It's been a while, but time flies when you're moving, hanging out with friends, and going to GenCon :D
Persona 3 Portable came out, and has been sucking up all of my available video game time. I'm going through as a female MC, which is such a frigging blast. If you have a PSP, buy this game. If you already beat Persona 3 (or Persona 3 FES) for the PS2... buy this game anyway. Playing as a female adds another dimension to the game that I really appreciate.
I went to GenCon with my gaming group this year, and I have to say, I had a blast (despite catching Con Crud on Saturday). Iron Player was amazing fun (as always), and answering the Player Call for Iron DM was... interesting (our table ended up with a DM who insisted on running us through 4th Ed D&D, despite the protests from us). I picked up the Advanced Player's Guide for Pathfinder, which is 300+ pages of sheer awesome. I love how Paizo updates the base classes with new goodies even when they create brand new classes - it helps avoid the power gaps that ended up plaguing D&D 3.0/3.5. It remains to be seen if they'll continue to keep that up as time goes on, but as of right now, I'd be cool with either playing a new class (Oracles are very sexy, IMO), or playing a core fighter (even without using the variant fighter stuff they added). Also got some awesome new Steampunk-themed dice, some GameScience dice, and Steve Prescott's artbook "Aggregate," which is friggin' SWEET.
Speaking of artbooks, the one I ordered from Amazon.jp finally arrived while I was at GenCon - it's "Shigenori Soejima Art Works 2004 - 2010". He is the main art director and character designer for Persona 3 and Persona 4. I haven't had a chance to actually open the damn thing to look at it yet, but the cover image of Aigis is amazing. I can't wait!
I am actually doing studies and art pieces here and there, believe it or not. I've just been too lazy to scan them. My apartment is hella hot (and WAY humid), and turning on the computer just adds to that problem. I did post some links on Twitter - let me see if I can find them...
Zhou Xiang (my Oracle PC from my Sunday gaming group) - pencils: http://twitpic.com/22u16k
Zhou Xiang - color tests: http://twitpic.com/24kfn2 and http://twitpic.com/29lylo
The image I used for my haircut poll: http://twitpic.com/27z2cs
Well, I'm at my mom's house doing laundry, so I should probably log off and finish that up so I can go home and clean before I go back to work tomorrow. Later!
PS - Patachou's in Indy has the best omelets EVER. Totally worth the price of admission - their daily omelets kept me filled up for a good 6 to 10 hours each day, depending on how busy I was after I ate breakfast there. And the cinnamon toast is to DIE FOR.
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Monday, August 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Blowing the dust off for two shakes
Yeah, so much for updating on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Between apartment hunting, moving, setting everything up, and playing video games (why hello there Red Dead Redemption, Alpha Protocol [stay away from that buggy PoS!], Yakuza 3, etc etc etc), drawing in general has been pretty low on my totem pole. I have been doing at least a few studies per week, though, which I hope to get scanned in this week.
Since I have nothing to show, I'll dive into some quick video game reviews:
Red Dead Redemption: LOVE IT. It's a gorgeous game with a decent story and memorable characters (some of them make me so MAD I wish I could just kill them on the spot). I like the combat, and I'm even doing okay on Expert :D If you don't want to buy it, you should at least rent it. It makes me like Westerns, and I normally am not a fan of those (to say the least).
Alpha Protocol: I WOULD HAVE loved it, except that it's buggy. So buggy, in fact, that it froze my game in one particular spot about 15 to 20 hours in. Couldn't get past the freezing at all, no matter what I did (I even set up a fan behind my Xbox 360 unit to keep it cooler). RDR worked just fine, but Alpha Protocol came to a stuttering halt every time in those ruins in Rome. It's a shame, too, because I actually liked it as a game. The plot is decent, the characters are memorable, the combat is a less polished version of Mass Effect 2, with more of an RPG level up system, and the conversation system is a combo of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age, but TIMED.
Yakuza 3: not very far into it, but Kaz is a great uncle :D
Since I have nothing to show, I'll dive into some quick video game reviews:
Red Dead Redemption: LOVE IT. It's a gorgeous game with a decent story and memorable characters (some of them make me so MAD I wish I could just kill them on the spot). I like the combat, and I'm even doing okay on Expert :D If you don't want to buy it, you should at least rent it. It makes me like Westerns, and I normally am not a fan of those (to say the least).
