"Abstraction" Short Film

I made this short flash video when I was on college; is short and simple...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Movie and Television series Review

I have already talked about the Star Wars prequel movies in one of my earlier posts... but I never gave myself the chance to talk about the TV series or the movie of the spin-off "The Clone Wars" and I guess is only fair considering I love this franchise ever since I was a kid; I would have given a cold shoulder to this series but considering it´s overall quality that would be very unjust, specially now that I have seen it completely I really want to share my thoughts on this massive project.

The movie came out on theaters on 2008 and I watch it at the time, to put it short, it´s ok; it´s no mystery that the film was made with the sole propose of introducing us to the then upcoming tv series. The story is more of a character build up for Ashoka Tano and her bonding with Anakin Skywalker, who is her master. I can say that the series plays it very safe with their limitations witch to me was the best move; I might be making this up, but to me this seemed like an idea of George Lucas to try and cash in more into the franchise with a theatrical release... again, this is what I think happened. The movie is very out there with it´s story and reason to be released but it was good enough to keep me entertained.

The series itself is much better; before it aired I didn't knew what to make of it, why have it taking place during the clone wars? why Anakin has a padawan himself when he never mentions this in any of the prequels? What will happen to Ashoka? Actually, she was the main reason why I decided to watch the show... most people probably assumed she would die at some point considering she is nowhere in "Revenge of the Sith" so we could only assume we would see her fate at some point.

There are plenty of things that happen in this series so instead I will give my personal thoughts on each season and explain what worked for me and what didn't:

In season 1 there are some good episodes has well has some pretty good action, some even worked much better than in the movie, it keeps a very lighthearted tone but still got some backlash for being a violent TV show for kids, there are some episodes where main characters die off and sometimes even in somewhat graphic manners... the thing I mostly remember was the season finale that I won´t spoil but let´s just say it was really interesting considering the demographic and the villains being very dark. To me it worked very well.

Season 2 was called "Rise of the Bounty Hunters" (I don´t know about you, but I am thinking Samus

Aran), Cad Bane, the main bad guy of season 1´s finale is again seen in the premiere and they remained true to his character, the majority of season 2 was very similar to the first, with some intense action scenes with light hearted tones for kids, despite the large adult viewer base. What I remember the most is the story between Obi-Wan and duchess Satine, that similar to Anakin, Obi-Wan dealt with the same feelings of confusion for his loved one... but unlike Anakin, he got passed them.

Season 3 was called "Secrets Reveled" and this is where the series got better, this is mostly because of the stories they told here. My favorite is one part where Anakin is put to a test to see if he really is the chosen one, the test is about him having to control a brother and a sister, the brother (played by Sam Witwer) is the dark side of the force and the sister is the light side, their father is what keeps them in balance but he is getting older so Anakin is supposed to take his place if he proves himself; this series of episodes is particularly good because there are plenty of symbolism and some very deep moment for a TV series on cartoon network, we also learn more about Assaj Ventress and her past witch I thought was pretty interesting. The character models and animation in general starts to improve at this point.

Season 4 was called "Battlelines" witch fits for at least the first episodes witch take place again in Mon Calamari, we saw this battle shortly on the original Clone Wars series before the release of Revenge of the Sith in theaters, it was cool to see it at a much larger scale and with some really good 3D animation, although many things happen in this season and gets much darker, it really doesn't even tell all the stories to their fullest making it feel to me like a wasted opportunity; I think this season was generally good although it has some weak moments.

Season 5 doesn't have a name like the other seasons and for the most part is a very mix bag, while there are some excellent episodes and even most of my favorite are here, there are some very bad ones too, for example there is one series of episodes about droids on some boring mission that I really didn't care for... I found myself yawing many times while another series focused on younglings having to build their lightsabers, interesting idea but just taken too far with pirates invading and stuff, by the end, it just really sticked out like a sour thumb... but the next episodes are great, we see Darth Maul and the mandalorians teaming up to take over Mandalore, all hell breaks loose and there are many big moments that happen here. The season finale is in my opinion the best of the whole series, it´s a four parter that focuses on Ashoka and without spoiling anything, let´s just say here is the big emotional moment the series has ever put up... it´s hard not to sympathize with Ashoka´s plight and it´s conclusion is a very powerful moment that really sticked out for me, she became a full likable character by the end has well... Thanks to this, Ashoka might just now be one of my favorite star wars characters ever.

