Technical Difficulties

Well due to technical difficulties with the group namely the idea of college (most of the group being in college and scheduling issues the campaign is on temporary hiatus until we can get things straightened out with the game and such its on hold the group and I apologize for those who have been checking our site out.

Character Blog: Robo-Hell

Ashely Hays July 18th 2136

Day after day i wake up to the same pain . Nor only physical pain nor emotional pain but also an annoying pain. A few months back I was taken to somewhere I have no clue where I assume it was to some strange facility by these strange things i vaguely remember them referring to themselves as technoparas.

When i got back to Earth i heard the voice of one of the bastards in my head. It refers to itself as a Gold King, apparently its one of the last generation of its kind and is higher on the food chain than any of the techno paras race. Their intention is to take over earth and turn us into resource slaves.

According to what he's told me their a highly advanced techno organic organism that hold dominion over several large star systems. Their plans to expand come into play because they have stripped out the resources on their home world and are trying to develop an imperial dominion over the surrounding galaxies to gain access to resources.

Shortly after I returned to Earth from their facility I was taken into a military facility and the officers who brought me up to speed about what happened as I'd woke up virtually amnesiac and far from feeling the most sane as I struggled to suppress the Techno-Paras from taking me over.

The military officers put me through intense training to hone my body in the hopes of giving me a fighting chance against the parasite's control By the time I'd finished I was able to make use of the suit that the Techno paras generated but at the same time it also made me a more viable host for the Techno paras as it would take that much more to bring me harm.

The officers who belonged to a division of the joint Earth-Valinian military command known as the Valion Force directed me to attend Glendale academy as a way of learning to overcome the Gold King's control One of the officers that advised me mentioned something similar happening during the late 1980's where a young man named Kotaro Minami was taken captive by a group known as the Golgom Empire.

When the Gold King inside me heard the reference he let out a sigh of disgust and then told me that his ancestors fought against the man they named.

I hate to be abrupt but I have to go the bastard is starting to run his mouth and i need to turn on some tunes to drown him out.

Character Blog: A New Challenger Approaches

Tenryu Saisen July 17th 2136

Me and My brother Tobikau have been hanging out aboard the ship since we boarded it a few days ago. Before we get to far into this I'd probably have to explain a few things. I'm fairly new to this kinda thing seeing as i was raised in a small rural village in the Osaka prefecture of Japan and our family is pretty far backwards as far as technology goes.

Our family has a long standing history of being heroes it starts generations ago with one of my distant ancestors whom is my name sake. he was a great hero during the warring states period and was responsible for founding and protecting the village where our family resides to this day.

it seemed like it took for ever to convince our dad to allow us to attend Glendale Academy he believes "Heroes aren't taught, They make themselves." and from that you can imagine he's fairly stubborn about modern culture taking a back seat to tradition.

While I have all the respect in the world for my dad he's way too pig headed about these things. it took a lot of work on my uncle's (Tobikau's dad) part to convince him to allow us to go. But I think I'll enjoy it. I'm sure digging the sites thus far. Nothing but gorgeous babes as far as the eye can see =) everybody is treating it like a summer's end cruise and both Tobikau and I couldn't be happier.

But that's it for now I'll post more later

See ya.

Game Review: Fist of The North Star Ken's Rage

Now before I start this review i want to state that I'm not a hard core dynasty warriors fan nor am I an OCD Hokuto No Ken fan boy. that being said i do believe this game is one of the best adaptations of the series into video game format the other being the arcade fighter by Sega and Arc System Works.

that formality now over with I would like to say that with out a doubt that Fist of the North Star Ken's rage is one of the best adaptations of an anime I've seen.

First a little background info. Fist of the North Star (or Hokuto no Ken depending on your regional locale) is the great granddaddy of the Shounen (Young male) and to a certain extent the Seinen (18-30 male) Anime genre. its a hyper violent action anime based around martial artists who seek to bring peace to the world through their own self absorbed means following the events of a nuclear war which devastated the world and left human civilization in ruins.

