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Game #3- “Doki Doki Literature Club!”

It’s almost impossible to discuss Team Salvato‘s “Doki Doki Literature Club!” without ‘giving the game away’. ‘Just play it’ is the best advice you can get if you have yet to experience it. This proposition is made easier by the fact that the game is free, and just four hours long. “Doki Doki Literature Club!” is a very worthwhile experience for anyone with an interest in subversive narrative, but the warning that appears on the introductory splash screen is not there for dramatic effect; “Doki Doki Literature Club!” does feature content and themes that some may find disturbing.  This is hard to believe upon booting up the game for the first time. Clean, lossless sound and bright visuals disarm the player immediately, and soon it’s easy to forget all about any content warnings. Long school halls and cushy classrooms are rendered with striking background art, and the characters are brought to life with some very expressive and appealing character art. The game performs well on bad hardware, even during scene transitions.

The soundtrack is a very mixed bag. It’s crisp and lossless, but seems like an afterthought, or a part of the project that wasn’t assigned much of a budget. The main theme is the best track, and wouldn’t sound out of place in a “The Legend of Zelda” game. “Okay, Everyone!” has a very short and repetitive guitar riff which becomes difficult to stomach after the first hour, and “Ohayo Sayori!” suffers from the same issue to a slightly lesser extent. “Dreams of Love and Literature” is heavily electronic while “Play With Me” rescues the remainder of the soundtrack with its tumbling piano and flute arrangement. The latter half of the soundtrack smooths out nicely with some lulling piano and the sharp steel strings of an acoustic guitar with “Daijoubu”, “My Feelings”, and “My Confession” before the sensory assault that is “Sayo-nara”.

The gameplay is disappointingly dismal. It’s very dull to simply hit the Enter key for four hours. There is very little interactivity present, and one of the only forms on offer, the poem generating mechanic, is shallow and the player doesn’t even get to see the end result. Other titles in the genre like “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney” and “Hotel Dusk: Room 215” do a much better job of engaging the player, but it’s important to note that “Doki Doki Literature Club!” is a free title, made by two people over the course of two years, and not a release from a major AAA studio. There are some niggling issues while saving and making selections in the UI, likely because of how it was coded in the python driven, visual novel engine Ren’Py.

The four main characters you interact with over the course of the game are surprisingly endearing, even for players with no interest in this sub-genre. This endearment is subtly weaponized to lull the player into a sense of false security, a predicament, ultimately, of the player’s own making. The first ending “Doki Doki Literature Club!” throws at the player is very abrupt, the result of one of the few choices you have to make, which is practically yanked out of the player’s hands despite the telegraphed foreshadowing. In actuality, the experience hasn’t even properly begun, and the game does require at least two playthroughs.

Subversive storytelling has thrived in the indie development scene because there is more opportunity to hide plot point and keep them hidden during development. “Undertale”, “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, and “Bendy and the Ink Machine” would likely not exist but for the indie scene, and “Doki Doki Literature Club!” is yet another title in this growing sub-genre. Time will tell if Team Salvato can make lightning strike twice with their next project.

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Movie #3- “Bird Box”

Netflix’s “Annihilation” released in early 2018, a near-future adaption of the science fiction novel of the same name, to critical acclaim and positive public reception, so it was perhaps a safe bet for Netflix to cap the year off with “Bird Box”, yet another near-future post apocalyptic horror adaption with a female lead. “Bird Box” was watched on more than 45 million accounts in its first week on Netflix, a number only beaten by “Stranger Things”, and went on to be a viral social media sensation, with assorted “Bird Box Challenges” plaguing the media.

The film’s plot leapfrogs between the past and present, a plot device designed to sow uncertainty relevant to a later reveal. The former storyline is set in a North Californian city while the latter takes place on the Smith River, and both mesh well to plant questions and tension in the audiences’ minds. The story’s central gimmick, the compulsory blindfolds, also function as tension building devices, and facilitate the throwing of new wrenches into the plotline’s machinery to keep the pacing moving. Perhaps unsurprising for a post apocalyptic horror film, on the surface “Bird Box” is a film about loss, but it explores a deeper definition of it. “Bird Box” is a film about the fear of losing a child. Sandra Bullock delivers a brutally merciless performance with Malorie, who is cold at times, and frightening at others, all in the name of making sure her two young co-stars ‘Boy’ (Julian Edwards) and ‘Girl’ (Vivien Lyra Blair) live. Malorie is written to be unlikeable, a woman fractured by the horrors she has encountered and the desperation her mission spurs. Anyone without an acute dislike for children should be forewarned that some scenes are very gut-wrenching.   Bird Box does regrettably makes the same mistake many contemporary horror films make. It discloses too much about the antagonists far too early in the film, with only a single word of dialogue. The paranormal foes are perhaps not as creative as those seen in “Annihilation”, but they are appropriately insidious, influencing their victims to commit suicide rather than slashing them to ribbons or gulping up their brains.

