The Hobbit - the Desolation of Smaug

So I recently went with some friends to watch the newest installment of The Hobbit, subtitled The Desolation of Smaug. Following the adventures of Bilbo Baggins (played by Martin Freeman) and the thirteen dwarves and one rather cranky old wizard, they reached their location, but their journey was still very far from over. So, being a sequel directed by Peter Jackson, this movie obviously has to be great, right? Perhaps even better than the first one?

Erm... that depends on who you ask. Personal opinion? ... First one was better.

Okay, who fed beans to the gigantic dragon again?

Don't get me wrong - it's not a bad movie by any standard. The scenery is breathtaking, the characters are likeable and memorable (though some dwarves aren't as memorable - a necessary sacrifice), the plot is for the most part well-constructed. However, it feels like Peter Jackson is just overdoing it on far too many things. Too much CG, too much suspension of disbelief, too much unnecessary character development, too many battles. It just felt like that Peter Jackson was tacking on far, far too many unnecessary things in the movie that could easily be cut out and wouldn't do a bloody thing overall. The first movie already had a good deal of unnecessary stuff, but this one is taking the cake and running with it.

I don't care if you have a good reason lore-wise to be in here, GTFO LEGOLAS.

One of the biggest examples of unnecessary padding is the inclusion of Legolas and the original character Tauriel, played by Evangeline Lily of Lost fame. There's something of a love triangle that develops between one of the dwarves, Fili, and the elves Legolas and Tauriel. I'll be blunt - this whole love triangle serves as nothing more than a fake attempt at drama, and the inclusion of Legolas has to be one of the most cynical moves I've seen in movies yet. Although Legolas has a good excuse to be here (he's the son of Thranduil, the Elvenking in the books), he was utterly unnecessary. Every scene he shows up could be labeled or subtitled, 'Gratuitous Fangirl Pandering', because that's essentially what it is. He's there only to act like a racist dick and do cool stuff.

As for Tauriel... by the gods, could one find a more cliched character?! A princess who dreams of seeing the world beyond her castle, starts having a forbidden relationship (said love interest of hers is not only a pauper, but a dwarf, adding racism to the mix) and just wants to go out and have adventures? Oh yeah, sure, that hasn't been done A COUPLE TRILLION TIMES ALREADY. The inclusion of Legolas and Tauriel hurt the movie a huge deal and I could not stop thinking how unnecessary both of these characters and their plot was. Maybe it's because I'm a Tolkien fanboy who hates deviation from canon, but I can usually just forget what I read to enjoy a good movie. This, however, I can't swallow.

Thorin, you can either develop in one movie or in three. MAKE UP YOUR MIND.

When we finished the first movie, we saw Thorin finally accepting Bilbo Baggins as an integral part of the company as much as any of the dwarves. It was a touching moment of friendship no doubt. So why in the second movie did we completely backtrack, once again with Thorin thinking of Bilbo as nothing more than a mere 'burglar'? Okay, sure he did seem to respect Bilbo more for the acts he does (praising him when he saved the company's collective arses more than a few times), but all bets are off when they reach the Lonely Mountain. Here, all the character development is thrown out the door as Thorin becomes greedy and wants the Arkenstone enough to treat Bilbo (and maybe the rest of the company) as expendable. To be fair, though, the other dwarves are now calling out Thorin for his callousness, particularly Balin, who was shown to be loyal to him to the very end. Those who know the lore would think that this is the effect of one of the Six Rings of the Dwarves (which inflames greed to unhealthy levels, but this is still stretching it), but for the casual moviegoer... the change is jarring and inconsistent.

Yep, he's still got the Precious.

Now on the flip side, Martin Freeman and Ian McKellan still give us great performances as Bilbo and Gandalf respectively. Bilbo managed to grow some balls since the first movie thanks to all his adventures, but he still remains an adorably dorky kind of guy that one can't help but love. He can be stabbing and slashing at spiders at one moment and tripping over a tree root the next. However, with his possession of the One Ring (not a spoiler at this point, considering the earlier Lord of the Rings movies and how it's shown as a F***ING EVIL THING every single time it appears here), there are some moments where he's possessive over it, and goes on surprisingly vicious murder streaks if something tries to take or claim it... and freaking out afterward, horrified by his brutality. Handled wrong, this would've been too much and probably would've had me rolling my eyes. However, Martin Freeman handles it so well and realistically, I can see Bilbo genuinely snapping then being terrified of not only himself, but the Ring... yet can't throw it away. It goes to show that Martin Freeman is a damn talented actor.

Looks like an excellent summer home.

Gandalf admittedly gets a good deal less screentime in the second movie as he does the first since he often has to run off, but he does the same thing in the books so that can slide. McKellan is pretty much Gandalf to a T, no questions asked, showing his gruff but very intelligent self... and also his very mischievous side as well that he seems to be prone to from time to time. The part about Beorn was particularly funny, though I REALLY wished they added Gandalf trying to tell the story to Beorn and modifying the details until Beorn just throws up his hands and goes, "Oh, gimme a break!!" That might have ruined the tone of the movie, but oh well. Still, Gandalf gets a level in being a dumbass to create more unnecessary drama and give us bigger reveals. If you must go into a dark, creepy, ruined castle that screams 'THIS PLACE IS EVIL!!!' solo, you do NOT essentially blow a trumpet every twenty feet to make sure everyone in the vicinity knows you're there! To be fair, though, Gandalf did pay for it - painfully, I might add - though the whole thing could've been avoided in the first place.

