And a happy Monday to you, too! It's been an interesting week, and it will probably come to a head with Halloween, so get your holes ready. For candy, maybe. I guess you never really know, with Helloween. See what happened there? It shouldn't have happened. Uh-oh. Smurfisms are fighting with mcgeeisms. Somebody hand me my razor blade; I stashed it inside that taffy ball.
Like I mentioned, it has been a week. A week. An actual week. I got some real nice mail, including this one. So many thanks, knutaf! So, of course I had to give this one a TEST DRIVE. I've quickly put several hours into the game and I'm already digging it bigtime. The racing is as good as it always is, but the open world structure really does make it feel different. It reminds me a little of a new Outrun mixed with NFS. You can just drive until the sun goes down. You can also challenge racers on the fly, so even if you feel like just driving about, you still have a way to race someone. There are plenty of little challenges to do, and even an interesting collectible feature (barns with old, worn, but awesome, cars,) if you're not up for racing. There are even "speed traps" that clock your speed as you pass, and will show you your friends' speeds right then & there. Reminds me of a thing I read about recently. The game seems very good so far. Initial impressions ftw.
In other "news," I was on a podcast this weekend. Jesus. How do you people do it? I have even more appreciation for all the podcasters on Dtoid, and everywhere, really. I already think speaking is overrated, but now I have to do it within a time frame? About a specific topic? I'm being recorded? And someone will hear this? And...and...thank you, Captain Morgan. You are my hero. Trying not to be nervous and also some fraction of what is considered eloquent as well as trying to minimize dead air, with all kinds of thoughts going through my head while also reading things (some of which I wrote, but for some reason am ignoring...) I feel like fucking Lucille Ball trying to work that assembly line. Thanks Strider, for actually sticking with it. Good man.
Oh, look; it's uploaded. ...Yay?
Now that I'm done vomiting through my keyboard, let's get to the good stuff. YOUR people's stuff.
C-A-P-S.
Villains in all media, not just video games, can end up being a dime a dozen. Far too often, a villain's motives boil down to "I am a bad, and so I do bad things. Fear me." While this format has worked for countless stories, at this point in my life (the ripe old age of 20) I’ve become jaded and grumpy, finding myself rolling my eyes when I see yet another antagonist wreaking havoc with no background or reasoning presented as to why they’re being such a butthole.
What’s far more interesting to me is when a villain’s motives or actions come across as justified, perhaps leaving you rooting for them to defeat the protagonist [insert Elder God Tier villain meme here].
My favorite example of this would be Meruem from the Chimera Ant arc of Hunter x Hunter. While he doesn’t necessarily fit the exact mold I laid out above, he’s easily one of the most dynamic and curious villains I’ve ever come across. For the sake of not spoiling what is perhaps one of the most exciting, action-packed, and tear-inducing arcs in anime history, I won’t delve into the details of what makes Meruem so great. Instead I encourage anyone who hasn’t seen Hunter x Hunter to set aside some time and plow through the series. Really, it’s that good.
But hey, that’s just how I feel. I’m sure there are folks out there who prefer their villains to be simple. If I ever met one of these theoretical people I might have a panic attack, but I’ll deal with that should the time come. I’m sure after some deep breaths we would get along. Maybe we could even snuggle, should my husband allow such an event to transpire.
All said and done, we arrive at the topic of this month’s Bloggers Wanted: Villains that did nothing wrong. Due to communication errors, this entry in the hallowed halls of Bloggers Wanted is a tad late. Regardless, all you have to do is head over to the Community Blog section of the site, and whip up a Cblog about a villain who you feel was secretly the good guy all along.
Current Community Contests
LOL nope desu~
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