Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

 

Over the last years I would traditionally end the year with a science book review. This time, it's different.

Recommended by me through my largest current inspiration source, this book is a hidden insight and revelation about the underground world of so called EHM's or economic hit man, who all have smart and subtle ways of achieving goals, but mainly prompt third world countries to sign huge loans towards the U.S.A. and then enter a blackhole of debt, making them forever enslaved economically.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is written by one of these hidden ex-economic agents themselves, John Perkins. As he details a large biography about entering this corrupt and system connected world, he realizes at one point through many self reflections that what he is doing towards others is wrong.

There are many benefits of becoming such a specialized economist consultant. Money, sex, power and reputation are among the highest reasons. Perkins has also traveled to many developing countries while seeing himself as some sort of middleman, between poverty and wealth.

Corporatocracy is a combined word of corporations, banks and governments working together in order to establish connections, profits, power and abundance while systematically looking for natural resources or markets to harvest from through the golden fists of capitalism.

Globalization and privatization are major relevant fields which currently shape up what we see around the world; ones which are connected more than ever, but ones who can also play with rules and laws more than ever.

Forecasting econometrics, projects and statistics in foreign countries and reporting back to private companies is what EHM's do. Should inquiry, negotiation or other means of communications not work, the so called "jackals" are then send out to deal with the higher positioned people.

As a final resort, the military is send in, so that males and females can start dying. Oil companies are numerously mentioned in this book which work together with U.S.A administrations and other powerful establishments in order to exploit the middle and lower classes in any victimized country.

The fallacious concepts of economic development as claimed by the corporatocracy shouting out meaningless words like freedom and democracy alongside flat out system bound lies is a major reason why poverty continues to exist.

Confessions on an Economic Hit Man is an eye opener about huge events which have happened in the last decades, and the evil driving force that is behind the motivations for political, social and economic changes; the global corporatocracy and the global and largest empire the world has ever seen.

Rating: ***(out of 4)

And with a hundred entries this year, I will see you in 2015!

Interstellar

 

Christopher Nolan just never dissapoints, I can safely say this after the very original Inception(2010) and his latest mark onto cinema, Interstellar. He simply makes movie magic, and so many factors click correctly.

It's about space explorers and scientists who travel through a wormhole in order to find a potenially habitable planet that will enable humanity to survive and move on from Earth, which is scarce on natural resources and is troubled with dangerous dusks.

Matthew McConaughey plays an astronaut who leads the team into another galaxy, the farthest mankind has ever been. Since it's sci-fi, some elements and scenes are philosophically represented, such as the fifth dimension, how they are filmed traveling through the wormhole and Cooper getting launched around the black hole at the climax, with the principle of these depictions being based upon Kip Thorne's theories.

But it's also very scientific with launching and operating the systems, gathering data, analyse situations and reach a consensus. So Interstellar is all of that plus it's also a grand adventure with some emotional moments such as the time gaps between the explorers and Cooper's family at home, or Cooper's relationship with Murph most of all, and the connection they share at the clever plot twist.

It's no secret that the director is a fan of the late Stanley Kubrick and 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968), and Interstellar felt grand similarly, but obviously they have different outcomes. The cinematography is beautiful, with natural scenery including a region from Iceland, but plenty of outer space too.

The soundtrack is uplifting, encouraging and adventurous, Michael Caine throws in his regular intelligent quote while collaborating with Nolan, it has several levels of entertainment and it really is an experience to witness the exploration and adventure most of all. I thank you once again for delivering exceptionally mr.Nolan.

I cannot wait to see how appreciated this film will be over the years to come, as well as Nolan's next work, which is still shrouded in mystery. A second view will also be required in order to grasp the deeper concepts.

Rating: 9.0

Boss Battle Bombardments!

Several years ago, I reposted an older blogpost talking about the gaming phenomenon knows as boss battles. This time, I would like to expand upon that by covering additional miscellaneous notes about them, as well as sharing some of my favorite boss battles out there aside from the ones listed in the original post. This time, modern boss battles will be depicted briefly.

                            "To think that THIS would be the final boss in Deadly Premonition"

Sometimes a boss battle can be so effective because of the revelation of your final foe, and the lecture they then give upon your protagonist. Forrest Kayson is a grotesque highlight in a mediocre but infamous video game of recent years. He is completely a deus ex machina in a broken twisted Twin Peaks game world.

                              "The fusion of Yuga and an old familiar foe is a moderate challenge"

Given the right buildup, pacing and tactic of defeating an opponent, a boss battle can be greatly rewarding. Yuga's final form in A Link Between Worlds is a combination of might and magic, or Power and Wisdom respectfully, and it's up to Link to use his Courage as well as his latest gifted special ability of travering walls.

                                                  "Death is tragic, but life is miserable"

As often is the case with the Metal Gear Solid franchise, the bosses aren't just a physical threat, but often a psychological one too, each coming with their own personalities. The Sorrow lets you recap all of the fallen foes you have killed off, and he can be beaten in a number of creative ways.

                          "Children of the mastermind shall move the chessboard accordingly"

Ever had to face off against not one, but two different kinds of bosses at once!? The idea can be creative, as well as hard to pull off, considering balance, space and the overall design. Prometheus and Pandora is a notable example, but there are few others, such as Dracula and Death, or Jill and Wesker.

                          "Once provoked, the Ancient Dragon will rise from his leisure state"

Some bosses are optional in design and thus are not required to defeat in order to progress further. The Ancient Dragon in Dark Souls II is a fine example of what appears to be a friendly host first, unless you poke him inappropriately.

                                                  "Don't FUCK with this senator, son!"

Then there are those boss battles which simply are the best at what they try to achieve. Senator Armstrong in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance is to me a great final boss, for he truly is a challenging and intimidating foe, with all of his all over the top glory enhancing his effect and lasting appeal. He has also become a meme generator.

Nowadays, when looking at mainstream AAA titles, ignoring Nintendo, boss fights seem to have been replaced by more lesser enemies and more cinematic experiences. It's kind of a shame, but at the same time, it's fine that not all video games need them.

As long as this feature like 2D games keeps being welcome even in this 8th generation, I will be content with whatever happens next, as long as the boss battles can remain entertaining, creative, challenging and even unforgettable.

