#dragon-music trilogy is excellent

[dragongirl-casca]

Context: I'm reading the Dragonriders of Pern series, having recently restarted and then finally finished Dragonsdawn after a long hiatus from the series.

Renegades of Pern is not a very artful book, in terms of realistic decisions, clever dialogue, or compelling narrative. The arguments characters have make little sense, and it frequently feels very expository.

But it is a very functional book, in that it introduces characters, introduces places, and creates a reasonable framework for those characters to explore those places, leading to the rediscovery of ancient knowledge.

I hope All The Weyrs of Pern is better, though.

[lord-starman-wotton]

my (incredibly messy) list of completed wolfstar fic recs (all on ao3, list to be continued!)

fair warning— i’ve had this list for a long time and i usually just used it for my close friends, so not all of these have descriptions/the author’s names. theres random links, random anecdotes, etc. anyways enjoy!!!

Blackpool Rock by lord_starman_wotton (i had to start out with the self-promo lolll)

presque vu by bizarrestars. i almost hesitate to add this because it’s legitimately devastating. do not read the last two chapters unless it’s the middle of the night and no one will hear your sobbing

text talk

the cadence of part time poets by motswolo (fair warning this is twice the length of war and peace i kid you not)

everlasting love finds a way (one shot)

a brief history of dragons

like real people do (READ IT ANFBSJDJD)

blossoms burn and fume, where our flowers bloom (MY FAV WOLFSTAR FIC LITERALLY EVER)

shorn and scarred and yours

the lab (adorable but there’s a six year age gap which makes me kind of uncomfortable?)

the adventures of captain sirius black and his most excellent dragon padfoot (pirate dragons)

tu es la lune (dead poets society au)

the blood moon sinks (not perfect writing but very cute)

the spy who loved him (adorable, by the same author as the pirate dragons)

the oldest recipe for parsnip soup

ullswater (they go to a music college)

that old black magic

for here you are, standing there, loving me (whether or not you should) (sirius adopts every single order child, sound of music au)

the hut of the mistold (fairytale au)

stealing harry 

bindings, bindings (jily and regulus come back from the dead and break sirius out of azkaban)

a cure for nightmares

with great power comes great responsibility (spider man)

across the hall (another cute text fic)

james potter, remus lupin, sirius black, peter pettigrew, and (pause for the breath) the prisoner of azkaban 

suite nothings: wolfstar edition (they’re college roommates)

wading in waist-high water (great british bake off)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/33021643 (prince of england/first son fic)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/20287849 (another text fic. v cute)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36291976 (THE SECOND BEST FIC IVE EVER READ READ IT ASAPPPP) 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47948368 (fake dating, remus and sirius are both single parents)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34659874 (sirius is a ghost haunting rems flat. it’s SO cute)

ten reasons (to go to michigan)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44271820 (figure skating fic. just read it, trust)

dear your holiness

lessen my load

you’re my kaleidoscope

happy birthday, you.

when it’s warm again

to all a good night (HOLY SHIT THIS ONES GOT SUCH GOOD SLOW BURN)

the player’s secret

take me as i am (sleep demon sirius. you’re in for a wild ride)

r.j.l reads a self help book

rourke

atyd sirius’s perspective 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34146250

second generation by msalexwp

a bird at your door by moongnome

where there is smoke by moongnome

everything under the sun by moongnome

tis the damn season by moonymoment

labyrinth by moonymoment

starlit left, moonlit right

show me everything i’ve missed

do you believe in fate?

the road not taken

godlight by badhairred

string the sinner by his wings by ludo_ten

of memories and milk thievery by moonymoment (this made me cry i love it)

Archive of Our Ownhttps://archiveofourown.orgAs the Moon Knows the Stars - Chapter 1 - mcdynamite - Harry Potter

Be my time-bomb lover by flora_tyronelle

We'll Make It Out Alive by orphan_account

the boy from beauxbaxtons by haey1

Teeth. - amour_anguis, regularis_vas - Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies) [Archive of Our Own] (jurassic world au. the literary equivalent of pressing on a bruise. it’s so so so so good)

i’ll be home for christmas by msalexwp

dear mr black by msalexwp 

[quibbs]

if its ok to ask do you have any recommendations, of like, songs, movies, tv shows, books, comics, webcomics,,,, like. literally anything of the sort. and similarly, if its ok to ask, what inspired soil that binds us?

ok sorry this took me so long to answer! i just kept thinking about it instead of writing about it. a problem that is common for me, lol. anyway i think pieces of media that tend to have the strongest effect on me tend to be bittersweer, have a particular focus on interconnectivity between everyone involved, and are character focused/character dynamic focused. that's what tends to wring the most inspiration and joy out of me. i also really love pieces of media that are bad but are made with so much sincerity and passion that it does NOT matter to me how bad it is- i also find those pieces of art UNFATHOMBLY inspiring.

so: soil that binds us i think spiritually had 4 influences that shines above the rest.

-NARUTO [sincere, long form, teen-oriented, shonen energy, the power of love and friendship will save us, action scenes and BLOOD, the fun matters most for a lot of it],

-HOMESTUCK [exceedingly complicated, irreverent, balancing vulnerable and invulnerable in a clinically insane way, emphasis on the protagonists psyche, interconnectivity as a priority, kind of expecting you to get lost along the way, the fun matters most]

-THE LAST OF US [a game that inspires literally everything I will ever do forever, inspired me to be more vulnerable, character driven, post-apocalyptic, finding light and tenderness whilst trapped in HELL through your relationships with others, excels in the feeling of bittersweet, etc]

-anddd DRAGON AGE [another game that literally inspires everything i do, interconnectivity, character focused/character dynamic focused, sincere, good balance of gritty and silly, the first thing i turn to to analyze characters for because none of those characters have ever left my head after 15 years .]

those are my biggest media inspirations for soil that binds us but, especially as a teenager, music shaped what directions i took the characters like playdough. a lot of what defined my characters came from this playlist as i was writing them. i always started with the feeling first (which songs are good at) and then expounded upon the feeling i found in the song in written form. highly reccomend it!!! music is so inspiring and i always turn to it when i'm stuck.

as for tv shows/movies- despite the fact that he is (rightfully) extremely clowned on now, a lot of joss whedon works shaped my skull. buffy the vampire slayer and it's less good spin-off show angel DO live in my brain forever and in a special little hall of it's own. i'm pretty sure it inspired a lot of dragon age, too, so there you go.

i wish i had more comics/books to recommend you, but i actually don't read a lot of them these days!!! which is ironic, i know. i just keep losing time. I think maybe the closest written thing i can think of that is similar to my comic is the locked tomb trilogy- and that was a series that was ALSO heavily inspired by homestuck. same with undertale. so maybe look out for anything homestuck seems to have inadvertently given birth to!! i wish you luck on your hunt for comics that scratch the itch for you.... i know they're out there, and if they're not, give it a few years haha. homestucks reach is very far. GOOD LUCK!

[notmuchtoconceal]

Red Dragon was adapted to film three times. No cinematic portrayal has yet captured the particular majesty of its literary source, nor its subtle metaphysical quality, though each is interesting in its own right.

William Petersen remains my favorite Will Graham, and Manhunter the most sublime of the film versions, mainly for what it leaves unsaid. For how it draws you into a trance state through its hyper-modern design, full of minimalist white and chrome furnishings which emphasize empty space. It remains first and foremost a Michael Mann film, capturing the professionalism of being a G-man and Petersen's Will is allowed to return to domestic bliss upon its conclusion, cementing a kind of 80's optimism complete with cheesy synth music over the closing credits.

