Gekijouban Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram review (PS Vita)

When the game was announced for the Vita, I was pretty excited. After all this was going to be the first Madoka game I'll be playing in a long time. So I pre-ordered this and waited for the day of release. I got the Limited Box version of the game which costed me about USD79.99 from Play-Asia. The limited box came with:

• A soundtrack CD of the game's BGM 
• A mini artbook
• A Charlotte screen cleaner 
• A Voice-World number of Homura (useless for people outside of Japan - also I was supposed to get Mami's as well but I apparently didn't get it....oversight?)
• Costume DLC (note: in the Asia version limited box I had I got 2 codes, one for the HK store and one for the Japanese store - they both are for the same item though)

Was the game worth the wait? Unfortunately no.

The story takes place in an alternate what-if world - what if Homura banded all the girls together and avoided all that has happened in the anime to defeat Walpurgis Nacht. The prologue starts off the same way as how the anime would have ran but the end of that prologue will send us back to this new timeline. The storyline is pretty well written for the most part and they did bring back the VAs of the characters from the anime which is a huge plus.

The controls are fine and simple but I find the girls control really sluggish at times - I was expecting more fluid movement. I have no complaints on this and I feel it's well done. The music is great as well, as the game uses many of the great music heard in the anime, and the original pieces composed for the game are great as well.

Gameplay wise unfortunately is where things begin to absolutely fall apart.

The game is divided into 2 segments for each "in-game day". A day time sequence which you may choose to spend time with to raise the bonds of the characters (mostly run visual novel style) and a night time sequence where your chosen main character and a chosen partner go into an action stage to defeat witches. Sometimes depending what happens in the daytime sequence you may have a different night time action sequence but these are few and far between.

As far as the characters go they all play differently thanks to their unique magic skills. For example Mami has her signature Tiro Finale skill and Sayaka has a skill which raises her attack power but you lose control of her for a period. None of them share any particular skills and this gives you a good variety on who you will want to play as. You can also perform a co-op attack with a partner which deals a hefty amount of damage if it hits (which it usually does, unless you started the attack away from your intended target....). You can raise your stats and skill abilities to further help you in the action stages.

However the biggest problem is the AI of your partner. It is absolutely terrible. Your AI partner seems to have a fear of attacking enemies and you will find yourself doing most of the attacking against the enemies. You tend to see them do nothing at times while you are taking care of matters yourself. The only thing they seem to be able to do (and this even "at times") is to resurrect you when you are down but even this action takes a horrid long time (note: your partner is NOT invincible during this action, and if she goes down as well you have no choice but to resurrect yourself with the gem power yourself). Given the AI of God Eater 2 (also by Bandai Namco), I was extremely disappointed. As the focus of the game seems to be bonding with a partner for these action stages, this is bad - the partner may as well be only in the background to be called for combination assaults.

The action stages are fine but it gets really repetitive once you are further into the game. The enemy AI seems overly simplistic as well - if you stay away from their attack range, they will leave you alone. The bosses are a challenge to beat - but that seems to be because you take a ton of damage when hit and you deal lousy damage back in return.

Unfortunately for this game, it is Single Player only - this was a surprise to me - Bandai Namco could have easily implemented a co-op mode for adhoc and online (take the role of your partner for example). This is a truly wasted opportunity that could have saved this game.

Overall, my verdict is this is a disappointing outing with that had much potential. If you are looking for an action game this is not one you are looking for due to its shortfalls. If you are a fan of the series this could be worth picking up to add to the collection as it does a good job in fleshing out its story but that's about it.

ITP, I post why some people are hopeless.

Sorry, been extremely slow on the updates. I have a LOT to catch up to actually. Was at Anime Festival Asia 2013 with xiumai group, will have plenty to post about!

But today, I will post what's been annoying me (yeah, ranting).

You know how I find some people absolutely annoying with the way they act when they hold a so-called status? Well this one was well over the top. And I mean well over the top.

Let's call this guy H for now (if you read this, you know who you damn are).

First of all, you were in no way qualified to join the team. Absolutely no chance. Nil-nadda-zippo. You're just in coz well, we're friends, and you say you'll show signs of improvement.

Well perhaps I should have seen the potential bad things coming.

You gave a horribly bad impression by saying you won't commit anything to the team until your name appears on a list. Like seriously? Way to go for a first impression man. Immediately I question your commitment to the team. You are making this sound like a team that must bow down to you. Sorry, but this team doesn't bow to anybody. But okay, I'll let that slide. Your name got updated.

So a few months pass after that, extremely calm too I might say!

Then you had a problem with a fellow member, okay, I listened. Broken promises and all okay, fine. I'll assist.