In the now war torn world bandit gangs run rampant and menace the remaining civilian populace. Enter the protaginist Kenshiro Kasumi or simply Ken. The 64th heir to the deadly martial arts style of Hokuto Shinken (The Divine Fist of the North Star) a man who bears 7 scars on his chest and the burden of being the one to bring the world back from the brink of non existence.

Hokuto Shinken is a fictional martial art which is one of the three primary styles shown in the source material the others being Nanto Seiken (The Divine Fist of the South Star) and Taizanji Kenpo. although the main cast is split between Hokuto and Nanto.

The basic premise of the game and its source material by extension is that you the player battle your way back from the depths of hell (not in the literal sense) to take back Yuria, and then to take up the burden of the Hokuto Shinken successorship and the responsibilities it entails.

The game gives a digest version of the plot covering the primary arcs of the source material but leaving out many of the filler arcs and encounters that happened in the manga and anime. I won't go into extensive detail as it would take much too long to properly explain but i will say for what it covers it handles it really well with CG rendered cut scenes depicting the major plot bits. admittedly it could have included more of them to flesh out and establish things better but thats a minor nit pick point. the presentation is spectacular I actually think they picked some fairly competent voice actors and the writers stayed faithful to most of the dialog as well.

Game play

Yes for those who haven't picked up on it after reading the first paragraph of the post its a Dynasty warriors game. Is that a bad thing... for this adaptation i'd say "Absolutely not." after all the main draw is the idea of Ken and company's various crazy martial arts wreaking havoc over armies of low ranking peons with the occasional commander and then boss fights at the end of any major level in the story mode.

Just a word of warning to the Devil May Cry and God Of War crowd. This game does have a bit of clunky crunch to it. but in relation to the source material it fits you see Hokuto fighters like Ken are slow but heavy hitters. Nanto Fighters like Rei and Ken's primary rival Shin are speedsters who in the right hands can destroy large crowds with ease using their massively powerful air combos.

For those who stick with the game for more than one or two stages will find its very well built and action packed as you can build combos and do all the staple maneuvers of many classic beat em ups like God hand. such as canceling and other interrupt actions which can help give you some more agile combat without it feeling like your losing a sense of visceral impact. But being creative with your kills is encouraged as it yields bonus karma points which are used toward earning skill points used to upgrade your character.

Between stages you can upgrade your character on the Meridian chart which unlocks new moves, stat boosts and skills you can apply to your character to enhance them in ways such as lowering the requirement of the above mentioned karma points (Easier skill point grinding) passive recharge for your spirit (Musou for Dynasty warriors players) gauge for special attacks or even passive abilities that use levels gained to boost your primary stats (Vitality, Attack, and Defense) [note these abilities don't stop you from gaining skill points in exchange for the stat boosts.]

Once you've gotten upgraded and accustomed to the combat system the levels play a lot more smoothly. That said it won't be a total cake walk, if your playing in the later levels without any upgrades you will get your butt kicked if not by the peons the bosses.

On that topic the boss battles are fairly entertaining early on although those who dislike Quick Time events may be put off by the system the game uses to finish boss fights. basically once the boss's health is drained you walk up and press B on Xbox 360 (or Circle on Playstation 3) to initiate a timed button sequence mini game where you get a random sequence of buttons to press and a limited amount of time to do it in. starting out (the first few boss fights of each character where applicable) its fairly easy normally 3 or 4 sets of 3 face buttons but later on in the game it can get a little difficult.

One thing many of the main stream reviewers over look is that bosses have weaknesses to certain signature attacks (This game's Musou attack used with B or Circle depending on your platform) [Normally the attack that finished them in the source material.] each time you fail the Quick time sequence they regenerate part of their health bar but it can be reduced by hitting them with their weakness. [unfortunately Megaman logic doesn't apply here weakness doesn't grant excessively greater damage it just modifies how much they can regenerate if you fail the QTE.] after enough hits they'll only regenerate just barely enough to sustain a hit from a full 2-4 hit combo.

