Met up with old faces from my high school days. Haven't seen some of them for vet 6 years or so... kinda odd really. Sitting down in a restaurant with a karaoke machine, I observe my friends. Two opposite me seem heavily engaged in a dentistry discussion occasionally snapping back to the present and contributing to the general conversation. To my right is the group closest to the karaoke machine (incidentally an all female cast) and also those most enthusiastic about singing random Chinese songs and the occasional Billboard hit. To my left, the group which keep to their own devices (male haha), literally what with their iPhones and similar gadgets. They'll occasionally look up to spectate those singing... while fending off attempts to get them to sing.
Later in the night people started leaving for home. I decided to stick awhile longer with those staying longer as I've not much to do when I get back home but farm valour in WoW. I'll have to admit, once you get into the groove, karaoke can be quite fun. It helps, I guess, that I like music and rhythm games. It's my first time singing in public, so it was a bit disconcerting and all but as mentioned it turned out quite fun.
The party eventually broke up at the restaurant, only to reform at the carpark and eventually at a 24 hr cafe at a group strength of four. It wasn't until 2.50 am that we finally decided to call it a night and head off to each other's respective homes. This is probably the most fun I've had in this place in a very very long time... excluding my gaming/manga/anime time of course...
~Onery
Friday 30 March 2012
Tuesday 21 February 2012
Roadkill
Today's subject has no clever wordplay or hidden meanings to it. The reason for broaching on such a grisly subject is that just today I have seen one; not dead and rotting in the sun, but the actual deed itself. Well, to call it a deed implies a purposeful malice towards inducing harm onto oncoming organic traffic. I shall however give the driver the benefit of a doubt as, from my point of view, it seemed as accidental as it can possibly be.
I was driving home along one of the less developed roads the country has to offer (although to be fair, there have been efforts to widen some parts of this road resulting in roadwork induced traffic jams) when I spotted several Egrets of some sort (the Yellow-billed Egret or Mesophoyx intermedia if I'm not mistaken) flying low. As their flight path intercepted my motor route, I lifted my foot from the accelerator and reduced the car's speed as is customary when dealing with nature in a vehicle or sorts. Whilst I was admiring the Egrets' flight (while taking care to drive carefully of course!) a green saloon car approached in the opposite direction. The green car accelerated mercilessly, into one of the Egrets causing a burst of feathers and the Egret to fall onto the road limp and lifeless while the car drove on. Looking back I believe that the driver may not have seen the flock until too late, or might not have even noticed the flock at all up until the collision (as the feather explosion was too graphic not to have been memorable). I could not identify the car through it's license plate, a testimony to how low the Egret was when the car rammed into it. The speed of the car I estimate was around 60, maybe 70 km/hr (~37.2 - 43.4 mph), so naturally a full on collision meant that the Egret had little to no hope of surviving that accident.
As I have mentioned, this is the first time I saw an accident resulting in roadkill. Normally around here I see corpses of dogs, cats and the occasional monitor lizard and snake; all decomposing under the blazing equatorial sun. This is the first time I've seen a bird as roadkill and added to that having being witness to the whole process of it... my stomach lurches and I'm left with a queasy feeling that sits heavily in that bodily region.
Just a note, this is however not the first time I've been witness to an accident firsthand but the second. The first was when I was at university in Cambridge while walking to the Chemistry department from my college. A car hit a jaywalker, though the driver managed to hit the brakes in time thus preventing any fatalities that day. I will have to say though that seeing ragdoll physics in real life was quite a weird experience, for that was what the victim performed as she (I think, it's been several years now) fell onto the road sustaining relatively minor injuries for such an accident (minor as in she walked off after that, presumably towards the nearest GP).