Alpha Protocol: I WOULD HAVE loved it, except that it's buggy. So buggy, in fact, that it froze my game in one particular spot about 15 to 20 hours in. Couldn't get past the freezing at all, no matter what I did (I even set up a fan behind my Xbox 360 unit to keep it cooler). RDR worked just fine, but Alpha Protocol came to a stuttering halt every time in those ruins in Rome. It's a shame, too, because I actually liked it as a game. The plot is decent, the characters are memorable, the combat is a less polished version of Mass Effect 2, with more of an RPG level up system, and the conversation system is a combo of Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age, but TIMED.
Yakuza 3: not very far into it, but Kaz is a great uncle :D
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Anatomy studies, and a landscape
This is all I have for the last week - I just can't seem to get my head in the game, so to speak. Something's better than nothing, though. All of these were done in 20 to 30 minutes, using ref.
In video game news, I've been playing a ton of Final Fantasy XIII, and I'm loving it so far. Mass Effect 2 is probably my personal Game of the Year, but still - having a blast for the most part. I'm seriously considering canceling my WoW account till Cataclysm, and now I have friends telling me to join them on Star Trek Online or Champions Online, haha. I'm considering it, at least till Star Wars: The Old Republic and Final Fantasy XIV come out...
In video game news, I've been playing a ton of Final Fantasy XIII, and I'm loving it so far. Mass Effect 2 is probably my personal Game of the Year, but still - having a blast for the most part. I'm seriously considering canceling my WoW account till Cataclysm, and now I have friends telling me to join them on Star Trek Online or Champions Online, haha. I'm considering it, at least till Star Wars: The Old Republic and Final Fantasy XIV come out...
Monday, March 8, 2010
Holy crap there's art in this post??
First off - I'm severely disappointed in White Knight Chronicles :/ It doesn't sit well with me when I'm playing a game, and all of a sudden I beat the final boss, and I didn't even know it was the final boss. I literally sat there, staring at the screen, controller in hand, saying, "... this isn't the end, is it? Is it? What the hell, I think I just beat the game! WTF?"
So anyway, I'm playing Assassin's Creed on the PS3. I have to say, I like the game a lot, even with the repetitive missions. There's no way in Hell I'm going after all of those hidden flags, though. That's a definite time sink, and this is coming from someone who has played World of Warcraft since release (except for a 9 month break, but I digress). I can't wait to open up Assassin's Creed II, but that will have to be delayed till I finish ACI (and then Final Fantasy XIII comes out, so... yeah).
I promised art in the post title, so here goes - all are studies from the past two weeks (two of them are from today, actually).
This was from a study demo from Analytical Figure Drawing SP08 that I did on 02/17 during my lunch break.
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This was a shot at a quick environment, also done at work during a lunch break. This was from a few days ago, I believe.
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Hey, look! It's my stapler, my Gunnar glasses box case, and a box of Kleenex, all sitting at my cube at work!
--
These are just anatomy studies I did today. The torsos are from lunch today, and the lips and eyes and whatnot were done while watching Dave Rapoza's Monday Night Stream today (of course I missed it live, so I watched it after the fact on Livestream).
--
Okay, I'm going to finish watching the Monday Night Stream, and head off to bed.
So anyway, I'm playing Assassin's Creed on the PS3. I have to say, I like the game a lot, even with the repetitive missions. There's no way in Hell I'm going after all of those hidden flags, though. That's a definite time sink, and this is coming from someone who has played World of Warcraft since release (except for a 9 month break, but I digress). I can't wait to open up Assassin's Creed II, but that will have to be delayed till I finish ACI (and then Final Fantasy XIII comes out, so... yeah).
I promised art in the post title, so here goes - all are studies from the past two weeks (two of them are from today, actually).
This was from a study demo from Analytical Figure Drawing SP08 that I did on 02/17 during my lunch break.
--
This was a shot at a quick environment, also done at work during a lunch break. This was from a few days ago, I believe.
--
Hey, look! It's my stapler, my Gunnar glasses box case, and a box of Kleenex, all sitting at my cube at work!
--
These are just anatomy studies I did today. The torsos are from lunch today, and the lips and eyes and whatnot were done while watching Dave Rapoza's Monday Night Stream today (of course I missed it live, so I watched it after the fact on Livestream).
--
Okay, I'm going to finish watching the Monday Night Stream, and head off to bed.
Friday, February 26, 2010
White Knight Chronicles - where was the beta testing?
