Star Wars V and VI are the movies out of the franchise that have a certain place in my heart. In Episode IV it felt like we only got a taste of what was yet to come as we didn't get very much of a variety of locations and though the performances of the actors and set pieces were definitely good they weren't quite up to the standards that would soon be set for the series.

Star Wars V starts off incredibly well with my favorite location in the entire franchise, Hoth. This place is so barren and bleak but so memorable at the same time just for the interactions that happen here between characters. Another one of my favorite locations and stories takes place in Cloud City where Han gets to meet up with an old friend named Lando who is in league with Darth Vader, if only to protect his friends. All of these locations are very memorable and very unique to each other. The fight scenes are also a lot more intense than in Episode IV. The invasion on Hoth and the confrontation between Darth Vader are both fantastically done. Hoth is fast and it feels important as they are not trying to take down the Empire but rather the Empire is trying to destroy the Rebel's base. It just feels very weighted and important. The Darth Vader fight is also amazingly written and performed. There is so much emotion built up to this climax and when the secret is revealed at the end of it you really feel the weight just as much as Luke does. And don't even get me started on how emotionally light-hearted the Yoda scenes are. 

Star Wars VI is also a very well done movie, though it does suffer very minutely from just a couple of unnecessary scenes. The very beginning scenes, however, are just so memorable and enjoyable. When the audience sees Luke in his black cloak and hood for the first time as he intimidates his way through Jabba's Castle it sends chills down their spines. In fact the whole first half of the film is great. Some of the character dialogue on Endor in the last half isn't as strong as in Episode V and the whole scene where the group gets captured by Ewoks and C3PO is seen like a God to them is just kind of unnecessary. It's not bad as it provides a little bit of humor but it is overall just unnecessary. The final confrontation of Darth Vader and the Emperor is very well done as it does spend a fair amount of time on the relationship between Vader and Luke and the backstory of Vader. This makes Darth Vader's redemption and return to the Light Side all the more memorable. 

Star Wars Episodes V and VI are both great.

Overall the entire Star Wars franchise is very great besides some God-awful films *cough* *cough* Episodes I and II *cough* *cough*. Honestly though, I recommend that a first-timer watch them in my version of the Machete method. My version is IV, V, III, then VI. Watching IV and V first preserves the reveal of Darth Vader being Luke's father and has III as a sort of flashback. Just don't watch I and II. They are dumb and worthless.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
I'm glad I can start talking about the truly great Star Wars movies now. Star Wars Episode IV has solidified itself in many people's hearts across the world and I can see why. It is not only a fun adventure but a state of mind that we all like to put ourselves into now and then. The flawed hero, the strong and standalone "damsel", the cocky bounty hunter, even the wise old hermit is fun! Episode IV is a first in the series and a great starting point for the fandom!

The story is simple enough. An evil force called the Empire has taken over the galaxy and a small group of rebels is trying to rebel against them. A young farm boy who longs to be more finally gets his chance to be something more when he comes across two stranded droids who bring a message of great distress in search of a mysterious man named Obi-Wan Kenobi. So the farm boy named Luke finds Obi-Wan who is now known as the hermit Ben Kenobi and they both meet up with a bounty hunter named Han Solo where the newly formed group goes to save the Princess Leia. Simple, yes. But executed brilliantly because of the varied characters and their relations to each other. The banter between Han Solo and Princess Leia are especially great. This trend continues into the other movies in the trilogy also.

The villains in the film are really sinister unlike the prequels. Darth Vader's main underling is surprisingly awesome as he remorselessly blows up an entire planet after he promises NOT to. Darth Vader is of course great as he is built up for a perfect foil for Luke when he kills Obi-Wan Kenobi. This pivotal moment not only sets up Vader as Luke's villain but shows backstory for Obi-Wan and Vader instead of just telling it.

Though there isn't a lot that this film does badly, it still suffers. In my opinion the movie moves a little fast. The characters constantly bump from planet to planet so I don't feel connected at all to them. This was most evident when the Death Star was about to destroy Yavin 4; where the Rebel base was. At this point I had seen the planet from space and a single bunker. Out of the entire planet the movie could have showed it picked two mindless locations that just serve as minor exposition. This is why the famous trench run at the end of the movie didn't seem so drastic to me. I simply didn't care enough about this planet.

Overall this movie is very great. It not only told a great story but captured an audience that would keep the memory of this movie in their hearts for their entire lives. That being said, the sequels in the original trilogy did do a much better job at pacing and an overall narrative flow.

