Battle Moon Wars (PC Game)

Seeing Carnival Phantasm finally end was such a downer. Don’t get me wrong – the show was totally awesome, as in totally! But I was really hoping for Ryougi Shiki to make an appearance (All Around Type-moon: Ahnenerbe no Nichijou, anyone?). Technically, she did, but it was just like, 2 seconds at the finale!? Not fair :/

I literally craved for more Type-moon crossovers, so I stumbled upon this 2005 dōjin PC game by Werk called Battle Moon Wars, where apparently, heroes and villains alike from various Type-moon franchises (mainly Fate, Tsukihime and Kara No Kyoukai) would be chop-sued together for an awesome super-deformed RPG experience!

“Take the three major facets of the Nasuverse: Tsukihime, Fate/stay night and Kara no Kyoukai. Then mix them together into a Massive Multiplayer Crossover, and add a duo of original characters on top. Through four acts, what starts as a not-so simple maidnapping explodes into a new Grail War, as one by one, a mysterious enemy is bringing back defeated villains from Nasuverse past, with shiny new power boosts to boot.” -TVTropes.org

Saber to Kohaku: “I ask of you…Art though my Master?”

Upon starting a new game, you’ll get to choose among two original characters: Takumi, specializing in melee combat (high HP & strength, and far moving distance) and Haruna, who can attack from afar (low HP & average strength, and has little coverage when moving around). They both work for Shin’i, an organization that uses magitek and prevents the supernatural from preying on humans, as well as encourage cooperation and co-existence between the neutral supernaturals. You’ll be seeing the story in their point of view as they interact with the various NasuVerse characters.

The Super Route (Takumi) would deal more on Shingetsutan Tsukihime, while the Real Route (Haruna) would be more Fate/Stay Night – Heaven’s Feel Route. But after finishing the game, you can start a New Game Plus where you can carry over your powered-up characters, and get the most out of both stories.

Edwin & Edel Back-up Shots

Having specialized only in videography, I usually hire professionals with regards to the photography side of Perfect Renders. But this time, I decided to take pictures as well with Mr. Rod Vicente.

Here are selected shots from me during the pre-nup. Only a few will make it to the final photo album, and the rest would be Rod’s. Pictures were taken at Freedom Park and La Cocina de Tita Moning, Malacanang, Manila last January 26, 2012.

To see more from this event, click here.

Fate/Stay Night’s Saber is a Dad. Wait, What!?!

Not much has been revealed regarding Saber’s past (as everyone pretty much knows King Arthur’s legend already) but after that bold step of gender change by Type-Moon to fit the market of FSN’s visual novel, one’s gonna think how that would affect the overall story of the legend. And well, what do you know, I have surprising news!

Whilst trap in a black hole reading deep within the uncharted territories of Type-Moon’s Wikia, I encountered some shocking information regarding our dear servant Saber, Arturia Pendragon – that she actually has a son, Mordred, and that she was the one who fathered him! Weird, huh? And wait, how did that happen again?

Fate/Zero ED: Saber, killing her son, Mordred, in the Battle of Camlann

In the legend, it’s supposed to be that way (since King Arthur is male d’oh), but I was thinking there were gonna be some other gender changes as well with FSN’s cast so everything would fall into place. Apparently, Type-Moon stuck with the original story and temporarily made her a dude instead.

How’s Business? Camera Rig Shopping at Hidalgo

After months of hard work, I was finally able to gather up enough financial resources to buy additional equipment for my lonesome camera. And what better place to go to than the camera central of the Philippines, Hidalgo St. in Quiapo! Everyone should already know this, but when going there to buy expensive equipment, take extra caution since the place is also known for le snatchers.

Ever since I became interested in video production, I’ve always dreamed to have my own high-tier equipment, hoping that I would be more inspired when doing projects. Problem was, our family was barely keeping up even with its basic monthly expenses, so we really couldn’t afford such gadgets.

In 2009, I saved up cash and bought a 2nd hand Panasonic DVD-camcorder via Sulit, which I used whenever I had student clients doing a school project. That was the start of my campaign.

Next upgrade would be mid-2011, when a good friend sold to me his Canon 550D via post-dated check (so I had time to save up), bundled up with an 85mm 1.8 and camera bag, at a very ridiculously low price. This was my ticket to also explore photography. What I got weren’t really high-tier when compared to those from the professional category, but it is for me since it’s good enough to take 24p cinematic videos in 1080p resolution. “With just that you could already start doing wedding and corporate videos!” is what I said to myself.

After those initial investments, I thought it’s time to upgrade a little more so I can improve the quality of service I can provide for my clients. Like what a Mr. Francis Kong said in his talk “If you don’t treat yourself well, you don’t grow, you don’t improve, how can you treat your customers well?” With that line I was able to stray away from spending for luxuries and short-term pleasures. I was burning up to expand my venture!

Anyway, here’s a list of what I’ve bought and their quick reviews! :3

CANON 50mm 1.8
Store & Price: Mayer Photo, 4000 PHP
Use: Portrait lens that’s very sharp and works wonders in low light conditions. Not to mention affordable!

