My Irrelevant Rambling or Info Dumping In Reviews

Try to fix the root of the problem~

Something very recent has come to my attention which is my consent rambling and irrelevant information in my reviews. I do apologize for this irrelevancy in these reviews, with my constant tangent rambling that has no purpose of being there. Something else I have been doing is going back over some of my older reviews revising them to make sure they fit a newer standard that I am setting for myself as a writer/reviewer.  

These two very essential yet simple things are, limiting my reviews to no more than 700 words per review and limiting the scope of the synopsis, to a paragraph or even an entirely different post if need be. That's it peeps I'm sorry I took a post for doing this, however this was something I needed to get off my chest. As usual post any feed-back you might have and answer me this, do you like reading reviews with constant rambling in them??


-Cecilthedarkknight

Bargin Bin Duds, Playing Gears Of War Six Years Later

At Least the art is nice.

The following review is intended for adults only due to the games content, foul language and 

may cause cause a massive level of butt hurt if you love the franchise you have

been fairly warned so please proceed with caution.

Now if you all now what's going on in my personal life money is tight for me and that means cutting down entertainment cost as much as possible. In short I have to bargain bin shop for games, movies, music and books which lead me to buying Gears of War from Game-Stop for $4.99. So please keep in mind while I am doing this review, it will not based on any form of nostalgia. However this will be based on a first time experience with a pair of fresh eyes looking in so look forward to some fun.

Gears of War is your a-typical 3rd person shooter developed by Epic Games and Published by Microsoft Game Studios on Nov 7th 2006 in North America as an Xbox exclusive. This was to be the first hyped up shooting game since Halo was still in production for people to play online. The game sold 5.8 million copies sold world wide by 2008 and even made japan's top 10 list of best Xbox games, won game over 30 gamer awards and you know what?? I don't give damn about any of that because this game is just a huge pile of broken programming offline.

Now keep this mind being a rpg/visual novel gamer I do not have a bias agaisnt shooting games 3rd or 1st person. Actually that's quite the contrary since I like games such as Halo, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Perfect Dark, Half-Life 2, Resident Evil 4 etc. Something else that will piss you off is this I only played the game for 30 minutes before saying, " I would actually have more fun playing Jaws on the Nes" So let the flaming commence from here.

The main problem is not the story, the lay-out of the controls, graphics or the music. I actually think the male lead Marcus Fenix is pretty bad ass and the whole end of the world setting is fine with aliens that live underground called the Locust that live in huge swarms. None of that is really a problem for me for game that came out six years ago sadly it's something all games need to be concerned with. The major compliant is the offline single player that is a huge pain the ass to play making me cringe. This due in part of regenerating health so you need to duck behind chest high walls, while ten baddies try to blow your damn face off.

Listen I understand that the point of this game was to push X-box live at the time so people would play online in co-op modes/multiplayer. However this doesn't hold up now being a six year old game where most people have moved on. Now comes in my major compliant you are being forced to play this online in the campaign if you want to get anywhere in the game unless your some kind of nimble fingered god or again like standing behind chest high walls to avoid getting half of your damn head blown off. 

The AI is riddled with so many bugs such as not covering you when you need to plug up a locust crater. My favorite part is just how most stand  looking around like a bunch deers caught in a pair of headlights, while you are having your face mauled off by the locust This was the turning point where I raged quit for a week before playing the game again. I did manage to get a little further from my last check point, however  the same shit happened again and officially gave up on the game. Hell I even went to the multi-player lobby to look for anyone to help me and it was to my big surprise there was only forty people online and half didn't speak any english, so I just officially gave up on this game.

There is no excuse why epic games could have thought of ahead to prevent this happening. Someting I need to point out is that I manged to play Halo 1-3 just fine by myself with no help needed and was able to fully beat the games while still having fun. That's the problem here I can not find any fun to be had in offline single player for Gears of War based on my limited thirty minute experience with the game. I realize some of you will call this unprofessional, I call it damn well efficient use of my time so I can actually have fun doing something like writing this review.

