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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

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Video Game Movie

27 Mar 2024

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is a 2023 American live action film based on the Forgotten Realms setting of the tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons. It has no connection to the previous D&D film trilogy consisting of D&D 2000, Wrath of the Dragon God, and The Book of Vile Darkness.

In 2013 Warner Bros. Pictures teamed up with Sweetpea Entertainment, who had worked on the 2000 film, to produce a script for a new Dungeons & Dragons movie. The project was held up for two years by a lawsuit over who possessed the film rights to D&D - Hasbro or Sweetpea. Hasbro argued that the rights had reverted back to them because Sweetpea had not made a movie based on D&D since 2000, and the the TV films (Wrath of the Dragon God and The Book of Vile Darkness) did not constitute proper sequels. In 2015 the two companies settled the case with an undisclosed arrangement. The project then shifted from Warner Bros. to Paramount Pictures sometime around 2017, switching writers and directors several times. Filming finally began in April 2021 in Iceland and Northern Ireland with a crew of 60-70 people.

Credit Music: Wings Of Time (by Tame Impala)

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis and my opinions at the very end.

Summary

At the arctic prison, Revel's End, in Frozenfar, a thief named Edgin Darvis (human bard) makes a case for his pardon before the Absolution Council. He used to be a member of a peacekeeping order called the "Harpers" until the "Red Wizards of Thay" murdered his wife in an act of retaliation against the group. With a daughter named Kira to feed, he turned to theft to make ends meet, eventually teaming up with Holga Kilgore (human barbarian), Simon Aumar (half-elf sorcerer), and Forge Fitzwilliam (human rogue). During a raid on a Harper stronghold with their latest client, Sofina, an alarm is accidentally triggered by Edgin when he tries to filtch a "Tablet of Reawakening" - an item capable of reviving one deceased person. Both he and Holga are captured while the rest of the group escape.

Jarnathan the aarakocra (left) has become a beloved, meme-worthy character (Clip 1 and Clip 2). Aarakocra are typically 'Neutral good' in alignment, making him a good choice for balancing out the biases of the other council members. His race is also one that hates confinement and would therefore be more sympathetic to someone in a 'cage'.

Unaware that a pardon has been granted, Edgin and Holga make a hasty escape on an aarakocra. They travel to the city of Neverwinter where they learn that Forge has become a Lord and has been taking care of Kira. Over the last two years though, Forge has convinced Kira that her father abandoned her for riches. Forge also secretly worked with Sofina (a Red Wizard) to have Edgin and Holga captured. Sofina tries to have Edgin and Holga executed during their visit to Neverwinter, but the duo escapes and plots to rob Forge's treasure vault of the Tablet of Reawakening to prove their innocence to Kira.

They manage to track down Simon who suggests recruiting Doric (tiefling druid), whose forest community (the Emerald Enclave) is fighting loggers sent by Forge as retaliation for questioning how he came to power. Doric infiltrates Forge's castle as a fly and learns that the gladiatorial High Sun games, which had previously been banned, have been reinstituted. The vault holding items of value to be used as bets on the games are protected by Mordenkainen's arcane seal - an incredibly powerful magic that can only be broken by an equally powerful mage or by an artifact known as "The Helm of Disjunction".

The group travels to the Evermoors cemetery to ask the fallen Uthgardt Elk tribe (Holga's ancestors) buried there, via a speak with the dead spell, what became of the helmet after the Battle of the Evermoors. The body of Ven Salafin reveals that a Thayan named Xenk Yendar (human paladin) had retrieved the helmet from his corpse. Holga's cousin had fought at Xenk's side in the deserts of Anauroch, so she vouches for his character. They locate Xenk in the nearby village of Mornbryn's Shield in the Savage Frontier, where he tells the party of the Red Wizards and their leader Szass Tam's takeover of Thay, which turned the populace into undead.

Xenk is basically the DM's overpowered player character that shows up for the quest and departs once it is complete. A certain scene with Xenk and a boulder was also entirely improve from the actors.

Xenk offers to help the group, but only after they swear on a Harper's book to distribute the stolen riches amongst the Neverwintan people. The party is led through the Kryptgarden Forest to an entrance to the Underdark (a vast subterranean network). The group slips passed intellect devourers (walking brains) to reach the hanging ruins of Dolblunde, an old gnomish city. Simon accidentally sets off a trap, collapsing the bridge they needed to cross over. However, Holga paid a visit to her ex-husband Marlamin (a halfling) before the trip and brought his walking stick - a Hither-Thither Staff. Using the staff, the group is able to create a portal from one side of the bridge to the other. After retrieving the helmet from its hiding place, the group is beset by a band of Thayan assassins sent by Sofina. The fighting awakens a slumbering red dragon known as Themberchaud, who gives chase to the group. The assassins are eaten while the party escapes through a hole in the wall.

On the Sea of Swords, Xenk departs from the group so that they may "rise to the occasion" instead of relying on his abilities. Simon tries and fails to attune to the Helmet of Disjunction, causing a rift in the group as their plan seemingly falls apart. They eventually make amends and form a new plan to get into the vault by attaching a portal to a painting of the famed writer Volothamp Geddarm. Through a combination of their skills they are able to sneak the painting onto an armed wagon delivering treasures to the vault, but during the opening of the High Sun Games, they discover the painting has fallen flat on the floor, making the portal impossible to use.

"Magic chooses who wields it, and it does not suffer fools." -Elminster Aumar

The party splits up, with Edgin leaving to find Kira while Simon and Holga attempt to attune to the Helmet once more. Simon is successful, but finds the vault empty. Meanwhile, Doric crawls through a gap in the painting portal as a worm, exiting into a treasure room aboard a boat. Evard's black tentacles (a spell) unexpectedly entrap the entire group but Edgin convinces Forge and Sofina to throw them into the High Sun arena. Alongside other participants, they run through a large shifting maze filled with mimics and a displacer beast (shifting cat). By jumping into a gelatinous cube they are able to ride it down to the lower floors the next time the maze shifts. The party hurries to the docks in time to stop Forge, recuse Kira, and steal the boat for themselves. However, the sight of Sofina invoking the "Horn of Beckoning Death" to turn the stadium spectators into undead convinces the group to turn around.

The main character cast from the 1980's Dungeons & Dragons animated series make a cameo appearance in the arena.

Using the Hither-thither Staff, the party empties the boat of its riches, raining the loot down from a portal on a hot-air balloon. The spectators quickly vacate the stadium to collect the riches, leaving Sofina with no one to turn. Furious, Sofina assaults the party in the city streets using the animated statue of a metallic dragon. When that fails, Sofina tries using a time stop spell which Simon counter-spells. Then Kira, using a Pendant of Invisibility, stealthily attaches a magic-suppressing cuff (used on contestants in the games) to Sofina. The now helpless Sofina is mauled to death by Doric in owlbear form. Holga, however, had been stabbed in the heart with Sofina's deadly Red Wizard blade - a death no cleric can reverse. Realizing that Holga had been like a mother to Kira, and that reviving his wife would be more for his own benefit than for anyone else, Edgin uses the Tablet of Reawakening to bring Holga back to life.

Final Thoughts

Honor Among Thieves had a lot of heart where it mattered, and it knew when to be serious and when to joke so that the serious stuff never felt cheap or unearned. The plot itself is unremarkable, but works because of its compelling character interactions and their silly shenanigans. And while the characters often joked or were made to look silly, they were never disrespected or treated like a joke. Simon in particular, who despite his many amusingly bungled spells, is always encouraged and supported by those around him. The absence of a forced romance, especially between opposite gendered friends co-parenting, was surprisingly fresh. It's clearly established that Holga has a 'type' (short stature) and that Edgin values her as a friend and ally but never as a potential partner. I wish more blockbuster movies were brave enough to do something like this. Holga meeting with her ex. was another highlight and a great example of Honor Among Thieves' writing and character development. The scene starts off as comedic, but then transitions into a heartfelt discussion between two adults with a lot of respect for one another finding closure and going their separate ways in life.

The production quality itself was a bit of a mixed bag. CGI for background monsters such as the axe beaks, rust monsters, and lizardfolk looked really good, while the prosthetics for non-humans was a little more iffy. The hobgoblin and gith (seen briefly) looked alright, but then you have characters like Doric who, if she had not been given a tail, I never would've pegged for a tiefling. Her horns could easily be mistaken for druid antlers, and the lack of demonic features (red skin, fangs, hooves, glowing eyes) just made her look too much like a regular human. I love the use of practical effects for the beast races. The aarakocra and dragonborn costumes were very convincing looking until they started moving, then the rubberiness of them ruined the illusion. And I hate to be so critical of a production trying to make the most of a limited budget while still appealing to fans, but there are furries with more convincing fur-suits than the tabaxi (cat people) in this movie. That said, it's clear that a lot of care and love by people who understand D&D went into this production. I wouldn't say that it is a 'must see' flick, but Honor Among Thieves is definitely a solid production that both fans and casual viewers can enjoy.

Have you seen the Honor Among Thieves feature film? What were your thoughts on the movie and how does it compare to your tabletop sessions? If you haven't seen it, do you plan to?

Related Articles:

• Dungeons & Dragons (2000) Film: Let Their Blood Rain From The Sky!
• D&D Wrath of the Dragon God: Obad-Hai Save Us All
• D&D The Book of Vile Darkness: Murderhoboing at its Finest
• D&D Dragons of Autumn Twilight: Is The Book Any Better?

This was originally posted on my blog. If you enjoyed what you read, please check out: Magpie Gamer or The Forest Floor

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Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:54 am

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Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV - Chaos Reigns

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Video Game Movie

28 Feb 2024

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is a 2016 Japanese animated film set during the events of the Final Fantasy XV video game. Kingsglaive was part of a planned multimedia project built around Final Fantasy XV and received a limited theatrical release. Production began in 2014, using discarded concepts from the game's storyline with the aim of being a self-contained story that could reach a wider audience than the video game. Approximately 50 different companies from around the world were involved in the film's production which used motion capture for the characters' body and facial movements.

Credit Music:

NYX (by Yoko Shimomura)

APOCALYPSIS NOCTIS (by Yoko Shimomura)

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis and my opinions at the very end.

Synopsis:

On the Earth-like world of Eos, the kingdom of Lucis is protected from invaders by a magical Crystal given to the ruling Caelum dynasty by the world's deities. The militaristic empire of Niflheim attempts an invasion using its Magitek (magic powered technology) army and Daemons (monsters tamed for military use), and is gaining the upper-hand over Lucis when they suddenly make an unexpected withdrawal. The Imperial Chancellor Ardyn Izunia claims the withdrawal was made as a show of good faith, and proposes a peace arrangement through the marriage of Niflheim's princess Lunafreya Nox Fleuret and Lucis' prince Noctis Lucis Caelum.

The Kingsglaive (magical weapon wielding fighters) are dismayed by the peace terms which relinquishes their lands to the empire. Kingsglaive Libertus Ostium, who is recovering from an injury sustained in the recent battle, takes the news particularly hard, but is talked down by his friends Crowe Altius and Nyx Ulric. A few days before the peace signing, Crowe is sent to escort Lunafreya to meet with prince Noctis, but is killed en route. Crowe's death pushes Libertus to quit the Kingsglaive and join a group of Lucian rebels.

When Lunafreya fails to arrive at the signing ceremony due to having been secretly abducted by Titus "Glauca" Drautos (captain of the Kingsglaive), Nyx uncovers Niflheim army-men stationed outside the capital of Insomnia. Regis deploys the Kingsglaive to combat them, but the rebels hiding amongst the group retaliate. At the treaty-signing ceremony, the Niflheim delegation murders the ruling council and then escapes via airship with the crystal. Nyx flees with Lunafreya to the Citadel to find Regis battling Glauca. Glauca cuts the 'Ring of the Lucii' from Regis's hand which Ravus (Lunafreya's brother) attempts to wear in order to claim its power, but the ring rejects him. Nyx and Lunafreya escape with the ring while Regis battles Glauca and perishes.

The rebel leader Luche Lazarus, corners and wounds Nyx while admitting to being Crowe's killer. Luche is tricked into putting on the ring, resulting in his death. Glauca then comes for Nyx, but is attacked by Libertus. Out of desperation, Nyx puts on the ring and is met with the Lucis kings of times passed. They initially refuse to speak with anyone not of royal blood, but in exchange for his life, they agree to grant Nyx their power until sunrise. The city's statues are brought to life to combat Niflheim's Daemons, while Nyx fights Glauca to the death. Meanwhile, Libertus escorts Lunafreya out of the city with the ring and the two part ways at dawn.

It's a shame Square-Enix (publisher) never did anything more with Nyx. For someone who only appeared in a 2 hour movie I ended up liking him more than the characters from the 50 hour game.

Thoughts:

Kingsglaive is simultaneously simple in concept, yet convoluted in execution. Everything moves so fast that the viewer is not given any time to understand how this world operates, who these people are, where they are, or what they are doing and why. It is hard to keep track of who's who because everyone is wearing black against dark backgrounds and there is so much visual noise in the form of dust, explosions, and sparkling effects that make it hard to see what is going on amidst fast paced action sequences. Even as someone who has played Final Fantasy XV to completion, I still find the plot (movie and game) hard to follow. Part of that may boil down to how long the game was in development hell for (10 years) and how much of its content was diced up and sold across multiple media formats or straight up cancelled. At one point Final Fantasy XV was even part of an entirely different game (originally called Final Fantasy Versus XIII) and the film is essentially a condensed version of what was planned to be the video game's prologue.

