Noob Reviews: Dragon Ball Z Kai

After discovering Netflix DaNoob is back with another review and this time they are attempting to be a little more helpful:

Dragon Ball Z Kai is a remaster of Dragon Ball Z, with re-recorded dialogue, new/original music, a bit more tweaking and editing and gloriously long original episode titles. It’s also missing a lot of filler compared to the original with only around 100 English dubbed episodes and another 60 only in Japanese.

Coming into this completely fresh, without any prior knowledge of the franchise (other than a few memes) is an experience. Super powered beings blasting holes in mountains, powerful aliens invading, resurrections, transformations, even more powerful aliens and holes being blasted in planets... and that's just for starters.

I thought I understood what was going on, with all the snake roads and bizarre comedy/battle training, then the series blasts into outer space and the stakes are constantly raised, every new character is somehow unimaginably stronger (or even “off the charts” powerful - who makes these charts?) and as soon as you think you've figured out who is the strongest someone else’s power skyrockets… Half the show is people’s power skyrocketing, the other half is waiting for the hero to show up and even when he does he’s likely to spend 5 minutes explaining how quickly he needs to act before actually doing it...

Where was I? Oh yeah, I eventually got the hang of the OTT OP-ness (hehe) and quirky characters and then all of a sudden there’s an elite alien dance troupe to contend with? A group so powerful they are more concerned with theatrics than battle and they are nothing compared to what is to come!?

The show is all about the spectacle, Japanese humour and awesome battles but it manages to cram in some genuinely interesting characters. There’s a few break downs in logic, awesomely illustrated by an explanation as to why a character's uniform grew when he transformed into a giant ape, only to be followed by his complaint that there were no more in his size... It doesn’t take away any of the enjoyment though.

DBZ Kai is very well made. I’d happily frame some screenshots and hang them on my wall, particularly of some of the energy attacks and characters powering up. The musical score is high quality and memorable and surpasses a lot of blockbuster movies, every now and again sliding into Saturday morning cartoon theme and power chords. There’s a whole host of charmingly retro sound effects, my favourite being the one that sounds like a pac-man ghost. I’ve seen anime before (I’m not that much of a noob) but to see some of the animation, framing and cinematography from a show originally developed around 20 years ago is impressive, particularly compared to the things I was watching back then. It’s all awesome. A good chunk of the series also has a stand out villain who deserves to be as iconic as someone like Darth Vader but they have more chance to shine as a character, despite styling themselves after Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

I can’t say how much of the awesome is due to the remaster enhancements but if you want to try out DBZ, it’s a great starting point or if you want to relive your old favourite series without worrying about several hundred episodes then this might be the way to go.

The Niche X artist search

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If you are interested in getting your work featured please contact us at info@nicheonline.co.uk

Niche Plays: PlayStation Plus July 2016

Just a quick one this week as I find i haven't had much gaming time, however I have managed to dip into a few of July's "free" PlayStation Plus games, and thought I would share my thoughts on them before they are swapped out for August's games.
(Trailers available via PlayStation YouTube Channel and not owned by Niche)

Furi (PS4)

I admit, I had not heard of this one before it became available on Plus, it's an action game that does much more than hack'n'slash. It becomes more about anticipating your opponent and using the right moves in each situation, the result is somewhere between arcade gameplay and full on tactical combat. I haven't gone too far into the game yet but the gameplay is distilled into a series of boss battles, all of which are pretty creative and challenging and it is kind of refreshing not to have to face corridors full of minions.  The default difficulty will be pretty challenging for most but I can see that being one of the major draws of this game. There's a rather dark story about eternal torment and your journey out of some kind of hell dimension, there seems to be some deeper mysteries that I cant wait to uncover. The art style is distinctive and reminds me of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, a beautiful game that I still have not got round to playing, it's on my list but it's a long list. This could be one of those overlooked gems of your PS Plus collection.

Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell (PS4)

On paper, Saints Row should be a game I completely hate, the franchise started as a GTA clone, all drugs, gangs and violence but each instalment has grown a little crazier. It's this irreverent sense of humour and focus on fun gameplay that has had me hooked since Saints Row 3. This offering is in fact a standalone expansion to Saints Row 4, so if you enjoyed that then you'll have some idea what to expect and I recommend you give this a go. If you've never played Saints Row before then this could be a nice little taster, however don't expect the intro to make sense, after that focus on running wild in the hellscape, go have fun!

 Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines (PSVITA)

This JRPG has a pleasant art style inspired by Japanese ink wash art known as sumi-e and packs a lot in to a nice portable package. Set in a mythical version of feudal Japan you are the head of a cursed family. You need to set out on quests, protect and strengthen your lineage and win the favour of the Gods, which is important because part of the curse is that your clan can only reproduce with Gods (or other cursed clans). Could be worse, right? There's whole layers of management and crafting, customising your family and arranging marriages as well as dungeons to explore. I've enjoyed it so far but look forward to being able to sink a good chunk of time in to this.

Fat Princess (PS3)

An honourable mention for Fat Princess as I haven't picked this game back up in a while. It's a fun and colourful class based team game. The main mode is similar to capture the flag, but with princesses, you can even collect cake to feed to your princess so that she becomes harder to steal. You might have better look finding online opponents that I did earlier this year as other Plus subscribers will be trying it out, but it can also be good fun with friends.

Noob Reviews: Netflix

Time for something new... and another "new writer" for the blog, please welcome DaNoob...

Those of you still choosing between the basic 5 TV channels, I am about to blow your mind.

What if I told you, you don’t have to watch what "The Man" says you have to watch, you don’t even have to watch it at the specified time, hell, given proper safety precautions you could even watch your favourite show in the bath or on the bus?

Welcome to the magic of Netflix. 

Netflix is a service that uses a technology known as “the internet” to deliver entertainment in a fashion the kids are calling “on demand”.

You can pick from a vast library of content, find your favourites and watch them whenever and where-ever you like; you can even watch the same thing over and over or consume entire series in one big feast of entertainment. I think Netflix feast watching might be my new favourite hobby.

Netflix can take all of the stress out of finding something to watch, and is great whether alone, with a group of friends or with that someone special; you can just “Netflix and relax”…

…Hey, that might catch on.

The Problem with The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) stirs mixed feelings in the geek community. Is it beacon of geek culture amongst all the mainstream sitcoms? Or is it a cheap exploitation of an unfair stereotype?

On one hand, the characters in TBBT may be ones that I can identify with but it seems geeks are still still portrayed as weird or pathetic outsiders. Alternatively, TBBT could be a perfect depiction of an imperfect world,  realistic interpretation of flawed humans. Geek or not these characters and the situations they get into could apply to anybody, humans are known to have different hobbies, obsessions, quirks, social anxieties etc. Maybe this show is just one that isn’t afraid to present “adulthood” just how it is, nobody knows what they’re doing and these awkward, dorky archetypes don’t only occur in geekdom. Even trendy people say stupid stuff. The Big Bang Theory has been called the new “Friends”, a long running sitcom that defines a generation, this just happens to be a different group of friends.

For the majority of the series Howard is dependent on his mother and later his wife (who also earns more than he does)… this isn’t because he’s a stereotype of his religion or of his geeky lifestyle… it’s because he’s human, you only need to watch reality TV to see this isn’t exclusively geek. You can apply this to other characters too; Raj’s inability to speak to women, Sheldon’s pedantic superiority. Watch other sitcoms and you’ll probably see the same character traits.

In fact the program might make more sense if you don’t get hung up on the “geek” label, the fact that it is a part of the show and that some jokes may be a little close to home for some viewers do mean that the show will always divide the community. However it is completely possible that the show’s creators don’t have the same lofty interpretation.

One reason I have such a hard time suggesting the show uses damaging stereotypes is that I’ve known these people… I’d have to think back a way (to school or college) but I knew a Sheldon, a Howard, and a Raj... that might have left me being a Leonard but in truth I share something with each of these characters. It’s hard to call them unrealistic or unfair when I grew up with them. The portrayal of Penny is probably the more damaging stereotype, at least in the majority of episodes.

Where I tend to have a problem is how the show handles the geeky hobbies, I haven’t seen one episode that shows cosplay in a positive light, it’s still apparently unbelievable that there are girls in a comic book shop and one episode compares D&D to a night in Vegas and attempts to suggest that D&D is the deviant option when as far as I know it is associated with significantly less organised crime, prostitution and drugs, but maybe I’m doing it wrong.

I generally enjoy the show despite a few other niggles about American comedy having to explain the joke and a tendency to reuse the same material. There are still cringeworthy moments, but for the most part I can look past them, I just don’t think this is something I’ll still be watching in ten years’ time.

