Mobile Game Reviews: Bricks Breaker Quest

In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.

However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason.  You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.

And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time.  I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.

Today's game is something I actively looked for, Bricks Breaker Quest. Bricks Breaker Quest is one of many Brick Breaker games on the Google Play and iphone app stores, and its premise is simple; maneuver a ball from the bottom of the screen and use it to break the bricks above it. It requires a minimum knowledge of angles in order to get the highest possible scores, and if you manage to reach the thresh hold, you get the coveted three stars at the end of the game.

Control: Bricks Breaker Quest thrives on a mobile device; the angles are both strict and generous, creating a challenging, yet very playable, experience.  All you need to to is move you thumb around the screen, watching the white line that determines where your ball will go, and hope it does what you want it. And when it doesn't, it's no one's fault but your own.

Graphical Fidelity: Bricks Breaker Quest is a very simplistic game.  While modern looking, the graphics are simple, and that's exactly what's needed for this type of game.  All you have is a ball, a line to determine the angle you're going to send your ball, and all the bricks to break.

Sound: Like the graphics, Bricks Breaker Quest is simple in its sound design.  You hear an audible pop when the bricks break, and audible tone when you win or lose. There's no music, but it doesn't need it.

Ads: Ads are unavoidable, but unlike a lot of mobile games, Bricks Breaker Quest only displays them at the top and bottom of the screen; in my experience, there are NO pop up video ads. You CAN buy different shapes of balls to play with, but since you earn diamonds by winning, it's not necessary.

Fun Factor: Bricks Breaker Quest is a game that's fun if you're willing to put in the work for it.  Seeing that perfect combo getting you to a three star victory, or getting the highest possible score in the 100 ball and classic mode is so satisfying, and defeat in the regular mode is as devastating as it needs to be.

Final Analysis:  Bricks Breaker Quest by Mobirix is a modern take on a classic Blackberry app, and I love it.  There are hundreds of puzzles to go through, and all are appropriately challenging. Definitely a must play.

Mobile Game Review: Galaxy Sky Shooting

In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.

However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason.  You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.

And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time.  I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.

Today's game is once again something I saw advertised in another game I play, Galaxy Sky Shooting. This game is a top down space shooter, pure and simple with very generous hit detection and multiple modes of play, including an endless mode, a boss fight mode, and a campaign with 210 (as of writing this) levels.

Control: Galaxy Sky Shooting is in a genre that requires precision to dodge fire and hit enemies, but thankfully, it is very generous with hit boxes. No matter how wide the ship is, only the middle section where the cockpit would be is the hitbox for you.  So, as long as you keep that section out of fire, you're good. And since the weapons autofire, all you need to do is concentrate on dodging and lining up your shots.

Graphical Fidelity: Galaxy Sky Shooting is a modern game.  All the sprites are modern looking and the background is what looks like a modern picture of satellite view of the universe.  All the sprites look good, and the text is large and easy to read.

Sound: Galaxy Sky Shooting has modern sound.  The music is modern, the sounds are modern, and the voice that you get when a boss battle is about to start sounds clear and crisp.

Ads: Unfortunately, the ad policy is extremely obtrusive; you get static ads at results screens, and the occasional ad after a win or loss that get more frequent the longer you play.  They also give you the opportunity to use ads to double your coins, which are used for upgrades and new ships from the market, and viewable ads for other things. Thankfully, if you play enough rounds, they ask "do you like the ads?" and when you say no, they offer one more viewable ad, or a microtransaction, to remove the ads for the rest of the day.  They also offer a transaction to remove ads personally.

Fun Factor: Galaxy Sky Shooting is in a genre that is mindless fun, and when you combine good control and reasonable hit boxes, a game like Galaxy Sky Shooting can be a blast. It's great for a short round or two while on the bus or train, and it's also good for "Oh, one more round" gameplay when you're on your own.

Final Analysis: This game would be perfect if it wasn't for the ad policy.  Space shooters are a perfect fit for mobile devices because they make full use of what mobile devices have to offer.  If you want to toss a couple bucks their way to remove ads permanently, that's up to you, but otherwise, it's a great free mobile experience that you don't want to miss out on.

Mobile Game Reviews: Prizefighters

In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.

However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason.  You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.

And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time.  I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.

Today's game is once again something I saw advertised on the Google Play store, Prizefighters. Prizefighters is a Punch Out! inspired game where you create a custom fighter, level them up and take them through a career mode, an arcade mode, and an online mode to determine who is the best fighter on the leader boards.

Control: Prizefighters is built for touch screen controls, though I would advise you to swap from the full touch screen experience to the virtual buttons as soon as the tutorial is over, because like its biggest influence, this game requires precision.  You don't want to throw a punch when you're trying to block, for example. And if you've got a blue tooth controller, which it does support, that offers even more precision for a game that has you controlling a boxer in a Punch Out! style experience.

Graphical Fidelity: Prize Fighter looks like a Sega Master System style Punch Out!. It's got full color capability that a modern smartphone can display, but it has the pixelated look of an 8-bit game.  All text is large and easy to read, and it looks good, if small, in landscape mode instead of the portrait mode it defaults to.

Sound: Prizefighters offers a retro sound design; all the music is chip tune inspired, punches sound as realistic as those from a boxing movie, and the voice clips for the referee sound like they were created with the same digitized techniques that were available in the 90s.

Ads: When it comes to ads, they're very unobtrusive; occasional ads after fights, and a clickable ad if you want 150 extra coins every six minutes.

Fun Factor: Prizefighters is a very enjoyable game. It takes all the elements that make Punch Out! Wii great, and ads in a leveling system that makes your fighter stronger to compensate for the lack of precision inherent in a touchscreen approach. It feels like a Punch Out! game, but with just enough to make it unique.

Final Analysis: If you like Punch Out! Wii, you'll like Prizefighters. It is a great homage to its inspiration, and a great game for mobile devices, especially if you've got a bluetooth controller.

Mobile Game Review: Pac Man 256

In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.

However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason.  You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.

And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time.  I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.

Today's game is something that I saw on advertised on the Google Play store in the popular games tab; Pac Man 256.  The idea for Pac Man 256 is that it's based on the infamous 256 glitch; basically, if you reach level 256, a bug is caused by the calculation of the number of fruit to draw rolling over to zero. The code attempts to draw 256 fruit–236 more than it was designed for–resulting in the maze being corrupted.And that's what Pac Man 256 is designed around; the glitch is chasing you, and if it touches you, it kills you.  It is your task to avoid the encroaching glitch and still gather dots, fruits, power pellets and any power ups you can and achieve the highest score possible before you die.

Control: Pac Man 256 is built around around touch screen controls. You're swiping up down, left and right to move, and tapping for menus.  It's as accurate as any mobile game can get and any mistake made feels like your fault, which is a hard thing for even some console or PC game to hammer out.

Graphical Fidelity: Pac Man 256 has a faux retro style; everything's in 3D, but it's done in a way that's befitting of a Pac Man game.  You can earn themes for the game, which changes the graphics from the basic pixelated design for Pac Man, to something more smoothed out, to the Pac Mania style, to Pac Man CEDX's style, and more.

Sound: Pac Man 256 sounds like a Pac Man game.  All the sounds and music sound like a remixed version of their original sounds from the arcade games and all the successful ports.

