Before you all get your conspiracy hats on before we begin I'd like to give a parental advisory about this show- it will fuck with your children's minds. Also, never lie to your kids about things like them killing the pets by negligence- it can lead to some quite disturbing things in the future.
Okay with the RSAC done, let's get down to business. In the great Japanese tradition of making your mind turn to jelly comprehending exactly what is going on, Paranoia Agent takes a few pages from Serial Experiment:Lain then decides " ah screw it", and then just starts having warm,lustful lovemaking with it.. if that's given you a mental image that no amount of mind bleach can shift, then there is the true result of paranoia agent, and it has won.
Paranoia Agent starts off very much on the right foot for a mind fuck with an intro that seems innocent, but has such an unnerving and disturbing edge that I never really got over. It's set in a world that is heavily modelled off reality (and in fact may as well be, up until.. the end), and it starts off with an overworked young character designer getting whacked in a dark by the elusive Bat Boy. The series follow.. no not follows.. it goes around the people surrounding the case, and the serial of other cases following.
I won't beat around the bush, the show will probably lose you around one of it's MANY contextual and senory meanderings, that much is certain. The plot is almost liquid, it expands from the single case outward at an inpressive rate for a 13 episode show. Characters range from being fairly average, to fairly awesome, and there are a lot of messed people that you meet. It really was quite interesting the lady with bipolar and her two sides fought, the cop who stole to keep himself out of debt, and all sorts in between, they were well written animated and presented.
This leads me to the more technical aspects of the series. Character animation was superb and fluid, not to menation detailed, then there were times the polar opposite deliberately and those too were well executed. Backgrounds are the high standard you'd expect from Madhouse, and all other effects are polished to a sheen. Music and Sound is all great, and the voice actors were cast excelently.
In short, get it. If you like mindscrews, get it. If you on't like mindscrews, get it, and then learn to like mindscrews. If you enjoyed Lain, GET IT NOW. GET It, it 's worth it's weight in psychology books.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
METAL GEAR?!
Yes, I know, it's a horrible horrible cliche that just wants to make you gouge your eyes out, save someone doing it for you. I especially hate this particular cliche, because it's pretentious wankery of the highest degree that assume that all things can be given solid definitions., and that they will
be consistent from one case to the next. More on "Useless is..." later. Onto the news I give a crap about. Much like the news section of Top Gear, it's more of a brief and coloured version.
First off - The prologue to S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Skies, is looking to be a deliciously tasty treat if you can run it, or have been lavishly enjoying the first game like myself. No, I shit you not, it seems they've finally rounded off the X-Ray engine with some this generation tech (not 2003-4 era tech). Dynamic Soft Shadows, Rain shadow mapping, improved weather (or rather.. deteriorating weather), dynamic GOD RAYS, and a whole tonne of the deteriorated concrete mixed with wilderness that is the defining visual facett to the original game. It's not just the visuals being updated, with the vaunted ALife AI getting some improvement, and giving some sorely needed improvement to the weapon upgrade system and making cash WORTH something(probably one of the original's weak points), and more of that unique blend of linear progression and free-roaming world that makes STALKER the radioactive Animal Crossing it is. It's coming in August, so keep some dosh aside for that Vista DX10 powerbox and this to get some seriously pleasing SinglePlayer MMO action.
Duke Nukem Forever.. does anybody remember it? Remember Broussard making claims similar "the year you see Screenshots and Videos coming out for DNF is the year we're looking to release it" ? Of course you don't, you're probably not as bent as I was several years ago on being a 3DRealms Forum-ite. Anyway, he's gone on the record saying that. Last year november, we got some screenshots(three), and this year, we have a shakycam video slash interview. What does this mean? I FUCKING CALLED IT,thats what it means. Now, we've heard nothing official about a release date (much in the same way the first few videos of Half-life 2 were unconfirmed for a date), BUT, if we're to use my Broussardian rule of thumb, I call Christmas 08, or Easter 09. As of the video, there's not a whole lot you can make out about actual gameplay, but the HUD looks interesting(a little large, but that jsut may be my taste), and it appears a shrink ray is back in and on the cards. So far, NOT a failure.
Metal Gear Solid 4- I'm sure if you're not an AVID Metal Gear or Playstation fanatic, you've already missed the first 3 of the MGS games. Do not blame you for the blind eye that's being pulled there, but once you're into the series, it is a truly a hook. Hideo Kojima is a bit of a unusual designer in many senses, he developed in one fell swoop the Stealth Action genre way back in 1987 with Metal Gear 1, made a pioneeringly awesome Zone of Enders franchise, and has a kooky sense of humor which seeps through in most of his games. Starting with Metal Gear Solid he really did strike some serious gold reviving the Metal Gear franchise ( As Metal Gear Solid 1). Intense Stealth Action, DEEP Storyline with interweaving literary arcs that cross between Science Fiction, Mecha fanboy-ism and hardcore military authenticity, and more or less flawless artistic direction. To cut the long story short, MGS4 promises to be more of the same with a wh0le lot more bolted in for god measurement. Rumors are that there are a couple of 90 MINUTE custscenes in the game, along with a decently long game playtime makes this game... quite intensely filled. If you have a PS3, this game will be the one that defines WHY you chose a 1 grand black box for your next-gen console, so if you're NOT getting MGS4, I want to know WHY (Money gripes aside). I swear, if this game makes the jump to the PC, it'll be straight on here.
