Qatsi Trilogy

Recently I saw an interesting interview about Godfrey Reggio, director of the Qatsi Trilogy where Nikola Danaylov questioned about his background, the movies and his poetic view of life. This reminded me to rewatch Godfrey's most famous film.

Koyaanisqatsi is an artistic approach of cinematography where as there is no basic plot, script or characters to accompany viewers. Instead, direction and progression are key words here, for what we perceive is a process of nature, and the rise of human society, most specifically, technology.

Also translated as life out of balance, the movie shows a poetic view of how technology continues to blend in with humans further and further, while the nature of this happening tends to look orderly, but unconsciously can be argued to be chaotic over the long term.

Take a look at anno 2014. In the interview, Reggio argues that society is on a course of madness while embracing all these technological advancements. Think of your life and society in general. How much of that is assisted by technology? How much information do you think you gather daily nowadays?

I will concede that Godfrey's reasoning isn't the most convenient, but he sure as hell has a very unusual way of thinking about big topics such as the singularity and how he describes his "Beast" that surrounds mankind.

Transportation, production, spacecraft, nuclear weapons, pollution, societal stress, urban development, resource management, the environment and other key terms were noticed by me upon watching the film. It doesn't explain the scenes, nor has it a clear message, but it did let me think about the world we live in today, and also how relevant this all was in 1982.

The song starting around the 49th minute until around the 66th minute is the one I remember for being the most powerful while the very fast moving scenes of human society blast through. This odd combination of fast movements and powerful songs honestly are the strong points of the movie in the sense of art and presentation.

I'm glad that Koyaanisqatsi did not drag out slowly all the way through as it's opening shot did of about 20 minutes, before humanity is spotted. I understand that there was a time before our existence, and also the importance of that fact, that doesn't change the way how I felt about the opening.

The Qatsi Trilogy is expanded by the sequels Powaqqatsi(1988) and Naqoyqatsi(2002). The quality falls lower with each title in my opinion, but definitely check out the first one for something completely different that might blow your mind in some way.

Rating: 7.5

Papers, Please

Developed by one guy, Papers, Please is an interesting new approach for a video game towards spotting the differences between two objects or more when summarizing it in simple terms. Your role as an inspection officer is to either approve, deny or put people into detention for entering your country.

It might sound boring at first, but believe, me, each day or level of the game brings a new challenge towards you as an inspector. Combine that with diplomatical tensions between these fictional countries, terrorism, counterfeiting and more criminal activities and you've got an original game that gets more complex and intricate as you get further.

As an inspection officer, you have several responsibilities with your job, but next to that, you must provide for your family inside Arstotzka as well, otherwise they might pass away from diseases, cold or hunger.

Aside from allowing or disallowing foreigners, citizens and special people like diplomats and an underground movement, you will have to spot the discrepancies and interrogate people as to why there is no correlation between two sources that must be verified and similar.

The people entering your booth are randomly generated most of all by their appearance, what kind of papers they carry and so on, but certain key characters always return during certain days. The game has a total of 20 different endings, and I think that most of them end on a bad side.

Papers, Please's interface is also interesting to view because not only do you see the people with their papers coming to you from the front, and your desk from upside down, you can also see the massive lineup of the people waiting in front of your booth as well as guards protecting the border.

Warnings and penalties will be given to you from the responsible ministry if you make terrible mistakes as a regulation officer. And many people will fool, lie and play dumbfounded to you as you check their papers.

It's a very different kind of game which is fun to play through, but it can also be a challenge to not only keep up with the limited time each day provides, but also with failing to either spot an irregular feature, or giving illegals entry towards Arstotzka.

But perhaps the best thing about Papers, Please is that sometimes, you must make a moral decision as a human being while doing your job at the border. This means that you might have to break the rules in order for good things to happen.

It's based on a fictional communism setting with dystopian elements alongside other kinds of danger. Papers, Please is recommended for thrill seekers, brainy puzzlers and those who seek for something completely different.

Glory to Arstotzka.

Rating: 7.7

Donkey Kong Country

Shh, don't tell anyone, but I never beat the DKC games until now. I always managed to play portions of them in the past. Now with Returns and the upcoming Tropical Freeze it's about high time to finally beat the classic SNES trilogy.

DKC is a strong new reboot for Donkey Kong created by Rare featuring brilliant level design because the collectibles in the game, in this case banana's, usually pinpoint you to hidden and secret areas! Next to that the music is amazing and the gameplay plays fastpaced and has fantastic platforming elements.

