Brave New World

A novel about the distant future which was way ahead of it's time with introducing and predicting concepts which are now relevant, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is an eye and mind opener into well, a brave new world.

With bold idea's like hypnopaedia, also known as sleep-learning, or classical conditioning, it's a vast imaginary view at how the author managed to look ahead at upcoming scientific and technological developments.

The plot and it's characters are likable, but the way of writing by Huxley somewhat set me off, with paragraphs sometimes looking like walls, and at other times, the numerous terminologies got me confounded.

Still,  it's an important book of the 20th century, as it rebels subtly against ideologies like capitalism and socialism, and comparisons towards George Orwell's 1984 can be made, going against totalitarian or utopian ideas.

Brave New World is fairly approachable to read, and yet the topics one will find in it are quite deep, such as the lengths of nature versus nurture methods. I'm sure that i will read it again in the future in order to understand and appreciate it even better.

I wish you all, ironically of course, a brave new year in 2017!

Rating: **(out of 4)

Aguirre, the Wrath of God

Perhaps Werner Herzog's magnum opus, Aguirre, the Wrath of God is an epic film inspired by the novella Heart of Darkness. Subsequently, this is the movie that inspired Francis Ford Coppola to make Apocalypse Now, and they all share a similar premise.

It's a story about obsession and madness because of an illusion called El Dorado. Aguirre's main character Don Lope de Aguirre played by Klaus Kinski acted well, and was the main reason for wanting to see this movie, because his face and infamous frenzy personality is intense to behold.

The opening scene is very powerful with it's epic grim yet inviting score towards Peru's paradise surrounding Machu Picchu, as the conquistadores led eventually by Lope are determined to find the City of Gold.

Although the plot is thin, it's really the scenery and the so called oneiric moments that make the Wrath of God memorable, alongside the fauna's background noise and that one little moment when one of the locals is ordered by Lope to play a flute tune.

Last but not least is that Klaus Kinski's mad performance bore similarities towards the real Aguirre's homicidal delusions of grandeur, and it easily sucks viewers into the whirlpool of despair as the dream of El Dorado degrades further.

It's a flawed experience, as the direction and the pacing could feel better, but the good outweighs the bad easily, as the cinematography is intense at times, the soundtrack is as quoted by the late Roger Ebert"haunting, ecclesiastical, human and more", and the ending is a beautiful wreck of insanity.

Some years ago, I shared my top 25 movies. At that time, this movie was arguably battling for the third spot alongside Apocalypse Now. If I were to do that again in the future, Aguirre, the Wrath of God would be listed, just for it's dreamlike state alone, as it can easily conjure upon your sense of imagination.

Rating: 8.0

Nostalgic Childhood Animations

While I am on the subject of nostalgia after writing the previous blog article, let's dig deeper with nostalgic childhood animations, sharing with you 4 of my most fonded memories:

We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story is a genuine childhood memory movie for me personally, but it’s flawed looking back at it now. A group of dinosaurs are selected by a time travelling doctor to grant kid’s wishes in present time.

As goofy as that sounds, the pacing, voice acting and animation are even more inferior. The only thing I now like is the Eccentric Circus and some animated effects seen there.

Rating: 6.0

A childhood movie of mine, Lady and the Tramp is a classic Walt Disney production featuring a royal lady and a tramp dog who fall in love despite danger, jealousy and other obstacles hindering them.

Although only the opening and ending scenes depict snow, it still is technically a Christmas movie. Memorable scenes include the romantic dinner outside, Lady’s childhood, the zoo quarrel and the ending.

Rating: 7.0

Another childhood movie of mine, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is one of my most memorable ones and still remains very nostalgic to this day upon finally re-watching it. 3 children, a witch and a professor go on a magical adventure to recover a spell book so that the Nazi’s can be defeated back in London.

My favorite moments are when the 5 of them go underwater, when they participate into the tournament with the animals and when the witch summons a magical army of armors to fight the Nazi’s.

And in the center of it all is a bed which transports the 5 main characters around, and I always considered the bed to symbolically represent the cozy and comfy nature of Bedknobs and Broomsticks!

