Samurai Empire Review

I never liked games like Travian where you build bases, attack other players and got owned by players who already played for a few years before you and can't do anything else when other players around your kingdom starts attacking you constantly but I always like games with collection and RPG elements. Samurai Empires fits this quite perfectly.

Run Android apps on your PC

I have an old android phone, an LG-P350 and since I'm not really into mobile devices I don't really have a plan to buy a new phone. I AM however interested in playing some of the games that are available only on mobile devices. So I searched for a way and found out about Bluestacks.

I've only used this to play some games like Samurai Empire but it works fine so far. I really recommend this program for those of you who for whatever reason wants to run mobile apps on your PC.

The beta version for Bluestacks was released on march 2012 and this thing is pretty nifty . Check it out here: http://bluestacks.com/

Note: And with this, now I can start reviewing interesting mobile games here on the blog :)

Torchlight II Late Review(contains a bit of Diablo III review)

I know, I know that Torchlight 2 have been out for quite some time but I was still playing Diablo 3 when it first comes out. Now that I've gotten sick and tired of Diablo 3 and have at last noticed its many flaws I started playing Torchlight 2.

Wizardry Online Beta Impressions

It is no secret that I prefer western MMOs compared to eastern ones. I've had my share of Ragnarok Online, Risk Your Life, Perfect World and all of those grindy asian MMOs but when Wizardry Online was announced I felt a bit intrigued by it. The reason I'm interested in it is because of the game's focus on giving a more challenging dungeon crawling experience.

GW2 Lost Shores Event Review

It's not a secret that I love GW2 very much even when most of my friends left the game I still play it every day and are very excited with the events that ArenaNet plans for the game. I love the Halloween event and felt that it is a very good event which is executed nicely. Sadly the same can't be said for the Lost Shores Event.

SW:TOR F2P Restrictions and GW2 Lost Shores Event

SW:TOR went F2P a few days ago and what I've seen is that Bioware just went overboard on the F2P player's restrictions. Yes, other games with freemium models also have a lot of restrictions but this list of restriction and drawbacks for F2P players is a bit too much. 25% increase on prices? really? Limited quickslots for F2P players? wow. It seems that I won't be coming back to SW:TOR any time soon to play my lvl 50 Bounty Hunter since with these restrictions, coming back to play a max lvl character just seems dumb because there is nothing to do that'll be rewarding for me.
http://www.swtor.com/free/features

On another note, GW2's Lost Shore event started yesterday and I have mixed feelings about it. The idea is okay I guess, with Lion's Arch being attacked by the karka which starts a Dynamic Event in the city for players to participate in. The problem would be that ArenaNet isn't really ready for this event. The server lagged so hard and people are mostly confused on what to do. The event is quite interesting for me but it seems to be just a waste of time and money, considering people usually just die because of the lag and repair costs are higher than the event reward.

The Scavenger hunt this time around is also a bit dissapointing. On the Halloween event, they offer new back pieces which is unique to the event and people love it. But now they only give jugs of liquid karma and some tokens for Lionguard equipments which you can already get(except for the rune/sigil).

Overall, the Lost Shore is interesting in theory but sadly lacking in practice. It is fun to see Lion's Arch being attacked by monsters but fighting them while lagging, with no unique reward? I should've just stayed in bed(the event is on 3:00 A.M on my country).

Sorry A-Net, better luck on your next event on December. I'll be looking forward to a hopefully better event.

MechWarrior Online Newbie Tips

MWO is a fun game, whatever the hater said about pay to win or whatever what is important for me is how the game feels. I like the simulation style and that it enforces tactical thinking and teamwork. Although of course PUGs aren't always good for this kind of playstyle but it is still fun nonetheless. Heck I think even losing is still fun in this game. I'm still a giant noob at this game and in most games I usually got blown up because I'm in the wrong place or just because I can't circle strafe to save my life :P

But hey, I believe that new players would need all the tips they could get and these tips I give, although as far as credibility goes is pretty sketchy(well, I'm still using Trial mechs) are still tips that could be pretty useful.

Guild Wars 2 Halloween Event Guide, Part 3

Well, Dulfy.net made another guide, and this time it's for the Phase 2 of the Halloween event. Very useful stuff :)

Here's the link:
http://dulfy.net/2012/10/26/gw2-shadow-of-the-mad-king-mad-memories-act-2-guide/

And here's a video on the Mad King's Clock Tower Jumping Puzzle. Study the jumps here so that you don't fail on the real thing because it's so friggin hard.

Guild Wars 2 Halloween Event Guide, Part 2

Here's more stuff:

1. Haunted Door farming guide:
Go to Gendarran Fields, Brigantine Waypoint. From there, go north toward the hill. There are usually a group of people who farms the doors, just follow them. Tips on farming: focus on using AoE skills and interact with bags. The Haunted Doors are used to get kills for the Halloween Hunting achievement and getting Trick or Treat bags for the achievement.

