Valkyria Chronicles III Revisited

The art design in this game is
phenomenal.  It's further improved
from the already solid art design in VC2

THIS GAME IS FUCKING AWESOME!

Valkyria Chronicles III is probably my favorite game on the PSP.  Like Valkyria Chronicles II, it knows its limits and sticks to what the PSP can handle.  Although Valkyria Chronicles II is an incredibly good game, this game surpasses it without a doubt.

As far as game mechanics, the biggest reason why this one is better than the second game is because you don't have to beat your head against a wall trying to collect raw materials to buy better guns.  That was probably one of the only things that I didn't like about Valkyria Chronicles II.

The number of soldier classes have been narrowed down significantly.  The main soldier classes have remained intact; Scout, Shock Trooper, Lancer, Engineer, and Armored Tech.  However, they also kept the Sniper, Gunner, and Fencer classes.  However, this makes sense because the Sniper, Gunner, and Fencer classes are pretty different than the other classes.  So, instead of having the AT Sniper class, for example, you can just equip a sniper with an AT sniper rifle.  I'm pretty on the fence as far as which soldier class system I like better.  They both have their pros and cons.

The story is great!  It's probably my favorite story of the three games.  The story is centered around Kurt Irving, a graduate of Lanseal Military Academy.  Basically, he ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time and gets in trouble.  Naturally, without any kind of trial, the military sentences Kurt to The Nameless, a penal unit similar to that of The Dirty Dozen from the movie Dirty Dozen (if you haven't seen that movie, it's pretty awesome.  Just saying...).  Now, I suppose The Nameless isn't quite as funny as The Dirty Dozen but they definitely have character.  Compared to Squad 7 or Class G from the other Valkyria Chronicles games, The Nameless have a much darker aura about them.  They're worn out. They're tired. They just really don't want to go on another suicide mission.  However, since this is a Japanese anime based game, the women in the unit tend to be timid or peachy at times.  So, how could people with that kind of personality end up in The Nameless?  Well, apparently some of the people volunteer and some others get thrown into The Nameless for the silliest of reasons.  There is a logical reason for this but it involves spoilers.

In fact, if you want to read more about what I thought of the story, you'll have to check out the spoilers section at the bottom of this post.  One last thing I would like to mention here about the story though is that this game takes place at the same time as the first Valkyria Chronicles.  I thought this was a pretty cool idea because you get to relate what you know about that game with this one.  Through each chapter, the game relates the events of the first game and Squad 7s actions and how they're chronologically related to what The Nameless are doing.  This aspect of the story I really enjoyed as a devout Valkyria Chronicles fan.

The game definitely gets you your money's worth.  It took me a little over 60 gameplay hours to play through the main story.  Of these 60 hours, very little of it was used for leveling up or replaying levels.  It wasn't until I got to the end of the game that I realized that there were also character specific missions I could have been playing all along (much like Valkyria Chronicles II).  I'm in the process of playing those short stories now.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find translations of these.  The summaries on the Valkyria Wikia will have to suffice.

My E2 version of the game also came with built-in DLC so that's pretty cool.  I haven't started playing those missions yet.

Remember in Valkyria Chronicles II how the fencers were basically invincible?  Well, in this game, they're actually pretty worthless.  I think that the developers realized from the last game how ridiculous the Fencer class was so not only did they make the Fencer's shield smaller, they also made it so that the fencer still takes some damage even when the bullets hit the shield.  Now you can't really do anything with the fencer!  If you try running more than a few feet with a fencer in the open field, the fencer will die.  The only thing I found myself using fencers for in this game was to take out multiple enemies at once if I was in a situation where I could get close enough without getting shot full of holes.

The Engineer class, though valuable in other Valkyria Chronicles games, is even more valuable in this game.  Engineers still can't fight very well but they combined the skills of the Anthem Corp class with the Engineer class.  What does this mean?  Well, it means that if you level your Engineer up to the veteran class level, you can carry not only the pistol, ragnaid (health pack), and wrench all at the same time, you can also carry an instrument as well (kind of looks like a Baritone, FYI).  Instruments add positive status effects to all of your allies or negative ones to all of the enemy units within the playing range of the instrument (depending on what model of instrument you have equipped).  This makes engineers even more useful due to all of their abilities.  They prove to be a powerful morale booster in seemingly hopeless situations.

What I like a lot about this game is that tanks only take up one turn token instead of two.  This is the first game of the series where a tank's turn didn't use up two turn tokens.  I like this a lot because I found myself never using the tanks in previous games because of the amount of turn tokens they used (unless I really needed something to take cover behind).

In the second game, you could replace your tank with an APC.  Though I never really used the APC, I thought the concept of the APC was pretty cool.  Basically, instead of being good for anti-tank combat and being impervious to bullets, the APC can travel really far and carry people in its hold.  This is pretty useful for moving multiple people at a time without wasting a ton of turn tokens.  In the third game, they have even more vehicles to choose from.  There are various utility trucks and half-tracks that you can buy.  Unfortunately, I haven't tried any of them out on the account that I have grown accustom to using tanks in my overall strategy.

This game reuses a lot of battlefields from the second Valkyria Chronicles game, however, it also has a whole host of new levels.  Some of these new levels are really oblong (which is something that we haven't seen in a Valkyria Chronicles game at all until now).  The oblong levels are really interesting as you will quickly realize that the high firepower and short distance shock troopers are essentially useless for traversing these long distances (unless if you have an APC).  In my case, I found myself traveling across the level with scouts and occasionally using snipers for supporting fire.

Imca's special ability

Probably my favorite addition to the series is the special abilities tokens.  Depending on the level, you will get anywhere from 0-3 special ability tokens to use.  You spend these tokens (plus a turn token) to use either Kurt's special ability, Riela's special ability, or Imca's special ability.  These abilities prove to be pretty useful.  Kurt's special ability allows him to bring other troops with him during his turn.  Imca can shoot multiple enemies with mortar shells at once (as many enemies as you can fit on the screen).  Riela's special ability I found myself using the most.  Her special ability involves invincibility with increased firepower.  It's actually pretty unfair because if the objective is to capture a base, then you can just run past all of the tanks, turrets, bunkers, and machine gunners to the base, kill the person in the immediate area, and capture it.  In my opinion, the Riela special ability should be at least two special tokens if not 3 three.  But, as long as it's only one special token, I'll keep taking advantage of it.

Overall, this Valkyria Chronicles is, in my opinion, the best of the series.  Although the game is only distributed in Japanese, you can still get all the translations and information needed to play the game over the internet.  You can also play this game with your North American PSP.  You don't need a Japanese one to play this game.  Not sure about Europe but I would probably assume you could play it on a European PSP as well.  This game is crazy good and, as a Valkyria Chronicles fan, I'm really glad that I hunted this one down.


Update 1-19-2014:  I don't know if you remember but in my PSP Reboot Epilogue:  Valkyria Chronicles III post I mentioned that there were a number of VC3 fans who had been working on an English patch for the game.

I said, "...it does seem to me that they are taking this seriously and that the project has not completely phased out yet."

Well, to my pleasant surprise, the team had released a completed patch sometime over the holidays.  I'm glad that I just happened to check their site for updates yesterday!  It's in what's practically a beta phase, but it works fantastic (certainly better than the Battlefield 4 day one release)!  Cutscenes, menus, item descriptions, etc., they're all translated in-game!

I think I might have just shit myself...

You'll need custom firmware on your PSP in order to play it (since you're patching your own, ripped, .iso version of the game).  What was also to my surprise was that now you can use custom firmware on your PSP WITHOUT hardware modification.  I repeat:  WITHOUT hardware modification.  This is great because now you don't have to risk bricking your PSP while trying to hack it (which is what held me back before).  This custom firmware is made by the PRO team and can be found here.

