[GAMING/MIDGAME] Child of Light

Following up my post the other day (read it here first if you haven't yet), now I've had the chance to play around with this game for a few hours, and at what seems to be roughly halfway through the story, it feels like a good time to make this post. This post will be all about gameplay mechanics with my thoughts on the story saved until the final post when I've actually completed the game. Before I begin, I feel I should make a correction. I said in the last post that igniculus (the blue sprite) was a fairy, but he's apparently actually a firefly. He's also much less annoying than navi.

First off, a few mechanics I really like:

Igniculus: although his use is more limited than I thought, only being able to heal allies or slow opponents, he is actually VERY useful, and rather than being intrusive, actually adds a whole nother layer of depth to battles. Healing allies is obviously useful, but I'd argue slowing foes is much more important, for reasons I'll explain below. Igniculus can also be used in the field to operate certain mechanisms or to pick up items or access out of reach areas!

The timeline: this is the real time element to the battles. The timeline is divided into 2 parts: wait, which takes 75% of the timeline, and cast which takes up the remaining 25%. Your characters and the enemies involved in the battle will move along the timeline at a speed relative to their speed stat, and once they reach the dividing line between wait and cast you get to choose which action the character will take, but they won't actually take it until they reach the end of cast. This is why slowing enemies with igniculus is so useful, but mostly for the next item on the list...

Interruption: this is a double-edged sword. When a character is hit while in cast, their action will be interrupted and they will be set back on the timeline. You the player with igniculus's help can easily interrupt enemies (and indeed, you'll need to as they can hit pretty hard) but enemies can also interrupt you! With a little work you can constantly interrupt enemies and be able to stun them, and this will even work on bosses, but beware: most bosses have some kind of ability that will activate when they get interrupted!

Occuli: the occuli are gemstones that come in 9 varieties each which can be of 4 different grades, along with one more unique stone. The stones can be combined in various ways to upgrade them. Any gem can be made from the same base 3 gems as long as you have enough of those base gems. The base gems are ruby, sapphire, and emerald. (Pokemon anyone?) gem fusion is actually very simple and easy to understand. Gems don't get used up, can't break or be lost, fusion can't fail, it's a simple system that's no more complex than it needs to be.

Shared exp: quite simply, all characters gain exp from every battle. That's it. This is great because you don't have to worry about that one character you almost never use that you feel bad for because they get no exp. that can't happen in child of light. Even if you never use a character, they'll still be just as strong as all your others.

Flying: Like i said before, you can fly. plain and simple. navigating the map is very easy and never a chore.

Some things i don't like so far:

Norah: It's not that I didn't like Norah, I actually really like her, but I can't explain why she's here without giving spoilers...

Lack of saphires: It's probably just really stupid bad luck, but I'm constantly lacking saphires... But like I said, probably just me...

Loading screens: perhaps is has to do with getting this game as a download, but the loading screens are JUST long enough to be annoying...

Battle length: farther on in the game battles start taking a fair amount of time, and fighting them can get somewhat tedious...

Overall, this so far seems like an amazing game. The music is top notch and the art is just as amazing as it looked in the previews. Gameplay mechanics are interesting and no more complicated than is necessary. I never really knew where I was going, but I never really cared and somehow managed to progress through the story with little effort. Only in one area did I get stuck, and that was only because I was being stupid and ignoring the big doors that were right in front of me... From what I've seen so far, Child of Light is an amazing game that is certainly worth every penny, and I can totally recommend it!

I can't say for sure when the next post on this game will come since I plan to finish the story first, but the final post will be less, if at all, about gameplay and mostly about the story, so you should probably hold off on reading it when it's up until finishing the game yourself if you are, or plan on,  playing it.

Oh yeah, and about the rhyming, it's actually not that bad. It feels odd at times, but I think it works well for this game, so yeah, it's not as bad as I thought.

[GAMING/FIRST IMPRESSIONS] This Blog is not Dead + Child of Light First Impressions

Hi all, sorry for not posting anything for the last two months... Been busy with finals and whatnot all up until last week. Now that it's summer and I have much more free time on my hands, expect more frequent updates! In the time that I've been gone I've purchased a WiiU. (inb4 "Why didn't you buy an Xbox One &/or PS4?") There are a handful of games I'm looking forward to that I'll be talking about later in similar fashion to how I'll be approaching the game that I'll be talking about today. Some of these game are Smash Bros. U, Bayonetta 2, and Hyrule Warriors. Today I'll be taking a look at Child of Light. I have yet to play this game, and this post will be about my first impressions about the game before actually trying it out. I downloaded it earlier today, but only had ten minutes and didn't want to start something that I could not finish... This will be my pre-play post. I'll also do another post after playing around with it for a few hours and a third and final one after finishing the game. So without further ado... Child of Light:

Never heard of this game? Here's some basic info.

This game feels not so much like a game, and more like a playable piece of art. And indeed, that seems to be the feeling that the developers were going for. From graphics which are almost entirely (if not 100%) hand drawn, all the way down to the game's dialogue written entirely in iambic pentameter (i.e. the whole thing is written like a poem). Every last detail of the game just seems to exude a sense of artisticness, and only time will tell if I find it entrancing, or outright annoying...

The gameplay itself seems to be solid. The overworld features a sidescroller perspective, and you receive the ability to fly early on in the game, so it seems that navigating between story events and encounters and the link will be much less of a chore than it is in many other games... The battle system features a mix between real time and turn based rpg battles, and while not exactly revolutionary, seems to be a solid and fun system nonetheless. What I haven't seen before though, is the blue sprite which can be seen in the above image. I don't mean to say that we haven't had our fair share of navi-esque sprites that have been both helpful and extremely annoying at times... I mean that you can actually use it in battle. It seems to take on a support role, being controlled by the stylus to deliver buffs to your party members and debuffs to foes. I'm not sure just how useful this will actually be, or even if it will be intrusive, but if executed well it seems to be a solid and fun addition to battles.

I'll have a chance to actually try this game out for real in a few hours, so hopefully I can get a mid-game post up in a few days, look forward to it!

EDIT: the second post for this game is completed: [link]

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E25&26] Twilight's Kingdom

sorry in advance for the lack of images, what are you gonna do when writing this

fourteen minutes after the episode airing...

Hello everypony and welcome to my review of the latest episode of Dragon Ball Z! ... Wait... WHAT? Twilight basically just went total super saiyan on Tirek there in part 2! This is literally the most violent episode in the history of Frienship is Magic! Before we get to that though... lets start at the beginning. Get ready because this is the big one!

