#the show already has so many goofy/zany characters

[pianokantzart]

Would Cuphead and Mugman scratch your neurodivergent siblings itch?

It comes close. If the show had the same sense of high-stakes and danger that the game did it might scratch the itch.

However, The Devil and King Dice never really feel like much of a threat due to the show's heavy emphasis on comedy over action/adventure.

It's not a bad thing, the jokes are funny and the show is entertaining, it just doesn't have that perfect combination of elements to trigger my obsession.

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss acts as playwright when he writes songs. He’s far more confident, and certainly more vulnerable, when he allows himself to play the part. In such a way, songwriting opens up a whole new world that pulses with untapped potential. So much of what he has accomplished in 15 years resides in his willingness to expose himself to what his imagination and intuition have in store. He steps into a playwright’s shoes with considerable ease (just look at his resume), and always one to put on plenty of bravado, especially during our Zoom face-to-face, it’s the natural order of things.

“As I get older and write more and more songs, I really recognize that I’ve always preferred to write for another context other than my own,” Criss tells American Songwriter. He speaks with a cool intensity, gesturing emphatically to accentuate a sentence, and when you let him go, he’s like the Energizer Bunny 一 “I can tell by just how quiet you already are that you’re fucked,” he jokes at the start of our video chat. But he remains just as engaged and focused when listening.

He soaks in the world, taking astute notes about behavior and emotional traits he can later use in song. His storytelling, though, arrives already in character, fully formed portraits he can then relay to the world. It’s not that he can’t be vulnerable, like such greats as Randy Newman, Tom Waits, and Rufus Wainwright, who have all embroidered their work with deeply personal observations, it just doesn’t feel as comfortable. “I’ve always really admired the great songwriters of the world who are extremely introspective and can put their heart and soul on the chopping block,” he muses. “That’s a vulnerability that I think is so majestic. I’ve never had access to it. I’m not mad about it. It’s just good to know what your deal is.”

Criss’ strengths lie in his ability to braid his own experiences, as charmed as they might be, into wild, goofy fantasies. In the case of his new series “Royalties,” now streaming on Quibi, he walks a fine line between pointed commentary on the music industry, from menial songwriting sessions to constantly chasing down the next smash, and oddball comedy that is unequivocally fun. Plotted with long-standing friends and collaborators Matt and Nick Lang, co-founders of Team StarKid, created during their University of Michigan days (circa 2009), the show’s conceptual nucleus dates back more than a decade.

If “Royalties” (starring Criss and Kether Donohue) feels familiar, that’s because it is. The 10-episode show ─ boasting a smorgasbord of delightful guest stars, including Mark Hammill, Georgia King, Julianna Hough, Sabrina Carpenter, and Lil Rel Howery ─ captures the very essence of a little known web series called “Little White Lie.” Mid-summer 2009, Team StarKid uploaded the shoddy, low budget production onto YouTube, and its scrappy tale of amateur musicians seeking fame and fortune quickly found its audience, coming on the heels of “A Very Potter Musical,” co-written with and starring Criss. Little did the trio know, those initial endeavors laid the groundwork for a lifetime of creative genius.

“It’s a full circle moment,” says Criss, 33, zooming from his Los Angeles home, which he shares with his wife Mia. He’s fresh-faced and zestful in talking about the new project. 11 years separate the two series, but their connective thematic tissues remain striking. “Royalties” is far more polished, the obvious natural progression in so much time, and where “Little White Lie” soaked in soapy melodrama, the former analyzes the ins and outs of the music world through more thoughtful writing, better defined (and performed) characters, and hookier original tunes.

“Royalties” follows Sara (Donohue) and Pierce (Criss), two struggling songwriters in Los Angeles, through various career exploits and pursuits. The pilot, titled “Just That Good,” features an outlandish performance from Rufus Wainwright as a major player in dance-pop music, kickstarting the absurdity of Criss’ perfectly-heightened reality. As our two main characters stumble their way between songwriting sessions, finally uncovering hit single potential while eating a hot dog, Criss offers a glimpse into the oft-unappreciated art of songwriting.

In his own songwriting career ─ from 2010’s self-released Human EP and a deal with Columbia Records (with whom a project never materialized) to 2017’s Homework EP and Computer Games’ debut, Lost Boys Life, (a collaboration with his brother Chuck) ─ he’s learned a thing or two about the process. Something about sitting in a room with someone you’ve never met before always rang a little funny to him.

“You meet a stranger, and you have to be creative, vulnerable, and open. It’s speed-dating, essentially. It’s a different episode every time you pull it off or not. All the big songwriters will tell you all these crazy war stories. Everyone has a wacky story from songwriting,” he says. “I slowly realized I may ─ I can’t flatter myself, there are tons of creative people who are songwriters ─ have prerequisites to just put the two together [TV and music]. I’ve worked enough in television as an actor and creator. I can connect the dots. I had dual citizenship where I felt like it was really time for me to go forth with this show.”

But a packed professional life pushed the idea to the backburner.

Between six seasons of “Glee” (playing Blaine Anderson, a Warbler and lover to Chris Colfer’s Kurt Hummel), starring in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway, and creating Elsie Fest, a one-day outdoor festival celebrating songs of the stage and screen, he never had the time. “I was lucky enough to be busy,” he says. “As Team StarKid’s star was continuing to rise with me being separate from it, I was trying to think of a way to get involved again with songwriting.”

At one point, “Glee” had officially wrapped and his Broadway run was finished. It appeared “Royalties” may finally get its day in the sun. “I went to Chicago for a work pilgrimage with the Langs. We had a few days, and we put all our ideas on the map: every musical, feature film, show, graphic novel, and animated series we’ve ever thought of,” he says. “A lot of them were from the Langs; they were just things I was interested in as a producer or actor. We looked at all of them and made a top three.”

