Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PC)

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, and it takes most of the criticisms of that game to try and rectify all of them. The game follows Serah, the sister of Lightning. For some reason, Serah is the only one who remembers Lightning. After some weird happenings in which she meets Noel, a time traveller from the future, both of them set off to find Lightning. The game actually starts with a fairly epic (but also cheesy) battle in which you get to control Lightning, and that is the only time that you will ever get to control her, in a series of tutorials, which is fairly disappointing.

Serah and Noel will travel through time and space to find time paradoxes, solve them to get more artefacts to unlock more locations, and then keep going until they find Lightning. This is supposed to solve the biggest criticism of the first game, which was blasted for being overly linear as you basically ran down corridors. Here, there is a degree of non-linearity as you can complete locations in various orders, with a bunch of optional areas. Each location has a more complex map that isn’t just completely filled with straight corridors.

Each location has a bunch of collectibles in the form of treasure chests, as well as sidequests. There are too many sidequests and they are all of one of two kinds, either a hunt quest, or it’ll be a fetch quest. Both of which are boring and bland. Forcing you to run from one end of the map to another, or back out of the location, enter another one, grab something there and return to the original location, is lazy and uninspired. Random encounters also return, although there is a quality-of-life improvement. While traversing the map, enemies will randomly pop up and you get a short period of time so trike them for a pre-emptive strike or run away to avoid the battle. It’s a good compromise although being able to see every enemy on the field is still preferred. However, there are enemies who don’t stay still when they appear and they are annoying as it is basically a forced battle at that point.

The combat system remains the same but with some slight improvements. It’s a hybrid turn-based real-time combat system. There is still an active time bar (ATB) which fills up as time goes by. This will dictate what moves you can use. All moves will expend ATB, there is no separate MP bar and cost. As time never stops even if you’re in the menu, that provides the real-time element. As a result, while you can pick the moves from the menu, there is an auto-battle option which will automatically pick the moves, and most of the time, they’re good enough. Only for extremely powerful opponents where you have a specific strategy will you really spend the time to specifically pick moves.

Paradigms form a huge part of the combat system. It’s basically a fancy name for a set of three jobs. There six jobs, or roles as they’re known in the game: Commando, Ravager, Medic, Synergist, Saboteur and Sentinel. Commando excel in offsensive power; Ravager for building up the chain required for staggering enemies; Medic for healing; synergist for buffing; Saboteur for debuffing; and Sentinel for defence. A paradigm is a set of the roles for each of the three party members, and you get a deck of six to change on the fly during battle. This is the main strategic element in each battle and basically the only input you have.

All enemies have a stagger bar which is filled by attacks. Once staggered, and each enemy has a different stagger point, they will be defenceless and the damage multiplier is significant enough for your party to do massive damage. You pretty much have to stagger all bosses in order to beat them. With the turn-based hybrid system, this allows the characters to have flash attack animations and they do look very nice. Although this can still be boring sometimes, especially in the beginning when you are waiting for the ATB to slowly fill so you can get your next attack in. Most of the game’s enemies are easy but it loves to chuck monsters several times your level randomly at you just for the fun of it in random encounters.

The biggest change to the combat system is that your party only has two permanent members, being Serah and Noel. The third slot is filled by recruitable monsters. Each time you defeat a monster, there is a random chance that you get a crystal which allows it to join your party. You can select up to three monsters to put into your paradigm deck of six, and each monster only has one role. In this aspect, it is less flexible than the original. On the other hand, since you have so many monsters to choose from, the variety comes back in that aspect instead. However, recruiting monsters into your party comes with the inherent problems of investing into a monster only to find a more powerful one later, and that can be annoying. The game doesn’t do a great job as letting you know a monster’s potential and how strong it is compared to another without actually spending the limited resources to level it up.

The game wants to encourage the player to continue to recruit monsters and invest in them. To do this, it not only limits each monster to having only one role, but also they each have a different maximum level, a different growth pattern, and most annoying of all, very limited moves, some of which are unique and exclusive. To create a better allrounder, you will need to capture many monsters, level them up, and then fuse them with each other to transfer moves to help flesh out the range of moves a monster has. This is time intensive, and as mentioned earlier, there are no easy indications within the game to show the potential of a monster.

The story is terribly told. Given the non-linearity of some sections (meaning you can do some first before others), it means that it’s not a tightly paced story at all. It’s scattered, messy, and sometimes, you’re not even sure if you’re progressing properly. All the cutscenes are boring. The characters fall flat and are uninteresting. Both Serah and Noel are terrible protagonists. Basically, all they yap about is time and paradoxes, making the whole thing cheesy and cringy, like some sort of amateur fan fiction. The antagonist is supposed to look menacing but we don’t learn anything about him until the very end, making it very hard to care.

