Mega Man Data

In my late teens, I would be writing my biggest fan fiction on various forums back then, which is called Mega Man Data. This would turn out to be my first and only fan fiction, as I love the franchise, but sadly I never finished it.

Previous stories and comics created by me would be written in Dutch, but this is aside from the RPG making, my first English story. Originally I wanted it to become a 2D action platformer with a twist, but then I settled with writing about it.

Set between the stories of the X and Zero timelines in their respective series, Mega Man Data follows scientist Dr.Erstrund as he is escorted and assisted by Maverick Hunters and other allies to face a rogue mercenary group, the Replenloids who are the latest generations of Reploids, and 1 individual with megalomaniacal ideals.

Instead of specializing in combat, Erstrund is more about preserving and managing information or data, as he gathers intel and adapts to his environments and situations. At one point he would also discover that a transparent, ethereal inner part would protect him.

The story would not only intertwine with famous characters from the Zero and X series, but also offer plenty of new ones, plus a backstory with the so called Replenloids War and the nefarious Illusional Dergur Company was already set, while the current story would eventually climax and basically create a prologue towards the disastreous Elf Wars.

8 Replenloids would be fighting against X, while Erstrund would be combating with his wits and dialogue towards scientific, political and authoritarian figures, giving a new outlook and perspective at the Mega Man universe.

If this would become a video game, then I could split it up as an X game, and a visual novel game. Anyway, because there was a small fan community for my fan fiction and I got too ambitious with it's plot, I never finished it.

But perhaps it did leave me with two things; the joy of writing, and the experience needed to do so. I'd like to think that Flok Factory is a spiritual successor of some sorts without a central story being present, except if you would count myself as that story, then yes, you would be correct.

Mega Man Data might be in hibernation, but I still have the documents and scripts surrounding it stored around. Perhaps one day, in one form or another, I might finish it. Otherwise, it's a nice reminder of simpler times.

Oh, and Mega Man 11? It's a nice surprise Capcom, but unless the gameplay and music aren't atleast on par with the rest of the Classic Series, then I will just consider it as another Mighty No. 9. And if it's a success, please consider finishing or continueing the sub series Legends, X and ZX, as they need proper sequels.

I wish you all a fantastic 2018, and I myself further happiness, determination, victory and most of all love.

P.S. I guess this wasn't the Year of the RPG after all as I thought back in January. I will get to those RPG games I still want to play, one at a time!

My Ear Hummering Story, Part 3

Sadly, my ear hummering, and my inferior hearing continue to stalk and handicap me, with no recovery in sight.

The former mostly happens when I get sick or I train intensely, while the latter plagues me 24/7. A few weeks ago, my titanium prosthesis device that was making things more stable inside spontaneously fell off from my right ear.

Combine that issue with the fact that I cannot hear my colleagues at my new job at all when they whisper or speak in low tones, and then I decided that it's time to get hearing aids.

Because I no longer want to pretend on a daily basis that I thought that I heard particular words, or that I keep guessing what the current topic is about if I happen to be unable to hear the decibel levels of audio.

After 6 operations on my ears and waiting years for natural recovery, my patience is done. After visiting my personal and original hospital doctor and the audiologist, they agree with my decision.

It's hard to accept as this strikes at my pride and finance, but in return another world will open to me, just like when I got my first glasses and eye pieces as a teenager.

Nowadays, there are invisible(expensive) devices available, and even glasses/hearing hybrids combining the two. For now, I will start with regular small ones, which I expect to get around February.

I also know for sure that the reason why my ears are lesser than others happened naturally and biologically, as I never went out to parties, festivals etc. back then, I was aware of protecting myself from loud noises, and there is no other known reason.

I'm sure that my overall condition will improve and that I will get used to the devices, but I will always keep my eyes out for a breakthrough in the world of medical science. Perhaps nanotechnology might be the answer one day.

Downloadable Content: Resident Evil 7

Almost a year later, I bought the gold or complete edition of Resident Evil 7, featuring all of the DLC including the final 2 epilogue chapters.

Banned Footage is a nifty name of two volumes consisting of sinister mini games. Nightmare is a classic survivor mode where each round gets more tough to get through the night.

Bedroom is a twisted one instantly reminding me of Stephen King's Misery where Marguerite is keeping a prisoner stuck with horrendous food, and it's your job to figure out how to escape the room.

21 is a blackjack card game with very high stakes, as fingers, arms and heads are on the table for losing rounds. It's another Jigsaw esque game by Lucas to enjoy seeing the participants struggle and suffer.

Daughters is a prologue to the Baker incident where we see the family succumb to Eveline's gift, and you will have to avoid this demonic night as Zoe.

Jack's 55th Birthday is the exception having a comedic tone and concept of needing to feed Jack's belly in order to win stages as you search for food and beverage, while Ethan Must Die is a series of challenges with the highest difficulty.

Not A Hero is the most anticipated DLC though with about 2 hours of gameplay, where we really get to play as Chris Redfield yet again.

This time, Lucas must be stopped in the underground mines section before he sells the results of Eveline's behavior to an external party, while at the same time betraying his associate company known as The Connections.

It's a more actien oriented episode which we have become used to with Chris's previous missions in Resident Evil 5 and 6, and a new variation of Molded also appears. Not much is revealed at the end, but the mutated Lucas is a nice William Birkin esque fight, and Chris survives another day.

You would think that would be the final content, but End of Zoe actually is, where you play as Jack's brother Joe to go on a fist rampage to protect his niece.

In overall, Resident Evil 7 re-invented and soft rebooted the franchise yet again, and with all of this additional and varied content, it easily stands proud with the rest of the entries.

Xmas and 2017 Review

This year has been busy for me personally.

Fortunately, in my opinion, I have matured and become more balanced all-around. Although my previous employer decided to fool me and deliver false promises, I have swiftly recovered, and with my current job, I have more responsibilities, and I feel welcome.

