. This post is really about providing a quick review each game in the series.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<b>Katamari Damacy - PS2</b><br />
<br />
The game that started it all, but one that aged poorly. The subsequent games in the series improved on this one so much that it's almost irrelevant to play. Although all Katamari Damacy games were budget games, this one felt the most budget. The game variety is lacking, the controls are not as smooth, the stage layouts are more frustrating, and the graphics are poorer compared to later entries. This game was great for its time and essential to starting the franchise, but there's not really a good reason to go back to it unless you want to experience all the games. The better levels were even remade for the PS3's Katamari Forever, so you're not missing out on much.<br />
<br />
<b>We Love Katamari - PS2</b><br />
<br />
Honestly, this is the high point of the series and still definitely worth playing. All the concepts from the first game were improved and several gameplay modes were added. The stages were bigger, there were more collectables, there was more music... it was basically the epitome of what the creator of the series, Keita Takahashi, envisioned for the first game. This game is still very relevant and fun. This was the last game Keita Takahashi was involved with. This game is definitely worth playing.<br />
<br />
<b>Me and My Katamari - PSP</b><br />
<br />
This was the first portable version of the game and had an island theme. It had several problems, the firstmost being control. The PSP does not have dual analog sticks, which made it uncomfortable to play the game. The second big problem was the PSP limitations. When you become too big for the area you're in, you're transported to a new area which is usually thematically very different from where you left. Even so, the last level is pretty fun and creatively made the rolling satisfying even though you couldn't roll up the whole world. The credits game is also really fun. You can easily skip this game, but it has enough going for it where a playthrough might be fun.<br />
<br />
<b>Beautiful Katamari - XBox360</b><br />
<br />
This game introduced DLC, which was much reviled. I honestly don't mind much. The DLC is optional and wouldn't exist at all if DLC wasn't a thing. Compared to We Love Katamari, a lot of the creativity is gone and the game doesn't feel as fresh. Even though nothing comes off as surprising, this game is still a lot of fun and does introduce a lot of fun gimmick stages. However, the last level is VERY satisfying, perhaps the biggest you can get in the series. This game contains my favorite song of the series, Katamari Holiday. If you do skip this game, a lot of the levels were remade into Katamari Forever, although the awesome last stage is missing. A lot of people might argue with me, but I'd say this game is definitely worth playing.<br />
<br />
<b>Katamari Forever - PS3</b><br />
<br />
This is basically a rehash of all the best levels of the previous games with many stages coming from Beautiful Katamari. There are only 3 new stages and they're all pretty short. One of those new stages is really well done, but you can play it in the demo. As for new content... you have beautiful HD graphics, very nice graphic filters, a new drive mode where your katamari moves very fast, the option to play all the old game credit sequences, and a lot of remixed songs. Nothing big or surprising, but there is a ton of content.<br />
<br />
I'd recommend We Love Katamari + Beautiful Katamari above this game, but if you like the series or only want to buy one Katamari game, it's definitely worth a play. This is a game is definitely for the fans.<br />
<br />
<b>i LOVE Katamari / Katamari Amore - iPhone</b><br />
<br />
Horrible. Avoid this game: the controls are bad, the stage layouts are bad (there's very few paths to even beat the stage), and the game is overpriced.<br />
<br />
<b>Touch My Katamari - PS Vita</b><br />
<br />
This release uses the touch sensors on the back of the Vita to allow you to stretch the Katamari vertically and horizontally. It's a cool feature, but generally not very useful. The stages are okay. It's a very short game and to unlock new stages, you either need to play A LOT and hope you get random tokens, or use actual money. I found the game disappointed and would suggest skipping it.<br />
<br />
The story cutscenes are easily the most entertaining out of all the Katamari. That isn't saying much though and it's simple enough to just youtube the videos.relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-16828835130868027322013-03-12T19:17:00.000-07:002013-03-27T23:51:49.123-07:00My ProjectsWell, I wanted an easy place to track all the random things I work on. I was hoping to use about.me, but it doesn't let me use enough characters. So I'm just going to plop a full list it all here. <br />
<br />
<div class="biotext">
I pronounce my username Relic Enn-Tee. Depending on the user requirements of the site, I usually use relic.nt, relic-nt, or relicnt.<br />
<br />
<b>Blogs</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/" target="" title="">Errant Cluster Blogspot</a></li>
<li><a href="http://errantcluster.tumblr.com/" target="" title="">Errant Cluster Tumblr (Image Blog)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://errantadventuretime.tumblr.com/" target="" title="">Adventure Time Tumblr</a></li>
<li><a href="http://heckyeahhalfminutehero.tumblr.com/" target="" title="">Half Minute Hero Tumblr</a></li>
</ul>
<b>Recommendations</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://myanimelist.net/animelist/relic-nt" target="" title="">My Anime List</a></li>
<li><a href="http://myanimelist.net/mangalist/relic-nt" target="" title="">My Manga List</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD708FDEB13242F08" target="" title="">Youtube Videos</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.metacritic.com/user/relic-nt" target="" title="">Metacritic</a></li>
</ul>
<b>Projects</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://gw.aswembar.net/" target="" title="">Gremlin World</a></li>
<li><a href="https://code.google.com/p/shimeji-ee/" target="" title="">Shimeji-ee</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dragonhalf.aswembar.net/" target="" title="">Dragon Half Scanlation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://hmh2translation.kumodori.com/about.html" target="" title="">Half Minute Hero 2 Translation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ukulele.kumodori.com/adventuretime/">Ukulele Adventure Time</a></li>
</ul>
<b>Others</b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://about.me/relic.nt">About.me</a></li>
<li><a href="http://myanimelist.net/profile/relic-nt" target="" title="">MyAnimeList</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/relic-nt/" target="" title="">Reddit</a></li>
<li><a href="http://raptr.com/relic-nt/wall" target="" title="">Raptr</a></li>
<li><a href="http://relic-nt.deviantart.com/" target="" title="">DeviantArt</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamefaqs.com/users/ahoujed/contributions" target="" title="">Gamefaqs</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-64401559226127749982013-03-11T00:07:00.000-07:002013-03-12T19:18:11.163-07:00Aivi TranI've been really enjoying listening to Aivi Tran (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/waltzforluma">youtube channel waltzforluma</a>) recently. It's not a surprise, I'm a sucker for anyone who does Link's Awakening covers.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Mm7DHztmPF8" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FLXOQA6fJC8" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
She recently released <a href="http://aivi-surasshu.bandcamp.com/">a new album</a> with <a href="http://www.surasshu-sound.com/">surasshu</a>. It's awesome and comes with a pretty comic.relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-70642838229099074112012-12-24T23:31:00.000-08:002013-03-06T17:20:10.687-08:00Merry Christmas from One Piece<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://aswembar.net/misc/merryonepiece.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" width="500" src="http://aswembar.net/misc/merryonepiece.png" /></a></div><br />
relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-58837218819394472042012-10-08T15:50:00.000-07:002012-10-08T15:59:27.281-07:00Perfect Blue Review<center>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajLurSKMfW_yVZLfFyiI3Q8piS8BIkNaBWeOxZT0Q4m4OXrOPofz2OaVK_aEQ2WMx3JOBqhW6AzUH9dPUEMB2LzOBqlZViN_uC2fYKElWCxYuIZrXRMmnzup8OgiidN9Ylziix7yiJezs/s1600/600full-perfect-blue-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajLurSKMfW_yVZLfFyiI3Q8piS8BIkNaBWeOxZT0Q4m4OXrOPofz2OaVK_aEQ2WMx3JOBqhW6AzUH9dPUEMB2LzOBqlZViN_uC2fYKElWCxYuIZrXRMmnzup8OgiidN9Ylziix7yiJezs/s320/600full-perfect-blue-poster.jpg" width="228" /></a><br />
</center>
<br />
This weekend I rewatched Perfect Blue and decided to write up a review. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Blue-Junko-Iwao/dp/B00000JL42/">Perfect Blue</a> is a well done psychological thriller. A common sentiment when it came out was that this was the cartoon that Alfred Hitchcock would have made. Perfect Blue was originally a novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, but it's Japanese only so everything I bring up is only based on the film. <br />
<br />
I have pretty nostalgic memories of watching it 13 years ago and I'm glad to have been able to enjoy it again today. It still looks like it was made in 1997 (although the animation itself is done well, 90s anime doesn't display so well in high definition) and the English dub is definitely 90s era too, but the movie itself is done very well.<br />
<br />
<center>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5P-FbsRYg8jlNfBSe2fvinbE67dA0XYvzRM2U1xl6CJMMXE2xY4BFca2_fcJVywtnHrYZmHNtGkngsH-PFcYsy0Ts97M8TBQsRNeGVmDKKc1HVT5z-otqsWxCf1BJHHbPAlOpnAxQzrb-/s1600/In_Praise_Of_Perfect_Blue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5P-FbsRYg8jlNfBSe2fvinbE67dA0XYvzRM2U1xl6CJMMXE2xY4BFca2_fcJVywtnHrYZmHNtGkngsH-PFcYsy0Ts97M8TBQsRNeGVmDKKc1HVT5z-otqsWxCf1BJHHbPAlOpnAxQzrb-/s320/In_Praise_Of_Perfect_Blue.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
</center>
<br />