The story’s not the only bad part of the game. There’s the addition of wound damage, where it reduces maximum HP. It’s annoying in that it is useless against monsters, but devastating against your party if a battle drags on for too long. There are different types of puzzles, all are frustrating in one way or another. Some are just pressing switches until you open up the path, offering no difficulty and are just a waste of time. Others require too much thought and are too complex, sucking out the fun of it, while also wasting your time. The last parts of the game collect all these annoying parts into one section. The final dungeon is not very big or long, but drags it out by having “puzzles” which takes on the form of floating platforms that you have to wait for it to rotate into position. The random encounter rate is high with tougher enemies, some of which are even harder than the final boss.

It takes 15 to 20 hours to finish the game, and while the final boss looked epic, the ending was one of epic disappointment. It wasn’t great and was a shameless attempt to continue onto the sequel. After the final battle, you can return to spend quite a bit of time on getting 100% completion. The PC version also includes most of the DLC, basically all the story content is included, and only some outfits are missing. That said, none of the DLC are meaty. There are a bunch of outfits and special opponents to fight, with their intros being some of the best and funniest scenes in the game. There is a story DLC focusing on Sazh and how he ended up where he was in the story, but it’s so short and simplistic as the DLC basically has you play the two new card games, so it’s a dud.

The other story DLC, Requiem of the Goddess focuses on Lightning and how she ended up with her fate in the ending. That’s more interesting than it sounds because it is a 15 min piece of content extended to over an hour. You have to repeat a battle again and again, losing and gaining levels, to attempt it again. Once you are stronger enough, you fight a second battle with the same concept of losing, gaining levels and finally becoming strong enough to beat the boss. It’s a fun fight, sure, but not when you have to do it ten times, back-to-back. The story it has is to barebones and bad, that you would feel ripped off if you had to pay for it.

Overall, Final Fantasy XIII-2 improves upon some things but regresses in others. It took all of the criticisms of XIII to heart, so it make the progressing more non-linear, created more interesting maps, and added more variety to the party by having you recruit monsters. Unfortunately, they swung too far on the other side as there are a lot of little annoyances that build up to a somewhat frustrating experience at times. The poor transparency of what monsters are worth leveling up, the mundane fetch quests that fill the story and sidequests, the empty maps, and of course, the terrible story. It all ends up being a mediocre game that even Final Fantasy fans might not love.

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Fairy Tail - Season 2 (2010-11)

The second season of Fairy Tail is 24 episodes long. It follows the adventures of Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Gray and Erza, who are members of the Fairy Tail guild. It is set in a fantasy world and the guild members basically have their own unique set of magic as there doesn’t seem to be many others who share similar powers. There’s no real objective for the anime, as it’s just the group going on quests and completing them. The season starts off right after the first and continues in the same way, that is, with several episodes of filler. It doesn’t help that some of the episodes don’t flow together properly as they jarringly move onto the next plot of the week.

The show, if it can be believed, is even more lighthearted in its tone. The filler episodes pile on the sillier gags and humor. It’s not that it is bad since some can be funny, but at the end of the day, filler is pointless and doesn’t add much, if anything, to the story. Things just seem too carefree for the characters at times. Lucy continues to fulfil her role as the comic relief character, not to be taken seriously even though she’s usually the only sane one in a lot of situations. Unfortunately, she’s just not show to be very strong, and she doesn’t get many chances to show off the powers of her Celestial Spirits as well.

Given that we’ve already seen the power of Erza and Natsu, it’s only natural that the anime continues to introduce new opponents that are even more powerful in order to keep giving the characters some challenge. This may get ridiculous since even Erza can easily get curbstomped upon their first encounter, which can feel somewhat of a far cry to what she should be. However, you can rest easy knowing that they’ll find a way to overcome each and every villain that is thrown at them.

The combat scenes have gotten better, not because they’re animated any better or are better choreographed, since it still uses the same cost-cutting tricks from the first season, but that the encounters are more thoughtful. For the better fights of the season, instead of just Natsu overpowering his opponents through sheer brute force, there’s a bit more thought into his opponent’s powers, with a way to exploit a weakness out of it. Natsu is still the brainless character that thinks with his fist rather than his brain though and can be annoying.

Surprisingly, despite the filler in the beginning of the season, most of the season is focused on one arc, and it is one of the better ones so far. It reuses similar plot points that are supposed to surprise the viewer, but when it is yet another “Dragon Slayer” that Natsu encounters, you can’t help but roll your eyes. Yeah, sure, powerful people attract other powerful people, but despite their rarity, they sure seem to turn up often. There is a heavy reliance on returning characters. These are characters that were once villains, or were minor supporting characters, that now return with a bigger role. It’s as if it is an attempt to give the viewers a “aha!” moment upon seeing them. Some are fine, others feel more forced, and some are just plain tiring to see them again.

