The Importance of Diversity in Game Development

 I know I haven't written in this blog for quite some time, but I wanted to make one last entry before this year is over to talk about something very important to me and to get the word out a little more especially for what I and others have gone through in 2016. In the future I hope I can start writing again a bit more, but without further ado here is my last article of 2016.

In times of strife and depression, video games are a tool of coping and a form of escapism for people. Video games have can have rudimentary effect in numerous ways on society ranging from economics, pop culture, inspiration, and social engagement. Like other forms of media, video games can affect how people see each other and themselves.

In the Brown v. Board of Education case a doll test was used for citation that segregation was harmful on the psyche of black children. This test involved giving a black child a choice between two otherwise identical dolls with different skin tones. The experiment revealed that many black children preferred the white doll and perceived the black one as ugly. The same experiment has been done decades after Brown v. Board of Education showing the same results. This indicates that there are still issues regarding race in America. As mentioned earlier, media representation can have an affect on self worth. There have been numerous accounts of black women expressing the feeling they aren't pretty due to their skin complexion, some I can personally attest to. With media, including video games, showcasing women of lighter hues as attractive while darker women generally being absent it comes to no surprise that women have such feelings regarding themselves.


Representation for black women and other people of color in video games is quite underwhelming, but 2016 has seemed to improve with titles like Battlefield 1, Mafia III, and Watchdogs 2 which all have black men at the forefront. Leading characters of color other than black men and Japanese men still are pretty rare. In recent years there was only Connor from Assassin's Creed III and Aveline from Assassin's Creed Liberation in the mainstream market that deviated from those ethnic groups. Why are these groups so sparse? It could be acclimated to the claim that games with people of color sell less as that has been a defense for games with female protagonists. That claim is flawed considering there are so few games with protagonists of color that it would be fair to compare and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto V are some of the best selling games ever. It is also unfair considering games that under perform with white male protagonists are never attributed to failing because of the race and gender of the lead character.

In a study in 2014 it was revealed that almost 50% of people that play video games are women. These games also typically have 50% less of a budget compared to games with male protagonists. In addition, a study from Nielson in 2011 showed that black people and Hispanics spend more time playing video games than whites. There is obviously money to be found by making games aimed at these audiences, then is there so much aversion?


Games with these characters tend to have difficulty getting published. Just last year, Lab Zero Games' Peter Bartholow said in a post on NeoGaf, “When we were pitching [Indivisible] to publishers, we had at least one comment that it was "ballsy" to have a dark-skinned female lead. One or the other would've been fine, but both was possibly a lot for them to process.” In 2012, Dontnod Entertainment reported having trouble finding a publisher for Remember Me which features a mixed black woman as the lead with such comments as the following from publishers: "We had some [companies] that said, 'Well, we don't want to publish it because that's not going to succeed. You can't have a female character in games. It has to be a male character, simple as that.'" The same situation occurred when looking for a publisher for Life Is Strange. It seems no coincidence that Dontnod went with a Japanese publisher both times; Capcom with Remember Me and Square Enix for Life Is Strange. Games with female leads tend to be a selling point in Japan versus the West and their games reflect such with games like Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Dead or Alive, Final Fantasy, Animal Crossing, Gravity Rush, Hatsune Miku, and Metroid all featuring playable female characters.

The triple AAA market in the West has gotten a tad better. This past E3 we saw ReCore, Dishonored 2, and Horizon: Zero Dawn all featuring female protagonists. There is still a ways to go here. It wasn't that long ago when Naughty Dog said how they had to fight to put Ellie on the front cover of the Last of Us and when Ken Levine said he looked at fratboys as the demographic for Bioshock Infinite and put Elizabeth on the back.

Representation for women has been plentiful for women when it comes to games from Japan, but they're less frequent from western developers. This year however, gave us Dishonored 2, ReCore, and the announcement of Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Not long after the US 2016 election, some game industry platforms have spoken about inclusion in the gaming industry. Double Fine notably put up a news bulletin declaring that they want to include more people of diverse backgrounds into their studio and are taking advice from anyone on how to achieve it. There have been diversity programs related to the gaming industry for years now. There is Black Girls Code which focuses on teaching coding to young black girls, La TechLa that focuses on Latinos, and Southern Methodist University started a scholarship program years ago for women wanting to enroll in gaming design programs to name a few. These programs are few in the grand scheme of things, but they do emphasize a problem in the gaming industry.

The gaming industry is dominated by white and Japanese males with 100% of AAA studios/publishers owned by such and thus it would be naive to expect for major diversity in characters as the industry currently is. There are women, people of color and transgender people currently residing within the Indie scene, but the AAA field is even more important as these games reach more people. More people of diverse backgrounds equals more themes and settings to explore and more characters that deviate from tropes, cliches, and stereotypes. More representation could also deter subconscious thoughts when designing characters. It is not uncommon for someone black to make a white character given that's what they predominantly exposed to as is the case of this NeoGaf poster. White characters are typically considered the default in a lot of cases and In an audience that constantly complains about games becoming stale this inclusion can be only a good thing.

2016 is almost at a close and like always there is difficulty to face. Diverse inclusion in the game industry seems to be needed now more than ever.

G: Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

I was mildly familiar with the Shantae series due to Kickstarter campaign for Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero, but I pretty much didn't pay any attention to that campaign and the first time I've seen gameplay of it was when it was briefly shown on the Bloodstained Kickstarter stream. Shantae also came to my attention once again when she was announced to be a playable character in the upcoming Indivisible.I never had a fervent inkling to play any of the games assuring that I'll play it whenever I get the opportunity with many other games on my priority list, but when Wayforward's Shantae & the Pirate's Curse was up on Humble Bundle about a month ago I was quick on the opportunity to snatch up the game for a mere dollar.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse features the titular character after she's been stripped of her magical genie powers and is thrust in a journey with her arch enemy to defeat the ghost of the Pirate Master. The game's story is simple, but it's writing makes it stand out. It has a tongue-in cheek humor that makes me want to see a cartoon adaptation. You will be entertained throughout the entire journey. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse takes inspiration from the Castlevania and Metroid series. It's a 2D side-scroller with platforming, and combat at the focus with interconnected levels that construct the game's flow. The controls are smooth in this and handle akin to the precision of a Mario title. The platforming in this game switches between exploration and obstacle based often, giving the player variety throughout the journey.

As for the combat it's simple and repetitive, but also enthralling and tests your skills much like the platforming. Your basic attack is a hair whip, but throughout your journey you'll get more ways to attack, but your primary method of attack will be the hair whip. In the game's shop you buy items to upgrade your attacks and also some support items that can protect you from certain attacks, temporarily increase your attack, and also your standard healing items. You can get a fair amount of healing items from enemy drops and destructible objects, but you'll want to buy some from the shop from time to time. In my playthrough I found myself mainly using money for upgrades.
The support items are likely the most important items and I neglected them for most of my journey, but once I decided to use them, I found previous enemies I was struggling with to be fairly easier.


