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Over the past few years weve all seen glossy magazine articles on what women really want in a husband. We have had a hackneyed image created and thrown at us from all directions and they always seem to change, depending on what magazine youre reading at the moment! In general, in the Seventies and right through the Eighties we had the Yuppie - a man driven by material wealth and the pursuit of social status, that had women swooning. And industry scions like Kabir Mulchandani were considered hot property and a prime catch.
The ideal man is actually a variation of the Eighties male in that he still has a strong personality but he has also met his match in a woman - you. Because the contemporary woman is no longer the weaker sex. We just like to be looked after and romanced. We like to be swept of our feet just as much as we like to be in control and want a man that has the ability to allow both sides of our character to luxuriate, without being a weakling. We dont want a molly-coddling man who helps out around the house and cant stand up for himself! He can be kind and sensitive, but he can never be a sucker because it is very important for us to look up to our man.
Virility too is a huge turn on for the twenty-first century woman. This does not mean that a man has to be Adonis - or have the body of Hercules - but he must be someone we can proudly show off to our friends and family. While he does not have to be filthy rich or have a great job in a multinational company, he does need to offer security to the woman to stand on his own feet instead of relying on the family business and lazing around all day. He needs to be strong in his convictions, well spoken and have fixed goals. In other words, the ideal man must have an aim in life and have the conviction and the ability to achieve them.
Now what this actually means varies with each woman, but the basics are pretty much as described above. Today´s woman wants her man to be closer to the classic John Wayne archetype, in that he has a solid character and is willing to take charge, but more significantly, he needs to offer security to the woman in his life and be her pillar of strength. Are we asking for too much? I dont think so! I guess what I am really trying to say here is that, guys, all of you have it in you to be Prince Charming - just be self-confident, articulate and believe in yourself!
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October 15, 2012 at 09:22:42 Oct 15, 2012 @ 09:22
Selling both these DS at around £135 incl.shipping. Open to some negotiation though. Inbox me.
WTB: Palace Versafe tee S
They are still avaliable around London, yeah, but not everyone lives in london. If you look at the prices on ebay, mine aren't entirely unreasonable. I'm looking for £120 now, shipped. They havent even come out in America yet, for example.

subset: commoncrawl


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Trails of Cold Steel II
Grab your ARCUS units: Trails of Cold Steel II is now out
The wait is finally over
Sep 06
// Salvador G Rodiles
Listen up, everyone: It's time for us to make the best omelet and/or egg soup in the world, because today marks The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II's arrival in North America for the PS3 and Vita. I guess this means...
Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity will obliterate your boredom on Sept. 20
Immortality is overrated
Sep 02
// Salvador G Rodiles
Well, folks. It looks like we're in for a September that's filled with lots of colorful bullets since Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity, the Touhou fan game by Ankake Spa that gives off a Ys: The Oath in Felghana and Ys Origins ...
Trails of Cold Steel II
Huzzah: Trails of Cold Steel II hits North America next month
It's time to go back to Erebonia
Aug 16
// Salvador G Rodiles
To this day, I'm still amazed that we live in a world where the West is almost caught up with The Legend of Heroes Trails series since XSEED and Carpe Fulgur went through some huge ordeals to localize the franchise. Perh...
Little King's Story
Gather your troops: Little King's Story conquers PC this August
A new kingdom is about to get formed
Jul 30
// Salvador G Rodiles
For the longest time, the original Little King's Story was a game that caught my interest; however, for some unknown reason, I never got around to picking it up. Luckily, it turns out the that game's HD PC release hits Steam,...
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Review: Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus
Jun 12
// Christian Chiok
[embed]35088:5690:0[/embed] Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus (PC [reviewed], PS Vita)Developer: TamsoftPublisher: Marvelous Entertainment/XSEED GamesReleased: June 1st, 2016 (PC), October 14, 2014 (PS Vita)MSRP: $29.99 This game brings back the Shinobi Battle Royale, an ancient tradition amongst numerous Shinobi schools whereby every 50 years, the five elite students of each school will do battle in which result the winners will have the opportunity to burn down the loser's school and allow them to continue their training to be a legendary shinobi, The story is your typical Shonen-esque (battle manga) so it can be quite enjoyable if you're a fan of the battle series. Additionally, each character has their individual story allowing you to witness the hardship as well as their preparation for this ancient tradition. From the four schools, you will be able to choose among five characters and go through their individual story. I recommend playing through their individual stories first as it informs you more on the characters' personality, albeit it may have a small correlation with the main story. Most of it is satire, but is definitely worth playing through. By the end of each of their stories, your characters will be well leveled-up and ready to breeze through the main story. In Dojo Mode, you and three other friends will be able to battle it out online or through the system's ad-hoc feature. The mode offers three different types of games or six if you include their "Team" variation. There's Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Strip Battle, Team Strip Battle, Understorm and Team Understorm. In Deathmatch, you will battle it out with your opponent to get the most points. To win, you must inflict damage to your opponents and reach the set amount of points per match, or at least acquire the most points by the end of the match. Avoid getting hit or dying as that can decrease your points. Random enemies will be wandering around as well, which can help stack some extra points. Strip Battle is just like its name suggest. It shares similarities to Deathmatch, but offers its own little twist. Depending on how much clothing you destroy, the number of points you acquire will vary. The more you destroy, the greater the number of points you'll get. Lastly, Understorm is quite different than the other two modes. In this mode, players need to collect as many pairs of "Skimpy Undies" as possible as they rain down from above. Additionally, you can mug other players for their lingerie they collected thus far. Overall, I had a lot of fun playing this mode with friends the most. While not exactly a Musou game, the game has some similarities to the genre, such as beating multiple foes on the field while leveling up your character. You'll have two attack buttons, normal and strong attacks, which can be used to chain up powerful combos as you level up. You can also block and parry attacks when blocking timely. The more leveled up the character, your arsenal of combo chains increases. Just like many beat-em-up games, this title has a lock-on feature in which you can use to concentrate all of your attacks into an enemy but it comes with its downsides. Locking on really limits your camera control and leaves you vulnerable to the enemy. From my experience, it seems that the camera angles have been improved as well compared to the Vita version where it switched to a first-person like view, putting your own character out of view and leaving you vulnerable. With XSEED porting the game to PC, the game received graphical and performance enhancements. While it doesn't look as Estival Versus on PS4, you can tell that XSEED took advantage of the capabilities on PC. Additionally, they improved the frame rate issues the game had on PS Vita, as well as made the game 60 frame per second, making it a lot more enjoyable. Only issue I have is that character animations are awkward when in the hub, almost as it wasn't meant to be 60 frames per second. You have two transformations at your disposal—a Shinobi Transformation and a Frantic Transformation, both giving enhancements to your character. When using the Shinobi Transformation, it allows you to perform continuous attacks by pressing the various action buttons repeatedly. In addition, both your attack and defense will be increased. In Frantic Mode, you can execute Weak Attacks and chain them together infinitely. You will also receive a huge boost to your attack power but your defense drops drastically. You will also gain two Secret Ninja Techniques, which deals a lot of damage to the opponent. To use your Shinobi Transformation, you merely press the L and the R buttons; using Frantic Mode requires a bit more. Your Secret Ninja gauge will need be full first, then you press R and Triangle. That will later prompt you with a close-up of the character's breast on the touch screen, which you must slide outwards. Granted that's an easy task on a regular Vita, but playing it on a PlayStation TV requires more work to execute, which leaves you vulnerable to attack. When you take damage, not only will your lose health but your outfit will rip and tear. If you take enough damage, your clothes will fly completely apart. Outfit damage goes through three different stages: Costume Break, Lingerie and Naked. If you want to fully strip an opponent, you will have to bring her down to "Lingerie" and execute a Secret Ninja Art as a finishing blow. Normal attacks will destroy their lower body's clothing while Strong Attacks will destroy the top part of their clothing. As expected from Senran Kagura, it has its shares of perverted moments. You can customize the characters' apparel, such as their normal attire and their Shinobi and Frantic Mode attire. The customization extends to equipping extra accessories such as tails, glasses, gloves and more. As expected, the clothing options are exotic and really bring out the character's outer beauty. When in the Dressing Room, you can fully view the character models from multiple angles, and it includes a "perverted" mini game, if that's what you can call it. In this mode, you can harass the character in multiple ways using your mouse. Lacking the some of the features the PS Vita has, unfortunately this isn't as fun as it could be. Even with the in-depth gameplay, like every niche Japanese video game, Senran Kagura is aimed to a selective audience. It has fun gameplay alongside good multiplayer modes that add replay value to the game. I think that the breast galore and panty shots could be a turn off, but beneath all that, it's fun title that fans of action games should get.
The Shinobi Battle Royale, Now in HD
It's been almost two years since I had the opportunity to play and review Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus when it finally made its way outside of Japan. With XSEED willing to port most of their games into PC, it was about...
Senran Kagura
Aw, yeah: Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus hits PC next month
It's about to get steamy around here
May 25
// Salvador G Rodiles
To this day, the Senran Kagura series remains on my list of games to play, since the franchise's over-the-top beat 'em up combat system (both 2.5 and 3D) and fun cast have caught my interest. Speaking of which, XSEED has...
