Moon Hunters Review – A Question of Time

If I had to answer whether Moon Hunters: A Myth Weaving Game by Kitfox Games (which I backed on Kickstarter) is worth your time on a yes/no basis, then I’d unhappily choose “no”, as it’s a very close thing. It might be the game for you, and I didn’t suffer playing it, but you usually have better uses for your time, especially when you consider just how much time this game asks of you. Time is what this is all about. Time and content: I’ve played this game a number of times, with all classes but support, more than once with most, and beat the end-game boss a number of times. Each playthrough of the game is quite short, ranging from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on how well you’re doing and the size of the maps.

The game is designed to be played multiple times, except where it is not. You only get to visit 5-6 locations in each playthrough, which provides a reason to play again, and again. Right? Well, except I rarely encounter new options, even 5 hours into the game, and less as I reached 7 hours. Not every location or every setup will appear in each playthrough, and not in every playthrough will you have one of the traits needed to make use of it, so you’d think they’d let you play through every locale the map generates each time, or most of them, and you’d still have reasons to play again for a new map, and to try a different combination of options, so why don’t they?

Letting Go of Worldly Desires en Route to The Nuclear Throne

I’m a competitive gamer. I play for fun first and foremost, but I also play to win. Always have.

I play games for fun, which is a good thing, because losing doesn’t frustrate me overmuch, and even if I get frustrated, I do not get angry, I do not go on tilt. This is a good thing, because even if I’m not entirely without talent in video-games, and my siblings and cousins would come to me now and then for aid with video games, I’m not exactly talented in those games either, certainly not mechanically. The progress I make in such games is usually through much trial and error, growing wiser in the way of the game, gaining game sense more than mastery over the mechanics themselves. It also means I tend to do better in games where manual dexterity plays less of a role, such as turn-based strategy games, or non-video games, such as miniature wargaming, or card-games.

Thrice over have I benefited from not going on tilt, from not getting overly frustrated when losses come (though some losses do frustrate me, I’ll make no lie, as that’s part of the competitive spirit). First and foremost, some of the fun is sucked away from the activity if it frustrates and angers you, and you’re certainly not happy at the moment. Second, in many games, you could have won, had you not gone on tilt, and so one loss leads to another, and that to another yet. Finally, since my skill came from playing those games many a time, or at least thinking of them, frustration would’ve had me play them less, and so I wouldn’t have gotten better. And I usually learned more from losses than from victories, which meant one has to be willing to tackle on their loss, not try to ignore it.

Media Month in Review – April 2015

I use this post to go over all the media consumed/experienced over the past month, with 2-4 sentences per item. A way to give short thoughts on each topic. Highlights this month: Ready Player One, Trigun Maximum, Dead Leaves, Pet Girl of Sakurasou, Dungeon of the Endless, and Netflix’s Daredevil.

Books/Comics:

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline – This book was a lot of fun. An adventure story that is told mostly within the game-world and a bit in the real world. Made me think ever so slightly of Cory Doctorow’s For The Win with its take against the dystopic nature of rampant capitalism, but this one feels like the main attraction is the adventure tale. The build-up is the best part, and everything once things get “serious” feels a bit rushed, and not as well-written. It was eminently readable and enjoyable, especially to a child of the 80s such as myself who could smile at many of the references, but I don’t feel not knowing what gets referenced will hinder enjoyment much. I did find the romantic part of the story to be not very much “told”, but it also made me think of first loves and being a teenager, so I guess it worked.

Media Month in Review – March 2015

I use this post to go over all the media consumed/experienced over the past month, with 2-4 sentences per item. A way to give short thoughts on each topic. Highlights this month: Pillars of Eternity kickstarter delivered, Sherlock and The Blacklist, anime of the heaviest and least-heavy sorts.

Movies:

Big Hero 6 – This movie sort of exemplifies the problem I’ve had with the third Harry Potter film. I really liked the book, but the film sort of ticked all the plot-boxes, without actually spending any time on characterization. Likewise, this film ticked all the “Feel good” boxes, the group support, the don’t give into the darkness, believe in yourself, etc. It had beautiful vistas, some good action sequences, and a couple of emotional scenes, but again, everything according to the standardized mix. The film was empty calories, even if enjoyable, in a standardized enjoyment way.

Media Months in Review – September 2014 – February 2015 – Games and Books

The intention is to post these monthly. Since I haven’t posted these in a while though, I’m going to split the last half year’s media consumption post into several parts. This one will focus on games(video games, board games, card games), and books (also manga and comics). I’ll give a paragraph or so for every show I have what to say of.

Video Games:

Diablo 3 is all about the loot. Taken during patch 2.1.1, those 4 Furnaces, damn.

Diablo 3 – The big elephant in the room. I’ve spent over 800 hours on the game over the recent months. It had consumed me, at least for the first 2-3 months, where every single free moment of my time was spent on it. I barely watched anime, even. The drive for loot was strong. I’m now slowly winding down my time with it. Both because the gameplay isn’t all that good, and because I realize the only goal you play it for is to get items that make you faster at obtaining items. The “end-game” content is truly lacking, and the only thing worse than the end-game content is pre-end-game content, which just feels bad. Though the basic leveling in terms of levels feels good.

