Alan Wake

I've just finished Alan Wake, a psychological thriller game, on my PC. And I must say, it was a rather interesting game! Sure, it was not as scary as Silent Hill or F.E.A.R., but it had its moments. The game, I feel, is more played for it's storyline rather than for the action. I find the plot quite impressive, reminding me of the plots in movies like Shutter Island.

The story begins with you, Alan Wake, going on a vacation with your wife to a place called Bright Falls. There, you wind up in a cabin where your wife disappears and you wake up 7 days later, trying to piece together what was going on and finding your wife. Through the game you'll interact with people, learn about the history of Bright Falls, and face the dangers of the Dark Presence in the night.

The gameplay is not too difficult. You're equipped with a torchlight and a pistol to fight the Taken, who are actually people taken over by the Dark Presence to stop you. Your arsenal would soon expand to include things like flare guns and flash grenades, in your battle of light versus dark. In the day, things are pretty standard; you go around talking to people. It is the night time that I dread. Because that is when the Dark Presence comes out to disturb you.

You'll spend time running around forested areas, encountering shadowy figures holding sickles and axes that look like they just stepped out of a horror movie. You need to either kill them or escape in order to progress through the story. Trust me, in this game, you'd be very thankful to find a huge light source such as a street lamp in the middle of the night.

Characters in the game are well-developed, so to speak. Their different personalities in the game make them feel unique and real. I'm always glad to see Barry, as he made a good partner and helped liven things up in the dark, sad world.

This game is not scary in the sense of ghosts and stuff, but more of the dark atmosphere and a bit of paranormal stuff(like flying objects that attempt to bludgeon you to death). The sudden appearance of the Taken, especially when you're in the forest, does not help sooth your soul at all. I always felt a sense of dread whenever the forest turns very foggy, as I took that as a sign that danger was looming.

Everything about this game was impressive. The graphics was good, the plot really reeled me in, and the action ensured that the game was not dull. If there is one thing I would complain about, it would be the "final boss fight". I expected a big, tough battle at the end of the whole game, but in the end, the "fight" was rather simple. I'm not saying that it sucked; I just don't want people to play this game expecting the amount of action to be on par with its focus on storyline. This game is really fun to play, and I'd recommend it to people who enjoys such games!

D-arts Thanatos Toy Review

Sites said end of April, but I only finally got it today! The wait was torturous! But it has arrived! Or actually, I finally went to buy it once it hit the shelf. I've been waiting for this baby for months, and now I'm waiting for the P3 Protagonist figure that is expected to be out in September!

I've always been a huge Persona 3 fan. Sure, Persona 4 looks cool, and I even bought the Izanagi, but there's just something about P3 that makes me prefer it more. So when I heard that Thanatos was going to be made, I was excited. Unfortunately, by the time I discovered its existence, the pre-order was closed. So I waited for this day to come.

The box is much bigger than the one Izanagi was in, which kind of surprised me. And while the Izanagi one had the yellow color identical to it's logo and whatnot, Thanatos was in a nice white/blue one. And the box just looks so cool! Almost made me want to not open it. Almost.

One thing about opening the figure is the amount of tape they use. I had to cut away so many tapes that it made me tired. But I really wanted to display my trophy, and no amount of tape was going to stop me! Apart from the figure, you are given a stand and interchangeable hands for different poses. One thing Thanatos did not have that Izanagi had was the blue flames to make the display figure look more... action-packed(?).

The sculpting of the figure looks really good. I love the design of the "wings", and the use of "chains" on them. The mouth of Thanatos can be opened or closed, and his numerous joints allows him to pose in many ways. Putting on the wings onto the figure was a bigger challenge than anticipated, but I managed to do it eventually.

If there's one thing to point out, it is the stand. When I first put the full figure on the stand, the figure just collapsed, as the stand could not take the weight of the figure. You'll probably need a screwdriver to just tighten the joint of the stand by a bit to resolve this. Even then, it made me extra cautious about adjusting the figure too much while it was attached to the stand.

