I'm Back & The Dark Knight Rises

OMG I have not been updating my blog for over a year already, how time flies when you're busy! But starting next month when school starts, things will have a new spin for me: new classes, new work schedule, and new programs to join. I am super excited for this upcoming semester.

But with that aside I wanted to take some time to review The Dark Knight Rises which I just literally watched 3 hours ago. It was AMAZING and I LOVED it!

• Story/Plot (40%): 8
• Very good story with a surprising twist at the end. The ending made me tear up for a second. Is it the end of the Dark Knight? We'll just have to wait and find out.
• Characters/Acting (40%): 9
• I loved Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Catwoman as well as Micheal Caine's role as Alfred. The interactions between the characters are complex yet woven nicely together. Simply outstanding.
• Music/Sound Effects (5%): 8
• Nothing too fancy although the Batman theme is awesome. It never gets old.
• Cinematography (5%): 10
•  The movie was absolutely stunning. The whole time I forgot that I was watching a fictional film.
• Lasting Impression (10%): 10
• What can I say? I LOVED it and it really made want to go back and re-watch the first two films. Yes, it was THAT good and I recommend everyone to go see it ASAP!

Overall: 8.7

Tales of Symphonia

I've actually finished this game almost a year ago and here are my impressions:

o Story: 8
o Characters: 9
o Gameplay: 9
o Graphics: 9
o Music/Sound: 8
o Replay Value: 10
o Lasting Impression: 9

I must say I really enjoyed this game fully. For me, the best things about this game are the gameplay and characters. The two really stood out and made the experience much more worthwhile. The story is great although a little confusing and typical, the graphics are amazingly edgy, and the replay value is incredibly high. Some parts of the game are really challenging, but once you get pass them, you will be well rewarded. This made it really rewarding to venture through some of the side quests. The voice actors did a great job and the theme music was really good as well. I will always remember this game and it is one title in which everybody needs to experience at least once.

The Final Verdict: 8.8

HAPPY NEW YEAR & Some Updates!

As I’m beginning to tackle my massive collection of video games, I think that it would be a good idea for me to come up with a system in which I rank the games that I’ve completed. Of course I’m no expert, so the ranking system will be based solely on my own feelings towards each game. As of right now I have decided to rank each game based on seven criteria: story (or something of the equivalent), characters, gameplay, graphics, music & sound, replay value, and lasting impression. However, not every criterion will be ranked equally in terms of percentage. For example, the story within a game is very important to me so it would be more heavily weighted than the graphics. The following are the percentage for each criterion based on how important I think each is:

Gameplay: 25%
Story: 25%
Characters: 20%
Graphics: 10%
Music & Sound: 5%
Replay Value: 10%
Lasting Impression: 5%
Total = 100%

I will give a score from 0 – 100 for each criterion and multiply that score by the percentage. Then each subtotal for every criterion will be added together to get a final score. I will round each score to the nearest tenth.
Now that you know the criteria, what does each mean? Here is the breakdown:

Gamplay: This includes the battle system or any mechanics in the game.
Story: The plot or purpose of the game.
Characters: How impactful are the characters? Are there a variety of characters?
Graphics: How stunning are the visuals?
Music & Sound: Is the music captivating? Are the voice actors believable?
Replay Value: Does the game make me want to relive the whole experience again?
Lasting Impression: What do I think of the game as a whole?

This is the system that I have created so hopefully I stick to it and starting tomorrow (hopefully), I will start writing my first review. On a side not, I wish everybody a safe and exciting new year. I can only wish that this New Year will be better than the last for everyone =)

Back Once More

So I haven’t been blogging for almost a year now mostly because I am busy and partly because I have nothing to complain about (like the stupid MBTA). But starting now, I’m going to implement other things onto my blog like reviews and whatnot about the types of things that I like such as video games and television series. Hopefully by doing so I’m actually going to have more things to talk about. So stay tuned and this time around let’s hope that I won’t be away too (too) long lol!