The download link and instructions for the VC3 English Patch can be found at the link below:
http://vc3translationproject.wordpress.com/patch-and-instructions/


Tank Screenshot Image:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvQuw_L5da0   
Imca's Special Ability Image:  http://www.wingdamage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/valkyria-chronicles-3-hands-on-impressions-psp-3.jpg
PSP Gameplay Picture:  from me

***************SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT***************

Before I dig into the story, I just wanted to mention one thing about the gameplay that I couldn't above this point.  We finally get to play as the Valkyria.

Finally...

It's rather disappointing when in mid-battle you get to see the Valkyria doing all of this cool shit and you can't control any of it.  Well, finally we get to use Valkyrian powers via the special move tokens through Riela.  It's pretty cool.  However, the really heavy tanks can't be taken down with one hit of the Valkyrian lance.  Seems rather contrary to the first game where Selvaria would freaking tear tanks asunder and blast away whole regiments with her massive powers.  However, I guess Riela's surprising weakness does make sense since she doesn't have full control over her Valkyrian powers.

I really wanted to talk about the story of this game a little more because it's really flippin' good!  The character development in this game is way stronger than any of the other games.  The first mission with The Nameless literally involves most of the unit going AWOL because they don't want to follow Kurt's orders.  I like all of the subplots going on in this game.  Between the inner-conflict with Gusurg, the corruption of the Gallian army officers with Cardinal Bolgia, and the back story of Dahau and Calamity Raven, this game gives you a lot to be interested in.  It does a great job of weaving all of these plots together without forcing anything.

Unlike the first two Valkyria Chronicles games, the journey in this game isn't so obvious.  I'm always looking forward to the next cut scene and never really knowing what exactly is going to happen.  I love how The Nameless basically have their whole world turned upside down like three times.  It's like their lives weren't upsetting enough with all of the suicide missions.

As interesting as the story is, the story does fall into a little bit of a repeated formula in the middle of the game.  For a few chapters in the game, The Nameless get assigned a mission, then they run into someone that they know (or know of) who they either help, get helped by, or both.  Then they go back to Randgriz for their next assignment.  This formula isn't even particularly bad as it's similar to the other games.  However, the number of guest character appearances is excessive.  Just about every character from another Valkyria Chronicles game makes an appearance in this game.  I'm not kidding.  The Nameless run into Squad 7 (you get to control Squad 7 in one of the story missions), Avan, Cosette, and Zeri (all in separate occurances by the way), Leon, Julianna, even the Gassernarl siblings and Brixam (Avan's, Cosette's, and Zeri's professor).  I mean, holy moly!  This was way too excessive!  I mean, it's one thing to bring back one or two characters from another game.  But, this game had just about every major character in the Valkyria Chronicles series!  I mean, talk about the biggest coincidence ever!  In fact, when The Nameless went to Fouzen, I was actually surprised that they didn't run into Zeke somehow (you missed a guest appearance opportunity!).  The Nameless literally work with and/or fight alongside every single major character in Valkryia Chronicles II (both protagonists AND antagonists!).  It's just ridiculous.

But seriously, that was really the only flaw in this game's story.  The rest of it I thought was really good.  It really kept me interested the whole way through.  Actually, it kept me really interested.  If there were 60 hours in a day, I would have probably tried to beat this whole game in one sitting.  There were just so many unexpected events.  Like, when the Gallian higher-ups tried assassinating The Nameless in the desert in order to prolong the war for Cardinal Bolgia's motives.  That completely caught me napping.

The touching moments in this game work really well.  Gusurg's death is really powerful (though completely expected).  The plot has been used before but Kurt having to kill Gusurg (a dear friend) due to opposing sides worked really well in the story of this game.  A lot of this had to do with that the story really builds up their relationship.  In the beginning, Gusurg is the only one that is even willing to give Kurt a chance at leading the squad.  Then Gusurg works pretty hard to persuade the rest of the squad that Kurt is a capable leader.  Their time together after that really just strengthened their friendship.  Though Dahau's death is also pretty powerful, it's not quite as powerful of a death scene because we didn't have much exposure to how much of a connection Dahau had with his deceased wife.  However, Dahau's wife's spirit talking to Dahau during his last moments was pretty well done (her telling him that he has done enough and can rest now).  Cliche but done well.

Ramsey Crow

My favorite scene in this game happens just after the corrupt Gallian official, Isler, is convicted and The Nameless have been relieved of their crimes and integrated as a unit in the regular army.  Everyone in The Nameless is looking at promising futures, including Kurt who is, at this point, considered a pretty brilliant officer for getting The Nameless through all of that shit alive.  In fact, they even give up The Nameless title because everything that they do now officially goes down on paper (unlike before where their unit didn't officially exist, allowing command to force them into ridiculous missions that violate international rules of war).  Of course Ramsey, that perv with the mustache and hairy chest, tells Squad 422 that there's this Valkyrian weapon of mass destruction within the borders of the Empire that Dahau is probably going to use to try and blowup Randgriz (the capital of Gallia).  Of course, the Kurt at the beginning of the game would have said, "Hell no!  I want a military career!"  But, Kurt decides that he needs to stop this weapon in order to save Gallia and, potentially, the world (OF COURSE!).  He gets the squad to join him after a motivational speech.  But, going into another country without declaring war would be something that the Gallian army wouldn't want to have anything officially to do with.  So, Kurt and Squad 422 go back to being The Nameless and throw away their futures in Gallia.  In order to do this, Kurt asks Ramsey to eliminate their existence from military records.  However, instead of eliminating their existence from military records, Ramsey records them all as officially KIA, ending the trail for Squad 422.  I thought that this was really cool because it still keeps the legacy that The Nameless had left in Gallia while still letting The Nameless leave Gallia to do the right thing.

In taking on this mission, The Nameless have also determined that they could never come back to Gallia because they technically aren't supposed to exist.  I thought the title of this chapter of the game was very clever.  I'm not sure how the Japanese is but the English translation is very clever in its simplicity.  The chapter it simply called "Nameless Again."  I love the name of the chapter.  It's perfect.

The last level of the game is rather interesting.  To start, Dahau is invincible.  This kind of annoys me but, whatever.  The giant cannon thing is pretty interesting.  You can only get to the cannon area by taking a series of lifts to each section.  There are three sections and you can't travel between the sections while in the area.  You have to take the corresponding lift in one of the three other areas to get to the section of the cannon that you're trying to hit.  This is pretty unique compared to other Valkyria Chronicles games.  It's also particularly difficult because snipers spawn in the sections every turn to kill whoever is in there.  So, seemingly, you have to waste your time killing snipers in order to stay up there.  I found a pretty cheap way to get around this roadblock though.  Basically, you get an armored tech up there in each of the three sections and have them face in the direction the snipers are shooting from.  The AI is too stupid to figure out how to shoot above the armored tech's shield and the bullets just ricochet off the shield.  It's cheap but if they can spawn out of nowhere, I can cheat too.  lol

The endings are fucking hilarious in this game.  As far as I can tell, there are two different endings depending on which love interest path you pick to take towards the end of the game.  If you pick the Riela ending, the cut scene after the end credits is of Riela and Kurt getting married and coming out of the church.  The Nameless are all standing outside cheering them on.  This includes that old guy (I can't remember his name) drinking from a bottle.  When they get down to the street, The Nameless' tank is sitting there waiting to take them to....uh....wherever married couples go right after they get married.  I couldn't find subtitles or a translation for this ending so I don't know what Riela said but it doesn't matter too much.  When I saw the tank sitting out there, I couldn't help but to burst out laughing.  However, it also makes me want to have a tank at my wedding...

