Out of sheer boredom and nothing better to do, I have decided to do a review on a lesser known little manga series called ...

Black Cat is a manga written by Kentaro Yabuki and is actually the only manga I ever decided to fully collect over the years and when I was younger. The series is relatively short, being about 20 volumes long, but it isn't lacking in any aspects and I will get to the goods and bads later. Also, I shall add links to some of the characters under their names since they pages on this site if you want any further in depth info.

Synopsis

The main character is called Train Heartnet, and he is a sweeper, which is basically a bounty hunter. He was an assassin of a group called Chronos and a member of their elite squad called the Chrono Numbers. He was number 13 and was dubbed the Black Cat due to his golden, cat-like eyes. So by adding the two notions together, he gets the moniker of being "unlucky" and that plays a pertinent role in the series if you choose to get it. So something happens and he befriends a sweeper after she saves him from being killed. She ends up dying due to his former partner and being crazy and obsessive to the point it possibly borders on the erotic. So anyways, he becomes a sweeper and partners up with another guy named Sven Vollfied. They periodically team up with a thief by the name of Rinslet Walker, and acquire a special little girl by the name of Eve. They are then contracted by Chronos themselves to kill Train's old partner and prevent him from taking over the world.

Characters

There were quite a few characters in the book that were extremely likable. The cast was large but without being too crowded and it fit well in the 20 volume story. Due to the size, I will only focus on the 5 main characters.

Train Heartnet: The protagonist of the series and the guy in the chair at the top. Train is a 23 year old bounty hunter that suffered through the assassination of his parents and the assassin who killed them didn't realize they had a son and asked Train if he wanted to live or die. Train wanted to live, so the assassin took Train in and taught him to kill properly. Train used the teachings the assassin taught him to try and exact his revenge, which the assassin took as kind of humorous at times, commending the determination of the young boy. Well, the assassin dies and Train hates the fact he cannot exact his revenge. He was eventually taken in by a member of Chronos and raised by them until he achieves the level of becoming unlucky Chrono Number 13. Thus, he is given his trademark and nearly indestructible pistol, Hades. As an assassin, Train was incredibly ruthless and was often able to freeze people in fear just by staring at them as he would brutally slaughter them. Upon meeting the sweeper friend named Saya, he goes on to quote "fell in love with the way she lived" as he felt like she was free. Train was always chained and bound in some fashion so he became a sweeper in her memory and adopted a much more carefree attitude. Train's CV link can be read here.

Sven Vollfied: Sven is the guy with the eye patch and fedora in the picture. He is older than Train (I think he is 30?) and he was a former FBI agent or cop and his partner had a special gift to where he could see the future. So anyways, Sven is captured and loses an eye due to a gang attacking him and his partner dies but donates one of his eyes to Sven, Kakashi Hatake style. He retires from being an agent and becomes a sweeper instead. He ends up meeting Train and joins him on his journey. Sven is basically the tech guy of the group, as he is normal for the most part, and often times is the one inventing new types of bullets, weapons, explosives, etc. He even built a briefcase filled with a myriad of weapons such as a machine gun, net gun, compartments for pistols, an electrocable, and a pressurized diamond cutter. Shooting with class, people. He is also much more serious than Train and is pretty cool in his own right. Anyways, he also expands on his friend's gift to him and I won't spoil that unless you want to read the manga or check out the page which is right here.

Rinslet Walker: The lady in purple. She is 21 and plays the role of sexy thief. She isn't afraid to use her looks to manipulate people and is pretty handy when it comes to whips, guns, and overall stealth. She is actually a pretty strong character without being too serious, providing some funny moments throughout the series. Also, they never put her in a position of does he love me or does he not with any character and I liked that Kentaro did it. I'll explain that a bit more later on in the good section.

Eve: Eve is the little blond girl and is actually a genetically engineered bio weapon. She is full of nanites and can shape or transmute her body, such as forming blades, to transmuting her body into metal to deflect bullets, to even forming blades gloved fists with her hair. She really tries to prove herself as not just a kid and wishes to be a sweeper like the boys when they take her in. I really liked her character progression as far as refinement in powers go. Kentaro does a fantastic job showing her rudimentary shaping with her powers to the point she can grow wings to fly or become a mermaid like being to swim. He also shows little details in the transformations and weapons too to show said refinement. One example I remember is in the beginning she was using blades all of the time and they showed like veiny muscles and shapes at their bases, but she can eventually showed perfect and detailed hammers.

Creed Diskenth: Since Creed wasn't in the main pic at the top, I'll post this here.

So Creed Diskenth was Train's partner at one point. He always tried showing his mother he loved her by doing things like getting her flowers, but she was constantly drunk and beating him senseless since she blamed him for her never getting a man. So one day he poisons her drink and runs away. He lives on the streets and was routinely beat up by cops just venting their frustrations. So the guy didn't exactly have a warm childhood, despite trying to gain his mother's love. Somehow he gets picked up by Chronos and becomes an assassin, wielding his beloved kotetsu. He finds Train, as an assassin, to be a kindred spirit and admires him. He feels like this is the only person he can connect to. When Train changes, Creed goes apesh*t and kills Saya, as he blames her for changing the one person he felt a connection to. Creed was also at one point going to be Chrono Number 13, but was deemed too unstable for it and that position went to Train. So Creed ends up risking his life and ends up gaining the power of the Tao which allows him to generate a sword made of chi with varying stages and attributes. He calls this sword the Imagine Blade. His end goal is to become immortal via nanomachines and live forever while he overthrows Chronos and the governments of the world and he will selectively hand pick those that will survive in his world. He also leads a team of like-minded individuals called the Apostles of the Stars. And he has an obsession with trying to change Train back to his old ways and for him to join his team. This borders on the erotic...Creed is just nuts. He's awesome, but he's off the walls psychotic. Oh, and he too shares that ability with Train to freeze people in fear. That becomes pertinent too. Creed's page if you want to check out more here.

Pros

Story: The story is fantastic. It is very smooth and takes place over a period of time of just over a year at the most. It doesn't force itself into certain situations where it has to slow down or speed up and has a few chapters that allow it to kind of stray from the main story itself without becoming filler and going completely off track. Because of this, it allows the characters to move around through various cities so it gives a sort of adventure feel to it, too. Kentaro just does an amazing job developing every little detail with the story. It is a little cliched of a story when it comes to general terms, but the details of it are really great as to not become just another crazy guy bent on world domination and main protagonist must beat him. Like I said, it doesn't ever really spread too thin, it has an adventure kind of feel to it while having very likable characters and great action all around without seeming to stop like One Piece or Bleach.

The Characters: Every character is pretty much likable for some reason or another. He has solid personalities for each one so they don't blend together but the characters themselves have interactions without forcing it. Kentaro does a great job at making every character develop in a way that feels natural. So it's not like Bleach where Ichigo gets his butt whooped, trains for 3 hours, or finds some kind of revelation and comes back and owns the person. No. He has a casual progression and you can see it throughout the story. And to maintain it for a 4 year series, I commend the man for it. He just has a way of molding the characters and eliciting certain reactions. Like Train is a goofy character and often times it actually makes you forget he was this ruthless and cold blooded killer. Or how Creed tried very hard as a kid to make his mother love him and seemed like a sweet boy until he snapped.

The artwork: The artwork is really good. He scales the characters properly so we don't have 15 year olds looking like they are 25. I mean, you could probably guess the character's ages, and I like that because I always had problems in some animes and mangas where story lines just drag on forever and characters are just drawn certain ways that they could be in their 30's but aren't even out of their teens. He does fantastic detail in some panels and the action and detail is always very crisp and refined.

Powers and Fighting: One thing I also liked is the powers some of the characters had. People in Chronos were trained and were thus physically able to do superhuman things and he doesn't force the humans that have not done that to do that. Instead, he gives them basic street level stats, so bullet dodging as long as they are trained to a degree and tech. He also does well when blending these powers into fights. So guys with swords can battle guys with guns. Or someone with the ability to increase his muscle size to the point he can with stand explosive rounds and they must find a way around it. Or a guy who can control gravity to a degree. One guy can manipulate his own blood and we have a girl that can raise her body to 1000 degrees and kiss people to the point they combust. Eve goes crazy with her nano powers and shows she can transform to fly to creating blades that supposedly could cut through molecules. Train has some awesome accuracy feats and gives me that old school Vash the Stampede feel with his attitude and accuracy. Creed's sword is awesome and I love the different effects each stage grants him. It also shows some ingenuity on the characters' parts in certain battles. There are just a lot of diverse powers and no two characters are really the same. It provides fresh battles instead of just constant sword and gun fights. And each Chrono number has their own weapon and have some cool spins on different weapons. They range from a massive spear, Train's gun has a blunt edge for bashing and even a leash that extends to five meters and he does some unique things with that. Other people have a glove with retractable wires that can slice through virtually anything and one guy that has a bazooka that can convert to a massive hammer like weapon. One guy even has massive tonfas, so cool callback on that since I don't see them used very often outside of the old school samurai style like shows, similar to Rurouni Kenshin.