“Royalties” obviously made the cut.

Fast forward several years, Gail Berman’s SideCar, a production company under FOX Entertainment, was looking to produce a music show. Those early conversations, beginning at an otherwise random LA party, showed great promise in airlifting the concept from novel idea to discernible reality. Things quickly stalled, however, as they often do in Hollywood, but Criss had at least spoken his dreams into the universe.

“I finally had an outlet to put it into gear. It wasn’t until two to three years after that that things really locked in. We eventually made shorts and made a pilot presentation. We showed it to people, and it wasn’t until Quibi started making their presence known that making something seemed really appealing,” he says. “As a creator, they’re very creator-centric. They’re not a studio. They’re a platform. They are licensing IP much like when a label licenses an indie band’s album after the fact.”

Quibi has drawn severe ire over the last few months, perhaps because there is a “Wild Westness” to it, Criss says. “I think that makes some people nervous. Being my first foray into something of this kind, Quibi felt like a natural partner for us. If this had been a network or cable show, we would’ve molded it to be whatever it was.”

Format-wise, “Royalties” works best as bite-sized vignettes, charming hijinks through the boardroom and beyond, and serves as a direct response to a sea of music shows, from “Nashville” and “Empire” to “Smash.” “Those shows were bigger, more melodramatic looks at the inside base of our world. I’ve always been a goofball, and I just wanted to take the piss out of it,” he says. “This show isn’t about songwriting. It’s about songwriters… but a very wacky look at them.”

“30 Rock,” a scripted comedy loosely based around “Saturday Night Live,” in which the focus predominantly resides around the characters, rather than the business itself, was also on his mind. “It’s about the interconnectivity of the people and characters. As much of the insider knowledge that I wanted to put into our show, at the end of the day, you just want to make a fun, funny show that’s relatable to people who know nothing about songwriting and who shouldn’t have to know anything.”

Throughout 10 episodes, Criss culls the “musicality, fun, and humor” of Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger and Max Martin, two of his biggest songwriting heroes, and covers as many genres as possible, from K-Pop to rap-caviar and classic country. While zip-lining between formats, the songs fully rely on a sturdy storytelling foundation ─ only then can Criss drape the music around the characters and their respective trajectories. “I wanted to do something where I could use all the muscles I like to flex at once, instead of compartmentalizing them,” he says. “I really love writing songs for a narrative, not necessarily for myself. I thrive a little more when I have parameters, characters, and a story to tell.”

Bonnie McKee, one of today’s greatest pop architects, takes centerstage, too, with an episode called “Kick Your Shoes Off,” in which she plays a bizarro version of herself. “She has her own story, and I’ve always been fascinated by it,” says Criss, who took her out to lunch one day to tell her about it. Initially, the singer-songwriter, known for penning hits for Katy Perry, Taio Cruz, and Britney Spears, would anchor the entire show, but it soon became apparent she would simply star in her own gloriously zany episode.

In one of the show’s standout scenes, Pierce and Sara sit in on a label meeting with McKee’s character and are tasked with writing a future hit. But they quickly learn how many cooks are in the kitchen at any given moment. Everyone from senior level executives to publicists and contracted consultants have an opinion about the artist’s music. One individual urges her to experiment, while another begs not to alienate her loyal fanbase, and then a third advises her to chronicle the entire history of music itself ─ all within three minutes or so. It’s absurd, and that’s the point. “Everyone’s been in that meeting, whether you’re in marketing or any creative discussion that has to be made on a corporate level by committee. It’s the inevitable, comedic contradictions and dissociations from not only rationality but feasibility.”

Criss also draws upon his own major label days, having signed with Sony/Columbia right off the set of “Glee,” as well as second-hand accounts from close friends. “There are so many artists, particularly young artists, who famously get chewed up and spat out by the label system,” he says. “There’s a lot of sour tastes in a lot of people’s mouths from being ‘mistreated’ by a label. I have a lot of friends who’ve had very unfortunate experiences.”

“I was really lucky. I didn’t have that. I have nothing but wonderful things to say,” he quickly adds.“It wasn’t a full-on drop or anything. I was acting, and I was spreading myself really thin. It’s a record label’s job to make product, and I was doing it piecemeal here and there. I would shoot a season [of ‘Glee’] and then do a play. I was doing too many things. I didn’t have it in me at the time to do music. I had written a few songs I thought were… fine.”

Both Criss and the label came to the same conclusion: perhaps this professional relationship just wasn’t a good fit. They parted ways, and he harbors no ill-will. In fact, he remains close friends with many folks from that time. So, it seems, a show like “Royalties” satisfies his deep hunger to make music and write songs ─ and do it totally on his own terms.

“I still say I want to put out music, and fans have been very vocal about that. I feel very fortunate they’re still interested at all,” he says. “That passion for making music really does come out in stuff like [this show].”

“Royalties” is Darren Criss at his most playful, daring, and offbeat. It’s the culmination of everything he has tirelessly worked toward over the last decade and a half. Under pressure with a limited filming schedule, he hits on all cylinders with a soundtrack, released on Republic Records, that sticks in the brain like all good pop music should do. And it would not have been the same had he, alongside Matt and Nick Lang, not formed Team StarKid 11 years ago.

Truth be told, it all began with a “Little White Lie.”

[jeremys-blogs]

Gravity Falls: Disney’s Perfect Show

Now, the number of people who have loved, enjoyed and praised this programme are legion, and it's worth stating up front that I am no professional reviewer by a long stretch. As such it's unlikely that anything I come up with here will be anything that hasn't been said a thousand times before by people far more qualified to talk about this stuff than me. Even so, it's still a show I'd like to talk about, so instead of some amateur attempt to some across like some highbrow writer, I'll just discuss my personal feelings as they pop into my head as I'm writing. And apologies in advance if this makes the whole thing seem like a jumbled mess.

