Arcane, Bebop, and Rhythm Doctor!

[got_quiet]

tl;dr: Rhythm Doctor is a fun game, and Arcane is a fun show.

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Early on this year I thought I was going to get through all of the VNs in the BLM bundle by the end of December, but that kind of got derailed in the second half of the year and is probably not going to happen. The amount of reading I've done has also been abysmal. It's a combination of having not much attention span anymore, and making the mistake of trying to read non-fiction books that are too fucking dry and analytical. I've gotten stalled out on a semantics book, and then I doubled down and stalled out on a book on stats and decision making. I need to read something entertaining to get the brain fired up again. I'm trying to read a book now that I'm obligated to review, and I'm not feeling it, but this one must be finished.
 

I finally uninstalled Octopath Traveler after spending about three days doing nothing but cleaning up side quests via google. I'm not a completionist at all, and if I'm spending the majority of my time just looking up the answer elsewhere that means I'm not engaged in figuring things out myself, so I might as well move on. One of the reasons I dropped it is because I picked up House Flipper, which is equally mindless, but in a much more low key way, and I can just lean back and paint digital walls while I listen in on my table top games now. Plus I got the game for free so that's a decent value right there off the bat.

I also picked up Rhythm Doctor, which I'm liking a whole lot. It's a beat game, which I usually always enjoy, and it's got a simple premise that then is a little mean with execution. You just hit a single button when the game tells you to, but then the game throws weird sound and visual prompts at you, syncopates, and generally does everything it can to make you suffer while basically playing backup percussion. It's a lot of fun and easy to improve with because you kind of just memorize the song. My brother didn't like it at all because he just wants to read music, while this is a game where you don't even really have to read the visual cues. Anyway if anyone out there is looking for a rhythm game I recommend it.

The devs did a different rhythm game before this which is similar in that you only use one button but instead of a big old pixel jamboriee it's even simpler. It's called a Game of Fire and Ice, and the idea is that there are two orbs bouncing on this track, and the track turns, which means the orbs hit it at different times in the meter, and you've got to hit the key as the same time as the orb. It can sound simple but it's not easy to read at first glance, figuring out if a turn is shortening or lengthening a note can go terribly wrong. When I bought Rhythm Doctor I figured fuck it it's like 2 bucks and got the other game too as part of a bundle. You can play the first few levels of that one for free to get an idea of what sort of games these guys make. They're fun but the last level is pretty challenging if you're not a musician or rhythm game player!

 

With the new live action Cowboy Bebop I finally watched the original series from beginning to end instead of seeing parts of random episodes. Even after all these years it holds up really well. The tone is so good. Humor, Hubris, Pathos, Tragedy, the absurdity of life and the dignity of it too. Everyone being maladjusted fucks who are in someways architects of their own awful fate but at the exact same time victims of an uncaring and unfair universe. And it doesn't overstay its welcome. It blows through and then is gone. I had enjoyed the random episodes I've seen in the past, but it was definitely nice to get it all beginning to end, and get the full experience so to speak.

I'm avoiding the live action because I don't like live action, but even moreso dislike live action adaptations, when animation imo can pull off things so much better for the sorts of wild stories that I enjoy.

Speaking of which, I also watched Arcane, and boy is that a pretty as hell show. I mean it really is one of the prettiest animated series produced in the west that I can recall. The melding of 3D and hand modified work was seamless and transcended the limitations of both, and the result was a feast for the eyes. It doesn't hurt that everyone in the show is eye candy too. And there were so many good characters.

 

I don't know shit about LoL, nor do I generally care about the wider lore outside the show (until the show shows it to us) which I think is the better way to go into stuff like this. I'm not anticipating anything because I don't know where it's going to go. Spoiler time: I had no idea Jinx was going to go straight wild like that and it was a pleasant surprise. I loved pretty much everyone, but Victor and Silko were both tailor made for me, and I wished that they had had at last one interaction. I kinda want to ship them somehow, or at least write an encounter since it didn't happen in the show. The Sheriff in the beginning of the show was also a favorite of mine.  That voice, unf. Also getting two ripped elder butches in a series is an embarrassment of riches. And I have to give an special shoutout to Sky, who has the best taste in the game, was a baller trying to save Victor from himself, and got done dirty by fate.

I'm also into Silko's bodyguard Sevika. Talk about loyalty kink right there. Her final interaction with Silko is all I ever want in a supporting character and I hope she sticks around for a while.

Of course after watching the show I went to googling for some fanart, and it seems the people I follow are all super into Victor, which I find hilarious because clearly I've managed my follows expertly. They are also seemingly unanimous about their dislike of Jayce, which I'm not entirely in agreement with. I like well meaning characters that just don't know what the fuck they are doing but are trying to do the right thing anyway. I like fuckups, and Jayce is at his heart someone who fucks up a whole lot. My only real criticism is that the combo of his five oclock shadow and that hammer jaw actually makes him one of the least attractive characters in the show for me, but I am definitely team let Victor have his man or whatever.

But it does suck that Season one ends on such a cliffhanger. I'm not inclined to go digging through the game lore, and while the show was great and hopefully a lot of art and fic comes out of it, I just want to know what happens next. God bless fanartists and writers, I suppose.

Comments

[got_quiet]

It's a lot of fun! But it also can be intentionally visually overwhelming. Lots of strobing too in case that's an issue.

I've somehow kept my unplayed games pile pretty small, but the books pile...

[ex_moontrips461]

ah, looking it up again, I remembered the reason I decided to wait on it... it's in early access. well, I'll give it a go eventually. I think flashing lights should be an optional thing, but I'd still at least try it.
another rhythm game I'd like to play is Mad Rat Dead... but that game is kind of an investment($40) and it's hard to tell if I'd really enjoy it or not.