BERSERKER BARRAGE!

The premise is the same: superheroes and villains from the Marvel universe are pitted against the warriors of Capcom games. I did not play either of the previous games in-depth, so I wouldn’t really know if there have been improvements, but suffice to say the game system is sufficiently developed anyway, even if nothing new was added. The point (for me, anyway) is not any new gameplay gimmick, but the slew of new characters that were added into the game.

One of my favorite additions has to be Dante, of the Devil May Cry franchise. In MvC3 he’s a great character with insane reach, projectiles, speed (though some characters are faster, but he’s pretty fast in his own right) and a HUGE amount of specials. They basically ported a huge bunch of his combos – including unlockable weapons from the third game Cerberus, Agni and Rudra, Nevan and Artemis – into the game, which resulted in a gigantic movelist. He has something like 20-30 specials, and even some of his normals gattling into other moves. A deep character, to be sure.

Feel the looooove of the Hyper Combo!

My second favourite addition to the roster is from the Marvel side. You guessed it, its Deadpool. Portrayed in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie as a mouthy swordsman, the Deadpool here is more true to his comic book origins. Full of insane quips (“PINEAPPLE SURPRISE!”, “I’m the ghost of Christmas KICK YOUR ASS!!”, “HAVE GUN WILL SHOOT!” are some of my favorites), funky move names (KATANA-RAMA!! comes to mind) and downright hilarity (down to his stance; after hopping around for awhile he stops to scratch his butt), Deadpool makes a great addition. The guy who suggested that he should be added in must be patting himself on the back right now.

Many old characters have been removed, of course, like Rock Man, Cable, Cyclops, Jin and Strider. Some of the classics are still here, though; Ryu, Wolverine, Chun-Li, Spider-man, Akuma and Hulk are playable, along with newcomers like She-Hulk, Crimson Viper, Super-Skrull, Trish, Viewtiful Joe, X-23 and Zero, to name a few.

The game gets a much-needed facelift from the previous game; gone are the 2D graphics, the less-than-spectacular effects. The game is done in the style of the recent Street Fighter 4, with American-comic-book-style “sound-words” and fonts. The effects are spectacular and over-the-top, which suits the game perfectly.

Music wise, the game leaves something to be desired. I have been pampered by the excellent compositions of Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, and the pieces in MvC3, while decent enough for the game, can definitely be improved a great deal. For one, they could do with less of the “electronic” feel and go with a more rocking tune. I’m just sayin’.

Overall, definitely a great game. Pick it up if you’re a fighting game fan, even if you’re not a fan of the series. It will make you a believer.

I’ve had a fair share of ups and downs in life. Then again, who hasn’t? Everyone has their good days, and everyone has days where they feel like the world’d be better off without them, or perhaps they’d be better off without the world. Life is the largest rollercoaster in the world, and its twists and turns are many, and not all are enjoyable.

Since my younger days, I’ve always been a slightly more sensitive person when it comes to emotions and feelings. I feel more acutely than most, some might even say I’m oversensitive. Guys usually aren’t much of a “sensor” type, meaning they don’t pick up on visual cues, body language and vibes. I’ve always been able to feel these, especially the more negative emotions. I’m easily affected by these vibes, even if I read them wrongly, and it affects my behavior greatly. If I feel a negative vibe from a group of people or a few persons I become closed off, quiet and, as some perceive it, “too cool”.

I’m also a thinker. I hate this facet of my personality, along with my short temper and sometimes tactless replies. I inherited this from my father, and I’m not proud of it. I will end up thinking too deeply into something, and again, it affects my behavior greatly. Overall as a person, I’d like to say I’m an optimist, but deep down, buried deep beneath layers of stubbornness, I’m a pessimist. I gravitate easily to the negative, whether I like it or not. I force myself to be cheerful sometimes, though its obvious I fail dismally at it. Many a times I need to talk to someone about issues that have been churning in my mind constantly, just to get it out of my system, and to let someone else know. This person is sometimes my sister, my mother, never my father. Most of my friends IRL are not reliable on this as well; even the small group I call my brothers, despite my loyalty to them and my pledge that I will do anything, even fight to the death for them, do not know me on an emotional level. More so for friends I meet online. None of them understand the real Malzias; I think most of them see me as a clown of sorts, due to my constant stream of lame jokes and antics. All they’ve ever seen is a facade, a side of me that everyone knows. I think there’s probably only one person, whom I consider a friend and who I met online, knows me slightly better than everyone else.

Some of you might know that I’m attached. Yes, amazing as it seems, this insane BlazBlue addict has a second half. It happened awhile ago, about two weeks into my enlistment into the Army. She’s my first, and naturally, I shower her with as much love and affection as I can muster. I don’t do it expecting anything in return, but sometimes it’d be nice to get something back. I’m not saying she doesn’t reciprocate, but sometimes I just don’t feel it. Maybe I’m expecting too much, or maybe she thinks I’m smothering her.

I’ll never know, because she’ll never tell.

