I really like the map tiles as well I have two sets of the Athas Desert tiles ready to go for the campaign I am building and itching to use them.  The Dark Sun Campaign Guide and the Creature Catalog are awesome and are worth the money.  I picked up the Demonomicon as well and really enjoy it and hope to incorporate some of the ideas into my Dark Sun game to give it a sinister twist.  Also as a totally frivolous want, I want this Ravenloft boxed game like whoa.

So yeah I love D&D.

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.

Favorites

Tali

I found Tali’s song to be an awesome mix, it starts fairly slow with a good depth of sound and a heavy use of synthetic sounds.  It really evokes a mood of space and technology and I find it fits her as a character and her related missions quite perfectly.  Just take a listen right here for yourself and enjoy what I feel is one of the stronger songs on the album.  It also helps that Tali’Zorah vas Normandy is one of my favorite characters.

Thane

Thane’s theme is one of the best in the game, and is actually used quite a bit beyond his recruitment stage.  This song starts slow and eerie feel which grows into a very synthetic heavy piece.  It has a great build up throughout the song that climaxes at 6:54 and really brings out all the stops.  Incidentally this is also the same part that plays when you are crossing the bridge during his recruitment mission.  The ending is okay, not my favorite but it works.  Check it out here.

Jacob

As a character many people find Jacob to be dull, I thought he was awesome personally and his Loyalty mission has one of the best songs on the album in my opinion.  A perfect blend of synthetic sounds plus a more orchestrated epic feel.  Wonderful buildup that grows in complexity and presence during the duration of the song.  It fits the dark mood of his loyalty mission perfectly and reflects the growing horror of what exactly is happening.  The use of the traditional and the synthetic sounds is in a word sublime and really gives the piece a solid sound that bridges the gap between the first game and the second game musically.  At 3:14 is my favorite part of the song and it sounds horrific and emulates the gravity of the situation of the loyalty mission perfectly at the end as you reach the conclusion.  Check it out right here.  I don’t have anything negative to say about this piece, it is just that good in my eyes.

Jack

Jack’s theme possesses probably the most change ups out of all of songs and can at first seem jarring but it emulates her character a great deal.  It starts off relatively slow and has a great combination of synth pop and traditional orchestra which really makes the song intense.  The song is constantly changing with several rhythm and tempo changes throughout the piece.  Synthetic sounds tend to dominate the latter part of the song but not to its detriment.  As far as songs go this one can feel choppy but it works if you listen to the whole song and give it a chance.  Have a listen right here.

The End Run & Suicide Mission

This may seem like cheating since I am listing two songs here but these songs are very similar in scope, sound, and how I feel about them.  These two songs incorporate what I consider Shepard’s theme beautifully into them and are very orchestra heavy.  Both are excellent songs and I have nothing really negative to say about them.  Both have an epic sound to them and would fit nicely into any epic cinematic and heroic sequence.  Suicide Mission especially is a very powerful song and is my probably my favorite of the two but both are awesome.  End run is right here and Suicide Mission is here.

Summary

This isn’t to say that I didn’t like the rest of the songs, I think the soundtrack as a whole is awesome, but these particular songs are my favorites and what I feel are the strongest songs.  of course your opinion may vary I highly encourage everyone to check out this soundtrack and Mass Effect 1 if they have not done so.  Both are excellent and probably one of the best soundtracks in video games today.  The music on Ilos and the Therum battle music are probably two of my favorites as well and I am still sad they were not on the Mass Effect OST.

Edit: Found the club songs for Mass Effect 2 via the Mass Effect wiki, they are all awesome and contemporary works.  I especially like Club Dark Star and Club Eternity.

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.

Also I really like this advertisement.  Courtesy of Really Cute Asians.

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.

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.

Check it out.

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.

http://asianposes.com/

I have nothing more to add… the kawaii factor is off the charts.

To them I say nay.

Transformers was never a really deep show, sure it may have touched on nuances of good and evil and sacrifice and heroism but it was a formulaic show about giant robots beating the crap out of other giant robots with a sprinkle of humans in the mix.  The show was designed to sell toys/products to children, mainly boys, and at that it did quite well.  It was and still is a vehicle of commercialism gone rampant and was soon as “rabid” fans accept that the better.  I loved Optimus Prime as a kid and I love him now, he is a great, virtuous, strong, and reliable when the chips are down.  He always does the right thing no matter what and he won’t fail you if he even has a chance of success.  He is the kind of man/person we want to be on our best days.

With that said I still hope that Hollywood finds new ideas to make movies out of, but if the success of this current film is any indicator our “sacred” childhood will become a veritable orchard of ideas for future summer blockbusters to come.  I say just enjoy it and realize that a new generation of fans will be introduced to the things you loved oh so long ago.