Reintroductions and Scheduled Plannings

For those wondering who I am, let me introduce myself.

I am TheChoujinVirus, an aspiring writer, Twitch Streamer, and creator of The Bird’s Nest, my blog. I must admit I have neglected my blog for a year since I had my job (keyword: had as I left my job around two weeks after this article’s creation). So, for those wondering what I do? Well, Usually I’ll do three types of writing:

Mumbles: A “What Really Grinds my Gears” article where I vent my opinion on certain topics

Media Reviews: A brief review of media like movies, TV or video games as I give the good and the bad

Fan-Work: Random stories, poems and other works that help me out.

My schedule of these will usually be every odd Month of the week. So a reminder:

Monday: Mumbles

Wednesday: Media Review

Friday: Fan-Works

I may try to diversify what else to do in a way to bring others and hopefully give more time to finish some stuff.

Though with that, expect ya boy to get back by next Monday. Until then, peace out y’all!

A brief talk about some new schedules

Hello everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin here. I’m here to have a bit of a talk right now. It’s not bad news it’s some good news.


First off, I’ve got myself a job! That’s right, ya boy’s got actual work. Now the good news is that it means I got a means to put a paycheck on myself. However, this also means that I may not have the time to write mumbles or reviews on some things (especially with my schoolwork.)

Though here’s what’ll happen….

With my current work schedule, I’ll be working Fridays through Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. giving me Wednesday and Thursdays off (though that can change).

So our Tuesday Mumbles will be moved to Wednesday and media review will be done at the same time, but fan-writing may take a while to do and probably moved to Wednesdays or Thursdays when they’re ready. Either way, going to get myself adjusted with my work schedule and my hobby.

But do not worry, this blog won’t be abandoned or left to rot

(Late) Tuesday Mumbles: The Ukranian Crisis

Written by TheChoujinVirus

Notice: The following is based on my own opinions and isn’t made to disrepect anyone.

Heya everyone, sorry for the lateness of the mumble, ya boy’s been doing some jobhunting and such on his quest for the much needed job. Though as I’m watching the news, it gets me worried more than getting a job. The current crap going down in Ukraine.

For those who have been hear for a year and remembered this blast from the past (wow, that old eh?) but to summarize the whole thing. Vladamir Putin has decided now is the time to invade Ukraine. This is heavily condemned by everyone with a sane brain. Also feels powerless to sit here and watch that mess going on out there. Though I am glad that there are people condeming this whole mess and some are willing to donate (Here’s something provided by Vox) Heck, some are even leaving their homes in the states to help their homeland, that’s something honorable and something I respect.
However, there’s another camp that seem to behave like Putin’s cheerleaders or to use this as a potshot to nail those on the Left for some twisted reason. I mean, what more would you want the US to do that won’t end with a nuclear war or retaliation that could make World War 2 look like a sandbox brawl.
Helping a nation without pissing off a war is something that requires some help and basis. Though in my opinion it feels that some just want to crap on this situation for political pot shots.
To that, I have to say this.

People are dying in a massive land war of the 21st century and we’re resorting to in-fighting because you either simp for a dictator? I’d maybe rethink one’s priorities before resorting to that basis of stupidity.
With that, I do hope this can end and maybe show the world (and future nations) why these kinds of conflicts are no winners.


(Sorry for the short mumble, but job hunting has been pulling my attention)

(Late) Friday Fan-Work: Scared Straight

Written By TheChoujinVirus

Happy Saturday everyone, It’s ya boy Choujin here.

The funniest thing was I forgot I had a story to post here. Something I did as a final for my English Creative Writing class last semester and something that was a random piece of fiction written.
For those wondering, it’s a piece of segment themed around a couple finding a creative way to get their nephew to focus on his schoolwork over gaming.

