So I've had this Wii for a few months now. It is my second time with a Wii after borrowing a friends for several months and gameflying. The first time I got the amazing Crystal Bearers. Which is still my top Wii experience because I will probably never play Xenoblade Chronicles. The 100 hour game length is pretty damn intimidating. The vistas sure do like nice. The Crystal Bearers vistas are also pretty great!
So Blockbuster had Metroid Prime 3. I have very good feelings about Metroid Prime. I have very bad feelings about Metroid Prime 2. 2 frustrated me with it's dual worlds mechanic, how not interesting the environments were, and that the controls made me scream. The controls in MP were perfect for the game MP1 was. MP2 made me scream for typical FPS controls which was a complaint thrown at MP1.
Metroid Prime 3 starts with trying to have a story and Halo-story-elements and Samus's shitty friends. Eventually you'll fight all of her shitty friends. The first one is the only memorable one and he's way cooler than Samus even if he's visually boring. The first 3 areas are also visually boring. That sort of matches up with MP2 which had one fantastic area. It's called Sanctuary Fortress. I can't find a non-talky let's play in 30 seconds.
In Metroid Prime 1 you're constantly traveling back over the same ground just a little bit stronger with just a bit more you can do. The world changes sometimes and you notice those changes. In Metroid Prime 3 you have a series of corridors to go down and then get on your ship to go to the next corridor. The first big world is orange. The second big world is...also orange.
Shortly after getting to the creatively named
"Skytown" in Metroid Prime 3 I started getting disc read errors. I was
just going through the motions playing it so that felt like a happy
stopping point. I was expecting Skytown to look nice but it was just as
orange as the first planet. The Railriding made me want to play Riven.
Everything else just made me think, this is better than Metroid Prime
2; This is worse than Metroid Prime 1. Wii FPS controls do not
click with me. I got frustrated enough to quit within an hour of RE4 (I
love all other versions y'all.) I was making more mistake than I would
have liked in MP3. The remote is not satisfying to shoot especially in
comparison to the glorious Gamecube A Button.
Might be time to have an 2013 opinion of Metroid Prime 1 since I still have the ability to play it right now.
Pandora's Tower is something else. It is a stunningly weird game. It's like SNES developers were given a Wii toolkit. It makes mistakes and has things that haven't been issues in 3D games in 15 years. It is like this was their first 3D game and they hadn't play any 3D games before. It also has highly sexual monster flesh eating.
You gotta save your new girlfriend who is becoming a grotesque monster. A strange woman with her own agenda (shock!) says that if you slay 12 beasts and feed your GF their hearts she'll be saved. Now there are 12 towers of awkward combat and awkward platforming and sighing non-puzzles. There are also at least 4 really great boss battles. I want to remove everything else and just have these perfect little boss battles. The rest of the game proved not worth seeing the next boss battle.
It is definitely a better game with a friend on your couch to switch off to. Then you're just commenting to yourself how stupid and weird everything in it is.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Spring Breakers and Pain & Gain
I'm still passively avoiding Django Unchained but I'll head on down to the local living dinosaur Blockbuster and rent some movies about violence in Florida.
I've seen very little Michael Bay. I remember seeing Transformers 1. I remember very little about it outside of the painful 3 minutes about Lebouf's parents talking to him about masturbating. I know he may or may not be the devil, though I haven't personally confirmed.
Pain and Gain is
In the first twenty minutes I thought "I'll buy this and put it on my shelf." An hour and a half later I didn't still have the view, even if I ended up with a positive view of the film. Dwayne Johnson is still an amazing comedic actor in the style of Chaplin that few recognize for it.
My biggest complaint is the complaint with modern film. Look at that shot. ORANGE AND TEAL. All the orange and the tealest teal. Everyone wears a teal shirt. It's getting more and more obnoxious. I was sick of it 2 years ago. I'm sick of it now.
The film kept reminding me of Wong Kar Wai with all the voice overs. Internal monologues from many of the characters. As I'm gearing up to leave America for a very long time, it felt very "This is America. These are Americans."
Eventually the characters start acting dumber than they did in the beginning and it feel like the script lost focus instead of the characters being idiots.
