Resident Evil 7

Well, just recently I installed the Resident Evil 7 game and played up until the big main hall of the main house. Then, I decided to do some googling about the game itself. And I have to say that RE7's 'New Game+' sucks. You don't get to keep any of the gear and only the unlockables or something like that. So I said scratch that and uninstalled the game right after reading that. I love RE games for their New Game Plus feature. In RE4 and RE6 it was done right. Can't speak for RE1 as I didn't play that. I would have played RE2 - Leon, but the graphics are horrible, well, it's old. I'm gonna wait for the remake. I played a bit of RE3, but it has no Ada or Leon and I'm not that big fan of Jill Valentine. So I uninstalled that. The same problem was with RE5, but it at least fit into the storyline. 

As for RE7, it doesn't seem to fit anywhere, even though it could technically take place after RE6. But then there's another problem. As far as I know, Chris Redfield does not work for Umbrella Corporation. But at the end of RE 7, they are flying in an Umbrella chopper. So what gives? 

And as for the whole RE7, you could have guessed it, but I watched the whole thing on youtube as a playthrough without commentary. The person who filmed it decided to save Mia so I don't know anything about what would have happened if Ethan saved Zoey, but maybe I will go watch that ending too, not now though.

Like I said, I played the beginning of the game myself. Unlike all the previous RE games, this one is from first-person point of view. Like... I have nothing against first-person games, but it just doesn't fit with the Resident Evil theme... Also, the E-virus, aka what Eveline is, that's so far removed from all the other viruses (or plaga), that it maybe saw them out of a window of a moving train. And that's me being generous. Even the fricking RE6 styled regenerators that are named something completely different, made more sense than those black sludge creeps that Eveline made with the E-virus powers. 

And yes, I'm calling it the E-virus for simplicity's sake. I'm not even sure what it is actually called. and I'm not gonna go and find out. To me, it's E-virus and that's that. 

Now, what I wanted to really say, is that the first chapter of the game, the guest house mainly, reminded me of the Slender games. Mainly the long-ish one with the flaming forest near the end and two different endings based on what difficulty you're playing at. BTW: I didn't play it, just saw it on youtube cause I had a phase where I needed to know anything and everything Slender related.

Back to RE 7. The main reason I didn't like it, well, I'm an Ada and Leon sucker. If a Resident Evil game doesn't have at least one of them, I'm probably not gonna like it. Some people may think that these characters are overused, but I think that they are classic. And hopefully, if there shall ever be an RE8 game, they will bring them back. But for now, there's at least the RE2 remake to look forward to. I'm definitely playing that one. 

And now I'm deviating from RE7 again. Oh well, that's what you get when I decide to talk [write] about a game that I didn't like and it's part of a series that has games I adore. Though the one thing I do have to give to RE7 is that the graphics are really fantastic. Scenery, atmosphere, great, but to me, it just doesn't really fit into the RE universe. 

Hell, even the fricking live action movies fit in better than this... Their feeble attempt to tie it into the series by bringing Chris Redfield at the end of the game, well, it seemed cheap. Seemed like an afterthought. 

Sorry, but RE7 did not sit well with me. However, if you liked it, that's your choice and I'm not trying to tell you it's the wrong one. I'm just saying that I picked differently and I'm not gonna change my mind. Also, if you came here to learn more about the story itself, well, tough luck. I'm not spoiling any more than I already did. Which, I don't think I spoiled much... 

So, some conclusion... I did not like it. It has no Ada or Leon. The first person style doesn't fit with the rest of the RE series and the 'zombies' in this one were weird. Too weird. I wish they would hurry up with the RE2 remake so that I may overwrite this thing from my brain. If you have different opinion, I would love to hear it. It will probably not change my own, but hey, feel free to share.

~AnnElfwind

The Real Villan in Harry Potter

Yep, I'm back, so let's get to it.

Most people would think that Voldemort is the bad guy in Harry Potter. The Ultimate bad guy. With mini bad guys thrown in the mix in the form of Umbridge, Lucius Malfoy, and similar characters, but I'm of the opinion that that's just wrong. You're probably wondering what the frigg I'm talking about right now, correct? Well, to me, it seems that the real bad guy is none other than Dumbledore. 

DUN DUN DUN! 

Yeah, I mean that. One reason for this is me simply not liking him, but there is more. In book six, when he goes to the orphanage to talk with young  Tom Riddle, he already at that point thinks that Tom's evil. Only because he can talk to snakes. As for Tom using magick on the other kids in the orphanage, that's a whole another can of worms. Kid just defended himself. Since none of the adults would stand up for him, he did it himself. And if it was a bit too violent? Well, it's not like anyone taught him better right? 