And speaking of Dol Guldur, there was one huge part that I REALLY did not like. Skip this paragraph if you do not want spoilers. No, skip it now because it's a doozy, unless you're a Tolkien fan and already know this or you've already seen the movie. So seriously, skip this paragraph. ... Still here? Okay, so the biggest problem is when Sauron shows up. He shows up as this torrent of darkness and shadows which is rather cool, sometimes taking a somewhat human yet not really form. And this might seem little to you, but... Sauron talks. As in actual, comprehensible words and sentences. Okay, once he started talking, Sauron became a thousand times LESS ominous and scary. Something that talks like that gives us the feeling he's a sentient creature, only a bit more above us rather than the freaking god of darkness that he is. Sure, it's the Black Speech which was designed by Tolkien to sound evil, but... I'm sorry, that just ruined him. If they just kept Sauron's 'speech' to those indistinct whispers that we kept hearing in Lord of the Rings, I'd be absolutely terrified. It would give us the feeling that he is something that cannot be be matched by mortals, cannot be matched by anyone on our level, a distinct feeling of inhumanity that gives us the feeling he is something not natural to the world. But yeah, that was botched.

Slenderman's cousin.

So what's my final opinion of The Hobbit, Desolation of Smaug? Not a bad movie, but definitely not great. In fact, it's rather weak compared to the first movie. There's a lot of other nitpicks I could give as well, but I'm not gonna whine and complain the whole way through. It's a good enough movie, but I seriously hope the third Hobbit will be better. 

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and keep checking for any updates!

Team Games: Shared Lessons

A couple years ago, I started playing Team Fortress 2, not only because it became free, but because during my childhood, I played Team Fortress Classic. It was a game I loved, not only because of the fast-paced action, but also because of the nine unique classes requiring different playstyles in order to work right. I particularly loved the fact that it was a team game. No one was more important than the other, I could talk to my teammates over the microphone, and while I occasionally had to deal with an idiot or a jerk, for the most part, most people I talked to online were nice. We could coordinate our attacks and defenses, and if we had time, even talk about other stuff too.

Ah, childhood...

Now recently, I've started playing League of Legends. I'll be honest, although I've heard a huge amount about League of Legends, I was always scared of touching it. The horror stories I've heard about the game are more than enough to turn me off, not helped by the fact that I've played a tiny bit of the game it's derived from, Defense of the Ancients (DotA for short). DotA is a near-pure elitist game. As my cousin, who is addicted to DotA, described it to me, you're either a newb, in which case you should abandon the game, or you're a complete elitist, who knows all the mechanics like the back of their hands, the best item builds, etc etc etc - enough information to fill an entire class curriculum. There's no in-between ground, with very harsh penalties for dying even once in the game. That being said, League of Legends at least gives some more leeway for newbies, removing harsher penalties, taking out most things that require random chance, etc, making it infinitely more friendly for anyone new to the genre.

Each one of those 'tiles' is a playable champion. And we're still getting new ones.

Now, when I played League of Legends, I noticed that a lot of the lessons and playstyles that I learned in Team Fortress 2 also applied to League of Legends (different genres entirely, but the overall concepts are the same). I've also played other team games like Left 4 Dead or Warframe, and they also emphasize the same concepts. This little post here is all about what concepts I think apply to all these games I've played. REMEMBER, THIS IS STRICTLY OPINION. DO NOT BITE OF MY HEAD IF YOU DON'T AGREE. So, without further ado, let's get started.

Objectives, not kills

In all these team games I played, the general overall rule of thumb is that objectives are the first priority, with kills getting a distant second. Sure, when you get kills, it secures various advantages, whether depriving their team of firepower, weakening their defenses, perhaps even gaining some sort of resource for their death like in League of Legends, where you get gold and experience for the kill. However, most of the time, one cannot sacrifice objectives for getting kills, because at the end of the day, even if your team has 100 kills over your opponent, if your opponent completes their objective, you lose, no questions asked.

Kill all you want, if this thing on your end goes down, you're losing anyway.

That being said, it's rather surprising at how many people associate getting kills with securing objectives. Or simply ignore the objectives to score points and get kills, possibly to boost their ego. Unless the objective specifically is to kill the other team, this is not the case at all, and ego does nothing to win a game - or win any friends, for that matter. Objectives are infinitely more important, so unless you don't feel like winning at all, go for them and only kill if it's necessary.

Spawn camping's nice and all... just make sure this large control point of yours is guarded.

Think it's all about you? Good freaking luck.

Team games. Please read that first word slowly and carefully. TEAM games. Not 'I'm-totally-hot-sh**' games, not 'every-man-and-woman-and-child-for-themselves' games, team games. For those of you who STILL don't get it, what I mean is that you cannot play by yourself and expect to do even halfway well. You can't ignore your teammates for the sake of picking kills or even for securing objectives. If you do this, you're setting either yourself or for your entire team to lose the game. 

In a four-man team like in Left 4 Dead 2, acting like a hotshot gets you picked off.

Now, it's not enough to simply fight shoulder-to-shoulder. That's just single player mode with more people (as contradictory as that sounds). So what to do? Cooperation is key. For one very simple example, take the Medic from Team Fortress 2. The Medic is exactly as described - a class that goes around, healing other players, having low offensive capability. Most players don't go for the Medic simply because they want to shoot and kill people. However, the Medic is essential because he can keep up an offense or defense up a lot longer than it normally. He also has a special ability called the Ubercharge, where he can render himself and a teammate invincible for a small duration. Cooperation with said teammate is crucial, as a single Ubercharge can easily swing a losing battle into a smashing win.

These two are the most feared things in Team Fortress 2, bar none.

Social Skills - The unofficial skill that must be leveled up

We're going to try a small exercise. I'm going to present you two pieces of dialogue. Assume you are a guy with a big gun, lots of ammo, and your teammate is requesting reinforcements.

Teammate: HEY NOOB, USE UR GUN N KILL THEM, N GIMME HEALTH PACK, U SUK 2 MUCH 2 USE IT!

You: *Saves teammate*

Teammate: *Goes off without a word to resume killing*

Teammate: Need some backup, and a health pack - about to die.

