Mass Effect 3 (Wii U) Thoughts

Been playing through Mass Effect 3 on Wii U these last few weeks.  Though I am aware the full experience can only be had by playing through all 3 games, I played ME3 on its own merits.  I wasn't completely new to the series as I've watched my brother play through all of them, so I was already familiar with some of it.  That said, after spending somewhere close to 70 hours through back-to-back playthroughs, I have to say that it amazed me. 


The Wii U version stacks up pretty well next to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, though loading on the Citadel and shifting between levels on the Normandy feel a bit cumbersome.  Graphics, audio, and controls are all pretty well done.  The gamepad offers the ability to quickmap 8 powers to the touch screen to use during battle, but I found myself just using the power wheel in-game as it was more efficient to use.  The gamepad also functions as a map, which can be very handy if you find yourself confused on how many enemies are left and where they're coming from.

With regards to the story, Mass Effect 3 stacks up there with that rare breed of games that resonates with me on an emotional level (for reference, other games on that list include Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and Skyward Sword).  Despite not having a character that's lived through two games previous, I was still able to very much enjoy everything it had to offer.  Mass Effect 3 is at its strongest not during its epic battle sequences (of which there are a couple), but during its character moments. 

Being the grand conclusion to the Mass Effect trilogy, ME3 does not pull any punches.  The first time you play through the game, you are faced with many choices that often result in someone either living or dying.  With some of the characters, there's no other options.  *SPOILERS AHEAD*  One such death scene that was so heartbreaking when I encountered it involved the Quarian fan favorite, Tali.  

During my first playthrough, I ended up with the decision to either allow the Geth to regain their high-level intelligence or allow them to be destroyed by the Quarians.  I opted to allow them to regain it and in doing so, doomed the Quarians to death.  I didn't think it would happen that way until they showed the scene with all the Quarian ships breaking apart.  Tali, devastated at the near complete elimination of her species, takes off her mask and faces your character.  She says she's sorry and then falls off the cliff to her death.  I learned later that there was a way to save both, but you had to be at a higher reputation level to do it.  I did save both on my second playthrough.

I didn't play Mass Effect 3 when it was brand new, so I didn't encounter the problems that many had with the endings upon release.  ME3 on Wii U includes the Extended Cut DLC, so there was never anything missing from this release's ending.  Though I have now seen all the endings, the one that I feel is the best choice is the Control Ending.

If your military readiness is at the full level (green bar all filled), you will have a choice of 4 endings: Control, Destroy, Synthesize, Reject.  Having seen them all, Control is the one that I feel best fits the finale of Mass Effect.  In the Control ending, your character sacrifices their life in order to become an immortal consciousness that will forever control and guide the Reapers.  All the endings are somewhat depressing, but I felt this one best closed things out.  Through death, Shepard could now be a savior in a way that would never be possible in an organic form.  The Reapers are shown helping to rebuild and repair the damage their assault did to the galaxy and Shepard proclaims that she (or "he", depending on how you chose to play the series) will be the guardian for those too weak to protect themselves.

All in all, Mass Effect 3 is one of the best games I've ever played and if you're a fan of action-RPGs or just science fiction in general, I would highly recommend playing it.  At moments, it very much feels like a modern Star Wars in terms of space action.

Avengers 2: Age of Ultron Teaser Trailer Thoughts

I have watched and rewatched the recently released Avengers 2: Age of Ultron teaser trailer and I am now officially hyped.  I wasn't really sure what to think of this film as I am not very familiar with the Ultron character outside of him being an uncontrollable, somewhat insane robot.  But after seeing this first look at the film, I am excited.

I saw the concept art for the Hulkbuster armor quite some time ago and wondered if that would make it into the final film and indeed it has.  After being teased somewhat near the ending of Iron Man 3, the Hulkbuster armor will make its cinematic debut in Avengers 2.  As the name suggests, the armor was designed specifically for fighting the Hulk as Hulk is too strong to face down in regular armor.  It's unclear when the Iron Man vs Hulk battle takes place in the movie, but I do wonder if it will lead to *POSSIBLE SPOILER* Hulk being sent out into space.

Another interesting aspect shown in the trailer is Captain America's broken shield.  His shield has previously been shown and described as being unbreakable vibranium.  Mjolnir can't shatter it and neither can Hulk, so it's curious as to what can break it assuming it isn't part of a dream sequence.  Some have speculated that the broken shield could end up involving Black Panther as he's the ruler of Wakanda, the only known location in the world that has vibranium.