Rating: 8.5

Considered the best of the SNES trilogy, Diddy Kong's Quest builds upon the formula by adding new tag moves,a secret world, more difficulty and more refined gameplay. Areas include a lava field, a swamp, a funland and a lost world! Somehow this is my least memorable or nostalgic DKC.

Once again does the soundtrack have classic tunes such as Stickerbrush Symphony, and graphically I especially liked the new enemy designs here. Secrets galore all around and the hidden stages are truly a fearful test.

Rating: 8.6

The most memorable SNES entry for me, and arguably my favored duo to play with. Diddy and Donkey are iconic, but I liked the dynamic duo of Kiddy and Dixie here, one who is strong and the other who is floaty. Double Trouble features a limited navigatable overworld where you progress further beating areas and getting better maritime equipment from Funky Kong.

There is also a whole family of bears from which some of them hold side quests and the path towards Krematoa the hidden world. Once again there are some outstanding songs and I dig the graphics here out of the three the most. And the hidden nod towards Super Mario 64 is adorable and was magical back in that year.

Rating: 8.6

Plays largely safe with satisfying its fan base, Donkey Kong Country Returns is a pleasant new entry for Donkey Kong, reminding us mostly of course of the SNES trilogy. First the good stuff, the level design and challenge are just right, making it better than the latest new Super Mario Bros. games.

I even found myself using a bit of the Super Guide on world 8, because that world had so many trial and error stages for me personally. Second, the music is pretty much all remixed from the first Donkey Kong Country, with very few missing, nothing really wrong here.

Lastly, the controls and game length are also well done. Donkey Kong blowing around is a bit unusual, but hardly irritating. What was kind of disappointing are the new enemies, the Kremlings are easily better. But at the same time it was refreshing, so not a big deal either.

Why isn’t it as good as the other Countries games then? Well, I think that Returns offers little new exciting material, and at the same time it could be even better, with more animals to help out plus more Kong members. Make no mistake, this is a very good platforming game, Retro Studios did a nice job, but if there will be a sequel I hope that there will be more new content.

Rating: 8.4

As a bonus, I'm throwing in this game as well. Donkey Kong's first 3D incarnation is reminiscent of Rare's other platforming series Banjo-Kazooie in the sense that both rely heavily on collecting collectibles in order to progress further.

Introducing 3 new exciting playable characters alongside the return of fan favorites Donkey and Diddy Kong, this game packs quite a punch when it comes to different control schemes, variety and enjoyment.

Tiny Kong can shrink in size, Lanky Kong is the fastest and has a long of reach and Chunky Kong is the strongest of the bunch. These cheerful apes are delighted to help against the new terror ignited by none other than King K.Rool.

He is featured in a very exciting final battle shaped up like a jollyful boxing match, which is memorable, but other than that, fulfills the role as a typical villain. Meanwhile, Cranky Kong now runs a laboratorium offering the other Kongs new abilities.

Donkey Kong 64 plays very similar to Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, as both not only have many collectibles, but also exciting secrets, similar music and the latter example also has a first person shooting mode like this one.

Sometimes I'd rather replay this than any Country title, but at other times, this is the opposite. So my mood depends on how what kind of game I want to play next in this franchise. Donkey Kong 64 is nonetheless a great platformer especially for newcomers, and not too challenging.

Rating: 8.5

The latest title will be reviewed shortfully once I get my hands on it this week and preferably beat it beforehand!

Guacamelee!

Play as a luchador in a Metroidvania/Castleroid inspired indie where key moves must be obtained to progress further between the different areas and the overall world. Guacamelee! references tons of internet, video game and of course Mexican culture!

As a Mexican wrestler, you are naturally able to throw your enemies around with piledrives and suplexes, allowing for interesting battle outcomes to happen because throwing bodies around results into collateral damage.

The level design and art design go hand in hand with each other because there is a unique mechanic implemented here; that of switching between the living and the dead dimensions. This feature is used for platform as well as battle sequences.

Key moves include special luchador techniques such as dash punching and headbutting your way around, but also goat riding(traverse walls) and goat flying(launch from walls) in order to reach hidden secrets, defeat foes and progress.

Guacamelee! also allows a second player to join in anytime, and it features a fun overall presentation, story, good bosses and just the right pacing and game length to let any newcomer or veteran come join the marvelous gameplay to be found here.


