DMC: Devil May Cry review

I'm going to take a break from book reviews here for a minute. Today's review is going to show how absolutely nerdtastic I really am. I don't hide the fact that not only am I a complete book worm, but also a video game junkie. My video game collection is actually far more vast than my book piles.

I have been a HUGE fan of the Devil May Cry series since it was originally released in 2001. It was my main reason for owning a Playstation 2. All three of the original PS2 games are fantastic. Yes, story telling could have been better, but for what the lack in story is more than made up for in combat and characters.

Dante. Who doesn't love our white haired half demon, half human. He's witty and just an all around bad ass. Put him together with Trish and it's pure gold. The loss of Trish almost made me throw my controller in to the tv, but I eventually got over it and played the 3rd game. Random chick didn't fill the void the Trish left, but at least Dante was there. Plus the showdown with this twin brother Vergil was epic.

The fourth game took some time to get in to. I wanted to love Nero and eventually I learned. But a Dante look alike just wasn't the same. Although fighting against Dante was pretty neat in the beginning.

Now, in 2013 we come to DMC: Devil May Cry. This game is a reboot, which should have told me to stay the hell away. But I'm a diehard fan. I ignored the fandom voice in my brain and bought it.

 First I list off the things I really did like about this game.

The combat in this game was much more fluid and responsive. Combos were easy to pull off. And for a combo moron such as myself it was actually kind of nice.

The graphics are nothing short of amazing. Characters and even scenery look very realistic.

I really did enjoy seeing how the tension between Dante and Vergil all started. You do go in knowing some of the history between these two, but it's nice to get the full story.

I am one of the few who actually likes Dante's new look.

The level's of difficulty in this game are insane. With each play through you earn a new difficulty level. If you can make it through the "Dante must die" difficulty left then my hat is off to you. There is also "Heaven and Hell" as well as "Hell and Hell" which I can't believe people have already beat. Enemies are insanly hard and can kill Dante with one hit. I dig all the difficulty level choices.

Now for what I didn't like about the game.

While I do like Dante's new and younger look. Good god his attitude. He looks like an emo, I half expected him to act like it. Hell, I would have preferred it. The "I don't give a shit" attitude is becoming a norm among video game protagonists lately. I feel this must end. And where the hell did Dante's sense of humor go? Yes there are SOME lines that produced a bit of a chuckle, but not very many. I missed his wit and charm. Oh and the pizza eating. Where did his pizza obsession go? I could have made this a much shorter paragraph had I just said Ninja Theory did a great job of bastardizing Dante's character.

The voice acting is just bad and laughable. Actually, this made me laugh more than the so called jokes.

DMC has never been a storyline kind of franchise. I can accept this. While I do GREATLY enjoy the shots a Fox News in this game, it gets tired very quickly. Big bad demon (who killed Dante and Vergil's parents), is trying to enslave humanity....blah, blah and blah. There comes a point in the game where you just want to say screw it, demons can win for all I care.

I said earlier that I enjoy combat. What I don't enjoy switching between weapons to kill certain enemies. Midway through the game you get more weapons. As cool as these weapons are, the further you get into the game the less useful these special weapons become. It all becomes very confusing as to which weapon you need to kill what enemy. Yes, red means demonic and white means angelic. But when you start forgetting which button controls which weapon, it starts to become very frustrating and frankly not very much fun anymore.

The combo system is way to easy on players. In the original games you lost combo points for breaking from a combination of swings. It's so freaking easy to get points that it hardly seems worth doing combos at all. You loose points whenever you're hit or interrupted by an enemy, but with a dodge button getting hit is hardly a problem at all.  

Kat. Oh Kat. The most boring woman to ever enter into the DMC universe. Far more boring than Random chick in the 3rd game. She turns out to be a somewhat love interest for Dante, which just shows you how absolutely freaking boring Dante has become. She has no redeeming qualities that I can think of. Woot! She helped me in a couple of missions. Really, aside from the hunter mission and the portals to limbo, she could have been left out of this game completely.

Earlier missions are far more fun to play through. Here we come back to memorizing which button controls which weapon. The weapons early on are relevant and easy to remember. Plus these levels are just plain fun to play through.

The ending. Well. What do say about the ending. It was very.....unfulfilled. But Ninja Theory left it open for a second game. yay. I guess.

It's not by any means a horrible game. It's actually pretty fun to play for a short period of time. But if you are a die hard DMC fan you will find many faults. If you are just coming in to this series and haven't played any of the original games, then this reboot is for you. I don't seem myself coming back to play it unless they put out some kick ass DLC.

On the typical gamer rating scale I give this game a 5(maybe a 5 and a half)/10

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

Far too many book reviews, but such things happen when a book nerd like me has too much time on her hands. Our next book took me by complete and utter surprise. I'm usually not one for teen romance (unless it has some kind of supernatural element added.), but  The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen was actually really good for a non-supernatural romance story.