Modern Christmas

 

Many nations in the world celebrate Christmas while not being religious themselves, or believing in something else. I find this to be intriguing, considering all of the themes and the background Christmas has with Christianity.

However, countries celebrate it differently around the world's continents. The Japanese like to exchange gifts, the Lebanese sacrifice a sheep for the feast, the Americans traditionally prepare a roasted turkey and the Romanians sing their hearts out with carols.

The purpose of Santa Claus is inspired by Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas in Dutch, which is a separate holiday celebrated largely in the same manor over here. As a red wise figure with different kinds of servants(which remains a controversial topic for minor groups), presents are delivered and children are tested if they have been good or naughty each year.

Christmas is also a time of grand consumerism and materialistic times, as shopping malls get a massive renovation, homes are decorated in an inviting manner, the discounts and sales appear and it's the most expensive and busiest month for the majority of people celebrating it.

The comfortable, cozy or gezellig atmosphere of Christmas seems to be happening everywhere as these special celebrations are happening, and families and friends come together for all of the virtue and positive reasons, it's the perfect excuse.

Merry Christmas once more, ho ho ho!

My Ear Hummering Story, Part 2

It has been 10 years since I was operated upon for the first time, primarily in my right ear. Since my last ear hummering story, 3 new operations have happened. Although the hummering incident is solved, it still returns whenever I feel sick, or I if I had an operation.

This time, the three operations would focus on improving my hearing, which still was unstable between the two ears. My original doctor has been continueing with my case since then, and as I type this, I am recovering from my final operation.

I say final because after 6 operations I have decided with my family and the doctor that this is the last time I am doing this. It's not that I want to reject medical science, but personally, I am growing tired of struggling results where my hearing still hasn't improved.

Unless a new breakthrough will happen in the speciality of throat, ears and nose, I will for now recover and as always patiently await positive results, which in this case means improving my right ear.

Should there not be any kind of improvement, then my last resort is getting an artificial hearing device, which in the older days would usually be seen weared by older humans, but nowadays, my younger niece for instance has one, and the devices are smaller than ever, even making them invisible.

I have been an enduring patient, even according to my own doctor, but I must simply play the waiting game one more time. I forgot the results of the 4th operation, but the 5th one is where my doctor implanted a prosthesis device in order to assist my natural audible organs.

Unfortunately, and kind of like another shocking twist, the prosthesis device completely fell out of my right ear after a week, and even my doctor was baffled by it. For my 6th operation, biological tissue of my ear would be used to paste a new prosthesis device.

And this makes me return to present time, because the final operation is successful, like all the others previously. Let's hope that I will be able to hear better for once, because I am so tired of living like this and making communications more difficult.

Nintendo Wii U, Part 2

 

It's been 2 years since I last reviewed Nintendo's latest hardware console. Back then, I promised on doing a part 2 in the future, talking more about the things and features to come. But honestly, not much has changed since then.

YouTube and Netflix are available and functional now, Miiverse is the most normal feature to behold when starting up and off screen play without using the television is pretty much the same. Aside from performance and bug fix patches, it's all the same.

What has changed however is the Wii U's available software library and the introduction of amiibo, a counterpart towards Disney's Infinity and Activision's Skylanders. With the important release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Nintendo seems to be almost back on track in regards to sales.

I am still skeptical about the usage of amiibo however, aside from the obvious reason of collecting these little statues. I do like the idea of unlocking physical content with certain video games, and also training your own Smash fighter. I will observe with interest how the amiibo will develop further.

The internet browser remains powerful and the most convenient for me to use as far as console browsers go, but the fact that I have so many electronics nowadays in my room means that the PC remains the comfiest so to speak.

Wii U Chat, Wii Street U and Wii Karaoke U are all entertaining bonuses, but I am most of all still very glad with the backwards compatibility and the available virtual console through the eShop. I still am immensely dissapointed however by the regional lock Nintendo continues to use for the 8th generation.

As far as the software library now goes however, there is no longer an excuse for gamers who are still in doubt about buying the console. Nintendo's AAA games have arrived in quantity and quality, and there is certainly enough diversity.

Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U are a blast online and filled with content, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze remains my favorite 2D platformer, Super Mario 3D World is family oriented and Pikmin 3 is gorgeous and unique.

I will probably replay and play for the first time Bayonetta 1 and 2, and buy Hyrule Warriors when it's price drops. The same goes for The Wonderful 101, and in the mean time, I got my hands full with the free Wii U enhanced game I got, which is Monster Hunter Tri Ultimate.

All in all, Nintendo's Wii U is only getting stronger and more attractive for gamers to delve into, and 2015 is looking to be promising, as upcoming video games always seem to be nowadays, with notable examples including Xenoblade Chronicles X, Splatoon, Star Fox U and Zelda U.

Destiny

 

Considered the most expensive new IP to be produced, Destiny is for it's initial vanilla release ultimately a mixed bag. Although this is technically the first MMO I have ever played, without counting having played vanilla World of Warcraft for no more than 1 hour, I am dissapointed.

And still, that's quite uncommon for the shooter genre so far. Even I know that certain key elements are missing, such as being able to trade gear with other players. It really felt in overall upon beating the story that Bungie released an incomplete project, while simultaneously addressing towards the ridiculous claim that they will support Destiny for 10 years with patches and content.

Which was immediately debunked harshly when they subsequently started talking about the sequel already after the huge sales statistics were concrete and complete. And when a few weeks after release it was discovered that locked DLC was on the disc, I just knew that this whole ordeal is just another delusional way of hyping it all up.

The good points are combat, graphics and the soundtrack, the bad stuff RNG, loot for legendary equipment, repetitive missions and a dull and confusing storyline which made the same mistake like Final Fantasy XIII for making a glossary out of the plot instead of putting in the story progression that matters to the player and it's followable.

An uninspiring voiceover by Peter Dinkage playing as a robotic assistent felt dull, and Destiny being way too ambitious for it's claim, for now, hurt the overall experience I got. DLC and expansions can change that, but this is my conclusion for the initial vanilla release.

After beating campaign mode, which I did for the major part with friends, leveling beyond 20 or 21 now means that you need to find specific legendary gear in order to further level up. So, experience points do not matter anymore.