Star Wars Episode IV is great!
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
This "Road to VII" marathon has been quite a ride. Just glad we got to see a GOOD prequel.

The reason I, and many others of my generation, like this movie so much is because it is a refreshing return for the franchise that we all love so much. Episode I is bad and Episode II is decent; Episode III, however is surprisingly good. It successfully combines all of the good things from the previous prequels (plus one bad thing) and makes a movie that is fondly remembered.

First of all, this is the first Star Wars prequel that feels like a Star Wars movie from the very start. It kicks off with a very fun space battle as the two heroes go to save Senator Palpatine and capture both Count Dooku and General Grievous, whom was briefly mentioned in the opening scroll. They break into the spaceship and fight off droids in their path but come across Count Dooku who wants a rematch with Anakin. The fight ensues and Anakin ends up destroying everything he has been taught and KILLS Count Dooku. This is one of Anakin's most important beats in the movie. This is when he starts being entangled by the Dark Side. I especially have praise the "Opera Scene" where Senator Palpatine tells Anakin of Darth Plageuis the Wise. This scene is such a shift in momentum for the entire prequel trilogy as it gives the viewer some much needed lore and Sith backstory that we just don't get in the other prequels. This theme of corruption continues throughout the film too with it eventually leading to Anakin's complete turn to the Dark Side and his becoming of Darth Vader. And I do have to say, the last act where Darth Vader takes control of everything and becomes a Sith, though a little too fast paced, holds some of the most intense scenes in all of the prequels. All this chaos building onto itself leads to the final fight scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan which is one of the most well made fight scenes in the entire Star Wars series.

Though I do praise this film for the things it got right, I do absolutely have to point out the bad parts that it still kept from Episodes I and II. For example, Padme is still a useless character with little to no development. The only reason she is there is to be a 'forbidden love' scenario for Anakin to get tangled up into. Maybe if the character of Padme was directed better I would have actually cared about her and the whole 'love' they tried to build around her and Anakin would have been worth something. The way the film turned out, it's all pretty inconsequential. Another bad decision they brought back from the other prequels was a total misuse of the villains. Count Dooku is killed ten minutes through the film and General Grievous has a really cool design but is no real threat. Sure he looks threatening, but nothing he does never is actually threatening. He is just a political enemy for Republic.

Overall I have to say that Star Wars Episode III is definitely a lot less lazy than its predecessors. It is not as amazing as I would have liked, but it wasn't a bad movie.

Star Wars Episode III is a very fun watch.
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
I find Attack of the Clones to be a very confused movie. It has uninteresting plots that lead to dead ends, actors again not doing their job, and an unnecessary focus on politics. Long story short, it's not very good.

First of all, the plot of this movie is all over the place. We start out surprisingly strong with the Senator Padme's ship blowing up and almost killing here and then an older Padawan Anakin and his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, being called to her for protection. For a first scene, the film does a good job of setting up the relationship between a whole bunch of characters. I particularly like the 'elevator scene' where we hear some casual banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin. Though the acting coming from Anakin is forced as always, it makes these two characters' relationship seem like very brotherly one. After this interesting dialogue, however, Anakin becomes a complaining brat for the rest of the movie. Padme doesn't help his cause either as she is so void of emotion that they make the perfect robot couple for the entire movie. I really think that the film should've focused more on the brotherly relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan instead of a ridiculously shoe-horned love story so in the third movie we could have been actually affected by Anakin turning evil.

Another thing this movie does wrong is its use of villains. Episode II doesn't get that a villain doesn't just need to be a foil for the main character physically but also emotionally as well. This is why Darth Vader is a great villain for Luke because we know that Vader is his father so whenever they finally have their final battle it's as tense as ever. Count Dooku in Episode II is a useless villain. They do build him up a little bit in the first half by talking about him only in mystery but it doesn't work unless we get to know his perspective of the situation. If we even at least saw Count Dooku in the first half than This problem wouldn't be so plain to see but none of the characters say his name or his relationship to the dark side and the Sith until halfway through the film. I think that Episode I's Darth Maul had a much better build up as he was first seen sneak-attacking Qui-Gon than fleeing which left you with a bit of mystery at his character. Count Dooku's mystery is just there for the sake of BEING mysterious. There is no depth to it.

One thing I do have to give this movie credit for is its use of large, vast landscapes. Places like Naboo, Coruscant, and Genosis are really just fun to look at and point out all of the little details that the landscape designers gave these worlds. That is probably the only good thing about this movie. It looks good. The story, characters, and villains are all bland. The whole movie, just like Episode I, doesn't need to exist in the state that it's in.

