Dragon Age II

HRRRMMMMMMMM.
Well, this is tricky. I enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins, so, of course, I went and tried DA2. There's not much I have to say about this, so I'll keep it brief :D

I played as a rogue. 

Yay

• The game is much prettier than DA:O
• Battle system is more fluid and fast-paced, at least for the rogues and prolly mages
• Leveling system is MUCH better, with improved organization and clarity. I liked seeing specializations again as well.  
• I enjoyed the fact that there were ally rivalry/friendship perks
• Star ratings for items in your inventory. Useful for quick junk sorting. 
• AWW YEAH RELATIONSHIPSSSSSSSS
• Easy to locate quest locations due to map markers on the quick-travel map
• Conversation options are marked according to type (romance, charming, forceful, agree, etc)

Meh

• Some people were enraged that the player could not be any race other than human. I personally didn't mind. I mean, it doesn't work with the plot if you're anything else.
• Companion armor. You can't choose what to give them, but you can upgrade them. I didn't mind that as much, since you won't make them look silly, but they still get the benefit of improving armor stats through the upgrades.

Nay

• I feel like I'm playing Life in the Shoes of Average Unfortunate Joe Who Likes to Return Lost Objects 
• I was excited when I heard DA2 was more personal. I prefer plots that are more connected to the characters over generic MUST SAVE WORLD BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO plots (not that I dislike those... :D), but balls, this game was personal for the first hour or so. Then it became tedious-side-quests-that-are-random-for-25-hours time =/
• Why does the plot start in the last hour of the game?
• You spend the entire game in the same locations. And you'll have to keep returning to them. Over. And Over. Sometimes, you're returning to them just for the sake of quests being roundabout
• A lot of the quests are random and pointless. Oh great, there's a brief 2-line story behind some of them. =/ Yeah, no. You spend most of the game just going to wherever you have a mark on your map. Rinse and repeat. 
• Scrolling through 13 different rings in your inventory is cool when they're mostly all named "Ring"
• Being able to miss companion armor upgrades permanently. Had I known I wouldn't be able to access all upgrades whenever I wanted, I would have Googled a list of all the upgrades and locations earlier. =/

Overall: Gameplay: 8/10  |  Graphics: 8/10  |  Sound: 8/10  |  Replay: 2/10  |  Plot: 2/10

The game was fun, and by that, I mean the combat was fun. However, as much as I'd like to try out the different classes, I just can't get past the lack of anything else that would ask for another replay here.  It was a good one-time fling, which is a pity because gameplay was much improved over DA:O. Too bad everything else was mreh and entirely underwhelming. :D Also, is it bad that I enjoyed courting Anders more than anything else in the game? Man, that first smooch was swoony. 

Dragon Age: Origins

So I'm epically late on this, but I finally played (and finished!) Dragon Age: Origins (xbox version). It took around 50 hours (no DLC), which is right around average for this game, it seems. I was a human warrior (Origin story: human noble) + templar/champion with points in sword and shield...I never was a fan of two-handed weapons. Overall, I enjoyed the game and am looking forward to my next playthrough as a mage. And for laughs and giggles, cause nobody cares (and this isn't really accurate or up to date, since she's definitely not wearing that armor, and some of the stats are old..but I pulled this off my online profile soooooo):

I didn't feel compelled enough to change her name from the default. 

And of course, here are my thoughts. Not really a review....just general comments =D

Yay!

• Character Customization: Aesthetics aren't too important, but I'm kind of a sucker for character appearance. For one, I couldn't get over how I couldn't get any of my Mass Effect 1 and 2 female characters to not look creepy, but I had no issues making a pretty chick with the character editor. My char in the piccy above doesn't look nearly as nice as she does in-game. Oh, and the leveling isn't too bad either. =D Plenty of options and specializations. 

• Character Interactions: I enjoyed the conversations between the different members in the party--specifically the ones involving Alistair--that took place as you were running through towns. Also, awkward conversations ftw.

• Interesting NPCs: They were pretty memorable and felt like actual characters as opposed to HAY GUYS I'M A GENERIC ANGSTY PARTY MEMBER WITH A DEPRESSING PAST or HAY GUYS I'M SOOOO HAPPY AND POSITIVE. I appreciated the fact that all the characters had some interesting backstory, and I was glad that the player had to work to get these characters to reveal information. Oh, and the voice acting was pretty good as well. 

• Immersive World: I really can't care for games that aren't immersive, and luckily for DA:O, I found the world to be very detailed. There is more history, backstory, and lore than I even cared to read about, but that's besides the point. 