On the subject of enemies, there are many throughout this game and they offer enough variety in taking down so they'll never become boring unless you're outing yourself to grind. There are enemies that respawn once you leave the particular room in some of the later levels in the game which is the only which makes navigating a bit annoying, but this is lessened in the open non-dungeon areas since you can use a pirate flare to instantly transport yourself to the level's entrance. Aside from that the game has decently designed bosses. The notable ones for me are the boss in the second dungeon and the final boss. I won't spoil the final boss for those who haven't played it, but the second boss has a very intense rhythm to it that properly tests your reflexes making for joyous experience. All of the bosses are pattern based and take into account the new items you acquire in dungeons.

On the audio front, the game does a good job. There is clear action-response feedback from the sound effects and there are some catchy tunes in its music that's ranged from hip-hop, to house, electronic, and chiptune.

 The journey you go through for the course of the game follows a simple story, but has some twists and turns and is written with a tongue-in-cheek humor that makes me wish for a cartoon adaptation. There are some references and acknowledgements to the past games, but they're not required to follow the story instead adding something for those who have played the previous games and catching the interest of newcomers to play the older games.


The game has some replay value with collecting heart squids which are basically Legend of Zelda's heart pieces and there are a few sidequests to tackle. On the negative side, in the final segment of the game you are told to go and collect all the dark magic in order to defeat the final boss. This dark magic is scattered throughout all the games levels and in the beginning of the game they were presented as an optional objective like collecting the squid hearts. I only gathered what I happened to run into during my playthrough, so I had a ton to find before I could fight the final boss and while discovering secrets feels good when you find them, it also felt like a chore, but a new game mode was unlocked when I beat the game and when I went back to my file I got a save prompt, so there may be a New Game + implemented that would clear this issue up while also providing a different way to play the game.

Overall, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse is a great game in the realm of Castlevania and Metroid inspired titles. Thanks to this game I am now looking forward to Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero when it finally comes out. If you have a 3DS or a Wii U this is a high recommend.

9/10

M: The Odd Tape

The Odd Tape

Rapper/Producer Oddisee released his anticipated instrumental tape on May 13, following his rap EP Alwasta back in March. My verdict on Alwasta was that it was an okay project. It didn't fail on any ends, but I didn't find myself loving it much like The Good Fight, but it was a serviceable piece until his next two projects of the year. In comparison to Alwasta, The Odd Tape is everything I was looking forward to.

This twelve track instrumental album seems to be thematically centered around living out the course of an average day. Waking up from the alarm, rolling out of bed, drinking his first cup of coffee, going to work, partying after, and finally going home to sleep. I can't quite say that all the music itself is inline with it, but that's what appears to be the theme going from track titles such as "Alarmed", "No Sugar No Cream", and "Still Sleeping". Aside from the theme, the music is as strong as always. His jazz-hop inspired beats rivet with snapping drums, cymbals, strings, pianos, and a lot more. His ability to compose these brilliant tranquil tracks is astounding.
Each of these twelve tracks are made for easy listening and never fail to get boring. Most of the tracks switch in melody almost into another unrecognizable song in their last minute or so. "Alarmed" goes from a jazzy tune to a heavy piano tune with a vocal sample and a ringing tune perhaps telling the listener to wake up. Each of the tracks that change through part way transitions smoothly into the next, preventing any jarring moments. One of my favorites has to be "Live from the Drawing Board" which sounds like it's a funk jam straight from the 80's.

The Odd Tape is an album demonstrating a master at his craft. It's creative, skillful, calming, and beautiful. Oddisee has given us another excellent album and with another project coming this fall, my hype is off the scale.

9/10.

G: Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

In 2005 or perhaps early 2006, I played my first Dragon Quest game. I had previously played the demo of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King and the classic JRPG gameplay entertained me enough so when Square Enix announced the American release and that it was coming with a demo of Final Fantasy XII, it was without question that I was going to buy it.

DQVIII was a bit different from what I used to primarily playing the Final Fantasy series with its slower paced battles, faith themes, and game overs resulting in loss of currency, but also familiar with its vast over-world, silliness, and charm. This was also my first experience with Akira Toriyama's art outside of the Dragonball series. I found the game massively enjoyable and it had remained my only experience with Dragon Quest until now.

Fanart by Darkness and Twilight

I have been exclusively playing older games over the past year so when the memory of the release of Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly for the Nintendo DS hit my mind I decided to give this game a try. Hearing the title screen theme, I was immediately swept with nostalgia and felt that a memorable experience was coming. The game opens with a king waiting for his child to be born. His child is a son and christens him having a significant future. You then wake up on a boat as a child. One of the crewman informs you that your father is looking for you and you're introduced to the basic concept of the beginning of the game. You and your father have journeyed the world together and are making their way back home.

The beginning of Dragon Quest V is like a children's fantasy book. You're traveling with your father slaying beasts and also sneak away from the adults to explore a haunted castle and explore caves. It's a smooth introduction that makes it stand out among other rpgs and has a child-like wonder to it. Akira Toriyama's designs are as strong as ever in this game, His style is instantly recognizable and instantly tells you about the personality of the character or monster. The hero of the game's purple turban and robes tells you that he is humble, but also brave, and young Bianca pig tails insinuate her innocence and carefree nature. I recognized many of the monsters in this game that also appeared in Dragon Quest VIII. While his character designs are good, I find his monsters to be amazing. You have the iconic and quirky slimes, the goofy fat rats, fierce dragons, and demonic Hyperanemons.
This remake uses 3D models and while they work I feel they could look better. On my screen the backgrounds often look slightly blurry in motion, but it's something you quickly get used to. Other than that the game looks good.

As far as the gameplay this is the Dragon Quest gameplay I'm used to. Battles are entirely in first person which is different from VIII in which it is when you're going through menus to choose your actions, but when performing those actions it switches to third-person. The battles feel to move faster than they did in Dragon Quest VIII. Simplified animations make the battles move pretty quickly. The battles in this game can get pretty difficult even in the beginning of the game and this is due to both the random encounter rate which is very high and the random chance of encountering a large horde of enemies in a given battle.

At any point the game could just give you a random battle where six or seven strong monsters ambush your party of two. This doesn't happen often, but it happens enough for you to feel the weight of it and you're better off fighting them than running the risk of trying to run away only for the enemy to block your path and get free hits on your party. As I mentioned, the encounter rate in this game is pretty high, especially in dungeons which can make tackling those levels a bit annoying. You have the item Holy Water and the spells Holy Protection and Padfoot to lower encounter rates, but the first two only work on the over world which you would spend less time on and it only works on lower level enemies, while Padfoot you'll likely get by the end of the game and it too only staves off weaker enemies. These items and spells are basically useless in that regard and so you'll have to endure the abundant mobs in dungeons when you're only trying to just take a few steps to that treasure chest or when you're weak and want to run out, or backtracking after leaving said dungeon. Boss battles in this game range from hard to average in difficulty. You'll likely have to grind a couple levels to beat the first boss in the game as the fight seems to be designed for having a certain ability in mind which you can only get via level up. There is only one other boss in the game that requires grinding like this and that one is optional, though I would recommend beating it. Defeating any boss in this game feels like a real accomplishment most of the time, though I felt when I landed the final blow on the game's final boss to be anticlimactic.

