Ultrapunch!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review

2012-02-28T18:56:00.001Z

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review
Developer: Square Enix/ Tri-Ace, Publisher: Square Enix, PEGI Rating: 16, Release Date: 3/2/2012

The Final Fantasy series, for those that do not know, is perhaps the most famous JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game) series ever. It has been hugely influential in the evolution of games into what they are today, and most importantly have mostly been great games. Don’t be put off by the frankly obscene amount of Roman numerals, the series is essentially an anthology of completely separate stories, apart from a few exceptions, with similar themes.

Unfortunately, if you’re just joining us, you’ve come at a bad time; the Final Fantasy series is stuck. The last two releases in the series are not up to the standard of the previous, and nowhere near what in my opinion is the pinnacle of the series: Final Fantasy VI. While XIII was in no way a ‘bad’ game, it was universally panned for its perceived linearity; on the other hand XIV was an almost unplayable mess of poor design choices. So it was interesting to hear of the announcement of a sequel to XIII, imaginatively entitled Final Fantasy XIII-2, and it seems that Square Enix spent hours wading through angry blog posts and tried to make a difference, because this is a much better game.

This game is one of the rare direct sequels in the Final Fantasy series, but you don’t need to worry if you haven’t played the first one, because it doesn’t really matter. This is essentially a standalone game, and what you do need to know can be learned fairly quickly. The main character of XIII, Lightning, despite being in all the trailers, demos and on the front cover, only appears for around 20 minutes. Yeah, the game totally pulled a Raiden (see MGS2), and that’s dissapointing; however she’s been ‘replaced’ with 2 new characters: Serah and Noel. Usually in Final Fantasy games, as in real life, there is at least one REALLY annoying character who I want to punch into the sun; fortunately the main cast of XIII-2 is well developed and likeable, which is good since you see them talking for about 25 hours if you choose to play this game. It’s a shame that the story around them is a bit weak. I’m fairly quick with time travel plots (this game has time travel BTW), but it gets tiring seeing crazy events explained away as ‘paradoxes’ (there’s also almost constant exposition) or trying to see how ‘changing the future changes the past’. When the story does start to come together, the whole thing is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. There’s one memorable moment (which isn’t dissimilar to the desert scene in Uncharted 3) where plot strands join together, which is striking and incredibly enjoyable. The villain in this game is also, for once, the actual villain and, despite looking like Batman-styled-by-Lady-Gaga, is surprisingly able and has quite complicated motivations.

Apart from the aforementioned linearity, gameplay was probably XIII’s strongest point, and in XIII-2, although there have been tweaks, what was good still is good, and what was bad is better. Like in the prequel, the game uses a pseudo-turn based system, which allows you to control what most of your characters are doing while retaining a quick pace and room for strategy. However you can now recruit monsters to fight by your side a la Pokémon or Shin Megami Tensei. This allows for you to, like the Sugerbabes, have a team of hundreds which you can swap in and out at the touch of a button. The issue of linearity has been sooo addressed it’s now practically the Queen, you now have towns(!), revisitable areas(!), sidequests(!) etc. Although it’s not as massive as other games, the amount of content will provide hours of potential enjoyment (as well as some boring sections, which you are forced to wade through) and is full of post game content. There are also some really odd additions such as quick time events (Welcome to 1999!) which interrupt cutscenes at odd moments (how am I supposed to drink my tea when I need to mas buttons?), as well as an out of place platforming section in the final dungeon. Although these half formed ideas do exist, they do little to hinder the frankly excellent gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Presentation-wise the game also excels. There’s little else to say, despite a small drop in quality from XIII, the game looks absolutely beautiful. I did notice some slow-down in one particularly massive town (!) environment though. I wish I could say the same about the music. I mean it’s not bad, and if you like cheesy J-Pop/rap and nu-metal then this is the game soundtrack for you. However they do detract from the excellence of some of the character themes and epic boss themes. Also, no victory fanfare automatically loses it some marks and the final boss theme still doesn’t match ‘Dancing Mad’. Lengthy loading times and no option for a data install hinder the experience somewhat as well.

Overall Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a mixed bag, it’s clear that Square Enix listened to the complaints people had about XIII but there are a few odd moves which detract from the otherwise excellent points. Although there are some people who will completely dismiss this game, I wholeheartedly recommend this as the enjoyable points really are excellent and will keep me occupied for ages (this is how I’m going to spend my holidays) .

Persona 4: The Animation - Episode 1 - Review

2011-10-08T18:57:00.000+01:00

OK, I've finally found something to talk about which isn't Doctor Who. On Friday (the 7th of October) I went on to the website 'Anime on Demand' to watch the final few episodes of 'Tiger and Bunny' (superhero buddy-show, it's good), when I discovered that they were "simul-casting" (I don't even think that's a word, but it means showing at the same time as in Japan) 'Persona 4: The Animation'.

Honestly, despite being 1/2 Japanese, I've never really liked Anime. Recently I've tried to make more of an effort to enjoy them, and over the holidays I watched quite a few series. Also it's really satisfying typing in italics.

Despite (confession) not owning a Playstation 2 (I know this is a crime, but I've sort of missed that boat), I really like the Persona series and have tried to follow it as closely as possible. My first actual gameplay experience of the Persona series was when I got 'Persona 3 Portable' (I feel the need to remind you again that the PSP is awesome) and ridiculously enjoyed the unusual mixture of dungeon crawler/social sim. (which is great for me because the only way I'm going to have a social life is through virtual simulation), and have played the first 2 hours of 'Persona 4'. If I had known that 'The Powers That Be' were going to adapt 'Persona 4' into an anime series I wouldn't have watched the rest of it on YouTube. I'm also planning to play 'Persona 4' when it manifests as 'Persona 4: The Golden' (I'll need to get a PS Vita first, though) and 'Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena' (I feel there's something wrong with that title) eventually.

Side Note: There was another Persona anime series called 'Persona 3: Trinity Soul', which I thought was really good, but it doesn't really fit anywhere in the Persona Universe, so it doesn't count.

