REVIEW - "LIGHTS OUT"

Warning: slight spoilers follow

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Horror is a very difficult genre to master. Besides comedy, it may be the hardest genre to be successful in. To genuinely scare your audience, and to have it feel natural and in service of the story, isn't easy. The last few years has been fairly interesting with regards to horror; along with the usual sub-par remakes and many films assuming gore = horror,  there have been some great horror films, like The Witch, It Follows, and The Conjuring, among others. Lights Out, from director David F. Sandberg and producer James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious) is really none of these things. It's probably not going to be going to be remembered as a masterpiece in the horror genre, but it isn't a complete disaster of a film, either. It's a perfectly good horror film, one with many positive elements.

The film, based on a 2013 short film of the same name, centers around Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), a young woman who is estranged from her mother, Sophie (Maria Bello). You find out that Sophie has been previously diagnosed with depression, but that isn't what drove the women apart. Rather, it was something else, something more sinister. Sophie has an "imaginary friend" or sorts named Diana. But instead of it being merely being a product of Sophie's mental illness, it is in fact a malicious entity, one that can only function in darkness. Rebecca's half-brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) begins encountering Diana, causing him trouble in school, leading Rebecca to re-enter her family's life. You soon discover that Rebecca has had encounters with Diana herself, and that she may in fact be responsible for the disappearance of Rebecca's father. (You see Martin's father, and Sophie's husband being killed by Diana, unnamed at this point, at the beginning of the film.)

The film is a little over an hour and twenty minutes, though it didn't felt like that at all when I watched it. The film just flew by, and the pacing was very good. The film didn't bother to drag on any one detail for too long, and the film just seemed to go from one plot point to the next, though in a way that felt very natural.

Gabriel Bateman, Teresa Palmer, and Alexander DiPersia in Lights Out

The cast in this film were all spot-on, with Bello effectively playing a woman who deeply cares for her family, but also knows she can't fully be there for them. She acts towards Diana as a close friend, though there is always a little bit of tension every time she brings her up. Palmer also shines as Rebecca, a girl who still loves her mother, but is too overwhelmed to be able to fully become close to her again. The relationship between the two is fantastic; the estrangement, but obvious love, between the two adds an extra layer of tension in a film already filled with it. Alexander DiPersia also does his best with the limited role he has, playing the role of an unconventionally supportive boyfriend.

As the main antagonist is something that is only powerful in darkness, the film uses a lot of minimalist horror, which I loved. I'm of the opinion that horror is at it's best when you can't see what the menace is, as that only adds to the tension. For much of the film you don't see Diana, as she is hanging in the dark. I'm not a big fan of the "jump scare-athon" that so many horror films have become, as the the impact of them is lessened the more they happen. The film does not completely avoid them, they are not the main focus of the horror. Rather, especially near the end, the film relies much more on an increasing sense of tension.

Maria Bello in Lights Out

The film does get pretty heavy-handed in its themes, especially towards the end of the film. This culminates in a ending that amounts to what was a very bad metaphor for depression. Many may not find this to be a problem, but many others will, and have, find it to be fairly tasteless, and as was said earlier, heavy-handed. Now, this doesn't detract from the film as a whole, as it's still a very enjoyable horror film, but it is a glaring sore spot.

All in all though, Lights Out is a very enjoyable horror film, and rarely more than that. It won't be remembered as one of the all-time greats, but it is a well-made film, and a surprisingly very good debut from Sandberg. Lights Out may not be a masterpiece, but with a debut as strong as this, one of his next films may very well be.

LET'S TALK ABOUT EARTHBOUND - PART 1

EarthBound (Mother 2 in Japan) is a game that's become somewhat of a cult hit. It was not a success in the states, which lead to the franchise being dead for some time over here, even as Japan got the GameBoy Advance-exclusive Mother 3. However, due to the appearance of main protagonist Ness (and later Mother 3 protagonist Lucas) in the Super Smash Bros. series, the Mother series has always had an air of mystery around it. Soon, a passionate fanbase was created, including those with cherished memories of the game wanting to play it again, and those wanting a chance to experience what many called one of the great series of RPGs. Their wishes were finally granted, as a couple of years ago Nintendo released EarhBound on the Wii U Virtual Console. This has been subsequently followed by the release of Mother (called Earthbound Beginnings here) on Wii U, and releasing EarthBound on the New 3DS Virtual Console. EarthBound is a game I've been sitting on for a long time, and I've finally begun to play it. I decided to give a general summary of what's happening, as well as some commentary. I hope you'll enjoy the ride!