I really, really had the urge to finally move out, and back in august I finally did. 4 months later, and even much earlier than that, I feel at home in Zeist, it's good to finally be independent and more in control, and my house is pretty much done as far as projects go, with the exception of post-projects coming up, which can all be considered luxury.

My IT knowledge has also improved in the form of work experience, studies and the people and colleagues I network and connect with. This year and the previous one I was on a good roll regarding obtaining certificates which companies and recruiters want to see, but I had to push it back later this year as 70-412 still lingers with challenge before me, and I got very busy.

My dating experience rose up from the grave so to speak, and during my latest journey of a vacation, I gained this with so much desire beforehand, most people cannot imagine this. As said in my previous blog post, it was for the most part amazing to finally realize that there are women who like me, but now that I am back in the Netherlands, I need to figure out how women over here will desire me.

Especially in the flirting department, or rather the first steps towards getting to know unknown beautiful women is what I need to work on most of all, without fear, rejection or any other negative factors. So wish me luck, because this is my biggest challenge before me. And despite some people saying that it will happen naturally, I cannot wait anymore in this age of social media, smart devices and rapid technology.

Don't worry, I will take my time when opportunities will arise, as I know that I am not a so called "player" or even romantic. Another positive remark for me this year is that I have been going out and have been dancing so much at festivals and clubs thanks to a party squad I became friends with last summer, that this too sometimes confronts me with the fear of approaching and talking to beautiful unknown women.

I'm sure things will work out, and I keep hoping. Meanwhile, I currently just had a historical Christmas dinner with my family, because my grandpa of 92 years old was able to experience 2 great grandsons, as my nephew Roy visited from America.

My young nephews Jens and Daxon experienced their first Christmas, while sadly my final grandpa is living his final years. Inbetween them, I am living my final months before turning 30, but no matter how old I get, I will always be grateful for turning 1 year older more than instead of having regret of not living life to it's fullest in previous years, whatever the fuck that may mean.

Basically, I really hope that I will experience love from a woman next year, and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Mixed reactions have been met with Episode VIII, but personally, I went in with low expectations, and only saw one trailer. I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan, but this is one of the better ones!

Where does this fit with rest of the entries? Personally, I would say it takes around the 5th spot. Rey's seemingly natural and strong independent tendencies with the Force have brought her to the legendary Luke Skywalker, who has become the next Obi-Wan Kenobi.

While the First Order and the Resistance are having yet another battle for the galaxy more or less, Luke has changed his beliefs, and is struggling with his new pupil before him, and his previous one, Ben Solo.

The movie has a theme of conflict in general, that of switching sides. Kylo Ren wants to end the whole organization of upholding the Jedi structure, while apparently the Sith religion already faded away.

If it didn't, then it definitely did with Stroke's death seen here, which was one of the bigger twists. Instead of keeping the successor to the Emperor's position alive, his own pupil takes over, or rather wants to destroy it all. Funny enough, he needs the First Order and his light saber to do so.

Finn and the new character Rose have a nice sidestory involving animals and a casino resort, and I find it funny that the internet is reminded of the prequels and Disney vibes in this CGI festation. But frankly, their final scene was very cheesy and cliché.

General Leia's bizarre moment of dying in space at first, then reviving again and flying like super man is controversial in execution, but the simple reason is that this finally shows that she controls the Force too.

Similar to Luke faking it hard during the climax, where he produces a clone of some sorts to face the army and Ben, but apparently it absorbed all of his life energy back at home, thus he sacrificed himself for the survivors.

Poe has also become a more interesting character acting more like a hothead while learning about consequences to be dealt with, as well as authority. It's Rey and Kylo though that are leading this and The Force Awakens's stories if you ask me though.

The revelation that her parents are nobody, as well as Snoke being nobody in terms of background or character development is rather difficult to accept, but this either means we must, or Episode IX will enlighten us about these mysteries.

Plot holes do exist apart from all of this though, and for some decisions made for production and directing, I still wonder why? Such as Leia's successor's hair being purple.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the longest episode seen yet, and it both has familiar trademarks to the franchise, but also goes in bold new directions, twisting the formula and blending it further to bring a story of old and new tellings.

Rating: 8.0

Philippines

This island country is my final journey stop for 2017, and I decided to minimize touring and sightseeing around here, while an extinct part of my life was finally revived and rejuvenated; I went dating with several women!

Surprisingly, thanks to modern technology like dating apps, I did have success over here(Over 250 Tinder matches!), and I took my advantage because of it. The results for the most part have been amazing for me, while it reminded and motivated me that yes, women do like me.

The Philippines have over 7,000 different islands which as said could take you a life time if you wanted to visit all of them. It has a history recently with the Spanish and Americans, and Christianity is it's biggest religion, which can be found everywhere.

Rodrigo Duterte as it's most recent president is a favorite of the citizens, as he has cleaned up the mess nationally, is true to his promises and is looking for new alliances to make around the world. As one result, scams, criminality, corruption and other injustice have lessened dramatically.

While I had a great time at Manila and nearby cities for a different reason other than touring in my other vacations, I do must mention that the traffic around the capital is some of the worst I have ever experienced, even after those Vietnamese and Chinese trains I took in the past.

Other than that, again, I had a very good time. Dating, clubbing, dining and doing fun stuff is what can be summarized about this, but the urge to return is strong not just so that I can really start exploring the Philippines, but also because I will be able to have reunions with my Filipina's then. :D

Taiwan

Often stated to be an overlooked country when compared with the rest of Far East Asia, Taiwan otherwise known as the Republic of China and Formosa, is different enough compared to People's Republic of China.

As my former favorite snackbar family hails from over here, I had enough reasons to visit. While I only sticked to Taipei, I might tackle more in the future.

The 2 major Taiwan figures known as Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek are worshipped and respected here in their memorial halls, detailing interesting history lessons on the far Eastern front during the 20th century. 

I did not know anything about them before visiting so that's a nice surprise. Experiencing Taipei 101 though with it's observatory deck, I don't know, I felt like I had seen it several times before with tall towers in other countries. 

