Tag Archives: good story

Behind the curtain, Shiny, The Gaming Adventure

Go Ask Alice, When She’s 10 Feet Tall

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So, here we were on our Gaming Adventure, and along came Alice: Madness Returns. I have not played the first Alice game, but this was next on my list, and that was the deal!

Just going to say, first off, that this game was VERY much outside my wheelhouse and/or comfort zone. I’ve not played anything like this that I can remember – puzzles and jumping and dodging and timing and dying… DYING so many times! I do not play “souls” games or “roguelike” games – I do not have the patience or tenacity for them! That being said, this game is so beautiful, darkly humorous, twisted, and a little bit silly (looking at YOU, Rabbit, and those SILLY teapots!) that the endless dying and “let’s try that again” made it fun/interesting enough for me to keep going to the end.

The story is also dark, twisted, but fascinating, and I kept going to learn more about poor Alice’s past. The memories were bittersweet, sad, and showed a broken and very interesting arc for young Alice. I am not sure how many of them were recalls to the previous game, but it didn’t matter, as the story was so well told that I could keep up easily with the story in this game.

The covering of mental health issues, deeply disturbing moments, and overall strangeness made the game quite complex, despite the apparently first-look appearance of “just another puzzle game” which you may think when you watch a few minutes of game play.

It’s not a “new game” by any means, and the graphics are not AAA game level, but they are gorgeous enough to make the game just beautiful to look at while you dodge hot tea, black blobs, and strange shadows with doll heads. I was thoroughly entranced and entertained.

I won’t show too many more shots from the game, as they definitely give spoilers, and that’s something I try not to do in these Gaming Adventure reviews.

I will say, though, that if you go into this game with no knowledge of the previous game, and an open mind, you will thoroughly enjoy it.

I certainly did!

And the whole time I played, I had Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” going around in my head, often humming it aloud.

Go ask Alice… when she’s 10 feet tall!

information, languages, life, Shiny

Strangely wonderful

I just finished watching a funny little movie called, “Space Sweepers.” I honestly did not think it was “my thing” but Netflix recommended it based on my other “thumbs up” selections, and it came 92% recommended for me.

I thought, why not, right? Open yourself up to new things. Seek out new knowledge. Break out of your comfort zone. I like to watch foreign movies or series – not always a huge fan of Korean/Chinese stuff, but I do try and give it a shot if it looks “different”, and this definitely looked different! – and I am so glad I clicked on this little peach!

TOTALLY WORTH IT! The cast, while mostly Korean, included people from pretty much every continent and a multitude of languages are spoken – all with excellent subtitles! – and the interaction reminds me of a big block-buster movie rather than a little independent film. I’ve actually seen some of these actors in other movies (including Richard Armitage, by the way!) and it was a delightful thing to see them in this movie.

I laughed. I cried (seriously… wait until you watch it – the characters are not 2-dimensional or “generic” in any way, even though you may THINK that when it first starts out) because I became so invested in the story and the characters. The science/scifi was realistic. The story was superb, with lots of twists and turns and unexpected plot points, and, unfortunately/fortunately, not too far off of an idea of what could happen if we keep things up. I won’t give any spoilers, because I REALLY REALLY want people to watch it.

If you get the chance, check it out, okay? So, thank you, Netflix, for opening me up to new possibilities! I will definitely check out the other recommendations! I’ll also be on the lookout for these actors in the future!