The Year of the RPG

I proclaim this for me personally, the Year of the RPG.

Why?

That's because I have yet to touch and start on numerous amounts of RPG series out there. Be it Western or Japanese RPG's, Turn based or Action based, Strategic or Tactical, there is much to experience out there still for me.

I will attempt to at least beat one RPG of any kind, of a new series each month this year. That means that the very first part of it would suffice for me under these conditions, even if that means that they were produced and released before my birth year of 1988.

Of course, I understand without a doubt that the RPG genre is the most time consuming out of all video game genres, but that won't stop me, as I will focus only on single player entries, or at best offline multiplayer entries.

Not much RPG series come to mind of the ones I have experienced already. These include from the top of my head Final Fantasy(I through XV minus XI and XIV), Seiken Densetsu(2 & 3), the Mario RPG's(all), Lufia(1 & 2), Mass Effect(1-3), Mother(1-3) Tales of (Phantasia, Symphonia, Zestiria), The Witcher(1-3) and Mega Man Battle Network(1-6). Keep in mind that I'm talking about series then, which I describe as those which have at least 3 titles.

And now comes a brief list on paper, but a huge list by it's entries, of RPG series I finally wish to experience this year:

-Dragon Quest
-Elder Scrolls
-Fallout
-Megami Tensei
-Persona
-Kingdom Hearts
-Front Mission
-Star Ocean
-Breath of Fire
-Golden Sun
-Suikoden
-Grandia
-Langrisser

That's a lot, huh? Wish me luck! If you have any recommendations and reasons for them, based upon my interests, feel free to comment.

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