I took a break from doing anything art-related last night, and instead spent a bunch of time playing White Knight Chronicles: International Edition (by Level 5 and Sony).
The game definitely has its flaws with the plot line, which makes me yell at the TV screen every hour or so for a good five to ten minutes per plot hole/cliche/super-fast exposition. However, I usually just give it the MST3K treatment and move on. I can accept bad and/or cheesy plotlines if the game play is good. The voice acting is... uneven, but not cringe-inducing. Also, I love the random comments that are made by everyone when I'm running around a town/dungeon/battle/whatever.
The technical glitches that I've run into, however, make me want to cut someone.
Being limited by range when it comes to my attacks, but the enemy being able to hit me no matter where they are on the map? Aggravating, but at least I knew about that one ahead of time, so I planned accordingly.
Having to run around and wait a few minutes to target an NPC to talk to them? Time consuming, but not game breaking... unless it's an NPC in a timed quest. Then panic starts to set in, and anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of work can be shot to hell.
Having to run around and enter/exit game menus to try and get an NPC to become visible, as there's nothing except a floating nameplate in the air? Not cool, especially if it's an NPC for the above-mentioned timed quest.
Having the controls lock up in the middle of a boss battle, where your only option is to hit the Triangle button to send a text to an online friend (if available and in-game), or R1 to defend? Kind of game breaking for me. I couldn't even hit Select to try and change who I was controlling. The only way to do anything was to RESET the game, and reload from my latest save.
Talking to an NPC and having their conversation text stop in the middle of a sentence (I made up an example to avoid spoilers: "Oh, hello, strange adventu")? And they repeat that every single time you talk to them? I sure hope they don't have anything important to tell me, or I'm screwed.
Don't get me wrong - I like the combat a lot, when it's working (it reminds me of Final Fantasy XII, which I loved), the huge maps are gorgeous (and did I mention huge?), the character models are nice (if cartoony, and a little dated looking), and like I said - the plot doesn't bug me all that much (gives me fodder for mockage, if nothing else).
Some of the glitches, though, make me want to just put the game down and never come back. Seeing as how I pre-ordered White Knight Chronicles, I'm pretty disappointed. This game has been out for a while in Japan - why couldn't they tighten up the controls and the NPC appearance/disappearance issues, at least, before releasing it here?
The game definitely has its flaws with the plot line, which makes me yell at the TV screen every hour or so for a good five to ten minutes per plot hole/cliche/super-fast exposition. However, I usually just give it the MST3K treatment and move on. I can accept bad and/or cheesy plotlines if the game play is good. The voice acting is... uneven, but not cringe-inducing. Also, I love the random comments that are made by everyone when I'm running around a town/dungeon/battle/whatever.
The technical glitches that I've run into, however, make me want to cut someone.
Being limited by range when it comes to my attacks, but the enemy being able to hit me no matter where they are on the map? Aggravating, but at least I knew about that one ahead of time, so I planned accordingly.
Having to run around and wait a few minutes to target an NPC to talk to them? Time consuming, but not game breaking... unless it's an NPC in a timed quest. Then panic starts to set in, and anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of work can be shot to hell.
Having to run around and enter/exit game menus to try and get an NPC to become visible, as there's nothing except a floating nameplate in the air? Not cool, especially if it's an NPC for the above-mentioned timed quest.
Having the controls lock up in the middle of a boss battle, where your only option is to hit the Triangle button to send a text to an online friend (if available and in-game), or R1 to defend? Kind of game breaking for me. I couldn't even hit Select to try and change who I was controlling. The only way to do anything was to RESET the game, and reload from my latest save.
Talking to an NPC and having their conversation text stop in the middle of a sentence (I made up an example to avoid spoilers: "Oh, hello, strange adventu")? And they repeat that every single time you talk to them? I sure hope they don't have anything important to tell me, or I'm screwed.
Don't get me wrong - I like the combat a lot, when it's working (it reminds me of Final Fantasy XII, which I loved), the huge maps are gorgeous (and did I mention huge?), the character models are nice (if cartoony, and a little dated looking), and like I said - the plot doesn't bug me all that much (gives me fodder for mockage, if nothing else).
Some of the glitches, though, make me want to just put the game down and never come back. Seeing as how I pre-ordered White Knight Chronicles, I'm pretty disappointed. This game has been out for a while in Japan - why couldn't they tighten up the controls and the NPC appearance/disappearance issues, at least, before releasing it here?
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