The Imca ending is probably even more humorous.  First of all, it just skips the wedding.  Yeah fuck that shit.  Let's get to the part where we have like six kids!  Then, the whole scene is basically Kurt making a joke about Imca eating a lot and all the kids making fun of her too.  Then Kurt makes what I assume is a suggestive remark in front of the children (though the English translation isn't suggestive).  So Imca gets embarrassed and the children make fun of her face turning red.  It's pretty humorous

One last thing I wanted to talk about is the intro cut scene of the game.  The intro cut scene of this game and the other Valkyria Chronicles games are really well done.  However, there is something I finally want to call the developers out on.  Basically, the intro cut scenes have all of this stuff in them that doesn't actually happen in the game.  This particularly bothered me with the one for this game because at the beginning of the intro cut scene, it seems like something really moving had either just happened or is about to happen.  So, part of me had been waiting the whole game for that moment but, to my demise, it never came.  Disappointing?  A little bit.  However, I enjoyed this game's story so much that at the end of the day, I didn't care that much.

Ramsey Crowe Image:  http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/3/30280/1646619-2132428298_full.jpg

Bet the Levels at The Bottom Lounge

The Distillers
Live at the Bottom Lounge 2003

So, I suppose the first thing that comes to mind about this performance is that the venue is much more well-known than past venues that I have seen Bet the Levels at.  To put things in perspective, there have been a few somewhat known artists that have performed at The Bottom Lounge in the past.  Some of these bands include The Dear Hunter, The Distillers, Local H, Titus Andronicus, Butch Walker, X, and, surprisingly, Bruno Mars.

Last Sunday was horrible driving weather.  This would have been a pretty good reason to take the train there instead of driving (The Bottom Lounge is on the near-west side in the Meat Packing District).  Of course, on top of the snowfall, the parking situation in the area is less than ideal.  Even if you want to pay, there are no parking garages nearby.  If you search reviews on The Bottom Lounge, one of the pluses people give is that there's plenty of parking due to the small lot next to the place.  However, when I went there, the lot was closed.  I'm not sure if it's normally closed or not but it was rather disappointing.

When we got in there, there was a band already playing.  I'm not sure what they were called but the whole band was two acoustic guitarists and two electric guitarists (peculiar instrumentation).  They were pretty good at what they did.  It was just softer, laid-back, rock/folk.  However, it got pretty stale after awhile.  There wasn't much variance between songs.  Probably the most notable thing to mention here is that one of the electric guitarists had a gazillion (I can't believe gazillion passes the google spell check lol) pedals.  I couldn't even begin to count how many pedals he had.  He had them all bolted or taped (or something) to a piece of plywood for easy transportation (probably because he didn't have any money left to buy an actual pedal board to put them on after buying all those pedals).

READY, SET, GO!!!
G.E. Days is a great way to
kick off a show!

After they performed, Bet the Levels came on.  I won't talk too much about Bet the Levels since I've talked about them a few times before.  They played mostly the same set list.  However, they didn't play "I am Error" which I was very disappointed in.  At the end of the set, they tried playing "Dammit," the blink-182 song.  They announced that they had just learned it the previous day... and it showed.  It was almost as bad as when they tried to play "My Generation" at the last show.  C'mon guys!  Play what you know!

You can check out videos of the whole concert on their Facebook page here.

After Bet the Levels was a band called Slightly Irritated.  They were decent to say the least.  They did mostly covers... mostly covers of blink-182.  They covered "Dammit," "All the Small Things," and "Feeling This."  They also covered "The Hell Song" by Sum-41 and "1985" by Bowling for Soup.  The few originals that they had were rather unmemorable.  There was one that sounded pretty good but it also  sounded like a blink-182 clone so it really didn't stand out in the overall scheme of things.  Probably the first thing you will notice about this band is that the singer has a very high voice.  This wasn't particularly a bad thing; he used this asset mostly to his advantage. However, he decided to take "The Hell Song" an octave down in the chorus.  This really wrecks the song.  All of the build-up that happens during the verses has a very lack-luster climax to follow it up if you take the vocals an octave down.  Not to mention that when the lead vocalist takes it an octave down, he does it less angrily.  By the end of the song, it certainly left me Slightly Irritated (hahaha, I can see you cringing at your computers now as you read that horrible joke).

Speaking of the name of the band, they seemed a lot less than slightly irritated.  A better name for the band probably would have been Generally Content.  Every song that they did was probably on the most pop side of the pop-punk genre that you could get (besides "The Hell Song" which lacked anger when they played it anyways).  Everything was rather peachy.  The guitars were bright.  The singing even seemed overly cheerful at times.  Probably what bothered me most about their sound was the sound of the bass guitar.  Being a bassist myself, I suppose I can be overly critical of bass guitar;  especially since I have pretty specific preferences on how bass guitar should sound in certain genres.  This guy basically had his mid knob cranked all the way and his tone cranked all the way down.  I don't think I've ever heard bass sound so peachy in my life!  It sounded like he would fit right into one of those Disney Channel bands for their next child star.  Actually, the bass guitar itself was a pretty interesting modding concoction.  If I'm not mistaking, he took an Ernie Ball Stingray neck and attached it to a Fender Precision Bass body.  The pickups looked like stock pickups but the aesthetic was a unique black body with a red pickguard.  I'm not really sure what would incline someone to combine an Ernie Ball Bass neck with a Fender body as the Ernie Ball basses are generally of a higher quality anyways.  But, as I just talked about, I don't really seem to understand the appeal of his sound to begin with.

Oh, I almost forgot that they did a cover of "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World.  This cover was pretty alright except for the intro.  They changed the intro (or botched it, I'm not sure which) so much that I couldn't even recognize the song at the beginning (which the intro is pretty iconic).  When doing a cover of a well-known song, it's a requirement that the most recognizable parts of the song remain intact.  They failed at this, miserably.

I suppose one other thing I would like to mention about Slightly Irritated is that the bass player's back up vocals were very out of tune on "Feeling This."  They were so bad that the lead singer was singing a layer over the bass player's Mark Hoppus parts in the hopes of drowning him out.  Yikes!

After Slightly Irritated, I ended up leaving due to having a final exam the next morning and the weather conditions.  It took awhile to get home.  I also ended up seeing firetrucks and police cars at an accident along with a spun out Camaro stuck in the snow.  On top of that, I saw a guy in a Chevy Cobalt spin out right in front of me after flying past me a few moments before.  It was certainly an interesting trip home to say the least.

Anyhow, I'll keep you updated on Bet the Levels.  I will likely do a review of their next show and post it on this blog site.  Also, I am anxiously awaiting the release of Bet the Levels first studio album Little Miss Perfect.  Late last week, the band announced that they had finished recording it.  Obviously, if you have been to a Bet the Levels show, you have probably heard most of the songs already.  If the studio album is anything like the live show, it's going to be one hell of an album.  I'm impatiently waiting for my copy.


The Distillers Image:  http://bottomlounge.com/gallery/
Bet the Levels Image:  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=404541879649381

Some Hypothetical Thinking...

So, with PSP reboot all finished, I've been throwing around some ideas for what I want to do next.  So, maybe I should review all of my Playstation 2 games!

haha...that would take forever...

Unless if I review like 3 or 4 games a day.  Or, I could do an abridged review where I do 5 word reviews of every Playstation 2 game that I own all in one blog post.

I may do some more How To satires.  At the moment however, I'm not really sure what about.

I may also post some videos of films that I have from the Axis and Allies RTS.  Some of them are kind of interesting.

One thing that I really ought to start blogging about is Karate.  I've only been doing it for about 15 years or so...

