Forums > Contributor Zone > Review of the Week July 5 - 11: Your mother ate my dog!

You know, I thought I'd settled into my position at work, but then things got crazy again. I figured last week would mark my triumphant return to games writing and HG, but a shitstorm decided to brew right in my very hospital. Then the weekend rolled around, and I was busy with GO Fest on Pokemon GO. I can't complain, though, because I made out like a bandit in that two-day event. I managed to snag three shiny Deino, two shiny Roggenrola, finally register Sawk and Chatot (both of which are region-locked, but were temporarily available worldwide for the event), among other great things (such as Meloetta, who debuted this weekend). Plus, I landed shiny Cobalion and the only three released legendaries I didn't have: Palkia, Reshiram, and Zekrom.

But enough about mobile creature collecting. You want to read about horror movies. Yeah, I know this is all about reviews, but I'm still going to yammer about scary things.

Marebito (2004)- Shinya Tsukamoto plays a cameraman obsessed with fear who ventures into the depths of Tokyo. There he finds a mysterious woman who is quite possibly one of the deros author Richard Shaver wrote about. He brings her back to the surface and attempts to care for her, but begins to wonder if all of this is just a delusion. This one isn't an incredibly scary film, but parts of it are a bit unnerving. Mainly, Tuskamoto's typically unhinged performance is great and the chatter surrounding it is interesting, to say the least.

Night Angel (1990)- The demon Lilith takes the form of a gorgeous woman and attempts to take over the world by becoming the cover girl for a fashion magazine. Only an art director and his girlfriend stand in her way... This one is cheesy as all hell, and stylistically similar to 976-EVIL. It's not by any means a great horror flick, but I don't think it was intended to be. It's got that midnight movie feel that comes with a lot of '90s horror. Plus, it's got Karen Black and Doug Jones (in human form--he's not the monster this time), so what's not to love?


Mariner - Pikmin 3 ***SECOND PLACE***
This is a solid write-up that does a good job of describing how the game works, plus offers detailed points that support the overall score. Rather than picking at one or two major points, you dissected the game and looked at which pieces worked, which didn't, which were handled better before, etc. The end result is a close examination of a game that's okay, but should've been better.


OD - Lords of the Fallen ***REVIEW OF THE WEEK***
It's impossible to discuss this game without bringing up Dark Souls. It's very obviously designed to be a "me-too" that there's no way around it. DS becomes the standard by which you measure this game, and you do so from the perspective of someone who's had his share of FromSoft madness and knows what the hell he's talking about. Now, my challenge to you: Do the same for Immortal: Unchained.


Pickhut - Alex Kidd ***THIRD PLACE***
Having only played one Alex Kidd game once and deciding it was not my thing, I appreciated having the brief history lesson because I know very little about this game. This is an overall good review, though it could use some tightening in some places. The best part comes fairly late in the proceedings, where you mention that each level feels like a bonus stage disguised as a standard level. Thinking back on what little I'd played of the original, I'd say that's about correct.

---

Party's over. *starts lawnmower*

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

Thanks for the win and comments! As for your, uh, recommendation, after a couple minutes of research, I think it'd have to be put on PS Now, much like Lords of the Fallen was, in order for me to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Impression I got was "boring, glitchy gun-play Souls" and while that might be entertaining in the right mood, it's not exactly a replacement for Judgment!

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Thanks for the comments! Alex Kidd in Miracle World is very nostalgic for me, but it's not exactly.... a great game. Age hasn't done it any favors, either. So explaining the stages as bonus levels was hard, but true.

Also congrats to OD on RotW!

I head spaceshit noises.