There’s few shows I’ve anticipated as much as I did HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us. I really loved both games – though clearly not to the same extent as some of the more hyperbolic takes on the series I’ve seen floating around – and I was excited to see how the story from the first would translate to television. Despite the narrative being straightforward in the cutscenes, I was curious to see how the writers would work around the gameplay elements and incorporate those moments of characterization and momentum into a less interactive format. I’m pleased to say that for the most part, they did an excellent job and the first episode has me hopeful they can keep up the quality.

The show opens on a 1960’s talk show where disease specialists are discussing a possible future superbug, and one of them brings up the possibility of a fungal infection that will decimate the human population should it ever occur. They run through a litany of culprits – including our good friend the cordyceps – before concluding that such an event would lead to humanity losing. I found the sequence a bit heavy handed and unneeded, but it laid the groundwork for the actual events of 2003 in a way someone unfamiliar with the canon could follow, so I understand its inclusion, even if I didn’t particularly care for it.

We then jump forward to Outbreak Day and get to spend time with Joel’s daughter, Sarah. In the game, we simply walk around as her as both a gameplay tutorial and an introduction to the disaster that’s about to unfold. In what I found to be a smart move, the show has us spend the entire day with her, from playfully bantering with her dad during breakfast, to her school day, and even her getting Joel’s watch fixed. She even spends time with her elderly neighbors. Throughout the day we begin to see more and more strange instances as things begin to go south, but Sarah doesn’t face the real horrors until the evening. The neighbor’s dog shows up at her house having escaped his, and when she goes to return him he runs away, terrified. Sarah goes inside to investigate and finds the grandmother chewing on her daughter, her son half-dead against a door. It’s our first encounter with an infected, and the grandma chases Sarah out of the house, only to have Joel there to save her. The rest of the sequence plays out like the game, including Sarah’s ultimate fate, and kudos to both Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Nico Parker (Sarah) for some superb performances.

I actually really liked the changes to this intro sequence. Gameplay had to be a factor in The Last of Us (game), but it doesn’t in The Last of Us (TV show), and so the writers could use that time to let us get to know Sarah a little more. We spent longer with her, saw more of hers and Joel’s normal life, and got to experience the growing sense of alarm and discomfort as the day went on. The moment that really got to me, personally, was when she was in school and one of her classmates started involuntarily twitching. It was a nice, subtle clue about what was coming, and let the TV show find something of its own voice.

At any rate, we cut ahead 20 years to the Boston Quarantine Zone and Joel is eking out a living doing odd jobs and smuggling pain pills on the side in order to buy a car battery to go find his brother Tommy (played by Gabriel Luna), who’s been incommunicado for a few days now. Tess (played by Anna Torv) gets roughed up by the men who stole their battery, and much like in the game, her and Joel head out to exact revenge. Unlike in the game, there’s no shootout in an old depot, because it turns out these goons tried to double cross the Fireflies and they annihilated each other in the shoot out. That’s the aftermath Joel and Tess stumble into, where they find Marlene (played by Merle Dandridge) shot and in need of help. She needs them to transport a young girl named Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) to the outskirts of Boston and to the Fireflies waiting there. In return, the Fireflies will hook Joel up with everything he needs to go find Tommy. Without much of a choice, he agrees to the job, and our story is finally set into motion.

This episode hews remarkably close to the game in several ways, but takes the time to adapt the story for television in what I found were generally intelligent ways. Much like with the Sarah scenes, we get to see more of Ellie and Marlene’s interactions, as well as Joel’s relationship with the Boston security forces. The show takes its time to establish this world and the way citizens survive in the Quarantine Zone. We see public executions of those who broke the rules; we see that the security guards struggle with mental health after having to kill even infected children; Joel and others burn the bodies daily in open fire pits. It would be easy to rush to the meeting with Ellie, or throw Joel and Tess into a mess of infected as they go through the sewers to get their battery back, but it holds its cards close, and I think it’s better for it. The one instance of seeing an infected we do get is actually a pretty decent jump scare.

The show has also taken some liberties with the way the fungus infects humans. Rather than it be by spores, now it’s spindly tendrils that grow from an infected’s mouth. Not only is it visually more impactful, it gets around the issue the games had with why the spores on everyone’s clothing doesn’t immediately kill them the moment they take their gas masks off. We’ve yet to see any of the more iconic infected such as Clickers, Bloaters and Stalkers, but the previews for the season definitely tease their encounters, and I’m looking forward to the way the show handles them without needing to accommodate gameplay.

As far as adaptations go, this is definitely one of the better ones. The story stays true to the source material while adding enough to make it its own thing, and the casting is overall spot on. Ramsey and Pascal are the standouts here, but performances were strong across the board. I liked the way the show took its time to establish the characters and the setting, rather than running headlong into the fray with the infected. Here’s hoping the rest of the season keeps up this pace.

Review Score
Overall

You can watch HBO’s The Last of Us here.

The post REVIEW: HBO’s The Last of Us – Episode 1 appeared first on oprainfall.

Photo owned by Niantic, Inc.

The trickiest part of putting together a real-life Pokémon GO Fest is being able to make sure that players of all skill and player levels have something that they will enjoy while they are there. If you gear the event up towards the top-tier, player level 40-plus players only, then people who only play casually or who are newer to the game will have little to do. Conversely, if you don’t provide content that is even moderately challenging, then the event can fizzle out for those who participate in organized weekly Discord raid groups and regularly battle in the Master League where there are no CP limits.

Instead of focusing on trying to appeal to one these disparate groups or the other, Niantic, Inc. smartly focused on what is the quarter-century-old mantra of the Pokémon franchise: “Gotta catch ’em all!”, and split up ticketholders into two different parts of Seattle that they would rotate between during the day: the park event experience inside of Seattle Center and the city event experience that ranged from downtown Seattle to almost the city limits. Players would spend 4.5 hours in one experience before rotating around to the other experience for another 4.5 hours. After one experience’s time window was up, all of those Pokémon would disappear out of the area, and players would have to go to the next experience to keep playing in the event.

The real star of the show was the park event experience that took place in the Seattle Center, as the parent company of Pokémon GO set up four different zones (Electric Garden, Cloud Sanctuary, The Oasis, and Dreamy Mindscape) that each had a different variety of Pokémon. If that wasn’t enough, every Pokemon within the park turned into one of several Unown letters for two minutes at the top of the hour.

Photo by author.

Most intriguingly, Niantic, Inc. made it so that you can catch all three of the elemental monkeys (Panpour, Pansear, and Pansage) during the event despite them being ordinarily region locked to various parts of the world. They also released the shiny version of Panpour to the world during Pokemon GO Fest 2022: Seattle and brought back the Cowboy Hat Snorlax that first appeared in Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Berlin. These new and normally region-locked Pokémon ensured there was definitely something to catch for everyone if that trainer doesn’t already have a well-stamped passport. On top of that, there were a lot of raid battles in the area, and each of those gyms were constantly capped out at 18-20 people to battle in against Pokémon such as Darkrai.

Photos by author.

Niantic, Inc. took the real life-theming of the park experience seriously by creating four different zones set up throughout the park that houses the Space Needle. These four themed zones ranged from amazingly themed to well…mediocre. None of them was terrible, to be honest, but I didn’t love them all. The best one of them all was The Oasis. Ordinarily, the International Fountain is just a metal half-dome that shoots water out and rests at the bottom of a bowled depression. There are tropical plants that have Pinap Berries growing from them, a blue cobble-stone-sided stream going to the fountain, and a real crossable bridge that goes over said stream. If you look at the pictures below, you can see that Niantic really built it out into an oasis that would have fit right in with the Orange Islands (if you’re a fan of the Pokémon TV show) or the Alola region that has been the focus of this year’s Pokémon GO storyline and gameplay content. It was absolutely my favorite part of the entire event, and one that I kept visiting over and over again just to look at.

With Cloud Sanctuary. Niantic, Inc., made the baffling decision to turn an empty plaza area into a plot of land with…structures covered in cotton and streamer poles that all seemed to blend together into an unremarkable, same-color mass with bubbles being blown. Most disappointingly, as the day went on, some of the cotton strands actually started to come off the structures they were attached to and were floating around the area before being randomly stepped and dirtied up by people. The only real highlight of the area (besides the catchable Pokémon of course) was the giant inflatable Jigglypuff that you could take photos with. It wasn’t terrible, per se, but it definitely paled in comparison to The Oasis and was something of a miss by Niantic, Inc.

Photos by author.

The other two areas were delightful as well, and they definitely managed to meld the surrounding original environment into the Pokémon world. When I stepped into the Electric Garden and the Dreamy Mindscape areas, I felt like either of these areas would fit perfectly into the larger-than-life designs and excesses of the cities that make up the different regions of the Pokémon world.

Photos by author.

The most unexpected, and by far the coolest part of the entire themed experience was the battle and trade arena that took place in the soccer stadium. In an extremely clever nod to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield‘s gym battles, Niantic, Inc. had the Pokémon stadium music blaring from the moment you stepped into the halls of the real-life stadium and until you exited towards the pitch. The moment I realized what was happening, I stopped and drank it all in as I felt like a real Pokémon Trainer who was heading into a real Pokémon Stadium to do real Pokémon battles, and I will never forget how that moment felt.

Photo by author.

On the pitch, Niantic, Inc. set up a Trading Post (with hay bales everywhere for people to sit on), and a Battle Ground that had people battling in the Great League (1500 CP or lower) against each other atop miniature battle plots of artificial turf. The battling was a single elimination format – if you won, you stayed, and if you lost, you left. Helpfully, there was a mentoring station next to the battle area where mentors would take a look at your caught Pokémon and movesets, and then work with you to build a strong team to go back into battle with. I actually battled, quickly lost, and took advantage of the mentor’s advice services. While I did not have the opportunity to battle a second time, I found the mentor’s advice to be extremely helpful to help me in the future as he recommended that I build a team around Empoleon. I was also quite impressed with the focus on the Great League for the event – using the midtier league ensured that players who didn’t focus on min-maxing Pokémon for the Master League could have a legitimate shot at doing well during the battles – especially after taking advantage of the mentoring services.

Photos by author.

There were also other things people could do at Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle. There were photo ops with AR cameras, gym leaders, giant Pikachu and Eevee characters, and a giant blow-up Snorlax. There was also trivia and prizes being handed out at the Team Lounges, which were scattered throughout the Seattle Center for people to enjoy. Surprisingly, the Valor Team Lounge was distanced from the rest of the event, and I found myself only wandering over there towards the very end of the park experience due to how far out of the way it was. There were also Notable Trainers from social media to meet that included players like ZoëTwoDots and Newtiteuf, and you could go learn how to play Pokémon Trading Card Game inside of the Seattle Center Armory. All of these little side activities really helped to flesh out the event beyond the mobile game itself and added a surprising amount of value to the park experience.

Photos by author.

All that said, there were some things that I did not like about the park experience. First and foremost, there was the absolutely abysmal shiny Pokémon rate that was clearly far below the rate of a monthly Community Day. I picked up two to three shiny Pokemon during the entire park experience, and I found it baffling that Niantic, Inc. would debut a new shiny Pokémon, Panpour, at Pokemon GO Fest 2022: Seattle while simultaneously making it almost impossible to find. I can understand not raising the shiny rate for ALL of the available Pokémon, but I would have liked to have walked away with at least the newest shiny Pokémon that was released for this event.

