Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Update on everyone.
Well, its been awhile since a post, but I will assure you all we are here and safe. We have been enjoying summer going to many places as our friends from out of state came to our state. I have been working on some videos for youtube as well as a summer reading assignment for school. Axman36 and Chiyuki just left for Japan two days ago, and are probably there enjoying it with some Japanse family. The rest of people have been kicking back, playing xbox and having fun. I hope all of you are enjoying your summer. Have a good one. Peace.
-Ace
-Ace
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
君に届け (Kimi Ni Todoke) [Reaching You]
~Story Overview~
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, and Slice Of Life.
Sawako Kuronuma, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character Samara from “The Ring” (a popular Japanese horror movie), has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance. There are rumors that Sawako can see ghosts and curse people. But when Kazehaya (who is very popular and liked by everyone) begins talking with her, everything starts to change. She meets new friends and is introduced to a whole new world.
~Presentation~
The artwork in this manga was really good and very detailed, which can be called amazing. Inside the manga (on the margins) are a few notes that the author leaves for the readers, which are very interesting and hilarious to read.
Score 4.5/5
~Story~
The story line was really good. It always made me want to read even in my sleep. Shiina Karuho captures high school life and the drama that comes with it beautifully. As you read, you will notice that it is more realistic than fantasy. The story is sort of predictable, but its still good for what it is.
Score 4/5
~Value~
The story is more likely to be read by teens and older people. This manga is also more likely be read by girls, this is because it has a more feminine way of presenting itself. But guys can read this as well since it is about a boy and a girl falling in love and what not. Each chapter can be read quickly and easily, but a reader might have trouble understanding the slang or references towards Japanese culture. But for the most part, anyone can read it since it is hilarious and very easy to understand.
Score 4.5/5
Overall Score 4/5
Author: Shiina Karuho
Artist: Shiina Karuho
Friday, June 4, 2010
カウボーイ ビバップ (Cowboy Bebop)
Apr 3, 1998 to Apr 24, 1999
I know I don't have to review this anime, but I am going to anyway ha ha ha!!!!
Well....This anime is awesome. That is it. It is just awesome. Sunrise Studio's Cowboy Bebop is the best action-drama anime ever. There is no questioning that this anime is a definite MUST watch. For those who have not watched it, WATCH IT!
Story Overview
This story is about Spike (the cool guy), Faye (the fabulous and beautiful one), Jet (the genius detective), Ed (the weird and goofy yet genius one), and Welsh Corgi (super smart dog enough said) and their journey through the solar system as they are bounty hunting, which barely makes enough for a living. However, the story later on becomes more centered around the crew of Cowboy Bebop's past and how each of them deal with what they find... or don't.
Presentation- The presentation of this anime is superb. Sunrise Studio never lets anyone down with there art style. It really reflects what the writer is trying to convey and that always is an important part in the creation of an anime. You really get what you need from the art style of Cowboy Bebop and trying to explain this would be to difficult so I leave the interpretation to you the reader (That is how good this anime is that I can not easily interpret it).
Score 5/5
Story- Sunrise Studio's really hit the nail on the head with this anime. The storyline is not only good but it is great. This story is told in a very unique way and constantly makes you wonder and guess about what is going to happen. The story itself is very original and you really can not get any better than this anime story wise.
Score 5/5
Value- Well the anime was made in 1998 and I have recently watched this anime. It still feels new and relevant. The art style is fluid and clean despite it being hand drawn unlike many new anime. It is only 26 episodes long but trust me this anime will take you on a ride for those 26 episodes. This anime will last through ages and hopefully be an example for future anime.
Score 5/5
Overall Score 5/5
Director - Shinichiro Watanabe
Studio - Sunrise
Publisher - Bandai Visual
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Axman36's Lost Planet 2 Review
Presentation:
Well, hate to say it but the story may be this game's weakest point. Though you can piece it together and understand what's going on, you don't exactly get that much of an impression on it when you look at it as a whole. Though the way it does it is interesting. Instead of telling it through the eyes of just one person, it tells it through the eyes of groups of four in five different factions. But overall it just is them doing their part that leads to their confrontation with NEVEC and how they end up being a part of the story in the final episode. Overall the story was okay... not the best I've seen in a game. Still, it works and does well enough, nothing groundbreaking yet not at all trash. Storyline aside, the actual cutscenes, the battles that go on, and the action of them all are superb. The final episode truly gives a climatic feeling and all the parts of the game feel great actually playing within them. The story may not be perfect, but the way it is shown, the way the players experience it... well done. Very well done. And the music... epic seems to be the only right word to describe it.
