Pixar Marathon 2020 - Monsters Inc. vs Monsters University

Two movies, but which reigns supreme?

Trapped in quarantine, nothing else to do, but families gotta stick together, and mine decided to stick together with Pixar movies. We're rewatching one a week. I'm comparing them to the ranking I made before the rewatch, and seeing if any change spots.

Me to people breaking quarantine

The first two weeks were the Monsters series, Inc and University. Comparing the two is a good exercise in studying prequels, and how they're almost impossible to make as good as the original. We're breaking it down point by point. While I vastly prefer Inc to University (U for short), let me start with a huge pro of University that even this watch I was blown away by.



VISUALS
The 12 years between the original and prequel did a monster good, as U is gorgeous. The palette is bursting to the seams with color, and the style fits the tone to a tee. While the overall visual are a bit more kiddy and I could see someone not liking the aesthetic as much as the original, I think it fits the younger age and mood of the film perfectly. Mike and Sully are kids, and the art designs reflects that.

Tag yourself I'm the two headed guy on the left.

Light, shadows, and water all seem to be modeled perfectly. While that may seem obvious, it's actually pretty impressive considering this movie is now 7 years old. It still looks like it could release today and I don't think anyone would bat an eyelash.

Grass so real you need to mow it.

Looking back at Monsters, Inc. now, the fur went from being "Wow this is great!" to "Wow, how could I ever think THAT was great?!"

I feel slightly uncomfortable.

Yes the designs themselves are timeless, but textures look much flatter, especially Mike. His spots honestly seem like they're just pixels with no actual bumps or height. Compare the life Monsters University has in every frame to Monsters Inc. Everything just feels much more... barren.

However, visuals are just one part of the story. And when comparing the ACTUAL story... well. Let's break that into three parts: world, character, action.

WORLD

The world relates intimately to the story, especially in a fantasy world like the Monsters series. In Inc., the world was such a part of the charm of that story. The idea that all the monsters that live in kids closets and scare them actually having their own world was brilliant. 

What... happened to him?

A lot of the humor of the first one was seeing a normal human work-place, but with monsters. It's a classic comedic set-up, take something fantastical and have them act like humans, but when it works, it works. And for Monsters, Inc. it WORKED.

Photos you can hear.

I loved seeing how the monsters feared children just as much as we feared them, seeing their prejudices challenged with Boo, and the change that made on the entire world. I loved the Easter eggs to the Abominable Snowman. We got a whole view of the world. The world was singular for its story, yet felt complete.

Me pointing out everything I love about this movie to someone who doesn't care.

Now compare that to Monsters University. It's the second, yet a prequel, so we can't see how the world has changed, yet they also can't just make the same jokes as the first one.

Enter: Binge drinking

So Pixar decided to focus on one aspect of monster society: college. While this could have led to a treasure-trove of jokes, for me... it didn't. What hilarious moments in University do you remember? Especially compared to how many iconic lines there are in Inc., there's far less.

This is the main one I thought of, and it's mostly for the tumblr post.

College is such a narrow field to see the world through, I think we lost a lot of the magic of the monster world. College is already so insular. One of my favorite scenes of the film was the group going to Monsters, Inc. and getting pumped up, and I don' think that's a coincidence. When your best setting is the setting of the last movie, that's a BIG problem.

CHARACTER
Monsters Inc. made so many iconic characters in one movie. Mike. Sully. Randal. Boo. Even Roz and Ceila. To this day, people adore these characters. And to just say it, it's the reason why 12 years later they could make a prequel based on these characters and the movie would gross over 700 million dollars.

Plus who knows how much they made from parks and merchandise.

Now Monsters University. All I have to say is... how many of these new characters can you NAME?

In before one superfan names all 34.

I'm guessing most people can't name any beyond maybe one or two. And even if you can, to me, their arcs and relationships were simply not as strong as what the original did. So why was that?

