This is "Social Justice"

No "trigger warnings" here on this one, not this time, no nothing, This isn't satire, I'm getting straight to the goddamned fucking point.

THIS is what "social justice" is.

A talented teenage gymnast committed suicide after becoming concerned she would be branded "racist" after taking a joke photograph and sharing it with friends, an inquest heard.

So here you have it. This is what you wanted right? You Social Justice Warriors got what you wanted. Congratulations, you have achieved... "social justice."

A White 16 year old committed suicide because of fears of being branded a racist, over a politically incorrect picture. The picture being her with dark make-up and a scarf around her head, rather tame compared to what you'd see from some comedians. At any rate, are you pleased with yourselves? Are you proud of the work you've done here for "social justice"? I know you are, deep down you're jumping up and down like Chun-Li's SF2 victory pose. Only thing is, for once in your life have some integrity and fucking own this.

Is this not why you are here?!

And don't even try to tell me this isn't something you regressive leftist wanted. It was you who created this toxic social environment, where "...everything is racist... and you have to point it out!" It was you who took up the mantel of victimhood and White Guilt to craft your crybully golem and set it loose to enforce your regressive leftist "social justice" orthodoxy. It was you who programmed this golem to mercilessly pummel any White person who didn't adhere to your orthodoxy of the Penitent White and Minority Worship. It was you who created the environment that perpetuated this.

Don't try to tell me that you wouldn't send your golems out to dog pile this girl with accusations of "cultural appropriation" and of "black facing". She didn't revere the race of her boyfriend's family, you would have dog piled her in an instant. Because this is all one big game for you isn't it? Who can virtue signal the most and score the most "social justice" points among your group of regressive liberal circles.

If we accept cyberbullying as a thing, and that there are kids out there that would be driven to suicide by this bullying, then it logically must follow that crybullying would have the same end result. This is literally no different than those of the religious right bullying and driving a homosexual to suicide. There is literally no fucking difference at all between the religious right and the regressive left, they are two sides of the same coin.

This side is the regressive left.

This side is the religious right.

Both are totalitarian assholes that will brow beat you into thinking and believing what they want you to believe, and acting how they want you to act. 

See, if you Social Justice Warriors didn't start this dumpster fire of literally looking for anything that you could be offended by and throwing napalm on it and screaming racism and about a half a dozen other 'isms and kicking off an 'ol fashioned internet witch hunt and burning at the stake, she wouldn't expect the Thought Police to come out and drag her off to the Ministry of Love for re-education into Social Justice orthodoxy. She wouldn't have expected anything more than perhaps more animosity from the boyfriend's parents, if even that, since if no one took what she did as a big deal even if it got out beyond the private conversation, the rest of the public would just brush it off as just another kid acting the fool.

But that's not how it went down now is it? That's not the social landscape of 2016 is it? Orthodox behavior in 2016 is to adhere to political correctness, and to the punishment from deviating from orthodoxy is severe. Your methods of orthodoxy enforcement have been documented and and fear of this enforcement drove this 16 year old to essentially commit seppuku. Sure the method was different, but the mindset was the same, she was looking for an honorable way out.

You're so proud to be fighting for "social justice". Then take pride in this. Let everyone know that you had a part in this.

This is your work. So do as the good Doctor says...

"Own that shit. Own it! What'd you think was gonna happen? Huh?"

So either own it, or cut this "social justice" bullshit out before you drive someone else to suicide, and be an actual agent of change not some keyboard, arm chair, faux activist.

Be careful what you wish for. The highway to Hell is the Good Intentions Turnpike. Even the Communists had good intentions when they overthrew Czar Nicholas II.

THIS is "social justice".

"Shattered Stones": Retro review of Ace Combat 3: Electrophere (Western release)

Overall Score: 4.4

B+

Gameplay: 5
The gameplay is a solid evolution of the gameplay of Ace Combat 2. It comes in the form of crisp, responsive arcade-style flight-sim. By that I mean it doesn't necessarily follow real world physics and you don't need to worry about things such as blacking or reding out when pulling high-G maneuvers. In this regard the game strikes a great, maybe even perfect balance in a scheme that can appeal to both hardcore flight sim fans and more casual players.

The control scheme makes full use of the PS1's dual analogue and Dual Shock controllers, though it is also compatible with other controllers like the OG PS1 digital controller and the Namco NeGcon.
Left stick - controls pitch and roll.
Right stick - look
L1, R1 - break, accelerate
L2, R2 - yaw left, yaw right
Triangle - target select
Circle - missile
X - machine gun
Square - map
D-pad - look
You can also change to the more simplified controls where the Left stick also turns the plane as opposed to rolling it left and right. Ace Combat 3 essentially set the gold standard for console flight sim control schemes.

One big change from Ace Combat 2 is the introduction of optional weapons. You can now change out your machine gun between a light rapid fire gatling, a slower firing heavy gatling, a very slow firing large bore cannon, and a rapid fire laser cannon. Missiles come in the form of standard missiles, short range missiles with larger magazines, cruise missiles, and bombs. However this happens automatically, rather than the player manually changing between weapons. If the player selects bombs or cruise missiles in their load out, targeting planes will automatically equip the regular missiles, with targeting ground targets will automatically equip the bombs or cruise missiles. While at first it seems a bit clunky, it still does add another layer to the Ace Combat 2 based gameplay. This is fully developed later in Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies for the PS2 (I may or may not review PS2 games in the future), where the player can freely select between weapons.

Mission levels also vary from dog fights over cities, to ground attacks in a canyon area, flying down a ravine and staying below the ridgeline to avoid insta-kill anti-aircraft weaponry, and even a mission taking place in space. Several of the later levels will challenge the player's piloting skills by sending them to fly down though tunnels and engage in a dogfight within a geofront.

Given that it makes full use of the dual analog sticks, the digital setting is a bit gimped, and the as a result plays absolutely terrible on a touch screen interface.


Graphics and visuals: 5 
Easily one of the best looking games of the PS1, maybe even one of the best looking 32-bit games period.