Graphics:
The graphics however are
amazing. Sure there's a bit of textures that may be blurred, but they are stupendous. The jungles feel very lifelike, the deserts very realistic, the snowy blizzards... delicious candy for the eyes. The different types of models, the many cameo models of characters in various Capcom games and Gears of War 2, the customization of everything, all work with the animations and work perfectly with them. The explosions, the thermal energy, the background, the skies, it all just looks beautiful. And the monsters, oh do they look ever so gruesome, ever so fierce... This is among one of the strongest parts of this game.
Gameplay:
Despite many others' opinions, I have to say that the gameplay is astounding. I never had any trouble with the controls at all, and even if that becomes a problem, you can try to change the controls to one more fit for you. The only part I can see others being annoyed by
is the rolling, but I never had any struggle with it, though this was the XBOX 360 version, so the PS3 one may have a bit of difference with the way the controls feel. Still, the only things I'd say are a problem is the whole point you can't do some actions while being shot at leading you to being stuck while receiving fire, sometimes you end up doing a back flip off of somewhere with your anchor and end up flying off a cliff, meleeing sometimes goes away from where you want it to go, and I felt that instead of losing when you lost all your points, you should instead just stopped respawning. Otherwise, everything else works very well. Thermal energy is a very valuable resource that you will find yourself hunting down, but thanks to the perks you have, not to the point of desperation like the first Lost Planet. The difficulty works in that you can always overcome it through skill rather than luck alone. Controlling VRs is fun and comes with potential risks while still giving you an overall advantage. Everything feels fluid and overall I don't see much flaws in the gameplay.
Replay Value:
This game gives you a lot of reasons why to play it again. It has another difficulty option, Extreme Mode, to test how skilled you are in the campaign. The slot machine, though a bit frustrating if you want something specific, always leaves you coming back for more. It gives you points that let you spend it to unlock more things for the game such as new weapons, emotes, titles, perks, and the like, all customizable. Weapons go under certain slots, like there are different types of machine guns, explosives, secondary weaponry, and etc that you can customize so that you get this weapon rather than another one. Matchmaking is also a good bit of fun, not something that will keep you going for the game, but something else you can do. Ranks are also fun to get that change depending on how many medals you got and the way you got them. Overall it gets you playing more than just one playthrough. People definitely will keep playing it for quite a while I must say.
As a whole, the game is better than how many people made it out to be. Nothing revolutionary or anything that will set a new phase for gaming, but still a good game nonetheless. Overall I'd say the game is worth buying. Renting also works if this game isn't exactly to your tastes. For a TPS, it is a very well done game that manages to avoid repetition, keeping everything lively and fun. Few flaws sure, but nothing that keeps it from being good.
Presentation: 7
Graphics: 8
Gameplay: 8
Replay Value: 7
click here for Overall Score
Well, hate to say it but the story may be this game's weakest point. Though you can piece it together and understand what's going on, you don't exactly get that much of an impression on it when you look at it as a whole. Though the way it does it is interesting. Instead of telling it through the eyes of just one person, it tells it through the eyes of groups of four in five different factions. But overall it just is them doing their part that leads to their confrontation with NEVEC and how they end up being a part of the story in the final episode. Overall the story was okay... not the best I've seen in a game. Still, it works and does well enough, nothing groundbreaking yet not at all trash. Storyline aside, the actual cutscenes, the battles that go on, and the action of them all are superb. The final episode truly gives a climatic feeling and all the parts of the game feel great actually playing within them. The story may not be perfect, but the way it is shown, the way the players experience it... well done. Very well done. And the music... epic seems to be the only right word to describe it.