One of the reasons I think the relationships worked so well in the original was that most existed BEFORE the movie started. It's really hard to build a lot of relationships from scratch in less than 2 hrs, so Pixar already had Mike and Sully be best friends, already had Randal hate them, Ceila date Mike, etc. This made their banter organic and made us feel a sense of history.

Yes, yes they are.

Making all the relationships already in progress also let Pixar focus on the one they really had to nail: Sully and Boo. That is the heart of Monsters Inc, and seeing them progress from fearing each other to risking their lives to save each other is heart-warming.

Also Sully gives me such Dad vibes and I love it.

So instead of having to build every relationship, we get to see how relationships CHANGE. Mike and Sully's friendship nearly breaks. Randal's rivalry gets worse. Ceila almost breaks up with Mike.

Tbh, this moment still terrifies me.

And then, when the Sully and Boo have to say goodbye.. we've devoted enough time that my tear soaked pillow feels earned.

I'm okay. I swear, I'm okay.

Going back to University, not only is this an origin story of how Mike and Sully met for the first time, it's also an origin for how they met Randal, and every single other student at that college. While the minor characters already know each other, the main characters have NO relationships going in, which means the screenwriters had to build every one from scratch, making none strong enough to be the emotional core. At least, imo.

It's just my opinion bro.

ACTION

Finally, action. While I think heart is the most important part of a Pixar movie and humor is huge too, action shouldn't go unnoticed. However, I still think the original beats out the prequel.

The prequel does have action set-pieces, but they're very bluntly set up as "scare games". And even when we're given a plot-device for any crazy action to happen, what we get is... a bit underwhelming. Like you could do anything, and all we get is colored spiky balls?

I mean the lighting is BEAUTIFUL, but consider me whelmed.

Compare that with Monsters Inc. There's no games or arbitrary number of set pieces they have to go through. But the movie feels much more kinetic to me. Even just the simple act of a monsters getting a sock on them felt more dangerous than half these scare games. That's because the scare games were these scheduled things, so they really couldn't go that wrong.

This poor guy.

The best set piece from University for me was the camp scene in the human world. That was tense and had a sense of real danger. But then Inc. just blows it out of the water with the fight with Randal, the snow sledding, not even to mention the DOOR CHASE.

Ohmygosh this was so good.

The creativity, tension, visual appeal, and stakes!! The sense of danger! How they jumped in and out of doors and gravity changed and they traversed across the entire human world to run away!! This unbridled creativity is what I love about Pixar. 

Plus my stomach drops just looking at this.

In the door scene, we get great character in Sully protecting Boo, great action in the chase, AND great world in seeing how the doors are stored for scaring. That one scene is a perfect summary of, in my opinion, why Monsters Inc. is a superior movie to Monsters University.

That's all folks.

Rankings before: Monsters University 20th place; Monsters Inc 8th place
Rankings after: Same! University gets 3.5/5, Inc. gets 4.5/5

Hunter x Hunter Rewatch - 13th Chairman Arc Review

It all ends here. For the 2011 anime of course, the manga is still stopping and starting through a whole other arc that's rivaling Chimera Ants in scope. But for lovers of this adaptation such as myself, the 13th Chairman Election is very bittersweet. It's the end to an amazing show, one of the best in anime. But it goes out, in my opinion at least, on a great high note. Though short, this is an incredibly strong arc with interesting characters, intense action, powerful emotions, and expert plotting. Let's dive in.

The 13th Chairman arc picks up right where the Chimera Ants arc leaves off. I love how nearly all HxH arcs don't just push aside the last plots, but this is perhaps the best example of it. The whole arc is built off consequences from what we've just witnessed: Netero has died needing the election, and Gon is in dire straits after expending his life energy to kill Pitou. Killua's mission to save Gon by rescuing his sister Alluka, Gon's injury, and the Hunter Association's election all are disparate plot threads that eventually become weaved together in a way that's brilliant to see. It can be easy for side plots to feel disposable, but here, I cared about all of them.

