#34 Encouragement​ – To all the under-appreciated Dads

To all the under appreciated dad’s out there: thanks.  So much is expected of you from family, work, friends, society yet you march on.  Good for you.  Wives and mothers get lots of praise and support (as they should!) but culture tends to be quite on all the dads out there.  We are often depicted as overweight incompetent losers by popular media.  Rarely is there a positive depiction of fathers or husbands on popular media.  Well, we don’t need them because we’re lions.

Be the freaking beast God created you to be.  You are a lion!  We forge our own paths, we hunt to provide for our families, and we could care less what the other animals think of us.  You are appreciated.  Don’t succumb to the mediocrity our culture expects from us.  I know the weight you feel.  I know you aren’t valued by many.  But even if no one ever thanks you, press on.  Your deeds may go uncelebrated.  Your hard-work at a job you probably don’t like expected.  Your efforts to be a good husband and father overlooked.

But you’re a lion.  Pick yourself up and keep going.  Set the tone in your home.  Expect more out of life than just scraping by.  You’ve achieved the greatest gift and responsibility any man could ever have – being a husband and a father.  No culture or job can ever take that away from you.  You are appreciated!  Don’t lose heart.  Go win the day and be the best father and husband you can be.

I’M​ BACK!

Wow, it’s been like 4 years since I updated this page… wow.  My hobbies haven’t stopped. Still doing all 139 of them, only they’ve shifted around and changed quite a bit.  Think I’m going to change the purpose of this blog a bit.  See, I’m writing a children’s book and I want to have a place where I can properly talk about my journey.  The why and all that stuff.  Stay tuned.  A more proper update is to come!

Hobby #04 Photography – Street Photography in Annapolis Maryland

Today was such a lovely day outside my wife and I had to get out of the house and go do something.  But what?  Today was the Cherri blossom festival in Washington D.C. and there wasn’t a chance I was going anywhere near that place.  I’m not a huge fan of big crowds.. So we began to think about other places that would be fun to visit.  We settled on Annapolis Maryland because neither of us had ever been to the state capital before.  So we packed our bags and my Nikon D5100 and a few lenses and we were out the door!

Here is a picture of my amazingly gorgeous wife and our daughter Zelda.

I told my two ladies  to sit on the steps of an empty shop while I broke out the cam.  I love how this picture came out because my subjects are very sharp (Malia and Zelda) Malia just looks beautiful here with her color coordinated self.  Zelda is stuffing her face as normal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took many pictures but I wanted to highlight a few of them here.  This first picture I took in the heart of the city.  It has a very colonial style to the city.  So I tried to tell the story of where we were at by getting down low and shooting the picture at an upward angle.  This helps me see things from my daughters perspective as well as get one of the state buildings in the background.

Zelda, my daughter, is triumphantly holding a peddle that had fallen from the tree in this shot.  This was a very good composure I believe.  I’m sure I could have done something to make it better, but when working with a 1 year old kid… its hard to keep them still

 

 

 

 

 

I love this next picture because it came out so well.  We were walking down this street and I noticed this would be a great shot.  I was around 2pm to the light was still very harsh.  As with my other pictures I tried to find some shade to shoot in.  We crossed the street and I opened up my aperture very wide to blur the background and bring focus two my wife and daughter.  It took us a few shots but we got a great shot here of Zelda laughing.  You also get a sense of motion with the people behind her and her hair blowing in the wind

 

Finally at the end of that hill we came across an AMAZING Irish violin player, playing some classic Celtic style tunes on his instrument.  I broke out my camera and capture this sad picture.

I love this picture because it tells a story.  A story of how “connected” and how “disconnected” our world is now.  Here we have this amazing man of culture and talent, playing wonderful music… all while being ignored by just about every person who passes him on the street.

