My thoughts on.... Grand Theft Auto 5

I am a fan of Grand Theft Auto series. I enjoy the quality work that Rockstar generally puts out. I will say I feel GTA5 is overhyped, but it isn't bad. Actually, I think it's one of the better games than the others, but something is just missing in GTA5, and I haven't figured out what.

The story overall is kind of how I used to envision if the Three Stooges was a violent, organized trio. Thus that is the ride of the story. It isn't about the side characters, as majority of them are flat and uninteresting, but how much shit the three can handle on their own and as a team. I think it's quite a fantastic development of the three characters. I enjoyed it very much, and even made me think of my own personal relationships, specifically a close friend of mine who, to a degree, reminded me of Trevor. It's really frightening to think about.

I also like to note that this is probably the first GTA of the series that does not glorify crime. by that, I mean, the wealth doesn't make them powerful and happy. The people who do the crime are not always cunning, smart, or even remotely sane. There is a level of brutality that may actually exceed how actual organized crime really is. It's an interesting perspective.

Aside from story, the gameplay is a bit better as far as firefighting. Otherwise, I think it's a slight step down in automobile control and even police AI. I enjoy the new mechanics though like hiding and evading cops. There are even other subtle mechanics that I didn't know about until recently like being able to switch out cars and be undetected by cops if they didn't spot you in the new car.That's a hell of a good step in the right direction... but damn, they need to polish the driving and cop AI.

I also hate racing games... why do they have them?

As well, I found all the side games boring. While they are well done, and probably do well on its own, but that is the problem... they are games of their own in a way. I don't want to play a game in my game. I want to be able to play THE game without annoying distractions. I do not understand the need to simulate life in a game. Granted, it does bring a sense of atmosphere with the area, but it feels unrelated and dry as oppose to GTA3-SA where the side missions granted you interesting side plots or unlockables.

My other problem... and this one I still haven't placed my thumb on it quite well, but it doesn't capture the spirit of SA. I understand that it is an entirely different game, and even reboot, but there was just something missing. I remember SA having a kind of mythos to itself. You would find landmark that seemed to have nothing to do with anything than breed rumors. Like a grave with a shovel in the middle of nowhere. The closest recapturing that weird, mysterious feeling is when you ran into such things in Red Dead Redemption. In GTA5, there isn't much interesting landmarks I noted. It felt like mostly desert, mountains, and boring water plants. It became too real and less of the imagined for me. It's a shame really.

To end on a better note, I do enjoy the graphics. Probably the only game where I stood at a cliff over an ocean watching the sun set, before stepping off to be eaten by sharks. The colors are magnificent when it reflects off the water. Honestly, I think GTA5 captures the beauty of water than any other game. It's really a beautiful game.

Well, that's that... It is a good game, some personal let downs, but it was worth the money I preordered the game with.I regret nothing.

Kanjimon: Gotta Catch Em All Entry 2: 似合い

My Source is from Jim Breen's WWWJDIC or http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C

Kanji Entry 2:

Kanji: 似合い
Kun reading: にあい
English meaning: Well-matched, suited

For this kanji, I just pulled randomly from Great Teacher Onizuka manga which may be something I'll be doing for right now as I haven't came across Kanji that I felt was worth noting on a blog. The kanji was picked from the first volume while flipping and stopping at a random page and pointing at a kanji.

The sentence is 「なかなか似合ってんじゃん！」in the manga. From what I know of pictures and context, probably roughly meaning "Aren't you well dressed" or something along that line. I tried to validate this through Google Translate, but it decided to crap itself than give me anything coherent."And Jan are you become quite", I'm fairly sure that isn't it.

So, the word is obviously best used in terms of how someone is dressed. Seems to give connotation it can be used to describe how appropriate something is together, but maybe I'm adding too much English sayings.

The kanji is a composite of Two kanjis: 似 and 合... Yep. I was planning to extend upon this, but three kanjis entries in one entry? That doesn't make any sense! THERE GOT TO BE ORDER IN HERE, DAMN IT!

Quest for Glory:So you want to be a translator

In the beginning, I always wanted to learn japanese when I was in high school. Of course, there was no class for it, and there was even a 'nerd' stigma behind it since manga and anime were looked down at. So, I never bothered. As well, learning german through the class, I felt maybe I couldn't learn a language, specifically Japanese which is considered difficult.

Skip a few years after, I fond myself going through my list of games I have enjoyed. Specifically Exile. I did an LP of it, actually. I was so obsessed at finding the real experience of the game that I found a pc-98 and a PC-88 emulator. Didn't know japanese, and just played as much as I can. Upon this, I found and purchase a japanese game of Yu-yu hakusho for the PCEngine which I also LP'd. This started my desire to learn japanese. Mostly out of necessity since I didn't understand the game much, so I tried to figure out the booklet.  I didn't get too far, but did understood ths and that from the use of Google Translate and the Hiragana\katakana chart. This is probably the first step in where I am now (Unfortunately, that isn't very far as of my current writing)

I then decided to partake my quest... to transcribe, translate, and then Let's Play a japanese game that I have quite a love for. I am writing out every japanese character, sentence, and commands I can from this game. I'll translate it the best I can, then proceed to write a script for me so when I LP it, I know when or what to say as I doubt my active reading will be quick.

This is the main reason I developed this blog is to write out my progress. Maybe a bit of hope for exposure since, well, it'd be nice to be recognized and even possibly asked to do jobs as a translator... A man can dream damn it!

Although, I'm sure nobody would hire me at this rate as I have the japanese ability of a baby. Actually, a baby may have a stronger vocabulary than I.

Time to write out my progress:

I am roughly 50 percent within the game as far as footage is recorded for my transcribing work. 40 percent transcribed with kanjis labeled.

As far as my general Japanese, been doing a lot of flashcard practices and studying the Genki Textbook. This has expanded my vocabulary, but limited to the textbook in use and perhaps in real life situations if I had to express a SIMPLE thought in Japanese. I know for a fact that I can ask where a McDonalds is at, so I will never be hungry in Japan... just fat.

Kanjimon: Gotta Catch'm All! Entry 1： 以

Throughout my blog, I shall be trying to document one kanji a week. Very difficult kanji by that. Kanji that when I sit on my computer chair trying to figure out what the hell I am looking at since my project, which I don't believe I have talked of at this point, requires me to decipher bits of bits of Kanji in low resolution. Imagine making words out in alphabet soup, but instead, it's a bit of spilled rice.

My Source is from Jim Breen's WWWJDIC or http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C - this place. Quite handy.

Kanji Entry 1:
Character:以
ON Reading: い
KUN Reading: もって
Five Strokes
The main radical, I believe, is 人.

English Definition: By Means of, Because, In View of, Compared with

I came across this Kanji during my work on a translation project. I found it to be very alien, so I had a difficulty in figuring out where it would be in the dictionary. In hind sight, should have been obvious that 人 is the radical, but it looked very alien at first sight! Especially in low-res.

So far, I don't think it is a standalone word. By that, there is always a kanji with it, so that obviously makes it an adverb or adjective.  The definition site doesn't exactly express this, but since から is used for the Grammar context of Because, it'd only make sense it'd be more of a description than Grammar or action\noun. 

The kanji I found it used in is 以上 or いじょう, and I have the definition as NoLessThen, but it can also be Further and the end. So, the context is a measurement of sorts.

Sentence I found using it, 「 でもこれ以上、引き止めるのはワガママですものね。」I'm not 100 percent on translation, but I think it's saying along the lines of, But to hold you here any longer is selfish. 

I think that is it for this Entry.