You: *Saves teammate*

Teammate: Thanks. *Heads back to work*

Now, who are you more likely going to save? The second one? Thought so. In fact, you'd probably just let the guy in the first scenario die and laugh at his mangled in-game body. This section is gonna be somewhat short because that example pretty much sums up my point as succinctly as possible. Acting like a jerk is not going to do you any favors - it makes enemies of your teammates when they should be allies and friends, and they'll act like jerks in turn, whether it's 'conveniently' not noticing that they're about to be sniped to 'somehow' running past them when they could use a healing. On the other hand, if you're polite and nice about it, not only is this more likely to get what you want, be it a heal, backup firepower, etc, it's also more efficient, sparing any arguments and even spend less time typing and doing what you need to do.

Sona, a Support-type Champion. Treat her well and she'll buff you to victory.

That being said, sometimes people act like jerks and you have no choice but to put up with it. That's because like it or not, they're still part of your team. Like it or not, he still packs the firepower your team needs. Therefore, you're still gonna need to help him. Sometimes, working in a team game is all about gritting your teeth, putting up with the b**tard, and try to win the game with him (and immediately blacklisting him afterward). Arguments and dick-measuring contests are just going to contribute to inefficiency and will lead to a loss without fail. Do what you have to do, but bottom line: Don't be a jerk, and don't give jerks any fuel.

Three simple lessons I learned in team games, but they have saved me a huge amount of headache, even though they're common sense. Thanks for reading this post, and look forward to my next update!

Pacific Rim

So sorry for the long delay. Out of muse, procrastinating, work, and other stuff prevented me from posting.

These days, I work as a cashier at a Best Buy. Thanks to working there and checking people out, I can find out what kind of trends there have been in recent purchases. A month or so ago, a movie called Pacific Rim came out on DVD. I didn't watch it in theaters - I was in China at the time - but my dad got it on xfinity and we both watched it. 

You can't deny that this looks epic.

I'll be honest with you, when I first heard the premise of Pacific Rim, I just thought 'classic B-rated Hollywood movie'. And by that, I mean little plot, forgettable characters, high-flying unrealistic action. Which was alright, I guess, but it just wasn't that appealing to me these days. But the customers who bought it told me that it was actually surprisingly good. I figured, what the heck. I might as well see what the big deal is. I was proven wrong... in a good way.

Pacific Rim, directed by Guerillo del Toro, has a simple premise: Giant monsters called Kaiju (yeah, the same label given to Japanese giant creatures like Godzilla) have appeared from the Pacific Ocean via a rift in dimensions. They come in, they trash cities, we try to take them down using conventional means and fail miserably. The counter plan for these things are the Jaegers (German for 'hunter'), which are giant mechanical suits several hundred feet tall, designed explicitly to combat the Kaijus. So it's a giant slugfest between giant monsters that look like something out of a mix-and-match toy and oversized action figures, with the humans trying desperately to find a way to plug the hole to the monster world.

And this scene comes in within the first 10 minutes or so.

So with that premise, you'd just watch this for giant robots slugging giant monsters, right? Well... I won't deny that's basically what the whole movie's about. But there's a surprising amount of social connotations within the movie. With the giant monsters, there's also some mentions on dealing with their toxic blood, which renders cities uninhabitable. Also, the Jaegers are REALLY expensive, so it's not that surprising that the politicians abandon Jaegers in the prologue when the Kaiju are tearing them faster than they can build them. Also, people worship these massive Kaiju, which isn't all that surprising considering their size, strength, and ferocity, and there's a thriving black market for parts of these beasts. One guy even says that a small piece of Kaiju crap (I'm not joking here) contains enough phosphorus to fertilize and entire field!

Meet Knifehead. Guess how he got his name. Go on, guess.

Aside from that, the characters aren't too bad. Marshal Stacker Pentecost, played by Idris Elba, is easily the most interesting character in the movie. Not only does he play a commander well, he also gives off an aura of command that few people can match. One could tell that he often struggles between being a good commander and being a good human - and yes, it's visible, not just subtle things only snobby-snobs can pick up (*cough*). Mako Mori, played by Rinko Kikuchi, is not just your typical Hollywood love interest / babe. She has a surprising amount of depth, especially when you learn about her rather traumatic backstory. The interactions between Pentecost and Mori easily make the more emotional parts of this otherwise testosterone-stuffed film. 

On the other hand, the movie does suffer from weak characters - especially the main character, Raleigh Becket. Becket is a very flat character. Okay, we saw him lose his brother and it still somewhat haunts him, but that's about it. It doesn't bother him for the rest of the film except for the occasional mention. There was only one time that it was actually semi-important, and that moment was only used for triggering Mori's story. Otherwise, he's almost your typical action hero who can fight really good and is pragmatic... and that's it. There are other pilots and Jaegers introduced, and although they've been played up as some of the best of the best, they're ripped to pieces not fifteen minutes later. I understand that the movie was already long/large enough as is, but couldn't we see these metal titans live up to their reputation for a bit?

The Crimson Typhoon. Looks awesome, right? Too bad you won't see much of him.

Now then, as for the visuals.... it looks simply wonderful. Not only the designs of the Kaiju and Jaegers, but the animation. The Jaegers do move like humans, but their movements are very inorganic, befitting giant metallic suits that is run entirely by machinery and two human brains. The Kaiju's movements are much like intelligent hunters - fast, brutal, pragmatic, strong. If you're used to just random clashing or biting from the Kaiju, well, think again. When the humans say that the Kaiju are adapting, the movie shows that they mean it. The Kaiju do what they can, when they can to bring the Jaegers down. They'll use every trick up their arsenal and then some... and it's brutally successful. So what does this mean for the movie? Well, in most action movies, we know the heroes are gonna be okay. Throw a couple thousand bullets at them, they'll get right back up. Here, both sides are playing for keeps. You can see it and feel it, lending a huge amount of tension that is absent in a lot of action movies.

The Slattern. All the other Kaiju are jokes. This guy's the punchline.

So in the end, what's my opinion of it? Well, if you're looking for a great action flick that also has a surprisingly good amount of storytelling, both overt and subtle, you're looking in the right place. If you're looking for something really deep, well, you might want to go someplace else. But then, to reiterate: It's GIANT ROBOTS FIGHTING GIANT MONSTERS. What's not to like about it?! So yeah, highly recommend this movie.