Rating: 7.5

ANOTHER childhood movie of mine, Pete’s dragon is about Pete and his animated naughty dragon, but the movie itself is filled with musical songs and in fact has so much that even now when I’m an adult, I was always more interested in Pete and his dragon rather than the songs.

Other than a nostalgic piece, it really isn’t good or decent, it’s one of those movies which starts with interest but along the way I wanted it to finish quickly. One exception is that my favorite song has always been once they started painting the house.

Rating: 6.0

Double Retro Blog: Mario Kart 64 & Diddy Kong Racing

Super Mario Kart holds a place in my heart for letting me multi play with my brother and even my dad, but it's the 64 bit racing duo of the 90's which defined the best couching time I had with friends, alongside other prominent games.

Mario Kart 64 is the successor and grants up to 4 players to play simultaneously, while the roster has expanded and the previous game modes return including Grand Prix, Time Trial, Versus Mode and Battle Mode, of which the latter was for me the most fun to play with friends, especially on the block arena!

I realized for the first time here, the difference between NTSC and PAL versions, because I played both of them for Mario Kart 64. I noticed changes towards the music and the speed of the karts themselves, and it confused me.

It is also the game where one of my best friends and his brother had established world records in regards to the Time Trial records around the early 2000's.  I could not compete likewise, but I still liked acknowledging this.

Mario Kart 64 remains one of the best in the series, and is obviously a retro activity for me!

This is the other very fun racing multiplayer game I experienced with buddies in the 90's, where the most prominent feature is that besides karting, you can also fly with aeroplanes in the sky, and hover with hovercrafts through the water, for ALL of the stages!

And these stages were vast and numerous, and again, my buddy and his brother used to have world records for this one as well. However, I managed to have my own record on one of the water levels in it, and they were not able to beat it, so take that!

There are pro's and con's towards using the different vehicles, but the course design is fair and balanced in that regard, it just depends on what kind of play style you are craving. A rather creative story mode is also involved, and the cast includes not only Diddy Kong, but Banjo and Conker from Rare's other games too!

Diddy Kong Racing is another retro look from the Nintendo 64's prime time, and it featured fun multiplayer and obstacle items to annoy your opponents too, just like with Mario Kart 64. It's a shame that a true sequel was never released!

Windows 10

Contrary to popular trending, I waited a year before I rolled out Windows 10 to improve upon my Windows 7 Ultimate.

I was a bit afraid and skeptical of the doom scenarios involving the events that Microsoft's newest OS would basically collect and log everything you do,  but then I figured that I was able to tweak some settings and keep my sanity that I don't have anything to hide, yet I still value my privacy.

Windows 10 is now roughly available for 1.5 years and notable features which I have noticed include a graphical simpler overhaul of the user interface with a mix from Windows 8, a redefined browser named Edge and DirectX 12.

Of course, there is more introduced, including the assistant Cortana, universal apps akin to IoT's technology and ideology and numerous technical updates, upgrades and name changes towards established features, but that is all at this moment not important to me.

This is simply a small review or perhaps a preview on the long term usage that I am at this moment content with Windows 10 despite the doom articles and the giant updates every now and then, and let's not forget about the way Microsoft forced the infamous system tray pop up every now and then.

Eventually I will explore the OS and study it further officially, but for now, I am satisfied. I definitely liked Windows 7 and even Windows XP before that, while I kind of experienced Windows 8(not 8.1), but now it's time to use perhaps Microsoft's last traditional OS as we know it.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

 

OST

Seeming as I am struggling with creativity in regards towards writing a Christmas blog, this game will now serve as this year's Christmas special, as it coicidentally takes place in one of the coldest environments out there; Siberia.

A vast improvement over the 2013 reboot, in setting, gameplay, scale and presentation, Rise of the Tomb Raider comes to the PlayStation 4 in a special 20th anniversary edition of the franchise, featuring all of the DLC and additional extras.

This time, Lara is on the tracks of uncovering the lost city of Kitezh in the far east of Siberia, and only Jonah is really returning from last time to help out. Trinity's Konstatin and Ana are decent villains, and Jacob is a modest leader in a snowy landscape.

Additionally, the expansion stories and DLC make it a large game, and side content also include the return of optional tombs to raid. The Craft mansion episode is a well done extra providing for more background story, and it's easily more interesting to move through than the entirety of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, which I despised.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great game with addictive climbing and maneuvering mechanics, and can now easily compete with for instance the Uncharted franchise, although the tone and dialogue among other factors are obviously different.

