Godzilla: A 2014 Movie Review

Gareth Edwards' Godzilla is nothing short of amazing. It was executed so well that I'm not even sure if Toho themselves could have made it better. It was the first raw sci-fi/action movie I've seen in a long time (beside Pacific Rim, of course).

That being said, it wasn't perfect. The first hour or so of the movie was build up in the story. We get to see very emotional acting from Bryan Cranston, which was wonderful, but some of the other characters didn't exactly have the same effect. The acting was still very good. There was much more character development than I thought was possible in a modern Godzilla film.

Another problem I found was that "human" element of the story was clunky and rather inconsistent. But I will cut some slack because I didn't go to see it for the human side of the story as much as I did for Godzilla himself.

It's worth adding that I just smiled during the whole battle of Godzilla and Muto(s). It just made me so happy to see monsters smashing each other. It gets that nerd blood pumping.

Overall this movie is amazing and is definitely worth spending money on. The flaws are small enough that are easy enough to overlook. From the emotional beginning to the moment you hear the big lizard roar, this movie will give you chills.

Outlast

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Outlast has single-handedly scared me more than anything in 20 years of life. Granted I'm not usually the one to be seeking horror.

Outlast does so many things right by avoiding typical horror cliches. This makes the game seem more real rather than just another crappy scare story.

And that's another thing--Outlast actually has a gripping story. You are some reporter who thinks he can take on the world. And when everyone is too afraid to check out this over the top sketchy asylum, your character does not hesitate to take on the job. Within the first several minutes of the game your character quickly realizes that he has made a horrible mistake. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, he has never been more wrong in his life.

After the first 10 minutes or so your mission objective quickly changes--do whatever it takes to get out of the asylum.

At the beginning of the game I thought it was going to be a bunch of jump scares but it is so much more than that. It's almost more scary just being afraid of what's going to happen--not what actually does happen.

The game is wonderful in being one of the most terrifying things ever and being an actual and psychological horror. However, the game lacks details in the characters faces and I feel that really deters from the scariness of the game. The rest of the game is beautiful but facial expressions are not its strong points. It's terrifying being chased by some horrible being that wants to rip out your organs but once they actual catch you it seems to no long be very scary.

Maybe I'm over analyzing but that is how I feel. Other than that the game is great. The story is very gripping and (if you play it right) gets you attached to the main protagonist and by the end it leaves you wondering and wanting more.

I give this game a 9 out of 10.

Outlast has a new DLC to be released this month. The DLC is called Whistleblower.

Oh, What A Life: An American Authors Review

I first heard of American Authors almost a year ago. I thought they were really good. I put a note in my phone to remind me to look them up when I got home (because I didn't own a smart phone at the time). But sure enough, I forgot.

For the coming months I still remembered them on occasion and wanted to look them up, because I just really liked their song I had heard on AltNation! The song was Believer, by the way.

I pretty much forgot about them until they started showing up on public radio. Which, by the way made me quite angry. Too many good bands get destroyed because of the radio i.e. Imagine Dragons, Of Monsters & Men, Bastille, etc. But that is hardly the point.

When the end of the year came around and my friends and I were making our end-of-year mix, the song Hit It was suggested. That's one I had never heard but I was familiar with the band and new that the song would be good.

I listened to their EP a few times and really liked it. It has a good alternative/indie feel.

Soon after, I found out that the university I attend would be hosting a festival with American Authors as the main event. This was not hard to convince myself (and others) to go.

Their newest album released just last week, the same week as the concert. The concert was very enjoyable and worth the money. There were a few technical difficulties, but the band handled them well. They told jokes and interacted with the crowd. They also played some covers that were better than the originals. Such as Lights by Ellie Goulding and Cruise by Florida Georgia Line All around a respectful and talented band.

American Authors on stage.

Since then, I have been listening to their album more and it's quite amazing. I feel like the album represents the band perfectly, in the sense that they can party and have fun but can also be solemn and respectful.

For anyone who doesn't know about American Authors and is interested in buying/listening to their album, I recommend it. It's alternative enough for normal people to enjoy it and indie enough for (some) hipsters to still like it as well.


Photo courtesy of @_xoxobrenda via Twitter

Elder Scrolls Online Review

My thoughts for the second beta phase of The Elder Scrolls Online are not very concrete. I only put a few hours into the beta so I wouldn't consider this a critique, more of a personal evaluation.

Background information: I was not impressed by beta phase one. I felt there wasn't anything really special about it, which disappointed me. But again that opinion isn't very concrete either. I never actually play phase one. I only watched closely as a friend played. But I digress.

Phase two: As far as I could tell, It had gotten cleaned up quite a bit! Phase two got me quite excited about the game once again!

Recap of all the Elder Scrolls games.

It was similar enough to it's predecessors to make it feel like a classic Elder Scrolls game. What I really like about ESO is the fact that it is also different from the other Elder Scrolls games. For the first time in Elder Scrolls I actually enjoyed playing in third person rather than first. It actually looks good too! Don't get me wrong, I love the other games. But one cannot deny the fact that the graphics were pretty in the earlier games were subpar to most other games at the time.

