Tales of Xillia, Tales of Xillia 2

I had never played any of the games from the Tales series before these two which is probably a little surprising considering how many RPGs I've played over the years.  However, just to throw it out there, there are quite a few RPGs other than the Tales series that I still haven't played such as the Elder Scrolls series, Xenogears, World of Warcraft, Runescape, the Dragon Age series; just to name a few.  It's not that I dislike these games.  Hell, how could I dislike something if I haven't played it before?  There are just so many games and such little time to play them, so many games and such little money to buy them with...

So, I finally played a Tales game and what better one to start with than a game that barely got a North American release, Tales of Xillia.

Tales of Xillia

If you're looking to play a new JRPG, Tales of Xillia is a pretty good place to land.  You won't find anything particularly new here but it does a splendid job of filling the action-JRPG market.  If you liked the Star Ocean games, you'll love this game because it's basically Star Ocean but with better combat.  And it's a lot more stable.  And it supports 4 player drop-in/drop-out co-op (offline only).

Drop-in/drop-out co-op is actually a feature I think was an original thought in Star Ocean:  Till the End of Time as, way back when, my friend and I tried for a bit to get it to work only to discover that the only multiplayer aspect of the game was in a specific battle arena mode (which was disappointing to say the least).  Tales of Xillia takes this concept almost exactly the same way the developers of Star Ocean seemed to have planned it only they actually utilized it (which I'm very glad that they did, even if I did have no one to play this game with).

Unlike any of the Star Ocean games, this game runs very smoothly; very rarely slowing down.  This was a frustration that made Star Ocean:  The Last Hope particularly bad as that game would freeze up very frequently.  There were a few times when a lot of animations were going on in a battle and the game would slow down a bit but it wasn't a very big deal.

Tales of Xillia makes the most improvements through its combat.  In Star Ocean:  Till the End of Time, the combat was stiff, at best.  Star Ocean:  The Last Hope improved on it a little bit but there still wasn't that much there to be utilized.  Tales of Xillia takes it up another notch by mastering the basic fighting mechanics that should have been there from the beginning.  With the addition of fluid dodging controls, improved blocking controls, and the utilization of button combinations for attacks, this game feels more like a fighting game than any of the Star Ocean games ever had.  On top of that, the game incorporates a feature called "linking" where you can link up with other party members and fight in tandem with them (more as a team).  You'll find that you will want to do this most of the time because it allows you to fill a meter that will periodically grant you the ability to do a special move called a "linked arte."  Later on in the game, this will also allow you to do what's basically an equivalent of a limit break.  Basically, it seems a bit overly complex but it's a lot simpler than it seems when I try to explain it verbally.

The leveling system works with EXPs (no surprise there).  The skill leveling system works on skill points and a choice system that is very similar to the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X.  It's neither good nor bad, just typical.

The art design is pretty good but animations can be kind of wonky at times, especially when people are talking.  The lip movements just seems so stiff; and even small, light-weight, characters seem like they lumber around.  The English voice acting is atrocious.  It will definitely make hardcore JRPG fans wish for an option to use Japanese voices.  However, poor English voice-acting isn't particularly unusual for a JRPG or anime so I wouldn't get too hung up on it.

The music is pretty good.  To say it's great or fantastic would be a stretch but I would say it's a slightly above average score.

The plot in this game is good as well, but not great.  There are a few good plot twists but you'll have trouble remembering the story a few weeks after completing the game.  The characters are decently developed and unique.  Despite not remembering the plot, you'll probably remember the characters in a positive light as these characters are well-written and truly a joy since the beginning.  Unlike other JRPGs, this game will frequently allow you to view short skits that further develop characters.  This was a feature in the game that I really enjoyed because it allows the player to learn more about the characters without having to wait all the way until the next cut-scene.  It makes level grinding or dungeon exploration a little less tedious than it inherently is.  The game also allows you to select a main character at the beginning of the game (similarly to Star Ocean:  The Second Story) in which the main plot is mostly the same but the story plays out a little differently as it is told from the perspective of the character that you chose as the "main character."

Overall, if you like Star Ocean or generally like JRPGs, you'll love this game.  It does the action-JRPG genre better than Star Ocean does (except for the main plot which is still pretty good).  Also, be careful with this one because it's a bit difficult to put down!

Tales of Xillia 2


This game plays almost exactly the same as the first with a few major changes (but nothing that really makes the game feel different).

Obviously, the game has new story.  The game also has a new main character, Ludger.  The game added a few new locations but it's mostly the same ones from the first game.  This is a bit of a problem since you already explored all of these places in the first game, it gets pretty dry, pretty quick.

All of the main cast of the last game make an appearance and some others also make an appearance.  Actually, it's mostly just the same people from the last game.  The only new character other than Ludger is Elle:  a wandering little girl that happens to run into Ludger at the beginning of the game.  Basically, if you liked the characters from the previous game, you'll like the characters in this game because they are mostly the same.

I really liked how they revamped the side-questing.  First of all, side-questing is much more prominent in this game than the last one and is something that you will basically be required to do from time to time.  Instead of running all over the place looking for people with exclamation points above their head like in the first game, all of the side-quest jobs are on a billboard in every town.  Also, no matter which town you're in, the billboard will have all the jobs posted from every town so you don't have to check the billboard of every town in the world every time you want to do all of the jobs available.  However, side-questing can be a bit tedious as there isn't very much deviation in quest types.  Most of the side-quests either involve slaying a certain number of a certain type of monster or collecting a certain number of items.  There are some other story-type quests which are a little more interesting, but they still boil down to the same goals.  The elite monsters are cool though.  They're basically optional boss fights for large amounts of money and experience.  These are much more interesting than the regular, tedious, side-quests.

The debt-repayment plot device is also a positive, in my opinion.  In most RPGs, to prevent you from getting too far off the plot railroad, they just won't let you travel to certain places for seemingly no reason or for a very poor excuse.  However, at the beginning of the story Ludger ends up in a lot of financial trouble and owes the bank a ton of money.  As a result of this, Ludger is a flight risk and isn't allowed to leave certain areas without the proper authorization.  As you pay off the debt, more areas become available to you as Ludger becomes less of a flight risk.  It's pretty innovative of an idea and I thought it was a good change of pace from the standard JRPG formula.  It also basically requires you to do side-quests at certain points in the game, as well.  So, if you don't like side-quests, well, I guess you'll hate it.

The game also implements decision making into the game.  Unfortunately, it doesn't really add to the game much as stuff will usually end up the same no matter what you choose.  The only time choices matter are a couple of times towards the end of the game.  The other times, the choices really don't do anything.  This is actually a real letdown because the back of the game case really advertises this idea but it really just falls short of what has already been done in other games like Fallout:  New Vegas; where the game's main plot plays out completely different depending on who you decide to ally with, make enemies with, or stay neutral with and when you make these decisions.

"Every choice can change the future," if every choice means about 4% of them.

Also, of the few endings in the game, none of them are really particularly good.  The ending of the first game was pretty good but all of the endings in the second game (even the best ending) don't tie up very many loose ends even for the ending that is supposed to be a 'happily ever after' kind of ending.  A little disappointing but I guess it doesn't really ruin the game either so it's not like it's horrendous.

The most bad-ass improvements to the game lie in the combat.  On top of all of the features from before, Ludger has the special ability to change weapons in the middle of combat.  He can dual-wield swords, dual-wield pistols, or use a giant hammer.  Similarly to elemental magic, you can use different weapons types to exploit different weaknesses of enemies.  It also allows for an even more diverse selection of attacks in-battle.  On top of being able to do linked artes and limit breaks, Ludger also has a separate gauge that periodically fills while battling called the "chronos gauge."  When this gauge fills, Ludger can enter a state where he becomes more powerful.  Later on in the game, Ludger can wait to fill the gauge multiple times in order to make his attacks even more powerful.

Overall, it's mostly better than the already solid first game despite the lack-luster endings.  I don't mean to pick on the endings too much as I've seen worse.  At least the bad endings in this game don't leave you feeling like a failure; well, except for one of them but you really have to be trying to fail to get that ending.  When I played through the game, I didn't even know it was a possible ending.  I found out about it by researching the various endings online.  But yeah, I've played other games where you play through the whole thing to find out at the end that you were fucking up the whole thing without even knowing.  Then you get a shitty ending and that's it.  I hate games that do that!  If you can make it to the end of the game, you should at least get a decent ending.  I'm not saying the best ending.  Just a decent one is all I ask.  For instance, the "bad" ending to Silent Hill may have bad things that happen and isn't very ideal but at least it's interesting plot-wise and somewhat satisfying.

Anyways, if you can't get enough of JRPGs, particularly action-JRPGs, I would recommend both of these games as they're both pretty good.  However, if you are new to the genre, there are better ones out there such as Final Fantasy VII, Chronotrigger, or action-JRPGs like Phantasy Star. or Crisis Core:  Final Fantasy VII.

But the interesting thing about the JRPG genre is that I generally don't hear that much about them so it feels like every new JRPG I pick up is completely foreign since people don't really talk about them much.  So yeah, you can play it safe by playing the well-known Final Fantasies and such but the real fun with JRPGs is discovering the ones you haven't heard of and not knowing what to expect when you start it up.  When I picked up Phantasy Star Portable, I had no clue what I was getting.  When I first picked up Valkyria Chronicles II, it was a great day because I hadn't played a game that was even remotely relatable to that game and I still haven't found one that's similar to that game.  Sure, I've already talked about those games on this site so you probably know about them already but maybe I'll talk about some of the others that I've picked up over the years in the near future.



Tales of Xillia Cover:  http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/aselia/images/e/e5/Cast_of_ToX.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110804233036

Tales of Xillia 2 Cover:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/archive/6/66/20141027100635!Tales_of_Xillia_2.png

Tale of Xillia 2 Back:   http://86bb71d19d3bcb79effc-d9e6924a0395cb1b5b9f03b7640d26eb.r91.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ps3-boxart-tales-of-xillia-2-back-of-case-usa-2014.jpg   

Slight Layout Change

Hey guys,

Just figured I would give a heads up to the slight layout change I made to the blog.

The links to the page categories (Games, Music, Other) have been moved to the top of the page underneath the blog title opposed to being a panel on the side.  I figured it would be more intuitive and obvious this way.

If you think it sucks, leave your opinion in the comments and I might change it back.

See ya later,

Mason

Sigma Nu Presents: Woodstock 2015

Don't Play G Major
with Your Thumb!

I would just like to start by stating that this particular post has been requested by my friend Payton who found that his memory is rather faint of the event.

Down in the depths of Indiana there was a school.  A school where there were students.  A school where the students were overworked.  A school where the overworked students had lost hope and needed days off in order to prevent their suicides.  So instead, they get really drunk and/or high to blow off steam.  This school was only known as Rose-Hulman...

duh duh duh...


Anyways, every year in Terre Haute, Indiana; the Rose-Hulman chapter of Sigma Nu hosts a music festival/party at their fraternity house.  My friend Payton has requested that I write a play-by-play of my experience at the party and what I had thought of the whole ordeal.