Other than that, I was disappointed with the merchandise available for purchase. With the exception of the exclusive, gray-colored Pokémon GO Fest t-shirt that was a mere reskinned version of the black shirt already available for purchase online, there was no merch unique to this event to buy as the rest was already available on the Pokémon Center online store. I honestly expected an exclusive event plush (Cowboy Hat Snorlax, anyone?) or a brand-new design event-exclusive t-shirt to buy and I was let down. While I did walk away with a gray event t-shirt and a couple Pokémon plushes, it didn’t prevent me from feeling unsatisfied with the offerings and I know that I wasn’t the only one to feel that way.

Photos by author.

Finally, the end raid for the park experience event was also a letdown. Instead of it being a brand-new Ultra Beast Pokémon that ties into the Ultra Wormholes that have featured prominently in this year’s story…it was Darkrai, which players had been already battling all throughout the park experience.

If you’ve read this far, you will notice that I’ve only talked about one of the two experiences so far at Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle, and that is for good reason. Whereas the park experience had lots of things to do and see, the city experience was almost the complete opposite. Other than the new story quest to complete, the city experience had all of the Pokémon available in the park experience to find and capture and had gym battles to complete, and that was seriously it. I was hoping that it would drive players to congregate at various digital-only zones in downtown Seattle to do unique raids together or to capture unique Pokémon. Instead, players were scattered everywhere in the area, and I sometimes felt like I would go quite a while without seeing anyone else playing. The city experience really came off as just a way to help make sure that everyone wasn’t crowded together at the park experience for the whole event and to give some ‘added value’ to the paid ticket. I thought it really fell flat and just was more of the same day-to-day Pokémon GO experience other than the variety of Pokémon that were available to catch.

Photo by author.

Overall, I loved Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle. I felt like this event really brought players together to catch, battle, and trade Pokémon, and that Niantic, Inc. is to be commended for pulling off the first series of Pokémon GO Fest events since 2019. I was pleased to see how many strangers were talking and playing with each other, and how everyone seemed to want the France-exclusive Pokémon, Klefki. The park experience was absolutely worth the ticket price, and I really felt like that Niantic, Inc. wanted to celebrate their player base. The park experience was really the star of the event, and it was so much fun that it absolutely outweighed and pulled up the overall review score in lieu of how absolutely forgettable the city experience was.

Photo by author.

I definitely want to attend another Pokémon GO Fest in the future, and I honestly think that if you play the mobile game, you should consider attending too. I cannot help but wonder how Niantic, Inc., will improve upon the event for 2023!

Review Score
Overall

Did you attend Pokemon GO Fest 2022: Seattle? If so, what were your thoughts on it?

Tickets are on sale now for Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Berlin.

Let us know in the comments below!

The post Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Seattle- Gotta Catch ‘Em All! appeared first on oprainfall.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

If you want a detailed and spoileriffic review, then re-join me after the picture below. If you’re just wanting a quick, spoiler-free check on whether or not FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE: Orchestra World Tour is worth checking out, then your simple answer is yes.

While this is a show that was clearly arranged around the setlist first and foremost with some storytelling issues that affect the concert as a cohesive whole, the music is absolutely amazing to listen to and you will see almost all of your favorite moments in FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE and in EPISODE INTERmission in the concert. If you can find an available ticket to buy, then please do because I don’t think you will regret it.

This photo really gives a perspective on how big the orchestra and screen was. AWR Music Productions, LLC, and Square Enix Co., Ltd. All associated trademarks are owned by and used under license from SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. © 1997, 2020, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA/ROBERTO FERRARI. LOGO ILLUSTRATION: © 1997 YOSHITAKA AMANO.

 SPOILERS BEGIN HERE

I have attended a lot of SQUARE ENIX concerts, including the somewhat-misfiring FINAL FANTASY VII – A Symphonic Reunion concert from 2019. While this concert was not perfect and at times a bit surprising in its execution, it was absolutely worth attending and I am so glad that I made the six-and-a-half hour drive down to the October 23, 2021 performance in the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. 

Arnie Roth – conductor of pretty much every SQUARE ENIX-linked concert series since the March 1, 2008 debut performance of Distant Worlds: Music from FINAL FANTASY at the Rosemont Theater that yours truly had attended – led the ShinRa Symphony Orchestra and Chorus through 22 songs (including two encores) taken from FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE and its story DLC, EPISODE INTERmission. 

Towards the beginning of the show, Arnie Roth welcomed us to the performance, and talked about how it has “[b]een a long eighteen months for all of us” and he welcomed us “back to the concerts we love.” AWR Music Productions, LLC, and Square Enix Co., Ltd. All associated trademarks are owned by and used under license from SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. © 1997, 2020, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA/ROBERTO FERRARI. LOGO ILLUSTRATION: © 1997 YOSHITAKA AMANO.

As I had previously attended the FINAL FANTASY VII – A Symphonic Reunion concert in 2019, where the orchestra didn’t play all of the songs but instead would rest intermittently for pre-recorded pieces to instead play, I was quite pleased that they performed all of the music in this concert show. The musical performance itself was great, and it was clear that the orchestra both enjoyed what they were playing and actually cared about what they were playing. With that said, my biggest issue was with how the chorus was integrated in with the orchestra. I assume it was a sound mixing issue, but for the first half of the concert (before the intermission), the orchestra was frequently drowning out or competing against the chorus instead of complimenting it. At times, I almost found myself straining to hear the vocals and the person I was there with agreed with me about this. Thankfully, this was corrected in the second half – especially in time for the One Winged Angel encore at the very end. 

The biggest surprise of the night was that Yosh Morita, from The Prophets, came to sing “Hollow.” He was so animated to watch, and he was definitely the highlight of the entire concert as he absolutely got completely into putting on a masterful performance. The fact that he was there was a genuine surprise for me that I was extremely happy to get to see, as I figured that we might not have anyone with recognition there to perform the song due to the concert’s date being moved from June 2020 several times because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yosh really put everything that was him into his singing of “Hollow”, and it was just mesmerizing to watch him perform with the orchestra. AWR Music Productions, LLC, and Square Enix Co., Ltd. All associated trademarks are owned by and used under license from SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. © 1997, 2020, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA/ROBERTO FERRARI. LOGO ILLUSTRATION: © 1997 YOSHITAKA AMANO.

The one major blessing from having to wait so long for the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour was that it gave AWR Music and SQUARE ENIX an opportunity to give the Yuffie DLC, EPISODE INTERmission, some love with a performance of “Descendant of Shinobi”. If you remember, this DLC was only announced in February 2021 alongside the PlayStation 5 upgrade for FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE. While I can only speculate, I cannot imagine that this DLC would have had an opportunity to be included in the setlist if the concert had happened when it was originally supposed to in June 2020. This song was a personal highlight for me of the show, and I am so glad that they could work it into the concert somehow as it absolutely deserved to be there.

SQUARE ENIX and AWR Music also managed the impossible feat of making this concert accessible to people who had only played the original FINAL FANTASY VII and who just wanted to hear the music live. The concert did not dwell on the whole ‘reunion’ time/fate altering aspects of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, but instead made it about the characters and placed an emphasis on the continuity from the original game. In fact, I brought a friend with me who had only played the original PlayStation One release, and he absolutely loved the concert and was able to keep pace with what was going on with the clips on screen despite not having played the new game. I don’t know if it was SQUARE ENIX and AWR Music’s intention to make sure that this concert was accessible to anyone who loved FINAL FANTASY VII, but they definitely succeeded in making it happen. 

All that said, the music is only half of a SQUARE ENIX orchestra concert. If you haven’t been to one before, then you should know that the live orchestra music is played against a backdrop of carefully curated and arranged cutscene clips from the relevant game(s) that relate to the particular music piece itself. 

The way that FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour opened was to play “The Prelude – Reunion” against a backdrop of clips from the original FINAL FANTASY VII game for the PlayStation One console. After that, the concert then switched to FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE and it played a series of clips from the opening cinematic through the end of the Mako 1 Reactor bombings and subsequent escape with the accompanying music. At this point, it seemed like the concert was going to follow the game’s story chronologically while having the music to accompany the gameplay. 

It is when Cloud falls through the church roof and encounters Aerith as “Flowers Blooming in the Church” starts to play, that the concert’s storytelling format changes as the accompanying cinematics transformed into a clip show that showed the relevant character story all the way until the start of the ShinRa missions at the end of the game. When the next piece would start (in this case “The Turks’ Theme”), it would rewind back to the introduction of Reno at the church not long after Cloud falls through the ceiling, and tell the Turks’ storyline through the end of the Sector 8 plate dropping chapter. Individually, each cinematic was worked beautifully to fit in with the accompanying music piece and I have absolutely no issues with how they were arranged within each musical sequence. However, this constant flipping back and forth was a little jarring when the expectation had initially been set up through the first few musical pieces that this would be a chronological (game-wise) orchestra experience – especially in light of how the concert ultimately went back to the chronological format at the end of the concert with the ShinRa raid through the end of the game. 

This made me feel like the setlist was decided first, and the graphics were subsequently arranged around the music. While there were some songs that only focused around one particular part of the game (such as the crowd-favorite “Stand Up” that showed off Cloud’s dancing to Aerith’s obvious delight at the Honeybee Inn), the constant going back and forth in gameplay in each individual song that was bookended with long, chronological scenes and musical accompaniment bothered me a little when I tried to look at the concert as a cohesive whole after it was all over.

Part of this format choice, I think, goes back to the issue that FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE is only one part of the FINAL FANTASY VII story. When the orchestra was performing Tifa’s Theme, for instance, you didn’t see her and Cloud deep in Cloud’s subconscious after they fall into the Lifestream following Mideel or beneath the Highwind before they descend into the crater at the game’s end. Both of these are extremely pivotal and extremely important moments to FINAL FANTASY VII…but they simply don’t exist yet in this retelling (if they ever will), as this game only covered them leaving Midgar. As a result, I am guessing that AWR Music and SQUARE ENIX only had a limited amount of cutscenes to ultimately work with while also trying to tell a ‘complete’ story across each individual song and across the whole concert from a 50-hour or so video game.

This was evident than during the first encore for “Aerith’s Theme”, when that performance was just played against a static background image of the flowers inside the church…presumably because the appropriate clips of Cloud and Aerith’s relaionship together had already been used for “Flowers Blooming in the Church”. There were also a few ‘extra’ clips integrated in particular songs, such as there being a bit too long of gameplay fighting on the train before Tifa and Cloud roll out from it together in “Tifa’s Theme” or how much we saw of Cloud and Wedge being strapped together during the parachute sequence in “Jessie’s Theme.” This suggested that there was a need to include something to help hit the song-length time in a few places.

To be clear, this ultimately is just a minor structural thing that bothered me about the concert, and it did not detract from the overall quality of the paired cinematics or how the game’s story was ultimately told. There is something simply magical about seeing these characters I love on a big screen, and all of the important story beats (and some silly ones) were all there and expertly arranged. You are going to fall a little in love with Tifa during “Tifa’s Theme” and you’re absolutely going to laugh out loud during “Stand Up,” and it is a testament to the strength of the cinematics and orchestra/chorus itself that that happens.

There is a real thrill in seeing Cloud and the other cast of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE being portrayed on a large screen with a live orchestra. AWR Music Productions, LLC, and Square Enix Co., Ltd. All associated trademarks are owned by and used under license from SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd. © 1997, 2020, SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA/ROBERTO FERRARI. LOGO ILLUSTRATION: © 1997 YOSHITAKA AMANO.

