More Mini Video Game Reviews

Hello.

Yet again it is time for me to play and review some of the games in my library that I have bought and never played.  So without further ado…

No Time to Explain (tinyBuildGames):  You are at home, just dancing, when a future you bursts through the wall trying to recruit you but tells you there’s no time to explain (hence the title) before they get taken and you have to go save your future self.  You use the weapon dropped from your future self to fight and jump/fly limited distances as you go through various time portals trying to save yourself.  An interesting idea ruined by horrible controlling.  You aim the gun with the mouse, which wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t too damned sensitive.  Trying to use the gun to fly when the slightest nudge to the mouse sends you wildly off course is a definite road to rage quitting.  I played about 10 minutes before quitting.

The Wonderful End of the World (Dejobaan Games):  The world is about to end.  This doesn’t mean you can’t save as much as you can using your super sticky puppet to grab it all.  Yes, basically this game is Katamari Damacy.  This is not a bad thing, snce that is an amazingly fun game where you collect objects to become bigger so you can collect larger objects, which is what you do in World.  World has some of that fun, but only a slice of it compared to Katamari.  Still, it is rather enjoyable and worth a look if you are jonesing for some Katamari-style gaming on the PC.

Wizorb (Tribute Games):  Imagine combining Breakout (or Araknoid) with a RPG game and you have the basic idea of this game.  You go from town to town, fighting monsters to earn money to rebuild your village.  You beat said monsters mainly by breaking objects (mainly bricks) with a magic orb deflected by your wand.  Entertaining, but like Breakout, can get rather monotonous.  Fun for a little while, but gets old quick.

Sugar Cube (Bittersweet Factory) (Turtle Cream):  You are a sugarcube trying to get out of the evil factory before it makes you into yummy treats.  A platformer where the gimmick is the background behind you changes when you move.  Platforms will appear and disappear, different routes will show when you jump, etc.  This gimmick was rather sloppily used and made a mediocre game horrible.  I played maybe 5 minutes before figuring out it is garbage.

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse  (Sega):  A remake of a 90s Genesis platformer game with all new graphics, much like Duck Tales.  However, unlike Duck Tales, the game just really didn’t click with me.  It’s not bad, it’s just not really good either.  I played for a while, and while I don’t hate it, I don’t really think it’s worth too much time and effort on one’s part.

So there you have it, five mini reviews, with only one being worth it.  Next time, I will be doing mainly games I helped back on Kickstarter.  Was it worth my investment?  We shall see…

Into the (Cinematic) Woods

Hello.

So last June on my yearly trip to Ashland, Oregon for the Shakespeare festival, I had the pleasure of seeing the musical Into the Woods, a mashup of several different fairytales into a cautionary tale about wishes and the consequences that can happen from them coming true.  It was a delightful experience, one of the highlights of the trip.

Well, I soon found out Disney was bringing the musical to the big screen with some big names.  My curiosity was piqued.  I was wondering how they were going to bring a 3 or so hour musical to the silver screen; what would be cut, what would be changed, etc.  Well, after seeing it, I can now tell you.  I in general will keep it as vague as possible for those who have seen neither.

If I had to describe the film with one word it would be this:  condensed.  I will give them credit; more was kept than I thought would be.  And to be fair, the condensation actually helped the story in a few parts, particularly in regards to the Baker and his wife’s story arc.  But even with this they still had to cut, and while some you don’t notice, more of it suffers due to it.

First, they cut out the story arc of the Narrator.  Yes, it is still narrated, but the fourth wall breaking that concerns him is no longer in existence, which was a pity since beside narration, the Narrator was there to show that no one was safe in the story.  Also, they cut almost all of the Baker’s father role in the film too.  This at first seems wise since he wasn’t a main character and most of his actions could be given to other individuals.  The problem is they kind of forgot to do that for some of what he did, which led to some questions, mainly in the first part of the tale, particularly when it came to the cow and how the Baker ended up with the corn.  (Not spoiling anything here to say the Father (in disguise) gives the Baker the corn to help find the cow after she wanders off.  Seems trivial at first, but the corn becomes very important in the story…)

Two other characters whose story arcs are truncated are the second prince and Rapunzel.  The second prince I can kind of understand, since most of his story arc could be accomplished with the main prince, since they end up about the same, although because of this some rather humorous scenes are omitted which is a pity.  But Rapunzel’s arc was drastically changed and her purpose in the story altered as well.  It’s kind of hard to talk about this without revealing anything, so I will just say this:  she was in to ultimately be a condemnation of the Witch, which in both versions are accomplished, but it was done in the movie in such a way that defied a lot of the themes the musical was trying to tell.

