Persona 5 Japanese RPG Game Thoughts

  I've had an on and off experience playing the Persona series over the years. My first exposure to the series was one of the spin offs that was released for the dearly departed handheld PSP a few years ago. For people who don't know, I hate RPG that don't allow the player to actually see the character moving around landscapes so many of the Persona games weren't my style. Plus, students going out every night to fight in this weird looking building also got on my nerves a bit story wise. Then, I checked out the trailers for Persona 5 and felt that the game had everything that I was looking for in a J RPG at the time. The game was originally created in 2016 by Atlus but had a worldwide release in 2017. An expanded version of the game with a new character is said to be released this year under the name Persona 5 Royal. So I thought I would give me two cents on this version before that hits selves in 2020.

   A young boy gets into trouble in his home town and is sent to Tokyo under house arrest. He can go to school but is seen as a criminal to most of his school. Due to certain events, the boy finds an app on his cellphone that takes him to the palaces inside people's hearts. He takes the name of Joker with the help of a mysterious being called Morgana as a persona user. Big criminals in Societal Tokyo won't know what hit them now! The Phantom Thieves are on the case!



   What I really loved about Persona 5 as first impressions was how youth flows from the appearance of the world in the game. Its like you see Tokyo from the eyes of a teenager trying to figure out their life. Many of the words used to describe sound effects and character dialogue look to be taken straight out of a comic book. Game Menus when you move around during quick travel give a dark mysterious yet comic book hero vibe. Walking around Tokyo is also just a fun treat in itself. There's always something to do, whether it's hanging out with teammates/friends, eating out, buying items, or working for extra money, Persona 5 keeps players busy outside of the fighting in people's palaces. Persona is VERY dialogue heavy throughout the whole game but you do have a fast forward option for those times you have to revisit a part of the story again because you didn't save. I love character interactions in RPG but even I must admit that there were times while playing Persona 5 where I had to either turn mash on the X button really fast to read ahead of the voice acting or fast forward simply because I had to go out and wanted to get to a point I could save my game. Persona 5's motto says to "take your time" which the game doesn't completely stand by. Still there's a big hint in this motto that many players miss out on who decide to not play with a strategy guide.

   If Persona 5 is your first Persona game, keep in mind that the Persona series doesn't play out like normal RPG games. If you don't realize this after playing that game for a few hour, then please forever hold your peace. You have to put your adult pants on and decide how you want to spend your time as you play through a calendar system. This means you have stats outside of battle that you have to work on too such as charm, knowledge, guts etc. Each stat will help your nameless character have more of a personality in the eyes of the people around him. Hanging out with people, studying, eating, and working take up time, so use your time wisely. Joker also has to steal the target's heart before the a certain date or the game will end. Seems like a lot to do right? Persona 5's huge saving grace is that you get a crap load of time to do things. What's the problem then? Choosing the RIGHT things to do during the time allowed. Otherwise you end up missing out on some character content such as getting a girlfriend. These things don't affect the story(Some choices you make in the main story do..) but they do make Persona 5 feel like you're missing out on something as you play. I think  I hated the school portion of Persona the most. You literally have to answer questions and the teach no matter what class you are in will always call on you. Answer correctly and you get a boost in your Knowledge. Answer incorrectly and get nothing. Tests are the same questions you get in class so take note. Persona gives you a lot of time to do stuff at certain parts of them game and its up to you to start on building your relationships and your stats before the end of the game. You can max out everything. Just make sure you start really early on certain aspects of the game to help you out a bit. This game feels very long however there isn't as many palaces as one would think.

    Actions you choose to take on in reality affect what tools you get in the palaces of people's hearts. As your links grow stronger with the people around you, you learn new abilities that make battles more interesting. Fans of the Persona games should know the normal antics of capturing new Personas in battle and fusing them together to create even stronger Personas in the Velvet room. Don't worry if you don't, the game explains what you have to do pretty well. Battles in this installment of Persona are a breeze especially if you know what the hell your doing. Be sure to check out the different elemental weaknesses of the personas you're fighting as well as the stats of the ones you're holding verse the people in your party. Information like this will make or break you big time in battle. I loved the all out attack option in battle so much!!! Your party gets more active in helping each other as you raise your bonds with them too. All of this creates a slickness to battle that doesn't feel stagnant. Most of the slower battles are boss battles and battles where you know absolutely nothing about the persona you're fighting. Just try out everything until you find a weakness. Don't forget little side actions like using guns, getting help on analyzing enemy weakness, and switching out party members. Momentos is another place in Persona 5 that you best not ignore. Side missions take place in there most of the time. Be sure to clear it out completely as the game gives you constant hints that the large place is important to the story.

