VGFlicks: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Part 2)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

So many bikers, against four people on foot?
Not fair.

When we left off in Part 1, the characters had just been taken into the Jumanji video game. So far, they’ve had to accept that they’re now in completely different bodies. And also that they have three video game lives, meaning they can all die twice before they’re really in danger. Speaking of, while Bethany, as cartographer Sheldon Oberon, is reading the map to figure out where to go next, the team is attacked by bikers. On a jungle island, in the middle of nowhere? Jeeps and ATVs perhaps, but wouldn’t bikes be detrimental to exploration? I get it, as the bad guys, Russel Van Pelt’s minions have to look threatening, but motorbikes in this environment don’t make much sense, do they? Hm. Guess Jumanji inspired itself a lot more from Twisted Metal than we thought.

On the other had, Martha is now a super

The team flees, but Spencer and Martha use their skills to defeat some of the bikers – Spencer with Smolder Bravestone’s impossibly good aim with a boomerang, and Martha with her character’s combat abilities. The four reach a waterfall and jump down to the waters below, having no other options. They hit the water and swim to a beach, where Martha realizes she’s been shot… and then poofs in a spurt of blood. She reappears, falling from the sky a moment later, which is when the team realizes that they have video game lives. With Bethany reading the map, they move to the bazaar.

"Alright, this means we can all experience death twice
before actually dying. I'm looking forward to that...
#sarcasm"

But before they can go, some of them need to go to the bathroom. And that’s how, in one of the raunchier moments of the film, Spencer and Fridge have to teach Bethany how to use her current, temporary… um… equipment. Okay, that part is hilarious. Especially Bethany’s amazement regarding the whole thing. It’s like I said in Part 1, this situation is played for laughs, jokes without a secondary meaning, and it’s fine that way.

Fridge... Bad idea to antagonize the nerd when he's
in a body made of pure muscle and strength.

Following that comical interlude, the group travels to a town located on a mountain, and talks on the way. Martha tells Bethany that she always saw her as a self-centered pretty girl, and Bethany calls out Martha for being so judgemental of everyone. Meanwhile, since he was booted off the football team after the school staff realized their agreement over homework, Fridge is angry at Spencer and their quarrel devolves into the former pushing the latter into a nearby pit. Spencer lands back on the ground moments later, and tries to stop Fridge from fighting him because they can’t afford to lose too many lives.

Pictured: Fridge, mere seconds before asploding.
...Hey, is that the guy from Too Many Cooks back there?
After some research... Yes! That's him!

The group gets to the bazaar, and the repeating animations of NPCs indicate that they should be regaining some health by eating. Even though, so far, there hasn’t been any indication of Hit Points, or endurance, or anything of the like. Bethany shares some free bread with the rest of the team, including Fridge who takes a bite. Then he’s told that this was actually cake, and he panics since it’s a weakness of his character, Franklin Finbar. But since nothing happens, he relaxes… only to suddenly explode. Well, that may have been the most telegraphed joke ever! That said, I think there are games where some characters aren’t allowed to eat some particular types of food. I doubt it makes them explode, though.

It's like I said. Zoology > Everything else.

A young girl NPC comes up to the group, and brings them to the next challenge. A hut in the shadier part of town, almost empty aside from a basket in the center. The kid tells a riddle in rhyme, because it’s normal for children to do that, right? The riddle’s last line says that “the missing piece is not what they think”… To face this challenge, the team first thinks someone has to look at the snake without blinking, but that fails and the reptile goes for Martha due to her avatar’s weakness to venom. Spencer catches it in extremis, and Fridge uses his zoology skill to carefully defang the snake, making it harmless. See? I said it before, zoology is an OP ability in this game! The group looks inside the box and finds an elephant statuette wrapped in a paper that says, “When you see me, start climbing”.

Who made this game, the Riddler?

"All this time spent playing fighting games will finally pay off!"

"I'll stand here and look menacing. It's what I do best."

That’s when Van Pelt’s men show up. Using his current video game protagonist super-strength, Spencer dispatches many of the stronger mooks, even calling out his attacks like some anime nerd would in this situation. He even punches one in the air through the roof! He Asterix’d that dude! Van Pelt himself appears, but before a fight can ensue, a smoke bomb is tossed and the group is dragged away by someone else. The four are taken through secret areas of town, through a fairly dangerous sewer path that their savior seems to know like the back of his hand. Spencer figures that this is the fifth character, the one that was already picked on the character select screen – Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough (portrayed by Nick Jonas). They go through a door and find themselves in a clear jungle area, even though moments ago they were underground. They were in a bazaar in a town located on a mountain, and found themselves on flat terrain – it’s as if they crossed a portal leading across the jungle.

"Weren't we on a mountain just moments ago...?"
"Warp Zone. Don't worry about it."