Good Lord! Spring Breakers is beautifully shot. It is a gorgeous film. It also probably could be cut down to an hour (from 93 minutes) with nothing lost. A lot of footage is shown over and over. While this could be thought of as reflective, no probably not. It is absolutely worth seeing.
I will sit on my thoughts on it today. I'll revisit this if I decide to buy the bluray. It gave me a lot of the same vibes as Drive. Hpph. I thought I could talk about it more, but guess I need more time.
EDIT: One of the final shots is Biloxi Bridge from my hometown. THAT'S NOT FLORIDA I screamed. Both films remind me I do love the Gulf Coast.
I've seen very little Michael Bay. I remember seeing Transformers 1. I remember very little about it outside of the painful 3 minutes about Lebouf's parents talking to him about masturbating. I know he may or may not be the devil, though I haven't personally confirmed.
Pain and Gain is
In the first twenty minutes I thought "I'll buy this and put it on my shelf." An hour and a half later I didn't still have the view, even if I ended up with a positive view of the film. Dwayne Johnson is still an amazing comedic actor in the style of Chaplin that few recognize for it.
My biggest complaint is the complaint with modern film. Look at that shot. ORANGE AND TEAL. All the orange and the tealest teal. Everyone wears a teal shirt. It's getting more and more obnoxious. I was sick of it 2 years ago. I'm sick of it now.
The film kept reminding me of Wong Kar Wai with all the voice overs. Internal monologues from many of the characters. As I'm gearing up to leave America for a very long time, it felt very "This is America. These are Americans."
Eventually the characters start acting dumber than they did in the beginning and it feel like the script lost focus instead of the characters being idiots.
Good Lord! Spring Breakers is beautifully shot. It is a gorgeous film. It also probably could be cut down to an hour (from 93 minutes) with nothing lost. A lot of footage is shown over and over. While this could be thought of as reflective, no probably not. It is absolutely worth seeing.
I will sit on my thoughts on it today. I'll revisit this if I decide to buy the bluray. It gave me a lot of the same vibes as Drive. Hpph. I thought I could talk about it more, but guess I need more time.
EDIT: One of the final shots is Biloxi Bridge from my hometown. THAT'S NOT FLORIDA I screamed. Both films remind me I do love the Gulf Coast.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
July 2013 Movies
Les Miserables
I certainly remember less than I thought about a 1500 page book I read in middle school. Holy fuck I read a 1500 page in middle school and now I don't have a job. It was pointed out to me that I have the same eyes as Anna Hatheway. Well thanks.
This movie has no time for pauses. It does have moments where it slows down, and you will become very very bored. Then it picks up again and you just want them to hold on something for a minute. It's wrecking your brain because you can't figure out what exactly you want from it, but it is certainly not giving it to you.
Only God Forgives
That is certainly the best part of the movie. The world is apparently complaining it is not like Drive. I admit that I saw it because I loved Drive. Huh. I never wrote about Drive. I saw Drive in theaters 3 times. I bought multiple copies and handed it out to friends. I love Drive a lot.
This movie is not Drive. I am okay with that. It is silence and violence. You know those long nothing shots in Drive? (OH you haven't seen Drive? Well go watch it.) This whole movie is that, and then violence. The violence almost continues the silence. I wondered if this was almost some absurd long joke at "the masses" for like Drive. It kind of seems like it.
Man I wish I had seen the movie that poster inspires in my mind. I will probably see every Refn film that comes out. I'm still debating seeing his back-catalog.
The Score
This movie is on every streaming service for free and it was talked about by an internet-celebrity with a brand new game out. I don't need to tell you more about it, other than I wouldn't have recommended it to you. What is important is this movie staring Deniro, Edward Norton, and Marlon Brando led me to a rabbithole discovery. There's a film, directed by Johnny Depp, that also has Marlon Brando. In the film J. Depp is a native american who is going to be paid to be the "star" of a snuff film. I don't want to see that film. It sounds like a rough time whether it's a "good" or "bad" film. It sounds like an awful way to spend the limited pleasure time on Earth. Why would I want to suffer in my leisure? But yes The Score.
