I wonder how our TV lists will compare. Besides channel surfing, the History Channel and the news, the only shows that I watch on a quasi-regular base are:
-Family Guy
-Futurama (usually on DVD though, only seldom on TV)
-Red Sox Baseball (on NESN)
-American Dad
And when I remember to:
-South Park
-Aquateen Hunger Force
-Sealab
-Robot Chicken
-The rest of the non-animé Adult Swim
-The Simpsons
For those too lazy or afraid to read it, in summery it's a lacquer (which isn't so bad if you just want a cosmetic upgrade), BUT the claim is that by properly applying this, not even to the electronics but to the OUTSIDE of your karp, you'll notice a significant increase in audio quality. And, since people believe outright lies, you can bet that not only will people buy it, they will convince themselves it works.
I think that those that actually trust the obvious lies of advertisers need to be removed from the gene pool, or at least subjected to the classical conditioning I am about to propose...
A NEW HEALTHY, NATURAL, ALTERNATIVE, cereal! Wheat, Bran, and Shards of *$&king Glass! Buy it today! It has over 800% the daily recommended allowance of... I dunno, silicates and... fibers.... People need calcium, just add milk to this and this has it! Also, vitamin c, um, d, some other stuff. People need that too! *forgoes bothering to mention if this cereal even has any of that*
*Note, this WILL KILL YOU!
Sadly, at this point just a LITTLE bit more convincing advertising and I think this cereal would sell... Good advertising can turn ANY negative into a positive (provided you are a moron who has been deprived of any instruction on critical thinking methods), and outright LIES seem to be just fine too.
Quote:Brother site Kotaku reports on two mountain climbers who for some reason decided to tote their Nintendo DS along with them on the grueling hike up Mt. Everest. Apparently, the DS “DS held up the best of any of [the electronic equipment].” And hey, fanboys even climb Mt. Everest! “I can guarantee a five-year-old can spill jelly on them and they’ll still survive… (vs. PSP)” Oops, now I’m a Sony fanboy for calling someone a Nintendo fanboy! DS Survives Everest: Expedition Update [Kotaku]
The kingdom of Renais has just suffered a surprise attack by their longtime allies, the kingdom of Grado. Under orders from the king of Renais, Seth, the captain of the army, takes Princess Eirika out of Renais and away from the attack. Seth and Eirika then depart to the other lands to warn them of Grado's treachery and try to find answers as to why, after hundreds of years of peace, Grado attacked without provocation. Along the way, many other brave men and women would join their cause, and as darkness spreads across the land, the answers Eirika finds would prove far more terrifying than they could have ever imagined.
<b>GRAPHICS</b>
If you played the original, you'll feel very familiar with the units, interface, landscapes, battle animations, and even backgrounds of Sacred Stones. That's because very little was changed graphically in the sequel, the game uses the same engine as it's predecessor. Some may find this lack of graphical improvement detrimental to the game, but I rather like the familiarity. Still, if you're expecting a flashier show out of the sequel, sadly, you won't get it.
If you're new to Emblem, you'll find the graphics pleasing yet practical. Every unit on the map is distinctive and easy to discern (unless you have two or more of the same class of unit on the map at once, in which case you must move your cursor over him/her to tell the difference), landscapes and backgrounds look detailed and realistic, battle animations are smooth and in some cases, a sight to behold; many units critical attacks will leave you laughing at your enemies painful demise.
<b>SOUND</b>
Sound effects and music far from disappoint, they add a great atmosphere to the game. While much of the visuals of the previous game were recycled, music is almost all new, and the few remaining familiar songs are redone and made better. As for sound effects, all are well done and clear, adding much to battles. Attacks that do no damage give a pitiful *chink*, while critical attacks make an extremely satisfying BOOM when they land.