The film has received a lot of praise for its cast. Bullock’s Malorie and her sister Jessica, played by Sarah Paulson, instill confidence in the film early with punchy comedic dialogue, but the comedy is short-lived and Malorie is forced to seek refuge in a house as society collapses, where she meets the rest of the ensemble cast. The homeowner, John Malkovich’s Douglas, wrestles with his newfound nihilism while sheltering Malorie and the disparate band of strangers. Malkovich’s deadpan incredulity is always welcome levity, especially in serious dramas like this. Businessman Tom Hollander is superbly creepy as Gary, the businessman with a terrible secret. Lil Rey Howery plants some hints and red herrings as the token sci-fi and mythology nerd. The adorable Vivien Lyra Blair is the star of the show, and will have everyone rooting for her as she makes her way down the Smith River to sanctuary. The casting does have its issues, however. Danielle MacDonald grates as the insufferable Olympia. Trevante Rhodes and all of his protuberant muscle groups joins the cast as Tom, Malorie’s love interest, but his performance is about as milquetoast as it was in “Moonlight” and “The Predator”. Some of the cast are simply unremarkable and forgettable. Despite its mixed reception, “Bird Box” is a worthwhile entry into an already saturated sub-genre. It is so brutal that is that it is made abundantly clear to the viewer early on that this is not a film where the survival of the film’s three leads is by any means a foregone conclusion. Like any good horror film, “Bird Box” is a film that will stay with its audience for a long time. If Netflix can keep releasing films like “Bird Box”, the future seems bright for science fiction on the platform.

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Game #2- “Jamestown”

“Jamestown” is a bullet-hell shoot-em-up released in 2011 by Final Form games, at the height of the indie golden age that emerged from the proliferation of digital distribution. It was released on PC and consoles, and filled a hole in a neglected sub-genre popular with Japanese development houses in the 80’s and 90’s.  

The story is a sparse steampunk re-imagining of the colonization of America, which transplants the story to Mars (glossing over any genocide of natives), and instead focussing on a fictional arms-race. Despite the fact that “Jamestown” is a shmup released in 2011, there is no option for displaying the game on a side-orientated monitor. “Ikaruga” managed to include this feature a whole decade prior, when screens were still predominantly bulky and cumbersome CRT’s; so the decision to omit this option in an age where there are light, arm mounted LCD monitors, handhelds like the PSP and Vita, mobile phones tablets is a big disappointment. The game was also not released on mobile platforms, a confusing omission considering mobile platform screen dimensions. Final Form Games doesn’t appear to have released another title, so it is possible financial difficulties affected the game’s development.

The game is responsive, with occasional hitches on very low specced hardware. The difficulty is well balanced for the most part, bar one or two spikes early on. Unfortunately, in an effort to pad out the length of the game, the developers chose to lock off mission progress until previous missions have been completed on a specific, and gradually climbing, difficulty. This kills the pacing of the story and comes across as a cheap way to pad out a game that is already just an hour or two long, even with the padding. If the developers were struggling for content to increase the running time, they should have considered re-colouring enemies to make new enemy units with different behaviours and kit-bashing environmental elements to create more levels instead. What pixel art is present is vibrant and colourful, with a decent variety of enemies; some of which are too similar in colour to tokens which can lead to confusion and continues. Jamestown does nail the decision making aspect of shmups, constantly enticing players into harm’s way with the temptation of finishing off that enemy who’s hit points you’ve whittled down, or to grab the spoils. Shields should not be hoarded, as they become available frequently by taking down the bigger enemy units, but the player is unlikely to progress through the hordes of enemies if they choose to save shields for a bigger threat.