When bundled with the video game and its DLC, Kingsglaive helps to form more of a complete narrative package. But without the additional story and context from the game, the villains in the movie seemingly win and major plot points never get resolved, so the story just doesn't work as a standalone piece of media.

Related Articles:

• The Spirits Within: Flying Too Close To The Sun

This was originally posted on my blog. If you enjoyed what you read, please check out: Magpie Gamer or The Forest Floor

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Thu Feb 29, 2024 4:40 am

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Top 10 Favorite Games of 2023

Posted by Avian

Top 10 Lists

11 Jan 2024

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

This is my annual top 10 list for my personal favorite games of the year. To clarify, these are not the "best and worst" games of the year. They are titles I enjoyed or was letdown by based on my own preferences and expectations. Most of the titles on my disappointing list are not even what I would consider bad games, they just weren't for me, or were not what I was expecting.

All the games on this list I have either played to completion or abandoned. I have ordered the list based on my overall enjoyment (one being the best) of games I played in 2023. Most of the games listed here will not be brand new 2023 releases. They are games I played in 2023 that were new to me.

#10: Immortals Fenyx Rising

Fenyx Rising is a departure from Ubisoft's usual style of gameplay, which is why I think I ended up liking this one more than I expected. It's basically a more forgiving version of Breath of the Wild: weapons don't break, you can tame wild horses, complete vaults, climb and glide for longer without being interrupted, etc. I love the art direction they took and the unique narrative direction of Prometheus recounting Fenyx's tale to Zeus while criticizing and poking fun at Greek mythology. As soon as I started having fun though, one of the games many annoyances would dampen things for me. The same buttons are mapped to multiple actions, so they will occasionally trigger the wrong action or take several seconds to respond to a button press. There are not nearly enough fast travel points for how large the world map is. Puzzles are more often than not, tedious rather than clever, and after a while they start feeling samey; more to do in the world or a smaller map would have been ideal. Nearly all of the Vaults (which increase stamina) use platforming - a genre I immensely dislike, to varying degrees. They cannot be avoided either because several are mandatory for main questline progression. I have a very love/hate relationship with this one.

#9: Rune Factory 5

Rune Factory is a fantasy farming sim series with combat and dungeon crawling. You tame monsters and then put them to work on your farm or ride them around town and into battle. Rune Factory 5 is the series first foray into 3D, and it ended up being a downgrade from its predecessor; almost a clone of Rune Factory 4 in the best and worst ways possible. Fundamentally RF5 is the same game - dungeons, fighting, farming, socializing, dating, and learning new recipes are all here and mostly unchanged, but the mechanics are more awkward in 3D. The camera auto-sets to a top-down perspective when farming, which wouldn't have been so bad if I could use the D-pad to move the farmer. Instead I am forced to use the analogue stick, which causes the player character to 'slide' a short distance forwards rather than coming to an immediate halt; I lost so many valuable crops to this. Time also moves much slower in RF5 than is typical for the genre, presumably to make it a more relaxed experience. This left me with so much excess time each day that after checking in with the shops, conversing/gifting, and tending to five different farms I was still finishing most days at around noon. Leveling is less grindy than in RF4, to where I rarely upgraded my gear and could finish an entire dungeon in a single day with time to spare; not necessarily a bad thing as RF5 doesn't have a New Game+ feature, so the relaxed combat makes replaying the game easier. The main storyline is significantly shorter than RF4 as well, with some gamers reportedly beating the game as early as the first week of summer year 1. I beat the game by the end of the first year and spent the second year finishing up town events and unlocking new crops. By year 3 I had done everything except fully upgrading the town because resource gathering is tedious and unbalanced. Each building requires nearly 5,000 stone and wood. Stumps/boulders give 3 to 9 pieces each. With $10 million in my pocket I wish there was a way to just buy the raw materials like in Stardew Valley.

The 3d environments can look "off" at times due to some objects being too smooth and colors being too uniform, especially in the grass.

Menus are easier to navigate now, and there are a lot of cool weapons to pick up and different combat styles to try out. The color temperature of the whole game and the way it shifts as the day progresses is very well done. The night skies in particular are gorgeous. The new cast of characters were all well written and varied. I really like how they kept some of the character backstories, such as Beatrice's reason for being in town or what Ryker gets up to at night, locked behind their romance events. There is not nearly as much unique dialogue as RF4 though, and the cast oftentimes felt too similar to the one from RF4: Reinhard = Vishnal, Beatrice = Arthur, Scarlet = Forte, Elsje = Clorica, and Cecil = Illuminata. The townsfolk do not play an active role in the narrative like RF4's Guardians or even interact with one another all that much, so I constantly forgot that Lucy was the daughter of Simone and that Cecil and Martin were brothers.

Despite my gripes, I still had a blast with this one. Rune Factory 5 isn't the best game in the series, but its far from the worst. The rough transition to 3D and releasing after what is generally regarded as the best game in the series just doesn't make it look good. There are also a lot of technical issues that really drag this release down, like furniture always leaving a large gap from the wall or the frame rate dropping every time you enter or exit a building. For the first few hours of gameplay the erratic frame-rates actually made me physically ill. Eventually I adjusted to it, but I wouldn't recommend picking this one up on the Switch.

I still had a resonably good time despite the bugs and unfinished state of the game.

#8: Fire Emblem Engage

I am still very new to Fire Emblem, with Three Houses being my first foray into the franchise. Initially I wasn't interested in Engage at all. The gameplay in the trailers looked fun, but there didn't seem to be a storyline and the new art style was too ostentatious for my tastes. First impressions are often wrong though, and after watching some YouTubers playing Engage, I decided to pick up a copy as an impulse buy.

One thing Engage does really well over Three Houses is balancing the various units and encouraging diversity on the team. Armored units have better movement for example, while magic users are good for support. The various infantry units each have unique traits and roles now, such as halbediers having guaranteed follow-ups while heroes give the party damage boosts. The weapon triangle from past titles makes a return: sword > Axe > Lance > sword / Martial arts beats thief, mage, and archer. The triangle further discourages class homogeneity by inflicting a "break" status effect on units that are attacked by one they are weak against. Units suffering from "break" cannot counterattack, which encourages planning and mindfulness of enemy compositions. Engage's main gimmick - the 'Emblems' (heroes from past games), whose power can be called upon for a set number of rounds, plays into the player power fantasy and are fun to use while still being limited enough that they do not let you plow through levels.

My biggest issue with Engage is the focus on 'bonds' and 'friendship' as a theme while Alear's (protagonist) relationships are based almost exclusively on people worshiping them for their status as the "Divine Dragon" rather than that trust having to be earned. Everybody, including rival kingdoms, just get along. Loyalty is never tested because Alear is the only path to avoiding the apocalypse. Non-villains (mostly parents) get about 1 chapter before they are offed or forgotten about. Actual villains have the opposite problem in that they are recurring and get a big sob story dump right before dying rather than revealing it organically through gameplay and interactions over the course of the game. The player is also expected to have pre-existing emotional connections to the Emblems, so Engage doesn't bother to flesh them out beyond one-note cutouts. Support conversations with allies aren't much better and typically boil down to something about cuteness or muscles that just isn't fun to listen to. The writing on the whole is goofy and I can't tell if this was intentional or not. The game seems to take itself seriously for the most part, but then the characters say and do things so silly that it has to be some attempt at comedy. For example, Alear has two caretakers that start a literal Alear fan club. Two other companions regularly make animal noises and another man keeps trying to lick and smell sauce off of Alear's clothes. Perhaps there is just some cultural difference in humor I am not getting. The narrative also suffers from contrived storytelling, juvenile dialogue, plot induced stupidity, and telling rather than showing. The narrative tries very hard to pull off plot twists, but they all end up being pointless, such as having Alear die and revive twice in the same mission, or Sombron (the Big Bad Evil Guy) dispersing the Emblems just so Alear can call them back seconds later. Sombron's goal keeps changing as well. First it's to conquer Elyos, then it's to raise his kingdom Gradlon from the sea, then it's to leave Elyos to conquer all other worlds, and finally it's to locate the Zero Emblem. Paralogues also felt disjointed from the rest of the world because they just appear on the world map with no context. It is not clear why you should go there or why you're fighting or how this "strengthens your bonds" with an Emblem. The Emblems make the fight out to be a mock battle but then they kill your units for real. It would've made more sense to have the Emblem fight on your side against some evil from their world. For comparison, in Three Houses the relevant characters tell you about their paralogue and you go to the location indicated because you care about this person. You understand why you are there, why you are fighting the enemies you are, and why you get the reward you do.

Apparently the team that worked on Engage is not the same one that made Three Houses, hence the wildly different styles, and I enjoyed Engage for different reasons than Three houses. One is colorfully flamboyant, silly, and has good gameplay mechanics and balancing. The other is bleaker with a more serious narrative and deeper characters. Very different beasts. Three houses is the type of game I derive more enjoyment from playing; enough to sink 300+ hours into it. While I had a good enough time with Engage, after my first playthrough I feel no desire to replay it anytime soon. Maybe in a few years time I'll get the itch to return.

Engage's art direction has spawned many toothpaste and "popstars playing warriors" memes.

#7: Prey (2017) | patch 1.12 installed

I have no idea why the publisher gave this game the same name as an unrelated 2006 game they own, but I remember them cracking down hard on any indie game with "prey" in the title (I'm still a bit miffed at Bethesda for that). I skipped over Prey (2017) at launch due to the mixed reception it was receiving, which stemmed largely from game breaking bugs, including one that would wipe entire save files. Six years later reception seems to have improved, although a few glitches still remain even with the latest patch installed. I didn't know very much about this game going in, other than the story had something to do with dark creatures.

Right off the bat, the opening is one of the best twists I've seen done in a game recently and the moment when you smash the glass in the simulation will always be a memorable one. As is typical with immersive sims, the gameplay gives the player a variety of options and tools in how to approach objectives, such as reaching higher platforms by hacking a door, finding the key card, or building a staircase with hardening goo. Sections of the map are unavailable until the player has the right skill or item, requiring a bit of backtracking. This becomes exasperating near the end of the game due to having to travel through multiple sections, each with its own loading screen, and then having to take a lengthy elevator ride to reach mission goals; really killed the momentum. The world felt generic compared to other immersive sims like Dishonored and Bioshock but that largely comes down to my personal tastes I think. I tend to prefer the fantastical to the ordinary. Enough hints were also dropped about Morgan's experience being a simulation that I wasn't surprised by the after-credits reveal. The typhon thing was unexpected though, and left me wondering:

Spoiler (click to reveal)

• Is the real Morgan still alive? Was there ever a Morgan?
• How much of the simulation was what the real Morgan experienced?
• Is the handshake at the end a test in another simulation?
• What happened to make key NPCs Operators? Or were they never real people to begin with?

#6: Borderlands 3 | patch 1.29 installed

I went back to Borderlands 2 after finishing 3 just to compare the two and couldn't believe how much better BL3 looked and felt. Gunplay is smoother and punchier. I loved the design direction, new customization options, and being able to switch between elements on the same weapon. Each brand has its own gimmick and enemies have more of a reaction to getting hit. The environments are gorgeous and more varied compared to its predecessors. I had put off playing BL3 for years after hearing about its abysmal characters and poor performance. Apparently Gearbox managed to salvage this one with patches, although my play-through wasn't without a few hiccups here and there, and at least one crash.

After producing a legendary villain like Handsome Jack, I knew whatever came afterwards probably wouldn't be as good, and the BL3 twins are... unique. They are purposefully written to be cringe streamers that went from a life of complete isolation to being worshiped as Gods by a cult of literal psychos. They're decent enough villains that are never properly utilized, if that makes sense. What I mean is, Tyreen and Troy never face "you", the player, only your allies. They have no personal involvement with the player, and the Vault Hunter (player character) is never rendered in any of the cutscenes or included in pivotal moments. The only personal interaction the Vault Hunter ever has with either of the twins is with Troy at the Jakobs Estate on Eden-6 when he Phasegrasps them. Unlike Handsome Jack, the twins agenda isn't really against the Vault Hunter - its with Lilith, a character (among many recurring ones) that BL3 assumes you already have some familiarity with. I had played BL2 and the Tales series of games, but that was so long ago that I had a hard time recalling who many of these characters were, and likewise didn't much care when they died. I imagine a complete newcomer to the series would have an even harder time keeping up than I did. The inclusion of a new child NPC called Ava, also gets a lot hate from the fandom for replacing her mentor Maya, who is a much more beloved NPC and former player character that gets killed off because Ava disregarded orders. Ava then blames Lilith (who wasn't part of that mission) for the incident. It wouldn't have been so bad if Ava grew as a person, but she never walks her words back or expresses regret. Instead, Ava gaslights Lilith into accepting full responsibility for the death of Maya. Lilith's sacrifice(?) at the game's conclusion is then framed as a redemption arc for what happened to Maya, and Ava is rewarded with something she hasn't earned. The story also hinges on every Siren being an idiot:

Spoiler (click to reveal)

• Maya, who can stick people in unbreakable bubbles, decides to restrain someone with physical force.
• Lilith, who has the ability to teleport, gets restrained.
• Tannis, who can act as an AI to manipulate technology, somehow can't keep track of two kids who do nothing but live-stream.

