Greetings gamers! I’m so happy to be back in the new year after taking some time off for the holidays. I’ve been giving my future some serious thought over the past couple of months, and I think this year will really be fun for me creatively. I can’t say too much about it now, but I do tend to make this blog more of a weekly thing. I am also streaming now on Twitch! I’m streaming a few nights a week (mostly just Cyberpunk at this point.) I really appreciate all of the support I’ve received so far.
Alright enough of all that…let’s move on to the real meat-and-potatoes here.
While we look into the future as the new year has begun, let us wonder into what could be revolutionary in the gaming world for the 2020s. I’m stepping away from doing research on this one only because it wouldn’t be my full opinion, or my own predictions if I based it all on bits of someone else’s findings. So, I will be just giving you my gut reactions and brainstormed predictions for the coming decade.
The following are my predictions for what will happen to the gaming industry:
Source: Giphy – @peaceloveteemo.tumblr
Sports Video Games Will Almost Completely Move to a Subscription Service Model
The holidays aren’t the only thing that come around once a year. Madden, NBA 2k, FIFA, MLB: The Show, and several other franchises continue to churn out new titles ever year. I don’t believe this is a model that is going to continue to work in the long run though.
Right now what has really kept the franchises alive has been the micro-transactions throughout each of them. I’ve always been a huge fan of these games over the years though. However, there have been movements made in government to clamp down on these micro-transactions. If they are removed from these games altogether, then I think these developers will need to make up the lost profit elsewhere. Because of that I could see them putting a halt on their yearly releases, and instead trade-off for a new revenue system.
This is something that won’t happen in 2021, but I think that all of these games will transition to a subscription service model in the next 10 years. Some of the biggest games in the world are played through a subscription service, or even free. Those of you that love these games like I do will even have to admit that there just hasn’t been much innovation in the industry recently to draw new audiences or gamers that have stopped playing them. Every year these titles might get a slight graphical increase, but other than that they are mostly just roster updates with new soundtracks.
The online play is fun though and I know is taken pretty seriously in the competitive gaming realm. However, I think that’s just another reason why these games will become subscriptions. It’ll be easier and more affordable for them to each just focus on updating an existing game rather than having to pump out a new game every year. We will always have sports games, but how they are operating and producing will drastically change in the next decade.
2. Video Chatting Will Become the Common Way to Communicate in Parties and Online Gameplay
Source: Giphy – @news
“Out with the old and in with the new,” so they say. We’ve become accustomed to these audio-only parties and groups on our platforms, well not anymore! I think a lot of gamers will still use this way to communicate, but I actually believe it will be the video chats that really takes over. Just the past year alone, we’ve seen a ton of people all over the world connect with each other through: Zoom, Google Meet, Facebook Messenger Video, etc. There are a lot of gamers out there that have begun streaming during this time and it makes a lot of sense, but I think there will be a service on PlayStation or Xbox that will allow us to video chat with one another. I feel like we are almost there now even!
I think we are finding out that gamers really love having a camera that is on the player themselves while they are gaming. This adds personality and uniqueness to each individual gamer while allowing the viewer to feel like they are connecting more with them. I believe we will see this method transfer to parties as well! It could be a really fun way to “hangout” with people that you may not be able to physically be with, and will allow gamers to connect all across the world.
3. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Will Become Mainstream
Source: Giphy – @ondrejzunka
I think the AR/VR systems are going to make huge improvements in the coming years. The hard part is over. The technology is there for this type of entertainment, and it’s only going to get better. Take Pokemon GO for example, there’s a game that no one would’ve really thought was possible before it came out. I’m sure many Pokemon fans dreamt about having a game like this to play growing up. Now it has opened the flood gates for, what could be, waves of innovative titles down-the-road.
The capabilities are kind of endless when it comes to what the developers could do over the next several years with improving VR/AR. I think we’ll see it become much smoother over the coming years to a point where it could be a serious contender to the “traditional” methods of gaming we’ve come to know.
Source: Unsplash
This could be the decade we see AAA games make large strides as well with it. We’ve already gotten a taste of what they could do too. In fact, Half-Life: Alyx was released just this past year and received great reviews from a ton of outlets. Not to mention that it was even labeled as a “Game of the Year” by some critics out there.
I would love to see where the future could go with this technology. Imagine being able to play a sports game, or a large scale first-person online shooter while being completely immersed in it via AR/VR! I truly believe we are heading towards the golden years of AR/VR, and it’ll be this decade.
4. Video Game Actors Will Become Larger Celebrities in the Next Few Years
Troy Baker – Source: Giphy – @RETROREPLAY
We’ve already seen video games surpass movies, TV, and music in terms of profit. This was no fluke though! The writing behind these major titles has really went to new heights the last few years. Especially in single player campaigns, it has become crucial for a story to have solid writing. It used to be that the games that really stood out every year were the ones that had good stories paired with strong gameplay. However, now it has just become expected that a AAA single player story will be captivating and entertaining.
Sure, gamers alike already know some of the major video game actors such as: Troy Baker, Nolan North, Laura Bailey, Steve Blum, Ashley Johnson, etc.
Unfortunately, if you don’t game then you probably won’t recognize some or any of those names. This will change completely within the next 5 years though. Just as it is important to have a good script, it is also crucial to have the performances to bring these words to life. I’ve always tried to give these actors their well-deserved respect because it has been a medium that was overlooked for storytelling almost all of my life.
Even if you don’t listen to pop music, there is a good chance you know who Ariana Grande is. You may not watch sports, but you sure as hell know of Tom Brady. Maybe you don’t like movies for some reason, but you definitely know Will Smith. You get the point. The notoriety of these other celebrities stretches beyond the fans of their respected industries. I think it’s only a matter of time before you see the best video game actors finally receiving the recognition.
5. We Will See a Rock Band-like Game with Real Instruments
Source: Giphy – @southpark
One of my fondest gaming memories is whenever my mom surprised my sisters and I with Rock Band for the Xbox 360 on Christmas. We played that all day just jamming out and building our band. I used to always think, ‘wouldn’t it be amazing if we could learn how to play the real instruments with a game like this?’ There really isn’t a game out there like this that encourages players to learn the actual instruments, but I definitely believe it’s something that will happen in the near future.
It will probably take a while for the learning side of this idea. You wouldn’t be able to just pick up and play A Day to Remember your first time booting up the game; however, if the game was designed well enough then it would motivate players to continue to learn the instruments. You could definitely make it so if you are a little more of an experienced musician then you could just connect an instrument and start playing along with its library. I don’t know if this is something that is even being thought of at the moment, but it would be revolutionary for the gaming industry…and maybe even create some badass musicians from it!
6. The Biggest FLOP of 2021 Will Be…
Ash vs. Evil Dead – Source: Giphy – @ashvsevildead
That’s right. Evil Dead: The Game is easily my pick for this one. I know that there are fans of the Evil Dead series out there that can’t wait for this game, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. The reveal trailer just didn’t do much to draw me in. This looks like a title that would’ve came out on last-gen consoles (PS4/Xbox One) just by the graphics. The cooperative online shooter is still a worthy genre to pursue, but I just didn’t see much innovation with this one. It is completely possible that they held off showing too much to avoid spoiling anything, but I get the feeling that the trailer is essentially the game. If that is the case, then it just looks like other similar titles that we’ve seen before already with an Evil Dead skin over it.
I’ll leave the link to the trailer here and let you be the judge for yourself though!
Dishonorable mentions — The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, Back 4 Blood, Monster Hunter Rise, and Hogwarts Legacy
The BEST Game of 2021 Will Be…
Horizon Forbidden West – Source: Giphy – @playstation
Horizon Forbidden West. Guerilla Games much-anticipated sequel to the 2017 masterpiece, Horizon Zero Dawn, is set to release late in 2021 and I think it will come out swinging. I’ve been following the development of this game for quite some time now and it has me eager to see what they end up adding to the game. Guerilla Games has already come out and said that they have rebuilt this game from scratch in-order to get the most out of the PS5 capabilities. I’m interested to see how they utilize the haptic feedback of the PS5 controllers as well. I think we’ll see them take some chances with the game, and we don’t have any reason to believe this won’t be a success so far.
Horizon Zero Dawn was on numerous “Game of the Year” lists back in 2017, and I think you’ll see a similar result with its successor. Aloy is a strong female protagonist to carry the story, so as long as it is well-written then the campaign should be exceptional. I always thought that Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the most beautiful games to ever be played on the PS4, but I think the sequel will be that much more breathtaking when you take into consideration the power of the PS5 graphically. I’m looking forward to looking back on this post after the game is released and seeing if I was right. If not, we can all at least have a good laugh at these.
Honorable mentions – God of War: Ragnarok, Gotham Knights, Resident Evil Village and Far Cry 6
Schitt’s Creek – Source: Giphy – @cbc
I’d just like to wrap this up by saying once again, thank you! Thank ALL of you that have supported me thus far. I continue to receive new followers on this site, and I’ve heard a ton of feedback on previous posts. I’m looking forward to building this blog up throughout 2021. I have some “big picture” goals for myself and this blog, but for now I am simply going to work hard at pumping out the content weekly!
You can also find me on Twitch @kimmel_n_bits where I mostly stream Cyberpunk 2077 for now (I hope to have my full review of that game coming soon!) I try to stream a few times a week, and it is typically in the evening. However, I may be streaming some mornings over the weekends as my schedule allows. You can also follow my page for direct notifications on when I start streaming.
In the meantime, I hope you all are staying safe out there as we look ahead to greener pastures (fingers crossed!) Until the next one…goodbye everybody!
Back to the Future Part III – Source: Giphy – @mcbrayers.tumblr
The Mandalorian – Season One – Disney – Source: indiewire.com
The Mandalorian – Season One – Source: Giphy – @nerdist
Do NOT read any further if you haven’t seen season two of The Mandalorian yet because I will be touching on some major plot points from this past season. Before we get going here I also wanted to mention that I’m going to try to keep this shorter than some of my other lengthy posts, so I may not touch on everything that happened in the season. With that all being said, let’s get started!
This season kicked off with the Mandalorian, Din Djarin, setting out to Tatooine in search of the Jedi. The episode was a great way to get back into the swing of things while also setting up story threads for the rest of this tremendous season. I was excited to go back to Tatooine all of these years later because I knew it would be filled with nostalgia, and it certainly was! I loved seeing a flashback with Tatooine celebrating the destruction of the second Death Star, and seeing it through Cobb Vanth’s perspective was a terrific way to have the audience connect with the marshal (played by Timothy Olyphant). The casting choice was perfect for this role as well.
I’ve always been a fan of Olyphant, and he brought a real western feel to the character. When he first appears in the episode in Boba Fett’s armor I was a little confused because it does open up some questions about how he obtained this armor, and what has happened to Boba? Thankfully though, we get the answers to both of these questions in this tight packed episode. That would be my only complaint with the season is that I do wish the episodes were longer, but you can’t argue that they didn’t make EVERY minute count!
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @DisneyPlus
The fight with the krayt dragon was exciting as well, but my favorite moment from the episode came at the very end. We finally see the return of Boba Fett as he watches the Mandalorian leave Tatooine with his armor. This episode had me so hyped to see how the rest of the season would pan out.
Then in episode two (Chapter 10), we see Mando on his journey to seek out the Jedi still. However, in order to do that he must first help Frog Lady reach Trask in order to fertilize her eggs with her husband. I was a little disappointed with this episode because we had just been shown Boba was still alive in the last episode, and I really wanted to see this lead right into him being a major character in the series. For storytelling purposes though, I guess it makes sense that we can’t just jump into that though.
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @Mashable
The battling with the giant spider creatures were fine. However, I wasn’t blown away or on the edge of my seat, but I did gain appreciation for the inclusion of these creatures after I had learned that they were inspired from old storyboards for The Empire Strikes Back. Luke was originally supposed to fight these creatures on Dagobah, but I’m happy that they didn’t because the technology just wasn’t what it is now and I think these work better as CGI creatures today.
I liked the inclusion of the X-wing pilots and how they were operating as cop-like figures in this episode. My favorite part of this episode was the child. He’s been consistently pulling at the heart strings of viewers, and the internet, since his debut. I just really enjoyed seeing Mando trying to keep the child away from the eggs as he just kept eating them every time he got out of eye’s view. The comedy added an element to this episode that was much needed just to make it flow a little better. The child is always good for that.
The next episode was a nod to the Rebels animated series as we were introduced to Bo-Katan in live-action. I loved that the character was played by the same actress that voiced her in the animated series, Katee Sackhoff. The addition of this character to the series was full fan service for sure, but honestly we needed some of this after the conflicted Disney Star Wars movies that have been released. This may sound odd, but where I really geeked out was with Sasha Banks’s Mandalorian character! For those of you that don’t know, Sasha Banks is one of the best women wrestlers in professional wrestling today, so to get to see her suit up as a badass Mandalorian was happily surprising to me.
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @Mashable
Anyways, this episode was packed with a ton of action throughout as we saw the Mandalorians in action whenever they saved the child from pirates. Later in the episode, we learn that Bo-Katan is on a mission to retrieve the Darksaber, so she can rule Mandalore again. Her missions coincides with Mando’s as they work together to take down an Imperial ship, but just before the captain can reveal any information he is killed. I was a little confused by how exactly he was, but I can only guess that this was by Moff Gideon somehow. I’ve seen others speculate that he committed suicide however, so who really knows for sure. This was another great episode, but I was still waiting for Boba!
Unfortunately, I would have to wait a little longer though because the next episode didn’t introduce Fett either. Chapter 12 was directed by Carl Weathers, whom plays Greef Karga, and I thought it was another strong episode all-in-all. Mando is tasked with helping Greef and Cara Dune in taking down the last Imperial base on Nevarro. This was also the episode with the notorious “Jeans Guy.” For those of you who didn’t notice, during one of the fight sequences a crew member could be spotted standing in the background. Disney has digitally removed him from the episode though, so if you missed it the first time I’ll attach a link to the scene here.
Anyways, the real intrigue came with the reveal of the cloning tubes located within the base. We don’t get a clear view of whether these are clones of the Emperor, or for Snoke though. However, we do learn that this is why Moff Gideon has been hunting down the child all of this time. It’s a really interested plot thread that I hope they touch on in season three because I would love to learn more about those clones, in particular. However, we don’t get any answers in this episode outside of Gideon’s motivations to conduct experiments with the child’s blood. Still a great episode, but the real excitement came in Chapter 13…
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @Mashable
AHSOKA TANO!!!!! I have been so hyped for this episode ever since they first teased Ahsoka would be in this season, and it did NOT disappoint. I feared there would be tons of teasing before finally showing her in the show, but thankfully I was wrong. Dave Filoni directed a perfect episode in Chapter 13. The whole episode is shot so beautifully, and the fact that we got to see Ahsoka fighting so much just made it that much more worth the wait. The episode starts off just outside the city of Calodan on the planet Corvus in almost complete darkness. Ahsoka’s dual white sabers (so badass by the way) began cutting through the city’s guards as they were no match for her powers at all.
After making waste of the city’s guards, we see a stand-off between the Magistrate and Ahsoka. In which, Ahsoka is in search of information, but the Magistrate warns she will kill the entire city to prevent Ahsoka from attacking her. Ahsoka retreats in order to not risk innocent lives. This is where the episode took a wild twist though! Mando is walking through the foggy swamp-like forest before he is jumped by Ahsoka. She begins wildly attacking Mando, and all he can do is try to block every blow with his Beskar armor. Thankfully, the armor holds up just long enough for Mando to address by her name which brings the fight to a halt.