No love: Yes. No one loves anyone in this story and it is great. No annoying love triangles. No oblivious boys to shy girls ala Orihime/Ichigo, Hinata/Naruto kind of thing. Now, they do hint at some certain characters being possible ships but Kentaro never fully follows through with it and redirects it. He makes them friends and family. If I could give Oda one prop about One Piece it is that, aside from Sanji being ...Sanji, he makes the Straw Hats a family. Kentaro here does follow that aspect and I like it. He doesn't make Train and Rinslet go gaga or it isn't Train avenging Saya because he loved her. It is always something different, like how he loved Saya's style of life and how she made an impact on his life.

Cons

Cliches: It follows some anime cliches like Creed being egotistical and Training being the goofy idiot but smart when it comes down to it. Or how many of them have some tragic past element which almost every anime character has nowadays. Aside from that, that is really all I can complain about.

In Conclusion

Fantastic manga. Fantastic characters. Fantastic story. Kentaro Yabuki kills it in this story and everything flows so smoothly and the art and fights are detailed and crisp. Btw, don't watch the anime. I know some animes change from the manga, but the anime seems like a completely different story with just the same characters.

Final Rating 9/10.

Haven't done a game review blog in forever and after seeing my good buddy's @dragonborn_ct's blog on AC2, I decided to do my own gamer blog on one of my favorite games. I chose...

Now I chose this and completely skipped Resistance: Fall of Man because I liked the sequel better. DILLIGAF about order? But seriously, I think the Resistance series is one of the best system exclusive games for the PS3, if not the best and I'll explain that later since I do intend doing all 3 games. Anyways, onto the review.

Plot

So a quick rundown of the game. The game is set in the 1950's and there is this virus called the chimeran virus. No one knows where it has come from in the game. The game is a WWII era inspired game it takes place in Europe where you first battle the infected. In the 2nd game, it has spread around the world and is starting to impact the USA. To get an idea of the chimeran virus, if you have ever played Halo think the flood except in a much bigger variety of uses and creatures. So you're Sargent Nathan Hale. He was infected with the virus in the first game, but he survived the infection and was never taken into the evolution pods and therefore was never fully converted. So he is mostly human except for having enhanced strength, golden eyes, and a healing factor. Anyways, you are apart of a team of similar individuals and you do take vaccines every now and then to keep the virus in check. So you battle the chimeras across the good ole U.S.of A and you learn that there was a former agent like Hale that became a super chimera and called himself Daedalus. He was experimented on as part of program that tried to create human-chimeran hybrids in an attempt to make super soldiers called Project: Abraham. It was revealed that Hale was actually originally injected with the DNA, but the DNA remained dormant until he was reinfected in the first game. Only he didn't go nuts and morph into a giant whatever Daedalus is.

This is Daedalus

.

So anyways, Daedalus has psychic powers and single-handedly controls all of the chimeras. And he wants to activate these chimeran towers for some reason. Hale gets sent on a mission and too much time passes and it jump starts the virus. So at this point Hale is going to be dead....or completely turned in a matter of hours. He knows it and the player knows it and they want the player to know it because it makes Hale seem like a much bigger badass than he already is. So you team up with the last members of the super soldier squad and they plan on blowing this tower up. So you fight Daedalus and kill him. Hale touches him and gets massive psychic powers and you can then blow chimeras to pieces, like literal pieces with just a button and it is awesome. Then the bomb goes off, Hale is with one remaining soldier named Joe Capelli. Capelli is a hardass and typically comes across as the guy you wanna punch in the face...or use a sledgehammer, but you two escape and Capelli gets knocked out because they escape in a ship and an EMP causes it to fail and crash. He wakes up when you get outside there is this giant planet looking thing and .... I'll actually post it since there is more to it.

Pros:

Characters: I liked how they added more meaningful characters to the game. In the first it was basically all Hale with a few people here and there, but in this one we get new agents, a story built and driven by these characters and they all do their jobs at playing their roles perfectly. None of the two characters are really the same, but Hale and Capelli in particular really standout as far as soldiers go because they kind of represent opposites but still end up in a few stereotypical roles. Hale is the perfect soldier. Hard on the field, but not cold. He's just unyielding and calculating but is a true patriot, whereas Capelli is hot headed, he carries the big gun with a f*cking energy shield and it's ridiculous and awesome at the same time.

VA's: Voice acting in the game is near perfect. They don't go too much into the cutscenes which was really nice. They tried to make the cutscenes more supplemental to the actual storyline vs rather the gameplay being the supplement which is something I feel more games need. So the cutscenes aren't very long and it is the mission that you play that tells the story more. David Kaye kills the role as Hale.

Gameplay: Gameplay is very smooth and the combat is hard. It's not easy without overdoing it. The melee attacks are helpful and you get a large array of weapons. You get both some classic type guns and the chimeran guns, so more high tech stuff. Each gun also comes with a secondary feature that ranges from explosive rounds, to energy shields, to a tag shot that makes all bullets home in on the target, to a gun that allows you to see through walls and your bullets will phase through said walls. Kind of cool.

Graphics: The graphics are fantastic. The designs in the surrounding areas are phenomenal and some of the bosses are just jaw dropping. Seriously, go look up the leviathan. The attention to detail is amazing in the game and they even show Hale throughout the game as the virus furthers its infection. So he starts becoming more chimeran like.

The ending: The ending to the game was awesome. I'll actually post it, but without full context to it, it kind of loses its meaning, but hopefully with my plot summary it helps you appreciate it. But it was just so wonderfully done with Capelli's VA capturing the moment perfectly. I beat the game and kind of sat in my room like ....

DAMN!

But here is the ending.

Cons

Aliens? Zombies? Alien zombies? The chimerans are actually revealed to be aliens. They are just aliens that can convert creatures to...themselves. The first game didn't show they were aliens, but you could guess it, but they left it pretty ambiguous which is something I liked. I love the chimeras but to me it was just like...aliens? It just kind of went TOO sci-fi and the game doesn't really give off too much of that feeling. But it is a good thing on their part they could do something like that. Didn't detract me from liking the game, though.

Final Verdict 9/10

This is, in my opinion, the PS3's best exclusive game series. 3 games and they all are different from each other but flow smoothly together. None of the 3 games I believe have even fallen below 9/10 on IGN as far as the rating goes. It's such a good series and I definitely recommend those in need of a good war game with a bit of a outer world twist without going too Halo-y.

So, I promised this awhile ago. Things got in the way and I could not get to it. And if you have not read that review yet, here is the link. It's awesome. So go do it....now.

http://www.comicvine.com/profile/god_spawn/blog/gs-review-tales-of-symphonia/86399/

Now onto the game's sequel, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

Characters

I'll copy and post the original cast part here too from my other blog.

Emil Castagnier: Age 16. Emil is the main protagonist and is a very naive and timid person. I mean very. This guy is a coward at its finest....at first. Then he has his badass side where he has the king of all monsters possessing him. Emil has a slow growth over the course of the game, but comes into his own competent fighter over time. He is pretty fun to play with and is a melee type character with plenty of speed and agility. He uses a single, somewhatt large sword as his weapon and uses the standard melee attacks seen like with Lloyd. His Ratatosk finisher is also pretty awesome.

Marta Lualdi: Age 16. Marta is the lead female role and is very obsessive over Emil. She is usually a happy go lucky character, very similar to Colette from the first game, but not nearly as deep of a character, funny, or useful in combat. In short, extremely one dimensional. Marta is very problematic in fights, as her offense is piss poor and her finisher is also lackluster. She does have some solid healing spells, but is very bad on offense. Just saying.

Richter Abend: Age 21. Richter is a half elf and is very good in combat. He is very stoic, doesn't tolerate any nonsense and is probably the best new character introduced. He uses a sword and axe combo, which is awesome. He has a deep character about him and is a step above the primary two new characters and is very reminiscent of the older cast as far as depth goes. He has some solid spells and a great offense. He is playable for a time, but soon becomes the lead antagonist.

Lloyd Irving age: Previously: 17 (ToS). Currently: 19 (DotNW).

