The Lone Gamer

Well, at least it’s much better than Spirits Within.

As the gaming world counts the weeks to the late November release of the long-in-development Final Fantasy XV, gamers all over have a wide selection of material to occupy their attention before the actual game hits. Of course there’s the anime OVA series, FFXV Brotherhood (nowhere near as good as FMA Brotherhood, I assure you), which is of course made to introduce us to the heroes of the game- Prince Noct of Lucis and his roadies. Kingsglaive, a fully-CG animated film, is another such prologue, though much more immediate to the events within the game.

As the opening seconds of the movie roll in with the familiar voice of Lena Heady (our most beloved mad queen of Westeros) giving narration, we are introduced to the big players- Lucis is the ‘peaceful kingdom of magic’ while opposite them is The Empire of Nifleheim, a militaristic nation powered by Magitek (ah, Magitek, we know you so well). The Empire of course is on the verge of total victory, with the capital city of Insomnia (really? A city is named after a sleeping disorder?) the only remaining bastion of Lucis’ control. After a flashback showing some tragic events that befall Lucis’ former ally, the country of Tenebrae, we get into the thick of action with the Kingsglaive.

The titular Kingsglaive are apparently Lucis’ main (or perhaps only) military force- not sure about how many, but there seem to be not many- certainly nowhere near a hundred strong. The Glaive are ‘mighty warriors’, all of whom are recruited from Lucis’ provinces (all of which are probably now under Empire control or attack) due to their ability to use magic. The magic they wield though comes from one source- the King of Lucis himself, King Regis (voiced by another GoT stalwart, Sean Bean). So who are the Glaive? They look kinda cool- very similar to Assassins from Assassins Creed, but in black and wielding one main weapon- a dagger or short blade which they use primarily to ‘Warp Strike’; as in, they throw the dagger and then can teleport to wherever the weapon goes. While it certainly LOOKS awesome, I find it highly impractical and sorta haphazard. I guess the Glaive are trained to be really good and accurate throwers, but come on- you’re limited by throwing range, the speed of the person’s arm, his accuracy, the fact that they can go wildly out of control (and many do in the course of the action) with a bad throw.

Anyway, in these couple of dozen or so fighters is Lucis’ main defense. What has the enemy got? Oh, aside from armies of certainly a lot more soldiers, both human and mechanical (armed with GUNS), they have Magitek war machines AND apparently controlled monsters (just like in the games!) which range from flying creeps and cannon fodder to larger beasts like a Cerberus (three-headed fire dog) and a smoky demon which also seems to be half mechanical. How a few guys with daggers is able to hold off such a force is beyond me. But well, somehow they do.

Or do they? At the moment of apparent defeat, the Empire withdraws, allowing the Kingsglaive to get a breather. Later on, the court of King Regis is visited by a strange visitor- the shabby but kinda cool-looking Ardyn Izunia, perhaps the first Final Fantasy villain ever to sport a fedora and what seems to be a beak on his right arm (really, WHAT THE HELL IS HE WEARING?). Ardyn brings an offer of peace- well, pretty much an armistice, which offers a stop to the war at the cost of Lucis surrendering all its territories save Insomnia itself. Oh, and the Prince must also marry the Princess Lunafreya, who has been an Imperial captive/ward all this time.

Of course, you just know that the Empire is up to no good, and from there it’s a nice build-up to the day of the treaty signing. In the meantime, we see ugly sides of Lucis, which utterly puzzle me. So the Kingsglaive are all recruited from non-residents of Insomnia… WHY are they regarded by Insomnians with an obvious racist disgust? They are DEFENDING YOU, IDIOTS. The Glaive themselves are not your picture of loyalty or unity either- of course, you have the gung-ho, fearless hero Nyx, his clumsy oaf of a best friend Libertus and the one hot girl, Crow. The rest are either faceless and unimportant or belligerent or smarmy. With their ranks thinned and dissent growing cracks in their resolve, in the Kingsglaive may lie the fate of Lucis as the Imperial plot soon unfolds.

First off, the movie is GORGEOUS. That much can be said readily. There’s a lot of detail in the characters, and its much improved from previous Final Fantasy films. Faces of many characters look great, and at least by this time we don’t really think uncanny valley that much any more. However, there seems to be a slight disjoint between lip syncing- or perhaps the mouths of characters don’t quite seem to jive with the words.

While the first half of the movie up to when the shit hits the fan, the movie is quite engaging. However, after a certain point and we head into an unwieldy final act, it all crumples into a mess of a pursuit/chase, and large scale “Giant Monster’ action and action that’s so zippy and flashy, it can only be described as anime. Things happen to characters that normal humans would not walk away from easily, betraying the CG nature of the actors and the world. And the action in the final battle, while pretty amazing, seems hollow, without weight and ultimately, unsatisfying.