Once more, thanks for reading and putting up with the delay!

Fate/Zero

Sorry for the long wait, ladies and gents. I've just been procrastinating and thinking about what else to write. So then I thought, why not write about a new anime series I've gotten addicted to?

Every bit as epic as it looks.

That's right, everyone, it's Fate/Zero, the prologue of the original Fate/Stay Night visual novel done by TYPE Moon. Done by a production company called ufotable, it is definitely one of the higher quality series out there - and considering how many awesome ones I've seen, that's saying something! I'm already highly recommending you readers to watch it, but hey, read on anyway so you know what you're dealing with.

Now then, a bit of background info - Every couple hundred years or so (or less - I was never very clear on that...), the Holy Grail manifests. It shall grant one wish to a person it deems strong enough to use it. How does it decide? The Holy Grail War. Seven magi (or magicians, if you couldn't tell) summon Servants - exceptionally powerful familiars - to fight for them. There are seven classes of Servants: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. Of course, just being powerful familiars/magical beings wouldn't be enough for such a war - each Servant is someone from the distant past. A mythological hero or an infamous historical figure? Perhaps both? Believe me, some of the identities of these Servants are... mind-boggling to say the least.

Lancer vs. Saber. The former is badass and popular. The latter is badass, cute, and a cash cow.

Now then, for those of you who have been trying to count the cast, we have seven Masters (the magi who summoned the Servants and 'control' them) and seven Servants. That puts it at fourteen already. However, we also have a couple side characters as well, bumping the count up to perhaps twenty or so. It's a small cast. It's perhaps a bit... disorienting for those who are used to ginormous casts in their anime (I'm looking at you, Naruto), but this is one of the series' biggest strengths. With the lower cast, more time is given to focus on their character development, to allow you to form bonds and attachments to characters, as well as genuine hatred for other characters for who they are rather than just their character.

The action... oh man, there's not much I can say about the action. It's just pure AWESOME. The choreography of the fights are very well done, with each combatant feeling like they're very well-trained in their fighting styles instead of just whaling away wildly. Also, it helps a huge deal that the fights are actually strategically thought out instead of the standard 'throw signature move and pray that it works.' It helps that each magus (singular for 'magi') and Servant has somewhat limited abilities, powerful as they are, and they have to make do to best counter their opponent(s). These fights aren't awesome because they're flashy (though some of them certainly are) - they're awesome because they feel much like actual fights where there are actual stakes on the line instead of just plot armor. Anyone and everyone can get hurt - or even killed. And the fight scenes remind you heavily of that fact.

This guy can't even talk. He only knows how to wreck your sh**.

As for the story, the premise sounds simple enough - summon Servants, kill them and their respective Masters, last one standing get the Grail. Hey, it's a war, did you expect anything else? However, the story is soon made deeper and more complex by the intricate relationships the characters have with one another, their personalities playing no small part. The main character, Kiritsugu Emiya, is a very cold, pragmatic believer of justice. He essentially is Batman if he had absolutely no reservations on sacrificing the few for the many - or killing those whom he deemed a threat to justice. He's a very well-designed character, strong in many areas yet he has very profound, noticeable flaws. The main character of the Fate/Stay Night series, Shirou, was criticized for being bland, cliched, what have you. Seems like TYPE Moon listened to their fans.

Kiritsugu's nickname? 'The Magus Killer.'

Another thing about the story is that the focus is all about the war and character dynamics, in between all the action. There are no filler arcs, no tangents or whatnot that has plagued mainstream anime to no end. Everything that happens in the story stays. It's very short as a result - twenty-five episodes total. But that's a good length - it doesn't outstay its welcome, and it can keep its focus on what's really important instead of burning itself out after god-knows-how-many episodes. It starts off impactful and it stays impactful until the very end. 

Oh, another thing, for those of you expecting pure action, maybe a bit of drama mixed in between, then you might get a bit more of the latter than you'd expect. The storyline is very grim and dark, the whole series being VERY much grey vs. black morality or even at times black vs. black. There is also a lot of information conveyed throughout the series - if you watch only the fight scenes and don't try to listen to the story, you'll get lost very quickly. These characters aren't just characters - they're people. They all have their strengths that support them and flaws that drag them down. Even the Servants, some of whom are legendary heroes, aren't infallible. Heck, some of the Servants are arguably carrying some of the biggest emotional packages around!

The best of intentions can lead to the worst of outcomes...

Yeah, the series is dark... almost a bit too dark. It's kind of depressing to watch when you factor in the story and all the characters, and it just keeps hitting you in the gut over and over with the whole 'this war is f***ing hell' message. But honestly, it could have toned it down a little bit. Once you get hit with the grimness and dark tone of the series over and over again, honestly, you start getting numb to it. I mean, yeah, there are a lot of scenes you're going to cry over (no, really), but I think if it wasn't played or done too often, it would've had much more of an impact each time.

That being said, I can't think of many cons for this anime. If you want my personal opinion, I say go watch it. If you want to judge for yourself... well, here's a small excerpt from the first episode that should give you a clue on the tone of the series. Watch it and ask yourself whether you should or not. You'll probably agree with me. >_> XD

Video Game Comparisons: Monster Hunter, Gods Eater Burst, and Lord of Arcana, Part 3

Okay, so quick recap...

Monster Hunter - 4
Gods Eater Burst - 5
Lord of Arcana - 3

Equipment

Okay, so I could be totally lazy, count the types of weapons and armor and just call it a day, right? Well, unfortunately, I can't. The equipment in each game is not only different, but have a certain synergy with one another. So with that said, let's compare the equipment in each game.

The Gunlance. Eat your heart out, Squall!