   Persona 5's story was good because of the cast in my opinion. To me, the whole story itself fit well into what the game was trying to do but I do believe that it wasn't the best storyline in the series. I know this for a fact without even playing all the games. You can kinda tell… With that being said, I enjoyed the cause, effect, and conclusion. This game could be made into an anime and I would probably watch it. The twists were alright too. I could see them coming most of the time though…. Well except for what happened toward the end. Did I forget to mention the wonderful soundtrack?! Lord have mercy on me! I've never played a game were the soundtrack fit the game play so perfectly. It felt like the soundtrack actually helped define the true essence of the game. Most games don't have that quality. I can't even remember half of the soundtracks of most of the games I play.

   I'm super excited for Persona 5 Royal to be released. People who didn't play this release could probably skip this and go straight to royal. I would still recommend you check this game out just for the fun of it. You won't have a life after you do. I'l tell you that much for sure.

Innocent Defendant(피고인) Korean Drama Thoughts(2017)

    Innocent Defendant is a Korean drama that was released in 2017 and aired for eighteen episodes. The drama was met with very high ratings from the public. Many people praised the script for using new methods to keep each episode thrilling. Veteran actor Ji Sung stars with Uhm Ki Joon, Kwon Yuri, and Oh Chang Suk in the drama. Ji Sung was also praised endlessly for his role along with many of the other costars.



   A prosecutor is falsely accused of the murder of his wife and child one night. His wife was found death in their apartment and their daughter's body went missing. He gets sentenced to the death penalty but he doesn't remember how he ended up killing his family. Before being accused, the prosecutor was on a murder case of a CEO who committed suicide. Only his twin brother knows the details of the case but he tries to hide all the information pertaining to the suicide. The young CEO also takes all that his twin brother once had…. his wife, son, and his father's place at the top of the company. Will the prosecutor and the CEO ignite a battle of survival?

      Innocent Defendant was an interesting watch to me. Opening reactions for me were generally positive. The first episode appeared on the screen commanding my attention before creating promises for even better episodes in the future. This drama keeps charging up for more explosive content from episode to episode. The script writing is more leaning toward to thriller side of the television genre but I could see many opinion opportunities for a romance to be slid in there. There wasn't anything lacking because there wasn't a relationship because the love the main character had for his wife and child was just as strong as any relationship of love that could have been presented. A lot of shocking things happen from the villain stand point. Evil in this drama doesn't quit AT ALL and it gets so frustrating in a good way. Villains that make you wish death upon them are the best villains that make for great television. All the awful events that happen make you thirst for retribution for the villain but this is where the problems I had with Innocent Defendant comes in. The main character stays in jail for most of the drama trying to pick up the pieces of his sanity. You really feel disturbed for him until you get tired on seeing him in the same setting each episode. I guess the script try to feel the time with flashbacks and a good cast of characters. The scenes of the characters working toward finding the truth on the outside keep the story going then the main character digging deep into the truth in Jail sends the story into new territory. I really got tired of seeing him in jail for so many episodes. He could have staid in there for a few episodes but not half the show. I envisioned him escaping sooner using high action until he faces off with the villain of the drama. The script didn't get to the face off quick enough for me. instead the story chose to focus on the mystery of what happened as well as the sub characters which was interesting, just not what I was looking for overall. When we do get to the face off, it felt a bit rushed like the writers knew the drama only had one episode left. Even the ending  came off as used to me… I don't what it was… Everything was forcibly pushed to the conclusion in my opinion. Innocent Defendant was a good drama that could have been a masterpiece had they not relied so heavily on the jail part of the show.

