7th Sense Review Lacking in Common Sense

7th Sense Review Lacking in Common Sense

Rating: 2.25/5
Banners: Lakshmi Ganapathi Films, Red Giant Movies
Cast: Suriya, Shruti Haasan, Johnny Tri and others
Music: Harris Jayaraj
Cinematographer: Ravi K Chandran
Editing: Antony
Story, screenplay, direction: A R Murugadoss
Producers: Rupesh, Balasubramaniam, Udhayanidhi
Release date: 26/10/2011
The combination of Suriya and director Murugadoss is back and this time they have delved upon a story of the past and the link of science with history. Let us see how good that is.
Story:
In the 16th century, a Pallava king Boddhidharma (Suriya) sets on a journey to China. He is endowed with martial arts, art of healing and also the indomitable control over the five elements.
After reaching China, he heals a village of a sickness and due to the locals belief, he sacrifices his life and is buried there. Cut to the present, there is Aravind (Suriya), a circus artiste who comes across Shuba (Shruti) a genetic research student and falls in love with her. However, Shuba gets friendly with Aravind for a reason. Meanwhile, a Chinese named Dong Lee (Johnny Tri) comes to India and his mission is to kill Shuba.
Who is Aravind? Why Shuba wants to be friendly with him? Why Dong Lee comes to kill Shuba? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances:Suriya spreads his charm once again and he is all over the film. More than his regular role as Aravind, it was his brief role as Boddhidharma that creates a strong impact.

Shruti Haasan looks naturally beautiful and has a magical glint in her eyes. She has a meaty role and she did justice for that. If she adds few extra pounds she will be very appealing.

Johnny Tri was excellent. His intense eyes and his body language were menacing. Without many dialogues, he conveys the essence of a villain in the right manner.

Dhanya was alright, Guinness Pakru was a little silly, Avinash was apt, Abhinaya was hardly there, Ashwin was alright, Raghavendra came and went. The others didn�t have much to offer.

Highlights:

• Concept of the film
• Suriya�s performance
• Technical and production values
• Climax fight sequence

Drawbacks:

• Slow pace
• Weak romance track
• Dragged sequences
• Lack of intensity and emotional depth
• Music

Analysis: Murugadoss has mixed a bit of factual history to modern science in this. For starters, he must be really appreciated for coming up with a bold theme and making an attempt to show the great history and great men of our nation. However, there is a fine line between picking up a good concept and executing it with the right voltage. If it was not for Suriya�s aura and the strong technical values, the film would have been bland.
This movie appears to be the idea of an A grade director executed by a B-grade director. Generally people expect something more sensible from Murugudoss. But that lacked here.
First half is ok but the second half got derailed. Murugudoss made vain attempt to bring grip in narration due to lack of proper research. Even Operation Red idea became silly. The climax is very long with 40 minutes and that itself shows how bad the screenplay is.
It can be said that there is no directorial brilliance as the plot was predictable and all that is required was to fill the two hours plus duration. There is no doubt that this is a rather unique storyline in the recent times but if only it was trimmed in the right manner and some dose of emotion and dramatic values were added to it, the film would have been a success.
At the box office, the openings will be good but audience is advised to step into the theatres without high expectations. Overall, this would not make any positive impact at box office. .
Bottomline: Beautiful thought, bad execution

Read More

A Brave New Record Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Review Reviewed on iOS also on Android

A Brave New Record Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Review Reviewed on iOS also on Android

The Final Fantasy series has really made its way into the mobile gaming market. With a majority of the core Final Fantasy games available as paid apps on smartphones alongside free Final Fantasy apps such as Final Fantasy Record Keeper, there�s an experience for Final Fantasy fans of all budgets and tastes, ranging from the old school JRPG Final Fantasy style to the more modern 3D style seen in recent Final Fantasy games. The Brave Frontier inspired Final Fantasy Brave Exvius take inspiration from the classic Final Fantasy games with its turn-based battle system, pixel art sprites and town exploration that will be familiar to fans of the series. But it isnt all classic Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius balances bringing a new Final Fantasy experience to the smartphone space featuring an interesting story with witty dialogue reminiscent of the classic games and also brings in the fun collection and turn-based systems featured in other mobile and core Final Fantasy series games of old and new.