Callie and Kayden have known of each other since they were kids, yet neither have bothered to speak to the other since both move in different social circles. In high school, insanely handsome Kayden was the star quarterback, the most popular guy in school and dated cheerleaders.

Callie on the other hand was a social pariah. Callie had no interest in having any friends. Her classmates call her the anorexic, devil worshiping Callie due to her over usage of black eyeliner, being extremely thin and wearing all black clothing that are at least three sizes too big.

Our story starts out with Callie being forced by her mother to retrieve her brother from a graduation party. She is extremely apprehensive since everyone who ever made fun of her in high school would be there. After much brow beating by her mother she ends up going in and searching for her kid brother.

During her search Callie happens to glance out in the back yard and is witness a fight. She recognizes Kayden and his father right away. She does what most people wouldn't and runs out to stop his father from killing Kayden.

Instead of asking Kayden why his father was beating on him, Callie helps him clean and bandage his wounds. Kayden makes Callie promise she will never tell anyone what she has seen that night. Since Callie isn't a gossip she swears to keep it under wraps.

Kayden is flabbergasted by her actions. He doesn't understand how someone he's never taken the time to speak with would want to help him. It's a action he will never forget.

Skip ahead a four months later. Callie is now in college, far away from anyone who might have known her in high school (Or so she thinks). Thanks to the help of her new best friend, Seth, Callie has somewhat come out of her shell. Together the come up with the "Things you must do" list. This is made to help Callie with her confidence issues. She still wears over sized clothes, but at least they are something other than black. She has also given up on black eyeliner.

Much to her surprise she spot's Kayden and does everything she can to avoid contact with him. This is to no avail.

Ever since the night of his party, Kayden has wanted to see Callie again and thank her for helping him. The Callie he spot's on campus is much different form the Callie he knew in high school. What is most shocking is she actually smiles. He is determined to speak with her, but she hardly makes it easy. It's through the effort of Seth that Callie actually speaks with Kayden.

The two soon begin hanging out and slowly realize they have feelings for one another. Kayden is surprised at Callie's reaction every time they are about to make love. She has a massive panic attack every time they try. He doesn't want to push her, but at the same time he wants to know why she wont have sex with him. She knows he comes from an abusive family, why does she not trust him enough with her secret?

Almost the moment you get in to Callie's mind you know some bad shit went down with her. She has a hard time trusting people. The fact that she hides behind baggy clothes is a dead give away that she wishes she was invisible. Both Seth and Kayden are great guys. They work together to bring Callie out of her shell and get her to realize she is indeed a good person.

Callie returns the favor by showing Kayden that he doesn't need to live up to his father's expectations. He is his own man and doesn't have to live in fear of what his father will do next. If you're a chick reading this book you will fall in love with Kayden. Fight it all you want, but it will happen.

I love the fact that we get this story from both Callie and Kayden's point of view. It allows you to connect with both characters and feel for both situations. We don't get a glimpse in to Seth's head, I love him anyways. He's witty and pushes Callie to come out of her shell, but at her own pace.

 While I'm not going to give away the end I will say it is bittersweet. Which I think is the reason I loved this book as much as I did. I hope Sorensen decides to writes a novella, because my curiosity is getting the better of me. I want to know what happens damn it!

I don't have any complaints about this story. Other than I want to know what the hell happens after it ended.

Review of The Devil Next Door

The next book has also been on my kindle for a LONG time. I needed a little bit of gore, horror and all around insanity. So I decided to go with The Devil Next Door by Tim Curran.


Louis is your average guy. Happily married, great job, dream house in a dream neighborhood. Then one day it all changes. It all starts when Louis spots two guys beating the ever living shit out of another guy and leave him for dead. Louis, being the stand up guy that he is, attempts to help the guy who's been beaten. Only to have the half dead guy attempting to kill him. Louis manages to fend the guy and ends up killing him.  This whole situation becomes even more bazaar for Louis when two cops show up and don't even care about the now dead dude. In fact the cops are kicking and prodding the dead guy. Disturbed, Louis run's home as fast as he can.

Society goes down hill pretty quick from here. We find out very quickly that society is reverting to cavemen and women behavior. Killing, raping and forming "tribes".

Louis meet's up with his neighbor girl, Maddy. Who had somehow come back from these violent urges everyone else in town seems to be afflicted with. But she's scared she could go all cave woman again at any moment. Together they try to get to the bottom of why humanity has decided to de-evolve.

While I loved the shocking gore and violence in this book, it does end up getting old about half way through. I found myself skipping through scenes of gore near the end. But i must say it started with a bang.

The reason we are given as to why everyone is all cavemen like is a really big let down. I nearly threw my kindle across the room, but instead I settled for a rolling of the eyes.

