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Megas

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  2. Megas
    Title is pretty self explanatory. After Square-Enix's troll-tastic reveal yesterday about Final Fantasy VII is returning to the PS4(only for it to be a port of the more inferior PC version in HD...which won't do anything). Ever since their little PS4 tech demo back in 2005, people have been clamoring for a FFVII remake for ages now, and for good reason, as there are plenty of things that could do good for the game, the Final Fantasy franchise, and Square Enix themselve, if they ever decide to remake it
     
    1) The game's visuals have aged horribly
     

     
    I'm not gonna mince words here, while the CGI cutscenes still look alright, the in-game visuals look fugly. The blocky style of the characters just look weird and jaggy, and it doesn't help with the story, which itself is pretty serious. The
    shown in 2005 obviously shows that the game could use the visual upgrade, especially, again, with the more serious tone of the story. 
    2) The Game could use a new translation
     
    Early games never really had the best translations, especially in regards to Final Fantasy game, like FFIV or FFTactics, and VII is no exception. Translation errors galore, like "I see. So that'll how you'll fool them" or "Bizzarro Enegy" and who can forget "This guy are sick"?
     
    3) It would make Squeenix tons of money
     
    Obvious reason is obvious. Final Fantasy VII is insanely popular, often credited for the JRPG boom around the PS1/PS2 era. Sure it'll cost a lot to make(the original game is the 4th most expensive game made, behind GTAV, CoDMW2, and Destiny), but everyone can guarantee that it'll make it's money's worth and then some. If they never make the game, that'll just prove that Squeenix hates money.
     
    4) It could help the Final Fantasy franchise recover
     
    Lets be honest here, this generation hasn't been kind to Final Fantasy. Between the divisive reception of Final Fantasy XIII(along with two unwanted sequels), the poor launch of FFXIV, the negative reaction to the FFVI port on the iOS, no localization for Type-0(thankfully that's actually being released this gen)and the disaster that was All The Bravest, Final Fantasy has seen better days. I mean it's sad when the best received Final Fantasy games this generation were spin-offs, granted they were awesome like Dissidia and Theatrhythm, but the main series sure did take the beating. While FFXV and the HD update of Type-0 look promising, seeing Squeenix fully remake VII with the quality we expect would definitely help reinvigorate faith in the franchises
     
    5) Would be a good appitizer before FFXV
     
    Of course, assuming FFXV DOESN'T take for ever to come out, a remake of FFVII would definitely keep people occupied before the game ever comes out
     
    6) They could tie in Crisis Core and Advent Children
     
    This is probably just another way of me saying that I want Crisis core, but I would love it if they remade the game, that they could also tie in Crisis Core and/or Advent Children in some way(even if AC wasn't the best movie out there). Hell, maybe they could include Dirge of Cerberus too, even if that game could use some fixing
     
    7) It can use a few touch ups to the story
     
    And what I mean by that is that they could do some changes to the story that would otherwise be beneficial to the game's overall story. A good example of what I mean
     
     
     
     
     
    While some people often decry FFVII of being an overrated title(personally I think it's a great title, even though it's my least favorite of the PSX trilogy), it's hard to deny the impact the game's had on the industry. It's still a legendary title, but unfortunately it hasn't stood well against the test of time. And ultimately I feel a remake would be a great thing to happen, Square Enix would get some profit from the game, and the game itself would be completely revamped into something both older fans and newcomers can enjoy
  3. Megas
    Earlier this week Nintendo finally bit the bullet and finally announced plans to make mobile(though also confirming that they are making the next line of Nintendo hardware, lifting fears that they were jumping the shark). Now while I'm not here to talk about why this is a bad thing, but rather I'm here to talk about what I feel would be beneficial(as well as what I believe would be terrible ideas), as there are many things that can go right, yet so wrong. So So Wrong.
     
    What I want to see
     
    eShop/Nintendo Network App
     

     
    This one is kind of a given, but being able to manage your purchases/Nintendo Network account on your smartphone would pretty convenient, especially if it means a future with a unified account system(which honestly should have already happened by now)
     
    Companion Apps

     
    When I hear the words "Nintendo" and "Companion app", memories of the Gamecube/GBA Link Cable come to mind. While the Link cable was ultimately a flop, I still found it fun and enjoyed things like the Tingle Tuner, and believe it could find more success through mobile companion apps.
     
    Virtual Console
     

     
    While I recall Nintendo saying that they have no plans to release their old NES/SNES/etc. games on Smartphones any time soon(likely because most of their games probably wouldn't work well with touch-controls), emulation has a pretty big fanbase on smartphones, so regardless it would be a good idea to jump on that market
     
    Warioware
     

     
    With the type of games the Warioware series typically sports(quick a series of micro games), it would undoubtedly find a suitable fanbase on the smartphone market
     
    WHAT I DON'T WANT TO SEE
     
    Excessive microtransactions
     

     
    Given the nature of most mobile games, I think it's safe to assume that microtransactions are expected. Now personally I don't think microtransactions are evil
    . However, if Pokemon Shuffle is anything to go by, Nintendo is awful with microtransactions. While I don't expect anything like , Nintendo still has to re-evaluate their microtransaction strategy, or omit them complete(I'm sure everyone would prefer the latter) 
    The next installment of a popular yet dormant franchise to be mobile exclusive
     

     
    If anyone remembers when Capcom announced Breath of Fire 6 to be mobile exclusive, you'd also remember how horribly how that turned out for them. I'd hate to see what'd happen if Nintendo announced the next F-Zero or Metroid as mobile exclusives
     
    Good ideas that'd be better used for consoles and dedicated handhelds
     

     
    Here's another one courtesy of Capcom.
    Remember when they announced that they're big Megaman game for the series 25th Anniversary, only for it to be a mobile free-to-play? Boy did that go wrong.
    Pretty much the same with the reason above also applies here.
     
    Mandatory uses for their games
     

     
    Whenever I think about mandatory companion apps, I think of how well that worked out for Assassin's Creed Unity(/sarcasm). Stuff like mandatory peripherals is typically what turns me off from games that use them(Crystal Chronicles 1 comes to mind), will most likely hurt them if they do implement it.
  4. Megas
    Nowadays, it's expected for a game to have decent voice acting, and in a AAA game's case it's almost always required to have Hollywood level VAs working on your games, with popular actors like Peter Dinklage, Kiefer Sutherland, Patrick Stewart, and etc., often lending their voices in various different titles, but back then, it wasn't always the case. Somewhere in between the 4th and 5th gen developers finally began to focus on what more things they can do with the extra power they had, and were able to record better quality sounds with led to more authentic sounds, soundtracks recorded with real instruments, and being able to record voices for voice acting. However, in the case of voice acting, even with the extra power they had voice acting was always an afterthought, and they would always find people almost literally from the streets, with absolutely no experience to do the voices for the characters in said games. This would either lead to said 'actors' to either not try at all, or try so hard that they would deliver their lines terribly, but in some cases this would lead to many unintentionally hilarious moments in the game, and some of the most memorable quotes in gaming, just due to how hilarious they were delivered. Even some of the games with better voice acting and more experienced VA would often drop a few hilarious lines every now and then(ex. "We've managed to avoid drowning!" .All in all, the voice acting would often lead to a much more enjoyable experience, regardless of whether the game was good or not.
     