So first we have some personal issues with Twi being unsure of her role as a princess. (that was only overdue for the last 24 episodes + movie that I know some of you would rather forget) I like that we FINALLY address this issue... I mean, up until now we've never even hinted at this, let alone deal with it. (unfortunately the livestream i was watching decided that the princess's song was the perfect time to air a commercial... thanks... thanks a lot...) After we get was seemed like a great song... (i only heard 1/4 of it...) we then meet our villain for this episode: Tirek! If you don't know, Tirek was originally from the very first episode of the original 80's My Little Pony. (brief overview here) So he escaped during It's About Time way back from the tail end of season 2? It took him two seasons then to regain his power... I guess that's reasonable, I mean, he's been in prison since gen 1, that's before even Celestia and Luna were in power which means he's been imprisoned for more than a thousand years at the very least.

Honestly, not much happens in the first part. It seems to be the weakness of every two-parter we've ever gotten: almost everything important happens in the second part, and the first is basically unmemorable. I do like that Discord FINALLY got something important to do! (showing up to ruin Twi and Cadence's day off in Three's a Crowd doesn't count!) I like that he ends up saying what everyone knew from Keep Calm and Flutter On: that he's not exactly very close with anypony except Fluttershy... Probably part of the reason why even a character as useless as Spike gets a chair in Twi's new castle before Discord... On that note, interestingly enough, my first thought when I saw the castle pop up where the tree-house used to be was that property values in ponyville are gonna be going up.

Discord betrays his friends for his freedom and then we get the most brilliant idea ever! The best way to stop tirek is to give up all your power! ... WHAT? Oh wait, they don't mean give it up, they mean hide it within Twilight. Well... seems kinda risky, but certainly better then just tossing your magic into oblivion. It was fun to see Twilight have to lower the moon and raise the sun! A nice little peek into the duties of the princess sisters' daily lives.

The conversations between Discord and Tirek are certainly interesting, villain to villain chats like this are things we usually don't get in mlp so it felt really nice and refreshing. And sure, we all saw Tirek's betrayal of Discord and the pendant being the final key coming form a mile away, but it still wasn't all that bad. And then... and then... Twi goes super saiyan! This is literally the most intense scene ever from fim (maybe even from all of mlp, but I never watched the previous gens, so I won't pretend to have knowledge I don't). If any of your friends still think MLP is for babies... just show them this and watch in wonder as their jaw drops!

It was also kind of obvious that Twi would give up the princess' power and come back even stronger with... with whatever was in the box... I mean, besides an entire castle. (yay, everypony's going super saiyan!) Who else is just waiting for new toys to appear of the ponies in their super forms? If there's a chance to make money, Hasbro will go for it. I'm calling it: Super Saiyan Mane 6 on sale soon! And thus, our new Deus ex Machina of the series! (I so totally called it well okay, so maybe I was wrong about almost everything, but I really don't care.) So... now what? I'm guessing this means that the elements are basically within the mane 6 now and they don't need any magical gems to go rainbow power anymore... Not that I'm complaining. The opposite really. I'd much rather have the power present within the mane 6 rather than just sapping off some unexplained artifacts. It really feels like it has much more meaning when it's under their own power then just using the elements again. And what power it is, Tirek basically sapped the energy from thousands of ponies including four princess's power and Discord's, so basically this guy is over 9000 at this point. (Yes, I know, that was REALLY bad, but c'mon, I had to put it somewhere...) All that just to be instantly obliterated by these new super forms, you have to wonder just how much power they have. For all of this though, we literally get ZERO answers about the box's origin... S5E1&2 anyone? I sure hope so...

I didn't get the answers I was hoping for, but this was still the most epic episode ever, so I think i'll let it fly with an 8.5/10. Sure it could've been better, but I think they did a pretty good job wrapping up this season.

With that, we begin the long wait until season 5, in the mean time, expect lots of non-pony posts and also some downtime for me while I catch up on a lot of schoolwork. So, until next time, this is Luca, signing off for the season!

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E23] Inspiration Manifestation

Oh yeah... because dark magic is so totally not dangerous at all...

I liked this episode, kinda. I was pretty fun to watch all the crazy stuff that goes on, but I kinda felt it was a little too contrived... Of all things to happen, Spike just stumbles upon a dark tome with the exact ability Rarity needs at the exact time that she needs it... and the key to break the spell just happens to be the moral of the episode? Seems awfully convenient to me...

Even under the influence of the dark spell, Rarity is still Rarity... creating, imagining, and often getting a little to carried away to care about practicality. I have to wonder what the other of the mane 6 would be life under the spell's influence, and I shudder to think of the consequences if Pinkie got her hands on it... At first I thought it odd that Spike would just be so oblivious to how dangerous the book is, but then I remembered that Spike is, in the end, still just a kid, so I can let it slide.

By the way, the "who?" gag with Owlicious was kinda annoying, especially  since it's already been done multiple times before... The episode also didn't do anything particularly interesting during it's middle portion other than having Rarity spiral out of control while Spike just watches... On a positive note though, it's good that Spike didn't admit that there was a problem when Twi confronted him. Don't get me wrong, that was a really dumb thing to do, but story wise, if Twi had swooped in and made everything right as Spike's deus ex machina, that would've made for a very boring ending, so I'm glad they steered clear of that.

All in all, I can't say that this is exactly my favorite episode. There were plenty of fun moments, but nothing that really kept me invested to the episode itself. Now what I did like is how it opens up a lot more questions. MLP is a show who's world is just ambiguous enough that you can fit a lot of head-cannon into it without contradicting the main universe, but not so much so that it's essentially a blank slate. With this episode, you have to wonder what other kinds of dark magic and locked away secrets there are to uncover. Maybe that could get some answers next week, but I wouldn't know as I've avoided spoilers. This is really all self-contrived subtext though, so for this episode in itself, 7/10.

Sorry that this one is late, (like really late...) but I've been busy. Expect a thorough and ON TIME review of next week's finale!

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E24] The Equestria Games

YEAAAHHH!!!!!

OMG! This episode is about this blog! ... okay not really... But look, it's a Spike episode! Maybe we can finally get the chance for spike to be treated with some dignity! ... no? ... oh well... it was a nice thought.

Equestria Games treats us to the event that we've been building up to for nearly two seasons now ever since Games Ponies Play all the way back in season 3! Though, we don't actually get to see much action on the field... Though I admit the ice archery competition seems really cool! (pun intended) This episode overall feels like an over dramatized version of Spike at Your Service, which wasn't one of my favorites to begin with. In fact, none of the Spike episodes are my favorites. I don't care what they said in Power Ponies, Spike ALWAYS gets the short end of the stick and 95% of the time he's totally useless. No offense Spike lovers, I don't dislike Spike, I just dislike how the writers use him most of the time...

