14 December 2012

リヴィド ~ 'Livid'

"Livid"... "Rivido"
same word, different pronunciation and language.
Why review an album in which you understand absolutely NONE of the lyrics?

Due to my limited exposure to Japanese, yes, I cannot truly comment on the lyrical style Nightmare uses throughout Livid. Yet I can still say the music is pretty darn catchy and lively. The lyrics seem to flow nicely and the vocals are quite nice. No complaints.

The two or so anime fans who read my blog may recognize Nightmare as the band that provided "The World" and "Alumina" as opening/ending themes for the first half of the Death Note series. Despite the songs' reputations for being deemed "emo J-pop" and my barely lasting to episode 20, I found Nightmare far more interesting than Maximum the Hormone. That or iTunes had their music and I liked what I heard from the samples.

Either way, the Japanese come up with really bizarre band names. @_@

02 December 2012

'Fullmetal Alchemist'... in General

 I can hear it already: "Fangirl, do mean the 2003 series or Brotherhood?" Fans get into arguments about which one is better. Others just want a clarification since the two versions go in polar opposite directions by the end. Because of this I didn't want to cover Fullmetal Alchemist right away. As of this post I still have not finished watching either show (at about 30 episodes in the first series and 32 in the second.) So consider this a premature, "superficial" review/analysis of the two shows.

"Superficial" in the sense that I will not nitpick every nook and cranny of both versions. Furthermore, several aspects of each will be glossed over.

However, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has the advantage since it closely follows the manga, which I read in its entirety. Maybe about halfway through this, you might already know which adaptation I like the most. Regardless, I will try to mention what aspects of each show were well executed.

09 October 2012

Bacterial Contamination... and bugs O_O

I've been trying to get into J-pop and J-rock, sure, but Hatsune Miku? Eh. I haven't touched that bandwagon. But a friend shared this video on his Tumblr and told me to check it out. At the least, it's visually awesome.


Happy early Halloween. :)

06 October 2012

Where the Heck Were You, Fangirl?

Long time, no update! :)

I'm currently studying for my midterm exams, but I have some time for this. :)
So... what have I been up to?

Another Piece of Art Finished

Right before I went off to college, I had my last weekend art lesson, which I had attended for nearly seven years. Typically I work on a big project and it takes many months to finish. My last piece was extremely detailed, and a bit annoying.

When I visited home, my mom had it framed and it looks amazing. I forgot my camera, and all I had were photos of it I took right after my last lesson.

Acrylic paint. I tried watercolor at first, but it ended in failure. Ever since I was a young kid, I always hated watercolor painting. Thankfully after the change, I was able to complete this. :)


Living on my Own...

I have settled in reletively fine. Even though I never had siblings, my roommate and I get along pretty well. We snark, bicker, joke around, all that fun stuff.

The puppy hates waking up, shit happens, and the bed is unmade.
A perfect morning sight! 
Our room is evenly separated so we each have our own side. Sadly, though, things can get... messy. My side is presentable enough, but sometimes its hard to enter the room sometimes, you know? She has a lot more things than I do and has a hard time finding a place to put everything. She tries to not let it get too out of control, so I don't let it bug me.

Food on the other hand... my roommate and I keep getting so much food because some people think we are starving and have no access to nutrition. And apparently some think I'm losing weight... so they give me Oreos. =_='

The only place where I can be sloppy.
Socially, I'm doing a lot better than I expected. No wonder people hate high school so much, college is so much better! I get along with a good number of the girls on my floor pretty well. I have several people to hang out with in case person A or B is in a meeting or is studying. While I've been pretty low-key with certain activities, I'm trying to stabilize everything that is manditory to my staying in the institution. Socialization always came second or third, and I keep it that way.


Nearly everyone I know loves this poster. It's got so much charm to it! 
"If you've got human chorionic gonadotropin in your system, produced by the newly forming placenta - well, by golly, you're knocked up!"


Still Obsessed with That Overrated Sci-Fi Drama?

ABSOLUTELY.
When I went home a few weeks ago, I quickly bought the Leviathan downloadable content and immediately played it. I was tired of waiting for it and I was completely satisfied. Since then, I have been rereading the Mass Effect wiki site's articles and discussion pages. Even TvTropes is an addicting wonderland, and it has a TON of ME notes and topics to read for HOURS.
These daily activities have made my PS3 withdrawal more unbearable.

Meanwhile, Mass Effect 2's soundtrack has been purchased from iTunes to my library recently, and I had ME3's free with the collector's edition of the game. Now, I'm thinking of buying an N7 sweatshirt from BioWare's website. Better get to it.
me wantz badly... $_@
You know how girls are obsessive with things like shoes or make-up and want a massive collection? That's me with scarves and sweatshirts (I have a HIM sweatshirt that's near the end of its life and a scarf.) You can never run out and they keep you warm. ^_^

Also... I am so psyched for the Mass Effect Trilogy. I can play ME1 on my PS3!! No need to tweak my computer!! XD



Pandora Has Yet Another Box

I made a separate Pandora account not too long ago, so I can experiment with different stations. You can only have about 100 stations, and my old account has somewhere between 50 and 60. As away for me to start from scratch, I've been trying out fun., a-ha, and a 90's pop station. Though "Some Nights" is an awesome song, fun. is just a "meh" band. Maybe it's because they have some association with Paramore, a band I happen to despise.

After being stuck with a bunch of different people for nearly two months, I'm starting to go back to things I enjoyed as a kid. Heck, we all pretty much feel like kids. My roommate was sick the other day and watched shows on the Disney Channel and The Lizzy McGuire Movie. Some of us bought stuffed animals, hoola-hoops, even *NYNSC CDs. Heck, I found a few people who actually liked Hillary Duff when they were younger! (This one admits to still liking her music... >.<)

There's one thing I have learned while here, this world is a lot smaller than I thought. o_O


Now, though, I have to go back to studying for my midterm exams. It's not fun. :/
But I am still alive, guys. I'm still alive... :)

01 September 2012

September 2012 Update - College!

I just finished up my first week of classes as I sit on a bed that is not my own. Things have been going well so far. For the first time in months I have some kind of schedule - and life - with as few video games as possible. It was great for me to play my PS3 to death. Too bad I have to wait a long while for Assassin's Creed 3...

I'm adapting fairly well, making new friends, and enjoying my classes. (Just waiting for that one test to show how hard college can be...) Only the extremely social, no privacy aspect is what I'm not enjoying much. Icebreakers have always been the bane of my existence. The four days of orientation had nothing but such small talk and I was really to explode. Thankfully, my roommate and I get along pretty well.

Nearly everyone is gone this weekend so I had the peace and quiet to finally make a small update. :)

At this rate, I plan to review music like I did during my early days. There are some drafts that need editing and finishing, and I brushed some dust off my Pandora account. I'm planning on finding some new material.