    Though all the games on this list is pretty good at least
     
    5) "YOU FLAMING IDIOTS!" - Dynasty Warriors 3

     
    Definitely the more underrated on the list, but one that should be experienced. Dynasty Warriors isn't as well known of a series as the other games on the list, so you shouldn't expect any quality voice acting. For starters, it took until the sixth game in the series for them to actually begin pronouncing the names properly. Before then, the names would be pronounced in ways that would often lead names to sound unintentionally hilarious. Most notably, for Cao Cao would sound like "Cow Cow" instead of "Ts'ao Ts'ao", his son Cao Pi though had it worse. Besides mispronounced names, the VAs would often make normal lines sound hammy and ridiculous. In the montage above, you can see many lines delivered more hilarious than the needed to. Some of my favorites include a simple "Yes" said by multiple characters, "A dike? Oh no!" by Sima Yi, and just about everything Zhang He says
     
    4) "USE THE BOOST TO GET THROUGH!" - Starfox 64

     
    Almost every line in Starfox 64 is a meme itself. In short, Starfox 64 is a YouTube Pooper's wet dream, having almost every single line in the game delivered in such a way that it gives them enough material to make several dirty videos.
    . Falco(HEY EINSTEIN I'M ON YOUR SIDE), Fox(ANDROSS WON'T HAVE HIS WAY WITH ME), Wolf(You're good, BUT I'M BETTAH) and several of Andross's officers have some pretty hilarious lines itself. Though it's not all sunshine and laughs though, as some characters like Slippy(though he has his moments too) and Andrew, can actually be pretty cringeworthy. Some may argue that the VA was meant to be cheesy, but I disagree, because these guys gave the original game a ton of charm, and I felt that more after I played the 3DS remake, where I couldn't help but feel they tried too hard to be cheesy in that version, and led to the lines being more cringeworthy and uninspired, rather than hilarious and memorable like the original game. 
    3) "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOUUUURRRR!!!" - Megaman X4(feat. Dr Wah Wee)
     

     
    Most Megaman games seem to have bad habit of having very bad voice acting. Apart from the first Megaman Legends, I'd say it took until Megaman X Command Mission for their games to have at least decent voice acting. Megaman X4 in particular had some pretty serious moments made hilarious just to how hard they were trying. It helps though that almost every VA from this game was also from Megaman 8, which led to some familiar voices. Roll and Iris shared the same voices. Megaman and X shared the same voice, probably because who ever was the voice directer thought they were they same person, which is the only explanation as to why X sounded like a little girl(though the fact that it was still better than his X7 voice is really depressing). Most notably, the two game's premiere badasses Duo and Zero ended up sounding like complete wimps trying to be badass, though it led to one of the
    . A particular mention for Dr Light as well. . 
    Still high quality compared to X7's VA though(no I will never let that game go)
     
    2) "DIE MONSTER! YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD!" - Castlevania Symphony of the Night
     

     
    This was kind of an odd one, but I'll explain it. A lot of what makes Castlevania's VA is that they also try to be old fashions. A lot of times it leads the dialogue sounding even cornier than usual. But it also leads to a very memorable opening for the game, with Richter Belmont and Dracula's exchanges with comments like "It was not by my hands that I am once again given flesh. I was brought here by humans who wish to pay ME tribute!" and "Tribute? You steal men's souls! And make them your slaves!". Though my favorite, and man other's is Dracula's famous,
    (which I'll admit, as cheesy as it is, it's also kind of badass). As much as it disappointed me that they decided to redo the entire game's VA and dialogue in the PSP re-release in "Dracula X Chronicles" it probably would've lost its charm had they just redid the original script, much like Starfox 64 did with the 3DS port. 
    1) "YOU WERE ALMOST A JILL SANDWICH!" - Resident Evil

     
    You all knew this was gonna be here, but can you really blame me. The original Resident Evil was more funny than it was scary for a lot of people. Sure, it had its scary moments, but with such voice acting, it was hard to take anything seriously. But that's why everyone loved it so much. The voice acting was such a big deal that even Capcom loves to reference them(I'm pretty sure that Capcom restaurant in Japan has "Jill Sandwich" somewhere in its menu). And while I'm glad they changed the dialogue in the REmake and improve the VA(especially since it improves the scare factor), I still find myself coming to the original game just to hear things like "It's especially effective against living things!" and "You ARE the master of unlocking!" among other things.
     
    Seriously, Barry Burton's quotes alone are worth playing the original game, even when you've already played the REmake
  7. Megas
    I've been thinking about this for a while, but I've finally came up with a definitive, top 10 list of games that I can comfortably call my favorite. I've put this off long enough, time to get it going.
    10) Tales of Symphonia

    I dunno why I put off putting this game on my list for so long, but recently replaying this game, I realized, yup, it definitely belongs here. My introduction, along with many others, to the "Tales Of" franchise of Action RPGs(more or less serving as the Tales equivalent of FFVII, as it was the first real big success story for the franchise in the West), this game follows the adventures of Lloyd Irving and his friends on a quest to reunite two divided worlds whole again. This game had a big impact on my childhood, loved the cast, surprisingly solid voice cast both for a JRPG and a 6th gen title(featuring several prominent Voice actors like Cam Clarke, Scott Menville, Jennifer Hale, Tara Strong, etc.). It was the game that introduced me to the world of shipping(being a pleb, I shipped the predictable Lloyd/Colette and Zelos/Sheena) and I'd be lying if I said I didn't waifu one of the characters. The soundtrack is fantastic and really adds to the game's atmosphere whether it be the small towns, the different battles or even when exploring the Angel comet floating above the two worlds. One of Motoi Sakubara's best. It was a game where I loved it's world so much I replayed it an unhealthy number of times just to get and see everything I could, and I'm talking 25+ times for a 30+ hour game(one of my friends was actually worse about this, doubling my plays). It's a game that every time I see it get a rerelease, I go out of my way to get it, even with the recent Switch version having issues, I still went and bought The Chosen" edition steelbook, I guess I'm part of the problem. One of my favorite JRPGs, but not the top, there's one game that's just that much better
    9) Persona 4 Golden

    More or less an updated version of the PS2 release, Golden is basically a better version of the original game with it's own assortment of improvements such as extra social links, extra story content, an extra dungeon, etc. The game is part social, high school dating sim and part demon summoning, dungeon crawling JRPG, where your character is sent to a small town for the year to live with his uncle and befriends several fellow school kids who wind up in the middle of a series of grisly murder mysteries involving a shadow world behind TV. Believe it or not, the actual JRPG is the weaker part of the game, as real appeal of the game is building your friendships with the different citizens of the town of Inaba, Japan, as well as romancing the many characters you come across(Chie and Naoto are best girls don't @ me). Despite being a small town, the cast is fun and brimming with personality, the storylines you follow range from legitimately hilarious, to creepy to downright heartbreaking, and the story changes a lot on how you approach these situations whether it's the decisions you make regarding the story's progression and how your relationships with your friends go. And it shouldn't go without saying that the music is fantastic, who knew that demon summoning and Japanese pop music would make for a killer combo?
    8) Bioshock

    Taking a break from JRPGs to go shoot some stuff.
    Actually the shooting part of Bioshock is the least interesting part of the game. This game is about your character being trapped in the underwater city of Rapture, that wanted to break away from government control to live their own lives only for everything to go straight to Hell, with a majority of it's citizens becoming addicted to a type of genetically enhancing drug known as plasmids, and generally just becoming psychos. Game is generally just incredibly creepy and disturbing, and you must fight through everything to escape to the surface, from the drugged up splicers to the various Big Daddy enemies that'll wreck you if you're not careful. You can use everything you find to fight your way through with the various weapons you'll find, but what really makes the game shine are the plasmids you'll come across that'll give you special powers like telekinisis, fire, and shooting lightning and you can use them along with the environments to make your escape easier. Despite the lack of cutscenes, the story is easy to follow yet still engaging, and the creepy atmosphere really caries it all the way through. Admittedly this was a game I didn't think much of despite all the huge praise it got(game came out during the whole Brown and Gray shooter craze of the 7th gen), so I held off playing it for the longest time, but, man I'm glad I gave it a chance when I did
    7) DOOM 2016

