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gamefreaksnz: Halo 2 Anniversary Edition in development at 343  343 Industries is reportedly working on an HD remake of Bungie’s 2004 Xbox shooter.
gamefreaksnz: Guardians of Middle-earth debut gameplay trailer Warner Bros have released the first gameplay trailer for the upcoming PSN and XBLA MOBA title, Guardians of Middle-earth.
foxhoundunit: Black Cat Spoilers Ahead! If you want a spoiler-free opinion, skip to the bottom, under “Spoilers End Here,” for a short, concise opinion on this manga. I recently finished reading the manga series Black Cat, written and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki (Yabuki Kentaro, if you want to be that guy). After having owned the first issue since it first came out, I started reading it on a whim and ended up loving it. I thought I’d write a bit about my thoughts in a manner similar to my Golden Sun 3 review. Unlike the Golden Sun 3 review, though, I won’t rate each category. Art Style The art in Black Cat ranges from outstanding to half assed. All of the significant characters are drawn extremely well, and great detail was put into everything about them. The less important characters, however, were poor by comparison. I discovered early on that nine times out of ten, you could tell how important a character was going to be by his nose - If he were going to be important, his nose was almost always pointy, but if he was not going to be important, then his nose would be rounded. Apart from the poorly drawn insignificant characters, however, character design was great. Clothing and weaponry were obviously very important to Yabuki, as both of these items were often extravagant, but not to a distracting point. I often found myself stopping to just look at the clothing and weapons from time to time. Backgrounds were often very detailed, and I sometimes stopped to read the signs and other things in the cities. Despite Yabuki saying near the beginning of the series in an between-chapters extra that he had never left Japan, he succeeded in giving the world a distinctly European feel, which is what I believe is that for which he was aiming. The cities that Train and Sven seemed to enjoy being in the most were very Germanic (in fact, many of the signs and newspapers in these towns were written in German. I don’t know if they were in German in the original Japanese volumes, but I enjoyed that), while the Taoists’ world (or what little we saw of it through characters and a flashback or two) had an Asian feel about it. This separation that parallels the real world works very well. One thing that I didn’t catch initially was the gradual change in style. After finishing the series, I picked issue one back up for the hell of it, and noticed that Train, Sven, Eve, and Rinslet all looked different. They were recognizable, but Yabuki gradually changed the way he drew eyes and noses. As far as the eyes are concerned, I see that as symbolic, especially for Train as he escapes the torments of his past. All in all, the art is good. Upon learning that Yabuki is a former student of Death Note and Hikaru No Go’s Obata, I could definitely see the influence. Obata is probably my favorite manga artist (although, Watsuki is also possibly my favorite), and Yabuki lives up to the title of former Obata student with his important characters, even if the other characters were less and impressive. Story The story was captivating if not dreadfully original. It was very similar to Rurouni Kenshin (part of the reason I loved Black Cat - RK is my all time favorite manga). Both involve a former assassin, orphaned in youth, adopting a vagabond lifestyle to escape the torments of their past, both leads had the most important women in their life killed, both are confronted by an enemy associated with the dead of these women, and both eventually come to put their past behind them. Beyond that, the modern setting and sci-fi and fantasy twists make this different enough so that I didn’t feel like I was re-reading RK. Train’s connection to what is essentially the mafia interested me enough to make me stick to it for the first few issues, and once the revolutionary group, The Apostles of the Stars, started getting serious, I was hooked. What made me truly love it was how the story played with morals and the notion of good and evil. Pulling for Train is like pulling for Kenshin; you know they both are good people at heart, but they’ve still committed countless heinous acts. Pulling for Chronos (the aforementioned “mafia”) is like pulling for Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy; you know that they’re going to win in the end because of who they are, but they’re still underhanded and downright despicable sometimes. Pulling for the Apostles is like pulling for Light Yagami in Death Note; they both have strong senses of justice, but do their ends justify the means (Answer: no)? In the end, the only character you could say has always been righteous is Sven, and, while I loved him, he was definitely the sidekick. I wouldn’t put Eve in that category, if you’re wondering, because she was designed to be a killing machine. I understand that she had no choice, but she still committed murder. However, if you want to consider Eve before meeting Sven and Eve after meeting Sven as two characters (a legitimate argument), then I would put her in that category. Overall, a solid, captivating, likable story, even if it is quite evident that it took a lot of influence from Rurouni Kenshin. A bit of filler early on is tolerable and quick, and once you get into the meat of it, it’s hard to let go. Characters This is where Black Cat truly shines. The characters make this manga. While the story can be weak, the characters never are. The three leads are all outstanding characters, especially Eve. Eve was my favorite almost as soon as she was introduced. Much like I think Dragon Ball Z is the story of Gohan, despite being tricked into thinking it’s a continuation of Goku’s, I like to think that Black Cat is really Eve’s story even though Train is the obvious lead. Would I argue with someone who thinks that it is truly Train’s story? Of course not, that’s a completely valid view point, and one I would hold onto if I did not love Eve so much. From issue one, we see Eve grow, change, mature, and become an intelligent, moral, thinking human being. My only problem is Yabuki’s gradual and subtle sexualizing of Eve. That kind of irritated me, as I felt that Eve’s maturation did not need to include sexual maturation in the context of the manga. As for Train, I essentially feel the same about him as I do about Kenshin. They’re both deep, well thought out characters with an intriguing past and a bright future. It’s wonderful to watch Train overcome what tortures him and change into a new man. Sven, like I said, is definitely a sidekick, but that doesn’t make him any less great of a character. He is the reason that Eve changes, and Train would be dead without Sven. The villains are great, as well. Both Chronos and the Apostles are interesting, motivation driven organizations that keep you reading to see what their next move will be. The characters in the manga are what made me love it. Outstanding design, personalities, development, and motivation. I give Yabuki the highest praise I cna for these characters. Spoilers End Here I loved this manga. The story is not the most original, but it is still captivating and easy to get into. The art style is outstanding as far as important characters and backgrounds are concerned, but not so much for less important characters. Yabuki gives us easy visual clues as to which characters are important and which aren’t. This is both great and irritating, but not irritating to the point that I would stop reading. The best part of this series is the characters. They’re all wonderful, motivated, and dynamic. I adored everything about the characters, and praise Yabuki with everything I am for his creations. Anyway, if you liked Rurouni Kenshin, and aren’t prone to shouting “RIP OFF!” at any and everything, check this out. If you like mafia stories, check this out. If you like mangas with damned good characters, check this out. As for me, it will have a permanent spot in my collection.
paperactor: BEST TEAM EVERRR
insanelygaming: Pikachu Used Flash Created by Shark Robot
gamefreaksnz: Halo 4: behind the scenes with 343 Industries 343 Industries has delivered a behind-the-scenes video in which the team discusses their new contribution to the Halo series.