Late Night Ramblings -- Final Thoughts for 2015: Wrapping Up Loose Ends & Getting A Few Things Off My Chest

The coolest thing to come out of the Civil War trailer. I can't wait to
see Tony get that arrogant smirk beat off his face.

Whew, this has been a crazy last few weeks in terms of gaming and movie news, huh? This is the last article I'm going to knock out here before the New Year rolls around so bare with me that this is going to be pretty long with me wrapping up a few loose ends.

 

Fall Mid-Season Finale Reactions

The Flash Season 2

Unlike most people, I'm REALLY being let down on this show's second season. The multiverse plot was promising at first glance but now it's just boiling down to the same dynamic as last season with the villain of the week formula followed by Harrison Wells taking center stage as the most charismatic actor out of the entire cast. Seriously, if it wasn't for him I doubt I would have been watching this show this long.

At least Iris West doesn't annoy me as much as she did in the first season. Same goes for the rest Flash life support team outside of Cisco. The whole subplot about Joe's son wasn't that interesting but I guess we had to give Iris something to overreact about like last season as she's not a pivotal part of the Flash life support team, or rather Scooby gang here.

I don't know why but I have a feeling that they are setting us up for a HUGE letdown with the final battle against Zoom. I was letdown on how they handled the Reverse Flash situation last season and now it seems like they are retreading the same territory here to lackluster results. Even the Flash/Arrow crossover team-up wasn't as exciting or as noteworthy as the one in previous season.

Agents of SHIELD Season 3

I just don't know what to say about this shit. I'm beyond fed up with Ward as the villain. Kill this dude off or make him into the Taskmaster if they want to keep paying the guy. I want to go into detail about my personal disgust on how the MCU treats it's villains but I'm going into that in a separate article that I have been sitting on for a while. Just expect that sometime in the new year.

FF7 Remake News - New Gameplay Trailer

My best friend and I have had this discussion ever since E3 this year when it was first announced and I'm still pretty indifferent about it.

I'll admit that I'm glad that Square Enix aren't using the same voice actors from Advent Children (at least that's not what it sounds like this far) and it looks like the battle system is taking a more of an action-RPG approach, much like how Kingdom Hearts, NIER, and the upcoming Final Fantasy XV are utilizing. I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like at first glance. We won't know how much of this would change between now and the final product.

Why does Barrett looks so SMALL? Did Blade (Marvel Comics) and Raven (Tekken series) get the memo that they have a twin with a machine gun arm? Also, did anyone spot that one of the menus says "Summon" during the gameplay? It's been forever since I have played the game, but I could have sworn that you don't get a summon until AFTER the fight with the scorpion robot.

 FFVII Remake May WILL Be Episodic

The fanboys and fangirls can fall for Square Enix's processed PR bullshit excuse all they want, but this is the SAME company that has been milking the Kingdom Hearts series for roughly 15+ years with no REAL sequel/finale to this series in sight anytime soon. Great, they keep showing us footage for Kingdom Hearts III, but it's hard to get excited for a game that should have been out WELL over a decade ago. Why don't you guys see that Square Enix are hungry for their stupid fans' money who won't let go of nostalgia?

If they split the game up into "episodes" how's that going to work? You buy a stripped down version of the remake that is essentially the beginning Midgar portion of the game then they sell you the rest of the game's narrative as DLC on an insanely expensive "Season Pass"? Oh wait, could it be like Final Fantasy XIII and it's MANY sequels, where you would have to buy each "episode" separately for a full retail price of $59.99 each? Then don't forget to slap on potential DLC prices. Thanks, but no thanks.

I'm with a lot of you guys. Final Fantasy VII and most of the PSone era RPGs were my first "formal" introductions to the genre, but much like most things in gaming nowadays, I rarely fall for the hype anymore. Call me pessimistic or whatever, but I'm sick of the gaming industry trying to cash in on my nostalgia and classic gaming memories, whether it be by remakes or re-releases or merely reselling games that I have already played before. I loved Final Fantasy VII back in the day. I did like a lot of gamers did back then. I played through it on multiple occasions, planned my entire gameplay up to the Gold Saucer event to get the date with Tifa (screw Aeris, man...), beat all of the WEAPONs - save for that fucker Emerald, who I never bothered to level grind to beat, got all of the Level 4 Limit Breaks (Omnislash FTW), got a Gold Chocobo and Knights of the Round, and recruited all of the party members. To this day, Vincent is still my favorite character to come out of Final Fantasy VII. If I'm honest with myself, I don't even want to go through that horror of getting a Gold Chocobo again or that clusterfuckery that was the segment where Cloud had to cross dress as a woman.

