The Devil Is a Part-Timer/Hataraku Maou-sama

By: Zach Goodier

The Devil is a Part-Timer is a series that follows Satan as he is in the closing hours of a war in the land of Ente Isla, being challenged in his castle by the "hero," Emelia.  Satan is on his last leg, when his subordinate, Demon General Arushieru, advises him to retreat through a portal, taking them to another realm and avoiding the immediate threat.  Satan doesn't like the idea of conceding defeat, and vows to return to conquer the land and defeat Emelia.  On the other side of the portal is Earth, specifically modern day Japan.  Satan and Arushieru soon realize that they can't replenish their powers in our world, since magic isn't naturally abundant like it is in theirs.  To survive, Satan ends up having to take a job at a fast-food restaurant in order to make ends meet.  However, he soon finds that Emilia has followed him in order to finish him off, but she is stuck in the same boat as him, and she ends up joining the crew in order to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't cause harm.

Sadao (Satan) is left, Ashiya (Arushieru) is right.

This series starts out with a serious tone; however, it quickly changes into more of a comedy when Satan takes a job and meets a high-school girl.  The further into the series you get, the less threatening Satan seems.  He really isn't as dark as you are lead to believe, or at least he changes when he goes through the humbling experience of having to live in a one-room apartment with Arushieru and having to work to pay the bills.  As the series goes on, you will meet others from Ente Isla, as they try to stop Satan from seizing power in our world.  However, this fails to keep your attention, as this show is far more focused on capturing the trials of trying to fit into our world, and adapting to their new lives.

A look at the perky co-worker, Chiho, as she admires Sadao's general awesomeness.

This show really doesn't offer much in terms of new ideas, but it's the execution that makes this show enjoyable.  The action, when it takes place, is surprisingly good.  Also, the characters fall into your traditional roles such as the "easily-angered" female love interest, "young girl who developed a little too soon" love interest, the clumsy sidekick to the male lead, the lazy but smart guy that helps out from time to time, and you probably can fit the rest of the characters into their cliche roles in the show.   However, that doesn't make this show unpleasant in the least, it actually all works fairly well.  Sadao is a great male lead who does a great job of catching your interest, and his powers do kick ass when you see them.  

Because even Satan has bills to pay (and not they use "MgRonald's" to avoid copyright issues... Made me laugh).

Overall, the action is rare, but solid when you do get a dose of it.  The characters don't break any new ground, but they leave some solid footprints where they do walk, and the show as a whole, while not profound, provides some well-executed scenes that keep you entertained with good writing, and hilarious antics between these characters as they adjust to their new lives.  While there are times when the comedy gives way to more serious suspense and drama, it really doesn't hurt this show like it sometimes does in other shows of this type.  It's refreshing to see a series that can do comedy but still handle the action scenes when they do come up without making you lose interest.   If you like those deeper themes in anime, or want a more serious, action-driven show, then this one will probably be a pass.  While you have the cliche love triangle, it really doesn't get in the way of the rest of the show all that much, which makes this all the more enjoyable.  I would recommend this show for anyone looking to just relax and enjoy a show without having to think about those deeper narrative themes.  This show isn't meant to blow your mind, it just takes you for a leisurely trip that helps you relax and enjoy yourself without getting too worked up about what's going on. 

Good:

-Great comedy between the characters, with Maou being a great character to lead.

-The traditional "love triangle" doesn't get in the way of the series like it so often does.

-Series demonstrates that it can handle both comedy and suspense/action, a rare feat for a relatively small-name show.

Bad:

-Doesn't break a lot of new ground in terms of themes or ideas, relying solely on the execution to get things done.

-Not a very serious show, which means it glosses over those chances to set itself apart as a series.

Scully Rating: 8 out of 10

Deadman Wonderland 57: Last Dance

Zach Goodier

Read Chapter Here: http://www.mangapanda.com/deadman-wonderland/57

This month's chapter shows the conclusion of the battle between Ganta and Shiro, and things turn out in pretty much the manner you were expecting.  However, while the chapter itself was very brief, it does bring things to a decisive conclusion.  The execution here was very solid, albeit predictable.  I will admit to wanting to shed a man-tear during the dialogue, though.  There was also a good callback to the beginning of the series, particularly the "Woodpecker" song Shiro was singing.  We have one final chapter in the series, and I can't wait to see the epilogue, and how the final loose ends are tied up.