After watching the first episode I can say that I'm pleasantly surprised. I expected it to stay close to the source material, but I didn't expect it to be this close. This series is basically the game in anime for, which is in no way a bad thing. Of course there were some necessary changes. Firstly the protagonist now has a name, which is Yu Narukami (I'm not sure about the kanji, but at face value his surname means "become god". Subtle.) Unfortunately, or fortunately they didn't change his personality. He still mostly says nothing, but will occasionally pop in his thoughts. This contrasts with his friends, who happen to be the two loudest people in the school, they don't shut up. Anyway the Protagonist arrives in the rural town of Inaba, just in time for a string of suspicious murders, and meets his Uncle and cousin. The Uncle(Ryotaro Dojima)'s head seems narrower than it looked in the game and it's only permanent stubble but I don't care, Royataro Dojima gets beard points.

One interesting thing to point out is that the music is mostly lifted straight from the game (as are the subs I would imagine), the whole program feels like the anime cutscene from the start of 'Persona 4', but if they forgot to stop making it. The intro sequence even uses 'Pursuing my True Self', however the intro's just made up of shots of 'Yu' on a train and names. The intro from the game was better. Usually when a game is adapted small changes are made, which eventually lead to 'big' arguments on message boards about which version is 'canon'. It doesn't look like this will be a problem with 'Persona 4', as far as I can tell so far it's a perfect recreation of the game in anime form. But when it reaches the point when the game starts to open up, the two will probably begin to diverge like problematic timestreams stemming from a murder on 'TimeGun!'. The two most bizzare remnants of the game are the use of the Persona 4 Calendar-thing, and the status screen which pop up during the episode (both which can be seen below):

This was slightly worrying as it leads me to believe that we may see every day Yu's year long journey, and we may have to watch social links being formed. In fact, when the inevitable battle scene occurred, I was half expecting for a menu to appear on screen. Fortunately the menus are gone, but the close up shots of the characters faces when they do a special attack remain.

One of my complaints with the Persona series is that despite making out that summoning a Persona is quite an emotionally draining experience which can be quite traumatic, later on in the game everyone is doing it like nobody's business. In the anime they at least hinted that Persona summoning isn't entirely healthy, and I hope they might explore this later. I doubt it though.

'Persona 4: The Animation' is a brilliant adaptation of the game so far, and although the animation may be slightly sub par the entire package is thoroughly enjoyable. I'm not entirely sure why we're getting a slew of Persona 4 related stuff now, but I'm not complaining. 'The Animation' is great fun and is a new way of experiencing the Persona series (albeit with all the interactivity sucked out of it by intergalactic vampires), I don't think it'll introduce many people to the Persona series, but it does what it says on the tin. It's Persona 4 animated.

Also Igor and his nose are in it, if that's not a reason to watch it I don't know what is.

Understanding Time - In Defence of the Doctor Who Finale

2011-10-02T07:24:00.001+01:00

Urgh, it's been about a month since I said there would be regular posts and I'm talking about Doctor Who again, Rule 1: readers (Ha!) I Lie; I never intended this to happen but I've really not done much else, so I'll be talking to you about the Doctor Who finale.

Because I have literally nothing better to do than surf the internet, I've noticed that lots of people (probably a noisy minority) seem to be quite angry at this year's Doctor Who Finale: 'The Wedding of River Song'. From what I can gather people think that: 1). The plot was too complex 2).The ending was too simple. Sooo, I thought that I'll try and clear this up for the incredibly small number of people who read my blog.

Firstly, I'll get my opinion out of the way, I loved it. I know that's not saying much because frankly they could of just shown a montage of various excrement to the complete works of 'Aqua' and, as long as they called it 'Doctor Who', I would enjoy it. All of time happening at once was a beautiful idea, both in concept and execution, I want to live in a London with steam trains coming out of the Gherkin. The opening shots of this episode were amazing, and in my mind completely justify the fairly 'cheap' last few episodes.

The explanation for these wonderful scenes was that because the Doctor didn't die, time has somehow become derailed.
"But the Doctor didn't die", I hear the Internet cry, "Why isn't time still broken?".
"Well..." I reply, "The episode was slightly misleading, the Doctor's death wasn't and was never a fixed point in time, as he didn't die at all. The fixed point in time was River's shooting of the Teselecta, the Doctor was never shot, it was always the Teselecta which was shot. Lake Silencio is 'a still point' so apparently fixed points in time occur there (Also everyone thinking the Doctor was dead has probably got such historical significance that it would of been a fixed point anyway, but more on that later). When River, thinking that she would be shooting the Doctor, refused to shoot the Teselecta, time hit the fan and the cool aborted timeline came into existence. "
"But how come the Teselecta regenerated?" the internet retorts.
"The Teselecta is a time traveling, shape shifting robot manned by a crew of tiny people from the future, it has been shown to have a working Art Department. If in 2011 BBC Wales can make a nice looking CGI regeneration, the people of the Teselecta's art department can probably do a convincing holographic regeneration."
"Okay... Well how come when River and the Teselecta touched time moved forward, doesn't she need to have been touching the Doctor?"
"No. Because River didn't shoot the Teselecta, River and the Teselecta became the opposite poles of the time explosion. Not River and the Doctor. Also notice that despite River gushing about how much she loves the Doctor, the Doctor never said he loved River, it was a marriage of convenience. Albeit not one for citizenship, but one to restore the Universe to it's proper course. Also I've been saying the Teselecta in italics because it's the name of a ship, I think...".

By the way, I'm completely aware that the very fact that I feel the need to explain this, means it may be extremely complicated. However if you can't suspend your disbelief for 45 mins every week, honestly I pity you. In all honesty, in reality I'm quite a cynical person who probably has mild OCD, however even I can overlook a few plot-holes and appreciate the fun adventure that's happening on my telly box.