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @Mashable
Ahsoka was interested in the Mandalorian, though, as much as she was with the child. There is a beautiful moment between the child and Ahsoka when they connect their minds, and we learn so much about the child. First, he FINALLY has a name…Grogu. The internet was upset that they could no longer call him “Baby Yoda”, but I’ve always hated that name for him because he isn’t Yoda. Yoda was a specific Jedi of the same species, but this child was always his own entity. PUT SOME RESPECT ON HIS NAME! Anyways, this episode is one of my favorite of the first two seasons because we learned so much about Grogu while also being introduced to a live-action, ass-kicking Ahsoka Tano.
We learned Grogu was in the Jedi Temple during Order 66 as well. This could lead to a TON of potential for future episodes. I would love to see flashback sequences of who saved him at the temple, and who all Grogu had interacted with during his training. The episode kept moving with some great action as Ahsoka battled with the Magistrate, and Mando had a stand-off with her head guard outside. Their stand-off was shot like an old western movie while the rest of the episode felt like a great samurai movie at times. In no surprise at all, Ahsoka won her battle and even retrieved the Beskar spear that the Magistrate wielded. I loved seeing Ahsoka fight so much in this episode. They also did a great job at teasing the future Ahsoka series whenever we learned that she is searching for Admiral Thrawn. It was all complete fanfare, but the way it was executed was perfection to me. I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to create a Star Wars series just because of how much scrutiny that the movies have fallen under, but this whole team has done an amazing job thus far. Anyways, moving on to Chapter 14…
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @nerdist
FINALLY, we got BOBA FETT back! Mando took Grogu to the ancient temple on Tython, so that he could connect with whatever Jedi remain in the universe. However, while he was in a force protected mediation Mando is thrown into defending Grogu. Slave I comes flying into the shot, and as soon as they showed his ship I was hyped. I knew we would finally see Boba, but to what extent would this be?
Well, we learn that Boba has been tracking Mando (with Fennec Shand), so he could finally get his armor back. While the two are standing off against Mando they are ambushed by platoons of stormtroopers. This leads to some terrific combat sequences, and just as they are attacked by more incoming platoons, Boba comes back into the fight with his full gear equipped for the first time in years. Getting to see Boba fight in his armor was so fulfilling as a lifelong Star Wars fan because we didn’t get to really see him fight in the original trilogy, but here he is just destroying stormtroopers left-and-right.
The ending of the episode had me all over the place. We see the Dark Troopers escape with Grogu, Mando’s Razor Crest is destroyed by Moff Gideon, and Boba Fett takes down TWO convoy ships with ONE rocket. I was in awe of the combat throughout this episode, and they really did a great job at showing how dangerous Boba truly is. Another accomplishment of this chapter was that they set the stakes high for the remaining two episodes of the season. Teaming Mando with Boba too? Damn, this show has pulled out all of the stops this season. I couldn’t wait to see the next two episodes.
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @nerdist
Chapter 15 didn’t miss a beat either. Coming off of two strong episodes, I was nervous that they would take a dip before the finale, but I loved this chapter a ton. Bill Burr is back in this season as his Mayfield character, and I thought he had some of the best acting I’ve seen in the entire series. Mayfield was saved from prison by Dune and Mando, so they could use him to track down Moff Gideon and find Grogu. They use their plan to infiltrate an Imperial base disguised as Imperial soldiers.
Here we get to see how much Grogu really means to Mando because he is willing to drop his whole belief system in order to save the child. This is a true progression in the relationship of Mando and Grogu as now we are seeing Djarin view him as his son. I love how their bond has grew since the beginning of season one, and now you can see that Mando would do anything to protect Grogu. Anyways, back to Mayfield.
The Mandalorian – Season One – Source: Giphy – @starwars
I really fell for Bill Burr’s acting in the scene with him, Mando, and the Imperial commanding officer. Mayfield is listening to the officer boast about the murders of innocents at the hands of the Empire whenever he is overwhelmed and decides to execute the officer himself which brings on a full-fledged assault from the Imperial base. Seeing Bill Burr’s character reach this slow progression of anger and resentment really made me feel for the character as a whole. When we first saw him in season one, he was a wise-ass that knew how to insult Mando and others in ways that fit his comedic background while also accommodating the Star Wars universe.
Anyways, I loved this episode through-and-through. I thought that it was well written overall, and I liked that we got to see a different side to Mayfield in this one. We also got some serious growth from Mando as we saw that he was willing to risk his whole belief system of hiding behind the Mandalorian helmet in order to save his “son.” This episode really stands out to me as one of the best in the entire series because it didn’t rely on any Jedi or former strongly established characters, and it still managed to progress the main story in compelling ways. And come on, that end scene where Mando is threatening Moff Gideon using his same verbage from season one?! True perfection. I loved this episode.
The Mandalorian – Season One – Source: Giphy – @starwars
Finally, we have the season finale. There were a lot of ways that the show could have gone in the season finale, but I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised with how they ended this season overall. We knew that there was going to be a full onslaught mission in order to save Grogu (which we saw), but there was much more to this episode that I wasn’t expecting. The episode kicked off with Cara Dune and Mando chasing down an Imperial ship to capture Dr. Pershing. This lead to some great dialogue of shit-talking before they were finally able to capture Dr. Pershing from the Imperials for their own personal gain. The writing in this episode was fantastic because you could sense how high the stakes were from the very beginning.
Where it really got exciting though was the mission itself. Bo-Katan, Koska, Fennec, and Dune all fought their way through stormtroopers to overtake the cruiser’s bridge while Mando snuck in to save Grogu from Moff Gideon. I was intrigued by the attack from the all-women’s onslaught, but the real excitement came from whenever Mando finally caught up to Grogu to save him. Before that happened though, we got to witness the pure strength from the Dark Troopers as just one was able to escape the holding cell to attack Mando.
The Mandalorian – Season One – Source: Giphy – @starwars
However, he dealt serious damage to Mando and without his armor he EASILY would have been killed during the battle. Djarin threw everything he had at the Dark Trooper, but the Trooper just shrugged off every attempt with ease before attempting to punch Mando’s face in. Thankfully, the Beskar held up though and Mando was able to escape before using the Beskar steel to strike down the Dark Trooper for good.
Mando finally reaches Moff Gideon whenever we see a stand-off that has been built over the past season and a half. Gideon, realizing his defeat, tells Mando that he can take the child now because he has got all that he has wanted from him, but then attacks Mando just before he can pick up Grogu which leads to their epic duel. Gideon begins violently swinging his Darksaber at Mando doing everything he can to try and take his head off during their encounter. I absolutely loved their fight because you could really sense the frustration that had been building in Gideon since his first attempt to take Grogu in season one.
Mando gets the better of Gideon in combat though as he is able to use the Beskar spear to overpower Gideon and knock the Darksaber from his grasp. It is then that Gideon surrenders, and we see him and Grogu march into the control room with Gideon now in handcuffs. I loved the moment of Mando trying to hand over the Darksaber to Bo-Katan as well because they honor the Mandalore lore (I know, play on words) by not letting Bo-Katan take the Darksaber from Mando without fighting him for it. This is setting up the next season of The Mandalorian nicely as well because this will certainly be a plot thread that needs to be picked up in season three.
This is where it gets real interesting though. The Darktroopers make a return to Gideon’s cruiser though with their flight mechanics and are able to re-board the ship to save their Captain. Just as they are closing in on the group in the bridge, we witness all of the Darktroopers turn their attention to an individual in a dark robe wielding a single lightsaber. Now once they showed just a single X-Wing approaching the ship, I had a feeling of who their Jedi savior would be, but there was still a large part of me that felt like this was going to be Ezra Bridges (from Rebels).
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @mashable
I was pleasantly wrong though because we got a HUGE shock to The Mandalorian series as Luke Skywalker made a prolific entrance into the series in order to save Grogu. We were hinted at that there was going to be a Jedi that would receive Grogu’s message whenever he was meditating on Tython, but I had NO idea it would be Luke that would come and save him. The most touching moment came whenever Djarin removed his helmet to Grogu, for the first time, and it really just sold to me that Mando views Grogu as a son-like figure to him. Their relationship has bonded so much over the first two seasons, and Mando even promises that he will see him again in the future.
The Mandalorian – Season Two – Source: Giphy – @mashable
I could spend a whole blog writing about the finale itself, but in order to try and wrap this up I have to move on. Overall, this season was PERFECT. There aren’t too many shows out there that have really left me in awe, but this is one of them. I can remember watching Breaking Bad, and the early seasons of Game of Thrones where some of the episodes just had me speechless. Well, this was another one of those examples. I loved season one of The Mandalorian, but they really managed to take the series to a whole new level in this season. They managed to revive Boba while making him into more of a badass than he ever was, introduce Ahsoka Tano to the live-action audience with true respect to her character, progress Grogu as an overall character and Jedi within the series, while also making Djarin more lovable and enhancing the side characters throughout the season. There are more points I could make about this wonderful season, but honestly this could go on for a long time just geeking out about everything I loved about season two.
The Mandalorian – Season One – Source: Giphy – @disneyplus
My final verdict for season two of The Mandalorian is a 10/10. I know there aren’t any other reviews to compare this against on this blog, but let me assure you…I don’t hand out perfect scores for nothing. I have rarely found any TV show/movie to be perfect over the years. For example, I used to be a huge The Walking Dead fan, but I really turned away from the show after the first few seasons due to poor writing. I also used to really love the TV adaptation of Game of Thrones, but they really dropped the ball for me in the final season. Anyways, what I’m trying to get at here is that it is near impossible to create a perfect TV series or movie, but I feel that The Mandalorian has done that with season two while also setting up future installments for both its own show and other spin-offs in the Star Wars universe as well.
The Mandalorian – Season One – Source: Giphy – @IMDb
I hope you all enjoyed season two of The Mandalorian as much as I did. If you have any ideas for future blog post topics, or any comments regarding this post or others then please feel free to email me at: kimmelnbits@gmail.com. I would be more than happy to address each and every one of you. Thank you all for the endless support. Without you, I would not be able to keep this thing going during my busy schedule with work and all. As far as future content is concerned, I am currently playing my way through Cyberpunk 2077, so I hope to have a review up on the blog in the near future for all of you. In the meantime, thank you for watching and may the force be with you! Happy Life Day and Happy Holidays!
Welcome back everyone! I hope you are all doing well and staying safe during these trying times. I wanted to take this week to rank all of the Star Wars movies from worst-to-best. For this list I will be including every film from the Skywalker saga, but I will also be including the two standalone films (Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One). I will NOT be considering the animated films, or holiday specials for this ranking just so you are all aware. With that all being said, let the “wars” begin!
#11 – Solo: A Star Wars Story
Alden Ehrenreich – Source: @nerdist – Giphy
Oof…I know this is going to be disagreed with for sure, but I really did not like this film much. It’s not a terrible movie; however, it isn’t a good Star Wars movie. Disney really took a chance on a film like this, but with the Star Wars brand under their ownership you just knew they were going to create every spin-off possible to squeeze all of the revenue they could out of the brand.
Alden Ehrenreich obviously had big shoes to fill with taking on the Han Solo character, and I actually believe they did make a good choice with this casting. He is a great actor and at least has the look that they were looking for. However, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I was just never sold on him as Han Solo at any point in the movie. There were too many times during my viewings when I just didn’t feel connected to what was happening in the story, or with the characters unfortunately.
I felt like this movie really lacked creativity, and didn’t take many chances with the story. This film could’ve went in a variety of directions to build the characters to setup who they end up being in future movies. Han is a young mouthy scoundrel throughout the entire movie, so that part adds up. However, I don’t feel like there was enough emphasis on building him as a smuggler, and ace pilot. The movie focuses on trying to establish him as a wiseass ladies’ man so much that it just felt like I was watching someone trying to be Han Solo, if that makes sense? It just felt too forced for me.
Solo: A Star Wars Story – Source: @nerdist – Giphy
Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, is another example of this for me. I actually enjoyed Glover’s portrayal of Lando more than I did of Ehrenreich’s portrayal of Han. I thought the young Lando worked better, but it still wasn’t quite as crisp as I would’ve wanted. There was never going to be a perfect movie to begin with because of the massive feat that this movie tried to tackle. I just wasn’t excited at all whenever I heard that a young Solo movie was going to be released. This movie is loved by a lot of Star Wars fans, so I know I’m sort of on an island with this opinion.
Something that did work for me was Chewbacca’s introduction into the film. I liked that he was a chained up “beast” that was being used to maim or kill those that were thrown into his pit. It sets up Chewbacca being dangerous really well while also creating an unlikely bond between him and Han. I could’ve done without Han speaking Wookie with him because it just felt a little cheesy to me, but it does setup the notion that Han can actually understand him in the future installments. In the original trilogy, Han was the only one that really understood Chewie for most of it, so I thought they did a nice job at creating their friendship in this one.
Solo: A Star Wars Story – Source: @nerdist – Giphy
What I liked the most about this movie was the inclusion of Darth Maul at the end. Unfortunately, he only briefly appears in the film, but it does hint that he could come back in future live-action Star Wars movies! Maybe we could finally get a live-action movie that shows him after the battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn during The Phantom Menace.
The part of this movie that I will never forgive though was the scene where Han gets his name. Why did we need this scene at all? I would’ve rather had just believed that Solo was a family name, and that he had lost all of his connections with his lineage or that they had died. I don’t know, something like that. Just anything besides what we got. The scene still makes me cringe every time I watch it, and it’s probably one of the biggest reasons I hate this movie as a part of the Star Wars canon. I’ll leave a link to that scene here, if you haven’t seen it yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6VXLoK0BJo
#10 – Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Source: @somuchsuperheroshit – Tumblr – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
The Phantom Menace came out 22 years after the debut of the Star Wars franchise, and the movie had a lot of hype to live up to leading up to its release. Now, I’m here to say that I don’t think very many films could have survived with the kind of build-up that Episode I had prior to its debut. However, I definitely believe this movie could have been a little better still. Creator and Director George Lucas introduced some new concepts with this film (midichlorian count, podracing, “The Chosen One” prophecy, etc.), so you have to give him credit for at least taking some chances.
Source: @starwars – Giphy – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Ughhh and then there is this guy! ^^ Mesa thinks this was a big doo doo. Now, but seriously; Jar Jar Binks has to be one of the worst characters ever created in film. Certainly, the worst Star Wars character and I would gladly defend that stance against anyone. How could a film that introduced one of the worst characters (Jar Jar), then also welcome the Star Wars community to one of its best with Darth Maul?! It’s amazing that Maul went on to be one of, if not, the most notable character from the prequels while Jar Jar remains to be one of the most hated. However, that is the beautiful and horrific mind of George Lucas.
Looking at the film itself, Episode I is rather boring…dare I say. There is a huge chunk of time spent dedicated just to intergalactic trade talk negotiations. That’s right…trade negotiations, in a Star Wars movie. Not that every moment has to be filled with action, or amazing force inspired moments, but this was a terrible decision. The slow pace of this movie, where it felt like nothing was really happening, really made the film drag on at times.
Queen Amidala – Source: @starwars – Giphy – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
For the sake of keeping this moving, let’s move ahead to the climatic portions of the film. In the third act, we see the great warrior Jar Jar Binks take on the massively terrifying droid army…Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi are met by the dangerous Sith Lord, Darth Maul. Chances are if you have clicked on this post, then you have seen the film, so I won’t spend time recapping the intense battle. However, this is an important moment in the franchise’s history.