Perfect Blue was directed <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0464804/">Satoshi Kon</a>, which in my opinion already makes the film a must watch. Satoshi Kon, sadly now deceased, was known for manga, anime, and film work. His character art was iconic and very detailed. Most of his films are Philip K. Dick-ish, in which there's a strong theme of a blurred line between reality and fiction. Satoshi Kon always does a very good job of showing this confusion visually. His movies tend to be slower pace than American thrillers, but they're just as exciting. Except for maybe Tokyo Godfathers, which is a very different genre than his other works, I liked Perfect Blue the most out of his works as I felt it had the most well executed storyline. His much more popular Paprika is a similar movie and is much prettier (thanks to its later release date and much higher budget), but in my opinion its story was not told nearly as well.<br />
<br />
Perfect Blue is a really fun and exciting watch, although it is definitely not for children. When I first watched it during High School, I had recommended it to a friend of mine. I wanted the movie's contents to surprise him, so I just told him it was a action movie with pop idols. He proceeded to watch it with his girlfriend and, more significantly, her father. Well, the movie contains nudity and a very powerful scene where the heroine is struggling with performing a rape scene for a movie she's in. It was uncomfortable for him to watch it with his girlfriend's father, who wasn't an anime fan and was pretty silent through the whole thing, sitting next to him. Although the father said it was a good movie afterwards, you should make sure not to put yourself in any awkward circumstances. You've been warned, for mature audiences only.<br />
<br />
<center>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdM-9RvGkh-36i1FfkTW977l7syRIMzwEJTG7s_NTfWfogeehEYa6UWiBhVEKB2sXBqLM_gdusLNt3H1PKThKHZ3tRXQOxyO5vZW2alSJLZGVctDE_nOmrE-Y2Nr71OIbl7BD4LNemznQa/s1600/no-time-animated-300x295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdM-9RvGkh-36i1FfkTW977l7syRIMzwEJTG7s_NTfWfogeehEYa6UWiBhVEKB2sXBqLM_gdusLNt3H1PKThKHZ3tRXQOxyO5vZW2alSJLZGVctDE_nOmrE-Y2Nr71OIbl7BD4LNemznQa/s1600/no-time-animated-300x295.jpg" /></a><br />
</center>
<br />
As I mentioned, Perfect Blue is about the dark side of being a Japanese idol. Idols are young female celebrities, usually pop singers or photobook gravure models. There is a very distinct culture around them that has not changed much over the years. A good idol, then and now, is judged largely on their "purity." Idols put on a (almost definitely) false persona of being very young and naive. Idols end up being obsessed over and harshly judged by a certain subset of fans. Those familiar with Japanese culture are usually also familiar with the idol horror stories. Stalkings are fairly common news articles. Attending hand shaking events with semen soaked hands has been coming up recently as well. Death threats and unforgivable comments are showered upon any idol who tries to act like she's older than 15. <br />
<br />
Although the idol concept is fairly Japanese, the movie is more relatable in the West today more than ever before due to the rise of teen actresses, such as all the recent teen starts who started on the Disney channel. Of course, everywhere you have celebrities, you'll also have stories of a <a href="http://www.casinotop10.net/Another-Unwanted-House-Guest-for-Miley">stalker going after celebrity</a>. That part is instantly understood. But I feel the teen idol case is not quite the same as the child star case. If you try to imagine the struggles teen stars might have growing up and the worst case scenarios they'd face, you'll be able to understand this movie.<br />
<br />
I admit that this review has gone slightly off topic for several paragraphs, but that really shows the strength of this film. It goes in depth into an area that's often not deeply explored. Or if it is explored, the movie usually ends up being an exploitation film instead of a high quality film. But moving on to a summary...<br />
<br />
The heroine of Perfect Blue is Mima Kirigoe, the lead singer of a pop group called "CHAM!" The movie begins with her deciding to leave the group to become an actress. Not only is she nervous and unconfident of the choice to begin with, she's immediately heavily criticized and despised by a vocal group of her former fans. Leaving her persona behind, she takes on much more mature projects in order to shed her previous image and become a respected actress. In the midst of her working stress, relationship stress, hatemail, and death threats, she finds a website called "Mima's Room" which features very private diary entries Mima does not recall writing. And finally, like in any good thriller, the murders begin. By that point, Mima is unable to clearly distinguish reality and nightmare.<br />
<br />
<center>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukiSU43TnIJkHWpLEgq416i1rNaCn6oiR3IJjDHOIgCmqerk9urgyXJoqerbG9JHa1WsAGSOjtn4efB1b43So7E7k847pidoxJ5Zi4t19TzKrTgb4U6r4xtA3gxAg1vHLh2OHBIPtVKjR/s1600/PB13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukiSU43TnIJkHWpLEgq416i1rNaCn6oiR3IJjDHOIgCmqerk9urgyXJoqerbG9JHa1WsAGSOjtn4efB1b43So7E7k847pidoxJ5Zi4t19TzKrTgb4U6r4xtA3gxAg1vHLh2OHBIPtVKjR/s400/PB13.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
</center>
<br />
Unlike with my other reviews, I don't want to give anything else away besides to say it's done well. If you really must know, this movie is old enough where you can just wiki the whole plotline. But you'd be doing yourself a disservice, especially since the movie is only an hour and a half long. <br />
<br />
In the end, my strongest recommendations for this movie are:<br />
<br />
1. The character development is done very well<br />
2. It's an exciting thriller<br />
3. It's a good study on a briefly touched subject<br />
4. <b>Ending Spoiler</b>: <span style="background-color: black;">It doesn't have a pointless "BAD END" for the main character that horror films tend to love</span><br />
<br />
The movie was released on on DVD and Blu Ray, although supply is low nowadays. You can easily use a service like Netflix to watch it though .<br />
<br />
So go and watch it!relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-41844774818456766742012-09-22T11:56:00.000-07:002012-09-22T11:56:00.347-07:00More Ultimate Boy Info<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: none 0px;">
If you’re looking for more information about the new Half Minute Hero Steam release on September 27th, check the following sites:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: none 0px;">
Official Site: <a href="http://www.maql.co.jp/message/ultimateboy.php" style="color: #444444; margin-top: 0px; outline: none 0px;"></a><a href="http://www.maql.co.jp/message/ultimateboy.php" style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 0px; outline: none 0px;">http://www.maql.co.jp/message/ultimateboy.php</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: none 0px;">
Official Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/halfminutehero" style="color: #444444; margin-top: 0px; outline: none 0px;"></a><a href="https://twitter.com/halfminutehero" style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 0px; outline: none 0px;">https://twitter.com/halfminutehero</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: none 0px;">
Steam Site: <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/214830/" style="color: #444444; margin-top: 0px; outline: none 0px;"></a><a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/214830/" style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 0px; outline: none 0px;">http://store.steampowered.com/app/214830/</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: none 0px;">
Playism Site: <a href="http://www.playism-games.com/games/halfminutehero/" style="color: #444444; margin-top: 0px; outline: none 0px;"></a><a href="http://www.playism-games.com/games/halfminutehero/" style="color: #444444; margin-bottom: 0px; outline: none 0px;">http://www.playism-games.com/games/halfminutehero/</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: -5px; margin-top: 10px; outline: none 0px;">
You can find information on several contests to win watches and free game copies on these sites, so you should definitely take a look~</div>
relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-9175129919914590892012-09-21T23:54:00.000-07:002012-09-22T10:56:33.469-07:00Half Minute Hero LED Watch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
These are pictures of the Half Minute Hero watches you can win~</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWlXtvStKmwflLle5gbldOyxKkmp1goV_nwF9CxLg0jjEFE34_3AvNh7gVX_svpw1NKv2-p1F4a9SYsZCL18Ur1D3hVXARe23paLQ5aw2WQhUWl21nQf3HTj64SaHhPxR-vOaYq8E9OlG/s1600/hmhsmnc1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWlXtvStKmwflLle5gbldOyxKkmp1goV_nwF9CxLg0jjEFE34_3AvNh7gVX_svpw1NKv2-p1F4a9SYsZCL18Ur1D3hVXARe23paLQ5aw2WQhUWl21nQf3HTj64SaHhPxR-vOaYq8E9OlG/s320/hmhsmnc1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3CtBJUttJCOTLA9C3aBVsNu7Stowuyth7gGenuZIoM4XasMiLD_t6Ck2B-ki3sKgJpvoZ32XFa2rSmHwcH1EBoI1kmeKSFzkHy60-81vH7A5ODgsynlSjcGrWhswJvcpUWUXLPc_2o5K/s1600/hmhsmnc2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3CtBJUttJCOTLA9C3aBVsNu7Stowuyth7gGenuZIoM4XasMiLD_t6Ck2B-ki3sKgJpvoZ32XFa2rSmHwcH1EBoI1kmeKSFzkHy60-81vH7A5ODgsynlSjcGrWhswJvcpUWUXLPc_2o5K/s320/hmhsmnc2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-72455928308857853052012-09-19T23:48:00.000-07:002012-09-19T23:48:01.223-07:00Half Minute Hero Ultimate Boy: September 27<br />
(If you don't know what Half Minute Hero is, take a look at my <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/09/half-minute-hero.html">XBLA review over here</a>.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/234349-sweew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://bulk.destructoid.com/ul/234349-sweew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The leaked registry entry from June was correct... We'll be seeing a Steam and Playism release of Half Minute Hero on September 27! This time around it's called "Half-Minute Hero Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy." The XBLA release, called Half-Minute Hero Super Mega Neo Climax, added new multiplayer stages, new normal stages, leaderboards, and optional new graphics. The new Ultimate Boy release is supposed to have all the content of the XBLA release as well as new achievements and the original versions of the non-RPG modes (if you didn't know, they were recreated as single Hero 30 stages in the XBLA release.) The non-RPG modes are in a "Super Gameboy"-ish framed screen. This release sounds awesome!<br />
