So, I finished it.
As a game, it's about average.
As a character study, it's fascinating.
It's about the same quality as Final Fantasy XIII, for the exact opposite reasons. (And to be fair, I'd rather run in a straight line but have different environments to look at while I'm running down that straight line than having a hub based system where you visit the same ten environments for thirty hours, mass grinding in Gran Pulse aside. And note: I don't have a problem with grinding--if it's in the game from the start. I have a problem with grinding if it suddenly makes you do so after thirty hours of play to continue on with the game.)
So, yeah. The game has its problems. The same environments. A shit ton of glitches. A lack of polish. BioWare, Mass Effect 3 had better be polished when you release it, seriously. (Seriously, I don't think it's possible to completely romance a character because of how glitch her sequence is--I could be wrong, though.)
But as a character study, the game itself is damn good.
And... that's pretty much it.
Average gameplay, below average polish, above average storyline, and exceptional character development/interaction.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Why "On Stranger Tides" Sucks (Spoilers)
1. Ian McShane is way too underused. He has a magic ship. He has a magic sword. He's Blackbeard. And yet, the writers are too obsessed with Captain Jack to give Blackbeard a semblance of screen time. Develop him. Sure, we get that Blackbeard is supposed to be a bad guy. We get he's supposed to be evil. We don't need to be told he's a bad person. But that doesn't mean he needs to be two dimensional. He has a fucking magic sword. HE PUT THE BLACK PEARL INTO A FUCKING BOTTLE. Can we do something with that? You know, something interesting instead of Jack Sparrow acting like a drunken monkey?
2. There were no stakes. At all. In this movie. When Barbossa came back at the end of "Dead Man's Chest" and Jack came back halfway through "At World's End" you realize death is cheap, and there is no way at all you should care at all about the fate of the characters because they'll get out of any crap ever they could possibly be put into. It doesn't matter at all because you know everyone the writers care about (ie. Jack and Barbossa) will survive. So, basically, why bother?
3. This movie was not fun. The original trilogy was fun. Even though "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End" had stupidly convoluted plots, they were fun to watch. The action scenes were entertaining. There was no grand scale. In trying to make it smaller, they made it suck. It could have been because the action scenes were boring. The escape from London scene was fun. For about five minutes I had hopes this would be a good movie. And I was wrong.
4. The characters are boring.
There are a few good (semi-redeeming) points:
1. The story is a bit more streamlined. (Still sucks.)
2. Hammy Geoffrey Rush (because for the 30 minutes Barbossa is in the movie, he's awesome).
3. Hammy Ian McShane.
That's... pretty much it.
2. There were no stakes. At all. In this movie. When Barbossa came back at the end of "Dead Man's Chest" and Jack came back halfway through "At World's End" you realize death is cheap, and there is no way at all you should care at all about the fate of the characters because they'll get out of any crap ever they could possibly be put into. It doesn't matter at all because you know everyone the writers care about (ie. Jack and Barbossa) will survive. So, basically, why bother?
3. This movie was not fun. The original trilogy was fun. Even though "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End" had stupidly convoluted plots, they were fun to watch. The action scenes were entertaining. There was no grand scale. In trying to make it smaller, they made it suck. It could have been because the action scenes were boring. The escape from London scene was fun. For about five minutes I had hopes this would be a good movie. And I was wrong.
4. The characters are boring.
There are a few good (semi-redeeming) points:
1. The story is a bit more streamlined. (Still sucks.)
2. Hammy Geoffrey Rush (because for the 30 minutes Barbossa is in the movie, he's awesome).
3. Hammy Ian McShane.
That's... pretty much it.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Surviving Queries
Since I'm trying to get my book published, agents/publishers like the author to have author-y blogs.
I'm far too lazy to make a new blog for that, so I'll be adding more author-y posts to this one.
This probably means the two people reading this blog will drop down to one. But whatever.
There are several ways to go about getting published, I've learned.
