The Jester Views?

   Antique Bakery is a 12 episode Shonen/comendy anime series originally written by Fumi Yoshinaga. This particular series follows a business man Keiichiro Yachibana, who was kidnaped as a child and hates cakes. However he suddenly decides to open a cake shop with a gay man who once confessed his love to him in Highschool, Yusuke Ono. Ono had gone oversea and has become a very talented patisserie and despite the painful memories of him being turned away be Tachibana in Highschool, agrees to come and work for him. Chikage Kobayakawa, an imposing figure who is actually very clumsy and sensitive is added to the formula in the form of Tachibana’s childhood friend who works for the Tachibana household. Eiji Kanda, a young world class boxer with a sweet tooth and dislocated retina also joins the crew by the second episode. Most of the series follows the silly antics of these strange personalities working together, the way that they become a family, and how they reach out to help their friends and customers.

Our series of burger-flipping, dish sliding, and customer gretting demon lord comes to a close

Hataraku Maou Sama wasn’t actually on my watch-dar originally. Ironically, I  wrongly assumed the season “pretty weak” but I take back those words because this season actually turned out to be one of the best (for me). I recognized the four covered series with the aspects of Action (Shingeki no Kyojin), Comedy (This), Romance (Oregairu in some cases), and Harem (Date A Live). I have two more series, but these 4 were what made the season for me.

There are three more series that will be reviewed and Date A Live already got its review (plus a second season), so let’s dive right into the comedic title for this season with Hataraku Maou Sama

Let’s quickly summarize Episode 13 here:

I have mixed opinions on it but it was a funny episode thanks to fictional financial ruin being so fun to watch. What happens is that Chiho fears Maou will return to his world after suffering a nightmare with the mentioned event happening. She notices that Maou requested to change his working times and Emilia notices a large number of boxes which almost seems to signify Maou’s crew leaving. The situation turns out to be that Maou’s crew needs some serious money as they’re completely screwed in finances and both Alsiel and Maou decide to take daily-paying  jobs. The reason for this are because of the boxes that Emilia discovered. They were items that Urushihara bought when he got scammed off the internet. The entire thing is resolved Emilia lists Urushihara as a child and revokes the purchase as minors can’t buy crap online. I loved how Maou and Alsiel order Katsudon, much like how they started out. The series end with an act of kindness from Emilia, who lends Maou an umbrella, much like how he showed his indiscriminate kindess to in the first episode

So we have our demon trio of Maou, Alsiel, and Lucifer. Maou is the head honcho but in terms of age, looks like he’s younger than Alsiel but older than Lucifer. He’s the most hard-working, earnest type of guy I’ve seen in a while. He cares for his underlings, demon or not, and apparently helps out around the neighborhood. It only takes a demon to show humans how to be an upstanding citizen I suppose. When Maou’s magic returns, he gains Fist of the North Star/Jojo amounts of muscle and usually is the one to deal the finishing blow. Only because he’s a demon and such a likeable character, I was able to forgive him for his small amounts of density to Chiho.

Alsiel is the usual “straight man” in our Maou-Alsiel comedy duo. The circumstances however usually make them both the “straight man” but Alsiel tends to be the more comedic one. While his lord goes off to put food on the table, he goes off researching for magic sources and keeping the house tidy. Alsiel ended as one of my favorites, he makes an awesome duo with Maou and he got his moment of shine when he returns to his demon form.

Lucifer started out as the antagonist of the first arc, but became a regular when he stays with his superiors. From a sadistic little child to a pitiable NEET, Lucifer becomes neglected but he helps out whenever he can. I wanted to see his demon form, but since he’s originally an angel, I guess his body doesn’t change too much. Although he was a fearsome general beforehand, I don’t seem to sense any sort of loyalty thing going on. Either Alsiel is just that fervently loyal or Maou allowed for some freedom in his troops. I thought Lucifer would turn against everyone but he decides that being a NEET beats heaven (I guess they don’t have internet up there). I love his casual-lazy voice for some reason. The demon trio for me were great. Two dramatic try-hards and one NEET all in the same house.

On the other side, we have Emila who really didn’t expect to be the hero (because my mind geared toward male protagonists after so long). She’s play the prejudiced deuterogonist with our demon lord and slowly comes to realize his inner human. Emilia’s “tsun” attitude is justifiable because Maou’s army WAS responsible for her home being razed to the ground so I can at least level with her to understand why she gets so angry when she’s associated with him. She becomes more lenient in the end but I can predict something big is going to happen because of it. Emilia also has the most diverse range of facial expressions I have ever seen. 