Ralph Fiennes remains my favorite on-screen Dolarhyde, mostly for he's the only actor who embodies the character's brutish physicality, though I don't particularly like the film he's in. The 2002 Red Dragon comes off like a cash-grab, capitalizing off the success of Silence of the Lambs, and its aesthetics -- while capturing more of the decaying contemporary gothic of its literary source -- are diminished by the film attempting to please too many masters. It reminds me of the similarly inferior late 90's film of The Talented Mr. Ripley, being both more loyal to what's on the page, as if to please legions of disappointed book readers, though also -- bloating the run-time with extraneous new subplots which flatter a general audience's pre-conceived biases. It frustrates you by giving you what you think you want, then doing its own thing anyway, though not very well, and you're left wishing it had just trimmed the fat and done something new instead of faffing about and having nothing new to say.

Edward Norton is by far my least favorite Will Graham, mostly for he comes across as a total charisma vacuum. Think the logic of casting him as Will was he was also a Hulk and the Narrator in Fight Club, so he's got cred struggling with latent psychopathy. Except in this he doesn't turn into a CGI monster or have Brad Pitt to play off him. Will is a complete entity in his own right and Edward Norton seems like a mask or shell.

NBC's Hannibal is the best adaptation of Red Dragon until it comes time to adapt Red Dragon, at which point it feels largely perfunctory.

As an adaptation, Hannibal is endlessly fascinating. Bryan Fuller compared himself to a remix artist, and that assessment is spot on.

When I watched the series for the first (and thus far only) time, I had just re-read the original trilogy, so I could see with fresh eyes and hear with open ears, the ways he turned bits of interior monologue into dialogue, fleshed-out the backstory, moved things around, changed the pace and flow through subtle re-framings. The closest point of comparison really is Mary Harron's excellent film of American Psycho (which distills to a sleek 102 minutes a work of four-dimensional Dostoevyskian tragedy masquerading as brand-name gore shlock), not only for how it juxtaposes primal violence with gourmet cooking, but narratively, structurally, in how it remixes and reinvents; turning Patrick Bateman's book-end revelation of his void state from a late-onset cry of despair to a stoic thesis statement simply part of his morning routine.

Bryan Fuller reinvents so much, draws out the queer subtext so totally, and ultimately has to -- the story he's telling is fundamentally about a man facing himself, being repulsed, but ultimately liking what he sees. The literary Will spurns Hannibal's one-side affections forever, which come across simply as sardonic taunts from a predator; yearning to take shelter in a woman's arms, but ending up deformed, for his primary opposite is the wounded Dolarhyde, not the Dark Prince Hannibal.

Hugh Dancy's Will is an entirely different beast. Every episode begins with based on Red Dragon, but the emphasis is right there in the title.

I suspect Bryan Fuller felt like he had to introduce Clarice at some point and kept putting it off because she had no place in the world he created. It's not only that his Will and his Hannibal are in love, and he'd be introducing a primordial tension into his own dark fantasy. The literary Will Graham may as well become Clarice. They share the same descent into the underworld to speak to the Devil Behind Bars. They speak to the same agent of unconscious revelation to get into the mind of a killer.

They are of the same mind, being both of Thomas Harris.

The Silence of the Lambs onward is a transgender narrative, not an androphilic one. The literary Clarice, prideful, self-assured, totally lacking in bullshit other than what's been trained into her, is an immediate delight. She's the one who ends up under Hannibal's control -- consent gradually surrendered -- as her true wants are revealed through drugs, hypnosis, childhood regression, the exhumation of her father's corpse. As Dolarhyde is the literary Will's shadow, so is Buffalo Bill Clarice's. She yearns to become a lawman like her father the sheriff, he yearns to become a beauty queen like the implied memory of his absent mother.

Will sees himself as a deformed monster. Clarice sees herself as a manufactured Other. Hannibal is inside both their heads.

The Devil Likes Him Some Cornpone Country Pussy.

The third book is titled Hannibal because Hannibal is its protagonist, even if for the bulk of it we follow Clarice. I had read an Amazon review back in 2008 or so, where someone accused it of being "clearly ghostwritten" because of its shift in narrative voice, yet this is wishful thinking. Its told from the detached, birds-eye view of a hyper-lucid Luciferian madman who is accounting for and manipulating all variables, luring all the extant players into his web of associations to claim his final prize.

I enjoy Ridley Scott's film version, for it's a Ridley Scott film. He has a well-studied classicism, but also a very down-to-earth ruggedness which fits the material perfectly. Most of his excisions are sensible, considering the running time. (Margot being even more politically volatile in the early 2000's when the backlash to Buffalo Bill seemed to be the trans representation issue... none, it would seem, being better than something easy to caricature by the heterosexual masses.) I recall a comment Scott made about thinking Hannibal was "turned-on" by Clarice's sense of Justice, and it being immediately clear this was his own fetish, not necessarily something implied by the text. (Picture now, Scott and James Cameron Bro-ing out about how he leveled up Ellen Ripley.)

Julianne Moore is a great replacement for Foster, being now an older, more jaded woman. The film is so deliberate, I appreciate how it inverts its literary counterpart's Satanic ending moreso than say -- the earlier un-alluded to Purple Noon, where Tom Ripley is brought to justice as if entangled in the umbilical thread of fate. Rather than Clarice being seduced by Hannibal, Hannibal is seduced by Clarice, chopping off his own hand much like a chastised young Tyr to a She-wolf Fenrir.

Bryan Fuller's treatment of the novelistic material here is close to about the only point in the series I'd call vacuous and self-indulgent.

It feels like he's subverting the pacing for the sake of being contrarian rather than giving his story room to breathe. Maybe it's because I like Scott's Hannibal so much, Fuller's treatment of the same scenes and characters feels like a pale imitation, of both its literary source and its filmic predecessor, yet I feel intuitively I may have been overwhelmed or alienated by the void of heartbreak, my rational faculties rebelling against what seems to be implications of a telepathic reality. I suspect those episodes will always be a mixed bag, being both too slow and too fast, largely for how behind-the-scenes tensions introduced conflicts into the pacing. Now understanding that his Will is replacing Clarice, and Clarice can only become the Bride of Satan by mutual recognition, I find Will's need to dive into Hannibal's past necessary, though by this point, the characters had largely outgrown whatever sources may have inspired them, and even if the second half of season 3 is more even, it feels constrained by the skeleton of its intended adaptation.

The Silence of the Lambs has been adapted to film precisely once, and it captures the essence of the novel almost well-enough to render it redundant. There's near nothing missing. What's cut is stitched back together with a surgical elegance befitting a master cosmetician.

The film is so sleek and streamlined, its makes corresponding sections of the novel seem clunky and bloated. When I remember the events of the story, I confess, I tend to remember the film better than the book, the way William Faulkner remembered his own evolving private daydreams of Candace Compson moreso than whatever it was he'd published in The Sound and the Fury -- "If you'll excuse me, I'm having an old friend for dinner." (Lecter's chemistry-based shit joke about Chilton is an absolute riot, though. Terrible it couldn't make it in.)

Anthony Hopkin's Lecter would never have become as iconic as he is without Jodi Foster's Clarice. As an adaptation, it's a masterpiece precisely because its a collaboration. Everyone on-screen is embodying a particular flavor of unspoken obsession, and everyone behind the camera is capturing it with an almost documentary realism, the same way Harris's prose has a journalistic objectivity, even when he's touring the fetid landscapes of his own inner hell. It works so well because there's no sole author to be burdened by the weight of the material. Its dispersed throughout the entire cast and crew and everyone is there for each other.

Furthermore, the story is inherently cinematic in a way Red Dragon simply isn't. Clarice is a plucky young professional woman looking to make it in a man's world, while Will Graham is retreating into early retirement for the duress the work is inflicting upon his tattered mind.

Will's isolation is chosen. Clarice's is imposed from without. We see her running the obstacle course alone. We see how male law enforcement officers look at her on the job. We see how even her own superiors need to play mindgames and switcheroos and put her at a disadvantage.

She has to play quid-pro-quo with Hannibal. She has to open up. She has to share. Will knows what Hannibal is because he's like him in a way she isn't. He can't be seduced by him. His pain is too constant, the threat too real. The literary Will lacks a certain feminine charm, which Mads's Hannibal is well-acquainted with, already seeming to have found some part of Mischa again in his friend and protégé, the gender-swapped Alana Bloom, who is also surrogate sister to Will, making them brothers.