There are the vanity publishers and self-publishing routes, but those aren't my thing.
In order to get with a big publishing house, you have to go through all the mess of finding and agent and then having an agent find a publisher and then having a publisher do something else. But you probably know all of this. Or maybe you don't. I don't know.
Anyway, you'll probably get rejections. A whole lot of them. And if you get insanely lucky, know how lucky you are.
Don't let the rejections be personal, because they're not. Sure, it sucks to get them. But they come with the business. Just take them as they come, don't dwell on them too much, and send out more. And work on a new project.
This writer-y posting stuff is kinda hard, but hopefully it'll get better as I go along.
I'm far too lazy to make a new blog for that, so I'll be adding more author-y posts to this one.
This probably means the two people reading this blog will drop down to one. But whatever.
There are several ways to go about getting published, I've learned.
There are the vanity publishers and self-publishing routes, but those aren't my thing.
In order to get with a big publishing house, you have to go through all the mess of finding and agent and then having an agent find a publisher and then having a publisher do something else. But you probably know all of this. Or maybe you don't. I don't know.
Anyway, you'll probably get rejections. A whole lot of them. And if you get insanely lucky, know how lucky you are.
Don't let the rejections be personal, because they're not. Sure, it sucks to get them. But they come with the business. Just take them as they come, don't dwell on them too much, and send out more. And work on a new project.
This writer-y posting stuff is kinda hard, but hopefully it'll get better as I go along.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Review: ModNation Racers
Yaaaaaay.
No, really. Yay.
First off. Picture Diddy Kong Racing. Then add LittleBigPlanet to it. You've just pictured ModNation Racers.
I can't really feel excited about this game, but that's partially because I played it so much and kind of wore myself out of it.
The good:
The tracks are fun and original.
There is a LOT of stuff to do.
There is a LOT of customization to do.
The bad:
The campaign seems a little short.
Some of the "challenges" are insanely frustrating.
If you play ranked online matches, expect only to see maybe... three or four maps.
No co-op.
So, that pretty much covers the single/multiplayer aspect. Now, let's get to the customization. But didn't you already talk about the customization? Yes, but that was in a single player aspect.
I feel like there's a little more stuff that can be done in LittleBigPlanet. Everything feels a little "easier". But on the other hand, LittleBigPlanet seems like you can get "more stuff", because you can fine tune everything and get something truly unique. There's only so much you can do with racetracks. Although, between my friend and I, we got some truly fun tracks made.
(If you read this, look up Green Grass & Low Tides and Skyrise.)
All and all, it's a fun game.
The problem is, I don't feel like playing it again. Or anymore. But that might be because I pretty much played it non-stop Wednesday through Saturday. Take that what you will.
No, really. Yay.
First off. Picture Diddy Kong Racing. Then add LittleBigPlanet to it. You've just pictured ModNation Racers.
I can't really feel excited about this game, but that's partially because I played it so much and kind of wore myself out of it.
The good:
The tracks are fun and original.
There is a LOT of stuff to do.
There is a LOT of customization to do.
The bad:
The campaign seems a little short.
Some of the "challenges" are insanely frustrating.
If you play ranked online matches, expect only to see maybe... three or four maps.
No co-op.
So, that pretty much covers the single/multiplayer aspect. Now, let's get to the customization. But didn't you already talk about the customization? Yes, but that was in a single player aspect.
I feel like there's a little more stuff that can be done in LittleBigPlanet. Everything feels a little "easier". But on the other hand, LittleBigPlanet seems like you can get "more stuff", because you can fine tune everything and get something truly unique. There's only so much you can do with racetracks. Although, between my friend and I, we got some truly fun tracks made.
(If you read this, look up Green Grass & Low Tides and Skyrise.)
All and all, it's a fun game.
The problem is, I don't feel like playing it again. Or anymore. But that might be because I pretty much played it non-stop Wednesday through Saturday. Take that what you will.
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