Star Wars Rebels Season Three Trailer (Official)

A brand new trailer for Star Wars Rebels might just be the most exciting thing to come out of Star Wars Celebration 2016, for me at least. If my review in Issue 11 of Niche: Treat Your Geek wasn't enough to convince you of how good this show can be then maybe this will.


Fan favourite new/returning characters, new ships and a refreshingly tense balance between the two sides of the force; This is all part of the new canon, the new official storyline, of Star Wars and there's so much to be happy about.

Issue 11 is available from Amazon or www.serenitybay.co.uk


Have you been keeping up with Star Wars Celebration? What has been your favourite news/announcement so far? How do you feel about Rebels?


Comments welcome below.

Civil War Debate - Iron Man Vs Captain America

Captain America:Civil War has caused quite a debate in the metaphysical Niche offices.  Now that most of us here have seen the film, which side was right? Team Cap? Or Team Iron man? What if Cap and Tony saw the film? How would they debate it?

There's a comment by Peter Parker that gets as close to “with great power comes great responsibility“ as you can without using the exact same words. And it resonates with both sides of this argument... if you have the power to save someone you should, regardless of what the world thinks but also if you are going to demonstrate this power you need to be held responsible for it.

So which side are you on?

Yorkshire Geek Fest This Weekend

Yorkshire Geek Fest THIS WEEKEND

Find out mor on their event page here

You're having a Ghastly - Pokemon Go! Funnies

Pokemon Go has awakened the comedy in nerds and we have saved a few of our favourites for you all!

Pokemon GO – Trainer Guide

PoGo as it is also known has taken the world by storm. It was so popular in

fact that the servers have experienced issues and the UK launch has been delayed.

So before the official Pokemon Go launch we thought we would put together this quick guide to help you on your way.

Catching Pokemon

You encounter Pokemon by walking around. The game tracks your GPS and moves you in game as you physically walk around. Pokemon appear randomly and you have to quickly tap on them to trigger an instance battle where you can capture the Pokemon.

Once in the Instance you are able to 'throw' a pokeball by swiping the screen. You can press and hold the ball and a circle will appear. Getting the inner circle as small as possible increases your chance of getting the Pokemon. The better your aim also drums up extra EXP.

Throwing the ball does not always grantee a Pokemon and some times they get back out. At higher levels you can also get Razz Berries which encourage the Pokemon

to like you and even Great Balls. You can also spin the ball (somehow I can never do it) which can stop Pokemon from knocking the ball away.

Your map also has a function that lets you know how close and what kind of Pokemon there are in your area. Although the number of feet suggest how close a Pokemon is to you all the methods we have currently used don't seem to work to utilise this system very well. However, people across the globe seem to be having different results to us!

Be sure to adventure into different locations at different times to ensure that you get a wide range of Pokemon and a chance of catching something awesome and rare.

Levelling and Evolving

You can power up your Pokemon by spending Stardust and Pokemon Candies on them. Unlike previous game where there was a bigger focus on Battles (more on that later).

You can collect Pokemon Candies by capturing and 'transferring' Pokemon. Each Pokemon requires a large number of Candies and Stardust to become max CP (Combat Points).

Although you dont have to evolve a Pokemon before it is max CP, it is advised that you fully evolve a Pokemon before levelling to ensure that it has the best possible CP.   This is because the amount of CP a Pokemon can have is based on your Avatars level and the max CP of a Pokemon increases when you do.

It should also be noted that Pokemon have different attacks and so the biggest CP is not necessarily the Pokemon which you should level up however they do loose these moved when evolving...

You can level up your Avatar as you catch Pokemon, defeat gyms etc and as you level up stronger Pokemon become available to you as well as increase the CP of your Pokemon. You also unlock better items such as hyper potions and great balls.

Teams

There are three teams in Pokemon based around the three legendary bird Pokemon, Articuno, Moltress and Zapdos (blue, red and yellow). Each team must work together to capture gyms and increase the Gyms level and 'prestige'.

Pokestops

Pokestops are locations on the map that you can go visit in order to get some goodies, such as Poke Balls and Potions. They are located around the map and you can use a 'Lure Module' it increase Pokemon coming to that stop for all trainers. Although we are not sure that it is a way forward if you do have the option to continue walking. Pokéstops also give you some EXP.

Gyms

At the moment you cannot face off against your friends in battle. However you can go to gyms and battle against other trainers. The battles are based around tapping the screen to make your Pokémon attack and holding the screen for it to do a bigger attack once they have filled their power bar. You can also dodge attacks by swiping the screen left or right. Strengths and weaknesses also come into play with these attacks.