If anyone has any requests, leave them in the comments or let me know somehow.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

In this year where I just haven't been very inclined to go to the movie theater due to the lack of interesting movies, The Hunger Games:  Catching Fire actually got me to leave my house.  Granted, it also reminded me how much watching a movie in the theater can suck sometimes.  For instance, when people walk into the movie twenty minutes late, create a ruckus, and then continue to create a ruckus for at least ten minutes, it's really just rude at that point.  Why would you even pay money for a ticket if you're going to be that late?

Anyways, this movie is very good.  It surpasses the first film (which I also thought was very good).  Jennifer Lawrence is incredible in just about every movie she does.  Along with many other males in this country, I too have a crush on Jennifer Lawrence for her acting on the screen and her actions off of the screen.  I figure I should probably admit that on the account that it's going to automatically make me biased towards her work.

The cinematography is pretty good.  They don't do anything clever or fancy with the camera work, which plays in this film's favor.  Too many times in action films do we see shaky cameras or camera zooms to try and enhance the action.  For me personally, these things just make me nauseous.  The timing between camera angle changes was just about perfect.  They remained on a shot long enough to where you would get an idea of what had just happened but would still be left with a little bit of confusion (especially in night scenes or scenes in dark areas).  The camera angles never changed too quick like a music video but changed enough to keep the suspense going.

One thing about this film is that the CGI is rather obvious.  However, that's on par for any film this decade.  I should probably get used to it.  It's not going away.

The heavy moments in this film are beautifully done.  It's actually the camera work/direction here that is better than average.  Along with the decent musical score, this film really comes to life in those peak moments.

Like many movies based on books, the character development was limited.  In the movie's defense, there were more significant characters in this film than the last.  The thing is, some of the characters, were developed really well just by a few moments, (like Johanna).  We knew who Johanna was when it really counted.  Other characters, some of them even pretty significant, I had no idea who they were.  I didn't know much of their personalities or their attributes, etc.  For instance, we still hardly know who Finnick is by the end of the film.  We learn that he is selfless.  But that's about it.  It's really nothing as unique as what Johanna does in the film.  In fact, she's way more memorable of a character than Finnick.  Most other new characters are just Haymitch explaining to Katniss and Peeta who they are.

Overall, The Hunger Games:  Catching Fire is something that any movie goer should give a decent shot.  This film has won me over into being a fan of the series and I will probably start reading the books at some point.  This universe is particularly interesting to me.

Anyways, give this one a go.  You'll probably like it.



Oh, and if you can't get Donald Sutherland's role in Animal House out of your head, it will be really, really, hard to take the President Snow character seriously.  hahahaha

Image:  http://latino-review.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/thehungergams-catchingfire-ukposter.jpg

How to Get The Most Out of Your Thanksgiving

We're now smack dab in the middle of the time of year when holidays come at us rapid fire!  First with Halloween, then Thanksgiving after that, then the holiday season about a month after that, then New Year's a few days after that.

Second up is Thanksgiving:  the one day of year when every American is highly encouraged to give thanks and dig in!  In order to get the most out of this holiday, I have some tips to share with you.


1.)  Be Thankful For All That You Don't Have

Often we give thanks to all of the people that we have in our lives:  family members, shelter, material possessions, jobs, etc.  But what we forget to do is give thanks to all of the things that we don't have and how these things make us a stronger person.  For instance,

I'm thankful that I'm short because then I can complain about not being tall.

Or...

I'm thankful that my biological father ditched me because I have been forced to be independent at a young age and not have the capacity of showing love or affection to others.

Or...

I'm thankful that I have been laid off from my job because it has forced me to learn a lot about finding a new one.

So, be sure to give thanks to all of the things that the world refrains from giving you or has taken away.  Everyone will really appreciate it.

2.)  Watch Football All Day Long

Because that's something that you haven't been able to do every Sunday for the past three months.

3.)  Stuff Your Face

It's not like someone who's living on the street needs that extra turkey leg.

4.)  Be As Sarcastic as Possible

Like what I'm doing right now.

5.)  Avoid Being the First Person to Grab a Slice of Pumpkin Pie

When the Pumpkin Pie is out of the oven and good to go, don't be the first to grab a slice.  Why?  Well, it's much more satisfying to watch someone else try to strategize and pincer that first piece out while breaking it into three different pieces.  Then you can give them shit about it and make fun of them as they try to cover up the incident.

6.)  Go To Bed Early

You don't want someone to stick the ass of the remaining turkey in your face because you, inevitably, fell asleep on the sofa or the floor.  Though, I've never had turkey ass in my face.  It could smell good.  Maybe you should set yourself up for this likely event.

7.)  Complain About the Lack of Mail Delivery.

Well, I would have gotten that Dancing Birthday Cake I ordered from Hallmark.com but there's no delivery on Thanksgiving!  I will have to wait until Friday.  What the hell...

8.)  Be THAT Guy...

At Thanksgiving Dinner, basically be the biggest douche in history.  Whenever someone tells a story, make sure that you can outdo it by telling a similar story that completely outdoes the story just told (your story is fictional but they don't have to know that).

For Example:

"Oh our vacation to the Bahamas was crazy!  There was a huge storm that they say was the worst that they had in twenty years.  I don't know if I ever want to go on vacation again.  hahaha."  your 2nd cousin says.

"Well, when I went to vacation in Hawaii, it was just gorgeous out.  There were rainbows.  LOTS of rainbows!  There were also the prettiest hula dancers you'd ever seen!  And then, to top off the whole vacation, every volcano in Hawaii all went of at the same time.  I thought the apocalypse was happening, baby!  Crazy times in Hawaii, I would do it again if I could.  That's some crazy shit!"

...

Then tell everyone that they're a horrible person if they don't help out with the dishes.

What could potentially happen...

Everyone is swarming the kitchen like a bunch of animals (or rabid turkeys) fighting over the sink.  Dishes are thrown everywhere with the continuous sound of shattering glass ringing through the house.  People are getting into fistfights over the particular dishes.  "I WANTED TO WASH THE GRAVY BOAT!" your burly cousin exclaims in a booming voice.

Your grandfather retorts, "Listen sonny, when I was your age, I had four Punji Sticks stuck into my pancreas. To this day it's still secreting enough digestive enzymes that I don't need to listen to my doctor when he says I need to take my vitamins.  You think that you can take that gravy boat away from me, huh?"

"DAMN STRAIGHT!  I TAKE HGH!"  your cousin announces.  He then sucker punches your grandfather out of his wheelchair; causing his Vietnam Veteran hat to fall off of his head and sit...silently.
There are a few, non-crazy, extended family members with their jaws hanging to the floor at the sight of the scene.  Your cousin turns his head:

"WHAT!?  I'M GIVING THANKS GOD DAMMIT!"

9.)  Piece Together the History of Your In-Laws

Example:

Your Mother In-Law:  So, my hip has been acting up lately.  I think I'm going to have to visit the doctor again.  He's been very nice about the whole thing; even though I have been visiting him a whole late lately with some pretty minor problems.

Your Father In-Law:  Yes dear, I know.  You have been seeing the doctor quite a lot.  Maybe it's something more serious than you realize.

...Later on...

Your Father In-Law:  Oh yeah, I just remembered that I have to raise the flag in the front yard.  I had it half staff for Veteran's day.

Your Mind:  Wait a second, bad hip, flag pole, frequent doctor visits.  I know what's happening here.  My mother in-law was a pole dancer.  In fact, she probably still is a pole dancer.  She probably goes to the doctor's office to give the doctor a lap dance.
Your Mind:  I've got it all figured out!

You:  Hm, I bet that your doctor has quite the stethoscope.  hahaha.

Your Mother In-Law:  um...sure?

10.)  Overstay Your Welcome

What people hosting Thanksgiving dinners don't tell their relatives is that they like guests that stay for a long time.  They put a lot of time and effort into that dinner and having everyone over just for a few hours can be a bit of a letdown.

