TRD Reviews: Gunnerkrigg Court

Actually, that is true. That sentence is a typo. I meant to say that Lake Hylia filled up again after you beat the temple. Thanks for pointing that error out!

So, unfortunately, I am having trouble running The Gray Garden on my Mac. (Seriously, guys, don't get Macs) so, I will be reviewing something different. 

EDIT: My new review will be on Fate/Stay Night. Sorry for the change, but I won't be able to review The Gray Garden until it can work on my laptop.

So you know how I said the Gray Garden was a game I'd been considering playing for a while and that I might use this as an excuse to play it myself? Well, even though therationaldove couldn't play it, I decided to do so anyway. But then I decided I'd rather try the other one by the same person that I was even more interested in instead: Wadanohara. Now not to steal therationaldove's thunder, but I figured I'd briefly post my thoughts it here (under spoiler tag due to what could be considered spoilers):

I would agree with that, it wasn't much of a game as it was a somewhat interactive visual novel. But I liked it all the same!

Fate/Stay Night [Unlimited Blade Works] [SPOILERS HERE]

Background: Fate/Stay Night was a visual novel video game released for Windows in 2004, by Type-Moon, that was later adapted to a maanga series then several anime series after that. The one that I watched was the most recent one, released in 2014. Because the original source material was a visual novel, there are three different routes that events can take. This anime adaptation follows the Ultimate Blade Works route.

Knowledge Pre-Review: I had vaguely heard of this anime whispered about, but I had never really watched it. In fact, I haven’t really watched all that much anime to begin with and most of my anime knowledge ends in the late 2000’s. However, I am eager to jump in and see what’s in store.

Story: Emiya Shirou is a high school student who has latent magical abilities. Ten years ago, he was rescued from a fire by a man named Emiya Kiritsugu, who then raised him as his own son. After his passing, Shirou is determined to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a hero of justice, fighting for others and putting them before himself. While staying after school too long one night, he is found by a weird man known as Lancer, who kills him because he has seen what was going on, though he is then revived and wakes up at his house. Unfortunately, Lancer discovers this and goes to kill him, when he accidentally summons a woman only known as Saber. Through this action, Shirou finds himself embroiled in a Holy Grail War, a fight to the death between six other Masters with a Servant each, in order to claim the reward of the Holy Grail. Among the Masters is Shirou’s fellow schoolmate, Tousaka Rin and her Servant, Archer. As the story progresses, the rabbit hole gets deeper and people are not what they seem to be on the surface.
    The story is pretty typical when it comes to your average shounen anime plot; Magical beings, some jargon, and flashy fights. However, there are some elements that I feel stand out. For one, because this is an adaptation from a visual novel, this means there are a ton of female characters that take up more screen time than the male characters, aside from the main protagonist, Shirou. Of course, this heavy amount of females is there mostly because a lot of them would have served as romantic interests for our lead. Here, though, Tousaka is the main romantic interest and the only one investigated. On the downside, because this is an adaptation, there are a lot of questions and gaps left unanswered that I feel could be answered more definitively. They hint at a lot of elements that are just never explored: who Rider was, if Sakura was meant to be a Master or not, the connection between Kiritsugu and the Holy Grail War, ect. Since the visual novel had multiple paths, it can be assumed that these unanswered questions are answered in the other paths. So, watching the anime leaves out a couple things to be desired. Related to that, there are a couple moments that I felt were slightly unnecessary. For example, towards the end of the series, Tousaka needs to transfer her seals to Shirou, but in order to do so, they need to be partially naked. On one hand, it is amusing to see these obviously romantic leads be flustered by the event, but on the other hand, you can tell this moment would’ve been much more, well, adult in the game version. It kinda felt unneeded. While the connection that they form through the transfer allows Shirou to see a touching moment within Rin’s memories, that could’ve all been done without them getting naked to do so.
    The biggest complaint that I have is that some of the dialogue and jargon can get a little hard to follow. The anime does make sure to take its time to discuss everything in detail, but there were many times were I had to replay some parts in order to get a better understanding of what was being talked about.
    There are a couple twists and turns in the plot and even the details that aren’t answered are hinted at enough for the viewer to piece them together without anything spoken about directly. The pacing is very well done, I think. The story really allows for you to take in everything and feel the emotions of the characters and the stakes of the current plot.

Visuals and Audio: The animation style itself is pretty bland. Not to say that it is bad, it just doesn’t stand out to me in the way that other anime-styles do like Pokemon or Death Note. What does stand out are the backgrounds. There is a constant mixture of 2D and 3D animation happening. Lots of shots and certain elements of the background are modeled. I have to say, on the whole, that the mixture is slightly hit and miss. The best use of them is during transitions, creating the illusion of speed and dynamics that 2-D animation struggles to achieve. It can heighten the tension or make a moment more dramatic. Other times, it can be distracting. The worst instance of them was with the liquid in some scenes. The physics weren’t really that believable and, when water was 3D animated, it didn’t really look convincing. The poison that pored out of the Holy Grail at the end, while noticeably 3D, worked because of the sickening feelings that scene is suppose to make you feel. While I commend the attempt, I think that in some moments, a traditional 3D animation would have been better. The voice acting was good. All of the performances were solid and all of the voices fit the characters. There were some moments where I thought the delivery didn’t quite fit with the animation, but no big complaints.