Bleach 543: Letters

Zach Goodier

Link to Chapter: http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/543/1

This week we are seeing some developments on the Quincy front, with Juha Bach announcing that Uryuu Ishida will be his successor, and being granted powers similar to Juha Bach himself.  However, not all the Vandenreich are content with this decision, since Uryuu is unknown to most of them.  This risks some upheaval amongst the Sternritter, who are not agreed on how to handle the news.  The main focus in this chapter is the issue of succession, and while it may lack some of the action and story developments we've been hoping for, I think seeing all this tension amongst the Quincy is setting us up for events down the road.  Uryuu sweeping in and getting claim to the throne is obviously going to have consequences for everyone, especially since he now is getting a power boost, as well as dividing up the loyalties of the Sternritter.  Furthermore, why did Juha Bach make Uryuu his successor all of a sudden, especially given his history with Ichigo and the Soul Society.  Does he actually not know? Or could he have some other plan in the works, and Uryuu is a part of all of it?  Only time, and the next chapters, can tell; so stay tuned next week for another chapter of Bleach.

Stay Nerdy my Friends.

Naruto 636: The Current Obito

By: Robert Murphy

Read the manga here

Hey guys, its Wednesday so it’s time once again for another round of “Naruto” goodness, this week’s chapter is 636 “The current Obito” and it takes us away from the battlefield and reveals more and more of the struggle between Obito and Kakashi. Last week we had a dramatic ending to the chapter where Kakashi and Obito were seen dealing a drastic blow to one another and I just couldn’t wait to see what for this week’s chapter, to see what was in store. This week we delve into what is happening between the two even more and it appears Kakashi makes up his mind about where the battle between them must lead and imparts his final thoughts on Naruto and the path he is moving towards as it was not so different from Obito’s once. As the battle between the two goes about, it appears that Obito can almost see these thoughts and feelings, just like Sasuke and Naruto do when they trade blows in their battles so can Obito and Kakashi. More turmoil and pain will seem to follow in this war, get ready for another interesting chapter guys and I hope you enjoy.

Resident Evil: Revelations HD

By: Robert Murphy

Hey everybody, so it looks like once again we have another addition to the “Resident Evil” franchise but this game you all may have already seen before, if you’re a big hand held gamer, “Resident Evil Revelations” however has step off the small screen and onto the big screen and we here at Scully nerd reviews have a review for the occasion. Now “Resident Evil” is no stranger to HD remakes of their games and as a fan of the franchise, I for one am thankful for it because some of the best games from the franchise have been on the past consoles. But that said a few things can go wrong in the transition that can affect how you feel about the game, even if it was a fantastic game in the first place, let’s see if that’s is the case this time around in “Resident Evil: Revelations.”

Get a look at the Ooze and a look at Jill

The game is set in various locations, the first of which is aboard a large and ominous ship named the Queen Zenobia and returns players to the classic “Resident Evil” game formula where you travel through cramped corridors, hallways and rooms, not knowing what could be waiting around the corner for you. That right there is what made me fall in love with these games as I grew up, the dark and scary atmosphere you are placed in, coupled with the terrifying suspense is what makes “Resident Evil” games fun and have been stepped away from in newer games. Other locations feature the same close quarters style but when they didn’t they still left my heart pounding in situations where I was surrounded on a mountain top by enemies waiting for my partner to come before I was eaten alive. Things become even more heart pounding when you add the primary enemy of “Revelations” to the mix, Ooze monsters; these creatures are new B.O.W’s (Bio Organic Weapon) in the game and are skilled at appearing out of nowhere to attack players. These creatures do come in a few variations but do not usually differ from one to another and they take up most of the enemy base that you experience in the game rather than the traditional zombie motif. But this nothing strange since this is the direction most “Resident Evil” games have gone in lately and the Ooze aren’t the only ones joining our happy gang, the game features a few other B.O.W’s for you all to enjoy.

I don’t like this one bit

Now moving onto the gameplay aspect of “Revelations,” we feel rather at home like I said as the game plays much like old “Resident Evil’s” where you traverse through cramped courters and preform a level of back tracking for various items you need. This comes back to us along with some much enjoyable puzzles in the game which haven’t been very prominent in recent games and that’s something I’ve missed and am happy to see return. A new aspect to the game is the use of scanner known as the Genesis, a big clunky looking piece of machinery that allows you to scan your environment for hidden items like bullets or other more rare items. This machine also allows you to scan your enemies before and after you decide you shoot them but this is just for achievements/trophies mainly and the Genesis comes more in handy for finding those items you’ll need in the game to survive. Now there have been a few problems that the game has had coming over from the 3DS like the graphics, which didn’t really get upgraded just transferred from one format to another. This makes for some grainy environments and some not to impressive character models where people have square like heads and triangle hair styles that don’t match the rest of their bodies which are up to date.

