TomBadguy.com

Final Fantasy Advent Criticism - Video - Part 1

2013-05-16T14:46:00.000-06:00

Final Fantasy Advent Criticism

2013-05-09T20:13:00.001-06:00

Summer just got fucking awesome. TomBadguy.com and Geek Juice are joining forces for an event of epic proportion: Final Fantasy Advent Criticism. Starting May 16^th, both websites will be posting content of one of the most popular game franchises on the planet. Starting with a 1 of 4 part series of Geek Juice Radio(on www.jackaloperadio.com) in which myself and the Geek Juice boys go over all main staples in the series. Accompanied will be many posts, reviews, videos; as much as we can come up with for this event. Links will be posted on both websites(a Final Fantasy Advent Criticism Tab will be created at the top of my page soon!). All new content will be collected and I will make weekly posts with all content that came out the week on both sites. Please make sure you follow myself and Geek Juice on Twitter so you can stay with it and keep up on all new content and announcements!

We hope you join us for this event, leave comments, discuss everything Final Fantasy, share views, spread the word, and have some fun.

Here are all the links you need for this event and make sure to check them frequently!

Geek Juice: www.geekjuicemedia.com

Geek Juice Radio can be heard at Jackalope Radio: www.jackaloperadio.com

Follow me on Twitter: @Tom_Badguy

Follow Geek Juice on Twitter: @GeekJuiceMedia

And here is a teaser for the upcoming Geek Juice Radio 4 part podcast! There are more announcements to come, so stay tuned!

Tales Of Relevant Thought - Episode 22

2013-05-08T19:42:00.002-06:00

Hold the phone and stop the presses, Episode 22 is up and available for download! This episode, Tom reveals his thoughts on the Marvel Heroes closed beta, also, discussions about the NBA and homosexuals in the locker room, plus, personal opinions about news and the media...hmm, actual topics for adults. We promise this won't be a recurring theme! This and more on our latest episode!

Review: Back to the Future The Game

2013-05-06T20:37:00.000-06:00

It's hard to find someone that isn't a fan of the Back to the Future movies. Honestly, the first movie is one of my most treasured memories from the 80s. They have such a nostalgic feeling today, you want to build a time machine out of a Delorean, crank that bitch up to 88 MPH and relive the time yourself. Iconic music, memorable characters, quotable lines; it has it all. So naturally, when I found a great deal for the Telltale game, I had to get it. The only Back to the Future game I have played was that piece of shit on the NES(the first one). Obviously, this is totally different. When I saw it's release a couple of years ago, I really wanted it.

The Back to the Future game was divided into 5 “episodes”, all being released at different times after their previous entries. So for this review, I'm going to somewhat break down each ep with my own thoughts. Before I do that, I have to talk about the game play. This is a point and click game. All the action type sequences are done with a click of the button and you watch the animation unfold. Along with this involves solving puzzles which means you have to investigate objects, talk to people, all to figure out a way to advance the game. I'm sure everyone knows what a point and click game is, but you never know =)

Now, I'm going to start off with my only major complaint about this game. The controls. The controls are terrible. You'd figure that you just “point and click” where you want to go, but no. You have to use WASD to walk around. This makes no sense considering what type of game this is. On top of that, when the camera angle changes, you have to accommodate with the correct directional change. For example, if I'm using the 'D' key to walk right and the camera angle changes to wear Marty is now pointing up, then I have to stop holding 'D' and switch to 'W'. So many times I forgot these and would be going back and forth between camera angles until I remembered to switch keys. Fucking annoying. To run you have to hold the shift key. But the running is broken too. If you press shift BEFORE hitting a direction, then you won't run. You HAVE to hit the direction THEN shift. Kinda stupid if you ask me. What difference does it make? Shift doesn't do anything else? And back to my original point, why not just have the mouse guide you? I don't get it, it's like, what were they thinking when they came up with this?

Basic interface, walk around and interact with the environment

It's really hard to break down the story of these games. Since they are broken up into episodes, telling the story about the one after it, spoils the story about the game before it. See what I mean? So, I will give a brief explanation of the story in the first episode and list the episode names after that. Normally, I don't give a fuck about spoiling but Back to the Future is awesome and I know die-hard fans that haven't played this wouldn't want it to be spoiled. So I'll explain Ep 1 and list the others:

Episode 1 – It's About Time

Six months after the events of Back to the Future III, Marty finds out that the city is try to sell off Doc's personal things. Headed by his father, Marty investigates in hopes to prevent the sale. Suddenly, the Delorean appears with Einstein(Doc's dog) and a random shoe found inside. Along with this is a tape recorder of Doc begging Marty to go back to 1931 to help him escape from jail. Marty ventures to the past and finds Doc. In order to bust Doc out, Marty must find Doc's younger self in 1931 and get an invention of his that he is to use to bust him out. During this adventure, Marty runs into Edna Strickland(that's right) who is trying to spread the word of discipline and good behavior throughout society. Marty runs into problems when he finds that the gangster Kid Tannen is in control of illegal booze distribution and wants Doc dead. Marty has to work with young Doc without messing up time and bust the Doc he knows out of jail without getting him killed.

Episode 2 – Get Tannen!

Episode 3 – Citizen Brown

Episode 4 – Double Visions

Episode 5 – Outatime

Pretty much the premise is going back and forth through time and fixing fuck ups or changes; typical Back to the Future stuff. My favorite Episode is Citizen Brown, where the current timeline gets skewed and Hill Valley becomes a police state. Really wild stuff. I enjoyed the story overall. It's not as epic as the movies were, but you get the same feeling. All the same one liners are there like, “This is heavy” or “Great Scott!” The voice actor playing Marty McFly doesn't do too bad, but since this game is about investigating, sometimes you have to hear the same dialogue multiple times, and after a while, Marty starts to sound a little whiny. Christopher Lloyd voices Doc Brown, which of course is SUPER AWESOME, and the other voices are fine. If you get through these games and get to the final episode, you'll be surprised to hear a voice that you never thought you would hear. But for that, I will say no more.

It was great to hear Christopher Lloyd as Doc again

To put this game in an overall perspective, I really like the story but the game play is pretty boring and bland. Maybe that's the way with most point and click games, but I ran out of patience at times due to boredom. For example, Episode 2 is probably the most boring. Too much going back and forth and looking at the same stuff. I felt the characters had to good life to them and graphically, this game is too bad. The effects are tolerable and the expressions are pretty good. But the flow of the game and the lack of a diverse change in music can put you to sleep. I think this game was intended for pure fans of the Back to the Future movies, not just an every day, casual, player. You have to have a lot of invested interest in the movies to get into these. I would have liked to see more exploration factors in this game, like finding collectibles(that were not necessary to the story, just something extra) or bigger maps. You are kind of closed in to a limited space, so it's not some grand adventure through Hill Valley. Also, you don't even get to go into the McFly home nor do you get to jump the gate to get in. That kind of disappointed me. I say the game is ok and should be played by all Back to the Future fans. Just don't hold your expectations high.

Final note: Jennifer is awesome in this game

5 Reasons 2 Hate: Cyclops

2013-05-03T22:58:00.000-06:00

Before I dive into this, I just wanted to say that Cyclops has gotten tiny shreds of respect from me in recent years, but it's not even close enough to wipe away my hatred for him. But most of my experience and readings that involve Cyclops happen before X-Force and his full lead of the X-Men.

1. I hate boy scout characters.

This is going to be general, but yeah, anybody that is just a lap dog or the typical, “boy scout” character instantly gains a negative view from me. I'm talking about Cyclops still being under Professor Xavier. Always doing what he says, always having the attitude that the way that you're told is the right way, almost 100% pure obedience; I can't fucking stand it. In a lot of X-Men comics, Cyclops just seems to be just a projection of Xavier. Xavier barks an order, Cyclops wants to carry it out to a tee where it seems like most of the other X-Men are at least opinionated about it and want to dive deeper into their instructions. I mean, how many times have Logan and Scott fought because of stuff like this? Which brings up a good point, when someone like Wolverine is your opposite showing you anti authority and a personal opinion, you don't end up liking the boy scout, in this case, Slim, you end up liking the opposing opinion. And since it tends to be Wolverine, who is by far more popular, you tend to want to disagree with everything Summers says. Maybe it's the writers I should be angry at. Because where Logan gives his counter point, Scott's last ditch effort to make him agree is usually just the same thing he's already said. But still, you just get the sense that it's Xavier's words coming out of Cyclops' mouth. Doesn't really make him much of a character and it just makes me ignore him. This also doesn't make me believe that he is a qualified leader. More like a puppet. Plus, like a typical boy scout, he has that air of scumbag entitlement which just fuckin' rubs me the wrong way.

2. He gets all the psychic bitches.

Like, fuckin' seriously, what's up with this? He gets Jean Grey THEN Emma Frost? I don't fucking get it. What's his appeal? Leader of the X-Men? Laser eyes? I don't understand. Why is he so special? Just because someone is a leader doesn't mean he's a chick magnet. Does he only get the desirable ones because he leads? I don't view him as strong and this makes me as fucking salty as I'm sure it makes Wolverine. He pretty much has no personality up until he takes over the X-Men, so I can see MAYBE why Emma Frost would be into him, but why does it have to be another psychic? Why can't it just be some random person? I also always hated the chemistry between him and Jean Grey. Summers is the boy scout so he has to have the “loyal” and “upstanding” lady but I never really felt that Jean Grey wanted that, which is why Logan's interference always made me root for him. In fact, the character of Cyclops doesn't really sell me on anything. It's as if all these pieces were put together to give the APPEARANCE of what he's supposed to be rather than who he really is. He's GIVEN the role of second in command, then leader of the X-Men, he's GIVEN the trophy wife(this is all starting at issue fucking 1), I just don't buy it and nothing he's really done over the years has made me believe that he's earned it. And the fact that his love interests tend to be psychic is just another thing I feel is just given to him to make him seem deep and important. It's a tough sell if you ask me. His romantic life just doesn't feel natural but artificial.

