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Tag Archives: moon
First Impressions: Bloodstained – Ritual Of The Night (Switch) ~ Middle Ages Magic.
Official website – Nintendo Microsite
So, a new Metroidvania game has been released. The Metroidvania genre is one of my favorite style of games. When I heard that Koji Igarashi of Castlevania fame was the director of this game, I was beyond hyped. I even mentioned this game in my top 10 games I wanted to play in 2019. And, yes, the game was even twice on that sort of list. Anyways, this game was a Kickstarter game were major flops like Mighty Number 9 and major hits like A Hat In Time. Where does this game fall? On the major flops or on the amazing titles part of the spectrum? Let's find out in this first impressions article. Also, feel free to give your opinion on the content of this article and/or the game in the comment section down below. A small editor note I have to make is that I have played this game before and after the visual improvement patches applied, and I will keep this in mind for this review.
Middle Ages Magic
During the Industrial Revolution, the Alchemy Guild got scared of losing their followers and patrons. So, they decided to create Shardbinders. These are humans who are forcibly fused with demonically charged crystals. Thanks to these crystals, the Shardbinders obtained magical powers. Everything was peaceful until the Fire Nation attacked, well sorta. Kinda. The Shardbinders were sacrificed and abused to summon demons from Hell (let's be honest, this is a sort of Fire Nation. 😉 ). Now, this whole plan backfired and brought mass destruction over the whole of England. Thankfully, the Church was able to intervene and save some areas of destruction.
Two shardbinders survived the whole massacre, Gebel and Miriam. Ten years after the incidents, Miriam wakes up from her unnatural slumber and finds out that Gebel has summoned another demon to continue the revenge of the Shardbinders on what the alchemists did to him. Miriam starts her journey accompanied by Johannes, who is a former member of the Alchemy Guild. Miriam wants to stop Gebel before the whole world is destroyed.
The story itself is nothing that special. To be quite frank, the story didn't really grab my attention. Now, I have reviewed two Castlevania games in the past: Castlevania – Portrait of Ruin and Castlevania – Lords Of Shadow – Mirror Of Shadow and of both these games, I don't remember a lot about the story. It's a shame since the story has quite a lot of potential to go quite in-depth and in different directions. The story takes a backseat in this game, to a point that sometimes the story is used as a sort of in-game guide. Like, when you have defeated a boss and you talk to one of the members of the Church, she straight up tells you (this isn't an exact quote but it's quite similar): "I have heard rumors that one of the high ranking officers can jump again in the air. (…) You need to look for a tower where…"
Now, the cast of the voice actors of this game is just mindblowing. Miriam is voiced by Erica Lindbeck who voiced Barbie herself in a few movies and also voiced one of the leading characters in Fire Emblem Echoes. Gebel is voiced by Ray Chase who's a voice you can also hear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as Roy and in Final Fantasy 15 as Noctis. Zangetsu is voiced by a voice acting legend by the name of David Hayter who is famous for his voice work on Solid Snake. You can dig deeper into the voice cast using this page from Behind the Voice Actors. With so much talent on board and pretty good direction, you can be sure that the dub of this game is pretty well done.
Now, what could have improved the story? Well, first of all, a bit more character development. Some characters are quite two dimensional. I barely notice any progress in these characters. Secondly, I feel that too many stereotypical characters were used. A more diverse cast of characters or characters that broke their stereotype would be a great twist in the story. And finally, be a bit less hand-holding. If you want to guide the players to a certain location to gain a new power-up, you can do that by other means. I loved the system the developers used in Monster Tale on the DS. In that game, you also have a guide to where you need to go, but it's up to you to fight through the enemies and find your way there.
Metroidvania at its finest
In the previous section, I have already mentioned three games I have reviewed that were in the same style as this game. The two Castlevania games and Monster Tale.
If you have played games like Castlevania, Metroid, Monster Tale or Axiom Verge then you'll know what to expect in this game. In this game, you explore a huge map, defeat different bosses, learn new techniques to make exploring easier and access unknown areas. Meanwhile, you have to fight through a lot of enemies and try to balance your items right in order for you to stay alive.
Most Metroidvania's are anything but easy. This game is no exception. This game can be quite difficult. But, the difficulty is fun difficulty. Sometimes you aren't strong enough or don't have the right gear to survive the encounters. Now, some people would enjoy the challenge of this game and try to defeat this game with the weakest gear possible. Now, this means that this game has some minor forms of grinding to improve your stats and defeat some bosses easier.
Now, the map of this game is quite huge. Thankfully, there are several warp points that allow you to fast travel to other areas in the castle. These warp points are in special rooms marked in green on your map. A minor nitpick I have is that the warp point to the central base of the game is outside right after some enemy encounters. I think that it would be better inside so I can go with full health to the boss. Yeah, I'm that kind of a player. So, that's why I mentioned it as a nitpick.
Anyways, the warp rooms aren't the only special things on your journey. You also have to save rooms. This game doesn't have an autosave feature, but you can save (and heal your HP/MP) at the various save rooms that are shattered around the castle.
I really love the freedom of exploration in this game. While the story is a minor disappointment to me, the gameplay more than makes up for it. Exploring the castle and the areas around it is a ton of fun. Trying out the different mechanics and abilities of Miriam is just a great experience to have.
Together with the decent controls, this game is a blast to play. Now, I have read in different reviews that the controls of this game have a bit of input lag or are a bit floaty. Thankfully, I find that they improved them a lot in the patches that the game received and I think that the future patches in November 2019 will improve the game even more.
Visually underpowered
Allow me to address the elephant in the room. Look, there it is. His name is Dumbo and he has a movie made about him. Now, let's be a bit more serious. Visually, this game doesn't look that great when you compare it to the other versions on PlayStation or PC. The publishers even posted a statement on the rather spotty technical performance. Now, I think that's a great move to improve technical performance through patches. On the other hand, delaying the Switch port to work on the technical performance would have been an even better move in the first place.
While the Switch is quite powerful, compared to the other consoles on the market today… Well, it's underpowered. So, I can understand that the Switch version has some fewer animations or visual effects. Something I think that I don't understand is the inconsistent performance of the game and the input lag in certain areas. Now, these things will be addressed in the patched that is scheduled for November. This is a shame since this game would be an amazing title to play on Halloween night, but they will miss the mark on that completely.
With all that talk about the Switch version having a spotty performance, I do have to say… I don't find it that bad. The issues are the worst when you play the game in undocked mode. When you play this game in docked mode, this game plays just … decent. In very rare spots, the game has a bit of frame or input lag but nothing game-breaking.
In its current state, the game still looks quite good. I think the visual presentation is great and the animations are quite good as well. Together with the amazing music and enjoyable sound effects, the audiovisual presentation still gets a pass from me. So, I'm a bit mixed on this whole thing.
The game is a blast to play and has some extremely helpful features like the ability to leave markers on your map so you can remind yourself to visit these areas later. The game even has a lot of depth with its own crafting system, various shops, various unlockable skills and builds you can make… Even when you change your outfit in the menu's, Miriam wears the armor and outfits in the game, during gameplay, and during cutscenes.
But, the whole game is held back by the lack of polish that is now coming in the form of patches. It gives the game a wrong first impression to a lot of players. Not everybody knows that this game's performance and visuals are going to improve. Also, I have stopped playing this game because I want to replay this game when all the patches have been released so I can experience this game in it's the best form. And that's what's so disappointing to me. I'm already halfway the game and now I have to restart the whole game. Well, then again, it's my own choice…
So yeah, this article is going to be continued. I think it would be a bit unfair to fully judge the game right now when I know that there are patches to improve the visuals, the controls and the gameplay in the near future. But, I still wanted to talk about this game so here we are. So, for a full review, you will have to come back a few weeks after the patches have been released. If I don't forget, I'll also link the updated article here: [TO BE ANNOUNCED.] And maybe I should go more in-depth about the gameplay in that updated article as well.
And that's everything I currently wanted to say about this game. I want to thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care!
This entry was posted in Articles, First Impression, Gamer's Thoughts, Gaming History and tagged 001, 4, 505games, acting, Ages, armature, arpegi, artplay, Boss, buttonsmashers, cast, controversy, creates, curse, cutscenes, David, defeat, dico, Double, download, Dungeon, easter, egg, emblem, ending, engine, failure, Final, fire, first, fix, four, free, gameplay, Gear, gebel, hayter, hidden, history, how, Igarashi, impression, improvement, information, input, inti, jea, Jonez, jonez001, jonezjea, jump, kick, kickstarter, Koji, lag, listing, macos, magic, Metal, Metroid, metroidvania, middle, miriam, monobit, moon, moons, more, neko, NekoJonez, Night, Nintendo, nods, notes, november, Of, one, open, patch, plays, playstation, plot, Preview, references, ritual, rougelike, secret, shardbinders, Solid, spoiler, starter, story, success, switch, technologies, The, To, Unreal, voice, walkthrough, wayforward, who, Xbox on October 28, 2019 by NekoJonez.
First Impression: Dungeon Kingdom – Sign of the Moon (PC) ~ Moon Time
Steam store page
A few weeks ago, I got a press key for a game sent to me. I'm so glad that the developer reached out to me since this game looks amazing. This game is being created by a small team based in France. It's still in early access so a lot of things can change between what you read here and what is in the final game. I have played the June 2017 build in order to write this review. While I got this game for free, the developer wanted that this article is 100% my opinion. I hope you are ready to dive into a new fantasy world since we have the sign of the moon and have to save the land. As usual in my articles, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on the article and/or the game.
