Writer and Podcaster
January 21, 2018
CCR, Podcast, Uncategorized CCR, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, Jurd, Opopinax, Podcast, review, Rich The T T Leave a comment
Tonight your hosts, Hugh of HughJODonnell.com, Rich the Time Traveler, Opopanax, and Jurd, get the scoop on Ginger Rogers playing a reporter who isn’t really a reporter but I guess is?
Click HERE to listen!
And HERE to watch the film on Youtube!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License
December 11, 2017
Hugh Likes Video Games, Uncategorized Arc The Lad, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, JRPGs, PS Vita, PS1, review Leave a comment
Arc The Lad
Published by Working Designs
Played on PS Vita
The Skinny: An early PS1-era Tactical RPG, this quick and easy game is a far cry from later entries, but a good introduction to the sub-genre for new players.
Arc The Lad is something of a Playstation oddity. An early release for the Playstation in Japan, it never saw release in the United States until 2002 as a part of the Arc The Lad Collection. This is a shame, because it is at least trying something innovative, but games like Final Fantasy Tactics had already surpassed it when it was released in the west.
The game follows eponymous hero Arc and his allies as they searches for a, well an ark containing the power to either cause or prevent the end of the world. It’s all fairly stock fantasy RPG stuff, but it hits all the bases well. Being from the early days of the PS1, it uses 16-bit sprites with a few shiny polygonal effects thrown in here and there. Aside from a few short FMV transitions, Arc The Lad feels like it could have been a Super Nintendo release.
The combat is all turn-based strategy with a three-quarters overhead perspective. Character speed determines order, and each character levels up individually. This works out mostly well, but by the end of the game, my faster characters were many levels ahead of the slower ones. The overall campaign is short, but there are little side-quests to do in each town that pad out the length, including a huge multi-floor dungeon that has to be completed in one go. These aspects don’t feel particularly groundbreaking, but they’re handled well enough.
What I find most interesting about the game might be its biggest flaw. This is a short game, taking only about ten hours to complete everything. It also ends on a cliffhanger. The ancient evil returns, and Arc is powered up to face it, but we’re left with our heroes splitting up and preparing rather than getting that final dungeon. Now that the series is finished, that break feels more like the first part of a fantasy trilogy than a complete game, but I imagine the disappointment of getting merely a chapter rather than a full game. It feels like an interesting design choice today, though, and the cheaper price for the game on the Playstation store takes away the sting a bit.
Arc The Lad is an interesting little corner of video game history. It is available digitally for PS3 and PS Vita from the Playstation store. If you’re a hardcore collector and have $150 to spare, you could also hunt down the original PS1 collection.
Thanks for reading this review! If you enjoyed it, please share it! You can also support me on Patreon if you don’t mind paying an extra fee!
December 9, 2017
Podcast, Review Bad movie, CCR, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, Jurd, Opopinax, Revenge of the Zombies, review, Rich The T T Leave a comment
Tonight your hosts, Hugh of HughJODonnell.com, Rich the Time Traveler, Opopanax, and Jurd, must use a hidden ritual to survive this truly revolting film.
Click HERE to listen!
And if you must, click HERE to watch this dreadful movie.
This podcast was originally posted on 12/5/2017 at Skinner.FM.
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate and review us on your favorite podcatcher!
December 8, 2017
Hugh Likes Fiction, Review Adam Christopher, HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Noire, review, Sci-Fi Leave a comment
Killing Is My Business
Written by Adam Christopher
Published by Tor
The Skinny: Christopher’s follow-up to Made To Kill is another rollicking robot noir set in 1960’s L.A.
Ray Electromatic is the last functioning robot in1960’s Los Angeles, and he’s the world’s only robot private detective. At least, that’s what his business cards say. His real job is assassination. With his trusty computer/business partner Ada, he finds his target and gets the job done. But when Rays targets start turning up dead or missing before he can complete the job, he starts to wonder who he can really trust.