That said, the dialogue for FL4K and Zane Flynt was quite amusing. Typhon, Balex, Clay, and Wainwright were great new additions to the roster of eccentric Borderlands characters. I also liked the power imbalance between Troy and his sister, and how that affected their relationship. When the scales were finally balanced, allowing Troy to be more assertive, I was expecting a divide in the cult or a betrayal. One was set up during the Eden-6 content and Tyreen straight up said "you're killing me!" during the Troy battle. It felt like something was at stake and it would have been a good time for Troy to kill Tyreen, either unintentionally or on purpose. Towards the end I was even entertaining the idea that their dad might talk them down when their actions increasingly appeared to be nothing more than a cry for attention. But someone higher up must have stepped in at some point because that doesn't happen. Tyreen remains the BBEG and only traces of a different narrative with Troy are left behind. Lots of hints of him turning on his sister and becoming the Big Bad, or a reluctant villain that changes sides are there. I am not even sure how Tyreen felt about Troy. Is she sad to have lost her brother? Happy to be rid of the "Leech"? Did she care about her blood-relatives at all? It isn't clear. I still had a way better time with Borderlands 3 than I was expecting, and the gameplay is so smooth that I am more likley to replay this over BL2.

For anyone that cares, my lingering questions after beating the game:

Spoiler (click to reveal)

• Tyreen's powers are only capable of draining vault keys, not charging them. So why did the Crimson Raiders (Lilith's group) charge and open the vaults to begin with? By now the crew should know whats inside a vault. Why not break or safeguard the non-charged keys?
• Why didn't Tyreen and Troy destroy the Sanctuary ship? They broadcast to it and so must have at least a vague idea of where it is located.
• Why was Troy able to kill Maya, but Lilith just lost her powers? And why didn't Tyreen leech every Siren of their powers when she downed them at Nekrotafeyo?
• Why did Tyreen half-fuse with the Destroyer? Did something go wrong?
• What did Lilith even do at the last vault, besides putting a picture on the moon?

#5: The Procession to Calvary

This is a short one at roughly 3 hours long, but I love the unorthodox presentation and cartoonish absurdity of Renaissance paintings brought to life in the comedy style of Monty Python. Basically, Bellona (painted by Rembrandt) is bummed because the holy war has ended and she really enjoyed murdering. The tyrant Heavenly Peter has escaped however, so she sets out on a point-and-click adventure to claim his head.

#4: Starsand

There is a story to this game but it is murky. From what I could gather:

Space people wielding cannabis-powered guns, travel to a desert planet where they are worshiped as gods by the native people for introducing cannabis to the planet. At some point everyone has to evacuate to Earth because sand worms have become too much of a problem. The protagonist may be a native that rediscovered the portal, or they may be a time traveling space-person. It's unclear.

The player starts out as a marathon runner caught in a sandstorm (likley inspired by Mauro Prosperi). They take shelter in an old building and emerge to an alien desert with Earth animals. It's an odd mix of survival game and walking simulator that tries to imitate the feeling of being stranded in the desert by having nothing but sand all the way to the horizon. Landmarks are rare. There is no compass. The only save points are the ones the player crafts, and the map is a blank sheet of paper you have to draw out yourself. Travel from one location to the next can take minutes to hours, but the player character or their mount can be set to auto-run, making it possible to look around, manage hunger/thirst, and craft basic items while covering ground; and the absence of points-of-interest or objectives to complete removes the worry of missing something important. Referencing the map while relying on my memory and the scant few landmarks, often obscured by tall dunes or sandstorms, to navigate the world made exploring the barren landscape strangely rewarding. It was also punishing. Without a save-point bed, there is no way to record progress, making it easy to loose hours (real-world time) of travel because of heat, animal attack, a misstep, or game crashes. The UI and controls are awkward and difficult to learn because the tutorial tells you what to do but not how to do it. After a few hours of fiddling I had most of it worked out, but simple quality of life improvements like a tool-tip or icon showing what button to press for various actions would go a long way.

I had a good bit of fun with this odd indie game until I reached the final oasis and boss area. This is where Starsand transitions from a decent open-world survival game to a terrible linear platformer. The whole final area is a confusing mess of corridors with poorly defined pathways that force the player to make long jumps across chasms that deal enough damage upon landing to insta-kill, and to crawl through maze-like tunnels with insta-death potholes. To complete the game, you will need to backtrack to the starting location in order to gather the resources required to fight the final boss. But this whole final area seems to be designed only for the player to go further into the endgame zone instead of out. When I first got to this area I genuinely thought it was impossible to get back out (I had to turn to an online guide). I died over 20 times and had about 7 game crashes while trying to find my way out, and almost gave up; according to the trophies/achievements only 2% of players owning the game have actually beaten the final boss and left through the portal.

Starsand strikes me as very niche. There just aren't many survival games quite like it and despite it's nightmare of an endgame zone, I ended up loving the first half. I honestly wish the game was longer and had more content because it left me wanting more. If I ever replay it, and I often get the longing for a similar experience, I'll probably just stay in the desert.

#3: Dishonored: Death of the Outsider | patch 1.03 installed

Placing this one as high on my list as I did has a lot to do with my love of the Dishonored series and my desire for additional experiences in its universe. I know this game is generally not as loved by the fandom as the mainline entries. On the one hand DotO demystifies the most interesting bit of lore in the franchise, but on the other, they have opened up countless new narrative possibilities for themselves going forward. With no one to oversee the Void, it may start to leak into the real world. According to the Heart from D1: "when the last leviathan is gone, darkness will fall." This could refer to either the increasingly rare whales or to the Outsider himself, who is sometimes called the "Great Leviathan". How will the existing cults and religious organizations be affected? In what ways will the world change? The treatment of Daud is another point of contention in the fan base. I haven't played any of the Dishonored DLCs, so I don't actually know all that much about him beyond what was shown in D1, but it did strike me as odd that a professional killer would try to blame his actions on the Outsider; especially if Corvo and Emily, with the same power, can complete two games without killing anyone. Arkane Studios really had to reach to justify why this man would suddenly want the Outsider dead. And Billie goes along with it because she really likes Daud(?) and maybe has something against the Outsider after the events of D2.

Regardless, I found Death of the Outsider to be the most intriguing entry in the series so far, despite its short length. Billie's powers are fewer in number but fun to use, and the new mana system encourages their use. The new contract system was a welcome change that provided additional objectives and challenges to complete. And though controversial, I really liked the freedom to approach a mission however I liked without a black and white morality (chaos) system steering me towards playing a certain way for the sake of "replay value". Although it was a bit odd for there to be no consequences, not even small ones like guards apprehending gang members during the raid if you played non-lethal. Instead the guards will kill everyone regardless of your approach.

#2: Harvestella

Harvestella is a visual novel-RPG hybrid with strong thematic influences from Nier: Automata and a tiny bit of the farming sim genre mixed in. The storyline isn't terribly complex, but is an odd mix of fantasy, science, and religion whose logic can be hard to follow, particularly near the end when several plot threads come together. Adding to the confusion is inconsistent wording, such as referring to the planets archaically as stars and at other times just as planets. For those interested in how strange the lore can get and don't mind spoilers, here is a summary of the plot, or at least the best I could make of it:

Spoiler (click to reveal)

AI (called Seth or Omens) were entrusted with the salvation of the dying human race (because humans couldn't figure out how to save themselves or something). All the humans were put into hibernation aboard a space-station while the AI abandoned Earth (called Lost Gaia in-game) to focus on terraforming the moon (called ReGaia) using four Seaslight (giant crystals). In addition to the AI, the humans also created blond-haired little girls to act as "operating systems" for dragons (some kind of super-weapon) and the planet itself (which may have its own DNA, soul, and memories or something). The girl/system in charge of the planet discovered the internet and came to the conclusion that humans wanted to destroy themselves (despite humans creating AI to do the exact opposite). So she created the original Seaslight (called Red Queen) to emit "gaia dust/Quietus" that is toxic to anyone who inhales it, similar to the effects of real-life Lunar dust. She also ripped a scientist's (Aria) soul from her body - to stop her research or something - and held onto it for 2,000+ years before releasing it (somehow with a physical body) onto the moon via the four Seaslight off-shoots/clones created by the AI.

Meanwhile the moon, with its own girl/system or soul(?), created imitation humans (called Abels) to confuse the AI. She also created the player character by copying or transferring their real-human (called Cains) consciousness or soul from the space-station into an Abel body (where the body came from is never explained) to combat the dust. Fantasy creatures such as faeries, unicorns and sirens were created by the planets and AI for various reasons unrelated to the main plotline.

The game was a bit light on the farming aspects - you have a predefined field and barns with only 2 types of livestock, but I loved the innovations it brought to the genre. More farming sims need a watering mechanic like Harvestella's. Most of the food produced on the farm isn't sold for cash, but converted to dishes/drinks that replenish health and stamina in battle. I was initially surprised by how fast the days moved, but in typical farm sim fashion, the player can take as many days or years to complete objectives as they need. Sprinklers, an upgradable steed and eventually an airship, make daily tasks go faster, freeing up more of the day as well.

The daily gameplay loop of farm work, socializing and questing was addictive, but I was disappointed by how disjointed the party members felt because they never interacted with each other. There is a food/rest/chat mechanic in the dungeons that may have solved this, but I forgot it existed. I also thought for sure that Ein's (the protagonist) immunity to the Quietus would factor into the story somehow eventually, but it never does. Instead Aria is the real main character and Ein is just there to support her. In fact, Ein came across as more of a therapist for the group during their personal stories, and in the case of Brakka, as a pest butting into business they had no good reason to be getting involved in. The personal stories for your companions are generally very good. Some are a bit on the nose, like Istina's "shadow of the past" being a literal shadow person, while others were concerning, such as Shrika subjecting an innocent man to religious persecution. But I can look beyond the blemishes to see what the writers wanted to communicate, which are mostly very positive messages.

#1: Dredge

Dredge is a sort of fishing simulator that tasks the Fisherman (player) with upgrading their tiny fishing vessel to catch new and ever freakier aquatic lifeforms. It isn't long before things start to turn creepy - fish with mutations start cropping up, weird infections "slither" aboard, and odd illusions are seen at night. A mysterious "Collector" also enlists the Fisherman's help in dredging up relics from an incident in the town's not-so-distant past. I don't want to give away too much, but this was one of the few games in recent memory that made me feel a sense of wonder and excitement from exploration. I wanted to know what the Collector was up to and what would happen next.

Previous Years: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019

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Fri Jan 12, 2024 1:14 am

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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - Flying Too Close To The Sun

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Video Game Movie

03 Jan 2024

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a 2001 Japanese computer animated film considered part of the Final Fantasy video game franchise. Director Hironobu Sakaguchi named the character Aki Ross after his late mother, and tried to make her as realistic as possible by rendering and animating 60,000 separate hairs on her head. Square Pictures (production company) had planned for Aki to be the world's first "artificial actress", with modifications made to her age and appearance for different positions within multiple films. Aki appeared on the cover of Maxim dressed in a bikini, and was ranked by the magazine as one of the sexiest women of 2001, placing at number 87 out of 100 and becoming the first fictional woman to make the list. Livia Monnet (professor of comparative literature) however, argued that Aki represented little more than "an ideal, cinematic female character" and an example of the constantly kidnapped woman in Japanese cinema.

At the time of its release, The Spirits Within used the most advanced processing capabilities available, taking 960 workstations in Hawaii and a staff of 200 people (a combined 120 years of work), approximately four years to complete. Motion capture was used for character body movements while hand and facial expressions were animated manually. All the backgrounds were created using matte paintings because the animators did not want to use any actual photographs. This process made The Spirits Within one of the most expensive films produced around that time, netting it a Guinness World Record for the largest video game movie budget. At the box office the movie did not fare well, making back only $85 million of its $137 million budget and is blamed for the closure of Square Pictures in 2002. When Square Pictures was absorbed into Square (now Square-Enix), they cancelled any future plans they had for Aki as a ' digital actress' and ceased using the character altogether.

As of December 2023, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is officially available on YouTube for anyone to watch for free, although the video quality is not as good as paid streaming services.

Credits Songs:

The Dream Within (by Elliot Goldenthal)
Spirit Dreams Inside (by L'Arc-en-Ciel)

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis and my opinions at the very end.

Synopsis:

In the year 2065, scientist Dr. Aki Ross searches the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Earth for plant specimens. Captain Gray Edwards (her ex) and his Deep Eyes squad, consisting of Master Sergeant Ryan Whittaker, Neil Fleming and Corporal Jane Proudfoot, protect Aki from ghostly creatures known as "Phantoms" that consume the life-force of living beings. Upon returning to their "barrier city", which is shielded against the Phantoms, Gray's body scan reveals he is infected with a Phantom and undergoes immediate treatment. Afterwards, Aki brings the plant to her mentor, Dr. Sid, who confirms it to be the sixth of eight spirits (unique energy patterns) needed to create an energy wave capable of negating the Phantoms.

"All life is born of Gaia and each life has a spirit. Each new spirit is housed in a physical body. Through their experiences on Earth each spirit matures and grows. When the physical body dies, the spirit enriched by its life on Earth, returns to Gaia bringing with it its experiences, enabling Gaia to grow." -Dr. Sid

Aki and Sid attend a leadership council over whether or not to use the Zeus cannon, a powerful weapon aboard a space station, to destroy the Phantoms. General Douglas Hein is in favor, but Sid believes the cannon will harm the Earth's spirit, damaging the ecosystem. Hein and the council maintain that Gaia Theory has not been proven, but entertain the idea of an alternative solution after hearing Aki has been terminally infected with a Phantom for some time and kept stable by the collected plant and animal specimens.

