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Nov. 14th, 2011 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsTV commentary:
Walking Dead- So, on the one hand, we get some character development for Daryl. Which is good, because since he's a non-comic character, he's the one I'm most curious about. So, growing up with Merle as a big brother, obviously he's bound to have issues. But I like what they did there. I guess he thinks of himself as kinda a bad seed, and imaginary Merle is asking why the hell he's helping these people, going out of his way to find Sophia when the group wouldn't show him the same courtesy (after all, they didn't do anything but shrug their shoulders when Merle was lost, they didn't even try looking for him)
And they actually have Carol do something likable, by having her tell Daryl that while he tries to come off as the aloof bad boy, he's every bit a hero and leader as Shane and Rick.
Anyways, comic stuff they're finally addressing- Andrea is on her way to becoming the sniper girl she is on the comics, and they finally reveal the barn of zombies.
Also, I think they dropped hints on how Sophia survived if she does turn up alive. The weird little flashback in the beginning made it sound like her dad was some sort of survivalist nut, talking about "operational plans" and having a bunch of MREs, so maybe he passed along insane survival skills to her when he wasn't beating on Carol.
Now, onto Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends. It comes out this week, and ah can't wait! I already have it pre-ordered, so I should be getting it Tuesday or Wednesday. I've been trying to read up on the game to get ready. So it looks like there's a new "Legend" mode, which contains story-like scenarios for all of the characters who weren't playable in story mode? Also, there's also a rank system, where your characters move up in rank (up to 8) by accomplishing certain things (killing X enemies within y minutes without using musou or while staying above 50% health, etc). These ranks confer neat little benefits like gaining health when attacking with ther EX weapon. So, that does give me incentive to play those characters I've already maxed out. Also, these ranks allow you to buy certain accessories with which to decorate your character's outfits with.
Is it ghey that I'm more eggcited about the accessories than the "ultimate weapons"? I mean, they have higher attack power and more slots and higher level elements, but that's all. Its just a better version of what's available, which only really matters when you're trying the really, really hard stages. And honestly, since getting these weapons requires playing these really, really hard stages, that means you can beat them without needing the ultimate weapons. So, its only real benefit is to make such stages slightly easier, but even then, the only reason to play at such hard levels is to get the ultimate weapon, which you would already have.
Anyways, after reading up on the totally new characters of Wang Yi and Guo Jia (Pang De was in previous versions, so I already knew his deal) they are pretty cool. So Guo Jia seems to be the refined, cool, extremely intelligent type, who loves the thrill of war, fine wine, and beautiful women. He doesn't seem to be as arrogant as a lot of the other strategists in the game, nor is he stiff or stuffy. Of course, since he dies early on, I'm curious how he would've compared to the other strategists. Cao Cao did claim if Guo Jia was still around, he wouldn't have lost at Chi Bi.
Wang Yi is even more awesome. Apparently, she's kinda like the Starbuck of this game. She's this bloodthirsty bad-ass out for revenge against Ma Chao, who she blames for the fall of her family. And when she's not slaughtering foes on the battlefield, she's drinking her sorrows away. (I'd like to think she's going full on Starbuck and also having random hookups, but this game wouldn't have anything like that happen).
They both seem like wonderful additions to the Wei, who are still by far my favorite clan, and not because they're the bad guys. And that's not even accurate. They're definitely bad-ass, but evil? Not really. I mean, the way they're portrayed in the game, they're the most ambitious, willing to do whatever it takes to unite the land. And its not even about wanting to be rich and powerful. Cao Cao saw a land in chaos, and decided the quickest way to end the turmoil was take over and get everyone under his thumb. And truthfully, that's what the other clans were trying to do also, the Wei were just the most overtly fascist about it.
But its not like the Wu and Shu were saints, they did their share of questionable things, its just the story puts a more positive spin on what they did. Liu Bei eventually got a force that would compare to Wei and Wu's by betraying his uncle and taking over his stuff. But the story says its okay, because his uncle was a dick. Wu betrayed the Shu at Fan Castle and caused the death of Guan Yu and Guan Ping, which I think is prolly one of the most evil things that takes place in the story. And Liu Bei goes crazy and goes after the Wu, but in the end, Wu is not considered any more evil than before all this despite what they did.