Finally there is season 6 called "The Lost Missions", it´s only 13 episodes long but they are very well done, this was meant to be a never released season but in the end Netflix picked it up and was finally lunched for us to enjoy, it´s a shame that we don´t get the whole story but these are actually pretty good on their own, without revealing much there is one interesting series of episodes about the order 66 and why it exist, it felt very out there with it´s explanation but I buy it, considering the bond I saw through the series between the jedi and the clones, I felt this needed an explanation, because why would they just kill the jedi in "Revenge of the Sith" in cold blood when we see they are good friends? That hole is fixed. The final episodes focus on Yoda, has he learns how to communicate with the dead (A trick he teaches Obi-Wan at the end of Revenge of the Sith and we see Yoda applying it in Return of the Jedi) and I feel like we saw the pilot episode having Yoda has the protagonist and the final episode being Yoda has well was a great idea kinda like a cool contrast there; you really see how the jedi master is pushed to the very limit in the ending and it was very satisfying, it was a very satisfying ending where it pretty much closes every loss end, not all of them with the series sadly being cutoff before it was finished, but I can tell the attempt was there.

The Clone Wars was a good show, it had a solid run; it was easy to assume for a moment that this series was made solely to cash in on the franchise and make a quick buck with a bad sole season, but it wasn't really... Shame we´ll never get to see the whole story but by the end you feel like you came full circle. By the end, I can look at this series has a great filler for some of the plot holes the prequels made; almost like it was made with that propose and with that it made it so much more worth watching.

The force was strong with this one... and I hope to see more good series like this in the star wars universe...

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Watch Dogs Game Review

Well... I guess there is a lesson to be learn from this game don´t you agree...?

You play has Aiden Pierce, a vigilante who can hack into the CtoS system using his smart phone to create all sorts of chaos around the city with the propose of fulfilling his goals. The story is very weak that does not really take advantage of it´s really big idea, without going has far has it could with a concept more like "with great power comes great responsibility" or something like that; and believe me, I am not asking for a deep story that sticks into your head after the credits roll, but the way the game itself shows the character´s struggles, aspirations and goals kinda makes you believe this... I gotta admit it´s not awful but it is kinda pretentious when you think about it, witch is also something that is happening with many current Ubisoft games too.

Gameplay wise is an open world sand box where you can pretty much do whatever you want but of course you are a vigilante not a psychopath, so you are supposed to avoid killing innocents and stop criminals, but nothing is stoping you from being a killer either. One thing I can say that is great about this game is that is full of activities and content for you to play with, from missions to city games, there is plenty to do... and there is of course multiplayer, where there are a variety of activities to play with has well; the best one in my opinion is online hacking where is a unique type of 1v1 match where one player must hack the other and remain out of sight while the other must find and kill the opponent, is a very interesting mini game that might get you hooked (I know it hooked me).

The game world really feels alive with people having natural interactions with others and the city of Chicago being big on size, while it is smaller than say something like GTA, it´s still a very big map with plenty roads and short cuts to go all crazy with.

Watch Dogs is a good solid game, that can´t be denied, but is in no way pushing the envelope of next generation of games, it has interesting ideas that do take shape in the game but still makes the game feel kinda fall short of it´s own hype and promises made by developers during interviews.

But what is the lesson? That Ubisoft over hyped the lunch of this game with crazy expectations and it happened every time during big game events where it was shown and people also bought into it... "Don´t over hype your game" is the lesson, not only for Ubisoft but for the whole industry and for players is "Not buy into the trailers" has they are made to make you buy the product.

Milk Movie Review

Although it´s a little rough around the edges... it´s a good movie.

The film tells the story of Harvey Milk´s political career has well has some of his personal relationships with his loved ones during his campaigns; the movie does a good job at making you feel like you are truly contemplating the struggles of the gay community during the late 70´s, has well has showing the characters interactions with one another. What takes me a little back of this movie is the passing, at least in some parts; I feel like there are moments that either fly by to quickly or are just not long enough... this may or may not be a personal feeling towards it, however it does is a very distracting element when you think about it.

On a side note, I liked a lot how they showed all the different footages based on the time and events and the cinematography is quite good. Milk is a good movie that stumbles a little bit at times, but not enough to take away from the experience at all.