3. Just a whiny, spoiled fucking child.

It's hard to disagree with this. I mean, anyone that argues with Slim(fun fact, Professor Xavier calls him Slim Summers when he is first introduced in the X-Men comics, so technically, this might have been his original name and not just a nickname that Wolverine made for him) makes him go on these bitchy rants about how everyone needs to listen to him because Xavier made him the leader. I can't stand it. I hate it when anyone uses their position as an excuse for people to follow instructions. It makes me resentful and makes think that they are too dumb to think of more creative ways to work with people while still being their leader. I mean, he's like a rich boy that doesn't get his way and I feel like he just does shit like this just to remind everyone that he's the leader(especially with Wolverine). Scott Summers did not have an ideal childhood or life. His father gone, him being a mutant and being treated like shit by society, you'd figure this would make him appreciate things more. But no. You get the sense that he just shoves all his glory in people's faces like some snob would. Why does he act so spoiled? I mean, how often does this bullshit happen:

Cyclops: “Lets go stop Magneto, gang!”

Wolverine: “Maybe we should use a different strategy?”

Cyclops: “No, Wolverine! I'm da leader cause Fessor Xavier said so and I will decide what wez dooz based on what Fessor told me to dooz so youz have to dooz it or I'll hatez youz foreverz!!11!”

A whiny little bitch and a shitty leader.

4. Personally, his powers aren't anything I give a shit about.

Laser eyes powered by the sun. ...Ooooook? Just fucking call him the Marvel Comics Superman and get it over with. Pretty much the same damn guy. Just a dog on a leash that does what he's told. Only difference is Slim has eye powers, might as well be two big red 'S's instead of pupils. Laser eyes, really? Sheesh, da fuck cares? How many people in X-Men have laser powers just as a SIDE POWER? Fucking stupid. But I'm sure back in the 60s it was fucking amazing, but this doesn't age well to me. It's more like a childhood dream than an actual, creative idea for a power. Then I guess in this case, it suits the fucker well.

5. His offspring and family are better characters than he is.

I'm talking Cable and the X-Man, Nate Grey. How is it that his kids have better and more compelling character design and stories than him? The only thing that drags Cable and X-Man down is that their father is just some puppet, jarhead. So, ONCE A-FUCKING-GAIN, why is it that Cyclops is GIVEN such a bad ass offspring? It's just something else that is added to him. Too much awesome shit revolves around Cyclops but his contributions to them are SLIM to NONE(see what I did there?). I can't stop asking why??? Cable and X-Man are some of my favorite X-Men characters but it's bittersweet knowing that they are the seed of Scott Summers. Cable is just a technovirus, gun carrying, BAD ASS while X-Man is like the strongest psychic to ever live! Cyclops is NOT the best of anything. He's NOT even a bad ass because he's so boy scout! How can a character be considered “classic” when everyone around him is a million times more interesting than he is?! Shit, even Havok is more interesting than he is! Claremont's display of him in the early 1990s when the X-Men were thought dead and in Australia, he had to come to grips with his team and his actions. He wasn't a dedicated pawn to be played with. Scott's father led the Starjammers and traveled all over the galaxy! Well where the FUCK are those comics?! I'm sure they exist BUT I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THEM. Scott “Cyclops” Summers is just buried in the shadows of everything around him that is GIVEN to him. Nothing about him makes hi special. Nothing about him is unique. It's characters and plots that he did not earn that are shoved into his character to give the appearance of importance.

Tales Of Relevant Thought - Episode 21

2013-05-01T19:25:00.001-06:00

Episode 21 is now up and ready for download, folks! The group dives into some interesting topics like MMO games, what are they and why doesn't Charley know what they are? Plus, the gang discusses some interesting dreams and Miles lets us in on his sleep time manner. An episode that will guarantee you stuck to your sheets in the morning!

Review: Tomb Raider

2013-04-29T21:18:00.000-06:00

I'm going to be blunt. I'm not a Tomb Raider fan. I know who Lara Croft is and I have only played some of Tomb Raider 1 and 2 back in the day. It never interested me. So why review the latest Tomb Raider game? That's simple. It came free with my graphics card. Now, I was not interested in getting or playing this game, but since I got it for free, I might as well play it and get my deal's worth. This was the first game I played on my new PC(mentioned in my Evoland review). This was my first step into current PC gen gaming. And I shit you not, this was a bad way to start.

Lets get the obvious out of the way before I rip this game a new fuckin' asshole. This is a “reinvention” of Lara Croft the character. I don't know if they officially call it a prequel or if it even counts, but I'm pretty sure this is a straight up reboot of the Tomb Raider series. Also, we know that Lara Croft in this game is supposed to evolve into the “survivor” that we know and love. Now, EVEN WITH THIS IN MIND, I will still detail my grievances and complaints about this game. The counter point to my arguments will be, “this is a reinvention of the character, that's why!” First off, I don't care. There is so much insulting shit in this game, that anyone with this argument can just go fuck themselves. Second, the “survivor” aspect is completely broken, which I will get into soon. This game is NOT GOOD. That's right, a fucking “SPOILER ALERT” for my own damn review; I don't like this game. I will go over the basic bullshit of story and game play real quick before I really start to lose my mind with everything that I view as complete garbage in this game.

Tomb Raider is about Lara Croft and a bunch of fucking strangers that no one knows that travel on a boat trying to find an island with artifacts on it. They end up crashing on the island instead, and Lara has to find her colleagues and figure out a way to escape. The island is Yamatai, a lost kingdom of legend. Accompanying Lara is her best friend Sam, who apparently is supposed to be the descendant of some queen bitch that ruled the kingdom. Along her way, she runs into inhabitants on the island that are attempting to kill and/or capture the crew. Eventually, we discover that there is some Sci-Fi mystery force that exists on the island and prevents anyone from leaving. Sam, gets kidnapped by the leader of the island's inhabitants, Mathias, in order to use her as a sacrifice to the island's strange power in order to flee from the island. There's more sub plots and bullshit like that, but it doesn't matter. And yes, I do realize that my explanation of the story was a BS attempt that displayed a lot of bias. Fuck it, I don't care. The story in this game is NOT FUCKING INTERESTING AT ALL. Why? Because the focus shifts from survival/archaeology to fucking demons, monsters and evil spirits. When the game stops being real, then the game starts being ass. I don't want to spoil anything, nor do I even want to go into detail, but this game's story changes the game's identity WAAAAY too much. First, you're just trying to survive and not die. This was ok. Then, you have to stop evil make believe powers that change the weather. I hate it when this happens. Not saying that stuff like this ISN'T ok, but when the shift is too much in a completely different direction, then it's like starting another game when you are in the middle of playing one. I really hate that. And the dialogue in this game is right out of some shitty, Hollywood, survival horror movie. A lot of panicked breathing, crying and an over abundance of randomly dropped curses.

That's not a bad guy she's kicking, it's the player

Now here's is a some what spoiler I will share, characters in this game DIE. Yup, lots of'em. You'd think that maybe the connection between characters will make the story and game more compelling. NOPE. There is little to no character development in this game. I'm not fucking joking. People are just there, they know Lara and I guess us as stupid gamers just have to accept the fact that these characters are important WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING WHO THE FUCK THEY ARE. This game went fuckin' Prometheus with this shit. Yeah, you remember Prometheus, the Ridley Scott movie? A bunch of people dying but due to the lack of character development, YOU DIDN'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK WHO DIED! Except for Michael Fassbender, THE FUCKING ANDROID. The robot in that fucking movie gets more attached to you than any of the actual fucking people. But I digress. I bring this up because that's what the characters in Tomb Raider are like. We are expected to assume they are important but we don't feel it. Not at all. For example, there's this guy named Roth that apparently, trained Lara on everything she knows(which is just SAID in the game, you don't see it or anything like that, that would just be too GOOD OF A FUCKING IDEA!). This Roth guy knew Lara's father, who I don't even know what that guy is like because he's only MENTIONED and ONCE AGAIN I'm left to assume that he means something, I guess grew up with her. His dialogue and appearance in this game is like 1 hour total. No joke. But Lara talks about him like he's some important character BUT I DON'T FUCKING SEE IT. I DON'T KNOW WHO THESE OTHER PEOPLE ARE! JUST BECAUSE THE DIALOGUE SAYS THEY'RE IMPORTANT DOESN'T FUCKING MEAN THAT I FEEL THEY ARE IMPORTANT! Lazy. Just fucking lazy. The focus for this game was an adrenaline pumped fuel ride with a kill count. You feel nothing for these characters. You don't give a shit what bad things happen to them. YOU JUST DON'T FUCKING CARE.

This is pretty much what the side characters are like

Ok, no more story or characters. That shit is all pretty much throw away. How does this game play? Pretty well. But before I talk about the only thing I like about this, I want to make it crystal fucking clear that in NO WAY do I include these stupid quick time events when I talk about liking the game play. Ok, story time really quick. This is the first PC game I've played in who knows how long, alright? Within the first 15 minutes, you are climbing up a hole trying to escape some crazy dude. He grabs you. You have to move left and right then do a quick time event, hit a button when the circle goes inside another circle. Here is my issue, not with the game, but with this on PC. The left and right icons appear on the screen, so I know I'm supposed to hit left and right. But when the indicator appears to hit whatever button I'm supposed to press to succeed at the quick time event, it flashes on the screen for two seconds, I can't read it because the text is too small, and then I die. I died during the first quick time event in this fucking game. So, I tried it again. Still too fast for me to see. I die. Third time, I just decide to let myself die so I can just read what it says. I'm supposed to hit the “F” key. Here's the issue. If I were playing this, on say, Xbox 360, a big BLUE FUCKING BUTTON would appear letting me know that I should hit the “X” button on the controller. Look PC, when you're games are based on performing with a keyboard, you can't put actions like this in small text as if it is just random dialogue on the screen. You need to make that F like REALLY LARGE AND NOTICEABLE. The challenge of a quick time event should be timing, not trying to read what you are supposed to do. This is bad game design. Advantage consoles in this department.

Here's an example, take note PC

Here is one on the 360. See how the color corresponds with the button?

