Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: “She’s had her body digitized, she hasn’t had a sex change” #BlameKurata

So... this week's review has tentacle monsters, clothing designs that raise more questions then answers in terms of usefulness, a tentacle monster that evolves to use a teenage girl as a energy weapon, and was made in Japan. I swear this isn't a hentai. This one was recommended to me by a store clerk when I was picking up another Digimon game, Digimon All Star Rumble. Once I finished with Shantae, I gave it a shot, just for a different style of RPG. And… well it is different, at least for me, forewarn I haven’t played Atlus RPG’s so if some of these feel tamed by comparison to it, you don’t need to bring it up, I’ve heard. I’ll be using the PSVita version for review, and there is free DLC and themes for the game, should you be into those.

Mediaholics Review: Pokemon Generation Four (Video)

Direct link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1fHScrSgmQ
Fun Fact: This image was one of Blaster's first desktop backgrounds on his school laptop

"We will be heroes, we can change the world if we try". We will stand up, for what is right, we will be brave, we're ready to fight... No point finishing those two as we still have 3 more generations to do by the end of the year. Because we can't stop talking about Pokemon, its time for the Mediaholics team to talk about Pokemon Generation IV, on the day it was originally available in Japan. How well does the first move to 3D and the jump to the Nintendo DS hold up 10 years later (no joke) and how does "It all [come] together"

You can find the Generation I review here: https://youtu.be/gsKSSXWfzQg

You can find the Generation V review written by Blaster (because he was the only one he could get in contact with that has either played the game, or has a more balanced view of the game) here: http://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com...

LEGO Dimensions: Who be th' bad guy in 'tis again?

If ye don't like th' scurvy pirate shout, thar be a version 'o 'tis review in normal English here: http://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com/2016/09/lego-dimensions-who-is-bad-guy-in-this.html
'tis was also a direct copy paste from 'tis site here: http://postlikeapirate.com/ due to 'tis bein' more 'o a gag, so excuse any weird spellin' from th' tavern. I did give a go' 'n catch all 'o them. Now onto th' review savvy. 

No seriously, who? thar be someone tryin' to reconstruct th' multiverses 'n rebuild them in his own image, but we break a lot 'o thin's in these games, th' golden rule be "If it's made 'o LEGO, it can be destroyed" after all. Though then again, 'tis be th' opposite extreme to th' LEGO movie, which was all 'bout followin' instructions to th' letter 'n killin' imagination...  

"Totally not gettin' 'tis when it comes out, what would ever gift ye that idea..."

LEGO Dimensions: Who is the bad guy in this again?

Very quick, before going on as this is before the joke of the title, while late, in the spirit of Talk like a Pirate Day, there is a version of this review in Pirate that you can see here: http://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com/2016/09/lego-dimensions-who-be-th-bad-guy-in.html

No seriously, who? There is someone trying to reconstruct the multiverses and rebuild them in his own image, but we break a lot of things in these games, the golden rule is "If it’s made of LEGO, it can be destroyed" after all. Though then again, this is the opposite extreme to the LEGO movie, which was all about following instructions to the letter and killing imagination...

"Totally not getting this when it comes out, what would ever give you that idea..."

Mario Kart Wii: Blue shells. Blue Shells, everywhere

"Ok, this is random, even for you. What gives?" I am going somewhere with this, just trust me. This requires a bit of prep work, and for that, we need to go back a bit, to one of the first Wii games I got actually, back in 2008. "Welcome to Mario Kart" Wii.

Zelda Week: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: Who gave this clutz a sword?

Let's take you back 5 years, back to when this game was being hyped for a Christmas period release. I was lucky enough to go to an event called the Nintendo Connection tour, an event Nintendo used to hold, with this one being relatively near to me, in a shopping center. Here, members of the public could come and play upcoming Wii and 3DS games like Ocarina of Time 3D, Starfox 64 3D, Mario Kart 7, Kirby Return to Dream Land and, of course, Skyward Sword. I was fortunate enough to pick the demo that shows of the best part of the game, which I'll explain later. Combined with E3, and there was a lot of hope for this game... shame no one saw the signs. Let's see how the series celebrated the 25th anniversary, and one of the two games that took more of my interest then Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Zelda Week: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Download the original .mp3 here: http://adf.ly/1YiFcY
Welcome to a land in Twilight, a world where one must be the bridge between the light and the dark, the man, and the beast. Doth thou don your sword and shield again for this late Gamecube, early Wii and recently re released WiiU game?

