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:

Carnival Phantasm Season EX

Apparently, another special episode of Carnival Phantasm was released last November 2011, titled Season EX. It really doesn’t have anything to do with a whole season, but it lasts for around 20 minutes, far longer than your usual 12-14 minute Carnival Phantasm episode. In the episode list, it’s supposed to go before number 9, the start of Season 3.

New characters have been introduced and have been given ample screen time, specifically these four:

Aozaki Aoko from Shingetsutan Tsukihime, sister of Kara No Kyoukai’s Aozaki Touko – the one who made Shiki’s glasses that suppresses his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. In this spin-off of their fateful meeting, Aoko actually showed herself to Shiki not to genuinely help him, but to ‘raise’ him to be her future spouse. Cougar-lol!

Michael Roa Valdamjong, the main antagonist of Shingetsutan Tsukihime. This version of him is based from the original visual novel and Melty Blood game since in the anime, he never really had a body to begin with. He just reincarnated as the ‘other’ Shiki Tohno. You can see him at the beginning of the episode, recently incarnated, taking comfort in the company of Nrvnqsr Chaos.

Next is Caren Ortensia, a main character from Fate/Hollow Atraxia – the sequel to Fate/Stay Night. Since I wasn’t able to play Fate/Hollow Atraxia, I wasn’t able to grasp firmly the punchlines in the scene. So I did a little researching before watching it again :D

It appears that she is a priestess of the Church and serves as an objective mediator in the false Holy Grail War created by Avenger and Bazett Fraga McRemitz and, in the place of her absent father, Kotomine Kirei, as the Master of Lancer and Gilgamesh. In Carnival Phantasm Ex, she attempts to control the world using money with varying degrees of success.

Lastly, we have Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a main protagonist of Fate/Stay Night’s sequel, Fate/Hollow Atraxia along with Emiya Shirou. She was originally the master of Lancer, but due to unsuspecting events, she became the master of an unfamiliar servant, Avenger.

Here’s the download link from NyaaTorrents:
DOWNLOAD CARNIVAL PHANTASM SEASON EX

Other Links:
Season 1 | Season 2

Here are further screenshots:

FF7 Remake for the PS3 and FF8 for the PS2

Over the last four years even until now, fans worldwide have been desperately brooding over a Final Fantasy VII remake. It all started and boomed tenfold after Square Enix released a technical demo of FF7 for the PS3, showing the console’s capabilities and power. But somehow most people got the wrong idea and went on to expect more after being fed with a super awesome version of the 15-year old classic game’s signature intro sequence.

Then false rumors started to spread.

To get things straight and clear for everybody, there is NO FF7 remake in development as of the moment. The company has its hands full with other FF games as well as other titles. And Tetsuya Nomura himself, ex-Character Designer and now Game Director of Square Enix, stated that “…there won’t be any remake happening anytime soon.” BUT the good news is, he also didn’t rule out the possibility of a remake.

Looking at both the developers and gamers’ perspectives, haven’t we had enough of Cloud Strife yet? There’s already Advent Children, Crisis Core, Before Crisis, On the Way to a Smile, Last Order, Dirge of Cerberus among many others. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t say they weren’t awesome (because THEY ARE, to the ∞th level!) But let’s be objective for a moment and admit that Cloud’s just been hogging the spotlight for too long! I’m trying my hardest not to be biased, but WE HAVE TO MAKE WAY FOR SQUALL. XD

So I guess the best thing to do would be to stop mooching over this overrated topic, get ourselves busy with other things, be productive, and be thankful IF such a moment comes. :)

Here’s the technical demo of FF7 for the PS3:

Similar to FF7, FF8 also made a technical demo for the PS2 to showcase it’s power and no, there ain’t gonna be a remake for this either:

Hi-Rice Grill, Mongolian Rice Bowl All-You-Can!

One of the restaurants my siblings and I frequent that’s near our place is Hi-Rice Grill: Mongolian RiceBowl Eat-All-You-Can. As it says, it’s the kind of buffet where you choose your ingredients, spices and sauces, then put them in a bowl, and le chef grills it to one authentic-ish Mongolian treat.

It’s located along Marcos Hi-way, right after Sta. Lucia and Robinson’s malls (if you’re coming from Antipolo), at the ground floor of the not-so-lively Semicon Building. Beside it is the Salve Regina Hospital, and on the opposite side of the road lies a Slimmer’s World and Barrio Fiesta. You won’t miss it!

Though I admit that the restaurant isn’t visited that much by people  – either they didn’t market it enough or the location isn’t just that accessible. But that’s exactly what makes it more enticing to visit: It has quite a spacious area with comfy seats and sofas where you can just hang around, and not worry about noisy people, waiting in line for your food, nor any other bother which you can find in most crowded fastfood chains.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kira File.03

Another two months have passed, and now we have the third of the 4 OVA episodes of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kira! This is the second OVA series of the anime to be released, mainly to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

To the readers who haven’t watched Higurashi yet, don’t go diving into this one since you won’t be able to appreciate a thing, as this is made for the fans. Watch the original series first! Out of the tons of anime I’ve watched, Higurashi still ranks at my Top 5 – the best mystery / gore / story twist / life-appreciating / mind-boggling anime yet. If you’re interested, I’ve made a review of the original anime here!

I just got my copy and was only able to skim the episode for a few screens (God, I’m sleepy as hell), so I’ll just make a quick summary based from what I saw: in this ‘Intertwined Destiny Chapter‘, this episode starts with Keiichi and Mion walking home together, and gets spotted by different people at different times, stating that they’re a ‘perfect match‘.

