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January 2006 Donation Item Critique |
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This month's items are the Angelic Parasol and the Sword of Aegis.
Oh God! They didn't!
The Angelic Parasol comes as no surprise, but the Sword of Aegis?! A sword?! Well, they did. And now that they have, I'm expecting a lot of people posting asking for the ability to use it in the fabled battle system. Oh well, I guess it was just a matter of time.
The Devil's Play Thing
The Sword of Aegis more than likely sparked a lot of people's OMGZ Radar, so I'll start with that.
Basically, for those with no eye for detail, the sword is built onto a hilt and gaurd with the head of Medusa on it. Medusa, for those of you that don't know, is the snake-haired vixen of Greeco-Roman Myth that turned people into stone the moment they made eye contact with her. Eventually, she was beheaded by some guy with a mirror for a shield and given to Athena, who proudly wears the head as a necklace whenever she dawns her battle armor.
Now that the schooling is over, on with the critique.
You're sword comes in two sizes. Short sword and long sword. The long sword version is called Stone Gazer because the Medusa head's eyes are open in this mode. You also have a longer grip area, but no option to hold it in both hands as a broad sword. You can duel equip any combination of swords (short or log) in any of the hand positions. I don't know if you are skilled enough for duel sword weilding, but that's a debate left for when the battle system comes around.
Now, this would be a pretty boring item if it was just these two hand-held modes alone, and the avatar artists know this. So, as an added bonus, you can put these swords on your back to carry then around when you aren't in battle. You can mount it on either side of your back (or both if you feel like it). There is just one major downer to this option. You can only see the sword from the back. Even with the shortest haircut you can buy, you can't see anything of the handle, particularly if you equip the short sword version on your back. The long sword version does show up, but it looks more like you have a snake coming out of your shoulder rather than a sword handle.
The sword itself is rather questionable. The head on the gaurd is rather huge on the short sword version, making the blade look more like a dagger rather than a short sword. In the long sword version, the tail at the end of the grip makes the handle look look, as meantioned earlier. Hell, even the blade itself doesn't look all that impressive for a sword with the head of Medusa on it.
Overall, my opinion on this item is pretty much moot at this point. I could go either way, but I know people are going to buy this item up because it is a sword.
A Southern Belle's Umbrella
The Angelic Parasol is the (expected) counterpart to Nitemare Parasol released several months back. It pretty much functions the same way, so I'm going to critique how it looks rather than what modes are available for it.
In hand-held mode, the parasol looks more like one of those giant foam bats you hit people over the head with. It doesn't look anything like an umbrella at all compared to the Nitemare Parasol's version. If done correctly, it could be quite humorous, but that would involve investing in a lot of colorful outfits and an afro for clown hair.
The two opened modes offer some pretty standard alternatives. You have the open-and-in-front look that makes it look like a sheild, similar to the Nitemare Parasol. However, the design and trim on this version looks better than the collaspible fan style of its darker counterpart. It actually looks like a metal sheild that was casted and crafted very carefully by the gods. Holding it over your head, however, just doesn't look all that impressive to me. In fact, it makes the umbrella look rather huge. Furthermore, the beautiful design that you can see in the front version is lost when held upright, leaving the only visual appealing part of the item below the gold trim. It's a shame there aren't any light colored G-LOL dresses to match the Angelic Parasol, because then we would see a lot of girls walking around as if they were Scarlet O'Hara. Not like I'd give a damn.
In Towns, whenever you walk with an open Angelic Parasol, you are accompanied by floating feathers. This would be cool if they fell behind you as you walked created a tail of some kind that disappears as soon as the hit the ground, but it doesn't. The feathers kind of just hover there until you stop walking. It looks rather odd.
To be blunt, I'm unimpressed. I'm convinced they just made this item to counter the Nitemare Parasol, which was equally unimpressive in retrospect.
So what's the rating?
I stopped doing ratings because I think it doesn't really matter how I rate them. People are going to buy them anyways or not depending on their tastes. However, for this set I'm rather split.
The sword is decent and is appealing in its own way, but it does have a few design flaws that will probably go unnoticed over time.
The umbrella is just boring. Even with the exclusive animation for Towns!
Unless you don't like the idea of weapons or a battle system coming to Gaia, you should invest in the sword. The umbrella is nice if you own bright or white outfits, but I would be very impressed if anyone can make the open modes look good. If anything, you could use it as a foam bat.
Now if you'll excuse me, I feel like cosplaying as Jason from the Argonaut mythos.
 Zeek Slider · Wed Jan 25, 2006 @ 12:09pm · 4 Comments |
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