Ads: Pac Man 256 only has ads if you want to see them. However, seeing them gives you extra coin rewards you can use to purchase new skins for your game, upgrades to your power ups, etc, but you can also spend real money on those things, so ads don't have to be a thing at all for you.

Fun Factor: Pac Man 256 takes the classic Pac Man formula and ads in the "glitch wall chasing you" mechanic, creating a very fun experience. However, there are loads of power ups in addition to the basic power pellet that lets you eat ghosts in your arsenal.  You can get things a laser to blast ghosts in front of you, a stealth ability that lets you slip past them, a giant upgrade to crush the ghosts, and many more. There's so many options for you to make your way to the high score, and new power ups are unlocked over time.

Final Analysis: Pac Man 256 is easy to learn, but difficult to master, just like the original game.  But it's a great time waster if you've got a few minutes to an hour to kill while waiting on something else. A great mobile experience, overall.

Mobile Game Review: Slayin'

In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.

However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason.  You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.

And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time.  I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.

Today's review is on a game that I saw on youtube, Slayin'. Slayin' is a game built around a touchscreen control scheme, with a left button, a right button, a pause button and an action button. The action button is determinant on which of 6 classes you can choose for combat. Each class has something different to bring to the table; the Knight, for example, has a one directional weapon, but has the most defense, but the Knave has a bidirectional weapon, and the highest luck, and the mage has the highest attack, but can't jump, and so on for the other three classes.  All bring something distinct to the gameplay in your attempt to last long enough to face the dragon at the end.  It has a retro aesthetic in sound, and music; it would have fit in perfectly on the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis.



This game has plenty of unlocks, and all can be bought with in game currency, fame. All the characters, different background music, interface borders, gravestone styles for to display your high score, all of it purchased with in game currency. Yes, you can buy the currency with real money, but you don't have to; fame is easy to get so long as you know what you're doing.

Control: Slayin' is built around around touch screen controls. Things are precise, and when you hit a button, it does what you tell it to. Though, if you're like me and used to a controller with this kind of game, you may find yourself taking damage unintentionally when you try to rock the dpad, since touchscreens don't work that way. 

Graphical Fidelity: Slayin' looks like it came right out of the 90s in terms of graphics, and it fits the screen perfectly.  Sprites are colorful and easy to make out against the backgrounds, so you're never confusing your character with an enemy.

Sound: Slayin' sounds like a game for the Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis.  Sound effects and music are sound like they were made with a 16 bit sound chip.

Ads: Slayin' is very good about ads.  When you boot up the game, you get a static ad, and if you want to revive after your character dies, you can watch an additional ad.

Fun Factor: Slayin' is mindless fun for when you've got nothing else to do.  It's simple, easy to understand, and can fill up a few minutes here and there when you're waiting on something.

Final Analysis: Slayin' is fun.  It's simple to learn, but difficult to master. There's plenty of challenges for you to complete with each character, some more fun than others, but Slayin' can be a game you play for a LONG time.

Mobile Game Review: Sonic Dash

In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.

However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason.  You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.

And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time.  I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.

Today's review is on a game that I picked up when my brother started pushing me into mobile games, Sonic Dash.  Sonic Dash is a game where you run endlessly forward, collecting rings and power ups, dodging obstacles and destroying enemies, with a couple of boss fights thrown in for good measure.  You have a total of 16 characters from the Sonic console games, though a few require you to pay real money to get access.  You have seven stages to run through, though 6 of them have requirements to unlock them.  And you unlock them through gathering little animals from the robot enemies, and paying them gems, one of the three currencies this game has, to complete objectives and unlock new stages and characters.  You also have a multiplier that determines how quickly you accumulate points for your high score.

Control: Sonic Dash is perfect for a mobile device; swipe up, swipe down, swipe left and right, and tap to choose things. Tap to dash, tap to use stage starting power ups. No precision required.

Graphical Fidelity: Sonic Dash looks like a modern Sonic game.  All the characters look like they're supposed to, all the stages look like they were taken right out of a modern Sonic title. All the text is large and easy to read.

Sound: Sonic Dash sounds like a Sonic game.  The music feels like it was taken from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and this is no more evident than in both the Green Hill and Sky Sanctuary zones.  They sound like an updated version of their original stage music.

Ads: This is the first game that I'm reviewing that has unavoidable ads.  You get them after every stage before they bring you back to the title screen, and you can get extra ads for things like a revive, doubling your end of run ring count, and for an extra spin on the prize wheel.  But there is no way to avoid the ads so long as your device is connected to the internet.  Unfortunately, I've had instances where the ads crash the entire game, freezing it up and not letting me do anything else and forcing me to quit the game entirely.

Fun Factor: Sonic Dash is mindless fun for when you've got nothing else to do.  It's simple, easy to understand, and can fill up a few minutes here and there when you're waiting on something.

Final Analysis: Sonic Dash is a great game that is unfortunately held back by the ad policy.  If they would let you pay for a way to remove them, I'd say this is a must download for any Sonic fan, but if you find in game advertising intrusive, especially when the ads have a tendency to crash the game, you might want to look elsewhere.  But if ads don't bother you, you'll have a good time. I know I do, despite my issues with the ad policy.

Mobile Game Review: Plague Inc

In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.

However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason.  You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.

And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time.  I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.

Today's review is on a game that I've had on my phones for a while, Plague Inc. The premise of Plague Inc. is simple; you take control of a pathogen in an attempt to eradicate humanity, though it's far tamer than the premise makes it, I promise.  You play as one of 7 plagues, plus 4 additional plagues that modify the premise of the game.  It is your job to modify your plague to protect itself from humanity's efforts to eradicate you, create means of infection, and finally, use symptoms in order to kill your targets.  You win by eradicating humanity (or achieving another objective, if you're playing as one of the special plagues), and you lose if there are any humans left alive or otherwise not under your control.

Control: Plague Inc is perfect for touchscreen controls.  It is built around taping the screen to pop bubbles in order to gain currency to spend on upgrades. Sometimes, you need to tap and drag, and that can be iffy, but thankfully, Plague Inc now has the ability to zoom in on the map, giving you precision to get to small countries easier.

Graphical Fidelity: Plague Inc is basic; they use a basic Equirectangular projection of a map, without any real detail, but they don't need any.  The bubbles are easy to easily what they are; whether it's a cure bubble or currency bubble, and which type of currency bubble, it's easy to see and know right from the bad.  All text is legible, and all symbols are easy to recognize.

Sound: Plague Inc has an appropriately depressing sound design; the music is depressing, cries of the people, which are done for comedic effect, are depressing, and the sounds of the popping bubbles are appropriate for what they are; a breaking glass sound for a cure bubble and a pop for a currency bubble. Everything works.

Ads: There are no ads in Plague Inc. All money they make are from micro-transactions, none of which are necessary to progress.

Fun Factor: Plague Inc offers a lot of content. It is the full PC game, complete with scenerios and special plagues.  You can download custom scenerios from fans, too.  There's a lot of fun to be had with Plague Inc.

Final Analysis: Plague Inc is a near perfect mobile game.  There's a lot there for a low price, and it is well suited for the mobile market.