Now about that 'escape', did I feel cheated? Yes, a bit. Was it a satisfying conclusion? I suppose so. Did I enjoy it? Of course I did! (I feel dirty after writing that, I'm so sorry)
Honestly, what were you expecting? The wonder of Steven Moffat's writing is that it is usually the most obvious answer that's correct, but then makes you doubt yourself and then when you realise you had known all along you feel extremely clever. Of course it was going to be copy, even Amy suspected as soon as the Doctor died. But who was it that told her it was actually the Doctor? It was River, everyone's favourite liar. Now just replace 'Amy' with 'the audience' and 'River' with 'Moffat'. (Actually it was Canton as well, and he still thinks the Doctor is properly dead. What a shame...)

I get the feeling that upon subsequent viewings it won't be as good because it won't have the backing of a years worth of speculation and theorising. That was where this episode really shined, it was full of suspense, it may have been slightly disappointing but the whole experience of not knowing and being unsure of the Doctor's fate was certainly worth experiencing. In the week leading up to the episode, some of my more casual 'Doctor Who' watching friends honestly believed that this would be the final ever episode of 'Doctor Who'. Such is the effect of Moffat's intricate weaving of plot threads and suspense. My mum (complete 'Doctor Who' beginner BTW, has seen the Christmas specials and 'Closing Time') perfectly enjoyed the episode, despite admitting to not getting a few bits. It's not too difficult if you make the small effort to listen, you don't need to make notes like I did.

Yes, the Teselecta was a bit of a cheap get out clause, but what was the alternative? I think if Moffat had written that the Doctor folded over time into a samosa and therefore isolated the section with his death, and then Amy had to journey into the afterlife to bring the Doctor back to life, everyone would have felt even worse. Also, it isn't as stupid as some of the Deus Ex Machina's that 'Doctor Who' finales have used in the past. At least he didn't pull a Cyberman/Dalek hoover out of his arse, or make Rose Tyler into Phoenix from X-Men and get her to disentegrate every Dalek ever (except all of the ones who somehow escaped). It wasn't completely out of nowhere, the heavy emphasis on the Teselecta in the 'Previously...' section was a big enough clue for you.

What this finale did manage to do was wipe the slate clean for the Doctor, he essentially faked his death to escape the Universe. Madame Kovarian and the Silence/Silents are still out there somewhere thinking they've won. This leaves the door open for their return, maybe not with such an extravagant plan but maube as recurring villains in two-parters. I for one would like to see more eye-patch wearing Silence generals appear, I loved the first 20mins of this episode (not to say I didn't love the rest of it).

This episode also hinted at future developments, the Doctor still hasn't reached Trenzalore and still hasn't answered that question, "Doctor Who?". The reveal of the question was a nice touch, because it was so obvious and its eternal in the history of 'Doctor Who'. I called it as soon as a question was mentioned in 'Let's Kill Hitler', but the final moments were still chillingly effective. The question will probably be never answered properly but it still foreshadows future series, maybe even for the 50th anniversary in 2013?

This was a brilliant finale, admittedly a finale with flaws, but it still retains its brilliance. I can't wait for Christmas or Series 7 (starting in Autumn apparently) and this episode only helped to further cement my love for 'Doctor Who'.

Bye.

P.S. Deal with it internet, Omega, the Rani etc. aren't going to be the big bad.

I'm Back - Part 2

2011-09-06T14:50:00.000+01:00

I'm back from my (admittedly unplanned Summer Holiday), I promise to the very few people who read this blog that posts will be more regular now. Regular service will resume shortly.

Doctor Who - Series 6 Part 2 Trailer Analysis

2011-08-04T21:44:00.000+01:00

Certainly the biggest thing to happen in my life today was the release of a new trailer for Series 6 Part 2 of Doctor Who. So I've decided to do what the entire internet is probably doing, and analyse the trailer. To be honest most of these shots were recycled from the Comic-Con trailer, but there are also a few intriguing new shots. So without further ado, I present my Doctor Who trailer analysis...

1. This first shot of the Doctor looking at the details of his death, judging by his narration, probably happens shortly before the event itself. The Doctor is also seen wearing his green coat and Stetson, so this scene probably takes place during Episode 12 (as the new outfit was seen during Ep. 12 filming).

2. This is a shot from the first episode of Series 6 (The Impossible Astronaut), so there are probably as of yet unseen details concerning the death of the Doctor. This will probably take place in Episode 13.

3. Now we see the Doctor discussing something with somebody. Judging by the plain looking door in the background, this will probably take place in Episode 12 and the Doctor is probably talking to Craig.

4. Here we see Madame Kovarian looking sinister with her eyepatch. I don't really know which episode this is from but it could be from any of them. However there's a rather 20th century style lamp in the background, so it probably takes place in the past (Ep. 8) or the present (Ep.12, Ep.13 maybe).

5. Now we see River Song wearing a stylish eyepatch, in the background is a sarcophagus. This could be a sarcophagus in the museum from 'The Big Bang' but is probably in the pyramid which we shall see later. Episode placement is also unknown but it may from Ep.10 or Ep.13 as I know very little about Ep.10 and anything seems to be possible in Ep. 13.

6. A dramatic shot of Amy, the lighting and torch in the background seem to suggest that this is from the same episode as the previous picture, Amy's seems to be wearing her suit again so it probably isn't from Ep. 10 or Ep. 11. This could be anywhere.

7. A shot of the Doctor opening the TARDIS. I'm pretty sure this is from Ep.12, as the Doctor's wearing his coat and Stetson and it seems to be present day Earth.

8. Now we see the TARDIS crashing through a window, the first set reports from Ep.8 described the TARDIS crashing through Hitler's window, so that's probably what this shows.

9. I love this bit of samurai Amy and Rory fighting robots, I'm guessing this is from Ep. 10. I chose this picture of Rory so I can show that this isn't he 10th Doctor despite what some YouTube comments say.

10. Yay, a Pterodactyl. Form the filming pictures from Episode 13 this is very probably from Episode 13, which seems to take place in some crazy alternate earth. I'm assuming that these are the Pterodactyls that you are advised not to feed.

11. This shot is AWESOME, we see a steam train entering a pyramid with an American flag and the words 'AREA 52' on it's side. As this scene is crazy my first thought is Episode 13, but it could be from anything. It's probably got River Song inside aswell.

12. Amy with some very Burton-esque trees, this shot is intriguing and going on the jacket Amy is wearing, it can't be from Ep. 11 so must be from the Amy-centric Ep. 10.