Don’t forget to scan

“Resident Evil: Revelations” gives something back to the fans of the games that hasn’t been seen in quite a long time and that is the return of the classic horror and adrenaline filled moments of the old “Resident Evil” games. Also it feels good to be playing this game on the big screen, the return of moving through corridors, solving puzzles and back tracking for that something I missed gives me the best case of nostalgia and makes my inner child do cart wheels remembering doing all this years ago.

Good:

-The return of the classic “Resident Evil” motif

-Great creepy setting

-The return of more puzzles in the game

Bad:

-Grainy textures and often misshaped characters

-The original format is a much better alternative

Scully Rating: 7.8 out of 10

This Is the End

By: Robert Murphy

Now I’m going to start this review by saying, I usually don’t go and see a comedy movie in theaters, it’s nothing against comedies, I just get roped into seeing an action or scary movie when I go out but taking one look at “This Is the End” and I was hooked. Seth Rogan and James Franco have been together in a couple of films in recent years and each time I’ve seen them together, it is just pure gold to me and the actors themselves are grade A as well. Joining them in the film is an all-star class of comedy movie characters such as Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill and Danny McBride along with other big names that come to James Franco’s home in “This Is the End” for a huge party that they will all be talking about for the rest of their lives……for however long that may be. The party starts out well enough with all these stars playing as themselves like Emma Watson and Rihanna, all supposedly showing what they are all like off the screen, then things go wrong as things begin to erupt and the sky lights up with fire and it’s clear that the end of the days has finally come.

 These guys would not be my pick for an apocalypse team

A big appeal for me in this film right off the get go is the fact that all these stars are playing themselves and I love when a movie does this sort of thing, actors acting about being actors in a movie just tickles me because it makes you question, is this what these people are really like? This also adds to the fact that hey these guys and girls are regular people, they party, and they can be jerks or a bunch of people sitting around talking about life and playing video games in their spare time. This all is erupting in a powder keg of comedy and epicness at James Franco’s party in his incredible bachelor pad I might add and just when you’re starting to enjoy yourself, boop the world comes to end. People are being wrapped up in blue lights and carried off into the sky, being saved and raptured to Heaven while the rest are left panicking and being dragged down into the depths of the Earth in giant holes and so on. It’s all written in that book, you’ve read the book I’m sure, you know that book that’s in every hotel room still, starts with a B…..ahh damn it’ll come to me, anyway all that is going down and it ain’t pretty. Before long all that is left from this party are five guys, Rogan, Baruchel, Franco, Hill and Robinson, the three are left to survive and defend themselves at what this new world that is left after the rapture has brought them and these five comedians are not what you’d call end of the world survival material.

 Emma Watson to the rescue... or not

Now even though the world has collapsed and lawless/chaos are about to become an everyday occurrence, that isn’t even the main part of the story, what “This Is the End” becomes is a sort of “Big Brother” type affair. Each of the five all do hidden confessionals during the film to get what they’re feeling about their whole situation out there for all of us to see and it feels a lot like what you’d expect these comedians to say to each off camera. It is all completely raw and obscene but in the right way that doesn’t overdo it and while it feels all warm and funny, just a bunch of comedians and funny people hanging out together like something right out of the movie “Grown Ups,” there is back stabbing and self-absorption among the stars that takes over. Oh hey right the world ended or something I thought? Often times during the movie I forgot about the fact that it happened because of laughing so hard, “This Is the End” just digs into the personal life of these stars and continues your questions on this being who these people actually are.

 Some “Big Brother” confessionals

“This Is the End” gave me a huge amount of laughs in a dirty/hardcore way that I haven’t laughed at in a while and if anybody were to make it happen again it would be this cast of characters right here. Franco, Rogan, Hill, Baruchel and McBride are all at the top of their games with the laughs just pouring in as it delves into their supposed personal lives and what these guys are actually like outside the big screen…..while being on the big screen at the same time. Also there is a great cast of other famous celebrities included in the film like Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Kevin Heart, Aziz Anasari, Michael Cera and many more and while they’re not part of the movie for long, they make great additions to the film and add to the laughs as well. It was also refreshing to know that some people in Hollywood would actually be raptured up to Heaven and that is heartwarming in a way but then again it was only a few people.