Rating: 8.4

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

War has changed further.

In the late twenty tens, Jack is further enhanced and embraced by nano and cyborg technology after one of his missions failed while collaborating with PMC Maverick. Deciding to return to the battlefield to live up to his nickname, Jack goes after Desperado to initiate his revengeance.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a spin-off from the main series where you play as Raiden, a controversial main protagonist now turned into a cybernetic and futuristic cyborg ninja armed with nanomachines to combat empowered foes.

Played out as a 3D hack and slash game, it is a fastpaced adventure of moderate length where you fight foes not only for plot reasons, but currency and health reasons as well. Being able to absorb the nano core of others lets him replenish for instance.

A distinct mechanic is simply called Blade Mode, where Jack will go in slow motion in his surroundings, but burst his own movements in order to truly frantically hack and slash away at enemies.

You will need to upgrade your attributes, weapons and body if you want to consider surviving the tougher adversaries, which is mostly Desperado, another PMC working in secret for an American Senator dealing with evil actions such as organ trafficking.

The gameplay can play very satisfactorily if you understand the fundamental way of progressing efficiently. This means that you must learn to parry and dodge your way around if you truly want to tackle the tougher challenges.

And this game is hard, even on Normal Mode already. The interesting and challenging boss battles are excellent designs that each come with their own different personalities and motivations for battling with Jack.

The regular ones are very impressive, but the last battle is simply so amazingly over the top for it features one of the manliest final bosses I ever fought, and I mean this with all of the good intentions. It is both a true challenge and extremely unregular, but Metal Gear Solid seems to tackle extreme seriousness with extreme humor all the time, especially when looking at their secrets and easter eggs.

There is one more thing; the kickass and badass soundtrack to be found here made me a heavy metal fan for the first time. This mostly comes from the lyrics to be found in the tracks that embody the feelings of the antagonists.

I am extremely glad to be able to appreciate this addictive ride, and I definitely wouldn't mind a sequel towards Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. From a gameplay perspective, it's a very fun experience with good pacing and diversity.

Rating: 8.4

10 More SNES Songs

I enjoyed making that other top ten list of SNES songs several years ago, and there are countless more that I like, so let's see which ones come up now and still sound marvelous even today in the two thousand tens:

1-Pokey Means Business/EarthBound

Starting out as an invitational 8-bit final boss entrance, it misleads you into in a sinister, fast tracked upbeat track that shows the evil of Pokey being controlled by Giygas, who has a very unique boss theme as well.

2-Mother Brain/Super Metroid

Super Metroid's soundtrack is a masterpiece when it comes to foreboding uneasiness, suspense, atmosphere and being very fitting towards the area's to be found. But I love the hysterical nature of the final boss theme so much that atleast for today, I am putting it above the other classic Super Metroid tunes!

3-Collosia/Secret of Evermore

One half of two major dungeons to delve into while exploring the second land of Antiqua, Collosia's main theme begs for you to discover it's treasures and secrets. It sounds ancient, mysterious and rewarding.

4-Battle with Black Mantle/Pocky & Rocky

This is a misleading title because it isn't the actual fight with Black Mantle, but rather the final stage before approaching him. Pocky & Rocky is a classic overhead arcade based shooter adventure with heavy Japanese folklore pressed in, and this song is stellar for pumping you up through the castle in preparation.

5-BGM 4/Super Bomberman 2

I probably haven't played the best Bomberman game out there yet, but the Bombermans on the SNES are all a lot of damn fun with multiplayer, especially part 5. But part 2 had some great singleplayer tunes reserved for the villains you fought, and the 4th one is energetic!

6-Different Road/Seiken Densetsu 3

There are so many awesome boss battle themes awaiting you here that I had a really hard time picking my favorite one out of them all. That's why I decided to concentrate on dungeon themes instead, and Different Road sticks out for not only sounding different, but also very tempting to go farm experience points especially when this plays.

7-Prelude to the Void/Final Fantasy V

The final dungeon is a twisted world of challenging enemies and bosses while it prepares you for the battle with Exdeath. Prelude to the Void is a surprise hit of unusual proportions that hints at the climax to come.

8-Final Act/Tales of Phantasia

After two fantastic overworld songs, Tales of Phantasia throws it's last one in called Final Act, letting you pump up for the final destinations of the game and facing Daos. It's mostly the part starting at 0:54 that made Final Act such an epic heroic overworld theme. In retrospect, this sounds better after progressing through the actual game.

