Month: August 2015

Video Game Challenge Progress Report (Special & Redux): Phoenix Wright – Trials and Tribulations

August 31, 2015

When you set out to accomplish a goal for yourself, you often have to expect the unexpected and be flexible. What I’ve learned from doing my video game challenges is to be open to what life throws at you and make the necessary adjustments to work around sudden developments to still be able to achieve what you want to do. My most recent challenge involved a lot of adjustments because of vacations and other responsibilities cropping up, but I sorted through all of them to make finishing this particular game something I wouldn’t allow myself to neglect anymore. Let me say that persistence and determination will always win no matter what happens in your life. That being said, it’s finally time to report on my progress with Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations.

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The Element Of Surprise: The Episodic Storytelling Approach Of Life Is Strange

August 24, 2015

The best stories told are the ones that manage to hold and keep your attention until the very end. All writers and lover of stories know this. It’s what separates a good story from a bad or mediocre one when it remains firmly imprinted in your mind for months or even years later. Playing video games with an emphasis on story and narrative is no different. You have to have a really strong plot and characters to keep players playing. What makes a story even better to play is when you have no idea what direction it’s headed in or it’s full of surprises you never see coming. Life is Strange is one recent example of a video game that manages to keep its players engaged and invested in the story and fates of their characters.

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The Creative World Of Cosplay: Why I’ll Always Admire Cosplay From Afar But Won’t Ever Participate In It

August 17, 2015

A few weekends ago, I went with a bunch of friends to a Renaissance Fair in upstate New York. It was my first time attending such an event and it was exactly how I’d expect it to be––jousts, archery, knights, pages, and lovely maidens dressed in their afternoon best. I was completely transported to another time and another world. While the workers running the fair naturally have to dress and act the part, many attendees are just as welcome to dress up and join in on the fun.

Many of the costumes I saw were impressive, even if most were bought from someplace else. Others just used what they had to create a modern day reinterpretation of what it was to live in that time period. As giddy as it made me feel to feast my eyes on all the amazing costumes I saw both men and women wear, and often finding myself daydreaming about wearing what other women were brave and creative enough to wear, I wouldn’t dare venture into cosplaying myself.

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Video Game Fatigue: Can You Really Have Too Much Of A Good Thing?

August 10, 2015

There’s always that one video game or series you’ll love and cherish until the end of your days. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health––you get the idea. When a game has more story left to tell, like RPGs, the current trend in video games is to release DLC. Regardless of what your feelings are with this business practice, if you love the game enough you’ll most likely drop down the money to extend your gaming experience with a game you love. But what happens when you’re halfway into a DLC you purchased and you can’t bring yourself to finish it? Does this mean you’ve fallen out of love with the video game? Not exactly, but it may indicate your game has made you too tired to play it.

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Anime Review: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle – Season 1

August 3, 2015

Being an older adult anime fan comes with its own set of struggles you don’t really encounter when you’re a teenager or young adult college student. When you’re younger, you tend to have more time, especially when school is out for the summer, to binge watch a longer series. Attention spans, at least mine back then, aren’t too short to watch an entire series to completion. When it takes a good seven years to finally finish one season of an anime, I tend to think the issue may either lie with you or the anime itself. This is the problem I encountered with Season 1 of the anime Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.

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