Review: Corpse Party (PC)
May 09
// Salvador G Rodiles
Corpse Party (PC)Developer: Team GrisGrisPublisher: XSEED GamesRelease Date: March 8, 2008 (JP), April 25, 2016 (NA)MSRP: $14.99 From the beginning, Corpse Party sets the scene for an amusing horror story as it separates the main cast after they were transported to a spiritual plane when they failed to properly recite the charm known as "Sachiko Ever After." This places the player in an intense situation while they try to escape from Heavenly Host Elementary school, a place that was thought to have been demolished; thus emulating that feeling that comes from being in a scary situation without any means to overcome spirits that are after your life. For the most part, Corpse Party's scary moments aren't the type of scenes that'll make people jump out of their seats or scream loudly. Instead, they're the kind of segments that are meant to shock players through the use of creepy descriptions and sound effects that complement the segments where someone gets killed in a messed up way, such as seeing a girl turn into nothing but blood and guts after being slammed into a wall at full force by two ghost kids. [embed]35006:5594:0[/embed] Even though most of these segments are shown through sprite animations or text on a completely black screen, the impact from watching your character or one of their friends suffer badly remains intact. To an extent, they give off a similar feeling to seeing one of When They Cry: Higurashi's violent moments, which was the vibe that I was getting through each of the game's five chapters. With each stage being around 20 minutes to an hour long during one's first playthrough, people won't have to worry about the scary moments overstaying their welcome. One thing the elevates these scenes, it's the voice cast's performances, as each person brings out the true potential of the characters that are experiencing fear or going insane from being in a place that's hard to escape from. This stood out more during the game's Wrong Ends, since they act as the "Game Over" sequences for the game and a good majority of them involve various members of the cast suffering an unfortunate fate. In some cases, it made up for the lack of visuals in the scenes with black screens. While Corpse Party's spirits and messed up situations makes it sound like a really intense title, the game mostly has the players searching for ways to progress through the school without having to worry about facing death, such as finding special items or activating switches scattered across the school. However, this doesn't mean that thing are safe, as the game has a few segments where players run from ghosts and have to avoid certain traps that could result in absolute death. Since none of the students have any items to defend themselves with, Corpse Party ensures that its players are in a state of vulnerability throughout the entire game. The only thing that can help folks overcome each challenge is to for them to be aware of their surroundings while they search for the items and clues to progress further, as it's a requirement to overcome each chapter. In some situations, one wrong move could cause specific characters to go mad and do something foolish. Overall, this setup works nicely in making the players feel insecure at times, which captures the essence of many horror films— especially with the fact that the game is riddled with a ton of different Wrong Ends. Aside from school's intense atmosphere, Corpse Party also involves the players trying to figure out the mystery behind the place they're trapped in. This was one of the most intriguing parts of the title, as it delves into the twisted tales that lead to the Heavenly Host Elementary School being torn down, along with learning about the deceased students who were sent to the spiritual plane before you. Sure, some of the events were messed up, but they're all still rewarding since they play a big role in giving the surviving students the ammunition to overcome the source of the hauntings. Despite the game's creepy nature, the title's characters are depicted in a simplistic style that gives them a cute look. All in all, Corpse Party's designs shine well when the cast is placed in various dire situations, as certain characters look extremely menacing when they snap or appear emotionally broken when they watch someone die. While the PSP version's character designs have a nicer updated look, the 2008 PC release's portraits still have a special charm to them since their expressions still complement the game's horror themes. In terms of the title's presentation, the overhead view format with 2D sprites worked well as a callback to the original Corpse Party being a game that was made in RPG Maker. Other than the game's five main chapters, the 2008 PC version of Corpse Party features a few extra chapters that expand on a few elements present in the game. While the game's PSP release has more segments than its predecessor, the main thing that sets the latter apart is the last chapter, which is a retelling of the "Tooth" story from Corpse Party: Book of Shadows. While I didn't play Book of Shadows, the scenario is still friendly to newcomers, as it expanded on a supporting character that was insane in the main story, along with a specific character that the player can only encounter in one of the game's Wrong Ends. Compare to the other three bonus stages, "Tooth's" length was close to the game's first chapter; thus making it a neat addition to this release. On the music side of things, Corpse Party's soundtrack sets the mood for its scary tone, as players are listening to songs that give off an eerie and unsettling vibe. A few of the tunes go well with the Halloween season and some of them play off on that feeling that someone dangerous is about to sneak up on you. With each chapter featuring different types of creepy tracks, players are treated to some variety while they try to survive. If anything, this feature's appearance is likely thanks to game launching as an episodic release in Japan. Corpse Party's 2008 PC release may sport less extra content that its PSP version, but the game makes it up to people with its ability to let them fast forward the title's text, along with its array of extra Wrong Ends and other goodies, such as its take on the "Tooth" chapter and the title having different voice actors. Thanks to these features, this makes Corpse Party worth it for those who want to uncover Heavenly Host Elementary's darkest secrets on their computer; thus teaching them the important lesson of not messing with charms that are connected to the supernatural. [This review is based on a Steam copy of the game provided by the publisher.]
Sachiko we beg of you!
For the longest time, I never got the chance to get into the horror genre of video games. It's not that I'm afraid of playing a scary title; it's that most of the major ones came out on the original Playstat...
Corpse Party
Let's bring out the punch: Corpse Party is out on PC
Watch out for those Wrong Ends
Apr 26
// Salvador G Rodiles
It's time for us to have a scary celebration as the original PC version of Corpse Party has crept its way to Steam, GOG and the Humble Store on Monday. In this case, it might not be a good idea to drink the punch. Of cou...
Senran Kagura Estival Versus: PS4 vs. PS Vita Comparison Video
Mar 28
// Christian Chiok
With the power of the PlayStation 4, fans can now experience the franchise in smooth 60 frames per second and crispy 1080p with great graphics. Luckily, the PS Vita version doesn't fall too far behind. While cutscenes and stages may look less defined, it still manages to hold it's own and looks a little and performs better than the previous entry Shinovi Versus. As for performance differences, the PS Vita version loads levels a lot slower compared to the PS4 version, which jumps right ahead into the action. Additionally, the PS Vita version uses the system's features such as it's touch screen and gyro sensors, giving you a better experience when messing with the characters in the Dressing Room. Check out the differences between the PS4 and PS Vita versions below: [embed]34893:5515:0[/embed]
Console vs. Handheld Comparison
Senran Kagura: Estival Versus is the first game in the franchise that makes it's way into consoles. Originally, the series was handheld-exclusive, with it's previous titles being on available on both the 3DS and the Vita, even counting other spin-offs like Senran Kagura Bon Appétit!