13. This is definitely from Ep. 11. You've got the Minotaur, the hotel wallpaper, it's almost certainly from Episode 11.

14. This is our first glimpse of the Silence in this Trailer and their busting down a door. The door looks quite old so this could be a Pyramid interior shot, so maybe Ep. 13?

15. Another one I know for sure, this is clearly David Walliams as Gibbis and, unless Gibbis appears in other episodes, this is also from 'the God Complex' (11). Gibbis is probably scared of the Minotaur.

16. This one confuses me, there's a viking Carrionite-looking hag palying chess. This could be honestly be from anywhere but I'm leaning towards Episode 10.

17. I'm assuming these are 'the Handbots' that we heard of earlier. They are being trans-matted in from an unkonwn location. Again I'm guessing this is from Episode 10, as they look similar to the robots Amy was fighting earlier.

18. Another broken window! This time it's the Doctor throwing himself (or being thrown) through the window of a nice house. I'm guessing that this is Craig's window being smashed, so this is from Episode 12.

19. Another bit of Silent footage, this one seems to be in the process of being shot by a futuristic looking soldier. As these soldiers were seen during filming for Episode 13, I'm guessing that unless there bullets can travel episodes, that this is from Episode 13.

20. More of the Doctor's stetson, they're fond of that hat aren't they? This is probably from just before or after the looking-at-screen bit from earlier, so this is also from Episode 12.

I hope you enjoyed my analysis, and if this is even slightly useful my day's complete. Despite all of the guesses and speculation I don't think I've made any real mistakes but if I had a may correct this at a later date.
Bye!

Torchwood: Miracle Day - Dead of Night Review

2011-07-29T10:59:00.001+01:00

Torchwood: Miracle Day - Dead of Night Review

This week 'Torchwood' is back in full swing, and it continues to be very entertaining. The past two episodes saw the formation of the new team and the introduction of the miracle, and with that out of the way the folks at Torchwood are ready to investigate and solve the miracle. I must admit that it certainly feels good to see the team investigating and tackling the miracle head-on, and if the 'Next Time' trailer is anything to go by the next few weeks will bring more revelations and developments.

This episode also explores the effects of the Miracle on the general populace, the ones who haven't suffered previously life threatening injuries. The idea of Miracle related cults being set up and how everyday lives are effected is fascinating, and is a well of potential that I hope 'Miracle Day' will tap into during future episodes.

In terms of storyline we are introduced to PhiCorp who are the villainous organisation of this series, and look to be Torchwood's primary adversary for the first part of series. I've watched enough TV to know that they're probably going to be replaced by another sinister organisation later on. PhiCorp represent another reaction to the miracle, they're purely interested in using the Miracle for profit and the lengths to which they will go to achieve this will be another interesting thread during the series. Jilly Kitzinger has a similar motive, so I will be following her reactions closely this series as well.

So far Dr. Vera Juarez is probably my favourite of the new US characters, she seems completely able to deal with the Miracle and brings the right amount of sass to the table (the Catholic line is one of my favourites). Unfortunately as she is listed as a 'Special Guest Star' she's unlikely to join the main Torchwood, despite the fact that they need a new medical officer. (On a similar note, why is Canton not counted as a companion? He was with the Doctor for 3 months, and probably traveled with the Doctor during that time. If Abigail and Kazran are counted as companions surely Canton should be one?).

This week also saw the return of Torchwood's sexual side, and the first major differences between the US and UK versions of the programme. In the US version we got some quite explicit scenes of both heterosexual and homosexual sex which were spliced together to balance each other out. The UK version was lacking these scenes, which was completely understandable and in all honestly didn't really detract anything from the episode. On a side note, it always annoys me in TV shows and films when characters who have an important task to do stop to copulate. The worst example I've seen was in 'Heavy Rain' where, despite the fact one character's son was going to die in 6 hours, they pause the search in order to have sex and argue. So in my humble opinion the sex, while some may find it entertaining, didn't really make sense and so it didn't really matter that it was taken out. Oh, the UK also got the extended trailer at the end, which almost made up for the 6 day (6 days!) difference between broadcast times.

The stunningly good Oswald Danes also rises up as a major character, the past two episodes had us feeling sorry for him, but in a brilliantly acted reveal his true monster-ish colours are revealed. Oswald will probably become the character we'll love to hate, and his continuing deception of the 'Torchwood' world only adds to his monstrosity. Oswald's and Jilly's connections to the main plot and Torchwood are also currently unknown and are another thing that I shall look forward to.

As always with 'Torchood: Miracle Day' the American influence (and cash) really show, the production remains very high quality and the effects and sounds are top notch (apart from the 'Bigger on the inside' warehouse, that wasn't too good). With the pieces in place, and the game about to start properly, 'Torchwood: Miracle Day' is shaping up well and looks to be one of the best pieces of science-fiction this year.

Doctor Who Thoughts - Lost Stories (Season 27) Reviews

2011-07-24T22:37:00.002+01:00

Oh, it's been a week since my last post. I'm not very good at this...

Anyway as usual I shall start off this post with another confession.

Confession: Doctor Who is probably my favourite television program.

You may or may not know that the annual San Diego Comic Con is happening at the moment, and later today the Doctor Who panel will take place. Like most Doctor Who-fans I am hoping for a trailer or information of some sort about the second part of Series 6 (not to be mistaken with Season 6b (that was a v. bad 2nd Doctor Joke)). However one of the great things about Doctor Who is that it is almost infinite in scale, and with almost 50 years of history behind it there is an almost inexhaustible supply of Doctor Who, which means that even when the there's no Doctor Who on the telly (which is quite rare, usually BBC3/watch repeats the hell out of it) there are still massive libraries of Doctor Who material to consume.