As much as I enjoyed Final Fantasy VII, there was a LOT of bullshit in that game that fans tend to gloss over with tunnel vision. For example, no one talks about how Disk 2 was pretty much revisit all of the past locations from Disk 1 before returning back to Midgar to confront Hojo and setting up the stage for Sephiroth's "true" resurrection. Or what about how Disk 3 was pretty much a waste of disk as there wasn't much else to do other than go to the Crater to confront Sephiroth and finish the game if you haven't done everything else to this point (FFVIII did the same thing with Disk 4 but that's a discussion for another day). In most cases, players have as most players tend to over level and grind to an insanely high level early into the game for the rest of the game to be a cakewalk. Or what about the entire final battle seems pretty awkward when AVALANCHE splits up into 3 teams of 3, but one team has only 2 members as if the game's creators were conflicted about bringing back Aeris to join you all at this point. Or how about how pathetic Sephiroth is in the final battle - either one-turn kill him with Knights of the Round or cast DeBarrier and hit him with Omnislash and that's pretty much it. If you're lucky, you can pull that off before he even casts Wall and Meteor.

 

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool: The Movie Trailer Impressions

Here's the thing being a Marvel fan. Every single time that DC Comics does something for their universe, whether it be for their TV shows, comic books, cartoons, or films, everyone expects Marvel fans to instantly shit on it because it's not their beloved heroes, especially now that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in full swing.

I don't have "hate" for DC Comics, it's just that over the years of being a comic book fan (especially during my teenage years and early adolescence), I just find Marvel Comics more entertaining. It's not a shot against DC Comics, but that's just how it's been. Sure, I can point out faults in both Marvel and DC but it doesn't stop me from finding enjoyment from their characters and storylines.

As for this trailer, I felt that Warner Bros./DC Comics showed FAR too much to say it was just a trailer. Seemed like they spoiled the bulk of the movie for us.

Here's the thing. I'm not going to shit on this... BUT I'm not as excited for this as I am for Civil War. I'm VERY happy that I didn't have to sit through two episodes of Jimmy Kimmel just to see both of these trailers too.

I'll admit that this is looking better with every new trailer but let's go over a few things here in this trailer:

1. Clark and Bruce's first meeting - Dying to see that scene play out entirely in the film as call me nuts, but Affleck has me sold on him playing Bruce for the ti...me being. The shots of him in costume look better and better.

2. Batman vs. Superman - It looks like they've spoiled the core dynamic of this encounter that the film is named off of with Supes saying "If I wanted you dead, I would've done it already." Sorry WB, you lost me there. Way to go on killing the vibe that they would be throwing down the entire movie. Of course, I know as a comic book fan that they wouldn't be fighting the ENTIRE movie, but one could hope that they could have kept this conflict grounded between them and come to an understanding without the "oh shit, end of the world dilemma" cliché coming in and forcing them to get on the same page.

3. Lex Luthor - Why is he giving me this strange Joker-esque vibe here? That's wrong VERY, VERY wrong... unless they plan on throwing a monkey wrench into the plan and making Lex become the Joker in this continuity somehow. Someone on Twitter mentioned that Jesse Eisenberg is acting like Max Landis and I TOTALLY can't unsee that now.

4. Zod and... Doomsday? I dunno who or what that Abomination looking dude is supposed to be but damn they spent some low budget effects on that guy. Definitely not as bad as X-Men: Apocalypse's leaked photos but geez someone needs to be fired in the CG department.

5. Wonder Woman - Gal Gadot STILL doesn't have me sold on this character. She looks too skinny to be playing an Amazon, especially one who is supposed to be Diana's build and stature. I know there's going to be girls who get mad at me mentioning that but c'mon, if I was cast in these superhero films - not matter what gender I was - I'd be hitting the gym hardcore and at least TRYING to make myself look the part instead of looking like a normal person wearing a cosplay costume. (Laughs) We've got Yaya Han and Jessica Nigri for random bimbos cosplaying...