But then, I guess Kingsglaive is not meant to satisfy. It’s here to set the stage- with the bad guys winning or on the upswing, while the heroes are- well, they’re not here. The real heroes are in the upcoming GAME, which you will need to play to get closure. I wonder though how closely they’ll keep this movie to the final game? In that way, I guess that while Kingsglaive has its faults, it was worth seeing and certainly has me stoked into kicking Imperial butt this November on my PS4.

The silver-haired demon, Lee Chaolan, returns!

At this year’s Gamescom event (which is pretty much Germany’s E3), Katsuhiro Harada attended and revealed another addition to the Tekken 7 roster… none other than Lee Chaolan! The silver-haired adopted son of Heihachi Mishima and now head of his own robotics corporation returns with his lightning fast kicks and high-pitched yells… and an even more stylish set of suits. Really, this guy is all style, isn’t he? It’s interesting to note that Lee is as yet an addition to the console release of Tekken 7. It appears that from here on in, any new characters announced will be for the home versions on PC, PS4 and XBox One. Good news for the most of us who haven’t been lucky enough to live near an very well-stocked arcade.

It seems that with the road to the home release now stretching out but quite reachable, further reveals may be in the works- there may certainly be more in store at next month’s Tokyo Game Show (mid-September), so we’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve been quite happy with the recent reveals and the new customizations that will, we assume, all make their way to the console versions. With pretty much no other big fighters due out next year, Tekken 7 just may be the BIG ONE to watch out for fighting gamers in the near future. More as we get it then!

The playable roster to Tekken 7 Fated Retribution just grew by two.

Earlier today during EVO 2016, Tekken Producer Katsuhiro Harada alomg with Tekken Team Member Michael Murray revealed two new characters added to the Tekken 7FR roster. First up was the super-heavyweight Bob, looking pretty much like he did in previous games, albeit with some new duds and some fancier moves, including a pretty rad-looking dive bomb, probably for his Rage Art. Right after Bob’s spot debuted the trailer for a newcomer named Master Raven- who is literally a female version of Tekken’s original black ninja. Harada immediately let out however that this isn’t Raven after a sex-change; she’s Raven’s boss, who certainly looks kick-ass enough to be the superior to our favorite Wesley Snipes’ lookalike.

Immediate reactions to the trailers was kinda mixed, even in the audience. Noticeably it wasn’t entirely all cheers of delight. There were some (perhaps) playful boos and some bits of confusion. I have to admit, I’m not that excited with either character- I was never into Bob OR Raven, but hey- they look pretty slick. We’ll probably learn more about them or perhaps get even more character reveals next week at Comicon, where Tekken 7 will again make an appearance. More on this as we get it!

Perhaps never before has a film been so divisive and polarizing as this remake of the beloved classic flick it springs from. Online, many voices cry ‘FOUL!’ at the supposed disrespectful cash-grab from Sony, defended by SJW’s and feminists. I went into this wanting to see it for myself and decide for myself. I’ve seen reviews calling it horrible and not worth watching, while some rave, though most seem to agree it’s just an average comedy. Well, what do I think?

Ghostbusters (2016), directed by Paul Feig, is a reboot of the original 1984 film starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson and the late Harold Ramis. This time, an all-female cast takes over- Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) and Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) play two former best friends and scientists who once shared dreams of investigating ghosts and paranormal phenomena, and have now reunited under less than friendly circumstances. Jillian Hostzmann (Kate McKinnon) is Abby’s assistant in her paranormal lab and an apparent mad inventor of ghost-extermination gear. Finally, joining the bunch along the way is streetwise Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), a subway attendant who has a ghostly encounter of her own.

As the new team comes together to investigate a sudden rise in paranormal activity and ghost sightings, they soon make the disturbing discovery that someone is actively causing this rise in ghost sightings for some reason. Unfortunately, things get a bit more complicated when the city mayor (Andy Garcia) decides adamantly to keep things under wraps to prevent panic, even if it means discrediting the female heroes.

All right, for starters, I don’t think this new Ghostbusters is as terrible as some are making it out to be. I do think that there is a bit of emotional baggage or nostalgia for the first flick that causes a natural dislike for this new film. That said, the film, as a comedy, is pretty hit-and-miss. Many of the jokes, gags and self-deprecating humor don’t really hit well and seem to just pass by in the midst of dead air. I understand that the leads are all talented and very funny actresses and comediennes, but here I think they’re pretty much hamstrung with pretty bad writing, in terms of the humor. You have a fart joke, some jokes about the group’s hunky new male secretary Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) being as dumb as a doorknob- no exaggeration, this guy seems to only have enough brain power to qualify him as a sentient being.