Assassin's Den Reviews: The Last Jedi

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Now, if you follow me on twitter, you know that I saw The Last Jedi yesterday.  And I'll be blunt; I like it, and I have no idea where all the fandom hate comes from.  Well, maybe some idea, but I'll talk about that later.

So, review time.  I'm going to say massive spoilers ahead, since I'm going to analyze character arcs and important plot moments in the movie.  So, if you haven't see it yet, be warned.

TLJ starts off where TFA ends; directly after it ends.  The First Order knows where the Resistance base is and are attacking it, forcing them to escape, while Rey is on Ahch-To, presenting herself to Luke Skywalker, to both get his help for the Resistance and her own training in the Force.  And with this setup, we have a few major threads; Rey's training with Luke, Rey's Force Bond with Kylo Ren, learning why Ben Solo became Kylo Ren, Finn's character grown, and the Resistance on the run from the First Order, who had developed technology to track ships through Hyperspace, forcing the Resistance to burn through their fuel to keep out of the range of the First Order turbolasers. 

Finn's adventure with new character Rose Tico is a result of the Resistance fleet being on the run; he has the idea to shut down the First Order scanners to let the Resistance escape into Hyperspace, but they require a slicer to get past the First Order security measures.  This leads Finn and Rose to the planet of Cantonica, where they look for the slicer at the Canto Bight casino.

The other major thread involves the Resistance fleet, Poe Dameron, Leia Organa, and Vice Admiral Holdo.  Admiral Holdo plans on getting the Resistance to an old Rebel Alliance base so the could get the Resistance into shuttles to get them down to the planet Crait while the First Order pounded the Resistance flagship.  Unfortunately, this plot thread circles back around with Finn's story, when the First Order realizes what is happening, and starts targeting the transports, forcing Admiral Holdo to turn the flagship around and ram right into the First Order ship, saving the Resistance and leading to the battle on Crait.

And now, we finally get to the focus on Rey.  Rey, who had been on Ahch-To, was on her path to opening her path to the Force under Luke's "tutelage", and we learned about her Force Bond with Kylo Ren and his history with Luke, from both sides.  A Bond so strong that Kylo and Rey are actually able to communicate telepathically. And not just the way Luke and Leia did, where he called out to her and she heard him. No, Rey and Kylo were able to have full conversations, and even, at one point, touch hands.  

After Rey gets opened to the Force and she gets the full story of Ben, she heads back to the Resistance fleet and gets her chance to meet Snoke in a similar way Luke met Palpatine in Return of the Jedi.  However, unlike Luke, Rey was not tempted by the Dark Side. But, neither was Kylo tempted tempted by the Light.  He may have killed Snoke, but it was to take his place as Supreme Leader of the First Order.

It's here when we come to the climax of the movie; attack of Crait, and the battle between "Luke" and Kylo Ren, which allows for the escape of the Resistance to the Millennium Falcon, which was being used by Rey and Chewbacca.  Luke, who had been on Ahch-To the whole time, used the Force to create a projection of himself as he was when Kylo last saw him, appeared to give the Resistance hope, and distract his nephew, giving a quick chat with his sister before going off to face is destiny.  A destiny that involved him becoming a Force Ghost, to help Rey continue her training as she fought for the Resistance in the next movie.

With the plot summary out of the way, I want to talk about two important characters, Rey and Leia.  I'll tackle Rey first, and say that, unlike Luke, she was never tempted by the Dark Side.  As was said several times in the movie, She was the Light to Kylo's Dark, but unlike the Jedi of the Clone Wars, she accepted the Dark, though she remained wary of its pull.  At a couple points, she used her anger for power, but didn't become a slave to it the way Anakin did decades earlier.  She was as the Jedi in the Old Republic era before the Clone Wars were; a defender of peace and protector hope, but didn't forget that she had to strive for balance. I'm eager to see how she turns out in Episode 9, and what kind of lightsaber she builds, and what color the crystals will be, since, according to the new canon, lightsaber crystals' color is determined by the user and their focus as a Force user.

Now, we talk about Leia. Even though it will have to be rewritten due to the untimely passing of Carrie Fisher, this movie set for Leia to be a major character in Episode 9, while at the same time being someone who is getting old and tired of losing friends.  From the beginning, Leia is mourning the loss of each and every soldier that falls, saying "too many" many times over.  She's tired, and just wants the fighting to be over, while at the same time, knows that she's the only person who can lead these young fighters.  Her name carries weight and she knows it, and she does everything she can to be a rallying figure to these young people.  Which is why it's such a tragedy that we never get to see it bear fruit, due to the Carrie Fisher no longer being with is.

Now, there's a lot of funny moments in this movie, and a lot of cool moments.  I laughed so hard when, in the beginning, when Rey handed Luke his father's lightsaber to him in a moment with such solemn music and dramatic looks on Rey's face, only for Luke to just toss the lightsaber over his shoulder and walk back to his house.  Or when Luke told Rey to close her eyes and reach out so she could touch the Force, and she misunderstood and reached out with her hand instead of her senses.  And the lightsaber duel between Kylo Ren and Rey on one side and Snoke's guards on the other? That was awesome. As was when Leia used the Force to save herself in the vacuum of space and return to safety on a Resistance flagship? That was awesome.

Now, I'd be remiss to not talk about Luke.  This is not Grandmaster Luke from Legends. This is not the man who has made every right decision since Return of the Jedi and successfully rebuilt the Jedi into the galaxy spanning heroes they were in their heyday.  This is a man who made mistakes. With Ben, with the Jedi, and with his family.  And instead learning from them, he ran from them, and exiled himself in the place the Jedi were born.  And until he finally talks to Yoda, (yes, Yoda is in the film. As a Force ghost, but still, Yoda's in the movie.) he resists the call to action.  But when he does, it's with a less flashy power than we saw him do in Legends, but no less impressive.  He uses the Force to create a tangible illusion who could interact with Leia, and even partially duel with his nephew on Crait.

Now, for my final thoughts.  I think the new trilogy is about sweeping the Skywalker lineage from the galaxy so a new generation can flourish.  Episodes 1-6 were all about how Anakin, Luke and Leia all shaped the galaxy, and if Rey and Kylo show us anything, it's time for a new generation to take their place, as is the fate of everything.  (Yes, I know Kylo Ren is technically a Skywalker, which is why I think he won't survive Episode 9).

All in all, I enjoyed the movie, as did my dad, who is best described as a casual fan; he'll watch the movies, but not much more than that.  If you haven't seen it, do so. Just don't let a love of Legends cloud what the movie is trying to do.

But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews: Crisis on Umbara

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

So, today, SWTOR Version 5.4 dropped today, and I'm going to talk about the Flashpoint.

I'll start with the mechanics.  You start on top of a train, fighting your way through a combination of Umbarans, who seem to use the Rattataki models, but without the head tattoos, and either Republic or Empire forces. Eventually, the traitor reveals himself (yes, it's a him. The woman most of us who THOUGHT was the traitor on Iokath is not the traitor, but they do work with him), and crashes the train, forcing you to fight through the forces you were fighting before and the wildlife, and face off against a couple bosses before the flashpoint ends.

Now, there's a boss fight that's currently bugged.  While still on the train, you fight a pair of Umbarans, as well as a bunch of spawning turrets. The fight has a Technician, and a Shadow Assassin.  But if you kill the wrong one first, the fight respawns.  You have to kill the Shadow Assassin first, or the quest completely resets.

