Kara no kyoukai - SPRINTER - Kalafina (Anime Song)

KARA NO KYOUKAI - SPRINTER

Kara no kyoukai's OST (SPRINTER). Being an anime lover, the first time I heard this song it captures my heart in just 0.29 milliseconds from the beginning. I'm really wondering why I can't get it out of my head even though, me, myself have not seen the whole anime personally, but lets take the singer(s) into the account for this wonderful song that they sang, The Kalafina, having a unique name is a really good combination if you'll ask me, The song it self + the unique name of the group + the beautiful members = ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.

KALAFINA MEMBERS

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (PS2 RPG Game)

PERSONA 4 OPENING VIDEO

Like its predecessor, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, the gameplay of Persona 4 alternates between that of a traditional role-playing video game and of asimulation game. The protagonist of Persona 4 is a teenage boy, named and controlled by the player. The game takes place over the course of a traditional Japanese school year. Outside of key events, the protagonist attends school, and can interact with other students and characters, spend time at part-time jobs to earn money, or engage in other activities. The player may also enter the "TV World", an alternate reality where the game's dungeon-crawling gameplay occurs. Each day in Persona 4 is broken up into different periods of time, such as After School or Evening. Certain activities are limited to certain times of day. In addition, the ability to engage in certain activities is based on the day of the week, or the weather.

By spending time with people, the protagonist forms "Social Links", which are friendships the protagonist makes as the game progresses, each represented by one of the Major Arcana. When a Social Link is first formed, it starts at Rank 1, increasing over time as the protagonist spends time with that person, until it reaches MAX Rank. Social Links grant the player bonuses when creating new Personas in the Velvet Room. Social Links are also influenced by the protagonist's five attributes: Understanding, Diligence, Courage, Knowledge and Expression, which can be improved through various activities, such as part-time jobs and sports teams. These attributes in turn may also affect the protagonist's interaction in daily activities outside of Social Links.

Persona 4's timeline is driven by the disappearance of characters from the real world into the TV World, indicated through the "Midnight Channel". The one-week weather forecast indicates the amount of time players have to rescue people who have disappeared, in which foggy days mark the deadline of the rescue mission. The game ends when the player fails to retrieve the missing person in time, and is given the choice to return to one week before the fog appeared. While in the TV World, the player explores randomly generated dungeons in the field map; each dungeon is of a certain theme, based on the victim that has been kidnapped. Dungeons are divided into floors, each containing Shadows, enemies the protagonist and his friends fight, and treasure chests, which contain items or equipment.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (PS2 RPG Game)

PERSONA 3

The story of Persona 3 takes place in a 2009 CE Japanese city called Iwatodai, built and funded by the Kirijo Corporation. Experiments carried out ten years ago created the Dark Hour, a period of time that exists between one day and the next. During this time, most people are transmogrified into coffins and are not aware of the Dark Hour however, there is a select group of people who are. The Dark Hour bends reality Gekkoukan High School, where most of the characters attend school during the day, becomes a huge labyrinthine tower called Tartarus, and beasts known as Shadows roam the area, preying on the minds of those still conscious. The Shadows leave their victims in near-catatonic states outside of the Dark Hour. To investigate and learn about the Dark Hour, Shadows, and Tartarus, the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad", or SEES, was created. SEES is a group of high-schoolers capable of summoning beings known as Personas to combat Shadows. The Persona 3 instruction manual describes Personas as being "a second soul that dwells deep within a person's heart. It is an entirely different personality that emerges when a person is confronted with something from outside his world." Persona-users usually summon their Persona by firing a gun-like object called an Evoker at their head.

Tales of the Abyss (Anime & PS2 RPG Game)

TALES OF THE ABYSS CASTS

Tales of the Abyss takes place on Auldrant, a planet composed of elementary particles called Fonons (フォニム Fonimu, Fonim in the Japanese version). For much of Auldrant's history, only six fonons were known to exist, representing the elements of Shadow, Earth, Wind, Water, Fire and Light; but eventually a seventh fonon, controlling Sound, is discovered. Its discovery brings great chaos: using this newest Seventh Fonon allows one to read the future. One such Seventh Fonist, Yulia Jue, an important religious figure in the game, puts in place a future for the world for thousands of years to come, with the promise of unlimited prosperity at its end. This prophecy of the future's set path becomes known as the "Score" and is documented on "Fonstones" scattered throughout the world. The nations of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear and Malkuth have fought over the fragments of these tablets for generations, each uncovering them and hoping to discover the future before the other. Meanwhile, a holy order emerges dedicated to the reading of the Score and the keeping of the peace. This "Order of Lorelei" is headed by a Fon Master and maintains both religious/political and military branches. Finally, the Score and its promise of prosperity lead to a dangerous complacency within the general population of Auldrant; the slaughter of an entire people living on the island of Hod and the destruction of that landmass are countenanced because it was predicted in the Score.

