Game Review: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

SRPG; Nintendo DS; Atlus; 2011

Big news from over at the Mighty No. 9 forums, the infamous Call vote is over and the winner is *DRUMROLL* Call F! From now on, this design is the official design for Call though it was close with only a 2.25% difference between the winner and the first runner up Call E. Of course naturally the immediate reaction over at the forums is celebration from the Call F crowd and immediate calls for a re-vote because the vote was "unfair" and that Call F only won due to "Comcept favoritism." It will take a while before all this will blow over. Until then here is a video game review. Oh and for Christmas I got Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl, Kirby's Mass Attack, Luminous Arc, Spice and Wolf Vol. 6 (unfortunately I don't have Vol. 5 yet), and for some reason DmC: Devil May Cry. Anyway, onto my review of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2.

Christmas Review: Tokyo Godfathers

Well the entire Dina debacle has died down for the most part over at the Mighty No. 9 forums. Mainly because it has been replaced with the 2nd Call Vote, which as sparked a massive war between those who vote for Call E and those who vote for Call F (Because apparently no one bothers to remember that there is also Call H in the running). I voted for Call F because she looks the most capable of being a fighter and she compliments Beck's design the best, despite the countless accusations that she is just a Roll clone, which I kind of understand  why people say that, but on the hand she isn't really that similar to Roll if you really dissect their designs. Anyway, Christmas is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate it then by reviewing that anime Christmas Classic Perfect Blue.... What? I'm reviewing Tokyo Godfathers? Well it's done by the same director.

Crescent's Quick Report: The Mighty No. Fiasco or I'm Not Going to Talk about This.

I'm sure many of you have heard about the issues regarding the Mighty No. 9 Backer forums and our newly appointed Community Manager (or CM for short). Articles from various news sites have written articles and videos on Youtube have been made about one Dina Abou Karam and in particular our community's response to her appointment as announced in last Monday's update. Concerns have been raised, some more vulgar and vitriolic than others; however, most are civil and respectful, all centering around how Dina will preform as a CM, and Dina and members of 8-4 (who are helping to manage English communities for Comcept) have responded with reassurances to a number of the concerns that have been raised (the quality of those reassurances vary from user to user).

Personally, I am trying my best to stay out of this particular debacle. In fact, I am rather conflicted about even writing this post because I want the issue to pass until there is more solid evidence about whether or not Dina is having a positive or a negative influence on the development of Mighty No. 9. However, I want to clarify some comments that have cropped up on some sites about the nature of these concerns, but it is just as likely that by me voicing these issues (in any light) will just cause the problem to be exacerbated.

The one this I WILL make clear about this incident is that any and all reports that this issue is fueled by anything even remotely close to misogyny is painfully inaccurate. All concerns regarding Dina being made CM are purely aimed at her professionalism and qualifications in regards to her position as CM and the extent of her influence on Mighty No. 9. There has been NO criticism levied against her based on her sex.

As of writing this, the current state of the forums are slowing returning to normal operations, with a number of users still unconvinced by the reassurances of Dina and the 8-4 staff. I just hope everything will be back to as close to normal as possible by the time the Call voting starts on the 19th.

Sorry for just a short post, hopefully I will have something more fun (like a review) next week.

Until then

-Crescent, It's strange quickly things went so far south.

Anime Review :Occult Academy

Not much to talk about this week, other than the fact that tomorrow the most important decision about Mighty No. 9 will be decided: Which Call will be the official design. After that we just have to choose things like gameplay concepts and stuff like that, you know boring things. Personally, I am a Call F fanboy so I HOPE she wins. Other than that, not much going on except me watching the Persona Q trailer over and over again. How long will I have to wait for that game to come out? Anyway, this week's review is a fun little anime about Aliens, UMAs, Poltergeists, and the end of the world. This week I'm reviewing: Occult Academy.

Crescent's Thoughts On: Youtube on 3DS and Persona News or Youtube is completely broken and Atlus here is all of my savings!

My God... It's full of Chairs!

Sorry for posting two "Crescent's Thoughts On" in a row, but there has been some news this week that isn't Anita Sarkeesian related that I want to talk about. Said news is 3 parts awesome, 1 part suck, and 1 part "I have no idea what's going on." And you can probably gather from the title of today's post, this is about Youtube and the deity known as Atlus bringing us the second coming of the Messiah (Which for one of the news topics I'm going to discuss is actually surprisingly accurate). So while everyone is in a rush to consume as much Thanksgiving leftovers as possible before it all goes bad, I will go over this news one by one, starting with Youtube.

Crescent's Thoughts On: Anita Sarkeesian's Ms. Male Character Video or How Making Female Characters Feminine is Sexist.

MY GOD! She is wearing a different plaid shirt!

Before I begin this week's incoherent ramblings, I have some good news: The Mighty no. 9 community forums is online and all those who have backed the Kickstarter have received their Mighty No.s. I am Mighty no. 61357 AKA CRES. If you see me on the forums say hi and for the love of god check out my blog, I'm very lonely here. Anyway, over the course of last week Anita Sarkeesian has released her next video in her "Tropes Vs. Women in Video Games" series at the impressive rate of one video every 3 months. This latest video "The Fighting Fu-" um, I mean "Ms. Male Character" is focused on the presence of the female version of several popular male counterparts, and how bows apparently are the worse thing to happen to girls since the dawn of time. Throughout the 25 minute video, Anita Sarkeesian makes only two points, one regarding the Ms Male Character and the other referring to the Smurfette Principle, but she makes up for this lack of content by making her first point over, and over, and over, and over again. And so, since unlike last time with the Damsels in Distress Part 3 where she had absolutely NO content to work with, I have a brand new wealth of arguments to vivisect and expose just how poorly thought out her criticisms are.

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Nothing much changed with me other than FINALLY Nintendo has announced Youtube is coming to the 3DS. Unfortunately it is at a time where most people are completely fed up with Youtube and it's Google+ shenanigans. I don't have a Google+ account, never wanted one, but now I HAVE to get one to do something so simple as to even LEAVE A FREAKIN' COMMENT!? To be honest, the only reason I wanted Youtube on my 3DS is so that I can watch Spice and Wolf on the damn thing. It's a similar reason why I want Crunchyroll to release a 3DS app, so that I can watch Maoyu on my system. A message to Google: STOP SCREWING WITH YOUTUBE! It's fine if you do things that make the experience better, but all you are doing is making it worse! Anyway, on to reviewing this week's anime: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.