What does matter from that point is that the grind festivals have officially started  and you will practically need to grind or kill tons of enemies before the random number generator gods have heard enough prayers before legendary loot is shat down upon ye unholy futuristic shooter character.

I definitely wasn't looking forward towards grinding in the hopes of getting something better Korean style, so I didn't do it. Destiny has become a huge dissapointment for me, and I probably won't return towards it's world unless so much content and variety are added and fixes are made so that it does not get repetitive, redundant, pretentious or even boring for me to essentially replay.

This video game was only a bonus in my eyes though, since I decided to get a white and shiny new PlayStation 4.

Rating: 7.0

Sony PlayStation 4

 

After gaming for 23 years loyally on Nintendo while having experienced PC gaming through the decades as well, I had finally decided to purchase a Sony Playstation 4 back on the 9th of september this year, which specifically is the white edition which included an MMO shooter.

A few days ago, the 20th anniversary of the brand was celebrated by the company, and since the present, it has released 4 consoles and 2 handhelds, with various adjusted and updated editions inbetween.

While last year did my 6 months period of lending a PS3 with various games end, I experienced the PS2 and PS1 earlier at friends. With games such as Tekken Tag Tournament, Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy VII, I always knew that I missed out on strong exclusives back then.

Now I am glad to have a second current generation console, if only for the exclusives it shall have in the future. Right now, honestly, there aren't any released AAA games which intrigue me now apart from the remastered edition of the game of the year from 2013.
 
In mere moments however, the PlayStation Experience event is happening, and Sony has promised that new PS4 titles will be announced there, which excites me when considering the possibilities about speculating what will be shown, without exaggerating.

As far as the other features of the PS4 go, such as share play, I feel that it's too early for me to review those now. All I can say now regarding PlayStation Plus is that I need to get used towards paying for internet, but in return, I do get monthly free games including indies, AAA and miscellaneous stuff.

The Sony PlayStation 4 is a gateway towards discovering new video games and experiences, and I cannot wait to see what is upcoming for the fan community. I am excited for Bloodborne, and I wonder what else will be revealed very soon!

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

 

It has been 6 years ago, and now it's time for the next generation of Super Smash Bros., and this time, a portable edition is available for the first time, and amongst other new features, feels like everything clicked.

For 3DS, or cleverly also known as Four 3DS, is the first edition available which I have been playing more or less for 1.5 hours each day for a month now. The roster having almost 50 characters, and the vast amount of stages, music and trophies means that the content is bigger than ever.

Familiar gameplay will be recognized by veterans of N64, Melee or Brawl where your objective is to smash opponents out of the stages. The online connectivity can range from being playable towards being unplayable, but it's addictive to encounter strangers who especially stick around longer for more matches.

The connection does not end there, because the Wii U version can also link with this in order to transfer Mii Fighters most of all, a new personal way of customizing 3 specific fighters towards your own liking, using clothes which can be collected plus of course your own Mii, or the ones of others.

Exclusive towards Super Smash Bros. for 3DS is a mode called Smash Run, which is inspired by the City Trial from Kirby Air Ride, where in both examples, you must collect stats and fight it out in the end using that which was collected.

As far as content and gameplay go, both are outstanding and offer deep amounts of replay value. The core gameplay in particular will be interesting to keep playing because for the first time, Nintendo has decided to bring out balance patches, which will make the tournament scene also more notable.

Super Smash Bros. for 3DS is one of the best multiplayer games of 2014, one of the best found on the 3DS and will be enjoyed most of all portably on holidays for example, because unfortunately, the superior version has also arrived around the world by now.

Rating: 9.0

Pokémon X & Y

The sixth generation has been upon us for over a year now, and it seems that this franchise is as popular as in the beginning, therefore making it unlikely it will go extinct any time soon. Pokémon remains a powerful simple to learn, hard to master concept.

With Pokémon Y, the 3D graphics have drastically improved from the previous 2 generations, as character and Pokémon models have all been enhanced by this, including animations and fluent movements.

As always, the multiplayer is robust and seems more connected than ever, and the amount of depth regarding battle strategies provided remains what really keeps me coming back towards the franchise for replay value and competition.

A new type called Fairy is introduced, spicing up the battles a bit more. The EXP. share item, crucial for grinding sessions in previous adventures, has been adjusted so that the whole team gets a 100% of battle experience points regardless of who did the final blow.

This means that the core gameplay of Pokémon Y has largely been streamlined and sped up, lowering the challenge significantly, but to me is a positive development because this means that the overall way of primarily playing for battles has been made more efficient.

What remains dissapointing is the bland and dull conversations of ordinary people, and the main story continues to use the formula of a professor calling you up, an insidious team bent on domination and a rival regularily challenging you.

I don't mind the 8 gym leaders, the elite four and the champion at all, because those are enjoyable traditions since Red and Blue. Perhaps the main stories are always doomed to be repetitive and annoying, but maybe they should attempt to hire different writers for once.

Pokémon Y is anyhow an old recipe of not fixing exactly that what makes Pokémon popular and continues to be promising purely for it's core gameplay alone. Graphics are a huge improvement, the soundtrack is largely a remix celebration and as always, the Pokémon collection keeps growing.

Rating: 8.3

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

 

Since importing the American GameCube version back in 2003, I haven't touched Animal Crossing after I did not understood the goals of the game, nor it's replayability. Anno 2014, my approach and perspective have changed, and I have seen the highlights of New Leaf.

Players take control of a villager who is moving into a new, randomized town. There, your character assumes the role of mayor, thus creating responsibilities for the town, it's citizens and the projects you shall be working together on.

Public Work Projects are constructions as chosen by the other villagers in order to be implemented while using donations to manipulate the time cost. These can range from camps and bridges, to fountains and stop signs.

Ordinances are basically game laws that you can customize for your town, so that your personality will work smoother with what you find to be effective, such as changing the opening hours of shops, or letting citizens be more aware of their flora activities.

New Leaf offers a lot more customization than previous entries, including the above mentioned, deciding your own clothes, deciding which villagers are staying and being able to hang furniture on walls now inside your house.

