Victory Gundam (Anime) Review August 20, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Gundam, Reviews.Tags: UC 0153, Victory Gundam
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Story: Without a doubt, V Gundam is the saddest Gundam story to date. And before anything else is said, I think it’s worth a mention to say that a lot of people die, and most of the time for no good reason at all. That aside, I have to say I really loved the storyline. However, some of the story arcs in the middle could have been left out, and the story would still be intact; a lot of the time during said arcs I found myself wondering why the characters were doing what they were doing. There’s not a lot of narrative glue to stick the parts together, and to keep one interested during some of the low parts. But, overall it’s a nice story, with an emphasis on death, and at least during the last arc, a huge emphasis on the beauty of life.
Art: Very good. V Gundam uses a very simple art style to convey the characters and the Mobile Suits; which is both good and bad. Most of the Suits are very similar to each other, and are very rarely any unique. Characters however, look very nice, and some are just too cool for words, while others are just meh. Battles are everything you would expect from a mecha show, and although somewhat exaggerated at times (or almost all of the time), they’re mostly very good. The simple style works here to make the art very nice looking even today.
Sound: Not much to say here. There’s an excellent cast of actors working on the voices, and the mecha sounds are great, but nothing really stands out in this category.
Characters: We’ve got a cast of mostly children and women, with the main villain and one of the main characters being male. The rest of the male cast are either lesser characters or very old men. I can’t quite remember why the cast is like it is, but it brings a fresh look on what might be a stale storyline. It also has the effect of removing almost all romantic involvement between the main characters. There’s a peace-loving-battle-scarred boy, a princess girl, and a group of what seem to be orphaned children. Interaction between them is what really pushes the story along. Without a doubt, Oliver and Captain Gomez were my favorite characters, both of which received little screen time, but both of whom were very central to the story.
Overall: No where near as good as First Gundam, V Gundam is nonetheless a very nice looking, anime featuring a somewhat lacking storyline that’ll get your emotions running if you’re not prepared for it. Definitely recommended if you’ve seen the other UC animes, however, the story is completely separate from the main meta-plot.
My review from MAL.
MechAssault: Phantom War (DS) Review August 14, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in DS, Reviews, Video Games.Tags: Mecha, MechAssault
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Concept: MA Puts you in the shoes of MechWarrior Valen, and pits you against the evil enemy faction AMS. During your campaign against these traitors, you’ll fight mostly in large mecha (with a third-person view), but you have the abilty to leave it at any time. Should you do so, however, one shot and you’re dead. Some missions have you in your Battle Armor (a personal armor, a lot smaller than a mecha), which has very low combat abilities, high jumping capabilities, and the skill of being able to latch onto walls (to scale them) and enemies (to hack them). And some missions (only a few) even force you to fight without any type of armor, and only a “pilot bomb” as armament.
Before each new area, there is normally a short (but sweet) cutscene, and the whole game features a great voice over (No text dialog whatsoever).
Super Dimensional Fortress Macross (Anime) Review August 9, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Reviews.Tags: Macross, MAL, Robotech
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Story: The main story is split up into two main arcs (from 1-27, and 28-36). While the second arc might not seem very necessary to the story itself, it closes up the loose ends left behind from certain character relationships. The story is very fluid, pretty deep, and all around well-planned. It’s unique, and I never found myself wondering, “Now why are they doing this again?” like in other animes. The anime has a starting point and an ending point, with very little fluff in the middle. Every episode has its purpose, and it’s basically very well thought out.
Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (Anime) June 27, 2008
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War in the Pocket takes place during the latter end of the One Year War (at the very end of it, in fact). It features the story of a child, Alfred, who lives next-door to, and knows the pilot of the New-Type Gundam, Alex. He doesn’t know, of course, that’s she’s the pilot of a Federation mobile Suit. He then runs into Bernard, a Zeon pilot on a mission to destroy said Gundam. Alfred teams up with Bernard, and together they try to carry out the mission originally given to Bernard.