But now, it's time to take the cat out of the bag and reveal the traitor; Theron Shan.  Now, I ran this flashpoint twice today, before going on to finish up my Hand of Jadus playthrough; with my LSM Guardian Ragdat, and my DSF Marauder Yokonari, who romanced both Quinn WAY back in the day, and Theron.  So, in a very literal sense, both men she fell in love with betrayed her and broke her heart.  (Yes, I know her story in my storyline said that she didn't romance either, but how I do her in game and how I write her don't have to be the same.)  Ragdat sided with the Republic on Iokath, and Yokonari was the only character to side with the Empire, so I got to see the differences between faction choices, as well as having read Theron's letters in the datamine before.  So, here's my thoughts on the storyline.

Honestly, Theron's betrayal of a LS character makes as much sense as what happened to the Inquisition at the end of DAI's Tresspasser DLC.  It feels forced based on the personality of the PC.  DS, however? Spot on.  Theron says that he wants an end to all the conflict, and a DS character is doing exactly the opposite.

Now, I'm going to be honest, I'm kind of happy this is pissing people off so much; not only is it within his character (he pretty much WAS the DS option in Shadow of Revan, after all, even though he supposedly mellowed between SoR and KOTFE), but it subverted expectations.  Everyone was guessing women based on the female figure at the end of Iokath, from Kira to Satele Shan to Shae Vizla to Hylo Visz, and nobody guessed a man due to the misdirection. 

The best part? The betrayal was foreshadowed WAY back in October 2015; Valkorian mentioned a traitor in KOTFE Ch9, after talking to Senya.  That led me to believe that the traitor had to be someone who was there from the start, and someone who didn't die over the course of the game.  That meant Theron, Tora, Lana (who, despite being Sith, is the most loyal of them all), Sana Rae, Bewyan Aygo, Hylo Visz, and Dr. Oggurobb.  And only one of them who has the skill and experience to pull it off for all this time.

As for Theron's final letter, here's how it works; you get one letter based on alignment (LS or DS), and a letter to his lover, which is overridden by the DS letter if you place a bounty on his head.  You also get a letter from your romance, and I'm looking forward to seeing the letters from Jorgan, Dorne, Lana, Vette, and the eventual romanced letter from Theron to Baste'mer'ioz, whom I did an LS romance with Theron.

Anyway, check out my referral link if you play, check out my twitter, and stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews Dragon Ball Super God of Destruction Arc

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

With the Resurrection F arc starting tomorrow night on Cartoon Network, I'm finally ready review the Battle of Gods arc that finished last week.  I took some time to binge watch all the episodes I recorded to see how the arc flowed, I've come up with several impressions.

First off, Beerus is a dick.  Yes, I get that he's the God of Destruction of Universe 7.   It's his job to blow up planets to allow new life to surface.  But he's extremely overzealous.  He blows up planets for the smallest perceived slights, and is extremely fickle.  The only reason he spared Earth was a combination of how good the food was, and how Goku tested him in the Super Saiyan God form.

Which brings me to the Super Saiyan God form.  I don't like it, and I'm glad its gone.  It just looks like the Kaioken, but without the restrictions, but with red eyes.  Instead, it had a new restriction, and neither Goku nor Vegeta like the form, since they had to take power from others via a ritual to even achieve the form.  I mean, yeah, Goku's Genki Dama does pretty much the same thing, but it's a technique that he has to shape in order for it to be a useful attack.

Third, the Beerus/SSG Goku fight drug out WAY too long.  And unlike the SSJ Goku/Freeza fight, this wasn't to buy time to let Toriyama to complete the arc; no, it drug because it drug.  I've since seen the movie, and you know what? It showed the fight better!  We didn't NEED all the fluff that the show gave us!

Now, I will praise the English voice acting.  These men and women have been doing these characters for 18 years (with the notable exception of Bulma, who is voiced by Monica Rial, Bulma's second voice actress, and 18, who is voiced once again by her original voice actress Meredith CcCoy, after being voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard between 2010 and 2014.), and they know these characters in and out.  So of course, they sound like they're supposed to sound.

Now, I've been told that later arcs get better.  But if I didn't have that knowledge? If this was my first impression of Super? I wouldn't bother with it after this.  It felt less like Dragon Ball than people claim GT felt!  I don't know, maybe the Resurrection F arc will be better.  But I feel that a show that has so much hype shouldn't have me going "I hope the next arc delivers" when I look back on it.

Anyway, I've got the next episode all set to record, and I should have the review this time next week.  But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews Dragon Ball Super Episode 12

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Yes, I know, I'm really late in my analysis of this episode, but I only got around to watching it today, four hours (at the time I'm writing this) away from the episode 13 review.  But I've had a LOT on my plate this past week, and I've only had a chance today to settle down and enjoy things.

With the battle moving into space, I now know that the fight between Goku and Beerus is almost done. Only an episode and a half left of this fight before I don't have to see this stupid Super Saiyan God form ever again.  I really never liked the look of the SSG form, but I absolutely LOVE the Super Saiyan Blue form.  It's the iconic power of Super, and I've loved playing as, and fighting against, Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta in Dragon Ball Xenoverse.

As for the Funimation Dub?  I'm glad that they're staying true to the integrity of the Japanese source, and not shying away from minor profanity when it's warranted.  Goku saying "You're damn right I am!" when Beerus mentioned him not being satified with the power of a god and wanting to push beyond it fits the character.

So, yeah, the arc's almost over.  I'm actually looking forward to seeing the Resurrection F arc, and to see if the show used the Maximum the Hormone song "F", and whether Funimation lets the dub keep it.

But for now, hopefully I can start to keep a schedule for watching Super next week.  As for you guys, check out my referral code if you're a SWTOR player, and stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews Funimation's Dragon Ball Super: Battle of Gods arc

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Now, I know I said I'd wait until the Beerus arc ended before reviewing the arc, but I can't wait any longer to say what I need to say: this is BORING! Why is one of the most exciting franchises in anime history SO BORING in the first arc of the newest series?

At this point in the series, Goku is fighting Beerus in his Super Saiyan God form.  Back and forth, Beerus lets Goku get used to power before wailing on him, only for Goku to come back with another power boost.  But it's so badly paced; this much back and forth is FAR from necessary.  Between when Goku becomes a Super Saiyan God and when the arc finally ends next week, it's 5 whole episodes.  That's two and a half hours.  The entire runtime of the Battle of Gods movie? One hour and forty-five minutes.  The fight between Goku and Beerus in the show is 45 minutes longer than the movie in which Beerus was introduced. 

And Beerus? He's a dick.  All I've seen in this arc is "Give me what I want, or I blow up your planet!"  If I hadn't seen him in Xenoverse first, I'd hate him.  He is completely unlikable in this arc.

Now I know, maybe I'm spoiled by being able to buy a saga on DVD and watch it entirely the way through without stopping and having to wait for a week, but between the poorer quality animation in this first arc and my general distaste of cliffhangers, this is not boding well for my enjoyment of the series.

The only positive things I can say about this arc are about the English voice acting, and the early hints on what will be on full display later in the show with Goku.  Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat, Kyle Herbert, Meredith McCoy, Colleen Clinkerbeard...they've been doing these characters for over a decade, and they know the characters very well.  They're experienced, they're dynamic, and they always a joy to listen to.