There’s another bit that probably elicits a lot of the anger out there for the film, and its that pretty much every male character is either an asshole or a moron. That’s how males act, as feminists would like to think, I guess.

Plot holes abound and pacing problems make things just seem uneven and awkward, with little satisfying explanation. The Ghostbusters begin their company by just stealing what lab equipment they can carry from their former campus. Then in a bit they seem to have enough nuclear material and components to create a Q-Branch’s worth of proton-throwing laser weaponry. One moment, we see physical comedy moments as these ladies fumble about with the obviously dangerous weapons rather carelessly- then later we see them taking out ghosts (how is it suddenly that these proton packs graduate from being instruments that are simply used to lasso or temporarily snare ghosts to outright DESTROYING them?) in the street in an action scene that would do the Avengers proud. It doesn’t seem earned or logical- it all just happens because hey, we’re in the third act and the ghostbusters gotta look cool killing ghosts.

I guess the most interesting part of the movie are the ghostbusters themselves- instead of a squad of model gorgeous heroines, we get a more colorful group of comedic talent. Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy are the straight people; Kate McKinnon’s Hotzmann is so offbeat and just plain weird in her mannerisms I seem to get a hunch that she’s ad-libbing most of her stuff and just doing improv, and it sometimes works, sometimes… not. Finally, Leslie Jones’ ‘token’ streetwise girl with the inevitable “HELL NO!” mannerisms may irritate for being such a stereotypical cliche character, but in honesty, I didn’t find her at all annoying.

The best parts of the film for me are some of the creepier ghost encounters- the first ghost, just before the rather tasteless vomit gag was well done. There’s a sequence with mannequins which is genuinely creepy and hilarious at the same time. And the endgame with the girls going toe-to-toe with a possessed Kevin was pretty cool.

The movie works when it is about these female ghostbusters actually taking on ghosts, at least before it devolves into the light show laser tag brawl at the end- the investigation, the creeps and actual ghost trapping was fine. The comedy in the context of these situations is fine. It’s when the script tries to be funny outside these situations which makes things feel like a half-baked SNL skit.

Oh, and the cameos… well aside from Tywin Lannister AKA Charles Dance having a role as Erin’s boss, most of the cast of the original Ghostbusters appear- not as themselves, but as totally different people. Perhaps one can just think that this film is not meant to replace the original- it’s just a different take in a different world and time of this same story. Updated with stuff like Youtube comments and cellphones, but well, that’s to be expected.

I do think that this flick has been made a rallying point by Feminists and SJW’s, and in turn hardcore fans of the original film and some He-man Women-Hater Clubs have just muddled the issue even more. The fact is, this film won’t erase the well-loved and popular original. I doubt that it will be that much of a hot topic in a few month’s time, unless Sony insists of making this a franchise. It’s not a horrible film, and I certainly had a bit of fun while all the while being aware of all the plot holes, leaps in logic and uneven comedy. It’s a Ghostbusters live-action cartoon. It’s light and fluffy and in general, really just overblown but harmless, as easily burst like a possessed giant balloon.
I would not be averse to seeing this same cast donning the proton packs again in a future adventure… but only with a much, MUCH better script (at least one worthy of the name Zuul).

Bastardbowl is coming.

I don’t think I’ve ever posted about HBO’s Game of Thrones, but frankly- it’s pretty much the only show on cable/TV that I watch these days, so why not talk about the upcoming “Battle of the Bastards” AKA Episode 9 of Season 6.

The entire season has been building to this- heck, most of the past seasons have. The North has been suffering under the sadistic rule of the Boltons- now solely Ramsay Bolton thanks to some handy knifework. But now, a rebellion has mobilized under the banner of the mostly-devastated Starks, led by Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and his sister Sansa (Sophie Turner).

So how is this set up? The Bolton Army is on one side, occupying the Starks’ ancestral home of Winterfell and led by one psychotic, sadistic and brutal bastard who has seemingly been on a roll of winning since his first appearance. Ramsay has been built up all this time as being cunning like a fox, keeping one step ahead of his enemies or just having all the cards in his favor. Stannis Baratheon AKA the biggest badass of Westeros up until he murdered his own daughter for a bit of sunshine- was defeated by him. Sure, Stannis’ army was outnumbered due to desertions (who knew sellswords had a soft heart for little girls?), had no cavalry, was half-frozen, half-staved and demoralized… but credit where its due, it was Ramsay and his ‘twenty good men’ burning up Stannis’ supplies that was instrumental to the Baratheon’s demise.
The Bolton Army has been seen to be large- with a sizable cavalry, archers and lots of footmen. Ramsay hasn’t shown himself to be a keen tactician (he IS daring, given his night raid idea) but so far he hasn’t had any need to given that he’s always had the odds in his favor. At this point, he can even be more confident given that aside from his army, he may also have on the field the troops of House Karstark and House Umber- the two largest houses in the North. While theories are out that question the loyalty of the Umbers, I think the show has made it out that the Karstarks are pretty loyal (really… Robb SCREWED UP). Would the Umbers try a sudden face turn in the middle of this battle?

