Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)

Grand Theft Auto III is the first GTA game on the PS2, making the jump to the next generation console hardware at the time.  It converted to using a 3D environment with a third-person camera.  The game tries out a lot of new concepts at the time, and while it was no doubt ambitious when it was first released, with nothing like it and being a pioneer in 3D open world games, however, it has not aged too well with clunky gameplay and frustrating missions.  There are more than a few annoyances but nothing that breaks the game, such as low health, low durability of vehicles, free camera rotation only available in first-person view and poor aiming mechanics.  The game takes place in Liberty City, a fictional city comprised of three islands, which gradually unlocks as you play through the game.  There is no in-game full map but the minimap usually more than suffices and the city is small enough such that you'll be able to recognise the landmarks.

Grand Theft Auto III gives you heaps of freedom and the ability to carry on with the story at your own pace.  The story is told via a mission based structure, you will head to the starting point, a cutscene will play and your objective spelt out, then you would go and do it.  If you fail the mission, you have to repeat the mission from the beginning, including travelling back to the starting point, which can get tedious.  The mission variety is low and they generally involve driving or shooting.  Some of the missions will have a time limit, while others don't.  The addition of the time limits in most of the missions is arbitrary and creates artificial difficulty, which is frustrating.  On missions with a time limit, the time given are tight which doesn't help when vehicles control like they're made of feathers, flipping over all the time, being unstable even at low speed and downright not fun to control.

What makes vehicular control worse is that some missions are reliant on luck and you have to keep repeating until the vehicles on the road spawn in such a way that it doesn't obstruct you and waste your time.  Be prepared to keep repeating missions again and again for muscle memory before you pass, and of course, trek over half the city to accept the mission again (worse are the ones where the mission start at one island but the whole mission actually happens on another island).  This makes the game frustrating and unfair because it feels cheap.  It's not because you're not good, it's because the terrible and clunky controls are rubbish.  One of the worst offenders is the mission where you are given a short time limit but expect you to complete the mission by no hitting your car anywhere and have to angle the car just right in the garage.  These terrible mission designs are tedious, repetitive and a lot of the time, not fun.

The game utilizes an auto-aim for most of the weapons where you hold down the shoulder button and it'll target the enemy in front of you.  Other weapons such as the sniper rifle and the rocket launcher have a more traditional target screen for precise aiming.  In terms of story, you control the main character, who is unnamed and mute, although later games references him as Claude.  At the beginning of the game, he is being transported to prison since he was betrayed by his girlfriend Catalina.  He manages to escape with some help and then proceeds to help out the gangs of Liberty City and builds his reputation.  It is a weak story that boils down to little more than helping out all the gangs, then effectively making enemies of all of them such that they will now shoot on sight while you're exploring, and then escaping to the next island to repeat with those gangs.  Thanks to the mission based structure, it means that the pacing and tightness of the storytelling cannot be maintained.  All the characters act badass and seems to blame a lot of things on Claude when things go wrong, so it doesn't give you a sense that there is any friendship, loyalty, gratefulness or actually, anything that bonds the characters together.

Thankfully, many of the cutscenes can be skipped otherwise repeating missions would be even more of a slog than it already is.  The story missions are only a portion of the game since you're free to explore all what Liberty City has to offer.  Side activities include finding collectables that unlocks useful weapons or vehicles, taxi missions, ambulance missions and fire truck missions, in addition to other side missions, all of which are as difficult as the story missions.  You can steal any vehicle on the street, including police cars.  There are fun variations such as when a car alarm goes off when you steal a parked vehicle and you attract police, or the driver comes back and angrily pulls you from the vehicle.  If you perform a crime in front of police, then your Wanted Level rises.  As your Wanted Level rises, the more resources the police will have to track you down and arrest you.  Once you get to the maximum level of 6 Stars, good luck since tanks and helicopters will be following you, and tough police vehicles will be constantly ramming you.  There is only a relatively small financial penalty if you get caught, although you will lose all your weapons.

The game has a day/night cycle and weather effects such as fog and cloudy days, which is very impressive.  It also means some missions can only be started during certain time frames.  The graphics are decent for an early PS2 game, and for a game that is over 15 years old, it surprisingly still looks passable.  Note that you have to save manually by returning to your safe house.  You cannot save during missions.  Saving also causes time to fast forward a few hours into the day.  If you have a tough time, then the game has cheats such as unlocking all weapons, spawning tanks for you to use and lowering the Wanted Level.  Overall, Grand Theft Auto III is a technical marvel at the time, trying out and succeeding in a lot of things.  Unfortunately, as many games have taken what Grand Theft Auto III has tried and further refined it, the game hasn't aged as well.  With repetitive missions, tough objectives and restrictions and archaic control schemes, be prepared to be frustrated while playing.

