#like it's literally an pure iteration and love story of all the big jump battle manga that came before it

[chiarrara]

the core idea i'm working with concerning the jjk finale discourse is that people are mad about the wrong things.

I have had serious problems with the writing in jjk since at least shibuya, and I even found criticism in the hidden inventory arc and the sister school exchange arc (though the main problem there is that it was boring pre-disaster curses and the characters suck).

Similar to Game of Thrones, some people were criticizing the broken writing choices as far back as seasons 3 and 4 while most people were glazing the series until the cracks in the foundation caused the entire story to crumble right at the end, leaving most of the fanbase confused how it "suddenly" got so bad.

The commonly held sentiment is that JJK fell off after Shibuya. I disagree. I think it fell off during Shibuya where the entire worldbuilding, power system, and plot broke irreparably.

HOWEVER where JJK never fell off was in character writing, relationship writing, and the overall themes of the story which were all consistent, had strong throughlines, were well integrated into the action (another strength), and were in my opinion, the core appeal of the the entire project.

And yet, most of what I hear people complaining about is either a) missing or dissatisfying character moments and a lack of satisfying exploration of the themes, or b) contradictory outrage over plot and worldbuilding elements not lining up as if these issues haven't been there from the start.

I know a lot of people don't operate this way, but when there are fundamental problems with the storytelling, but there are other parts of the story that I find incredibly meaningful and impactful, I find it really easy to glaze over those problems and even justify and rewrite them in my head so they make more sense. When good character writing shows up in JJK, I stop caring that the plot sucks.

The finale chapters of JJK had amazing character writing, delivered on the main themes of the story, and made literally all the broken plot elements, lack of focus, and shoddy worldbuilding secondary concerns for me. They don't break the important parts of the story, I don't care that they aren't wrapped up because I didn't like them in the first place, and their lack of exploration just cedes more ground to fan creation allowing the story to thrive for years into the future.

If you were reading JJK for the complicated plot, complex scheming, or intricate worldbuilding, I can see why you're upset, but you made a mistake a long time ago because that stuff has sucked for ages. But I know most of you fuckers on this website were reading for good characters, impactful themes about love, and yaoi bait, so why are you mad????? I really don't get it.

Who cares that the shittily written American Military subplot didn't come back? The fucking basis of the power system doesn't make any sense and isn't well thought out, so how was it ever going to deliver on the solution/potential for cursed energy? You're mad that the random New Shadow School subplot was randomly thrown in at the end, I've been mad since that random fucking grasshopper showed up in the fucking subway!

And some of you are literally admitting YOU DIDN'T EVEN READ THE TRANSLATED CHAPTERS so how would you KNOW if the story themes and character writing had been delivered on? based on summaries? that is the absolute worst delivery system for a story, you have to know this. you're getting mad at machine translations of out of context pages like WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

In conclusion, most of you are mad at the wrong things and none of what I wrote up there is really about what the things you should be mad about are, because they don't matter. The point of a story is to mean something and JJK did. It was always good at what it was good at, and I wish people were engaging more with the story in it's own domain instead of being mad it wasn't exactly what they wanted it to be. The finale delivered on everything that made me care about this story. It made me love it even more, and I'm never going to regret spending so much time on this series. Everything else is just criticism for fun.

[deadpixldot-blog]

So Injustice 2 is The Best Fighting Game Ever?

Post by Kevin Colòn

If you haven’t been playing Injustice 2 that’s understandable. There’s a lot of games on the market right now, you may not have the time, maybe work is really stressful right now? The game hasn’t been out for TOO long so you can definitely catch-up, you’re just missing the best fighting game of all time and I can’t let you do this to yourself!

Now I’ll be quite frank, my opinion (if you haven’t been able to tell) is going to be pretty biased with this article. Way back when Injustice: Gods Among Us was first released I practically hot glued myself to my PlayStation 3 console. I learned combo after combo, completed the story mode in a Mountain Dew fueled all-nighter the night of its release, and almost 100% the game’s trophy list before putting the game down a good year or two later. I’ve honestly plugged more hours into Injustice’s first iteration than I have into breathing (or fine dining- brownie points for anyone who understands my joke there).

Though I may be reviewing Injustice 2 with “beer-goggles” I don’t want to take credit away from how amazingly good the game is despite my clearly influenced opinion. I wasn’t paid by Netherrealm to write about how much I love their latest project, I just felt compelled to do so after playing it, which speaks to how good this game really is.

Nowadays there are a lot of games that introduce what I like to call a “What The F***” jump in graphic quality, and Injustice 2 is definitely one of those games. About 2 seconds into the story mode the incredibly detailed facial animations become evident and really show you how much time and effort was put into creating this masterpiece of gaming awesomeness. What really surprises me is how well the facial animations hold up throughout the in game fights and character dialogues. Put the game under a microscope and you’ll have a hard (if not impossible) time finding animation errors whether it be through facial animations or just how the characters move about in general. As far as super-powered, overly-exaggerated, not-at-all possible body movements go, the DC cast animate ridiculously naturally.

Then there is the amount of detail that went into designing their faces all together. It’s a video game, and, they look like… real people. Facial features are way more profound and I’d have to question the intellectual capability of someone who wouldn’t be able to tell two characters apart in this game. Even if they didn’t know who Superman or Black Adam were and they referred to them as “those really strong guys” they’d still be able to choose them in a line-up if one of those “strong guys" stole their wallet.