Story telling in photography can be tricky.  There was another man taking pictures of him as well, but he was at a different angle focusing solely on the subject.  By getting behind the musician we are able to see the world through his eyes.  What might he be thinking?  Will today be his last day to play?  Will he decide his talent is a waste?  Will he push on to provide the world with such wonderful music?  Time will tell.

Hobby #20 Technology – Is It Illegal To Unlock Your Phone Now?

Short answer: No.  99% of you have nothing to worry about. Here’s why and how to know if your safe.

Background
The US Librarian Of Congress choose that an a great exemption which allowed smart phones to be unlocked under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  The DMCA makes it legal for you to copy digital content from a CD or DVD and use it in a digital form on the format of your choice – such as a phone or tablet.   It is also what makes it legal for you to unlock your iPhone (completely legally) and use it on the network of your choice – Because once you own the the device/content – the DMCA says that it is your right as a consumer to be able to use that device/content on other mediums (such as another network if you choose).  So that’s the background.

Bottom Line
Because they decided that an exemption to smart phones will no longer apply this now means that if you purchased your phone AFTER January 26, 2013 it is illegal for you to unlock your phone – Unless your wireless carrier gives you permission to do so (which wouldn’t be in their best interest.)  This mean’s that as long as you bought your phone on January 25 and before – it is perfectly legal for you to unlock you phone and use it on a different carrier (Which is often a great way to save money!)

So right now there is a small minority of people who can’t unlock their phone.  But – if you just bought your phone within the last few months – you wouldn’t want to unlock it to go to a different carrier anyway because you likely signed a 2 year contact with terrible penalties for canceling early.  But if your 2 year contract is up – you are in the clear to unlock and move to a different carrier like t-mobile.

I hope this article was helpful for all of you out there wondering if you can do this.  I am about to do it myself and switch to T-mobile.  Stay tuned to this site to see how easy it is to make the switch from ATT to t-mobile!

Hobby # 25 Perler Beading – How To Get Started!

Want to start Perler Beading as a hobby?  You’ve found it all right here!  I will walk you through all the supplies you will need – resources – etc for you to get started creating whatever you dream up!

If you’re new to 139hobbies.com welcome!  If you’re new to the site check out the side bar with a list of all the current hobbies I am involved in that I have written articles for.

Perler Beading – Who Does It?
I’m thrilled your interested in perler beading!  People who perler bead come from all different walks of life.  Maybe your a “gamer” who saw some cool 8-bit art work made out of Perler Beads.  Maybe you’re a kid who has a friend that made a unicorn and you want to make one too.  Maybe you’re a mother who is trying to occupy her children some something other than turning on the TV.  Maybe you’re elderly who just wants to find something creative to do with your time.  If any of these people describes you Perler Beading would be great!

I’m a husband in my late 20’s with a young daughter and I love this hobby!  I was drawn to it because I could recreate 8-bit video game artwork of Mario and Sonic.  Check out my other pages to see some of my other perler beading art work.  So if a grown man enjoys this stuff – I’m confident anyone else will!

Is this an Expensive Hobby?
Not at all!  In fact if you would like to just give it a try before committing a lot of money to it.  You can just go to your local Walmart, Target, Micheal’s, or Joe Ann’s Fabric and pick up the “Perler Tray Of Beads” for around $10.00 That comes with 4000 color coded beads of 16 colors and an idea book as well.  That’s what I did.  I just wanted to make one thing then I ended up buying another pack… and another… Pretty soon I realized that the things I wanted to make required a larger range of color.  That’s when I committed $70 to about 40,000 beads numbering roughly 38 different shades… But that was a few months ago and I still haven’t run out of any color.

The reason I wanted to go ahead and get as many shades as I could was so that I could create more dynamic art.  The more color range you have the better you can give the illusion of shading and a 3D effect.  That’s what I decided would be good for ME. You may only want a few extra shades.  So Lets Walk Through What you’ll need.

Basic Supplies
Here are the absolute basic supplies you’ll need to get started.