You can choose from the 1st person cockpit view and the 3rd person view. In the 3rd person view you can see your fully animated aircraft model. You'll see the afterburner flame when you accelerate, you'll see the air breaks deploy when you slow down, and you'll see the control surfaces and thrust vectoring activating as you maneuver your plane. The 3D models of the fighters are fully rendered and you're free to use the game's camera to look around at your plane from various angles.

Clouds have also been added in and modeled, and details of objects and the ground will fade out as you climb. All this happens very smoothly with little sudden pop in that one would see in earlier 3D games. However you will see some strange texture warping when traveling close to the ground a very low level, however this seems to be a common thing with the PS1 as I've seen it happen in other 3D games.

The US version opens with an opening anime-style movie, consisting of various clips. While the video looks nice, these are actually cobbled together from various cutscenes from the Japanese version that did no appear in the Western releases (more on that in the Plot section). In the US version there are no cutscenes, instead the plot is told though in-game text between missions.


Stability 5
The game runs very well, I can't even recall having any sort of glitches, freezes or memory card related issues. I haven't encountered any major show stoppers. Though there's nothing really special about this as Namco generally puts out high quality games.


Plot: 2
I'm just going to flat out say it, the plot to the Western release sucks! It is completely bland and generic.

The player character is a pilot with the Universal Peace Enforcement Organization, the armed wing of the international Neo United Nations. The plot centers around a conflict between two rival international corporations, General Resource (formerly known as Grunder Industries from Ace Combat 5) and Neucom Inc. (formerly the EASA from Ace Combat 4 that developed the X-02 Wyvern), each with their own private militias, that predictably turn market competition between the two into into a shooting war. In steps the UPEO to check the two. Later on a third faction, the Ouroboros, that has been manipulating all parties appears. As I mentioned there are no cutscenes, in-game or FMV, and the plot is moved along by in-game text screens.

The plot is about as deep as the original Doom. While this might have been ok had the game came out much earlier, like in 1996, in 1999 this is unacceptable considering that Ace Combat 2 came out two years prior with a solid plot and a branching storyline (though both paths lead to the same ending).

But hold up, you might be wondering why I said "the Western release sucks", what's the difference. Well Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere actually has a pretty complex story with themes of political intrigue, loyalty, and transhumanism, along with branching paths and multiple endings. The story in the Japanese version is moved along though cutscenes and character dialog segments.

 Same as with the Western release, the Japanese plot features two rival corporations, the UPEO and the Ouroboros, however in the Japanese version you can choose different paths and either stay with the UPEO, or alighn with one of the other factions, with a surprising plot-twist at the end. The plot twist being that the pilot is actually an AI running in a simulation computing possible events in a hypothetical war between the different factions. While at first it might sound kind of weird, but if you think about it, it's very Ghost in the Shell-esque and kind of typical of Japanese media of the era (late '90s).

Major characters, the Fitzgerald sisters, Finoa of the UPEO Special Armed Response Force, and the elder sister Cynthia of Neucom Inc's private militia, the Neucom Emergency Unit. Neither of these women make an appearance in the Western release. 

While Namco's justification was that the plot was too complicated and would have confused Western audiences and as a result they wanted to just focus on gameplay. They knew that reasoning didn't fly and only pissed off Western gamers. Subsequent Ace Combat games were carried over completely intact. To this day, there are Western fans that want a complete translated release of the Japanese version. Whether or not this will happen is anyone's guess, though given that Ace Combat 7 will be returning to the same universe that AC2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 0, and X took place in, rather than real world Earth like Assault Horizon (yes the italics is mine and intentional because that game is Ass), Joint Assault, and Infinity took place in, and that Namco dropped the much reviled "Dogfight Mode" (more like Dog crap Mode) from Ace Combat Infinity and (by all indications) the up coming Ace Combat 7, it does seem that Namco is listening to their fans to some extent. It's not likely, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did a fully translated Western digital release over PSN.

Hence why I titled this after one of the tracks in the game "Shattered Stones", Namco "shattered" the plot when they brought the game out of Japan.

If the plot was carried over intact, I would have given it a score of 4 or even 5.


Music and art style: 5
The soundtrack of Ace Combat 3 is wholly an electronic style. Tracks range from fast tempo tracks like The Execution, to more haunting tracks like Gordian Knot, to something more mellow like Montage (that appropriately enough plays on a level with rain effects). Purchasing the soundtrack gets you two disks, the OST disk and the Direct Audio disk, getting you a total of 42 tracks.

The game takes place in the 2040s, and appropriately the art style is more futuristic. Cityscapes feature futuristic buildings and include an artificial floating city, and an underground city. About half the selectable planes are completely fictional, while the others are futuristic versions of existing aircraft.

General Resource militia (General Resource Defense Force) F-22C and the UPEO Su-43. Notice the sealed canopy making use of the COFFIN control interface of both aircraft. Both designs have also had minor tweaks to them, the F-22C has wings that look based on the YF-23, while the forward canards of the Su-43 have been reworked and resemble a cobra's hood. The UPEO and GRDF generally use updated variants of existing aircraft, though the UPEO does have a few fictional aircraft in it's inventory. 

Two of the completely fictional designs in use by Neucom Inc.'s militia, the NEU. To the left is the R-102 Delphinus #2 fighter, to the right is the R-352 Sepia space fighter. The NEU exclusively uses fictional designs. Though in the Western release they're also in use by the UPEO. 

As mentioned the cities also have a futuristic design to them. Though this is more the bright shiny technology built kind of futuristic city, rather than the dirty dystopian metro sort.

To the left is Expo City, a city that gets to have front row seats to several aerial battles. You can see a few of the large futuristic buildings, in this shot. To the right is the floating city Megafloat. 

The changes to the existing aircraft are enough to make them look like from a different era, but at the same time they remain instantly recognizable. They don't look too out of place in a future setting, but they also don't look too different as to be something else. Where as the fictional designs of Neucom Inc. all share a curvy organic look to them. Their names are all derived from sea life, indicating their designs were inspired by marine life. In going with these gentle curves in their designs these planes have a unique and distinct look to them, rather than looking derivative of something else.

