These are the only games I gave a crap about from 2019. In January, I listed off a bunch of games that caught my eye and now I'm going to update my thoughts on them.
ANIMAL CROSSING (Switch)
Original excitement: 1/5
Verdict: Didn't come out
BABYLON'S FALL (PC, PS4)
Original excitement: 2/5
Verdict: Didn't come out
JUMP FORCE (PC, PS4)
Original excitement: 2/5
Verdict: Didn't play it
This game looks like a giant heap of disappointment to the demographics of people who actually give a shit about this sort of thing, thus I can't imagine getting any enjoyment out of it myself. Playing it for myself just didn't seem worth it. The thing I liked about the old Jump Stars games on DS... conceptually... I never played them... was that it was a huge orgy of characters from a lot of different franchises. Jump Force seems more like Dragon Ball x Naruto x Bleach x One Piece x My Hero(I think???) and I don't watch any of these fucking shows. I'm not going to say it looks terrible but even as a fighting game, it looks passable at best. Interest lost.
SEA OF SOLITUDE (PS4)
Original excitement: 2/5
Verdict: Didn't play it
Oh, I guess this came out... Whoops...
TEAM SONIC RACING (PC, PS4, Switch)
Original excitement: 2/5
Verdict: Pretty cool but fundamentally broken in single-player
Score: 6/10
The main thing that enticed me with Team Sonic Racing was its team mechanics, in which case it mostly delivers. In natural Sonic fashion, sometimes it trips over itself and does something annoying. The main campaign mode follows a mind-numbing story about a treacherous racing tournament. I'm not even going to go into it because it's a kart-racing game plot and one part about it actually makes me a bit angry. Along with this story that I am not going to talk about, you have a bunch of racing challenges and side-challenges and side-missions. It actually does a lot to change up the formula of just racing. However, the same team gimmick that sets the game aside from other cart racers sticks it right back in the big blue grave with all of the other wasted ideas in the Sonic franchise. Many of the chapters require you to win Grand Prix sort of things with your team. Your team is AI-controlled. They can totally fucking suck while you end up in 1st place and you can still lose the tournament based on the game's point system. So Team Sonic Racing is another Sonic game with really cool ideas and shitty execution. Also, I have the Switch version. It looks like it runs better on everything but the Switch version. So if you are going to get it, don't get it on Switch.
DAEMON X MACHINA (Switch)
Original excitement: 3/5
Verdict: Didn't play it
I guess this also came out. Whoops.
MEDIEVIL (PS4)
Original excitement: 3/5
Verdict: Didn't play it
I didn't have a lot of time and money to splurge on games this year. Maybe one day I will revisit both versions of Medievil. Until then, I'll make this pointless list of games I didn't play. For what it's worth, this still looks like a pretty tasteful remake that delivered pretty fucking well.
BAYONETTA 3 (Switch)
Original excitement: 4/5
Verdict: Didn't come out
Nobody is talking about Bayonetta 3 anymore. We're still at just a logo with this thing, right?
CONTROL (PC, PS4)
Original excitement: 4/5
Verdict: Didn't play it
It looks okay though.
DIGIMON SURVIVE (PC, PS4, Switch)
Original excitement: 4/5
Verdict: Didn't come out
FINAL FANTASY VII, IX, and XII: THE ZODIAC AGE (Switch)
Original excitement: 4/5
Verdict: Didn't play them
I don't have the time and if I did, I still haven't beat VIII. Maybe one day. Fuck me, I'll probably end up playing the FFVII remake before the original.
THE LAST OF US PART 2 (PS4)
Original excitement: 4/5
Verdict: Didn't come out
And the more I think about this one, the more I really don't fucking care. Neil Druckmann seems pretty set on making his games as far away from actual games as possible. It's a direction that may work for some but it isn't a direction wherein I hitchhike for a $60 ride.
POKEMON SWORD AND POKEMON SHIELD (Switch)
Original excitement: 4/5
Verdict: Didn't play it
Sword and Shield is such a fucking mess. It really isn't all bad from what I have heard, seen, and researched myself. People are making a huge stink about it on the internet which for once is not completely baseless. Is it a steaming pile of shit? Doesn't seem that way. Does it look like the worst mainline Pokemon RPG? To me, it doesn't because I really don't like X/Y. Am I ever going to buy this? Probably not. As I said in the original OGIGACA 2019 post this year, I have just done this Pokemon campaign bullshit a million times. If I'm going to do it again, I'm either going to play one of the ones I already own, preferably in Nuzlocke form, or I'll buy an older Pokemon RPG that I know is good. The stipulations that hold Sword and Shield back will just be pure tedium to me. I won't take that enjoyment away from newcomers to the series or truly diehard fans but I can't get into it for myself.
LITTLE TOWN HERO (Switch)
Original excitement: 4/5
Verdict: Didn't play it
Okay, seriously: when the FUCK did this game come out?!? Now I know it was in October but I legitimately thought it was still in development until just now. What a twist!
INDIVISIBLE (PC, PS4)
Original excitement: 5/5
Verdict: Innovative and full of personality
Score: 7/10
Good shit. Interesting shit. If you like RPGs, you'll probably like this game. I mean, if you like turn-based and/or action RPGs. If you like modern adventure-RPGs like Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age and you think older Final Fantasy, Pokemon, and the Mana games are stupid, maybe skip Indivisible? Either way, the game is impressive. Something about it has not gripped me as much as I thought it would but I can't really lay a finger on it as of right now. I also feel like there are too many party characters to the point where it makes most of them feel one-dimensional and kind of pointless. Other than that, nothing about it really pisses me off very much at all.
KINGDOM HEARTS III (PS4)
Original excitement: 5/5
Verdict: Might be best in the series but it's still Kingdom Hearts
Score: 6.5/10
Alright, finally, here it fucking is! The big kahuna! I'm waiting for it to be mandella'd back into production but in our current state of reality, it is a game that you can purchase and play! Kingdom Hearts III was disappointing in certain ways but most of them are incredibly insignificant to the game as a video game in and of itself. That probably does not make a whole lot of sense without me listing off a bunch of minute details that don't really matter or only have to do with the plot. By the way, I won't spoil the plot. I'm just going to say that there were certain parts I found fairly surprising, some surprises that were not very surprising at all, some character arcs that I felt did not need to be touched on so much, and some character arcs I was impressed by how well-executed they were. That said, I really do not like the ending and how the game concludes the series as a whole and I will just leave it at that.
The game itself is what I consider to be, without a doubt, in my top three games in the series. The jury is still out on my favorite but I'm leaning towards KH3 being my favorite for reasons unironic. One of the things I did not like about the other games is that once you get a more powerful keyblade, there is absolutely no reason to use older keyblades. Kingdom Hearts III blew that problem out of the water by allowing all of the keyblades to be upgraded. It is a cool idea that makes my keyblade feel like more of a conscious, stylistic choice rather than a postcard from a Disney world. At level 99 with all keyblades maxed, it is still fun to use different keyblades because all of them actually feel different and have different ability perks attached. As far as stats go, there is really no reason to use any other keyblade after you make the Ultima Weapon but I still like using other weapons after roughly 90 hours of playing the game. The completionist elements of the game passively encourage doing so too.
The majority of the character dialogue is less awkward than in previous installments, mostly due to the huge increase in animation, both in quality and in quantity. This is a huge improvement for the entire franchise. Don't get me wrong, the dialogue is still awkward and most of the Disney world subplots are still really stupid but for the most part, it has been improved over previous games. There are no more textbox segments. All of the dialogue is either portrayed during gameplay or fully accompanied by unique animation in cutscenes.
If you end up liking the game despite the awkward elements present in all Kingdom Hearts games and the repetitive nature of its combat system, there is a lot of replay value and a decent portion of it feels unique to this game. None of the replay value feels particularly forced in for the sake of having replay value or at least not in comparison to any other game in the series. This is one of the only games in the franchise where I occasionally felt the need to use magic and was generally more strategic with when and where I used defensive maneuvers and Flowmotion. Nothing really felt any more babying than any previous Kingdom Hearts game. For the most part, I felt that the game did a pretty decent job of explaining every maneuver once you obtain it and leaving you alone. The combat is constantly spiced up with variety, throwing constant options at you a la Birth By Sleep. Once you get beefier, even boss fights become significantly less challenging. Luckily, gummi ship fights are there if you really want to try to get everything in the game but after you hit level 99 or even level 80 with enough abilities equipped and item boosts used, there is really not a whole lot of engaging challenge on Normal Mode.
Speaking of hand-holding, I was not a huge fan of the Attraction summon thingies. The only ones I really liked controlling were the blaster mini-game one and the staged one you use to fight the Rock Titan in Olympus. The rest of them feel like having an extra summon to randomly help you out in a game that is already not that difficult for more than 30 hours of the game. I felt this also defeated the purpose of the link attacks. The risk/reward system of the link attacks poses the question of whether you waste your time and all of your MP on healing yourself with Cure, blasting through enemies with magic combos, or summoning an ally. If random enemies just give you another summon for hitting them one time, it sort of undermines the actual summons.
Kingdom Hearts III is what I would consider one of the best Kingdom Hearts games in the series but it is still a Kingdom Hearts game so many of the flaws that make the original games cringey or tedious are still there in some fashion or another. However, I honestly cannot think of too many things that were necessarily done worse in comparison to the other games. The synthesis menu is pretty obnoxious because you have to go to a whole separate menu outside of the Moogle's shop just to see what you have or have not made already. Some of the environments look a little bland in comparison to games like KH2 but even that point is pretty subjective. To clarify; the environments trade out having a few memorable details to subliminally separate different areas with having a lot of little details that make the game itself look prettier but arguably less creative. Most people probably value the baroque and clean HD stuff in III over something like II. I'm not saying III looks bad, clearly it's beautiful, but I prefer maps that I can identify easier in my head with very distinguishable landmarks than an environment with a lot of stuff going on and the defining landmarks are "that one tree" or "the slightly curvier building". Kingdom Hearts III coincidentally does an alright job of explaining some of the important plot points from previous games that are prevalent to the story in this game so I would even recommend this to people unfamiliar with the rest of the series. Plotwise, there are many things that I would have changed and things that I was fairly disappointed in or underwhelmed by but I guess you can say that about the entire damn series. As far as an actual video game goes, I regret nothing and feel that the game was ultimately worth the wait. However and I can't stress this enough, if you already hate the series, Kingdom Hearts III is probably not going to do anything for you that will drastically change your mind, it will just be a bit more tolerable and have a lot more Frozen in it.
SHOVEL KNIGHT: KING OF CARDS (Wii U)
Original excitement: 5/5
Verdict: Feels more like a new game with reused assets than DLC and I love it
Score: 8.5/10
King of Cards, despite its name, surprised me as a very competent and unique platforming experience. Not in an annoying way like Plague of Shadows where it just limits the fuck out of your mobility to make you feel like a giant doofus. That's probably just me. King of Cards feels more like a Kirby game where your main move is one of the fighting ability kicks and you don't get powers through copy abilities. You get them through items just like in Shovel of Hope. The story is straightforward but still fun to follow. It has a personality familiar to the other campaigns while still standing out on its own and complimenting its main character. Honestly, I did not expect King Knight to be this fun of a character to dive into but they really pulled it off. Right now, I'm about two-thirds into the main campaign (I've been pretty fucking busy, it isn't that long). The game is longer than any of the previous campaigns without a lot of padding. It stretches out the worlds into a bigger map with shorter levels. The checkpoint souls-like system is still a factor but it is way less utilized. This is not a complaint, really. Shovel, Plague, and Specter had their clever and challenging uses for this system and it was not really necessary for King to use this to be a good inclusion. King Knight's movements are fairly simple but getting used to them is really satisfying, much like Shovel of Hope.
The main thing you are probably curious about if you haven't played it for yourself is the "Cards" part of the title. The game is simple and fun. The preset matches are typically fair and challenging with a well-done difficulty curve, accompanied by a handful of gimmicky puzzle matches for you to solve (probably great for replay value as well). Other than extra money and badges to use towards upgrades and whatnot, the card game does not weigh too heavily on the rest of the game anyway. I don't hate the card game, I actually really like it, but this point potentially poses the question: "why not just bring down the cost on a lot of the shit you can buy and then eliminate the card game altogether then?" Well, they could have but it blends in with King Knight's goals and I actually like that you can still make actual progression while you are too tired to do anything else at 3am but still want to play Shovel Knight. You could argue the whole thing is a waste of time but you technically, supposedly don't need the card game to beat King of Cards anyway. The main bosses that advance the plot are just normal bosses anyway.
King of Cards feels significantly easier than Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows. This shouldn't be too surprising since both are kind of notoriously difficult. However, this mostly feels even easier than Specter of Torment, which in comparison to Shovel and Plague, was really fucking easy. It isn't all a walk in the park but it still feels a lot more like Kirby in the sense that its controls are really simple and completing the game is not very hard unless you are five years old. I do like how there are bonus paths in most of the stages though that kind of counteract this for people who have spent way too many hours of their lives playing platformers. Even those are not that terribly difficult. I rarely use the items at all in this game as opposed to using the Phase Locket all the fucking time in Shovel and whatever equivalent to that item was in Specter pretty often. There is an equivalent in King and although it is the only item I basically ever use, I still rarely use it.
If you are already a fan of Shovel Knight, telling you to get King of Cards is pointless. To those who have not bought Treasure Trove, there is no time like the present.
For those who have played it, I would say in terms of difficulty:
Plague of Shadows (most difficult)
Shovel of Hope
Specter of Torment
King of Cards (easiest)
And also my favorites:
Specter of Torment (favorite)
Shovel of Hope
King of Cards
Plague of Shadows (least favorite but fine)
SHOVEL KNIGHT SHOWDOWN (Wii U)
Original excitement: 5/5
Verdict: Fun enough
I don't feel comfortable giving this its own score as the game really sells it as more of a separate mode than its own game. It's fun but I guess I was expecting a little more than what ended up being there. I think it is still trying to live in that retro NES era spirit but it has a fucking parry move on the shoulder button. None of the characters have particularly complex movesets, which I wouldn't care about if all the characters had five or more commands instead of three. Technically they have more than three but it still just feels very basic. The game is more Viewtiful Joe Red Hot Rumble than it is a Smash clone and I guess it will be up to your discretion whether or not that's a good or bad thing. That said, it isn't.... not fun? I can see myself playing this with friends but not for more than an hour. Even with all of the characters unlocked, only the most diehard Shovel Knight fans are going to get that much enjoyment out of this. I have just been going through story mode on Easy because I suck and I want to unlock all of the characters. It is no more or less monotonous than any other game like this. This isn't to say that Showdown is a snooze fest or anything. The target mode specifically is surprisingly heart-thumping, particularly when you are playing it with a character you aren't used to yet. Each character adds their own bit of challenge to the game just because their limited movesets make them all unique. I just feel like with one or two added base moves to each character, the game could have functioned more as a free-for-all brawler but the game seems to want you to play the gem collection mode the most. Also, you can't pick up gems when you're invincible. I haven't decided if this is bullshit or not yet but I can confirm that it makes my arm hairs shoot out like porcupine quills and into the walls. It's pointless to put a typical conclusion to this blurb on Shovel Knight Showdown because it's just free DLC. If someone gets Treasure Trove, which they should, they're just going to have this now. There's no stopping the Showdown.
End note: I know a lot of people have wanted Shield Knight to have her own story and I'm sure you have all heard that each character has their own little storyline in Showdown. Although they did do more with the story in Showdown than I expected, none of it actually fucking matters to the canon of the base game. Shield Knight's story is just kind of a logic loop that isn't complete nonsense but is unnecessary anyway. I just wanted to rip that bandaid off. That Shield Knight adventure everyone wanted pretty much isn't there. But hey, Shovel Knight Dig is coming in the not-too-far-away future and who knows what to expect from all that.