As someone who was a longtime fan of Final Fantasy Record Keeper but needed something to hook me in to continue playing, the story in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is a solid answer to this problem. Brave Exvius is set in the world of Grandshelt and explores the protagonists Rain and Lasswell�s journey in balancing Grandshelts powers of Lapis and Visions. This is the main premise anyway, as the pair seem to get sidetracked frequently, whether it be to save helpless citizens or, in true Final Fantasy style, to meet mysterious girls inside crystals. This kind of more lighthearted storytelling is great for the small story chapters in Brave Exvius as a game thatll live in most peoples pockets, so the witty banter between Rain and Lasswell males each chapter feel enjoyable in its under 5 minute length and is a nice way to progress through its saving the kingdom story.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius gets part of its name from Brave Frontier, another popular RPG game by developer A-Lim. But Final Fantasy Brave Exvius also places plenty of importance of the Final Fantasy part of its name, using plenty of mechanics, characters and aspects from Final Fantasy. As someone who hasn�t played Brave Frontier, I still felt right at home with the familiar gameplay elements featured in Brave Exvius. The spells, Espers, limit breaks and explorable towns and dungeons are all very Final Fantasy-like and are a much needed upgrade to the basic character battle used in other Final Fantasy mobile games. Brave Exvius features a touch-based interface that utilises swipes to give a variety of different commands during battle. A swipe to the left will allow you to use skills, a swipe to the right will allow you to defend. This kind of smart use of the smartphone�s touch screen take advantage of the available screen space and allow for a battle system pretty close to the one seen in older Final Fantasy games. Add in Espers and Limit Breaks and battles are pretty exciting. While it does have an Auto function that�s featured in most Final Fantasy mobile games, this kind of complexity encourages players to actually think out their moves and play like they would on a console Final Fantasy game or at least use the Repeat function to automatically use the same command you used before.

A really noteworthy thing in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is its inclusion of towns and exploration maps, something that I really enjoyed in Kingdom Hearts Unchained ? and was glad to see in Brave Exvius as well. Towns allow players to buy a variety of items at stores, including weapons, armour and healing items, along with recipes to craft all these things for those wanting to save gil and use materials in the neat crafting mechanic instead. Also in the towns are NPCs that give quests, an RPG feature that makes the world of Brave Exvius feel much more real and RPG-like than most smartphone RPGs I�ve played. The quests given in towns usually lead to visiting an Exploration area, which features a maze-like map littered with monsters and treasure chests for players to hunt out items for quests, crafting and character upgrades. The exploration is generally simpler than what�s found in console Final Fantasy games, but it�s still one of my favourite aspects of Brave Exvius because it makes it feel like a genuine JRPG world.

Along with finding items for quests and upgrades, there�s plenty to unlock, collect and upgrade in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius whether you�re into character collection or stat building. For those like myself who came from Final Fantasy Record Keeper, the character collection continues with Brave Exvius gacha system that uses Friend Points accumulated by making friends or having other players assist you in battle to summon extra units to battle with. These units include characters exclusive to Brave Exvius and also characters from old Final Fantasy games, which I was delighted by when I got a Vivi. For those looking to strengthen their battle units, characters can be Awakened (upgraded) up to a 5 star ranking, providing plenty of opportunity for more powerful characters and grinding. Grinding is made easy with Brave Exvius Vortex quests, which provide either materials, gil or experience depending on the type of dungeon the player chooses for each day. Whenever I was under-leveled for a quest, I really enjoyed how easy it is to find a way to get better units and upgrade my existing characters and found it really easy to understand as a JRPG player.

