Zeusthecat

I think my opinion pretty much falls in line with Vainamoinen's regarding Toy Story 1. I still like it okay but this movie does very little for me now. I tend to like this movie less and less the more I see it and I've seen it quite a number of times at this point. I remember originally going to see this in theaters and being blown away by the visuals but man it looks rough by today's standards. Without that going for it, there isn't a whole lot else that makes this movie special aside from some good voice acting and a clever core premise. But given that that core premise has come to define almost all of Pixar's movies and seeing what they've built from this template, I think there is a certain amount of respect I will always hold for Toy Story. The good: the premise of toys that come to life whenever people aren't looking is still really cool. The way the different toys interact, the heirarchies they form, the way they pass time when they aren't being played with, and their undying devotion to their owner is interesting. The bad: their internal logic is all over the place. They set up the rules of the universe and the way toys work and then throw all of that out the window throughout the movie. Buzz Lightyear's character doesn't even make the slightest bit of sense. He doesn't know he's a toy but freezes into toy form whenever Andy is around. He sits there and has his lifeless body played with by a child and still has these delusions that he is an actual space man. He's a fucking idiot. One would assume that this is the way all Buzz Lightyears are (as evidenced by Toy Story 2) and that would be a huge issue if it weren't for the fact that they still follow toy rules when people are looking. Also, the toys should have never revealed themselves to Sid. They really shot themselves in the foot plotwise by doing that because it lessens the tension from some of the other scenes knowing that they could pull that ace out of their pocket if they wanted to. And the worst one for me was the whole magic flying shit at the end. Now I know they try to sugar coat it and insinuate that Buzz was really falling in style but no, he fucking flew. And it was stupid. If you want to have magic in your movie, fine. But don't spend the whole movie telling me that there is nothing magical beyond toys that are secretly alive and then at the end change your mind so you can have a flashy, schlocky way to get the toys back to their owner. At a fundamental level, I do think this is a good and important movie. But it has not aged well and as an adult, I find it one of the more difficult Pixar movies to enjoy these days.

Since I started it on the evening of December 31st, I guess I can add Metal Gear Solid 5 to my list right below my GOTY, Kerbal Space Program. It probably has the best open world gameplay I've ever experienced. And such a shockingly different game from 4. It's gonna be hard to play any other stealth game after this because everything about the sneaking around and infiltrating is tuned to perfection.

Yeah, I wasn't even that invested in the characters and that final scene still just utterly blew me away. That fight was an absolute masterpiece, which makes some of the missteps all the more frustrating. And Synth, I am strongly considering getting that HD collection. The stuff I liked in 4 was just so goddamn good and I really want some more of that. And another side note, I really liked how act 2 played out and thinking on it more, that might have been the best part of the game. Seeing those soldiers start to recognize that I was helping them throughout the mission and stop going after me entirely after awhile was just such a great touch. Especially knowing that it wasn't a scripted thing and was entirely the result of my actions.