Here is some other stuff that came out in 2019 that I played but was not on the original list:
A HAT IN TIME - NYAKUZA METRO DLC (PC)
Verdict: Great as usual
I'm not going to waste a lot more of your time on this one because I always gush about A Hat in Time and how great it is. This is a whole new chapter with a new villain, world, collectibles, and a bunch of missions that add on to the rest of the game including previous DLC. They also added a ridiculous multiplayer mode that supports up to 50 players in the same lobby. A Hat in Time is great without all this so go play it and if you like it, I highly recommend Nyakuza Metro and its previous DLC pack, Seal the Deal.
Halo Reach - Master Chief Collection (PC)
Verdict: Boring
I bought the Master Chief Collection to play with friends. From the looks of things, this aspect still delivers but I have not had the chance to actually play it with friends yet. As someone who does not play a lot of shooters, I am too scared to play this online without friends. Which leads to character customization and the campaign. There is not much to say about the profile and character customization because most of it is locked behind in-game challenges but you know what, I can't shit on this because they aren't locked behind loot boxes. The campaign is a typical FPS campaign for the most part. There were some enemy designs that have already caught me off guard. On normal mode, I have still died a handful of times in the early stages. And by early I mean EARLY. I quit out halfway through Stage 3 out of pure boredom. I also don't like that in Reach, sprinting is an ability. There is plenty of controller real estate for this to not be an issue but for whatever reason, it is. I don't remember this being a thing in Halo 1 and 2 which are the games in the series I remember the most and am most excited to revisit when they come to the collection in 2020. Despite how utterly disappointed I am with my purchase, Halo is mostly known as a game to play with friends, so to a degree, I can kind of fuck myself on this one. The things I am complaining about, I realize, could be so much worse. It's $40USD for 6 games modernized into a fresh take on each respective experience. As much as I shit on Microsoft and 90% of the Xbox property, this is a hell of a deal and one that I guess I recommend despite being fairly underwhelmed personally.
There's that. I might not do an OGIGACA for 2020 seeing how this one was kind of a flop. I still enjoy doing these but as you can see here, I didn't have a lot of time to play most of the games that interested me this year and I shredded a lot of income on PC upgrades. We'll see. Thanks.
12/23/2019
10/20/2019
I watched Steven Universe (S1-S5 and Movie)
I'm inspired to review Steven Universe but I don't have time to make a video. Maybe I will turn it into a video but normally when I think about turning any blog post I write into a video, it rarely makes it. It may be for the best because I don't fully know how to efficiently organize my thoughts on it. So I'm going to split this blog review thing into two parts. The first one is just going to be a review of the series for anyone and everyone. No spoilers. Then the second part will be my thoughts on the movie. Still no spoilers. I just finished watching the movie before typing this so the memories and impression it left are pretty fresh.
PART 1: Spoiler-Free Quick Review
Some people have said Steven Universe is some of the cringiest shit on the planet and others are heavily inspired by it and immersed in its lore and characters. I am inspired enough to write that run-on sentence but feel slightly above lukewarm after seeing everything up to its current point. The series as a whole is something above "acquired taste" but below "fucking amazing". Somewhere in-between, I would say the show is "important". Now that I have finished the series up to the point where it is ("Future" isn't out yet), I am not ashamed to have watched it all. I guess I should explain all of that. So know that I am going to heavily criticize the show but I definitely don't think it's bad. I wouldn't even say I hate it. I would even say I like it.
This paragraph is a really basic synopsis for what the show is even about. A lot of people are quick to judge the show thinking it is a children's musical series about a chubby kid that cries a lot about his mom while his friends fight aliens. This is not wholly inaccurate but barely scratching the surface. The show is about a kid endowed with powers and responsibilities he doesn't understand. Even though life keeps beating him down, he cares about other people enough to want to try harder. What separates this hero trope that Steven's character relies heavily on is that Steven also cares about himself without being a narcissist. As such, the characters that surround him play an important role. A very important one. They help him contextualize his past, sometimes by accident. To the audience and to the majority of the main cast, Steven's mother is an enigma. She left a large legacy behind that even the characters closest to her do not understand.
Steven Universe is a science-fantasy show that is surprisingly competent and interesting considering what it looks like on the surface. It looks cute and bubbly but this is what makes the more fucked up stuff work so well. I'm not just talking about the adult humor that will fly over a lot of young kids' heads, although there is a decent amount of that too. There are a lot of sci-fi concepts and nightmarish fantasy ideas utilized that don't hold back. Steven Universe is a show that focuses on how to healthily deal with emotions, toxic or otherwise. So without spoiling it, there is a timeline episode where Steven fucks with time to make multiple versions of himself. He watches himself die and has to cope with it. Don't worry, he doesn't just cry at the problem until the Crystal Gems fight it off. Things like this are never fully forgotten in the show. When it comes to character development, nothing the characters do are inherently out of place. To that point, I think it is worth mentioning that any time a violent conflict is resolved peacefully, it doesn't feel this happens because it's a show for young children. Steven just wants to resolve everything peacefully. He's an optimist and an altruist bound to a world of crazy characters both human and otherworldly.
The show isn't perfect. A lot of the humor relies too heavily on running gags and wordplay. This is something that works in Community because the character development is the core of that show. The lore or mystery of the lore drives Steven Universe. To put it simply, Steven Universe tends to make puns or silly nonsense words and try to pass them off as jokes fairly often. Sometimes it kind of lands, other times it is a little tiresome. There are a decent handful of musical numbers but not as many as I thought there would be. Even then, as the show grows on you, there are some that are done incredibly well. The musical numbers in the first season are fine. I guess? Serviceable. Mostly? The musical numbers were one of the main things that repelled me from the show originally and now some of my favorite moments in the show are musical numbers. The show really does get better as Season 1 goes on. Season 2 is probably my favorite overall. It has a great blend of mystery and the least amount of what I feel is "filler". Speaking of, let's ignore the Uncle Grandpa crossover episode. Yes, that's real. The only other major complaint I have with the show is that I feel the ten-minute runtime holds the show back a bit. There is a lot more going on in Steven Universe than one might expect. For the most part, the show handles this well. When it doesn't, it leads to a lot of episodes that feel crammed in one way or another. Sometimes its story progression gets crammed in because there wasn't enough of it sprinkled throughout the rest of the episode. Sometimes the same thing happens in terms of character progression. This leads to a lot of moments where a character will just spout out exactly what they are thinking and feeling because the episode has too many other things going on to perform a proper "show don't tell" technique. The vice versa is true occasionally as well. Like I said, this is not representative of the whole show but it does not change the fact that it does happen. It also doesn't change the fact that when it does happen, I feel it and I feel it hard.
Another thing I don't like about this show is that I feel like it drops the ball a bit in the later seasons in some regards. In short, there is a bit more that I will call "filler" for lack of a better term. It isn't on shonen anime level of filler. It shouldn't dissuade anyone from watching the show, it's just something I personally felt. Some episodes are fun side-character romps that have entertaining character development and relationship development. A lot of these are actually important because a lot of the powers the Gems possess come directly from a place of emotional intimacy. Season 1 and especially Season 2 are great about this. Season 2 did not have one episode that I felt was a time-waster. Well, I guess the Uncle Grandpa episode is technically the beginning of Season 2 so... Season 2 has only ONE episode that felt like a time-waster. Season 3 starts to dwindle just a slight amount. In Season 4 we just have meaningless episodes so you don't forget that certain characters exist. In a 20-minute runtime series, these could have been B-stories, some even C-stories in my opinion. Due to the flow of the show, its thematic focus on relationships, and the ten-minute runtime, these stories get their own episode slots that don't really advance the tense drama, mystery, and suspense. Season 5 picks up the momentum again, leading to a pretty nice finale. Like I said, this shouldn't completely dissuade someone new from the show, this is just something I noticed and I'm not sure if I'm alone on that one. I probably am.
There are three main things that I really like about the show that I think many fans will feel similarly. One is the animation. It rarely gets stale and is pretty top-notch throughout. Most of the episodes are only ten minutes long but keeping animation quality consistent for 20-50 episodes depending on the season is still very impressive. If anything, it would have probably been easier on the team or at least the overall budget to make 20-minute episodes in half the quantity in that respect. It might go without saying but the art style overall is something I really appreciate about the show as well. Another thing is the show's overall attention to detail. This is something I expect from any show but Rebecca Sugar seems to love foreshadowing and, well, attention to detail. When the two are mixed effectively, this turns an average soap-opera-like story progression into a very impactful plot. I think Rebecca Sugar and the other writers understood this throughout the whole show. The tiniest of details tie something together later in the show consistently. A musical motif or lyric or a minor asset in one scene can be brought up many episodes or entire seasons later as something actually important without feeling like a forced callback or fan service. The third thing I will mention, since I already talked about the fucked up stuff I like in the show, is how all of the characters are kind of fucked up. It is still a heartwarming kids show but there is no heartless, world-dominating villain. There is also not one overly edgy character. Despite most of the cast being aliens, they all deal with very real-world issues like abandonment, Stockholm syndrome, and long-reinforced low self-esteem. This goes even deeper into relationships, not just romantically. In fact, most of the closest relationships in the show are platonic and just as credible as the romantic relationships in the show. They just tackle different facets of human connection and breaking boundaries. A lot of shows are capable of this but seeing it through the eyes of characters that don't need a lot of human necessities forces the audience to explore these issues from the ground up. You can assume certain reactions to certain emotional outbursts or phases where the bottle emotions up but these scenarios take on a new form when depicted through omnipotent warriors, creatures, and gods. There is a lot an adult can learn from Steven Universe but I am glad such deep emotions are being dissected with very young kids in the audience.
Bonus fourth thing. This is probably just because I write depressing stories about fucking psychotic protagonists that hate themselves but most of Steven Universe is pretty feelgood shit. I am not saying that makes the show good. Most of my favorite shit to watch is just downright upsetting (Rick and Morty, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Breaking Bad, Farscape, Breaking Bad again) so believe me when I say that being a feelgood show does not make a show better. It doesn't really make it worse. I commend Steven Universe for being emotionally provocative without being Synecdoche: New York level of depressing. Then again, few things are. Anyway.
Some people find the LGBTQ+ elements of the show to be problematic or deterring. I have now seen every episode and the movie and I am willing to believe that most of this criticism comes from a place of actual homophobia. Before I continue (and I shouldn't have to say this but I'm going to anyway): I am not saying everyone who hates this show is homophobic. There are plenty of other reasons to dislike this show, believe me. I am mostly saying that this is really not a reason to hate this specific series. It logically makes no sense to condemn this show for this aspect because it is not a focus in the show at all. Nothing of that sort is ever jammed down the audience's throat and only stands to benefit the show's plot and/or lore. That is really impressive in its own right. The show handles intimacy in a way that I have not seen any other show do so. I think this is important for children to understand. This is part of what makes Jasper such a great villain. She forces relationships onto people with false hope. It comes from a desire of dominance but later is shown as a lack of understanding of what a healthy relationship is due to lack of experience. She resents stable relationships. This is part of what makes the fusion mechanic of the show's lore interesting to see. It isn't from a sexual or romantic love inherently but it is psychologically intimate. One of the most relevant couples in the show that fuses is basically a lesbian couple (the way the Gems work is complicated). Nothing that happens in the show is ever just snubbing out straight people or trying to fucking brainwash kids or something. If anything, it is more vilifying for queer teens watching the show, or hell, even queer adults. I think it is important for even younger developing minds to see acceptance and understanding prioritized over just "getting the girl in the end". Even then, a lot of the most stable and focused on romantic relationships in the show are man-to-woman. They get just as much attention, glory, and scrutiny in the show's plot as the queer ones do. I was not originally going to point that out but it is something I feel a lot of outsiders to the show hear about so I wanted to nip it in the bud for those thinking about getting into the series. If these themes are something you feel is a personal attack on you or your beliefs by some odd form of mental gymnastics, the problem lies more within yourself than it does in the show. There are no token LGBTQ+ characters in Steven Universe either. The show never does anything preachy. Worth noting. I think.
I think the show is important as per the last big paragraph I wrote but I also can't think of any other show intended for this young of an audience that is as thought out and genuinely entertaining as Steven Universe to come out of the past five or so years. Maybe even ten years. As a fan of animation, I am perfectly okay with Steven Universe being one of the staple series of the medium for its time. If Steven Universe is one of the biggest takeaways from current popular culture or at least the current animation community in twenty or more years from now, I am perfectly okay with that. Despite any outer influence, Steven Universe is not for everyone, nor is it perfect. That's what I meant earlier by "above 'acquired taste'". Some people won't deem this show worth their time and that's perfectly okay. I wouldn't even recommend it to everyone. I don't think everyone would have the patience for it. I think it's a pretty great show. I probably won't go out of my way to watch it again anytime in the next five years but wouldn't mind rewatching it either. Not wonderful for me personally but I am generally glad it exists.
Now as for the movie...
PART 2: Spoiler-Free Review of Steven Universe: The Movie
Steven Universe: The Movie is fine. It is a technically impressive and aesthetically captivating film with a complex and intimidating villain. Unfortunately, and I'm probably alone in this, I felt that the movie is more fan service than substance. Even half of the musical numbers are tasteful reprises of songs performed in past episodes of the show. They did this well, I think. There is a lot to like about the movie. What Steven learns about his own sense of altruism is interesting. However, I don't really feel like the movie is a game-changer overall. I would talk more about that but I would have to spoil it. Suffice it to say that for better and for worse, Steven Universe: The Movie feels a lot more like a big-budget episode of Steven Universe than it ever fits its title.
If you haven't watched the rest of the series, I really don't recommend the movie. If you have finished all of the episodes from Season 1 to Season 5, there is no real reason to stop. I don't think the movie was necessary but it is a cherry on top more than it is a crumpled receipt. That's a universal analogy everyone uses right?
PART 1: Spoiler-Free Quick Review
Some people have said Steven Universe is some of the cringiest shit on the planet and others are heavily inspired by it and immersed in its lore and characters. I am inspired enough to write that run-on sentence but feel slightly above lukewarm after seeing everything up to its current point. The series as a whole is something above "acquired taste" but below "fucking amazing". Somewhere in-between, I would say the show is "important". Now that I have finished the series up to the point where it is ("Future" isn't out yet), I am not ashamed to have watched it all. I guess I should explain all of that. So know that I am going to heavily criticize the show but I definitely don't think it's bad. I wouldn't even say I hate it. I would even say I like it.
This paragraph is a really basic synopsis for what the show is even about. A lot of people are quick to judge the show thinking it is a children's musical series about a chubby kid that cries a lot about his mom while his friends fight aliens. This is not wholly inaccurate but barely scratching the surface. The show is about a kid endowed with powers and responsibilities he doesn't understand. Even though life keeps beating him down, he cares about other people enough to want to try harder. What separates this hero trope that Steven's character relies heavily on is that Steven also cares about himself without being a narcissist. As such, the characters that surround him play an important role. A very important one. They help him contextualize his past, sometimes by accident. To the audience and to the majority of the main cast, Steven's mother is an enigma. She left a large legacy behind that even the characters closest to her do not understand.
Steven Universe is a science-fantasy show that is surprisingly competent and interesting considering what it looks like on the surface. It looks cute and bubbly but this is what makes the more fucked up stuff work so well. I'm not just talking about the adult humor that will fly over a lot of young kids' heads, although there is a decent amount of that too. There are a lot of sci-fi concepts and nightmarish fantasy ideas utilized that don't hold back. Steven Universe is a show that focuses on how to healthily deal with emotions, toxic or otherwise. So without spoiling it, there is a timeline episode where Steven fucks with time to make multiple versions of himself. He watches himself die and has to cope with it. Don't worry, he doesn't just cry at the problem until the Crystal Gems fight it off. Things like this are never fully forgotten in the show. When it comes to character development, nothing the characters do are inherently out of place. To that point, I think it is worth mentioning that any time a violent conflict is resolved peacefully, it doesn't feel this happens because it's a show for young children. Steven just wants to resolve everything peacefully. He's an optimist and an altruist bound to a world of crazy characters both human and otherworldly.