Lloyd is the main protagonist. He is a stubborn idealist with a hot head and a good heart. He has a thing for the chosen, Colette, in the canon ending of the game where she reciprocates those feelings. He uses dual swords, preferably katana esque swords. His gameplay style is a fast paced, rapid, capable combo linker that ties in with fast paced special attack followed by a heavy, powerful attack. Lloyd is the quickest character in running and attack speed in any of the ToS games with a medium attack power, a medium defense, and a high level of health. He is essential for any front line character capable of distracting multiple foes at once and with the extra hp, can take a hit and keep on dishing and with a high tp level, he has bountiful use of special attacks for a melee character.

Colette Brunel:

Age: Previously: 16 (ToS). Current: 18 (DotNW).

Colette is the love interest of the main character. She is very clumsy which provides many interesting and comical situations to the game. She is very kind and also likes dogs quite a bit. Colette is also an "angel" which adds a dynamic to her fighting style since she flies er floats. Her weapons are dual wield chakrams. Colette's a solid character if you have the patience to use her. She is kind of slow in speed and doesn't have much finesse like others do. So she kind of has a hard time linking her chains together, but the upside is she has techniques for every range on the field, from short, to mid,to the most powerful spells in the game. She is a decent speed in spell casting and with her mid-range attacks with magic powered special attacks, she is a force when used properly and shines bright on a team rather than by herself.

Genis Sage:

Age: Previously: 12 (ToS) Currently: 14 (DotNW).

Genis is a super genius half elf with a bit of an attitude but that is due to being persecuted all his life and is Lloyd's best friend. He wields kendamas. His fighting style is best suited for team use and for behind the front lines. His physical stats are terrible. He has a 2 hit max combo with no linkable specials and slow attack speed and slow running speed. He has a decent amount of health but a very high amount of TP allowing for his ace. Genis is the most powerful spellcaster in the game. He knows spells that cover all basic elements outside of darkness and light and can decimate entire fields once leveled up enough. He can easily 2-3 shot most enemies with his more powerful spells.

Raine Sage:

Age: Previously: 23 (ToS) Currently: 25 (DotNW).

Raine is Genis' older sister and is incredibly quick tempered and smart herself with a fear of water and a fetish for ruins and old historic things ensuing many shenanigans.Her weapon is a staff. She suffers from the same problems Genis does and makes up for it in spells. Her offensive spells are light based and very powerful but few unlike her brother. Her main goal is that of a healer, removing stat effects, resurrecting dead players, multiple enhancers and field wide healing spells. She is a very useful character when used right, just not one that will be best trying to get kill shots with.

Kratos Aurion:

Age: 28 (ToS) not playable in DotNW: Kratos I won't spoil too much about him. He is a mercenary and is the calm, quiet type but is a machine on the battle field.He uses a sword. His running speed is moderate, his attack speed is slower than Lloyd's but still solid and his attacks reflect his power and skill. He also knows some solid healing spells, low to mid level basic elemental magic and has a higher strength level than Lloyd with a solid defense and solid level of HP and TP but he can burn through TP fast if constant use of special attacks. He can also learn the highest level light spell given the right circumstances.

Sheena Fujibayashi:

Age: Previously: 19 (ToS) Currently: 21 (DotNW).

Sheena is a passionate and impulsive, albeit clumsy, assassin of the Igaguri clan in the game. She has a tough exterior that belies a very insecure woman due to a past mistake. She is also implied to be Zelos' canon love interest but it's the underlying subtleties that give it away. She uses cards and is a summoner. She also is one of the most powerful characters in the game for many reasons. Her attack speed is high as is her running speed maybe even being faster than Lloyd, though I am not sure. She has a solid combo ability and uses quick paced but powerful special attacks that have varying effects from blowing enemies away to reducing various stats on the opponents or stealing HP. She can also employ elemental based magics onto teammates or herself for element attacks. She is also capable of resurrection herself. And her best ability is when you get hit enough and in a short time you go into an overlimit mode which makes you invulnerable for a period and much stronger. In this state Sheena can summon any of the summon spirits you come make pacts with. These spells range are very powerful and some can solo entire fields in one shot. She is fast, has a decent attack strength, is very versatile and has a solid amount of health, defense points and TP for special attacks. Sheena is an easy replacement for Lloyd if it comes down to it and is probably my 2nd favorite character to use.

Presea Combatir:

Age: Previously: 12 (ToS) Currently: 14 (DotNW).

Presea is a pink haired girl little girl and is the strongest physical member of the team. Yes, the 12 year old sweet, pink girl is the tank and physically strongest member in the game rivaled only by Regal. She is very quiet and straightforward but somewhat shy too and is Genis' love interest. She uses massive axes as weapons, she has a high health amount, solid defense, moderate TP, very strong and surprisingly quick in all areas of speed. She isn't much for linking though and has few specials that can link. Her combos are short and can leave her wide open in mid swing if an enemy blocks but she is just a beast and can easily make up for a few hits here and there.

Zelos Wilder:

Age: Previously: 22 (ToS). Currently: 24 (DotNW).

Zelos Wilder is a guy, kind of looks like a girl but is a guy. He is also the flirtatious ladies' man of the group. With him you can talk to any woman in the game and they give you free stuff. Aside from that, Zelos is very intelligent despite acting like an idiot. He is extremely funny, despite having the most f*cked up backstory in the game, and is also implied to be Sheena's love interest. His weapons are swords and daggers, and he is very similar to Kratos being a magic swordsman. Zelos and Kratos are replaceable in the game as you only get either one but I won't spoil how or why. Zelos runs at a similar pace to Kratos and suffers from burning through TP like him but knows the same spells except the angel spell, Judgement. The difference between him and Kratos though they know the same moves is that Zelos attacks faster and more fluidly. His attacks reflect finesse and can combo easier than Kratos and his special moves tend to hit easier than Kratos' versions. (they do different versions of the same titled attacks). He has a solid strength, solid health, knows some moderate spells and is stronger than Lloyd albeit slower. You can give him or Kratos jet boots to increase their speed and they basically become better on the front lines than even Lloyd and have the spells to back up.

Regal Bryant:

Age: Previously: 33 (ToS). Currently: 35 (DotNW).

Regal, like Kratos, I won't spoil much. He is very serious, very quiet, a very good cook and can be funny when he has to but it scares the team due to his naturally stoic nature. He uses his feet to attack only using greaves as weapons. He is the only character than rival Presea in strength. He knows basic healing too and has a decent running speed and attack speed. His combo ability is kind of poor with regular attacks, but his special attacks can link for a solid combo and he has a few evasive moves and is the only one that can do that. He has a decent defense, solid health range and tp range. I don't like using that much but I've seen him used by my friends who like him and he can pretty much take out fields of 4 different enemies without getting hit. This is impressive for being a front line guy.

Summary

It's been 2 years after the end of the first game. So that blonde dude with the weird colic is Emil. He is our main protagonist of this story and he was apparently a member of a family that was destroyed in something called the great blood purge of Palmacosta because of the world and Great Kharlan Tree being unstable. So Lloyd Irving from the previous game is said to have gone batsh*t crazy and literally slaughtered an entire town and set it ablaze. This sets the tone as Emil is living with his abusive aunt and uncle. Emil meets a half elf named Richter Abend and he eventually meets a clingy girl named Marta Lualdi. Richter is very angry and eventually leaves the team and becomes the main antagonist. So it is up to Marta and Emil to stop Richter and find Lloyd, whom at this point has ventured on his own and is hunting down something called the centurion cores, which are mana stabilizers in the world. The centurions are basically spirits that control all the elements they are assigned and their cores are when they are asleep. And they all serve their master, the king of all monsters and centurions, Ratatosk. Marta becomes Ratatosk's core and Emil has an alter ego that is Ratatosk himself. Think Nine-Tailed Fox and Naruto. Emil is the very timid side, while Ratatosk comes out during battles and is able to enhance Emil physically. So it is basically up to Emil and Marta, and along with the entirety of Lloyd's friends, to uncover the truth of everything and stop the unstable new world when Lloyd rejoined Tethe'all and Sylvarant together, from falling apart.

Pros

Updated Cutscenes: The cutscenes are more animated now. The old game wasn't as updated with cutscenes and some of the motions were a bit limited. Due to the game being on Wii, we get more theatrical like cutscenes, which adds a nice flair to the game. New emotion faces add new feels to the cutscenes and the fighting scenes look more intense and are very fluid.

Updated Skits: The skits in the previous games were just in-game little chat boxes that the characters had with each other and added in game context of what everyone was feeling or just some hilarity in situations. The new game has them vocally talking now, whereas the original was just something you read. So it's a nice addition.

Updated Battle System: I absolutely love the updated battle system in this game. While the old game was very fun, it was more linear in fighting as you could really only go back, forth, or jump and you could go side to side, depending if a villain smacked you in a certain direction. You get that same style in this game, but there is a button that allows you free roam in combat now. So you can go any direction you please now and form up new strategies of attack.