<br />
MAQL has said that high sales of this release would lead to Half Minute Hero 2 localized on Steam. Believe it and hope, if you want. This release does show that porting from PSP to PC isn't impossible. Either way, I think it would be great for more people to experience Half Minute Hero and I think the leaderboards should be fun. I do believe that the PC is a better platform for the game, at the very least MUCH better than XBLA. HMH is a casual game most likely to please retro JRPG fans. I would guess that most of that audience is on the PC rather than handhelds nowadays. IMO, PC is a better genre for quick play casual games and the price point is a lot better than the PSP version.<br />
<br />
Steam is the big news, but I hope Playism (who released La Mulana when no one else would) also gets some love. If you order on Playism, you unlock the game on steam, get a slight discount, and get the chance to win a pretty nifty LED watch. I definitely recommend buying through Playism.<br />
<br />
Marvelous will do a 30 second promotion giving out free copies on release day, so try your luck if you don't have the ten bucks needed for the game. There are a lot of promotions and contests for this game in general. For more information, check out the game's main page, the twitter account, the steam page, or the playism page. I've also got a tumblr page up, which has lots of art as well as Half Minute Hero 2 information up.<br />
<br />
Take a gander at the full game trailer:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CT8RpJCtlgg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-5911622332436654662012-08-28T07:08:00.002-07:002012-08-28T07:26:48.921-07:00Rurouni Kenshin - The Live Action Movie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/33503/New%20Rurouni%20Kenshin%20Live%20Action%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/33503/New%20Rurouni%20Kenshin%20Live%20Action%20Poster.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<br />
I was lucky enough to be in Japan during the week the live action Rurouni Kenshin movie was released. Very lucky. I've decided to write a brief description of my theater-going experience, some thoughts on the movie, and then an in-depth summary.<br />
<br />
Full disclosure: Rurouni Kenshin was one of my first Japanese series and it is by far my favorite. I started reading it right after the Kyoto arc ended. Not only did I buy a ton of merchandise, but I joined Kenshin mailing lists and chat rooms. I own multiple versions of the same material (Japanese tankouban, English versions, and Taiwanese Kanzenban)! I still enjoy the series a lot, even after re-reading 10 years later.<br />
<br />
The whole hype around the movie has been so exciting, barring the horrible OVAs and the mediocre PSP game. For the first time in years, there's fresh Kenshin merchandise and nowadays I actually have money to afford things. There are new figures out, very cute cellphone charms, puffy character keychains, and more. The Kinema-ban chapters have been fun and I really enjoyed Chapter 0 (that I got to pick up in Japan ^^.) It was fun walking around Tokyo seeing and hearing ads for the movie. It was great flipping on the TV and seeing all the promotions. 7-11 did a thing where if you bought two of a certain line of products, you got a clearfile folder for free.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26F6Oijb3FVgCsVyTj5qbzR13_Q7ah-sBfJ0iL1dRvOkz2-f6FWuPHIim-7_T_oNYg5iyfJogJZqVIhbADMxBuT69XfF81CZCjEcXM_1idQmKvMdlIknUQ4LnF0T5EOoyXR9jwlx8XoYN/s1600/IMG_0512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26F6Oijb3FVgCsVyTj5qbzR13_Q7ah-sBfJ0iL1dRvOkz2-f6FWuPHIim-7_T_oNYg5iyfJogJZqVIhbADMxBuT69XfF81CZCjEcXM_1idQmKvMdlIknUQ4LnF0T5EOoyXR9jwlx8XoYN/s320/IMG_0512.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KDPXfhEgK6FcrbhA6GNnOlt2c32ntyLp6vsWW7kx3jX9b5jU2-XFGV_Tu_Ld8P3iOTgalE-fwsJSyhPO3xew0meize7DsUSvUxeEHgf04qoFDG_wdQg8tfBqgvs_s5_bs8pUip9RXf9y/s1600/IMG_4102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-KDPXfhEgK6FcrbhA6GNnOlt2c32ntyLp6vsWW7kx3jX9b5jU2-XFGV_Tu_Ld8P3iOTgalE-fwsJSyhPO3xew0meize7DsUSvUxeEHgf04qoFDG_wdQg8tfBqgvs_s5_bs8pUip9RXf9y/s200/IMG_4102.JPG" width="142" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrg6B9mrL8_LBby3-BezrVBmTW1swZbhqM2g42I1DKwRapfz8b3hkrYOrXPJ3RWXy8VKBfvCgCgXkFI3yTRIX9kguSqKGyqsWGdDnL_G6WExcAZaY3hc3JDBetBg50hlP9xrppEmsYFBi/s1600/IMG_4104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbrg6B9mrL8_LBby3-BezrVBmTW1swZbhqM2g42I1DKwRapfz8b3hkrYOrXPJ3RWXy8VKBfvCgCgXkFI3yTRIX9kguSqKGyqsWGdDnL_G6WExcAZaY3hc3JDBetBg50hlP9xrppEmsYFBi/s200/IMG_4104.JPG" width="151" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqkhBqZfNhMuk5K1g1X_2n4ey0XPCrcntaI8I63oJlFohfIDE8BlWrT6q8axYZf6-vB8hhXjmc_Jv3bZ9DoGUj_mNYbuZevdO64wMD4DWduD_imOq8CMolaeI6PgdQmBkC6JhsRNEg2Bm/s1600/IMG_4101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqkhBqZfNhMuk5K1g1X_2n4ey0XPCrcntaI8I63oJlFohfIDE8BlWrT6q8axYZf6-vB8hhXjmc_Jv3bZ9DoGUj_mNYbuZevdO64wMD4DWduD_imOq8CMolaeI6PgdQmBkC6JhsRNEg2Bm/s200/IMG_4101.JPG" width="140" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I was really excited to find out that Rurouni Kenshin was being shown with English subtitles at the Toho Cinemas in Roppongi Hills. The theater was very easy to find (right outside the Roppongi stop on the Hibiya subway line) and the tickets were easy to order on the kiosk machines. Most of the instructions were in English... even choosing seats was straightforward. I went early because I was competing for seat reservations against people who could pay online.<br />
<br />
The theater was cooler than outside, but the AC wasn't very strong. I was initially disappointed with the screen size, but then the movie started and the curtains pulled out making it a proper widescreen. I saw trailers for both One Piece Z and Evangelion 3.0, which was awesome.<br />
<br />
The movie itself was great. I agree with most of the reviews I've read. There were pacing issues, but nothing unexpected of a Japanese movies. Some parts were just slow and dragged on. But the good parts were very exciting and there was a lot more humor than I was expecting. I definitely enjoyed the movie more than any of the OVAs that were released for Kenshin.<br />
<br />
I think all the actors did a great job, especially Aoki Munetaka's Sano, Sato Takeru’s Kenshin, and Eguchi Yosuke's Saito. I was especially surprised by Sano and Saito, as I didn't think they looked right from the stills. But I think in action, they captured the character's spirits well. I don't really know Japanese so I can't comment on their delivery, but everyone's actions looked great. I really enjoyed Kagawa Teruyuki's perfomance as Kanryu. Sure, it's over-the-top cheesy... but that was the character in the manga too. I think all the portrayals were done especially well.<br />
<br />
I thought the movie's story was laid out well (the plot was good and everything happened in a good order despite the amount of material being covered), but I think the script itself could have used some work. I especially had problems with Kaoru's portrayal (she seemed really helpless) and the amount of time Kenshin spent being melancholy. I don't think the dialogue they did really explained Kenshin's internal conflicts very well. Without knowing the comic, I would have still enjoyed the movie, but felt much more negative towards the slow scenes. The most frustrating part was how close the movie felt to getting it perfect.<br />
<br />
The fights were done very well, but they were very fast. Blink and you'd miss a lot. There's no screaming out technique names... the fight scenes were done much closer to a normal sword based action movie, which I think was a really good decision. None of the fighting looked too goofy, which often happens in these kinds of adaptations. I enjoyed the soundtrack to the film as well.<br />
<br />
I was very happy with the subtitles. No Japanese words are used (Rurouni is wanderer and so on...), but I've never really been picky about that. There wasn't much in the translation I disagreed with. Thanks Ian McDougall (I think that was the translator's name...) , great job!<br />
<br />
After watching the movie, I headed to the theater lobby. I guess movies all come with merchandise in Japan. I picked up the Kenshin movie booklet (with interviews and lots of pictures) as well as a sakabatou keychain. It was a great film and a very fun experience to watch a movie in Japan!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBemGduwwRmE_zLppIndAnMkHsplZX8SLP48uOCVOe8_is-DqxrFFjwQdBOiFELchAj5rkpQGiLxRlGnbyjwA0yrfAKIF6x9zBOUC2KNffzJ_aShPqFB5X0ofLrWMPcl7a3fBbg1945Og/s1600/IMG_0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBemGduwwRmE_zLppIndAnMkHsplZX8SLP48uOCVOe8_is-DqxrFFjwQdBOiFELchAj5rkpQGiLxRlGnbyjwA0yrfAKIF6x9zBOUC2KNffzJ_aShPqFB5X0ofLrWMPcl7a3fBbg1945Og/s320/IMG_0513.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiCkIgNqUPdzgcfMwkqqerEG-2fdOtsXjx23eeFA3dlkRk4J3m1o5xHXtcCZlUq3l4nIhLXqDRWnyakRGBGSaDVOtk2kmvS6gZd3PnJKbmoUba3eDudubXEWeMJgpml1kylAy2fn7xkVtO/s1600/IMG_0514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiCkIgNqUPdzgcfMwkqqerEG-2fdOtsXjx23eeFA3dlkRk4J3m1o5xHXtcCZlUq3l4nIhLXqDRWnyakRGBGSaDVOtk2kmvS6gZd3PnJKbmoUba3eDudubXEWeMJgpml1kylAy2fn7xkVtO/s320/IMG_0514.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Here is a very complete summary of the Kenshin movie. I've written down everything I remember. Some things may be in the wrong order, but everything should be there. It's as detailed as I could make it so it's VERY, VERY, VERY spoiler heavy. I give away all of my favorite scenes... so highlight and read on only if you dare...<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: black;">The movie begins with the end of the battle of Toba-Fushimi. Saito (in Shinsengumi gear) is wandering the battlefield searching for Battousai. Battousai cuts down several men moments before shouts of victory are heard. Battousai, looking more exhausted than relieved, wanders off on his own. He comes across Saito, who demands a duel. Battousai responds to Saito's request by driving his own sword into the ground and wandering off.