Well, I think that the whole moves wheel and the targeting system could have used some work to make it easier and less complicated. I suppose that is a good explanation for that. I suppose he absorbed most of Alex's basic skills, intelligence and stuff like that sans all the memories and essentially just began developing his own personality like you said from what he observed.

Yeah, it could happen though if he kills Rakan that might be a little harder to buy. That whole thing with Nodoka was rather interesting I thought and served as a further look into his personality, though I loved how everyone commented on how polite the whole thing was. Well, he doesn't seem to possess any signs of ever taking advantage of that sort of thing. So long as none of them fall for Negi. That's the last thing we need.

Yeah, both my little sisters tend to complain but the older of the two does it the most. She pretty much seems to criticize anything she can, especially if it happens to be something I am interested in and like that she doesn't really get into.

I wasn't sure if it was like that or not, so thanks for clearing that up. I'm not all the way through, but they haven't gone into how she got that nail in her in the first place, have they? I'm in chapter 8 now since I've had stuff to do the last few days that has been preventing me just a bit.

This include just the protagonists or antagonists as well? Or is there more of a blurred line given your storyline?

Well, I think the problem to me was that it didn't really do all that much that I hadn't seen before in other games of this type. I kept getting this sense that I had seen all this before in games like Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (the game the developers made before) and especially Spider-man. The large amount of moves you could choose from was really nice, but combat definitely could have used some polishing. A part of me did wonder a bit as to why Alex would go to such lengths to prevent all this given what he is, but maybe I missed that part. I suppose a return to where it all started could be part of it all as Alex could start there and make his way to eliminating any traces of the virus.

Oh, I'm sorry about that. Yeah, I'd agree that it isn't very likely other than the recent one with Setsuna and Konoka. Yeah, I suppose so though I doubt that it'll go anywhere really. Yeah, I pretty much agree, but it seems doubtful.

Well, I'm not if they were released at the same time exactly (it was close at least I think), only that in American reviews there were comparisons. Oh, it doesn't bother me all the time. At certain points it was a bit irritating, but it bothered my sisters more than me.

They do seem to be using them in ways one probably wouldn't think of and there may be some embellishing on the writer's part of things, or maybe not. He'll probably be the Big Bad for some time and in that time he may get a new body or whatever exactly is going on there. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some higher up person in the shadows that is extremely powerful, but we'll see I suppose. It'll be a while till we get more translations though. And "interesting" doesn't begin to describe her.

Is it a big cast or a relatively small number, like 10-20 people?

Combat was probably one of the biggest things that could have done with improvement or at least that was my take on things. The story had certain things that were interesting and the web of intrigue was cool (though I find it a bit funny that every person on it happened to be in New York, but given the plot I suppose it makes enough sense), but something about didn't bring about much of a compulsion to get it all done. Hard to pin down exactly. In any case, maybe they could somehow give you a bigger playground next time that spans more of the world. I also thought the bit about how he steadily gains knowledge and becomes pretty much the most intelligent thing on the planet to be quite interesting though I can't be sure how they would implement that.

He's the wolf-boy and Negi's rival/friend. There is a more appropriate term, but I can't think of it at the moment. I don't think he qualifies either though when Chamo showed up he seemed to imply to me it could be done, but maybe not. She probably just wanted to kiss him. The Setsuna kiss with Konoka was cute as was Setsuna's embarrasment over the whole thing. One of the girls was explaining to the others about the whole contract thing and sort of planted the idea of forming one with Negi, which several of them thought about like Ku Fei. And Chachamaru is rather special with some of her creation being due to magic, so I don't think it would be much of a stretch to think she could form one, but we will see.

Yeah, probably better to stop.

Oh totally. He managed to be both funny and scary at the same time, which made him quite a villain. His whole nihilistic view of things in the final battle as well as that freaky tower of his just sort of sweetened the deal. He actually has been compared to Jack Nicholson's Joker as that movie was around when the game was released. Heath Ledger's Joker was great though and he pretty much stole the show though there were a lot of good performances all around though Christian Bale's Batman voice irritates me. Of course, talking like that is menacing and it would be hard to think the voice was also Bruce Wayne's.

Final Fantasy 6 was a little odd I thought in that while overall Terra is the main character, pretty much all the other party members had there own spotlight throughout like Celes and Locke. All were great characters though and the game had a number of lines and moments that were both touching, funny, and dark at the same time. "Shiny, Shiny, Shiny, Shiny....SHINY!"

Yeah, they pretty much seem to be going off one by one, but maybe that will change. The Qwaser of Gold may end up being the main antagonist overall unless some bigger bad comes along. How threatening is gold anyway? I also have to wonder about the Copper Qwaser.

Yes, perhaps that was the problem. Lelouch was what made that whole show though along with C.C. for me and Suzaku as well later in the series. It's much easier to name awesome heroes I generally find then it is to name awesome villains.

If it needs to be done, then no I am not opposed to it I suppose. I suppose it should be the point, if it comes, that you actually start to enjoy the act of killing or lose any sense of the value of others' lives that you should really worry or at least that is what I think. Reminds me of the tagline of this game Heavy Rain which is "How far would you go to save someone you love?"

Hmm, sounds interesting. Good luck with that should you ever attempt it.

Yes, there is always that. I think there are a lot of good ideas that could have done with more polishing as some aspects were a lot of fun like moving through the city while some others like combat were a mixed bag. I wasn't sure how I felt on the story. It sometimes didn't seem like much was going on or that it was way too slow. It was also interesting that I found it hard to like many of the characters and that the ZEUS actually seemed just a bit better than Alex Mercer. I actually thought PARIAH was Alex or something when that first part was mentioned, but realized that wasn't the case. Hopefully a sequel will happen with everything improved.