So, bring a couple six packs, sit back and make yourself at home.  Stay a day or two!  Get obnoxious!  Don't clean up your beer bottles.  Leave your mark!  They'll love it!

Make it a week or two even.  Hell, make it a whole month!  That way you will only have to make one trip for the Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings.



This way, you will have plenty of time to share the love this holiday season.  Make the year count.  Make it special.  Oh boy, it will be special.  That's definitely what they'll say...

Top 100 Favorite Bands

Every now and then, I'm asked where a certain band falls in my personal ranking of favorites.  A lot of times, I have no idea where I would rank them, so that's how I respond.  However, through this blog site, I have decided to challenge myself to list my top 100 favorite musical acts of all time.  For those of you that know me well, if you notice any blatant omissions from this list, please let me know.

I have developed a very specific method for determining this list and have shared it with you here along with commentary on some of my choices.

Also, for this particular list, I decided not to include composers such as Andrew Lloyd Weber, Danny Elfman, Nobuo Uematsu, Mozart, Beethoven, and John Williams, to name a few.

Well, enough nonsense.  Here is my top 100 favorite bands, singers, and instrumentalists of all time.

1. My Chemical Romance
2. Jimmy Eat World
3. Rancid
4. Green Day
5. Pencey Prep
6. The Clash
7. Paramore
8. blink-182
9. Rise Against
10. Smashing Pumpkins
11. Nirvana
12. Styx
13. The Killers
14. Weezer
15. Coldplay
16. The All-American Rejects
17. She Wants Revenge
18. Muse
19. The New Minstrel Revue/The Minstrels of Mayhem
20. Yellowcard
21. Good Charlotte
22. The Distillers
23. VaNa MaZi
24. Less Than Jake
25. Jeff Beck
26. Bowling For Soup
27. Deep Purple
28. Dashboard Confessional
29. Foo Fighters
30. Goldfinger
31. North Mississippi All-stars
32. Vampire Weekend
33. Flogging Molly
34. The Dead Kennedys
35. The Who
36. Bad Religion
37. Boston
38. Jefferson Airplane
39. Pink Floyd
40. Sum-41
41. Hey Monday
42. R.E.M.
43. The Doors
44. The Ramones
45. Journey
46. Van Halen
47. New Politics
48. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
49. The Sex Pistols
50. George Thorogood and the Destroyers
51. Jimi Hendrix
52. Steppenwolf
53. Led Zeppelin
54. The White Stripes
55. The Grateful Dead
56. Black Flag
57. Black Sabbath
58. Creedance Clearwater Revival
59. Filter
60. Robert Randolph
61. Buddy Guy
62. Chuck Berry
63. Collective Soul
64. Jet
65. Sonny Landreth
66. The Vandals
67. The Explosion
68. Eric Clapton
69. Puddle of Mudd
70. Joan Jett and the Heartbreakers
71. The Runaways
72. U2
73. Godspeed You!  Black Emperor
74. Carlos Santana
75. Guns 'N Roses
76. Joe Bonamassa 
77. BB King
78. Dropkick Murphys
79. Muddy Waters
80. The Wolf
81. The Violent Femmes
82. System of a Down
83. Steve Miller Band
84. Operation Ivy
85. Metallica
86. Iron Maiden
87. Joe Satriani
88. Alice Cooper
89. Silversun Pickups
90. AC/DC
91. The Bravery
92. The Doobie Brothers
93. The xx
94. Radiohead
95. Amanda Kitchens
96. Gary Clark Jr.
97. Soundgarden
98. The Yardbirds
99. The Kinks
100. Bruce Springsteen

Top 100 Favorite Bands (Method and Commentary)

Method:

I first started by brainstorming as many bands as I could without listing artists that I would never want on my top 100 list.  For instance, you will notice the absence of bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Britney Spears, etc.  This is because I, personally, cannot stand these musical acts.  Some of them I may respect as musicians but on a personal level, I can't stand their music.  I could never have them on my Top 100.

After the brainstorm, I went through the brainstorm and chose all the bands that I decided would be a travesty if they WEREN'T on my Top 100 List.  The number of bands that ended up on this elite list was 106.

So, in this case, I would either need to:

A:  Eliminate 6 bands from the list and then rank them.

------------------Or-------------------

B:  Rank the 106 bands and eliminate the last six.

I decided on approach B as it was a very small number of bands that I needed to eliminate from the elite list.  This is, by far, the hardest and most challenging portion of the process.  It was difficult and a bit disheartening at some of the bands that I had to leave out of the list.

For those of you that are curious, these were the bands that just barely didn't make the cut:

101.  Capital Cities
102.  CAKE
103.  Tool
104.  John Mayer
105.  Johnny Winter
106.  Buddy Rich

Commentary:

In ranking my favorite artists, I started to notice trends in my decision making.  Most notably, the grouping of genres together in the middle and end of the list.  You will notice clusters of 60s rock bands, blues guitarists, and miscellaneous pairings throughout the list.

When doing this ranking, I actually learned a bit about my musical tastes.  What was most surprising to me was how high I had to rank Paramore.  It wasn't until I did this ranking how much I realized I like that band.  Even other bands like blink-182, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Rise Against:  I like these bands a lot!  However, I just couldn't justify ranking Paramore below these bands.  Sometimes it takes a step back to truly see what your real interests are.  And in taking a step back, I realized how much I really enjoy Paramore's music.

I suppose that one thing that someone will come to realize when making a list like this is that it always changes.  When I say that these are my Top 100 favorite musicians/bands, these are my Top 100 at this point in time.  These rankings are constantly changing depending on mood, season, life events, etc.  For instance, for a long time, I considered The Clash as my favorite band.  Now, they're all the way down at the number six spot.  I just don't listen to them quite as much as I used to.  The rankings that you see here are pretty set and won't change much from a day to day basis at this time.

With that being said, I will probably update this list every now and in the form of new posts.  So if you're interested, stay tuned.


The main reason why I wanted to add this commentary is to talk a bit about some of the more obscure acts that appear on it.  So, here they are.

Note:  Half of the videos embedded cannot be watched here due to copyright/ownership reasons.  You need to click on the YouTube button in the player to be redirected to YouTube in order to watch it.

However, the Gary Clark Jr., VaNa MaZi, The New Minstrel Revue, Operation Ivy, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Distillers, and The Vandals one can be watched on this webpage, FYI.

96.  Gary Clark Jr.

Gary Clark Jr. is an up and coming blues guitarist from Texas.  I was made aware of his existence when I saw him perform at the 2010 Crossroads Festival in Bridgeview (hosted by Eric Clapton).  He mixes blues with elements of alternative, rock, r&b, and pop:  drawing small portions of his fan-base from some of the least expected places.  I really like the way some of these elements mix together.  In fact, there are times when he will remind you a lot of The Black Keys.  So, if you really like The Black Keys, you will probably love Gary Clark Jr.  And I'll tell you what, I would take Gary Clark Jr. over The Black Keys any day of the week.

 

95.  Amanda Kitchens

Amanda Kitchens is by far the most obscure artist that I have on this list.  And when I say that she is the most obscure artist on this list, she literally has less page views and song plays on Reverbnation than my fictional band.  I really couldn't comprehend this on the account that SHE ACTUALLY EXISTS!

She's actually the accordion player and co-lead vocalist of the group VaNa MaZi: a band that I will be talking about later on in this commentary.  When not jamming out with VaNa MaZi, she does some jazz singing with a little bit of folk and blues thrown in.  If you like jazz and blues, you should at least give her a listen.  She deserves more attention.

Let's do her Reverbnation page a favor and click this link to visit her Reverbnation page and/or give her a listen via this music player I have embedded for you.