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The scene cuts to the night where Jine rises from a pile of corpses, amazed to be alive. He wanders around in a daze and stumbles onto Battousai's sword, taking it for his own... </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">In the 11th Year of Meiji...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The scene settles inside wealthy business man Kanryu's mansion. Kanryu calls in Takani Megumi and a group of men. He praises them for the new addictive spiderweb opium they developed and dreams of the money he'll make. He sends them out, but shuts the door before Megumi and one other man can leave. Everyone outside is slaughtered by Kanryu's bodyguards: Inui Banjin and the masked Gein. Kanryu tells Megumi and the other man that he only needs one person who knows the formula. He does an "eeny-meeny-miny-moe" to choose the survivor, landing on the man. Megumi walks forward and Kanryu hugs her, saying of course he wouldn't hurt her. The other man makes a run for it, jumping out through the window. Kanryu says it doesn't matter and Battousai will take care of it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The next day, Saito, now a policeman under the name Fujita Goro, finds the corpse of the man from Kanryu's mansion. The man happened to be an undercover agent. Saito's men are freaked out that Battousai killed another officer. Saito tells them this isn't Battousai's work.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kenshin, wearing a blue and grey hakama, is happily wandering through Tokyo eating a dango when he notices a wanted poster for Battousai, who has been wandering Tokyo at night murdering men under than name of the Kamiya Kasshin school. He's suddenly attacked by a girl with a wooden sword. He dodges her strikes, but eventually falls to the ground. She accuses him of being Battousai, but he says he's not. He's a Rurouni - Wanderer. He shows her that the sword he carries has the dull and sharp sides swapped. She apologizes for her mistake. It's not clear what happens to Kenshin's dango and it never appears again.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Saito goes to Kanryu's mansion and asks him if he knows anything about the recent murders. Kanryu says no and just talks about how great money is. He summons his army of ronin... previously proud samurai who now slave themselves to Kanryu just for rice to eat everyday. Saito warns Kanryu that he's not like other cops and that he doesn't always wait for hard evidence. When Saito leaves, Kanryu is alerted that Megumi escaped with a policeman. Kanryu isn't worried. If Megumi said anything, she would be taken in as an accomplice. He sends Battousai, who is actually Jine, to fetch her.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Megumi waits in the police station when screams are suddenly heard. She escapes while Jine slaughters his way through all police officers. It's a pretty cool fight scene. Jine takes great pleasure in killing.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kaoru is outside playing with a cat when a dying policeman stumbles towards her. She sees Jine walks by and realizes he's the Battousai sullying the name of her school. She challenges him to a duel. He trivially defeats her, mocking her use of a wooden sword. Right before he kills her, Kenshin jumps in and saves her. Jine recognizes him as the real Battousai, but before they fight, more policemen show up and everyone runs away.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kaoru thanks Kenshin for her help at her dojo. She explains that her father died in the war and she watches the dojo now, but there are barely any students after the Battousai mess. She explains that her father's style emphasised the "sword that protects life." They chat a bit more. Before Kenshin leaves, she asks for his name. "Himura Kenshin de gozaru."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kanryu plots with his men about how he'll distribute the opium. He's going to obtain the last few dojos he wasn't able to buy, then tear them all down to create a factory and port for his operation.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kaoru hears a noise at the door only to find Myojin Yahiko, her sole sometimes-student. She sets him to cleaning the dojo when a group of men show up to buy the dojo from her. She refuses again and they say they'll take it by force. Yahiko jumps in saying he's the defender of the weak, but he's easily pushed aside. The group (led by the Gaara brothers according to the movie book) enter the dojo. Kaoru is furious that they haven't removed their shoes and gets ready to fight. The the group begins mocking the "Sword that protects life" motto. Kenshin appears and says that although the motto is silly, he likes it more than the truth. He proceeds to defeat the entire group by himself in an awesome fight sequence. He only draws his sword to defeat the two brothers. The rest of the town and the police show up because they saw the huge group heading to the dojo. Kenshin says the men were after him and it didn't involve the dojo at all. He and all the men are dragged off to prison.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kenshin sits in prison as it rains outside. He goofily tries to collect rain in a bowl when Saito fetches him, identifying him as Battousai. (Sanosuke, in an adjacent cell, overhears this.) Saito brings Kenshin to General Yamagata, who is happy to see him again as Battousai disapeared 10 years ago. Yamagata requests that Kenshin help them by killing Kanryu. Kenshin refuses. Yamagata tells him of the rumors he's heard about a wandering samurai helping people without killing. Saito challenges Kenshin to a fight and they take it outside to the courtyard in the pouring rain. Saito tells him that if he uses a blade with the sharp side facing him, the only person he'll hurt is himself. After a short but sweet fight, Saito ends up forcing Kenshin's own sword down on Kenshin's own shoulder. Yamagata orders Saito to stop. He apologizes profusely to Kenshin and lets him leave.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kaoru is waiting outside for Kenshin. She thanks him for all of his help and offers him an umbrella. She offers him a place to stay at her dojo along with her father's old clothes. Elsewhere, Yahiko finds Megumi stumbling in the streets and brings her into the dojo.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The sky has cleared up and Kenshin has changed clothes. He steps outside his room at the dojo and the camera (slowly) pans to reveal his new pink and white hakama. He meets up with Kaoru. Yahiko appears and introduces them to Megumi, who instantly cozies up to Kenshin. She heard about Kenshin's defense of the dojo from Yahiko.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The group go the Akabeko to have some sukiyaki. As they eat, Kanryu jaunts in. Megumi quickly hides. Kanryu saunters over to Kenshin and tells him he heard about his defense of the dojo. He offers Kenshin a ton of money to be his bodyguard. Kenshin refuses. Kanryu pulls out some more money (I think out of his pants) and adds it to the pile. Kenshin still refuses. Sano bursts in and demands Kanryu hires him instead (as he talks, he lets his zanbatou fall over, which Tae and Sae are barely able to keep up.) He reveals Kenshin's identity as Battousai. He asks Kanryu if he'll hire him if he defeats Kenshin. Kanryu agrees.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Everyone steps outside, where Sano explains that his zanbatou was used to cut down horses during the war. It's dull now, but still deadly. Kenshin dodges all of Sano's swings. Kenshin tells Sano he has no reason to fight him and asks if he'd really work for a guy like Kanryu. Sano admits he wouldn't, then stops fighting, telling the crowd it'd be no good for him to end up in jail again. Kanryu mutters to his aide that he shouldn't get on the Battousai's bad side and leaves. Everyone else goes back inside to eat more beef.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The next day, Jine has struck again. Saito is at the scene and Kenshin happens by. Saito tells Kenshin that this is the result of not helping them kill Kanryu. As a woman cries over a dead policemen's, Kenshin has a flashback. He remembers agreeing to join the war in order to make people's lives better. He remembers a particular assasination. A group of men wander the streets of Tokyo. They congratulate one of the men who is getting married in the morning when Battousai appears. He cuts them all down, but the one to be married keeps rising to fight again, crying out "I can't die yet! I need to live!" Battousai finally cuts him down for good, but gets the first slash of his cross scar. The next day, he watches the corpses being taken away. A woman in white cries (shown only from the back) over the man's corpse while Battousai stares, feeling his scar. The scene cuts back to the present with Kenshin feeling his scar.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kanryu is close to completing his plan. He gets excited because his gattling gun arrives.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">That night, Megumi is outside the dojo when Gein appears. He warns her to be careful and that her actions have consequences.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The next day, a bunch of people all over town are sick. They all end up in the Kamiya dojo. Sano brings in a sick little girl. Megumi rushes outside, tastes the dojo's water, and realizes that Gein put rat poison in the water supply. She gives all the healthy people tasks to do and gets everyone treated. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kenshin talks to Megumi alone while they fetch water. He asks about her past. She tells him he shouldn't ask about hers unless he tells her about his. Kenshin tells her that the first slash of his cross scar came from a man he assasinated, the other slash came from the man's wife to be. Kenshin tells her he's killed so many men. She yells back that she hasn't killed anyone. She flashes back to developing the opium while her test subjects beg for more in the prisons. She tells Kenshin her family was killed and Kanryu took her in. He used her to make opium and she used him to live.