Search

Search only in certain items:

    MLB.com Ballpark

    MLB.com Ballpark

    Sports and Entertainment

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    The MLB.com Ballpark app is your favorite mobile companion when visiting any Major League Baseball...

    Squeebles Times Tables 2

    Squeebles Times Tables 2

    Education and Games

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Perfect for 5 to 11 year olds, Squeebles Times Tables 2 allows them to practise their times tables...

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
2013 | Role-Playing
As mentioned in my last post, I am going through my backlog of video games and playing them. I picked Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and I feel this was a great choice because this game had a lot of things I enjoyed immensely.
The hero of the story is a young boy named Oliver who is kind to everyone who lives in Motorville City with his mother. Oliver's kindness is an important aspect to the plot of the story because this isn't about his physical strength, but the strength of his heart. Oliver's adventure leads him to not only an entirely different world, but a myriad of great characters and as the story progresses you come to care about him even more as you see how much he cares for others and genuinely wants to help those in need.

Oliver and his mother
The battle system reminds me a bit of a Tales game with planning out tactics and figuring out an enemy's weakness in real time. There is also a Pokemon feel with trying to charm various creatures you fight in battle and make them your familiar. You can choose different familiars to fight alongside you and even evolve them into stronger forms. The system menu is quite easy to navigate which is always a plus with me. Level grinding did not seem like a chore because the way the game has been designed actually made it fun.





The world of Ni No Kuni is beautiful, and I was delighted to see the Studio Ghibli art and animation incorporated into the game. The musical soundtrack is also inspiring with fantastic orchestral arrangements that fit very well with the different moments of the story. I found that I loved exploring all the different areas because there was always something fantastic to see and plenty to do. I never found myself bored while playing the game at all and found that I really liked having that freedom of exploring.




      
Of course there are side quests in Ni No Kuni known as errands and you get various awards for them and something known as Merit Stamps. When you complete a quest, you get a certain number of stamps on Merit Cards. The more difficult the task, the more stamps you receive. You can trade in 10 merit stamps for rewards such as capturing familiars more easily, or gaining more experience in battle. While some of the quests are fetch this or that; many of the quests are about mending a person's heart and you get to see just how kind a person Oliver truly is.

There are quests known as Hunts too given by a character named Derwin in the game which involves capturing the specific types of beasts that he asks for and showing them to him for rewards. While the rewards and stamps are pretty great, this is the one thing about the game I did not like. Derwin's Hunts is one of the most infuriating quests because some of the beasts have a ridiculously low charm rate. One of the beasts requested had a drop rate of 4% so of course it took a very long time to get it. This led me to wonder why the character whose talent was charming beasts wasn't at least given a spell to capture them rather than leaving it entirely random and up to chance. It became very frustrating and I almost didn't finish all of the Hunt quests because of it. I did finish however, but that was my least favorite part of the game.

Once the game is finished, there is still more to do as you get some spiffy new spells and you get some post game side quests you can do. There's even a bounty hunt with Derwin that offers some pretty great rewards if you choose to do them. These side quests do add a little more to Oliver's story and are actually fun except for that Derwin quest because those are a bit tedious.

Overall Ni No Kuni is a great RPG and I would recommend it highly to fellow RPG game lovers. It has a great story with amazing characters. The game play is actually fun, with gorgeous artwork and music which makes for a game that is quite enjoyable. I'm definitely glad I picked it up because it is a nearly perfect game and one worth playing.
  
    Chaos Legends

    Chaos Legends

    Games

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    The Rise of Dragon Tide Update will bring brand new school and gameplay to our fans! Are you ready...

    Barclays Mobile Banking

    Barclays Mobile Banking

    Finance and Utilities

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Barclays Mobile Banking app HOW TO REGISTER If you’re 16 or over and you have a UK-registered...

    Diner Dash

    Diner Dash

    Games and Entertainment

    9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Flo’s back in the biggest Diner Dash game ever—the latest and greatest in the world’s #1 hit...

STAR WARS Battlefront II
STAR WARS Battlefront II
2017 | Shooter
Loot Controversy Aside, Still a Solid Way to Embrace and Enjoy the Star Wars Mythos
Mixing chance and meritocracy, I can get over the loot crate controversy, provided they keep the monetary element away from it, as EA has done for the time being. With an improved campaign mode from Battlefront I, and an intriguing, fanboy-pleasing array of levels and characters in Multiplayer, the gameplay is a fun, engaging time, and I have been passionately addicted. Marking the game down a couple points are some of the technical glitches in the game. One of the Collection rewards I earned twice, then exited the mode in which I was playing to see that the was not registered (it finally worked a third time when I played another level AFTER the one in which I earned it, instead of exiting to the main menu right away). Sometimes when I die, the screen fails to change back to the respawn screen, and some frame rate issues have been frustrating as well.

That being said, I tear it up as Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren, and the aerial battles. Love it.
  
The Buried Giant
The Buried Giant
Kazuo Ishiguro | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.6 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
An unusual melancholic adventure
Beautifully written with a typical Kazuo Ishiguro unreliable narrator, this novel however, is not about self-delusion this time. It's a collective memory loss, a post-Arthurian quest that questions the value of remembering. It is written as a fable so the style may appear stilted and formal, and it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I found the plot beguiling.

Ishiguro ventures in the Tolkien-world of medieval fantasy in which an elderly couple, who seem to be suffering a fog of memory loss, attempt to reconnect with their son by journeying across the lands. On their way, they face dangers from opposing forces, that try to hinder their progress.

This is a powerful treatment of memories, the passage of time and the enduring love of a couple living many years together. Nothing is over-stated, even the moments of high drama. A strange collection of characters but all of them wholly believable. Overall, this book rewards patience and reflection, a devastating portrayal of love in old age and it's a fantastic metaphor for the way nations forget/remember traumatic events.