Now, about the good guys. Jon was able to convince the Wildlings to fight, thanks to some help from Tormund and Wun-Wun. That’s about 2000 fighters, all fierce and hardened (by Hardhome- HAH) but probably pretty disorganized. Forget tactics- just point them at the enemy and let ‘em rip. Maybe some of these are archers, so if Jon is smart he’ll put those guys (and maybe gals) in a group.

But that’s not all! Jon, Sansa and Ser Davos were able to gather a ragtag bunch of men from the smaller Norther Houses- the most distinct probably being the 62 fighters from Bear Island, led by the 10-year old spitfire, Lyanna Mormont (the writers had better not harm a hair on this darlings head, or we riot). I wonder if Lyanna’s boast of each Bear Islander being worth ten mainland warriors will be proven right? That would be awesome.
Aside from the Bears, according to Davos the rest of the Stark army consists of 200 Hornwoods and 143 Mazens/Masons(?). Conceivably some of these may be cavalry, giving Jon’s forces soemthing that Stannis lacked last season.

So the good guys are quite obviously outnumbered. What can be done? From the trailers, we are seeing the Wildlings charging straight on at the enemy (or are they?), which seems a pretty bad thing to do given that the more organized Boltons are looking calm, collected and waiting, with archers that will no doubt thin the ranks of any oncoming horde and soften them up for the main force. I do hope that Jon and Davos are smart and do something… well, awesome. I think after being resurrected, Jon has done fairly nothing much for someone built up to be the show’s hero (at this point), so he needs to prove himself as a leader and someone who can think clearly. So far, rushing in like he is doesn’t look like it. But we’ll see.

But then, all may not be lost. What about reinforcements? Sansa sent a letter to someone, asking obviously for help. Some clever fans online have already deduced the letter is to Littlefinger, asking for the Knights of the Vale to come and win the war for Jon. It seems that all this has been done by Sansa behind Jon’s back- why? It seems that Sansa wants to have HER say in the battle with HER army- which is clearly not Jon’s assorted menagerie. Sansa clearly doesn’t believe they can win, and she is doing all she can to win it herself- which may end up winning the battle- or causing a big backfire.

And then lastly, are the Knights of the Vale coming? Will they arrive in time? Will they swing the battle in the favor of the Starks?

Or will a Tully Army- released by a repentant Jamie to Brienne- arrive as well? Perhaps this will be a step in the redemption we’ve been looking for in the Kingslayer all this time, as he did promise doing this to Brienne…?

Now, onto another, even darker aspect of the battle. Who may die?

Obviously hundreds will die. This is going to be bloody. I do hope though that somehow, the wildlings don’t suffer a catastrophic loss of life. The Free Folk need to survive this, somehow. That said, I don’t think Tormund will die- as the only remaining person of importance among the Wildlings, him dying basically kills them as a faction or as something to care about. He dies only if every other Wildling dies, which I refuse to believe Jon would allow. As for Wun Wun… the lovable giant unfortunately doesn’t have a good chance of surviving. Given that he’s so dangerous, enemy forces would surely focus on him. Not sure if arrows can bring him down, but cavalry might. I do hope he somehow makes it out. Hell, he survived zombie hordes!

Davos is another character feared to bite it in this battle. I say, nope. I believe he’s too important, too awesome. He’s on of the few truly good men in all of Westeros. If there is any justice, he survives this show to retire at the end as maester to Lady Lyanna Mormont on idyllic Bear Island. Sigh. I still think he has lots of parts to play still. Davos, don’t die!

As for Jon and Sansa- not a chance. Jon is effectively unkillable now, after being already killed and resurrected. Sansa is the last real Stark (despite being married to Ramsay and Joffrey), so she is also too important. Rickon? What about the most useless Stark in the show? Eeh… kill him. Cut his throat. Whatever. Hahaha.

Will Ramsay actually meet his end here? I really have no idea. I guess this episode- the biggest battle on the show so far- would be an awesome time to take out the evil Bastard of Bolton. Because yeah, we really need everyone to focus on the real baddie- the Night King. It’s the battle between the Living and the Dead, after all. And the Dead are coming.

