Movie Review: Inside Out 2

It's getting a little crowded in here.

The original Inside Out, released in 2015 (nine years ago! Time flies. Is that dust on me?), easily stands as one of my favorite Pixar films, and it tends to rank high on lists of fan favorites. It had a story that perfectly blended the very real struggles of Riley, its main character in the "real world", and how those struggles impact her brain world and her emotions, Joy and Sadness in particular.

Anyone who works in psychiatry or with children tends to point to it as an amazing way to visualize many concepts related to the brain and how emotions impact what we do, how we think, and how we grow up. It's a metaphor so multi-layered that even now, studying the first film still brings up new points, depending on how you interpret them. Just a brilliant, brilliant movie from start to finish.

Notably, that film had gone through a lot of brainstorming during development, before the final concept was settled on the five emotions. All of them (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear) have the basic function of the emotion they represent, until you realize that they have secondary functions more closely tied to personality (Sadness creates empathy, and Anger's aggressivity channels into assertiveness and confidence, to give two examples). Needless to say, this sequel directed by Kelsey Mann needs to add to these solid bases, and its additions need to be just as strong.

The story

Two years have passed since the events of the first Inside Out; Riley is now 13. She hasn't changed much yet; she's still the nice, hockey-loving, family-loving girl. The greater changes have been in her brain, where her five emotions have been adapting to the increasing complexity of their girl's psyche, a result of puberty.

The first change has been the addition of something even stronger than Core Memories: Riley's sense of self, built from a large collection of memories highlighting every positive personality trait she has. The other change, created by Joy herself, is a contraption allowing the emotions to send unwanted, "bad" memories all the way to the back of Riley's mind.

Because everything happens at the same time, puberty hits the girl on the very morning that she's leaving for hockey camp with her two best friends. And on the trip, she learns that they'll be going to a different high school, making this possibly their last weekend together. And because that's not enough, her idol, Valentina Ortiz, the captain of the high school hockey team, the Fire Hawks, is at the camp alongside a coach Riley feels the need to impress, forcing her into a difficult decision between friends and future.

And if the emotions thought they could help, well - that's when the new ones decide to come in. First is Anxiety, who keeps planning for Riley's future, without realizing that she's messing up the girl's present as a result. The other new emotions - Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui - are quick to come in and further cause chaos, despite their best intentions. Could be fine, were it not that Anxiety, in her attempts to make Riley fit in with the cool Fire Hawks, tosses Riley's sense of self at the back of her mind, then has all five of the original emotions "bottled up" and sent away. Thus, Joy and the others must escape, retrieve their girl's sense of self, and return to the emotion headquarters before the weekend is over.

The review

Maybe it says more about the overall quality of the studio's input, and maybe this is one of those films that will get leagues better with each rewatch, but while the original is safely near the top, I don't know if this one would even break my Top 10 when it comes to Pixar's works. There is an impression, already echoed by others, that this feels just like more of the same. Which... I only partially agree with.

Yeah, it's once again the concept of some emotions having to travel across Riley's psyche to get back home (a type of story told many, many times by Pixar), all presented in this metaphorical backdrop. Sure. But as I said before, I personally consider a good sequel one that builds upon the foundation of the movie it follows up on, by adding new interesting elements of its own. By that metric alone, this sequel would be a success, as it not only brings up a swath of new details; the four additional emotions, but also elements of the "brain world", or how those elements evolve as Riley grows up. Sure enough, this will be a fantastic companion piece to its predecessor, to explain even more concepts to a wider audience. So yeah, unfortunately a large part of this movie's plot feels directly lifted from the one it follows up on, but I do hope it brings enough differences to the table to be worth watching regardless.

It bears repeating that a large portion of the movie lies on Envy, Embarrassment, Ennui, and especially Anxiety, whose roles appear antagonistic. However, you can also tell that the film was written cleverly to remind you that, just like the original five, the new four emotions also want Riley's growth and well-being. It's easy to forget, with all the chaos they end up causing. I appreciate that these new emotions are varied, and that their looks are relevant to their purpose. Focusing on anxiety might help make the film especially important in this day and age.