Now, the first thing to really get across here is that I've been watching Disney shows for a very long time, for as far back as I can remember. I recall the days when my brother and I would watch and enjoy the likes of the original DuckTales or the forever-awesome Gargoyles, and even though my feelings towards Disney TV has fluctuated a lot over the decades, there's always been something to enjoy about them. When it comes to Gravity Falls, something that just immediately popped into my head as I was watching it was just the general tone and feel of it. Many of the earlier Disney shows I'd see tended to fit into one of two categories. There were the darker and more serious stories (like the aforementioned Gargoyles), and then there were the lighter and more zany outings, like the early seasons of Star Vs the Forces of Evil. Both of these are varieties I enjoy, but Gravity Falls somehow managed to feel like it's an ideal blend of the two sides. A show that gave a great deal of humour and smile-inducing moments while also showcasing its fair share of heavier themes. Usually, whenever I see shows try to put both together, they either eventually descend into one side at the expense of the other, or they simply feel confused and unsure of what they want to be. So Gravity Falls gets praise from me straight away just for the skill needed to walk that razor's edge.

But saying that a show has great tone and atmosphere is all well and good, but unless its story is decent then it'll all be in service of nothing. And thankfully, Gravity Falls has one heck of a story to its name. Now, I'm not going to risk spoiling things for those who haven't seen it, but suffice to say there is an overall arc that takes place over the course of the show's forty episodes, but it still has more than a few episodic tales to keep it from going completely serialised. It's another one of those things that makes it feel well-balanced. Go too far in the direction of serialisation, and the show would have the notorious downside of making you wait until the very end before you can decide if you enjoyed it or not. Adding various problem-of-the-week scenarios helps to keep it from straying too far, yet always manages to make each individual story all contribute to the greater whole. That greater whole being, of course, the bizarre happenings of the titular town and its citizens. This is a story about a very weird locale, yet allows itself to show not only the weirdness at its most blatant, but also at its smallest. The day-to-day oddities that come about as a result of the grander strangeness brewing in the background.

The characters are, of course, a massive draw of this show for me, as every single one of the main cast is some degree of entertaining, interesting or likeable. We have Dipper, thirsty for knowledge and answers about the town and its mysteries. We have Mabel, the bright-eyed optimist who always brings a smile to my face. We have Stan, the grouchy old-timer with a knack for scams and getting cash. And we have Wendy and Soos, the sort-of side-characters who prove to be just as good to have around as our main trio. But what I love about each of these people is how they all prove to have depth beyond what they all first appear to be. Dipper's a smart kid, yet he's capable of doing incredibly dumb and short-sighted things. Mabel's a sweetheart, but she also manages to have a bit of a selfish streak. Stan is gruff and standoffish, but when push comes to shove he's utterly devoted to his family and their well-being. Wendy and Soos come off as the cool girl and doofus respectively, yet were more than able to have traits like sentimentality and unexpected intelligence to offset those first impressions. There's nuance to this cast, making them seem far more believable as the kinds of people you might actually know in real life, rather than just cartoon cutouts.

In the time before I started watching this show, I often heard people describe it as "X-Files for kids", and while I can certainly understand the comparison, I think there's plenty of differences to the two, most notably the greater emphasis on comedy over seriousness. But don't let that lead you to think this show pulls its punches, because it can definitely go to some dark places. I won't say there's anything here that's inappropriate for children, but there are times when it definitely goes into full-on nightmare fuel territory. Still, those moments do show off a great deal of imagination and enjoyably creepy weirdness when it comes to just the general design of things. If you have kids who have the constitution for some scary monsters here and there, this is something that'll probably enrapture them. And it certainly helps that, as I said before, there's a good deal of humour here. Whenever things looked like they were going to get too intense or terrifying for kids, there was always something goofy or funny to help lighten the mood. So yeah, I'd definitely call this an all-ages programme, and if you were the kind of person who grew up on old 80s movies and TV shows, chances are you'll see Gravity Falls as fitting in nicely with that crowd.

But despite all the big visuals and big scares, Gravity Falls gets surprisingly small and intimate when it comes to the main idea and theme of the whole thing. And that idea is the difficulty of growing up. Without going into too much detail, the main two characters, Dipper and Mabel, go through some pretty serious growing pains over the course of the series, and there's always this sense of looming worry when you watch it, that the good times won't last forever. It's a very personable and relatable worry that, to one degree or another, every single one of us has felt at some point. And that fear of the future is reflected pretty effectively in another pair of characters who, in many ways, serve to heighten the worries the children feel about their own road ahead by giving them a potential "what if". It's pretty heavy, yet Gravity Falls, as ever, has a light at the end of the tunnel. It acknowledges that growing up can be difficult, but unlike so many other stories that might tackle such a theme, it shows too that the future can be just as happy as our nostalgic past. That greater age doesn't mean giving up the things, or more importantly the people we care about. It's a sweet and hopeful message that gives the show a real beating heart.

I think it's safe to say that anyone who chose to click on this and read it will already be a fan of this show themselves, but I hope this has helped to show why I enjoyed it myself. The show simply had everything going for it, from its characters, to its art, to its music, to the way every episode managed to be its own thing while also managing to fit together perfectly like the pieces of a jigsaw, and of course that phenomenal, heartbreaking and heartwarming finale. Right from the start Gravity Falls sprinkles in clues and foreshadowing that you don't recognise on your first watch but provide a mountain of "oh yeah" feelings when you go back to watch and re-watch it however many times you want. Are there some episodes I like more than others? Sure, but I'd still be happy no matter which episode was shown to me, and it's rare that I get to say that about anything on TV. Disney has produced a lot of things I like, both in the past and in the present, and they'll likely continue to do so into the future. But Gravity Falls was truly something special, and Disney's future shows will have to do a lot to meet this high bar they've now set for themselves

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 90: Restaurant Wars

“Thanks for calling Fish Stew Pizza, we do fries now.”