Hein becomes concerned that the Phantom may be influencing Aki's behavior and instructs the Deep Eyes squad to guard her and report any aberrant conduct. On their next outing, Aki and the Deep Eyes squad find the seventh spirit - an ovo-pac (bio-thermic energy/battery) on a dead soldier. Aki's infection suddenly worsens, causing her to pass out and dream of an alien planet fragment, containing the Phantoms, crashing into the Earth. Her condition attracts Phantoms to the area, forcing the Deep Eyes squad to flee.

Back at base, Gray takes a nap and shares the same dream as Aki of the aliens, while Sid uses the seventh spirit to stabilize her infection. Meanwhile, Hein lowers the barrier shielding the city to scare the council into using the Zeus cannon. Unaware that Phantom's are the ghosts of deceased aliens, Hein's plan goes awry as the Phantoms spread throughout the city using methods thought impossible by living organisms. Ryan, Neil and Jane from the Deep Eyes squad are killed by Phantoms while defending an evacuation ship, allowing Aki, Sid and Gray to escape to space.

Sid locates the eighth spirit - a Phantom, in the center of the alien asteroid crater on the Caspian Mountains on Earth. Hein receives council authorization to fire the Zeus cannon, which vaporizes the eighth spirit and reveals a giant Phantom. Aki takes a nap in a shielded vehicle where she receives a vision of the Phantom home planet and realizes the Phantom infection she carries will function as an eighth spirit.

"General Hein, you must ceasefire immediately. What you are looking at in the crater is the living spirit of an alien's homeworld. Part of it was destroyed and landed here." - Aki Ross

Hein continues to fire the Zeus cannon until it overheats, unintentionally destroying the cannon and all the staff aboard the station, including himself. Back on Earth, Aki combines her spirit with the other seven and uses Gray as a medium (which kills him) to physically transmit the contents to the giant Phantom. This action dissolves the Phantoms into blue particles that ascend into space, returning the Earth to normal.

Thoughts:

As a sci-fi story it's inoffensive. I actually found The Spirits Within to be more compelling than some other video game adaptations that have come out since, such as the Halo movie series. A large part of my intrigue comes from the unusual premise, which is more interesting than the story itself. The downside is that 'alien spirits trapped on a chunk of planet blown up in an ancient war landing on Earth and haunting it' is so farfetched that it can be hard to swallow if you don't go in with an open mind and a lot of imagination. The fix for the haunting is even harder to stomach: collect eight Earth spirits (why eight?) to negate the alien ghost waves (however that works). It's vague and poorly explained. Gaia Theory is also nothing new to the Final Fantasy series, but The Spirits Within barely touches on the subject beyond a surface level. The movie had the perfect setup to muse on questions such as how does the planet adapt to foreign lifeforms? The aliens appear to be robots; does artificial life have a soul? Would the planet (Earth/Gaia) ever accept or adapt to artificial lifeforms/souls? The movie never raises these questions. As a Final Fantasy product The Spirits Within feels out of place. There aren't any swords, crystals, or so much as a chocobo (giant bird). It isn't even set in a fantasy world. I have a sneaking suspicion they chose the setting and based their designs on what they thought would appeal the most to a mass worldwide audience and then slapped the 'Final Fantasy' branding on for marketing purposes. The failure to display familiar iconography then alienated video game fans, while still being too outlandish in its themes to appeal to anyone else.

The story structure, on paper, even sounds like a video game: the heroes need to collect 8 spirits to save the world. So you would think those spirits would be a bigger deal in the movie. Instead they're footnotes, overshadowed by a giant space laser and vapid dream sequences that mean nothing to the viewer. The movie even spoils it's own plot twist by calling the translucent aliens "Phantoms", so when it's made out to be a big deal that humans have been fighting dead aliens, I couldn't help but think to myself: "did they not know this already? You have been calling them 'ghosts' this whole time." The characters are all one dimensional cut-outs, with more time being dedicated to a relationship between two characters I know next to nothing about outside of what they do for a living, than to fleshing out the world and explaining how it operates. After the credits rolled, I still didn't know if the Phantoms were ethereal or corporeal. Why they were visible at times and not at others. Why did they want human souls? Do they need them for energy, or is it a way for them to reconcile their existence? Can Phantoms be harmed by physical weapons? The guns used to combat them appear to be energy based, but Aki is shot by one and it fires actual bullets. The film seemingly wants to be taken seriously; it's rated as being suitable for teens and up, but the dialogue has no bite to it. It's all so bland and safe. The obvious 'Bad Guy' Hein, talks and acts like a Saturday-morning cartoon villain obsessed with his space-laser, rather than like a believable human being. I couldn't help but laugh a little whenever a scene would transition away from him to Aki - someone we're suppose to be rooting for, babbling on about combining spirits to negate alien ghost energy. It somehow made the unhinged Hein look sane and stable by comparison.

By far the best thing to come out of this movie is its technological achievements, which to this day are an impressive effort that has pushed the medium forward. Effects like smoke and fire are graphically dated, but the CGI eyes, hair, and skin textures still hold up remarkably well for 20+ year old animation and must have looked amazing back in the 2000s. Although a massive critical and financial failure, The Spirits Within has inspired many great movies and games since its release, including BioWare's much beloved Mass Effect Franchise.

From Mass Effect 3 art director, Derek Watts:

Quote:

"Yeah, you know we actually reference a lot from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. We used a lot of their GUIs and the way they did their ship – that was kind of like in some of the early designs for the Normandy."

"Our attack helicopters are loosely based off that movie. There's some great stuff, especially their glowing GUI screens; we used those a lot. I keep a folder of that stuff and I still actually tell the guys 'just go back and look at that. Change it like that!'"

Related Articles:

• Kingsglaive: Chaos Reigns

This was originally posted on my blog. If you enjoyed what you read, please check out: Magpie Gamer or The Forest Floor

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Wed Jan 3, 2024 6:34 pm

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Castlevania: Nocturne - Season 1: There Is Light In This Darkness

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15 Dec 2023

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

Castlevania: Nocturne is an American animated television series based on the video game series of the same name. It acts as a stand-alone follow up to the Netflix Castlevania animated series, and loosely adapts the 1993 entry Rondo of Blood and its remake Dracula X, with elements taken from Symphony of the Night and Harmony of Dissonance. Select characters from the game Bloodlines also make an appearance.

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis of each episode and my opinions at the very end.

Episode 1: A Common Enemy in Evil

In 1783 Massachusetts, an Aztec vampire called Olrox kills the mother of 10 year-old Richter Belmont. Olrox explains to the young Belmont that his mother killed someone dear to him and so he had to kill her out of vengeance. Olrox promises not to kill Richter that night, allowing the boy to flee to France where, in 1792, Richter works with Speaker magician Maria Renard to assist the French Revolution against the vampiric aristocracy.

Olrox allowing the child of his enemy to go free may be part of his manipulative and curious nature. It could also reference the reluctance of the Aztecs to kill humans outside of religious ritual to their Gods.

After hearing a vampire mention a "messiah", Richter and Maria meet with the church abbot Emmanuel (fulfilling the same role as the video game character Shaft) about the increasing number of vampires in the area. On their way home, the duo are attacked by four creatures which disperse at the arrival of a Caribbean sorceress and former slave called Annette, and her opera singer friend, Edouard. Annette and Edouard explain that night-creatures are souls from hell that have been grafted onto the flesh of a mortal corpse by a Forgemaster. The two came to help with the vampire infestation after receiving a vision from a seer that compelled them to seek out Richter.

"I believe in you and your mother. I believe you're the kindest, most courageous people in the world. So, I don't need to understand the things you believe in, and I certainly don't need to believe in them too. I just need to stand by you." -Richter Belmont

Episode 2: Horror Beyond Nightmares

Annette and Edouard reveal the name of the vampire messiah to be Erzsebet Báthory (who is not at all like her video game counterpart), a name Maria's mother, Tera Renard, is familiar with. Erzsebet's emissary, Drolta Tzuentes (also no resemblance to her video game counterpart), had captured and tortured her sister along with many others in Russia, and is the reason she fled to France. The four make a plan to attack the vampire aristocrats at their palace, but their presence is given away when Annette spots Vaublanc, the vampire who enslaved her and her mother. Overwhelmed, the group is forced to flee across running water. Edouard falls behind and is devoured by the vampires.

Edouard's body, along with any others that have been drained, are brought by the vampires to their ally and Forgemaster, Emmanuel.

Why the abbot needs a machine to produce night-creatures is never explained. His ability to make them and retain control over them may just be weaker than past Forgemasters.

Episode 3: Freedom Was Sweeter

Annette recalls the night Vaublanc killed her mother after finding magic symbols carved into their living quarters. 16 years later, Annette's magical powers (inherited from the voodoo spirit Ogun) awakened and she fled, later meeting Edouard who took her to freedom fighters (called Maroons) led by the seer, Cécile Fatiman. A slave rebellion in Saint-Domingue failed to take Vaublanc out and that is when their seer had the vision of the vampire messiah.

Elements of the voodoo religion were incorporated into the show, such as Annette using the the veve of Papa Legba and later summoning a ghostly version of him.

Olrox tries to enter the church, but is stopped by Emmanuel's right-hand man, Mizrak. Olrox questions why the church would support something their faith should be against, and warns Mizrak that Drolta will turn on anyone once they have outlasted their usefulness.

Annette, Maria, and Richter hold a meeting later that night and are attacked by night-creatures, one of which Annette recognizes as being Edouard. Edouard acts to defend Annette against the other night-creatures and, noticing their ally's odd behavior, cease their attack to drag Edouard to the Abbey.

Left: Olrox and Mizrak hook up within seconds of knowing each other. Right: Edouard retains his sense of self and coaxes the other night-creatures into remembering themselves.

Episode 4: Horrors Rising from the Earth

Annette, Maria, Richter, and Tera investigate the church using a secret passage. As they slaughter their way through night-creatures, the group comes face to face with Emmanuel and Mizrak giving a tour of the catacombs to Drolta and the Marquis. A fight ensues, during which Emmanuel stops Drolta from killing Maria because "children weren't part of the deal". Richter kills the Marquis but flees upon seeing Olrox.

The singing from a caged night-creature Edouard echoes through the halls as the fighting goes on.

There is speculation that Emmanuel and his church were inspired by the real-life Château de Machecoul, where the knight/lord Gilles de Rais sacrificed children as part of a demon summoning ritual.

Episode 5: The Natural Order

Annette overhears Drolta persuading Olrox into siding with Erzsebet, who possess the godly ability to block out the sun thanks to being, or possessing some kind of power from, the bloodthirsty Egyptian goddess of war Sekhmet. Annette then catches up to Vaublanc and reaps her vengeance.

Emmanuel visits Tera and Maria to admit to siding with the vampires as a way to preserve his faith against the revolutionaries and atheism, but plans to break the alliance once order has been restored. As the discussion turns heated, Emmanuel lets slip that he is Maria's father. Having thought her father was dead, Maria is distraught. Meanwhile, Richter unexpectedly meets his grandad, Juste Belmont, fighting vampires.

Episode 6: Guilty Men to Be Judged

Juste had asked Tera not to tell Richter about him and in return he gave her money to help with raising the boy. Juste tells Richter about how he was the family's most powerful sorcerer, to the point that he never really needed the whip. His wife Lydie Erlanger and friend Maxim Kischine were both killed by vampires. After that he lost all of his magical abilities and stopped believing that evil in the world could ever be overcome. The two bond over memories of Julia (Richter's mom) when minions of Drolta attack, reawakening Richter's latent magical abilities.

Juste serves as a sort of 'reverse mentor' figure - what Richter could've become had he continued down his current path. By refusing to give up or allow his family to come to harm, Richter may have inspired Juste to do the same.

A version of Rondo of Blood's "Bloodlines" track, called Divine Bloodlines, plays when Richter gets his power back.

Episode 7: Blood Is the Only Way

Erzsebet arrives and elaborates on her plans to conquer Europe and, with Olrox's help, the Americas. She then proceeds to block out the sun with an eclipse (there was an eclipse around that time in real-life).

Richter returns home and apologizes to Annette for running away at the catacombs. The family starts preparations for an attack on the church when Olrox, angry at having to bend to Erzsebet, hands the group Emmanuel's infernal tome and asks that they destroy the night-creature machine, as only humans may do so. Maria sneaks into the church to warn Emmanuel to flee but he captures her instead to use as a mandated sacrifice to prove his loyalty to Erzsebet. Disgusted with the abbot, Mizrak rushes to tell Maria's family.

Episode 8: Devourer of Light

Annette, Richter, Tera, and Mizrak rush to the church to confront Emmanuel, who is in the process of sacrificing Maria upon an altar. After freeing Maria, Tera uses the tome to open a portal to Hell so that Annette may push the machine through it. Drolta arrives followed by Erzsebet, who explains that she never intended to kill Maria. Instead, Erzsebet had wanted to turn Maria into a vampire - much to Emmanuel's horror, as it would mean Maria's soul would be barred from entering Heaven. Tera offers herself to Erzsebet instead, and though initially reluctant as she had wanted a virgin, Erzsebet accepts, recognizing the value of Tera's Speaker powers.

