not to be pretentious but yall should really read this… C.H.A.T. (Come Here for All Talk)

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omfg I thought this was a bit. People actually expected Despicable Me 4 to be good.

Has the day of judgement finally come? Have enough early 2010s kids grown up to make "Illumination is/was a good studio and <new film> is beneath their standard of quality" an unironic consensus take?

I apologize SW prequel fans. I thought you represented the pinnacle of delusional nostalgia-fueled cope. Hoooly shit.
 
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omfg I thought this was a bit. People actually expected Despicable Me 4 to be good.

Has the day of judgement finally come? Have enough early 2010s kids grown up to make "Illumination is/was a good studio and <new film> is beneath their standard of quality" an unironic consensus take?

I apologize SW prequel fans. I thought you represented the pinnacle of delusional nostalgia-fueled cope. Hoooly shit.
the ceo said some good stuff about no ai and loving animation as a medium so twitter was a bit hyped up about the studio

also people who have mario pfps somehow think the mario movie is anything more than a 5/10
 
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omfg I thought this was a bit. People actually expected Despicable Me 4 to be good.
this is one clickbait youtube thumbnail; i do not think people had these colossal hopes on despicable me 4. it followed after minions: rise of gru, which both critics and audiences seemed to like fine enough on rt, so some tempered optimism was probably reasonable, but i think you're overreacting

Have enough early 2010s kids grown up to make "Illumination is/was a good studio and <new film> is beneath their standard of quality" an unironic consensus take?
i mean, theyre old enough, im sure youve seen them put pokemon black and white on a pedestal
 
also people who have mario pfps somehow think the mario movie is anything more than a 5/10

As a huge lifelong Mario fan who played like 10 Mario games before I was 7, it sure was nostalgia pandering with Chris pratt
It is the best 5/10 that I've ever seen, to be fair.

This rating is over-jaded to me. Mario movie is not a sophisticated narrative, its not something people who don't like mario need to be rushing to see, and it's not something you're unreasonable for not liking (that part specifically to ant and not a.n.). I'm not going to be silly and say stuff like that. But it had valuable goals of "immerse a caring audience in a new type of experience" and "have good-spirited fun with silly personalities", and it executed them well. Providing that immersive experience to existing fans is not as easy as chucking in nostalgia references and famous actors-ask people how they feel about The Rise of Skywalker. That immersion effort didn't land for you, and again that's reasonable–it only partially did for me–but that doesn't take away from the good choices they made and the bad choices they avoided. I saw the movie in theaters so my recollection on specific details is fuzzy, but as an example, I thought Bowser's personality was an excellent mixture of goofiness and legitimate threat that did him a great service and worked perfectly for the movie. Peach being the knowing guide for "fish out of water" Mario is a great, clever way to give her a meaningful role in the story in a way the games often don't. Even in story-focused games, even when she is playable, she can be pretty tacked-on. The Toads taking her in as a lost baby is a brilliant move that makes her normal princess role a lot more compelling and even emotional.

I'd probably give it around an 8/10. Not fine art, but serving a valuable purpose.
 
This rating is over-jaded to me. Mario movie is not a sophisticated narrative, its not something people who don't like mario need to be rushing to see, and it's not something you're unreasonable for not liking (that part specifically to ant and not a.n.). I'm not going to be silly and say stuff like that. But it had valuable goals of "immerse a caring audience in a new type of experience" and "have good-spirited fun with silly personalities", and it executed them well. Providing that immersive experience to existing fans is not as easy as chucking in nostalgia references and famous actors-ask people how they feel about The Rise of Skywalker. That immersion effort didn't land for you, and again that's reasonable–it only partially did for me–but that doesn't take away from the good choices they made and the bad choices they avoided. I saw the movie in theaters so my recollection on specific details is fuzzy, but as an example, I thought Bowser's personality was an excellent mixture of goofiness and legitimate threat that did him a great service and worked perfectly for the movie. Peach being the knowing guide for "fish out of water" Mario is a great, clever way to give her a meaningful role in the story in a way the games often don't. Even in story-focused games, even when she is playable, she can be pretty tacked-on. The Toads taking her in as a lost baby is a brilliant move that makes her normal princess role a lot more compelling and even emotional.

I'd probably give it around an 8/10. Not fine art, but serving a valuable purpose.
I don't agree but I respect your opinion and I'm glad you respect the fact I don't like the movie
 
This rating is over-jaded to me. Mario movie is not a sophisticated narrative, its not something people who don't like mario need to be rushing to see, and it's not something you're unreasonable for not liking (that part specifically to ant and not a.n.). I'm not going to be silly and say stuff like that. But it had valuable goals of "immerse a caring audience in a new type of experience" and "have good-spirited fun with silly personalities", and it executed them well. Providing that immersive experience to existing fans is not as easy as chucking in nostalgia references and famous actors-ask people how they feel about The Rise of Skywalker. That immersion effort didn't land for you, and again that's reasonable–it only partially did for me–but that doesn't take away from the good choices they made and the bad choices they avoided. I saw the movie in theaters so my recollection on specific details is fuzzy, but as an example, I thought Bowser's personality was an excellent mixture of goofiness and legitimate threat that did him a great service and worked perfectly for the movie. Peach being the knowing guide for "fish out of water" Mario is a great, clever way to give her a meaningful role in the story in a way the games often don't. Even in story-focused games, even when she is playable, she can be pretty tacked-on. The Toads taking her in as a lost baby is a brilliant move that makes her normal princess role a lot more compelling and even emotional.

I'd probably give it around an 8/10. Not fine art, but serving a valuable purpose.
I was being a bit silly, and I'm trying to ween myself off of numerical scores for media, but I definitely wouldn't give the film a higher score than 7/10 if I was inclined to assign it one. I found it to be a likeable, competent film that largely succeeded at what it set out to do, but what it set out to do didn't really do a whole lot for me. For me to give a film a score as high as an 8/10, there has to be a level of resonance or emotional impact that I didn't really get here. It's a well-constructed fish out of water story, and the result is a perfectly serviceable film, but not one that rises above the level of popcorn flick for me. It has utilitarian function, but that doesn't cut it in my view.

Nevertheless, I appreciate that you enjoy it. It's certainly one of the best films that Illumination has ever made, though that's a low bar.
 
I love Evangelion so much and I am one of these people who can say that it changed their lives. And I gotta say I kinda dislike saying to people who didn't like it that they didn't get it

But it's kinda always like this in a way or another. I don't even wanna blame the people confused by Eva, because it is very difficult to get on first watch without supplementary material. It's just some perspectives on characters that irks me a little. I see less "Shinji's a bitch" and more "Shinji's an awful creep", when he's a traumatized child that didn't really do anything creepy until the infamous EoE scene. Not saying he's completely innocent or perfect, but like, you kinda need flawed characters

Idk man. I think people approaching Eva should be wary of the hype but you kinda need a community approach to really make Eva click

I also don't know about the rebuild movies. They are... really something
 
I recently made a different kind of video game tier list. Not a list of my favorite games, or the games I think are the highest quality, but the games that have impacted me the most. It's a funny list because I haven't played many of the games on here, let alone beaten them.

I liked how this post went, so I'm doing another little analytic piece, but on a character. Well, it includes the game too.

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If you want a synopsis of the plot to contextualize this, see here, and the characters, see here.

Kirby 64's characters fit into two groups.

Kirby (center) + Ribbon (top left) dyad: They're both eager and energetic, Ribbon for the specific goal of recollecting the shards and Kirby just because he is. They're actively doing things, Ribbon leading the group in cutscenes and popping out every time you collect a Crystal Shard, while Kirby is the character you control, whereas the rest of the group occasionally pops in to help at specific times. There's some romantic implications of Ribbon's kiss at the end. This group is the closest thing to the nucleus of the cast.

King Dedede (bottom left) + Waddle Dee (bottom right) dyad: They're both former enemies of Kirby, but they're also a bit reserved about this whole adventure. King Dedede actively tries to avoid getting involved in his grumpy old man way, and Waddle Dee is just reserved and hesitant in general. They also provide comic relief together.

That leaves out someone. You may notice it's the person who is my username – Adeleine. She doesn't seem to fit in here. She's eager sometimes, leading the charge after you free for from Dark Matter's possession, but she's reserved sometimes, quietly painting in a calm forest. Getting possessed by Dark Matter gives her some similarities with other characters, but she's not the first person to get possessed to establish the theme (that's Waddle Dee), and she's not the climactic or most important person to get possessed (it's either Dedede or the queen fairy, but not Adeleine either way.) She's a girl and a new character like Ribbon, but the game doesn't really highlight that – that's more a Kirby Star Allies thing.

There are other ways Adeleine is an odd fit. She has really no direct story role. She's possessed by Dark Matter, but this doesn't, like, cause any plot consequences, and Waddle Dee and King Dedede already establish and execute the possession role. She accompanies the journey and occasionally helps in the background, but it's not like she provides some essential ability or role to save the day. Kirby and Ribbon fight the (true) final boss, and even the comic relief characters help them get where they need to be. Adeleine gives you a health item, but, like, you could just get one from a previous level. You may come in with full health anyway, in which case she'll give you a 1-Up, which is, like, nice? But not that big of a deal?

So she's weakly integrated into the character dynamics, plot, and mechanics. One could argue that removing her barely changes the game. One could even say she is filler.

But they are wrong! She's actually the most important character in the game. The dynamic between the characters, plot, and mechanics are important, but the game's themes are what allow it to shine, and Adeleine's unimportance elsewhere makes her critical here.

Kirby 64 develops an already excellent theme from its prior game, Kirby's Dream Land 3. Go beyond conventions, expectations, and baselines, but not to win, compete, excel, or perform. (Not for this.) Instead, exceed conventions with love, goodwill, care, and kindness. Your heart will drive you to do more than you have to, and, once the storm is clear, you'll be happy and thrive.