Now maybe I am being to damn cynical with Gears of War but lets face facts people for a game that is six years old it has aged worse than 2% milk left out in car on summer day.  I actually find this quite sad really since games like Contra, Zelda, Castlevinia SOTN are even older but aged just fine or are overall more fun to play. I could go on rambling away like a damn old fool but there isn't any point since you know my stance on this. I wasted 5 dollars shit just happens, well that's it for now I hope you enjoy this review or take offense it is of no concern to me.

Single Player Game Play: 2/5

Online Game Play: Unable to do so

Music: 4/5

Characters: 3/5

Story: 3/5

Controls: 3/5

Overall Total:  2.5/5

-Cecil The Dark Knight

New Changes & Way of Doing Things~

Otaku Life Is Hard~

Well now if you have noticed the J-list banners here that is due in part because I am affilate with their site now. This in no way, shape or form will change the way I review. I am doing this to earn a little extra income on the side to keep up with my anime hobbies. The second thing you might have noticed is that the navibar is back so it makes it easier for newbies to navigate here out-side of me listing this site in tumblr, digg, stumbleupon etc. 

Personally Speaking  I am just whoring my-self at as much as possible to get hits. This is for hope of building a good online community here. Now lets move on the to the other half of what I am changing/doing for here so please try to stay up with me. One thing Is how I do my reviews by not giving series two scores. The point of review is my impression on the series I am not here to please you "that cost extra". I will still be using the 1-5 scale however it will be based on  overall total from characters, music story etc to give the score. 

 

One huge change is that I will only do first impressions or full reviews for anime series. I also will not be doing updates for each epiosde that's just a waste of time unless something really drastic happens that turns the series 180 direction. When my new reviews are up, just ignore the post dates because I have them set to post on that day, such as few that really needed to be posted by now. Now when I do reviews on visual novels/eroges I will post if you have to import or you can buy a localized version from Jastusa or Manga-Gamer. 

I will not be providing torrent links or ddl links to get the games for free they do have Google for reason people learn to use it please. I will however host links to any english patches that you will need for game or any patches to get a Ios, Psp, DS, or PC game working correctly in english. Something else I will be reviewing is tech products such as a Roku 2 or Ipodtouch for the hell of it so keep an eye out for those reviews. This about sums it up everyone I will catch you all later, just leave me any feed back for support~

-Cecil The Dark Knight

A Decent Way To Review "Short Guide By Me"

Am I Moe~ Enough??

So much has been going through my personal psyche as of late. With my parents getting a divorce after twenty fours of marriage, having to blow over 1500$ to pay off some bills losing a chance to get a car/job in the process. I realize that blogging about his and getting it off my chest will help, however I will save that for a later time. It's been eating me up inside for a long time now but again I will save my personal drama for later

The main focus of this article is for those who want to write reviews professionally or just for fun like I do to keep myself sane. Please keep in mind that you do not need to follow this model exactly, all I am doing is pointing out faults that I read in a lot of reviews personally Even my own personal writing suffers from this, I also give all credits to this Ann Podcast that pointed out things I really should have noticed along time ago.

Alright lets get this show on the road already. One huge thing that needs to be pointed about most reviews that I have read from crunchy roll or across the net is this. People are willing to say they love or hate series but are not willing to explain why you feel this way. Reviews are your opinion/experience with the product people want a clear reason why. This is very critical for starting up any review that you choose to do. 

Why do i love this series, What about this series hooks me in or pushes me away, Why do I hate him or her so much?? These simple questions alone can help build-up some strength for your review, however this alone isn't enough. Another thing I have done personally and noticed online is that people are to afraid to point any flaws or criticize any series that is really popular. Listen I  love Higuarshi to death however a huge flaw in that series is the pacing, with horrible deen quality artwork.

Please do not be afraid to point out any flaws no matter what the series is. I understand you might some black lash for it. Keep In mind it's suppose to be your Impressions not a copy/paste feed back on the forums. If you hated how the series ended point that out. If you hate the mc's love interest point that out as well, again you need explain why you feel this way or came to this conclusion. I explained back in my review of the school days visual novel, explaining why I do not hate matoko for what happens to him or any other character.

Next is the last and tricky of all issues with reviews which is scores. Personally now I hate them  now when i used to rely on them for everything. I would personally do what 90% of other readers usually do, which is to skim then go right for the score. you have no idea ho much this actually hurts when doing a review and I understand that numbers serve a purpose with the score. The biggest problem is that all readers care about is the numbers. A good example would be IGN.com. Say for example  if a game makes below a 7/10 on their average level most readers will not even read the review or bother with the game. 