In the game, Annette is the one to be turned if Richter fails to save her. Interestingly, Erzsebet shares her name with a real-life serial-killer Countess who, according to legend, bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth.

With Tera no longer reading the tome, the door to Hell closes before Annette can get the machine through. Annette rejoins the group, and finding the place overrun with vampires, smashes a hole through the church wall to escape. Annette, Richter, Maria, and Mizrak are pursued by Drolta, who is slain unexpectedly by Alucard, the son of Dracula.

Thoughts:

Themes of oppression and rebellion are featured prominently throughout Nocturne's first season. Whether uprisings have any lasting effect, or whether people can ever truly be 'free' is presented with a great deal of skepticism. Plantation owners and the upper class are all presented as literal vampires leeching off of the 'lesser people', and in keeping with that theme, God vampires (or vampires with power received from a god/demon) alongside their reluctant ally, the church, are portrayed as the main villains, likley in reference to how revolutions could overthrow kings who ruled by 'divine right'; by questioning the king you questioned God. The story also touches a smidge on how atrocities can be justified so long as those committing them believe they are doing it for the right reasons, and to a lesser degree there seems to be a message about faith; how belief in something, whether it be a deity, a cause, or your own abilities and self-worth, gives it power.

The story so far is almost entirely an original work as the video game had almost no dialogue and doesn't really give a TV series much to work with, seeing as how the game was about Richter running through Dracula's Castle, saving random women from locked rooms. Three of the four women from the game are present in the show: Tera (originally a nun, not Maria's mother), Maria (vampire hunter), and Annette (Richter's girlfriend). Nocturne's Annette is an original character created for the show, as she is nothing like her video game counterpart. The fourth women, Iris (a doctor), was replaced by another original character, Edouard. The direction they took with the show is far more interesting in my opinion, although the writing has a lot of little oddities in it, such as characters rushing off without a plan and doing things that don't make sense. There are characters whose behavior is just plain perplexing, such as the abbot, who comes off as a bit nutty in thinking he could break his alliance with the vampires after the revolution had been put down. Perhaps if they had shown his night-creatures putting down weaker vampires found attacking children (which was against their deal) that might have helped explain where his confidence was coming from before the Big Bad arrived and he finally realized that he was in over his head. Mizrak is another odd one. Despite his religious beliefs and having just met Olrox - who he knows with certainty is a vampire - the two decide to sleep together on more than one occasion. Olrox straight-up tells Mizrak that he doesn't love him, but then tries to save him in the final episode and cries when Mizrak rejects him and calls him a "monster". The whole relationship these two have is spontaneous, illogical, and I am not sure what the writers were trying to convey with it, other than maybe something to do with hypocrisy?

Character designs are a mixed bag with half looking period relevant and the other half looking like something from the modern era. Not that the series is trying to be historically accurate, but the juxtaposition of these two conflicting styles was jarring enough to break my suspension of disbelief. The animation, as always, was very good for a TV series, especially the magic slinging action scenes. The pacing of the episodes went as fast or as slow as it needed too and I was able to grasp everything without feeling rushed, but from what I've seen online, this may not be the case for everyone. Much like the original Castlevania series, Nocturne seems to be using its first season to introduce all the important characters and the major world-ending threat they will face down in future seasons. The characters already have so much more personality and backstory than their video game counterparts, so I am very interested to see what they will do with them going forward. Maria will likley need to confront Tera, and maybe Alucard will be of some help with that, having dealt with something similar himself. There is unresolved tension between Mizrak and Olrox, and Olrox and Richter. I also get the impression that Edouard is being setup as a foil to the abbot; one is literally demonizing people and acting out of fear while the other is humanizing and compassionate. I am hopeful that the four writers for this new series will smooth out the kinks with time because the passion is there and it's clear they are trying to say something, the execution just wasn't as clean as it could've been.

Addendum: I am honestly surprised at how divisive the reception to Nocturne has been around the web and how wildly opinions vary. Some think Richter is romantically interested in Maria, Terra, or Annette; I personally didn't sense that at all. Others are upset at the lack of French accents, but by that logic you would have to fault Disney's Beauty and the Beast for the same thing or all the anime set in Japan where no one speaks with a Japanese accent. There are disagreements over how much real-world history and mythological figures should deviate in a work of fiction. There are arguments over diversity, the change of writers, and how much the Netflix marketing team riled up fans on Twitter to generate publicity. It's heated.

Videos exploring the themes of Nocturne:

• Power and freedom

Related Articles:

• Castlevania - Season 1: Thirsting For More
• Castlevania - Season 2: Bloody Amazing
• Castlevania - Season 3: A Stake Through the Heart
• Castlevania - Season 4: Leaving A Legacy

This was originally posted on my blog. If you enjoyed what you read, please check out: Magpie Gamer or The Forest Floor

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Sat Dec 16, 2023 5:56 am

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Halo: Nightfall - Knockoff Riddick

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Video Game Movie

21 Nov 2023

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

Halo: Nightfall is a 2014 live action web series comprised of five episodes meant to bridge the stories of Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians. They were released weekly and later collectively as a feature length movie through the defunct Halo Channel app. The series was included with copies of Halo: The Master Chief Collection to introduce the new character, Agent Jameson Locke, as Nightfall is considered to be his origin story.

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis of the plot and my opinions at the very end.

Synopsis

In the year 2556, humanity is at a ceasefire with a religious multi-species alien group known as the "Covenant". A covert team of ONI agents (Office of Naval Intelligence), led by Jameson Locke, is sent by the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) to investigate Covenant activity on the backwater planet Sedra. The team discovers a Sangheili alien with what they assume to be a bomb. The "bomb" detonates in a crowded shopping mall, but turns out instead to be a biological weapon that only affects humans.

The CGI is passable but not realistic enough to be believable.

Jameson believes the attack was to test a prototype, that if successful, would be deployed on larger populations on strategically important planets. The team inspects a tug (a type of spacecraft used for towing) that they believe was used to transport the weapon and apprehended the driver - a Yonhet alien named Axl. Jameson and Colonel Randall Aiken play "good cop/bad cop" to get Axl to admit to his crimes; explaining that he is a middle man, collecting elements from places no one else is willing to visit. The tug's position tracking confirms Axl's statement by pointing to "Installation 04" - a Halo ring that was destroyed. Temperatures on the surface of the Halo debris reach 900°F (482°C) during the day and visiting what remains of the ring would violate the human-Covenant peace treaty. However, the ONI team is given a D81-LRT Condor (spaceship) with orders to land at night in order to follow a new tug ship seen landing recently.

The team follows a set of tracks from the tug ship to an underground tunnel where they capture two Aleria human smugglers - Arris Le and Haisal Wari, and their pack horses. Before they can board the Condor ship, it is disabled by a colonial-Thanolekgolo worm which then turns on the group, forcing them to flee through a canyon. The worms are avoided when the smugglers instruct everyone to power down their gear because the worms are drawn to it. Now, with no way to request a rescue ship and only three hours until the sun rises, the team decides to retrieve a nuke from the crashed Condor to destroy the element deposits, much to the smuggler's dismay as it would leave them with no way to feed their families. The group would then proceed to the smugglers tug ship, which can only carry two passengers.

"These people do not know how to react, Brother. So reliant on their technology, they wouldn't even know what to do without it, would they? Maybe that will be the thing that kills you." -Arris Le

During the long trek, the ONI team loose' one of theirs - Samantha Wisner, to the worms. In an attempt to lure the worms away, ONI member Michael Bradley Horrigan, throws Haisal down a hill into a worm swarm. Later, while crossing a gorge, Gregory Aio Ramos goes crazy while thinking about his kids and pushes Alistair Bov Estrin off a ledge, killing him. Michael then teams up with Gregory to steal all the remaining guns and supplies for themselves before setting off for the tug with Haisal as a hostage.

The remaining three survivors - Jameson, Randall Aiken, and Talitha Macer reach the Condor. Randall volunteers to set off the nuke while the other two use what fuel remains in the Condor to beat the deserters to the tug. In a race to the tug, Michael assaults Gregory and then guns down Haisal when he attempts to start the tug. The gunfire draws in worms that consume Michael and Gregory, giving Jameson and Talitha time to escape in the ship.

"When people get scared, they get tribal. Trust their own before the 'other'." -Randall Aiken

Final Thoughts

Nightfall is an easy to follow, standalone side-story in the Halo universe. The production value overall is better than expected for a promotional product with relatively convincing costumes and acting, but the storyline is a bit basic. The characters and plot aren't bad necessarily, they're just average, and missing that je ne sais quoi to win over a general audience. It reminded me a lot of the Riddick movie series on account of having a wary-group of people traveling together at night to avoid the scorching heat of day (The Chronicles of Riddick), all the while pursued by blind creatures that pressure the group into turning on each other (Pitch Black). The Nightfall writing also relies heavily on prior knowledge of the Halo universe, so anyone lacking context from the video games likely wont understand how the Halo ring was discovered, why the buyer of the element wasn't more of a priority, or why two members of the team didn't just use the smuggler ship to get help first and then blow up the ring at a later date. It's the type of adaptation that is interesting enough to hold my attention, but I wouldn't watch it again or recommend it to anyone who isn't already a Halo fan.

This was originally posted on my blog. If you enjoyed what you read, please check out: Magpie Gamer or The Forest Floor

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Tue Nov 21, 2023 11:53 pm

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Analysis | Mass Effect - N7 Day 2023 Teaser

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Video Game Article

09 Nov 2023

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

For N7 Day 2023 the director of BioWare, Michael Gamble posted a message to the fans that contained a series of spelling errors - a binary code. The secret message embedded in the text translates to "Epsilon" when decoded. The Epsilon Effect was one of many concept names originally considered for the Mass Effect series. Epsilon is also the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, which makes sense for the fifth entry in the series. Michael Gamble then posted a link to the game's official website with:

////ACCESS CODE: EPSILON

/////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED

/////SECONDARY ENCRYPTION DETECTED
/////VJBSVU-XXXX-XXXXXXXX
/////ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED
/////YEAR SENT: [REDACTED]
/////AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE HUMAN [REDACTED]

• The AUDIO TRANSCRIPT part is from a line of dialogue in last year's teaser where Liara can be heard conversing with Geth. The word "defiance" has been redacted from the transcript for some reason, as has the year it was sent.

• ANDROMEDA DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED seems to confirm that the next Mass Effect game will bridge the original trilogy and Andromeda.

A little while later a second page went up:

/////ACCESS CODE: OCULON-2819-DEFIANCE

/////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED

/////TERTIARY ENCRYPTION DETECTED
/////CLASSIFIED: REVIEW BRIEFING MATERIALS ON OFFICIAL ALLIANCE COMMS CHANNELS

• 2819 is the year when Ark Leusinia, Ark Natanus, and Ark Paarchero arrived in the Heleus Cluster of the Andromeda galaxy. "2819" may be the redacted "year sent" in the previous message.

• The Oculon was another concept name considered for the series.

One final page was dropped:

/////ACCESS CODE ACCEPTED: POST-NEBULA

/////WARNING

/////SECURITY BREACH DETECTED
/////CONTACT SYSTEMS ALLIANCE

/////EPSILON-OCULON-NEBULA

• Nebula: Guardians of the Citadel was yet another concept name. Could "Epsilon-Oculon-Nebula" be in reference to a trilogy?

• EPSILON-OCULON-NEBULA form the acronym "EON".

• The full transcript seems to imply that someone is attempting to steal data.

Each of the webpages contained a short video clip that when put together produced this years teaser trailer:

Michael Gamble has confirmed via Twitter that the trailer is in engine. The trailer isn't shy about its reveal of an N7 agent, but is the person we see Shepard? Ryder? Someone new? Some people think they can see a krogan in the background, Cerberus colors on the canisters and flying vehicles zipping past the windows but it's all too blurry for me.

A Twitter post by Michael Gamble stating that "not everything is as it seems" has prompted speculation that the N7 agent seen in the trailer is an imposter or possibly Shepard's evil clone, which we never actually see die in the Citadel DLC. The agent gives off silent, stealthy vibes and the music that plays in the trailer would certainly suit a nefarious individual. The agent also seems to have been designed with the infiltrator class in mind, complete with a villainous high collar (dubbed the "High Collar of Doom" on TV Tropes). The fact that video clips of the mysterious agent were slowly unveiled alongside text of an Alliance system break-in seems to support this theory, although some have interpreted this as the agent being sent by the Alliance to investigate the incident.

Update: A twitter user asked "so it's a person and not a robot/AI"? To which Michael replied with "What's a person"? AI as a person or individual is a topic frequently touched upon in the games Mass Effect 2 and 3, particularly in regards to the character Edi and the Geth race. AI having symbiotic relationships with organic lifeforms is also worked into the main story and gameplay of Andromeda. Michael's response could imply the N7 agent is an AI, perhaps even the Benefactor for the Andromeda Initiative, or he just isn't allowed to say anything conclusive at this time, hence the evasive response.

A poster of the protagonist was the last bit of media released. Within their jacket is a blue/red, paragon/renegade symbol containing a night club scene. The scene contains a mixture of what appears to be Milky Way and Andromeda races: humans, volus, hanar, salarians, turians (Garrus?), asari, geth and angara.