The core gameplay aside from the social aspect of connecting with the villagers but also with players from others towns is to gather resources in order to obtain enough value so that money oriented goals can be reached.

Using your shovel, rod, axe, can and net, you are able to collect lots of stuff such as bugs, fossils and sea creatures. You can either admire and keep them, or primarily, you can start selling them at the various shops in town, which usually offer special actions in accordance to what you bring.

There is also Tortimer Island which you will unlock a bit later once you get the hang of what is required from you as a mayor looking out for the town. The island is basically a mini game location which has more valuable resources to collect, and it was featured in the original Animal Crossing too.

After playing on a daily basis of 15 minutes for about a month, I think that I have seen the majority of the main features, excluding collecting all those furnitures, fossils and such plus seeing special events happen.

New Leaf is perhaps the best entry in the series yet, as each title seems to improve. This time, being able to connect to Miiverse, share snapshots and write letters to each other, Animal Crossing seems to be more social than ever, which coincidentally happens to be it's main success.

I am not sure if I would buy a new title for Wii U. I understand what Animal Crossing is all about now, and I acknowledge it's positives, but I don't see myself returning unless Nintendo innovates, like they always do.

Rating: 7.5

Bravely Default

 

The widely acclaimed JRPG on the 3DS with fresh and interesting original features has a familiar problem and ultimate letdown I had with a previous JRPG, which is Terranigma for the SNES. The first half of BD is welcoming, but starting at Chapter 5, the repetitive nature of the game lurks and enters the gamers, and from that point, I was ultimately dissapointed by this.

Although it's an old school based JRPG very similar to Final Fantasy III and V with the implemented Job system, the story was a chore, the writing was shallow and I disliked the chibi art.

However, the Brave and Default options during battle add new interesting tactics, and the option to speed up battles and even tweakening random encounters makes general grinding much less tedious.

Japanese and English voice acting are available which is good, and the backgrounds are beautifully hand drawn. Although the difficulty is customizable, such as the encounter bar rate, gaining EXP and setting destination markers, the challenge itself can be very annoying when speaking of certain bosses, especially at the end.

The second half of Bravely Default is painful to traverse because of general backtracking, and it definitely did not have great pace. Bravely Default is a huge hit and miss for me, featuring new ideas, but otherwise very stupid design decisions elsewhere, and recycling bosses and events is not cool at all.

Not even a true final boss and ending could save this new IP.

Rating: 6.5

Senran Kagura Burst

 

I thought I would try it out since I saw the hype and humor for it online. As Japan continues to be very liberal in regards to oversexualized fictional females, as opposed to how males are portrayed in Western games, I gave Senran Kagura Burst a chance.

After I completed the recommended first play, I can easily confirm that the game is very shallow, very repetitive and it has awful inappropriate and ineffective writing. As a beat em'up, while choosing between 10 different characters, there was only 1 combo I constantly used.

That combo was hitting the Y button, then flipping the enemies in the air, continue hitting the Y button, flip them again using the A button, and finish of with a diving X attack until your ninja energy bar was enough raised to use each of the shinobi's special attacks, which are all AOE and invincibility based.

Fan service is the main selling point for this game, and it's pretty exaggerated, but also entertaining. The ninja's for instance will burst out of their clothes slowly each time they are dealt a significant amount of damage from enemies.

Then there are numerous unlockable clothing and a specific dressing room where you have all the leisure of observing the girls at first for fashion reasons, but there are also hidden ones. And the most obvious fact is that all except for 1 female having gigantic round breasts.

The story itself alongside the writing is not inspiring, fun and way too much text. It's an insane bowl of trying to be serious while the game isn't interesting in a humorous way either. Personalities of the characters have variety, but are simple minded and easily recognizable as stereotypes.

Senran Kagura Burst's horrible gameplay, where ALL of the missions are practically the same mindless business, reminded me of a long clusterfuck beat em'up on the SNES, which is The Tick, of which it's main problem was the endless amount of enemy waves and the tedious long parts of defeating each enemy.

These negative factors are almost the same found here, but atleast SKB's structure is better if it counts. So, this turns out to be my next dissapointing 3DS title in my collection, and it's easily the worst one. And the best news is that many Japanese games never released outside of Nippon have the same quality, and I am not necessarily talking about beat em'ups then.

This is not how you do a beat em'up properly, and it was a breeze playing from start to finish. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. That is the game's motto. It also has horrible lag or slowdown most of the time which is the result of too many characters appearing on the screen at the same time.

Rating: 4.0

Kid Icarus: Uprising

 

At first, I was disappointed by Pit’s return and new approach. Around chapter 7, I felt like I had seen it all regarding single player. But starting from chapter 10, well, the game turned out to be much larger than I thought.

In fact, it is the longest on rail shooter I have played yet, and even more than that. Kid Icarus Uprising combines air and ground combat with touch, 1 button and circle pad gameplay, which let you shoot plenty of things, move around, aim, dash, roll, use powerups and change the camera.

The controls were definitely an issue at first, but I simply needed time for me to grasp it and get comfortable. Once you get used to them, the game is easily enjoyable for many of us. It has a clever Intensity difficulty system that lets you gamble with currency in order to get even more and therefore get better gear, but to be able to do so, you must set the intensity higher, making the game much more challenging.

This is not a cake in the walk, so at first, I beat the game on the very normal setting. If you want to get stronger in this game, you should set the intensity higher, but make no mistake, this will challenge you in every way possible when looking at so many different kinds of enemies Pit will have to face.

The story has become much better than the old platform games, as the lore has expanded with plenty of new characters, as well as many mythological beings returning and making their debut. Most surprisingly, although the dialogue might come off as very annoying at first, it swiftly becomes a very humoristic ride throughout the chapters while gaming.

You see, the characters in each chapter have such cheesy conversations with each other most of the time, that it added up to the quality of this large game, which by the way has a huge achievement system that is similar to Super Smash Bros.’s trophies and achievements.

Which is no surprise, seeing as this is coming from Masahiro Sakurai after all. The same could be said about the GUI. The soundtrack was very good and quite heavenly, and the new Pit has become likable for me. It’s a game not to take seriously, but as far as entertainment goes, this is once again top notch and quite original, combining some of the best ideas from past games.