A Commentary on the "Destiny" Game

Before I say anything I will just add this: I haven't played Destiny at the time of this post... and honestly I am not planing to, ever since it's announcement I didn't even considered to buy it; so why would I want to talk about this game? because of the reaction from players and reviewers towards the game...

For does of you who don't know, Destiny is an online first-person shooter set in a mythical sci-fy universe, your character is one who has been dead for some time and you are brought to life in this new world, you can create him/her and then set out to "explore" the world you inhabit, sounds self explanatory (a la Elder Scrolls) and simple but here is the problem (according to most reviewers), the story is extremely weak where there is very little context to the situations and nothing is explained enough and some of the world settings are not very inspired... another common criticisms I hear is a how unbalance the loot mechanics are and lack of substantial content outside of the competitive multiplayer aspect. That's pretty much what I have heard without playing the game.

There has been plenty of negativity around the internet lately and most of these people are very clear and direct about why the game is a disappointment; Destiny was not developed by a small company that had high ambitions... this was made by Bungie (the creators of the Halo franchise) so players have the right to expect top quality from this highly anticipated game. However there is another side to this story and that is the expectations players had about a whole new IP; while waiting for this game, it was constantly regarded has "the big changer" or "the ultimate game revolutionist" and I feel this is part of the problem on par with Bungie not making something above average, peoples expectations felt somewhat unreasonably high.

(It's obvious that there was plenty of effort put into making this game look this good)

When Destiny was first reveled, everybody went nuts, people began to have expectations that reached beyond what Bungie probably imagined to make, thus having the experience fall extremely short in the eyes of the players. I personally never got interested in the game, even with it's closing release date, gameplay footage or even the cost of the game development; I never saw myself buying this game at any moment but I was aware of people's hype thus I am hardly surprised to see the news that Destiny is the new big new franchise in gaming in sells numbers, it has done extremely well (11 million sessions only in north america). Again I can't talk about the game itself has I have not played it, but I believe there is blaming on both sides, on Activision and Bungie for being more concerned about promoting their game by selling it in the wrong way with over promising words and the players who bought into the hype and got unreasonable expectations (I feel like Watch Dogs had a similar lunch hype... and look what happened).

I can't give a full review myself on what I think about the game and chances are you won't see it from me, but you can find people's thoughts on the game and I am sure you will see plenty of well written reviews from you tubers out there if you know where to look; I personally recommend you check out this review from AngryJoe:

Her Movie Review

Great movie, loved it.

Theodor is a very solitary man who is trying to get a grip in life after his breakup with his wife, he is not particularly interested in meeting new people or anything, he just seems to live his everyday; that takes an unexpected turn when he buys an advance operating system to manage his computer files, Samantha... who has her own personality adapted and has the story advances the two slowly fall in love with one another. If this would have been another movie I might have not enjoyed it, if done poorly it could have turn out into a pretentious film... thankfully that isn´t the case. The reason why I think the movie works so well is because of the passing and it´s own self awareness; when we first see them talking to one another, you do get that feeling of awkwardness, but then you figure out just how likable and funny Samantha is; she is sportive to Theodore and is always there for him; and he in turn loves to teach her and show her the world. Has the movie progress you believe when they start to like each other and understand why they are in love. I won´t spoil the ending here (I never try to spoil story elements on movies I are think are good), but let´s just say that depending on the kind of person you are; you will either love or hate it...

Is difficult for me to truly like a love story, but after plenty of though and for being just one of those movies that just stinks into your mind after watching it, this might be the best romance story I have seen in a movie... it can´t help to say that.

10 video games I recommend you play...

Video games are becoming more and more an art form that is still struggling to be seen has a an equal among film and literature... there have been many games in our history, but few could be used has a testimony of high art class. While you check my list keep in mind I am not listing games by calling them "The greatest ever made" but just does experience that you might want to check.

The propose of this list is to help you guys turn your heads a little bit and give attention to some games than you might have not heard of has well has games you have heard a thousand times but maybe you have never tried out; this list in not in any particular order of preference:

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1. Star Wars: Rouge Squadron

"Factor 5" (now gone) made arguably one of the best Star Wars games out there with this little dogfight gem; set between episodes 4 and 5 of the saga, you play has Luke Skywalker has he leads the rouge squadron through a series of missions that each give a crippling blow to the empire. Aside from the challenging aspect of the game and great control of your ship, it´s impossible not to feel that you are being a part of the rebellion fighting the tyrannical empire when you are faced with multiple enemies. Has a star wars game is one of the most well made and well crafted; it may be often overlooked by star fox 64 has best the flying game of the N64 platform but it still feels like a great game.

2. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

Sonic the Hedgehog is a house hold name, the only mention of it should ring a bell to many and being associated has one of the greatest gaming mascots of all time, he is right up there with Mario has a big icon. Although some might argue that ever since his jump into the third dimension he has no longer been the same and many would attribute this failure to the infamous "Sonic 06" considered by gamers and critics has one of the worst video games of all time; while that is topic for another time I want to turn your attention to a 3D Sonic that is the undeniable proof that our little blue friend has what it takes to be a great icon again... Sonic Adventure 2 was originally released on the Sega Dreamcast (The last console Sega ever made before becoming a third party publisher) and while it was good, you get the best experience on it´s re-lunch on the nintendo gamecube and it was not only still has good but let you enjoy of all the goodies you had to work hard for previously to unlock has well has a few new tweaks. The story is quite memorable and that´s thanks to the characters who are good and don´t come across has obnoxious or annoying for the most part and the soundtrack is really sweet.

3. Goldeneye 007 (N64)

What´s important to note about Goldeneye is that (beyond the fame it still gets) it´s what it did for the shooting genera back in it´s day and what it did for FPS multiplayers. First person shooters used to be reserved for mouse and keyboard only but when developer Rare stepped in and made this game for the nintendo 64, it made everybody turn their heads and expand the genera, Goldeneye in not just that one game that everybody brings up on lists of "best FPS of all time", but also what it did for console players in general. What makes it worth playing now is not what it did for a whole industry back in the day, but because of how well it holds up even today, It might take some time to get used to only use one analog stick instead of the current "dual analog" style of modern gaming; I can´t say it won´t feel like a dinosaur to some but you can say you at least tried to give it chance...

4. The Last of Us

I am pretty sure that by this point you have heard everybody talk to death about how "awesome" this game is; that is "a masterpice" "the citizen kane of gaming" "one of the most monumental games ever made" blah blah blah... truth to be told guys, it´s credit is well earned and well deserved. Considering is a very resent game I will not talk about the story for the sake of not spoiling it to people who haven`t played it has of yet, although you might have heard of it or know of it by now I will say it´s well written, acted and animated conveying many emotions in moments where is hard to have it executed, to me is still a mystery and makes me wander how they made it. The wasteland where the game takes place is excellent with wonderful details around every corner and the interactions between the main characters Ellie and Joel are great showing a lot of well crafted human interaction that many would say "could not be possible to make in games", The Last of Us is proof of how wrong they are. If you have not played it yet, then get to it because has much has I think most of the big named reviewers out there (IGN, Gamespot, etc...) would be giving this game to much credit, there is nothing overhyped or overrated about this game at all... it really is one of the best in this modern generation of games.

5. Bioshock 2

More often than not we see that the judgement of some games can sometimes be misinterpreted or looked at in a different light; is easy to assume that there is malice in many things, the fact that Bioshock 2 was so "underwhelming" by many means that we can sometimes be very simple minded. The story is one about love, loss, conflict and redemption, is much less politic that the previous entry (or even it´s sequel) but I think is very obvious that it never was the intention to be a carbon copy of the first entry, Bioshock 2 is able to tell a story has emotionally driven and deep has any good product... The reason why it´s worth to try it out is because you will see a side of the world of Rapture you never really knew; that of it´s people, it´s inhabitants... witch is more often than not the story that we associate with the most in life, this game is one that has been judge in a more harmful way because the choice to make it was from the polishers and the developers were not the same from the previous entry, that of course bring new perspective to a world already created and imagined by one but is now enriched by the creativity of other... if you have been holding back because of it´s reception from fans; then try it because it most certainly is worth the time put into it.

6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I though of putting "The Ocarina of Time" on this list but because of how it´s often remarked has the "greatest video game of all time" I feel like it´s not necessary to give it more credit or even the simple fact that it is on every list ever means you have heard of it, so instead, Take a look at this often overlooked entry in the Zelda franchise despite now days most seem to embraces it now. Wind Waker is one of the most pretty video games ever made, with a gorgeous visual style that still holds up well today, the new version of Link is really cute and so are the rest of the characters, they show more expression than pretty much every modern video game character. The main reason why i consider it important to mention is the fact that some still feel like this game is not dark or edgy has the entry that fans wanted but that should not be reason to turn the cold shoulder to this nice looking game.