Their helper presents himself as Alex, the fifth player. Strengths: Driving/piloting, making margaritas. Weaknesses: mosquitos. In the jungle, with mosquitos everywhere? That’s bound to be a problem. Alex takes them to a shack in the area, one that was seemingly built by Alan Parrish of the original Jumanji movie. Continuity nod or a simple Easter egg? You make the call. I love the implication that Alan was stuck in the Jumanji world for 26 years, back when it was still a board game, and yet when it upgraded into a video game it kept Alan’s shack. Alex explains that he lost two of his three lives, so he doesn’t dare to progress further into the game since the risk of getting himself killed is too high, and the next challenge is too dangerous, hence why he stays in this little shack.

"I look over 40 right now, but I'm still too young for
alcohol!"

The group socializes around Alex’s margaritas, which three out of four teenagers spit out after the first sip. I mean, they’re still teenagers, even if now they look like grown adults. Only Fridge asks for more, and winds up drinking everyone else’s glasses. The team realizes that Alex has the abilities they need to move forward, so they team up to sneak into a vehicle hangar. It should be easier to do as a five-person team.

The guards at the front never move from their spot, so the team thinks of a plan: Martha, as Ruby Roundhouse, Killer of Men, will walk up to the guards and flirt with them. However, since Martha doesn’t know how to flirt, it’s up to Bethany (still as Jack Black) to give her a few quick classes. Meanwhile, the guys have a talk and realize, from Alex’s use of 90s slang, that he’s the Alex Vreeke who went missing in the mid-nineties. He thinks he's been stuck in the game only for a few months, but it's actually been 20 years. He’s shocked to learn that he’s been gone for so long.

"Let's get to know each other. Pull up a... CHAIR!" WHACK
(Note: She does not actually make comical quips in the
scene. That's a shame.)

After Martha has learned Bethany’s secrets for flirting, she tries to woo the guards while the others sneak into the hangar. Her attempts are laughable and fruitless. Yeah, she’s not good at flirting. A nearby radio turns on, playing “Baby I Love Your Way”, and she figures that her character’s battle-dancing ability will be more useful. She proceeds to beat up the two men. It’s an odd choice of song. In fact, I thought it was a rule of the universe or something: Gravity exists, the Earth is round, E=MC², Peter Frampton isn’t battle music. With the guards dispatched and more of Van Pelt’s men coming, the group gets into a helicopter and leaves, bursting through the hangar. However, the bullets shot by the henchmen damage the helicopter.

This would be a lot easier if the helicopter wasn't moving!

Now struggling to take altitude, Alex pilots as well as he can, but the vehicle is spiraling out of control and into a horde of rhinos in the canyon below. Spencer climbs up on the helicopter and repairs it himself in order to gain altitude, a difficult and dangerous task that he nonetheless achieves… only for Fridge to lose the Eye of the Jaguar, the jewel that they must bring to the jaguar statue, in the process. After Fridge admits this mistake, Alex pilots the helicopter to go back so the team can get the jewel, but the team needs a distraction for the rhinos, which have gathered around the jewel like it’s their Jesus. So Spencer throws Fridge overboard to be trampled while the others get the precious stone. Oh, they manage to catch Fridge when he respawns, but he certainly won’t let them forget about it. Well, he can cross “getting squashed by rhinos” off his bucket list.

"Mosquito bite... oh fuck.
...Please tell me we hadn't used up our mandatory
PG-13 F-bomb already."

After they land in the clearing, the team (and a justifiably angry Fridge) celebrate this victory. Then Alex gets stung by a mosquito, his weakness, which causes him to faint as this was his last life. In a panic, Bethany runs to the fallen Alex and asks how to do CPR, then proceeds to follow Spencer’s detailed explanation. To their surprise, it works – although why it works is even more surprising when the team realizes Bethany has given away one of her video game lives to Alex in the process, leaving her also with only one. Bethany wants him to survive, so that he can leave the game along with them. Props for the idea, but was there ever an indication that such a thing was possible in Jumanji? It smells like a Deus Ex Machina. Although, to be fair, there are classic games with cheat codes that allow the trading of lives between players. Contra is one example. We can’t be sure that it was an intended reference to these codes, but if it was, kudos to the writers of this film.

It's the second video game movie in a row teaching me CPR.
And I still have Stayin' Alive stuck in my head from that scene
in Ready Player One.

After recovering from his near-death experience, Alex thanks Bethany with a hug, although she couldn’t expect her current anatomy to respond positively to it. Might as well say it outright, it’s a boner joke. Not the classiest joke in the film, but it’s funny.

...that's not quite right.

Later, while Bethany and Alex get to know each other, Spencer uses his current bravery to finally admit his feelings to Martha. The whole love declaration is awkward, and so is her response, even though it turns out she’s into Spencer too. It’s comical to see these two seasoned actors playing the parts of these teenagers who barely know how to declare their love to each other. It crosses into hilarious when they go for a big, Hollywoodian French kiss, which they fail pretty badly due to their inexperience. Worst kiss put to film ever. Before they can try again, Fridge interrupts them with news that he has found the jaguar cliff.