SO with that, sit back, relax, grab a snack and enjoy this little story I call: Scared Straight

scared_straight_fdDownload

Thursday Media Review: Pokemon Legends Arceus

Written by TheChoujinVirus

Note: The following review contains spoilers to the game, so do not read if you do not wish to be spoiled

Pokemon’s one of the most significant IPs out there, and ya boy’s here have reviewed Pokemon Sword and Shield, and did play Brilliant Diamond/Stunning Pearl (will write a review of that game soon). However, one of the most anticipated titles released for this year since its announcement. Released on January 28th of this year on the Nintendo Switch, Pokemon Legends Arceus is a game that many said has made some very anticipated changes for the franchise for good and maybe helped out the somewhat lackluster Sword and Shield series. Does it stand up to the game? Well, here’s my review of Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Story Summary and Gameplay

PL: Arceus starts with your main character being teleported into the past by the pokemon Arceus, the god of the Pokemon world. He only tasks you with one goal: “Seek out all the pokemon” and teleports you to Hisui, which is Ancient Sinnoh. You meet Professor Lavanton, and after a brief tutorial of the game, you are whisked with him to Jubilief Village and the headquarters of the Galaxy Team. There, you are introduced to your supervisors, Cylene and Commander Kamado, and your rival and fellow corp member Rei/Akari (determined by your character’s gender selected.) Laventon tasks you with compiling the Pokedex of the Hisui Region, all while solving the mysteries of Hisui. Meanwhile, you’re aiding the native Diamond and Pearl clans with the sudden frenzy of their Noble Pokemon. Eventually, more of the world is revealed, and you learn of the mystery of how you were brought here, to begin with, and a final battle with the one who brought you to this ancient land in the first place.

Gameplay-wise, PL: A carries some of the typical pokemon gameplay mechanics of fighting, but you now have some very different things that deviate from the normalcy of the older pokemon games. Pokemon are no longer found in the tall grass and can be found wandering the world, for starters. They can either have three kinds of behaviors: They can be indifferent/friendly toward you, flee from you upon seeing you, or outright attack you if they spot you. Another new thing is that you don’t need to capture Pokemon through battling but indirectly. If you’re sneaky enough, you could launch a Pokeball at an unsuspecting pokemon and catch it without fighting it. Your chance of catching it increases if you use items to stun or distract them.

With aggressive Pokemon, you’ll either need to be more creative or go the old-fashioned way. The aggressive Pokemon can hurt you unless you use your Pokemon or dodge the attack. The screen will darken then go red before you are knocked out and rushed back to the next camp (and lose your items.)

As you progress through the main story, you’ll meet the Noble Pokemon; Pokemon worshipped by the Diamond and Pearl clans as avatars of Almighty Sinnoh. Some Nobles like Wyrdeer, Ursaluna, Basculegion, Sneasler, and Braviary will help you on the journey by lending their strength to traverse the lands faster, fly over it, cross waters and even scale mountains.

Others such as Kleaver and Arcanine need to be quelled due to the effects of that mysterious frenzy. Unlike most old battles where you must fight the Pokemon, Noble Battles behave like some action RPGs where you must reduce their bar to zero, throwing balms at them. Sometimes, if the opportunity arises, you can have your pokemon duke it out with the noble and, by KOing them, doubles the balm’s effectiveness for a short time. Also, should you fall to a Noble, you are given a chance to continue the fight where you left off without resetting the fight.

As your Pokemon gets stronger, they will be able to master some of their moves by leveling or using an item called a Seed of Mastery. Mastery allows you to use actions in either Agile or Strong forms. These forms have their pros and cons.

For example, an Agile move can have a chance of making your pokemon move faster or attack again on the same turn but with weaker damage.

Meanwhile, a Stronger move will be more damaging and accurate but may make your PokemonPokemon slower and vulnerable to an extra attack.

Lastly, when you capture a pokemon in PL: A, you need to fill out the Pokedex more than catch the Pokemon, and that’s it. When you capture them, you need to gather more data on them until it’s completed, like how many of that Pokemon you caught or evolved, where or when you caught them, or if they were doing an action like flying or if they were unaware of you when you caught them.

