The soundtrack for Mass Effect 2 is a stellar follow up to the first game’s soundtrack. Where the first game emulated Bladerunner and the 80’s synth pop sounds, the second goes for a more gentle melding of darker tones and aggressive synth sounds for an overall more epic score. I really prefer the second soundtrack to the first though both are excellent there are many songs that have a more diverse and aggressive sound, not to say that Mass Effect 1 OST was not aggressive but it had a very different tone than the second game sound wise. I will list my favorite songs and what I liked or disliked after the jump.
I don’t really do much for Spring Break but it is already over and back to the daily grind of classes. I watched Mortal Kombat which even after all these years is still an entertaining and good video game based movie. I think it is because they actually tried to stay true to the source material and gave the fans what they wanted. Which is exactly the opposite of what they did for the old Street Fighter live action movie. What a piece of shit that film was.
I have made up my mind when Cataclysm comes out I will be race changing Vanifae into a tauren because I think a tauren paladin would be pretty awesome. Also my shields and weapons won’t look all tiny and wimpy. I am really excited about this and can’t wait to do it, should make for a fun new fresh experience come Cataclysm. I will still hang out in Silvermoon though; just on principle because that is my favorite city.
This is a beautiful looking game, downright gorgeous in some places. It strikes less of being a game and more of being a cinematic adventure interspersed with scenes of an actual video game. Overall it works well but there are some things I find disappointing.
The game is currently too linear, you basically just go from zone to zone with no real breaks or towns or chance to involve yourself in side plots. Valkyria Chronicles has more choice than this game at this juncture. About 6 hours in perhaps maybe less. Vanille has a terrible English VA and I expect her Japanese counterpoint is probably squeakier than I have the stomach for. Hope is just annoying for a variety of reasons; mostly dealing with his mother and being a total douche. Lightning needs to get punched in the face for blaming Snow for her problems and Snow is kind of wishy washy. If you are going to introduce a combat system it should be enjoyable at all levels, not just after you “get” everything. The story thus far is not terribly exciting, but hopefully it gets better.
Things I like.
The game is gorgeous and it’s hard for me to pick out at times the cinematics from the in-game engine. The character models are well done even if they are annoying. Combat system looks deep with the Paradigm Shifting. But so far I have yet to see the full potential. Musical score is fantastic thus far, and is simply massive. Character advancement system is similar to Final Fantasy X which I like, though it has the potential to be annoying. Overall a good game thus far but not what I expected. Not sure if that is good or bad.
Tonight I pick up Final Fantasy XIII and get to see what all the hype is all about. I have not played a Final fantasy game since XI so I am interested to see what the game is all about. In other news I am still slamming my head against the Lich King and we had a some hiccups on Sindragosa last night. But nothing we can’t fix tonight and hopefully take down the Lich King.
I shouldn’t be excited but I really liked Tron so I am getting amped up for this long time in coming sequel. Saw another trailer at Alice Wonderland, it looked excellent.
I am not sure what to think as of yet on some of the comment on the one hand I do agree that tanks could use stronger single target threat and that the reliance on Tricks of the Trade and Misdirect while interesting from a group dynamic strong point make the tank classes as a whole feel incomplete. Again we reach the issue of threat scaling, and I agree it was absolutely perfect in Naxx and solid in Ulduar but after that it seemed to not really keep up. Can we still hold threat, of course we can and I doubt I can lose it once I get going. But the amount by which threat has scald with damage is not consistent with the increase for DPS classes.
Given this is the second time this has happened though not as bad as Burning Crusade, I am not truly confident they will find an adequate solution. But I do have hope they will do their best to enhance the tank classes in the places they need it most. I am not too terribly thrilled about losing more AE threat but I understand why.
Good film, beautiful imagery with entertaining characters. Saw it last night at midnight and was impressed; I read the original story and Through the Looking Glass as a kid so it was nice to see a well done film. It’s not the actual story mind you but some kind of continuation of the original story. Not bad overall, and there was a preview for Tron Legacy which looks quite entertaining.
Just finished watching the Blood+ anime series. I actually enjoyed this series well more so the second 25 episodes more so than the first 25. It starts very slow and I think there were a ton of filler episodes where nothing really happened. Some of the characters are pretty annoying like basically all of the main character’s, Saya, family but they get better especially Kai towards the end of the series. I found the ending to be certainly poignant and refreshing if somewhat sad but hopeful. Overall it is nothing really spectacular and the story drags a bunch but the bright parts are well done. An odd if very anime take on vampires. Done by the same animation team that did Ghost in the Shell: SAC so it’s solid animation.
Between Mass Effect 2, school, and a general unreliability to keep my site updated I had lapsed on my updates. But thanks to some encouragement from a fellow guild mate I am back to try and remedy that. I don’t have anything particularly moving to say today but I do have much to talk about. I picked up Mass Effect 2 in January, hard to believe it is already March and Final Fantasy XIII is right around the corner.
Speaking of Mass Effect 2, what an awesome second act for the series. I know some people don’t like some of the elements but I found it amazing. Being able to transfer my character into the second game and continue his story was awesome and hooking up with Tali’Zorah vas Normandy was the icing on the cake. from start to finish it is an awesome ride and the combat system is so much tighter and better than the first game I absolutely love it. My main grips is that I wish there was more armor customization, more conversations between and with quad mates, and deeper friendship paths for all the characters. My enthusiasm is high for Mass Effect 3.
I also started up on Valkyria Chronicles for PS3, which I got over Christmas and I am enjoying it. The story is so-so but the actual game mechanics and the tactical combat is very fun. I should beat it here soon. I am getting Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3 as well, don;t really know much about the game story wise so it will be interesting to go into it blind. I also started playing Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition with some friends from school. It’s really nice to run a game again after so long and it keeps the creative juices flowing.
As far as World of Warcraft is concerned, I was burnt out for awhile but I am getting back into it and working on the Lich King. Interesting fight, I like it, keeps you moving and thinking and is quite the challenge for my guild. I am interested to see new Cataclysm stuff and I am still debating if I want to race change to a Tauren or not just for the fun of it. I also plan to do some writing over Spring Break and try and put some progress on this crappy novel idea I have.
Also despite what my guild mates think I am not an atheist or a scientologist. But I do love me some Asian women. One final note the soundtrack for Mass Effect 2 is awesome.