To accelerate unit collecting and upgrade material collection is Lapis, a material Grandshelt and also Brave Exvius� in-game currency that can be bought with real world money. For those wanting to keep their experience free, there are plenty of opportunities to win Lapis in the game through quests and login bonuses and I never found myself to be out of them. A cool thing that Lapis can purchase are the weekly shopping packs released in Brave Exvius that offer materials that are more difficult to get. They also offer some of these packs for purchase with real money as well, but they�re never materials that are impossible to get just by playing the game.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is almost as dense as most Final Fantasy games, yet it fits perfectly on a smartphone due to smart mechanics and plenty of ways to collect and upgrade characters. With story, Espers and exploration, the experience features much of what Final Fantasy players enjoy on the console games in an easily accessible way for players on the go. As someone who was very into other Final Fantasy mobile games such as Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius feels like a clear upgrade to the mobile Final Fantasy experience and I�m glad I can finally enjoy the Final Fantasy battle system I love with enjoyable banter on days I leave my Vita at home.

Score: 9.5/10
Final Fantasys best mobile game yet manages to balance great story content, an explorable world and mechanics that fit smartphones perfectly in this on-the-go adventure.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is available in both the App Store and the Google Play store.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Are you playing Final Fantasy Brave Exvius? Whos in your party?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up Facebook or Instagram and lets talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and Instagram and like JRPG Jungle on Facebook for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. Youre awesome! <3

Read More

A F E A R 2 Cons Review Made by a F E A R Fan

A F E A R 2 Cons Review Made by a F E A R Fan

With the PC horror shooter F.E.A.R. 3 being released to the rest of the world this June 24 (UK release according to the games� Wikipedia page), I�ve decided to release a rundown of disappointing aspects in the horror series� second chapter. These are:

• The sound effects of some of the weapons
  
• The anemic special effects
  
• The sub-par AI
  
• The odd design choices (levels and Replica armor)

[UPDATE: I�m not located in the North America region but oddly enough, the F.E.A.R. 3 Steam page reports that the game is �available now.�]

I�m a hardcore fan of the PC first-person shooter series---I�ve bought all the games in the series including the DLC. I even finished the first F.E.A.R. game without using SloMO---while on Extreme Difficulty. And while I�m not a walking encyclopedia when it comes to F.E.A.R. lore, I am very familiar with the nuances of the first F.E.A.R. game.

Playing at Extreme Difficulty with no SloMo

The full review after the jump.

One of these is the excellent sound effects for all of the weapons in the game, something which PC game sequel failed to replicate.

Cardboard Audio

�WTH?!!� was what I uttered when I first used F.E.A.R. 2�s Andra FD-99 submachine gun. The thing was had such an anemic sound effect that it reminds me of a sheet of thick cardboard being ripped apart every time I hear its muffled reports. Compare the Andra�s sound effects with that of the Sumak RPL Submachinegun�s (from the first PC game) and you�ll see what I mean. The latter---even with its low firepower---still felt satisfying to fire; the former caused me to grimace every time I used it.

Gun Fu

John Woo films heavily influenced the first game. In fact, lead designer Craig Hubbard has been quoted as saying �[Our plans are] to make combat as intense as the tea house shootout at the beginning of John Woos Hard-Boiled.�

I don�t know where this went.

F.E.A.R. 2 has been regarded mostly as a solid shooter, but it doesn�t give you the sense of chaos that the first game conveyed to its gamers. Sure, things still explode and disintegrate in impressive ways in F.E.A.R. 2 but the level design and most of the ranges that firefights take place in are too large to suck in the player in a maelstrom of body parts, wood chips, powdered concrete, and flying sheaves of paper that the first game was able to bombard gamers with.

While certainly the large fighting grounds are a very welcome addition after the first game�s claustrophobic (and monotonous) office environs, the devs should have made steps to emulate F.E.A.R.�s particle-heavy firefights.


Level Design and AI

The level design and AI too, don�t seem to mesh well. Back in 2005, I liked watching the replicas try to outflank and outmaneuver me by running from cover to cover, taking lengthy routes in the hopes of pulling off a sneak attack, and crawling through tight spaces. In F.E.A.R. 2 these aren�t evident. Perhaps they dumbed down the AI or the level design just didn�t present opportunities for the more advanced tactics I listed above. Whatever the reason, this dearth of emergent behavior takes down F.E.A.R. 2 several notches.