Christopher returns to his post-robotics Los Angeles for a second novel that is as much of a noire delight as the first. Like all good detective novels, it doesn’t rely on having read Made To Kill, while pushing Ray’s story forward in some fun and interesting ways. The author has a knack for voice, and he balances the 60’s sci-fi and noire elements superbly. Ray’s momento-like limitation, the fact that his memory tape only lasts 24 hours, is used to good effect in this story, and requires Ray to engage in a fair amount of trust, something that always goes awry in a noire world.
Killing Is My Business is a cracking read, and you can pick it up from your local bookstore, or download a copy from Amazon.
Thanks for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please share it! You can also support me on Patreon if you don’t mind paying a ludicrous extra fee!
December 4, 2017
Hugh Likes Comics, Review Comics, Fence, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, LGBTQ, review, Sports Leave a comment
Fence #1
Written by C. S. Pacat
Drawn by Joanna The Mad
Colored by Joana Lafuente
Published by Boom Studios
The Skinny: The by the numbers sports comic calls to mind “Yuri On Ice,” but is coy in the first issue.
Fence is the story of scrappy young fencer Nicholas Cox. He’s from the wrong side of the tracks and hasn’t had the best training, but he’s got raw talent. He also has the luck to face fencing prodigy Seiji Katayama in his first tournament bout.
“Fence” is a teen sports comic about, obviously, fencing, that dutifully hits the story beats it needs to in the first issue without much fanfare. We get a lot of the main character’s back story, a very nice competition sequence, and a last page setup for the series, and it all works. The comic has a very pure shonen sports manga vibe to it. It reminded me most strongly of “Yuri on Ice,” but the text doesn’t feel completely committed to the idea yet. Although based on the queer fantasy trilogy that are C. S. Pacat’s breakout work, one shouldn’t be surprised.
Fans of this subgenre will find plenty to like, though, and Joanna The Mad’s art is clean and expressive, lingering on emotional scenes notes. Her figures are fluid and dynamic, and Joana Lafuente’s colors bring them out well.
Fence #1 is now available from Comixology or your local comics shop. Time will tell if this sports manga inspired book will stand out from the crowd, but this is a solid, if not surprising, introduction.
November 17, 2017
Hugh Likes Video Games, Podcast, Review Bonus Episode, Gundam, hugh, Jason Banks, Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, review, Video Games Leave a comment
Bonus Episode 2: Gundam Versus
Hugh and Jason take a break from regular Nostalgia Pilots duties to discuss the latest PS4 Gundam offering: Gundam Versus! Get their reviews, impressions, and what they felt was missing in the game. Hint: it’s a horse piloting a horse mobile suit.
November 4, 2017
Podcast, Uncategorized Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, Jurd, Opopinax, Phantom of the Opera, Podcast, review, Rich The T T, Silent Film Leave a comment
The Chrononauts descend to the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera house and go horseback riding with Erik in this silent horror classic.
Click HERE to listen to the podcast!
and HERE to watch the movie on Youtube!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
For more goodies, follow me on Patreon!
October 11, 2017
Hugh Likes Video Games 3DS, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Metroid, Nintendo, review 1 Comment
Metroid: Samus Returns
Developed by MercurySteam and Nintendo EPD
Published by Nintendo
Played on New 3DS
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54297599
The Skinny: Nintendo resurrects another classic with a gorgeous coat of 3D paint, tricky new puzzles, and intuitive new abilities.
Metroid: Samus Returns is the gold standard of remaking a classic video game. A retelling of the original game boy adventure Metroid II, it follows bounty hunter Samus Aran through the underground passages of planet SR388 as she attempts to eradicate the metroids, living bioweapons designed by a nearly lost alien civilization.
While the original game pushed the monochrome game boy to its technological limits, Metroid II doesn’t hold up well when separated from the gauzy veneer of nostalgia. The resolution brings the camera in very close, making the caves of SR388 claustrophobic and difficult to navigate, and the designs have an almost-cute goggle-eyed quality to them. This remake uses the advantages of the 3DS hardware to deliver huge chambers in high resolution polygons. The action is fast and responsive, and everything looks and sounds amazing. 2D Metroid fans have had to wait over 13 years since Zero Mission for another entry in the series, but Samus Returns certainly delivers.
Developed by MercurySteam, whose previous credits include the 3DS Castlevania entry Mirror of Fate, the game pays tribute to the original and updates it in fun and innovative ways. The most notable is the addition of a melee attack, which can usually only be used as a counter to charging enemies. The move stuns enemies and allows Samus to lock on for a quick kill. It’s a nice ability early in the game, when Samus’s arm cannon isn’t quite up to full power yet. She also picks up extra Aeon abilities over the course of the game, which are fun to use but require extra power. A scanning abilities takes the place of Super Metroid’s map room, and the ability to slow time replaces dash boots. Expanded Chozo technology like Warp points and Statues that control the level of the ‘radioactive acid’ from the original are welcome updates as well.
More so than any other Nintendo property, Metroid is a series that uses the design and atmosphere of the environment to tell a story, and MercurySteam does a great job continuing that tradition. Their version of SR388 is huge, and their ruins all feel unique and purposeful. The player gets a better feel for the abandoned ruins and machinery as they are slowly reclaimed by the wild. Daisuke Matsuoka’s music does an excellent job of updating and calling back to Metroid II’s 8-bit soundtrack as well.
Metroid Return of Samus takes the starting point of the original and blows it up to a huge modern adventure while still recalling the feel for the of the original. You can find it for the 3DS as a cartridge or digital download, and I highly recommend it.
September 28, 2017
Podcast, Uncategorized CCR, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, JRD Skinner, Opopinax, review, Rich The T T Leave a comment
Tonight your hosts, Hugh of HughJODonnell.com, Rich the Time Traveler, Opopanax, and Jurd, wonder if this 1944 film is actually a comedy or not.
Click HERE to listen!
And here to watch the movie on Youtube!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
This podcast originally appeared at Skinner.FM on 9/26/17.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it! You can also support Hugh on Patreon for more podcasts, stories and other goodies!
September 8, 2017
Hugh Likes Video Games Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy V, Four Job Fiesta, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, review Leave a comment
Final Fantasy V
Published by Square (1999)
Played on PS Vita
Having completed this summer’s Four Job Fiesta, It’s time to take a last look at Final Fantasy V.
V represents a turning point in the series from the design of the early entries, which were much more guided experiences, to more complex strategic systems. It is the last main series game to feature the four crystals as a major plot element, and its the first games since Final Fantasy II with a really crunchy mechanical system underlying the story.
Final Fantasy’s Job System, which was refined and expanded from Final Fantasy III, gives the player freedom to plan and combine skills to overcome obstacles. This is a contrast to Final Fantasy IV, which was much more managed. The goal of that game was to defeat challenges using the resources at hand. This strategic element becomes more important going forward in the series.
V also heralds a shift from the melodramatic, adventurous tone of early games to a darker tone. While there is still a lot of levity in the game, it does deal with some thematic elements such as an inevitable end of the world head on. This clears the way for the more operatic Final Fantasy VI, and the diesel-punk dystopia of Final Fantasy VII. It’s also the last time we are going to see a main cast of just four playable characters until last year’s Final Fantasy XV. While the larger casts in later games provide more flexibility, I don’t know if we get to know the characters as well as we do this last iteration of the Light Warriors. The cast of Final Fantasy V is really charming, and includes one of the first transgender characters in gaming with Faris, who is awesome.
The game itself is somewhat forgotten in the west, as it didn’t come out here until after the fact, and its sound and graphics lack the oomph of IV and VI. But it is exquisitely balanced, and remains fun to play, as can be seen by the Four Job Fiesta challenge. If you haven’t given it a try, You can find the game in the PS1 Classics section of the Playstation store for PS3, PS Vita, and PSP. You can also track down the Game Boy Advance port, which is probably the best version of the game, or check out the mobile port. If you are a JRPG aficionado, give it a try.
Thanks for reading this article. If you enjoyed it, please share it! You can also visit my Patreon page for more goodies!