Legendary Greatness: What made PL: A good?

Pokemon Legends Arceus has some pretty fun aspects of the game. One of them is the open map exploration of the five areas: Obsidian fieldlands, Crimson Mirelands, Cobalt Coastlines, Alabastor Icelands, and Coronet Highlands. Each region has its biomes, environments, and Pokemon found in those environments. It also gives the backstory of what would be ancient Sinnoh.
Another liked is the capture mechanic system. Instead of battling Pokemon, you can catch them unaware and skip the whole thing. Great for catching some strong pokemon without risking harm to your team.

Another liked is the capture mechanic system. Instead of battling Pokemon, you can catch them unaware and skip the whole thing. Great for catching some strong pokemon without risking harm to your team.
Another is the crafting in the game. I didn’t mention this, but in PL: A, you can craft supplies for your inventory. Gathering resources like Apricorns and Oran Berries in the wild, you can prepare them into Poke Balls and potions for your journeys. Crafting is great for saving money on other items or new clothes for your character.

Lastly, you can get ALL The Pokemon. No more split versions in PL: A; you can catch them all without relying on trading or gimmicks that make it very difficult, like in the past. Want a Machoke to a Machamp? Just get a Linking Chord and evolve it! Want Scyther to a Scizor? Just use Metal Coat on it.

Forgotten in the Past: What the game lacks

Though PL: A is excellent, some problems annoyed me or need improvement in these categories.
One such issue is that though the game is excellent, there isn’t much outside of completing the dex or the story. Sure after you finished the Hisui Dex, saved the Hisui region, and such, there isn’t much of anything like trainer battles. You do get some rematch fights in Jubileaf Village and the occasional run-ins with the Miss Fortune trio of bandits and maybe rematches with the Noble Pokemon. Still, beyond it, nothing much once most of the series is complete.
Another problem that can be a bit of an annoyance is some of the new pokemon evolutions. Some Pokemon, like Kleavor, require one item to evolve them, and most trade-equipment items needed for trade evolution were made so simple that they made the game enjoyable. However, some evolutions like Wyrdeer and Overqil require some more unique evolutions, such as using their signature moves being used in combat several times until they’re ready to evolve. Also, my favorite Pokemon, Ursaluna, requires the use of a Peat Block but sadly must be done on a full moon night in-game. That can be frustrating indeed.
Lastly, the issue comes to recovering your items lost if you blackout. If you recall, I said you lose your items if you blackout, but it can be reacquired through a Lost and Found side-mission where you explore the map and retrieve lost sachels left by NPCs or by other players if linked to the internet. Sadly this is the ONLY way to get your lost items back, and you can’t seek them out on your outside if you lose them. Thus you have to rely on the online aspect to retrieve your stuff.

Secrets of the past

Before I go to my conclusion, here are some secrets for those who want to get Pokemon Legends Arceus (info from Serebii.net)
If you have to save Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee data, you’ll access free Pikachu and Eevee Masks.
Suppose you have Save Data of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Stunning Pearl. In that case, you get a double feature: You’ll get access to the Team Galactic outfit (the modern version) and access to a special Request mission that lets you capture Darkrai.
Pokemon Sword and Shield save data do the same but give you access to the pokemon Shaymin and give you a Shaymin.
Though Shaymin and Darkrai do not go toward the Hisui Pokedex requirements, they’re pretty good to have them.

Should you Get it?

As a Pokemon fan, I’d endorse getting Pokemon Legends Arceus if you’re a fan of the franchise. The game’s a big breath of fresh air for a franchise that needs one. Open exploration with creative methods of capturing and battling while taking place in an old region of the past. New forms and evolutions of old Pokemon?

All it’s missing is you setting up a Pokemon league. Though there are whispers and rumors of some kind of DLC, there’s no confirmation of its validity. But hey, a guy can dream can’t they?

References

Thursday Media Review: Yugioh master Duel

written by TheChoujinVirus

Disclaimer: This review may contain spoilers to this game.