Now the end game boss fights can be unfair if you walk into them unprepared but usually the game gives you a decent hint about what you should do relative to the boss although the reliable tactic is with characters who have dodge cancels like Rei and Ken simply get a few hits in and break the enemy's guard and do an evade (Right Bumper or R1) or guard cancel to break your current string and quickly set up for another. Other characters profit from throw or jump canceling which as the name implies are canceling combos by doing the named action.

there's a cast of 8 or so playable characters including DLC characters each of them classified into groups by their fighting style Hokuto (Ken) Nanto (Rei) or Unique (Mamiya.) each one playing in their own special style which gives you a distinct way to play each one Hokuto as mentioned above are power characters, Nanto are speedsters and Unique are more based around ranged combat and special effects with Area of Effect moves to add to their range of usefulness.

Most of the characters are unlocked by completing Ken's story in Legend mode although a few are exclusive to the Dream mode which covers original side plots that were produced with input from the original creators of the source material.

Style

As you'd expect the game isn't to graphically flashy [it is a post nuclear wasteland after all. Thanks a lot Modern Warefare 2 :)] and as some of the reviewers tend to harp on their aren't that many varieties of minions four types in all (Basic grunts that look like cheesy Mad Max cosplayers. Brutes, large muscular walls of human flesh who take a series of chained hits to break their guard before you can land an effective hit. Tubbies who as their nickname implies are bulky guys who are basically fatter shorter versions of the brutes, they are slower to attack and are more resilient than the brutes but aren't heavy on per hit damage. Then we have the Bash brothers as I like to call them Bash Brothers are slightly taller than the normal mooks and carry around dual spiked clubs that they use to bash the ground and generate Area of Effect shock waves. their alternate model collectively known as spike are basically bash brothers wearing spiked armor thats resistant to standard attacks and can only be damaged by signatures and attacks that launch projectile. But to compensate they rarely guard.

The Bad

While the game over all plays fairly well there are a few minor glaring flaws that should have been removed or not put in, the biggest objection to it was the addition of platforming segments which feel tacked on to differentiate it from standard dynasty warriors fare.

It was a novel idea but it falls apart quickly as the engine which appears to be a modified version of the engine used in Dynasty Warriors 6 or possibly strike force i'd have to consult with someone else on it for conformation either that or if any viewers have the info provide it in the comments. but the engine simply isn't built for platforming.

The only other major flaw is the end game bosses can be overpowered and the difficulty settings aren't very well balanced its a cake walk on easy a fair challenge on normal and brokenly difficult on hard. (the only massive change between them is the amount of damage you take vs how much you deal .

The Verdict

other than that its a great game and a good value with a fairly complex if not mildly grindy upgrade system that will give you hours of replay time maxing out your characters in preparation for the boss rush mode which seems to be functionally hard mode on steroids as the bosses really don't change attack patterns or anything its more of the old stand by of them doing vastly more damage to you than you can dish out to them. But i could imagine a maxed out character in the hands of a player who knew the bosses patterns well enough could handle it. the one shining benefit of the boss rush mode is the bosses die without the QTE sequence at the end.

I'd give it a 4 out of 5 with a strong positive recommendation. The demo is available on Playstation Network and Xbox live Marketplace. But don't let the demo sour your opinion of the game if you can rent the full game before passing a negative judgment

Schedule slippage

I'm sorry that i haven't updated in the past few days i've been playing Fist of the North Star Ken's Rage and its been too great to pull myself away from. i marathoned the story mode as ken and blew through it in two days but i'm still going strong trying to 100% it

Character Blog: His Second Home

Rei Isagarra July 17th 2135

We've been on the ship a few days now and while i saw Kira's little post in reference to Mea back home I can say that far as my boyfriend Jiro he can kiss my ass right now because knowing him he's hanging out at the Dark Horse club with my dad getting sloshed and he probably doesn't have a clue I'm gone. i think i heard back from Ami he was actually living in a condo Joe Kiriga the bar keep built on as a way to keep the streets clean from his patrons going out drunk.