Free Electronic Press Kits from ReverbNation.com

91.  The Bravery

They're a pretty cool alternative band from the mid-2000s.  You may have heard of them.  Probably the most exposure they had was the song "Unconditional" which was part of the soundtrack for Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.  They also got some exposure with their song "Believe" but beyond that, you really had to dig around to find out about their other songs like "This is Not the End" or "An Honest Mistake."  Check 'em out.

84.)  Operation Ivy

Operation Ivy is basically Rancid before Rancid existed.  Op. Ivy consisted of Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman who would both go on to start Rancid.  Expectedly, they sound a lot like Rancid, especially Rancid's older albums.  Op. Ivy is much more ska based of a band though.  They only released one record during their existence.  However, Op Ivy will go down in history as an important piece of Punk Revival.

Let me take you back to 1988...(I'm I allowed to say that if I wasn't even alive yet in 1988?  Well whatever...)

73.)  Godspeed You!  Black Emperor

This band is my favorite that the Post-Rock genre has to offer.  Then again, there really aren't very many bands that the genre has to offer.  What is Post-Rock?  Well, just give this a listen.  It's pretty cool.  Godspeed You! Black Emperor have a way of getting inside your mind and rearranging it.  Then they send little men with spears in to etch bizarre thoughts in every crevice that has been exposed to the dawn of the apocalypse...

But in all seriousness, it's pretty interesting stuff.  I would give it a listen.

67.)  The Explosion

The Explosion are another group that I first heard on a Tony Hawk game, this time from Tony Hawk's Underground 2.  I found one of their CDs at a Disc Replay for 2 bucks so I figure I would give it a go.  It's a pretty solid rock album that gets pretty intense at times.  If you like the band Jet, you will probably like The Explosion too.  The Explosion are basically an angrier take on Jet.

66.)  The Vandals

The Vandals are great because they rock but they also pull of the humorous part of the band really well (without being too over the top).  They're kind of like Bowling for Soup except that their humor is way more dry and pretty morbid at times.  When I need a good laugh, this is one of the first bands I turn to.  "My Girlfriend's Dead" is definitely my favorite song by them not only because it's funny but because it's also really relatable.  Give it a listen.  You can watch a funny animation that complements the song very well on this webpage in the player below.

65.)  Sonny Landreth

I've liked Sonny Landreth since I saw him at the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival.  He plays this southern style of rock that's generally mellow and easy going.  He plays guitar really smooth and frequently uses a slide to go from note to note.  I really like his style.

23.)  VaNa MaZi

I just discovered VaNa MaZi this past summer when they performed a few weekends at the Bristol Renaissance Faire.  They certainly don't fall into my typical genre spectrum as their music is very...worldly (the best way to describe it without getting too into it).  But, there's a reason why they make the top quarter of my list; they're really freakin' good!.  I actually talked about them in my post on the Bristol Renaissance Faire Music Scene.  You can also check out their website here, listen to some tunes on their Reverbnation page here, and check out the sassy music video below (man, they should be paying me for all of this promotion).

22.)  The Distillers

Probably the best way to describe The Distillers is if you took Joan Jett and made her completely hardcore punk.  They were only around for a few years but every hardcore punk fan at least knows of them and recognizes Brody Dalle as the coolest punk chick ever!  This shit is awesome!  If you're into punk at all, The Distillers are definitely worth checking out.

19.)  New Minstrel Revue/The Minstrels of Mayhem

The New Minstrel Revue is an Irish folk group that I discovered at the Bristol Renaissance Faire a number of years ago (at the time, they were called The Minstrels of Mayhem).  They deliver Irish folk in its most raw form; just two acoustic guitars (and the recent addition of a violin player).  This band literally makes me feel like I've been taken into a time machine and sent back to ye olde Ireland.  I certainly have no shame in declaring that these guys are my nineteenth favorite.

Here's a funny drinking song to make your day a little better.
(I have no idea who that is playing bass, FYI.  At the Bristol Renaissance Faire, they occasionally have Craig of Farrington join in on bass)

 17.)  She Wants Revenge

You know, I don't listen to these guys a lot.  However, they have lingered on after quite a few years and I still throw them on every now and then.  The thing is, I really like their music.  I just find myself listening more to punk and punk related stuff which is why I often give their CDs a pass when making a selection.  I really ought to listen to them more because I really enjoy myself whenever I do.  I got pretty lucky when I happened to be listening to q101 back in 2007 and the song "Tear You Apart" came on.  Otherwise, I probably wouldn't even know who they are.

I also forgot how...peculiar this music video is.

5.)  Pencey Prep

I learned of their existence because my stage presence idol, Frank Iero, was in this band before joining My Chemical Romance.  Pencey Prep only released one album during their existence.  So why are they all the way up at my number five?  Because the album is fucking awesome!  It's relatable, it has interesting guitar work, it's emotional.  It has just about every aspect I could ever ask for out of an album.  If I ever made a Top 100 list for favorite albums, Heartbreak in Stereo is definitely a contender for the number 1 spot.

Miscellaneous

If you guys are wondering about any of the other bands on my Top 100, whether it's who the band is or why they are ranked the way they are on my Top 100, leave it in the comments.  I may have an unexpected reason that I didn't mention in this commentary or I may have made a mistake.  But, as of now, this is how my Top 100 favorite bands stand.

Cheers!

Top 100 Favorite Bands (Brainstorm)

Includes Solo Artists. does NOT include composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Andrew Lloyd Weber, John Williams, Danny Elfman, etc.

These aren't in any particular order.  I'm just writing them down as I think of them.  I'm also brainstorming on the account that I come up with enough that a good number of them will be excluded.  Of course, when this list is posted, we will know how many bands I will ultimately brainstorm.  I also plan on writing a commentary about the finalized Top 100 list due to the few bands on here that are either local or obscure finds.