Improvements for the future could include a better cast to accompany Lara, and maybe a bigger arsenal of weaponry, seeming as Lara has become a cold mass murderer anyway, much like Nathan. I figure that I also ought to give the older Tomb Raider games a second chance, in order to celebrate the series even better.

Rating: 8.5

Final Fantasy XV

 Up for the Challenge

A Final Fantasy for Fans and First-Timers.

It's been five years already since I started a marathon of the most recognizable JRPG series, and then reviewing them here. As stand alone titles, each one would bring something new to the table, be it a new combat system, a gripping plot, or a new setting.

The fan community is heavily divided by not only which main title is the best or worst, but also by which of them contributed objectively the most, critically or commercially, groundbreaking or tiresomely.

With Final Fantasy XV, a title for which we have waited a long time, I am once again confounded  and conflicted with emotions as to how I would rate it. Following after in my opinion a disastrous direction with XIII, it manages to reverse flip that one's structure.

Love it or hate it, open world is the current trend in video gaming. And this is also the game's strongest point. It's combat system is like a lite edition compared to say, Kingdom Hearts, but for me it worked and it had enough variety with it's weapons while magic and summons took a backseat.

The so called "boy band" or the 4 heroes/brothers for life are all likable, from big brother vanguard Gladio to energetic Prompto to my favorite cooking Ignis who gives gentle advice at night, they accompany Noctis, a fairly convincing protagonist destined and strong willed to claim his heritage.

Quests are granted pretty standard, from fetching to delivering to combating, to miscellaneous activities like Chocobo Racing and fishing, the side content of Final Fantasy XV is easily satisfying, so much that I leveled just enough in order to finish the main story.

And that's easily the game's weakest point, alongside the second half direction of returning to tight corridors and hallways, with Chapter 13 standing out as the most generic and redundant time in this fantasy, reflecting on everything that is wrong with the industry today.

Granted, Final Fantasy storylines have always gone over the top, but atleast some of them remain classic in nature and have a well constructed narrative and presentation to show them off, alongside drama and emotional effects. With XV, I didn't care on the grand picture for what was happening, as camping out at night or exploring was more satisfying.

Graphically, it's also a mixed bag, alongside glitches and bugs that really should not had happened with this game's infamous development hell/vaporware status. At times the landscapes, outposts and the people can be beautiful, but at other times, NPC's can freeze or move awkward, and textures can fail, depending on the camera's angle.

The priorities as to how the game got designed in it's categories sometimes also questioned me back towards the Japanese developers at Square Enix as to what they were thinking, and once again does Chapter 13 come to mind and be the prime example.

In the end though, I really enjoyed the first half as I took my time driving around the land with the Regalia and 3 of my best virtual buddies while memorizing with tunes from all of the old main Final Fantasy soundtracks, which easily beats out the second half.

Rating: 7.5

Rogue One

It's the beginning of a new era for Star Wars, and this is the first side story full feature to embrace the silver screen. After having seen this in 3D Dolby Cinema at the Vue in Hilversum with my brother and friends, I can easily recommend it to fans and even newcomers.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story details the origins of how the superweapon known as the Death Star was constructed by a collaborating imperial weapon scientist(Mads Mikkelsen). Of course, Revenge of the Sith showed this happening already at the end, but this goes deeper with the details.

The scientist's daugher Jyn played by the beautiful Felicia Jones is destined and determined to become a heroine for the Rebellion/Alliance, and together with a pack of rebels including Donnie Yen's blind character and Forrest Whitaker's mentor character, they fight back.

While the tone offers a minimum of comic relief, this time in the form of a droid, it does set it right with granting a serious dramatic mood, and for the first time, I felt connected towards the rebellion as a whole, not because of the characters for who I did not really care for, but more because of the cause and the means towards it.

Unlike hardened Star Wars original trilogy fans, I did see this movie bring improvement in one decisive factor, and I'm referring to the action battle scenes then, which are easily the best since Empire Strikes Back.