Moving on, erm... Let's talk music.Of recent, I've been looking for some more varied tastes in music, so with all things being circular in nature, I've been going through shoegazing electronica and other downeat and enjoyable musics from bother hemispheres of the world. On one side I've found myself some Imogen Heap (post Frou-Frou, keeps her melancholic voice though) and The Delgados (From Edinburgh, has some great Indie Rock from-the-north flavour), and on the other, I'm slowly piling up on Bonnie Pink and ORIGA (Most notably remembered in my books for her contributions to Ghost in the Shell 2, and both of the Stand Alone Complex Series ). As a direct result, I'm much more calm, and feeling much more artistic. Don't ask how it works, it just does, my mood is almost entire
ly swayed by what I'm listening to alone.
So, I thought I'd show off some of the freelance work I'm playing with at the moment. you should see.. some pictures.. around here.. somewhere...
Anyway, ignore the slightly manly, mostly unstarted head on the lady, that will be completed with time, and the Opel is going to be for HL2 Ep2(replacing the Muscle Car), os I've gotta finish it, shear off the doors and make with the awesome.
be consistent from one case to the next. More on "Useless is..." later. Onto the news I give a crap about. Much like the news section of Top Gear, it's more of a brief and coloured version.
First off - The prologue to S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Skies, is looking to be a deliciously tasty treat if you can run it, or have been lavishly enjoying the first game like myself. No, I shit you not, it seems they've finally rounded off the X-Ray engine with some this generation tech (not 2003-4 era tech). Dynamic Soft Shadows, Rain shadow mapping, improved weather (or rather.. deteriorating weather), dynamic GOD RAYS, and a whole tonne of the deteriorated concrete mixed with wilderness that is the defining visual facett to the original game. It's not just the visuals being updated, with the vaunted ALife AI getting some improvement, and giving some sorely needed improvement to the weapon upgrade system and making cash WORTH something(probably one of the original's weak points), and more of that unique blend of linear progression and free-roaming world that makes STALKER the radioactive Animal Crossing it is. It's coming in August, so keep some dosh aside for that Vista DX10 powerbox and this to get some seriously pleasing SinglePlayer MMO action.
Duke Nukem Forever.. does anybody remember it? Remember Broussard making claims similar "the year you see Screenshots and Videos coming out for DNF is the year we're looking to release it" ? Of course you don't, you're probably not as bent as I was several years ago on being a 3DRealms Forum-ite. Anyway, he's gone on the record saying that. Last year november, we got some screenshots(three), and this year, we have a shakycam video slash interview. What does this mean? I FUCKING CALLED IT,thats what it means. Now, we've heard nothing official about a release date (much in the same way the first few videos of Half-life 2 were unconfirmed for a date), BUT, if we're to use my Broussardian rule of thumb, I call Christmas 08, or Easter 09. As of the video, there's not a whole lot you can make out about actual gameplay, but the HUD looks interesting(a little large, but that jsut may be my taste), and it appears a shrink ray is back in and on the cards. So far, NOT a failure.
Metal Gear Solid 4- I'm sure if you're not an AVID Metal Gear or Playstation fanatic, you've already missed the first 3 of the MGS games. Do not blame you for the blind eye that's being pulled there, but once you're into the series, it is a truly a hook. Hideo Kojima is a bit of a unusual designer in many senses, he developed in one fell swoop the Stealth Action genre way back in 1987 with Metal Gear 1, made a pioneeringly awesome Zone of Enders franchise, and has a kooky sense of humor which seeps through in most of his games. Starting with Metal Gear Solid he really did strike some serious gold reviving the Metal Gear franchise ( As Metal Gear Solid 1). Intense Stealth Action, DEEP Storyline with interweaving literary arcs that cross between Science Fiction, Mecha fanboy-ism and hardcore military authenticity, and more or less flawless artistic direction. To cut the long story short, MGS4 promises to be more of the same with a wh0le lot more bolted in for god measurement. Rumors are that there are a couple of 90 MINUTE custscenes in the game, along with a decently long game playtime makes this game... quite intensely filled. If you have a PS3, this game will be the one that defines WHY you chose a 1 grand black box for your next-gen console, so if you're NOT getting MGS4, I want to know WHY (Money gripes aside). I swear, if this game makes the jump to the PC, it'll be straight on here.
Moving on, erm... Let's talk music.Of recent, I've been looking for some more varied tastes in music, so with all things being circular in nature, I've been going through shoegazing electronica and other downeat and enjoyable musics from bother hemispheres of the world. On one side I've found myself some Imogen Heap (post Frou-Frou, keeps her melancholic voice though) and The Delgados (From Edinburgh, has some great Indie Rock from-the-north flavour), and on the other, I'm slowly piling up on Bonnie Pink and ORIGA (Most notably remembered in my books for her contributions to Ghost in the Shell 2, and both of the Stand Alone Complex Series ). As a direct result, I'm much more calm, and feeling much more artistic. Don't ask how it works, it just does, my mood is almost entire
ly swayed by what I'm listening to alone.So, I thought I'd show off some of the freelance work I'm playing with at the moment. you should see.. some pictures.. around here.. somewhere...
Anyway, ignore the slightly manly, mostly unstarted head on the lady, that will be completed with time, and the Opel is going to be for HL2 Ep2(replacing the Muscle Car), os I've gotta finish it, shear off the doors and make with the awesome.
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