The last thing that I want to comment on is Ultron's grand cinematic debut.  Being very unfamiliar with the character means I have very little expectation for what he should or shouldn't sound or look like.  However, what I've seen of him in this trailer cements that he will be an intimidating, amazing, and memorable screen villain.  I admittedly wasn't all that fond of Loki and the Chitauri being the villains in Avengers as I didn't think they were imposing enough.  It looks like Ultron is going to be more than a match for the heroes and will probably end up being the starting point for the path to Civil War.  His visual design is pretty slick and it looks like he will have multiple forms throughout the film as the older picture from Entertainment Weekly shows (or that could be some type of a combat mode that he switches into).

Dawn Chronicles: Legacy - Earlier Drafts

Before I published the final version of Dawn Chronicles: Legacy (now available here at Amazon), I had written several versions.  The idea was the same of it being a massive story spanning across three books, but edits and creative changes altered the story.  That's not to say that everything written during that time will never be used.  Ideas evolve and transform, but they are never completely trashed.


I've been rereading material from what was to be the third act of the Dawn Chronicles tale and given that it's been many years since I read it, a lot of it feels new to me.  There's bunches of stuff that wouldn't work in the story now since much has changed, but there's also a lot of good stuff that can (and likely will be) dusted off and brought back into the fold.  One such idea was the introduction of a character named Paul Saunders.


Paul Saunders' character arc was of an operative working for a certain character as a means of protecting his teenage daughter.  He was very much intended as a reluctant villain that would eventually turn against his employer.  I didn't layout his arc as that final act went unfinished, but he is one element that is being brought back into the fold in Dawn Chronicles: Ghosts.  His storyline is similar, though this time he is essentially a one-man army who seeks to kill every werewolf he encounters in order to protect his daughter.  The characters in Legacy largely fought each other on somewhat even ground, but the introduction of Paul Saunders into Ghosts will give them a more dangerous threat.

My Favorite Valentine

I've been playing a lot of Resident Evil lately.  Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 to be precise.  Ever since I first played Resident Evil 2 on the Nintendo 64, I was hooked on the series.  I had never played anything like it to that point in time.  I have many fond memories of running around the Raccoon Police Department and being hunted by Mr. X and of the numerous confrontations with constantly mutating William Birkin.  Resident Evil 2 was actually pretty short once you knew where to go and what to get.  It debuted a concept in the form of a relentless hunter that was much stronger than your regular enemies and able to pursue you at seemingly random times (though once you've played through the scenarios once, you'll know exactly when to expect Mr. X to show up).

The Mr. X concept was essentially ramped up and intensified to become Nemesis in Resident Evil 3.  Nemesis was much tougher, faster, and smarter than Mr. X in RE2.  Whereas Mr. X could only attack you at scripted points in the game, Nemesis could strike you almost anywhere in the game in addition to the regular scripted encounters.  There's only a few times in the game where you must fight Nemesis and don't have an option to escape.  The rest of the time you can choose to run rather than fight, but he will chase you until you take him down or you advance forward to certain parts of the game.  Though I still hold the Gamecube remake of the original Resident Evil to be the best game the series has ever produced to this point, Nemesis had its moments when it was pretty slick.  

The main protagonist of RE3 is Jill Valentine, one of the original characters from the first game.  Pretty much all of the Resident Evil ladies have developed their own fan bases in a way, but Jill still reigns supreme as the most popular of them second perhaps only to Claire Redfield of RE2.  Nevertheless, all the time spent playing RE3 lately inspired me to draw this pic on the right.  It's a simple concept of Jill posing in a very sexy manner with a silhouette of the Nemesis behind her serving as a semi-bodyguard as well as a convenient placer of tentacles.  For anyone wondering, the "X"s all over his silhouette are marks used to indicate sections that should be all black.  Sometimes artists will choose to shade those spots in pencil and sometimes they use the "X" mark to indicate to an inker what it should be colored in.

In an earlier post (this one as a matter of fact) I posted a sketch of Claire Redfield I was working on.  This was what the final colorized version ended up becoming.  Fans of the RE series will no doubt be able to recognize all the nods on the monitors behind her.

Coloring!

Been testing out a new arena these past couple weeks.  I've been dabbling in coloring other artists' works.  I don't typically do that, but I decided I wanted to improve my coloring skill set and the best way is to first find something worth coloring.  

When coloring somebody else's work, I view it as kinda interpreting their intention.  With my own stuff, I have an idea already of what colors would look like.  With someone else's, I piece together the details and suggestions they worked into their lines and go from there.  

I've colorized a few pieces from the highly talented LCFreitas (you can view his work here).  The first collaboration was this piece featuring Supergirl.  I thought it came out well all things considered.  As with anything in life, there is a learning curve.  There is always room for improvement and I know I will improve as I color more and varied images.