Bit by Bit: April 2015

School is done for another year, but things haven't slowed down that much.  My jobs, both paid and volunteer, keep me busy throughout the year especially in the summer.  Speaking of work, you can check out my first published piece for Imprint, the University of Waterloo's student run newspaper.  It is a review of Avengers: Age of Ultron.  I hope you enjoy and share it with others.

On top of work, I have lots of things going on in the coming months.  I have movies to watch (and possibly review), live wrestling shows to see, games to play, friends to visit and a vacation to take.  It is going to a busy yet fun summer.

Don't worry though.  Silver Bit won't be taking a backseat; in fact, it will be front and centre especially when it comes to E3 next month.  I have a lot of things cooking regarding regular content for Silver Bit this summer so stay tuned.

Show of the Month
April has been a month to try new things for yours truly.  I got a chance to feel the pain, frustration and ironic fun of From Software's Bloodbourne, determine for myself if Game of Thrones lives up to the hype and rabid praise (it's getting there), and got back into watching anime.  My renewed interest in anime came all thanks to IGN's Anime Club podcast.  I use to watch anime regularly when I was a teenager, but grew out of it due to my exhaustion with drawn-out plots and my preference for reading manga.  Now, I am scouring used video stores and the Funimation app for shows both old and new in order to expand my horizons.

In expanding my horizons, I took a risk and spent 20 dollars on the Cowboy Bebop complete series DVD set.  While I am still working my way through the series, I do not regret my purchase.  In fact, I am loving it.  Cowboy Bebop is unlike anything I have ever laid my eyes on.  The innovation and stylishness of this anime makes it stand out above all the others.

Cowboy Bebop blends beautiful animations, always on-point humour and fully fleshed out characters.  At first, the show may seem a little off-putting due to how different it is from most anime.  Bebop never holds your hand; it just drops you in its world and lets you experience all its imperfections and quirks for yourself.  Also Bebop's use of music is unbelievable as each episode has its own unique soundtrack that fits its story and tone.  Plus, the opening for the show is thing of beauty.

Out of the 15 episodes I have watched so far, Cowboy Bebop is a really good show slowly becoming a great show.  It does take a few episodes before it gets going and about a good dozen before it starts firing on all cylinders.  Once it starts firing on all cylinders, Bebop is almost untouchable.  Bebop is an incredible show that you should watch, anime fan or not.

Most Anticipated Game of the Month
My love for the The Witcher III: Wild Hunt has been well documented in the annals of Silver Bit.  The game looks absolutely incredible.  I have been looking forward to Witcher III ever since it graced the cover of Game Informer just over two years ago and we are less than a month away until its release.

Just recently, CD Projekt RED announced the expansion pass for the game.  Before you get up in arms over another DLC pass like everybody did with the Arkham Knight season pass, Witcher's expansion pass is unlike other passes on the market.  While most DLC for games nowadays adds a few hours of extra content, this expansion pass will add around 30 hours of content to the already expansive Witcher III.  At 25 dollars, you are getting well over five times more content than the typical season pass.  Plus, CD Projekt RED is offering 16 free pieces of DLC in the year following the game's release.

It may be a lot of money to drop on one game, but I trust the guys and gals at CD Projekt Red to deliver.  I feel it is a worthwhile investment to get the most out of the grandest fantasy RPG ever created and help support these incredible developers create more great RPGs in the future.

Video of the Month
I have a problem.  I just can't stop watching Honest Trailers, be it for video games or movies.  They are just too funny.  I devoured the older ones throughout late March and early April.  Now, I impatiently wait for new ones to be posted.

To show you how great this YouTube series is (and maybe get you addicted as well), enjoy the newest Honest Game Trailer for Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire.

Launch Station: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

Released just under a year ago, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings quickly became the best PC exclusive of 2011 with an incredible amont of critical success as the game went on to win 50 Game of the Year awards.  Now close to a year later, CD Projekt RED has brought their 2011 fantasy RPG epic to the Xbox 360.  For the Xbox 360 release, CD Projekt RED has added more content to deem adding it the Enhanced Edition to the name.  For those who has already bought The Witcher 2 for PC, do not worry that you are going to be missing out as you can download the Enhanced Edition update for free.

You control Geralt of Rivia, one of the few remaining Witchers (monster hunters in this fantasy world).  Caught in the political struggles of the kingdom of Terneria, Geralt has to pick his sides and make hard moral decisions in order to find King Foltest's assassin and clear his name.  The Witcher 2 for the 360 is not just a straight port of the PC version.  CD Projekt RED has worked hard to tailor the whole Witcher experience for the console.  The controls, targeting, camera and interface have been re-designed to best use the 360 controller.  Being the Enhanced Edition of Witcher 2, CD Projekt RED has added a lot of additional content to the game's console debut.  New adventures, new locations, new characters, new monsters and new mysteries, which add more hours of gameplay and expand the Witcher 2's rich story.  The Enhanced Edition of Witcher 2 also features a whole new opening cinematic that depicts the the events which sets-up the story for Witcher 2.

For those hardcore gamers such as yours truly that does not own an extremely powerful PC, the Enhanced Edition of Witcher 2 is the only way you are going to get your hands-on this critically acclaimed fantasy RPG.  If it was not for how much money I spent on video games in this past month and the fact I cannot play two huge RPGs at the same time (focusing on Xenoblade Chronicles at the moment), I would be picking up The Witcher 2 tomorrow.  Having heard great things about it and having tried the PC demo through Screwattack's streaming demo service, I have been looking forward to this game for a while now.  Before the end of this year, I will most likely pick up The Witcher 2 for my family's 360.  If you missed out on The Witcher 2 when it released a year ago and you own a Xbox 360, there is no better game that releases this week.  If you already have The Witcher 2 for PC, you are better off downloading the new update than picking it up for the 360.