In the meantime, I'm waiting hopefully for October 29th and early 2013. XX - Two Decades of Love Metal and Tears on Tape are coming! Even Bentley Jones has something coming out October 24th! *Fangirl squee* ^////^

13 August 2012

"Payphone"



"Fangirl, why are you reviewing pop music when you despise it with all your being?"

That statement is untrue. Pop music was all I knew for a decent chunk of my childhood. It was easy to find and nearly everyone knew the songs I was talking about. Then I hit a phase when I spent my days bashing everything pop music offered. Now, I'm slowly leaning back towards the genre to the point I can tolerate some songs or artists without feeling too guilty. Maroon 5 is one of them.

My dad and I adore Songs About Jane. Sure, "This Love", "She Will Be Loved", and "Sunday Morning" were played to death back in 2002, but these were strong, versatile tracks full of energy. This was pop music in which I could actually hear guitars, drums, even pianos playing. If I can hear any of these things over the highly produced and polished electronic whines and obvious autotune, I tend to be a happy camper. Songs About Jane felt so organic that it's one of my favorite albums of all time. It easily sits with Smash Mouth's Astro Lounge as awesome albums to blast and sing to on a long road trip.

Then came It Won't Be Soon Before Long. And Hands All Over. Maroon 5 took a completely radical 180 turn that rubbed me the wrong way. Every now and then I get hints of the band trying to be, well, a band again ("Misery" in particular), but they continue to sound like overproduced, processed sludge. At one point they may have been considered funk rock, but by this point, they are exclusively pop. There is hardly any "rock" left in them. And "Payphone" is only solidifying this fact.

The song on its own is decent, but I don't see how it's hit-worthy. The melody is nicer and catchier than most of Maroon 5's recent works, yet it's very... weak. Other than being childishly simple, the lyrics are nothing to write home about either ("One more f***ing love song, I'll be sick" and "I gave you my love to borrow"... really?) Without Adam Levine's higher-than-normal vocals, I could see this being anyone else's song. It's so bland that it sounds like Fall Out Boy's "Me and You" sped up and chipmunk-ed. Or maybe this was a rejected Linkin Park song during the Minutes to Midnight era. Even HIM could make this if Ville was drunk-stupid and suicidal. Besides, Maroon 5 was once so easy to spot in the sea of samey-sounding music. Now they dropped whatever potential for unique flavor they had just to sell out.

"Selling out" is an overused phrase thrown by angry fans once their favorite acts go corporate and fit in with the latest music trend. Arguably, Linkin Park seems to be testing their luck with this to not much success. But with the nonsensical "Moves Like Jagger", Adam Levine in The Voice, and a guest rapper in this mediocre song, I think "selling out" describes Maroon 5 well.


Speaking of the guest rapper, the verse is pointless and forgetable. It needs to fall in a pit and die because it has nothing to do with the rest of the lyrics in the song. Wiz Khalifa, thank you for making Adam's parts sound godlike while thrusting the quality of the song as a whole into a pile of garbage. One minute, it's "I have nothing left now that this is over", then it's "eff u, biatch! I gotz all did $$ w/out u!!!" Way to make "Payphone" a schizophrenic mess.

This is far from Maroon 5's worst, but this continues to solidify my doubts that this band can be interesting again. They don't have to try to be edgy, but they could at least sound like they're trying to have fun. Where's the energy, the passion of the music? Where are the instruments? Clearly they were left to die trapped in a locked box, or executives successfully drowned them in varnish. This sterile piece of "meh" is okay, but from what these guys showed before, this is yet another big disappointment.

Really, I cannot say anything more.

With Rap: 1.3 out of 5
W/out Rap: 2 out of 5

04 August 2012

Mini Shots: 'Mass Effect'

After spending all of July glued to the coach and oblivious to my blog's existence, I have returned and am as (in)sane as usual. By now I think I have nearly maxed out my fun with my presents so I can move on to college life and not cry myself to sleep. I simply enjoyed not having a life while it lasted.

But now I present some kind of material for the first time in a billion years!

It seems like it was only yesterday when gamers went insane for Mass Effect 3, only for all hopes and dreams to be crushed by the almighty power of EA. How could I have avoided any comments about this series? March was swamped by the fury of raging, homicidal fans crying "BETRAYAL!!!" This circus was too entertaining to avoid!


Alas, I'm a suicidal masochist.

After so many warnings, clearly I am an idiot.

*sigh* Here I am starting yet another collection of pointless merchandise for the sake of indulging my selfish desires. All I'm missing are T-shirts with quotes or running gags. The world warned me that I was putting myself in the same position as every other fan who got punk'd. Suddenly, money vanished from my pockets and all this crap landed on my doorstep.

All joking aside, there are a few things I want to address since anyone who sees the words "mass effect" will probe me with the same old questions. There is a crapload of stuff I could say about the franchise, so I have to severely restrict myself. This is NOT a review; that may not happen until everything sinks in for several months.


Mass Effect 1

This? A space opera? I have dismissed that claim!
Because Microsoft has always made devices that want to plant seeds of hatred in my disposition, I have never played the first game. However, I have been planning to set up my laptop so it can run like a PC so I might have a chance of playing it. It will take a while for me to get this set up, but I do plan to play it somewhere down the line.

Long before I bought ME2, I watched various people play this so I can better understand the plot, characters, politics, terminology, and all that other detailed stuff. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that most Youtubers who uploaded their sessions have no damn clue how to edit out the dumbest mistakes they make. All these awkward let's plays and walkthroughs were long and torturous. Somehow I made it through... and vowed that I will play it so only I can see my first-time-player stupidity.

Obviously, I enjoyed it enough that I made it to this point, so the pain was worth it. It's only a shame the sequels released on the PS3 force me to miss out on some of the overly-long gags from the first game's side missions.


Mass Effect 2

I love these misfits... well, all but three.
The game that picked up so many perfect scores that Fangirl should be furious at such insanity! Well, yes, it is outrageous that Mass Effect 2 received as much ass-kissing as it got. To be honest, it has some technical issues that rub me the wrong way. (i.e. Sonic 06 has shorter and far less annoying loading times. Let that sink in for a moment.) It didn't change the fact that the game is ridiculously fun. It may be like a "filler episode", but I came to like nearly all of the 12 squadmates I recruited. Since this game gave me the time to get to really know the characters, this narrative was extremely satisfying in the long term.

Getting used to the controls, however, was not fun. Fangirl has now caught up with the times and has learned how to play a shooter. Yay. =_=


Mass Effect 3

The giant space cthulhus have arrived!!
Better controls, better conversations, better graphics, better load times, and a great experience... until the last twenty minutes of the game.