I Need More Motivation & Anime Boston

So yesterday was a fun day because I got to go to ANIME BOSTON!! =) But the best part about it was that I got to go at a discounted price ($6!!). Yeah it was exciting, although I wish the stuff that they were selling there to be less expensive. 70$ for a plush doll is just pushing it >.<

But I got to see the anime dating game; the first half was funny but things got a little draggy so my friends and I left. I was really happy to see people who dressed in old classic animes like Pokemon (the original season), Digimon, Sailor Moon, and Yu-Gi-Oh. I actually saw a Guilmon and was chasing it down to get a picture. If I decide to go again next year I would need to stock up on some major cash, get a better camera or bring an HD camcorder, and dress in some kick-ass costume lol

Besides looking around and taking pictures, I actually bought two posters. One was a Soul Calibur 3 poster, it was so nice and cheap ($6) =) and the other was a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers poster that was customized by the artist, it was the coolest/cutest thing I saw lol I also wanted some of the Final Fantasy posters there but I was running out of money =(

When I got home I felt this sudden urge to start some of the video games that I had bought but never even opened or played... Too bad exhaustion won and I fell asleep on the couch till 1-ish in the morning. I got up and went upstairs to my room and slept till 4-ish. When I woke up I honestly thought it was 4PM so I was FREAKING out because I have MADDDD shit (by that I mean school-related work and yes I honestly think school is shit because it's constantly getting in the way of my life >.<) to do. Luckily, it was dark outside so yeah it was back to sleep for me. The sad part is even though I was worried that I wouldn't get any work done by 4, it is now almost 8 and I'm STILL not getting any work done... FML!!

The Ugly Truth or the Pretty Lie?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about truths and lies. When I was little, I used to not care whether what people tell me were lies or not. However, as I get older I feel as if I would prefer the truth regardless of whether or not they were good things or bad things.

It was great to be praised by others when I was little for doing any kind of work whether it was excellent or crappy work. However, there are certain things that a lie can never make up for. Of course there are times when I hope that I can continue to live a lie because often lies are always ideal.

I don't know, it is quite a dilemma because the truth usually hurts =/

Quit the Perfection!

So I was reading through some of the "How to be Successful" books that I bought ages ago before entering college and I noticed that most of them all have a topic on procrastination. Not only that, every book seems to point out the fact that procrastination is caused by perfectionism (the act of trying to be perfect in every way).

It was then that I realized that I somewhat fall into this category. Back then when I was little, doing homework or studying was more or less to get the work done and absorbing as much as I can. Now, it has become more like a "sink or swim" situation. In college, you get one shot and that's pretty much it, not like in elementary school when easy spelling quizzes were given out once every week so those who sucked at the other subjects could get a chance to boost their grades. College is very cut-throat because professors are pressured into giving a certain number of A's, B's, C's, and unfortunately some F's. Therefore within a specific major, like Pharmacy, only a certain number of students will make it and get their degrees. I heard that my school only allows about 200 or 300 to graduate and the rest will either fail or drop out/transfer.

Therefore, school is all just a game of survival to see who can get the best grades and triumph over everybody else. It's like a competition rather than what they call an "academic" experience. I no longer trust professors who preach about the importance of learning because in the end learning will get you nowhere if you don't have the grades. That's how it is in the real work as well, in order for one person to be the best, another person has to fail or lose. This is the reason why I was ranked higher in high school. It wasn't because I was so smart but because the people who were in the "race" just decided to try less harder.

It sucks to know that you're only considered smart because the people around you are not trying as hard. It's kind of like playing a video game, what good is a victory if you realized that you won because somebody was going easy on you >.<

This is what has led me to become such a perfectionist because so much is dependent on the grades that I get now. That's why in order for me to study or do homework, I have to find the "perfect" time and place which just happens to be never and nowhere. This leads to last minute cramming and failing grades =( I wish society would stop pressuring people into thinking in this kind of mindset. It's very unhealthy and evil... sigh