Neuromancer

 

Neuromancer. "Neuro from the nerves, the silver paths. Romancer. Necromancer."

William Gibson's debut novel is one of the most important pieces of cyberpunk from the last century, and only now did I discover it and had I the time to read it's wild narrative.

Plenty of work after 1984 has been inspired by it since then, including The Matrix film trilogy and Johhny Mnemonic. Widely credited as pioneering the science function sub-genre known as cyberpunk, this is a must read for fellow fans.

It follows Case, a drug addict and cyberspace hacker who enters a mission with a formed up crew where a cure towards him is promised while his services are needed internationally. While forming a relationship with Molly who is cybernetic-ally enhanced, they encounter all kinds of characters.

These include drug dealers, military men, other hackers and eventually AI's with their own ambiguous personalities. Throughout the story being told, I noticed that most of the specific words, slang and terminology to be found are definitely not explained throughout.

This is intended apparently by the author in order sacrifice literal meaning towards offering you a more foreign like ride, as if you were a tourist, and perhaps that also reflects back all of the international objects being referenced in here.

Definitely a character driven story too, the way it describes the settings and their environments got my brain wildly yet relatively searching and finding pictures inside, allowing it to be a very good thrilling sci-fi adventure to unfold.

Neuromancer is unlike anything else I have read or seen, even in it's own genre, and some believe that Gibson even predicted or described in here what is now globally known as the Internet, but then in the form of cyberspace and the matrix. It conveys plenty, and it sparks the imagination.

“Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation.

Rating: ****

 
I wish all of you a mighty 2020.

Days Gone

 

From the studio that developed the Syphon Filter games previously, Days Gone was released exclusively for the PlayStation 4 this year. Catching up onto it at the end of this decade, let's delve into it.

It's a survival third person action shooter with an open world formula letting you tackle on main and side quests at various survival camps. The motorbike will be your main way of traveling around, although you can unlock fast traveling under certain circumstances.

At first, I had to get used towards gathering up fuel and fixing up my bike, but that soon became second nature as I either found scraps or fuel in the wild, or got my bike fixed up at the mechanics. There's enough upgrades for it to be found too.

The same goes for your playable character Deacon St. John too. You can improve his methods of survival, melee or ranged combat in various ways. The personality is likable too, as he is member of a former motor club and now drifts around with his best pal Boozer while hoping to find peace towards his former wife.

Days Gone gave me vibes most of all from The Walking Dead and The Last of Us, two great inspirations. There are the different kinds of zombies, or infected humans walking around such as Freaks, Newts and Swarmers, but there are crazy humans too, and then there are even crazier ones called Rippers, who are part of a cult.

This is quite a large game where it took me over 40 hours to beat it. In this post apocalyptic setting, you are also able to craft items such as molotov cocktails and medkits to keep you going. In order to purchase items, you will need to gain more trust per camp by doing all kinds of jobs.

Deacon and the rest of the cast were just fine, from the various kinds of leaders per camp, to the sidekicks per mission, to the villains represented, it's all good. The story itself is nothing special, but at least the characters and their voice acting kept me going, aside from the gameplay.

Days Gone turned out to be better than I expected, although to be honest, it won't blow you away with innovation or groundbreaking ways. Seeing the wild landscapes of Oregon drifting around of which some parts just might be the same in real life, is a good bonus to experience too.

Rating: 8.1

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The negatives voices on the internet were wrong.

Objectively, this is a fine movie, and a fine conclusion towards what is now dubbed the Skywalker saga.  I was more than content with the The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi too, even though I saw the Original Trilogy and then the Prequel Trilogy first.

I had my sincere doubts that this movie had to bring back Sheev Palpatine in order to act as the main villain once more while filling the void between Snoke and Kylo Ren, but I am glad with the way the plot got directed, and most of if not all arcs have now gotten a good end.