This quest is coming to an end.

That transformation into a monkey is some
terrifying stuff for a kid.
Looked great at the time, though.

So far, despite a few issues here and there, I think this film is very good! I know it’s unfair to compare it to the 1995 Jumanji film, but as a sequel to it, there’s one point I can raise. The original Jumanji was crazy. Balls-to-the-wall, unfiltered crazy. The board game brought the dangers out into the world, leaving the players, as well as the whole town, to deal with them. It included, among others, monkeys; a very dedicated hunter; a lion; man-eating plants; crocodiles; a stampede of various animals; humongous spiders and mosquitoes; and more! Not only that, but one kid tries to cheat and gets almost turned into a monkey; the floor of the mansion turns into quicksand at one points and traps Alan into the wooden boards; the house contains a centralized monsoon and, later, gets destroyed by an earthquake! If you haven’t seen the original, I’m sorry for spoiling some of that, but trust my word – it was insane, and that’s why we loved it. It got dark, but it remained fun, it was bursting with creativity and it kept pushing the madness further.

Two words: Quicksand floor.

We found Audrey II's little brother!

If there’s one point of criticism that I have at the moment with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, when I compare it to the first film, it’s that it feels toned down. Sure, the video game elements and the transformation of the teenagers into their avatars are important aspects. But other than that, it’s just not as crazy. The film doesn’t feature animals and threats in a variety quite as wide as the original did. There are animals, sure, but they’re not the focus of a lot of scenes. Earthquakes, monsoon, quicksand, man-eating plants, forget them. How cool would it have been if this sequel had a scene with those giant monster plants? Van Pelt goes from a hunter to a dark, creepy adventurer who has gained dominion over animals, yet the movie does very little with this villainous ability. Instead, he sends his biking henchmen at the heroes, which feels pretty bland (not to mention out-of-place) in this environment. If I want to see humans punching humans, there’s a few thousand movies featuring that. Oh, this isn’t bad, I’m just saying that the film, while pretty good, lacks some of the much-beloved insanity of the film that precedes it.

I’ll go into other observations in Part 3.

Meanwhile, make sure to join the Planned All Along Discord server.

VGFlicks: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Part 1)

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

You can feel the contempt towards gamers in every single
minute of the Super Mario Bros. Movie.
I am so sorry for the late Bob Hoskins.

I touched up on that a bit back in my review of Ready Player One, but I’ll expand on this here: There’s been a gradual change of mentality in Hollywood when it comes to video games. The earlier movies based on games oozed a sort of disinterest for the source material, either misrepresenting video games badly, or doing away with any sort of established canon. Earlier movie adaptations of games, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, ditched what we know of the series to instead do… well, whatever nonsense they wanted, because it’s just nonsense in those games, right? Some Italian plumber grows big by eating mushrooms and has to fight some dinosaur monster who kidnaps princesses! (Not that there was much plot in those games to fill 90 minutes of movie back then, mind you.) The trend often peers today as well, though it’s gotten much rarer.

But the times, they are-a changing. The old, non-gaming-savvy Hollywood execs are replaced by the crowd that grew up with Atari, Nintendo, SEGA, PlayStation or Xbox. The kids who loved these pixelated or polygonal heroes then are now grown adults producing, directing, script-writing or acting in movies. It’s not uncool nowadays to be a gamer. Geeks are at the helm of some of the most beloved and profitable franchises in the history of cinema. They know gaming. The odds are much higher that they’ll accurately represent video games or gaming franchises.

Even Lady Gaga recently tweeted about playing Bayonetta!

When you beat Chapter IV of Bayonetta and then realize Chapter V is going to kick your ass ☠️😂 secret #gamergirl THE SHADOW REMAINS TOUGH!!!!!!

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) 4 novembre 2018

I gotta go back to listen to her music now. I just have to.

The idea of “people getting trapped within a game” isn’t new. Virtualization is a topic I touched upon before as a common trope of works about video games or virtual worlds. This movie, however, puts a new spin on the formula.

Remember Jumanji? That 1995 classic film starring the late Robin Williams in a crazy adventure about a board game bringing the terrifying dangers of the jungle into a peaceful neighborhood? Okay, it’s more complex than that, but the base concept is a magical board game. There was something similar in Zathura, released in 2005, trading jungle adventure for science-fiction. And here, more than 20 years after the original film, we have this sequel, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Get your Guns N’ Roses jokes out of the way right now.

This one features the eponymous board game of the original, but in a new flavor. It’s always a risky bet to make a sequel to an adored classic, especially so long after the original, and especially if you’re going such a different route from the original. Did this risky bet pay off? Let’s find out.