In contrast, the novel Red Dragon is about highly introspective men being alone with themselves and thinking intense thoughts. The portraits of Will and Dolarhyde's psyches are two interlocked soliloquies which brutally clash like gongs by the conclusion. The literary Will, Dolarhyde and Hannibal are all playing the same game of cat and mouse from a distance, each alone with themselves. Hugh Dancy's Will is not only made more cinematic, but also incidentally charmingly feminine by having his monologues cut up into dialogue, as he's forced to physically converse with Hannibal, who in this version he's meeting for the first time.

The visual emphasis is also why it's so easy to reduce the filmic Buffalo Bill to a gay monster. The ways in which they function as a dark mirror to Clarice are not as obvious when you lose their interiority. When you simply present their sensual butterfly dance while the fat girl (Hollywood fat, of course) screams for help in the pain well, they become a blank screen for the audience to project their own fears of seeing or being an Other, but in a public place -- surrounded by people similarly disgusted, each a participant in the ultimate pretension of normality.

What makes the novel of The Silence of the Lambs unique is how its unmistakably a sequel to Red Dragon. The film version of Silence of the Lambs exists in relation to nothing but itself. Thomas Harris is repeating his previous work's structure, now with different characters.

It's much easier to get Clarice's interiority on-screen when you have Jodi Foster's eyes and voice to work with, and in the book she retains Will's quality of brooding intensity, but with an awareness of how what she says aloud supports and contradicts her interior monologue, which is naturally contrasted with Bill's. You can see the Clarice/Bill entanglement as a logical repeat of the Will/Dolarhyde one, and with this absent, the filmic emphasis shifts to Clarice's darkly subdued romance with Hannibal, which similarly becomes the emphasis in Bryan Fuller's television version, but with the focus of his meet-cute being Will.

That Silence of the Lambs should be such a crowd-pleaser is no surprise. It's the only entry in the original trilogy which has a happy ending which falls within the dictates of the common tribal morality. The killer is caught. The woman is saved. Clarice is redeemed and graduates on-time. Her professional surrogate father is proud of her. Hannibal escapes. An element of danger remains. A sequel promised. It doesn't ask us to dramatically re-shift our focus or reconsider all we know.

A rare act two high note.

The Devil is in the Details, and details are the domain of long-term prose.

Reading is itself a solitary and introspective activity. That is, unless one is reading scripture. That a man should realize the degree to which he is like a Devil Himself, or how that same Devil He Is could be the sole True Want of just and upright professional woman, for the so-called "Good Men" who uphold the law fear and revile her, isn't the type of thing you'd want to share communally with loved ones, unless you're willing to take on the responsibility of hurting them in the way they need to be hurt.

[myfavouritemovies9]

“This is Berk”

In today’s blog, I'm going to be talking about the first animated movie to make my list. One of fantasy, adventure, action and Dragons. Yes, that movie is How to Train Your Dragon, one of my favourite animated movies and even trilogies that I've ever seen. Although this is starting to repeat itself in my blogs, the music in movies or cinematic pieces can change a movie from good to great just like that. John Powell did nothing short of an excellent job with the music in this movie. His choice of tone and instrument helps to convey the ever-changing emotion in these movies, again an iconic playlist in movies today.

Although music plays a greatly important role, it's not the only thing that makes this a great movie, The cinematography and scenery are another reason for my love for these movies. Something better about this trilogy rather than other movies is the element of flying. That element alone makes for some of the greatest and most ascetic scenes in animated movies as a whole. The beauty of this film is something that brings me back to it and is what keeps it up on the list.

However, the element of flying helps in more than just the cinematography, it helps in the action as well. With dragons comes crazy cool action, we see many perfectly choreographed dragon fights over the trilogy, which is only possible due to the aspect of animation.

Even so, there is one more reason for the fact that this trilogy makes my top ten. One greater than the element of action music or anything else mentioned. It's the fact that anyone can picture themselves training their dragon. It builds off the element of fantasy, where anyone can place themselves in that story or imagine a world where it is true. This was the feeling I had watching it for the first time, and the feeling that for me makes a movie a great movie.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

I feel this film needs absolutely no introduction.

Look, I get it. You’ve seen everyone and their mother talk trash about this movie since it dropped in 1999. You’ve seen every single show in the universe take cracks at this film, you’ve seen all the parodies and mockery of it in movies, you may have even seen that  movie Fanboys. Maybe you’ve even watched some massive YouTube review of the movie. The point is, this movie has been done to death.

But this series is about covering poorly received and infamous movies to see if their reputation is deserved, and I’d be remiss to ignore this film. And hey, these days the film has gotten something of a reappraisal by younger generations and older fans alike! After 20 years of scorn, a combination of the poorly received episodes VIII and IX, other works like The Clone Wars building off of and fleshing out the themes, Lego making really fun levels based off this movie for its Star Wars games, and Weird Al dropping one of the best songs of his career based entirely around recapping this film, a lot of people have come around to saying they unironically like this film. Even as early as 2008, the film made it on to Empire magazine’s list of the 500 greatest films of all time, scoring higher than Tim Burton’s Batman, Unbreakable, Full Metal Jacket, Halloween, The Crow, and Enter The Dragon (not by a huge margin though since it only got to 449). So there’s something there to love, right?

Well, let’s find out as I ask the question everyone else has already asked a million times before: Is The Phantom Menace really that bad?

THE GOOD

Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way: The action and John Williams’ score.

The prequel trilogy really shines in how absolutely bonkers it makes lightsaber battles. Sure, one could argue the original trilogy made them more realistic, like actual swordfights… But I don’t want realism in this series about magical alien samurai monks using telekinesis and fighting armies of clones and robots. I want to see someone do a million backflips and then slice a dude in half with their laser sword. This film delivers heartily on that front, especially in the epic final duel between Maul, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan.

Speaking of which, Darth Maul is a highlight of this film despite barely doing or saying anything. A lot of it is his striking visual design, which is actually toned down from the original concepts. It makes him look cool, creepy, and mysterious, always a good look for any Star Wars character. Ray Park doesn’t get to show off Maul’s dialogue much, but he certainly shows off his battle prowess with a bunch of sick flips and the iconic dual-bladed lightsaber. This appearance here served as an excellent foundation for the guy, because The Clone Wars would take him from an iconic but underutilized character to perhaps one of the greatest villains in the series.

And then the score. Oh lord, the score! Has Williams ever missed, even once? This movie has some really fantastic music, stuff like the celebration music at the end of the film, but it’s quite obvious that the standout is “Duel of the Fates,” one of the best pieces of music in any Star Wars film.

A lot of the characters introduced here are pretty fun and great additions to the universe. Natalie Portman is actually pretty solid as Padme; Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon is just such an aggro dick it’s hard not to love him and his underhanded ways; Boss Nass is an amusing yet underutilized gungan played by BRIAN BLESSED of all people, once more adding his trademark ham to a campy sci-fi movie inspired by Flash Gordon; Mace Windu drops in for a brief appearance to set him up for better ones down the road; and that Chancellor Palpatine guy is really cool, I hope we get to see more of him!

Then we have the pod race which, while a bit overly long, is a lot of fun and features some crazy vehicular madness, and there’s the practical effects, the creative design of the aliens and monsters, and there’s the practical effects and costumes mixed together with the CGI.... When this movie is fun, it’s a lot of fun, and when this movie is putting in the effort by god is it putting in the effort.

Oh yeah, and E.T.’s species has a cameo. No wonder he seemed to recognize Yoda in his movie.

THE BAD

Have you guys ever wanted a cool laser sword sci-fi epic to be constantly interrupted by long, boring scenes of trade negotiations, council meetings, and bureaucracy? Well boy oh boy will you love this film! There are so many stupid, dull, tedious scenes where characters are just talking about this boring trade embargo plotline, one that can’t even be ignored because it’s driving the whole plot. And sure, it leads to some really cool action scenes, but you’ve gotta sit through boring galactic council political bullshit to get to them.

