E3 2014 Rumors

Hey Everyone,

E3 2014 is only a few hours away. Are your ready? Even though Fangirl Review was slighted in an invitation to E3 does not mean we will not stay on top of the latest news. So I wanted to let you in on some rumors but understand that here at Fangirl we are not saying anything is true.

First we have Zelda Wii U. There is a belief that we may hear something about a Zelda title announced for the Wii U. Remember that leaked press packet for the E3? It listed a Zelda game for the Wii U. We are not sure if the press packet was real but we are all awaiting the Nintendo presentation. I love Zelda so they have my money either way. 

Second we have a possible Resident Evil 7. There has been speculation about this and we are all questioning if Capcom will be presenting this game. There is also another rumor claiming that the game will not be another addition to the series but rather a side plot. Either way if it can back on track to the Resident Evil I came to love and not a COD with Zombies I would be happy.

Halo Fans might have something to cheer for. There is a rumor that there may be a Halo Collection that will be remastered and packaged into an awesome box set. There is also an additional rumor that Halo 5: Guardians is on horizon but that looks like that rumor is confirmed. 

Grand Theft Auto V fans may be seeing that game on the PC/Playstation 4/Xbox One in the near future. I am sure that many fans that have these great new consoles cannot wait to experience this game on their next gen console. Hopefully this rumor is true.

Mario Maker will be a big Nintendo reveal. Basically appears as though you will be able to use a stylus to make a 8 bit Super Mario level. Which seems pretty cool in my opinion. Sadly it is not clear if it will be for the 3DS or the Wii U. 

A huge Sony rumor is that it may present Uncharted 4. I know a lot of fans will be excited for this. Sony plans to come out swinging with some of their best games at E3 and we all hope to see some Uncharted 4 action.

Those are just a few rumors of what we hope to see at E3. What rumors have you heard and what would you want to see at E3?

Post by Vikki

Twitter: ProfessorWhite

Rat Queens Vol.1: Sass and Sorcery Review

So if you guys have been following my posts then you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a huge nerd who loves his D&D almost as much as he loves his comics. With Rat Queens, Kurtis J. Weibe and Roc Upchurch bring us a hilariously fun and funny sword and sorcery tale of an all-female adventuring group. This is an interesting concept since the sword and sorcery genre is usually a hyper-masculine male power fantasy and the women in the stories are delegated to damsels in distress, wenches, or warriors gallivanting in chainkinis. However in the Rat Queens the girls are just as capable and badass as their male counterparts. The team consists of Violet - a Dwarf Fighter, Dee - a human Cleric, Hannah - an Elven Mage, and Betty - a smidgen Thief. We follow the team as they deal with their emerging pasts and are forced to deal with the trouble they’ve been causing the town with their drunken brawls and trouble making.

Unlike most people I’ve come across in my table top role playing experiences I enjoy a bit of contemporary life mixed into my fantasy world and Weibe does an amazing job of balancing it to create a very entertaining story and interesting characters, whether its Violet’s hipster attitude or Hannah’s rough and sarcastic temperament, the interactions between characters make this a really funny book. There was a part in the beginning of the second chapter where Violet and Hannah are arguing about how a 20ft Troll could sneak up on them, something that’s happened in a game session I’ve played before, that literally brought me to tears laughing. 

Upchurch’s art is impeccable and he does an amazing job illustrating the nonverbal cues of each of the characters. I’m impatiently waiting for Volume 2 to see a bit more of the characters past and to see how the events from the end of this volume progress. I highly recommend this series to people who are a fan of fun mixed into their sword and sorcery.

Post by Sam

Twitter: BigSam425

Smash Bros: Ike

Hey Everyone,

Look a new challenger has been announced. Ike has made the cut for this go round. He is a Fire Emblem character. He is a pretty strong character that has a two handed sword, Ragnell. 