~Onery
I was driving home along one of the less developed roads the country has to offer (although to be fair, there have been efforts to widen some parts of this road resulting in roadwork induced traffic jams) when I spotted several Egrets of some sort (the Yellow-billed Egret or Mesophoyx intermedia if I'm not mistaken) flying low. As their flight path intercepted my motor route, I lifted my foot from the accelerator and reduced the car's speed as is customary when dealing with nature in a vehicle or sorts. Whilst I was admiring the Egrets' flight (while taking care to drive carefully of course!) a green saloon car approached in the opposite direction. The green car accelerated mercilessly, into one of the Egrets causing a burst of feathers and the Egret to fall onto the road limp and lifeless while the car drove on. Looking back I believe that the driver may not have seen the flock until too late, or might not have even noticed the flock at all up until the collision (as the feather explosion was too graphic not to have been memorable). I could not identify the car through it's license plate, a testimony to how low the Egret was when the car rammed into it. The speed of the car I estimate was around 60, maybe 70 km/hr (~37.2 - 43.4 mph), so naturally a full on collision meant that the Egret had little to no hope of surviving that accident.
As I have mentioned, this is the first time I saw an accident resulting in roadkill. Normally around here I see corpses of dogs, cats and the occasional monitor lizard and snake; all decomposing under the blazing equatorial sun. This is the first time I've seen a bird as roadkill and added to that having being witness to the whole process of it... my stomach lurches and I'm left with a queasy feeling that sits heavily in that bodily region.
Just a note, this is however not the first time I've been witness to an accident firsthand but the second. The first was when I was at university in Cambridge while walking to the Chemistry department from my college. A car hit a jaywalker, though the driver managed to hit the brakes in time thus preventing any fatalities that day. I will have to say though that seeing ragdoll physics in real life was quite a weird experience, for that was what the victim performed as she (I think, it's been several years now) fell onto the road sustaining relatively minor injuries for such an accident (minor as in she walked off after that, presumably towards the nearest GP).
~Onery
Saturday 18 February 2012
Time travel
I fear that I may have to slightly bend the rules of anonymity here, if only to give this post (and future ones) some amount of clarity beyond that achievable by avoiding names of geographical locations. As for people's names, I shall use pseudonyms where necessary to protect privacy. With that out of the way, I shall proceed with this post's intended subject.
A couple of weeks ago I went on a day trip with an old friend, C, to visit a mutual acquaintance of ours, W, who works some distance away in Kuala Belait. Being born and bred in Muara, I rarely have much reason to go visit KB 100 kilometers away from home, a good hour's drive. Such being the case, this is the first time I've been in KB... and what a trip it was. Kuala Belait is one of the two major towns (the other being Seria) in the District of Belait in Brunei. The town however harkens back to the days of my youth where a shopping district consists of goldsmiths, tailors, old style coffee houses and provision shops. There are signs of modern franchises invading the sleepy hallow; a Body Shop stands firm in a corner, a Royce chocolate store finds itself stuck in between an aging provision shop and a rapidly deteriorating KFC, an empty AV Electronics store (one of Brunei's few legitimate Apple vendors) and a BATA shoe store where an attractive sales lady sits awaiting customers, or so I'm told. Most of the town centre remains trapped in the 1990s era and it shows.
Meeting up, we went over to our W's accommodation, which turned out to be a rented room in a house. The house itself looked relatively normal, the walls a shade of creamy orange. Inside however you feel like you've entered a different era. I spotted a sewing machine, one that is powered by a pedal a not by electricity. The floors and walls in between rooms are wooden and let through an astounding amount of noise, as kindly demonstrated by W's slightly anti-social neighbour via loud music. Nevertheless we had a lovely catching up sessions of sorts in W's room, a mishmash of both old and new from creaking tables and a simple bed to a laptop and a small fridge.
Time passed and it was time for me and C to return home. As C drove us back I switched on my iPad and began typing out this post, reflecting back on the relatively amazing preservation of the past in town so very, very far away. Wouldn't want to live there myself though.