Despite the anime showing each fight against the villains in detail, for some reason, the supposedly strongest villain got the shaft. Their battle ended too quickly and in such an anti-climatic way. It’s like the animators realised that they ran out of time and had to finish that part off quickly in order to move onto the next event. At least the music is used to good effect in several scenes during the season. There are several tracks that has its own unique spin so that it is recognizable and iconic to the series. The humor is also well done. Despite the show being aimed at a younger audience, there are a lot of times where it wasn’t cringey and was actually funny.

The season ends by covering a short arc, which continues to add more and more events to the characters’ pasts. It’s like in every single arc we see something revealed that was important and happened when they were young. Yet somehow each time, it is something that they had never mentioned before but slots in whenever relative to what we already know. It’s not a bad arc since it keeps you in the dark for most of it on where it was heading towards, and the ending was epic, for the anime’s standards at least.

Overall, the second season of Fairy Tail is a definite improvement over the first season. At first, it doesn’t bode well with the many episodes of filler before it finally enters the next arc, which ends up taking over most of the season. Thus it doesn’t feel as episodic, and while it is a negative in that we don’t see many other characters apart from the select few involved in these events, it was much better than what we have had in the past. It’s still not an amazing anime, as the pacing is weirdly slow at times, the animation quality fluctuates, and the fight scenes, supposedly very flashy and epic, just aren’t up to scratch. However, it is fun enough and if you haven't already, then you will slowly warm up to the characters now.

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Toy Review: Transformers Generations Legacy Evolution Leo Prime (Voyager)

Review:  #766

Name:  Leo Prime

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Maximal

Line:  Generations - Legacy: Evolution

Year of Release:  2023

Size Class:  Voyager (Wave 1)

Mold Status:  new

BEAST MODE:

Leo Prime is based upon his appearance in the Japanese exclusive Beast Wars II anime, and transforms into a lion.

Despite looking somewhat off at first, this is actually a really good beast mode.  The only parts that break up the white are the robot legs that you can see when looking at him from the back.

Leo Prime is a nice decent size, he's compact but that gives him a hefty feel.

The mouth can open to give him a little bit more expression in this mode.

Perhaps most impressive is how well everything fits and snaps together, particularly the torso.  It's a great feat of engineering.

The only gimmick here is that you can flip out the guns.  He doesn't have much articulation in this mode, mainly in the hindlegs because the front are pegged into place due to transformation.

A fantastic beast mode that looks and feels great.

TRANSFORMATION:

This is a clever figure and the transformation will probably exceed your expectations since it's more complex, but remains intuitive, than most other recent Voyager (and even Leader) figures.  The hindlegs become the robot legs, and the front legs become the robot arms.  What makes the figure so impressive is how the torso basically flips out to create the robot torso.  It's just very neat and perfect.  The lion head and the back are on one piece that rotates to form the shoulder pads.

ROBOT MODE:

The robot mode is actually pretty good, and similar to beast mode, something that will grow on you despite appearing a tiny bit off at first glance.

He carries a decent chunk of kibble, something that is quite common in beast Transformers, but Leo Prime does a good job to utilizing most of it as shoulder armor.  The only disappointing part are the beast legs awkwardly hanging off his arms.

The head sculpt is good, and very obvious as Optimus.

In terms of size, despite appearing bulky and big, he is actually a bit shorter than your typical Voyager.  He tries to make up for it with the wide shoulder pads.

The first gimmick here is that there is a panel you can flip out to reveal the Matrix.

Articulation is fine, he has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with four guns, of two different molded types.

First off, you can attach all four onto the lion's mane.

Secondly, he can hold the guns in his hands, as you typically would.

Finally, you can add the second pair of guns to his forearms (by flipping over a piece and revealing a port) and rotating the beast legs, while also flipping out the claws.  It's a bit messy but still looks rather good.

One of the best parts about this figure is that he doesn't have the usual hollow feel, rather, he feels much more solid.

This is a strong robot mode that's about pretty near perfect as you can get as an update for this character.

OVERALL:

Despite not being a familiar or popular character outside of Japan, Leo Prime is an awesome figure that deserves a chance.  He's one of the best Voyager figures we've had and is well worth the money.