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is bland and underdeveloped.

There are things that are really good in this movie like the landscapes and the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan but overall it is just useless. There is, however, a way that it could've been good.

If it had a better writer... like this guy ---> https://goo.gl/ZkWYvt

Belated Media does a great job of making a story that would have actually been interesting for Episode II.


Saturday, November 21, 2015
Over the Garden Wall is a Cartoon Network miniseries created by Patrick McHale and starring Elijah Wood as the main character Wirt. It is seen as a "Fall Special" as it does very well in portraying Fall themes, settings, and tones. It also has a fantastic musical element to it that just adds to the world that the two boys Wirt and Greg find themselves into and the story is clever and filled to the brim with hidden lore left for the community to search for.

Over the Garden Wall boasts a "Fall" feeling when watching it. The colors and backgrounds are all beautiful and well designed with an incredible amount of detail for a Cartoon Network miniseries. It really LOOKS like the Fall with the orange leaves reflecting the sunlight onto a dreary mill or the greenish water being pushed around by a river boat. The music also compliments the settings and tones of this special perfectly. It uses a mix of Folk instruments like regular guitar as well as early Jazz type instruments like Clarinet. It has a very well done Jazz/Folk/Opera mix of songs that set the whole tone of the series. For example, an operatic track like Come Wayward Souls is perfect for a dreary and cold atmosphere with no hope to be found and Over the Garden Wall is a perfect song for the series. All of the tracks seem important to the story and very thematic to the situation they are put in. None of them seem like they are shoehorned in.

The story of the series is also very creative and well done. It follows two step-brothers Greg and Wirt as they travel through the land called "The Unknown". As they travel this mysterious new world they come across everything from talking pumpkin people to talking birds and even a schoolhouse full of animals! It seems weird at first but you get used to the weirdness of this world. It kind of reminds me of the off-putting worlds that the likes of Miyazaki sometimes puts us in. In fact, this whole show reminds me a lot of Spirited Away as they both do a good job of setting up a strange world with a deep and sometimes scary lore that is just barely hidden away. Though both of these works of art have different themes that are being portrayed I can tell that Patrick McHale was at least a little bit inspired by Miyazaki's works. Its pacing even reminds of the type of storytelling I would associate the My Neighbor Totoro! So, in short, the story is captivating and done very well.

Over the Garden Wall is a miniseries that anyone should go out of their way to watch this Fall season. Everything about this series is just fun while also bolstering heavy themes and tonalities that people and frogs of all ages can enjoy!

Over the Garden Wall is a Fall classic!
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Undertale is Toby Fox's first game. And it is one of the best games I have ever played. This little gem that has been exploding all over the internet as of late is about a little kid (you) who partakes in a "tale" that takes place "under"ground! Not only does this game have an amazing story, characters, and atmosphere, but managed to do the one thing that not many games have been able to do. Make me have REAL feelings for the characters and locations in this pseudo 8-bit world.

Without spoiling too much, the story of this game is deep, intuitive, and just overall amazing. As previously stated, this whole game takes place in a place called The Ruins that is filled with seemingly evil monsters and goofy characters. You play as whoever you name your character and your ultimate goal is simple: try to get out of this world. You can do this in a number of ways. Either by killing every enemy, sparing every foe, or a combination of the both. This is where this game really shines.

You see, the characters in Undertale react to you in certain ways depending how you interact with the environment and the way you go about disposing of enemies. This is done by the genius battle system that Undertale has. In this gem you don't have to kill a single enemy in the entire game. That's right. You can choose to "spare" every enemy, including bosses. This compliments the story so well as you really become attached to certain "enemies" after you fight them which makes them all so memorable. The characters that aren't enemies are also just as memorable and I still remember every line that Sans spits out and the intricacies of Papyrus's cackle! They all have deep feelings that go way past the initial character traits that are given to them. Even though they are "monsters", they feel like humans. Like real people.

The atmosphere and music in this game is some of the best I have ever seen in an indie game. The music fits every character and situation perfectly. The cave's atmospheric tunes and Snowdin theme are all magnificent and just... well... atmospheric! The graphics, though minimal, make everything pop out with color and personality and the animations are fluid though true to the old 8-bit style. It comes to the point where I can recognize every single enemy and character from their overworld sprites alone!

Undertale is not only one of the most well-made games I've played, but one of my favorite games of all time just because of the amount of hear that was put into it.