First up, Killua rescuing Alluka. This is probably the main thread, and damn, is it intense. The family politics and in-fighting between Killua and Illumi is absolutely brutal. A beloved minor character dies, Illumi claims dozens of innocent lives, and Hisoka single-handedly slaughters how many pro hunters? Rewatching this reminded me just how dark this arc was. Beyond the constant cycle of death, Killua is in a really dark place emotionally. By the end of it, I was really pissed no one gave him a hug! r/HugtheDamnKillua

Back to Alluka though, she might be the highlight of the whole arc. I love Alluka's power and all the rules to it we learn; it's a real puzzle and there's a sense of danger that one wrong move could get anyone smushed into a pile of blood. And there's the mystery at what hidden rules Killua knows. However, whereas most anime would leave it there, for HxH, that's just the beginning. Once Something has been set up as this strange force, the anime starts to deconstruct that. First is the twist that healing wishes don't require a burden; an amazing "gotcha!" moment ala Christopher Nolan that I still loved the second time. Beyond that, there's no complex hidden rules behind why Killua can control Something better; it's simply because he's the only one that realizes Something is a person, not just a power. Slowly learning that Something is just as human as Allukah was incredibly powerful, and made the scene where Killua tearfully sends her away heartbreaking. I went from seeing Something as an evil force, to a misunderstood being. Getting audiences to care about Something to the point of tears is Hunter x Hunter at it's most bizarre, but also it's best.

;_;

The other side plots aren't quite as strong, but they also don't need to be. The election drama is engaging and interesting, with lots of power battles and numbers to crunch. The Zodiac characters are a bit underdeveloped though. The show basically just tells us to hate Rat, instead of giving any real justification. This made him a bit of a weak villain, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't take the bait and want him to lose. The show definitely plays with the fact that they never actually show us he's truly evil though, in the second best twist of the arc. He wins, only to give the seat up to Cheadle! Another "holy shit" moment, but one slightly less powerful as it was so hard to get a grasp onto his character at all. The only Zodiac I really enjoyed was Cheadle, who was the right mix of feisty and moral driven for me. However, I loved seeing Leorio go from meme candidate to almost-winner, and kinda wish he'd won just so his character would be more important to the series. But Gon gets it right as usual: Leorio wants to be a doctor. Seeing Leorio fight for Gon and punch Ging was so cathartic, and their reunion was beautiful.

Gon's recovery becomes the main debate topic of the election, thus tying all three threads together. But once he's healed, he finally meets his dad. This is a long time coming, and I'm really glad the show let a lot of characters say how much of a dickhead Ging is. It always felt weird and kinda wrong that Gon idolized Ging, so it was nice to see the author aware of that. Their reunion at the top of the World Tree was sweet though, especially when they swapped their stories. And the tease for the Dark Continent arc!!

Still, when I think back to this arc and this series, getting to Ging is never the highlight. I think of meeting Kurapika and Leorio, the fun or disturbing or thoughtful challenges Gon faces, and especially the friendship he makes with Killua. I think of all the complex villains, the wacky side characters, and the heartbreaking darkness of the world. I think of how much I enjoyed the time I spent rewatching this series. Like the man himself said, take your time with the detours. Because there you'll find something more important than what you want.

Until next time~

Hunter x Hunter Rewatch - Chimera Ants Arc

The Chimera Ant arc always holds a complicated place in my probably-too-large place in my heart for Hunter x Hunter. On one hand, it's the arc that as fans, we're supposed to find the best. I've seen tons of comments saying "if you find this arc boring, you have horrible taste and are too dumb for Hunter x Hunter." It's like the Rick and Morty of the HxH fandom. And backing up those opinions is the fact that this is the longest, the most complex, and arguably the arc that has some of the highest highs of the entire series.

