Captain America: CIVIL WAR Trailer Thoughts

So the first trailer for Captain America: Civil War has finally dropped.  I have to say it looks pretty good, but then Marvel's always done a phenomenal job with marketing their films.  

Anyone familiar with the Civil War story in the comic books already knew the movie adaptation could not follow it exactly, but it seems like it will keep the general theme intact.  Iron Man will fill the antagonist role and Captain America will lead the rebellion.  

There's  no mention of where Ant-Man fits in nor Spider-Man or Crossbones.  It's widely believed Spider-Man will make at least a cameo since his casting was done late in the production of Civil War, but his role might end up being a little bigger.  I'm hyped already.

The Quiet in Nature

Metal Gear Solid V has been receiving much critical acclaim and praise for being what is believed to be the conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid series of games.  Metal Gear Solid is well known for its stealth gameplay mechanics, complex storyline, cutscenes that can be a movie unto themselves, giant robots, and interesting character designs.  

One of those characters is Quiet, a sniper whose character design has been lighting the internet ablaze for some time now.  

I drew my own spin on Quiet and this was the end result.  I felt it came out pretty good.  

Blast From The Past: Final Fantasy VII

With the announcement at E3 a few weeks back that Final Fantasy VII would at long last be getting a full remake, I got inspired to play the original version once again. 

Final Fantasy VII is a classic for many reasons: great character designs, an intricately woven and complex storyline, a simple battle system, and a variable approach to magic usage.  Admittedly, the story has gotten retconned a bit since its debut with the release of additional games set in the FFVII universe, but it still holds up even 20 years later.

Graphically, it hasn't held up that well.  I always thought the chibi-esque field models were a dubious choice even though the battle models were largely okay for the time.  However, the ability to mod games on the PC has enabled many gamers since then to experience FFVII in a new way.

I bought the Steam version and downloaded a set of mods collectively referred to as Tifa's Bootleg.  It can be a little daunting to get everything installed and running correctly, but you should be okay provided you have a decent machine and follow instructions.  The field models being replaced with close to normal models makes the experience much lesser grating to the eyes.  Enhanced backgrounds, different Limit Break colors, and upscaled magic effects all help to breathe brand new life into the game.  It's about as close to an HD remaster of the original Final Fantasy VII that I think we will ever see especially with a full remake coming on the horizon.

Sending A Dream Into The Universe

Happy holidays, everyone!  I've done some thinking over these last few weeks about what else I can do with my numerous talents.  I have ideas about what to do and rough plans for where to go next in my continuing journey through life. 

One thing I want to do in 2015 is release the next part of my debut book series, Dawn Chronicles (the first part of which is available here).  I've begun early work on it and have a good idea of where I shall take the further adventures of Laurel Dawn and Mason Valero.

Another thing I want to do is finally complete my swimsuit magazine featuring my varying original characters.  This is a project that will hit the decade mark in 2015 from when I first began it.

The future is most certainly bright.  All one needs is to keep moving forward.  

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.