Yang Xiao Long

Obviously the show RWBY itself needs no introduction for those who've read my review on the first volume. This time I want to talk about one of my favorite characters from the show so far, Yang. She was first introduced in the Yellow Trailer in June 2013. A seventeen-year-old girl who sports shotgun gauntlets, rage/super saiyan attack mode, and a flaming heart symbol. She's seen as a party girl and having a little spunk to her personality. Yang's voice actress, Barbara Dunkleman, describes Yang as, "the kind of person who will teach someone how to swim by pushing them in the water." (2013) This is seen at various points in the first volume but let's look at the story we have so far.

We first see our heroine enter a bar trying to get information on some girl from a guy named Junior. She tries interrogating him in a very surprising fashion. I recommend watching the Yellow Trailer to see why. When the interrogation goes downhill she finds herself in a fist fight with Junior's goons, twin henchwomen, and Junior himself. Yang wins in the end and runs into her younger sister, Ruby Rose. Fast forward or backwards-it's unknown at this point- to the beginning of Volume 1 where are story begins.


Yang is excited to that Ruby is attending Beacon Academy and encourages Ruby to try meeting new people. They split off temporarily and meet up during roll call where Yang asks about Ruby's day. Ruby starts whining about an incident between her and another girl named Weiss Schnee but Yang stays optimistic. That night Yang continues to encourage Ruby to meet new people and goes out the way to get Ruby to meet Blake Belladona at the other side of the room. The meeting went off well and Yang showed great appreciation that Ruby finally met a new person.

Before initiation Yang still encourages Ruby to make new friends but Ruby still has desires to be with Yang. When the initiation starts Ruby and Yang are separated in the emerald forest. Yang and Blake find each other, during a fight with bear-like creatures, and they become partners. The pair soon reach the site where the artifacts are hidden which are used for assigning teams. As soon as Blake and Yang pick out their artifacts, the rest of the cast- Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, Nora, Lie, Pyrrha- arrive at the site by various means.  The group is attacked by various creatures causing them to split off into four and fight the creatures. After the battle, the teams RWBY- Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang- and JNPR-Jaune, Pyrhha, Lie, and Nora- are formed.

The final part of volume 1 basically includes the start of school life for the girls. They have classes to attend and/or study for, events to attend, and maintaining their relationships. Everything was going great until the team learned about Blake's faunus heritage/White Fang membership which that society looks down on. Gripped with fear Blake goes into hiding and the team tries to find her. Ruby and Yang show concern for Blake's well-being while Weiss's feelings remain unknown. Blake was found and amends were made between Blake and Weiss. Ruby is excited to see that the team is back together and the four push on towards the unknown future.

Yang has a personality of being bright, energetic, and confident in her actions. When she interrogated Junior she did it in a way that one wouldn't expect a teenage girl to do. Also she played him towards the end as the stereotypical "little woman," but she fooled him again. She said, "Oh Junior, I was only playing with you! Don't be so sensitive! Let's kiss and make up alright?"(Yellow Trailer) Junior did take the bait and before his lips could reach hers, she punched him square in the face. Let alone the way I got to see her fight and take out Junior's henchmen was pretty amazing. She also has an "adrenaline rush," that makes her more powerful than normal whenever she gets angry or a piece of her hair is cut. Just seeing her be, "more than meets the eyes," makes her character stand out.

She also cares for those around her especially her sister Ruby. Yang has a kind of "motherly," attitude toward Ruby which Ruby is on and off about. Ruby mentioned that Yang used to read to her at bedtime in Episode 3. Yang also encourages Ruby to try to make friends, "You've got friends all around you, you just haven't met them yet."(Episode 3) Yang was there when Ruby tried meeting Blake which caused Yang feel proud of Ruby. Another caring moment was when Ruby was almost killed by a creature during the intiation event in Episode 8. Weiss saved Ruby and Yang embraced Ruby expressing her feelings that Ruby was safe. Yang also showed joy to Ruby when Ruby became the leader of team RWBY. All of this just shows how much of a mother Yang is to Ruby.

In regards to others, Yang tries to be nice to everyone around her even if she doesn't agree with them. The best example is when the team finds out about Blake's faunus heritage. Weiss is up and arms about it but Yang doesn't care whatsoever about Blake being a faunus. Yang did mention before this situation, "it must be tough being a faunus." (Episode 11) Yang sees Blake as a person and doesn't care about Blake's heritage. Yang also never approved of Weiss's snotty/rude behavior every since they became Team RWBY. The worst of it was when Ruby and Weiss first met and Weiss criticized Ruby to death. Yang did try to bring peace between Ruby and Weiss but there's still tension going on. Yang's current view is that Weiss needs to stop mistreating Ruby and not be so cruel to others.

So far this is all we have seen of Yang's character. Hopefully in Volume 2 we'll see Yang's character develop a bit more. Based on seeing the mother role Yang is playing I think tension may increase between her and Ruby. Ruby could one day be like, "Stop trying to be like Mom," and the two will despise each other temporarily. I also could see that Yang may be trying to do something that she thinks will help Ruby but cause more harm than good. I can only speculate based on the Yellow Trailer and Volume 1. I will add more content or make a part 2 to this analysis. All I can say now is that I'm pumped up for Volume 2 and I can't wait to see how the story progresses!

Links/References

All of RWBY Volume 1

http://rwby.wikia.com/wiki/Yang_Xiao_Long

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCw_aAS7vWI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoJzEb7qH28

Images from deviant art, google images, and pixiv.

Thanks to Roosterteeth and all the fans of the hit-show RWBY.
I don't own any of this content and I thank the sources mentioned. This material is used for educational purposes only.

Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2

A castle protruding through the night sky, werewolves hiding in the bushes, skeleton soldiers, lurking in the halls, Medusa heads flying in arcs, and all you have to fight with is your trusted whip known as the "vampire killer." Your task is to explore the castle and destroy its owner, Count Dracula. If you already guessed that this is the setting for the Castlevania series you should give yourself a pat on the back. Now, Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 is the final installment in the Lords of Shadow saga and a sequel to Castlevania Lords of Shadow and Mirror of Fate. After playing the two previous titles I had some high hopes for the final installment but I was only partially satisfied.

Gameplay: If you're already familiar with the previous games the control/actions are pretty similar. You have a direct/area attacks with your whip, magic that steals health/causes more damage, and various side items that suit whatever needs you desire. There are also skills that you can purchase and upgrade from experience points earned after defeating enemies. The only new mechanics is that you can change into a rat and be stealthy/access small places. I heard mixed reviews about it but I think the idea was to demonstrate Dracula's power. In the original story Dracula he can control various creatures including the rat. He has other powers including launching bats, becoming mist, becoming a dragon with supercharged attacks, etc. Overall the gameplay is similar to previous games with a few added actions and all of the attacks relate to Dracula in a way.

*Story: Dracula awakens from a strange sleep in the present world weak, amnesiac, and without his powers. He's welcomed back by his former ally/traitor Zobek who warns Dracula that Satan is returning. Dracula accepts Zobek's request to stop him but at the cost that Zobek will help Dracula break from his immortal bonds. Dracula travels throughout his castle, which is now a city, regaining his powers and putting the pieces of his broken memory back together. In the end he regains his powers, has his memory restored, and defeats Satan along with the evil that was unleashed on the city. (The story takes place in both the medieval and modern world. The medieval world serves as Dracula regaining his memories while he's regaining his powers in the present.)

Critique: The gameplay is nothing special aside from changing the actions to fit Dracula's style/actions. There are added elements including stealth, third person camera, and open world format. The story itself is a little dull but definitely interesting. I did say I was partially satisfied only because I truthfully didn't think the creators had anymore ideas of where to go in the story. The ending is satisfactory but I think it could have been done a little bit better.

Pros:

• Gameplay similar to previous titles with a few changes
• Same actions but suited to Dracula including a few new elements 

Cons:

• Story is a little dull
• Really nothing new except for a few changes.

Verdict: My feelings are mixed towards this game so I have to give it a range of about 2.5 to 3 stars out of 5 stars. This game is technically the last contribution to the Castlevania series and although it was a decent exit it could have been better. I did have some high hopes but I really shouldn't expect much from a game that really has nowhere else to go. I'm probably better off playing the original Castlevania on NES, and Bram Stoker's Dracula on Sega Genesis.


*(There's story DLC slated to be released in the next few weeks which I'll check out and add to this review.)

Halo: Spartan Assault

Hearing the word "halo," fills my head with memories of Master Chief, Covenant, Cortana, spartans, arbiter, sticking enemies with plasma grenades, flipping over Scorpion tanks, SWAT playlist, Slayer playlists, battle rifles, Grifball, etc. Halo is probably one of the most well know franchises alongside Call of Duty, Battlefield, and other first-person shooter games. Nowadays it seems that more Halo-related material is being spewed out into the market. For example, the recent release on Xbox One/Xbox 360 Halo: Spartan Assault. Originally this game was released alongside the release of the Microsoft Windows 8 Operating System and was a tablet/Windows 8 phone game. Reviews for it were mixed and as I already mentioned it was released for Xbox One/Xbox 360 as Xbox Live game. I purchased it off the Xbox marketplace and after playing I wish I didn't spend the money.

Gameplay: Again this was first released as a tablet/Windows 8 phone game and it's pretty noticeable if you're playing on any of the Xboxes. What you have is a sky-view third person shooter. You can control the distance to throw grenades and your direction of fire with the right analog stick. It's also a complete various objectives to finish the level. Most of the gameplay mechanics/controls are similar to past Halo games with the difference being it's from a bird's eye view. There's also options to choose your armor abilities, weapons, campaign boosters, etc. Aside from campaign there's a cooperative game play mode that I didn't try out yet. I'm unsure if I'll even give it a try.

Story: The setting is between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4 on the planet Draetheus V and its moon. The Covenant truce from Halo 3 crumbles and humanity is again at war with the Covenant. Spartans Davis and Palmer are stationed on Draetheus V and lead a resistance against the Covenant. In the end Spartan Palmer successfully drives the Covenant away and loses the planet and Spartan Davis.

Critique: I bought this game out of sure curiosity and to satisfy my Halo nerdom. After playing I found the game to be boring and somewhat entertaining if I wanted to briefly pass the time. The missions are super short pending on if you're trying to get the achievements. The objectives are repetitive and get dull after doing them four or five times. The only real story elements are from the movie introductions and mission descriptions. The whole game itself is just repetitive to the point that your mind will go numb. The only positive I can think of is that Halo feeling/elements that many of us are quite familiar with. What really takes the cake is the birds-eye view which to me should be reserved to real-time-strategy games like Age of Empires.

Pros:

• Halo feeling/elements.
• Somewhat entertaining.

Cons:

• Repetitive gameplay
• Birds-eye view camera.

Verdict: I give this game a rating range between 2 to 3 out of 5 stars. Yes the game is bad to almost decent but only because of the repetitive gameplay. I actually wish that this game was made into a console game and had a similar style to Halo 3:ODST. To me that would make more sense and give big-time fans a better experience.