After a streak of episodes about neglect, mourning, disability, consent, and harassment, I think I’m ready for a goofy one.

Restaurant Wars is the stupidest episode of Steven Universe, and I don’t say that with an ounce of ill will. I do say this with the knowledge that Say Uncle exists: non-canon goofs are what they are, but this story takes place in continuity so it is official that Steven once saved the boardwalk by turning his house into a restaurant and making better food than two food professionals. That will never again be a thing that didn’t happen in his life.

From the start, there’s no attempt to hide the silliness. The conflict begins with Fryman and Kofi screaming “RESTAURANT WAR” at each other and cutting to black. The episode is presented in a series of titled vignettes and never stops treating the Fryman/Pizza feud as seriously as a...

...I can’t even finish that sentence, the principal characters here are named Mr. Fryman and Kofi Pizza. We don’t even know Fryman’s first name, and Kofi’s last name is the word “pizza” and he runs a pizza shop. This is so, so, so dumb. I love it.

A huge strength of this series is its ability to balance depth with humor, the big term serialization with the normal daily life of a magical kid. It sometimes swings hard at plotty episodes, but rarely does it swing this far in the opposite direction. I’m not talking about Restaurant Wars being a townie episode, because plenty of townie episodes affect the overall plot and develop important characters. Steven’s connection to humanity is critical to his status as a child of two worlds, so while alien stuff might be cooler, there will always be a place for the mundane in the actual plot. 

This is a matter of tone, and Restaurant Wars is the tonal opposite of a plot-heavy story that expands the characters and lore. Uncle Grandpa and Log Date 7 15 2 and Kindergarten Kid have a similar devotion to comedy, but we still get arcs for the characters within them. Nobody grows in Restaurant Wars. The conflict’s resolution is about returning to the status quo we saw at the beginning of the episode, not moving forward or learning critical information. The single consequence is that Ronaldo gets dumped by a girlfriend we didn’t even know he had until moments before it happens, which is just deliciously cruel. 

This might actually be my favorite Ronaldo episode, if I’m including episodes featuring him on top of episodes where he’s the focus: it’s not that I revel in watching him suffer (not fully, anyway), but Zachary Steel is really good at making that suffering funny, from his livid “Do you know how much BLOGGING I haven’t been able to do!?” to lasting despair after his surprisingly real girlfriend breaks up with him. It’s a welcome change of pace from his smug buffoonery, and it’s such a surprising and mean joke for the episode to end without throwing him a single bone. This subplot alone is worth the price of admission.

The breakup, like everything else in the episode, borrows its tone from the cheesiest anime melodrama anyone could ask for. There may be a reference to a more specific show, but I’m frankly not huge on slice of life anime, and despite how much I love writing about Steven Universe I draw a line at doing extensive research about friggin’ Restaurant Wars. Regardless, we get the drawn-out gasps, the kabuki emoting, the dramatic camera flashes, the works. It’s not just anime stuff—the vignette titles evoke the sort of Ken Burns parody you’d see in a show like Community, let nobody say Lamar Abrams and Katie Mitroff don’t have eclectic comedy tastes—but even a casual like me can see the Japanese influence here.

This is the sort of episode that only works every once in a while, because it’s so much compared to the general mood of the series. I understand anyone who dislikes Restaurant Wars, because it’s really different and nothing happens and it’s unbelievably stupid. But dammit, I can’t stay mad at it. Its timing is perfect, in the middle of a stretch of Beach City episodes that have been varying levels of stressful. It’s not interrupting anything or wasting your time for a second by pretending to be anything it’s not. The crew just wanted to tell a stupid story about grown men feuding over who gets to make what food, and that’s okay.

It helps that we get a better look at Fryman and Kofi, two adults that Steven understandably doesn’t hang out with very often. We already know Kofi has a temper, but Fryman until now has been defined by his gruff acceptance of how weird the world around him is, and it’s fantastic to see him revved up. My favorite joke of the episode has Steven explain that Fryman’s supposed to do fries by acknowledging his name and absurd hair, only for Fryman to not realize his hair is shaped like fries. These ridiculous names and his ridiculous character design already exist, so they might as well be used for a ridiculous story.

To be clear, this better look doesn’t actually mean much for their characters, because in a normal episode I doubt Kofi would try branding people with an iron. Again, this isn’t an story about growing, so at best we understand by the end of it that these two take their jobs seriously, but that’s something we already knew. Perhaps it would be funnier to use more established characters for something this zany, but I think we benefit from the flexibility that comes with relative blank slates: Restaurant Wars was never going to be believable, but it would be even less believable if people we knew acted this out of character. 

Their kids get a nice amount of focus as well. I love finally seeing Jenny and Kiki hang out with Ronaldo and Peedee, even in this situation. I get why they wouldn’t normally interact, as Peedee is an anxious kid and Ronaldo is Ronaldo, but these are neighboring families that each have two siblings who work in their dads’ food shops. Add in the fact that both families seem to have single fathers (although Jenny and Kiki are lucky enough to have the world’s greatest Gunga) and the Frymans and Pizzas have a lot in common. 

Unlike their parents, we get grounded character moments here that show these four probably have some history together. The highlight is Jenny stage whispering her doubt about Ronaldo’s girlfriend to Peedee, who immediately agrees; these are people who are able to stand the guy enough to hang out with him, but know he’s usually full of it. Jenny gets a sweet moment supporting Kiki, and Kiki’s people-pleasing attitude might be “helpful” here, but her focus on the needs of others above her own will be addressed in our very next episode.