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">A doctor brought from the next town over tells Kaoru they're lucky Megumi was there or else everyone would have died. He tells her about the famous Takani family. They were great doctors, but took the wrong side in the war. None were known to survive. Everyone has recovered by the evening, but Megumi has disappeared. Kenshin decides to stop Kanryu. Sano announces he'll join in after everything Kanryu has done. Yahiko wants to go to, but Kenshin tells him to stay behind and watch over Kaoru.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Megumi goes back to Kanryu, who welcomes her with open arms. She tells him she didn't return to help him, but to assasinate him then kill herself. She's stopped by a bodyguard. Kanryu is furious at her, but is interupted from beating her to hear Battousai and Sano have broken onto the premises. Kanryu orders Megumi locked up and rushes off. As Megumi is dragged off, Jine stoops down to talk to her.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kenshin and Sano easily take out the ronin in the mansion courtyard. At some point, Sano tosses his zanbatou to a group of 4 men, who stuggle to hold it. He kicks them down and doesn't bother retrieving the sword. The ronin start backing off. Kanryu throws money from the roof, telling them whoever defeats Kenshin or Sano will be rich beyond their wildest dreams. They renew their attack. Kenshin and Sano take out everyone. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">They enter the mansion and Banjin appears. He asks who he'll fight. Sano volunteers and they have a good ol' fashion brawl, eventually ending up in a kitchen. Kenshin goes to another room and runs into Gein. Kenshin asks what caused him to stoop so low, Gein removes his mask, revealing a half scarred face. In this rendition, Gein is young, pretty, blond man. He tells Kenshin this new era caused him to starve and he joined Kanryu in order to live. He fires a cord and catches Kenshin. He tries to shoot Kenshin with pistols, but Kenshin dodges everything. Finally, he resorts to a knifre. The fight alternates between the Sano/Banjin brawl and the Kenshin/Gein duel.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">During their brawl, Sano eyes a piece of chicken on the floor and calls for a timeout. Banjin obliges, and Sano eats the chicken. He tosses half to Banjin. Banjin sets it down, saying "Poor Bird. I'm a vegetarian." Sano offers him some wine, which Banjin accepts. After they both eat a bunch of random things, they resume their brawl. Sano says Banjin needs to use his head more before headbutting him. He finishes the fight by suplexing Banjin. Kenshin also finishes his fight with Gein.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">They rush to the next room, but before they enter, the door explodes open from gattling gunfire. Sano runs in, barely hiding behind a pillar. Kanryu shouts "How dare you guys destroy my mansion!", Sano retorts "You're destroying it yourself!" Kenshin is still outside the room when Saito non-chalantly walks up. He tells them Yahiko contacted the police. He says the gattling gun can only fire in one direction, so if they can distract Kanryu, Saito can take him out. Kenshin and Sano draw Kanryu's fire while Saito does a Gatotsu, defeating the gattling gun. Kenshin and Sano rush forward to Megumi, who tells them Jine went after Kaoru.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kenshin meets Jine at dawn near a shrine in a forest. Kaoru is tied up on some steps. Jine wants to fight the true Battousai. They fight for a bit. Kenshin is too weak, so Jine uses his powerful will to stop Kaoru from breathing. Unless Kenshin kills Jine within two minutes, Kaoru won't be able to breathe. Kenshin switches back into Battousai mode, saying "I’m angry at you for abducting Kaoru-dono. And I’m angry at myself for letting you do it" with a very rough form of speech. Kenshin sheathes his sword, then attacks with iai-jutsu. Jine dodges the first strike, but then Kenshin smashes Jine's elbow with his sheath. Kenshin states the name of the attack, then raises his sword, intending to kill Jine with the sharp side. Kaoru shouts for Kenshin not to do it. She cries on for a while telling Kenshin he needs to stay the way he is and Kenshin is relieved she's okay. Jine is amazed she broke through his will on her own. He tells Kenshin it's not over yet, picks up a sword, then kills himself. He dies, laughing at Kenshin, telling him a killer will always be a killer.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">The police have swarmed Kanryu's mansion and there's enough evidence to legally put him away.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><br />
</span> <span style="background-color: black;">Kaoru awakes the next day to Sano's snores. Sano is still bloody from the night before. She sees Megumi cooking in the kitchen. She runs around the dojo and sadly realizes that Kenshin left. Just then, Kenshin walks in with a bucket of vegetables. Yahiko tells her he just stepped out to grab some supplies for dinner. Kaoru welcomes him back with an "Okaeri." Kenshin replies with "Tadaima" - I'm home.</span>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-69586393839503967912012-07-18T14:36:00.000-07:002012-07-18T14:37:37.609-07:00Exploding WhaleI feel this old news video should be required viewing. The newscaster commentary is the best part.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1_t44siFyb4" width="420"></iframe>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-33819120795572604632012-07-13T13:28:00.002-07:002012-07-18T14:34:13.802-07:00La Mulana PC released!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.indiegamemag.com/media/site_design_topimg_en.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://www.indiegamemag.com/media/site_design_topimg_en.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The La Mulana remake is finally out! After localization problems caused the WiiWare version to be essentially cancelled, I didn't think it would ever come out. But <a href="http://www.playism-games.com/games/lamulana/">La Mulana was released for the PC</a>, DRM free, on the Playsta platform. The Playism platform is brand new, you can buy things from it using Paypal. It's focus is bringing English indie games to the Japanese speakers and bringing Japanese indie games to the English speakers. It's still rough around the edges, but I was able to purchase the game without any hassle.<br />
<br />
La Mulana was originally a freeware PC game with MSX aesthetics, but with very rich gameplay. It's a metroidvania styled sidescroller, but with a lot more content and challenge than any metroidvania has ever dreamed of having. You play an Indiana Jones like hero exploring ancient ruins. There are tons of items/abilities to collect, enemies to fight, areas to explore, and puzzles to solve. You really have to explore and the puzzles are not trivial. It's a very, very great game that is a lot of fun to play. The remake not only updates the game's graphics to a modern 2D sidescroller look and remasters the music, but it also improves the game content. I strongly suggest taking a look at <a href="http://la-mulana.com/en/">the project's blog</a> and checking out what they've done.<br />
<br />
I've been looking forward to playing this for a long time. The creators have been trying really hard to get the game released in English. Reading their blog and watching their videos really conveys the love and passion they have for this project. The game looks really great and you can tell they put in a lot of care and attention to make it. With obscure references and quirky humor abound, it's clear they enjoyed making this game. They've released this game DRM free and left all the game resources (sound/sprites/script) out in the open to be modded. Hopefully the game will come out on Steam someday, but I hope you'll purchase the game off Playism to reward the developers and also to play an awesome game. I think it's an indie title well worth supporting and I'd really like Nigiro to be successful.<br />
<br />
(NOTE: If you do purchase the game and run Windows 7, make sure you run the installer and the game as Administrator. If you don't, you may have problems, especially with saving, depending on where you installed the game. Also, once you get the laptop in game, you can press F9 to go to the config menu and play around with different graphic filters as well as button layouts.)<br />
<br />
Links:<br />
<a href="http://www.indiegamemag.com/la-mulana-review/#.UAZXJ7RYsdA">Great Review</a><br />
<a href="http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3495008">SA Forum Thread</a>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-36832472329528057412012-07-05T20:55:00.000-07:002012-07-05T20:55:00.512-07:00The Half Minute Hero 2 Archive<br />
I've been working on unpacking and repacking the Yuusha 30 Second (Half Minute Hero 2) PSP game. I don't really have much experience in this kind of thing. I've only played around with one other archive, the first <a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/09/decompressing-archive-files.html">Half Minute Hero</a> before, and all I did was unpack it. So I'm learning as I go. This is a document of what I've been able to accomplish so far:<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">1. Of course, you need the ISO.</span><br />
<br />
2. Open the ISO with <a href="http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/downloads">Daemon Tools</a><br />
Here are the files of note:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Raw Images (for the game's gallery mode) are stored in /<span style="color: #073763;">PSP_GAME/USRDIR/RES/GALLERYTEX</span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The AT3 music is all stored in /<span style="color: #073763;">PSP_GAME/USRDIR/RES/BGM</span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cinematics (there's not really much) are all stored in /<span style="color: #073763;">PSP_GAME/USRDIR/RAWRES</span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>All the actual game data is in the JRZ archives /<span style="color: #073763;">PSP_GAME/USRDIR</span><br />