Master Qui-Gon is slain right in front of his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the battle that ensues between his slayer and apprentice is one to remember. John Williams created a masterpiece with “Duel of the Fates” making its debut, and since then has become one of the greatest musical additions in any film. The music has always been superb in setting the tones throughout the entire franchise, but perhaps Williams’s best piece comes in one of the lesser films in the Skywalker saga.
Source: @somuchsuperheroshit – Tumblr – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Back to the climatic finale though. We did not have as much of an emotional build-up leading to the death of Qui-Gon; however, you still feel the raw heartbreak in Ewan McGregor’s reaction. Ewan is an amazing actor throughout the entirety of his films, and I am certainly looking forward to the Kenobi series set to begin its filming next year.
The fight between the young Obi-Wan and Maul was terrific in storytelling purposes. As you probably know, Jedi are not to show anger as it could lead to the dark side. Although, Obi-Wan displays a side of hatred towards Maul as he is on the offensive for most of their duel. Balance is brought into the encounter whenever Maul overpowers Obi-Wan and knocks his lightsaber down the chute before kicking him down the same hole. Obi-Wan is barely clinging on for his life whenever Maul begins to taunt him by hitting his saber against the ground just above Obi-Wan’s face.
The force would prevail though as Obi-Wan uses his connection to the force to leap from the chute while pulling his fallen master’s saber towards him to unleash a striking blow to Maul. The sight of Maul’s severed body and shocked face as he falls into the darkness left me in awe of what I had just witnessed. I can still remember sitting in the theater as the credits rolled (eating most of a large popcorn by myself) just waiting for more.
Source: @starwars – Giphy – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
In conclusion, I believe they could have done a lot more setting up of the universe to tease future events in the Star Wars series. For example, how great would it have been to actually some scene with Darth Plagueis? Perhaps scenes could’ve been in this film that would’ve shown Count Dooku leaving the Jedi Order? Those are just a couple of ideas, but I just felt like this movie didn’t do as good of a job setting up the storylines of future installments. There was a lot of wasted time spent on discussing the politics of the universe, and introducing us to Jar-Jar.
#9 – Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Luke Skywalker – The Last Jedi – Source: @starwars – Giphy
The Disney era of Star Wars films can be defined by one word: daring. These movies took a ton of risks, but none took more than The Last Jedi did. First, Luke has given up on the force at the start of this movie. We end up uncovering more about his reasonings for this; however, I didn’t like what they did with his character in this movie. Even Mark Hamill has been outspoken against director Rian Johnson’s creative decisions of Luke Skywalker. You can check that out for yourself here.
Another risk that was taken here was the introduction of a new force power…flying?! Let me say that again, flying. Leia is standing in a command dock of a ship whenever it is blown to pieces by the First Order. Just cheating death by surviving the explosion itself wasn’t enough though, no no no. Leia spends moments floating around in space before we get a close-up of her eyes shooting open and she then lifts her hand up before flying over to the nearest Resistance ship.
Now I’ve heard arguments in defense of this moment that mentions she was using the force to pull her to the ship, as opposed to flying. However, this goes against how force pulling has been used previously in the series. Either way (pulling or flying), I feel like I shouldn’t have been laughing at this scene, but I remember laughing pretty hard whenever this happened in the theater. I wasn’t the only one either. I saw the movie on the night it premiered for the public, and this moment wasn’t accepted the way it was intended to I’m sure.
Leia Organa – Source: @starwars – Giphy
I haven’t gotten to the two huge ones yet either. Did anyone else find Snoke’s death totally unfulfilling? I was definitely surprised whenever it happened, but it was more because I felt like his death made the character less important the moment Kylo cuts him in half. We obviously learn more about him in The Rise of Skywalker, but that felt like a blatant cover up for the poorly written character. Snoke always had a mystery about him. It felt like we were building to some grand battle where we would see his raw power. The closest we got to that was the “throne room” scene whenever he is torturing Rey for information on Skywalker.
Rey – The Last Jedi – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Anyways, Snoke’s death did make way for Kylo Ren to become the new Supreme Leader. This was a part of this decision that I loved though. We never had a moment in the original trilogy whenever Vader was in full control of the Empire, but here we got to see Kylo take the reins as Supreme Leader and I loved it. Snoke’s death was a mixed bag of emotions for me, but it mostly felt like a missed opportunity of validity to the Snoke character overall.
The reason this movie is ranked at #10 and not in the top-5 somewhere is because of these creative decisions, mostly. Another piece to this whole ranking of The Last Jedi was the ending of the movie. We see Luke sacrifice himself during a battle with Kylo in a way that resembles how Luke witnessed Obi-Wan die (and his body fade away) whenever he fought Vader in A New Hope. I had a feeling that we were going to see Kylo kill Luke at some point because it just made sense that the two would fight eventually. I even enjoyed Luke’s stance against the First Order army, but I needed to see that he was just a force projection to explain how the hell he survived the bombardment of attacks that Kylo ordered on him.
Kylo Ren – The Last Jedi – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Luke Skywalker – The Last Jedi – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Overall, I had a really good experience viewing this one. It’s not even close to being my favorite of the series though. In fact, if I was considering the animated shows or The Mandalorian then I would have to rank those shows above this film even. However, it is still a solid Star Wars experience. I don’t think it deserves as much hate as it receives, but there are a ton of plot holes (and that terrible casino storyline) that make this movie not nearly as good as other installments on this list.
#8 – Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Attack of the Clones – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Thankfully Episode II jumped ahead several years, and we didn’t have to see another movie with young Anakin. Instead, we get to watch him develop as a Jedi Knight serving as a Padawan to, now, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. He’s much more grown than when we first saw him on screen, and so are his powers with the force. I liked this movie much more than its predecessor for a lot of reasons. The storylines were much more interesting, and there was an emphasis on more action.
From the get-go we see attempts made on Senator Padme Amidala’s life from a bounty hunter, then as Anakin and Obi-Wan are closing in on her, Jango Fett makes his debut to kill her before she can give information to the Jedi. The start to this movie felt different than any other Star Wars movie and it was really refreshing to see new parts of the galaxy. Thankfully, we get to see more of Jango throughout the film battling Obi-Wan and eventually Jedi Master Mace Windu.
Attack of the Clones – Source: @starwars – Giphy
I really enjoyed this movie. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s certainly not perfect. I mean go back and watch any of the “romantic” scenes between Anakin and Padme. Each one is increasingly more uncomfortable. The worst one by far is the scene by the fireplace though. Padme is wearing a dress that reveals some skin, it’s a dark room, and Anakin can’t help but repeatedly talk about fighting his desires for her. I liked their chemistry more in the coliseum scenes on Geonosis, but most of the movie had my eyes rolling out of my head at the forced romance.
Back to the good though because there is a lot of good in this movie. I loved the expansive galaxy that we got to see in this installment. I found Kamino to be fascinating as we are introduced to the notorious clone army that is being developed for the Republic. These scenes were some of my favorite in the movie because you get a glimpse at the power of this massive army just before Obi-Wan and Jango clash in a unique fight that the series has never seen anything like prior. The fight between Jango and Obi-Wan helped show how dangerous the Fetts really are. Which we desperately needed because I always thought that Boba Fett wasn’t that dangerous in the original trilogy.
Jango Fett – Attack of the Clones – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Obi-Wan is forced to escape from Jango in space following a brief chase through an asteroid belt. I thought it was kinda humorous though that poor Obi-Wan couldn’t really catch a break in this movie. Following his battle with Jango, he is later captured by former Jedi Master Count Dooku before being sent to the coliseum to be reunited with Anakin. Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme are sentenced to death as various creatures are brought in to kill the prisoners. Sure the special effects don’t quite hold up super well, but it still serves good enough to make the individual battles fun to watch.
I’m always a sucker for lightsaber duels, so you would think that the end of this movie would be my favorite part; however, the portion I loved the most was when Master Yoda rode in on a republic transport ship to rain hell down on the droid army, Dooku, and Jango. Hundreds of Jedi are brought in to help rescue Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme including Mace Windu. He ended up being one of my favorite side characters in the entire series, and this is when the fandom really took off for Windu.
Mace Windu – Attack of the Clones – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Mace kills Jango fairly quickly which made me question why Jango’s battle with Obi-Wan lasted so long. Either way, it was amazing to see such a vicious finish to a fight from a Jedi with the beheading of Jango…in front of his son. That is still crazy to think about now.
Attack of the Clones – Source: @starwars – Giphy
A simply smooth and badass finish to their fight. Look at the way Mace just stares off into the distance like he just dunked on someone’s mom. He’s one of the best warriors that the Jedi have ever known.
I loved everything about the chaos that transpired with the all-out war between the droids and clone army. Yoda riding in on a Republic gunner ship? Hundreds of Jedi fighting together against a countless onslaught of droids? Exploding massive ships with Republic tanks? It all just WORKS. In fact, if it wasn’t for the first half of the movie then I would rank this a lot higher on the list.
Attack of the Clones – Source: @starwars – Giphy
I was so excited to see the lightsaber duels at the end too, but unfortunately those didn’t have the same payoffs that the coliseum scenes did. Obi-Wan is disposed of rather quickly, then we get some cool moments of Anakin wielding two lightsabers and attacking at Dooku with anger just before Anakin is defeated when Dooku cuts off one of his hands then force pushes him across the room. The only thing that saves the two Jedi from being slain is Yoda.
This is whenever the whole end of the movie left me with a weird feeling leaving the theater though. Of course we all know that Yoda is all CGI in the prequels, but his fight against Dooku just looked really…well, awkward. I mean even the puppet version of Yoda (from the original trilogy) would look hilarious trying to fight a full size person, but the CGI Yoda just did not look that good jumping all over the place. It doesn’t ruin the movie for me, but we didn’t need to see Yoda at the end. Maybe he comes in to use the force somehow to save Obi-Wan and Anakin from Dooku? I don’t know. The lightsaber combat just didn’t work for me though in this one.
#7 – Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
The Rise of Skywalker – Source: @starwars – Giphy
The culmination of the Skywalker saga comes in this action-packed movie that does its best to tie together loose plot points while also raising new questions for the entire series. There is so much going on from start-to-finish, and just before you have time to digest what happened there is something else that captures your attention. First off, I enjoyed seeing this movie. It was a great theater experience, but by the end of it I didn’t know how I felt about it.
In trailers leading up to it we already knew that Emperor Palpatine was going to be coming back, so I was eager to see how J.J. Abrams would make this work. After having some time to really evaluate his return, I can’t help but feel like they only brought back the Emperor to serve as the big “bad guy.” I understand that the Emperor has hinted at cheating death in the prequels with the notorious tale he told Anakin about Darth Plagueis the Wise. Originally, the story was used as bait to sway Anakin towards the dark side, but here it is used as a way to explain how the Emperor survives a catastrophic explosion of the second Death Star. To not dwell too much on this part of the movie, I just need to say that I wasn’t a fan of the return and I honestly wish that Snoke would’ve served as the main villain throughout this Disney trilogy.
The Rise of Skywalker – Source: @TheTempleofGeek – Giphy
What worked for me in this film was the progression of the Rey and Kylo storyline. I don’t believe that their bond ever felt romantic though, so I had a problem with their kiss later in the movie. It just seemed a little forced to me and I would’ve rather their bond just be from their strong connections to the force. Anyways, their ability to talk to one another from across the galaxy grew as they were able to eventually use this technique to transfer Kylo a lightsaber in the finale. I loved it! Now I didn’t care so much for Kylo’s turn to the light because it felt like more retreading from previous films, but I guess it still makes sense for his arch as a character.
Another part of the movie that I really loved were the fight sequences (besides Rey and the Emperor’s battle at the end). When Rey fought Kylo on top of the wreckage of the Death Star, I was completely hooked. Visually, the shots of these two fighting in the rain as the waves crash over them was so well done. Their lightsabers added beautiful contrast as the red and blue crashing together in the mostly gray background just worked for me. I would’ve loved to have seen this fight go on a little longer though. The disappointment for this climatic clash was the end of it whenever Rey defeats Kylo only to heal him using the force to heal his wounds. This opens up many questions about that ability itself, and also made me wonder why Rey needed to do this at all. Rey hates Kylo throughout the series for his vicious acts (murdering Han, “striking down” Luke, and the countless innocent deaths at his hands). I was just confused at the fake outs in this movie. If you are going to fake out an audience in any film, you shouldn’t do it more than once…and they do it several times.
The Rise of Skywalker – Source: @nerdist – Giphy
I’m jumping around a little here, but in the first half of the movie we are faked out with the death of Chewbacca. Rey accidentally blows up a transport ship whenever her anger from seeing Kylo flows through her, and she shoots lightning at the ship blowing it into pieces. The scene was shocking because not only did we believe Rey accidentally killed Chewbacca, but we see Rey use a dark side power for the first time. What really destroyed this scene for me was the fact that Chewbacca survived because he was on another transport ship.
It just did not work for me at all because we were intentionally only shown one transport ship that was being force pulled in the air, then they just act like the audience is completely stupid by faking us all out immediately with the second transporter. I also believe that if you let it play out that Rey accidentally kills Chewbacca, then it adds more emotional weight to her toying with the dark side. Disney didn’t have the courage to kill him off though for good. Shame. This trilogy took chances throughout, but not with major decisions like this (similar to the fake out with Leia in The Last Jedi).
I could make separate blog posts where I elaborate more of the points I did and didn’t like from these movies, but I really need to keep this moving along at this point. This is already ending up to be more of a book now…sorry everyone! I’ll just wrap up my opinions for The Rise of Skywalker with this, it was a great movie that had to fix a lot of issues from its predecessor. There are visuals in this one that go unmatched by any other installment in the series, but overall I really enjoyed the movie even if I didn’t agree with some of the creative directions of the characters.
The Rise of Skywalker – Source: @nerdist – Giphy
#6 – Episode VII: The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens – Source: @starwars – Giphy
The Force Awakens was the first time there was real mystery and speculation of the series since the original trilogy. When the prequels were released in the early 2000’s there weren’t too many surprises because we knew, for the most part, how the prequel trilogy would end. This movie welcomed a new era of Star Wars fans while uniting loyalists of previous generations. Obviously, based on this ranking I think this is the best of the Disney trilogy that we’ve seen. There were a lot of reasons I loved this movie, even if it does retread story beats from A New Hope.
Something I didn’t expect going into this viewing was how much Han Solo was in it throughout, but that ends up making sense with how much the movie ends. We are introduced to our lead hero and villain for the new trilogy with Rey and Kylo Ren. Rey is a scavenger salvaging parts from ships that have been sitting in ruins for years to trade them in for rations in the slum-ridden Jakku. Meanwhile, Kylo first appears raiding a village in search for BB-8, so that he can track down Luke Skywalker.
I loved his introduction because he is an intimidating presence just destroying the town before using his powers to freeze lasers in mid-air just before they could reach him. This was a great way to get newcomers behind the legitimacy of his power while letting us get to see the wise-mouth of Poe Dameron whenever he comes face-to-face with Kylo. Add his powers with the obsession to follow his grandfather (Vader), and you have all of the makings for a great villain to lead the new generation of Star Wars movies.
The Force Awakens – Source: @starwars – Giphy
I even really enjoyed Finn’s storyline as a runaway stormtrooper who knows nothing of a life before being stolen away by the First Order. Unfortunately, this is the best of his character that we see in the trilogy because we never really see his arch pay off. Poe and BB-8 really work as a good pair of new characters too, but I don’t feel like we ever got enough time to really learn about Poe’s past. The acting across the board was superb though between all of the side characters and main cast. I actually think these Disney Star Wars films were the best acted in the entire Skywalker series.