Crank
This Blockbuster previous rental has been sitting on my shelf since the Blockbuster nearest me died. I finally popped it in and watched it. Heck yeah to any movie that opens with Refused. It's an 87 skate video. A lot of it's punch was probably lost because I saw Shoot'em Up first. Also Jason Stathem certainly is not a good guy in this movie! I'm a crazy person that seeks justice in my fantasy. Man I bet Crank 2 is even better.
I certainly remember less than I thought about a 1500 page book I read in middle school. Holy fuck I read a 1500 page in middle school and now I don't have a job. It was pointed out to me that I have the same eyes as Anna Hatheway. Well thanks.
This movie has no time for pauses. It does have moments where it slows down, and you will become very very bored. Then it picks up again and you just want them to hold on something for a minute. It's wrecking your brain because you can't figure out what exactly you want from it, but it is certainly not giving it to you.
Only God Forgives
This movie is not Drive. I am okay with that. It is silence and violence. You know those long nothing shots in Drive? (OH you haven't seen Drive? Well go watch it.) This whole movie is that, and then violence. The violence almost continues the silence. I wondered if this was almost some absurd long joke at "the masses" for like Drive. It kind of seems like it.
Man I wish I had seen the movie that poster inspires in my mind. I will probably see every Refn film that comes out. I'm still debating seeing his back-catalog.
The Score
This movie is on every streaming service for free and it was talked about by an internet-celebrity with a brand new game out. I don't need to tell you more about it, other than I wouldn't have recommended it to you. What is important is this movie staring Deniro, Edward Norton, and Marlon Brando led me to a rabbithole discovery. There's a film, directed by Johnny Depp, that also has Marlon Brando. In the film J. Depp is a native american who is going to be paid to be the "star" of a snuff film. I don't want to see that film. It sounds like a rough time whether it's a "good" or "bad" film. It sounds like an awful way to spend the limited pleasure time on Earth. Why would I want to suffer in my leisure? But yes The Score.
Crank
This Blockbuster previous rental has been sitting on my shelf since the Blockbuster nearest me died. I finally popped it in and watched it. Heck yeah to any movie that opens with Refused. It's an 87 skate video. A lot of it's punch was probably lost because I saw Shoot'em Up first. Also Jason Stathem certainly is not a good guy in this movie! I'm a crazy person that seeks justice in my fantasy. Man I bet Crank 2 is even better.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Blockbuster Rentals in 2013
Since I'm leaving the states (semi) soon and it is illegal to rent games I went on down to Blockbuster and rented some games. Unlike the rest of America there are still 3 blockbusters within 15 minutes of my house. They all have the creepying smell of death about them though.
Halo 4
Sure was Halo-y. I still do not like the action figure feel of Halo. I don't know why I keep trying this series. I know the multiplayer is actually where it is at, but I hate the action figure feel. It is a very deliberate feel that (For bungie at least) is exactly how they wanted it to feel. I could barely feel whatever changes 343 brought to the whole thing as a non-superfan. It had some pretty visuals and watching all the spartan-ops cutscenes on youtube made me go "I'll watch that Halo TV series!"
DmC Devil May Cry
was a pretty cool looking game that the misogyny and terrible fucking writing and the stupdity just wore at me. Holy shit does this game not like women. Once again Ninja Theory has that "strong" female character that has serious issues and just needs a strong man to make everything right/rescue them. Also they say the dumbest fucking lines in history.
Two characters say "I know this place like the back of my hand." I think it is in subsequent levels. How bad do you have to be at writing/editting a script not to catch that. There's lots of detail lavished on the world look and dante's move list (not so much on enemy design.)
It would be offensive if it wasn't such trash.
Hitman:Absolution
I did plan to buy this game at some point to support IO Interactive. Then that stuff happened with them and it didn't matter. I know people are up in arms about it not being hitman-y enough but I got to the 3rd mission and quit because it was just like hitman to me and I couldn't give a crap about anything.
Metal Gear Rising Revengence
The official thread for this is filled with the MG nerds MGnerding it up (s'up guys). It was fun to read that stuff, even if they were all ultimately overcompensating for the nonsense plot. I played this after DmC so basically anything looked like fucking literature. I loved quiton flynn after the change over. I've been using that voice all week. It is a voice everyone can do. It was weird playing a stylish action game without a dodge or a block button. By virtue of not pissing me off after I die (Bayonetta) I'd call it Platinum's best game.