I suppose a good way to go about this would be chronologically, so here goes nothing.  Back in 1992.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................And then it was about 8pm on April 18, 2015 that things really started getting interesting.  At this point there really weren't a lot of people there yet.  It was mostly just the frat brothers doing what they do.  However, a band stormed the hole-ridden, makeshift stage wielding two keyboards, an alto saxophone, a trumpet, a bass guitar, and a laptop.  If this band had a name, no one knew of it because even on the show schedule, the band was only listed as "DJ's Band" (and the young man named DJ wasn't even in the band).  They were fine; a pretty mellow R&B group.  It's hard to say that they were fantastic because they didn't play anything particularly tricky.  However, they seemed pretty competent at their instruments so there were no real critiques to be had either.

The next band was a group that was only titled as "House Band," consisting of members from the fraternity.  The band came up and played a mediocre rendition of "Back in Black" I believe that stopped abruptly.  It was at this point that the singer of the band decided that he didn't want to do this anymore and resulted in 18 minutes of the rest of the band just fiddling around on instruments without him with no kind of direction or togetherness, just fiddling.

After that mess was over, DJ's Band came back on again.  Why?  I'm not really sure but I guess the first set was a warm-up or something so they played again, which was fine like the last time.

The following band, Equinox, was a mediocre rock group with plenty of throwback rock tunes to play.  The band was fine, especially for a group that clearly did not rehearse often as the lead singer didn't know the words from memory.   The lead guitarist was pretty talented and the bass and drums were solid.

During this set, Payton had come back from wherever he was and had seemed to be at the step where his drunkenness was clearly evident.  Stumbling onto the scene, he asked my friends if we wanted a drink.  My friends took him up on it.  Then he specifically asked me, "I know you don't drink but, do you want a drink?"  I laughed and looked the other way.  Then he chucked a beer bottle into the tree line behind the house; which narrowly avoided bashing any skulls in.

Other than Payton's shenanigans, it's also pretty important to mention at this point that there were a large number of people present at the party now.  On the inside of the house, there was a DJ playing EDM and house music and, from this point on, the dance floor was completely packed.  I was truly impressed with the turnout and at how well the hosts had thrown a good party.  Not only was the dance floor packed, there were a good number of people outside too.  This was especially true at a pair of beer pong tables between the dance floor and the stage the bands were playing on.

Payton had really hyped up the next band and they certainly didn't disappoint.  Tenstrip had really come ready to kickass.  Mixing elements of metal and grunge, the band just came on angry and irritated which I, personally, had found to be quite a fantastic blend of emotions.  This band didn't joke around either.  The two guitarists had half stacks and the bass player had a full cabinet.  Surely, quite a bit of money went into their rig.  The band also had CDs and cup holder things that they were selling at a merch table, pretty legit.  They had the sound and stage tenacity to back it up too.  If they were in the Chicagoland area, they would definitely be one of the best metal bands in the area.

It's at this point, Payton had really become the life of the party.  He decided to go up to me, tell me that I had to kick ass when my band played and that he would be really disappointed if I didn't.  Then he ran over and tried starting a mosh pit.  Unfortunately, he decided to try and start it with the largest of his frat bros which only resulted in him ricocheting off like a pinball every time he hit as he continued to try and get the big guy to move even an inch.  After some moshing with other guys, there was a guy wearing a robe that came from what was seemingly nowhere.  He got pushed and freaked out because he was worried for the safety of the two live rats inside his robe.

Well then...

Payton had proceeded to grab a bottle of whiskey and offer it to Tenstrip while they were playing.  The bass player took a swig, announced that it was good whiskey, and gave it back to Payton who proceeded to start chugging.  After half a dozen good chugs, he moshed some more and then randomly went to this cute girl and started talking to her.  This only lasted for about a minute but she was clearly responding to what he had to say.  I couldn't tell for sure since I was at quite a distance away but after the minute was up, it appeared that despite the first impression appearing to go well with the girl, he had decided that he was more interested in moshing so he abruptly turned his back on her and started pushing people again; leaving her covering her mouth and giggling.

At some point during this, Payton had bit his lip or something and started bleeding profusely.  When asked if he was okay, he responded with the classic "FUCK YOU!" that so clearly shows the appreciation for the concern.  The big guy that he was trying to mosh with earlier tried to direct Payton back inside.  Being uncooperative, the big guy slung Payton over his shoulder like a bag of sand and walked away with him, never to be seen again...

Tenstrip continued to play and ended about a half hour after their set time, which I didn't mind because they were pretty awesome.  It was the next band that I remember the most details about on the account that I was playing in the band.  The Deathstrokes took the stage about forty-five minutes after their scheduled set time.  We kicked off the show with our rendition of MCR's "Look Alive Sunshine/Na Na Na" combo which got a guy in the audience to convince us to play another MCR song "Our Lady of Sorrows" which the fast attack and dark sound of definitely caught the attention of members from Tenstrip.  We then played one of our originals "Higher Education," that got a pretty strong reaction from Tenstrip.  This was so much so that the lead singer from Tenstrip gave us free CDs and one of those bottle holder things I was talking about earlier.  It was a pretty cool feeling to get such overwhelmingly positive feedback from a band that was significantly older and more experienced than us.

The set went on relatively normally in the middle with us gaining moderate attention like the other bands had throughout the night.  However, what was pretty annoying was that DJ kept asking us how many songs we had left or if we were finishing soon.  I honestly wish he would have just waited for us to finish.  We were supposed to be the last band of the night anyways...right?

Things started to get pretty great though when we got about two-thirds of the way through and started a cover of Green Day's "Longview."  More people from other areas of the party were starting to gather around the stage and sing back lyrics at us.  It was also during this song that I noticed that there was a girl taking pictures.  Not just one, two, or three, actually I don't know how many she took.  She was at the base of the stage with her camera just pointed up at me for a good couple of minutes.  I would have sworn she was taking a video but it was definitely pictures because the flash would periodically go off throughout the duration.  After she finished she smiled and gave me a thumbs up and I gave a thumbs up back.

DJ came up and asked again how many songs we had left.  Grr, go away!