The final image was made by Enigmarez
You can find it here: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Link-Midna-Wallpaper-503019504

Zelda Week: Hyrule Warriors: "Strength in numbers MEANS NOTHING TO ME!"

How do you like to relax? For me, it is something I can enjoy without needing to think too much about something. Whether that be a familiar book, movie or show, a video game franchise that I've been playing for so long that I don't need to think about the mechanics, or in this case, taking out red dots on my map by killing anything that moves, which is where Hyrule Warriors comes in. Because sometimes, it helps to have a relaxing game. And if you think that's cruel, do bare in mind, Pokemon and Kirby are also stress relieving games for me. So shall we build up that ko count?

Zelda Week: Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

And you thought Pokemon had too much water

In a convention called Space World in the year 2000, a few Gamecube tech demos were released. One of these showed Link and Ganondorf sword fighting. Fans speculated that this is a demo to a brand new Zelda title for the Gamecube. Not too long after, another tech demo was shown in Space World, 2001. It was shown with Link in a new cartoonish style. The fans were confused about the cute art style of Link in this tech demo, and not the darker tone of the Space World 2000 tech demo. Fans at the time were afraid that every proceeding Zelda title was going to be in this style.

Although some, as well as myself, don’t mind the different cell shaded cartoonish style. I find it rather refreshing. As with most new Gamecube titles, it showcases the power of the Gamecube, although does it pretty well. The water physics for the ocean move up and down simulating waves. The grass moves with the wind. Not to mention that the entire overworld map is just one expansive area with no walls. You can loop around the map as if it were on a globe.

The story of Wind Waker is you as Link setting off on a journey to save your sister Aryll from a demon bird. After you meet the pirate girl Tetra and her crew in a fateful encounter, you set off to save your sister as well as some other characters you meet along the way.

Wind Waker has you travelling on boat sailing from island to island, which is pretty cool. Although, I hear conflicting arguments saying whether or not the traveling in this game is tedious or not. I’d say it’s all depends on how you look at it, and how much patience you have. This game, as many Zelda games or even any RPG for that matter is about the journey. I feel like this game does a pretty good job on it’s theme of adventuring out. Even if it takes a while sailing to each individual island, and if you just don’t have the patience, the Wii U version has a faster sail to accommodate this. The real joy is finding little islands with treasure along the way of your quest. Even for the main story islands have really good atmospheres about them. Forsaken Fortress taking place at night. The lush green Forest Haven. My favorite is when you approach Greatfish Isle and the atmosphere becomes more gray and rainy as you approach it.

This game’s main mechanic besides seafaring is the titular wind waker. The main draw of the wind waker is, big surprise, that it controls the direction of the wind. Though it’s pretty fun to play with combined with the deku leaf item that lets you sail with the wind to reach places you wouldn't otherwise. Another small mechanic is that you can use enemy weapons against them which is really fun. It makes the first staple stealth section of this game more bearable.

The typical theme of sidequests are apparent in this game as with every Zelda title. Of course almost every island has a little sidequest, as well on main islands. Although, the biggest sidequest is the Triforce pieces. There are 8 Triforce pieces as well as 8 Triforce charts (3 charts in Wii U). It costs roughly 400 rupees each to get each chart deciphered. This and the sailing is why some people call this game very tedious. Again, Wii U version accommodates this for the fewer charts. Also considering the fact that this sidequest is only for 100% you’re not missing much if you are casually playing the game for the story.