Undertale was magnificent!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a very special musical. It acts as both a Halloween and Christmas movie and has a great soundtrack. Because I've been watching a lot of musicals lately and have been beginning to appreciate them more, as well as it being October, it's finally time to revisit this great Burton film! It has surprisingly catchy music, extremely well done stop-motion, and delightful characters.

Like I said before, I'm not one to completely love musicals. Though there are ones that I like, like The Sound of Music and some Disney musicals, The Nightmare Before Christmas just has an awesome style of music that combines a dark and creepy styles with a bright and colorful Christmas style that makes the soundtrack stand out among the rest. It's not too one style over the other either. Jack's Lament in particular stands as a good example of the combination of styles. This song has lyrics and a rise in tone that is distinctly Halloween while having instruments that you might hear in a Christmas special. It is also quite special how the score can express the emotions that these characters are having at any given moment. Town Meeting Song is also very stylized and probably my favorite track. It is creepy but also somehow festive and gives you insight into more of Jack's feelings.

The animation in this film is outstanding! The Halloween Town characters move and flow in a way that give them all a distinct personality and the backgrounds are all extremely detailed and magnificent. I especially like the What's This scene where Jack Skellington is exploring the newly discovered Christmas Town. He creeps into houses and strolls the streets of the town. This scene in particular is great at showing bright and colorful backgrounds and landscapes that really pop out at you. Halloween Town is also very booming with... well... cleverly a lack of color. It looks and feels like a Halloween-themed town filled with ghosts and ghouls that all look and act like you think they would. The stop-motion nature of the film also gives way to great looking but simplistic natural effects such as natural shadows and lighting. The editors also added in additional effects, however, like the ghosts being hand-drawn animation as well as the fire. Everything comes together in a truly remarkable looking musical.

Though the most I liked about the movie was its atmosphere, the story was very enjoyable and constantly kept me guessing on what was going to happen next (even though I had seen it before). It also takes a very good writer to make me care for minor characters. The Doctor for example. At the end of the movie you see that he has created him a wife for himself so he has someone to love. This just warms my heart and it shows that, though this is Halloween Town, everybody can get a bit of Christmas if they want too.

Overall, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a classic that will always be remembered as a weird and fun musical that families all over the world will get together to watch on either Halloween or Christmas.

The Nightmare Before Christmas was creative!
Thursday, October 15, 2015
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is one of the best animated movies I have ever seen. It serves the audience very well as a prequel, has a great heartfelt story, and has a kick-a** soundtrack and visuals! All of this is wrapped up in a sequel that dare-I-say is better than its predecessor.

First of all, a strength - or weakness depending on your outlook on the movie - is that the movie doesn't need to take a lot of time establishing itself as a sequel. It gives you a summary of the entire first movie in the first five minutes of the film. And it's done really well! A quick summary, with an awesome dragon-racing scene on top of it that introduces each of the characters in clever ways without relying too much on the audience's previous knowledge of the series. It really hits all the necessary marks for a franchise trying to build a universe. Very clever and very quick!

The story in this movie, though similar to How to Train Your Dragon, is still amazing and gives you an even bigger scope of the world and of the lore within this world. The story centers around Hiccup, obviously, on his quest to explore new lands on his never ending quest to find new species of dragons. During one of his travels, however, he finds a band of dragon trappers who serve under a powerful dragon "tamer". He quickly discovers that this dragon tamer is taking dragons in order to create an all-powerful dragon army. Though the premise is different from the first film, a lot of the mystery behind this movie are very kin to what the previous movie had though in slightly different forms. I never felt this to be a problem though. The first film had a great story with it really only starting to ramp up during the last act of the movie. In How to Train Your Dragon 2, however, the whole film is an upward slope to a great and satisfying climax that had me clenching my teeth the entire time! Overall, the story maybe even better than the first film's, though slightly too fast and repetitive from the first.

The visuals are even better in this film than in the previous one. The characters are all bright, flowing and expressive, and all have a unique appearance that set them apart from each other. You can especially tell the quality of the animation in the characters' hair and eye movements as the hair flows in the wind or stands up in the cold and the eyes constantly show emotion when they move! The soundtrack is also spectacular in the film! From the Scandinavian sounding orchestras or the huge choirs of singers and percussive instruments, the score always fits the emotion of the characters and the lush scenery perfectly. Whether it be a vibrant dragon sanctuary to an icy battlefield, the sounds always fit the mood of the situation perfectly.

Overall, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is, again, not just one of the best animated movies I have seen, but one of the best movies I have ever seen. Period. It has a fantastic story, amazing atmosphere, and spot-on story. How to Train Your Dragon 2 was amazing.