To start off with, Monster Hunter has eleven types of weapons. All of them have a characteristic that gives them strengths and weaknesses. The most popular classes of weapons here are the Greatsword and Hammer. They do extraordinary amounts of damage, but in return they are slow and hard to use. There are also two different types of armor - Blademaster armor and Gunner armor. The Blademaster armor offers more protection than the Gunner armor, but logically, it can only be used by melee weapon classes. The ranged weapons are the bow, light bowguns, and heavy bowguns. The only way to describe a bowgun is, for the light one, the rocket launcher and the heavy is an entire artillery cannon. Yes, you heard me right. Still, with the prey you're hunting, such powerful weapons are gonna be necessary.

And the game's setting is medieval fantasy!

However, the thing about heavy weapons like greatswords, hammers, and heavy bowguns make you a good deal slower, leaving you a sitting duck if you don't use them right. You're a strong but still ordinary human - lugging these things is not gonna be easy for anyone, even if your career is hunting monsters that can chew you up and spit you out every other day. That being said, some weapons come with shields or can block in some way, but certain weapons you can't block at all - like the dual swords, long swords, or any of the hammer classes (i.e., the hammer and war horn classes) so you rely on agility in order to avoid damage.

Apparently, you can't block with this baby because it's too delicate.

As you can only use one weapon per mission, and can only change weapons between hunts, you usually have to make do with what you have. This strict restriction on weapons is to further encourage co-op gameplay, as your teammates can draw some of your target's fire as well as cover up for your weaknesses, like if you're using a ranged weapon, you have some people up front that can tank for you. Also, each weapon comes with certain skill points, and you normally have to have the complete set to get the skills (or anti-skills) they come with, whether it's doing more damage, more stamina, or even just sharpening your weapons faster. You have to change equipment to whatever your target is weak to, etc etc etc.

Gods Eater Burst is somewhat simpler yet more complicated to talk about at the same time. There are three categories of equipment, divided into subcategories - the sword, the gun, and the shield. For the sword, the classifications are the Short swords, Long swords, and the Buster swords. For the guns, there are the Assault, Sniper, and Blast. The Shields are Buckler, Shield (derp), and the Tower Shield. So, everything is neatly divided into subcategories, right? Well, here's where it gets tricky...

"It costs $400,000 to fire this gun for twelve seconds."

See, unlike in Monster Hunter, you can have one sword, one gun, and one shield equipped at the same time. This way, you're completely covered in terms of equipment - it's just a matter of preference and the prey you'll be fighting. For the swords, the Short sword is fastest and can do piercing damage, but suffers from a short reach and limited power. The Long sword is the happy medium, doing purely slashing damage. The Buster sword has the longest reach, can be charged up for a massive strike a la greatswords from Monster Hunter, and can also do crushing damage, but in exchange, it's slow and cumbersome, require some practice before it can be wielded.

This is a short sword. They only get bigger from there.

The guns are purely aesthetic, but they have their damage specializations. Assault guns are the jacks of all trades, capable of rapid fire. Snipers do great piercing damage, and Blast guns do excellent crush damage. The shields aren't so specialized. Bucklers instantly deploy and block a good amount of damage. Shields take about 0.2 seconds to deploy and block most of the damage. Tower Shields take half a second to deploy but block all the damage. Now I know what you're thinking. 'Pf, half a second, big whoop,' you're all thinking. Well, trust me, these guys hit hard, hit fast, and generally are somewhat hard to predict. That half a second could mean the difference between surviving their attack or being KO'd.

Like to see anything get through THIS!

One of the most unique aspects of Gods Eater Burst is their Bullet Editor. See, you can load different kinds of bullets that do different kinds of damage into your gun. You can even take your enemy's powers and use them as bullets (which I'm not going to get into because this comparison is long enough as is without going on a tangent). However, Bullet Editor allows you to create and 'program' your own bullets to use in combat. I've tried it and, well, let's just say my results were relatively lackluster. Once you get a handle on it, however, some of the things you can do are pretty amazing.

Gotta admit, these are pretty awesome.

As for armor... well, you get customizable outfits and certain upgrades you can buy or craft, but there's no armor. Your only armor is your shield and upgrades. The outfits are purely aesthetic, so yes, going out there in a bikini is the same amount of protection you'd get from going out wearing a full suit of samurai armor. And I'm not kidding, both of them are outfits you can get throughout the game.

Lord of Arcana is probably going to be the shortest section here. They only have five kinds of weapons - the one-handed sword, the 2-handed sword, the mace, the polearms, and the firelances. You can only equip shields with the swords. Now then, the weapons don't really even have any special effects or anything - they only increase your attack and/or defense stat (or lower them, if you're switching to a different type of weapon) and have different affinities. Basically almost bare-bones weapons that you'd get from an RPG. Because the dodging mechanism is so finicky, not having a shield is quite the bane, and because you can cancel your combo with the 2-handed sword to block... okay, you can see where my preferences lie, but honestly, there's not much I can say here.

Sword and shield - stop staring at her cleavage.

Quite honestly, compared to the amount of customization and the kinds of upgrades you can do in Monster Hunter and Gods Eater Burst, this feels significantly lacklustre. The upgrades and skills you can get only come from orbs which you can then insert into your armor... if your armor or shield HAS any sockets. Sure, this allows for freer customization and upgrades, but in the end, it's just cumbersome and lacks the detail or effort the other games put into their own equipment.

So in short, I'll have to give 2 points to Gods Eater Burst because of more flexibility with its weapons and how to use them, 1 point for Monster Hunter for its diverse range of weapons and armor, and 0 for Lord of Arcana because it's just too limited.

Current tally:

Monster Hunter - 5

Gods Eater Burst - 7

Lord of Arcana - 3

Monsters

Let's face it, the monsters in each series are the real stars of the games. We're much more in awe of them than we are of our characters or any side characters. And because of that, it just feels that much sweeter when we take them down a couple notches. So, let's see who has the best monsters around.

Yuan Kut-Ku. Don't let its appearance fool you - it'll kill the unprepared hard.

Monster Hunter is known for its creatures. They are not only diverse, but each of them are unique and challenging, yet still seem fair (though at times they do get a bit cheap...). You can be fighting giant apes to dragons to wyverns... and when you have a game where raptors are rank-and-file mooks and the beginning bosses who are barely challenging, you know that it's going to be awesome.