Retrospective 2018

If I'm trying to avoid delays, that's a bad start. (In my defense, I had a busier work week than usual.)

2018 was a tough year, huh? That’s a bit of an understatement, for some. Once again, it’s time to reflect on the past 12 months. On the social end of things, life hasn’t been super simple, but on a personal standpoint, 2018 has actually been pretty good for me. I actually worked all year, and my modest job as a nighttime cashier is still the job I’ve kept for the longest (I’ve had it since late March 2017 – that’s 21 months!). In return, it has allowed me to go to conventions, travel around the province for fun (I went to Montreal and Quebec on two separate occasions, trip I would have never done by myself before this year). I met one of my idols (who you can see on my “12 inspirations” list).

It hasn’t been an easy year in gaming, either. Can you believe Metal Gear Survive was released in 2018? I haven’t played it, thank God, but I remember Konami being so greedy as to charge 10$ for new save files in that game. If 2017 was the year of loot boxes, 2018 was the year of greed for a lot of companies, and it was also the year in which governments set their foot down and condemned loot boxes… yet at least one company refused to listen. Electronic Arts decided they would go to court for their right to profit off their customers’ gambling addictions. And I don’t think Bethesda will ever forget the accumulation of failures surrounding Fallout 76. That’s still very fresh in our memories… because every week they screw something up again.

As far as Planned All Along is concerned, I am actually quite proud of the number of games I reviewed this year. A lot of them were smaller Steam titles, because I can condense them into Steam Packs. It’s a change from the longer reviews that are bound to happen when I look at bigger games, whether on Nintendo platforms, or on Steam.

Without further ado, let’s get into the lists for this year. To start, a few stats.

Total views: 627 233

Number of review posts: 384, so only 49 since last year.

Actual number of things reviewed this year, including games, shows and movies: 58. Not half-bad.

Month with the most views: May 2018, with 8006 views.

Now: My 10 favorite reviews of the year!

10. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Month: I thought it was a particularly smart idea to start with a relatively well-made How To guide to play the card game, before jumping into the reviews of both a game that I had wanted to review for a long time, and another I played more than possibly any other on Steam.

9. Antagonist: You can feel in this review just how much I enjoyed this game made on RPG Maker, how much I loved all the parody characters and the zany plot.

8. Evoland: Yet another review in which I loved to report on all the changes the game goes through, and the many instances of self-deprecation about gaming.

7. Cubicle Quest: Yet another RPG Maker game that I loved, it was definitely worth recommending, and it was worth dedicating an entire part to.

6. Ready Player One: This long review of a divisive movie was fun to do. I love to compare between the film and the book, and even though the movie has a lot of the inherent flaws of the story present in the book, it at least tries to improve on a lot of elements, which is good. Admittedly, later articles I’ve read about it do highlight points I had forgotten to talk about, so perhaps it’s not my best review, but you can still enjoy it.

5. Surgeon Simulator: I felt this one had a lot of smart jokes, in no small part thanks to the already quite silly game itself.

4. Chosen 2: As much as I love to talk about good games, sometimes talking about bad ones can be quite enjoyable, and I really wanted to close the book on the two “Chosen” RPG Maker games fairly quickly. This one didn’t disappoint, being so bad. It led to a solid review, in my opinion.

3. Super Mario Galaxy: I really didn’t review a lot of Nintendo games this year, did I? This was my April 1^st review, pretending to take place sometimes in 2050. It was nice to go off-the-wall crazy and imagine the weirdest possible bullcrap about the future. I should have gone crazier, like the Simpsons do every time.

2. Grand Theft Auto V: With six parts, this is one of my longest reviews ever, on a year where I was hoping not to do so many. However, I don’t regret the length of that review, as it was worth doing for the complex story. Loved writing that one.

1. Undertale: The second longest review in the history of this blog, with seven parts – and each one of them was worth it. Especially Parts 5 and 6. I loved paying homage to this game.

Worst 10 games reviewed on the blog in 2018:

10. Dyna Bomb. It feels like a mobile game and plays like a mobile game. I never figured out how or why sometimes the game no longer wants to be played, as if there were lives but we’re never shown them. Sure, it plays well, but the long levels and the money-based power-up system are a turnoff.

9. Dev Guy. At least it’s short, but a lot of jokes are very poor, and the short games that can be played on the colleagues’ computers are just… poor. All in all, a poor experience, but at least it’s easy to 100% its achievements.

8. gravilon. When you can’t make it out of World 1… As a puzzle platformer, it’s okay, but multiple design choices annoyed me enough to stop playing early on. The power-up that switches gravity is small and difficult to get, and the maps get too large, making it difficult to plan ahead, in this game where planning ahead feels necessary.

