#okay there's nioh and the last samurai but yeah

[kunoichi-of--destiny]

No one:

Me looking up the original script idea for Power Rangers Samurai and also wondered how the hell did Jayden and Lauren have the last name Shiba when they're white:

(For all purposes, this is a joke/half-serious. Don't get on my ass.)

[moviemunchies]

Okay so it’s not a movie. So sue me.

You know how I talk about how people complaining about historical realism in fiction can usually go shove it? Those people might have been helpful somewhere in the development of the series.

Yasuke is an anime inspired by the real-life story of Yasuke, a black samurai in the service of the Japanese warlord Oba Nobunaga while he was trying to unify Japan in the warring states period. A black man in feudal Japan kind of sticks out, and especially when he is elevated to the status of samurai. 

Also there are robots, monsters, and magic.

Huh.

Okay so the series didn’t ever keep it a secret that it would be using fantastical elements in the story. It isn’t a surprise that they’re in the series. It’s an alternate history with mechas and magic. Okay, fine. Nioh is set around the same time and has a lot of historical characters, and features yokai out the wazoo. But what is kind of a surprise is that Yasuke isn’t really about Yasuke’s story at all. Him joining Nobunaga’s court and his training as a samurai are all backstory. Some of it is told in flashbacks, and a lot of it is relevant to his current characterization, but it’s not the main story.

No, the main story is that years after Yasuke has retired to live a quiet life as a boatman in a small village, there’s this little girl named Saki with magic powers, and the villains want to use her for their own ends, and so Yasuke has to protect her.

It’s another one of _those._

Okay it’s not that this is a bad story, but after Last of Us, God of War, Logan, The Mandalorian, and The Bad Batch I’m getting kind of tired of stories that boil down to ‘Here’s a grizzled badass and now he has to protect a child.’ I realize that many of these projects were produced independently, and some of them around the same time, so there’s no reason to think they were directly influenced by each other, but these trends still happen and I’m still kind of tired of them? And with something like Yasuke I need more to get me hooked. This show doesn’t provide that, as it’s only six episodes.

The first half of the season is about one Plot, and the second half is about another which is mostly unrelated. So there’s just an evil priest who hires the group of mercenaries? And also the evil priest is a mutant? For Reasons? He apparently wants to harness the child’s powers to take over Europe and the Catholic Church--and then he’s killed in episode three and no one much cares. The mercenaries pick his pockets and move on with their lives.

I suspect the reason there’s a one-dimensional insane priest villain is because _Casltevania_ did it, and because that was critically acclaimed the writers of this show decided it was a good idea. Despite it, again, not connecting to anything whatsoever. He’s connected to Saki, I suppose, but Yasuke doesn’t know him, doesn’t care about him, and he’s a complete foreigner that doesn’t care about the Dark Daimyo so… why is he here?

When Yasuke and Saki go and face the Dark Daimyo, I didn’t care about any of this action. These characters barely have any personal connections with each other, and the mercenary group was far more entertaining and likable? The point where they started getting killed off is the point at which I realized that I didn’t care much about the main story at all.

Also I know this is a moot point, and the fact that there are mechas in feudal Japan is goofy, so no one cares, but it struck me as especially silly that the mechas we see are very modern? They’re not steampunk or clockwork or anything like that. They’re full-on digital, with touch screens, lasers, and infrared vision.

At no point does anyone, by the way, offer much explanation for any of this genre weirdness. If it was just mythology and fantasy elements that made sense for the setting, or even just magic, that’d be one thing. But one of the mercenaries is a wear-bear, one of them is a robot with a freeze ray, and the Dark Daimyo is this weird spider demon thing.

The story is not particularly original, the setting makes little sense, and all of the most interesting parts of the story--like Yasuke’s becoming a samurai or how this group of mercenaries got together--are all out of focus. Yeah, it has cool fight scenes, but not so cool that you’ll feel you’re missing out if you don’t pick up this series. You can skip. It’s fine.