Beginning Enthusiasm (2/5): WitP might be a great anime movie, but it’s slow. It starts out with an awesome action scene, but it decelerates from there on. There’s very little action, and most of the dialog and drama revolves around Alfred and his life. Alfred is a 10-or-so year old. So it starts out very slow. But, when you finish the movie, you realize that the focus isn’t on the action, but the plot and the…
Characters (4/5): I really like the characters in the movie, especially Bernard (even despite his resemblance to Glemy from ZZ). The rest of the Zeon teams are also great, and even the character with the least amount of screen time, Chris, is cool in her own way. But Alfred and his friends make me sick. Granted, he really matures as the movie goes along, but I just dislike his original “stupidness” for the first few episodes. Otherwise, the characters are very likable, and the relationships between them is necessary, and very sad at times (I’m looking at you Chris).
Ending Enthusiasm (5/5): The preparation for the big battle, the battle itself, and the very, very sad goodbye: it’s all great. By the time you get here, the Zeon team is dead, and the sickos from Zeon are planning a nuclear strike on the Colony just to destroy the Gundam. Alfred’s desperate race to reach Bernard to tell him that he needn’t fight, that the Federation has halted the nukes is one of the most emotional parts of the whole movie. But when Bernard is destroyed, it hits hard. The ending is great, and it really calls for a second watch of the movie.
Mobile Suit Gundam IGLOO Review (Anime) June 20, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Gundam, Reviews.Tags: MS Gundam IGLOO
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IGLOO is a pair of Gundam movies set in the Universal Century. Each movie consists of three episodes at the normal half hour each. The story revolves around the Jotunheim, the mobile “base” of Oliver May and the 603rd Technical Evaluation unit: a unit that test out various weapons and mobile suits still in the experimental stage. What sets this apart from the other Gundam animes is that it is completely CG.
Beginning Enthusiasm (4/5): I was really hyped to watch a Gundam Anime in CG. I could just imagine the huge battles, all my favorite suits, and just plain Gundam action. However, I very quickly realized that most of the 30 minutes would focus not on the action, but on the characters and the preparation for the short but very sweet battles. The farther I got in, the more I was disappointed with the story lines. Each episode focuses on a new experimental weapon, it’s use in the field (along with Oliver May’s disapproval), and the death of the pilot. Literally, it’s the same for all six episodes. But, the awesome CG fights make up for this.
Characters (3/5): Like I said above, most of the characters are rehashed. The main characters are all pretty cool. Oliver being the best (especially with him piloting the suit at the end). But the pilots of the experimental units are all hashed! Each one has a strong feeling for the weapon, and some background with it. It’s not a big deal, but it did bug me. There are no cameos, except for one scene with Char’s Zaku II (no Char, just the MS).
Ending Emotion (5/5): Despite it’s shortcomings, the series is actually pretty good. It’s main focus is the 603rd unit, but it also outlines the whole history of the One Year War. We see the biggest battles, including Operation British, the battle at Loam, Jaburo, Odessa, and A Baoa Qu. The ending, although very similar to First Gundam’s ending is simple awesome. You’re expecting Oliver to die, but when you see him come back in the hand of the other MS, it’s simply overwhelming. Great ending for a pretty good series.
*Note: MS Gundam IGLOO 2: Gravity of the Battlefront will be out in October! It looks great!
First (0079) Gundam Review (Anime) May 17, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Anime, Gundam, Reviews.add a comment
It seems I’m in a writing mood lately, so expect to see my review backlog to be reduced a little in the following days, and maybe even an update on my secret FAQ. Without further ado, my first anime review (spoilers galore).
Beginning Enthusiasm (5/5): I normally stray from older anime and cartoons, but when I started this one, I really enjoyed it. The first few episodes start out great with mecha action from the start and some great Char-stealth. Almost every main character is introduced within the first two episodes, and the emotional story line doesn’t take it easy just because we’re only starting. The animation, although old, is really great, and for the most part (aside from some music) the 1979 anime beats the test of time.