Before we finish I should mention Tingle. Yes, that weird fairy guy, although he gives you something useful if you have a Gameboy linked to the Gamecube. The Tingle Tuner is a Gamecube exclusive item. It almost acts as a Wii U pad. You can spend rupees for small power ups that help you throughout your adventure. You can write on your map, drop bombs, get potions, ect. It’s basically a mobile shop, which is pretty nifty. Although this is exclusive if you have a Gameboy link cable with a Gameboy Advance, so not a lot of people actually use it. If you can get it, good for you since it’s a really helpful item. This feature was replaced in the Wii U version in favor of the Tingle Bottle, which is just Miiverse compatibility. Tingle Bottles wash up on random islands depending on where you post it which display Miiverse posts. Fun, although clearly not as useful as the Tingle Tuner.

So at this point you’re probably wondering which version do you want to play? Well, I personally play Wind Waker on the Gamecube just because I have it. Of course the Wii U version has gamepad functionality so it’s easier to swap items. The Wii U version fixes a lot of complaints, thus making the game easier to pick up. A full list of changes from Gamecube to Wii U can be found [here] if you are interested. Overall, I’d say get the Wii U one if you want an easier time. Get the Gamecube one if you want authenticity, and have access to the Tingle Tuner.

Overall this game is pretty amazing. The expansive Great Sea makes this game feel huge. Exploration is a key part, and they do this fantastically well. The game looks beautiful on both versions for their respective hardware. Even if you’re not a huge fan of the Zelda series, this is a great game to start out with.

-Marissa (keybug55)

Mediaholics Review: Pokemon Generation 1 review

... /Episode 0 of the podcast... we're working on it...

We wanted to be, the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them was our real test, to train them was our cause. Now after 20 years, two critics, who are barely any older then the franchise, analyze Pokemon Red, Green, Blue, Yellow... Fire Red, Leaf Green, the tcg, the anime and pretty much anything Generation 1. How well does it hold up after 20 years, 16-18 main series games and more.

Fire Emblem Awakening: Will you help defend their flock?

In one game, they went from a dying franchise, to one of the must have games on the 3DS, and a game that helped and continues to help sell the system. I won't lie, that's an achievement. Now with Fire Emblem Fates released in the US, and a release still unknown here (which gives me time to get the money for the special edition so that I have the three on the one cartridge), let's see the previous game in the series, Fire Emblem: Awakening.

The 2015 summary and what's to come in 2016

As I write this on the last Monday of 2015, a nice breeze and a warm sun entering my room, I have to say, there's not a lot to talk about with this in terms of this year, unlike last year, there wasn't a lot that wasn't addressed earlier on. But at the same time, still a lot of exciting things to say. So gather round, as we cast of 2015, and talk about what's in store for 2016.

In terms of content, it was pretty solid. The Digimon Marathon had to be cut short, and the review of Batman Arkham Origins is still far away as I still don't have a copy, but I do believe enough has come out to supliment that, for the time being. We got all the episodes of Digimon up to the start of Digimon Fusion Season 2, a series I've honestly stopped following due to time. The review of almost the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe took up all of May, that was fun to work on until Twitter trolls started to latch their claws into what little free time I had post Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The funny thing is that they're still trying that pathetic "gag", I'm not even angry any more, I find the idea of them still trying is hilarious seven months after. The rest of the year was more smaller things like the week of opening impressions more because of burn out, and preparation for what's coming up. Not only has this site broken 200 posts with the release of the Undertale review, but recently the site has broken 25,000, with the Pokemon Zeta and Onicron (Omnicron is still a cooler name) and Digimon Adventure 02 breaking over 1,000 views on their own. Considering the site isn't even two years old, and yes to many those may not seem great, but to me that's amazing, and it's what keeps driving me to write more content, especially when this time last year we just broke 4,000. So to all who have been following this site in some form, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. That's probably going to become a reoccurring line as more milestones break, but it'll continue to be true.

If there's something specific you want to know about what has come out, ask me in either my Ask.fm, Twitter, Facebook, Retrospring (Which is something I really need to remember to check because I don't get email notifications on it) or any other way to get in contact with me, all the sites linked to this are on the side in the same place. I know this year wasn't very interesting in terms of back story, but there wasn't anything like last year that I didn't address in other posts. Before going into the planned reviews and impressions next year, a few changes are coming to the site itself and how it's managed.