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The Rising of the Shield Hero - Season 2 (2022)

The second season of The Rising of Shield Hero is thirteen episodes long. The anime is based upon the light novel series. It follows Naofumi, who was brought into this world as the Shield Hero. As one of the four cardinal heroes: sword, spear, bow and shield, he supposedly has great relevance. Unfortunately, he spent the whole of the first season having to clear his name and gain respect. At least by now he has succeeded in restoring his name but sadly, the four heroes still cannot work together nor sort out their issues.

This season begins with a new threat that will be the main focus for this season. Instead of the waves that was revealed right at the finale of the previous season, it’s seemingly something else. A giant monster has awakened and threatens to destroy all the nations in this world, with Naofumi agreeing to help to try and quell it. Maybe it’s because Naofumi no longer have to prove anything with the whole world against him, but the season is nowhere near as tense and addictive. Rather, the pacing is off and the events a lot more boring. There is still a big threat, and there’s still a lot of things that takes place, but the drive and raw emotion behind the actions are gone. Instead, it feels like a hollow shell, where the writing and animation is of a lower quality.

It takes around half of the season before you get a glimpse of what made the first season so good. Naofumi and the party gets to the core of the issue, pushes through it and then finds themselves in an unfamiliar, yet still familiar situation. It can feel like it is retreading certain aspects of the past but thankfully quickly moves forward. That said, a large chunk of the season still feels like a generic isekai or fantasy anime, which is disappointing in that it lost so much of its charm and character.

While it is cool to see familiar characters again, everyone has gotten weaker, as their contributions to battles are insignificant. Even Naofumi frequently struggles. There’s less variety as Naofumi reuses the same moves again and again. Then there are the other three heroes, who each have gotten even worse in terms of their ego to ability ratio. They’re side characters that barely appear, and whenever they do make an appearance, they are pathetic. It’s even more infuriating when you know that Naofumi has to make good with these guys and supposedly work together with them to save the world.

There are scenes where it almost reaches an emotional height but falls just short of it. It’s supposed to highlight the fact that Naofumi, despite all that he’s gone through, can finally find it inside him to trust someone and treat them as true comrades, even if he doesn’t outwardly show it. There’s a short period of time where it resets Naofumi’s progress, and despite all that he has done and endured, he suffers again. It’s just unbelievably unfair for him, but this mini-arc gets resolved very quickly. So quickly in fact that it feels like a pale imitation of past events.

With the way the season is structured, there are times where it feels disconnected to the first season, and to all the things we had learnt about Naofumi’s role. He’s broken several rules, and while the anime teases about the waves and the other world that the invaders came from, it doesn’t do enough to differentiate it from a typical isekai anime. It’s like an isekai within an isekai now. The only good aspect is that eventually, Naofumi and his group, in particular, Ralphtalia, gains strength that has the potential to far surpass what they already had.

It’s still odd that Naofumi has a HUD that shows me all the stats of his party and enemies. It’s handy and convenient that he’s able to store and pull out items magically from his inventory. This probably has something to do with the world, but the convenience doesn’t stop there since there are various events where it just so happens that Naofumi was in the right place, so he manages to achieve what he needed to do. It’s weak writing and the season has a bad tendency to just portray new characters as if the viewers were already familiar with them. Although, where is Naofumi’s trademark wariness? He accepts the new characters all too easily.

The season finale is nowhere close to what you would have hoped. You would have suspected whether there would be enough time during the season to resolve everything given that things rapidly escalated out of control. Yet you also have that sinking feeling that the pacing is fast-forwarded, and the plot rushed in order to wrap it up. Unfortunately, that is true and the final confrontation against the villain should have been a satisfying battle where Naofumi triumphs and the villain gets their just desserts. What ends up is a disappointing encounter that lacks energy and soul.

The biggest problem with the season is that is ends up rushing many aspects of the plot that should have been slowed down and fleshed out. There was no proper build up of the villain, so they were generic and it was impossible to emphasize with them. There is a distinct lack of epic battles. The first season never had crazy high-octane battles, but what it did have were carefully crafted and detailed scenes that emphasized the potential that Naofumi had, and the struggles he had to push through to reach it. Everything just felt interior this season. The main arc for the season is wrapped up in twelve episodes, and the thirteenth episode is more like a recollection episode where the characters just reminiscent about the past. It’s a weird choice but at least it is not a recap episode, and doesn’t reuse any animation.

Overall, the second season of The Rising of the Shield Hero is subpar. After the stellar first season, it fails on every aspect here. The story is rushed, where it glosses over many things and does not properly build it up, so that it is hard to care about the protagonists’ plight. The villain is one-note, and the season ends up becoming like a generic isekai anime with how it was structured and written. It’s really only the potential shown from the first season that keeps you watching here, in the hopes that it could eventually match it. And while this season had moments where it showed the same potential, it never got anywhere close.

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