2. For those who are looking for the special Halloween Weapon Skins(Greatsaw anyone?) if you've opened some Black Lion Chests and got nothing, you can use items from the BLC to create a Mad King's Chest. Go to the Mystic Forge(middle of Lion's Arch) and put in 1 Candy Corn, 6 Mystery Tonics(from BLC), 1 Boost(from BLC) and 1 Boost in the other slot. Mad King's Chest doesn't require any key to open.

That's it for now, I'll post more later.

Guild Wars 2 Halloween Event Guide, Part 1

Well, Halloween Event is here in Tyria and there's so many things to do. I'll be posting up some links to good guides I've found that'll help out with doing all the Halloween Events(well, almost all).
Here are the guides that I've found so far:

1. Lion's Arch Pumpcin Carving Route

2. Scavenger Hunt Act 1 Guide
http://dulfy.net/2012/10/23/shadow-of-the-mad-king-scavenger-hunt-guide/

3. Random Stuffs in the World(Personalized Trick or Treat Bags)
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/11zzng/earn_5_personalized_trick_or_treat_bags_for_the/

I'll post more when I find them :) enjoy the festivities in Tyria!

Mechwarrior Online Short Review

MWO is creating a lot of stir especially among its playerbase. Some of them dislike the game because of various reasons and the rest defend it valiantly. But regardless of this, is MWO a good game or is it really a big failure?

Mechwarrior Online Performance Tweaking

Using an old PC like myself? Mechwarrior Online works but is slow as hell? wanna try improving the game's overall performance? Check out this thread from the MWO Forums. It'll help you out to further optimize your play experience. (You'll need to register to read this thread)
http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/41265-usercfg-tweaking-for-performance-visuals/

Mechwarrior Online Beginner's Guide

Let's face it, MWO isn't the easiest game to get in to and the lack of tutorials in-game makes it even harder. But look pass that then you got a complex game involving  a lot of customization and plenty of details. It is an advanced game but sometimes it feels too advanced for newbies, which will pose a s a big problem. Well now, I am also a big noob at this game and still trying to get the hang of it. I found some videos that would help newbies like myself to learn more about how to play MWO and learn how to suck less at the game.

Cherry Tree High Comedy Club Short Review

There are plenty of games out there that are so hyped up but are eventually released and disappointing a lot of people. There are also games that nobody have ever heard of that are hidden from plain sight but are actually fun to play. In my opinion  Cherry Tree High Comedy Club would fit the latter. A time management game with anime-style art where you run around town to level-up your skills and try to improve your friendship with the other characters? sounds quite fun to me.

Borderlands 2 Legendaries & Gaige

Want to hunt those awesome Legendary items in Borderlands 2? Don't know where to go and what to kill? Don't worry, here's a site to help you with that! Happy hunting! :)
http://orcz.com/Borderlands_2_Orange_Loot_Farming_Locations_by_Area

Oh and Gaige(Mechromancer) is so much fun to play and Deathtrap is so much more useful than Axton's turret. Why? because Deathtrap melees the enemy and makes then turn around. Those goddamn shield wielding nomads are so easy to kill because of this. I haven't try Anarchy build but Easy-Mode build(BFF Skill Tree) makes the game, well...easy. Still, it's so much fun! how was your experience with Gaige?

GW2 Boss Spawn Tracker

Like to hunt down world bosses in GW2? yeah, me too :) but isn't it annoying that you have to shout "is dragon up?" each time you log in? or missed that world boss by just a few minutes? Now you can track those world bosses with this nifty site over here: http://gw2spawns.herokuapp.com/ and here: http://guildwarstemple.com/dragontimer/

Remember though that this tracker also needs the support of the players to report when a boss is down. Your help would mean a lot to the other players and hey, other player's help would benefit yourself too :)

So, start tracking, start killing those bosses and start reporting.

Mechromancer Skill Tree

I've been waiting for the Mechromancer class since I saw it as a pre-purchase reward bonus for Borderlands 2 and now Gearbox has released the skill calculator for the Mechromancer. This is definitely a very interesting class, because the available skills really force the player to put points into two trees instead of mostly on one tree like in the other classes. The Anarchy mechanics is also very interesting as it opens up chance of dealing enormous amount of damage up close.

Check them out:
http://www.borderlands2.com/us/skilltree/mechromancer.html

I tried to tinker around with the skill tree and made 2 build that I find interesting:
Beginner Build and Anarchy Build
Yes, I try to focus the skills on one tree just because I like doing that. We'll see how it goes when this class is out :) Beginner Build will have high survivability while Anarchy Build will focus of having high anarchy stacks. Use Tediore weapons for the Anarchy build because you'll be reloading a lot either because of empty clips or trying to regen your health with Discord.

Gaige's ECHO logs:

Yay level 80!...now what?

