Blog, Blog, Bloq

The end of my journey with Zero Escape is here. An epic conclusion of a phenomenal series is what I wish that I could write. But, the franchise never gets to the heights that 999 was able to garner. While Virtue's Last Reward had more of a bloat and filler issue. Zero Time Dilemma feels painfully short. The game looks worse, has worse versions of half of the returning characters, and has too minimal of interaction from the player. It makes me wish that they would've just done separate Nonary Games for each title with no strings attached.  Even the threads that come from VLR into ZTD aren't the best. Especially when you consider that characters like Alice and Clover were so closely involved with the plot line in VLR, and in some cases with 999, yet they are absent from this game completely. And when you think about the idea that VLR and ZTD were made in conjunction with each other, it starts to become more baffling. So, you have this sequel that picks up almost exactly at th...

 I think a lot about how the Horror genre is vast and expansive. And one of the things that I think gets overlooked, is the Slasher genre. Many of them are sloppy and lack tact, but what makes them click so well for me is the level of effort. It takes a lot to craft an engaging villain and an expendable cast for the audience to grasp onto. Today, I just kind of want to talk about Slasher movies in general, might even slip some Giallo in because of how similar Italian movies can be with their American peers. First, I would like to mention Psycho (1960) [Directed by Alfred Hitchcock] a bit. It's a film that predates our modern rendition, but it is important to note. Psycho delivers us some staples that still permeate today. You have Janet Leigh's Marion Crane isolated at this Motel run by Anthony Perkin's Norman Bates. And unbeknownst to Marion, Norman is watching her. Awaiting the perfect moment to strike. So, Psycho is this really well crafted film that has laid the foundat...