Back to Dumbles. He also has a connection to Grindelwald and more than likely was actually his lover. J.K. confirmed Dumbles being gay. Don't know if the "being Grindelwalds lover" is a real thing, but I don't think it's taking it too far. 

For the Greater Good is a phrase that originally belonged to Grindelwald. And when Dumbles defeated him, he took it for his own. However, after defeating Grindelwald, he no longer had a villain to fight and therefore his fame and glory would fade, so what does he do? He makes another villain. Tom is an orphan and if he goes and becomes a Dark Lord, who will miss him? The muggles that run the orphanage? Nope. They would probably be happy to be rid of the unnatural kid. 

And the whole Harry Potter thing? That's a whole another mess to blame on him. I'm pretty sure Dumbles was in on the Secret keeper thing. So he probably knew that Sirius was innocent. I'm not saying that most of this has any real support to stand on, apart from the whole Tom and the orphanage thing. I'm simply writing this the way I see it. Also, the fact that I'm a huge fan of Voldemort helps. 

Back to Harry. Why would Dumbles put him with his muggle relatives? Ones that hate magic and want to be as normal as possible. Well, it's pretty simple. He wanted a sacrificial lamb. Someone he could use to get rid of Voldemorts Horcruxes and then let Voldy kill him only to finish the fight himself. Thing is, he didn't account for the curse so he died in book six. Honestly, we're probably better off without him though. Now, if only book six wasn't so bad! The whole thing was written for the sole purpose of killing the old dipshit. 

Okay. that's it. You can kill me now. Just remember, this is simply the way I see it. If your opinion is different, I'm not trying to convince you to change it to agree with me, maybe you even have a great argument that would make me change my opinion. Feel free to share what you think about this. 

Though remember, Voldemort lover here that was heavilly influenced by pro-Voldemort fanfics that ship Harry and Voldemort as a couple. 

I could keep going. And switch to ranting about Ginny, another character that I don't like. With one notable exception being her portrayal in Batsutousai's Abandon and Reclaim fanfics. Really Harry, mummy complex much? Ginny looks like Lily Potter and frankly, it's just creepy to see him marry a girl that resembles his mother so much. Not to mention, yaoi fan here so there! Deal with it, you wanna ship them, ship them, but don't expect me to like it and start shipping them too. 

Bye, Have a nice day. I should probably go before I start ranting about something else that pisses me off about Harry Potter. Like the Cursed Child book. 

~Nya! 

One Piece

Well, I just had to write this. Lately, it seems that One Piece is dragging things out more and more. Yes, the fights took long to begin with, but now it seems ridiculous... At the beginning, a 'boss' fight took around three to four episodes, but now, mainly the Doflamingo fight, it took somewhere around ten of them... If it wasn't for the moments when Sabo was there, I was really tempted to skip them... 

And now, the arc with Big Mam, I'm tempted to just skip and skip... Right now, I just have it as sound in the background and I don't even understand most of it, as it's in Japanese... But I still know more or less what's going on. And I even skipped about all the episodes from after the Doflamingo fight to about episode 789... Now I'm on episode 800. And I'm bored. I used to not be bored with this series... But considering it has over 800 eps and I saw them all, I'm gonna stick with it till the end. I wanna know what the friggin' 'One Piece' is. 

Though, I didn't watch all the eps. I skipped the whole flag stealing arc and then some. Oh, and I used to watch it in English instead of Japanese. However, I then caught up to the latest ep and that was it. Either wait or watch the next 300 or so in Jap. So I did and frankly, I'm not regretting it completely, but with eng dub, it was easier to just listen to it in the background as I did something else, like play a game. Or something along those lines. But now, I can't utilize this to its full potential as I don't know Japanese all that well. I understand it some, but not much...

Oh well, this is just me ranting a bit for ranting's sake. See ya 'round.

~AnnElfwind

Bring Him Back!

I'm talking about Tomix from DragonFable. He's one of my favorite characters. Along with Warlic. However, I just finished the Book 3 Ravenloss Saga - aka the Void Ship, and I'm angry. They killed him! Tomix is dead, but his spirit is not where it should be, so there's a bit of hope left. Not much, but I'm gonna hold on to it and not let go for anything! They brought Warlic back, they will bring Tomix back if they know what's good for them! 

Oh, and for the record, I totally ship Warlic and Tomix! Deal with it.

~AnnElfwind

Terry Shott - The Game is Life Book 1: The Game

Well, recently I finished this book. I get deals from BookBub sent to my e-mail and whenever I see a book that is free for downloading, I read the description and when I read this one, I was hooked. Thing is, I have another book that I want to finish, but well, this one took precedent. 