Moving on, aside from quick time, this game plays fine. I love the combat, which is pretty much a cover/stealth third person stealth shooter. You get a Bow, Handgun, Shotgun, Assault Rifle, the works. You can even massacre fucks with a climbing hook. All weapons are upgradable so you can increase accuracy, damage, etc. You can unlock perks for Lara that can help you take more damage, find more loot when searching things, find more ammo, make your attacks do more damage; basic survival and combat upgrades. Honestly, killing people in this game is satisfying. The Bow is my favorite weapon, by far. It's the most accurate and scoring a headshot with it from a long distance makes you give yourself a mental fistbump. Another aspect of game play that I liked, and what I tend to like in most games, is the exploration factor. There are tons of little collectibles scattered all over every map, little side quests to unlock and of course, tombs you can explore. The most fun I had in this game was just collecting this shit. When you collect items or accomplish goals, you unlock concept art and achievements. You can even hunt wildlife in these areas as well that can give you extra EXP that goes to unlocking perks. There are several crates and dead bodies to search that will give you “Salvage” which is basically like a currency system which you use to upgrade your weapons. This game can be summed up in a nutshell for me: “It's great if you take out the story, characters and quick time events.” But then, it's not even a game if you do that. And as for the Tombs, they are disappointing. The puzzles are super easy. They are not a highlight of this game.

Select which upgrade you want and purchase/build with Salvage

Lets grind this down to a closing because I could write for fucking pages about my hate for this game. Here is my number one reason I loathe this game: Lara Croft. She is UNBEARABLE Once again, I don't give a fuck if this is a reinvention or her journey to Indiana Jones status, she is annoying. She spends half the game shaking like she has Parkinson’s , crying over every little fucking thing and just shrieking and getting super dramatic. She is not a character I want to play as. I don't someone that is shitting in fear. Get this, IN THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, she comes across a dead body when you are retrieving your Bow. Then she gets in contact with Roth and start whining about seeing a dead body as she shakes and shivers. Ok, I'm going to say this one time...YOU'RE A FUCKING ARCHAEOLOGIST THE GAME IS FUCKING CALLED TOMB RAIDER. WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU THINK YOU WERE GOING TO FIND?! THEN as we continue in the game, Lara has to kill someone to survive. She is shocked, terrified. I'm ok with this. What I'm NOT ok with is that after she tells Roth, “I had to kill someone...” and Roth is all, “you did what you had to” during a time where we are left to assume she JUST killed someone for the first time, you continue the game and in 5 minutes, she's mowing downing mother fuckers with a machine gun. WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF HER BEING TRAUMATIZED BY HER FIRST KILL?? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???

I mean, what if Metroid was like this? Would you fucking play it?!

On top of all this shit, Lara's explanation on how she can do ANYTHING in the game is, “good thing Roth trained me.” That's it. That's her explanation how she can handle multiple weapons, kill fools with hand to hand combat, climb mountains, EVERYTHING. But wait? I thought this was her first experience? So she can fucking do all this bad ass stuff but we have to hear her bitch and whine CONSTANTLY about everything around her? Wouldn't make more sense if she didn't know how to do this stuff and you had to LEARN how to do it instead of defaulting to, “well, dat mutha fucka Roth showz me all my skillz.” BULLSHIT, GAME! BULLSHIT!! It doesn't make sense and it doesn't tie together. If her training with Roth made her as experienced with combat/climbing/etc in the game, then his training should have already tempered her to deal with the dead bodies, cold climates, survival, and the situation at hand. I've never heard of a bad ass chick that can do dozens of skills in an accelerated way, but then cry and scream in fear at the sight of a dead body. Fail, game. FAIL.

This is a game that I don't believe knows what its identity is. If you wanted to make a survival game with the main character going through her first real event in her life, then you need less enemies, less killing, less guns, less everything, and make it seem MORE REAL. It's like the creators of this game wanted to make a really cool action game, but decided that they have no story to work off of, so they created some BS plot but then wanted to add an extra element in the game, but forgot how awesome they made the game play. Then they said, fuck it, and just shoved it all together. This makes it seem like them say that Lara Croft is reinvented is just a way to have a go to excuse when someone dissects their game. And just a final note, this game is short as hell. Beat it in 19 hours while get 100% of the collectibles But I don't mind that the game was short. That just meant I didn't have to keep playing this crap any longer. Why do people like this game? It's too flawed to ignore. I don't get it, but, whatever, I played it and it sucks.

Tales Of Relevant Thought - Episode 20

2013-04-26T01:13:00.001-06:00

New episode of TORT in now available for download! It's our 20th episode! Celebrations for all! We open with our thoughts on Lucasarts being no more and remember our favorite Star Wars and non-Star Wars Lucasarts games. A friend of the show finally asks a question which launches into a discussion about PC games, including Bioshock Infinite. This and more on our latest episode.

Review: Evoland

2013-04-23T23:45:00.000-06:00

So, I've recently gotten into the world of PC gaming. I haven't played PC games in like 7+ years and I think the last one I played was Diablo 2(yeah, it's been a while). But I got a new GFX card and a bad ass PC along with a Steam account. I heard good things about a certain indie game that was making some buzz so I thought I'd check it out.

Evoland came out on Steam on April 4^th of 2013 developed by Shiro Games. When I first saw the trailer, I was instantly sucked in and new I had to get this game. I saw visuals of RPG greatness along with a progression of graphics that seemed to change throughout the game. Honestly, if you watch this fucking trailer one time, you're more than likely going to feel inclined to get it just because you want to know what the hell is going on. Before purchasing, my first thoughts were that the game just naturally progressed and enhanced its own graphics and sound just by playing normally. I saw displays of 2D turn base fighting styles(duplicating SNES Final Fantasy games) then a 3D top mode like in Legend of Zelda. Little did I know that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

But where did this game came from? According to Evoland's website, evoland.shirogames.com/about:

Evoland Classic was originally created by Nicolas Cannasse for a Ludum Dare competition in about 30 hours. Turns out the game won the first place (out of around 1400 games) and quickly reached over 300 000 players within a couple of months.

With such a great feedback from our community and given our love for the original concept, we decided that Shiro Games should work on a bigger and more refined version of the game.

In fact, if you go on to their website, you can get the original version of Evoland known as Evoland Classic!

Lets get into this game and I will start with the most appealing part of Evoland; the graphics/sound progression. I was surprised to see that it did not “evolve” naturally as you played, but that you unlocked Treasure Chests that include the enhancements. For example, at the start of the game, you can only move to the right. To the right is a chest. Open it and you then have the ability to move left. Open the chest now on the left, you get the ability to move all around. That is pretty much how this game is broken down. Everything you need to do has to be unlocked. Don't worry though, the chests are pretty linear and it is highly unlikely to miss one(like, really fucking unlikely). So as far as the appearance of the game goes, it basically walks you through the history of RPGs. Starting with Game Boy like graphics of monochrome and no sound, then evolving through the motions of 8bit with NES visuals and sounds, into the 16bit era, all the way to a 3D mode with HD textures, lighting and sound. Truly, this game is a stroll through time. I'll get more in depth in a bit.

As you can see, the game "evolves"

As far as the story goes, it's not that exciting or grand, more of a combination of things that have happened in other RPGs or a joke inspired by other games. You play the lead character, Clink...yes, Clink and it is a joke off of Link from Legend of Zelda. The names is not to be made serious, it is just one of those jokes. Clink has to, guess what? SAVE THE WORLD. Classic RPG story. He ventures throughout Evoland in search to the end of chaos. Along his travels, he fights various enemies, encounters many towns and even gets a party member. Let me be honest, the main point about this game is not the story, but since the game together is really kick ass, mother fuckin' awesome, I will not spoil it's below average story. But you won't play it for the story, I can guarantee that.

This game is about the ever changing game play. Every time you discover a new area, you are faced with a different way of handling it. For example, on the overworld map, your battle encounters will result into a turn base, Final Fantasy 4 like battle system. Characters on the right, enemies on the left, select menus to choose your actions. But then you will enter a new dungeon, and the game is changed to a top down type play style where enemies roam freely and you whack them with your sword, kind of like Legend of Zelda or Secret of Mana. But that's not all, one dungeon has you go totally Diablo style and then you're playing as if you are in an MMO type setting battling hordes and hordes of enemies. Even your life bar turns into the red Diablo circle. It's fascinating that this game took into account a lot of popular styles during the beginning and evolution of the RPG genre.

Go Diablo on their asses

Honestly, this game is just amazing. It's fun to play, fun to look at, just plan old FUN. A big factor that is missing in a lot games today, especially with some RPGs these days. It's a REALLY BIG BREATH OF FRESH AIR and one of the most creative and entertaining games I have played in a really long time. Playing this game made me glad to get my PC. It made me feel like it was a great idea and erased any doubts I had after investing into this new venture. Now, that doesn't mean this game is perfect. There is a good deal of challenge in the game. For example, in some of the Zelda type dungeons, there are these annoying enemies called Red Wizards. Basically what they do is disappear and reappear in a random location that is vertical or horizontal to your position, shoot a fireball, then repeat. Now, you might be telling yourself that this isn't hard. Well, when there is four of them along with six skeletons that chase you, you can find yourself dying really quickly. But like classic games of the past, you have to identify the pattern and keep trying it over and over again until you get it down. You might curse at your screen, but when it's done, you get that old school feel of relief and will tell yourself, “thank fucking god, I don't have to do that again.” Also, the game is really short. I finished it completely in 5 hours. It should have been fucking longer.

Hate these fuckers

Back to the graphic evolution real quick. Here's a better example of what I mean. When you unlock the 3D mode for the first time, it is not a complete 3D. You then have to unlock the 3D textures, sounds, lighting, etc. before it is complete. This is really fucking awesome. It's like the game is showing you all the pieces that put it together. There is a great part in the game where you find a town that mimics an FFVII town and unlock pre-rendered backgrounds, HD backgrounds, the works. Even the music in this town is reminiscent of Nibelheim. Piece by piece you see what goes into everything that you see. Truthfully, I did not know some of the terminology that was used for this graphics and now I know. What? I just fucking learned something from an awesome video game? ….well, damn, I'll take it.