Congalala and Blangonga - two monkey cousins, and respectively, the fat slob and the fit boss.

Eventually, the monsters will fall back on palette swaps that are stronger, but even if you take out the palette swaps, there are so many different types of monsters, and it's really just crazy how many there are and how unique they can be. Some monsters take their cues from mythology, others from a certain theme and element... it's just nuts.

Gods Eater Burst, I'll admit, isn't nearly as diverse. It really doesn't take long before they fall into a regular set of monsters, then just do palette or graphics swaps the whole way through. The monster designs are certainly unique, though, as they take cues not only from mythology, but also from technology. Their designs are still pretty damn awesome.

The Quadriga - part elephant, part tank, part missiles, all death.

That being said, there really is no excuse for the limited number of monster types that you can face before they switch to simple graphics swaps. Aside from the mook monsters, off the top of my head, I can count about nine different types. They all have about three, maybe four palette and/or graphics swaps. Yeah, Gods Eater Burst, I'M NOT FOOLED. I can see that you more or less copy/pasted their monster types and either just buffed them, changed their elemental design, or gave them a few new attacks! Seriously, it's a total buzzkill when you have to fight against the same monsters over and over and OVER.

The Vajra family line. Honestly, when you get down to it, there's no difference.

Now then, Lord of Arcana at least has a BIT of more diversity... though still not much. Square Enix has an addiction to taking cues from ancient mythology and incorporating them into their games, from weapons to gods to monsters. There is no exception here. 

Awesome design. Now if only the boss fight was more exciting...

While very visually impressive, most of the boss monsters suffer from chronic slowness - you can easily run to the other side of the arena and they'll be shambling about to catch you. Grendel, who's shown right there, spends most of his time flying in the air, occasionally attack, rinse and repeat. To damage him you have to attack his sword, which he sends to the ground occasionally for attacks. That's not to say that the bosses aren't challenging, though. Each boss is unique, having different designs and tactics so you every creature requires their own strategy and equipment to bring down.

It's a huge, angry centaur. Do I even need to say 'run'?

The mooks make a great deal of the game, however, so a good deal of design - and mythology - are behind them as well, from your standard goblins and slimes to your minotaurs and those goddamn griffins. And at least they have their own unique features (albeit small ones) so they don't feel like carbon-copy mooks each and every time. So not a great amount of diversity, but still pretty good.

So, in conclusion, I'm giving Monster Hunter two points for its diverse and many monsters and creatures, Lord of Arcana gets one point for its use of mythology for both is mooks and big cheeses, and Gods Eater Burst gets zilch because they repeat their own creatures FAR too much for their own good.

Final tally:

Monster Hunter - 7

Gods Eater Burst - 7

Lord of Arcana - 4

In Conclusion

Okay, all three games do have their merits. In the end, though, I feel like Gods Eater Burst has done enough to merit as its own game, rather than just being a copy of Monster Hunter. Monster Hunter is the originator of all these series so it takes top spot, though Gods Eater Burst is definitely a close second. Lord of Arcana, on the other hand, feels like a greedy grab at Monster Hunter's audience and while they do have a few interesting concepts in there, poor diversity and controls as well as some questionable decisions make it the lowest game on this list. 

This is Kenji, and thanks for reading the whole way through. Or at least skimming. Or even looking at it.

...

Now go back and read all of it if you haven't. >_>

Video Game Comparisons: Monster Hunter, Gods Eater Burst, and Lord of Arcana, Part 2

The continuation of my review. Just a recap -

Current tally:

Monster Hunter - 3
Gods Eater Burst - 3
Lord of Arcana - 0

Sound

In any video game, sound is extremely important. Music much more so. It puts people in the mood to either cry or kick some butt. Let's see which series has the most epic music, hm?

When you hear this music, RUN.

Starting off, Monster Hunter doesn't have many ambient soundtracks. When it's just you and you're not fighting a hostile monster, there is no music, just the gentle sounds of nature and perhaps the grunts of a couple herbivores nearby. When you start fighting a small hostile mob, depending if it's a boss creature or not, you get some generic music. However, if you fight one of Monster Hunter's signature monsters, that's where the real music tracks kick in.

This takes the sting out of trying to take out the Kushala Daora's wind barrier.

The fast-paced orchestral themes are perfect for capturing the intensity of the entire fight, no matter what creature you're fighting against. The fact that they kick in only when a boss creature is aware of you is also a good sound indicator that you have a fight on your hands. When that happens, you know to bring your weapon out, and pray to lady luck. The music is extremely awesome and you'll love it.

Gods Eater Burst uses orchestral for the most part as well, though they include a bit of background music whenever you're starting off a mission. In exchange, and partially because of the small maps, the background sounds are notably absent. However, even when you're fighting particularly unique bosses, unless you're fighting certain monsters in certain conditions, the music you get is generic music depending on the stage you're in. Sure, there are supposed to be variations if you fight different enemies, but honestly, they sound so much the same, I honestly couldn't tell.

Hope you like hearing this every time you fight in the subway levels...

Still, there ARE unique pieces, and while for the most part Gods Eater Burst sticks to orchestral, a few times they put in some rock music as well. While I should stay that putting in rock kills the mood, it honestly doesn't. It helps that only one track is rock while the rest is orchestral. I won't spoil it, but it's the theme song for one of the characters and so it's really fitting.

On retrospect, this is a very good song to fight to...

As for Lord of Arcana... it's quite different, to say the least. Unlike either Gods Eater Burst or Monster Hunter, it uses rock for the most part. The background music is prominent in every level, although it gets pretty generic when it comes to normal fights - especially if you here it a couple dozen times. Still, I can't lie and say I don't like rock, but it feels more like a love letter to Devil May Cry the more I play the thing.

And this is the background song for a supposedly soothing cave level!