Still, from watch one to this most recent watch (three), the Chimera Ant arc has never been my favorite. For every point it has going for it, there seems to be a counterpoint. One of the biggest problems, for instance, is that going along with the fact that it's the longest arc, it's also the arc I find has the most pacing issues. And yes, I know this is where the "you don't understand!!" comments come in. The extremely analytical and voice-over heavy style of the arc slows things to a crawl, intentionally, in that there's about 4-5 episodes that take place over the space of in-universe 60 seconds or so.


This style isn't inherently bad, but it does require every moment to be interesting enough to support stretching time out so much. And unfortunately, not all the side-fights in this arc are, in my opinion. Ikalgo is the biggest offender in my opinion. His side story looking for Palm and fighting Brovado and the like carried so much less tension than all the rest of the fights. For one, I've known Ikalgo for far less time than any of the other characters, so the stakes aren't as high. Also, his Nen and his opponents simply aren't as interesting as nearly any of the other fights. This all added up to the episodes featuring Ikalgo having me count the minutes until we got back to Gon or Knuckle.


Back to Knuckle though, his fight with Youpi is probably my favorite big battle until the end. It's filled with tension as time passes, strategy with APR, and constant danger with Youpi's explosive Nen power. To me, this is an example of the arc at its best. The analytical style works great for this fight, adding to the tension of each second mattering.


The complexity and seriousness of the arc does have its drawbacks though. With Gon in such a dark place emotionally, there's much less levity and joy here, which is something HxH really excelled at, and is definitely something I love. Also, not all of the new characters are as interesting as the ones they're taking screen time from, either. Shoot, Morel, Ikalgo, Pouf, Cheetu, and Knov all range from either being interesting yet non-favorites, to downright annoying. At the end of the day, a lot of the time I just wanted to go back to see what Gon or Killua was up to, which made it rough when Gon ends up sitting for the majority of the second half. Still, there are some characters that are absolute highlights.


My favorite new character had to have been the King/Mereum. His character development is probably the highest high the arc has. Seeing how the relationship with Komugi changes him is fascinating and emotional, and the resolution is just gut-wrenchingly powerful. Hunter x Hunter has an amazing ability for making you care for characters you never thought you would, and the dark final moments of Mereum and Komugi playing Gungi is a brilliant example of that.


Gon's final fight with Pitou... holy shit. 'High point' is kinda stripping away so much of what makes that fight one of the most intense, heartbreaking, brutal scenes in all of HxH. The difference between episode one Gon to the boy who throws his life away just to get revenge sends chills down my spine. And that animation.... This arc has a ton of amazing animation, and that's definitely one of the high points.

There's still so much I could talk about with this arc. I haven't even mentioned Mereum and Netero's battle, which is at once epic, disturbing, and a huge anticlimax that throws everything we think we know about power levels in this world out of whack with the atom bomb reveal. I near exclusively focused on the second half as well, as I think the first half in many ways is better (though still suffers from pacing issues). But that means I literally didn't even mention Kite! Or how this arc brings up themes of reincarnation in ways that perfectly make sense yet still are insane. So yeah, while it's never been my favorite arc, there's SO MUCH to love here that I almost always loved watching it. That's Hunter x Hunter for you, huh?

52 Games in 52 Weeks - Entry #2 - The Re(catch)-Up

"Hopefully they'll be weekly posts chronicling my grand journey, but if not I can always do catch-up posts every month or so :P"

Five months later...

Whoops

Before you get too angry, just rest easy in the fact that literally not a single person has read the first entry (it's sitting at a pretty 0 views).

So what's happened in those five months? Video games! Just not as many as I wanted to play.

WEEK 4 - Miitomo (mobile)
First up, a catch up week.  I decided that even though Miitomo was a free download, it was good enough to count as a catch-up "game".  I was pretty into this game the first month or so that it came out, answering questions every day for the bonuses and buying up new outfits all the time.  I really had fun with the fashion aspect of this game, honestly.