Like The Force Awakens before, it borrows from familiar trademarks from the space epos, and yet it also works very good as a connection bridge towards A New Hope. Maybe this movie shouldn't have been made, and some unexplained lore should had been intact, but now that the franchise is expanding, it is inevitable.

I found it refreshing to see a bleak and negative ending, as it meant that the whole cast basically sacrificed itself for the rebellion and Luke and friends to be given hope in Episode IV. Arguably, it also works as a stand alone sci-fi, whether you are a longtime fan or not.

Rogue One is in overall a very intense sci-fi space epos with flexibility, even showing us in my opinion the best rendered CGI yet in actors who either died, or are older now. Better get used to spin-offs like this, or else you won't survive the ride on this cashcow. :)

Rating: 8.0

PlayStation 4, Part Two

I have been a new member of the PlayStation family since 2014. After I got baited into falling for the Destiny combo with a white console, I ditched the former while I had to wait atleast for a full year until the truly interesting and good games started coming out, and I'm talking about exclusives then.

After humble but great beginnings happened with The Last of Us Remastered and Bloodborne,  I don't regret buying the system at all, as I previously borrowed a PlayStation 3 from a friend and beat and reviewed numerous games, acquiring the taste and knowledge that the brand has enough good exclusives.

Now let´s talk about the other features and stuff for a bit. PlayStation Now as a cloud gaming service has failed for me so far, because while I am able to play natural PS4 games online just fine and smoothly, the streaming games lagged painfully beyond being playable.

The PS4 Pro is overkill for me at the moment, because not only can it not playback Blu-ray discs, but I don't have a 4K TV either. The only true improvement it has for me is that some games will get 60 frames per second.

PlayStation Plus is at first a weird requirement to play online, but after a few months I got my "value" of it back by providing free games. Usually, these would be average indie games, but sometimes, titles like Resident Evil Remastered would definitely make me happy to have a subscription, and of course to be able to play multiplayer online.

The PlayStation VR seems to be succesful for now, but I think that I myself am not ready for it yet, nor do I think that there are truly groundbreaking VR games available for it yet. Plus, the price for the device is rather expensive,

My gaming library in early 2016 expanded from 7 games, to 17 games at the end of december, proving that the system has enough magnificent good quality of games out, and there are many upcoming promising games coming out in early 2017, which I will mention in january traditionally.

I don't mind buying particular third party games for it despite having a good PC, because I feel that some games are better played on a big HD TV, and I prefer to play third person perspectives on my couch.

So in overall, right now, I am really, really enjoying all of the games in my collection, and Sony has easily "provided" for me as a gamer this year, while Nintendo clearly hasn't. 2017 cannot come soon enough in order to experience the latest in gaming!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

It has been nearly a year, and the first anthology film has already just been released into cinema's, as I am about to see it this weekend, but before that, let me review the first new generation Star Wars film, which is Episode VII.

Like many have already deducted, it's story premise is most of all similar to Episode IV or A New Hope, and it continues to connect to the overall saga by keeping trademarks, tropes and familiars intact.

A new generation of epic space operas is upon us, and Episode VII delivers entirely. With an old and new cast carrying on, The Force Awakens is a worthy successor and instantly is just as good in it's own merits as Episode III and V did as the best entries in their own trilogies.

J. J. Abrams has taken over the cape and mantle so to speak and it's so good that the movie was over before I knew it.

When the First Order has risen out of the ashes of the Galactic Empire, the Force starts awakening in our heroes Finn and Rey, a former Stormtrooper and a mysterious lonesome gal who is technically skilled and a fighter.

Pretty much all of the Star Wars tropes return, including the opening prologue text, the transition scenes, the various foreign or alien creatures, the Jedi religion, "there is still good in him", "May the Force be with you" and an important character dies near the end, which is Han Solo this time.

I didn't like Kylo Ren at first because he sounded like an emotional trainwreck and a coward hiding behind a mask. But upon reviewing, I saw how he is struggling and being confounded by which side of the Force to take, making him actually my favorite new character.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is a very strong start of a new trilogy, and with it, a new celebrating generation of a Star Wars fan community. We will very soon be able to judge Disney's direction with the franchise, and if  we're lucky, Disney might just start a better "Expanded Universe"  than Lucasfilm or Marvel!