Something I didn’t like was the retreading of familiar story beats from A New Hope though and they are hard to deny. Here are just a handful: Rey is introduced as a scavenger on a desert planet (similar to Luke), Rey is captured and tortured for information (like Leia), there are plans for a massive planet destroying weapon (like the Death Star), the planet destroying weapon is used to strike fear into the galaxy, and there’s one weakness that is found that can be used to explode the entire planet killing weapon (like the end of A New Hope).
The Force Awakens – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Something they did do a lot better in this movie than they did in A New Hope was the lightsaber combat. The fights are impactful and it looks like every swing has purpose behind it. Kylo wields his saber like a heavy medieval sword, and Rey holds her own against him! This confused me a little because Kylo has been training for years, but I guess it can be justified by her connection to the force and skills with her staff. The end fight between Kylo and Rey is emotional and it really looks like they both are trying to kill the other, even though they most likely wouldn’t have killed each other even if given the opportunity.
The biggest spoiler of the movie comes with the most heart-wrenching moment in the film, Han Solo’s death. Seeing Han confront his son in one last ditch effort to save his life was so well acted by both Harrison Ford and Adam Driver. You can feel the tension rising, and even the imagery of the night spilling darkness over Kylo’s face just before he pierces his saber through his father…it all is done so beautifully. It’s a shame that J.J. didn’t direct each of the movies in the Disney trilogy because I think one coherent story told by one director would’ve turned out way better given the great acting performances and stellar special effects.
#5 – Rogue One
Rogue One – Source: @starwars – Giphy
I’ll spend a little less time elaborating on this movie, then I did with The Rise of Skywalker (or some of the others) because there were less controversial moments that I had to digest in this standalone. I loved Rogue One. These standalone films excite me because they can work within this universe without being handcuffed to specific characters or plot points. This movie did a great job at giving reason to a major plot hole from the original Star Wars. I always wondered when watching A New Hope, why does this seemingly indestructible and massive empire have a planet destroying weapon (the Death Star) with one womprat-sized hole that can destroy the whole damn thing?!
Well, we learn that research scientist Galen Erso was forced into working with the Empire to study the power of using Kyber crystals to destroy planets. Before being taken away by Orson Krennic and his platoon, Galen is able to hideaway his daughter, Jyn, along with a special message that ends up revealing how the Death Star can be destroyed. This was terrific writing to me. It even makes A New Hope better to re-watch now knowing the events that led up to the destruction of the first Death Star.
Rogue One – Source: @starwars – Giphy
I’m jumping forward here to, again, try to keep these lengthy ranking explanations moving along. My favorite parts of the movie are the massive battles on Scarif at the end, and all of the Darth Vader scenes. First, I’ll touch on the war on Scarif. Once the raid begins, we do not see a dip in action until the credits roll. One by one our heroes fall and I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching something like Saving Private Ryan. There are heroic sacrifices, tragic deaths and climatic battles in both ground and space. The emotional end with Jyn hugging Cassian Andor as the planet explodes around them created a devastating visual that pulls at the heart strings of both Star Wars fans and non.
Rogue One – Source: @starwars – Giphy
The one character that stole the entire movie though was one that had very minimal screen time, Darth Vader. His introduction to the film was perfect in that it showed Vader as a leader that will not take any failure. He chokes Krennic and puts him in his place to remind him that neither he nor the Emperor will stand for any delays in the creation of the Death Star. The best Vader scene in this movie, and perhaps the whole series (yeah I said it), is the moment when he is boarding a Republic ship at the very end of the movie to take back the Death Star plans. He is shot like a horror movie villain as the dark hallway is only illuminated with his red saber just before he mows down a whole squadron of Rebels. We see him force pull guns out of hands, choke several soldiers, cut a man in half and just throw around Rebels like ragdolls. All-in-all I freaking loved this scene, and this movie is damn good for everything it does to make A New Hope better too.
Rogue One – Source: @starwars – Giphy
#4 – Episode IV: A New Hope
A New Hope – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Yes, this is where all of the fun begins! The first film in the entire saga also has the least amount of lightsaber combat, but it didn’t really need it. What carries this movie are the well-written characters across the board. Luke is a hopeful desert boy that wants to join in on the wars in space, but more importantly he wants to escape Tatooine altogether. Unfortunately, he does get to achieve his dreams, but has to pay an ultimate price for it. Luke meets R2-D2 just before he is attacked by Tusken raiders only to be saved by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, but introduced as Ben Kenobi (real sly…).
We get introduced to the history of the Jedi with several teases to Luke’s father, and the wars they fought years ago together. After seeing all of the other films in the franchise, this scene only gets better and more impactful years later. Luke then finds his aunt and uncle burnt to a crisp by the empire which only ensures Luke’s desires to escape the planet even further. Another couple of introductions that were great to me were Han Solo and Chewbacca. The whole cantina scene is a great display of the diverse galaxy, and the various walks of life that exist in the universe.
A New Hope – Source: @starwars – Giphy
This movie does a great job at bringing Vader into the fold as a powerful dark lord. He chokes several of his own men, and Rebels throughout the film while inflicting terror without ever needing his lightsaber. The Empire tests out its Death Star on Princess Leia’s home of Alderaan and we witness the power that this massive army possesses. Something else this movie does really well though is by not making Leia completely helpless. Sure she does need saved, but in her escape with Han, Luke and Chewie you see her grab a blaster to make herself useful by even taking out several stormtroopers on her own.
The storytelling in A New Hope is superb. You really get a sense at how small the Rebel fleets are compared to the Empire. The ending battle is an all-or-nothing effort to save their hidden base on Yavin 4. We see Luke as an inexperienced pilot really fall into his own skills as he is blasting away TIE fighters left and right (kind of similar to how good Rey was right away with a lightsaber). My only defense for that would again, perhaps, be his connection to the force. This is more reasonable with Luke though as we see Obi-Wan reach out to him to encourage him to believe in the force to help him hit the impossible target.
Obviously, he does narrowly make the shot and the Death Star is destroyed, but I don’t know if that was even the best part of the space battle. I would actually argue the whole trench run is the best part of the climax to the film. The sounds of the ships and targeting systems are really well done. Plus, it’s amazing how great all of the ships look in-combat given that they are using practical effects (models built by hand). The only downside to this whole movie for me has to be the lightsaber combat. Obi-Wan looks very old and incapable as a fighter altogether. The whole fight just seems like Vader is toying with him. Obi-Wan’s death is fine too, but I’m not really a fan of him just vanishing. It may sound dark, but I think death scenes are way more impactful when you can physically see the body. I couldn’t talk about this movie without mentioning that scene.
#3 – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Return of the Jedi – Source: @starwars – Giphy
The final film of the original trilogy comes in at #3 for me on this list for several reasons. First, we get to see more of the universe as the movie starts with Chewie, Leia and Luke on a mission to save Han who has been frozen in carbonite. Jabba’s palace is full of various creatures and outlaws which just helps make the galaxy feel that much more expansive. Luke comes in a little cocky that he can talk his way into Jabba releasing his friend, but this proves to be a wrongful method of rescue as eventually Luke, Leia, Chewie and Han are all captured. They are sentenced to die in the Sarlaac pit, then R2-D2 helps Luke with getting his lightsaber and all hell breaks loose.
SPOILER WARNING FOR THE MANDALORIAN: I’m glad Boba Fett doesn’t actually die here because I always thought this was such an anti-climatic way for him to go. His people are cunning warriors, and he has so many weapons on him at all times that I just couldn’t believe that this was how he died.
Anyways, a death I did love in this whole sequence was Jabba’s. Leia chokes him out with the very chain that is being used to restrain her, and I just love how strong of a character Leia has been throughout the trilogy. Probably the most capable princess of any movie or TV show.
Return of the Jedi – Source: @starwars – Giphy
It is after all of this that we get the passing of Yoda. The scene is an emotional one as Luke intended on completing his training, but Yoda informs him that he knows everything he needs to at this point. Yoda passes shortly after confirming the truth that Vader had hinted in The Empire Strikes Back, this being that Vader is indeed Luke’s father. The ghost of Obi-Wan appears to reveal that Leia is his sister as well which explains the strong connection that they have felt through the force with one another. This ends with Luke being told he must defeat Vader once and for all to complete his training and to end the empire.
Again I’ll jump ahead here a little to save some time, but the climatic finale has a lot to it. First the not so good, I don’t hate Ewoks as much as the average Star Wars fan does; however, I do HATE how much of a role they play in taking down the empire at the end. This massive, supposedly dangerous, army is just picked apart left and right by these little furry fucks things. The Ewoks outsmart them at nearly every turn, and it became almost comedic to watch.
Return of the Jedi – Source: @starwars – Giphy
The movie for me is all about getting to the final battle between Luke and Vader. This fight has everything. It is well choreographed, the music matches the heartfelt drama of their encounter, visually it looks amazing with the green and the red clashing through the darkness, and I really love that you see the anger come out through Luke as he strikes down his father. He doesn’t kill him, but he clearly wins the duel. Even after his anger is exposed though Luke remains strong enough to resist the dark side.
Witnessing the Emperor’s disappointment, you just knew that he wasn’t going to let Luke walk away. Thankfully for Luke though, Vader finally has had enough of the Emperor’s ways and kills him himself. The ending of Vader sacrificing himself to save his son is a beautiful finish to his character arch. He finally gets to see his son with his own two eyes just before dying. The end of this movie makes up for little issues I had with it, and it’s one I’ll happily re-watch someday soon I’m sure.
#2 – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Revenge of the Sith – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Say what you want about the prequels, but there is a TON to love in Revenge of the Sith. I have re-watched this one countless times, and there is so much I love about it. If you want to pick out the bad from this movie, then I guess you could point to some of the CGI as there is a lot of it in this one. It’s a far ways away from the practical effects in the original trilogy for sure. However, there isn’t really anything else that I would harp on this movie for. The movie starts off with a bang too! The mission of saving Chancellor Palpatine has space battles, intense moments in crash landing a giant cruiser, and some terrific lightsaber combat. Anakin gets his revenge against Dooku after Obi-Wan is taken out of the fight. Moments after cutting off both of Dooku’s hands and holding his head between two lightsabers, he contemplates beheading the Sith Lord. He may have been unsure, but Chancellor Palpatine convinces him to….
Revenge of the Sith – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Can’t say those words without doing it in his voice still to this day. Upon arrival from their mission, we learn that Padme is pregnant and this sets up some important scenes later on. “Hyper-jumping” ahead, Palpatine shares a story with Anakin about “Darth Plagueis the Wise” in which he shares about how he could possibly learn how to prevent death altogether. This manipulation tactic just shows how smart Palpatine is though with his control over Anakin. Planting these seeds of ultimate power just pushes Anakin closer to his allegiance. Which Palpatine would obviously later need as he learns that the Jedi Council are investigating him. Anakin’s denial to become Master from the Jedi Council didn’t help matters either. I can’t say I really blame Anakin for being so upset given how much he has accomplished and has been through just for the Jedi to still not trust him. Obviously, it would have been a mistake for them to grant him the rank of Master given what unfolds later, but I still think he earned it at this point.
The big reveal that Palpatine is a Sith Lord ends up forcing Anakin’s hand to turn over this information to the Jedi Council. Then, we get a great scene when we see Anakin toy with his conflicting emotions over what he should do as Mace Windu and several Jedi Masters go over to deal with Palpatine. The music is somber and we see Padme looking outwards towards the temple. You can feel that they are connecting in some way, somehow. Anakin decides to walk away and fly over to interfere with their takedown of the Chancellor.
Revenge of the Sith – Source: @starwars – Giphy
This is a huge turning point in the entire Skywalker saga, as it is here where Anakin decides to side with Palpatine and his “ultimate power”. After saving Palpatine’s life from Mace Windu, Anakin drops to his knees in tears over what he had just done. It’s a powerful scene that really makes you feel for the tormenting thoughts racing through Anakin’s mind. Palpatine assures Anakin that he has done the right thing though, and tells him they will rule the galaxy side-by-side.
This kind of belief in him, and his new title of Darth Vader, gives Anakin all of the mental tenacity to carry through with the slaughtering of the Jedi at the temple…even the younglings. Then, across the galaxy we witness various platoons of clones turn on their Jedi leaders in a montage of deaths that is so well done that I can’t help, but share in Yoda’s pain as well.
Most of the Jedi are wiped out during Order 66, and it is up to Yoda and Obi-Wan to reconcile on what they should do. After fighting the clones outside of the Jedi Temple, they move in to investigate the deaths of the fallen Jedi. It is then that Yoda informs Obi-Wan of the tragic truth. Obi-Wan witnesses footage of Anakin slaughtering Jedi, and after discussing his pain with Yoda he knows what he must do.
Revenge of the Sith – Source: @yahooentertainment – Giphy
All of the moments on Mustafar, I really loved. Anakin’s anger pushing him to choke Padme, his pregnant wife, really shocked me though. I watch this now and I still can’t believe it sometimes because all he wanted to do was protect her. However, he is convinced that she is working with Obi-Wan after seeing him depart her ship and he wouldn’t listen to anything that Padme had to say. In a way, I get upset with Obi-Wan because if he was going to get involved like that then he could’ve saved Padme’s life by getting involved with their fighting sooner, or arriving by himself…something.
Anyways, the fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan is my favorite fight in this ENTIRE series. There is a lot of brutality throughout. You can really see that Anakin doesn’t just want to kill him fast. He wants to make him hurt every step of the way. There are several moments whenever Obi-Wan takes the upper-hand in this fight though, but you can really sense that Anakin is slightly more powerful. They nearly match each other blow for blow which just really points to how great of a warrior they both are at this point in their lives.
Revenge of the Sith – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Anakin’s emotions get the better of him as he goes against Obi-Wan’s warning of trying the better positioned man. He leaps to the high ground that Obi-Wan is standing on, and Anakin is cut down to pieces as his body rolls down to the edge of the lava. The moment that still brings a tear to my eye is the exchange between Obi-Wan and Anakin at this moment. Obi-Wan screaming out to him that he was his brother, and that he loved him…damn that just hurts. Anakin was supposed to be this “chosen one” that brought balance to the force, but instead he was leaving it all in darkness.
Revenge of the Sith – Source: @starwars – Giphy
This movie will always hold a special place in my heart for the variety of emotions it inflicts throughout it all. The prequels may not be perfect, but Revenge of the Sith really stands out as something special.
#1 – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
The Empire Strikes Back – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Rounding out this list (finally), is my favorite movie in the whole Skywalker saga…The Empire Strikes Back. This movie accomplishes a lot and there are a ton of people that aren’t even Star Wars that admit that this film is a masterpiece. I will say though that this wasn’t an easy decision for me though. In fact, if Revenge of the Sith had slightly better acting from a few of its characters and relied a little less on CGI for some of the sequences then I would’ve ranked Episode III as my number one. Might be surprising to some of you out there, but I just love these two films so much and I don’t think it’s as obvious of a choice as some might think.
Jumping into the movie right away, I really loved every bit of the Hoth scenes. Something about Star Wars and the snow just looks badass, is it just me? We see Luke captured by a wampa that has scratched him up (to make up for the real life car accident that left him with a scar on his face between A New Hope and this movie). Luke ends up escaping after force pulling his lightsaber out of the snow in a scene that would only be replicated by Rey in The Force Awakens. Then, he strikes down the wampa and escapes into the blizzardy abyss. Han takes a tantaun out to rescue him despite warnings of the dangerously low temperatures, and thankfully he does because he ends up finding Luke who is already suffering from hypothermia. Thanks to Han’s efforts of cutting open the tauntaun he is able to keep both of them warm enough until help arrives the next day.