Part way through the game you'll also be able to recruit monsters to your party. This was an interesting surprise to me. In Dragon Quest VIII you could recruit monsters as well, but they functioned more like summons in Final Fantasy rather than being a part of your core team. There are dozens you can recruit and they all have their own strengths and abilities.

Aside from the combat, the game has some mini games for you to play. You'll reach a few casinos through your journey and they all have luck based games for you to play. Most of them I don't find interesting, but the board game T 'N' T I found to be fun and it has rewards separate from the rest of the casino games that are token based. You have many other ways of interacting the world. My favorite is exploring towns for the first time. Buying items, talking to townsfolk, finding items in pots, chests, and reading text from bookshelves feel cathartic. Each town is interesting to explore and you have reason for revisiting them after certain events in the game come to pass.

The music in this game serviceable. Like DQVIII I find that it works, but most of it isn't really memorable. Most of the music is live orchestrated giving a more grandiose feel. I found to enjoy the music more when I listened to it outside of the game on YouTube. There aren't any tunes that stood out from the rest other than the title theme, but I will say that this game's battle theme is better than VIII's which I found to get old after a while. It's a decent soundtrack.

As for the game's story, it's okay for video game standards. There are cliche dialogue to be found throughout, but you still find yourself engaged at points because the game does a great job in presenting it to you. The scenes flow tightly and the music and sound effects fit the mood appropriately to let the emotional impact of that moment hit. There were a couple moments that involved characters I journeyed with for a while pull my heartstrings. These moments happen less often when the game gets closer to its conclusion, but some optional dialog that you can partake in with your party members got to me. The ending moments of this game does bring the feelings back up again and you feel how the impact of your actions affect the whole world.

The game is a about 30 hours long, but the journey feels a lot longer than that due to passage of certain events in the game. The game has a lot of replay value due to  an extra dungeon available after you beat the game, the monster recruiting system, and three party members that you only have choice of one in each playthrough. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is a great recommendation for fans of the JRPG genre, but its high encounter rates and useless items to help reduce them prevent the game from reaching legendary status.

8/10

My Hopes for Pokemon Sun and Moon

Pokemon Sun and Moon should be arriving by the end of this year and after playing a lot of Pokemon last year, I have a lot of opinions on what I would like to see in this coming generation of Pokemon.

Firstly, this request I highly doubt will happen, but I definitely want all Pokemon to be able to be caught in the game. After playing the hacked version of Pokemon Soul Silver and Black and Black 2 where this is possible, going back to a very limited in game wild list would be disappointing, but expected. I know this won't happen because the major selling point for having two versions of Pokemon is to either get customers to buy two copies or to convince a friend to get the opposite version so they can trade with one another. While I'm on the subject of trading, let's get rid of trade-triggered evolution. Having to catch a Pokemon, trade it to a player, and trade it back is a really convoluted way of adding another entry to your Pokedex and not to mention the other player could just take your Machamp and run, it's even sillier when some Pokemon require a held item in addition to the trade. Aside from the trade element, Pokemon from past gens can be sparse sometimes and being a Hypno and Hitmonlee fan, it would be disappointing if the only way I could get these two Pokemon were from trading and I also dislike real life events for getting mythical Pokemon. In sum, a 750+ wild list would be stellar.

The second most important thing for me would be trainer customization. Since your playable character is silent and devoid of personality I feel you should be able to customize him or her at least. As a black man, I find people that look like me are sparse in games anyway, so it would be nice if I can create one in the game and if customization comes back having some choice in afro-textured hairstyles is a must. There are far too many games where all you get is an afro and some cornrows. This probably won't happen either, but it would be nice to play with an adult trainer for a change. It would be funny if I could make my trainer look that Rihanna pic.

A third thing that strikes me being true in this day and age is that you can still only have one save file at a time. We're in 2016 right now. I figured back in the GameBoy days it was hardware limitation, but the hardware has gotten more powerful with each generation, that I just don't understand why players are still limited to one save file per cartridge. It would be a blessing Game Freak.

I mentioned earlier that Hypno is one of my favorite Pokemon. One thing that has bugged me about it and Drowzee is that they're incapable of learning Dream Eater without a TM when Drowzee's Pokedex entry emphasizes its dream eating powers. It doesn't make sense that it can't learn it naturally and it makes it frustrating in games like Silver and Black where you can't get the TM until after you have beaten the game. In overall terms of Pokemon balance, I can't speak much when it comes to certain Pokemon as I never dabbled into playing competitively, online or at tournaments, but I would like to see some type effectiveness change. Ice-Types need serious buffs. They have a lot of weaknesses with little strengths. Currently the only type that it's resistant to is itself. It should at minimum be resistant to Water, but I would also throw Bugs in because insects seem to be non-existent when there is snow and ice on the ground and I might remove the rock weakness as well. Psychic types are just a bit out of balance. They have three weaknesses, two resistances (one being itself), and non-effective against one type. I would personally get rid of Bug as a weakness. It doesn't make sense to me in the first place. The last two types I think should be worked around a little are Fairies and Steels. Fairy Pokemon were created to give a new weakness to dragons, but since the Steel type was already resistant to Dragon, it should've just been changed to be super effective to Dragon types and a dragon falling dead to a steel sword has more precedence than fairies killing dragons in fiction. Also, who throws rocks at a fire? Remove that weakness.

Next, but not last I would just like some good designs for this gen. I am a little surprised that some common animals and bugs still don't have Pokemon representations. A cockroach Pokemon seems like a no-brainer and it could be a Bug/Dark type, a combination that has yet to be represented. They should try and fit in as many unrepresented type combinations as possible. A Fire/Ice type would be particular interesting design-wise.

My last wish is of lesser importance to me, but it would be cool if we had a more difficult game or with a choice for difficulty options. I can't comment on the current state of game difficulty as I have been playing a ton of Pokemon hacks where the difficulty is vastly modified, but if the majority of the base games are a breeze, then I would like to see something like the hack versions, but probably toned down a smidge with difficulty options to make it that hard. The AI in the hacks are well prepared. They don't only use moves from their Pokemon's type, but often have a move or two to take out a Pokemon that would threaten its weakness. Gym Leaders would often use U-Turn or Volt Switch to switch out to a Pokemon that would either make your attack ineffective or a type that your current Pokemon is weak to. If the new game ends up being easy, I wouldn't be that disappointed as I could battle trainers online for challenge.

That's it for my wants for Pokemon Sun and Moon. What are you looking forward to in the game? Let me know in the comments below.

M: Alwasta

 Alwasta

If you've been reading this blog, then you know that I massively enjoyed Oddisee's The Good Fight from last year. It made it into my top ten albums of 2015 and so when I saw that he released a new EP, I downloaded it with haste. The title of this new free to download EP is Alwasta, which is an Arabic term meaning "The Plug". This isn't just a random choice of a word, Oddisee actually has Sudanese roots. I'm not exactly sure if there were any lines throughout this seven track EP that divulged in this, but let's get into the review.