The show isn't perfect. A lot of the humor relies too heavily on running gags and wordplay. This is something that works in Community because the character development is the core of that show. The lore or mystery of the lore drives Steven Universe. To put it simply, Steven Universe tends to make puns or silly nonsense words and try to pass them off as jokes fairly often. Sometimes it kind of lands, other times it is a little tiresome. There are a decent handful of musical numbers but not as many as I thought there would be. Even then, as the show grows on you, there are some that are done incredibly well. The musical numbers in the first season are fine. I guess? Serviceable. Mostly? The musical numbers were one of the main things that repelled me from the show originally and now some of my favorite moments in the show are musical numbers. The show really does get better as Season 1 goes on. Season 2 is probably my favorite overall. It has a great blend of mystery and the least amount of what I feel is "filler". Speaking of, let's ignore the Uncle Grandpa crossover episode. Yes, that's real. The only other major complaint I have with the show is that I feel the ten-minute runtime holds the show back a bit. There is a lot more going on in Steven Universe than one might expect. For the most part, the show handles this well. When it doesn't, it leads to a lot of episodes that feel crammed in one way or another. Sometimes its story progression gets crammed in because there wasn't enough of it sprinkled throughout the rest of the episode. Sometimes the same thing happens in terms of character progression. This leads to a lot of moments where a character will just spout out exactly what they are thinking and feeling because the episode has too many other things going on to perform a proper "show don't tell" technique. The vice versa is true occasionally as well. Like I said, this is not representative of the whole show but it does not change the fact that it does happen. It also doesn't change the fact that when it does happen, I feel it and I feel it hard.
Another thing I don't like about this show is that I feel like it drops the ball a bit in the later seasons in some regards. In short, there is a bit more that I will call "filler" for lack of a better term. It isn't on shonen anime level of filler. It shouldn't dissuade anyone from watching the show, it's just something I personally felt. Some episodes are fun side-character romps that have entertaining character development and relationship development. A lot of these are actually important because a lot of the powers the Gems possess come directly from a place of emotional intimacy. Season 1 and especially Season 2 are great about this. Season 2 did not have one episode that I felt was a time-waster. Well, I guess the Uncle Grandpa episode is technically the beginning of Season 2 so... Season 2 has only ONE episode that felt like a time-waster. Season 3 starts to dwindle just a slight amount. In Season 4 we just have meaningless episodes so you don't forget that certain characters exist. In a 20-minute runtime series, these could have been B-stories, some even C-stories in my opinion. Due to the flow of the show, its thematic focus on relationships, and the ten-minute runtime, these stories get their own episode slots that don't really advance the tense drama, mystery, and suspense. Season 5 picks up the momentum again, leading to a pretty nice finale. Like I said, this shouldn't completely dissuade someone new from the show, this is just something I noticed and I'm not sure if I'm alone on that one. I probably am.
There are three main things that I really like about the show that I think many fans will feel similarly. One is the animation. It rarely gets stale and is pretty top-notch throughout. Most of the episodes are only ten minutes long but keeping animation quality consistent for 20-50 episodes depending on the season is still very impressive. If anything, it would have probably been easier on the team or at least the overall budget to make 20-minute episodes in half the quantity in that respect. It might go without saying but the art style overall is something I really appreciate about the show as well. Another thing is the show's overall attention to detail. This is something I expect from any show but Rebecca Sugar seems to love foreshadowing and, well, attention to detail. When the two are mixed effectively, this turns an average soap-opera-like story progression into a very impactful plot. I think Rebecca Sugar and the other writers understood this throughout the whole show. The tiniest of details tie something together later in the show consistently. A musical motif or lyric or a minor asset in one scene can be brought up many episodes or entire seasons later as something actually important without feeling like a forced callback or fan service. The third thing I will mention, since I already talked about the fucked up stuff I like in the show, is how all of the characters are kind of fucked up. It is still a heartwarming kids show but there is no heartless, world-dominating villain. There is also not one overly edgy character. Despite most of the cast being aliens, they all deal with very real-world issues like abandonment, Stockholm syndrome, and long-reinforced low self-esteem. This goes even deeper into relationships, not just romantically. In fact, most of the closest relationships in the show are platonic and just as credible as the romantic relationships in the show. They just tackle different facets of human connection and breaking boundaries. A lot of shows are capable of this but seeing it through the eyes of characters that don't need a lot of human necessities forces the audience to explore these issues from the ground up. You can assume certain reactions to certain emotional outbursts or phases where the bottle emotions up but these scenarios take on a new form when depicted through omnipotent warriors, creatures, and gods. There is a lot an adult can learn from Steven Universe but I am glad such deep emotions are being dissected with very young kids in the audience.
Bonus fourth thing. This is probably just because I write depressing stories about fucking psychotic protagonists that hate themselves but most of Steven Universe is pretty feelgood shit. I am not saying that makes the show good. Most of my favorite shit to watch is just downright upsetting (Rick and Morty, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Breaking Bad, Farscape, Breaking Bad again) so believe me when I say that being a feelgood show does not make a show better. It doesn't really make it worse. I commend Steven Universe for being emotionally provocative without being Synecdoche: New York level of depressing. Then again, few things are. Anyway.
Some people find the LGBTQ+ elements of the show to be problematic or deterring. I have now seen every episode and the movie and I am willing to believe that most of this criticism comes from a place of actual homophobia. Before I continue (and I shouldn't have to say this but I'm going to anyway): I am not saying everyone who hates this show is homophobic. There are plenty of other reasons to dislike this show, believe me. I am mostly saying that this is really not a reason to hate this specific series. It logically makes no sense to condemn this show for this aspect because it is not a focus in the show at all. Nothing of that sort is ever jammed down the audience's throat and only stands to benefit the show's plot and/or lore. That is really impressive in its own right. The show handles intimacy in a way that I have not seen any other show do so. I think this is important for children to understand. This is part of what makes Jasper such a great villain. She forces relationships onto people with false hope. It comes from a desire of dominance but later is shown as a lack of understanding of what a healthy relationship is due to lack of experience. She resents stable relationships. This is part of what makes the fusion mechanic of the show's lore interesting to see. It isn't from a sexual or romantic love inherently but it is psychologically intimate. One of the most relevant couples in the show that fuses is basically a lesbian couple (the way the Gems work is complicated). Nothing that happens in the show is ever just snubbing out straight people or trying to fucking brainwash kids or something. If anything, it is more vilifying for queer teens watching the show, or hell, even queer adults. I think it is important for even younger developing minds to see acceptance and understanding prioritized over just "getting the girl in the end". Even then, a lot of the most stable and focused on romantic relationships in the show are man-to-woman. They get just as much attention, glory, and scrutiny in the show's plot as the queer ones do. I was not originally going to point that out but it is something I feel a lot of outsiders to the show hear about so I wanted to nip it in the bud for those thinking about getting into the series. If these themes are something you feel is a personal attack on you or your beliefs by some odd form of mental gymnastics, the problem lies more within yourself than it does in the show. There are no token LGBTQ+ characters in Steven Universe either. The show never does anything preachy. Worth noting. I think.
I think the show is important as per the last big paragraph I wrote but I also can't think of any other show intended for this young of an audience that is as thought out and genuinely entertaining as Steven Universe to come out of the past five or so years. Maybe even ten years. As a fan of animation, I am perfectly okay with Steven Universe being one of the staple series of the medium for its time. If Steven Universe is one of the biggest takeaways from current popular culture or at least the current animation community in twenty or more years from now, I am perfectly okay with that. Despite any outer influence, Steven Universe is not for everyone, nor is it perfect. That's what I meant earlier by "above 'acquired taste'". Some people won't deem this show worth their time and that's perfectly okay. I wouldn't even recommend it to everyone. I don't think everyone would have the patience for it. I think it's a pretty great show. I probably won't go out of my way to watch it again anytime in the next five years but wouldn't mind rewatching it either. Not wonderful for me personally but I am generally glad it exists.
Now as for the movie...
PART 2: Spoiler-Free Review of Steven Universe: The Movie
Steven Universe: The Movie is fine. It is a technically impressive and aesthetically captivating film with a complex and intimidating villain. Unfortunately, and I'm probably alone in this, I felt that the movie is more fan service than substance. Even half of the musical numbers are tasteful reprises of songs performed in past episodes of the show. They did this well, I think. There is a lot to like about the movie. What Steven learns about his own sense of altruism is interesting. However, I don't really feel like the movie is a game-changer overall. I would talk more about that but I would have to spoil it. Suffice it to say that for better and for worse, Steven Universe: The Movie feels a lot more like a big-budget episode of Steven Universe than it ever fits its title.
If you haven't watched the rest of the series, I really don't recommend the movie. If you have finished all of the episodes from Season 1 to Season 5, there is no real reason to stop. I don't think the movie was necessary but it is a cherry on top more than it is a crumpled receipt. That's a universal analogy everyone uses right?
9/01/2019
I Had a Week Off (and played a lot of Persona 5)
I gave myself an actual week off. No job (I got paid to not be there), no school (scheduled week off), and no fatal injuries to constitute this. I am mostly just putting this here to document this since I never give myself any time off like this, or at least not in great strides. I have not had an actual week with little-to-no responsibilities since roughly 2014, I want to say. I know it has been at least since 2015. That is four whole fucking years of putting up with bullshit and just stomaching it. I know many have been through worse for longer. I've been through a fucking lot in that time though. Rough hours being spread between education and income, physical injury, emotional manipulation, kind of sexual manipulation a little bit, monetary manipulation from both employers and people I once considered friends, career shifting, loss of even more friends, and family disputes. I wrecked my car and walked away with incredibly minor injuries. That was a thing that actually happened. I released a full-length album. It was a commercial flop but I wasn't really expecting any form of monetary success. So once I had the opportunity to take a week off with no real monetary consequence, you know I took that shit and planned it out in advance. The problem was that I was so busy, burned out, and depressed that I had only planned the week off. I did not make too many efforts into planning what I would actually do.
So for my own personal health (maybe?) and to spread this message of self-care, I am going to talk about the positive stuff I did, no matter how minor. I am usually not one to talk about taking care of yourself because I don't do it. I'm good at physically and mentally pushing myself and when something emotionally crushing comes up, I either push myself into burnout or just completely cave while still trying to push myself. Then I get pissed that I can't push myself hard enough to solve the entire world's problems in one day or some shit. It's dumb. So here. For once, I can be like "hey, be like me because sometimes you need to just do this".
I played a fuckload of Persona 5. I still haven't beaten it. Remember when I used to review video games? Persona 5 is probably one of the best RPG's to come from this decade. It's at least one of the best turn-based ones. I would argue that, as a complete product, it is one of the best that I have ever played. I am over 110 hours in, still not done with the main story, and I'm not even mad about it. I am mad that getting a game over, no matter how stupid the reason is, makes you start pretty fucking far back most of the time. That shit is infuriating. Persona 5 loves making you redo 20 minutes of shit over and over again because an enemy happened to insta-kill the main character. Yep. It's one of those games too. For everything this game does right, that is the crippling flaw for me. The rule that your main character dying constitutes an immediate game over is bullshit. Despite that, I had more fun in the virtual world of Persona 5 than I did in my real life over the past month by a long shot. The turn-based combat is done well enough on its own and there are plot-relevant life simulation things to do throughout the game that actually matter. Even if a certain sequence of events is really dumb and goofy, it has a purpose. Other than starting over after a bullshit death, nothing in the game is a waste of time unless you waste time. You can only do so many things in each calendar day and there is usually a set amount of days to do a certain chapter's primary task. You can choose to knock out that mission as soon as possible to do more social shit and social stat-boosting shit before the next big story event, or you can do a bunch of shit in the "real world" to get ready to slaughter the mission with ease. There is plenty of room to go in-between and it gets easier to balance once you get more accustomed to what you can and can't do each day. There is stuff you can buy that boosts stats or helps you in combat. Getting closer to other characters in the game is a task in itself but getting closer to them gives you other gameplay benefits. It is the coolest shit. Sorry, I basically just reviewed Persona 5. I still haven't beaten it. I think I'm really close to the end but I keep getting bullshit deaths. That's not me being a baby. I keep having to start over because of the Mudoon spell. Almost every death I have had in this chapter has been because of that. Anyway.
I had one or two milkshakes. I really like milkshakes.
I caught up with a friend I haven't talked to or hung out with too much. Actually make that two, technically.
I hung out with a really close friend for a little bit.
I hung out with another close friend online just playing Overwatch.
I tested out a bunch of games on the monitor I recently got. It can do 4k but when it comes to games, my graphics card doesn't really like the idea. For Honor looks like shit on my PC. I got A Hat in Time to look decent and run pretty consistently. Sonic Mania runs perfectly somehow. Hollow Knight runs surprisingly well in 4k if I turn off a lot of shadow effects and stuff. I can get Overwatch to run good enough in a lower resolution.
I watched Death Note for the second time. I watched the series in 2017 at some point, then read the manga. I watched the anime again in a few days. I still love it but I really like the way the story is handled in the manga more, if only for the ending. The ending is a lot different, for those who don't know.
I watched some cartoons like Invader Zim and Gumball.
I ate at a fancy restaurant and had a little thing of cake in a glass. I don't know what's up with that but fuck it, it tasted great.
I got a really good deal on some pants. That's a way more boring one but I spent less than $90 I think and got a quality belt and two pairs of decent jeans.
I worked on Lexi Karma, my music stuff. I have not worked on the mix in a while. I made some really decent headway on this shit and I hope I will have more time before the year ends to feel more confident in where it is. I also want to re-record the vocals but living in an apartment has made that a difficult task so far.
I looked into therapists last night. I have not pulled the trigger enough to even call any of them yet. I'm not sure if my new insurance covers enough for me to actually be able to afford it. We'll see.
I started looking at hair stuff on Pinterest, tried a lot of food with natural ingredients (a lot of organic stuff), and I bought a Waterpik. That thing is a strange experience by the way. I can't believe I didn't make myself vomit. That thing doesn't gently spray enough water to feel pressure like what the dentists use on you in a normal cleaning. On the low setting, that thing hurts if it hits the back of your throat. It's unreal but I don't regret anything so far. I moved into a new place this month and I finally go around to unpacking the majority of my shit and setting up stuff. All of my game consoles and stuff are now hooked up and for the most part, I'm satisfied. This is just some of the more boring stuff put into one paragraph. I splurged a bit on food and whatnot but fuck it. I only get one week off and I technically have the money for now to do it.
I wrote down some notes for stuff I have been writing for a while. Just some story details to mull over. I was excited about that. My school makes me write a lot of stupid bullshit I don't want to write. When I have had time to write for myself recently, I'm paralyzed. This week, I slowly started coming back out of that paralysis.
Persona 5, milkshakes, friends, overly expensive food, tweaking monitor stuff, Death Note, Invader Zim, Gumball, shopping in a public space, music, potential professional help on the horizon, and writing for a little bit.
There were negative points too but focusing on that right now is pointless. This is partially because the positives really do outweigh it. So, in summary, don't beat yourself up for so fucking long. I stress myself out a lot. Then what do you do when unforeseen life events come to stress you out more. Taking actual time off is not career suicide. It isn't weak. Professionals would probably argue that it's necessary. In my case it was. I still don't feel perfect. That's how fucking bad I've been. It wasn't in full perspective until I took more time to not worry about so much stuff at once. Even then, I worried about a ton of stuff, just to a much lesser degree. Tomorrow, I'm back at it. Good luck to anyone reading this. Do something actually good for yourself. Right now. Cheat on the system. Life's too short to grind yourself down that much.