I do like all the little visual gags this episode produces, like spike clicking head back and forth like he's a cigarette lighter, and I also like the continuing story of the games in general. This show is usually so compartmentalized that most episodes don't even get so much as a mention again once it's over. The equestria games arc is different. It's builds over time (across seasons no less!) and you get to see all different parts of it throughout the various episodes, so seeing it followed through to its end was quite satisfying!

Random observation: why don't twi's friends get to sit with the princesses and not in the stands with the common folk? Haven't they literally saved the world FIVE times now?

Random observation two: I like the friendly little smile Celestia gives Twi when she cheers for her friends, it was cute.

All in all though, I couldn't really get into this episode and felt a lot of it was just too over the top... lots of good things here, but the main conflict just wasn't all that exciting... I guess I'll be a little generous then and give this episode 7/10.

(Rest assured I will review last weeks episode later today/tomorrow.  I haven't forgotten about it, I just wanted to get this out first)

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E22] Trade Ya

Welcome to Rainbow Falls! .... again... wait... what?

Here we go on a journey back to rainbow falls! This time we're not here for anything related to the equestria games (loltitledrop), however we're here for a swap meet. In this episode we're treated to three different stories that have almost nothing to do with eachother, so that's why I'll be taking each apart individually, so get ready.

#1: Applejack and Rarity

This was a fun little story, and feels like something that might've consumed the entire twenty-two minutes of the episode back in previous generations. AJ and Rarity are at eachother's throats to see who's the better friend. The only thing I didn't really like about this conflict was what brought it on... I get that their wants are supposed to be dumb, but they kinda went overboard... especially so with AJ. I mean, all your stuff just for a pie tin that cooks the pie a whole FIVE SECONDS faster? At least Rarity's want (presumably) has some innate value to it that makes it worth the trade (even if it's stupid to want it just because it's older than the exact copy of it that you have...)

That aside however, it was fun to see these two bantering back and forth similar to all the was back in Look Before You Sleep. Maybe not quite as good, but still fun. The resolution may have been a bit wonky and the inciting conflict off-putting, but many fun moments and silly chatter means that this story gets an 8/10 from me.

#2: Twilight and Pinkie Pie

This one is... the oddest of the three. Twilight just wants to get rid of her old books. She doesn't give a darn what she gets in return for them, for her, it's about giving away stuff that's useless to her but might be useful for somepony else. But then... just as she's about to trade away her collection for a broken quill to a young filly... Pinkie Pie happens... Bidding up the price of the books until everyone feels it's too valuable for them to afford. So Twilight is left with a stack of worthless books thanks to Pinkie... But wait, apparently they're not so worthless after all. Each one has many fond memories attached to it!

Okay so maybe i was really put off from this conflict because I have a mind very much geared toward practicality and I couldn't care less about the memories attached to things... I may have not gone as far as to take the broken quill, but I'd probably be okay with trading them for something of a lower value, if for no other reason than to ensure the whoever I'm trading with will think it a fair deal and be willing to trade what I want in exchange. Pinkie (i think...) was well meaning in wanting to drive up the price to Twi could get some better things in exchange, but in the end, I found it very distasteful from just how dishonest and misleading it was... It didn't feel like Pinkie really... I like to thing that getting Twi to realize all the memories attached to the books was her plan from the start, but it just doesn't feel that way...

The resolution to this conflict is also odd... Twilight legitimately just wanted to get rid of the books and didn't care one bit what she got in return. Yet, somehow she now realizes that she wants to keep them? couldn't you find something less big and heavy to remind you of the good times with your friends instead of all these books? Didn't you mention you needed to get rid of these books to make room for new books (ones that would actually be worth reading) in the library? I don't know... The resolution just didn't do it for me... 6/10 for a really awkward conflict with a dumb resolution.

Before moving on to the final story, I thought I might take a break here to talk about what I (everyone) THOUGHT the episode was going to be about when we saw the opening... We bring up the concept of Twi being insecure about being a princess again, which is great. We really need to bring that up and deal with it instead of being so inconsistent... coughcoughRarityTakesManehattanVsTwilightTimecoughcough. However, as soon as we're past the opening sequence, it's basically dropped and never mentioned again... It was a real shame too because this could've been the episode to shed some light on the subject rather than just tossing it aside again... but alas, no luck.

#3: Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy

this is probably the conflict that caught most people's attention and also likely the most eyebrow-raising. The premise is simple enough, RD knows what she wants and has something to trade for it, but of course, the pony who has what she wants doesn't want was RD's giving... So you trade one thing for another, trade that, trade that, trade again, one more trade, and presto! You have what you came for... sort of...

There's not much in the way of conflict until the very end, so most of this story wasn't very exciting... (sans Discord Lamps... How many bits you wanna bet that those things will be showing up pretty soon at a future con?) But of course, the big part of this conflict, and the climax of the episode is upon us. Apparently it's legal to sell (trade) your friend into indentured servitude in equestria! And what's more is Rainbow actually agrees to it! Say wha-! I'm sure that's more than enough to get a bunch of Fluttershy fanboys to be out for Rainbow's head... In all seriousness though, despite a lapse in judgment from her prize being right before her, Rainbow still values her friend more than anything else, no matter how special. And on the bright side, Twi's the first ever princess to weigh in on the fairness of a trade! That must've been fun. Due to the highly immemorable beginning and middle and the butthurt inducing end, I'm gonna have to give this only a 6/10 in the end.

Overall:

This just feels like a random slice of life episode that really doesn't accomplish anything... and while those types of episodes aren't innately bad, none of the three individual conflicts were really all that interesting to begin with, and when mashed together, I don't know, but overall this episode just didn't do it for me. One thing I did like was the interesting transitions from scene to scene. Rather than just cutting away, there are actually nice looking and believable angles and pans that just really bring you back and forth through everything in a really smooth manner, so props to the storyboarders/animators. However, story wise, this episode was basically a mess... I'm giving it an average 7/10... not the worst, but not an episode I'll be watching again anytime soon...

[Gaming/Minecraft] a few ideas for new enchantments in 1.8/1.9

Don't like fan ideas? Don't read ahead. This is a post about my ideas of some enchantments that could be added to Minecraft. I feel these enchantments could increase the fun of the enchanting system and add more variety to PvP servers. My enchanting ideas focus mainly on combat, but there are a few items that are non-combat oriented. I also introduce the idea of negative enchantments that, while they weaken your item, also increase the amount and quality of good enchantments.