The sign of the Moon
So far, I haven't gotten too far into the game. I have only been through the first few areas of the game and been exploring and testing out different set-ups and just learning the ins and outs of this game. I could write a whole paragraph to talk about the story, but the press kit sums it up quite nicely.
At the dawn of the Fourth Age… You, a poor young man struggling to make ends meet, have been summoned by a strange man claiming to be a member of the prestigious Mages' Guild, to join him on a great quest. In the hope for a better future, you accept his request, for who could refuse to follow such a seemingly eminent member of the Mages' Guild?
A feeling in the back of your mind tells you that this is related to the strange symbol of a moon on you hand… Your quest will require you to explore the Dungeon Kingdom world, to uncover hidden treasures, solve puzzles and battle dangerous creatures in many areas, from dark dungeons to snowy mountains.
The story sounds quite interesting, so I can't wait to see where the developer takes it. So far, I haven't experienced the story too much. The writing is good. There isn't a lot of world building at the start. You are thrown into a fantasy world and you expect to understand everything. While this could be seen as annoying to some people, I like it. Since you learn about the world in various scrolls and books scattered around in the world. I highly recommend that you read them since they might be useful to solve some puzzles.
The good exploring
Let's talk about the things I think were really good in this game. The visual presentation of this game is really well done. The game looks amazing.
I loved to walk around in the dungeon and towns since they just look amazing. I really love the fact that you can hold the left mouse button down to look around at the position you are standing. The only minor complaint I have is that there is no button to quickly snap the camera back into place. Apart from taking one step. This snaps the camera back in the right place.
The music and sound effects are really quite well done. While there isn't a lot of music in the game, the sound effects and sound design more than make up for it. You really feel that you are in a dungeon or palace and it helps to add to the atmosphere. There is one sound effect I didn't like, and that is the sleeping sound effect. It didn't click with me. I think something that would add to it is a sort of "waking up" sound where you hear a tent zipper go open or something along those lines.
Something that adds to the immersion is as well the voice acting. It's really well done. The dialogue also changed depending on your course of action.
The only nitpick I have when it comes to the presentation is that the game doesn't use its own custom cursor. It would be amazing if the game uses some sort of custom glove/hand icon instead of the white arrow that Windows uses. It would fit a bit more into the visual presentation of the game.
Something I found really impressive is the dynamic light system. You can pick up candles to light up your way. And they do, in a very pleasing visual manner. Something I didn't like here is that when a candle runs out, it looks like you can still light it. I didn't find a way to do that. Also, it would be amazing if you can light candles in the environment that have gone out.
The tutorial does an excellent job of teaching you the basic mechanics of the game. I highly recommend that you play through this at least once. The tutorial is really short and sweet. Also, it doesn't hold your hand too much, it lets you explore at your own pace. And if you want to read the last explanation again, you click a button and it's explained again.
The dungeons themselves aren't randomly generated. They are all handcrafted and all the loot is placed everywhere. If you look around enough, you can equip yourself with all the weapons and armor you will need. The game also allows you to tweak the stats to each character in your party to your liking. When you have enough stat points to do so that is.
The gameplay itself is amazing. You explore and fighting through various locations. There are also various secrets to discover in each area. Those secrets will be really beneficial to you on your journey. It's also wise to keep some items that at first serve no purpose since you can use them to leave them on pressure switches. You can throw items to anywhere you want.
While this game has permadeath, you can save and load anytime you want. There is also an autosave.
Something personal and minor I really like in this game is the fact that there is a feature to change the controls to an AZERTY layout. 🙂
The automap system is amazing. The only thing I miss is to be able to put notes on the map. Maybe I'm too much spoiled by games like the Zelda DS games and Etrain Odyssey.
The RPG elements in this game are great. There is realism in this game thanks to the hunger and stamina system. You need to give your characters a rest and a meal or otherwise they won't be able to survive.
Things that need improving
Something that I didn't like was how slow you were able to attack and how quick your enemies were. I died various times when I discovered the first secret to some enemies. There is a cool down time before you can attack again.
At first, I hated the controls of the combat. I had to use the right mouse click on the hand to attack. I thought this was the only way to attack. But then, I looked at the "Help & Shortcuts" menu and learned that there are buttons to attack. I think this would be really handy to mention in the tutorial.
I also think that the early game enemies are too strong. It just takes too long for you to be able to either counter-attack or use a spell against enemies. I lost two characters before I was able to slay one enemy. The combat system needs some polishing up in my opinion.
Speaking of shortcuts and controls, I think it would be lovely if you can rebind them. While the current control scheme does work for some people, some controls don't work for me.
This game could use some polish here and there. This game could benefit from a lot of tweaks that seem minor but would go a long way. Like a bit more sound effects, like when you open a door. The game is good, but with these minor improvements, it would be great. But, I think that this is something they are working on since it's still in early access.
While it's challenging that you need to find your weapons in the wild, I find it very odd that when you hire an adventurer, he or she doesn't have a weapon at their disposal. I think it would be an improvement if they have a basic knife or a basic weapon at the start.
In conclusion, this game is amazing. I fell in love with the amazing visuals and the gameplay that this game has. I'll follow the development of this game for sure. I also think that this game is worth your money. The asking price is perfect in my opinion.
The game is still in early access and the developer listens to the feedback that it gets. If you have ideas and suggestions on how to improve the game, open a topic on the Steam forums or write them an email.
I can't wait to see where this game goes. I can't say it enough, but I have to say that this game is worth your time if you enjoy dungeon crawlers. I do have to warn you that it's still in early access, but report each bug or oddity since I think this game will become better because of it.
When this game leaves early access, I'll surely take another look at the game and write a full review here on my blog. But for now, I enjoyed my time in the early access and will continue to play it. Before I repeat what I said too many times, it's time to wrap up this article. Thank you so much for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, take care and have a great rest of your day.
This entry was posted in Articles, First Impression and tagged 001, 2017, Access, arpegi, beholder, build, crawler, Dungeon, Early, explorer, eye, Fantasy, game, gameplay, games, grimmrock, hydro, information, items, jea, Jonez, jonez001, jonezjea, june, kingdom, Legend, like, moon, neko, NekoJonez, Of, physics, product, review, sign, steam, The, throwable, tutorial, with, world on August 26, 2017 by NekoJonez.
My TOP 10 games of 2016 – Part 1: 5 – 1
Part 1 (10 – 6)
I'm not going to introduce the second part like I introduced the first part last week. We all know that 2016 flew by. In 2016, a lot of things happened. But in my personal life, it's was one of the better years. In any case, it's time to give a little reminder. In this top 10, I list off the best games I played this year. If I started playing the game in an earlier year, it doesn't count. Also, it doesn't matter if the game is released in 2016 or 1996. If I started playing it this year, it counts! Also, it doesn't matter if I have beaten the game fully or not. So, yeah. Let's dive into my top 5 for this year. Also, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on this article and/or the games and/or your top 10 games of 2016.
#5: Ace Attorney 6 – Spirit Of Justice (3DS)
Link to my first impression
As we enter the top 5, I had the most difficult time choosing the order of the games. I had to make some hard decisions.
The Ace Attorney game we got this year was amazing. It had some amusing throwback moments to earlier games and it has hit me emotionally a couple of times.
It might not be my favorite game in the series, but it's was a pretty enjoyable ride from beginning to end. One of my biggest let-downs was that the 4th case was way too short in my opinion. But, in exchange, we got 2 "joke" episodes that made me laugh multiple times. Also, I need to remind myself to not play this game on the train to work, since I nearly missed my stop once and one time I started laughing so much, I got strange looks for the whole ride… Yeah.
#4: Pokémon Sun and Moon (3DS)
Link to my review
Like Ace Attorney 6, the new game in the Pokémon series is amazing. While it's not the best in the series, in my opinion, it has a lot of throwback moments to earlier Pokémon games.
So, I honestly think it's a no-brainer that this game should be on my top 10 games I played in 2016-list. Since this game brought back some amazing memories I had playing Pokémon throughout my life. I even met some strangers on the train who were playing Pokémon Sun or Moon as well. I never imagined that that would be possible in the crazy times we live in currently. Pokémon connects people. And thanks to Pokémon Go, a game I wasn't able to play, the craze for Pokémon grew even more.
I have almost beaten the game and I'm looking forward what the new Pokémon generation will bring. I think they are taking it in a great direction. If only they tweaked the games a little bit for long time players, and it would be perfect in my opinion!
#3: Stella Glow (3DS)
So, in late June, I downloaded the demo for this game on my 3DS. I was deciding which games I was going to buy to play in the upcoming summer. I played the demo and placed it on my wishlist.
That same day, I started talking to one of my friends over at ButtonSmashers. He said he still had a review copy of Stella Glow. So, in exchange for a review on the ButtonSmashers, he sent me the code over mail.
And believe me, this game grew on me really quick. Like I said in my review, the story pulls you in and doesn't let you go. At least, with me. This game is one that I wish hadn't passed under my radar. Since that game was already released for 3 months upon that point.
I honestly think I'm going to replay this game next year. The replay value is quite high in this game. I'm going to take a completely different route and try to see things I haven't experienced yet in this game. I'm quite looking forward to it!
#2: Zero Escape Dilemma (3DS)