   The performances were A list a hundred percent. Ji Sung was the perfect choice for the lead role. He portrayed an elegant medium of a confident prosecutor and a prison mate who lost the world. I've been watching his drama's over the years and he hasn't lost the talent that made him a big star in Korea. Ki Joon was the film side of the coin as he played a dual role of the twin brothers. Not many actors can become the face of evil. Being face to face with Ki Joon's character was similar to looking evil straight in the face. His performance was two faced. One side of him was polite while the other side was a monster. One brother he plays was serious and emotional and the other brother was more lively. I could see the distinction in both characters which shows he has talent. Oh Chang Suk was an surprising outstanding performance to me too. Innocent Defendant was one of those dramas that had the co stars also bring their best performance to the table. Oh was mysterious as a character who never fits anywhere as far as the stance of who you think he was going to be. I didn't like what his character did in the drama but I liked him as a character for the story. Him on top of the whole cast created a emotional thriller drama that wasn't perfect however they were as close to perfect as you can get.

   I would watch Innocent Defendant again. My opinion might differ from it being the best drama ever(I still think Remember: War of the Son hasn't been topped as one of the best dramas of this generation yet..) but I do think Innocent Defendant is worth watching. At least I didn't quit watching the drama after the first couple of episodes.

Death Mark(死印) Visual Novel Game Thoughts(PSVita)

    Death Mark is a 2018 visual novel game that was created by Experience Inc. and published by Aksys games. The game was released for Nintendo Switch, PC, Playstation 4, and the every so dying or already deceased Playstation Vita. I played the PSVita version just for the simple fact that I refuse to let my Vita go. Yeah. I still play mine and will probably continue to do so until a new version is released.



   A man wonders to a mansion in the middle of the woods with no memory of who he is. In the mansion her finds a doll and a mark on his wrist that is said to be a mark of death which will eventually kill him if he doesn't find the ghost who gave it to him. More people come to the mansion bearing marks of their own as the work together to defeat the ghost who gave them these marks.

   The gameplay for Death Mark is very simple to get the hang of once you play the game for a bit. Your functions are basically to move around, check things out with a flashlight, touch a bunch of stuff that none in their right mind would touch, and scroll through menus to pick party members, read information you have gathered along with items you have collected. Reading up on the information you find from looking around and talking to people if a VERY IMPORTANT factor in being successful at beating Death Mark. Knowing about the background of the spirit you're chasing makes the moments of Live or Die much easier to stomach. When you enter a situation of Live or Die, you 'll be forced to answer a question as your soul points quickly decrease. Soul points are similar to HP which you can collect more of through Talisman you find in different places. If you answer the question wrong, you die…. Stumbling into one of these without knowing your info is very terrifying but you do get the chance to try multiple times until you get the correct choice. It's more fun to try to get the right choice on your first or second try in my opinion just for a bit of a challenge. Boss battles are more about the strategy of the items you pick that are in your bag to fight the spirit. Depending on the order plus which item you use for what round, the outcome of the battle will vary. What party member you take with you also plays a big part on the outcome. I tried to save each spirt after I defeated them instead of just destroying them for a good ending. You don't have do this though. Especially since you won't know the outcome if you play the game without any guide. Also, please note that Death Mark isn't dubbed into English for those who care about this sort of thing… Only English subtitle is available. This game doesn't use much voice acting anyways….

    Death Mark's story isn't amazing by any means. Players still get a good enough tale to feel like they have accomplished something once they get to the end. I did enjoy the cast of characters ripped straight out of a Japanese horror anime. Each character has their own personality making for a different experience depending on who you decide to take with you when you explore an abandoned school, a forest, a phone booth, etc. The game looks gorgeous on the PS Vita for the most part. Artwork for the environment, character, and cut scenes give players a modern yet classic take on visual horror. There's many reasons that this came is rated M for mature and nudity defiantly is one of them.  Just wanted to put that out there for the pervs in the back…. Anyways, You really do feel like you're reading a horror novel when playing Death Mark's slick features. Most of the horror doesn't come from what you would expect. Death Mark makes sure that you don't know what's happening until it's too late to undo. That is unless you don't save your game constantly. All I'm going to say that outside of the occasional jump scares as you explore, make sure to keep all the character's alive that you run into till the end of the game. One twist in the storyline was a good one that threw me for a loop. One would expect this shocker but the story tries to divert players from the truth which was cool.