And as for my second point about Goku's characterization, you can see a LOT of early hints when it comes to future arcs.  His selfishness is on full display, and you can tell right from the start that he cares more about his fight with Beerus than he does about the fate of the Earth.  Oh yeah, the fate of the Earth is in his thoughts, but it's more "They make good food there!" and less "There's billions of lives down there!" Very inline with Toriyama's view of Goku's character.

All in all, I agree with a LOT of people when I say they should have just skipped this arc, as well as the Resurrection F arc, and just done new stuff. Granted, it would have left the few people, like myself, who didn't see the movies in the cold, but they could have easily done a whole "the story that came before" thing like they do before every episode. 

At this point, I'm going to just go with a review episode by episode.  And once I get to Episode 27, I'm going to link to the videos of MasakoX, the voices of Goku and Gohan in Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z Abridged.  That will also give us an idea how far ahead the Japanese version of Super is from the English dub.

But for now, look forward to my review of Episode 14 of Dragon Ball Super next week, check out my referral code if you're a SWTOR player, and stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews Announcement: Dragon Ball Super Funimation dub review schedule

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  As of two weeks ago yesterday (my time, of course), Cartoon Network began airing Funimation's dub of Dragon Ball Super, one episode a week.  So, I've decided that, at the end of an arc, I'm going to talk about the show based on that arc's story and the English cast's voice acting. 

Now, I need to mention one major thing, I have not seen Battle of Gods or Resurrection F, so unlike for most people who watched Super in the original Japanese, these two arcs are new territory for me.  I am going in completely blind. In fact, outside of what I've seen talked about by the people at Team Four Star, including but not limited to MasakoX, I'm going in blind with the series.  Yes, I'll keep up with the synopsis of what will come for me so I don't rehash things and muse on things that have already happened for a lot of fans, but the episodes themselves are brand new territory for me.

With that said, I'll be posting a review of the Battle of Gods arc when it is over, which should be in about a month.  But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

Check out my referral code for benefits to your SWTOR account!

Assassin's Den Reviews: Knights of the Eternal Throne

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I'm going to talk about the latest expansion dropped for SWTOR, KOTET!

First off, the story.  KoTET starts off not long after KOTFE Ch16 ends; Vaylin has now taken the Zakuulan Throne, and Vitiate is now implementing his plan to take control of your body.  You have to fight off the efforts of both of them to bring about the peace the galaxy finally needs.  I actually enjoy the nine chapters of the KOTET story, and I was glad to see the majority of plot threads tied up, and the ones that weren't so good, like the Sion plotline, were abandoned.  In fact, the only thing you hear from the Sions is in an email after the story is over.

However, there are things I didn't like. For example, two big characters that I wanted to see return more than anyone did not. In fact, KoTET didn't have anyone return.  The only characters that came in for the expansion were Shae Vizla and Master Ranos, whom you only got if you got to a certain tier in the DvL event.  Something I didn't accomplish, so all I got was Shae Vizla.

I'm also not a fan of Galactic Command, since the focus after the story is over is multiplayer content.  However, this WAS a big contention point for PVP players and flashpoint/operation players, so they finally got the content they've been craving for a year.  Galactic Command gives some great rewards for people who like that stuff, so I'm glad to see them happy, even though that content is not my cup of tea.

However, we can't have an expansion without an engine change, and we got one with 5.0.  5.0's changes are all about mobility and making classes more distinct.  First off, we no longer start as one of 8 base classes; we start as what used to be specializations.  So you don't start out as, say, a Jedi Knight anymore, you start out as a Sentinel or a Guardian.  You still go through the Knight story, but your playstyle is different from the start.  Each class starts with their preferred weapon style (for example, a Sentinel starts with two training blades, while a Shadow starts with an electrostaff), and each has distinct abilities that are exclusively reserved for that class.  Also, some classes gained new abilities to compliment their playstyle; for example, a Gunslinger no longer uses Dirty Kick as a stun, because they are pure ranged fighters. Instead, they get a shot that does the same thing. Scoundrels also regain an AOE that either drops at their feet if they're not a healer, or can be sent a short range away if they are a healer.  (these changes, of course, go across the faction line; IA classes have the same changes but with different animations and names based on their faction).

On top of that, crystals were removed from the game; no more data crystals, no more radiant crystals, no more warzone commendations.  Credits are now far more valuable than they were before.  However, you still get a special currency for bounty broker missions and Galactic Command, but someone who actually does that content would be better suited to tell about that.

All in all, SWTOR KoTET and the 5.0 changes were beneficial.  Class changes make things more distinct, and the Zakuul storyline was wrapped up nicely.  The only downside, for me at least, is the fear that I'm going to be sitting for months waiting through content that I don't care for before I get more story.  But only time will tell.

But for now, check out my referral code, and stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews: Dragon Ball Xenoverse

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Dragon Ball is one of the best known animated series in the world.  It has been dubbed into English several times over, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and several others that I know exist but can't find a record for from the original Japanese.  It mixes science fiction and magic to create a world that is unique, yet familiar to the audience.  And it presents a very positive message; that hard work and dedication can get you far, that never giving up on your friends means they'll give you the same courtesy, and that even your worst enemy can be your friend if you give them a reason to. And at this point, even if you're not a fan, you've at least heard of it, and been exposed to some of the terminology; Super Saiyan, for example.

And it also made its creator, Akira Toriyama, a very wealthy man; as of 2015, he has a net worth of $45 million.  And at 61 years old, he likely only works because he still likes to draw, write and create.

Which brings me to the subject of review today; Dragon Ball Xenoverse.  Released in 2015 for Windows, Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One and PS4, is was developed by Dimps, known for the Budokai DBZ fighting games and the hand held Sonic games, it follows the storyline created for the beta of the Dragon Ball beta, Dragon Ball Online, though set 150 years earlier.  You take on the role of what fans and media have coined the "Future Warrior", and defend history from distortions in the timeline.

Now, the Future Warrior is able to be one of five races; Human, Namekian, Majin, Saiyan and Frieza Clan.  Now, I'm not going to bother explaining the races, since there are resources all over the internet, so I'll explain the differences.  Humans are well rounded, having the best ki and stamina regeneration, and have slight differences between between genders (as do the Saiyans and Majins, as those are the three races that have males and females. Namekians and Frieza clan are genderless, but appear male.)  Saiyans have the lowest base health, but the highest base attack, which raises when their health gets below 25%.   Furthermore, they get another stat boost after being revived by a teamate in non-storymode battles. Also, they can transform into Super Saiyans, giving them another attack boost so long as they have ki, which is drained in the state, but also allows unlimited Super Attacks and Ultimate Attacks so long as this state lasts.  Frieza Race has the highest speed, but lowest attack, their speed gets higher at lower health, and their standard ki blasts stun your foes. Namekians have lower attack but higher health, which begins to regenerate below 70%.  They also have the fastest stamina regeneration.  And finally Majins have the highest defense, but slowest stamina recovery.  And when their stamina is maxed out, the get another defense boost.  All races have access to the kaio-ken and unlock potential transformations, though the unlock potential is only available if you have the Resurrection of F DLC pack.