KEY:
Enchantment Name
Obtainable on
max level with anvil (max level with enchantment table)
rarity (common(sharpness, efficiency, protection), rare(thorns, unbreaking), highly rare(infinity, silk touch))
Effect
Mutual Exclusivities (enchantments that can not legitimately combine with this one. i.e. sharpnesss/smite/bane)

Pierce
Sword / Bow
4(3)
rare
Each level adds 15% chance to ignore half the target's armour. A successful use will consume 2 durability.
(will only be successful against an armoured target) has blue particle effect.
- Absorption

Absorption
Sword / Bow
4(3)
rare
Each level adds 15% chance to heal user by 1 heart (2hp). A successful use will consume 2 durability.
(will not be successful when user is at full health) has yellow particle effect.
- Pierce

Steady
Chestplate
2
common
reduces knockback by 30% per enchantment level
- Thorns
- Aura

Aura
Chestplate
5(4)
rare
reduces incoming damage by 0.5(1/4 heart) per level. applies before armour and protection but after resistance.
each use has (15*enchantment level)% chance to reduce damage of item by 1. if damage is reduced to 0, the attack and all
its effects (enchamtnets, knockback, damaging of armor) are cancelled. has purple particle effect.
- Thorns
- Steady
- Shadow Guard

Shadow Guard
Chestplate
2
highly rare
nullifies all attacks with damage of the enchantment level or less. (before armour and protection, after resistance)
has black particle effect
- Aura

Warrior
Sword
3(2)
highly rare
increases melee damage against players by 1.75*enchantment level
- Honour

Honour
Sword
1
highly rare
increase melee damage by (100 - health*5)%
- Warrior

Lethal
Sword
5(4)
highly rare
each level adds 1.5% chance to instantly kill the target. successful use will consume 15% of the tool's maximum durability.
(durability loss is unaffected by Unbreaking) Unique death message: "<victim> was assassinated by <killer>"
does not work on withers/enderdragons. has red particle effect.

dual
Sword
5(4)
highly rare
each level adds 5% chance to execute 2 simultaneous attacks on the target. all enchantment effects will apply twice and
are calculated separately for each hit. tool damage is also calculated separately per hit, but is tripled on both uses averaging
6x durability consumed. has green particle effect.

Flame Touch
Pickaxe/Axe/Shovel
1
highly rare
most mined items will drop what they are when smelted instead of their normal drops (i.e. logs drop charcoal, iron/gold ore
drops ingots, sand drops glass, cobble drops stone etc.)
- Silk Touch
- Fortune

Reflect
Sword
5(4)
highly rare
each level adds 7% chance that, when blocking, an enemy's attack will be reflected back at them.
delivers "was killed trying to hurt" death message. has white particle effect.

Charge
Bow
5(4)
rare
increases arrow damage by 3% * number of seconds a bow is kept at max charge before firing. caps at 5% times enchantment level.
damage increase applies after Power.

Sacred
Any
3(2)
highly rare
increases base activation rates of percentage chance enchantments by 2% per enchantment level. (0.5% for Lethal)
affects: Reflect, Dual, Mirror, Absorption, Pierce, Fortune
i.e. Sacred 3 + Lethal 5 gives Lethal a 15% activation rate. (normal: 7.5%)
Sacred 3 + Absorption 4 gives Absorption a 84% activation rate (normal: 60%)
Sacred 3 + Reflect 5 gives Reflect a 65% activation rate (normal: 35%)

>> Negative enchantments:
a negative enchantment weakens the item it is enchanted on, but will be accompanied by more/better/higher level enchantments
when obtained legit on an enchanting table. negative enchantments will also reduce combine/repair costs. max of 1 negative
enchantment when using enchantment table. combine like normal on an anvil.

Dullness
Sword
3
common
reduces melee damage by 0.75 per level
- Sharpness

Softness
Bow
3
common
reduces arrow damage by 20% of original damage per level
- Power

Brittle
Any
3
common
each level adds 20% chance that a use will consume double durability
- Unbreaking

Inefficiency
Pickaxe/Axe/Shovel
3
common
each level reduces mining speed by 10% of tool's original speed
- Efficiency

Break Touch
Pickaxe/Axe/Shovel
1
rare
mined items will not create drops. (containers will still drop their contents)
- Silk Touch
- Flame Touch

[MLP] The Comic Book Series

The comic book series is unique. It tells the stories that don't get told in the show. I don't know many people who actually read them, though I do believe they are a worthy read for all fans of the show. I'm going to dive into each of the various series and explain each, I won't go in depth and will try to avoid major spoilers, but regardless, read ahead at your own risk.

Our first 4-book story arc follows the changelings after they got blasted out of Canterlot Team Rocket style. Luckily for them, they land in a world of cute little creatures overflowing with love. After absorbing their love, they return to ponyville and basically zombify everypony except the mane 6 and fillyknap the CMC.

After learning of such, the mane 6 go after them and eventually confront Chrysalis directly. This arc is pretty straightforward and really feels like something out of a fan-fiction. Not that this is bad, but I will say that it's far from my favorite arc.

The second arc follows a slightly more interesting story and attempts to answer some mysteries surrounding Nightmare Moon. Our mane 6 have been plagued with nightmares and soon learn that it's no coincidence. With the help of princess Luna they travel to the moon to rescue their kidnapped friend Rarity who has become the new queen of the nightmare creatures, Nightmare Rarity. With some help from spike they are able to rescue her and solve the mysteries surrounding Nightmare Moon. I like this arc better then the previous one, especially since the Noghtmare Moon events and the story behind them are quite interesting to me, but it's still not my favorite.

The next arc is the first of a few 2-book arcs. This one follows a much more down-to-earth, slice-of-life type story that  the tv series is so used to. It follows Big Mac is his quest to get some nails to fix the gazebo. A simple task, were it not for the fact that ponyville is in the middle of a big celebration. Mac has to overcome Lovestruck fliers, Pyrotechnic fillies, Overenthusiastic princesses and more. Will he ever be able to get his nails? This is a fun read and while shorter than the previous two arcs, it plays to the strengths of the series and is almost my favorite arc. It would be beaten out for that position only by the next arc.

The fourth arc is another 2-book arc and is also my personal favorite. It tells the story of how Cadence and Shining armor first met. The first book tells the classic guy-side romance story. Shining Armor is about as unpopular is possible and a textbook example nerd, right down to D&D. Cadence is the most popular girl in school and, of course, a princess. It's love at first sight for Shining Armor, but he has no chance with her. To help him out, his friends concoct a crazy scheme to help him with the heart of the princess. Things, however, take a turn for the worse with Shining Armor left heartbroken.