<b>GAMEPLAY</b>
The original Fire Emblem set a new standard in the genre of turn-based strategy/RPG for the Game Boy Advance. The entire concept revolves around easy-to-learn but hard-to-master gameplay, epic storylines, and incredibly deep character development. The formula that Fire Emblem created, Sacred Stones wonderfully perfected. All the shortcomings of the original were rectified and great new options added, Sacred Stones is everything a Fire Emblem fan could want out of a sequel and more. Much like the Final Fantasy series, each Fire Emblems storylines and characters are new and seperate.
One welcome addition was the Supply option. In Fire Emblem, about halfway through the game, you would acquire the services of a merchant to carry your excess equipment, and to access it, you had to visit the extremely vulnerable supply tent that was set up on the battlefield. As all weapons and most equipment degrades with each use, eventually they will break and you'll need to replace them. Before, this involved leaving your allies in the battle behind, exhausting possibly several turns trekking unarmed back to where the tent was set up while avoiding enemies, getting the weapon you needed, and rushing back to the battle, if it's still even going on. Well, this inconvenience has been thankfully removed. From the beginning of the game, Eirika serves as your supply and can hold up to 100 weapons and items not currently equipped by any of your units. Therefore, since Eirika is not only on the field, but also in combat, your units probably won't be far from a new weapon if the one they have breaks.
As with it's predecessor, Sacred Stones focuses heavily on the interaction between the men and women in your army. Every unit has compatability levels with certain other units, and if they spend enough time near one another, they may recieve the opportunity to have a support conversation. These conversations can range anywhere from hilarious to heartwrenching, can lead to rivalries, close friendships, and even love, but they all have the same benefit: The more conversations those two units share (up to three), the better they fight when they are near one another. Putting units near each other with full support level can raise both units speed, defense, evasion, critical hit ratio, and other factors. Thus, supporting one another on your team can lead to great dividends. Choose your relationships wisely, though, as every unit is only capable of 5 conversations apiece. Supporting units is also much easier in Sacred Stones. In the original Fire Emblem, some units would have to spend literally hundreds of turns next to each other to prompt a conversation, but it's been reduced for the sequel, so conversations are much more frequent and, sometimes, even unexpected.
Another welcome addition is the ability to enter certain areas without missions simply to train your fighters. Two such areas exist, each containing 8 progressively more difficult enemies, and are mostly populated by monsters. Training here every so often will help your characters level up, and is especially useful for catching up some of your lesser-used fighters. One aspect that is prominent in the game is that units that do good will continue to do good, while weaker ones get used less and less, if even at all. Your strongest fighters are usually the ones you want in important battles, and since taking your weak units into a chapter battle can be risky, you can bring them here to level up. Also, if they've bit off more than they can chew, the option to retreat is always available if things get nasty.
The basic principle of the game is easy. Your army starts on a predetermined area of a battle map, and you must complete certain objectives to pass the chapter. Usually, this goal is to either clear the area of enemies, or to defeat a powerful boss enemy, though some missions require you to simply survive a certain number of turns or to protect a neutral unit. Battles follow a weapon heirarchy of axes, swords, and lances. Swords best axes, axes best lances, and lances best swords. Magic follows a similar pattern between light, dark, and anima (elemental) magic. Simple enough, and crucial to learn, but this is just the basics of the basics when it comes to battle. For instance, some axes are specially equipped to best swords, certain lances and axes can be thrown, hammers deal extra damage to armored foes, light magic does well against monsters, and arrows deal critical damage to flying units. Such are a few examples of many tactics that must be taken into account when entering a battle. You'd also be smart to check enemy equipment as well. Sending your mounted units against enemies weilding Halberd axes, Horseslayer lances, and Zanbato swords will likely end badly for you, and enemies armed with Killing Edge swords should be dealt with swiftly, as the odds are against you. Likewise, a group of enemies weilding swords can be handled easily and fairly painlessly with one or two units skilled with a lance.
Overall, Sacred Stones is a great follow-up to an already solid game. The lack of innovation may be a turn-off for some, but if that doesn't bother you, and you enjoyed the original Emblem, you'll love Sacred Stones just as much, if not more than the first. I rate this game 9.0 out of 10.