Rating: 8.2

Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies

 

After what felt like a very long time, Phoenix Wright has finally returned to bring the legal law system back from the dark ages! With a new nifty gameplay mechanic called the Mood Matrix, you will have to observe a witness's emotions carefully during their statements in order to bring out their true feelings.

In the first 3D entry, the writing style and comical animations are still in effect. Adding to the interesting Mood Matrix, exciting new characters such as the likable Athena Cykes who has an unusual background and the cool new convicted samurai prosecutor Simon Blackquill, alongside the case related characters of course, Dual Destinies is a blast to play, as the writing, plot twists and courtroom drama's are as sublime as ever.

There's not much else new to the series, but fans of it will be delighted, either by the quirky new cases, or seeing old faces return. The overall theme of Dual Destinies also seems to be that corruption is a huge factor in the judicial system nowadays and that the end justifies the means.
 
Also, the bonus DLC case was a very nice bonus indeed, with a weird defendant and another strange tale playing out! The future of Ace Attorney also seems to continue, as the earliest prequel has been announced to come out next year.

Rating: 8.2

Sonic Generations

Technically my third entry of the whole franchise, Sonic Generations is a pleasant throwback to both 2D and 3D generations of Sonic the Hedgehog. The 3DS version however features more 2D levels even from the 3D stages than the console version, and I can confirm this because I witnessed the console version elsewhere.

Nonetheless, I could still see notable differences between both kinds of levels, although they were barely different in regards to available moves and tactics. Because I am not common with the 3D generation yet, I felt more at home with the classic 2D levels such as Green Hill and Casino Zone, and I was satisfied with the boss fights as well as the length.

Although it's a short experience, it's designed in such a way that it encourages you to get higher scores on each challenge, plus there are also special missions, a versus mode and a few other extra's to tackle on.

Sonic Generations is both a pleasant entry and a reminder for myself to discover at the very least the other Sonic titles worth playing, like Sonic 3, CD and Adventure. I also beat the console version a few days later, and that one's much better than the 3DS version regarding graphics, frame rate and entertainment. I would have to give that version an 8.0 instead!

Rating: 7.4

Mario Tennis Open

 

My second Mario Tennis, after the 64 version 14 years ago I was ready for a new incarnation. Open introduces to me a convenient touch pad to use the specialized techniques with, but it also lets playable characters automatically move when the opponent strikes the ball.

This makes the game more easier, but with 8 cups and 5 different AI settings, it's not a toddler journey either. I don't remember that the cast was small unlike the 64 version, they must have deleted some of them. Unless I simply did not unlock anymore.

It also comes with local multiplayer and online multiplayer, enhancing replayability, and it has some special games as well involving playing tennis against a visualized wall depicting Super Mario Bros. and another one aiming for the rings at the net.

The core of the gameplay remains at playing singles or doubles, and Mario Tennis Open does a fine job in my opinion for presenting exactly what the Mario Tennis series is all about. There's not a real complaint to talk about if you ask me, unlike the negative reviews it got.

Rating: 7.5

Kirby Triple Deluxe

After the literature and horror months of september and october, I will now switch over to a month of 10 3DS reviews. Triple Deluxe is the latest traditional Kirby game which is as suspected a breeze to play through, but enjoyable.

There are still several past Kirby games I have yet to even play, but for now, let's take a quick look at our pink sucking neutral gender friendly's latest adventure. In Triple Deluxe, the levels have background stages playable as well, so that you will be teleporting between both sides quite often, reminiscent of the Wario game for Virtual Boy.

It plays similar to the other Kirby platformers, but once again offers a few new copy abilities, 2 new mini games of which one is a micro based Super Smash Bros. one, an Arena and a secondary altered playthrough, mostly similar to Kirby Super Star Ultra and Return to Dreamland.

Also returning from that latter example are super powered segments, giving you the excuse to rampage through the rest of the levels. Controls are furthermore tight and the graphics are colorful while the music offers many remixed songs.

Triple Deluxe is easy like others in the franchise, but Kirby continues to be appealing not only for being cute and child friendly, but just being pleasant platformers to play through. You can also collect keychains representing characters and enemies from previous adventures. In overall, Triple Deluxe is a welcome addition, but not creative enough.

Rating: 8.0

Eraserhead

After having nominated and referenced this over the years, it is finally time to rewatch my favorite horror movie since seeing it 8 years ago as an 18 year old boy, and it still holds up about what I think, feel and experience about it.

Eraserhead is most of all an experience, it is without a doubt one of the most unique horrors out there, and it completely feels like an authentic nightmare, or atleast several of them. It is full of symbolism and interpretations, and David Lynch has stated that the correct one has not been theorized or discussed about yet.

Henry Spencer is a middle aged man who gets a message from the beautiful lady across the hall that his girlfriend has invited him over for dinner. Upon arriving, Henry is unsure and rather feels awkward with her parents and their behavior.

The shocking revelation comes forward that Mary and Henry have had sexual intercourse before marriage, and subsequently a baby has been born at the hospital. But not just any baby, it rather looks more like an alien fetus.

He gets tasked with taking care of the baby, while his relationship seems damaged. From there on out, but actually from the very beginning, all things considered cannot be labeled as factual or logical. As if the overall tone did not give that away already.

The sound design of Eraserhead is stunningly effective, as it goes in harmony with the black and white colors, the sprawling industrialization setting and of course the dreams, hallucinations or nightmares Henry experiences.

The third segment of the movie is where things really start getting creepy, out of this world and effective. The scene after the Lady in the Radiator does her Heaven song is my favorite one because it shows what happens to Henry, becoming an eraserhead in several ways, and it switches into an accompanying scene that leaves much for imagination.

The object with tails seen throughout Eraserhead is largely implied to be spermatozoons, heavily supporting the theory that the movie has strong sexual themes playing. They travel through many different ways, and it reflects Henry's personality most of all, which seems pacifistic.

I strongly encourage everyone to watch this movie on their own, preferably in the dark with headphones and the volume up, without friends or distractions so that you can make up your own mind and opinion about it.

Eraserhead is a dark journey with cryptic messages, industrialized scenery, ambient music, awkward characters, nightmares and ultimately one of the best immersive film experiences I have ever had. David Lynch will always be respected by me for creating this surrealistic horror.

