NotNipponGamer

Just a variaty Blog, Mainly Game Reviews and Opinions on Various Topics.

[notnippongamer]

Sacred Blaze Review

Have you ever wished to be god? well now it’s you chance!

Sacred Blaze is a Tactical RPG Develop and Published by Flight-Plan a Japanese Video game developer mostly known for the Summon Night series. The game is available exclusively for PS2 and never got released on the west.

Story

The God of Darkness is awakening and his minions are on the loose wreaking havoc to accelerate his revival. That’s when the main characters appear trying to defend their nation, they are mercilessly defeated, only by praying to the God of Light on their final moments of bravery, they manage to Awaken him and become their Agents. Tasked with eradicating darkness from the world and stop the God of Darkness from reviving and destroying the world.

Gameplay

The game is divided into two set of characters, the Law Route lead by Alexseed and the Chaos Route lead by Kiyora, this give the player different gameplays styles depending on the characters chosen. The main gameplay it’s a Tactical RPG were you move your character a certain number of spaces per turn and make actions until you complete the mission’s objective. Fligh-plan Expertise on these kind of games makes them add more appealing gameplay bonuses. First of all, the Master/Servant system, each main character has their own kind of servant they can hire to aid them in battle, and of course each servant has different skill and purposes. We can also configure our character’s growth rate from a balanced one to a more offensive/defensive one. The missions are divided into maps and each maps consist of The Main Mission to complete it, The Extra Mission to unlock Extra Maps, the Oath Mission to increase your Godly Powers and of course, Treasure Hunting. Battle talking, it’s the usual get in range with the enemy to use attacks or magic depending on your enemy’s weak point until you kill them all and clear the map. As ways to help you the game integrates the combo skills which are combination attacks between Masters and Servants close together. And the Miracles were you use your godly powers to aid your party in battles. Also between missions you can hear the Citizen’s Prayers so you can increase your Godly Powers, view CGs, or even sometimes let your main characters learn new skills.

Music

Sacred blaze has a 1 hour and 30 minutes long soundtrack though you will be hearing te same music for the areas you are going into varying mostly when on the scenes. Still the game has mane great tracks that will pump you up to go and chase those baddies.

Overall as many JRPGs Sacred Blaze it’s a very good and enjoyable game that never got released on the west mostly because of little promotion and bad marketing strategies, not because its bad, the game also assures a minimum of two playtroughs sometime some games find hard to accomplish.

Story: 4/5 (two story’s with different points of view and resolutions)

Gameplay: 5/5 (the many systems it offers to aid the gameplay are totally useful and you will be using everything at your disposal)

Music: 4/5 (the music repeats per area but the tracks feels natural and motivating)

[notnippongamer]

Your name is more important to succeed than it seems

We all have those Friends with glamorous and eccentric names, that one way or another end up being more attractive, making us feel more common. sometimes, life can be hard (or our parents on this case) but hey, it’s not like your name given at birth would mark your own life… Or does it?

Albert Mehrabian, professor of psychology in The University of California (UCLA) thinks it does: “Names make impressions, just like appearance. They can be positive or negative”, he says. “But names can also make an impact when we are not present physically, like on a CV”

Mahrabian researched the first impressions that hundreds of names would generate on different people. It’s incredible how many positive associations can make some names, and how many negative one’s others made. Many names are associated with success, what Mehrabian also calls ambition, intelligence and confidence alongside other attributes that are good when looking for job.

So, which names have more chances of success? According to American researches, Alexander is a name 100% successful. William archives a 99% and John a 98%. On the Feminine side Jaqueline, Diana, Danielle and Catherine goes head-on.

Our names really can affect our lives so much? Pamela Satran, writer of books for baby naming, believes that there’s no clear proof that indicates that’s certain names have potential for success. She remembers a study in particular: a group of researchers gave some employers, two identical CV, one was of a woman named Lashawndra, a very common name on the Afro-American culture, and the other Lauren, name associated with the white middle class. On that study, Lauren got 5 call backs more than Lashawndra, but on other research they were head-on.

Angela Baron, from the Chartered institute, gives a negative look to the employers that make decisions based upon names: “people judge based on Pre-concepts, but we shouldn’t recruit people with that mentality. Employers should focus more on abilities and experience.”