Well, I've reached level 80 in GW2 since a few weeks now but I'll just post this link here anyway for those of you who are still working your way to level 80 or just got to level 80. What is this link about? it's the level 80 gearing guide that I've found on Reddit, courtesy of Dulfy. The guide contains everything you need to know about gears to get when you get to max level and how to get them, including several advice on gearing. Enjoy!
http://dulfy.net/2012/10/03/gw2-endgame-gearing-guide/

Slow Down and Look Around

I've been enjoying Guild Wars 2 as is these past few weeks and I never look at the forums or other sites but when I decided to look around the forums and some sites what I found is a bit appalling. The community is actually divided because of a diminishing return issue.

ArenaNet added a diminishing return system recently and this causes an uproar in the community, although of course not all of them are affected and thus not all are enraged at this. But those who are affected rages in plenty of sites and the official forums. It is of course understandable why they are raging, because the DR system itself is not actually perfect and has caused legitimate players to be affected instead of botters as the system is actually intended.

Loadout Beta

When I first heard of Loadout I was of course interested, because the game offers a lot of weapon customization. As I like the customization that are present in Blacklight Retribution(another game that I like) I was looking forward to Loadout. And now, I got into beta :)

Otaku Motivator - Burn Your Fat With Me

Well, gamers aren't exactly the healthiest breed of humans and let's face it most of us really-really needs exercise. Most of us wants to change but we just need the right motivation. And really, motivation is really hard to find. But now, there's an app that will help with getting gamers that motivation to exercise.

Fear Not This Night

Nothing really interesting today so I'll just post a song I really like :)

I never knew that there is a version of this song that has lyrics in it. I only know about the version that they usually use in the trailers:

I instantly fell in love with the song. It sounds great and the lyrics are also good. Here are two more versions of it:

Guild Wars 2 Exotic Armor

A guy on Reddit posted a website that he made that shows all of the exotic armor sets in GW2 and how to get said armor set. It is easy to browse and all information you needed are there on the site, including where and how to get the armor, the items you need and even armor stats. Sadly it does not include cultural armor sets but it is still a great site.

Check it out, here: http://www.gw2armor.com/

Today's OST: Guild Wars Nightfall Theme Song

Guild Wars 2 Combat Mode Mod

This has been out for quite awhile but I just heard about it. It is a mod that changes how the GW2 combat system works to give a more action game feel. It is perfect for those who uses melee characters and still works great with ranged character.

For more info, check out the reddit page here: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/10amev/combat_mode_10_released_arenanet_repond/

This mod is legal to use as ArenaNet has approved the use of this mod by the community's request. Enjoy a new way of playing GW2!

Today's OST: Guild Wars Factions Theme Song

Planetside 2 Beta

Allright, I got into Planetside 2 beta :)
Downloaded the game immediately and tried to play for a few minutes. One thing for sure is that it looks gorgeous, even on the lowest graphical setting(I have an old PC). From the few minutes I tried the game it seems quite fun to play.

The maps are very large and large battles definitely feels awesome but small skirmishes felt like a chore because enemies could easily hide. I haven't tried grouping up with people or play with my friends though so that might be what I needed.

I will play more of this game and as usual share what I think about it here :)

Oh, and btw glory to the Terran Republic!

This post's OST: Terran Republic Main Theme

Further thoughts on Borderlands 2

On my first impressions of Borderlands 2 a few days ago I find myself liking the game very much. It is fun and has an interesting gameplay but I find myself not going back for more as often as when I'm playing other games that I love(let's say Guild Wars 2).

Don't get me wrong, I like Borderlands 2 but I felt that something is missing. Until i realized that it is essentially the same game as the first Borderlands. This is what makes the whole experience a bit...boring to me. Not boring because it's bad but boring because I felt like I've played this game before. Some might argue that that is also true for most games nowadays especially of the same genre. But for a sequel, Borderlands doesn't seem to add too much to the first game.

Sure it does have better graphics, more weapons and enemy types and a new story. But still, it all feels more like an expansion rather than a brand new game. And this is what makes me a bit dissapointed.

However that doesn't mean that I won't be playing the game again. on the contrary, i will be playing Borderlands at least until I finish the story and I will be playing it co-op with my friends. But for me, the game just feels that it lacks something really new.

And the co-op, aside from the fun that you're having with your friends, what is really the point? The game doesn't actually reward you for playing co-op. In fact playing in co-op just makes it harder and not as fun if you think about it.
Tougher enemies? even in solo the enemies are already tough.
No instanced loot? seriously, even Diablo III have instanced loot.
No skill combo? and no, 1 skill(Phaselock) doesn't count as having a valid skill combo in the game.
No weapon limitation? everyone can use every weapon, yay...so...everyone will have the same role then?

I feel that Gearbox should at least address these issues first to make co-op a more rewarding experience.

With that said, would I recommend Borderlands 2 to anyone? of course I will. It is a fun game and if given proper attention will be even better in the future. And like I said before, If you love the first Borderlands, you'll love the second one. Even if it doesn't really innovate it does improve the old formula.

Today's OST: Wiosna from Katawa Shoujo

Something to look forward to

When browsing through the net I found out about some games that are currently under development that looks quite interesting. These are some that really took my interest.