"Life is simply unfair, is it not?" is one of the quotes I remember from this game. The Zero Escape trilogy got its final game this year. Honestly, I would love a new game in the series since I'm highly addicted to the gameplay.
This game came pretty close being my favorite game of 2016. If you ask me the question, what's your favorite game released in 2016? I have to answer that this game is my favorite game from 2016. But, I have played one other game that got the number one spot.
So, why is this game on my list? Well, I have played the Zero Escape series from beginning to end. I have played every game, finished every puzzle and the wrap-up of the series is just so heartbreaking. The story is over. Every dot is connected now.
The game almost didn't see the light of day, but thanks to the support of the fans, this game DID see the light of day. And I'm glad that it did. Everything in this game clicks. It's almost perfect. Thank you, guys and girls, for this amazing series. I hope you guys and girls keep making games since I would love to see more! Thank you, that's everything I can say. The series is so good, I hope that the Steam versions of the trilogy will draw a lot of attention. The attention that this series deserves! Seriously, thanks for making this game. I can't repeat it enough. And honestly, I can't say it in any other way.
With pain in my heart, I have to say that these games didn't make my list. Some games might come as a surprise to people who know me personally and know the game series I love & adore. So, yeah. Here are the honorable mentions:
Yo-Kai Watch (3DS): Interesting mechanics and gameplay, but I haven't gotten far enough yet in the game.
Sphetory (Android): An Android game that took me by surprise. Just read my article about it!
Mario Strikers Football Charged (Wii): Just Mario football. But it's a whole lot of fun!
Evoland 2 (PC): Evoland 1 was amazing, so I had to play the sequel. And I don't regret it!
Minecraft Story Mode (Android): I had been putting it off, but when I got it in a sale for my tablet, I gave it a go. And I'm enjoying it a whole lot. Just finished the first episode.
SteamWorld Dig (3DS): It reminded me of an Android game I reviewed a long time ago, but this one is miles better.
Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS): I just adore the gameplay. If only I was better at it. Also, the micro-transactions nearly ruin the game for me. Since I want all content in my games to be playable.
Corpse Party (3DS): It was really close being number 10. The 3DS port is so faithful to the amazing PSP port that introduced me to the series. It creeped me out so much once, I had trouble sleeping one night.
Dragon Quest VII (3DS): I have played the first hour of this game, and I enjoyed myself a whole lot. But I haven't gotten far enough yet.
Bravely Second (3DS): The sequel to Bravely Default. One of the RPG's I love playing on my 3DS. I have to continue playing this game honestly!
The Beginners Guide (PC): A game that hit me as a content creator. And it has hit hard. Created by the creator of the Stanley Parable.
Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon (3DS): I can't believe myself I have played 10 different games that trump this game. The new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game was amazing. But it's number 11 on my list… Yeah.
Kirby Planet Robobot (3DS): While I think that Kirby Triple Deluxe was better, I think that this game is stil worthy to get a spot on the honorable mentions list here!
#1: Bioshock Infinite (PC)
Wow, I ended 2015 with playing the first game in the Bioshock series and at the end of 2016, the latest game is my number one game I have been playing in 2016. This series took me by surprise. The story telling, the atmosphere, the setting, the visuals, the gameplay, the soundtrack, the voice acting… it just all clicks for me.
It's one of the best games I have played this year. Well duh, that's why it's number one. At first, I had trouble picking which Bioshock game to put on number one. But the DLC for this game made my decision that much easier. It wraps up the story of this trilogy so nicely, I'm conflicted if they need to continue the Bioshock series. Since it's finished up so nicely, I think a 4th game would ruin it. But at the other hand, I can't get enough of the universe. And honestly, the fact that I bought and read the novel and bought merchandise… the fact that I often listen to the soundtrack of this game at work, proves one thing to me. The Bioshock series is sinking it's (sky)hooks into me. So, if you haven't played Bioshock; would you kindly give it a go? Give it a chance, you might find one of the best games you have played in a while.
After I had beaten this game, I restarted from Bioshock 1. I have played the three games (and the DLC's) this year at least two years. That's a clear reason why this game is my number one game I have played in 2016!
So, I'm looking forward to 2017. Since a lot of new challenges await me. But 2016 is coming to an end. I have said multiple times, this year was special to me. But, 2016 was a crazy ride from beginning to end. I have learned so much and experienced so much as well.
I'm disappointed that several events almost ruined the year for me. But, let's not think about them. Those events aren't worthy of our attention. I think we can agree that this year has been a crazy ride. Like I said before.
Thank you for all the support I got this year! I seriously helped my blog grow. I love writing for you guys and girls and I hope you will visit my blog again in 2017. So, have an enjoyable rest of 2016 and I hope to see you in 2017! But until then, take care and have a great rest of your year!
This entry was posted in Articles and tagged 001, 1, 10, 2, 2016, 3, 4, 5, ace, and, arpegi, attorney, awake, awakening, beginners, best, bioshock, buttonsmashers, charged, ChunSoft, corpse, dig, dilemma, dragon, emblem, end, fire, football, game, games, go, guide, i, in, infinite, information, jea, jonez001, jonezjea, justice, list, mario, minecraft, mode, moon, more, NekoJonez, Of, part, party, played, Pokémon, quest, sphetory, spike, spirit, steamworld, story, strikers, sun, The, time, top, two, watch, year, yokai, zero on December 30, 2016 by NekoJonez.
Review: Pokémon Sun and Moon (3DS) ~ New Generation!
Well, you might have seen this one coming from a mile off. Because I love playing on my handheld, I was ,of course, going to play Pokémon Sun and Moon. Well, I choose to play Sun. Also, I played on the old-school 3DS. Because I haven't bought a New 3DS just yet. I might do that next year when I have a bit more budget. In any case, it's time to take a look at one of the biggest games from Nintendo this year. Is it any good or is it a failure? Is this game worthy enough to start a whole new generation of Pokémon or should we all shout to Nintendo to stop? Here is my opinion on the matter. And as usual, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on the game and/or this article in the comment section. One little note: I have written this review as spoiler free as possible!
Childhood of Pokémon
I have been playing almost every Pokémon game from the very first Pokémon games. I owe a lot to the Pokémon series.But, let's not go into a whole personal story about how this series influenced my life. That story is for another time. Speaking about stories, usually, the story in these kinds of Pokémon games is pretty generic.
The start of this game is almost the same as all the other Pokémon games. You move to a new place and you meet the Professor of that area. He gives you your first Pokémon and you go on a quest. But it doesn't take long before new and fresh story ideas get introduces.
To avoid spoilers, I'm not going in-depth about the story of this game. Honestly, I think that the story could be been written better. I can't put my finger on why, but the story didn't pull me in like other games can. I have a theory, though. This game tried to do something new with the Pokémon-francishe. They tried to stay away from the usual "8 badges, defeat evil team, capture legendary and defeat elite four" story. Yet, various story elements make a return.
I think that the story would have been better if some main characters referenced the older games. It would have been interesting if the Professor said: "Gyms, we don't have that here. Here, you do various trails to earn Z-Crystals." Something I truly like in the writing is that it's variable. The reactions after a big battle can differ if you have used something or not. Like characters can get impressed if you defeat them without using any Z-Move.
But that's enough talk about the story. Since otherwise I might go into spoiler territory. Let's keep it at: "It's a decent story, but could have been polished a bit more."
The visuals of this game are pretty good on the New3DS. I have seen various people on the train playing the game but the visuals on the old 3DS take a pretty big hit. I honestly think that some parts of the game look a generation behind on the old 3DS. If you want the best visual experience, I think it would be for the best that you play this game on the New 3DS.
The visual presentation of this game is pretty well done. Everything looks pretty colorful and pops out. It's clear that there has been put a lot of care into the visuals. That brings me to another reason why I recommend to play this game on the New 3DS. The framerate. I'm under the impression that the game sometimes slows down more on the old 3DS systems then on the New 3DS systems. I had several times where I had to wait before Pokémon started attacking each other.
So, I'm really glad Nintendo didn't implement any 3D in this game! Otherwise, this game would go in the single framerate digits. Which it sometimes comes pretty close too. Especailly in double battles for me.
Just a bit too much…
This game adds a lot of new mechanics. It also upgrades some old mechanics to create a whole new experience. The clothing customization is back from Pokémon X and Y, and it's still as expensive as in those games. The Pokémon Riding mechanic is also back, but now with a twist. You can page Pokémon in. These replace the HM's from the previous games. Yes, HM's aren't in this game anymore. And no HM returns as a TM, so these moves can't be learned in this game.
In this game, you can also have that Pokémon petting minigame and you have a Festival Plaza you manage. You can also take pictures from hidden Pokémon and receive likes. You can maintain an island in Poké Pelago and fight in a Battle Royale. So, with all these distractions, don't forget you have the main story to complete. Oh, and let's not forget that Pokémon can call for backup during battles. (If only you can bring in a second Pokémon at that stage…)
There is so much to do in this game, which is a positive in my book. While I can understand that it's overwhelming for some people, where some mechanics get glanced over, but I think it's handled pretty well in this game. The only nitpick I have is that the new features and mechanics are introduced too fast. You barely learned about the "picture taking" mechanic and ten minutes later, you learn how Pokémon Rides work. It can become a bit too much sometimes…
Which brings me to another point. In my honest opinion, there is sometimes just too many animations in the battles. Opening doors now require you to press "A". You go into an animation to open the door, the screen goes to black and it shows you entering the building while the screen fades back in. But that isn't the worst of it.
I wish they added a feature where you can easily skip the "Z-moves". I stopped using the Z-moves since they take way too long to play. Here is an idea, what if after you have seen the animation one time, you can skip it the upcoming times.
But what bugs me the most is that when you capture a Pokémon. The amount of menus and visual flair you get is interesting and all, but sometimes I'm frantically pressing "A" to try and get back into the action.
Some familiar features also get a downgrade. The new fishing feature is lame in my opinion. You can only fish at a few spots. And sadly enough, some features like a Safari Zone and triple battles are absent from this game. Also, double battles are barely present in this game. Also, I haven't encountered any hordes in this game.
Newcomer friendly
So, I'm going to come out and say it. This game isn't too challenging. I was able to get into the end-game without being defeated once. Sometimes there is no challenge. Once or twice, a fight got pretty dicey since I forgot to heal my Pokémon. Something I dislike a whole lot is that most trainers you meet in the routes don't have more than three Pokémon. Not even the bosses. That's such a shame. It's improved when compared to the previous games (OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire) but not enough.
This could have been easily fixed. Introduce difficulty modes in Pokémon. One for newcomers to learn the mechanics of the game and enjoy the games like it's now and one for long time players like myself were everything is more difficult.
The game has too much handholding in my opinion. These things wouldn't happen in the harder difficulties too.
One feature I love a whole lot is that now you get the result of an attack before you do it. So, you don't have to remember which attack is effective to which Pokémon. The catch here is that you had to do the attack at least once against that opponent. So, when you do attack X to Pokémon X… you won't see the results if you use attack X on Pokémon Y. Unless you have used attack X on Pokémon Y.
The controls in this game are pretty great. Apart from some minor menu issues, I never had any problems with them. Speaking of the menus, I love how you can choose the order of the buttons yourself. This way I can finally choose in which order I want my buttons. I love customization like this! If only the "B" button worked every time I pressed it. Yes, sometimes the "B" button didn't cancel an option, it rather didn't do a single thing.
The music and sound design in this game is amazing. While it's not the best soundtrack in a Pokémon game, in my opinion, it's one of the better ones. The sound design is pretty well done. I love the ambient noise in caves. You can sometimes hear Pokémon chirping in the background. It adds so much atmosphere to the game.
So, I said everything I wanted to say about this game. It's time to wrap this article up.
The negative:
-The pacing of the new features could have been better.
-The game is too easy. A harder difficulty mode would have been welcome.
-Visuals aren't that good on older 3DS models.
-Slowdowns on older 3DS models.
-So things would have too much visual fluff.
-Some animations should be made skippable or run faster.
-Sometimes the game is too cutscene heavy.
The positive:
+ Great visuals (on newer models)
+ Great soundtrack and sound design.
+ The story is decent. And there is finally a bit more story focus! Also, different actions mean different reactions.
+ There is a lot to do in this game, so this game is pretty lengthy.
I'm somehow certain that this is an unpopular opinion but here I go… I think that this game is a step in the right direction for Pokémon games but there is so much missed potential. The game tries to please everyone. It adds so many new features to please longtime players but they make the game easy and accessible for newcomers.
The game could have been so much better if there was more content aimed towards the long time fans. Since due to the easy difficulty, this game is over pretty quickly.
Also, I think I'm going to buy a New3DS to play this game again in better visuals and have better performance. Since that's something that really brought the game down for me.
I recommend this game to anybody who loves Nintendo, Pokémon and 3DS games. And to a lot of other people of course too, since it brings old and new fans together. And that's something that makes me overlook a lot of the shortcomings of this game.
The game is great, but not perfect. The game could have used some more polish, but what we got is an amazing fun time and a great way to end the year. I'm so looking forward to what the Nintendo Switch port will bring.
So, that was everything I wanted to say about this game. Thank you for reading this review and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article on my blog but until then, take care and have a great rest of your day!
This entry was posted in Articles, First Impression, Reviews and tagged &, 001, 3DS, and, arpegi, buttonsmashers, demo, Europe, fix, free, GameFreak, generation, get, hm, how, info, jea, Jonez, jonez001, jonezjea, lag, moon, more, negatives, neko, NekoJonez, new, Nintendo, old, own, Pokémon, Preview, review, slowdown, special, spoiler, story, sun, tm, To on December 11, 2016 by NekoJonez.
Gaming Music – Number 7: Moar good tracks
More music articles
Oh yes, it's time to write a new article for this series again. In this article, I didn't look for artwork that has to do with game music but I used the first screen from Electronic Super Joy. A game that's good because of the music. Anyways, I'm a huge fan of game music. I admit that I listen to it nearly all the time. Even when going to work. It's just addicting to listen to the amazing tunes they create for games. The atmosphere is just so… amazing thanks to the music. Now, I do have some rules. I can't pick two tracks of one game in each article. Also, I avoid picking two tracks from the same series in one article. I hope I never slip up and pick one track twice. If that happens, feel free to leave a comment. Oh, and do feel free to comment on my music picks for this article. Anyways, here we go!
#1: The Legend Of Zelda – A Link Between Worlds (3DS) – Lowrule Overworld Theme
Such a shame that I haven't finished this game. Yet, the music is amazing. I really enjoy the melody of this tune. Yet, I have written a first impression of this game.
You truly recognize the melody of the overworld from Hyrule. This theme gives a more acapella-remix, one where the major leading instruments are taken out.
To be honest, this was my ringtone while I was playing the game. It happens frequently that a track from a game I really like becomes my ringtone.
Something I dislike about this track is how it doesn't fit the mood of Lowrule as I image it. I honestly think it should be a lot darker. Then again, this track might be in such a light mood since our hero is bringing light and peace to this realm.
Yeah, this must be it.
#2: Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright (3DS) – Objection Theme
Remember my extremely long review of this game? Or my first impression. The game is amazing in my eyes. It really deserved all the hype and it totally met all my expectations. As usual, I ignored the posts with new screenshots to avoid spoilers. This way I can totally hype up myself.
I'm still enjoying the additional content for this game. Maybe one day, I might write a game quicky about it. Who knows. I'm changing the formula of game quickies anyways.
But I really enjoy this theme, it's one of the best in the series. I'm hoping they are making a sequel for this game in the future since it deserves one. This is one of those kind of games where you're sad it's over. And be sure that I put the music of this game on replay. Just like this track. No question about it.
#3: Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald (GBA) – Legendary Pokemon
Link (extended)
When this track played when I found the legendary Pokémon for the first time in Ruby, I was hyped. While I think that the second generation is the best Pokémon generation, the 3rd game is the actual game I really got into the series.
This track still stays with me until this day. I fondly remember decoding the braille marking on the stones on get the Reggies.
I love listing to this track when I'm riding my bike home through the rain. I get the same vibe then from fighting a legendary Pokémon.
What kind of memories do you have with this track? Please let me know in the comments. Since I'm really curious.
#4: DuckTales: Remastered (PC ~ Steam) – The Moon
I haven't played a lot of this game. Yet, this track got posted on my forum by one of my friends who finished the game. He says that they keep this track until the end of the game. And dayum, is this a track to close off the game.
I really liked the music in the original but the remix for the remastered version is really amazing. Thumbs up for the creator of this track, or the remixer. It's really well done. It's almost perfect. I feel a new ringtone coming up. Yeah, I think I might take this one as a ringtone for a while.
#5: Okami (Wii) – Giving Kushinada A Ride
Man, I'm so bummed out that I saved over my save file. I need to restart this game. Now, this game isn't too hard so it's no real pain. The biggest issue is that I have to restart. And this game is pretty long.
Strangely, I haven't written any article about this game. Well, I have mentioned it in an article of games I want to finish. But that has been an article of last year. Now, I added this game to the list to write a first impression about in the future. Maybe you will see this game appearing on my blog in August.
This game has beautiful music. That's why I'm mentioning a track in the article of course. The music is very amazing. You really can image giving somebody a ride (to safety). Through a beautiful painted landscape, this moment is really memorable.
The rest of the soundtrack is pretty amazing, but none is so memorable to me as this one. Yeah, when you play it and get to this moment… You will understand what I mean.
And yeah, this track is my alarm in the morning. When I need to wake up and go to work. It really wakes me up. (And my mother, who is in the room next doors.)
There we go, another music article. I hope you enjoyed this one. For my next article in this series I have an amazing idea. I'm listing the remixes and game-related music tracks I love to listen to.
I have a few great tracks in mind. And it might not be the only one of it's kind. So yeah, keep an eye on my social media for more updates on the releases.
Anyways, I think I'm going to end this article here. Thanks for reading and until the next time!
This entry was posted in Gaming Music and tagged 001, a, ace, Amazing, attorney, Between, capcom, DuckTales, Emerald, game, giving, jea, Jonez, jonez001, jonezjea, kushinada, layton, Legend, legendary, link, listen, listing, lowrule, moon, music, must, neko, NekoJonez, Nintendo, Objection, Of, okami, Phoenix, Pokémon, professor, remastered, remix, ride, ruby, Sapphire, The, theme, tracks, vs, wii, Worlds, Wright, Zelda on June 25, 2014 by NekoJonez.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Several months ago, my youngest sister was in a concert at church where she was required to wear a costume representing a country. I talked her into wearing a dirndl as an excuse to make one but I let her choose the color.
The pattern I used was a German edition of Simplicity 4566 from the 1970s and funny enough, the ribbon trim I used was also from the 1970s, at least according to the etsy seller. The fabric is all from the quilting cotton section at my local chain fabric store. I chose to interline and line the bodice instead of use the facings in the pattern. I have several vintage dirndls, and all of them are very stiff in the bodice and completely lined in contrasting fabric. The idea is the bodice should be very snug, and keep everything in (so to speak). I wasn't too worried about that part, since I was making this for a girl, but I wanted it to be as authentic as possible. The only thing I would do differently is the apron ties. They ended up being very skinny, and I wished I'd made them wider.


KAPALUA, HI (TheSpread) – Mark Wilson won his third career PGA event on Sunday as he won the 2011 Sony Open by two strokes.
According to oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com, Wilson had 40/1 odds to win the event, meaning a $100 bet on Byrd will pay out an additional, $4,000.
Clark made the biggest jump up the leaderboard during the final round as he shot a 6-under 64 on Sunday, but it wasn't quite enough to get the win.
Pre-event favorite, Steve Stricker, finished tied for ninth for the tournament at -10 after shooting a 4-under 66 on Sunday.


One of my resolutions this year was to come up with projects that would help to bring the scrap bag under control. Surprisingly, the best way to achieve control seems to be to actually use these scraps 🙂 Wash Day Blues is a great project for that purpose. Techniques used in this block are pieced sashing, fast flying geese, half square triangles, all nestled beautifully inside of a sashed diagonal setting. The original quilt used my 30's reproduction fabrics scraps, but this would also look great using any other fabrics of your choice as well. Quilt finishes at 83 inches by 97 inches, but would be simple to make smaller or larger if desired.
second session of the Wash Day Blues on Friday Afternoon.


A promotional series of videos by Fukushima Prefecture promoting the region's sake has run into the very thing it was trying to combat: the taint of contamination (and false information) that the prefecture has suffered, including its sake brewers, since the nuclear power plant disaster in 2011.
Organizers found that the videos on YouTube were being inundated with English-language comments suggesting that the prefecture's sake was radioactive and unsafe to drink. The prefecture responded by deleting all comments and turning off comments for the videos in an effort to silence such speculation harmful.
The main "Nasake" video has been viewed over 2 million times since it was uploaded in September last year. The decision to delete all the comments was reported (sympathetically) by Japanese-language news media on April 3rd.
Here is how the Fukushima sake campaign describes the video, which was produced by Robot Communications and Tohoku Hakuhodo.
A Japanese student, Reiko, drinks sake alone at a bar in N.Y.
Through a conversation with the man from Kentucky who's sitting next to her, she realizes and regains something important from within her.
What is the hidden meaning of NASAKE in Fukushima's sake?
This is a heartwarming short film about a drink from one's hometown.
Reiko, played by Noa Kawazoe, features in other videos in this "Fukushima sake story" series.
The Japanese-subtitled version of the main video remains online with comments allowed, though this is basically the same video and the dialogue in the New York scene is in English (albeit heavily accented).


A baby-changing area with a changing table and wipes is available at the Tourist Office.
We can also provide a bottle warmer for your baby's milk.
There is also a changing table at Chalet des Airelles.
While Mummy and Daddy find out all they need to know for their holiday, their children can relax and play in our special children's area equipped with books, colouring pads, toys, wooden table and benches, and cartoons on a big screen.
Colouring competitions are held in bad weather.
Do you all want to take part in different activities but don't know where to meet up afterwards? The Tourist Office is YOUR Famille Plus meeting point. Located right in the centre of the resort, near all shops and activities, it is the ideal place to meet up at the end of the day.
And for even more peace of mind, you will find two Famille Plus passports in the Family Destination booklet for your children to keep with them at all times during your holiday.


There are so many users who use Facebook to document their lives, offer informational tidbits or to touch base with long-distance friends and family. Fortunately, most Facebook patrons manage to navigate this social media space extremely well.
Inevitably, however, there are users that don't. Let's take a look at those unfortunates who manage more misses than hits when traversing the Facebook sphere.
Previously known as the Chronic Oversharer, the Firehoser takes the idea of the overshare to new heights. Unfortunately, Firehosers have a compulsive need to Facebook-blurb every single thing they think (or do). The same everyday greetings pepper their timelines ("Morning Facebookers, time to wake up!" or "Urg, is it Monday morning again?").
You'll regularly be exposed to an abundance of social gaming notifications popping up on their timelines. They also feel compelled to endlessly inform their Facebook friends just what they had for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, supper and any snacks in between. And they don't stop there – their shameless outpourings include anything from informing us of any (and all) of their various medical complaints ("Great news! The discharge is gone!") to inappropriate bowel movement reporting.
And don't even try to suggest to them the phrase "Too Much Information", they'll only turn on a nauseating stream of victim rhetoric and potentially morph into our next "Great Facebook Mistakes" category.
Yep, you know the type – one minute they're revving up their "friends" with inflammatory attention-seeking updates or attempting to add a bunch of Facebook strangers, the next they're nostalgically troll-tagging high school photos of their then-best-friend's head stuck barfing down a toilet.
When any other Facebook user has the audacity to negatively comment on their efforts, they attempt to turn the tables on the very people they're harassing by saying something like: "Heh I was only joking, ffs grow a pair!". They then proceed to do it all over again, with a different set of ridiculous updates and yawn-provoking photo tagging.
While we're yakking about all things that fall into the "socially improper" category, let's not forget to mention our next Facebook douchebaggers – the Acronym Users/Abusers.
If all your Facebook timeline holds is status updates containing gratuitous use of any of the following (or worse, combinations): OMG, LOL, WTF, FFS, THX, BBFs or BTW – you unfortunately fall smack-bang into this grouping. It might be fine for you to use some acronyms some of the time, but using a whole bunch over and over again not only makes you look lame, it also makes you appear borderline illiterate.
We get it: your business is awesomesauce, you think so-and-so's new startup (which magically has just been seed funded by a company you part own) is totally amazeballs, you think BlahBlah's café serves the most mad-real coffee (insert here whatever hipster-or-SXSW-endorsed-brand-of-obscure-beverage in which you just happen to have a vested financial interest). Just try laying off the sales blurb and try being yourself once in a while, yeah?
Freaks carnival salesman photo by Michael Coghlan.
You've all seen them: those Facebookers who insist on turning what should be private displays of affection into very, VERY public ones. A handy hint for these types who insist on re-living every hot and heavy or cutesy bedroom performance via Facebook status-volleys: the rest of us DO NOT CARE about your revolting "lovenugget fest" or how many "<3's" you can slap on any old comment from your significant other. Just download Pair and be done with it, m'kay?
So if you have a Facebook account and have yourself fallen prey to any of the douchebag types outlined above (and see them all too frequently smattered all over your timeline), perhaps it's best to take a long hard look at your friend list and let the "unfriending fest" begin in earnest.
Public display of affection photo by Mor.


If you're shopping for a sports car that's fun to drive and has comfortable, supportive seats, you should check out the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro. The new Camaro turns heads with its aggressive grille, curved rear fenders, sculpted hood, and LED headlights. Its available in two body styles (coupe and convertible) and seven trims, so you can pick one that's just right for you. Chevy gave the Camaro a new infotainment system for 2019, and people in the Coopersville and Grand Rapids, MI areas can choose from numerous Camaro models at Betten Baker Auto Plaza.
You'll enjoy breathtaking power and athletic handling in the 2019 Chevy Camaro, which offers four muscular engine options. It comes standard with a 275-horsepower 4-cylinder engine that has ample speed and brawn for normal driving. Three other engines, including a 6-cylinder motor and two V8s are available for even faster acceleration. Drivers in the Muskegon and Wyoming, MI areas who have a need for speed will like the Camaro's available supercharged V8, which enables it to go from 0 to 60 in just 3.5 seconds. It also has poised, nimble handling that makes it feel planted and stable around turns. You can take corners at speed in the new Camaro without much body lean and experience a smooth ride on most surfaces. Magnetic ride control is available on higher trims, which adjusts the suspension automatically for even better handling on rough roads.
The 2019 Chevy Camaro has many standard safety features to protect you, including an ultra-high-strength steel safety cage, numerous air bags, and Stabilitrak electronic stability control for your safety. Other standard driver assistance features include a rearview camera and Teen Driver, which encourages safe driving habits in young drivers. Optional active safety technology includes a head-up display, forward collision alert, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross traffic alert. The 2019 Chevrolet Camaro has most everything you expect from a sports car and more. Visit Betten Baker Auto Plaza and test drive the one today.


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The Social Dilemma: How digital platforms pose an existential threat to society
Back in 2013 while working as a "design ethicist and product philosopher" at Google, Tristan Harris circulated a presentation internally at the company, entitled "A Call To Minimize Distraction & Respect Users' Attention."
Harris had become concerned about the addictive and distracting nature of some of the technologies that companies — including Google — had created. He argued that tech firms manipulated human psychological weaknesses to maximize the amount of time people spent using their apps.
In the intervening years, the destructive impact that social networks and smartphones have on society has emerged as a major talking point, with mental health, government propaganda, conspiracy theories, misinformation, polarization, and political chicanery central to the discussion. With a U.S. presidential election on the horizon, Netflix will next week debut a new documentary — The Social Dilemma — that explores all of these issues, featuring input from some of the technologists responsible for creating the problem in the first place. But more than that, many of the experts conclude that these technologies pose an existential threat to humanity.
The Social Dilemma premiered at Sundance back in January, but it officially opens to the public on Netflix on September 9. The film is actually more of a hybrid documentary-drama, weaving in interviews with some of the tech industry's key movers and shakers with fictional reenactments that illustrate "the dangerous human impact of social networking."
Above: The Social Dilemma
Harris, who has since left Google and launched the Center for Humane Technology (CHT) to lobby for positive technological change, plays a starring role in The Social Dilemma, discussing his initial efforts to enforce change at Google through his now widely circulated presentation.
"[The presentation basically said], never before in history have 50 designers — 20- to 35-year-old white guys in California — made decisions that would have an impact on 2 billion people," Harris tells viewers. "Two billion people will have thoughts that they didn't intend to have because a designer at Google said 'This is how notifications work on that screen that you wake up to in the morning.'"
Software engineer Justin Rosenstein is credited with developing early Google products such as Gmail Chat before heading to Facebook, where he helped create the original "Like" button. Rosenstein, who now heads up enterprise productivity platform Asana, has been an outspoken critic of smartphones and social networks, and in The Social Dilemma he notes that while such technologies were typically created with good intentions, they have ultimately create severe unintended consequences.
"When we were making the Like button, our entire motivation was 'Can we spread positivity and love in the world?'," Rosenstein said. "The idea that fast-forward to today, and teens would be getting depressed when they don't have enough Likes, or it could be leading to political polarization, was nowhere on our radar."
Utopia and dystopia
It would be somewhat incomplete to discuss the pitfalls of online technology without acknowledging the many benefits it brings. And therein lies the ultimate problem — smartphones offer tremendous utility, making them indispensable for billions of people around the globe.
"A lot of what we're saying sounds like it's just this one-sided doom and gloom," Harris said. "It's confusing, because it's simultaneous utopia and dystopia. I can hit a button on my phone and a car shows up in 30 seconds and I can go exactly where I need to go. That is magic. That's amazing."
Back in 2012, Facebook and the University of California published a study exploring the impact that online activity has on real-world actions, using the 2010 U.S. congressional elections as the focal point. The results were fairly positive, with roughly 340,000 extra people turning out to vote due to a single Facebook message on election day. Moreover, the study found that the "closest Facebook friends exerted the most influence in getting users to the ballot box."
While few people would argue against any initiative that gets more people out to vote, the ability of social media platforms to influence people at such a great scale — without the individual knowing that they are being manipulated — is what scares many in the technology industry.
There is a growing sense that social media and other online technologies pose an existential threat to humanity. Tim Kendall, who was director of monetization at Facebook before joining Pinterest as president, said that one possible near-term effect of online platforms' manipulative and polarizing nature could be civil war. And Microsoft researcher, computer scientist, and author Jaron Lanier looked further to the future, adopting an even bleaker outlook.
"If we go down the current status quo for, let's say, another 20 years, we probably destroy our civilization through willful ignorance, we probably fail to meet the challenge of climate change," Lanier said. "We probably degrade the world's democracies, so that they fall into some sort of bizarre autocratic dysfunction. We probably ruin the global economy, we probably don't survive. You know, I really do view it as existential."
In many ways, The Social Dilemma serves to do for technology and society what Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth intended to do for climate change — it's a call to arms that strives to provoke a real response from lawmakers, companies, and the public at large before it's too late.
"It's not about the technology being the existential threat," Harris said. "It's the technology's ability to bring out the worst in society. And the worst in society being the existential threat."


Shale Property Network (SPN) is an investment company that supplies a range of property-related products and services throughout the UK.
We provide investment opportunities for our clients that demand a safe, secure and sustainable return or who are looking for the right joint venture project. In addition, our relocation services help young professionals move into high-quality houseshares with added benefits and full property management.
Shale Property Investments has a client money account for our cash-rich investors in which funds are invested into property projects for fixed periods.
I've really enjoyed my stay and your property management throughout has been 10/10!
SPN are skilled at developing and maintaining relationships with tenants and estate agents. This has resulted in finding opportunities which would not have otherwise arisen and in securing stable tenancies in the properties.
It has been a pleasure securing a long term let for SPN, as promised they have been maintaining the property and providing regular reports for our landlord. Rent has been paid in full and on time. I hope to be able to assist them with further properties in the future.
SPN have proven to be an asset to any managing agent. They offered to pay for several items to improve their stay i.e. fitting a shower, installation of a new shower pump and many other items that would generally form part of a landlords maintenance cost. Rent is always paid on time. I would recommend them to any landlord as a tenant.
Shale Property Network's (SPN) Head Quarters is established in the heart of Guildford, Surrey.
Shale Property Network (SPN) supplies a range of property-related products and services, from providing property investment opportunities to helping professionals relocate in places where they desire to live.


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Tech Mahindra is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company. Part of the Mahindra Group, the company is headquartered in Pune and has its registered office in Mumbai. Tech Mahindra is a 6.0 billion company with over 158,000 employees across 90 countries. The company was ranked #5 in India's IT firms and overall #47 on Fortune India 500 list for 2019.

On 25 June 2013, Tech Mahindra announced the completion of a merger with Mahindra Satyam. Tech Mahindra has 1262 active clients as of June 2022. Tech Mahindra Limited has entered into share subscription agreement to acquire 26% equity shares in Upendra Singh Multi Transmission Private Limited. The acquisition would enable the Company to procure 1.5 MW of Solar Energy for its captive consumption at its facilities located in Noida, UP.

History

Mahindra & Mahindra started a joint venture with British Telecom in 1986 as a technology outsourcing firm. British Telecom initially had around a 30 percent stake in Tech Mahindra. In December 2010, British Telecom sold 5.5 percent of its stake in Tech Mahindra to Mahindra & Mahindra for Rs. 451 crore. In August 2012, British Telecom sold 14.1 percent of its stake to institutional investors for about Rs. 1,395 crore. In December 2012, British Telecom sold its remaining 9.1 per cent (11.6 million shares) shareholding to institutional investors for a total gross cash proceeds of Rs. 1,011.4 crores. This sale marked the exit of British Telecom from Tech Mahindra.

Acquisition of Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
After the Satyam scandal of 2008-09 Tech Mahindra bid for Satyam Computer Services, and emerged as a top bidder with an offer of INR 58.90 a share for a 31 percent stake in the company, beating a strong rival Larsen & Toubro. After evaluating the bids, the government-appointed board of Satyam Computer announced on 13 April 2009: "its Board of Directors has selected Venturbay Consultants Private Limited, a subsidiary controlled by Tech Mahindra Limited as the highest bidder to acquire a controlling stake in the Company, subject to the approval of the Hon'ble Company Law Board."

Merger with Mahindra Satyam

Tech Mahindra announced its merger with Mahindra Satyam on March 21, 2012, after getting approval of the two company boards to create an IT company worth US$2.5 billion. The two firms had received the go-ahead for the merger from the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange. On June 11, 2013, Andhra Pradesh High Court gave its approval for merging Mahindra Satyam with Tech Mahindra, after getting approval from the Bombay high court. Vineet Nayyar said that technical approvals from the Registrar of Companies in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are required which will be done in two to four weeks, and within eight weeks, the new merged entity would be in place. The new organization would be led by Anand Mahindra as Chairman, Vineet Nayyar as Vice Chairman, and C. P. Gurnani as the CEO and Managing Director. On June 25, 2013, Tech Mahindra announced the completion of its merger with Mahindra Satyam to create the nation's fifth largest software services company with a turnover of US$2.7 billion. Tech Mahindra got the approval from the registrar of companies for the merger at 11:45 pm on June 24, 2013. July 5, 2013 has been determined as record date on which the Satyam Computer Services ('Mahindra Satyam') shares will be swapped for Tech Mahindra shares under the approved scheme. Mahindra Satyam (Satyam Computer Services), was suspended from trading with effect from July 4, 2013, following the merger. Tech Mahindra completed share swap and allocated its shares to the shareholders of Satyam Computer Services on July 12, 2013. The stock exchanges have accorded their approval for trading the new shares with effect from July 12, 2013 onwards. Tech Mahindra posted net profit of INR 686 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2013, up 27% compared to the corresponding quarter the previous year.

Later years
In 2014, Tech Mahindra acquired Lightbridge Communications Corporation (LCC), one of the largest independent telecom services companies in the world with local presence in over 50 countries. In 2015, Tech Mahindra acquired SOFGEN Holdings, a 450-employee Swiss IT firm serving the financial services industry Tech Mahindra purchased a controlling stake in Pininfarina S.p.A., an Italian brand in automotive and industrial design Tech Mahindra announced the launch of its Automation Framework AQT (Automation, Quality, Time) By March 2016, Tech Mahindra's post-tax earnings had surged past that of M&M. Tech Mahindra said it would buy financial technology firm Target Group to boost its platform business process-as-a-service offering in the banking sector. In 2017, Tech Mahindra and Midad Holdings, a part of diversified business conglomerate Al Fozan Group announced the launch of a joint venture, Tech Mahindra Arabia Ltd. On the basis of a global partnership agreement signed, Tech Mahindra will market Huawei's enterprise products and services across 44 countries including India. Tech Mahindra announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CJS Solutions Group LLC, a US-based healthcare Information Technology consulting company which does business as (DBA) "The HCI Group." In 2019, Tech Mahindra acquired DynaCommerce BV. Tech Mahindra, during September 2019, has acquired BORN Group, a New York City based digital content and production agency, for $95 million in an all-cash deal.

In March 2021, Tech Mahindra partnered with US-based business intelligence analytics company ThoughtSpot. In April 2021, Tech Mahindra acquired US-based DigitalOnUs, a hybrid cloud and DevOps services provider for $120 million. In June 2021, Tech Mahindra also acquired another US-based (New Jersey) Brainscale Inc., a leading cloud consulting and cloud transformation service provider for $30 million, and Colorado-based Eventus solutions group for $44 million. Overall, spending around $230 million to buy 5 companies in the year 2021 itself.

Mohit Joshi  is scheduled to join Tech Mahindra as the new MD and CEO on December 20, 2023, which is well in advance of Gurnani's retirement date.

Locations
Tech Mahindra has offices in more than 60 countries.

India: Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Mysore, Noida, Nagpur, Pune, Visakhapatnam, Warangal, Vijayawada and Bhubaneswar
  Pacific: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
North America and South America: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and the United States of America
Australia: Australia and New Zealand
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom
Africa: Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Egypt , Uganda and Zambia
Middle East: Bahrain, Israel, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates

See also

List of IT consulting firms
 List of Indian IT companies
 Fortune India 500
 Software industry in Telangana

References

External links

International information technology consulting firms
Information technology consulting firms of India
Software companies of India
Companies established in 1986
Financial services companies based in Pune
Outsourcing companies
Outsourcing in India
Mahindra Group
1986 establishments in Maharashtra
Information technology companies of Bhubaneswar
Information technology companies of India
NIFTY 50
BSE SENSEX

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For more than 20 years, Christopher Amolsch has defended senior executives, public figures and other individuals in a wide range of prosecutions including:
Represented a former high ranking CIA operative in an FCPA investigation involving the former president of Panama.
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Represented a former Bronze Star winning army officer charged with a multimillion dollar bid rigging and kickback scheme related to the Afghanistan reconstruction effort.
Represented an official from the Office of the Commissioner of Revenue on charges of bribery of a public official
Prosecution terminated in a federal fraud and money laundering investigation brought by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General