There’s really nothing else to talk about in an outing like Restaurant Wars, but I have two stray thoughts for this stray episode. First, I’m glad it happened after Greg got rich, because even if it’s not mentioned it at least adds some realism into the conversion of Steven’s home. Second, I’m baffled by the pairing of the mundane pizza bagel with the revolutionary fries filled with ketchup, but I’m not exactly gonna be taken out of the moment by a strange plot point here. I’m glad I live in a world where this episode exists. But I'll also be glad to get back to the actual show. 

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

This is by no means a favorite, and it’s not an episode I’m ever gonna rewatch outside of a binge or for reviewing purposes, but come on. It’s not hurting anybody.

Top Fifteen

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Catch and Release

When It Rains

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

No Thanks!

     5. Horror Club      4. Fusion Cuisine      3. House Guest      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

[aion-rsa]

Lego Star Wars Holiday Special Is Everything Star Wars Doesn’t Need Right Now

https://ift.tt/2E5v2UK

This Thanksgiving, around the time we’ll all be reading articles online about whether or not it’s safe to insult your extended family in person, or over Zoom, there will also be a new Star Wars “festive” product to watch on Disney+. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special is coming whether your want it or not, and even if you haven’t paid attention to any of the other Lego Star Wars things, something in the Force tells me everyone is going to have an opinion about this thing specifically.

Stream your Star Wars favorites right here!

In an exclusive report, USA Today revealed that the special will reunite Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron to celebrate Life Day, the Star Wars holiday first introduced in the original Holiday Special that aired on CBS in 1987. Executive producer Josh Rimes described the new special as It’s a Wonderful Life but in the Star Wars universe. Rey will meet a young Luke Skywalker via time travel, and there will also be Lego versions of other Wookiee characters from the original special.

So, Lego Rey is going to meet the ghosts of Star Wars past a la A Christmas Carol, and the whole thing is going to be zany and heartwarming, right?

Well, maybe.

Previous Lego Star Wars projects almost always emphasize goofy humor, with varying degrees of success. But, when it comes to this new holiday special, to paraphrase the opening theme song of A Series of Unfortunate Events, we really should look away. Just because there’s a cutesy new Star Wars thing that is threatening to mine nostalgia from the entire saga AND the embarrassing 1978 Holiday Special, doesn’t mean we need to watch it.

Star Wars fans should think hard about what this kind of thing really is: A subpar Star Wars product which has the same relationship to actual Star Wars as “cheese product” has to real cheese. Even before it airs, The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special combines the three things that are the most embarrassing about Star Wars junk: The tendency to make cool Star Wars things into reductive Lego romps, nostalgia as a product, and a dishonest love for the objectively terrible 1978 Holiday Special.

Like Darth Vader swooping in on Rebel pilots Dutch and Tiree during the Death Star trench run, let’s knock out those first two real quick. Most of the Lego Star Wars movies and shows are not very cool and destroy their own potential by being Lego products. I mean, the best Lego Star Wars thing is The Freemaker Adventures. Not only does that series star mostly entirely new characters (the Freemaker family) but it’s closer to canon, and best of all, it features the most powerful Black family in Star Wars.

And yet, for all of the good things about The Freemaker Adventures, it’s still not quite canon, and that’s mostly because of the Lego aspect. This bothers me. It’s the most racially diverse version of Star Wars, but it’s relegated mostly to a Lego-joke. Why not feature these characters in a regular Star Wars thing?

Lego Star Wars isn’t necessarily evil, and it’s (probably?) not hurting anyone, but anything interesting or progressive that happens in a Lego Star Wars thing (like the Freemakers) is undone by the fact that it is Lego. It’s impossible to take it seriously, and while fans of Lego Star Wars stuff will tell me to lighten up, I’d like to point out that it’s possible to be funny without being zany. Star Wars already has a fantasy hyperbolic artifice by nature. The Lego version just reduces it to a toy ad, an overtly commercial venture designed to entice you to buy Star Wars-themed Lego kits.

Look, a saga-spanning Star Wars Holiday Special doesn’t sound bad on its face, but the question is: why does this have to be Lego? Why not just an animated Star Wars Holiday Special done in the style of Forces of Destiny or The Clone Wars? The premise sounds fun: Rey discovers the World Between Worlds from Rebels and then travels back in time to meet everyone significant from all of Star Wars. Thinking about this as a piece of non-Lego animation is much more exciting. Thinking about it as a Lego thing just telegraphs out the message ahead of time: This is just a new notch in Disney’s partnership with the toy company.

Read more

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How Star Wars: The Clone Wars Forgot About Durge

By Ryan Britt

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What Star Wars: The Clone Wars Says About Maul and Ahsoka’s Connection

By Megan Crouse

What would happen if you had a Star Wars Holiday Special sponsored by 7-Eleven and all the characters were just drinking Slurpees the whole time? This is kind of why I hated the Michael Bay Transformers movies; they were commercials for Hummers, Camaros, and Mountain Dew. At its worst, Star Wars is a commercial for its own merch and toys, and adding Lego on top of that just makes it seem all that more superficial.

Which brings me to the larger point. This feels desperate. If Star Wars — as a brand — were trying to mitigate some of the sourness caused by The Rise of Skywalker, this doesn’t feel like the way to go. If the Sequel Trilogy proved anything, it’s that nostalgia will only get you so far. Playing the hits is fun at first but bringing the Emperor back for reasons in the third act of a trilogy that’s supposed to be about a new generation of heroes shows a lack of imagination…and an unwillingness to move forward.