I've only listened to this EP twice so far and may feel differently about it later, but as of right now I find it okay. His production on the project is fine, but most of it is not memorable for me. The beats use similar instruments that can be found on The Good Fight or March on Washington, but unlike those they don't aspire any particular feelings for me, but they don't bring down the songs they're on while they also don't enhance them and this is true for six of the tracks. "No Reservations" I find to be an exceptionally produced track with that induces mellow vibes.

On the lyrical front, I may need another listen to fully comprehend the lyrics, but as of right now most of the lines didn't stand out to me, with the exception of these from Slow Groove:

I've been contemplating the use of drugs. My favorite artist do it, they all influenced us.
I ain't talking Future, but rather older names. Talking Hendrix, talking Davis, talking Marvin Gaye.
They were kings, but the coke and they became a slave. Know I got it in me, don't pass me a shot of whiskey.

 The tempo here caught my attention and had me listening hard to every word that came after. It's commendable that he revealed his temptation to drug use, but went against it when he realized what it did to these artists.

As for the rest of the song and the other six tracks, I felt the delivery was decent, but none of the flows really made me go whoa, or soothed me. None of the hooks were particularly catchy. All in all with first impressions I think the album is okay. I am eager to hear his follow up album in May of this year.

6/10

32-Foot Pokemon Card Breaks World Records

At a Paris event today in celebration of Pokemon's 20th anniversary,  The Pokemon Company unveiled a colossal Pokemon trading card composed of hundreds of trading cards! The giant trading card is of Pikachu and the press release has announced that the card holds a new world record for a trading card mosaic at its measurements of 32 feet in length and 23 feet in width. The artist behind this piece is none other than Quentin Devine, from Surrey, England. The card is based off a design by Ken Sugimori. The card is not yet officially in the Guinness Book of World Records, but it's suspected to enter it sometime soon. More pictures of the card are below.

M: Emily's D+Evolution

 Emily's D+Evolution

Grammy award winning artist Esperanza Spalding recently had her Emily's D+Evolution tour and yesterday the album performed on the tour released. This project is more experimental as it is heavily rock influenced with very few jazz productions throughout. Before this release she dropped singles for "One", "Good Lava" and "Earth to Heaven" and the first two mentioned were my introduction to this album. "One" makes good use of guitars and bass, creating a pleasant sound that instills excitement. Esperanza's vocals on the track also accompany the production well, "Good Lava" on the other hand, has a few problems. The melody is truncated and while Esperanza has a great singing voice, it makes her sound sub par with the harmony. These are actually problems with the majority of this album. None of the melodies are particular catchy and there is an odd choice in vocals in "Ebony and Ivy". I did find "Rest in Pleasure" to be decent, but it never hits good status for me. There is a semblance of her Jazz roots in "Farewell Dolly", but the song is short and fails to make any impression making it just forgettable.

This is her first album trying something different and it didn't quite hit any good marks. Esperanza has put out incredible albums in the past so I'll keep on the lookout for more music from her.

3.5/10

I Would Love to See a Harry Potter RPG Like This

I'm a Harry Potter fan. I was introduced to the series in the 3rd Grade and continued reading them ever since. Those books are a major influence in my writing and naturally with the impact they had on me I would like to see some new Harry Potter games and something that could set itself apart from the others is a Harry Potter RPG that's somewhere of a mix between the Persona series and Rockstar's Bully.

The premise of the game could go one of two ways: It could be based in the Ministry of Magic and the player can take the role of an Auror catching dark wizards or you can play as a student in Hogwarts where the Persona and Bully influences come into play. It should have an open world vibe to it like Bully, but with the social interaction and rpg elements of Persona.
Naturally I see the map being Hogwarts Castle and the grounds, The Forbidden Forest, and Hogsmeade. Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley would only be available before each school year starts. You'll be able to buy the supplies you need then, but you can buy them during the school year via owl, but they will cost more. The design is to get the player to plan for the upcoming event ahead of time. The premise would have the player solving a mystery around the school like the first three books. There would also be side activities such as Quidditch, a dueling club and other clubs for side activity.

Characters stat growth would be grown through dueling students and magical creatures, attending classes, and certain magical items. One of the most distinct things about Hogwarts is its housing system and upon starting the game you would choose your house. I was thinking it could be done in a similar fashion to Pottermore where its determined through a set of questions, but if I would do it, I would make it a lot better than Pottermore. It would ask more personal questions and you would also perform a few tasks and depending on how you solve them would factor into your house score. An alternative is just to have an option to choose your house directly. Whatever house you get into would determine the location of your save point in the game and has an affect on your starting stats and which characters you can recruit to your party, thus making the story a bit different each time. Being a Slytherin would differ from the other three almost completely. Winning the House Cup would grant you approval with others in your house and could get NPCs to do favors for you. Also, getting the House Cup seven years in a row would grant you a secret ending or perfect ending. Of course let's not forget customization. You can fully customize your main character's skin, gender, face, and the hair and the skin color options would be good and there will be plenty of afro textured hairstyles to choose from and they won't look like shit.

I wrote a lot more than I intended, but that's the gist of it. Would you like to see a Harry Potter game with this sort of premise? Let me know in the comments.

M: The Curse of Mayweather

"The Curse of Mayweather"

Rap fans are always on the lookout for when Jay Electronica will put out an album. He still hasn't put one out, but he has dropped another track today. The Curse of Mayweather is the name of the track and the subject of this song is confronting his opposition. In the song he targets both Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent, targeting Kendrick Lamar for his Control verse back in 2013 and 50 Cent from a recent comments off of Periscope. The lyrics of the song doesn't quite pack any particular punches. No clever wordplay to be found or anything thought provoking. I find the flow to be pretty sub standard throughout most of the song with only the last 20 seconds or so, being decent, but not good.
The production on this track isn't much to clamor either. It feels almost like slightly annoying background noise and doesn't instill any kind of emotional response, making it forgettable. We know that Jay Electronica can do better, but after two listens I find myself dissatisfied with the result.

3/10

M: "Formation (Dirty)"

 "Formation"

I'd like to get this out of the way, I don't like Beyonce's music in general, but I have to give it to girl for "Formation". Upon a first listen I didn't like the song all that much. The instrumental feels disjointed without any kind of melody that makes it catchy or memorable, the flow of Beyonce's vocals didn't seem to flow properly to me, and not to mention that I generally don't find Beyonce's voice strong. A second listen to my surprise warmed up to me a bit, but I still can't say I like it, but more that I tolerate it and appreciate the message in it. This song is an affirmation of Beyonce's southern roots.

My Daddy Alabama, Mama Louisiana

These lines hearken to her roots and black Americans in general as given the history of this nation a vast majority of black Americans have ancestry in the south and her stating her Texas roots is staying in touch with where she came from regardless if she left it.

I like my baby hair, with baby hair and afros

On the social sphere Beyonce has been criticized far too much and by her own people at that, for not doing her baby's hair and keeping it "nappy". These lyrics shows she has affirmation in natural black hair and is non-caring of the naysayers who are telling her how to take care of her child. 

I like my negro nose and Jackson Five nostrils

Honestly at first, this line confused the hell out of me until I saw a post from a fellow writer by the name sitta pulsilla and I'll his evaluation of it rather than mine as I can't see myself saying it better.