Setting, Tone, and Themes: I really liked the fact that the whole series took place in a single city, with only a couple location changes. It gave the action a more personal feeling as characters that you know live and work where the action is happening. When things get destroyed, they stay destroyed and aren’t ignored or magically fixed. This anime is also not afraid to kill major characters off as part of the whole design, which makes each fight sequence tense. The death also serves as a good way to juxtapose Shirou’s beliefs and the war that he is fighting. The themes that the anime explores are also cleverly tied to the Servants themselves. There is a large discussion on reality versus fantasy. How can one follow an ideal if it is not logically possible? One person cannot save everyone and sometimes, you have to sacrifice one to save all, which seems to contradict the idea of working towards a world where no one has to suffer. That struggle between rationality and ideology is mimicked in how the Servants can be seen as both real-life figures (Gilgamesh and King Arthur, for example) and pure myth, even if they were all based on someone real. The series, through everything, convey this struggle really well and gets you to think about some deeply philosophical things.

Conclusion: Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is a great anime. It’s intriguing, action packed, full of tense moments and has a good amount of emotion strung along in there. The themes that it questions are all very thought provoking. I do wish the animation style was more distinct and that some of the plot elements were described a touch more clearly, but otherwise, it is a sure recommendation.

Rating: 7.5/10

That anime described only one route of fate/stay night, which like you said, was a visual novel.
The visual novel is described as a eroge though, so I'd say the anime is good enough.
If you do want to play visual novels, here are some popular ones
higurashi (the anime is more popular)
umineko (spiritual sequel to higurashi)
fate/stay night (duh)
tsukihime (made by the same guys who did fate)
and
danganronpa
Anti-recommendations
Danganronpa and umineko's anime are bad, do not watch them.
Tsukihime had a anime, but I'm not sure if it's good or not, it's barely ever mentioned.
Higurashi has an anime, as previously mentioned, but whether or not it's good is up to you.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc [SPOILERS HERE]

Background: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc was developed by Spike Chunsoft and released in 2010 for PC, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita and mobile devices. It is, as far as I can tell, Spike Chunsoft's first game.

Knowledge Pre-Review: I had heard a lot about Danganronpa when it first became popular and I know it is highly regarded. Mystery games are one of my favorite genres, so I am looking forward to finally checking this game out.

Story: The story opens with Makoto Naegi, a high school student that has been selected at random to attend Hope’s Peak Academy, a school designed for the best of the best. Those who graduate from the academy are said to be set for life. All of Makoto’s fellow classmates are said to be the ‘ultimate” student at something: the Ultimate Pop Star, Ultimate Clairvoyant, Ultimate Fashionista, ect. Makoto, on the other hand, is seemingly unimpressive and overwhelmingly average, even by average’s standards. Still, he accepted the invitation and entered the school. After a dizzy spell, he finds himself awake in one of the classrooms and is told to meet everyone else in the main hall. Here, he finds fourteen other students who are presumably also attending. Soon, it becomes apparent that someone has trapped them in the school and plans to force them to play a killing game. This person speaks to the group through Monokuma, a remote controlled bear, not unlike Jigsaw the puppet, and tells them that in order to graduate from the school, they must kill someone and not get caught. Once someone is killed, a class trial will begin, in which everyone will try to uncover the truth. If they select the right person, the murderer will be executed, but if they choose wrong, they all have to be executed and the murdered walks free. The game then follows Makoto trying to encourage and make the best out of their situation while trying to give hope to his fellow classmates. The setup is a bit bizarre. A game in which a bunch of kids try to kill each other because a bear told them to sounds pretty stupid on the surface, but the way in which the story is told makes the game very engaging and fun. The pacing sells the story, as you uncover bits and pieces the more you play, eventually leading to a near-complete picture by the end.
    By far, what makes Danganronpa work is its character. Every design is super memorable and each have their own motives and characteristics that make them unique. While some characters are stereotypical in how they are presented, there is just enough time spend on them that they feel very individual, despite the archetypes that the characters fall into. There is some unseen depth that is tapped into with each one, which then makes it even more tragic when one gets murdered or even ends up trying to murder another. The game does a good job of setting up these people as human. Even when a character commits murder, you feel like they were driven to the action due to their surrounding environment and not because of any innate nature or quality, aside from their humanity. The only character that I though did not fit this mould was Junko, who was revealed to be the mastermind behind the killing game. Her personality jumped around a lot and her motivation seemed almost unreal. Aside from that, the plot and characters are all engaging. When one character dies, you feel the loss.