Graphics:
The graphics however are
amazing. Sure there's a bit of textures that may be blurred, but they are stupendous. The jungles feel very lifelike, the deserts very realistic, the snowy blizzards... delicious candy for the eyes. The different types of models, the many cameo models of characters in various Capcom games and Gears of War 2, the customization of everything, all work with the animations and work perfectly with them. The explosions, the thermal energy, the background, the skies, it all just looks beautiful. And the monsters, oh do they look ever so gruesome, ever so fierce... This is among one of the strongest parts of this game.Gameplay:
Despite many others' opinions, I have to say that the gameplay is astounding. I never had any trouble with the controls at all, and even if that becomes a problem, you can try to change the controls to one more fit for you. The only part I can see others being annoyed by
is the rolling, but I never had any struggle with it, though this was the XBOX 360 version, so the PS3 one may have a bit of difference with the way the controls feel. Still, the only things I'd say are a problem is the whole point you can't do some actions while being shot at leading you to being stuck while receiving fire, sometimes you end up doing a back flip off of somewhere with your anchor and end up flying off a cliff, meleeing sometimes goes away from where you want it to go, and I felt that instead of losing when you lost all your points, you should instead just stopped respawning. Otherwise, everything else works very well. Thermal energy is a very valuable resource that you will find yourself hunting down, but thanks to the perks you have, not to the point of desperation like the first Lost Planet. The difficulty works in that you can always overcome it through skill rather than luck alone. Controlling VRs is fun and comes with potential risks while still giving you an overall advantage. Everything feels fluid and overall I don't see much flaws in the gameplay.Replay Value:
This game gives you a lot of reasons why to play it again. It has another difficulty option, Extreme Mode, to test how skilled you are in the campaign. The slot machine, though a bit frustrating if you want something specific, always leaves you coming back for more. It gives you points that let you spend it to unlock more things for the game such as new weapons, emotes, titles, perks, and the like, all customizable. Weapons go under certain slots, like there are different types of machine guns, explosives, secondary weaponry, and etc that you can customize so that you get this weapon rather than another one. Matchmaking is also a good bit of fun, not something that will keep you going for the game, but something else you can do. Ranks are also fun to get that change depending on how many medals you got and the way you got them. Overall it gets you playing more than just one playthrough. People definitely will keep playing it for quite a while I must say.
As a whole, the game is better than how many people made it out to be. Nothing revolutionary or anything that will set a new phase for gaming, but still a good game nonetheless. Overall I'd say the game is worth buying. Renting also works if this game isn't exactly to your tastes. For a TPS, it is a very well done game that manages to avoid repetition, keeping everything lively and fun. Few flaws sure, but nothing that keeps it from being good.
Presentation: 7
Graphics: 8
Gameplay: 8
Replay Value: 7
click here for Overall Score
荒川(Arakawa) Under the Bridge
April 5 to (ongoing series)Story Overview
Arakawa Under the Bridge is about Ichinomiya Kou (right) and Nino (left). Kou who's main creed was to never put himself in a position where he has to pay back someone, finds himself paying back a girl called Nino for saving his life. Nino's request was for him to become her boyfriend. Kou moved under the bridge where he has his adventures with Nino and the people living under the bridge.
Presentation- The art style of this anime is great. It is witty and fits the personality and story of the anime.
Score 4.75/5
Story- The story is excellent; the writer beautifully captures the way people interact with each other and transforms it into something intelligent and funny. The interactions with Kou and the slow unfolding of who Nino is and how she ended up under the bridge further immerses the watcher into the story.
Score 5/5
Value- This story will apply to any age. This anime is among the best I have ever seen. Each episode is 24 minutes, so you get the standard amount each week, but being an exceptional passes the fact that it is the same length as other animes.
Score 5/5
Overall Score 4.92/5
Director - Akiyuki Shinbo
Studio - Shaft
Publisher - Square Enix
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Lost Planet 2 Review
If there are any controversial opinions on this review, submit them in the comments below and we will take it into consideration.
Presentation:
Alright so overall the story is pretty well done. At the beginning of this story you are saying what the hell is going on or why was I there? Well apparently during the course of the whole game, you play as various factions in each Episode. The factions that you play as will be the Snow Pirates, Ex-NEVEC Soldiers, and Desert Pirates. Majority of the game you play as the Ex-NEVEC faction. The story does not unveil until the end in which you realize that the factions stole all those gigantic vehicles to be used for a purpose at the end. Even when you defeat the boss at the end, you are still pondering what is going on when everyone survives. The story really is good, but it needed to be more thought out better and more clear to players not only at the end, but at least some in the beginning. Unless you actually think about the story at the end, you will not know what has been happening the whole time and will still be in your WTF stage.