Monster training: In this game, because of the lack of characters in the beginning since you only get Marta or Emil, you can capture monsters now, train them, feed them, and evolve them to help in your battles. They can even use spells so it's kind of cool. I personally didn't use the feature that much, but some people really liked it and I'll admit it helped out in a crunch. Think Pokemon.

Finishers: There was a secret feature in the original game where if Lloyd had his health low enough, eternal swordsman title used, material blade, and you had like 100 TP left, and you pressed A+B+X at the same time, you could execute a powerful move that pretty much killed anyone enemy one hit. Well, Japan re-released ToS on PS2 sometime ago and they added that finisher feature to every character, just more accessible and less situational. In this game, they brought that about and it's like an in-battle cutscene where the character just brings destruction to the battle field. So it's helpful in situations and you can use this feature instead of the unison attacks, or you can still use unison attacks.

New Characters: I actually use this for about 2 characters. While the new characters in the game added more human like bosses instead of monsters, there were only 2 I really liked. Decus and Richter. Decus was hilarious and a tough customer. Richter was a badass all the way through the game and his purpose in the game was great and I am glad he became a boss.

Bigger attack sleights: Due to the wiimote having more control options (like swinging the controllers), you can have a bigger attack sleight in the game. So any of the characters can have I think like 12-16 moves now during a fight instead of the previous 7 or 8.

Cons

Lack of field map: Due to a rush in the project, they had to scrap the world map and replaced it with a menu feature. I think it sucked personally. The big field map between towns and travel options like Noishe and the rheairds added a huge adventurous feel to the game. I don't blame the creators though for this. They had a deadline and I guess things caught up and they couldn't cut it.

Emil and Marta can only lead: This feature reaaaaaaally pissed me off. In the first game, you can pick any character you want as the head of your party even though things revolved around Lloyd. So I could exclude Lloyd in whatever fashion I pleased in that game, save for certain points. Emil or Marta must be the head of the party. It doesn't matter who, they just have to be. So that means you cannot walk around as any other character, you can't start a battle as any other character. And to actually control one of the other characters, you have to set their control option to manual, pause the game, and then press a button to switch between the characters on the field. It blew. To constantly have to do that in the game really ticked me off. I'm at least glad they kept the option to use other characters in the fights, but to have to pause, switch etc constantly to play as Lloyd or Zelos or Sheena was a pain.

Can't customize characters except for Emil and Marta: This kind of ties in with my previous con. The old characters already come with pre-set stats, levels, and weapons. You have no free reign over them anymore. You can, however, still pick their attack lists. So at least there is that much.

Can only cook for monsters: In the first game you could cook for your entire party to heal. Now you can only cook for monsters I believe. Self explanatory.

Voices: Not all the voices were bad. Johnny Young Bosch actually plays Emil and does a fantastic job at both sides of the characters from Ratatosk to Emil. And Laura Bailey did a good job as Marta. And only a handful of the old cast return like Kratos as the narrator, Tara Strong for Presea, Heather Hogan for Collete, and Raine's VA came back. Other than that, a new VA's. And with some of those new VA's, they just didn't capture the characters. Scott Menville (Teen Titans Robin), captured Lloyd perfectly in the old game. Brian Beacock takes over and doesn't do bad at all, but he just doesn't have that same feel Menville brought, their voices just don't transition over well. Zelos' new VA (Christopher Corey Smith) was ...AWFUL. I hated it. He had no swag. No suave. No inflection on the character whatsoever. He had a nasally voice, kind of high pitched, had the charisma of a cardboard box, and was flatter than a can of week old opened soda. It was just plain bad. Some of the characters just lost a lot of what made those characters just because of a simple voice change and it sucked. I adored every single original cast member that VA'd the game. But small things like changing Scott Menville to Brian Beacock lost some of inflection on Lloyd. Shiloh Strong did AMAZING as Zelos and captured the pompous ladies' man that could drop panties with a whisper and a wink to..... what I previously described. What makes it worse is the fact they didn't even contact Shiloh Strong. Namco didn't bother contacting him. I heard his new voice and was like...."WHAT DID THEY DO YOU??" And I honestly have no problem with Christopher Corey Smith. He played another role in the game as Tenebrous, a centurion, and did a deeper and intellectual voice perfect for that character. He isn't a bad VA. He was just a terrible decision for Zelos. Dave Wittenberg was decent as Regal but he was no Crispin Freeman. Oh, and Megan Hollingshead as Sheena was solid too. I can tell she really tried to emulate her inflection and speech patterns, but she couldn't replace Jennifer Hale on the character for me.

Here. I'll post this video to one, show the finishers, and two, give you a sample of the new VA's for those that played the first game.

Lack of mini adventures: The first game was based on a lot of it's freedom and sooo many side quests that the game could be played for hundreds of hours. I have about 300 hours logged into the first game because I have played through 3 times over 9 years and still haven't gotten everything. It's awesome. The first had so much to offer then we get some mini games and side quests, but not enough and nothing too engaging because of lack of character interactions and accessibility to said previous characters. Majority of the miniquests in the new one are based on Marta and Emil so like I said, just lost of accessibility.

Emil and Marta: Despite these two being the focus and their VA's did a good job on them, they just weren't good characters at all. Johnny Bosch did awesome as Emil. Emil was just waaaaay too sniveling of a character, too naive, and his growth as a character seemed too slow until the end. Laura Bailey is a fantastic VA. I love her to death as a VA and if you don't believe me of her being good, go look up her scene as Helena Harper with her sister Deborah in Resident Evil 6. Just fantastic selling on her part. Problem now is the fact that Marta is just a sh*t character. She is EXTREMELY one dimensional. Obsessed over Emil. Her battle prowess is god awful and she is more of a liability than anything. She is a good healer and all that, but in comparison to the healers and mages in the previous game, she sucked. At least the 3 worst offensive characters in the previous game could be salvaged in most cases. Raine in the previous game was a ridiculously powerful mage with the few offensive spells she had. Genis was ridiculous with his spells and control of the elements. Colette had very dangerous spells but could hold her own in a close range fight when used right thanks to her special melee attacks. And even the melee based characters had some magic, save for Lloyd and Presea. You had Sheena with a few elemental spells to attribute to weapons (and summoning in certain conditions), and Zelos and Kratos had solid healing spells along with basic to mid level elemental attack spells. Also Regal had decent healing spells too. Emil was solid to play with at least, but he wasn't anything special. If anything, Richter was the best new character in the game. Awesome gameplay, good VA, purposeful. Emil and Marta were just too one dimensional and annoying. Marta didn't even have any growth as a character and added nothing but annoyance.

In Conclusion

The overall premise of the game was good. I enjoyed the storyline. I enjoyed the updated battles. And I really liked the inclusion of the finishing moves. What got me though was the lack of freedom and use of the previous cast. The last game had it all. Great characters. Great scenes. Great VA's. Great storyline and soooo much you could do. And this sequel just cut so much out and the game felt shortened by a large margin (it was). Little things like a new VA for one or two characters can really throw you for a loop. There was just so much more they could have done with this game to make it a great game like its predecessor. What good they added was completely outweighed by the shortcomings. But if you can get past some of them, the sequel is enjoyable.

Rating 6/10

I actually wrote this blog the other day but for some reason CV glitched and then I couldn't post it and what I spent 2 hours on was unpostable. Anyways, this is a shorter version about me giving some respect to some specific debaters. 2012 was a good year for GS on the vine. Voted into the debaters Hall of Fame. Debaters round 3 champion held by the great @Strafe Prower. Then best debater of 2012 by the entire Vine. Then I was modded and have helped to better the Vine (at least I think I have?) Anyways, despite the deal of it being rather small, it is still a hobby of an interest we all share so I figured why not give some guys their credit? So I have. I picked who I feel are the top 5 debaters. So no offense to those I don't pick and some I may have not chosen due to other circumstances like not being consistent.

@jashro44 I have said it before and I will say it again: I think Jashro is currently near the top of being the best all around debater on the Vine. I've been amazed at his posts and he has scans for everything. Jash is the street level supreme on the Vine IMO and you also have a healthy range of characters even outside of the usual street characters I see you debate in. Jash is easily one of the most respectful and unbiased users there is here, yet this does not deter from the fact he has completely destroyed arguments that can span paragraphs or just simple sentences. So thank you, Jash. I wish we had more users like you.

@Killemall : Another one of CV's top debaters and voted 2nd best debater of 2012 by the Vine. I think Killemall is a lot like Jashro in the sense that he has scans for everything, knows the context, and is generally a very well mannered and respectable user. Killemall is to cosmics like what Jashro is to streets levels. I'd say Killemall is the TOP consistently on cosmic level debater on the Vine.