Book 2 takes the classic story from book 1 and turns it on its head. Cadence was also in love with Shining Armor the entire time. Cadence proceeds to tell the story from her side (after correcting a few exaggerations from Shining Armor's story) and then tells how it all ends with the two of them living happily ever after.

Like the previous arc, this one plays to the slice-of-life style and really makes the most out of it, providing an engaging adventure without going over the top, the result is a very relatable story.

Our final arc (so far) is another adventure arc. This time, it's pirates. Our mane 6 become the crew for a pirate to help him find his treasure as fluttershy gets over her personal issues of letting go of her fish friend. This is a fun little story, not quite up to par with the previous arc, but still pretty good.

Expect another post eventually discussing the remaining comics. (The micro series among others)

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E21] Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

All my wut...

...

PULL YOUR PANTS UP DUDE!

All right, this is it. It is THE episode, THE episode that every teacher everywhere needs to watch. I could go into a long rant about the flaws of public schooling and why it doesn't work, but I wont. Rather, this episode states it perfectly in its moral, and manages to do so in a positive way that doesn't cast blame on anyone. But before anything else, lets talk about the episode itself.

Despite having a moral that could be predicted from even before the opening theme, this episode says what it needs to say in a way that is well done, and speaks to both the teacher and the student equally. This simple fact that so few people seem to comprehend these days, that everyone has their own method of learning that they do best in, and that no method is wrong, is brought up and handled in a very mature and vet very simple way. Even if I hadn't enjoyed the subtle commentary on the flaws of public school, I still would have enjoyed this episode, as Rainbow is a lot like me when it comes to learning. Truth be told, I don't do so great in a traditional schooling environment. Every little silly thing that Rainbow did as Twilight tried to teach her reminded me or something I had either done or thought of doing at some point during schooling. Thankfully, I have had the benefit of homeschooling, and therefore, having classes more catered to my style. I highly doubt I would be a very good student in public school.

As good as the first act of the episode is, the second part is just as great. It gives us little peeks into the learning styles of the rest of the mane cast. As much as I identified with Rainbow's dilemma, it's AJ's style that seems the most like mine. I learn well with a hands on approach, taking everything in slowly over time, and learning things because I want to, not because I have to. (case in point: I know too much about minecraft...) Probably the best single line in this episode is when Rainbow says she only has twelve hours, and AJ basically tells Rainbow that she's screwed. I did like pinkie's rap sequence, but I highly question the animators' choice to have the dude with his pants down... If you don't know, it's not just a distasteful fashion trend. It was originally used in prisons to communicate to other prisoners that you want homosexual intercourse, and later, very unfortunately so, was mimicked out on the streets. Also, side note here, Rarity looks awesome in her antiquated Wonderbolts uniform.

The interactions between Twilight and Rainbow throughout the episode are some of the best the show has seen, on the level of those from Look Before you Sleep. I also had no complaints about this episode besides the pony with his pants down, but I can ignore that for the most part since it's only in the background for a very quick moment and had nothing to do with anything else in the episode. Furthermore, this episode managed to keep me smiling and giggling throughout the entire twenty two minutes, and that plus an excellent handling of a moral that most everyone today needs to hear, means that this episode gets a solid "10/10, would watch again" from me, and takes its place alongside Rarity Takes Manehattan, Lesson Zero, and a few others as one of my personal favorites. 

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E19&20] Double Special: For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils & Leap of Faith

I so totally didn't forget to review last weeks episode... I had this double review in mind all along... sure... maybe I can convince myself if I keep saying that...

>> For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils:

Oh wow, another Sweetie Belle episode, and so soon. If I may be so bold, the CMC are really taking center stage this season. From as early as Flight to the Finish up to this episode, every so often the CMC have gotten some really well done and compelling episodes. They really stand out more as characters of their own and dealing with problems not related to getting cutie marks (either directly or indirectly).

On to this episode in particular. I really liked this one (Sweetie being my favorite of the CMC probably had no small part in that...). I liked that the animators had Sweetie use her magic in various instances, such as opening and closing the box flaps. It's a nice small nod to Twilight Time and a fun little way to provide continuity. I also liked the dream sequences and felt they were really animated well and had really smooth and creative transitions between the various segments, though I will say seeing the same scene (the birthday) twice in a row was a little much... tl;dr: good job animators.

This conflict was a really enjoyable one. Not only was it interesting, it was also relateable. Despite not being something I've experienced on a personal level, it's something I can understand quite well and have seen in action many times. Conflicts like these are the best since when you can relate so well to the conflict at hand, it bears more emotional weight. The end result is an episode that lands close to home and that makes you feel really good when you're done.

I do think the resolution was a little weird. What, Sapphire is suddenly okay with everything just becuase of a dolphin stitch? And it really doesn't even look that good... There's this whole Egyptian thing going on but suddenly a dolphin somehow makes sense? Maybe it's not my place to say as I am far from fashionable myself, but I just didn't like it. But back to the matter at hand, I just didn't find it very believable that having her lucky animal on the headdress would make Sapphire okay with all that had happened.

Something else that I liked was seeing Luna again, and what's more, relating Sweetie's conflict to that of her own from when she became Nightmare Moon. It really gives solid reasoning to why she would've taken such an interest in such a small conflict. (especially small for a princess) Though it's a little weird in two ways. Firstly, how would Luna know about Sweetie's fifth birthday? It's weird enough that she knows, but it would have happened while Luna was locked away in the moon... The other thing is how she would know that Sapphire's lucky animal was a dolphin. I guess it just adds up to Alicorn princess / Dreamwalker powers... It's still weird though.

Overall: 9/10 - I wouldn't say perfect, but overall I quite liked it. As stated before, I wouldn't be surprised if the CMC got their cutie marks sometime S5.

>> Leap of Faith:

So here it is: AJ's key episode. This leaves only Twilight. Let's just hope they actually make it good and don't just make all the key's combine to form her's like with the elements... we've already seen that, so we need something different this time, but I digress. My first thought when we got to the inciting action of this episode was, "oh great... just great... not these two again..." Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 was FAR from my favorite episode. In fact, its one of my least favorites. It stood as my all time least favorite for quite some time and was only recently removed from its place of personal infamy by simple ways, but once again, I digress.