WARNING: Spoilers follow

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Mother of the year

First off, this game's not pretty. In fact, the sprites are kind of ugly. But, this is a very colorful game, and it just oozes charm right from the start. The game apparently takes place in the year 199X; okay. It starts off with our hero, Ness (you have the opportunity to name all of the playable characters, plus your dog, at the beginning of the game) snoozing away when he's suddenly woken up by an explosion. After taking a bat from my sister (who I thought was fellow party member Paula for a bit), and getting changed into my normal clothes, I go outside WITH THE PERMISSION OF MY MOTHER to explore what happened. Despite police officers telling me I can't go snooping, I do so anyway. While exploring, I met a guy who eats garlic and works out, which I'm pretty sure is supposed to be a representation of me. I also run into someone who's apparently supposed to be my friend. His name's Pokey (?!), and I don't like him from the start. I'm guessing he's going to turn into an antagonist of something.

This guy is pretty much me

Not finding anything of note, Ness decides to head back to bed, but is rudely awoken by a banging on the door. It's Pokey, who lost sight of his brother, Picky (?!). He basically forces him to join him in looking for Picky, and Ness' is TOTALLY OKAY WITH THIS. Family dog Misty also joins you, which terrifies me because that's almost a guarantee she's going to die. Also, you save the game by find a phone and calling Ness' father, which is ADORABLE; but also makes me wonder, where is his father anyway? Also Ness' sister gives him a cookie (heals you) before you go, which is ALSO ADORABLE.

So, our heroes (and Pokey) go forth towards the meteor, where they are confronted by enemies such as stray dogs and crows. The game is a turn-based RPG, as was standard back in that era. But I'm a huge sucker for good-old turn-based RPG's so this was right up my alley. Ness is pretty much the bulk of the party's forces at this point, Misty occasionally attacks, while Pokey's totally useless. They eventually reach the meteor, at which point Misty LEAVES US AND RUNS AWAY. Not cool, Misty, not cool. Either way, we find Picky, and start to head back.

But not before A TALKING BEE COMES OUT OF THE METEOR AND TELLS ME I AM THE "CHOSEN ONE". Apparently I, along with the help of three others, am supposed to defeat some evil guy named Giygas? Honestly, more information was probably given, but I got distracted once I saw Buzz-Buzz the talking bee, since my mind immediately went to Bee Movie. While on our way back to the houses, we're confronted by something called Starman, which looks just like the guy on the boxart, so I'm gonna guess they're one and the same. . I thought this game wasn't supposed to get weird until later in the story?? Anyway, group fights Starman, while Pokey is as useless as ever.

Like I said, this game isn't very pretty

After defeating Starman, our heroes return to the Pickey & Pokey home, where their mom KILLS BUZZ-BUZZ. Womp womp. Before he dies, however, Buzz-Buzz tells Ness to go to a place called Giant Step, and so, a new adventure has begun.

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LET'S REVISIT FINAL FANTASY VII - PART ONE

There's a little game coming out this year called Final Fantasy XV, maybe you've heard of it? While that game may actually never come out (kidding), there's still an entire backlog's worth of Final Fantasy games to experience. I've been in a Final Fantasy mood lately, so I've been playing quite a few of them actually. However, none happen to be quite as ~ridiculous~ as Final Fantasy VII, probably the most famous and popular game in the series. It's a game I haven't played in the longest time, when I was a child and couldn't comprehend what was going on, so it's pretty much going to be like playing it for the first time. While obviously I remember the big events that everyone knows, since I was so young the first time, it'll be interesting to see how different it really is and how much I really remember. I'm going to give a summary of what's happened as well some general commentary for every few hours I play. Without further ado, let's get started.

Warning: spoilers follow

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Final Fantasy VII casts you as Cloud, who is kind of a douchebag; he's the kind of douchebag that knows this quite well, and doesn't mind telling people so. He's the kind of guy that will tell you to your face that he doesn't care about what you're talking about right to your face. He used to be a member of a group called SOLDIER, which from what I can tell is a group of super soldiers (for lack of a better term) working for Shinra, a giant energy company that pretty much rules the world. Apparently they became so powerful by using the planet's lifeforce(?!) as energy. Let me just say, that seems like a pretty short-sighted and terrible plan. But anyway, Cloud also seems to have some sort of PTSD, since he has regular flashbacks. I'm sure this will be elaborated upon later, as well as the assumed "growth arc" turning Cloud from doucebag into slightly less douchey hero.

Cloud quit SOLDIER a while ago, and has now teamed up with AVALANCHE, a group of eco-terrorists created to oppose Shinra. Their grand plan is to destroy Shinra's many reactors, which are the things killing the planet. These reactors are in the city of Midgar, which seems like an awful place all around. There's smog, it's grimy, and the buildings (which seem to be made of trash to begin with) are falling apart. It also looks like Shinra is pretty much controlling the city as a police state, so that's fun.