The way the levels were constructed also took a hit. Though the sequel exhibits graphics that are way beyond the original game�s, F.E.A.R. 2 is basically one gigantic corridor crawl. The first PC game had some limited backtracking involved and it took you along convoluted paths. The sequel for the most part had some levels that are relatively uninspired.

The last two aspects are what bother me most.


Replica Design - F.E.A.R. 1 vs F.E.A.R. 2

With both events in F.E.A.R. 1 and 2 occurring almost at the same time, why do vastly different-looking Replica soldiers appear in the original and the sequel? The ones who laid siege to the Armacham HQ, the Perseus compound, and the Origin facility look significantly inferior to those who patrol the facilities in F.E.A.R. 2 (the Bio-Research Facility, the Wade Elementary School, etc). This design scheme that the F.E.A.R. 2 clones exhibit whaled away at what little suspension of disbelief I had encased myself in. These clones are supposed to be owned and created by the same company so the wildly deviating armor and weapon designs, for me, come out as unrealistic, even surreal.

Maybe because they�re Variant VIIs, some might argue. But the developers should have peppered the sequel�s levels with the older clones here and there. As it is, sometimes I felt I was playing a game from a different series, something that�s definitely unflattering.

Fast forward to today and the folks who developed F.E.A.R. 3 may have realized this belatedly, having reinstated some of the original clones:

Taken from IGNs F.E.A.R. 3 screenshots section

Combat Chatter

And what happened to the combat chatter? Monolith developers were into something when they---intentionally or not---emulated Halo�s combat chatter. In that Microsoft game, the Covenant grunts gave me the feeling that I was a one mean SOB every time they whimpered or shrilled �He�s everywhere!!� In the first F.E.A.R. game some of the combat chatter was not unlike Halo�s. The military clones would have fits of panic and scream �We need reinforcements!!�, �He took out the heavy!!�, or simply refuse to follow orders from their superiors when it�s clear you outclassed them. There you were, facing squads of supersoldiers yet every time you instill panic and fear into them. It was very satisfying.

In the sequel to the PC game, this doesn�t happen. The Variant VIIs are too stiff in their comms, calmly relaying to their comrades the changes in the battlefield. Some might argue that the clones patrolling the Harbinger facility are improved versions. The point is valid. Yet, I couldn�t help but feel as if I�ve purchased a heavy metal LP and then found out that my favorite band has transitioned into alternative music.

I don�t know what happened there. They nailed it right the first time but then proceeded to pry loose most of the nails that would have forged the series into one kick ass, cohesive whole.

Here�s hoping that when I fire up F.E.A.R. 3, the devs have rectified the mistakes they�ve made with the sequel and bring back the series to its award-winning roots.

Read More

A Look at Final Fantasy XVs Latest 1 05 Update and Booster Pack Mini Review

A Look at Final Fantasy XVs Latest 1 05 Update and Booster Pack Mini Review

Final Fantasy XV is a gift that keeps on giving and is really doing its best to keep everyone playing, whether its those who purchased it or those who bought the Season Pass holders like myself. This is a smart move considering the time between each of the upcoming character Episode DLCs and is a good way to stop the open world becoming stale and keep those still totally addicted like myself from becoming less addicted or worse, not playing at all. Normally I wouldnt write anything about an update to a game, but the 1.05 update added some really significant updates, such as timed quests and a higher level cap. On top of that, Season Pass holders also got the Booster Pack+ a day after the update so as a happy Final Fantasy XV fan, I wanted to give my thoughts on each new feature added to the game because some of them are pretty cool.

(Feel free to watch the video version!)
Update 1.05

The new update to Final Fantasy XV adds some significant features and is available freely to anyone who owns the game. An exciting thing for those who own a PS4 Pro is probably the new Lite Mode that has a maximum of 60FPS and probably looks absolutely stunning. I dont own a PS4 Pro so I cant comment on this much, but it gives me a reason to be a little more jealous of everyone who does.