I wanted to box more in this game. I was dissappointed when I stood in front of sexy girl poster and no one on the codec noticed. I didn't feel a need to play it any more after beating it.
What I'm saying is I'm insane and would rather play Ninja Gaiden 3 over and over again. I think that game does a better job with "you enjoy all the killing." I haven't played another game of the stylish action genre where it feels better to press buttons. It feels SO GOOD to press buttons in that game. It is on my short list of games to buy again once I am settled. Man now I'm going to go download Ninja Gaiden 3 demo again just to play level one a couple of times. I will have a better time with that than any of these games that I do not regret renting.
I'm also debating renting Skyward Sward.
Halo 4
Sure was Halo-y. I still do not like the action figure feel of Halo. I don't know why I keep trying this series. I know the multiplayer is actually where it is at, but I hate the action figure feel. It is a very deliberate feel that (For bungie at least) is exactly how they wanted it to feel. I could barely feel whatever changes 343 brought to the whole thing as a non-superfan. It had some pretty visuals and watching all the spartan-ops cutscenes on youtube made me go "I'll watch that Halo TV series!"
DmC Devil May Cry
was a pretty cool looking game that the misogyny and terrible fucking writing and the stupdity just wore at me. Holy shit does this game not like women. Once again Ninja Theory has that "strong" female character that has serious issues and just needs a strong man to make everything right/rescue them. Also they say the dumbest fucking lines in history.
Two characters say "I know this place like the back of my hand." I think it is in subsequent levels. How bad do you have to be at writing/editting a script not to catch that. There's lots of detail lavished on the world look and dante's move list (not so much on enemy design.)
It would be offensive if it wasn't such trash.
Hitman:Absolution
I did plan to buy this game at some point to support IO Interactive. Then that stuff happened with them and it didn't matter. I know people are up in arms about it not being hitman-y enough but I got to the 3rd mission and quit because it was just like hitman to me and I couldn't give a crap about anything.
Metal Gear Rising Revengence
The official thread for this is filled with the MG nerds MGnerding it up (s'up guys). It was fun to read that stuff, even if they were all ultimately overcompensating for the nonsense plot. I played this after DmC so basically anything looked like fucking literature. I loved quiton flynn after the change over. I've been using that voice all week. It is a voice everyone can do. It was weird playing a stylish action game without a dodge or a block button. By virtue of not pissing me off after I die (Bayonetta) I'd call it Platinum's best game.
I wanted to box more in this game. I was dissappointed when I stood in front of sexy girl poster and no one on the codec noticed. I didn't feel a need to play it any more after beating it.
What I'm saying is I'm insane and would rather play Ninja Gaiden 3 over and over again. I think that game does a better job with "you enjoy all the killing." I haven't played another game of the stylish action genre where it feels better to press buttons. It feels SO GOOD to press buttons in that game. It is on my short list of games to buy again once I am settled. Man now I'm going to go download Ninja Gaiden 3 demo again just to play level one a couple of times. I will have a better time with that than any of these games that I do not regret renting.
I'm also debating renting Skyward Sward.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Rudie's Favorite games circa 2000
Hey y'all. My life is currently in a huge stage of flux and change. Part of this is cleaning out my house, starting with my room. Digging up memories, and throw away everything. I flipped open an old notebook and on the front page is a list of my favorite games, probably from 1997, or at least before Ocarina of Time came out.
Let's have a look.
1. Goldeneye
2. Super Mario 64
3. Zelda All of Them
4. Tetris
5. Star Fox 64
6. Mario 3
7. Shadows of the Empire
8. Sonic CD
9. Street Fighter II Turbo
10. Mario Kart 64
There are two weird parts of that (outside of #3 being all the Zeldas). I have never owned a SegaCD so had only played it very briefly on a friend's. I know later in life I got hold of the glitchy PC version and played it to death. I also didn't frequent arcades and didn't even know anyone that had a SNES so Street Fighter II Turbo baffles me. I did play a whole lot Super Street Fighter II on the Genesis.
