Brave Frontier Elements and Arena Guide

In the game Brave Frontier there are essentially six elements, including Fire, Earth, Thunder, Water, Dark and Light. The elements are programmed in such a way that each one has a certain strength and weakness against one other element. This means that a particular element can inflict more damage to another element but also takes more damage from some other element. This way a sort of equilibrium is maintained so that all elements remain equally powerful and no one takes undue advantage.

When you begin your game, you are required to choose a unit from one of the four main elements, that is Water, Fire, Thunder and Earth. These elements can be later fused and evolved into their bigger forms which are more powerful. Here is a quick list about the elements:
Water - Strong against Fire
Fire - strong against Earth
Earth - strong against Thunder
Thunder - strong against Water
Light - strong against Dark
Dark - strong against Light

There is a unique relationship among the light and the dark element, as both are powerful against each other as well as weak, which means light inflicts greater damage to dark but also takes greater damage from it.

Arena:

The Arena in Brave Frontier is a place where you can battle other players and prove your mettle. You can get 3 entries into the Arena since you're given 3 orbs and each entry costs one orb. However these recharge with time and regenerate once every hour.
Also if you aren't comfortable facing any player, due to whichever reason, you can choose to skip the fight by going back using the "back" option in the menu.
There are also certain rules to the arena, which are:
1. Attacks are made by all units automatically
2. The team that is able to knock out the opponent is declared the winner
3. If a knockout doesn't happen, winner is decided based on greater number of surviving units, greater HP and greater damage inflicted on the opponent.
Upon winning battles in the arena, you are granted Arena Battle points or ABP. Each win gets you more ABP, leading to increasing your level with time whereas each loss takes away ABP from you.
Also, you lose more battle points if you lose to players that are ranked below you while you gain more ABP if you defeat players ranked above you. So you have to be wise in choosing the right strategy.

For more information on the game, visit Brave Frontier Guide website.

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Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (HD) Wii U

Back when Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was first revealed for the Gamecube it led to a lot of people feeling disappointed. Nintendo originally talked about and showed a much more realistic Legend of Zelda game for the Gamecube to follow up the N64 smash hit that was Ocarina of Time. Of course what they got was Wind Waker, with its cell shaded graphics and very cartoonish style of art like you might find in a children's story book. It also got rid of the imagery of an adult Link as a master knight and savior of a kingdom and instead we got a very young Link who had to sail vast open seas on a talking boat.

Over the years, Wind Waker has not only become more accepted, it's become a fan favorite.Now with the Wii U in its infancy, Nintendo has given Wind Waker the HD re-release treatment.Unlike many classic games that have been re-released on the PS3 and XB360, Wind Waker wasn't just upscaled but also has had a lot of polish added to the already timeless cell shaded artwork. In addition, some new features were added to keep the game feeling more modern and to fully utilize the Wii U Gamepad.
Story-wise it is still the same game and nothing really plays out any differently from the original. The only point that has really changed is that infamous Triforce hunt that comes towards the end of the title has been minimized in order to allow for a less tedious journey around the oceans. This leaves a lot more time and room for the other side quests; many of which already have a good number of steps as well. Nothing new was really added- no extra dungeons or bonus quests; but in my opinion Wind Waker doesn't really need anything like that.

Graphically the game feels the same but there are some big differences once you pay attention. I'm personally glad that they worked at making the game feel the same at first glance but also polished it up enough to make a difference. The characters and lines pop more- feeling much more solid- but still retain their cell shaded look. Though they are much more smooth you can still see their original polygonal composition. Of course it is in widescreen (1080p) and fills your entire screen as any full HD game would making the world feel that much more vibrant and large. A lot of work was done to increase the "bloom" of the lighting; aka making the sun and sparkle much heavier, creating more of an "island" feeling. You can also remove the button prompts and UI from the TV screen to allow for a much more cinematic experience; long-time fans of the game will probably enjoy that the most.
The gameplay isn't much different either but you get some added features thanks to the Wii U Gamepad. You can now aim weapons using the motion control of the Gamepad and your entire inventory is displayed on the screen so you can manage it on the fly instead of pausing. The motion control for aiming your arrows and boomerang takes some getting use, but as I adapted I found myself using it without thinking. The inventory being displayed on the Gamepad screen is a great feature and is what allows for you to remove the UI on your main screen. It also has tabs to look at your world and dungeon maps and one for your MiiVerse social integration. Later in the game, you can get an item that can speed up and make sailing easier- this is a welcome option to add. Everything else about Wind Waker plays just like the original, as it should.