As a Persona 3 fan, I am greatly pleased with my purchase. It looks exactly like how it is in the game, and the poses it can do makes it fun. I even got to make my Izanagi pose with Thanatos! If you are a fan of the game, I'd recommend this awesome figure to you!

The Walking Dead: The Game

While I was logging out after playing Dota 2, I noticed Steam was showing some The Walking Dead video, and realised it was a game. Now, I tend to be a fan of zombie games, because of the hack-and-slash action you get (such as Left 4 Dead). Yet, I enjoy zombie games that actually have an element of suspense and storyline, which L4D lacks. And The Walking Dead: The Game, is the answer to all prayers.

This game, it seems, is released by "episodes", a total of five. I've only played the first episode, and I must say, it is really good. Better than the television show, in fact. There are moments in the game where you make the tough choices like who to save and what to say, which apparently affects the outcome of your story. And the game is related to the show, as you see familiar faces such as Glenn.

You control Lee, and you are on the way out of Atlanta in a police car for a crime which subtly gets revealed as you progress. Just as things were getting dull in the police car, it runs into a person. A dead one. And that's when all hell breaks loose. You wake up from the crash, only to find your policeman turned into a zombie, and the run begins. You meet people, lose people; make friends, make enemies. The story for the first episode was pretty solid, and everything feels so realistic.

Gameplay-wise, it is not as fast and enjoyable if you like Left 4 Dead, where you run around and spam bullets on zombies just to feel good. This game is slower, with things like mashing the Q button to stop a zombie from feasting on you, and a simple way to attack zombies. Sure, you don't get to use a gun and shoot the crap out of a zombie, but you do get to use tools like a screwdriver or hammer to crack open a skull. I guess it is good to keep out guns as much as possible, as we do not want this game to be just another L4D game. This game balances the elements of story-telling and suspense to keep players thinking, instead of running around and shoot anything that moves. Honestly, there were times I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next.

My only problem is that you must pay to download this game, and I'm not so rich. So I downloaded the game. But there is only 1 problem I fear: when the next episode comes out, will it be able to read my saved data from the first episode (which is pirated)? I hope so.

And Carley is pretty hot! Probably the reason why I chose to save her and not Doug. Heh.

I think that for around 500MB of download, this game is worth the time. It really pulls you in and feels realistic. Zombie fans can really enjoy this game, and I honestly cannot wait for the next episode to arrive!

New Headphones!!!

Well, finally collected my headphones! Turns out the office was nearer than I anticipated, and was rather near the Ubi driving centre. Spent the day jamming in preparation for the 20th May show, and I just want to watch shows and sleep early tonight!

As much as I want to get into a serious relationship, I realize that maybe I'm not ready to be in one. To want to is one thing, but to be able to, well, I guess that's a totally different story. Seeing how so many of my friends are getting attached, I wonder what I'm lacking. A car? Majority of my friends who are in a relationship has someone who has a car. Or maybe money. I mean, what's the point of getting a girl if I can't afford to go out with her? Sure, people say that they are not materialistic, but face it; going on cheap dates has... expiry dates. Maybe I'm not... boyfriend material. Not just yet. Maybe I need to grow up and away from all my toys, comics, anime and stuff.

But hey, there's still time, so why not enjoy the present? :3

Summer Break

Well, here it is. Summer break. One week of break has passed, and I've not really done much. I won a consolation prize in the Audio-Technica competition. I managed to record my mix to commemorate the beginning of the holidays. I bought new clothes because I've grown fatter. I've started running and hitting the gym to un-fat myself. I'm trying to catch up with my shows. I've finally got started on my cosplay costume. Watched The Avengers and Russell Peters. And I dyed my hair blue again, which is already starting to fade 5 days after I did it.

There's still so much to do, and I really need to find a job to support my spending!

Recently, my friends and I were talking about relationships and stuff. And it's funny how I actually want the trouble of maintaining a relationship, whereby you have less time for yourself to do your own things. I guess I'm quite tired of doing my own things, and yearn to actually have someone to spend time with instead.