1. Don't Starve

This is a game you can play from Google Chrome app store and will also be released on Steam when it's done. The game focuses on survival and the player must gather resources to survive the night. The artstyle loks good and the game also has interesting gameplay. Preordering now will cost $7 for two copies of the game while the full release will cost $15 each.
http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/getting-started/

2. Cube World

You like Minecraft? would you like it if there were more gameplay than just mining and building stuff? Cube World is offering just that. This voxel based RPG offers a huge world to explore with the same interactivity as minecraft(well, almost). Terrains are destructible and a lot of actions can change the face of the world. Of course there will also be plenty of monsters to kill and loot to gather.
http://wollay.blogspot.com/

3. Cherry Tree High Comedy Club

This game is actually already released, but I was hoping it would be featured in Steam like they promised. However it is now available on Desura so I think I might buy it. The game has quite a unique story and gameplay where the player must manage their time to train and get people to join the Comedy Club. The artstyle is also quite nice if you like anime.
http://cherrytreehigh.com/
http://www.desura.com/games/cherry-tree-high-comedy-club

That's it for today I suppose. I'll try to look for other interesting games to talk about. Oh and these games here? I will definitely do a more thorough preview/review at GameQQ Max http://max.gameqq.net/

Today's song, School Days from Katawa Shoujo:

Borderlands 2 First Impression

Borderlands 2 is out...and I love it! Well, at least my first impression on it is good.

Graphic looks good, same cell shaded style as in the first Borderlands but with improved looks while still playable on older PC(a.k.a. My PC). Environment and enemies in the game looks good and the game runs smoothly on my 5+ years old PC.

Gameplay? feels great. Control is very responsive, combat felt great and the loot you get feels very rewarding, unlike a certain hack & slash RPG which I consider dead to me after a certain patch.

I'll be writing about this game again after I play more of it but so far the game doesn't dissapoint. Heck, I even forgot to take any screenshot because I was having too much fun :P

That's it for today, I'm going back to Pandora!

Almost forgot, today's song :)

Some...news

A bit late, but better than never :)
Humble Bundle 6 is out! it's a very great deal with Rochard, Shatter, S.P.A.Z., Torchlight and Vessel if you pay below the average price and you get Dustforce if you pay over the average price that people paid. As a plus, you'll also get each game's OST. And all of them are activatable on Steam! Buy it here: http://www.humblebundle.com/

Second, I want to make a shout out to some VNs that are under development currently that are inspired by Katawa Shoujo: Missing Stars and Love Despite. These two VNs will have almost the same setting with some different twist as Missing Stars handles the topic of mental disabilities(they got some flak because of it but I say if they handled the topic well, it definitely have the potential to be great) and Love Despite deals with both mental and physical disabilities. These two are still in development and I'm looking forward to playing both of these games.

Want to know more? visit their sites:
Missing Stars: http://somnovastudios.blogspot.com/
Love Despite: http://www.love-despite.com/

And starting today I will post whatever OST I'm currently listening to the post, just because i want to.
Today's OST is Stride, from Katawa Shoujo. Enjoy :)

Games I Currently Play

As usual, I post about games that I'm currently playing. At the time of this post I'm actually not in the mood for any game. However there are some titles that I've been playing these few days. Let's have a look :)

1. Katawa Shoujo

This one should be obvious since I already post a short impression of it 2 posts ago. But for those who still want me to tell you how great this game is, read on. Katawa Shoujo is a Visual novel, so expect to see A LOT of text and only a few choices a long the way. Despite this however, KS is a very enjoyable experience because of the great story. There have been mixed reviews by different people but the general consensus is that Katawa Shoujo is a damn good game and everyone should try and play/read it. Download, here: http://katawa-shoujo.com/

2. Analogue: A Hate Story

Got this from a bundle a few weeks ago. Played it for a few hours and only touched the surface of the game but I can safely say that this is an interesting game. People say that this is a Visual Novel and while it is indeed have the same basic concept as a VN it is IMO more interactive and has a more unique "feel" to it because of the setting and how the game interface works. The story is quite enganging even though it is shown more in the form of journals and logs with some short conversation with Hyun-ae the AI. For those of you who likes reading or playing VN, Analogue could be an interesting game to pick up. Available on Steam, here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/209370/

3. Guild Wars 2

Because this list is made in no particular order, Guild Wars 2 is here. It is actually my most played game right now although I don't play this as much because my character already reached level 80. However I still play the game regularly and still plans to play this game for many more months. I don't hink I need to tell any of you about Guild Wars 2 because it is really popular so...yeah.
Buy it, here: http://buy.guildwars2.com/

Games I'm going to play
There are sometitles I downloaded but still haven't have time to try. I will play these games eventually :)
- Juniper's Knot: http://junipersknot.dischan.org/
- Cradle Song: http://cradle-song.com/index.php
- Borderlands 2: http://store.steampowered.com/app/49520/

Kickstarter Watch #4: Sealark, an Oceanic Adventure Game

I actually don't know much about the actual gameplay for this game but the art style is definitely interesting. From the game's description it seems like a combination of a fishing game with adventure elements and a large focus on story and character interaction.