This is far more polished than its brother, while getting back on the same track in terms of tone and narrative as the first game. Everything was so well done that I cried just as hard as when I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I was a sobbing baby for 34 hours and I regret none of it. After all of this, I can happily say that the Mass Effect trilogy finally got me to appreciate role-playing games. The only problem is to find another RPG to care about... with an ending that doesn't cause an internet wildfire.


The Ending(s) [or lack thereof... kind of]

No, you little punk. It was your fault Marauder Shields died!

This may get complicated....
**Spoiler Warning**

Heads up, everyone. Everything about the endings has some trace of BULLSHIT in it.

That one Destroy ending in which Commander Shepard takes half a breath before the screen turns black? Bullshit. Either commit to the character being dead or returning to the Normandy and high-fiving every one of those loyal misfits who stood by Shepard through hell and back. And just because it's the one ending where Shepard lives, that does not automatically mean it's the best ending.

None of the endings reflect upon the ideas discussed throughout the course of the trilogy? Bullshit. Destroy the Reapers? That was the reason why Shepard had to unite the galaxy. Control the Reapers? Cerberus and the Illusive Man obsessed about it. Synthesis of organic and synthetic life? Didn't Saren mention something about that in the first game? I would not argue that the ideas are ass pulls, but that the writing team poorly explained these ideas to create a cohesive and acceptable conclusion. (i.e. What is this "new genetic makeup" of all life in the Synthesis ending? Why do all artificial and virtual intelligences die with the Reapers in Destroy?)

Forcing a condition on someone against his or her will is what makes Synthesis and Control the worst choices. Uh, what? No matter which option you pick you either A) exterminate an entire race of beings, regardless of their morality, and/or B) force an entire new way of life on the galaxy. No matter the option, you are playing god, forcing your will upon every living thing in the galaxy. Free will is completely ignored. This argument is absurd.

The creators cannot coexist peacefully with the created? Well, if you, like some players, busted your butt to end the quarian-geth subplot without one group or the other facing extinction head-first... uh, bullshit. Even with the Extended Cut, it would have been so nice if Shepard would point out that he/she did manage to resolve that conflict. Instead, the game treats it as if that whole incident never happened. Nice.

The Indoctrination Theory is the only reasonable explanation for the plotholes. Bullshit. After all the horrible crap he/she goes through, I have no problem believing that Shepard may have had hallucinations. But when people take this "it was all a dream" theory as the best possible explanation for everything that happened in the ending, this spells laziness. I would rather take the contrived, forced writing behind the Catalyst's epic logic fail than to say, "The Reapers were screwing with you in this messed up dream!"

Before I get a ton of hate messages, I'll stop. As for the Refusal... you were given the chance to beat the Reapers and you blew it. Enough said.

On the bright side though, the Extended Cut brings the emotional closure that many fans have been crying over the most. I installed it right before I started playing Mass Effect 3 and I am a happy camper. Despite the endings being confusing and frustrating if you think too much, I can happily say this did not desecrate my overall love of this series. Maybe it's because I already knew how the endings went so  the punch to the gut was nowhere as intense as I originally feared.

Extras

Critical research fail.
I have been reading Revelation, Ascension, and Retribution. Since the author was one of the major writers for the first two games, I figured I would enjoy the supplementary material. And I am very muchly. So much so that I shall avoid Deception because that new author fails at RESEARCH.

Comics are not really my cup of tea, so I have not checked out the other spin-off stuff.

I look forward to the Paragon Lost anime coming out later this year. As for the live-action film that's in the early stages... this better not suck. The fanbase is pretty rabid, and video game adaptations tend to be badly received. This better not be a disaster or else the Mass Effect fans will be no better than the Silent Hill fans in my eyes. There are enough nitpicky purists out there. 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It will be a long time until I review any of these. Who knows? Maybe Mass Effect will be a flash-in-the-pan obsession of mine and I won't give a crap in three months.

At the very least I'll say one last thing. Mass Effect 2 is better than 3 in terms of story, and 3 is better than 2 in terms of gameplay.

....


Oh... and FemShep for the win. ^_^

15 July 2012

July 2012 Update

I have been pretty silent lately because of my PS3. Lame excuse, I know. Since I refuse to take it with me to college until I am sure it will not be stolen by cheap morons, I want to treasure it as much as possible. So far, it's a really fun system and a billion times better than my PS2. The last thing I want to do is ramble on about my every opinion of the video game industry in a quick update post, so I may save it for later... along with the 70+ drafts waiting for my edits.

Forget Radical Train! Crisis City = un-####ING-controllable
Being a loyal fan, I made sure to play a Sonic game. Sonic Generations is so addictive and extremely nostalgic that it is a good enough reason for me to keep a console of this dying generation. After Sonic Heroes and Sonic Unleashed infuriated me to the point that I refused to beat them, this truly made me fall in love with the blue blur again. I easily spent three hours a day playing the mini games alone. Then I spent $17.00 on Sonic '06 and dared myself to beat it before I head off to college. To this very post I only completed 50% of Sonic's story before I pulled out my hair, threw my couch out the window, and cried myself to sleep. So much energy poorly channeled...

While on that went on, I tried to keep myself somewhat openminded. Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Dragon Age: Origins reminded me that I am no longer a child who cannot play anything above the T rating. The former game is so fun that I am excited for Assassin's Creed 3 this fall. The latter is so fun that I am scared for its mixed bag of a sequel. But that's nothing next to that OTHER controversial RPG.

Sonic Generations has collected dust for a few weeks because I've been playing Mass Effect 2 until it 3am most days. Once I heard about the new free downloadable content for the final installment that "fixes" the ending, I told myself to finally give the series a shot. So many hours of my life have been wasted. I regret little of it. Now that I have ME3, I can stop biting my nails, finish playing the series, and start writing more posts again.

In non-video game related stuff, my movie-going spirit has been at its all-time low with the abysmal Prometheus and the awkwardly executed Brave. Not to mention, The Dark Knight Rises is right around the corner, waiting for me to bite my thumb at everyone who throws praise at that overrated cash cow. Thankfully The Amazing Spiderman... was amazing, except 3D still sucks.

My music hunt has been pretty weak as well. My favorite acts either have no new content or are working on them, so I am left to find other bands to check out. Since electronic music is still my big craving, lately I've been considering checking out Julien-K and Kaya or diving deeper into Apoptygma Berzerk. Hell, if I'm desperate I'll try out Skrillex.

While in an indecisive phase, I'll look into my library and see what I can review for the sake of this blog. But, must... save Earth... from Reapers...  ... I need medical attention. T-T
What did I get myself into?