The soundtrack is impressive, and quite reminiscent of Hayato Matsuo’s work on Final Fantasy XII, with bassy strings and throbbing percussion, and strong melodies throughout. It’s a pity that this is the most memorable facet of a game in a genre which lives or dies by its  gameplay.

Ultimately Jamestown is pretty forgettable, especially when compared to other times that share the space, like R-Type, DoDonPachi, and Ikaruga. Final Form Games made some poor decisions regarding run-time design and platform deployment and this was likely a contributing factor to the game’s middling success and ultimately, the studio’s closure.

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Book #2- “Young Irelanders”

“Young Irelanders” is a compilation of short stories encumbered with the motif of experiences of Irish youth. The biggest issue with the collection will be almost immediately apparent to the reader; the title of this collection is regrettably inaccurately suggestive, as it proposes that these stories were penned by young writers still in second or third level education, or taking their first steps of adult life. However, the stories in this anthology are provided by established writers, some very accomplished, none particularly young. There is no suggestion on the front or back cover that this is the case, either. Additionally, not all the stories centre around particularly young people.

This issue results in a distinct sense of wasted opportunity. Day to day life is dramatically different for the Millennial generation than it has been for Gen X or the Baby Boomers, when you consider the evolution of technology, personal identity, immigration, and emigration. This was a perfect opportunity to give young Irish people, their voices, and their experiences a stage, but instead features writers who have been published several times and have won numerous literary awards already. There are a number of creative writing competitions around the country that could have been liaised with in order to identify talented up-and-coming writers, who have journaled about and possess personal experience in the topics explored. This was a fantastic opportunity for some aspiring writers to have their work published before they even left education and started pursuing writing as a career, but it was frustratingly missed. Ultimately this endeavour comes of as strange and unnecessary gatekeeping, suggesting that young writers are inexperienced and not worth publishing.

This is a shame compounded by the fact that there is some good material here, but it is overshadowed by the imposturous title. The books opens with "Saving Tanya", which tackles the subject of teen suicide due to bullying, but once more, the reader will likely be struck by the feeling that this story should be told by someone who has lived through losing someone because of it. In particular, this first story concludes with a very tone deaf ending considering the subject matter, suggesting that a girl exposed online for committing sex acts on multiple boys is delighted at the new-found social media attention she receives. Many young girls have ended their lives over less in the last decade, and it comes across as very ill-advised, especially since the plot-point is purely in the interest of a punchline. (This story is not written by a woman, unsurprisingly).

There are a number of short stories here that will remain with the reader long after the book has been put down. The second story, "How to Learn Irish in Seventeen Steps", is a huge relief after the tonally inappropriate “Saving Tanya”, and probably the compilation’s best story. Clearly based on a very personal true story, perhaps a friend of the author's, it is a touching and heartbreaking tale about the struggles people face alone, the resulting loneliness, and the transformative importance of personal resolve. "Oyster" is a beautiful, torrential, and dizzying nosedive through acute mental illness. “Retreat” is the oddest addition to this collection, the story of an Irish priest who has found himself ensnared in a game of strip poker at a creative retreat in continental Europe. “Omen in the Bone” and “Subject” are horrifying snapshots of the self-destructive nature of emotionally stunted men from rural Ireland. Unlikely and unexpected perspectives can be found here, which is always a mark of a good collection of short stories.

Capturing and preserving Ireland’s multi-faceted and ever-changing culture is very important, and the short story form is the perfect medium for doing so. Unfortunately this book’s issues prevent it from accomplishing this goal this goal. Hopefully in future another editor tackles this subject to greater effect.

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Movie #2- “The Hunt for Red October”

Tom Clancy’s unique flavour of jingoism and red scare stoking was all the rage by the time “The Hunt for Red October” saw its theatrical release in 1990. Clancy had spent more than fifteen years at that point establishing himself as the seminal military and espionage pulp fiction novelist. “The Hunt for Red October” was the first novel he sold, and it also became the first to be adapted to film. Tom Clancy’s works are well known for commonly featuring the protagonist who saw his debut in this book, CIA Analyst Dr. Jack Ryan.