• I would recommend getting “Perler Tray Of Beads” for around $10.00 That comes with 4000 color coded beads of 16 colors and an idea book as well.
• You will want to buy at least one square peg board (They sell them in a lot of different shapes but try to find the square ones because those are the only ones you will later be able to connect to other square board to create a larger canvas to work with.)
• Wax Paper – this usually comes with either the large bead kit or the peg boards.
• An Iron – The iron is how you “fuse” the beads together.
• A Perler Graber – I don’t actually know the real name – but it is a green little tool for about 3 bucks that helps you pinch up the beads out of or onto the board when your fingers might not be able to reach it.  VERY useful for when a bead lands onto the wrong spot.

That’s it!  Once you have these supplies you’re ready to go!

Organization is Key! 
When you are dealing with such tiny beads it is important to be organized.  If you get the starter set it is easy enough to keep them all in their little spots.  Resist the urge you or little ones may have to dump them all out into a single bucket for whatever reason pops into your mind.  When I got the extra 38 shades of color (1000 bead packs each for about 1.99 or 1.69 per pack.)  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to use them straight from their bags.  So I went to find some containers.  I went to walmart first thinking I would find something cheap there.  I paid 20 bucks for a decent sized plastic box with different draws and had something like 25 spaces to put beads in.  Then I went to Micheal’s and hit the jackpot!  Micheal’s has these bead boxes with 17 compartments but only $2.00 each!  So I bought 8 boxes of them and now all but one of them are filled with beads.

How to “Fuse” your beads together
This can take some practice – as well as some trial and error.  These beads are plastic and are respond quickly when heat is directly applied to them.  This is where the wax paper comes in.  Here are the basic steps.

1. Plug in your iron and let it heat up for 2 minutes.  Set it to medium heat.  If it is too low the beads won’t melt and fuse.  If it is too high you risk burning the paper.  Medium is perfect for almost all irons.
2. Set your finished bead pictures (still on the peg board you crafted it on) on a hard flat surface.
3. Put the wax paper over the beads
4. Set the iron on top of the paper and slowly slide the paper in both a clock wise and counter clock wise motion – this will help the small amount of plastic fuse together more easily.
5. Do this for about 30 seconds without removing the heat.
6. Take off the iron and very carefully pull off the wax paper from one end to see if the beads have fused together.  If you lift the paper off but see a bead or two that has not stuck to the picture – reapply hear in that area or the whole picture for another 15 – 20 seconds.
7. Once it is one piece – CAREFULLY take the beaded picture off the peg board and turn it over onto a hard surface and repeat the process.  If you don’t fuse both sides it will break very easily.

The first time will be a little nerve wrecking – so i suggest you do something small that didn’t take long to get the hang of it.

It is possible to fuse the picture so much that no holes are present leaving a smooth surface.  This is a great for coasters like I have posted here.  This process takes a little longer – but not much.  Heat time will vary but for me it took between 60 – 120 seconds to get a completely flat surface.  I also was applying a little more pressure as I tried to smooth it out and get all the little holes to go away

A word of warning – if you are trying to achive a surface with no holes a few things to remember

1. Don’t press too hard.  The harder you press the more likely you will actually melt the beads shorter – which will cause the pegs they are resting on to stick up and poke holes in your picture – because the plastic is melting down due to the presure.  This creates holes which you will be un able to fix.  Take your time.
2. Don’t move the wax paper if you don’t have to.  If you keep lifting it up – each time you take up the wax paper it may leave indents in your melting plastic.
3. Don’t do too large of an image.  I created an epic nintendo sign which took something like 2,500 beads and 2 days to finish.  I wanted to get a perfectly smooth image but because I had to melt it a section at a time the picture got very warped.  Pegs started popping through – and now the biggest creation I have made sits in my closet… ashamed… lol.

I’ve included the Nintendo sign I made here showing what I mean.

Getting/Stealing some great ideas!