A high school teacher from north London, tells that her actual students have pretty bizarre names like Amba, Jordon, Charlee, Moniquia, Shaliqua y Sharday. Could these names affect these students when their time come to get a job? “to me it can be a serious disadvantage” says the teacher.

None the less Satran thinks nota ll is black and white: “The Pop Culture and the Ethnical diversity gives the bravery to people to name their children with more exotic ones. After all, having a special name, makes you a special person.”

[notnippongamer]

Fairy Fencer F Review

Compile heart demonstrates that they can make less embarrassing games… or at least try. But hey! As silly as they are, WE LOVE COMPILE HEART.

 Fairy fencer f is a Turn-Based JRPG develop by Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory for PS3 and PC. An expanded version titled Fairy fencer f: Advent Dark Force was released for PS4 and PC.

Story

As an introduction the story starts with Two mythical beings known as The Vile God and The Goddess, these gods where fighting for ages with weapons known as Furies until they decided to make the final strike, which turnout pretty bad for both of them, Sealing themselves. Then we are introduced to Fang our Asshole of a Main Character, who by pure chance managed to find and pullout a Fury liberating Eryn, his newFury’s Fairy Guardian, she then explains to fang that furies are mythical weapons who, once all of them are collected, can grant any wish. As they embark on their quest, they meet with Tiara and Cui her Fairy partner who after certain events, decides to journey together to find and use the Furies to revive and unseal The Goddess.

 Gameplay

Taking the main Gameplay idea of CH main series “ Hyperdimension Neptunia”, characters can move and execute 1 or 2 actions per turn, these include attacking with the gameplay style Combo System, use Magic, Items, Escape battles and two New Features exclusive to this game. First the characters Unique Ability, these are specific abilities the characters can use to aid themselves or partners in battle these vary from Buffing to Analyzing skills. And lastly the Fairyze Action, once the character’s Tension Bar is full they can enter on the Fairyzed status (kind of like HDD on Neptunia) were their statuses are highly increased and new Ultimate skills are available. Also they added something called the Avalanche Attack, which it’s a bombarded Combo Attack from all your characters together. Aside from battle, they also included some other systems as well as new character growing methods. Like the World Shaping, it’s a way to use the furies you’ve acquired to add buffs for you on the dungeon you decide to place it. Also from battle you will gain WP which you can use to Upgrade your characters Fury, to unlock New Skill, Magic’s, and Combo attacks. And finally, the God revival and Fury systems, as you gain new furies you have to use them to either Unseal part of The Goddess or The Vile God, this will prompt some battles that once you win, you will gain the furies power to use on World Shaping.

 Music

There’s not much to say about this games music, I mean yes, there’s Nobuo Uematsu in here, but also Neptunia’s usual Composer Kenji Kaneko, who delivers some good tracks but they lack of connection to the environment they are set on. But I can certainly say that The Main Screen theme, Battle theme and the Fairyze themes and the scenes themes are very well made, and fit their place.

 Overall, Fairy fencer f is a good game, with a good story that as any game of the Neptunia Series, attracts you for their Character Design and Gameplay options.

Story: 4/5 (Good Story idea, but lack of better development)

Gameplay: 4/5 (nice turn-based system but after sometime it will just become ridiculously easy)

Music: 3.5/5 (nice music, tough some tracks don’t connect with the environment)

[notnippongamer]

The Internet and its Possitive Effects on Comunication.

Positive effects of the internet on global communication and social media.

Humanity has lots of qualities but the one that best define our behavior is the fact that we always try to innovate and go for the best, never staying put on something, and since the internet came to our everyday life, it has become the most important tool for modern work and social relationships. Here we will explain some of the cases where internet has made revolutionary changes in the world of global communication and social media.

World-Wide Communication

It’s a truly wonderful thing how easy it is to communicate with people nowadays thanks to the internet, now talking to someone millions of miles away its easy just with a click on the mouse or a tap on the phone. This is the best thing internet has accomplished to help the improvement of worldwide communication, it also makes it easier for people to learn foreign languages, one Spanish speaker trying to learn English with the help of American people via the internet (if not personally) proves how internet can be used to improve global communication on the era of globalization we are in.