Dr. Ryan is portrayed in this film by the affable Alec Baldwin, though he would not reprise the role in future films, a puzzling decision which did no favours in terms of building a franchise. Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck would go on to play the character in future adaptations. People unfamiliar with the source material could be forgiven for thinking they were entirely different characters, and it seems like a missed opportunity, especially when considering franchises like Dan Brown’s streak featuring Tom Hanks’ Robert Langdon. The movie is almost entirely populated by established actors and familiar faces. Sean Connery puts in a layered performance as the enigmatic Captain Marko Ramius, flanked by his loyal second in command Captain Vasily Borodin, played by the always enjoyable Sam Neill. Secondary characters are numerous, diverse, and immediately familiar; Joss Ackland, Tim Curry, Daniel Davis, and James Earl Jones all appear. The plot is solid pulp fiction military fare, with what would have been near-future science fiction elements at the time. The film regularly cuts between the Russians, Jack Ryan, and his cohorts back in Washington, which keeps the pace propelling along nicely. The relationship between Connery’s Captain Ramius and his pursuing protégé, Captain Tupolev (played by Stellan Skarsgård) feels undercooked and gives the impression that it was probably heftier in the books. A lot of plot twists are telegraphed pretty clearly in ways that would not have been possible in the books, and it comes across as an odd choice why this was required at all. The film ramps up the action sequences in the third act. The underwater cat and mouse hunt adds a lot of tension and the shots in these sequences are well directed and produced. The film switches up the submarine action to a starkly lit shoot-out on a submarine for the climax, and Alec Baldwin even gets his Die Hard moment before his time with the character comes to an end. The movie is visually accomplished and uses the limited and artificial light sources available on underwater submersibles to dramatic effect. The CGI is sparse and about the expected quality for a film released in 1990, until the final scene which has distracting colour grading and transparency issues.

“The Hunt for Red October” has barely aged, undertones aside, and remains an enjoyable watch to the present day thanks to strong casting and an experienced action director. John McTiernan shot “The Hunt for Red October” right after the first two “Die Hard” films, and “Predator”. This winning streak would not last however, as he followed up “The Hunt for Red October” with the ill-fated Schwarzenegger vehicle “Last Action Hero”, and would go on to direct content of that standard, before perjuring himself to an FBI agent after having co-workers’ phones illegally tapped in the late 2000’s.  It speaks volumes that this dramatic fall from grace hasn’t overshadowed his legacy of delivering some of the finest action movies Hollywood has ever produced, “The Hunt for Red October” included.

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Book #1- “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”

Joanne Rowling has been having a trying time of her own making in recent years. Frequently embroiled in controversy surrounding inclusivity and transphobia, she is one of many celebrities seemingly committed to setting her legacy aflame via the medium of Twitter. Originally lauded as the creator of one of the most popular franchises in fiction, the quality of her output nosedived after the pristine “Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince”, resulting in the final installment, “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows”, being a disjointed, cowering, and unsatisfying finale.  

Following a short-lived foray into writing adult fiction met with moderate success, Rowling returned to the wizarding world with a number of unfortunate spin-offs. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, a two-part stage play also published in book form, reads like ill-advised fan fiction thanks to its co-writers Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” proved to be a worthwhile feature film spin-off to the franchise but the sequel, “The Crimes of Grindelwald” had a borderline unfathomable plot which flowed poorly and retconned characters that didn’t need retconning. One would be forgiven for getting George Lucas vibes at this point.

In the middle of these releases sits “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”, a very short collection of children’s tales, which canonically exists within the Harry Potter universe and is first referenced in “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows”. The storybook is comprised of five short stories. Some are simply referenced by name in the mainline series but the final story, “The Tale of the Three Brothers” is a key plot-point in the final book. “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot” is a rather plain cautionary tale about personal conviction. “The Fountain of Fair Fortune” is a little more engaging and tells the story of three witches and a knight, all of whom are looking to shed their misfortunes. Like all of the stories in the collection it is only a few pages long but comes to a satisfying resolution and is probably the best story in the collection, making a case for keeping an open eye for alternate solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems. “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” is a somewhat dreary cautionary tale that warns against closing oneself off to the challenge of human relationships lest the resulting isolation be a far worse consequence. “Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump” is a story about greed and the short-term gains of being untruthful. It also features the singular salvageable character of the book, Babbitty Rabbitty. “The Tale of the Three Brothers”, featured heavily in “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows” and tells the story of three brothers and their relationship with death. It functions mostly as a plot device for the mainline series but does offer interesting commentary on the measures people take to fight off their own mortality.