@Lvenger Another great user. Lvenger is probably my favorite user when it comes to debating for the comic staple in Superman. I think he is a fantastic debater, also well mannered, respectful and can tear 97% of people when it comes to Superman. I know I stress this Superman thing a lot with him, but he's just that good. Lvenger is a great overall debater but I know where he shines and I like reading what he comes up with and have never been disappointed in any of his posts.

@Super_SoldierXII My brother in claws. (see what I did there?) I know SS might not care but I think he is another one of the top street level debaters and debates just like our shared character in Wolverine. If anyone can debate Wolverine better than me, it is this guy. His posts are always spot on street levels in general and he isn't afraid to get aggressive in debates yet remain in tact and I respect that. One day my bub brother, I shall buy you a lot of beer. Cheers.

@JediXMan One of the users I respect the most, and as much as I torture and have turned this guy into a meme, JXM was probably one of the first users I paid attention to when learning how to debate properly. A debater hall of famer himself, he has a wide range in characters from X-Men to heavy hitters in DC to the Avengers and so. He will absolutely destroy anyone in Star Wars except Silver (mad respect for him too). And on top of thanking JXM for watching his debates, he has opened up a bigger world of Star Wars to me and as a life long fan of Star Wars, I appreciate it.

Sorry for it being a bit sloppy guys but I didn't want to spend 2 hours on this like I did the previous. If I didn't mention you, no offense, this is just my opinion on the forum and the users I selected I feel are there for a good reason.

I didn't want to write 5 separate reviews for these X books so I'll just blog it instead. This is part review and opinion on the direction or current states of the books.

1. All New X-Men 7/10

The Good: As much flack as Bendis gets (and often deserves), the book has been generally solid. I was iffy about the Original Five coming back, but it has been interesting seeing not only the reactions of the 616 X-Men to their younger counterparts, but the 05 and how they are doing in the future. It's the simple things that I think are helping the book. Like Cyclops at the mart asking about all the water in the bottles. How Ice Man has yet to deal with his younger self. Jean kind of forcibly maturing too fast because a lot has happened. I also like the fact they got rid of cat Beast. I am interested to see where Mystique being injected into this mix goes. So aside from all the excess dialogue, Bendis is doing a solid job with the kids, with the moments of Cyclops earlier on in the series which set up Uncanny X-Men just fine and what direction he is going in. And some of the humor has been funny to me. I liked seeing Wolverine get blasted across the city, fall butt up when induced to sleep and I am a huge Wolverine fan so don't take it against him. And Immonen has helped the issues tremendously. I do think his art has helped sell the book, tbh. Immonen's art is always good though.

Bad: The pacing. I think the pacing is bad. 7 issues into the series and a whole lot of nothing really significant has happened. I mean we have a lot of little things like the 05's reactions, Beast changing etc, but overall I am not sure where they are going. I know some issues in the near future will also revolve around Cyclops's group instead of him in 1 book. Which is fine, but I don't know what Bendis is doing. So we get Mystique and mysterious escort but 2-3 issues down the road why is Cyclops back? To recruit another mutant? But we just got Mystique? And Bendis still can't write some characters. He hasn't found his voice for Emma and I will admit that. "Fellas" anyone?

Rank: 7/10. I like the issues as single entities and build up of other aspects and I like the character interactions overall and the artwork. But since I don't see a solid direction right now, it gets an average rating.

Wolverine and the X-Men 3.5/10

The Good: It has Wolverine and some of the students are cool. Quentin Quire anyone? And I personally like Broo, Warbird (pre-Doop date night). Yeah, that's all I got right now.

Bad: F*CKING EVERYTHING. This book was good in the beginning. It got away from some of the serious soap opera tones and was funny. It had a few interesting arcs without crossing too deep into dark tones. It's gone downhill and very, very fast. The arcs have been terrible. I can't take the Hellfire club seriously at all. I can't take a bunch of 10 year olds being the Hellfire club and constantly humiliating the X-Men. So 3 Omega Level mutants, Storm, Wolverine, a genius in Beast etc are all getting one upped by children....all the time? FFS it is ridiculous. And what the hell was with the Frankenstein arc? We needed 4 issues of a snot nosed genius 11 year old with a swearing problem? And ZOMG he turns out to be DR. FRANKENSTEIN!!! Seriously, Aaron, get your sh*t together. The random arcs followed by 2 issues of bio issues are just so ...riveting /sarcasm. This book has no direction and no development and the humor has gotten old. Eye Guy throws up on his hand eyes lololol so funny /more sarcasm. The book was good at first but what happened? Aaron can actually write a pretty good Wolverine and the characters were likable in the beginning but not anymore. Broo is ruined, Idie sucks, Warbird lost my interest when every other comment was towards Doop and sex. At least it was funny when she did it to a dismembered and beheaded Ice Man. Considering how good his Thor is, I am very disappointed how far this book has fallen. Guess I can't be surprised after his Hulk run and Schism.

Rank: 3.5/10 Aaron should be able to do so much better and the recent Savage Land issue at least was the most decent issue he has done and finally looks like he is getting some development in for Quire at least. The latest issue finally seems to set up a direction which this book desperately needs if Marvel wishes to salvage it. But we have seen nothing important for almost 10 issues of some of the worst garbage pumped onto paper in recent memory IMO.

Cable and the X-Force 6/10

Good: The theory. Ok, I honestly really had high hopes for this book. I saw the previews, read the interviews, saw the cast and I was like "AWW YEAAAH!!" Cable? Awesome. Domino? Hellz yeah. Colossus? Love me some big C. Forge? Cool. Nemesis? Meeh, but whatevs. And these guys run and mess around with the Avengers while saving the world? Sounds good. It seemed like an Oceans Eleven with a mutant twist. The character interactions have been pretty solid and I feel the characters are sticking to what makes them, them. Colossus isn't squishing faces and is still the big ole softy we know and love.Cable is still the soldier (though a little too trigger happy at times), Domino trying to get Colossus to get her tequila was pretty funny. Nemesis is still...Nemesis. The art is pretty solid, the cast is solid, and the concept is solid.

Bad: So like the recent trend in X books, I think this pacing is slow. I am not sure what has happened but I feel this book should be much more exciting. The execution behind all of this has been rather slow and dull. All I've seen is obese monsters and Colossus consistently getting his butt kicked or head attempted to be eaten. I think the last issue kind of picked things up a bit but this could change easily.

Rank: 6/10 Like I said, everything here to me seems good in theory. The execution has just been a little dull which I don't think it should be for this type of book. I give it the 6/10 cause it does have direction and I think Hopeless just needs to pick up the pace a bit. And I also do want to see what is gonna happen when

Uncanny X-Men 8/10

Good: I know we just got off of the first issue no more than 3-4 days ago, but I feel like what Bendis was building up to in ANXM became apparent in this issue which I thought was good. We now know a bit more of what the Phoenix has done to the characters. Cyclops's mission and drive become more focused. His evolution is apparent. Bachalo's art I think was for the most part good where he needed it to be. Magik slicing a sentinel in half and Scott leveling the entire area, and I mean leveling the area were awesome.

Bad: Emma....Emma...Emma...Emma. She is neutered, seems almost useless in the issue, and Bendis can't write her dialogue. "Ball those puppies up" huh? I can't tell if that or fellas is worse. I mean at least he has some of her quick wit down on the insults but not really her wit. I do hope he can at least learn how to write her eventually but I won't get my hopes up on her. And Magik just kind of seems like a parrot of Scott which I don't like either. And Magneto's reason for betraying Scott seem...shoddy.

Rank: 8/10. I give it a higher ranking because I think it has a head start. We know what is supposed to happen. We know the direction Bendis is going and all this should be good. It's early enough to where he can eventually write some of the characters better but that is a dual edged sword as it can decline quickly. He has focus. He has reasons behind the book. the new mutants are also pretty cool and I like Tempus so far. Not sure what Fabio does exactly except shoot balls everywhere. A few tweaks and the book could be consistently good.

Uncanny X-Force 9/10

The Good: So far, everything was really solid in that first issue. Betsy was badass as usual. Storm got some of her rage out. The team will be nothing less than interesting and to see what Bishop does will be kind of cool. The dialogue was good. The art was good. The interactions were good. The fight was brief but solid between Spiral. Puck was pretty funny. the Fantomakeout was weird... So I think this will probably be one of the better if not best X book (that I am reading at least) to come out in Marvel NOW.

The Bad: Nothing so far. I will admit I was very uninterested in this book based on the team. I am a huge Betsy fan but have never considered Storm or Puck favorites and I don't particularly care if they are in books or not. Spiral I could care even less about. And 3 Fantomexes running around kissing each other is still a bit...weird. And I was never fond of Bishop either.