All that aside, another reason I like the Wei is the ratio of characters I like in the faction to the total number of characters in that faction. For the Wei, there isn't a character I don't like. They're just a fun mix of personalities, which I enjoy. I already mentioned what I liked about Wang Yi and Guo Jia. But yeah, the majority of the Wei are "I'm a total bad-ass warrior" type, but I like those. Even then, the Wei versions of the "I want to be the best warrior eva!" are cool about it. They don't shout it out all the time like some of their counterparts in the other factions.
But yeah, as for the others Xu Zhu is the lovable, goofy mongo. Zhang He is the lethal and stylish femme-type. He's got loads of personality. Jia Xu is cunning and sinister, and the Arabic ninja look is pretty cool. Cai Wenji has a nice, educated air about her, not immature like the Qiaos or Bao but still approachable unlike Yue Ying. Xiahou Yuan's design has really improved over the years, back when I first started playing, he was just another boring, slow fatty, and not in a good way like Xu Zhu. But they really worked on his personality, playing him as the straight man in a lot of the jokey stuff in the story. And you really felt sorry for him when he got killed. It wasn't a bad guy getting his due, just a likable guy dying on the battlefield. If anything, Huang Zhong came off as kinda a dick to me.
I guess I'm just not keen on many of the personalities of the other factions. There are individual Shu and Wu I like, but as I said, Wei just has a way better ratio of people I like to people I don't like, since there are no Wei I dislike. (I'm not counting Jin in this since they're basically just Wei part Deux) I'll pick on the Shu first. Its like gosh, can Liu Bei go a minute without babbling about trying to create a land of equality and peace. A noble goal sure, just shut up about it every once and a while! And his son is kinda an indecisive loser. Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Huang Zhong seem like a bunch of dicks and a-holes, and they're supposed to be the "good" guys. Zhuge is very conniving (but apparently its okay, because he's doing shady things for good reasons!), Guan Yu uptight and more concerned with honor than anything else, Zhang Fei a drunken jerk, and Huang Zhong is a stubborn old coot.
I actually like Ma Chao and Zhao Yun, just the right amount of white knight without being jerks about it. Jiang Wei, on the other hand, goes a little too far, and the way he is in the Jin story, you just want to shout, "Just quit it already!" Talk about beating a dead horse, he's so willing to try to achieve Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's dream, even though its doing more harm than good at that point.
As for the Wu, Zhou Tai is definitely a bad-ass, Gan Ning and Ling Tong are awesome, I like the gruff warrior-poet that Ding Feng is, and the chyx are all pretty cute. In the past, I act all elitist by saying the Suns are a bunch of bumpkins, but honestly, its less that they're bumpkins and more than they don't have anyone who I think, "This guy should be emperor of the three kingdoms!" Despite Liu Bei being all, "I do this for the people!" all the damn time, he still seems like someone who could be emperor. Same for Cao Cao and Sima Yi, they had ambition and skill, and strong sons to succeed them. They also seem like worthy emperors. I guess the problem with the Suns is that their head kept dying too fast. Sun Jian, he does seem like a strong father figure, and did fit as the leader of a very family oriented clan. But he passes too quickly for us to know if that could translate into being emperor. Same for Sun Ce, he's pretty cool and bad-ass, but again, he dies relatively quickly in the scheme of things. Which leaves us with Quan, who's just so boring and generic. I mean, can you really describe him other than he's the second Sun son? And before dw6 and 7, to me, he was that guy with the Abe Lincoln beard wearing a graduation cap. And at least then he had a distinct look. Now he's just some long haired guy.
Also, what is up with Huang Gai's outfit. Its like, you're 80 or something, I don't care if you're still strong and fit for your age, put some clothes on, no one needs to see you wander around in weird leather-domination gear.
Wei also has the best couple in Cao Pi and Zhen Ji. To me, they were the first real couple in the game. I mean technically the Qiaos and Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were the first, but their story seemed kinda creepy. A couple of 20 year old guys rescue two 12 year olds from a fat pervert, and end up marrying them? It always made Zhou Yu and Sun Ce seem like pedos. Cao Pi on the other hand, woo-ed Zhen Ji away from one of Yuan Shao's sons by showing how cool and bad-ass he was. And they suit each other, without being boring like Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying.
Liu Bei and SSX aren't too bad, though since they're in different factions, the game doesn't focus on them too much. I mean, I enjoy oblivious Liu Bei not realizing SSX is into him, but there's no real payoff in the end, because there's not really any battles where they're fighting as a couple, unlike the other couples in the game. And to me Lu Bu and Diao Chan rings a little false. In these later games, they seem to have moved on from Diao Chan just using Lu Bu to her actually developing feelings for him. But even then he's more like her overprotective attack dog than anything else.