Dumbledore features as a character in the “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”, offering further insight into the wizarding world and characteristically humorous anecdotes in the form of notes that feature after the fables. In truth these sections are probably the most enjoyable part of the book, which is likely the most damning thing that can be said about this collection of tales.

It is slightly unclear where Joanne Rowling plans on going next with the Harry Potter Universe, though the recent ‘Wizarding World’ rebranding of all Harry Potter media and properties seems to suggest she (and Warner Brothers) will attempt to emulate the success of the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’. In 2018 video footage of a ‘Wizarding World’ MMO videogame set in the 19th century leaked online but was expeditiously ripped down by WB’s frenzied legal representation, although re-uploads exist for those that know where to look. “Fantastic Beast And Where To Find Them” is also due at least one more installment, so it is at least clear that Joanne Rowling (and WB) plan to milk this magical cow for years to come.

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Game #1- “Undertale”

Little remains to be said about “Undertale” that hasn’t been said countless times since its release in 2015. It was so impactful upon release that anyone writing about games had to share their thoughts on it. “Undertale”’s effect on the medium of games and the social platforms they’re discussed on cannot be exaggerated. Few games have ever commanded such a cult following, and even less of them have come from a single indie developer. Produced almost entirely by one creator, Toby Fox, “Undertale” was designed from the ground up to tell a story that should be played numerous times, deconstructed, dissected, and contemplated. It features an attainable three endings, that uniquely, require three distinct play styles from the player, rather than asking the player to make choices at key points in the story. Heavily inspired by the RPG series known as “Earthbound” in the west or “Mother” in Japan, “Undertale” is infamous for its’ subversive storytelling, similar to indie compeer “Five Nights at Freddies”, which was released by Scott Cawthon a year prior.

From the outset it is made immediately apparent to the player that they are not playing a run-of-the-mill videogame. Sinister undertones are sown from the beginning, warning players to tread carefully and be more conscious of their surroundings. The game repeatedly makes statements about player expectations and the relationship between game designer, the wizard behind the curtain, and the player. The core loop present in Undertale revolves around simple exploration and making choices, choices that subvert established shorthand norms in videogame design that have not changed much in some thirty-odd years. Its’ self-reflexive humour, puns, and observations have resonated with a generation that were weaned on meme humour. The core narrative is not as compelling as its cult following suggests, and is disappointingly overly simplistic as it unfolds, the game’s mysteries buried far deeper than some will be willing to dig. The narrative is not substantial enough on the surface, and relies too heavily on YouTube theory videos to expand on the hidden lore. Both the worst culprits and the biggest victims of this are the two skeletal characters the protagonist shares the stage with, Sans and Papyrus. Their importance to the plot are for the player to discover, but this will more than likely occur outside of the confines of the game. Similarly, it’s a little frustrating to walk past story content that you know is there, but is locked behind an obscure puzzle with a solution that frequently won’t be available to the player until the final sections of the game. The humour is good for a chuckle early on, but it’s incessant, and starts to grate as early as three hours in. The humour is more Douglas Adams than Terry Pratchett, a trying amalgamation of dad jokes and Christmas cracker jokes.

Even with a run-time of somewhere between four and six hours, “Undertale” might outlive its’ welcome for some. It is best experienced in occasional half hour bursts, as mainlining it may turn into a bit of a slog. Save points are mercifully frequent and always available before boss battles, and it is advised to always replenish healing items when a store comes along.

The boss battles are challenging but perfectly tuned. Toby Fox has gone on record saying that he did not want the game to require grinding to complete, and he achieved this. Some bosses are challenging and will require a handful of attempts until their attack patterns and weaknesses can be figured out, particularly towards the end, when the game gradually becomes a boss rush. The game’s turn based battles are crossed with bullet hell mechanics to invigorate this traditionally monotonous gameplay loop, and are one of the game’s most inventive features.

Despite this the story remains well paced, and the player is swiftly led from area to area, through puzzles, plot points, and phantasmagorical environments. The game’s character and environment art are not consistent with either an 8-bit or 16-bit aesthetic, a deliberate creative decision by Toby Fox and the mark of a passion project executed with confidence and creativity. Character designs are simple and mostly static, but varied, appealing and expressive, and have been a key factor to the game’s success. The plodding protagonist’s design is simple and perhaps a caricature of the target audience, slightly bulbous, with unkempt hair hanging down over narrow, sleepy eyes; his yellow skin perhaps a nod to many of the most famous stylized characters in entertainment; Spongebob Squarepants, The Simpsons, Minions, and of course Game Freak’s cash cow, Pikachu.