Good:

-Amazing main and supporting cast

-A great level of raunchy and raw laughs

-Makes you question if this is what these people are truly like

Bad:

-There are those too far moments for certain people

Scully Rating: 8.8 out of 10

In the News: Microsoft Removes 24-Hour DRM and Used Game Restrictions from Xbox One

By Zach Goodier

Microsoft recently decided to change their policies on 24-Hour DRM and used game restrictions, the statement they made was,

“We love getting feedback from gamers. My ideal scenario is always that I’m working to build a product they love."  We still believe in how games and entertainment are transformed by being connected and powered by the cloud, and frankly you’re going to see us really innovate against that experience. But as part of making the changes to allow you to use physical discs the way that you do today, what’s going to happen is your online games and your physical games will work like they do today. That does mean that features like Family Sharing won’t be there. Another example that we think is awesome is that when you move to any Xbox One, the ability to see all of your games in your Games Library. While you’ll clearly only see the ones that you downloaded online, you’d have to bring your physical discs for the other ones.”  

Source: IGN

Maybe I won't miss out of Forza 5 after all...

I, personally, am excited to see these changes.  I was not a fan of what I heard during the conferences at the reveal and E3.  While I know some people feel like this is a step backwards, I like the traditional setup for consoles.  I use Steam on my PC, but consoles allow me the opportunity to trade discs with the guys to let me try other games without potentially wasting some of my limited funds on them.  I can see where Microsoft may have been trying to lead us, but all their explanations were too vague, and there was too much potential for disaster in the minds of many gamers.  Not only that, but many of the features simply didn't appeal to me; I don't like Kinect, my cable box already does fine for TV, and I'd rather trust my own hard drive than a server in some building.  Beyond that, I simply didn't see how the potential benefits of Microsoft's features would outweigh the harm it could do to us as consumers.  

Still not a fan of Kinect, but if I'm not connected to the internet then hopefully the NSA won't be able to watch my pets for terrorist activity xD

Is there some paranoia? Probably.  However, the question that we have to ask ourselves is, "Do we really want to give up control over what we do with the things we pay for?"  I understand that Microsoft is out to make money, all companies need to make money to stay in business; however, it all comes down to how they try to make money.  Sony is planning to start charging for online services, and I'm OK with that.  Microsoft wanted to start telling me I couldn't trade games without losing them forever (to control the used game market), and that I needed to connect to the internet once a day or my console would brick.  I wasn't OK with that, and there were many who agreed with me.  

Those points aside, now that Microsoft has decided to change these features I may look back into investing in the system somewhere down the line.  I like that Microsoft finally listened to the public on this, but the trust has been broken for me, and it will not be fixed so easily.  Microsoft can still implement these features at a later date, and while allowing people to use the system the same way they used the 360 is a relief, the potential for disaster still looms overhead.  

My advice is to just stay alert for any updates, and think carefully about what investments you make.  There are a lot of people who will be going back to the Xbox One.  Hell, I might be one of them.  However, this incident has reminded me that while we as gamers have a lot of freedom through our games, there is always the potential for losing that freedom as well.

Naruto 635: A New Wind

By: Robert Murphy

Read the manga here

Well…..wow is all I have to say right now ladies and gentleman, after just reading this week’s chapter of “Naruto,” I am going to have a horrible week of waiting for next week’s chapter to come out. This week’s chapter is “A new wind” and comes with some important questions and answers in it, along with some incredible surprises for all you “Naruto” fans to enjoy. Last week we left off with Orochimaru now reaching the five kage where they were defeated by Madara and it is not a pretty site as you all know but things look up as Orochimaru’s purpose quickly becomes evident but why is he doing all this is the question. We also return to the battlefield as Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura continue the battle with their comrades but Sasuke may not be on same path as his comrades are in this battle and important questions must be asked. It is a chapter of further revelations but the surprises are left for you all so hop on in and enjoy another week of “Naruto” goodness. 

Bleach 542: The Sword IS Me.

By Zach Goodier

Link: http://mangastream.com/read/bleach/91292762/1

This week we finally get to see the true Zangetsu that he needed to find.  **SPOILERS** (Read chapter first)  Ichigo finally realizes that both the "Zangetsu" that he knew, as well as the hollow powers within him, were both his true Zangetsu.  Furthermore, Ichigo finally understands that he is the true source of his own power, and that he must seize it in order to ever hope to master it.  The moment that Ichigo pulls his zanpakuto from the forge fires unleashes a surge of spiritual energy and pressure that, combined with the heat of it's creation, dried up the ocean surrounding the palace.  As you can see from the chapter, as well as the picture included in this post, Ichigo's new Zangetsu is a dual zanpakuto, presumably one for each entity within his soul, Quincy and Hollow, come together to form his true power.  The chapter concludes with Juha Bach announcing to the Quincy that he has some information for them.  While we don't know what that is at this time, we can only assume that it won't bode well for Ichigo or his friends. 

Tune in next week for the next Bleach chapter! Oh and... Stay nerdy, my friends.

Man of Steel

By: Zach Goodier

The long-awaited return of Superman is at hand, and the big question is, "will this be the movie we've all be hoping for?" Well, Zach Snyder definitely has a resume to bring forward when heading to the theatre, but that's not all this movie has.  A strong cast brings a lot of talent to the lineup, and we see all the familiar names, and most are backed up by some highly renowned names.  So is Man of Steel the Superman we've been hoping for? Or is it just another bird or plane going over our heads?

It's a bird... It's a plane... Oh, you get the point.

In short, this movie is pretty good.  Now you might note that I didn't use any long or exciting words to praise it, that's because it doesn't really earn one from me.  Was it long? Oh yeah, it's listed as 2 hours and 23 minutes, so there's plenty of quantity there for your dollar, but it's the quality that starts to nag at me.

Kneel before Zod!

The pacing felt very rushed, we are hurried along almost from the moment the opening credits are done as Krypton is faced with cataclysm.  While this is obviously no surprise in terms of the story, it only takes a few moments for the action to pick up, and we hardly have time to set our feet on the ground and settle in.  And even afterwards when Clarke is living his life on Earth, with no real idea of who or what he truly is, the narrative is still hurrying along in an attempt to carry us onto the next big plot point. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how substantial Jor-el's presence was in this movie.

The only way we get to glimpse Clarke's back-story is through flashbacks that occur sporadically throughout the film.  While some of these are tastefully done, it really felt like they wanted to try to skip along most of the childhood material, only showing a couple of highlights.  I found this disappointing because with origin stories there is almost as inherent demand for lengthy scenes filled with emotional depth to add some life to the character, bringing them closer to us as human beings before making them into the larger-than-life people they eventually become.  While all of those elements are worked into the narrative, they feel sporadic and almost feel like an afterthought, like they didn't consider we might be interested in seeing Clarke's childhood until they had their first draft and said, "whoops, people might still want to see what brought him to this point as an adult."

The childhood is only really covered in flashbacks, and rarely in any extensive detail, or at least as extensive as I would have liked.

Another issue one might have as a comic purist was that the writers decided to change up the story by having Lois Lane discover Superman's identity before he ever thought of working for the Daily Planet.  This changes up a lot of the story, but it does allow for some interesting changes to keep you engaged in story and keeping the feeling fresh.

However, these are relatively minor issues.  When it comes to Superman, we want to see him leaping tall buildings and flying around beating up Zod, right?  Well, there's plenty in that department, and the special effects are very well done.  The action is top notch, and you truly feel like these guys are gods when compared to you or me.  Towns get leveled, and beams, vehicles, and landscape become handheld weapons to these characters on-screen.  It all comes off very well and makes you really feel like things are authentic, and not the usual clumsy look that comes with mixing actors with CGI-heavy stunts and scenes.

While I couldn't find a picture from the parts surrounding this still, there are a lot of explosions and carnage.

All in all, this serves as a competent, even good, origin story for the Superman name.  While my lack of emotional investment, or "soul," to this movie prevented it from being everything I hoped it would be, it was still an enjoyable thrill ride that had solid execution on screen, but feel short off the camera with writing and direction with some of the characters and story.  I feel like this movie should have somehow been broken up, with Zod being introduced in the Kryptonian intro, but left for a later installment.  

I would have liked a more down-to-earth look at Clarke growing up, with him making the emotional transition into Superman without being rushed along by the conflict with General Zod.  I mean, let Superman start out with a few bank robberies, would ya?  Then you can slowly work him up to bigger villains like Zod and Lex.  Oh, and that reminds me, there are quite a few easter eggs that hint at possible story elements to be worked into future movies. They should have built up to Zod in a future installment as a final test of Superman as a hero, let him start with some good ol' fashioned bank robbers first, then end the movie with a known villain, like maybe start Superman's conflict with Lex rather than come out swinging with one of the baddest and toughest villains Superman has ever faced, and Lex could have provided more towards the sentiment that Superman didn't belong with humans.