    Using the Nintendo Switch cover, and not the garbo PS4/Xbone cover
    I mean, what is there to say about this game? It's the FPS genre in it's purest form. No squads, no ADS, no reloading, just one angry guy, tons of guns, and tons of demons to blow up. As simple as it does sound, the story is pretty cool, and what you expect from Doom. A company wants to make money, and risks opening the Gates of Hell to do it, and now one angry fellow needs to clean up their mess. But where the game really shines is in it's gameplay, it's violent, it's hectic, it's fun. Between all the shotguns and machine guns, to the chainsaw, to the glory kills and power ups, mixed in with fun platforming challenges and hidden goodies throughout the levels, all to some of the raddest music you'll hear. Really, you can never go wrong with Doom
    6) Metroid Prime

    Well this one is perfectly timed. Probably one of the best examples of going from 2D to 3D with a huge genre change I can think of, all while keeping the spirit of the franchise there. Tons of new gameplay enhancements along with all the staples we're familiar with, Metroid Prime does something new by prioritizing exploration and collection over completion time. The most fun thing about the game is the new scan feature, just going around Tallon IV and scanning everything to learn more about the world of not just Tallon IV but the world of Metroid as a world.
     
     
  8. Megas
    But my computer shat the bed right when I finished, deleting everything I worked on, and discouraged me from redoing the entire thing...
     
    Besides it's mostly Konami, so here's instead another blog post with a bunch of Konami related pics
     








     

    Also, in case your interested, other things on that list include:
    - SJWs ruining games
    - EA messing up Star Wars
    - Activision with a lot of money to burn
    - An example on how not to do kickstarter
    - Nintendo hating youtube
    - Sony screwing up BC
    - Sony screwing up streaming
    - Gamergate bollox
    - Plastic Toys
    - Edgy games
    - More preorder bullshit
    - Crap PC ports
    - Tony Hawk 5
  11. Megas
    Given how much bad luck these two put together seems to bring in, I figured it needs to be talked about. So Equestria Girls, that franchise that had a ho-hum start as a spin-off and then changed everything with a very well-loved sequel in Rainbow Rocks and the rest is history until some bone-headed toy decisions in it's later years caused Hasbro to get cold feet and put an end to the franchise in a bit of a whimper(Now Holidays Unwrapped was actually a pretty damned good special but it's obvious it wasn't meant to be the finale). Then you got the IDW comics where they were getting insanely popular until the Reflections arc where writers were getting to big for their britches and making comics that were to ambitious for them to handle only to wind up rubbing people the wrong way and since then the comics have been a real rollercoaster, with standalones doing pretty average to fairly solid while major arcs tend to fall under high scrutiny depending on how big the stakes can get. However despite the fact that Equestria Girls wound up being a very successful spin-off, and at one point one could argue even became more popular than the main series, it comes as a surprise that IDW rarely made comics featuring the girls adventures in Canterlot High, however, if you read what they did offer, it's pretty easy to see why. Seems like every single time IDW makes a comic based around the alternate reality of Equestria Girls, something always seems to go very.....very wrong. So let's take a look as to why that could be the case


    Not a great comic by a long shot, but damn that's a pretty cover

    First off you got the Annual 2013. At first glance there doesn't seem to be much wrong with it, more or less a double feature with a short origin story for Sunset written by Katie Cook(with art by Andy Price), followed by the main meat dedicated to the rest of the girls written by Ted Anderson. However this was the first Annual ever made for for the comics and when it was revealed it would be centered around EQG that didn't sit well with a lot of people, Now the Sunset comic was fine, it was pretty much what you expected from Sunset's origin given what we know about it, and I mean that in a good way, it didn't do anything different from what was expected, just set out what it was meant to do. The problems lie in the other part of the comic. It's about as basic of an origin story about high school freshmen becoming friends as you can get but there's just too problems going on.
    For starters the art is really bad. This was back when Tony Fleecs was getting used to Pony aaaaaand it shows





    Second on is how....uncomfortable it can get. There's the existence of Babs Seed  and her friend Sunflower, the popular Queen Bees of the school. Now for starters Babs Seed is older here than AJ, which just looks really....not right at all. Then her characterization, she's even more unpleasant here than she ever was in Bad Seed, which says a lot given she was really bad there too. Then here friend Sunflower who openly neglects her puppy. Together they're especially cruel, they regularly, openly mock AJ and Fluttershy for being who they are and actively wedge Rarity who they treat well because she can make them more popular. RD I'm pretty sure they forgot about repeatedly because she hardly matters in the story and feel like they occasionally brings her up as a way of saying "oh RD is here too"(which isn't too surprising, they forgot about her too in the Dark Water arc, and Ted Anderson forgot about her too in her own FF Comic with Shy). Pinkie's really the only one that gets to shine in this comic as she was both the most interesting to listen too and the one who brings them all together. There's also how rushed all of their conclusions were and just really unsatisfying, especially with how much Rarity, AJ, and Fluttershy had to put up with. Heck, remember that dog I brought up? I completely forgot about it after Sunflower rushed to the vet for FS's help after treating her like garbage the whole time. There's still a lot of little things that bug me, like how Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon appear as the same age as the mane 6, and how we don't get any of the Soccer team and how they are. But hold on to your butts because the worst is yet to come

    Because now we have the Holiday 2014, and boy is there a lot too say about this one. I want to get this out of the way, but Tony Fleecs does the art again, its a little better but still has a lot of his early jank. Much like the Annual, this is the first Comic's first Holiday special and just like the Annual that didn't sit well with people. This one, written once again by Ted Anderson, now deals with the mane 6 after Rainbow Rocks, and how Sunset is handling with her friends. It has the hallmarks and set up for a cute and relaxing Christmas story, but instead they decided instead it was better to make a story addressing social media and cyberbullying, because having a cute and relaxing Christmas story apparently wasn't good enough, they had to make it about a really difficult topic instead, and boy did they royally drop the ball. Starts off fine enough with Sunset still getting used to being with the rest of the girls with the girls inviting her to a Slumber Party. After Applebloom asks what AJ is doing and after being told she's busy, shenanigans ensue and the girls are having fun. Next day Applebloom reveals inflammatory posts by a user on MySpace named Anon-A-Miss along with photos of the girl's slumber party the day before. The girls are quick to blame Sunset and Anon-A-Miss continues to make nasty comments towards several other students who has a MySpace. Cue the rest of the comic spent on Sunset being abandoned by the girls, and other students being incredibly cruel to Sunset, to the point of crying multiple times. Then the end and probably the worst part of the comic, when Sunset finally confronts the girls about her innocence, the CMC spill the beans and reveal that they were Anon-A-Miss the whole time and they were jealous of Sunset becoming friends with their sisters and spending time with her instead of them, so they decided to spy on their sisters and proceed with posting everything on social media, and admit to it after everything gets outta control. After that is one of the most insulting conclusions to this topic, with everyone brushing off the CMC almost destroying Sunset's life and their friendships as "they're only human" or some shit and no one even apologizes to Sunset(in fact Sunset forgives them still)
    I don't think it's hyperbole to say this is one of the worst things I think the entire MLP franchise has ever put out. The mane 5 are completely unreliable friends who don't even think about giving their new friend the benefit of the doubt, the lengths the school goes to tormenting Sunset is beyond unpleasant, and the CMC are straight up monsters for what they did, like this is the kind of thing that makes them completely irredeemable. I'm pretty sure I'd rather watch Newborn Cuties before I'd even consider reading this comic ever again. Still don't think I'd take Newbie Dash over it though since that episode straight up justifies hazing, and it's a canon episode. To this day though, this comic still grinds people's gears, to the point it still has an active "accusation fic" fanbase, possibly rivaling that of MMDW, full of fans who are....really vindictive of this comic. Heck, you've probably ready one of @Dark Qiviut's rants about the comic at some point
    I'd love to say we have no where to go but up, buuuuuuuut