Characters (4/5): The characters are all (for the most part) necessary to the story, and they mostly fulfill their parts very well. The interaction between them is somewhat weird at times (Amuro and Lala, anyone?), and at times you wish Amuro would just fall for Fraw, and not every other random woman, but character reltionships (especially on White base) are strong and very necessary to the plot.
The only reason characters get a 4 and not a five is that some characters get better than others really quick. Now, I know Amuro is a New-Type and all, but why couldn’t Hyato get some skills (maybe around the Jaburo arc?)? Instead, he sucks throughout the show, even to the point of killing one of his own teammates! But somehow he gets really great in the last episode. But besides that, I really enjoyed the characters, the somewhat odd relationships, and the strong interaction between them.
Ending Emotion (5/5): The ending is great, it really ties up the ends (sounds painful), but leaves some open enough to have another series (which we all know happens). I really enjoyed the last scene, and although I don’t find it easy to admit I cried throughout the whole thing. The destruction of the base with the broken Gundam, the treason of Char, and the return of Amuro to the crew, it’s all great, and it’s a really exciting ending to the series.
Summary: Now, I know I’m not that good at writing reviews, but know this: First Gundam (or Gundam 0079) is a very great start to an awesome franchise, and an almost perfect series. If you’ve not seen it yet, see it now, it’s one of the elite.
Gundam Battle Chronicle (PSP) Review April 14, 2008
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Gundam Battle Chronicle is the third in the Gundam “Battle” series of games for the PSP system (the other two being Tactics and Royale). Chronicles is a throw back to the older PS2 games like Federation vs. Zeon, and to a certain extent the extra mode in Journey to Jaburo. It’s a fast paced action game with a BOAT-LOAD of characters and many, many unlockables. Read on to find out more of this awesome game.
Graphically, the game is one of the best I’ve seen on the PSP. The character models are excellent, and the larger enemies simply look great. One of the best things about the game is the environments. Although there are only a few places to battle in, they all look great. There are a few city levels, some mountainous levels, space levels (including the space around Solomon), and even some ground-based space battles. The HUD is also very nice. It really looks like what you would imagine a mobile suit having. Most of the in-battle dialog is dubbed (although completely in Japanese), and it sounds great. The music is okay, but most of the time, you’re going to go “there’s music?”.
The game lasts a long time, actually. I can’t give an exact number, but I know I’ve spent at least 35 hours on this game. Probably more, and I’ll most likely spend a lot more time with it. The amount of unlockables in this game is ridiculous. There must be some where around 150 playable characters, maybe 20 pilots, somewhere in the vicinity of 30 unlockable BGMs and an outrageous 150+ loading screen pics. There is so much to do here, it’s almost unbelievable. You’ll be back for more each time you put it away.
Gundam Battle Chronicle is definitely the best Gundam game I have ever played, and its also one of the best PSP games currently on the market. The language barrier isn’t really something to worry about, there’s not a lot of reading to be done anyway. Get this game if you’re a Gundam fan, you’ll thank me later.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (PC) Review April 8, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in PC, Reviews, Star Wars.2 comments
Well, I’m back with another review, this time for the PC game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. As the name suggests, the game takes place long before the original trilogy (or most other media we know for that matter). It’s an epic game, taking you across the galaxy, forcing you to make the decision to be good or evil (or should I say many decisions?), and it features one of the biggest plot twists I’ve ever seen in a game to date. Read on to find out how the game itself was.
Graphically the game is nice. It’ll never really wow you, but it does look pretty great. The cinemas are short and far in between, and generally nothing to write home about. However, character design is really nice, and although you do tend to see some faces many times, there are a lot of models, and it all looks pretty nice. The soundtrack is typical Star Wars style, but there’s not really anything that will stick in your mind. The voice acting, however, is really great, and everything is dubbed (even random NPCs are dubbed). That’s not to say that they all have unique voices, but there are a number of languages present in the game (Twi’lek, Huttese, Ithorian, etc), and each sounds great.