Review: Senran Kagura Estival Versus
Mar 28
// Christian Chiok
[embed]34893:5514:0[/embed] Senran Kagura: Estival Versus (PS4 [Reviewed], PS Vita)Developer: TamsoftPublisher: Marvelous EntertainmentReleased: March 26, 2015 (JP), March 15, 2016 (EU), March 18, 2016 (NA)MSRP: $59.99 Unlike the previous game which had a more serious tone, which involved the destruction of schools via the Shinobi Battle Royale, the ancient tradition amongst numerous Shinobi schools whereby every 50 years, the five elite students of each school will do battle, this time around the franchise took a more amicable turn, showing all the characters getting along, at least during the beginning. This time around, Hanzo Academy, Gessen Academy, Hebijo Academy and Homura's Crimson Squad were brought to the Kagura Millennium Festival, an event hosted by Master Sayuri, the Mikagura sisters, and Ryoki, which took place in a world where our characters reunited with their dead loved ones. This time around the game offers a unified story instead of separating it per school. Learning from Shinovi Versus, I didn't expect the story to be amazing this time around either, as a matter of fact, I appreciated that it didn't take itself too seriously during the beginning, especially since it took place in a beach most of the time. However, during the second half of the story, the game took a more serious approach, showing character progression, and story progression, where we learn why this event was hosted in the first place. Just like any of the previous games, alongside the main story, you will be able to play the character's individual story (Shinobi Girl's Heart) which stirs away from the main story. Depending on who you are playing as, their story could either be comical or dramatic. Overall each story is highly entertaining and adds many hours of action to the game. Unlike the other games though, in Estival Versus, you got to unlock the character's Shinobi Girl's Heart, probably because they contain spoilers. While that's reasonable, I really that it gave you that freedom to play the game in whatever order you wanted. In Shinovi Versus, I wanted to get invested with the characters first before proceeding to the main story. Unfortunately, most of the stages feel repetitive as you're basically revising every stage in most chapters. The only difference would be the main boss you're facing at the end of the stage. If I wasn't really invested in the story, the game would be rather boring. The Shinobi Dojo returns, allowing you to play with other friends locally via ad-hoc or via online. You will be able to play free-for-all or Team Battle in various game modes such as Point Battle, Understorm, Capture the Bra, Shinobi Survival, Walker Battle, and Shinobi Deathmatch. The only difference between the PS Vita and PS4 is that the former lets you play up to four players while the PS4 version allows you to play up to 10 players. Naturally, the more the merrier, so the PS4 version is the way to go with this mode. With the power of the PlayStation 4, the game's visuals have heavily improved, even on the PS Vita version. The characters model look a lot closer to an anime series, allowing you appreciate their beauty a lot more. Gameplay-wise the game shares similarities to the Musou genre, which consists of beating multiple enemies on the field and leveling up your character while doing it. Just like Shinovi Versus, Estival Versus is NOT a Musou, but a 3D beat'em up instead. You'll have two attack buttons, normal and strong attacks, which can be used to execute powerful combos as you level up. Just like the other games, you will be able to perform a Shinobi Transformation, allowing you to each girl's true shinobi form and allows for powerful special attacks called "Secret Ninja Arts." These special attacks deal massive damage and have a wider range than normal attacks. You may also use Frantic Mode, which in addition to using Secret Ninja Arts, it makes you more powerful, but it weakens your defense. You can also block and parry attacks when blocking timely. While there might be a feeling of repetitiveness, the game does a really good job at making you feel like a badass, especially with a powerful and completely leveled up character (especially if they are wielding a cool weapon). One of the major improvements is the lock-on feature which now allows you to control the camera while still being locked on. In the previous game, locking on into your enemy limited your camera control by having the angle fixed into your locked on opponent, making you vulnerable to other enemies. However, even with the lock on feature, sometimes your attack doesn't go directly to your enemy, thus ending your combo. Stages will now have Bombs hidden inside creates. Each Bomb will have a different effect, such as poisoning or electrocuting your enemy, making you invisible or even summon a Puppet, which is technically a robot that deals a great amount of damage. Naturally with the game running on PS4 as well, you will be able to enjoy the smoothness of 60 frames per second. Even the PS Vita version of Estival Versus has improved a little bit from the previous entry as it definitely feels a bit smoother as well. It wouldn't be Senran Kagura without its perverted moments. Naturally, the game allows players to customize the characters' apparel, including their normal attire and their Shinobi and Frantic Mode attire. An improvement from the first game is that you can also customize their hair's color, offering five options of different colors. Additionally, you can equip extra accessories such as tails, glasses, gloves and more. A lot of the clothing options are exotic and really bring out the character's outer beauty. However, the customization menu also allows you to fully view the character models from multiple angles, and it includes a "perverted" mini game, if that's what you can call it, that allows you to harass the character in any way that you wish. The PS Vita works similarly to Shinovi Versus and Bon Appétit, where it uses the system's PlayStation Vita's features such as its touch screen, back screen, microphone, and gyro sensors. However, in the PS4 version, you will have to use the PS4 controller, which works similarly as putting any of the previous game on the PlayStation TV. Personally, I prefer this minigame on the PS Vita version, as it is more natural. There's also a Diorama feature, allowing you to control the girls by putting them in any pose that you wish, change the condition of their clothing, as well as their expression. You may also change the background and add any type of visual effect to it. It is obvious that the Senran Kagura franchise is aimed to a selective audience, but that obviously doesn't make it a bad game. Estival Versus offers improved gameplay mechanics alongside an improved multiplayer mode that adds replay value to the game. The game has a galore breast and panty shots shown during gameplay in the most comedic way, but beneath all that, it's fun title that fans of niche Japanese games or Anime-style games should get. So if you own a PS4 or a PS Vita, then you should pick up the game. Check out a comparison video between the PS4 and PS Vita versions here.
The Path to Become a Strong Shinobi
After a year from its Japanese release, Senran Kagura Estival Versus made its way outside of Japan, making PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita owners very happy. This game is sequel to Shinovi Versus, so if you played it then ...
Japanator Live
Japanator LIVE: Bikini Zombie Slaying
Booby Samurai
Mar 24
// Red Veron
So I just got a copy of Oneechanbara: Z2 Chaos on the Playstation 4 and I heard it's good. So join me tonight to watch some zombie slaying action while in a bikini and/or school girl outfit. [The stream begins at 10PM Central time on our Japanator Youtube Channel]
Review: Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale
Mar 23
// Salvador G Rodiles
Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale (3DS)Developer: epics, Marvelous Inc.Publisher: XSEED GamesRelease Date: February 18, 2016 (EU), March 1, 2016 (NA)MSRP: $39.99 Perhaps the smartest thing that the team did with Return of PoPoLoCrois was having Pietro get sent to another land while his realm is under attack by an outside force. This allowed for the farming elements to transition smoothly into the game, as the prince's quest involves helping a fairy purge Galariland's soil from the darkness that dwells within it. That way, he can return to his own world. Seeing that this realm is an original setting, the only Story of Seasons element present is the farming features. Since it's been a good while that PoPoLoCrois has gotten a new game, the title's opening sequence hits the right notes in getting the players interested in Pietro and his comrades. Their tale may not stand out too much from other fantasy stories, but its tone and characters feel like a fun Saturday morning cartoon. Because of this feeling, Return to PoPoLoCrois' ensures its audience that they're in for a fun ride. [embed]34876:5498:0[/embed] Like with many games where the hero has achieved victory many times, Return to PoPoLoCrois' beginning presents us with enough aspects to let us be affected by Pietro being stripped of his powers when he arrived in Galariland. While it's obviously a mechanic to keep him from making the title too easy, it also serves as a way for the royal figure to get his hands dirty with the farming life and saving an entirely new world. While the game's story was charming, the adventure has its own share of problems. Throughout most of the title's chapters, players have to dive into various crops so they can defeat the Black Beasts that are corrupting the fields. Once they clear this segment, then they have to go to a temple to liberate one of Galariland's season-themed farmlands. Due to the lack of variety in the designs of these stages, these segments can get repetitive when one has to go through five levels and a major dungeon that look similar during a huge chunk of adventure. In some cases, it takes away from the great simplistic aspects present in the main world's other areas. If there's one good thing about this repetition is that it rewards players with more land to grow things, along with some funny to heartwarming segments that push the plot forward. Despite the title's repetitive format with its purification segments, Return to PoPoLoCrois' content still managed to grow on me. In a similar manner to the Rune Factory titles, the game lets players juggle exploration and combat with their farming life. Thanks to this fusion, players can earn extra money while they tend to their crops and livestock, which is a neat option when they're not in the mood to gain gold through fighting enemies. Nonetheless, Return to PoPoLoCrois' combat is enjoyable, as it features a simple strategy RPG system that gives off an old school feeling. With mining, bug catching, and item crafting added to the mix, the game has many ways to keep players entertained outside of the main 20 to 30-hour long adventure. To an extent, these extra bits make up for the title's tedious segments. Since players can alter the Return to PoPoLoCrois' difficulty and encounter rate, this feature lets them tackle the product's offerings at their own pace. However, even at the highest difficulty, Pietro's main quest isn't a huge pain to get through. Going back to the game's Saturday morning cartoon feel, another aspect that compliments this feature is Yohsuke Tamori's designs. His choice to apply the two to three head proportions and one-colored eyes to his character art plays a major role in this feeling. The art also gives off a great children's book vibe, which contributes to the heartwarming elements present in the game. Even though Return to PoPoLoCrois' English dub comes off as cheesy, the tone suits the game's children cartoon-like elements. For example, Colleen O' Shaughnessey (Digimon's Sora, Naruto's Ino) was able to capture the prince's innocent personality. If the style doesn't suit your tastes, players have the option to play the game with two types of Japanese dubs. The difference between them is that one was done by regular actors and the other features an array of folks who've been involved in anime. All in all, this option was a neat move on XSEED's behalf. Music wise, the game's tracks range from being highly enjoyable to amicable. The battle theme in the outer areas sounds like a tune from a Looney Toon's short and the dungeon battle themes remind me of a mix between Mortal Kombat's main theme and the opening song used in the English version of Evil Zone/Eretzvaju. Other than that, the rest of the tunes felt mostly subtle, which worked well with the title's Story of Season aspects. Even though I wasn't jamming out to most of the songs, the majority of them meshed well with Pietro's adventure. As a newcomer to the PoPoLoCrois series, the Return to PoPoLoCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale left me with a fine impression on the franchise. While the title's field dungeon moments felt like a chore, my desire to see Prince Pietro return to his kingdom grew as I saw him get closer to his goal. Thanks to its efforts in fusing the two franchise's elements, Return to PoPoLoCrois is the closest thing to a new Rune Factory installment on the 3DS. Sure, it lacks the detailed systems from the signature fantasy farming series, but the game's silly tale and the Story of Season mechanics balance out to the point where this harvest is worth picking out. [This review is based on a digital retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.] Despite the repetitive format with the title's purification segments, Return to PoPoLoCrois' content grew on me. In a similar manner to the Rune Factory titles, the game lets players juggle exploration and combat with their farming life. Thanks to this fusion, players can earn extra money while they tend to their crops and livestock, which is a neat option when they're not in the mood to gain gold through fighting enemies. Nonetheless, Return to PoPoLoCrois' combat is enjoyable, as it features a simple strategy RPG system that gives off an old school feeling. With mining, bug catching, and item crafting thrown into the mix, there's many ways to keep you entertained outside of the 25 to 30-hour adventure. Since players can alter the game's difficulty and encounter rate, this feature lets them tackle the title's offering at their own pace. However, even at the highest difficulty, Return to PoPoLoCrois isn't too tough to get through.
