Star Wars; Episode 1: The Phantom Menace: Let's get these two out of the way first, shall we?

One thing I've been saying to people I know is that this month, I'm kinda setting myself up to shoot myself in the foot with this, purely because of what the subject is. Star Wars is one of the most talked about things on the internet, and most of it is aimed at how bad the prequel trilogy is and that the original trilogy is seen as a masterpiece. Do I agree with those statements? Well, you'll see by the end of the month. Now before we go into the reviews themselves, I'm going to say this here and now. I am reviewing the DVD releases that came out in 2004, which means that yes, I'll be reviewing the original trilogy based on the "Special editions". Sadly I have not seen the original edits of Episodes 4, 5 and 6, let alone own a copy of them. All three are versions I want to see someday, and I want the rumors of the movies being re released to be true, but until then, these will have to do. I will say in advance, it is really obvious what's been edited in. But before we get to that, we have these to do, so lets kick off the Star Wars Marathon with what some argue to be the worst of the movies: The Phantom Menace.

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.

Wakko's Wish: How much is a half penny worth anyway?

Tis the season to be merry, to sit around the fire and tell christmas stories... Unless you live where I do where fires have a strong chance of becoming bushfires, it is summer after all. But, on this christmas eve, let us return to 1999, travel to ACME Falls, for Wakko's Wish.

Undertale

keybug55's reviews:

Undertale

Take the bullet hell shoot 'em up games, mix them with some charming RPG elements, and make it so every character is lovable in some way or another. You get a game known as Undertale. I'll try my best to explain the game without giving too much spoilers.

The game's background is basically there's two races, humans and monsters. Monsters got sealed away into the underground, and you are a human child that fell down there. You explore the Underground meeting various interesting monsters with their own distinct personalities.

Every action you make can change the ending in one way or another, and I do mean EVERY action. Even if you restart without saving, the game will remember, and it will be sure to let you know it does. There is every possible outcome for almost every possible option. What I mainly love about this game is that everything is very well thought out. There are plenty of secrets and easter eggs to go back to, making this game highly replayable. Some secrets you have to find by closing and reopening the game.

If I had any complaint about this game, I would say that the beginning is a bit slow, but it's enough to get you immersed in the game. The first character you meet is Toreil that gives you the rundown of the game. You can say, she'll give you a...TuTORIEL?! Yeah this whole game is filled with lame puns.

One main thing I also love about this game are the characters. Each character no matter how nice, mean, annoying, or sadistic they are have a lot of charm and heart put into them. Mind you, if you play through genocide you'll have to eventually kill these characters. Especially if you do pacifist first, it might break your heart to see these characters die, but I think that just adds to the experience.

The battle system is pretty creative too. Basically you're a heart that has to dodge the attacks of various monsters, like a bullet hell game.  Sometimes it's simple, most times it's pretty crazy. Although I would say the difficulty overall is pretty fair. There are two options that change the game very drastically. You have a choice of killing an enemy, or sparing it. The more enemies you kill, you gain EXP and gain levels, this path is called Genocide. To reach the True Pacifist ending, you'll have to spare every enemy and boss. Arguably, it's easier to get though the game killing everything, though I would not recommend starting with it. You will have a bad time later on, and it will alter True Pacifist's ending even when you reset.

Overall this game is very well thought out, extremely charming, and a joy to go through even at the tough parts. It's not too long either, for this game only has seven areas. If you're a fan of RPGs like Earthbound, I'd recommend you try this game. Even if you aren't, it's a nice game to start with.

-Marissa (keybug55)

Writers talking about December gaming news

Meet the new writer for the site, who will be uploading their first review very soon.

Mario And Sonic at the Olympic Games: Wasted potential

Mario and Sonic, Nintendo and SEGA, the figure heads of the first major Console War. Bare in mind kids, this was in the time when there was actually a difference between hardware and devices weren't trying to see who could be the first outdated "not a PC". With such a legacy, to say that it was a big deal when it was confirmed that, for the first time ever, they were going to be in the same game is an understatement. People joke when they say that the day Sonic was confirmed for Super Smash Brothers Brawl was "the day the internet almost died", but it wouldn't be too far off... However that wasn't the first game. That title goes to... a Wii and DS collection of sport themed party games... oh joy... Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games...

Super Smash brothers for WiiU: It's time to "Settle it in Smash"... again...

So last year I did Super Smash Brothers for 3DS, and I get the feeling people were wondering why I didn't review Super Smash Brothers for WiiU at the same time. Well, there are two reasons for that decision (technically three). The first being that I didn't have Super Smash Brothers for WiiU at the time, as I only just got my WiiU at the time it was launched, combined with the fact that I like to give games a bit more time then a week. The other, more important reason is because I wanted to review Project M as they had announced that a PAL version was coming. The reason that's important is because if I were to review mods, which I want to, but I want to apply a rule of "It has to be simple to install with as little hard or soft modifications as possible. If I have to disable region lock, its a no go. Recently Project M was ceasing development, and with no PAL version for 3.6, take a guess at what's become a bit of a pipe dream... so with that out of the way, let's take a follow up look at Super Smash Brothers 4, now on the Nintendo WiiU.

Avengers: Age of Ultron: There aren't any strings on me either, what's your point?

Well, this film got a reputation didn't it? While the first film was praised all around, Age of Ultron got panned for a lot of things that were praised in the first film, has the reputation of it giving a selection of, rather loud, people an excuse to chase the film's director off Twitter, and... that's all that was really talked about the film. From what I saw, if the film being similar to The Avengers wasn't what people were talking about, it was the aftermath and how Joss Whedon was treated that was. I'm already dreading talking about why it happened, so let's just get this out of the way. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Batman: Arkham City: Because clearly the villains need a city and not an island

So what to do with two prisons ruined because of the Joker? You build a wall around a portion of the city and shove all the criminals into there. I can't imagine how much of a brilliant plan that is. Well, let's see how badly Batman comes to wreck this "ingenious plan" with Batman Arkham City.

Batman: Arkham Asylum: I swear there will be no bat gadget jokes in this

This was a long time coming. I was actually planning on doing this during my absence for the Comedy Festival, where I'd also cover Arkham Origins... that never happened. I wanted to do it before Arkham Knight, didn't happen. Then I tried to fit it in before the PC version re release... that didn't happen. So now consider this as the lead up for when WB Games get the PC version up to an actual standard deserving of its price tag. It's time for us to put on the cape and cowl and enter the Madhouse. Welcome, to Arkham Asylum.