24 June 2012

Deconstructing the Squees: Shadow the Hedgehog

Hmm... Maybe I should have planned more carefully... (1)
Clearly I obsess about the blue blur's antihero twin waaaay too much. Shadow is one of the few beloved things of my childhood. It even seems as time goes on, the more and more I enjoy the character. As a bonus I'm having way too much fun applying what I learn in Psychology to this unstable jerk.

Last year I reviewed Shadow the Hedgehog, which one of the most popular posts on my blog. I feel that, because of my overwhelming bias and oversimplification, my review of the game was... inadequate. I took some time to think back on the post with what I wrote, I replayed the game a few times, and I checked other reviews in various places. Now, my opinion has developed a bit more. By this point, I nearly feel embarrassed to have written my review so sloppily. As a first attempt at a video game review, I guess it's understandable, but my mind was too much in music and movie mode.

But let me reestablish one thing. Shadow the Hedgehog disapointingly lacks the challenge that the most conversative Sonic games revel in, but it remains entertaining in the ideas it offers. Despite this, it is still a humungous pile of mixed marbles.

Let me begin by tackling things down by categories.

Gameplay

Some of the most vocal complaints are how slippery the controls are and how it is often you hear "Damn! Not here!" when the ultimate lifeform falls into furry hell. "The guns and vehicles are insulting and pointless" takes the cake. "Shadow controls worse than in Sonic Heroes!"

Based on my personal experience, the controls in Sonic Heroes were just as bad - if not worse. In both of these games there are some stages where you have to grind on rails. How to control your characters on a thin metal pole miles above an endless pit of doom is another story. Heroes is extremely precise and you have to land on the rails 90% correctly in order to grind. When you get to some stages in particular *cRoAuIgLh CcAoNuYgOhN* this gets frustrating, especially when these sections take up nearly three quarters of the stage. Shadow the Hedgehog, however, is far more forgiving. Even in "Iron Jungle" or "Lava Shelter", the game can sense what you're trying to do and will give you a better window.

Even when running fast, more often than not Shadow will stop right at the edge of a bottomless pit so you won't go flying off. But if an enemy attacks you while near the edge or a platform, THEN you will get screwed over. Even though this game is more sensitive and gives you more control, Shadow still moves in a rather slippery fashion.

As for the gimmicks of this game... The WEAPONS - guns, swords, lazers, bazookas, missle launchers - vacuums and other crap I can't name - are really fun. They don't "fit" in Sonic games, I know, but this system is pretty nifty. When you destroy an enemy, he will often drop a weapon that you can pick up and use it for a limited time. Guns often run out of ammo and melee weapons break (which you can get more by running into a similar-looking weapon from other dead enemies.) This system is very simplistic because you don't have to worry about the whole ruitine of finding magazines, reloading, and all those details shooter games dive into (looking at you, Call of Duty!).

The vehicles, besides the walkers and the alien saucers, are really pointless. I'm more disappointed that they aren't fun to control. Nah, I admit the motorcycle in "Lethal Highway" was fun for a while...

There are some levels that are duplicates in design and layout, but the music, enemies, and missions keep things at least a bit interesting. Otherwise there are plenty of really awesome and varied stages. "Cosmic Fall" is cluttered with falling platforms  - duh - that simultaneously spin, flip, or crumble under your feet. "Mad Matrix" is a huge cyberspace with vibrant terminals with their own puzzles. In "The Ark", you are forced to ride on the alien birds to progress. "Central City" and "The Doom" are huge mazes with one not having a trademark goal ring (which pissed off many.) There are tons of other interesting tricks.

My only problem was how easy it is avoid stages. I beat the game and played the Last Story numerous times without ever beating Central City and various other stage missions. I beat this thing in one month, and after taking years of beating some other Sonic games, this depressed me more than anything. I barely felt satisfied in how well I played it because I expected more of a challenge.

However, gameplay-wise, Shadow the Hedgehog shines brightly. It's a lot better here than in both Sonic Unleashed (a review for another year) and that one game with the soundtrack I despise. The latter is completely broken and the former is just mindless and stupid.


The missions you fulfill in each stage will affect which stages you'll reach later.
No, really, this is how the "map" looks. 
Story

Out of all the criticisms for this game, I have a really hard time defending this one. In my early days of playing Shadow the Hedgehog, I was hooked in and loved the story. Now at the beginning the enlightened age of my adulthood, I better understand why people despise this game. This is not on the same level as Elfen Lied, but man, this story is a trainwreck.

The worst part is that there are sooooo many good ideas in the game! I like the idea behind the Black Arms. I love how this game fills in the plotholes from Sonic Adventure 2. I like the Commander's character. I enjoy how Black Doom, Eggman, GUN, Sonic and co. all can influence Shadow's psyche throughout the course of the game. I loved Shadow's resolve in the last story. And I loved the flashbacks!

But nearly everything between the first cutscene and the last story... is NOT canonical. Who the hell knows what really happened between that timeframe? Did Shadow work with the Black Arms at all? How much of his past did he remember? How did he get the Chaos Emeralds? How did he get to the Black Comet? How did Team Chaotix get onto the ARK? Did the Commander ever point a gun a Shadow's head? Did Eggman try to convince Shadow that he was an andoid? In fact, what happened to the Shadow androids shown in Sonic Heroes? And HOW did Shadow survive his fall to his death at the end of Sonic Adventure 2?!

This game taunts you with all sorts of ideas that may not even be true. I personally don't mind creating my own interpretations with open-ended stories, but this is so damn non-linear. Even Higurashi: When They Cry did a far better job at telling a story with the multiple storylines and endings! Hell, even the Silent Hill games that rely on you to chose actions that affect the story in the long-term are better written than this! The first several installments focused heavily on this, but Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was even more so! It's so darn sensitive to that dialogue, behaviors, and appearances all could radically change throughout the course of the game!

Here, you have 22 stages with two or three missions, random boss fights, and 10 endings you must unlock before getting to the last story, with the true ending. You have to play "Westopolis" at least 10 times! That's all the power you have.

But the worst part of this game is how the whole story is executed. Nearly all of the 326 possible story lines make no sense; the transitions from one stage to the next are horrible.

For example: Shadow runs through a city being invaded by aliens, simple, right? Then he arrive at some ruins the aliens left of the planet years ago. Then he somehow teleports to Prison Island (2). Soon after he helps Espio hack into a computer at another unknown location. Suddenly he confronts androids that look like him at Eggman's base. Then he gets to the ARK, where the GUN Commander points a gun at the black blur's head. Finally Shadow calls himself a weapon of mass destruction and walks off screen to kill himself. ... What?!

None of Shadow's monologues or conversations with other characters match up or develop into one cohesive conclusion. It gets really bad when you flip-flop between helping the aliens, Sonic, or Eggman. You just cannot look at this in a linear fashion. I look at everything as isolated ideas, since some reoccur at different points in the game. Some may have tolerance for this, but in most cases, this is pretty sloppy.