Final Verdict: Must buy for arcade style flight sim fans. 

Butchered story aside, the game is still a solid game and remains an enjoyable, fun experience. The music fits very well with the setting and the futuristic designs provide for a nice change of pace, especially with their unique and distinct styling. Despite being a 17 year old game, the gameplay still holds up well to today's standards. The gameplay, and control set up has been carried over into the other entries into the franchise (except Assault Horizon) with even the PSP games having a control setup based on Ace Combat 3's. 

Given that the popular version of a future setting today is some post-apocalyptic, or a dirty, grimy dystopia is, the clean, advanced technology kind of futuristic setting is a bit of a breath of fresh air. 

Triggering: You have to be the change.

The following contains:
- Scathing political commentary
- Profanity
- Lack of sympathy for bullshit


So something got me a little twisted, just a little fucked up. So this happened a little while ago on social media, and I see a posting related to Dr. Dre. Then I see someone commenting about how Dr. Dre hasn't lived in 'da hood for a decade or something.

Isn't that the whole point?

Isn't that the whole reason, the guys of NWA wanted to get big, to get out of 'da hood? I mean why the hell would you want to stay in a high crime area if you had the money to get out? There is just is pervasive problem of low expectations in the lower class. Don't believe me? See for yourself, here.

"We need our weave!"

"Weave"? Seriously? Your community is a mess, and "weave" is your priority? Let me get this straight. The schools in your community are under-performing and failing to meet the needs of the community's children. Drugs and gang violence have long plagued the community. You have young women, teens, becoming single mothers at a higher rate. You have sons of said teen/young single mothers without a father who end up falling in with gangs. You got all kinds of reasons why your community is fucked up. But "weave"... fucking "weave" is the priority?!

You want to talk about needing your shit? What you need to do with your shit is get it together.

Putting things into context, the first video has to do with the Milwaukee riots that was going on at the time of writing. The woman there was angry at stores being destroyed, but notice the first thing that came to her mind as far as needs and necessities go, is "weave". She literally mentions "weave" before food. The second video has to do with the flooding in Louisiana. Notice that isn't a grocery store, a market, or a pharmacy. Those women aren't scavenging for food, or basic necessities. They're scavenging for "weave" and notice that one of them brought their kid along. So at least one of them is a mother. But I guess they got enough stock piles of basic necessities so they got the time to go on a "weave" scavenger hunt.

How are this related to what was said about Dr. Dre? They all come out of the same mentality. This ghetto-trash hood mentality. Where people who succeeded and got out of 'da hood are derided and priorities are so skewed and jacked up as to put "weave" on a priority list during a natural disaster or social unrest. This whole mentality is the reason this problem can't be solved by just pumping money into some of these poverty stricken communities. Look, their priority isn't basic needs, it's fucking "weave" and other bullshit. When that is the mindset of a person, do you honestly think they're going to spend any government money you give them, responsibly?

There's no effort to better themselves, or even to better the lives of their children. To work towards making the lives of their children better than their own. There's no drive or ambition to one day get out of 'da hood, it's all about just playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes. And this is done all for what? To keep it real?

I get it. Shit in 'da hood is hard. But you just going to accept that? You're not going to do anything about it? You're just content to live in the fucking gutter with a goddamned garbage dump for a community and act like some kind of uncivilized savage? You're just going to sit there with this trash hood mentality. How are you going to expect other people to give a damn about you, when you don't even have the self respect to give a damn about yourself? People that have so little self-respect they go begging for money online from other people.  People with so little self-respect they can't even bother to clean up their English.

And yeah I said "trash" because it's a mentality that lets people be content to live in their own filth. When you live in a dirty community and you let thugs do their dirty in your own community and you don't step up, then you're content to wallow in your own filth. You wallow in your own filth and dirt and then you wonder why the rest of society doesn't give a shit about you. When you have national attention focused on you, you don't talk about needing to improve failing schools in your community, you don't talk about the need for mentorship programs for all these fatherless boys, and girls being raised by an older girl. Oh ho no, you talk about how you need your "weave". You take videos of yourselves acting in the most ratchet manner and post it up in the internet for the world to see? How is this mindset anything but trash?

OK, so how does this mindset keep people down? How does it perpetuate crime? You have people who think there's no way out, that 'da hood, the barrio or the trailer park is what they are. People who have no aspirations to be anything because too many people have told them that they'll never be shit, ingraining that in their heads. So they don't even try, or they try and just give up. Forget about going to college, forget about learning a trade. Why do all that shit when you can get big money the easy way? The young kids don't see business owners or other professionals around the 'hood, but what they do see are blinged out drug dealers, gangbangers and any other strain of thug.

But it doesn't just stop at making money in a sleazy way like slinging drugs. It gets into grimier shit, into burglarizing other people's houses, into robbing other people. You won't be shit trying to make it legit, but if you act hard enough, long enough, you just might be someone in 'da hood, or so these kids are told. They grow up to be the same thugs that fuck the community up to begin with. They do dirty to their community and people in the community with their own priorities so fucked up, don't do shit to fix, expect other people to do it, then why their shit is so fucked up an no one cares. And on the other side of the crime, the other side of the dirty, you have that same ghetto trash mentality of "no snitching" that keeps people who've been done dirty from reporting it? Who the fuck are you protecting? I'll tell you, a worthless thug who does dirty to his neighbors, who knows he can do dirty and get away with it, because he knows the other ghetto-ass people that live with him won't rat him out.

Bullshit like that isn't going to make people want to help you. Bullshit like that isn't going to make other people give a damn about you. But that's the not the point is it? Naw, you don't give a shit as long as you still get your government assistance programs. Maybe I'm wrong. But I know I'm right about this, nothing is going to change as long as you continue to wallow in your filth and show it to the rest of world, happy as a pig rolling in it's mud hole. No one's going to give a damn one way or the other till you get rid of that ghetto mindset and hold up yourself to life to a higher standard. In other words, ain't no one going to give a fuck about you if you ain't got dignity.