There was also a significant reaction to the next song; a cover of Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta."  However, in honor of the occasion, we followed it up with a cover of blink-182's "The Party Song" a song that no one seemed to really recognize except for a guy in a tank top playing beer pong side stage who would consistently throw his arms up in the air while singing all of the lyrics back to us.  Seriously, he knew like every single one.  I was pretty impressed.

The biggest crowd reaction of the night was the next song which was blink-182's "All the Small Things."  I knew going in that people were going to like hearing this song but it was a bit overwhelming how many people became immediately interested.  What was most impressive about it was that there were a crowd of girls flooding in from the EDM saturated dance floor inside to listen to us play.  How they heard us playing the song over the music inside?  I'm not sure.  But yeah, that was pretty cool.  Everyone's drunk asses were dancing to that one.

We then got to our closer for the night which was blink-182's "Dammit."  The momentum from the previous song carried over as people got just about as excited for this one as they had for "All The Small Things."  It's actually during this song that something kind of strange happened.  Those of you who have seen The Deathstrokes before might know that during the chorus of "Dammit," I will do a particular dance move which is a kind of variant of The Pogo.  Instead of jumping straight up and down though, I kick my heels to the left, then to the right, alternating with every jump.  After the first couple of lines of the chorus, I noticed about four or five girls throughout the audience mimicking my move which carried over to the second chorus as well.  Never in a million years would I have thought that someone would actually want to mimic my dancing.  Even though they were probably drunk as fuck, I think it still counts.

When we finished playing, the whole crowd was chanting for an encore.  This is pretty crazy considering that even Tenstrip did not get a call for an encore.  So we decided to go out with MCR's "Vampire Money."  They seemed to enjoy that one too because they were calling for another encore.  However, we left it at that, especially since DJ seemed particularly eager to get us off the stage.

After we got our stuff off, not surprisingly, DJ's Band came back on again!  Why would you want to play so many times in one night I don't know but I guess the first couple of times were rehearsals.  During DJ's Band's third performance, we got some positive verbal feedback from people at the party.  Most hilariously, there was this drunk girl that came up and fist-bumped our guitarist and said, "I liked that one blink song you did," and walked away.

Overall, the party was pretty good.  The bands were mostly lackluster except for Tenstrip and, based on crowd reaction, us.  The show management was awful on the account that it was basically non-existent.  This was especially so when Payton was too drunk to do the little managing he was doing in the first place.  What I think is hilarious is that Payton had been talking about for months that he would make sure not to get blackout drunk if we ever played at this annual festival.  However, he did anyways.

And it was hilarious.

He woke up two or three hours after we played.  He was still drunk as hell and he was incredibly upset about how he missed it.  Apparently he doesn't remember a single moment being outside despite being the most outrageous person on the lawn.  Not only that, but he didn't believe us and kept telling us to play our set.  When we would tell him that we already did, he would just ask us to play it again or continually ask us how it went since he couldn't remember the answer to his question one minute later.

Oh Payton, oh Payton.  
















Event Flyer:  https://www.facebook.com/SigmaNuBetaUpsilon

Being the Shy Guy at the Party

I think it's about that time to take a sharp left-hand turn away from music and video games for a day.  I've done this a few times in the past but now I aim to do this a little more frequently...but just a little more.

For those that know me, I'm a pretty shy person most of the time.  In the past couple of years, I've started to come around a bit and speaking a little more but my shy personality is pretty hard-wired and I don't really see it going away anytime soon.  

Every now and then, being a college student, I find myself at a party of sorts because I do enjoy trying new things, even if the projected outcome is utter failure.  Trying to party is definitely one of those instances.

I think it really comes down to what partying has to offer.  Most parties have free beer which doesn't appeal to me on the account that I don't drink.  Most parties have dancing of some sort which usually doesn't appeal to me because I'm a terrible dancer.  In order to have dancing, most parties have music which I usually find as only a mere annoyance.  A good party will have a lot of new people to meet which doesn't really appeal to me because, well, I'm shy.

So what do I do the whole time?  Well, I usually end up being a people watcher.  One of the perks of being a people watcher is that I have spent years and years of learning about human reactions and cultural norms from a secondary perspective.  There's quite a lot that you don't realize when you're being a social being first-hand.

Being the people watcher at the party really just leads me to one conclusion:  people just kind of stand around.  The majority of people that are "partying" are just standing around with a drink in their hand and watching other people play beer pong, dance, or make complete fools of themselves.  It leads me to believe that a lot of people like to party not necessarily because they actually like the activities that you would find at a typical party; they like to party because they enjoy the atmosphere.  Some people standing around do primarily converse but I think those people are already familiar with one another so, if they wanted, they could just converse outside of the party instead at an apartment or something.

People enjoy parties because of the atmosphere...well at least that's my speculation anyways.  I only have observations; it's not like I made a survey or something.

With that tangent aside, being the shy guy at the party can be overwhelming at times as well.  In most circumstances, people will generally leave you alone.  However, at a social event like a party, that's when people come up to you and want to start a conversation.  As the shy person, I'll usually be caught off-guard and find myself fumbling around for the right words to use.  Then the person becomes uninterested and they go away as fast as they came.  Although from the outside it appears that everything reverted back to the original state of affairs, the truth is that now as the shy guy at the party I feel more awkward than ever with considerably less confidence and self-esteem than pre-encounter times.  Being a shy guy at the party is truly a downward spiral.

It seems that only when the circumstances are right do I feel like I fit in at a party.  Basically, any party with live bands will settle me.  Parties that have at least one person that I know certainly helps too.  If I find myself alone at a party, the good times will certainly end right then and there.  So, particularly speaking, I tend to avoid parties except for ones that meet very specific conditions.  I'm not a hater, it's just that the whole partying concept doesn't really work for me.  I definitely wouldn't say that I get anxious at parties but they really don't do anything for me either.  It's almost like I felt like I just wasted time, like there was something much more fulfilling I could have done instead.  