I will say this: Flim and Flam made a much better appearance here that last time. In the last episode, there was never any real conflict. Sure, AJ's ideals were challenged, but she never doubted them, wasn't wrong about anything, and didn't learn anything at the end. We end up right back where we started excepting for the fact that we just realized we wasted twenty-two minutes of our lives on a poorly written episode with no emotional weight to the plot. (pununintended)

This time is different, not only is there a solid, and pretty believable conflict, but it causes AJ to doubt herself and her ideals and comes to learn something by the end and walk away a stronger character who's been reaffirmed in her ideals. These are the makings of a strong conflict and a good resolution and I'm glad to see the writers incorporating them as they usually do rather than a repeat of last time.

This episode deals with a very real truth, that sometimes the truth hurts. (which, by the way, is a truth that hurts. "the truth hurts" is autological!) AJ's whole honesty thing seems simple enough, but it's when the rubber meets the road that things can get pretty sticky, and often times people may actually be better off were you to lie, or at least refrain from telling them the truth... Everyone knows it's wrong to lie, but sometimes out there in real life situations you can reach grey areas where you begin to question your ideals. What you do when you are confronted with these types of conflicts isn't always easy to decide, and sometimes you find yourself compromising your ideals, often to your own regret later on. This is the situation AJ finds herself in in this episode, and she has just as much trouble with is as any normal person would. This is why this episode's conflict is so relateable, becuase it's real.

The way AJ first responds to the seemingly too-good-to-be-true miracal tonic is really in character. Just like classic AJ, she grabs control of the situation and takes the initiative with a non-nonsense approach. In this case,  going back the the Flim and Flam tent in order to determine just what is going on.

Critically, I don't have much to say about this episode. I liked it, but there wasn't too much I thought was especially good or bad, except for what I've already written. So overall, 8/10 - a nice episode and a pretty decent key episode.


I apologize for the delay in ep19, I've just been busy this last week, but I made sure to go back and finish it this week.

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E18] Maud Pie

"The next one's about rocks."

"They're all about rocks."

Maude Pie is another episode that appealed to be on a personal level. Last week I saw myself in Applebloom and this ween in Maud. Although not quite on her level, I'm not a very social person. What's more is that just like her, I don't show my emotions terribly plainly, it's just the kind of person I am. But what got me more than anything else is when I got to see her relationship with Pinkie. I don't tend to make many friendships, but the ones I do make, I consider very special and important to me.

Now as far as execution, I think the episode was done pretty well. Although it wasn't very hard to see where the episode was going, it was still enjoyable to watch regardless. I am glad that we got to see a member of Pinkie's family in person finally, now we just need Fluttershy and Rainbow's family to make some screen appearances.

--> Random insert!: Tom x Maud is my new OTP! <--

I like that Twilight refused to simply pretend to be friends. Even though she cited a practical reason for this, I still feel she wouldn't have done it even if there was no reason not to, simply because that's not who she is. Twilight's the princess of friendship and would rather put the effort into a true relationship rather than take the easy route of faking it. Though, I can sympathize with the others. they're hard-pressed to be able to understand Maud and as much as they want to be friends with her, they don't know just how to do it, and only suggest faking it because they don't want to let Pinkie down.

The scene that made everything for me was the final one when Maud reveals all the rock candy necklaces she's saved over the years. It shows just how much Maud cares for pinkie. Before you say "she saved her life isn't that enough?" the answer is no. You don't have to truly and deeply care for someone to save them, though it sure would help. The mere fact that she saved them all the years, even when pinkie would care less if she saved them considering the fact that she think Maud had eaten them all, shows that she truly does care for Pinkie.

On the whole, I'd say this episode deserves an 8/10. It may not be my favorite episode of all time, and there wasn't anything particularly special about it, however it was a pretty good episode regardless.

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E17] Somepony to Watch Over Me

First let me apologize for not getting this up as soon as other reviews, but that out of the way, let's talk pony.

This is an episode that resonated very well with me as it's something I've experienced a lot in my life. I saw my mom in Applejack a lot in this episode, and thus only about seven minutes in I was begging for Applebloom to punch Applejack in the face...

This episode was kinda predictable, but still enjoyable. The monster battle was quite exciting though. By the end of the episode, I was really proud of Applebloom. The other crusaders and her have really grown since their introduction, and I wouldn't be suprised if they got their cutie marks late this season or early next season. (By the way: the hillbilly ponies were quite a suprise...)

Despite the incredibly stupid descision to take the pies by herself, I still feel like this was a good thing for the episode. It's something I feel that demonstrates how a lot of people feel. They might make the clearest descisions, but they just want to let their parents know that they are more grown up than they realise. There's also a message for the parents here, that there's eventually a time to let go, and it's not always easy to know just when that time is. To some extent, a loving parent will never let go, but they learn that their kids have lives of their own and need freedom.

Back on track with the episode, as I said before, it was pretty predictable. I liked it for sure (especially the meta-gag about not having enough time for a song), but from a critical standpoint, I'd say 6/10, but don't take this as me not liking this episode. I loved it, but because it spoke to me as a person, and to me that's the most important thing.

See you back here next week for ep 18

=D

[MLP/SPECULATION] 'dat box

I promised it earlier, and here it is: my thoughts on the box and a few speculations about the upcoming episodes. Before I begin, let me give a little disclaimer here...

1) everything here is my opinion/guesses and nothing more

2) I have not looked at ANY spoilers for upcoming episodes because I like to go into an episode unspoilered. Thus, this pot may contradict info that was leaked/given out by staff. (If there is any, I avoid spoilers like the plague)

3) This post was written 3/1/2014 and thus may (and very likel will) be completely irrelevant by the time the episodes being discussed actually air.

So let's get the obvious out of the way. The thread is rarity's key, the badge is RD's, the rubber chicken is pinkie's and the flower is flutter's. If you can't figure that out, well then I don't know. Since twi is the main character, she's obviously going to get her key last, which means AJ is next.

AJ's key giver will likely be another guest star like the others, and I'm betting it will either be celestia that gives twi her key, or else all the others combine to make hers. (Though I do hope not, since that's just so stereotypical and would rob twi of what could be a really awesome episode.)

One thing I've noticed is that the key episodes are spaces a little to close to each other to leave us with no more than 2-3 episodes at the end before the finale. I'm hoping this is no coincidence and it means will get some ultra epic 5-6 part finale, but I think that's hoping for too much...

Another hope of mine is that all the key givers show up again and play a part in the finale.

Now about the box... My best bet are some newer and more powerful elements of harmony, or at least some kind of replacement magical artifact. I'm betting (and REALLY hoping) for more answers on the elements (and now the tree) themselves. My bet is it has something to do with Celly and Luna's past/parents and I REALLY hope they get to play an important part in the finale as well because I just love them and want to see more of their past.