This beats the point of doing a review in the first place. The overall purpose of doing a review is to show what you liked/disliked about the show or product. Number scores attached to that do not help in the least and only give people a quick sense of instant gratification so they can brag around saying on their favorite game in a franchise got a 9/10 while my game got a 7/10. Now there is some-one that manages to pull off doing reviews with out ever giving scores and people know if not he loved or hated the game based on that review. Head over to the escapist and watch any episode of zero punctuation to see what I am talking about.

Now should you use scores at all?? Well that's up to you in all honesty, I will personally keep using the 1 to 5 scale until my writing gets better. I do wish to add one more little tidbit of info, write up a short one to two paragraph synopsis before doing the full review. This helps give people what the series is based on, where to watch it and short summary of what it's about before reading your review. This is all the advice I can really give you all, If you choose to write let me know and I really need to follow my own examples soon. I will catch you all around later see ya~

Seven Deadly Sins~

 -Cecil The Dark Knight

Dammit Congress..What The Hell Are You Doing?? The SOPA BILL

4chan.. Your So Silly..

Yeah I do realize it's been along time since I done anything here but the SOPA Bill is one of the main reasons why. In a sense this bill would give corporations unlimited power to shut down any site that they fill infringes on it's said copyright with out any due process. So lets take my site into account everybody due in part that I use hyper-links to you-tube videos or  any torrent site. Even my blog in question could be taken down and I could be charged with felony that would have a max five years in a federal prison "however fair-use might come into play for pics/videos"

One huge thing to point out is the DNS Blocking clause that would completely block your IP from accessing websites that infringes on copyright materials. The said sites would no longer be listed in Google, Yahoo, etc "This reminds me of china for some reason.." All for the sake of protecting intellectual property. Listen I do understand piracy is bad "i still do a bit myself" but this is going way above the norm to do so. Being charged with a fucking felony isn't a mother fucking game people, "that shit ruins people's lives and will only ruin people's ability to get jobs if prosecuted under this" 

Worship Our New Flag

On the other hand selling illegal goods such as counterfeit games/Cd's/movies, medication is understandable. The person in sense is selling a physical copy that can be bought legally while making a profit off said material online "eBay I am looking at you here", will be liable to remove the said products. Now pay-pal/visa/master-card or other pay means will be stopped if you trying buying said materials which is another clause this bill has. This part of the bill i  am actually okay with..despite being overboard as well. I personally thing this bill is a huge cock slap in the face but let's move on..

After watching all of the stream coverage to day on this bill "from live-stream lol". It has come to my attention that the people trying to pass this have no fucking idea on either aisle what it really means. For the love of god one senator said "let's bring in the nerds to get this right".. I have never face palmed so fucking hard in all of my life.. Oh yeah everyone have some more lovely tidbits from this wonderful conference.. Even this makes me want to slap a kitten. Well I am out everyone "back to lurking" however what are you're thoughts/opinons on this??

...."Just Read It"

Toasters are people

IP addresses are people.

Toasters have wifi.

An ISP is the same thing as a University Network.

Piracy =Child Pornography


The Internet Is For Porn

George Carlin Sums It Up

New Reviews To Be Up Soon

Yeah, Yeah.. I have been a little lacking in this lately.. Some things have come up that have just kept me a little busy. I am currently working on six different reviews as of now, so when I am able to get them up there will be hyper links posted to them. Heh.. if there is anything you all want to me review or do a mock review of just let me know.. I do need to do something to get my mind off of all my troubles. Also for those who haven't read my rail-gun review.. Do it already you fa****. That's it for know, I am off to play Catherine so I will catch you all later.

-Cecil The Dark Knight

R-15 Review

Higurashi Kira Review

Stein's Gate Review

Rail-Gun Manga Review

Hanasaku Iroha Review

Also feel free to enjoy my favorite from one of my all time favorite series.. Zero No Tsukaima.. Let's hope the creator makes it through surgery okay.


Update the creator of Zero No Tsukaima is now out of surgery and it appears to be doing fine as of now.