There are a few other things that I want to talk about that I can’t really fit in elsewhere. The bike ride’s cheek kiss reward from Jessie wasn’t included in “Jessie’s Theme” and there weren’t any gameplay clips of Cloud fighting Sephiroth himself at the end of the game or during “One Winged Angel.” I thought those were very odd omissions that would have fit in well in the concert during those appropriate pieces. Finally, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour did something that I had never seen before to great effect: they would occasionally have the orchestra begin performing without clips from the game in the background…until it got past the introductory notes and the piece began in earnest. This was really, really effective in making me first pay attention to only the music and the orchestra and then it dropped me immediately into the game’s cinematics. Very, very effective and very, very cool to see.

While I did point out some things I did not care for about FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour, it is important to state that none of this truly affected or soured my concert-going experience. I really loved attending FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour, and I think pretty much anyone else who is a fan of the game will too. I have been to a lot of SQUARE ENIX concerts, such as the FINAL FANTASY XIV ORCHESTRA CONCERT 2018 – Eorzean Symphony and KINGDOM HEARTS ORCHESTRA – World of Tres – Concert, and SQUARE ENIX knows how to put on a great show…which they definitely did here. It is the strength of the orchestra and on how strongly AWR Music and SQUARE ENIX arranged the clips to the music that makes this show worth it. This is why it gets such a high score from me with only a single star knocked off for the formatting issues that I noted above.

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour is absolutely an amazing concert to attend, and I do not want to dissuade anyone who enjoyed FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE from attending. I paid for my tickets, and I thought the concert was well worth the money. I sincerely hope that AWR Music and SQUARE ENIX partner up again to make a sequel concert for the next game to come out, as I will be sure to buy a ticket for the day that they go up for sale. I am, furthermore, excited to see what video games that they will collaborate on next. 

Review Score
Overall

The post FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Orchestra World Tour REVIEW appeared first on oprainfall.

What does it mean to be human? Does the way in which you see yourself – and see others – play a pivotal role in self-actualization? What are the boundaries of love, and what happens when that love causes pain? Are we ever allowed to be selfish? These – among several others – are the questions I constantly found myself asking while playing the absolutely superb science-fiction VR title, ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos for the Oculus Quest, and discovering the answers was one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent memory.

In the year 2280, the last vestiges of humanity live in the underground city of Augmented Tokyo after giant, alien beings called Meteora ravaged the surface of the Earth two hundred years earlier. The people rely on technology for everything in their day-to-day lives – from the fake sky and trees of the city, to the Libra system which provides them predetermined choices in conversation, to the hulking robot Makhia that protect them from Meteora attacks. All of Augmented Tokyo is run by AARCs (Artificial Augmented Reality Crystals) created by Professor Julie, a human scientist who has lived for 200 years by transferring her mind into cybernetic bodies. Our protagonist, Chloe, a Designed Human, was also created by Julie in order to fight the Meteora. What are the Meteora? Where did they come from? Why are they attacking Earth? And why did they kill Coco Coconoe two years ago?

I didn’t really like Chloe at first, I admit. She’s your typical stoic, emotionless soldier that’s common in anime, the protagonist who cuts herself off from her feelings – or, in this case, doesn’t understand them to begin with. She is, after all, a Designed Human. She wasn’t born. She was literally created by Julie to be a soldier. But, over the course of the game, I was surprised at how nuanced and delicate her emotions were, and how impactful seeing the story through her eyes – and going on that emotional journey with her – actually became. A lot of this is thanks to her interactions with Coco, the daughter of powerful politicians in the city, and the ways in which Coco forces Chloe to learn and feel emotions. She makes Chloe read old Greek mythology, talks to her about philosophy and astronomy, and encourages her to speak her mind when all of Chloe’s training dictates she only ever take orders. I really, really liked Coco and the way her constant presence in the story affects the entire cast.

Chloe isn’t the only soldier in this sci-fi narrative. Battling alongside her are Aoba Iwaza, a clever strategist and science officer; and Yamato Amanagi, Chloe’s hot-headed but fiercely loyal fellow Makhia pilot. Together they serve the military organization, Prometheus, under General Deiter and Professor Julie, tasked with protecting humanity at all cost. Of the two adults, Julie is the one with which the player spends the most time, as she takes a hands-on approach to all things Meteora. Two hundred years of zealous study has warped her, and she’s callous, cruel, and singularly focused on her pursuit of knowledge. Deiter, on the other hand, is cool and aloof, a more calming force to Julie’s enthusiasm, but the two work closely with one another in their shared goal. What that goal is remains to be discovered by the player, and I wouldn’t dare to spoil the surprise here.

Rounding out the cast is the literal star of the show, the pop-singer Noa, a highly-sophisticated AARC designed to look like Coco, much to Chloe’s consternation. After all, Coco is dead, and seeing a fake version of her friend causes Chloe no small amount of pain. Noa doesn’t let that deter her, as the self-styled diva is adamant on keeping Chloe safe despite their difficulties. (Why? Well, that’s for you to find out.) She also uplifts the spirits of everyone in Augmented Tokyo through her concerts, and uses her singing during battle to improve morale. As an AARC, she also helps Chloe control her Alto Makhia. I love Noa. She is my favorite. Of all the cast, she is the most nuanced and intricate, and her striking personality, along with her desire to emulate the humanity she loves above all else, is infectious. Her concerts are also a sight to behold and really lean into the VR tech behind this title.

Since we’re talking about Noa, I want to touch on the music in ALTDEUS real quick. What a beautiful soundtrack this game has. As I said on my Twitter, MyDearest absolutely knows how to use music effectively, especially in battle. I love the fact that the singing is completely diegetic thanks to Noa, and how it’s timed so well to movement and big, flashy moments. Battles in this game are few and far between, but they are always incredibly hype thanks to the soundtrack, despite the simple inputs required of the player. Outside the battles, there are a ton of really great tracks that help move along the emotional narrative of the game, building tension, wonder and serenity as necessary. I’m a sucker for that electronic pop sound, and ALTDEUS does not disappoint.

Most of the gameplay you’ll see is talking with your teammates or exploring Augmented Tokyo, interacting with the environment through VR controls, and making decisions in conversation through the Libra system. Much like NieR: Automata, your choices in ALTDEUS determine which of several endings you can unlock, each one providing more of the story. There are a lot of choices in this game, some bigger than others, and uncovering each dialogue tree was a lot of fun. It’s also one of the game’s few downsides, since a lot of the choices still lead to the same outcomes, and not every scene can be skipped. Since you will need to play through multiple sequences of the game several times, this can get a bit tedious. Thankfully, you can usually skip most scenes until you reach a Libra choice, but on my seventh playthrough, I had a lot of scenes memorized. That being said, the story goes to some really interesting and unexpected places depending on the choices you make, and trying to find the “true” ending was worth the 20-plus hours I put into the game.

I really, really loved my time with ALTDEUS. Gorgeous character designs, fantastic voice work, compelling narrative and memorable characters all coalesced into the best gaming experience I’ve had this year. Science-fiction is one of my favorite genres because of how often it asks difficult questions about our relationships with the world and others in it, and ALTDEUS provided that in spades. Love, grief, obsession, self-loathing, sacrifice – it’s all here in one neat package. The use of VR technology to tell this story was also a boon. There’s nothing specific to the narrative that requires it be a VR title, but how that narrative is presented really took advantage of the immersive qualities VR can provide. Watching Noa’s concerts, embracing another character, fighting giant monsters – I don’t think any of it would have felt as impactful had it not been front and center. It also helped me better relate to Chloe’s emotional journey, because I saw the world literally through her eyes. What a fantastic use of the medium, and a must-play for any VR player.

ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos is available for Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift for $39.99 USD, Steam for $29.99 USD, and will release on PlayStation VR April 14, 2021, for $29.99 USD.

Review Score
Overall

Review copy provided by the publisher.

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When I was a kid, I used to have this recurring dream where I was a bird. I’d fly through the air and feel the wind in my feathers, see the ground blur below me as I swooped about on the breeze. It’s one of the most potent memories I have and that sensation of gliding through the air hasn’t left me for 30 years. So it was something of a delight to get even a fraction of that feeling from the opening sequence of Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing, which does an impressive job of actually simulating flight.

I have a seen a grand total of one episode of Little Witch Academia, just enough to be familiar with the characters and setting. So in a way I was a great pick to review this title, because you need exactly zero knowledge of the source material to find enjoyment here. As a guest student to Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy, you’ll be introduced to the main cast and get a taste of each witch’s personality through the small story interludes between each broom race. Akko is energetic but also a troublemaker; Lotte is quiet and studious; Sucy enjoys experimenting with mushrooms; Diana is haughty but intelligent. You’ll also get to meet Constanze, Amanda and Jasminka, as well as game-specific Neby, a smart crystal assigned to help guide you while you stay at the academy.

The story in VR Broom Racing feels a bit like a self-contained episode. Excess magic is swirling about the academy, and the witches need to use their magic in order to keep the surplus under control. The easiest way to do so is to fly as pairs using Bond Magic, since the spelled used to do so is quite potent. That’s why you’ve been invited to the academy: the more witches flying around and using magic, the better chance the professors have of keeping all the excess magic from running amok by performing the Starlink Ritual. Unfortunately, it might be not be enough to keep all that power at bay, and so it’s up to you and the witches to find the Seven Broom Stars to save the day.

There are a total of 12 story courses in the game, split up between racing and Stardust Ghost hunting. Racing is pretty straightforward: You and the witch partner of your choice will challenge two other pairs to see who can make it through the course the fastest. Each course has an assortment of rings to fly through, as well as treasure box pick-ups that give either a speed boost or a slow debuff. Scattered along the track are also large green balls that boost your speed, and large purple ones that will slow you down. Make it to the end of the race without going too far off course or hitting the scenery and win bonuses in three categories: Finish under a specific time; come in first place; and fly through every ring. Ghost hunting pits you and your partner against ghosts created from the excess magic. During these runs, you and your partner need to shoot as many ghosts as possible to dissipate their energy. These challenges also come with bonuses at the end for finishing under a specific time and killing X number of ghosts. Achieving each of these awards bonus tickets and points you can use in the Lunanet for upgraded brooms and attribute gems to up your stats or give you specific bonuses. (For instance, I used a gem that gave me a homing shot when hunting ghosts.)

Once the 12 story missions are done, you unlock the Stella Cup, which is just a retread of the courses you’ve run before. In order to beat the game, you’ll need to run the Cup once with each witch. In total, it took me about two hours to get through the entire story campaign for VR Broom Racing. Short and sweet, but like I said, it felt like an episode of the anime, and it was a fun romp. The Japanese voice actors reprise their roles and they brought a ton of energy to bear, and the animations are really fluid. Trigger and UNIVRS did a great job translating the show into digital form with expressive characters and really colorful locales. There are only about four different race tracks, but they never feel like they overstay their welcome. That being said, I would have liked at least one more track for variety.

The actual flying in this game feels great. You can play sitting or standing, though in my experience standing worked significantly better. But a simple tilt forward will get you moving, and you direct your broom by twisting your controllers left, right, etc. It only took a couple tries before it felt like second nature, and there’s a palpable sense of weightlessness when your broom initially lifts off the ground. The opening sequence has you literally flying over the school and it is the most amazing feeling. This is one of those places where VR really shines, and why this was such a good property to adapt into a VR title. You honestly feel like you’re riding a witch’s broom.

That being said, the aforementioned difficulty with sitting and playing was a bit frustrating, since the game says you can play it while seated. I ended up having to stand so I could twist around to stay on some of the courses. This is only really a problem in the racing sequences, since you move so much faster than the ghost hunting ones. I also had a lot of trouble triggering my special move. When you pick up a treasure chest, you press the middle side button and swipe your hand to use the item you grabbed. More often than not I’d have to flail my hand to trigger it, often messing up my navigation. I had fresh batteries in my controllers so I don’t think it was a problem with them. None of these were deal breakers and I was still able to enjoy playing, but they did mar an otherwise stellar presentation.