Thoughts on Classic Doctor Who and New Doctor Who

I feel I must clarify myself, when I refer to Doctor Who, I am referring to Doctor Who as a whole. This includes not only post-2005 Doctor Who, but pre-1989 Doctor Who, the 1997 TV Movie, all of the written fiction, all of the audio dramas (inc. Big Finish), the comics etc. I also must admit that I only became a Doctor Who fan from 2005, for the simple reason that I am not old enough to have experienced anything before that (I was alive during 1997, and probably watched the TV movie but cannot remember doing so. I shudder to think that 'that' was my first experience of Doctor Who, I mean it wasn't bad, but there has certainly been better.) Anyway because I lived in the UK, I knew of Doctor Who and was able to identify a Dalek through general cultural osmosis; it wasn't until 2005 that I 'properly' watched my first episode, and since then I have gone back and experienced quite a lot of the past.

For some reason people who enjoy the newer series tend to be quite harsh on the older episodes, for example my brother (who enjoys watching Doctor Who, although not to the extent that I enjoy it) cannot comprehend why anyone would watch older Doctor Who, in his opinion older Doctor Who is nothing compared to newer episodes. Older Doctor Who fans also feel this way towards the newer episodes. Both of these viewpoints are simply not true. Although the two eras of Doctor Who are vastly different, they both have their merits and their flaws, and they are both the same television program. Although there is a 15 year gap between the two eras they are essentially the same thing, there are changes (necessary changes. Seriously there are not that many modern children who would want a single story stretched over a month and a half, in these times of instant gratification even 2 part stories are risky.) but overall they do not detract form the Doctor Who experience. This is all my opinion BTW, for a counter argument please read Lawrence Miles's Blog. (I try to be impartial, although I fail dreadfully). I agree with some of Mr. Miles's points (especially his sidebar), but respectfully object to others, but overall it's great reading. Oh, and in case anyone's wondering (no-one reads this, so no-one's wondering), I love Moffat-era Doctor Who so far.

The Scottish Seventh

One of my favourite Doctors is the 7th Doctor. Not early Season 24 7th Doctor, but later 7th Doctor. In the beginning the 7th Doctor was basically the 6th Doctor with a different coat and a Scottish accent, but during Season 26 and onwards the 7th Doctor became a brilliant strategist who created plans which spanned 4 dimensions and would manipulate people to achieve his goals. Unfortunately we only got to see this version of the 7th Doctor for one-ish seasos before Doctor Who was cruelly taken off are screens. Although a 27th Season was planned and the stories were outlined, they never saw the light of day until now...

The Lost Stories - Season 27

What I'm talking about is the 2nd Series of Big Finish's Lost Stories series. In case you didn't know Big Finish make loads of brilliant audio dramas starring 'Classic' Doctors and companions. These adventures are usually have a full-cast, brilliant storylines and are equal if not better than televised Doctor Who. Their Lost Stories series is a series of Doctor Who stories which are based on never-produced-but-proposed scripts. The 2nd series starts off with 4 audio dramas which serve as a direct continuation to Series 26, these are stories based on the planned Season 27 (albeit with a few changes). I've been listening to these 4 stories and shall now proceed to review them:

Doctor Who - Thin Ice

Season 27 would have started with a story called 'Ice Time', this story would have been set in 1960's London with Ice Warriors and a series of events which would be revealed to be Ace's Time Lord Academy entrance exam (IMO, this doesn't really make sense, if the Time Lord's preach non-interference, why is one of there entrance exams to interfere in the affairs of another planet?) This story became the Lost Story 'Thin Ice', however the setting was changed from London to Moscow, and the whole thing became a heist story. This is a brilliant introduction to the Lost Stories, the setting and atmosphere crafted by Big Finish are excellent, this is helped by the excellent Voice Acting by regulars Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, along with Beth Chalmers, Ricky Groves and (of course) Nicholas Briggs. I have almost no complaints about this, it carries on the story of the 7th Doctor and Ace nicely, and towards the end introduces a new companion for the Doctor...

Doctor Who - Crime of the Century

Season 27 continues in Crime of the Century, according to Andrew Cartmel (Script Editor for Season 26 and writer of Crime of the Century) this story had not been developed past the opening scene, however according to the internet this story was to feature little to no sci-fi content, drug smuggling and armed assault. This is a far cry from this Crime of the Century. This story sees the proper introduction of Raine Creevy (who the Doctor helped deliver in Thin Ice), who makes for a fantastic companion. She is very Lara Croft-esque, she is a safe cracker who can fly helicopters and fight aliens whilst also being quite 'proper'. I instantly liked her, her contrast with Ace is also very interesting and their dynamic is something which evolves over the course of the stories. This story features one of the Doctor's intricate plans, and is a great introduction to Raine as well as being a good stand-alone story. This story also features the Metatraxi, a honourable race of samurai-like insect aliens, although this is a great concept my only complaint with this story is that the Metatraxi are built up to be brilliant combat masters but are reduced to comic-relief villains towards the end. However this remains my personal favourite of the four stories.

Doctor Who - Animal

In my opinion this is the weakest of the four stories, however still stands as a good story. Let's just say it's not as bad as Fear Her. This story (again by Andrew Cartmel) explores themes of Animal Rights, Experimentation, and activism but manages to do all in a rather heavy handed way. The story is unusual and in my opinion unsatisfying, the main adversary is a race of vegetarian animal-loving aliens who *spoilers* attempt to kill any humans who have eaten meat and use their blood as supplements to fulfill their need for iron etc. There are also some man eating alien plants, who serve as a minor threat but aren't really important. It almost seems like a parody of an 'a very special episode', and is in all honesty disappointing. But it does see the reappearance of Winifred Bambera, and that's always good. Also Raine decides to stay in 2001 for a short while at the end of this story, which again added to my disappointment.