~Onery
A couple of weeks ago I went on a day trip with an old friend, C, to visit a mutual acquaintance of ours, W, who works some distance away in Kuala Belait. Being born and bred in Muara, I rarely have much reason to go visit KB 100 kilometers away from home, a good hour's drive. Such being the case, this is the first time I've been in KB... and what a trip it was. Kuala Belait is one of the two major towns (the other being Seria) in the District of Belait in Brunei. The town however harkens back to the days of my youth where a shopping district consists of goldsmiths, tailors, old style coffee houses and provision shops. There are signs of modern franchises invading the sleepy hallow; a Body Shop stands firm in a corner, a Royce chocolate store finds itself stuck in between an aging provision shop and a rapidly deteriorating KFC, an empty AV Electronics store (one of Brunei's few legitimate Apple vendors) and a BATA shoe store where an attractive sales lady sits awaiting customers, or so I'm told. Most of the town centre remains trapped in the 1990s era and it shows.
Meeting up, we went over to our W's accommodation, which turned out to be a rented room in a house. The house itself looked relatively normal, the walls a shade of creamy orange. Inside however you feel like you've entered a different era. I spotted a sewing machine, one that is powered by a pedal a not by electricity. The floors and walls in between rooms are wooden and let through an astounding amount of noise, as kindly demonstrated by W's slightly anti-social neighbour via loud music. Nevertheless we had a lovely catching up sessions of sorts in W's room, a mishmash of both old and new from creaking tables and a simple bed to a laptop and a small fridge.
Time passed and it was time for me and C to return home. As C drove us back I switched on my iPad and began typing out this post, reflecting back on the relatively amazing preservation of the past in town so very, very far away. Wouldn't want to live there myself though.
~Onery
Location:Kuala Belait, Brunei
Thursday 19 January 2012
Resident Evil Revelations
I meant to post something else up. However as I've not got it written out properly yet, do forgive me as I delve into another gaming related article. The title of this post says it really. I've just played Resident Evil Revelations. A demo admittedly, but I've played the game nonetheless. My hands are a little shaky from gripping my 3DS tightly and my adrenaline has yet to reach its baseline value. So far I can say (bearing in mind that the demo gives about 10-15 minutes of the game...) that RE:Revelations is definitely a game worth keeping an eye on.
I'm not much of a horror fan. Unless invited, I tend to avoid horror movies opting instead for animated comedies. Yet in the realm of games I find myself in a masochistic position of wanting to play horror games when I don't find the genre that appealing. Oh all right, I am easy scared out of my mind. Of course, with games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Dementium, it is very hard not to be scared even a little.
That said, some people will have raised their hands in objection stating that the Resident Evil franchise has moved on from the horror genre and become an action focused endeavor with Resident Evil 5 being held as the primary suspect. I will admit that in Resident Evil 5, I never really was scared. Shocked yes, who wouldn't be if a zombie-like thing jumped out in front of you from nowhere? Shocked, but not really scared. Perhaps it was the bright environments (relatively speaking) that it was mostly set in. Perhaps it was the fact that you're playing as a hardened veteran of zombie-warfare whose guns blaze through enemies like a hot knife through... you get my point. Perhaps it was something else, or a combination of several factors, whatever. The fact is so: Resident Evil 5 just wasn't as horror-oriented as its predecessors.
Onto the present. Playing through RE:Revelations, I can safely say that I just wet my pants at least twice. But before that, a quick look though what the demo has in store for the discerning player. Upon loading this 3DS application, the screen will throw at you Capcom's name in all its 3D glory should you have it turned up. With the title screen's appearance, pressing start will cause the classic Resident Evil voice to announce what you should already know as the game's title. A somber orchestral melody accompanies this.
In the menu screen, we see two options: Game Start and Options. So being a sucker for customization whenever possible (yes PC gamers I know, hush now though) I check out the Options tab. 5 tabs appear this time: Controls, Game Settings, Audio, Language and Default. Under controls you can switch through 3 different control schemes. Also there is the option to activate the Circle Pad Pro, but since I'm not a magician or a professional game reviewer, I do not have it and so this option is useless to me. Under game settings you can change your gun's laser sight colour, display subtitles and enchance 3D depth. Just for fun, I cranked up that last option to very strong. In game I adjusted my slider to midway as my eyes felt like they were going to be permanently crossed.