[blessuswithblogs]

Top Ten Videocons of Twenty Seventeen, More or Less

2017 has, by all accounts, been a fantastic year for Video Games. Unfortunately for me, it has been a not so fantastic year in Having Money. So while in a perfect world my now annual game of the year list would have been a terribly contested and dramatic affair of cutting games I thought were good but just didn't make it, in actuality, I had to scramble and cheat a little to just find 10 games to slot in and talk about. I did at least manage to find them. Mostly.

10. Destiny 2

Destiny is a franchise with a troubled history, which feels weird to say about something that came out in late 2014. Nevertheless, Destiny 2's shooty looty gameplay loop finds its way on to my list. The story is tepid and the characters, with a few exceptions, are scarcely worthy of memory, but the visuals are good and the core mechanics of shooting and using abilities are a solid foundation to build upon in the inevitable flurry of DLC packages and expacs. It's all quite reminiscent of Borderlands, except without the unmistakable caustic ooze of Randy Pitchford's involvement. That in and of itself is praiseworthy.

9. Gravity Rush 2/Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Okay so I maybe didn't actually play this one myself. I usually try to exclude stuff that I watched and enjoyed but in this case I was sitting on the couch with other people playing it so that's basically the same thing as playing it myself right? I think I held the controller for a little bit. Anyway this game is super weird and charming and a little nauseating in parts because you sort of go flying off into the stratosphere randomly? But the aesthetic and Mood the game goes for is very unique and fun, it even has its own cute little made up language I mistook for French at first until I heard some Japanese and Spanish sounding words in there as well. The main characters Kat and Raven are dating I think? They're happy and alive girlfriends. Raven is a little broody I guess but they're definitely not the Sad, Dead Lesbians I have grown to detest. Raven is not Velvet. Just reminding myself. Tropical Freeze is just really good and while it maybe came out like years ago I only got to play it very recently on my friend's Wii U. The music is super good fuck you Jeff Gerstmann I will fucking fight you and your shitty opinions about video games you god damned grumpy old man.

8. The Surge

My Thoughts on the Surge are well documented on this very website. It's flawed and frustrating in a lot of ways, nonsensical in others, and the story never quite commits to its original conceit which is a real shame. All that said, I respect the game for what it was unabashedly trying to do: be Dark Souls but with cyborg powerloaders and robots. Like, you gotta live your bliss, right? Lords of the Fallen was utterly miserable and the improvements that The Surge demonstrates gives me cause for optimism in future games from the developer. Anything that gives me cause for optimism in 2017 has to be worth something. That said, the inevitable The Surge 2 is probably going to be kind of by the numbers and unnecessary but that's just how you make games in the 21st century.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

To begin with, BotW would be much higher on this list if I had not only come into owning it and a Switch yesterday. It is by all counts extremely good, an open world game that's actually pleasant and charming and has meritorious mechanics outside of Todd Howard style "you can go fuck that mountain" nonsense. I mean don't get me wrong you can fuck plenty of mountains in this game. Link is fucking Spider-man in this game, the only surfaces he can't mysteriously latch on to are inside the puzzle shrines so you can't just cheese them. Weapon degradation is maybe a little excessive? I feel sort of like Bayonetta in the first cutscene where she keeps yelling "Guns!" when she runs out of ammo except I'm yelling "shitty wooden sticks!" when the one I'm using breaks into a million tiny pieces. I understand the reasoning behind it, I do. It establishes a certain rhythm to the game of exploring, fighting, stocking up on shitty wooden sticks, and repeating. When you find like, an actual sword or spear it feels like an occasion to celebrate, and the whole thing demands that you use a variety of different weapons and weapon-like objects. I'm not nearly far in enough to give an honest, comprehensive picture of the game. I just really like what I've played so far so I'm just compromising by putting BotW relatively low on the list.