If you are a part of the gym you can train your Pokémon at the gym to earn prestige for your gym and also a small amount

of EXP for you trainer. You cam place one Pokémon to protect the gym per Gym level and one Pokémon per trainer. This means a level five gym can have five trainers and five Pokémon protecting it.

However, opposing teams can attack in groups with up to six Pokémon each. Making it much easier for trainers to attack a Gym they wish to take over if they have strong enough Pokémon. To take over the gym they must defeat the Pokémon at the gym lowering its prestige until it has dropped below level 1. Then you can replace the Pokémon with your own and level the gym up for your friends to come and join you.

Although Gyms are perhaps not the best way to gain EXP, been a part of a gym goes towards your daily bonuses and the more gyms you are in the more coins and stardust you will receive.

Eggs

Eggs are items that you receive from Pokéstops. You place them in incubators so that they will count the steps that you are taking toward them hatching. Each Egg counts in kilometres (km) and can range from 2km to 10km.

We have seen a distinct correlation between the length of the Egg and the rarity/quality of the Pokémon, however as my friend got a 200 CP Pikachu from a 2km Egg it seems there is still a lot of luck involved.

Items

There are several additional items at the moment that you can purchase in the shop. As well as additional Pokéballs and bag upgrades you can purchase incense, lucky eggs, lure modules and egg incubators.

Incense and Lure Modules are used to draw Pokémon to your location, except that Incense can be used anywhere and only works for you. Lucky Eggs increase the amount of EXP you receive and Egg incubators are additional incubators that wear out over three uses. All rather useful but can also be collected at Pokéstops and when you level up.

Medals

The world we live in likes to reward us for our efforts and in PoGO you get medals for collecting large numbers of Pokémon, walking, training, evolving, hatching.... pretty much everything! Although they are mostly just for you so you can show off to your friends.

AR

The Augmented Reality for PoGO has been faulty at best for myself and an even bigger drain on your battery than it normally is. There have been announcements to make this more fluent within the next few updates.

The Pokédex

Last but not least the wonderful Pokédex. Showing you all the wonderful Pokémon that you have caught or seen and giving you the all faithful Pokémon profile.

There are still many things that we have to learn and we will keep you updated!

Be sure to follow the Niche: Treat Your Geek blog for the latest news.

Pokémon - We Need to Beat Misty

Ode to a Hologram - Hatsune Miku

OK, I need to come clean... I can't function without it, it has become part of my life, whether I'm at home or at work, whether I'm gaming or cleaning, it's even creeping into my writing for Niche. I try to make my friends and family understand but sometimes it is easier to hide it from them. It's been over a year already and it has changed my life. My name is Mulukh, and I'm a Miku addict.

Hatsune Miku, if you don't know is a Japanese Vocaloid and Virtual Idol. Vocaloid is a kind of synth voice used to create natural sounding words and full song lyrics, and virtual idols are the ultimate in manufactured pop stars... what with them literally being designed and then created usually with CGI anime stylings.

I first realised I had a problem when I noticed I was (attempting) dancing around the kitchen singing along to a song several octaves above my hearing range, in a language I haven't learned with lyrics I don't even know. That fact that the song was by a make believe, green haired, teenager from another country makes that a little stranger, the fact that I'm a mostly fully grown, 30ish year old guy might just push it over the event horizon of unusual. There's no coming back.

OK, I'm not really saying this is a bad thing, I wouldn't suggest anyone be ashamed of their musical tastes, but I have found this has grown into somewhat of an obsession for me. It started with a single game demo, but since buying the full game I've put hundreds of hours into playing these tracks, over and over. They were in my head so much I started using the in-game music player instead my usual music app. And then came the inevitable humming of songs that no one recognises. Since then I've sought out albums and compilations, widened my scope a bit more, found some awesome cover versions by real life humans but Miku herself is where it started and nothing compares. I'd even say that if I was offered the chance to see anyone live in concert... it would be Miku. Holograms FTW.

It's the catchy and often uplifting music that got me hooked (although there's some beautifully
mournful pieces), the addictive nature of the games helped but the character herself is also worth mentioning. Miku epitomises "cute anime girl" with all the style, expressions and gestures you'd expect, so cute damnit. It's not like I even find her attractive, my obsession isn't born from some moe crush. (There might be one part of one song where I always miss notes, getting distracted by the background video. Girl can dance.)