What interests me:

- Interesting Art Style

- Focus on story and character relationships

Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1338986832/sealark-an-oceanic-adventure-game

Katawa Shoujo

Well, I've been following the development of Katawa Shoujo since 2007. I've been on and off since then waiting for a release. When the Act 1 Demo was out I downloaded it but only played very little of it, mostly because at the time I was currently bored of VNs and didn't even want to try to start playing VNs.

Even after Katawa Shoujo was released earlier this year I only downloaded and installed it but never play it. This time it's because I was playing SWTOR at the time. fast forward a few months until last month and I decided to play Katawa Shoujo for the first time. As a note, I haven't even read any reviews at the time so I don't know what I was about to play. I only know it as "a VN about crippled girls", not in a negative sense since I always thought that if they are going to make this they would do it right and not some stupid fetish crap. I don't know why, but I just believed that.

I...was...surprised. After I met all the characters in the game and played for around 30 minutes I was already in love with the game. I love all the characters and their personalities(minus some annoying side characters) and it drew me in even more.

Since the game is still in development I've set my eyes on Hanako and decided to play her route first and that is what I did. Almost got into Emi's route but I realized that I've made a wrong choice and reloaded the game before I chose THAT choice(you know which one, the one which locks you into Emi's route). 8 hours later, after finishing Hanako's route I felt something that I haven't felt for a few years from playing VNs. Last time I felt this way was when I finished Aeka's route in Yume Miru Kusuri. I love it, I love every single moment of Hanako's story.

Even though most of the conflict are packed into the end of Act 3 and Act 4 it's a really really great rollercoaster of emotion or as most KS players say it "it gives me so many feels". The events are heartwarming and heartwrenching. That moment when Hanako broke down in the middle of the class really got to me and that ending, it was so beautiful, even if the story is quite short(and yes, I wanted more but what we have right now is good enough I suppose).

I almost don't want to do the other route after finishing Hanako's, just like after I finished Aeka's route on Yume Miru Kusuri. That feeling of "If I do another route, what will happen to Aeka/Hanako?". But I felt that it would be a waste if i did that(even though I really did that with Yume Miru Kusuri) and played through Rin's route, and then Shizune, Emi and Lilly.

I haven't finished Lilly route(currently in Act 4) mostly because I currently have so many feels that I don't think I can finish it right now. I got some problems IRL that needs to be dealt with and I don't want to ruin my experience with KS because of that. And besides, I'm having way too much fun with Guild Wars 2 :P

For those of you who doesn't know what the heck Katawa Shoujo is, I suggest looking at their website here:  http://katawa-shoujo.com/ . The concept might make you think "omgwtf cripple porn game" but the way they handled the topic is so good that you'll never feel that they are just using the "disability" part as a fetish object. Katawa Shoujo is much much more than that...and this picture here describes it the best:

Give the game a chance and play it with an open mind, it'll surprise you as with so many people who now love this game. The link to download the game is in the website I linked earlier. The game's free btw :)

Note: I wrote more about KS on GameQQ Max #7. Note that it's in Indonesian Language.
Download it here: http://max.gameqq.net/

Got distracted....again!

Whoah, it's been a few....months? since the last post :P. I got into a few online games as usual and had too much fun that I forgot to post anything here. So, let's just talk about the games I played now shall we? :D

1. Wakfu
Played Wakfu before when it's still in beta but never got into it, maybe because I was playing alone. This time I "recruited" some of my friends and they all agreed to play together! The game is actually quite a lot of fun! plenty of interesting features like the political system, the ecosystem and the great variety in class and build choices. To top it off, the game's monthly fee is only $6/month, a great bargain for a fun game like this :)

2. Blacklight: Retribution
This game has robbed me of a full night's sleep for a few days now. A very, very addictive FPS game. Gameplay and gunplay is what you expect from an FPS but what makes this game shines the most is the sheer number of customization options for your equipments. From muzzle, scope, stock, helm and boots to grenades, riot shield and mines, you can mix and match almost anything you want. Best of all? if you play well enough and you play regularly, you can unlock everything with in-game currency. I know Buy 2 Win games, but this one is definitely not one of them.
Oh one more thing, this game game has a legit wallhack. yes, you read that right, a LEGIT wallhack! it's called the HRV or Hyper Reality Visor and it's used to see the locations of enemies, team mates, depots and objectives. Contrary to what the noobs would say, this system does not destroy the balance of the game. How could it destroy the balance if everyone can use it? It's main use is to get your bearings after a respawn and to plan your attack route carefully. Playing smart will get you far in this game :)

Those are the 2 games I currently played the most(well, I still casually play League of Legends every few days. just bought Ziggs and I like how he plays). I tried The Secret World and C9 but both games does not really "click" with me. Still waiting for GW2 though! and the next GW2 Beta Weekend? Asura & Sylvari! I can't wait!...which reminds me....I need to upgrade my PC.