Rank: 9/10 Everything seems right for this book and I was pleasantly surprised reading it. It took some goading from my favorite purple ninja panther goddess, @ragdollpurps and I don't regret giving it a try and I look forward to it more than any other X book right now.

A rather short review of WWE's newest game.

Summary

WWE 13 is the latest in the line of wrestling games from WWE. The game is a huge mix of the Attitude Era and the Modern Era wrestlers. Not much more really needs to be said lol.

Gameplay

The gameplay is like any other wrestling game. You beat your opponent up and make them submit, pin, put through a table, escape a cage etc depending on the match type. The grapples are the same as the last 2 games with a new added feature of the limb targeting system. More matches and moves have been added to movesets and match types for a bigger variety. The crowds react, different commentators talk on about the match and different superstars etc.

Pros

The Attitude Era mode. The attitude era mode is just awesome and basically replaces the only storyline aspect of the game. It is just a really big concept and adds a fresh feel to the game with so many matches and things to unlock (I believe over 100 unlockables)) reliving the good ole days of wrestling.

Huge Roster- The big roster grants access to the attitude era and new superstars for dream matches and whatifs that could only be found in a video game. It lets you mix the best of both worlds and I love that part.

Toned up graphics.- The graphics are a bit smoother.

Universe Mode- Universe mode is largely customizable now and adds different stories and forms new feuds that end at different parts and add movie clips to the feuds featuring your superstars, created or not. You can create arenas, PPV's, different shows, delete shows, and just take charge of a largely accessible style of gameplay.

Create a Superstar- They just add more features to choose from when making your own characters.

Cons

• Camera angles- There is a new set of angles they do are sometimes irritating.
• Crowd Sound Clips- The audio samples suck tbh. I've won matches with a face (good guy) character and the crowd sounds dead or starts a small cheer but sounds like they are booing.
• Commentary- The commentary can also get pretty bland fast as the announcers sound like they are just kind of reading from cue cards.
• Glitches- LOTS of glitches in this game and I will say it is frustrating. Some moves glitch limbs in weird, gumby, like movements. Some moves that should end matches (like certain submissions) like Daniel Bryan's cattle mutilation hold will cause a superstar to tap but then the ref kind of glitches in and out of place then reappears and the match is still continuing. Characters bleed way too fast and in highlight clips and replays, some of them will drip blood but not have cuts on their faces while others will.
• Lack of 2 counts- Very rarely is there a 2 count in matches. This one is one of my biggest gripes. It may not sound like much, but because of it, it just seems hard to have the matches tell a story. And while it is a video game, that's what wrestling is, telling stories. You hit a finisher on a guy and it's like "Aw yeah, I win. He's battered up and everything." Then boom, kicks out at one. It just kind of takes away a lot of suspense for me in the matches.
• Stagnant- Once you kind of take away all the suspense and awesomeness that is the Attitude Era mode, you begin to realize the game tends to blend and become stale. While it seems ironic with the versatility, you realize with all the bugs and everything that it becomes just versatility while being stale. You don't really end up doing much more and by having the game not have that match suspense like "aw yeah, beat this guy" and then the computer kicks out at two and then you get all beat up and it becomes a crunch time kind of deal which wrestling games SHOULD have.

Rating: 7.3/10

The game is good. I The Attitude Era and versatility of the game is awesome and it is really cool as a long time wrestling fan to interact with both eras from my childhood and what kind of era I am going into now. What kills the game is the glitches. It is a very good wrestling game and WWE 13 picked up and fixed some issues from the previous games but it has created new ones and hasn't fixed some of the old ones like limbs moving in weird directions which I know has dated back for me all the way to SVR 09, so awhile. Once outside of the story mode, the matches themselves can't really tell stories and the gameplay just blends together which makes you end up either getting bored. Once WWE14 rolls around, I really hope they can fix some of these long standing issues and bring back the two count. Other than that, the game is solid. If you are a wrestling fan, I recommend it but just play at your own pace. Don't over due it cause then a lot of the underlying problems become apparent and just tends to spoil the gameplay.

Spoilers ahead

Been awhile since I have done a blog so here we go. I heard some pretty negative things about Resident Evil 6 and decided for Christmas to get it as a gift so I wouldn't have to pay for it in case it turned out to be true. Fast forward 2 weeks later, finally got around to beating all 4 campaign modes and some extra stuff in mercenaries mode. Anyways, the game surprised me.

Summary

Ok so a brief summary of the game. There is a new strain of a virus called the C-Virus. Actually, 2 strains. One is expelled as a gas in bio warfare and the gas kills the body then reanimates. Typical zombie stuff. Then people who directly inject it into themselves are turned into something called the J'avo. The J'avo are not zombies but they grow extra eyes, weird mouths, can use guns, have enhanced strength, speed, regenerate heads and sometimes mutate into weird creatures. Some grow Krauser shield arms, turn into weird spider like creatures, spitting lizards. They become a whole lot of twisted things. Anyways, you have 4 campaigns to go through. Leon, Chris, Ada and newcomer Jake Muller. Each person comes with a partner save for Ada. The campaigns feature their own story line and how it connects to the main story and at times intersecting with others. So each person is effected by the C virus (not literally effected) but they are impacted by it in some way. And you have to figure everything out and save the world.

Characters

Leon Kennedy: Who doesn't love Leon? The guy is a boss and he teams up with new partner, Helena Harper. Leon is nifty in the game in the fact that he is the only character that has a weapon that can dual wield. His wingshooter pistol has a large clip and with proper upgrades equipped, the gun is a deadly weapon for taking out quite a few zombies. Leon also gets other weapons like a knife, shotgun, semi auto sniper and an assault rifle. Oh, and 50 cal magnum pistol called the lightning hawk. In this game, you're really shown how Leon has grown since his debut. He is a lot more serious but still maintains the quips at times he is known for.

Helena Harper: His new partner and newcomer to the series. She gets her own special pistol as well. It is a pretty powerful pistol and she is armed with a hydra shotgun too and has her own unique quickshot with it. She gets other weapons too but sadly none melee like a knife. I love this character. I think she has a lot of potential to her and the VA showed a lot of emotion to her which I like. They didn't reveal too much on her past so it leaves to explore with her. She is relatively young compared to Leon, being 24-years old which makes her about 12 years younger with him being 36 years old himself. So I do hope to expect her to be around for awhile.

Chris Redfield: The Legend is back and kind of impacted from his experiences. Anyways, Chris has a very strong arsenal of weapons from the get go. I think this is a good advantage for starting since he has a more complex set of adversaries. Not a whole lot to say on him.

Piers Nivan. Chris' partner is a sniper based character. Piers' sniper is one of the strongest guns in the game being a one hit kill on most enemies. He is a collected soldier but fierce at the same time and has done a lot trying to keep Chris in line. I didn't really like him at first. There wasn't a whole lot of dynamic to him but in the end, he was a great a character with his development.

Jake Muller: The new guy and Wesker's son. Jake is a 20 year old (doesn't look like it) is a solid character and brings a different dynamic to the game with his hand to hand capabilities. He substitutes knives for his fists and kicks with a style that kind of resembles his dad's. He comes across as a big hardass jerk, but the development he gets changes it and understand why he is the way he was. Wesker abandoned Jake and his mother and his mother became ill so Jake tried hard to raise money for better medical care and they were in a third world country area called Edonia. Jake becomes a mercenary as a teen in order to raise money for his mother but she eventually passes. Jake also gets a very solid arsenal of weapons. His pistol is pretty good, his melee combat takes some getting used to but on top of that he gets snipers, machine guns and shotguns like everyone else. I like his dynamic with his partner. Sherry Birkin.

Sherry Birkin: Remember her? The little blonde girl in a sailor suit that was in RE 2 (I think it was?) for like 10 minutes? Well, she is back and all grown up. Sherry is now 26-27-ish and is a good little, straight by the book agent of the D.O.S. She is more kind and gentle than her partner Jake and you can really feel the tension between the characters and then eventual closeness. The VA's did an awesome job at developing their relationship.

Ada Wong: Ada is still Ada Wong. Mysterious. Elegant. She is like if Catwoman, Psylocke and Fantomex all had a baby between the ninjaness, thieving kind of style and total misdirection as to where the character actually sits. *Awaits Purps comment*

I have not yet played as Carla so Idk how she differs from...you'll find out.

Gameplay

Each character operates a bit differently from each other from some of the most subtle aspects. Everyone has a melee attack but not necessarily a melee weapon which can be screwy at times. Given that everyone has a melee attack though, they attack differently with different styles. Chris' attacks are a bit slower compared to the others but they pack a bigger throw back. Leon, Piers, Helena, Jake, Ada and Sherry are pretty fast with their melee attacks aside from some theatrics like Helena or Ada using scissor kicks on opponents which can leave them open.