It's a cropload of fun
I never thought that I'd live to see the day when the PoPoLoCrois series would cross over with the Story of Season (formerly known as Harvest Moon in the West) games. Even though the Rune Factory titles mixes raising cro...
Japanator Live
Japanator Live: Party Like A Shinobi in Senran Kagura: Estival Versus
Follow the Path of Kagura
Mar 21
// Christian Chiok
[Update: The stream is over, but you can watch it here, here, here, and here.] The latest installment of Senran Kagura is here, but unlike the previous game, Shinovi Versus, where the girls aimed to destroy each oth...
Trails in the Sky
Rejoice: Trails in the Sky the 3rd crosses the pond
Our prayers have been answered
Mar 11
// Salvador G Rodiles
For a second, I wasn't sure if XSEED's tweet about a priest and a nun was important since they might've been in the mood to tell a great joke. Lo and behold, this statement had a higher purpose as the company announced t...
Review: Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel
Feb 13
// Christian Chiok
Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel (PS3, PS4 [reviewed])Developer: ExamuPublisher: Marvelous, XSEED GamesReleased: December 10, 2015 (JP), February 2, 2016 (NA), Early 2016 (EU)MSRP: $29.99 (PS3), $39.99 (PS4) The game also features traditional modes such as Versus Mode, Score Attack, and Training. Unfortunately, there isn't a tutorial mode for you to learn all the functions of the game but at least Training Mode is rebust enough, giving you many ways to improve on your weak points. I may not know the characters, but that doesn't mean I didn't have fun using each character either. Each character has their individual moveset catering to all playstyles. So while the game shares the same button input for all characters, the learning curve will vary. The game is also easier to jump in, compared to Examu's Arcana Heart series which has more mechanics to learn and has a higher learning curve. However, I would say the game is similar to the BlazBlue series. While it's an easy game to jump in and get familiarized with its combat system, it takes it's time to master. Of course, the game isn't as in-depth as BlazBlue. However, just like Dengeki Bunko and Persona 4 Arena, the game also has the auto-combo feature which I still despise it. Basically, it allows the player to perform a combo by button smashing. While it is easily avoidable, offering such features ruins what could be a fun competitive game and turns it into a casual fest. Unlike the those games though, they can only be performed by the Vanishing Rush, which consumes your power gauge. You will be able to add support characters into the mix as well, which allows you to push your combos even further, either by adding an additional attack or increasing your power gauge, allowing you to possibly use your character's Lethal Blaze—their special attack. Naturally, summoning partners has it's cooldown. The game also has a Blast feature, which similar to other traditional fighting games, allows players to escape from combo, which has its own cooldown as well. It also regenerates your power gauge and health. Having friends that aren't invested in the fighting game genre too much sucks, but so I heavily rely on the game's online portion. Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel's netcode is great and I haven't faced and issue with it so far. It's definitely an improvement from Examu's previous titles like Aquapazza. Additionally, the game includes online cross-play, so if you have friends that own the previous gen version, because they don't want to pay for online or still want to use their good ol arcade stick then you will be able to play with them. I personally tried it with a friend and it works as good as playing with players on PS4. While I believe that the game is great, and would recommend that you add it to your fighting game collection, releasing the game near Street Fighter V is going to hurt the game. Granted, not everyone cares about SFV, but many players will transition into the upcoming fighting game. If you don't care about Street Fighter V however, then you should definitely buy this game as it's a fun fighting game with a solid combat system and making likable characters. [This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.]
Waifus Unite!
Seeing a crossover game isn't rare in 2016. During the previous years, we had games like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, Dengeki Bunko, Anarchy Reigns, and PlayStation All-Stars. This time around, we got Nitroplus ...
Nitroplus Blasterz
Shift into high gear with Nitroplus Blasterz's gameplay trailer
Gotta mash those buttons hard
Jan 15
// Salvador G Rodiles
I may not have gotten the chance to dive into Nitroplus' visual novel games, but their stuff has always been something that I've been interested in checking out (such as Demonbane and Full Metal Daemon Muramasa). However, I ...
Review: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Jan 15
// Salvador G Rodiles
[embed]34698:5355:0[/embed] The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (PlayStation 3 [Reviewed], PlayStation Vita)Developer: Nihon FalcomPublisher: XSEED Games (NA), NIS America (EU)Release Date: December 22, 2015 (NA), January 29, 2016 (EU)MSRP: $39.99 (Regular Edition), $49.99 (Lionheart Edition) Before the game's main story begins, players are thrown into the middle of a mission you're storming a military base that's filled with robots, along with a few tidbits that hint at a major crisis in Erebonia. Then Trails of Cold Steel focuses on Rean Schwarzer's enrollment at the Thors Military Academy, which places him in the newly created class called Class VII. During his new academic life, he'll have to bond with his classmates as they learn about the reasoning behind their group's creation, along with encountering a few suspicious scenarios that are happening from behind the scenes. Throughout a good chunk of the adventure, Trails of Cold Steel's story moves at a very slow place, as it takes a long time for the major events to kick in. Mind you, this isn't a bad thing, as players are showered with many elements that expand a few great treats, such as the Erebonia region's historical background, the culture of each location in the territory, and a ton of other stuff that gets people acquainted with the land. This is accomplished through the books that players read throughout the adventure, the characters that they interact with, and the quests (both main and optional) that they undertake. All in all, I was entertained by the title's presentation since it throws each piece at the player in a steady manner. When it comes to Trails of Cold Steel progression, the whole formula felt similar to titles like Persona 4 and Mana Khemia: Alchemist of Al-Revis since the meat of the game focuses on Rean's school life and his ordeals with his classmates. You spend most of your time attending classes, spending time with your Class VII buddies, and undertaking different tasks for the Student Council. Then the story takes the group on a field trip where they test their skills in different towns and large environments all over Erebonia. With the group consisting of nobles and commoners with their own problems, the developing chemistry between the party ended up being entertaining. For the most part, the formula doesn't deviate from this path too much, but that doesn't stop it from getting dull and/or repetitive as the events and narrative that lead up to each activity holds the entire package together nicely. As players start to see other segments that hint at the real conflicts in the story, the whole segment manages to feel rewarding during each of the game's chapters. Whether it's seeing the events unfold through mysterious characters that are up to something huge, political struggles between the top noble classes, or the main cast's dilemmas, the game's story blends different styles of world-building elements into one tasty treat; thus pleasing those who were pulled in from the beginning. For players who got to play the Trails in the Sky saga, Trails of Cold Steel's combat system brings back the turn-based benefits and the S-Break mechanic/the ability to use any character's ultimate move during any moment in battle. As an added feature, the game throws in a few mechanics that give off a nice Persona 4 vibe. With the introduction to Link Attacks, this lets players find new ways to exploit their opponent's weaknesses. All in all, this new addition to the game acts as another feature for players to make sure that enemies don't take advantage of the random battle bonuses (such as dealing critical damage or gaining life). Throw in the ability to switch party members like in Final Fantasy X, and we have ourselves some good ways to turn each encounter into a fun time. Perhaps the best part out of the team attacks is that their power can be improved through methods outside of spending time with your classmates. Through minigames and using each character in your adventure, players can increase their link levels of their allies very easily— even if some of the social events can only be done on certain days. Best of all, this allows for other party members to support each other in combat. Thanks to these new features, I found myself coming up with various ways to mop the floor with my enemies. The game's Arts feature, the Trails series' term for magic-like abilities, feels like an improved version of Final Fantasy VII's Materia system, which grants players endless possibilities on how they want to tailor their party; therefore resulting in a rewarding experience when a setup works well in battle. Trails of Cold Steel may not have the greatest looking graphics on the PS3 and Vita, but the simplicity and style behind its designs work well in giving the game a nice presentation that's good enough to pull people into Erebonia. At the same time, the Falcom's 3D models manage to do great justice to Nakae's lovely character designs, which is one of the benefits of its simple look. As a person who's been digging the Ys series' upbeat and fast-paced music, Trails of Cold Steel's soundtrack lives up to Falcom's great record of having some amazing tunes in their titles. For example, the boss theme track known as "Tie a Link of Arcus" is a harmonious fusion between electric guitar and violin music that always gets my blood pumping when I'm about to fight a tough adversary. The same can be said about the main battle song "A Glint of Cold Steel," a tune that somehow creates a wonderful melody that mixes techno, rock, and piano music together. In terms of the area tunes, they all manage to suit the locations theme, such as the Nord Highland's piece, "Land of Blue Skies," having some soothing panflute segments that feel you're exploring the mountain regions of Peru. While we're still on the topic of sound, the game's English voice cast knocked it out of the ballpark. Sean Chiplock's (Magi's Cassim, Danganronpa's Ishimaru) performance as Rean worked well in conveying the guy's various reaction in his quest to find his place in life, along with his fumbles during the beginning of the story and his serious moments. Also, Carrie Keranen (KILL la KILL's Satsuki, Madoka Magica's Mami) was able to convey the Class VII Instructor Sara's laid-back personality and drunk side wonderfully; thus making her one of my favorite teachers in an RPG. Overall, XSEED Games did a great job in ensuring that each person gave it their all with their roles in Trails of Cold Steel. At the same time, it helped show how well their localization work on the game blended with each performance. In terms of downsides, there were a couple minor issues present in the game. One has to do with two Quartz items called Dragon Vein and Septium Vein. The former's description says that it's supposed to regenerate the user's HP outside of battle; however, it only restores their EP, the points used to cast Arts. As for the latter, it says that it's supposed to grant players the healing skill Teara, but the ability isn't available when someone equips in on one of their party members. Nonetheless, this error is very small, as both items are still useful. Most importantly, it doesn't change the fact that Trails of Cold Steel's English script flowed nicely throughout the story, which shows how dedicated the team was at making sure that the lines hit us in a positive way. Also, it was neat to see that one of the academy's students speaks in a Scottish accent. Another problem includes a few instances where Trails of Cold Steel would lag during panning scenes or when the player is navigating through the Orbment section of the menu in Trista, the game's main town. In the end, these problems don't happen frequently to the point where the whole adventure goes through tons of slowdowns. When they happen, they are very brief, since a majority of the game's segments ran smoothly. In the end, my time with Trails of Cold Steel was like a great relationship where the problems didn't get in the way of the strong bond. The title's slow narrative and world-building aspects benefit the adventure more than hurting it, as it prepares players for the major events in its sequel. While there were a few references to the previous Trails titles, newcomers to the series aren't exposed to the who, what, and why behind these events, since they're more of an extra tasty topping to the yummy Teriyaki Chicken Pizza that's right in front of us. Just like any tasty delight, the reward for savoring every moment makes this game a nice course that'll satisfy anyone who loves to consume RPGs. [This review is based on a digital retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.] [embed]34698:5355:0[/embed]
It's time to hit the books!