I actually would really love a dozen or so episode mini-series about Celestia and Luna. Them as children, their parents, becoming princesses, defeating discord and Luna's fall and the fallout of Luna's banishment. There's so much untapped potential that would make for some amazing storytelling. Being a side-series it could delve away from the show's lighthearted friendship theme and go into some darker territory and really go in  depth with Celestia and Luna and all the deep emotions that would have accompanied their past. (Think like the two flashback scenes from Princess Twilight Sparkle, but expanded into a miniseries and without twi's commentary)

Anyway, I digress. That's my two cents so I think we're done here.

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E16] It Ain't Easy Being Breezy

I'm surrounded by idiots...

Okay, I want a Sea Breeze plushy..

I'm allergic to adorableness!

I certainly did NOT like this episode. I LOVED it! Let's review the positives:

1) it's a fluttershy episode that has NOTHING to do about shyness

2) Fluttershy apparently learned something in putting your hoof down after all

3) the breezies from Three's a Crowd are actually significant (yay continuity)

4) Sea breeze

5) cuteness overload and

6) CUTENESS OVERLOAD

It's pretty refreshing to see Fluttershy having progressed so since season one, and apparently making more progress now in a way that doesn't repeat half of all the other Fluttershy episodes from before, (See my review on Filli Vanilli) and I hope this is a sign of things to come for her. I'd love to see her get more interesting conflicts like this. I want her to be an interesting character, but untill two weeks ago and right now, she hasn't really been one in my opinion, but here's hoping.

On the topic of continuity, even though I didn't really care for the episode overall, the fact the Fluttershy leaving from Three's a Crowd was referenced and apparently wasn't just a plot device for that episode is kind of refreshing. I know it's not really completely necessary when there's no overarching plot and stories are contained in one or two episodes at a time, but it's still nice to see other episodes referenced and gone back to at times to make the show feel more natural and flowing.

What's next? SEA BREEZE! Okay, I love this guy. 99% chance he's never returning, but I'd still love to see him again at some time. (though I'm still hoping for him, cheese, coco, spitfire, and whoever gives twi and aj their keys to make an appearance in the season finale, but that's another topic that I'll write about later.) All the other breezies were cute for sure, but this one had some serious attitude, end even though he had to tone it down by the end of the episode, he was still a fun character.

The best thing about any fluttershy episode is cuteness, but thankfully, this episode didn't use it as a crutch like others have in the past. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I want a Sea Breeze plushy.

So what was bad about this episode? Actually not all that much. I do have to say that the transformation spell at the end was kinda out of the blue, but it was worth it for the ending scene, not to mention the final gag.

Overall: 9/10 another solid key episode challenging one of the mane 6's elements. 99% next up is aj (cause, y'know, mane protagonist always gets the key first or last) then twi.

I'll be posting an opinion/speculation article later today about the keys and such, so new on the look out for that.

If you like this review and want more, be sure to tune in every week. I'll have reviews of each episode within a few hours of its airing.

[GAMING/MINECRAFT] An Intorduction to VampireZ

Play VampireZ on Hypixel's server: mc.hypixel.net

A few days ago, I posted about Mega Walls on the Hypixel Server. Today I want to tell you about another original mini-game hosted by them. This one is unique and I haven't seen anything like it in Minecraft before. VampireZ is a horror / survival mini-game that pits the humans against hordes of zombies and vampires (players).

Players are divided into two teams when the game starts. You can either be a survivor, or a vampire. At the beginning, there will only be one or two vampires, but every time a survivor dies, they become a vampire. This makes the game increasingly difficult as time goes on.

As a survivor, you have infinite blindness and resistance, and you spawn with a wooden sword. For each vampire or zombie you kill, and for each round you're still alive, you get some gold. You use gold to buy items. You can buy better swords, armor, food or potions. (some items are VIP locked)

While a survivor, you want to be VERY careful before getting armor, but you still want to fight every battle you can win to get as much gold as you can. Remember that while zombies are slow and stupid, they do a lot more damage than the vampires, especially in the last few rounds when they start spawning with swords and armor.

Your best bet as a survivor is to stay together, and stay hidden. You should hide in a building with no windows because vampires can break glass. (1 high windows are acceptable if you stay away from them, but 2 high windows are just asking for trouble) When not in combat, always, and I mean ALWAYS hold shift. The vampires have a special means that I'll discuss later to determine your general location, but if you hold shift, they might not be able to find you right away and you can get a hit or two on them before they see you. vampires don't have very good gear, so three to five solid hits will fell one for sure.

In order to win as a survivor you most stay alive for 21 rounds (approx: 15 minutes). If the final round ends and you're still alive, you win.

As a vampire, your goal is to kill the survivors. You win when there as no survivors left alive. Vampires spawn with a leather tunic and a wither skull and a sharpness 1 ghast tear, as well as infinite invisibility, speed, and night vision. Also, zombies will never hurt vampires and instead ignore them.

Just like how survivors earn gold, vampires earn blood, though it's slightly different. Vampires earn blood at the end of rounds, but they also earn it whenever a survivor dies, regardless of who killed them. Vampires can not purchase items, and instead purchase buffs (potion effects). among the best to buy are absorption, regeneration, and strength. There are two more things that vampires can buy that aren't potion effects. One of which turns you into a bat allowing you to fly, however this is VIP locked. The other is the flaming arrow. It spawns fire particles on the ground pointing to the nearest survivor to help you locate them.

Another good tactic for finding survivors is to watch the zombies. if a big group of zombies is heading in one direction or crowded around the same door, you can bet a survivor's not far.

Your biggest weakness as a vampire is your horrible gear. Ghast tears have no inherit attack damage increase, so all you have is sharpness 1 (1.25) plus your base attack damage (1) which give you 2.25 damage per hit. However, this is reduced by 20% thanks to the resistance effect on survivors, leaving 1.8 damage. That's less than a single heart and, assuming the survivor doesn't regen, it will still take at least 6 hits to kill them without any armor on. Even with a wooden sword, survivors can still kill you in less than 4 hits. The situation becomes even bleaker once a survivor gets iron armor (60% protection). Each hit will only do 0.72 damage, meaning it will take over 30 hits to kill them after taking regening into account. This is where teamwork, zombies, and strength effect comes in handy. Using these to your advantage will give you a MUCH better chance of killing survivors. For example, when using strength (lvl 3, 390%), your damage output is increased to 8.775, meaning a 3 hit kill without armor and even with iron armor you can still do 2.808 damage per hit for an 8 hit kill, rather than 30+.