7. Mirror´s Edge

Think "Assassin´s Creed" in first person with a futuristic-like setting instead of the historical ones; truth to be told, I feel like Mirror´s Edge has an excellent idea that, despite not being fully rounded, it made the whole experience much more new and fresh than many games that came out at the time...  Simply put: Mirror´s Edge is a video game that was ahead of it´s time, but even being has good has it was (and still is) it didn't reach the level of praise or sales has most "successful" games do. Has a game itself I appreciate that the designers wanted to make it more about dexterity and the ability of the player to adapt and react to the environment instead of simple handholding; granted is not like the game does not have a hint mechanic where they highlight the object you can interact with but most of the time I doubt you will try to pitch these considering the game in general is very linear. The story is straight forward and treats the events that would usually feel misleading has insides on the characters rather than being pointless exposition, simply put, it knows what it is and is not trying to be anything else. I recommend you check this game out and see for yourself what I mean, because explaining what it feels like to play it is not the same has actually playing it.

8. Red Dead Redemption

"Rockstar Games" is well regarded for their "Grand Theft Auto" franchise with sells billions of units worldwide, each game lunches with hype and seems like each new entry it brings more sales; but I find their excellent game Red Dead Redemption far leagues better than their flagship franchise... This games fallows John Marston has he hunts down his former gang member... and that´s all I will say for the story because it would be a crime if I spill more here, it´s something that is just better to see for yourself. I can´t think of any game that has attempted the old west setting in any other video game, at least not with the success of this title, there is almost an infinite amount of activities available for you within the game world and is so refreshing to see it done right; I have always wandered why no other developer has attempted a western setting like this again? there have been games set in the old west but non of them being open world. RDR is one of the finest games of the 7th gen and is no surprise why it´s seen in several best games list. I am sure you have heard of Rockstar, so how about give a try to a game made by them that does not have the GTA logo on the cover?

9. Metroid Prime

I mention the Metroid Prime Trilogy before in one of my old posts and I remember I called it "one of the best collections ever on the Wii" and I stand by it. The first entry "Metroid Prime" became the best selling game on the gamecube system and it made great use of the first person mechanics to make the exploration of Tallon 4 that more immersive and engaging. One aspect that is something that even to this day still surprises me is the way the story is told, many games now days have cutscenes or in game events spilling exposition of events unfolding has you play... but Prime has you scanning information has you discover through the world; you scan lore and bits of information regarding what it´s going on; it´s up to you to pice together the information given to you. The game is about exploration and discovery, I love the sensation of loneliness you feel by exploring such a gargantuan planet, and you will feel alone when you see you are the only person on the planet that is not a carnivore alien or an space pirate... Metroid Prime is an adventure where you are this great explorer; Samus Aran is has mysterious has the game itself. Many modern games have somehow been touched by what this game achieved, I dare you not to spot any similarities with highly praise games of today. I am not just recommending it but also suggesting it, it really is an interesting game with many different layers of design that must be seen to be believed and after you play it; chances are you will understand what I mean.

10. Fallout 3

The post-apocaliptic setting is one that has been used a lot in this generation of games, in fact, I dare say the 7th generation is the one where we have seen the most amount of port- apocalyptic titles ever from FPS to strategy, pretty much every genera has been use for a post-apocalyptic setting, I bring this up because when talking about Fallout 3 I think is important to extend my thoughts with extensive perspective. Set after a nuclear war between the United States and China, the world is in pretty much gone, humanity is now starting over and is rebuilding the world it once inhabited, this is just the world where the main story takes place; the main story itself is solid and well told with a legit reason to do what you have to do, but the game itself is of course not asking you this, has you can be a complete bastard with anybody you see and go full evil if you wish, the interesting contrast I see with Fallout 3 is that no matter what you do (weather you are good or evil) the world is still in shambles. This being a game from Bethesda, Fallout 3 is massive with a whole world with it´s own societies trying to survive and plenty of secrets waiting to be discovered; the capital wasteland is a place you can get lost into. It sure is depressive but that is the kind of world it´s creators intended to make and if I had any saying in the matter they have succeeded very well... I can recommend Skyrim, but judging by what a critical and financially successful it was, I can pretty much guess you have played it by now, same accolades could go to the direct sequel to Fallout 3; Fallout: New Vegas, has much has I liked that game I can´t really say is better than FO3 because it´s just to similar in the end of the day, despite having a few minor differences.