-----------------------------------------------------------

For other game reviews, have a look at this page.

Book Review: Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice 3

Review:  #688
Title:  Puella Magi Kazumi Magica:  The Innocent Malice 3
Series:  Puella Magi Kazumi Magica:  The Innocent Malice - 3rd volume
Author:  Masaki Hiramatsu
Read Before:  no
Comments:  The majority of this third volume retains the same flaws as the previous two volumes, in that it follows a predictable structure, bland events and doesn’t show off anything new that’s interesting.  It repeats a lot of the info that we already know, such as Magical Girls turning into Witches and how Magical Girls’ souls are within their Soul Gem.  However, once Kazumi recovers some of her memory, we finally learn a little bit more of all the characters’ backstories and how they came together as a team.  There were a few confusing moments, especially in relation to the powers of some team members, as well as confusing frames where you can’t tell what is happening.  The ending was a shocker though and throws what the reader has come to understand about Kazumi out the window.  The finale stepped up the plot and made it much more worthwhile.

Rating:  6/10

ReLIFE (2016)

ReLIFE is a slice of life anime that has 13 episodes so far based on the web comic of the same name.  The anime stars Arata Kaizaki, who is a 27 year old NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).  After quitting his first job of 3 months, he finds himself struggling to find another full time job.  Instead, he is currently working part-time at a convenience store in order to make ends meet, while still being crushed by the social pressure from his friends and family, leading him to pretend he still has a "real" job when he meets with them.

Arata's life turns around when he is offered a one year contract to participate in an experiment as a tester for ReLIFE.  This experiment makes his exterior appearance become younger by around 10 years, and thus being able to attend third year high school as a 17 year old again.  This apparently allows him to fix his life.  Basically, it's like the Japanese equivalent of 17 Again but with a deeper story.  However, after one year, everyone he has interacted with will forget about him.  That, and he also has a "Support" who effectively stalks him to check on his progress, and writes reports for a purpose that's hidden from everyone including the viewers.

Apart from the dubious decision to take a mysterious pill, ReLIFE establishes itself as an addicting watch from the very first episode.  Characters that are introduced immediately become endearing and the struggles that Ara faces when attending high school again are hilarious and so very true.  ReLIFE first focuses upon the differences that Arata notices in high school life now, compared to his own experience from ten years ago.  From forgetting all the knowledge in his day one tests (who remembers the tricks and rules of trigonometry, when they haven't been using them at all since high school?), to rules where mobile phones are now allowed.

As a result, Arata quickly finds himself leaving a bad impression to everyone on the first day of school, such as his teacher finding a packet of cigarettes in his bag.  It's nothing wrong for Arata, except for the fact he is supposed to be 17 years old.  This is made funnier when his teacher is in fact two years younger than his real age.  We're reminded that Arata's transformation is exterior only during physical examination where he sucks at all the activities because he hasn't been exercising regularly.  He gets cramps and loses his balance, pretty ironic since it's after he laughs at his friend for doing poorly.

As expected, Arata befriends various fellow students.  Each has something unusual about them, something flawed, or there is an issue troubling them.  From Hishiro, who is socially awkward, to Kariu, who is very competitive.  Misunderstandings due to poor communication happen often, usually to comedic effect.  Later episodes then focus on Arata's effects on those around him and how he ends up helping to resolve their problems.  He does find it ironic and amusing about the problems that the "youth" face, seemingly not as important to him now that he is an adult, but means the world when you were at that age.

Arata's outgoing nature coupled with hindsight and regrets as an adult, means that he is an invaluable help to his friends.  The anime does a great job at conveying these problems and how they are resolved.  As other people's problems are being solved, we see parallels when compared with the ones that Arata faced in his past.  Going through this journey with his friends helps him overcome his own mental scars.  ReLIFE has a perfect blend of slice of life coupled with comedy.  A lot of the dialogue is gold and it never lets up.  The anime is not afraid to suggest some more... "legal" things that Arata could do (but he doesn't).