Goddamn I can’t wait till Monday.

Markman brings the goods over to the Sony gang.

Last time we saw Mark Julio AKA Markman, he was with MadCatz gaming peripherals, but he had always been one of the pillars of the Tekken online community. Recently he truly embraced his partnership with the Tekken team, becoming part of Namco-Bandai and now working closely with Katsuhiro Harada himself. Now he’s spreading the Tekken 7 word and hopefully rebuilding the hype and excitement lost on fans and gamers in the long months of inaction from the Iron Fist fighter. Starting at E3, Tekken 7 is looking pretty promising, and hopefully will have the content fans have come to expect from the Triple-A fighter. More fighters, modes, customizations, the story mode- all the trimmings look to make Tekken 7 a return to form for the series. Check out the interview above and stay tuned for more details sure to come in the weeks and months ahead.

Tekken 7 is set for release on PS4, XBox One and PC in early 2017.

Tekken 7: Confirmed coming home!

And with this, the webpage is ALIVE again! Tekken 7 has FINALLY been confirmed for a home release… ETA: Early 2017!

This long-awaited (and still being waited on) fighting sequel is coming to the major platforms- PS4, XB1 and Windows/Steam. This is unprecedented… can we expect user-made mods in the near future? MAYBE. POSSIBLY. HOPEFULLY!

The game will be sporting an all-new, just-introduced Cinematic Story Mode, where gameplay segues seamlessly into cutscenes. The E32016 trailer shows off the initial meeting between Streetfighter guest character Akuma and Heihachi Mishima, leading to a mammoth battle which is easily one of the most visually impressive yet seen for this series.

Glimpses and looks at the game show a main menu that with items marked as yet with a cryptic ‘???’. The roster from the arcade version, which saw the addition of classic female fighter Nina Williams, is expected to be enlarged further with many more new fighters going into next year’s release.

I’ve been waiting for this literally for years, and it seems that the wait- while still ongoing- will be worth every moment. More on this as we get it… Tekken is back, people!

Hell. It’s about time.

11 Minutes of Footage with the E32016 Build.

Yet another game I’m dying to play.

Dark Souls III. I have no idea what the story is this time, but it looks amazing. With elements and flavor no doubt gleaned from the previous From Soft epic, Bloodborne, this may be a more fast-paced Dark Souls than veterans and fans have seen before- and perhaps the most accesible. Honestly, I have played a LOT of the original Dark Souls, although I never finished it (I tapred off after acquiring the Lordvessel), and haven’t played Dark Sous II. I did play tons of Bloodborne, reaching up to just before the final boss fight. In any case, I am really stoked for DSIII. I’ve always loved this dark, depressing yet ever-hopeful world, and this new game looks to be the most epic yet. This April, we’re all going to be fools for this game.

Are you ready for Streetfighter V?

With just a little more than a week to release, Streetfighter V gets the full CG treatment with its full-length launch trailer/CG Intro. Expanding on a shorter version released some time ago, this new trailer features the entire cast (minus DLC fighters, sadly) and shows them in various situations leading up to the Big Brawl. We see Chun-Li, Cammy and Ken getting ready, as well as Ryu preparing himself yet again. Charlie Nash seemingly rises from a grave, even as a more badass but older M.Bison steps onto the world stage once again for another bid at conquest. Returning characters, new characters- blink and you may miss one or two. I find myself thinking, will Evil Ryu surface at one point, given how Ryu ‘hulks out’ in the trailer near the end? Anyway, I haven’t been able to play the Beta so I am really looking forward to playing this game, preferably on PC (though I will most probably be getting it for PS4 as well). This is the SF game we’ll be playing for the foreseeable future, so let’s get comfy with it. Just a little more waiting…

The first LADY of Tekken returns.

Just shown off today at EVO2016 was the reveal trailer for Nina Williams in Tekken 7 Fated Retribution. The original blonde bombshell of Tekken returns wearing a tattered wedding dress, which offers obvious references to Kill Bill or perhaps even Parasite Eve: 3rd Birthday. Who knows? WHO CARES? She’s HAWT! Heheh. Anyways, Nina still has a lot of her old moves and grapples, plus her Rage Art has her doing a quite sexy finisher on the opponent which will surely have guys, um, feeling a bit… tight.

Nina is probably just the first of many additional fighters that will hopefully be debuted surely and steadily to the Tekken 7FR roster as we slowly inch to the February arcade location test dates, release and hoping against hope- a console release date? Stay tuned… more as we get it.