Actually, Yuanji and Sima Zhao prolly have the most amusing courtship in the game, but while I love Yuanji's character design, not too big a fan of Zhao. Cao Pi and Zhen Ji on the other hand both look cool.
Walking Dead- So, on the one hand, we get some character development for Daryl. Which is good, because since he's a non-comic character, he's the one I'm most curious about. So, growing up with Merle as a big brother, obviously he's bound to have issues. But I like what they did there. I guess he thinks of himself as kinda a bad seed, and imaginary Merle is asking why the hell he's helping these people, going out of his way to find Sophia when the group wouldn't show him the same courtesy (after all, they didn't do anything but shrug their shoulders when Merle was lost, they didn't even try looking for him)
And they actually have Carol do something likable, by having her tell Daryl that while he tries to come off as the aloof bad boy, he's every bit a hero and leader as Shane and Rick.
Anyways, comic stuff they're finally addressing- Andrea is on her way to becoming the sniper girl she is on the comics, and they finally reveal the barn of zombies.
Also, I think they dropped hints on how Sophia survived if she does turn up alive. The weird little flashback in the beginning made it sound like her dad was some sort of survivalist nut, talking about "operational plans" and having a bunch of MREs, so maybe he passed along insane survival skills to her when he wasn't beating on Carol.
Now, onto Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends. It comes out this week, and ah can't wait! I already have it pre-ordered, so I should be getting it Tuesday or Wednesday. I've been trying to read up on the game to get ready. So it looks like there's a new "Legend" mode, which contains story-like scenarios for all of the characters who weren't playable in story mode? Also, there's also a rank system, where your characters move up in rank (up to 8) by accomplishing certain things (killing X enemies within y minutes without using musou or while staying above 50% health, etc). These ranks confer neat little benefits like gaining health when attacking with ther EX weapon. So, that does give me incentive to play those characters I've already maxed out. Also, these ranks allow you to buy certain accessories with which to decorate your character's outfits with.
Is it ghey that I'm more eggcited about the accessories than the "ultimate weapons"? I mean, they have higher attack power and more slots and higher level elements, but that's all. Its just a better version of what's available, which only really matters when you're trying the really, really hard stages. And honestly, since getting these weapons requires playing these really, really hard stages, that means you can beat them without needing the ultimate weapons. So, its only real benefit is to make such stages slightly easier, but even then, the only reason to play at such hard levels is to get the ultimate weapon, which you would already have.
Anyways, after reading up on the totally new characters of Wang Yi and Guo Jia (Pang De was in previous versions, so I already knew his deal) they are pretty cool. So Guo Jia seems to be the refined, cool, extremely intelligent type, who loves the thrill of war, fine wine, and beautiful women. He doesn't seem to be as arrogant as a lot of the other strategists in the game, nor is he stiff or stuffy. Of course, since he dies early on, I'm curious how he would've compared to the other strategists. Cao Cao did claim if Guo Jia was still around, he wouldn't have lost at Chi Bi.
Wang Yi is even more awesome. Apparently, she's kinda like the Starbuck of this game. She's this bloodthirsty bad-ass out for revenge against Ma Chao, who she blames for the fall of her family. And when she's not slaughtering foes on the battlefield, she's drinking her sorrows away. (I'd like to think she's going full on Starbuck and also having random hookups, but this game wouldn't have anything like that happen).
They both seem like wonderful additions to the Wei, who are still by far my favorite clan, and not because they're the bad guys. And that's not even accurate. They're definitely bad-ass, but evil? Not really. I mean, the way they're portrayed in the game, they're the most ambitious, willing to do whatever it takes to unite the land. And its not even about wanting to be rich and powerful. Cao Cao saw a land in chaos, and decided the quickest way to end the turmoil was take over and get everyone under his thumb. And truthfully, that's what the other clans were trying to do also, the Wei were just the most overtly fascist about it.
But its not like the Wu and Shu were saints, they did their share of questionable things, its just the story puts a more positive spin on what they did. Liu Bei eventually got a force that would compare to Wei and Wu's by betraying his uncle and taking over his stuff. But the story says its okay, because his uncle was a dick. Wu betrayed the Shu at Fan Castle and caused the death of Guan Yu and Guan Ping, which I think is prolly one of the most evil things that takes place in the story. And Liu Bei goes crazy and goes after the Wu, but in the end, Wu is not considered any more evil than before all this despite what they did.