This sums up the endings' problems in a nutshell:


Sonic Team had some really good ideas, but had no clue how to pull them off. Pity.


Presentation

I won't lie, the voice acting is still hilarious for the 4Kids crew. Ignoring the sometimes really awkward and badly worded script, nearly everyone pulls of fairly realistic performances compared to the Sonic X dub. Eggman was extremely entertaining, Espio was no longer of punching-bag quality, Amy was enjoyable, and even Sonic was fun at times! Some were still awful (Vector, Rouge, and Cream) but they barely appear. But most importantly, Shadow did not have extreme whiplash between sounding like a complete asshole to a whiny crybaby. That's why the flashbacks were some of the best scenes in the entire game. Maria's voice was okay, but her character had a lot more screen time, which made her death all the more upsetting.

The Playstation 2 release is the only one that allows you to easily change the voice acting from English to Japanese. Those performances are better in some scenes, but the Japanese cast sounds a lot better in Sonic X. But at least Koji Yusa delivers a far greater performance when Shadow is upset than Jason Griffith.

Otherwise, the tone of the game is pretty dark in a very juvenile way. Certain characters constantly say some variant of "damn". Shadow even once said "You're going straight to hell!" causing an eleven-year-old me to laugh hysterically at the awkward delivery. That's a bad thing. It's one thing to curse in a moment when it's not much of a surprise. There are some scenes where I felt it was appropriate to say "Damn it!" or "Damn you!" But most times the minor curses are overdone and very unnecessary. Plus if you add in the 4Kids cast and their normal bad habits of not speaking like real people, then most of the conversations sound like children trying to be adult and badass.

Though I admit that I put some blame on this game for my potty mouth.

As mentioned before, the storytelling is embarrassing. Maybe not too many games took on the "choices affect the story" gimmick before, but with the stuff that's out now, especially RPGs, Shadow the Hedgehog has no excuse by the time it came out.

The graphics are average. The CGI cutscenes are gorgeous but the in-game graphics are "meh." Everything else is average, not awful.


Next to Its Predecessors and Successors...

Crap. This is not helping my case.

... this game is NOT the worst in the franchise. This game on a bad day plays better than Sonic 06 on a good day, even the soundtrack. The weapon system gimmick is not as broken as the swords with the Wii-mote in Sonic and the Black Knight or the primative boost-and-scream-past-everything gauge in Sonic Unleashed. The game is not as linear as Sonic Heroes. This was released completed and playable.

I have it for both the Playstation 2 and the Gamecube. The PS2 release has long load screens and abysmal frame rate issues, but the GC release runs like a dream. Otherwise Shadow the Hedgehog never crashed, glitched, or did anything to force me to restart. The game runs fine and the gameplay is solid.

This game fell pretty down low in the dark and depressing route that most Sonic fans detest, but it never had the balls to repeatedly force pretentious bullshit down our throats and then slap you after 10 hours of gameplay to say, "Pretend this never happened." This game may have been bad from its conception but Shadow the Hedgehog had a subplot to resolve, and for better or for worse, Sonic Team got this out with no hidden escape plans. How much one can tolerate this may vary, but I appreciate a bad game being released honestly, despite fans' protests, rather than a promising game coming out broken and stabs everyone in the back.


Overall

Great gameplay, so-so presentation, and sloppy storytelling all adds up to an "average" game. Your milage may vary, however. I only gave this game a 3 out of 5 the first time I reviewed it because my personal experience with it has been positive. I still really enjoy Shadow the Hedgehog despite its glaring faults. Without my bias it may as well be a 2 or a 2.5, average.

Once again, I will not demand anyone to pick up this game, even at a dirt cheap price. Pick it up if you want to or not. Just, don't make this your first Sonic game. This is so radically different than anything else in the series that this will give a terrible first impression. Even when I bravely bought this game for $50.00 weeks after it came out, I tried to hold back doubts, but my eleven-year-old self panicked at the opening video.