I went ahead and played through this game again to snag a bunch of trophies (since my original playthrough was before trophies existed) and to re-familiarize myself with this series a bit before jumping into V. Overall, I liked this game but it had some really frustrating issues. I'm usually one to love cutscenes in games and it's one of my favorite things about FF games but this game was just barfing out half hour cutscenes every 5 minutes. I've not played any other Metal Gears either so it was all quite convoluted and confusing when the action part of the cutscene ended and they went on a 15 minute diatribe about some obscure thing involving 3 other characters I've never even heard of. Even if I was super invested in this series I'm pretty sure I would still be pretty overwhelmed by the constant talking and explaining and talking and explaining. And when someone died, they didn't just die. They spent half an hour giving some dumb speech and acting all dramatic while Snake just stood there quietly, listening to all their monologues and not saying a word (the Big Boss scene at the end was the absolute worst). They weren't all bad though. In fact, this game has some of the best cinematics I've seen (especially that Raiden cinematic at the end of act 2). It was just really uneven. One other main complaint I have is pretty much what syntheticgerbil ranted about on the previous page of this thread. I don't have much experience with Kojima games so I don't really view him with any of the reverence that a lot of other people have for him. I know he is a well respected developer and has created one of video games' most beloved franchises. But coming out of this game, it's hard to see him as some brilliant visionary when so much of the stuff in his game looks like it was designed by a horny 12 year old. There are some really interesting things going on in this game and I really love how fleshed out and developed the whole universe is but the constant injection of exposed breasts and crotch shots just feels really out of place. For me, less is more with this kind of stuff. I don't mind some sexiness where it makes sense but none of it makes any sense here. It's pretty gross that the five main bosses are really all super hot babes that act all horny and orgasmic when you defeat their beast forms. The only justification I can see for why that needed to be the case was so we could get a whole bunch of camel toe shots. I've never seen so much love and attention put into virtual camel toes before. On the gameplay side, this game was very Solid (teehee) for exactly the first half and was merely okay after that. Act 1 through the first half of act 3 are all quite excellent and I really enjoyed those segments. But then there were a bunch of turret sequences to close off act 3 and acts 4 and 5 had virtually no human enemies to interact with. Without human enemies, the possibility space in this game shrinks immensely. Sneaking isn't as enjoyable, there is no concept of a 'non-lethal' option, and the non-human enemies are just not that interesting. It became way too much of an action game in the last half and the only thing that saved it ironically, were the cutscenes and story elements. And that last fight on top of the tanker was pretty phenomenal. Even with these complaints I have to honestly say that I enjoyed this game a lot and am very intrigued by this series. As much as I didn't like the overabundance of cutscenes, the overt perviness, and the second half gameplay shift there is something really enticing about this universe. The production values and music are top notch and during some of the better cutscenes and gameplay moments, I found myself in awe at what I was experiencing. There really isn't anything else quite like it. Those first few scenes with the beasts were terrifying and the visuals and sound effects with those creatures were very powerful (but that was eventually undercut by the dumb "hot babe" angle). Pretty much every scene with Raiden was amazing and reminiscent of some of my favorite anime. And there were a good number of legitimate emotional moments. And also, the fart and poop jokes were pretty great. But it's me so of course I enjoyed that stuff. So yeah, I think I can appreciate where a lot of people are coming from with their respect for Kojima. It doesn't all work for me but most of it does and I can forgive some of the perviness if that's what I have to sit through to experience all the other great stuff. I hear V is the polar opposite as far as density of cutscenes goes so with that issue it sounds like it's more specific to 4, which I can forgive since 4 was supposed to provide tons of resolution to all of the various plot threads. And on a final note, I started Ground Zeroes the other day and was completely dumbstruck by how much graphics have improved between 4 and V. I think it is my first case of a current gen game that seems like a drastic graphical improvement over the previous generation game. 4 was gorgeous when it first came out but man that new Fox engine is just astounding.

Nice screenshot Nappi, I really need to get back on this and make a trip to Eve myself for all that delicious science. On the battery thing, I thought the engines had some kind of alternator and would charge your batteries if you activated them for a bit. I could be completely misremembering though. Also, if the ship had been Kerbaled, I wonder if you could manually extend your panels during an EVA. I've never tried it myself but it seems like something that the Engineer class could do at the very least.

Well, I ended up beating this last week and really enjoyed it! After my last post here I put a whole bunch of time in and methodically made my way through each area while taking a few breaks here and there to grind out levels and upgrade weapons. Getting the lava bow was a godsend and things got much more manageable with that weapon by my side. Additionally, I picked up the Uchigatana and got it upgraded to Quality 4 which resulted in crazy amounts of damage since I was balancing my Strength and Dexterity stats. So between that and the lava bow I was able to handle pretty much everything that the game threw at me without much issue. I still died a ton and had to resort to some cheap tricks here and there (notably on the 3-2 boss, one on one those guys are cake but when they are both out they just both pursued me relentlessly every time), but it wasn't so bad and I finally started to learn how to play most effectively with my specific build, focusing on blocking and backing up rather than trying to parry or roll around an enemy. Learning all of the different enemies and how they attack and what their weaknesses were was my favorite part of this game. I loved the sensation of struggling to get through an area and then once you have it figured out, running back through and steamrolling everyone with your newly refined skills. Immediately after finishing the game I started new game plus and beat 1-1 again. I've put it down at this point and probably won't pick it up again unless someone wants to run co-op in new game plus or if I get through my other games and feel like putting some more time in. I'll definitely be moving on to Dark Souls in the near future. These games rock.

I beat Heavy Rain last week and quite enjoyed it. This game had some issues with both the story and the controls and through a good portion of the game, I thought I had it all figured out. But they were just smart enough with the story and the different characters that I still ended up being surprised by some of the twists. By the time the credits rolled, I was quite satisfied with the game I had played and was even tempted to start over and make some different choices. I did at least replay the last chapter to get a different ending which was just as satisfying as the ending I originally got.

I'm still mostly playing games from previous years so if we're only counting games that officially released in 2015, then my top (and only) 4 are: Kerbal Space Program Destiny: The Taken King Rocket League Super Mario Maker My most hated game: Borderlands: The Presequel