It’s hard to really drive a point home about the design of the characters given Injustice 2’s new gear system. If you don’t understand (or care in which case HOW DO YOU NOT CARE) the system, essentially every character in the roster has an enormous variety of gear which can be equipped to them to improve their stats or grant them new abilities. It’s an interesting system. With that being said it does come with its pros and cons.

Pro: Some of the gear looks f****** awesome!

Honestly you should just look at some of the gear options that are available for characters like Swamp Thing and Red Hood. Practically anything you unlock for them looks amazing!

Con: Some of the gear looks f****** stupid.

This bullet point on my venn-diagram of opinions may be a bit harsh. What I’m trying to say is, there are some characters who’s gear choices don’t really make them look any better. My prime example would be The Joker, who’s gear basically equates to some hats, face paint, and hair-cuts. Ultimately, boring as all hell.

Pro: Some of the abilities are f****** awesome!

You can unlock "double-batarangs” for Batman, a mini-gun for Green Lantern, and a staff for Robin that adds a whole new move-set to his arsenal. They’re pretty damned cool.

Con: Some of the abilities f****** suck.

You can unlock an ability for Catwoman where she literally summons a cat and it attacks your opponent. There’s even a trophy/achievement that revolves around using this blasphemous move. Atrocitus is in this game, and his Cat (Dex-Starr) is a Red Lantern that can shoot energy beams. Catwoman summons a normal domesticated house cat that scratches you. Not to mention that the majority of the cast, you know, her opponents, are either metahumans or possess some sort of mystical powers. Superman and Supergirl can shoot lasers from their pupils, Black Adam throws lightning around like it’s going out of style, The Flash can travel at the speed of light, and Catwoman brought a cat. Okay I’m getting carried away now I feel it.

Pro: Different abilities help vary gameplay and keep fights from becoming stale overtime.

Now this may not be true if you’re a hardcore fighting game fan, or Catwoman. However for the casual player the option to diversify your moveset at the drop of a hat and instantly change the way you can use your favorite fighter against your unsuspecting friends is the kind of thing dreams are made of.

Con: Using this gear online f****** sucks.

It doesn’t always suck. Some abilities hardly effect gameplay. However here’s the scenario you’ll usually end up in when you jump into Player Matches online in Injustice 2.

When playing online matches in Injustice, unless you choose to play Ranked Matches you’re opponent will have to agree to play in what’s referred to as “Competitive Mode” which will de-activate your gear’s effects and make them purely cosmetic. If they don’t agree then you’ll be pitting your geared up superhero (or supervillian I’m not here to judge) against theirs. With that in mind…

Scenario 01: Your opponent has better gear then you. Their stats are higher, they’re wearing pure gold practically and they came to party. They notice your gear is, shall we say, not up to par. They refuse to turn competitive mode on. Good luck.

Scenario 02. You have better gear than your opponent. They realize this and continuously toggle the option for competitive mode on and off and refuse to choose a stage hoping they’ll influence you to meet them half way and turn off the gear.

The problem? Both of these scenarios involve the same type of player. Lets label them the “Beloved Statistic” or “B.S.” for short. *UPDATE: As of Red Hood’s release  there have been a multitude of players in player matches refusing to turn on competitive mode due to the fact that Red Hood has an ability that opens up a lot of combo potential and they refuse to play without it. At least in Ranked Matches they’ll have no idea what to do without it. _

So essentially the gear is going to elicit some mixed reactions from gamers, but overall I’m happy with it.

There is the inclusion of the Multiverse which presents players with different challenges to complete. It’s a welcome addition to the single-player experience that fighting games have been thankfully trying to enhance in the past couple of years (you can thank Netherrealm for that too by the way)! The challenges update constantly and provide a decent challenge depending on how unfamiliar you are with a certain character. I have found that if you use your best character, nine times out of ten you’ll complete any challenge in no less than 15-20 minutes, and that’s if you’re struggling.

The story mode is FAN-F******-TASTIC! I won’t discuss what happens because I am a man who appreciates not spoiling things for other people, but trust me it’s great. It may be a tad bit predictable but it sure is entertaining. It’s also a great way to get acquainted with a good half of the cast. Emphasis on the word good, because you won’t be using the villains very often, but you will get to punch their faces in so you take what you can get.

There is also an AI Battle Simulator mode which I play as an easy way to unlock gear but aside from that doesn’t offer much in the entertainment department. In this mode you designate three characters on your roster to act as your “defenders”. With their newfound responsibility they will face AI opponents (designated by other online players) who will attack them. If they win you’ll get a Golden Motherbox which has a high chance of containing epic loot. If you lose you’ll receive a Bronze Motherbox which usually will grant you gear that you’ll most likely trade in for gold later on. These rewards will only last for your first 5 matches (attacking and defending separately) every day. So while it’s an easy way to try an obtain gear. You won’t be investing hours into this mode.

“That’s all I have to say about that.” - Forrest Gump

All in all Injustice 2 is the fighting game all/most/some of us have been waiting for, and you are doing your country a disservice if you are not playing the living f*** out of it. I’m not big into giving scores when I review things but whatever score method you like the most, Injustice 2 gets a perfect score.

If you ask me at least.

Which you didn’t.

But you read the whole article and that’s on you.