So I spent my time on the weekend elsewhere when I could be doing something else more important. But it's okay, I'm supposed to benefit from these right? Sure I did. But I observe some things that made me even more annoyed.

1) Where was the promised improvement? I don't see it.
2) When I voiced I was moving on out of the game at the end of this year, you seem to have a change in tone. Do I sense fear in the tone that you will want me to continue on? Sorry, I don't have time for this. Then it quickly dawned upon me that you were afraid. Afraid to lose your status within the team.

To sum it in a word, desperation.

It's not like you changed in tone either. Moving on, you kept saying you improved, but words are useless. I want to see end results. And no, if you called THAT improvement, I call bullshit. I ran a time faster than you on my first try and I didn't even know how the physics worked yet! This is also the reason why your presence has zero impact. Nobody is even aware of you in real life because of where your skills are. I see you are trying hard to get people's attention, but I think that backfired extremely badly no?

And the one thing that finally pissed me off. Why do you pass off my advice as an afterthought yet come back and ask for more? You want advice, I give. What I do not expect and (actually, quite hated), is you dared to put someone else as an example of why my advice doesn't work for you.

So back to my initial thought. Why ask me then? Why not you ask said player for advice? It didn't happen just once, it happened more times than I can count. And why do you advocate people that are better than you to me? You show me no signs of confidence -. Or rather, to put it in a more straightforward manner - a reason to leave you in.

And really, to compare yourself with the said player, is a downright insult to that player. He's shown that he can handle it - but you obviously freaking can't.

I'll be frank. You're as dead as paperweight. When 1 Jan 2014 comes around and change happens, I wish you good luck. Because I can't say for the next person whether you'll survive the flow of change the person will bring in.

You were given chances and you blew all of it. I think you're on your last life. - unless the next person in line gives you more? But you are certainly already last on mine.

By the way, the reason I ignore you for the most part now, is so that I don't need to get annoyed. I have other things to do.

I really should be blogging....

I got a couple of posts coming soon, maybe tomorrow or so.
But for now, I don't have anything =w= something is bugging me to hell and back. Hmm.....

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go continue my work =w=

The goal has been reached.

It's done.
All that's left is Kanto Fastest Project 13....(this will take a while due to some unforseen circumstances)

then what next?

maybe i should head back to maimai....I tried the new songs and I've lost so much touch....can't get AA even....

Motivation? What motivation?

Let's be frank and straight to the point.

I seriously don't get why do I suddenly have to do so many fucking things for other people's department. It's not in my job scope to fix this. I'm only doing it as a favour. Yet you (all) keep shoving shit continuously down and then expect me to do it. If so, why am I not earing your paycheck as well?

But nevermind, I guess me being the be-all-end-all solution was enough right? Well fuck you.

Anyway enough of that shit. Didn't have a good day already. Fuck.

I'd blog about Wangan today but....

seriously, some people's attitudes piss me off.

Situation #1
That issue with a certain card has long past. It's been what, 2+ months now. So why when it pops up again you just casually bring it up as if it's my fault? If the person at fault also can lay this matter to rest why can't you? Also, what's your problem? There's so much fucking sarcasm in your post.

Situation #2
Don't keep people waiting. Especially not because of someone that you know your fellow friends already don't like.

Situation #3
People try to help you, please accept it. Stop beating round the bush and keep people waiting.

Not a proper blogpost I know. I'll get a better one done tomorrow. :/ later today have SSL..goddamn.

And because I think someone deserves a nasty post....

Oh.
I'm reminded.
Doesn't it suck that when you treat someone nice,  you don't get anything out of it yet when you ask for something, that said someone takes her bloody sweet time as if she doesn't care?

Yup =w=
I've learnt my lesson about this person =w=
Never gonna associate myself with such a bitch ever again =w=
And no, busy is not an excuse you can constantly use.
And now that I've not associated myself with you, it seems quite surprising you're suddenly very free, no?
I've also heard that you like to stab people with nasty words (that they themselves did not say) behind their back when they piss you off. Yet you complain to the world when the reverse is done to you?

One day you'll get what is coming to you. Trust me.
When you cry for help, and no one comes to your aid.......you'll remember the people who once cared for you - and then you pissed them off. one by one.


Signing out.

It's all about the Wings.

So I've laid out my plan for my wing aura in ID7. It takes a hell lot of planning, and money ._.

Okay, to start with - there are 5 requirements:
- Reach World of Professional 7
- 600 online battle (1v1) wins
- 500 tag battle wins
- 100 in store rivals
- 100 tag partners.