I saw this and loved it. I think the original Star Wars movies were some of the first movies I ever watched as a kid and I've watched them countless times since so I am squarely in the 'lifelong Star Wars fan' camp. I appreciated all the callbacks and retreads quite a bit in this one actually because for me, those are defining elements of Star Wars. Big Death Star weapon, young person discovering the force, escaping from a miserable life on a desert planet, etc. Seeing those things just set me at ease and made me feel much more comfortable about where these movies are going relative to what happened with the prequel trilogy. I know a lot of people wanted a different kind of movie that took more risks and wasn't as Star Wars-y but I'm glad they played it pretty safe with this one. With all the super high expectations going in, it would have been pretty easy to fuck this up but I thought it ended up holding together pretty nicely. I think what ultimately made it work for me though were all of the little details and plot points that were subverted within that familiar framewrok. I was actually really impressed by the big surprise that Rey was the force sensitive person. Every trailer leading up to the movie and the freaking movie poster itself shows Finn with Luke's lightsaber and from their marketing I was so convinced that that was a foregone conclusion that it wasn't until she actually started figuring out how to use the force that I realized that maybe I had been had by their marketing. I also really liked that she was able to start figuring out how to do some of these things without a Jedi master to guide her. That was actually a pretty big risk to take with this movie considering how strictly The Formula mandates always needing a master to teach someone the ways of the force (and ironically, one of the few risks they do take with The Formula is one that a lot of people seem to be bothered by because it doesn't stick to The Formula). It makes her special compared to all the Jedi we've seen before and I hope they do some more interesting things with that. Like maybe she is capable of siphoning off people's force powers (could explain how she was able to beat Kylo Ren) or is just so combat proficient already (she was pretty badass with that bo staff) that any further enhancement from the force just makes her unstoppable. And I freaking love that it is only after she discovered her powers and beat the shit out of Kylo that she finds Luke and then the movie just ends without him saying a word. As much as it stuck to The Formula, it feels like they deviated in some pretty key ways that leaves a lot of doors open for some new unexpected stuff. I have my fingers crossed that Finn and Rey turn out to be brother and sister (everyone is expecting it to be Kylo and Rey but given certain expectations that have been subverted so far, I don't think it would be a stretch that Finn and Rey are actually siblings and were separated at birth with Finn going to Stormtrooper school and Rey getting abandoned on Jakku) but it is actually the sister that has super force powers this time. There were parts of this movie that weren't great and could have been better and I think a lot of the criticisms are fair. Parts of it are corny and don't make much sense and a lot of the bad guys are kind of goofy but that's pretty par for the course with Star Wars. I think this movie did exactly what it needed to do and they effortlessly passed the baton to the new cast. I was actually surprised that, aside from Han Solo and Chewie, the rest of the original cast were barely even shown.

My wife picked up a pot brownie at the dispensary the other day along with the standard stuff we usually get. I just ate my portion and am hoping it enhances the rest of my Heavy Rain playthrough tonight. I've never had the best luck with pot brownies in the past and usually don't end up feeling anything. But I've also never had one that was quite this potent before.

Maybe the ARG is just a giant distraction. It just seems too intricate and too all over the place and too obvious. I would love it if they kept dragging this out and then randomly one day, just announced the actual game to no fanfare. That seems to be the one thing nobody expects. But then in a twist, Frog Fractions 1.5 is secretly the sequel to Frog Fractions 2.

They finally put the season 2 episodes of Steven Universe on Hulu. I still have a few left to go but just wow. I did not expect this show to be quite this good. I've also been making my way through Adventure Time and am mostly through season 3 now. It is also the best. Tree Trunks is one of the most brilliant characters I've ever seen and I love her to death.

Yeah, sounds like it would be most enjoyable to just play the game in a straightforward way and ignore all that World Tendency stuff. I am really enjoying all the messages and ghosts and stuff and I would hate to have to turn that off and jump through all those hoops. I'll also keep an eye out for those lizards. I don't recall noticing any of them yet but now that I know they are important I'll keep an eye out.

Funny, my co-worker who has been trying to get me to play these games for the last couple years has said the same thing about 3-1 being one of his favorite video game environments ever. I did notice those little fire lizards in 2-1 that hang out on the walls and drop down when you get close. Are those the crystal lizards you're talking about? I think I remember them giving me the material I needed to upgrade my 'Quality' weapons. I figured I could just run back and farm them as much as I want but if they only respawn after a single boss kill in that area I guess maybe I need to be more picky in which items I choose to upgrade with those materials (assuming there aren't other enemies that drop them too). I'm not averse to using a guide for certain things since they aren't very well explained in this game and failure can mean a lot of very frustrating back-tracking. I am generally enjoying just going into each new area blind and learning the new enemies and getting familiar with things naturally. But when it comes to leveling and upgrading, I have started consulting my co-worker to make sure I don't do anything too stupid with my stats and weapons. That is not a type of trial and error I find too fun and beyond randomly picking a few stats to focus on when I started and experimenting with the first few areas, I do want to make sure I have at least a somewhat competent build as I progress forward. So as I get further in and more familiar with all the stats and mechanics, I'll probably resort more and more to guides to make sure I'm not making dumb choices that end up wasting my time and causing frustration. Also, for the 2-1 boss, I watched a walkthrough before attempting it. I was pretty low on herbs and had no arrows going in and the thought of going in blind and learning the mechanics by trial and error sounded absolutely horrid, given the amount of backtracking I would need to do after each failure. But 1-1 boss was right near the entrance so I did that one naturally. It may not be the 'purest' approach but if failing on a boss means having to go through almost the entire level again (the 2-1 shortcuts still required navigating through the bulk of the level each time), there is just nothing fun about that. I hear it's much better in Dark Souls. I guess I'm technically playing online because I'm seeing all the messages and blood spots but I haven't experienced any PVP or seen any other real people. My co-worker says he might level a new character over the next couple days and see if we can summon each other since there should be a fairly small pool of people playing. That will probably be the extent of my online play. And unless this game blows me away I was planning to just do a single playthrough and save any deep dives for Dark Souls or Dark Souls 2. Sorry for the multiple long-ish posts... this game just started to grab me and I'm excited to talk about it.