Worst of all this, this is bullshit that gets people killed. This mentality fucking kills people, Children are killed because of this bullshit tribalist ghetto-ass mentality. A mentality that leads the killers to laugh and joke about it, as if killing fucking kids was just fun and games. Yes it happened in 1995, but the date doesn't matter, because this shit still persists. The children's grandmother said their father wasn't the best of people, so they're paying for the dirty their dad did. The grandson having paid for his dad's dirty with his life.

And somehow the rest of us are all supposed to help you and feel sorry for you, when for you, life is that cheap?

Look, there's nothing wrong with being from 'da hood, or the barrio, or the trailer park. But there is something wrong when you make that who you are. No race is immune from being infected with this ghetto mindset brain disease. It's a vicious cycle, hopelessness leads to low expectations, low expectations lead to crime, crime leads to hopelessness, and 'round and 'round we go. Some things around just out of one's control. An individual can't control the economy. poverty isn't easy to get out of. But there is one thing the individual can control, and that's how they live their life. How anyone conducts themselves is complete within the control of said individual.

Because of this low-expectation mentality, hardly anyone seeks to make things better. Because why fucking bother, not like you'll be able to accomplish anything, not with The Man sitting on top of you. And when you look at the bigger picture, it's gets even more sad since when you think about it's is a de-evolution on the social level. When you see thug gang members in the ghetto shooting each other over stupid reasons, all we're really seeing is a regression into tribalism and savagery.

Liberals want to talk about how people still ain't free. People are still slaves. And they're right. Well not right in the way they think they are, but people are still enslaved. Only the chains aren't physical. The chains aren't institutional. The chains are mental, they're all in your head. This mentality that keeps you in the 'da ghetto, in the barrio, in the trailer park, those are your chains. And the funny thing is, there ain't no Man holding those chains keeping you in the place. The motherfucker holding those chains and keeping you in place, is the same sucka who's wrapped up in them.

The reason I put the trigger warning on this, is because there are some people that will insist that the poor state of poverty stricken communities is wholly due to outside forces, that all the people that live within them are all victims without agency. See, you do have agency, everyone of us. Everyone of us has the agency to enact the changes we want to see, it's all a matter in how badly do you want the change? As Tupac said:

It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes.

Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live

and let's change the way we treat each other.

Ice Cube used his talents to get himself out of the ghetto. Danny Trejo used the doors that opened for him to completely turn his life around. So what the fuck is your excuse?

I'm a leave off with this.

"The Glint of Cold Steel": Trails of Cold Steel Review

Overall Score: 4.6

B+

Gameplay: 5
This is where this game really shines. The gameplay is that of a very well polished JRPG. The lay out of the game is something more along the lines something like Final Fantasy X rather than Final Fantasy VII. There is no world map and instead destinations are connected via road segments. The major annoyance that is random encounters, has been left behind and instead there are on-screen enemies that you can trigger an encounter with by coming into physical contact with them. But you can also attack them before triggering an encounter. Doing this results in several advantages for the player including all the enemies being in a stun state for several rounds.

Battles are conducted via a radial menu, with the usual commands, but you also have the option to move your characters around the field to put them in more advantageous positions.

Crafts are essentially special attacks and Arts are your magic. You also get bonus points, that allow you to perform joint attacks with one other team member, to the entire team when you make a critical strike. Additionally you can set up links between characters and they will automatically support each other. How much they do, depends on how high the link level is between the two particular characters.

Magic, or "Arts" can be set up for each character by equipping them with "orbments". This works very similar to Final Fantasy VII's Materia System. Like material there are different kinds, some enable the use of Arts, while other alter character stats like boosting certain parameters. Though unlike FFVII, there is a separate device to house your orbment crystals, rather than equipping them to you weapon and armor.

There is also some variety in the attack styles of the members of Class 7. The main lead Rean is armed with a katana. Laura, and Jusis are also armed with swords, while Fie is armed with a pair of gun-swords, and Gaius is armed with a halbard, rounding out the melee combat characters. Their attacks pretty straight forward, single attacks against single opponents. Then there are the orbal staff users Eliot and Emma, your primary mages. The staff has medium rage and a small area of effect (AoE) allowing you to hit enemies that are close together. Then you have Alissa who is armed with an orbal bow, she's the basic long-range, attacks one target fighter. Lastly you have Machias, who is quite possibly the most over powered character. Machias is armed with a shotgun with a wide AoE effect. He can potentially hit an entire enemy party at once, if he's positioned correctly. But not just that, you can also equipped Machias with various status effect orbs, and can cripple and entire party in one strike with multiple status abnormalities. You know those damned Malboros in Final Fantasy? You equip his orbments properly and that's what Machias is.

Gameplay around towns and dungeons is about what you'd expect from an RPG. You have full control of the character and you can freely run around the environment. There are people to talk to, stores to shop at and other things to interact with, like fishing spots.

Like any other good RPG, there are some minigames and side jobs to distract you from the main plot, and I don't mean that in a bad way. You have a card game you can play against classmates, you can go fishing and earn points based on catch and you can exchange these points for items. Additionally there is also fishing journal that keeps track of your catches. The other big minigame is not exactly a minigame but rather an item synthesis system. You can actually make your own food in the game with are essentially usable items. These items grant boosts and buffs that regular store bought items don't. Though you do have to gather up the necessary ingredients and assign someone who knows how to cook the dish to make it.


Graphics and visuals: 5
The graphics of the game are done well and the game is visually appealing, with the hardware of the Vita showing that it could keep up with the PS3. Though while standing still the graphics do look nice, when in motion there's a sort of stiffness in the animations. It might be because of storage limitations of the Vita card or just a cost cutting measure, but thins like the "flow" of long clothing like Sara's duster coat when she's running, or hair bob when some of the other female characters are running has a kind of stiff appearance. Normally I'd take half a point off here, but it may be because of a techncal limitation that there wasn't much the developers could do about. You can only put so much data in a particular physical medium, and they might have reached their limit on the Vita card.

Though as far as visual glitches are concerned, they are few and far between. There are a few minor issues here and there, but nothing like an texture tearing or objects popping in and out of existence depending on what angle you rotated the camera to.