Doctor Who - Earth Aid

In the original plan for Season 27, this story would have introduced the Metatraxi and would have been about the politics of food. However it, like it's predecessor, remains baffling. At the start of the story, for some reason ( I listened to it again today, and I don't think it's ever explained) the Doctor and Ace are pretending to be the medical office and the captain respectively on a ship bringing aid to a famine-struck planet. This story does have a brilliant atmosphere, which powerfully conveys the feel of a starship bridge, along with space battles, and the eerie exploration of a ghost ship. Anyway, it turns out Raine's dad died in suspicious circumstances (which are left unexplained, tough it is hinted to be the Metatraxi) and she ends up on the ship (Yay!). The Metatraxi reappear in this story, but unfortunately fail to provide much of a threat, and I feel they are not utilised as nearly as well as they could be, and seem to be there purely for some cheap laughs ('Death by taunting' is one of the worst). Although this story is very good, especially the first half, it's second half lets itself down. However, brilliant atmosphere and performances certainly help. But there's just too much deus ex machina and the ending of the Metatraxi thread is horrendous, disappointing and 'bogus'. Raine also feels utterly wasted in this story, she seems to only be there to open a door, the whole story feels lazily written, borrowing bits from previous stories. One character of note is Victor, who is played by Patterson Joseph (who was rumored for the part of the Doctor recently), who plays a slightly mad crew member deliciously (You would have gotten this joke if you had listened to Earth Aid).

Overall,despite the 2nd half of the series being not quite as good as the 1st, Season 27/Lost Stories is good. I would recommend it to all Who-fans, especially if they enjoy the Seventh Doctor. It's the perfect thing to fill up the time until Doctor Who returns to our screens in late-Summer.

Apologies, Awkwardness and Black Swan Review

2011-07-17T14:30:00.002+01:00

Well this is a bit of a change from the regular posts isn't it? (I say 'regular posts', there are only really around four. I've been busy and I apologise and will get into a more regular cycle of posting soon.) This time round I am reviewing 'Black Swan', because I watched it and I don't have anything else to talk about.

Confession: I watched this with my parents, so some scenes were horribly awkward *lesbian sex scene*.

Black Swan - Review
Black Swan is the story of Natalie Portman and her change from the innocent White Swan to the Black Swan. This isn't helped by the fact that she is completely crazy, has an overbearing mother and a friend who is a 'bad influence'. Throughout the film Nina (Portman) witnesses herself slowly morph into the eponymous 'Black Swan'.

Firstly, Natalie Portman's performance is excellent, her portrayal of the damaged and weak Nina is exquisite and is probably the best bit of the film. It almost completely makes up for the Star Wars prequels and her 'British' accent in 'V for Vendetta'. Everyone in the film says she is 'beautiful' which may be overstating the truth a bit, but it doesn't really matter because her acting certainly makes up for it. Also, anyone who though it was really Natalie Portman dancing is an idiot, it was clearly a double. It was almost as obvious as the 'Perform This Way' video. In the beginning, Nina represents the White Swan, she is innocent focused and wears almost solely white (this is Gillian Clarke levels of subtlety), however as she introduces othe colours into her wardrobe she changes into the vicious Black Swan (highlighted with a beautiful CGI dance-transformation thing.) All the other characters are also performed well BTW, especially Mila Kunis as 'the Temptation of the film' Lily (Yeah, she only ever wears black.)

The soundtrack was great but it was mostly stolen off Tchaikovsky, so it doesn't count. However the lighting was very much the work of the production team and is equally dazzling. As the whole film revolves around the difference between 'light' and 'dark' , both physically and mentally, the lighting is especially important.

The whole concept of the film was intriguing, the majority of the film may not have actually happened, and as you are seeing events through Nina's eyes you're never sure what's real and what's fake. It's like a grown up version of 'Mona the Vampire', where most of the action is the protagonist's take on the world, and you are left wondering what is the truth. Unfortunately the execution of this concept leaves room for improvement, the transition from good to bad is way too obvious, and the 'shock moments' really cheapen the whole film and make it seem like a cheap horror film.

The film was fun, although I'm not a fan of ballet the life of ballet dancers provides the perfect framework for this story, and the slow collapse of Nina's mind is at some points genuinely scary. A complaint of mine is the film's lack of subtlety. The audience aren't stupid, they understand the shift from White to Black, you don't need to circle-it-with-red-pen by making everyone wear colour coded clothing (it isn't Power Rangers) or by having the occasional shots of Nina's wings.

I ran out of things to say around here BTW.

While not the most sensitive or brilliantly executed exploration of the human mind, it is certainly exciting and entertaining, which are two points good films should have. Therefore I shall recommend this film, it's good points are very good, but the whole concept comes off as absurd and hammily done, so it loses marks for that.

Torchwood: Miracle Day Ep. 1 Review and Apologies!

2011-07-09T17:20:00.000+01:00

Confession: I watch far too much television.

First of all, I'm sorry about the lack of posts in the past week but I've been incredibly busy. So for my comeback tour, I've decided to do something different, write about Television. This isn't going to be a special thing, in fact as I watch loads of television, TV posts should be quite common. It's just that there hasn't really been much post-worthy television recently. Well, I hope to change my neglect of TV and I'm starting this change with a review of 'Torchwood: Miracle Day'.

Torchwood: Miracle Day - Episode 1: The New World

After two years in the wilderness, Torchwood is back on television screens. Well, it's back on US screens, the UK doesn't get it for another 6 days.* So this will be a review of the US version (Yeah, according to reports the US and UK versions are slightly different, I'll might post later if there are any major differences.) The fourth series of Torchwood is a co-production with Starz (stupid name - replace the 'z' with another 's', then we'll talk.), so it's only half payed for by the licence fee, and as a result has had a snazzy make-over.

The truth is Torchwood Series 1 was for the most part rubbish, Series 2 was an improvement but still wasn't that great. It was like Russell T. Davies (known as RTD from now on) got overexcited about an 'adult' Doctor Who and stuffed as much sex, drugs, etc. in as he could. However, Torchwood: Children of Earth was really good. Instead of pretending to be grown up, this series explored some really dark themes while giving us a great story. Miracle Day follows in the footsteps of CoE by being one continuing story instead a strictly Monster-of-the-Week format, and the result of this and the US influence provides a very good end product. Not great, but very good.