The untranslated tutorial menus and the lack of translations in the opening sequences of each race were more amusing to me than anything, since they didn’t impact gameplay at all. The tutorials have very clear visual direction and you can pretty easily figure out what each witch is saying at the beginning of the race based on her personality. The only time it was an issue was the beginning of the Stella Cup, because the announcer isn’t translated either and she talks for a good 30 seconds before you can do anything. It’s also not skippable. I suspect these will be addressed once the game is actually released.

(Image courtesy UNIVRS) Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing makes anyone feel like they can fly, and it’s awesome.

Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing is a fun little title that takes advantage of virtual reality’s ability to break physical boundaries to provide an engaging flight simulation. The animation and acting help bring these quirky characters to life in an immersive episode that has a rather predictable story but still sticks the landing thanks to wearing its heart on its sleeve. If you’re into VR, this is a great title to grab.

VR Broom Racing is $29.99 USD on the Oculus Quest. It will eventually release on the Oculus Rift S, PlayStation VR, and Steam VR in early 2021.

Review Score
Overall

Review copy provided by the publisher.

The post REVIEW: Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing appeared first on oprainfall.

Title	Urusei Yatsura Volume 1 Urusei Yatsura Volume 2
Author	Rumiko Takahashi
Artist	Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher	Viz Media (NA)
Release Date(s)	Feb. 19, 2019 (Vol. 1) May 21, 2019 (Vol. 2)
Age Rating	16+
Genre(s)	Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction
Pages	416 (Vol. 1) / 400 (Vol. 2)

The story surrounding Viz Media’s localization of Urusei Yatsura takes us back all the way to the early 1990s. After a bombardment of requests from fans of the series, Viz decided to begin serializing the manga under the name Lum * Urusei Yatsura. Unfortunately, that venture did not prove profitable for them and it was cancelled after just eight short issues. Moving forward a few years, Viz attempted to bring the series back, this time as The Return of Lum. This iteration lasted slightly longer than the first, but it ultimately suffered the same fate and Viz cut the series short before all the original volumes could be translated.

Since then, Viz has sat patiently on the series, presumably waiting for the right opportunity to try again. Luckily for all of us, that time is now. Viz announced back in January that they would begin issuing volumes of the manga once again, this time in large, multi-volume chunks. To date, they’ve already released volumes one and two. Together, these volumes include the original volumes 1-4, all freshly re-translated and ordered from right to left as originally intended. Urusei Yatsura means a great deal to me personally, so I was immediately drawn to the opportunity of digging into the first two volumes. Without further ado, let’s see how these releases stack up against the rest.

Allow me to briefly introduce the story. As I touched upon in my retrospective of the anime series a few months back, the structure of Urusei Yatsura is incredibly loose. The story centers around Ataru Moroboshi, a high school student whose life is plagued with misfortune. Over half of this misfortune stems directly from Ataru’s constant womanizing and general idiocy. The other half comes from Ataru’s fateful encounter in chapter one. At the onset of volume one, Ataru comes home from school to find that the fate of the entire world has been placed on his shoulders. An alien race from the planet Oniboshi has decided to invade Earth and their supercomputer has randomly selected Ataru to be a spokesperson for the humans. He soon finds himself locked in a game of tag with the beautiful alien princess Lum as his challenger. While apprehensive at first, Ataru’s infatuation with Lum supersedes all of his initial worries and he wins the contest against all odds. There’s been a slight miscommunication though and Ataru now finds himself married to Lum as a result of the victory. Worse yet, Lum refuses to tolerate Ataru’s infidelities and responds to each of them with negative reinforcement (electric shocks).

Rest assured that the events described above encompass only the story of chapter one. From chapter two onward, the only central narrative to speak of is the state of Ataru and Lum’s relationship and how absurd it is. Each chapter is essentially its own contained story and the consequences of each rarely carry over to the next one. For the new release of volume one, the stories mainly consist of Ataru and his childhood friend Shinobu trying to maintain their existing relationship while avoiding a very jealous Lum. The second new volume deviates from this with the arrival of Shutaro Mendo, Ataru’s rival who despite having a massive fortune and good looks is just as moronic. Shinobu shifts her romantic attention towards Mendo, leaving Lum and Ataru to become closer. We see Lum and Ataru’s relationship grow a little bit, but not without some interesting hurdles.

Shifting gears, let’s talk about some of the changes specific to these new releases. It’s worth noting that these releases are indeed the first in the west to be ordered from right to left. The aforementioned Lum * Urusei Yatsura and Return of Lum releases were reordered from left to right to read more like western comics. Even the Perfect Collection omnibus is ordered this way. For those reasons, I’m very happy to see that these new releases are being left in the intended order.

Additionally, these releases come with a number of special new additions. In between each part (that is, between each sub-volume), there is a special section titled “The Rumic Star Special”. This section spans around 10 pages and includes in-depth looks at various topics and questions about the series as a whole. Have you ever wondered why Shinobu’s attitude and feelings for Ataru change so drastically after volume one? Where is Tomobiki and should you consider moving there? Perhaps you care more about the hard-hitting questions. “The Rumic Star Special” has those covered too with tallies for how many times Ataru gets shocked, kissed, and wastes money on food throughout the series. I went back and thumbed through my older copies of the manga and I can confidently say that these special sections are indeed new and unique. I was surprised when I first came across them, but I feel that they are a wonderful addition.

There’s are even notes from and about the series creator, Rumiko Takahashi. In one such note (after the conclusion of volume one), Takahashi talks about some of her memories from when she first began drawing Lum back in the late 70s. She discusses the amount of effort that she put in while designing Lum’s character and how she views Lum as her polar opposite. There are several notes like this one spread throughout the pages of these first two volumes, but I’ll let you seek those out on your own and enjoy for yourself.

Let’s compare the manga and the anime on Page 2 ->

The post MANGA REVIEW: Urusei Yatsura Volumes 1 & 2 appeared first on oprainfall.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been into reading manga. I’ve mentioned in an article before that these days I’m much more into games than watching anime, the same goes for reading. I’ve always loved reading, but it’s become a lower priority pastime in recent years, when gaming is much more interactive and I’ve gotten a lot more to play. But when I heard we had the chance to check out some VIZ Media new releases, I was happy to volunteer and try out a series I’ve never heard of before.And thus, I picked Komi Can’t Communicate and read through Volume 1.

Komi Can’t Communicate is a fitting title, as it explains this manga perfectly. The story starts out at Itan Private High School, a prestigious prep school where both Tadano and Komi are new high school students. Komi finds herself extremely popular because everyone thinks she’s the prettiest girl in school. But what the rest of the class doesn’t seem to realize, is that Komi has a communication disorder, which the book described as, “A cluster of symptoms that cause people to experience difficulty interacting with others.” Meanwhile Tadano’s goal for the school year is to blend in and seem normal. Apparently he tried too hard to stand out in middle school and it didn’t go well. But unfortunately for him and his yearly goal, he ends up sitting right next to Komi in class. Tadano realizes early on that Komi has issues communicating. Once he realizes this they start talking to each other through writing on the chalkboard, when the rest of class isn’t in the room. Eventually he decides he’s going to help Komi make 100 friends and that’s where the story begins.

So far just based on Volume 1, I could see myself getting into this manga. One thing that I appreciated, was that the panels and speech bubbles weren’t in an awkward order making them easy to follow. The art style is relatively plain, but considering it’s a slice of life story for the most part, it doesn’t need to be super fancy.  I’ve enjoyed the story and characters so far. You can tell that Komi will make all sorts of wacky friends and hilarity will ensue. I look forward to seeing what types of people she makes friends with next. Being far from a people person myself, Komi’s story makes sense to me and I found it a bit relatable. Overall, it looks like it’ll be a fun story to follow and I look forward to seeing where things go. It’s not a crazy fantastical narrative, yet I could see it being an enjoyable and relaxing read. If you’re looking for a new manga to get into and the main plot sounds interesting to you, or you simply enjoy slice of life high school stories, I’d recommend trying it out.

Review Copy Provided by Viz Media

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With the January 2019 launch of KINGDOM HEARTS III for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, SQUARE ENIX and La Fée Sauvage teamed up again after their successful 2017 KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World Tour- concert series to bring KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres- to the stage. I attended the June 8th, 2019 concert at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California and I was in love with what I saw, with a few minor caveats that still make this a concert worth attending.

The KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres- concert is split into two parts: The first part plays original (as in, not-Disney related) compositions from all of the prior KINGDOM HEARTS games and the second half of the concert plays exclusively music from KINGDOM HEARTS III. In the first half, as each piece plays, cutscenes telling the story of that game play to ‘catch the view up’ on what has already happened in those KINGDOM HEARTS games. In the second half, the music matches up with the storyline from that particular world in KINGDOM HEARTS III.

KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres- did a great job syncing up the music from various KINGDOM HEARTS games with cutscenes and gameplay from the respective titles. (Image owned by La Fée Sauvage).

Interestingly, this concert was almost entirely medley compositions. From what I can tell, the performances by the orchestra/chorus with Elio di Tanna on the piano (who performed again the next night in the FINAL FANTASY VII: A Symphonic Reunion concert that I also reviewed) did not shortchange any of the musical pieces themselves, and they did a stunning job in inserting all of the emotions and heart into the musical scores that KINGDOM HEARTS is known for, but it was still a surprising choice of how to present a concert. For example, KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories was represented by a medley of “Scent of Silence” and “Castle Oblivion” as the game’s storyline was told from beginning to end. This ended making the sixth piece performed, “Pretty Pretty Abilities” from coded, stand out awkwardly a bit as it was a standalone piece with no other music from coded being played. Furthermore, as evidenced by the person I went with who had only played the original KINGDOM HEARTS game, the cutscenes didn’t explain the storylines well enough for someone who wasn’t versed in the series already to grasp fully what was occurring.

My favorite performance of the entire concert was the encore performance, Don’t Think Twice- KINGDOM Orchestra Instrumental Version. Yoko Shimomura took the piano for that performance, just as she did for the “Fantasia alla Marcia” encore in 2017’s KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World Tour-. I liked it so much that I really think that it is a serious omission from the official KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres- CD. It is an excellent instrumental version of the KINGDOM HEARTS III song sung by Hikaru Utada, and it was a perfect way to close out the show. There is a definite thrill to seeing the composer for the KINGDOM HEARTS series playing her own music with the orchestra, and you could tell that she was genuinely enjoying herself there.

There is a full orchestra present and playing for the entirety of the KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres- performance. (Image owned by La Fée Sauvage).

Aside from that, the choice of blending the different worlds from KINGDOM HEARTS III into joint medleys, with the exception of San Fransokyo and The Caribbean that were performed as standalone works, worked out a lot better than I expected. The transitions between worlds inspired by, for example, Tangled and  Monsters, Inc. was nearly seamless and made it seem like those two worlds actually do fit in together in a way that I didn’t see before the show. The standout moment of the night for, and the audience (aside from the encore), was easily when the entire orchestra stopped playing midway through the Toy Story piece to snap their fingers in time with the music. It was unexpected and extremely well received by the audience.

Overall, I loved this concert, and I was thrilled that I went to it. This is an excellent way to spend an evening in the company of other KINGDOM HEARTS fans and I am excited to see what SQUARE ENIX and La Fée Sauvage do next. If you can get tickets to KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres-, you absolutely should, for this is a show that should not be missed.