So for my own personal health (maybe?) and to spread this message of self-care, I am going to talk about the positive stuff I did, no matter how minor. I am usually not one to talk about taking care of yourself because I don't do it. I'm good at physically and mentally pushing myself and when something emotionally crushing comes up, I either push myself into burnout or just completely cave while still trying to push myself. Then I get pissed that I can't push myself hard enough to solve the entire world's problems in one day or some shit. It's dumb. So here. For once, I can be like "hey, be like me because sometimes you need to just do this".
I played a fuckload of Persona 5. I still haven't beaten it. Remember when I used to review video games? Persona 5 is probably one of the best RPG's to come from this decade. It's at least one of the best turn-based ones. I would argue that, as a complete product, it is one of the best that I have ever played. I am over 110 hours in, still not done with the main story, and I'm not even mad about it. I am mad that getting a game over, no matter how stupid the reason is, makes you start pretty fucking far back most of the time. That shit is infuriating. Persona 5 loves making you redo 20 minutes of shit over and over again because an enemy happened to insta-kill the main character. Yep. It's one of those games too. For everything this game does right, that is the crippling flaw for me. The rule that your main character dying constitutes an immediate game over is bullshit. Despite that, I had more fun in the virtual world of Persona 5 than I did in my real life over the past month by a long shot. The turn-based combat is done well enough on its own and there are plot-relevant life simulation things to do throughout the game that actually matter. Even if a certain sequence of events is really dumb and goofy, it has a purpose. Other than starting over after a bullshit death, nothing in the game is a waste of time unless you waste time. You can only do so many things in each calendar day and there is usually a set amount of days to do a certain chapter's primary task. You can choose to knock out that mission as soon as possible to do more social shit and social stat-boosting shit before the next big story event, or you can do a bunch of shit in the "real world" to get ready to slaughter the mission with ease. There is plenty of room to go in-between and it gets easier to balance once you get more accustomed to what you can and can't do each day. There is stuff you can buy that boosts stats or helps you in combat. Getting closer to other characters in the game is a task in itself but getting closer to them gives you other gameplay benefits. It is the coolest shit. Sorry, I basically just reviewed Persona 5. I still haven't beaten it. I think I'm really close to the end but I keep getting bullshit deaths. That's not me being a baby. I keep having to start over because of the Mudoon spell. Almost every death I have had in this chapter has been because of that. Anyway.
I had one or two milkshakes. I really like milkshakes.
I caught up with a friend I haven't talked to or hung out with too much. Actually make that two, technically.
I hung out with a really close friend for a little bit.
I hung out with another close friend online just playing Overwatch.
I tested out a bunch of games on the monitor I recently got. It can do 4k but when it comes to games, my graphics card doesn't really like the idea. For Honor looks like shit on my PC. I got A Hat in Time to look decent and run pretty consistently. Sonic Mania runs perfectly somehow. Hollow Knight runs surprisingly well in 4k if I turn off a lot of shadow effects and stuff. I can get Overwatch to run good enough in a lower resolution.
I watched Death Note for the second time. I watched the series in 2017 at some point, then read the manga. I watched the anime again in a few days. I still love it but I really like the way the story is handled in the manga more, if only for the ending. The ending is a lot different, for those who don't know.
I watched some cartoons like Invader Zim and Gumball.
I ate at a fancy restaurant and had a little thing of cake in a glass. I don't know what's up with that but fuck it, it tasted great.
I got a really good deal on some pants. That's a way more boring one but I spent less than $90 I think and got a quality belt and two pairs of decent jeans.
I worked on Lexi Karma, my music stuff. I have not worked on the mix in a while. I made some really decent headway on this shit and I hope I will have more time before the year ends to feel more confident in where it is. I also want to re-record the vocals but living in an apartment has made that a difficult task so far.
I looked into therapists last night. I have not pulled the trigger enough to even call any of them yet. I'm not sure if my new insurance covers enough for me to actually be able to afford it. We'll see.
I started looking at hair stuff on Pinterest, tried a lot of food with natural ingredients (a lot of organic stuff), and I bought a Waterpik. That thing is a strange experience by the way. I can't believe I didn't make myself vomit. That thing doesn't gently spray enough water to feel pressure like what the dentists use on you in a normal cleaning. On the low setting, that thing hurts if it hits the back of your throat. It's unreal but I don't regret anything so far. I moved into a new place this month and I finally go around to unpacking the majority of my shit and setting up stuff. All of my game consoles and stuff are now hooked up and for the most part, I'm satisfied. This is just some of the more boring stuff put into one paragraph. I splurged a bit on food and whatnot but fuck it. I only get one week off and I technically have the money for now to do it.
I wrote down some notes for stuff I have been writing for a while. Just some story details to mull over. I was excited about that. My school makes me write a lot of stupid bullshit I don't want to write. When I have had time to write for myself recently, I'm paralyzed. This week, I slowly started coming back out of that paralysis.
Persona 5, milkshakes, friends, overly expensive food, tweaking monitor stuff, Death Note, Invader Zim, Gumball, shopping in a public space, music, potential professional help on the horizon, and writing for a little bit.
There were negative points too but focusing on that right now is pointless. This is partially because the positives really do outweigh it. So, in summary, don't beat yourself up for so fucking long. I stress myself out a lot. Then what do you do when unforeseen life events come to stress you out more. Taking actual time off is not career suicide. It isn't weak. Professionals would probably argue that it's necessary. In my case it was. I still don't feel perfect. That's how fucking bad I've been. It wasn't in full perspective until I took more time to not worry about so much stuff at once. Even then, I worried about a ton of stuff, just to a much lesser degree. Tomorrow, I'm back at it. Good luck to anyone reading this. Do something actually good for yourself. Right now. Cheat on the system. Life's too short to grind yourself down that much.
8/31/2019
Shoving Music Down Your Throat (2018 edition)
Most people are wary when people recommend their music to them. I totally understand this but over the past three or so years, the majority of what I have been listening to has been from recommendations. Whether I continued to enjoy them or not after the fact is another story. So here are some albums that I found in 2018, most of which I would not have found if not for other people recommending them to me. I listened to a lot of albums recommended to me and these are the ones that have stuck with me the most and left a lasting impression. So instead of telling you that you NEEEEEEED to listen to this thing I like, I will leave a bunch of albums hanging around here in hopes that they leave a lasting impression on you too. Thank you again, "other people".
I am going to make a playlist for this on Spotify. It will consist of one song from every album here. It might be my favorite song from the album or one that's high up there. It might just be the one that is one I find more accessible. It might be in-between or both. Either way, here it is:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5R8HbqoXXLK7zuIo0r6HpQ?si=pg_TxLBTQoKbbOREBfbNCw
Uroboros by Dir En Grey [2008]
Dir En Grey is a Japanese metal band with a fuckload of albums. Unfortunately, not all of those albums are on Spotify (for those of you who use Spotify). Uroboros and Withering to Death are on Spotify. Vulgar, Arche, and many others are not. Uroboros is my second-favorite album by the band (Arche probably being my favorite). Dir En Grey is ultimately a heavy metal band with visual kei roots for anyone who cares enough to understand what that means. Each album (from the 5 or 6 I have heard songs from) has its own unique sound from the others in terms of overall composition and mixing. Uroboros is the weird one. The other ones certainly aren't made for your grandma but Uroboros has a lot more strange instrumentation choices, compositional transitions, and weird mouth noises. The vocalist has a ridiculous range both tonally and pitch-wise. He shows off a lot on this one. Where most metal singers use this as an excuse to hit the highest notes possible, Kyo (the singer) flaunts his ability to sound like a Looney Tunes audio track being scraped across a railroad. But in a good way though. Uroboros is still a heavy metal album, even dipping into the death metal category, but there are many strange quirky parts and serene parts strung together by both pretty synths and guitar arrangements. There are 3 more albums by them on this list and I'm going to try to keep them brief. I also listened to Dum Spiro Spero, which is another album you can still listen to on Spotify along with their new album called The Insulated World. Dum Spiro Spero has a lot more death metal tropes and does not sound as original as their other work. I don't recommend that one nearly as much as these other 4 albums listed here but it certainly isn't bad.
I apologize in advance that half of this post is just talking about Dir En Grey. I swear it eventually ends.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1BdqcsPQ16Pt11iA3Md0X8?si=mEP2YjSGQ7ml-MnJb6VG6A
Withering To Death by Dir En Grey [2005]
Withering to Death is more contemporary than Uroboros, Arche, Vulgar, and Dum Spiro Spero but that by no means makes it bad. For the most part, it isn't even cheesy or contrived. It's everything I like about Uroboros except lacking the weirdness. Some of my favorite songs by the band are on this album. I think this is probably one of the best albums to start off with for anyone who has never heard of Dir En Grey before. It sounds enough like a lot of other metal bands to keep seasoned modern metalheads invested while not losing the original soul and sound of Dir En Grey.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7KOmySDb3gn3vRmhkmMMrH?si=IL0zthuPQj2tyckUpzuc8A
Vulgar by Dir En Grey [2003]
This album is a bit more "garagey" than the other albums I have mentioned here. What I mean is that Vulgar sounds a lot more raw and generally has less overdub. There is not much more I have to say about it. There are a lot of songs where the vocals carry the music. Take that as a good or bad thing upon listening to it. It doesn't encompass a lot of what I personally love about this band but it's still good shit.
As of writing this, Vulgar isn't on Spotify so have fun looking this one up (or just buying it).
So here is a song by them that mixes what I like the most about the album with its accessibility to those unfamiliar. It's called Marmalade Chainsaw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXGrwcXo7-k
Arche by Dir En Grey [2014]
Arche is my favorite of Dir En Grey's albums and probably one of my new favorite metal albums. I, unfortunately, have no real idea on how to explain why. It has a lot more variety than a lot of the other albums do within themselves and that's something that usually suits my fancy with a custom tailor. If you prefer something more tonally consistent and genre variety in short spurts gives you emotional whiplash, you're better off with Withering to Death or Vulgar. If you want... heavy metal music but sometimes not??? then Arche will probably do something for you. It's definitely weird without going into psychedelic or mathcore territory. I respect the hell out of this album.
Arche isn't on Spotify right now either.
So here is just my favorite song on this album. It probably isn't the best or most accessible. But fuck it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5aQVRWuWlE
Pacific Myth by Protest the Hero [2015]
Protest the Hero is one of my favorite bands of all time. It's not for everyone but what fucking is. Protest the Hero, I know, from first glance, sounds like another "Verb the Noun" hardcore band. Surely, they take some inspiration from such music, as is evident from their first EP. Their first LP, however, blew that shit completely out of the water (and for the record most of their influences for the band's music are more jazzy dudes and score composers and shit, but I guess that's neither here nor there, just me being a fanboy). It went from some overly political, nasally, AFI shit with breakdowns by a bunch of literal teenagers to this progressive metal opera vision realized. Their second album, Fortress, was the one that got me into them. To this day, there is not a song on that album I don't like. That album was supposedly mostly improvised and then they just went back to glue the pieces together later. That shit rarely stays in the same time signature and tempo for more than a minute, and their first album, Kezia, is even more spastic. Then you have Scurillous, which is much less conceptual and the vocals are a bit off in relativity, but the album is still good. Volition is this crowd-funded masterpiece. Nothing about Volition on the surface is particularly thought-provoking or groundbreaking but the more you get into it, the more it gives. Even then, it's pretty great the first time. I have witnessed several people who aren't into this kind of shit have firsthand impulsive, positive reactions to songs from Volition. See, I don't like it when bands get super political in their songs because they tend to focus on getting out a message or pushing some agenda rather than focus on making good music; rather than focus on making entertainment. To each their own but if I wanted the same shit repeated and punched into my brain a billion times over with no payoff or minimal thought involved, I would just go back to listening to hymns and Christian rock. I agree with a lot of Protest the Hero's messages but the point is, I had to look up a lot of it or listen to the songs multiple times to fully get what they were saying because the music comes first here. Protest the Hero are very politically charged with a lot of their music but they still understand that. Volition also touches topics like origins of fiction, heartwarming stories from their lives, and the music industry. The composition and attitude of each song are where this shit really shines though. The songs are not as sporadic and ridiculous as their previous work but the entirety of Volition can just be described as being the album with the biggest balls and the most intimate touch of those balls on their fans. Anyway. Where does that put Pacific Myth?
Pacific Myth is not their best album. It has a lot of shit that fans like about their older stuff. They take things we have all heard before and make a unique experience with this checklist on every album they make. There are high, powerful-sounding (probably not healthy) vocals. There are intricate drum fills and segways. The guitars are show-offy but never so much so that it ever becomes pure shred-metal. Sometimes you can actually hear the bass parts too (an issue I have with their other albums). On top of that, Pacific Myth is one of their concept albums. It tells a story about the world's creation and destruction in relation to the ocean or something. I don't understand it but in music, that doesn't fully matter. If it sounds like it is telling a cohesive tale and it all functions as one entity from beginning to end better than it does on shuffle, then I consider it a success. Pacific Myth does that. The only thing that keeps this from being a clone of the formula that has made PTH so beloved is the vocal effects. Maybe some other parts of the mix and some interesting parts here and there too. Two of their longest songs ever are on this album and this mostly works out better than I expected for the band. There are a few parts that definitely just sound like the vocalist karaoke-ing over something that was not originally intended for vocals though. I don't mind this usually but it shows on this one.