The audio option allows you to adjust volume. Nothing else much. Under the language setting though... You can change the subtitle language from English to French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and even Japanese. You can also change the voice language though and this came as a surprise to me. I've always been used to the cheesy delivery of horrendous lines since the start of Resident Evil and all in English (though you can tell they are trying to improve on that since 4). To get the chance to play RE in japanese while understanding what I'm doing without constant referral to a walkthrough online or a Japanese-English dictionary is quite frankly amazing. This is in no way saying that all English voice acted video games have terrible voiced dialogue (case in point: Xenoblade Chronicles which I'll go into some other time). Just some. As for the last option: Default, it resets every other option to their factory settings.
The game itself is good. In so far as I can tell with 15 minutes worth of gameplay. I shan't go too much into detail here as the demo is free and you really should just go download it and play it. Suffice to say I enjoyed the feeling of uneasiness during exploration and the panicked horror every time I come across one of those shambling monstrosities. I swear that half the terror I felt was a direct result of missing the odd bullet or so due to their indecisive movements. Add the fact you'll spend almost half a handgun clip into one and you'll find yourself trying to save ammo by knifing them (which has a satisfying feel to it).
Now that the rush has more or less settled, I think I can now go with a bit more Xenoblade Chronicles. Trust me when I say that Xenoblade is a RPG gem.
~Onery
I'm not much of a horror fan. Unless invited, I tend to avoid horror movies opting instead for animated comedies. Yet in the realm of games I find myself in a masochistic position of wanting to play horror games when I don't find the genre that appealing. Oh all right, I am easy scared out of my mind. Of course, with games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Dementium, it is very hard not to be scared even a little.
That said, some people will have raised their hands in objection stating that the Resident Evil franchise has moved on from the horror genre and become an action focused endeavor with Resident Evil 5 being held as the primary suspect. I will admit that in Resident Evil 5, I never really was scared. Shocked yes, who wouldn't be if a zombie-like thing jumped out in front of you from nowhere? Shocked, but not really scared. Perhaps it was the bright environments (relatively speaking) that it was mostly set in. Perhaps it was the fact that you're playing as a hardened veteran of zombie-warfare whose guns blaze through enemies like a hot knife through... you get my point. Perhaps it was something else, or a combination of several factors, whatever. The fact is so: Resident Evil 5 just wasn't as horror-oriented as its predecessors.
Onto the present. Playing through RE:Revelations, I can safely say that I just wet my pants at least twice. But before that, a quick look though what the demo has in store for the discerning player. Upon loading this 3DS application, the screen will throw at you Capcom's name in all its 3D glory should you have it turned up. With the title screen's appearance, pressing start will cause the classic Resident Evil voice to announce what you should already know as the game's title. A somber orchestral melody accompanies this.
In the menu screen, we see two options: Game Start and Options. So being a sucker for customization whenever possible (yes PC gamers I know, hush now though) I check out the Options tab. 5 tabs appear this time: Controls, Game Settings, Audio, Language and Default. Under controls you can switch through 3 different control schemes. Also there is the option to activate the Circle Pad Pro, but since I'm not a magician or a professional game reviewer, I do not have it and so this option is useless to me. Under game settings you can change your gun's laser sight colour, display subtitles and enchance 3D depth. Just for fun, I cranked up that last option to very strong. In game I adjusted my slider to midway as my eyes felt like they were going to be permanently crossed.
The audio option allows you to adjust volume. Nothing else much. Under the language setting though... You can change the subtitle language from English to French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish and even Japanese. You can also change the voice language though and this came as a surprise to me. I've always been used to the cheesy delivery of horrendous lines since the start of Resident Evil and all in English (though you can tell they are trying to improve on that since 4). To get the chance to play RE in japanese while understanding what I'm doing without constant referral to a walkthrough online or a Japanese-English dictionary is quite frankly amazing. This is in no way saying that all English voice acted video games have terrible voiced dialogue (case in point: Xenoblade Chronicles which I'll go into some other time). Just some. As for the last option: Default, it resets every other option to their factory settings.