Dream Land 3 primarily does this through the Heart Stars. If you play Dream Land 3 like a conventional video game (especially for its pre-2000 release date), you will complete a series of levels and fight a final boss, but the game won't be over. The game will hint there is a greater evil lurking. How do you truly win? You go back and collect each level's Heart Star, too, which you earn by performing a little kindness for a resident of that little world. Maybe help flowers grow, or even just avoid stepping on them. You might win their little quiz challenge, sweep a floor for them, or chauffeur a friendly character their way. The game patiently prompts you to show compassion to these little residents. You combine all these Heart Stars to form the Love-Love Stick, and you use its love to defeat a final boss that has zero love, Zero.

Kirby 64 uses a similar structure for a similar theme, having you collect all the Crystal Shards in each level to defeat Zero's reincarnation. However, while Ribbon surely appreciates you collecting them all and joins you in the final battle, these shards are much less directly tied to kindness than the Heart Stars. What Kirby 64 does is supplement this with love for its characters and world. I'll get to the characters, but I just want to listen to the world for a second. Like another game I appreciate, the game dunks itself in energetic, overtly fun joy, but it's just as willing to accept the quieter, subtler parts of the world as they are, loving them just as much. The embrace of joy makes it even more remarkable how it embraces something that isn't quite joy. Just look at the respect and admiration Kirby 64 has for its quieter world!

Kirby 64 - File Select
Kirby 64 - Quiet Forest
Kirby 64 - Ruins
Kirby 64 - Shiver Star (Map Select)
Kirby 64 - Inspecting the Factory

This all comes back to Adeleine, doesn't it? She's a mixture of enthusiasm and caution that the game doesn't have to include here, but it does, because it loves her. Just look at how it stops everything to include her! She's the creative anima of the game, figuratively and literally. She left her home, ostensibly to study art. She is the only human, and the clearly-Earth planet is not inhabitable, so maybe she had to leave. Either way, the game takes her in as its own child. This gorgeous fan animation drives it home. (Note: as the animation highlights, it's an arrangement that has a little sadness in it, too.)

--

That's a bit of an ambiguous note to leave it on, but that's all I have to say for now. This game is brimming with stuff, though – I certainly could've posted more. I appreciate this little place to say such things.
 
omfg I thought this was a bit. People actually expected Despicable Me 4 to be good.

Not really, people's expectations went down heavily when the girls were shown and they haven't grown even a bit, all looking to be just another Despicable Me sequel. Credits to Illumination for having better work ethics than their competition tho, their showcase still peaked with Despicable Me 1...
 
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You say this despite not having engaged with every piece of art ever made?
I legit had dreams of episodes that don't exist from the show where I was sure that they were actual episodes until I looked up the list of existing episodes

There's not a single other piece of art that can do that
 
FF7 Remake and FF7 Rebirth are the only games that have actually managed to feel "next-gen" to me, which is funny considering the former came out the last one. Every time I see environments or boss fights from either of them I am absolutely blown away. The combination of Square Enix's absurd modern visual polish and the marvelous art direction & world of FF7 result in a pair (soon to be a trilogy) of games that look like they're from the future. I already concluded a while ago that I made the right decision not hopping on the PS5 or Series X, but sometimes I compare the new and improved Midgar to the comparatively rinky-dink cities and wilds of first party Switch games and wonder if I'm just coping. If we got a mascot legendary Pokemon fight at even a quarter of the Jenova Dreamweaver or the Sephiroth battles' spectacle I would NEVER recover
 
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FF7 Remake and FF7 Rebirth are the only games that have actually managed to feel "next-gen" to me, which is funny considering the former came out the last one. Every time I see environments or boss fights from either of them I am absolutely blown away. The combination of Square Enix's absurd modern visual polish and the marvelous art direction & world of FF7 result in a pair (soon to be a trilogy) of games that look like they're from the future. I already concluded a while ago that I made the right decision not hopping on the PS5 or Series X, but sometimes I compare the new and improved Midgar to the comparatively rinky-dink cities and wilds of first party Switch games and wonder if I'm just coping. If we got a mascot legendary Pokemon fight at even a quarter of the Jenova Dreamweaver or the Sephiroth battles' spectacle I would NEVER recover
i feel bad cuz i beat FF7R in like two weeks on PC, but ff7r2 on PS5, played it for like 15 hours and then gave my PS5 to my dad when i upgraded my pc

now im waiting for the port LOL
 
gotta love how the average quality of keyboard parts has gone up for what you're spending (stuff like the gmk67, neo lineup, other stuff are now 100-200 bucks when they could have easily sold for twice that ~3 years ago) and switches have gotten so much better and cheaper with a solid amount of <30 cent switches being perfectly usable stock which was a pipe dream even for expensive stuff like ink blacks, but the only thing that's changed in the keyboard market is people aren't selling aftermarket gmk sets for like 500 fucking dollars. like PLEASE can someone start making decent keycaps for less than 60 bucks (and also have actual kitting)
 
(Recently I have been trying to know more about the mons tcg outside of the cool art and all that and some of the firsts vids I've found was some kid being disqualified for a tiny accident???)


anyways, any tcg experts here to tell me more about the game? how a competitive deck is built and all that?
 
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