While we are still on the topic, I will say that Fallout 3 is without a doubt my favorite video game of all time... I find this game to be so immersive and so grand that back in it´s day it blew my mind, I never thought a game like this could exist and so right then and there I fell in love with it... the replay value is high for me, even if I replay the game with the same character I still feel like I am experiencing a whole new game all over again. If this game is right up your alley pick it up and have it a go.

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I hope that I have been able to catch the attention of some of you with this list of games, I plan to do this again with movies and animus in the future soon... who know, I might even revisit games again with another different list, so until them if any of this games interest you and you are going to check them out, then I hope you enjoy them and have fun!

After Earth Movie Review

This might has well be one of the most infamous movie of recent memory and with good reason... Most film goers will point the finger at director M. Night Shyamalan and he does carry much of the fault (he is the "captain at the helm" on the set after all), but to his credit he is also dealing with the ego of Will Smith.

Story wise this movie is very... dumb, after a ship crashes on planet earth years after humanity left it, Katai (played by Jaden Smith) must fight his way through the planet in order to retrieve an emergency beacon to save his life and his father's (played by Will Smith). Although the story alone sounds self explanatory and simple its the sequence of events and unfolding of circumstances what has you scratching your head, not the mention how poorly acted and preformed the movie is, so when it's trying to get emotion out of you it won't work... the dialog is terrible too.

Why are we told that everything on the planet is made to kill humans when it's an eco system that has no humans living in it? If humanity left, why we don't see any ruins around? abandon buildings? signs that humans EVER LIVED ON PLANET EARTH?! are there no survivors at all still living around? Are you telling me that every single person in the world was evacuated when we left the planet in that "dooms day" scenario the movie explains at the beginning? Who are this "aliens" that try to kill humanity in space? Why do we never see them? Why did they created this "Ursa" monster thing to destroy humans? Why can they only smell humans "fear" and not their sweet and bad breath and stuff? Did they really though that everybody would be so afraid that the "Ursas" that they would not need to SEE the people? Are humans so stupid that they almost became extinct by the "Ursas"? The Ursas are not even invincible!-- (blah, blah, blah... I can go on forever)...

After Earth is really dumb... I guess it comes has no surprise to anybody who has seen the most recent Shyamalan films that he has been on a good row of horrible crap after horrible crap recently... but I can't help but feel that in this case Will Smith is at blame here has much has M. Night; after all the movie was his idea to be used has a catalyst to solidify Jaden's place his reputation a movie super star cash grab, but it actually damaged it... After Earth is a good pass in my opinion.

Final Fantasy XIII Game Review

I have to admit I am not the biggest Final Fantasy fan in the world, in fact I have never really understood the fascination with this franchise; I have looked up plenty on the internet and well... let's just say this games have never been really my taste. I decided to try out the "then new" Final Fantasy XIII and I saw how wrong my perspective was.

The story is quite... slow; the sequence of events happen so late and so cold that by then you will probably not even know what happened before for you to feel necessarily invested in the story, however the characters are quite likable and memorable witch give the game that edge of memorability that is sometimes is missing in common games. Gameplay wise it fares quite well, although I am not much of fan of the direct action it uses in the battles, it makes the fights quite tiresome and repetitive at the end of the day; many times I want to avoid these fights but you HAVE to, not because they are unavoidable... but because you need to to level up.

Visually is great (even by today standers) and the animation on the characters are quite good, the music is very good too with plenty of memorable tracks and big and interesting worlds. The game doesn't offer the freedom to go and do whatever you want until the last few chapters, witch makes the whole game feel like a giant tutorial at times.

Final Fantasy XIII is not the most popular among fans, is in fact seen often has the worst, while I respectfully disagree I can see what they mean when they complaint; I still think is a solid game if judge on it's own... maybe if it didn't bare the title it does and was called something completely different it would sure be seen much better and probably would have been embraced by people with open arms.

Little Witch Academia Anime Review

If i had to use one word to describe this anime it would be "adorable"...

