Modern Otaku: Its about everything, see?

What do those three things have in common? Nope! Your wrong. It's not that theyre all weapons (of sorts). At least, thats not what I'm getting at. They all have something to do with something I'm interested in, those being Fallout 3, an anime called Hajime no Ippo, and the PS3 exclusive Demon's Souls.


Firstly, last week I reported that Broken Steel had finally come out on PSN. Well, its come and gone and I've bought it, played it through, twice...and I've got to say...what the hell, Bethesda?
Why are you releasing this bug ridden crash box on us like this? Didn't you already fix these problems on the Xbox like six months ago or something? Don't get me wrong. The addons are very much appreciated. They blend nigh-seamlessly with the main storyline. I love the new power armor, and the heavy incinerator (I even like saying it! Ooohoohoo!), but cmon. During the course of the first playthrough, the loadtimes were horrendous and my PS3 froze...three times (something its never done before in any game, even in Fallout 3). That said, Broken Steel does fix one thing. That being the thing I found most terrible about F3's initial release. The ending. See, at the end of the game, and I'm sorry if you haven't beaten it yet (and if you really care, skip to the next section.....warning you....last warning...stop reading here) you die. Thats it. You die. Finishing cinematic, credits, Start Screen. Thats it. Broken Steel changes that. You receive a near fatal dose of radiation and, instead of dying, slip into a coma for two weeks. Although you managed to destroy the Enclave's main base, and kick them out of Project Purity at the conclusion of F3's main plot, the enclave are far from finished. In fact, they may even be a little more powerful without John Henry Eden to hold them back. I won't spoil everything for you, but I will say this: 101's journey is far from finished. 7/10. The crashing, slowdowns and glitches hold it back from its rightful nine.


IF YOU WERE RUNNING FROM THE SPOILERS, CONTINUE HERE

Anime time now, alright! Now, a couple of months back, I said to myself "Your in an anime drought. If you don't tweak your tastes a little bit, your going to run out of stuff to watch."
So, I decided to go way outside the box, and watch something I'd normally never even concider. A sports anime. To be honest, my first was not Hajime no Ippo (Hah! Fooled you!), it was Suzuka, a show about school, young romance (yech...) and most of all track and field. I had to say, it wasn't really all that bad. The main character lacks confidence to the point of helplessness. Alot of people discount the show for that, but I say pishaw! We can't all be tough. Reminds me of myself and my first ex. It took a long time for it to work out (and in the end, it didn't, mind you!) but it was worth it. Anyway, onto the main topic. After that, I said "Trying new things can be good. Lets go a little more outside the box." Next was Hajime no Ippo, a show about, and get this, Boxing of all things! Boxing is something I don't typically watch on TV, I had enough fights in school, and most of them ended (for the other guy) before the 6th or 7th round, because I don't fight fair. But anyway, I got ahold of the series and sat down, started it up. Gotta say, again, I was pleasently surprised. Hajime no Ippo puts a nice spin on the classic underdog-turned-hero story. The show follows the day-to-day life of Ippo Makunouchi, your average everyday anti-social dude. One day, following another beating by his school's bullies, Ippo is saved by a man in sweats who just happened to be running by. The man shows tremendous abilities, tearing all three buttons off the jackets off all three of the bullies, at lightning speed, with ease. The man reveals himself to be "Mamoru Takamura", and offers to take the boy to his gym to patch up his injuries. There, he discovers that the kid, although short and small looking, can deliver a helluva hard punch, when he invites him to punch a bag with a (crudely...) drawn picture of his bully taped onto it. The kid gets an interest in boxing after that, and starts buying boxing magazines. He discovers that Takamura isn't just any boxer, hes one of the best. He's never lost a match, and it looks like he's a shoe-in to become Japan's middleweight champ. He later catches up with Takamura, requesting to become a boxer. Knowing the kid has talent, he teases him, telling him he could never become a boxer. When Ippo begs more, he gives him a challenge: hit the tree, catch ten leaves in your hands before the last leaf hits the ground. So begins his journey into the wonderful world of featherweight boxing. Now, the show is decently realistic. Most of the techniques that are pulled off, are done realistically, albeit in a stylized manner, and even have roots in some of the best boxers of all time (moves like "Hitman" Hearns' Hitman Style flicker jabs, or Jack Dempsey's Dempsey Roll, the Mike Tyson developed peek-a-boo defense and liver blow and Floyd Petterson's Gazelle Punch, among others.) The characters are hilarious, at least to me. Takamura is the real joker among all the guys, and simply the best, ever. The art style, although different from what I'm used to, is nice. Sort of looks like everyone's face is just painted onto a metal plate, which is conviently bolted to a skull, which is conviniently glued onto a neck, and so forth. But if you can get over that (you got over Windwaker's anime style, didn't you?) then your golden. I like this show so much, its getting a 5/5 in my books. Simply awesome, and eagerly awaiting the english version of Season 2!

Now now now..for the swords connection, I offer to you, what I believe will be, the sleeper hit of 2009, Demon's Souls. This game looks great. Think of a combination of Phantasy Star Online and Diablo, but make it really hard, with no way to change the difficulty, and you *might* be getting close to Demon's Souls, except its even more awesome then that. The king of the Kingdom of Boletaria once attempted to use the power of souls to bring prosperity to his lands. In doing so, he unleashed a now-awoken legendary beast upon the world. The beast covered the lands in a thick fog. All those who have entered the fog have not returned. Its up to you, the hero chosen by the Lady in Black, to save the land by destroying the beast, or die trying. I'll have a full review of the game a week after October six. It should be in my hot little hands for a good while by then, and I'll be able to give it a better review. For now, just enjoy this youtube video.

Always here!
~Ota-Kun.