All that aside, another reason I like the Wei is the ratio of characters I like in the faction to the total number of characters in that faction. For the Wei, there isn't a character I don't like. They're just a fun mix of personalities, which I enjoy. I already mentioned what I liked about Wang Yi and Guo Jia. But yeah, the majority of the Wei are "I'm a total bad-ass warrior" type, but I like those. Even then, the Wei versions of the "I want to be the best warrior eva!" are cool about it. They don't shout it out all the time like some of their counterparts in the other factions.
But yeah, as for the others Xu Zhu is the lovable, goofy mongo. Zhang He is the lethal and stylish femme-type. He's got loads of personality. Jia Xu is cunning and sinister, and the Arabic ninja look is pretty cool. Cai Wenji has a nice, educated air about her, not immature like the Qiaos or Bao but still approachable unlike Yue Ying. Xiahou Yuan's design has really improved over the years, back when I first started playing, he was just another boring, slow fatty, and not in a good way like Xu Zhu. But they really worked on his personality, playing him as the straight man in a lot of the jokey stuff in the story. And you really felt sorry for him when he got killed. It wasn't a bad guy getting his due, just a likable guy dying on the battlefield. If anything, Huang Zhong came off as kinda a dick to me.
I guess I'm just not keen on many of the personalities of the other factions. There are individual Shu and Wu I like, but as I said, Wei just has a way better ratio of people I like to people I don't like, since there are no Wei I dislike. (I'm not counting Jin in this since they're basically just Wei part Deux) I'll pick on the Shu first. Its like gosh, can Liu Bei go a minute without babbling about trying to create a land of equality and peace. A noble goal sure, just shut up about it every once and a while! And his son is kinda an indecisive loser. Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Huang Zhong seem like a bunch of dicks and a-holes, and they're supposed to be the "good" guys. Zhuge is very conniving (but apparently its okay, because he's doing shady things for good reasons!), Guan Yu uptight and more concerned with honor than anything else, Zhang Fei a drunken jerk, and Huang Zhong is a stubborn old coot.
I actually like Ma Chao and Zhao Yun, just the right amount of white knight without being jerks about it. Jiang Wei, on the other hand, goes a little too far, and the way he is in the Jin story, you just want to shout, "Just quit it already!" Talk about beating a dead horse, he's so willing to try to achieve Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's dream, even though its doing more harm than good at that point.
As for the Wu, Zhou Tai is definitely a bad-ass, Gan Ning and Ling Tong are awesome, I like the gruff warrior-poet that Ding Feng is, and the chyx are all pretty cute. In the past, I act all elitist by saying the Suns are a bunch of bumpkins, but honestly, its less that they're bumpkins and more than they don't have anyone who I think, "This guy should be emperor of the three kingdoms!" Despite Liu Bei being all, "I do this for the people!" all the damn time, he still seems like someone who could be emperor. Same for Cao Cao and Sima Yi, they had ambition and skill, and strong sons to succeed them. They also seem like worthy emperors. I guess the problem with the Suns is that their head kept dying too fast. Sun Jian, he does seem like a strong father figure, and did fit as the leader of a very family oriented clan. But he passes too quickly for us to know if that could translate into being emperor. Same for Sun Ce, he's pretty cool and bad-ass, but again, he dies relatively quickly in the scheme of things. Which leaves us with Quan, who's just so boring and generic. I mean, can you really describe him other than he's the second Sun son? And before dw6 and 7, to me, he was that guy with the Abe Lincoln beard wearing a graduation cap. And at least then he had a distinct look. Now he's just some long haired guy.
Also, what is up with Huang Gai's outfit. Its like, you're 80 or something, I don't care if you're still strong and fit for your age, put some clothes on, no one needs to see you wander around in weird leather-domination gear.
Wei also has the best couple in Cao Pi and Zhen Ji. To me, they were the first real couple in the game. I mean technically the Qiaos and Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were the first, but their story seemed kinda creepy. A couple of 20 year old guys rescue two 12 year olds from a fat pervert, and end up marrying them? It always made Zhou Yu and Sun Ce seem like pedos. Cao Pi on the other hand, woo-ed Zhen Ji away from one of Yuan Shao's sons by showing how cool and bad-ass he was. And they suit each other, without being boring like Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying.
