It’s undeniable at this point that mods do very well in extending the lifespan of any game that supports their use. Publishers who leave them out are said to be behind the times, and those who are in the vogue seem to have been looking for ways to get in on the action. Their efforts have now culminated to this, and what seemed good now doesn’t. What seemed like a helping hand at first later became a stick-up, if you wish to see this truly as a travesty. Whatever your thoughts are on what’s happening in Steam Workshop at this point, all you have to do is look at Steam Greenlight and think about what you’d give your money for. (more…)
Media Archives
Shokugeki no Soma First Impressions
As my first pickup of the 2015 spring anime season, Shokugeki no Soma (also known as Food Wars) made me scratch my head right off the bat. I tend to only go for anime that is mostly about sexualized aspects when there’s something extra to go with the creepy bullshit (i.e. Kill la Kill). However, since food anime and manga are quite relevant to my interests (i.e. Cooking Master Boy), I had to look into this title. (more…)
Wishlist for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Square Enix just released the announcement trailer for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution that is not a mobile or browser game (because to hell with Deus Ex: The Fall). As you can see from this website’s design (as of this posting), I quite like the look and feel of DX:HR. However, it was far from perfect as it had some “broken” parts that got in the way of immersion. These are my thoughts on what can be improved through the new game. (more…)
Shirobako Review
This is an anime series that I had to review due to its premise, although it did take a bit of brain-twisting to get a finger on its strengths and weaknesses. Shirobako seemed to be on a mission to show the animation industry in a more honest light, and it seems that P.A. Works succeeded there. It may have started slow and hard to follow, but it did finish strong. If you’re fascinated with art or animation and have some patience, you won’t regret watching this series. (more…)
What I Got from Top Gear
By now, the dropping of now-former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson from the BBC due to a “fracas” with a producer has made the news. Many would think it’s not worth losing sleep over, but Top Gear fans like myself are saddened by this development, even if it had been a long time coming. With Richard Hammond and James May expressing their intent to not film without him, this version of the show seems effectively dead. It isn’t much, but I wanted to write something on what I took from Top Gear — my favorite show… in the world. (more…)
POWER/RANGERS: On Darkness and Deconstruction
Talk about being late to the party. However, I actually took quite a bit of time to sort my thoughts out on what I think about the short film in order to come up with this post. Perhaps it was good that I posted this only now as Henshincon — a celebration of the tokusatsu genre that had been a part of Filipino childhoods during the 90s — gets underway. I myself grew up with Power Rangers and tokusatsu shows imported from Japan (and translated into Filipino), so it seems apt for me to start off a tribute of sorts by looking into someone else’s tribute. (more…)
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number [Impressions]
It’s rare for me to await the release of a game right on day one; I’ve only done that for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- in recent years, as far as I can remember. This is one of the titles I was looking forward to this year because I love the first game, so I had to cover this game every step of the way. Therefore, here are my impressions of Hotline Miami 2 after playing it for around 3 hours or so. (more…)
Sunstone [Feature]
With Valentine’s Day having passed by and Fifty Shades of Grey becoming this growing mutated mass made of leather whips and rope that has droves of women going to movie theaters and book stores to consume what looks more like a sad example of adult writing, I thought of recommending something more human and heartfelt that still involved whips and rope as part of intimate activities (whatever makes you happy). One of the great things about Sunstone is that you don’t need to shelf out hard-earned money for a ticket — it’s free. (more…)
Reviewing My Anime Review Process
This is me confessing to struggling and being perplexed in the task at hand. In 2014, I started posting reviews of anime in this website, and I now admit that I may not be doing that well so far. Ever since taking that first step, I posted 2 anime reviews in this site, both of which were indicative of the problems I encountered in the process, and I wish to talk more about them here. They range from the difficulty with taking anime tropes and culture into account to dealing with the typical audience of the said medium. (more…)
The Dichotomy of Skill and Luck in Games
In The Co-Optional Podcast Episode 56, the guest Babylonian (formerly of Rev3Games) discussed the relationship between skill and luck when Hearthstone was brought up, which piqued my interest in the subject. It touched upon the competitive aspects of games, whether tabletop or digital. This, along with having gone on a bit of a tirade about Five Nights at Freddy’s in a Facebook thread, pushed me to look deeper into this subject. (more…)

Commentary on the Progression of Western RPGs – Part 3
As I worked to conclude this series that may or may not have been worth writing about, I did start thinking that this had been dragged on for too long. Perhaps I was thinking that while western RPGs were worth talking about at length, the things I’ve mentioned in this series aren’t exactly new information and may even be full of holes. I do admit to those doubts, but I still have to finish what I started. (more…)