Aside from the differences , the gameplay is the same as far as basics go. Just different weapons for different people and a different gameplay per character. Helena for example uses a multiple dodge technique for her quickshot with the hydra which is an effective maneuver. Sherry's special pistol is weaker than Jake and Chris' 909's and Helena's picador. But it makes up for it with a large clip and burst fire feature which fires three bullets or a single bullet. Leon too as he can dual wield despite his pistol being the weakest which can make up for it. Piers and Ada have no melee weapons or true pistols but assault weapons as their "pistols". But they make up for with larger clips and a faster rate of fire. Their other main weapons also are some of the strongest weapons in the game like Ada's crossbow or Piers' special sniper.

Jake and Sherry are the only partners thave a close range weapon. Jake having a h2h mode and not consider it a melee attack when in his stance and Sherry's stun baton with a charge feature and combo. Chris has a combo on his back dodge or quick shot while Leon does not have any combo with his knife.

The guns also will benefit from what skills you equip with a plethora of upgrades from steadying your aim, increasing it's fire power and increasing your own defense can make the differences in fights. Also, different guns do have different aim positions which can affect how accurate you are. Ada's 50 ammo box fires from the hip and was a bit off for me at first. Her crossbow also fired differently from normal guns. All in all, most people will get all the same type of weaponry without the guns being the same. Some get a semi-automatic sniper while others get a bolt action sniper. The pistols are all different, and Helena is the only one to get 10 gauge shells for her hydra shotgun. Some guns also carry explosive rounds like the bear commander assault rifle or Ada's crossbow with special bolts. You also have grenade launchers but not every character will receive it.

Each campaign also has its own enemies and different involvement with the C-Virus. Chris and Piers face the J'avo but the J'avo are upgraded from the very start which makes sense due to Chris' starting weaponry being the strongest. Jake and Sherry face the J'avo but they start out more common as ones that don't mutate so often. Helena and Leon face the zombies. Everyone faces B.O.W's. Another feature is that all the campaigns will intersect at some point but then branch off to their own again which I liked that touch. And each campaign will not spoil much of any others or their stories. You have to play all 3 campaigns to get the idea of everything going on. And with each level being at least an hour and twenty-thirty minutes or so on at least normal difficulty, the levels are pretty long and large which provides a longer gameplay feel and enough shoot outs.

Ada's campaign also adds a nice touch of filling in any missing holes.

Pros

• Campaigns. I loved the multiple campaigns. On normal mode it took me roughly 7-10 hours to beat each one which was fine to me as it gave each character set enough time to develop and grow. This also allows longer times for fighting, different bosses, different stories so things stay fresh longer.
• Variety of characters. I like the fact they used some of the older characters cause Leon is my favorite but added new characters. This keeps things fresh too. I commend Capcom for making the call to add new characters to keep the franchise going without rebooting it in a convoluted mess (damn you, DMC). Considering Leon is now 36 and Chris 40, these guys can't go for much longer unless Capcom turns them into Old Snake from MGS 4. Chris will be limping around with a walker but he lifts it up and it turns into a machine gun/ missile launcher. I was pleasantly surprised Sherry became an agent and a playable character. And because of the variety, as I said before, the gameplay differs a bit and it was fun for me trying to use each character cause you adjust to one and then have to learn how to use the others.
• I like Jake so far and I want to see how he grows which Resident Evil makes their characters develop very well. Take Leon from when he first appeared being a young rookie and kind of a flirt to a more stoic and serious agent but will still make quips every now and then to lighten the mood. Jake is still brash and cocky but he knows he doesn't want to be like his father but I do expect an encounter between him and Chris some day. His style is different. His attitude makes you want to hate him at first but when you learn his mother died and he became what he did to save her was an awesome aspect to his character. Kind of like Vergil in a way from Devil May Cry. Couldn't save her and just seeks the best bid or power he can.
• Sherry was a cool twist. At first to me she came across as useless but some of her cutscenes show she is a badass underneath all that straight cop attitude. It's also fun zapping people with the stun rod until they combust.
• Piers was kind of hard for me to like at first but just get to the end of Chris' campaign and find out what the character does. It flipped my opinion right around of him

• I love Helena. Laura Bailey is fantastic. Her scene with Deborah was great considering it is a video game.
• The voice acting. All the voice actors captured their character's perfectly. Troy Baker does awesome going from cocky Jake to more caring but still holding true to his ego. Matthew Mercer (honorable mention since he played Tygra, my favorite T-cat in the newest version of the show and now plays my favorite character in the series) captured the more stoic Leon while maintaining his sense of humor in depressing times. Chris is intense throughout the whole series. Ada's VA does a fantastic job of making her calm, sly, and sexy.
• The dynamics. The characters had interesting dynamics and complemented each other. From Jake and Sherry being polar opposites, to a revenge driven Chris with Piers keeping him in line. Leon and Helena made the best couple in the game between their uneasy start to a fullblown partnership so I hope they continue to partner up while they can and maybe drift away from the Ada Wong and Leon relationship since it just seems to be teased too long and possibly won't happen due to conflicting natures. I know they have feelings but I kind of hope it dies eventually. Helena and Leon did show some signs of attraction so I d would like to see how that affects their partnership and whatever is between Ada and Leon despite Helena knowing Leon cares for Ada and even telling him to go after her. But, Ada and Leon might or might not happen and with Helena being his new partner and probably for the next few years (in the continuity of RE) anything is possible.
• Mercenaries (pros) I liked the mercenary mode just because of how many characters you can use and how you can use the environment to your advantage and with each character being different, how you survive. And all the costumes and stuff is pretty cool. Plus, it takes some strategy to do well in it.
• The story. What my hardcore RE friends don't like is how the game has been shifting away from a horror survival to more story based. It has always had a story but RE just has been widening its doors IMO. I liked the campaigns and how each one didn't reveal too much until you had to complete each and piece things together. It was a process and in a 30 hour or so game, I think Capcom did a great job doing it.
• The Co-op and AI does a better job than RE5. A lot smoother and more helpful.

Cons

• Graphics. I didn't think the graphics were bad at all but to me, they could have been better.
• Mercenaries mode (cons) It does get repetitive and sometimes frustrating when trying to unlock the new characters by yourself and can't reach the A medal score. You kind of have to feel the maps out first.
• Lack of complete customization. You can't customize and upgrade weapons anymore, but you can equip skills to yourself.
• Lack of ammo at times and some characters having no melee weapons. This can get frustrating when you don't have enough ammo and get swarmed cause you will run out of stamina and can't really fight back.
• Some campaigns lack. Chris' kind of lacks substance IMO and falls flat compared to Leon's or the different kind that is Jake's or Ada's. Chris' campaign wasn't bad just not as fun as the others and Ada's campaign is really, really short. It too me about 4 hours to do.
• Where the hell is Jill? They make NO mention to her. Is she still blonde? Is she working still?

Rating 8/10

I don't regret getting the game. I love it. I like what Capcom is doing with the franchise and are looking for the future in this and trying to evolve beyond just the horror survivor and creepy stuff which 5 kind of started doing and 6 just picked up and ran with. They improved some issues the previous game had and added more variety which is always fun for experimenting. It will just be a sad day when Chris and Leon hang up their guns.

Revamped and Reposted.

I made a Vergil/Dante respect thread quite some time ago so I thought I would do a Nero one. Nero has a bad rep, he is hated by many fans and the aura that surrounds him on who he is, where did he come from hasn't been answered and with this crappy new DMC game coming out we are only going to have to wait. I like Nero, I think he is an interesting character (somewhat) but it's his power that is really cool.

Nero vs Dante

Just to get a multitude of feats out of the way in one clip. Nero fights Dante (who is toying with him) and he displays strength feats, speed feats, accuracy feats such as drop kicking Dante across a room then jumps back and fires a shot at him that would have tagged Dante mid-flight if he didn't block, whipping the giant stone sword, punches Dante across the room then appears right next to him punching Dante's face into a small crater in the ground, kicks the giant stone sword out of the statue's grip and ultimately getting told by Dante he underestimated Nero.

Speed/Agility/Reflex feats

Nero really didn't display too many speed feats in the game. He was able to run along Echidna despite moving through the forest and ducking and jumping over obstacles and rebounding off trees. He also displays a minor accuracy feat shooting Echidna's seeds.

Catches the Knight's attack with a book then ducks and weaves around his attacks.

This clip is a bit long holding the clip I wanted and the clip of Nero's Devil Trigger awakening. The 1st clip shows Dante's speed and reflexes being capable to handle multiple demons flying in and attacking him. The 2nd clip shows a bit of his durability and healing.