From the numerous battles that my parents have waged in my years on this earth, I have understood that communicating with one another is essential to living together in harmony. Even if there are conflicting ideas, talking about them will eventually lead to a solution, or at least a compromise. I may not be the best at it, but for a start I know that its important to communicate. Especially about anything particularly bothersome.

We recently fell out of the honeymoon phase, and the transition was pretty abrupt. Problems that I was blind to before came up, but since most were minor, I held silence, perhaps unwisely, to avoid conflict. There are two troubling matters now, things that could really escalate and go out of hand, and I want to resolve them once and for all in a way that we can both agree on.

The main flaw in this plan is that she isn’t the kind who would sit down for a proper talk on these matters, unless I approach it from a proper standpoint, and when we’re both in positive moods. One of the “troubling matters” is this; that I can’t really speak with her about these things, and if anything’s bothering her, she won’t tell me. I’ve told you about my belief in communication, and I want to know if anything is wrong. “Maybe she feels you’re prying too much?” you say. True, that may be the case. But I strongly feel that even if you feel I’m prying, you should tell me about it, because what affects you will affect me, whether you want it to or not.

Something happened recently, just yesterday in fact, and its already eating me up inside. We had our first big fight about the second issue as mentioned above, and we made up yesterday. Everything seemed okay, if a wee bit tense, and we had a quiet Christmas with two closer friends. I did note that she seemed rather tired, and quieter than usual. She attributed it to exhaustion, and I accepted that reason, because she really did seem tired. But later that night something happened, and I’m not sure what. I ask her about it, but she refuses to tell me, saying that its her problem and not something I need to know about. I sent her a text in the morning, and she didn’t even reply. She acts as though everything is okay, when I know there’s something wrong. Things like this can send my thoughts into overdrive, and send me into a contemplative depression.

The second matter is something that I’ve already pointed out to her, and I don’t really feel like discussing it, since the matter’s been somewhat resolved, and I’m waiting to test my resolve on this matter. Perhaps in due time.

All of these are not things that’re pleasant to keep bottled up. Add the factor that I’m still deeply, madly in love with her, and the feelings are multiplied tenfold, perhaps even hundredfold. I’m probably sitting on the edge of depression right now, what with all the things that happen in my workplace. I need someone who’s there for me, who I can talk to, who will share everything with me, and I want her to be the one. But I wonder… does she feel the same?

If you read through this, congratulations, you understand me a little more now.

Let’s start off with a basic introduction on Shizuo.

Widely acknowledged and feared as the strongest person in Ikebukuro, Shizuo is a blonde man with a hair-trigger temper who is always dressed in a bartender’s outfit and a pair of blue shades. Despite his violent tendencies when angered, he dislikes violence. His name in Japanese translates into “Peaceful Island, Quiet Man”, a complete opposite of his actual behavior and represents something he himself wants to achieve. He is normally a pretty quiet guy… unless of course, angered.

In what must have been a joke by some higher power, Shizuo is blessed with tremendous physical strength. The first time he displayed this was when he lifted a refrigerator in an attempt to squash his younger brother, Heiwajima Kasuka, for eating his pudding. However, Shizuo’s body did not at first have the endurance he currently possesses; the first few times he unleashed his strength resulted in numerous injuries and fractures. As he continually uses his unparalleled strength in various acts of violence, he slowly conditioned his body to the point where getting hit by trucks barely injures him at all. He also has an insane level of tolerance for pain; getting stabbed in the thighs and hand by pens merely amuses him, and he doesn’t even feel it when he gets shot.

Shinra: “What in the world happened?”

Shizuo: “Well, at first I thought that I’d slipped and fell in the rain. Then I noticed that blood was gushing out of my stomach and leg… So I realized, “Oh, I’ve been shot.”

Shizuo uses anything and everything around him as a weapon; his favorite, and most iconic, being stop signs and vending machines. He is, however, an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant as well, being able to hold off an entire horde of attackers on his own.

He generally is an okay person towards anyone who doesn’t anger him or isn’t Orihara Izaya, and he has a soft spot for Celty Sturlsson. He is also a long-time acquaintance of Kishitani Shinra; they have known each other since elementary school. For some reason, he cannot remember Sonohara Anri’s name. The only person in the series who can actually match his strength is Simon Brezhnev, whom Shizuo is actually on okay terms with. The only person Shizuo will actively chase, attack, and attempt to kill, is Orihara Izaya, a man he met at Raira Academy and who has been his enemy since the day they met.

Because of his short fuse, Shizuo has problems keeping a job. He will usually lose his temper at the slightest provocation, and has been fired from numerous jobs, including the one where he works as a GARtender bartender. He was fired from that as well, and he works now as a bodyguard for his friend Tom Tanaka, who is a debt collector.

Shizuo is a very unique character; despite his explosively violent tendencies, he is actually a pretty shy, quiet person. He’s shown to be an extremely loyal friend, as he immediately offers to kill the Slasher when he found out that Celty was attacked by her. He seems to be on good terms with Simon and Kadota as well, as they greet him on the streets when they see him, and he actually replies… when he’s in the mood.

Overall, Shizuo is a complicated and amusing character to watch. Definitely one of the more interesting characters I’ve come across in awhile.

Bouncy, isn’t she.