Shortly before I left the two of us got into a fight and I told him out right if he wanted to be in a drunken stupor all day he could move in to the condo I wasn't gonna deal with his crap any more. In the mean time I'm gonna play the field and see what kinda guys I can snag.

See Ya :3

Character Blog: Kinda Homesick

Kira Isagarra July 14th 2135 10:00am EST

As i sit on the cruise ship hanging out and lounging around I have a hard time not looking at the girls running around half dressed in their bathing suits as though its a party boat without thinking of my girlfriend Mea back in North City.

She'd enjoy the atmosphere here and I think she'd also like the Academy. Admittedly a lot of this is coming from the fact that shortly before I left for the Academy we'd celebrated our two year anniversery of our first date by me coming out and proposing to her. I figured the time I'd be spending at the Academy for my first term would give her enough time to make plans for our wedding although I'd mentioned to her that i wanted to wait until next year at the earliest since the two of us are 20 and I was wanting to wait till we're at least 21 before we get married cause my dad always told me he regretted rushing into getting married to mom

Any way that aside I'm eager to get to the academy from the brochure they put out it looks pretty impressive. So it'll be fun to see how things play out in the Kabuto program if I decide to join.

See ya

Character Blog: Apologies and Distractions

Kai Inara July 14th 2135

Sorry about not posting lately. Its not that I haven't been wanting to keep the blog running its just I've been caught up playing WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2136 which my dad sent me a copy of as a belated birthday gift.

I've been playing non stop trying to get the achievements and unlockables for it. Aside from my Create A Superstar version of myself and my friends. I'm playing around with some classics I got as part of the Online pass that the game has. Xbox 720 players got 2000's era Randy Orton and John Cena as well as :sigh: the Miz. I think Kira said the Playstation 6 version of it has !990's Era Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit.

I've been playing the heck out of it and I'll say its the bast game in the series to date at least since Activision bought out THQ back before I was born. (Dad followed the series religiously as a teenager.) sadly thats the draw back when there's only 2-3 3rd party game companies thankfully Ubisoft is still around even though its part of EA the heads of the company from the pre-merger period managed to get them to agree to allow Ubisoft to develop games outside of the normal EA games production schedule.

As for SVR 2136 its a great game it still has the occasional quirk of the Xbox 360 generation games but thats a minor quibble. they're still very fun and playable.

I'll try and get back on schedule of posting more regularly as soon as I can.

Kai Out

Game Review: WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2011

I'm not going to say that this game re-invents the wheel when it comes to wrestling games. but I do think its taking steps in the right direction. This year's Smackdown Vs Raw does as much right as its predecessor and fixes some of the problems that have plauged the series for the past few years.

The Good: What the game does right above all is the presentation it really sucks you in to the game. If you play it with all the settings turned to max and turn off the Heads up Display you'll feel like your practically there.

The controls are improved a ways they removed the standard strong grapple modifier button (Right Bumper on 360 R1 on Playstation 3) instead basing it on chained reaction attacks connected by a series of reversals. this prevents players from abusing strong grapples as was prevalent in the previous games but also causes a conflict as the more impressive moves have a gateway animation to them which enables them to be countered much easier than in previous installments thanks in part to the simplified 1 button counter system.

In some ways this is a good thing but it will also make competitive play rather bland as most fights will be fought with simple quick grapples with very few impressive non finishers being used.

The So So: The stuff in the game that's neither improved or degraded include the idea of the animations looking smooth as ever although several moves being generically renamed so as to avoid association with specific superstars who have left the WWE in the past year or so. The big "innovation" of the game is the introduction of Havok Physics into the game. Havok Physics being the cornerstone of most modern games as far as realistic physics rendering.

Although with the supplement of the physics comes the idea that while it is used in various areas (ladders breaking, Tables shattering and other environmental objects reacting more realistically the drawback is that these physics haven't been applied to the more subtle elements of the game. Such as the physics not being applied to clothing or hair on the models this is more prominent on the Create A Superstar models as their models are more generic than the motion captured WWE Superstars. It straddles the fine line between it being their first time using the engine and there for not wanting to push into territory they don't understand yet and them being a bit too lazy to implement a subtle touch like that.

