Friday, June 29, 2018

The Promised Neverland Vol. 4 Review (Hey Poor Player)




Annnnd The Promised Neverland.

I wanted to have Astra Lost in Space up by yesterday/tonight, but various difficulties (not the least of which is major writer's block) have prevented that goal from materializing. Unfortunately, this means I won't be getting to Vinland Saga in time -- bummer!

Still, you can expect it sometime this weekend, and we'll be back to our regularly-scheduled program. 

My Hero Academia Vol. 13 Review (Hey Poor Player)


                                                                             Article Here

MY GOD I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY!!! Between an exhausting new position at my job and an out-of-my-control delay for the manga reviews, I hadn't time for the blog; heck, even this archival post is a few days late!

Consequently, I really don't know if that E3 post is gonna come up or not, sorry! I may put up a "Best Of" picture list to make up for it.

Friday, June 15, 2018

E3 2018 Preview Hub

After numerous delays in everything from flight delays to LA traffic, I've finally begun writing my E3 2018 previews! These will last through Monday, and we'll be covering up to nine or ten games total. Each game will be divided into the days they're published, so review accordingly.


Friday, June 15th

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)

Saturday, June 16th

Kingdom Hearts III (PlayStation 4)
Jump Force (PlayStation 4)

Sunday, June 17th

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (PlayStation 4)


Monday, June 18th

GunGrave VR (PlayStation 4)
Ninjala (Switch)
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PlayStation 4)

And that's it! I'll follow up with a retrospective epilogue for this post within the week.

Monday, June 11, 2018

I'm at E3!!!



It's...it's actually real. I even got to step inside just before the show tomorrow. It was only to pick up my badge, and it was only the calm before the storm, but it was still breathtaking.

Has everything I've done lead to this moment? I've always been a believer in fate, so it must be true. Tomorrow, I'll be in the same event I've been following for nineteen years, doing the same job as the journalists I've followed for just as long, live the experience I've been dreaming for so long, and be in the very same building as my lifelong heroes. It's too much to be true.

As I mentioned before, I'll be doing previews over the next week for Hey Poor Player, so I'm thinking I'll provide a "hub" post to document them all. You can look forward to seeing it updated throughout the week, so keep an eye out that.

For Smash Bros. and whatever else may come my way tomorrow...here I come!!!

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Unforeseen Incidents Review (Hey Poor Player)



This was another one I wasn't happy to give a relatively low score with, but I did what I must.

Anyway...that "SUPER EXCITING NEWS" I was talking about  regarding E3 the other day? Sadly, it didn't go through, but due to confidentiality, I can't quite talk about it -- let's just say I missed the cut to play a certain game behind closed doors. Just goes to show I shouldn't tease things not set in stone, heh.

Still, given the meetings and tours lined up, there should be plenty of exciting content to look forward to next week!

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Worldly Weekend: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Note: Merely discussing the content of this game -- or even just looking at the below cover -- paves way for some early spoilers regarding Kingdom Hearts II. If you're planning on going into the series blind, you'd best skip ahead.


And so begins not just Kingdom Hearts further wedging itself into the realm of indecipherable names, but spawning what remains its biggest folly: an endless line of "bridge" games consisting of side-stories, prequels, and pseudo-sequels, all for the purpose of either divulging a particular interim  between certain games or setting the stage for Kingdom Hearts III. Be it the fault of a developer (Square-Enix) caring only to capitalize upon a successful brand or the burgeoning over-ambition of a short-sighted director (Tetsuya Nomura), it's vital to discuss why, exactly, this direction was problematic, beginning with the most obvious reason: it's been eleven years since the first three spin-off games (358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, and Re:coded) were announced, and we're only just getting Kingdom Hearts III this year. Whoops.

This past decade's worth of wasted time and frustration is more than enough for fans to jump ship, especially when factoring in cost: over the next six years, engaging in the full Kingdom Hearts experience required the purchase of a Sony PlayStation 2, a Nintendo DS, a Sony PSP and a Nintendo 3DS. Being an episodic series, this is not like Final Fantasy's individualized entries where one can simply pass, say, Final Fantasy IX on PlayStation and pick up Final Fantasy X on PlayStation 2 without missing any context; nay, you must at the very least engage in Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance to make any sense of the series hereafter, and for the most dedicated of Kingdom Hearts fans, that potentially means shelling out cash for systems you don't particularly want (or, in my example, you're lucky enough to know someone at college who's willing to let you borrow their PSP and copy of Birth by Sleep).