Toby Fox’s greatest accomplishment by far is the game’s soundtrack. Orchestras as far as Japan have paid homage to the career-defining melodies Fox penned for “Undertale”. The warbling battle theme ‘Enemy Approaching’ is a fortifying rub on the players’ shoulders while the game over theme, ‘Determination’, is a encouraging pat on the shoulder. Players will forever recall a great betrayal listening to the sweeping and melodic ‘Heartache’. ‘Dating Start!’ is pure comfort food for fans of Phoenix Wright; it’s very reminiscent of Noriyuki Iwadare’s work on the Ace Attorney series. ‘Snowy’ will become a staple on many peoples’ winter playlists, and indeed the entire soundtrack will likely be enduringly and regularly enjoyed by many of its fans.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about “Undertale”’s success is how Nintendo have failed to capitalize on it with a revival of the “Earthbound” franchise. Perhaps we’ll see something from them this year, as 2019 marks their franchise’s 30th anniversary. While gamers wait, Toby Fox does what Nintendon’t, releasing ‘Delta Rune’, a several hour long ‘demo’ set in the same universe as Undertale, in late 2018.

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Movie #1- “The Departed“

"The Departed" is not a huge departure for Martin Scorsese. The godfather of crime drama has directed almost thirty feature films, and the majority of them revolve around the American criminal underworld. In 2006 he released “The Departed”, a film based on “Infernal Affairs”, a crime drama produced in Hong Kong and released four years prior. “The Departed” was more favourably received than more recent attempts to americanise Asian entertainment, such as the remake of Pak Chan Wook's "Old Boy" and the live action remakes of "Ghost in the Shell" and "Death Note". It was a critical success, earning over €255 million worldwide and winning four Oscars, and has subsequently become a cult classic.

"The Departed" features an all-star cast that will be familiar to anyone who has experienced Scorsese’s filmography. Silver screen veterans Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Jack Nicholson are accompanied by young but established actors Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio's mouthy Billy Costigan portrays an undercover police officer tasked with infiltrating and bringing down the crime ring of the Irish mob boss Francis Costello, played by Nicholson, a task he executes pretty poorly as he quickly begins to unravel under the pressure. Nicholson portrays the dominating Costello as only Nicholson can, a staccatic and unpredictable Irish mob boss, whose character was inspired by the real life and crimes of the recently ‘departed’ Whitey Bulger. Costello has also infiltrated his adversaries’ organization, by grooming Damon’s Colin Sullivan, a fresh recruit with insidious intentions. Vera Farmiga plays Madolyn, a walking, talking trope, filling the role of both the unusually disarmable and suggestible police psychiatrist, and the dastardly, confusticated woman who just can't make up her mind and props up the love triangle with DiCaprio and Damon’s characters. Not all of the cast nail the Boston accent, Alec Baldwin and Vera Farmiga being among the worst offenders. There is great variety in the characters and performances and despite it being a crime drama, not every character oozes toxic masculinity and bravado, a fresh take for this genre. The casting does throw its' audience the challenge of distinguishing between Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg, but distinguishing them is made slightly easier by the fact that Wahlberg was apparently built like an M1 Abrams in 2005.

The dialogue is economic, unapologetic and frequently humorous, and will entice people back for repeat viewings. Wahlberg’s Sergeant Dignam steals the show in this regard but most of the cast get a swing at some memorable deadpan delivery. Mark Wahlberg is well known for initially (and repeatedly) rejecting the role of Sergeant Sean Dignam in this film. He has openly talked about his indignation at the dogged attempts of his agent and Scorsese to secure him for the role. He expertly funnells this ire into his performance and it bounces off the other cast members to hilarious effect. His performance was so successful he has been playing variations of that character ever since, particularly in “The Other Guys”, a comedy he and Will Ferrell released only four years later.

"The Departed"'s cut is surprisingly punchy and stylized for a Scorsese crime drama, and is frequently reminiscent of Michael Mann's work. The cut keeps the audience engaged as the plot jumps between the two central characters quite a bit. The viewer is expected to parse a lot of backstory and character relationships quickly. Visually this film is a bona fide time capsule of the early 2000's. Bulky plastic flip phones, baggy nylon sweats, and a cool blue grading shape this film’s visual language.