The Bad: The aforementioned changes to the control system make it easier for casual gamers who may have trouble getting into the game but I can imagine it makes things rather annoying for the competitively minded player especially any of those interested in starting amateur leagues might have problems keeping things interesting as it will likely break down into spamming basic grapples and such

Also in single player the way the game handles ladder matches is also very annoying as the Computer controlled superstars don't stay stunned remotely as long as the player does and it can make anything more than a 2 person ladder match drag on forever.

The Ugly: While the create modes are strong as ever including the match creater mode the one mode thats lacking this year is the Create a move set as they stripped out a large number of the moves (I assume to make room for the other features and instead of reducing he variant moves they took whole groups of moves out. And from what i've played so far it appears as though there are no ways to unlock additional move sets to supplement what's available in the vanilla game.

Over all in spite of the negative elements of the game its a very solid addition to the franchise and I give it a 4 out of 5

Character Blog: Way of the Samurai

Kai Inara July 13th 2135 9:00am

I'm updating via my cellphone this morning, i couldn't bring myself to break out my laptop and besides i figured i'd take a look at the decks while its early enough that things are a bit more mellow.

As i treaded the decks i saw a few Shinkenger dorm students meditating, from their looks they were second year students not prefects but students who merely caught the freshman boat in for sake of convenience as opposed to waiting for the boat for the second years. I saw an open spot and began to sit down but my partner Ryusei decided to interrupt and demand I ask. I relented after a short internal argument and i asked for the spot, surprisingly they were very hospitbable about it and let me sit there.

Once I'd gotten myself relaxed and began to drift off I heard the voices of the other students murmuring and it seemed like it was concerning me. it seemed at first like it was hostile but then one of them walked over to me.

the young man who stood about as tall as me had black hair and teal eyes. was fairly skinny but still looked fairly capable of handling a sword. he said "You seem to be fairly well trained in martial arts and equally well disciplined in meditation the characteristics that we at Shinkenger dorm look for. Would you be interested in enrolling?" I sat there still partially in my trance contemplating the invitation and after a few moments i looked up at him and nodded in approval saying "I'll definitely consider it if I clear the entrance exams. " after that I made my way back to the my room and relax a little bit

See you later

Character Blog: Kabuto, It Just had to be insect themed

Kira Isagarra July 12 2135 12:00 noon

Its day two of the trip and it seems like some of the students are getting a little overzealous about two hours ago i had to break up a fight with a few Kabuto dorm prefects involving some potential students who'd hijacked a few of the new DualHopper type Zectors and belts from the storage of rider gears that the on board sparing arena had stocked.

This by itself wasn't a threat knowing that the belts were equipped with limiters that greatly depowered the belts from the versions at the academy but one of the kids managed to rewire the zector and bypass the limiter unlocking its full functionality.

The Kabuto dorm prefects got trounced pretty badly by the kid who seemed to know the DualHopper Zector a little too well for his own good. As much as I was aware of the restriction on using personal henshin devices i broke out my Thunder Dragon Gauntlets and challenged the kid to a straight up fight.

As i charged in me and the thief traded blows i could tell this wasn't just some punk with a bit of tech skill he actually new a good deal about how to fight as well. After several minutes of exchanging blows i finally got annoyed with it and I drew my hand back charged it with spirit energy and punched the Zector belt and trashed it.

as the punk ran off scared i handed the remains of the belt to the Prefects and I'm genuinely not sure if they were put off by me destroying the belt or happy to have gotten it back with out the student causing any damage.

After everything was sorted out the leader of the prefects approached me and offered me a spot in Kabuto dorm. I said "I'll consider it but I'd like to earn my spot." the prefect shook my hand and nodded saying "The offer is open and on the table if your interested once we get to Glendale." I walked away giving him a thumbs up pointed to the side showing my indecision at the moment.

Overall today was a good day.

Kira out.