Couldn't Gal Gadot get on a workout plan or something to at least TRY to bulk/tone up to at least ATTEMPT look like an Amazon for this movie? Does she understand that she's playing freakin' WONDER WOMAN? Yes, I understand that Linda Carter wasn't a built like a tank too but c'mon. Wonder Woman is supposed to look as "godly" as Superman does. Seeing her standing next to Batman and Superman in... the trailer looks like a bad cosplay costume.

Seriously, you would think that more actors would take these superhero roles more seriously now. Perfect example, take Chris Pratt's preparation to play Starlord for Guardians of the Galaxy. He went from the chubby guy from Parks and Recreation transforming into a hero that looks just as iconic as Chris Evans does as Captain America or Chris Hemsworth as Thor.

I hate to be nit-picky about stuff like this, but as someone who has spent the bulk of their lives reading, watching, and admiring these characters while anxiously awaiting to see them brought to life on the silver screen, I have pretty high expectations that these characters, especially the Trinity, are supposed to look larger than life - NOT like average people wearing their costumes.

 WHY IS BATMAN HOLDING A GUN!!??

(Calms down) I know Batman has used a gun in the past and made "exceptions" to his rule but this is a bad way to start off his "rebirth" in this DC Cinematic Universe, especially on how non-savvy fans tend to act like the films and cartoons are law in terms of where their core knowledge on these characters comes from.

Here's one last thing that people don't understand that are jizzling themselves off of this trailer. WB/DC Comics have done the single STUPIDEST thing at the end of this trailer.

They showed off the Trinity (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman) AS ALLIES. Wasn't the entire selling point of this movie supposed to be Batman VERSUS Superman? I don't know about anyone else but I didn't want to see pretty much 60% of the plot already spoiled potentially in ONE trailer.

Now we know going into the film that it's literally the foundation/backbone to Justice League and they are trying to rush ALL of this in ONE movie to play catch-up with the Avengers and the rest of Marvel's Cinematic Universe.

If that Abomination looking dude is supposed to be Doomsday then it's going to take the entire League to take him down if they want this to be believable. The more I think about this trailer the more it's turning me off to having any anticipation for seeing this. Sure, I'll watch but it's not like a "must-see" now.

Onto Captain America: Civil War first premiere trailer... Anyone who knows me personally knows that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is HANDS-DOWN my personal favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe film to date. That means a lot to me as I don't consider myself a Captain America fan. Never liked the guy outside of acting as leader of the Avengers' many teams and factions over the last few decades, but that film sold me onto the character his worth to the MCU as a whole from the impact that film had on the entire scope of the MCU up to that point. I really hope that Marvel Studios doesn't fuck this up and do same here. After the disappointment that was Age of Ultron, I feel like Marvel needs to shake up the foundation again. We're closing in onto the Infinity War and some BIG shit needs to hit the fan.

I'm honestly trying NOT to watch a lot of these trailers as I don't want to have 90% of the movie spoiled for me as I have a feeling that a lot of the good jokes have already been spoiled already. Cool to see that the X-Men have a presence in this film. At this stage, I doubt that FOX can mess this up and it will end up being the successful gamble like how Guardians of the Galaxy played out for Marvel Studios. The only thing that I'm dreading are the droves of bandwagon Deadpool fans coming out of the wood work after this drops. It's already bad enough that we're going to have to deal with the bandwagon Harley Quinn fans once Suicide Squad comes out...

Capcom Cup 2015 & Street Fighter V News

While I didn't watch ALL of Capcom Cup on Sunday, I did see enough that I did enjoy for the most part. Glad to see Street Fighter IV go out in style in what I'm understanding the last "formal" event for the game as Capcom are going to fully support Street Fighter V for Capcom Cup next year. That's asking a lot of players who stuck around for the long-haul across multiple updates and different consoles to pick up a brand new console (either the PlayStation 4 or PC - that's it) just to play the next entry.

He reminds me of Hsien-Ko from Darkstalkers crossed with Voldo from Soul Calibur and Solomon Kane from Sym-Bionic Titan.