7. Rabbids Rumble. A shame that this was one of my first 3DS games, purchased at a convention no less. I love the Rabbids, but the ball was dropped this one time. Too few mini-games, and a focus on collectible battlers (which rarely have nothing of interest aside from being new skins), with also too narrow of a selection in the silly attacks that can be used. All in all, a very lackluster title, the most lackluster Rabbids game out there in my opinion.

6. ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS. I knew I would struggle with a title that focuses on multiplayer, but this could have been just fine… had it not been such a mess. It’s pretty and fast-paced, sure, but I just had no interest in it and I feel like the fun of this game would wane pretty quickly.

5. Chosen 2. At least it plays well, and can be finished… even if it’s difficult. I did, however, notice the heightened difficulty, topped by all the biggest issues of the original Chosen RPG – namely, the pointless fanservice. Applied to the main character’s mother and servant, no less. But hey, they barely look like they’re 18, so it’s okay. It also lacked any bonus material that the original had.

4. Who’s Your Daddy. Unlike the previous point, this one does not play well. It’s a broken mess, with very few interesting options for single-player, and the multiplayer is too barren to really be worth it. A game that I wanted to try out, and it left me rather disappointed.

3. Gun Rocket. When you can’t even finish the first world… Seriously, this one is so poorly-made. I would have probably given it a fairer chance, had it not been for the problem that the ship will explode by itself far too often when a level begins. That’s kind of a problem.

2. Disillusions Manga Horror. I thought I had forgotten this one, but no, something this terrible is hard to forget. A poorly-built “adventure” which, for some reason, has time scores, even though it’s basically just a quest for events around small maps. It’s… terrible.

1. LocoSoccer. I could barely play any of this one, it was so damn bad. You’re not told how to play it well, the 2D plane makes for a very poor soccer experience, and of course, the physics are nothing but godawful. Blergh.

Best 10 games reviewed on the blog in 2018:

10. Trick & Treat. This year, I wanted to review more RPG Maker games in order to find diamonds in the rough, and boy did I find. Trick & Treat, while short, is a very fun experience that plays around with a few horror tropes. It’s never really scary, but it’s a pleasure to play through.

9. Cubicle Quest. Speaking of good RPG Maker games, there’s one more. In spite of a few glitches here and there, such as some battles crashing when the fight menu doesn’t appear, this is a complete game that can keep you busy for 15 or more hours. The metaphor substituting problems of the real world by monsters in an RPG setting works surprisingly well, and there’s always more stuff to find. It does require a lot of grinding, though.

8. 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures Deluxe. Sometimes, you just have to be entertaining. While not a perfect title, this little mini-golf experience had many creative levels, and it’s one of the few games that I went back to beat more than once. A strong recommendation.

7. Surgeon Simulator. Yeah, we can say whatever we want about the controls. It’s meant to be difficult. It’s meant to be a clumsy guy operating the same poor sap with nothing but his left hand. But it’s equally bloody and hilarious when failures happen, and the added challenges are all pretty great. Love this one.

6. Evoland. Or how to represent the history of video games in a quick, sweet little RPG. The evolution, you could say.

5. Antagonist. Possibly one of the best RPG Maker games played this year, or it wouldn’t be so high on the list. An engaging story with great twists and turns, a unique idea of making an RPG like a visual novel that includes battles (although the battles are always the same, that’s a bit unfortunate). I love everything about it.

4. Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist. I love this game because it features all the eras of Yu-Gi-Oh!, all the characters I enjoy from the series. Over four hundred possible duels, and more options than that… I am still trying to collect all the cards, by the way. And complete every single deck in the game. It’s long, I have more than 250 hours on this one.

3. Super Mario Galaxy. Just a great Mario title, extremely creative and quite challenging at times. It does have a few flaws, such as the mere existence of the Spring Mushroom, but other than that it’s an awesome Wii title.

2. Undertale. I adore this one, because I love the moral and how it permeates the entirety of the story. There are hundreds of moments of brilliance in this story, and though I love the review I made for it, I don’t think I could have made this one justice. Play it. Now.

1. Grand Theft Auto V. With so much content and missions to do, as well as this gigantic map to visit, this had to be my Number 1. I spent a lot of time visiting the map of this game, and though I haven’t actually seen everything that can be seen, I can safely say I would gladly go back anytime.

The 10 wishes I had for this blog on 2018, and whether I accomplished them in the past 12 months.

10. The fifth anniversary review: Undertale. I did that one!

9. I realize that point was about the various video game movies coming out in 2018, though I didn’t quite phrase it that way. I did review Ready Player One this year, a few months only after its release. A review of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is ready and coming, and I reviewed Ralph Breaks the Internet as a side-review, so there’s that. However, this year was severely lacking in movie reviews, probably due to the two big game reviews of 2018, and the various hiatuses caused by my job and lack of free time.

8. More streaming? I am not quite sure I actually achieved that one. I do know I played a lot of Jackbox games with friends (namely, Drawful 2 and Quiplash), but I don’t know if I could say that I streamed more this year than in 2017.