When me and Ivan got this Level 3 open we were like OAO dafuq, this is impossible.
Fast forward 4 months and he has one already. I might as well get mine - although to be honest it doesn't look that great (it does pulse the colour of aura, which does look kinda cool in it's own way :P)

So now I am at
- World of Professional 12 (CLEAR)
- 600 online battle (1v1) wins (exactly 600)
- 301 tag battle wins
- 50 in store rivals
- 67 tag partners.

which means I only need
- 199 tag battle wins (this will take a while...)
- 50 in store rivals
-  33 tag partners.

Sounds easy, but really time consuming =w= I hope to get this done by end of next week. :3

Right now, Yukiho-chan's aura looks like this (it's the Level 3 2nd row's mission - the conqueror aura)

  

Pardon the camera but my phone sucks =w=

Anyway, signing out =w=

It's been 3 years now.

Well, what can I say? I've actually turned my Facebook into a blog of sorts to the point that I didn't really care much about this blog.

Perhaps I should start being active in blogging again? :/

._.

This.

Was.

Unexpected.

.....

3rd nendo coming soon ._.'''

Introducing a new member of my nendo family.

Luka + Tako Luka and Azusa and Azu-nyan nigou~

Azu-nyan!

I guess collecting nendos is probably gonna be my primary hobby. Gonna cut down ID I guess. :)

Speaking of which, I FT'd the 8v -_-

Because I can.

One week ago, I had 2 SS cards.

This week.....

3rd SS card - Cy*Azusa. Pictured above is my DC2. There is also an AE86 and a Supra in the same card.

:)

Somehow, it just feels real good.

Now it's just Cy*Megumi at A2 to focus on. Tuning cars of course :) The GC8 is about...8 steps away from full-tune :D

Oh, and three posts ago I posted the "Congratulations! SS rank pic" and said it will probably be the only time I see it? I've seen it 4 times now. The fourth being Matt's RINOA card, which I helped to get to SS too >_>

And yet again.....:P

SS rank for my Cy*Lyn, seen here paired up with my Cy*Kotomi (first SS card I had).

This one took a fair while (5 months), but =D second card in ID5 v2.0 SS'd. Picture says it all.

Now to concentrate on the GC8. >=)

Comments disabled.

And probably for good reason: spambots.

-_- man, away from the blog so long and this is what happens.

And here I am again.

It's been a long while since I last updated :D Like seriously, I think at least a year!

Life right now? Pretty busy at work, and at ID. I'm starting to feel that I'm the utility person, having done so many roles over the last 8 months. It's great to learn, but it's been taking a toll on me mentally....it's hard to absorb so much within a short period. But life's like that I guess.

I stopped WMMT3DX. It comes as a shock to some, but the biggest driving factor was the fact I lost my card holder containing my MT cards...the most painful loss being the SS8 RX-7 FD I built up from an S8 rename. I did recover back in time for MT3DX+..with a RX-8 rename (Luka*), but to replace all my cards again..that was never likely going to happen...so, whatever I had left (besides the RX-8), I passed to WZ, who probably used whatever I have left to good effect. I kept the SS5 Luka* RX-8...simply coz I fully dressed it already. It was fun while it lasted but the cost to replace all the cards is too much.

Team affiliation wise, I guess Rouge Vitesse died along with me, as well as Dope and Kenji when all of us decided to quit. It was fun having a team, having our serious and fun moments. Our team managed to go all the way without any enemies or hitches. Sure, we were nowhere as popular, but I think that, we've done well. Thanks for all your support guys. ^^
And to replace WMMT3DX was ID5...2.0. No online though, despite Sega implementing an area code for Malaysia (MYS). I may not like the physics, but the new aura system kept me hooked. I have an SS card now...two different FD models plus the RX-8...as well as other cars but lower ranked. Of course, tuning is way way cheaper now :). Shame that there's only two locations with it. and of course, shame there's no online too.

Probably a one time only thing in my entire ID5 playtime will I ever see this..hence the snapshot. :)

I am thinking to start a Nendoroid collection of my own. Somehow, since the Luka nendoroid I had, I kinda got hooked to it. Feels nice to own one, and have it pose the way you like (restricted, but yeah, still....). Course, the downside is it's expensive, but I guess a nendo or two per month won't kill anyone.

And of course: here's my Luka! :D Tako Luka waves hi too :D

Anyways, its getting real late (12.34am), will update tomorrow with more stuff to rant about. Hopefully this time I will be able to continue my updates regularly. :)

Been a long time.

Well...it's been 7 months since I last posted here O_o.....

Let me recap on what has happened in this 7 months:

- Finally got a job! :D Working at IBM Bandar Utama. Working life's been tough so far, but I'm holding on...I think? So far, I managed to be good friends with the trio Kelvin, Chuu Yang and Eric. (though lately we haven't been going out lunch much coz we each have our own work to do...). Job satisfaction? I'm okay I guess.