Thursday, October 08, 2015
I find Twenty-One Pilots to be a strange band. They have a mix of sounds and styles that you don't hear very often from modern pop music. One song will be a rap, others will have ukulele, and the rest are stereotypical pop. Some of those do all three! This is a really unique sound that, though I don't particularly like the two-man band, I can see why it has a large audience. And yes, all of these sounds are from the minds of two individuals. Maybe that isn't the best for the sound, though. It almost feels that one member wants to focus on pop sounds and rap, while the other wants to focus on natural sounds and the voice. Again, I personally don't find it very enjoyable but I can see why people do.

There are moments and certain songs that I truly like. For example, I don't like the lyrics and tone of voice of the song "Car Radio". I do, however, absolutely love the background sound and build up to the explosion of confused, frustrated, and emotional sound that happens at the climax of the song. I could honestly listen to a karaoke version of this song on repeat for a long time. The overall sound is very much clever and enjoyable. And then there's a song like "Stressed Out", which I appreciate on a totally opposite level of the previous song. I appreciate the lyrics and the chorus, but I find the background sound just... boring. Obviously I have very mixed reactions from most of their songs.
Not all of their songs have a similar effect on me. I find that the songs with heavy ukulele backtracks or the ones with a reggae feel to them. I particularly enjoy the more simple songs like "House of Gold". A song like this has a simple theme, simple ukulele and piano tracks, and clever lyrics. I enjoy this song and even took the time to learn the chords on my own ukulele! 

In conclusion, Twenty-One Pilots is only alright in my eyes. They have a good sound sometimes and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they have interesting and thought-provoking lyrics; other times they don't. They do have some songs that I enjoy though!

I thought Twenty One Pilots sounded good.
Thursday, October 01, 2015
It has been quite a long time since I've seen The Incredibles, or any Pixar film for that matter, and boy does this film bring me back. This was, and still is, not just one of my favorite Pixar films, but one of my favorite films of all time. This awesome piece of Pixar history has great character interactions, wonderful themes and styles, and set pieces, all thanks to Brad Bird.

Without giving away too much of the plot for those few who haven't seen it, its surprisingly pretty simple. It starts off with a funny interview of a couple of what this world calls 'Supers', which explains what goes on in this world. Simply put, its a 1960's-esk style world where Superpowers and Superheroes are abundant. The main star is Mr. Incredible who lives for fighting crime and saving lives. His whole life gets turned on it's head though when he saves someone who never wanted to be saved and is sued! After this incident Supers left and right are being sued and blamed for being the cause for everyone's problems instead of the solution. Cut fifteen years later and Mr. Incredible, or Bob Parr as he's now known, has settled down with a wife with super stretch powers and three kids, one with super speed, one with invisibility, and one baby with no powers. This is where the film's comedy and characters shine. When the whole family is on screen they really feel like an ordinary family. One that argues and bickers and plays with each other. Even when their fighting or running from the bad guys later in the movie they still have these same character interactions which are genuinely entertaining.

Though you may not notice it your first time watching, The Incredibles takes place in a 60s style world. The directors of this movie made it pretty hard to get that, however, as it only really tells you in the very beginning which takes place in the 50s. The rest of the movie takes place fifteen years later which sets the state of the world quite well. It actually runs a pretty well put together parallel with our world. In The Incredibles world, there is mention to a sort of Superhero civil rights, which is kind of like our own civil rights during the same time period. The movie doesn't make this apparent and doesn't dive into it all that deep, but it is just a fun note. The set pieces in this movie are also just really fun to look at. A lush tropical island in one scene can be quickly opposed with a bustling city in another scene. This constant switching of environments really gives this world a unique feel.

This movie is wonderful. It has a deceptively simple premise that pays off awesomely. The character interactions are great, the animation is fun, and the style looks great even today. If you haven't picked it up or seen it yet, please do. You will not be disappointed.

I thought The Incredibles was incredible!

Saturday, August 29, 2015
Recently I've been trying to finally play through the world-famous Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time. Everybody has always seemed to say that it is the best Zelda game ever and some even think that it is the best game ever. This simply isn't true because Ocarina of time is a mess. The dungeon puzzles are inconsequential, the overworld only seems like it has many exploration factors, and the combat is stale as best. Why is this. Why is there a constant battle between supporters of Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past when both of these games are only good in the grand scheme of things.