7. A Sonic Month? I unfortunately couldn’t. Would’ve ben great though.

6. A Rabbids month? I did that one! I’m happy.

5. Constant updates on my Steam collection. I didn’t quite do that one, mostly because I realized rather quickly that such a thing would not be very useful. I don’t review quite enough games to make that worth it. However, I will be using this Retrospective for a quick update on my collection.

4. A redesign of the blog? I didn’t do that, unfortunately.

3. A review of Grand Theft Auto V : I did that one!

2. Making the Planned All Along community stronger. With the shutdown of Google+ this year, I will be moving my community to Discord, where I should be able to keep up with the news and the fans. It should help the community quite a bit.

1. A proper video review. I didn’t do that, unfortunately.

My projects for 2019:

10. A great anniversary review. For the sixth anniversary, I am still weighing my options. I have no shortage of long games on Steam, but I also have more than a few titles that I have on the Wii’s Virtual Console, or among my Nintendo 3DS games, that I could use as my anniversary review. I might try to go for a game that isn’t a first-party Nintendo title.

9. A Sonic Month. I’ll try this again! Mind you, I don’t have a choice but to make this happen eventually, as I still have two Sonic games on the Wii… and a LOT of Sonic games on Steam, in part thanks to a bundle purchased recently.

8. More Steam Packs? It’s in the plans. I have a new methodology in which I play through the shorter games of my collection, which means I can get through many games quickly. It helps quite a bit. I don’t want my blog to be nothing but Steam Packs and Steam game reviews, but considering the size of my Steam collection…

7. A redesign of the site during the summer? I’ll see what I can do.

6. Update everything on the blog. By that, I mean all the additional pages. I want to keep the Archives updated, and add more to the About Me, Title Cards, Links, Thanks and Extras of the site

5. A proper Halloween special: I didn’t have one this year, and it’s a missed opportunity in my opinion as there are many games I could have reviewed for that occasion. I have quite a few “horror” Steam games, as well as at least one Wii game that could have fit the bill.

4. More streaming. I promise this every time, and I always fail. Maybe I will actually do it in 2019.

3. Create title cards for a lot of old reviews that don’t have any. It’s a challenge I set for myself, and it’s something I have been trying to do since 2015. If I wasn’t lacking the time to do these, I would. Perhaps I’ll find some time this year.

2. An odd choice, but… Less long reviews. If there’s one thing I realized in 2018, it’s that longer reviews take much more time to be made. These reviews can cause me to go on hiatus until they’re ready, and I don’t like to do that. However, I know I still have some big games to review, I just hope I won’t end up making long reviews too often.

1. Create a stronger community through a Planned All Along Discord server. You can access it here. It’s still just starting, but if I could have a few members it would be sweet.

And now, I have actually gathered enough titles reviewed on Steam to go back and change things around a bit. One thing I may have forgotten to mention is that I delete from my collection whichever titles I felt were bad, or the ones I plain didn't like. In spite of that, I still have 47 games currently in the Reviewed folder of my Steam library. Even then, I feel a start-of-year cleanup is required. I will remove 4 titles among those, and then I will edit my Favorites list to be approximately 1/4th of the list of remaining games. Somes choices will be tough.

Games removed:
Airscape: The Fall of Gravity
Intelligent Design: An Evolutionary Sandbox
Jigoku Kisetsukan: Sense of the Seasons
Worm.Is The Game

New list of favorites:
3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures Deluxe
Bastion
Castle of Illusion
Cuphead
DuckTales Remastered
GTA V
Quiplash
Rayman Origins
Surgeon Simulator
Undertale
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist

Alright then, see you throughout 2019 for more reviews.

Planned All Along: My Twelve Inspirations (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1.

Time to continue this list with the next and last six items on the list. I need to repeat that they’re not in any particular order, as these are people who shaped up my reviewing style over the years, and to whom I’m especially grateful for their content. Or for merely being people I know and whom I interact with, in real life or on social media (usually the latter, obviously). Let’s get into it!

7. The Mysterious Mr. Enter

Oh boy, here I go again with the controversial choices! The Mysterious Mr. Enter is an animation reviewer on YouTube, who has since turned this into his job thanks to Patreon. He has reviewed a lot of episodes from shows, many of them from SpongeBob, Family Guy or Teen Titans Go over the past five years, but don't go say those are his only targets. Anything will be fair game as long as it’s bad enough, even movies. Oh, he’s not only a negative critic; he has split his work in two shows, Animated Atrocities (for terrible media) and Admirable Animations (to praise animated TV show episodes, shorts, or movies that he feels deserve it), with attempts at branching out to other media. I say he’s a controversial figure because his style of review and his opinions haven’t always been well-received. Also, he’s been on the receiving end of a lot of trolling and mockery, some of which came from other members of the “animation review community” of YouTube (though many have apologized after realizing that these mockeries went too far and trolls from their own fan bases were harassing Enter). There are people out there who see him only as an average critic, which is a perfectly valid opinion, and I’ll leave out the criticisms levied at him… Except for one.