Louis is a likable guy and you really do feel for him. He's lost his wife and desperately wants to find her, yet save everyone else at the same time. You want him to succeed, but really don't see how he can since this turns out to be a world wide epidemic. When he finally gives in to the caveman urges, it's heartbreaking but rather expected.

Maddy is a good kid who comes from a crummy family. Her mom is the town whore and she has no dad. Yet Maddy pushes herself to be a good person. Her transformation from a smart, down to earth teenager, to a sex craved, violent caveteen is rather interesting. Maddy finally find's her place as a "huntress" and finally grow's a backbone. I say good for her.

This story actually reminds me a lot of Haters by David Moody. But with far more brutal violence and rape. It's worth a read, but I'll only be reading it once. There are better society crumbing around itself stories out there.

Pretty when she dies review

Hello all! I've been in away in the land that is known as Minnesota. I had no Internet (besides what's on my phone), and this made me a sad panda. But I'm back now with Internet and a book/author review(s). I know I said I'd put up a part two of Dark Shadows. and I will....at some point.

While I was in Minnesota I had A LOT of time to read. I mean A LOT. I was there for three weeks and damn near went through 4 books a day. Such things happen when one wakes at the buttcrack of dawn. There were several books I read which stuck in my mind.

I've had Pretty When She Dies by Rhiannon Frater on my kindle for years. By years I mean 4 or 5. I kept telling myself I'd get around to it, but I never did until a couple of weeks ago. BAD MEGGLES!

Amaliya wakes up to find herself buried in a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere, alone and VERY hungry. The last thing she remembers is being killed by her hot college professor. Who turns out to be the most feared vampire/necromancer in history.

Somehow Amaliya finds her way back to her college dorm room. There is makes the decision to skip down and find other's of her kind. But before she can do any of that, she must satisfy her hunger, and regular food isn't cutting it. It just so happens there is a frat party in a nearby building. With her hunger in full force (and having never fed before), she kills everyone at the party, but she manages to cover her tracks so nothing is lead back to her. Now she knows she really needs to skip town.

After a series of unfortunate events, Amaliya makes it to Austin Texas. Where, not only will she find her own kind, but also the master of Austin.

Enter Cian. Vampire master of Austin. It also turns out he was made by the same vampire who made Amaliya, only Cian's death was centuries ago. Cian is more than willing to deny his vampire side. He is about to marry Samantha, his human girlfriend. He loves her because Sam makes him actually feel human and not like a monster. Sam is aware of Cian's vampirisim, and is determined to show him that he can be a good man.

Cian runs in to Amalyia at a bar, saving her from a wannabe vampire. After leading Amaliya outside, Cian knocks her out and drags her back to his underground hideout. By now Amaliya has been reported as missing (by the school.), and word of the frat orgy massacre has already reached every media outlet. Cian knows of Amalyia's involvement in the killings, but is determined to help her rather than kill her like he knows should be done.

She reminds him that he actually is a vampire, which is better all around. Because he does have a city to manage and protect.

The two take on the ancient vampire/necromancer several times and fail. But during these failed attempts Amalyia learns she has the abilities of a necromancer as well.


I'm not going to give away the ending since it is rather epic. There is some hot sex in this book. Also some massive amounts of violence. To which I say:THANK GOD! In a world where we now have loving and sparkly vampires it's refreshing to read about ACTUAL vampires.

The story itself is very well done and has a bit of everything. Sex, love, violence, drama and yes ZOMBIES! Who could ask for more in a vampire novel.

Frater has a gift for words. She can describe people and surroundings enough to allow your brain to paint a picture, but not so much that you're bored stiff. She makes characters believable and you find yourself connecting to a lot of the characters. I loved Amalyia's grandmother. She is a spitfire who actually ends up saving the day. Amalyia's cousin and grandmother are actually the only two family members of hers that don't judge Amalyia 5 ways to sunday, and do everything they can to build up her confidence.

Amalyia has depth, which I tend to enjoy in a female character. She's trying so hard to be a tough as nails kind of chick. But on the inside she's conflicted, scared and wants to please people. This stems from her broken family and her need of her father's approval. Something she will never get.

I almost forgot to mention Roberto. This is Cian's right hand man. He's a bit of an ass, but he only wants to protect Cian from harm. Roberto doesn't approve of Sam, and the banter between the two is pretty funny. Once Amalyia comes in to the picture, Roberto and Sam find a common ground and do everything the can to get Amalyia away from Cian.

I really didn't dislike much about this book. Sometimes descriptions went on a bit longer than necessary, but otherwise I thought it was damn near a perfect vampire book.

I was excited she continued Amalyia's story in Pretty when she kills. I haven't read the second book yet, but as soon as I do it will be posted here.

As soon as this is posted I'll be working on my second review. Laters and happy reading!