Graphics:
The game looks like pretty damn good. If you have played Gears of War 2, it pretty much has the graphics of that. The explosions and water look great. The characters also were put into massive detail, especially the characters of Dom, Marcus, Wesker, and Frank West. Oh yeah.... and servbot! They have the faces and body detail just as if you were playing the actually games for each character. The trees, snow, and destruction scenes are great. The jungle makes you feel like you're in a jungle, snow inside snow and a snow storm, desert as if you are in a desert storm, and rain as if you were in rain. Overall the look of this game was very well done. Some of the maps can be dull at some point and some of the vehicles such as helicopters blow up weird and sometimes disappear into the map.
Game-Play:
First off, if you never played the first Lost Planet, the controls will be kind of odd to you. As this was my first time playing Lost Planet 2, I was weirded out by the controls. The controls though are not bad at all, you can edit them on the options menu to suit your needs. The aiming is another thing to get used to, it swirves and is in free aim mode which gets hard to shoot moving targets. The controls for VS are pretty straightforward, and after you play awhile, you really get used to the controls. The only thing i wish for them was to stop working on the Emotes your player can do, and the names you can get, and work on Checkpoints in the actual game. There are no checkpoints, meaning if you die, you start almost the whole chapter all over. Also, as many reviewers have menchioned, they said the enemies have camped the spawn. This has not been the case for me and my friends. The people who actually reviewed the game must have sucked horrific nuts to get camped by these enemies. I have had no problems with the enemies camping my spawn because there are always multiple spawn points to choose from. During the couse of the campaign, you can level up a character you choose from My Page on the main menu, and you can customize it to you little hearts desire. Also some negatives are most likely when you are on a train, you always fall off by accident or get blown off which pissed me off and my friends the most. Over all, the game play is well done and it just takes getting used to, but has pretty good customizable characters.
Value:
This game has pretty high replayability. Not only with the ability to unlock difficulties and move onto the next one, but it also has a vast variety of items you can unlock. You have five different characters you can choose to play in the campaign, in which you can customize from how they look, the weapons they have, the perks they get, the names they have, and the emotes they can do. While playing the campaign you get points to max out the level of this c
haracter, in which you gain new looks, weapons, perks, emotes, and names for each one. Each character has different customizeable look options, while they have the same names, perks, weapons, and emotes all your other characters have. The campaign is fun to go through again with your newly powerful characters and weapons which makes the playability different. Not only does it have campaign co-op, but it has online multiplayer which is fun but has the occasional lag. With the high community of Lost Planet 2 fans, this game would probably last another 1-2 years of people playing it, unless they release a new one next year.
Presentation:
Alright so overall the story is pretty well done. At the beginning of this story you are saying what the hell is going on or why was I there? Well apparently during the course of the whole game, you play as various factions in each Episode. The factions that you play as will be the Snow Pirates, Ex-NEVEC Soldiers, and Desert Pirates. Majority of the game you play as the Ex-NEVEC faction. The story does not unveil until the end in which you realize that the factions stole all those gigantic vehicles to be used for a purpose at the end. Even when you defeat the boss at the end, you are still pondering what is going on when everyone survives. The story really is good, but it needed to be more thought out better and more clear to players not only at the end, but at least some in the beginning. Unless you actually think about the story at the end, you will not know what has been happening the whole time and will still be in your WTF stage.
Graphics:
The game looks like pretty damn good. If you have played Gears of War 2, it pretty much has the graphics of that. The explosions and water look great. The characters also were put into massive detail, especially the characters of Dom, Marcus, Wesker, and Frank West. Oh yeah.... and servbot! They have the faces and body detail just as if you were playing the actually games for each character. The trees, snow, and destruction scenes are great. The jungle makes you feel like you're in a jungle, snow inside snow and a snow storm, desert as if you are in a desert storm, and rain as if you were in rain. Overall the look of this game was very well done. Some of the maps can be dull at some point and some of the vehicles such as helicopters blow up weird and sometimes disappear into the map.
