Mortal Kombat is one of the most successful fighting franchises in gaming history, with more than 10 games made there is no doubt that MK is big. Mortal Kombat X was released on April 7th of 2015; but how much is it worth the full price?
Neatherrealm is one of the very few companies that does story mode in their fighting games, they did it for MK9, Injustice and now for MKX continuing their trend of story heavy fighting games... I respect this move where most fighting games just focus on getting out a core and well functional fighting experience NRS is committed to tell a story in their games. In terms of MKX's story has a whole is in the "it's a'right" category... There was obviously thought put into the story to make it has accessible to newcomers and to have people get more engrossed into the MK universe, while the story is enjoyable and good enough to have me want to watch it all the way to the end but there are some very missed opportunities here and things that make me think "ok after this mk might need another reboot".
The story takes place after the events of MK9 Shao Kahn is dead, and the earthrealm fighters won... this time the story decides to play "memento" with it's structure by telling the story going back and forth between present time and the past, this right here is already a problem because it creates some confusion by showing characters that we never see and confusing us even more by making them dead before but now being alive and that kind of stuff, while not immersion breaking it does feel warped. We are also introduced to this new squad made of characters that are decedents of past MK characters like Cassie Cage (daughter of Johnny and Sonya), Takeda (Son of Kenshi) and the likes... these characters, although they did showed plenty of character and motivation through the story, I found them to be the least interesting part of it and although it could have been worst I think that the problem is that these characters are just overshadowed by the villains (Mileena, Erron Black, D'vorah, etc...); let me just say right here, that the mk villains have always been much more interesting than the heroes.
There is also plenty of offline content (at least compared to other fighting games in the market), there is a classic tower mode that is basically an arcade where you play has your character of choosing and watch their ending in it... and is very well done generally but I think it would have served better if the ending you get was completely disconnected from the canon of the story, it would feel like the story you got from arcade was much more yours.
There is also Test your Might witch is the controller macher, Test your Luck where you fight opponents with random modifiers, fun for a while but not for prolonged playtroughs, Endurance where you see how many matches you can win in a row, Survivor where you face opponents with the same health bar that replenishes after each fight and that's without mentioning the Living Towers witch are basically mini-arcades that changes with time where one changes every hour, one changes every day and the premier tower witch changes every week... is an interesting way to have you revisit the game at least once a week basically.
There is of course online mode, where you challenge other players online and prove your worth world wide, although I am not very good in fighting games in general I do enjoy them and know enough about them to at least put up a fight. There are many modes to play for online mode witch is really impressive considering it's just a fighting game but this is just prove of how much NRS does care about this franchise and to always make it the best that it can be, it may not be all great but it's commendable to do such a thing.
The Krypt is another great inclusion, I remember the crypt in past MK games and it was a great addition, but for this game that took it up a notch... it turns this mode not it's own mini-game, completed with jump scares and all, is hard to explain exactly why this is good but with just saying that it's own explorable labyrinth has you unlock collectables. Of course the Fatalities are gory has the new graphical leap forward makes this game the most brutal mk game out there.
Mortal Kombat X is a great fighting game with a good story if somewhat misguided with addition of new characters that are overshadowed by the situation, but the rest that the game has to offer plenty of content for single player and two player, it's a fun game worth it's price.
I am sorry for the long time I take between posts guys, but has some of you may already know, my web comic project takes primary priority in my book, that's not to say I don't wanna do reviews anymore is just that one thing is more of a priority than other.
I've wanted to do this review on MKX for a while but I was waiting for the release of Tanya before jumping in to the review (I could have waited for predator's release), finally one very big update: I have finally began to give color to the comic, I am currently 12 pages in, still plenty of color and details left that i'll have to get into very soon... I also plan to make a tutorial post about how I work on photoshop, I've been working on it for quite a while and I think I have most of the basics dominated!
Thank you again for toning in and stay active and on the look out for future updates guys!
Mad Max is a long existing franchise that I watched when my dad and uncle talked about while we where in a video store where we saw the DVD collection of the original 3 movies with Mel Gibson... quick thoughts? Mad Max 2 is the superior film while the other two are alright for what they are and I do respect them.