18-55mm 3.5-5.6 vs 50mm 1.8

Fate/Prototype Review

Simultaneously released with the third season of Carnival Phantasm, is Fate/Prototype, a 12-minute anime digest that showcases the original story of Kinoko Nasu’s Fate/Stay Night, before refurbishing it to suit the PC-based eroge visual novel and anime we know today.

What’s amazing is that Nasu-sama was able to come up with this masterpiece when he was still in high school! And then he and Takeuchi Takashi formed Typemoon after. Little is revealed regarding the other characters, but I’ll share with you guys anyway what I’ve dug up so far. Here goes!

The original story is famously known for its gender-switched protagonists where the master is female, and servant Saber, male. I guess this is how it’s really supposed to be (considering that Saber IS King Arthur), but this setup probably posed a number of problems when it was being transposed to an eroge visual novel. It would be so weird if the player assumes the role of a female, and be constantly done by the other protagonists, antagonists and even the supporting characters. Reverse-eroge, perhaps?! Lol.

Let’s start with Sajyou Ayaka (above), the archetype of Emiya Shirou and the master of Saber. It is revealed that her father and older sister both died in the Holy Grail War eight years ago, and is now forced to participate in the upcoming war. Unlike Shirou, she comes from a line of Magi, but is mediocre in it, therefore developing a complex against her genius older sister. But like Shirou, she gets pursued by Lancer and is saved by Saber after.

Upcoming Resident Evil Titles and Trailers

Heads up for a really awesome Resident Evil experience this 2012! Capcom really is going all out with this classic flagship game of theirs with five all-new titles. And who can blame them? This 16-year old pioneer in zombie horror survival games really deserves the treatment. Let’s start with my most anticipated!

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City
Release Date: 3/20/2012
Platform: PS3 / XBOX360 / PC

Summary: Taking place during RE2 and RE3 in Raccoon City, the player will assume the role of a USS (Umbrella Secret Service) agent, hired to eliminate survivors and any evidence that would expose Umbrella’s illegal activities. You will be mostly fronted with two opposing factors: the city’s Spec-Ops team, who on the other hand, aims to uncover the truth behind the company, and of course the flesh-hungry zombies/bio-organic weapons.

This third-person shooter will feature an offline single-player campaign mode and co-op up to 4 players via splitscreen, and a multiplayer online mode where everyone around the world can go trigger-happy against each other or versus AI. Also, Capcom revealed “Heroes Mode” where players can get to choose among classic RE heroes and villains as their characters when online. Pretty awesome, huh? I’m definitely going to get this game!

Upcoming Anime This Spring 2012

Anime to be released between March and May 2012 c/o Neregate. Click to enlarge! :3

Persona 4 – The Almighty Full Band Cover

My cover of “The Almighty” – the final boss battle theme from Persona 4. Hope you enjoy!

Guitars, Synth, Drum Tracks by me
Bass by James Uy

Musig Rigs used:
Zoom G2.1u, Ibanez guitars, Washburn bass, M-Audio Oxygen-61, CD-R King Webcam

Software used:
Cyberlink PowerDirector 9, Adobe Premiere CS5, Fruity Loops 10, ToonTrack ezDrummer, Kontakt 4, Massive

Ranma 1/2 Live Action Trailer

Looks like Rurouni Kenshin isn’t the only one getting a live action version of their show. The classic Ranma 1/2 is joining in! The 2-hour special aired in Japan last mid-December but due to the constant distractions that is my work, I wasn’t able to search more about this yet. Anyway, hopefully pretty soon! For now, I leave you with the trailer below. Hope you enjoy!

Ranma 1/2 Live Action Tailer

Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code Ported to PC

Melty-heads, rejoice! Bundled along with the dream-like release of the third season of Carnival Phantasm, is the PC version of the updated arcade game, Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code v1.07! Yes, we get to play with stuff the PS2 version doesn’t have, and on our desktops at that! For more info on Melty Blood, click to read my initial review here.

The main difference of Actress Again from the other installments of Melty Blood (Re-Act, Act Cadenza) is that each character has three different fighting styles: Crescent-Moon, Half-Moon and Full Moon. Aside from that, there are also additional characters that aren’t present in the other games. All characters also have a different storyline and ending.

Of those characters that have been added, I’ve been pretty particular with my all time favorite, Ryougi Shiki from Kara No Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners, and the super bad-ass Archetype: Earth, the third form of Arcueid Brunestud (Shingetsutan Tsukihime), being in her True Ancestor princess appearance. Until the 1.07 release, she just only used the sprite of the regular Arcueid. Now she gets her own character sprite, moves and supers!

There hasn’t been any news for an English patch, but I’m hoping for the best. After all, each and every Melty Blood, Fate and Tsukihime game have been translated, be it a visual novel or fighting game. Any way, there’s a possibility so let’s keep our eyes peeled!

Regarding Net Play, I have no idea how to do it yet. But if anyone who’s reading this knows how to do it, I’m all ears! I was able to do it awhile back with Act Cadenza using some third party applications I found on a forum, but I can’t remember how anymore. Lol.

Anyway, here’s the link to the game if you want to try it out! If you like it, BUY IT AND SUPPORT TYPE-MOON.
Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code 1.07 for PC

Here are more screens I took: