Friday, November 22, 2024

Music News

Music

Kenshi Yonezu Announces First-Ever Tour Across Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

Japanese singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu has announced his first-ever U.S., Asia, and European tour dates. His world tour kicks off with two performances in Shanghai on March 8 and 9, 2025...

Theodore Mak - 09-10-2024

Music

NCT DREAM US Tour Starts this Month

South Korean boy group NCT DREAM, formed by SM Entertainment, will be kicking off the first leg of their US tour this month in Los Angeles, California on September 12...

Theodore Mak - 05-09-2024

Music

Lovebites US Tour Begins Soon

We are almost to the beginning of Lovebites' US tour. This is a long-awaited series of performances, and in a way, it's surprising that it took this long. One of...

Brian Lee - 03-09-2024

Music

SiM PLAYDEAD World Tour in America Begins Soon

SiM, who we last saw live at Crunchyroll Expo in 2022, is embarking on a world tour in support of their latest album, the PLAYDEAD World Tour.  They'll be spanning...

Brian Lee - 10-04-2024

Anime News

Anime News

BEYBLADE X at San Diego Padres Games

BEYBLADE X is going to San Diego, offering fans an opportunity to battle at Petco Park during two San Diego Padres home games. The event will take place on August...

Theodore Mak - 18-08-2024

Anime News

Shion Wakayama AVIOT Talk Show @ Anime Expo 2024

Anime Expo 2024 was brimming with excitement, and one of the standout moments was the talk session at the audio company AVIOT’s booth in the Entertainment Hall featuring the talented...

Administrator - 18-07-2024

Anime News

Warner Bros Anime Expo Panel - Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League and Suicide Squad Isekai

Warner Bros. Animation unveiled the Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League trailer at their recent panel at Anime Expo. This highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 film Batman Ninja gave fans a glimpse of what to look...

Salvador Mateos - 16-07-2024

Anime News

FAKKU Guest Spotlight Q&A: Karasu Chan

NOTE: This article is meant for those 18+. Discretion is advised. For this year, FAKKU's guest is none other than Karasu Chan, an artist from Taiwan. Karasu Chan is well known...

Brian Lee - 14-07-2024

Anime News

Studio Bones Gachiakuta Panel @ Anime Expo 2024 Report

Studio BONES held a panel on July 4th, 2024 at Anime Expo. Hosted by Joey Bizinger (aka The Anime Man), fans got to hear about the upcoming anime adaptation of...

Theodore Mak - 12-07-2024

Gaming News

Gaming News

Dying Light: The Beast Announced - Gamescom 2024

It's been some time since we have heard anything from masterminds over at Techland and what is in store for the Dying Light franchise. During Opening Night Live at Gamescom, Techland...

Ken Dubois - 20-08-2024

Gaming News

Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage Ai Furihata and Mayu Yoshioka Talk About Being Idols In a Game - Anime Expo 2024

I have always been obsessed with rhythm games and Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage has been at the top of my list. At this year's Anime Expo, Sega brought a playable...

Ken Dubois - 04-07-2024

Gaming News

XSEED Games Announces Anime Expo 2024 Lineup and Hidden Title

XSEED Games has unveiled its plans for this upcoming Anime Expo during the 4th of July weekend.

Ken Dubois - 28-06-2024

Gaming News

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Gets a New Trailer Showing Off Gameplay and New Details

Square Enix has released a new Life is Strange: Double Exposure Trailer revealing everything players want to know about its latest entry in the Life is Strange universe.

Ken Dubois - 13-06-2024

A full cooperative demo game for the Xbox 360 was available for us to play. The demo took place in a building with survivors standing around and our goal was to complete a quest obtained by one of the NPCs. As the demo progressed, the developer explained to us that players would be able to choose from the four main characters: Xian Mei, Logan, Sam B, and Purna. Each of the main characters will have their own unique special abilities and skill trees. With the limited amount of time on the game, we weren't able to check out the character’s special abilities or skill trees.

Compared to Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising series, the game felt like a mash-up of both worlds.  There were noticeable features that were inspired by both games.  The style of game play was very similar to Dead Rising with a presence of Left 4 Dead series.  In Dead Island, players are able to use any weapon from the environment while completing missions from survivors, which is identical to Dead Rising.  Players can join with up to three other players with an item swap feature and a variety of zombies, very much alike to Left 4 Dead series.  Even with all the similarities, this game has its own unique features that aren't found in any of the current zombie titles.  I'll touch on that subject later on.