This film is also the one that establishes the Jedi as a bunch of out of touch assholes. Every scene with the Jedi council (and especially if you have to look at the weird ugly Yoda puppet this film gave us before it was mercifully replaced with CGI) has the Jedi acting as a bunch of obstructive assholes who seem to go out of their way to be dicks to a literal child. Add onto this that this film reveals the Jedi essentially train kids to be child soldiers, yeah, no, maybe these guys did deserve Order 66 after all.

There is the writing, but it’s really not too strange for Star Wars to have clunky writing. The issue here is said writing is in service to really banal plots, and when the movie is getting good dialogue is usually not the thing making the scenes good. These things here may not seem like a lot when it comes to problems especially when I was praising this film so much, but the few problems are spread far and wide across this two hour movie.

THE UGLY

As you may have noticed, I didn’t mention two of the film’s most hated aspects above: Jar Jar and Anakin. There is a good reason for that.

Literally every mean thing you can imagine has already been lobbed at Ahmed Best and Jake Lloyd, and quite frankly I’m not keen on contributing to that. Anything negative I could say has already been said, and at this point it doesn’t even matter. Jake Lloyd was bullied over his performance to the point where he hated the franchise for years, and Ahmed Best nearly killed himself over the sheer blistering hatred Jar Jar received. Do I think Jar Jar is funny? Do I think Lloyd was a good actor? Does it even fucking matter at all when people harassed them to such lengths that it traumatized them?

I’ll be honest: I’m not a huge fan of Jar Jar’s antics. But they really aren’t the worst thing in this movie, and he’s not even remotely the most annoying Star Wars character. We now have people like Hux, the Knights of Ren, Snoke, Clone Palpatine, Holdo… The sequel trilogy was a buffet of characters that are infinitely worse than Jar Jar. And as is often the case, The Clone Wars went a long way towards making him a good character.

As for Lloyd, he was an actual fucking child. He was being directed by an absolute dork who wrote the goofiest dialogue imaginable for him, was there ever even a chance? A “bad” child performance is never the fault of a child, I feel; it’s the fault of a director who doesn’t bother to guide them. I’m a George Lucas apologist most of the time, but he absolutely let Lloyd down here.

Oh, and I guess I should address the other element in the room: Watto.

This guy has often come under fire as a huge negative Jewish caricature. I… don’t necessarily see it. Upon rewatching I was expecting something on the lines of the goblins in Harry Potter, but I don’t know. I think a lot of it comes from mishearing his accent; if you listen to it, he actually has some sort of weird, vague Italian accent as opposed to that stereotypical old Jewish man voice. I guess if anything, Watto is a negative stereotype of Italians, though he is far less of a hate crime than casting Chris Pratt as Mario.

...Okay, and one more thing: Midichlorians. People have this weird idea that they cause the force. The movie literally states their presence is just an indication of a proclivity towards the force. It’s basically the Star Wars version of Pokerus. This was such a stupid thing for people to get mad about, but 90% of the hate for this film is just getting mad at stupid things anyway.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

The answer to this question was always going to be pretty obvious: No. Absolutely not. The sheer vitriolic backlash to this film was built off the bizarre emotional attachment adults in the 90s had to a campy sci-fi series from the 70s and 80s; the toxicity of the fandom meant there was never any doubt that upon revisiting this film I’d find the hatred overblown. And really, we’ve had over twenty years of other Star Wars stories now, a lot of them building off the foundation this laid to give us great stories in their own rights. As I mentioned above, Darth Maul, this film’s awesome yet underutilized villain, has gone on to become one of the franchise’s most iconic characters thanks to The Clone Wars. There are great ideas here in this film, but it took other people to polish them and make them shine.

The real question is, even if the backlash is overblown… is the film actually good at all? And that’s a complicated question. This film has a lot of serious, glaring flaws, but at its heart it’s still the fun, campy sci-fi series we all know and love. When this film gets good, it gets really good, but when it’s bad it’s downright boring and even a little cringey. But being a bit cringey is just an important building block of Star Wars, so in my eyes, it gets a pass in that regard.

For my part, I like it. It is far, far away from my favorite Star Wars film, but I like it more than two of the sequel trilogy at least. I think whether anyone else likes it really boils down to how much corny, campy dialogue and boring bureaucratic drama one is able to tolerate. Regardless, I think that 6.5 is a perfect score for this film. It definitely reflects the mellowing public opinion towards it, and shows that it’s not really that bad after all. It’s just not exactly great, either.

But hey… This song more than justifies this movie existing:

If nothing else, you can watch this instead of the movie for your Machete Order marathon and all you’ll miss is some great action and music mixed into boring bureaucracy. Whether that’s worth it or not is up to you!

[tildeathiwillwrite]

*cracks knuckles* Okay, here goes!

S Tier:

Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. In a world of ash and smoke, a teen girl with special abilities is recruited into a crew looking to defeat an immortal tyrant. The magic system includes but is not limited to eating metal and gaining abilities such as influencing others' emotions, heightening senses and controlling metal. The sequel quartet The Wax and Wayne Series takes place 300 years later and is also amazing. This is written by the same guy who finished the Wheel of Time after Robert Jordan passed away.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones. A young hatmaker is cursed to look like an old woman and seeks out a powerful wizard, proceeds to bully his fire demon and aggressively clean his magical castle. It's two spin-offs are decent too, and the adaption by Studio Ghibli is good but not exactly faithful.

A Tier:

Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo. A group of teenage thieves consisting of an assassin who prays for her victims, a gambling sharpshooter, a girl who can make a person's heart explode in their chest, an ex-witch hunter, an inexperienced chemist, and a ruthless lockpick are hired to rescue a scientist from an impenetrable fortress. Similar in vibe to Mistborn but Mistborn is better in my humble opinion.

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson. A king is assassinated by a man in white who can walk on walls, kickstarting a war with a crab-like people who are well-versed in music theory. The story revolves around a slave with depression, a scholar seeking to steal a device for her family, and the deceased king's brother plagued with visions from a dead deity. Only in A tier because it's not finished yet, with four out of ten books published so far.

Dragonlance by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. 300 years ago, a great cataclysm reshaped the world of Krynn. Now, an army of dragon lead by the Queen of Darkness seeks to rule the world. Only a group consisting of a half-elf who despised killing, a mischievous kender, a stubborn dwarf, a morally-questionable wizard, a skilled fighter (who is also the wizard's twin brother), an honorable knight, and a pair of exiled barbarians stand in the way of world domination. The main trilogy is excellent and there is no shortage of spin-offs and sequels.

B Tier:

The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. A man named Haplo and his dog traverse four realms in search of information about a magical race called the Sartan who trapped Haplo's people, the Patryns, in a deadly Labyrinth for a thousand years, destroyed the world and remade it into the four realms, then vanished into thin air. This 7-book series is not without its flaws but the worldbuilding and magic systems are fantastic!

Beyonders by Brandon Mull. Our main character, Jason, gets swallowed by a hippo. But instead of being digested, he finds himself in Lyrian, a fantasy world oppressed by an evil wizard known as Maldor. With the aid of Rachel, a girl also from Earth, a blind king, a depressed musician, and a strange man who can pull himself apart, Jason scours the world for a magical word that is said to destroy Maldor. Children's series but vastly underrated.

These are the recommendations I can think of off the top of my head, and the authors listed also have other fantasty books that aren't named here. The summaries are as accurate as I can get them without (hopefully) spoiling.

What is your tier list of fantasy books? I am looking to read more fantasy and I have currently started reading Wheel of Time.

[nirvanox182]

Hero from Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation.

Original Drawing Date: October 3 2022.

This is probably the most popular Dragon Quest Hero. I remember playing this game in 2020 due to COVID keeping me in luckup, I loved this game so much! I played the Erdrick Trilogy while I was stuck far from home in another country for about 5 months.

