Hello Little Lights, while I am trying to recover from my health issues I decided to start getting back into blogging slowly by tackling some easy to handle content! It is time to continue picking up those anime I was watching again! That way when I am forced to stay in bed, I can at least get something done! So yay! We start with picking up Digimon again. Since becoming a VBlogger though, this will be more of a reaction blog to the episode than an actual review!
The First Act
I chose a bad time to burn out on watching anime as episode 16 is a direct continuation of episode 15, the enemy at the end evolved into Orochimon, from eyesmon! Luckily I am quite aware of the “digidex” and which Digimon evolves into what.. and how! So I did not feel lost! It would be kind of bad if I got lost in a kid show anyway I guess! Anyway in the last episode the chosen kids fought Eyesmon in the fake Tokyo and after defeating it , the creature evolved. They had discovered that Eyesmon was responsible for the Tokyo blackouts and this week we kind of see why?!
Orochimon has the power of EMP roars, which is treated as something way more serious than it should be… I loved how Digimon up until this point was very cleverly written and once again this power up does connect to everything going on in a very thematic way, but just like the last episode it feels a bit cheaper than before. It fits but it’s less earned. Kochiro’s laptop only flickers a bit while in the real Tokyo suddenly all sorts of light bulbs begin to burst as it is stated that the EMP roar affects the real Tokyo in the same way. Then why did Koshiro’s laptop not go poof?! The eight heads of Orochimon over-power the chosen ones and it is time to flee. Yamato however wants to solve this now, for a reason that has yet to be revealed as I react to it! If I were to guess I would say this is where Takeru and maybe Kairi come in…after all the group is with 6 right now… perhaps they need… 8?!
The first act ends with the party becoming separated again. Yamato and Taichi end up alone due to the recklessness of Yamato. Orichimon does some shenanigans with water that destroy his “dimension” Since they are in his dimension now, that is located more closely to the real world time flows differently here than in the rest of the digital world or something as is explained by Koshiro who works like a fine exposition tool, when the other four are discussing their lost battle and try to come up with a strategy. It is nice to see the four non leaders together and them dealing with problems that come with that. Without Yamato and Taichi we see the group depicted as slightly more fearful and less motivated, as a group should be without their leaders. Morale has dropped! So the episode handles that pretty well!
The Second Act
We begin the second act with a super lame visual of Taichi, Yamato and their Digimon sitting in some sort of underground location that looks quite similar to the location where the others were. However the details of this picture are laughingly sparse. I get that it is hard to draw in details from a distance, but if that would be the problem I would not have chosen this shot! It lingers for a fair few seconds as wel so it kind of killed the gravity of the situation for me! It just looks a bit to yankee for me and I let out a chuckle rather than being concerned for their welfare. It is followed by a rather cool visual of Orochimon’s heads creeping past the location searching for them. I like how the sky is coloured white.. like empty digital space rather than some gloomy cloud that reflects their emotional situation. Normally in nearly every scenario.. in a situation like this the sky would be ashen to reflect the despair .. but here the rules of the digital world stay in place and it doesn’t just start to rain to enhance emotions. So we are looking into a pretty somewhat strange sky! It helps sell the alien world thing a bit more! Something this show does quite a bit better than the original!
We then get a lot of focus on Hikari and Takeru, which makes me believe we may say two new chosen ones soon! Hikari even sees an actual digimon! The mother of the family makes a very VERY strange decision though. Because her car is glitching out a bit and stuck in traffic she decides to abandon it and take the train back home?! What?! Are you even allowed to abandon your car in the middle of the road like that?! And obviously people will stampede towards the train station.. so why would you let your daughter exit the car in a dangerous situation like this. Stuff just exploded not too long ago! Not so great parenting there! Of course Hikari gets trampled and separated from her mother. Also why is Takeru being left home alone during a black-out! These parents are not very good!
The second act concludes with a great team bonding moment from the chosen ones! The leaderless group says what they appreciate from their Digimon and tell each other stories on how they have grown and how they should not be scared.. because they have come a long way since coming to this world. We see Joe take on his Faux Leader persona and how it cheers the others up! It is very wholesome to see and it makes sense! He wants to be the Senpai and now he can when everyone is at a low! We also see the strength of Sora and how proud she is of Biyomon, we see how Koshiro thinks his digimon is the coolest and we see Mimi tease Palmon that she is only the prettiest Digimon when she evolves. I loved these moments! It is followed by a strong moment of bonding between Taichi and Yamato as well. Where the rest of the group kind of at times tried to slow down Yamato for reason, Taichi understands that sometimes you just have to step up, so when Yamato wants to fight to save his brother, even with chances not in their favour Taichi not only lets him he joins him!.