First of all, let's get started on the flaws of Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past; respectively. Ocarina of Time, like I mentioned before, is only good as it has many flaws that simply can't be overlooked. The first flaw has to be direction they took with the combat in relation to the type of world that this game takes place in. This world's infrastructure-heavy locations like Kakariko Village, Death Mountain, and Lake Hylia are all built to be explored much like you would in A Link to the Past but the camera angle in which you are seeing the world is essentially counterproductive to the exploration. By that I mean in A Link to the Past the view you had of the world only enhanced the way you viewed things like platforms and puzzles. There was a set distance you could see to the north, south, east, and west, and because of the above-camera you could even see hidden secrets on top of ledges and houses. In Ocarina of Time, however, the secrets are still there, but you had to scour the land for a vantage point or constantly fiddle with the camera in order to see exactly where you were going. This camera angle also doesn't help when combating more than one enemy. It works fantastically in a set arena with one powerful enemy, much like most of the boss fights, but outside of that the game will constantly be putting you in unfair combat scenarios where you are forced to focus on one enemy when there are plenty more also on your tail. A Link to the Past gets everything right in these aspects but also suffers from the same world building faults that Ocarina of Time does. In both of these games, I never felt like I was pushed to explore because the game would often just tell me what to do next. Because of this there was no mystery or adventure; there was simply a to-do list that the game would update me to periodically.

Though both of these games are flawed in similar ways, their spiritual successors both fixed virtually everything that the originals got wrong! First of all, Twilight Princess nailed the epic story line with real consequence that Ocarina of Time tried so hard to do. Twilight Princess also fixed the majority of the puzzle-based gripes I had with its predecessor as this Gamecube title's puzzles usually encompassed larger scaled rooms with multiple puzzles in each room that gave less of an emphasis on tight-corridor-fighting. Also, though Twilight Princess' form of Navi, named Midna still tells you what to do in the order in which to do them, she lays them out as vague hints, which not only forces you to explore a vast world but gives a whole lot of character to Midna as not even she knows exactly where to go! A Link to the Past's 'sequel' named A Link Between Worlds also vastly improved the previous formula. In A Link Between Worlds, you can explore the entire world and play any dungeon in any order you want from virtually the start of the game (at least after the first three dungeons). Though both of these games' styles are vastly different, they both feel like Zelda games now, with a strong emphasis on great dungeon layouts and world exploration!





Extra Thoughts:

I was originally going to write in Wind Waker as the successor to Ocarina of Time but I've never played Wind Waker.

You may think that this post resembles Egoraptor's Sequelitis of Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past. It does. I took a lot of inspiration from that video and agree with most of his thoughts on the matter. He repeatedly referenced Skyward Sword in his video and though I didn't get to talk about it here, I might actually write about it soon.

I was going to wait on this post until I had actually finished Ocarina of Time, but I decided to do this post now while the game is still fresh on my mind and just do a full review of it once I finish (I only have two dungeons left so it will be pretty soon!).

Wednesday, August 05, 2015
Time of Eve is a strange Slice of Life Anime to think about. It's so simple that it seems to just fly by but also has a background complexity that takes a keen eye to recognize. By that, I mean it doesn't just throw the morals it wants to demonstrate at your face. Time of Eve slowly introduces you to new ideas as the plot thickens. Before I go on, I should probably mention the story.

Time of Eve takes place in Japan in a future where a good majority of people own androids that do simple tasks like cooking and cleaning for their 'masters'. Some of these androids, however, want more out of life than being a "slave", so they go to grey areas where they can't be monitored by the corporations who made them and can talk freely while the rest of the world still thinks that they are soulless robots. One of these grey areas is a small and sort-of-hidden cafe called The Time of Eve. The story begins as our main character, Rikuo starts getting suspicious of his android whom he has named Sammy. One day he decides to track her to the cafe where he begins to meet a whole slew of interesting characters of which most are androids. This revelation turns everything that Rikuo knows about robotics on its head and he starts questioning with the audience what it really means to be human.

This Slice of Life anime is really unlike a lot that I have seen as it isn't just about life. It is about the meaning of life and who gets to control that life. Time of Eve is an Anime Movie that I can always come back too easily as every time I sit down and watch it, I find even more and more things to enjoy about it! Time of Eve is one of my favorite Anime Movies of all time and I recommend it to really just anyone in general, whether you like anime or not.

Conclusion: I thought Time of Eve was amazing!