"There has literally never been a more full-throated, stalwart, stark as hell positive affirmation of Blackness in mainstream, popular media since the original Black Is Beautiful movement in the 60′s. Maybe not since the Harlem Renaissance? I predict In a few years, people will be inverting their contours and getting plastic surgery to achieve the coveted Jackson Five nostril. Only by then they’ll rename it something more palatable to the mainstream (Read: white people)."

I'd like to add to that, that I can also see this a dig to several members of the Jackson family who got plastic surgery on their noses and being comfortable with yourself and your black features.

Oh, and Red Lobster is the joint for black people.

As for the music video, the imagery is fantastic! I love antebellum south wardrobe on her and the other black actors. It's like reclaiming and owning the oppression that set us back, plus Beyonce just looked fly as hell in that dress with the braids. It's Gothic and almost horror-like. Those particular shots actually give me inspiration for something I'm planning to write. There are a few clips that looked like they were filmed on an 80's hand cam that I thought was a nice touch too and the choreography was decent. Along with the other imagery we first see her laying on top of a police car in a flooded New Orleans which harks back to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and also symbolism of how the police have been drowning the lives of black people for decades and black people aiming to rise above it. The video also is a promotion for the natural hair movement with nearly every black woman in this video rocking afros or braids. Another powerful piece is the clip of the young black boy wearing a hoodie dancing in front of the police and making their hands rise. An obvious commentary on recent police brutalities. A shot right after tells it plainly in graffiti, "Stop Shooting Us".

While I may not like the song Beyonce's "Formation" I approve of the message it presents and wholeheartedly love the music video and all it conveys.

Song 4/10

Video 9.5/10

My Most Anticipated Games of 2016

Street Fighter V
Street Fighter IV was a good experience for me as it was the game that got me into the competitive gaming scene. I had a lot of fun playing online and entering tournaments while meeting new people and with Street Fighter V coming out next month it's bringing those memories back and I can hope that I return to the competitive scene. Street Fighter IV frustrated me with some of its links and I never found learning Fierce Feint Fierce with C. Viper any fun, but with the removal of 1 frame links and an entirely new system, it seems like this game will be easier to transition into. The cast looks decent, but it could use a Third Strike or IV character, fortunately I believe we'll be getting both in the first batch of DLC.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst
I've wanted a sequel for this game since I beat the original years ago. DICE's Mirror Edge was a unique game, tackling the platformer genre in a first-person perspective. It felt like a first-person Prince of Persia, but without the time mechanics and with guns. The game is finally getting a sequel, well sort of. Mirror's Edge Catalyst will be a reboot of the first game's story while expanding on the gameplay. From a gameplay perspective this is basically a sequel and I never cared about the mundane presentation of the story in the original game anyhow. The trailer and presentation at E3 last year showed some improvements to the roll performed after making large jumps and disarming armed enemies seems much easier. My number one complaint with the original was the gunplay and DICE has abandoned in favor of a smoother experience.

Final Fantasy XV
I'm a major Final Fantasy fan. Final Fantasy is the cause of my love for gaming. When Final Fantasy XIII and Versus XIII were revealed in 2006 I was ecstatic, but I never saw one of these being in production for so long. Final Fantasy Versus XIII went on for years with little information regarding the game. Many fans, myself included grew tired with the announcements for dropping announcements that ultimately ended up with not useful information. It wasn't until about a year and some change ago when Square Enix revealed that Final Fantasy Versus XIII would be renamed to Final Fantasy XV making it a entry in the mainline series.
Nomura dropped off as director for the game and Tabata replaced him, but since the title change information for the game has been coming steadily. We got a demo early last year and Active Time Reports. The game finally seems to be coming out now. With the recent information that the game can now be completed from beginning to end, it's safe to assume that this game can reach its intended 2016 release date and I'll be looking forward to experiencing Noctic's journey.

Horizon: Zero Dawn
This was the standout game at E3 2015 for me. A game that takes place in a post apocalyptic future where robotic wildlife roam the world.  Guerilla Games is developing this game and it will be their first rpg as they usually make the Killzone games. The combat will be action-focused with some stealth and shooter elements thrown in. The take down of the the Thunder Jaw (Pictured above) was one of the most intense moments at last year's E3. It's my most anticipated original IP for this year and I hope it can deliver.

That's my list for 2016. Let me know your anticipated games in the comments below.

My Favorite Playthroughs of 2015

Last year I didn't get to play any new games so my entire plays of the year were of games from one or more generations ago. There was a lot of love to be found, some okay games, one I've still yet to beat, and a few bad ones that I didn't spend much time with. I spent some time on some games I've played and completed in the past, but I limiting this to games that I have beaten for the first time this year.

10. Alice Mare
Platform: PC Genre: Adventure Release Date: ????
Recommended to me by a Facebook friend I downloaded this free game onto my piece and found it an amusing experience. Alice Mare is an adventure game made in Wolf RPG Editor.  The game pits the player in the role of Allen, a boy enrolled in a boarding school and his world grows dark and twisted when he stumbles upon a mysterious closet. The game is relatively short, averaging out to about three hours so it's perfect for those who want to finish a game, but don't have much time to play. For those looking for more the game has some replay value as the game features multiple endings. As being an adventure game, the primary focus is on the story and while I don't find it bad, I don't find good either. It floats somewhere in the middle. It appears to be heavily inspired by Alice in Wonderland with certain characters and subject matter. The game has a strong sense of atmosphere as it's garbed in a Gothic Lolita resplendence. The game can be eerie at times, but never genuinely scary. I never quite grasped what was happening throughout the tale, but the ending I got on my first playthrough has me interested in a second run.

9. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Platform: SNES (Super Nintendo) Genre: Action-Adventure Release Date: 1991

The famed Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past. I was familiar with this game in my childhood, but I never had the opportunity to play it until last year. With this being one of the most highly regarded games in the series only behind Ocarina of Time, I new it came with expectations, but I've always kept my expectations in check. Overall, I ended thinking the game was just okay. I liked that the game provided me with more challenge than Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but I found the level design underwhelming and the world map obtuse. The world map wasn't bad, it was just certain points in the game the direction or tasks you needed to take to get to the next dungeon weren't clear and mostly unaddressed. I liked some of the boss encounters and that you could tackle some of the dungeons in whatever you wanted, but the lack of towns and some design choices didn't sit well with me. Overall a decent game and I'll probably give it one more playthrough.

8. Zombies Ate My Neighbors
Platform: SNES (Super Nintendo) Genre: Shoot 'Em Up Release Date: 1993

The last game I was late to playing in 2015, it left quite an impression on me. I had no idea what to expect going in, but what I found I enjoyed and left an impression on me that I won't ever forget. The game's quirky depiction of horror and its faced pace and skill intensive combat left me exhausted, but satisfied. This game featuring tributes to horror characters from the 90s all the way down to the 50s is a whopping 50 levels long. All those levels aren't required to beat the game, 45 are, but I couldn't make it past 32 due the rampant enemies that spawn as the game goes on. I didn't get to try the multiplayer as I had no one to play with, but I can imagine it being tons of fun, while also being frustrating. I'm not sure if I'll ever beat the game, but I look forward to correcting that.