Social Media

We live in a generation where everything is linked with internet from news and articles to jobs, communication, and social interactions. And thus rises the era of the social media, with the integration of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and many others. people has become more interested and attracted to make relationships with other people around the globe as we human beings are linked to being social, it is on our DNA after all. The internet can be used not just for simple matters as making friends, but also for job applications, business partnerships, even other kind of personal issues like buying things or managing bank accounts. But in the end, the social medias add one more link into social relationships, making social interaction more fluent, fun and in some cases beneficial.

Business Communication Development

The internet has made a revolution in the business area, as with the internet’s addition to the mix, the brands can now be seen a lot more with massive commercials per site visit, this not only benefits the sites who get paid for adding the promotional content, but also the brands who promote them, making this the basic formula for online business.

In conclusion we can say that, internet is not perfect, as every mankind creation, but without a doubt the internet is one of the most useful and appreciated ones. communication is the principal quality that makes us humans and that’s why developing new ways to ease this will always prove an enrichment on the human life.

[notnippongamer]

7th Dragon 2020 Review

Japanese games, specially JRPGS are jewels in brute, WE NEED MORE LIKE THESE!

7th Dragon 2020 it’s a JRPG game develop by Imageepoch and published by Sega for the PSP.

Story:

Its 2020 AD, and a Sudden attack on humanity has been put in motion, from the space and by Dragons. The humanity never expected such threat, and as a result, humanity was terribly slaughter and on the Berge of crisis. This is when humanity’s secret organization Murakumo’s special counterattack team appears. Leading high risk missions, the units on TEAM 13 put their lives on the edge to save the last humanity survivors and reclaim the planet.

Gameplay:

This game has one of the simplest and enjoyable gameplays for a Turn-Based RPG, first you can create your own party of 3 characters using preset Models, Voice Actors and Classes, then you can change their equipment’s, Customize and upgrade their skills as you gain SP from battles. On the field its basic dungeon exploration, uncover areas, find treasures and random encounters, the only addition it’s the Dragons on the map which you can see clearly and are a major challenge than normal enemies, but also more rewarding, adding to these once you are on a fight nearby another dragon, a Dragon Radar will shine indicating that the other dragon its close and may interrupt the battle.

Music:

The music of this game really gets the vibe of a crisis situation on a futuristic world, with music so Digitalized as this one, it’s hard to make it feel natural to the game or environment, but since this is a Futuristic post-apocalyptic World with a really stylish cast of characters, who cares? The music it’s so cool it’s going to stick in your mind.

7th Dragon 2020 its one of the best JRPG I’ve played yet, it’s a shame it never come to light on the West, though there is a Patched Version on the internet to play. It has a really Great story, simple and fun Gameplay and outstanding Music.

Story: 4.5/5 (Amazing and emotional story but poor MC development)

Gameplay: 5/5 (perfect turn based system and character customization)

Music: 4/5 (excellent tracks that fits this game on its era)

[notnippongamer]

Sonic Generations Review

It’s about time our favorite hedgehog came back with another game, and what a game this is!.

Sonic Generations it’s a platform game develop by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Ps3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, and PC.

Story

Though not the most original or best develop idea, Sonic Generations takes place after Eggsman defeat on colors, drifting on the space he found a darks mysterious energy who gives him powers to control time, he uses this to modify his previous defeats and create a Paradox World where our Modern Sonic meets the Classic Sonic. Discovering world from their previous adventure they go through then to release them and be able to destroy the Paradox and be able to return to their respective times.

Gameplay

As always sonic comeback with its very well-known High Speed Platform levels, taking the best ones from the previous games, adding the option to select between the Modern Mode or the Classic Mode, as well as selecting the music track for said stage. It also adds a Skill Modify section where you can add helpful skill that would help you through the game. Other new thing the game adds it’s the option to do Side-Missions everyone with different objectives to unlock feature to the Gallery or even new skills to aid you. The game also features two forms of online leaderboards: Ranking Attack, which challenges players to obtain the best time and score on each level, and 30 Second Trial, which challenges players to see how far they can get through a level in 30 seconds. As a bonus the original 1991 Sonic the hedgehog game can be unlocked in the console versions.

Music

The games use Remixed versions of the original tracks for every one of the stages, which without a doubt brings back the memories and nostalgia of the previous games. As well as environment more suited for the new generation consoles. It also features a Gallery section where you can see characters’ profiles, artwork, videos, and Liston to the tracks you’ve unlocked.

Overall it’s a new and refreshing entry to the main sag we all very well know and love. It’s not packed with lots of options like the main entry’s, but it without a doubt will make you invest hours on playing and replaying.