<br />
3. The JRZ format is as follows:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There is a header that goes from 0x00 to 0x2B. I haven't quite deciphered it. Here is a sample:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">5F 5F 44 45 46 4C 41 54 45 5F 41 52 43 48 49 56 45 5F 53 5F 30 31 5F 5F</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> (The above is "</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763;">__DEFLATE_ARCHIVE_S_01__", but I don't know the next unique part)</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #073763;">09 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 64 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 01 00 00 00</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>After that first header are the file descriptions. They're in the following format, little endian:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> 2 Bytes unknown</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">2 Bytes for the number of bytes in the file name</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">4 bytes unknown</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">4 bytes unknown</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">4 bytes for the file size</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">4 bytes for the extracted file size</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">4 bytes unknown</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">4 bytes for the file offset</span><br />
<br />
Here is a sample:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">- PARTY01.BMP</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;"> -</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">00 00</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">0C 00 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(Number of Bytes for the Filename)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">00 00 00 00</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">00 00 00 00</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">92 0A 00 00 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(File Size A)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">36 04 01 00 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(Extracted File Size A)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">00 00 00 00</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">A9 B1 3B 00 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(File Offset A, so value is </span><span style="background-color: white;">0x3BB1A9</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">50 41 52 54 59 30 31 2E 42 4D 50 00 </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(File Name + 00)</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Finally, is the file data, stored according to the file descriptions.<br />
<br />
4. Decompressing the JRZ archives:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I use <a href="http://aluigi.altervista.org/quickbms.htm">QuickBMS</a> by aluigi. The following bms script can be run against any JRZ file:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">GoTo 0x2C</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">for i = 0 < 1000</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> get DUMMY short</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">get FILENAMELENGTH short</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">get DUMMY long</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">get DUMMY long</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">get FILESIZE long</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">get DUMMY long</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">get DUMMY long</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">get OFFSET long</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">getdstring NAME FILENAMELENGTH<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">log NAME OFFSET FILESIZE</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="color: #0c343d;">next i</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
5. Decompress Resulting Files<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The resulting files seem to be in a zlib compressed stream.<br />
I use <a href="http://aluigi.altervista.org/mytoolz.htm">aluigi's offzip tool</a> to unpack them.<br />
Here's the command format I use:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763;">offzip -a -m 8 "[FILE TO UNPACK]" "[DESTINATION]" 0</span></span><br />
<br />
Of course, I use script that automates running the command on all unpacked files.<br />
<br />
6. Resulting Files:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We have a lot of *.BMP files, these are the sprites and such.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I think that *.S2MP files are map data.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>All the text is buried within the *.DAT files.<br />
<br />
7. Extracting Text<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I haven't figured out the text format yet and it's something I'm working on. <br />
But if I take the *.DAT files <span style="background-color: white;">and scrape all the 0x00 and 0xFF bytes, I get all the text.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"> Each snippet of dialogue is preceded by a 0x01. I made a script to automate this.</span><br />
There are English letters in there, so I'm hoping the text substitution is easy. I'm hoping the<br />
null characters are just padding so that the filesizes wouldn't even change.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
So far, I've only extracted everything. I'm still working on putting it all back together. When I have a chance, I want to try:<br />
<br />
1. Decompressing and Recompressing everything<br />
2. Decompressing, editing text, and recompressing everything<br />
3. Decompressing, editing an image, and recompressing everything<br />
4. Writing tools to automate this entire process better.<br />
<br />
I'm aware some of those "unknown" values might be checksums. I know that things can be trickier than they seem. English may not be easy to insert, character spacing might be an issue, and so on.<br />
<br />
If you'd like to help, please let me know! I could certainly use it to figure this all out. As I said, I don't really know what I'm doing, so even advice and hints would be much appreciated.relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-67672083285878180432012-07-04T15:08:00.000-07:002012-07-04T21:37:08.576-07:00Half Minute Hero 2 Review<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg409FLL8zglmzIErW_ltP3y1KCFC5AW1Lywx58P5eU-NZf-Xr1GinVibT8gPpjzpNSQZ0PgQiDo6sjf9c6Y4QQO8YG1Y_R4bPUUtFOIq0ka2R8WiplP5ZEFOrjWtzocVBnxR4KRwM9GQmy/s1600/hmh2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg409FLL8zglmzIErW_ltP3y1KCFC5AW1Lywx58P5eU-NZf-Xr1GinVibT8gPpjzpNSQZ0PgQiDo6sjf9c6Y4QQO8YG1Y_R4bPUUtFOIq0ka2R8WiplP5ZEFOrjWtzocVBnxR4KRwM9GQmy/s320/hmh2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Yuusha 30 Second (Half Minute Hero 2) is the sequel to Marvelous's Half Minute Hero, which I suggest playing first. </span><a href="http://errantcluster.blogspot.com/2011/09/decompressing-archive-files.html" style="background-color: white;">The first game</a><span style="background-color: white;">, available on the PSP and XBox Live Arcade, is shorter, lighter, and a good indicator of how you'll feel about the sequel. If you liked the first game, you'll also like the sequel. If you didn't like the first one because it didn't feel enough like a JRPG, you should try this one. If you simply didn't like the first game, you won't like this one either</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">I'm going to write this review as though you're familiar with the first game. Half Minute Hero 2 is Japanese only right now, but it is playable without Japanese knowledge... you'll just miss all the story and charm.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<br />
<b>Quick summary:</b><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Very much a sequel to Half Minute Hero. It's a JRPG/Puzzle/Action hybrid that focuses more on fun than challenge.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Only has RPG-mode, so Evil Lord/Princess/Knight fans are out of luck. RPG-mode fans are in for a huge treat.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Story is more of a take on epic SNES RPGs (e.g. Final Fantasy IV) than of classic NES RPGs (e.g. Dragon Quest).</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Story mode less arcade-y. All the half-minute quests are in the framework of a traditional overworld RPG, although quests are replayable.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Lots of secret equipment/party members, as well as significant post story content. Maybe a 20-40 hour game, unless you really get into score attack or user levels.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Lots of extra modes, notably user generated levels and infinite play modes.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Music, graphics (retro 16 bit), and gameplay elements are all a big upgrade over the original.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="background-color: white;">From all this, you can probably tell if you'd like the game or not. It's definitely not for everyone. I personally loved it. I'm arbitrarily giving it a score of 9, mostly because it's a niche game and I'd understand people who find it repetitive. I'll go into much more detail now.</span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NTwP_Xp1Axg" width="560"></iframe></center><b><br />
</b><br />
<b>- GAMEPLAY -</b><br />
<br />
Story mode contains the bulk of the content. Like in the original, you take control of different main characters in different eras. Unlike the original, this game plays much more like a traditional JRPG. It is huge world with a lot of text and a lot of story. You explore an overworld map, fight battles, and progress the story. You equip yourself, you choose your party members, you choose your battle formations, you can switch classes, and you can look for secrets.<br />
<br />