7. Super Metroid
Platform: SNES (Super Nintendo) Genre: Action-Platformer Release Date: 1994 
This was my first experience with the popular series last year and it left an impression. Its floaty movements felt strange to me at first, but I got used to them and was able to conquer this game. It has an atmosphere of loneliness and dread which is something I only get in Survival Horror. The level design I found satisfying, though at times a little confusing and the boss encounters were sufficient. Overall, a well designed game and I look forward to playing another entry in the franchise.
 

6. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Platform: Nintendo DS Genre: Action-RPG Release Date: 2008 
With the Bloodstained Kickstarter Campaign in 2015, I was interested in playing my first Castlevania and this was my choice for an entry point. Order of Ecclesia combines an action-oriented combat system with rpg elements and some platforming thrown in. The combat feels really rewarding once you master it and the game has some great boss encounters and music, but the only fault in this game is the rare item drop rate. Rare drops are supposed to be infrequent, but they are overly so in this game. You could spend hours grinding just to get one item you need to fulfill a quest. It also makes it tedious to level up certain summoning glyphs. It's a big flaw that hinders what is otherwise a great game. I'm likely to play this again one day, but I might try a hack that changes the rare drop rate or just ignore most of the side quests and not bother to level up certain skills.
 

5. Pokemon Black 2 / Blaze Black 2
Platform: Nintendo DS Genre: RPG Release Date: 2012
2015 could've been said to be the year of Pokemon for me as I probably spent the most time playing Pokemon than any other game. Pokemon Black 2, more specifically Blaze Black 2 was the second Pokemon playthrough of the year for me. Pokemon Black 2 is an excellent entry in the series. The combat is blazing fast and there's plenty to do in the game.  You have the Battle Subway, The Pokemon World Tournament and a slew of terrain to explore after you defeat the Elite Four. This Blaze Black hack adds in additional challenge, pokemon variety and early access to certain items. I found that the game was too difficult at times that it deterred my enjoyment, but not enough to hurt my overall experience.  The downside of the post content is that it doesn't really have a particular battle that feels like the end. The Blaze hack adds in the two protagonists from Black which helps, but it didn't feel like there was any build up to it. Overall, this is a great game.

4. Pokemon Soul Silver / Storm Silver 
Platform: Nintendo DS Genre: RPG Release Date: 2009
There's not much else I can say after talking about Black 2, but I found that Soul Silver and the hack Storm Silver resonated with me more because I found the world map and post content designed better and the music was more memorable for me, at least the Game Boy version that you can access in the post game of Soul Silver and immediately in Storm Silver. For hack comparisons I think Black 2 was a little bit better. It felt a bit more progressive while I felt to hit a wall immediately in Storm Silver, but both of them I feel are a bit too difficult. I have yet to tackle Kanto yet in Storm Silver, but from the info I have it sounds like there will be quite a few additions to look forward to from the normal version.
 

3. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Platform: SNES (Super Nintendo) Genre: Platformer Release Date: 1995
Rented this back in the 90's, but could never beat it, but last year I booted this up and managed to beat it. This game was just as hard as I remembered and better than I remembered. This game is among the pinnacle of game design, from great controls to level design, and boss encounters this game a testament of excellent design. There is plenty variety offered in the levels and the game tests your ability to utilize all the mechanics. The graphics still hold up and David Wise composed a few stellar tracks that are among the best in gaming. This game was not only one of the best games I played last year, but one of the best games I played in my lifetime.
 

2. Super Mario 3D World
Platform: Wii U Genre: Platformer Release Date: 2013
My first playthrough of the year. This was a graduation gift given to me in 2014 and became my first and only experience with the Wii U so far, but what an introduction it was. Super Mario 3D World is among the best of 3D platformers. With cleverly designed levels and power-ups that actually make you feel powerful, Super Mario 3D World will be a game not forgotten. It brings back multiple playable characters like Super Mario Bros. 2 and a world map like Super Mario Bros. 3 and World. Most of the characters feel unique in their own with the exception of the blue Toad, but the game gives you incentive to try other characters out with certain switches that can only be activated with a certain character. The game provides some great challenge as the game progresses, especially in the post game. The only downsides I find is that would've liked worlds to be a bit more thematic and most of the music was forgettable to me.

1. Earthbound (Mother 2) 
Platform: SNES (Super Nintendo) Genre: RPG Release Date: 1994 
One of the games I always wanted to play from my childhood and I finally got the chance in 2015. Earthbound not like many others. It has a distinctive sense of personality with its strange and unique humor, American setting, and varied soundtrack. The world of Earthbound is a treat to explore and the journey from beginning to end is filled with interesting encounters. The gameplay is simplistic for the JRPG genre, but it has a rolling HP bar that sets it apart from others. The game is also quite challenging the beginning segment of the game will get you a game over or two and the game constantly keeps you on your toes, but never feels unfair. I loved the relationship between the child cast and this game has some of my favorite monster designs and item names out there. The only downside I say is that the game is devoid of any sidequests and there's no hint for acquiring Poo's ultimate weapons which I hear are tedious to acquire due to a rare drop rate, but other than that this is a spectacular game and it ranks among my top ten of all time.



 

My Top Ten Albums of 2015

2015 was a difficult year for me, but one of the things that kept it somewhat enjoyable for me was the supply of great music. The likes of ChocQuibTown gave me pumping Latin tunes, Stereo Nasty introduced me to metal properly, and I dusted off qualms with Kendrick Lamar and found in it some of the best music of the year. I found Hip-Hop overall to be a bit underwhelming compared to last year, but as a whole 2015 was good. I have not listened to every major release of the year, so this might be a bit more on the obscure side which is good exposure for those artists so I hope you can to come to this openly and without further ado, here are my top ten albums of 2015.

10.  Por Vida

Artist:

Release Date: February 4

Genre: Pop

I came across the album on accident. I was looking up info about a certain neo-soul singer and found this name. I decided to give her a listen and I enjoy what I heard so I looked up this album and her previous. Por Vida is Kali Uchi's first official album, but second project. She is a pop artist that mixes the sounds of swing, 50's era pop, and modern pop. Kali's voice is pretty decent. She is good, but doesn't hit me with the great level. Sometimes she can get a bit too high in her pitches, but the highlight of this album is within the composition and melodies. Most of the songs are pretty catchy and fills you with romp, hype, or tranquility. This project is an excellent introduction into the artist and I hope this is a sign of great things to come.