Nevertheless, when it hits the right notes, it hits them with a frickin' arrow piercing another arrow. The unique boss tracks are high-paced, adrenaline-filled, and set the mood up perfectly. Since you'll most likely be soloing bosses, the music gives the perfect mix of desperation, high-paced action, and all in all, the mood that it's a duel between you, a very skilled human with gleaming weapons against a powerful monster that will do all it can to turn you into a pancake. 

No snark here - this song is just awesome.

So in conclusion, I say Lord of Arcana gets 2 points because I like rock and the songs are just pure awesome, Monster Hunter gets 1 point because of their powerful orchestral sound tracks, and Gods Eater Burst gets nothing because, awesome as their music is, they just play it way too many times.

Current tally: 

Monster Hunter - 4

Gods Eater Burst - 3

Lord of Arcana - 2

Story

And driving any game is the storyline. So therefore, these games have a great storyline, right? ... Well...

This is the extent of the plot in Monster Hunter.

Honestly, in Monster Hunter, there's no plot. You're in the Hunter's Guild, you take contracts to kill monsters for cash, rinse and repeat. The game doesn't even end or give you special recognition if you kill the 'end-boss' monster. It's endless. You just keep killing monsters and fulfilling contracts. That's all there is to it. But then, considering you'll be using up all your time just grinding out items or killing monsters, you probably won't care too much about the story, just killing things and get new shiny equipment.

When you're facing a monstrosity like this, who the f*** cares about the story?!

I'm not gonna lie or sugarcoat it. Gods Eater Burst has the other two trumped by a mile when it comes to the story. It has actual side characters, character development, an actual plot dealing with world-wide threats and the monsters. Sure, it has plenty of cliches, but at least the characters are nice and approachable and develop at a decent, believable rate. Still, I do wonder if fanservice-y females are required everywhere around here...

This is your boss. No, she's not wearing a single scrap of undergarment.

That being said, the plot is split into two. The game was originally just called God Eater, but Namco decided to rename it Gods Eater Burst and add in a new storyline and monsters after the main plot is done. The second plot is more focused on character development and feels more like a 'friendship forever' thing, but luckily this isn't over done. And besides, the character it's focused on you'll probably feel pretty close to. Again, no spoilers, but take my word for it.

Your commanding officer and teacher. Remember him well.

Lord of Arcana DOES have a plot, but if you don't bother to talk to the NPCs, you'll never even get a hint of it. Not like it matters. The plot is that you're the chosen one to be the lord of the land of Horodyn. In order to fully become the lord, though, you'll need to defeat eight monsters that have been sealed away, but reactivate when you've done enough missions. And that's all the plot. And once you finish the plot, nothing even changes - the other NPCs just tell you to kill the other monsters to grow stronger and consolidate your power. You still need to deal with contracts. It feels less like you're a lord and more of their personal hit(wo)man.

Suck-ups. All of them.

In the end, though, despite having a poor excuse of a plot... it's still a plot. There's nothing more I can say about this.

So in conclusion, Gods Eater Burst gets 2 points for having a structured plot, Lord of Arcana gets 1 point for having a simply excuse plot, and Monster Hunter gets nothing for having no plot whatsoever.

Current tally:

Monster Hunter - 4

Gods Eater Burst - 5

Lord of Arcana - 3

To be continued in Part 3

Video Game Comparisons: Monster Hunter, Gods Eater Burst, and Lord of Arcana, Part 1

And on to the subject of video games.

When I had a PSP, I heard of Monster Hunter. I heard of how great it was, addicting, tedious, etc etc. I was still on Dissidia at the time, but when you've beaten the crap out of Chaos and every villain about ten trillion times and grinded out your favorite characters' levels to the max as well as their best equipment, it gets boring and tiresome. So I decided to get Monster Hunter Freedom Unite to see what all the fuss was about. I popped it into the PSP and began playing it... for several nights straight.

Lunchtime!

Needless to say, I was hooked. I quit after a while because Monster Hunter began kicking my rear to the curb, but I was addicted to the genre. I did some research and found two more games that fit the genre. They were considered copycats to Monster Hunter, and while I can see why, they're unique enough to be their own games, and to consider them ripoffs or copycats is too harsh. They are Gods Eater Burst and Lord of Arcana.

Down, kitty! DOWN!

Now then, as I said, all of these games have their own merits, and can each be qualified as their own game. However, that really begs the question: Which of these games is really better? I decided for the sake of this blog and to satisfy my own curiosity to compare and contrast for myself. I'm going to use six criteria for this judging: Gameplay, Graphics, Sound, Story, Equipment, and Monsters. I know this seems a bit much, but honestly, since the equipment and monsters are so different from game to game, yet play so prominent a role, there's no choice. I'll also be using a tally system. For each category, which ever game scores first gets two points, second place one, and third place gets nada. And I believe I should mention this: THIS IS STRICTLY OPINION. DON'T TAKE WHAT I SAY HERE SERIOUSLY. So, without further ado, let's get started.

Oh, SHI-

Gameplay

Gameplay! It's definitely THE most integral part of any game! So how do these three games hold up? Let's look at each of them individually.

To start off with, Monster Hunter. It's hard. It's nails-to-the-balls, tear-your-hair-out-crying-in-frustration hard. Monster Hunter can and will punish you for even the slightest mistake. This is especially prominent with solo gameplay. One has to learn the terrain of the battle, memorize and know how to dodge enemy moves, as well as read them so you know it's coming. This is because you are a puny human. They are faster, stronger, more powerful than you are, even with your shiny equipment. To make things difficult, there is no lock-on, so you'll have to struggle with the camera controls to keep the beastie in your line of sight. You CANNOT just charge in, whaling your weapon and expect to win. Do this and you will die faster than you can say 'TIGREX!'.

This is a VERY accurate depiction, actually.

Monster Hunter was made with co-op in mind: You're able to form a party of four with your friends and go on missions to take down monsters. With a full party of well-equipped members, the co-op aspect makes any, and I repeat, ANY mission trivial. Unfortunately, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite only had ad-hoc, so unless you guys can figure out how to hook up Xlink Kai or find some friends who also like to play Monster Hunter, you'll be doing this solo. And you shall weep. Hard.