As the shy guy at the party, these are my notes on what I had experienced at the party:  and you won't find me there very often.

This Year's Album Releases

Here's a little list I've been compiling about all the albums I'm at least somewhat interested in that are coming out or have come out this year.  It should be a pretty good year for albums unlike last year's lackluster releases.  I'll probably be reviewing some of these at some point.

The ones I'm probably most hopeful about are the hypothetical Pierce the Veil album and the hypothetical Sum 41 album.  Although Sum 41 has changed their style quite a bit, you can definitely make an argument that the quality of the song writing is at least on par with earlier albums.  Also, I would definitely make the argument that Sum 41's lyrical content is much deeper post-2002.

Pierce the Veil is definitely a band that has gotten better with every release.  Are they at their peak?  We will find out soon enough.
  1. Anti-Flag - American Spring May
  2. Pierce the Veil - TBA
  3. Sum 41 - TBA
  4. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly Already Released
  5. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet, and Utter Distress Already Released
  6. Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves Already Released
  7. Tool - TBA (pretty doubtful in my opinion)
  8. Muse - Drones  June 9?
  9. Florence and the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful June 1st
  10. The Smashing Pumpkins - (Formerly Day For Night) TBA
  11. Marilyn Manson - The Pale Emperor Already Released
  12. Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface May 19
  13. Blur - The Magic Whip April 27


Riot Fest 2015 Predictions

Despite it being mid-April, the Riot Fest lineup still hasn't been announced.  I did a little searching online for some rumors or predictions but the lists that I found seem pretty unlikely or unreasonable.



Prediction 1:  http://www.timeout.com/chicago/blog/riot-fest-2015-headliner-and-lineup-predictions

This blog post above takes some guesses as to what the Riot Fest headliners might look like this year.  I think that almost all of them are incredibly unlikely despite what the writer says the probabilities are.  Though, I think that Faith No More and System of a Down are decent guesses and would be embraced by the recent incorporation of big name metal and metal-influenced bands to the festival.  As far as Modest Mouse goes, I think that 90% is a pretty big stretch

In fact, it seems to me that Lollapalooza really missed an opportunity to improve their lineup this year.  Other than Paul McCartney and Metallica, the lineup is rather ordinary.



Prediction 2:  http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/riot-fest-bike-cops-roach-beach-ganser-luggage/Content?oid=17242885

This next prediction seems a little more reasonable with its guesses.  I could definitely see Blur playing at Riot Fest following their upcoming album release at the end of the month.  However, I kind of doubt that Kendrick Lamar would play Riot Fest due to his popularity.  However, somewhat big name hip hop groups have made appearances in the past like Public Enemy and Wu-Tang Clan, so I wouldn't rule him out.  This writer also predicts a Modest Mouse appearance at the festival which I don't see very likely as there aren't very many bands that fall into the general alternative category that end up on the bill.



My Predictions:

I don't claim to be a know-all fortune teller or even an expert on current music culture or gossip.  But, from what I know, here's some predictions I'm going to try and make about the lineup.


Alkaline Trio

I actually think it's incredibly likely that Alkaline Trio will play Riot Fest this year.  Not only have the Chicagoland area natives not played the fest since 2012, they have no Chicago dates announced yet this year.  An Alkaline Trio appearance at Riot Fest would be a great way to secure more ticket sales as well.


Bad Brains

There's no tour announced but Bad Brains is just about the only well-known 80s hardcore band to not make an appearance at Riot Fest since it moved to Humboldt park.  Bad Brains were originally on the bill in 2013 but there was a last minute change, too bad.  I wouldn't say that Bad Brains are an incredibly likely appearance but they wouldn't be surprising either.


Green Day

Punk revival is well represented at Riot Fest from year-to-year with The Offspring, NOFX, Rancid, and Pennywise all making at least one appearance.  It's about time that Green Day did too.


Sum 41

Sum 41 is a bit of a long shot but if they do go on tour this year, I wouldn't rule them out as a Riot Fest candidate, especially considering they haven't played the fest before.  They used to play the Q101 Jamboree so, why not Riot Fest?


David Bowie

Another long shot but it wouldn't be surprising seeing David Bowie at Riot Fest since we've also gotten acts like The Cure and Elvis Costello at the fest.  Bowie is currently on a European tour, no US dates yet.


Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse's current tour schedule ends July 26th without a Chicago date.  Obviously, another announcement should be made soon with more tour dates.  If they make the bill at Riot Fest, they will be the token indie/alternative band like Tegan and Sara, Metric, and The National had been in the past (though 2012 had quite a few of these acts like Minus the Bear, Imagine Dragons, Awolnation, The Gaslight Anthem, and Neon Trees).


Blur

Whenever Blur decides to come to NA after finishing their current European tour, I could see them fitting right in at Riot Fest despite not being a punk band.


System of a Down

With an unscheduled block between June 20th and September 24th and very few US tour dates, there's a lot of opportunity for System of a Down to make an appearance at Riot Fest.  Considering that Riot Fest has gotten some big name metal bands in recent memory such as Slayer, Danzig, and Mastodon, I would actually be a little surprised not to see System of a Down announced this year.



There's also some Riot Fest regulars that wouldn't be surprising at all to see on the lineup such as Bad Religion, The Lawrence Arms, Andrew W.K., GWAR, or Flatfoot 56 but really, I guess we'll see.



Rumor that lacks credibility:  http://jamesunitedsports.com/2015/02/02/leaked-riot-fest-2015-lineup/

Considering that this is all the way back from the beginning of February, there's no source, and the guy writing it has no inherent credibility, I wouldn't put much faith in this rumor.  However, if this lineup ends up being true, well...not bad.

