The problem with trying to get away from it all is that wherever you go, you're still stuck on Earth! Supposing you could go to a fantasy world outside the known universe? I'm proposing that there are far more than twenty locations you could be zipped away to, but I'm only listing my favorites here.
Here are my personal top twenty most beautiful game locations.
20- The world of Dragon Quest VIII.
It's huge, dangerous, and beautiful. It's also one of the biggest game worlds I've ever encountered.
19- The world of Okami.
A painting come to life!
18- The world of Shadow of the Colossus.
One of the most solemn places in video game history. Minus the giants, of course.
17- The world of Chrono Trigger.
Not only do you get a world to explore, you get multiple time periods in which to explore!
16- The world of Braid.
Manipulating time to learn from your mistakes in a virtual piece of art. Wonderful!
15- The world (universe?!) of Mass Effect.
The single most believable science fiction ever set in an amazing universe full of life, love, and danger.
14- The universe of Super Mario Galaxy.
I think the videos speak for themselves.
13- Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda series.
Or, more specifically, Hyrule from Twilight Princess.
12- Rapture from the Bioshock series.
If I ever wanted to go insane and murderous surrounded by equally bonkers individuals, Rapture is the best locale for it.
11- The brains of Psychonauts.
No man is an island. They're a cosmos of craziness! One of the most underrated games EVER!
10- The world of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
This game defines true Medieval romanticism for me. I don't know who did this video, but it's great.
9- The Russia of Metal Gear Solid 3
Dude. It's the jungle during the Cold War and it's full of life and death.
8- The Worlds of the Metroid Prime Trilogy.
Isolation and puzzles do not detract from a beautiful view of alien worlds.
7- The, uh, thingies of Little Big Planet.
I want a Sackboy or girl.
6- Gaia from Final Fantasy VII.
This world mirrors our own in so many ways. And the lives and struggles of the people all over the world illuminate the locations you visit. Also, I know this is from Advent Children, but this is how the game looked in my mind.
5- Earth from the Katamari series.
So...Earth is junk?
4- Ivalice from Final Fantasy XII.
Based on Turkish design, Ivalice is one of the most believable worlds in that the necessities for life to be recognizable as such stand out in this game more than almost any other I've played.
3- The Capital Wasteland from Fallout 3.
It's the opposite of beautiful. But it's done so well. And, by the way, just keep heading North. Tell the talking tree I said HI!
2- The world of Chrono Cross.
The water-ladened world of Chrono Cross blends perfectly with the music of this game. The audio and video combination of beauty make this world painfully hard to say goodbye to it.
1- The ruined world of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
I've never felt the weight of reality in a game so much as I have with this game. You treasure each location and each speck of scenery the entire time you're playing this. I dream about this world fondly.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
How to fix Lost Season 6!
It's no secret that I, along with most of my friends, were disappointed with how the sixth season of Lost turned out. For the most part it was a great deal of stalling, unnecessary characters, pointless twists, and useless episodes all around. It did have some very great moments, though. And I'd go so far as to say that a couple of episodes were some of the best I've ever seen. The Desmond one comes to mind. And, for all this season's other flaws, the final episode was very great and satisfying....as far as the characters (and ONLY the characters) are concerned. And even then, well, I just miss Mr. Eko is all.
But never-you-mind the could-have-beens. I'm proposing several ways that the last season of Lost could have been better as well as more fulfilling. Because if there's anything that leaves a Lost junkie feeling like he didn't have his fix, it's leaving about, oh, 86 percent of the most intriguing and important questions left unanswered!
First, and most importantly, DON'T MAKE SEASON SIX THE LAST SEASON!
Seriously, the way it was carried out made you think you were watching the closing of one of television's most interesting and cerebral shows rounding out its final lap, but...what if it was just to throw us off the scent? What if season SEVEN is around the corner?! And what if it fills in all the gaps left by an almost completely uninteresting season prior to it?
Second, and let's get a little more realistic, GIVE US SOME FRIGGIN' ANSWERS!!!!!@#$%
Here's how you do it: extend season six by two episodes. Got it? Okay, now, make the first four or five episodes jam-packed with the most easily available answers for all of the most long-standing questions. Why is Walt so special? He was born near radiation or something. Who is the economist? Somebody who is more powerful than Widmore. How did the man in black become the smoke monster? There's a demon trapped under the island and whomever comes in contact with it directly becomes cursed.