Thanks to all the spare time I had I finally took a deep dive into the Dragon Quest franchise, and I loved it! Dragon Quest III was amazing, the story was excellent and the music was astounding! I liked that you could choose the members of your party, that adds lots of replayability, saddly that meant they had no personality or story whatsoever. But the story from the Hero is good enough to carry the whole game.

To think that the success of Dragon Quest II in Japan prompted that the release of Dragon Quest III to stop everything in Japan, kids escaped from school to go and buy the game, that is amazing! And after Dragon Quest III released, they never released a Dragon Quest game in a weekday.

[lordeasriel]

Getting to know you meme!

I was tagged by @jamlavender thank you very much!!!

Favourite time of the year: Spring-Summer, which is Brasil is essentially the same thing except spring is windy af. I like rainy days as much as the next person, but nothing beats a sunny, windy day!

Comfort foods: Pastel, which is a kind of deep fried pastry with different fillings (my fav is chicken and cheddar!) and Panettone, cause I’m a Christmas baby!

Do you collect anything: I don’t think I do. Maybe different pens? It’s not deliberate tho.

Favourite drinks: Orange juice, sprite and a good old caipirinha, which is a Brazilian cocktail featuring lime (usually, cause lemon is expensive here), sugar and cachaça(tm).

Favorite music artists: I shift a lot between artists, especially when they release new music, changing the vibes I met them by, but I currently really enjoy Jonathan Bree, Tom Rosenthal and CMAT. They’re very unique to their styles and I enjoy their music very much. I also really enjoy peremotka (hopefully that’s how it’s written in roman alphabet!) Their post punk vibes are smashing!

Current favourite songs: No Face by Haley Heynderickx, I Like it When You’re Gone by Tom Rosenthal, Valentine by Jonathan Bree, Peter Bogdanovich by CMAT

Favourite fics: I haven’t been reading a lot of fics recently, but I have some all time favorites to recommed!

Safe as Houses (Vera Claythorne/Philip Lombard): very good, very smutty, very sad;

Bird of Passage: The Book of Dust centric, this follows spy business from Oakley Street during TSC. I wholeheartedly recommend it if you want more to dive into Lyra’s world!

Lyra’s Uncle: some good old AU, giving Asriel a little brother and making it all very sad. Sami writes a lot of good stuff, but this is my favorite piece of hers.

Applied Heresy (Marisa/Asriel): Honestly, I love this fic to bits, I have it downloaded on my kindle and phone. It is the best Masriel experience pre-show you’ll get. The writer also delves deep into Lyra’s world pre-TBOD, but she makes it seems so believable and it’s good old worldbuilding! If you haven’t read this yet and you’re in the HDM fandom, what are you doing????

Favourite video games: I’m a massive Bioware fan, so my favorite games feature nearly everything they’ve ever done. I lovethe Mass Effect trilogy (especially the 3rd one, sorry lol) and I love Dragon Age and I have a devotion to Star Wars: The Old Republic! Been playing it strong for 8 years and I love it pieces. That is excellent Star Wars, Disney don’t interact please lol

I’ll tag @queenofnabooty @cozcat @moustache-bonnet (please feel no pressure to do this, bye)

[jedidragonwarriorqueen]

2021 Year In Review

(stealing this format from a review I did for last year. It was a tag game I think but I’m too lazy to start that up. I say after writing all this out, haha.)

Top Five Films you watched in 2021:

Your Name, 2016 (the animation! The music! The angst! Ahhhhhhhh)

Dune, 2021 (absolutely stunning, cannot recommend enough, whether or not you’ve read the book)

Wolfwalkers, 2020 (I loved the first two films in the Irish Mythology trilogy and this one completely blew me away)

Black Widow, 2021 (found family, no romantic subplots which is practically unheard of, women kicking ass, and a canon ace character? Sign me tf up)

Weathering With You, 2019 (utterly adorable and I listened to The Great Escape afterwards on repeat for hours)

Top Five TV Shows in 2021:

The Dragon Prince (Yes, we’ve been on hiatus for like 2 years. No, I don’t care. I rewatched it enough times to count)

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (recommended by @starsinyourskyes in retaliation for getting her hooked on the Stormlight Archive. Well, it worked. I’m obsessed, and I am absolute Royai trash)

Derry Girls (recommend by @iwillhaveamoonbase and her plethora of Sister Michael gifs. I laughed, I cried, good times)

The Wheel of Time (Siuanraine for the WIN. Also we're getting Aviendha next season right? Right??)

Uhhhhhhhhhhh freespace lol

Top Five Songs/Albums in 2021:

The Best Is Yet To Come by Shepard

Sky Full Of Song by Florence and the Machine

Heaven Knows by Five for Fighting

War Paint by Fletcher

Paper Planes by Elina

Top Five Books of 2021:

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson (deep breath) (incoherent screaming)

Educated by Tara Westover

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (so. Much. Fun)

Artemis by Andy Weir (A rec from @mountainsatellite ! Let Jazz Bashara have her own private bathroom 2k21)(it's funny bc it's set in the future)

Wintering by Katherine May

Top Five Fanfictions of 2021:

Homeward Bound by @numptypylon (The Dragon Prince, an ongoing slow-burn Rayllum modern AU. It’s got fluff, it’s got angst, it’s got hurt/comfort, it’s got Rayllum being dorks--the emotional bandwith is both deep and wide!!)

delicate by @lantur (FMA, a Riza Hawkeye character study spanning from pre-canon childhood to well post-canon. Plenty of Royai, naturally. Words cannot give justice to how good this fic is and how much I love it!)

snipers solve 99% of all problems by silentwalrus (okay so like. I’m not usually a crossover person but holyyyy frick frack this FMA/Harry Potter one is fun. Still ongoing and basically 80 chapters of Edward Elric bitching about wizards and saying fuck 3,000 times. I hadn’t laughed this hard since I read The Martian.)

Son of Thorns by @truthwatcher-vez (The Stormlight Archive; I’m admittedly wayyy behind on this one, but it’s a post-RoW fic centered on Renarin Kholin. He definitely deserves some time to shine after we were robbed of content for him in RoW 😤 The author’s Rlainarin series, Chasms Between, is also excellent!)

Controlled Burn by madelinescribbles @okiedoketm (FMA role reversal where Al & Ed are climbing the ranks of the military and Roy commits human transmutation, blinding himself and getting Riza stuck in a taxidermy hawk. Ongoing fic, the characterization is soooo on point despite the role reversal, and the plot is so intriguing!)

Five good/positive things that happened to you in 2021

Seeing friends again!! I got to go visit a good college friend I hadn't seen in years since we graduated, and another friend I'd only seen once since we graduated came to visit twice! (Why do all my friends live across the country?)

I wrote. So much. Fanfiction 🤣 Hit a major slump this fall when rising COVID cases in my area started to make work hellish again, but I'm starting to get back into it!

Started therapy for the first time back in May. Also recently started a new antidepressant, after a bad adverse reaction scared me off from them for a while. Still have a long ways to go, but I'm feeling much better, and I haven't had an anxiety attack at work since.

Realized I'm asexual! Which explains soooo much about my life 🤣 Still coming to terms with it in some respects, but simply knowing brings so much peace and pride in my identity.

I got a Tumblr in 2020 but this was the year I really started becoming active in a few fandoms and really connecting with people on here! It's been a blast, and I love freaking out about shared interests with you all💕

[jessjustplay]

Ranked: 11 Video Games I Finished in 2022 (New Games Only)

December 19, 2022

I got back into gaming this year and I finished 11 new-to-me games! I'm going to rank them from my least favorite to most favorite. "Finished" means I completed the main story line/main quest.

Note: I'm only including the NEW-TO-ME games that I played and finished for the very first time. In 2022, I also finished Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, and Princess Maker 2. I've loved those games for many years and including them would throw off the results.

