Supanova: It's here again!

My Facebook newsfeed is filling with statuses from fellow cosplayers and their building excitements, last minute stress attacks when something isn’t sewing just right and reports on the numbers of injuries they have suffered trying to finish the last of their costumes –most due to hot glue guns. 

It’s that time of the year again; Supanova Pop Culture Expo is on again at Brisbane’s RNA Showground this weekend. Starting this afternoon (9^th of Nov.) and continuing onto to Sunday (the 11^th of Nov.) evening. I myself have been getting more and more excited, eager to walk through the gates into to my favorite Australian convention once again. The geeks are beckoning! 

Supanova Brisbane is welcoming some incredible guests to the convention this year, including Richard Kiel (‘Jaws’ from James Bond), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette from True Blood), many other stars from Pop Culture movies and television shows, voice actors from cartoons and animes, artists and authors. The line-up is predicted to bring in Brisbane’s largest crowd yet. And with this prediction, the area of the showground that Supanova is usually been held has had to expand to accommodate for the increase in guests.  

This afternoon isn’t predicted to draw in the largest crowd as it is only a half-day and opening night. However, when Saturday morning rolls around, zombies, aliens, anime and manga characters, Dr Who and Stormtroopers will congregate outside the gates of the showground (some will be there from as early as 6am). And together, geeks and nerds will come together to celebrate their love for all things Pop Culture in a weekend of what can only be called their haven. 

When the gates open on Saturday morning, crowds will scuffle their way into the convention, heading for the dealers room to look at the latest merchandise from their favorite games and shows, snapping pictures of those dressed in costume along the way. 

An air of excitement will float over the bustling crowds as they meet their celebrity idols, or buy something they’ve been looking for. The feeling of joy when you see someone cosplaying your favorite character from a TV show, a manga or a movie. Their costume perfect and they’re acting on-par with the real character; it is amazing, nothing able to put a bigger, appreciative smile on someone’s face. 

For me it’s at events like Supanova that I can really let myself go and enjoy myself. I can see friends I made through cosplay that haven’t seen for six months, since the last convention, and suddenly we are back to the way we were, like there wasn’t even a pause in our last conversation. 

I receive more hugs at these conventions then anyone could anywhere else in the world. Friends hug you. Small children who recognise and love your character run up and ask for a hug. Fellow fans come up to you and get a photo with you before discussing your costume or the show/game it’s from with you, and then when you say farewell to them, sometimes there’s a hug. A mutual understanding between you both and you know that when you go home and jump on Facebook that night, their friend request will be there waiting so you can continue your conversation from earlier. Even the celebrities give you a cuddle on occasion. 

There is no place with more love amongst people than Supanova. Complete strangers can bond over something and find themselves the best of friends in the future. There’s a sense of relaxation and comfort amongst everyone. To me, when you walk in the doors to Supanova, there is no such thing as judgment. It’s a place where geeks can let their freak geek flag fly for a weekend and make new friends and experience new things on the way.

-Laura

Game Review: Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy is a series that has been known for its wonderfully developed characters and its detailed and elaborate storylines. The complex, interesting worlds it creates for gamers has made it the world’s most popular RPG (role-playing game) series. 

Surprisingly, Final Fantasy XIII, released into Australia in March 2010, abandons a number of the series’ traditions, instead taking a more linear approach. While this sounded off putting to fans at the time of release, the battle system and narrative of the game remained strong and created a new interest amongst fans, both old and new. 

Players take control of six different characters in the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII, jumping between groups frequently. However, the main focus is on Lightning, a sharp-eyed female soldier. Between the six playable characters, the player follows a multi-story approach that uses clever flashbacks and alternations between groups to for the storyline.  

Promo artwork for the game

The storyline can sometimes become overdramatic at times, but fans of the series generally wouldn’t find themselves too surprised by this. The most interesting thing about the storyline is what the characters bring to it, and the relationship that is established between the two worlds in the game –Cocoon and Pulse- and the relationship of humans and fal’Cie. Final Fantasy XIII also incorporates god-like beings (fal’Cie) in the game that aim to protect humanity. They’re extremely important in the development of the story and I found them to be an incredibly cool part of the game.

A game from the Final Fantasy series must have a solid battle system, and FFXIII delivers on this extremely well. What starts out as an extremely simple, menu-driven system quickly becomes more complex as the game progresses. Creating one of the most challenging, yet interesting systems of any Final Fantasy title. The battle system allows specific actions for every character that requires a certain number of segments on an attacking gauge, so you are able to set up an attacking queue, so a player can make their own combos in battle. 

Shot of new battle system

You only control one character at a time, but your friends (party members) actions are dictated by the roles you set them. Unlike past Final Fantasy games, these roles are invaluable and must be used effectively in fights to survive. Ultimately, the roles dictate how you play the game, keeping the battles fun and interesting.

The new battle system also requires players to set up Paradigms, which is grouping the roles of your character and party members to create the most effective team possible. From there you aim to stagger and then kill you opponent. The fight is then rated according to how you went about the battle and the time you completed it in. 

In-game shot showing Paradigm and roles of the team

Getting past the battle system, the first 30 or so hours of the game is quite linear, making it quite boring at times. Once reaching Chapter 11, the game finally begins to open up. Despite how boring and un-RPG like the story can seem at times, I still found the game managed to hold my interest. I think this was mostly due to the absolutely incredible setting and imaginative characters that manage to evoke emotion from the player.

The worlds, both Cocoon and Pulse, are breathtaking. Once again, Final Fantasy has managed to leave me in awe. The graphics and creativity behind the worlds, I found, made up for the storyline. I didn’t mind so much that it didn’t feel like a real RPG game, because I found myself captivated by my surroundings. Especially, during the cinematic parts of the game. I got to watch the storyline and characters progress into the next chunk of story, and it was so satisfying to just sit back and watch the interactions between characters and places. I thought the graphics made the game beautiful.

