Media Consumption Blog | 10/13/17

Hello supporters!

We made it through FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH!! And also another busy week here at SSFF. When we managed some free time, here’s what Grace and I were up to.

Derek

The Evil Within (Again)

Ok so an update on The Evil Within as it was the only game I found time to really play this week. Last time I was on the 5th chapter for the 3rd time, now I’m on the 11th chapter for the 1st time. I’ve had to resist the urge, but I’ve not gone back and replayed past chapters like last week, instead keeping my head down and trying to barrel through to the end.

My overall opinion hasn’t changed much since last week - TEW game still swings wide between a heck of a lot of fun to curse-out-loud frustrating. There are brief moments like the tense fight with The Keeper, the game’s most memorable big-bad, where the game truly shines, and they are way bogged down by so many goddamn instant-death sequences, where you’re usually being chased by a less-memorable monster. And it’s these trial-and-error sequences are an attempt by TEW to solve a huge with problem horror games; how do you handle death in a horror game? Because these moments are meant to make your heart race and to a certain degree they do; frantically searching cramped rooms for switches to open a door while a four-armed The Grudge monster is chasing you is pretty intense. But if she hits you, you’re thrown into a canned, death animation and it’s “too bad, try again!”. It’s just not scary, especially after the 7th or 8th death. And there are so damn many of them!

But something I will give TEW, it’s still more engaging than Resident Evil 5. And I say that because RE4 was the last RE game Mikami worked on and TEW was touted as his grand return to horror. In a way, this is an alternate RE5. A game, by the way, of almost all action scenes! TEW continues to have a breakneck pace, shifting from one setting to another sometimes literally in an instant. It makes for an awful way to tell a story but it does cycle between open-ended sections, boss fights, trial/error sequences, long spooky hallways enough to keep things from getting boring. There’s still just enough here to keep me going, which is more than I can say for RE5 but I wouldn’t say TEW is a good game. The sequel sounds like it’s a much better game, looking forward to finishing Part 1 and jumping immediately into Part 2.

Blade Runner 2049

Last week Grace and I watched the original Blade Runner to prepare for the new one which we saw last weekend. And we had a total flip, she thought Blade Runner 2049 was weak and I absolutely loved it. 

It answered my biggest issue with the original Blade Runner which was it created a fantastic and interesting world but did so very little in it. Ryan Gosling’s character in 2049, a detective and replicant (or is he???) simply named “K”, and his case not only expand the well-established world but finally explore the world as well. Not to mention Harrison Ford returns are Deckard (that would be a spoiler if he wasn’t on the poster and in the trailer) and he acts his ass off in this movie. I’m sure just like Indiana Jones 4 and Star Wars 7 he got a massive check for doing 2049, but he’s busting out acting chops I haven’t seen since The Fugitive. It’s nice to be reminded that Ford is not only an action star but a damn fine actor too (occasionally). And 2049 a gorgeous film. It was apparently an extremely expensive film and it shows. It also had some enormous shoes to fill and I’d say it just about matches the original Blade Runner in visual flare. 

Though there are problems with 2049. An entire plotpoint goes completely unexplained in the film because it was covered in a short film released earlier. And while I never found the film boring, it certainly felt like it was nearly 3 hours long. If we were watching at home instead of a theater, Grace and I would’ve definitely taken a break or two. Also, Jared Leto plays the most Jared-Leto-Ass-Jared-Leto villain possible. Though I guess to be fair, he’s written as a boring drink-blood-from-the-skulls-of-my-enemies kind of evil and only in like 4 scenes. And actually, that speaks to another problem with the movie, outside of K, K’s holographic girlfriend, and Deckard, the rest of the characters are kinda one-note. All well-acted though, but there are still more stories to tell in this world. And given that this film has maybe flopped, it might be another 30 years before we visit it on this scale again. That would be a shame. Either way, I recommend it!

Grace

Shadow of War

Full disclosure, I got a little swamped with responsibilities this week, so I didn’t have the opportunity to have a lot of fun. BUT, BUT, on this, the Fry-est of days of the thirteenth, I got to play Shadow of War. 

I didn’t love the last game per say. I don’t even remember where the story ended last time. (Maybe everyone died? Was it all a dream? Who knows!) What I did love was the nemesis system, that glorious system that will one day (ONE DAY) grace a game outside of the drudgy LOTR universe. Daydream with me for a second–what if they put the nemesis system into a Katamari game? You could fight cousins and get stronger and make bigger stars all for the affection of the King of All Cosmos. Perrrrfection!

I am still early on into the game, only had a chance to play the first few hours, so I cannot really give a full-on impression yet. All I know is that Monolith made “another one of those”, which is giving me a lot of joy after a long week.

That’s it for this week! We don’t have another song to share so how about we just bask again in the greatestness of Mr. Charlie, Last-Name-Wilson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa4wR4G-5eE 

See you next week! And thanks as always for the support!

-da