With the excellent animation and clean aesthetics, including a good soundtrack (with a different ending song for each episode), ReLIFE is the full package.  As you near towards the final episodes, you feel the same doubt that Arata is feeling.  He faces a tough decision on whether to hold back because why would you become attached and create strong friendships when you know that soon, they will forget about you?  Why only cause inevitable pain to yourself?  This dilemma leaves a large impact in the finale.

The last episode also leaves the viewer with a bombshell twist and suffice to say, it will affect ARata deeply.  Considering that everyone will forget about him after the experiment period ends, he is struggling to try and keep his distance in some of his relationships.  The last episode is not the end of the story, and thankfully, there will be more episodes to conclude it.  Overall, ReLIFE is a fantastic anime that has so much humor in it which works, that it is a joy to watch from start to finish.  The path that Arata takes and the bonds he creates with his fellow classmates are resonating.  ReLIFE is highly recommended.

------------------------------------------------------

For other animation reviews, have a look at this page.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a slice-of-life animation following Makoto and her two friends, Chiaki and Kousuke in their high school years.  Makoto accidentally discovers that she has the ability to leap back in time, literally by leaping, which results in some humourous scenarios where she tumbles into objects.  The film starts off slow as Makoto uses her newly found ability frequently to change various outcomes, from getting perfect grades to repeating a karaoke session time after time.  Of course, eventually things catch up to her and the drama begins.  It is at this point that the film demonstrates the heavier consequences of Makoto recklessly leaping back in time.  As her aunt had said, Makoto benefits but someone else suffers before of her.  The tension escalates until the climax as the more Makoto tries to fix things up, the more it spirals out of control.  The pacing was excellent at this point and it hammers in the fact that maybe, things cannot go back to the way they were despite Makoto's best efforts, you will start to think about the moments lost that you'll never regain.  While the explanation of where the ability came from in the first place was fairly predictable and the ending a bit melancholy, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is an excellent and thought-provoking film.

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Titans Return Perceptor & Convex

Review:  #403
Name:  Perceptor
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Autobot
Line:  Generations - Titans Return
Year of Release:  2017
Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 4)
Mold Status:  new

CONVEX:

Convex is the Titan Master for Perceptor and he is cast in black and red.

Like the rest of the line, he has the robot face on his back and articulation is limited to balljointed shoulders and head.

The black plastic used means it is hard to make out the sculpting on the figure.

MICROSCOPE MODE:

Unlike the previous Generations figure, this version of Perceptor is much more akin to his G1 version and transforms into a microscope.

It is function although the tray relies more on friction to prevent it from drooping since the piece has a few more joints than it needs.

Interactivity with Titan Masters is only limited to placing them on the tray for inspection (which is admittedly pretty cool).  You also only lay the Titan Master on the tray since it doesn't peg in, and there are no other spots to secure any Titan Masters.

In terms of size, Perceptor is somewhat small and light due to the nature of the alternate mode and the way the transformation was designed (he is mostly hollow).

The dial works and can be rotated to extend the lens.  You can peer through the scope but the magnification is too large for it to be clear.

As with all figures in the Titans Return, Perceptor comes with a card showcasing the artwork.

The gun can be propped up and a Titan Master be used to man it.

However, you can also peg the gun onto the back of the microscope to store it.

A strong alternate mode that has additional playability thanks to the working lens.

TRANSFORMATION TO TANK MODE:

Transformation to tank mode is not an involved process and only uses a few steps away from microscope mode.  You rotate the legs 180 degrees then angle the scope as a cannon, flip the tank treads up and you're done.

TANK MODE:

This mode is undocumented in the instructions and not shown in the stock photos but Perceptor can transform into a tank mode akin to his original toy.

Of course, it's not a great tank mode but this is just extra playability.

As the tank mode has more of the figure laying flatter against the table, he appears larger.

This mode is definitely intended because there are dedicated pieces for the tank treads (which are painted no less) and when the figure was first revealed, this mode was included.

Convex can stand on the sides of the tank using the pegs (he can also be positioned to be standing behind the cannon).

The gun can be pegged onto the sides.  There are also three plastic wheels underneath which allows this mode to roll.

Overall, while this is a weak mode, it is a nice bonus.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE:

Transformation isn't too hard but interesting to see how the torso collapses for robot mode.  The way he is engineered means that he has a hollow torso and none of the pieces truly lock into place..

ROBOT MODE:

Perceptor's robot mode is much more athletic than the G1 toy yet still retaining some bulkiness.

The scope can stay on his back but it is proportionally huge and causes balancing issues.  You can fold down the tank treads to provide some makeshift heelspurs to alleviate this though.