Notable Tracks: Call Me, Know What I Want, and Ridin Round

9. Cheers To The Fall

Artist:

Release Date: August 28

Genre: R&B and Jazz

The last album of the year that I listened to, Cheers To The Fall left quite an impression on me. I discovered this after catching up to the Nina Simone tribute album Nina Revisited. Her tribute "Mississippi Goddamn" impressed me and decided to look her up and found out that she had an album this year. The leading single to this project "Forever Mine" displays just how strong a vocalist Andra Day is. When she hits the high pitch on "Be" at the end of the song it causes a chill down your spine. The production is also a great compliment to her voice and can be enjoyed alone. The music video directed by the famous Spike Lee is almost as good as the song itself. I often hear her compared to Rihanna and Amy Winehouse and why I found these comparisons weird at first, I can hear the similarities on certain songs, but she is most definitely an artist of her own. The rest of the album isn't quite as good as "Forever Mine", but it's still good. I find "Rearview" to be a bit plain and non-inspirational, but the other than that good tracks all around. "Only Love" stands out to me because it sounds like the opening song of a James Bond movie. The production on this is up to par and don't overbear the artist. Even though I got a more emotional response from Por Vida, Cheers To The Fall places higher because of better writing and stronger vocals. Overall, this is a good album and I'm looking forward to hear more from her in the future.

Notable Tracks: Forever Mine, Only Love, and Goodbye Goodnight

8. Nasty By Nature

Artist:

Release Date: August 8

Genre: Heavy Metal

This was my second metal album and the first one I found myself liking. I wanted to branch out my tastes a bit. I listened to Stolas's Allomaternal last year and liked a few tracks, but I was still yearning to diversify my music library and so I searched on Bandcamp for some metal albums. The album art caught my eye and so I gave it a listen and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. This album is described to be in the style of metal from the 80's and if so I think this is the metal for me. The instrumentals are up to par on this project. The guitar riffs pump you up and the drums, don't really stand out, but that's neither a positive or a negative. They compliment the vocals, guitar, and bass without getting in the way. As far as the vocals go I can't be that elaborate on the subject as I'm still quite new to the genre and not exactly sure what makes for good vocals when it comes to metal. I used to be adverse to these type of vocals, but now I can't necessarily say I like them, but I find that they do add in creating the intensity in the tracks. Each track has their own theme to them. Interstellar focuses on the cosmic, Black Widow speaks on a painful relationship, and "Holy Terror" tears at a fear of an impeding end by nuclear warfare to name a few. The subjects present throughout are a bit dark as I suspected from the genre. There's not much else that I can say here other than I quite enjoyed the album and it left quite an impression on me. If you were reluctant once before to listen to metal, then I recommend this album as a good starting point.

Notable Tracks: Interstellar, Black Widow, and Out of the Fire

7. The Good Fight

Artist:

Release Date: May 5

Genre: Rap & Hip-Hop

One of the best albums put out this year was The Good Fight. Prior to this album I discovered Oddisee through yU who I found through L'Orange and I saw his music video for "Own Appeal". The beat and rhymes were straight so I kept watch on him. When I found out about this dropping this year I made sure to listen to it as soon as it came out. This ended up being one of the albums that stayed blasting in my ears throughout the year. Oddisee is both a talented emcee and producer. His skills at the mic are just as strong as his keys behind the instruments. The Good Fight is filled with keyboards, drums, cymbals, and a touch a soul. The melodies throughout invigorate and calm the soul are in tandem with emcee's rhymes. On the lyrical front Oddisee is stellar when it comes to flow and energy. His rhymes always catch your attention and play off well from the instrumentals. His lyrics are also a bit more layered than others, but nothing in particular stood out to me aside from his story of financial struggle in "Contradiction's Maze". The featured artists on this project also add their own flavor to this album. Vocalist/rapper Maimouna Youssef sings decently on "Contradiction's Maze" and "What They'll Say". The likes of Nick Hakim and Gary Clark Jr. are fine, but don't particularly stand out. The commentary at the end of the album by Tranquil is good and conveys the problems of the mainstream in the current day. This is a stellar album with some really catchy hooks, instrumentals, and rhymes. I'm looking to listening to more Oddisee.

Notable Tracks: Contradiction's Maze ft. Mumu Fresh, First Choice, and Worse Before Better

6. Origin

Artist: Vanilla

Release Date: September 20

Genre: Instrumental Hip-Hop & Japanese Folk

Following the phenomenal Sweet Talk from last year, producer Vanilla brings his latest mixtape Origin. I had high expectations for this as Sweet Talk was my number one instrumental album of last year and while this isn't quite as good, it's still damn good. Vanilla brings the soul, jazz, and hip-hop like usual, but this time adds Japanese folk to this. "Dreamcatcher", "Nana", and "Origin" are the Japanese influenced tracks and each one of them is a pleasurable listen. The combination of Japanese folk and Hip-Hop makes for an interesting and pleasing mix. "Dreamcatcher" is my favorite of the three Japanese styled beats because of the solid wind instrument that eases the soul. "Nana" has an excellent singer attached to it that reminds me just slightly of Meiko Kaji. I am eager to find the sample of this composition.
The soul and jazz tracks are good as usual. The standout in this is "All in My Mind" which features amazing guitars and vocals from an artist I don't know, but would like to know. The track has a rare combination of energy and tranquility and sends off with a complimentary synth. What caught me the most on this project is the astounding mix of  the famous Kool and the Gang's "Summer Madness". Immediately it hits you with nostalgia. Summer days by the pool and August sunsets sprang into my mind when I first listened to this piece. He changes the beat enough to make it his own, but also keeps it recognizable. A knockout piece. This album is a great addition to his discography and I will be there day one when he drops the next project.

Notable Tracks: Dreamcatcher, All in My Mind, and Summer

5. The Rapture: Live from Oaklandia

Artist:

Zion I - Zumbi (Left) & Amp Live (Right)

Release Date: August 7

Genre: Rap & Hip-Hop (Boom Bip)

As I was looking at the customers who bought Phantom Limbs on bandcamp, a certain user profile icon caught my eye and I decided to click on it. The user was Wyatt Armstrong Hunter and noticed that he had a few Cunninlynguists purchases in his collection so I figured he had great taste and decided to give a listen to the first album that appeared on his page, The Rapture: Live from Oaklandia by Zion I. This album released just a few days ago on August 7 and upon clicking on the first track I regretted missing it on release day. This is a live rap/soul album from artist Zion I who I didn't realize was already in a few tracks in my library as he did "In the City" with Cunninlynguists, and was featured on Nneka and J. Period's "God of Mercy". His features apparently didn't capture my attention before, but it certainly has gotten it now. In The Rapture the duo of Zion I focuses on unleashing riveting energy. Zumbi's voice is propelled and projected to get the listeners hype and his flow is at a steady, but quick pace. His energy and pace does start to slow down at the end however, but it's still energetic.

The live instrumentation from the band is also a main contributor to the sound. Drums, cymbals, saxophones, pianos, and guitars are present throughout the performances. There is also a nice electronic sounding instrument I don't recognize at the end of Human Being that I like a lot. It overall has a bit of a jazzy and soul flavor to it. What I like the most about the choice to go live for this album is that it really captures the feeling of being in a concert. The quality is superb and the crowd interaction really sets it home. What is also notable is that most of the tracks seem to flow into one another. In all but one song there seems to be not definite cuts from one track to the next further instilling the feeling of being at a live concert.

