Blog, Blog, Bloq

 Throughout the history of my time with the Mortal Kombat franchise, I have been a staunch supporter of Scorpion. The leader of the Shirai Ryu, Hanzo Hasashi, has a tragic backstory where his entire clan was slaughtered because of the threat they proposed. When I was a child, my draw wasn't the empathy I felt for this murderous spectre. It was the design, the actions, the iconic voice lines. And I think those things don't have to be tied to the mask that is Scorpion. Kuai Liang is now Scorpion in the new Mortal Kombat game and I think that is fine. But I am also worried that Hanzo will be left off the roster for the first time since Mortal Kombat 3. A game that was replaced by the much better Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. So, I want to spend some time going over some of the things that have made me appreciate the character over the years. The Mortal Kombat brand has become ingrained with these characters that sit at the top. Your Scorpions, Sub-Zeros, Liu Kangs, the faces of the fr...

 A couple days ago, Clock Tower was announced to be getting a remaster at the Limited Run Games Showcase that would be led by WayForward, Capcom, Sunsoft, and Limited Run Games themselves. An announcement that came out of nowhere like much of the showcase. Go check it out if you haven't, a lot of nostalgia packed into one event. But Clock Tower stood out to me because I love horror films and games. And Clock Tower was a game I only really remember for speedruns.  So, I decided to educate myself by watching a breakdown of the series from Tangomushi on YouTube. That video made me even more excited to dive into the series. The problem with that though was the accessibility of the games. All of the entries aside from the original are well over a hundred dollars for physical copies. But since the original never got an English release, there are plenty of ways to download or simply play the game through emulation. That's what I did. I booted up the game and I played it in full and m...

 I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about for this post because Pride Month is important and I think that the month should be dedicated to queer stories and the like. While there is definitely a plethora things I could pick, I wanted to highlight a remarkable story that I read last year. The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen which follows Tien's relationship with his mother and the difficulty of coming out to her in a language she doesn't know well. The way that they navigate this relationship is through fairy tales reflective of their Vietnamese heritage.  You see familiar stories about Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, but through the lens of another culture. The focus and details will differ, like when we talk about the evil step-mother and her daughter who are abusing Cinderella emotionally and physically. Taking away things that she holds dear and eventually killing her. A stark contrast from the story that we are told in the more popular tellings of this tale. One of th...

Last month, the run for Spirit World, written by Alyssa Wong, art by Haining, lettering by Janice Chiang, and Sebastian Cheng as colorist, began. A new series in DCs lineup that is headlined by newcomer Xanthe Zhou and Cassandra Cain of the Bat-Family. Prior to this series starting, the prologue was featured in Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate. In the prologue we saw Cass and Xanthe fight against Jiangshi at the cemetery in Gotham's Chinatown, with help from John Constantine. A fight that would send Cass to the Spirit World while Constantine and Xanthe would now have to make their way to help her. We are given a compelling setup that led us into this current run.  For me, I became interested in this story because Alyssa Wong was writing this story. I am a big fan of their work as I am reading the current Deadpool run. And that story is filling my need for queer romance with a side of bloddy violence and body horror. A comic I would absolutely recommend with my whole chest.  As for ot...

 My post this time around is to go support Games Done Quick if you are reading this the week it is happening. Sadly, due to the schedule I have made for these posts, I cannot do a recap like I did with Awesome Games Done Quick earlier in the year. Seeing as we are on day three of the event, there is still plenty of time.  There have already been entertaining runs like the Banjo-Kazooie 100% No FFM that was ran by duck or the Bloodstained block that featured runs from The Blacktastic and DanTheVP with the bonus run of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night being ran by Dr4gonBlitz that capped the block off. Different skill points in speed tech being shown off across these games with engaging commentary to boot.  There is no doubt that the rest of the week will feature some absolutely insane games that I have never seen before, much like every GDQ event. So, I will have the runs playing in the background for the whole week like I always do, shifting focus for my most anticipate...

 I recently went back to Elden Ring in my attempts to finish the last few remaining achievements in the game that I needed. This included the Elden Lord Ending, Frenzied Flame Ending, and the Legendary Armament achievements. Nothing too crazy, but the bulk of the work came with knowing where to cut time. Luckily, Elden Ring is one of those games that has a fast track to the end of the game if you know what works and did a bulk of the work on new game. Which is where I was at before I decided to sprint to the finish. While I wasn't concerned as much with the Elden Lord and Legendary Armament, I was a tad uneasy with how Frenzied Flame would go. Surprisingly, it was easy. The ending requirements were almost identical to Elden Lord with the exception that I had to go into the sewers below Leyndell. Which is running through and fighting Mohg, the Omen. Not as tough as regular Mohg, but you still have to fight Mohg. Then afterwards, you roll into an altar to reveal a secret passage wher...

 The name Birdie Wing might not evoke anything out of the general anime audience despite coming out of a large corporation like Bandai Namco.  But, I'm here to spread the good word on this golf anime. This original title from Bandai Namco Pictures is now partway through its second season. And to be honest, it is one of the most entertaining week-to-week shows out there. The energy and plot lines are so chaotic that trying to predict all of the outcomes requires attentive details at times.  One of the bigger reasons I can think of as to why people are not tuning in would be the inclusion of sport, and golf specifically. Sports anime are relatively popular, yet golf isn't the most gripping sport to display. So, the sell on an individual sport like this one is rather difficult. The hotness right now are these heavy action series by miles and they're not slowing down. But as Birdie Wing falters in this landscape, it makes up for in having heart and the willingness to top the ...