Story: 3.5/5 (To much of a random story, but hey its Sonic.)

Gameplay: 5/5 (perfectly polished gameplay with good adds) 

Music: 5/5 (every stage got amazing remixes for their originals)

[notnippongamer]

The Witch and The Hundred knight Review.

‘’OH HOHOHO...NIS JUST DID IT AGAIN!.’’

The witch and the hundred knight, its a Hack n Slash Action Jrpg (with some tweeks here and there) develop and published by Nippon ichi software.

Though NIS its very well known just by saying the word ‘’DISGAEA’’ the team seems to be taking other gameplay alternatives, but in the end it seems they still need some practice on this matter.

STORY

The main story of the Witch and the hundred knight goes around the idea of the player taking control of the Hundred knight, a mysterious and not so silent familiar summoned by the real protagonist of this game, the swamp witch METAL-lia....METALLIA!. She is a really...and i mean it... REALLY bad witch who wants to spread her swamp throughout the world to...as the game implies, Dominate it. along the way you’ll meet a cast of characters poorly develop who whould have become so much more than they seem to be. At least you can expect that the plot twist the game has are very out of the blue. The scenes takes a really crude sense of humor, wich actually i find really funny at times but also shocking on others. finally adding a new (and tedious) anime content on the games narrative, the game features a ending credit on every chapter you complete, this can be skipped, as its tedious to wait the credits everytime you complete a chapter when you ust want to keep playing, At least the ending credits theme its really good to appreciate.

GAMEPLAY

This is not the first action action game NIS develop before, as previous to this one they kind explore the gameplay style with games like Cladun, Legasista, Last Rebellion. but theres no doubt NIS never did a game before like this one.

Its the typical Hack n Slash game where you button smash your way through enemies exploring areas until you complete your current quests...but with tweeks...LOTS OF THEM. the first one its the GigaCals bar, think of it as your Energy on roguelike dungeon games, as you take actions (like attacking, run, evade, guard or Stare doing nothing) the bar will decrease and once it is fully empty it will start eating your HP until guess what? GAMEOVER. Thankfully you can increase this bar with consumeable items or exiting the dungeon. also you have a maximum chain of 5 attacks per combo, but to access to it you first need to equip one weapon o every slot having access to 3 types of attacks Blunt, Slash and Magic wich adds the typical attibrute table. Aside from tht you can also use magic named Tochka basically some helpful tricks to aid you on the field. As well as a Time Stop Motion ability activated by evading gracefully your enemies attacks. Yes, this game does bring you a way to go collecing items through the dungeons you explore as any other...by keeping them on your Stomach...wich you can unlock more tiles as you find them on the fields (Wut??). we cant forget of cours this is an JRPG...so of course your character levels up in a strange way...as you kill enemies you will acquire EXP points wich will accumulate and once you leave the dungeon, that when you finally will receive all that yummy level ups.

Now talking about the dungeon per se...They are your typical Gloomy Forests, Windy Mountains, Dark Caves etc, loads with enemies that respawn with due time. on these dungeons you basically need to explore them, find the Witchs Pillars, make them bloom by attaking them to complete the area, simple formula, but of course it has also its bonuses, like when unlocking Pilars, you can Teleport through them, use the Bonus Meter you gain by defeating monsters to increase the hundred knights abilities and getting juicy items when Leaving the dungeon. the Batlles are pretty Straight-Forward though the real fun comes from the Boss Fights.

Music/ Enviroment:

This games has the typical NIS effect on it, with Shoji Meguro on the lead every track feels just Ominous and Jiggly, combined with every enviroment on the game, all its tracks just it the right spot with little room to error. Though the camara its fixed to be looking from above, all the scenary looks fantastic, this on forests can sometimes cause you trouble navigating, but nothing too serious if you are already used to looking from above.

The arguments of the game as always took the random NIS formula and takes it to another level of Randomness, Black Comedy, Harsh Lenguage and all the other silly thing why we love som much NIS games. This though may not be he best game NIS has develop, without a doubt its one that deserves be played. as a NIS fan you absolutely need to taste this one!.

Story: 4/5 (The many plot twist it has just blow you every time)

Gameplay: 3.5/5 (too many tweeks that you maybe wont even use)

Music: 4.5/5 (Perfect harmony with eviroments)