    Up next we got a comic from the Fiendship is Magic line, a comic line dedicated to the Dazzlings written by professionally hired EQG hater once again Ted Anderson. This one is an origin story of the Dazzlings, what they did before arriving in the EQG universe and how they ended up there. One thing I do want to bring up is how the art is done by Agnes Garboska, aaaaand this is more like it. The problem I have this time though is how it treats the Dazzlings compared to the rest of the villains in this line. It deals with how Starswirl originally dealt with them and how he banished them, but how they got on his radar is....another matter. Story starts out with them in the early Canterlot times, wanting to become famous so they enter a music contest only to be boo'd out by the audience. They decide they need to try something new so they decide to make a their own genre of music(obviously Pop music) and the wind up winning over the crowd as a result except Starswirl who sees them as dangerous. Cue him coming up with new music to combat them, and they both come up with pretty much every genre in the world. After losing to them he decides to send them through a magic mirror to the Human world in hopes they won't be able to use their magic ever again. And we know how well that went.
    While it's not as bad as the other two EQG comics, it's....really lame. Especially in comparison to the other Fiendship comics that actually help build a threatening aura to the other villains featured(even tragic in the case of Sombra), here the Dazzlings come off as unthreatening jokes, which is especially disappointing given they're actually incredibly effective villains in Rainbow Rocks and are arguably some of FiM's best who were really able to get the Humane 6 and their backs to the walls without any bullshit. Starswirl also comes off as really lame as well as he couldn't even handle these and decides to send them away to another world so he wouldn't have to deal with them. Overall just a really lame and underwhelming origin for two two characters, and evidently Hasbro and IDW thought so too because they'd eventually retcon the comic with both Shadow Play and the Legends of Magic comic. But we're still not done with EQG because we got one more comic to go over.
    The last EQG comic so far, March Radness

    This one hurts
    This time around, instead of one big piece of background or handling sensitive subjects, they decided to split it into 3 short and simple stories(thankfully for once not written by Ted Anderson), followed by a rerun of Fall of Sunset Shimmer.

    The first story is called Detention is Magic written by Danny Djeljosevic, focuses around the girls getting detention over a misunderstanding and them trying to figure out what happened that landed them there and who started it. At first each person blames the next person that it was their fault(whether it was Pinkie Blaming Fluttershy for her gerbils for ruining homecoming decorations, FS blaming RD for scaring her gerbils with her soccer ball, RD blaming Sunset for popping balloons near her and scaring her, and so on). This lasts until Rarity reveals she recorded everything, and is able to reveal that everything was a complete accident. They then go on to apologize to each other and then see go to Harshwinny to prove their innocence, in which she forgives them, but then reveals they already served their detention anyway and go home. Not an amazing start but given what's come in regards to EQG is a massive step in the right direction, it's a fun and simple story that doesn't promise anything big and is probably enough to convince it's just here for a good time
    Before I go on, I do want to say that the art is a huge step up from what it usually is, this time being illustrated by Toni "Pencis" Kuusisto. There are some iffy looking moments, but he's gone on record to admitting he had to rush through this and wasn't able to clean up everything(you'll see most of the polish halfway through), but even then this is leaps and bounds better than some of the stuff from what we've gotten before

    The second story is titled Dashin' Around written by Christina Rice, this time focusing on Rainbow Dash wanting to go to a book signing by AK Yearling, however she was reminded that she promised AJ to help her out on her farm with chores the same day, so she goes and hopes to get everything done as quickly as possible, including apple cider(and you know how how she is about that). But after a couple of ours of talking they have to go through chores, which RD takes care of them and rushes through them(and to her credit, she's at least not being sloppy with them). But when Applebloom comes back home from the bookstore and shows she got a new book signed by Yearling, AJ remembers RD's a big fan and tries to get them there as quick as possible, but unfortunately it was too late. As they walk out the bookstore, AJ realizes that's why RD was so quick to rush through all of their chores. While RD says she did so because she really wanted to meet Yearling but she still remembered that she promised AJ to help out and didn't want to flake on AJ and disappoint her. AJ goes on to say that she still did disappoint because AJ just wanted to hang out(especially with school and all the crazy stuff that goes on)and RD should have been honest and she would have happily comply. And damn, gotta say, that's a really good spin on things. RD realized she was too focused on meeting a stranger she pretty much forgot about hanging out with her friend and apologizes, which AJ gladly accepts. But just as their about to head back AJ calls for Yearling to get RD's book signed, much to her surprise

    The 3rd story is called is called Getting Seconds by Toni Kuusisto, which basically serves as RD's "Last Round Up". This one focuses on a sporting event where RD vows on placing first in all events while all the other girls want to participate, and decide to focus on one event they could do best in. This leads to RD stretching herself too thin and landing second on every even while each of the girls barring Sunset land first on the ones they practice for(though RD places first in the leaderboards, which is important to know). During the final event, the soccer game, RD begins to feel that she's holding everyone back and attempts to sit the game out. And when the girls find her, they convince her to join the team and remind her she still topped the leaderboards, but RD's insistent. Sunset then is placed as captain of the team where she puts AJ as rightfield, FS as Goalie, and Twilight as defense much to RD's dismay. She begrudgingly joins back after seeing Sunset's horrible plans and manages to win everyone the game. 

    Even without taking the low bar set from the last few EQG comics, March Radness is easily the best one by far. Only surprising thing is how Dash-centric it is(though I feel the name should have been a dead giveaway). But it's still even great on it's own right. Art is great and the stories are fun and cute reads and proof that you there's no reason to up the scales or tackle some heavy themes to make a worth while story(especially if you can't do it right), sometimes having something simple is perfectly fine. Heck, this was one of those instances where I loved a comic so much I actually tried to track down a physical copy
    Now you're probably wonder "Hey Megas you just spent this whole half of your blog gushing over this comic, what's so bad about it?"
    It came out in the middle of a pandemic when everything was lockdown

    whoops
    Yeah, unfortunately, just because something is good doesn't mean it wasn't cursed. It's been ages since the last EQG comic, and given none of them have been good before March Radness, I can't imagine it helped its sales much better anyway. And it's really heartbreaking to think how EQG finally gets a good comic, but it's probably gonna have the lowest sales of all and it's probably gonna be the last one we'll get unless IDW is extremely generous. It's a shame because March Radness showed that with some care people will accept more EQG comics and I do believe they have their place
  14. Megas

    Top 10 Playstation Games

    By Megas,

    The Sony Playstation is one of the most beloved game consoles among gaming, and it was what helped Sony become a gaming giant. From its beginnings as a SNES peripheral to it's continued success on the PS2 and eventually PSN, the original Playstation set tons of standards for the industry, including disc based consoles, dual analog, built-in rumble, and etc. It's also has had one of the biggest and strongest library of games, including some of the most iconic and classic games and franchises gaming as seen. The console itself played a huge part of my childhood, introducing me to some of my most favorite games ever, and this is what this list is about.
     
    10) Medal of Honor

     
    One of my favorite shooter franchises, Medal of Honor was one of the earliest console FPS games, and was heavily influenced from the N64's hit shooter, Goldeneye. It was also the first game to have a story from a movie director, as the game's story was written by one of the biggest out there, Steven Spielberg(who's also responsible for classic films like ET, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, and Indiana Jones). The game's music was composed by Michael Giacchino, which was what really made him big as a composer. The game's presentation and combat was great and would help set of the big WWII shooter boom during the 6th and most of the 7th gen console games.
     