Monday, August 03, 2015
I have always loved Star Trek and really just shows and movies about space in general. Star Trek: Voyager seems really different from all of the other series' of the same title. In Voyager, the crew have a much better reason to explore. The very first episode, titled Caretaker, starts with crew of the Voyager recruiting a young pilot by the name of Tom Paris to help them search for a vessel that has been lost in space. When they reach the point that they were last seen, however, they get transported 70,000 light years away from where they started their mission. Here they find a strange ship that is powering a whole civilization on the surface of a nearby planet. The crew at first seems hopeful that the mysterious ship can bring them back to their side of the galaxy. However, the being who controls the ship is dying and doesn't have enough power to get them back. The being does say that there is another a lot like him that may still have enough power to get them home. This gives the crew of the Voyager a great reason for exploring! I believe that this will set up a whole slew of great scenarios regarding strange species that have not been in any other Star Trek show and different types of planets and parts of space that don't seem explainable. After viewing the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager, I already can't wait to see what else this story has in store!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
I know that people give this movie a lot of crap considering the legacy that it was supposed to live up to when it was first released. To most fans of the Star Wars franchise, the prequels are seen as mediocre at best and are panned by critics. The sad thing is, they're right. For the most part, the prequels are not good movies, and it all started with a completely useless prequel called The Phantom Menace.

When I say 'useless' I'm referring to a lot of aspects of the movie at hand. From side characters, plot points, and locations, a lot of it just seems inconsequential. For instance, the opening of the movie is all set up as a diplomatic mission. Nobody once to see Jedi being diplomats. This does introduce the viewer to scenarios that we'll see more of in the rest of the movie, such as droids and The Emperor. But it doesn't really envelope a first-time viewer into a world. Some might make the argument that it is just giving us a sample of the world but in reality it's restricting us to something much bigger. If it was just 'sampling' this huge universe it would at least mention other awesome places in the universe at hand. Instead, we visit a total three planets with little to no mention of anything outside of them. Another useless plot point is the whole premise of arriving on Tattooine. The scenario is that the crew's (Padme, Obi Wan, and Qui Gon Jinn) ship needs repairing and they are stranded on a desert planet. This whole scenario does have some much needed talk between Padme, Qui Gon, and Anakin, but that can happen somewhere else. The only reason the writers wanted Tattooine in this movie is because it is also Luke's home planet. How about instead of having Gungans on Naboo help with the resistance, you can get residents on Tattooine help so there is a reason for being there in the first place. That planet isn't even very interesting besides the fact that they still have slaves. It is useless.

One thing I do commend this movie for, however, are its fight scenes. Whether it be huge armies facing off, running from underwater monsters, or a simple battle between a Jedi and a Sith, it is always a spectacle to watch and gives a real sense of urgency to fights that the sequels didn't have as much of. The villains that the Jedi fight are well done, though I would prefer them to be a little more mysterious. The Darth Maul reveal on Tattooine for example would have been so much more effective if we hadn't seen him at all up to that point except in shots when you couldn't see his face, only his cloak. That's also a huge problem with the Emperor. The movie gives hints that Senator Palpatine is the Sith Lord but those subtle hints aren't very effective when you can see half of his face while he is playing the role of the Sith Lord. That's really a problem with all of the villains in this movie; they need to act more subtly in order to get a better reaction from the audience.

In fact, any kind of reaction from the audience would be very much appreciated as I had a blank face through the first half of this movie as I was trying my best to get through the cringe-worthy performances of Anakin and Padme. Anakin wasn't too bad, thoough, as he was just a charming and curious kid who wanted to please everybody and who can blame him? He's a slave! Padme, however, is just a bore. She gets a little more character wants it is revealed that she is actually the Queen of Naboo and she actually makes a difference in last act of the movie. In fact, it seems like the whole movie gets better in the last half. It seems like every character really gets a chance to shine and do some real good. Anakin destroys an entire army of droids, Padme kicks some butt with a task force of behind her, and Obi Wan actually does something important by killing Darth Maul a.k.a. The Phantom Menace. By the end of the movie, everybody got a chance in showing what they could do and it really gave me hope as to what was up next in the franchise. It's just too bad that the other prequels still aren't very good.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace was useless!

Though I did really enjoy the last act of this "epic", most of the plots that the characters chased were inconsequential to the rest of this movie and to the rest of the prequels. It was lazy for the first half and only good enough as a whole.


Friday, July 10, 2015
When I first booted up Mother 3 I honestly wasn't expecting much. I was wrong. This game quickly foamed to the top of my favorite games list. It's quirky, fun, intriguing, and, oddly enough, heart-breaking.

Mother 3 is spread out into eight decently lengthened chapters, with the entire game taking about 40 hours to beat; depending on how good you are at RPGs. Though this is usually the reason I stray away from RPGs the story in more than engaging enough and manages to keep you hooked all the way through. Each chapter has its own flow and way of working both around and inside the narrative which makes it easy for both short bursts and long play sessions.