Anyway, the Future Warrior fights through the Dragon Ball Z saga, correcting changes to the timeline made by what DBO called "the Time Breakers", Towa and Mira.  You're fighting alongside the main heroes and helping them defeat the powered up villains of each saga until you take on the final boss, Demon God Demigra.  (Demigra has no connection to the Time Breakers, but used them for his own devices.)  Once beating Demigra, you take on a post credits mission where you find out Demigra planned for his defeat, creating wormholes to destroy the timeline anyway.  And that's where the GT DLC packs take place; their timeline is being screwed with via Demigra's wormholes.

The gameplay is best described as a 3d fighting game with rpg elements.  All the canon fighters have preset moves and stats, but the Future Warrior can be built any way you want.  You can built around ki supers (ranged), strike supers (melee), or something in between.  You gain experience points from storyline quests and side quests, which this game calls "Parallel Quests", which allow you to level up and put points into the stats to suite your play style.  You also gain skills from completing the storyline quests and parallel quests, as well as costumes, items, crafting materials and to create new Z-souls (things you equip to boost stats and, depending on which one abilities from mentors.)  And finally, you have mentors, who teach you unique skills.

Character creation is both extensive, but also simplistic.  You're working within the confines of Toriyama's art style, so facial shaping is limited.  However, you've got a huge number of potential skin tones, hairstyles for Humans and Saiyans, "hairstyles" for Majins, and head configurations for Namekians and Frieza clan.  You've got a LOT of clothing, some of it race specific, and some of it can have the colors changed.  Combine that with a LOT of accessories and you've got a pretty dynamic creation tool that makes you unique among your peers.

As for the fighting system, it is appropriate for a Dragon Ball game.  You can go left and right, forward and back, and up and down.  There's a light attack, a heavy attack, a ki attack, and a "jump" button to let you go upward.  You can block, you can vanish dodge, you can fly all over the arena, and you can use your special moves that you equipped previously, use your transformations (if you equipped any), and you can use your ultimate attacks.  It's a good system, though not as intuitive as, say, Street Fighter, but 3d fighting systems are always hit and miss.  But once you know the system, it becomes second nature.

Honestly, Dragon Ball Xenoverse is fun.  First time through makes you do a LOT of grinding though, because some of the storyline quests require you to keep companions alive, and that is NOT easy if you're underleveled.  Secondly, if you try to fight someone like, say, Beerus and Whis, at too low a level will get you stomped into the ground.  So you NEED to do parallel quests, or redo story missions, if you want to survive later.  However, since you keep everything you unlocked on your account globally, the grind for new characters can be MUCH quicker if you do a few specific parallel quests; PQ 53 is a fan favorite, as you are gathering 3 Dragon Balls in a small arena, and the only obstacle is Broly.  This would be a problem, if you couldn't take 2 companions with you, and if Videl didn't fly almost immediately after Broly spawns in.  So you can have essentially 3 meat shields while you gather the Dragon Balls in peace.  Doing that once gets you a B rank, and gets you enough xp for 15 levels.  Do that for half an hour, and you're at 31 levels.  And at that point, you can actually fight Broly and survive.

Why do this, besides getting the chance to redo the story mode (which you can do at will at this point; everything remains unlocked once you unlock it)?  Well, this game has a very active PVP community.  And while I'm not one for PVP myself (as many other SWTOR players can attest), you can test your skills against other players in one on one or team battles, as well as the World Tournament.  However, if you're playing on a 360 or PS3, I wouldn't suggest it, since the servers for those consoles seem to be...iffy.  First three days I owned the game, the servers were down. And today, I've kept getting kicked from the single player lobby due to the servers having connection issues.  And I know it's not my ISP, because I've had NO issues with ME3 or SWTOR or Youtube or anything else that requires a constant connection.

This game won't win over non-fans of Dragon Ball.  It's got a bit of a learning curve and doesn't explain everything. I had to look up how to throw, since the game doesn't tell you, and I had to look up how to please mentors faster in order to learn later skills.  And if you don't know the series, you won't know who certain characters are and their importance to the series.  For example, I haven't seen Battle of Gods or Resurrection of F, so if I hadn't looked it up previously, I would have NO idea who Beerus or Whis are, nor would I have known why Frieza now has a golden form, or what a Super Saiyan God is. I'd also be wondering why GT is considered an alternate timeline now, because I'm one of those weirdos who actually LIKES GT.

Honestly though, this game feels like a love letter to fans. where YOU get to be the hero of Dragon Ball, where YOU get to shine instead of Goku and Vegeta and the rest of the Saiyan cast.  And you can do it as a Human if you want, the species that got overshadowed VERY early in DBZ, due to just how powerful the Saiyans and Namekian cast got, and how powerful the threats they fought became.

That said, it does have its downsides.  Since this is a Japanese game made by Japanese developers, it needed a full translation of both text and a dubbing into other languages.  And the English translation is poor at times.  I'm talking NES era poor.  I've seen quite a few times where sentences had me trying to figure out what was actually meant when talking to certain NPCs.  Secondly and surprisingly, there's a number of mistakes in the dubbing.   I mean, Christopher Sabat, the English Voice of Vegeta and Piccolo among others, is a native English speaker, so he'd understand English vocal inflection.  The only explanation I can think of is that the lines were recorded without context based on a badly translated scripts, and someone who didn't know English fluently was the one to choose which takes to choose.

All in all, I highly recommend this game, but only if you're a fan of Dragon Ball.  If you're not, but are a fan of 3d fighting games, I'd download a demo to see if you'll like it.  I got my copy for 25 dollars at my local Gamestop used, and downloading it costs 40 dollars on Xbox 360 live, and I assume it's the same for the PSN and Xbox One marketplace as well.  Each DLC content pack was 10 dollars each.  I found it worth it, and if you're a fan, you should find it worth it too.

But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

http://www.swtor.com/r/8vl8L5

20 years of Pokemon: An outsider's perspective

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  As most of you know, Pokemon turns 20 this year, in Japan at least.  In the west, it turned 18, due to it being released in 1998.  But still, that's impressive.  Few kid friendly franchises have both the worldwide appeal or lasting power of Pokemon.

However, I never got into the series.  When Pokemon came out in 1998 in the west, I was 15.  I was more leaning toward games like Mortal Kombat and Doom, violent and "edgy" games as I tried to reject all things "kiddy".  There also wasn't a gameboy in my household either until I graduated high school in 2001.

I didn't actually pick up Pokemon game until 2004, with FireRed for the GBA, mostly because I was traveling a lot for the military.  I wanted an RPG that could get me through long plane rides and downtime with no tv or internet access.

So by that point, I wasn't thinking about how cute these monsters were, or about the journey, or any of that.  I captured a lot of Pokemon specifically for dungeons, gym battles and the elite four.  I was minmaxing, building teams to soak up damage and exploit weaknesses of my foes.  I never named them, I never bothered to form a bond with them.  I also never EV trained them, due to me not knowing about that metagame aspect at the time.  The only Pokemon I kept in my team the whole time was my Blastoise, due to it being able to soak up damage while I learned strategies.

FireRed was both my first and last Pokemon game.  I stopped traveling a year later due to getting out of the Air Force, and my GBA eventually broke.  So I'm not really a fan of it today, though I have kept up on it a bit.