Don’t try to come out of the gates creating stuff on your own.  Find something someone else has already done online and follow their picture peg for peg.  This will help train your eye for how to do this particular kind of art work.  If you try to do something yourself – you may get frustrated very quickly.  Everything I have created so far is pretty much peg for peg off of someone else’s picture I’ve found online.  It is still immensely satisfying because I created it with my own hands.

If your kids are the main ones using this – try to give them direction – if they are really small just tell them to make different shapes.  If they are a little older tell them to make SIMPLE objects like a tree – a spoon – a bat – or something along those lines.  If you tell them to make a person (or they try to) without having something to follow they will likely be disappointment with what they created and determine this is too hard.  It’s not too hard – people just have to adjust to the medium of the art work, that’s all.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this “Getting Started” Article on perler beading.  Please lead a comment or follow me on facebook and I will be sure to reply with any questions.

To see my other creations please check out the link on the left side column titled “#25 Perler Beading”

Hobby #03 Board Games – AMC The Walking Dead Board Game Review!

Is the AMC version of The Walking Dead board game any good?  Yes… Oh yes it is!  And here is my full review!

Overall rating 91/100 (Outstanding!)

Who Would Enjoy this game?
Obviously if your even reading this article your one of three people.  Either you’ve read the comic books and wanted to give this version of  the board game a try.  Or You’re a huge fan the AMC show and want to take your fanboy status to the next level.  Or your a Zombie fan looking for a good zombie game.  If your any of these three – there isn’t a chance you won’t love this game.  In fact people who don’t even know anything about “TWD” really enjoy this game because the game play elements are fantastic.

What’s in the box?
Everyone wants to know if the price tag is worth it, right?  If you go to Barns and Nobles you can pick up this game for 39.99 (Like i did) or you can pick it up for cheaper if you don’t mind a wait from amazon for about 31.99.  I can’t tell you how impressed I was with the materials of this game.  The most outstanding feature which I have never actually seen before is the board it’s self.  The board is a large mat (same material that mouse pads are made from) that rolls out.  There is a protective coating on the top of it to prevent scuffs from happening.  This is the greatest idea I have ever seen in board games.  You just roll it out, then roll it back up.  No more carefully folding some board out or in trying to prevent the inevitable rips in the seems of the board.  My hat off to the Cryptozoic company that made this game.  The playing cards are large and have a real playing card feel to them.  They won’t rip easy.  The other parts of the game are all made from thick, thick cardboard.  It would take some serious carelessness to bend one of these things in half.  The durability of this game I would rate a 10 out of 10.

Game Play
For the purpose of this article I won’t dive too deep into the mechanics of the game – rather give you the over all feel and style.  The game can be played 1 – 4 players.  (That’s right – this board game you can play by yourself! WIN!)  This is currently the only board game I own at the moment that can be played solo.  Nice feature!  Just now I played with my wife.

The goal of the game is to get supplies from 4 different locations on the four corners of the map and make it back to camp before dying.  It sounds simple enough.  Each player is on their own – we can travel together or in different directions.  You get “Ally” tokens representing more people in your individual player party.  As you fight zombies along your jounrey – but lose – you will lose an “Ally” token.  That Ally dies and doesn’t come back.  Lose all your Ally tokens and get bit by a zombie and your dead… for a turn… then you come back as a zombie and try to kill other players!  TWIST!
There are a limited number of supplies in the whole game.  Once the supply deck runs out – its out.  Just like in the real world they don’t self renew – so you must use each card wisely.

My wife and I thought this would be easy to do.  But right during the first turn she had to choose between using two of her precious weapons or take a chance and lose an Ally – she sat there for 10 minutes trying to decide what would be the best thing to do.  We got really really into this!  Each turn was a fight for our lives as the supplies were running low.  Both of us made a few minor mistakes which eventually cost her, her life.  Sadly when she came back as a zombie she was in the last area I was trying to get to and I kept having to fight her without any success.  I was low on supplies and out of Allies… Dead.  SO MUCH FUN!

