Remake or Reflux?

One of the biggest trends in video games in the past decade or so has been remakes. Now ideally this means taking an existing title and giving it a facelift to look as appealing as current video games do. Normally, I never give any of these remakes a second thought. However, with the recent release of the Resident Evil 4 remake, it made my heart hurt a little. I have personally played Resident Evil 4 and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, when they remade it, my first thought was how awesome that game would look with current graphics, but then I dove into what the remake actually was. For me, it was a no go. What is the point of boosting the graphics, if I also must deal with a completely changed game altogether. Don’t get me wrong, the new aesthetic looks great. It is darker, creepier, and the gothic style of horror genre that Resident Evil 4 is a part of is only improved by a more fleshed out storyline. But the remake makers changed some very integral parts that, to me, changes what the game is. They changed characters to fit “their story” better. They changed dialogs to fit those new characters. They also removed the humor from the game. Something that, I think, only made the game more enjoyable. Every single scene cannot be brooding. It just doesn’t work, especially in horror games. I’m not saying that I am against change when remaking a game. For instance, in the Final Fantasy 7 remake, the story was changed slightly so that the game flowed better. I had no problem with this. It made for a more plot-based game and focused slightly less on the playing of the game. Which is what Final Fantasy has been from the beginning. Another example of good change is the Kingdom Hearts games. When they remade those games, some of the item locations were moved a little either to make it easier to access said item or to have a better item in that location. This just makes the game easier to play and therefore players have more fun. However, in both of these examples, most everything else, save a few graphic tweaks, remained the same. But when the game is completely overhauled—graphics, story, item locations, character traits, and gameplay mechanics in general—I don’t see this as a remake. It may have the same named characters and a remotely similar storyline, but for all intense and purpose, it could be a completely different game. I think that is something that will have to be addressed eventually. Because while Capcom remade its own game in Resident Evil 4, certain companies sell out the rights to the remake and if too many changes are made, then that other company is doing more than an aesthetic redesign, they are designing a new game and how far does it go before that other company makes that claim. Remakes need a strict guideline on what is changed for the game. Of course, I guess I just don’t like Mexican fleabag Luis. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Mr. No Days Off

Relaxation is a healthy part of keeping us all sane. So why then do I know people who even when they have a free day still choose to tackle a massive list of to-dos. They “work” even when they aren’t working. Honestly, I think they would work, for wages, 365 days a year. It would be like that episode of Spongebob where Mr. Krabs makes him take a vacation day. My father was like this. He worked 7-4 five days a week, and then on the weekends he would always have a project lined up that I would inevitably be roped into helping with. This is all after my long week of school, mind you. I also had a boss once that had nothing better to do than to be at work. He would come into the workplace, off the clock, and do stuff because he clearly had nothing to do at home. I think it is important for people to take some time to do something fun. And if you are one of those people who claim there is nothing fun to do, then you really need to get someone to show you how it’s done. A recreation guru so to speak. Pick up video games, read a book, binge some TV, hunt, fish, anything. Because all work and no play makes for a dull life. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

Faith is Confusing

I have always had a hard time trusting anything or anyone at face value. When I see people blinding following a path that is built on trust alone, I find myself questioning the sanity of those people. They are said to have faith in what they believe and do not question it. Faith is defined as complete trust in someone or something. In other words, to believe in something no matter what. Now most of the time, this is applied to religion, which I have very little of. But I have studied many different religions, and one of the most detracting flaws I always see is having faith. For instance, in religions such as Christianity and Baptism, they read from a book. A book, mind you, that was written by man, or a couple of them. The words in the book are said to be the words of a God that were originally heard by someone and then written down and passed down through generations. I think this fine, accept when the people believe every word of this book and follow them without a single question. However, a lot of questions come to my mind. For instance, those words have been translated a few times. Anyone who has taken a foreign language knows that translations are not always exactly word for word. It makes me wonder how many mistranslations have made it through. Another question is how do we know that the words are from a heavenly body. Only because an elder told us so. It just doesn’t add up. I also find that with faith comes a lot of hypocrisy. Like when these very religious people claim magic is fake or even sinful and yet they believe in miracles. Now in my world, miracles are magic, regardless of who is doing it. You mean I am expected to believe that dragons and wizards are make believe, but then also believe that you can heal cancer, make the crippled walk, and even stop bleeding by reading words from the very same book that they have complete faith in. If I saw someone do any of those things simply by reading words from a book, I would claim they had performed magic, but the religious portion of the population simply says that I should just have faith in the Lord’s way. That is why faith is confusing to me. Because I cannot have complete trust like that. It takes quite a bit to earn my trust. Moreover, I refuse to believe that one such “magic” is real while the other is completely fake. I cannot simply take something for granted and completely dismiss all else because a book full of a God’s words told me to. But I guess I can have faith that maybe one day someone will change my mind. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.

It's That Time of the Month

Today, I want to talk about a subject that has a bleeding need to be talked about. A subject that many find disgusting and untoward to even mention. A thing, natural and healthy, but nevertheless seen as a lesser part of the human condition and something that has ostracized many of the female gender for centuries. If you guessed menstruation, then you are on par with me. If you guessed something else, then you may be a part of the problem. I have lived in a house with a sister and mom for two decades, and I have plenty of female friends and so often I have seen situations where no one wants to talk about periods. I have seen situations where the subject was avoided so much that the females around me were just seen as “a grumpy bitch” instead of people talking about what was really going on and trying to provide comfort for the person. And if you’re a female, you have probably heard any number of horror stories about how someone’s first period came and they didn’t know what was going on or it came and they weren’t ready. I as a male cannot believe some of the stories, but if I were a female, it would slightly terrify me. But that is not what this ramble is about. No. This ramble is about normalizing periods. Let’s talk about them, and I mean everyone. Men, women, young adults, and definitely people who are in charge of other people. I’m looking at you teachers. You know the ones that won’t let a young teen use the restroom any time they need to. Of course they are taking their purse to the restroom, why is it a big deal. I am also looking at the single dads out there. Just because you don’t have the parts, doesn’t mean your daughter shouldn’t learn about what inevitably is going to be a part of her monthly routine. I can understand maybe you don’t want to learn THAT much about the female anatomy, although it can prove useful. It is still no excuse. Get a female you trust to have a talk with your daughter. They need to know this stuff. Because it can be embarrassing and even potentially unsafe if they don’t know how their systems work and they start using tampons and pads without guidance. And for the love of God, can we please stop being in that “go live in a hut for two weeks” mentality of the Salem Witch trials. Periods are a normal thing. They happen to most every female and it is a perfectly healthy process the female body goes through. There is no need to shame someone for something they cannot control, and sometimes the “period control” products out there are useless, dangerous, and even painful by some anecdotes. Personally, I think if we normalize such a “vulgar” process then society as a whole can become a much better place to exist in. Period. But that is just one man’s opinion. Thanks for listening to me ramble. I appreciate it. See you next time.