Rating: 8.0

Berlin

 

As for the last november weekend of this year, I decided to discover the capital of Germany. Not only did I decide to visit the highlights, but I have had a reunion with my German friend Uwe, who was my roommate during my journey through North Korea.

He is just as passionate as I am about traveling, and it was great to catch up with our memories, our present trip through Berlin and to talk about future destinations. For instance, his son is waiting for him in Nigeria, while Uwe's number 1 dream right now is to explore Tuvalu.

I went to see a total of 9 museums over the course of just a small weekend including friday, starting from the afternoon, not too shabby! These 9 include the Altes, Neues, Bode, Pergamon and Alte Nationalgalerie museums(of which my favorite probably is Bode), Schloss Charlottenburg, Topography of Terror, Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie and the DDR museum.

My time in these places was time consuming, but very rewarding, and I was even impressed at some of the art objects found on the so called Museum Island. On the other side, Berlin's recent history including World War II and the Cold War is impossible to ignore and the numerous stories in their respectful museums completely immersed me.

Furthermore, I also went to see the highlight sightseeings, including Brandenburger Tor, the Siegessäule, Potsdamer Platz, Alexanderplatz, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall at various spots and my 2 most favorite landmarks were Berliner Dom and the Reichstag.

Other than mentioning all that, I gotta say that Berlin is immense and a big metropolitan city to traverse. It's truly a beautiful and nowadays modern city which surely will continue to be extremely relevant for the country and the European Union.

The Journey of Martial Arts

 

After 10.5 years of training Kenpo Karate, a mixed martial arts which has supposedly numerous amounts of influences including, Hawaian, Filipino, Okinawan, Chinese and Japanese martial arts, I was accepted as a third degree of a brown belt wearer.

Performing this for over a decade and having been teached by dozens of instructors, professors and masters, I can say that the world of martial arts as I have experienced it so far has been pretty interesting. It's not my most passionate leisure, but it remains important to me.

I'm looking forward towards the next Kenpo chapter I will have, which will not only include learning about the new upcoming techniques and forms I am about to perform, but it will most likely also be the comeback of me returning towards tournament activities.

I am also now authorized to start teaching others officially about Kenpo Karate, obviously after this has been approved in the right amount of timing and planning. Although my hearing isn't the best, I absolutely enjoy teaching others when it "clicks" and then receiving their satisfaction as compensation.

Of course, since Kenpo Karate's future is truthfully uncertain, considering that grandmaster Ed Parker did not name a successor, and that every school in the world is interpreting the teachings, the motions and the philosophy in their own way, I wonder if it will remain relevant or even evolve.

The political and philosophical sides of this martial arts is a very hot debate among the schools, and perhaps I might write about those big topics next time. For now, it's time to relax my muscles, remember my positioning stances, and prepare myself for the next step on the martial arts ladder.

Wii U's Decline, and Dawn of Nintendo Switch

Regrettably, the Wii U has become Nintendo's worst selling console of all time. With admirable third party developers abandoning the ship within a year, the ride of the Wii U and it's dual screen concept has come and gone away.

Despite the HD output, only a handful of first party titles are really worth it on the system, as the last wave of releases has been received rather below the quality of what we can expect for them. Examples include Star Fox Zero, Paper Mario Color Splash and the early case Game & Wario.

I suppose I can write another blogpost about my personal top 10 video games on the system, but I am shocked to note that the Wii U has even fewer must have titles when compared to the N64, which is generally seen as having quality over quantity in a revolutionary 3D period.

So yeah, I won't really miss the Wii U, because it's successor has recently been announced in the form of the Nintendo Switch. It's a console/handheld hybrid system with a plethora of confirmed 3rd party support, including newcomers like Bethesda and From Software.

The greatest news about it is that pouring the R&D divisions into one platform while maintaining backwards compatibility through Virtual Console and a higher graphical output means that Nintendo is back into the spotlight and is combining all of it's strength, while attempting to rejuvenate it's inferior aspects, including third party support and graphical output.

I can't wait to hear and see more news about the Nintendo Switch in january, when the release date, pricing and launch window will be confirmed to the general audience. And without a gimmick in the spotlight, which turned profitable or not(Wii-mote and Wii U Gamepad), the focus is now on the games itself.