Stability: 4
Generally, I haven't had much issues in terms of stability on the Vita version of this game. However I have had instances of freezes when I wake the Vita up from sleep mode, or return to the game from the Vita's main menu. The freezes weren't often, but they did happen more than once, requiring me to reload a previous save.


Plot: 5
The plot has somewhat been done before...

...a plot centering around military academy students isn't really that uncommon in Japanese media (Final Fantasy VIII, Valkyria Chonicles 2), nor is the attractive female instructor (again, Final Fantasy VIII). Again, following in the same footsteps as VC2, a major crisis is tearing the nation apart, and fate along with the machinations of some powerful figures in said country happens to throw these unassuming students on the stage of history.

Instructor Quistis Trepe (Final Fantasy VIII)

Instructor Sara Valestin (Trails of Cold Steel)

But to FFVIII and Quitis's credit, Quistis is very serious and professional about how she goes about her job. Sara on the other hand...

Yes their instructor isn't even trying to hide that she's drinking on the clock, and not a little nip either, but a mug nearly the size of her head full of beer. Oh and it's not even noon when this happens. 

Along with the schoolyard setting, Trails of Cold Steel also borrows the plot element of shady political intrigue that happens in the background. More and more things around the students aren't as they seem and even their instructor seems to be keeping somethings to herself. Though all of these different threads can start to get a bit maddening, most of them resolve themselves by the end of the game, and the ones that don't are supposedly resolved in in Trails of Cold Steel 2. 

So, it's the plot is so unoriginal, why does it still get a 5? Just because the game's plot lacks a degree of originality doesn't mean it isn't solid and well written. The plot takes time to explore the backgrounds of each member of Class 7, as well as following their student lives, all the while, as the larger crisis gradually emerges from the background. And it isn't just the core nine members of Class 7 that get the attention, but other NPC students of Thors Military Academy also get some character development. You can collect character profiles in the in-game journal and you can learn things about the other students by interactions with them, which include sub-quests. The plot is well paced and will feel somewhat like Trails in the Sky, with different threads of what's going on behind the scenes seeping out from behind the scenes. Though while this seems like a lazy recycling of a previous game's plot and style, there's actually a little bit of 4th wall breaking in which one of the characters compares their studies to the experience of the two protagonists in the preceding Trails in the Sky, there is actually an in-game, plot related, explanation for this similarity. I couldn't knock off any points because they used themes that were previously used. Hell if I took off points for lack of complete originality, not even the original Star Wars Trilogy would get an A rank. 

The events in the background threatening to tear the Empire apart are shown to the player though interactions with various characters associated with one of three major political factions at work. One side is the faction backing reformist Chancellor Osborne, the other is the conservative nobility faction, while the third is associated with the Imperial Family.

Overall, despite the lack of originality the plot is still solid enough and interesting enough to keep the player engaged. Normally I would knock off half a point for the lack of originality, but the plot also explores the conflicts between various students and the is plenty of character development as these students over come their differences. Or in the case of others, go from strangers to developing a friendship where they trust each other.


Music and art style: 4.5
Trails of Cold Steel is definitely no slouch in the way of music. The game has a wide variety of tracks of cover the various moods, settings, and atmospheres in the game. The general tone of the soundtrack though is upbeat. The individual tracks are also great as well with some of the fight music being some of the best I've heard, being fast paced and rousing. While other tracks like the one which plays when travelling the steppes to the north of the Empire on horseback and more serene and calming.

The art style has a more European influence to it. Thors Military Academy looks somewhat like a European castle, while the imperial capital Heimdall looks like a 1920's era Western city. There is some variety in the locations. One location you visit is rural farmland, another is a nomadic tribal village that has a feel that's something between Native Americans and Mongolians, and in another you see a massive military fortress made of steel.

The uniforms of Thors students don't really stand out too much from all the other military academy uniforms you see in Japanese media (like the SeeDs of Final Fantasy VIII), though each member of Class 7 all have their own personalized touches to them.

Zeri of Class G from Valkyria Chronicles 2

Machias of Class 7

You can see what I mean here, you can change Machias's uniform from red to blue and he'd look like he could be attended in the same academy as Zeri. Looking at these two guys, it also looks like they could be related.

One of the issues I have with the art and design is in the design of the Imperial Army tanks. The newest tanks in service, the "Achtzehn" which is supposed to be the most advanced, top of the line model. But when you see the tank it's design is more old style. and has straight armor as opposed to sloping armor. Sloping armor is a method where a tank's armor is designed to be at an angle, this provides better protection while having thinner armor. The German Panzer V "Panther" is a good example of early sloped armor, while the Panzer VI "Tiger" is a good example of older style armoring with straight plating. Sloped armor became the dominant armoring method in post-WWII tank designs.

The "Panther" with sloped armor.

The "Tiger" without.

However when we take a look at the "old" tank design and the new Achtzehn, the old tank features heavily sloped armor and bears a resemblance to the German Jagdpanzer 38 "Hetzer". The armor of the Hetzer is 2.36in thick and sloped at 60 degrees at the front. The frontal armor of the Hetzer could stand up to the British 17 pounder gun, one of the most powerful tank guns at the Allies' disposal. Whereas the Tiger's flat armor was 3.9 inches thick to provide similar defense.

Here's the older tank design, we can see the frontal armor is sloped at around 45 degrees, and the rear armor looks to be the same angle if not more so.

The model here on display is the "more advanced" Achtzehn. We can see all around other than the lower forward hull of the tank, is protected by straight armor. It's simply older design style, built bigger, rather than an advanced design. 

Yes it's largely a minor thing, but if you're someone who's followed military history, then it's something that kind of bugs a little. It's a less efficient design, though it's said to be the most powerful, most advanced tank in the land. 

The other issue I had with the art style was in the Imperial Army uniforms. The uniforms don't really have a military influence on them, and in fact they don't even look like military uniforms. The undecorated uniforms that the grunts wear look like bellhop uniforms when paired with the matching cap. 