9-Carve a Dragon Wood/Final Fight 2

The perfect entrance song towards this exclusive SNES sequel, Carve a Dragon Wood also surprisingly serves as the final boss tune. Few Final Fight tunes come close towards the motivating power this one brings when it comes to beating up thugs, henchmen and more!

10-Baby Bowser /Super Mario World 2 Yoshi's Island

This is a no-brainer and a well known final boss for the majority of the gaming community. It also scared me shitless as a kid as I saw Baby Bowser running towards me and the screen while I panicked out! Who would had thought Nintendo would produce this and package it alongside a game that is very friendly towards children? Also check out the second normal boss theme, another franctic track.

On a side note, most musical composers for modern games aren't really trying to be creative and memorable anymore...Until I discovered the next game I am about to write about as it restored my faith into the future of VGM.

Understanding Mainstream Music and VGM

There is a notable absence of me growing up with the actual music industry; all of those pop songs, but also all of the miscellaneous and more underrated genres have never truly impacted me as VGM or Video Game Music did for me.

Before continueing, I am by no means a music expert and for most people I would probably have a bad taste. Fortunately, most people aren't me and so, I listen to whatever the hell I want, which also includes Lounge, Jazz, Auto-Tune and Baroque.

Aside from the lack of knowledge surrounding music, I am also terrible with remembering the names of songs or their lyrics. Most of the time I can't even hear every sentence of a particular song, partially because of the noise surrounding that song, and part of that comes from my two sensible ears.

The occassional pop music does stick with me and I even enjoy it, and I can remember and recognize many songs, but once again, pretty much none of them come close to the magical very diversive world of VGM.

Video game music is simply so diversive not only because of the auditorial limitations of the older console generations, but also because VGM is like cinema music, as both offer a ton of different tunes.

You wouldn't instantly notice it, but video games have genres for music in general as well, like movies. With mainstream music however, I tend to presumably notice that 95% of the songs are about love, romance and relationships.

This might be another reason why there is such a huge difference for me in these two comparisons; I cannot really relate to love, romance and relationships, because I haven't really experienced them. This is no bullshit, but it appears that I have been unlucky in these three fields.

VGM offers a whole world of songs where as most of them usually embody and feel appropiate in regards to when they are playing inside video games. A very notable example is found in boss battles, which is diversive by itself. The melodrama, epic score or other kinds can easily kick in at these grand battles.

I'm having a hard time describing why I love this, because I do not understand or at least can recognize musical instruments, synthesizers and other tools inside songs. Recently, I do like to go more towards concerts or festivals simply because I can feel the large "group aura" heating up at successful events.

I also don't know how to end this blogpost, because it's clear that there's a whole world out there of love and music I have yet to embrace fully towards my heart. Maybe it's for the best that I should make a continuation blogpost of this in the future.

And no, I have no favorite band. I have never been a fan or have been obsessed by music bands.

Samsung Galaxy S4

After my old White Galaxy S4 was stolen recently, and before that I managed to break it clumsily twice, I decided to pay my debt and give this upgraded version a deserved review. After enjoying the S2 immensely, the S4 took over starting from the middle of last year.

The S4 improves on all fronts inluding interface, storage, features, quality, connection and more. It's funny that mobile phones were growing smaller and smaller a few years ago, but now it seems that they are reversing this trend because smartphones with their larger screens are getting bigger and bigger.

The camera has been updated with more megapixels and convenient new functions such as contineous shooting something, or erasing random moving people from pictures using Gum Mode. Zooming in is limited, but the flash unit is exceptional.

Applications or apps are more abundant than ever because of the huge market that keeps growing with independent developers creating all kinds of programs. The ones I like to use are news sites such as Al Jazeera, but also IMDb, Facebook and occassional phrasebooks such as Russsian or Chinese.

There are also a bunch of new gimmicks that usually involve hovering around the air in front of the S4 so that it can reply to you in various ways. These include previewing information, but also when you look away from a video, it will pause instantaneous and continue if you look back.

Some of them die a slow death, others can or could be practical in the long term. Other negative aspects from me personally are how fragile the front glass screen is with the touch functionality, it seems the more expensive this is, the easier it is to break it.

To counteract this somewhat, I purchased a cover case. Another dissapointment is that the battery goes down quite fast in a day even though not much is really happening with it other than looking at emails, Whatsapps and other personal messages.