I also hiked Elephant Mountain and Yangminshan for some pretty pictures, and it's always convenient that a metro/subway system is present.

The people and the food in general seemed to be nice and minded their own business, although I was approached by a few curious residents, and I saw the least amount of tourists here.

Taiwan might surprise you with it's culture and history, and it's rather unknown nature landscapes are also sufficient for visiting. I might not have made friends here, but I definitely had my hands full with sightseeing!

Hong Kong

Wan Chai Market song

Growing up, this city always felt special in the sense that East meets West culture beautifully. With James Bond and favorite martial artists Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee popularizing it further, alongside it's cinema library having a spectacular amount of action and horror movies, I simply needed to discover this for myself at one point.

As I came out of a familiar metro/subway system, the skyscrapers are a totally different world from Vietnam, and they mesmerized me. The famous spot where you can see the buildings the best is when you look at Victoria Harbor, while a ferry boat drives by.

Hong Kong is also a special economic zone and expensive, while having a different political and social structure from mainland China. As I ate the delicious dim sums and discovered the nightlife, I also checked out Big Buddha and the monastery, but as far as religious sites throughout this vacation goes, the 10.000 Buddha temple in the north excited me the most, as along the route towards it, hundreds of statues each with original faces kept me impressed.

A view that rivals Victoria Harbor is when you ride the 120+ year old tram to go to the top and see the beautiful skyline. Hong Kong is thus worth experiencing for it's buildings, it's food, the night life and it's unique culture.

Additionally I did a daytrip towards the other special zone called Macau, of which it's revenue is said to be 7 times more than Las Vegas. Both are casino areas and over the top, but I preferred walking The Strip.

Still, seeing a live Grand Prix tournament take place, while I checked and wandered through old Portuguese buildings and the ridiculous casino resorts make it all stack up for a day well invested.

On the ferry towards Macau I also befriended my first Bhutanese acquintance named Norbu, another interesting country for me to visit in the future.

Vietnam

It took a while for this year to kickoff my vacation, but in November it finally happened; I was gonna travel for a month as a backpacker again, but unlike the similar year of 2013, this time I would arrange everything completely, and I was basically all alone.

Starting with Vietnam, I landed in Hanoi, and I was overwhelmed by the numerous motorbikes, but managing the chaotic traffic was actually do-able as long as I monitored every cross section with my eyes.

With the Vietnam War or Second Indochina War having piqued my interest, it's the main reason for me to visit this crowded country, as I visited several war attractions in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh.

Uncle Ho's biography and revolution and such is similar to other socialistic and communism characters from the 20th century. It's interesting to see his teachings still functioning in the next century after all of the invaders have been defeated.

The Old Quarter in Hanoi is the heart with the Sword Lake nearby where I witnessed the unique Water Puppet Show. Numerous food street vendors, bars, markets and people venture inside this area, and it's definitely worth starting or finishing here.

I did a group tour towards the picturesque Ha Long Bay, which reminded me heavily of my time spent in Guilin and Yangshuo. I befriended a Brazilian here named Silvio, and later on we also drank beer in the Old Quarter.

I also checked out the Imperial Citadel, the Military Museum, Quan Thanh temple and of course Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, but his body was temporarily getting "refreshed" in Russia. Still, I was content to see it's exterior.

After taking a nighttrain on a ticket I booked online long enough before visiting, I entered Hue, the former capital of Vietnam, and nearby, the old DMZ zone also split up North and South Vietnam from one another.

Hue's Forbidden Purple City was ridiculously large, and it obviously reminded me of Beijing's Forbidden (Red if you will) City. My Airbnb owner arranged a driver named Mr.Long for me, and alongside the city and some royal tombs, he also brought me to key DMZ attractions such as the actual old border.

After taking another very long train ride from Hue to Saigon which took 20 hours, I was of course reminded of my 25 hour China train trip, but this time, atleast my seat was reserved. At one point the Vietnamese people would sleep all over the floor and below the seats, while smirking at my tourist face.

Ho Chi Minh or Saigon was the final stop in Vietnam for me, and I experienced the nearby highlights such as the Mekong Delta and the Cu Chi Tunnels in group tours. While I fired my first AK47, I reflected back on Vietnam´s ancient and recent histories, as the Vietnam War surely was a mess.

For an average sized country, Vietnam surely has been growing more prominent economically in the region, and the country felt like it was modernizing at a good pace. There´s plenty to see in this country when speaking of nature, culture, history and communities, and I had a good time exploring and experiencing!

SNES Mini

What a wonderful piece of nostalgia product!

I have been immensely enjoying this mini version of a 16-bit era I barely experienced in my childhood, until I became aware of ROMS and Emulators in 2002. Until then, in me and my brother's collection we only experienced Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, Mario Paint, Yoshi's Island, Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals, Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Killer Instinct, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Scope 6, Pocky & Rocky, Mega Man X and Mega Man X2.

That is in hindsight a very good solid selection of SNES games, but looking back at it now, we barely scratched the surface of the library. And now in 2017, I am replaying and beating the greatest ones on this product, and with Kirby's Dream Course being the exception, all deserve an inclusion.

Yes I beat each and everyone of them before, but this is a great excuse to go back to them. Aside from the selection of games, the SNES Mini's interface is slick, smooth and cozy, with the box art of each game standing out. What a great time to be a gamer back then, and now!

Aside from save states being present, you can rewind a bit back in time in order to retry for instance difficult or memorable events during each game. You can also have Pixel Perfect or CRT Filter modes selected to change the graphics, and each original manual can be viewed through a QR code.

Hacking or bricking the system has already been done, and people have included hundreds of additional games on it. It's rather tempting to do the same, as the HDMI output and the overall design are enjoyable to try elsewhere.

The SNES Mini is arguably even better than the NES Mini because Nintendo learned from some of the previous feedback, it has a better overall lineup, and the scalping and reselling scene has become damaged as additional units are coming up.

Now you're playing with Super Power, again!