Now on to Fury Road, I'd say this is a very good and fun movie to watch... and that is really the just of it has I can't really add much to the rest. Has it comes is what I expected it to be by meeting my expectations with a simple plot and plenty of action scenes I couldn't have asked for more; so more than a review of Fury Road consider this my honest thoughts.
The story fallows series main character Max, a tormented soul in a post apocalyptic world after a collapse of oil and water... Max has his own story that is vaguely reveled through the story but at a very loose way that it´s pretty much irrelevant for the over aching plot of the movie witch is definitely the best way to handle it; of course the first movie WAS about that, but new audiences don´t know that. The story is fun but that is not the reason why you will like this movie, is about the flashy action scenes and special effect usage with every moment being full of adrenaline. Is almost like filmmakers knew about this and decided to just give what they have to give with this franchise... after all Mad Max 2 is the one movie most people remember from the classic trilogy and that was a very fun movie.
Fury Road meet my expectations when I saw it in theaters being what it set out to do, being a fun pop-corn action movie to shut your mind off and to enjoy the ride!
Babadook is an independent Australian horror movie, I may not have shown it but I love horror film has they are one of my favorite genres of film out there, so when I had a chance to check it out it! I heard my many people online that this is one of the best horror films of the modern times so I check it out and... well... it´s pretty good indeed but it wasn't great.
Let me elaborate about what I mean: The story fallows a widowed mother and her son in their hard life styles... the kid is very problematic by getting into trouble in school and the likes, the mother had suffered the loose of her husband leaving her along with the child and having a job she clearly does not enjoy. Things take a turn for the worst when the two decide to read a children´s book title "Babadook" and from there a journey through a world of schizophrenia and fear begin.
To be perfectly clear, I think this setting is perfect for a great suspense film and in many areas the movie success... although it kinda misses in the horror department, why? well let´s start by stating a very clear aspect of horror films: fear is subjective, in other words, something that´s scary for someone may not be for another and that is very well the case for me here. The movies depiction of loneliness, ambiance and vulnerability is spot on and I love it for that, however I don´t remember ever really being terrified by what I watched nor uncomfortable... if anything I was marveled by the movies execution in every regard.
I love the journey that I took with the movie, that would be the key component here, more than fear I was actually interested in where it was all going and how it was going to end... is like experiencing the world of a schizophrenic person in movie form. I only wish that the last act was little more intense because (without spoiling much) at that point it became very light hearted.
Babadook is a very good movie and if I had to give it a score it would be an 8 out of 10, the journey alone one for me worth the price of admission, the story it self is something I had seen other times before but it still felt fresh here because of it´s execution... I loved Babadook for the experience, not because it was scary!
A while ago the internet was blown by the news that Hideo Kojima (the now legendary game creator responsible for the Metal Gear franchise) has been unofficially fired from Konami, with his studio Kojima Productions being left in the hands of the publisher... including the IP, the FOX engine, etc...
This news really depressed the MGS fan base the most, because Kojima is the men who basically kept the whole franchise surviving with great entry after great entry and knowing that phantom pain may the the series last hoorah... even with Konami saying the Metal Gear series will continue. To me the real boomer is the cancellation of "Silent Hills" (witch I still feel like it's a stupid title BTW), it's playable teaser showed so much promise and understanding of the main source material that it could have actually worked; and with the talents of Kojima, Del Toro and Reedus there was plenty of hope for rejuvenating the franchise once again into something that brings a large audience into the survival horror camp.
We know little details of what actually happened and honestly I don't care to know; it really is a boomer to see the work of an artist thrown away because of some board deception or dispute or whatever the hell the one thing that we all noticed with the demo was potential... could it have been a bad game? the answer is we'll never know. So what happens to Silent Hill now? Konami has said that "they are determined to make more Silent Hill games" well woohoo Konami... what'cha gonna do? give it to Vatra Games again so the same dudes who said "bleh... the cult is boring, who cares!" make the next game? Earth to Konami: Downpour wasn't THAT good... is not terrible but... you know what I'll drop it...
I really don't know what else to say... P.T. has proven that there is hope for the franchise; I love Silent Hill so of course I want to see a good new entry in the franchise because let's face it, the last good SH game we got was SH4... and that was the last official Team Silent contribution to the series before being disbanded by Konami...