The Third Act
The third act and thus the climax of this episode is the battle against Orochimon! It quickly becomes clear that Takeru and Hikari won’t join the squad in this episode. However, I am beginning to see more and more similarities to the first episode. We have an enemy that evolves several times, a fight between a superior force in a realm that is somewhere between the digital world and our one.. and Yamato and Taichi who are the big focus. The rest does show up just a little into the fight.. but they accept that in this fight they are the support. It’s left up to their two leaders, which I think is a fitting end for the “Tokyo Blackout Arc”. I suspect however that this fight will not conclude it.. something will happen here that brings back Takeru and Hikari to the digital world before it is over. I am sure of it!
The fight itself is quite nice as well, after a few failed attempts from Yamato and Taichi to do it alone, they do realise they need the group! Yet at the same time that group also realises they lack the sheer offensive dominance the other two have.. so rather than just fighting along, they distract the metal heads of Orochimon that it uses for defence.. Zudomon also shows some defensive skills, spinning his hammer around like Thor! Kind of cool and nice to see everyone take slightly different roles in this fight. Energy attacks do not seem to work on the snake’s water blasts so MetalGreymon and AtlurKabuterimon take a Melee approach that seems to work. Sometimes a weaker attack is better than just the main attack! The classic show fell into that trap where everyone basically ended up spamming one attack! So these fights feel much more alive.
The fight is concluded by MetalGreymon… but hey Taichi has the goggles and it’s a digimon rule. Everyone got a moment again and even with Takeru and Hikari getting scenes here and there, it never feels too thin spread. Everyone is there and has personality, the music, the digivolutions , it all synergises once again and the battle ends on a high note! We know have seen how a single Ultimate Digimon can still be on par with 6, so even Devimon being just a Champion for now seems possible..because unlike the old series there seems to be another force behind this all. Like how we have seen Omnimon in the first three episodes.. something is pushing them to this level.. and now yet again.. even after killing the Digimon, something changes. A new countdown shows up..towards the destruction of Tokyo.. just like in the first three episodes, and I am excited! I know I am watching this late..and not maybe not that many are into this series to begin with.. but I had fun again! I just needed to recharge my battery a bit!
For those who do not use Twitter, I have been currently having a lot of health issues that is completing consuming my energy pool or making me forced to stay in bed. As this is going on I can’t reliably put out blogging content, though I am slowly trying to get back in the swing of things. However since I have been quite unstable I can’t really tell you guys when I will be back full force! My apologies! I’m trying to recover as fast as I can! For now.. time for a bit more rest! Shine on Little Lights! Oyasumi!
Yo Little Lights! It is time for me to watch anime again! I don’t know yet how to incorporate other anime in my blogging routine, but I am actually creating a pretty big supply of blogs, so expect them to return soon! In what shape way or form will remain the question! Today however we will continue with Zombie Land Saga! I will react to it as I watch! So let’s hope we will have a lot of fun like we did last week.
Idol Noises
The episode starts, with another pretty delicious recap! I do like text density into something silly like this. We hear more about the rap and like the episode we begin with another briefing of the manager. Which is about as annoying as you expect. He does give everyone an applause though so I don’t want to turn his head into mush as I kill him with my laser beams.. I just want to slap him in the face for shouting at Sakura like he does in the first five minutes, so she doesn’t get too full of herself after he complimented her.. that’s kinda cruel though! Like giving a dog a biscuit for being a good boy and then shouting at it for eating the cookie quickly! I don’t like it! He also scares number six.. whose name still doesn’t linger for me but perhaps as we go along!
The plot of this episode seems to be a Guerilla Live. Which is like a Flash Mob..for Idol Girls.. where you don’t tell anyone what you are doing and just try to gather a crowd. It reminded me of that scene in Now You See Me 2 , where the Four Horsemen do a magic show in several locations in London, I love that movie! Sakura is afraid the police might stop them but Saki waves her arm and tells her she won’t be scared of some pigs! Making all sorts of squishy rotting noises as her arm flails.. that is kind of a neat touch! We also learn that Junko has experience as a Solo artist.. the manager insults her by calling her a loner. Jeez… This guy!