The genre of the book is, in my humble opinion, very hard to pinpoint. I'd say that it is the opposite of dystopia but not utopia. Which in itself is a bit of a mindfuck.

Most of the book takes place in a virtual reality called EARTH. And yes, it is an acronym. Only, the full name was only mentioned about twice in the entire book so I don't remember it. 

The premise is that kids in the real world are educated through the virtual reality where they live full lives. The first five plays are free and then they have to buy any additional ones with credits earned through playing. They can also use the credits to purchase different upgrades like long life, charisma and many others. 

Zach is the main character and during this book, he plays his final game as he is nearing his eighteenth birthday after which he will "graduate" from playing and enter the real world as a productive member of the society. He did a lot of careful planning with his team and sponsors. But when he enters the game, a wrench is thrown into all the planes. A wrench in the form of Zach's (ex)-girlfriend Alexandra. 

Alexandra lost everything in her last play but has been awarded a free playthrough for the thirty-year anniversary of the game. Her goal? To treat the game itself as a game. Which may seem difficult to achieve considering that when a player enters the game, they forget everything about the real world. But Alexandra manages this even without her memory of the real world. 

When she and Zach meet inside the game, they strike a friendship and later start dating. They both believe that their lives inside the game are indeed a virtual reality and later they amass a following of people which leads to Zach being assassinated in-game with a special weapon that is supposed to kill you even in the real life. 

And if that is not enough, well, let's just say that the game itself is sentient. And names Sylvia. Well, the game... More along the lines of the AI that more or less runs the game. 

The whole book ends with the Game's creator being told to not unplug Zach from the game as he is not yet dead and done for. 

To express my feelings about the book in a single word: Awesome! It is written in an easy and flowing style and I was hooked after the first page. Which makes it my kind of a book. If I can't get behind a book after the first three pages or so, I don't consider it a good book. So this would be considered a great book. Only thing is, I got this one for free, but when I went to hunt down the following books, well... Headdesk.

Six and a half dollars! Are they fucking crazy? Guess I'll be doing a bit more thorough search of the internet to see if there is a possibility of a free download. I'm sure I'll find one. 

But other than this little problem, I definitely recommend the book to all the ones who liked the Divergent series, the Giver movie or even the freaking Hunger Games. Heck, Star Trek fans might like it! And those who loved the Sword Art Online anime will lap it up and beg for more!

Meh...

Well, I've had it with the dark design. Normally, I wouldn't complain about it, but it was bugging me for a while now. I mean... I like dark colors and all, but in this case, it just wasn't working. I swill probably still have to fix the font size. Probably by a single pixel, but I think it will make all the difference. 

I also had to recreate the introduction page that is at the top of teh side bar. But hey, at least it is better than it was. Or... Now that I think aobut it, I'm not even sure there was an introduction page. Oh well, now ther is. Oh, and the header was a pain to create. Well, mostly. The text and the center and right side were a breeze, but the left side was just empty all the time. And apparently, you can't fill a mask with a pattern from a different picture. I mean, I probably could, but hey, it took a while to even remember I could add masks. I haven't done any graphix in a while. But it is possible to add pattern to a font, so I went and downloaded a bunch of dragon fotns and went through them all to figure out which dragon symbol would be best. I can't say I'm a hundred percent happy with this one either, but it was better than any of the others. The rest of them were too cartoony and childish. And I didn'T want that, but I wanted something that would fit in color vise. This one did. Mostly. I still had to play around with it a bit... 

You know what, I'm happy with it now. And I'm not gonna change it for a while now. And that's the good thing. Cause it was a pain in my ass.

Spiritus

This week was a great update for Star Stable. They added Spirit to the game. The Wild horse from the old Disney movie that a lot of us saw and loved. Dream works made a TV series on Netflix featuring Spirit's son as the main horse. Can't talk about the show, didn't see it, but I can tell you with certainty that the Spirit in the game is great. And the biggest thing is that if you do all his quests, you will be able to buy him and he will be already level 15. 

I myself am already almost there. With a bit of luck, I'll be able to buy him by the end of the weekend. Can't wait. Sure, you can't put tack on him because he's wild, but still, a level 15 horse for only a bit of hard work and 699 or so Star Coins? Who wouldn't want him? I would.  And I'm seriously looking forward to it.  

So I guess this is just a quick update as to what's going on with me. This weekend I'm at my relatives place since my grandmother is celebrating her birthday. We had rice and meat for lunch and then more people came. My cousin's son Mates wanted Minecraft and I tried to install it for him, but it wouldn't work so we gave up. Right now, he's looking at videos on youtube and playing around with Steam while I'm playing Star Stable Online and trying my damn best to get Spirit. 

See ya!