Definitely a treasure to be played

This game is on Steam for $10. I recommend it, especially if you are into old school RPGs or Action/RPGs or if you are just an old school gamer in general. It's definitely one game I will talk about a lot during my adventures with PC gaming. It has a refreshing feel and the nostalgia meter gets cranked up to eleven. The fact is, I can't really see anyone not enjoying this game unless the genre isn't their cup of tea. It's hard not to find it entertaining, in my opinion. Do yourself a favor and chuck out the $10 and play this game.

Tales Of Relevant Thought - Episode 19

2013-04-18T02:47:00.000-06:00

Episode 19 is here and available for download. This week, we discuss how EA is the worst company ever, yet, we gain respect for them. Also, Miles is having serious medical concerns and it might be the funniest thing we have ever experienced on this show. Plus, Dhalsim versus Mr. Fantastic, all on our latest episode!

Review: X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse

2013-04-14T01:42:00.001-06:00

Check out my review of X-Men Legends if you haven't.

It's not all the time that a sequel can be better than its predecessor, for the second and final installment of X-Men Legends does just that. In my review of X-Men Legends, I discussed the gameplay and guess what? It's the same thing, so, I don't feel like I need to go into it again. Same goes with the graphics. It's pretty much the cel-shadded mess that does not age well. And this is the PS2 version(it is also available on PSP, PC, Xbox, Gamecube and the N-Gage...yeah, the N-Gage). Also, I did not go over the story of the first game because it is the most general X-Men story(they fight Magneto). But this game does render some explanation. Basically, you are fighting the first mutant of existence, Apocalypse. Estimated at over 5000 years old, he believes in the survival of the fittest and only the strong and powerful deserve to live. With the help of Mr. Sinister, they attack Earth and kidnap mutants to turn into slaves for their cause. Now, Apocalypse is not only a problem for the Xavier and his X-Men, but also for Magneto and the Brotherhood. The X-Men and Brotherhood team up to fight Apocalypse and defend the world. Now, I would break down this game's story even more, but sadly, like the first game, you'll pretty much be mashing through any dialogue. It still has that problem where the plot is just boring as shit. Honestly, you have a game based off of a comic book and through TWO GOD DAMN GAMES, you can't make the story appealing or at least seem interesting. I don't want to just read endless lines of text that explains everything. I want voice acting, cutscenes, THIS IS THE X-MEN FOR FUCK'S SAKE. Do you know how I know they didn't give a flying rat's ass about the story or dialogue? The mission briefings in this game are optional. In XL1, you had to watch them, in this, you can just say fuck it. That's how I know. Luckily, the game play is addicting enough that it doesn't ruin the experience for you.

Before I continue going into this game, I want to bring up one of my favorite comic books series, The Age of Apocalypse. Xavier's son Legion, traveled back in time with the intention of killing Magneto. Instead, he ends up killing his own father who was defending Magneto. Then when Apocalypse came around, Charles Xavier was not there to stop them, and in so, Apocalypse takes over the world. The time line is skewed, Magneto forms the X-Men and mutants across the world fight against evil. That's a big reason why I like this game more. Apocalypse is one of my favorite villains in the X-Men universe. He is pure evil incarnate. Plus, anything that brings the X-Men and Magneto joined together to fight side by side, is fucking awesome. Additionally, AoA spawned one of my favorite X-Men, Nate Greay AKA X-Man. Even in the game, a villain created in AoA, the Sugar Man, makes an appearance and you get to fight him. Now, this series and this game are nothing a like, but I will take any opportunity to hype comics I love. In fact, I believe they reprinted the whole series in one giant Omnibus so you can get them all together in one big ass tome.

Age of Apocalypse is a good series that you should check out

Back to the game, lets talk about the first thing you would notice that gets you excited about this game. The case. Previously, you were just the X-Men, now, you can play as some of the villains from the Brotherhood. Juggernaut, Toad, Scarlet Witch, and yes, Mag-fuckin-neto. And of course you have the X-Men, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Jean Grey, and...Sunfire. Wow, really? Sunfire? Um, ok. Fifteen ready to play and 3 unlockable characters(Deadpool, Iron Man, and Professor X). It's a random cast and I love it. Of course, my party was headed by Magneto, and I accompanied him with Juggernaut, Scarlet Witch and Bishop. My party advice for this game is pretty much the same as the previous one, except replace Iceman with Magneto since he can form bridges(2 Tanks, 1 focus character and Magneto).

So what makes this game better than the first besides the cast? It's the way you level up. In the first X-Men Legends, when you gained a Level you got one skill point and one stat point. XL2 takes a page from Diablo. When you Level up, your character gets 4 stat points instead of 1. Sweet fucking Moses, you have no idea how much leveling up is more satisfying when you feel like you can actually buff your characters effectively. Here is how I suggest leveling up; depending on the character, you are going to want to put 2 stat points in their main stat, ignore the stat that is pointless to them, and then the 1 stat point in the final remaining options. For example, for your tank character, put 2 stat points in Strike, ignore Focus, and then add 1 point to Agility and Body. Simple as that. As this progresses, your characters will be beefy when it comes to their expertise. With those differences out of the way, it's pretty much the same game as XL1. You fight through various levels, gain experience, beat bosses, the whole nine yards.

As you can see, visually, it's about the same

I have some gripes about it. My question: was this game fucking play tested? It is so fucking buggy, it's ridiculous. The AI are complete idiots, AGAIN, and will constantly fall off cliffs, so as I have stated in my XL1 review, PLAY WITH OTHER PEOPLE. Also, there was this great part where I was flying around with Magneto, went to the edge of the screen, AND KEPT GOING. Seriously, it was like I was in no clip mode. I flew into the blackness and looked down at the whole stage. HOW DO YOU LET THAT GET INTO YOUR GAME? Too many times you will find yourself stuck in a wall and then fall to your death. It is aggravating. It was an example of video game companies trying to do so much with what you do in the game, that simple little things like this get over looked. Now, this doesn't make it unplayable, but you will get frustrated and you will yell at your TV. No fucking joke.

And what the fuck is up with Act 3? IT'S SO FUCKING LONG. The first time I played this game many years ago, this is where I stopped. The dungeon in the third act is too damn long. It has going to too many places, having to do accomplish too many objectives. I was averaging beating one act every two night when I played this game after work. Act 3 took me 5 MOTHER FUCKING NIGHTS. None of the other Acts were that long. None of the other Acts had that many missions. Seriously, it was just a pain. And speaking of pains, the difficulty of this game is that bad. I'd say it's moderate considering all the bugs you have to deal with. BUT WHY THE FUCK IS APOCALYPSE SO FUCKING HARD?! A game that is balanced like this, will offer some challenge, but at the end, they fucking crank it up to eleven. First you fight Apocalypse. Then he grows super huge and you have to fight him again. Now if you spend all your heather and focus items trying to kill him, it's useless because once you beat him, he respawns. DA FUCK? You then have to figure out WITH NO EXPLANATION, that you have to jump in some pod in the middle of the room, get some weird mutant powers, crash through the walls and destroy two generators. WHY? Why the FUCK do I have to do that? No other boss battle is like that. And why is it not being explained to me? Why do I have to figure it out? It was only by luck that I did in the first place. Please keep in mind, that at this point, I already died three times. So after you destroy the generators, you have to beat giant Apocalypse. THEN he summons his four horsemen, Abyss, Archangel, Abomination, and the Living Monolith. So now you have to fight all five of them, and if you're like me, you're damn near out of items to heal. Since I felt I was in a bind, I decided to just off Apocalypse immediately then deal with the horsemen. But guess what, HE RESPAWNS. You have to kill ALL THE HORSEMEN FIRST then beat Apocalypse for the billionth time. Seriously, this reminds me of the ending of Final Fantasy 3. You have an enjoyable game with an OUT OF NOWHERE fucked up, hard ending.

Four Horsemen of Apocalypse, more like Horsemen of Annoyance

And one more thing, don't play XL1 and 2 back to back. You get really sick of it, really fast. I don't know what the fuck I WAS THINKING, so that's a bad move on my part. It probably added some rage to this review to make it seem more negative, but, overall, this game is pretty good. I like the characters, I love that I can play as Magneto, and it's fun to play with friends. Seriously, the game isn't as bad as I explained on some parts, but they just really irritated me. If you played and liked the first, you'll like this one as well. And if not, think about it this way: at least it's not the piece of shit X-Men movies.

Batman Arkham Origins Announced

2013-04-11T19:33:00.001-06:00

So we've all heard that new Batman Arkham game has been revealed and is set to release on October 25^th of this year. The game will be a prequel to the other games and will no longer be done by Rocksteady but by the in-house team at Warner Brothers Games, Montreal. Released with it will be a protable Batman: Arkham Origins game, Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate for the Vita and Nintendo DS.

Sooooooo, is anyone else not hyped for this? Seriously, I'm not sure if this is a wise idea for the next installment in the Arkham game series. Nowadays, games are starting to follow a flowchart. Game 1, first game. Game 2, sequel to first game. Game 3, prequel to both games. It's pretty much set up this way. Take a look at the Devil May Cry and God of War series, it's the same thing. Are these prequels necessary? It's only a rarity when they do work out. For example, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This game was a prequel of you playing as Big Boss instead of Solid Snake. This game was a success and necessary for how it tied the entire series together which was revealed in Metal Gear Solid 4. No one knew anything about the beginnings of MGS. Before this game came out, Big Boss was just a giant secret and everyone wanted to know who he was. Then MGS3 came out, questions were answered, and everything made sense in the fourth installment. See, this is how adding a prequel WORKS. You take information and knowledge that players no little about, explain, then follow it up with a game that ties it all together. So mentioning this, what is the point of making the next Arkham game a prequel?