What are the Negatives?
Virtually none.

1. The only thing I kept thing was that this board game was created during Season 1.  So all the characters and objectives are based off of season 1.  I do wish that had released a newer version by now that included more locations from the other two seasons.  Or more characters from the other seasons – no Daryle was a bummer.
2. The game only goes up to 4 players.  This seems like a great game for 6 – 8 players.  I hope they release an expansion soon!

Please note these negatives are trivial at best.  Other games I will be reviewing in the future I will have a mouth full to say about this section.

Should I buy this version vs. the comic book version of the game?
So just to be clear there are TWO walking dead board games.  One based on the comic book, and this one based on the TV series… which is based on the comic.  Just to be clear – I read the comics first, then watched the show.  I love both – but… the comics are better lol.  That is not to take anything away from the show, because the show is very well done.  Just a fact.  So for me to tell you to skip the comic book version of the board game and pick up the TV show version says a lot.  The comic book version, (from what I’ve read – not played myself) is slow and boring.  But read up on it yourself if your still not sure.

Final Thoughts
I am a huge board gamer.  Ticket to Ride, Munchkin, MTG, Risk, etc.  I like to play anything that’s not by Hasbro – which has had a monopoly (No pun intended) on board games in stores for a while.   So please understand the weight behind this statement even if you have not read the comics or seen any of the episodes of AMC’s The Walking Dead – but simply want to play a survival game – don’t look any further.  I cannot wait to get another two people with us so that we can do the 4 player mode!

Final Scoring.
Physical Parts of Game = 10
Game Play Balance = 9
Immersion Into Game = 10
Re-playability = 9
Learning Curve = 8 (Can learn to play in 15 minutes or less)
Overall Score (not an avarage) = 91% (Outstanding!)

Hobby #25 Perler Beading – Super Mario World Spring

On the road right now, but I wanted to throw up a Perler bead I did of super Mario world spring. Pretty sweet. I hope to make an entire scene out of these beads one day but it will be one object at a time. This is a great hobby to kill some time and let your creative juice flow. Great for adults or kids. Pretty sure it’s suppose to be FOR kids, but I don’t want to grow up. Cheers!

Hobby #03 Board Games – Why You NEED to buy a board game

Most of us have played Monopoly, only to flip the table in a fit of rage because your bleeding money left and right.  There is always that one player, who you land on their property – you don’t have the money then you end up making some twisted deal with the devil so that you can get out of paying.  But within 3 turns you go bankrupt anyway.  I don’t know about you – but I hated board games growing up. They were either way too simplistic, winning completely by chance, or Monopoly.  After one particular family game night turned into “The Night of Horror” which ended in everybody expect oldest my sister crying – I swore off board games and stuck to video games.

Fast forward 12 or so years and my oldest sister invites me to a game night with her and her husband and a few of her close friends along with my girlfriend.  I was so nervous… I hadn’t played a game since “The Night of Horror”.  But the game we played was unlike anything I had ever seen.  I’d never seen the game in Walmart, Target, Toys R Us.  It was called “Betrayal at House on the Hill”.  Great… But as the rules were explained and we started playing… I actually was having fun.  It was unlike anything I had ever played before.  From that day forward I began to play more board games.

Turns out there is more to life than Monopoly, Life, and Sorry.

Let me break down for you the different type of board games you can play.

Games of Chance
These are, as the title suggests, games they require a HIGH amount of luck for you to win.  Games like Sorry, Life, Pirates Cove, Uno, Go Fish, etc.  These are great games for gamers and people who just want something casual.  These are the games available at most retailers for whatever reason.