               You can check out future worldwide KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres- concert dates, and find links to buy tickets, here.

What is your favorite KINGDOM HEARTS game? Are you planning on attending one of the upcoming show dates? 

Let us know in the comments below!

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When I returned to the Dolby Theater for the second night in a row after attending the KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World of Tres- the day before, I was expecting more of the same as pretty much every other video game concert that I’ve ever seen to: They show the name of the song, the orchestra performs the song, and there is a video montage of video game cutscenes and gameplay sequences that are both expertly timed to the ebbs and swells of the music and are meant to tie story-wise into the piece being played. FINAL FANTASY VII- A Symphonic Reunion subverted my expectations in a bold and experimental manner.

After the Symphonic Reunion Harmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Elio di Tanna (piano soloist), and Arnie Roth (conductor) all took the stage and introductory remarks were given by FINAL FANTASY VII director Yoshinori Kitase, the orchestra launched into The Prelude with the full opening credits for FINAL FANTASY VII playing on the screen behind it. It was beautifully played…and then the burned-into-memory screen of New Game or Continue appeared. At that point it became obvious what SQUARE ENIX and La Fée Sauvage had planned: this concert was going to be a truncated playthrough of FINAL FANTASY VII on the PlayStation One, complete with the original graphics and calling Aerith by ‘Aeris’. This format change was totally unexpected, and it worked extremely well as it progressed through the entirety of the game until the very end, even if the audience was expected to have a passing formality already with the storyline and characters.

Every so often, the ‘gameplay’ would stop and trailers for various other titles in the Compilation of FINAL FANTASY VII would be shown on the screen and they would be dated in reference to the storyline of FINAL FANTASY VII. While it was pretty darn cool to see all of the other games, the one that really stuck out to me was that Before Crisis: FINAL FANTASY VII was represented not by images from the now-defunct Japan-only mobile game, but instead was reworked into anime-style character designs. With this game never having been allowed out of Japan, very few people worldwide have been able to play it- and it makes me really hope that we will get to see some form of Before Crisis to be released in a similar fashion to how BROTHERHOOD: FINAL FANTASY XV was before FINAL FANTASY XV was released.

Another effort such as this would definitely be appreciated in advance of FINAL FANTASY VII Remake coming out.

The music itself, however, is where the concert began to fall short. The live portions of the concert were a mixture of orchestra-performed pieces and piano soloist pieces. The Symphonic Reunion Harmonic Orchestra and the Symphonic Reunion Chorus were amazing and perfect with their playing and singing, and Elio di Tanna performed the best piano soloist rendition of Tifa’s Theme that I have ever heard in my life. The Dolby Theater, of course, is an amazingly acoustically-friendly place to the point where any seat in the auditorium is a good seat. Where the concert fell frustratingly short, however, is that the lights would frequently drop on the orchestra, Mr. Roth would literally walk off stage, and the gameplay would continue with pre-recorded music for songs such as Rufus Welcoming Ceremony, Sandy Badlands, and Turk’s Theme for lengthy periods of time. I have never been to an orchestra concert before where the live orchestra/piano would stop playing for sections of a time and it wasn’t an homage to John Cage’s 4’33”, and both myself and the other concert goers around me were surprised by this. Even though the gameplay was still amazing to watch in all its 1997-glory, the constant shifts back and forth between live and recorded music did really detract from the performance as a whole, as people came to see an orchestra play music and not to hear pre-recorded music be played instead for significant portions of the show.

At the conclusion of the concert, the director of FINAL FANTASY VII Remake,Tetsuya Nomura, took the stage and quipped “[y]ou already knew I was going to come on stage, right?” as the audience gave him a standing ovation. A gameplay trailer with voice acting was shown to the audience, and a release date was given: March 3, 2020. You can check out the trailer yourself below, and you can check out my hands-on impressions of the E3 2019 demo here:

Considering the fact that I loved the live music portions and this experimental concert format as a whole, the concert wasn’t ‘bad’ per se. It just had a lot of potential that was missed in how the concert shifted between fourteen live music pieces and plenty of pre-recorded music. I wonder -and this is purely conjecture- if the performer’s preparation time for the concert was not as long as it could have been, and SQUARE ENIX attempted to make up for it with the combination of the three piano solo pieces and the pre-recorded music. This concert was definitely aimed at the fans: the terrible attempt at marching in the Junon parade, Cloud choosing the option to run away from Aeris early on in the game, and the video sequence that showed just how hard it can be to capture a chocobo are all part of the gameplay and were meant to invoke laughs from those that are long-time fans of FINAL FANTASY VII.

At the beginning of the concert, Yoshinori Kitase took the stage and stated “[o]ur hope was for you to re-experience this game”. In that way, I think the FINAL FANTASY VII- A Symphonic Reunion succeeded, and I would honestly buy a video recording of the performance to occasionally watch at home (not that there was any merchandise whatsoever for the performance itself available, just merch from the Distant Worlds concert series and that is also available on the SQUARE ENIX Store). I just wish that there was live accompaniment throughout the entire performance.

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You can purchase a pair of Surface Headphones from Amazon now, as they are currently on sale for $249.99 USD (as of May 30, 2019).

These headphones, only available in gray (or as Microsoft calls it, ‘platinum), are simply stylish. Only discreetly branded with the windows logo in silver just above each ear cup, these cans are minimalistic in design and shape. This places them at the far end of the spectrum from the Beats series that place branding first-and-foremost up front. I actually liked wearing the Surface Headphones out in public or pulling them out to use in a professional setting, and I did not feel self-conscious about doing so.

“My favorite thing about these headphones physically is the way that volume and noise cancellation works.

[…]

“…[T]his is an amazing concept and one that I wish all manufacturers would adopt as the industry standard going forward.”

The cups themselves fit fairly snuggly on my head with minimal discomfort, even over my wire-framed glasses, and I found myself capable of wearing them for lengthy periods of time. For example, I flew in April from Los Angeles to Munich, and I was able to watch several movies with them on without feeling like I needed to remove them. They weigh 10.2 ounces (290 grams), which is more than Sony’s WH-1000XM3 at 8.99 ounces (255 grams) or Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II that clocks in at 8.25 ounces (234 grams), but it really did not impact my long-term wearing. I will say though, that after I took the Surface Headphones off after wearing them for a long period of time, I realized that my ears were warm from the heat that was held in by the earcup padding. That said, I really do wish that they could have folded down into a smaller package (they are completely unyielding), as the headset and its carrying case take up more room than I like in my bag.

The Surface Headphones, unlike virtually every other headphone on the market these days, does not collapse into a smaller unit. You also get a 3.5 mm and a charge cable included that fits into the netting. The instruction sheet that came with the headphones I actually tucked into the netting as well so I could easily reference what the different button presses do if needed. (Image taken by me).

The battery life is fifteen hours, again less than Sony’s WH-1000XM3 (30 hours) or Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II (20 hours), but it honestly is long enough to last me for a lengthy trip across the world to pretty much anywhere that isn’t from Newark to Singapore on a 17 1/2 to 18 1/2 hour direct flight. The Surface headphones come with a USB-C connector charge cable that will charge slightly less than an hour’s worth of playtime in a bit more than fifteen minutes, and will fully charge the headphones in right around two hours. It also comes with a 3.5 mm cable that will let you plug it directly into your PC or airplane TV monitor. All of that said, I do wish that it came with both an airline headset adapter for those flights that require the proprietary two-pronged jack and with a wall-plug in, if only so I don’t constantly have to find an available USB slot to charge it in.

My favorite thing about these headphones physically is the way that volume and noise cancellation works. The ear cups both have rotating dials that are both discreetly hidden into the outer edge of the headphones that are extremely intuitive to use. To break it down simply: the left ear cup handles the noise cancellation controls and the right cup handles the volume controls. While I will get into the quality of the sound and noise cancellation features themselves shortly, I will just say this is an amazing concept and one that I wish all manufacturers would adopt as the industry standard going forward.

“The sound quality for the Surface Headphones is great, but not amazing. You can hear the bass and the tremble and you can hear the pitch and tone of songs, but it is all somewhat distorted.”

With Microsoft trying to slice themselves off a piece of the noise cancellation industry’s consumer pie with their first iteration of the Surface Headphones, the question becomes: just how good are they at their designed purpose? On this, I had mixed results.

For noise cancellation, Microsoft advertises that the Surface headphones has up to 30 decibels for active noise cancellation and up to 40 decibels for passive noise cancellation. What this translated to for me was that when the headset noise cancellation was all the way up (by twisting the left dial to its maximum), the deep vibrating sounds of the airplane’s jet engines or that of street construction jackhammers faded away almost completely. Noise cancellation is, in my opinion, meant to take away the worst of the noise pollution we hear in certain environments, and these headphones work beautifully on that front to the point that I would forget just how loud all of that background base noise could be.

The problem with these headphones, however, is that they do not cancel out any of the more higher-pitched noises, even at maximum volume. What that means is that on a flight where a baby is crying two rows back, you’re still gonna hear that child screaming. If there is a conversation occurring at a decent volume in the seats in front of you or an announcement being said over the in-flight intercom, you will still hear it but it will be just garbled enough that you won’t understand it. I was shocked at this clear and consistent disparity in noise cancellation quality when it came to the different types of sounds that I encountered as I used them on multiple plane flights, train trips, subway rides, and bus routes in different locations.

These images show close-ups of the earcups. The outermost flat part is a touch-sensitive surface, and it is surrounded by a ring that rotates to adjust the volume/noise cancellation levels up and down, and the cups themselves are cushioned with padding that does get warm if worn too long. (Images courtesy of Microsoft).

One other neat feature about the noise cancellation is that if you turn it all the way down (you know that the noise cancellation/volume is at its maximum/minimum thanks to a beep and a voice telling you so in the headset), it actually amplifies the surrounding background noise. This is ostensibly so you can hear people talking to you in the background, but I found it was simply easier to just take the headphones off completely if I needed to hold a conversation with someone instead.

“The Surface Headphones are, without a doubt, made as a true partner for the Windows Surface line of computers.”

The sound quality for the Surface Headphones is great, but not amazing. You can hear the bass and the tremble and you can hear the pitch and tone of songs, but it is all somewhat distorted. I am currently listening to Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra through my Surface headphones as I write this review, and I am definitely missing out on a lot of the nuances that instruments provide and that higher-quality headphones would display. The sound quality in these cans are not terrible by any means, but these mid-tier sound-quality headphones will not be replacing your primary high-end listening to headphones.

The Surface Headphones envelop the ear, and the noise cancellation levels/sound volume is adjusted by turning the dial on each cup. (Image courtesy of Microsoft).

Finally, another understated feature is that when the headphones come off your head, they can recognize that you just took them off and they will pause the music you have playing and the noise cancellation until you put them back on again. This works well when you have to take the Surface Headphones off to talk to the person next to you for a brief moment or when you need to go to the bathroom or whatever, though I found that it wasn’t perfect as putting the headphones around my neck or with a blanket stuffed between the ear cups would sometimes defeat this feature.

The Surface Headphones are, without a doubt, made as a true partner for the Windows Surface line of computers. I have worked exclusively with a Surface Pro 3 for almost two years now, and I was impressed with how easily it paired with my computer via Swift Pair. The Surface Headphones integrated well with the Surface Pro 3, with one weird exception: if you want to turn the Surface Pro’s volume up or down via the headset dial, it only does it in increments of seven. I have no honest idea why Microsoft picked that specific number (instead of say, ten), and it is an incredibly odd choice.