Chiho is the only “regular” human that is “important” in the series. While we do have Maou’s boss, Chiho takes most the ordinary human timeslot. Maou’s otherwordly diligence and work ethnic makes her helplessly fall in love with him. I’ll give her points for liking someone who is actually worth liking and for delivering a nice confession without all the awkward embarassment bullcrap. Chiho also has her share of facial expressions, but more in comedic sort of faces (while Emilia has some trollish/angry ones). The one problem I had with her are the really oversized chest she had. I was completely fine without the swimsuit episode and her enormous emphasis on her chest.

Christia Bell or just Kamazuki Suzuno was the last of the main characters that showed up in the series. Her “arc” was pretty damn long but I guess it was to prolong the facade that she wasn’t the enemy. Because of her attire, I immediately loved her character. Of course Itou Kanae’s voice helped too. I kind of knew something was up with her after the fight in front of the store but when that turned out to be an angel, I dismissed my thoughts. I would have never expected a giant toy hammer to be her weapon at all too, it just doesn’t fit her at all (especially for an assassin). Like  Emilia, she is convinced of Maou’s earnest desires to keep the modern world regular and becomes a regular…friend, if you want to call it that.

The first arc was simply enjoyable, I had little to no complaints going on. The pacing was good, the setting and characters were fresh, and the comedy finale with the action was great to watch. Once it did solve the issue with the portals, I kind of wondered why everyone stayed. I thought the portal issue was done very early so I felt that further arcs wouldn’t be as strong. The second arc’s pacing issue was most likely to solidify Kamazuki’s character but I’ll admit that it did get a little dragged out. While the comey is still great, it wasn’t as tightly done as the first one. The fights were fun to watch, since we’re constantly reminded that we have demons around. Episode 1′s first few minutes with all the fantasy fights was just superb, I thought I clicked on the wrong link.

Just because this season was chock full of amazing songs, allow me to have a small spotlight for the music in this series. Ironically enough, I thought this series had the weakest point in the music department compared to the rest. What I just said translates to: I didn’t like the opening/ending too much. The opening itself for the first few episodes were rehashed scenes from previous episodes and it got itself a real opening near halfway in. I don’t know why they did this, maybe they had an issue with planning. I’ll just say I liked the opening more than the ending.

It’s been over ten years since the first Halo game was released, and even longer since we first laid eyes on the Master Chief. A lot has changed since then.

Like, ten years of combat has literally sucked all the colour out of him.

That said, I’m slowly coming around to appreciate his armour in Halo 4. When you see it in action, the decrease in plating makes it seem more practical than the BMX padding he was wearing in Combat Evolved.

Not that I’d know. My first-hand experience battling aliens in the future is somewhat limited, so I’m only guessing as to how useful all that stuff really is.

Top 5 Skyrim Mods of the week : Plumbing the Mushroom Kingdom

By Matt Martin

Number of staff affected to be less than 10% of workforce

Microsoft has today let an undisclosed number of employees of its Lionhead studio go following the completion of latest title Fable: The Journey.

The company would not disclose exact numbers, but suggested that less than 10 per cent of the current workforce will be affected by the time the consultation process ends.

"There is a thoughtful and fair consultation process for all employees to ensure they have the best possible chance of finding a role inside Microsoft Studios," said the company in a statement to GamesIndustry International.

"We are working closely with the affected employees during this difficult time, and helping them to explore opportunities. We do not have an exact number to share but by the end of 2012 these reductions will account for less than 10 per cent of the overall headcount at Lionhead"

Kinect game Fable: The Journey was released last week and performed poorly in the UK charts only entering at number 37. Reviews of the title have been muted, with the game scoring an average Metacritic rating of 62 per cent.

"Following the completion of Fable: The Journey, Lionhead Studios has begun work on its next projects. As is common in the games industry, a smaller headcount is needed as projects kick-off and ramp up as full-production gets underway," continued Microsoft.

"At this time a small number of positions have been identified as at risk of redundancy and the affected employees were notified today. We are working very closely with those people during this difficult time, to help them explore alternative opportunities within Microsoft - including new roles at Microsoft Studios which is growing in the UK and actively hiring across all locations, including Lionhead, Rare, Soho Productions and our recently announced new studio in London."