The third biggest change, and the one least noticeable, was with the Big Bad Wolf and Red Riding Hood.  Disney being Disney, they couldn’t have the sequence appear TOO unseemly, so they removed a lot of the sexual undertones out.  While sad, it’s not something to important for the tale, so not a big deal in the end.  There are other changes as well, but you wouldn’t notice them if you have never seen the musical.

So would I recommend this film to others to see?  You know, I would.  It’s not a bad effort, just that if you go into without some foreknowledge it may seem a bit of a whirlwind.  It does what it is supposed to do, it is just tightly packed.  It becomes a bit difficult to sort out what is happening, and some scenes are not as well done as others, which can lead to some confusion.  But ultimately it’s not a bad film, and it passes the time nicely enough. 

If you love musicals or fairy tales you could do far worse…

Backlog Blastthrough

Hello.

As I tried (and miserably failed) to resist the recent Steam Winter Sale, I took a hard look at my game catalogue I have.  Not just from them, but other services as well.  I realized I have well over 300 different games and I have only played but a handful.  So in lieu of a New Year’s resolution, I decided to try for something a little different.

I have decided to undertake the task of trying and giving mini reviews to 100 (and maybe more) unplayed games from my libraries.  I shall try to spend at least an hour with each I try, at which time I decide if they are worth the time to keep playing and being on my system.  I already did an earlier post of about half a dozen, and I will try to do 6-7 per week time permitting.  I am limiting it to games I purchased in 2015 or earlier, since I KNOW more will be bought this year soon enough.  I will also be limiting it to games I have never actually played before, since some of my backlog is games that I haven’t played in decades.  (However, I WILL include remakes of games I have played.  Confusing, but hey, my blog, my rules.)  I have already weeded out some that I was not enjoying after a small play-through, and I expect much more to fail the test. 

But we will see how well this goes and where it takes me…

Quick review of The Interview

So I just finished watching the film The Interview. Now, if you will indulge me, I have a few thoughts about it.

It was not a bad movie, but it was from from their best. This is a shame, since this movie had some great ideas marred by too many bathroom humor jokes. In fact, there were moments of pure genius in this, in my opinion. The Eminem scene I couldn't stop laughing at. I liked the running gag about Katy Perry. The whole 'who's honeypotting who' was better done than I expected. It's just that they went to the outhouse a bit too much.

Compare this film to their last big film This is the End. Yes, it had a lot of the same humor, but it didn't use it as a crutch like Interview did. And their trying to put some of what worked in This is the End into The Interview just didn't work. I am speaking mainly of the XTC scene. It felt out of place here. i could go on, but the basic thing is this: they had a good idea and set pieces, but instead of taking a little extra effort and mining the concept for all the gold, they decided to dredge shit river for some turd nuggets. Worth a watch, but not really worth a rewatch.

A shame, really...

Making a dent in the Steam backlog

So among the many things I did this weekend, I did something TRULY amazing:

I actually PLAYED some of the games I bought from the Steam Winter sale.  So quick reviews time!

1.  Tales from the Borderlands (Telltale games)-  Played for about 20 minutes.  Liked what I saw so far, with the game combining the best features of the Borderland series and the game mechanics of Telltale Games.  I am stopping for now since only the first of five episodes are up, and I tend to marathon these series.

2.  The Binding of Isaac Rebirth (Team Meat)-  I owned the original game and am SO happy they did this remake/upgrade.  Being able to actually use a game controller makes this a better game in my view.  VERY hard, VERY disturbing and VERY fun.

3.  Epic Mickey 2 (Disney/Ubisoft)-  For a long time this game's port to the PC was thought to be dead in the water.  But it is out now, and having tried it a couple years ago at PAX, I wanted to delve more into.  Sadly, you can tell it is made for slightly younger audiences than I.  Not bad, just a bit... generic.

4.  Southpark:  The Stick of Truth (Ubisoft)-  Simply one of the funniest and most fun traditional RPGs I have played in a LOOOOONG time.  Far shorter than most, which works to the subject matter nicely.  One thing I liked was I got a serious Earthbound vibe to it, which never hurts.

5.  Super Time Force Ultra (Capybara Games)-  Another PAX game I have been waiting for.  Complex mechanics hidden under a retro skin.  Sadly, this game makes me realize how much I tend to suck at run and gun games.  Doesn't stop me from enjoying them anyways.  Worth a look at.

6.  Broforce (Free Lives Games)-  Another retro style game in the style of Bionic Commando, which was a personal favorite back in the day.  Funny, irritating and very enjoyable, this game sucked up a LOT of free time.

What the Elderly Man Said

     “There is an elderly man who will need your assistance on the Bistro car,” is where this story begins.  Well, it actually starts with the news of a mudslide happening, causing us to have to bus bridge the passengers, but I am choosing to start it with that line spoken to me.