It's hard to believe that we live in a world where The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC and Trails of Cold Steel went West during the same year. This outcome has made me believe that Hell has frozen over, as this ...
Trails of Cold Steel
Aw, yeah: Trails of Cold Steel hits us with its best S-Craft attacks
Let's have a sophisticated fight
Dec 19
// Salvador G Rodiles
I may not be too far in The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky but its prologue chapter has already made me a fan of the game already. Since Estelle and Joshua's great chemistry pulled me in, I guess you could say that...
The Legend of Heroes
Love is eternal: Trails in the Sky SC launches next week
Pigs have finally learned to fly
Oct 23
// Salvador G Rodiles
Well, folks: I'm happy to announce that we now live in a world where pigs have wings, and hell has frozen over. In other words, XSEED has revealed that The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC hits the PC and the PSN ...
Akiba's Trip
Akiba's Trip gets a release date, PS4 version crossing pond
XSEED going for XS!
Jul 24
// Josh Tolentino
XSEED games are really going all-out with their upcoming release of Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed. Not only have they ported the Acquire's open-world Akihabara cosplay vampire-stripping game to the English language, t...
The Legend of Heroes
Cheers! Trails in the Sky's PC version gets a release date
It's time to launch more trailers into the sky!
Jul 23
// Salvador G Rodiles
As XSEED Games and Carpe Fulgur continue to work on The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, the awesome folks at XSEED have announced that the first Trails in the Sky game's hitting Steam and GOG on July 29th (next Tuesda...
Akiba Strip 2
Akiba Strip 2 has new PS4 sharing gameplay features
You're going to be typing "panty" a lot...
Jun 24
// Josh Totman
If Akiba Trip 2 couldn't get any crazier, along comes it's new 'share & chat' feature. It's bad enough that the game requires you to save Akihabara from the undead by striping them of clothes so that that the sun can des...
Akiba's Trip 2
XSEED adding English audio, gender equality to Akiba's Trip 2
Anglophones and androphiles rejoice
May 13
// Josh Tolentino
Do you own a PS Vita or PS3? Do you happen do be an anglophile, or an androphile (or both)? Are you looking forward to XSEED's upcoming localization of Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed? If you answered "yes" to at...
Promoted Blog: An alt-review of Senran Kagura Burst
Spoiler: Karutomaru liked it.
Mar 29
// Karutomaru
[Editor's note: The following editorial was originally posted in our community blogs. While the views expressed within are not necessarily shared by Japanator, or its staff, we occasionally see fit to share unique or interes...
Akiba's Trip
Take It Off: XSEED to localize Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
Vampires, underwear and Akihabara
Mar 06
// Josh Tolentino
[Update: XSEED's released an announcement teaser. Check it out above!] It's happening! After quite a while existing for no one's eyes but Japan's (and that of a few curious foreigners), Akiba's Trip is...er, trippi...
Review: Ys: Memories of Celceta
Jan 09
// Elliot Gay
Ys: Memories of Celceta (PS Vita)Developer: FalcomPublisher: XSEEDReleased: November 26, 2013 MSRP: $39.99 The young adventurer Adol has once again found himself in an unknown land without his memories. Bruised and beaten, he wakes up in the small town of Casnan with no information as to why he was there to begin with. It's here that he meets a white-haired man named Duren who appears to have known him since before his memories went bye bye. Adol had made an attempt to venture into the dangerous Great Forest of Celceta, and after going missing for a period of time, resurfaced back in town, collapsed on the ground. While mysteries abound and a giant uncharted land at his very feet, Adol embarks on a quest to retake his past and unlock the secrets of Celceta. My biggest problem with Falcom's previous entry in the series, Ys Seven, was that it attempted to tell a grand story in the most wordy way possible. It was unnecessarily chatty in places that it didn't need to be, and that stretched out the game time in a significant way. I clocked in at around 27 hours by the time I finished Seven on its normal mode. Memories of Celceta, while text heavy compared to other entries in the series, is a much more lean experience. On the standard difficulty level, I completed Memories in a brisk 19 hours. The narrative here isn't going to win any awards for originality, but Falcom spins a good enough yarn that will keep most folks pushing forward in the game. Memories of Celceta offers a rare peek into Adol's earlier years via the use of memory points hidden throughout the game. These story bits are completely new to this re-telling of Ys IV. The rest of the story involves a Mask of the Sun, a trio of evil soldiers and the slowly growing presence of long-time series antagonists, the Romun army. These are all bits taken from the two previous versions of Ys IV, making Memories a strange mash-up of story elements. One strong point in Memories' favor is how often it allows players to shape Adol's personality. Most cutscenes have multiple points at which dialogue options become available. They don't significantly change the story, but it's a fun inclusion that makes Adol feel more like a fleshed-out character. If I had any major issue with the writing, it'd be how abruptly the whole thing comes to a close. At the end of the day though, this is a Ys game, and nobody plays Ys games for their stories. They come and stay for the high speed action gameplay, which Memories of Celceta provides in bulk. At first glance, things don't seem that far removed from Ys Seven. Much like the aforementioned, Memories makes use of a party system that allows you to switch between controllable characters. Each party member has a different set of skills and attack style, meaning certain situations will call for certain characters. For example, an encounter with a group of armored enemies will call for Duren, the brute of the party. More often than not, you'll find yourself faced with a myriad of enemy types which will have you switching between characters every other attack. You're not doing crazy combos as there are only a couple of attack buttons, but it's simple, it's fast, and more importantly it feels good. Much of the changes to the combat system are under the hood. Flash Guard and Flash Move both make a return in Memories of Celceta, but have seen significant tweaks that make them much harder to break. The window of timing to pull off these parry-like moves is a lot smaller, meaning it'll take practice for players to be able to pull them off consistently. The overall game balance is much stronger, especially due to the way Memories of Celceta opens up the world to players. Ys games have always been fairly open affairs with interconnected worlds not totally unlike a Metroid or an Iga-era Castlevania, but Memories of Celceta takes it one step closer. Most of the adventure takes place in the uncharted forest of Celceta, and so Adol is tasked with mapping every corner of the sea of trees. You get rewards for exploring as much of the game world as possible, much of which is locked off depending on the special powers you possess at any given time. Find an area you can't get through yet? Chances are better than not you have to find a power that'll grant you access. Memories of Celceta even gives players freedom to do certain story events in a different order. For example based on which town you go to, you'll either party up with Karna or Ozma first. It's small, but it adds a lot to the overall experience. There are plenty of little nooks and crannies to search, and I can see many players spending hours away from the main story just to explore the world. It's a unique feel for a Ys game, made even better by the day/night cycle that helps exploration feel fresh. Ys: Memories of Celceta appears to be running on a modified version of the Ys Seven engine, meaning that the graphics aren't exactly built to impress. Everything is still significantly better detailed compared to the previous game on the PSP, but there are some noticeable low resolution textures and the whole shebang doesn't run at Vita's native resolution. That being said, strong art direction and a crazy draw distance win the day. As Adol, you'll be traveling through some beautifully designed locations with thunder and lightning crackling in the background, huge towers in the distance, and massive volcanoes erupting nearby. Falcom has never been at the top of the graphics world, but they still manage to impress due to a strong and consistent vision. Sadly the framerate can fluctuate pretty wildly, especially when there are a huge number of enemies on the screen. It's not game-ruining, but it does standout. Also consistent with previous Ys titles is the guitar-heavy soundtrack by the reliable Falcom Sound Team JDK. A mix of new tracks and arrangements taken from Mask of the Sun and Dawn of Ys, Memories of Celceta is mostly a home-run. Some of the arrangements are a bit disappointing (I'm looking at you, Dawn of Ys), but for the most part it's a collection of nostalgic tracks given new life. Where the soundtrack falls short is in the sheer lack of tracks. Despite having so much source material to pull from, Memories of Celceta's score seems surprisingly brief by Falcom standards. What's there is great, but I just wish there was more. Western action game fans have gone too long without experiencing Falcom's Ys games. Like nearly every one to come before it, Memories of Celceta requires no prior knowledge of Adol's exploits, making it another great place to jump in. Don't make the mistake of missing this one. If you have a Vita, I guarantee you that you won't find a better action RPG experience on the console. 9 -- Superb (9s are a hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage to what is a supreme title.)