#11 - Cat Quest (PC)

I really enjoyed this game. Cat Quest is a cute, colorful, cat-centric action-RPG game. I think it had the weakest story of the total list, which is why it gets ranked last. [Click here to read Game Archive]

#10 - Carto (PC)

Carto was a very fun puzzle adventure game with beautiful watercolor graphics. Some of the puzzles were easy, others were more difficult. I enjoyed the seasonal and geographical changes in each area, and I think the story was simple but strong! [Click here to read Game Archive]

#9 - Final Fantasy I (PS1 Classic on PS Vita)

This is a simple, to-the-point RPG adventure and I loved that about it. You always knew what to do next because the NPCs were helpful. Truly a classic and I had a great time! [Click here to read Game Archive]

#8 - Final Fantasy II (PS1 Classic on PS Vita)

The "Town" theme from this game is one of the most beautiful songs in the entire FF franchise. I have nightmares of the last dungeons but it was still very fun and beating the final boss was one of the best moments of 2022! [Click here to read Game Archive]

#7 - Final Fantasy VII (Switch)

The music in this? Fantastic. I am glad I got to experience this beloved game. While not my favorite, it was truly an adventure! Having seen the remake, it's amazing to go back to the OG roots and see how far video gaming has developed over the years. [Click here to read Game Archive]

#6 - Princess Maker 3 (Switch)

I loved Princess Maker 2 when I was a kid. This is the first time I ever played Princess Maker 3 and while it definitely had a learning curve, when I got the hang of it, I had so much fun! [Click here to read the Game Archives]

#5 - Dragon Caffi (Switch)

This was a random purchase, but definitely a great purchase! I didn't know what I was getting into, but it's the cutest adventure. This game is FULL of adorable art - the backgrounds, the characters, and the FOOD! I loved it and can't wait to replay it. [Click here to read Game Archive]

#4 - Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! (PC)

I haven't played a Nancy Drew mystery game in YEARS, so this one was extremely fun and also sentimental. I thought the gameplay mechanics were easy and enjoyable. The mystery was also intriguing! [Click here to read Game Archive]

#3 - Final Fantasy VIII (Remastered, Switch)

This is such a special game. I really like Squall and I enjoyed seeing him open up and develop as a character. The music is wonderful, and there's just an aura to this game that is indescribable. As cheesy as it sounds, it's magical. (Literally?) [Click here to read Game Archive]

#2 - Star Ocean First Departure R (Switch)

Ahh, my first Star Ocean game... and what a game it was. I loved the pixel art in this game. The battle system was so much fun, and the voice acting was excellent. I was always excited to jump on the Switch to play more of this. That's when you know it's a good one! [Click here to read Game Archive]

#1 - Final Fantasy XIII (PC)

Oh gosh - this game. This game is epic. This game is amazing. The storytelling??? PHENOMENAL. You see so many sides to the same story, each character filling you in just a bit more. It's fantastic. And Lightning? Absolutely amazing!! This game is everything! I can't wait to play the other games in the trilogy! [Click here to read Game Archive]

[floatingbook]

what books would you like to recommend to everyone?

Most of the time, when I read, I’m trying to escape, to divert myself from my worries and anxieties, not necessarily learn or grow as a person. So I’m not going to list books that solely gave me feminist insight or help me; even though I grew and learnt from the books listed below. Also, not every book is fit to any occasion; the books I gravitate towards are function of my mood; none of these books should be read as a chore. If they don’t inspire you, don’t even bother. Experiencing them as tedious would ruin them, would make the whole reading moot.

The Queen’s Thief serie, by Megan Whalen Turner, starting with The Thief. I picked it by chance and these are the very best books I have read in the past ten years. The author offers us various points of view on the history of three countries, their politics and their wars, showing masterfully how facts are distorted, how history becomes legend, how loyalty and respect are made. There are so many plots entwined, so many references littered through, that reading them once is not enough. You can only read them once for the first time though, so savour it, because hereafter you will know what happens, and finding out is its own delight. These are the books I read when I’m anxious, when I cannot sleep, when I’m tired; they are a comfort, they taste like home. They are familiar like old friends, non-judgmental, and always pleasurable for their careful, exact prose. I just cannot recommend them enough.

Poetry is like magic captured into words. I haven’t found a poem that didn’t leave me breathless if I’m paying attention. Learning poetry by heart is a hobby of mine; on walks I love to loop through the verses in my mind; adding music to my experience of nature. Mary Oliver’s whole body of work, The Wild Iris of Louise Glück, Les Fleurs du Mal de Baudelaire, the Ferrat’s sung versions of Aragon’s poems, the Lay of Aotrou and Itroun by Tolkien, Eavan Boland’s A Woman Without A Country all deserve a special mention.

Another great author is Christelle Dabos, who wrote four pavés about the adventures of Ophélie. I remember being a little disappointed by the conclusion, but the two first books are excellent.

I often go back to the books I loved as a kid, despite their flaws, which grow more glaring with every passing year, but these flaws can little in the face of childhood infatuation, so I doubt I’ll ever hate them at all. Pierre Bottero’s books, which informed so many of my forest adventures as girl, the Hunger Games trilogy, still stunning, the Tobie Lolness books, Hélène Montardre’s Oceania, Harry Potter in whatever language I’m reading it at the time.

In no special order, the following books can also be enjoyable: Sorcières de Mona Chollet, la trilogie QuanTika de Laurence Suhner, everything written by Simone de Beauvoir (but especially her autobiographical novels), Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden, Ainsi soit-elle de Benoîte Groult, Mémoires de fille d’Annie Ernaux, anything by Tolkien really (if you like dragons, swords and myth-making).

[levi-my-beloved]

About Me

Name: Essa

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Nationality: English

Timezone: BST (British Summer Time)

Occupation: Cocktail bar manager (atm)

Favourites:

Movies/Shows:

Arrival

Inception

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Euphoria

The Witcher

Final Space

Spirited Away

Arcane

The Legend of Vox Machina

(anything with a good soundtrack)

Books:

Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon

A Skinful of Shadows - Francis Hardinge

House of Hollow - Krystal Sutherland

The Poppy War Trilogy - R. F. Kuang

The Bloodsworn Trilogy - John Gwynne

Genre: Epic/Medieval Fantasy

Colours:

Gun metal grey

Dark pine green

Animal: Snakes

Word/s (currently): Petrichor

Music Artists: Matt Maeson, Aurora, Girl in Red, Noah Kahan, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, The Wombats

Songs Playlist: 

Fuck it I’m a Flower - Crying Daycare Choir

Dancing with Your Ghost - Sasha Sloan

Mr. Rattlebone - Matt Maeson

All for Us - Zendaya/Labrinth

Lucky - Aurora

Ophelia - The Lumineers

Part of Me - Noah Kahan

The Hearse - Matt Maeson

Lemon to a Knife Fight - The Wombats

Let Me Hold You - Nick Wilson

Soundtracks (hold onto ya socks, cuz there's a lot of them):

Full Soundtrack - The Last of Us (1&2) {Game}

Go Tomorrow - The Haunting of Hill House {TV Show}

The Beginning of the End, Movement V - The Haunting of Bly Manor {TV show}

Justice - Murder on the Orient Express {Movie}

On the Nature of Daylight - Arrival {Movie}

Velvet's Theme - Tales of Berseria {Game}

When the Night is Long - Final Space {TV Show}

Run Free - Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron {Movie}

Test Flight - How to Train Your Dragon {Movie}

Counter Attack - How to Train Your Dragon {Movie}

The Day Will Come - The Walking Dead Season 8 {Series}

Ludwig the Accursed/The Holy Blade - Bloodborne Old Hunter's DLC {Game}

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower - Bloodborne Old Hunter's DLC {Game}

Nate Growing Up - Euphoria {TV Show}

Demanding Excellence - Euphoria {TV Show}

Random:

Hobbies:

Writing (hehe)

Equestrian sports (mainly showjumping and cross-country i’m sorry Dressage isn’t my forte, but i have huge respect for those who do it because holy shit it’s difficult)

Reading

Hockey

Theatre/Acting (yeah i’m a theatre kid, what of it?)