NEVER!!! Okay, maybe eventually if I just can't make it work. But I think it is starting to work for me and I kind of like the idea of beating this game with a non-ideal build. It seems to be in the spirit of these games to do so. I'll keep an open mind but I'm pretty determined to make this work and I'm fine with putting up with a lot of frustration if need be.

Dead thread redemption!! (I hope this is the "right" Demon's Souls thread) I finally started really digging into this last night. I've been really intrigued by everyone's love for Dark Souls and the like but I always prefer to start from the beginning of beloved franchises to experience their evolution over iterations and to gain a better appreciation and understanding of what makes a given franchise special. Up until last night, it had been pretty rough going in this game. I went in blind and beat 1-1 fairly easily but then stalled for about a dozen hours after that. I experimented with several other areas, worked on grinding experience, and eventually cleared 2-1 but was till lukewarm on the game. I've come to also learn that I've apparently stacked the odds against myself a bit by going with Dex and Strength as my primary stats instead of something magic based or single stat based and I've mostly ignored my bow since I never bothered buying any arrows. So I've basically just been bumbling around like an idiot, dying a whole bunch, and learning through painful trial and error. But I decided to bring this one to the front of my rotation and put a solid three hours in last night. I think things are finally starting to come together. I've been grinding 4-1 with those rolling skeletons to stock up on herbs and arrows and level a few stats and items up and through that process I think I'm finally starting to get the proper rhythm down. I found that I could upgrade my battle axe and rapier to a 'Quality' version that balances Strength and Dex so my stat makeup is finally starting to bear some fruit, I put enough points into faith to get the basic healing spell as a fallback if I run out of herbs, and I've just generally started getting better at recognizing the various attack animations and how I should react. So I went from getting wrecked by those rolling skeletons to totally steam rolling them every time by the end of the night. After leveling and stocking up to a satisfactory level, I decided to take a stab at 3-1. So far so good. But those magic slinging guys that suck you in with their tentacles scare the shit out of me.

I honestly think Ewan Mcgregor's performance as Obi Wan is my favorite part of the prequel trilogy. There are so many problems with those movies obviously, but for me, Obi Wan was the one character that was done decently. I can't put my finger on exactly why, he just really worked for me.

For what it's worth, I feel the same way as you Twig. I mean, we have things like football, Thanksgiving, Hollywood movie star crap, and whatever other things one might typically identify as "American culture". I participate in some of it and find a lot of it dumb and pointless. But none of it has any meaning to me beyond "a thing that caught on at some point because a sizable portion of people propped it up as something important". Every now and again, even though I hate sports, I will watch the Super Bowl and we'll make some snacks or something. I guess that might be a good example of participating in American culture but to me it feels more like playing pretend (i.e. pretending a football game has any real importance and getting invested into it) and it could totally cease to be a thing in our country and I wouldn't care one bit. Maybe if I didn't loathe so many things about our country and what it deems important (seriously, almost everything I see associated as "American" is just immediately off-putting), I might find more of a sense of belonging and understand what it means to be part of a culture and for it to feel meaningful and important.

I just read that and kind of agree with the assessment. I'm still waiting patiently to see what kind of additional content they end up putting out as a result of switching to this whole "use microtransactions to fund additional content" model. So I'm trying to hold off any judgment until we actually get some of that. But yeah, some strange decisions here to be sure.

We have one of those water dispensers on our fridge with the filter but Arizona water is still hot garbage. So I just put lemon juice in every glass of water. I also get a lot of kidney stones partially because of our shitty water (according to my urologist). So yeah, fuck Arizona water. I try to go exclusively Kirkland Signature when I can.

I know, I can't stop staring at it! There is absolutely no way a thing like that gets through all that QA and into my wife's hands (ahem) unintentionally. It's kind of beautiful actually.

My wife just showed me this lovely new underarm deodorant she just got... ...and the directions on the back.

Yeah Blambo, I thought it was a good post and I always like hearing your perspective on things.