However, it's not all about hunting. In between missions, you will be grinding out materials for new weapons and gear. This is because there's no leveling up - your strength is determined only by your skill and your equipment. Sometimes, the material comes from monsters, but a lot of the time, the materials necessary are minerals mined from cracks, bugs you catch from bushes, and even fishes and certain herbs. You're even given a farm that you can invest in to make your grinding a bit easier! And believe me, because some of the materials you'll need can be rare, you'll be grinding. A LOT.

I can't believe I have to do chores in a video game...

Gods Eater Burst cuts down a LOT of the grinding I mentioned earlier. In Monster Hunter, you practically needed to bring a toolkit to grind out materials. Here, it's much simpler - the weapons and gear use materials come from monsters or just literally laying around at specific spawn points on your map. You even get material rewards for the mission as well, which is extremely handy. Still, there's some grinding, especially when you're trying to get a particularly rare drop from a monster.

GIVE. ME. YOUR. FAAAANGS!

The combat and gameplay itself is MUCH faster than Monster Hunter. You're allowed to switch weapons and block on the fly, you can jump high and dash around, and your attacks come off very fast. However, because of this increase in speed for you, that means that the creatures on Gods Eater Burst will also be faster to compensate. Thankfully, if you don't have friends to play with you - or at least, no one that your ad-hoc can reach - you can bring in rather competent AI partners in to help fight. Thanks to this, the gameplay is easily a fraction of Monster Hunter's difficulty. While Monster Hunter feels like an actual hunter stalking its quarry, waiting for the decisive time to strike, Gods Eater Burst feels more like a high-flying action fight that feels more at home in an anime or manga.

Lord of Arcana, developed my Square Enix, is certainly different, and it honestly feels more akin to a Devil May Cry game than either Monster Hunter or Gods Eater Burst. What happens is this: When you encounter an enemy, you are instantly transported into a closed 'zone' to take out your enemy. But because on the 'overworld' map they are represented by one creature, you have only a slight clue who you're fighting or how many until it starts. Said closed zones are always completely flat, so there's no bother trying to use the terrain to your advantage.

I dare you to tell me this isn't a design from Devil May Cry. I DARE YOU.

Grinding is particularly tricky here because not only do you have to collect materials, you also have to collect monster cores for particularly powerful/rare equipment. You can only get these from either boss creatures or when the specific region they're located starts flashing red on the minimap, and whether you get these cores or not is completely luck-based. Sure, you can get equipment to sway the odds more in your favor, but honestly, the core system to me is very frustrating. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to throw my PSP across the room when I saw my attempt at a core ended up in an explosion of bloody giblets.

As for the combat and gameplay itself, the pacing is somewhere between Monster Hunter and Gods Eater Burst - certainly faster than the former but slower than the latter. However, sometimes, you have to deal with multiple strong mooks at once, and they REALLY love to blindside you, interrupting any combos and stunlocking you so you can't take advantage of any openings. Griffins are particularly guilty.

This motherf***er here is responsible for more than half my deaths in this game!!

For boss enemies, though, you get a quicktime event once you've damaged them enough, and we all know how we as gamers love THOSE. These quicktime events allow your character to pull off moves that Dante himself would be proud of. There's two for each boss - an optional one in the middle which deals extra damage and you can fail if you so wish without any damage, and a mandatory one to pull off as an insane finisher. While such things are fun to watch, I honestly failed a few times because... well... quicktime events. Not my kind of fun, but they're awesome to watch when you do it right.

So, finally, in conclusion... I'm not a fan of either quicktime events or crazy-hard difficulty or being blind-sighted and I like fast-paced action fun, so I'm giving Gods Eater Burst 2 points, Monster Hunter 1 point, and Lord of Arcana gets nothing because of their griffins.

Current tally: 

Monster Hunter - 1

Gods Eater Burst - 2

Lord of Arcana - 0

Graphics

I'll admit it, all three games have used the PSP graphics engine well, but which one used the graphics engine the best? Well, again, that's what I'm here to find out.

The environments of Monster Hunter are very lush and expansive, truly feeling like places these untamed beasts would live in. The terrain has been lovingly detailed as well, up to the bushes and trees in the rainforest and forest locations which realistically (albeit frustratingly) obscures your enemy's position, making tracking them down a bit more difficult. And it truly does feel like they're the actual environments it describes - or at least, it tries very hard to. It still has its flaws, though. It suffers from a few graphical hiccups here and there, and sometimes the expansive areas to fight monsters in feels more like giant empty rooms than anything. Still, the environments are quite immersive.

Nothing like fighting monsters in a giant bog.

The environments in Gods Eater Burst are where it suffers the most. Sure, it feels very apocalyptic and grim and the places are well-detailed.... there's only seven or so environments. When you see it the first couple times, you can feel the effects of the apocalypse, but after seeing it a couple hundred times when they're not that big, you really stop giving a damn. It gets very tiresome just fighting in the same places over and over and OVER AGAIN. It doesn't help that all the maps are extremely small, especially compared to Monster Hunter or Lord of Arcana. The lighting's pretty nice, though.

Like this place? Great - get ready to see it a couple thousand times.

The environments in Lord of Arcana are... relatively cramped. Packed with a lot of monsters, it's hard to maneuver around them. The Scarlet Tower is rather big and it definitely feels RPG-esque, but other than that, the environments are very plain and lacking in detail. The environments in the end are really nothing memorable - they're almost just palette swaps. Besides, the combat 'zones' are all just flat land palette swaps anyway, so that loses quite a few points.

Final Fantasy, anyone? Anyone?

So in conclusion, Monster Hunter gets 2, Gods Eater Burst gets 1, and Lord of Arcana once again comes in with a big fat goose egg.

Current tally:

Monster Hunter - 3

Gods Eater Burst - 3

Lord of Arcana - 0

To be continued in Part 2.