Singing (my greatest flex is grade 8 musical theatre)

Dream Job: Novelist/Editor

Pets: Two dogs, three cats, a horse and around twelve fish

Personality Type: INFJ

Currently:

Writing: Untilted Document...

Reading:

Mordew - Alex Pheby

Call of Cthulhu - H.P Lovecraft

Prose Edda (Translated) - Various

Watching: Dead Poets Society

Playing:

Stardew Valley

Bloodborne (yes. again.)

Obsessed With:

Coffee

Cocktails

Ayo, feel free to shoot me a message or an ask. I love hearing from y’all xx

[christhehoff]

Better with Rage

Review: Streets of Rage 4

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the release of Streets of Rage 4, but in many ways, the game feels like it could have come out decades ago. I mean that in the best way possible; Streets of Rage 4 is right at home with the very best beat-'em-ups from years gone by, when the genre was in its heyday and series like Final Fight, Double Dragon, and the vintage Streets of Rage titles were unstoppable on consoles and arcades. The teams at Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games, and Dotemu have recaptured that hard-hitting, visceral magic with precision and impact, and delivered a love letter to beat-'em-up fans that keeps me smiling and replaying even a year after launch.

To me, the joy of a good beat-'em-up comes from two primary sources: satisfying action and plentiful variety. Like its Sega-created predecessors, Streets of Rage 4 nails it in the first department with responsive controls, generous collision detection, and an excellent sense of reaction from enemies as you lay into them (or from your character as they pummel you), with just the right amount of stagger and the ability to smoothly chain moves into one another. Grabs and auto-combos are as intuitive as ever, but unlike the classic Streets of Rage games, the engine accounts for juggles and rebound attacks, opening up even more combo possibilities, while special moves now offer the opportunity to regenerate health, making them a more viable, user-friendly combat option.

And when it comes to variety, the game is likewise second to none. Four playable characters are available from the beginning: series mainstays Axel Stone and Blaze Fielding, who both offer solid all-around capabilities; Cherry Hunter, who brings speed and acrobatic flair; and Floyd Iraia, the slow but sturdy powerhouse. While Floyd is my favorite (I especially love the wild look in his eyes as he grabs two enemies and smashes them together), each character is fun in their own way, and the initial four are joined by a number of unlockables, including Adam Hunter (finally playable again after the first SOR!) and almost (almost!) every playable character from past Streets of Rage games in all their pixel-art glory.

But character variety is only the beginning; moves, enemies, bosses, weapons, obstacles, environments — Streets of Rage 4 delivers across the board. While the game starts in the familiar city streets (complete with the good ol' Pine Pot diner), you'll soon find yourself in a police station, on a boat (an SOR standard!), in a restaurant kitchen, atop a speeding train, in an art gallery, at a concert, and more, with each level packed with both new and returning foes. No level overstays its welcome, ensuring that the game stays constantly fresh, fun, and interesting across the two to three hours it takes to complete the game's story mode. There are even hidden throwbacks to classic SOR series moments.

Speaking of classic Streets of Rage, I especially enjoyed how the game's story ties directly into the original trilogy. Story has never been a particularly important part of beat-'em-ups, but what's here sets the stage spectacularly and shows a great respect for the games that have come before, with numerous fun connections to past series entries.

The presentation is excellent as well. Now in hand-drawn HD, the graphics are every bit as charming as their old-school counterparts, with vibrant colors and impressive yet often subtle lighting effects. And, of course, Streets of Rage wouldn't be Streets of Rage without rockin', adrenaline-pumping music. Though it may not reach the nostalgic heights of SOR 1 or 2, and my favorite tracks are Yuzo Koshiro's retro-flavored tunes, SOR4 delivers a fantastic soundtrack that continues the series trend of offering cutting edge and slightly experimental sounds through a combination of energetic rhythms, pounding beats, and modern dance and techno influences.

It all comes together in what I consider to be very close to beat-'em-up perfection — taking the classic formula I loved from the Sega Genesis era and modernizing it with four-player action, online gameplay, smoother play mechanics, and a gorgeous coat of visual polish, all while honoring the original games that made this one possible. Thanks to its pick-up-and-play nature and a variety of difficulty options, it's a game that I keep coming back to again and again, even a year after launch; it's easily my favorite video game of 2020 (and of course, I had to get the collector’s edition!).

And perhaps the best part is that it's not over yet. With DLC on the way, the fight continues with new environments, new playable characters, new weapons, new music, and the new Mr. X Nightmare mode. And I absolutely cannot wait.

[aion-rsa]

15 Best SNES RPGs Ever Made

https://ift.tt/3gFkLz0

SNES games might not be much to look at now, but in many ways, they were a massive improvement over any console games that came before. SNES developers could create massive worlds with detailed sprites that actually looked like what they were intended to represent. New advances in technology also meant that games could take their first real steps toward becoming the kinds of cinematic experiences we arguably take for granted today. And while 4 MB wasn’t even a ton of storage even space back then, it was still more than enough to fit an impressive script for a 40-hour story.

In short, the SNES was almost perfectly set up to be the home for RPGs. While the console RPG scene was still finding its footing at the time of the Super Nintendo’s release, many developers were more than willing to dip their toes into the genre to see what kind of experiences they could craft. That combination of experimentation and all-time great creative voices eventually resulted in some of the most beloved role-playing games ever made.

As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the SNES in North America, now feels like a great time to look back at 15 of the best RPGs on the SNES. 

15. Shadowrun

In the early 1990s, console RPGs were synonymous with turn-based combat and medieval settings full of knights, sorcerers, and dragons. So, no one really knew what to make of a cyberpunk game with real-time combat set in a dystopian Seattle. However, those who stuck with Shadowrun found one of the best and grittiest stories of the 16-bit era, as well as some surprisingly innovative conversation and hacking systems.

Shadowrun was truly ahead of its time in almost every way. While it didn’t get that much attention when it was released, games like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Ascent proudly carry on its legacy to this day. Even the Shadowrun franchise itself finally got its due with a trilogy of successful PC RPGs released over the last decade.

14. Soul Blazer

Even today, Soul Blazer is a title that not many gamers have heard of. Admittedly, it’s a little rough around the edges. Arriving early in the lifecycle of the SNES, the graphics and music aren’t quite up to par with the best games of its era, but the gameplay makes it a worthy addition to this list. Taking some inspiration from Actraiser, another beloved Quintet game, your goal in this action RPG is to clear out various lairs, rescue various souls (that could take the form of plants, animals, or other humans), and free the land from the evil Deathtoll.

Quintet would go on to hone Soul Blazer‘s best ideas in several other games (including Terranigma, another fantastic action RPG that sadly never made its way to North America). Unfortunately, Quintet shut down in the mid-2000s, and it’s unclear who exactly owns the rights to these games at this point. That sadly makes any official re-releases of these often-overlooked gems unlikely.

13. The 7th Saga

The 7th Saga is an excellent example of a game that had a lot of great ideas that never quite came together. Probably the best thing about the game is the playable characters. You have seven to choose from at the start (including a robot and an alien), and you eventually meet six other characters that you can either fight or recruit. It was also one of the first RPGs that didn’t include completely random combat. Enemies could actually be avoided through an innovative “radar” system.

Unfortunately, The 7th Saga is also unforgivingly difficult, with some enemies always surpassing your stats no matter how much you level up. So, while it may not have aged as gracefully as other games on this list, it’s an utterly fascinating project with incredible ideas that have since been incorporated into numerous genre classics.

12. Breath of Fire II

To be honest, Breath of Fire II doesn’t have a particularly memorable stand-out feature. Sure, there’s a town-building feature that lets you fill a town with various NPCs you meet throughout the game, but it’s easily ignored. Having a giant talking armadillo in your party is also pretty cool, but it’s obviously hard to recommend the game based on that alone. 

