Tales of Zestiria Collector's Edition Unboxing

Picked up the newest Tales game this past week, collector's edition for Tales of Zestiria.  The collector's edition comes in a deluxe box the same size as the Tales of Symphonia Collection collector's edition.  The box includes 4 small chibi figures, 3 8-bit inspired keychains, selection soundtrack CD, Dawn of the Shepherd anime Blu-Ray, hardcover artbook, game in a standard PS4 case and an alternative steelbook case.  There are also some DLC codes included.  This box was packed full of some really unique items.  The 8-bit keychains are awesome!!!

Tales of Zestiria Collector's Edition Inards and Slipcase

Collector's Edition Without Sleeve

Top left photo shows the Tales of Zestiria: Dawn of Shepard anime,  Top right is the hardcover artbook.  Middle is the game in its PS4 case.  Bottom pictures show the Steelbook case that also houses the soundtrack.

8-bit Inspired Keychains

The 8-bit keychains are a lot more awesome than you would originally think.  I think they are really well done with the separate bit lines being indented.  They are a really cool addition.  Now lets look at the chibi characters!

Sorey

Mikleo

Alisha

Edna

The chibi characters are great.  The center piece to this collector's edition.  They are great for anime figure/statue collector's and fans of JRPGs!

I am going to start my adventure in Tales of Zestiria.  I have been looking forward to this game for a long time now.  For more pictures visit my album!

Game Pickups 10/24/2015

Found some awesome DS titles at a local Gamestop and hit a few pawn shops with very little luck.  

Overview of all my pickups this last week

Wife and I decided we wanted to play Zelda Triforce Heroes last second at Gamestop

Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone expansion and Gwent card combo

Tales of Zestiria Collector's Edition arrived (unboxing soon)

Couple Dragon Quest games I needed.  CIB and I used a coupon to get them cheap!

My only pawn shop purchase Gungriffon Blaze from Working Designs

Gunpla - 1/144 HG - RTX-65 Guntank Early Type - Out of Box Build

After watching the first episode of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I purchased the Guntank Early Type kit.  All thanks to Char's badassery when his sister Artesia are escaping their space colony.

 This was a very simple kit to put together.  Some of the engineering choices made for the Guntank were very surprising and well done.  This kit actually has quite a few small pieces that are not typical for a HG.  One of the best parts about this kit are the canons on the shoulders.  They have a very cool gimick with some simple pistons (which are going to be difficult to paint and not scratch).

I really appreciate the thought given to the barrels on the hands that are actually a seperate piece of plastic from the rest of the hand.  This will make it very easy to airbrush instead of worrying about screwing up with handpainting.

The treads of the Guntank are on a swivel polycap with a ball joint and a ball joint connecting to the tread.  This makes for some dynamic poses that give the Guntank some attitude.

This was a very fun kit to put together.  If you notice in the pictures I did not put on the smaller pieces because...well...I plan on painting the kit a different color and doing battle damage and weathering.  This is a kit design that surely lends itself to battle damage.  Keep an eye out for any works in progress updates or the final product.

For some other pictures visit my album.

Muv-Luv Kotobukiya 1/7 Yui Takamura

Decided it was time to look at Yui Takamura 1/7th scale Kotobukiya given to me, along with Cryska Barchenowa, by my awesome wife!  This also marks my first post of an anime statue, but will not be the last.

Yui Takamura 1/7th Scale Kotobukiya

 This is an absolutely stunning statue of Yui.  The statue includes the removable katana and three pieces of debris.  The debris can be scattered along the base.  I typically roll them in like dice to give them a chaotic placement.

Back of Box

The box isn't anything special but I thought I would show a picture of the back for those that are interested.

There are some "assets" to Yui that will be immediately noticeable.  Gloss paint gives it bit more oomph.

  Absolutely love the detail provided in the hair.  This is definitely one of the draws to this statue.

 Lastly looking at those perfectly detailed purple eyes with a slightly sideways glance.  Here you can see more detail in the hair.

Few extra pictures included in my album!

Check out my other posts regarding Muv-Luv!  Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse and Muv-Luv Kickstarter!

Krom's Backed Kickstarter Games

Kickstarter video game development has been a hot topic recently due to some controversies and some large successes.  If you want to see my post regarding controversies on Kickstarter see my blog post HERE!  I have backed quite a few Kickstarters this last year and want to share my reasons for backing these projects.

One missed opportunity I had for Kickstarter was Shovel Knight.  I was aware of the Kickstarter and watched it everyday.  Unfortunately I was a recent college graduate looking for my first job and did not have the funds to spend on Kickstarter.  This was one of the very first Kickstarters that I really wanted to back but I did not have any cash burning a hole in my pocket.

My first backed Kickstarter project was the spiritual successor to Rare's Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Laylee.  Interestingly enough this was Kickstarted on my wife's behalf.  She is a huge Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie fan.  In-fact she plays through Banjo-Kazooie on a yearly basis.  Once I showed her that some of the old creators were creating a spiritual successor it was a no brainer to back this project.

Yooka-Laylee

Yooka Laylee is a return of the 3D collect-a-thon games of yore.  It shares a lot in common with Banjo-Kazooie, including the main characters being a duo character of sorts.  Instead of a bear and bird combo it is a chameleon (Yooka) and bat (Laylee) combo, which are quite adorable and badass!  (profanity for keeping my street cred up)  This game is sure to have a ton of charm...come on...it has a snake wearing pants named Trowser that sells new moves to Yooka and Laylee.  Hope I don't have to explain that any further!