6. Cuphead

It's Cuphead! Everybody knows Cuphead by now. It's gorgeous, the soundtrack is great if somewhat lacking in variety, King Dice is really cool but has extremely unfortunate racial undertones, the game is pretty hard (not that hard?) and Cala Maria is a babe. It's a singular game that is extremely worthwhile and hopefully paves the way for future games in a similar style of aping specific styles and eras of animation. I really want a game that goes hard on the 1950s Looney Tunes aesthetic where you just drop anvils on people forever. Cuphead isn't perfect, as a lot of the game's difficulty and length comes from bad checkpointing. It's a necessary evil, because if the game did not blatantly disrespect your time in a lot of the later fights, the game would be like, two hours long. I'm not a proponent of the "git gud" philosophy but I can't help but feel like I really want to say that to the various bad-at-games journos who got bent out of shape about Cuphead being hard. This is your damn job. You can suck it up for one game, especially when it's really very good and unique like Cuphead. Also my mom came in while I was playing it and thought I was watching a popeye cartoon so that was kind of cute I guess.

5. Civilization 6 (CHEATING AGAIN)

YEAH I KNOW THIS GAME CAME OUT LAST YEAR AND IM A HUGE IDIOT FUCKER but hear me out Civ6 is really fucking good because of the fact that Wonders take up physical space on the map and districting does the same thing. Like just this single mechanical change basically doubles the amount of thought and planning you need to put into playing the game even on low difficulties to optimize your output and production. Like it's a civilization game so there's not really anything too groundbreaking here but I fucking adore this game. Really looking forward to Rise and Fall, which will be early 2018. With the initial release being late 2016 I feel like this is like, an honorary 2017 game. Don't @ me.

4. Hollow Knight

Hollow Knight is another game I wrote about previously on the blog, but unlike The Surge I had basically nothing but good things to say about it. Hollow Knight has gorgeous hand drawn graphics and environments not entirely unlike Cuphead, but obviously goes for a much more reserved mood. Hollow Knight is a rock solid Metroidvania game with strong aesthetic and musical chops to back it up, as well as some Dark Souls-esque flourishes to give the game a bit of bite and a haunting narrative arc. A fantastic indie game and I can't wait to see what Team Cherry does next. I need to get around to doing the Halloween DLC, come to think of it. Did you know Zote actually has as many precepts as he says he does? I listened to them all. Some of them aren't too bad.

3. Nioh

Geralt the Witcher's moonlighting adventure as a samurai came out quite early in 2017, but remains one of the best games of the year due to its complex and rewarding combat system, beautiful Warring Kingdoms era Japanese architecture inspirations, fun mythological monster designs, and genuinely well done historical fiction backdrop. Coming into it, I fully expected "Dark Souls except the bosses are like Tengus and Nues and shit", but that description does the game a pretty big disservice. It's much more than that, both from a narrative standpoint, which is a fantastically tinged retelling of the Warring Kingdoms period, and from a gameplay one. The combat in Nioh is much more technical than in Dark Souls, with more pretensions of a combo based character action game than the deliberate, heavily customizable experience of the Souls games. Nioh is still quite hard and has the whole death-recovery mechanic, but it makes sense diegetically due to Guardian Spirit system and remains distinct. There are times when it tries to have the best of both worlds and just kind of ends up feeling like it doesn't do a good job at either, but for the most part, Nioh is tremendously fun, and at times infuriatingly difficult, especially in some of the post game optional battles that pit you against multiple bosses at once. Also, finding Kodamas is extremely rewarding because they are so damn cute. I love them. Find them at all costs.

2. Nier: Automata

Nier: Automata, Yoko Taro's latest brainchild, is, well, what it is. It's a hauntingly weird story about what it means to be human, and if that definition is really even adequate. It's a game with a lot to say, which is why I regard it so highly. The core gameplay is fun and serviceable, which is much more than I can say for its predecessor, the first Nier, which was memorable and affecting but played kind of like butts. 2B's android adventures are much more fluid and stylish, and you have a surprising amount of customization options available (though some arguably make the game a little too easy at points, like regenerating health) and there's enough variety in the little Machine Life form enemies (and the big ones, too) that fighting never felt like a chore to me. Of course, others have disagreed, but I think that the tedium really only sets in when you play as 9S, who has a much reduced arsenal of fighting moves in favor of his hacking skills. I liked the little shmup minigames that hacking entailed, so even 9S's story never felt too dull in the actual mechanical execution of it. People tend to have a misunderstanding of how the game works, that you need to complete it 4 times to get the whole experience, but that's not actually true. The 4 endings separate the game into acts more than anything. While 9S's story has a lot of overlap with 2B's story, endings C and D are just entirely new content where you play as A2, who has some tricks of her own distinct from 2B and 9S. It's not perfect, but it's not like you have to play the same game 4 times. It's a very story focused game, so much so that I would say experiencing the narrative is the main draw, but it has the decency to also be varied and fun to play. I love the parts where you get in the transforming flying robot and shoot the dudes. Especially the big dude. You know the one.

1. Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

The latest Final Fantasy XIV expansion, Stormblood, is super good. I wrote a bit about it earlier, and how it has improved upon Heavensward in almost all respects. Stormblood is a superlative MMO expac, with well designed and amazingly presented raids, dungeons, and trials. It's full of "holy shit that's dope" moments, like when you get into a blade struggle against the primal Susano's gigantic Ame-no-Murakumo in an active time event or storm the fortress city of Ala Mhigo. Ultimately, though, what really makes me evaluate Stormblood as my game of the year is how surprisingly thoughtful it is. FFXIV has, since the relaunch of 2.0, been a game that has not shied away from complexity in its narrative conflicts. The juxtaposition of the mythically strong Warrior of Light and the surprisingly mundane issues even she cannot seem to fix has always been the game's most interesting element to me, and as you spearhead revolutions against the Garlean Empire in two different countries, you learn a lot about how imperial colonialism has made things too complicated to be fixed simply driving out the oppressors. You do, eventually, of course, but the story is quick to remind you that this is only the beginning, and a lot of key issues remain unsolved, both in the newly liberated provinces and back at home. Also the Dark Knight questline from 60-70 is basically the best the game has to offer. It feels to me like that Dark Knight is the unofficial Job of Stormblood, despite the promo material and opening movie having you believe it to be about Monks. Monks, as usual, are boring. The themes explored in the Dark Knight questline, about regret, about shades of gray, about self-destruction, all align perfectly with some of the subtler narrative arcs of the main story. It's just really good and I love it. I still really want to write a piece about it on its own. I probably will soon. But for now, I name Stormblood my game of the year, for reminding us that we are still heroes. That we are still good people.

[r3pl4ycom]

PS4 Round Up

It is now only 4 month until PS5 and I'm really trying to finish all the games I wanted to play in current generation. Sadly it’s a list of over 50 games and estimated to be finished by 2022. 🤔 Anyway, it's just a matter of priorities.

Meanwhile VG247 came out with a list of PS4 must plays.

https://www.vg247.com/2020/07/22/best-ps4-games/

Thought I would go through it and see what I've missed

Alien Isolation 👻 Not that into horror games tbh.

Apex Legends 😒 Battle royal is a big no from me. Also not a big e-sports fan.

Assassins Creed Odyssey 🤺 Not been a fan of the series. Tried the first game but it didn’t impress.

Battlefield 1 🔫 This franchise is so tired. Let’s move on.

Bloodborne ✅ Played it, loved it.

Control ✅ Played it, loved it.

Crash Team Racing 🚗 Might need to look into this one

Dark Souls 3 ✅ Played it, enjoyed it.

Dauntless 🪁 Free to play is seldom my thing, but I’ve heard good things about thi. Might consider trying it out

Days Gone 🧟‍♀️ Nah, doesn’t interest me at all.

Death Stranding 🤬 Considering I hate Metal Gear Solid, I give this a hard pass.

Devil May Cry 5 😖 I’m very bad at these combo smashers. That’s a no.

Diablo 3 ✅ Played it 3 times, hated it each time.

Dirt Rally 2.0 🚙 Looks like something my son would enjoy. I might take a look at this one.

Dishonored 2 😾 Couldn’t finish the first game. It was not for me.

Divinity Original Sin ✅ Played it, hated it. Doom ✅ Yeah, it was okay. Dying Light 💀 Not my jam. Skyrim ✅ Played it. It was okay.

Fallout 4 ✅ Played it, hated it.

Fifa 20 ⚽️ Not a soccer fan.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake 🧚 Everyone is going on about how amazing it is, but japanese rpgs gives me a bad taste in my mouth. I’m very skeptical. Might need to try it .. sometime.

Final Fantasy 14 🧚‍♀️ Yeah,.. no. Final Fantasy 15 🧚‍♂️ Stop it! Fortnite 🤢 Battle royale.

Ghost of Tsushima 🥢 I’ve heard it has a very weak story. I might play it if it drops into my lap. God of War 🔜 It’s on my backlog.

GTA5 ✅ Heh, played it on PS3. That’s how old that game is.

Hellblade Senuas Sacrifice ✅ Hellyeah! So good!

Hitman 2 🔜 On my backlog.

Horizon Zero Dawn ✅ Played it! Yeah, very good.

Inside ✅ Incredible game.

Kingdom Hearts 3 💩 Japanese RPG, no I pass.

The Last Guardian ✅ Played it, hated it. Thought it was a PS3 game?

The Last Of Us ✅ Yeah, hated this one too.

Life is Strange ✅ Really enjoyed this one!

Metal Gear Solid 5 🤢 Tried to play it. After 30 minutes I wanted to rip out my spine. Something about the sneaking, shooting, mechanic that I really hated.

Metro Exodus 🔫 Hm, I’ve been curious about the Metro series. Might try this one.

Middle Earth Shadow of War 😫 I tried the predecessor but didn’t like it. Something about the open world bugged me. Giving this a pass.

Monster Hunter World 🔜 Yep, on my backlog. Nier Automata 🤖 I’m pretty sure this is not my thing.

Nioh ⚔️ I’m curious enough to try it out even if Sekiro burned me on Samurai games.

Outlast 🧟‍♀️ No, I hate dark mechanics in games.

Overwatch 🔫 e-sport FPS, not my jam.

Persona 5 👹 Quirky JRPG. Hm. I should give it a try but something is telling me I won’t like it.

Rage 2 👺 Never interested me.

Red Dead Redemption 2 🏇 I had a love/hate relationship with the first game. Should try the second but I’m afraid it’s just more GTA on horseback.

Resident Evil 2 Remake 🧟‍♂️ I’m certain this is one of those remakes where you need to played the original to appreciate it.

Resident Evil 7 🔜 In my backlog!

Rez Infinite ✅ Awesome in VR.

Rise of the Tomb Raider ✅ Good lord I hated this game.

Rocket League ✅ Most fun playing couch coop

Sekiro ✅ My relationship with Sekiro is difficult. I like the game but it is too hard for me.

Marvel’s Spiderman 🔜 Already on my backlog.

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order 🤺 Might’ve overlooked this. It is supposed to be good.

Street Fighter 5 😼 I played Street Fighter 2 so much when I was young. But the fighting genre has lost my interest.

Streets of Rage 4 👿 See my answer for Street Fighter 5.

The Last of Us Part 2 💩 No, I hated the first game. I wasn’t that happy about the DLC either. I will not play this one unless someone pays me to do it.

Titanfall 2 ✅ Excellent FPS. Didn’t think I could get surprised by a good FPS anymore.

Thumper ✅ Yes! Loved it! So good!

Uncharted Lost Legacy 💩 Played the first and second Uncharted on PS3. When I got to the third the whole concept was so tired. Not playing this one.

The Witcher 3 ✅ Yaas! Wonderful. The DLC’s are on my backlog.

The Witness ✅ It was ok. A bit too pretentious as always with Jonathan Blow.

Wolfenstein 2 🇩🇪 I think I could enjoy this. Will consider adding it to the backlog.

XCOM 2 ✅ Much better than the first one. Might consider going for the DLC as I’ve heard that’s even better.

Yakuza 0 😷 Definetly not my thing.

That doesn’t look so bad. Out of the 66 “best” games on PS4 I’ve played  24. Some of them I don’t think belongs on this list and others are definitely missing. I’ve found a couple that I will add to my backlog.

Cheers!