Games of Cooperation
You won’t find these games in your local store.  You’ll need to go to your local hobby store or comic book store – even Barns and Nobles are starting to carry these types of games.  Games like Shadows over Camelot, Betrayal at House on the Hill – These are games where you are (mostly) playing against the board game.  You are collaborating with your team mates to overcome some great challenge.  You all win together or you all lose together

Games of Back Stabing
These games are a ton of fun for people who enjoy deception as a gaming element.  The most basic form of this would be poker.  However the board game forms are the two games mentioned above.  Shadows over Camelot for example is a game where all the players are trying to save Camelot together. However there is the possibility of a TRADER among you.  This introduces amazing new game play elements are you are now trying to determine if the actions of a player are helping the team or hurting the team.   The closer to Victory and Failure progress so closely to one another it is hard to tell until it might be too late IF there is a trader among you – its also possible there isn’t.

Games of Strategy Against other Players
The most common example is the classic game RISK.  You have an army and your goal is to take over the world.  This game is great fun for competitive people.  You can have the perfect strategy, overwhelming armies, but if the dice don’t fall in your favor you will be at the mercy of your friends – hence the name “RISK.”  Other games are Munchkin, Magic the Gathering, Axis vs Alies, etc.

 

Games of Strategy NOT against other players.
This is an important category.  Many people actually enjoy strategy – but don’t like going head to head with several other friends.  Ticket to Ride (which is probably my fav game right now – which I have convinced dozens of my friends to also buy) is a great game where you are trying to connect train routes across the U.S. However as the game progresses your route and other players routes might get in the way of one another.  There is never any hard feelings though because no one no’s where anyone else is going – so it’s not your fault if you cut someone off.  Great game because it never gets old.

So Why Do I NEED to Buy a Board Game? Because not all games are like LIFE or Monopoly.  There are TONS of games out there that are a TON of fun.  Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing all the board games my wife and I have in the hope that you will decide to buy one of them as well.  If you have any games you recommend I buy and review – please leave the name in the comments below!

Hobby #19 Review – Shamrock Shake – Joy Turned to Sadness.

My wife and I normally a sucker for anything seasonal.  But we’ve been trying not to be impulsive with our money just because we see something pretty on Hulu (via their commercials since we don’t have cable – please see my article on why we will never need to buy cable again!).  So when my wife, Malia, informed me that McDonald’s Shamrock Shake was back in season I knew I had to try to help her not make an impulsive buy.  Apparently she has submission issues…

We went ahead to McDonald’s after she picked me up from Church to wet our pallets with some minty ice cream goodness.  The commercials were so appealing after all.  The promise of a light green minty ice cream shake.  Who ain’t have time for that?

Even as we pull up into the drive through we are bombarded by pictures of this delightful shake which apparently is going to solve all our problems and make us smile ridiculously hard – according to the ads. Six bucks later we get our shakes and on our way.

Then we notice the horror that rests in our cup holders.

Now that they are putting the shakes in the clear plastic cups – you can see exactly what your drinking.  Which isn’t the evenly smooth light green color with some streaks of white running along the sides of the cup to give a “I’ve been mixed via a blender look” What we got were very dark patches green of syrup in an other wise slimy looking drink.

We thought, “Maybe it still tastes good…” WRONG.  Both of us got a MASSIVE hit of green mint syrup at the bottom of the drink that made me go temporarily blind.  (I sure hope it was the shake or I probably need to go see a doctor immediately.)  We took these disgusting drinks back and ask for fresher ones.  They try to pour me more but the “mint syrup” was almost gone so I watch them pour more syrup into this filthy container on the floor that was connected to a hose that mixed it with the “shake”  Then I watched as he poured us new drinks that looked and tasted even worst than the previous ones.

Conclusion
Don’t buy this death in a cup.  I’ll be the first to admit I need to do a better job about what I consume.  But this is a true waste of money and honestly is probably a determent to the health of anyone who stares at it for longer than 5 seconds.