Yu-Gi-Oh is a card game that everyone knows about, one of the significant TCGs people have known about for a long time. Yu-gi-oh has many games, with the recent being 2016’s Yu-gi-oh Duel Links. Though released this month of January 19th is the latest incarnation of the game. Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel. A game found on Steam, Switch, and on your smartphone. If you’re interested, let’s see how this game goes well.

Brief Summary of gameplay

Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel follows the more current rules of Yugioh (Master Rules 2020/2021). One could explain the whole aspect of the game, but here’s a link from the official Yu-Gi-Oh website that gives a better explanation of how to play the game. However, to summarize the game, you play monsters, spells, and traps to reduce your opponent’s life points (LP) to 0 before they can. You have the duel mode, which pits you against other people online, though you have a unique model known as “Solo” mode. The solo mode is the game’s story mode in a sense. Not much of a story except explaining the lore of the archetype you’ll be playing. For example, one of the Solo stories has a cute story explaining the Cyber Bug archetype and its role in that universe. They also teach you how the archetype is played and even some combos that give you a way of what other archetypes can go well or how to play the deck further. The solo content rewards things like cards of the archetype, a free deck of the archetype (think of it as akin to the game’s version of a structure deck), and some good things like cosmetics and gems (the premium currency of the game). Gems are used chiefly for buying booster packs to improve your deck or some cosmetic items such as mats for your cards, sleeves for them, and even little pets that sit on your side on the field (they do not affect the game, but they sit there).

King of Games: What the Game shines in.

The game has so much potential that it makes it impressive. One such example is that compared to Duel Links, you do have a ton of cards to build any archetype you want, from Blue-Eyes to Cyber Dragon and then some. You’re not limited to specific cards. Another benefit is they introduce “Secret Packs” now. What are these Packs? Well, whenever you craft a card in the game or open a master pack, you may get a chance of finding some cards of a specific archetype. These secret packs are more or fewer archetype packs that let you get that core card set without playing gamble with the Master Packs themselves. It also makes investments oh so worth it if you’re building decks. Lastly, the soundtrack is excellent as you get some good music while you duel, and the tone changes whenever things like close to victory or when a boss monster is summoned to the field. It’s got plenty of work.

Dueling Dog: what the game flounders.

Though the game is good, it has some significant flaws. One such is that the game kind of tosses you into the series right away. So new players entering the first time or old players who haven’t kept up with the franchise may be overwhelmed with all the new mechanics. Luckily, the tutorial does teach you the basics, but most of the time, there are some things the tutorials won’t explain that require experience. Another issue is the crafting and premium currency. When building a deck, you’ll be using some UR (ultra rares) staples that can be expensive as you may have to cannibalize some other UR cards to get something viable. I wish they could convert some of the Normal, Rare, and Super rare tab to acquire UR materials without buying boosters. Lastly is the Secret Packs duration. When you unlock them, you only gain access to them for around a day, then you have to get the cards again, which can be inconvenient if you need to get some cards from other aspects. Another and officially final thing is there are no other duel formats. While Duel Links gave us Speed Duels (a format for faster play), master duel only has one format, which is current, which means if you want to play a game with no Link Monsters or Pendulums. So no old days of just playing old-school rules or other formats.

Should you D-D-duel and get this game?

In short, should you get this game? Yeah, you should if you’re a fan of Yugioh. Also, ever since Dueling Network got shut down and Duelist of the Legacy became obsolete with the current gameplay, Yugioh Master Duel’s something that requires you to understand and play. Also, as a former YuGiOh player, it’s something great to do. By the way, I do play the game too and if curious, I roll a Cyber Dragon deck. If you’re interested look up “TCV” and you’ll see me. If you want to add me as a friend, DM me if you want

References

Tuesday Mumbles: Nostalgia

Written by TheChoujinVirus

Note: The following is based on my own opinions. So do not take it personal if you do take it.

Heyo, It’s ya boi and I’m that many would call a Millennial who grew up in the 90s. So yeah…I’m an old man to today’s generation.

How old am I to this generation? Well, old enough to remember that we used to have Blockbusters and Pay phones.

So that makes me old enough to be an old man. “When I was your age, we had to walk fifteen miles to a local Blockbuster to rent movies and stuff. No Netflix or any streaming service. You wanted to watch a movie? You had to walk and get it! You wanted to call someone? You better have a dollar to pay the toll fee or call collect”


Look at YouTube videos of kids reacting to seeing a VHS cassette, a push dial phone or even old school cellphones and pagers. Those kids give the same reaction that someone made like they discovered an ancient artifact or question how people work these things. Kinda funny when the youth sees how inconvenient. This gets me to the next thing…

I don’t know why folks would want to go back to that era. We get that stuff being pushed in old shows that show the world of the 80s and 90s. I’d rather keep the more convenient shit than the annoying crap of nostalgia. They think seeing the fashion and the fun stuff is something to relive because it’s awesome or great. Take it from a guy who grew up in the 90s, they would go mad the second they find out that cellphones are huge, or slow internet. They see the stuff because they never grew up with it, but only want to live in that era because it looked awesome to them. I like the Middle Ages or the wild west because of media but wanting to live in that era? Noooo..I’m not wanting to learn that life the hard way.

In ya boy’s opinion, i’d rather be in the now than in the past.

A brief apology of the lack of media reviews and short stories

For those wondering why I’ve only been posting on mumbles and no media reviews or stories is something inexcusable from me. I apologize on that half
Finding stuff to complain is easy but trying to pick a game to review is a bit tricky (and stories caan’t be rushed).
However, to apologize on that I’m going to maybe post more media reviews than mumbles to get some work.
Again, I apologize for the massive lack of additional content and I’ll ensure it won’t happen again in the future

Tuesday Mumbles: Corporate Buyouts

Written by TheChoujinVirus

Note: The following is based on my own opinions. Therefore do not take anything personal

Happy Tuesday, everyone. It’s ya boy Choujin here.


Today, I heard the news that Microsoft is planning to purchase Blizzard Entertainment. Good for them, as I like to ensure Warcraft survives. Though I’ve seen some people arguing about how this is one step closer to a monopoly. Though this gets me thinking about what folks seem to be clueless about and gets me upset on: Corporate Buyouts.

I’ve seen how some companies have made acquisitions of various companies to add to their own fold. None can be the example of Disney and their acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Marvel, LucasArts, and the Jim Henson company. These are great examples of buyouts that rage over the whole ordeal and which folks do become upset. Though it is not every situation, it’s all Disney or some money-grubbing conspiracy.

One of the factors is that some IPs and items are saved through said buyouts. When Activision bought out Blizzard, the prior company Viveldi was going into a financial crisis that would have resulted in Blizzard’s collapse and a significant loss of some good IPs. The same could also explain why Jim Henson sold his work to Disney and the same for Lucas. Money can be a real pain when you want your media empire to continue. In Lucas’s case, it was due to him wanting to just quit due to backlash from the issues. Without buyouts, stuff like this would die.

On the other hand, I understand the fears of too many buyouts and how it can lead to control of IPs that many can feel like monopolies or other things. For starters, some buyouts can be viewed as scary, like Sony’s buyout of Funimation and Crunchyroll. This gives Sony too much control of the said market when they already have their eggs in another basket. Then again, that move did get them investigated for antitrust violations. Not only that, but as repeated, Sony already has some deals with distribution (that and Funimation nor Crunchyroll were in any evil thing.)

However, with buyouts and such, folks can be jumpy without knowing the reasons behind it. This also includes ya boy here too. I’m no financial expert, but In my defense, the Microsoft buyout of Blizzard is something I wouldn’t mind seeing (especially with the positive part of one of the Presidents being purged from Activision-Blizzard). Maybe Microsoft could make WoW better like they did with Fallout 76