Looks inviting

Cloud is joined on his mission by Barret, who seems kind of cliche at this point. He's a tough guy who has one thing in his life that gives him a heart of gold; in this case, it's his daughter, Marlene, who is his main motivation for wanting to destroy Schinra. He's also pretty similar to Mr. T, but one of his arms is also a machine gun, so I guess he's cool. AVALANCHE's plan is to destroy Shinra reactors that are what's draining the planet. Again, these plans don't seem all that great; I mean, innoncent people are going to die here, right? They're blowing these giant reactors up. People will get caught in the blast radius. Also, if Shirna is the one source of power for Midgar, wouldn't destorying the reactors lead to Midgar losing all electricity, therefore leading to chaos? AND if Midgar is essentially the government, destroying it would result in anarchy. To be fair I'm not one to hypothesize the implications of destroying the life of the planet, so maybe it balances out. Plus, AVANALCHE is a terrorist organization, so I guess it's not much of a concern. Cloud and Barret are also joined on this mission with fellow members Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, but they aren't much of a factor here, except Jessie gets stuck during the escape while the detonation countdown is going off, as one does.

So, Cloud and Barret complete their mission, but not before facing off against a robot scorpion thing. I'm fairly certain Cloud is trying to get himself killed during this fight; he tells you to attack the robo scorpion when it's tail is up, but then immediately after tells you that when this happens, scorpiobot will counter with its laster tail. Despite that, they manage to defeat the thing, and destroy the reactor.

Here we meet the third member of our group, Tifa, who's quite..."busty". Not Lara Croft triangle boob level, but her model is a clear indication that this was someone's first time creating a 3D character. She's a bartender at a place that also doubles as AVALANCHE's headquarters. Tifa's apparently Cloud's childhood friend, and I can't for the life of me figure out their relationship. Are they together? Not? Were they? I really have no idea what's going on between them. Tifa's also got some issues of her own, since one of Cloud's flashbacks showed that her father was killed by a (former?) SOLDIER named Sepiroth (I remember him!). She joins the group on their next mission to destroy another reactor. Cloud at first refuses to join, because apparently he doesn't care about the fate of the planet he lives on. Only after getting an offer of even more than before, he joins once again. (Side note: the money for cloud is coming out Marlene's COLLEGE FUND?!? WHAT?!?!).

This is obviously not my first Final Fantasy game, so I'm quite used to the Active Time Battle System, so I won't go into too much detail here. Cliffnotes version, it's still turn based, but instead of going in a sequence, each character has a bar that gradually fills up before you can perform a command, giving the battles a faster pace. I happen like the ATB system a lot. The characters don't have defined classes (you'll see why below), but they each have their own weapon sets and abilities. Cloud uses his big-ass Buster Sword, and is the strongest attacker of the group. Barret uses his gun arm (as he should), and is pretty strong defensively. Tifa...punches things. Gotta give the girl credit for her moxie, but punching doesn't seem all that effective when fighting robots and such, but apparently she must have a super punch or something, because she can kill robots and such with her fists, so what do I know? She' not quite as strong as Barret, but she's pretty damn close, so once again, props to you, girl. Her Limit Break also something has to do with slot machines, so there's that.

So, while I like the basic battle system, I'm not sure how I feel about the materia system just yet. Basically, materia are these objects that you can equip to your weapons and armor, not only giving you special abilities associated with that materia (like magic commands such as Fire and Cure), but also changing your stats as well. This is totally a personal thing, but I like when each character has a specific class and abilties, instead of you molding the character into whatever you want, as is the case here. There's also "special" materia, I guess, that changes the affect of the materia, but I haven't gotten any of those yet. I'm still trying to wrap my head about how materia functionally works in the world of this game, but that's probably overthinking things. (I can't help it! Do they just jam it into their weapons? And how does jamming an orb into the Buster Sword give you the ability to cast magic??)  I also later found out that whenever a member leaves the party, the materia they had equipped reverts back to you? Weird, but nice.

You apparently get magic but shoving *this thing* into the Buster Sword

So, it turns out that our trio has been caught in a trap set up by Shinra. Which, honestly, should have been seen ahead of time. Give yourself a few days before you try to blow up a reactor for a company you attacked very very recenly. Long story short, Cloud gets separated from the group, and falls.

But don't worry! He managed to fall through a roof onto a flower bed! Said flower bed is growing in a church for some reason involving the grass I think? There's a girl tending to the flowers, who you actually met earlier in the story. This girl's name is Aeris, which means she's going to die. Aeris is also the nicest person in the world, so screw you Square. Cloud is his normal arrogant self, which leads Aeris to request Cloud be her bodyguard and escort her home. Turns out there's a reason she needs to be guarded; Shinra's after her, for reasons I don't think have been explained yet, other then those after her calling her an "ancient".