How does the overworld map work? You wander around and any leveling you do contributes to your "global level." Grinding this way is slow, but you do get unlimited dash. Grinding isn't necessary to beat the main game at all. As you explore, you run into areas that lock you into a subarea and start a Half Minute Quest. Your starting level is your global level and the quest plays out a lot like a quest from the original game, in which you have thirty seconds to defeat an Evil Lord before they destroy the world. Sometimes you have to trigger certain events, like finding a key or building a bridge, in order to find and defeat the boss. You can pay a money hungry goddess to reset your thirty second timer. When you finish the quest, the barriers and time limit go away and you reset to your global level. And you continue on like you were playing a traditional JRPG.<br />
<br />
The basic game mechanics are almost exactly like the first game, except that you can see your enemies. If you're at a much a higher level than the enemy, you won't be forced into a battle screen when you touch them... you'll just automatically win. The quests are still very creative in this game and there are lots of new gimmicks (hope you don't mind solving ice puzzles or dealing with flipped controls in 30 seconds...) Some of the quests feel really epic. It's a lot of fun.<br />
<br />
In addition to the five part story mode, there are four other modes to play.<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Time Attack: You can replay the quests you've unlocked from story mode. You can freely set your equipment, party, and formation to go for a high score.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Infinite Mode: You fight an infinite number of evil lords. You go through different maps and have to kill 10 evil lords that randomly spawn in the stage. After you beat ten, you move to a different stage and repeat ad infinitum.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Romancing Maker (Map Editor): Make/Share your own quests. This is pretty well done and not too hard to use. You can search for, download, and play other people's quests. Most of the highly ranked quests are fun.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Battle: Multiplayer mode, you compete with other people to defeat the evil lord first. There are eight different maps in this mode, but they're the same as the XBox Live maps.</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEATjmCZOrbezT7_7yoBXy8pqtIMpb8rzY-N60wa5KbvFSB3dDtmVlBLu2k700cNMX1ZGKo69IFBOAA4_Mwc9XrSo6KXMdPlNn_ryaeLML4-DCgp6KYSqdxE5qsctuWjHXD1p2bN4d57SI/s1600/hmh2chars.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEATjmCZOrbezT7_7yoBXy8pqtIMpb8rzY-N60wa5KbvFSB3dDtmVlBLu2k700cNMX1ZGKo69IFBOAA4_Mwc9XrSo6KXMdPlNn_ryaeLML4-DCgp6KYSqdxE5qsctuWjHXD1p2bN4d57SI/s320/hmh2chars.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>- STORY -</b><br />
<br />
The story is a lot richer this time around, but it still keeps its tongue-in-cheek tone. It is a continuation to the original Half Minute Hero story. It's actually a very satisfying continuation, especially considering it didn't even feel like there was much of a story to continue. A surprising amount of familiar faces show up again as villians, heroes, or both. This story has a lot more serious moments, but keeps its humor and playfulness. It's a great take on the huge RPGs of the SNES era.<br />
<br />
The story mode follows three generations of heroes: Yuusha, Yushia, and Yuja. Yuusha is a play on the amnesiac, emo hero. He's even got one wing. He's captain of the royal forces on a special mission. Although he has a cold demeanor, he's a very caring guy. Yushia is a student of the Goddess school in a world ruled by the Empire. She's a bit naive and has to deal with a crazy escalating situation. Yuja is a brawn over brains kind of guy who's living in a post-apocalyptic type world that's been ruined by the gods. Each story mostly deals with saving the world within 30 seconds, but the overarching threat is different each time and each story has its own themes. Each of the heroes makes a contract with a Time Goddess who will reset time for them... for an increasingly high fee. Both main characters and supporting cast are pretty endearing.<br />
<br />
As you can guess, this game addresses a lot of RPG tropes. You get lots of adventure, romance, betrayal, artifact collecting, and plot twists. There are evil empires, dark lords, time streams, and rivals to fight. You take on evil groups like the "Eight Elementals", "The Three Generals", the "Dark Time Goddess", and the "Venus Seven." The creators use a lot of cliches, but they use them knowingly. The story is a lot more coherently put together than the first game, but still keeps its quirky tone.<br />
<br />
<b>- PRESENTATION -</b><br />
<br />
The graphics follow the original Half Minute Hero's retro look, although this time around, the style is much closer to 16-bit RPGs of the SNES era. If you like that look, you'll love the art. There are a ton of sprites and a ton of maps. Most of the main characters and villians have concept art you can collect in game. The concepts were drawn by different artists and it's fun to compare the concept to the actual sprite.<br />
<br />
The music is once again done by The Alfee and it is awesome. It's really great. There are vocal songs this time too, which add a really epic feel.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNv8mBTutlEczhqwQI_y14U4AzhS0Vn43APIhPKtSSVrkfEFxz5UhKIwp0p9ujSax5WxphqUMn7VgJFrlnMGGRG4artGaSWNonDJlxHDkoygCNOgtOOnL43rkRL1fdrCuZEMqy0BpkmH2F/s1600/hmh2cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNv8mBTutlEczhqwQI_y14U4AzhS0Vn43APIhPKtSSVrkfEFxz5UhKIwp0p9ujSax5WxphqUMn7VgJFrlnMGGRG4artGaSWNonDJlxHDkoygCNOgtOOnL43rkRL1fdrCuZEMqy0BpkmH2F/s320/hmh2cover.jpg" width="185" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white;">- CLOSING -</b><br />
<br />
I'm a huge Half Minute Hero fan and grew up playing SNES RPGs, so I really loved this game. It's not just more of the same, I'd say the developers took even bigger risks this time by trying to make a full length game. It feels like a loving, fast paced take on a great traditional RPG. I really wish this game would come out in English so I could understand it better.<br />
<br />
<b>- EXTRAS -</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<a href="http://www.maql.co.jp/special/game/30s/index.html">Official Website</a><br />
<a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2011/05/19/how-half-minute-hero-second-improves-upon-the-original/">English Interview</a><br />
<a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8B%87%E8%80%8530_SECOND">Japanese Wiki Page</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/kodomia/videos?query=half+minute+hero">Full Playthrough Videos</a><br />
<a href="http://heckyeahhalfminutehero.tumblr.com/">Half Minute Hero Tumblr</a><br />
<a href="http://hmh2translation.kumodori.com/">Half Minute Hero 2 Translation Project</a>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-21141187866817568012012-06-05T22:28:00.000-07:002012-06-05T22:28:00.287-07:00Cool One Piece Strawhat Figure SetsEh, I'll post the rest of the One Piece Sets I was looking at. If you look at my last few posts, it's obvious I've been looking for a really good full Strawhat set. I ended up going for Megahouse's Chess set, but here are the various sets I was considering. I think they're all pretty nice.<br />
<div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLnzemJEdz6nF6qJ4CkGOSZwziaI8YBVOzA81shf7bzFJjFKDlwhAaqYvd6fdiGDV-aBip40QfxZ4eUQEcwXug_WTTvwS-IaDrIQZL8uqYYXCm4AFGkkG9HdbyOMQKT8Mp7HMXVHbxa7n/s1600/OnePieceIchibanKuji-clean.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLnzemJEdz6nF6qJ4CkGOSZwziaI8YBVOzA81shf7bzFJjFKDlwhAaqYvd6fdiGDV-aBip40QfxZ4eUQEcwXug_WTTvwS-IaDrIQZL8uqYYXCm4AFGkkG9HdbyOMQKT8Mp7HMXVHbxa7n/s320/OnePieceIchibanKuji-clean.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1. Ichiban Kuji</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQWFiRsCN4gF5872zp5ahYeMMfXJ_0CwaZPh5oMhN4W5qVzP4PNF6ykJXdmWXectrp9L8bjimBvEDq3isiKtmg85-yWxIS7yk_6vJWVldNGBQBkUcUhg4FBv28G8UrCG47B2YY8FbA8gh/s1600/OnePieceChess3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQWFiRsCN4gF5872zp5ahYeMMfXJ_0CwaZPh5oMhN4W5qVzP4PNF6ykJXdmWXectrp9L8bjimBvEDq3isiKtmg85-yWxIS7yk_6vJWVldNGBQBkUcUhg4FBv28G8UrCG47B2YY8FbA8gh/s320/OnePieceChess3.png" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2. Megahouse Chess</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1PL0YOUull190t2ni7hoQVzyG8-tc-24bKWMGdn4p1V_KdlbtbXksLJB88sOMgMX3lBYevzL4JVcrh52wbrd0VhD4cgjwf1o5nRJ6MUxUOqDLzeAFOW9Nu-4Fh5NLvmDYGDIS8-LYx8-s/s1600/OnePieceHalfAge.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1PL0YOUull190t2ni7hoQVzyG8-tc-24bKWMGdn4p1V_KdlbtbXksLJB88sOMgMX3lBYevzL4JVcrh52wbrd0VhD4cgjwf1o5nRJ6MUxUOqDLzeAFOW9Nu-4Fh5NLvmDYGDIS8-LYx8-s/s320/OnePieceHalfAge.png" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3. Half Age Characters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-UojhSxih8Pev-xfo76LGb-Cbft-EX66NNo4CShHtFU9cTmhOLfodH0ubmtao5Z3emzCfvj5kZVjK3I95TTR_PV5xJqVD6OAeFf-uknPbFTbnrJYv4chCv5je7FBmoqZCsG000eH6yzI/s1600/OnePieceChozekiDamashii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-UojhSxih8Pev-xfo76LGb-Cbft-EX66NNo4CShHtFU9cTmhOLfodH0ubmtao5Z3emzCfvj5kZVjK3I95TTR_PV5xJqVD6OAeFf-uknPbFTbnrJYv4chCv5je7FBmoqZCsG000eH6yzI/s320/OnePieceChozekiDamashii.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4. Chozokei Damashii One Piece Straw Hat Pirates Gekitou! Fishman Island Battle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
Some other sets I considered were the <a href="http://onepiecetoys.tumblr.com/post/14458017042">New World Figuarts Zero</a> and <a href="http://onepiecetoys.tumblr.com/post/14455898127">POP Strong World</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
By the way, if you don't know about it already, the <a href="http://onepiecetoys.tumblr.com/">One Piece Toys Tumblr</a> is really fun to browse through and keep up on One Piece figures. I've definitely spent my quota on figures for the year... but there's no harm looking.</div>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-26277094618461008562012-06-05T21:09:00.000-07:002012-06-06T08:39:22.377-07:00One Piece Ichiban Kuji Strong World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since I posted the One Piece Chess Set, I'll post this other Strawhat set I really liked. I saw this rare set in person and loved it, although not many share my appreciation. It's an Ichiban Kuji One Piece Strong World set. You had to buy tickets to win these toys instead of buying them outright. You can read more about Ichiban Kuji <a href="http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Ichiban_Kuji_One_Piece">here</a>.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