To the left is Major Vander of the Erebonian Imperial Army. His uniform doesn't really look like a military uniform. Rather he looks like a traveling swordsman that is common in a lot of RPGs. Maybe his looks could be a mercenary or maybe he's some kind of private bodyguard for an aristocrat. By contrast, on the right is Captain Julia Schwartz of the Liberl Royal Guard (Royal Army uniforms look the same only green instead of blue, same with the Intelligence Division's which are black instead of blue) from the previous Trail's in the Sky. Her uniform has a clear military styling to it. You know right away, looking at her she's part of some military or police organization. 

For these I had to knock off a half a point on the art style. 

Final Verdict: Definite Buy

Trails of Cold Steel is a great, solid Japanese RPG, that successfully hits all points. The JRPG landscape isn't as rich as it once was during the mid '90s to early '00s, so that makes this game an especially welcome addition to the genre. If you miss the JRPGs of the previous gaming generation, then don't pass up on this one. 

Farewell to Konami

And now, the end is near;

And so I face the final curtain.

My fan, I'll say it clear,

I'll state my case, of which I'm certain.

I've lived a career that's full.

I've traveled each and every genre;

And more, much more than this,

I did it my way.

Well Konami, you certainly did it your way, no doubt about that, and like the song goes, it looks like you're now facing the final curtain. The fact that you're propping up the corpse of the Metal Gear franchise Weekend at Bernie's style, (and yes, without Kojima and without a successor that had his blessing Metal Gear is dead) just goes to show you're a company with no direction. Bunch of chickens with your heads cut off. 

I've been on this ride since, about 1987, some of my earliest memories involve Konami games. I'd know the track "Vampire Killer" anywhere, in any remix or rendition, same with the Stage 1 Contra music. I remember my cousin showing off and beating the last level of Life Force like nothing. I've spent countless hours in Symphony of the Night, and on the later Dracula X Chronicles, me and one of my best friends back in the day used to trade secrets about that game. I've played the hell out of Suikoden II, so many times, that I've pretty much memorized how to recruit all 108 characters. Being the broke ass high school student I was, I rented out Silent Hill 2 the day it came out. I actually bought Zone of the Enders because it looked cool, not just because of the MGS2 demo (although that was a very nice bonus), and I've lost track of how many times I've listened to the ZoE and ZoE2 OSTs. I've unlocked all the planes in the AF Delta Strike. Shit, Konami's games have been with me from childhood into college.

But what happened?

Konami left behind the franchises fans loved, and may of the ones it did continue with, it continued with questionable quality. We haven't seen a Suikoden since V on the PS2, haven't seen a Contra is just as long. Gradius? How many gamers today recognize that name? Vandal Hearts? Final Fantasy Tactics has been getting new releases up to 2007. 

In the '90s and '00s, Konami was making a little bit of everything. They had staples, Castlevania and Contra going. In the Suikoden series, they had an RPG that rivaled SquareSoft's Final Fantasy, maybe not in fame, but certainly in game quality. They even had an arcade style flight sim in Air Force Delta Strike. That's on top of having Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid. But as we started getting into the 7th-gen with the Xbox 360 and PS3, we started seeing less and less from Konami, regardless of how loudly fans shouted at them. Instead they bumbled around making products that no one really asked for. We got Castlevania Lords of Shadow, which was good, but it wasn't what people were asking for. They continued on with Silent Hill, but they had outsourced development to mixed reviews. Certainly nothing that achived the scores Silent Hill 3 did, let alone the mind-fuck survival horror masterpiece that was Silent Hill 2. 

During that era of the mid '90s to the early '00s, Konami was making gems, and taking everything to the next level. Silent Hill 2 is one of the greatest games of the genre. MGS3 raised the bar and set the standard for the stealth-action genre once again. Zone of the Enders gave us a mecha game that playing it felt like watching a mecha anime AND having fluid and responsive controls. That Konami logo was reason enough to buy a game. You saw it and you knew you were in for an awesome gaming experience. But after they they seem to have lost their way. But rather than listen to fans and giving them what they want, they chased after the mobile fairy. While that's smart for Japan, focusing on that and making mobile your flagship platform isn't the best way to keep your seat in the larger Western gaming market. Mobile isn't as big in the West as it is in Japan, and now the Western market has grown much larger than the Japanese market. A few things that had gone over the executives at Konami (well maybe all of them except Kojima). 

Now Konami by far isn't the only company that's stumbled in the 7th generation. Square-Enix seems to have stuck it's head up it's ass with Final Fantasy XIII, and decided to keep it there long enough to make two sequels that no one wanted. Capcom has been pissing people off in a variety of ways. Namco tried to get on the Call of Duty train with Ace Combat Assault Horizon only for it to horrible backfire in failing both to win over the modern shooter crowd, and producing the most hated entry in the series by fans. But while those companies only ended up looking stupid and enraging fans, they didn't pulled the straight up shyster moves that not only made them look dirty and grimy but made games outright hate them. Not simply being angry at them, but out right hating them. 

And that's a problem, see anger can fade, but outright hatred takes a lot longer. 

First was the creeping news of what would be the ugly divorce between Kojima and Konami. Now Konami might have valid reasons for wanting Kojima out of his position. There were claims that MGS4 and MGS5 cost more than they were bringing in. But on the same token Konami kept on putting him on Metal Gear, even canning his side projects like Zone of the Enders 3, which he stated he had really wanted to make, to keep him on Metal Gear. It was clear both Konami and Kojima were getting tired of each other and that happens. But rather than just keeping it under the table and professional, Konami blew it all up into an episode of The Steve Wilkos Show. Konami started looking at the petty wife who wants to screw over her husband out of as much as possible, or the angry husband who goes scorched earth, and destroy's property like intentionally crashing a prized classic car, just so the wife can't get it. It got grimy to the point of Konami setting it's lawyers loose to ban Kojima from attending an event and accepting an award for MGS5. 

As if that wasn't bad enough on more than one occasion Konami would punish developers. Reports started coming out that Konami would watch it's employees "Big Brother" style with cameras everywhere and would publicly shame and embarrass employees and move developers out of development and into working the pachinko-slot factories, working janitorial duties or pulling security guard duty. 

And now, Konami wants to win back it's former fans...