Makoto is a mid to close ranged character (surprise surprise) with a noticeable lack of zoning tools and projectiles aside from Break Shot. However, her options vastly improve when she gets in range. She has a multitude of moves to use to constantly put her opponent under pressure, is perfect for players who love rushdown characters (like me).

Her Drive, Impact, is reminiscent of Order Sol’s Charge system. When held, the attack is charged up to a maximum of level 3. At level one, the punch does minimal damage. At level 3, the punch increases in strength significantly, and gains several new properties, like wallbounce, greatly increased recovery, Guard Break and Fatal Counter. Her Drive takes time to get used to, though, as if the button is held too long the gauge will drain after it hits the maximum. Random note: her level 3 D moves feel alot like Sol Badguy’s Sidewinder Clean Hits.

To make things less dry, here’s a video:

Note: Also visible in that video is her “Parry Loop”, where she cancels her moves with her Space Counter, then repeats her combo. In a recent patch her Parry Loop was removed.

I think my 10 dollars were well spent on her. Now, back to attempting to get better at her. Ciao.

This post is hella delayed, but two weeks ago I passed out from Basic Military Training and was promoted from a Recruit to a Private. Hooray, hooray.

The only difference now, of course, is that I can keep my hair longer.

Once again, no details from me, but I’m currently employed as an administrative assistant. In layman terms, a clerk. In certain aspects, its a hell lot better than some of the other vocations, but in others, it isn’t. Pros and cons to every position, I guess.

To all the guys whom I spoke and forged friendships with, thank you for all the fond memories these past two months and I hope all of you have a great (if not great, at least bearable) 2 years ahead! Let’s meet up some time

*”Lan lan” is a Hokkien expletive, literally meaning “penis penis”. It is used to express resignation in the face of what one sees as a pointless undertaking.

I completely disagree with the design on the new Dante. And what’s up with the black hair?

The action, of course, looks slick as ever, despite the game being developed by Ninja Theory of Heavenly Sword fame instead of internally by Capcom. I dunno about you, but I found Heavenly Sword sluggish compared to DMC or God of War. Hopefully the game will retain its fast-paced action and Smokin’ Sick Style.

Hopefully there will be a proper explanation for this nonsense.

Freakin’ awesome stuff. Looks like his Drive allows him to swap between his human form and his wolf form. He also has a meter (typical ArcSys) that drains as he uses his wolf form, so safe to say it denotes how long he can stay transformed. He looks like a close to mid range specialist (the range on one of those kicks seems to reach as far as Ragna’s 5B) without any sort of projectile, so, true to many a fan prediction, he’ll probably play somewhat like Guilty Gear’s Slayer.

This also makes it the third of the Six Heroes who have become playable, along with Haku-men and Terumi. We all know Platinum is next on the list, but when Jubei will make his appearance as a playable character is anyone’s guess.

Again, I can’t say much else about what we do but suffice to say we’re being trained to support the combat units.

On an unrelated note, do check out a series of videos titled “Every Singaporean Son” on YouTube if you want a peek at what goes down in Tekong. It skims the surface of what we do, and should provide watchers with an idea of our training.

Which is odd in itself, because we’re actually not supposed to talk about our training.

I can’t go into details as to what we do in there exactly, but I’ll say this for a fact: there’s a whole lot of bullshit we have to take on a daily basis, doled out from both the commanding officers as well as from other recruits, some of whom think they are better than others, others simply too stupid to listen to orders.

I think the best thing I can take away from this experience is to be able to meet all kinds of people from different walks of life all serving a compulsory term to protect the country. Its a truly eye-opening experience, to meet great people who make great friends and companions, as well as complete morons, who have trouble with the simplest orders.

I won’t be doing a “My Life in National Service” series, but I’ll see if I can get back to at least posting weekly. Ciao, for now.

Basically what it is (local readers will forgive me for explaining this… wait, I speak as though I have readers from all over the world! how presumptuous of me) is a two-year military training program that every Singaporean male will have to go through at one point in his life as a citizen of the Lion City. The country is small, you see, and so is the population, and to maintain a large military force would not be plausible (or so we are told) and therefore, all male citizens are to be trained to be able to defend the country, should the need arise.

“Why are you telling us this?” you ask. The answer is simple: I, like TheFuzzy recently before me, am about to enlist for National Service.

This will probably mean that this blog, as it has been on several times previously, will be very much dead in terms of posts. I know I don’t really post much anyway, neither have my posts deviated much from the one thing that I always seem to have something to angst or report about, but I’m just, y’know, throwing this out there, in case one of my two or three loyal readers would come and find the blog dead without explanation.

I am unsure on where I will be posted to in the army, and if I am lucky I might get a “slack” enough station that I might be able to go home everyday, but for the next two months I will only be available on weekends (most likely) and I will try to post something or other, if I can manage to catch up with news about these few things that I post about. I might even do something of an “My Life in NS” kind of series, or something (though this is pretty stupid, since I probably will not have pictures in the post and they will be extremely wordy and dry).

This will probably be my last post as a NEET before enlisting, so… I’ll see you guys in about two weeks time.