   My favorite piece from the soundtrack is the piano piece that plays when you're always in the mansion. I love that erie atmosphere the fast piano creates as you prepare to head out to a new location. Music for the different areas isn't much of a soundtrack at all. Instead you get a real to life sound of your surroundings such as owls in a forests or the quiet of a parking lot.  



   I enjoyed playing Death Mark on PS Vita just as much as I enjoyed playing Corpse Party when I first bought a PS Vita a few years ago. Fans of Visual novels and Horror will keep busy once you pick up Death Mark. Be sure to play without a strategy guide for a challenge.

TVXQ(동방신기) #WELCOME CIRCLE Concert DVD Thoughts

   If you may not know then I'll surely be glad to tell you, I'm a big TVXQ fan and have been since the early 2000s. I won't claim to be a fan since day one of their careers but I became a huge fan during the "Purple Line" era then listened to all of their songs. I was there when the group fell apart because of conflict with their record company S.M. Entertainment and supported the two groups that were born from the separation. TVXQ became a duo group of U-Know and Changmin which made me a bit nervous when they returned for the "Keep Your Head Down" era, however, the two have strongly kept TVXQ's name alive for the past couple of years not only in South Korea but also in Japan, as the two still mange to hit high on the music charts in both places. #Welcome Circle is the duo's dvd for the concert that was held last year in May at Seoul's Jamsil Supplementary Stadium.

   This concert wasn't amazing yet, it was good in my opinion. The DVD is worth the money if you are willing to pay fifty dollars to support the guys. Things that need to be noted is that the dvd doesn't have English subtitles which means nothing to me since I speak enough Korean to understand what they talked about but I just wanted to put this out there for people who want to know if there's any type of subs for english speakers. Nope, only Korean, Chinese, and Japanese subtitles. If it makes you feel better, The guys do introduce themselves in different languages, one of the languages being English and it's very cute to see. Moving along, I felt the concert it's self went by super fast, making the whole thing seem short overall. The dvd isn't short in duration at all, It's just that it felt that TVXQ sang through a whole list of songs at the speed of light causing the concert to feel really rushed. This might have also been because their concept was too normal or maybe even too plain. Not that I'm complaining about how they looked. Using a regular gentleman concept for a boyband that's been around for over a decade seems more fitting than they trying to use too many gimmicks to keep up with what's trendy currently. The outfits they wore looked good and fit together very well with the setlist for the most part. I loved the big top hats and the canes they opened the concert while singing Bounce. Having the concert outdoors reminds me of the venues in Japan…. I actually thought it was in Japan for a second when the concert started even though it wasn't. Seeing the Seoul highway behind the stage makes me wonder if the passing traffic could hear Changmin's loud ass voice hitting all those notes.[INSERT ME LAUGHING.] My favorite highlights of the concert were Mirotic, The Chance of Love, Love Line, Before You Go, Keep Your Head Down, and, B.U.T. All the years of experience that TVXQ has showed on stage during each and every song that they performed. U-Know is just a living, walking, ball of charisma whenever he hits the stage. That dude is so amazing at dancing around the floor that you have to wonder if his feet have wings on them. His expressions show he truly engulfs the music he sings too. U-Know's vocals are not as strong as the Ex-members or Changmin but I can hear a strength in his solos showing that he can survive as a soloist. Changmin is the voice of the TVXQ. He was one of the big vocalist since the beginning and I'm glad that he's with U-know. I got to wonder how he does all that dancing while hitting all those big notes. We fans can count on him to bring the house down though.