Adol goes on yet another danger-filled adventure
Falcom's Ys series is the unspoken hero of the action RPG genre. Starring red-haired adventurer Adol, the Ys games are sprawling quests that test your reflexes as they throw you into large worlds with monsters that desi...
Senran Kagura Burst Hebijo & Hanzou trailers
Time to compare and contrast
Nov 15
// Tim Sheehy
XSEED has released their second character trailer for Senran Kagura Burst, this time featuring the deadly vixens of the evil Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy. Since they've already released another trailer for the Hanzou sc...
Review: Senran Kagura Burst
Nov 14
// Tim Sheehy
Senran Kagura Burst (Nintendo 3DS) Developer: Tamsoft Publisher: XSEEDReleased: November 14, 2013 MSRP: $29.99 The first thing you're likely to notice is that every time you enter and exit the intro screen, or navigate through the menus you'll be treated to a few untranslated lines of Japanese voice overs. This might irk some, but it's just basic phrases you've probably heard a million times while playing various fighting games or RPGs over the years -- nothing to fuss over. The options menu itself is pretty limited, and only really allows you to adjust the volume of the music, sound effects and voice overs. When you start a new a game, you're given two paths to choose from, the Hanzou school which contains the content from the first game released in Japan, Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows, or the Hebijo school from Senran Kagura: Crimson Girls. They recommend you start with the Hanzou path. After a short introduction which explains the purpose of ninjas, and the origin of the school your characters attend, you'll be rewarded with an animated opening sequence. It seems they didn't bother subbing the theme song, but I honestly hadn't expected as much. You soon gain access to various features within the game such as the character select screen, dressing room, mission list, library, records and settings. You can either navigate to each option within the classroom, or quickly access each using a menu on the bottom touch screen. You can also converse with characters who happen to be hanging out in the room, though the conversations seem to be dull and one-sided. The meat of the interactions take place during the event sequences between missions. The dressing room allows you to select different outfits, accessories, and wigs you may have unlocked throughout the course of the game. When choosing an outfit, you can cycle through different color schemes before confirming your selection. Much to my amusement, moving your character model around while in the dressing room will cause their breast physics to kick in, and may even elicit some protests from your character if you're less-than-gentle about it. You can use the library to view your stats, titles, pictures, movies, music and other unlockables you may have obtained through play. You can also look up terms and character bios in case you want to better familiarize yourself with your favorite characters. They don't make it very clear, but you'll need to hold down X while pressing up and down in order to scroll through the text. That said, all the fun and creepy information you could want seems to be included, such as each character's measurements, birth dates, blood type, favorite foods, and so on. Records allows you to save and load your game. The character select screen is pretty self explanatory, and so is the mission list. As you complete each mission, you'll progress through the chapters. Each mission lists out things such as the location, goal, time limit and difficulty, which is ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the easiest and 5 being ridiculous. They change up the goal from time to time to try and keep things slightly less monotonous, often to little avail. Sadly, simply plowing through your enemies will cause you to achieve whatever goal they've set. I did find that the time limits can make things difficult if you're not constantly mashing your attack buttons. Combat is pretty simplistic. One button for weak attacks, another to punctuate with strong attacks, making combo chains pretty straight forward. There's another button for jump and one for dash, which can be used defensively to avoid enemy attacks. Most attacks and combos can also be performed in mid-air, though pressing down and strong attack allow you to launch an assault strike. Your tech and move list can be viewed on the lower screen, while most action takes place on the top. You'll gain new moves by leveling up over time. You can also select a different "balance" or stance to swap to a different move set, assuming your character has that ability. Like most beat-em-ups that feature leveled move sets however, the early going will feel totally repetitive and may turn off any gamers who lack the patience to grow the characters further. There's also a sweet aerial rave system that lets you chain air combos when you time a jump to coincide with a green ring that appears on the screen mid-combo. If performed correctly, you can keep these going for even more damage, though I found that to be quite difficult myself. You can also launch a limit break by pressing the R shoulder button -- doing so will knock back the enemies who may have you surrounded, but it also drains your health to a measly 10% making it a risky proposition and one that hardly ever seems to pay off. You also have a gauge that builds over time which allows for your character to transform into her special shinobi costume, increasing both attack and speed while allowing you to launch a devastating special attack. So, as some of you are likely aware, taking battle damage in this game results in not only the loss of health, but can actually cause your character's clothes to tear. While you can always restore your health with potions, your clothes not so much. This can have a dire effect if you happen to lose your Shinobi costume, increasing all the damage you take from that point on during the battle. At the start of each battle, you're also given the option to enter frantic mode. This sheds all your clothes down to your bathing suit, which somehow greatly increases your damage and speed at the cost of your defense, and perhaps your modesty. Beating each mission while in frantic mode unlocks something special, and while I wish I had time to attempt this myself, it's something you'll have to try on your own. When you're not in battle, you're either wandering your classroom, engaged in a visual novel-esque conversation, or stuck reading a wall of text set against a static image. These pieces of exposition often read like a bad soft-h fan fiction. Fortunately, you'll find that during the event sequences or walls of text, you're given the opportunity to proceed as normal, fast forward, or skip them entirely. You can also hold down Y to make the text disappear from the top screen, much like a feature you'd find in a typical eroge or visual novel. This, at the very least, lets you move on to portions of the game you may find more enjoyable, such as the actual combat. Unfortunately, while I enjoyed some of what I've played, the game does lack polish in key areas. The music for example is great, however the audio production could have used some serious work -- some of the music tracks will clearly hiss, click or pop which can be a little distracting. The narrative sequences can really drag, and while I'm sure some people out there will love them, others will find themselves skipping through most of it and wondering if they've missed something important. Seeing as Crimson Girls functioned as almost a sequel to the original game, some gameplay elements have been improved. For example, the move sets have better animations and I personally found the combat more enjoyable. That said, the evil shinobi, with the exception of their sexy teacher -- don't ask -- seemed to grate on me, whereas the characters from Skirting Shadows were a bit more humorous overall. The script is completely tongue and cheek, and you basically get what you'd expect from a game that emphasizes breasts, magical-girl transformations, and torn costumes. If you're a prude, you'll probably want to keep your distance, otherwise you'll probably have a good laugh. Overall, the game is a relatively fun experience, but one that will actually require time and effort in order to unlock its full potential. Without that investment, the game play may seem entirely too repetitive -- so much so, that you'll end up tossing it aside and forgetting you had it. The game is packed with plenty of ecchi, so that's a plus depending on how you look at it, but in the end, it's safe to say the game isn't for everyone, and even for those of us who might usually enjoy the beat-em-up genre, Senran Kagura Burst fails to truly innovate. 6 -- Alright (6s may be slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.)
A busty beat-em-up that lacks some polish
I never thought any of the Senran Kagura games would make their way overseas, but I admit I was pleased to learn that XSEED would be localizing the title. Not because I'm a huge fan of the series, but rather that I ...
Video game
Senran Kagura Bursts onto 3DS November 14th
To be sold exclusively through Nintendo eShop
Nov 08
// Tim Sheehy
We've known about it for awhile, but it seems XSEED games felt it prudent to remind us that Senran Kagura Burst would be hitting the Nintendo 3DS eShop next week. If you're not already intimately familiar with the series, thi...
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Ys: Memories of Celceta bound for Europe in early 2014
Feast on some new art in the meantime
Nov 02
// Karen Mead
Gamers in the United States will be able to play the latest installment in the long-running Ys series before the holidays, with Ys: Memories of Celceta set to drop on November 26th. However, Europeans needn't feel too left ou...
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School Board Biographies
Tammy Smith, PresidentTammy Smith was elected to the Delta County School Board in November 2009. Tammy was born in Delta and raised in Somerset, Paonia, Carbondale and Cedaredge. She attended Mesa College on a basketball scholarship. For the last 30 years, she has been in Hotchkiss with her husband, Mark Smith, who has worked in agriculture his whole life. Together they own a small business in Hotchkiss. They have three successful children who went through the Delta County School District before going on to become a doctor, an engineer, and a Peace Corps volunteer.
Tammy has spent 20 years working in Delta County, first at Round House Books in Delta before it closed, then at Mountain West Communication in Hotchkiss. Ever since my children were born, I have dedicated my time and energy to the Delta County School District, particularly in Hotchkiss. I have volunteered in the district for over 22 years and sat on the District Accountability for 15 years, the last 7 of which I have served as President. I have also coached at Hotchkiss High School athletics for 6 years. I believe that our future lies in the children of today and my experience within the district confirms as much. My time as president of the District Accountability Board, combined with all the hours spent volunteering in the school district has made me an excellent candidate for the school board. Together, with Delta County, I will help put children first!