The Empire Strikes Back – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Unfortunately, they get no rest though as the next day the Empire launches a massive onslaught on the Rebels to destroy their base. This forces the Rebels to flee, so Luke takes this defeat as a time to go finally train as a Jedi from Master Yoda. The scenes between Yoda and Luke are great because you can see that Luke doesn’t take Yoda serious for so long. He just thinks that he is a crazy old man living on this swamp planet (Dagobah). It isn’t until he sees Yoda lift the X-wing from the swamp using the force that Luke really sees how powerful he is. Luke learns about the force and himself on this planet in his teaching from Yoda. I really love the cave sequence as well where Luke is fighting a Vader in his vision whenever he strikes him down and sees that it is Luke under the mask. That revelation hints at the truth that would be spoken by Vader later.
The scenes on Cloud City are great too as we are introduced to Lando Calrissian. You can see that he and Han have a deep connection that goes back years, but what really brings the two together are their love for the Falcon. Lando ends up betraying Han, Chewie and Leia though after being forced to turn them over to empire by Boba Fett and Vader. The two strike a deal that Han is to be returned alive to fulfill a bounty on him by Jabba the Hutt. Lando can’t resist trying to help in the end though and is able to at least help free Leia and Chewbacca (despite Chewie nearly strangling him to death). Han is frozen in carbonite by the time Luke can make it there, but it sets up a thrilling fight between he and Vader.
The Empire Strikes Back – Source: @starwars – Giphy
This is their first duel against one another and you can really see how much more powerful Vader is than Luke. There are moments when he is just toying with Luke. He force throws several objects at him, at one point, forcing him onto a ledge just over the city’s central air shaft. Vader continues to press Luke in the fight pushing him backwards on the platform before finally cutting off Luke’s hand and sending his lightsaber down the shaft. It is then that we hear the infamous words that spans cinema history, Vader tells Luke that he didn’t kill Luke’s father…he IS his father. Mark Hamill really sells the pain of this truth with his performance as Luke as he cries out in disgust. Vader tries to convince Luke to join him finally, but I mean come on…you just cut off his hand! Why would he side with you after that?!
The Empire Strikes Back – Source: @starwars – Giphy
Anyways, Luke then jumps down the airshaft and is left hanging on an antenna just below the shaft before Leia, Lando and Chewie can circle back to rescue him. I even really loved seeing Luke get his robotic arm at the end as well. These effects were really great for when this movie came out and looking back at the movie in recent viewings…it still holds up! I love Episode V so much, and this is a film that I would recommend to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like sci-fi or haven’t seen any of the Star Wars movies. I would argue that anyone jumping into this movie, or even Revenge of the Sith would have a great viewing experience.
The Empire Strikes Back – Source: @lovegifs.net – Giphy
Well, that is all I have! Phew…this was a long one, but if you read this whole thing then I thank you. I really have fun writing all of these blog posts. I’m not going to be able to keep making lengthy posts like these all of the time (and it wouldn’t be good for the blog either), but this one just had to be lengthy so I could do it right. I hope you all enjoyed reading my opinions on the films and let me know if there is anything you would like for me to write about in the future. As always, send me your comments, questions, or blog topic ideas to my email: kimmelnbits@gmail.com. Stay safe and may the force be with you!
Obi-Wan – Revenge of the Sith – Source: @multitudeofgifs – Tumblr
Catch me on Facebook! Photo Credits: Fallon Nelson
Hello again everyone! I took a few days longer than I had wanted to get started with this blog post. You see, my last post (“The Fall of Funhaus: Welcome to Hellhaus”) was met with a variety of strong opinions…both positive and negative. It wasn’t an easy piece for me to write as I opened up about my attachment to a YouTube creative group that has gone through so many changes over the last year or so. The feedback I got had me questioning a lot about what I am doing here though. I even wondered if I should be writing like this at all.
It isn’t easy opening up a part of yourself to people that know you, and those that do not. However, I thought that by writing that last piece that I could relate to others out there in a way. I’m not regretting a word that I wrote previously, but I want everyone to understand something. With all due respect, this isn’t for any of you. Selfishly, this has been all for me.
I have written for newspapers with no credit given to me whatsoever. I have worked my ass off for companies that have taken advantage of me (but who hasn’t). This isn’t a pity party though. I just want to make it clear that I needed this. I lost my ability to use my voice the way that I had wanted to, and one thing that remains clear over the years is the expression of myself through writing.
Source: jesuisetudianterasmus.tumblr.com – Giphy
As some of you may know, I have been struggling with depression and anxiety over several years. I have always prided myself on being strong-minded. I may not always have the best ideas, but I will stand by my decisions wholeheartedly because they are mine. I haven’t felt like I’ve had much control in my life at times. However, when I’m writing like this…it’s me, all me.
With that all being said, I do want to say thank you. Thanks to those of you that have quietly supported me from various parts of my life. Some of you have expressed your support via comments, direct messages, or simply sharing my posts. I just want each of you to know that this has meant a tremendous amount to me. I don’t know that I could take this kind of venture without the kind of feedback that I have received from each of you. Even the negativity has shown me that there are those of you that care.
The Office – Giphy
Alright, now this all sounds quite sappy and I know this isn’t why you clicked on this post (if you did). What I really want to talk about stems off of that previous paragraph though…I am thankful. I am thankful for you all supporting me, and I am thankful for the foundation that this whole blog is built off of, a passion for gaming.
To the average person, a gamer is an individual that stuffs their face with Doritos and Monster Energy drinks to fuel their late night gaming endeavors. I’m not here to sound elitist though. I’ve certainly had my fair share of those nights as well, but this passion goes way deeper than some overindulging of high sodium and sugary snacks.
Source: @snl – Giphy
I’ve already touched on what gaming has meant to me in a previous posting that can be found here. Now I want to just elaborate a little bit on what this passion has truly meant to me, and my life.
As I’ve written about some before, I wasn’t always the most popular person. In high school, I struggled to really be confident with the person I was. I had some temperamental issues, internal battles from difficulties in my personal life, and I was defensive. I didn’t know how to take criticism. Of my passions, of the things I enjoyed in life, and of critiques made my way. Like many young souls, I was too proud. Not proud of who I was, but proud of the fact that it was my life to figure out.
I was a troubled young man throughout high school, and in college. One thing I really related to other guys about though was gaming. I could bullshit for hours over a game I was playing, or my hype for some upcoming release (don’t even get me started on the PS5…I NEED it!). As I’ve touched on previously, gaming really helped me open up and get outside of my comfort zone.
Source: @Mr_D – Giphy
I consider myself to be an introvert, but with spurts of extrovertedness (that’s not a word Sam). Anyways, there were countless times when I would struggle in the depths of my own mind and my own problems to really be able to expand socially enough to hold down real friendships. There are some friends that I’ve had over the years that left a real impact on me though. I won’t drop any names here, but I really struggle with not having these people in my life today.
Aside from friendships, gaming brought me peace when nearly nothing else would. I was an avid cigar smoker in high school to deal with stresses (still dealing with that problem). I would look to get drunk in social settings because I was a version of myself that others enjoyed. I was still me, but multiplied by 1000. These unhealthy tendencies led me on some dark pathways and I lost bits of myself over the way.
A significant turning point in my life was the car accident I was in a couple of years ago. I nearly died when my car flipped several times into other lanes of traffic on a highway with my girlfriend sitting right next to me. I made so many terrible decisions in the years leading up to that moment, but that was by far the worst. I had staples in my head, was unable to use my left hand for months, needed help to shower, struggled to string together coherent thoughts, and I still battle with the physical repercussions from time-to-time.
These self-inflicted consequences were only then followed by further loss. I had lost my car, lost a best friend of over 10 years to suicide, lost another friend shortly after due to fighting, lost my job I had at the time, and ended up working in a kitchen just to make ends meet. I have been continuing to fight through struggles, but there is no one I can look at for blame. Most of what has happened were tied to wrongful decisions I made at one point or another.
Now you’re probably asking yourself, “well what the hell does this have to do with gaming?” Let me explain.
There were so many times over the years where I couldn’t find much to make me happy. My restless mind has always needed a break, an escape…something. Not in an unhealthy way, but you just can’t spend your days thinking of every mistake you ever made or you’re just going to end up insane. I definitely felt like I was heading there at times. In fact, I’m even getting help to this day to make things a little clearer.
Source: Parks and Rec. – Giphy
I’ve had some very supportive family members that have been there for me, and some incredible people that have stepped in when I needed. However, you can’t expect to have people there for you every time you need someone. Most battles that we face internally are done so by ourselves. That’s why I needed a break from the chaos every once in awhile. When I’ve been all alone with my dark thoughts (at times), it has been gaming that has given me that small break from the tormenting tunnels my brain warped itself through.
It’s hard to explain, but there have been times when I have felt suffocated by my self-deprecating thoughts. Being able to game in even just small doses has flooded my brain with the fresh air, and dopamine that I’ve needed. A handful of matches online here, or some missions of a single-player RPG there can really go a long way for me. I don’t use gaming to escape my problems altogether, but simply to give me a “timeout” from them.
Source: @somegoodnews – Giphy
I know this probably won’t make sense to some of you. Like I said before though, this isn’t for anyone else besides myself. Not to be ungrateful, but this blog just simply wouldn’t last long if I was doing if for anybody else besides me. Similar to gaming in a way, writing is a crucial piece in handling the emotions of my life. Everyone has their vices, and if mine is going to be gaming then that is a hill I can die on.
I apologize for making this post more personal, but I wanted to take this time to open up a little more about who I am. Thank you again to those of you that have supported me in one way or another. I look forward to seeing how this blog evolves over the coming time. If you have any suggestions of topics moving forward, or any questions then please feel free to email them directly to me at: kimmelnbits@gmail.com.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Stay safe and enjoy the little things this holiday season. Thank you!
Left to right: Lawrence Sonntag, Matt Peake, Joel Rubin, Adam Kovic, James Willems, and Bruce Greene. Posted by: u/king_duende via Reddit (2015)
Well, this hurts like hell to write. I won’t lie. I’ve been a diehard fan of the Funhaus channel since its creation. I can still remember following Adam Kovic and Bruce Greene during their tenure with Machinima as just a small video game, news-centric YouTube channel back in 2008. I was just in junior high whenever the two rose to awareness in my life, but I was instantly hooked with the way they reported on video game news and the indescribable chemistry that those two had during their early beginnings. As their channel, Inside Gaming, grew I began to grow fond of the creators that they inherited during their start-up.
James Willems – Source: @RoosterTeeth – Giphy
What I really enjoyed about Inside Gaming was their down-to-earth comedy with real insight in the video game world. There were countless times where I was dragged down by the dark realities of my own existence where I could just turn on an Inside Gaming video and see some relatable personalities talk about an industry that I love so much. As their channel grew, they took on even more creative talent with James Willems, Elyse Willems, Lawrence Sonntag, Joel Rubin, Matt Peake, Sean Poole, etc. These friendly comedic faces shaped the persona that later would become my all-time favorite gaming channel, Funhaus.
Bruce Greene – Source: Giphy – @KindaFunny
Funhaus was brought to life like a phoenix; it rose from the ashes of what once used to be Inside Gaming, Funhaus was a new entity under Rooster Teeth‘s YouTube content umbrella. There were several indicators that would hint that this team would depart from Machinima, and if you are interested in some of the details behind Inside Gaming’s departure then I will leave the link here (it’s an informative interview with Bruce as he breaks down some of the ins-and-outs of the group wanting to start its own channel).
What made Funhaus so different than most gaming channels out there was their relatability to its audience. While they were and are more successful than most of us, it was watching Funhaus grow into newer studio spaces over the years, while expanding their team, that made me feel like a proud father to see these little babies grow up. Okay, odd…but if you’ve ever been a fan of a something, or someone(s) before they became successful, then you’ll have an idea of what I am talking about.
Elyse and James Willems – Source: @RoosterTeeth – Giphy
Funhaus blossomed so much over the first four years. I would watch every Podcast, almost every GTA gameplay, definitely the Demo Disk episodes, each Open Haus video, all of the Funhaus Comments shows, and frankly just about anything else they uploaded to the channel. For years, I was hooked on Funhaus as a comedic outlet in my life. I’ve watched other gaming channels before, but none had the same chemistry and interesting (albeit usually ridiculous) conversations. It felt like I was back hanging out with my friends talking about things that most people don’t even think of. It’s hard to explain without really experiencing the channel for yourself, so I certainly recommend watching their early content.
Created by YouTube channel: Personal Gravity – “Best of Funhaus – Contagious Laughter” (2019)
My love for the Funhaus team is why this post pains so much to write. Now, I learned a long time ago to not idolize or look up to celebrities; however, when you enjoy content from certain individuals for so long…you can’t help but feel some heartbreak when everything falls apart. There were countless times that I had a horrible day, then a few Funhaus videos later and I’m actually laughing…all by myself. How many things actually make you smile or laugh whenever you are all alone?
Funhaus lost some of its team over the years, but none of the real “core” group. That was until the former leader of Funhaus, Bruce Greene, left to start his own gaming channel on Twitch as a livestreamer last year. Bruce’s departure shocked both the Funhaus team and community. He was a driving force of creativity, and had brought a unique sense of humor while always staying true to who he was. Even as the channel grew, Bruce never really changed. He was responsible for managing the team, keeping the content schedule on pace, maintaining budgets, and was a voice of reason within the group.
Bruce Greene – Source: @TheSchmoedown – Giphy
Bruce leaving created a void that could never be filled the same way. The comedic chemistry he had with Elyse, the banter he shared with James while watching Adam play (or break) a crappy game, the outrageous lengths he would go to with Lawrence for the sake of a good laugh, and just the way he carried himself throughout all of the videos…losing him was very difficult for us all (the team too, obviously). Sadly, this was just the start of the downfall though.
Bruce Greene – Source: @RoosterTeeth – Giphy
Just a few short months later, Funhaus would lose yet another key member of their team. “Quintessential Gamer” Lawrence Sonntag announced his departure from Rooster Teeth (click the link to read his statement on leaving the team). Much like Bruce, Lawrence was leaving for personal career aspirations, so you have to respect that at least. Both of these men had been with a creative team for several years, but now had the chance to try it out for themselves. No matter what becomes of their respected careers moving forward, I am truly thankful to have been able to enjoy their content.
Lawrence is dipping his toes into creative ventures, but he too is exploring the livestreaming route, and if you can find him on Twitch as well! I feel that this loss was less surprising because Funhaus certainly felt different after Bruce left. I can’t speak for any other fans out there, but I started wondering when the channel was going to lose more of its team. Sadly, most good things do come to an end eventually.
Lawrence Sonntag – Source: YouTube (2019)
Now this leads me to what I believe is the final nail in the coffin for much of the Funhaus following, Adam Kovic. Before I dive into what happened with Adam let me remind you all that the channel is still alive and uploading videos frequently. My perspective of their downfall is my opinion. Things just aren’t the same after now losing three members of the original “core” group. So, what did Adam do?
In October (this year), Rooster Teeth announced that they were firing Adam along with another YouTube creator, Ryan Haywood, from a separate gaming channel under the company’s creative umbrella. Sara Belcher of Distractify wrote an interesting in-depth article on what exactly the two men are being punished for exactly, if you wish to know more than what I’ll get into (click here for the full story).