Ike is a moderately heavy character with slow yet powerful attacks. He has a slow ground and air speed. A lot of his attacks have high damage, a great range, and a high knock back. He also does a fantastic job crouch-canceling a hit. He has a far-reaching dash attack which can assist with his overall slow movement. Ike provides a great air-dodge that can be deadly to other characters when followed up by an attack. 

Ike has a short second jump and only two main recovery jumps, Quick Draw and Aether. They have limited trajectory therefore making him an easy target to take out during recovery. Overall he is a strong character when used carefully and with preparation.

E3 is next week what characters are you looking forward to during the big reveal?

Post by Vikki

Twitter: ProfessorWhite

Gamer Corner: Kaiser

Welcome to this week's installment of Gamer Corner, where Fangirl Review interviews a gamer and gets his thoughts on the gaming world and learning what he is enjoying at the moment.

Tell me a little bit about yourself? What rig do you currently game on? What  kind of gamer do you classify yourself to be? ie. PC, Console, Tabletop, LARP as well as Hardcore, RPG, etc.

I'm a 25 year old Mexican who enjoys subjects of technology and history and right now I game on my old Toshiba Satellite laptop, because of my rig right now I don't game a lot so I'm right now playing casually some free2play games I can run on my laptop.

What is your first memory of gaming?

Watching my brothers play NES games when I was 2 or 3 years old, I was intrigued at that time with video games but I did not play a game till I was 8 years old; my first game being The Legend of Zelda A Link To the Past.

What game are you currently playing right now? Do you enjoy that game, why?

Right now I'm playing Path of Exile a free2play game from Griding Gears Game studio, and I'm enjoying the game so far, since it has a Diablo 2 feeling in terms of difficulty and ambiance, and a more depth character customization in the form of gems you can put on your gear to gain skills, which can be supported by other gems as long as the gear has sockets linking them to make the skills more deadly, and a big passive tree so you can create the character you want to create in the case you want a ranged character or a melee tank character.

How’s the overall game play and graphics?

Gameplay is like a Diablo game, you left click to move and can be used to auto attack enemies or use a skill you can also bind q,w,e,r,t and right click for other skills, and bind 1,2,3,4,5 for flasks you can use to support your character in recovering health, magic or increasing certain resistances or armor.

Would you recommend it, why?

I would only recommend it to Diablo 2 fans and hardcore rpg gamers, since this is not a game everyone will enjoy, since its learning curve is quite difficult to new players, who have not played an rpg and even then its good to read about character builds so you have an idea what kind of character you want to make.

Are there any games coming out that you are looking forward to?

I'm looking forward to the release of Destiny and Everquest Next, since both games have persistent world features that may come to revolution the MMO games, since it is something we have been looking forward to a change in the MMO games as we have not seen before, specially on Everquest Next since it not only add persistent world features but also sandbox features, to construct your own castle or wizard tower =).

If you could design your own game what would it be like?

An RPG game combining the melee combat of the kickstarter game of Warhorse studio Kingom Come: Deliverance and the Spell combat of Lichdom, that would make it the ultimate immersive experience of combat for the players in my opinion.

Thoughts on this new generation of consoles – Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One?

In my opinion only the WII U and the PS4 are the consoles trying to be revolutionary. The WII U with its gamepad and the PS4 with its virtual reality project morpheus. I think if both Sony and Nintendo play their cards right with both innovations they can really bring good things to video games; like in games like ZombiU the gamepad can be used in interesting ways to contribute to the immersion of the game and I hope to see other games that use the gamepad in such ways.

What are your thoughts on the gaming industry?

Right now the industry is at a cross road of the next revolution with augmented reality technology and virtual reality going to change the way we play, if its a good thing or a bad thing still has to be seen. I have hopes if change comes to gaming by these technologies it will be for the better of the industry to continue offering us really good experiences of fun and enjoyment they have always given to us.

10 years from now, where do you see the industry? Are you happy with that direction? If you had the power, what direction would you have the gaming industry go?

If everything goes as I have seen the new technology will be virtual reality technology as the main source of gaming with really impressive immersive games. As a technology fan I would be happy with this direction, but I still hope if this is the path the industry takes, there will still be traditional ways to play the game and if I had the power I would definitely vouch to conserve to still make traditional games.

