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