Luckily he isn’t too much in the next scene! I finally found out the name of my beloved number 6! Lily! So cute! The group trains together but has no direction so Lily tells them they need a leader. Saki steps up and no one opposes her, and a name has to be chosen. Lily wants to name everyone after her while Saki wants a super edgy name! I really like that when she screams her voice seems to make bike noises. Much like that one episode in South Park.. but with actual Motor noises. It really shows you her origin and this is done repeatedly throughout, several characters, they all speak a bit .. extreme showing us who they are even if you don’t know them too well! I like choices like that. Especially in an idol girls scenario! Like I would be the moth girl. .if I was an idol girl! something with lamps or kaiju would happen! This is the way!
The Rise of Franchouchou
The naming skit continues with everyone pitching in showing their personality a lot.. Junko and Ai being much more in the background then Lily, Number 5, Saki and Sakura. Even Tae-Chan comes in and meddles with it.. mostly to eat the magic marker ! Sakura thinking eating pens is bad for you rips it out of Tae-Chan’s hands and it lands in Junko’s hands, so she is pestered by Tae-Chan again. Good , recurring jokes like this give it a bit of group dynamic. Look at Holo-Live EN. Kiara is into Cali and Gura and Amelia have this whole thing going on. Ina does more of her own thing..and while that is semi scripted it also makes them feel like a real group of friends with interaction dynamics. That happens here as well. It’s still in infancy.. but it is definitely there. Sakura is being consulted for a name and she says the name should be something like Framboise or Frangipane and gets stuck on Fran.. when suddenly Tae-Chan begins sneezing due to sucking out ink from the pan. Lily thinks it’s more than just sneezing she is actually pitching in and thus the name Franchouchou comes up! I love that name! I also love how the actual zombie took part in naming it!
Number five is revealed as Yugiri .. well at least to me! The name never stuck until the next scene for me.. which vastly confused me! It starts out with the girls going to practice a song and a dance for the Guerilla Live but no one has experience except for the two girls who aren’t motivated. The other girls are one one of those spinny playground rides I may have thrown up in once or twice.. you know one with a wheel that you turn like in the Disney Teacups and it makes the thing go round and round but just the teacup. Sakura gets launched out of it thinking about her idol experience and flies towards the sky crashing in the earth. She tells everyone she’s ready to practice again and will work hard and then she is slapped in the face by Yugiri who tells her not to give up and practice. Sakura tells her she is about to say that but everyone sides with Yugiri as if Sakura didn’t say anything of the likes. Did she dislocate her jaw or something from the crash and does everyone here do something else? I don’t get it!
The next scene is probably my least favorite scene and it’s about Ai and Junko not wanting to participate in all of this because it all seems so half-assed. I get that.. somewhere.. but at the same time.. it’s not like there is anything else to do and it’s not like they had issues being on stage with the awkward rap battle thing.. they looked bummed but they did it! So I don’t get why they are not invested here.. not really at least. I guess some of it may be idol pressure and perfectionism but they are dead and very much aware of it as per last episode. The manager actually gives them a great speech that he did not resurrect them for them to stay dead, the other girls are trying to live! I like that speech.. a lot.. but at the same time it kind of feels like he should not need to do that. It feels a bit odd in their situation with literally nothing else to do! That same perfection would make them not want to half ass this?!
The First Idol Song
The second half of the episode contains much less events as we move towards the Guerilla event. The girls finally get ready to sing their first idol song! Of course it is performed super tiny and the idol girl costumes are missing. I like how the build up is so slow in this series, we really see them become idols from the very bottom! The song is called Mazame RETURNER. While it isn’t as sugary as I would have liked to see I guess this makes sense as an amalgamation. The girls even get their weird 3d animation dance you see in a lot of Idol Girl anime! For the first time it feels like an actual idol show! That being said the 3d animation feels kind of laggy at times. As if I am watching a Bowling Alley Strike Animation. It takes me a bit out of it.. but because they are zombies it also feels .. somewhat accurate. I love how Tae-Chan is also being part of it and participating.. did she actually kind of awaken but not really?! She does react to the beat and the more tricky dances so there is something going on.