Despite being a very short movie (being almost the pilot to a good anime series clocked around 20 mins), it´s oozing with charm. The simple story fallows Akko Kagari, a young energetic girl who is looking to live up to her idol "Shiny Chariot" despite not being the most brilliant of her class; the story is not really "academy award" material but it get´s the job done for making you care. To better describe Little Witch Academia, think of "Harry Potter" but with a more colorful world (even more than the first film) with wonderful animation, creative character designs and great vision I can´t help but be marveled by this project.

Little Witch Academia is just cute... I know that sounds weird to say but with the anime media filled with "Ecchi" on pretty much every modern anime is refreshing to see one that cares about the young ones and being so memorable that I might just watch it again in the future. Check it out.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Game Review

GTA5 has been argued to be has good or better than San Andreas, is a debate that involve passionate GTA fans; to me though, it's a fun game and one a that is worth being entertained by.

For the first time in the franchise you control 3 separate characters with their own separate personalities, motivations and goals; all three characters have their own special skill that you can exploit either Michael's "bullet time" ability or Trevor's "rage" mode giving different approaches to firefight. The story is alright, I don't remember being emotionally invested into anything that is going on with the protagonists being bad guys... I mean you can't feel related to any of them but is obvious you are not meant to either. In overall the story is not particularly great when compared to "The Last of Us" (game that came out the same year of 2013).

Like is typical in any GTA game, the whole city is open to you from early in the game to do whatever you want, so if you want to get in trouble with the police when you only have equipped a puny pistol; is your choice. GTA5 is also taking a page from Skyrim by using an "improve by doing" RPG mechanic, for example: drive to get better at driving and shoot people to get better at shooting people, although I don't feel the difference much at the end of the day. Los Santos is massive however I feel like there really isn't much to see, sure the vistas are great and it feels alive with people walking around, running when causing mayhem and so on.

Grand Theft Auto 5 is fun, but I would not say is a masterpiece of gaming when I know there are AAA title out there that do what GTA5 does much better... but that is no meaning of saying is not fun there is a great deal of polish and attention to detail that makes the game feel good to play. The online multiplayer is great and almost better than the single player with the possibility of creating your character and multiple modes to play in.

Under The Dog Anime Kickstarter was successful!

Thanks to all the backers on kickstarted who pretty much jumped in at the last minute to save the project!

The kickstarted ended earlier today

You can check with the official site to look at all the news update: Under The Dog Main Site

Best of luck to Masahiro Ando and the whole team involved on the project, I am happy to know that an artist can be able to make "art" with no involvement of any major greedy production especial with how warped the anime industry is now days...

Under The Dog Facebook page

Is Co-op multiplayer so bad?

The upcoming Bioware game "Dragon Age: Inquisition" has revealed that it will have cooperative multiplayer on top of the main campaign where you and 3 more players get to explore a level and fight enemies together; I have seen plenty of negativity towards this mode online... and I can see why some people are concerned but I still see plenty of good things here.

For starters; I will clarify that I am not much of a competitive player, I am usually not interested in games where multiplayer is about fighting other players that takes away from me and I have never said is bad, it really is not my cup of tea... however I have always enjoyed cooperating in games weather locally or online.

I see more people into the competitive aspects of a game than co-op aspects; the general public seem to find more interesting the places where you see competitive environments like FPS team deathmaches than co-op survival to overwhelming odds. I understand more people prefer competition and the fact that the majority tag the "multiplayer" has synonymous off "player vs player" when the word itself is self explanatory:

Multiplayer = Multiple players

Nowhere it´s stated that multiplayer must be competitive matter only... I know this does not apply to everyone, but with how manny people bring it up like that I just feel the need to say it.

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When Bioware announced the multiplayer for Mass Effect 3 I didn't knew what to make of it... I knew what to expect but I could not imagine how it would play out and for the most part I was a bit iffy about it; but when I finally got the chance to play it I really liked it more than I thought I would. Unlike the usual "Hoard Mode" where is all about surviving by finding the best spot on the map but rather about finding the class you are comfortable with, level up your character correctly, exploit the weakness of your enemies and working together with other players.

Usually co-op modes in games generally feel to me sometimes more about being the last one standing than working together unless you are playing with other people you know and are willing to help; but with games like Mass Effect 3, Uncharted, Grand Theft Auto 5 that support this kind of multiplayer co-op approach I see that there is still room for there to be more like it.