• A name change will be happening shortly after this post goes live, including a change to the web address. With Marissa now writing for the site, I personally don't feel comfortable keeping the name as it feels like I'm writing her content, which some people may think if they don't notice the "keybug55's reviews:" or the fact that she tags her posts with "keybug55" and "marissa", which I'll be going through my posts and adding "blaster" and "liam" to mine when I get some free time, and you'll see why. The new name is Mediaholics.
• More of a focus will be put on my Patreon. I do want to start doing this with more of a focus but that requires the site having a budget. Sadly the world doesn't work for free. Now while I'm not going to be barring core content behind a unbroken paywall. What I will be doing is giving Patreon supporters access to my video content a week early when applicable (this doesn't really work for E3 and similar topics, but will be used for Let's Plays and other videos), will get to decide what gets to be covered every now and then, akin to the strawpolls for the Comic arc reviews, but not as limiting and will get to see my notes and other behind the scenes documentation. I'm also going to be doing other Patreon supporters exclusive content when I have the resources to do it.
• The site is going to become a more general content site, with videos from mine and maybe keybug's channels (depending on how things go), including lets plays along with the reviews site and the projects site to be merged.
• More video content is on the way. For the time being I will be putting Earthbound on more of a hiatus just due to time, but Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky will be returning very soon.
• First Impressions are going to become videos when possible. E3 conference summaries will probably stay as text, but Pre and Post E3 will return as videos, and impressions of trailers will be videos as well.
• No more comic arc polls for a while, as most of them didn't get a lot of votes, which defeats the purpose of a poll. However this does mean that arcs like Civil War and the Phoenix Saga will be covered in 2016.

June update: Festivals, E3, videos and mood swings

It's that time of year again, E3 month. And once again, I'll be covering the E3 news, however, its slightly different this year, but I'll get to that later

First, reviews are going to be returning back to a more manageable schedule, there's no marathon this month, and three reviews planned, the first being Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney next Wednesday. The other reviews are going to be on two different perspectives on story telling, but you'll see what I mean when I announce them.

E3 this year, I'm going to be writing posts that talk about the press conferences again, but I'm not going to do a marathon of Impressions afterwards. Instead, I'm going to be getting together with a few people and posting a video of the conversation we have talking about the announcements. I'm hoping this means more coverage of E3 in a shorter amount of time. Right now there's one video planned, but that could change depending on what else is shown. I'll also be doing another "wishlist" of what I personally want to see at E3 before it starts like I did last year.

Now about that festival part of the title... I'm going to be volunteering at the Tech Games Festival at the Chisholm Institute of TAFE this year from the 30th of June to the 2nd of July. During this week, the E3 video I talked about will go live, so there won't be a void of content like the last two events I worked at. If anyone who reads this is also going to the festival, say hi if you see me. I don't know what I'll be wearing as a way to show who I am, due to the fact that I am working at it. I do have prior experience with what the event used to be, the Computer Games Boot Camp, at Monash University.

The E3 video (maybe videos) won't be the only video coming out this month. I am currently working on two promotional videos for the two sites (mainly the reviews site). One of them is a standard trailer (though potentially longer then a normal trailer, due to the song choice) and the other is a montage of the reviews and impressions posted since the sites launch. I'm hoping to debut them at the Tech Games Fest, with the videos being made public the week after when I return to University for Semester 2. On top of that, there are two other joint reviews in the production process, with planned release dates in the coming months.

One final thing, this is a bit of a plug for a friend of mine, but I do what I can. A twitch streamer called Duk700 is planning on getting back into streaming soon, with a challenge I can only salute him for (mainly because I'm planning on doing a similar challenge soon) either starting soon, or has already begun, depending on his schedule. If you're looking for someone new to watch, You can find his Twitch account here, I'll be posting links to his streams when he's about to broadcast as well, to help him get going. There's nothing else to say on the matter except for "See you next Wednesday for Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright".