(It's also always fun to see the emperor cackling around and shouting "Do It" :D) 

Several plot twists unfold once again, and I can even really like Rey now, knowing her backstory. It's not The Force just creating a baby, but she really had parents, and in the end a motivation and reason to end tyranny.

All of the tropes as you would expect from a Star Wars movie return, including light saber duels, aircraft space shooting, humor, droids, planets, alien species, the familiar music, the religions of Sith and Jedi, and a few characters will perish, although with grace.

J.J. Abrams might have played it safe again while directing this, but he also called the shots onto how to end this overall saga, and the end scene where Rey buries the past and looks upon the future with the objects she held and now holds is effective.

Honestly, this so called Sequel Trilogy turned out to be just fine. They're not perfect by any sense, but if you are an average Star Wars fan like me, and not die hard to the core, you will enjoy what is to be found and shared here with audiences.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a compelling final chapter and brings quality while honoring past episodes. Star Wars itself shall continue on in one form or another, and when in doubt, know that The Force will be with you, always.

Rating: 7.5

Downloadable Content: Specter of Torment and King of Cards

Just as fun as the other two previous modes Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows if you ask me, Specter Knight has the ability to briefly wall climb/jump, as well as slash his way through the air using certain objects so that he can traverse quickly and fearsome.

Serving as a prequel towards the main game, you get to see the origin of Specter Knight and what his motivations are. The level design was cleverly developed, and the stages have been remixed to keep throwing at you new situations.

A "spinning" take on Shovel Knight's pogo jump, King of Cards is another prequel where you get to on on royal adventures while gathering followers onto a flying airship where the hottest card mini game of Joustus is available.

It finally released in late 2019, and it's arguably the most difficult one to beat, as you have to learn to land your dashing movements with the spinning afterward jumps precisely. The world map is remixed with more available normal stages, and the Knight bosses have turned into mini boss encounters.

Instead, you will fight 3 ruling kings in each region, before The Enchantress throws at you another final boss transformation to overcome, a tradition seen differently in all of the 4 campaigns. It was also nice to read the special message upon completing all of them from Yacht Club Games.

Now they can finally develop a new project, or are they gonna develop a true sequel instead...?

Mario Party

It just occurred to me; I have not reviewed any Mario Party title yet which I have played. Considering it's overall festival theme, including snowy settings at some of the boards, let's do so right now.

The very first one, back in 1998, when I was only 10 years old, this game was pretty much the first 3D based board multiplayer game on the Nintendo 64 featuring Mario characters where you would be able to play dice on several kinds of different boards.

As would be the objective of each entry, in order to win the game, you would have to collect the most stars out of everyone in order to become the super star and be number one. To get these, you would have to collect enough coins, which can be found on the boards themselves, or during mini games.

It would be the mini games that would give Mario Party and the franchise it's most recognizable feature. From free for all to 2v2 and 1v3 kinds of games, any kind of mini game could popup, but the controls would remain easy and simple to perform.

This is my most memorable entry, Mario Party 2 features a bit more characters, boards and mini games to keep you occupied. This time, more stereotypical themes are playing, and arguably, it had the most fun mini games out of the ones I have played and which are featured in this blog post.

So yes, that also means I have never played Mario Party 3, 6 and 9, but I did play portions of 4, 5 and 8 during parties or over at friends. So my opinion won't matter that much objectively, but I do have some fine memories.

Back towards Mario Party 2, I pretty much remember teenage memories of me and my friends screaming in agony over winning the next mini game and having enough luck to get the next star, because sooner or later, people would realize that Mario Party as a whole is more about having luck than having skill.

Taking a "break" from subsequent releases, I decided that at the seventh installment, I wanted to return. Mario Party 7 is the last entry on the Nintendo Gamecube, and it's the second one that utilizes the microphone for a few mini games.

It would also be the last traditional entry in the sense that you would still be able to move individually as a playable character here, before the dreadful big car would be used in later releases.

The mini games at part 7 are modest and average at best, with a few of them sticking out, the same goes for the boards and the music itself. Still, you cannot go wrong with it really.