Life is Strange

Oh no, don't stare into the camera dear.
One of the things that's really great about modern gaming in particular is the incorporation of internet-based features.  Now, from my eyes, this is a bit of a double-edged sword.  Although this allows for MMOs to be possible and allows for easy accessibility to large scale FPS matches, I think in a way this ruins particular games.  The Mario spin-offs are a good example.  Playing Mario Party, Mario Cart, or Super Smash Bros online with complete strangers has never made much sense to me because most of the fun to be had in those games is being in the same room with friends and trash talking them or watching them react to what's happening on the screen.

Though, one of the things that I think the internet has completely changed for the better concerning gaming is making playable demos more readily available to gamers.  Before common incorporation of the internet with console gaming there just really weren't that many playable demos floating around.  Sometimes a playable demo would come packaged with another game and some people had subscriptions to services like Playstation Underground, but really, not very many people had access to playable demos.

Now that gamers can basically download demos to their consoles whenever they want through Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo, it's a win-win because developers can get their games out there to players and reel in new potential customers while gamers can try games that they may otherwise not want to take a chance on at full price.

This is how I came across the game Life is Strange:  a five-part episodic game centered around decision making and navigating social situations.  Here's the kicker though:  you can rewind time.  This makes the game incredibly interesting because situations that you would have no choice but to mess up can be surpassed by rewinding time and using information discovered in the future to affect the past.  For instance, at the beginning of the game, you see someone get shot but you can go back into the past and use the knowledge of the future to prevent the shooting from happening by hitting the nearby fire alarm.

This game currently has a 97% user recommendation rating on Steam and for good reason.  This game does just about everything right.  The story is very well-written; the characters are thoughtfully written and developed with even high school stereotypes breaking their molds.  The voice acting is superb all-round; not even in one character is there a weakness to be found.  The mood of the game is unique in that it mixes very somber moods with the tranquility of autumn.  A lot of this has to do with the colorful art style, hand-drawn menus, and simple acoustic guitar soundtrack.  Also, the ability to interact with many, many objects in the world makes you feel more immersed.  Even the most mundane interactions like sitting against a tree feel majestic.

Oh Square Enix, that's shameless...
haha, they're self-aware how shitty that movie is.  lol alright, good play.
What I particularly like about this game is that in a medium that often involves mindless violence and bloodshed, this game brings it more down to earth where every action is planned out, has apparent importance, and involves an incredible seriousness to life and death.  This game will literally make you feel terrible for causing someone or letting someone die which is very rare to see in a video game from any era.

Even at the beginning of the game, you can see how your choices are affecting the storyline.  Unlike most games of this genre, instead of different decisions in the story feeling like they're branching out into different paths, it feels more like every decision is affecting a web of interactions.  Basically, every decision you make affects more than just one aspect of the plot.  You end up affecting aspects of the plot that you hadn't even considered, and that's pretty cool.

If you want something to compare this game to, think of the game Beyond Two Souls but taken up two levels.  The successful innovation of this game is truly something to praise and allows it to far surpass any similar games before it, such as Beyond Two Souls.

The game isn't completely flawless though.  It seems that the developers haven't even tried to match the lip flaps to the dialogue which is kind of annoying and very noticeable.  Also, some of the blocking isn't perfect as I witnessed a squirrel run through and get stuck in a ledge on the main campus of the school.  Then again, maybe these problems aren't so bad in the current gen versions as I'm playing the Playstation 3 version...

Regardless, you won't play this game for technical prowess.  Even though only 2 out of the 5 episodes have been released so far, I can say fairly certainly that the developers would have to mess up a lot in the next three episodes to make me hate it.  This game just gets everything right while adding in innovation to make it stand on its own.  This game has so much to offer as well since after the first play-through you will want to at least play it through one more time (probably two or three more times) and try different decisions to see the outcome differ.  If you like point and click adventure games or mystery games, you need to try the demo for this game immediately.  If you only like twitch shooters that involve no plot or decision making, you might not like this game, but I suggest you try something new anyways.

After playing the demo for this game, I knew I was playing a special game and didn't hesitate to pay $20 for a season pass.  And yeah it's only twenty bucks!  For a game this good, that's a bargain.  You can pay $4.99 for each episode individually if you're skeptical, but I have a gut-feeling that my twenty dollars were put in the right place.

When the last three episodes come out, I'll probably write about them.  Until then, take it easy.




Life is Strange cover:  http://www.enixorigin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1422283032-8984-card.jpg

Life is Strange Image:  http://www.hardcoregamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Life-Is-Strange™_20150128172417.jpg

Life is Strange Image 2:  http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OnIODgqUHxw/maxresdefault.jpg 

My Music Collection

Unlike most in this day and age, I value physically owning my music (opposed to digitally purchasing or straight-up stealing).  For those of you that would be interested, here is a list of every album that I own.  I certainly don't claim to own the largest collection or anything but in an age when people don't physically own music anymore, I suppose my collection is significant.  Almost all of these are CDs but I do own one vinyl record, Godspeed You! Black Emperor's F♯ A♯ ∞.  This actually has a lot to do with the name of the album.  The first note is F-Sharp, the last note is A-Sharp, and the infinity indicates that the album supposedly loops forever.  Not only was this true (the needle gets stuck in the last groove of the record looping the last note forever), but the album also came with a penny flattened by a train and an envelope with some odd pictures and notes.  Pretty interesting.

Anyways, as of March 22nd, 2015. here is my CD collection.  Some other commentary is at the bottom of the list regarding special editions and stuff if you are interested.