How to be a Game Designer Part 2: Mechanics and World Building

Mechanics for gameplay is one of the most important things in a game, not only can it affect how your players interact with the world, but it can also be woven into the story itself, helping tell your story through the gameplay, not just info dumps and cutscenes. However, it is something I see new developers fail to do which can be really infuriating. There's a lot to cover with mechanics but for now I'm just going to focus on its World Building potential, with Zeta as my example.


So what are the mechanics of Pokemon? For its combat alone...

• Turn based combat
• The priority of moves can affect who attacks first
• The Speed of the Pokemon can affect who attacks first
• Abilities can affect the battle depending on the specific ability
• The Status condition of the Pokemon can affect who attacks first
• Each Pokemon move is assigned a type, this type can either be strong against or weak against the defending Pokemon
• Moves have a chance of negative repocussions depending on the strength of the move (low hit rate, inflicting confusion, skip next turn ect)
• Each pokemon has an experience bar that can be filled to earn a new level, granting stronger stats
• The amount of experience can be affected by items (Lucky egg boosts, EXP Share (prior to gen VI) would split the XP by a varying degree)
• The higher the level and the stronger the Pokemon's species Base stats are, the more experience required to level up

That's just on the surface, I'm not going to cover EV's for this example. Why does this need to be known for World Building? Because of the implementation of Trainers. If done well, if you were making a game using similar mechanics, you can use the Trainers as a way to measure how the player is progressing through the game, this is where solid play testing comes into the development phase. With a strong play testing team, you can measure how long it takes for a player to get through the route, the AI level in comparison to the players and many more to judge the difficulty and level out difficulty spikes if needed.

Lets look at an example from Zeta, the Delta Temple Look here for official information. Based on what we know.

1. It is a late game dungeon, meant for Level Grinding before the final boss
2. If the player is going into it, chances are they have several, if not their entire team needing to be leveled up to the games new cap of Level 120 (which the final boss has a full team of Max Level Pokemon)
3. The Dungeon is split into types (Grass, Fire, Water, Psychic, and Steel) allowing for great level grinding potential for Flying, Poison, Bug, Ice, Fire, Ground, Rock, Water, Grass, Electric, Ghost, Dark, and Fighting
4. Thanks to the Wiki, we know Odin has a Jolteon, Divaevus, Shaymin, Salamence, Escavalier and Mega Gengar at level 120 each
   
   Their strongest weaknesses are
   Jolteon: Weak to Ground
   Divaevus: Weak to Fighting
   Shaymin: Weak to Fire
   Salamence: Weak to Ice
   Escavalier: Weak to Fire
   Mega Gengar: Weak to Dark

So the dungeon does indeed cover all the types, which is good. However, Odin's not the only fight you have. You've also got to deal with Cyrus, N and Red, meaning that there are Curve balls here. The Temple itself leads to several problems however.

1. Because almost all the trainers are mandatory to complete the dungeon, the player is going to have a large stockpile of money and as the expansion, items going into not only the Odin battle, but the Aroma Region
2. To conserve as much money as possible, players are going to use the nearby Pokemon Center to heal their pokemon, which it a tedious process to complete
3. As a designer, you DON'T want your player to look up guides unless they have to, its better to keep a surprise, as such you can't expect them to know what's ahead, which leads to
4. If the player has raised the wrong Pokemon, you're forcing them into a wall with these three trainer battles, meaning that they may need to raise a brand new team, which at that point in the game isn't a practical solution. You're building it up as the end of the game and if the player has to stop and Level Grind even more, they may go "I'm not playing this anymore" and stop completely.

This is just an example, you can decide if Delta Temple was well made or poorly made. But lets look at an example of an expanded mechanic now, Shadow Pokemon. For those who never played the Gamecube Pokemon Games, Shadow Pokemon are "corrupted Pokemon". They're only weakness is Shadow moves, which are Super Effective on all types, at random points, they will enter Hyper Mode and every turn, they will do damage to themselves. They do not Level Up or obtain EV's until they are purified. In Zeta, one thing I found was the closer the Pokemon got to purification, the weaker the Shadow moves became. So what could make this mechanic a problem?