Halloween (1978)

 

Perhaps the perfect and best movie to view on Halloween itself, John Carpenter's Halloween is the slasher horror that after Psycho(1960) popularized the sub genre, but it's not the first of it's kind, and it's also not one of my favorites.

Still, I cannot deny the immense popularity that the original entry continues to pertain. Actually my favorite of that movie franchise is part 2 from 1981, and part 3 also had an original approach, but after that, well, the series started sucking hard.

Michael Myers escapes from the asylum and mysteriously and brutally starts hunting down victims around Haddonfield like a stalker, while wearing a disfigured hollow mask reminiscent of William Shatner's face.

Jamie Lee Curtis AKA the screem queen is the protagonist who manages to survive the night as well as Donald Pleasence, Michael's psychiatrist who is searching and eventually confronts him.

The best aspect or technique to tell the story effectively is that not only is Michael a psychotic and mute killer, but he also stalks his victims and manages to appear and disappear so well.

Halloween is a classic slasher that despite being mild with the gore when compared to later slashers, is easy to re-watch and recommend to appreciate it's merits.

Happy Halloween!

Rating: 7.0

Stranger Things 2

 

Just look at that poster art. Isn't that inviting?

The whole cast returns in this second season which arguably might even be better than the first one, but perhaps a second viewing wouldn't hurt in the future, because I was so blown away last year, and this time, expectations were set in place.

Will is back in town and his friends are overjoyed, but it seems that the dark forces won't let go of him just yet. A hive minded monster manipulates him and smaller creatures to terrorize.

Eleven and her special powers take somewhat of a backseat this time, but her relationship with chief Hopper and a similar girl with special powers does develop her personality.

Dustin and the rest of the local kids befriend a new girl while early on getting their game groove at an arcade, dress up as the Ghostbusters and they theorize about the stranger things happening using descriptions from a board game.

Oh and he also discovers a new strange pet which keeps growing until it becomes unstable. Joyce befriends Bob played by Sean Astin, while Nancy and Jonathan once again help out the younger kids, while the local bully Steve gets to deal with a bigger bully named Billy.

Stranger Things 2 is more of the same good stuff happening during the 80's, which is a mixture of references, nostalgia, sci-fi, horror and teenage adventures, while it still manages to tell a different story. 

Rating: 7.5

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

 

Ninja Theory's latest title is an experimental different approach to telling a story.

Hellblade is a third person mythical look into a psychological horror narrative where apparently consultancy was asked towards neuroscientists in order to depict the mental incidents properly.

Episodes such as breakdowns, hallucinations and manifestations occur throughout this hellish journey, where Senua our main character will wander into while trying to rescue a loved one.

The visceral impression of the narration and it's mythical setting is best experienced when you regularly are confronted with the numerous other voices inside Senua's head, which may either guide, advice, confuse or disturb you.

Combined with almost no tutorials or hand holding being present, and a gloomy setting with death lurking everywhere, and you got yourself quite a game with it's own environment.

Senua's Sacrifice's gameplay is not just walking and exploring, but it also has puzzles and graduating combat to boost. There's even an enhanced/foreboding game over feature that will delete your progress if you fail too much.

With all of that in mind, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is something special, and it has touched many gamers positively. If you're looking for a mental horror game apparently depicted realistically, this is it.

Rating: 7.7

Scream the TV Series

Who knew that a slasher formula for a TV series would work? Scream is based on Wes Craven’s horror franchise where in particular the first entry revitalized the entire genre during the 90’s. Now with him resting in peace, I am watching the Scream TV series as an ode and homage.

Teenage high school drama is combined with mysterious murder sprees, and it actually works in this format, you just gotta stretch things a bit more out and let everyone be romantically involved with one another! Noah is easily the most likable character for being the reference guy towards other horror media, but I seemed to like all of the others too.

The well known Ghostface mask does not appear, but instead something similar to it does, I wonder why they made this decision. As for the killings and stalkings, they are effective and well done set in a modern era of interactivity through smartphones, the internet and social media, and seeming as there are actually several serial killers on the loose, I did not guess either of them, so the plot twists worked for me.

In overall, Scream as a TV Series works just fine like other horror TV series!

Rating: 7.0

Friday the 13th The Game

Honestly, this might just be the best available slasher video game at this moment, but that's not saying much, it's rather subjective, and I must not forget about Clock Tower on the Super Famicom, as Scissorman would like to have a word.

But back on-topic, this isn't the first game entry of this horror franchise, but rather the third one. Friday the 13th The Game is an online multiplayer game where you can either play as the survivors/victims, or as Jason himself.

Similar in structure to something like Left 4 Dead, or more recently Evolve, the open world and third person perspective take place at Crystal Lake, and players are free to roam or hide from the opposite side. The goal is either to survive or to kill everyone in sight.

What makes the game interesting is that there are various forms of Jason Voorhees available, each with their own strengths and weaknesses as taken from the movies. On the other hand, the counselors can win the game by either escaping or working together to take down the deformed serial killer.

In a way, Friday the 13th The Game is not only fun as a game, but it also celebrates the franchise, and more content is coming up, including a single player mode.

Rating: 7.0

Train to Busan

An amazing modern zombie horror with the unique setting of accelerating trains, set throughout the nation, this South Korean picture completely worked and delivered with the exceptional drama, the crafty ways of dealing with the apocalypse, the spot on editing, the colorful characters and the horror.

I couldn’t believe it, but pretty much every scene was necessary for the story to unravel and wrap up, and this is now currently sitting in my top 3 of zombie movies. Train to Busan is an engrossing horror drama full of anxiety, and I can’t wait to re-watch it.

The less said about this movie, the better. Hence why review is rather short compared to my others. Immediately watch this if you are craving for a serious and dramatic horror!

Rating: 8.0

Penny Dreadful

The all stars of England’s notorious creepy figures are assembled and their storylines intertwine in a unique mixture here with Penny Dreadful, a gothic horror with well done production values, acting and characters.