Oh, for those of you who wants to try League of Legends(highly recommend it!) here's my referral link :)
http://signup.leagueoflegends.com/?ref=4b4ef3faa6c37

Apparently Kotaku and Kickstarter are not very bright

6 hours ago the Tentacle Bento kickstarter project has just been cancelled because of some protest by Kotaku about it being a "Card game about tentacle rape". Jeezus...did the guy even read/watch the description of the game? It is never said that it is anything about rape. Yes maybe it is a bit implied but the artwork and everything is safe. It is said from the begining that the product is meant to be cheeky parody but not sexually explicit.

Well, apparently Kotaku or specifically the guy who wrote the article about Tentacle Bento there is just some bigot who doesn't even do their research. And Kickstarter...is just dissapointing to give in just like that without even do their own research on the product.

And because of that, I will stop promoting kickstarter. Too bad for those who hosts their projects there, however I will try to highlight some interesting product from the Indiegogo website(a site similar to kickstarter).

As for those of you who are interested in Tentacle Bento, Sodapop moves the funding to their website: http://girls.sodapopminiatures.com/content/fund-tentacle-bento

Kickstarter Watch #3: Xenonauts

X-Com or UFO: Enemy Unknown is the best game ever made. If you don't agree you're either crazy or have no gaming taste.

Now, for years various developers tried to make a clone of this game and failed but now comes Xenonauts. This game really looks promising and you can even try an alpha version of the game before you decide whether to kickstart or not.

What interests me:
- X-Com gameplay
- Simple graphic yet looks great

Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts

Kickstarter Watch #2: Tentacle Bento

I've seen enough hentai to know where THIS is going :D

Umm, yeah.. today's Kickstarter Watch features a card game that can essentially be described as a parody of tentacle hentais.

What interests me:
- Artworks are great
- Fun gameplay and theme

However, because I live in Indonesia the price + the shipping fee makes it a bit expensive. I'm definitely going to buy the game, still not sure whether to kickstart or just wait later after it's released. The promo cards sounds interesting though.

Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1189988320/tentacle-bento-by-soda-pop-miniatures

Kickstarter Watch #1: Panzer Pets

With Kickstarter Watch I try to look out for interesting games in kickstarter.com and give my impressions of it.

For the first Kickstarter Watch we'll look at Panzer Pets, a customizable robots MMO.

What Interests me:

- Multiplatform(PC, iOS, Android)

- Cartoony Artstyle

However there are some things that worries me. This will be a browser based game using Unity engine. The concept is ok, but how will the combat and questing be? I hope it will not be the same old WoW-style questing. Cuz let's face it, I'm getting sick of that type of questing. Modern MMOs should be using a more dynamic questing style like what we can find in Guild Wars 2 or Firefall.

Take a look at it yourself: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamundo/panzer-pets-customizable-robots-mmo

My Impressions on the Guild Wars 2 Beta

The game was great, combat system is really great and the dynamic quest system is pretty interesting, making it a sandbox-ish MMO where you have to explore and find out things to do yourself. For those who like a more structured quest system there's still the story quest but other than that it'll take some time to get used to the fact that the world doesn't revolve around you.

Games I'm Currently Playing

Just like old times, I'll list the games I'm currently playing and give my toughts on them.

1. Dungeons and Dragons Online

After all this years, I've gone back to DDO...the First Freemium MMO. It is a fun but unforgiving game. And by unforgiving I mean really unforgiving dungeons filled with not only monster but traps and provides actual challenge aside from fighting monsters. This game is best when played with friends(I got back to this game with some of my friends). I highly recommend this game for those who likes DnD and/or MMOs. I'm currently playing in Thelanis server with my character Xalestia Bloodsteel.

If you're interested in playing, register here: http://my.ddo.com/referral/ivanjeff
(yes, yes it's a referral link)

World of Battles: Morningstar First Impressions

I noticed World of Battles: Morningstar yesterday on Steam and started downloading it immediately because it seems interesting. A blend of "Total War" style combat with a Fantasy setting where you can customize the equipments of your troop? sign me up!

Gamers against Harassment

A friend of mine shared a video to me today and I feel that more people should watch this video. It is about harassment within the gaming community.

Watch it here:
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/harassment

Guild Wars 2 Beta this weekend

Can't wait for the beta this weekend. Sadly I'm a bit busy this weekend with the release event for my new E-Zine: GameQQ MAX and I probably have to go to my shop to check out some stuff. But I'm definitely going to play right when it starts, 2 A.M Western Indonesian Time.

See you in game! :)

My Impressions on the Diablo 3 Open beta

Well actually it's more of my impression on the game itself.
I feel that the game delivers what I expects from a Diablo game. The control is good, everything feels right and not clunky like most of the Diablo Clones out there. The environment looks good and definitely not cartoony. Enough to say that graphically, the game looks astonishing.

Gameplay-wise it is a solid game with even more action than its predecessor IMO. The number of available skills is a bit limited but I understand what Blizzard is trying to do. And simplifying the gameplay is not always a bad thing. It actually makes it a lot more appealing to me personally.