- Had started WMMT3 DX when it came out in December...and stopped in March end when ID5 came along. I need to find time to balance between these two games since I have teams in both games (Rouge Vitesse in MT, @D4 SnS in ID)...but it's not really possible for now. I did manage to hit my preliminary targets for MT3DX though before I stopped, that including getting 1000+ battle stars for my 280HP > 825HP RX-8. I knew the car will come in handy someday :D

As for which game I enjoy more? ID for now I guess. :/

- Picked up Clannad After Story, then K-On! (Mio-chan~~~~) and now Haruhi (yes, she's back....). Haven't been watching others yet, although Yian recommended me Toradora! and Phantom: Requiem of the Phantom, and so far it's been good (only watched the first/second ep tho...).

In the meantime, it's K-On! madness. I'm fairly addicted to the songs "Don't Say Lazy" and "Fuwa Fuwa Time" right now. Feels like it has good rhythm to me (note: personal opinion). Been listening to it non-stop now. (Not as extreme as Kenji's 500+ plays on the same song just yet...)

By the way, Mio is moe. There. I said it. :D

- Got Pokemon Platinum for my DS. Speaking of which, my white DSL's right hinge broke off :( The crystal casing is holding the top and bottom together for now, but more or less, it's near its end life. I wonder if I should invest in a DSi.....

As for Pokemon Platinum...I just love the game...good additions compared to its predecessors Diamond/Pearl such as the Battle Frontier and the Trainer Cafe.

- My laptop...who has been a trusty friend ever since Uni days, is starting to show signs of collapse...seems like if I restart my com...my hard disk won't be detected...I have to turn it off manually and turn it back on. :/ Not sure why yet, but I think I'll have to send this to Dell for servicing....

- In the end, my relationship with my current girl couldn't last. So for the best, we decided to break off...and with her not coming back for a good few years, it'll be hard for "another chance". Still....I guess since we broke off on good terms (still keep in contact with her once in a while)...I guess it's all good.

You know, it amazes me how half-a-year has passed just like that? When I look at my last blog entry (End of October) and the date now (End of May), yet it just seems like yesterday.

Anyways, with work at office now to juggle....unlike previous "mini-revivals", I'm not going to say I'm gonna update this more often because:
1) I'll end up not doing it anyway
2) Work flowing in at a fast rate now.

Anyways, till the next time. ^_^ Cypher, out.

Surprises.

Well, I certainly didn't expect a certain matter to go to a certain extreme, but when that happens, I can't do anything. I'm abit in disbelief too.

Oh well...shit happens...I just wanna get that one problem out of my system soon..

(Comments disabled for this post).

Sonic Mega Collection Plus for the PC.

So I picked this up at Sg. Wang for RM24.90 (that's about...just USD7 at time of post). Not a bad deal....considering it's original. Is this a really good bargain?

The compilation covers pretty much every Sonic game in the Sega Genesis (not including any of the add-ons such as the Sega CD or the 32X). There's also a few Game Gear games in there as well. At first glance, it's a nice buy, and since I'm a Sonic fan, it would be nice to own the collection legit.

Playing the game so far though, it's like playing a game straight out of the Genesis. No graphical enhancements, no sound enhancements. It's the exact same game a decade ago. However, I did notice slowdown with some (actually, most) of the games....and I found out why - apparently the PC version port uses the PAL 50hz version of the games instead of the NTSC version - and this means the game plays slower (and no, there is no way to "fix" it). And having played the games before...the slowdown is quite noticable. I haven't played the game long enough to say if it sucks or not but although it hasn't really messed up my timing in terms of jumps or dash somewhat, it does kill the tempo of the game slightly since the game's all about speed.

The game also comes with a bunch of extras (movies related to Sonic Heroes, comics, manuals etc), which is nice, but really, only for novelty reasons....and to be frank...the movies are the whole reason why the default install is 3.2gb. (Installing just the games, letting the movies run from disc is just 470MB...that's like nearly just 1/8th of the install!)]

So far, this looks like a decent buy, but that's it. The slowdown gets quite annoying...especially when you've played the faster NTSC versions. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty lucky that I seriously didn't pay more than RM25 for this. Nice compilation, but seriously, could be better.

This is made of so much win.

This is my R32.



And the number of stars it has is...l33t. Woot~ 1337 FTW~

Writers' block

:/

Can't think of anything to cook up lately. Been stressed too :/

Oh well.

Oh, and congrats to Lee Chong Wei for bringing home a silver medal for Malaysia in badminton. Sure, he got outplayed to hell but all things considered...a medal is already an achievement.