    9) Syphon Filter 2

     
    Unknown to a lot of people, in 1996 Eidetic was involved in making Bubsy 3D, one of the worst games ever made. Yet Sony still saw some value in them, and in the end it looks like they made the right call. 3 years later they'd go on to make Syphon Filter, which wound up being one of the Playstation's most popular titles. And Syphon Filter 2 is exactly how you improve on an already great game, with better levels with more variety, a better story, and much more varied weapons compared to the first. And the air taser still kicks ass.
     
    8) Legend of Dragoon
     

     
    After getting introduced to Final Fantasy with the Playstation, I decided to try out other games like it. One game that caught my eye was Legend of Dragoon, one of the few JRPGs made by Sony themselves. This game was awesome, the Dragoon transformations and attacks, were awe-inspiring, I was amazed to see voice acting(especially with Final Fantasy opting out), the additions were fun and engaging and I absolutely loved the story. I'm still bitter that a sequel was cancelled...and that Dart was cancelled from PSASBR.
     
    7) Megaman Legends
     

     
    While many people prefer the second game to the first, the first still remains a much more special game to me. When it came out, seeing Megaman both in 3D and without a helmet was such a mind blower to me. And the radical departure was one of the biggest things that made this game special for me, I loved exploring the ruins just to find what goodies I could find, and trying out new weapons never got old, especially when you maxed out all of their stats. Even playing the game on easy with the overpowered Max Buster was blast. And it was probably one of the very few Megaman games that actually had a decent story to follow, and was full of character and charm. Also Megaman's voice wasn't lame like MM8, Legends 2 or X4
     
    6) Final Fantasy VIII

     
    Yes, Final Fantasy VIII is my preferred game in the main series, but can you blame me? FFVIII was the first game in the series I ever played, and was the game responsible for me getting into the series, which I still hold as one of my favorite franchises ever. I still remember my brother buying it,
    . Visuals were great, FMVs still hold up very well which says a lot with how ugly a lot of them can be. Squall, Edea and Laguna still remains some of my favorite characters in the series, the OST fantastic and is one of my favorites of all time. Yeah, it has its flaws like the battle system, the utterly broken junction system(which actually add to the game's charm for me personally, nothing beats overpowering yourself to godlike levels in the beginning of the game) and how the story goes to hell by disc 3(Disc 1 and 2 though are fantastic, as well as the final dungeon), but goddammit those do nothing to deteriorate the sheer happiness I get from playing it. 
    5) Megaman X4

     
    Easily one of the most fine-tuned Megaman games of the PS1/N64/Saturn era, as well as one of the best Megaman games, period. While Megaman X2 and X3 were well-liked by fans, they didn't have as much of an impact as the original Megaman X did which is still highly regarded as one of the best in the franchise, but X4 is the only game that could stand in equal footing to the original game. X4 took the best parts of X2(Speed) and X3(Zero playable), and took it to bigger and better things. The game was much more action packed and frantic than the last two, Zero opened up a whole new way to play with his up-and-front style combat, great music as usual for the series, and the bosses and characters were some of the most memorable since X1. And while the voice acting is atrocius,
     
    4) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

     
    Much like what games like FFVII, Ocarina of Time, and Super Mario 64 did for their franchises, Castlevania would become the new standard of what future titles in the series would be like. Unlike the more linear platformers of the past games, Symphony of the Night actually takes a lot of influence from the more unpopular Castlevania II(as well as the Metroid series, thus coining the term "Metroidvania) and would focus more on exploration. The game is has some of the most finely-tuned gameplay in the series and sports some insanely good hand-drawn sprite work, the music is, as usual, fantastic, and exploring Dracula's castle was a blast. Also, much like Megaman X4, the voice acting is also several kinds of terribad, but still gave us some of the greatest lines ever
     
    3) Metal Gear Solid
     

     
    This is probably the biggest surprise that this is only number 3 considering how much of a fanboy I am of this series, but I digress. Regardless, the original Metal Gear Solid is a fantastic game that set a lot of industry standards. MGS was one of the earliest games to take a cinematic approach to its storytelling and game design, as this would influence a ton of future developers to adapt that same cinematic approach, for better or for worse(admittedly for worse is more common). It was also one of the first games to have voice acting that...well, wasn't awful. The game's visuals and music do a lot to help the game's cold and metallic atmosphere.The story is very engaging and does a great job at making you feel for all the characters, including the villains. Speaking of which, the game also sported some of the most memorable boss fights in gaming, such as Grey Fox, Psycho Mantis, and the fist fight with Liquid.
     
    2) RESIDENT EVIL. 2

     
    After the massive success of the first game which also came out on the Playstation, Capcom decided to capitalize on that and make a sequel. What we got was a game that improved on everything that was great about the first game and then some. Improved visuals helped add a lot to the game's creepiness, the controls were more streamlined compared to the last, more weapon variety and tons more scares than the last, and tons of puzzles that block your escape. Story was a great follow up to the last despite using mostly new characters, though they were just as great as the last cast. The voice acting is still bad but not as bad as the first game. Sometimes I still have trouble deciding which is my favorite in the series, RE2 and RE4
     
    As usual, honorable mentions, since there's more than just the 10 games I listed that made the PS1 great:
    - Final Fantasy VII and IX
    - Chrono Cross
    - Metal Gear VR Missions
    - Resident Evil 1 and 3
    - Megaman 8 and Legends 2
    - Silent Hill
    - Syphon Filter 1
    - Grand Theft Auto 2
    - Xenogears
    - Soul Reaver
    - Tekken 3
    - Medal of Honor Underground
    - Die Hard Trilogy
    - Tail Concerto
    - Persona 2 Eternal Punishment
    - Misadventures of Tronne Bonne
    - The Spyro and Crash Trilogies
    - and tons more I'm forgetting
     
    1) Final Fantasy Tactics

     
    Best Spin-off ever. Best Final Fantasy Ever. Best PS1 game ever. Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the very few examples of how to do a darker take on generally light-hearted franchise without being "try-hard" or "edgy". It also takes the series to a new gameplay direction while incorporating almost everything from the Final Fantasy series fans know and love. The combat's great with tons of great and over the top spells and abilities, the story is fantastic and mostly refreshing in comparison to other Final Fantasy games, with tons of characters to love and hate. Hell, Cloud from VII is a hidden playable character which was mind-blowing at the time. The job system is one of the best in the series, and the OST is on par with other Final Fantasy games even without Nobuo Uematsu. The ONLY flaw I can think of with this game is that it can get a little grind heavy. Even with that said, it is still one of my favorite games and one, if not, the best game on the Playstation.
     
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
     
    Did your favorite game not make the list? What were some of your favorites?
  16. Megas
    - Excellent use of returning cast
    - Loved Rey, Finn, BB-8 and Kylo Ren(more on him soon). Great additions to the Star Wars Universe
    - Fin in particular is my favorite new character
    - Kylo Ren is very scary and intimidating
    - Also not hot on Snoke
    - Fuck you BB-8, why do you have to be so adorable?
    - Out of all the armies(including the old stormtroopers, clones, etc) I love the First Order Stormtroopers the most, both intimidating yet funny
    - But for the love of Christ please keep you mask on, you lose a lot of that intimidation when you take it off. You look like a Linkin Park reject without it
    - Captain Phasma got way too much hype, hope she actually does something in the 8th movie to justify it
    - TR-8R is the best Stormtrooper ever
    - C-3P0 must be a fan of Venom Snake
    - HAN SOLO! NOOOO!!!!
    - Chewy stole the show. Gets the funniest, most emotional, and most badass moments in the movie. Furry bastard deserves a hug
    - Kylo Ren, as awesome as a villain as he is, also comes off as very emo at times, especially towards the end
    - Also dat Vader admiration
    - While I loved the movie, I agree with the people say that it tried too much to be like A New Hope a lot of the time
     
    But over all I still think it's a fantastic movie, one of the best in the series, though I still prefer Empire Strikes Back and (Unpopular Opinion)Revenge of the Sith
  17. Megas
    Ports are a very common thing in gaming, and more often than not they aren't very interesting to think about. A game from one console shows up to another. But it isn't often where games from one console show up on a platform people would have never even thought was possible.
     