The story of Mother 3 is very simple when you look at it from the top but can get very deep very quickly. Without any spoilers, the main premise of Mother 3 goes like this: Everyone that we see throughout the game lives on a series of islands-the Nowhere islands- and at the beginning everyone is happy. There is no money which means there is no greed which means there has never been nor will there ever be bad people. This all changes though when we meet an outsider of the islands named Fassad who only wishes to bring his happiness to the islands. Most chapter of Mother 3 have you mostly play as different characters. Chapter 1 has you playing as Flint in the search for his missing family, in Chapter 2 you play as the lovable, limping thief-in-the-making known as Duster, and in Chapter 3 you take control of the small and cute monkey known as Salsa in his quest to save his girlfriend. In the rest of the chapter you more or less take control of a single party of characters and you really get to explore the world.

A Mother game wouldn't be a Mother game without its hilarious and intuitive battling, though, and in this installment it is as amazing as ever. You still have PSI (magic powers) and various weapons but whenever you do a normal attack you can now hit the A-button to the beat of the song that's playing to pull off long strings of combos to rack up extra damage. The beat, however, can change depending on which enemies you fight and what music is playing at that time of battle. This has you memorizing certain songs for certain beats you can combo moves off of. If you forget a song, though, Duster even has a move dedicated to finding the beat of a song.

I can't talk about any game without talking about the graphics. And this game has plenty of them. It definitely takes a page from other Gameboy Advance games at the time and goes for a simple-pixel style with higher resolution areas and backgrounds, which I definitely appreciate. And though I love the graphical style, it just doesn't quite feel like a Gameboy Advance game. Though this is most likely just because it is emulating the style of the previous installments, I can't help but think they could have gone bigger. The music in this game is also one of my favorites of all time! It blends a lot of different styles of music together but keeps a central theme of the area or battle type you are in. Like when I'm fighting a guitar it would have a blues riff going on in the background. Or when I'm fighting someone involved in the "Pigmask Army" it will always have some kind of rendition of Porky's Theme. Its the little things that count.

This game has quickly become my favorite video game of all time and I recommend it to not just RPG fans but fans of video games in general.

I absolutely fell in love with Mother 3. It was perfect.

For those who have beaten it: that ending tho

Wednesday, May 20, 2015
The Legend of Korra has grown to be one of my favorite television shows of all time. It has some of the best new ideas, great character development, a flowing animation style, and by far the best ending I have ever seen in a show. And though I love this show very dearly, it does tend to stumble in places where you would expect it to. After all, it's coming from the minds behind Avatar: The Last Airbender which is my favorite show of all time.

First of all, this is the most forward-thinking shows I have ever laid my eyes on. It not only creates a beautifully constructed world, but it did it without relying on its past series - which, by the way, already had a fun fantasy Chinese-based setting which flowed with the narrative it was trying to tell. It takes the old Chinese setting and pumps gallons of modernism into its design. This creates a 1930s and 40s feel to it which adds not only basic technology in the background scenarios, but also anything from cars to airships to even mech-suits! All of this together creates not only a gorgeous work of art to look at, but adds context to this already lore-rich world.

As I previously mentioned, the characters in this show are all fun, interesting, and most of all: human. It does, however, have trouble really defining the characters in the beginning of the series - say first half of season one - and is quickly remedied for the rest of the series' characters to reach their full potential. When the creators really want you to know exactly who the characters are and even their inner-most feelings, they express them sometimes out-front or subtly, depending on the character. All in all, by the end of the series I didn't just know these characters, they became apart of me - my sometimes unruly behavior was reflected in Korra's smart-but-indecisive planning among other things!

I can't go any further without mentioning the artwork and animation in this show. It flows. Perfectly. It is flawless in every way possible aside from a few unnecessary slow-motion scenes, but I tend to nitpick. Firebending, waterbending, airbending, and earthbending have never felt more alive than in this show and especially in the pro-bending scenes, which I kind of wished came back after season one as they were the some of the most heart-pounding "fights" in-between the main plot's down time.

Final Thoughts
The Legend of Korra is obviously by now in my top 5 shows of all time and it deserves to be in that spot. From the characters, to the scenery, the setting, and overall tone of the show, everybody... everybody needs to watch this show.

I thought The Legend of Korra was AMAZING
I've been Goob, thanks for reading...
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Copyright © 2016 ehalcomb | By Designscrazed