What's interesting is that around 3 months after release, this social network thing has all but died.  I stopped using it daily after about a month and a half, and by that time around half my friends on it had stopped at all.  Then there was about a month of checking in daily but never really doing anything else, and now I might check in a couple of times a week just for the bonuses.  It's kinda sad, since the game had a lot of Nintendo charm, but it just didn't have enough to keep people, and draw new ones in.  Better luck with Animal Crossing/Fire Emblem, Big N!


WEEK 8 - Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash (3DS)
I actually did enjoy this week, even though the game was pretty shit.  I just spent about an hour each day with this, listening to podcasts and playing basically on auto pilot. My review:

A functional, inoffensive way to pass the time. This platformer is the definition of average; the level design is rarely inspired, sorta tedious, but with some cool moments such as the boss battles. It's not enough to stop playing the game, but I won't ever want to go back, or even remember many things fondly. The graphics are occasionally cute (Chibi-Robo as a character has so much potential!), and nearly all the innovative systems they try such as the level wheel feel pointless. If you're a huge fan of platformers like I am and need a new 3DS game to plow through, this might be worth ~$10 or so. 

6/10

WEEK 9 - Yu-Gi-Oh!: Dungeondice Monsters (GBA)
Didn't do this week, but then later caught up with this game.  Look, I really love Yu-Gi-Oh.  I was into the Pokemon TCG as a kid, but the cool kids at church thought that was kiddy and were into Yugioh, so I got into that (true story).  I never actually played the card game with another human person, but loved the video game adaptions for GBA, and later for DS.  Also, I loved the dungeondice monsters special in the anime (which looking back, was really kinky...).

Humiliation, domination, and furries.... sounds like just another Saturday night now

Unfortunately, the game was not good. Review:

An Average Game Executed Poorly

Based off three episodes of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, Dungeon Dice Monsters spawned as a spinoff to the popular card game. Unfortunately, this dice-based game just isn't as fun as its big brother. Matches are slower & clunkier, and require several turns before you can even hope to damage your foe. There are some interesting ideas, such as making your own path by "unraveling" a dice, but the need to roll specific icons to do things like move or attack means the game can halt easily due to bad luck.

Even worse than the dice game is the actual video game wrapped around it. The game modes are pitifully small, with just a tournament mode and free play mode, besides multiplayer. What truly kills this game though, is the AI. It's TERRIBLE. I'm no Dungeon Dice monster; I learned how to play the game from a 10 minute YouTube video. However, throughout the entire campaign and a few extra matches, I never lost once. I never even had my Dice Master attacked EVEN ONCE. There were multiple games where I won before my opponent had even summoned one monster.

Everything else, from menus to graphics to sound, range from serviceable to bad. While Dice Monsters isn't the best board game, this adaptation really is a disservice, as I never once faced a challenge, nor did I ever need to think deeply or strategize. Just play the card game. 4/10

Fortunately, I only spent like $5 on this a few years ago, so I was happy to finally cross that off my list.

I was busy???

WEEK 10 - none

Oh no! Hopefully that won't happen again...



WEEK 11 - none

Yeah... get used to this.



WEEK 12 - The Sly Collection (PS3)

We're back! With another series that I loooved as a kid.  The original PS2 game was something I bonded over with my older brother, so it holds a special place in my heart.

This was like, the essence of cool when I was in elementary school

I replayed and beat the first entry, And the Thevius Racconous.  And it still holds up!  What's interesting was seeing how differently it felt all these years later.  I was surprised by how easy the game was now; as a kid, I would die over and over again, and getting the safes was basically unheard of.  This playthrough I got at least a dozen or so.  But yeah, very fun game deserving of nostalgia, although the first one is quite short.


WEEK 13 - none

*twiddles thumbs*


WEEK 14 - Bejeweled 3 (PC)

Oooh, this was a fun week!  What I love so much about this entry is how Popcap took this really simple concept (the original match 3 puzzler) that had, by that point, hundreds of imitators and offshoots and said fuck it, we're throwing every crazy idea y'all wish you had thought of into one package.  Like there's a POKER MODE that's ACTUALLY AMAZING.