But that doesn't mean I don't recognize the significance of the series.  Pokemon has brought people together in ways I'd have never thought possible when I was a kid.  My brother told me about how kids with a link cable became the popular kids on the playground due to the games requiring trading to get certain evolutions.  And today, with wifi, you can trade with people all over the world!  And that's not even counting the trading card game, side games, toys, and all the other stuff.

Pokemon is big, and for a good reason.  It's upbeat, and, like Pope John Paul II, it is “full of inventive imagination,”and does not have “any harmful moral side effects” and was based on “ties of intense friendship".  It's a fun game that is both simple and surprisingly deep, bringing people of all ages and nationalities together.  It deserves its popularity, and it deserves this celebration Nintendo is having for it.

So happy anniversary, Pokemon! Here's to 20 more years of friendship and fun!

Assassin's Den Reviews: Undertale

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Today, I'm going to talk about an indie game that's made the rounds on Youtube over the last four months;

Released on September 15, 2015 by developer Toby Fox, Undertale is a game that's basically a callback to 1990s JRPGs (the Mother series in particular), but with a twist.  Not only does it remember what you've done whether or not you've saved your progress, but you can complete the entire game without killing anything. 

Developer Toby Fox started out as a forum moderator of Earthbound fansite and music developer for Earthbound fan music.  He was also know for Earthbound fan hacks before developing Undertale. 

Now, I have to talk a little about Earthbound before going on to Undertale.  Long story short, Earthbound is part 2 of the three part Mother series in Japan, but due to Nintendo not really knowing how to market JRPGs in the west at the time of Earthbound's release, it didn't get the attention it deserved.  Fast forward to Super Smash Brothers Melee in 2001, which had Ness, Earthbound's protagonist, as a playable fighter, and Earthbound began to gain some renown.  But Nintendo of America (and by Proxy, Europe), weren't having fans' newfound appreciation for this quirky JRPG, even refusing to translate and release Mother 3 five years later.  Yes, Earthbound fans did eventually get an Earthbound re-release for the Wii U virtual console, but it's far from what fans wanted.

Which loops back around to Undertale.  Toby Fox was inspired by Mother 3, and its fan translation, to make Undertale's system, which is a huge focus of this review.  You see, there's both an active and passive RPG interface; in order hit and do damage in combat, you have to hit the hot spot on a bar.  And in order to dodge attacks, you actually need to dodge the bullets.  It's an interesting combat system that keeps you on your toes.

And speaking of combat, the second big focus of it is whether or not you kill anything.  Without spoiling the story, whether or not you kill has effects on the game.  Characters react on whether or not you kill, and whom you kill.  A complete Pacifist run is different than a Genocide run. 

Another interesting thing about this game is the Save system.  It always mentions something "Determination" when you hit a save point, which actually applies to the story of the game.  Yes, saving your game isn't just a game mechanic. It is integral to the plot of the game.

The basic story of this game is thus; you are a human child who fell into the Underground.  You meet all kinds of interesting characters and monsters along your quest go get out.  Along the way, you learn about how the monsters came to be in the Underground (you actually learn that in the opening crawl), and how they plan on getting back onto the surface.

Now, here's the interesting thing about this game; you actually need to complete it 3 times in order to see the whole story.  Once on the Neutral path, which unlocks the "True Pacifist Path", once on the True Pacifist path, and once on the Genocide path.  The Neutral path allows you to get to know the characters, the game mechanics and the consequences of your actions.  The True Pacifist path allows you to see the best ending of the game and get the full story of how the Monsters planned on getting out of the Underground, and the Genocide path gives you the story of the fallen human.  But the Genocide path's ending irrevocably changes the ending of the True Pacifist path, so don't finish that before the True Pacifist path if you want to see how that ending's supposed to be.  (There are ways to remove the "Genocide" flag from the games files, and you can find that in a lot of place on the internet, so it's not TOO bad if you screwed up.)

As for my analysis; I like this game.  I like the story, I like the characters, I like the music.  However, I could take or leave the battle system.  I am terrible at bullet hell games, so combat is very difficult for me.  The combat alone is why I'll never be able to finish the Genocide path. Two bosses are impossible for me; Undyne the Undying and Sans.  I managed to get past Undyne the Undying by luck, but Sans requires skill that I just don't have.  So I had to resolve myself to reset and play the pacifist and neutral paths.

Anyway, despite my personal problem with the combat, it is great game.  It's worth your time to play through multiple times due to way the game handles flags.  Second, third, fourth, etc, playthroughs have subtle differences in dialogue and the way you interact with characters.

Undertale is 10 dollars on Steam, and it is well worth the price.  Go get it if you're interested in non-traditional JRPGs.  But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews: The Force Awakens

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!  It's time to review the newest Star Wars movie, the Force Awakens!  Now, I warn you, there will be spoilers, but I'll try to keep them to a medium level.

Now, people have been saying that this movie feels like Episode 4, and both my dad and I agree.  It brings back what we loved about Episodes 4-6 while dropping the baggage of 1-3.  No mention of the Clone Wars, Dooku or midiclorians.  On top of that, they've turned both Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker into beings of myth and legend.  Heck, the lightsaber that the two men shared, in essence, became the "item of power" for the main hero.  The Force has been made mystical and mysterious again.  No trade conflicts, no conspiracy, no gungans, just a story about a young reluctant hero being forced to become the hero the galaxy needs her to be.

That's right; in the tone of Disney's badass princess and J.J. Abrams tendency to make stories about badass women, the hero of the story is Rey, a woman from the planet Jakku.    Portrayed by British Actress Daisy Ridley, Rey shows little girls of this generation that they can be a hero, no matter what anyone says.

Now, time for spoilers.  30 years have past since the end of Return of the Jedi, and while the galaxy isn't in the same dire straits as it was during the Rebellion, it is in trouble.  The First Order, a dark side cult dedicated to a lot of the principles of Palpatine's Empire, is searching for Luke Skywalker, the "Last Jedi" as he's called in the opening crawl, seeking to finish Palpatine and Vader's quest to wipe out the Jedi.  The Resistance, an offshoot of the New Republic military, is led by General Leia Organa, fought back against the First Order and is keeping Luke's location a secret by splitting up the map and keeping it safe.

The major focus of the movie is that of Finn, a First Order Stormtrooper deserter, and Rey, a scavenger on Jakku who has the Force in her.  She gets caught up in the adventure when Finn gets Poe Dameron, a Resistance pilot, off the First Order base, who had previously given his droid, BB-8, the missing piece of the map to Luke Skywalker.  At first, Rey doesn't want to get involved, wanting to return to Jakku after getting BB-8 to the Resistance, even rejecting the item of power that is the lightsaber, but when the chips are down and her friends are threatened, she steps up and accepts her destiny, actively using powers she'd been using instinctively since childhood.  And, much like Luke before her, she seems to be a prodigy with a lightsaber, being able to beat a wounded Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel, even rejecting the Dark Side's pull to kill him.

Now, I won't beat around the bush with this; Kylo Ren is Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, grandson of Darth Vader.  And the mythical figure of Darth Vader is who he looks up to; he rejects the light legacy of his mother and uncle, and embraces the Dark Side like his grandfather did.  He's even the reason Luke went into exile; Luke was trying to rebuild the Jedi Order and Ben was one of his students.  But Luke's lessons didn't take, and Ben murdered Luke's other students.  Luke, feeling a failure, went into exile, and that's where we are at this point; Rey needs Jedi training, and Luke is the only place to get it.