1. Lorde
2. Fun.
3. AWOLNATION
4. Silversun Pickups
5. Amy Winehouse
6. Adele
7. Capital Cities
8. New Politics
9. Twenty One Pilots
10. Iron Maiden
11. Judas Priest
12. Motley Crue
13. Black Sabbath
14. AC/DC
15. Black Flag
16. Minor Threat
17. Bad Religion
18. The Sex Pistols
19. The Dread Crew of Oddwood
20. Bet the Levels
21. VaNa Mazi
22. Hey Monday
23. Good Charlotte
24. The New Minstrel Revue/The Minstrels of Mayhem
25. Neon Trees
26. The All-American Rejects
27. Deep Purple
28. Led Zeppelin
29. The Ramones
30. The Doors
31. R.E.M.
32. Green Day
33. My Chemical Romance
34. Jimmy Eat World
35. Rancid
36. Muse
37. Coldplay
38. Paramore
39. Weezer
40. Yellowcard
41. blink-182
42. Sum-41
43. Less Than Jake
44. Reel Big Fish
45. The Fray
46. Streetlight Manifesto
47. The Distillers
48. Rise Against
49. Pink Floyd
50. She Wants Revenge
51. Kiss
52. Nirvana
53. Pencey Prep
54. Smashing Pumpkins
55. The Clash
56. The Dead Kennedys
57. Dashboard Confessional
58. Cheap Trick
59. The Who
60. Steppenwolf
61. Foo Fighters
62. Jeff Beck
63. Boston
64. Chuck Berry
65. Bowling For Soup
66. The Bravery
67. The Box Tops
68. Linkin Park
69. Collective Soul
70. Creedance Clearwater Revival
71. The Doobie Brothers
72. Bob Dylan
73. The Eagles
74. The Explosion
75. Filter
76. Foster the People
77. Foxboro Hot Tubs
78. Peter Frampton
79. George Thorogood and the Destroyers
80. Goldfinger
81. The Grateful Dead
82. Guns 'N Roses
83. Hawthorne Heights
84. Jet
85. Jethro Tull
86. Jimi Hendrix
87. Journey
88. Kansas
89. Kaiser Chiefs
90. The Killers
91. 30 Seconds to Mars
92. Metallica
93. Muddy Waters
94. The Wolf
95. John Mayer
96. North Mississippi All-stars
97. BB King
98. Buddy Guy
99. Buddy Rich
100. Eric Clapton
101. Steve Winwood
102. Sonny Landreth
103. Gary Clark Jr.
104. Joan Jett and the Heartbreakers
105. The Runaways
106. Taking Back Sunday
107. Frank Sinatra
108. Johnny Cash
109. Van Halen
110. Flogging Molly
111. Dropkick Murphys
112. Radiohead
113. Arctic Monkeys
114. X
115. GWAR
116. Operation Ivy
117. Florence and the Machine
118. Alice Cooper
119. Skee-Lo
120. Outkast
121. NWA
122. Tupac
123. The Beastie Boys
124. Depeche Mode
125. The Kinks
126. The Buzzcocks
127. Elvis Costello
128. Iggy and the Stooges
129. The Transplants
130. Angels and Airwaves
131. The Yardbirds
132. Red Hot Chili Peppers
133. Robert Randolph
134. NOFX
135. Rolling Stones
136. Frank Zappa
137. U2
138. Styx
139. Carlos Santana
140. Bruce Springsteen
141. ZZ Top
142. Johnny Winter
143. The Irresponsibles
144. Godspeed You!  Black Emperor
145. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
146. Local H
147. The Hiss
148. Ween
149. Suicide Machines
150. The Suicidal Tendencies
151. Jefferson Airplane
152. Jefferson Starship
153. Evanescence
154. Atlas Genius
155. Kitten
156. The Love Shots
157. System of a Down
158. Switchfoot
159. Puddle of Mudd
160. Harvey Danger
161. Cage the Elephant
162. The xx
163. Lit
164. Third Eye Blind
165. The Moves
166. Sublime
167. Chronic Future
168. Papa Roach
169. Michael Jackson
170. Pennywise
171. Christina Perri
172. Coolio
173. Secondhand Serenade
174. Ingrid Michaelson
175. Vampire Weekend
176. The Violent Femmes
177. The White Stripes
178. Joe Satriani
179. Lynyrd Skynyrd
180. New Atlantic
181. The Postal Service
182. The Airborne Toxic Event
183. Blind Melon
184. Baumer
185. The Vandals
186. CAKE
187. Tool
188. Stone Temple Pilots
189. Steve Miller Band
190. Against Me!
191. Elbow
192. Soundgarden
193. Queens of the Stone Age
194. Amanda Kitchens
195. Screeching Weasel
196. Anti-Flag
197. Big D
198. Gaslight Anthem
199. LeATHERMOUTH
200. Joe Bonamassa 
201. The Black Keys
202. The Offspring
203. Mumford and Sons

PSP Reboot Epilogue: Valkyria Chronicles III???

A while back, I talked about how Valkyria Chronicles II was one of the best games on the Playstation Portable.

So, if the second game was so good, when are they coming out with the third one?  Well, they never came out with the third one...

Or so I thought.

I actually found out while typing the Valkyria Chronicles II Review that there was a third one released.  In fact, it's been out for two years.  HOW HAVE I NOT HEARD OF THIS!?!?  Well, the reason is because the second Valkyria Chronicles did not sell enough copies for Sega's liking so they never had a North American release of the third game.

Well, this sucks...

The thing is, I'm such a slave to the series now that I just had to get my hands on a Japanese version of the game.  So, I got a copy shipped to my house.  I supposed the gorilla in the room through this whole process was, How am I supposed to play a game that is in Japanese?  Well, a lot of the game mechanics are the same along with symbols, controls, indicators, etc.  The things that had changed I was able to find quite a bit of information about via the internet and how those things worked.  The main battle experience expenditure system changed from the first two games.  Instead of leveling up the main soldier classes, you level up certain attributes for all of your soldiers at the same time (such as HP or AP).

What is probably the most vital Japanese for one to know when playing this game is the story.  The stories in this series are very good and something you really don't want to miss out on.

Well, there's a whole project of devout Valkyria Chronicles players that use their spare time to make a version of the third game that is in English.  Though this hasn't been finished and has no guarantee of being finished, it does seem to me that they are taking this seriously and that the project has not completely phased out yet.  Their website is here if you are curious at all.

What I have been using to get through the bit of story I have made it through so far is a written out script of every major cut scene in the game.  The guy goes by the pseudonyms Guerrilla Soldier and insanityofhell.  Though he seems to have translated a lot of the game, he does cite other people throughout the 295 page translation for their contributions.  He also includes the information given about mission objectives, number of turns for an S rank, and information on Ace soldier drops for every mission.  I give a big shout out to this guy for doing this.  It makes my experience of playing this game much more enjoyable that I actually know what is happening in the story and what people are saying in the cut scenes.  Here you can find his Google doc that contains his translation.

So far, I've really been enjoying the story to this game.  Depending on where it goes, it may be the best story of the series yet.  I may write a review when I finish it.

PSP Reboot: Wait...oops

So, as we near the end of our PSP Reboot marathon, I have found that I have erred in my ways.  There was one game that I own that I forgot to include in my list of games for this review series.  However, it just so happens that this game is also a sequel.  Lord of Arcana is a sequel of the game Lord of Apocalypse:  released on the PSP in Japan (later to be re-released on the PS Vita for download everywhere).  So, that makes this game the first game of this PSP Reboot series that was not from a series originally on another console.

Is it good?  Well, unfortunately, I haven't played it.  I played a demo of it a couple years back around the time of its release date.  I don't remember much about it.  So, I can't review it.  Perhaps I will review it at a later time...

Image:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Lord_of_Arcana_Cover.jpg

PSP Reboot #22: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

This game is technically not a sequel, a remake, or a reboot of any kind.

MASON!!!  YOU CHEATED!!!  WE READ ALL OF THOSE POSTS JUST FOR YOU TO CHEAT!!!

Well, yeah, I guess I did.  But hear me out:

This game is basically a reboot of Final Fantasy Tactics.

I'm not kidding.

The gameplay is almost exactly the same.  The art design IS exactly the same.  The game developer is the same.  Even the story has some oddly similar parallels (which would have been the easiest to change).  Also, if I'm not mistaking, this game recycles some of the music from Final Fantasy Tactics.  There's some subtle differences between leveling systems and magic, what certain jobs do, etc.  Oh, and they changed the name of the White Mage to Cleric instead.  Whatever.

I might be giving it the third degree.  But, the thing is, all they had to do was call it Final Fantasy Tactics:  *insert random jargon here* and it would have been fine.  Why did they change the name?  I have no idea...

Though, because of its similarity to Final Fantasy Tactics, it's actually a really good game.  In fact, it's more difficult than Final Fantasy Tactics which makes it a hell of a game.  I really like this game.

If you liked Final Fantasy Tactics, you will love this game.  Give it a try.

Image:  http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yB49yT7iL.jpg

PSP Reboot #21: Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception

Ace Combat X:  Skies of Deception is a really good reboot.  It's pretty sweet because it has a lot of the same feel and design as Ace Combat 4:  Shattered Skies - an instant classic on the PS2.  The game has cut scenes and story telling similar to Ace Combat 4 where it uses hand drawn stills combined with voice acting.  Also, like Ace Combat 4, the story is told from a civilian perspective.  This kind of story telling is pretty fresh as we generally don't see story telling done from civilian perspectives in video games; especially since the main story is not directly related to the "character" that's flying the plane.  I really enjoy the story in this game and Ace Combat 4, in my humble opinion, has one of the best.