Though I did greatly enjoy it, something felt... I wouldn't say lesser or lacking. More like I wasn't exactly at this point in my life where this would resonate with me the most. I haven't been a teenager in a long time, though I definitely recognize a lot of the little moments and interactions Riley lives as things I could've done. And I'd lie if I said I wasn't dealing with anxiety too, though some scenes the movie presents in relation to anxiety are surprisingly intense, even for Pixar.

However, Kelsey Mann has been on record saying that he thought of this sequel's story while his own daughter was going through puberty. I feel like this movie will especially resonate with parents going through the same situation, be it with a son or daughter, and who can then use this movie as a jumping point to explain what's going on or, perhaps even, understand it themselves. That's the power of metaphors.

As a result, the film didn't impact me as much as I wish it had, when compared to other entries from Pixar. It may feel like a bit of a disappointment, but at the same time, it further speaks to the sheer level of quality in both animation and writing we've come to expect from them. Honestly? Even with that downside, it's a great movie, and a definite recommendation.

Quick Review: The Darkness II

He's condensed 90's edge.

I usually open on a quip, but this one I need to explain: The Darkness is a comic book series originally written by Garth Ennis under Top Cow Productions, a partner studio of Image Comics. This franchise, which has one of the most basic names ever, follows Jackie Estacado, a young mafia hitman who, on his 21st birthday, becomes the host of an ancient Eldritch entity known as The Darkness, which grants him a vast array of powers, including summoning imp-like demons. He’s stuck with the abomination until it gets what it wants from him, which doesn’t stop him from using its family-unfriendly powers in the best way he can manage. That is, VERY anti-heroically.

The franchise began in comics, but also had two games, the second of which I’m covering today. Developed by Digital Extremes, published by 2K and released to Steam on February 9th, 2012, this is a sequel to a first The Darkness game released in 2007.

Well! A dinner and a show!

I never played the first game, but a helpful catch-up intro explains its events: When the Franchetti family, which Jackie worked for, went after him because of the Darkness and killed his love Jenny, he rampaged through them and killed their head, taking that throne for himself. For two years, he keeps the entity dormant, but on a regular night at the restaurant, he is ambushed by a dangerous group and must call his demons into action.

You don't wanna know what the demon arms are gonna do
to that guy we just grabbed.

Lots of controls here. This is a shooting game with all that implies (shoot at enemies, grab guns, reload firearms, take cover), but the Darkness has its own set of abilities and mechanics. Using Q, your Mock-Venom arms can grab items and throw them at attackers (you can even grab the attackers themselves when they’re stunned), take their guns from afar, and even slash using the mouse wheel. The Darkness regenerates Jackie’s health over time, and we usually have an imp-demon by our side as well.

Killing enemies awards points, with more gained for creative kills. You spend those points in a skill tree, first unlocking the ability to eat the hearts of those you murder to regain health, and only getting more dangerous from there. The entity’s weakness is light; in well-lit places, its powers are nullified. In those situations, you can destroy whatever creates light around you to regain these abilities.

As a mafiosi, you can never have enough bullets.

He's like the grandpa with a hit count in the hundreds we
all wished we had brown up with.

In-between action missions, we come back to the luxurious manor and catch up with the mafiosi working under Jackie. And among many cinematic moments in the game, our protagonist (it would be difficult to call him a hero) is plagued by visions of his love Jenny, with him still suffering from her loss. All this while he investigates leads on the restaurant hit, which takes him to a cult strangely tied to the Darkness...

When the guns aren't enough, there's always the option to
throw a fucking gas container at the enemy's head.

In case the bloody fates you inflict on enemies weren’t a hint, this is an M-rated game. It’s got dark mature themes, and the comedy goes exactly where you’d expect. Your imp pisses on corpses. Characters casually talk about violence and sex, occasionally at the same time. We even visit a brothel as part of a mission. It would be charitable to say this story has shades of grey; more like shades of black, as actual good characters are mighty rare here. It’s a raw, disturbing story; consider yourself warned. That said, if you like cinematic storytelling, you’re going to find a decent amount of it here.