Luke Fon Fabre, the young son of Duke Fabre of the Kimlasca Kingdom is the Light of the Sacred Flame, the scion of Lorelei's power, destined to bring prosperity to Kimlasca. Since being kidnapped seven years ago by the Malkuth Empire, he has been kept confined to the Fabre family mansion. The shock of the kidnapping has erased all of Luke's memories prior to the event. One fateful day, a mysterious woman breaks into the mansion and sets off a chain of events that drag Luke into the center of a massive conflict between those who would do anything to see the Score carried out, and those who would see it broken forever.

TALES OF THE ABYSS ANIME OPENING

Angel Beats (Anime)

ANGEL BEATS CHARACTERS

Angel Beats! takes place at a high school acting as Purgator, where students learn to give up any lingering attachments they still have from life before continuing to an afterlife or reincarnation. While the injury or cause of death are gone, those in the afterlife school can still feel pain or other things as they did when they were alive, as well as dying again, only to awaken with no injures several minutes later. The story follows the main protagonist Otonashi, a boy lost his memories of his life after dying. Upon awakening in the afterlife, he meets a girl named Yuri who invites him to join the Afterlife Battlefront(Shinda Sekai Sensen (SSS), an organization she founded and leads which fights against God for the cruel fates the SSS members experienced in life. Their only enemy in the world is the school's student council president Angel, a being with supernatural powers who fights against the SSS. Yuri believes that anyone who follows Angel's orders and behaves like a normal student at the school will eventually disappear and pass on. However, those who fulfill their dreams in the afterlife will pass on as well.

We discuss time travel with FINAL FANTASY XIII-2's Motomu Toriyama

Now that FINAL FANTASY XIII-2's time travel mechanic has been officially announced we thought you would appreciate hearing a little more about it directly from the Japanese development team. We put a selection of questions to Motomu Toriyama, the game's director. So check out the interview below for a closer look at the Historia Crux and the nature of time travel.

Once you've had a read of this, make sure you also check out our new screens and info about how Lighning fits into the story and what the game's prologue involves.

Could you give us an overview of what the Historia Crux is and how it works?

The Historia Crux is a new gameplay system that functions like a compass for time travel. As the portal which allows the player to select areas and time periods to go to, it functions a bit like a home menu and is at the heart of the story and gameplay progression of FINAL FANTASY XIII-2. The player can enjoy travelling through time by freely choosing between all the time-space locations where gates have been opened up. Although these locations proceed onwards into the future, you also have the option of rewinding time so it will be possible to experience many different historical possibilities.

What specific fan feedback are you trying to respond to with the Historia Crux?

The original game, FINAL FANTASY XIII, was primarily story driven and progressed in a very linear manner. For the sequel, FINAL FANTASY XIII-2, we are going for a much more player driven concept, so this time around the gameplay and story itself will alter to fit the player’s choices. You will be able to freely come and go between all the areas; the game will provide not just simple environmental exploration, but also a multi-layered exploration of history through the Historia Crux.

How does the Historia Crux affect the gameplay in FINAL FANTASY XIII-2?

The Historia Crux branches off into multiple different routes depending on the player’s choices. You will be able to take a detour into areas that have branched off of the route you have taken, perform side missions and turn back time in each of the areas to experiment with all possibilities. It is of course also possible to progress simply following the main story, like in the original FINAL FANTASY XIII. The flow of areas accessible via Historia Crux has been structured so that all of the player’s actions and decisions will influence the gameplay.

Casual players will be able to use the Historia Crux in a similar manner to browsing a favourite website – picking and choosing between all the different links available. It also contains elements aimed at more dedicated gamers, allowing for more challenging play through encouraging exploration of all the different times and places; to find additional secrets including the multiple endings that are hidden in the different routes.

Many fans have been longing for an explorable World Map for a while. Do you feel that the Historia Crux is a good alternative?