An abnormally large salarian in the center (near the bar) could be a Lystheni, a reclusive offshoot of salarian that stay far away from Council control. One by the name of Tazzik appeared in the comic Mass Effect: Redemption as an agent of the Shadow Broker (the original one) and was in possession of Shepard's body at one point in time. He became an agent of Liara when she took over.

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Thu Nov 9, 2023 6:44 pm

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Silent Hill - In My Restless Dreams I See That Town...

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Video Game Movie

07 Oct 2023

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

Silent Hill is a 2006 live action movie based on the video game series of the same name. The movie draws inspiration from the first Silent Hill video game while borrowing elements from it's sequel. 107 different sets were used to represent the town, and professional actors and dancers covered in latex and prosthetic makeup were used to bring the monsters to life.

Director Christophe Gans had tried for five years to gain the rights to a Silent Hill film and finally succeeded after sending a video interview to Konami (the game publisher) explaining his plans for adapting the games. Gans had originally wanted to adapt Silent Hill 2 because it was the more "emotional" Silent Hill game, but felt the titular town itself was too much of a background element and the origins of the town would need to be explored. Konami required the movie to retain the game's plot and setting, and rejected the initial script for not having enough male characters. Konami approved the script with the addition of the Christopher Da Silva subplot, which Gans used to highlight the peculiarities of Silent Hill's reality.

Opening Song: N/A
Credits Song: You're Not Here (by Akira Yamaoka)

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis and my opinions at the very end.

Synopsis:

Late at night, a sleepwalking little girl named Sharon Da Silva (Cheryl in the games) nearly falls from a cliff before being rescued by her adoptive parents, Rose Da Silva and her husband Christopher (Jodie and Harry Mason in-game). Disturbed by her daughter's nightmares of a place called "Silent Hill", Rose decides to take her daughter to the town of Silent Hill in West Virginia; a place that was abandoned in the 1970s because of a massive coal seam fire that never went out. Christopher disagrees with his wife's decision, insisting that they find new doctors and medication instead.

The real life coal mine fire burning beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania (burning since 1962) was one of the inspirations behind Silent Hill in the video games. While the games used heavy fog, everyone perceives the town differently, such as Angela Orosco (from Silent Hill 2) who saw the town aflame.

During their drive, a police officer named Cybil Bennett becomes concerned with the mothers behavior and attempts to pull them over. Rather than stop, Rose speeds into Silent Hill, at which point her car radio starts screeching unexpectedly. Momentarily distracted by the noise, Rose swerves to avoid a humanoid figure in the road, crashing the vehicle in the process. When Rose awakens from the crash, she realizes Sharon is missing and sets out on foot to search the town. Although the air is clouded with ash, Rose manages to make out a small humanoid figure through the haze and gives chase. The world then slowly peels away, rusting and rotting, to reveal a mangled corpse on a fence and several small "grey children" monsters that claw at Rose until the world reverts back to its original form.

Rose returns to her car to find children's drawings scattered about, all pointing her towards the school. An injured Cybil then arrives to arrest Rose, explaining how a man kidnapped a 12 year old boy several years ago (a nod to a 1981 incident in Centralia) and stashed the kid in Silent Hill; she never wants that to happen again. Because Cybil's own vehicle also crashed, the two are forced to walk to the police station, only to discover that the road has collapsed making it impossible to leave. Their radio and cellphone then start to go haywire as a "straightjacket" monster emerges from a junkyard and spews acid over Cybil. Rose uses the opportunity to run.

At the school, Rose learns of Alessa Gillespie, a young girl burned as a witch by the Brethren (called "The Order" in-game) - the town's fanatical cult. She chases a small figure to the school bathroom where, in a stall with sobbing sounds, she discovers the janitor Colin tied up with barbed wire. Rose retrieves a hotel tile from the mouth of the corpse just as the world transitions to its "other" state. Colin springs to life, summoning a horde of "creepers" that devour three cultist miners in the school hallway. Cybil then arrives to save Rose by barricading themselves in a small room. A "pyramid head" tries breaking in but is forced to give up when the world reverts back.

At the hotel, the duo find a woman named Anna stoning an outcast called Dahlia. Anna claims that Dahlia is a heretic so foul that even the darkness of Silent Hill wants nothing to do with her. Rose then finds another drawing that leads them to a painting of a witch burning, behind which, is a hidden door. The room behind the door contains evidence of a fire and the symbol of the Brethren religion. An alarm sounds suddenly, signaling the world's shift. As the trio run to the safety of an old church, Anna is caught by pyramid head and has the skin ripped from her body.

"You run not towards sanctuary but from your own fears. They brought about their own Hell. They'll take you with them." -Dahlia

Christabella, the high priestess of the Brethren, has everyone pray and reminds her congregation of the dangers of lingering in the "Devil's playground". She then leads Rose to the basement of a hospital, claiming that only the Demon below knows where Sharon is. However, upon seeing a photograph of Sharon, Christabella accuses the two of being witches on account of Sharon's likeness to the Demon Alessa. Cybil is taken captive while protecting Rose, allowing her to escape into the depths of the hospital where she encounters a group of "nurses" and uses their attraction to light to sneak past.

"Are you a person of faith? Because our faith has never failed us. Our faith keeps the darkness of Hell at bay." -Christabella

Rose enters Alessa's hospital room where she learns that Sharon is a part of Alessa's soul (or a sort of reincarnation). Alessa was reviled by the town for having been born out of wedlock, and after being raped by the school janitor, was sent off by her mother Dahlia to be purified by the cult. When Christabella immolated Alessa, the cult accidentally caught the hotel on fire which later spread to the rest of the town. Rose allows Alessa to enter her body so that she may gain access to the church. Rose arrives too late to save Cybil from the cultist's pyre (Cybil is never burned in the games and survives), however, Sharon is still alive, having been captured by the cult. Rose is beaten and stabbed by the congregation for calling out their deplorable behavior and denying their faith. The blood from the stab wound opening a pathway for Alessa, allowing her to shred the cult members with barbed wire.

"You burned in the fire you started and nothing can save you because your already damned! You burn anything your afraid of, anything you can't control. Your faith brings death... and your God is not here." -Rose

Rose calls her husband Christopher to let him know she is coming home. Rose and Sharon then return to their car and drive out of Silent Hill using a roadway opened by Alessa. They drive through the haze, past empty buildings and streets, to their home. Meanwhile, Christopher receives a phone call badly broken up by static. After a quick nap on the sofa, he awakens to find the front door open and no sign of anyone in the house or driveway.

Final Thoughts

While not a replacement for the games, I like the movie as it's own thing. The story is relatively coherent - not 100% inline with the lore, but considering they mashed two plot-lines together and had to cram several hours worth of gameplay into a two hour film, I think it's forgivable. That said, not all of the writer's alterations can be justified, such as changing the protagonist from Henry to an original female character because a "father shouldn't display feminine traits" such as caring for their child. Or how they transferred all of Dahlia's negative traits onto their original character Christabella in order to make Dahlia into a more sympathetic figure. It's like they were afraid to acknowledge that not every mother is a good one, or that its possible for a father (especially a single parent) to be a positive, caring, and influential figure in their child's life.

The monsters also aren't just there to kill people. They exist because of the people in Silent Hill - their fears, thoughts, and history are reflected in the town and its demons. By combining the first and second game together, a lot of the subtlety and symbolism of the games was lost. Pyramid head for example, was James' (Silent Hill 2 protagonist) monster and was meant to resemble an executioner/butcher representing James' desire to be punished for his crimes. The large knife pyramid head drags along is often interpreted as a physical representation of the guilt James carries. The things Pyramid head does in-game, especially to the other monsters, tells the player all they need to know about James' state of mind and his past deeds.

The movie may not be a true Silent Hill experience or a replacement for the games, but it can give its viewer the look, sound, and general atmosphere of one. The effort and artistry that was put into this movie is evident. The animation for the world transition as everything peels and sloughs off is grotesquely beautiful. The creature designs resemble the game versions and the sound is on point. The cinematography work is also very well done; odd camera angles create a sense of unease, and shots through windows give the feeling of being watched.

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Sat Oct 7, 2023 10:17 am

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The Legend of Vox Machina: Season 2

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Video Game Movie

21 Aug 2023

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Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

The Legend of Vox Machina is an adult animated series based on campaign 1 of the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role. Critical Role is a group of professional voice actors that get together to play D&D 5th edition. The cast own the intellectual property and have already produced a number of licensed works based on the show. A single Critical Role campaign will consist of a series of story arcs, played over multiple sessions. Between or sometimes within the major story arcs, the characters rest, resupply, or go on side quests. While each campaign centers on a different party of adventurers, the campaigns are all set on the various continents of Exandria, a world of Matt Mercer's creation.

Campaign 1 ran from March 2015 to October 2017; totaling 115 episodes with an average runtime of 3 to 5 hours per episode. It follows the adventures of the Vox Machina party and is set primarily on the continent of Tal'Dorei in locations such as the metropolis of Emon and the city-state of Whitestone. The Critical Role cast reprise their characters for the show, which consists of 12 (24–28 minute long) episodes.

Episode 01: Rise of the Chroma Conclave

Four ancient dragons assault the city of Emon. A green dragon called "Raishan the Diseased Deceiver" kills Uriel with her poison breath while a black dragon named "Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer" pours acid rain from the sky, proclaiming that "Thordak the Cinder King" has come to claim the city. After thoroughly demolishing the palace, the red dragon known as Thordak names himself the new ruler of Emon. The Vox Machina party tries fleeing to Gilmore's Glorious Goods store but arrives in time to see it collapse, and as they do so, Raishan recognizes Keyleth (half-elven druid) as the "intruder" from Brimscythe's lair.

Grog (goliath barbarian) manages to pull the wounded Gilmore from the rubble, and after some healing from Pike (gnome cleric of Sarenrae), Gilmore instructs the party to loot what is left of his shop. They then teleport to Grayskull Keep, where Grog arms himself with Craven Edge - Sylas' obsidian blade, but Percy de Rolo (human gunslinger) insists Grayskull isn't safe and they should instead travel to Whitestone. Keyleth openly frets over the possibility of the attack on the city being retaliation for killing the blue dragon Brimscythe. However, Gilmore is more concerned with why five chromatic dragons - mortal enemies of each other, would ever team up in the first place.

Refugees seeking shelter behind Grayskull's walls are attacked by the white dragon "Vorugal the Frigid Doom", forcing Keyleth to quickly open a tree portal to Whitestone and rush as many people through as possible. In Whitestone, the party discusses their situation: Emon had the largest army, and Brimscythe was half the size of the newly arrived dragons. Keyleth suggests seeking help from her people - the Ashari, but Keeper Yennen recommends traveling to Vasselheim instead, because it is the oldest and most defensible city.

Episode 02: The Trials of Vasselheim

Vox Machina tree travels to Vasselheim and seeks an audience with the Dawn Marshals - the closet thing to leaders the city has. The Dawn Marshals confirm the party's story through water scrying and offer their sympathies but nothing else, claiming Vasselheim's greatest weapon to be its isolation. However, a man catches up to the group and advises them to seek out the Slayer's Take guild. Vex (half-elven rogue) and her brother Vax (half-elven rogue) are immediately recognized by the Slayer's Take guild member Kashaw Vesh (human cleric, and a Critical Role guest character) from their wanted posters. His fellow guild member, Zahra Hydris (tiefling warlock - another guest character) also remains bitter toward Vex for stealing a kill from the guild. The guild members are forced to stand down, however, by their patron Osysa - a sphinx who demands an audience with Vox Machina.

After testing the party's weaknesses, Osysa reveals the location of one of the "Vestiges of Divergence" - a special weapon capable of destroying Gods. Once found, Osysa instructs the group to bring the weapon to her mate.

The party meets up with Grog, who had wandered off to spar with a monk called Earthbreaker Groon, and Percy stops by a shop selling black powder, where he learns from the proprietor, Victor, that a one-armed woman recently made a large purchase.

Episode 03: The Sunken Tomb

The party approaches a frozen lake said to hold the weapon, but unsure of how to proceed, Scanlan (gnome bard) skates around the surface, drawing the attention of Adaro (fish people). Zahra and Kashaw arrive in time to save Scanlan, and later that evening, while making camp, they inform the group that the tomb they are seeking was built for the Goddess of Death - the Raven Queen.

In the morning, Zahra and Keyleth use their combined abilities to part the water to the hidden crypt, and while battling their way through traps and Adaro, Pike notices something off about Grog's bloodlust but isn't sure what it could mean. Meanwhile, Zahra and Kashaw use the distraction to give the group the slip in order to claim the Vestige for themselves.

Using the Belt of Dwarvenkind pilfered from Gilmore's shop, Grog grows a beard - something Goliaths normally can't do.

Vax proceeds to inspect the rooms for traps, locating a hole in the floor. Percy also finds a tile out of place and when corrected reveals a sarcophagus. Believing it to be the tomb of Purvan Suul - the Queen's champion, Percy and Vex open the casket together, triggering a necrotic trap that saps the life from Vex's body.

Episode 04: Those Who Walk Away

A flashback of Vex and Vax as children mercy killing a wounded bear and adopting its cub - Trinket, cuts back to the Raven Queen's temple, where Zahra and Kashaw have returned and discovered the fallen Vex. Kashaw attempts a revival ritual, noting how it must be done while the body is still warm, and even then, is very difficult to pull off. But because they are in the Raven Queen's temple, where their Gods have no power, the ritual automatically fails. Vax watches in a state of shock as a dark figure with a pale, expressionless face emerges from the shadows and approaches Vex. He shouts for the figure to take him instead and watches as it cuts a golden thread. Vex gasps for breath again, and Vax finds himself in the "Deathwalker's Ward" - the armor vestige of the Raven Queen.