I also use a decidedly non-Windows device for my phone, an iPhone X, and the Surface Headphones work perfectly with it. First and foremost, I can control the phone’s volume with the headphone’s volume dial with little issue. Both of the Surface Headphone’s flat earcup sides also function as a touchpad that are perfect for a smartphone device. You can accept a phone call or end a phone call by tapping on either side twice, and you can reject a phone call with a long tap. The call quality is quite exceptional, to the point that people could not tell if I was talking to them via handset or by the Surface Headphones while my phone is in the next room. Music is also controlled by a series of taps: one tap to play/pause, two taps to skip to the next song, and three taps to go back to the prior song. These music controls worked extremely well, and were perfectly integrated not just with Apple’s own iMusic app, but also with Amazon’s Music app.

That said, Microsoft made a serious miss with these headphones: they do not natively integrate via Bluetooth with the Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X video game consoles. As Microsoft has been pushing for integration among devices with smartphones and any Windows 10 devices, the fact that I cannot just sync my Surface Headphones to my Xbox console of choice is a baffling omission by the company.

While the AI assistant integration is quite amazing, you are out of luck if you want to connect the Surface Headphones via Bluetooth to any of the Xbox One family of consoles. (Images courtesy of Microsoft).

As I mentioned earlier, the Surface Headphones are meant to be integrated with the Surface Pro series of computers. This philosophy also extends to your choice of AI assistants. I was able to actively connect both my iPhone X and my Surface Pro 3 to the headset at once, as my headphones would vocally and helpfully remind me of (along with the battery life remaining) when I turned them on. The AI assistant is summoned by simply a long press of either touchpad, much like when declining a phone call. I found myself, for the first time in my life, actively using Cortana via my headphones to do things like call a contact on Skype, tell me the weather, etcetera. As for Siri, I had full function of her as well with my iPhone to place calls, play music, ask research questions, and more.

That said, it is next to impossible to flawlessly switch between the two AI assistants when both the computer and smartphone were actively connected. For example, I found that my Surface Headphones would default to using one AI assistant, even if I issued the proper vocal command to active the other AI assistant instead. For example, it would default to Surface Pro 3’s Cortana when I did a long press, even if I said “Hey Siri” to trigger my iPhone instead, or it would do the obverse instead. I would have to disconnect one of the devices from Bluetooth in order to switch the AI assistant over to the other option before reconnecting that device again. This turned out to be a major annoyance, as I actually grew to really utilize Cortana alongside Siri while using these headphones.

The integration of these cans with the Surface Pro 3 is amazing, and I never actually used Cortana (Microsoft’s AI Assistant) until I began to wear the headphones regularly while working. (Image courtesy of Microsoft).

The Bluetooth range is also quite impressive on the Surface Headphones. Despite Microsoft inexplicably adopting a 4.2 standard instead of the cutting-edge 5.0 standard (though Bose’s QuietComfort 35 II also only uses 4.1), I was impressed with how wide of a range there is on these headsets. I live in a 1,405 square foot two-bed and two-bath apartment, and my sound and call quality never would dip, even if my iPhone X or Surface Pro 3 were at opposite sides of the apartment from me with several rooms between us. As someone who has consistently bought cheap Bluetooth headphones multiple times over the years, I was absolutely floored by this revelation and I wound up unsuccessfully trying to find a distance in my home that would stop them from working perfectly.

So what’s the final verdict?

The Surface Headphones are Microsoft’s first attempt at the noise cancellation marketplace, and for the most part, it succeeds. These are gorgeous cans that do their primary job of drowning out airplane, train, and bus noise without an issue over its fifteen-hour battery life. All that said, they currently retail for 350.00 USD (the same price as Sony’s WH-3000 XM3 or Bose’s Quiet Comfort 35 II). If your primary concern is having excellent noise cancellation with an expertly integrated AI assistant feature and chic aesthetic design, then these are worth the price. Otherwise, I would hold off to see what Microsoft creates in their next iteration of the product. All of this means that this is a set of headphones perfectly suited for a four-out-of-five star rating.

If you’re so inclined, you can purchase a pair of them from Amazon, for as of May 30, 2019, they are currently on sale for $249.99 USD.

Review Score
Overall

These headphones were won as part of a contest sponsored by Microsoft.

Have you tried out these headphones yet? What do you look for in a good pair of headphones?

Let us know in the comments below!

The post REVIEW: Microsoft’s Noise Cancelling Surface Headphones appeared first on oprainfall.

If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I generally don’t touch off brand merchandise. No matter how intuitive or inexpensive, I usually prefer having the real deal from the manufacturer. Just less work that way. But with the case of the Horicon Mobile Mode Exclusive Cross Connector, I made an exception. For one, I got it to tide me over while my Nintendo light blue left Joy-Con was in the shop getting repaired for a drifting problem. And for another, the Horicon branded Joy-Con actually worked pretty well.

The highlight of the Horicon Mobile Mode Exclusive Cross Connector (other than the classic blue hue and ridiculously fun long name) is that it actually has a D-Pad instead of buttons. While I love most things about my Switch, it has been lacking a D-Pad for precise controls for old school platforming. This one is nice and sturdy, and responds pretty great, with some provisos. When you’re using it for typing, such as when uploading screenshots to social media, it doesn’t slide smoothly but rather chugs in the direction you’re holding. It’s a lot like the old Resident Evil tank controls, in a way. Responsive but slow. The D-Pad also had some quirks when I was using it to read Nintendo news, such as scrolling all the way to the bottom when I just touch it. Thankfully it works quite well in the games themselves. It’s very well suited for games like Wargroove, where you have to move along a grid with precision. I anticipate it’ll also work amazing in the upcoming Super Mario Maker 2.

I spent a good hour or so tinkering with this Horicon product, and for the most part it worked fine. I used it to slide around on the eShop, rummage through my gallery and play several games without problem. But when the problems did show up, they were head scratchers. After the drifting issue that happened (only in the News feed), I decided to try and calibrate the controls. The joystick didn’t display properly, with the cursor centered and displayed as a +. Instead, it was slightly off center and displayed as a circle. Furthermore, it wouldn’t let me calibrate it, perhaps because Horicon isn’t official Nintendo merchandise. However when I tried to calibrate it later on, everything read as perfectly normal.

This next thing isn’t a problem, but rather one of the disadvantages to the Mobile Mode Exclusive Cross Connector. It’s only for playing while connected to the Switch system. It does not work detached from the system, nor is it designed for wireless play with the TV. Another oddity is the screencap button. Though it works perfectly fine, it’s not as tight as the regular one. It’s more of a spongy button than a hard click. That took some getting used to, but otherwise I had no complaints.

As far as price, the Horicon Cross Connector is pretty affordable. While a basic Joy-Con from Nintendo will run about $35, this product sells on Play-Asia for $22.99 before shipping. Regular slow shipping will only cost you $5, while two day is $18. So if you decide to go the cheap route, you can get this for $7 less than a regular Joy-Con, which isn’t a bad deal.

Though I don’t love the sporadic quirks I encountered, overall I can recommend the Horicon Mobile Mode Exclusive Cross Connector. It made me realize how much I miss having a good old D-Pad on my Switch. If you are just looking to play portably with your Switch, this one is worth checking out. If you’re interested, feel free to use the link below.

The post IMPRESSIONS: Horicon Mobile Mode Exclusive Cross Connector appeared first on oprainfall.

The package is beautifully animated, with contrasting yellows and blacks that make me think of Halloween. I appreciate subtle notes like the eyeballs on the Princess’ hair that represents her true wolf form and the dramatic wolf shadow. After removing the plastic, I found the outside was held together by a cardboard sheath with the Switch logo on it. The back of the sheath has the same information that can be found on the back of the game box. While on the side of the sheath is the title of the game in a fancy script.

Once the sheath has been removed from the inner box, we are treated to a similar image from the front of the sheath, but on the back is a delightful forest scene with the Liar Princess and the Blind Prince, framed by a huge full moon. They are gleefully dancing, unaware of the dangers that surround them.

Though it was a bit tricky to get the box itself open, once we do we are treated to a sandwich of 3 items – a smaller box holding the music CD (box not displayed here), the tiny storybook and a cardboard case holding the game box.

The game box is pretty much identical to the outer sheath, so I won’t spend more time discussing that. The storybook looks like a tiny leather bound tome, and it’s darling. It has several pages of the story of the Princess’ plight to help the prince, as well as her culpability in his affliction. It reads like a Brother’s Grimm tale, though far less grisly. It’s a dozen or so pages, each lovingly animated.

As for the music CD, it has 15 tracks of soft and melodic orchestral music. Each track lasts a couple minutes or so, and many of the songs sound like the soundtrack to a Disney movie, with a bit of Tim Burton thrown in. It was easy to relax with the tunes, and I can imagine they’ll be even better when paired with the actual gameplay.

I’m happy I had the opportunity to review the packaging of the Storybook Edition for The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince. I’d say this edition of the game is a bargain for only $39.99. Be sure to tune in later on for oprainfall’s full review of the game.

The post IMPRESSIONS: Liar Princess Storybook Edition appeared first on oprainfall.

Somehow being able to be a part of one of your favorite stories is a fantasy that quite a few people have had. Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha is a manga in which a student who’s a Dragon Ball fan gets put into his favorite series as the former bandit. While he was initially excited due to him having a crush on Bulma and being at a point where she is with Yamcha, the bliss is short lived. As a huge fan of the series, he quickly remembers the events that will begin to befall on Yamcha.

An unfortunate fate.

The jump into the Dragon Ball world first starts when Goku is still a kid. From there it jumps around to events such as the arrival of the Saiyans and the Cell games. The deviations from the series start a bit early on as the reincarnated Yamcha sets out to train harder and become strong enough to avoid his infamous death scene. However, with his extensive knowledge of the series, the new Yamcha actually has a chance to go against enemies such as Vegeta and Napa. Along with with that, he has the secondary goal of making sure his relationship with Bulma survives.

It helps to know what will happen.

One thing that maybe disappointing is that the manga is a bit one the short side. It’s a three part story that also has two additional short bonus chapters. So there are quite a few things and events that we don’t get to see the reincarnated Yamcha experience. This maybe disappointing depending on what you would’ve liked to have seen. At the same time, for a story like this it might be best that it doesn’t drag on for too long.

This manga is definitely for Dragon Ball fans. You can see that the creator, dragongarow LEE is quite the fan too. He does a fine job trying to emulate Toriyama’s art style, and at times it wouldn’t be difficult to think some panels were from the Dragon Ball creator himself. Seeing Yamcha take on the leading role along with being able to hold his own against someone like Vegeta is great. The fact it puts the spotlight on a character whose role decreased over time makes it a bit more refreshing than say if it followed one of the Saiyans. In addition to the action the manga is quite humorous. Even the all important question of “Why Yamcha?” is asked by the main character at one point.

What fan wouldn’t want a chance to fight with the Saiyan Prince?

Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha is a manga for those that would like to see the story from a different point of view. It does great job replicating the feel of Dragon Ball with its art, action, and comedy. It’s a short but, enjoyable manga that might make you feel more for one of Goku’s oldest friends.

Review Score
Overall

Reviewer’s own personal copy was used for the review.

The post Manga Review: Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha appeared first on oprainfall.