Take a step back in time, more like, take a step in shit

Everyone knows who Batman is, so you don't need to explain that. Is the importance of knowing how Arkham got established really necessary? I don't think so. What could a prequel provide to those that have played through Asylum and City? There were no unanswered questions in regards to the game's past. There was no thoughts about why psychos are put into a fucking psycho ward. The only stuff that I want to know about is all the hints and teases in Arkham City that pointed to a sequel in Gotham City! Hush, Azrael, the Scarecrow easter egg, Harley Quinn's positive pregnancy test; THESE ARE THINGS I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT. I mean, what are they thinking? The answer, I believe, is that they are not. The new development team doesn't know what to do, so they think they should start at the beginning. What a load of shit. Let me put it this way, if you want to make a Batman-like origins game, THEN JUST MAKE A NEW, SOLO BATMAN GAME ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF BATMAN! Don't take an established franchise and run it back to the start, WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED! The Arkham games were not made in a way where you needed to know why everything happened and why it was created. The games just let you know that you're Batman, you have to stop the Joker and that you will be doing it in Arkham Asylum. Boom. There. Done. That's it.

What's Batman going to be like in this new game? Is he going to have more gadgets than in Arkham Asylum? Probably. Which is BULLSHIT! That won't make any sense. And how are the new developers going to tie in this game with the others? Either they won't, which would add further evidence to why a prequel should be made, or they'll do what Christopher Nolan did with The Dark Knight Rises and take some stupid little piece of information(hinting at the part where Ra's tells Bruce about his dead wife) and make the entire game out of it. This is broken. I don't care if I'm jumping the gun, I am super disappointed that this was the direction they decided to go with. My prediction is this: this game won't be as good as the other two, so when they decide to make an eventual fourth game that will be the sequel to Arkham City, no one will care and we'll just be left with a bad taste in our mouths. I mean, what is the deal with people not knowing what to do with Batman in the media? Tim Burton's movies were complete ass. Batman Forever and Batman and Robin were complete ass. We had to wait two decades for someone to come and reboot it, make two good movies, THEN, LIKE THIS ORIGINS GAME, fuck it up at the end with a piece of shit film like The Dark Knight Rises. AND THEN, Warner Bros is just going to reboot the Batman movies AGAIN. How is Batman getting fucked up SO BADLY? Maybe this is just a sign to either stop while you're a head or just not put Batman in other media outside of comics.

Even his costume looks more high tech than the other games. Remember, this is a prequel.

I will say one positive thing, but it's probably just a wasted want. If this game has Co-op, then it could be worth playing. But they'll probably have those stupid challenges that no one plays. Look, I'll get this game and I will play this game, but games currently are starting to get so predictable and I am sick of it. Who knows, maybe we'll never find out what happens after Arkham City. If so, that would be a crime that should punishable by death.

Also, I typed this before the new Game Informer came out. I still stand by my predictions because I will never read the garbage that is Game Informer any way.

Tales of Relevant Thought - Episode 18

2013-04-11T05:34:00.000-06:00

So, this is posted REALLY FUCKING LATE. Apologies, folks. But episode 18 is here. The gang discusses ambitions and how they failed, Tom hates No Country For Old Men, Garrett and Charley hate The Walking Dead TV series, and Miles...well, he was there too. This and much more enjoyable content on our latest episode.

Don't forget to listen to new episodes of Tales Of Relevant Thought every Saturday at 7pm EST at www.vtwproductions.com!

Have a question you want answered on Tales Of Relevant Thought? Leave a comment!

Review A Great Game Day - Chrono Trigger

2013-04-08T19:01:00.001-06:00

Today was "Review A Great Game Day' sponsored by http://www.1morecastle.com. This turned out to be a completely awesome event and I am really glad I was a part of it. Check out http://www.reviewagreatgameday.com to check out all the reviews that have been posted. Below is my entry; Chrono Trigger. Seriously, this day fucking rocked!

WARNING: THERE BE SPOILERS HERE

Review a great game. Lets take a look at that for a second. Just what is a great game? It can be a game treasured from childhood, a game that had the best game play you have ever experienced, a game in which the story just blew your fucking mind. Whatever your reason for deeming a game “great” is your personal preference alone. It doesn't matter if no one likes it or if the whole world thinks it shit doesn't stink, all that matters is that you think it is amazing.

I'm a picky fucker when it comes to games. It has to meet certain standards of my own personal criteria in order for me to even pick it up and play it nowadays. But back in the day, this was not the case. I wanted to get my hands on every game I could when I was a kid. This was back in the hay day of one of the greatest consoles ever invented, the Super Nintendo. Unfortunately, this was also at a time where money barely existed in my life. I remember looking through Nintendo Power and just drooling at all the games I wanted to play and then being infinitely crushed when I realized that I was 7 or 8 years old and there was no way to get any fucking cash to fulfill my video game fantasies. Also, my taste and knowledge in games were just beginning, so when it ever came that time where I actually got a game, like around my birthday or Christmas, I had no damn clue what I was doing. I was a product of television so naturally if I saw a show I liked, I wanted the game. This led to horrible choices(*cough* TMNT Tournament Fighters*cough*). But luck was on my side. I had an older brother. Granted, he was only 4 years older than me, so say about 12, he at least had a brain developed enough to the point where personal and deductive choice comprehended. I mean, a lot of the SNES games I love were not because I found them and played them, it's because he did. Games like Lufia, Final Fantasy II, the Super Star Wars games, Secret of Mana; the list goes on.

It was on some faithful day in my youth where my video game knowledge and experience took a rolled up hundred dollar bill and snorted the cocaine of excellence. Where my brain would evolve to the point where I finally acknowledged and comprehended was a great game was. That was the day my brother brought home Chrono Trigger. I took one look at it and said, “What is this game? Did you read it in Nintendo Power?” He replied, “Nope. I took one look at it and knew I had to get it.” Naturally, I responded with, “Ok?” He then pointed to the back of the box where it stated it was created by the minds behind the Final Fantasy series. You all remember this shit. Back at a time when a game that was made by Square actually fucking meant something. Not nowadays where it seems like they don't even know how to make a fucking video game let alone a good one. Back when it was Squaresoft, not Square-Enix. He showed me that and I got more excited than a fat kid in Wonka's chocolate factory. Hmm, now that I remember, I think I was a fat kid. Any way, he popped that bitch in the SNES and we were completely in awe of the tale that unfolded before us. Now, you have to remember, I'm the younger brother, so a lot of my time was spent watching the older brother play. And I had to do that bullshit where I could play a game, but not get a head of him on it. That shit pissed me off, but I didn't fucking care. From beginning to end, in my young mind, I knew, that this was the best game ever made. I still hold this thought to date. It's like 20 some years later and I still tell my friends that this is my favorite game. “Oh, Skyrim? It's good but not as good as Chrono Trigger.” “Final Fantasy VII? I really like that game, but it's still not as good as Chrono Trigger.”

My cartridge of Chrono Trigger

When I saw what this site was about, I just didn't want to review a game I really liked. I wanted to go fuckin' balls out. I wanted to review the game I've held dearest to me, the game that I've beaten the most(shit, I just beat it again the other day). I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't the only one that review this game for this event. In fact, I'm probably not alone in my opinion of this game either. Lots of spoken high praises of it. But you know what, even if everyone on the planet said this thing was gutter trash, I'd still be standing there declaring it as the best game created. Honestly, no one game really comes close in ways of perfection in my eyes. This game is one thing: an experience of a lifetime.

So, where to begin? Well, lets start with some of the appealing things about the game that one would notice without playing it. First off, the character design and artwork done by Akira Toriyama. You know, that guy that created Dragon Ball. You may also have know his work from character design on the Dragon Quest games, or Dragon Warrior as it was known in the US(look, everyone probably knows this shit I'm about to dive into, but you never know, someone may not, so bare with me). Second, the back of the box says, as I mentioned earlier, “From the creators of the acclaimed Final Fantasy series.” Along with Toriyama was Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy, and Yuji Horii, the creator of the Dragon Quest games. They were nicknamed, the “Dream Team.” So you can let this sink in, let me repeat; this game in a combination of those responsible for FINAL FANTASY AND DRAGON QUEST. The original composer was Yasunori Mitsuda, who fell ill during towards the end of his composition and left it in the hands of a Nobuo Uematsu, the guy behind all your favorite Final Fantasy songs. So, by accident, now we have Uematsu as part of this game. This is like a cluster fuck of some of the greatest minds in gaming. Mitsuda later composed the scores for other games like Chrono Trigger's sequel, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Mario Party, and the first two Shadow Hearts games. This was a group that knew how to put an RPG together. What more could you ask for?

The "Dream Team"

Ok, the creation of this game is in some of the best hands ever, so just what the hell is Chrono Trigger about? Let me just remind everyone that this is a review of the SNES version; yeah, that's right, the fuckin' OG. None of this PS1, Nintendo DS ported horse shit. The real thing. You play as a young man named Crono in the year 1000 AD. The Milleninial Fair has started and Crono's friend Lucca, a complete techie, has created a brand new invention to display at the Fair. While Crono makes his way there, he literally bumps into a girl named Marle. She has Crono show her around and witness Lucca's new invention(a device that teleports a person from one point to another). The crowd is stunned and Marle wants to take a turn. But upon activation of the machine, it has a bad reaction with the pendant she is wearing. A time gate is then torn open and Marle falls through it. Crono teams up with Lucca to travel through time to save their new friend. The duo travel back to 600 AD where times were different. War was happening and monsters and cutthroats were every where. Crono discovers that Marle was mistaken as the current queen of the kingdom for the period. Along with Lucca, they meet the warrior, Frog(or Glenn). His name is no mistake, this dude is a frog/human hybrid. With his help, they save Marle from her captors and return to their own time. Crono then learns that Marle is actually the princess of the kingdom in 1000 AD. When they return her to the castle, Crono is thrown in jail and put on trial. Regardless if you're found guilty or not, Crono is imprisoned and sentenced to death. Lucca and Marle break him out and as they are backed into in inescapable corner, they discover another time gate and go for it. Then are now shot into the future to the year 2300 AD. The world is a destroyed, desolated place with high tech cities, labs and factories that sit like decaying ruins. The group find a robot named Robo who guides them through this new found land. During this time, they find a computer that tells them just what in the world happened. Something called Lavos destroyed most of the civilization and surface of the planet in 1999 AD. With this knowledge, a plot that seemed to focus on rescuing a friend then turns into a journey of traveling through time to save the entire planet.