If this was not eloquent enough, this review done by NickonAquaMagna2 else pretty much hits all the criticisms dead on.


~~~~~~~~~~(Additional Notes)~~~~~~~~~~~

* Links are provided with gameplay footage. None of them belong to me, but I just wanted something to show off some parts of the game.

1 - Looks like the moon did NOT get half-destroyed by the Eclipse Cannon in Sonic Adventure 2. "Continuity? What's that?"

2 - It's sudden non-exploded reappearance further proves the above statement. Bravo, Sonic Team.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Maybe I'll make better reviews if I really try hard, right? Haha, maybe not.

16 June 2012

'Prometheus'

First impression: looks like the live-action cousin of Ergo Proxy.
After seeing the film, my reaction has only confirmed my guess.
Here it is. The supposed "prequel" to the series that traumatized me for years. Thanks to the Alien movies, I never liked the sight or thought of something foreign within one's abdomen. Of course, my dad, being more intelligent than Stephen Hawking, showed me the films when I was SIX, so it's not much of a surprise.

Even way before the film was announced, I had no desire to see this film. Not because of my mental scars, but because everyone hyped the crap out of it. As a result of squealing like children on Christmas Eve, everyone has their underwear tied into knots over how good or bad the film is. The reviews, ranging from "OMFG, it's glorious!" to "WTFH is this pile?", provided endless entertainment from me. After I read the whole plot summary, it got to the point that I already had an opinion of the film without watching it. Yet my dear old man took me to see it so I had a frame of reference when I rant about my opinion here. It's long overdue anyway.

So what did I think?

Objectively, it's not the worst of the year; the film is a visual feast to behold. But there are plenty of places where the film trips over its feet or stumbles down the stairs. Overall, if you take all the good and the horrible, it adds up to be... a bit below average. Subjectively, this movie annoys me more than the target of one of my last reviews. This film... and some of the people who defend it... piss me off to no end. This film drops so much bait for the pseudo-philosophers to binge on and claim the film makes so many deep references to Jesus Christ and Christianity. Believe me, some have written essays on what this film is about.

What is the ship called? Prometheus. What day do the crew members wake up from suspended animation? Christmas Day. When did the Engineers die on their ship? Two thousand years ago.What is the name of the sterile woman who just so happens to become pregnant? Elizabeth. What is that around her neck? A cross. What is her reason to claim that the Engineers created us? "Because that's what I choose to believe." What is that? Faith, which is simply belief without proof. What day is it when the film ends? January 1, in "the year of Our Lord" 2094.

Is this the only point to the film? Does this film have to jam the idea down our throats that this is something we must think about? Must we accept that a scientist with a strong faith in her Lord and Savior is someone we can stand behind as a protagonist? Must we accept that this film refuses to have their scientists - except the geologist - question the legitimacy of a "belief" held by said religious woman, supported by her jerk-ass boyfriend scientist? Should we take this seriously as a film that makes you think of mythological gods that killed themselves - I meant, "sacrificed themselves" - for the sake of the human race to have life?

Hell no.

I expected this film to tell a story, not a lecture. I expected a decent premise, plot progression, character development, and a resolution. The only thing this movie got right was the characterization of David, the android. HE had a legitimate internal conflict and throughout the course of the story he asked questions, interacted with the cast, and served a valuable purpose on the trip, while learning more about life. He was very aware that he was a created intelligence, had great dialogue with Dr. Shaw, and was the most active character in discovering the Engineers. It's interesting that the one created by humans is the one who did his creators' homework in finding their creator.

Oh yes, all the humans - ALL of them - were horrifically stupid. Even if the pretentious themes and intents behind the film were appropriate and well done, the characters were absolutely insulting. They were the black permanent marker stains on an elegant, finely detailed French dress. No one was likable. Everyone fit their generic roles in a horror flick. Dr. Holloway and the captain were the jackasses. The biologist was the blond, being the first to die in the stupidest way possible. Weyland was the selfish old guy. Dr. Shaw was the idiot. Everyone else had no name and was forgettable.

As for the plot... it's generic and bland. Weak premise for a sci-fi film supported by little and poor reasoning. Seriously, how could you conclude that a bunch of aliens are saying "Come to our world, kids! We have candy!" from murals around the world with a set of five dots in a pattern? Which of those five "dots" did they go to and how did they know?

Nitpicking aside, the plot was written very awkwardly. The dialogue wasn't bad, but there were many instances were I wondered if plot details ware missing or if whole scenes had to be rewritten. I'm not the greatest writer on the planet, look at my posts here and point out all the grammatical and structural errors, but I asked myself many times if I would edit the writers' notes to death? This movie feels like there are several minor scenes cut out just so it could be a reasonable two hour presentation.

Wait... do you know what this whole thing is? FAN SERVICE. Not the kind with half-naked women posing around or excessive blood and gore to get the hormones raging. This is fan service to the Alien fans by saying, "Hey! This is how the xenomorphs came to be! Ain't that cool?" This is a film with nothing but two hours of half-assed, horror-movie padding and unexplored controversial debates that have never been resolved ever since logic and faith clashed. All of this happens, and in the end they only show us a minute and a half of a xenomorph popping out of the abdomen of an albino Kratos from God of War. Then the writers have the balls to leave the initial questions in the premise UNANSWERED and drops a few bread crumbs to a potential sequel.

Oh, I forgot about the monsters and the horror aspect of the movie. It did fine. No complaints. I'm jaded by scary films by this point, and Prometheus was nothing special but not bad in that regard. No, the ending did not disgust me.

At the end of the day, it's nice that people can think deeply about this, but that does not make this film excellent. All the pretty visuals and the convoluted explanations cannot undo a film that fails to live up to the standards of basic storytelling. Ridley Scott and his crew worked their asses off to make as many allusions as possible that they forgot that this is a science fiction film with SCIENTISTS who cannot do their jobs even if their lives depended on it. These guys are supposed to be telling a story, not showing off your intelligence. It may say a lot to some when I say that Damon Lindelof was one of the guys behind the TV show Lost, but a sloppy story ending with sequel bait is inexcusable.

The last words in the film speak for themselves. The surviving members of the plot go off to find the Engineers and demand to know why humanity was created. Wasn't this question posed at the beginning of the film? If so, then that means that we have an UNANSWERED QUESTION. To everyone who said that this film has all mysteries resolved or is open-ended and up for interpretation... BULLSHIT. This is a research paper turned in on its due date with no concluding paragraphs. Your teacher/professor would slap you if you demanded that your work deserves an A because it's so many pages long or you tackled a hard topic. Your professor is not going to guess what your conclusion is. Your work is incomplete. You FAILED.

And it's comments like these that annoy me the most.


Person A: "Kind of wondering if [the Amazing Atheist's] entire review is a joke. Distracting us with a bunch of interesting subjects in depth, but ignoring the basics of the movie. Which is essentially what the film was: a lot of potential for depth and powerful themes, but it just amounted to a lukewarm film."

Person B: "No, they just saw it for what it was meant to be, unlike you."