The act begins fairly well and the dance is cute! I really like the shuffling animation all the girls make.. but then Lily crashes into Sakura again and she falls. Since she is much younger Sakura is worried about her and forgets about the act. Thus the audience always walks. Junko and Ai watch this unfold and you can see them cringe at these rookie mistakes. As Lily gets up Sakura comes to a very text heavy part but seeing her audience walk away causes her to get so flustered that she completely loses focus and forgets her lines. Just as things seem to get worse and worse, Junko and Ai join the group and help them finish the song. While everyone is walking off they get an audience of one single girl who is absolutely loving it and that makes this worth it for them… and I LOVE that message. You can see the girl having such a great time and that is enough reason for these girls to continue. That is also a big goal for me! Even if just a single person enjoys your content that be it a song , a video or whatever that will be worth it. It really was such a heartwarming scene! Seeing Saki go to the kid and tell her, don’t worry next time we will do better. Super cute.
The epilogue was uneventful and mostly involved Ai-Chan and Junko talking about liking being an idol! The other girls had a few cute moments as well but it’s mostly those two the focus is on.. and again.. I am not sure if I like how reserved they are. A reveal at the end however might make it all a bit more interesting. It seems that Ai is/was part of that idol group that Sakura so adored but can’t really remember! I am not sure if that is correct but that’s what it seems like. Her reservations seem to originate from having to start up all over again..which I can see would be demotivating… however I still think it makes little sense from where they are currently at.. It’s not like there is anything else for them to do and that has been established. Also why did they get bathrobes?! The stinky question I had has been answered though! So props to them! I had a blast again!
Hello again Island Guests! Today I am gonna do something I haven’t done in a fair bit. Be somewhat relevant. Now I know this post will go up when the news is almost a week old.. but that still passes as relevant for me! Rather than talking about Retro Games or Weird games.. or a new pokémon one! I will tell you what I think about what is coming! Today I react to the Xbox Games Showcase of July 2020.
Okay.. guys , I think presentation wise Microsoft blew Sony out of the water. There was a lot more gameplay trailers, more release dates and more hype. Heavily focussing on first and second party developers was such a smart move because this is all stuff you might buy the Series X for. Well stuff will come out for PC in some cases.. but let’s be honest.. PC Gamers and console gamers are by now almost completely different demographics. Regardless this really felt like a lineup for just about everything Microsoft! There was less room for technobabble which I appreciated. Let’s be completely honest here, Haptic Feedback doesn’t determine what system you will get it’s the games. At least for me .. and this showcase was all build for that! No Price Range for the Series X though either.. are they waiting for each other to announce their price?! It’s not like I can afford one right away anyway.. and with how the console market works getting one day one seems a bit silly now.. but I would have at least like that bit of info. Anyway let’s look at the games and I will judge them on how likely it would make me buy an Xbox series X if I had ample money.
All screenshots I use have been taken from this video that I will share with you so you can follow along in intervals if you wish!
This took a big chunk of the presentation! About a fifth of the entire presentation was Halo and I can see why. The last two Halo’s have not been received all that well and this one seems like a return to format. The Old armor is back, the colours and the general design reminds me of the original trilogy and in particular Halo: Combat Evolved the first game. I played the trilogy and liked it fine enough! This looks like a First Person shooter I actually would sort of like to play. That being said the fact that I would like to play it because how retro it feels might make it a bit safe at the same time. There is a grappling hook thing now that looks quite fun.. and similar to something i have seen in Doom Infinite. Not only can you zip to other places it can also help you grab and toss items. The music is awesome again, the characters I have seen are appealing so I already felt a bit engaged with the story..but I am not fully convinced yet I should play this over Halo 1.
Would I buy a console for it? Maybe! If I still feel like Halo after replaying Combat Evolved?!
State of Decay is not my brand of Zombie game.. I prefer the chaos of Left 4 Dead. So when the third game was announced I did not feel much! I am happy for the people who love this series but to me it just isn’t my brand. The fact that we seem to get more zombie animals is cool but I am already not very appealed by winter settings. This trailer in my opinion did not really need to exist, this type of game screams Gameplay. I would like to see how combating Zombie deer would work how this weapon functions and if camping is a in game gimmick. What this trailer shows could have been reached with a poster. Great for people wanting a sequel but it will not convince anyone new to this series I think.. I was not convinced at least.
Would I buy a console for it? No but I might watch a let’s play
My days of wanting pretty graphics is something I left far behind me.. but there are always those who want to look at amazing graphics above anything else. While I have no doubt the gameplay of Forza is adequate I have always found the series incredibly boring. Much like Gran Turismo. I prefer PGR as a “realistic” series or Burnout as a fun racing series. I even enjoyed The Crew a fair bit when I tried the trial. This to me feels empty. Again no gameplay so I have no idea how good the game will look when actually racing.. and if I was part of the demographic.. I think that is what really matters. The visuals in this trailer look amazing but if this is not what happens in game.. I don’t think people very much care. I am happy for Forza fans they now know they get their title…and since nowadays everything has to be announced as a trailer.. I get why it is here.. but again.. this does nothing what the words “Forza Motorsports is coming to Series X” could not do.