    Xenoblade Chronicles(3DS)
     

     
    Xenoblade Chronicles for the 3DS is highly regarded as one of the Wii's best titles, and one of it's largest games at that. So it was a surprised when they announced they'd be porting the game on a dinky 3DS cart for the New 3DS(specifically). However the dev team pulled it off, and managed to port the entire game onto the console, only slightly compromising the original game's graphics
     
    Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D(3DS)

     
    Another Wii to 3DS title like Xenoblade, and while smaller than Xenoblade, it's more impressive in the sense that not only was it made with the original 3DS in mind, but also manages to look as good as the original game being the definitive way to play the game using traditional controls rather than the tacked-on motion controls the Wii version used
     
    Arcade Ports on Sega Consoles

     
    When people always told you to buy console ports of popular arcade games, there's a reason why people would usually recommend the version on Sega consoles as opposed to the SNES or PS1 versions, regardless of the company. The Sega version would often retain almost everything from the original games while the SNES or PS1 versions would often lack features(ex. SNES Final Fight being released in two versions, one with Cody and one with Guy, both omitting the Industrial Zone; PS1 ports of Capcom Vs omitting the team-up style; both systems would often perform much worse.) Only company that didn't suffer from this(from what I recall) was Konami as their NES/SNES ports were normally faithful to the original, aside from maybe some weaker visuals)
     
    Persona 3 Portable(PSP)

     
    As the name implies, P3P is a portable version Persona 3 for the PSP. The Persona series experiences a boom in popularity, and so Atlus decided to rerelease the game a third time on the PSP(game was rereleased once before as FES on the PS2). What sets this apart is that despite some cut features(anime cutscenes and the overworld being replaced with menus and a cursor) they still managed to add a lot to the game. P3P gave players the option to play as either male or female, and this would alter a lot about the game despite the main story being the same. For example, interactions with other characters would often be much different from the male protagonist and shaking up Social Links, Igor's assistant could also be either Male(the new character Theodore) or Female(Elizabeth from the original game) and the game would also feature different tracks when playing as FP. Game also revamped the battle system, allowing you to control all of the characters(a common complaint from the original game was not allowing you to control allies) and included two new difficulties. Really the only thing that brings it down is that it's not the FES version.
     
    Also I wish they'd give the Female Protagonist more love as I ended up liking her more than the male protag
     
    Resident Evil 2(N64)

     
    Easily the most impressive feat on the list, as this game should have been impossible to happen. Yet the dev team did it, they managed to fit 2 disc worth of content(700-800 MB, or 350-400 MB each) into a 64 MB cartridge and gave the game features exclusive to the N64 version, such as more alternate costumes, an item randomizer, extra documents expanding the game's lore, and etc. Many even go as far as to say the N64 version was the best version of the game, and is often regarded as one of the most notable programming feats in gaming
  18. Megas

    10 Gaming Easter Eggs

    By Megas,

    ATTACK OF THE CHICKENS(ZELDA)
     

    Starting with A Link to the Past, attack a chicken as much as you can and an entire army will get their revenge on you
     
     
    METAL GEAR-VANIA

     
    Have Castlevania Symphony of the Night on your PS1 memory card and he'll reveal the game on your memory card. This works with other Konami games including Azure Dreams, Suikoden, and Vandal Hearts. The Gamecube remake also brings this back, this time with Legend of Zelda Windwaker, Super Mario Sunshine, Super Smash Bros Melee, and Eternal Darkness
     
    CLOUD JOINS THE PARTY(FINAL FANTASY TACTICS)

     
    A sidequest that is activated after finding a certain Zodiac Stone, you can get Cloud from Final Fantasy Tactics to join your party, complete with most of his Limit Breaks from the game. The PSP remake of the game follows up on this by re-including Cloud, as well as Luso(FFTA2) and Balthier(FFXII)
     
    LINK AND SAMUS IN SUPER MARIO RPG
     

     
    Both Link and Samus make appearances in Super Mario RPG, sleeping in some inns before/after(respectively) facing battles with their foes
     
    BATTLE CUTMAN(MEGAMAN X8)

     
    If you have a save file of Megaman X Command Mission on your PS2 Memory Card, you can unlock a battle with Cut Man from Megaman 1
     
    STARFOX REPORTING FOR YOUR MASKS
     

     
    A line of masks in your inventory in Majora's Mask will appear to represent the Starfox crew+Pigma
     
    SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THE G-DIFFUSER
     

     
    Appearing in F-Zero X, James McCloud in F-Zero is pretty much the same character from F-Zero. Since his appearance in F-Zero X, he's since become a staple
     
    ROOM OF GABEN(HALF-LIFE)
     

     
    The God among PC Gamers has his face plastered in a room in Half Life...which is kind of creepy
     
    RESIDENT GAMECUBE(RESIDENT EVIL REMAKE)
     

     
    In the Gamecube Remake of the original Resident Evil, the MO Disc Reader was changed to resemble the Gamecube(as a nod to the game's exclusivity). Unfortunately since the recent HD update of the game isn't available on any Nintendo consoles, the GC resemblance has been removed
     
    STARTING THE CONSOLE(NINTENDO GAMECUBE)
     

     
    Holding the Z Button with one Controller will make an alternate sound when starting up. Do it with all four controllers and you'll get another start up tune
  19. Megas
    *Game review is based on the 3DS version*
     
    Ever since Super Smash Bros hit the N64 in 1999, a new style of fighting games were born. Since then many companies have tried to emulate the Smash Bros style, with games like Playstation All-Stars Battle Royal, TMNT: Smash-Up, Jump Superstars(and its sequel Jump Ultimate Stars), DreamMix TV World Fighters, etc., each with varying degrees of success.
    By 2011, the higher ups thought it would be a good idea to make a Smash-style fighter featuring various characters from Cartoon Network's line-up, and on paper it does sound like a pretty awesome idea.
     
    Unfortunately the execution left a lot to be desired.
     

     
    The game starts with your standard modes with Story and Battle modes, as well as an Options menu and Vault(where you can view records, character stats, movies, etc.). The Battle mode has a normal and custom mode, and can be played between friends and/or CPU. Despite the game being a multiplayer heavy game(like most fighters are), there's not an option to play online, so you better hope you have friends that have this game and are willing to play this with you.
     
    The game's visuals are nothing really to write home about, though there isn't really anything wrong with them either. The games follows the character designs fairly well, and seeing some of the different show's worlds recreated in 3D is pretty neat to see.
     

     
    The game's music moves between dull and generic to outright non-existent. Even when I played the game with headphones and having the 3DS at full blast, I could barely hear any of the game's music, and if I did, it would be nothing worth noting. The game also features voice acting, but unfortunately hearing them yell the same lines over and over can be grating, especially considering some of the characters don't have their original voices. On the bright side, the ever awesome George Lowe(Known for Space Ghost Coast to Coast fame), and he sounds as great as ever(despite a few cheesy lines.)
     
