lillywaters

[lillywaters]

Updates:

So, I have been bouncing back and forth if I was going to make a video and do a voice over of games to give this update. Today I decided it would most likely be better to just type it up post it to discord and leave it at that. When I start streaming again (after eyeing the new copywrite laws for the USA) I just want to be focusing on the games and have fun.

I have been MIA on Youtube and Twitch as honestly the world decided to hit me with a baseball bat a couple more times (like any of us need that with Covid still running amuck). It is not because I have lost interest, or hate my followers or whatever random ideas may have flown into the viewers minds so, I will clear up what has been going on to the best of my abilities.   

Grief during the Covid age Oct 2020:

“It’s funny the day you loose someone isn’t the worst, at least you got something to do. It’s all the days they stay dead....that’s the worst.” The Doctor

We all have had to deal with grief throughout out lives we have all had to say goodbye to someone we loved however, it is very different during this time right now in our country and really  even in the world. The grief didn’t just start the day I had to say goodbye- it started every time we had to that member of my house hold taken out on a gurney. It started when the visits had to be limited to one person only and it really hit when we were all allowed in the hospital due to emergency hospice protocols.

While I was able to keep my cool for the rest of their family and those in my house it was something that was slowly eating away at me. I told her during those last three days to keep fighting even if it was hard to breath and once she was out we can go for a beach trip. The last day we were told that she would be move to the hospice center and that we could visit her there. We had all made plans to but had to wait until she was set up in the next location and that we would be called.

After a few hours I ended up calling because we were not hearing anything from the next location. It was then we were informed only three would be allowed to see her and the list couldn’t change. And one slot of course would be for her life time partner. This policy was in placed due to Covid-19 and there was no changing or bending the rules. After the phone call we had to decide how to fairly decide who would be on the list. I bowed out to ensure that blood family would get the main chance however, we still had to do a drawing of names. Not really the norm for mental health or support while a love one is dying to say the least.  We ended up getting the phone call three days later from her partner, and we rushed over to help him with her bags, and to drive him home safety. He told us about her final moments, maybe so it wasn’t just an image that he had to carry alone for the rest of his life and the house became very quiet afterwards.  

“Family don’t end in blood”-Bobby Singer

Funerals:

Just like everything else right now thanks to Covid the norm is not the norm even funerals have changed. A place where love ones can come together to remember the good times of the person passing, a place to support one another is something that just can’t happen now. We were limited to four people, each of us took some time to say some words, it was the quietest gathered I have been too. There was no normal get together afterwards that I am used to on my family side where family come together eat, drink tell stories. It was we say a few words to a mostly empty room pick up flowers and her ashes and head home.

Warning below is talking about female health

“Health is not valued till sickness comes”-Thomas Fuller

During all this family and friends did not know that something was happening to me. I was so focused on the critical event happening that I kept trucking along. It was during the month of October that the my “normal” period had started, only thing was it wasn’t normal at all. Not only did the bleeding continue for two months straight it looked like I was stabbing someone with a knife ever 5-10 minutes. I was feeling weaker, and by mid of the second month when it wasn’t stopping I knew I had to get help or bleed out.

  So, I sucked it up and ended up back in the hospital that I was trying to avoid after loss and Covid. I ended up having to be rushed into blood testing, as the doctors feared cancer, and other diseases. It was during this blood test that they found out I had a extremely high hormone level which ended up throwing up another red flag for doctors for possible cancer. I was then had to have an ultra sound of the vaginal area to see if a tumor could be seen. During this part of many runs to the hospital they did not see a tumor that was raises however, the lining was to thick (which can be another sign of cancer). 

I was put on a med to basically shut down my body to hopefully stop the bleeding enough to get the biopsy. Let me tell you I have a very high level for pain figured this wouldn’t be a big deal. Clearly I was kidding myself and to be honest I wish they had strap be down or knock me out. It is not just the giant needle to pull out a tissue sample it is the damn burning while they are doing it. It honestly felt like someone was setting me on fire even right next to the belly button. The sample was sent out- keep in mind however that sample is only good for that area.  Thus why I was then scheduled for surgery with a  Hysteroscopy-to see what was going on in there but to also remove layers of my lining and send that into pathology.

While waiting on results from the biopsy, I was sent to a  endocrinologist because surprise when you have the levels I did for hormones it could mean a tumor somewhere else in the body. Two MRIs and one surgery later and finally finding out a week ago I am clean of cancer in all location of the body I can at least breath some sigh of relief. So what the hell is going on?

I have been officially diagnose with PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome). While the name hints at something that can happen-painful cysts that can explode  in the ovaries it affects may systems within the body itself. It can increase my cancer chances, increase possible diabetes type 2. It causes you to have to say goodbye to a lot of foods for your own safety, mess with your period (in my case never stop), hair loss, hair growth in other areas you may not want it, and the most shitty thing can cause infertility and high risk of miscarriages. On top of that a new peer reviewed study has also found out women with PCOS is high risk for covid fall outs as well. And a lot of women battle depression and anxiety thanks to PCOS.  Best way to control it is also try to keep your weight down but this lovely lovely syndrome makes it extremely extremely hard to lose weight. **Keep in mind there is also the PCOS thin version so just because you are thin doesn’t mean you can not have PCOS**

It is a lot to take in the last few months.  A lot of adjustments to get used to as well. I am figuring out who I am dealing with the loss of a love one and the possible chance of having to accept I may not be able to have a child.

  All the mean while getting used to an IUD that was installed during the surgery to replace the hormone I am missing to tell my body two things “STOP trying to bleed the body dry and stop over producing layers that could increase cancer risk”. This added hormone also can affect my mood or how I react about things...so I am learning how my emotions have changed which does take some time getting used to. And lets not mention the pain and massive cramps that the IUD can cause (which they state should go away at ...some point?)  also have to have in the back of my mind of a possible IUD failure which can have perforation happen as well. It is just a lot and a lot of learning I am trying to do and get used of everything that has happened the last couple of months.

Bare with me guys...I will be streaming or posting lets plays again, I am just making sure mentally I am ready because I do not want to be a crying mess on a video while trying to have fun.

[lillywaters]

Last of us 2- Yes spoilers ahead (For game 1 and 2)

The LoU2 was an emotional ride that by the end of my let’s play I wasn’t able to really give a review or my honest opinion of the game itself. It wasn’t until I let my brain air out that I was able to look at the game as a whole to really give my two cents. It was a long time coming waiting for the second game in this world and I cannot honestly state if it was the game we needed at this time especially with everything happening in the USA. The graphics where top notch once again naughty dog put effort into their games and you can see the emotions from the character, the music alone becomes a character driving home some story elements that I feel some may have missed due to the other element in this game.

Some of the Characters:

Joel:

We all have come to know and love Joel at least through the first game and while we faced the images of him losing his daughter it is the fact that he may have lost one other before his daughter. His wife- aka Sarah’s mother is MIA. The last of us made it clear that Joel is a single father trying and struggling to keep a paying job to provide for himself and Sarah. During the first game this is hinted during the phone call at the beginning with Joel stating: “I can’t lose this job”. It is hinted even more when he talks to Sarah about her gift and how she had enough money for it, followed with the statement of “You can start helping out with the mortgage then.”

When the zombies hit the fan, we can easily see that Joel and Sarah are only worried about each other (Tommy as well). Even if there was a divorce between Joel and the mother most likely Sarah would show some worries about her mother (Unless it was a woman from hell). And clearly if you played the first game you know Joel is faced with the second loss in his family Sarah. All of this pushing Joel to make himself cold and hard and willing to do anything to survive which is somewhat talked about between Tommy and him in the first game with the comment of “Took care? That’s what you call it? I got nothing but nightmares from those years.”

By the time Ellie joins Joel and the end of the game happens, we start to see Joel opening up and looking at Ellie as a daughter figure.  However, the scar of losing family stays with him as he has nightmares throughout the whole first game which is clearly related to the loss of his family (Joel may in fact be dealing with PTSD from these losses).

By the end of the game we see Joel decide to matters into his own hands and protect the family he now has created with Ellie by removing her from the operation table and killing the fireflies who tried to talk him out of it.

 Was this the right thing, while this was the driving topic for the second game I honestly believe Joel did do the right thing by saving his adopted daughter. While he did not get the ok from Ellie we need to keep in mind a few things. The first is the fact in the first game we find out they will kill Ellie to POSSIBLY find a cure. The “Doctors” of the fireflies clearly have no idea when it comes to pathology let alone human subjects. Even in the second game Abby’s father who would have ended Ellie’s life is hinted to most likely be a veterinarian not a human doctor. The second thing that we need to understand as of now even in 2020 there has never been a vaccine for fungal infections in 2013 which is when the game takes place. Tesfahuneygn & Gebreegziabher (2018) stated that the lack of knowledge about the mechanisms that underpin protective immunity has made it hard in creating a vaccine for fungal diseases (which the disease/virus in the Last of us world is fungal).  During the research paper cited above it did state at least in 2018 there is several fungal vaccines in development however it noted that each vaccine will most likely have to be tailored when it comes to the fungal side of pathology.

The second issue that we have with the game aiming to ok killing off Ellie for a vaccine is that it will not help those who already have the sickness in fact we would need a more therapeutic vaccine which is a whole other issue as of now our world is looking into therapeutic vaccines for things such as HIV, Herpes, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.  Really what the Fireflies should have been looking into is antibodies meaning you would want to keep the host alive not dead, so all in all in my view Joel did the right thing, maybe….maybe at the very least he should have only shot the doctors in the leg but once again you had a man trying to protect his only family.

 Ellie:

We have now watch Ellie grow up between these two games and we have to understand a few things. She has killed before, she did what she had to do to survive. In the world that she grew up in there was no ethics pushed or educated to the younger generation the saying “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” clearly was never taught. She was raised you do what you got to do to live no matter how dirty it was, and when it comes down to it revenge is ok to go for. Due to this lack of ethics, and dark world we have seen a girl who works on raw basic emotions, and a girl/woman who is unable to stop until she losses everything even what Joel gives her (the loss of her fingers) the gift of music and her own family ( Dina and her child) to finally learn how to forgive or at the very least move on.

We also get the feel of daughter like father as the death of Joel clearly has caused PTSD in Ellie herself with flash backs of everything that has happened and what she has done as well. There are some who have pointed out on the interweb that maybe Ellie in fact is NOT immune but has a different response to the fungal zombie diseases. They highlighted the fact of how quickly and easily Ellie goes into blind rage and becomes violent. We also know from the scans of her brain there is some kind of mass growth on her brain where most people start to change as a zombie.

While this is an interesting idea, I feel this would most likely take away from the emotion that is happening in the game. You have a grown woman who was starting to repair or at least take the first step to repair her relationship with her father (Joel) and give forgiveness. This was taken away from her and we see Ellie pass her anger unable to go through the process of forgiving Joel and even herself for living onto the very people who took Joel away from her. She wasn’t only punishing the killers of her father but also trying to pass her guilt and anger of being alive on them…someone had to pay- the hatred cycle wasn’t able to be eased when the chance of rebuilding her relationship with Joel was ripped away from her.

Abby:

Her physical body screams loudly about some of her own worries about her own life. She wasn’t able to control the fact her father was killed by Joel, this left her feeling powerless, and weak. However Abby in a lot of cases I still feel failed her father. While by the end of it she was able to find forgiveness for all the horrible things done (the image of her father smiling at the end) and is able to let go she could have stopped this hatred. This would have been done by not making herself into a weapon but studying and following her father in his footsteps by becoming a doctor or some part of the medical field.

In the LoU2 we are giving the idea that all the “doctors” were killed by Joel and there was no one left to make a vaccine. The funny thing is most doctors even more so as they are creating things such as vaccines would keep detailed notes about what they have found, what worked and what failed. The hospital which you are still able to visit in part two was not blown up meaning that notes would have been left behind for a new generation of researchers to pick up and finish the research (hopefully a bit smarter as well). However, instead of Abby doing this she fell into the easier thing to do which is hate and killing the man who was only protecting his daughter.  Which I can tell you right now if the roles where changed around Abby’s father would have done the same damn thing as Joel. To be honest this whole thing that there was no one left to continue the research was the biggest story hole in the game. It’s that reason alone why I could never get attached or agree with Abby and her group.

Music: In the last of us 2 the music was its own message and character. Looking at the Joel song only right now.

Future Days: This is Joel’s song to Ellie, and it has a bigger meaning then showing off his skills. Like we talked about up top we know Joel was a broken man dealing with some form of PTSD. With Ellie he was starting to heal and losing her even over the fight about him saving her easily breaks him again. He wanted to tell her that he loves her like a daughter but in a Joel way he is unable to clearly just state it out right so he sings this song hoping to reach her.

“If I ever were to lose you I’d surely lose myself” – This line can hint to Ellie why he saved her back in game one, and even hint that their hurt relationship leaves him adrift.

“Everything I have found, dear I’ve not found by myself”- This hints about their new life together and even in the town of Jackson before the fall out- they started to have a good life together the closets thing you could call a normal life.

“All my stolen missing parts. I ‘ve no need for anymore”- This can be a call back of his original family the loss of his wife and Sarah held him back in game 1 but now while he will not forget them he doesn’t need to focus on that loss.

“And I believe ‘cause I can see…Our future days, Days of you and me.” This line for Joel would be him reaching out to Ellie that even though things got messed up between them he hopes and can see that they can be a family again. He believed in the both of them in this messed up world.

“And all the promises at sundown. I’ve meant them like the rest… all the demons used to come’round…I’m grateful now they’ve left.- Joel is trying to let Ellie know no matter what he promised to keep her safe and planned on to continue to do so. We even saw that during the dance when the fight broke out even though Ellie and Joel was fighting Joel still came in trying to protect Ellie.

While maybe I will add a section more on the music later on it is something to pay attention to in the game. Over all the game had amazing graphics (Still was able to find a game breaking bug though can see that in my lets play), the story however, I had to breath for a bit to wrap my head around it. The story of part 2 was so filled with hate on all sides that it was heart breaking. It could easily make someone who played through it feel worn down and unable to see past the hatred.  Throughout the game I stated I couldn’t forgive or get attached to Abby because she just didn’t get it in a lot of ways she acted like a brat not moving on with her life.  

Ellie was dragged into that hatred and is not innocent by far, and she has the scars emotional and physically as her punishment for falling into this horrible cycle. To be honest I was hoping the game was going to be more focused on the zombies not just this vengeance death story between two broke humans. Naughty dog did get the emotion out of their players that they wanted which was the hate, you can easily see this through many other lets plays online. However, during this time period we are seeing between the pandemic and where the world is standing especially the USA it would have been nice at least at the end of it that we had some hope.

Some stated well she might have gone back with Dina, however if you pay attention Ellie did have the bracelet on as she was leaving to me this would hint she had put it in her back pack with her coat while being in the warmer weather area. And after the finally show down most likely got her backpack before returning to an empty house. Maybe their message was hey hatred is not going to get you anywhere you will end up alone which is what we saw of Ellie at the end of the game almost giving the player another punch in the gut as we see Ellie facing the one thing she scared of

      References:

Tesfahuneygn G, Gebreegziabher G (2018) Development of Vaccination against Fungal Disease: A Review Article. Int J Trop Dis 1:005. doi.org/10.23937/ijtd-2017/1710005

[lillywaters]

Last of us: Left behind DLC

-Note: I brought this over from my old college blog for my LGBQT project in college but felt it would be good to bring it over to my video game blog as well.

Pop Culture is something that has always been with the human race. According to the Ziauddin reading Pop Culture changes depending on what time period you look at.  An example that was given was if we go back to Shakespear’s time Pop Culture was the Theater.  In our time period when the book was written our Pop Culture ranges from everything from the Top 40 Radio, The Simpsons to even Paris Hilton (Ziesler, 2008).  While the reading focused more on movies and T.V shows it seemed to have missed a huge part of Pop Culture in our society.   Video games have become a huge source of Pop Culture in our society.  The entertainment Software Association has stated that there is more than 150 million Americans that play video games (More Than 150, Retrieved on: 2017).  This number is also not counting those who are on another massive Pop Culture media which is YouTube with its Let’s Players that allows viewers to watch other playing video games.

As the years have gone on video games have become better not only in graphic quality but also in storytelling and character development.  Characters are starting to show that they are not just one dimensional and looking closer at their personal life ranging from gender Identification, sexuality, racism and even sexism.   One video game we are going to take a closer look at it the Last of Us.  This game first game out on the PS3 but quickly was updated and touched up for another re-release on the PS4.  The main part of the story is based around two main characters Joel and Ellie.  Both are white and somehow have managed to survive the virus outbreak that has pretty much killed off pretty much everyone other than a small group of people here and there.   After the main part of the story has finished you feel like there is nothing else that could be told about these characters it felt like a basic model for characters and their personality.  The company then released some DLC which jumps back into the past before Ellie meets Joel and shows us that her character in fact has more of a story to tell.

              There we learn about Riley and the “special” friendship that they share.  Riley is an African American girl who is part of the firefly group who is a restraint group against the government and the marshal law that is taking place.  Riley and Ellie sneaks out to have a fun time which by the end of the story we realize it is more of a date taking place between the two girls.  By the end of the date the two kiss but then things start to go really wrong and Riley and Ellie ends up being infected by a bite.   Both girls knowing that they were going to die talk to each other how they do not want to turn and how they would much rather take their life.   By the end Riley dies and yet somehow the white girl survives.  In one of our readings we talked about the word Quare and how Johnson states that it is different than that of Queer.  When it comes to Riley’s character she may in fact use the term Quare as it has been adopted by many people who are black and gay.  The reading continues in talking about how the LGBQT community of black people often face different challenges than those who are white and gay (Johnson, Retrieved 2017).

It was interesting that they made the character Riley into a woman (or young girl) a woman of color.   It was also more interesting that they made her character on the opposite side of the law. Some could state that due to her race the creators believed to fall into the stereotypes of making non-white people a lower class who does illegal things.  Even more so the white lesbian girl manages survive while the main non-white girl dies giving you the slight feel that if you are not white you are not going to survive. 

One writer by the name of Heather Hogan in 2016 in fact ended up looking more into our pop culture and how LGBQT characters are often represented. Hogan (2016), found out that that fate of LB characters on TV shows often ended up dead (a total of 31% of all these characters). Only 20% were still alive by the end of a show when it was cancelled. Only a total of 10% of these characters ended up having their happy endings. While these numbers are based on TV shows writers of video games need to be aware of them as games are becoming more common as a source of entertainment. Killing of an LGBQT character should not be used as a quick emotional go to when stories are being told. In a lot of ways to me it almost feels like they are using the LGBQT characters as they use animals in a lot of shows or movies (which I also do not agree with) as a tool to be sad.

We need more positive images of healthy relationships showing that no matter what: your race, sexual orientation or gender identification that you have a right to be here and you have the right for a happy ending as well. This is true not only for Hollywood or TV shows but also games as well as they start to build their well rounded characters. There has to be a balance in the scales but maybe as our pop culture grows and adapts more we will start to see that balance happen.

      Resources:  Johnson, Patrick. "Quare" stuidies, or (Almost) Everything I know About Queer Studies I learned from my Grandomother.

Hogan. Autostraddle’s Ultimate Infographic Guide to Dead Lesbian Characters on TV. 2016

“More Than 150 Million Americans Play Video Games.” The Entertainment Software Association, www.theesa.com/article/150-million-americans-play-video-games/. Accessed 14 Aug. 2017.

Ziesler, A. Feminism and Pop Culture. Berkeley, Calif: Seal Press, 2008. PDF.  

[lillywaters]

Days Gone- Zombie world all around us

Yes, there could be some spoilers so be alert and aware!  Also note a good chunk of this is about my life and what is going on and why I haven’t been posting much to my Youtube channel or twitch.

******If you just want game overview and feelings on it go down to the section near the bottom that says only about the game***

I know I haven’t posted a lot here when I have finished some games, and even more so my streaming and uploads to at youtube have been few throughout the week.  I tend to be a girl who loves her zombie story type games as long as they have good mechanics   characters you can fall in love with and gathering with some crafting.  Days gone came into my life when I needed it the most, it was a game that allowed me to look at life and deal with feelings I have been dealing with when it comes to family.  Note: I will not be able to fit in every detail with what has been happening… too much shit has happened.

 Overall the world is beautiful, the story kept me going, heck even side quests I was willing to do. I wanted to try to do as much as I could in this game whenever I had time…five minutes free fuck it going into the game.  The main character Deacon may have been rough and tough when you first meet him but you soon come to find out that his journey is about love, and never giving up. Yes, at times he had to deal with grief and letting go but there was some kind of hope.

Some people have private messaged me asking why did you not upload more game play after your first three hours?  Some of you who may not be part of our discord may have not known but I had a family crisis happen, heck it is still happening today.  Really it started many years ago well over 10 years by now when my brother married a woman.   You have to understand my brother and I used to be very close he was my best friend but something just felt odd about this coupling and my family’s world was tore apart like the zombie attacks we often see in days gone.

The only good thing that came out of it was my niece, who I quickly got into anime and video games, after all what cool aunt would not do that right?  I would see my brother on and off throughout the years not as much as I used to but when we did get together it was a buddy relationship that you see between Deacon and Boozer.  Then one year the worst thing seemed to happen, the family found out that my brother’s wife was drinking or doing god knows what.  We found this out after the fact when she tried to take the stirring wheel from my brother he was driving and kill them both (Luckily my niece had stayed at my sisters that night).  She was place into suicide watch for 24 hours, and the family was told she would seek help.

 It was at this point my brother who felt like he was out of control of his wife, re-entered religion (do not get me wrong when done correctly it can be a great support…in the case of my brother it was an extremists branch). Once this happened he had pulled away from the family even cutting family members out.  More shit happened over the years more than I could explain here and he became somewhat an estranged sibling but, deep down I had hope that one day he would wake up.  If he was a character from the game he would most likely be the crazy ass Colonel Garrett.

We now fast forward to 2019….my phone rings right before a community play it was my sister.  She asks me if I am sitting down (Keep in mind I tend to be the one who doesn’t let her emotions get away from her so at this point I am just rolling my eyes).  My sister tries to keep it together as she tells me my niece was just air lifted to the hospital.  What she knows so far is that she had tried to kill herself by taking meds but they were unsure what and she was in a coma.  I had warn my family over the years to always pay attention to her and that something was going to happen but being the youngest every one brushed me off and now it happens.  I go the next day when she is finally awake and spend some time with her, it is at this point that I find out that she couldn’t take it anymore from her parents.   She had to be perfect, religion was forced down her throat she didn’t agree with, and this was her second time that she had tried to do this (no one knew about the first time).  

Because of this she was sent to a state hospital required by the state due to how many times she had tired to kill herself.  Luckily out of all this it was one near where I lived so I was able to go sit with her and talk to her.  It was the first time she was able to speak her mind and be herself.  I soon find out that she is part of the LGBQT community, something her parents did not know and for good reasons.  They were very anti-LGBQT but soon after they found out after hacking into her phone.   We had a month together to communicate openly and we both worried about when she was going home.  She is now home now but, things have only gotten worst.  She is a prisoner in her own home, her father my brother cutting off anyone from the outside world even her own aunts.  And what broke my heart was when she got in touch with me again. She was depressed hitting a low because even though she finally was able to say out loud yes I am part of the LGBQT community she was scared of being with the person she loved.  I asked her why and she said because she was always told it was wrong….and because of that she was wrong there was something wrong with her.  A parent should never ever make a child feel that their very being and feelings are wrong.

 Then a couple days later, I had called my brother he did not pick up his cell.  Left a message asked him to call back.  Waited until he would get home called his cell was sent right to voice message three times, called him home was sent to the answering machine. Asked my sister the best way to get him to respond which was text….so I wrote out a text telling him there was a rated PG anime movie coming to theater for one night about a concert band (She is 17 so old enough to see it).  I told him where it was two adults will be with her, I will pay for her ticket drive her both ways and it is a month away.  It was clear he did not read the whole thing a quick cold response of “We are not ready to let her do ANYTHING”  followed by a “ I AM BUSY EATING AND WATCHING A MOVIE”.  It was clear I was in his way and he did not want to talk to me.  It was clear that he was cutting family off and locking his daughter away from the outside.  Then my phone buzzed again it was my niece she had gotten ahold of her cellphone that she is allowed to use now a days for only a hour a day..  “Was that you calling??”  Yeah, was trying to set up the movie for you… “I thought so… he kept hanging up on you… I asked him who it was and he wouldn’t tell me.”

 It was right there that I realized, my brother who I was hoping made it out of that car that one night really did not make it out.  Whatever, got out of that car was just an empty shell a zombie who is just taking from anyone who he can and when it doesn’t get its way it brings down its own horde of zombies to kill off anything living.   That night I went back to playing my game, I realized that I had put hours into it without recording it.   I often will do this when I am dealing with stress or some form of trauma. It allows me to go to a world where the player has some kind of power, has some different story and is able to grow and become stronger.

 This was the same case with Days gone.   We have a man who believed he would find the love of his life his wife.  No matter how many times people told him he kept fighting through the zombie hordes no matter how shitty it got.  Then I finally got near the ending and the first shock of it when it came to Boozer had me tearing up.  After I had calmed down I realized the reason why I got somewhat emotional during it wasn’t just because they had built a great bro for the main character it was allowing me to go through the grief process of losing my own brother.  Who he was- is gone and I have come to accept that and understand that.  And while I hope that at the very end we would see he would come back like Boozer the fact is he won’t he is just another empty shell like the thousands of zombies I killed throughout the game.  I am grateful for games with great stories and worlds…they allow me a place to adjust and take things in, they allow me a place to go one adventure and sometimes they allow a place for the player to accept things that have happened.

    I hope you guys will stick around the channels I am starting to come back out of my shell of playing games alone again and I hope to ride with you all with the next story i dive into (haha see what I did there ride haha saa... ok bad pun)

    Only About the Game:

Over all I really did enjoy the game, it was a place I wanted to spend the few free hours I have between work and graduate college classes.  The story while some says just keeps the status que, I feel is not the case. If something like a zombie outbreak happens we would all have our own story.  Some may mirror each other but each one has some differences.  The main character may start off seeming only 1D in his personality BUT if you are paying attention to the little details, the little emotional ques from his face you would see there is a lot of heart, and you would see a character who struggles to deal with some of the choices he has to pick.  A prime example of this would be when he joined the military camp and one new member is a druggie.  In the camp it is very extremely religious under their leader who is very one sided. There would be no help for a druggie and the person would be cast as one of the undesirables.  Deacon over times builds a weird friendship with this person, and even states that he would be a good person to guard the doctor of the camp.   Shit hits the fan, the doctor gets killed and the druggie well takes the drugs.  It is at this point Deacon is told to go find the druggie and bring him back alive to be hung.  We get to the druggie before the other officers do, and in an emotional interactions between the two Deacon decides to do a more humane thing( instead of having him be made as an example before the hanging) and helps the guy OD before anyone is able to drag him back to the camp.  You could tell it killed a bit of Deacon’s soul to have to do this but he had enough heart to make sure someone did not have to suffer.

Now for the gameplay, sometimes and this MAY be because I was playing on it with first gen PS4 would have some lag burst while I was on the bike and a horde was chasing me like no tomorrow.  These burst would last 2-5 seconds but you had to hope to god you did not hit a tree or car or it was game over when that happened.  When it comes to crafting the game gives me the feels of Last of us. You gather some items and you craft, heck even the quick crafting window felt just like The Last of Us.   The only issue I had with the menu would be one your health hits the shitter and it says push the D pad…if you do not hold it down it doesn’t heal and often times I found it quicker to open up the main window and heal.  The only other issue is sometimes I felt it would jump to a different item so instead of me throwing my damn cocktail it would throw a pipe bomb at the nest which did not kill off the nest but would still trigger the zombies.

I will most likely upload this to my PS4 Pro when that comes (this week) to see if the lagging issue happens on that system.  The quest line, the main quest line was fun and getting the extras just added to the story. Take your time see the world try to do everything and you will easily be able to get a lot out of this game.  The DLC at this time from what I know is just adding extra modes you can do- it is free but I feel like they could do more. How about a new storyline about rebuilding even if it’s just doing the basic fetch quests in the game (some of us PVErs love building).  We will see if they do anything more when it comes to future DLC.  

 The other thing if you liked Joel from the Last of us you will like the main character in this game…and OMG the puppy make sure to find those toys!  The other thing that seemed to be the only bug I had other than the lag mentioned above, I think for a total of two quests the area would not load. I would have to log out of the game and reboot it up to get the area to load.  Once again could have been a game bug or maybe my old girl of a PS4 is having a harder time with late gen games.        

[lillywaters]

Come on by to my twitch stream-Monster Hunter world

If twitch ends up being a do do head then I will stream it to Youtube but I hope to see you guys there!

Starts at 7:30 EST PM- could be a few minutes late with set up so bare with me

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/lillywaters

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lillywaters

[lillywaters]

If you sent me message on another platform

Hey I know someone sent me a message no its not weird to chit chat but I just lost it and its not showing up on any of my messagers!!

Please feel free to get in touch again.. I feel so bad because I do not mind chit chatting with people :D

[lillywaters]

Demo Review Dead Wishes

If you love visual novels and also a bit of a horror story this is for you.  However, if you are sensitive to abuse, death, and in some form a kind of rape vibe feeling this may not be the game for you.  You have been warned! :P

Over all the game finds a way to give you a freaky panic attacks as you know no matter what answer you give it most likely will not turn out well.  I only did one possible mate but there looks like there is more males and females you can pick from.

 The art work is nice and pleasing to the eye however; I would recommend to add more than just two looks from the character that is looking back at the player.  Often times doing the lets play I was worried that it may grow uneasy for viewers who are only seeing two kinds of emotions.   I know the development team is a small one but I think it would help the game to become even greater if more cells and artwork was put in for the final product (maybe they are going to )

Looking over the music, I do find the theme in the beginning to be catchy and the few different songs they have are also giving me a throwback feel to midi files.  For sounds effects they do have some but would also recommend adding more to make the world come more to life.  Yes it is a visual novel but view it like how an old radio show used to be made.  You have sounds effects for everything from steps, to breathing, to door creaks all of this little stuff will make it feel more alive and suck the player more into the game.

 Overall the story was one that did cause a bit of panic as I wasn’t sure what the crazy ass lover was going to do.  And at one part it got dark very quickly, leaving me with my mouth half open what the character had to see or be put through.

 However, don’t just take my word for it-  Make sure to test out the demo yourselves maybe try going a with a different lover than I did in my letsplay!

 Thank you guys for letting me know about the demo I had fun, even though it does make me think twice before getting chummy with another human being because we never know what is hiding behind that smile!

[lillywaters]

Horizon Zero Dawn- Main story (maybe some spoilers)

 While many have already finished the game I can admit I have just got around it.   It was a game I decided to play on my own.  While I love uploading Lets Plays, sometimes there are some games that you wish to see and feel for the first time on your own.   This is one of those games, and one of those games where a female main lead stands on her own two feet and by the end is still standing on her own without a male romantic attachment.   It is a story of growth, but in turn finding yourself.  It is also a story that warns humanity to be careful in this one world that we have been given and not to abuse it because so quickly we can lose it all.

Throughout the game we are given reminders that before the tribes of humans walked around the Earth, there was clearly a more advance race of humans yet no one really knew what happened.   It was believed that the Machines had killed off the humans but it was not known how extreme they had gone to remove the human pests.

 The character Aloy, is more or less forced onto her quest, when one her stand in father is killed and her tribe never accepted her.  She wished to know who her mother was where she came from and it is this quest that opens an almost magical world that many humans in the real world have not seen in thousands of years.  The wild world, with over growth and the dangers in this world reminds humans how they are not always at the top of the food chain.  And even though the wild is a dangerous place it is also a beautiful place to wander through.

While there were some people who hated the fact that there was a female lead I also noticed that some even commented on the fact they hated the female talking randomly throughout their gameplay.  To me it gave me the feeling that Aloy was a real person, often times when I find myself alone in the woods, or else where I may in fact talk out loud to myself.  And while this was also just one of the many things that made the character feel more alive I have to give props to the creatures not making a super model out of the main female character.

By doing this, they made the story feel more real, while she was pretty in her own ways it is also true that she had her rough edges, she was what some would say is a tomboy willing to get her hands dirty.   In some cases this allows the character to stand on her own two feet as she is not worried about what she looks like while she is trying to survive in this world.  I also enjoyed the fact that the game allowed you to pick some lines that the character states to other people in the world.   This allows the player to decide if Aloy will speak from the heart, mind, or brute force, giving a different feel depending on how you play her.

 The worlds itself has a lot of find and gather, a good chunk of my time I was out in the world gathering, building but also trying to find all of the background information about the world that had passed.  Throughout the findings you see the good the bad and even the sadness that came about from the ending of the first set of humans.  Some of the sounds bits makes you want to learn more about these pass humans, and see their story which in some cases we get to see bits of it through holograms.  We soon find out that the “two” mothers that Aloy really had- sacrifice themselves for the better good of others.  It is this sacrifice that we can all learn an important lesson to take with us out into our own world.  I was touched with some of the quotes the further we got into the game.

“ She said I had to care. She said, "Elisabet, being smart will count for nothing if you don't make the world better. You have to use your smarts to count for something, to serve life, not death." 

We as a species should be asking ourselves how are we serving life?  How are we making the world a better place not just for ourselves or our species but for our whole biosphere?  Are we serving life, or are we as a species serving death in turn causing more harm than good.   It does not matter how smart we are as a species if we are just destroying, sooner or later that destruction we are causing will catch up with us.  Some may say that there is no point just one person does not make a difference, yet one candle can lit thousands of others and those lit after can follow the same path in turn making a massive difference.  So be the change that you want to see, even when it is hard and you may stand alone when it comes to what is right, stand there and sooner or later others will stand next to you.

“I guess... I would have wanted her to be... curious. And willful — unstoppable, even... but with enough compassion to... heal the world... just a little bit.”

While Aloy did make the world a better place, and healed it a little bit the gamers should think about this line.   How wonderful would it be if we all healed the world even “just a little bit”.   I always try to put more good into the world than not.   While it does something positive for someone or something by doing this I found it to feel really good for myself.  It is a win win, and in a toxic world that we live in now it’s always nice to put some good in it.

 The gameplay, of the game I found easy to get used to and the movements were fluid. The graphics were pretty, and in some cases breath taking depending on where you went into the world.   The only trouble I did have was closer to the end of the game where somehow (I have no idea how I did this) I did manage to get the character stuck in a broken down building area.   I spent a good 5-8 mins just trying to jump, crawl to get her out but no luck.   I even tried to get an enemy to come over to maybe knock me out of the hole I got stuck in. Yet the enemy stayed back walk back and forth as if the game was having a hard time locking onto me.  Luckily I had just saved about 5 mins before this mishab.   Lesson of the day always make sure you save often, I would have take a long break if I had not saved in a couple of hours.

 Over all the story was great, it kept me going to see where the journey was going to end, if you have not played the game yet jump onto it.  I am sure at some point I will get the DLC but for now I am happy with my journey with Aloy on her quest to find herself and save the world.

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Make sure to check out my Youtube channel and hit that sub button if you love video games!

https://www.youtube.com/c/lillywaters

a���

[lillywaters]

Call of Duty WW2 how it fairs

I was in the beta for this game, it was great it was fun and it was raw compared to the future games.   Yet it still even during the beta was not as smooth as say Titanfall 2.  

Once the game came out I spent most of my time in WW2 version of this game.  However, as time went on it started to become stale, and more or less frustrating.  Even comparing this game to older CODs I feel the game is slower, clunky and overall a step backwards.   

Now that people have played the game to death, we are having a massive increase in spawn kills.  Thanks to small maps, and only two spawn points which I have no idea what the creators were thinking when they did this you are sure to die thousands of times as soon as you spawn.

The other thing that may seem small to some people but rubs me the wrong way is the jumping... for the love of god we are in 2018 not 1999 or early 2000s.  And I swear to god, if you keep changing my character back to a male model I am going to break the damn disk.

Once again they have made the “snipers” OPed, almost more so in this game than their past games.  I have seen kill cams where the damn player doesn’t even get a clear shot yet the hit box is off the shoulder and its a one hit kill.   I am sorry but in WW2 snipers could not “quick scope”.  The process even to this day takes time, between figuring out the mileage between you and your target, winds, and any shakes from yourself to make a clear on hit.

I should not be dying with one hit after I have already put 15 plus bullets into a sniper up close.   The other issue is the fact that people are able to shoot through multiple walls as well, which with guns from ww2 would most likely not happen.   The lag compensation is also out of control as I have had people just appear in front of me out of no where or shoot me dead after the fact I am around the corner.    

I want to collect everything but the basic game has become stale for me and I am finding myself going back to the more future settings in black ops 3, and even advance warfare.

Prop hunt is now what I tend to play in WW2, yet I know sooner or later that will also become dull.  And now that has been out a week people are finding a way to “cheat” by being off the map, or hanging up in the sky, which clearly was not supposed to be part of the programming.   

 It is sad because honestly I did not get this way with past CODs, something just feels missing in this one.  So is this COD holding up to its past FPs, I have to say no, I have never gotten so upset over a FPS or bored or at the very least frustrated as I have at this version of the game.

The community of the game I do have to say is the most toxic, I have seen.  Between their symbols on their badges, to even their PSN names.  I have seen over sexualized symbols, images and comments to even very racists PSN names.  No I do not need to know you love fucking someone else’s wife... No I will not blow you in your wheel chair and no none of it is a joke.  

This is also the first community that has been so loud mouth using the N word whenever they can it makes me sick to hear them.  I often times mute everyone because there is at least one of these kinds of people in each group...making the over all community really not a safe one.  Yes I understand we are in a FPS we often shoot the shit, and bad mouth each other but when you are showing the worst of what humanity can be it is time to take a good look at yourself.

Key note I am not saying everyone is like this in WW2 but it just seems to be an increase of this type of behavior. 

Also you want clans?!  Nope... no clans for you but you can do a clan tag...that anyone can copy....even if they are not part of your “clan”.  To be honest I miss the days of advance warfare with their clan wars... I found it fun and even found my own little community.  Honestly not sure why COD gave up doing something like they had in advance warfare but they should think about bringing it back.

It may be the first COD I just go do the campaign and remove from my system. 

[lillywaters]

12 Days of Lillywaters Youtubing

 One the first day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

A gaming console I love….

One the second day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

2 Collab buddies (Lilly: yay!)

On the third day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

3 crashing streams (All three: That’s it I am done!)

On the Fourth day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

4 Nat connection losses  (Lilly and Way: There he goes)

On the fifth day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

5 DAMNIT SHWIGGS  (Shwiggs: I’m  SORRY)

One the sixth day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

6 Way freak outs (Way: I swear to god I am going to kill you)

One the Seventh Day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

7 lost lillys (Lilly: Where is the mini map?!)

On the eighth day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

8 lovely subscribers (Lilly: Love you guys!)

On the ninth day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

9 deaths from boss (Way: Well isn’t that great…)

On the tenth Day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

10 PvP trollers (Lilly: Fine.. you know what FINE kill me!!)

On the eleventh day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

11 Fuck you Shwiggs (Way: You know what…Fuck you Shwiggs)

On the twelfth day of Christmas my gaming gods gave to me

12  Hold stills! (Lilly: And let me shove my sword into your head!)

[lillywaters]

Thank you guys!

   We made it to over 100 sub on youtube for lets plays and live streams.  If you guys have no subbed feel free we are a happy go lucky community and I try to make sure it is a safe place for all kinds of people.   The main goal is to enjoy video games and shoot the shit together.  You can find my channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/lillywaters

Thank you guys it has been amazing, I am meeting new people, making new friends and even getting some fan art.   The community is amazing and I wouldn’t be here without you guys so... THANK YOU and I love you all!

[lillywaters]

Life is Strange finally done and now onward!

   Well, I have finally finished with Life is Strange.   It was a rough ride when it came to recording it for YouTube.   While I enjoyed the game and sadly even clicked the wrong ending I wanted I do hope in the second game they will use more Lets Players friendly music.

I have yet had a video game that got tag so badly with copyright issues with music.  Do not get me wrong it was very moving music but when you have to remove it, the message often times is lost.  

We got a solid story of friendship but also one that faced issues such as sexuality, bullying, rape, lost and even abuse.  It is a story that many teens and young adults can relate to and understand.  And in a lot of cases I hope this game did encourage people to become Everyday Heros especially in today’s world.

Another important thing that this game does it shows the fact that some of us sadly will meet adults or those who we look up to willing to take advantage and they may in fact not be who they show to the world.  My stomach turned and I had to bite my lip as I saw this unfold in front of us.  When this happens we need to reach out to others never stay alone in your own dark room.  And at the very least if there is no hero near by you become your own hero!

I have to wonder however, if they could have given a third option for the ending.  I felt it was very limited when I could have thought of many different ways how to save both.   The game made you question your ethics, do you become selfish and keep your best friend or do you do the ethical thing to save the most people?  What would you pick?

Over all I enjoyed the game, and hopefully you guys check it out.  I will be getting the second game though I am sad to hear the voice actress is unable to re-take her role as Chloe Which you can clearly tell is a different person.

To watch my Let’s Play hit my YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHwhoUTdhEpV6R-y_paba0w

[lillywaters]

Just random gamer thoughts

There are some that find it odd that there are real female hardcore gamers, sometimes even lifelong gamers.   And there are some who may view gamers as anti-social, lazy and not connected to reality. And while there may be some that are like that- that is not the case for 99% of us out there.   I am a female gamer, matter of fact a life time long gamer and I can tell you this video games just like books are a way to look into a different story other than your life.   It can bring people together as well as show us the harsh truths of even playing with others.   It can also tell a story and reminds us how we must be humans.

 I can remember where my hardcore gaming began; it started off as floppy disks (the end of that generation) with games such as Chopper, Kings Quest, and Alley Cat (and one chest game that had wizards and you go into a battle screen to fight the NPC…can never remember the name of that one but I would play it again).  Now some would believe this would be a start of a story of a person who would be loss but I would have to state the difference.

 Video games have always been a way for me to connect with people.  Even during the floppy disk days while I wanted to slap my keyboard as my damn little green chopper would not get into the base, I was next to my brother. I can admit it was the one thing that we could always connect with and do together.   My family has a huge age gap in it (My brother is about 15 years older than I am), and it is hard to find a common ground.  What made it worst is we lived out in the boonies with no other children my age around to play with.  

On top of the bonding time between myself and my brother games such as Kings Quest often pushed young players to reach out and learn how to spell (all of the actions were done with typing such as /look or /switch item and so on).  It was these games that did encourage me to try my best and learn as much as I could so I could see the story’s ending (Yes I know sometimes my spelling still sucks but hey at least I wanted to learn!)

               Gaming has also given me special moments, not just with family member but with friends as well.  During the NES time period I remember going over to friends’ houses and playing their ghostbuster NES, or tag teaming Mario.  It was this period in time that I even started to make a connection with my older sister (17 years old than me) as she had gotten herself a NES (God damn Duck hunt for taking so many hours).  It was also the time period that I started to get into action adventure such as Zelda.

I can also admit I did skip pass the next generation onto Playstation.  This was special for me because one it was my system my games.   Games like Final Fantasy 7 pushed my brother and I even closer as we clocked in well over 100 hours.  I would sit next to him once in a while sneaking some time in.  We connected with the characters on our screen.  Only to have one night the files erase half of our time due to a T-storm.   It was there and then that we banded together hacked our way through the monsters- rebuilt our characters up to the power houses they were… and then it hit us.

   The first time that a game really gave us emotions beyond just happy and a fun time, it gave us a bit of grief and loss.  Aerith after we had max out her limit break, went on dates with her was lost to us as we saw her bitter end, the sad music played and for the first time ever I saw my brother cried and to be honest I shed a tear as well. We were shocked, we were adrift and after that took a break from the game until a couple of days later.   We came together decided we would get rid of the evil that took her from our gaming world, and look for ways of saving her ( God damn Japanese edition had a way even if she was a shell).  

               I will never forget those memories with my brother and I hold them dear.  I hold them dear because as he got older and moved away distance did come between us. We no longer game together as I was going through the end of Middle school and the start of High School. However, once again video games ended up bringing me people who I needed in my life at that time period.  Games like silent hill 4, had a female friend and I stay up all night to finish this hellish game.  With a freshman and a sophomore screaming at 1AM we battled our fears.  

 The PS2 generation allowed my female friends to open up about different topics such as love, abuse and feeling as the outcast.  It allowed them to lower their walls and for a few hours (Or heck even 18 hours) a chance to be themselves and enjoy another world.  A game that I remember the most because it was such a huge deal to me was FF10-2.  I know roll your eyes but I remember saving up for that game when it first came out- scraped by and one of my best guy friends even paid the 10 dollars I was off for the game.  

 It was amazing graphics (at the time) vocal music and most of all it was a game that was about girl power.   The main girl did not just suck up the fate she was handed in the first game.  She became stronger and decided to take things into her own hands.  It is something very empowering for a female gamer to be able to play a female avatar and not have them always be the bitchy princess or the lost lamb.

 PS3 generation allowed me to enjoy my echii side a bit more with fun games such as Lolipop chainsaw, Hyperdemension Neptuina.  It gave me dark but creative games such as Catherin, FEAR, BIOSHOCK.   All which once again gave me memories with people, or even a place to retreat to when the world was a bit too rough on me that day. My love of JRPGS pass the PS1 and PS2 grew even more as the colorful games such as the Ateliers, The Tales games, and even games like The Witch and the Hundred knight.  So many worlds and stories and I feel there is so little time.

So what is the point of this post… I feel that it has gotten away from me.  I guess the main message out there is that Video games are not just for one sex, one age group.  They do not have to be childlike, however can be a fluid full stories that can move people and in some cases can cause people to do good in this world.  They do not have to be something you do alone but can be something to bring people together.  Most of all do not allow people to be little your hobby, and your interests because that is a part of you and if they cannot accept that they are not worth your time.  Just remember you are never alone because there are always other gamers out there sharing the same worlds and stories you are.

And as the PS4 Keeps on going I can not wait to see all the new worlds and stories that can be seen and heard and I can not wait to share them with you guys and my family.

[lillywaters]

Hello!

I will be posting a lot more in the near future.  More videos are on my youtube on top of a small Dailymotion site has been created for those who hate youtube platform.

I will try to get the same videos onto both sites however, some may be different once in a while.

Websites for letsplays:

Dayilymotion:

http://www.dailymotion.com/lillywaters

And Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHwhoUTdhEpV6R-y_paba0w

Video game collector sets will be reviewed again shortly as well.  I hope you all look forward to it!

[lillywaters]

Finally got back to Black ops 3 for my channel, this is part 8.  I just want to also state that yes I do leave in the crap matches because honestly I feel some youtubers only show the gold and somewhat gives a false view of some of the players.  I can also admit that sometimes I do get frustrated when it just seems there is always someone right behind me.

  I will most likely only do two match, other shooters it seems I can fit in three but even with cuts (thanks to my angry puppy barking) it still ended up being 30 minutes long.   Please like and sub to my youtube channel as well as share.  I really want to build a community by getting to 100, people who love video games, board games and even anime.

 I also hope to keep my channel positive and plan on keeping a close eye on comments. If you have your own lets play channel please let me know so we can add each other!!

[lillywaters]

Game Review early stages: Grand Kingdom- Grand Edition

I ended up getting my hands on this bad boy, even more so I managed to get my hands on the Grand edition.  When it comes to anime based games I love getting the collector’s, often time the art sells me and the colors.  The grand edition off of NIS America gives owners the biggest bang for their buck.

As we can see we ended up getting mini art prints, the stock of the paper is heavier stock which makes you feel like you are not going to damage them unless you are really trying.  On top of that the art work is something that you can feel you can frame and hang up somewhere in your house.

We also ended up getting a six pin set, sadly this image does not show the quality of these pins but they are great quality and metal base not plastic which this images almost makes you think.  They also are pretty heavy and gave weight to the second box that came with this collector’s set.  Wonderful pin set and plan on placing them on a bag because they are worth showing off.

The Cloth map, I love getting maps of the worlds we play in.  When it comes to this map it is high graphics and the cloth itself is also a thicker cloth.  I almost want to say it may be a step or two down from flag cloth material but it is still nice and thick.  Would be a great item to place in a frame around your house.

One thing that I always hope NIS America keeps on doing is the soundtracks for their collector’s/ limited editions.  It is hard where I live to find soundtracks for video games or anime.  I feel this adds more reason to get collectors sets.

The decal sheet I plan on scanning in so I do not have to use the original stickers.  The only issue I had with this is where they folded it it started to lift the stickers up a little bit off its board.   What they should have done is just cut the sheet into two parts so make sure nothing happened to the stickers.

It has been a while seeing a hard cover- full color book for a game like this one.  I think the last one that was any where near close to this quality was one you got out of the Lunar: Silver Star Story collector’s edition for PlayStation one.  The cover is thick, and the pages have silver outlining.  The pages are great quality when it comes to the images.

The first poster I ended up opening, the paper is somewhat shiny and slick when you touch it.  The images are crisps and it is a great long poster that allows you to see the many characters who you will bump into on your adventure.

The larger of the two posters.  Very pretty and the paper is a thicker stock that gives almost a waxy feeling to the touch.  Another wondering piece of artwork to hang up somewhere safe. 

As for the game itself, voices right off the bat are in English but you are also able to just read text if you want to zoom through the story. Movement or travel on the board appears as chess pieces which later on you find out you can change the view of movement.  As you move around the map you will see purple, red, or dust clouds appear on the map which also move around.  These are enemies.  You can either move carefully so you are able to get around them or face them head on to earn some EXP.

The battle system you are drawn into allows you to see your characters.  During this you are almost on a grid that you can jump closer to you or further up on the screen.  You then can move right or left, you also have a movement meter so you have to plan out how you are going to attack.  Depending on how close or far you are to an enemy depends what type of attack will work. 

On top of that it should be noted if you have one of your characters near an attack area or miss-click you will hurt enemies.  On top of that if you place out medkits and do not use them right away it can back fire and the enemies will pick them up and heal themselves.  When you do attack, some attacks like bow and magic often times if you time it right you can get in multiple attacks doing massive damage to your foes.

On top of that some attacks may have items you have to deal with.  In the case of the image above there are wooden walls.  Now sometimes you may be able to move your characters in between to get attacks but I have a feeling later on in the game this will not be the case.  These walls have HP and you will have to break through them.  There are also boxes that can be used to get higher for foes and your characters. 

So far this seems like a fun game and I hope in the near future to do another review once I finish the game.  If you enjoyed Final Fantasy tactics back in the day you may enjoy this game but remember there are sine differences in their game play styles.  If you never played FF tactics this would still be a fun game to see the world unfold and the stories to be heard.

 I would give this game and the collector's edition as of today a: 5 out 5 controllers.  It is possible this score will change once I finish the game but so far it is looking good.  And companies PLEASE take note how epic NIS America puts together their collector’s and limited editions, so many of you fail yet this company time and time again does great work. 

[lillywaters]

While this video has been up on my channel for a while, I finally got back to playing the game and adding more parts.  I have even cut down the time limit a little bit less so people aren’t stuck in their chair for a hour.  I must say the game has thrown me some surprises and emotions I was not expecting.

I will be also getting up some more shooters games as well as some horror games.  I try to bounce between shooter to whatever story driven game I am working on.  So needless to say my channel is going to have a wide range of different video games.  I also plan on going to older systems and games to do lets plays of those.  There is just so many games out there in the world, just because they may be older doesn’t mean they are bad!  

I also want to send a shout out to any other newer or low sub Lets play channels.  While I am not looking to be the next Markipler or Jack I am hoping to grow a community that loves games (board or video games), who would wish to sub to my channel but also give me channels to subscribe to.  I feel in today’s world we small channels should stick together and share our adventures in our gaming worlds.

Heck even if you are not a Let’s Player if you have something interesting in Anime, manga, board games, cooking, make up or travel give me a message and when you sub me I will sub you as well so I can watch your content.  Honestly I just want communicate with people who are passionate with what they do on youtube.  Those who may be over looked thanks to Youtube pushing the big guys over the little guys in the search.  So feel free to message me here or go right to 

my YOUTUBE page at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHwhoUTdhEpV6R-y_paba0w

If you message me on youtube I will also try to get in touch with you on there as well!  Keep youtubing and never give up!