The game itself is good. In so far as I can tell with 15 minutes worth of gameplay. I shan't go too much into detail here as the demo is free and you really should just go download it and play it. Suffice to say I enjoyed the feeling of uneasiness during exploration and the panicked horror every time I come across one of those shambling monstrosities. I swear that half the terror I felt was a direct result of missing the odd bullet or so due to their indecisive movements. Add the fact you'll spend almost half a handgun clip into one and you'll find yourself trying to save ammo by knifing them (which has a satisfying feel to it).
Now that the rush has more or less settled, I think I can now go with a bit more Xenoblade Chronicles. Trust me when I say that Xenoblade is a RPG gem.
~Onery
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Finished!
Zelda Skyward Sword completed! Not 100%... but I've reached the end nonetheless. It has been a trilling 50+ hour ride and I've enjoyed every bit of it! Playing a Zelda game using motion controls (that work really well mind you), I find myself thinking that it'll be a shame to revert back to traditional methods of control. You only need to get into a couple of battles to feel the exhilaration of tactical sword fighting using motion controls... And my word, I can still feel my heart pumping hard from the final duel of the game, which was a good while ago.
The motion controls work really well, but yes they do require a little more concentration than you would normally put into playing games. Case in point, playing Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (played in the Xbox360, another excellent game I'll have you know too) was particularly exciting but there was nothing stopping you from slouching and adopting a more comfortable position lying down, especially during it's rather lengthy loading screens. Eventually I found myself playing through a couple of dungeons in a semi-asleep state.
There were even one or two incidents of me blanking out for a couple of minutes with the controller in my hands only to snort back to reality after someone shakes me awake. There were a couple of things in Skyward Sword they could do without. One of them was the game's insistence of telling you what a particular treasure or bug was even if you got several dozens of them in your inventory. All I can say is that at least the game doesn't do that for rupees (the game's currency), otherwise I would have gone completely bananas (an exaggeration, but you get my point). Another is Fledge. I found him to be even more annoying than the bullies you face (eventually as the game went on) and when he got around to introducing his mini-game I knew for sure he was a troll with a seemingly friendly exterior. Allow me this one say, I dislike Fledge. Apart from him, everyone else was more or less likable. Even Ghirahim felt more accommodating... and that's saying something.
I've read complaints about the stamina bar the game introduces and from what I can see I don't have much to complain about it. Sure it would be nice to run at full speeds everywhere, or do spin attacks every time you'd like. However I feel the addition of the stamina bar adds to the game by forcing the player to consider a variety of attacks rather than going for reckless usage of powerful moves. Also, stamina fruits (which replenish stamina as its name suggests) are relatively abundant, especially in areas where stamina becomes an issue e.g. climbing vines (I've not run out of stamina during those segments, not once).
Stepping back I can see this entry slowly descending into the realms of obscurity where the words just keep piling and piling on and the point takes a 480 hour ticket for a merry-go-round. So I'll like to finish things up by saying... I love this game. I've not played a Zelda game or any game quite like it (the motion controls help make it very much unique) and I've had such a blast during my time with it. I will miss Fi in particular as she's my favorite character, what with her deadpan delivery of advice and hints which were always lost amongst the realms of probability. She's also quite a singer too! I will also miss the boss battles (not you, Imprisoned) the game has to offer. There nothing quite like fighting Koloktos and his multiple appendages, or wrenching your blade from Ghirahim's finger catch (the man's crazy!). Put it simply, fighting Skyward Sword bosses is uniquely fun.