• Gore: Yeah...about that. I enjoy watching Alistair jump onto an ogre's face in slow motion before the killing blow. Oh, and you're covered in blood. After. Every. Single. Battle...Every. Battle. And then you go walking around town and carry out conversations with random people...covered in blood. It was kind of hilarious in a good way. 

• Replay Value: The game is varied enough that the replay value is very high. Not only can you play as a different class with different abilities, but your race also affects things. I've already started a runthrough as a Circle Mage. 

• Alistair: If only he were real...

Meh

• Silly Hats: Mage hats. While I like being able to outfit my entire party in whatever armor I want (as opposed to having them wear the same outfit/armor the whole game), I cannot stand how retarded some of the mage hats look. Yeah, I'm that shallow. And this is a largely unimportant point.

• No Spoken Lines for the Main Character: I found it strange, but it wasn't too bad. 

• Exposition Dumps: I never cared for them and never will. I don't want to be told a story at the beginning, nor do I want to be told a story at the end. There are better ways to cover background information in an introduction than to have a mini video about the past, such as revealing bits and pieces throughout the course of the game. And the very end is basically the same, minus the video. Again, I don't want text telling me about everything that happened at the end, as there are many better ways of going about this. It just requires better storytelling, which brings me to the next point:

• Storytelling: The premise is good. The plot is good. The origin stories are mostly good. The execution, however, was inconsistent and the large variations in pacing and amount of details was a little strange. For example, I felt that the Dalish quest was a little bit skimpy in depth compared to the Dwarven one. And honestly, the main plot doesn't really go places. The majority of the happenings in the game aren't very interesting, despite the fact that some of them touch upon interesting ideas. I mean, you spend most of the game trying to recruit the races, and to do so, you basically have to gain their trust by solving a problem. Except the problems are kind of mediocre in nature and could be easily replaced with any other generic issue. But yeah, had the tale been executed a little more skillfully in certain areas, I think the story would have been much more effective. Also, is it bad that I enjoyed my origin story more than most of what was happening in the rest of the game? xD Regardless, the plot is still good enough. 

• Slow Combat: It's like hack and slash free-for-all rapefestathon, minus the fluidity. Phys chars is a little clunky, though I have no issues with casters. I would have preferred more dodging and stuff. 

• Codex: I appreciate the great amount of detail put into Ferelden, but the codex is basically a huge textbook...in reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllly small text. 

• Open...ish: Sure, it's open world and you have a nonlinear plot. But I feel like it's more of a, "hey, here are 3 tasks. Choose the order." No big deal. 

Nay

• Level Design: YEAH NO. That is all. Though I hear DAII is worse c;

• Teammates in Battle: Why am I not allowed to select, say, 3 characters and direct them all to move to Location B while I stay at Location A? It kind of sucks balls when your team runs into a deathfest mob and you're trying to get them to move back but you can't because if you order "hold position," you still have to manually move each individual character to whatever location in real time because your non-active characters will most likely be attacking people in the middle of the deathfestmob. I'm thinking tactics work better on the PC version, but at least give a "FOLLOW THE LEADER" command for the xbox.  

• Party Swap: Hey, I want to switch out this one character for another one....OH WAIT I CAN'T. I gotta run through 9001 sets of caves and tunnels until I can get to an area where I'm allowed to swap. 

• Difficulty: Battle difficulty is not really based on tricky bosses and enemies. For one, if you can keep hacking and casting without dying, you win. It feels like difficulty is based on how many enemies the game decides to throw onto your face at any given moment on top of having to fight a relatively harmless boss with a lot of HP. 

• Glitchy: For some reason, this game has been really glitchy for me. It hasn't for some people I know, but the interwebs has its equal share of EPIC BUGGERY and I DIDN'T HAVE ISSUES. Well, I fall into the former category. 

Overall: Gameplay: 8/10  |  Graphics: 5/10  |  Sound: 8/10  |  Replay: 9/10  |  Plot: 7.5/10

On it's own, I'd give DA:O an 8/10. It scores a little lower when compared to other things, but I won't bother to quantify that. The important part is that I enjoyed playing this and can't wait to finish my mage run. 

Coffee, Tea, or Me?