So I recommend their other stuff more but this is a great album too. They really don't have a bad LP, though. I guess I mostly just used Pacific Myth as an excuse to gush about Protest the Hero for a little bit. Sorry.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5EN5DdJO9aVuNxRptUeNTD?si=lBfGr4qQQv62QFhj_gj3sQ
Field Songs by Mark Lanegan [2001]
Mark Lanegan is that guy who does all the low, gravelly vocals on Queens of the Stone Age's songs. Or if you are one of the 2,000 people on planet Earth who still know what Screaming Trees is enough to hum a melody, he was the lead singer in that band. His voice is really unique. His range is not particularly crazy but he is much better at conveying emotions with what he has. That in itself makes him a great singer and pretty much a good songwriter by default. Which brings us to Field Songs. Don't go into Field Songs expecting heavy metal or anything. It's folk with elements of rock in it. Almost folk-rock even. There is a lot of stuff on here that would be boring as fuck in someone else's hands but Mark Lanegan makes it work. A lot of simple progressions and predictable transitions. That doesn't make it bad though. Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age came out the same year and does the same shit. That one's considered one of the greatest albums of all time, at least in the rock realm. This one got swept under the rug somehow. I guess if you have a unique voice and a penis, it doesn't matter unless you're a natural tenor or the "Chocolate Rain" dude. Field Songs is twangy. It sounds like what really good bourbon tastes like. It's worth a listen. I don't get addicted to it or want to listen to it every day, it's just worth a listen. From there, you might want to listen again. I did.
https://open.spotify.com/album/04ASPfRh4CrzJXln0xm32U?si=ZDcJXjbbQuao4LiUUbY6gw
The Belle Album by Al Green [1977]
I have been meaning to get into older funky shit and soul shit. Al Green delivers and he delivers hard. Everything on The Belle Album is chill as fuck but still has memorable moments. Nothing is ambient just for the sake of being ambient. Nothing is too dancey just for the sake of being dance-worthy. Nothing is too repetitive for the sake of being considered catchy later. It really dresses up the fact that a lot of the songs are just different shades of wanting to fuck. It's a 70s album and it's a 70s Al Green album. If you expected anything else from that, you might be a goober. I personally think it makes up for it. I don't remember every song after listening to it a few times but I remember liking every song and don't mind shuffling the whole thing into my big Spotify playlist (which is just everything I would go out of my way to listen to in one giant playlist). I am pleasantly caught off guard every time a song from this album comes on. I want to check out more Al Green and hopefully be blown away by something. I won't say The Belle Album necessarily blew me away but I like it enough to recommend it.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4RQHNjzrVVxNSlkcmnZDCG?si=TyUluQErRpybrY9bCBIU8Q
Bad Self Portraits by Lake Street Dive [2014]
I have yet to listen to a song by Lake Street Dive that I don't like. I haven't listened to everything yet but the stuff I have listened to from three different albums and some covers of other people's songs they did on YouTube has sold me. They are a great fucking band that knows how to focus on making a great and entertaining song before worrying about their egos. Plus all of the musicians are talented as fuck. Based on bullshit like fucking Paramore, Flyleaf, and everything No Doubt did after Tragic Kingdom, it is easy to look at a band that looks like Lake Street Dive and go "girl band!" and make assumptions that it is going to be one of those. Lake Street Dive indirectly says fuck that. I'm sure there is an interview somewhere that directly says fuck that. Every member of the band has writing credits. Every member of the band knows how to perform their instrument. On that note, some of them perform multiple instruments from a wide variety and it never feels... "hipstery" for lack of a better term. Some songs are rockier so they have more guitar. Some have no guitar at all when they are jazzier so they focus more on the upright bass. If nothing else, Rachel Price is god tier. I cannot believe that there is a vocalist who makes music this accessible and sings this well and not everyone and their unborn brother is talking about her and her band. It is honestly baffling. I don't want to be that guy, you know the one. Like I love Protest the Hero, The Mars Volta, Mr. Bungle, The Gazette. For the same reasons I love those bands, I get why most people wouldn't. I get why nobody meets me and goes "pffft, you like The Knife, why don't you pick something even more mainstream to listen to, basic bitch?". The thing with Lake Street Dive is that most of their shit is absolutely radio-friendly and accessible to a wider audience. Someone somewhere is dropping the give-a-fuck ball. Maybe it's for the best? Maybe it's the band's collective decision behind the scenes to not be as big a deal as they could be. But popularity is not an important thing, this is just me thinking out loud.
So I picked Bad Self Portraits as the recommended album here because it has the most songs that I find myself singing aloud. There are equally interesting songs and individual moments on their self-titled album and Side Pony. You cannot go wrong. You just can't. Do yourself a favor and just check out a handful of songs. I guarantee that you will find one song that you at least think is alright. If not, you are trying too hard to not like things. It's simple as that. They haven't done like prog deathcore or anything but there is so much variety in their discography that I can't fathom someone listening to them with a truly open mind and hating everything. I can't imagine someone genuinely trying out Lake Street Dive and getting pissed off.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1Ie34DR7t2RGL8bWBPNWVF?si=WUS1-L8USgSq5-wq76Ob-Q
Okay, well, I might do one of these again one day. Good thing I have this blog to do shit like this. God. Can you actually imagine if I made a video out of this? Like...
...
...
...
yyyyyuuuuhhcccchkkkk.
I am going to make a playlist for this on Spotify. It will consist of one song from every album here. It might be my favorite song from the album or one that's high up there. It might just be the one that is one I find more accessible. It might be in-between or both. Either way, here it is:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5R8HbqoXXLK7zuIo0r6HpQ?si=pg_TxLBTQoKbbOREBfbNCw
Uroboros by Dir En Grey [2008]
Dir En Grey is a Japanese metal band with a fuckload of albums. Unfortunately, not all of those albums are on Spotify (for those of you who use Spotify). Uroboros and Withering to Death are on Spotify. Vulgar, Arche, and many others are not. Uroboros is my second-favorite album by the band (Arche probably being my favorite). Dir En Grey is ultimately a heavy metal band with visual kei roots for anyone who cares enough to understand what that means. Each album (from the 5 or 6 I have heard songs from) has its own unique sound from the others in terms of overall composition and mixing. Uroboros is the weird one. The other ones certainly aren't made for your grandma but Uroboros has a lot more strange instrumentation choices, compositional transitions, and weird mouth noises. The vocalist has a ridiculous range both tonally and pitch-wise. He shows off a lot on this one. Where most metal singers use this as an excuse to hit the highest notes possible, Kyo (the singer) flaunts his ability to sound like a Looney Tunes audio track being scraped across a railroad. But in a good way though. Uroboros is still a heavy metal album, even dipping into the death metal category, but there are many strange quirky parts and serene parts strung together by both pretty synths and guitar arrangements. There are 3 more albums by them on this list and I'm going to try to keep them brief. I also listened to Dum Spiro Spero, which is another album you can still listen to on Spotify along with their new album called The Insulated World. Dum Spiro Spero has a lot more death metal tropes and does not sound as original as their other work. I don't recommend that one nearly as much as these other 4 albums listed here but it certainly isn't bad.
I apologize in advance that half of this post is just talking about Dir En Grey. I swear it eventually ends.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1BdqcsPQ16Pt11iA3Md0X8?si=mEP2YjSGQ7ml-MnJb6VG6A
Withering To Death by Dir En Grey [2005]
Withering to Death is more contemporary than Uroboros, Arche, Vulgar, and Dum Spiro Spero but that by no means makes it bad. For the most part, it isn't even cheesy or contrived. It's everything I like about Uroboros except lacking the weirdness. Some of my favorite songs by the band are on this album. I think this is probably one of the best albums to start off with for anyone who has never heard of Dir En Grey before. It sounds enough like a lot of other metal bands to keep seasoned modern metalheads invested while not losing the original soul and sound of Dir En Grey.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7KOmySDb3gn3vRmhkmMMrH?si=IL0zthuPQj2tyckUpzuc8A
Vulgar by Dir En Grey [2003]
This album is a bit more "garagey" than the other albums I have mentioned here. What I mean is that Vulgar sounds a lot more raw and generally has less overdub. There is not much more I have to say about it. There are a lot of songs where the vocals carry the music. Take that as a good or bad thing upon listening to it. It doesn't encompass a lot of what I personally love about this band but it's still good shit.
As of writing this, Vulgar isn't on Spotify so have fun looking this one up (or just buying it).
So here is a song by them that mixes what I like the most about the album with its accessibility to those unfamiliar. It's called Marmalade Chainsaw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXGrwcXo7-k
Arche by Dir En Grey [2014]
Arche is my favorite of Dir En Grey's albums and probably one of my new favorite metal albums. I, unfortunately, have no real idea on how to explain why. It has a lot more variety than a lot of the other albums do within themselves and that's something that usually suits my fancy with a custom tailor. If you prefer something more tonally consistent and genre variety in short spurts gives you emotional whiplash, you're better off with Withering to Death or Vulgar. If you want... heavy metal music but sometimes not??? then Arche will probably do something for you. It's definitely weird without going into psychedelic or mathcore territory. I respect the hell out of this album.
Arche isn't on Spotify right now either.
So here is just my favorite song on this album. It probably isn't the best or most accessible. But fuck it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5aQVRWuWlE
Pacific Myth by Protest the Hero [2015]
Protest the Hero is one of my favorite bands of all time. It's not for everyone but what fucking is. Protest the Hero, I know, from first glance, sounds like another "Verb the Noun" hardcore band. Surely, they take some inspiration from such music, as is evident from their first EP. Their first LP, however, blew that shit completely out of the water (and for the record most of their influences for the band's music are more jazzy dudes and score composers and shit, but I guess that's neither here nor there, just me being a fanboy). It went from some overly political, nasally, AFI shit with breakdowns by a bunch of literal teenagers to this progressive metal opera vision realized. Their second album, Fortress, was the one that got me into them. To this day, there is not a song on that album I don't like. That album was supposedly mostly improvised and then they just went back to glue the pieces together later. That shit rarely stays in the same time signature and tempo for more than a minute, and their first album, Kezia, is even more spastic. Then you have Scurillous, which is much less conceptual and the vocals are a bit off in relativity, but the album is still good. Volition is this crowd-funded masterpiece. Nothing about Volition on the surface is particularly thought-provoking or groundbreaking but the more you get into it, the more it gives. Even then, it's pretty great the first time. I have witnessed several people who aren't into this kind of shit have firsthand impulsive, positive reactions to songs from Volition. See, I don't like it when bands get super political in their songs because they tend to focus on getting out a message or pushing some agenda rather than focus on making good music; rather than focus on making entertainment. To each their own but if I wanted the same shit repeated and punched into my brain a billion times over with no payoff or minimal thought involved, I would just go back to listening to hymns and Christian rock. I agree with a lot of Protest the Hero's messages but the point is, I had to look up a lot of it or listen to the songs multiple times to fully get what they were saying because the music comes first here. Protest the Hero are very politically charged with a lot of their music but they still understand that. Volition also touches topics like origins of fiction, heartwarming stories from their lives, and the music industry. The composition and attitude of each song are where this shit really shines though. The songs are not as sporadic and ridiculous as their previous work but the entirety of Volition can just be described as being the album with the biggest balls and the most intimate touch of those balls on their fans. Anyway. Where does that put Pacific Myth?
Pacific Myth is not their best album. It has a lot of shit that fans like about their older stuff. They take things we have all heard before and make a unique experience with this checklist on every album they make. There are high, powerful-sounding (probably not healthy) vocals. There are intricate drum fills and segways. The guitars are show-offy but never so much so that it ever becomes pure shred-metal. Sometimes you can actually hear the bass parts too (an issue I have with their other albums). On top of that, Pacific Myth is one of their concept albums. It tells a story about the world's creation and destruction in relation to the ocean or something. I don't understand it but in music, that doesn't fully matter. If it sounds like it is telling a cohesive tale and it all functions as one entity from beginning to end better than it does on shuffle, then I consider it a success. Pacific Myth does that. The only thing that keeps this from being a clone of the formula that has made PTH so beloved is the vocal effects. Maybe some other parts of the mix and some interesting parts here and there too. Two of their longest songs ever are on this album and this mostly works out better than I expected for the band. There are a few parts that definitely just sound like the vocalist karaoke-ing over something that was not originally intended for vocals though. I don't mind this usually but it shows on this one.
So I recommend their other stuff more but this is a great album too. They really don't have a bad LP, though. I guess I mostly just used Pacific Myth as an excuse to gush about Protest the Hero for a little bit. Sorry.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5EN5DdJO9aVuNxRptUeNTD?si=lBfGr4qQQv62QFhj_gj3sQ
Field Songs by Mark Lanegan [2001]
Mark Lanegan is that guy who does all the low, gravelly vocals on Queens of the Stone Age's songs. Or if you are one of the 2,000 people on planet Earth who still know what Screaming Trees is enough to hum a melody, he was the lead singer in that band. His voice is really unique. His range is not particularly crazy but he is much better at conveying emotions with what he has. That in itself makes him a great singer and pretty much a good songwriter by default. Which brings us to Field Songs. Don't go into Field Songs expecting heavy metal or anything. It's folk with elements of rock in it. Almost folk-rock even. There is a lot of stuff on here that would be boring as fuck in someone else's hands but Mark Lanegan makes it work. A lot of simple progressions and predictable transitions. That doesn't make it bad though. Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age came out the same year and does the same shit. That one's considered one of the greatest albums of all time, at least in the rock realm. This one got swept under the rug somehow. I guess if you have a unique voice and a penis, it doesn't matter unless you're a natural tenor or the "Chocolate Rain" dude. Field Songs is twangy. It sounds like what really good bourbon tastes like. It's worth a listen. I don't get addicted to it or want to listen to it every day, it's just worth a listen. From there, you might want to listen again. I did.
https://open.spotify.com/album/04ASPfRh4CrzJXln0xm32U?si=ZDcJXjbbQuao4LiUUbY6gw
The Belle Album by Al Green [1977]
I have been meaning to get into older funky shit and soul shit. Al Green delivers and he delivers hard. Everything on The Belle Album is chill as fuck but still has memorable moments. Nothing is ambient just for the sake of being ambient. Nothing is too dancey just for the sake of being dance-worthy. Nothing is too repetitive for the sake of being considered catchy later. It really dresses up the fact that a lot of the songs are just different shades of wanting to fuck. It's a 70s album and it's a 70s Al Green album. If you expected anything else from that, you might be a goober. I personally think it makes up for it. I don't remember every song after listening to it a few times but I remember liking every song and don't mind shuffling the whole thing into my big Spotify playlist (which is just everything I would go out of my way to listen to in one giant playlist). I am pleasantly caught off guard every time a song from this album comes on. I want to check out more Al Green and hopefully be blown away by something. I won't say The Belle Album necessarily blew me away but I like it enough to recommend it.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4RQHNjzrVVxNSlkcmnZDCG?si=TyUluQErRpybrY9bCBIU8Q
Bad Self Portraits by Lake Street Dive [2014]
I have yet to listen to a song by Lake Street Dive that I don't like. I haven't listened to everything yet but the stuff I have listened to from three different albums and some covers of other people's songs they did on YouTube has sold me. They are a great fucking band that knows how to focus on making a great and entertaining song before worrying about their egos. Plus all of the musicians are talented as fuck. Based on bullshit like fucking Paramore, Flyleaf, and everything No Doubt did after Tragic Kingdom, it is easy to look at a band that looks like Lake Street Dive and go "girl band!" and make assumptions that it is going to be one of those. Lake Street Dive indirectly says fuck that. I'm sure there is an interview somewhere that directly says fuck that. Every member of the band has writing credits. Every member of the band knows how to perform their instrument. On that note, some of them perform multiple instruments from a wide variety and it never feels... "hipstery" for lack of a better term. Some songs are rockier so they have more guitar. Some have no guitar at all when they are jazzier so they focus more on the upright bass. If nothing else, Rachel Price is god tier. I cannot believe that there is a vocalist who makes music this accessible and sings this well and not everyone and their unborn brother is talking about her and her band. It is honestly baffling. I don't want to be that guy, you know the one. Like I love Protest the Hero, The Mars Volta, Mr. Bungle, The Gazette. For the same reasons I love those bands, I get why most people wouldn't. I get why nobody meets me and goes "pffft, you like The Knife, why don't you pick something even more mainstream to listen to, basic bitch?". The thing with Lake Street Dive is that most of their shit is absolutely radio-friendly and accessible to a wider audience. Someone somewhere is dropping the give-a-fuck ball. Maybe it's for the best? Maybe it's the band's collective decision behind the scenes to not be as big a deal as they could be. But popularity is not an important thing, this is just me thinking out loud.
So I picked Bad Self Portraits as the recommended album here because it has the most songs that I find myself singing aloud. There are equally interesting songs and individual moments on their self-titled album and Side Pony. You cannot go wrong. You just can't. Do yourself a favor and just check out a handful of songs. I guarantee that you will find one song that you at least think is alright. If not, you are trying too hard to not like things. It's simple as that. They haven't done like prog deathcore or anything but there is so much variety in their discography that I can't fathom someone listening to them with a truly open mind and hating everything. I can't imagine someone genuinely trying out Lake Street Dive and getting pissed off.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1Ie34DR7t2RGL8bWBPNWVF?si=WUS1-L8USgSq5-wq76Ob-Q
Okay, well, I might do one of these again one day. Good thing I have this blog to do shit like this. God. Can you actually imagine if I made a video out of this? Like...
...
...
...
yyyyyuuuuhhcccchkkkk.