One of the best cast of characters

This game is a turn based RPG that uses the ATB(Active Time Battle) system. The same system that saw its first creation in Final Fantasy IV. Every character has their own type of weapon they can use as well as a specific element of magic. ATB would soon be the standard for RPGs at this time. So, the game in a nutshell is this: an RPG where you travel through time to defeat the forces of evil, past, present and future uses bad ass swords, guns, scythes, and even bare fists, human and robot alike. To recap, we have an awesome creation team, an awesome soundtrack, an awesome story and awesome innovative game play. Call me an optimist but aren't these the components for a great game? The best of all worlds jammed together. Hell, even the graphics at that time were completely beautiful and creative. And those are two things that help make this game so godlike; beauty and creativity.

Combat was smooth with entertaining sprites and animations

All the broad and obvious notes about this game are set. But nothing makes a game amazing without particulars. For example, who is the greatest silent protagonist in any video game? Most people would say Link from the Legends of Zelda. Not me. I say, Crono. Link is fine and I like him as a character, but the Zelda games were basically his story. You felt like you were just Link's guide through his journeys of Hyrule. Crono is different. There is so much going on and so many characters that join you and interact with you, you don't feel like you're guiding someone through THEIR story, but that you are the character. This is the strength of the silent protagonist. Chrono Trigger pulls this off splendidly. Legend of Zelda and Chrono Trigger are the only two games I have ever played that have successful silent protagonists.

But hey, heroes are not that great unless they have good villains, right? Chrono Trigger delivers. From the villainous Reptile, Azala from the year 65000000 BC, to everyone's favorite scythe wielding magician, Magus in 600 AD. I can picture it now, Magus standing there in his castle as you approach to fight him and he says, “The black wind begins to howl...” then BAM! Right into the fight and his KICK ASS theme. They are all memorable whether it be because of their evil intent or just their goofy persona. Remember Dalton from 12000 BC? I always will. He always had those Golem bosses that he would pull out of nowhere and had you fight and his final attack when you beat him was “Burp” and the screen gets a dirty, fog effect. Or how about the Yakra that always poses as the chancellor? Stuff that I will never forget.

One thing that I think everyone remembers was Chrono Trigger's introduction of the New Game+ feature. After completing the game, you can start a new game with all your equipment and stats from the completed game. Which then lead to the numerous alternate endings this game had. Yeah, this game has over a dozen endings you can complete. Basically, you have the ability to beat the game at any point in the game. Depending on when you beat it decides the ending. I will always remember the ending where you see Frog as a human, it blew me away, him being my favorite companion in the game. Or, the ending where you beat Lavos at the beginning of the game with Crono and Marle, or challenge yourself and beat it with just Crono. Then you unlock the Developer's Room and get to talk to the game's creators. Awesome stuff that I don't see games do at all any more. Chrono Trigger defines the term “Replay Value.”

I mean, what could be said about this game that hasn't? Well, I'm sure others have said, but I will explain to you one reason why I personally think this game is the shit(here comes that spoiler mentioned at the beginning...but seriously, do you realize that it's been almost 20 years since this game came out, I think I deserve some slack on the fuckin' spoilers so here goes). Crono, the main character of the game, dies. Yeah, he fucking dies in the game. And it doesn't stop there. You can either choose to revive him or beat the game without him. What other game, as marvelous as this one, lets you do that? I mean, it is so awesome playing a game where no one is safe. When the MAIN CHARACTER DIES, you get this feeling of, “HOLY SHIT, ANYTHING COULD FUCKING HAPPEN!” Now THAT is an awesome feeling. I mean, we've all played so many games that most games get predictable. Chrono Trigger throws that shit out the window and says, “what now, mother fucker?!” And shitty, pussy, Final Fantasy X doesn't count towards a main character dying, or going back to dream land, or what the fuck ever that blonde piece of human waste did; doesn't come close. No. Your hero is dead. You still have like half the game to finish. What do?

I could go on forever with this masterpiece(that's right, I said it), no fucking seriously, I'm such a dick rider for this game that as I'm typing this, I'm listening to the damn soundtrack. Chrono Trigger showed me what a great game is. It defined it for me. As time passed and I played a multitude of other games and got into adulthood where I can pretty much buy any game I want, NONE OF THEM, come close to my love for this game. I have played and beat this game more than any other. It has pretty much become a tradition where I must beat it multiple times a year. It reminds me of a more pure and innocent time. A time where everyone wasn't so desensitized to video game media. The time where not everything perfected and people still didn't have somewhat of a clue about video games. A time when the internet and Game Informer didn't fucking exist(no, seriously, I know Nintendo Power was bad, but Game Informer is just way worse). I don't think games these days are any where near the caliber they were 15-20 years ago. The way things are going, I don't think there will ever be another game like Chrono Trigger. And you know what, I'm fine with that.

Review: X-Men Legends

2013-03-29T19:08:00.000-06:00

There are many video games created based on comic books out there today. Most of them are complete ass. But there are a few that slip through that are at least decent and sometimes good and fun to play. X-Men Legends is one of those games. Obviously, it's not the greatest comic book game, but it was the beginning of a gameplay system that spawned off into good games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I remember the first time I played X-Men Legends around when it first came out. Me and two friends played it damn near non-stop through the night and into the morning; we felt the gameplay was that addicting. Diablo + X-Men = this game. Seriously, this game is very Diablolike, which is awesome because I fucking love Diablo. From the level ups with stat and skill building to the random items that enemies drop, X-Men Legends creates a fun dungeon crawling system. Now, like I said before, this isn't greatest game; it has flaws. But at that time when it came out, it was like God reached down from the heavens and said, “LET THERE BE AWESOME!” Now, I have this game on the PS2, so my review will reflect that version of the game.

Basically the game plays like this: You choose a member of the X-Men, you hack and slash while using special attacks that drains an Energy meter. Naturally, you reach 0 HP, you die. By defeating enemies and completing mission objectives, you gain XP which raises your level. When a level is raised, you acquire 1 stat point and 1 skill point. Stat points boost damage, HP, EP; the usual. Skill Points can increase the effectiveness of your special abilities and buffs to your character like increased Heath Regeneration or Attack Power. Pretty much standard RPG shit. You could be telling yourself, “So? Da fuck is da big deal?” Well, imagine doing all this but using DA MUTHA FUCKIN X-MEN! The cast of playable characters I think gives this game the appeal. Your choice of characters are as follows: Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Gambit, Iceman, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Magma, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine. Back in the day, this was fucking jaw dropping. When I first played, I chose Gambit while my friends played as Rogue and Cyclops. All I did was spam charged cards and loved every second of it.

Menu Screen

Combat is simple. Two buttons control light and heavy attacks so you can do knockdown combos or pop up combos, etc. Clicking the right trigger brings up a menu for your special abilities. By hitting the coordinated button would unleash them(EX: R2+X = Wolverine's Feral Claw attack). Basically, you mash the shit out of the buttons until your opponents are dead. Some enemies have resistances to abilities like electric damage or physical damage, so you change your attack plan accordingly. To recover HP and EP, you collect Heather and Energy items that replenish them by using L1 for health and R1 for Energy. It's really simple. Just mash and don't die. If your character does die, you can revive them by spending money. You get credits in this game from smashing objects and beating enemies that can spent on equipment to boost your characters stats.

Combat is not difficult

The environments are giant dungeons, pretty much. You can explore vast areas, find hidden items(once again, basic RPG shit), all the way until you complete the mission objectives and/or get to the location you need to. Most events end with a boss fight. There are also discs you can collect in the game which unlock trials, character specific missions, etc. which you can participate in using the famous “Danger Room” at the X-Mansion. Completing these trials and missions grants you more XP and some items you can only get from these missions. A grinding, dungeon exploring buffet is in store for you in this game. Also, some environmental areas can be changed based on what character is in your party. Iceman can put out random fires that could lead to secrets as well as form ice bridges across ditches. Another example, is Storm can use lightning on metal to fuse it shut. Ok, personally, if you are going to make a party in this game and you don't want to have to change it every time something like this pops up(some times, you have to form a bridge to continue a mission), just fucking have Iceman in your party. Seriously, putting out fires and forming bridges occurs a lot in this game and if you already have Iceman in your party, you're golden. Locations in the game include New York City, Asteroid M and other famous X-Men/Marvel locales.

Everyone also has a "Super" move they can use

So the basics have been covered, before I talk about how much I love this game, lets point out the one terrible thing about it first. The fucking story. I know what you're thinking, “how da fuck could an X-Men game have a bad story?” Unfortunately, it's complete shit. The “main character” of the story is Allison Crestmere, aka, Magma from the New X-Men series. You're basically playing the role of a new mutant being exposed to the world. You find out what the X-Men are, how to deal with your powers, blah, blah, blah, boring ass stupid shit. If you are really into X-Men, then you will not giving a flying fuck about what anyone is talking about because you already know everything. Hmm, I guess saying that, if you don't know anything about the X-Men, then maybe you will find it interesting...well, fuck. Let me rephrase. I THINK the story is ass, but it could be good for newcomers. Here it is in a nutshell: STOP MAGNETO. That's it. Magneto and the Brotherhood are the bad guys and you stop them. They hate non-mutants and they want to rule/destroy the world so the mutants will be the only ones left because Mag-fuckin-neto thinks mutants are superior. Basic X-Men story. What's annoying about this is the fact that Magma is the lead character, a character that knows nothing about the X-Men and their history, so in a way, this character is the player. First off, you won't want to use her AT ALL. I mean, would who would you choose to play as, Wolverine or some fire bitch that you didn't grow up reading about? No brainer. Second, if Magma is supposed to be the player, then why not make it where you can customize your own character? Look, I know this game came out forever ago, but seriously, a quick skin and a choice of what type of mutant you are would have been better. I just found myself mashing the X button through all dialogue. Yes, there is voice acting in this game and yes, Sir Patrick Stewart graces us with the voice of Professor Xavier, and YES, once again, Steven Blum plays a voice acting role in this game(seriously, this guys is in fucking EVERYTHING). But I still just mashed through dialogue eagerly awaiting the next chance to crush some fools.