Good:

-Solid action, with great visual support to make things feel as grandiose as they should.

-While this Superman seemed a little tense, and even stale at certain points, he does a surprisingly good job with the role.

-Outstanding cast adds a certain element of quality to the story and characters

Bad:

-Pace felt rushed at times, dragging you along this roller coaster and never allowing you to take everything in.

-Writing was not as good as it could have been, the backstory of Clarke's childhood felt like an afterthought more than a substantial story element.

-I feel like Zod came in too soon as the big villain for Superman to overcome.


Scully Rating: 8 out of 10

Remember Me

By: Robert Murphy

Hey everybody, I know it’s been awhile since we’ve had some reviews out but I want you all to know I haven’t been sleeping on the job, just busy playing some of the awesome new games that we have to choose from lately and now I’m ready to share my thoughts with you all in “Remember Me.” This game struck my chords when I first saw it played and advertised and I went out on a limb and thought I’d try it out and I was not disappointed with what I got from the game. Based in the futuristic world of Neo-Paris, you play as Nilin, who is incredibly acrobatic and skilled at her profession which is going into people’s minds and stealing/altering their memories. This all seems to be going well until she herself loses her memory and now must find out what exactly happened to her and why she is now being hunted down by her former employers.

 Neo-Paris

“Remember Me” gave me a lot of flash backs to what it felt like the first time I laid eyes on “Mirror’s Edge,” where you have this amazingly gifted and acrobatic girl who moves around like a bird on the breeze but can also move in and take down enemies with her bare hands if need be and it does. As you jump from building to building in this cramped and monolithic jungle of steel and lights, you also must fight a few pesky thugs and enemies who don’t want you to recovery your lost memories. The combat itself moves just as sleekly as you do while free roaming the city, moving in on enemies and beating them unconscious with melee attacks. You can also drift from bad guy to bad guy building up your hit combo and dodge incoming attacks, going right back into pummeling them with your fist until they finally go down for the count and even though this type of combat style has been seen before, it’s very enjoyable all the same. Combat goes a step further as well with the ability to upgrade your attacks in various ways with Pressen’s, which are gained by leveling up and are used to do a variety of different things such as improve the damage your attacks give, cool down your special attack time or even gain health from attacks given. This makes for some interesting ways for players to play, whether they aren’t the best fighter and need to steal health or they like using special attacks and want the cool down time to move faster, you can find something that suits your needs.

 Nilin’s not to be f-ed with

Now let’s move onto our story which features the unique idea of being able to go into your mind and altering your memories, whether you wanted to forget something bad that has happened or change something in your mind to make things feel better, it would all be up to you and I myself can see the appeal as I’m sure many would. However this grand notion comes with a downside as those people who choose to alter their memories and do so too much begin to suffer from memory deprivation which begins slowly as people forget little things here and there and then eventually lose all memory of who they are and they’re humanity along with it.  These people are known as “Leepers” and they are essentially mutated humans who live in the run down sections of the city or are hunted down and killed by Memorise, the corporation responsible for the memory altering break through. Memorise essentially like every other evil corporation with a money making product, they’ll keep selling it no matter the cost and eliminate anything that poses a threat and you just so happen to be one of those things.

 Poor bastards, these are Leepers

Now Nilin, along with being a badass fighter with cat like maneuvers up her sleeve, has the ability to go into someone’s memory and experience or change things, if she so chooses, and these are known as Memory Remixes. Nilin sees something that has happened in a person’s life in full and then can rewind the tape pretty much and change the way the memory plays out for whoever's memories she is currently a part of. The things you do may seem tiny in the memory but have very drastic outcomes if you take things too far and the memory won’t be believable for the host you are trying to plant the new memory inside of. Memory remixes bring the emotionally charged element to the game, where you feel the person’s emotions through their memories in each remix and it was and is a truly unique idea that was brought to the game, the only thing is you wish there were a lot more of them to play through. But if the fact that memory remixes are in short supply then you can enjoy another gameplay element you come across called Remembrance, glitchy fragments of someone else’s actions that you can follow through on, leading to things like a high profile target with important memories that can Nilin later on.