Bloodborne was released for the PlayStation 4 on March 2015, it has received critical acclaim from many critics and players around the world... but what is the real secret of it's success? Is it just the name and legacy of From Software? Is it Miyasaki's capacity to create interesting worlds?
The story takes place in the goth-like city of Yharnam; where all of it's inhabitants have been infected by a decease that transforms them into monsters, your character must uncover the core of the issue and solve it in order to survive. The entirety of the game is centered on exploring and unveiling it's secrets yourself with little help... you are given your tools, little explanation and context to go along and you are immediately sent to venture into the dangers of Yharnam; the most engrossing aspect of Bloodborne is how it trust you has a player to know what to do and how to defend yourself. Little handholding.
In terms of difficulty, well... it's hard indeed, but I never found it unfair I am the kind of player that takes my time when in combat I like to study the opponent and figuring out the best way to counter attack... Bloodborne is all about knowing when is the best opportunity to strike and of course leveling up your character. I don't know about Dark Souls because I never played it, but I indeed died a lot and with each game over screen I figured I was having fun just trying to overcome the brick wall I encountered.
The art direction in this game is great too, it creates a great sense of loneliness and hopelessness that only a visionary with a clear idea of how his world looks can come up with; I have the feeling that Miyazaki is the kind of guy that has an specific vision of how his worlds look like. Bloodborne is a great game full of action and suspense, there is room for improvements (like maybe more weapon types) but that is really it, I have little to complaint about. It´s a game worth picking up if you want a good action adventure to sink your teeth into; but I warn you that it´s difficulty is not for the faint of heart.
I would love to show more actual comic pages but has you may be able to tell I am still learning my ropes around photoshot CC 2014, I´ve been learning via tutorials online and they have been very helpful so far, some things are different in the way it´s all depicted in the window and well... let´s just say it´s taking me a little bit of time getting used to it. Drawing on a wacom has never really been my forte has I prefer the pencil and paper more to draw my characters.
While I keep working on this I wanna do another marathon and I have a few ideas, but if you have any suggestions I would be glad to hear it and to oblige if I can... some of you have already voiced me what you want me to talk about via PM but don't be shy to comment in the comment section.
Released on January 29th 1964, Dr. Strangelove is a black comedy film by the famous Stanley Kubrick... even though it's portrayed has one of the best comedies of it's kind, I kinda don't find it all that funny; although I do indeed consider it a very entertaining movie to watch nevertheless.
The story is basically a satire of the cold war; a US air force general orders a massive nuclear strike against the soviet union, with the order being basically completely out of control from high politicians (like the president of the US) because of the "Plan R", thus laying to his men and using it has a ploy to attack the Russians to prevent them from "polluting the American's precious bodily fluids". Is all a race against time to prevent a nuclear apocalypse.
Now the first thing I love is the setting, the cold war at it's hype where the fears of the world at the time were coming together and the portrayal of all the characters are great to give an excellent mood to the time period... it works has a cautionary tail of humanity's self destructive tendencies and psychotic nature in times of fear and uncertainty. (It all kinda reminds me of the Fallout franchise)
However, the films humor just sometimes didn't get to me... there were times where I indeed found jokes and scenes funny, but most of the time I was just paying attention to the plot and wondering "omg how are they gonna get out of this one". The characters are pretty interesting too and the ending was actually funny for the last 10 minutes, with great directions (I mean c'mon this is Kubrick we are talking about...) and acting.
Dr. Strangelove may not be the funniest comedy of all time, but it is indeed a great satire of a very real danger... thankfully one that didn't happen and a good political satire that I may revisit in the future!
Well this is going to be my last post before I go away... (if you read my anime cliche post you know why)
I want to do more movie and game reviews before I post updates on the comic... I know some of you have been wanting to know more about that and if it was me I would want that too, but there is just so much to do and doing it alone is resulting in being a bigger challenge than I anticipated; all while also learning my ropes around photoshop.
I finally got around owning Bloodborne... I must be like 50hrs in and so far it's been a great time; I want to get around to review it has well has MKX... but that will be later.
An interesting setting and story where it´s first act spirals
out of control to later have a fine movie about social comentary about the
nature of man to be hostile towards the unknown and the destruction that leaves in it´s wake... all in the name of god.