Liu Bei and SSX aren't too bad, though since they're in different factions, the game doesn't focus on them too much. I mean, I enjoy oblivious Liu Bei not realizing SSX is into him, but there's no real payoff in the end, because there's not really any battles where they're fighting as a couple, unlike the other couples in the game. And to me Lu Bu and Diao Chan rings a little false. In these later games, they seem to have moved on from Diao Chan just using Lu Bu to her actually developing feelings for him. But even then he's more like her overprotective attack dog than anything else.
Actually, Yuanji and Sima Zhao prolly have the most amusing courtship in the game, but while I love Yuanji's character design, not too big a fan of Zhao. Cao Pi and Zhen Ji on the other hand both look cool.
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-14 07:48 pm (UTC)Mechanics-wise, Wu definitely has some of my favorite personalities and favorite characters to play. But I still think it has something to their story that makes them appeal to me more than the other two families.
For Wei, I don't like them as much as Wu, but the degree isn't by a whole lot. Wei is definitely pretty close on the heels of Wu for me.
In general, I just don't like Shu at all. Of the Shu peeps, I really like (in order): Guan Suo, Guan Ping, Ma Dai. I more mildly like (in order): Guan Yu, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun (although he can be kind of annoying sometimes), Xing Cai. Jiang Wei has an attractive character design and I always liked polearms the best, but has an annoying voice in DW7 and with his larger role in DW7, his personality has been given enough screen time to come across as more irritating than in previous games. Huang Zhong, since DW6, has had a character design makeover to make him a very appealing "old guy" character visually. I can't really speak for his personality though; he just isn't featured much. I don't like playing the bow guys as much so while I approve of Huang Zhong's character redesign, I would call him one of the few "ambivalent" Shu characters for me.
I'm not sure where to stick the Jin if you pull them out and not call them Wei part deux. I like the two Sima brothers. I honestly didn't think I was going to like Sima Zhao because he has that horrible Elvis character design, but his in-game personality is entertaining enough to help me overlook that. Wang Yuanji is up there for favorite female character, although I do like Cai Wenji as well (while I think Zhen Ji is an interesting character, I've never liked her flute weapon). Zhuge Dan is unappealing for obvious reasons and Zhong Hui has an annoying voice and is kind of a dick. Guo Huai is just weird and old and dying -- he doesn't really interest me. Xiahou Ba I barely consider a Jin. Deng Ai -- he's okay. Not enough people standing out here.
The Jin are definitely above the Shu for me. But I just don't think I can rate them above Wei at this point. While Jin has interesting characters, it lacks the infamous and dominating personalities of Wei. Like the Caos and the Xiahous. Until they get a smattering of more interesting people, especially those more separate from the Wei, I just don't think they have enough force of personality behind them to really rival the other families for fan favorite.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-14 10:54 pm (UTC)As for the Wu, its interesting that you say you like them because they weren't as conquest-y as the other two, because I think that's one of the things I don't like them. Like they're wasting their talent. Of course, at the same time, I never saw them as true contenders for the throne. But they were still powerful. I guess to me, they could've been the kingmakers, whoever they threw their support behind, be it Wei or Shu, would've easily trounced the other side. But instead of picking a side, they stayed on their own, which to me feels like they just prolonged everything.
But I guess my favorite Shu are Ma Chao, Guan Ping, Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, Pang Tong (well, I don't actually like playing as him, but I've always enjoyed his personality) Xing Cai, and Bao Sanniang (for purely superficial reasons, being jailbait catgirl-girl). My favorite Wu are of course, Zhou Tai, Gan Ning, Ling Tong, Taishi Ci, Ding Feng, and Lu Xun. So technically I like more Shu than Wu (by one!) but I don't if that should be used as an indication that I prefer one over the other.
I think the problem with the Jin is that they really are just Wei part deux, The Wei just kinda turned into the Jin in the later era. So its hard to really "grow" the faction into something comparable to the other three. For one, they only existed by the end, and then the potential choices for officers, I bet a lot of them you can make them either Jin or Wei. Of course, I suppose at that point in time they maybe want just want to make them Jin, because there's still a crapload of Wei I think they can add earlier in time if they wanted to keep the numbers equal (Cao Hong, Li Dian, Yu Jin, Yue Jin are the one I've been wanting to see)
But yeah, speaking of the Jin though, I feel the Simas were done way better than the Suns, I think. I mean, power went from father to older son to younger son, but we got to see Sima Zhao grow into the role. As I said in my post, what the eff do we really know about Sun Quan?