Title	Goblin Slayer Volume 1
Author	Kumo Kagyu
Artist	Kousuke Kurose, Noboru Kannatuki (Character Design)
Rating	Mature
Publisher	Yen Press
Release Date	December 19, 2017
Pages	176

Based off of the light novel of the same name, Goblin Slayer Volume 1 is the first part of this violent dark fantasy story. The story first follows Priestess (All the characters are named liked this, ex. Guild Girl or Goblin Slayer), an adventurer who joins a party of rookies for her first quest. They set out to slay goblins which have stolen from a village and kidnapped women. Like in most media, goblins are considered to be one of the lowliest monsters, weak individually but, troublesome in a group. While it seems like a simple beginner’s quest, the Priestess’ first quest falls apart quickly. Just as she’s about to suffer a grim fate, she is saved by a man known as ‘Goblin Slayer’ who lives up to his name and viciously dispatches the creatures.

Who wouldn’t want her in their party?

If there is one thing you can get from very early on is the tone of the series. There is a lot of violence and nudity, both of which are brutal. Depending on how sensitive you are to this kind of gruesome content, it might be too much to handle. While goblins are treated like nuisance by the experienced adventures and an easy target by novices, they are dangerous and are savage. They enjoy killing, raping, and pillaging and are shown to go after women at any chance. The savageness they display makes it easy to understand Goblin Slayer’s mercilessness against them. It goes into some dark territory to say the least.

The art in the manga to put it simply, is really good. There is a bit of a contrast that’s present in the art direction. Characters such as Priestess are drawn in well a cute and soft manner. On the other other side of it are the goblins. Their looks are just as grotesque as some of the acts they commit. Goblin Slayer does not shy away from gore and nudity. Goblin Slayer for the most part is almost always seen clad in his armor. While you can’t really see his expressions, the art will reflect some of his darker and more vicious views regarding goblins. The reactions of characters to the events unfolding (usually Priestess), do a good job of showing their horror to what’s happening.

You won’t feel too bad about what happens to the goblins.

The plot starts off with some basic stuff, with adventure guilds and quests. There’s a flashback to Goblin Slayer’s past and well, after seeing what happens with Priestess’ party you can probably take a good guess on why he hates goblins (There is also prequel series out too). The first volume ends hinting at some bigger events in the works but, for the most part there’s a focus on the Priestess getting acquainted with Goblin Slayer and his hunts. This focal point highlights the way he thinks, which well is almost completely on just killing goblins. While this may sound it can become tiresome, the strategies he comes up with are interesting. Specifically, the way he uses one of Priestess’ skills later on in the volume.

Never had a chance.

Goblin Slayer is dark, violent, and doesn’t pull it’s punches. If some of the more brutal aspects don’t bother you or instead grab your attention, then this is a series you should consider checking out. While the titular character is only focused on one thing, there is a bit of depth here. Even if there’s no apparent larger plot going on in this volume, the action scenes and their savagery will definitely keep you interested for the next volume.

Would you want to be on the bad side of a guy like this?

Review Score
Overall

Reviewer’s own personal copy was used for the review. Other volumes of the manga and the light novel are currently available. An anime adaption of the series is currently in the works. 

The post Manga Review: Goblin Slayer Volume 1 appeared first on oprainfall.

I was first approached by hardware and peripheral developer HyperX at PAX West, to demo their new lineup. I was hesitant because it was an unexplored area for oprainfall. As I’m sure anyone reading this knows, oprainfall focuses on gaming and anime for reviews and news. However, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to see if there’s any interest among our readers in this kind of content. So, after getting the go-ahead, I decided to take them up on their offer and review their new Cloud Stinger, the newest in the Cloud line of gaming headsets.

The Cloud Stinger is meant to be an entry-level gaming headset, with a price point lower than the others in the Cloud line. Its design is simpler than these other headsets as well, with the outer shell and casing mostly composed of plastic. A volume control can be found on the right ear cup, and the microphone automatically mutes itself when moved into the upright position. The ear cups sit comfortably over and around the ear, although they do get pretty hot after using them for extended periods of time. The Cloud Stinger is meant to be usable for either PC or console gaming, so the headset has a single input/output analog jack for consoles as well as an extension with a splitter for PC. The base cable is about four feet long, with the extension more than doubling the total length. It is a bit long for use on PC, so you’ll likely want to find a way to keep it from getting in your way while using the headset. The cord is relatively thick and feels high-quality. It plugs directly into the DualShock 4 and some versions of the Xbox One controller, while other models of the Xbox One controller require an extra connection peripheral. Theoretically, it should work with anything, since the connector is a standard one.

The headset is remarkably comfortable to wear, although as I mentioned earlier it does get somewhat sweaty to wear it for longer gaming sessions due to the lack of airflow in the ear cups. The design also cuts off most ambient sound more than on-ear headphones, making it easier to focus and ignore distractions. Having the volume control on the headset is a nice touch, although I didn’t find a whole lot of use for it using the headset on PC.

The headset is very clearly intended for gaming use and not particularly well-suited for other purposes. Something I picked up on while using the Cloud Stinger for music is that the volume levels are not even. The headset has boosted bass, while the mid-range pitches are lower and high pitches are kept level. It works for gaming, but music tends to sound somewhat off unless you deliberately go into volume settings on the PC and change the equalization yourself. Ultimately it’s all my preference, but I like music and in-game sounds to have more balance to them; I’m not a huge fan of sound being particularly bass-heavy. This is also just on the default settings, and the balance is something that can be edited to your preference. I can also notice a slight lack of depth to the higher-end sounds, but I’m not sure if that’s an EQ problem or an issue with the speakers themselves. It doesn’t seem like most of the sounds have a lot of body to them, except for the boosted low end.

The microphone is nothing special. Headset mics are always pretty hit-or-miss, usually not suited to anything other than voice chat, and the microphone on the Cloud Stinger is no exception. It seems quiet, based on my testing, but that’s generally a non-issue in voice chat in games. It’s not suitable for recording voice-overs or streaming, all part of the reason why you should never use a headset microphone for livestreaming or doing gameplay videos.

I can’t exactly speak for the relative quality of many other gaming headsets. The only other one I’ve used extensively is my usual one which costs about double the price of the Cloud Stinger when I got it two years ago. I don’t know where the Stinger falls compared to other headsets at or below the same price, or relative to the rest of HyperX’s Cloud and Cloud Revolver lines.

Ultimately the HyperX Cloud Stinger is not an outstanding headset, but at $49.99 USD the saying “you get what you pay for” holds true here. It’s definitely not bad and is more than adequate for gaming. However, if you plan to listen to music or do more with it, you would probably do well to invest in something higher quality. It all depends on how easily you can discern audio quality and what you intend to use the headset for, but it’s a solid pair of headphones for the price.

Review Score
Overall

Review unit provided by manufacturer

The post HARDWARE REVIEW: HyperX Cloud Stinger appeared first on oprainfall.

Steins;Gate Volumes 1 & 2 are the first two of the three volume adaption of the the visual novel by 5pb & Nitroplus. If you aren’t familiar with the series, it is a story that is themed around time travel and the consequences that can result from it. It tells the story of the Future Gadget Laboratory and an invention which affects not only themselves, but also the future.

The Laboratory is headed by Rintaro Okabe, an eccentric college student who proclaims that he is a mad scientist. (“It’s so cool!” Sonuvabitch“) He prefers to be called Hououin Kyouma, but is known to some of his friends as “Okarin”. He pretends that he is in conflict with “the organization”, pretends to talk to people on his phone at times, laughs maniacally at times, and has a huge interest in certain subjects such as time travel.

Look in awe as you will never be this cool.

The other members of the laboratory include Okabe’s air headed childhood friend, Mayuri, Daru, Okabe’s  friend from high school who is a computer hacker and a bit of a pervert, the genius Kirisu, who Okabe frequently clashes with, the part timer Suzuha who works at the store below the apartment which the Future Gadget Laboratory meets at, Faris Nyannyan, a waitress at a maid cafe, Luka, the epitome of cuteness, but a dude, and lastly Moeka, an odd woman who prefers to send messages rather than speak face-to-face. The characters all have their own charms (along with names Okabe made up) which make them likable. The members of Future Gadget Laboratory also have secrets or backgrounds that are deeper than you would initially think, which play a part in plot as it goes on.

You can’t go wrong with a group of friends that include cat-themed maids.

The style of the manga is a bit hit or miss. If this if your first time with anything Steins;Gate, the art direction is decent. The over exaggeration of character’s reactions to the more humorous moments are nice, and likewise the art also does well reflecting the tone when it becomes more somber. It definitely is not bad, but it isn’t really anything special. However, if you are more familiar with the visuals of the game, it may seem a bit off to you. I’ll admit for me the art style didn’t really feel like it matched with the visual novel. But, it did end up growing on me. The story so far seems to be following the “true ending” of the visual novel. That being said, the story is great and seeing it as a manga is nice way to experience it. In the two volumes, the manga is able to keep both the humor and seriousness that are present in the visual novel and anime series. Definitely not all of it, but we’ll get to that.

That’s not the invention’s full name!

There are a few issues with the manga. The biggest comes from the fact the visual novel takes over a dozen hours easy depending on how many endings you want to get, and the anime is 24 episodes. The manga on the other hand is only 3 volumes long. If you’ve played the game or watched the anime, you will notice that a number of things aren’t present in the manga. It’s not really surprising that some stuff was not going to be present in a manga adaptation. Even if this is your first experience with Steins;Gate, you will feel that it seems some parts are rushed such as with how fast certain plot lines are solved. Some of the lab members also definitely don’t get as much time as they should. If you really liked the way the visual novel explained certain things such as the scientific aspects, a lot of it isn’t really present. The translation is pretty good and this is not really a problem, but some of the spelling is different from what is used in the visual novel. It isn’t really a problem, but certain things won’t seem right when you read it.

I’m sorry but this is just wrong.

Even with the manga compressing some of the material from the visual novel, it is still worth a look. If you’ve never gotten into Steins;Gate before, this is not a bad place to start. If you are familiar with the series, experiencing it as a manga will still be good so long as you don’t mind how quickly it goes through the story. If you are just getting into the series and do pick up the Steins;Gate manga and enjoy it, I do recommend playing the visual novel which is available on a number of platforms, or to watch the anime series. Hopefully, if there is enough interest in bringing the manga west, it maybe a sign we will see some more of the series besides Steins;Gate 0, such as the film, some of the spin-off games, or maybe something else.

Review Score
Overall

Both volumes of the manga were provided by Udon Enterainment. The third volume of the manga is also now available. 

The post Manga Review: Steins;Gate Volume 1 & 2 appeared first on oprainfall.

Are you a fan of the Blue Bomber, but sick of always having those pesky and, oftentimes, difficult platforming sections? If, for some odd reason, you happened to say yes, then this duo of titles should be perfect for you! Welcome to Mega Man: The Power Battle and Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters, two arcade games released in 1995 and 1996, respectively. That’s right, today we are delving into a review of two arcade cabinets! Don’t worry too much if you can’t buckle down and spend hundreds of dollars on an arcade cabinet of your own (I certainly can’t) because, luckily, these games were also released on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection as unlockables for completing Mega Man 3 and Mega Man 7, respectively.

Above: Something I will never be able to afford.

The two games are nearly identical in presentation and gameplay, which is why I’ve lumped them together into one review. Each game is rather straightforward, offering you three groups of robot masters to fight through depending on which set you choose. From there, the game essentially becomes a boss rush where you fight through six robot masters before facing off against a mini boss from the series, and then finally confront Dr. Wily at the end. There is close to no story involved in either title, though the character endings from the second game contain a few references that series’ veterans will find fun.