If I had one favorite match out of everything that I saw at Capcom Cup, it was this match. As a Chun-Li player myself, I tip my hat to Infiltration's play against The Beast himself. Infiltration didn't do anything wrong - he played with Chun's strengths by keeping it purely a battle of footsies. Daigo still managed to comeback from what looked like defeat in one round with a comeback that people will be talking about for years to come. (Whistles) And people are STILL talking about Daigo is losing his touch?

My End of the Year Confessions

Despite all of my friends who RAVE about it being the best film of 2015 next to Star Wars, I didn't much care for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Outside its BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING cinematography, costumes, and special effects, I have to honestly say that from a narrative perspective it was all flash and no substance. I watched the film twice and I still don't see what was supposed to be the big deal of it all.

Glamorizing being a nerd/dork like a fashion statement pisses me off to no end.

Seeing celebrities and some of the same people who ridiculed me when I was growing up parading around to this label to be "cool" in their adolescence just downright disgusts me. Roughly a decade and a half ago, society frowned upon everyone who loved anime, comic book superheroes, and video games. Now society has taken a complete 180 to that mindset. I should be happy but I dunno it just comes off as people just trying to be accepted when I was used to being an outcast on Nerd Island for so long.

Screw it, watch this episode of Freakazoid and you'll get what I'm driving at.

Despite my distaste for The Walking Dead brand as a whole - from the graphic novels to the television series (and spin-off) to the video game(s) - I actually do watch the show from time to time. Not particularly crazy about it but I watch it. 

I get that people love the survivalist aspect or the whole idea that humanity turns to the worst of their characters in this ruined world, but you could take out the zombie apocalypse dilemma and it's just as bad normal ordinary life. The older I get the more pessimistic it seems I get to this world and the people in it, so I tend to not like to be reminded that "Oh yeah, just about everyone you know is out for themselves, there's next to no good people left, and there's NO happy endings." I like watching TV and immersing myself into fiction for the LIES that this shit isn't true, not to be fucking more depressed than I already am from my own real life dilemmas and day to day ordeals. Frown on me for not liking this stuff for that reason, I don't give a fuck but c'mon, I know you guys are realistically watching this show for the reason that I am - I'm dying to see when it comes down to the point where everyone just gives up and kill themselves and quit lying to themselves about there's a happy ending to this shit when there's no way in hell it's going to end well, no matter how many ways you slice it.

It's funny. I can tolerate an "apocalyptic" world like Attack on Titan when it's the same premise, but I can respect that narrative more because everyone is fucked and the death toll is so high and not everyone is presented as a bad ass and instantly ready to deal with this situation. Don't give me that crap about people in TWD are like that too, but when they are they are killed off so fast that it doesn't even matter that they existed period in the footnotes over the course of the story. 

After thinking about it for a long time, I have to agree with Max Landis' statement about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Rey is the quintessential example of the Mary Sue archetype in cinema. On top of that, I don't think that the film was particularly great either. 

I'm going to review Star Wars: The Force Awakens early into 2016, so I'll keep this short for the time being. The only thing I'm going to put out there is that I feel like Disney played it too "safe" for this first journey back into Star Wars after the buyout from George Lucas. While the kid in me loved the nostalgia, I couldn't help but feel like nothing in this film was "original" everything came off as a recycling everything that "worked" in the original trilogy to repackage everything for this younger audience. It was literally Hollywood's version of the current trend in video games of re-releasing games you already played a million times as a "collection" and selling you it as something BRAND new. 

I don't get why people got mad at Landis for saying that Rey is a Mary Sue. She beat Kylo Ren in what many wrestling fans could refer to as "LOLCENAWINS" with NO prior Jedi training and little effort. 

'Nuff said, folks. 

Closing Words

No idea what's in store for the New Year as I'm still recovering from my oral surgery from the week of Christmas and I head back to work next week, so I'm going to take this one day at a time. More Ramblings to vent my frustrations and rant on random topics and hopefully some more movie and gaming reviews. Who knows, I might get a current gen console and finally be able to stream some stuff again? I dunno what's in the cards for me at this rate. (Shrugs) Who knows what 2016 will bring as I know I had no idea that 2015 was going to play out like how it did...

If you're out drinking tonight, be safe and call a cab home. Wishing you all a happy New Year. 

See you around, space cowboy...