Chachamaru and some others were thinking about it in a chapter as was one girl thinking about making one with Kotarou (Ah, I can't remember anyone's name). Asuna is about the only choice I can think of that makes sense. Oh, the duel. Yeah, that final duel was complete and utter crap and Harry and Voldemort's conversation before had me rolling my eyes.

Well, I do like both. It's just that sometimes I do like seeing characters who are truly evil, though I don't know why. The main reason is probably that one of my favorite villains was Kefka from Final Fantasy 6, who was completely nuts and actually managed to destroy the whole world. Some of my favorite kinds of villains are the kind that serve as a sort of mirror to the protagonist. The villain is I think in some ways more important than the hero and can set for me how much I feel motivated to take care of things. I apologize for veering to the series again, but I thought Code Geass kind of did this when they sort of made Schneizal the final boss when Charles was just so much more awesome (in a big way that can be owed to the great Norio Wakamoto).

Yeah, that was the main flaw with Light, though a part of me was never comfortable with the idea of just killing criminals and perhaps ruling everyone by putting the fear of god into them. He never seemed to ever care about any of those he killed, which is something that differentiated him somewhat from Lelouch and CB as they did care to some extent. Yes, it is rather sad, but perhaps that could be part of the point. I think with CG, it was indeed much more worthwhile and that everyone who knew the truth probably understood that perhaps more than others, or maybe not. Lelouch is probably enjoying the effects in any case.

Ah, Prototype, a game with so much potential that ultimately didn't tap into it as much as it could have. It is surprising, but hopefully we might be getting into the bigger parts soon enough though I'm sure they will still have fun chapters every so often. Out of curiosity, did any of the girls act on their ideas to form a pactio like in that chapter earlier? And the end of Harry Potter wasn't exactly bad so much as it didn't answer much in that epilogue as well as the whole thing being rather cheesy. Loved Dumbledore's last line though.

Oh, I know they do. Generally the antagonist is easy to see no matter how sympothetic (Sp?) or misinformed they may be. I sometimes find I like those villains that are just completely evil either in a psychotic or sociopathic way. And yeah, I pretty much agree with everything you said.

Yes, yes it did. Though a part of me likes how the live action movie did things in terms of plot. The manga is of course good and I liked how they showed how much Light had veered off, or at least I think he veered off from someone who was doing something (even if it is questionable) for good intentions to someone who seemed to just get too much of a god-complex. I suppose the road to hell is paved with good intentions though. I also always liked the chapter where he died, mainly in how Ryuk was presented as well as that final message about what comes after death in the DN universe.

Well, I'm not entirely clear on how long after their big fight with Fate and the big shadow dude that this whole relationship between them truly formed since we really only saw the beginnings of it before as you stated yourself. I'm also not sure whether Rakan might have embellished a few things in his little film, though I'd say a lot of it was probably what really happened. There isn't any real reason I could see for him doing such a thing though. I also really have to wonder what exactly happened to Nagi (don't we all) since we seem to have confirmed he is alive. Fate may very well have him, but who knows really.

True, there do seem to be more of those series out there (anime, manga, and comic books as you mentioned) which keep blurring the lines and going more and more into that gray area. I sometimes do miss the old days of things being a bit more clear cut, but that can still be done in a realistic fashion. Something that has come to irritate me slightly is that I seem to be seeing a lot more of these antagonists who are all the kinds of people you actually feel sorry for, though mainly in instances where they don't do it right.

I find it funny in Death Note's case though that the main artist and author stated that they weren't trying to really deal into those kinds of issues but really just wanted to tell a good story.

Yes, that was confirmed pretty much. What I was curious about was whether Negi had already been born then or not among other things. I honestly rather hope we get more flashback chapters with Nagi and Arika.

Wait, is this classified as a magical girl series? I'm on chapter seven now.

I suppose it might have partly been that Arika doesn't appear to be around at all, which makes me wonder where exactly she was during that time.

Yeah, best to just put it in the back of my mind until something about it comes up again if anything does. I wonder if Fate will reveal anything to Rakan in the course of their fight.

Thanks.

It's not a big deal.

It's pretty good so far, but they really don't spare much in showing the brutality and everything.

Well, I was never clear on when exactly that whole thing with Asuna and Nagi's group took place. The time always seemed odd to me as if she was the same age for a long amount of time, but maybe I am just misinterpreting things.

Something about that always bothered me for some reason as did Nagi just suddenly defeating it. I can't help but wonder if there was more to it or something of the sort.

Eh, it just seems to be today for some reason. Probably be better tomorrow.

I thought so. It isn't a big deal, but just something I tend to get curious about when they don't provide them. Looking forward to seeing those other weapons then.

They mention it in chapter 2.

I missed that chapter. This chapter was actually the first in a while for me, though I had already heard about the Mars bit. And adoption could be possible, but whatever it is it is apparent that there is something very odd about Asuna or at least it seems that way with the not aging but maybe Negi's whole idea could explain that.

Definitely in Fate's favor here. I keep wondering though as to whether he'll end up being the final bad guy or not. I'd rather they not spring some new antagonist that comes out of no where.

Oh, no problem. I've been getting ok service, but tonight it has just been tempermental. I'm also somewhat irritated though that my computer decided to erase one of my disk drives all of a sudden. I swear computers hate me sometime.

Yes, that series. So Sasha is only 13? Are the other characters that age or older? I assume older, but I am not sure. I love scythes as weapons though.