The ultimate reason why I brought this up is because I see plenty of people who can´t seem to stand the fact that Bioware is reincorporating the multiplayer component that was in Mass Effect into Dragon Age takes away from the core experience (the single player and RPG elements), I can understand the worries people have when I hear this statement... but was the experience from any game "really" taken away by adding multiplayer? do we feel that a game like uncharted is taking away from the campaign because of it´s multiplayer? or the last of us? or any other great AAA title out there with multiplayer? (regardless of PvP or Co-op)

I see it has a way to add more value to the purchase value of their game, and instead of judging it has what we see we should judge it has what it will be, Bioware has said before that "we don´t need to worry about the multiplayer being tagged to the single player" and that it will be "a separated experience from the single player experience and RPG elements". I am has much in the dark from the game has the next person... and I consider myself more of a "single player" guy, but if I can play with other I enjoy more working together than killing each other.

Until the actual lunch of the game AND the multiplayer mode we will all just have to wait and see... but let´s try and keep an open mind.

Still working...

...and not stoping...

Keep in mind that all of this is work in progress and is bound to change has I keep working; keep checking in to see where is all going: I will have something more complete by the end of september/beginning of october.

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Review

After a long wait, the movie based on the big internet icon has finally been released world wide... and it holds up has the biggest, if not, the ultimate fan made movie ever made!

The Nerd (played by James Rolfe) is force the face his fear for the worst video game of all time when his fans keep teasing him to play it; his fear for the game becomes the Nerd´s brick wall to try and save his fans from the game has he sees no other but choice to confront it head on and discover all of it´s dark secrets in the process. If there is one thing that the movie does right is that it´s big and epic, like a big party and there is no end supply of fun to be has while watching it; it knows exactly what it is and is not trying to be anything else...

Has a fan founded movie there is bound to be some limitations but the way it´s directed and written makes it a fun ride, mostly because is just way bigger than you would expect from a movie with this kind of budget; the special effects are very interesting to watch and when you see something that seems out of place like an obvious green screen you know it´s meant to be noticed. There is a big amount of internet celebrity cameos and the performance from the actors is very entertaining; it´s obvious that on top of all the hard work put together to make the movie the people behind it had fun making it.

AVGN the movie is just one big fun party of a film. if you know the Nerd and enjoy his online show you will love to see this movie, if you have no idea who he is you will probably be lost a couple of times. This a movie made by fans for the fans!

Toy Story 3 Review

At this point everybody in the world has seen this film and we can all agree it´s pretty good...

When I first watched this movie I loved it, I saw all three films and I hold them close to my heart because the franchise in general has been fallowing me ever since i am a kid so of course I have a deep affection for the characters and story line in general... however the more I think about Toy Story 3 itself on it´s own I see a couple of things that makes me wander if the movie was ever THAT good.

The story fallows Andy has he is all grown up now, has he is going to college he needs to figure out what to do with his toys and the toys worry about their future... the setup is great and very dark; with all that I have said I should think this is the best of the series however I don´t. I think that the story tries too hard sometimes, like it´s trying to be edgy just for the sake of being edgy, for example: the scene where they are about to be burned to death and all the toys grab hands I remember being certain they would make it out alive and what happened? they made it out alive! What makes people get wooby in this moment is the fact that the characters themselves are known and beloved, so seeing them in such danger for prolong exposure makes you care for them and it seemed to have worked but knowing the movie I was watching I find hard to feel something here.

The ending is also something that now seem to get kind of a mix reception, many say they see their childhood in this scene and the moment they cried while others say is overly melodramatic... I have to say that I find myself more on that 2nd boat. The first time I saw this movie I liked when Andy went through every single toy giving their description to this little girl showing how he sees them, that´s neat I like it... but after when he starts playing with her and the toys I was being a little disturbed... It would have worked better if after the shows her the toys he just walks away and one last glance at them before driving off, I think that would have made a more powerful last impression than the way it was shown.

My favorite scene of the movie is ironically the part where Bonnie is playing with Woody and her toys somewhere in the middle of the movie... it was adorable, cute, well shoot and well animated, I remember smiling in the theater and it´s still the one scene I remember the most from this movie:

Toy Story 3 it´s a very good film; I just find myself thinking of it has the "not has good" of the trilogy and this is more of what I could say from other third parts in movies...