Halo 5: Guardians

Zach Goodier

Halo 5 is the latest installment in the epic saga by 343 Industries. While the Master Chief is still a major character in the story, he now shares the spotlight with Spartan IV Jameson Locke, a former ONI agent who leads fire team Osiris, while the Chief leads Blue team, a group of Spartans he lead in the days before the first Halo games. They are on a struggle to find the truth behind the awakening of the Forerunner guardians: massive machines that are awakening all over the galaxy, destroying settlements as they awaken.

Osiris is the center of this story, and too little is done with them.

The story is, well, it’s pretty bad. It’s easily the worst of the Halo franchise, which isn’t itself a huge deal, but there is a lot of issues here. For one, the Chief is only around for about 3 of the 15 missions as a character, you spend the rest of the time as Locke. Too much of the story demands you invest in hours of expanded universe content to understand the characters and events taking place, which is a bad idea. To make matters worse, the game’s ending is very disappointing. I won’t spoil things, but the main problem is that there really isn’t an ending, just a massive cliffhanger to lead into the next game.

Some campaign levels are pretty, which is credit to the level design.

This bothers me because, while cliffhangers aren’t that big of deal, they need to at least wrap up a story arc in the game itself. While you could argue that you did finish a chapter by the end, the reality is that you fail to accomplish anything significant by the end of the game, and that any meaningful ending was put off until the next game. You could compare it to Halo 2, but I actually felt this game was even worse with its’ lack of a satisfying conclusion to the campaign.

Locke's hinted past is far more interesting than his tedious and uninspired present.

I came in expecting Reach quality of characters, which isn’t too lofty of a goal to reach, but aside from in-game dialogue, there really isn’t much going on. The only one who stands out is Buck, who many will remember from ODST. He’s with Osiris now, and makes the most of his limited time in the spotlight. Blue team never feels at all relevant as characters. Like Osiris, Blue team just feels like some almost useless extra guns, which are only marginally useful to heal you when you get downed.

Multiplayer is what you will enjoy, with new abilities and fun team combat.

So why would you want this game? Well, for better or worse, the multiplayer is the best ever. New modes, like Warzone, being fun and addictive, with teams competing for points in the middle ground before either assaulting the enemy base itself, or reaching 1,000 points by killing enemies and killing NPC characters that periodically spawn on the map, either Covenant or Promethean. The standard modes are back, but I quickly became addicted to Warzone. Unlocking cosmetic upgrades can be fun, and Warzone requisition packs allow you to spawn with some awesome weapons to suit the situation, but push micro-transactions on you. Overall, the multiplayer alone could be worth buying this game for, if you enjoy Halo’s brand of multiplayer.

Warzone levels are a healthy size for big team combat.

Overall, I’m torn with this game. I fell in love with the story of Halo, and I find this game to be a disgrace on that front. It felt thrown together with little care taken for the characters that we follow, and the destination is far from satisfying. 343 clearly put most of their effort into the multiplayer, which saddens me. However, I can’t argue with the results, since the multiplayer is fast-paced and fun. Still, the campaign is too bad to give this game any glowing recommendation for people like me, who want a good story first, and fun multiplayer a distant second.

Good:

-Awesome return of classic Halo multiplayer.

-Warzone is addictive, and promote good teamwork.

-Return of some of our favorite characters, like Lasky and Buck.

Bad:

-Chief isn’t the star of this show.

-Story is all over the place, and doesn’t end in any satisfying way, instead putting everything off until Halo 6.

-Characters are just thrown in, and little is done with them in the story.

Scully Rating: 6 out of 10

K

By: Robert Murphy

Out of all the anime that I have ever wanted to watch over the years, K has been at the top for quite some time and due to lack of time and lack of me searching for a site that has it properly dubbed, I never got to watch it, until now. Yashiro Isana is a young student who lives in the technologically advanced city known as Shizume City, he is an extremely relaxed kid who doesn't have many cares in the world. His laid back demeanor leads him to be friends with just about everyone he comes across and on his way into the city one day to run some errands for the school's upcoming festival. This proves to be a fatal turning point as one after another he is attack by the infamous group known as HOMRA who believe that he is responsible for killing one of their most beloved members Tatara Totsuka. It is hard not see why they believe this though as they have video proof of the person killing Tatara and it looks exactly like Yashiro. HOMRA and other groups in Shizume City want answers to just what happened to Tatara Totsuka and they're all looking at Yashiro as the prime suspect to be taken in or more likely in HOMRA's case, killed. 

