DiscordsDestiny

Well, I figured that since I have a DeviantArt account, I'd best use it, right?

The other night, I had an intriguing dream, and it was so brisk, so clear...I had to write it down. But, since it would have enough material to make a full on novel...I decided that I wanted to write it in short bursts and upload it to here. Think Bioshock meets Fallout in the late 1960's, without being either a Bioshock or Fallout fan-fiction.

That's really all I can describe, story-wise, but I can promise, it'll be a tense and action-packed adventure.

Stay tuned!

I'm going to say it now - I was not satisfied with the first Hotline Miami. While everyone else has said this game is hard but fair, I have found that, at times, the enemy placement is far from it. There are times where there is no way for you to actually see the enemy - case in point, there was one level that had this exploding room. One room below it has two enemies hunkered down behind glass walls. Obviously just running in is not a good idea, but even if you're not in the room, you can get shot, but I couldn't find an angle to shoot back from that room - running in and risking another death was the only way I could kill both enemies. To me, that isn't exactly "fair." Then, there were some levels that just aggravated me, like the Police Station, second floor. If you step out of the elevator, you're likely to get shot. So, the only way to not get shot is to shoot and kill the enemy likely to shoot you. But, in doing so, you alert damn near every other enemy on the floor, and unless you're able to get out of there, you're going to die.

And, don't get me started on the final boss - it was nothing but pure bullsh!t, and nothing anyone can say will convince me otherwise - I absolutely hated it. Then Wrong Number 2 comes along, and I've heard a lot of people say that it's harder than the first. Some levels (Dead Ahead, I F**KING HATE THAT LEVEL!) I can definitely agree on, but the rest...no, guys, I have to say it - Wrong Number is not harder than the first, and I actually prefer it to the first. Now, there is something that people universally say is awesome about these games, and that is the music. I am completely indifferent to it. The theme songs are good. I can't remember any other songs, sadly.

Now, many people have said that these games are like an acid trip. And, again, I have to disagree, save for the last level of the second game. If you're going to tell me that the visuals are Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but pixelated, then damn it, I EXPECT it to be like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but pixelated! At the very best, it's a very colorful Grand Theft Auto. By that, I mean the original GTA. I wanted things to get insane with the visuals, and I had to wait until the very end of the second game to get it. That said, visuals are pretty damn good for both games. Everything is really detailed and very vibrant with its colors. Perhaps that's what they mean by an acid trip, but I still stand by what I said.

Hotline Miami is, in the end, a niche game. Unless you're into games so difficult, it'll stomp your skull into a fine dust, don't even bother. Hotline Miami gets a 2/10, and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number gets a 5/10.

I want to start off by fully admitting that I wasn't a major fan of the original PPG, though I did, and do, respect what it has done for the medium, and that I will be writing this review based solely on this episode, and this episode alone. That said, I'm sorry, but this isn't a good episode in the slightest. But, be wary: ahead there be spoilers.

When I first saw the previews before this, I noticed that every original character outside the original PPG characters looked as if they came out of Clarence. I had hoped this wouldn't be a case for all of them, but if this episode is proof of anything, that is the route they are going. While the colors are appealing, the designs for the new characters themselves are lazy, with one character model being almost completely ripped from another show. I'll explain more later.

The episode starts off at the Zen-aissance fair, a hippie festival. Why are they at a hippie festival? Never answered. Buttercup even asks this just before the episode's villain attacks. Now, I know the original PPG has had some really strange, and even stupid, villains - not just the recurring ones, even the one-off villains like the broccoli aliens and the disco nightmare. But this villain, Man-Boy, is terrible. He comes onto the scene declaring the festival too girly and tries to toughen it up with his manliness. It makes me think of the exact opposite of Femme Fatale, a villainess from the original series that was (very justifiably) HATED due to her butchering what it's like to be a feminist. This is literally the other extreme.

So, after he sends Buttercup into a rage, which causes her to defeat him, burn down the whole festival and give Bubbles a black eye (nice -_-) the girls take her to a guru they met at the festival, where he teaches her inner peace. Then, we get to watch the polar opposite of what Buttercup is supposed to be. Joke or not, this entire scene is painful to watch. Then, Man-Boy returns in a wooden tank driven by a polar bear followed by an army of t-bone steaks. I WISH I was kidding with that. Oh, and the polar bear? That's Ice Bear from We Bare Bears, just made to look scraggly. That is how lazy this art style is - they're full-on ripping off better shows of theirs.

After Buttercup tries and fails over and over, just to pad out the episode by an extra minute or so, she finally reaches inner peace and beats him by tossing him into a large tofu block. Then the episode ends. This episode is flawed. No doubt to that. It's not good. That is obvious. But, in the end...I might actually look at a few more episodes to give this show a solid chance. That said, this show is not off to a good start.

3/10.

I just recently went to see Zootopia. And, I think it's very safe to say that this is going to be considered to be one of the best films of this decade. Not year, decade. There are no words I can use to appropriately describe this movie other than "special." Go. See. Zootopia.

Cloud Strife. Because who DIDN'T see that coming!