A couple of pages later, it is years later. Here's another top list:
1. Shenmue
2. Shenmue 2
3. GTA Vice City
4. Ocarina of Time
5. Gunstar Heroes
6. Skies of Arcadia
7. Metal Gear Solid
8. Soul Calibur
9. Jet Grind Radio
10. Starcraft
11. Half-Life
12. Super Mario 64
13. Perfect dark
14. Goldeneye
15. Curse of Monkey Island
16. Super Mario Bros. 3
17. Phantasy Star Online
18. Tetris
19. Grim Fandango
20. Sonic the hedgehog 2
21. Ice Hockey
I like this more. Obviously Vice City made a hell of an impression on me. I still remember there was a boat mission that was on rails where you are shooting the dudes, and it was mindblowingly cool. I would probably still enjoy driving around listening to AFI's Sing the Sorrow. DON'T JUDGE ME.
Also hey, thanks Bleemcast for letting me play MGS. It wouldn't be until I was a Junior in HS that I would actually own a PS2 and get to play the full PSX catalog. Also it is worth noting that my top 2 choices are the same 10+ years later.
The next page has a wonderfully GameFAQs review of Final Fantasy V. Thanks me. I enjoyed reading this review and will shred it to prevent anyone else. But yeah, I still love the sounds the dragons make. I spent like 20 hours in the game powerleveling my jobs.
Let's have a look.
1. Goldeneye
2. Super Mario 64
3. Zelda All of Them
4. Tetris
5. Star Fox 64
6. Mario 3
7. Shadows of the Empire
8. Sonic CD
9. Street Fighter II Turbo
10. Mario Kart 64
There are two weird parts of that (outside of #3 being all the Zeldas). I have never owned a SegaCD so had only played it very briefly on a friend's. I know later in life I got hold of the glitchy PC version and played it to death. I also didn't frequent arcades and didn't even know anyone that had a SNES so Street Fighter II Turbo baffles me. I did play a whole lot Super Street Fighter II on the Genesis.
A couple of pages later, it is years later. Here's another top list:
1. Shenmue
2. Shenmue 2
3. GTA Vice City
4. Ocarina of Time
5. Gunstar Heroes
6. Skies of Arcadia
7. Metal Gear Solid
8. Soul Calibur
9. Jet Grind Radio
10. Starcraft
11. Half-Life
12. Super Mario 64
13. Perfect dark
14. Goldeneye
15. Curse of Monkey Island
16. Super Mario Bros. 3
17. Phantasy Star Online
18. Tetris
19. Grim Fandango
20. Sonic the hedgehog 2
21. Ice Hockey
I like this more. Obviously Vice City made a hell of an impression on me. I still remember there was a boat mission that was on rails where you are shooting the dudes, and it was mindblowingly cool. I would probably still enjoy driving around listening to AFI's Sing the Sorrow. DON'T JUDGE ME.
Also hey, thanks Bleemcast for letting me play MGS. It wouldn't be until I was a Junior in HS that I would actually own a PS2 and get to play the full PSX catalog. Also it is worth noting that my top 2 choices are the same 10+ years later.
The next page has a wonderfully GameFAQs review of Final Fantasy V. Thanks me. I enjoyed reading this review and will shred it to prevent anyone else. But yeah, I still love the sounds the dragons make. I spent like 20 hours in the game powerleveling my jobs.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
PC Gamin' (PC Gaming)
Since I found myself having blown through most of the games I had gotten in Japan and now had a laptop that could actually play games, I decided to hit my steam backlog that was over 150 games. You know how Steam works. I'd say 30 of those were played before Steam kept keeping track of those things. Then again I have an old enough steam account that pro-Counter-strike players were begging to trade my account for ????
Loom
The one Lucasarts Adventure title I hadn't played (not counting the others I hadn't played). I've known of it for 20 years. I asked about Loom. Everyone I talked to that had played it responded with "It's alright I guess." And...that's my opinion. The puzzle system is different than usual, being based around playing magical notes forwards and backwards. I felt like the manual would really help you out here. After the first part of the game I wasn't invested in some robe dude's quest to do something.
Max Payne 1
I bought 1 and 2 on a steam sale like 4 years ago. My own experience with the series was playing a lot of the Half-Life Mod The Specialists. I played through Max Payne 3 semi-recently so it was time. It is not nearly as amazing to play as I'm sure it was 10 years ago. It was alright though. I sort of miss those digitized faces. The mind-blowing dream sequences now show their seams a bit too much.