    The story is pretty much what you expect from almost any other crossover: A bunch of characters are bunched together and must travel into each other's worlds in order to beat the bad guy. One thing I'll give this game over Smash is that it actually used the character's universes to the story's advantage(which was one of my main problems with Subspace Emissary). Unfortunately it is also here where the game's biggest problems start to unravel. The story is mainly played through a series of platforming fighting several enemies along the way, the controls feel slippery and awkward. Jumping would feel loose and slippery and fighting enemies proved to be nuisance do to poor hit detection. There would also be moments where that moved you away from the main gameplay and placed you in different gimmicks like turret sections, cannon sections, slingshots, and etc. And for some reason the cutscenes aren't animated, and feel like they were poorly made through MS Paint
     

     
    Going back to the main gameplay, it definitely feels like a Smash Bros game, but if feels like one if it had all of the precision, effort, and fun removed. Again, the controls feel very slippery and clumsy. Much like Smash, damage is determined by percentage and the more damage you receive, the farther you'll be knocked back. The game also features Super Attacks(like Final Smashes) that can be initiated by filling up a power bar(like PSASBR) that's filled by obtaining these power gems that appear after an opponent is attacked. Activating the attack then initiates a cutscene of the character using the attack, rather than the character using the attack in game(like in SSB or PSASBR), which can get very old and annoying quick. Also, for some reason, rather than having the camera zoom far enough to see all the characters(like Smash and PSASBR) it's zoomed into the character your using instead, which makes following your opponents a pain since more likely than not you won't have enough time to detect your enemy's attacks. Also one thing that's expected to see in a fighting game is too see your enemy's status, in this game you only have access to your own status and one opponent's status, fighting multiple enemies and the enemy status will alternate when ever the opponent on your screen is KO'd, which makes detecting opponent's progress difficult on top the camera issues.
     
    The roster feels feels really small and underwhelming despite some notable fan favorites. The roster mainly features 18 characters from the "Golden Age of Cartoon Network" with characters like Bloo and Mack, Dexter, Grim, Billy and Mandy, Numbah One, Samurai Jack, all 3 Power Puff Girls, as well as some more recent characters Flapjack, Chowder, and Ben Tennyson and even features Captain Planet. Despite having some notable fan-favorites, the game also has various glaring omissions:notable shows include Ed, Edd N' Eddy, Courage, Johnny Bravo(who was included in PS360Wii Port), Scooby Doo, Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi, Juniper Lee, Megas XLR(personal Bias ), Generator Rex, Symbionic Titan, and most notably Adventure Time and Regular Show(the game appeared after these two aired, and in a year where the 2 hit their stride), and even Toonami's Tom. The console port bumps the roster up to 26, but the only character worth noting was Johnny Bravo as all the other characters appeared in the 3DS game as bosses(and are from shows already repped)...also apparently it was a better idea to have a second version of Ben 10 as a playable character
     
    The characters also play like Smash Bros characters, each character has 4 normal and special attacks, several air attacks, grabs(though grabbing opponents feel sloppy), blocking and dodging. Unfortunately the roster is unbalanced with some characters being overpowered and having unfair advantages over others(Ben 10's side special in particular is ridiculously strong)
     
    There's potential for a good game here, but there's a ton here that needs to be fixed before that can happen. Instead it's a very unsubtle Super Smash Bros clone that lacks the polish and excitement that that series is known for. From what I've heard. the console version addresses a couple of issues I had with the game(Online, display for all fighters, etc.) but until I try that version for myself, I'm still not sold
     
    Final Verdict: I can only recommend this game to those who are huge Cartoon Network fans(added that it's pretty cheap), and even then it's a hard sell, especially with the limited roster. Otherwise your better off sticking to Super Smash Bros(or PSASBR if you like the Smash style, but aren't sold on Nintendo characters)
     
     
     
  20. Megas
    Despite being the WWE's biggest show of the year, not every Wrestlemania can turn out good, and there's bound to be some stinkers. This also holds true for the show's main event, which needs to hold the responsibility of ending the show with a bang, but there are some main events that ends the show on a whimper. This also increases the chances for other matches to shine, hell there's also those times where a 'Mania will always have a show-stealer whether it be a better wrestling match or just more memorable, even with a strong main event. With Wrestlemania fast approaching, and with another main even fans are expecting to hate, it's still possible for WM32 to have another showstealer, but if it does, it'll be hard to top some of the following showstealers
     
    10) Triple H vs The Undertaker No Holds Barred(Wrestlemania XXVII)

    Contenders: None
     
    Lets start off with an easy one. With Wrestlemania XXVII often being regarded as one of the worst, with it's lackluster main event being regarded as one of the many reasons. The show also had a pretty underwhelming card to boot, including a match between Lawler and Michael Cole(that not even Austin could save) and freaking Snooki wrestling for fuck's sake. The show does have some good and underrated matches such as CM Punk vs Orton or Edge vs Alberto Del Rio(which also unfortunately was Edge's last match). Easily the best match though was Undertaker vs Triple H in a No Holds Barred match, which was easily the best match in spades. It paled in comparison to the two Michaels matches in the previous two Wrestlemanias, but c'mon those two were gonna be near impossible to live up to, and on its own right it more than delivered
     
    9) The Rock Vs Hulk Hogan(Wresltemania X8)

    Contenders: Undertaker vs Ric Flair
    The original Once-In-A-Lifetime match, this was one of the most anticipated matches for fans all around. Hogan coming back to the company shortly after Vince bought out WCW, as soon as he came back they immediately threw one of WCW's top guys in a match at Wrestlemania with one of the WWE's top guy, The Rock. And while the wrestling itself was alright, it was a fantastic match to watch from a storytelling standpoint, from the crowd switching between cheering for the Rock and Hogan(despite him being booked as a heel) to Hulk Hogan "Hulking up" for the first time in ages, to the Rock kicking out of the Atomic Leg Drop, to the Rock saving Hogan after the NWO turns on him, just nonstop fun from start to finish. While Triple H Vs Chris Jericho was a fine match, Hogan vs The Rock is definitely worth more remembering
     
    8) CM Punk vs The Undertaker(Wrestlemania 29)

    Contenders: None
    While we're on the subject of "Once-In-A-Lifetime", was the second Rock vs Cena match really that necessary? The first in WM28 was good enough and we really didn't need another year to hype up a rematch especially when said rematch turned out to be a complete dud. In comparison, Punk vs Undertaker completely curbstomps it, and further proves why CM Punk is the best of in the world. Oh, and the Undertaker's still got it
     
    7) Money in the Bank Ladder Match(Wrestlemania 21)

    Contenders: Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels, Undertaker vs Randy Orton
    Wresltemania 21 is probably one of the most important 'Manias in the history of the WWE as it helped build two of the WWE's biggest superstars of the current decade in Batista and John Cena, but there was one more guy who also got his big break at WM21, Edge, and not only did he also see his rise as one of the biggest heels in the company, he was also in a much better match, with the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, and still one of the best.
     
    6) Edge Vs Mick Foley Hardcore match(Wrestlemania 22)

    Contenders: Shawn Michaels vs Vince McMahon
    Oh look, another Edge spot. Despite two good Championship matches and another fantastic Shawn Michaels match, there's nothing that could top Mick Foley and Edge's hardcore match. Easily the most memorable match with one of the greatest spots ever
     
    5) The Rock vs Stone Cold III(Wrestlemania XIX)

    Contenders: Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho
    The Rock vs Stone Cold matches are always bound to be classic matches, especially at Wrestlemania and this one is no different, except two reasons one was that this was the only one of the 3 bouts where The Rock would win, and this was the only one that didn't main even Wrestlemania. The main event between Angle and Brock Lesnar was fantastic, especially since it helped helped Brock Lesnar become one of the WWE's biggest superstars, but again, it's hard to top an Austin vs Rock match, especially it would become Austin's last match.
     