So why should you play Breath of Fire II? Well, it’s just a very solidly told fantasy story with a lengthy quest and strong turn-based combat. It’s nothing flashy, but it’s a strong overall entry into the Super Nintendo’s RPG library.

11. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

The release of Lufia II was overshadowed by the release of the next-gen systems and a SNES library already bursting with classic RPGs. It took a while for a lot of gamers to dig up this hidden gem, and some gamers simply never found it at all. To be fair, the story (which features a typical fantasy hero who has to save the world from the four evil Sinistrals) is a little mechanical, but Lufia II features some of the best graphics and music of any game on the console. Plus, there are tons of puzzles to solve and a 99-level randomized dungeon to eventually tackle. Honestly, Lufia II might feature more “gameplay” than any other Super Nintendo RPG.

While it’s billed as a sequel, Rise of the Sinistrals is actually a prequel to the first game, so you can feel free to dive right into it without playing through the first (though Lufia and the Fortress of Doom is well worth checking out as well). 

10. Harvest Moon

Arriving at the tail end of the SNES’ lifespan, Harvest Moon made a lot of gamers re-examine what an RPG could actually be. There’s no combat and no great quest to save the world. You’re just a simple farmer growing crops and raising livestock on the land you inherited from your grandfather. It sounds boring, but the gameplay loop is remarkably addictive. There’s a reason why the Harvest Moon series continues to this day and has inspired dozens of imitators, spin-offs, and sequels (most notably Stardew Valley).

Admittedly, some of the recent Harvest Moon games haven’t lived up to the series’ standards, but thanks to charming characters, witty writing, and its simple yet deep gameplay, there’s a very good argument that this first Harvest Moon game remains the best in the franchise.

9. Illusion of Gaia

The spiritual sequel to Soul Blazer exchanged the town-building mechanics of its predecessor for more involved combat, which honestly made it a better game overall. Illusion of Gaia also forgoes the traditional leveling of most RPGs for a roguelike system where protagonist Will can choose to increase his attack, defense, or health stats after clearing each room of enemies. As such, how you choose to proceed can make the final bosses of each dungeon significantly easier or much more difficult.

While it’s not technically set in the real world, Illusion of Gaia does incorporate several real-life locations, such as Egyptian pyramids, Incan ruins, and the Great Wall of China, leading to some of the most unique locales in any SNES RPG. It’s also a much better-looking game than Soul Blazer, fixing one of its predecessor’s biggest flaws.

8. Secret of Evermore

Square Enix (then Squaresoft) is primarily a Japanese developer, but after the massive success of multiple titles in the ‘90s, they decided to give an American studio a crack at the Square formula. While the basic gameplay of Secret of Evermore is obviously inspired by the superior Secret of Mana, Evermore mixes things up by restricting combat to just you and your trusty dog. There’s also a new alchemy mechanic that allows you to create potions when battling the game’s many tough bosses. 

For better or worse, Evermore is also graphically a much darker game than other Square titles of the era. It all mostly works here, but Square was ultimately not interested in pursuing Americanized versions of its games and Evermore is now more of a curiosity than anything else.

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7. Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen

More of a military strategy sim than a typical RPG, The March of the Black Queen might be the most demanding game on the SNES. You will spend a lot of time managing units, some of which include ninjas, griffins, and witches. But when you pick just the right strategy, it’s oh so rewarding to watch them take back the continent of Zetegenia from the evil Empress Endora. It also features one of the denser stories of any 16-bit game. Many of the best plot beats may even remind you more of Game of Thrones than Lord of the Rings.

This is actually considered the fifth episode of the Ogre Battle saga, and while several sequels were produced over the years, the first four games that would have presumably featured the rise of Endora were never made. Sadly, though, Square Enix now owns the property, it doesn’t look like the Ogre Battle saga will ever be completed either. 

6. Final Fantasy IV

Plenty of RPGs were released before Final Fantasy IV (also known as Final Fantasy II in North America at the time of its release), but this was the true turning point for the JRPG genre. Of course, the graphics and sound were better with the move to more powerful hardware, but what really set it apart was the distinction of being one of the first RPGs to actually feature a fully fleshed-out plot complete with a complicated love triangle and a sympathetic villain in Golbez. It was also the first Square game to include the Active Time Battle system, which showed that JRPGs didn’t have to just be plodding turn-based affairs.

Honestly, the only downside of playing Final Fantasy IV on the SNES is that the original English translation is a little iffy. That’s been fixed in later ports and remakes, so while it might not be worth checking out on the SNES anymore over other options, it’s still worth playing in some form.

5. Super Mario RPG

Both Nintendo and Square were arguably at the height of their abilities in the mid-90s, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when they finally teamed up, the result was an absolute masterpiece. Super Mario RPG expertly combined the beloved Mushroom Kingdom setting and Mario platforming with Square’s top-tier storytelling abilities and advanced RPG combat systems for a truly epic game. 

Those who have played through Super Mario RPG still yearn for a true sequel developed by Square or, at the very least, the addition of Geno to Super Smash Bros. Given how beloved the game is, it’s surprising that Square and Nintendo still haven’t teamed up for another RPG. The Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi games are good, but none have surpassed this classic.

4. Secret of Mana

Closer to The Legend of Zelda than Final Fantasy in gameplay, Secret of Mana was perhaps the most innovative RPG of the ‘90s. It introduced many gamers to faster, varied combat, three-player multiplayer, and an absolutely massive game world. Even better, it’s all wrapped up with some of the best music and graphics of the generation. While still confined to the 2D limitations of the SNES, Secret of Mana’s systems are closer to what we see today in modern RPGs and action games than anything that came before.

While this game has been ported and remade perhaps more than any other game on this list, none of those versions quite match the first release. The original version of Secret of Mana still looks and feels timeless. 

3. Earthbound

RPGs were generally considered more niche games in the ‘90s. They rarely sold well, but at least did well critically. Earthbound is even more unusual because the initial reviews were rather tepid, yet it’s now considered one of the greatest games of all time. Most gamers just weren’t ready for an RPG set in the modern world that alternated between the cheery enthusiasm of childhood and the ominous alienation of growing up. In that way, Earthbound could be considered a PG-rated South Park that debuted two years before South Park even premiered.

Surreal, satirical, and sometimes just plain weird, Earthbound remains one of the more unique and innovative RPGs ever made. It’s a triumph of the genre that dozens of other games have attempted to emulate, but none have yet surpassed. Now, if Nintendo would just get around to finally putting out an official English localization of the sequel…

2. Final Fantasy VI

Two decades and nine sequels later, there are still some RPG fans who consider Final Fantasy VI to be the pinnacle of the series. That’s debatable, but it’s easily the best of the 2D entries as well as a kind of swan song to the gameplay that introduced many gamers to RPGs for the first time, with its pitch-perfect ATB battles, a huge, varied world to explore, and an epic, apocalyptic story. 

But it’s the cinematic aspects that make Final Fantasy VI stand out. The rousing soundtrack pushes the SNES to its absolute limits, making moments like the famous opera scene and the final battle against Kefka feel especially epic. Square arguably came to rely on CG movies a little too much in later games, but Final Fantasy VI is proof that the developers were master storytellers long before that.

1. Chrono Trigger

Is there really anything to dislike about Chrono Trigger? The time-traveling story that sees our heroes journey across millennia to save the world is simply outstanding. The characters, from Frog to Magus, are among the most memorable in any RPG. While the combat system might be a little simpler than some of the games on this list, letting party members team up to use their “Tech” abilities in different ways is endlessly customizable and entertaining. Of course, all of that occurs before you even dig into the new game plus and dozen different endings.

It’s difficult to label any video game as truly perfect, but Chrono Trigger may be the closest thing to perfection that gaming has ever seen. More than two decades on, it remains a high point in the RPG genre that all gamers need to experience at least once, and it’s easily the very best RPG on the SNES.

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