Game-Play:
First off, if you never played the first Lost Planet, the controls will be kind of odd to you. As this was my first time playing Lost Planet 2, I was weirded out by the controls. The controls though are not bad at all, you can edit them on the options menu to suit your needs. The aiming is another thing to get used to, it swirves and is in free aim mode which gets hard to shoot moving targets. The controls for VS are pretty straightforward, and after you play awhile, you really get used to the controls. The only thing i wish for them was to stop working on the Emotes your player can do, and the names you can get, and work on Checkpoints in the actual game. There are no checkpoints, meaning if you die, you start almost the whole chapter all over. Also, as many reviewers have menchioned, they said the enemies have camped the spawn. This has not been the case for me and my friends. The people who actually reviewed the game must have sucked horrific nuts to get camped by these enemies. I have had no problems with the enemies camping my spawn because there are always multiple spawn points to choose from. During the couse of the campaign, you can level up a character you choose from My Page on the main menu, and you can customize it to you little hearts desire. Also some negatives are most likely when you are on a train, you always fall off by accident or get blown off which pissed me off and my friends the most. Over all, the game play is well done and it just takes getting used to, but has pretty good customizable characters.
Value:
This game has pretty high replayability. Not only with the ability to unlock difficulties and move onto the next one, but it also has a vast variety of items you can unlock. You have five different characters you can choose to play in the campaign, in which you can customize from how they look, the weapons they have, the perks they get, the names they have, and the emotes they can do. While playing the campaign you get points to max out the level of this c
haracter, in which you gain new looks, weapons, perks, emotes, and names for each one. Each character has different customizeable look options, while they have the same names, perks, weapons, and emotes all your other characters have. The campaign is fun to go through again with your newly powerful characters and weapons which makes the playability different. Not only does it have campaign co-op, but it has online multiplayer which is fun but has the occasional lag. With the high community of Lost Planet 2 fans, this game would probably last another 1-2 years of people playing it, unless they release a new one next year.Presentation: 7
Graphics: 8
Gameplay: 8
Value: 8
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Now Let Us Begin The Shwalshin' Reviews!!!!!!
Hi I am Secretninjaman, Leader of the PS3 Team and Anime Team. TAGRT will now begin reviewing games and anime's. The games we are reviewing this month will be...:
- Lost Planet 2 (Xbox 360 Team)
- Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 60 Team)
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo Team)
Make sure to also check in on our thoughts about the E3 Expo next month!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Hello everyone. How the shwalsh are ya?
Now first of all, you must be wondering... what is shwalsh? Well, what IS shwalsh. That's right, and so is IS. Everything is shwalsh, and nothing is shwalsh. In other words... shwalsh is the universal word for all words.
You see, out there in the universe exists things that we cannot describe for we need words to do so. Words that don't exist... thus, things will forever remain out of our reach, out of our vocabulary because there are no words to describe it outside of indescribable.
Not anymore. No, now we have SHWALSH! Shwalsh describes these unfound ideas in a manner so easy even a shwalsh can do it. But how does one use shwalsh as a word? Well, in ANY WAY! Are ya shwalshing that food? Is that shwalshing food eaten already? Are you shwalshin' running? Are you a shwalsh? Is shwalsh a shwalsh? YES, ANY AND EVERY WAY, YOU CAN USE SHWALSH!
Thus... USE IT. When words escape you, use shwalsh. When you're speechless, use shwalsh! When you don't know what to say, SAY SHWALSH! It's the solution to everything as well as the problem to everything, for it is all but all is it. BECAUSE IT MEANS IT!
And thus, shwalsh... is shwalsh. Have a shwalshin' day then!
You see, out there in the universe exists things that we cannot describe for we need words to do so. Words that don't exist... thus, things will forever remain out of our reach, out of our vocabulary because there are no words to describe it outside of indescribable.
Not anymore. No, now we have SHWALSH! Shwalsh describes these unfound ideas in a manner so easy even a shwalsh can do it. But how does one use shwalsh as a word? Well, in ANY WAY! Are ya shwalshing that food? Is that shwalshing food eaten already? Are you shwalshin' running? Are you a shwalsh? Is shwalsh a shwalsh? YES, ANY AND EVERY WAY, YOU CAN USE SHWALSH!
Thus... USE IT. When words escape you, use shwalsh. When you're speechless, use shwalsh! When you don't know what to say, SAY SHWALSH! It's the solution to everything as well as the problem to everything, for it is all but all is it. BECAUSE IT MEANS IT!
And thus, shwalsh... is shwalsh. Have a shwalshin' day then!
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