12 Days of Anime #9 – Tiku is an Iron Tager God – BlazBlue Chrono Phantasma Evo 2014 Finals

I like fighting games. I’m sort of a masher who learns some tricks further and uses them. For much of my life, I’d lose myself for an hour or two in front of a fighting game and feel much refreshed afterwards. Soul Calibur 2 had been my favourite fighting game for many years, and my 2nd most-favourite game is Arc System Works’ BlazBlue, the latest iteration of, BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma, is my favourite.

No one would’ve expected this.

(This is the second post today, don’t forget to check the previous one!)

For those who don’t know the game and might wonder what it’s doing here, it’s part of a sub-genre called “Anime Fighting Games”, where characters have much more mobility than in games such as Tekken, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat, and things progress much more rapidly. Back in July, the biggest fighting games gathering in the west took place, Evo 2014, and I’ve watched most of the BBCP streams, and from the top 16 onward, a legend was born. A legend named Tiku.

Media Month in Review – August 2014

I use this post to go over all the media consumed/experienced over the past month, with 2-4 sentences per item. A way to give short thoughts on each topic. Highlights this month: Too much Hearthstone, several Marvelverse films, films from my childhood, and 143 episodes of Hunter x Hunter (2011)!

Movies:

• Matilda – I probably haven’t watched this film since 1998, at the latest. This film shows its warts. While the first 10-15 minutes where we see Matilda growing up with just the narrator to guide us are pretty magical, the acting in this film isn’t the best, and at some points you can see the director went too wild with the “Children Movie silliness”, such as when the schoolkids get rid of Ms. Trunchbull. Still, it was an enjoyable view.
• Jumanji – I’ve probably watched this last around 2001. I’ve meant to watch it a week before Robin Williams died, but I ended up watching it only after. This film isn’t an adventure film, holy shit but is it a horror film! When that vine went for Peter? It gave me flashbacks to The Exorcist, and that film had me run out of the room when I watched it in the 5th grade… I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Well-acted, and fun. Also, only when I went to IMDB did I realize the Hunter going after Alan was acted by the same actor who portrayed his father, similar to how in Peter Pan, the Darling family father also plays the role of Captain Hook.
• Guardians of the Galaxy – I’ve had a lot of fun watching it! It was a silly film, with silly lines, and silly action. I chuckled and laughed and enjoyed turning my brain off for a bit. Also, I kept waiting for “The Guardians of the Galaxy” to appear, which I was sure would be The Green Lantern Corps, which are of course in DC-verse. Still, kept waiting for someone serious to come and save the universe, not our bunch of incompetent walking shticks. Rocket and Groot were really great. Especially Rocket.

Media Month in Review – July 2014

I use this post to go over all the media consumed/experienced over the past month, with 2-4 sentences per item. A way to give short thoughts on each topic.

Games:

• BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma – Played some more in the beginning of the month, then shelved it in order to play the following game:
• Tales of Xillia – I finally, a year down the line, began playing my Day 1 Edition, which was on sale for half-price about half a year after day 1… Well, I wanted to finish it before ToX 2 came out, to see if I want to get it. I really like it, it’s a good action-RPG that has good action, and solid RPG, after the snooze-fest that Final Fantasy X’s first 12 hours were. I poured in 15 hours or so, but then got distracted. I want to play, but I keep putting it off, and then it’s 1 AM, and I know it’d end up 5 am if I were to start playing it at 1 AM, and then it ends up 5 AM without me playing it anyway… But I’m enjoying it quite a bit. The English dub is good, though I do wish I could have the Japanese dub as well. No real reason not to, right? This is also my first Tales game.

There are no NPCs in Journey – A Travelogue

Technically, Journey is a PlayStation 3 game that will receive a PlayStation 4 release. You may also wish to think of it as an interactive film. What it undoubtedly is, aside from great, is an experience. Journey tells a story via images and short sequences you see as you make your pilgrimage. The story is open to interpretation. Because Journey is such a personal experience, rather than claim to tell you “Journey’s Story”, whatever it may be, I will tell you mine, as I trekked across its vistas. Do get it, if you can. Watch it, if you cannot.

I crested a great sand dune. I hovered. I explored ruins, until I came across her. Her, I said, but that’s a decision I’ve made in my mind. Swathed in a robe from head to toe, this other figure was identical to my own. Were I the female and they the male? Were we both of the same gender? Did we even have a gender? I recognized that my decision to assign genders in such manner, and to have my avatar be my avatar was an arbitrary one, but I was fine with it.

Media Month in Review – June 2014

I use this post to go over all the media consumed/experienced over the past month, with 2-4 sentences per item. A way to give short thoughts on each topic.

Books/Comics:

• The Human Division, by John Scalzi – The 5th book in The Old Man’s War. You can definitely see some similarities to certain story-threads from Agent to the Stars and The Android’s Dream by Scalzi, who are also quite similar to one another. Each story was published to stand on its own, as each chapter had been released as a stand-alone ebook, and they do so well. I’ve enjoyed it, a very easy and enjoyable read. It does end in a way that simply demands a continuation, however, and I don’t think one had been announced to be in the works yet