7/27/2019
About Chris Niosi
I have no personal connection to the guy, I just had a lot of stuff to get off my chest regarding Chris Niosi's past of being an abusive, manipulative, ass. So I blew this angsty load all over my Twitter and decided to document it here. Is this partially to stroke my own ego by treating my Tweets as if they are actually important? Possibly. Probably. However, in lieu of recent knowledge, it seems like he has been called out for this bullshit before and danced around it for years. People leaped to defend him and people are still leaping to defend him. So if there is one more post out there with one more voice saying "remember, this guy did all this", then I feel like my duty in this scenario is fulfilled. I guess I don't really have a duty here but I'm giving myself one and following through anyway.
I am editing the tweets slightly to get rid of typos and shit but otherwise, this is verbatim what I said, not that it really matters because I still have no personal connection to any of this. That has not changed since the last paragraph.
Here ya go:
https://twitter.com/GoNintendoTweet/status/1154940926193819648
https://gonintendo.com/stories/340993-nintendo-confirms-removal-of-chris-niosi-as-the-voice-actor-for-f
An article from GoNintendo.com called "Nintendo Confirms Removal of Chris Niosi as the Voice Actor for Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Heroes' Byleth, New Voiceover Coming Via Patch". The links provided in the article start a rabbit hole of people who know Niosi calling him out for his bullshit. For those who will say "lol, just a bunch of girls whining about a shitty boyfriend with no proof of anything", it's there (ya sexist bitch). You don't even have to use Google. And Niosi minces words but doesn't deny any of it. Anyway. I retweeted the article saying:
"I talk shit about Nintendo from time to time but I like that they realize the importance of voice actors to the public. This was an extraneous step they did not have to take but I very much respect that they did."
"I recently found out about his bullshit and can't believe I never heard of it before. The links articles like this are giving don't even come close to telling the whole story (not that they should be expected to, there's a lot of abusive history to cover)."
What I was saying here is that the article is about Niosi's voice lines being replaced in "Fire Emblem: Three Houses", not Chris Niosi being a dick. Even then they briefly stated the reasoning, linking another article about Chris Niosi being a dick and apologizing for it publicly. In that article, there are links provided to responders that knew Niosi personally, most of them being victims of his abusive behavior. There is so much text to sift through there that at a certain point, it's out of the journalist's and/or writer's hands.
"I didn't know he was even in Three Houses until yesterday." That would be July 26th, 2019, watching my friend play "Three Houses". "It's hard to completely separate the art from the artist. I don't even want to think about Brawl Taunts or TOME anymore because I don't like thinking about actual rape. I think Nintendo made a good decision."
Then I started a separate thread.
"Actually, I have not had a chance to sort out my thoughts on Chris Niosi and his recent [admission] to years of mental, physical, and sexual abuse to several people. I am going to talk about it a bit more here. Feel free to chime in at any time."
"Niosi was one I always looked up to from a young age. My friends and I were floored by 'Brawl Taunts' and would reference it all the time. His work introduced me to many other inspiring and creative people like Kira Buckland and Deven Mack. [Niosi]'s the only reason I know about OK KO".
"On the other hand, I have now read quite a handful of firsthand accounts of his actions. It's really shady to me how he is not directly denying any of the actions but he is still trying to deny what they are.
"Forcing your drunk girlfriend to have sex with you is rape, by the way."
"It also seems that allegations have come out before. To the public. He denied it then, his friends and fans backed him up, and so the victims were silenced and reverted to a state of fear."
"Prime example here:"
https://amethystlashiec.tumblr.com/post/149095962046/regarding-chris-kirbopher-niosi
A post from someone who knew the guy all too well. The home stretch has a lot of juicy links of Niosi dodging things before "Fire Emblem: Three Houses".
"None of this is okay. If he is really trying to get better, that's great and all but it doesn't change what he did. I can't sympathize or empathize with that shit. That's where I'm at with him if that wasn't clear already.
"This leads me to the 'interesting' bit."
"What line do we draw when it comes to what forms of media we enjoy procured by monstrous assholes? Many would argue 'all of it' but I think it is more situational. Though if you feel 'all of it' is the answer, that's perfectly understandable. I respect that."
"For me, it comes down to four factors:
1. what bad thing(s) I KNOW they did
2. how they are involved in the art
3. how much are they involved in the art
4. how much I think about this while processing said art"
"These four factors are just the pattern I notice in my own thought process. I'm not even offering it as a rule of thumb. It's just what my mind does. Everyone is going to go through this sort of thing differently."
"Let's specifically use Niosi-related pieces here. Let's start with TOME. TOME is fully imagined by Niosi. It's on his personal channel. It is nearly impossible to consume TOME or anything related to TOME without thinking of Niosi."
"Other people worked on TOME and helped make it what it is but it is still primarily the vision of a rapist.
"Another factor worth noting here is that TOME is a YouTube series, so revisiting it directly supports him (a rapist)."
"Let's look at another example. 'A Hat in Time': one of my favorite games of all time. He [is] the voice acting director and I think had some hand in casting if I'm not mistaken but he was definitely the voice acting director."
"Boycotting this game because of Niosi's involvement seems silly to me. To clarify: that seems silly to me *for me* if that makes sense."
"I am sure Niosi' contributions to that game were important and necessary but as a work of art, many other people made the things that make A Hat in Time memorable for me."
"When I think of A Hat in Time, I don't think about the voice director, I think of the process of Jonas Kaerlev, the creativity of Jenna Brown, the versatility of Mick Lauer, and Luke Sizemore's performance, among many other contributions."
That's a run-on sentence, ladies and gentlemen.
"If Niosi's involvement in A Hat in Time triggered me just thinking about it enough to where I did not enjoy the game anymore, I would never play it again.
"Inversely, I cannot imagine watching TOME again, or even something as silly as Brawl Taunts for that matter."
"I think it all comes down to the individual. It's not about what you are or aren't comfortable with, it's about what level of discomfort the involvement conjures."
"This is why I don't completely hate 'cancel culture' but also think it has periodically been taken out of control. That is another interesting facet of the situation because people are telling other people to ease up because 'he apologized' and 'he's trying to get better'."
"God knows I have made mistakes and some of them are technically public, so free game to riff on me. However, I'm not a rapist. I think the argument for 'cancel culture is stupid' is moot when it comes to someone who really thought about how to fuck with other people."
"One last point before I stop stewing on this; I am now embarrassed to say I kind of looked up to this asshole. He, up until recently, was doing exactly what I wanted to do a few years ago and didn't achieve."
"Even after I stopped applying for voice gigs, he was still just another inspiring person to me because he 'made it'. He made consistent money doing something he loved. He had a responsive and supportive fanbase."
"However, I am not saying 'in situations like these, let's not forget the good times/things'. Nope. What's done is done. I'm all about spinning a negative into a positive but whatever that negative might be, it's still a fucking negative."
"I also love giving people second chances, whether I know them personally or not. I love seeing people overcome their demons. That said, I want to 'cancel' Niosi from my life. I gladly unfollowed him on everything and wrote off his future projects the night of the 'apology'."
"Bonus point: Those apologies were ass.
"That's my two cents, or like... enough cents to make a dollar or two. I'm open to any discussion on this because I think the surrounding cultural and moral implications of the situation are interesting. But keep in mind, I'm done with Niosi."
I am editing the tweets slightly to get rid of typos and shit but otherwise, this is verbatim what I said, not that it really matters because I still have no personal connection to any of this. That has not changed since the last paragraph.
Here ya go:
https://twitter.com/GoNintendoTweet/status/1154940926193819648
https://gonintendo.com/stories/340993-nintendo-confirms-removal-of-chris-niosi-as-the-voice-actor-for-f
An article from GoNintendo.com called "Nintendo Confirms Removal of Chris Niosi as the Voice Actor for Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Heroes' Byleth, New Voiceover Coming Via Patch". The links provided in the article start a rabbit hole of people who know Niosi calling him out for his bullshit. For those who will say "lol, just a bunch of girls whining about a shitty boyfriend with no proof of anything", it's there (ya sexist bitch). You don't even have to use Google. And Niosi minces words but doesn't deny any of it. Anyway. I retweeted the article saying:
"I talk shit about Nintendo from time to time but I like that they realize the importance of voice actors to the public. This was an extraneous step they did not have to take but I very much respect that they did."
"I recently found out about his bullshit and can't believe I never heard of it before. The links articles like this are giving don't even come close to telling the whole story (not that they should be expected to, there's a lot of abusive history to cover)."
What I was saying here is that the article is about Niosi's voice lines being replaced in "Fire Emblem: Three Houses", not Chris Niosi being a dick. Even then they briefly stated the reasoning, linking another article about Chris Niosi being a dick and apologizing for it publicly. In that article, there are links provided to responders that knew Niosi personally, most of them being victims of his abusive behavior. There is so much text to sift through there that at a certain point, it's out of the journalist's and/or writer's hands.
"I didn't know he was even in Three Houses until yesterday." That would be July 26th, 2019, watching my friend play "Three Houses". "It's hard to completely separate the art from the artist. I don't even want to think about Brawl Taunts or TOME anymore because I don't like thinking about actual rape. I think Nintendo made a good decision."
Then I started a separate thread.
"Actually, I have not had a chance to sort out my thoughts on Chris Niosi and his recent [admission] to years of mental, physical, and sexual abuse to several people. I am going to talk about it a bit more here. Feel free to chime in at any time."
"Niosi was one I always looked up to from a young age. My friends and I were floored by 'Brawl Taunts' and would reference it all the time. His work introduced me to many other inspiring and creative people like Kira Buckland and Deven Mack. [Niosi]'s the only reason I know about OK KO".
"On the other hand, I have now read quite a handful of firsthand accounts of his actions. It's really shady to me how he is not directly denying any of the actions but he is still trying to deny what they are.
"Forcing your drunk girlfriend to have sex with you is rape, by the way."
"It also seems that allegations have come out before. To the public. He denied it then, his friends and fans backed him up, and so the victims were silenced and reverted to a state of fear."
"Prime example here:"
https://amethystlashiec.tumblr.com/post/149095962046/regarding-chris-kirbopher-niosi
A post from someone who knew the guy all too well. The home stretch has a lot of juicy links of Niosi dodging things before "Fire Emblem: Three Houses".
"None of this is okay. If he is really trying to get better, that's great and all but it doesn't change what he did. I can't sympathize or empathize with that shit. That's where I'm at with him if that wasn't clear already.
"This leads me to the 'interesting' bit."
"What line do we draw when it comes to what forms of media we enjoy procured by monstrous assholes? Many would argue 'all of it' but I think it is more situational. Though if you feel 'all of it' is the answer, that's perfectly understandable. I respect that."
"For me, it comes down to four factors:
1. what bad thing(s) I KNOW they did
2. how they are involved in the art
3. how much are they involved in the art
4. how much I think about this while processing said art"
"These four factors are just the pattern I notice in my own thought process. I'm not even offering it as a rule of thumb. It's just what my mind does. Everyone is going to go through this sort of thing differently."
"Let's specifically use Niosi-related pieces here. Let's start with TOME. TOME is fully imagined by Niosi. It's on his personal channel. It is nearly impossible to consume TOME or anything related to TOME without thinking of Niosi."
"Other people worked on TOME and helped make it what it is but it is still primarily the vision of a rapist.
"Another factor worth noting here is that TOME is a YouTube series, so revisiting it directly supports him (a rapist)."
"Let's look at another example. 'A Hat in Time': one of my favorite games of all time. He [is] the voice acting director and I think had some hand in casting if I'm not mistaken but he was definitely the voice acting director."
"Boycotting this game because of Niosi's involvement seems silly to me. To clarify: that seems silly to me *for me* if that makes sense."
"I am sure Niosi' contributions to that game were important and necessary but as a work of art, many other people made the things that make A Hat in Time memorable for me."
"When I think of A Hat in Time, I don't think about the voice director, I think of the process of Jonas Kaerlev, the creativity of Jenna Brown, the versatility of Mick Lauer, and Luke Sizemore's performance, among many other contributions."
That's a run-on sentence, ladies and gentlemen.
"If Niosi's involvement in A Hat in Time triggered me just thinking about it enough to where I did not enjoy the game anymore, I would never play it again.
"Inversely, I cannot imagine watching TOME again, or even something as silly as Brawl Taunts for that matter."
"I think it all comes down to the individual. It's not about what you are or aren't comfortable with, it's about what level of discomfort the involvement conjures."
"This is why I don't completely hate 'cancel culture' but also think it has periodically been taken out of control. That is another interesting facet of the situation because people are telling other people to ease up because 'he apologized' and 'he's trying to get better'."
"God knows I have made mistakes and some of them are technically public, so free game to riff on me. However, I'm not a rapist. I think the argument for 'cancel culture is stupid' is moot when it comes to someone who really thought about how to fuck with other people."
"One last point before I stop stewing on this; I am now embarrassed to say I kind of looked up to this asshole. He, up until recently, was doing exactly what I wanted to do a few years ago and didn't achieve."
"Even after I stopped applying for voice gigs, he was still just another inspiring person to me because he 'made it'. He made consistent money doing something he loved. He had a responsive and supportive fanbase."
"However, I am not saying 'in situations like these, let's not forget the good times/things'. Nope. What's done is done. I'm all about spinning a negative into a positive but whatever that negative might be, it's still a fucking negative."
"I also love giving people second chances, whether I know them personally or not. I love seeing people overcome their demons. That said, I want to 'cancel' Niosi from my life. I gladly unfollowed him on everything and wrote off his future projects the night of the 'apology'."
"Bonus point: Those apologies were ass.
"That's my two cents, or like... enough cents to make a dollar or two. I'm open to any discussion on this because I think the surrounding cultural and moral implications of the situation are interesting. But keep in mind, I'm done with Niosi."
7/02/2019
Present and Future of Randomrings
As of now, it has been 7 months since my last video (the one where I rank/review MCU movies) and 8 months since the last video that I was really, really proud of (the Pokemon Battle Revolution review). Instead of posting a million tweets or an update video that I will end up deleting later, I'm just going to write this and try to make it as easy to read as possible.
I'm an online student and my school runs its courses pretty much year-round. I get a week off in the Spring, a week off in late August, a week for Christmas, and a week off for New Years and that's it. Four weeks off for a year of school. I have been at this school since October of 2017. Fortunately, since I have been in and out of other schools since 2011 (I know), I will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in creative writing with a screenplay focus in March 2020.
I've also been looking for a new place to live. I still haven't confirmed one but I've been working on that. My lease ends at the end of this month. That's another factor.
My mental health has been better since I last posted about it. That said, my life is stressful anyway. Depression is a factor but I think trying to balance all of this stuff out without extreme burnout is next to impossible. I felt burnout symptoms up until the eighth week of this past term of school. It has helped put into perspective what I want to do with videos from now on. Whether or not I actually will do any of this is another story.
I am kind of leaning toward not doing heavily analytical videos anymore. I'm not sure. If I can do them in a way where I can still show off writing skills/voice then I will. I want to do more Gumflap-style videos, specifically like the Pokemon Battle Revolution video but not as long-winded. If I don't use capture footage, I can upload these videos to Newgrounds and that's one of the main points I want to make with this post.
YouTube is a cesspool so I want to try my hand with Newgrounds. To do so, I have to make new kinds of videos. Newgrounds's rules bypass a lot of the technical issues that, along with bad management, make YouTube a cesspool but with that positive notion comes a demand for more attention to what you are putting in your videos. There is only one video on my channel right now that could technically pass Newgrounds's regulations: the 2017 mental health video. I kind of don't want that to be the only thing on my Newgrounds page though. So I don't know what my new videos will look like. Well, I know what they will physically look like but I don't know how they will play out, what their topics are, whether or not they are more sketch than a review or vice versa.
The videos help me in real life. I get stuff off of my chest so I don't rant to other people about what I like and dislike about things they don't care as much about. I don't want to stop making videos because I don't want to stop writing. I think if there is one main point to take away from this post, it's that I don't want to make videos from stress or some fictitious, self-deprecating obligation. I want to make videos from pure inspiration and a persistent, very real desire to make other people happy.