This is of course a bit hypocritical considering that it's contineously on at all times, but seeing that everyone is doing the same thing, I would figure that developers such as Samsung would had made better batteries after seeing this phenomenon happening all the time.

In a nutshell, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is leaps and bounds ahead when speaking of smartphones in regards to popularity, reputation, available features and other amazing assets. It's not perfect, but it's a heck of a lot better than many others out there.

And I am happy to have received a Black Galaxy S4 from my provider now!

Shadow Warrior

I clearly remember this great classic first person shooter based on wacky Asian folklore. You are Lo Wang, a badass who can make trouble in very nasty ways. I remember having so much fun creating insane levels with this, that it was crazy how much time I infested into making creative maps or difficult maps and then letting others try to beat them, haha!

Developed and designed by 3D Realms, it's clear that Duke Nukem is the direct inspiration for this, however, in my opinion, the arsenal, enemy design, secrets and overall asian culture are better in Shadow Warrior than in Duke Nukem 3D.

Both of them are classic old fashioned first person shooters from the 90's. Lo Wang has a badass and perverted personality alongside cheesy one liners based on asian stereotypes, and the trademark weapon of his is the katana, which is addictive to use slicing enemies up.

Parodying bad kung fu movies, Lo Wang slices and shurikens his way around Japan to battle with his old boss Zilla who murdered his master and plans to conquer the whole country using forces from the dark side.

These creatures include kamikazing merchants, wandering ghosts, berserk monkeys, snake demons, one legged female freaks and a regular demon soldier which has many offsprings including shadow versions and those who can only shoot missiles.

Medkits, body armor and fortune cookies will heal your mind and body for the upcoming crazy battles. The cookies usually have a silly philosophical sentence displayed as you eat them, while some secret areas in the game also feature nude anime chicks who will attack you if provoked.

Other weapons include rapid uzi's, a laser gun, a rocket launcher, a demon's head and a beating heart, of which the latter creates a helpful exact clone of yourself. All of them are helpful and more effective depending on the terrain and the enemies.

Shadow Warrior is still a very fun game to start up and can even be played co-operatively or against each other. However, the game has always been in the shadow before Duke Nukem 3D, another classic.

Rating: 8.5

Lo Wang is reincarnated, given a fresh look and a vibrant world, and features such as secrets, fortune cookies and nude anime chicks return in this old fashioned first person shooter! Created by a Polish developer, Shadow Warrior stands out in modern times.

This is because all first person shooters nowadays incorporate auto regenerating health, carry 2 guns at max, have a linear path to follow, an over the top Hollywood experience with tons of voice acting and take themselves too seriously.

Shadow Warrior is none of that. No, it proudly goes back to old fashioned gameplay, with large spawns of demon enemies coming after you, medkits, being able to carry 7 guns and offering many secret area's that are worthy to find, unlike Duke Nukem Forever and it's other heavy flaws.

Lo Wang himself has changed more into a cocky yet badass personality, with once again many cheesy one liners, referencing several popular quotes turned into Wang style. This time, he is accompanied by Hoji, a demon from the Shadow Realm, and together, they are on a quest to collect a legendary sword and defeat Enra, ruler of the shadow beings.

Enemy design is completely new, yet it resembles some older enemies vaguely, and nonetheless these new ones are well made, varied and challenging. Combating them with your arsenal is fun and can be creative, seeing as all the guns have secondary options.

Also, Lo Wang's katana is even more fun to slice around with this time, and it can learn new moves depending on where you spend your precious currency points onto. Aside from collecting money to upgrade weapons in various ways, you can also collect karma and special skills to enhance Lo Wang's characteristics, mind, body and more, but also learn those special katana techniques and other miscellaneous passive stuff.

The levels start out into beautiful asian landscapes, but then gradually change into Zilla's gritty buildings, before returning to the higher mountains where Zilla and Enra await you and Hoji. Speaking of the story, this is more involved and better than the original, but don't expect too much and just appreciate this wacky new reimagination.

The beating heart now lets you perform a heart attack on one enemy, while a flamethrower is thrown in to replace the rail gun. Those are the major differences between the arsenals, but once again does the katana stand out here, even more than 16 years ago.

Shadow Warrior will once again go into a cult status and be appreciated by those who crave for a modern look at old fashioned gameplay, combined with silly comedy, a silly story and delicious over the top combat.

Rating: 8.3