Also something I cant comment on much is the raised level cap as my characters are only just at level 80 as I write this (note: as I edit this, Ive hit level 100 woo!), but Im pretty excited for this. Usually levels are capped at level 99 in Final Fantasy games, but Final Fantasy XV players can enjoy getting up to level 120, which is a really cool change. I recently maxed out my characters skills and have missed having a goal to work towards, so its nice to know I can enjoy seeing my EXP go up for awhile. Also Im keen to have some totally OP characters for when I go verse a certain boss for a certain gold trophy and an curious to see if it will affect my enjoyment of XV. I do wonder if level cap increases will be a trend with future Final Fantasy XV updates, but even if its a one-off, its pretty damn cool.

The thing that had me most keen for the 1.05 update is the addition of Timed Quests. Ive written about how Im totally addicted to running around in Final Fantasy XVs world and Timed Quests are a great way to keep this interesting. The first one is pretty rewarding, with the current fun and challenging cactaur quest giving 10,000 EXP, 333 AP and 150,000 Gil upon first completion, plus cactaurs being 1000 EXP each anyway add up to a fantastic way to reach that new Level 120. This update is guaranteed to keep me checking back for those awesome rewards and I cant wait for more quests and hunts.

The last few updates are minor updates, but nonetheless help enrich the player experience in Final Fantasy XV. In case you were getting sick of hearing the Chocobo theme (is that possible?) while riding Chocobos, you can finally listen to the Audio Player while riding and if you wanted to listen to two tracks from NieR�s gorgeous soundtrack, you can do that now too. Prompto can also store 50 more photos (200 in total), which is nice since I havent been able to save new photos for awhile. The new update also takes out the Moogle Chocobo Carnival, which I�d already used to help me get my Fishing Skill to full and done pretty much everything in. The Chocobo music player and photo capacity probably shouldve been in XV already and are kind of insignificant at this point, but Ill take them and enjoy them anyway. All of these additions make a pretty solid upgrade to the base experience of XV and have already given me more reasons to keep playing.

Booster Pack+

The exclusive to Season Pass holders Booster Pack+ is a small little pack of items to mostly make fishing a little easier. The lack of a �wow� item in this pack is probably due to the delay of the Magitek Exosuit that is getting a redesign due to similarities to the Power Rangers� suits and was supposed to offer invisibility and a boost in fishing skills for a limited time. But the items are a nice little token for those with the season pass regardless. The Dragon Drain Rod and Avior Reel will be helpful for those upping their fishing skill; I dont overly care for these since mine is at max and I only really fished for new recipes and trophies. What I am enjoying is the Ragnarok sword, which packs a punch in battle and mostly just looks cool when warping due to it spitting a bunch of pink electrical looking stuff everywhere. It isnt however stronger than the Blood Sword I was using, so I may retire it soon, making the Booster Pack+ of little use to me.

Being honest, the Booster Pack+ is a tad lacklustre and is absolutely not worth getting the Season Pass for. But its an alright bonus for those like myself who have it already for the story episodes and if I ever decide to complete Noct�s fishing collection, Im sure Ill be at least a little happy I have it.

The real standout of these two additions to Final Fantasy XV is the free 1.05 update, but both it and the Booster Pack+ add nice little touches to enhance the current Final Fantasy XV. I enjoyed driving to the latest timed-quest while listening to music from NieR, and will be eagerly waiting for future timed-quests. Final Fantasy XV has been lucky to be getting so much support so far and I hope the addition of timed-quests among the other additions is a nod towards Final Fantasy XV getting support between each of its story episodes.

You can pick up Final Fantasy XV for Playstation 4 and Xbox One at Play-Asia.com

(This is an affiliate link that helps supports my JRPG Jungle content, so if you use it, thank you!)

________________________________________________________________________

What did you think of the Update and Booster Pack+? Are you still playing Final Fantasy XV?
(I sure am...but I may need to take a break for NieR Automata :|)
Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on Facebook, Youtube or Instagram and lets talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and Instagram, like JRPG Jungle on Facebook and Subscribe to the mailing list and Youtube Channel for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. Youre awesome! <3

Read More