I'm not great at first-person shooters. However, I appreciate that this one has variety by including such a wide array of unlockable abilities, powers and means to kill enemies. It also means that enemies are plentiful and, therefore, you need to get good at using all these powers if you want to survive.

These villains are smart enough to bring in guys with big
lights on the field to weaken the Darkness.
Jackie and Alan Wake would totally get along. /s

I ran into a few issues of my own: I struggled to use the arm slice attack on specific targets. I got stuck in a vent – thankfully that could be solved by looking for a fix online. Ammo can be tricky; Jackie can carry up to 4 guns (and dual-wield), but when he picks up a new gun, he tosses away the old one, which lies around even without ammo so you may end up in situations where it’s hard to find guns with ammo, instead grabbing empty ones you threw away before. If you want to explore, there’s an extra goal in finding every Relic, which comes with heaps of worldbuilding, and there are extra missions known as the Vendettas to try out.

Another annoying enemy is this whip guy, who literally
whips the guns away from your hands. Real fun when you
need to put bullets in people. Good thing you have demon arms.

I liked this one just fine, enough to finish it at least, and though I don’t know whether I’ll touch it again, I can say I at least had a good time with it. If FPSs are your jam, though this one’s a bit on the short end, it might provide enough of a twist on the classic formula to be worth checking out.

The Darkness II is available on Steam for 29.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Costume Quest

Never too early for Halloween. Can we – can we swap out “Christmas in July” for “Halloween in July”? I’d much rather have that.

A product of Double Fine Productions released on Steam on October 14th, 2011, Costume Quest tells the story of twin siblings who go out trick-or-treating. You select your character – older sister Wren, 10 minutes younger brother Reynold – then go out to fill your bag with candy. Your selected character goes as a robot, the other dressed as a piece of candy corn.

Don't worry, they do love each other. It might take some
monster invasion for them to show it, though.

The first game where you save the world by trick-or-treating.

Things don’t go as planned. When the kids knock on their second door, it opens to a goblin-like monster known as a Grubbin, which steals your candy corn sibling and takes them to their base. These creatures have been tasked with stealing all the candy in town! You cannot enter the base, and what’s worse, some witch shows up and reduces your robot costume to nothing! You must now rescue your sibling, not out of love, but because you’ll be grounded if you don’t. Your first task? Rebuild your costume out of materials found in treasure chests in the neighborhood. Then, go kick some goblin butt.

Lots to do, indeed.

On the way, you make friends who will help on your quest, find new costumes with their own usefulness while exploring (the robot costume lets you move fast and jump ramps, the knight’s shield protects from falling things, etc.). There’s a lot of collectibles to look for: Trading cards showing rare treats; badges you can buy with candy at the park, giving perks in combat; lots of side-quests to look for; and, finally, more pieces to create costumes, which can then be worn by your party members.

An unexpected stop by the shopping mall...
...where monsters are also stealing all the candy...

For all intents and purposes, and for most battles, this is
basically "Baby's first RPG"; mechanics are simple, there
are no items, special moves unlock every 3rd turn, and
you rarely need to think up complex strategies.

The other half of this game is a turn-based RPG, in which the children turn into their costumes to fight the Grubbins. Combat relies heavily on action commands, not unlike, say, Paper Mario or South Park: The Stick of Truth. Each costume has its niche and uses in battle as well, from the offensive robot or space ranger to the more supportive knight or Statue of Liberty. On top of that, you can use badges (stamps) for added effects in battle. If you lose a battle? You can just start it over, no worse for wear. Later, you learn to smack an enemy from behind in the overworld to inflict preemptive damage.

The Statue of Liberty heals the party.
That costume stayed in my team for most of the game.

I literally played these fights with fingers resting on
E, Q, Shift and Space the whole time.

However, when defending and for some attacks, the action command is randomized between Q, E, Shift and Space rather than specific to each action, so you can’t prepare to press a key known in advance. I would also say that encounter difficulty is uneven; when I had a party of 2, some regular enemy teams were harder than bosses, and nigh impossible without switching costumes and badges around. Inversely, when the party grew to 3, most battles became a cakewalk. And then, the final bosses were such puzzles that they were barely beatable even with a specific team+badge loadout.