This movie feels good. It pays homage to what we've loved about the franchise and reminds us that someone out there still cares about where the franchise is going.  Some people are upset that it doesn't conform to the previous Expanded Universe canon, but honestly, it feels right. Disney did away with the the baggage of the Yuuzhan Vong, the Killiks, Darth Jacen Solo (I know Kylo Ren fulfills his role, but he's not Jacen Solo. He wasn't lied to in order to be come Sith. Hell, he's not even Sith at all.  He's more of a Dark Jedi who wants to emulate Vader.  That's the whole reason for his mask!).  It focuses on the story of the characters, and is not trying to make the bad guy sympathetic.  But even then, it succeeds; Kylo Ren is sympathetic because he's trying to be bad, but isn't, unlike his grandfather, who was trying to be good, but wasn't.

All in all, I enjoyed Episode 7.  It felt like Star Wars, something that you couldn't really say about 1-3.  (Yeah, 3 was good, but it didn't feel like 7 does.)  I'm looking forward to what Disney and J.J. Abrams bring to the table with Episode 8 and 9.

But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews: SWTOR Knights of the Fallen Empire Expansion

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I'm going take a look at the latest expansion to Star Wars: The Old Republic, Knights of the Fallen Empire.

KOTFE is a return to the story driven aspect of Bioware game making that has been sorely missing over the last two expansions.  It introduces a time jump very early on, which allows for a LOT of leeway in storytelling possibilities.  You begin as the Outlander, who is the class you have chosen to go through the expansion, and take on the role of the hero of the story.

Now, KOTFE is planned for a year long narrative in 2016, and had 9 chapters dropped on release day.  There is a LOT of story to go through at the start, and each class has different aspects of what happened in the 5 year time jump.  You are also introduced to 6 new active companions, and once you reach chapter 9, you start to get back old companions are both specialists and as combatants.

Now, I got early access to this, so I've been able to play it for some time.  I really enjoyed the story, as well as the consequences of my actions within it.  And I'm liking the new antagonists that are Arcann and his sister whose name escapes me at the moment.

KOTFE also introduced some changes to the core gameplay.  First off, all the old combat stats, Aim, Strength, Willpower and Cunning, have been folded into 1 damage stat, Mastery.  That means you can no longer have the wrong stat for your class.  So now, for example, a bounty hunter and a smuggler can use the exact same blasters, since they share the same damage stat.

Companions have been changed, too.  Some have had weapon changes, like Jorgan now being a sniper rifle user to fit his story better and Corso being a pistol user now to let him use his blaster Torchy, but there are two massive changes that have been made to them.  First, their stats no longer matter; their stats are based on your level, your presence score and your reputation with them.  That means all weapons and armor are completely cosmetic.  And for me, this means "go hunting on the GTN for gear to give them a specific look". 

The second biggest change is the fact that all companions can now perform all roles.  Every single companion is now a healer, tank and damage dealer.  You simply have to change their role in combat to whatever you want it to be.  And they're all good at their jobs now, too! So that means that, since you don't have to drag along a character you don't like simply because you want their role in combat.

They've also modified the influence system and how the conversations work; you don't need to make them happy to talk to you.  Once you reach a certain point in the story, they flag as active for conversation.  So now, influence is used solely for boosting companion combat effectiveness and making them better at the crew skills.

Lastly, they introduced level sync, which caps your stats at two levels above the planet's maximum.  However, this doesn't change the way you'll play, since you retain your higher level abilities, so you're still stomping mobs into the ground.  The second upside to this is that you no longer have diminishing return on experience and drops from mobs.  So a level 60 character could go to the starter planet and still get level 60 tier experience from level 1 mobs.  But don't story bosses on low level worlds; they're synced to the level of the planet, just as you are.  So, in effect, level sync only changed the background math, but not the way we play the game.

All in all, KOTFE has made the game slightly easier, which means it is FAR more marketable for EA.  And with it being far more marketable, that means it will be much easier to keep new fans who will, and are, coming in due to the new movies.  I can see a LOT of growth in the next several years, and these changes will make it so the game will remain profitable.  And that means more great content from Bioware to come.

But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews: HuniePop

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I'm going to tackle a game I bought yesterday, a tile based puzzle game called HuniePop!

I know, I know. I'm both late to the party and admitting things about myself that people think should be kept quiet.  The former is simple; I only found out about it when I happened upon the playthrough of Suzie Berhow-Hanson, best known for her work on Game Grumps, her own channel Mortem3r, her defunct animation channel Meeperfish, and where I found about this game, her let's play channel, KittyKatGaming, where she did a let's play with her husband, Arin Hanson, best known as Egoraptor and one of the founders of the Game Grumps. 

As for the latter, I take a view similar to the late Justin Carmical did about porn in games he reviewed; it's there, but it's not the focus of the game.  It's a reward for doing well, something to look forward to at the end of several well done matches.

Now, the gameplay is a tile swiping game where you match 3 or more tiles of a similar shape and color in an attempt to gain a certain score before you run out of moves.  You have tiles that increase your score multiplier, tiles that allow you to use special items that give you bonuses for the duration of the match.  You also have tiles that give you extra moves in the round.  But avoid the broken heart tiles, as they drop your score heavily, depending on how many got matched and how much you're upgraded.  It's basically bejeweled, so if you've played bejeweled, you can play HuniePop.

The second focus of the game the dating sim aspect; your opponents are 12 girls (2 requiring you to perform a specific action to unlock them) that you are trying to...date. You give them gifts and ask them questions, and all around build your relationship with these girls to gain new outfits and hairstyles and gain experience points to spend on upgrades so each individual match can be easier.  Defeat them the requisite number of times and have your 4th or 5th time playing them be at night, and you play them one final time, but with some different rules. 

And I can't beat around the bush anymore; then porn aspect.  Yes, there's porn in this game.  Defeating the girls has them texting you pictures that start pretty innocuous and get more lewd as you beat them, ending up with their final picture, the one you get for a successful sex scene, which is, as stated already, the same tile matching game, but with different rules.  Although, in that game, you're playing against the girl in her underwear, and as you get near the end, the most that you see is her taking her bra off until you win.  And THAT is when you get the most lewd picture of them all.

I'm not going to lie; I enjoy this game.  I enjoy the puzzles, and I enjoy the porn.  I won't deny it.  But I will say that I wouldn't have gotten interested in it where it not for a woman getting me interested in it.  I had scene it advertised on Steam and it mentioned on youtube, but had it not been for Suzie playing it through and enjoying it with her husband, I would have never given it a look.

However, I cannot recommend this game to everyone.  If you have kids in your house, don't let them play it or let them see you play it.  Plenty of time for a kid to discover that stuff themselves as they get older.  If you don't live in an open minded household, don't play this game.  It would be a hard sell that you're playing the game for the puzzles when Bejeweled is available.  But, if you're in the perfect household, where you don't have kids to explain things to and have open minded roomates/girlfriends/wives, then check it out.  The uncensored version is 10 dollars on http://www.huniepot.com/, or the slightly censored version on Steam for the same price.

Until next time, stay beautiful freaks!