Frankenstein and Dracula amongst others interact in a rather more down to earth and realistic way, but make no mistake, there are still plenty of fantasy, horror and gore moments to be found.

Eva Green and Timothy Dalton as Vanessa Ives and Sil Malcolm Murray make up for the famous actors, but the rest of the cast is splendid too. The series ends rather abruptly, as Dracula apparently wins while others die.

Penny Dreadful is a stylish horror with an all stars of famous horror characters making their debut chronologically, while the direction and the writing make up for an interesting ride.

Rating: 7.5

Romero's Dead Franchise

I can't believe that I did not properly review the late George A. Romero's Dead franchise yet, may he rest in peace, or someday rise from his tomb as a zombie!? Often considered the father of the zombie horror genre, he has influenced the culture surrounding it tremendously.

NOTE: The numbers under the movie posters indicate the number of the movie I have reviewed, we're talking about over almost 10 years ago when I reviewed most of these, but my original comments still stand up.

 #90

A classic movie featuring the very first modern zombies as far as I know, it is also the first movie in Romero's zombie serie. It was interesting to see how to get rid of the zombies, by either burning them or shotting them in the head, because that is exactly the same way as in Resident Evil Remake for the Gamecub.

I do know though that Resident Evil got inspired by Romero's zombie movies, so that's why I am planning on seeing Dawn of the Dead(1978), Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead soon. It however has quite aged, and I guess that I will find the true classic of the zombie genre in Dawn of the Dead, seeming that that is the most popular zombie movie. Nevertherless, it was a good start for Romero and I am quite amazed that these kind of zombies could be found in the year 1968 already.

 #117

The original George A. Romero version is pretty different from the remake I have seen twice already. Featuring easy to spot blueish zombies, a biker gang of punks and hippies bent on killing and taking everything, a badass black character who survives just like the black one in the remake(Seems like every Romero zombie movie has a black main character), typical 70's clothes, music and equipment, Dawn of the Dead is a good zombie movie with lots of deaths, action and gore.

Although I tend to like Dawn more than Night from 1968, I am not sure which version I like of Dawn better, this one or the 2004 remake. The zombies, which makes these movies great, are after all in both Dawn movies clearly different from each other.

Another moment I liked about the movie is the big free for all match at the climax of the movie, featuring Zombies vs main characters vs biker gang, I liked seeing that much chaos happening. I was also suprised to see 2 child zombies in this movie, I myself thought that would be impossible to show in theaters back in 1978.

Overall, Dawn of the dead might perhaps be the greatest action zombie movie yet for me, but I wonder...is this really the pinnacle of zombie movies? I don't think I would like to call this the ultimate zombie movie, so I will promise myself for now to try to find a zombie movie which will top this one for sure.

 #304

In my opinion, Day is better than Night or Dawn. For not only having less ridiculous zombies, but for also having the best isolated location, interesting studies into zombie behaviour, gorgeous gore and intriguing characters.

The strong Sarah, the tyranical Captain Rhodes, the troublemaker Miguel, the horror doctor Logan(All in the name of science of course!) and the badass John playing the self collected action hero. Atleast I think his name was John, the dark skinned character. It was fascinating to see these different characters clash at each other. In overall, one of the better zombie flicks out there.

#1423

After 20 years, Romero returns to the zombie genre he uprooted towards the mainstream. Fiddler's Green is an elitism place where the rich reside and the others must survive on their own surrounding it from the zombie apocalypse outside.

1 guy and his buddies operate the Dead Reckoning, a powerful weapon truck that has been stolen. Dennis Hopper orders the main character to retrieve this plot device, and meanwhile, zombie culture and traditional zombie attacks and deaths occur.

 The main character and the thief guy share a rivalry, and in the end, Fiddler's Green and pretty much the last hope of humanity is taken over by the zombies. Not as good as Romero's previous ones. The remaining survivors head for the north.

As for Romero's later Dead zombie movies,  including Diary and Survival of the dead, they simply do not hold their candles towards the original trilogy in regards to influence and their cinematic styles. Land of the Dead manages to be entertaining enough to warrant an inclusion.

Castlevania TV series

 

A mini animated TV series based on Konami's popular video game franchise was released on Netflix this year, and reactions have been objectively in overall positive.

Recognizable characters such as Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, Alucard and of course Dracula make their introductions known, and the art style is fitting, while a religious sub plot also plays out.

Dracula's rage and sadness is the motive for his demonic army to break out and attack humanity, and the series summarizes this up swiftly in just 4 episodes. There's few action in between, in particular from Trevor's whip.

The highlight feature for me was notifying how gory and bloody this animation could be. The lowlight is the shortage of content, and I really wonder how one could pick up Castlevania's game plot further and make it more intriguing other than killing the demons with the Vampire Hunter and stopping Dracula.

And the biggest question right now is of course; where and when the hell will will get a new Castlevania game, minus Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night? I'm looking at you Konami, you poor pachinko and internal affair obsessed bastards.

Rating: 7.0

Under the Shadow

Incredible foreign horror with a unique setting taking place during the Iran-Iraq war, Under the Shadow follows a Persian mother who has been rejected to study further because of political incorrectness after the revolution, and she now takes care at home of her daughter Dorsa, who often has bad dreams, and warns of the djinn manifesting at home.

I found it to be impeccably filmed and acted with realism and sympathetic characters, and although I might be biased for it being foreign, I really felt captivated and the familiar plot of the supernatural haunting was even creative with building up psychological scares such as moving objects and nightmares.

Under the Shadow is a horror gem that combines supernatural horror with oppressive destruction outside the apartment, and is often compared to The Babadook(2014) fairly. Not often nowadays do I really praise horror movies, but this is one worth seeing!

Rating: 8.0

Cuphead

Cuphead is a success story, and it instantly caught everyone´s eye back at Microsoft´s E3 2014 press conferece.

The art style is pretty much a revitalization of cartoon animations from the 30´s, and easily it´s selling point. Consisting of surrealistic and subversive proportions, it´s almost impossible not to adore and respect the animation seen here, and it´s even more impressive when the game is designed by two brothers.