The premise is that everybody stops dying (they still age and get injured BTW), although this sounds good, it's not. The earth cannot cope and society is predicted to fail in around 4 months. So it's up to the Torchwood team to sort things out, however at the end of the last series Torchwood was all but dead. This problem is solved through the introduction of some new american characters:

There's Esther Drummond, she basically replaces Toshiko Sato. She sits at a computer and talks through a headset.
And there's Rex *boring* Matheson who boring's around acting like he's got some authority or something. OK, maybe I'm being a bit harsh on Rex, he's OK. He is the brawn of the team, necessary but not interesting IMO.
Unfortunately the acting of these two isn't great. Although it's fine, it doesn't stand up to the brilliant performances given by John Barrowman, Eve Myles, and Bill Pullman (who seems to be doing his best G-Man (HL2) impression)**. The two new characters serve as the resident newbies to help introduce new viewers, newer viewers will probably prefer them.

Anyway, people stop dying, so CIA man and lady go investigating and on the way run into Torchwood. As this is the first episode there's a lot of talking , but this is not a bad thing, the details of 'the Miracle' are fascinating and is still a very interesting hours worth of television. Although, there's still a few explosions to keep the masses happy.

The production is brilliant, the extra money has really been spent well. The whole thing feels more clean, filmic and professional while keeping the same British charm that made original Torchwood great (I know I said it was rubbish, I didn't say it wasn't enjoyable). The lighting also fashions this world where death has stopped, it's very mysterious and adds to the experience. The music is wonderful, Murray Gold (Modern Who's resident composer) lends his hand to this and does a fantastic job from the get go, the new version of the Torchwood theme is awesome, very mysterious while having a sense of familiarity.

Overall, the first episode of Miracle Day (it's not just one day, why is it called Miracle Day?) is a brilliant opener and if it fails to entice loads of new American viewers, then the world is broken. I want more, while am also satisfied that Torchwood is back.

* This is completely unfair, why does the US get it almost a week prior to the UK. It's our creation, we should totally get to watch it first. Also Starz need to stop saying that Torchwood is a 'Starz Original', it isn't. I've had no choice but to watch it online, I was forced to do it.

** In my opinion the worst acting comes from the news readers, they were rubbish! Are news readers in America really like that, I actually hate them. I much preferred Trinity Wells.

The PSP's Twilight Years feat. PSP Review Smorgasbord

2011-07-02T17:18:00.001+01:00

It's confession time again!

This year (2011), I have only bought PSP games. (#2)

Now, this may seem like an unusual thing to do, as the PSP is probably the weakest out of all major gaming platforms (including iOS) in terms of software, however in the PSPs dying days there has been loads of really good games. I didn't intend to do this, it just sort of happened. For some reason the PSP only really got good in the past year or so (it's my opinion don't complain), I hope that the PS Vita will kick this trend and have good games from the get-go. In fact, one of my 2010 Game of the Year awards went to a PSP game, MGS: Peace Walker (and in case you're interested the others went to Bayonetta and Heavy Rain). Peace Walker is a very good PSP game (and in my opinion is even better than MGS4) and shows that the PSP is a platform which should not be ignored. So, I thought I would run through some of the PSP releases of 2011 so far.

The list of the games I bought this year :
1. Dissidia 012[Duodecim] Final Fantasy
2. Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection
3. Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
4. The 3rd Birthday

Dissidia 012[Duodecim] Final Fantasy
First up is Dissidia 012, apart from having one of the stupidest titles ever (exaggeration) it is a solid and enjoyable follow up to 2009s Dissidia Final Fantasy. The gameplay in this game is fantastic and suitably RPG-like enough to satisfy Final Fantasy fans, while retaining enough fighting game elements to appeal to new players. Although the number of new characters is a bit small, the new modes and updated story mode makes up for this. Traditionally Final Fantasy games have had brilliant stories with memorable villains and epic struggles for the fate of the world. So, it's surprising that the story is probably this games weakest point, it basically boils down to 'Final Fantasy characters battle each other'. Maybe my expectations were a bit high, although I'm not sure what I was expecting as the story of the original Dissidia was the same as this one. Oh, and don't worry about playing the original Dissidia before this one, as the story mode of the original Dissidia is unlocked in this game! There's also a horrendous number of DLC costumes which I feel obliged to own, most are rubbish, some (Pirate Vaan, Aya Lightning, and Gunner Yuna) are awesome.

Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection
Another confession: Before this I had never played Final Fantasy IV. (#3)
Despite Final Fantasy IV being one of the most widely praised Final Fantasy games, before the Complete Collection came out for PSP I had never even tried to play it. I'm not sure why this game is good, not as good as Final Fantasy VI IMHO, but still very good. Apart from the classic RPG action found in FFIV, the Complete Collection also features Interlude, and the After Years. Interlude is interesting but short, After Years is OK and long. I actually bought the first chapter of the After Years on WiiWare, but due to my previously mentioned fear of the Wii didn't buy any more. The After Years is the sequel to original and like most sequels, it isn't as good but is still satisfying. Also I bought the Special Edition and got a kick-ass Cecil Screen Cloth which I use to clean my glasses.

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
The first and best Final Fantasy Tactics game remade on the PSP. Yeah, I know it wasn;t released in 2011, nut they just released it on the PSN Store and I bought it so I get to talk about it. Unlike Dissidia, the story in this game is brilliant. It's all middle ages intrigue and battles with kings and shit (that's the official press release from Square Enix), and is much more interesting than the standard androgynous teenagers save world type plot. Thoroughly enjoyable with the best Job system of the series, even though it wasn't first released in 2011 it's that good I get to talk about it now. Actually because it's almost 4 years old, you could probably pick it up for like £5 (or equivalent) so you have no excuse (unless you are really poor, or don't have a PSP.)

The 3rd Birthday
The latest installment in the Parasite Eve series avoids associating itself with its older siblings but is still good. You don't get many Tactical Third Person Shooters, but this game really makes me want more. Aya Brea gets put into the Animus and has to change the past, which leads to lots of paradoxes and many timelines, the story is fun but the gameplay is even better. While in the past Aya can switch bodies, which allows her to reach new areas and switch weapons. It's an interesting system which makes no sense storyline wise but is strong enough to carry the gameplay on it's shoulders. There's also a weird level up grid, which the game neglects to mention in it's tutorials and is quite complicated. The game is actually quite hard (or I'm rubbish at it), there were a few bosses which I was stuck at for quite long (this game is very fond of insta-death attacks, and the ally AI is absolute bullshit), which makes a nice change from the norm. Buy this game if you like female nudity, as Aya's clothes seem to fall off every few seconds. Nudity is fine as long as it makes sense, and in this game it doesn't, apparently all of the enemies' energy blasts only effect man made fibers. There's also a shower scene which I haven't watched.