Now, this is just me, but another thing I hate about this game is that a lot of the character design and ideas are based of the Ultimate Marvel series. Which I hate with a fucking passion. The Ultimate Marvel series is just a different version of Marvel comics where different shit happens. It's bullshit. Once again, this comes down to my personal taste. For example, I hate that I have to wear Colossus' stupid Ultimate costume instead of his classic red. It's just bullshit.

Some of the art in the game isn't that great either

As for the graphics in this game, I have two opinions based on when I played it first to when I played it recently. X-Men Legends sports the cel shaded look. When I first played it, I thought it was pretty cool. Kind of gave it a comic feel to it. But then after playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance where they went with 3D models, I look back on the cel shaded graphics and they annoy the fuck out of me. It looks ugly. But it's playable, I don't want to get that mistaken. But after being spoiled with updated graphics and having experienced WAY TOO MANY FUCKING CEL SHADED GAMES, I can't really appreciate these graphics now. Which sucks, because I don't want this point to shy people away, but it urks me. And the fact that video game creation has potentially ruined some games for me graphically, really pisses me off. But I digress. It's not the best but it could have been worse.

So, what are the good points? Let me be blunt, YOU'RE PLAYING AS THE FUCKING X-MEN. This gives automatic cool points. Second, the dungeon crawling/Diablo experience I mentioned earlier. I really like RPGs so when you combine it with comics I love, I am pretty much sucked in right away. Another reason is that it is really fun to play with friends and form awesome X-Men teams. You can play this with one player, but the AI likes to do stupid shit like fall off cliffs and crap like that. I also like grinding in RPGs and believe me, if you want levels, you'll be grinding. The fun factor for this game is off the charts. Fighting X-Men villains, going through their locations; it's a blast. A good blend of RPG and comics if you ask me. Some can say that game gets kind of tedious, but it doesn't for me. It was one of those games that got me hooked just from reading the back of the case in the game store. Though it is an older game, I suggest giving it a try, especially if you've played Marvel Ultimate Alliance. You will get to see what started those games.

Before I close, I just want to give some tips for this game that I have experienced. Which ever character you choose to control, make it one of the tank characters, like Colossus or Rogue. I find the game much easier just smashing shit about instead of using an energy focused character that has to rely on special abilities. The EP meter goes FAST so playing a character like Storm or Jean Grey can be kind of difficult. I like using Rogue because she has the ability of Flight, which is just fun as hell to use. Just fly all over the stage. You can even pick up allies and chuck them at opponents. But a good team should be this: 2 Tanks(Colossus, Rogue, Wolverine), 1 Energy focused for support(Storm/Jean Grey) and Iceman. Personally, my team for this game is Rogue, Colossus, Storm, and Iceman. Characters that are balanced like Cyclops don't really pan out that well because you're trying to balance physical fighting ability with energy attacks. As the game goes on, you'll notice that you're damage output isn't all that effective. So, basically make a decision with your character: Tank or Energy attacks.

Plenty of exploration, RPG elements and X-Men to choose from. This game is a must play for comic fans.

Tales of Relevant Thought - Episode 17

2013-03-26T20:23:00.002-06:00

Episode 17 is now available for download! We get a new guest on the show and continue our discussions about comic books and the unknown, unspoken aspects of their characters! This warps into everyone's take on fetishes and their favorite porn. Hmm, an odd twist. This and more on our newest episode!

Don't forget to listen to new episodes of Tales Of Relevant Thought every Saturday at 7pm EST at www.vtwproductions.com!

Tales of Relevant Thought - Episode 16

2013-03-18T18:30:00.001-06:00

Episode 16 is up; cocked, locked and ready to rock! Miles rejoins us this week as we diffuse the all important confusion of super hero anatomy...and their shit. Does Nightcrawler just teleport his crap away? Are the Thing's innards rock or soft? That a much more in this giant sized comic episode! Seriously, it's like over 80 pages! Listen and enjoy!

Don't forget to listen to new episodes of Tales Of Relevant Thought every Saturday at 7pm EST at www.vtwproductions.com!

Tales of Relevant Thought - Episode 15

2013-03-11T23:31:00.000-06:00

Episode 15 is up and ready for download. It's a trio again this time as we discuss EBay and online shopping, the return of Like It or Hate It and what are your super powers? What would your weaknesses be? That and more on this new ep. Listen and enjoy!

Don't forget to listen to new episodes of Tales Of Relevant Thought every Saturday at 7pm EST at www.vtwproductions.com!

Review: Batman Room Full of Strangers

2013-03-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

I have a shit ton of comics. Most of them, I have not read yet. But as you all know, I have a love for Batman. Now, for those of you that have the same situation, I'm sure there's always that time as you stare at your “not yet touched” collection and find something obscure yet interesting. This story is one of those comics. I first looked at it and was perplexed by the art; it reminded me of a children's book. Then I see Jim Gordon holding a pistol and I immediately had to pick it up and read it. I should also admit, I think the Batman universe, the heroes, villains, side characters, etc. and the city of Gotham and its surrounding areas is probably my favorite comic book setting. So I really enjoy the Batman comics that, well, don't really star Batman(hence why I think Gotham Central is so bad ass). Room Full of Strangers isn't some long story arc; just a one shot. But I think it deserves a look.

First thing I want to point out is that this book is written and illustrated by Scott Morse. Morse has done work on Plastic Man, Elektra and Catwoman. He is also know for a series called Magic Pickle...whatever the fuck that is. I've never heard of him before this and this is the first and only work of his I have read. Like I said before, the illustrations in this book remind me of a children's book. Smooth and powerful colors, a type of character art that you might see on Nickelodeon or Disney; like it's abstract but it is not at the same time. In better terms, it looks like animation you would see on a cartoon show pretty much. My thoughts going into this were up in the air, because I knew this would be a Jim Gordon story but the fact that it is drawn in a different way than I'm used to seeing, really placed a big question mark in my head.

I love the way the colors are used

The story of the comic is after Jim Gordon retires from being the commissioner of Gotham(check out Batman: Officer Down and you will see what lead to it). Jim is out to get some R&R in the country at a bed and breakfast. Upon his arrival, he meets the colorful group that is staying there now, including a young boy named Graham that is completely into Gotham and the Batman. A terrible storm rolls in and knocks the power out. Noise is heard from the couple upstairs and Jim investigates to find that a murder has been committed. Jim has to investigate the inn while dealing with the deadly storm outside and gets help from an unsuspecting “fan” of the Dark Knight.

It's not who you think it is, the ending of this book is very unique

Now, I know this isn't much info to go on, but since this is just a one shot, I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Let me put it this way, if you are thinking that the look of this comic is geared towards children, wait until you read the end. Very real and pretty shocking shit, I must say. I liked this book. The style and colors are done really well and any indecisive thoughts I had about the art just dissolves away. It's a great story and an interesting look at people in Batman's universe that are outside of Gotham. I felt like I was on a vacation from Gotham myself as I read this. It's a good read if you want to read a Batman comic but want a fresh look at things.

My Man Cave as of 2013-03-07

2013-03-07T17:51:00.001-07:00

Hey all. I just thought it would be cool to post some pictures of what I deem my "Man Cave." It's just the spare bedroom at my place that I have all my nerdy shit displayed. I took these because I found a great website: http://www.colexions.com. It's a site for collector's of games, comics, etc. and they post their collections. It's really cool and I advise you all to check it out. I find it really fun and collector's on there seem really nice. Plus, it's awesome to see the random stuff that other people have. So if you are into that kind of stuff, click the link and check it out. Special thanks to @CoreyBuckner for showing me Colexions.com.

Door

Behind Door

Wall behind couch

Corner wall behind couch

Bookcase

Bookcase corner wall

Entertainment center

Entertainment center left corner wall

Closet(boxes are full of comics, 1500+)


Above closet

Now, I'm not going to make this a regular thing on this site but I will update it on Colexions.com. I may post a Man Cave update on my site, like, every 6 months or so, but I just wanted to take this time to hype Colexions.com and just show off some stuff I have. If you guys have any questions about what you see or want to show off your collection, leave a comment or start an account at http://www.colexions.com!

Tales Of Relevant Thought - Episode 14

2013-03-05T22:11:00.002-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting folks, but Tales Of Relevant Thought Episode 14 is now available for download! In this episode, the crew reviews the PS4 unveiling; was it good? Terrible? Lame? Exciting? Listen for our thoughts. Also covered are the recent Oscar winners. Take a load off and crack open a cool one and allow to think for you for a while. Enjoy!

Don't forget to listen to new episodes of Tales Of Relevant Thought every Saturday at 7pm EST at www.vtwproductions.com!

Also, for those of you wondering what happened last week, we airred Episode 1 for the first time on VTW with a bonus intro from myself.

Tales Of Relevant Thought - Episode 13

2013-02-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Episode 13 is now available for download! We have a new guest on the show, Miles Standish, as the group discusses all of life's problems, like...stuff about comic books and movies! You know, the shit that really matters. Listen and enjoy!

Review: Batman Death By Design

2013-02-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

I don't typically read recent comic books a lot, but when I do, I read Batman. No, not that bullshit, piece of rotten ass garbage, 52 series, actual Batman comics. So I picked up Batman Death by Design. The cover really intrigued me. I liked the charcoal look of the Caped Crusader hanging upside down over the lights and streets of Gotham City. When I received the book, I was blown away by the illustrations inside. Truly, some unique work was put into this one.