Citing run and gun video games and the success of Super Meat Boy as other inspirations and motivations for developing this, Cuphead is essentially a boss marathon similar to Alien Soldier and the recent Furi, as the game has 30 bosses for you to face either single or in co-op over 4 areas.

Contra and Metal Slug instantly came to mind when Cuphead is compared, as the controls are tight, you can shoot in 8 directions, you can jump down, you can switch between different weapons, you can duck and you you will get hit and die a lot.

But practice makes perfect, and the game's challenge and difficulty can be overwhelming, but the replay value and attempting to beat the boss is high. Aside from the graphics, I consider the enemy variety and design to be simply superb and top notch material.

Combine that with the jazzy soundtrack, the cartoonish audio sounds, and the stereotypical settings and their enemies you would expect to face, and you've got a very impressive title. You can also parry certain bullets and interact with pink stuff to trigger things, and you can activate special attacks, air dash and equip charms.

The overworld reminded me the most of Commander Keen's overworlds, except that instead of huge levels awaiting you, it is for the most part huge bosses awaiting you, each with their own segmented forms to keep things fresh and hectic.

I can't praise Cuphead enough, and I would highly recommend it not only towards run and gun plus shoot em' up fans, but also to those who want to play only the best available indie games, and this easily sits among other highly entertaining titles I previously reviewed like Hollow Knight, Shovel Knight, La-Mulana and Super Meat Boy.

Rating: 8.4

P.S. You might be wondering why this is listed for this month. Well, it has some spooky enemies, and it features The Devil as the final boss, aaaand there are many evil foes to defeat. :)

It(1990) and It(2017)

(Movie review #276)

It is unusual long for a horror movie, clocking in around 3 hours. It's message is basically about confronting our fears during our youth and adulthood, learning how to fight it together and learning of getting a grip even after horrible consequences happening.

People said that the "kid" part is better than the "grown up" part, and I gotta agree with that. People also said that the ending was ridiculous, but I found out that it was okay, and I am strictly talking about Pennywise's climax here.

It certainly wasn't great either, which goes for the rest of the movie as well. The horror moments were nice to view, but the only time I jumped a little was at Pennywise's very first appearance when the little girl was singing.

Which is normal for me, because I have to get used to every horror movie before the fear dies out visually. 

Unless we are talking about the best horror movies here, which is not the case with It for me.

So, in overall, Stephen King you crazy writer, nice job for giving plenty of humans coulrophobia around the happy go lucky world. 

As for my opinion regarding clowns, I like them. I like them even more because of the fact that they have also become a horror icon for many. Glad to have finally seen this long horror movie. Now it's time to move on...

Rating: 6.5

 

 

(Movie review #2781)

27 years later, a remake arrives, and luckily, it is better than the original.

First of all, the children and adult story chapters are segmented, as the story and focus are only on the children for now, while the sequel will deal with their adult lives. This is a good decision because the original's pacing was not the best while switching between these.

Bill Skarsgard plays a formidable and terrifying Pennywise the Dancing Clown that can easily compete with Tim Curry's more hilarious approach of the monster, but Tim also had some good scenes in the original, especially with the opening.

There might have been a bit too many kids involved, but I digged their 80's adventure, their cussing and the frightful fact of having an older teenage girl go along. The movie gave me Stand By Me and E.T. vibes, and surprisingly one of the kids from Stranger Things is also featured.

Some of the horror scenes are from the original and improved, while new ones can absolutely be effective, my favorite one happens to be when Bill goes to the basement and sees a zombified Georgie giving the catchphrase "You'll float too" repeatedly, while Pennywise goes absolute batshit insane afterwards.

So fortunately, IT is a good remake, and worth your time. The 1990 version still has good features, but you gotta give credit when it gets improved upon, with only roughly half of it's story told. Apparently the book from Stephen King himself is even more disturbing, so I might read on that one day.

Rating: 7.5

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

 

I''d like to point out that way back in October, 2010, my article named "How to make Resident Evil 6" pretty much had listed all of the things that needed to come back, as well as the additional suggestions at the last paragraph. And they implemented my remarks into the next title.

Capcom has done it again, they have re-invented their horror franchise,while making sure that veterans as well as newcomers will both be delighted by Resident Evil 7's pacing, creativity, game design and more.

Observed from a first person perspective, and also entirely playable into a terrifying new level of fear by the use of PlayStation VR, you play as Ethan, who goes after his missing wife at the Baker's estate. Soon you will learn that fear will even shape up into the form of a redneck family in Louisiana.

The survival horror has finally returned after recent hectic action horror entries. Herbs, safe rooms and scarcity in the form of ammunition are returning elements of the classic Resident Evils, and 7 implements them nicely together in this new perspective.

Molded creatures dwell in the estate's dirtiest rooms, and they will be a formidable and intimidating group of foes at first, while the main event is of course facing of against the Baker family throughout the location, each one bringing something new to the table and to the gameplay itself.

With 60 frames per second, the game plays fluent and smoothly, but the intensity, suspense and horror are not sacrificed. Instead, it draws upon it's predecessors, borrows inspiration from movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and creates something refreshing.

It feels like Resident Evil is full circle again, and there are some surprise moments awaiting, not just for the unfolding story, but for veterans of the series too. With references and a pacing that was excellent until you were exploring the big boat, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is almost a great video game.

If the final boss wasn't so over the top in a bad way and if the game had more enemy variety then it would be included in my top 3, but the series has seen so many masterpieces already, such as REmake and Resident Evil 4, that it's tough.

In any case, they could easily improve on this new formula with Resident Evil 8, but for now, let's see what the december DLC Not A Hero will include, and let's also not forget to keep our sights for the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake.

Rating: 8.7

The Forgotten War

Stuck inbetween roughly World War II and the Vietnam War, the Korean War also known as The Forgotten War is a Cold War esque conflict still intact arguably through decades of tensions, and despite the ironic nickname, it still remains an obscure battle field of the past and the present in the far east.