In terms of making content more regularly, I also want to make let's plays. I want to make channel art before I publicly post a video there though. I think the channel will just be called "Randomrings Let's Plays". I have set up a lot of stuff to get that to work but my friends and I just have not recorded anything with that in mind yet. We have been talking about it for sure.
Don't expect a boon of content from me over the next 4-8 months. I want to make more portfolio things that are entertaining and not just "this game is stupid" or "this movie is pretty good". Like last time I did this, here's a list of what I want to release independently. I'm sure I will update more as time goes on. In general, I need to narrow down my focuses so I can release things more regularly without driving myself mad. Anyway, list:
Gumflap - videos where I take a topic, most likely a video game or video-game-related concept and talk about it with a little, sketchy cartoon man.
Late to the Party - I talk about TV shows and movies for a bit. Not sure if I will make a Newgrounds-friendly version of this or not.
Randomrings Blog - I guess I'm still doing this for some reason.
Webcomic - I have been working on a big webcomic series for a while and still have not storyboarded anything. I have been thinking about putting out something lighter and less plot-heavy, whether in comic form or in video form, until that gets done.
Lexi Karma - I'm still working on music. I was having technical difficulties for a while but everything is back up and running now. I still have no idea when I'm releasing the second Lexi Karma project. I wanted it to come out in 2017 or 2018 and it is long overdue.
Thanks for understanding.
I'm an online student and my school runs its courses pretty much year-round. I get a week off in the Spring, a week off in late August, a week for Christmas, and a week off for New Years and that's it. Four weeks off for a year of school. I have been at this school since October of 2017. Fortunately, since I have been in and out of other schools since 2011 (I know), I will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in creative writing with a screenplay focus in March 2020.
I've also been looking for a new place to live. I still haven't confirmed one but I've been working on that. My lease ends at the end of this month. That's another factor.
My mental health has been better since I last posted about it. That said, my life is stressful anyway. Depression is a factor but I think trying to balance all of this stuff out without extreme burnout is next to impossible. I felt burnout symptoms up until the eighth week of this past term of school. It has helped put into perspective what I want to do with videos from now on. Whether or not I actually will do any of this is another story.
I am kind of leaning toward not doing heavily analytical videos anymore. I'm not sure. If I can do them in a way where I can still show off writing skills/voice then I will. I want to do more Gumflap-style videos, specifically like the Pokemon Battle Revolution video but not as long-winded. If I don't use capture footage, I can upload these videos to Newgrounds and that's one of the main points I want to make with this post.
YouTube is a cesspool so I want to try my hand with Newgrounds. To do so, I have to make new kinds of videos. Newgrounds's rules bypass a lot of the technical issues that, along with bad management, make YouTube a cesspool but with that positive notion comes a demand for more attention to what you are putting in your videos. There is only one video on my channel right now that could technically pass Newgrounds's regulations: the 2017 mental health video. I kind of don't want that to be the only thing on my Newgrounds page though. So I don't know what my new videos will look like. Well, I know what they will physically look like but I don't know how they will play out, what their topics are, whether or not they are more sketch than a review or vice versa.
The videos help me in real life. I get stuff off of my chest so I don't rant to other people about what I like and dislike about things they don't care as much about. I don't want to stop making videos because I don't want to stop writing. I think if there is one main point to take away from this post, it's that I don't want to make videos from stress or some fictitious, self-deprecating obligation. I want to make videos from pure inspiration and a persistent, very real desire to make other people happy.
In terms of making content more regularly, I also want to make let's plays. I want to make channel art before I publicly post a video there though. I think the channel will just be called "Randomrings Let's Plays". I have set up a lot of stuff to get that to work but my friends and I just have not recorded anything with that in mind yet. We have been talking about it for sure.
Don't expect a boon of content from me over the next 4-8 months. I want to make more portfolio things that are entertaining and not just "this game is stupid" or "this movie is pretty good". Like last time I did this, here's a list of what I want to release independently. I'm sure I will update more as time goes on. In general, I need to narrow down my focuses so I can release things more regularly without driving myself mad. Anyway, list:
Gumflap - videos where I take a topic, most likely a video game or video-game-related concept and talk about it with a little, sketchy cartoon man.
Late to the Party - I talk about TV shows and movies for a bit. Not sure if I will make a Newgrounds-friendly version of this or not.
Randomrings Blog - I guess I'm still doing this for some reason.
Webcomic - I have been working on a big webcomic series for a while and still have not storyboarded anything. I have been thinking about putting out something lighter and less plot-heavy, whether in comic form or in video form, until that gets done.
Lexi Karma - I'm still working on music. I was having technical difficulties for a while but everything is back up and running now. I still have no idea when I'm releasing the second Lexi Karma project. I wanted it to come out in 2017 or 2018 and it is long overdue.
Thanks for understanding.
5/30/2019
That Time I Ranted About "The Goldbergs" on Twitter
I just really want to revisit and cherish this moment where I got so fed up with the mere existence of ABC sitcom The Goldbergs that I wrote a blog post's worth of tweets about it AND made a Twitter moment out of it later!
https://twitter.com/i/moments/1010906460761608197
For those who don't use Twitter, I am going to post this below:
(I am going to write it all out below that too because the Twitter screenshots don't translate well on all monitors)
Just wanted to point that out because whenever I remember that this is something I spent energy to do, it always gives me a laugh. I think this is mostly because I pretty much don't make any jokes or anything in this thread/moment. I'm not trying to be funny here and I think that unintentionally makes it way funnier. I hope you enjoyed that, I did.
https://twitter.com/i/moments/1010906460761608197
For those who don't use Twitter, I am going to post this below:
(I am going to write it all out below that too because the Twitter screenshots don't translate well on all monitors)
"I'm making this so I don't rant about it that often. Probably still will.
"There are much more pressing and repulsive things going on now but I have nothing to add to the discussion so:
"The Goldbergs is still running and it is written like a fucking toothpaste commercial now. It was awful before but now it won't even stick to its gimmick. Scratch that. I think at one point when I was a kid there was a toothpaste commercial line with a sentient set of human teeth. That's a funny idea on paper. The Goldbergs is not even a funny concept on paper. I'm probably just overwhelmed with my week and am taking it out on a beloved ABC sitcom. I can tell because I have always hated that show and it's such a hollow show that it's an easy target.
"You're allowed to like The Goldbergs and enjoy it if you want. I can't take that away from you. Don't want to. At the same time, you're blind if you complain about TV becoming shit. If you tune into that show, you're part of the problem and should be aware enough to see that. I kind of want to do a video on that show but that means I would have to sit through more episodes than I already have to make fair points and I don't know if that's worth it."
"If you pirate The Goldbergs... then... fuck, you're just a masochist, and I completed Sonic 3D Blast just to do a shitty video on YouTube about it, so that's really saying something. To each their own. If I was going to make a video on The Goldbergs, I would probably make easy comparisons to other shows that run around the same time on the same channel. The Middle and Modern Family. They are not perfect shows but they do what they do way fucking better than The Goldbergs.
"I'm not a big fan of The Middle but the writers, directors, producers, and probably casting agents knew that their kids would not be kids forever. Their characters grow from the past and it isn't ham-fisted. The audience can see it and feel like they were a part of that. Modern Family does the same things except every character grows, even the adults. The fucking grandpa has to learn shit about his gay son and it doesn't just work because it's topical, it's because the main cast of Modern Family is awesome. The cast makes that show. The Goldbergs is on Season 5 and things are slowly progressing but nothing important is changing because there was never anything important to begin with. By trying to make the show relatable to everyone, they created 5 alien characters that no one cares about. You can't.
"The guy that the story is allegedly based on, based on the home movie stuff at the end of each episode, probably has a creative mind. He's probably got some real mindfuck ideas in there but the show is such a corporate ABC dollhouse asylum that it doesn't matter. Even then, when something momentous or "important" happens in an episode, they usually ruin it by trying their damnedest to throw in an homage to 80's pop culture and it's so fucking distracting. Even if they almost hit it, they shoot themselves in the foot everytime. There was an episode where the plot was almost a complete abridged rip-off of A Christmas Story. I'm not exaggerating. I'm hyped on caffeine and kind of angry and tired and overwhelmed with a lot of stuff to do. So fuck The Goldbergs. If you don't know what it is, good."
Just wanted to point that out because whenever I remember that this is something I spent energy to do, it always gives me a laugh. I think this is mostly because I pretty much don't make any jokes or anything in this thread/moment. I'm not trying to be funny here and I think that unintentionally makes it way funnier. I hope you enjoyed that, I did.
5/17/2019
Being an Entitled Baby on deh webbernet (Update Blog)
I haven't been posting a terrible amount of anything recently. It has been 6 months since my last main video and 5 months since my last video on my channel in general. My music channel (Lexi Karma) might as well not exist. I posted a blog saying how exhausted and miserable I was a few months ago. I think that it is probably fair to update that. As it stands now, I have squirrels constantly invading the attic of my apartment and the management and pest control people are not doing a whole lot to fix that. Naturally, if I do something to fix that, it breaks lease. So I'm up at 8 in the morning ready to procrastinate and write about my life anyway (the fucker is skittering around up there storing food as we speak).
I'm going to put brief synopses at the end of this post for those who don't want to read a book about where my head is at with all this.
So:
General Life/ Mental Health
I am surprisingly much better. I am in a mental homeostasis sort of thing that I don't know how to define... other than "mental homeostasis". I recognize that my life is a fucking joke but considering the efforts I am putting in daily to make it a little less idiotic, things are not so bad. I don't feel like I'm tricking myself into seeing the positives in my life. I'm not rich. I'm not constantly surrounded by trusting friends. I'm being woken up by rodents at least one week out of every month. But I am making progress. Typing this out now, I realize this sounds way more depressing than what it is. I guess I just realize that no matter where I am in life, there are going to be things that I want to change. Where I am at now is, in many ways, flawed but compared to where I was even three years ago, I'm doing pretty damn great. I am growing new mental health issues but they are sustainable. The most dangerous ones that have plagued me since I was really young are certainly at bay. They have their spikes but are otherwise barely there.
UNFORTUNATELY THOUGH, since they are not completely gone and I have had some recent insurance issues, I now have to do more grinding for money that has nothing to do with anything creative so I can continue to do creative things so I can afford drugs so I don't kill myself. It's a ride. I already had to balance school, shit job, music, writing, video editing, and some weird semblance of a social life. Now I have to do more school and more shit job, leaving less time to do or even enjoy the other things. Drawing things, for example, has become a rare occurrence for me over the past few months. But I'm also moving into another place soon so I can't just take a vacation or something. Welcome to being an artistic person in your 20's in America, I guess.
School
School can kiss my ass but I'm almost done. The sad thing is that this far into the major, I am actually starting to take classes I am interested in that can directly help my future and they are being stifled by other classes. Juggling the class I care about (a screenwriting workshop) with the class I know I don't care about at all (an elective) instantly makes me care less about the class I should be caring about. It's making my grades in the cool classes slide slightly below perfect. Ohhhhh godddd!!!!
In any case, I graduate sometime in Spring 2020. Some days that is my only motivation to keep going with this workload.
Randomrings Channel
I want to keep doing Randomrings Channel but focus less on being analytical and more about being silly/ writing stuff that I hope people will find interesting. It just isn't in the cards right now. I want to do more stuff like that Pokemon Battle Revolution review even though I have said repeatedly that I never want to do another video like that again. A more cartoonish video makes the video inherently more Newgrounds-friendly. I want to make things I pour a lot of effort into go on a site that isn't festering with dead body-filming vloggers, pedophiles, Fortnite, more Fortnite, and 30-minute video essays about how that game you like is actually bad. So from now on, if I ever upload videos ever again, I would expect the video to be one of three things:
Gumflap:
Gumflap is mostly game reviews and I guess from now on I would like to keep it in the style of the Pokemon Battle Revolution video. These would be short, goofy videos where I talk about my general thoughts on a video game and why that might matter on some grander scale. Honestly, as long as I keep the scripts under 10 minutes, it probably won't take any longer than a video like the "Hat in Time" one. In some cases, it might not take as long at all.
Late to the Party:
I don't know why, but writing tiny movie reviews has been something I have been growing attached to recently. I started doing this here on this blog but I might do more of it in video form. They won't all be 40 minutes long like the MCU video I made. At this point, I have written a large handful of these, including more MCU movies (Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War with plans to cover Avengers: Endgame after I finally see it... you can spoil it, I already know a lot of the stuff that happens).
Whatever else I want:
I need more practice writing. After I graduate college, I just might do more original stuff that isn't tied to #epicg@m3r content.
I don't have any plans on abandoning or shutting down Randomrings Channel. This is more of a "not enough hours in the day" situation.
Lexi Karma
When I have time off and no one is available to watch me scream at Sonic in my own apartment, I have actually been pecking away at some music. Unfortunately, I have been running into a lot of technical issues over the past year or so. I planned to release the 2nd Lexi Karma project around Summer or Fall of last year and now it is the Summer of 2019 and it isn't even done. At least it's written out and synths and stuff are assigned. I want to redo a lot of the singing and there is a lot more mixing to be done. I have worked on stuff I want to release after all that too. I shouldn't be, it's sinful that I'm even considering it, but I'm doing it.
Webcomic
Believe it or not, I'm still trying to work on this too. I have drawn pretty much nothing but concept sketches. My main focus on this is the writing though. I am much more talented and passionate when it comes to writing than drawing. I come up with ideas for it almost every day. Sometimes I just genuinely exhaust myself to the point where I can't give it the focus the story deserves. More details on this in the distant future.
Okay well, that's it.
Summary:
General Life/ Mental Health - I have a bigger workload now than ever and my current living situation is stressful but measures are being taken to fix or cope with all of this and I'm doing just fine.
School - It is driving me bonkers and leaving me with no true days off but I graduate in Spring 2020.
Randomrings Channel - Clearly, I don't have much time to do these things but stay tuned anyway. I haven't given up on this. I write new ideas for "Gumflap" and "Late to the Party" pretty often.
Lexi Karma - I have run into many technical difficulties but I'm still inching towards new music coming out as soon as I can get it to a point where it doesn't sound awful.
3/25/2019
Whining About State of Play March 2019
Today, Sony released their first ever PlayStation "State of Play" livestream, which is supposed to be their equivalent of Nintendo's "Nintendo Direct". I think I found a list of all of the games touched on here and now I am going to talk about my thoughts on them similarly to my OGIGACA (Only Games I Give a Crap About) posts. I will probably add anything new and particularly interesting to the OGIGACA revisited post towards the end of the year or early 2020 depending on what happens. Fair warning: I do not have any VR peripherals and I am not really interested in the medium. I know firsthand that there is fun to be had with VR games but I have yet to see or play anything up my street. So I am pretty closed-minded when it comes to VR games, as you will soon see.
BLOOD AND TRUTH
excitement: 0/5
Blood and Truth is a game that wishes it was a James Bond movie.
VR FPS with mo-cap trying to do some James Bond stuff. Don't care. Next.
CONCRETE GENIE
excitement: 0/5
Concrete Genie is a very artsy game about an artist bringing a grim city back to life with a magic paintbrush.
There was not much in the trailer I saw that fully explained the gameplay. As visually impressive as the game looks and how it seems to be using those visuals to actually affect the gameplay and tell a coherent story, nothing seems engaging enough for me to care as a video-game enthusiast.
CRASH TEAM RACING: NITRO FUELED
excitement: 2/5
Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled is a PS4 remake of Crash Team Racing for the original PlayStation.