Microsoft added that it hopes to add over 100 positions to its internal studios in between now and June 2013.

"Who am I?" That's the question the main protagonist asks at the beginning of the game, and such is the great writing by the development team, is one that you will want to help him discover. A clever gameplay twist sees you view the 3D world from a 2D perspective, with your 'soul' able to possess inanimate objects. You're then able to manipulate the majority of these items, with a number of items having a specific action you're able to make them perform. This could be from something as simple as an umbrella opening and closing, to controlling a lever responsible for operating a machine. What's the purpose of this ability you may wonder? Well on this quest you'll discover other unfortunate individuals who have just died themselves. You possess the ability to rewind time to 4 minutes prior to their death, and this gives you the opportunity to use your abilities to try and alter their fate. In doing so this may lead to clues to who you are and the reasons behind your death. It's a clever concept that will make you think about how to utilise the objects around you, and will frequently make you smile when you realise what the solution is. It is a fairly linear game, and for all of these puzzles there is usually only one 'correct' solution. For anyone that has played and appreciated any of the Phoenix Wright series, you will be right at home with the ability of the writing. The characters are all distinctive and instantly likeable. The banter between the characters is witty and is reason alone to keep playing through the storyline. The graphical style is bright and cartoony, which helps the objects to all stand out. The characters are all rendered in 3D, which helps to show off their distinct characteristics, whether it be through the way their waltz or dance through the landscape. When you see the game in motion you'll come to appreciate the style all the more, and it is a great fit for the smaller viewing screen. It's not the toughest game in the world, with hints aplenty when you fail a puzzle, and if the concept is brought up again in the future there is scope for the abilities to become more fleshed out. Overall though, one of the best stories on the DS that blazes through at a blistering pace, with twists and turns around every corner. An enjoyable title that deserves a place in your collection to show publishers that new IPs are still welcome on the system when this kind of care and lavish attention has been put into it's development.

Review by : John Teti

For those who complain that independent games are too arty and twee, Super Meat Boy answers with a big helping of red meat. In this unabashedly traditional save-the-princess tale, the hero is a cube of blood and animal tissue who splatters gore on every surface he touches. He’s also downright adorable. Meat Boy’s determination to save his fleshy lover, Bandage Girl, from an angry fetus in a robot suit is easy to admire. But the hero really endears himself to players by bounding across hundreds of 2-D obstacle courses with abandon, and reacting to button presses with a crisp, precise, yet carefree kineticism. The A button has meant “jump” for a long time, but seldom so emphatically as this.

The levels in Super Meat Boy are bite-size, with many taking less than 10 seconds on a successful run. There’s the rub, though—success. Naturally, the landscape is prosaic at the start, teaching players how Meat Boy can bounce off walls and ricochet around tight corners. Then come the buzzsaws, lasers, and jets of caustic salt, as the level design builds into a visual fugue of insta-death.

Difficulty in games has come to be associated with a certain sadism, but there’s none of that in Super Meat Boy. Even though it gets extremely hard, the game acts more like a giddy school-kid, setting up one crazy challenge after another, and each time marveling, “Wouldn’t it be cool if you could do this?” When you die—which will happen thousands of times—Meat Boy immediately respawns at the beginning of the stage. The attitude could be described as “suck it up and try again,” except that there’s no time to suck it up. As soon as you’ve failed, you’re already trying again, and that goes a long way toward allaying the pain of defeat.

When you do prevail, the game fires up an instant replay of your winning run—simultaneously superimposing a few dozen of your losing attempts on the screen, too. The resulting effect is that among the many Meat Boys you maneuvered to a beef-splattering death, one miraculously emerges from the pack and survives against the odds. This moment of basking in victory never gets old, and it’s a rare break from the overall fast pace. As soon you’re done watching the replay, the next level sweeps onto the screen. The hardest task in Super Meat Boy is to stop playing it.

Designers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes have included so many extras that the Easter eggs threaten to dwarf the actual game. Each of the 130 levels or so in the standard quest has a more difficult “Dark World” version; retro-themed warp zones, unlockable characters, and fake glitches extend the game even further. The funny animated cinematics get off plenty of in-jokes without devolving into scenesterism.