The marketing has already improved as the message of the first reveal is clear, it's not the Wii Three, it's not targeted for teenagers and kids, but rather primarily towards young adults. The mission and vision of the Switch are  pretty clear, meaning that it's really a system dedicated to gaming, while adding a lot of flexibility in the form of the hybrid switch and all of the potential peripheral controllers it could receive.

I really hope that Nintendo will deliver legendary with the games once again. Breath of the Wild and that sneak peak at the next 3D Mario are no brainers, but definitely do not forget about forgotten franchises. Keep mixing it up with innovation and new stuff, and the Switch will do just fine.

I'm rooting for it!

Halloween

What better way to end this month than to talk about Halloween itself?

I will spare you the details surrounding the long history of this celebration day, and rather focus on modern day activities itself surrounding the 31st of october.

Haunted house attractions have completely conquered theme parks whenever the day approaches, and subsequently, so called scare zones, scary stories and of course the actors themselves have made sure that this celebration is a lasting appeal.

Horror mazes have recently over the years also appeared more and more, which are sometimes based on famous media such as The Walking Dead, but they can also be entirely original and unexpected in their outcomes!

Movie marathons of people's favorite horror movies are also very common in this time of the year, whereas they either watch those, or instead go through entire series like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Saw and many others in order to absorb the domino effect from best to worst, quality wise.

Cosplaying creepy figures is enormously popular now too, with not only private parties encouraging people to do so, but other events like entire conventions too. It's too bad that the convention I wanted to visit this year once again as Billy the Puppet was canceled. I realy hope to amend and recover from this next year.

I myself have miraculously written 31 more blogs for this month, as I love to write and review about all kinds of stuff, and what way to better combine this with the theme of horror, than when it comes to talking about my other hobbies, which include gaming and cinema?

I'm surprised that this is the 4th year of me doing this already, as I honestly thought that I would run out of things to write about. But I can confirm already that I have enough content ready for the next year, so that means I will atleast definitely do this one more time!

Celebrate Halloween in your own way! Go trick or treating, scare people with pranks(although don't go too far, see the horror clown sighting news around the world.), visit creepy abandoned places, or conjure a ghost via a Ouija board, the choice is yours to make and to enjoy!

Happy Halloween, and until next time!

Zero Time Dilemma

 

The finale towards the Zero Escape trilogy, thanks to the support of fans including me, Zero Time Dilemma was able to get developed and released. And it ends with satisfaction on a large note.

It has been a big time adventure so to speak, where characters would had to shift with history and thoughts in order to reach the games´s twists and bendings. This time, it´s both a sequel and a prequel, plus the main game within the game is now called the Decision Game, where characters will have to decide on difficult choices in order to progress, or to have zero escape.

Fan favorites Junpei, Akane, Phi and Sigma return from Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue´s Last Reward, while Diana, Q, Mira and Eric are more or less new faces. In order to uncover the truth, or various truths, the player and the characters will have to shift through several histories in order to reach the goal, understand the Decision Game´s principles and reveal Zero II´s true identity.

Zero Time Dilemma this time has integrated pleasant harmonic puzzle rooms in the sense that they make sense logically, but the lack of a hint system unlike previous entries makes it also the most challenging and cryptic, as there are plenty of passwords to pass through, next to the puzzle rooms themselves.

Another issue which was poorly received by the audience are the stiff and desynchronized animated cut scenes, where the lips would not always match what was being said, and the movement of the bodies would be unnatural. Other than those two negativities, it is the darkest and most mature of the trilogy, with heavy emotions and the traditional gore scenes amplifying your immersion with them.

Seeming as there are several big conclusions to reach, the comedy from 999 and to a lesser extent VLR has almost completely disappeared, but that´s okay. Connecting all of the dots with the reveal of Delta and his various aliases, Phi´s true parents and the whole framework of time travelling makes Zero Time Dilemma a very worthy ending to the trilogy, and it ends with ambiguity.

With a slick designed presentation it´s worth the trip, but personally I was dissapointed to see the new behavior and the new appearances of Junpei/Tenmyouji and Akane/June in particular, as if they were different persona's.