The MiiVerse integration is a really nice feature and different from other games so far since it actually plays off the theme of Wind Waker, a vast explorable ocean with islands. Now you can use something called a Tingle Bottle and the camera (PictoBox) that was available in the original to send out messages in the bottle with a picture included if you so desire. These bottles then float around in the ocean and appear in other people's games and of course you'll find ones in your game as well. It is a cute feature and I enjoyed finding a bottle on the beach of whatever island I'm on with some picture of someone's journey through the game. As an added bonus the new PictoBox can take self portraits with Link able to make several expressions, allowing for fun narratives to be made when coming up against a boss or just a good part of the story.

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD is a great re-release of a classic Gamecube title. It keeps the original intact while adding new features and a very well done new coat of paint. The game still has plenty to do just as it did originally and is just as enjoyable as it was when it first came out. Plus it still has one of the best soundtracks from any Legend of Zelda game. It is a perfect Wii U game for a fan of the original or someone looking to try Wind Waker for the first time.As a special release and with such work done it, it is priced a bit higher than most HD re-releases at $49.99, but it is worth every penny.

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Battlefield 4 Review

Well, well, well, looks like the fall season is finally here. That means we're reaching the point of the year when the gaming industry releases their biggest games. Of course we have the (now yearly) Call of Duty franchise, along with the new Assassin's Creed, Pokemon and of course Grand Theft Auto. As excited as I was to play all of these, all of my hype was saved for Battlefield 4. Does EA's latest installment in this warzone shooter satisfy?

Before I delve into the massive multiplayer feature this game's known for, I have to bring up its campaign section. It's no secret that Battlefield 3's singleplayer portion was just downright uninspired, and at times not very engaging, let alone fun. With Battlefield 4, sadly, it's the same broken record.

You're playing as Recker and his squad throughout the cinematic experience. You'll have betrayals, conspiracies and enough explosions along the way that Michael Bay might lose his job. DICE really tries to connect you with the characters but most of the cliché war shooter moments pull you right back out. It rarely breaks any new ground and often times I began rolling my eyes at some of the caffeine inspired dialogue.

If you don't even set foot into the story mode you wouldn't be missing anything. Unfortunately, the version I played (Xbox 360) the game would constantly corrupt my save file in the campaign. This means I had to restart all of my progress. Granted, the singleplayer portion only clocks in at about four hours but playing through the same messy experience was a very bleak punishment. Eventually, my problems were solved by just saving my progress on Xbox Live's cloud feature. If I didn't have a subscription to Xbox Live and access to the internet on my console, I would've been out of luck.
It's obvious that you aren't going to be focusing on the story mode with a title like Battlefield 4. The real meat and potatoes you're looking for is the Multiplayer section. Is it any good? I'm confident that this is one of the best Multiplayer experiences in all of gaming, PC included. I've haven't had this much fun in an online shooter in quite some time and the revisions DICE made from Battlefield 3 makes the experience that much smoother.

Multiplayer is loaded to the brim with unlocks, customization options and even the Commander mode from Battlefield 2 makes its triumphant return. There's so much to do here just in the menus that you'll almost feel overwhelmed. That's actually a positive thing for a game nowadays, and this one is busting with content just waiting for you to unlock. Needless to say, you'll have plenty of stuff to keep you busy.

In terms of actual gameplay, it plays very similarly to 2011′s Battlefield 3. With various refinements to classes, everything seems to be perfected this time around. Take for instance the Recon class; they can now zero in their sights on their scopes to allow them to more accurately aim their shots. Of course it's Battlefield so there are plenty of vehicles to play around in. There's an emphasis on water-based maps in Battlefield 4, so there are plenty of new watercraft machines of destruction to partake of.

Admittedly, the game does suffer sometimes visually. A majority of your playtime you'll be washed with graphical prowess but every so often there will be a hideous texture as well. Granted, I did play on a current system (Xbox 360) and I have had hands-on time with the next-gen version of the game and the differences are night and day. If you plan on getting either the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, I highly advise you to skip out on this current-gen version of the game. You'll have 64 player matches, and PC like performance with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 copies.
Even though the campaign was entirely forgettable at best and grueling at its worst, the multiplayer easily made me forget about my terrible campaign experiences. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game seem to be the ugly ducklings of Battlefield 4, and almost beg you to just wait for the next-generation versions of the game. In my opinion, if you don't plan on getting either one of those consoles then sure, pick up Battlefield 4. There's still plenty of fun to be had with this title, at least when it comes to multiplayer.

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