That concludes my roundup of the PSP games I bought this year. I bought the special edition of all of them. Square Enix seems to think putting a couple of art cards makes an extra few pounds worth it, it doesn't. At least the 3rd Birthday special edition came with a hardback artbook (featuring more pictures of Aya in skimpy clothing), the Dissidia one was rubbish, I got artcards and pointless DLC. I can probably play Yu-Gi-Oh with all the artcards I have now.

PS. I'm also totally going to buy FF: Type 0 when and if it comes out in Europe. Can't wait.

Xenoblade Review! - and- Operation Rainfall

2011-06-30T13:07:00.002+01:00

-Opening-

I have a confession to make (I think this will become a regular thing), in September of last year I soft-modded my Nintendo Wii console. Now before you get angry there was a very good reason for me doing this. While I was in Japan during the summer of 2010 I purchased a copy of Xenoblade, a game which I later found was unplayable on my European Wii console. Therefore I made the decision to change my Wii so that it would be compatible with Japanese games.

Seriously, WHY Nintendo? Other than stopping people from playing games, I see no reason for these limitations to exist, especially when people travel around the world and have the option of piracy. It may have been acceptable 10 years ago but it isn't now. Well,at least the DS is region-free. Oh, but the 3DS isn't, urgh... How am I going to play Pokemon games early now?!?

Anyway, because of my actions I became terrified of the Wii being used, as I feared it would brick, and then I would have to explain to my family, and it would get all awkward and I would be down a games console.
Recent events have made me overcome my fear, and plug in the Wii again.

I am of course talking about the pretentiously named 'Operation Rainfall'. If you haven't heard of this well basically Americans are upset that Japanese games such as 'Xenoblade', 'The Last Story', and 'Pandora's Tower' are not coming to the US. And for once I can empathise with Americans. I am a European (OK, the UK, it's technically part of Europe!) and it is usually us who get this sort of treatment. However in an unusual turning of the tables the UK is getting 'Xenoblade' as 'Xenoblade Chronicles' but the US is not, this doesn't make much sense at all. If it's localised why not just port it over to America? You can't abandon the Wii, because the Wii U (stupid name) is coming.

Anyway, my point was that I totally support Operation Rainfall (also stupid name BTW), good Wii games are usually few and far between and passing up on the opportunity of getting three VERY good Wii games doesn't make sense. I understand that there may not be as big a market in JRPGs as there once were, but they should at least be given a chance.

Time for my review of... Xenoblade!

I've only played a couple of hours of Xenoblade, so there may be a follow up post in the future, but from what I've seen this game is very good. Around the year 2000, JRPGs began straying from what they new and began swamped by terrible JRPGs lowering the quality of the genre as a whole (similar to what's happening to all of the CoD clones nowadays), really good modern console JRPGs are rare and Xenoblade is one of these rare beasts (much better than Final Fantasy XIII for example).

The story of Xenoblade is good, honestly it's not the best but serves it's function and is entertaining. Basically, in the past two gods (one of machines and one of organic-things) battled and froze or something. Fastforward a few thousand years and mechanical life has developed on the machine god and organic life has evolved on the organic god. You play as a variety of characters, although the main character is Shulk (my translations may be a bit off), who is surprisingly not too annoying although he seems to have gotten fashion advice from Tidus from FFX. Following the strict JRPG story guidelines, Shulk's town gets destroyed and he sets out to save the world wielding the sword Monado. (The game seems to be called Xenoblade only to relate it to the Xeno- games, I don't think the word 'Xenoblade' is used in the game at all. This may not be true for the translation).

In terms of visuals, Xenoblade is great for the Wii, the art style and overall style of the game is great but is hindered by the Wii's graphical capabilities of the Wii, nevertheless this is a minor gripe and comes with the territory of Wii games, once you get past this you're free to experience the world of Xenoblade. The world is vibrant and full of life (well the organic side is) and is definitely worth exploring, there's also a sense of scale to it, towards the beginning there is a moment where you stand on a cliff overlooking the starting town and all its inhabitants which was shocking and welcome. As usual with modern games the soundtrack is also excellent, and certainly fitting for the game. Although the tunes may be memorable, they blend into the background and complement the game itself, which is what a soundtrack should do.

Gameplay wise Xenoblade also excels, the battle system is at first glance like a simplified version of FFXII's battle system. However, like with Fred West's house, there is much more to be found below the surface. Individual skills can be swapped in/out and levelled up, there are skill trees, seeing into the future and limit break-style comb-move things. The battle system is great, and as you'll be doing a lot of battling this is good. Unlike some games *cough*FFXIII*cough* Xenoblade has towns! This should be standard in JRPGs, but seems to be lacking recently. In these towns you can shop, accept sidequests (these seem to be mostly kill or fetch quests) and talk to people. This provides you with plenty of extra-curricular activities to do and may not make you come back to the game after you've finished, but will certainly lengthen your experience. There's even a relationship sim. type thing, which has some sort of impact on your battles. (I'll have to read the European instructions as the Japanese one is too complicated, and I want to know about all these mechanics.

To conclude, I'm not going to give a score, so will leave you with this. Xenoblade is very good, certainly one of the best console JRPGs in recent years, and should be played. If you live in Europe, buy this game not only will you receive a great time but you'll increase the chance of our American friends getting Xenoblade.

Score: 6 Hairdriers/Tuesday

Hello!

2011-06-30T13:02:00.000+01:00

Welcome to what I think is the third or the fourth incarnation of this blog, which makes this either Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker (they're both good).

Here I'll post my thoughts on stuff, most of this will be for my own benefit as I doubt anyone will be reading this. However if you are a person other than myself, than thank you and keep reading.

Well thanks anyway, and Bye!