Even without knowing the words to these songs it is almost as if they have helped me "get to know" Miku, despite most of the songs I know having different creators, I'm not even sure Miku has a defined personality or if it changes to suit each song. Somehow she always seems familiar and likeable. I need to give credit to the creators of the songs and music videos, those are some talented folks and without them I don't think I'd be in this situation.

So here I am, dancing around, feeling good and I'm ok with that. One last thought...I'm partly glad/disappointed I'm not really a cosplayer, I think a gender-bent Miku karaoke would be an epic thing I'll never do.  

If you'd like to know about Miku's rhythm action games take a look back at Niche: Treat Your Geek Issue 9. 

POKEMON GO! IS HERE!!!!

...and yes the Caps were required....

The wait is well and truly over!

You can get your very own Pokemon on Android now!

Send us your Pokemon tales!  Who did you catch first?

Download it here

Issue 9 FREE on Amazon Kindle Only Until Friday!

Niche: Treat Your Geek Issue 9 will be free to download only on Amazon Kindle for the next 5 days!

You can download it here 

You can also purchase hard copies of Niche at Serenity Bay or Kitty Kei

Niche Plays: Mobile Medley

Hey, it's Mulukh back again for this week and despite a crazy backlog on actual console I seem to have spent my time on free-to-play mobile games this week. I only usually have time to focus on one mobile game at a time, this week I have 3 to tell you about...

Avengers Academy

Check out the brand new and minty fresh Niche: Treat Your Geek Issue 12 for my full review, but suffice to say I am STILL playing this game. Currently there's a Spider-man themed event going on. It adds a little bit of new gameplay and missions to complete plus plenty more opportunities to empty your wallet with in-game purchases. If you want to get involved there is enough time for you to level up to qualify for the event and attempt to unlock Spider-man and premium character, Spider-Ham. There's also the chance to unlock Black Cat and Mary Jane. Later you'll have a shot at Doc Oc and if you do well with the event and you'll earn Green Goblin, however "doing well" tends to require spending some real life money.

Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle

Turns out this game has been out for a year and I never knew. This one year anniversary plus a total of 7.777 million downloads means there's a tonne of celebratory freebies right now, there's never been a better time to join in. The screenshots on the app store make it look like some kind of rhythm game but the core gameplay is actually a twist on colour matching games, you pick from the first row of power orbs and any adjacent orbs of the same colour will also "pop". The more orbs you gather the more your characters power up, dealing more damage, power up enough and unleash a devastating  special attack. The gameplay does get more tactical and challenging as each class has strengths and weaknesses, choosing the right team member to guard against an impending target is crucial to your survival.

The game does a great job of capturing the spirit of the anime, battles play out in a frenetic exciting fashion, special attacks are suitably epic and iconic, they even power up even further once the Dokkan gauge is full. All the patient powering up feels really appropriate to the universe. Upgrading and levelling your cards ties in nicely with the constant training and evolving power levels of the show. All of this plus familiar characters and locations and being able to collect capsules and the ever rewarding dragon balls.

Somehow most of the characters I started with felt really powerful, pick up some super rare characters (maybe a Super Saiyan God?) and they feel just as overpowered as you'd hope. If you're worried about this making the game too easy, have no fear, 3 levels of difficulty are here.
Story missions follow an original plot but borrow elements from the anime, the writing isn't an amazing adaptation but it does a fair job of summarising plot points. There's a host of daily, weekly and special events to keep you going.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

Brand new this week I haven't been able to sink a lot of time on this one, but I wanted to share what I have found so far. This game seems to build on Final Fantasy Record Keeper. Exvius has taken the concept of recruiting heroes from other games in the franchise, but returned to FF's roots with RPG gameplay and a full story mode (featuring elemental crystals being destroyed).

The graphics and sound are another step up, inspired by the 16bit graphics of yore but much more refined, the opening cutscene was not something I expected from a mobile game and some graphical elements look to be high quality HD.

At first the turn based battle mechanism seemed super simple, but actually appears to be an ingenious solution to fitting RPG battle menus onto a mobile device. At first it is as simple as clicking on a character's tag to attack, but then you learn that swiping in different directions brings you to magic and other skills. It'll be a while before I can get a full review together but I thought I'd give a heads up in case you have an interest in playing a new classic Final Fantasy on mobile, go give it a go!