Rating: 9.0

And with that said, I wish you all Happy Halloween! Until next year!

Demonology

Modern religions all seem to have demonology in common, or rather they acknowledge the existence of demons, not necessarily the study or theology of them. It is quite a sophisticated and deep topic because not only are there many kinds of demons, they can be interpreted in different ways too.

LaVeyan Satanism teaches that demons are used as symbols which possess virtuous characteristics, while Christianity or Judaism believe and practice the profession of exorcism in order to evict demons out of possessed bodies.

Often portrayed and used as a convenient way of showing evil influence in mediums such as movies, video games and books, in fact, demonology has been around for ages. Many categorizations exist, so let me talk about some of the more interesting demons which have been documented by men.

For instance, Abaddon is sometimes referred to as king of the abyss who commands an army of locusts and symbolizes destruction or a location of that. It is also associated with fire and graves and could be considered as a leader or duke.

Another commander is Eligos, who can predict the future, knows about warfare, holds an army of sixty legions and he can instruct leaders to inspire their soldiers in order to earn their respect. He usually appears as a horseman.

Satan is the most well known out of them all for being the Devil and is basically the personification of evil and the main enemy of God and his angels. Like demonology in general, Satan also has many interpretations available.

Folklore, magic and witchcraft are all major key terms when speaking of demons as well. Mythology also seems to deal or borrow these entities, and some of these stories or origins can be quite creative. I wonder how the topic will endure through the 21st century.

Tim Burton

 

The visual distinctive dark style of the many movies of Tim Burton is inspiring, engrossing and memorable to experience. Often directing dramatic horrors with a little bit of black comedy here and there, he continues to be noticable from other directors.

Beetlejuice is a great example of how twisted the world of Burton can be, as that picture delved into themes of visual madness, nightmares, a blend between natural and supernatural, cheesy but effective humor and those bizarre settings, man!

Batman and Batman Returns have great looking Gotham Cities oozing with atmosphere and the feeling that crime can be found on every street. Combined with the darker, more serious tone of the movies, they remain classic next to Nolan's trilogy.

Edward Scissorhands is a magical but tragic tale about the misunderstood titular character of blending into normal society. With a pleasant romantic development inbetween, this is another story with powerful imagery.

But perhaps one of the most unique films directed by Tim Burton remains The Nightmare Before Christmas, a stop motion musical fantasy flick which is majorily themed with Halloween. The sheer amount of immersion to be found here is remarkable.

Sleepy Hollow is perhaps the last qualified "darkish" style of Burton before directing in my opinion lesser titles such as Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd and Dark Shadows. There is no question about it that Burton's movies can be easily recognized, aside from the usual casting of Johnny Depp.

Doctor Sleep

 

The long awaited sequel to the novel of The Shining written by Stephen King, which is also my first book read by him, Doctor Sleep is an interesting continuation of what occurred previously and what will happen in modern times.

Dan Torrance, one of the survivors of the Overlook Hotel incident involving his alcoholic father and evil ghosts, still inhabits the special gift of the shining, which is amongst other abilities the privilege of being able to read minds and communicate mentally with others.

In present time, he now works at a hospice, where the elderly and dying patients are taken care of. As Dan gets to experience plenty of personal farewells, while often telling his patients to close their eyes and accept death, his colleagues nickname him Doctor Sleep.

Over the year, he notices that the ability of having the shining remains rare to experience. Making new friends along the way, Billy seems to be the only one who vaguely inhabits the shining, although on a lesser tone than Dan.

That is until Abra Stone starts communicating with him at the incredible age of only two months. It becomes clear that Abra is a very special girl having the strongest kind of shining seen yet, including telepathy, telekinesis, mind reading and prophesying future events. She reminded me of Carrie, another novel by King.

While Dan and Abra become friends and partners, the past hasn't gone away from Dan, and early on in the story he experiences the lady from Room 237 once again. The most terrifying memory is of how he abandoned a young woman and her child, which haunts him with guilt.

But the true danger comes in the antagonistic group of True Knot, an independent wandering tribe of abnormal humans who feast on the "steam" of their dead victims, and who are being led by Rose the Hat, who seems to know sorcery or occultism.

As Abra becomes the latest target of True Knot, Dan and his friends will have to protect the young girl from imminent danger, but Dan will also have to deal with the awakening of the evil influence of the Overlook hotel once again before there can be tranquillity.

Doctor Sleep is for the most part an engaging and suspenseful novel to read into, but my main criticism is with True Knot, which has way too many members with dull personalities or any available backgrounds, and the whole deal with absorbing steam felt odd, because I pictured them as cannibals first.

The antagonistic group also changed the mood and tone of the novel in my opinion, from a suspenseful horror mystery, to a more obvious action oriented good versus evil tale. I enjoy King's diversive writing, and I liked seeing modern references and his habit of referencing locations in Maine.

Rating: **(out of 4)

System Shock

Highly ambitious for it's time, System Shock is a futuristic cyberpunk first person shooter which led to the creation of the way more popular other "Shocks", and Deus Ex was also influenced by this. The main reason many gamers nowadays dismiss the original is because of the outdated controls.

Introducing log files, audio files and visual imagery in order to tell a story, unlike other FPS's of the early 90's, System Shock was immersive for it's time, with complex features such as large maze maps to navigate and explore, environmental puzzles such as connecting electric cables, item management and surprisingly, you progress like you would in Super Metroid.

Meaning that you needed not only access cards or keys to unlock doors, but other means as well such as through environmental objects. System Shock is also themed with horror elements, such as cyborgs being present, and Shodan, the well known villain, is also introduced.

Exploring through the complex levels is the main reason for enjoying this neglected FPS, and not the combat really. Having played through atleast 2 levels of System Shock, I can easily see how very important this project is for the entire shooter genre. Innovative and ahead of it's time, if you can't stand the outdated controls, try to implement the Mouse Mod, which is available now.

Rating: Undetermined

I completely missed out on this famous horror FPS game, and now I have tried it out considerably. But unfortunately, I ultimately disliked this. It's a very unpopular opinion, but I vastly prefer Half-Life(1998) or Deus Ex(2000) when speaking of FPS's of around the same era.