The gameplay is also similar to Ace Combat 4.  I'm not sure if Ace Combat 5 or Ace Combat Zero came out before or after this reboot but I like the nostalgic feeling I get from playing this reboot.  Like Ace Combat 4, you get lots and lots of missiles to rain destruction on everything you see and drastically change the tide of battle.  The controls are good and are pretty well converted to the PSP.

There's also a multiplayer mode that has a plethora of interesting game modes (even more than the most recent Ace Combat:  Assault Horizon).  If you can find others who have bought this game, give the multiplayer a try.  I don't know how good it is myself because I didn't have anyone to play it with.

If you ever see this game, I would definitely give it a try.  It's not very often you find a PSP game that works this well.

Image:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Acx_cover1.jpg

PSP Reboot #20: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus

Like Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker this game's biggest downfall is the controls.  Though, the thing about this game is that there is no story.  There are only levels that you play.  You pick a difficulty and go.  It's annoying though because if you lose at a level, you have to play all of the levels in that difficulty tier over again to retry it.  This was especially frustrating because I would get to the last level and I would basically lose because I couldn't get a good handle on the camera controls.  This was a big deal because the last level of the 'normal' difficulty tier was an escape level that you couldn't just sneak through.  It took quick movements and action kind of gameplay which require a good handle on the controls.

The sneaking levels were fun but the action is impossible; kind of like Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker.  Although, it was pretty fun trying to 1v1 with a friend.  In that, you're both equally inhibited so everyone sucks.  YAY!!!

Oh, and, pass this one up.

Image:  http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/box/1/5/5/942155_95891_front.jpg

PSP Reboot #19: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

So, here we have a game that is a re-release, of a spin-off, of a spin-off.

Oh dear...

Okay, to be fair, Grand Theft Auto:  Vice City, though technically not a part of the major series (hence not being a called Grand Theft Auto IV which we now know of as a different game), Grand Theft Auto:  Vice City is probably the best known game in the series and is one of the most ground-breaking games of all-time.

This game is pretty good.  It plays about as well as its PS2 counterparts (lengthy loading times and all).  The story is also about as forgettable as the original Grand Theft Auto:  Vice City.  What makes this game, and other GTA games, fun is the total carnage you can cause, all the time.  Though, I hear that the stories in later games have drastically improved, I haven't played them though.  The trademark of these games is hijacking cars, picking up hookers, beating them up for your money back, and then going on a shooting rampage.  That's what these games are about.

If you want to cause carnage on the go, I would pick this one up.  Otherwise, it's about the same as playing Grand Theft Auto:  Vice City on the PS2.

Images:  http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060729164726/gtawiki/images/3/37/VCS_Boxart.jpg

PSP Reboot #18: Final Fantasy II

Similar to the first Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy II has been redone on several different consoles and is now on the PSP.  The upgrades and extra features on the PSP version are similar to those that were done on the remake of the original.  Bonus dungeons, an updated art design, sharper looking menus, and a breathtaking intro cut scene that translates the old characters into a 3D design.

Also something to note:  I never played Final Fantasy II for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) but on this PSP reboot, I beat the game within 20 hours, making it the shortest Final Fantasy game that I have played (which I've played a lot of them).  So this was a little disappointing.  However, the story is definitely more involved than the first so it's not like it was completely disappointing or anything.  In fact, I still had a lot of fun playing this game.

So, like the first one, if you haven't played this one and you're a hardcore Final Fantasy fan, I suggest you pick it up.  Otherwise, don't bother.

Image:  http://www.yourffs.com/games/ff2/images/boxartpsp.jpg

PSP Reboot #17: Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

Though I was never a huge fan of the Castlevania series, I recognize that it is one of the best of all-time.  However, this PSP reboot isn't very good.  It's actually quite baffling because this is one of the games that you would think would transfer well to the PSP because of the NES's limited controls.  The controls are certainly not an issue in this game.  At least, the number of buttons isn't an issue.  Moving your character is an issue though.

Like the old school Castlevania games, it's a 2D platformer where you move around and whip the shit out of anyone or anything that stands in your way.  It's been awhile since I have played this game but, if I remember correctly, walking is the default movement control (opposed to running).  In order to run, you have to double tap the d-button in the direction you want to go.  This is frustrating because half of the time, you still don't run when you do this.  In fact, why the hell would you ever want to walk in the this game to begin with?

The story is also mundane.  In a world that has vampires, demons, etc. you think that they could get a more interesting story than this.  I was bored out of my mind getting through some of these text bubbles.  This might have been acceptable back in 1989, but not now.

I got stuck on an early boss level and gave up because of the broken movement controls.  I'm not sure if the game got better but I didn't feel like wasting more time to find out.  If I were you, I would stick to the classics on the NES.  No doubt about it.

Image:  http://angryfreak.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/the-dracula-x-chronicles.jpg   

PSP Reboot #16: Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection

So, if you haven't realized by now, Square Enix has a knack for shamelessly bringing back old games on new systems.  In fact, they have just about the whole Final Fantasy Library on Playstation Network for download onto the PSP or PS3.  However, I will NOT be including those in the PSP reboot series because I can just play them on my PS3 where they work much better.  However, it is worth mentioning that the Final Fantasy V download from Playstation Network is fucked up on the PSP.  Sometimes when you try to save your game, the screen fucks up and you can't make heads or tails out of what you're selecting.  All you can do is hope for the best when randomly picking menu items; or memorize what places on the screen you need to be at for each menu.  May I also emphasize that this only happens on the PSP download, NOT the PS3.

Anyways...the one single Final Fantasy game that has been most shamelessly, despicably, and mind-numbingly rehashed is without a doubt Final Fantasy IV.  Originally, the game was released in Japan only for the Super Nintendo (called Super Famicom in Japan).  The game was then re-released in North America as Final Fantasy II because the actual Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III were Japanese releases only.  I can see that they didn't want people getting confused and asking what happened to two and three but now you've created a whole new confusion by having two completely different games titled Final Fantasy II.  Fortunately, everyone now recognizes Final Fantasy IV as Final Fantasy IV internationally and only people who were kids at the time and/or are hard-core Final Fantasy fans even realize this confusion exists.  Good save Square...good save *face palm*.

Beyond the original release, Final Fantasy IV has been re-released on the Super Famicon as an easier version,  the Playstation version which was bundled with a re-release of Chrono Trigger, and the Playstation version which was bundled with a compilation with Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI in Japan.  There was also the re-release for Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Micro, The Nintendo DS, and The Wii (download).

And, last but not least, this brings us to the remake for the PSP Final Fantasy IV:  The Complete Collection.

Phew, finally.  Like the re-release for the first Final Fantasy, the game uses clearer menus, an updated art design, and a breathtaking intro cutscene.  However, this game also includes a sequel to the original titled Final Fantasy IV:  The After Years.  This game has only been previously released  on mobile phones in Japan and then, later, downloadable on the Wii.  I like the addition of The After Years.  The story gets broken up into chapters focusing on specific characters and their ordeals.  I like what they did with the story here and they do it without destroying the legacy of the original.  They also include an interlude between the original and the sequel exclusively on Final Fantasy IV:  The Complete Collection.  It's okay.  To me, it seemed more like a marketing ploy to get people to buy the newest remake of the game.

I haven't played the Nintendo DS version which I hear has 3D graphics throughout the whole game.  So, that one might be good too.  However, if you're interested in Final Fantasy at all, I would recommend playing Final Fantasy IV as it is one of the best.  I would actually get it on the PSP as it has the addition of the sequel and the interlude.  But, knowing Square Enix, they may re-release it again in an even more improved form.  Or it may be worse.  Who knows?

Image:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/FFIV_Complete_Collection.jpg