Good news? Well I fear you had to try it for yourself. I have a friend you did not enjoy the beta until about seven hours in. If you want my opinion (which I'm sure you do or else you wouldn't be here), he is crazy.

The game is cleverly crafted. It offers you choices that affect how things turn out. This is no ground-breaking aspect but it definitely adds to it's awesomeness.

You are limited to certain alliances depending on what species you choose. It's cool that Bethesda is enforcing what makes sense within the world of Tamriel, but one can just purchase the Collectors Edition, which allows you to choose whichever alliance you'd like.

In fact, that's just what I did. I have ordered it for my PS4 though. PS4 users will have to wait for the game until June but for me it's worth the wait.

ESO Imperial Edition.

The character creation was very cool. The characters look far more amazing than they ever have. Specifically Khajiit and Argonians. The details in these species are phenomenal and surpass their looks in previous games tenfold!

Now for what I didn't really like. The characters, though looked amazing, rarely had interesting things to say. Again, I did not get very far so the speech could have improved as you moved on. I didn't like the fact that depending on your level you wouldn't be able to see other people. That would be cool if it didn't also apply to my party members. But that was a minor detail that bothered me. For the most part the beta was good.

It was sad it only lasted a couple days but that's okay. The game is now going back into testing and will be released in April.

Bravely Default Review

Bravely Default may be the greatest JRPG I've ever played.

Granted, there are many others that I hold high on the list, such as the Chrono series and some early Final Fantasy games. Square Enix has redefined the JRPG genre with this game. Bravely Default is proof the JRPG is NOT dead.

Japanese role-playing games have come a long way since the 1980's. They're not the same turn based games that you uses to love. And let's face, Final Fantasy is just not as good as it used to be. Don't get me wrong--I love Final Fantasy. They are some of my favorite games. They have a more modern specialness to them but they're just not the same. Sometimes you just need a good turn based JRPG.

The fact that Bravely Default has now sold more than 200k copies worldwide says a lot about the game. The game has received so much praise that Square Enix has already stated they've started a Bravely Second. Square has even stated that Bravely Default  may make it to consoles in the future.

Now for a break down of the game.

When I first started the game I was kind of bothered with the characters. Agnes was very annoying in the fact that she wanted no help whatsoever. I even thought the voice acting was rather mediocre but then I realized that it wouldn't be a JRPG without the awkward dialogue. I quickly learned to love the characters. Once Edea joined the gang, I really started loving the banter between characters. They have distinct personalities and have much development. 

The game tends to be rather tough if you aren't used to the job system or many other JRPG  qualities. Plus, playing it on the harder difficulty makes it even tougher. Though it's challenging, it is very easy to spend a lot of time in the game. I had put in over 30 hours before I even got halfway.

The games' awkward title derives from the coolest feature the game has to offer.

Choosing Default over an attack adds to your BP (Brave Points). Once you've chosen Default, you will not attack but your defense is much higher for that turn. Once you have a couple BP then you can choose the Brave option and you can attack that many times within that turn. But be careful! Choosing Brave lowers your defense. It's a high risk high reward system.

The game is worth playing. If you haven't, then there is only one thing to do!

If I had to put a number on it I would give Bravely Default a 9.5 out of 10.

The LEGO Movie

Everything is awesome and everything is cool about the new Lego movie that hit theaters last weekend.

I decided to join my family to go see The LEGO Movie last Saturday for two reasons: I wasn't really doing anything and I really, really wanted to see it. I wanted this film to be good but I was still afraid. Anyone else who feels this way, you can put those worries to rest.

This movie is so geniusly crafted in the fact that it is very deep--far more deep than a childrens movie needs to be. And that's not a bad thing.

The movie all together looks rough and appears as if it was built in a kid's basement,  and righteously so. Although most of the film is animated, it appears like a classic stop-motion movie made with Lego's (like the ones I made when I was 12). The film even goes as far as putting slightly noticeable fingerprints on the characters, giving it that child playroom feel.

As for the themes of the movie, it touches on really mature topics such as freedom versus fascism. It also teaches you that you need to be your own person. There is always something that makes you special, even if it's only a double-decker couch. Of course there is a major undermining theme of creativity that is important for children and people in general. The moment you stop thinking creatively is the moment you stop living.

All the Lego character cameos were pretty funny as well. I'm sure you all are familiar with the Dark Knight, "Batman." In the Lego movie he is portrayed as a super rich chump who only likes black (which is kind of correct). I love Batman, and I love how hilariously stuck up The LEGO Movie makes him out to be. At the end of the film Batman says to his girlfriend "he's the boyfriend you deserve" and I was just waiting for him to finish by saying "but he's not the boyfriend you need right now." Sadly this didn't happen, but I digress.

There are many different Lego's that have cameos in this movie, for all you nerds out there (the Bionicle one really got me). I also really enjoyed the Star Wars bit of the film. I was concerned that Star Wars wouldn't make it in the movie. 

In conclusion, this is a really good-feel, deep movie that is definitely not just for kids. If you ever owned a Lego set you will most likely enjoy most of the movie's humor.

So what's the verdict? I'd say I give it a 9.5/10