Death by Design was written by Chip Kidd, who has done various cover art for novels and has written two himself. Death by Design would be his first written graphic novel. This book was illustrated by Dave Taylor, who has illustrated various Batman comics including series like Shadow of the Bat and Batman & Superman: The World's Finest. Lets start with Chip Kidd's writing. Overall, I feel this book is very well written, but as far as Batman is concerned, it's pretty standard. There is no delving into the dark knight's psyche, no elaborate twists that have to deal with the struggles of other known Batman characters; it's pretty much just another Batman case. It's not a pain to read, but if you're looking for a comic that has a unique portrayal of Batman, this really isn't it.

On to Dave Taylor's illustrations though, they are really awesome. If I could describe it, it would look as if it was drawn with some type of charcoal pencil(sorry, I don't know much about this stuff or the actual name of it, and looking it up would be cheating). Predominantly, the whole comic is somewhat black and white except with certain panels highlighting other colors. Now, as far as art goes, I really like hand drawn art without any color. Like, if someone just drew something with pencil and that's it. That's just my style. So I immediately was sucked into Taylor's work. Everything is its own. The architecture and style of the characters, their clothes, as well ass the buildings and even cars, are representative of the early 1900s. Taylor's illustrations capture this time perfectly and lets you know that this is an independent Batman in his own world. Really stunning. I must have looked back through this book three or four times after I read it just to admire Taylor's work.

This is a pretty good example of the art style

The story of Death by Design focuses on Wayne Central Station(WSC), and how it's crumbling introduction to the see of Gotham needs some serious repairs. A crane accident happens while Bruce Wayne speaks to the media in front of the building and the Batman feels an investigation is in order. Through this ordeal, he finds himself speaking with Cyndia Syl, a person who wants nothing more than to preserve Wayne Central Station the way it is because it is one of Gotham's most important landmarks. While during a party at a new nightclub opened by the architect planning on building the new WSC, a masked stranger, like kind of looks like the Rocketeer, named Exacto appears to warn everyone that the structure is unstable. This joined with a surprise attack of the Joker causes the structure to loosen and start to collapse. Batman saves everyone but is now met with new questions: Who is the stranger? What is Joker up to? What does it have to do with WSC?

The Joker

We learn that the original architect got in bad with a union boss(the dude stole his wife) and the bad condition of WSC was done intentionally so more money could be spent in the future and union workers could keep working and getting paid. In the boss's attempt to murder a local Gotham newspaper reporter, Batman arrives to save the day only to be trapped in a crane compartment by Exacto, who is looking to murder the union boss. Batman escapes only to find that the Joker has kidnapped Cyndia Syl and Bruce Wayne is expected to pay ransom. It all ties to WSC where all the answers are revealed.

The mysterious Exacto

This book was pretty entertaining. A lot of the content reminded me of an old black and white suspense movie(the illustrations pretty much help me get to that thought). It even has some old school scenes that I found quite amusing. For example, when the Joker has Cyndia Syl, she is tied to the hands of a giant clock. At the top is a blade fashioned to it so if she is not removed by a certain time, the hands will send her into the blade ending her life. Classic 1900s villain set up. Like the damsel being tied to the train tracks. I like that kind of stuff. This book is like old school movies mix with modern day technology. It's very nostalgic while still maintaining its own style and perspective.

Love the Batman style

For the illustrations alone, I'd say get this book. And if you are into this type of style, then you should instantly be drawn to it. Batman Death by Design is a fun look into old time ideas with a twist of today's influences. Once again, I really like the design of Batman. Year One style, or 1930s, 1940s, Batman if you want to look at it that way. I imagine long time Batman lovers from back in the day were pretty happy to see a Batman that seemed similar to the one they grew up with. Also, it is a good look in the type of cooky and odd situations Gotham's defender had to deal with, since this book is pretty reminiscent of some of the first Batman stories. I advise that you get this one. It opens up a window to a Batman that has been closed for a really long time.

UPDATE 04/29/2013

So, I was just randomly looking through referring sites on my pageviews screen when I noticed that there were hits from Chip Kidd's website. I looked into it and found that my review of this comic was posted on his site and he had some awesome words to say about it. Don't believe me? Check it out here: http://chipkidd.com/journal/?p=2341. This was posted way back in February(2013) and I never knew!

Review: Gotham Central #1-9

2013-02-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

So, I've seen these Batman related comics having to do with the Gotham City Police Department. I was really interested when I first heard about them; Gotham Central, Gordon'a Law, GCPD, etc. I was finally able to get my hands on a good batch of these comics, starting with Gotham Central. And holy fuckin' potatoes, I was not disappointed. Imagine something like Law & Order or CSI, but better and with a dash of the dark knight. That's what you get with Gotham Central. I have finished the first nine issues and I am begging for more.

The Gotham Central issues I have were written by Ed Brubaker(#1-5), who wrote the first 14 issues to the Eisner award winning series, and one of my personal favs, The Immortal Iron Fist in the mid-2000s, and Greg Rucka(#1-9), who wrote Batman #587 which is issue 1 of the Officer Down series(aside from some other issues he has done during the No Man's Land series, I haven't read anything else he has done). The issues were illustrated, beautifully I might add, by Michael Lark, who illustrated issues #1-9 of Terminal City. Lets get started with Lark's work. Fucking amazing stuff. It is a type of noirish look as he used heavy shades and shadows. You can really see this in the character's faces as the shadows help define what mood the character is in. Typical, less dramatic scenes, pretty much have the character with no shadows at all, but when things get intense, you start seeing the dark illustrations and really get sucked into the atmosphere of what the character is feeling. Really gripping stuff. Plus, his illustrations of Batman kind of remind me of Frank Miller's Year One Batman, which is really cool.

As for the writing, Brubaker and Rucka know their shit. From casual cop conversations to using dialogue like “stiff” and phrases like “he's good police” sells the fact that these are cops. You get all the classic stuff like arguments with the captain, great chemistry between the various partners that do cases, all the basic staples that you would expect from a cop drama. But the story ideas take the damn cake. I've never enjoyed or respected the idea of a great plot until I read Gotham Central. The suspense and thrill from a good detective story rivals that of Batman's own experiences. Yes, this series IS THAT FUCKING GOOD. Now, I'm going to try and give synopsis of what I've read with only giving away a few spoilers. Normally, I really don't care, but from what I've read so far, this series is so good, I want everyone to experience it for themselves. So, if you don't want anything spoiled, I suggest you stop reading now and get your hands on this series.

I love the shades in this comic

The first story arc in the series are issues one and two, entitled, “In the Line of Duty.” Marcus Driver and his partner Charlie Fields are investigating a kidnapping. They get a lead that the kidnapper may be in a hotel. They go to investigate only to find that the person renting the room is Mr. Freeze. Freeze kills Fields and leaves Marcus Driver alive. The investigation then turns into a case about Freeze and what his plans are for Gotham. The story arc then continues into issues 3-5 called, “Motive.” Marcus Driver continues Charlie Fields case of a missing girl. Now, the Mr. Freeze plot ends in issue two but I want to talk about both plots from issues 1-5. Why? Because I think Marcus Driver has become one of my new favorite comic book characters of all time. After witnessing the death of his partner, he kind of takes a personal crusade to stop Mr. Freeze and then continue his late partner's case. Some would say this could be a typical detective/cop story, but Driver has one part that really comes out that you don't really see in any other Batman comic. A hate for the Batman. Not meaning, he wants Batman to die or anything like that, but he wants to prove to him throughout these story arcs that the public servants of Gotham can take down villains like Freeze. Driver is smart, determined and pretty much a great definition of what a good detective is. In the Freeze story arc, he discovers where Freeze will strike, but has to resort to calling on Batman due to the time constraint(and to save lives). But during the “Motive” story arc, GCPD takes down the villain Firebug which concluded with a great scene of Driver using the Bat-signal to “summon” the caped crusader and basically just tell him that they solved the case without him. Though, Batman doesn't really care, it takes fucking balls to stand up to the dark knight. I can only hope that Marcus Driver gets more involved with other story arcs further in the series.

Driver stands up to Batman

Gotham Central then continues into a story arc called, “Half a Life.” Now, technically, this series stretches from issues 6-10, but I only have up to 9(so sue me, ok?). It focuses on Renee Montoya, which is probably the most recognizable Gotham detective besides Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock. Renee had several story arcs in other Batman comics, like in No Man's Land where her family was held captive by Two Face and she forced to play bailiff in Harvey Dent's cruel trial against Jim Gordon. She is a Hispanic detective that is partnered with Crispus Allen, an african american detective that shares a stunning resemblance to Rude from Final Fantasy VII...I like how I can link a Batman related comic to FFVII. Montoya and Allen are two of the best in the MCU(Major Crimes Unit) and this story arc opens with Montoya being sued by a former arrest she made on a rapist that walked free. She then discovers that she is being followed and documented by a private investigator hired by the rapist when she finds a picture of her and her lover, Daria, is posted in the main lobby of MCU. Montoya is outed as a lesbian and is then framed for the murder of the rapist that was soon found dead. Montoya's story through this arc is so complex and a real page turner. As weird as this sounds, Montoya being a lesbian made her cooler to me. I don't know if that's just the way it is or that thinking that since someone's character is gay and it makes my view toward them positive, is just another example of how ignorant and foolish I am towards those that are homosexual. So take it whatever way you want, but Renee Montoya is a great character in this series.

Renee Montoya and her lover, Daria

I really want to dive deeper but I must restrain myself. Gotham Central is a definite must read. Upon further investigation of the series, I have learned that it is a 40 issue series. This confuses me because it's so damn good, but according to Wikipedia, the series was very popular and highly acclaimed from those that read it, but it never made enough sales to keep it going. A damn shame if you ask me. If you like great detective stories in the city of Batman, you will thoroughly enjoy this series. I can't wait to get the rest of them!

Tales Of Relevant Thought - Episode 12

2013-02-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

Episode 12 is now available for download! A quick side note, this episode actually aired at 6pm EST instead of the scheduled 5pm EST on Saturday due to a scripting error on the VTW server. But it was quickly fixed. In this episode, we discuss the announcement of the two new Star Wars stand alone movies accompanied with a heated discussion about Tarentino's film Inglorious Bastards and more! Enjoy!