Favorite Game (can include tabletop) of all time and why?

The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, its the first game I played, and it had such an impact on me. It made me the gamer I am today and I still replay it from time to time, since its one of the best games I have played from the story to the gameplay, to the music, a really memorable experience.

Would you like to share your gamer tag and the system so others may add you?

kaiser.avm on Steam  - you can add me to chat or to play Path of Exile if my connection allows it.

Thank you to Kaiser for a fantastic interview. If you would like to be interviewed for Gamer Corner please contact me at fangirlcontact@gmail.com.

Post by Vikki

Twitter: ProfessorWhite

Game of Thrones S4 Ep.8 “The Mountain and the Viper” Review

Recap: Dany learns that Ser Jorah Mormont spied on her for the crown in order to be pardoned for slave trading. Although he had become her most trusted adviser, she orders him to leave. Ramsay Snow is able to kill in the name of his father, Lord Bolton, and earn his respect by bringing him closer to ruling the north. His father now honors him as a legitimate son and renames him Ramsay Bolton. Grey Worm seems interested in Missandei when he sees her naked while bathing, even though he has been castrated. 

Gilly and her son are spared when the wildings attack. Sansa lies to protect Lord Baelish and herself by saying that Lysa committed suicide. Arya and the Hound arrive in Eyrie only to find out that Lysa is dead. Oberyn dies a gruesome death at the hands of the Mountain. The Mountain gouges Oberyn’s eyes out and crushes his head. As a result, Tyrion is sentenced to death. 

Review: Poor Oberyn… I really liked him. He was just too cocky in his fight against the Mountain. He would have won if he would have fought and stopped all of that talking. His death scene was absolutely disgusting and I was shocked. It looks like Sansa is finally learning how to play the game and survive. The scene with Dany and Ser Jorah Mormont was emotional for me. It’s clear he is in love with her and he made a mistake in the beginning. Now he has to pay for that mistake and be away from Dany.

How far will Sansa go to help Lord Baelish and potentially herself? Will Tyrion really die? Will Dany run into misfortune now that her most trusted adviser is gone?

Two more episodes to go…

Please let me know what your comments or thoughts are.

Post by Veronica Fitzpatrick
Twitter: RonnieLauren

Movie Review: Maleficent

Hey Everyone, 

This movie review will be a little bit different. The dynamic duo of James and Jac will be working together to do the movie review for Maleficent. Check it out. 

Ok jac I'll do the introduction and you can do the review (ok)

The movie Maleficent is the timely remake of the Disney fairly tale Sleeping Beauty (But with a twist). The story is from the perspective of the infamous villain known as Maleficent. She (Maleficent) is played by Angelina Jolie. It is a PG Rated Fantasy that by earlier critic reviews had disappointing expectations. However, we are happy to say that the critics got it wrong this time. Angelina Jolie provides probably the best performance of her career and is the true success story of the movie.

Jac: 
The story starts at the beginning of everything and Aurora (sleeping beauty) had yet to be born. The focal point of the movie explains how Maleficent turned out to be a villain and steps taken to avenge her misfortune leveraging the birth of Aurora and condemning her father.

James: 
The movie is a pleasant surprise; having spectacular scenery acting and sound that engulfs you feeling that you are part of the adventure.  The costumes were fantastic! You believe the Moors actually exist(and you want to live there). The director did a fabulous job of combining drama suspense and comedy properly at the right moment. The only fault we had with the movie were the annoying accents. It was comical to hear actors sound English one minute then Scottish and Irish the next. Jac and I began mimicking the actors because of this.

Jac: 
I thought the movie was awesome! I wanted Angelina Jolie's wings to fly. You felt as if you are flying with her in some of the scenes.

Jac and James: 
Maleficent is a great family movie that everyone would enjoy. Forget what the critics may have said negatively about this film. If you decide to go see it then you will not be disappointed. 

Post by James A Crittenden