Another late night affair with my Tuesday-Thursday articles, with coffee and tea as my bright-eyed cohorts. Today's strapping gent is "Listeria monocytogenes ActA-mediated escape from autophagic recognition" by Yoshikawa, et al.
If only the figures were not sprawled out over a billion pages and referenced 5 pages back.
If only the researchers did less studies and the paper were shorter. 22 pages shorter.
If only it didn't eat ink cartridges. But I printed this one on low settings. I can't see crap in the figures. Mistake?
I painted my nails today. Bali Mist. I see nothing Bali or Mist about the color. All I know is that I dented my thumb paint on the edge of my calculator while prying out dying AAA batteries, and I have no burning desire to fix that.
If only my attention span carried past the duration of half a sentence.
If only the paper consisted of more words and less 3-letter+number(s) names.

"After 2 h of infection, p62 colocalized with ubiquitin and GFP–LC3 around ΔactA2 bacteria (Fig. 3a, b). p62–/– MEFs stably expressing GFP–LC3 (p62–/–) were infected with ΔactA2 bacteria for 2 h. The amount of ubiquitin associated with ΔactA2 bacteria in p62–/– MEFs was similar to that in p62–/– MEFs stably expressing GFP–LC3 and p62-3×Myc (p62–/–/p62); however, the amount of LC3 associated with ΔactA2 bacteria in p62–/– MEFs was less than half that in p62–/–/p62 MEFs (Fig. 3c; Supplementary Information, Fig. S4a)." -Yoshikawa et al.

"Expression of GFP–Q79C or GFP–ActAC–Q79C, in COS‑7 cells, induced the formation of ubiquitin- and p62-positive aggregates (Fig. 4d, e). However, on expression of GFP–ActAFL–Q79C or GFP–ActAN–Q79C, in COS‑7 cells, neither ubiquitin nor p62 was found to colocalize with the GFP signal (Fig. 4b–e). Importantly, in COS‑7 cells depleted of Arp2 and VASP production by their respective siRNAs, GFP–ActAFL–Q79C and GFP–ActAN–Q79C formed aggregates as did GFP–Q79C and GFP– ActAC–Q79C (Supplementary Information, Fig. S5a, b), indicating that binding of the Arp2/3 complex and VASP to their respective domains in ActA prevents aggregate formation. We used another aggregate-prone construct, GFP–170*, a nonpoly‑Q protein that contains GFP fused to an internal segment of the Golgi membrane protein 170, which has also been used previously as a model substrate for aggregate formation." -Yoshikawa et al.

...Hello, coffee. Short attention span ftl. =[ This stuff makes no sense if you nod off every other word.

I suck at reading. But this is our last article for the semester! *rejoices!* I actually found a lot of the previous articles to be extremely fascinating. I'm not feeling this one! Time to plow through the remaining pages!

I haven't been too productive lately. I'll blame the gloomy weather on this one. Oh, unsuspecting scapegoat! And if it were brighter and sunnier, I would probably blame that as well. c; But I have a new dress that I really want to wear. Hurry, sun! Except it's gonna be rainy and cloudy all week....and all next week. NOOOOOOO

In other news, I am slowly falling under the yucky spell of caffeine wizardry. I have no desire to suffer from caffeine withdrawal, nor do I have a desire to throw copious amounts of money at Momodomo. But I guess $1 a cup isn't as offensive as whatever Starbucks charges! I shall be investing in a coffee machine next year for instant access to cheap and crappy coffee. That's fine because coffee tastes like crap anyways!

Edit: Oh balls, this article makes perfect sense now. VICTOLY!!! Took 2 reads.

Phantogram: Eyelid Movies

Officially formed in 2007 by Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, Phantogram looks like your typical indie band. Barthel's hair screams mod, and the band's genre classification seems arrogant. Fortunately, this NY duo proves to be more than your typical newcomer with their debut album. Eyelid Movies (2010) combines various elements of electronica, street beats, indie pop, dream pop, shoegaze, hip-hop, and trip-hop to create a delectable musical experience swimming with synthy elements, brassy interjections, effective sampling, and solid beats, topped with dreamy vocals.

While the entire album is covered in a slight shade of grey, Phantogram does a lovely job incorporating both darker and lighter tracks, resulting in a strongly atmospheric, yet never monotonous album that takes influences from staple artists in various genres and then melds these elements into something fresh and interesting. Carter's rougher, and at times less impressive, vocals appear in stark contrast with Barthel's soft and dreamy singing, making for an interesting push-and-pull throughout the album that follows the the same push-and-pull feel of the tracks, which ultimately resolves itself in an exhilarating finish. Lyrically, you'll find no sweet love songs or strong social commentary, but instead, the raw unfoldings of rejection, dependency, melancholy, and the likes.