Screenshot of the Quest story mode, which gives like 20 different mini-games

So yeah, I had a lot of fun going through the story mode and playing a ton of poker and butterflies.  I still have no idea what Zen Mode is, but... I'm sure it's cool?


WEEK 15-19 - none

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

WEEK 20 - Scribblenauts Unlimited (Wii U)

I will never be as excited for anything as I was for the original Scribblenauts.

Post #217 will live on in my memory until the day I die

No lie.  I made mega-threads, a blog, searched Google News everyday for the keyword "Scribblenauts" just to see if anyone had posted a preview or update, checked every video and forum post of it, preordered it (still have the Gamestop exclusive Maxwell hat).  I was HYPED.  So basically on principal I bought every game in the series until DC.  While I played a shit-ton of the first game (like I probably spent more hours on the title screen than most games in total), I could admit it was a deeply flawed game (read: the controls sucked).  Super Scribblenauts was much improved, but the magic had faded a little by then.

By the time I played Unlimited this summer, I realized the magic was nearly gone.  It's still a good, kinda cool game, but the puzzles all feel like they're made for elementary schoolers (name three farm animals!; what does a painter need?) and the series doesn't have any tools to reward creative solutions.  It's kinda sad, but I'll always have the memories of dreaming up endless words I would test when I finally got the game myself.


WEEK 21-23 - none


WEEK 24 - Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)

The last Advance Wars game, (fuck you Nintendo) Days of Ruin was something I bought on principle, played five minutes of, then stopped.  Going back and actually diving into it was a mixed experience.  My fears that the serious new tone would ruin the fun of the series were founded, as it was really weird to have a story all about the pointlessness of war and death coupled with a game where you can literally pump out endless units.  However, the story was kinda good in a very middle-school anime sort of way.  And Advance Wars will always have amazing gameplay.  So it was pretty good.


WEEK 25 - World of Goo (PC)

I bought this game when it originally came out on WiiWare in 2008 for $15, and was HELLA hyped.  In my mind, it was sold to me as this artistic, mysterious game with an amazing story and totally revolutionary gameplay.  But after like a world and a half, I stopped.  Over the years, I go the PC version several times in various Humble Bundles, and both the iOS and Android version for free.  Going back nearly a decade later (see why I started this resolution in the first place?) and starting fresh on the PC version, it was crazy to see how normal it felt.  I think a lot of that has to due with how this was one of the first huge Indie games, and a lot of what it did first has become commonplace nowadays.  But partially I think I was just being a silly kid; the story really should not be taken seriously.

Why ARE the Goo balls going in the pipe? Spoiler alert: you won't care

Still, it makes sense that the game got such high praise.  It's still gorgeous, the music is still INCREDIBLE, and the gameplay is still tight.  More than that, it constantly innovates and changes itself on a level by level basis in a way few modern games even do.  There's like 3 games worth of ideas in here (I mean, the computer world? Come ON!).  Even with the bummer that the story really wasn't the mysterious masterpiece teenage me thought it would be, I loved playing this game. Review:

A simple concept that constantly gets new and interesting twists. Beautiful graphics and music, and an interesting story. Still holds up close to a decade later. 9/10 

So there it is!  Part two.  For anyone counting, I've competed 14 weeks and skipped 13.  Hopefully I'll do a part three of this, somehow catching up with all the games I need to play.

Until then, look at your own backlog in shame so you judge me a little less.

I know you haven't even TOUCHED half of these, Greg.
You fucker.

52 Games in 52 Weeks - Entry #1 - Catch-up

A few weeks before 2016 began, I ran into this reddit thread about trying to beat 52 games in 52 weeks.  I thought, there's no way I'm doing that.  But! there was a comment that caught my eye.  This one described a much more reasonable goal: play 5 hours of a new video game every week for a year.