"...many of you criticize the so called plot-holes and "unanswered questions". What baffles me is that no one and I mean no one here wants to think. Don't understand what I mean, do you? Take for example the Force from Star Wars. Why is it so awesome? Because we hardly know anything about it. Where did it come from? How did we find it? How exactly does it work? [...] These are all "unanswered questions" and they make you think and imagine, speculate and investigate. These kind of questions make the movie interesting and intriguing. The same is easily applied to Prometheus, - it gives us a fair amount of answers and clues and keeps us speculating at the same time. And for me - this the real magic of cinema. Prometheus is a solid and thought provoking movie and in general just a wondrous experience. I guess people nowadays are used to the facts that movies just give away all the answers and plot elements on a silver platter (take Avatar for example, - the moral is there but it's so straight and obsessive that it leaves no room for real thought. Awful movie by the way) and that's a real shame. As for my advice go and watch Prometheus with an open mind and be ready to think."



"I feel like I watched an entirely different movie from what you just described. Most of the things you say were holes or issues are clearly explained by the movie if you pay attention or simply put two and two together.  I enjoyed this movie for its meticulous sense of details, how some things don't click in your mind until after seeing it.  I honestly don't understand half your complaints because lots of them seem like you could have only come to that conclusion if you were either really tired or simply not paying attention to some things which either were explained by dialogue or obvious. (and yes somethings straight up aren't explained- Scott did say this was going to be a trilogy)."


"It's an excellent film as long as you do not expect it to a) be science fiction or b) make any sense on the surface level, rather than the symbolic level..."


It's good as long as you pretend it's not a science fiction film?! Don't deny what this film is supposed to be!

Gag me with a spork. I may have been closed-minded about this film, but I sure as hell used my damn brain to nitpick every inch of this pretentiously-wrapped and superficial film. You can accuse me of overheating my brain, but not for one moment did I stop thinking about this colossal disappointment.

1 out of 5

Watch it if you will, but I cannot give this a thumbs up. Do not trust your beloved reviewers because this film is too polarizing. Even Doug, Linkara, Film Brain, Spoony, and Brad Jones from That Guy With the Glasses, a site with some very similar-minded people, had their own separate opinions on it all across the spectrum.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some Mass Effect 2 to play on my new PS3...

28 May 2012

May/June Update: Holy Crap Exams Are Almost DONE!!

Thank goodness I graduate in a few days, because I'm at the end of my rope. While I was finishing up last-minute projects, I spent hours on TV Tropes, hoping I could get a jumpstart into a story I wanted to write for years, and sat on my ass playing video games and reading manga. Most of my time has been... unproductive... to a degree.

As some of my dear readers may know, I suffer from ADHD when it comes to blogging about my meager existence. One month I squee like a fangirl over a new album I just discovered, then I'll jump onto movie reviews, and then without warning video games pop up out of the blue. Inconsistent, but hopefully refreshing.

Anywho...

Other than school, my brain has been exposed to such a crap-load of information that it's on the verge of frying. My dad asked what I wanted for a graduation gift, even if it was a video game console. This was not long after I heard about Sonic Generations, and I finally had the incentive to reeducate myself on the video game world. (I stayed comfortably under a rock with my Playstation 2 and Gamecube.) After months of browsing console libraries, interviewing my peers, visiting various stores, and watching Youtube videos, I finally settled with the PS3. I know that new consoles are coming up in the next year or two, but at least for me, I can get a bunch of games under $60. Sure, I'll need a job to keep my expensive hobby going, but I can survive.
Yes, Link talks.
No, his dialogue doesn't suck.
While still in the similar realm of video games, I recently discovered a series of manga adaptations of various games from The Legend of Zelda. I plowed through them within hours and squealed for days. With no updates on the series I read (looking at you, Dengeki Daisy!), I needed something to nom on. Maybe when I do get that miracle job that will help make my wallet grow, I might buy a box set.

"Du bist hier im meinem Land"
And my other loves have not been ignored! I recently got Rammstein's Made in Germany greatest hits album and love every second of it. Dark Adrenaline still plays often on my iPod, and Apoptygma Berserk's You and Me Against the World is fantastic as well. A few other albums have been on my mind and I wish to check them out as soon as possible.

Movies, however, have been very hit-or-miss. Cabin in the Woods was pretty campy but badass for a horror film, touched by the awesomeness of Joss Whedon. Dark Shadows was a billion times better than the terrible Alice and Wonderland, but it's still in the lameness that Tim Burton has been trapped in. The Avengers... ... maybe I should review that one later. Ever since my violent vomit episode, I need something else to talk about.

So much potential wasted...
The past several months have been me trying to enjoy everything I can while I'm still a spoiled little kid. I'll be in college, I'm gonna have to find work, I'm going to take care of myself soon. It's a series of spiked and flaming hoops that I have to jump through. I am all for going through it not just because I have to, but because I hope that something fun and rewarding is on the other side.

In the meantime, this blog still exists and I will continue to update it... on a not-so-regular basis. 
I'm baaaaaack! XD

15 April 2012

The Hunger Games... Maybe I'm Just Too Cynical

I guess I couldn't ignore this for long...
I saw The Hunger Games the other day... Where to begin.

I think may have mentioned at least once that when it comes to majority opinion, I tend to get very skeptical. When people were raging over the books, I backed off without hesitation. Twilight fooled me once and I was not going to fall for another trap. This series is more than likely far better written but I was not ready to examine the bandwagon. An overreaction? Perhaps. It didn't help that one of my friends obsessed about it, because I'm not always as impressed by the stuff she loves. I try her cup of tea, enjoy it mildly, and return to mine.

That aside, I heard and read everyone's outcry on the whole issue of a "lack of racial diversity" and "twenty black people in the background doesn't count as diversity." Because I have not read the books, I have no comment. While watching the film, I saw nothing of that nature to complain about.

Now, as a "typical movie fan", The Hunger Games was rather entertaining. The pacing and build-up was nearly flawless, the set was fantastic, the second half was more suspenseful than a horror film, and the costumes were great. The shaky camera was very annoying in the beginning and during some of the action scenes, but it did help to hide some of the gruesome murders.

The best part of the film was the commentary on the reality TV-crazed American media. Everyone is obsessed with sitting back at home and watching the drama, death, and violence the kids face during the game of survival. The well-off citizens in the Capital looked like overdressed candy wrappers in an elegant, futuristic store shelf. Despite how ludicrous appearances were, this aesthetic was surprisingly... beautiful. This was far more appropriate and tasteful than Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

The world of Panem is very easy to understand, even if you never touched the books. For all of these, I was very pleased. Honestly, I was looking forward to the later films just to see this where this political dystopian universe will go.

But I walked out of this film pissed off.

I'm sorry, who are all of you again?

Despite the easy-to-follow plot, most of the characters fell dangerously behind. Other than Katniss, Gale, Rue, and Peeta, I cannot remember anyone else's names. I'm not sure if it's the actors' faults for poorly enunciating (for a while, I heard Cinna being called "Sinner") or the writers' faults for not clearly defining who was who. We never get to know any of the other kids fighting in the games, except Rue and the generically aggressive blonde jerk. The former gets fleshed out too late, but still done well enough; the latter was essentially pointless.

Out of the entire crew, only Gale and Katniss made great first impressions through their believable dialogue. But only Peeta stood out as the most likable character despite his quiet introduction. Everyone else was forgettable, especially Haymitch, who only served as the stereotypically incompetent mentor. Even Naruto pulled off that trope better... twice.