There were many things that pissed me off about the N. Sane Trilogy. One was that there was an unskippable opening to the game that featured an HD polygonal model of Crash that looked great and you have to watch him get skewered into a photo-realistic fursuit. Another thing that pissed me off was that they flubbed a lot more than they improved in terms of general gameplay and somehow menu design. One last thing: it reminded me that Activision still owns Crash Bandicoot. After the financial and commercial success of the N. Sane Trilogy, I figured they would do something else to pee on Crash Bandicoot's grave but I was not sure what. I will never side with Activision in the grand scheme of things but I am going to give Beenox the benefit of the doubt. Beenox is known for a lot of shovelware and some Skylanders stuff but the exact same was the case for Toys for Bob who developed the remakes of the original trilogies for Crash and Spyro. I also really like that they added polygonal models for Nitro Fueled because I really did not like the vast majority of the visual "upgrades" in N. Sane Trilogy. The realistic-but-not style is still in the game in a general sense but the option for the characters to not look like this is a really nice touch. I don't think what is publicly known about Nitro Fueled is enough to sell me on the game yet, especially because I don't like giving Activision money and I already have the original CTR on my PS3. If they do more with it that I find interesting, I may consider actually buying this one. On the other hand, I have literally already played this one since it is a remake of an already pretty well-made PS1 game. Time will tell.
DAYS GONE
excitement: 0/5
Days Gone seems to be another cinematic shooter.
Everyone is bored with these right? Aren't we all done with these? I couldn't find much on the gameplay and the story that the game is based on looks pretty fucking boring. More accurately, it's nothing I haven't seen before. The problem with making your video games more like movies with real people and motion capture is that you still have to do something that separates it from being a movie, otherwise you are just making a movie with physical, interactive rules. Maybe there is something I am missing but I highly doubt it.
EVERYBODY'S GOLF
excitement: 0/5
Everybody's Golf is what you think it is.
VR bores me almost as much as golf does. Next.
FALCON AGE
excitement: 0/5
Falcon Age is a game where you raise a bird.
VR and crafting. No thanks. Next.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S VR: HELP WANTED
excitement: FUCK OFF/5
Can we PLEASE be done with this?!?
I have no interest in FNAF and I CERTAINLY have no interest in a VR edition of that. If there is such a thing as negative interest that goes beyond general disdain or apprehension, that's what I have for this. NEXT!!!
IRON MAN VR
excitement: 0/5
Iron Man VR is a VR game where you play as Iron Man.
It looks like it is trying to cash in on the MCU rendition of Iron Man. A game where you control Iron Man and do Iron Man things should be fun by default but it doesn't look like anyone knows how to do it and make it fun, probably because every major attempt at this I can think of is either a game that is not an Iron Man game specifically and the MCU is still an unrelenting media success. The little gameplay shown looks pretty bland. There are games like this you can play on your phone for free with VR technology that don't interrupt themselves with one-liners and 360-degree cutscenes. Definitely skipping this one. Next.
JUPITER & MARS
excitement: 0/5
Jupiter & Mars seems to be a story-driven adventure game starring two dolphins named Jupiter and Mars.
Very, very pretty but nothing enticing beyond that. The thing with VR games is that a game might still sort of passively pique my interest with something more visual or story-reliant but in a VR game trying both, I don't see much room for focus enough to make it that interesting. But now I'm just bitching about VR. This definitely does not look bad, it just is not something I find particularly interesting.
MINI-MECH MAYHEM
excitement: 1/5
Mini-Mech Mayhem is a game where you play games. You design a player mech and then sit at a little table where you and a few other people can play some kind of strategy game together. It looks kind of like X-COM but instead of facing a wave of aliens, you face other players' soldiers.
This is one of the few VR games that I think would just be a cool idea without VR. The game within the game seems more complicated than I expected from a cutesy VR game called "Mini-Mech Mayhem". I'm not really stoked for it or anything but, and this is going to sound incredibly pessimistic, I'm interested to see if it flops or completely falls off the radar. I hope that's not the case for the developers' sakes. At the same time, I am not buying this day one unless something really thwaps me in the face. I am assuming you can play this without VR. If that's the case, I am somewhat interested in it but mostly just curious if it has more than what's on the surface in the final product. Otherwise, I would probably say excitement 0/5.
MORTAL KOMBAT 11
excitement: 0/5
Mortal Kombat 11 is a fighting game. I probably do not have to explain or introduce what this is.
It looks pretty crazy and silly. I gave it 0/5 excitement because I am not a huge fan of Mortal Kombat. I don't have a whole lot against it, just not a fan. I hope it fulfills whatever wishes fans of the series have for it. I'm sitting this one out. Again. As usual.
NO MAN'S SKY BEYOND
excitement: 0/5
No Man's Sky Beyond is a free update to No Man's Sky. It allegedly will have actual online multiplayer this time along with a lot of stuff I would have to care about No Man's Sky to give a shit about.
No Man's Sky has always been a huge disappointing trainwreck. A lot of people have been vouching for it after that giant update they did recently but I still just don't see it being any fun. The design of the game as a whole really did not change enough for me to justify ever buying it. Passive multiplayer is not going to sway my opinion on what is already a Frankenstein creation of a game.
OBSERVATION
excitement: 1/5
Observation is a game where you get to control a space station. Not as a character but directly. As normal games would have you controlling a character or controlling a character controlling the station, you as the player are personified in the game as the station itself.
That idea is pretty cool in its own right. I could not find very much gameplay at all but it reminds me of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I am curious to see what kind of game comes from such a concept and whether or not it will actually be fun. I'm probably not going to actively follow it every day or anything but I hope the idea is fleshed out enough to be as cool as it initially seems.
READYSET HEROES
excitement: 1/5
Readyset Heroes is Gauntlet for little kids. The twist that separates it from most top-down dungeon action-RPG's is that other co-op groups can be in the same dungeon as you. At the end of these dungeons, you can fight other groups. The faster you get to the end of the dungeon, the more powerful you will become against your opposing explorers.
I don't know what it is but something about the overall presentation of this game rubs me the wrong way. The character designs and their Fortnite-esque animations look really cheap to me. The game doesn't necessarily look like complete shit but nothing about the physics or visuals seem to be very exciting. The idea is cool but I think it would be better suited for something like actual Gauntlet or something like Divinity - Original Sin.
TABLE OF TALES: THE CROOKED CROWN
excitement: 0/5
Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown is another VR game where you play a game within a game. You control board pieces and they attack other pieces on a constantly morphing, enchanted game table.
Another game that looks like a decent enough idea but it is VR and it makes it instantly exponentially less interesting. Next.
TROVER SAVES THE UNIVERSE
excitement: 1/5
Trover Saves the Universe is a VR adventure game written, voiced, and directed by Justin Roiland. A creature with two eyeholes has stolen your two dogs and put them in his eyeholes to give him devastating power. The world is mad at you and your dogs. A smaller eyehole creature is hired to get you to save the universe from this eyehole monster.
I really like Justin Roiland's work and his personality really shines through in this game but I just don't care about VR as much as he does. It looks like a very entertaining and clever ride and I am glad it exists. It's still... just... VR.
VACATION SIMULATOR
excitement: 0/5
Vacation Simulator is almost exactly what it sounds like.
At least it looks stylized and has a silly backstory to what you are doing. I definitely do not want it but I respect it to a degree. I would say "next" but there were no more games touched on in the livestream to my knowledge.
Overall, I think the State of Play was just as serviceable as Nintendo Direct. The problem here is just that none of the titles were very enticing. Maybe some of it is just personal preference but most of what was shown looked outright bland and tasteless to me. I probably won't talk about all of these in OGIGACA Revisited this year because it would just be a waste of both my time and yours.
BLOOD AND TRUTH
excitement: 0/5
Blood and Truth is a game that wishes it was a James Bond movie.
VR FPS with mo-cap trying to do some James Bond stuff. Don't care. Next.
CONCRETE GENIE
excitement: 0/5
Concrete Genie is a very artsy game about an artist bringing a grim city back to life with a magic paintbrush.
There was not much in the trailer I saw that fully explained the gameplay. As visually impressive as the game looks and how it seems to be using those visuals to actually affect the gameplay and tell a coherent story, nothing seems engaging enough for me to care as a video-game enthusiast.
CRASH TEAM RACING: NITRO FUELED
excitement: 2/5
Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled is a PS4 remake of Crash Team Racing for the original PlayStation.
There were many things that pissed me off about the N. Sane Trilogy. One was that there was an unskippable opening to the game that featured an HD polygonal model of Crash that looked great and you have to watch him get skewered into a photo-realistic fursuit. Another thing that pissed me off was that they flubbed a lot more than they improved in terms of general gameplay and somehow menu design. One last thing: it reminded me that Activision still owns Crash Bandicoot. After the financial and commercial success of the N. Sane Trilogy, I figured they would do something else to pee on Crash Bandicoot's grave but I was not sure what. I will never side with Activision in the grand scheme of things but I am going to give Beenox the benefit of the doubt. Beenox is known for a lot of shovelware and some Skylanders stuff but the exact same was the case for Toys for Bob who developed the remakes of the original trilogies for Crash and Spyro. I also really like that they added polygonal models for Nitro Fueled because I really did not like the vast majority of the visual "upgrades" in N. Sane Trilogy. The realistic-but-not style is still in the game in a general sense but the option for the characters to not look like this is a really nice touch. I don't think what is publicly known about Nitro Fueled is enough to sell me on the game yet, especially because I don't like giving Activision money and I already have the original CTR on my PS3. If they do more with it that I find interesting, I may consider actually buying this one. On the other hand, I have literally already played this one since it is a remake of an already pretty well-made PS1 game. Time will tell.
DAYS GONE
excitement: 0/5
Days Gone seems to be another cinematic shooter.
Everyone is bored with these right? Aren't we all done with these? I couldn't find much on the gameplay and the story that the game is based on looks pretty fucking boring. More accurately, it's nothing I haven't seen before. The problem with making your video games more like movies with real people and motion capture is that you still have to do something that separates it from being a movie, otherwise you are just making a movie with physical, interactive rules. Maybe there is something I am missing but I highly doubt it.
EVERYBODY'S GOLF
excitement: 0/5
Everybody's Golf is what you think it is.
VR bores me almost as much as golf does. Next.
FALCON AGE
excitement: 0/5
Falcon Age is a game where you raise a bird.
VR and crafting. No thanks. Next.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S VR: HELP WANTED
excitement: FUCK OFF/5
Can we PLEASE be done with this?!?
I have no interest in FNAF and I CERTAINLY have no interest in a VR edition of that. If there is such a thing as negative interest that goes beyond general disdain or apprehension, that's what I have for this. NEXT!!!
IRON MAN VR
excitement: 0/5
Iron Man VR is a VR game where you play as Iron Man.
It looks like it is trying to cash in on the MCU rendition of Iron Man. A game where you control Iron Man and do Iron Man things should be fun by default but it doesn't look like anyone knows how to do it and make it fun, probably because every major attempt at this I can think of is either a game that is not an Iron Man game specifically and the MCU is still an unrelenting media success. The little gameplay shown looks pretty bland. There are games like this you can play on your phone for free with VR technology that don't interrupt themselves with one-liners and 360-degree cutscenes. Definitely skipping this one. Next.
JUPITER & MARS
excitement: 0/5
Jupiter & Mars seems to be a story-driven adventure game starring two dolphins named Jupiter and Mars.
Very, very pretty but nothing enticing beyond that. The thing with VR games is that a game might still sort of passively pique my interest with something more visual or story-reliant but in a VR game trying both, I don't see much room for focus enough to make it that interesting. But now I'm just bitching about VR. This definitely does not look bad, it just is not something I find particularly interesting.
MINI-MECH MAYHEM
excitement: 1/5
Mini-Mech Mayhem is a game where you play games. You design a player mech and then sit at a little table where you and a few other people can play some kind of strategy game together. It looks kind of like X-COM but instead of facing a wave of aliens, you face other players' soldiers.
This is one of the few VR games that I think would just be a cool idea without VR. The game within the game seems more complicated than I expected from a cutesy VR game called "Mini-Mech Mayhem". I'm not really stoked for it or anything but, and this is going to sound incredibly pessimistic, I'm interested to see if it flops or completely falls off the radar. I hope that's not the case for the developers' sakes. At the same time, I am not buying this day one unless something really thwaps me in the face. I am assuming you can play this without VR. If that's the case, I am somewhat interested in it but mostly just curious if it has more than what's on the surface in the final product. Otherwise, I would probably say excitement 0/5.
MORTAL KOMBAT 11
excitement: 0/5
Mortal Kombat 11 is a fighting game. I probably do not have to explain or introduce what this is.
It looks pretty crazy and silly. I gave it 0/5 excitement because I am not a huge fan of Mortal Kombat. I don't have a whole lot against it, just not a fan. I hope it fulfills whatever wishes fans of the series have for it. I'm sitting this one out. Again. As usual.
NO MAN'S SKY BEYOND
excitement: 0/5
No Man's Sky Beyond is a free update to No Man's Sky. It allegedly will have actual online multiplayer this time along with a lot of stuff I would have to care about No Man's Sky to give a shit about.
No Man's Sky has always been a huge disappointing trainwreck. A lot of people have been vouching for it after that giant update they did recently but I still just don't see it being any fun. The design of the game as a whole really did not change enough for me to justify ever buying it. Passive multiplayer is not going to sway my opinion on what is already a Frankenstein creation of a game.
OBSERVATION
excitement: 1/5
Observation is a game where you get to control a space station. Not as a character but directly. As normal games would have you controlling a character or controlling a character controlling the station, you as the player are personified in the game as the station itself.
That idea is pretty cool in its own right. I could not find very much gameplay at all but it reminds me of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I am curious to see what kind of game comes from such a concept and whether or not it will actually be fun. I'm probably not going to actively follow it every day or anything but I hope the idea is fleshed out enough to be as cool as it initially seems.
READYSET HEROES
excitement: 1/5
Readyset Heroes is Gauntlet for little kids. The twist that separates it from most top-down dungeon action-RPG's is that other co-op groups can be in the same dungeon as you. At the end of these dungeons, you can fight other groups. The faster you get to the end of the dungeon, the more powerful you will become against your opposing explorers.
I don't know what it is but something about the overall presentation of this game rubs me the wrong way. The character designs and their Fortnite-esque animations look really cheap to me. The game doesn't necessarily look like complete shit but nothing about the physics or visuals seem to be very exciting. The idea is cool but I think it would be better suited for something like actual Gauntlet or something like Divinity - Original Sin.
TABLE OF TALES: THE CROOKED CROWN
excitement: 0/5
Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown is another VR game where you play a game within a game. You control board pieces and they attack other pieces on a constantly morphing, enchanted game table.
Another game that looks like a decent enough idea but it is VR and it makes it instantly exponentially less interesting. Next.
TROVER SAVES THE UNIVERSE
excitement: 1/5
Trover Saves the Universe is a VR adventure game written, voiced, and directed by Justin Roiland. A creature with two eyeholes has stolen your two dogs and put them in his eyeholes to give him devastating power. The world is mad at you and your dogs. A smaller eyehole creature is hired to get you to save the universe from this eyehole monster.
I really like Justin Roiland's work and his personality really shines through in this game but I just don't care about VR as much as he does. It looks like a very entertaining and clever ride and I am glad it exists. It's still... just... VR.
VACATION SIMULATOR
excitement: 0/5
Vacation Simulator is almost exactly what it sounds like.
At least it looks stylized and has a silly backstory to what you are doing. I definitely do not want it but I respect it to a degree. I would say "next" but there were no more games touched on in the livestream to my knowledge.
Overall, I think the State of Play was just as serviceable as Nintendo Direct. The problem here is just that none of the titles were very enticing. Maybe some of it is just personal preference but most of what was shown looked outright bland and tasteless to me. I probably won't talk about all of these in OGIGACA Revisited this year because it would just be a waste of both my time and yours.
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