Now, I know these aren't very good answers. But they are, at the very least, ANSWERS! Cram all these answers in throughout the first handfull of episodes and, no matter how lame the rest of the season is, viewers will say to one another, "Well, at least they gave us some FRIGGIN' ANSWERS!!!!!#%@"
Third, and this is key, maintain the importance of the mysteries.
I likened the characters and story of lost as two peas in a pod: equal and linked. But then in season six, they dropped the importance of the mysteries and almost solely focused on characters. Why? We already love these people! Why try to drive that point home even more? This kind of thinking turned Lost into exactly what it shouldn't have been: a soap opera. It was supposed to be a thinking person's show and it somehow got shifted into an emotional melodrama.
And here's the kicker.....THEY INTRODUCED EVEN MORE MYSTERIES IN SEASON SIX THAT WERE NEVER ANSWERED! Why? WHY?
Listen Lost guys. We loved the show and the characters. And our infatuation with both happened as follows.
One, you showed us broken characters with troubled pasts from the get-go. And you kept that going for the entirety of the show. Which is great. But...
You also introduced even more mysteries about the island and its inhabitants (both native and foreign)! Why not get some of those out of the way?
It's simple when you think about it. We were going to be emotionally invested in these characters regardless. Because they are us. They embody every type of brokenness common to the common man. They're from all walks of life, just like us. But the mysteries unite us. They're what we talked about when the show wasn't on tv. We said to one another "Hey, I think Sawyer is funny, but what the crapsticks is that smokey thing? Where does it come from?"
You see? The thread holding the show together was the questions. And when you abandoned the thread, the pieces fell apart. And there's no way to put them together again. Yet still you expect us to marvel at the beauty of these broken pieces when all we wanted all along was a complete tapestry.
This would have been the lasting wonder of Lost. And now, with the abandoning of the very fibers of mystery that held the larger character pieces together, the show itself is Lost. It's the most aptly named show I've ever seen. And for all the wrong reasons.
But never-you-mind the could-have-beens. I'm proposing several ways that the last season of Lost could have been better as well as more fulfilling. Because if there's anything that leaves a Lost junkie feeling like he didn't have his fix, it's leaving about, oh, 86 percent of the most intriguing and important questions left unanswered!
First, and most importantly, DON'T MAKE SEASON SIX THE LAST SEASON!
Seriously, the way it was carried out made you think you were watching the closing of one of television's most interesting and cerebral shows rounding out its final lap, but...what if it was just to throw us off the scent? What if season SEVEN is around the corner?! And what if it fills in all the gaps left by an almost completely uninteresting season prior to it?
Second, and let's get a little more realistic, GIVE US SOME FRIGGIN' ANSWERS!!!!!@#$%
Here's how you do it: extend season six by two episodes. Got it? Okay, now, make the first four or five episodes jam-packed with the most easily available answers for all of the most long-standing questions. Why is Walt so special? He was born near radiation or something. Who is the economist? Somebody who is more powerful than Widmore. How did the man in black become the smoke monster? There's a demon trapped under the island and whomever comes in contact with it directly becomes cursed.
Now, I know these aren't very good answers. But they are, at the very least, ANSWERS! Cram all these answers in throughout the first handfull of episodes and, no matter how lame the rest of the season is, viewers will say to one another, "Well, at least they gave us some FRIGGIN' ANSWERS!!!!!#%@"
Third, and this is key, maintain the importance of the mysteries.
I likened the characters and story of lost as two peas in a pod: equal and linked. But then in season six, they dropped the importance of the mysteries and almost solely focused on characters. Why? We already love these people! Why try to drive that point home even more? This kind of thinking turned Lost into exactly what it shouldn't have been: a soap opera. It was supposed to be a thinking person's show and it somehow got shifted into an emotional melodrama.
And here's the kicker.....THEY INTRODUCED EVEN MORE MYSTERIES IN SEASON SIX THAT WERE NEVER ANSWERED! Why? WHY?
Listen Lost guys. We loved the show and the characters. And our infatuation with both happened as follows.
One, you showed us broken characters with troubled pasts from the get-go. And you kept that going for the entirety of the show. Which is great. But...
You also introduced even more mysteries about the island and its inhabitants (both native and foreign)! Why not get some of those out of the way?
It's simple when you think about it. We were going to be emotionally invested in these characters regardless. Because they are us. They embody every type of brokenness common to the common man. They're from all walks of life, just like us. But the mysteries unite us. They're what we talked about when the show wasn't on tv. We said to one another "Hey, I think Sawyer is funny, but what the crapsticks is that smokey thing? Where does it come from?"