In short(although this is already short) I'd definitely buy Diablo 3 and will probably play it for quite some time. At least until Guild Wars 2 comes out :D

Here's some screenshot from the beta:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150797738898961.409139.593813960&type=1&l=468bc88102

More Malifaux, MOAR!

Went almost two months without posting anything again...typical :P
Anywho, my Lady J and Som'er Teeth crews are done.
I've since bought enough minis to create another crew with Perdita Ortega as the master :D

Some random stuffs

Well, I actually don't have any relevant news of story or whatever to post here but I decided to post something anyway :D

First, on the miniatures front. My Malifaux Lady Justice Crew Box has arrived about 1-2 weeks ago and I've started painting it. I've done Lady Justice and The Judge and my friend did two of the three Death Marshalls. So it's one Death Marshall to go.

Another friend of mine ordered the Gremlins Crew Box and it has arrived a few days ago. He asked me to paint his army so I'll going to do just that after I finished all my work(level design for an iPhone game, rules draft for another friend's miniature game, article for Gamezine, and painting my own miniatures).

Now, off to the MMO front. Since Warhammer Online I've been in and out of some MMOs, mostly international ones. I've tried DDO, Dragon Oath, Runes of Magic and recently, the closed beta of Allods Online. Allods Online is really interesting. It has similar features and feel as World of Warcraft but it's free and offers cooler races to play(love those Gibberlings and Arisen). I tried an Arisen Mage on closed beta and I'm loving it(especially since the Risen Mage's higher tier armor looks similar to the Cryxian Iron Liches from the Warmachine miniatures).
In short, cool game, cool races, looks great, plays nice and a must try for MMO lovers.

Alright, next...
I've just pre-ordered the Dragon Age RPG book from Green Ronin yesterday. It costs quite a lot of money but I think it's worth it. I got the PDF for free because of the pre-order and I'm satisfied with what the book has to offer, although it only offer content until 5th level.
I need to read the book and study the rules and after that I'm going to make an RPG campaign with it. Can't wait to play it with my friends at the store(my store, Gamer's Ground).

well, I suppose that's all...
I'll post again when something more interesting comes up.
Maybe some photos of my Malifaux army and some screens from Allods Online.....or not.

Malifaux

After Infinity, I searched around the net for some other interesting miniature game and found Malifaux. At first I wasn't really impressed by their miniature lines but after having the time to look at them carefully I love them. Here's the website for those who wants to see: www.wyrd-games.net

Aside from the interesting and characterful minis, Malifaux's gameplay really interest me. First, it uses no dice and instead uses playing cards(or custom made Fate Decks that could be replaced by normal playing cards) to resolve everything. Second, the game is more objective-based and not just some random slaughter-fest like most game I've played. Other games also implements objectives and such but I haven't seen one that implements it like in Malifaux.

So there it is, the unique miniatures and unique gameplay really made me fall in love with this game :D

I ordered the Lady Justice starter box and Perdita Ortega(not the box). My Perdita Ortega miniature has arrived just yesterday and I'm going to try to paint her like Tifa in Crisis Core.
I'm thinking of buying another starter as my second army. I'm thinking either Pandora(Neverborn Faction) or Rasputina(Arcanist Faction).

Here's Perdita:

The rest of the army

Here's the rest of my Yu Jing Army, the Guijia and Domaru Butai


Here's a group shot of all the Heavy Infantry on my army list:


There's also some pic on Hordes. My friend painted these for me. The result is far more superior than whatever I can try to do to my minis. These 2 minis are Absylonia, Terror of Everblight and Nephilim Soldier from the Legion of Everblight faction.

Painting Miniatures - 1st try

Well, as I promised...here's a photo of my Infinity minis that I painted myself :)
I just tried miniature painting for the first time so I suppose the result could be better but hey, practice makes perfect so maybe I'll get the hang of it after a few dozen more miniatures :D
The painting's not 100% done yet though, I still need to do some highlights on some part of the minis.



I haven't finished the Domaru Butai and Celestial Guard yet and the store where I bought these minis was out of Shaolin Monks. I've finished the Guijia figure today but haven't got the chance to take a photo of it.

To Infinity and Beyond

No, it's not a ramble about Toys Story but instead, it's about a Tabletop Skirmish Miniature Game(or whatever you want to call it) called Infinity.
Well, Infinity is a Tabletop Miniature Game from Corvus Belli which is a company residing in Spain. The game uses manga aesthetics to present a marvelous sci-fi world filled with conflict and plenty of interesting figures.

I'm just starting to play the game(well actualy I've only read some of the rules, but I like what I read) and have chosen Yu Jing as my army. I've ordered the Starter Pack for Yu Jing and two other units: the Shaolin Warrior Monks and the Hsien Warrior.

Infinity is not a pre-painted miniature game so I'd have to paint all of those myself. I'm still new at this miniature painting stuff(I have a Nephilim Soldier from Hordes but my friend painted it for me) but I'm thinking of using the colors from the character Alphard from Canaan(a great Anime).