    There was a bit of a problem with the sound. The sound comes out of one stereo stronger than the other when I would watch the concert using headphones. You don't notice it after awhile since most viewers get into the concert eventually. I also wondered sometimes if Changmin and U-Know prerecorded their vocals before the concert. Then again, there's times when you can clearly hear that both of them are singing live especially during ballads such as Sun & Rain. They're so good live that I don't want to believe these two have the talent to dance all out and sing very close to the vocals  that was on their albums.  If they were lip singing some parts, I would be disappointed depending on to what degree of the lip singing. I understand singers are not robots but I paid to hear you sing live, not press play on a recording. I'll give the the benefit of the doubt because I saw them both adjusting their mikes attached to their faces and U-know really focusing to get the high notes during some of the older TVXQ songs. I'm satisfied with #Welcome Circle for what it was.  Well…. "She" should have been added to the set list….. That still got me a bit bummed out.

   TVXQ's concert comes as a two dvd set. Both discs contain the concert and the second disc has the making of the show. I only watched a little bit of the making of but it was interesting. Sadly, still no subtitles for English speakers. The only saving grace for non Korean speakers is that the concert is region all, meaning the dvd will play on any DVD player in the world.

Sakanaction(サカナクション) - 834.194 Album Thoughts(J-rock)

   Sakanaction is a Japanese band that doesn't really fit under the label pop or rock. Experimental would be a better name for them to relate to musically in my opinion. Most overseas fans see them as a J-rock band though. I became a legit fan when I looked them up after hearing their music on Japanese films. I've been a fan eve since then. The band consisting of three men and two females took a very long break. Try about six years of no releases but they did let fans know that new music was in the works with the release of a few singles. 834.194 is the band's seventh album to date.

TRACKLIST

01. 忘れられないの
02. マッチとピーナッツ
03. 陽炎
04. 多分、風。
05. 新宝島
06. モス
07. 「聴きたかったダンスミュージック、リキッドルームに」
08. ユリイカ (Shotaro Aoyama Remix)
09. セプテンバー -東京 version
10. グッドバイ
11. 蓮の花 -single version
12. ユリイカ
13. ナイロンの糸
14. 茶柱
15. ワンダーランド
16. さよならはエモーション.
17. 834.194
18. セプテンバー -札幌 version





   You would think that after six years of no albums that Sakanaction would come back transformed into a new version of their former selves six years earlier. Nope. none of that was to be found as 834.194 was a retelling of the same style that fans know the band for. Don't take this for me hating on them. Thats not what I mean. Sure, this quality being brought back again and again will get old but I still love the album for what it is. It would have been nice to hear a different sound that builds off of what made Sakanaction so popular in the Japanese music scene. Sakanaction performed a mixture of pop and rock when many other J-bands were not. Six years later and most band in Japan who were doing rock in the early 2000s are now partaking in electro dance pop to stay relevant. This band was before their time so they don't need to do much to sell albums. 834.194 did very well on the Japanese music charts, debuting at the top of the chart for the week. Eighteen tracks is enough for a greatest hits compilation which might have been the feel they were going for since they had been away for so long. The album is honestly a very fun listen if you've been a long time fan of their music. Each track either explores a vibe of groovy pop that gets you dancing in your seat or rock that makes Sakanaction feel like a solid unit. They've never done regular rock alternative songs. This album shows a little bit of a a toned down side to the band that I never got a full experience of. Well, there's enough room to add whatever they wanted in 834.194. I wish there was something new that would have surprised me a bit. Fans who listened to their old albums can tell you the range of different instruments used in the musical production. Some were Violins, drums, keyboards, even traditional Japanese instruments in order to give a taste of   Japan in modern day. 834.194 truly is a testimony of "don't fix what isn't broken". Sakanaction may not have broken artistry however, their too talented at production to not be a little more adventurous.

   The vocals also sound the same. Ichiro's voice continues to be bendable to whatever crazy arrangements the band decides to produce. Sakanaction milks the hell out of simple melodies tacked on to more complexed musicality. I would be bored of songs using "Lalala" if it's not Sakanaction singing it. I love the group vocals that are kind of a signature to their songs. Do they have back up singers or is it just the band singing together? It could also be voice dubbing of the Ichiro's vocals. Either way these moments give flavor to the tracks when I hear them.

    834.194 is a enjoyable but very safe album. No new musically growth must have happened while Sakanaction was away during those six years. Take it for what it is, I guess….. A safe album is better than an awful album any day.