|
|
|
|
This month's items are the Red Riding Hood and Super Powers!
 Seeing Red
Another fairy tale comes to Gaia, making the total, what? Three now? And the anime cliches come out once again to please those you just came back from Comic Con! Or something like that.
We apologize for the rest of the critique being a bit distracted. The UPS man delivering a copy of SPORE has just knocked on the door, and the package now looms over the computer as this critique is being written. We thank you for your understanding.
We also appreciate your pardoning us for using the royal version of "we."
"Red tells it a little differently."
So here's a little item for all the fans of the Wonderland and Enchanted Book items. The fairy tale is the age-old classic of Little Red Riding Hood, who went to her grandma-ma's house for one reason or another only to find her murdered by an anthropamorphic wolf. In one variation of the tale or another, the wolf is murdered by a passing lumberjack when he spots Red being chased by the evil creature somehow freeing the grandma who was still alive the entire time.
I like the tale of The Three Little Pigs from the Wolf's side better, personally.
Your default option is Red's hood, which comes in several different flavors for you to pick from. Hood up, hood down, hood with the cape! The standard rules apply to this cloak in that if you have long hair or a ponytail you'll experiance some layering issues. For those that don't have those problems, the hood is indeed very red. If you have that P. Urn evolutionary item, wait for for it open up or re-open up, depending on your generation of item, the Harliquinn shirts. They seem to match the best with the red that is offered with this hood and look period appropriate as well. The impatient may want to go ahead and bite the bullet by buying that Siriano Red Vest top. However, creative users will definately be inspired to use the hood in a Red Ninja outfit. It's not that hard to find which items match to give you that killer shinobi look.
The next item is a basket of food. You have the option of carrying it with or without a suspicous looking stain on the side. Is it blood? Is it mud? Or did the wine-cooler-in-a-bag-in-a-box bust open due to cabin pressure? Who knows!
The next two items on the list belong to Granny. Yes, you too can act like the wolf in the story and dress up in women's night wear. Well, kind of. You get Granny's glasses and her bonnet. The night gown is left for you to figure out on your own, but given some creativity, you can come up with something that looks like an old folk's cabin PJ. You'll want to invest in a grey wig, however.
The next item is the lumber jack's axe. Fans of the weapons available in Gaia will love the cast iron and folded steel look of this impressive axe, but I don't recommend duel-equipping it. Some of the options you get from duel-equipping just look odd with two of these axes. Your best bet is to use only one. And the best part is, you can dress up as either a lumber jack or a knight with this axe!
The Wolf's pelt is the next option for you to wear around as a hood of your own. You have two options: closed mouth or open mouth. The closed mouth option gives your avatar a little bit more class in the design department even if the head appears to be larger than our avatar heads. The open mouth option just looks odd. I think it has to do with the fact that you can see the wolf's tongue just below your chin.
The last option is a lovely little background of the path to Grandma's cabin in the woods. The image is well composed and looks like it came straight out of any of the fairy tale book illustrations you could find from this story. And the cherry on top of the whip cream is the fact that your avatar actually fits the background no matter what way you are facing! However, I recommend you stay standing, as sitting looks rather awkward unless you have something covering your legs.
Overall, the item does have its cliches and an average theme, but the options they offer do redeem themselves slightly enough to invest in it, if only for one or two attractive options.
IT'S OVER 9,000?!!!!?!?!!
Dragonball Fans and people who can't afford Alruna's Rose, rejoice and be glad! A cheaper alternative is here for you to show off your awesome aura of power and might!
The default option is none other than your usual power charging arua surrounding you with an electric might that makes enemies stand in fear and episodes last three weeks long. Strangely enough, if you do have the Alruna's Rose, you can equip this and the Rose's own sparking aura to create, what I believe, is a better design.
The next three options are the Energy Blades. These come in three flavors: Blue, Red, and Green! You can duel equip these in either combination, but be careful how you position your hands. This isn't the DBZ equivalent to the Mimzy Aura, but more of a manipulation of your aura to form a dagger or blade that will enhance your punch. The last thing you want your avatar to look like is like it is directing air traffic.
Superman cosplayers and owners of the Platinum Skin can finally show that you are indeed bullet proof with the next option. Here, gold or silver bullets, your choice, are shot at you only to bounce off your body as if they were hitting steel. It looks more impressive if you are bare chested and have your back turned. One can only wonder what kind of reaction the bad guys would have on their face when they tried to shoot you from behind only to see their bullets bouncing off in every direction.
Death Summon I'm not really familar with in the comic superhero sense, but then again, I admittedly haven't followed many comic superheroes as closely as, say, the Heroes TV series. It basically gives your an army of undead skeletons. This option could be quite useful for the up-coming Halloween event on Gaia, as I'm sure it will help you not only match the theme of the month but stand out among those new users signing up for the season.
I'm trying to remember where I saw Inferno Fists before, but can't. Probably X-Men. In any event, this option gives you a fist of fire. You can duel equip this for a better design, but much like the Energy Blades before, you'll want to be careful how you position your hands. In fact, one position gives you a fireball as an aesthetic bonus! I sense a lot of Pyro cosplayers now in the Arena.
The last option is a background known as Fists of Fury, possibly named after the movie of the same title. Here, your avatar is surrounded by stylized Kung Fu fists punching in every direction. However, if you are going to try to construct a Bruce Lee movie poster with this option for your avatar, just don't bother trying. The Rising Sun option in the Samurai armor layers over the fists which completely ruins that possibility. No, your best bet if you want that kind of look is to just leave it be.
Overall, there are several options that could be expanded on in this item outside of the cliche. The auras and energy blades/fists are nice, but not enough to warrent a collectible when you have the other options thrown in there simply because it matches the theme of the item. However, I know people will still invest it in for one reason or another, and they will enjoy it for as long as they have it.
Okay, Critique's done!
I'm going to go lose about 24 hours of my life now to Spore. I don't care what anyone says about the DMR on there. I want to play this game because I have a God complex that only Will Wright can kill!
 Zeek Slider · Tue Sep 09, 2008 @ 01:39am · 0 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