See, one thing said about him is that he takes cartoons too seriously. Yeah, just relax, it’s not like cartoons are an important part of children’s media or anything, right? He outlines that point, and the problem with that line of thought, at the start of his review of the Arthur episode “April 9^th”.

His reasoning is sound: Cartoons are a major element in a kid’s life and growth, which means that parents shouldn’t just let them watch any crap that’s on TV (or on YouTube) that will appeal to the lowest common denominator. And just like how parents have a duty to look over their children’s entertainment, animation producers should feel that they have a duty to present stories and morals that will help the child’s growth, not merely do gross-out jokes because it’s popular, or present morals that are detrimental to the children watching. Even if it doesn’t seem so, these cartoons will have a great impact on these kids, greater than anyone can imagine. Sometimes, it may cross past mere children's entertainment, and become true art.

When you think about it, the same goes for video games; if something is problematic, it’s best to point it out.

What’s the lesson here? Whatever you are reviewing, take it seriously. Never treat your analysis and review like it’s a joke. Praise the good, condemn the bad. Always remember that there are actual people on the production end of things. Which also means that whichever bad decisions have made it into a terrible piece of media, entire teams are responsible for them. They don’t deserve harassment over this, but their mistakes can and should be pointed out in the hopes that they’re not repeated.

8. Todd in the Shadows

Adding to the list of Channel Awesome producers who’ve had an influence on me, there’s Todd in the Shadows, the pop music reviewer with a unique gimmick. He stays anonymous by wearing a mask and staying in the dark, and he does his reviews sitting at his keyboard. He’s very thorough in his research, and offers an in-depth look at the artists he covers. He has added sub-series to his show, such as One Hit Wonderland (in which he analyzes a one-hit wonder band and their greatest hit, and looks back on their short fame and why it didn’t last) or Trainwreckords (in which he analyzes the music albums that basically ended an artist or band’s career).

Among the CA crew, he’s one of the reviewers that people still watch to this day. He has managed to keep his content fresh and interesting. Unlike a lot of reviewers that went more for comedy then deeper discussion in their early days as online video reviewers, he always had a more analytical side to his videos. Unlike most content producers on here, whom I’ve learned lessons from, I am not entirely certain what I learned from watching Todd regularly. Is it possible that his analytical side rubbed off on me? Perhaps, but then again, the fad on YouTube has moved slowly from comedic content to in-depth analyses (à la Lindsay Ellis) or documentaries (think of series like Down the Rabbit Hole or Defunctland). He still remains, in my opinion, one of the better examples of the analytical YouTube series that still manages to keep some room for comedy here and there, which is the best way I could describe my blog nowadays. So, in a way, I guess he did have an influence on me.

He’s great. You should totally watch his series. They’re super-interesting.

9. Kyle Kallgren

I’m not the most knowledgeable on film theory. I followed few film classes during my two years of college and three years of university. I know a lot of terms. I can tell you what a Dutch angle is, I can talk about metanarratives and other concepts related to stories and filmmaking, but I don't know nearly as much as this guy. Kyle Kallgren, who became known through his series Brows Held High on YouTube, was a very interesting member of Channel Awesome, and though he left that site in 2015, he has kept on producing content of the same caliber. Content that I love.

Kyle reviews artistic films that would hardly be known to the common American moviegoer. Oh, that doesn’t mean that he’s too high-brow for them, on the contrary – I found many of his videos to be great takes in making those artistic films more approachable. In offering his own opinion of these films, he presents his point using many terms of film study, vulgarizing for the viewers, explaining their meaning. Some of the films reviewed are bizarre, unexpected, or look straight-up boring on the surface (think Gerry or Blue). Yet, his opinion and analysis added to the review make for an entertaining and educative series. He may have taught me more than my film classes ever did.

His content may not please everyone, but it’s definitely great if you have interest in film discussion beyond the simple review. And I can definitely say that his videos have encouraged me to not only expand on analysis of the works I review, but also to improve constantly and offer new perspectives on those works. And I shouldn’t be afraid of going in-depth; if it’s entertaining enough, the readers will enjoy it.

While I’m at it, shout-out to all the ex-Channel Awesome producers that I still watch to this day, but haven’t mentioned on this list due to it being already pretty long:

Lindsay Ellis, Luke Spencer, Suede, Guru Larry, Leon Thomas, Benjamin Daniel, Angry Joe, The Rap Critic, ERod…

With a list that long, it’s a miracle that I find any time to actually write all of this.

10. Nick Nocturne

Wait... I can find something... see, he never appeared on camera... He only does voiceovers... wait, let me find an artist's rendition.