Would I buy a console for it Heck No! sleeping meds are cheaper! Both would just put me to sleep
Rare’s new game peaked my interest.. this game looks like it might be a mix between Avatar (as in the last Airbender one) Pokémon and stuff like Horizon Zero Dawn. Yet I could be completely wrong, I do not know because this once more is not a gameplay trailer. The Breath of the Wild aesthetic it has to it appeals.. but makes it feel a tad to “artsy” for me.. given how the trailer runs. I am not sure if I am going to think this game is actually FUN or just beautiful and impressive. For example I found Breath of the Wild Beautiful and impressive but not every fun. It is clear that creatures will play a very important role in it.. but what that role is exactly is unknown! Are they just creatures you need to help with a task or do you actually use them to complete tasks? I have no idea. I am intrigued.. very much so.. but I am not sure what this is. It has potential , it has beauty, and it looks very original ..but I just do not know what this ends up being.
Would I buy a console for it? I do not know!
No this game has nothing to do with the Backstreet Boys. This game developed by Dontnod is basically Life is Strange 3. We see a choose your own adventure type game where a brother and sister reunited and bond over their past.. but mysterious powers reveal that there might be more playing than they initially would have thought. Life is Strange was one of my favourite playthroughs of the last decade while the sequel did not do all that much for me. This story seems more appealing to be, the plot lines that are thrown out in this trailer do feel intriguing and this trailer manages to capture a certain tension I would like to see in a video game like this. At the same time I do tend to find these type of games overly expensive as you can really only complete them once. Maybe twice but then the joy is gone a bit. The fact that this one will be episodic as well makes me think this will be very much the same thing. I would probably love to play this one.. but only once the parts are all bundled together for a sweet deal. Definitely something I will be keeping an eye out for ..as the vision mechanic seems neat.. but also something I do not mind waiting for.
Would I Buy A Console for it? No but I would buy it if I had the console!
This trailer made me incredibly uncomfy and slightly hurt my eyes. Ori 2 as I will call the game was a well received game that now gets a 120 FPS + enhanced music version on the Series X. The trailer however was two screens next to each other with one running at 60fps and one at 120 fps.. slowed down so we could really see the stutters in the 60fps one. It felt like seeing one of those spot the differences books but it is really hard for me to notice. I mean sure I notice there are more animation frames in the 120fps version.. now that it is slowed down but it hurt my brain to look at it like that. Ori is a great platformer that unfortunately is not for me due to all the jump linking and me being very twitchy. Focussing on trying to spot a difference made me a bit queasy so while I think it’s great that this is here for Ori fans .. I am not convinced you can actually notice the framerate difference with human eyes… at least when it is not slowed down.
Would I buy a console for it? No I need the money to buy a bucket! And some aspirine!
I love Silly expansions. Old World Blues for Fallout New Vegas ,Far Cry Blood Dragon and TIny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep are among some of my favourite expansions and this does that same thing. I love the style, I love the humor and I would have enjoyed the game a bit more if this was more the overall tone of the game. I found myself a bit bored when playing Outer Worlds though and I wish this had been in the base game instead. So it is a step in the right direction. It makes me want to pick Outworlds up to give it another try! So I can say it’s a good trailer. I will probably try the game again, back out and not bother with the DLC though.. but who knows things might change. I might actually get some fun out of this.
Would I buy a console for it? No but I would give a game I dropped another chance for it!
More Obsidian goodness came in the form of Grounded. A team based survival game that holds a bit in between Fortnite (Building wise) Honey I shrunk the kids (the movie) and your typical survival shooter. It goes into early acces on steam on the 28th of July I think and it looks actually quite fun! It was also by far the funniest trailer! “If You are waiting for the biggest game of the year” …… Wait for Cyberpunk 2077. I laughed out loud! Thank you Obsidian. The game looks to good for my Laptop to run but this would be something I would play with friends had I had friends who like to play this. The friends who do played team based games said “I don’t want to play as children” so they were out! I’d probably not be able to run the game either way but man.. this trailer was funny, special and I loved this games feeling.