Character Blog: Day 2

Kai Inara July 12 2135

According to the crew we're about two days out from arriving at Glendale island. I spent yesterday afternoon and into the early evening playing my guitar on the main deck both as a way to make up some money under the table and as a way to get a look at the populace of girls on the ship. it seems like for the most part the students are fairly well content turning this boat into a big old party barge up till we arrive at the island. course the idea of roughly 6%+ of the students here being in excess of legal age to drink doesn't prevent that impression from rearing its ugly head either.

The majority of the girls were pretty good looking although a little slutty for my taste besides after the last argument i had with Ami before i left North City I'm not really interested in picking up girls at the moment.

Kai Inara out

Character Blog: Diary Usagi Inara

Dear Journal,

My brother Kai and I just finished unpacking our stuff and Kai's sitting on the bed with his electric guitar out playing it. i believe i remember it being a Fender Strata Castor the most recent model of the line. he got it as a belated graduation gift from our grandparents who knew he and the others ran a band.

he's been working on tuning it and such before he goes up on deck. more than likely knowing my brother he'll use it as a way to pick up girls even though i'm sure Ami back in North City wouldn't be to keen on the idea, although i believe the did have an argument recently so that may be grounds as to why he'd play the field a little bit. At least till he sooths things over with her. Right now we've been on the boat for the afternoon and its getting ready to turn twilight.

To my surprise in spite of the lights on deck the night sky looks amazing over the sea. I hope we meet some new allies and friends there when we arrive at Glendale.

Usagi Inara,

Peace.

Character Blog: Zero Hour

Kira Isagarra

As we finished up putting our things away in the rooms they had reserved for us on the ship. Rei's darted off to the main deck and left me to handle packing things away. I can't blame her its not often you get the chance to take a ride on a cruise ship like this with a couple thousand of your peers. Of course knowing her like i do it won't be five minutes after she gets on deck before she's down to her bathing suit.

I wouldn't call her trashy but she's definitely not shy about her looks. Half my time spent around her is clubbing guys i hang around with over the head for going to far oggling her in a skimpy bathing suit.

Thankfully Kai, while he is prone to being easily distracted by pretty girls he knows Rei well enough that he doesn't mess with checking her out. While she's attractive in terms of looks its her personality that tends to be a buzz kill as she tends to flip between her tomboy default personality and a more love struck side.

The change in apprearence she undergoes between them is more than enough to get a few looks from the guys. when she's all Tomboy she gets "deflated" up north and gets a bit more of a plain figure. while in her lovestruck mode she undergoes a bit of "urban development " upstairs and gets the hourglass figure that tends to send the guys chasing her.

its fun to see the reactions when she switches from dredre to tsuntsun. most guys go from rabid dogs chasing a piece of meat to "Meh"

But i'll leave that for another entry. Kira out

Character Blog: Beginnings

Kai Inara Entry 1 July 11th 2135

My rag tag group here just boarded the ship to Glendale Academy. its a nice scenic looking cruise liner and it has some pretty lush accommodation considering its owned by the the school. we were sent to poke around and see if any students had the potential of joining our little group. i can't go into details but suffice to say things are likely to get hairy in the next few months.

Its me, My sister Usagi, my best friend and partner Kira, and his sister Rei, as we board the ship we see the flocks of students piling aboard and carting their things to their room before the ship sets sail and everyone goes into party mode. i can see each deck is supervised by prefects from each of the 24 dorms squads of 4-6 from each one cover the decks running security watch for any dopants who may be roving in the waters around the ship.

I'll sign off for now i've gotta scope out my room and then head out to the deck to "Help with the party set up." Kai out.

Poetry Corner with Kira

The Dragon's fury by Kira Isagarra
The heavens quake, the earth trembles. clouds darken as the golden dragon makes its fury known. Lightening that splits the sky. rain that rips through the forests winds that tear the soil. A guardian awakens to protect the natural balance.

A fist, a blade, the voices cry for a protector in this forsaken time. Warriors clad in armor emerge once in a life time taking up communion with the dragons to defend the world they call home. The Dragon's Fury a power unchained and beyond that of mortal men but still as subject to mortal vices.