     My duty during this operation was to ensure any passengers needing a ride from the train or station to the busses would get it.  Most were already inside.  Just the above mentioned elderly man was left on the train.  He was a small man who walked with a distinct limp.  Carrying nothing but a small green bag, I thought little about it save for getting him inside where it was warmer.  He was a pleasant fellow, and I responded in kind, despite my inner depression that comes this time of year.  When I got him to the station, I offered to let him keep the bag on my cart so it would be easier for him to move around.  He quickly told me no, that he always carried it with him. I nodded and led him inside, dismissing his words, thinking it just him prattling.

     After dropping him off, I went to the podium where the conductor was preparing for the trip and just stood there behind it, answering the common question we kept getting:  “Any update on the bus departure time?”  We hemmed and hawed as best we could, awaiting the news much like they are.  During this time the gentleman came up to the podium, still carrying his bag.  Unlike the others that came up, he asked about how the bus bridge worked.  It was another common question, and I answered it pretty much automatically.  He then got to telling me about his son who was waiting for him and his business in Stanwood.  Being polite, I kept the conversation going.  He told me how he hated driving I-5, but still drove almost everywhere else.  He told me he was still an avid golfer, and that he was 93 years old.  I was impressed, since I had guessed his age to be closer to 80.  He also mentioned in the conversation that his wife had passed away 2 years ago.  This led to him telling me what happened to have caused his limp.

     The story he told was one that if things had happened a bit differently or he had told it a different way, I would have been horrified for him.  But he was so nonchalant and witty about it; I could not help but laugh at it.  He was laughing too, so I didn’t feel horrible about it.  This story led to talk of his 1967 Mustang, which due to my family I have a decent about of knowledge of.  As we were talking about it, I was told that the busses were ready for my passengers.

     So I had them bundle up and I drove them on Li’l C-my cart-and drove them to the bus for loading.  As I helped him and the others off, I asked if he would like to place his little green bag in the luggage compartment so it would be safe.  Again, he refused, yet this time he told me why.

     “My wife’s ashes are in this bag.  I like to keep her with me when I travel.  It brings me comfort.”

     That sentence, along with the look he gave me when he said it –a combination of sadness, love, and earnestness-pierced the depression armor I was wearing, hitting me square in my emotional center.  “I fully understand,” I said as I helped him and his wife to a seat in the bus, tears forming.  He thanked me, and I thanked him back, then I left the bus, got on my cart, drove around the corner out of sight of everyone, and started bawling.

     Sometimes we come so wrapped up in our lives, so focused on our problems, that we forget we are but part of a greater whole.  We sometimes focus so much on our personal demons and how to cope with them we don’t see how others do it.  This elderly man had such an important part of his life gone, but how he coped with it to continue existing-no-to continue LIVING, was of such a bittersweet beauty that it blew past all my cynicism, all my grief to show me that while life can be bad, it’s how we deal with it that defines who we truly are.  I was humbled by this revelation, and realized that I have to try harder to actually live rather than just function. 

     So I thank you, sir, for giving me something I truly needed this time of the year…

Dreams of My Father

I guess I should have mentioned this sooner.

When I go to bed, I rarely sleep straight through.  I generally get up once to use the bathroom or move to my comfy chair if Cappy is in obnoxious sleeping mode.  Plus I get up another time to give him his breakfast before heading back to sleep.  Why am I mentioning this?  Because each time I go back to sleep, I rarely have the same dream.

Most are just scenes, unconnected acts.  Some are like the one I posted earlier, an entire tale of some kind or other.  And then I get the third type, where it is just small vignettes, but they are all connected.  After I had gotten up form having the multiple worlds dream and went back to bed, I had the third type of dream.  That in its own is unusual, but what elevated this to something truly different was that I (or an effigy of me) was not the main character in these.  In fact, I was only in one part in passing.  No, these dreams consisted of mundane events involving my Father.  I had three of them in a row:

My Father makes a new friend-  My Dad is out on the town (it was either Woodinville or Snohomish, couldn't quite tell) doing errands.  He is driving a 1965 Mustang, which I believed to be my niece Saresa's, and he makes a stop at the auto parts store.  when he exits the store, a man is admiring the Mustang.  They start to chat about it and cars in general.  Eventually my Dad invites him to stop by the house to take a look see of the shop.  They part as friends.

My Father works around the house-  This was pretty much what it says on the tin.  My dream consisted of following my Dad as he did various chores around the place.

My Father and Lois prepare to go out to an event with me-  This little scene followed my parents as they got ready to go to an event (most likely a play) in Seattle.  They made sure they had everything for the trip, and were having a normal conversation while doing so.

There was nothing wild or crazy about this.  I have been with my Father when these type of activities are being done, so I know it was pretty mundane.  Another one where I have no idea where this came from, although I have an inkling it was just my subconscious telling me to give him a call to see how things are going.  I have no answers for this, just thought I'd share it...