Unmistakably indie, but not pretentiously so, Eyelid Movies is a great debut album that you may find yourself listening to multiple times before it suddenly pounces out of mediocrity and latches onto your eardrums faster than its tracks can alternate between the raw and edgy to the flowing and dreamy.

-Rating: 9/10

Album: Eyelid Movies Year: 2010 Artist: Phantogram 01. Mouthful of Diamonds 02. When I'm Small 03. Turn It Off 04. Running from the Cops 05. All Dried Up 06. As Far as I Can See 07. You Are the Ocean & I'm Good at Drowning 08. Bloody Palms 09. Futuristic Casket 10. Let Me Go 11. 10,000 Claps

At first glance, Eyelid Movies contains a few catchy songs right that might mildly interest a fan of the genre on their first listen. The real beauty of this album really takes a few listens--it definitely did for me, as I only enjoyed Let Me Go and When I'm Small at first and really didn't appreciate the complexity of the pieces. I think it's been a month or so, and the album has finally settled in. c; On a side note, I don't really care for their videos. I might even say that they make the songs a lot less enjoyable, but eh!

I decided to leave out scores for my least favorite tracks.

01. Mouthful of Diamonds - 7/10 - Released in 2009 as a single, Mouthful of Diamonds appears to be one of the more well-known tracks by this duo. While this track isn't my favorite, I must admit that the dreampop and headbobability feel of this song, paired with Barthel's dreamy vocals, makes for a good listen.
-Listen-

02. When I'm Small - 9.5/10 - This track is easily one of my favorites from the album and also happens to be the first track that drew me to Phantogram. When I'm Small is a forward-moving, beat-driven track that builds up for over three minutes, alternating between strong, beat-driven backing and flowing interludes, leading to a beautiful 40-second finish, which I would have to say is one of the finest moments in the entire album. The ultimate treat is hearing Barthel sing, "I'd rather die; I'd rather die than to be with you" at the climax, followed by a downpour of sheer epicness that can only be described by the song title, "Jigsaw Falling into Place." 
-Listen-

06. As Far As I Can See - 8.5/10 - This track is one of the better tracks on the album that demonstrates Phantogram's ability to combine a variety of influences to create a catchy, effective track that cannot be adequately described under any label.  Their heavy use of brass sampling, combined with various hip-hop and trip-hop elements under, of course, dreamy vocals, makes for a lush listen that is smooth and delicate, yet solid, soulful, and edgy.
-Listen-

07. You Are the Ocean & I'm Good at Drowning -6.5/10

08. Bloody Palms - 7.5/10 

09. Futuristic Casket - 8.5/10 - A powerhouse of a track, Futuristic Casket starts off strong, with an unmistakably raw, industrial and urban attitude. And then it slips into shoegaze and before you can even catch the seamlessly gradual transition. Carter's vocal effects fit very well with the song 's two distinct styles.

10. Let Me Go - 9/10 - A restless turmoil of sharp percussion, brass with an attitude, and flowing piano makes for something that feels like a an urban waltz with sweet honey bite. Throw on Barthel's clear, confident vocals, and you have a beautiful juxtaposition. I'm not even going to begin to attempt to list the various styles incorporated into this piece.
-Listen-

11. 10,000 Claps - 8.5/10 - Brooding, pensive, and subdued, 10,000 Claps is a lovely, lovely close to the album. The album funnels down from the lush, beat-filled, and oftentimes edgy landscape painted by all the previous tracks, and finishes on this one anomaly of a track. Dreamy, lonely, melancholic, and sparse, the simple piano backing and Barthel's vocals encourage retrospection, introspection, and reflection. It is definitely a beautiful curtain-closer, except the curtain is made of the softest, lushest, red velvet imaginable, and it falls--achingly, slowly, freely--before a stage of silent, grey, flickering dancers. And as the curtain reaches the end of its descent, it takes a final breath, and there is applause. 
-Listen-




Album: 9/10


The Ups: Interesting, not monotonous (which can be an issue for others in this genre), effective hybrid of many styles, catchy, complex
The Downs: Some tracks don't feel as polished as they could be, some ideas can be more further developed, takes a long time to appreciate

He's telling you to listen.

5:33am

I have an exam at 10 and 12.
CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP

This is keeping me awake:

She's quite lovely.
Oh, and I acquired a large MomoDomo coffee as well as a sweet tea.
I'm not even jittering.

Also, I've recently discovered that I prefer Pandora over last.fm :D