Visuals and Audio: Danganronpa’s graphics are a combinations of 2D character sprites and 3D backgrounds. The segments that involve the school are all rendered in 3D. Each room, while loading, assembles itself. Some assest look 3D while others are clearly 2D sprites. Each character is rendered in 2D. The whole design makes it look like a diorama or dollhouse set. Each area of the school is uniquely designed and memorable. Unfortunately, it can be a bit easy to get lost in the school when walking from room to room. 
    The voice acting is pretty good. All of the voices match the characters and the deliveries are all spot on for the most part. There were a couple cheesy deliveries, but nothing too over the top. I think Junko’s voice actor did the best job, as she had to change her voice pretty sporadically throughout the performance, while keeping the character sounding somewhat consistent, which is hard to do.
The audio for this game is one of the weaker parts. The soundtrack is pretty minimal and the tracks that are used are pretty forgettable altogether. The best song is probably the main theme, but the rest of the tracks are all pretty standard. There was nothing notable about it.

Setting and Tone: Having the killing game occur in a high school is a pretty great choice. A familiar environment turned hostile makes the situation all that more frightening, even though this school isn’t completely familiar. (How many of us had a target range and rec room at our high school? Not many, most likely.) As I briefly mentioned before the coloriful environments clash with the dark overtones of the game. The blood is colored hot pink but that doesn’t make it any less horrific when a friend dies. There are security cameras in every corner of the building, making it feel like there is someone always watching you regardless of where you may be at the time. It’s pretty awful.
    The big theme the game touts is hope versus despair. Monokuma talks a lot about turning everyone to despair and trying to show the world that despair is better than hope. The protagonist, on the other hand, represents that very hope and how it can survive even in the hardest of situations. The game seems to argue that both despair and hope are simultaneous events, as it were. Without despair, there is no hope; without hope, there is no despair. Monokuma’s yin-yang coloration also seems to reflect this duality.

Gameplay: The game is in a visual novel style, which means there is minimal gameplay. Most of the story progresses through dialogue and clicking on highlighted elements of the background. When in the school, you can walk around and venture into rooms. Getting into discussions with characters can either progress the story or, during Free Time, learn more about the character and fill in a page of their report card. If you give them an appropriate present, you get a skill which can then be used in the Class Trail segments.
    The Class Trials have a lot more involvement from the player. During the trial, the NPCs will make statements about the incident. There are yellow words in the statements called weak spots that can be contradicted using Truth Bullets, which are bullets with the name of some evidence that was gathered before the class trial began. If the right Truth Bullet is shot at the right weak spot, the Nonstop Battle is won. Hangman’s Gambit involves shooting at floating letters to spell out a word. Bullet Time Battle is by far the hardest mode. It involves confronting someone who is in denial about a fact from the trial. You have to time button presses to the rhythm of the song while simultaneously shooting accusations that your adversary says to you. I found these to be the most difficult.
While the gameplay is minimal, the Class Trial segments offer the kind of variety that the rest of the game lacks in the gameplay department. Having the Bullet battles keeps the player engaged in the trial as well.

Conclusion: Danganronpa is an excellent gam that gets you thinking. It is more about the plot and the characters than about the gameplay, which is unlike any of the other games I have reviewed here. These games, while rare, are much appreciated as it is a different way to play video games. After playing this one, I am excited to play the sequel.

Rating: 8/10

Sweet! I'm glad you liked it! And yeah what neptz said, definitely play the sequel when you get a chance, it's amazing.

Which character was your favorite, and which moment was most shocking for you?

My favorite character is a tough call. I love all of the them (or at least most of them) for various reasons. I think that Kyoko, Sakura and Yasuhiro are some of my favorites. Though it's a real tough call.

The most shocking moment was learning that the outside world had been corrupted somehow. While I knew the Tradegy happened, I didn't know or even think that it had happened to the outside world. It's interesting how the game isn't forthright about exactly what happened, but you can tell whatever it was took it by storm. I'm also shocked that Junko was able to do what she did with only her and her sister, though I am sure there is some larger conspiracy going on.

Yes, I do have a working PS2. the controllers pooped out on me a couple times, though. I even have a working PS1.

Terraria is not difficult without a guide. Just go by your intuition.
God of War is a goddamn classic.
Skyward Sword is interesting.
League of Legends. The community is TERRIBLE sometimes, but otherwise it's really fun. I play Orianna all the time.
Dwarf Fortress is the most complex and virtually impossible if you don't know what you're doing. Once you get the hang of it (which takes weeks, sometimes even months) you can do some realy incredible stuff.

Hey guys! Since I enjoyed Wadanohara so much, I just started playing The Gray Garden and will post my thoughts here when I finish. From what I understand it's basically like a Wadanohara Lite involving Demons. Other than that, all I really know about it is that Vendetto's father and sister are in it (his father being one of the villains).

Anyway, in the meantime, I randomly made a list of fun facts about my Wadanohara playthrough:

Welp, I finished the Gray Garden. My thoughts are in the spoiler below: