Nothing aggravates me more than seeing people on my side misrepresent or exaggerate their position for clicks. Even worse is when the lunatics take over the asylum and the worst possible arguments begin to be picked up by the opposing side. In recent news, the Silent Hill 2 Remake has been getting a bunch of slack from the anti-woke side of things, and it's not quite being discussed fairly. In this video, I take the time to do some A-B comparisons with the original and show that, despite their being legitimate concerns and criticisms, much of what is being said is, at this point, completely overblown.
Check out my shill essay! Well, I'm told I'm a shill for not hating it before release, so there's that.
Stellar Blade is a solid game surrounded by controversy and retardation. That's right I said it. Long story short, the combat is solid, the visuals are great (and I don't just mean Eve), the soundtrack slaps, and the challenge is pretty balanced. So why is it surrounded by controversy?
Well, on one side are the games "journalists" who admitted to liking the game but had to find some reason to complain about Eve for being just too sexy (as if being a beautiful and obviously feminine woman is a bad thing). These same people praised other games with nudity and no censorship, like the Last of Us 2 where the very masculine looking Abby get's railed from behind by a guy who resembles one of the higher ups at Naughty Dog who published the game. That all gets praised, but because Eve is hot, she appeals to the "male gaze" and that's just bad...for some reason. I've never understood why.
On the other side of the argument are those who hated some of the bait and switch tactics used in the final release of the game which have been argued to be a form of censorship. This isn't without some grain of credulity, I'm just not sure I agree it's censorship since the publisher has done this before with other games they've made such as Nikke. It's now reached a fever pitch where the journalists claim the anti-censorship crowd are just a bunch of horny gamers masturbating furiously while trying to play the game, and the anti-censorship side is not doing themselves any favors by complaining about very minute changes that have almost no impact on Eve's appearance in any of her long litany of costumes, many of which are even more titillating than the costumes which have been claimed to be censored. In other words, they're not doing themselves any favors and at this rate aren't going to beat the allegations of being just a bunch of coomer brained perverts. Personally, I think both sides are going too far in their positions, and need to chill out.
One thing I neglected to mention in the video is the story. It's...okay. It's not the greatest or most engaging story in the world and some of the twists you can sort of see coming from a mile away, but the main thrust of the story centers around the fate of humanity and what it actually means to be human. It doesn't quite go in the same direction as Nier Automata though there are certainly some inspirations. I prefer Nier's story better, but Stellar Blade's story isn't terrible. There is some vagueness to it, but if you do enough side quests and pick up collectibles, much of that is filled in through environmental storytelling, so take that for what it's worth. Overall, it's enjoyable so long as you tune out the nonsense surrounding it and don't let yourself become polarized.
People have been clamoring for the next installment of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy for several years now and released at the end of February 2024 for the Playstation 5. I played it, but as a fan of the franchise in general rather than a rabid devotee of Final Fantasy VII. I've long been annoyed with FFVII's fame and the obsessive dedication some have to this particular game, but after playing through Rebirth, I admit that it's hard to argue with why this particular game the worldbuilding that has taken place with the world of Gaia over the last several years has cultivated such a rabid fanbase.
Is the game good? Absolutely. The combat is still fast and fun with a good deal of challenge and complexity that was evident in FFVII: Remake and Intermission. Anyone who enjoyed those for the combat will feel right at home here. The expansive world is gorgeous and a joy to explore. The soundtrack is amazing as well and does a good job replicating classics from the original game and introducing some new songs based on themes from the original as well as some wholly original songs.
The issue with Rebirth is it gets bogged down with unnecessary minigames that turn completing the game into an absolute chore. Still, the story is worth working through if you liked the direction Remake was taking and wanted to see more. If you hated the changes in Remake, well, you'll hate the story here too, possibly even more even though it largely follows the same story beats as the original.
Anyway, enjoy the video where I explore this in more depth.
Yes, I'm a bit behind the curve. Yes I had said I was going to provide a review of Super Mario RPG for Nintendo Switch. Yes that was several months ago. Yes, I've been procrastinating once again. That's only because I've been playing that along with a few other titles. So, here's a quick review of SMRPG as well as a couple other titles I've burned through over the last two months as well as a quick look at other games I'm currently playing in the mean time. I'm not reviewing all of them, just mentioning them. Take a look!
Several months ago I was approached by another member of my church to participate in a Christmas program for another local church. This individual had performed there in the past and was asked this year if he knew of any other men that would be willing to sing in a men's ensemble. We would pick whatever music we wanted and would practice on our own until the dress rehearsal before the night of the performance. Well, I agreed and this person originally wanted to just do one song and then we had a suggestion of a medley thrown at us. Not a bad proposition, but this same member who approached me decided that two songs would be enough.
Not on my watch!
I then had a random idea to then write a medley for us by taking about five different songs and smashing them together. Why? No ide! I'd never done anything like that before, but I had already committed to it and so over the course of a few nights I hammered on out in MuseScore and came up with the rough draft of the medley's you have linked above. One is an arrangement for men's trio, while the other is for quartet. Why did I write two arrangements? I dunno. The trio turned out well enough but I wanted to have a four-part harmony version as well.
Anyway, the order of songs is as follows: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!, Joy to the World!, Silent Night, Mary, Did You Know...?, and Oh, Holy Night!
I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed arranging and recording them.
As you all know, I am incredibly punctual and timely with many of my reviews and not at all a procrastinator. Sea of Stars came out just...okay so it was three months ago and won indie game of the year. I'm not here to say that it doesn't deserve that accolade, but just how good of a game is it?
The combat is pretty solid though I did feel it starting to wear on me by the end of the game, the soundtrack is decent and is better than I remember it being which is mentioned in the video. Veteran video game composer Yasunori Mitsuda helped compose some of the tracks for this game which is appropriate considering how much the game borrows from Chrono Trigger (something that becomes very apparent in late game areas and enemy designs) and Super Mario RPG. The story is generally good but has some questionable decisions that I wasn't a fan of. I'm not saying they don't work as part of the overall narrative, but that doesn't make me not raise an eyebrow. After all, why would you choose to do something that essentially undercuts another goal you're trying to accomplish? Then again, maybe another playthrough will clear this up for me because I may have been misinterpreting some things.
Generally speaking, I was happy with the game despite some of its flaws. Perhaps one of the biggest flaws was that it doesn't quite live up to the standards and reputations of the games that it was inspired by. Then again, perhaps that's my own nostalgia and love for these games that has tainted my perception of Sea of Stars. In all honesty, it's probably better than I'm giving it credit for, and perhaps another playthrough will help me to adjust my perspective. Who know. Is it worth playing? Absolutely.
For my full thoughts on the game, watch the video above.
I have not kept it secret by any stretch of the imagination that I have changed my theological views drastically over the years, particularly over the two decades. One of the areas that was impacted the most in my early twenties was the area of eschatology. Was there such a thing as a Pre-Tribulation rapture? Was Christ's kingdom going to be a literal, physical kingdom that we had to wait for? Was there any point in polishing the brass on the Titanic if it's going to sink anyway?
For clarity, that last sentence is an analogy for whether or not the church should even bother trying to transform the world if it's doomed to failure anyway. A common theme amongst many prominent Dispensationalists.
This time of year, we often sing the hymn "Joy to the World", which has anything but a defeatist attitude towards the Kingdom of Christ and the reign of Christ over the earth. Why? Didn't Isaac Watts understand how hopeless things were until Christ returned? Fortunately, Watts lived at such a time when this view of history and the idea of a secret rapture as an escape hatch to avoid dealing with the world didn't exist. So, what did men like Watts believe? In order to understand why Watts had such an optimistic outlook, there is one place we need to look and one place only: the holy scriptures themselves. What did Christ actually teach about His own kingdom? What prophetic statements are made about Kingdom of God that we can hold to. Is there a reason to be optimistic about any of it?
Today's lesson examines just that. Yet, with as much scripture and as much ground as I tried to cover, there is still much to say about the subject, but I did my best to lay out the fundamental principles for why the beliver should have an optimistic outlook on the Kingdom and why that hope should spur us on in our fulfillment of the great commission.