Visually, the game is gorgeous. The details on the zombies are almost realistic. On each zombie, the meat and muscles are rendered with multiple layers. Attacking a zombie using a melee weapon, players will see real-time injuries inflicted on the zombie. The overall environment is also detailed very well from the walls of buildings to wreckage. Throughout the demo, every building or scenery looked different from the next.

The battle system for Dead Island gives off a sense of realism. If people are ever stranded on a zombie-infested island, it doesn't make sense for players to have abundance in ammo. Ammo should be scarce and that’s what Dead Island is all about. Weapons are almost anything the player can stumble across off the ground such as baseball bats, knives, wooden sticks, etc. Occasionally, guns and ammo can be discovered, but ammo is the rarest of all. Throughout the demo, I found myself using a melee weapon most of the time. Any ammo found was hoarded unless I desperately needed to use it. But be careful, using the same melee weapon over a period of time will weaken the weapon and eventually it will break. Once it’s broken, it’s gone.

One of the interesting features about this game is the RPG elements it incorporates. The game uses a repair and upgrade system for weapons. Every weapon in the game can be repaired and upgraded to increase stats and/or add enhancements as long as it’s done on a workbench. Luckily, workbenches are scattered everywhere on the island and they are easily noticeable and accessible. Repairing and upgrading weapons costs money, but money is easy to come across; they can be scavenged off of zombie corpses or miscellaneous boxes. When upgrading modifications to a weapon, two criteria must be met. First of all, a blueprint for any modification must be found beforehand, which are typically hidden. Lastly, the players must have all the required materials listed in the blueprint to successfully create the modification to the weapon. Basically, explore the hell out of all the levels to find all the usable parts and hidden items.

Dead Island is one of the games that I am personally looking forward to playing especially when the game, including story and side missions, is expected to take 25-30 hours to complete. That’s pretty long and not to mention that there are other characters to try out too. The concept of the game along with the feeling of realism really puts the players into the game. Compared to Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising series, Dead Island incorporates features from both games, but adds their own features on top of them. Gamers who enjoy killing zombies should definitely check out this game when it’s released on September 6th in North America and available worldwide on September 9th.

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Oct.15

Convention News

Bay Area Anime Impulse/K-Play! Fest/Collectors Expo 2024 Impressions

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Oct.09

Music

Kenshi Yonezu Announces First-Ever Tour Across Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

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Sep.05

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NCT DREAM US Tour Starts this Month

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Sep.03

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Lovebites US Tour Begins Soon

We are almost to the beginning of Lovebites' US tour. This is a long-awaited series of performances, and in a way, it's surprising that it took this long. One of...

Aug.20

Gaming News

Dying Light: The Beast Announced - Gamescom 2024

It's been some time since we have heard anything from masterminds over at Techland and what is in store for the Dying Light franchise. During Opening Night Live at Gamescom, Techland...

Aug.18

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BEYBLADE X at San Diego Padres Games

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Aug.14

Game Reviews

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse (PS5) Review

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Jul.18

Anime News

Shion Wakayama AVIOT Talk Show @ Anime Expo 2024

Anime Expo 2024 was brimming with excitement, and one of the standout moments was the talk session at the audio company AVIOT’s booth in the Entertainment Hall featuring the talented...

Jul.17

K-pop

EVERGLOW Returns to the US for their 2024 Tour - Pulse & Heart

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Jul.16

Event Reports

Hololive Night at Dodger Stadium Report

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Jul.16

Anime News

Warner Bros Anime Expo Panel - Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League and Suicide Squad Isekai

Warner Bros. Animation unveiled the Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League trailer at their recent panel at Anime Expo. This highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 film Batman Ninja gave fans a glimpse of what to look...

Jul.14

Anime News

FAKKU Guest Spotlight Q&A: Karasu Chan

NOTE: This article is meant for those 18+. Discretion is advised. For this year, FAKKU's guest is none other than Karasu Chan, an artist from Taiwan. Karasu Chan is well known...

Jul.12

Anime News

Studio Bones Gachiakuta Panel @ Anime Expo 2024 Report

Studio BONES held a panel on July 4th, 2024 at Anime Expo. Hosted by Joey Bizinger (aka The Anime Man), fans got to hear about the upcoming anime adaptation of...

Jul.10

Anime News

2.5D Seduction Premiere at Anime Expo 2024

As mentioned previously, 2.5D Seduction is a series near and dear to my heart.  There's just something that resonated with me.  It might have been the cosplay bit, maybe the...

Jul.09

Anime News

Oshi no Ko at Anime Expo 2024 - Anniversary Screening and Season Two Premiere

Oshi no Ko should not need any introduction. The white-hot anime has taken both Japan and the world by storm. I happened to read all of the manga's available chapters...