The cut is well paced, entertains throughout, and starts ramping up with an hour left on the run-time. Both the character building cat & mouse plots and the small handful of actions scenes are skillfully delivered. The two and a half hour run-time flies by. Some late-stage questionable decision-making by DiCaprio’s Billy Costigan prevent the story from wrapping up flawlessly, which is disappointing as the film gets most of the way there. This issue perhaps stems from the fact that the film is a re-imagining and from the need to wrap up storylines of slightly re-written characters. The result is a strange sense of rooting for the film’s antagonist because of all the effort they put in and because they appear more capable. Despite this, “The Departed” is both accessible, and a shining example of its genre, making it an easy recommendation for most audiences.

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The 52 of 2016.

Almost three years ago I took on the challenge of completing 52 games in one year. It was a New Year’s resolution undertaken with the intent of addressing my ballooning Steam library. My Steam account, like most others, had fallen victim to the dreaded Humble Bundle, and I resolved to start chipping away at the backlog. It was a daunting undertaking that took up much of the year. I often selected games based on their short length. howlongtobeat.com became one of my most frequently visited websites and an invaluable resource.

In the end, I barely made a dent in my Steam backlog, as I ended up completing many of the games using emulators, a WiiU, a 3DS, and an Android tablet. I’m glad I experienced these titles on a variety of platforms and their varied and inventive control schemes. It was a worthwhile endeavour filled with surprises, great experiences, and some not-so-great experiences.

I discovered new series’ that I never thought would appeal to me but have become all-time favourites, like “X-Com: Enemy Within” and “Splatoon”. I struggled through beautiful but maddeningly difficult games like “Rayman Origins” and “Donkey Kong:Tropical Freeze” (‘git’n gud’ isn’t on the cards for me). I experienced classics for the first time, remade, with "Black Mesa” and “Ducktales: Remastered”. Some games took an hour to complete, like “Depression Quest”, and some games quickly consumed my entire waking existence, like “Splatoon”. I finally understood the hype behind the emotive storytelling in indie darlings “Depression Quest”, “Gone Home”, “Her Story”, and “Thomas Was Alone”. I revisited my favourite “The Legend of Zelda” game (“The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker”), and my least favourite (“The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess”) in HD, and was underwhelmed by my first experience with “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” (no, don’t @ me). The precise gyro controls in “Splatoon” allowed me to perform competitively in an online multiplayer game for the first time ever, and I fumbled with the on-screen controls of the already challenging “Ducktales: Remastered” on Android. I enjoyed some games a lot more than the gaming community did. The beautiful “Halo 5: Guardians” took the story of Master Chief and Cortana to intriguing new places, both metaphorically and literally. I also enjoyed some games far less than I was led to believe I would. “Red Dead Redemption” was a beautiful game, especially running on the XBox One S and its fantastic backwards compatibility, but ultimately I found it very repetitive. Setting this goal took me out of my comfort zone and I persisted with many titles I would have dropped otherwise. It was worthwhile and I’m glad I did it.

After two years’ break, it’s time to bring the pain again. This coming year I will attempt to review the titles I play, which is why this tumblr page exists. I may also throw in some other mediums, like movies or novels, and attempt to do 52 of those too, time permitting.

Let’s have another crack at that Steam backlog.

The full list of games I completed in 2016, in order:

Never Alone Rayman Origins Black Mesa Codename S.T.E.A.M. Bioshock 2 Among the Sleep X-Com: Enemy Within The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor Super Mario Galaxy Grow Home Gone Home X-Com 2 Papers, Please DmC: Devil May Cry Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Shank Disney Infinity 3.0: Twilight of the Republic Ryse: Son of Rome The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Splatoon Her Story Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Tengami Shelter The Stanley Parable Fallout 4 Dear Esther Captain Toad Swords & Soldiers II Hyrule Warriors The Fall The Beginner's Guide Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Depression Quest Wolfenstein: The New Order Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Octodad: Dadliest Catch The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD Halo 4 Halo 5: Guardians Cibele Red Dead Redemption Halo 3: ODST The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice Emily is Away Link's Crossbow Training Grand Theft Auto V Thomas was Alone There is no Game Ducktales: Remastered

The titles I will complete in 2019:

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