Mion shies away and runs home. Seeing that her twin sister makes no progress with the boy she likes, Shion decides to meddle with their affairs. Later on, Rena Ryuguu also joins the fight. Who will be able to win Keiichi in the end? :3

Download Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni File.03 at NyaaTorrents

Below are further screenshots:

Related Posts:
Higurashi Kira Episode 1 | Episode 2
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kira Trailers
Coming Soon: Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kira
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Anime (When They Cry)
Higurashi Poems by Frederica Bernkastel
Higurashi Daybreak: Kai (PC Game)

PSP Emulator – JPCSP

Happy Holidays everyone! I’ve come back from the busy world of the working dead to bring you a not-so-popularized emulator yet but definitely has been demanded by people from the console’s early days - a fully functional PSP Emulator, the JPCSP!

Let’s skip to the good part so you can just play PSP games as soon as possible. Hajimemashou!

Installation Steps:

Step 1 – Download the latest version of JPCSP at http://jpcsp.org/
Step 2 – Download and install Sony Connect (SonicStage 4.3) at CNET
Step 3 – Download and install the latest version of JAVA
Step 4 – Get yourself a PSP game ISO, ROM, BIN or whatever to play (Piracy is EVIL!)

Configuration Steps:

Step 1 – Run the ‘.bat’ file in the JPCSP folder to initiate the program
Step 2 – Set UMD (games) folder at ‘Options -> Configuration (F12) -> General’
Step 3 – Set keypad controls at ‘Options -> Controls’ or ‘F11′
Step 4 – ‘Go to Options -> Configuration (F12) -> Media’ and check ‘Use Media Engine‘ and ‘Decode audio files with SonicStage‘
Step 5 – Check out other tabs and customize however you want, that is if you know what you’re doing

YOSH!

After everything is set, just select ‘File -> Load UMD’ then ‘Run’ and you’re good to go!

The 3rd Birthday (Parasite Eve 3)

Now, for the review.

Unlike the PSX Emulator (ePSXe) and PS2 Emulator (PCSX2), JPCSP doesn’t run as smoothly in my i5 650 3.20 Ghz, 1GB nVidia GT240 and 4GB RAM desktop. But with the right configurations set (most of the time with nothing checked on the ‘Video‘ tab, as well as keeping the Display Resolution to ‘Native‘), it’s pretty bearable. I’m not sure how this will work on stronger machines. But of course, if you want to get the full PSP experience, you might as play on the console as you’ll just be wasting your time.

Final Fantasy VII – Crisis Core

I guess this emulator was made mainly for those who want to back up their games, and are curious enough to want to play them on their computer. But hey, for the techie people, knowing that this sort of stuff exists is quite the treat in itself.

Anyway, try it out and you be the judge!

Rurouni Kenshin Live Action Film Trailer

This is a little too late to be posting, but anyway, here’s the teaser trailer for the Rurouni Kenshin Live Action movie:

It opens in Japanese cinemas on August 25, 2012!

The Train is Coming

It’s you I’m stuck with, waiting on this platform.

I know we’re all here for the transit to come take us away.

To the next phase, to that new beginning we yearn for.

But who knows, I could be getting off earlier than you.

So before the train comes, let’s cherish whatever moment remains, and make the wait worthwhile.

- While we’re still in the same station.

Taken with my phone, a Nokia C3 at LRT2 Station – Gateway, Cubao

Carnival Phantasm Season 2

It’s a bit too late for me to post this, but it was only until recently that I was able to watch season 2 of Carnival Phantasm. I concur that the show is all fun and good, but my favorite characters aren’t getting much screen time :/ Though I guess that’s bound to happen if you merge two anime shows with a lot of characters together – some would just be reduced to make cameo appearances or something of sorts. I’m hoping that Shiki and Arcueid would have a comeback next season!

Anyway, Tsukihime gets a little left out this season as Fate/Stay Night would be pretty much the one taking the stage. The download links are below!

Carnival Phantasm Season 2 (720p)
Episode 5 / Episode 6 / Episode 7 / Episode 8 / Ilya’s Castle Special / Season EX

Here are a few screens from the show:

Gilgamesh takes advantage of cafe waitress Saber

Gilgamesh bows down to the dominating moe of Saber

Saber Nero makes an appearance

Ilya’s Castle Special where the epic heroes must beat Berser-Car!

Goodbye Fnuffy Bear

Hi, everyone! It’s been a hard week for the family ever since our pet rabbit Fnuffy left us. I know that this isn’t related to anime or anything like that, but let me dedicate a story about her in my blog just this once. I don’t think I’ll be able to post a decent blog entry if I don’t get this out >.<

After a gig in De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde last Tuesday night, my sister texted me ‘Wala na si Fnuffy :(‘. I was really startled by this because the last time I was with Fnuffy, she was already showing signs of recovery from a recent infection. I just let it hang for awhile since it really didn’t sink in at the time, and of course I didn’t want to ruin the mood of the successful gig with friends.

Ate told me to buy flowers before going home, so I went to that 24-hour flower shop at the back of Marikina Sports Center. Despite it being late already, I’m very grateful that it’s still open. When the manang handed me the flowers, that’s when everything sunk in. Gripping the handle of the flower basket was indeed gripping the reality of the situation. After almost 3 years of being the spoiled baby bunny of the family, she has passed on to a better place.

As I rode the jeepney back home, I kept remembering our good times but I tried not to think about it too much. Fnuffy was a very special rabbit and did a lot of non-rabbit things so it’s really hard to forget.

Here are a few things about her: