CABAL Online: The Revolution of Action

Time and time again people have drawn me back to trying out Cabal Online. I expected another generic level grinding MMO, but I was pleasantly surprised with the interface. After loading up the client and logging in, you’re greeted with a fairly simple yet fair quality character creation, something that I always look for in an RPG.

There are six available classes: Warriors who focus on power and use a single broadsword, Bladers who dual-wield swords for more rapid attacks, Wizards who focus on magic, they also have a fairly nice backstory, Force Archers, who power “Astral Bows” with magic, Force Shielders, who use magic to manifest a shield in their left hand and attack with a shortsword in their right hand, and finally, Force Bladers, who use both a shortsword and use offensive magic to attack as well.

After character creation you’re thrown into the game rather suddenly, though the starter quest does help. For a while you end up running around completing quests before being able to kill anything at all. The players around you aren’t very helpful, and there is always a bot spamming links to a scam to get free cash-shop currency.

The combat itself is rather interesting. It isn’t just click and you auto-attack until the creature dies, but rather you can mix different attacks to form unique combination attacks. Instead of gaining experience by killing a monster, every time you strike a monster you gain experience. It not only stops people who enjoy “ninja killing”, but also makes it more realistic when talking about combat experience. Each different type of combat your character can participate in has its own experience bar that builds up from using skills in that category. Such as for a Force Blader, using Impact Stab will build up your experience with swords, and using Magic Arrow will build up experience with magic.

The game also has a unique map and GPS system, where by doing various quests you gain maps to other areas. Also a dungeon system reminding me of the .hack series. Dungeons have unique area codes, like the beginner dungeon you get sent to for a practice skill test is Hopeless Green Despair, which really hinted at a .hack reference. The dungeons are accessed through the Warp Gate, which is pretty much an area that lets you access one of the many different regions in the game. You can go to any region at any time, though you won’t be able to use your map at all unless you have a Map Code for that area, which you can get through quests.

Overall the game is fairly original. The presentation isn’t as good as it could have been, but the gameplay itself is entertaining. The community also isn’t that bad, though they aren’t all that helpful on the more populated channels. If you enjoyed Perfect World, you’ll want to give Cabal a try.

Some screenshots demonstrating a few aspects of the game.

Anime Blu-Ray Disks: A Half-Year Later…

*illustration designed by me @ EtherFuture Designs*

At my main blog, I was posed with a simple question regarding my stance towards the “format battle” by an individual who had read my past editorial, Next-Gen Multimedia: Thoughts on Anime on Blu-ray:

“Well blu-ray is in the lead and alot has been done since this post. So whats your aspect now?”

I felt compelled to respond, using bits of knowledge and updates I had picked up over the course of a little over a half-year. Surprisingly, it didn’t take me much time to conjure a short, concise reply, referencing past instances of societal adaptations mingled with my own speculation.

Just as before, I don’t claim to know everything there is to know about this topic. So if you share an opposing opinion or have more to add, feel free to share without any childish bashing. That is the creed this blog, Atama Ga Warui, stands by anyway.

This is how my comment read:

Thank you for asking.

My stance now is that as with any advance in technology, the DVD format will gradually, but most certainly, be replaced by Blu-Ray in a similar fashion that VHS was replaced by DVD. Prices for Blu-Ray players probably are going to mellow out over the next one or two years or so, but this will mainly be in response towards how rapidly the normalization of HD technology in households spreads.

In relation to anime, big-name companies like Bandai Visual are already delaying releases to in response to the lead Blu-Ray is taking. DVD production of anime will be reduced significantly as production companies adjust their business model, but not completely fazed out until an estimated half-decade. I surmise that by that time, HDTV would have made a major footprint in how viewers access their media, while there will still be some reluctant to change until technology and media has been spurred on so far ahead that they MUST adapt (e.g. think about our transition from Dial-Up to Broadband).

I’ve already shared what I thought, and now think, about the format battle, but there are still a few possibilities in what sort of business model anime production companies will take with the power that Blu-ray offers. What do you think Blu-ray disks could and should offer you in your viewing experience in the years to come?

Currently Listening To: KOTOKO – Shakugan No Shana II OP2 Single – BLAZE – “BLAZE”

Gundam 00 OP1: DAYBREAK’S BELL (TV Size) Cover

Let me make one thing clear:

Gundam 00 is my favorite anime of the fall season. There are shortcomings in it, but they do not disarm the series from being something that I’ve fallen in love with even moreso than my affection for Gundam Wing. With the drama, the characters, the animation, and the underlying conflicts bringing form and meaning to the existence of Gundams in that universe, it is the series I covet after every week, as I’m sure we all have done with a series at one point or another.

I like this series so much that I recorded myself singing DAYBREAK’S BELL and posted it on my YouTube account. Think of this as a break from all the lines of text I usually produce for this blog. The description for this video is as follows:

This is the first time I have sung any anime-related song in the public eye. And quite frankly, this isn’t an easy song to master due to Hyde having incredible pitch & expression that I just can’t mimic completely.

In any case, I love this song and the Gundam 00 series very much. So this is really just FOR FUN, and to give a sample of my singing ability when pushed above and beyond. Any commentary is welcomed, though I don’t expect everyone’s words to be kind.

Song details are already in the video. Hope you enjoy!

NOTE #1: There were some audio sync errors that will make it seem as though I have bad timing on singing the lyrics with the music. That is not my doing. Please ignore it.

NOTE #2: There is no official TV size instrumental version of this song. I mixed it myself from the official full instrumental version.

Here’s the video!