Above all else, I absolutely despised every single moment Katniss and Peeta exchanged words. Katniss treated him like crap in the beginning for no clear reason. I get that she's not exactly into having a relationship with anyone, but here she looked more rude than self-confident or being a "survivor." Even when everyone tells the two to pretend to have a "star-crossed romance" for the sake of entertainment for the Hunger Games, I could not take them seriously. Their "romance" was almost at Twilight levels of aggravating and sugary mush. Though I was glad Katniss went out in the midst of danger despite Peeta's whiny protests like most guys are portrayed in romances, I struggled to contain my frustration.

*sigh* I'm just so cynical and nitpicky.

I'll pass.
Look, this movie is worth checking out. Seriously. After the lack of good movies after the last Harry Potter film and Chronicle, this is worth two and a half hours of your life. All my complaints aside, this was a well-made movie that's fun, easy to follow, suspenseful, and emotional. Don't take my mixed feelings to heart.

There's only one thing I know for certain. I am still not convinced to read the books.


3.3 out of 5

06 April 2012

BEWARE! The Hate of Sonic 06's Soundtrack Is Over 9,000!!

Sonic 06, wake the **** up. You are NOT Final Fantasy.
Very well. I may not have played Sonic 06 since I currently don't own a XBox or a PS3, but I can still take this thing on. I watched at least four walkthroughs of this game and I listened to this soundtrack for months. I think I have enough room to toss my few cents into the opinion cup.

So here it goes.

This soundtrack is considered to be one of the best of this franchise.

... ... ... ... ...

BULLSHIT

Believe me, it gets much worse from here.

I apologize if any Sonic fan is reading this and loves this soundtrack. I am shooting bullets at this cocky piece of junk, not you. Please don't take this as a personal insult.

As for the rest of you... I'm sorry if my rage overwhelms anyone.

1:43 - What is THIS?! Is someone getting MARRIED?! *flashback to game*
OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! TT-TT

I'm serious... what the fudge was Sonic Team AND Sega on in 2006?! Why did they release a half-assed game with sloppy gameplay, inconsistent graphics, and a generally insultingly overrated and unexciting soundtrack?! Most of all, why has no one apologized for this train wreck?!

*storms away from computer, sits on bed, and meditates for seven years*

Okay, I'm cool... ish.

Pointless 28 second song is pointless!

I know making claims of what defines a "Sonic soundtrack" is shallow and stupid, but hear me out. Music in pretty much every Sonic game released was energetic, upbeat, or catchy. Even in the SEGA Genesis days, restricted by electronic bleeps, the music was still memorable! So what happened here? Electronic and rock still exist, except watered-down and lifeless. Other than an orchestra, keyboards, the occasional guitar, and woodwinds, no other instrument exists. They replaced actual drums with machines repeating the same damn noise over and over again. This is not fun, musical perfection, this is repetitive laziness. "Wave Ocean" is the prime example of such sloth!

*sigh* This ain't the Gerudo desert of the Zelda series... wake me up when it...
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This soundtrack is just as long as Shadow the Hedgehog's with over 90 songs, and YET Shadow's music was far more dynamic and energizing. Sure, not everyone can tolerate the sound that appeals more to rock and metal fans, but barely anything sounds exactly the same! Sonic 06, however, decides to have five songs sound 95% identical. This is mostly cutscene music too.

Yep an official Shadow recolor. Didn't see that one coming...
No seriously. That's the villain.

I kid you not, the tunes that play whenever Mephiles appears sound no different from each other, except that one during the cutscene with the pseudo-Jesus imagery. (That's a rage for another day...) There's "Resurrection of Mephiles", "The Black Shadow", "Mephiles' Whisper", "Mephiles' Temptation", and "Showdown with Mephiles". There was a cool theme that was duplicated and raped for no reason.

Silver, why did you debut in one of the worst games ever?!
WAAAAHHHH!!! 

And for character themes? "Dreams of an Absolution" - as I repeated for months - is the only track that deserves your serious attention. The in-game version of "His World" - not to be confused with the superior "Theme of Sonic the Hedgehog ~ E3 Version" - is hilariously awful. I'm sorry, Mr. Ali Tabatabaee, but in this song you are a lazy rapper. Just listen to the Crush 40 version, which the gods have blessed in their infinite wisdom... ...only to curse them. Crush 40's remake of "All Hail Shadow" is absolutely unnecessary. Magna-Fi made it glorious before, so why elongate and weaken what was concise and full of life?


Look, I have no issue with orchestral music. Symphonic metal is plagued with it. Nightwish dives head-first into the orchestration so much that it can be nauseating. But for them, it works because that was their style, their technique from day one. The fact that they continue it may prove that they are satisfied or that people want them to continue it until they die. Here, in a Sonic game it seems to work in small doses, otherwise it will look like everyone is trying too hard.

"The Past", "Chaos Control", "Revival", "Theme of Sonic Colors", "Theme of Sonic Unleashed", "To the World of the Memory", and "Metal Madness" are some examples of orchestration done well. They fit the tone and mood of the games they appear in while retaining a reasonable bit of memorability. Part of this is because we will hear these songs several times throughout the course of the game's story at the most appropriate moments. AND the games and their soundtracks don't drown themselves in such music.

Oh no! The tears that will release the Nine Tailed Fox from its' host!
It's the apocalypse! Cue the organ!

Yet Sonic 06 flips the bird at conservatively using what could be beautiful music and decides to fling new "impressive" and "elegant" crap at you to the point you forget what the fudge you're listening to! There are 48 event songs out of 94 tracks. 48 EVENT SONGS!!! That compares to 10 in Sonic Adventure 2, 17 in Sonic Colors, 10 in Sonic Generations, 11 in Sonic Heroes, and 6 in Sonic Adventure! 48 songs make up MORE THAN HALF OF THIS SOUNDTRACK! And most of the songs ARE REPEATS!!!!!

Fine, Shadow the Hedgehog has 49 event tracks. HOWEVER! Most of them STAND APART VERY CLEARLY!!! And many were re-used throughout the game WITHOUT DUPLICATE EDITS on the soundtrack! For crying out loud, Sonic Team!!!! Did you make Sonic 06 suck on purpose?! This is overkill!!!!

*walks away from computer and screams off the foulest curses ever conceived by mankind*


I have a headache. Seriously, I don't know if this or A Thousand Suns is the worst excuse of "great" albums I have ever heard. It's hard... man, is it hard... I could not finish listening to both in their entirety.

Yes, I gave up once we got to the Town Mission tunes. ...And I skipped the "Accordion Song". I wish that was a joke.

The only good action stage song that stuck the first time I listened.

Before I get a load of grief for my immaturity, I will admit that not every song was a colossal failure. Other than "Dreams of an Absolution", I found comfort in "Kingdom Valley", "Aquatic Base ~ Level 1", "Boss Fight Vs. Character", and "Theme of Dr. Eggman." These are five gems that I have found in a sea of oil and sludge.

And I refuse to comment in detail on "Sweet Dreams" and "My Destiny". They made me sick. Thankfully the developers didn't want me to puke excessively as the former never appeared on the soundtrack.

This could easily fit with the ARK stages in Shadow the Hedgehog...

Here's the greatest problem. Sonic 06 tried to impress everyone with its "realism" in graphics, story, and soundtrack. It's like Sonic would be deemed childish with the presence of epic, in-your-face music borrowing elements of rock, rap, jazz, techno, electronic, and orchestral. And what was released was a horrible disaster. They tried too damn hard and this ends up looking like a wanna-be Final Fantasy epic tale with snobbishly pretentious and "I'm superior to you all" music that should NEVER be in a Sonic game!

So what if I got into the games via the GameCube? I still have a tiny idea of what makes the blue blur awesome in the eyes of his fans. If you could stomach this more than me, fine. Enjoy it because I can't change your mind. But as you continue to praise it, I will continue to condemn it for failing to be the best damn thing it thinks it is.

Oh, Crush 40... we miss you dearly, even if you fumbled "All Hail Shadow"...

The good news about this? Sonic Team never attempted to overkill us with this pretentious, pseudo-elegent bullshit ever again! ... at least after Sonic Unleashed. *weeps*

0.5 out of 5

Because even this is the Mona Lisa next to the Twilight "saga".

I need to go brainwash myself with far better thoughts... A part of me has died...
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