Delays to writing, E3, gaming and er...distractions

So it's taken me a while to actually get fingers to keyboard for this, but here we go. I was intent on getting a post in when i had finished Zelda: Skyward Sword, oh yeah, i've completed it by the way, but i just never found a good amount of motivation to get my thoughts down for it. So here's a short version:

I loved it, it was zelda as i hoped it would be, but with an actual story stuck onto it. Zelda has always been one to have some kind of story, and it always has the same kind of idea, but it's never been fleshed out a lot. This had a lot of time and dedication put into it, you can tell. Link, albeit still the silent hero(and may he continue to stay that way) felt strangely deep in comparison to his previous counterparts(or should i say, later incarnations).  There was emotion attached to him, something they somewhat worked into twilight princess, but never put full time into. The fact that it felt a little darker nearing the end as well was nice, and the final boss, albeit a little easy on the regular difficulty, had an epic feel to it. I hope Nintendo keep adding improvements to Zelda like they did with this one. Not taking away from the formula, but adding. Don't go over the top, don't bow to pressure and rebuild from scratch, Keep to what has made it so iconic, and build up from there.

For those wondering, my replacement title for Zelda has been chosen, i'm now set to start working on Xenoblade Chronicles as of Tuesday of this week coming. I made a start and got the prequel out of the way, but now it's time to go into full swing. If i'm not back in a week, i've been lost to the game.

Now, part of the reason i've been so deterred in my updates for here, is due to watching a ton of anime. It's been months since i actually dedicated any form of time to the medium, and after having that spark re-lit by Planetes and Escaflowne, it's in full swing again. I'm enjoying the new season a fair bit at the moment. Sakamichi no Apollon has pacing issues later into the series, but is still a fantastic series to watch. If Jazz by Yoko Kanno doesn't get your juices going, i don't know what will. Space Brothers(Uchuu Kyoudai) is my join favourite. It's fantastic in it's execution(first episode is a tad slow though), and Mutta is such a relateable and loveable character, it's hard not to enjoy it. Just don't compare it to Planetes, it isn't really related bar for the space premise. Hyouka is very enjoyable, but i think it'll appeal to people who love series which you need to focus on(hence why i like it, for example). And of course, you can't forget Lupin III. I've still got 2 episodes to catch up on, but it's so much fun, full of style and feels like a Lupin series through and through, despite not actually focusing on him. If you have to watch anything this season, watch Lupin and Space Brothers.

Oh, my other distraction. Only hit this week. I'm playing Diablo 3, i don't think there needs to be much added here.

Now finally, for E3. I had originally re-opened my blog to get the conferences typed up onto somewhere for people to read and catch all the details if they where unable to stream the events. I'm going to do this again this year, and hopefully add some screencaps of memorable moments, or particular announcements. Any particular announcements you think will hit? what do you want to come our way more to the point? I want a new Metroid more than anything, alongside a confirmation of TWEWY2 from SquEnix. I can hope though. All that is left is to ask but one thing, Is your body ready?

Gaming Updates + Watching anime again feels good.

So after a fairly slow start to my quest to completion, I'm set to finish Persona 4 tonight. For those wondering, i reached the final boss in the true ending route(i won't say anymore, i realise the anime is still to cover the true ending in an DVD/BD only episode releasing in August, so i'll stay silent), and gave it a bash. Needless to say, i now officially hate World's End followed by that Ghastly move, i forget it's name. It's a fantastically styled dungeon though, and the music very much suits the tone of the game now it's at its end. I've loved getting back into this, i really have. I literally blitzed the Magatsu dungeon in a few hours, completed all of december, and moved into the final day as well in about 7 hours total. I nearly forgot how long i'd been on it until i was bested by that evil final boss and soon realised it was hitting 2am. So i left the next attempt until i got home. Finding the time to finally kick back and get stuck into it again has been hard mind you, work throws more hours at me when i want to get stuff done, it's just my luck.

In other gaming stuff i've been doing. Since i don't get the time to focus on it just yet, i've played a fair bit of Torchlight since i got my new laptop. I started it a good while back, but never got really stuck into it since it can be a time sink and the gameplay is fairly repetitive, it is a diablo clone after all, but a very very good one at that. So when i can sneak in an hour or even less than that, i fire it up and complete a floor or two. Good fun overall, but i have one wee problem with it, the randomised loot. Normally, that'd never be a problem, but they have a fair few armor sets, equipment sets and so on throughout the game, and the chances of you actually getting a full set is slim because even that is fully randomised. I have to my name, 3 Midas Chains, 2 Gorgon gloves and 1 gorgon leggings as well as a ton of unique items. I wouldn't mind a full set of armor for my archer(currently dual wielding pistols), but at least the rest of the gear i have keeps me going.

Also, i finally started watching anime again! Quite Shocking in a way considering i hardly ever just sit down and watch something. But the new season has me interested again. I made a start on Uchuu Kyoudai, or Space Brothers as it is on Crunchyroll since it had caught my interest, and i'm fairly impressed. The show at first glance has this look as though it has fallen from the same tree as Planetes, another show i've been watching this week, but it's similarities are fewer and far between than you may expect. Of course, i'm only judging this off of one episode, it could easily start to have more as the series goes on, but at present, they both have some similar vibes, but are each their own shows. Space Brothers has a lot of humour too it, more than i expected. It's fairly light hearted too in many respects, which does compliment the humour aspect.

It's story focuses on two brothers who see what they think could be a UFO when they are kids, and this gives them their dream of going to outer space, the moon, and mars. The younger brother, Hibito gets his dream, but his older brother ends up unemployed and looking for a way to catch up and strive ahead. There is a few football(soccer)/sport references in this episode as well, Japans outting of the world cup, a win in baseball, and Zidane randomly headbutting another player. They are used fairly well too, and it makes me wonder if it'll be a kind of theme they may keep in check as the series goes on, since it certainly works. Again, i do look forward to this continuing, and hopefully, will get me writing a bit more on anime in this blog too.

The only other series i've watched recently is Gundam Age, which has been more of a catch-up than anything else. A lot of people where wondering if this series could live up to being a Gundam series, especially considering it being a little less dark compared to every other series, and it being animated by Level 5, who've always had that kid-like style to their art. It's been up and down, but i would definitely say it's a Gundam series, through and through. It takes a lot, and i do mean a LOT of stuff from both Mobile Suit Gundam(original series) and Gundam SEED, with so many references and influences in both arcs that it can be really hard not to notice them. It does beg the question, will we see that continue in to the third and final arc as well? I'd imagine we would, but what series would they reference? 00, Zeta, ZZ, Turn A, G, there is so many it can take from, it's just a case of what.

So that about wraps up my distractions for the week, if you have any recommendations on what anime for me to take a peak into this season other than Lupin III, Hyouka and Zetman, please let me know on here or on twitter, and i'll take a gander!