The most recent addition is Super Mario Party, the first one available on the Nintendo Switch where the Joy Cons are used to play all kinds of creative mini games. Nintendo has also finally listened towards fans as the big car is ditched, and characters are able to move on their own again.

Although shamefully, the online feature regarding multiplayer, which is a first for the series, is lackluster because it does not include the whole experience like offline multiplayer or singleplayer does.

I have played it a very few time with some friends, as these games are best played in multiplayer. It's another average title, but I was happy to return to it once more. Considering the release dates of 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2018 for these 4, the franchise has been around for quite a while now!

As a bonus feature, during my Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments, sometimes we would afterwards also play Mario Party Blood, a special mode where if you would end as the fourth and last place, you would had to consume the Spoon of Nasty, where the 3 others would be free to mix and combine any kind of food onto it, resulting in nasty results!

Sometimes we would also include a drinking mini game feature where all of the losers would had to drink a shot of strong alcohol per mini game. I vaguely and barely remember a few of these drunken evenings and nights, but boy were the emotions and the fun running high!

Mario Party is all about having fun with friends!

Floreo

Last friday, I finished my client focused training hosted by the organization Floreo.

Focusing on effective communication and observing behavior, it was not the first training I would be studying surrounding this subject. But, this time, I was with a motivated and enthusiastic team, and thus, I look back on it with a smile.

Some new techniques I was learning included active listening, which has several layers of doing so, positively influencing, which turned out to be my favorite one to practice anywhere possible, the power of silence during conversations and it's impact, plus the mentality of turning "Yes, but...!" responses towards "Yes, and...!".

That last one opened quite a different new view towards what both of those responses really represent negatively and positively, and they got me thinking. Bending over resistance was another intriguing topic and theory to practice out there, such as during conflicts of opinions or interests, or dealing with complaints.

More topics were also featured, and most of them would be practiced out by the group at the lessons themselves, and back in our personal and business lives. One skill I did not experience for over 10 years was doing presentations towards audiences.

During these six months, I did 7 presentations, reporting about the practices I did, but also presenting new ideas for my department, showing my overall interest for the Korean Peninsula, and portraying my future plan towards improving myself.

I'm glad that I was given the opportunity to partake into this communication training, and I feel that I have improved further as a professional, but also at understanding humans and their tools of language better.

REmake 3 Preview

 

The rumors were true!

Also very predictable after Capcom's return to form with success after success of released games, during the latest State of Play today, Sony's equivalent towards the Nintendo Direct presentations, Resident Evil Resistance was first featured among the thrills.

It's "campaign" mode then moved into REmake 3's official announcement, a clever move, and it's also smart to double pack them together instead of standalone releases in order to accumulate critical and commercial success further.

As expected, all of the characters featured in the original Resident Evil 3 also have gotten new facial features, which include Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, Brad Vickers, Nikolai Zinoviev and the infamous main villain; Nemesis.

He is hardly seen, as this could mean two things; this acts as a teaser, or perhaps his design is not final yet. As it will release in April 2020, there should be enough time to tweak development if needed after the initial reactions.

I wonder if the crafting mechanic, the branching paths and the different endings will return from the original? Aside from those, will the old locations return as well, which consists aside from the streets of Raccoon City, parts of the police department, the hospital, the park and the factory?

Although almost no gameplay is shown, considering the quality left behind by RE7 and REmake 2 before this, I expect no disappointment from this one, as long as Nemesis will pack a punch, he should definitely be more explosive than Mr.X.

As if early 2020 isn't filled with huge AAA games already!

Nier: Automata

Resistance Camp

Usually, I am a video gamer that plays a video game franchise by order and release date. But lately, I have loosened up, and if the series is not plot connected per entry, then I will easily play in this case a (spin-off)sequel that is so much more popular.

1.5 years ago, I only beat Nier: Automata once getting the first ending. Whispers and pipes on the internet however told me that it would at least take 3 times to get the most out of the game, and  having beaten chapter 2 and 3 now, I discovered that the game has up to 26 different endings...!