Now, the reason why this thread caught my eye in the first place is because I have a LOT of games in my backlog.  Recently I counted.  I checked how many games I own that I have both not completed, have not gotten my money's worth (subjective, but for me it's around $1 per hour of gameplay) and have not played at least 5 hours.  The total? 60. Yep, sixty.

So I decided to take on this great challenge!  One of the fun goals I have for 2016 is to play one new video game a week for at least 5 hours (I have like, actual goals too like school and jobs, but that's not as fun to blog about...).  This should help me slog through my huge backlog and help me finally experience all those Steam games I bought on sale.

Now, it's already 7 weeks into the year!  I want to do a weekly post where I talk a little bit about the game I played that week.  To start, here's a catch up entry where I'll rush through the first 7 weeks of games I played.

WEEK 1 - Splatoon (Wii U)

This was a Christmas present for me.  So far, I'm enjoying it a lot.  Beyond the five hours I played that first week, I've probably played close to another dozen hours.  While I like the frantic matches, I've found that I like the main Terf War mode the least.  The ranked modes are all a lot of fun, and I feel like I know more how I'm contributing.  Campaign is also fun!

WEEK 2 - Pokemon Black (Nintendo DS)

This game was a pleasant surprise for me.  I skipped this gen and got burnt out on Pokemon X, but I needed a good trip game.  And I fell in love!  I don't know, maybe I just don't like Pokemon jumping to 3D.  This game was a nostalgia trip while also adding a whole new world, all new Pokemon (literally, none of them are old until you beat the game), and a lot of interesting new twists on the formula. Fun fun fun!  I'm nearly 20 hours in and want to finish it sometime.

WEEK 3 - Leo's Fortune (Android)

So I didn't actually play this game for 5 hours, but I beat it, so I think that's fine.  While the game is pretty short, I spent exactly $1 on it, so it was definitely worth the cash.  The game is absolutely gorgeous, and has some fun and simple physics platforming.  It doesn't do anything new with the genre, but for a mobile game, it provided enough polish that I never minded.

WEEK 4 - none...

I'll have to catch up sometime.  Too busy traveling :(

WEEK 5 - Worms Reloaded (PC)

I absolutely loved the DS Worms (Open Warfare 2) back in the day, and played a ton of it.  So I bought this one to relive those glory days.  Or at least I think that's why I bought it; I bought this game in 2013 and never played it until this year.  Woops... But finally booting it up, I had some fun. Classic Worms action never goes out of fashion, although I didn't get into this one like the DS one.  It's not that the game is flawed in any huge way, but after 5 hours I was definitely done with the slow paced, sometimes hard to control game.

WEEK 6 - Sonic Colors (Wii)

Maybe my favorite week so far.  I bought this game used for about $6 for an Xmas gift to myself.  I've never been a huge Sonic fan, but I love platformers.  By the end of the week, I had beaten Colors.  It was a fun ride, with this game being one of the most critically acclaimed modern Sonic games,  It only took my around 6 hours, but that made the levels never get old or overstay their welcome.  While it sometimes got frustrating, I fought through any frustration to see the next cool world, the next silly cutscene, and the next rush of speed.  Really fun week!

WEEK 7 - Rock of Ages (PC)

And then this game.  It's not that this is a terrible game.  It's another one I bought many years ago and never installed until now.  The production values are really amazing, with a hilarious style and story.  Quirkiness can only go so far though, and I found the actual gameplay to be frustrating.  Both elements of it, the Marble Madness and the tower defense are fun in theory, but having to race against CPU players made me never sure if I was doing good and how to improve.  I bought the game for $2.50, so I don't feel bad about cutting short this playthrough at 2.5 hours.

And that's it! We're already caught up.  Hopefully they'll be weekly posts chronicling my grand journey, but if not I can always do catch-up posts every month or so :P