Cruel

I hate it when people say that about me, but it is a fact. I mean, what can I say if all they are doing is stating something that is true?

But still....


I mean, I've learnt the hard way, through the years, to consider people's feelings when I open my mouth. There are things people don't like to hear, or being said about them. So I always try my best to watch what I say.

What did I actually do to deserve this?

I honestly wish I can just go for some surgery and get this over with once and for all.

Hello Again

Its been a really long time since I last blogged. I have to admit, Tumblr is the blame. But I love Tumblr. I get to see so many beautiful things and things that I want to see. It's a really interesting site, and I enjoy looking through what people share.

And to have people like and reblog your posts... I have to be honest, it satisfies me. It makes me feel happy that someone appreciates what I share, or enjoys the same taste as me. I'm, in a way, addicted to Tumblr.

And I got to be frank, I'm only blogging now because I want to take a break from my studies. I've been taking a lot of "breaks", which is bad. I'm halfway through my finals and here I am, not taking things seriously enough. It tends to make me wonder if university is where I should be?

So many nice anime out there! Finally caught up with Sket Dance (when I should've been studying), and Polar Bear Cafe is as entertaining as ever! Sket Dance never fails to crack me up! Gosh, I wish the series will never end!

I definitely got to find some work soon. There's so many things to pay for! Russel Peters ticket, my cosplay costume, the new Thanatos figure that is coming out end of the month, PS Vita... I can't keep asking my parents to "sponsor" me.

Recently started playing a lot of games on PSP again, namely God Eater and Valkyria Chronicles 2, on top of my Persona 3 Portable.

On a side note, my reservist in May got cancelled! I'm not sure why, neither am I certain that it is a good thing. I wanted to clear my this year's reservist asap because if I were to cosplay in September, I would want my hair to be at the length I want, which is pretty long. And if I've reservist then, I'd need to cut my hair, and totally ruin my cosplay plans.

And, in a way, I'm glad I didn't think too much about whether us was possible. It makes life easier, and that's good :D

You don't find love.
Not even in unexpected places.
You chance upon it.

Tumblr-ing Down

Well, it has been a long time since I blogged! I apologize, as I've been really busy with school and stuff. Let's start from the top, shall we?

Projects. Assignments. Presentations. That basically sums up my past few weeks! At least they are all cleared, with my last assignment submitted today! I honestly kind of gave up for that one part in the assignment and threw some fake values into it. Now, I've got to start studying for the exams which starts next Monday! 2 weeks from now, I'll be free!

Recently had an event at school, where I was to DJ. Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, it sucked. You can judge me for saying so, but I really felt like it was. I wish I didn't go to it, and go Zouk with my friends that night instead. I'm not going to go into the details, but that sums up that night.

The past few nights, I've been forcing myself to wake up while dreaming. I'm not sure how to exactly put it across. It's like, I'm afraid to be in the dream, and I'd keep telling myself to wake up until I did. It happened today again, when I took a nap. I fell into a slumber, and when I was in some dream I started telling myself to wake up. Not sure what the heck that's suppose to mean.

People keep telling me " You so handsome, how can no girlfriend." or "Surely got a lot of girls hang out with you." or "You sure you single?" It feels flattering at first, and then it starts to rub onto me the wrong way. I seriously need to do something about this.

Gonna watch Russell Peters in Singapore! Yahoo!!!

Recently got interested in Tumblr. Not sure why, but I like to visit it and upload stuff too! Wonder why I was not interested in it before...

Hopefully, she does not read my blog. Because, in some way, I developed a bit of feelings for her. I notice the little things about her, and it bugs me whenever I see her with another guy. But ever since my screw-up with the previous girl, I told myself to never follow my heart. Pursuing her would only leave me heartbroken again. Why take the initiative? I've learnt to not listen to my heart anymore.

Finally got That 70's Show, X-men TAS, Spider-man TAS and Batman TAS! Feeling so accomplished!