You see? The thread holding the show together was the questions. And when you abandoned the thread, the pieces fell apart. And there's no way to put them together again. Yet still you expect us to marvel at the beauty of these broken pieces when all we wanted all along was a complete tapestry.
This would have been the lasting wonder of Lost. And now, with the abandoning of the very fibers of mystery that held the larger character pieces together, the show itself is Lost. It's the most aptly named show I've ever seen. And for all the wrong reasons.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Happy, Sad, Scared, Tranquil.
Here are 20 video game tracks split up into four groups of five. I did a post like this on my last go 'round with The Save Point and accidentally deleted it. I should have kept it and expounded on it a little, but my delete finger was itchy and it's now gone.
Thus, with hindsight what it is, I'm offering a new list, a little more thought out and offering less of an individual category, yet still varied enough to account for a top 20 list.
NOTE! The requirements for the lists is as follows:
To be considered for the Happy category, a song must invoke a smile or a cheer. The song doesn't have to be bubbly or cute, but it does have to get you pumped up.
To be a sad song, it must invoke feelings of longing, both for the game and for something lost.
To be a scary song it must invoke feelings of unease, dread, or just garden-variety spookyness.
And to be tranquil, it must invoke feelings of introspection, quietness of mind, and perhaps sleepiness.
So, here goes.
My Top Five Happy Songs (in no particular order).
5- Final Fantasy VII, Battle Theme.
4- Street Fighter II, Guile's Theme.
3- Super Mario Galaxy 2, Yoshi Star Galaxy.
2- Portal, Still Alive.
1- Every Katamari Game, All of 'em. Seriously, take your pick. But for brevity, I'll just list a couple from the first two games.
Okay, and now we're on to My Top Five Sad Songs.
5- Chrono Trigger, At The Bottom Of The Night.
4- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Way To Fall.
3- Final Fantasy X-2, Yuna's Ballad.
2- Donkey Kong Country, Aquatic Ambiance.
1- Chrono Cross, Life.
My Top Five Scariest Songs.
5- The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Light and Darkness (Zant)
4- Earthbound, Giygas Theme.
3- Quake, Castle Of The Damned.
2- Super Castlevania IV, Dracula Battle.
1- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Abandoned Pit.
My Top Five Tranquil Songs.
5- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Wings of Kynareth.
4- Ico, Heal.
3- We Love Katamari, Blue Orb.
2- Final Fantasy XII, Eruyt Village.
1- Dragon Quest VIII, Heavenly Flight.
Thus, with hindsight what it is, I'm offering a new list, a little more thought out and offering less of an individual category, yet still varied enough to account for a top 20 list.
NOTE! The requirements for the lists is as follows:
To be considered for the Happy category, a song must invoke a smile or a cheer. The song doesn't have to be bubbly or cute, but it does have to get you pumped up.
To be a sad song, it must invoke feelings of longing, both for the game and for something lost.
To be a scary song it must invoke feelings of unease, dread, or just garden-variety spookyness.
And to be tranquil, it must invoke feelings of introspection, quietness of mind, and perhaps sleepiness.
So, here goes.
My Top Five Happy Songs (in no particular order).
5- Final Fantasy VII, Battle Theme.
4- Street Fighter II, Guile's Theme.
3- Super Mario Galaxy 2, Yoshi Star Galaxy.
2- Portal, Still Alive.
1- Every Katamari Game, All of 'em. Seriously, take your pick. But for brevity, I'll just list a couple from the first two games.
Okay, and now we're on to My Top Five Sad Songs.
5- Chrono Trigger, At The Bottom Of The Night.
4- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Way To Fall.
3- Final Fantasy X-2, Yuna's Ballad.
2- Donkey Kong Country, Aquatic Ambiance.
1- Chrono Cross, Life.
My Top Five Scariest Songs.
5- The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Light and Darkness (Zant)
4- Earthbound, Giygas Theme.
3- Quake, Castle Of The Damned.
2- Super Castlevania IV, Dracula Battle.
1- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Abandoned Pit.
My Top Five Tranquil Songs.
5- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Wings of Kynareth.
4- Ico, Heal.
3- We Love Katamari, Blue Orb.
2- Final Fantasy XII, Eruyt Village.
1- Dragon Quest VIII, Heavenly Flight.
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