I always wondered what I felt when playing through Ocarina of Time as a kid. I know I found it an amazing game back then (it still is now, 3ds style), but any details to what I've felt as i went through the game are lost within the passages of time. Playing through Skyward Sword I've come to an epiphany. I believe that the feeling I had playing through Skyward Sword is pretty much the one I had back so very long ago playing through Ocarina of time. A testament to Nintendo's (and Shigeru Miyamoto's) ability to come up with masterpieces, something not a lot of video game franchises can claim to give.
Now another page in the Zelda timeline turns... what's next? I am looking forward to seeing how will Zelda WiiU and Zelda 3ds will turn out. But as I eagerly await any news on those games, I shall turn my attention now to a much overdue appointment with Ashley in one of Cing's last games. Where ever you guys in Cing are now I hope you will continue to produce quality adventure games as you've always done (with the exception of Again).
~Onery
The motion controls work really well, but yes they do require a little more concentration than you would normally put into playing games. Case in point, playing Elder Scrolls: Skyrim (played in the Xbox360, another excellent game I'll have you know too) was particularly exciting but there was nothing stopping you from slouching and adopting a more comfortable position lying down, especially during it's rather lengthy loading screens. Eventually I found myself playing through a couple of dungeons in a semi-asleep state.
There were even one or two incidents of me blanking out for a couple of minutes with the controller in my hands only to snort back to reality after someone shakes me awake. There were a couple of things in Skyward Sword they could do without. One of them was the game's insistence of telling you what a particular treasure or bug was even if you got several dozens of them in your inventory. All I can say is that at least the game doesn't do that for rupees (the game's currency), otherwise I would have gone completely bananas (an exaggeration, but you get my point). Another is Fledge. I found him to be even more annoying than the bullies you face (eventually as the game went on) and when he got around to introducing his mini-game I knew for sure he was a troll with a seemingly friendly exterior. Allow me this one say, I dislike Fledge. Apart from him, everyone else was more or less likable. Even Ghirahim felt more accommodating... and that's saying something.
I've read complaints about the stamina bar the game introduces and from what I can see I don't have much to complain about it. Sure it would be nice to run at full speeds everywhere, or do spin attacks every time you'd like. However I feel the addition of the stamina bar adds to the game by forcing the player to consider a variety of attacks rather than going for reckless usage of powerful moves. Also, stamina fruits (which replenish stamina as its name suggests) are relatively abundant, especially in areas where stamina becomes an issue e.g. climbing vines (I've not run out of stamina during those segments, not once).
Stepping back I can see this entry slowly descending into the realms of obscurity where the words just keep piling and piling on and the point takes a 480 hour ticket for a merry-go-round. So I'll like to finish things up by saying... I love this game. I've not played a Zelda game or any game quite like it (the motion controls help make it very much unique) and I've had such a blast during my time with it. I will miss Fi in particular as she's my favorite character, what with her deadpan delivery of advice and hints which were always lost amongst the realms of probability. She's also quite a singer too! I will also miss the boss battles (not you, Imprisoned) the game has to offer. There nothing quite like fighting Koloktos and his multiple appendages, or wrenching your blade from Ghirahim's finger catch (the man's crazy!). Put it simply, fighting Skyward Sword bosses is uniquely fun.
I always wondered what I felt when playing through Ocarina of Time as a kid. I know I found it an amazing game back then (it still is now, 3ds style), but any details to what I've felt as i went through the game are lost within the passages of time. Playing through Skyward Sword I've come to an epiphany. I believe that the feeling I had playing through Skyward Sword is pretty much the one I had back so very long ago playing through Ocarina of time. A testament to Nintendo's (and Shigeru Miyamoto's) ability to come up with masterpieces, something not a lot of video game franchises can claim to give.
Now another page in the Zelda timeline turns... what's next? I am looking forward to seeing how will Zelda WiiU and Zelda 3ds will turn out. But as I eagerly await any news on those games, I shall turn my attention now to a much overdue appointment with Ashley in one of Cing's last games. Where ever you guys in Cing are now I hope you will continue to produce quality adventure games as you've always done (with the exception of Again).
~Onery
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