Would I buy a console for it? Yes! If I could buy the friends as well!
This gave me some heavy Lord of the Rings Vibes.. in a good way. I could almost see imagine seeing a Balrog come.. after those first moments of “gameplay”. The trailer just shows us an arrow landing and a swordsman using runic magic to gain a buff for something ominous coming. This looks like a game I want to play, this sounds like a game I would like to play! There is a lot of atmosphere in this and has got me semi hyping over a fantasy for the first time since I saw the Dawnguard trailer for Skyrim! Maybe even stronger, this checks all the fantasy boxes for me. The arrow part with the narrator I could not care very much for.. it was just those last 5 seconds that grabbed me.. but that grabbed me so hard that it would not let me go that easy.
Would I buy a console for it? Yes….if I had the money I totally would!
Another Interactive Drama ..but without the paranormal aspect. I did not like this one! The style of the trailer.. and if this is the graphical style of the game as well.. which I’ve seen in a few games before, isn’t for me. I see nothing gripping in terms of story yet. Where Tell me why really seems to focus on the mysterious elements in its storytelling it is why it justifies being a game to me. This seems to focus more on the drama and that jittery style really takes me out of it. I am not much for visual novels either so I am not the demographic here, but while I might enjoy this as a movie I do not think I’d like this as a game. The style CAN work .. but again I would need a mystery game for it.. where I get pieces to my puzzle. The missing frames are like info I am missing. I do not mind mind the style in Phoenix Wright or Danganronpa but this feels to artsy..like it’s done to be different not to make the story better.
Would I buy a console for it? I would not know if I’d even play this game right now.
A trailer, with a thankful guy in it. I didn’t even know Hellblade 1 was a thing and upon looking up it’s gameplay I don’t think this is something for me. It looks very epic and warrior like , with a lot of mysticism and stuff.. but this also looks a bit to gritty to me. To Feral. It seems really catered towards it’s current fanbase and isn’t a good bit to call in new players I think. No gameplay, no story..just shouting and fire. I have no doubt it will be a good game to some but as is this was one of the most forgettable presentations to me!
Would I buy a console for it? What even is it?! I might need to play part 1 first!
I like this game and I loved the original! I would play this if I could .. but the thing is .. I already knew that! There were already a lot of good trailers showcasing both the settings and the gameplay and to be honest I didn’t really want this trailer.. It’s just more! Like how Pokémon reveals to much Pokémon. My reaction to this trailer was mostly like.. What the Giratina happened to Jack Black’s beard! It looks so wild and .. not very good! Why is his voice so dark all the sudden! Such a change from his old style.. it’s cool that he sings a song for this game and it works.. but it would have been so much more awesome to discover this if I ever played the game than seeing him sing it .. with that beard! Great game.. WEIRD presentation
Would I buy a console for it? Yes.. but I will never be able to unsee that beard if I do!
I am skipping this one! I have very few nice things to say about the franchise after my first two weeks playing the first game. I really dislike the reaction they took and I have some stronger feelings I should probably not discuss! If you like Destiny 2 .. please check it out in the showcase Hope you enjoy. I skipped it.
Man does Pripyat trailer well, every game that has it I instantly want to play. There is just something about it that is the perfect mix of gloom and tension. This game also adds a lot of supernatural elements to the town near Chernobyl. I wonder if this game will actually arive on schedule unlike the first one. I wasn’t a big fan of the gameplay of the first one so I need to wait until the gameplay trailer to see if the second one might be better. If I am fair though I kind of had my fill of post apocalyptic gathering and survival games. They are kind of the Isekai genre of the video game industry. It’s all pretty good but it is all very samesy as well. The fact that this could be Metro, could be a radiation zombie apocalypse game and more.. and a lot of youtubers did not recognise it tells me something this game might lack that thing to make it it’s own still.
Will I buy a console for this? I need to wait until the gameplay trailer before I can truly tell.
It looks pretty! Vermintide in the 40.00 universe. The best thing I liked about this trailer is the Fat Shark Logo. Warhammer 40k is one of those things that is simply to dark and edgy for me. It’s about angry man shooting their guns at angry things and killing and getting killed makes more people angry. There is evil stuff that needs to be shot down.. and there’s alien races that need to be shot down. Valor in combat isn’t my thing. Warrior Races aren’t my thing, and I just discussed dark survival horror like shootouty things in a derelict setting before. I hope King Coconut will have fun playing it if he can but this universe and me are polar opposites. I don’t hate it and I think it should exist.. but keep it away from me please.