And how do they do that? With a new Metal Gear...

You don't fucking get it do you Konami? It's not about the games anymore with you. Gamers hate you not your games (well yes a lot of recent Konami games are hated, but that's not the point), Former fans are angry, and they're sitting on a lot of rage. They don't give a damn, they want to see you fall. These people will refuse to buy your products out of spite. The only way you can win them back is by firings of executives and putting the proverbial heads out on a pike outside. If I saw company president Takuya Kozuki commit career seppuku, quit the company and leave the industry, that would be enough to win me back personally, but I can't speak for the other angry people. Kozuki, you done fucked up, quit trying to act all gangster with your company like you some kind of Yakuza oyabun. 

Yes Konami, you did it your way. To hell with the gaming fans that got you to where you were. To hell with the development teams that brought in those gaming fans. You did it your way. Where has that gotten you? Near universal hatred in the industry that you helped to build. An industry where your name meant something. 

See because if you were sincere and gave a damn, you'd leave Metal Gear alone for awhile. This is just bullshit pandering. People are still salty to all hell over the divorce with Kojima and you can't get more associated with Kojima than with Metal Gear. See if you cared, you'd understand that Metal Gear is stepping on a landmine right now. If you cared, you'd notice that people want to see Silent Hill again, if you cared, you'd have taken the opportunity to make a Silent Hill spin-off instead of Metal Gear. If you actually cared, you'd have a project related to one of your long lost franchies that fans have been calling for their return. Hell use the Metal Gear Rising engine to make a hack-and-slash Vandal Hearts (bet you forgot that name), or even a Suikoden action spin-off following Flik and Viktor on their travels after Suikoden 2.

Coming from a guy who earliest memories were Castlevania and Contra on the NES. Coming from a guy who sunk hours on end into Symphony of the Night and Suikoden II. Coming from a guy who bought MGS2, 3, and 4 day one. Coming from a guy who bought ZoE, ZoE2, and the OSTs to the games. Coming from a guy who played every Ace Combat game, and enjoyed Air Force Delta Strike enough to unlock all the planes. Coming from a guy who went and picked up Dracula X Chronicles day one. Seeing the announcement for Metal Gear Survive, I felt nothing...

Felt absolutely nothing.

Not elation at a new Metal Gear. Not rage at this piss poor, insulting, attempt to win us all back. Just nothing. The same kind of nothing when you see an ex that you had gotten over and put behind you, on a corner prostituting or doing drugs in an alley and you look at them for a moment, and someone asks "Someone you know" and you reply back with "used to."

"You a fan of Konami?"

"Used to be."

Think about that for a moment. not even a "man fuck Konami!" just a "used to be" lacking in emotion. See I ain't even mad anymore, you're practically dead to me now. You're dead, done and moved on from. 

Could I ever be a fan again? Maybe, give us a new Suikoden. Give us a new Gradius, even in the form of a 3D arcade space sim/shooter. Give us something we've been demanding for some time, and maybe, just maybe... 

With One Arm Tied Behind You: Retro review of Einhander

Overall Score: 4.8

B++

Gameplay: 5
Now who expected this? Who expected a company that made their name making RPGs coming out and making one of the best side-scrolling shooters ever?

The action is fast paced and frantic at times, and the controls are smooth and seamless. Game mechanics center around the use of gunpods seized from enemy units. These weapons come in a variety ranging from machine guns, to homing missiles, to large bore cannons, to lightsaber like blades that can be used to slash across the screen. Several of these pods can be used in a different manner depending on if they're mounted on the top or the bottom of the fighter. For instance, when mounted under, the Wasp pod fires as homing missiles, while mounted on top, the missiles become rapid fire unguided missiles.

All together there are 12 gunpods that can be collected though the game. Once collected they can be equipped at the fighter select screen when you start a new game. The player has the choice of three fighters (with two secret unlockable ships) that each operate a little differently from each other. The Endymion Mk.II has one internal machine gun, can equip one gunpod and keep two in storage, and can be rotated in and out as the player sees fit. The Endymion Mk.III can only equip one gunpod, but it features two instead of one internal machine gun. The Astraea Mk.I has one internal machine gun and can simultaneously equip two gun pods. Doing the math, I get 66 different loadout combinations for the Astraea. Additionally, the speed of each ship can be adjusted to suit the player's preferences and needs of the level.

While the game is definitely aimed at the hardcore audience, Einhander is also much more fair and forgiving than other games in the genre such as R-Type III. Level obstacles that require trial and error to navigate (like that goddamned Forge level in R-Type III...) are non-existent, so cheap deaths caused by deathtraps don't happen in Einhander. Additionally, while the game does not have infinte continues, it is generous with the amount of lives (3) and continues (10) the player gets for a total of 30 lives. There are 7 levels, so you can die 4 times per level and still have 2 lives to spare.

As with other games in the genre, the bosses follow a pattern that can be memorized and exploited. Though one boss fight in particular stands out as it takes place on an a lift, and the lift rocks and tilts as the boss moves around, slightly altering the terrain each time it moves. Stay too close to the floor or to the ceiling, and the lift might tilt and cause the player to crash and die. This is one of the few instances where the terrain might kill you.

Given that a touch screen interface has problems processing multiple button presses when a single thumb/finger is trying to "push" two buttons at the same time, the game is semi-playable on a smartphone emulator, as the gameplay is frantic and fast paced and you will be hitting multiple buttons at once. However the game does play very well on the PSP via streaming from the PS3 or though PSP Custom Firmware, and on the Vita though streaming.


Graphics and visuals: 5
The graphics are very good by PS1 standards. Good enough that on one occasion at my former employ as a QA tester, I had a co-work ask if it was a PS2 game, while I was playing at the office after hours. While the game certainly looks like it came from a past generation, the graphics still look nice even today. Einhander is one of the first shoot'em ups, if not the first to make use of 3D polygon graphics as opposed to sprites like R-Type III from the previous 16-bit generation (SNES). An HD graphical update would likely look quite good, and it would certainly be nice if Sqaure-Einx got around to doing that.

The Imperial Capital Gestez features a vivid skyline complete with bright neon lights and flashy signs and billboards.