Adam, and Ryan Haywood, are being accused of sharing nude images/videos with their underage fans. Subreddits and blogs on 4Chan suggest the two men have been grooming their fans for years. In Adam’s case, he is being accused of sharing sexually explicit content of his wife (Jess Kovic) and him together, without her knowledge. Adam shared a statement on Twitter before deleting his account altogether shortly after. I cannot imagine what his wife is enduring through these troubling times, but I wish the best for her in the future…whatever that is for her.
As far as Adam is concerned, the news broke my heart. I was mad, disappointed, and it felt like someone had punched me in the gut. There is a part of me that tries not to overreact in case it isn’t as bad as the internet made it seem like it was; however, if the accusations hold any truth at all….then fuck him. I was a loyal fan of his for years, but I cannot support someone that makes those decisions (if all reported is true).
Adam Kovic – Source: @RoosterTeeth – Giphy
As mentioned previously, the Funhaus team is still creating content to this day (despite also losing creator Alanah Pearce just weeks ago). I fear what will happen to the channel in the future, but it’s hard to imagine that they can exist much longer. I have a lot of respect for James & Elyse to have been apart of the group since its existence and to still be working their creative asses off. The team they have together now remains a solid comedic gaming channel. However, it just feels so vastly different than the Funhaus there once was…
James Willems – Source: @RoosterTeeth – Giphy
I want to end this by saying, thank you. Thank you to all of the Funhaus family, former and existing, for creating a positive place where we can forget about our lives for a bit to laugh over video games. It’s truly special whenever things come together in just the right ways for such a long period of time. Obviously, I wish the group could’ve went through less drama with these events, but I am thankful to have had them for so long. I will continue to listen to the current team’s podcasts, and I will even watch the gameplays occasionally; however, I’m definitely not indulging in their content like I used to.
Thank you Funhaus for the countless hours of laughter over the years. Your community wishes each of you the best.
Hello readers! Halloween is finally approaching. In a year that has felt like it just won’t end at times, I thought it would be fun for us to take a creative twist on the gaming industry. In this post, I have decided to take some video game titles and relate them to what (I feel) would be their version in candy form.
WARNING: The concept of this article is going to force you to expand your creativity a tad. These comparisons are a bit of a stretch (I mean we are comparing video games to candy after all), so if you cannot overcome that then you probably shouldn’t read any further!
I hope you all enjoy taking time away from your day to read this and if you have any opinions on what I have explained here, then please feel free to comment or email me at: kimmelnbits@gmail.com. Well, with all that being said…let’s begin!
Kicking this list off is a delicious treat with a creamy peanut butter filling coated in milk chocolate. A favorite year-round, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are enjoyed by millions all over the world. There were a lot of titles that I considered for this delectable treat that will surely be handed out to trick-or-treaters this year. However, I believe the vastly popular battle royale game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) fits this candy better than most games out there.
Think about it…PUBG is a great concept for a game. Whenever it was released in 2017, it was so groundbreaking and innovative for the battle royale genre as a whole. When you think about Reese’s you can’t help but think about how original the idea of it truly was at the time. Peanut butter and milk chocolate? How hasn’t anyone really done this before?! Well, PUBG is so similar in this way.
PUBG opened the floodgates for other video game developers to try their take on a battle royale game. In comparison, you have probably seen other peanut butter cups out there, but none even touch the outstanding popularity and mass appeal that Reese’s have scored. With over 400 million copies sold worldwide, PUBG has reached a level of success that has been rivaled, but not defeated over the years.
Source: LikeCard – Giphy
A smooth chocolate coating (like the battle royale concept), filled with a creamy peanut butter center that is irresistible. Reese’s has a tasty core like PUBG has packed their game with gameplay and customization options that keep PUBG players coming back for more. I don’t know about you, but I can eat Reese’s so easily and before you know it you’ve eaten WAY more than you originally intended. Similarly, boot up PUBG and you’ll find yourself over-indulging in match after match, for hours, trying to achieve victory in a comparable way that can leave you losing your sense of how much time has passed.
Source: Wikimedia Commons – Snickers
Snickers —> Call of Duty
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Activision, Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games (2019)
You either love them, or you hate them, but every year they are both prominent in their respective industries. Call of Duty games are always a little “nutty” (fighting in space, Nazi zombies, Nazi zombies with presidents, superhuman mech suits, etc.) and it may not be for you. That’s okay though. To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Snickers either. Sometimes I question how they even got so popular in the first place. However, some people really enjoy indulging in them every year. It may only be around the Halloween season that they come back into your taste palate, but they find a way back into your life time and time again.
Call of Duty has become a staple in the gaming industry, and their yearly installments are definitely not enjoyed by everyone. However, you cannot dispute that they are consistently one of the most played games of the year. If you are a fan of the series, then you’ll probably pick it up and play frequently for a few months after launch before moving on to other games in your library.
Source: Giphy
I see Snickers the same way though. I know plenty of people that will enjoy a Snickers when given to them, but they only go through phases with eating them. With Halloween right around the corner, I’m sure many of you will go back to eating the nutty sweet even if it isn’t your first choice. I can’t help but think of Call of Duty in a similar way though. You’ll play a few matches and wonder, “how did I forget how good this was?”
Time will pass though, and you’ll realize that every round is just like other Call of Duty‘s you’ve had in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I play Warzone a ton still to this day. However, almost every round is the same. I have to consider how “nutty” the gameplay is in it as well. The physics often don’t make a lot of sense, and it doesn’t take much searching to find a hilarious glitch or two. Love it or hate it, Call of Duty finds a way into your life again…just like that damn nut filled and chocolate covered delicacy.
Source: Unsplash
M&M’s —> Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Devolver Digital (2020)
Fall Guys has burst into the gaming market this year in a wave of popularity that, I would say, shocked most consumers. The fun-loving little clumsy characters you play as are thrown into a variety of obstacle courses and fun mini games to determine the winner. When you jump into the game for the first time, one of the first things you’ll notice is the colorful design of the characters and courses themselves. Once you get the hang of how the physics work you can really get hooked on playing a handful of matches one after another.
It’s actually easier than you think to compare this immensely favorable game to M&M’s. Think of the hard chocolate coating on the M&M as you would think about the difficulty of learning Fall Guys‘ mechanics and courses. Once you get through the hard shell of the learning curve, then you will find yourself immersed in the delicious core of the game (or chocolate, if talking about M&M’s).
Source: Hyper RPG – Giphy
Once you open up a bag of M&M’s, you’ll find yourself at the end of it sooner than you would have thought. It’s so easy to start popping a few of them in your mouth. Then, before you know it…they’re all gone! Since rounds of Fall Guys can be over in just minutes sometimes, you could end up playing a bunch of matches and before you know it…it’s been hours!
The game has been well received by gamers worldwide, and is one of the most popular games in the industry today. M&M’s have held their place near the top of candies for years as well, and I don’t see them being knocked down anytime soon. If you haven’t had the chance to play Fall Guys yet, then consider checking it out. It’s great to share with friends too…just like M&M’s!
Source: Sarah Gualtieri – Unsplash
Candy Corn —> Madden series
Madden series – EA SPORTS – EA Tiburon
Coming into the conversation now is one of the most debated candies ever…candy corn. Around “spooky season” every year, these odd tri-color little sweets sneak back into our lives. Just when you had forgotten they even exist, they come back with vengeance. Chances are you know some people that hate candy corn, but you probably know some that indulge in the seasonal goodness too.
I like to think about the Madden series as candy corn in this instance. For example, every installment of Madden comes out during the fall season as well. It’s usually released just when you had forgotten about the previous year’s version too. Similar to candy corn, if you love Madden then chances are you’ll buy it every year it comes back. I’m not here to judge you Madden loyalists, but it’s hard not to acknowledge its similarity to the controversial candy that haunts us every fall.
Madden 21 – EA SPORTS – EA Tiburon – Giphy (2020)
There are so many Madden titles that have been released over the years. Similar to candy corn, there is always a surplus of them and they are all the same. I used to enjoy candy corn as a kid; unfortunately, I also used to really love Madden too. I would buy the new version every year, or ask for it for Christmas at least. However, now that I’m an adult with a more mature palate I don’t want anything to do with the Madden games…or candy corn.
Maybe if there was some new candy corn that came out with a twist on the flavor or some creative innovation brought to it, then I would give it a shot again. Same with Madden too. Every year it’s advertised as a brand-new game with a bunch of changes and improvements to build excitement. Then, you go out and buy the game only to find out it’s the same bag of candy corn you had last year. Sad. All trick, no treat. Sorry Madden fanatics.
Source: Unsplash – @helloimnik
Skittles —> Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo (2020)
Making its way into the comparisons come the Skittles candies, and the sweet-natured Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There isn’t a game that encourages treating other players well like Animal Crossing has done over the years. You can send each other gifts, go fishing, collect fossils, make new friends (both other human players and AI), visit islands, craft a vast variety of items, customize your home, customize your island, and help your fellow neighbor.
I can’t think of a sweeter game than Animal Crossing. I keep using that word, sweet, but it’s the first word that comes to mind when I think of it. The game has skyrocketed in popularity this year. I believe this has to do with the horrific year that we have had, and people have looked for an escape for what reality has brought us. With the virus epidemic, wildfires that destroyed homes, the ridiculous nature of the political season, and who else knows is coming next…I think AnimalCrossing was just the game the world needed.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo (2020)
Skittles remains one of the sweetest candies I’ve ever had. No matter how many of those little balls of sugar I have, I find myself wanting more! Animal Crossing is the same way too. You’ll do a handful of actions around your island, then you realize you want more and more. It’s easy to get carried away crafting here, and customizing there before you’ve lost yourself in it.
There is a variety of Skittles out there too. You can find a diverse array of flavors and colors just like you would see in Animal Crossing. There are so many different looking characters that you’ll meet in your own island (think of your island like an original bag of Skittles). Then, you will travel to someone else’s island and see that there are so many different kinds of habitats throughout the Animal Crossing community (like the variety of Skittles flavors…sour, frozen pop, darkside, wild berry, etc.).
Source: Wikipedia – user @Famartin
Milk Duds —> Fallout series
Fallout 4 – Bethesda Softworks, Obsidian Entertainment (2015)
Rounding out this exercise of creativity comes the comparison of Milk Duds with the Fallout series. I’m a longtime fan of the Fallout series, but I have to admit that they are never the best looking games you will find. When you compare any of the installments with other open-world RPG’s that have come out over the years (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Red Dead Redemption, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, etc.), there really isn’t any case that can be made that they are more visually appealing than their “competitors.”
Now take a look at Milk Duds. I love them. I mean I could easily eat a whole box before I even realize that I’ve eaten so many. However, have you ever noticed that they look a little… shitty, unfavorable? To be honest, they almost look like animal droppings. You can still get through the ugly appearance of the caramel candies and enjoy them for what they are, but you have to acknowledge that they don’t win you over for how they look.
Source: lawrencelackey.tumblr.com – Giphy
The Fallout games take a long time to play through; especially if you plan on completing the main story and side missions. Milk Duds don’t take as long as a Fallout campaign, but they do take longer to eat than most candies. By the time you chew through the thick caramel, to eat another one, you will lots of candy bits to pick out of your teeth. This will leave you with reminders of your candy journey that you ventured on moments ago.
I consider this to be a lot like Fallout. Usually, you will play through the story and be left to think about the decisions you made throughout the game. When you walk through the post-apocalyptic worlds, after you start playing, you will see the world react to your decisions. Similar to the Milk Duds caramel bits in your teeth, you will be reminded of your adventures.
Well if you’ve made it this far, then I hope you enjoyed this posting. I wanted to take a chance on something a little different this time around. My last post (“The Journey Towards Gender Equality in Gaming: We’ve Got Work to Do Gamers”) was more of a serious toned writing. With everything going on in the world today, I figured it would be better to try something more light-hearted this time. I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
I also just wanted to take a moment to say, thank you. I held myself back from trying a blog of my own for years. There were a lot of reasons I was unsure about whether or not I wanted to do this, but the support I have received from you all has made this worth it already. I don’t know what will happen to this blog in the future; however, I’m happy I’ve started this new journey in life to rekindle my passion for writing. Thank you all for the positivity and for the feedback. I really appreciate your opinions and I look forward to creating more content. See you next time!
Bayonetta 2 – Bayonetta – PlatinumGames, Nintendo, Sega (2014)
I know this is going to be somewhat odd being written from a male’s perspective, but I feel like this is exactly why this opinion needs to be out there. Before I really dive into this post here let me be clear about one thing: not all video games are sexist, and not all video games are misogynistic. In fact, I don’t even believe that the games in this article are necessarily those things either. I’ve just come to notice that in my over, almost, two decades of gaming that women have been noticeably portrayed differently than their male counterparts.
More often than not, women have been portrayed two different ways: damsel in distress or obviously oversexualized. Before the male readers get upset reading this, let me say this again…not all video games are guilty of these portrayals. In fact, some games (especially recently) have actually done women justice. I’ll touch on those titles later though.
First, the damsel in distress. It’s a story as old as time. In many narratives (across TV shows, movies, and video games), the male protagonist is set out on a journey to save a woman in trouble of some sort. If you need some examples in the gaming industry, then look no further than the following:
Princess Peach in just about everyMario title over the past handful of decades.
Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite.
Meryl Silverburgh in the Metal Gear Series. While she is more of a threat than most of the women on this list, she still finds herself in need of Snake to come rescue her.
Princess Zelda throughout a lot of Zelda titles. I know that the Princess has proven herself to be a strong character of the years, but it is often Link who has to come in and save the day for her.
Liara from Mass Effect. Again, I understand that she does display her ability to kick ass on her own. However, there are several scenarios that you will have to save her from sure death. Unfortunately (for those of you that have played these games), not much could save her in the end of the series anyways.
Bandage Girl from Meat Boy. I had the opportunity to play this peculiar title in high school, and I couldn’t help but notice the number of times that you had to rescue her.
Resident Evil female characters. If you’ve been a loyal fan of the series, then you can’t help but acknowledge that they overdue this trope just a bit. Almost every game in the series has you fighting through some sort of near-death situation to rescue one of them.
Princess Elise from Sonic the Hedgehog. Seriously, another Princess in distress?
Kairi from Kingdom Hearts. I really loved this game growing up, but it’s impossible to notice how useless this character was for a majority of the story.
Those are just a handful of female characters that I could think of off my memory. I’m sure I could make a whole post just about this trope if I researched even further. However, that’s only a part of the overall narrative of how women are portrayed in gaming. I’ve always been a bit confused by this repeated story trope with the number of female gamers that I’ve come across in my own life, but don’t just take my word for it.
Statista has been tracking the percentage of female gamers in the U.S. for years now. As you’ll see in their findings, women make up roughly 41% of all gamers. For the most part, more and more women have been joining the gaming industry and that looks to continue in years to come. With nearly half of all gamers being female, why is it that these stories continue to favor the male demographic?
I wish the gender inequality stopped there with gaming; however, this is only half of my argument here. I’m sure I could make several more posts about other issues surrounding the mistreatment of women in video games, but the other blatant and irrefutable point is the oversexualization of women in their portrayal throughout the gaming medium.
Have you ever noticed that the character designs for females in a large majority of games tend to favor the curves of their physique? Before you get all worked up about what I’m saying, let’s just take a visual walkthrough what I am talking about here.