Will I buy a console for this?! I am to pink for Warhammer 40.000
I love Tetris 99 for Switch! Such a great evolution of Tetris.. and once more they did it again. Tetris where you can play your Tetriminos on other players fields. Big blocks?! Psychedelic colours and the gameplay of Tetris Effect that was one of the best games of 2018? I am on board! That’s all I have to say about it because.. it’s tetris! The trailer is people having fun playing Tetris. Tetris is great! This Tetris might be better than all the other Tetris.
Would I buy a Console for this? I bought Tiger Electronic Tetris so why not a Series X!
This feels like Super Mario Sunshine on Xbox Series X for me.. you play a person going to an alien planet and you can clear up “The Gunk” Not by rinsing it up by sucking it up.. so in a way this now seems a bit like a hybrid between Luigi’s Mansion and Super Mario Sunshine. So far I love it! This is my type of game! The main character looks super fun and unique as well and the world as far as we have seen it feels quite unique being quite dark and gloomy but also really steering into the alien like aspect. It almost feels a bit Ridley Scott’esque in terms of design and I don’t think we have seen that into many video games. We mostly get really luscious worlds or snow covered worlds or purple words…This has me more excited now than Psychonauts!
Would I buy a console for this? I would even get one out of a pile of gunk for it!
The game of the show for me! This is something I might ACTUALLY get the console for if I ever had the money! I will probably stick with Switch.. but The Medium being a console exclusive game makes this machine at least a bit coveted for me! I like horror games in the Resident Evil and Evil Within sort of gameplay, mainly the latter seems to have a lot in common with this one.. but the chance to play each level as both the regular level and some sort of hellscape sometimes even at the same time seems so awesome! The character design between both worlds is awesome and the tone of the trailer is fantastic. We see both gameplay and world building and it is truly amazing. This is stuff I’d like to play! No! This is stuff I want to play! I will probably end up following a YouTuber play this start to finish and be enthralled by every minute of it! This is the stuff Pinkie likes to play.. well that and cute and retro platformers.
Would I buy a Console for This? I would build a machine to be able to play this!
Phantasy Star 2 , A super generic Call of Duty like shooter, some information about Game Passes … I honestly do not care.. I am happy people still get to play their beloved Phantasy Star ..and yay for Xbox series X having options but yeah .. meh! Generic Shooter X is just a gun go brrrt game! Bam we are done with those things! Onto the final thing!
We just saw a pixie being eaten…and a title..and that is enough for me to want this game so bad! No gameplay.. no world building.. no story reveals.. no characters…just a single Pixie being eaten and I already want the game! And it is developed by Xbox Game Studios..so I am pretty sure this will be an exclusive! So……
Would I buy a Console for this! OMG THAT PIXIE SHE JUST GOT ATE! GIMME MORE!
What was your favourite presentation?! Will you get a series X? Would you like me to review games on Series X? If so please consider supporting me on Kofi! If you rather want me to get a playstation 5.. same story and if you like to see me do retro stuff?! Well you are in luck then!
Welcome back my dear paradise visitors, today is yet another day that my apartment is quaking on it’s foundations and that I feel like I am writing in a dwarven forge. So once more I need to resort to some low-hanging fruit of blogging. As the geeks that we are that opportunity arose when the new sonic trailer came out on the twelfth of november.
Redesign
Finally there some positivity on the internet! I haven’t heard a single person NOT liking sonics new design. I even heard little to no.. ‘better but still looks like doodoo’ type of comments. Credit where credit is due, this redesign is such a massive improvement in every single way. This feels like a live action Sonic. His shoes look the shoes the speedy hedgehog is supposed to wear and the blue blur also finally has gloves. The monstrous teeth are gone and even the eyes are fixed. By putting a patch of white fur under the nose the animators are walking a nice line of balance between biological possibilities and paying tribute to the original design. Even the personality seems to have gotten a bit reworked. The personality movie sonic now seems to have is that of the old tv shows. The adventures of Sonic. In terms of the video game universe it would allign more with that of “Classic Sonc’ compared to the more suave and cool “Sonic X’ personality. While movie sonic always felt more in line with the classic one, and from the offset throughout this seems like an origin story of sorts this trailer feels like an homage to Classic. While I like it I can see this becoming a bit more troublesome when we look at how this movie is made.
Who is it for?