The main story fallows a jesuit cult on a mission to annex the local natives in south america into christianity lead by father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons); later a mercenary and enslaver named Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro) is asked, in order to atone for his sins, to join the mission and assist the priests... he later does and ultimately helps himself and the jesuits, has well has bonding with the local natives. But at the moment of truth, Cardenal Altamirano is sent by the vatican to choose what should be done about the mission when the local area gets under Portuguese control (witch allow slavery); under pressure... the Cardenal is forced to choose between two evils, either allow the Portuguese armies to enslave the local indigenous or allow the jesuit mission to continue and have the portuguese condemn their order, thus crippling the catholic church...
One negative is the first half, is unfortunately crushingly boring because of the cliched love triangle between Mendoza, his brother and his wife... witch it was built to be a dramatic moment to have Mendoza feeling guilt over his own actions after killing his brother in a duel for later in the film, but it lasts nothing; it all takes less than 5 minutes and immediately later we have the main story picking flight... I think this would have worked better if they have given it more time or maybe not show it at all instead have the character showed to be tortured it would have worked slightly better in my opinion.
I don´t like to be hard on this movie because I believe that the rest of it is very good; not great but very good indeed... I like the struggle the jesuits have to protect the indigenous from slavery after they take away their safety because of the Treaty of Madrid where they pass down under control of the portuguese, I like that the characters are each doing what they think is best for the locals and they don´t get on each others way (even if they don´t agree with each other), that is rare to see in this kind of story. The cinematographic is great, the music is great and the acting is good has well.
The Mission is a good movie that has plenty of good things going for it, it has a bad start with some unnecessary things that I honestly don´t think we needed to know and the main conflict is actually quite good...
It´s been a long time I know... you probably thought I died, that I had given up... but not really.
I just took longer to come back, babies, that´s it; I am sorry for keeping some of you fellows waiting for a next post but here I am and ready to give you readers some more needed material of this blog.
I love anime (I may have made that obvious... maybe not), some of my favorite movies and TV shows are anime made by talented people from the land of the rising sun, however, just like in many other type of productions there always seem to be patterns and aspect about the material I see in anime that just tends to... well carry over.
There are plenty of cliches in anime but I´ll just name the most prominent ones in my opinion.... keep in my mind that I do considered a fine thing to be entertained by some of this traits even though some do get pretty tiering to see so often.
Let´s count 10 of them you may have noticed...
1. Hot Springs Moment: It seems to have become a common thing to have this kind of fan services is anime to the point that is pretty much expected... in an anime where you hit the 7th or 10th episode there is a hot spring break where we get to see the girls naked for extra fan service... it would´t be so bad if it was used has an opportunity to develop character but instead it´s used for prep-falls, slapstick comedy and other similar attempts at humor... with the obvious propose of just having the girls show off some skin.
This have been seen on pretty much every anime out there... including Pokemon!
I have seen cases where the hot spring scene has been used for some developed character traits like in "No Game No Life" but they are so few in far between that I just hope that more could be done often.
2. The Perverted Character: Jiraya (Naruto), Master Roshi (Dragon Ball), Sanji (One Pice), Miroku (Inuyasha)... need I to go on...? To be fair I am not really that bothered by this trend has much has you might think has it often leads to some funny moments and not all the character are necessarily males.
But when, they miss they often fall on the offensive side or just annoying bumbling moment where I just feel deeply embarrassed... like is the kind of thing that makes me glad I don´t share this hobby with people I know; another problem with this is that after a while with the character you pretty much anticipate a joke to show up the moment a steaming hot girl shows up.
Again, is not a cliche I am totally bothered by but if you have watch plenty of anime like I have... you will probably notice plenty of time where it just back fires badly and just have to turn your head to look the other way...
3. Far back, with the window to the left: Ok... now this one is a complete mystery to everybody, why is this trend so common in animes? what do they represent? IF it does actually represent something...
This trend is mostly noticed in school drama anime or just a plain old class room scene that involves a main character... I would be here forever if I started to count every single anime that has this cliche! But why? well my guess is that it may be used has a way to represent that the MC is looking for "something more" (witch in and off itself is a cliche BTW)... truth is that is a complete mystery why is there, it adds nothing to the story when you think about it and we have just grow numb to it´s presence to the point that it´s pretty much expected from every anime we see.
It´s seen it pretty much every anime ever made!