Furthermore, you have nothing but a leather tunic to protect you which only provides a measly 12% protection level. Against a survivor with a wooden sword (1+4 attack damage) they will kill you in 5 hits. If they have an iron sword (1+6 attack damage), if will be a 4 hit kill, and if they have the sharpness 1 iron sword (1+6+1.25 attack damage), it will only take 3 hits. The best ways around this are to use the absorption (doubled health making you last twice as long) and regeneration.

If theses numbers are making your head spin, don't worry. I'm done with numbers.

More or less, You already know everything there is to know about VampireZ and how to play, so what are you waiting for? Head over to Hypixel's server and join in on the fun. IP: mc.hypixel.net

If you just want a normal survival server, join my server at 198.24.181.2:25658
We also have creative and pvp, and will be adding factions very soon.

[GAMING] Katawa Shoujo

Download Katawa Shoujo here: http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/download.php

Katawa Shoujo is one of those choice driven storybook games that most people will either love or hate, but this one comes with a twist...

If there's anything that probably stood out to you in the above picture, it's likely Rin's lack of arms or Hanako's scars. Katawa Shoujo takes place at a school for the disabled where you have been sent after discovery of your weak heart. Soon, you will find your place and fall in love with one of these five girls. On paper, it couldn't sound anymore stereotypical and boring, but I assure you it's anything but.

Obviously each of these girls has their own disability. From the obvious like Rin's lack of arms to the not so obvious like Hanako's emotional trauma. I suggest you try to ignore that for the game, and really just think of them like normal people, and really it's not that hard once you get into it.

With five possible good endings and one secret ending, each play though taking around 3-5 hours depending on your reading speed, this will not be a game you can brush through in a day... I recommend you take your time and really soak it all in. On your first play through, you should make whatever choices you feel are best and just see where that leads you. On subsequent play throughs, I recommend a guide on what choices to make. (Especially when trying to get on certain paths, they're not balanced. There's about a 60% chance to end up with Emi but only about a 2% chance each for Hanako and Lilly)

As you get farther along in the story there ARE sex scenes... You can turn them off if you want though. Wether or not you play with them on is your choice...

 

The best thing about this game is the deep and engaging story. The writers did an excellent job and pulling you into the story of each of these five girls, and the top notch music and art just make it that much better.

If you're looking for a good heart grabbing story, or just a way to kill hours on end, Katawa Shoujo just might be what you're looking for. Incase you missed the link at the top of the post, here it is again: http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/download.php

Interestingly enough, you can download it as a torrent if you prefer. I really like this option and hope more companies adopt it in the future.

[MLP/REVIEW/S4E15] Twilight Time

Notice anything special about this picture? If not, keep reading and I'll tell you soon.

Before I go on, let me say that this WILL contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen this episode yet, do it now!

So I have to say that, overall, I liked this episode. It's more or less a sweetiebelle episode, and I don't think we've had one of those since sister hooves social. I also liked seeing her learn magic, I think it was a long time comming.

Being a CMC centric episode, I had figured that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would be out antagonists from the moment they stepped on screen, but this time it was more of an inner conflict than anything else. This is the type of conflict I like the best, so that and my favorite filly

learning magic means a personal 1-up from me.

As we move into the meat of the episode, we see a sudden shift in Diamond and Silver's attitude towards the CMC. Although this might throw some for a loop, I found it perfectly in character for them. They'll do whatever it takes to be on top. They don't care who you are on the inside, if it means they're popular by association, they'll hang out with anyone.

Sound fammiliar? Did you say this episode's moral? Well you're absolutely right. It's subtle, but it's there, and I found it a really nice way to get more of a glimpse into their character. I honestly hope we get to see more of Diamond and Silver as the series goes on, maybe even a redemption episode for them.

Now about that screenshot above, have you figured it out yet? Look in the background. There's a chart with a sketch of the box from episode 67 with some writing and keys taped on. I really love that the animators put this there. I can totally see Twilight spending any free time she has making charts and formulas about the box in an attempt to solve its mystery, obviously unaware that they already posses half of the keys. Good job animators, keep it up.

And by the way, this has nothing to do with anything, but I just loved this scene...

Dawww scootaloo! I think sweetiebelle might have some competition for favorite filly now!

Anyway, overall I'd give this episode a 9/10. I especially liked this episode and was kept guessing to the end. See you back here next week for another review!

[GAMING/MINECRAFT/BRIDGES] A true team player.

Recently I had been playing The Bridges on Mineplex (IP: Mineplex.com) and played what was quite possibly the most fun game of my life. Here's what happened:

Bridges is a 4-team game, each team has 10 minutes to prepare, and then the bridges are built and each team fights to the death. Simple yet exciting. Mineplex also sports starter kits ranging from apple (infinite foods) to brawler (ultimate melee). For this round I was a miner (infinite haste II, Stone Pickaxe, easy to find ores) and in the time before the bridges came up, i had a diamond sword, chestplate, leggings, and pickaxe, and iron boots and helmet. obviously, i was stacked. the one thing i didn't have, though, was food...

I went out and killed a few easy targets, but then got into a brawl with a full iron dude and was left with 2 hearts, and 3 hunger. i retreated to my team's area, asking for food in chat, but not really expecting to get anything... to my surprise, a friendly girl from my team handed over three cooked chicken! after some eating and time to regen, i set out and got two more kills off, but then one of my team mates died, and it was just me and one other player on red team. meanwhile, the others had 6, 6, and 4 members...

I was sure we were doomed, but then I met up with my sole surviving team mate, the friendly girl who gave me food from before! I know the only way we had a chance was to stick together, so i followed her wherever she went. we hunted down the 4-player team, killed them and got some diamonds. I gave all the ones i got to the girl since upgrading my boots and helmet would be of minimal benifit as compared to her getting diamond chestplate and leggings.

by the time we were geared up, the game's end had drawn near. the two 6-player teams had gone at it, and were left with 3 and 2 members. we went after the three member team, and killed one of them, the other two got away but we're killed by the other team.

now it was just us two and them two. we invaded their area and manged to catch them off guard as they we're trying to get better gear. we teamed on one of them, but at the last minute got split up as we made our way to the last guy. my team mate got killed, and i was just a block or two away from him on the other side of a stone wall, i had caught a glimpse of him and knew he had no diamond gear, so my best best was to strike now before he could get my partner's gear and regen any damage he took from their battle. I ran in, sword swinging and killed him, simultaneously getting revenge from my fallen team mate, without whom I never could have won the game, winning for my team, and becoming the sole survivor of them map.

not many games are as spectacular as this one, in fact, this was such an awesome game that I just had to share it.

Want to join me on my server? use the IP: 198.24.181.2:25658
we have Survival, Creative, and PvP.