Hobby #19 Reviews – Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Demo

Not many people review demo’s.  But this Demo had such an impact on me I felt it was worthy of a review.  Just so that you understand the weight behind my words you’ll need to know a few things:

1. Monster Hunter 3 has been my most anticipated game on the Wii U
2. I’ve never played a Monster Hunter game before and was excited to jump in during the HD versions.
3. I was excited about these worlds to explore and hunt monsters.
4. I have been convincing my fellow Confident Gamers to pick up the game as well so we can get some 4 player Co-Ops going!

So when Chris told me that the DEMO was available on Wii U, I couldn’t wait to get home and download it.  2 FULLY playable quests?!  Count me in!  Once it was downloaded and installed I ventured into this unknown land.  I’ve spent about 2 hours with the demo now and I can sum up my experience in about two words: Utter Disappointment.

The purpose of the Demo is to give players a tease, a taste of the cake, give them just enough to get them to go out and pre-order that bad boy.  Show off the possibilities!  Demo’s are meant to please fan boys until release and convince the rest that they need to buy this game.  Demo’s are suppose to make you feel confident, teach you some basic’s about the world and draw you into the folk lore.  Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Demo fails to do this on all counts.

Presentation
It’s no secret that the graphics are stellar.  Details and textures are pretty low, but I knew that going into the game.  I wasn’t playing this for the graphics, I was playing it for the challenge and fun of hunting and killing monsters.  The menu system is very CAPCOM.  Very arcade style.  Player and monster animations are great.  You really get the sense that you are fighting some wild creatures.

Game Play
Ready… GO!  That’s what happens in the demo.  You are dropped in the middle of a camp and told you have 20 minutes to kill everything that dares to cross your path.  20 minutes?  Well… okay.  I poke around my came for about a minute trying to figure out what to do.  I accidentally drink about 3 potions while trying to determine the button scheme.  Finally I decide to just head off into a direction to explore…. Then it happens. “Loading” 3 seconds later I appear in another area… I wrote it off as leaving camp to go into the main hunting grounds.  So I walk around and head off to a mountain I see in the distance “Loading”  WHAT?!  Then it hits me.  This map is divided into 7 sections.  None of which connect very well.

This was especially troublesome as I fight the bosses.  More often than not The bosses like to fight right at the entrance to another area.  I accidentally leave the fight several times while trying to dodge an attack.  The monster will not follow you so you have to go back to the area you were fighting in… “LOADING” – BAM – you get hit as you re-enter the first area.  But don’t get too comfortable in any particular area.  After a few hits the monsters will run away and you have to track it from area to area.  The demo explains nothing to you.  I had to figure out that I needed to sharpen my sword after every fight.

The classes were decent.  I only played three.  The bow was not fun to play at all.  I tried a long sword class but he was slower than I had time for.  I ran out of time twice trying to kill this guy due to the speed of my guy.  Finally I tried the sword and shield guy and he managed to get the job done.  Upon beating him the game simply said I completed the quest and thanks for playing.  Over.  That was the easy quest.  I have not managed to beat the “hard” quest because I repeatedly keep running out of time.

Swimming and fighting under water is not fun.

SoundMusic is forgettable at best.  The two little creatures who tag along make the most annoying sounds over and over if you stand still for too long.  Monster sounds are okay.

Conclusion
This is one of the few demos I have ever played that have convinced me not to buy this game.  To me it is fairly arrogant to not take the time to craft a demo for people who might not know anything about the game.  The map is split up into 7 – 18 different area’s which requires load time for each is absurd.  Not allowing you to customize your character AT ALL in the demo is another missed opportunity.    The only enjoyable thing in this demo that I found was going up to my little helpers after a monster ran away and kicking them repeatedly.  If this demo is an acurate reflection of this game – I would highly recommend not buying it on day on – if at all.  Very disappointed Capcom.  For a demo to turn an eager first time fan into a cynical critic is a unique skill that you shouldn’t be proud of.

I give this demo a 4 out of 10.