K is perhaps one of the better put together anime that I have seen in a long time, the effort that went into the overall production value is top notch. Action scenes are immense and well choreographed and when you put it together with the impressive art quality of the show, you get some amazing fight scenes. This goes double for all the characters you will see throughout the show, it is great to see so many characters for a show and to have them not only be unique in their presentation but to also have them all be engaging characters as well. Shizume City is filled with all sorts of characters and people but among them are seven individual groups that bare the most importance to the story. Secretly the city is run by the seven kings that vary their distinction by color and rank, such as the blue king and his rank of 4, they all rule over different factions and depending on their outlook they either fight or work together to run the city. I personally enjoy the fighting myself though especially when it come to the blue king and the red king who share a rough history together that leads to the shows most prominent action scenes. We unfortunately only deal with these two and three other kings but I found the whole thing very engaging as these god like beings and their followers work in secret without humanity even knowing about them.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a surprising amount of characters present in the story especially for a series that is only thirteen episodes long, most shows can barely handle five characters when it's that length. Yashiro, at first, wasn't all that compelling as a main character, but as he meets more and more of the people working for the kings, and the kings themselves, he became more interesting to me. He and his group work together to try and prove his innocence to the crime he is accused of although Kuroh (known as the black dog) only wants to know so he can decide whether or not to kill Yashiro in the name of his former master. Kuroh is a former vassal to the colorless king and wants to make sure that the next colorless king is not an evil one and he believe Yashiro is the next in the line. He is a funny sort of character with a splash of awesomeness and incredible power, he was extremely devoted to his last master and carries around words of wisdom that he use to say on a machine and listens to them at interesting times during the show. Yashiro's other partner is much more one sided in her admiration for him and her name is Neko, a sort of naked cat girl character who is rather unique and no not because she's naked or because she's a cat. Neko is known as a Strain which are beings that occur randomly in the world and are born with great power, unlike kings who attain power later in life from their individual power sources known as the Sword of Damocles. 

Now I just hit you with a lot of information there at the end and it comes out much more smoothly during the show so don't feel to lost. But, even though K has a smooth story pacing it doesn't always explain all that is happening in the world. Kings, Strains and Sword of Damocles? How did all these things come to be and how did all this start? It's kind of curious because it's never fully explained where or how these things began, how do you become a king is probably my biggest question because I want to sign up. Sure these are not super important to the plot of the show and it does help to not bog down the story but it leaves some holes in the plot that I would like to be answered but I don't think that will happen. 

In the end though, K was a show that was well worth my time and the wait that I went through before I finally got the chance to watch it. I do wish that the story had some more detail behind how the world of kings and creatures like Strain came into existence but there just wasn't enough time. I also would of enjoyed K without the unneeded upskirt, short skirts and naked cat woman aspects too. Still it holds a spot for me, the action and story move smoothly and it's just so darn pretty to look at everything in the world from characters to setting and incredible fight scenes. 

Good:

- An extremely well put together production

- Fight scenes are both engaging and great to watch

- The stories pacing is smooth and enjoyable

Bad:

- Unneeded fan service that ranges from pantie shots to the fully naked Neko moments

- Would have enjoyed some more meatier aspects to the lore of the world like where kings come from and so on

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10

[Ao No Exorcist AMV] - Ultranumb

Hey guys, Zach here.  It's been a long work week for us at ScullyNerdReviews.com, so we're still working on some fresh reviews for all of you.  While you (hopefully) wait patiently, we'll give you guys an AMV to watch.  We're also in the process of planning to start making videos to put up on the site, while funds are scarce in the nerds life, we're working on new ideas for site content in the near future.  So sit back, relax, and stay nerdy, my friends.

Bleach 545: Blue Stripes

Zach Goodier

Link to Chapter: http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/545

To be honest, this week's chapter was fairly dull in terms of major plot developments, aside from the end.  Captain Kuchiki finally awoke, and must now begin training, and Renji and Rukia have begun training with squad 0.  At the Kurosaki home, Yuzu is preparing food for the family and life goes on as normal.  However, when Ichigo's friends are walking to school, they discuss his absence.  Then, Captain Kyoraku, the new Head Captain of the Gotei 13 appears, telling them about how they will eventually have to part ways with Ichigo.  The only other thing worth mentioning is that the rest of the Vizards make an appearance, and it looks as though they are on assignment from Shinji and squad 12 to fix the "distortion" between the World of the Living and the Soul Society.  Tune back in next week to see what else is in store.

