Mini-Reviews:Part 2 (Robots, Xiaolins, JRPGs, etc)

A long awaited sequel article (of sorts) to Bunch of Reviews: Part One


All of these will be MASSIVE SPOILERS. Read at your own caution.




Atomic Robo:
Apparently my thing for robots extended far enough that I'm now actively seeking for stuff with robots in it. I mean, I'm still pretty picky and choosy (sorry guys, no Gundam or Macross for me), but goddamn it, wasn't Transformers enough?!

Atomic Robot. I've heard this name go around for years, but knew little beyond the title and the fact that Brian Clevinger wrote it. Well, I did enjoy 8-Bit Theaters (which as of this writing, I'm halfway through with intent to someday finish it for good), so maybe I'll take a shine to Atomic Robo and judging by the description, it'll be less of an archive scroll for me than 8-Bit Theater. Also, it's got a robot as the lead character. A robot who looks like the love child of the Iron Giant and the Rocketeer. Fighting Nazis. And Doctor Dinosaurs. And an Evil Brain in a Jar. And pyramid tanks. And an Evil Stephen Hawking apparently. I'm not a fervert devote, but I do have a slight fondness for pulp fiction because it gives you an excuse to pull stupid nonsense like this and mingle with everything else without betraying the genre. Pulp gives you the excuse to simply undergo logic for "ADVENTUUUUUURE." Not that Robo doesn't pick holes in the scientific nonsense he's forced to hear—he IS built by Tesla.

I picked up the first paperback trade via Comixology and read all the Free Comic Book editions in their official website. Needless to say, Atomic Robo is exactly what it is: silly, goofy fun. Judging by his 80+ years of living and summaries of other paperback trades, Brian has a slew of good ideas he can milk for a long time. It's the kind of comic that screams to invite you in at any point without getting lost. The first six issues only meagerly interlock to drive somewhat of an overall arc with nearly each issue expanding on a portion of Robo's illustrious history. It's prototypical, best evident with its sea of bland humans that I can only imagine will get better in later issues, but Robo is the star anyway and his deadpan nature and badassery is second to none. The series is non-stop action, yet the comic knows when to breathe and invite some of the quieter moments to give Robo a humanizing aspect. Issue #2 has Robo finding out an old human friend from decades ago recently passed on and he takes a minute to reflect on it. One of the Free Comic Book Day sports an adorable story where he gives an eleven-year-old girl hope that she may someday join his league of Action Scientists (ten years later, she totally does.)

The Atomic Robot crew firmly established a set of rules in their official website: No angst, no "cheesecake", no reboots, no fillers, and no delays. Judging by what I've seen so far, they're good to their words. Atomic Robo need not be bogged down by such: it's meant to be good, lighthearted fun. I am definitely going to pick up future volumes to add to my collection; I do love my pulpy goodness.
OUT OF FIVE STARS




Beware the Batman:
Oh, god, not another Batman show. Can DC and Warner Bros. please give this guy a rest? At least, that was my initial reaction (the other being, "Why doesn't Batman have a forehead?") and though I do think they're milking the shit out of the Dark Knight, BtB is honestly a lot better than I expected. I went in with reluctance and the first episode didn't do much to deter me. Fortunately the next episode and beyond got better and better. All the new changes they made works remarkably well. Using obscure DC villains instead of old popular favorites such as The Joker, Poison Ivy, or Two-Face seems blasphemous, but it gives the show a new style to call its own and spotlights characters we would not see otherwise. I'm only an avid Batman fan, so peeps like Magpie and Anarchy are new to me, so it'll be a treat how they're portrayed over the course of the show and I'm assuming these guys are coming back for repeat offenses (In Magpie's case, that outfit is a multiple offense charge.)

Granted, this isn't going to dethrone Batman: The Animated Series in terms of emotional woes; Magpie's plot twist was pretty neat, but her "Shiny, Shiny" got really old, really fast. Anarchy is just whiny, and though Metaphorpho had a tragic origin, it doesn't quite have the heart-tugging moments the DCAUverse managed to conjure up, though it reasonably did well otherwise. Batman himself isn't interesting and the show seems to expect you to know who he is and what he already does. I mean, I get that because it's, ya know, Batman, but that shouldn't be a reason to ignore his character.

Fortunately a lot of the good balances out. Humpty Dumpty is delightfully frightening (dude, his fake suicide was chilly). Alfred's significantly more active here, yet it never betrays his usual role of the wise father figure and Tatsu AKA Katana has an interesting and mysterious past waiting to be unraveled. Even though she has yet to crack the code behind who Batman is, the show never sets her aside and instead settles her with her own subplots and awesome moments. She's the best damn thing in the show right now.

Despite a number of setbacks, Beware the Batman truly has some damn good stuff that I'm looking forward to.
AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE





The Last Of Us:
So I'm more than halfway through The Last of Us and I'm still wondering, "Where is the profoundness that everyone keeps talking about?" All I'm seeing is a really cliché story. I mean, that doesn't mean I don't care for the characters - especially Ellie - but I'm not getting the sense of emotional awe that everyone is. But I keep playing because it's a Naughty Dog game and I've pretty much made a self-contractual obligation that I'll likely be playing their games until the studio is kaput. Eventually I reach the ending, watched the final cutscene, and just sat there in dumbfounded glory while the credits rolled. That was when the poignancy hit me.

The Last of Us is exactly how I feel about Monsters University: roughly the entire movie/game is typical of its particular plot and genre; you know what's going to happen, but it's still fairly enjoyable. Then the last act hits you with the Plot Twist stick so hard the story retroactively becomes good. Very good. The Last of Us may have a story familiar enough for a mainstream Oscar nomination, but the final scene between Joel and Ellie really made the journey worthwhile and the message much more meaningful.

The Last of Us is not the kind of game I'd play because I don't like horror stuff—jump scares are common in the genre and I am easily surprised—and though it does pull a number of elements from the Zombie Apocalypse bag of tricks, it's not really a survival horror. It's a variety of things actually, but what's unique is that this game isn't about the zombies—I'm sorry, Infected. It's not about humans fighting them and surviving. It's not about finding a cure (of which Ellie may be the key.) Those are just backdrops to what The Last of Us truly IS: the moral and ethical nature of humans.

Nobody is clear cut good or evil here. People do shitty things because they live in a world where they can't be anything but. People try to be good through selfish acts, people are desperate to live, people bring out the worse in themselves when they were once upstanding citizens before the infection. They will kill and steal your resources. One crazy guy defends an entire town instead of moving out because it's his hometown. Desperation drives people to cannibalism. And so forth. Joel is not a nice guy despite warming up to Ellie; he will torture a man brutally in order to locate his surrogate daughter and has no hesitation pulling shit that would be deathly illegal if society hadn't crumbled. Ellie is wide-eyed, but conscious of the fucked up world she lives in and continues to lose her innocence along the journey. It is Joel's decision at the end that absolutely cemented this game for me: risking the future of mankind just so Ellie would live, going as far as lying to her (she's potentially got a cure for the Infected, but it would require her to die.) We think we root for Joel because he's the guy we're controlling. We see things from his perspective, but while he's sympathetic, he's not portrayed as any less wrong or right than the others. The game ends ambiguously: does Ellie know if Joel lied to her or not. The answer doesn't matter. What it does is give us, the players, a choice to decide how we feel about Joel or hell, anyone in this game.

Though for those looking for a bit of a bright spot, there are a couple of moments in the game that hints humans will progress regardless: Joel's brother Tommy lives and manages a community in a large fort where they prove to be self-sufficient without going overboard like the Hunters and the cannibals. Bill may be a nutbag, but he's one man vs. bazillions of Infected and yet lives to fight another day. It's just enough to still have faith in humanity's future without necessarily contradicting its message: some choose to be desperate, others with time and patience can live without going over the edge. The point is, everyone has a way to survive and no one is black or white.

The gameplay is a bit of a mixed issue though. They're not inherently bad, but I can't say they really "wow'ed" me either. It's basically like playing the Uncharted series if Drake was forced to sneak up 80% of the time. There's nothing innovative about it other than it plays well. How you manage your weapons and items really adds to the game and requires you to think real deep on what you need and what to save. Although it does get ridiculous when a game this detailed won't let you pick up a bunch of bottles and sticks unless they're shining white despite their abundance. AI is generally good; enemies will figure your hiding spot, sneak up behind you, and counterattack if you aren't careful. Fortunately your partners are often useful and if not, they know how to stay the fuck away so they won't be killed. I can't say I'm blown away by the gameplay though, Uncharted 2 melded the cinematic angles with gameplay and story first and the novelty has since been lost. Sorry fans, but I'm convinced THAT was Naughty Dog's magnum opus, not The Last of Us (and possibly Crash Team Racing because I'm biased; it's my favorite Crash Bandicoot game and a really damn good kart racer.)

Still, it's a worthy game to pick up and play. It's poignant, makes you think, and provides endless solid gameplay to last. The Last of Us is also pretty lengthy for its genre and I finished around the 20 hour mark. Course, I died a lot because I am not good at aiming, but it'll last you a bit.
OUT OF FIVE STARS




Ni No Kuni:
I only recommend Ni No Kuni if you either really love JRPGs or you're starving for something old-timey. By old-timey, we're going to at least the mid-to-late 90s: back during a time where things weren't as ridiculously 80s hard, but possessed just enough grinding to get your patience's worth. This game forces you to grind a lot. Ni No Kuni has an awful lot of padding, its story resorting to a number of fetch quests that prevents you from continuing your main mission because Important Character A needs Plot Device B before she can give you Really Important Plot Device C. Get used to it, they do this shit constantly. If you do the optional bounty hunts and errands (which I've managed to finish all but two), expect even more endless chores to pull. I clocked in 72 hours in this game doing crap like these. You'd think I'd be bored and in any other games, I might be, but I think the might of Level 5 and Studio Ghibli managed to pull me in long enough. (Hey, Square-Enix, you want to make good JRPGs that is both playable AND lovable, take a page out of Level 5's book.)

The game is also decidedly difficult without it being frustrating. Battles really do hinge on you understanding enemy ranges and putting defenses up in time. It's a lot more active than the standard JRPG and provides a good amount of interactions so you're not just pushing the X button without having to look at the screen. You're going to spend most of the fight with your Familiars and this is when the Pokemon comparisons carries some weight. You can feed them to raise their stats and give them treats to evolve. Interestingly, each new evolved form goes back to Level 1, however they significantly get stronger the more you evolve and level them up. It's very much worth doing so. You have at best 12 Familiars in your standard disposal (though you can store 400 of those bastards to train) and they all level up without the need to take them out. This also occurs if they (including the main characters) die in battle; unlike most JRPGs, you still level up regardless. It's minor, but it really does lessen the frustrations and this game can get pretty hard at points. Considering how many of these little bastards you can obtain, it's also a godsend. The game does these little things to lessen the tedium. One of the best spells for completionists is Fortune and Chart Chest because conjuring them will tell you where every chest is (color-coordinated, too) so you can pick them up during backtracks. It is RIDONKOUSLY helpful and considerate.

The only gameplay element that really overstayed its welcome is Mr. Drippy's unnecessary need to pop up and slap a mandatory (read: blatant) hint on your face. No, I don't want to know what the bosses' weaknesses are. No, Drippy, you don't have to goddamn tell me what emotions I need to give to this random NPC. Let me figure it out myself, stop holding my hand! For that matter, I should not have to read the same damn messages every time I get an emotion or recast the damn Chart Chest or Levitate spells. I know what they do already, shut up!

I'm not going to talk long about the graphics: you know it, I know it—they look fantastic. The cel-shaded approach gives it an animated feel that compliments Ghibli's style. The worlds are colorful and gorgeous and I totally dig 'em.

The story ain't half bad, but it's nothing to sing about. Ni No Kuni doesn't even pretend to be deep and what you see is what you get. It doesn't have to be convoluted and complicated though; its tale is humble enough to give it the charm and lightheartedness it needs without the needless melodrama a lot of JRPGs just loooooooves to pull. Despite the obvious fillers, the story narrates fairly well and like any standard Ghibli movie, the villains have motivation and sympathetic backgrounds. Only the last segment with the White Witch feels like an afterthought because the DS version concluded with Shadar's story (which is present in this version, too), though they did put in a decent amount of effort. Sadly, there is one huge problem that really kills the otherwise delectable charisma the game has: the voice acting is subpar.

I mean, the voices fit the characters and it is nowhere near the worst I have heard. When they try, they honestly try and there is effort shown; some characters' voices and tones hits it right out of the park, but most of the time, no one can properly emote. I suppose I can be lax on the child actors—this might be their first major roles—but the adults have no excuse. I find this especially upsetting because the company that did the dubbing apparently did the Professor Layton series and those games have amazing voice acting. Sure Layton has their bad ones (mostly anything by Luke) and the voices can be equally as comical, but there's a lot more oomph put into it. Christopher Miller's Layton is topnotched and so damn fitting that I cannot perceive the Japanese counterpart in the same level; Miller's gentlemanly tone is simply sublime. Compared that to some of the sad scenes in Ni No Kuni which only manages a "Good enough." Ni No Kuni is a coming of age story of a boy who must deal with his mother's death and it really needed that emotional zest.

Ni No Kuni was a nice trip to the past to the days where I used to play JRPGs like crack. It doesn't convince me to resume the genre and I always knew this game would be an exception in a sea of others I no longer give a damn about. For that, it was largely worth it.
OUT OF FIVE STARS




Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask:
Like the past four Layton games, it's your routine point-and-click while solving an assload of puzzles game. Maybe it's just me, but are the puzzles easier in this game than the previous entries? It wasn't until puzzle…40ish when it started to stump me when it usually occurs much earlier. Eh, I'm not complaining too much since the math-related ones are pretty much non-existent and there's still plenty of stumpers. Chapter Six tries to shake things up a bit with a simple dungeon crawl (with puzzles, of course) and it largely handles itself well, but doesn't really amount to a hill of beans in the long run. Graphically, I was reluctant on the 3D aspect because one of the biggest draws to the Layton series is its unique, European-ish art style. But this is Level 5 who are pretty much masters of the cel-shaded art form; Miracle Mask looks great in 3D and perfectly captures the characters and background.

As always, it's the story that stuck with me. Behind Unwound Future, I think this game may have the best one. It's a tale of revenge and though straightforward, the main cast remains lovable and appealing as ever. The biggest highlight is Randall Ascot, Layton's childhood friend and the guy who got him interested in archaeology in the first place, an adventurous young lad whose thirst for knowledge ends with his untimely death. However, a mysterious being known as The Masked Gentlemen is making a muck of things nearly 20 years later, wearing the very mask Randall found decades ago. Put two and two together, it's not hard to figure out. You feel for his plight, his suffering, and ultimately his redemption. It wouldn't have worked half as well if not for the voice actor who performs in top form. It's equally topped with the supporting characters (who are much less straightforward on their actions and goals) and though Henry's entire motive is almost ridiculous, it's no less heartwarming when you realize just how much he cares for Randell. Hell, even the childhood bully isn't a bad guy. All of this is topped with a damn good ending teaser involving Jean Descole (whose "I Work in The Shadows" approach fits better here than in Last Specter) , a mysterious man (who I think should have just been in the ending teaser; him appearing in the main story for one unrelated scene is a bit jarring) whom he has ties to, and oh, world domination. Goodie.

As always, the gameplay is familiar, but expected if you've played and loved any past Layton games. The story is wonderful and heartbreaking (damn it, Nintendo, how the HELL do you DO this?), and the overall presentation is aces. I do wish the downloadable puzzles had more variety than the same 12 or so sets you end up getting. I guess that's the price you pay for a year's worth of puzzles, but I'd have taken a smaller number of them if it meant better versatility.
OUT OF FIVE



Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated:
Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated may arguably be the best Scooby-Doo incarnation, but that's really not saying much, especially when Mystery Inc decides to take the time old formula and deconstruct it. Hey, I like deconstructions, I can totally get by it. To its credit, it really does work most of the time, but it's got a lot of hiccups that prevents it from achieving perfection.

Mystery Inc relies on strict continuity to tell its tale and a lot of it centers on the Scooby Gang and the inner workings among the five members. The show spares no expenses digging deep into why there is a mystery gang, the downfall of having four teens and a dog working together to solve mystery, and how it all works. Each of the five have their own distinct character arc, but they're largely mixed. Some like Fred's is impeccable and turns this trap-loving doofus into someone who's life turns for the worse when he finds out what his father has been up to. Others like Velma's trust issue lingers for a bit and concludes without fanfare. The rest range from unforgettable to abysmal; the Velma/Shaggy love subplot is quite possibly even worse than Mako/Korra. Where did this come from? Why was it needed? They're dating by the start of the show, but the series never indicates why they hook up and most importantly, what they see in each other. Velma turns into a nagging jerk who at one point wished Scooby would go away because he's getting in the way with her boyfriend. Shaggy is disinterested in dating and spends more time with his dog than her, making me wonder what the hell was going on his mind when he decided he wanted this. Then there's Scooby's arc where we find out he's descended from aliens who can turn into talking animals. This comes pretty late and thus forces us to accept that yes, a talking dog is abnormal. It's kind of bad when the best character arc is given to a secondary character.

One could argue the tension between team members (and it happens constantly) adds to the deconstruction and analysis of the Scooby Gang, but when they're this obnoxious or that out of place, it really does not work. They can analysis why there's a talking animal companion all they want, but when you have a bunch of characters—main, secondary, ancillary, etc—react normally to the idea of such, having to actually explain it sticks out pretty badly. The characters all work best when the episodes focuses on them as a team as oppose to them as individuals, but I get the need for character arcs - how can they work as a team if they don't fix themselves?

Being it's a Scooby-Doo show, it also relies on lighthearted gags and silly nonsense among its quirk cast, yet it never blends with the darker elements of the show (and the show gets surprisingly dark) as well as it could have. The consistence really doesn't work for me.

Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated tried and while it more or less succeeded on their goals, it steps back as much as it moves forward. Overall, the franchise doesn't really need a deconstruction. Scooby-Doo lasted as long as it did because it's so utterly formulaic that it's ultimately timeless. Still, I'm glad they attempted to experiment and it was an interesting watch. Also, I really love the backgrounds, they're absolutely striking and atmospheric.
AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE




Teen Titans Go:
Don't watch TTG if you're expecting anything serious and poignant like the original Teen Titans cartoons handled when they weren't being silly. TTG took all the funny, weird episodes of the first cartoon, exaggerated the cast, and carte blanche. The result is a surprisingly decent offering that every so often will miss a beat.

The primary flaw of TTG is that every single characters are a bunch of jerks and what little sympathy we can have for them are minimum. However it's perfect for the slapstick, Looney Tunes settings because they're liable to get smacked, punched, beaten, squished, zapped, and killed to give you the sense of karmic justice these assholes deserve. The humor can range from razor sharp hilarious and amusingly cheesy to uninspiring piles of dreck. Even if you enjoy the show, there may be a mixed reaction in-between.

It's a very hit-or-miss show and what enjoyment you'll get out of it depends on your sense of humor and taste. Personally, I can take or leave it. I'm not a fan of it that I'd go out of my way to catch every episode on time, but it's something I'll watch on a whim. It does entertain me, but doesn't necessarily entice me.
OUT OF FIVE STARS




Xiaolin Chronicles:
Xiaolin Showdown wasn't that great, but it was a somewhat passable series with a decent amount of potential as we take a journey alongside the terribly racist looking Omi and his team of ethnic stereotypes. Unfortunately, it wasted an awful lot of it as the seasons progressed (Season One and the two concluding episodes in Season Two is pretty much perfect though.) But I guess a combination of nostalgia and morbid curiosity caused me to seek out the upcoming resurrection (a move I am still utterly baffled on.). Needless to say, I didn't have high hopes for its sequel Xiaolin Chronicles.

It's obnoxious. From start to finish, XC is all noise, never stopping a moment to breathe or pause or add any form of subtly. Granted, XS wasn't exactly a subdued cartoon either, but I don't remember it being it being this fast-paced and impatient. This is exactly the kind of trap kid's show should avoid: endless noise, noise, nooooooise.  It didn't rely on gross out/toilet humor this show instantly latches onto and it certainly spared room to at least establish their characters. XC seems to rely on the idea that people who are watching this were already fans of the first; they dump the old characters, setups, and backdrops with only a meager exposition at the beginning of the first episode and meaninglessly slap stuff in hopes newcomers will get it (Hrr Hrr, Kimiko is jealous of the new female trainee Willow AKA Chase Young's apprentice Shadow because she's flirting with all the boys and that's instant grounds to be suspicious about because GUUUUURLS.) Yet it also does away with whatever character development the first show had and alters some of the continuity that I can't help but think that they should have just rebooted the damn thing.

It's ironic that the only redeeming quality to this show happens to be Chase. I did not like him in the original series because he and Omi essentially took over the latter half of Season 2, undermining and often sacrificing the other character's developments in the process. With everything else so barebones and irritating about XC (surprise surprise, Ping Pong is about as lovable as a caffeinated squirrel), Chase's deliciously brand of evil gives it the only sense of charisma it has. Otherwise, it's awful. But I sadly expected it to be. And yet I want to watch more. Well, I needed a new bile fascination to feed my rage.

Also, Kimiko doesn't change outfits? But I loved that about the original series; it was visually captivating! I…I just like it when fictional characters are fashionable. It's weird, I know. I blame CLAMP.
AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE


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Discovery (A Transformers Animated Fancomic): Read the entire thing here. More updated as the series progresses. Placed there for archival purpose.

Chess Piece (A Danny Phantom Fancomic):
An AU Danny Phantom comic. It's been canceled, but for those morbidly curious to read this convoluted train wreck, the link is here.



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