The All-American Rejects - The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects - Move Along
The All-American Rejects - When The World Comes Down
American Idiot:  The Original Broadcast Recording
Anti-Flag - For Blood and Empire
Anti-Flag - The Terror State
Bad Religion - How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
Bad Religion - Recipe For Hate
Jeff Beck - Emotion and Commotion
Chuck Berry - The Best of Chuck Berry The Millennium Collection
blink-182 - Greatest Hits
blink-182 - Enema of the State
blink-182 - Neighborhoods
Boston - Greatest Hits
Bowling For Soup - Drunk Enough to Dance
Bowling For Soup - A Hangover You Don't Deserve
Bowling For Soup - Sorry For Partyin'
The Box Tops - The Best of The Box Tops
The Bravery - The Bravery
Bring Me the Horizon - Sempiternal
Bring Me the Horizon - Suicide Season
Capital Cities - In a Tidal Wave of Mystery
Catherine Sound Disc and Artbook
Various Artists - Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown!
Cheap Trick - The Greatest Hits
Chicago - Chicago VI
Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Beethoven Symphony No. 5 and Schubert Symphony No. 8
The Clash - The Clash
The Clash - Black Market Clash
The Clash - Combat Rock
The Clash - From Here to Eternity
The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope
The Clash - Live at Shea Stadium
The Clash - London Calling
The Clash - Sandinista!
Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
Coldplay - Parachutes
Coldplay - Prospekt's March
Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Coldplay - X&Y
Collective Soul - Collective Soul
Collective Soul - Dosage
Collective Soul - Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid
J. Bradley Collier - J. Bradley Collier
Vladimir Ashkenazy Concertgebouw Orchestra - Rachmaninov Symphony No. 1
The Cranberries - Everybody Else is Doing it, So Why Can't We?
Creedance Clearwater Revival - The Greatest Hits
Dashboard Confessional - A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar
Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most
Dead Kennedys - Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death
Deep Purple - Deep Purple
Deep Purple - Abandon
Deep Purple - The Best of Deep Purple *pre 1969-ish
Deep Purple - The Best of Deep Purple Live in Europe
Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack
The Distillers - The Distillers
The Distillers - Coral Fang
The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House
The Doobie Brothers - Toulouse Street
The Doors - The Doors
The Dread Crew of Oddwood - Heavy Mahogany
Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3
The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits
The Explosion - Black Tape
Filter - Short Bus
Flashpot Theater - Think of the Possibilities
Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Foster the People - Torches
Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!!
Peter Frampton - Frampton
frnkiero andthe cellebration - Stomachaches
Fun. - Some Nights
Godspeed You! Black Emporer - F♯ A♯ ∞ (vinyl)
Goldfinger - The Best of
Good Charlotte - Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte - The Chronicles of Life and Death
Good Charlotte - The Young and the Hopeless
Grateful Dead - Skeletons From the Closet 
Green Day - Uno!
Green Day - Dos!
Green Day - Tre!
Green Day - 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Green Day - American Idiot
Green Day - Awesome as F**k
Green Day - Dookie
Green Day - Insomniac
Green Day - International Superhits
Green Day - Kerplunk
Green Day - Nimrod
Green Day - Shenanigans
Green Day - Warning
Guns and Roses - Greatest Hits
Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely
Hey Monday - Hold On Tight
Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra - Mozart:  Sinfonia Concertante, Concertone
Jesus Christ Superstar (written and produced by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber)
Jet - Get Born
Jethro Tull - Stand Up
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
Jimmy Eat World - Damage
Jimmy Eat World - Futures
Jimmy Eat World - Futures (2 disc version)
Jimmy Eat World - Invented
Jimmy Eat World - Static Prevails
Journey - Greatest Hits
Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their Heads
Kansas - Leftoverture
The Killers - Battle Born
The Killers - Day and Age
The Killers - Hot Fuss
The Killers - Live From Royal Albert Hall
The Killers - Sam's Town
The Killers - Sawdust
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
Less Than Jake - Anthem
Less Than Jake - Borders and Boundaries
Less Than Jake - Hello Rockview
Less Than Jake - Losing Streak
John Mayer - Heavier Things
Metallica - Metallica (you probably know it as "The Black Album")
Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf - Muddy and The Wolf
Muse - The 2nd Law
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Muse - HAARP
Muse - Live at Rome Olympic Stadium
Muse - The Resistance
String Tribute Players - String Tribute to Muse
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade is Dead!
My Chemical Romance - Danger Days:  The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
My Chemical Romance - Life on the Murder Scene
My Chemical Romance - May Death Never Stop You:  Greatest Hits 2001-2013
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge
The New Minstrel Revue - Big Blue Sea
The New Minstrel Revue - Far and Away
New Politics - A Bad Girl in Harlem
Nirvana - Nirvana (a greatest hits album)
Nirvana - In Utero
Nirvana - Nevermind
North Mississippi Allstars - Shake Hands with Shorty
Operation Ivy - Energy (reissue version with 2 other EPs tacked on the end)
Operation Ivy - Seedy
Paramore - Paramore
Paramore - All We Know is Falling
Paramore - Brand New Eyes
Paramore - The Final Riot!
Paramore - Riot!
Pencey Prep - Heartbreak in Stereo
The Presidents of the United States of America - The Presidents of the United States of America
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
Pink Floyd - Dark side of the Moon
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Radiohead - The Best Of
Ramones - Greatest Hits
Ramones - Rocket to Russia
Rancid - Rancid (1993)
Rancid - Rancid (2005)
Rancid - ...And Out Come the Wolves
Rancid - ...Honor is All We Know
Rancid - Indestructible
Rancid - Let the Dominoes Fall
Rancid - Let's Go
Rancid - Life Won't Wait
NOFX/Rancid - BYO Split Series/Vol. 3
Robert Randolph and the Family Band - Colorblind
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
R.E.M. - Document
Rise Against - Appeal to Reason
Rise Against - The Black Market
Rise Against - Revolutions Per Minute
Rise Against - The Sufferer and the Witness
The Rolling Stones - Flowers
Carlos Santana - Santana's Greatest Hits
Carlos Santana - Seriously Santana
Joe Satriani - The Electric Joe Satriani:  An Anthology
The Sex Pistols - The Sex Pistols (live CD)
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bullocks Here's The Sex Pistols
She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge
She Wants Revenge - This is Forever
Skee Lo - I Wish
The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Bruce Springsteen - 18 Tracks
Star Ocean Till the End of Time Director's Cut Original Soundtrack
Steppenwolf - The Best of Steppenwolf:  The Millenium Collection
Styx - Gold (2 disc greatest hits)
Sum 41 - All Killer No Filler
George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Live In '99
K.T. Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope
U2 - U218 Singles
The Used - In Love and Death
Van Halen - Best of Volume I
VaNa MaZi - Flux
VaNa MaZi - Nostro Tokoro
Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way
Warped Tour 2010 Compilation
Weezer - Weezer (blue)
Weezer - Weezer (green)
Weezer - Weezer (red)
Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End
Weezer - Hurley
Weezer - Pinkerton
Weezer - Raditude
Barry White - The Best of Barry White:  The Millenium Collection
The Who - Live at Leeds
The Who - The Ultimate Collection
Yellowcard - Lights and Sounds
Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
Frank Zappa - Freak Out!


I think what is most indicative of my music collection is the era that I grew up in.  The fact that I own CDs at all is an indication that I'm old enough to where streaming music over the internet wasn't a very viable option at the time due to dial-up internet being too slow and occupying the phone line.  So, it may seem like I own a lot of greatest hits albums and that is probably because I do.  In present times, if I want to check out a band I hadn't listened to before, I just do a YouTube search and find all kinds of full-length albums.  But back then, buying greatest hits albums was the best way to determine whether you wanted to listen to a band's more obscure stuff or not.

There are some interesting entries on the list so I'll talk about those a bit.

The Catherine soundtrack I didn't even intend to buy but came with my used copy of the game Catherine (which is a pretty awesome puzzle game by the way).  I'm glad that I had obtained it though because it's a pretty good soundtrack containing entries from Beethoven, Bach, Dvorak, Chopin, and others.

My copy of Dashboard Confessional's A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar is some kind of special edition that came with a making of DVD documentary and a couple of live performances.

The cover for The Best of Deep Purple Live in Europe has clearly been flipped since it shows a left-handed guitarist.  Neither Ritchie Blackmore, Tommy Bolin, Joe Satriani, or Steve Morse were left-handed.

Just...why?
The Best of Goldfinger CD also came with a DVD with all of the music videos and a few live performance tracks.

Jimmy Eat World's Futures album was one of the first albums I ever purchased, which I had bought the year it came out in 2004.  However, years later, I came across a 2 disc version of the album where the second disc contained all of the demo versions of the songs on the album.  It's a pretty interesting listen especially if you are a fan of the studio recordings.

My copy of Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American is an original pressing that did not contain the name of the album on the cover due to sensitivity centered around the events of 9/11.  Reissued versions of the album contain the words "Bleed American" on the cover.

The version of Less Than Jake's Borders and Boundaries album also came with a live DVD of the band playing the album in its entirety.

The Nirvana greatest hits album also contains a song called "You Know You're Right" which the band had recorded only a couple of months before Kurt Cobain passed on.  It's a really good listen.  Click here.

Operation Ivy's Seedy is a compilation of random cassette tapes and live performances.  Interesting listen.

My copy of Rancid's Let the Dominoes Fall came with a second CD with acoustic versions of the songs, a DVD with a making of documentary, 4 guitar picks each featuring a different band member, and two posters (4 if you include the images on the flip side of each poster)

Skee Lo's I Wish I got for free.  A local used music and game store had trouble giving the thing away.  Needless to say, not the best hip hop album.  The song "I Wish" though has a cute charm to it.

The copy of The Smashing Pumpkin's Siamese Dream I have is a special remastered version that also came with a B-sides disc and a live DVD of the album release show at The Metro in Chicago in 1993.

The copy of Weezer's Pinkerton also contains a second disc with B-sides and demos.

The Yellowcard Lights and Sounds album also came with a making of DVD and live performances.

I think it's also interesting to note that every Collective Soul album I have I got for a dollar or less.  They're not great albums but for a dollar it's a decent deal.



Some of the other albums I have also are special editions but I figured they weren't mentioning here.  I definitely don't claim to have the most expansive or rare collection, but I listen to what I like.  A lot of albums I really like I don't own either on the account that my old man owns them on vinyl so, growing up, I could listen to them whenever I wanted.  For instance, my father owns most of Led Zeppelin's releases, all of Deep Purple's (pre-1990), Black Sabbath, The Eagles, Styx, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Costello, the list goes on.  So, a lot of the older hard rock and metal music I own supplements what he already owned.

I recognize that vinyl records are still the highest quality of audio recording, due to the analog nature of recording opposed to digital.  However, I don't buy vinyl records for two main reasons; the first being that they are much more expensive and the second being that CDs are more convenient.  What I mean by this is that ripping a CD is much faster and requires less setup/mixing than recording a record.  Also, you can listen to CDs in the car.

CDs also degrade much slower since playback of a vinyl record significantly damages it.  My old man has listened to Alice Cooper's School's Out so much that now the record is virtually unlistenable.

Well, that about sums up my music collection.  I think I'm pretty far from being the stereotypical hipster but I do have some obscure entries in my collection.  If you would like to hear more about those, leave a comment requesting a review for a particular artist/album and I will probably do it.  Until then, keep kickin'.



Deep Purple cover image:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/The_Best_of_Deep_Purple_Live_in_Europe.jpg/220px-The_Best_of_Deep_Purple_Live_in_Europe.jpg