Having seen about 6 with a few bad ones along the way, I am now ready to review the game. it's developed in conjunction between PlatinumGames and the survivors of Cavia led by Yoko Taro, starting with Drakengard on the PlayStation 2, Automata is by far the most successful entry.

It's an action RPG with gameplay as you would expect from PlatinumGames's past titles such as Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising, featuring a beautiful melancholic soundtrack combined with a mechanical setting where a conflict between machines and androids is constant.

Secondary game modes include small shoot em up sequences, and hacking mini games, which are more variant off shooting em up, but it comes with retro sounding alternatives towards the OST songs playing out.

You will play as 3 different characters throughout the story, and you are able to switch between 2 weapon styles, while pods will behave as supporting agents that will provide range attacks while you can occasionally activate a special move.

The world is open, and has main and side quests, but it's not really a large place to explore, rather, you will backtrack between the main areas including a forest, an attraction park and a desert. You will be able to fight machines as enemies for grinding, as well as be able to pick up items and save plus fast travel along the way.

What seals the deal with this game is that it has messages to tell and themes to show when speaking of the overall story line and the plot twisting up as you get further when speaking of the endings. Existentialism is pretty much the main theme to explore in here.

Nier: Automata is an above average game that is worth a try. Personally I expected more after beating it thrice, but I was still more than content, however I did eventually switch the difficulty towards easy as I eventually just wanted it to be over, as the gameplay had not changed with interest for hours before that.

Rating: 7.7

Consumerism

As Black Friday takes over Europe further from the United States of America, something struck with me; consumerism seems to be growing larger while natural resources such as oil are depleting further.
Unless scientific and technological inventions and innovations will rectify that, the future seems bleak.

While the rich West(and rich East for that matter) consume further, there is still much poverty, slavery and hunger to be found. Proxy wars including cyber versions are more increasing around the world, and I wonder when the next economic bubble will break in my country.

Developments such as 3D printing synthetic food, nano technology, machine learning and so much more keep me interested in the nearby future, and I still share the dream left behind by The Venus Project and The Zeitgeist Movement in their forms, about establishing a resource economy.

Consumerism drives capitalism and all of the crazy effects of the world. To consume is to achieve status, wealth and artificial happiness in order to satisfy society, competition and even national interests.

But if you do not counter it, karma will come in one form or another. Mother Nature is one of those, what with one of the biggest global discussions being the global warming and the climate changing, we are definitely living in interesting and dangerous times.

Perhaps next time you consider consuming an expensive luxury product, consider if you really need it, and it's personal and global consequence.

Furi

A rare boss marathon video game emerges featuring only intense boss battles, but also annoying walking simulating cut scenes in between, with a poor sense of direction and tanky controls. I get that they represent the slow break between fights but they could had been designed better.

Furi is an action game with gun and swordplay, as well as bullet hell segments. There is a goofy black man with a purple rabbit suit playing a role of narrator, split personality and unnatural presence, as he can warp anywhere pretty easily.

The cel shaded artstyle alongside the character designs are well met, and the fast paced action is very well programmed as each available movement is responsive, and boss attacks are varied, fluid and stylish.

Parrying in here is very satisfying, and sometimes you will need lightning reflexes in order to counter strike with massive damage. Your nameless protagonist is explained by the rabbit suit man to escape his prison, and after each fight, he will mumble philosophically a bit, and then brief you on the next opponent.

As observed by the special thanks section of the end credits, Game Bakers has very good taste with inspirations, thanking among others Hideki Kamiya, Shinji Mikami, Goichi Suda and Hidetaki Miyazaki for their very memorable products.

I’m sure they were referring among other products to Metal Gear Rising, No More Heroes, Dark Souls and God Hand then. Furi is a difficult journey with memorable boss fights in an otherwise non sensible presentation, and I recommend it for the hardcore gamers.

Rating: 7.7