A look at memory remixes

“Remember Me” comes jam packed with plenty of new ideas, jam packed into this incredible world which is that great mix of things that resemble our modern society but at the same time is futuristic and features what science fiction films depict our future being like. Combat, while not featuring ground breaking mechanics, is still a smooth and sleek part of the game and gets even better after leveling up and adding Pressen’s to your attacks. Also being able to freely move throughout your world, climbing buildings and traversing the city of Neo-Paris is a great aspect and one that I enjoy in my games, it gives a certain free element to the game and Neo-Paris is a city that needs to be explored as well. Also the new elements such as Memory Remixes and the Remembrance side quest are so much fun, hacking into the mind off somebody and trying to figure out just the right way to alter their memories provided me with a lot of enjoyment.

Good:

-Memory Remixes and Remembrances are both highly enjoyable

-Combat is sleek and smooth

-Neo-Paris is the classic science fiction city

Bad:

-Combat (while good) is nothing new

-Wish there were more Memory Remixes

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10 

In the news: More E3 epicness

By: Robert Murphy

Star Wars Battlefront: 

Mirror’s Edge 2: 

Assassin’s Creed 4: 

Hey guys, more and more awesomeness is coming out of E3 this year and being a gamer I’ve never had such a huge smile on my face as I did with these next couple of videos. Many of you may already know of how long it’s been since the days of “Star Wars: Battlefront” and is sequel and despite massive amounts of fans begging for another game, it hadn’t come but now our wish has come true as we see a short video reveal of another “Battlefront” game finally coming our way. Also it looks like once again Faith Connors is coming back to us in a sequel to the game “Mirror’s Edge” and it looks like it promises more acrobatic and ass kicking performances from our lead character just like before. Next we bring more of that “Assassin’s Creed” action we are all familiar with, it seems like we all had just finished “Assassin’s Creed 3” and then boom we had videos of “Assassin’s Creed 4” already under way but hey I am not going to complain. The video above shows off more of the pirate glory of our new assassin as well as the return of the incredible naval battles from the previous game coming back for even more this time around.

Beyond Two Souls: 

Titan Fall: 

Black Tusk: 

Now my friends, I’m going to dig into some new stuff that we have to look forward to this year, first we have “Beyond Two Souls,” a game with shockingly life like facial features to two recognizable actors of our generation, Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe. The two actors lent their faces and their voices to this new game and it looks absolutely amazing but for people who don’t care for that sort of thing, the game itself looks out of this world, Ellen Pages character is recruited by a military institution and trained tirelessly to be a hardened agent who moves in and takes down high profile targets. Keeping things going we have “Titan Fall,” that features you playing a character that is wrapped up in an ongoing struggle with enemy forces trying to end humanity. But we as always will not go down without a fight; your character in the game seems to have some sort of mobile body armor that enhances his abilities in fighting against the giant mech enemies featured in the video. Your enemies however aren’t the only ones with big mech’s to throw around, you do as well and can use them to fight down these enemies and show them whose boss. And finally, I’m going to leave you all with this last video for a game known as “Black Tusk,” the video is unfortunately very short and doesn’t leave much to go on at this point but from the what was shown, it sparked my interest as I hope it does yours. That’s all for now but there is so much more E3 goodness out there with games like “Halo 5,” “The Witcher 3” and so much more, so get out there and get ready for an amazing year of games folks. 

Bleach 541: The Blade and Me 2

Zach Goodier

Link to chapter on Mangastream: http://mangastream.com/read/bleach/26534422/1

Hey guys, Zach here. This week, since I am a little late getting the update out that the latest Bleach chapter has been released, decided to change up the site I linked to.  While Mangapanda has always been the first ones to put out the latest chapters, I generally prefer the translations done by Mangastream.  Anybody that has experience with anime and manga likely understands what it means to have a good translation to go off of.  As somebody who has studied Japanese, I don't envy the people that have to translate these chapters for us;  Japanese isn't a language that is easily translated to English, so words don't always have a comparable equivalent in the other language.

Anyways, onto the chapter itself (which means **SPOILERS**).  This week, Ichigo confronts "Zangetsu," or at least the embodiment of his Quincy powers that claimed to be Zangetsu, and is faced with the reasons for the deceit.  "Zangetsu" didn't want to let Ichigo become a shinigami because it would lead to hardship and pain, and it would likely mean his death.  "Zangetsu" so strongly believed that Ichigo could never become a shinigami that he planned to kill him if he ever realized his true power.  However, he admits that these feelings changed as Ichigo grew stronger, and laid down his own path.  The chapter concludes with Ichigo first beginning to glimpse his true zanpakuto, so hopefully next week we can see more of what it going on, but there is a good chance we'll jump ship to some other story for a little while.

Stay tuned next week for the next chapter, and stay nerdy my friends.