Dorsilla the Witch, second-to-last boss in the game, was
tough because, like the true final boss (and the final boss
of the DLC), there was a puzzle element to her fight.

The whole thing is candy-wrapped in Double Fine’s comedic storytelling. Funny moments abound, especially in silly situations and character banter. You can explore every nook and cranny for candy, but it only really serves to buy badges. In each area, you must visit every house or store to progress. Oh, and on my first save file, 2.5 hours in, the game autosaved due to progressing a quest while my character was stuck between props, making it impossible to leave. I had to start the whole damn thing over; thankfully I speedran it, so I only lost another hour, but it sucked to encounter a glitch like that. But barring that one sore point, everything else remained enjoyable.

For a DLC called "Grubbins on Ice", there isn't a lot
of ice in the area.

The game came with a one-chapter DLC titled Grubbins on Ice, where one of the siblings’ friend is accidentally taken to the monsters’ world during winter and the kids run in to save her. A sequel was also released three years later if you liked this one enough. This one’s fine, and easy enough (barring a few places) that I could recommend it for kids.

Costume Quest is available on Steam for 9.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Calico

“What’s your gaming like lately, Nic?” Oh, y’know, one day I play a beat’em-up, later I get progress done on a stealth game, next a viking survival, and now I play a cutesy relationship/kitchen game. Variety!

There isn't much in here yet, but that'll change soon.

Developed by Peachy Keen Games, published by Whitethorn Games and Maple Whispering Unlimited and released on December 15th, 2020, Calico is described as a community sim. Your character inherited a cat café set on a magical, star-shaped island, and it is your duty to bring it back to full glory. After the very intricate character creation, we appear on the very pink island and we meet the mayor, who explains how things work around here. There’s a lot of magic going around; don’t question it, we don’t have to explain it. The animals around the island are all perfectly tamed, you can choose any of them to join the café so your customers will pet and play with them.

Because I’m a rebel, my first café animal was a crow.

It's my café, I'mma do what I want. Crow it is.
I'm gonna call him Malphas.

Sometimes they even give you new recipes!

Of course, what’s a shop without customers? You befriend the residents by completing side-quests for them. Some have their preferences regarding the style in the café, so you can decorate with furniture to please everyone. Along the way, you’ll collect furniture, toys for the animals you adopt for the café, and clothes and accessories for your character. At first, the paths to the branches of the star are blocked off, leaving only the center to explore; you solve that by completing major quests involving the available NPCs, and in the new areas you meet new folks/customers, and get more quests to complete.

Bring out the home decorator in you!

Milk... sugar, spice, and everything nice...

You’ll also find new recipes. However, the way you make the recipes is... unconventional. You get shrunk and platform your way around the kitchen, carrying the ingredients to the cooking pot and playing mini-games to bake the pastries. I mean, sure, that makes it different from classic cooking games. Although, we walk all over our recipes, and we let a cat knead the dough. I don’t think that’s sanitary. *cough cough* I know, magic, yadda yadda. At least it leads to a decent variety in mini-games.

Yup! Thanks for coming to the café, by the way!

I appreciate the cozy atmosphere of this one, nobody can get hurt (Fall damage? What’s that?), there’s never any stress. There’s a lot to discover, be it the animals you can pet, carry, or befriend, the potions you can use for various effects (like making small animals big enough to be ridden), and other cute stuff like that. It oozes positivity all around, promoting body positivity, inclusivity, and open-mindedness.

No, this isn't an impromptu yoga session, I'm just
ragdolling like crazy.

The weaknesses now: There’s issues with collision and clipping all over the place, which is notable when your character walks around, goes uphill, or whenever ragdoll physics kick in and an animal becomes a writhing mess for a moment. The number of times a pet at the café got stuck on furniture... “Janky” is the best way to describe it. I would also say that there’s little incentive in doing recipes more than once. Though, you must replace those that get stale, and also you get paid more for a delicacy if you get a Gold or Silver star on it, by completing it quickly.