That's it. This holiday, I'm going to earn money and get my cosplay outfit done! Exams, let's get you over and done with!

DJ In-House

...like, literally. I just bought my Vestax VCI-300 MK2, my ATH-M50 headphones, and a pair of speakers for me to spin at home. Can't wait to do some DJ-ing at home! But, after this week. Hectic week ahead!

And I found a lot of my old pictures that I used for my blog in the past. Shall "recycle" them again!

And You Ponder...

... if she'll ever notice you. 

Because when she's gone,

you won't want to be there when it happens.

VS System TCG

Well, because I'm sick of studying, I decided to take a break and write a post about this card game. VS System started a long time ago, and as much as it tried to survive, it just never manage to capture people's interest. Which I fail to understand.

VS System allows you to use your favourite heroes, villains and teams in Marvel comics and DC comics, with a few others such as Hellboy. But mostly Marvel and DC. Today I found a card shop that sold this X-men starter deck for $10 (it was $15 long ago) and this deck box which was actually not for sale because the guy did not know how much it would cost now. That is how old this game is.

I like the Justice League deck box! Artwork by Alex Ross! Saw a guy having this a few months back and now I finally got one for myself!

To talk about this card game, I decided to show this starter deck as an example. I already bought one of this way back, but I decided to buy one more... just for fun. Anyway, in this box holds 2 decks, ready-made in a sense. Why I say so is because this game actually needs you to have a deck of 60 cards, which I think is slightly overkill. I mean, how the hell do I shuffle 60 cards? The box contains 26 cards per deck. The 2 decks are X-men and Brotherhood. Apparently, this set came out when the first X-men film was released. Hence you will notice that most of the characters given in the decks are same to the ones that appeared in the film. Thankfully, the artworks use the costumes of the comics-counterparts.

I won't go through the how-to of this card game, but I'll share about it in general. You can use any characters from any team, such as Brotherhood, and even have a deck containing multiple teams as long as you have team-up cards to allow team bonuses to be shared. I could team up the JLA with the Avengers if I wanted to. From big guns like Superman and Captain America to smaller ones like Morlocks and Outsiders, VS System covers a lot of the Marvel and DC universes.

Through the years VS System tried to give itself a fresh look in terms of card design in order to keep people interested and attract new players. However they must have failed badly because the card game was discontinued a few years back. I have to admit, Singapore did not really promote this game. I only could buy the newer sets from a particular comic shop called Comic Mart at Raffles City, which closed down eventually. That meant that I could no longer buy the newer sets, and had to stick with the older ones which can still be found at card shops around the island.

Every character has multiple versions, hence you can have more of your favourite character in the deck. Take Magneto, for instance. I've 2 different versions of the level 7 Magneto, both with different effects but still just as fearful.

There are many teams to make, such as JLA, Gotham Knights, Teen Titans, X-men, Ultimates, Spider-Friends, Sinister Syndicate, Gotham Inmates, Fantastic Four, Brotherhood, Hellfire Club, Green Lanterns and Avengers. I'm not sure why, but I purchased many of the cards for collecting. I bought boxes of booster packs from many series and many starter decks just to see what cards I'd get and add to my collection.

I made plenty of decks with the cards I got, but I never found anyone to play with. Nobody seemed to play this game, and hence I could only look at the cards and admire their beauty. I think VS System would be better if it was promoted more, their rules a tad simpler, and the deck size reduced to 30. I've been making my decks of 30 cards because I feel that 30 is enough for a game to last. I presume the 60-card size is to merely make chances of getting the cards you want less to... make the game more challenging? I don't know. Either way, as a comic book fan, I feel that this game actually had the potential, but somehow failed horribly due to dumb luck or something. Even the PSP game, Marvel Trading Card Game, was not well-received. And the cards given were the old ones with the new ones only obtainable from downloadable content(which I couldn't get because by the time I tried, the website was closed down).

BATMAN BEYOND!!!!! Love this toy ^^