Phone: 970-872-2196
Ron Germann, Vice PresidentRon Germann was elected to the Delta County School Board in November 2013. Ron is a native of Colorado was born and raised in the Olathe area, and has lived in the Delta and Olathe area 50 of his 60 years! He has lived in Delta County for the past 13 years.
Ron attended Olathe schools growing up, graduating from Olathe High School in 1972. He was in construction and owned his own construction business for many years. Currently has been farming for 4 years in the Delta/Olathe area.
Ron is married to his wife Petria. They have two children and six grandchildren, three of which currently attend Delta Schools by choice because of the belief that the Delta County School District provides and excellent learning environment and education. Ron looks forward to help School District to continue to provide an excellent education and opportunities for Delta County children.Phone: 970-250-1201
Pete Blair, TreasurerPete Blair was elected to the Board in 2011. As a resident of Delta County for over 30 years, Pete and his wife have three children that graduated from our local schools. He said their children received an excellent education and had opportunities for growth that are unique to a rural community. Pete's experience as a CPA, owner of a business, and as an auditor working with governmental entities, has prepared him to make the difficult decisions that will have to be made over the next several years for our children and schools to thrive.
Phone: 970-856-7550
Jan Tuin, SecretaryJan Tuin was appointed to the Delta County School Board in October of 2012 to fill a vacated position. Jan is a native of Colorado and moved with his family to the Midway area (midway between Paonia and Hotchkiss) in 1964.
Jan graduated from Paonia High in 1966. He attended college in California and began teaching there in 1970, then taught in Oregon for nine years before moving back to Colorado in 1980. He began teaching vocal and general music in the Paonia Schools, grades 1 – 12, where he taught for 27 years. During that time his choirs consistently received Superior ratings at both CHSAA large group festivals and Colorado West Music Performance Festivals. He became very involved with Colorado Music Educators Association and served on the board of that organization and then served for 13 years on the Colorado All State Choir Board. He continues to serve Colorado All State Choir as an audition judge. He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association of Music Educators.
Jan has a Bachelors degree from Point Loma Nazarene University in Music Education and a Masters degree from Lesley College in Computers in Education. He is married to his wife, Sandy and they have two children and 4 grandchildren. "As a long time educator, I want to do what I can to help School District 50 to serve our community and do what is best for our children to educate them and prepare them for productive, meaningful lives."Phone: 970-527-4643
Jill JurcaJill was elected to the board in 2015. She graduated from Delta High School in 1988 and left to attend college at CSU in Fort Collins where she obtained a degree in Interior Design. In 1997 she and her husband, Robert, also a DHS Alumni, moved back to Delta when he accepted a job in the valley.
Jill has 2 girls that are currently enrolled at Delta High School and has been actively involved with their schools and district over the last 13 years. Currently she is involved with the Delta Band Parents, as a volunteer Destination Imagination coach for DHS, and a member of the DHS Booster Club. Having served on a number of different school district advisory boards and school level parent groups gives Jill a good understanding of district workings and policies. She is very happy with the quality of education her children have and are receiving and wants to be able to help support the district by making good, solid decisions and policies to ensure quality education for all.E-mail:


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Ruger LCP...
Anybody get one yet? Basically a copy of the Kel-Tec, but hopefully with the Ruger reliability and ruggedness I have come to expect. Summer is just around the corner and these little mouse guns are great for those times when carrying your primary weapon isn't practical.
I am supposed to get mine in the middle of March. I hear they are starting to ship at that time. My supplier doesn't have an exact date.
Supposedly, shipments went out to major suppliers on Feb 29, so I hope to get mine soon. The Kel-Techs have gone up in price so much over the last few months that the LCP is no longer out of line. I hope to have mine before my trip to nevada, as concealed carry is not of major importance to he locals there.
Yes, I read at another forum today that LCPs are hitting the stores in very small quantities. Like one each! :(
Yeah, kind of stinks. Distributors have them "allocated" for their biggest customers, and Ruger is only shipping limited numbers to the big box chains. I ordered one off of Gunbroker, it should be here next week. 300 +shipping, so it is about $70 over wholesale. I just didn't want to wait for Davidsons to call me up in six months and tell me I could finally order one.
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Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.


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Displaying items by tag: Fish tag
For many families, summer is a time of transition. Family schedules and structures take on new shapes and sizes. With September on the horizon, will there be more school supplies to buy? Or will the nest soon be emptying? This year, the warm summer breeze reminds me of an adventure…
Published in Travel Essays
Sometimes tucking yourselves into the trees is just what the doctor ordered. Turn off the phones. Say no to texting and twittering. Bring out the board games. Listen to the quiet.
Published in Resorts


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TELEVISION: How To Make It In America – Season 2
The breakout hit "How to Make it in America" is coming back for its second season! The show, which follows the lives of two up-and-coming Denim connoisseurs, related to the masses showing the grit it takes to actually make it in America. Check out the teaser clip below & prepare yourselves for what looks to be another great season for the HBO hit.
For more info on the show & the upcoming season, click here!
VIDEO: Lupe Fiasco – Out Of My Head (Feat. Trey Songz)
Lupe & Trey have finally released a video for the hit single "Out of My Head." It's a clean cut video and compliments the song very well. Check it out below! Vodpod videos no longer available.
COLLECTION: The Hundreds x Katin Capsule
Check out this video of this new collection collaboration, with surfing company Katin USA and California brand The Hundreds, that previews some of the items that are featured. All the items are available for purchase tomorrow through all of The Hundreds flagship stores.


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I have two successful kids, both with kids of their own and I see them as often as possible.
I like to hunt, fish, play golf , and go hang out with friends for dinner and drinks.
I, like you, have come from a "busted" relationship, we all have and all I can say about that is, "Get over it", regardless of whose fault it was, it makes no difference now.
And I, like you, are looking for that "spark" again, that feeling that you can't wait to go be with "that person".
As far as whether the glass is half empty or half full, my feeling is that if your glass is less than half full, we need to open another bottle of wine, ok how's that ?
So, it's pretty simple....I'm a "Normal Guy"


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Descriptive text in


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Stainless Steel Solar Wall Light
A solar outdoor LED lights use less energy and will emit bright white light for about 8 hours.
Vio Light ZAPI Toothbrush Sanitizer U.V. Sterilizer ($30). Zapi bobs and wobbles and kills up to 99.9% of germs like E. coli and staphylococcus, too.Tags: home, bathroom, electronics, technology, light, gifts, modern, green, ecoAdded 9 Years Ago from Amazon.com


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Is Jesus copied from an Egyptian God?(86 Posts)
I am trying to work out where I am religion wise at the moment and clearly DP and I are not on the same page.
He is adamant that Christianity is made up and has said that The story about Jesus is almost an exact copy of that of an Egyptian God called 'Horus'. I have done some research and it does appear there are many, many similarities. As DP pointed out, Horus came first so how can Jesus be true?
This has really sewn huge seeds of doubt in my mind and wondered what other people's take on it is?
We all did - it was brilliant!
Aww. Hope DD had a wonderful time
Mad that is great news.
That has just made me happy ^^
Thanks for the get well wishes. I was actually feeling really fed up yesterday as I'd got dd tickets to see one direction tonight with her best friend, and was thinking I couldn't possibly make it, but thanks to a lovely friend and helpful staff at the LG I'm going to, so things are much happier
Looking forward to the next stage of the Jesus thread!
That's lovely, Niminy and it means a lot. Genuinely. Thank you .
How about we wave a white flag at each other and start again, huh? If we resurrect the thread, then please join when you feel ready and we'll have a robust, but respectful, discussion about these things - just because they are historically interesting. Deal?
Hope you feel better soon
Ellie I apologise for bringing up that earlier thread and your exit from it. It was a mischievous thing to do, and I knew that it would annoy you.
I am taking a break from debate threads. I find it very hurtful when people are angry with me, and although I probably should be better able to cope with that, at the moment I am not.
I hope you will not mind too much if I say that you have been very much in my prayers over the last couple of days.
The Lord bless you, and keep watch over you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The Lord look kindly upon you, and give you peace.
Mad hope you feel better soon.
Holo, I think you are right that someone writing about Jesus much later on would embellish the story with bits taken from (other) myths. Even if their intent was honest they might do so to make the point of how powerful/good he was. This is human nature and I expect that hasn't changed in 2000 years.
If I were describing a friend who was a great sportsman I might say "Oh he has won 100s of gold medals and things" which might not be literally true - and my audience would probably guess I was exaggerating - but would convey what a great sportsman I considered him to be.
However no matter how understandable and normal that urge is it still diminishes the reliability of the account.
Also when you say "in many biographies, real people are compared to literary figures - why can that literary feature not be present in the Gospels?" that's not quite the same thing is it.
For example it would be ok to say that Archbishop Carey is as brilliant as Einstein (especially in a retirement speech), but to say that he was the one who came up with the Theory of Relativity would be just an embarrassing lie and not a comparison at all.