I’d also say there’s an issue with quests and character interactions. It’s a nice touch that every NPC has its own agency and moves around the world, but it can make finding them tricky (good thing the map always shows their location). It also leads to situations where you have someone asking you to talk to someone else, who can be right next to them. Writing is occasionally odd; you can close a quest with a character, then talk to them again right away, and they’ll open with, “Well since you helped me the other day...”

The flying broom is basically the reward for beating the game.
It lets you see the place in a whole new way.

It’s a game made to be casual and soothing. You’ll hardly find anything challenging here, but that’s by design. It’s the sort of game I'd recommend you get it for a child, but its features make it an alright option for anyone in need of something sweet and simple to wind down.

Calico is available on Steam for 11.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Asterix and Obelix: Slap Them All!

Goody goody goody, let’s beat up some Romans! Gotta slap them all!

Those are only the first Romans of... oh, a couple thousands.

Developed by Mr. Nutz Studio, published by Microids and released on December 7th, 2021, today’s title is my first Asterix game! It’s taken me so long to play one. Shame, too, I love that franchise! Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All! is a great homage in three ways. One, it’s completely hand-drawn, with an art style very close to the original comics and animated films. Two, it’s a beat’em-up, the best genre you could  adapt an Asterix story into, since it’s the perfect way to have the titular Gauls punch and brawl their way through hordes of enemies. And three, its levels retell six stories from the comics.

"One free go on the carousel!" "Go see if I'm in Lutecia!"
"Let's clear the air!" Over and over.

Study Asterix and Obelix's vast movesets, and you’ll recognize many of their signature attacks. Both punching enemies upwards, Asterix doing a tornado of punches, Obelix slapping a Roman he's holding or wiping the floor with him... You can swap between Asterix and Obelix by pressing 1, can block by pressing 2. Standard attacks are done with Z, special moves with X. Grab enemies with C. Each Gaul has a meter of 5 thunders, which are spent on special moves. When they’re all gone, you must wait for them to refill before you can use special moves again. Combos are done by a combination of a direction arrow and an attack button. You can dash forward by pressing left or right twice. Every combat options comes with its little comments from each Gaul. Those comments tend to get repetitive.

Look at how diligent he is at slapping the sh*t out of any
enemy in his way. Roman, pirate, brigand, doesn't matter.

Oh, and if the health of the Gaul you’re playing as hits 0, you lose. No switching to the other. All you can do is start the level over. Did I mention levels in this game are long? Because they are. Asterix and Obelix play somewhat differently, as well. Obelix has more variety, but he’s slower and a larger target, so enemies hit him easily. Asterix is shorter and faster, so he’s easier to use in many situations. Bored with single-player? This game can also be played with a friend.

More of these would have been nice, for variety.

New enemies are frequently introduced, but aside from bosses, few have any interesting gimmicks aside from new attacks. In the end, it’s a beat’em-up where most stages are “go right, beat bunch of enemies, go right, beat bunch of enemies”. There’s a few minigames involving button-mash racing or breaking several barrels in a time limit. It’s fine for the first half, chapters 1 to 3... but by the fourth, and all the way to the end of the sixth, the repetitiveness is a sore point.

If that looks like complete and utter chaos... that's because it is.

There’s a lot of barrels to be found around stages, containing health-restoring items or extra coins for score. There’s a scoring system, with points earned when doing attacks, breaking obstacles, and picking up the coins dropped by enemies. A scoring system feels very unnecessary. After beating the game once, you unlock a Free Play mode allowing you to replay any stage you want.

Should you get it? If you want to see another awesome example of a hand-drawn game (as it does look great), or if you are a huge fan of the Asterix series, or a fan of beat’em-ups in general, then maybe. Just maybe. I enjoyed my time at first, but while it was fun to see some classic stories unravel, ultimately by the end it just felt long and repetitive. The sequel released last year promises more variety and content, as well as an original story, but I don't know if I'll ever get it.

If you are interested, Asterix and Obelix – Slap Them All! Is available on Steam for 24.99$ USD.