The headsculpt is faceplate-less and painted silver with yellow eyes, looking fantastic.

Perceptor is shorter than most Deluxes in robot mode so he's a small figure overall.

Obviously, the scope can be rotated onto his shoulder as a shoulder cannon which looks very powerful.

Unfortunately, if you use it as a shoulder cannon this blocks all movement for his head, especially since it was already impeded by joints right behind the head which is a huge design flaw.

Articulation is strong as he has all the standard joints.

Perceptor's other weapon is a sniper rifle.

Perceptor has just enough articulation to hold the sniper rifle with both hands (he doesn't have wrist swivels).

The scope can easily detach and be used as another handheld weapon.

The other use for the gun is to peg it onto the outside of his forearm.

Lastly, if you don't want to use the gun it can store on his back.

A solid robot mode with the flaws being restricted head and lack of heelspurs.

OVERALL:

Perceptor is a simple figure which can be a disappointment considering the number of innovative transformation schemes that this line has provided, however, he is still heaps of fun.  The microscope mode contains heaps of play value, thank tank mode is a bonus and he has a few weapon options in robot mode.

-----------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page.

Book Review: Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice 2

Review:  #687
Title:  Puella Magi Kazumi Magica:  The Innocent Malice 2
Series:  Puella Magi Kazumi Magica:  The Innocent Malice - 2nd volume
Author:  Masaki Hiramatsu
Read Before:  no
Comments:  There is a strong feeling of “been there, done that” with this volume.  Most of the concepts had already been explored within the anime, and anything that hasn’t, feels somewhat tacked on.  The first part has Kazumi and her friends battling a magical girl, who became a magical girl to help a friend, and now has become a Witch, sounds very familiar.  The second part is more interesting, with a new character arriving with a peculiar power.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t amount to much since the newcomer is easily defeated anyway.  None of the characters really sticks to you and Kazumi herself isn’t that impressive.  The plot doesn’t feel to be going anywhere or adding many things new to the series so Volume 2 is a little bit disappointing.

Rating:  6/10

Doodle Devil (PS3)

Doodle Devil is the sequel to Doodle God.  Just like its prequel, it was originally a smartphone game for Android and iOS, then ported over to the PlayStation family of consoles and sold at a higher cost.  Doodle Devil features the exact same gameplay as Doodle God, with no changes or improvements whatsoever.  Instead. it focuses on the "darker" things in life, such as corruption, war, weapons and sins.  The control scheme is still reminiscent of touch controls at the main menu, since you use the analogue stick to move a hand cursor to select the options.  For the actual gameplay though, thankfully it translate well to the D-pad and face buttons, such that you can power through the levels quickly once you know which groupings the icons you want are.

Since it was originally a mobile game, the gameplay is simple.  The aim is to combine two elements to create a new one.  Some of the combinations are intuitive such as Corpse + Life = Zombie and Knowledge + Copyright = Money, while others are less so such as Magic + Egg = Dragon and Life + Internet = Cyberspace.  However, not every combination will produce a new element.  If it does, congrats, if they can't, then continue experimenting.  Each element is fitted into a particular group, so finding the icon you want can be annoying when you don't remember the group it was in.  It isn't too much of a problem in the beginning but near the end of the game, where you have 25 different groupings, you might have to enter and exit out of a few in order to find the one you want.  Likewise, while at the beginning it is easy to create new elements, as the game progresses and you get more options, it gets progressively harder to find the correct combinations.  However, there is the option of hints if you are stuck and cannot find a new combination.  Unfortunately, that's all the gameplay ever boils down to so it can become boring very quickly.

Doodle Devil retains the sense of humor in its combinations, such as Sex + Money = Censored, you'll probably chuckle a few times over the course of the game.  The story is even shallower than the original, if that is possible.  You only get a few sentences at the beginning of the game saying that while God created things, the Devil did as well.  This, plus the music, hints at the darker theme of the game.  There are a total of 190 elements to find in total.  This trial and error gameplay will take hours if you play through it blind without any guide.  However, it'll only take an hour to complete the game if you follow a guide (but where's the fun in that?).  Of course, being a PS3 game, it features Trophies and they are all easy to obtain.  Overall, Doodle Devil is a simple game that is exactly the same as the first game, and really doesn't seem to be worth the excessive price tag, especially when there are so many better games for the PS3.

-------------------------------------------------------

For other game reviews, have a look at this page.