While I am all about paying homage to the actual sonic I do think this rework and new trailer has brought a new issue to light. Who is this movie for? Jokes feel very slapsticky and aimed at the very young ones that carry on our legacy and make sonic a thing that can exist in the future. The thing is though, they don’t know Classic Sonic. Youth these days see the cool Sonic X guy participating n the olympics, they see Sonic Adventure 2 as THE classic. The kids of the fans of classic even might be a bit too old to enjoy this level of silly comedy.The movie caters to two audiences. The classic sonic fans and the kids of this day and age. While now it seems for the classic fans they have the right sonic this time around, the movie tone is somewhat off. It feels more like that smurfs movie back in the day than a movie for us millennials who chose the power of Blast-Processing and Saw that Sega does what Nntendon’t . Kids will enjoy the silly jokes and the action comedy moments of this movie.. but this is not their sonic. Theirs is a lot more bratty and would be more inclined to say..’ppppssssh , nothing personal kid’ rather then play baseballs with himself and make fun of himself. This is not their sonic. One can argue that little kids don’t notice but we really have to stop dumbing our kids down, of course they will notice.. they just don’t make angry salty tweets about it. ‘I saw this movie with the teacher…sonic did not have his scaff 0/10’ They aren’t that cynical yet. I get that this way you can combine both the old and the new viewers but to me it still feels like neither generation is going to absolutely love it. Clearly they DO care about their fans and listen so I feel like the clash in tones might make enough people dislike it enough not to see that sonic movie universe take root. Which is a shame because that first green hll one shot makes me wish we could get a second movie set in sonic’s world.
Love-Letter
That being said, I really like this trailer, I am simply concerned they are not aiming with enough focus to get a cohesive fanbase. The rest of this trailer feels completely different than the first one. The Gangsta’s Paradise trailer gave me vibes of Dragon Ball Evolution. They did not care about Sonic, or so it seemed. They butchered what made Sonic , the beloved character we all got so angry for. THIS trailer does, except for pacing it’s tone, exactly right. The music in the first half pays tribute to the Green Hill Zone theme and even more sonic music is used. ‘Super Sonic’ while not my cup of tea in music at least fits a lot better than friggin Gangsta’s Paradise. Sonic now has his classic elements and his speed has been showcased throughout the entire trailer in so many ways, with so many ways to convey his speed that it actually feels great. From the after images when he reads the comics, to the blinks to the light streaks it is all in this trailer. Jim Carrey as Dr Robotnik is also growing on me, mostly because he feels like a counterpart to Sonic, as he should be. The town name, road signs and even the way the rings are used all seem tributes to classic sonic. The way he uses rings to teleport is very much in line with how you enter bonus stages in Sonic 2 and so on. Kids might not get it .. but “they won’t notice because they are kids” Seeing sonic run on the great wall of China is a reference on it’s own and one could even argue the joke in the end of the trailer was kind of cute. Even little things how the Sega Logo is depicted as pixel art .. but each pixel s a moment of Sega history makes me feel that a lot of love for the franchise exists in the creative team and if not that they REALLY listened to the fans and REALLY nailed it on the head this time. The hedgehog has gotten some of the love he deserves.
Not CLEARED yet
The movie is not out of the woods yet though, I am eternally grateful that they listened and when I will go see this movie, which now I will and I tip my hats off to them foo all the work they did for the fans. However I am not fully convinced yet. Robotnik’s robots kind of lack their original charm and feel a bit too monotonous and not crazy enough, the tone of the trailer seems a bit too kiddy and some of the animation seems really sloppy. I get this movie is for kids but that doesn’t mean it has to be a looney tunes cartoon. The old sonic cartoons also had some dramatic moments it allowed the comedy to breathe. This new trailer throws joke after joke after joke. Aside from a few moments of action, which is no longer than 10 seconds total there is nothing but comedy, by the end it just feels sooo , in you face. While these jokes tell you nothing about the plot and thus do not really spoil as much, as for example the first trailer kind of did at the end, like this it just doesn’t feel like an amazing movie to go too. As a result I feel about the same level of excitement for this as one of my favorite youtubes offering a special project o something.. or if I see people are doing a live action Dragon Ball Z thing in two months on youtube. I am excited to see it now, and I wasn’t before but I still think it will be mediocre at best. This trailer has convinced me 100 times over that it’s mediocrity from a good and well willing heart with a love for Sonic as well. That same heart might make me love this movie despite it’s flaws but that is something we will never find out in a trailer.
Pinkie's Paradise 