The main problem isn't even getting lost and backtracking a lot in order to progress through the complex decks and other maps, which is good. Less hand holding is a good sign of challenging games.

My main problem is that it all felt floaty and unresponsive. Hitting enemies in here felt like a chore, and even on easy mode was I getting my ass kicked usually because of the turrets or robotic enemies. It's cool that audio logs return, but I was annoyed that subtitles were unavailabe despite the text being at the top left. And I had quite a few problematic moments where I was unable to progress further because I did not know the security codes.

Although the interface is an improvement, it's still not really suitable inside a first person shooter where auto respawning and sudden enemies can mess you up good, especially if you ignore security. Perhaps the real reason I disliked System Shock 2 is because it felt outdated, and why's that? Because I did not play it in the late 90's or early 2000's.

The same cannot be said for Deus Ex, which I only started playing and beaten it in 2010. Also, since beating the BioShock Trilogy, the quality is of a lower caliber for me here, and I could not feel motivated to keep wandering around these area's in space, of which the horror was although honorable, not effective to me.

It's really sad that this is how I feel about one of the supposed all time classic FPS's, but so be it. I cannot like everything in life, and the same goes for video games. Don't take my opinion with agreement, try out System Shock 2 for yourself at first.

Many great ideas from the original are transferred over in improvement in the sequel, but the execution was not enough for me to be truly satisfied by it. I acknowledge it's reputation and influence, but I disregard the gameplay.

Rating: 7.0

The Rest of Clock Tower

Text-heavy sequel towards the original with slow and clunky mechanics. I felt demotivated playing through these handicaps, and thus decided to watch a speedrun of it instead. I know it's improper to judge it like this, because I won't do so completely.

For me, Clock Tower on the PSX is unplayable for me. I did like how they used the same controls as before for this 3D rendering. And I suppose Scissorman is a highlight here too. It doesn't help that the title is confusing as well for this and the next title in line.

Rating: 5.0

This is technically the 3rd entry in the Clock Tower series, but seeing as the futuristic sequel ignores this I won't elaborate further on this matter. Actually, this was more playable for me despite getting lower scores in general.

It almost goes straight towards the gameplay at the beginning. You play as a girl with a split personality, you start inside what seems to be an empty house at first, and there are a total of 3 chapters.

Like the SNES original(I can't say for sure with the former reviewed entry), The Struggle Within has several different endings depending on your actions, trap events and chasing enemies, which this time are crazy little girls with knives, poltergeists and zombies. Although it's playable and more smooth, it's still not as fluent or scary as the original, but it's a modest attempt.

Rating: 5.5

The only sequel worth playing in my opinion, Clock Tower 3 takes another new direction regarding lore, mechanics and scares. Interestingly co-developed by Capcom and Sunsoft, The voice acting and lip synchronization can be cringy, but running away from your nightmares is fun.

As always, your defense is limited towards either hiding or using your environment, but now you are equipped with holy water so that you can ward off the subordinates of a higher evil. Clock Tower 3 spans several timelines to play, and it features boss battles, but these ones are very simplistic in nature with limited controls.

Jump scares can be effective at times, because enemies might run into your back suddenly, or keep running through doors in order to kill you. As a side objective you can also rescure lost and aggresive ghosts by giving them back their sentimental items.

It's nothing special when you look at it's production values, the story or lasting appeal, but at least the mechanics were something different and fun while it lasted. Scissorman(and woman!) looks completely different and is no longer scary.

Rating: 6.5

SCP Containment Breach

 

Based upon the SCP Foundation and her numerous casefiles about the supernatural and often aggressive naturals, Containment Breach is an experimental indie horror that is technically still in development in order to be polished, expanded and improved upon.

Basically, you are a random guinea pig in a large experimental research facility where you are intended to be used for testing against the SCP's in various ways. Pretty soon there is a breach happening, and the creatures are unleashed.

The most common enemy you will face is SCP-173, otherwise known as The Sculpture, which is a bizarre being made of random materials such as concrete that has the power to teleport in front or at the back of you should you decide to look away from it, or when you character blinks.

There is a blinking meter in here aside from a sprinting meter designed to deal with some of the SCP's in the game, but as far as I know, only The Sculpture is useful for it. During my playthrough, other creatures I encountered were SCP-106 The Old Man and SCP-049 Plague Doctor, alongside others I could not identify.

Because of the thousands of SCP cases at the foundation, there is a lot of content that could be implemented in further versions of the game. That means that there is a great deal of ambition within this whole fictional community.

I understand that creating all these SCP files can be a fun thing to do, but seeming as there are almost 3000 cases already, I think that the community is insane and has gone way beyond any conventional number of horror related media, unless I underestimate their creativity and imaginary amount of quantity now.

In any case, SCP Containment Breach felt like an unfinished, buggy and random adventure to me. It's cool that the overall map is randomly created, and reading up on some of thoses cases back at the Foundation can potentially be interesting, but for the time being, it all remains relatively obscure and as far as the main game itself goes not content enough.

There is a lot of work still to be done in my opinion, despite the feeling of disorientation being present, which is both a good and bad thing in this case. As far as how scary it is goes, frankly, there's a lot of jump scares in the form of teleporting creatures, and other than disorientation and some disturbing sounds, there's not much else. Yet.

Rating: Undetermined

SCP-087-B

As it turns out, there is also a mini game available exclusively made for the special case of SCP-087, The Stairwell. The staircases are looping endlessly, until you become aware that there is a creature in this paradox that will scare you.

It is designed very simply, with the only intent of scaring you. As you are wandering aimlessly into a constant descent, sooner or later the creature will pop up, and there is nothing you can do about it, except for trying to escape.

No, I did not beat this, not sure if that's even possible, but I get it. Once you see the actual monster, it's not bad, but the actual scare comes from it randomly popping into existence, making this mini game feel very similar to Slenderman or even The Sculpture in the main game.

Rating: 6.0

10 More Favorite Horror Scenes

Last year I finished October writing down my 31 favorite horror scenes. Here are ten more I would like to share with you. Once again, I tried to be diversive and quality based when looking at the selection, and I think I turned out just fine.

