Netflix

I recently got Netfilx. Not because it seemed like the most amazing thing ever, but because the first month was free and I had a little time off to watch some TV (this being back in February when we had Reading Week at college). After the free month, the subscription was renewed, because well, they have some good programing.

Netflix isn't the place you go for all the new releases and action packed jems, but for older TV shows, foreign films, independent movies, and documentaries, it has a good fledgling database. Without Netflix I never would have checked out Jekyll, a BBC program that takes a new spin on the old theories behind the original book, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; Soap, a satirical and comical show that makes fun of soap themes and storylines; finished the first season of Community, a show about a ragtag team of community college students who join a study group; or watched strange but interesting movies like TIMER and Dragon Hunters. Hell, I even learned a few things by watching Terry Jones: Medieval Lives.

On the anime side, I've also been watching Soul Eater and trying to work my ways towards watching Hell Girl. They also have one of my favourite anime series, Seirei no Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit to watch. A anime that has sadly been neglected by many.

I don't think Netflix is for everyone. If you like new releases and need to be on top of Hollywood's A game, going through Shaw or MTS for your movie needs might be a better idea. But for me, I like how I can catch up on the oldies and watch indie films on the go. It's a cheaper way to get your movie and TV fix.

Dragon Age 2 Thoughts

I would like to say that I've played Dragon Age 2 until my retinas started to bleed and my fingers grew so worn from the analog stick I couldn't play anymore. But alas, I have not been able to spend as much quality time with the game as I would have liked. However, from what I have played, it has been.... different.

I get how people have complained that DA2 is a dumbed down version of Dragon Age: Origins -- as it is in some regards. The game play is a lot easier and the new abilities for your Hawke and party members are more powerful which makes gameplay simpler and quicker.

A big gripe of mine in DA2 is all the reused environments. In DA:O the world was expansive and the environments were rich with culture and history. But in DA2, you're stuck in Kirkwall with environments/dungeons that are the same EVERY time. I mean, even if you enter one area from a totally different section in the game, you find yourself back at a location you were just in 10 minutes ago. I understand that BioWare was strapped for time, but that is lazy game development. In DA:3 they better shape-up and make the world immersive once again.

Although the world of DA:2 is lackluster, I like the characters that live inside of Kirkwall. I enjoy all the new companions, but at times they seem 100x more emo then the last cast of characters. Even the happy go-lucky companions have a past fraught with sadness and despair. However, I like the romance options in DA2. Right now, I've only had the chance to get to 3rd base with Anders, but I like how Anders and Hawke's relationship has progressed over time.

Quests have been interesting so far, but the game seems a lot shorter than the 50+ hours I put in DA:O (some which I just spent running around doing nothing of consequence). I want more game! (And paying for DL content doesn't count.)

In all I like DA2, but it feels like a completely different game than DA:O. It's not a true sequel. Its a branch in the DA universe, but that's it. Which is a bit of a shame, as I would have liked to played DA:O2.

Cowboy Bebop and Mass Effect

Cowboy Bebop + Mass Effect = Perfect Duo

Now I want to simultaneously play Mass Effect and watch Cowboy Bebop.

The next ME3 recruit squad anyone?

Dragon Age 2 Demo - First Impressions

You know you're a true badass when you're flanked by a dragon

My blog is full of BioWare love. I can't deny it. I love Dragon Age: Origins and the Mass Effect series. But what happens when two beloved series combine into a mesh called Dragon Effect? Well, there are good and bad aspects.

Let's start with good and work our way down.

Good:

• Aveline looks incredibly kick ass.
• The rogue and mage abilities seem refined; spells seem more robust and rogue abilities feel more, well, roguish. Not just a hack off the swordsman's abilities.
• For the most part, I like the voice actors picked. I like the choice for male Hawke, but female Hawke's voice is a little soft for me and sounds familiar to Bethany's VO. However I love the picks for Fenris and Sebastian (sure they weren't in the demo, but hot damn. Sebastian's VO alone made me glad I pre-ordered.) Isabella's voice actor is still strong and I like Aveline's VO as well (I kinda wish it had been Hawke's...)

Limbo:

• The new Final Fantasy looking experience/attributes/skills system. I realize that the old system didn't give much room to pick different abilities and traits, but I feel like I'm playing FFXII every time I look at it.
• Female Hawke's swaying ass when she runs as a mage. It was... distracting.
• Varric narrating the story. I like Varric as a character, but it's off putting to be pulled out of the storyline at a moments whim. I can only hope it's in better integrated into the actual game. And what's up with Varric having the ability to lie about events? Am I playing the real story of Hawke, or am I just being fed shit?

Bad:

• The font. It looks like ants have creeped onto my television set. I have to be in make-out position before the text is readable. There was a similar problem for people in ME2 that consumers complained about, which BioWare said they'd fix in ME3. And yet we get even smaller print in DA2. Fix it.
• Funny graphic rate. I'll say that it's the demo's fault for now, but on my Xbox, the frame rate seemed sluggish at times and white lines kept appearing out of knowhere. It even froze once while I was playing mage Hawke and kicked me out.

The rest of bad is under cut for SPOILERS.