Elves and Beasts and Lightsabers

Oddworld Soulstorm thoughts (spoilers) There are spoilers here. I have been waiting so long for this game! It’s been four years. Additionally, Oddworld hasn’t made an original story since 2005.  Did it live up to the wait? In story terms, somewhat. In game terms, no. I also have a big problem with the game that I'll get to. I love this franchise so much and I’m glad to see more stuff from the franchise. There were some good things and some bad things. There have been so many promises and so many things have been hyped up; the game does completely not live up to the hype and the promises. I also wonder how experiencing the game would have been like without the  four years of trailers and preparation.    My main interest in this game was for the story, so that’s my focus. I’ll go over the good things first. Regarding positives, I appreciate Abe’s characterization. It’s more human, and it does a great job at showing his intended empathy. At the start, he doesn’t want to fight anymore.

I just watched Enemy Mine. I thought it was a good movie. It made me feel a lot of emotions. Rage for the injustice of the system and those who perpetuate it. The film stumbles in quite a few ways. But its accomplishments are extremely noteworthy. I feel like this film, warts and all, deserves some more praise. I deeply admire how the film sets out to talk about bigotry and exploitation. This film, with its alien designs and focus on such issues, reminds me of Oddworld. That is a very good thing. The effects and performances in the film are magnificent! I love how the alien life looks! They have that three-eyed turtle thing. I have a few problems with the movie. That this film had trouble behind the scenes is evident. I find it hilarious that they had to include a mine to appease people who thought the title would be confusing without a literal mine. The film has little interest in exploring complicity within greater systems. Willis’s character is great. However, there’s a surprising l

  I lately saw these two comedy anime, both based off of manga. I found them really funny. Both shows have similarities and are also reminiscent of the anime Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, a series I am a big fan of, despite its unfortunate problematic elements (neither Gabriel Dropout nor Dropkick on My Devil have those kinds of elements). Both series are about they are about angels and demons coming over to the human world, in the slice-of-life genre. Both shows deal with folklore and mythos, which is always welcome. Gabriel Dropout follows two high-achieving angels who are sent to Earth via their student exchange program. Upon arrival, the main character Gabriel, almost immediately becomes addicted to gaming, losing her angelic disposition in favour of a misanthropic, slovenly, and lazy demeanour. The other angel, Raphiel, becomes a sadist. Then they meet two demons, Vignette and Satania. Vignette is a polite and kind person, ironically being more like an angel in behaviour rather th

Darth Plagueis was a mysterious dark lord of the Sith, known for being the master of the formidable Emperor Palpatine and for his ongoing quest to seek immortality. He sought to master nature and the force itself through scientific and political power. Palpatine, his ever power-hungry apprentice, killed him in his sleep. This book details the long history of both figures, being the only Star Wars media to talk about Darth Plagueis in depth. It spans decades, following Hego Damask, a wealthy banker and the alter ego of Darth Plagueis, carrying on the Sith legacy. He seduces a young Palpatine and they continue their mission of eventually implanting Sith rule. I love this book. It’s so good at world-building, at expanding established lore. It has escapism with science-fiction with political intrigue. I really felt like this was history, history of another universe. While not whitewashing that both Plagueis and Palpatine are monsters, the book gives a lot of depth to both Palpatine and Pla

In my opinion, Infinity Train is one of the best cartoons of the modern age.   Infinity Train is the long-awaited 2019 Cartoon Network series. The series started in 2019 and has three seasons. It was originally a short, but it was popular enough to be greenlit and made into a miniseries. The first season of Infinity Train follows Tulip, a young aspiring game programmer, her mercurial robotic sidekick, 1-1, and a talking Corgi, as she tries to navigate through this seemingly infinite train, each carriage carrying a different world with a puzzle to solve, and to get back home. She must also find out why there is a mysterious glowing number on her hand. After the original short, the show gained a fandom. An audience was drawn to the character potential and creative settings that the premise allows. The premise allows for a lot of magical and creative worlds for Tulip and her friends to venture and explore. It’s rife with potential, especially in regards to the mystery aspect of why Tulip