Overwatch characters from left to right: Tracer (“over the shoulder” victory pose), Mei (Honeydew outfit), and Widowmaker (standard “play of the game”) Blizzard Entertainment, Iron Galaxy (2015)
Let me preface this one by saying I love Overwatch. I even named it on my first post that I ever made on this blog, “The Top 10 Games I’ve Ever Played.” Although, I would be naive to think that a game I thoroughly love would be innocent of this. The game itself is damn good, and I am not here to say that it isn’t. However, it’s only fair that I mention their female portrayals here as well.
The game itself never focuses on sexualizing any one character at a given time, but the designs of their female heroes are somewhat questionable to say the least. Blizzard ended up even removing the “over the shoulder” pose for Tracer that you see in the first image above (full story here) after fan backlash in multiple forums over the suggestive victory stance. Granted, there isn’t any nudity in the pose itself, but it is the sexualization of the female characters while the male counterparts do not have these elements in their models.
Overwatch characters from left to right: Soldier 76 (standard), Torbjörn (standard), and Reinhardt (standard) – Blizzard Entertainment, Iron Galaxy (2015)
For reference, I’ve included a few of the male characters from the former “Game of the Year.” There is much less of an emphasis on their body, but (if you’ll refer back to the female heroes from the gallery above) you’ll notice that each one of those characters are more body-focused than their male equivalents. The female heroes are, typically, very thin with long legs and more favorable curves.
Or in Mei’s case, she has a more realistic body, but her outfit is designed to show off some skin. To be fair, Mei’s standard outfit does actually have her whole body pretty much covered up, but why go out of the way to design an unlockable skin that goes against the core design of her character. As much as I love the overall game itself, it’s hard to ignore the questionable female portrayals. Now this isn’t to say that a character in a video game can’t be an ass-kicker and also good-looking, but you’ll see that this is a trend that repeats itself more often than most gamers would probably like to admit.
Tomb Raider series – Lara Croft – Ubisoft, Crystal Dynamics, Core Design, MORE (character debuted in 2001)
Maybe this one is a little more obvious? While the tomb raiding heroine has come a long way since then, her earlier character models showcased a much different body than what she looks like today. The tight figure, enlarged breasts, and tight fitting clothes are hardly just a coincidence. I can just hear the argument for it now though:
“Ah, come on man,” an annoyed (probably) male gamer expresses, “She needs to look like that! I mean how else is she supposed to fight bad guys and explore these “booby trap” infested tombs comfortably!?”
Let’s keep it going then…
Soulcaliber series – Ivy Valentine – BANDAI NAMCO, Namco, Project Soul, BANDAI NAMCO Studios, Dimps, Bandai Namco Holdings, Ubisoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Electronic Arts (1995 – 2018)
A more obvious example here then is Ivy Valentine from the Soulcaliber series. There isn’t much to her character design besides her body. It’s almost laughable at how blatantly half-naked she is; I mean look at the snowy environment, in the background, that she is fighting in! Not much left to the gamer’s imagination with this one.
Bayonetta – Bayonetta – PlatinumGames, Nintendo, Sega (2009)
Bayonetta is another one of these games with a large following, but when you look at its female heroine it’s hard not to notice the sexualization of her design. I’ve heard and read many of game’s fans mention that her visual appeal has become part of who she is. I won’t refute that because much of what makes video games great is the matter of perspective. To those that have played the game and loved it, they have developed a sense of acceptance. They accept Bayonetta for who she is, and what she looks like.
Where my problem comes in with characters like her is the perspective of the female gamer. I try to hold a sense of empathy for women. Growing up as mainly the only man in the household, I had to learn how to embrace what women entail in society that is vastly different than men. If you are a female and you grow up loving video games, then you encounter a lot of characters like Bayonetta, Lara Croft, Ivy Valentine, etc. These strong-willed female characters can be powerful figures in the gaming industry. However, when you understand that a large majority of video game developers are male (Statista), then you can really begin to understand the effects of a male dominated industry.
Do yourself a favor and check out this article by Mark Feffer of Dice from 2014. Mark does a great job at pointing out how the gaming industry has seen an increase in female gamers. However, he also mentions that the women that are finding jobs in gaming are often working in design and not so much of the engineering of the games themselves. This is important to note when it’s the engineers that create the games you end up playing.
I believe you will see a shift in the evolution of how women are portrayed in gaming. In fact, there are some very recent titles that have made strong female protagonists. Some notable characters are: Ellie (The Last of Us Part II), Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn), Clementine (The Walking Dead), and Faith Connors (Mirror’s Edge). These are just a handful of the many well-written female characters that are going to shape the future of gaming for women in the industry.
The Last of Us Part II – Ellie – Naughty Dog (2020)
Now, The Last of Us Part II was met with a lot of controversy over the ratings, and the story itself. However, Creator/Creative Director Neil Druckmann took some chances on his storytelling in the sequel to what was awarded one of the best games to ever reach the PlayStation consoles, by many reviewers. No matter what you think of the game itself, you have to give Neil and his team credit on the story they created. I could write a whole post on the game’s chances, and why I think it’s actually better than what a lot of negative reviewers had to say about it. That’s a post for another time though.
The game contains some realistic-looking female characters with a more grounded story about survival, internal moral dilemmas, and love. Now the latter isn’t a type of storytelling that most gamers want to see in their video games. However, what I enjoyed about the game was they did a terrific job at creating a more feasible love story than you’ll see in most heterosexually driven video games. Again, I won’t dive into all of the details of The Last of Us Part II‘s story (at this time), but if you are looking for a refreshing narrative in the gaming sphere then give this game a playthrough.
This posting does just briefly touch on the tip of the gender inequality “iceberg.” Even after writing this whole thing, I know there are a few of these points that I could create multiple posts about…if not a whole other blog focusing in on. As a male gamer, I do not have the answers on what will fix everything in the gaming culture when it comes to the portrayal of women. What I hope some of you will take away from this post is that there has been, and continues to be, a real issue with the way women are portrayed in gaming.
While the number of female gamers will, without a doubt, continue to rise over the coming years. I ask that you fellow male gamers take notice of how women are being portrayed. We don’t need to protest at the doors of every game developer, or shun away a game we love forever until equality is brought to reality. However, the evolution of equal portrayal will only continue to come about as we as a whole, gaming community, begin to take notice of the real problems that exist in the industry today. Only then, can we look to make significant changes for our female gamers across the gaming spectrum.
I would love to hear what you have to say about some of the points that I brought up here. Please feel free to contact me, as always, via email: kimmelnbits@gmail.com. I am always open to critical feedback, and I love a great conversation about gaming culture as a whole. I’m not here to burn the whole industry down because as I’ve stated a ton of times before I love video games, and I probably always will. I would just love to see the culture, community, and games we love continue to grow as the popularity for video games does as well. Thank you all for reading. I truly have appreciated your feedback thus far.
As long as I can remember, I’ve always had some sort of gaming system in my life. Over the years I have learned more about my passion for the gaming industry and lately I have begun to understand what these games have meant to me throughout my life. I can recall being just a few years old and watching my father play Ace Combat on the original PlayStation. I would mostly just game on a desktop computer that we had in our home, but when my gaming passion really took off was whenever I was just seven years old and I was surprised with a PlayStation 2 for Christmas…
PlayStation 2 – Image Credits: Sony
The PlayStation 2 is still the highest selling console of all-time which is pretty remarkable because there have been about 20 years that have passed since its initial launch. As a kid I used to look forward to coming home from school, so I could get my homework done ASAP and get to either playing a sport of some sort with friends or playing one of my video games, finally. I was always active outside, but whenever I wasn’t playing sports I was zoned in on some game. There were so many solid titles on the PS2 that I enjoyed including Kingdom Hearts, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, Madden games, Guitar Hero, The Simpsons: Hit and Run (a hit with my sisters and I), Star Wars: Battlefront II (my favorite of the PS2 titles), MLB Slugfest, and so much more. That list could go on a little while longer, but let’s keep this thing moving!
Lucasfilm – LucasArts – Disney Interactive – Pandemic Studios – Star Wars Battlefront II (2005)
The PS2 remained my favorite console until one day I made a decision that I look back on with regret. When the XBOX 360 was released, I went to GameStop to trade-in my PS2, its games, and controllers to make the switch from Sony to Microsoft. Having the ability to make transactions like this really opened my eyes up as a young gamer. I fell for the trade-in system hard. Xbox Live was really taking off at this point in life, and I was intrigued by the idea of being able to play with friends online. Up until then, if I was going play a game with friends it would be the “old-fashioned” couch co-op.
I was definitely more of an introvert as a kid, but when it came to gaming I was much more outgoing. I loved playing the games I loved with friends at their houses, or online with them. I had a small group of friends that would always get together for a sleepover and we would just game all-night. It became a “badge of honor” in our circles to be able to stay up through the night just gaming while being fueled by snacks and some sugary soda. We would even look for ways to help us pull an all-nighter…and no, rubbing ice cubes on the eyes proved to not be as effective as our “research” would show.
Me when I was 15 years old holding some new PSP games I got for Christmas….Oof. Photo Credits: Joanna Kimmel (my sister) – 2010My sisters and I at Super Bowl 43 (thanks to the NFL Play 60 “Super Kid” Contest) in Tampa Bay playing over in the Madden tent. Photo credits: Ruth Kimmel (my mom) – 2009
Honestly, playing video games gave me a chance to make friends when I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. I’m thankful for the friendships that I had growing up, and while I may not have those bonds today…they helped shape me into being a better person to those I would meet later in my life. At times, I was an angry kid. I mean I can remember having some real dark thoughts in junior high. There were times that I would be pissed off and not really know what to do with the energy. I began sleeping less and staying up longer to play games with my friends because it was one of the few times I was happy. I didn’t have a terrible childhood, but I had a lot of issues that I needed to work out on my own and some demons that I needed to face.
There were definitely times over the years in high school when I would resort to playing a game to escape my own reality. It may sound weird, but it was the only time I ever felt like I had some control in my life. I had some difficulties in my personal life that began to really takeover other aspects of my life. I dreaded going to school, didn’t care about what I looked like to others, lost all of my self-confidence, and began to isolate myself even further. What kept pulling me out of the loneliness and darkness though was having an outlet where I could shut my brain off for a little while and just play with my friends. I can admit now it isn’t the healthiest way to handle your issues, but sometimes I felt like gaming did me for me than anything or anyone else ever did.
My best friend Bryan Smeltzer passed away in 2019. This was he and I a few years ago playing games in an arcade in the Logan Valley Mall in Altoona, PA.
By the time I went to college, I had purchased a PS3 (then traded it in towards another Xbox 360), sold my 360 to a friend (I was now console-less), and purchased a Nintendo 64 from a thrift store (weird phase in my life). I ended up getting lucky whenever I was in my freshman year of college, and the PS4 was just released. A classmate of mine ended up pre-ordering two consoles (he said in case one of his didn’t get delivered?), then he had one extra after the launch and gave me a great deal on it.
I come from a low-income household, and most of my money was always going to bills or some thing that I needed. It definitely would’ve been a long time before I bought a PS4 full price, so I’ll always be thankful for that classmate who helped me out. In fact, I still use that system today. While it may sound like some big airliner when it’s firing up a game; I can’t complain because I’ve gotten a TON of use from it with gaming and with watching Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, etc.
Something I’ve always battled with though has been how much I use it. For example, I have a girlfriend that I’ve been with for almost four years now and nothing/nobody has ever made me happier. I’m always conscious of trying not to play it whenever her and I are just hanging out, so we can spend time together. However, we live together and we’ve both been adamant about letting each other enjoy our hobbies. I never feel like it comes between us, and she tells me that I’m really good about how much I use it. Although, it always creates a little bit of anxiety for me because I never want to neglect giving her attention.
Me, our pup Shiloh, and Fallon (my girlfriend) – 2020
My anxiety has always been a problem for me, but I never knew it was really there until more recently. I’ve battled with depression over the last handful of years and I’ve had to overcome some real struggles in my life. Everyone goes through their fair share of adversity, so I am not here to ask for any kind of pity. I just know that I’m thankful to have had a way to escape mentally at times that is healthier than what I once did to “get away.”
(Left to right) Josh Graham, Danny Bell, Myself, and Bryan Smeltzer. – 2016
In college, I partly tore my achilles tendon whenever I was working a groundskeeping job for the university. I was prescribed painkillers and slowly began abusing them. I was getting drunk most days of the week by this point already just spiraling and not caring what was going to happen to me at times. When you’re a “party animal” in college, no one is going to stop you or try to pull you back until it’s a real problem. Well one night, I had done my usual combination of a few pills chased by about half a handle or so. Anyways, I ended up getting to a really dark place and I hated what it did to those around me.
My friends even gave me an intervention one night. I remember getting calls from my older sister who just wanted to talk some sense into me. I was losing myself, and I really didn’t care what was happening to my body at that point. I was depressed for a long time, and just never addressed the problems. It was wrong. It was irresponsible. I regret being so careless to make those that I love, friends and family, worry as much as they did.
That Christmas break after the “intervention”, and after talking with my family…I finally got my shit together. Don’t get me wrong, though, I still have a lot to work through. However, I’m not trying to die anymore. I care much more about trying to live life, and make something of it. I’ve been through a cancer scare when I was wrongfully diagnosed, through a battle with addiction, and a near-death car accident…just to name a few. There’s so much more I could include here, but I’ll keep some of that for now.
Photos from my accident in 2018.
The thing I hate the most about these instances is that I did them to myself. My careless actions put me in dangerous situations time and time again. I’ve struggled with finding who I really am at times because I hated the person I was for too long. One thing, I used to always love was writing. As long as I can remember, I’ve always loved to write. I used to cover local sporting events for some newspapers back home, had a column in my high school newspaper, won some grants/awards for essays I’ve written, served as editor of my college publication, and have even had the opportunity to write for NFLRush.com.
Creating this blog has been crucial for me. I don’t ever expect anything to come out of doing this, but it just feels great to do the things that I love again. I’ve been playing a lot of great games the last couple of years, and have been reading a vast variety of gaming publications to understand the industry some more. I’ve always heard that if there is something that you want to do in life, then the best step you can take for yourself is to just start doing it. So, here I am. I plan to make this blog a consistent part of my life, and I’m looking forward to sharing my passion for video games with you all.
Gaming can be dangerous. Just like anything, if you do it too much without some form of moderation, then it can become a real problem. I used to know people that would throw away all of their money on video games. These people would game all day, then through the night like I used to in high school. The important thing is to remember what, and who, is going to be there at the end though.
Don’t take for granted the people and things that make you truly happy. Make sure you make time to show them what they mean to you too. I’ll always be thankful for being able to become fully immersed in a video game to unwind at the end of a long day. I’m truly grateful for the friendships that were forged over enjoying a game together because I know I can be a difficult person at times. What I’m getting at here is if you love games, then game your heart out. Just don’t lose sight of what’s important in life, and don’t lose who you are. No matter what.
If you struggle with anxiety, depression, addiction, or anything else and need someone to talk to…I’ll leave my email here: kimmelnbits@gmail.com. I’ll never share your story with anyone else. Just know that you are not alone even when it feels like no one is in your corner. And if you’re here to read about video games, then there will plenty more where that came from! Most of these posts won’t go in this direction, but I felt like it was time to put this into writing. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading!
That’s right…it’s another “top 10” list. These are always disagreed with and debated in the comments, but screw it I’m going to take a shot at one here too! Let it be known that there are a ton of amazing games out there that I have played, and some I have NOT as well. This list is simply just to express the best games that I’ve had the privilege to play. I was originally going to make this a “top 10” list of the best games in general, but that would not be doing the industry justice, I believe. I am one person, so it’s impossible that I could play every great game out there, but these are the ones that have made a lasting impression on me. Let’s get started then!