Mad & Holo - Happy to resurrect the thread if you'd like to. Perhaps one of you could find it? I'll come and look tomorrow.
I have this book, Mad - can heartily recommend it. Easy to dip in and out of.
Sorry you're not well. Have some and some and a jammy dodger to dunk in it .
I have plenty of those, Holo
time for a nap
Oh no! Not another head explosion! I'm sorry!
Makes some sense as well, Holo <head explodes>
Mad - sorry to hear that you are unwell again. What a PITA. Hope you are feeling much better soon.
Hera was jealous of him and arranged for the Titans to kill him. Someone called Rhea raised him from the dead. This was after the whole Zeus stitching him into his thigh thing
It seems there are two versions, depending on which woman he was 'born' from - the Rhea/Titan thing was based on Persephone, the fetus/thigh thing on Semele. Still no comparison to the resurrection, though.
You're right, it's all a myth, which is why it's difficult to pin down - there is so much circulating and interchangeable between the different 'gods'.
I can't find anything about water into wine, only about him being the god of wine, so filling empty vessels and making it from corn and oil. Still, details.
I do find it hard to get my head round the fact that the NT writers employed a rigorous oral tradition, wrote down events only 20+ years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and yet according to the authors of the Jesus Mysteries based what they wrote on a load of beliefs and practises circulating at the time - to what point? Why? Would this have made early Christianity stand out to the extent it did? It would make more sense to say <if you take the stance they were fabricating events> that they would make something entirely new up. Instead, what seems to have happened is that there are some vague similarities to ancient belief, which only makes sense in the light of human experience, the cycle of birth and death and seasons - and that these similarities have been pounced upon and embellished to a major extent to 'disprove' the existence and/or divinity of Jesus.
Ooooh, the Jesus Debate has resurrected! I do love a good resurrection
My take on the Dionysus thing is a bit different to Mad's (with all due resoect to Mad!). I think that there are definite parallels between Jesus and Dionysus, and, going back to my hobby horse, that it is historiclly plausible that the Gospel writers, John in particular, could well have known the Dionysus myths and therefore 'used' them, esp. in the water to wine story. However, for me, the issue is this: John is a storyteller, a writre who writes 'in order that you may believe and have life'. As such, I am interested in how John may use the Dionysus motifs, and what kind of conclusions to leads onto from them. I have no problem with the idea that John uses aspects of the Dionysus myths to make points about who Jesus is - and the thing that John does, over and over again, is to imply heavily that Jesus is God incarnate, and that in Jesus, God has saved 'the best until last' (like the wine).
For John, it's not just (just!) that Jesus was resurrected - it's that Jesus is the resurrection. It's just not that Jesus can multiply bread in the feeding of the 5000, it is that he is the bread of life. Every 'sign' (or miracle) that Jesus does in John's Gospel is selected by John, as a storyteller, to tell his readers something about who Jesus is, so that they might believe in him. So I can see that John may well be making the point that Jesus is greater than Dionysus, but that point is rooted in John's central claim about Jesus - that he is the 'great I am', Yahweh (which means 'I am') made flesh - so all the 'I am' statements in John's gospel are ways of saying 'Jesus is God, and this is what God is like' (i.e. shepherd, resurrection and life, bread of life, way, truth and life, etc). So for me, allusions to Dionysus don't cause me any anxiety because I can see how John may have evoked Dionysus to say that Jesus is greater than Dionysus, and also to make the point that in Jesus, God has saved the 'best until last' (the conclusion of the wedding at Cana story).
Anyway, in many biographies, real peole are comapred to literary figures - why can that literary feature not be present in the Gospels?
Not sure where the source of such info is, Ellie, but would be interested to read. That's the thing about the mystery religions though - they're all mixed up with each other, and much based on images etc, and all over the place re dates - the NT stands alone in its grounding the events in place and time, and the details given. There can be no comparison.
Not too well atm, another bloody infection, thanks for asking. Would like to talk about Paul etc
Mad I know - I should just have waited till you got back. We can resurrect it if you like - think we were getting to the good part.....Paul . Not today though.
Dionysus never appeared to mortals? Not even his mother? Are you sure? According to the myth, he certainly did appear to mortals - he wandered the world trying to get more believers.
His mother was a mortal - isn't everyone's? Erm....Mithras's mother was a rock, so no! These are myths we're talking about,*Mad*. Most of them did not have mortal mothers. I would say that everyone's father is a mortal, personally, but Jesus had a god instead (who was actually himself) - so I'm not quite sure what point you're making.
He was a dying & rising god - where does this come from? Hera was jealous of him and arranged for the Titans to kill him. Someone called Rhea raised him from the dead. This was after the whole Zeus stitching him into his thigh thing.
He apparently turned all the water in a fountain at his temple in Andros into wine and at Elis filled three empty cannisters with it.
It's also worth noting that it was believed that by drinking wine the spirit of Dionysus could "fill" a person. Sounds suspiciously like being filled by the Holy Spirit.
We also have a vase with a depiction of Dionysus being hung on a tree and being brought commemorative bread and wine.
So, it's all a big 1st century conspiracy, then? Deliberately copied from the OT prophecies (which aren't prophecies at all when you bother to read them) and then cobbled together to confuse everyone when Jesus showed up.
Yeah right.
I'm done for the day. Hope you're feeling OK at the moment. See you soon
I'd be interested in the OT prophecies since the last time I asked someone about them they pointed me to a completely irreverent verse and said "yes it doesn't mention any of my points but I have faith it was referring to that - faith is what matters"
I think it was roughly equivalent to claiming that the song "my old man's a dustman" foretold the rise of a grocer's daughter to be Prime Minister because they were both about 'common' professions.
Oh but perhaps you meant that those other religions had read the prophecies and built their own god around them. That is possible I guess. Hey, maybe the reason the inns were all full in Bethlehem is that every con-man for miles around was converging on the spot to fulfil the prophecy. You could make a good sketch of that. Lots of Marys - some pregnant and some using pillows to look like they were. Lots of Josephs waving hammers and saws and talking about joinery. Like an Elvis Convention.
Care to qualify that comment?
Er no, what rubbish
I was happy to keep going with the thread. I'm always unwell, on and off, and did have a couple of days off it, but thought I'd come back to it? I was enjoying it but we were getting somewhat stuck on Josephus
Quoting Wiki on Dionysus doesn't cut it, I'm afraid.
An "epiphany" God (a god who appears to mortals) - no. He was only a semi-deity and one of several children born to Zeus.
His mother was a mortal - isn't everyone's?
He was a dying & rising god - where does this come from? The only reference to any kind of 'rising' is when he was saved as a fetus by Zeus from the ashes of his priestess mother. Hardly a comparison to the death on a cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no theme of atonement in this - at the end of his life he ascended to 'be with the other gods'.
He was commemorated with bread and wine - no he wasn't. His followers commemorated him by tearing a human or animal sacrifice limb from limb and eating the raw body parts. Nice There is no similarity to eucharistic practise, apart from him being the god of wine.
He turned water into wine - no. This cannot be verified in the myth. He was the god of wine, and it seems the legend is he may have turned coin and oil to wine - a fermentation process, possibly? - Jesus' miracle of water to wine only has the similarity in that it is to do with wine. Nothing more.
He was brought up on charges of claiming divinity - possibly, but that was likely with anyone claiming to be a god.
Dionysus is just one case where mystery religions can be shown to be not so similar to Jesus at all. You're right about cultural legends about gods, but don't forget that OT prophecies regarding virgin birth, father-son relationship and many more aspects fulfilled in Jesus were written down in many cases before any trace of these mystery religions, as well as the fact that any details about them were not collated until after Jesus' time. Interesting that...
OK, well let me try again.....
Niminy With the greatest possible respect that I can find, I'd like to point out to you that Professors Bart Ehrman, Robert Carrier & Robert Price are all peer-reviewed historians. I think recommending them to Mumsnetters had value because they are accessible, popular, easy to obtain and not expensive.
I left the thread several days after that discussion when it became clear that I was embroiled in a debate with people whose motivations I doubted.
Perhaps in the future, to avoid further conflict you might take the trouble to ascertain yourself of the facts. I always do. Which is why I am so annoyingly good at this
Blessings xxxxxx
From Wikipedia........
An "epiphany" God (a god who appears to mortals)
His mother was a mortal
He was a dying & rising god
He was commemorated with bread and wine
He turned water into wine
He was brought up on charges of claiming divinity
Sorry - but there ARE parallels. Just are.
Peace and love all
I would have stayed on that thread if Mad hadn't been unwell and unable to take part (not blaming her, but that's what happened) - since she, at least, is worth talking to even when we disagree.
Mad I don't think Jesus was "copied" & I've made that clear. But there was a cultural idea of how gods worked - healing the sick, having miraculous births, faffing with wine, dying and coming back to life in another realm. This is pretty well documented and hasn't been de-bunked, since there's nothing to debunk. It's how much importance you attach to it that's the issue.
And, as I said, the early apologists were aware of the parallels and had to address them - so you can hardly claim now that no such parallels existed.
The Zeitgeist film is pretty stupid and I wouldn't pay much attention to that. A better film is "The God Who Wasn't There" which is available on YT.
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