Enter the Infinite (By Tobi)

“Enter the Infinite” is a Mythic Rare sorcery from Gatecrash. And wow. It’s big. Big effect, big cost. At 11 mana, it’s one of the most expensive cards in the whole game. As soon as something passes 10, it had better win you the game immediately or pretty close to it. Unfortunately, Enter the Infinite just makes it really easy to lose. It would probably read better as “Endure the Infinite,” because if someone plays this, all you have to do is live for one turn, and they’ll kill themselves.

You draw all of the cards in your library, then put one back. Then, until your next turn, you have no maximum hand size. Basically, next turn, you will have your whole deck in your hands… and then what? You deck yourself? The problem is, at 11 mana, you won’t be able to cast any of the cards you draw the turn you play Enter the Infinite. And then you’ll die if your opponent has any targeted card draw at all, or if you just can’t manage to kill them during your next turn, which is quite likely, certainly in standard. And in legacy or modern, there are just more efficient ways to gain access to your whole deck.

Good:

-         - Draw all of your cards!

Bad:

-          -You lose the game if you can’t win in one turn

-          -It. Costs. 12.

Scully Rating: 1.5 out of 10

Projected Settled Value: $1.50

Duskmantle Seer (By Tobi)

“Duskmantle Seer” is a Mythic Rare creature from Gatecrash. As a 4/4 flier for 4 in U/B, a color combination not known for its efficient creatures, this vampire does some work already. He also carries with him the vaunted Dark Confidant ability (during upkeep, reveal the top card of your library, lose life equal to its cost, put it in your hand). Now, he does give this ability to both players, which can be seen as a significant drawback. Who wants to let your opponents draw cards? You do! When you get to see what they draw, AND they lose life for it?

Duskmantle does require a specific deck to be built around him. There’s no sense in throwing him into your planeswalker control deck, as he’s going to be burning you for 5 every other turn. But a small, quick, u/b/w aggro deck? Yes, please. This guy plays beautifully as a follow-up to Geist of St. Traft, and gives reach in a color combination that rarely gets it. He’s also great as a sideboard against control decks, as he demands an answer, or you get to start playing erratic explosion every turn. When a 5-turn clock is already swinging, your opponent’s life will disappear in a flash. Just make sure to sideboard him out against other aggro decks, particularly red ones. He can backfire if you’re not careful.

Good:

-Impressive body for a blue creature

-Card drawing, evasion, AND burn in one card

-Great vs. control

Bad:

-Dangerous to you, too, so be very careful when playing with him

-Requires a specific kind of deck

-Awful against burn spells

Scully Rating 8.5 out of 10

Projected Settled Value: 15$

Jace, Architect of Thought

“Jace, Architect of Thought” is a Planeswalker from “Return to Ravnica.” This is our fourth variation of Jace, making him the walker with the most incarnations so far. Having a cost of 4 and, he automatically gets compared to Jace, the Mind Sculptor; even his name is a bit reminiscent.

In keeping with the RtR theme of +1 abilities that discourage attacking, Jace 4.0 gives all of your opponents’ attacking creatures -1/-0 until your next turn. This is a decent defensive ability that screws with your opponents’ combat math and makes it harder for them to punch damage through and hurt Jace if you’ve got a decent lineup prepared. Jace’s -2 is a mini Fact or Fiction effect, which is some solid card advantage, even though providing your opponent with a choice is rarely optimal. Finally, Jace’s -8 will allow you to search your opponents’ library for any card and remove it from the game; you can then cast it without paying any mana.

Much like Vraska, Jace has a solid +1 ability, but his – abilities are less impressive. The “gamebreaker” effect of any given Planeswalker is likely to be decisive, and Jace’s is likely to both mess up your opponent’s game plan while giving you some advantage, but the likelihood of it ending a game seems low (unless you’re playing against a reanimator deck or something). Jace’s -2 provides card advantage, and is certainly worth using when he’s at a safe number, as digging for your own game-winner is more likely to steal your opponent’s that you may not be able to use entirely effectively.

Good:

-[+1] is very good at slowing opponent down

-[-2] is solid card advantage

-[-8] is not awful

Bad:

-[-] abilities are only okay

-[-8] is not super great

-Doesn’t take over a game on his own

-Is not Jace, the Mind Sculptor :p

Projected Settled Value: 15-20$ (09/22/12)

Scully Rating: 7.2 out of 10