What I love about this set is the cohesion. Not only do the pieces link together, but more than any set, I think these figures show the Strawhats as a unified group. Each piece is pretty large, about the size of a figurearts zero. The major downside is that the quality isn't anything to write home about.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
If you'd like to buy the set, I've seen them on ebay and mandarake. They're expensive, but I really do like them.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrVmUavwGOX2spYut7trEf1ez4XOWZR5caIMsBOWxHhuJf0QC-qJCcECCD6_z7B1TXR6FPlHJkOvVLLlCdyQg2l7muyL56B1Lxx2pClbrTpsrISHl_7lJKhRrtbDCUJM13MU3Yv1IuTZ7/s1600/OnePieceIchibanKuji3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrVmUavwGOX2spYut7trEf1ez4XOWZR5caIMsBOWxHhuJf0QC-qJCcECCD6_z7B1TXR6FPlHJkOvVLLlCdyQg2l7muyL56B1Lxx2pClbrTpsrISHl_7lJKhRrtbDCUJM13MU3Yv1IuTZ7/s320/OnePieceIchibanKuji3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtXpphhMuqC1q0uVGGmpbPeMxmR0cuo5UaJOHRXtABKRbifMkfQjQG2ZWpoam2K1JNLydkGl7UpodSWI2vhq4DI15KRjhFuVdJ3QyZOzIQqhdtd-9PaXKOpZG93lZpWFipye40ljaaLGx/s1600/OnePieceIchibanKuji-clean.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtXpphhMuqC1q0uVGGmpbPeMxmR0cuo5UaJOHRXtABKRbifMkfQjQG2ZWpoam2K1JNLydkGl7UpodSWI2vhq4DI15KRjhFuVdJ3QyZOzIQqhdtd-9PaXKOpZG93lZpWFipye40ljaaLGx/s320/OnePieceIchibanKuji-clean.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeEMG5zGl9zCEW7edgv8SxKgRjFiiC0rUac_pdfkKLyzfgAgL3z8lh7_pOdMQBiH1Rh_Qu5OegTwrhsJ_OLnn4XL-NPAEluet60KGWI3Y19RP9ophjoEVyE-hoxgCepDmp9I2ZEowE73D/s1600/OnePieceIchibanKuji2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeEMG5zGl9zCEW7edgv8SxKgRjFiiC0rUac_pdfkKLyzfgAgL3z8lh7_pOdMQBiH1Rh_Qu5OegTwrhsJ_OLnn4XL-NPAEluet60KGWI3Y19RP9ophjoEVyE-hoxgCepDmp9I2ZEowE73D/s320/OnePieceIchibanKuji2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGvd2sCsn8XkgwVqTVKNXYrI6oDRz6w0Vxr46uesUknsPeeA-s9avrgl074x_v3kOuoY8x2Fj8kRwj-SjceilMtlrf3ApeZveGjSNumigDwJItqCv7n2x4fSyP8Zr0FlKnrUpTCz4J-v5x/s1600/OnePieceIchibanKuji4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGvd2sCsn8XkgwVqTVKNXYrI6oDRz6w0Vxr46uesUknsPeeA-s9avrgl074x_v3kOuoY8x2Fj8kRwj-SjceilMtlrf3ApeZveGjSNumigDwJItqCv7n2x4fSyP8Zr0FlKnrUpTCz4J-v5x/s320/OnePieceIchibanKuji4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-72465096173499912702012-06-05T19:09:00.000-07:002012-06-06T08:37:57.304-07:00One Piece Megahouse Chess Set<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Megahouse/Megahobby One Piece Chess Set Collection R looks awesome. All the current Strawhats are represented, the poses look cool (it's a more serious looking set), and I've heard the quality is good. Each figure is 90cm, or 3.5 inches. There are two versions of each figure, one with a black base and the other with a white base. Take a look for yourself.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ClYGNv5nZqdeoiVner-US9NPc8rgud9eMGEYcjzJESlyrf9jwMxCiVkMXMkrhkSxCj2mkREfbMT-T6YtKHrvhxaSSEsXBGGNepvs9FxAcIcZLtChIrNWWMNt_HStlQG1Ps7dqp1280pp/s1600/OnePieceChess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ClYGNv5nZqdeoiVner-US9NPc8rgud9eMGEYcjzJESlyrf9jwMxCiVkMXMkrhkSxCj2mkREfbMT-T6YtKHrvhxaSSEsXBGGNepvs9FxAcIcZLtChIrNWWMNt_HStlQG1Ps7dqp1280pp/s400/OnePieceChess.jpg" width="361" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.megahobby.jp/products/item/814/">http://www.megahobby.jp/products/item/814/</a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Luffy: King</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Nami: Queen</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sanji: Bishop</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Zoro: Knight</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Usopp: Rook</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Chopper: Pawn</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59AM3tEQwc9mm_6P666d2P5cDqarjUJYAY9nvpbQLhTCt2D2p8W3W8tIcL20X0VjdaiZ3-sor2jxcPB7lWP8MrKmM8dauFBmFN9K4Yx60NdBZPNJHPMaNwC-atUlOySGtFeFQe01vB7bY/s1600/4535123814204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59AM3tEQwc9mm_6P666d2P5cDqarjUJYAY9nvpbQLhTCt2D2p8W3W8tIcL20X0VjdaiZ3-sor2jxcPB7lWP8MrKmM8dauFBmFN9K4Yx60NdBZPNJHPMaNwC-atUlOySGtFeFQe01vB7bY/s400/4535123814204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.megahobby.jp/products/item/894/">http://www.megahobby.jp/products/item/894/</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Luffy: King</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Shirahoshi: Queen</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Zoro: Bishop</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Robin: Knight</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Franky: Rook</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Brook: Pawn<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
The first set came out April 2012. The second set comes out in September 2012.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The R in the title apparently stands for Rebirth/Reborn/Return. Megahouse did <a href="http://images.wikia.com/onepiece/images/8/83/ChessPieceCollectionDX-OnePiece.jpg">another set</a> in 2004, you can read about it <a href="http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Chess_Piece_Collection">here</a>. This new set is also post-timeskip.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQWFiRsCN4gF5872zp5ahYeMMfXJ_0CwaZPh5oMhN4W5qVzP4PNF6ykJXdmWXectrp9L8bjimBvEDq3isiKtmg85-yWxIS7yk_6vJWVldNGBQBkUcUhg4FBv28G8UrCG47B2YY8FbA8gh/s1600/OnePieceChess3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQWFiRsCN4gF5872zp5ahYeMMfXJ_0CwaZPh5oMhN4W5qVzP4PNF6ykJXdmWXectrp9L8bjimBvEDq3isiKtmg85-yWxIS7yk_6vJWVldNGBQBkUcUhg4FBv28G8UrCG47B2YY8FbA8gh/s400/OnePieceChess3.png" width="310" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
It's a really nice Strawhat set, right?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
It's good enough for display, using them</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
for Chess isn't really neccessary.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
I really do love the set, but of course I'm not without my wishlists and minor complaints. First off, I don't like that Shirahoshi is in the set and I don't like that there are two Zoros. For me, they disrupt the cohesion of the set... like a nickel in a collection of quarters. I'm fine with the two Luffys, but I don't really like the legs crossed version... it just looks awkward to me, although I know that many men do it.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
If I was in charge of the line with the same cost/set constraints, I'd do the following. Two Luffys still make sense to me, but I tried to make the sets Strawhats only, match characters to pieces better, and balance the sides. Ideally, there would be two versions of each of the strawhats, although it wouldn't be neccessary. What do you think?</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
King 1 - Luffy</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Queen 1 - Nami</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Knight 1 - Sanji</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Bishop 1 - Brooke</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Rook 1 - Franky</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Pawn 1 - Thousand Sunny</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
King 2 - Luffy</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Queen 2 - Robin</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Knight 2 - Zoro</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Bishop 2 - Chopper</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Rook 2 - Usopp</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Pawn 2 - Going Merry</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Personally, I prefer all the strawhats to be on each side. Yeah, it still means eight pawns, but now there's just one of everyone else. It would also allow an option to create rival chess sets. With all the characters, it would probably be confusing to play this way... but sets like these aren't really for real use. This set is actually doable with the current set.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
King - Luffy</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Queen - Nami</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Knight1 - Zoro</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Knight2 - Sanji</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Bishop1 - Robin</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Bishop2 - Brooke</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Rook1 - Franky</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Rook2 - Usopp</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Pawn - Chopper</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You can find the blind boxes at several figure importers such as <a href="http://www.amiami.com/">www.amiami.com</a>. If you want a complete set of figures, you can find some on ebay or yahoo auctions japan. So... all the usual places. If you want a complete chess set... that'd be pretty expensive. I would love to see images of a complete board though. I ordered a black base set myself... I'll post pictures when I have them all.</div>relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-656837495439696907.post-74815576633072196622012-06-03T21:07:00.002-07:002012-06-03T21:08:29.711-07:00Easy Youtube to MP3FYI, this is a pretty nice tool. It allows very easy conversion from a youtube video to an MP3. The URL is <a href="http://www.youtube-mp3.org/">http://www.youtube-mp3.org/</a>.<br />
<br />
There are also browser addons that add a button to the youtube page itself so that the tool is even easier to use.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-to-mp3/">Firefox Youtube to MP3 addon</a><br />
<br />
Just do a search on your own for other browser addons. I haven't tried them out and I don't want to recommend anything potentially dangerous.relic.nthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16896487577512718917noreply@blogger.com0