#10 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Nintendo – Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)
In what might be the best game to play with your friends (so long that the friendships can handle the intense battles), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate stands alone as the strongest in the Smash Bros. series…in my opinion. With over 70 fighters and 100+ stages, Ultimate offers a variety of battles and KOs to keep you coming back for more. The detailed character models with their relevant sound effects and visual animations are so impressive given the different fighters spanning from 38 gaming series.
Don’t just take my word for it though…Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the highest selling fighting game of all-time. Not that the “numbers” dictate making this list, but the feat is impressive given it’s competing with the other Smash Bros. titles, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc. If you haven’t had the chance to play this, or any Smash Bros. game, then I suggest you grab some of your friends and check it out for yourself!
I came into the series pretty late myself, but I am thankful to have been introduced to Ultimate. I will say though that if you are mainly gaming by yourself, then this may lose some of its fun for you after a few days as most of the fun is from competing against other human players. All that being said, there is no doubt this game deserves to be on the list for gameplay, attention-to-detail, and overall design.
#9 Resident Evil VII: Biohazard
Capcom – Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (2017)
The seventh installment in the Resident Evil series is an instant terrifying classic for those that have played it. You follow Ethan Winters in a chilling journey for his missing wife in Louisiana whenever you come across the Baker family and their house of horrors. With limited supplies, you are all alone as you try to avoid being captured, mutilated or killed in some frightening way by the Baker family and the other creatures that inhabit the land.
I forced myself to play this game with all of the lights turned out to get fully immersed, but if you really feel like giving yourself some night terrors for days to come then I suggest you give it a go with the VR headset! Horror fanatics will enjoy the thrill of peaking open doors slowly as you traverse through every unsettling puzzle and room of the house. From start-to-finish this game keeps you on the edge of your seat and you don’t get much of a chance to catch your breath. All by design, but Capcom did a terrific job with this title.
I had to include this game on my list because not since Outlast (2013) had I played a game that left me feeling the effects of its horror for days. I thoroughly enjoyed being spooked during my gameplay because it didn’t feel like the scares were ever cheap or lazily done. There is a lot of effort that went into the sound design of this game as well. Every creak and rustling sound will have you looking around to avoid being jumped from behind or caught off-guard. Every boss encounter in this game feels like a true fight too. RE VII will make you sweat and work throughout your journey, but when you do finally get to one of the endings…it will feel worth it.
This game is a MUST play…unless you don’t like scary movies, games, etc. Honestly, then don’t even bother wasting your money because you probably won’t be able to handle this either you baby. You don’t have to be a fan of the horror genre to get something out of this experience though! The game has a pretty good story and smooth gameplay to appeal to a diverse span of gamers. Don’t sleep on this one! Easily the BEST horror game I’ve ever played.
#8 Grand Theft Auto V
Rockstar Games – Rockstar North – Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
You know a game is special when it is still one of the most popular games out there YEARS after its initial launch. While many would put Vice City at the “top of the mountain” of GTA games, I believe it’s the innovation in GTA V that really puts this title over others in the series. The single-player campaign itself is not as polished as other Rockstar Games titles (as you’ll see later in this list); however, the story still serves as a solid experience for those who do not have access to playing online.
The online multiplayer experience is what truly makes this game special though, and is the reason the title remains strong to date. Being able to play with friends or random players from around the world in a variety of heists, races, deathmatches and a ton of other missions only increases its replay value. The customization is also something to point out as well. While it can be odd at times to play with other people that have neon colored cars, hair, clothes, etc….you have to respect the seemingly endless ways to make the game feel like a unique experience to each and every player.
I still get on GTA online from time-to-time as they continue to add new content to this day. While this game is certainly better whenever you have friends to cause havoc with, GTA V is still a ton of fun even if you have to play solo. I would have to say that this is one of the games that almost any player would enjoy and get something out of. This title is a must-have and if you are, somehow, one of few gamers that hasn’t played GTA V, then you are definitely missing out!
#7 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
I couldn’t make this list of the best games without including at least one Zelda title. In my opinion, there is no better installment in the series than Breath of the Wild. First, the game is absolutely beautiful to look at. This title took the series in a new direction with the vast open-world exploration filled with a variation of enemies to combat. The crafting and cooking systems are creative as well because it rewards the player for trying out new combinations.
This game doesn’t hold your hand through learning its processes either. Breath of the Wild serves as an example that sometimes just dropping you into a world and saying, “there you go!” can actually be a good choice. The challenging puzzles offer a refreshing break from the, at times, intense combat. Traversing your way through the shrines feels fulfilling when you finally make it through as well.
Breath of the Wild was one of the first titles I played on my Switch, and it still remains my favorite of the games that have come out on the system. If you own a Switch, then you definitely need to pick this one up because there is easily over 50 hours of gameplay packed into it. You won’t find many other games that look as beautiful, and play as smoothly as Breath of the Wild.
#6 Fallout: New Vegas
Bethesda Softworks – Obsidian Entertainment – Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Coming off the heels of Fallout 3, which was one of the best reviewed open-world games ever made, New Vegas continues that success while exploring a different region of the post-apocalyptic United States. Much of the country was demolished when the nukes hit, but Vegas remained pretty much intact despite the new wasteland and its mutated inhabitants. The karma system lets you create the kind of story you are going to craft in this game. And speaking of crafting, there are so many ways to use different resources you find that it can make you wanting to try something new every time you go to one of the workbenches.
The story is fairly short compared to other Fallout installments, but it serves as a good taste of what the side quests have to offer…and there are a TON of side quests in this game. Building your character the way you want through “S.P.E.C.I.A.L.” is back in this game obviously because it just simply wouldn’t be a Fallout game without it. Of all the variations you can upgrade your character in a video game, I think Fallout does it the best.
New Vegas is special. Like most titles in the series, you can easily put in 100+ hours into exploring the world and there is a lot of replay value here as you can approach almost every encounter in a variety of ways. If you don’t like open-world RPGs, then this probably isn’t for you because there is some “grinding.” However, I would highly recommend this game to just about anyone. I played this game for years until Fallout 4 came out, and even then I still found myself returning to this one. New Vegas is definitely my favorite Fallout title, and goes down as one of my all-time favorite games period.
#5 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Bethesda Game Studios – Bethesda Softworks – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
Chances are you’ve bought Skyrim at least once, but if you’ve ever owned it, then you probably purchased the game multiple times…on different consoles. When I was working at GameStop, I actually knew someone that bought Skyrim a total of six times. Now there were a few of those instances when he had purchased it only to trade it in months later to put the money towards another game. However, he did buy the game for three different consoles. How many titles are good enough to keep spending money on time and time again?
Personally, I owned the award-winning RPG twice on two different consoles. First, I had it for the PS3, then I bought it again for the Nintendo Switch years later. I found that the gameplay was a bit too “chunky” for me on the Switch though. As many of you will know before reading this, Skyrim isn’t the smoothest game in the world. Its hilarious glitches can be found in memes and GIFs all over the internet. Don’t be fooled though by its bugs! Skyrim is an all-time classic, and stands over the other games in the Elder Scrolls series.
Skyrim provides a large variation of customization tools in its diverse world. The tension between various factions, with a creative blend of creatures and monsters to fight…you can easily find yourself putting in 100+ hours of gameplay. The battles can be intense and there are a million ways to approach the combat. Some will attack with enhanced weaponry while others may use magic to take down their foes.
The dialogue system in the game is really well-written too. You can really see the time and effort that went into making the game with the variations in conversation. Not to mention there are hundreds of books that you can discover in the universe. Before coming across this game, I had never had a gaming experience like this. Now since then, there have been a surplus of games that have tried to copy the Skyrim model, but none of them really come close to what Bethesda accomplished in 2011.
#4 Red Dead Redemption II
Rockstar Games – Rockstar North – Red Dead Redemption II (2018)
I’m not going to lie. I went back-and-forth in my head about which Red Dead Redemption (RDR) title I was going to include in this list. One of the two had to make my all-time favorites list, but it was the sequel that really impressed me the most. Similar to Breath of the Wild, this is one of the most visually stunning games that I have ever had the opportunity to play. I could write a whole post just about my love for this game, but for the sake of keeping this thing rolling I’ll just sum up some of my favorite takeaways.
RDR II‘s main campaign has us following outlaw Arthur Morgan as he travels throughout the U.S. with Dutch van der Linde and his gang. Since the game is still fairly new, I won’t spoil the ending or any major story points. What I will say though is that this ends up being about a 60 hour storyline with a variety of emotions packed into its lengthy narrative. I found myself just as immersed in the side quests as well. It’s truly impressive what Rockstar created here from a storytelling standpoint and for that alone this game easily makes my list.
My only disappointment with this game has been its online experience. It’s fun to play, don’t get me wrong. However, there just isn’t much to it at this point. Now it’s possible that this is something that Rockstar will work on as time allows (similar to how they’ve added a ton of content to GTA V‘s online experience). Although, there were definitely higher expectations for RDR II‘s online gameplay at launch.
After reading that it’s probably hard to see why I put this title over some other games on this list, but the complete experience is what’s so remarkable with RDR II. The game looks beautiful, sounds like you are in a dramatic western, is written with careful attention to character development, and the gunfighting will make you feel like a true badass at times. Similar to other RPGs on this list, you create the kind of story you want to have. You will know what kind of a playthrough you had by the choices you made, and the ending you receive. Each ending has fairly the same result in a heart-wrenching conclusion, but with different ways that outcome is reached…given on how you play. Will you be an unrelenting bad guy, or will you attempt to do the “right thing” throughout your gameplay? The choice is yours. Damn good job Rockstar.
#3 The Last of Us
Naughty Dog – Sony Compute Entertainment – The Last of Us (2013)
The world was introduced to Joel and Ellie in 2013. Since then, there has been a sequel released and even a TV show that is in development with its creator, Neil Druckmann. The Last of Us Part II (TLOU II) was met with conflicting reviews and some disgusting backlash towards the voice actors/actresses for their character’s actions. However, TLOU was pretty much well received by just about every reviewer. No game is perfect, but I think the first The Last of Us comes damn close.
The story starts out simple where you, playing as Joel, are tasked with guiding Ellie through the danger post-apocalyptic U.S. a faction called — The Fireflies. They end up being a pivotal part of this story, and even the events that unfold in its sequel. The story takes you on some twists as we begin to learn who the characters are as people, and what they are willing to do to survive. This game is more of a linear experience with limited room for exploration in its world. However, they pack the world a lot of engaging combat scenarios and stealth situations.
Depending on the difficulty that you play on, resources are scarce and you will have to make every bullet count. The crafting is fairly simple compared to other titles on this list, but the items you craft will save your ass in those harsh encounters. I definitely found myself relying on a molotov or a nail bomb whenever I ran out of ammo. As I played though, I learned how to make every bullet count because if you don’t then you will find yourself running into too many situations outgunned or outmanned by the living…or the “infected.”
I first played this game on the PS3, then purchased it again for the PS4 whenever the remastered edition was released and I’ve always loved playing through it. In my opinion, this is the best story that I’ve ever played through in a video game. The BEST. Unfortunately, this game is a Sony exclusive because I think every gamer deserves the opportunity to play through this gem. While this is #3 on this list, it is honestly tied for #1 in my heart of my favorite games of all-time. Tied with the next two titles…
#2 Overwatch
Blizzard Entertainment – Overwatch (2016)
Before I came across Overwatch, I always thought that I needed a campaign of some sort to play through. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I remember being in college whenever Overwatch came out. I didn’t buy into any of the pre-launch hype though. In fact, I didn’t even consider buying the game until I was overwhelmed by the high-rated reviews that it was receiving. It was the first game I had really noticed that no one was really dissing on. Every major gaming outlets were giving the game 10/10’s or a near perfect in some way. Even individual reviewers, some of the usual online “trolls”, weren’t really throwing shade.
After trading in some other games, I ended up purchasing Overwatch a week after it launched. I was instantly hooked. I even found myself watching the short YouTube videos that would dive into some of the characters backstory. I needed to know more about the world, the characters, and how they were all connected to each other in some way. Unlike other games on this list, there isn’t any real writing (besides the voice lines you can use in-game) to review. There isn’t any crafting system, dialogue tree, upgrade system, or anything like that some of these other titles have had. What this game does well though is the GAME itself.
I have never had as much fun playing a game, especially an online shooter, as I have with Overwatch. Like most players, I have mastered a handful of characters that I can rack up some wins and gold medals with. However, I find myself trying out different characters and learning their abilities, so I can be flexible in my gameplay. It’s important to master at least one damage character, one support and one tank. This way you can always be ready to help out your team with what they need in a given match. Some “ultimates” (or commonly referred to as “ults”) are more powerful than others, but for the most part they are fairly balanced. Learning how and, even more importantly, WHEN to use these “ults” can really turn the tides of a match if used correctly.
I find myself usually getting burnt out with online shooters at some point, but this is a game that I keep coming back to. Blizzard has made a truly special game here and I’ve really appreciated the new characters and maps that they have added since launch. With Overwatch 2 being developed as this is written, it’s very possible that the sequel takes its predecessor’s place on this list. I’m looking forward to seeing what the sequel will have built on from the first title. Until then, you have plenty of time to check out Overwatch for yourself. I promise, you won’t be disappointed!
#1 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt RED – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
Rounding out this list is the best game I’ve ever played, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. Truthfully, I never was much of a fan of the fantasy genre in general. That’s why it’s even more remarkable that I ended up enjoying The Witcher 3 as much as I did. This game came into my life at an interesting time as I was just really getting into Game of Thrones whenever I first started hearing about this game. Andrzej Sapkowski’s fantasy novels, that the video game franchise was born from, are to thank for this masterpiece of a game. I just want to make sure to give the creator of The Witcher universe his deserved credit before continuing. Now onto the game…
Playing as Geralt of Rivia, you get to travel your way through war-torn cities and neighboring countries while taking on contracts to fight monsters that are terrorizing the regions. As the story progresses, you are exposed to increasingly dangerous creatures that want to tear you apart. You’ll learn what the surrounding wars are doing to the people that fight, and to those that have to live in the ever-changing world. You’re never asked to pick sides necessarily, but you will find out the hard way that who you choose to help can end up costing you relations with another individual you encounter. The story is a masterfully written narrative as you are on the search of Ciri, who becomes a daughter-like figure to Geralt.
The monster contracts are often challenging and will force you to prepare before engaging in combat. This isn’t a game that you can just run through and fight every creature the same way. The contracts will introduce you to some well-written side quests and you will develop an understanding for what the different people are going through because of the horrors that these monsters have brought about the land.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has, on average, upwards of 70 hours worth of gameplay just in the main story. Then, if you decide to take on the side quests and contracts you will end up playing closer to 200 hours! This doesn’t even begin to touch on the added content that the DLC brought. So, if you end up buying the Game of the Year edition (comes with all of the DLC) then you will have plenty of gaming to keep you busy. And if you haven’t played any of The Witcher games before, don’t worry! This was my first game I’ve ever played in the series, and I wasn’t lost at all. They do a really good job at catching you up to some of the happenings in the universe. If you love RPGs, fantasy games or a game with challenging gameplay, then do yourself a favor and check out The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Not included, but considered: Telltale’s The Walking Dead (season one), Super Mario Odyssey, Golden Eye 007, Bioshock, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Left 4 Dead 2, New Super Mario Bros.
This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.
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