Again, some favorite horror scenes of selected titles are still missing online. That's why other scenes of these movies will have to fit in for the time being. Perhaps I should upload them myself next time:

1.The Devils(1971) Biblical Seizure Desire

2.Evil Dead(2013) Dismemberment

3.Cannibal Holocaust(1980) Turtle Execution

4.À l'intérieur(2007) Collateral Damage

5.Alien(1979) Chestburster

6.The Burning(1981) Raft Massacre

7.Saw III(2006) Skull Surgery

8.The Collector(2009) Bear Trap

9. Final Destination(2000) Choking Issue

10.V/H/S/2(2013) Safe Haven

Castlevania 16-bit

Remake of the first Castlevania on the NES, this was the first time I experienced the series as a kid, renting it back in the 90's at a video store, which seem to be almost extinct nowadays. The fondest memory I have is of the first stage song, introducing it greatly.

As you go through the variety of levels, which each have very different settings and colors, you must face off against Dracula's minions such as Frankenstein's monster or the Mummy. Simon Belmont is the first hero and most recognizable of his bloodline, and he kicks ass.

His vampire killer whip is a powerful tool which lets you swing in 8 directions. It can be upgraded in order to become more powerful and longer, and it even lets you hang onto steel rings so that you can cross over large pits.

The difficulty is challenging but fair. Memorizing level and boss patterns will be vital to learn. Along the way, sub weapons such as the axe or the crucifix will substantially make your journey easier, as will be scattered pieces of meat, sometimes found even inside hidden wall fragments, a classic tradition.

In overall, Super Castlevania IV is the best classic 2D platformer of the series for me, it oozes with great atmosphere and immersive music, supreme control over your whip, the environments and enemies are diversive and it's highly replayable.

Rating: 8.3

The only new Castlevania to be released for the Genesis, Bloodlines is a familiar concept where you go through stages in order to reach Dracula at the end while inbetween facing of against all kinds of gothic and demonic monsters.

You can play as John Morris and Eric Lecarde here, the former is a typical whip user while the latter uses a spear. The story is okay for it's time, it's another resurrection attempt at reviving Dracula by Elizabeth Bathory.

The special effects as seen in the stages are fun, such as climbing up or jumping up the tower of Pisa, and the water scenario in Athens. The final stage took me quite a while to beat, it's simply a matter of remembering the patterns of the final 3 bosses and their forms.

Rating: 7.4

This was long considered the obscure holy grail of the classic style of Castlevania, but in recent years it got more accessible. Rondo of Blood is your typical sequel which got enhanced by it's platform system.

It features multiple paths to Dracula like Castlevania III, and it is also the game in which all of the future Metroidvania titles would borrow the enemy and even the boss sprites to death. It's interesting to see the many familiar sprites seeing their original enhanced introduction here. I'm mixed about the OST as it feels more like a "best of" compilation of the past games. In any case Rondo of Blood is any fan's time worth grabbing.

The faithful remake of the original version inside Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP is also fine, but I simply prefer the PC Engine version for being more fastpaced and prettier to look at. This version has a metallic soundtrack and is easier to play through. In essence, it's hard to ignore this celebration release, including both the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night as great extra bonuses.

Rating: 7.5

The Shining

 

The well known movie adaptation of Steven Spielberg's novel The Shining is a very good horrific time, but it's certainly not your average way of expectations, and at first, I didn't think much about it except for the memorable scenes which are directly in your face.

Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their son Danny move towards the reclusive and isolated Overlook Hotel for the winter period in order to take care of the mechanical equipment, furniture and miscellaneous tasks, while it is closed down.

The family is all alone, and they all enjoy the scenery and location, until strange occurances start happening. Danny sees visions from the future and the past, Jack becomes mad and frustrated for some reason and Wendy is the sorrowful witness towards this.

Stanley Kubrick's cinematography is an impressive achievement, such as when Danny rides down corridors and hallways with his tricycle, using a Steadicam. Or the dreamlike scenes where tons of blood flows towards the camera from inside elevators.

It becomes apparant that Danny and Dick, a worker of the Overlook Hotel, have the ability to shine as taken from the title, or to communicate with others in a sixth sense kind of way. Because of this, both characters sense incoming danger.

What the danger exactly implies is shrouded in various meanings. It could be vengeful ghosts, it could be cabin fever or it could simply mean human error in regards to emotions and circumstances. At one point however, it becomes clear that there is more than one explanation plausible.

The Shining features an effective buildup right from the very beginning, as we float through the sky, watching over a car approaching the Overlook Hotel. It builds all the way up nicely, until the payoff knocks out dedicated viewers into disturbing measures.

The old lady in the bathroom, an implied gay blowjob, the twin girls and other hideous moments make the movie a memorable horror entry, with a plot twist at the end that has started discussions for decades now, implying new realities in accordance towards the film's universe.

The Shining is a well made adaptation even though Stephen King the author himself disliked it. Admittedly, I have yet to read the novel itself, but I believe it has become clear enough that Kubrick's version is well respected on it's own.

Rating: 8.0

What really makes The Shining a classic is that there are many interpretations, patterns and symbolism available, something I did not experience the first time watching it. I understood that it wasn't an ordinary horror anyway, but yet, many clues were not found out by me.

Not until other people online pointed me towards these directions, which sometimes ranged from accurate and believable, towards conspiratory and downright obssessive. But perhaps one way or another, Stanley Kubrick truly was obssessed as well with leaving hidden messages behind in his movies, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining.

Room 237 is a documentary about The Shining's film adaptation's deeper meanings. Commentators theorize about various aspects, creating an inquiry in nine parts about what shaped it's lasting appeal. Subliminal appeals are scattered throughout The Shining, literally hundreds of them are subtle references.

Commentators see similarities with sexuality, genocide of Native Americans, the Jewish Holocaust and the fake Apollo moon landings. It's a petrifying experience once you too start noticing there is much more to be seen here than just a horror story.

Alongside Rob Ager's observations with Collative Learning, a favorite of mine to listen to, Room 237 is a pretty interesting documentary about anyone wanting to learn more about The Shining and the way of Stanley Kubrick's directing. My favorite observations are that some rooms and objects are paradoxes filmed in order to confuse the analytical audience on a deeper level.

Rating: 7.0