Game Review: Dante's Inferno

I recently picked up a copy of Dante's Inferno and i have to say i'm fairly surprised. In sprite of it being the proud recipient of Ben Croshaw's "Like God of War But" stamp. considering i was able to pick it up at my not quite local Gamestop for $26 American it wasn't that bad of a deal.

The good: This game is "Inspired" by the epic poem of the same name but history buffs familiar with the source material you may question their design choices with the game at certain points but it definately gives you the "going through the bowels of hell" vibe the developers were going after. the meat of the game is your standard god of war style hack and slash action with occasional quick time events to break up the manotony the main gimmick of the game is that you can punish (brutally kill) or absolve (Purify) enemies and certain other npc's to give boosts to your Unholy (Scythe) powers or your Holy (Cross based powers).

The game play overall is very well balanced and fair although those who like doing 100% completion runs may curse the game on the first play-through as certain relic items used to modify stats and background attributes like how many souls you get for punishments and absolutions among other actions, tend to be placed in locations that may be impossible to get to on the first run through.

Although in spite of how well balanced the game is there are occasional moments where the game will randomly proceed to lean back and give you a one finger salute by way of either throwing you into battle with little to no health and no available regeneration fountains (which take several seconds of button mashing to draw out the health. the action granting you no invincibility frames to do it with. and yes you can be knocked out of the animation for drawing from the health fountain such that you have to start again. there is an item acquired later in the game that breaks the fountains upon use but it seems to lessen the amount of health received from the fountain when used.) the above also applies to mana and soul fountains which also need to be broken through a button mashing sequence.

The bad: Some of the above can hamper enjoyment of the game if your easily frustrated but if you have a sense of pride in your gaming prowess something that will frustrate you even more is the idea that the game on occasion (usually after dying a few times) the game will condescendingly remind you that the difficulty can be changed in the options menu which can be accessed with the back button on the Xbox 360 version and select on the Playstation 3. EVEN AT POINTS WHEN THE DIFFICULTY ADJUSTMENT WOULDN'T MATTER!!! (Certain areas having instant death traps which i doubt changing the difficulty would effect.)

The verdict: Dante's Inferno is a good game, is it a triple a block buster on the same tier as god of war, not quite. is it still good based on its own merits. if you can deal with some moments of hair pulling frustration and the game occasionally condescending to you when you've messed up once too many you'll generally like this game. is it a god of war killer? No. Was it made to be? possibly.

Overall I give Dante's Inferno 4 stars out of 5.

Update GM Corner

I've just ordered my first dice from Toy Wiz and a hardcover copy of the Big Eyes Small Mouth D20 Revised handbook from Barns and Noble for sake of having a physical copy of  the book and owning my first piece of what i hope to be a vast role playing book and supply collection

A fresh start

for those new to what we're doing we're going to be doing a running blog of events relating to our BESM (Big Eyes Small Mouth) D20 tabletop adventure. we'll post Out of Character information on the main page and in character material under the character section. this is building up to us doing a weekly pod cast covering our weekly adventures.

New beginnings

 Starting off

As we are fairly new to this i think you should know what our goal is. part of it has to do with the general idea of promoting our podacast which will be starting soon as our group has the proper equipment. this page will also provide a resource and location for character bio's for the characters we use in our campaign. which the info will be mirrored on our pod bean page http://animesenshi.podbean.com/ with these sites we plan to bring out a new style of modern role roleplaying.

additionally we plan to have a secondary pod cast dealing with Anime Sentai, Kamen Rider and other geek centric news we may even do mini casts in character as the characters from our game to allow the viewers to get a better idea of what they're lik

The idea behind this blog is to provide a platform to allow others into the realm of Anime, Roleplaying and Tokusatsu in all manner of ways. Primarily by following the adventures of the roleplaying group I participate in who will also be contributing to this work.

As soon as the means are available we'll get started with a podcast that will allow you to follow our weekly adventures. In addition to that we'll have a running Sentai blog where myself and the two toku specialists of the group will converse about the latest toku news from across the net.