Max Payne 2
Double the melo-drama. Double the metaphors. Half the game. Run through the same 3 environments 3 times each. Which is actually kind of neat conceptionally if not just a limitation in execution. One of those environments is even from the first game. I will say I liked how both games tried to treat the levels with real world layouts.
English Country Tune
Holy fuck why did I buy a puzzle game I hate these things.
MDK
This was great. I loved how it was software rendered so it could run on almost any old computer at the time. There is even a 486 mode! It also has miles of more art direction than other video games. It just looks fantastic and weird. Strange that it was a "budget" game and the sequel betrayed that entirely. This game is also world's easier than the sequel, which 10 years later I still have shivers about THE TOWER. I also have MDK2 on here, but I doubt I'll touch it.
I liked everything about this game and you will too.
Black Mesa
I guess if you are going to play Half-Life 1 in 2013 this is the way to do it. After the beginning the differences from the original really drift off. I can't recall anything being really different, but it's possible they streamlined the game a bit. I'm curious what the new Xen is going to be like. How are they going to "fix" Xen? Why are they supposedly making it even longer? I also only saw the G-Man once, which went with my normal HL1 experience of always looking in the wrong direction (mostly for items.) Also I had completely forgotten they had a god damn teleportation puzzle at the end.
Loom
The one Lucasarts Adventure title I hadn't played (not counting the others I hadn't played). I've known of it for 20 years. I asked about Loom. Everyone I talked to that had played it responded with "It's alright I guess." And...that's my opinion. The puzzle system is different than usual, being based around playing magical notes forwards and backwards. I felt like the manual would really help you out here. After the first part of the game I wasn't invested in some robe dude's quest to do something.
Max Payne 1
I bought 1 and 2 on a steam sale like 4 years ago. My own experience with the series was playing a lot of the Half-Life Mod The Specialists. I played through Max Payne 3 semi-recently so it was time. It is not nearly as amazing to play as I'm sure it was 10 years ago. It was alright though. I sort of miss those digitized faces. The mind-blowing dream sequences now show their seams a bit too much.
Max Payne 2
Double the melo-drama. Double the metaphors. Half the game. Run through the same 3 environments 3 times each. Which is actually kind of neat conceptionally if not just a limitation in execution. One of those environments is even from the first game. I will say I liked how both games tried to treat the levels with real world layouts.
English Country Tune
Holy fuck why did I buy a puzzle game I hate these things.
MDK
This was great. I loved how it was software rendered so it could run on almost any old computer at the time. There is even a 486 mode! It also has miles of more art direction than other video games. It just looks fantastic and weird. Strange that it was a "budget" game and the sequel betrayed that entirely. This game is also world's easier than the sequel, which 10 years later I still have shivers about THE TOWER. I also have MDK2 on here, but I doubt I'll touch it.
I liked everything about this game and you will too.
Black Mesa
I guess if you are going to play Half-Life 1 in 2013 this is the way to do it. After the beginning the differences from the original really drift off. I can't recall anything being really different, but it's possible they streamlined the game a bit. I'm curious what the new Xen is going to be like. How are they going to "fix" Xen? Why are they supposedly making it even longer? I also only saw the G-Man once, which went with my normal HL1 experience of always looking in the wrong direction (mostly for items.) Also I had completely forgotten they had a god damn teleportation puzzle at the end.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Japan Trip Jan 2013 and Hinge Problems
Hey y'all. Maybe you'd like to see some pictures from this most recent Japan Trip?
You can listen to Chris and me discuss Red Dead Redemption during it. The next episode which will be in the a week or so, will be about this Japan trip! Look out for it! Also rate our dumb podcast! We will keep doing it until we don't feel like doing it!
EDIT: To go along with this post, the Japan episode is now available. You can get it here.
You can listen to Chris and me discuss Red Dead Redemption during it. The next episode which will be in the a week or so, will be about this Japan trip! Look out for it! Also rate our dumb podcast! We will keep doing it until we don't feel like doing it!
EDIT: To go along with this post, the Japan episode is now available. You can get it here.
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