1.  The percentage of Hyper Mode: In Zeta, the percentage of status conditions are drastically different (from personal experience) then the main games. Confusion, to me, felt like it was a 90% chance of hitting myself, Paralyzed triggered more often,  Sleep was longer ect. If my theory is correct, Hyper Mode in the code is also affected by those changes. There were several times where I had just gotten them out of Hyper Mode, only for them to return to it that same turn.
2. The requirements for Purification: There are a lot of trainers to battle before you can purify a Shadow Pokemon and with the nature of Shadow Pokemon in Zeta, it seems to be an impossible challenge to complete the Aroma Region with only Shadow Pokemon because again, they can't level up and the region feels like it was made with level grinding in mind so if you can't level grind, you're once again forcing the player into a brick wall

This is a (much more definitive) example of the mechanics trying to be built around the world. This doesn't work, no matter what way you look at it.

With that, look into other games, see how the Mechanics have been integrated into the world. Next time, difficulty and how to adjust for skill.

What does 2015 have in store for Blaster's Reviews and Blaster's Projects

Before I begin, thanks for the 1000 page views, I know I don't update this site often, but thats just because I don't have anything to talk about. But even still, thank you, it means alot to see people reading my content on both sites.

With 2015 almost upon us, I think it might be time to talk about some upcoming plans for Blaster's Reviews and Blaster's Projects (though not in as much detail)


For Blaster's Reviews, with some miscellaneous reviews scattered between, there are some marathons planned for the first half of the year:

1. During January, I'll be reviewing 4 Direct to DVD films to which the franchise they're based on has a spot in my heart. BIONICLE: Mask of Light, Legends of Metru Nui, Web of Shadows and The Legend Reborn.
2. To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the two sites, the Digimon Anime will be reviewed including the films. Do note that most of them will be using the English Dubs.
3. To coincide with the launch of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Marvel movieverse (not including Guardians of the Galaxy at this time) along with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will be reviewed.
4. During July, I will once again be tackling E3, which may mean that there will be a lot of Impressions occupying the space after.

 On top of that, two new review types will be opened up during the course of the year

1. The Retake Reviews: If I or another reader thinks that one of the previous reviews could have been better, I will begin rewriting them and posting a brand new review of them. Imagine it as a sort of "Then and Now" kind of post.
2. Comic book reviews: I've always been curious about Comic books and Blaster's Reviews has given me a excuse to loo into them. These reviews will be reviews of spesific arcs and individual issues, not comic series. For those who don't know, a comic arc is a small "mini story" in a series of comic books where the story flows directly from one comic to another. Two examples of this are "Blackest Night" from the Green Lantern comics (though it is a cross over) and "Genesis" from one of the two comic book series I do follow, the Sonic the Hedgehog comics. These reviews will be dependent on requests and suggestions so feel free to make requests (I don't ignore everyone except the Patreon supporters, you can talk to me, I don't bite) as to what arcs you'd like to see a review of (just give me some basic info like name of the arc, publishers and what series its from).

As for Blaster's Projects, I unfortunately don't have much to say. But what I do have to say is this:

1. How to think like a Game Designer isn't dead and more posts on that will appear, I'm just struggling to find a topic, so feel free to make suggestions.
2. Turnabout Smash: The Project itself is currently halted due to lack of progress on the production for the Prologue and writer's block for Chapter 1 (I know how I want to end it, just not how to get to it). I have plans for Turnabout Smash so that you can still see a form of the project but I am still looking for writers to work with in order to see this project complete. More news on that plan later.
3. Super Smash Brothers: Fan Disagreement: I have nothing to say about this because SSBFD has, to me at least, become Turnabout Smash. I used SSBFD as a base so to me, the two projects are the same.

That's a little taste of what's to come next year, but there is more then that coming. As I said during the comic book discussing, seeing as it applies for all material, I'm open to requests and feedback as you're the ones motivating me to keep writing, to keep improving. Thanks for the support, and enjoy the rest of the year. Tomorrow and Saturday will be finishing off the Week of Smash and then I'm finishing off the MLP reviews with a review of Rainbow Rocks, and my built up Top 20 MLP songs list.