Ah, there you go. I started watching Nick’s video series Night Mind sometime in 2017, so he’s still fairly recent as one of my inspirations, and that's also why he's lower on the list. Nick specializes in discussing horror, whether it’s movies or YouTube webseries, and in ARGs. That term stands for Augmented Reality Game, and usually involves a creator building an intrigue through social media (frequently YouTube, but on other social networks as well), with puzzles to solve and plot threads for the viewers to figure out. He goes in-depth and discusses these ARGs, even pointing out what’s been done right and what hasn’t. He will be quick to point out the type of puzzle that comes back frequently, such as secret codes or hidden messages in a webpage’s source code. And, like any good reviewer, he will give praise where due, especially if a webseries does something unique.

I joined the Night Mind Patreon Discord last year, where Nick interacts once in a while (on top of hosting a weekly event), so I’ve had a chance to discuss with the guy. Over the last year, he has been questioning his own content, wondering if he was doing things correctly (because of drama I won’t talk about here), and he’s been eager to try out new things. In fact, it’s one of his recent videos, in which he discusses his influences and favorite YouTube channels, and recommends them to his viewers, that made me decide to write this list.

I learned a few things on the art of producing online content, thanks to Nick. On a more personal side of things: Don’t be afraid of admitting your mistakes. Don’t ignore them; acknowledge them, apologize for them. Fans love and respect a creator that admits their mistakes. The next lesson, he stated multiple times, but discussed it during panels on the first convention he was invited to as a guest: On the Internet, find your niche. Offer content that nobody else is offering. You’re guaranteed to find an audience. The last lesson is discussed in a few of his videos. The quote is actually longer and is about creating fan works based on existing material, but the overall message can apply to all creation. Open quote: “Be as original, unique, creative, intelligent, and entertaining as possible. Do something that means something, that has a message, that qualifies as art […]”. Solid advice for anyone who decides to create, whether it's something online or any other sort of media.

11. Testeur Alpha

Just because the “age of angry critics” on YouTube is over doesn’t mean it can't be fun to watch once in a while. And as I said, Doug Walker inspired a lot of people to start making their own web show. The Quebec YouTube gaming scene isn’t as huge as the American one, but it’s still pretty interesting, from convention reporters to collectors giving advice on repairing old games. The one that stuck out the most with me is Testeur Alpha (Tester Alpha), who goes by the online nickname Alpha, who makes videos featuring his accomplice Beta. (They got a theme going on.)

As far as angry reviewer go, I personally feel that his video series has a lot of creativity behind it. There’s the occasional storyline (involving some opponent called Omega and his lackey Psi – like I said, there’s a theme). There are running gag characters such as Fisher, the nasty dev who has apparently made every horrible game in existence, or Konrad the eternally-annoyed delivery man. I could do without some of the other jokes, but otherwise it’s solid content. (Though fair warning, it's probably the most low-brow series on this list.)

Eventually, Alpha and Beta started streaming on YouTube and Twitch, and gained enough subscribers to become Twitch partners. They share the account and try to stream at least three out of seven days each week, with sometimes extra streams depending on the mood. They might be the first streamers that I’m really following. It’s great to see the difference between the characters on the show, and the guys in everyday conversations (even if they still claim to be their characters on-stream). On top of that, Alpha doesn’t have that big of a fan base yet, so he can hop onto the Discord and chat around whenever he feels like it. There are advantages to having a smaller fan base, it seems. Odd lesson to take from that, but hey, it’s cool.

Oh, and he likes metal music, so that's another good thing there.

12. My own family

Of course. I wouldn’t be who I am now without them. I’ve known them for more than twenty-six years, and I can say they’ve raised me well. My sense of morality, part of my comedy style, most of my personality, a lot of that has been shaped up by my life with them. My parents, whom I love dearly, and who have always looked out for me. It’s not cheap to add them to this list as I can safely say they have always been my greatest influence.

On each of my projects, they backed me. They shared my pride, my joy, whenever a project went well. They may have helped me through my frustrations when something didn’t go right. They gave me everything I needed, and often gave me what I wanted, whenever they could (and whenever it was beneficial for me). At times I may have been spoiled, but I can't say they spoiled me rotten. They were smart enough to prevent that.

They were supportive of me throughout these 5+ years, even enquiring on the state of the blog, and now that I have discussed the possibility of writing a book, they’re supporting me even further. They ask how the night went when I come back from work in the morning. Even as I write these lines about how lucky I am, I don’t think I still quite realize how lucky I am to have such a fantastic family. 

Mom, dad, I don’t think I tell you this enough, but thank you. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me.

And to all my readers: May you have a happy 2019. May you receive good news, may you accomplish great things, and may your projects come to fruition. See you tomorrow, next year.

Don't forget to join the Planned All Along Discord server!