    4) Daniel Bryan vs Triple H(Wrestlemania XXX)

    Contenders: None
    The WWE was running into a pretty bad position when Wrestlemania XXX was approaching, as many fans weren't giving their main event a chance and instead they wanted the WWE to push Daniel Bryan into the main event, especially after no showing the Royal Rumble, and boy was it the right idea. While Daniel Bryan would win his match with Triple H and have an excellent Triple Threat with Orton and Batista(and thus winning the WWE WHC), it was his earlier match with Trips where he really shined
     
    3) Triple H vs The Undertaker Hell in a Cell(Wrestlemania XXVIII)

     
    The last of The Undertaker and Triple H's 3 'Mania, arguably the best, but easily the most memorable. More tension added with the addition of Shawn Michaels as the Special Guest Referee(seriously, him as ref is almost guaranteed to improve the match), one of the most insane kickouts ever. While WM28's main event was a solid fight, nothing could top a Hell in a Cell match between the two Superstars that helped the match become a must watch.
     
    2) Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair(Wrestlemania 24)

    "I'm sorry, I love you"
     
    AKA the match where everyone cries at the end. And truth be told, this one was really hard to rank as it was the same Wrestlemania that had the Undertaker vs Edge, which was easily match of the night material as well as "best main even ever" material. But in the end I had to give it to Michaels and Flair, great emotion and storytelling, this match proves why Shawn is "Mr. Wrestlemania"
     
    1) Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker(Wrestlemania 25)

     
    Seriously what else did you expect?
     
    For being the show's 25th anniversary, there were surprising a lot of things wrong with this show, from two underwhelming main event title matches(especially considering HHH Vs Orton's buildup) to an insulting Diva's battle royal. But there was one match that made me forgive all of it, one match that made the event worth watching. Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25 is often regarded as one of the best matches ever, let alone best at Wrestlemania. It was so critically acclaimed that WWE decided to make a just a rematch that was just as excellent in the next Wrestlemania, and one made it the main event.
     
    It also delivered one of the most insane moments with Shawn kicking out of the tombstone, with the Undertaker's priceless expression seen above
  23. Megas
    Just gonna leave this here. If you thought Sony 2006, Nintendo 2008, Microsoft 2010, Konami 2010, PC 2015, or a majority of Ubisoft/EA conferences were awkward, you haven't seen nothing yet
     

     
    An Unknown and hard to find video clip of different moments of an E3 Conference Disney had in 2007. The info of the conference has been recorded, but footage of the conference itself is incredibly rare. As far as I know, this is the only video of the conference there is, but if anyone knows where to find more footage, let me know.
     
    But seriously, if you love cringeworthy E3 moments, and haven't seen this yet, do yourself a favor and watch it.....or don't, that might be a good idea too
  25. Megas
    Quickly after the success of the first Ace Attorney game, Capcom quickly followed it up with Ace Attorney: Justice For All. After establishing an interesting world and cast of characters in the first game, everyone was excited to see what they could do with the second game. However, with the bar set high on the first one, will the second game be able to meet those expectations?
     
    Also much like the first Ace Attorney, Justice For All is a remake of the second game on the GBA, and was the first time the game was released in the US. And again, there may be spoilers, though mostly from the first game
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Gameplay

     
    The gameplay is mostly unchanged from the first game, with two key differences. One is that unlike the first game, this one had no new cases added, so it doesn't use any of the new gameplay additions from "Rise from the Ashes" and Apollo Justice. However, one new addition it does comes with is the addition of Psyche Locks, which helps make the investigation sections a little more interesting. Maya gives Phoenix an item called a "Magatama" and with it Phoenix can use it to uncover deep secrets from different witnesses throughout the game, and will help you in the trial. Many witnesses have several locks, and some are harder to unlock than others and may require more evidence than others, and using the wrong evidence will deplete your "penalty bar". Speaking of which, the Penalty Bar(which is basically your life bar) replaces the Penalty points from the last game, and it's much better. Instead of losing points, you "health" whenever you make a mistake, but one thing that separates this from the penalty points is that the amount of "health" you lose depends on what you screw up, and some penalties hurt more than others, and unlike the points, your "health" doesn't recover after the trial, and breaking psyche locks will recover "health"
     
    Story

     
    The game takes place a year after the first game, and most from the first game comes back as well as several more new characters. The most notable characters include Pearl Fey and Morgan Fey, Maya's cousin and Aunt respectively, as well as Franziska Von Karma, the daughter of the first game's villain, Manfed Von Karma, and serves as the game's main prosecutor after Miles Edgeworth disappears, and is probably my favorite character in the game(and is totally my waifu). Most of the main cast from the last game including Mia and Gumshoe, and a few minor characters like Will Powers(awesome), Lotta Hart(ughhhhh....) and Wendy Oldbag(...UGHHHHH). Unfortunately Larry doesn't return for this one(though I'm sure some people may not have a problem with that :/). Most of the new cast is, admittedly, a step down from the first game, though most of them are stuck to one case, and there are still many memorable characters that are some of the series best, like Maggey Byrde and Adrian Andrews.
     
    One interesting thing the game does an interesting job with the story though is how it makes you care very little for most of your clients(with the exception of Maggey Byrde) and the murder victims, as a few of them turn out to either be dicks to straight up scumbags. Inversely, it does a good job of making you feel really sorry for a few of the criminals.
     

     
    As for the cases themselves, it's a mixed bag. The first case(The Lost Turnabout) involves Phoenix is to defend officer Maggey Byrde, a clumsy but cute officer(and one Gumshoe has an obvious interest in) who is charged with murdering her boyfriend, the case serves as a tutorial case, but it's handled in a really dumb way as Phoenix is struck in the head and suffers from amnesia during most of the trial until the end. It sucks. The second trial(Reunion and Turnabout) revolves around Phoenix reuniting with Maya(who left in the end of the first game) while bringing a client to get a spirit channeling to right a wrong. However the client ends up killed and Maya is once again framed. This one is really interesting as it brings us a closer look to the mystique surrounding Maya's culture and abilities, and introduces several key characters. The third case is the infamous "Turnabout Big Top", which where you must defend the famous magician and "Master of Flying", the fabulous Max Galactica, who is accused of murdering the ringmaster of the Big Berry Circus. This case is easy the worst in the game, if not the entire series, I can understand why this case is so unpopular with fans. Positives I will say is that enjoyed some of Max's antics, and the the murderer reveal was a huge heavy hitter, but despite the fact that the case is circus themed, the rest of the characters introduced here are some of the most pain in the ass witnesses I have dealt with in the series, they're all incredibly annoying, really difficult to deal with and are absolutely no fun at all. The final case(My Farewell, Turnabout) on the other hand, is the highlight of the game and is right up there with the final cases in the first and third game as the one of the best cases in the series. It involves Phoenix having to defend the star of the hit new "Nickel Samurai" series, Matt Engarde, who pretty dorky and airheaded in a why(though there is more to him than he lets on), meanwhile Maya is kidnapped by an assassin and will not release her until Phoenix meets his demands. This game definitely lives up to the game's subtitle "Justice For All" with all the events leaving you at the edge of your seat and having one of the best plot twists in the series, but for me, what makes this one special is how it's one of the most realistic cases in the series.
     
    Visuals
     

     
    Again, mostly unchanged from the first game. Most of the areas are well-detailed and the sprites are as over the top and as expressive as ever.
     
    Sound
     
    Sound design is, again the same. The music however, while still great, is a step down from the first game. On their own, the music still adds to the game's atmosphere very well, but key songs like Phoenix's "Objection 2002" and the "Cornered" aren't as pumping as the first game's. On the other hand, the Great Revival themes for Miles and Franziska are easily some of the series best as well as Matt Engarde's theme and
     

     

     
    Conclusion
     
    Admittedly, the game is my least favorite in the original trilogy, but it's still fun to play and a must for fans(flaws and all), especially for the final case alone. Much like the first game, if you have a 3DS the Ace Attorney Trilogy is the way to go
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