Couple weeks after Yooka-Laylee was announced, Koji Igarashi took to Kickstarter to try and get backers to support development of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.  If you do not know who Koji Igarashi is he is one of the founding fathers of a game playstyle known as metroidvania or igavania.  These type of games include a huge map of interconnected rooms or halls that house a slew of enemies that need to be taken out by the player.  A notable game in this genre is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.  The reason I decided to back this Kickstarter was because I absolutely love metroidvania games.  One of my favorite games is Castlevania Aria of Sorrow (GBA) and its sequel Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow (DS).  There were several other metroidvania games released for the DS that were also great games but none that impacted me as much as these two games.  I am looking forward to the eventual release of this game, hopefully everything goes smoothly during development and we see the release in 2017.

My copies of Castlevania metroidvania games

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - Main Character Miriam

For the next game I will admit that I completely got caught up in the hype.  "ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!!!"  I don't regret backing the game as I only backed $60 for the physical PS4 version.  The game is Shenmue 3.  What I knew of Shenmue was pretty small since I have not played it yet, however, I do own it.  I remember a friend of mine that lived across from me as a kid had a Dreamcast and a game called Shenmue.  I remember him never shutting up about how great the game was.  "Ya, ya.  Will you just put in Spawn already!"  People have been waiting for a Shenmue 3 for years and at this years E3 the creator took to the stage at the Playstation conference and announced a Shenmue 3 Kickstarter campaign.  Not sure what had a larger applause Shenmue 3 Kickstarter or Final Fantasy VII Remake.

The last game I backed on Kickstarter is Muv-Luv.  I have already posted regarding this Kickstarter which is currently still live.  If you want to browse what I had to say regarding this Kickstarter just click!

Quick Gameroom Pictures!!!

I plan on doing a much bigger game room post with better and more pictures once this year is over!

Video Games on Kickstarter

Want to make a post regarding Kickstarter.  More specifically video games on Kickstarter.  We are at a point now where many older video game Kickstarters are being released.  There have been quite a few controversies.  These controversies have many people storming to forums telling others "this is why I don't back anything, its just a sham".  I don't want these controversies to cause people to not support something they believe in.  Let's cover the controversies and discuss some of the games that we have got that were great successes thanks to Kickstarter.

One of the most recent controversies is Project Phoenix.  Project Phoenix was a huge success on Kickstarter and for very good reason, the talent.  The developers for Project Phoenix are well known creators from Final Fantasy including Nobuo Uematsu (composer) and Kiyoshi Arai (artist).  Originally looking for $100,000 to help fund the development they shattered the goal by raising over $1,000,000.  Well it seems that $1,000,000 was not enough.  While all the assets are created and ready the team still has no programmer.  What is a game without a programmer?  Nothing.  Missing the original release date of March 2015, things are looking very grim.  The company CIA is still actively looking for a programmer after the programmer they wanted, David Clark of Ori and the Blind Forest, was not able to work with them so the search continues.  Much of the funds raised are still available once development moves along.

Mighty No. 9.  You had to know this was coming.  Started by Keiji Inafune, famed video game producer and infamous illustrator for Mega Man, and his company Comcept.  What seemed like a home run turned into a disaster that continues to be delayed for release.  Earning $3,845,170 in the allotted Kickstarter time, overall earning $4 million after donations through Pay Pal back in 2013.  In 2014 another crowd funding campaign was launched for bonus content including English voice acting.  Why do we need to give more money for something that should have been included in the original campaign funding?  Internet was flooded with comments regarding Inafune's incompetency with budgeting.  Can you blame the internet though?  It gets better, months later Comcept took to Kickstarter to ask for additional funding for DLC.  We have not even seen the game released!  DLC?  This has not been a good example of what Kickstarter can do for the video gaming community.  Now with Comcept partnering with Deep Silver there will be retail versions of Mighty No. 9 available once it gets released.  Which is anyone's guess when that will be.  Currently set for Feb. 2016...

Keiji Inafune launches another crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter.  This time for a spiritual reboot of Mega Man Legends, named Red Ash.  Seems that support was weak.  Original goal was $800,000.  However, before much can be done to put a dent in the $800,000 Comcept announced that they found a company that wanted to produce the game and so the $800,000 would be used for bonus content to the game.  Many backers pulled their pledges and Red Ash fell short of its goal, only earning $518,000 and ultimately failing.  People continue to question Keiji Inafune and Comcept.  "Why would they not wait until Mighty No. 9 and use some the return from the game to create Red Ash?"  Good question!

There have been other games that have failed completely but none of them earning what these games have.  As unfortunate as it is for a Kickstarter to meet its funding to only then fail, it should be understood by those backing that they may not have a return on their pledge.

Turning to a more positive note there have been many successful Kickstarters.  Most notably in Shovel Knight which has thrived since its release and was the talk of the internet for months.  A NES 8-bit inspired game taking obvious notes from Duck Tales, Castlevania and Mega Man.  Originally released for Wii U and 3DS, Shovel Knight has now spread across most major platforms.  Hoping to see more from Yacht Club Games in the future.

Divinity Original Sin is another very successful Kickstarter.  Earning praise as a return to classic PC RPGs of yore.  Larian Studios is now working on an enchanced version of the game with release on current consoles and an update for current PC owners.  Releasing in a couple weeks.  I have not played Divinity Original Sin yet, but plan on picking up a copy for PS4.  Larian just had another successful Kickstarter for a second Divinity.

Kickstarter is exciting and it is difficult to not get sucked into the hype when a large project is launched.  Understanding that this is not a guarantee for a return on your money is the best way to keep expectations where they belong.  But there have been many games that would have never been created if it were not for Kickstarter.  Spend wisely!

See my post on Muv-Luv Kickstarter!!!