I hope nothing bad happens to her

Aeris fights in battle using a giant staff, which I'm convinced re-uses a sound effect from Super Mario RPG. She's not a very good physical attacker, but an excellent spellcaster. After Cloud returns her home, she decides to attach herself to Cloud, and join him on whatever quest he's on at the moment. The pair catch a glimpse of Tifa, who I think became a prostitue?? But that doesn't seem like Tifa at all, so they decide to investigate.

And that's it for now!

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What are your opinions on FFVII? Love it? Hate it? Utterly confused by it (like me!)? Let me know! Also don't forget to follow me on Twitter if you want! And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, which I'm currently working on a few videos for!

REVIEW - "LIMBO"

Limbo's a game that's been out for a while now, on virtually every system, and is one of the most critically-acclaimed games of the last few years. I just finished my first playthough recently, and somehow, have learned almost nothing about the game in the years following its release. Therefore, I decided it would be a perfect game to review, as I had no real pre-conceived notions of the game; just that it's supposed to be very good.

Note: The version played for this review was played on the Playstation 3.

Warning: Spoilers for a game released 6 years ago follow.

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Limbo is a deceptively simple game. If you just looked at screenshots and videos of it, it would appear that you would get everything the game has to offer; a platformer with a monochromatic color scheme. However, once you play the game, you realize it's so much more than that.

Limbo doesn't offer much in the story department. Once you start the game, you're just dropped in the middle of this world. You play as a young boy in the middle of the forest. You're not given any instructions or context, and therefore you just continue on. The world slowly becomes more and more hellish, with various obstacles in your path, may of whom are lethal. You have no one to help you in this world, and the brief glimmers of hope are sparse. You're all alone, and you have to rely on your wits to survive.

NOPE

While the game has many platforming elements, Limbo is much more of a puzzle game. This isn't a Mario platformer you'll be playing. Jumps are short and floaty, and most times when crossing a gap you'll just barely make the edge. You have no way of directly killing those that oppose you, so you have to be creative. And the game is creative. The puzzles in this game are all just great. They're quite inventive, and while many in a certain area share similar elements, no puzzles are quite the same. Take a puzzle from relatively early on in the game, for example. While running through the forest, you come across a giant spider, just waiting in the trees. Try to approach it, and it strikes with one of its legs, with the goal of impaling you. Before you reach the spider, you notice a bear trap sitting on a branch. Obviously the trap is necessary to get through, but how do you get the trap in the first place? The answer is quite brilliant, honestly. While avoiding getting struck, walk close enough to the spider to let it slam its leg onto the ground. Do this a few more times, and the trap will fall, where you will have to repeat the same process, this time with the bear trap positioned so the spider's leg will get caught in it.

This game is hauntingly beautiful

This puzzle is pretty indicative of the game as a whole. This ins't a very difficult game, but it's not an easy one, either. It requires a lot of thinking, and many puzzles take some time to get through. This game doesn't spell out how to solve the puzzles, but the elements to solve it will be laid out, and once you figure out how it all comes together, it's a real "a-ha!" moment. I may have gotten a little frustrated a few times while playing it, but it never caused me to quit, and I it consequently ended in a "duh!" from me. I don't know if I would necessarily use the term "trial-and-error" to describe the game, as that generally implicates a negative tone, but I did die a lot. So if you somehow haven't played this game before, be prepared to die a lot.

This game is gorgeous. While the graphics certainly look nice, it's the art direction for me that I remember most. The monochromatic look is just so striking, it is one of the most visually distinct games I've played. The game also makes an amazing use of depth of field. With things in the background and foreground having less focus than your protagonist and the world he interacts with. This game also uses light beautifully. With the (few) shines of light just standing out from everything else. It may not have the best graphics in a video game, but it's certainly one of the prettiest games I've played. And this is a game from 2010!

This game really makes you think

I do have one minor complaint, and though it's noted above, be warned that this paragraph will include mild spoilers. There's these slug-like things that periodically show up in the game, and land on your head. When they do, they control you body, forcing you to move in one direction without your input. The only things you can do is control the speed at which you're moving, and jump. The direction can only be changed only by touching a light source, and only a certain creature can remove them for you. I was alright when it first happened, but it started to irritate me a bit when it happened again, especially at a crucial point in the game. I can get why they included it when they did, but it just felt cheap to me, and a way to just prolong the game.

Besides that, I don't have much other complaints; some minor quibbles, but nothing major enough to note in this review. Limbo's a short game, taking me about a few hours to finish (note: I did not play in one sitting, due to time circumstances), but it's a rewarding one. I thought the ending was very powerful (even though the last puzzle of the game may have been the hardest for me to get through). The fact that this was developer Playdead's first game is mind-boggling. A studio's first outing being this polished is almost unheard of, but they just nailed this game. With only one game, Playdead has established themselves as a studio to watch, and if every game they make is as memorable as Limbo, that I can't wait to see what else they have in store.