The Historia Crux divides the world into multiple layers, overlapping with the different time periods that can be played with the feeling of jumping freely around several world maps. This is a completely new system and experience, so it cannot be unconditionally compared with other options; however, when considering the key concept of “player freedom”, I believe it to be an optimal system for combining the best parts of open-world style games with the story-driven aspects of FINAL FANTASY XIII. The player can adjust their play style to either delve deeply into everything available and be engrossed, or just make more straightforward choices while going along their adventure.

Is it possible to share more information on how the Historia Crux allows for sidequests and hidden objects to feature in the game?

 

In the original game, the sidequests were only unlocked in the second half of the story in Gran Pulse, but in the sequel we have put in many different sidequests right from the start. Due to the overwhelming demand from players of the original, we have also included many strong and colourful mini games, a tradition of the FINAL FANTASY series. You will be able to return to any of the times and places whenever you like from the Historia Crux, so it is completely up to the player in what way they choose to play these.

Is it possible to change events that happen in the future depending on your actions in the past?

Depending on the player’s actions, new turning points to new futures will appear in time, and these will certainly form the basis for the multiple endings.

This is the first time time travel has featured so prominently in a FINAL FANTASY game, is this something you'd like to explore more in future games?

For the FINAL FANTASY series, each game has its own new game system, so it is not as if we are intending on making time travel key to all future instalments. We want fans to look forward to each FINAL FANTASY having its own unique system. For FINAL FANTASY XIII-2, we are experimenting with carrying out repeated large scale user tests to reflect the opinions of users in the game itself. We really have received a lot of feedback about the game, but among the voices there are those who say it reminds them of the classic RPG, CHRONO TRIGGER. For FINAL FANTASY XIII-2, we are aiming to make time travel a major thematic direction, and be able to express this on high-end game machines.

Will we be meeting older/younger versions of FINAL FANTASY XIII characters as we travel through time?

The main characters from the original FINAL FANTASY XIII will show up in this journey through time, so we will see them in many different situations and guises. I am sure that the fans of the original will be looking forward to seeing them again and how they have changed over the years!

Is it possible to return to time periods you've already visited and replay them as if it’s your first time you have visited the area?

It will be possible to wind back time in each of the areas you visit and replay them. Character levels and equipment etc will be carried over so it will be possible to play the game as if doing a “New Game+” for each of the areas at different times. It will be possible to play through from the start using your levelled up characters, once you have completed the game. We have taken care to put a number of elements into the game system to make replays more exciting and user-friendly.

Umineko No Naku Koro (Anime)

UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO TRAILER

A really gore anime if you'll ask me but it has a good story but a little bit confusing if you don't follow well. In my opinion, its a "must" to be watch by gore fans out there but its not the gore factor that catches my eye rather than the unique setting of the whole anime, having a touch of detective that sticks with the "Chessboard" thinking and only believe in reality, and the existence of the witches. It contradicts with each other so how will the anime will end? It yours find out.

Resident Evil 5 (PC Version)

RESIDENT EVIL 5 PC TRAILER

Resident Evil 5 features similar gameplay to Resident Evil 4, with context-sensitive controls and dynamic cutscenes also making a return.

The player can control either Chris Redfield or Sheva Alomar in a similar fashion to Leon S. Kennedy inResident Evil 4, with the same over-the-shoulder perspective. The game's environment plays a significant role. The Mercenaries minigame, featured in previous Resident Evil games, is present in Resident Evil 5. At launch, the multiplayer mode in the minigame was offline only, but a launch day patch gave the game online multiplayer modes as well.

Instead of zombies, the game's humanoid enemies are called "Majini", meaning evil spirit in Swahili. They bear many resemblances to the Ganados of Resident Evil 4, because they speak, run, dodge and wield weapons. Like in Resident Evil 4, the number of weapon variations is increased compared to the previous games in the series; there are now several varieties of the handgun, shotgun, submachine gun, assault rifle and rifle to choose from. Like inventory systems in two previous Resident Evil titles Resident Evil Outbreak and Resident Evil Outbreak File #2, the player can only equip weapons and items in the midst of gameplay (the game still runs real-time as you manipulate the inventory), as opposed to the game pausing.

The game features some online elements. Resident Evil 5's main story mode can be played with two players, in a co-operative online mode. The feature will allow players to enter or leave anytime during the game. Players will not always stick together, and can be separated at points during the gameplay.^[6] However, if one player were to have critical health, only their partner can resuscitate them. An offline co-op mode is also in the game with the same co-op experience offered by the online co-op mode, only with two local players controlling the action in split screen or by a system link.