Here's what she looks like:


















Well, that's it for now. I'll post some photos when the figures have arrived and when I finished painting them. Until then, if any of you're interested in Infinity, check out www.infinitythegame.com
If you're living in Indonesia, just contact me if you're interested in ordering some Infinity minis :D

The Day of Fire and Water

One day, two disasters, and I'm involved in both of them(well, kind of). Just my luck, eh?
The first disaster, "Fire" is of course the Oil Depot Fire in Plumpang, which happened on January 18th. The area is quite close to where I live, not very close but close enough so that if something goes awry, the fire will certainly spread to the area where I live. So what's the most reasonable thing to do? my family decides to go back to the old house, the same old house that has always sufer from floods in the last two years(well, not last year but the road IS flooded).

And whoop-dee-do, we have our second disaster, "Water". Around 12.00PM it starts raining and around 01.00AM I got to the old house and watch some TV news then went to sleep on around 02.00AM. The rain gets worse and it starts flooding on 03.00AM, that's just great. So we hop to the cars and try to get the heck out of the neighbourhood. But no, it can't be THAT easy, the road just have to be packed with people and all the crossroads are filled with cars that are parked there to avoid the water. And what do we get? around half an hour wait inside the car, in the middle of the road, with water rising all around us. Thankfully we got to the larger road at around 03.30AM. We wait there until 06.00AM and when we saw that the water level is lower, we went straight to the new house. Heck, contained fire near the area is far better than living with water up to your knee(inside the house).

So there you have it, hopefully the worst day of my life...

Happy New Year?....whatever

Well, as usual, I "forgot" to post anything here for a few months, mostly because of Warhammer Online. Although I've suspended my account since December because I need some time off from the game. Still a great game IMO, I just need more time to play other games(namely, Fallout 3).

I won't be discussing Fallout 3 though, because I think the game is just OK in my book, not that great but still a good game.

What I will be discussing(for a bit) is Monsterpocalypse. The Collectible Miniature Game featuring giant monsters. The game's very tactical in which you must really plan and think about your next moves, almost like chess. The theme itself really interests me because of the obvious references to popular giant monster movies like Godzilla and those japanese movies like Ultraman. They even have a Cthulhu faction called the Lords of Cthul, the faction I'm currently using.

I'll post some photos of my collection when I have some time, but for now...I'm off.

oh....err...Happy New Year 2009(I'm just 9 days late, no biggie right?)

WAR is here!

At last, I got my Warhammer Online DVD.
Well, I don't have time to write much about it, the game awaits :D
So, I'll just post a photo of the DVD and two screenshots of my characters

Here's the DVD:














And here are the screenshots of my characters:
Name: Krieger
Class: Warrior Priest
Server: Thorgrim
Guild: Fear the Boot

Name: Bloodsteel

Class: Disciple of Khaine

Server: Ironclaw

Guild: OrdeBaru

For those who wants to meet me in-game, just /tell me. Sometimes my brother plays the character for RvR but most of the time it's me playing the characters.

Now, I'm going back to WAR.

WAR is Coming!!!(or not...)

First, I want to say whoa it's been more than two years since my last post here. Well, that's what you get for being a lazy-ass procrastinator. But hey, who reads this blog anyway?

Anyway, regarding the title...

That's right, WAR is coming...to my PC at least.

I've been following the development of WAR(Warhammer Online) since a year ago. I saw all of the production podcasts and all of those interesting interview featuring Paul barnett(man, I like that guy, he's one of the reasons why I bought Warhammer Online...beside the game itself :P).

About a week ago, I checked www.indosoftwareboutique.com to buy Warhammer Online but sadly, they're out of stock. So I waited until October 10th and went to their store to buy the game. Result? still out of stock. And again, at October 12th I went there again and you know what? still nothing.

So, I decided to just pre-order the game from the store. They said that the game would be coming on October 15th. But sadly it was delayed until October 16th. Now, this is the best part... it's 19.34 right now and guess what? NO WARHAMMER. This is what I get for living in a country where "express" means "maybe tomorrow".

Now let's just hope it really does come tomorrow...or else there'll be more than just WAR coming...(not really, I'd probably too lazy to do anything about it...I'll just wait...patiently).

So...what'll I do after I got my game?

I've been interested in the Warrior Priest class for quite a long time now but I think my friend who will also play WAR would want to play on the Destruction side which would force me to choose either the Chaos Chosen(love the armor), Disciple of Khaine(the equivalent of the Warrior Priest on the Dark Elf side), or the Black Orc(big brutish orc? gotta love'em).

Anyway, If I'm to play Order, I'd be playing on Thorgrim server to join the Fear the Boot guild. The guild's founded by the guys at my current fave podcast Fear the Boot.

If I play Destruction though, it'll probably in the Ironclaw server where most of the Indonesian players are based.

Well, now the only thing I have to do is wait...

I'll post something tomorrow to report on my first try at WAR(or not...).

PS: I'm to lazy to post any picture...maybe I'll post a picture or two of my character in WAR(or not...).