Now I haven't touched upon the lyrical skill of the album and I can say it's pretty decent. It's more straightforward and I didn't catch any instances of wordplay, but the themes of goals of this album seemed to be about uplifting the spirit which I typically don't see in those type of songs anyway. His style is more of the boom bap flavor. His pronunciations are clear majority of the time and the featured emcees hold up decently. The singers attached accompany the instruments well enough and none of them are bad, but none of them really stood out to me either except for that end note that Codany Holiday dropped on "Sorry". That was off the chain.

To conclude this, The Rapture: Live from Oaklandia is a great album that makes great use of live instruments and recommendation to those looking for a little more joy in their life. I'm now eager to hear more of him and I think his style would be greatly complemented to the likes of Blitz the Ambassador, Common, Akua Naru, Ben L'Oncle Soul, and Nneka.

Notable Tracks:  Boom Bip ft. Viveca Hawkins, Trippin, and Human Being

2. Cold Winter / The Miner's Canary / Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone

Artists: Sheisty Khrist x Lo Fidel / Akua Naru / Various

Release Dates: January 23 / February 20 / July 10

Genres:  Rap & Hip-Hop / Jazz & Hip-Hop / Jazz

The best of 2015 for me was the beginning. Two juggernauts released in the first two months of the year, along with Kali Uchis's Por Vida, but Cold Winter and The Miner's Canary remained in my attention throughout this trip around the sun. Later on towards the end of the year I had came in contact with Nina Revisited and then the top spot became hard to decide. Cold Winter has some of the best instrumentals I've heard among music period. The mix and quality are excellent, providing great range and sounds, going from electronica, metal, and boom bap. LoFidel can't be acknowledged enough for his work on this album. Sheisty Khrist's rhymes are just about as great as LoFidel on this album. His flow and energy are superb. His sound on here actually reminds me of Jay-Z, but better. Khrist's lyrics are sound, but the only qualm I might say is that his enunciation isn't always clear. All of the featured artists are top notch and the two favorite being Natti, and spoken word poet Bianca Spriggs. The Miner's Canary is an entirely different sounding album from Cold Winter. While Cold Winter has some rock, ambient, and electronic influence The Miner's Canary is jazz and soul focused. The Miner's Canary is Naru's third album with The Journey Aflame in 2011 and its live variation Live & Aflame Sessions which dropped in the following year proceeding it. Akua Naru delivers on the poetic front as fervently as she did on The Journey Aflame. Her flow is perfectly blended with the instrumentals and her lyrics evoke emotion. In this album she spreads the messages of love, music, freedom and there's a tribute song to novelist Toni Morrison. The title of the album projects a metaphor in that she wants to relay messages to a community to prevent cancerous thoughts in comparison to the caged canaries miners used to take into mines to warn the miners of poisonous gases.
The featured artists on this album all do a stupendous job. R&B singer Cody ChesNuTT, provided some sensational vocals to "Canary Dreams", Ben L'Oncle Soul evokes a John Legend sound on “Fly”, and emcees Dynasty and Sa-Roc kill it on the microphone in "Boom Bap Back". I hope that the featured artists will gain notoriety in their own right down the road. The Miner's Canary is an excellent follow up to Akua Naru's previous works. I'm not quite sure if it's better than The Journey Aflame and Live & Aflame Sessions, but right now it's sitting right next to them. "Fly" has to be my most listened track from 2015.
The last of this trifecta is the Nina Simone tribute album Nina Revisited that was made for the Nina Simone documentary on Netflix. I had first came in contact with this when I was looking for some new Alice Smith and found her cover of "I Put a Spell on You". At the time I was busy and said I would listen to the rest later, but that later ended up being mid December. I am glad to have finally listened to the entire album. Nina Simone is one of the most recognizable jazz and soul singers, so this project had to be attached with talented artists and it has it in spades. Lauryn Hill, Common, Lala Hathaway, Usher, Jazmine Sullivan, Mary J. Blige, and Nina Simone's daughter Lisa Simone are among the most recognizable on here. All of them give good performances on this, though I feel some could have done better than others, but they're all listenable. I found Lauryn Hill's rendition of "Feeling Good" a bit lacking, primarily because I think her voice doesn't sound as good on this track compared to her past work or on "Wild Is the Wind" another cover on here by her. The decline is noticeable, but not encumbering. I quite enjoy her rhymes on "I Got Life". She shows that still has skills on the mic when it comes to flow, energy, and lyrics. Veteran Common are just as reputable as he talks of the recent killings of unarmed black men and children on "We Are Young Gifted & Black".
Mary J. Blige,  Usher give decent performances, Gregory Porter and Lisa Simone are exceptional, but Grace, Jazmine Sullivan, and Andra Day are even more so. As stated earlier I found this album earlier due to Alice Smith and I found her cover to the best track. Alice Smith is a top tier vocalist and her performance on this track gives me goosebumps. This album also introduced me to a few new artists and the standouts for me are Grace and Andra Day. I spoke of Andra Day earlier so I won't go too much into her, but her performance on "Mississippi Goddamn" is great! Grace was a surprise to me when I found her. With her soulful I expected a black woman, but Grace is a white blond girl from Australia. I was disappointed to find some of her recent work to be more mainstream pop, when she does such an excellent job singing soul and R&B, but there is good work to be found from her.  As for the others I haven't listened to Gregory Porter or Lisa Simone yet, but I will definitely get around to it. This album is a more than acceptable tribute to the late artist and it's a high recommendation. Though these three albums are radically different they are all worthy of the second spot of best album of 2015.

Notable Tracks: Cold Winter (Cold Winter) , Fly feat. Ben L'Oncle Soul (The Miner's Canary), and I Put a Spell on You (Nina Revisited)


Close Calls: Stretch Music by Christian Scott, To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, Czarface II: Every Hero Needs a Villain by Inspectah Deck, 7L & Esoteric, Mixed Jawns III by Small Professor, Phantom Limbs by Sadistik x Kno and Japanese Disco Edits by Yung Bae

1. Distant Worlds III

Artists:

Arnie Roth (Right) & Nobuo Uematsu (Left)

Release Date: February 5

Genre: Classical

Square Enix provides us with the third installment in the Distant Worlds series. For those unfamiliar, Square Enix is a Japanese video game company famous for the Final Fantasy series and the Distant Worlds projects are classical arrangements of songs from the titular series. This time we get treated to tracks from Final Fantasy games XIII and XIV. The tracks this time I feel are just all around better. The classical variations on some of the series most famous tracks sound superb and even a few tracks spark things up a bit and add some new compositions to the original songs like "Chocobo Medley". The quality of the music produced is excellent, I think better than usual, and it does a great job of instilling nostalgia. Uematsu and Roth are great at creating audio manifestations of peace, beauty, and tranquility within these compositions. "Battle & Victory Theme" and "Blinded By Light" pumps the blood and the rendition of "You're Not Alone" in "Not Alone" is riveting can be argued to be better than the original. This is perhaps the best of the three Distant Worlds albums. If you're a fan of Final Fantasy it is without a doubt that you will love this.

Notable Tracks: Battle & Victory Theme, Not Alone, and Blinded By Light

 That's it for my top ten of 2015. I'm looking forward to what 2016 has in store for me.