Rating: 8.4

The Walking Dead (TV), Five Years On

 

The success of the television adaptation of The Walking Dead comics has led us to present times with seven seasons, with the latest one having just started. Effectively, the series has set the new standard when it comes to slow moving zombies.

Unlike the satirical, parodical or political themes playing surrounding the zombies of George A. Romero, The Walking Dead rather sets the zombies back as background obstacles, as the show really is about making difficult moral choices about survival.

Indeed, throughout the seasons, which have settings beyond urban cities such as the farm getting overrun in 2, or the prison being a temporary base for 3&4, Rick's human group grows and declines in numbers, as death scenes come and go in all sizes.

There have been so many dramatic and gory scenes involving not only zombies going down, but plenty of humans too, that I seriously have lost count as to what my favorite of anyone of them would be at the moment. Naturally, Season 7's opening episode is the one sticking with me the most right now.

The show also has seen plenty of intimidating, cruel and nasty villains, including the cannibals group, the Governor of Woodbury, Daryl's brother Merle, and the latest involves the Saviors, led by Negan, who easily stole the spotlight.

I'm glad to see The Walking Dead being so highly succesful. The zombies look absolutely great at times, as does the intense dialogue heating up between the humans. The action is stunning, as is the drama, and there really is no other zombie television series out there with such a high caliber as this.

Rating: 8.0

Dark Souls III

 

The consistent and constant high value of the Souls franchise has easily transitioned over into the newest consoles and high end PC’s, and the latest entry has become the best selling and in my opinion the most endurable yet.

Which means that From Software continues to impress by it’s sheer amount of polish, content and so on per title, and even though they went off the track with the magnificent Bloodborne, Dark Souls III sits proudly alongside it’s beloved brethren.

With many references towards Dark Souls, Dark Souls II and even glimpses of Demon’s Souls, alongside borrowing some aesthetics from Bloodborne, it is up to you to link the fire again, no matter how cryptic the curious world and lore can be.

The soundtrack is arguably the strongest seen yet, as each boss has a unique song accompanying it, and the main theme is highly respected by many. I have once again died hundreds of times, but that feeling of endurance is as perfect at it comes, because the overall quality of level design, enemy design, methodical combat, multiplayer aspects, setting, subtle objects and so on make Dark Souls III a very rich world and it’s easily consumed by the rabid yet passionate community.

 

 

 

Invading, summoning and leaving messages remains valuable, addictive and mischievous to be used, and there are plenty of builds to justify several runs, such as focusing on sorcery, or faith, or dexterity, or strength etc. .

Although it’s not the strongest boss lineup, some of my new favorites include Aldrich, Oceiros and Lothric. There are plenty of NPC’s and mysterious quests to tackle into, not to mention rare items, creative new illusory walls and other secrets that even the community has yet to fInd.

And with the inevitable brilliant as usual DLC being in development, Dark Souls III is more alive(or Hollow) than ever, and it’s a great action RPG by all means. If it ain’t broke, improve upon it!

Rating: 8.7

The Modern Age of Horror Cinema

For now, I consider modern horror filmmaking to start in the 90's, where the genre had a few gems still getting released, but the general public was getting tired, until Scream(1996) rejuvenated interest back, with a slasher revival and making parodies.

The early 00's/2000's saw an increased interest into Japanese horror, and their subsequent remakes being arguably even better. The most famous examples are The Ring and The Grudge, which recently got a Freddy VS. Jason kind of flick in regards to the iconic supernatural spooks.

This decade towards the end of it also saw the rise of the French Wave, where a surprising amount of terrific good French horror was released. Highlights in here include Inside(2007), High Tension(2003) and one of my all time favorites, Martyrs(2008).

New horror icons also slowly started rising, with Jigsaw and his puppet alter ego Billy being the most recognizable in the Saw series. Another well known franchise became Paranormal Activity, although both of them have definitely seen the peak of their success already.

And then there's the future of horror cinema to ponder about. How many remakes, prequels and sequels need to be directed still until we get to see a nice amount of titles, instead of hopefully getting 1 good project each year, such as Insidious(2010), Sinister(2012), The Conjuring(2013) and The Babadook(2014)?

I really look forward towards seeing new upcoming successful horror films, because I can very well understand how hard it can be to achieve something truly frightening in this age of the internet, where 9 out of 10 horror movies are really not worth anyone's time.