4. Out of control Fan service: There are few exception to the rules of the fallowing thing I am going to say but when there is a female character in an anime, there is a sure grantee that the creators will allow you to get your rocks off from them.
Has a straight male, I am naturally attracted to the female physique, but really, there is only so much I can take before feeling like this is getting in my way of getting to know the character´s personality... witch in my opinion is part of the attractive of a female character... are we supposed to just like them for their body? I don´t know about you... but isn´t that why we have ecchi and hentai; it´s ok to see does things and like them for what they are but when I am watching an actual series with a progressive story I don´t want to see the women used like that... naturally there are times when this is warranted and actually welcome, but it becomes too much to swallow when it´s done over and over again... example? Oh no! a guy slips and accidentally places his mouth on a girls vagina or something like that; later you have a scene where the same guy catches a different girl from falling and puts one hand in one of her tits, oh boy! What a series of predicaments!
I love sexy girls in anime has much has the next guy... but is it too much to ask for balance?
I can appreciate fan service when it serves to get me closer to understand a character... but this moments are few and far between that they are obviously shoved into the story just because they think is funny, and it can when its done right.
I am not a big ecchi fan and that´s because I want to fallow a story with characters and a conflict, ecchi is just light hearted hentai... nothing more and I would appreciate if this method could be used better in story driven anime.
5. Harems in general: If there are any exceptions to the rule here I haven´t seen any, usually is filled with stereotypes for the main character to choose, and usually they are just so boring to watch... why is that? I know many people who actually like this kind of story, personally, I don´t get it.
For does unaware, Harem is a sub genera where is one guy surrounded by a group of smoking hot girls, in the oposite case (girl surrounded by hot boys) is called "reverse harem"; usually composed of love stories or slice of life components.
The main problem I have with this kind of shows is that (aside from being crushingly boring), is that pretty much all of the characters are carbon copy of each other and I ultimately find myself saying "oh yeah, that´s the blonde one right?" or "Oh right! the one with green eyes" and the main dude is usually a skinny looking kid who is socially awkward yet still has all this girls wanting to help the guy get his dick wet... it´s painfully stupid.
Every time I give a chance to one harem anime, the farther I get is 3 or 2 episodes before stoping altogether from continuing... I want to like one harem anime and say "hey this is fun!" but I just can´t because they are so cliched and filled with bad humor that I can´t swallow. There are times when I find one girl whose personality I like and can be pretty fun then, but she is usually the secondary character that shows up for a short moment in each episode.
I KNOW there can be good harem animes out there, but they are just so rare... and there are so many that fallow the same stereotypes that it usually ends up feeling like I´m watching the same anime over and over again...
6. Forced Yaoi/Yuri: Now before I move into topic I´ll clarify something, I don´t mind homosexuals... I know people in real life that are gay and I get along with them... Now on to the topic; There are animes out there intended to tell a yuri or yaoi love story and that´s cool, the problem is when we have two clearly stablished straight characters that are forcefully hugging, blushing at each other and all that...
I think this is done exclusively for just appeal. These clichés usually go to a guy dresses has a girl and is confused has such by a guy and the guy gets a crush on him... or the likes, sometimes it happens on friendship moments that the presentation is made kinda like it´s a love scene thus giving conflicting information; again, the problem is not being gay, but how they place this moment in such an awkward way that it´s just like "huh?".
Now I have seen moments where this kind of jokes work making for very funny reactions to situations and thats precisely the thing that makes this moments work, is about showing a certain character trait in a way that highlights that about him/her that may not have known otherwise.
It´s not a bad thing to have homosexual characters in a story and if you are misunderstanding my point then please read again, because I was never against homosexuality, my point is about forcing yaoi and yuri in scenes when trying to be funny or represent friendship. I have seen animes of yuri and yaoi love stories with does elements and there they work because of the characters themselves are meant to be like that and there are some animes of this nature that I really like, examples? Straberry Panic, Junjou Romantica and Kanazuki no Miko, not exactly great animes in my opinion but I do consider these to be good shows with yaoi and yuri couples has the focus.
7. The Bland Main Character: This cliche is pretty much EVERYWHERE in anime!
The main character of an anime is most of the time a guy, with next to not remarkable personalities, blander than bread and accompanied by a more colorful cast of characters than him... it´s the painful truth.