Having seen and visited both North and South Korea as well as China and Japan already, and as I am about to discover Vietnam in parallel among other countries this month, I think that I have a good overall insight inside the majority of the belligerents involved regarding this war history.

Recently, as if tensions weren't high enough already back in 2013, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have been exchanging harsh and warmongering words, as their regimes blame each other for destabilizing the far east Asia region, and arguably the entire world with nuclear weapons involved.

Objectively, the West propaganda machine proclaims the DPRK to be the sole aggressor on the Korean Peninsula, but if you might recall my previous blogs regarding this conundrum, there is much more happening here than that the regime is provocative with threats of ashes of fire happening.

It is desperately clinging onto national survival, and the nuclear deterrance is it's best method of defense against the imminent invasion/self defence alliance of the US, ROK and Japan. Even China is working against it's ally through economic sanctions, but I still believe that they as well as Russia would assist if a new war would break loose.

The worst outcome of this all would be to have another nuclear disaster or holocaust to happen in the 21st century, and this time the damage would be much more severe than back in the 1940's, as the war technology and the quantity of the weapons has improved.

My next step of this strategic map would be to basically leave North Korea alone, and acknowledge that it really is the USA that needs to back off quite a bit, and possibly even let it's troops leave South Korea at least, so that the Koreans can have space and diplomatic means for themselves, while the US can chill out over at Japan, I mean it has enough military bases in the world already, which proves that it is acting as a police cop of worldly proportions.

If you don't know much about the Forgotten/Korean War yet, consider reading up about it, so that the current war rhetoric can be understood better. Again, I really hope that a reunification will happen in my lifetime, but as said, the worst consequence would be to have millions and millions of deaths happening.

And that is why this political blog is part of the October horror month, as this consequence could definitely become a reality, arguably even triggering World War III.

Recent Developments

Annually, I would start writing up a horror article every day in this month. However, due to very busy recent developments, I am unable to promise myself of this pleasure for this year.

I will still have over a dozen of articles ready for publication, so it's not really a loss, especially considering that Flok Factory remains obscure. Still, I'm content enough that I can express my thoughts, feelings and opinion in this way.

At the same time, I am still considering to migrate from text based updates, towards video logging, or vlogs, or at least making the transition to offer reviews of all kinds, but preferably and most likely video games. However, I don't have time to implement this yet.

And this is because of several reasons. First, my own home here at Zeist is now complete and invitational for the long-term period, that is also why I hosted my housewarming yesterday, which was very cozy, entertaining and gezellig.

Second, for the last 2 weeks, I needed to unexpectedly start applying for new IT jobs, because my current employer did not want to continue working with me for several reasons, but basically I was getting too expensive towards them.

Luckily due to my updated curriculum vitae and my perserverance, I am insured of a new job elsewhere, because I have received some offers already. Now for the upcoming week, it's just a matter of time and careful selection before I sign on a new contract.

Third, I have been studying for MCSA Windows Server 2012's last module 70-412, but I have failed it's exam twice now, because of it's huge learning curve, and the fact that I am missing work experience with the content.

And finally, I am also busy arranging my personal itinerary for my upcoming November vacation. I have the flight tickets, the visa and I am halfway through the accomodations, but there is still the huge amount of enjoyable time investments I will have to use this month where I will select the highlights I will want to experience.

So as you can see, I've got plenty of recent developments which occupy and keep me from posting daily horror topics. And that's okay for 2017, because this is my life I am managing at my best, and to be honest, I like how I am taking control.

Enjoy the upcoming horror blog posts!

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

 

A surprise move from Naughty Dog, the Uncharted franchise does not end with A Thief's End, but rather perhaps Nathan Drake's tale does, for now at least. Instead, In this (sequel, interquel?)adventure, we follow Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross on a request to discover mythical Tusk in the lands of India.

For the first time, we are having a female lead of a similar type towards Nathan, except that of course the humor is lost in translation. The structure and level design of previous entries is copy pasted here in a gentle way, and the new settings seen here are as stunning, if not, more than that.

The gameplay consisting of gunplay, puzzle solving and my favorite, climbing and jumping around platforms and obstacles remains intact, and combined with the voice acting dialogue, it once again is a compelling and rich adventure.

Compared with the other entries, The Lost Legacy sits somewhere in between the heavy hitters. While it easily dethrones Drake's Fortune, it's length and character development aren't as satisfying as the others, as the chemistry between Chloe and Nadine is less exciting to me.

A revised photo capture mode with filters, selfie expressions and such make sure that you can make memorable pictures along the chapters, and speaking of which, the last one involving the train is pretty much my favorite as it is action oriented and again, a good reminder of a similar chapter in Amongst Thieves.

The multiplayer seen in A Thief's End is carried over here and is just as entertaining if not better. The unlockables cheates such as slow motion, a mirror world and other effects make up for a second replay, and the difficulty remains challenging on the highest settings.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is in my opinion an impressive output from Naughty Dog considering that it first started as DLC for A Thief's  End, but in roughly 1 year they managed to produce another well done entry in a beloved franchise, respect for that!

Rating: 8.4

A New Home, A New Beginning

It´s time to move out of the bird´s nest and begin my new life and chapter at the city of Zeist starting as of today on August 19th, 2017. At the age of 29, I personally feel that I am one of the last people of my generation to move out, but truthfully, that´s just a social pressure, and me and my parents were happy that I could keep living in peace at home for so long.

As I finally move away from my youth town Maarssen, where I first grew up in the residential area Reigerskamp, and until yesterday in Zwanenkamp, I think back of the countless and numerous memories I have made at each of them.

Finally, independence, freedom and opportunities are within my hands truly, and I can´t wait to adjust my lifestyle towards this. My maisonette or duplex with two floors has been cleaned, painted and made more personal through the furniture I have chosen, and the neighborhood seems to be calm.