In an attempt to claim the vestige for the Guild, Zahra summons a tentacled-monster that petrifies everyone in the room except for Vax and Kashaw. Using his new abilities, Vax defeats the creature while Kashaw revives everyone. Back on the surface, Percy apologies to Vax for acting recklessly and getting his sister killed. Zahra also apologizes to the group and gifts Vex an amulet that she can use to temporarily trap a single creature in a pocket dimension. Vex uses it on Trinket to make travel more convenient, and a vision from the Raven Queen points the group in the direction of Osysa's mate.

Episode 05: Pass Through Fire

While messing around with a broom looted from Gilmore's, Vex discovers the password - Volantire, that enables the broom to fly. Scanlan uses the broom to scout and notices a volcano erupting in the distance, which Keyleth claims should still be dormant. Fearing for the safety of the fire Ashari, Vox Machina makes a detour to Pyrah, where they meet up with Lady Kima and Allura. Allura explains that they had originally sealed Thordak in the volcano using a "soul anchor" - a heart crystal salvaged from a primordial fire titan. But now that he is loose the rift in Pyrah has opened.

At the tabletop game, Vex stole the flying broom from Gern Blanston (dragonborn necromancer and a guest character). The volcano was also visited before Emon fell; with the party rolling well enough to unknowingly dodge an encounter with Thordak.

Keyleth works alongside her dad Korrin to seal the rift, and in the process learns how to shapeshift into a fire elemental. The headmaster of the Fire Ashari, Cerkonos, gives his blessing to Keyleth as part of her Aramente - a journey to mastering the elements. Before departing, Cerkonos warns Keyleth that Thordak escaped with help from someone posing as one of their own.

"Flame cannot live without air. And we are Air Ashari, are we not? We were made to pass through fire." -Vilya (Keyleth's mother)

Episode 06: Into Rimecleft

The party arrives at the lair of Osysa's mate, Kamaljiori. Each of them is given one chance to wound Kamaljiori, who claims to have never felt pain. Keyleth, Vex, Vax, Percy, Pike, and Grog are tossed into an endless abyss upon failing. Instead of facing the sphinx directly in battle as the others had done, Scanlan plays a love song about Osysa that wounds Kamaljiori emotionally. Kamaljiori declares Scanlan victorious and the two have a heart-to-heart conversation about love, where Scanlan admits to wanting it but never truly having found it. The party is then gifted the vestige "Mythcarver" - a sword that reveals the names and locations of the other Vestiges.

"In my millennia of existence, this is the wisest sage I've ever known." -Kamaljiori (about Scanlan)

Umbrasyl smashes into Kamaljiori's lair, shouting that "the woman was right". Kamaljiori engages the dragon in battle while Vox Machina prepares to leave via teleportation. The sphinx is slain by Umbrasyl, and enthralled by the bloodshed, Craven Edge takes over Grog. In his frenzied state, Grog stabs Pike, but comes out of it in time to reach the teleportation sigil.

Episode 07: The Fey Realm

Keyleth, Vex, Vax, and Percy land in the fey realm, which turns out to be curiously hostile to Vax, presumably because of his allegiance to the Matron of Ravens. A battle with a giant slime ensues during which Keyleth and Vex inhale spores and hallucinate. Vax lures the creature to water, where Percy finishes it off by using his gauntlet, Diplomacy, to electrocute it. A faun named Garmelie, having been thoroughly entertained by their antics, offers to guide them to the vestige. They arrive at the elven city of Syngorn, which Garmelie informs the group they will need to pass through to reach the Shademurk Bog.

Grog, Scanlan and Pike remain in Tal'Dorei. Pike heals herself and Grog snaps Craven Edge in half in order to be rid of its influence. In a final act of retaliation, Craven Edge saps Grog's physical strength before shattering, leaving Grog so weak that he can barely stand.

Originally the entire group had stayed together and Craven Edge was tossed into another plane.

Episode 08: Echo Tree

Vex and Vax meet up with their father Syldor Vessar and his wife Devana Vessar, and learn that they now have a half-sister named Velora Vessar. Syldor grants the group safe passage, however, Percy notices that Syldor is embarrassed of his half-human children and dismissive of their exploits. To insult Syldor, Percy requests that he "correct" the decree to reflect Lady Vex'ahlia's title as Baroness of the First House of Whitestone and Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt. Syldor refuses and requests that they never bother him again.

Vex and Vax maintain a friendly relationship with their elven half-sister. At the table game, Velora learned some troubling 'new words' from Scanlan.

In the Shademurk, Vex'ahlia is temporarily swayed by an archfey prince called Saundor, who in exchange for her heart, promises her the vestige Fenthras to win her father's favor. However, Vex sees through Saundor's words and kills him with an arrow Percy had gifted to her earlier that day. She takes the bow Fenthras for herself and the group returns to Tal'Dorei through a portal opened by Garmelie.

Meanwhile, Grog is taken to Pike's great-great-grandfather Wilhand Trickfoot for treatment. When they fail to make progress, Pike suggests they head to Westruun to retrieve a vestige.

Episode 09: A Test of Pride

A herd of Goliath's - Grog's former family, has taken over Westruun and the vestige sought by the trio is in the possession of Grog's uncle Kevdak. Grog recounts his time in the herd and admits to having done things that Pike would hate him for. The herd wanted to kill Wilhand many years ago, but Grog tried to defend the old man and was beaten and left for dead by his family. Wilhand came back with Pike though, and saved Grog's life.

Scanlan scouts the area as a dragonfly, watching the Goliath's collect tribute for Umbrasyl. Grog's cousin Zanror expresses dissatisfaction with his father Kevdak for bowing to a dragon instead of asserting his dominance over it and is punished for speaking out. Scanlan hides in a dilapidated building as soon as his spell wears off, running into refugees and performers known as Dr. Dranzel's Spectacular Traveling Troupe. A gnome with the group, named Kaylie, convinces Scanlan to help them.

Episode 10: The Killbox

Keyleth, Percy, Vex and Vax return to Whitestone to find it covered in a cloaking barrier maintained by Gilmore. They also discover that three weeks have passed even though they only spent three days in the Fey Realm. Lady Kima and Allura manage to locate Grog in Westruun, challenging Kevdak to single combat. Grog is impaled and Pike is discovered by the Goliaths. When Kevdak threatens to crush Pike, Grog thinks back to his duel with Earthbreaker Groon in Vasselheim and enters into a rage, gaining back his strength. In response, Kevdak uses the Titanstone Knuckles vestige to double his size. Vox Machina arrives to battle the Herd while Grog duels Kevdak. Using Kevdak's axe, Grog manages to sever his right arm. Vex then uses her necklace to trap Grog and riding the flying broom, releases him in the air to fall down onto Kevdak. Kevdak is sliced in two with the axe, allowing Grog to take the vestige for himself.

Grog names Zanror the new Herd leader and the group celebrates that night while discussing plans to take down Umbrasyl. Scanlan and Kaylie perform for the crowd then retire together for the night.

"You always had a soft spot for the wee folk." -Kevdak

Episode 11: Belly of the Beast

Kaylie confronts Scanlan, revealing she is the daughter of Sybil, a woman he slept with many years ago and abandoned. Kaylie's mother had to raise her on her own and take on multiple jobs to get by. Scanlan apologizes, explaining how he had no idea she existed and offers to try and be a dad now, but Kaylie walks away.

Vax visits a temple of the Raven Queen where she asks him to shepherd the departed souls to their next life in the ever after. Feeling at ease about his future, Vax assists the party in setting a trap for Umbrasyl. However, the dragon sees through their trap and tries to fly away. Vax and Scanlan fly up the dragon's rear to set a magical blade (one Kaylie left behind) that holds a target in place. Umbrasyl tears through the blade, so Grog hastily attaches a grappling hook to the beast's back.

"There is much to fear, but not death. For it gives meaning to life." -Raven Queen

Episode 12: The Hope Devourer

Keyleth transforms into a giant eagle to transport Pike and Percy, while Vex rides the flying broom. Grog is knocked off the dragon and badly injured, but Keyleth, Vex, Pike and Percy manage to catch up and stabilize him. Meanwhile, Vax and Scanlan (still trapped inside the dragon) cram through the tear made by the sword to escape the dragon's acidic interior, and the Raven Queen gifts Vax a set of wings to get him and Scanlan to the ground with the rest of the party.

Percy spots the dragon returning to its lair through his scope, and when Vax fails to return from scouting, the party rushes in to save him. Exhausted from the day, a seemingly defeated Vox Machina distracts Umbrasyl long enough for Scanlan to sneak up and stab Mythcarver through the dragon's eye.

On their return to Whitestone, the party is approached by the green dragon Raishan disguised as Keeper Yennen. Raishan offers an alliance, explaining that she has no love or loyalty to Thordak and hints at him being after more than just conquest.

Thoughts

Season 2 picks up exactly where the previous one left off and is a solid viewing overall. There is more inter-party conflict, more power and danger, and an overarching storyline with multiple side quests and antagonists. Where season 1 was very Percy-centric, this season digs deeper into the rest of the cast; Vex & Vax dealing with insecurity and approval. Grog with power and weakness. Scanlan with genuine love and family. It all ties in really well with the over-arching themes of facing the past to be better equipped to deal with the present.

The pacing can be a little fast at times, but considering they had to cram 200 to 300 hours of table play into 10 hours of animation, that was going to be inevitable. Likewise, a lot of changes were made this season from the tabletop game, but they were all clearly made in service to the narrative. At the table it can be hard to plan for some player actions and randomness, so the show adjusted minor details like who killed what and the sequence of events in order to have cleaner character arcs and a more focused story. In the campaign for example, Vox Machina had to guess Kamaljiori's name, which would have worked just fine in the show, but having Scanlan play his song instead was so much better emotionally and highlighted Scanlan's wisdom - something that will become important later in the adventure.

Related Articles:

• The Legend of Vox Machina: Season 1

This was originally posted on my blog. If you enjoyed what you read, please check out: The Forest Floor

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Mon Aug 21, 2023 8:19 pm

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Tales of Symphonia: The Animation - Is The Charm Still There?

Posted by Avian

Video Game Movie

18 Jul 2023

Forbidding

(Forbidding)

United States

Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to. –Alfred A. Montapert

These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence…realms that will one day be preferred to earth. –Edward Castronova

Tales of Symphonia The Animation is a Japanese direct-to-video animated series made to promote the video game of the same name. It consists of three arcs, originally released as separate DVDs, and later as a complete Blu-ray collection in 2013. The series has never been dubbed in English and only recently become widely available via streaming services in 2021:

• Sylvarant Arc: Four 30 minute long episodes released in 2007.

Opening Song: Almateria by Eri Kawai
Credits Song: Negai ("Wish") by Kaori Hikita
Episode 3 only: Uchi e Kaerou ("Let's Go Home") by Kaori Hikita

• Tethe'alla Arc: Four 40 minute long episodes released in 2010.

Opening Song: Tenkuu no Canaria ("Canary in the Sky") by Nana Mizuki
Credits Song: Inori no Kanata ("Beyond the Prayers") by Akiko Shikata
Episode 8 only: Tsui no Kodomo-tachi by Akiko Shikata

• The United World Arc: Three 30 to 40 minute long episodes released in 2011.

Opening Song: Ho-n-to-u-so ("Truth and Lies") by Misono
Credits Song: Episode 9 only: Ta ga Tame no Sekai ("A World for Someone Else") by Akiko Shikata
Episode 10 only: Ibitsu ("Distortion") by Akiko Shikata
Episode 11 only: Hikari furu basho de ~Promesse~ ("At the Place Where the Light Falls ~Promise~") by Akiko Shikata

Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis of each episode and my opinions at the very end.

Episode 01: Sylvarant Arc

In the small village of Iselia, school children are taught that a Hero called Mithos made a pact with the Goddess Martel, sealing away the Waring Desian people. Over time the Goddess has lost her power, allowing the Desians to regain influence. A Chosen One must now make a journey of regeneration to restore power to the Goddess.

An angel named Remiel descends on the village and names a young girl, Colette Brunel, as the Chosen One. She is instructed to pray at 3 different seals before ascending the stairs in the Tower of Salvation to reach the heavens. Desians make an assassination attempt on Colette, but she is protected by her childhood friend Lloyd Irving using an exosphere crystal (a sort of power-enhancer). Lloyd's adoptive father Dirk (a dwarf) reprimands him for using the crystal, reminding him that Desians killed his mother while trying to take it from her. The next day, Desians attack Iselia looking for Lloyd and the exosphere; in-game it was because Lloyd violated a treaty between Iselia and the Desians by trespassing at a Human slave Ranch.

One of the Desian Grand Cardinals (leaders), Forcystus, challenges Lloyd and is defeated, but not without massive collateral damage to the surrounding homes. The next morning Lloyd leaves Iselia with his friend Genis Sage in order to not cause any further trouble for the villagers.

In the games Lloyd is banished from Iselia.