The point is to have us has audiences to reflect ourselves on the main character but you know what´s better than that? to watch a character that we can admire and relate by who he is, or simply someone we can understand and learn about trough their journey... Many animes commit this sin of making the main character bland and is painful to watch, I can spent plenty of time naming shows with this kind of characters because there are just so many, but when you watch plenty anime like I do you can tell the moment they show up, and to me... is getting painfully obvious and it drops my interests remarkably.
8. Recycled Ideas: We live in a time where new ideas for stories (weather are movies, comics, series, etc...) are very hard to come by, because many things have been done already; believe me I understand that perfectly... but that doesn't meen that there can´t be passion for telling a story or a certain comment.
Most animes take from a concept done from a different story that did it before, and is not trying to tell it in a different way or giving it a unique spin with their own take on it but instead it just repeat that story over again... is almost like they write the same script at times and that is inexcusable.
Is one thing to be inspired by a story and having it adding to your own ideas but when you take that completely away for a parrot respiting a song then what´s the point? I KNOW is hard to be original now days, but that doesn't mean there can´t be anything special and new to offer... because for every re-done concept there is always someone out there who wants to give us something special, but sometime people just have to play it safe don´t they...? and if "otakus" just accept these has "ok"... then we´ll never see risks...
9. Fillers: For many this is the ultimate anime killer, there is nothing worst than having a series stuck in limbo just because you are waiting for a manga to catch up... although I personally don´t watch this kind of popular animes, I can understand why many are turned off by this problem.
It´s a buzz killer to have a storyline being abruptly stopped just to have a completely new story having nothing that we care to know being told, I don´t know how this kind of meetings go around in the development but is almost like there is no end to them... I cannot believe there are people who can ACTUALLY put up to this.
I am sure there is a balance somewhere out there for this kind of practices and I don´t pretend to know the answers to it but this is why I find animes like Naruto, One Pice and many other Shonnen Jump productions unwatchable, has fun and good has they are story wise, is a killer that their fillers are so long and boring... but writers and animators have to eat too...
10. Nothing happening: But to me, the worst thing any anime can have is to have no plot, conflict or story to tell... is the ultimate killer and sadly it has become more prominent than ever in the latests seasons.
When you have a series depending solely on how much you like the cast of characters, well you better do your homework because this kind of things are very easy to screw up... I know there can be animes with minimal conflict that can actually work like Watamote or (to a certain extent) Lucky Star... these anime relay on funny and likable characters indeed; but they also have certain conflicts to deal with even with little story but we find these characters fascinating that we want to see them to the end.
However, many animes really don´t get that, this kind of stories relay on awkward humor, dumb dialog and clumsy execution that I sometimes wonder if the people who write this are either forced to or just have never really fallowed a story progression... it can be any number of things and I think is painfully obvious they have these stories done in one draft.
Usually this animes come in the form of "slice of life, drama, high school or ecchi" and there is just no character development at all here, making for the entire viewing experience boring... and boring your audience is the worst thing you can do...
I am very sorry about the long time I was gone, but I have been so busy this last few weeks; I have been behind schedule to the point that I am already behind with my comic project... I wanted to have a part of it done and make it presentable before the end of May, but it´s got to be pushed back to sometime around summer... is really that complicated but I am just one guy and I am only human...
On top of that, in early may I am traveling to Barcelona for the for the Sports Film Festival where a short I made about a year from now has been nominated and I am assisting so (again) I am gonna be away for a while.
I´ve also been planing on reviewing more movies and games... but popular movies like "Unfriended" have not reached here in my country and I haven´t been able to play "Bloodborne" witch is a title I´ve been itching to play, but I already wasted my money on "Mortal Kombat X" has a b-day present for my brother (maybe I´ll review that instead around this time).
There is much more going on but I am still here and I am still pushing forward... This is one of the longest post I´ve putted since I started to do this and every time I write a post I am taking away time for my other project witch seems to be taking forever to finish on it´s own... yet I am still very happy with the story I´ve wrote, I want to tell it and I am glad of being able to do so without any outside interference.
I´ll try to finish the first chapter before summer is over (maybe around july or august if you want an specific date)
Thank you again for checking in
Stay tuned for more updates and posts!
PS: I´ll try to make short reviews in the mean time...
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