In-game shot of Pulse

Another amazing in-game shot

As for characters, there were some I loved, some I hated. Playing as Lightning was probably my favorite of the six characters. She was such a strong, determined character. I loved that there was a main protagonist who was female and could kick-ass. 

Sazh, I didn’t mind. He bought some fun to the group and I was able to feel for him emotionally as he searched for his missing son.

Snow, I can’t tell if I like him or not honestly. He’s a very full of himself kind of character, but I still can’t help but respect him for the struggles he goes through to get his fiancée.

Serah (not-playable), Snow’s fiancée and Lightning’s younger sister isn’t a huge personality in the game as she spends a lot of time trapped. Despite the lack of seeing her yourself though, you can still tell she is a loving, sweet character that just makes you grow to like her.

Feng is a character that I really loved. Another total bad-ass in the game and a friend of Lightning’s. Her story is a sad one and I really felt a connection to her when she was introduced into the game’s story.

Vanielle, well…I honestly couldn’t stand the girl. She was too bright and happy. While one would usually appreciate a person with a positive outlook on life, she was a bit too positive and bubbly considering the dark circumstances the characters find themselves in. Despite my dislike for that part of her, I did feel pretty bad for her when she and Vanielle make a big sacrifice to save everyone towards the end of the game. 

 Lastly, Hope. At first I felt quite bad for the boy as his mother dies right before his eyes and suddenly he’s alone in the world. But, he started to get annoying, whiny and emotional very quickly. To the point that he was basically being a little baby and made some very stupid decisions. That was until Lightning steps in and smacks some sense into the boy. From there, you watch him grow. He holds Lightning as a mentor and by the end of the game; I just wanted to congratulate him after watching how much he matures. 

Playable characters (from left to right): Sazh, Snow, Hope, Lightning, Feng and Vanielle.

 Overall, I think Final Fantasy XIII has been a good start to the 13^th part of the series. It’s darker storyline, while linear at times, still allows the player to connect with the game in that special way that Final Fantasy games manage. There some good and bad in all the characters. The fal’Cie are a fantastic, imaginative idea that I loved. The graphics are beautiful. And despite what others have criticized, I still believe that this is a good game. I give it a 7.5/10.

Game Review: Assassin's Creed 3

Ubisoft’s, Assassin’s Creed 3, has finally come out after I have been counting down to its release for an entire year. I expected big things from it and I haven’t been disappointed. Instead I’m finding studying for exams that much more challenging knowing that the game is sitting in the Xbox tray upstairs, waiting for me to continue playing.

Connor on the battlefield (screenshot from trailer)

I could go on about it for several hours, honestly, but I think it's been awesome. I've had sleepless nights just mucking around in the world, Anvil Next, the next-generation graphics engine it runs on, makes sure that there is never a time you don't have anything to do. I guess, because there is so much going on constantly, you never really get bored but there's also a problem with it because the storyline isn't quite as solid and nicely tied together as Assassin’s Creed 2. I think part of that is the feeling that there's more than just one game in it. The prologue is quite long. Then you've got Connor entering and then his rising into becoming an Assassin, which also takes a while, the War and then present day stories with Desmond all combined, so it gets a little nuts.

I don't know about how most people feel about the main American Revolution, late 18^th century, setting, but I really like it. It's something that's a bit different, although there are a few incredibly clichéd moments and features to it. I think everything looks great, and the naval battles have been such a cool addition to the game series. I found because it's pretty easy to control the ships and cannons that you can just enjoy the battles more rather than freaking out about steering in the shallows and around rocks. And actually getting into a battle and having cannons firing at you is exhilarating. 

Naval warfare has been a fantastic addition to the game

I guess none of the character relationships and stories have made me really connect with them yet, but I'm not done on the game, so hey, that could change. I think Connor's pretty cool, but Ezio really just seems like he's going to continue being the favorite assassin, since so far I haven't had any really satisfying revelations with Connor. I could guess Haythem's connection to Connor well and truly before it was actually revealed as well. And Desmond's side of the story has been pretty average so far.

The twist when finishing up with Haythem (prologue), the one with the "How do ya like them apples" achievement, was fantastic. Did not see it coming at all. I had to pause the game and sit there in astonishment for a moment, actually just so amazed that the game had managed to catch me that off guard.

The actual assassinating has been improved, I think. The action sequences are cinematically beautiful and deadly, both at once. And the rope darts have been a lot of fun to muck around with.

Assassination scene

The horses. They annoy me so much! Trying to navigate them through a lot of the areas while trying to move at high speeds gets a little ridiculous, I choose to free-run through the trees for the most part rather than have to deal with them. This is very surprising as I am very much a horse fan, I just don’t really enjoy the ones that have appeared in AC3.

Aside from the massive campaign, which really has been enjoyable, I've played only a little of multiplayer so far, but it's been pretty great. Wolfpack's been good, teaming up to assassinate with friends within a time limit, but it gets a bit tedious after a while.

I think that is about it so far. Once you get over some things, it really is a good game. I think it's totally worth playing, you keep entertained for hours. It may not be the greatest game of all time, but I actually thing Ubisoft did a pretty damn good job, they could have messed this up so much more. Instead they may have just overloaded the game with things to do, which really isn't a big deal at all, since it keeps me busy.

I’ve really been loving it so far, even my parents, who aren’t much into gaming, have come in to watch me play several times. The incredible graphics amazes them. In the words of my Mother “it’s better than a movie!”

Assassin's Creed 3's incredible graphics

 So, overall, I give the game an 8.7/10. There are some things that could have been improved, but I really am not disappointed with the game at all so far.