As my living room will be inviting, modern and social, my office will be dedicated towards my IT based studies, while my sleeping room will be equipped with a boxspring bed, which is a first for me, and I am eager to sleep on it!

A fourth room shall be entirely dedicated towards my retro gaming scene, as well as the fact that I have started collecting officially as of last February. Aside from hooking that all up, I also expect that I will eventually attempt to build my own custom arcade cabinet in there.

The future of myself, my family, friends, love and of course Flok Factory itself shall continue and expand, as I have become a proud uncle as of last June, and I am already getting aware of friends of friends living close by, and that making new friendships and acquaintances will happen very likely.                                          

Here's to the best new beginning I can imagine!

Power Unlimited

While North Americans were treated and grew up with Nintendo Power in my youth, Dutch kids on the other hand would be exposed to Power Unlimited, a gaming magazine that actually is still getting published to this present day.

During the 90´s, this is what would inform, excite and humorous me regarding video games. The crew´s noteworthy feature for me was that pretty much each in game screenshot would be somehow made a joke about by final editor Ed Wiggemans.

My first exposure towards the worldwide madness coverage, that is Electronic Entertainment Expo, would always be covered in this magazine, and I distinctively remember the chosen crew members always getting excited not just because of the flight and the announcements, but also because of the booth babes!

It was always my first experience with the art of crafting game reviews. I remember that the crew had the tendency to fuse personal experiences with the articles before talking about the games themselves, and while this was for the most part acceptable, eventually I would get tired of it.

Flash forward to the middle 00´s/2000's, what was the reason for me cancelling the subscription? I was getting tired of the crew's repetitive content, humor and criticism I guess. Plus around that time, I was exposed to online game reviews such as on GameFAQs anyway, I figured that this would be the right choice.

Power Unlimited is still going strong both as a magazine, as the television program Gamekings, and digitally on www.pu.nl. Looking back at it now over a decade later. I still fondly remember that I would anticipate with excitement for upcoming video games, seeing the score ratings, and laughing out loud about the humor it had so much to share and offer.

Nostalgia is remarkable.

Dunkirk

 

All great things come to an end.

Christopher Nolan´s portfolio has been unprecedented over the years, and by now, everyone who is even slightly enthousiastic about film making and critique in general can name pretty much all of his major directional works, minus maybe Following(1998) and Insomnia(2002).

After taking a year longer to release his latest, it seems that the momentum of the expectations surrounding Nolan have started to lower a bit. By no means is it a bad film in any aspect, but from what we have seen previously, it's quality is in overall lesser.

Dunkirk is the dramatic and intense adaptation of a miraculous World War II event where Allied forces where surrounded in masses by the Germans, and while doom was lurking over their heads, hundreds of civilian boats from the United Kingdom where able to evacuate and save the soldiers.

Starring a slew of new and veteran actors, Nolan always seems to approach this mixture, and so far it has worked out. From the opening scene of avoiding enemy gunfire and lining up for further orders to the arrival and celebration of a massive evacuation, the camera will show you plenty of different views.

3 subplots seem to be working out here through interconnection as the general direction is of course about the surrounded forces getting trapped and eventually escaping unexpectedly. A young boy hides on a mole while saving privates inbetween, an older man is dedicated towards bringing all of the young men back home by sea, and a young man fights in the skies while later on taking down a bomber, saving many lives.

The cinematography and the soundtrack say much more than the plot and the characters themselves in the picture. Hans Zimmer is once again collaborating, and Dunkirk's soundtrack is another stellar piece of intense instruments building up on the film's beautiful cinematography, which if you ask me is it's best factor.

Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy and Mark Rylance must all deal with difficult choices and moral dilemma's as the war rages on on the seas, lands and skies of Dunkirk, otherwise also known in Dutch as Duinkerken, but in reality, filming locations among that main one also included Urk in The Netherlands.

The movie had many amounts of extra's to emphasize the reality and drama of the actual event, plus the explosions, bombardments and shooting seemed to equally reflect on those themes. It's also interesting to note that Nolan consciously decided not to let the Germans appear on screen, as well as keeping dialogue to a bare minimum, which enhanced the pace, and the movie was over before I knew it, which always is a good sign to me.

Dunkirk is a different kind of war movie, which shows defeat in a spectacular way, and although it is inevitable to happen in any war, perhaps the sense of homecoming and retaliation were best seen at the ending, where Winston Churchill delivers a speech and unlike The Dark Knight Rises, makes defeat an emotional victory.

Rating: 8.5

Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

First time I’m playing Crash Bandicoot, and I am pleasantly surprised! This N. Sane Trilogy seems to be a good entry point. It’s quite challenging with precise jumping needed, but the amount of fun cannot be denied. You can spin your way through enemies and boxes in order to advance, and your jumps sometimes need perfect timing in order to progress. With enough levels and motivation to destroy all the boxes and see the bonus content, Crash Bandicoot is a classic 3D platformer!

Rating: 8.1 

Cortex Strikes Back

A sequel with more varied levels, but the world map is missing this time, Cortex Strikes Back lets your arch nemesis trick you into collecting purple crystals so that he can achieve world domination and everyone becomes his slaves! The challenge is still there but is a bit more mild. Collecting the purple crystals is required to beat the game, the other gems however are bonuses. Playing more as Coco this time, Crash’s cute sister, it’s another solid title!

Rating: 8.2

Warped

This time Crash and Coco are able to perform more flashy and handy moves, such as double jumping, spinning extra longer to hover in the air, and riding on a bicycle to race! Warped has levels with more stereotypical settings, and despite being the easiest, again I could not deny the amount of fun and just the right amount of challenge presented. Extra gems are still present, and the secret levels provide enough motivation and content to see through it all.

Rating: 8.3

In overall, I had a blast playing through all three of them, and it felt like I uncovered a hidden section or part from my 90's youth! Now let's just hope that Sony sees the revitalized success of Crash Bandicoot, and start cranking out more remastered editions or sequels, or better yet, what about reviving Spyro the Dragon!?