And the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special shows that Disney has learned nothing on that front. Why does Star Wars have to pay any kind of homage to the 1978 Holiday Special in 2020? The original Holiday Special is a media product that George Lucas himself wishes he could take back. Look. I know it’s funny to say “Release the Holiday Special, you cowards.” But, come on. It’s really bad. Do you want to see Chewbacca’s uncle or whatever low-key masturbating to weird dancing girl holograms? Do you want to see Mark Hamill’s bizarre haircut? Do you want to see Carrie Fisher furious that she has to put words to the Star Wars theme song?

The Holiday Special is Star Wars on coke, trying to play it cool at a five-year-old’s birthday party. It is not a good look. George Lucas was right. We shouldn’t have nostalgia for things that are truly terrible just because there are kitschy aspects to them that are interesting to pop culture historians. Nobody actually liked the Star Wars Holiday Special when it aired, and that’s not because people were wrong. It’s just bad.

Yes, the brief animated cartoon which introduced Boba Fett is cool. But we have a wonderful live-action version of this called The Mandalorian. Where’s my animated 20-minute Baby Yoda Christmas Special? Doesn’t that automatically sound better than this Lego thing? Want to evoke some real nostalgia that actually won’t suck? Why not do a holiday episode of The Mandalorian, but in the animation style from 1978? THAT would be cool. In comparison, The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special feels like the extension of a marketing deal that is being passed off as a narrative. It may fool very young kids, but older ones (including those in their 30s and 40s) should know better.

Nobody asked for a Lego Star Wars Holiday Special. Let’s not repeat history by just trying to do the same thing, but only worse. The path to the Dark Side often comes from many kinds of negative tendencies— greed, jealously, fear — but the one we tend to leave out is the one Star Wars displays the most often: bad taste. 

The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special premieres on Nov. 17 on Disney+.

The post Lego Star Wars Holiday Special Is Everything Star Wars Doesn’t Need Right Now appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[operationrainfall]

Title Enter & Exit the Gungeon Developer Dodge Roll, Singlecore Publisher Devolver Digital Release Date December 14th, 2017 (Enter); May 17th, 2020 (Exit) Genre Rogue-like, Bullet Hell, platformer Platform PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One Age Rating T for Teen (Enter); E10+ (Exit) Official Website

Thanks to the Binding of Isaac, I’ve developed a taste for two things – rogue games and twin-stick shooters. Which isn’t to say I love them all, but I’m much more receptive to well crafted, challenging entries in the genre now than I was before. Games like, for example, Enter the Gungeon. I really enjoyed it years ago when I demoed it, but was worried I had missed my chance to review it. After all, it came out for Switch back in 2017. And though I had purchased it digitally on a sale, I hadn’t gotten around to playing it years later. But thankfully, Devolver Digital and Dodge Roll had a silver bullet up their sleeves. When they recently announced that crazed sequel, Exit the Gungeon, was coming to Switch, I saw an opportunity. I could finally dust off my copy (figuratively speaking) of Enter the Gungeon and then play through Exit the Gungeon. And while I don’t typically review two games in one shot, there’s a first time for everything. The big question is, was my trip into the depths of the Gungeon worth the wait?

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First things first. Both Gungeon games aren’t big on plot. That’s not the same as saying there isn’t any, cause there is a motivating force behind both. In Enter, your goal is to find a mythical gun that can literally kill your past, rewriting your miserable history. The only thing between you and your goal is an ever shifting labyrinth of Gundead, deadly if comical looking foes. In Exit the Gungeon, your group of heroes has damaged the time stream by overusing that mystical gun. As a result, time and space are reacting in unpredictable ways, and the Gungeon itself is falling apart. Your goal is to escape before that happens. So there is definitely a narrative in both games, just enough to keep you invested. Both games also have tons of hilariously punny bosses, some examples being the Gatling Gull and Cannonbalrog, as well as fourth wall breaking humor. You can find a certain blue bomber’s Megahand in Enter the Gungeon, for example. Or you can murder cute little bubble spewing dragons. There’s tons and tons of little references like this to several classic series, and they all lend themselves to the overall zany tone of both Gungeon games. There’s also a ton of lore for each item, weapon and foe in the game’s Ammonomicon. Once I discovered that on the pause menu, I perused several entries and always came away entertained. But the real reason you’re gonna play either of the Gungeon games isn’t the plot – it’s the gameplay. And I can say that both definitely deliver.

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Let’s start with Enter the Gungeon. This was definitely the more challenging of the two games. It took me somewhere in the neighborhood of 31 hours to beat the game once. Granted, rogue games have a tendency to be challenging, especially if you get a bad roll of the dice, but that’s still pretty rough. Thankfully, I kept playing because I was enjoying myself. The basic formula is explore and fight your way through several interconnected rooms, find and beat the boss, travel to the next floor, rinse and repeat until you’ve beaten the final boss. Much like Binding of Isaac, truly beating the game requires more than those simple steps, and suffice to say I didn’t have time for that. Thankfully I was able to beat the High Dragun, so technically speaking I did beat the game for the purposes of this review.

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One thing I really liked about Enter was how much control you have over ever minute detail. You can manually reload each of your guns with Y, there’s a handy drop down menu that slows down time as you select your next weapon, and you can move and aim simultaneously with the joysticks. Guns are fired with the R trigger, and the L trigger does a handy dodge roll with temporary invincibility. Basic stuff, but it’s implemented really well here. When you lose, it’s generally cause you did something stupid like grab a cursed item or your reflexes just weren’t up to snuff. You’ll do well to hoard all the keys you can find, since each floor typically has multiple chests you can open up. These will either provide you a new gun or a new item, with passive or activated effects. Or if you’re unlucky, they’ll be a mimic in disguise, waiting to murder you.