There are several moments in the game where the camera will pan to showcase the game's polygon graphics.

 Along with the nice visuals, the graphics also remain stable. We don't see much if anything in the way of graphical glitches. No weird tearing or objects just popping up out of nowhere or other graphical glitches. Einhander certainly lives up to SquareSoft's reputation for amazing graphics during the PS1 and PS2 eras.


Stability: 5
Having played this game on multiple platforms, I haven't had a single glitch, freeze, or crash. The game ran perfectly.


Plot: 4
While compared to other games, the plot is rather weak, but for a side-scroller shoot 'em up, the plot in Einhander is actually pretty deep. Definitely a step above the other games in the genre at the time.

The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic era following a massive war between Earth and colonies on the Moon, called Selene, where Earth was left a wasteland (with possibly only Germany being left intact given that Earth forces speak German) ruled by a totalitarian theocracy simply referred to as "the Empire", and Selene was critically low on vital resources, namely nitrogen. From there Selene decides to reignite hostilities against Earth in an attempt to secure the needed resources. Though there is a discrepancy, while the instruction manual mentions the shortage of resources, the in game text mentions that Selene demanded the return of the "Holy Land", which triggered hostilities. This may just be a cover by Selene to hide that they were on the verge of starvation as the Earth then would just need to wait it out and they win by default.

Since both armies have apparently already fought to exhaustion and have retreated to lick their wounds, Selene sends small groups of suicide pilots on kamikaze missions to cause as much havoc and destruction on Earth until they're killed, presumably to hamper their rearmament efforts, and also clear the way for Selene's main forces.

The story is told though in game voice overs, in between levels and issuing the player's next set of orders, as well as scrolling text in some places.

Towards the end though there is a very Orwellian 1984'ish twist. As it turns out the government of Selene had been lying to it's population the entire time and telling them that the Earth was a utopia (and likely hogging all the resources and starving them out) and not a burnt out wasteland. Perpetuating an endless war to stay in power, possibly to keep a gradually starving populace from turning against them ("war is peace"). Or it could be that there isn't a shortage of nitrogen and the Lunar "Inner-Party" elite only wants to hog all the nice things to themselves and dominate the populace, keeping them docile and distracted by being "always at war" with Earth. Ar any rate, the player, having supposed to have died on Earth but instead made it back into space, was ordered to be summarily executed in a weapons test. Can't have him coming back home and telling everyone the truth about Earth. So now the player finds themselves fighting their former government to bring an end to the war.

Any other genre in contemporary times I would score the plot 3 points, but given the era in gaming and the genre I have to give it a 4.


Music and art style: 5
Einhander has an amazing soundtrack, befitting of the frantic gameplay. The soundtrack is comprised of several styles of electronic music, namely progressive house, trance, keyboard based, and opera. They range from fast tempo tracks that sound like aggressive electronic fight music, to softer more serene tracks. A personal favorite of mine is the track that plays in the first level that opens with drums and chanting. The soundtrack is certainly good enough to listen to on it's own.

The art style of the game is varied as well with each level being something different, and the enemies in each level being different. The first level features the imperial capital Gesetz. The city looks very much like LA in the movie Blade Runner, with tall lit sky scrapers, and bright neon signs and animated billboards. Even the enemy units, police/civil defense forces (come on, that big walking tank is a "police" unit?) are brightly colored. Looking at the capital city, one wouldn't think the Earth was a charred wasteland. Then we see the next level...

The next level we see is a blasted landscape with the ruins of a major city here and there (possibly Berlin). The entire level is badlands and only the few ruins of highways and buildings remind you that there was a major city there.

As nice as the capital looks, it seem the environment is still screwed up.

The fight with the first boss happens outside the city in the badlands, and leads into the second level

The following levels after that are underground industrial factories. Though even here, rather than looking like the cold industrial sci-fi setting of something like Aliens, the factories, while looking industrial still make use of a bright color palate.

The level after features a large military base, where in the background you can see rows and rows of combat vehicles parked out on a tarmac, and even what appears to be some kind of warship in dry dock. While the first and second levels take place at night, when you leave the underground factories and emerge back outside, you see the dawn sky.

Flying though the underground factory.

Back outside under the dawn sky.

The final levels take place high up in the atmosphere and then into space as you go from storming though Earth's defense lines, to storming though Selene's defense lines. As your never ending mission continues, you'll find yourself in the upper atmosphere in the middle of the day.


Along with different settings each level has different enemy designs, so you never really see the same thing twice. The enemies of the levels also match the setting. In the capital you see brightly colored police units, in the badlands you'll see dusty looking tanks, in the factories you'll find units that look more like they belong on an assembly line, at the base you'll find more advanced looking weapons. This keeps the game from getting dull and killing the same things over and over. Along with looking different the enemies in each level behave differently as well.

The design of the three Einhander fighters also feature a unique design that some what resembles a wasp or a hornet rather than a conventional looking fighter plane such as the fighters in Raiden. With the engine units being the wings and the manipulator arm being the stinger.

The Mk.II is capable of equipping one gunpod but can store 2 spare pods that can be switched out at will.

The Mk.III can only equip one gunpod, but features two internal machine guns.

The Astraea is capable of equipping two gunpods simultaneously for unparalleled firepower.

Final Verdict: Definitely Worth Owning 

Even if you aren't a big fan of the genre, Einhander is still a game worth having in any gaming library. The game is forgiving enough that it isn't controller throwing hard, and while challenging I wouldn't call it "Nintendo Hard". Even the causal player would have fun with the game, and by today's standards the gameplay still stands up and playing it today shows that old school arcade style gameplay is still fun to play. Einhander can easily be considered one of the pinnacle games of the side-scrolling shoot'em up genre. Unfortunately the price of the game has gotten steep going used for around $60 on Amazon. While I can't condone and encourage piracy, digital rips of the Western release are widely available on the internet. However if you are savvy enough to set up a Japanese PSN account and navigate the Japanese page you can purchase a legitimate copy of the game from the Japanese PlayStation Store for 600 yen, or about $6 USD.