Redwolf's Journal (continued)

Endings are hard. I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again. It's difficult to tie up loose ends and wrap up a story in a way that is both earned and satisfying. That makes good endings rare. As I understand, Dreamfall Chapters was originally meant to be an ending to the Dreamfall storyline(s), but there was a further endings conceived to The Longest Journey (of which, Dreamfall was sort of a tangential, but connected, story). Where things fell after the crowd-funding project, though, I believe Chapters was meant to be the finale for both. That sort of shows in how parts 4 and 5 of the game feel more rushed story-wise than the first three. As it was released in pieces, the early parts flow at a more leisurely and detailed pace. Toward the end, things pick up. The story is more densely packed with all the events that need to transpire, but also there's more skipping over bits between scenes. Early on, the player walks Zoe through taking lunch to her

It's been a long time since the (mostly) point-and-click adventure games The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: TJL came out. I enjoyed both, though, for their themes and stories and characters, even if the gameplay was largely just passable. Dreamfall: Chapters was a much more recent time ago, and while I didn't buy in early, I did pick it up on Steam once all five chapters were out, probably during a sale or something. I've recently started playing. I sort of dislike the fact that it focuses on Kian and Zoe rather than the original character I liked better, April Ryan, but I just hit a point in the story that reintroduces one of my favorite supporting characters: Crow. He is a talking bird. In fact, when he found out that "crow" is a type of bird some time after April had named him that, he was rather upset about it. But seeing him again really made me smile. Nostalgia factor to ten! Even without that, though, his sense of humor and quirky nature make him fun

I've had plenty of reservations about the reboot of Ghostbusters . The original is a classic, and I'd say one of THE movies of the 80's. The trailers were so-so. The release of the Fall Out Boy rendition of the theme was off-putting to me. Overall, I might have given the movie a pass if it wasn't Ghostbusters . That would have been sad. I'm not sure it reaches quite the perfect storm of factors that made the first one so great, but it was a damned enjoyable movie on its own. It gets genuine laughs from me. Nothing within the movie is terribly distracting or annoying. It is honest-to-goodness fun to watch. That's pretty awesome. The cameos and callbacks, I feel, are done very well. None of them felt forced. There's a post-credits scene, but also scenes in the background of the credits, some of which might be "extra" scenes on disk, that make it one of the most enjoyable end-roll credits to actually sit through and watch I've seen. And if

In part, I think it's my goal-oriented nature that leads me to burn out on debates pretty quickly. Opinion or supporting fact, most talking points can be hit upon in brief and if one side simply isn't going to be swayed, it's often apparent. I don't often find any value in espousing my point, no matter how much I may believe it, to someone who disagrees and shows no signs of changing opinion. That's not true for everyone. Clearly. I find myself wondering what it is in the perspective of someone who will argue a point fervently that drives them. Really, at the core of it, do they believe someone who disagrees can be swayed? Do they believe stepping away from a debate is admitting being wrong? Are they driven by a desire to not "lose?" Most of the time, there seems a much more emotional than rational undercurrent. It's certainly easier to get into an argument over something you feel . And we're told it's good to fight for what's right,

So I watched the anime series Erased which involves a 29-year-old manga artist "time traveling" in mind back to his 11-year-old self and trying to solve some child abductions by changing the past. It's a solidly interesting psychological drama - not much in the fantastic beyond the main premise (which isn't particularly explained, but that's okay). It got me thinking. There aren't any childhood traumas I would be driven to change in a similar situation. The one childhood regret that sticks with me is I didn't appreciate the uniqueness of a situation one day and opted to hang out with friends over going to a baseball game with my father. I'd change that. But otherwise? Then I came to the big... well... I'm not sure "regret" is appropriate as I thought through later in my life. College. I could save myself a lot of angst and grief if I actually applied myself and found a better direction rather than failing out in my first year. But if

I watch the news more than I used to. I still find it more palatable delivered by things like The Daily Show , but there are things that can't be brightened up much by comedy. It's a big world, and there's always something unpleasant going on. The latest "big" bit of news seems to be the conflicts with and around the police in this country, and that's... troubling to say the least. There's so much entangled with that, too, that it feels impossible to address it all... Is there a bias against minorities by law enforcement? I don't have the drive to look up statistics, but I do believe there is. There have been so many major news stories about that in the recent years. Does that mean it's okay to ambush and shoot cops? Heck no. Trevor Noah made a good argument recently about how society has such a binary view of the discussion. Saying you're "pro-police" somehow means you're against minorities. Saying you're "pro-bla

So, it looks like the division between spring/summer anime seasons is here, which gives me time to consider what I've been watching... Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was probably my favorite going into the season. After 13 episodes, I still sort of like it, but it also feels like it doesn't live up to its potential. The action's solid and the premise is interesting, but it just lacks a sense of payoff. By the season's end, no fewer than three city/stations have fallen to the zombie-like kabane on and off screen, and it felt to me like a sign of a death spiral for society, even though most of the cast rides off into the sunset. The villain never became very sympathetic, making him seem just a nihilistic force, which is fairly uninteresting. If there's another season, I'd probably watch it, but it's not as exciting to me at this point. Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- has moved up to my favorite of the season, I think - and is continuing on from a