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As you travel you’ll also come across a not so friendly shopkeep that sells wares, but don’t make the mistake of firing your guns in his store too often. While there’s only one shop at first, you’ll gradually find and free various prisoners that will populate the Gungeon in subsequent runs. Some will also show up in the HUB area, so it’s good to not always Quick Start a new game, taking you immediately into a new run without visiting the HUB. All of them will offer some service, if you have the cash and the need. Perhaps my favorite feature, though, are the maps. As you run about, the current floor is accurately displayed, and most rooms have teleporters. At any time outside of combat, you are free to bring up the map, select a teleport node and just instantly travel there. It really made the experience flow remarkably well.

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There’s a handful of characters you can pick from, and each has slight quirks that might make them more or less appealing to certain playstyles. These are the main possible characters in both games – Marine, Pilot, Hunter and Convict. They each have a primary weapon with unlimited ammo, and they all fire somewhat differently. Also, they have passive boosts, such as the Marine’s Military Training, which makes his shots fire more accurately and reduces charge time. And though it took me a while before I noticed, each character has a handy item they can choose to activate, generally with limited uses. The Pilot has his “Trusty Lockpick,” which sometimes lets him open chests without a key; meanwhile the Convict has access to Molotov Cocktails she can use to burn foes to a crisp. They all play somewhat differently, and those passive boosts can go a long way. There’s technically a fifth main character, the Cultist. The catch is she can only be used in co-op, which I was unable to try for this review. And if you’ve spent more time with the game than I have, you can also unlock some other playable characters. My favorite was definitely the Marine, since he starts with a layer of armor and his Military Training meant his Pistol was more useful than the other starting weapons. But none of them are horrible, they just force you to try different things to succeed.

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When you’re not picking up weapons and blasting holes in things, there’s a lot of other elements that spice up gameplay. You’ll find obstacles that can be used to your advantage, such as explosive barrels and chandeliers you can drop on enemy heads. There’s also less helpful features like buzz saws, jets of flame, freezing ice cubes and more. And lest I forget, holes. That last part normally wouldn’t merit mention, but after I died repeatedly from rolling into holes I didn’t realize were there, it started to become problematic. Which isn’t to say the gameplay is bad, far from it. But for whatever reason, the game likes to generate holes in already dark rooms, where they tend to blend in with the background. Maybe it’s a matter of shading, but it caused me more frustration than I expected. Thankfully, the rest of the Enter gameplay works wonders. It’s fun to dodge and weave, flip up tables to block bullets, roll through bullets and the like. Both Gungeon games definitely reward you for playing skillfully, especially Exit the Gungeon. And you’ll need to play well, since these games have some intense boss battles.

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Enter the Gungeon has a whole ton of bosses, and besides referencing things like Dungeons & Dragons, they all tend to be focused on gun and bullet puns. Which I was totally okay with, even if it was a bit silly. I mean in a game where even keys have bullets, you tend to either appreciate the goofiness or get turned off by it. The bosses are where the game shows off the bullet hell features, as even the most basic will flood the screen with interlocking patterns of nasty projectiles. Many of them also love to move around the arena, forcing you to evade and think on your feet. Even the easiest boss is more than capable of killing you if you’re not careful. Going into battle armed with a great gun or two definitely helps, but it’s not required. That said, I did appreciate how much breathing room you generally had to avoid projectiles in Enter the Gungeon. That’s definitely not the case in Exit, where the screen is much smaller and forced into a 2D perspective. Thankfully, overall the bosses in the sequel are a bit more forgiving, at least once you’ve learned to successfully dodge their attacks. I also loved how practically all the bosses in Exit the Gungeon are insane mashups of two or more bosses from the first game. As an example, there’s one called Medusilier Bomb Shell, which is the Gorgun from the first game in the hollowed out Fusilier mini boss’ shell, using weapons brandished by the final boss of that game. It’s really silly and rewarding if you’re familiar with the original adventure.

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Overall I really enjoyed my time with the first game, even if it could frustrate me on occasion. There’s a plethora of items to unlock that can increase your odds of success, such as one that makes it so flipping a table stuns all foes, or one that makes dodge rolls reload your guns. The hardest part of this game was the platforming, especially when you get a run that’s focused on murdering you. And for minor irritants, how about the fact that weapon combinations aren’t listed anywhere? You might get two weapons or items that work better together, providing enhanced effects, such as having the Bubble Blaster and Siren guns equipped, providing homing bubbles and massive bubble blasts. I was also annoyed that I couldn’t find anywhere that the game tracks which characters have beaten the game in Enter. And lastly, Enter the Gungeon can really cramp your hands, at least playing the Switch portably. Not that any of these complaints stopped me playing for very long. Plus, considering the game only costs $14.99, all my issues are pretty easy to overlook.

We’re not done yet! Turn to Page 2 to Exit the Gungeon! ->

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In many ways, Exit the Gungeon is the condensed, somehow crazier version of the first game. It’s different in a number of ways, but I felt it was the superior experience. Or I felt that way eventually. At first I was really frustrated by how hard the game seemed, and a lot of that had to do with the change in perspective. I mentioned how in Enter the Gungeon, you have a lot more room to roam about and avoid damage. That is entirely not the case here, where you’re usually trapped on a moving elevator or some other narrow vertical space, avoiding bullets and blasting foes to smithereens. Another reason I was initially not as hot on the sequel was how it handles dodge rolls.

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Enter the Gungeon quickly sold me on the utility of dodging bullets to survive. It was just intuitive and easy to grasp. Here though, you can dodge in many different directions. You can still dodge horizontally, but now you can also dodge upwards and downwards. That last one caused the most confusion, since dropping from one platform to another counts as dodging and makes you temporarily invincible. Eventually I got the hang of it, and learned to do smart things like jump up to dodge one bullet then dodge horizontally to avoid another. Keep in mind that when I say “one bullet,” I’m being conservative. Normally there’s a whole shooting range of bullets flying at your face at once, so you’ll need all the dodging you can handle.