Series fans may get a chuckle out of some of the references

If you’ve played any other Mega Man title, the controls should feel comfortable to you, unless, of course, the transition to an arcade joy stick and buttons from a controller throws you off like it did me at first. Everything is smooth and responsive as you play, which is a requirement in any fast-paced fighting game title, and these two titles do not disappoint in that regard.

For the first time, you can take on robot masters with a friend!

Though the games offer you multiple characters from whom to choose, they all play almost the same with the exception of their dash move, which has them moving at different heights on the screen. This ends up giving Mega Man a slight advantage because of his low slide. In the second title, the characters have slightly different stats from one another, and each has a unique special move, but, overall, it shouldn’t affect the way you play. The level of challenge in these games varies a great deal since it’s an arcade title, allowing you to just put in another quarter should you die. Not to mention the fact that the game keeps the usual ‘rock, paper, scissors’ weapon mechanic, so, if you know the bosses’ weaknesses, each battle should be fairly easy. The most notable gameplay element in these titles, however, is the fact that it allows for cooperative play, so now you and a friend can team up to take on Dr. Wily and whatever Robot Masters he throws your way.

You get to play as any of these characters but they don’t keep their unique move sets.

Probably the coolest thing about the games presentation are the colorful and detailed recreations of many of the 8-bit robot masters we’ve come to know and love over the years. Seeing them in their enhanced glory along with new and addictive arrangements of old songs from the series was entertaining.

The sequel only has small aesthetic changes, but look: Mega Man and Proto Man vs. Dr. Wily!

These games are rather short, clocking in at about 10 to 15 minutes per playthrough, but, given the entry cost of about 25 cents a game (up to a couple dollars depending on how many times you die), I’d say if you can find it in an arcade, you should give it a go! That or  just unlock them on the Mega Man Anniversary Collection if you don’t care about authenticity.

Review Score
Overall

Review Copy Provided by Boomers: Mini Golf and Arcade…and also by author’s copy of Mega Man Anniversary Collection

Mega Man Anniversary Collection is available on Amazon:

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Title: Up Up Down Down Left WRITE Author: Nathan Meunier Publisher: Kung Fu Grip Press Release Date: August 5th, 2013 Official Website

A year ago, I saw Operation Rainfall as just another site, an organization. The fight to localize certain Japanese games was a noble one, and I could definitely get on board with that. But it wasn’t like they were going to become a big part of my life, not on a personal level… right?

Then, one day, they sent out a call. The site needed new writers to help with news and reviews. The requirements? A love for games, solid writing ability and some time. Essentially, everything that I already had. It was a perfect fit for me, and so began my time writing articles here on the site.

For Nathan Meunier, though, the story is very different. In his book, Up Up Down Down Left WRITE, he details every aspect of what it means to be a freelancing game journalist. There’s no stumbling on a recruitment process and no joining a team. Freelancers sort of wing it. They ask around different publications, pitching their best ideas for articles, in hopes that they’ll get a little work out of each exchange. They juggle multiple assignments from competing sites, and keep track of their own bills. They write to survive.

After the introduction, the book splits into its parts, which, in turn, are made up of chapters–essentially each a full article on a certain point. The first part begins with an overview of the freelancing life, highlighting its good points and then slamming you with a reality check on its difficulties. Are you cut out to do it? Are you cut out to do it for a living? Meunier starts by breaking down what you have to accomplish in order to earn a livable amount each week, and gives tips for slowly edging your way from a day job with a side of freelancing to the full-blown experience. There’s even a couple chapters devoted to dealing effectively with taxes.

As a partly self-employed person myself (unrelated to oprainfall), I was pretty impressed by the numbers he gave in his outline. $100-$300 for a single piece? Hello. Working relentlessly every day, one could make the equivalent of a decent salary in this field. It wasn’t, however, enough to tempt me once the amount of work sank in. As I hinted above, when you freelance, there’s a lot more hidden work that has to be done beyond simply researching, playing games and writing articles. You have to spend time selling your work, and making sure you get paid. Not to mention the taxes–though the tax breaks you can get, being self-employed, are shocking, as it turns out you can write off anything from office materials to a new console. (I admit to daydreaming a bit about that.)

Next, you’ll find a section on improving your work. While it’s certainly not a craft book on writing effective articles, it does cover many common types you might want to write, and, basically, what to expect. What does get a lot of attention is the pitch, the art of presenting your fully-formed idea to an editor in a way that makes them want to grab on and shell out the cash to have you write it for them. He emphasizes the importance of this over and over, with bits like: “A perfectly executed pitch can score you a gig that’ll jumpstart your writing career and lead to lots of potential work in the future, but a sloppy, haphazard one can do a lot more harm than simply leading you to lose out on a paying assignment.” There are even a couple of sample pitches thrown in as help. The great thing about this is that pitches apply to every business out there.

Lastly, he gets down to the areas where video game journalism is unique. By that I mean how PR works, review copies of games, the flow of releases throughout the year and more. There are bits about making it through those tough times when news stagnates, and how to cover a convention or other major event. Heck, he even has chapters about moving your stuff and conquering the inevitable depression of a solitary job. This catch-all section brings the book’s page count up to its full 230, and makes sure you’re covered in all situations.

The way I could tell immediately that he’s written a ton of killer articles in his career is because of his style. Nearly every paragraph is full of a masterfully witty turn of phrase, encrusted with well-timed nerdy references that illustrate the point rather… vividly. I ended up sharing some of his quotes with my friends while reading, like: “Asking for vague work handouts is about as effective as peeing into a tornado.” Even though I’m in a very different sector of journalism than he is, it still inspires me to continue to hone my own skills–good just isn’t good enough once you’ve seen this.

I personally don’t think I have what it takes for freelancing, according to Up Up Down Down Left WRITE. But maybe that life is for you–it has more than its share of benefits. If you’ve ever thought about taking that plunge… don’t go without this book. It’s the survival guide you’ll definitely need to have.

Review Score
Overall

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I have loved lots of video games in my thirty-something years, but few as much and as passionately as the Blue Bomber—Mega Man himself! First introduced to him on the NES, I initially found the games too hard to beat. Not that this stopped me from playing them, mind you; to the contrary, I kept trying and trying until I gradually got better and better. Nowadays, I can proudly call myself a Mega Man pro. I have played all the main games in the series multiple times and have even enjoyed many of the offshoot titles. Thus, it was with great pleasure that I got my grubby mitts on MM25: Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works. Not only that, I got the exclusive hardcover edition from the San Diego Comic Con, thanks to a very close friend who picked it up for me.

First, I have to take a moment to express how beautiful and faithful a book it is. The outer dust jacket is a glossy, metallic blue, and the inner pages are all crisp, heavy paper stock. Pages turn with relative ease and don’t stick together. Furthermore, the book is full of tons of written excerpts that illuminate the game-making process, as well as the developers’ personal insights. The book is so faithful to the original source material, they even tried to use the same colors from the game box for images when they reproduce them in the book. They even retained the original punctuation errors in the transcripts. Beyond that, it represents both the Mega Man and Mega Man X series very faithfully and gives equal representation to both. Quite simply, MM25: Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works is a treasure trove of Mega Man nostalgia.

But enough gushing—how about some pictures? I will start with images from the original Mega Man series, which showed up on multiple consoles, from the NES to the PlayStation to the Game Boy. Take a gander at some of the beautiful retro goodness:

I can’t express how much those first Mega Man games shaped me as a gamer. They taught me to always be charging up a shot to fire, how to properly time jumps and how to rapid-fire by clicking the attack button like crazy, amongst other things. I am still inspired by the simplistic yet beautiful and evocative boss designs. But, as much as I love the original series, I am also partial to the darker, futuristic Mega Man X series:

The X series had its ups and downs, plot-wise, but gameplay-wise, they were all pretty fun. Zero did steal the show, but that only made the series more original and less derivative. I also really liked the use of animals for Mavericks instead of the standard humanoid Robot Masters. Besides these two main series, there were a lot of offshoot games that cropped up over the years. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Now, I enjoy nostalgia as much as the next person, but you probably want to see some more juicy stuff, right? If that is the case, take a gander at the following section:

Besides having some really nifty secret info, the sketchbook also provided cool insight into the design process for the bosses and other characters, as well as lots of behind-the-scenes tidbits. For anyone who thinks Mega Man is a simple or cheap-to-produce game, this section will put them to shame. The Mega Man series is pure heart, and the next section shows just how innovative and varied it can get:

In closing, I just want to reiterate how much I love this art book. At over 400 pages, MM25: Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works is a font of beauty, wisdom and nostalgia. It shows how far the Blue Bomber has come in 25 years, as well as showing where he can still grow. Quite simply, it is a must-have for any true Mega Man fan, and I still think it’s a bargain at $100 (USD) at the Udon store. However, if that’s too steep, you can find a softcover version on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.co.uk for significantly less. I truly hope Capcom doesn’t forget how valuable a commodity Mega Man truly is in the years to come.

Regardless, before I let you go, I just want to share some particularly cool pictures with you, including my favorite of the whole review:

Review Score
Overall

Review copy supplied by author.

The post Art Book Review: MM25: Mega Man & Mega Man X Official Complete Works appeared first on oprainfall.

There are few games that strike as strong a visual chord with fans as Okami. Originally released for the PlayStation 2 back in 2006 and later re-released for both the Wii and PlayStation 3, it is probably the best known game developed by Clover studios. Though it borrowed some structure from series such as the Legend of Zelda, it had a style and soul all its own thanks to the beautiful graphics and unique battle system. So it was with much excitement that I found the Okami Official Complete Works at PAX Prime this year, and eagerly shelled out the $40 to own such a pretty book. Actually, pretty doesn’t do it justice. Here’s some proof:

These pictures convey the beauty and majesty of Amaterasu’s quest to restore color to the land and banish evil from it. I should note quickly here that I am far from a proficient photographer, a fact that was only exacerbated by the fact that this artbook opened up manga-style. That said, the pictures in this book seemed to come to life as I took each photograph. They literally looked clearer and more vivid after I took them.

Besides the beauty of the book, it was also full of one of the things I love in any game: monsters. And let me tell you, the Okami Official Complete Works is chock full of monsters. The pages are literally brimming with demons, ogres, imps, tengu and more. Take a look to get an idea of how great these critters are:

This gathering of creatures runs the gamut from silly to monstrous and hits every variation between. For me, they were one of the biggest draws of the artbook. I mean, pictures of Amaterasu and villagers are good and well, but these are the most captivating shots for me. Which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the other art in the book. Far from it. While villagers might not be my thing, some of the early sketches and concept art were quite illuminating and breathtaking:

While the art is far and away the biggest draw for any Okami fan, I found myself intrigued by the personal excerpts. The Okami Official Complete Works is full of interesting tidbits of information. Besides colorful commentary on the characters, the creation process and more, this artbook also had a very interesting section:

Besides depicting some beautiful scenes, the Gossip Log also has keen insights into what went into creating many of the characters of the Okami universe, both before and after the game was made. What was even more compelling was this section:

The Archives were quite simply the holy grail of the Okami Official Complete Works. Not only full of beautiful art, this section also held source material and any other random thing that they felt didn’t fit into other sections of the book. This included but was not limited to promotional art, magazine covers, package art, retro renderings of the Okami world map and a whole lot more.

Because of the seamless mixture of art, lore and creator information, I was very happy with this artbook. The juxtaposition of those elements made it a very worthwhile addition to my collection, as well as immeasurably increasing the value of the book itself. To anyone who is a fan of Okami, I cannot press you enough to pick this beautiful artbook up. Udon really outdid themselves with this one.

Review Score
Overall

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