The gameplay is rather hard to describe. The action is seen from a third-person view, and you may switch between your main character and two other characters at any time. However, unlike almost every Star Wars game before it, the game is an RPG. Everything is done in real time, even combat, but you’re allowed to pause the game at any time to review your skills, items, combat choices, etc. It’s a really unique system, that you really have to play to understand. Speaking of combat, it’s real time and turn-based at the same time. It’s also somewhat based on a D20 system, so expect some classic random damage. During battle, you can use your two partners and, like out of combat, take control of them at any time. Another huge part of the gameplay, as mentioned above, is the choice between evil and good. Being good is harder in some aspects, and most of the time you walk away with only the satisfaction of having done the right thing. Being evil, is a little easier in the short term, and definitely opens up the path to bigger rewards. The choices you make also affect your items, force powers and the story. After a certain point in the game, you are allowed to travel the galaxy in any order you want, and there are a few mini-games (pazak and Ebon Hawk turret game), but neither are really exceptional in my opinion. There is no multiplayer option for KOTOR.
The game took me right at 25 hours to beat, and it was really worth it. I never really felt bored, and with an evil playthrough about half way done right now, we’re looking at around 45-50 hours overall gameplay time. Seeing as you can get the game for around $20 or less for now, it’s really worth the buy, whether you’re a SW fan or not. I really enjoyed the game as it gave us a few look and feel on the overdone action genre present in almost every Star Wars game ever.
Review of Afterworld 1-20 April 6, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Awesome, Random Info, Reviews.add a comment
After watching the first twenty episodes of the online show Afterworld, I’ve decided to share my opinion on the series so far. For those of you who haven’t heard of Afterwrod, it’s an online show, like I said earlier, and all 130 episodes can be found on YouTube (I think they’re all out by now). If you can’t get them where you are, just head over to video.aol.com or megavideo.com and you can catch them there. AW starts after the “fall” in which 99.99% of Earth’s population die, their bodies are “taken” and all technology in the world is also gone. The story revolves around Russel Shoemaker and his mission to discover the cause of the fall, and find his family in the process (at least that’s the story’s point so far). So, what might have caused the fall? Here are my opinions on the two most accepted in-show theories. Note that there will be some spoilers for the first twenty episodes, so read carefully.
The EMP Theory: So, the first theory that’s brought up is the EMP theory. An EMP would explain the lack of technology, but it doesn’t explain the death of most of the people on the Earth. Also, wouldn’t there have to be a HUGE bomb, or a huge number of bombs to knock out all of the technology in the world? Then again, we all (yes, we all) saw something similar to this in Jhon Carpenter’s Escape from LA, so if it can happen there, why not in AW? In my opinion, though, the terrorism story is a little unbelieveable. How did they launch a HUGE EMP attack and a likewise huge chemical? attack that took out 99.99% of the population out and their bodies? Also, wouldn’t that mean that of the .01% of people, most of them would be from the terrorist group, or is .01% a lot more than I’m thinking?
The God Theory: The second theory is a little scarier: God basically got fed up with the people on Earth and killed most of them off and took out the technology too (because people were putting their faith in it and not in Him). But there’s a problem. If we’re talking about the Rapture, then why were so many taken? I’m not sure, but the amount of people in the world who have putten their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior is not that high. But, on the other hand, if God were repeating the events of the days of Noah, would his promise be void? Or would we be running on a technicality, due to it not being a flood? I guess this theory makes a little more sense that number one, as it explains the loss of technology and people, but it doesn’t seem to fit in with God’s personality or the events laid out in His Word. Then again, it’s a show, so it can make up its own rules.
That’s it for now, tune in a little later next week for episodes 21-40.
Mega Man Maverick Hunter X (PSP) Review February 7, 2008
Posted by mitchfrizzell in Mega Man, PSP, Reviews, Video Games.add a comment
Mega Man is one of my favorite franchises in all video game history. Starting out on the NES, the Blue Bomber has moved on to almost every game console since. His older, darker cousin, X has also had his fair share of exposure, and in this remake of the original X game, we get a deeper look into some of the story elements. Read on to find out how this game compares to the original.