Naruto 634: A new three way deadlock

By: Robert Murphy

http://mangastream.com/read/naruto/18204830/1

Hey guys and girls, happy Wednesday and being that it’s Wednesday, we have new manga to read for “Naruto,” this weeks chapter is 634: A new three way deadlock and like the title really hits the nail on the head. As I said in last week’s chapter Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are now more than ever showing off how much like their masters they are, using skills that took their teachers years to master and control like they were child’s play. Also the newly re-formed Team 7 are working together right on the spot as if they had never lost Sasuke for all those years and it’s amazing to see them all together again. But something seems to be looming overhead this week, hop on in and check out this week’s chapter and see what’s in store.

In the News: E3 Blowout

Robert Murphy

Hey guys, Murphy here and as you all mostly likely know it’s that amazing time of year where gamers and game companies come together at E3 and show off just what they have coming our way this year and I thought I’d share some of these awesome videos with those of you who may have missed out on them. We have here a look at the new “Watch Dogs” game that has been around for quite some time now and it keeps looking better and better and along with it we have more on Bungie’s new game “Destiny” as well and you can definitely see a little of “Halo’s” great mechanics still at work in Bungie’s newest game. We’ll hopefully be bringing you more here at Scully nerd reviews and if not watch E3 live on your computers and on Spike TV for more gaming goodness.

The Elder Scrolls Online - The Alliances Cinematic Trailer

While there's a lot of looking ahead to the future of consoles and some of the new and returning franchises that we know and love, I just wanted to take a minute and share the cinematic trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online.  While the beta had some mixed opinions, Bethesda is working hard to make sure the game is everything we hope for by the time it releases.  While I am somewhat cautious with my optimism, I would love to see the Elder Scrolls setting take off as an MMO, as long is it can preserve the sense of independence and scale that the single-player installments have done.  My biggest concern is that the world won't quite feel as big and wondrous when it's packed with players.  That being said, I still relish the idea of being able to dungeon dive with some friends, and having that co-operative gameplay to enjoy.  Here's hoping that this turns out to be everything we hope.


Stay Nerdy my Friends,
Zach

√Bestamvsofalltime ▪ Schrodinger's Box AMV

By Zach Goodier

Here's a little AMV for you guys, hope you enjoy.  We might start a few new personal articles next week so stay tuned for what we have in store next.

Naruto 633: Moving Forward

By: Robert Murphy

Read the manga here

Hey everyone, sorry that I am a little late on the update for this week’s manga chapter of “Naruto” but I’m here now and ready to give you what you need for chapter 633, “Moving Forward.” Last week the unexpected has happened and once more team 7 has been reunited, yes Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are all together again and are ready to show just how much has changed since the last time they were together. This includes Sakura, who was not going to be outshined by Naruto and Sasuke and is ready to show just what she’s got. This continues in this week’s chapter and we see even more now how these three have become in essence the new legendary sanin like they’re masters before them and I am loving every bit of it. But the focus isn’t just on these three either, the other teams that have grown alongside Naruto are eager to show what they’re got as well, showing of their own unique skills and teams abilities. So strap on in and enjoy another week of “Naruto” goodness and I’ll see you all next week, Murphy out.

Bleach 540: The Sword Five

Zach Goodier

Link here: http://www.mangapanda.com/bleach/540/

This week dropped a bombshell of sorts on us, so don't read on if you haven't read the chapter yet, this is all discussion of what transpired in the chapter (or **SPOILERS** if you want me to say it for you).  This week, Ichigo has begun to have his new zanpakuto forged for him.  While that may seem like what we were expecting, the reason why Ichigo even needs his zanpakuto reforged is why this chapter was so surprising for me: he never had a true zanpakuto in the first place.  All of Ichigo's powers in fact originate from his fullbring/hollow abilities, and the reason for the appearance of Zangetsu in the first place was that his powers were derived from the hollow that attacked Ichigo's mother, which was itself a construct made by Aizen using the souls of soul reapers in the first place.  So while Ichigo had a zanpakuto of sorts, it was never a true zanpakuto compared to others, and the form it took was actually derived from Ichigo's Quincy powers, hense the resemblance to the Quincy king.  While all this was discussed in the chapter, the reason I want to say it out loud is that this means that in a way, Ichigo has never unlocked his full power up to this point.  While he has had power, we have yet to see what Ichigo's true power, at least as a soul reaper, even looks like.  Hopefully we get to see more next week, so stay tuned for the next chapter.