Episode 02: Sylvarant Arc

Lloyd and Genis catch up to Colette, who is traveling with Genis' sister Raine and a hired mercenary called Kratos Aurion. They enter the Triet Ruins (without visiting Asgard city) and defeat Ktugach (a flaming cat) to unlock the first seal. En route to the next seal at the Balacruf Mausoleum, Kratos trains with Lloyd to improve his swordsmanship.

They defeat Iapyx (harpy) next and unlock the second seal, only to become trapped in the ruins when the Desian Grand Cardinal, Magnius, arrives with a small army. An assassin named Sheena Fujibayashi, and her fox-like pet Corrine, leads the group through a secret canal where she makes an attempt on Colette's life. Sheena is defeated by Kratos and allowed to leave thanks to Lloyd pleading for her life.

Episode 03: Sylvarant Arc

Lloyd notices Colette acting strange, and she admits to no longer needing food, sleep, or feeling pain since the fire seal. They come upon a village being ransacked by Desians and a gravely wounded Sheena trying to protect it. Sheena is once again spared thanks to Lloyd and agrees to help them rescue the villagers taken to the nearby Asgard Human Ranch. Instead of stealing Desian uniforms like in the games, the group instead barges in through the front gate, alerting the entire complex. Raine, Genis, and Colette free the prisoners while Sheena holds off the guards. Lloyd confronts another Desian Grand Cardinal, called Kvar, and learns that exospheres are made from human lives. His mother was a human called Anna (Subject A-012) that escaped and turned into a literal monster that his biological father had to kill. The exosphere in Lloyd's possession is what is left of his mother Anna. Dismayed, Lloyd refuses to fight so as not to use the exosphere further, forcing Kratos to finish off Kvar.

At the final seal in Thoda Geyser, Undine is defeated, and when Lloyd discovers that Colette has now lost her voice, he decides to go back to using the exosphere.

Episode 04: Sylvarant Arc

The group is given enough money from a local church to rent a dragon ride to the Tower of Salvation (it was free in-game), which Kratos and Colette use to leave ahead of the rest of the group. During their walk to the Tower, Raine reveals to Lloyd and Genis that Colette will be possessed by the Goddess Martel and die in order to regenerate the world. She kept it a secret in order to not worry them. A Desian renegade called Yuan Ka-Fai then reveals himself, and because of their shared goal, offers to take the entire group to the Tower via dragon.

Upon arriving at their destination, Kratos reveals himself to be an "angel" - a special exsphere user that is part of an organization called Cruxis. The Desians are also members of Cruxis and supply the 'angels' with exspheres. The whole 'world regeneration' scheme was masterminded by the hero Mithos, who made his allies into 'angels' and literally split the world into two parts: Sylvarant and Tethe'alla, in an attempt to resurrect his dead sister, Martel Yggdrasill. Instead of battling Lloyd, Genis, Raine, and Sheena as he does in the game, Kratos duels with Yuan.

The angel Remiel carries out the right, transforming Colette into an emotionless husk. After a short battle, Remiel dies from wounds inflicted by Yuan while Lloyd, Genis, and Raine escape with Colette to Yuan's base. Sheena then arrives to save the group from Yuan, who may not be entirely on their side. They flee to a room with personal flying vehicles called Rheairds, which they use to travel to Sheena's world, Tethe'alla, in the hope that Colette's condition can be cured there.

Episode 05: Tethe'alla Arc

The group crash lands in the middle of Meltokio (not the Fooji Mountains) and are quickly surrounded by Papal Knights. Sensing the hostility, Colette attempts to perform a 'Judgment' attack on the City. Lloyd manages to diffuse the situation by hugging Colette, just as the Chosen One of Tethe'alla arrives. Tethe'alla's Chosen One, Zelos Wilder, takes the group to see the king, where it is explained that the two worlds compete with each other over a limited mana supply. Mana is life, and Sylvarant is dying because Tethe'alla is siphoning its mana. Had Colette succeeded, the process would reverse, and Sylvarant would start leeching Tethe'alla, causing it to fall into decline.

The king permits the group to travel Tethe'alla in the company of Zelos to find a way to heal Colette. They start by visiting the dwarf Altessa and his dependent, Presea Combatir, in Ozette. Altessa used to work for Cruxis; Presea was one of his former test subjects, and he knows how to cure Colette using a key crest (a kind of frame for the exosphere). However, he can no longer craft one because he intentionally crushed his hand in order to escape Cruxis. Lloyd, having been raised by a dwarf, offers to learn the craft, even though there is no guarantee he possesses the talent needed to successfully craft one.

Lloyd, Colette, Genis, Raine, Sheena, and Altessa travel to Toize Valley Mine to acquire ore while Zelos stays behind with Presea. Zelos then betrays the group by alerting Kratos and the Hero Mithos to their location.

Episode 06: Tethe'alla Arc

By stopping time temporarily, Kratos and Mithos gather Colette without much trouble. Lloyd, Genis, Raine, and Sheena return to Ozette where they find a wounded Zelos and a convict he was fighting - Regal Bryant, tied to a tree. Sheena gathers intel on Colette's whereabouts while Lloyd gets to work smithing. His first key crest is successful in returning Presea to normal, who reveals the only living family she has left is a sister named Alicia in the service of an aristocrat called Regal. The convict Regal, having escaped from the tree, then enters the room and confesses to killing Alicia when her exosphere turned her into a monster. He was found guilty of her murder, and the Pope of Tethe'alla threatened to kill Presea unless he assassinated Zelos. Both Regal and Presea then decide to join Lloyd's group to fight Cruxis.

Episode 07: Tethe'alla Arc

Sheena takes the group to a meeting with Yuan and his second Botta in her home village of Mizuho. Yuan reveals the location of Colette to be on a floating Dragon's Nest. To reach it, Sheena will need to make a pact with the spirit of lightning Volt, something she had tried and failed to do in the past because she couldn't understand what it was saying. Upon summoning Volt, Sheena can't understand its words, but Genis and Raine (both half-elves) recognize the language as elven and translate. Corrine is electrocuted to death while shielding Sheena from Volt, compelling her to finally face Volt in battle. With Volt on their side, and with aid from Yuan's renegades, the group is able to infiltrate the Dragon's Nest base.

Episode 08: Tethe'alla Arc

Inside the base Lloyd is confronted by Kratos, who in turn is confronted by Yuan. Yuan then threatens to kill Lloyd - Kratos' biological son, unless he releases "Origin" - a spirit capable of merging the two worlds. A sudden cave-in grants Kratos the opportunity to put himself between Lloyd and Yuan, shielding Lloyd from further harm. Kratos proceeds to keep Yuan distracted so Lloyd can slip away to find Colette. The group finds her in confinement and kills Rodyle, a Desian Grand Cardinal, to set her free. With a second key crest Lloyd made earlier, Colette is returned to normal and the team escapes via Rheairds to the city of Flanoir, where they have dinner and rest.

"Don't worry. I'll always be the ally of the stronger side." -Zelos

Episode 09: United World Arc

Exhausted from their battle, Kratos and Yuan reminisce about the time they spent with Mithos and Martel, and how much Lloyd is just like them. Meanwhile at Altessa's home, Lloyd, Colette, Genis, and Presea enjoy a meal prepared by a young half-elven lad they met in Flanoir called Mithos. Zelos, Regal, and Sheena arrive a short while later with Raine, who had collapsed unexpectedly from the flu. While Mithos takes Genis out to collect healing herbs, Raine explains to Regal that she and her brother were born in Tethe'alla to an elven mother, but were abandoned in Sylvarant. Later that night the group catches Mithos killing his subordinate Pronyma and reveals himself to be not just a lost boy, but their (very obvious) enemy Mithos. He monologues about a plan to end racism by turning everyone into an angel, thus making everyone the same.

Kratos and Yuan arrive to assist the group with the ensuing battle against Mithos, but it is short lived as Zelos quickly takes Colette hostage, revealing himself to be a Cruxis spy. He leaves with Mithos via teleportation, however, Yuan knows their destination to be Derris-Kharlan, a base in the heavens where Mithos will attempt to resurrect his sister Martel.

Episode 10: United World Arc

Mithos is in a pact with Origin the King of Spirits. As long as the pact exists, Mithos cannot be killed. Kratos, the only one capable of canceling the pact, leaves with Yuan to deal with Origin. The cost of canceling the pact, however, is Kratos' life, but Yuan offers to transfer some of his mana to Kratos in an attempt to spare him.

The rest of the group fly to the Tower of Salvation, battling angelic forces along the way. Sheena is nearly overcome, but miraculously protected by a Spirit of Heart called Verius - Corrine reincarnated. Presea and Regal are similarly protected by the ghost of Alicia. In the game, each member of the group sacrifices themselves to allow Lloyd to progress, and are saved in-turn by Zelos.

In the anime, Zelos asks Mithos to make his sister Seles the Chosen One instead. Zelos then attacks Mithos and is defeated. Martel's consciousness is successfully transferred into Colette's body, much to Martel's dismay.

Episode 11: United World Arc

Martel voluntarily leaves Colette's body at the exact moment Kratos breaks the pact with Origin. Feeling betrayed by everyone he cared about, Mithos launches a full assault on the party before attempting to wipe out all life by destroying the mana. Mithos is subsequently slain, dissolving the Tower of Salvation. Origin then presents Lloyd with the "Eternal Sword" - a blade capable of manipulating time and space, that he uses to merge the two worlds into one. A Great Tree that will supply the world with unlimited mana is grown and named by Lloyd. The name Lloyd chooses is never stated in game or in the anime, but presumably is "Yggdrasill" after Mithos and the World Tree from Norse mythology.

Lloyd spars with Kratos one last time and surpasses him. The two hug before Kratos leaves to climb what remains of the Tower of Salvation in order to return to Derris-Kharlan, where he plans to cast the Cruxis's supply of exspheres into space.

Zelos visits his sister Seles while Presea and Regal visit Alicia's grave and make plans to rebuild the new world. Sheena is made an ambassador between Tethe'alla and Sylvarant, and says her goodbyes to Verius who cannot physically remain by her side now that he is a spirit.

Raine and Genis decide to travel the new world, but will always consider Iselia home. Lloyd and Colette continue to live in Iselia and occasionally hang out with Zelos and Sheena.

Thoughts

Tales of Symphonia the anime suffers from the same problem that plagues most video game adaptations in that the writers are expected to condense anywhere from 30 to 100 hours of gameplay into just a handful of episodes which then end up feeling simultaneously dense and rushed when they have to cut whole character arcs and summarize major events. This also leaves little room to fully explain the world and lore as much as they should; Sylvarant is said to be dying, but the viewer never gets to actually see that or learn what it means to live in Sylvarant by the time the characters get to Tethe'alla. There's no clear glimpse into what makes the worlds different, or the problems they share with racism. That said, many of the compromises the animated series made were sensible, such as skipping whole towns without much relevance to the main plotline and ignoring most of the summon spirit battles which would have gotten monotonous after a while.

But why directly adapt the game's storyline in the first place? Why not create an entirely new story set in the same world, or one centered around Kratos' past adventures with Mithos and their party? Is Symphonia's main storyline even interesting enough to warrant an animated series? I would argue the characters and their lives in their fantasy world are what has made Symphonia the game so memorable, and therein lies the rub. The animation focuses almost exclusively on the main plot, ignoring or condensing most of the character arcs and interactions. A few scenes, like Lloyd and Kratos final farewell, were much more emotional and impactful than how the game handled it. But then you have characters like Raine and Genis who very easily could've had an emotional arc on par with Lloyd and Kratos' had the anime bothered to include their backstory. Instead they are shoved into the background for most of the runtime and largely ignored until the final episodes. Many of the characters felt 'off' to me as well, such as Lloyd, who was a little less likable and much more ditzy than his video game counterpart. A scene where Lloyd deliberately uses hot coffee to test a hunch he has about Colette's diminishing senses for example, was changed so that he now finds out purely by chance. Kratos was another character that suffered from the rewrites and cut interactions; now coming off as colder and more detached. Little things like him asking Lloyd why he duel-wields, and his quiet disbelief at Lloyd's answer of "if one sword has a power of 100, then using two swords would make it 200", has been replaced with the much more generic "why do you fight" anime line. That said, the emotions and themes that truly matter come through intact, such as Colette's wholesome friendship with Lloyd and Lloyd's strained (but still loving) relationship with his biological father.

From a production point of view the animation is decent, with the difference in style from Sylvarant to the United World arcs marking an interesting chance to see the development of ufotable as a studio. The Tethe'alla arc gets a noticeable quality boost followed by the United World arc, which looks like a modern production with crisp lines, brighter colors, and smoother movement. Personally I think Tethe'alla was the best of the three arcs in their approach to writing, while the United World arc had better art and animation consistency. I don't know if I would pay to see what is essentially a very streamlined version of the video game's narrative, but just within the last couple of months "Tales of Symphonia: The Animation" has gone up on Bandai Namco's official YouTube account in its entirety for anyone to watch for free.

Have you seen Tales of Symphonia: The Animation or played the game it is based on? What were your thoughts?

Related Articles:

• Tales of Vesperia: The First Strike - Somethings in the Aer
• Tales of Phantasia: The Animation - What Did I Watch?
• [blogpost=145900]Tales of Zestiria the X: Only Link Can Defeat Ganon[/blogpost]

This was originally posted on my blog. If you enjoyed what you read, please check out: The Forest Floor

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Tue Jul 18, 2023 10:08 pm

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