Strength

Nero has a plethora of strength feats in the game. (See fight with Dante for more)

Nero puts a bunch of burning buildings out with a swing of his sword and blocks Berial's attack attack easily and over powers him without using his demon arm.

Nero whips Bael around and then punches him killing him. He then punches one of Bael's brothers sending them back into the gate.

Nero manages to hold Echidna from going into the gate briefly before she breaks a part of her body off to escape.

Nero in a fit of rage smashes the ground with a few punches. Also shows a bit of speed and skill here holding off multiple blitzing angles.

Nero's best strength feat in the game. He leaps high in the air and grabs the false Savior's face crushing it and causes the immediate area to rumble with a shockwave.

Skill

Nero with one arm manages to defeat a group of demons.

Nero defeats Sanctus when wielding the Sparda sword and saves Kyrie. It also shows a bit of Nero's speed too.

I'm reposting these so I can link them to the forums.

A respect thread to two of my favorite video game characters. Important note on this thread it is similar to my where to classify dante thread which is just a breakdown, this will be full of video clips instead for people to use. I have not played DMC1 in 7-8 years so i was a youngin, my memory is a little hazy, and 2 sucked and due to poor ratings I heard is arguably non-canon don't know if it that is true, but i do remember 3 and 4 quite well as some parts from number 1. So as i backtrack and refresh my memory, i shall edit the thread for more knowledge.

Dante: Super Strength

In the beginning Dante showed some moderate super-strength.

Punching through stone.

Dante punches a statue and a fissure runs up it, and eventually crumbles to dust. This is also a durability/speed feat showing as he could run down side of a building so fast his hand heats with no discomfort. As well as his ability to repel the swarm of blood birds.

As he got older, he showed greater strength feats.

In combination with Gilgamesh, Dante shows good strength and skill with the weapon.

Dante was able to block a punch from the Savior, a giant demonic stone statue and throw it off him.

Dante overpowers echidna

Durability/Regeneration

Dante has some insane durability and regeneration powers.

Dante gets stabbed by multiple demons and just nonchalontley walks it off, and even uses the scythes stuck in him as weapons, and as he heals almost instantaneously. This is also a great skill/accuracy feat by Dante as well

Dante can tank punches from massive demons and get planted in the ground.

Dante is pretty much bulletproof. the first video is also a decent reflex feat catching lady.

Dante shows heat resistance too resisting Berial's heat before he even noticed Dante.

Dante in devil trigger can pretty much just fly through stones rather easily. This also shows the power of devil trigger.

Dante has been stabbed 3 times by his swords in the game and he heals moments later.

Combo durability and healing, he tanks multiple punches from a ticked off Nero, and getting impaled through the chest again. He heals and shrugs it off

Part begins at 3:30

I'll post the third video of Dante getting impaled later in a seperate section.

Speed/Agility/Reflexes/Skill

Dante has some great speed feats.

Dante is a bullet dodger/ and can fire at or faster than rapid fire speeds.

I dont know how to explain this feat really, he jumps far and practically toys with Sanctus' demons.

More agility.

A great show of Dante's accuracy lining up bullets perfectly.

Toys with the savior again.

Dante dodges Nero's bullets near point blank

Dante shows great speed and skill with his brother's sword.

Virtually any weapon Dante picks up, he knows how to use. The previous Alastor, and Gilgamesh weapons are good examples of that.

Vergil

Being Dante's twin but having his time cut short in the series, Vergil should be equal physically to Dante in the DMC3 series etc. Vergil can move fast he can teleports, he can summon magic swords and his the only rival to Dante in terms of Swordsmanship.

Super-Strength:

Vergil's only true demonstration of strength is his fight with Beowulf. It is a great skill and speed feat as well.

Skill/Speed

Vergil shows tremendous skill with his prized blade Yamato.

He can cut opponents so fast they are dead before he sheaths his sword

Vergil can spin his sword catch Dante's bullets and put them on the ground and strike them back at Dante

Appears out of nowhere and up on a pillar after saving Dante and cutting Arkham's tentacle

Combined Feats.

Both of these 2 have some insane feats together and i didnt want to post them in either specified character sections.

Fight speed between both of these two is impressive, they can fight and swing their swords so fast in combat it prevents pouring rain from even touching the ground.

A combo feat just showing reflexes( cutting the missle in half twice), skill, and durability(look at all the blood) and Dante's firing speed despite being exhausted

Both show good swordsmanship skills and display the ability to channel their energy into the guns and overpower a demon who possessed Sparda's power. Jackpot

miscellaneous

Just a few of Dante's powers, quicksilver and doppleganger.

Quicksilver slows time to a crawl in a specific area and allows dante to appear he has superspeed (aside from trickster whick makes him appear he teleports.but just moves quick in short bursts like Daken almost ). See the stones are still moving

Doppleganger: Creates a clone of Dante that mimics his movements

Out of boredom and a bit of spare time, I have returned with the GS 5 (remember my awesome battle blogs?) to do a random blog on some of my opinions of the new Marvel NOW outfits. I also realize some of these outfits have not debuted yet.

I will say so far the relaunch has been great. I am liking ANXM so far. Deadpool is funny and has some awesome references. Thor is just all kinds of awesome so far. I liked the first issue of Hulk (which for me is a big deal since he isn't exactly my favorite and was never a loyal follower), Uncanny Avengers I am still on the fence about. And some of the new solos have been fun as I have been thoroughly enjoying Hawkeye and Gambit. I am also looking forward to give Savage Wolverine a shot and see how the new Uncanny X-Men turns out.

1: Captain America

Ok, so Marvel. Have you decided on whether to just make him movie/ultimate verse Cap or not? This is what is bugging me about this one. On 90% of every cover and variant we have seen for this outfit we get movie/ultimate Cap. The boots and gloves are a little more mechanical looking vs the pirate boots. The famous wingtips are painted on the side of the helmet in most of the covers almost completely resembling the movie/ultimate cap. Yet in his books with JrJr and Cassaday, both artists have the necessarily same look. They give him the classic chainmail with some minor modifications and the lower half is more sleek and militaristic. He even has the weird kneepads (courtesy of Cassaday) which I find kind of ridiculous looking and the wingtips are similar to his classic look but on a more militaristic helmet vs a regular cowl. It just looks kind of....off. I like the overall new design but there are a few things just off setting about it like the knee pads in UA or the chin strap with classic wingtips. In time I expect to get used to it. I am at least glad they didn't go full movie/ultimate-esque Cap on his outfit and left some distinguishing features similar to his classic look. I just kind of wish they settle on scheme though. Make him like most of the covers or don't.

2. Iron Man

I love the new black and gold coloring. I find this one of the better Marvel costume redesigns and I wonder how long they will keep the color scheme? Iron Man goes through different armors for every few years but they were majority red and gold. So who knows how long this one will last? I do hope it does though, but Marvel could always just pull the trigger on it and go back to red and gold.

3. Thor

Another one of my favorite redesigns. I'll be honest. I hate classic Thor's outfit. I never liked it. The chainmail blew it away when Coipel debuted it. The new outfit at first kind of brought me back to his classic look. Then going through the first issue I loved it. To me the new look gives a modernized take on Thor's classic look IMO. I like the style being simple and with good uses of the red and black. I still think they were trying to go too Avengers movie Thor on it though. My hopes for this is similar to the movie when the going got tough, Thor was able "armor" up which I like the concept. Thor is naturally very durable and his armor often goes long before he does. And I have seen some of the Avengers covers for Marvel NOW and Thor does have his full armor on so it just gives me further hope they use the concept.

4. Cyclops

The Bachalo redesign. At first glance I thought this was a terrible choice. I find the overall outfit great but the X visor is for what? At first glance though. As more information was released we get that there is to be some function to this outfit. The former Phoenix 5 are supposed to get some kind of power adjustment and Cyclops for whatever reason has decided to wear an X shaped visor which I still cannot for the life of me figure out its purpose. BUT, after seeing the outfit for so many times I have grown accustomed. The suit itself is cool and Bachalo makes it work. But the function for the visor is what is screwing with my head. Will Cyclops no wear ruby quartz eyepatches and one up Nick Fury? Will his sunglasses even keep back his powers? What will his back up visor look like? Say he is out in street clothes or something and he has to switch to his visor, will it be an X? Or will he forever have to wear the cowl to keep his powers in check? The outfit is cool but the visor for now is meh and I can say I will get better to me as long as I see the function being worth while.

5. Deadpool

I love this one too. It is a very simple redesign with some added gauntlets and boots. Not much more to say about it lol.

There you have it. Another GS 5 series and me picking and forming an opinion on some of the new redesigns. Tell me what your take is and what costumes you love or hate in the comment section below.