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The other way that Exit the Gungeon most distinguishes itself is through Kaliber. The goddess of guns herself is helping you, kind of. See in this game you only have one gun at a time, period. But every few seconds, Kaliber will magically change which gun you’re using. If you play well and thus increase your combo level, it’s more likely that you’ll get rewarded with amazing weapons. Which is good, since you want those Mass Shotguns, not the Bubble Bobble guns. Even if you’re amazing, it’s still more than a little random, so get used to your weapon changing unexpectedly at the worst possible time. To make up for this, you can acquire passive upgrade items like in the first game, as well as grabbing floating temporary booster shots. These will grant you various upgrades for a limited amount of time, whereas the usual items last the entire run. Thankfully, a successful run in Exit the Gungeon will take you a half hour max, whereas the first game getting all the way through can take more than an hour. That’s a big part of why beating Exit only took me some 6 hours total.

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Exit really grew on me the longer I played. Once I got accustomed to things, I grew to really like the quirks. The controls were very intuitive here, since all you really need to do is aim to fire your gun, instead of aim, fire bullets and reload. I also utterly adored the bizarre bosses found in this game, most notably the weirder ones like the feline version of Dr. Robotnik and the Bullet King’s Chancellor, Toadstool! The entire thing felt much more streamlined, for better and for worse. Take Blanks for example. These are found in both games, and clear all bullets from the screen. In Enter, you had to press down on both joysticks simultaneously to activate a Blank, but in Exit you can do so with a single shoulder button press. But for every feature like that, there was stuff that felt out of balance. I liked the ease of gameplay and less hand cramping controls, but I also missed having a plethora of guns, bosses and foes. And if I complained about the platforming in the first game, it can be even rougher here. It’s very easy to fall off the sides of some areas, and you have much less maneuverability to avoid damage. But then again, you don’t have to worry about things like storing extra hearts for later use or weapon synergy combos. Plus, some weapons that were less effective in the first game are super powerful here, such as the powerful exploding banana. But then foes that barely bothered me, like the annoying Rubber Kin, are suddenly dangerous agents of death. And while I do like shorter runs, I wish I could save progress here and return later like I could in Enter. One of the more interesting aspects of this game is that once unlocked, bosses can seemingly appear in any area they want, with the exception of the final boss. That means you really need to master fighting all of them, since you never know when exactly they’ll show up.

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Like in the first game, you’ll find and rescue prisoners who can later aid you. But just as the Gungeon itself is in a chaotic state of flux, so are its inhabitants. A hilarious example is Manservantes and the King. In the first game, they would challenge you to beat a room a certain way, and then reward you for it. Here, the servant is now the boss, and the king has been mutated into a bloated crybaby. When you encounter them now, you play a twisted golfing mini game using the former king as your ball. Like I said, this game is somehow even more crazy, and I love that about it. Sure it still shares the same DNA as the first game, with multiple playable characters and bosses, but there’s interesting new ideas. Each character now has a more set in stone path to the final boss, and you can actually unlock and play that route as other characters. Also totally new is that you can customize your heroes with hats and costumes. Sure, they serve no practical purpose, but sometimes you just want to look snazzy. Just keep in mind, while in the first game beating bosses provides Hegemony Credits used to unlock useful items for subsequent runs, here you also need to use those Credits for hats and suits. At least if you’re a completionist.

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Both of the Gungeon games have tremendous art and musical direction. There’s a whole boatload of foes, and each is rendered with love and care. While none of them are anywhere near as demented as those I grew fond of in The Binding of Isaac, there’s still some delightfully dark humor here. I appreciated how so many foes are basically walking bullets holding gun or grenades that run to you and explode, and many others are totally unexpected and freaky, such as the giant hand that throws you back in time, or the terrifying bullet spewing Lead Maiden. The biggest difference aesthetically between the games is that the sprites in Exit the Gungeon are a bit more bombastic and larger than in Enter. That said, neither game is close to ugly, and there’s a lot of personality on display, from the faces of the Gundead to the dozens of crazed weapons you can use. While there’s plenty of basic weapons like shotguns and rifles, there’s also things like mailboxes, demonic tentacles, unicorn horns and much more. Musically, the first game can be a bit milder at times, but there’s also a good variety of tunes to distinguish different areas. I did slightly prefer the music of the second game, perhaps just cause it was less reserved.

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Though I had some minor problems with both games, none of it was a huge deal. Sure I got annoyed with platforming in both games, and sometimes the first game was more than a bit aggravating. Plus the load times can get long and there’s some occasional slowdown when a lot is happening on screen. And I really didn’t love how sometimes I got hit by enemies I couldn’t fully see on screen in Exit the Gungeon. But overall, the pros most decidedly outweighed the cons, especially since both games are so inexpensive, with Exit only costing $9.99.

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I’m ecstatic I finally found the time and presence of mind to play through both Gungeon games. While it’s true the first one is more jam packed with content, the second makes up for it by doing an amazing job of distilling the unique essence into a more palatable form. In all, I spent nearly 40 hours playing through both games combined, and enjoyed every crazed minute. Games like this are why I’ll always be a fan of Devolver Digital, and why I eagerly await what’s next from Dodge Roll and Singlecore. If you love crazy, hardcore rogue games with more than a bit of insanity thrown in, you can’t go wrong with either one. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to put in dozens more hours to fully complete both games!

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[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

Author Purchased Copy of Enter the Gungeon. Publisher Provided Copy of Exit the Gungeon.

And many thanks to Brandon Rose for the awesome Featured Image!

REVIEW: Oprainfall Conquers the Gungeon Title Enter & Exit the Gungeon