Yume 2kki

 

Yume 2kki is the unofficial sequel to Yume Nikki.

Co-developed by the anonymous people behind the Japanese 2chan, and referencing all of the major fangames surrounding the community, it is the most ambitious project because of it's large scale, and it is still getting updated.

You play as a character of ambiguous ethnicity, and will like I reviewed Yume Nikki and .flow before, wander through strange, surreal and nightmaristic hellish worlds, and the whole landscape so to speak is bigger and more confusing than ever.

With over 35 Effects to collect here and there, which let your character perform various effects, such as riding a bicycle, flying as a fairy and cutting up stuff with a chainsaw, you are once again thrown into an illogical world with zero dialogue, narration and sense.

Despite it's simple mechanics design as programmed from RPG Maker, the plain gameplay let's you feel all kinds of emotions, as the settings in particular might remind anyone of dealing with what looks to be dreams, memories and nightmares all intertwining with one another.

Game theories populate the subtle background and interpretations of each world, events and NPC's appearing, and the various endings make sure that the perspective and the experience of each player will be different upon getting through this.

The creepy vibes and the scary imagery range from inanimated objects and haunting trippy tunes, to abominations and hysterical sensations. The mood of each world can range from unnerving, to peaceful harmony.
 
Yume 2kki is an acquired taste, like the whole worshipment of Yume Nikki's legacy, but once you do embrace it, you too will be curious, scared and filled with a weird sense of coziness through aimlessly wandering through these sights, and somehow reach an end or two.

Rating: 7.3

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky

You think you have seen it all regarding martial arts and gore combined? You think that you have seen plenty of crazy manga/animes? How about Hong Kong/Chinese prison flicks? Look no further than Riki-Oh then for good times.

Also known as the precursor towards the present famous One Punch Man, Riki-Oh is about Ricky who killed a man and leads the prisoners against the corrupt prison system with the wardens and the Gang of Four terrorizing all.

The Story of Ricky is actually one of the goriest flicks ever made, easily coming close towards the king of gore, which is Braindead(1992), directed by Peter Jackson. It's so over the top at times that it became an effective martial arts horror comedy.

Infamous scenes include literally punching through guts, meat and bones, falling on a board of spikes, an imploding body, and facing of against a grotesque transformed warden who eventually is meat grinded massively, and his head is left.

Definitely do not take this movie seriously, and I guarantee that you will have a good time, IF you have a heart for B-rated, nonsense adaptations. Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky is ridiculously easy to make fun of.

Rating: 6.5

Dr. Chaos

An NES game so average, and yet so abstract, that you can't help but try it out for curiosity sake.

Dr. Chaos is an action platformer with a horror theme playing around a mad scientist who went too far with creating quantum based warp zones, and unleashing horrific monsters for his brother to the rescue Michael Chaos to battle.

The game is split up into three segments; first are the hallways, which are the shortest ones experienced. They serve as hubs and checkpoints towards the other two segments, and feature nuisance enemies and a main theme that desperately tries to kick in, before you enter one of the many doors.

Now is where the most interesting segment plays out. A pseudo 3D interface appears where you are able to click on anything sticking out using the four commands of "OPEN", "GET", "GO" and "HIT". The first three have obvious results, while "HIT" implies interacting with walls and other areas in order to hit secret achievements.

Serving both as item collection phases, but most of all as mazes, the rooms segment are the most memorable in otherwise an average adventure, as they can also have unexpected visitors popping up, where you will have to kill them in order to proceed.

The last segment are the warp zones themselves, or long corridors as I would like to call them. These are more traditional based levels filled with enemies and a boss at the end. Upon defeating them, you obtain laser pieces which will ultimately be used against the final boss awaiting.

Unfortunately, backtracking is prominent, and when that's combined with the confusing aspect of the rooms segment as to "where the fuck do I go" kind of feelings come and go, you too will understand why the game simply isn't fondly remembered unlike the classics.

Dr. Chaos is a horrible night to have a curse. It has redundant songs playing, an unbalanced part of game design with the overpowered jump boots, and it will frustrate the shit out of you. And yet it's a perfect night to play it right now, with Halloween approaching.

Rating: 6.3