#ALSO THE BOSS FIGHTS AND SETPIECES LOOK ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

[corvuskoraki]

LIES OF P OVERTURE ANNOUNCED LET’S GO BAYYYYYBEEEEEEE

[bersergner-blog]

Practice 2_1.2 - Inspiration - Sifu

Cutting Edge

Released 8th February 2022 by Sloclap, Sifu looks and feels very sophisticated and modern. Featuring smoothly animated characters, with painterly textures (possibly cel-shaded?) and some absolutely stunning uses of colour temperature and cinematic camera-work all punctuated by an absolutely thumping soundtrack. Alongside this the game has one of the most expansive movelists in the genre, satisfying feedback, clear audio cues and a ramping adaptive difficulty system that will challenge you no matter how masterful you are. It looks and feels amazing and if it wasn't for the fiddliness of some of the directional inputs and a sometimes openly antagonistic camera I would dare to call it perfect.

Punchy Pacing

Sifu delivers it's narrative very concisely. It seems to understand the simplicity of it's idea and seeks to immerse you through it's infectious momentum. It keeps the beats coming, gets you into gameplay quickly and guides you through level design, lighting, music and creative transitions.

Setpiece Locations

Due to the game's structure you will end up visiting the same levels multiple times. And before it's 'Arena' update only featured 5 playable levels. Luckily Sifu's levels are so meticulously considered, that putting the tenement assault from The Raid, with the hallway fight from OldBoy and the greenhouse confrontation from I saw the Devil all into the first level alone doesn't make the game feel like it's just references stitched together. Not only does this show that the developers of the game know their stuff when it comes to action cinema, it also means that you are thrown from one tense meaningful encounter punctuated by visual set-pieces to another with very little downtime. It really nails that sense of "this is a great place to have a fight" again and again. And in this sense the low number of levels doesn't feel like a detriment as every level is absolutely chockful of the cream of the crop of action cinema. Additionally there are collectibles to discover as well as some shortcuts that allow you to take completely different paths through the level with multiple playthroughs.

Martial Mastery

Sifu is a game of layers. I beat the game on release after 22 hours, yet I wouldn't get the last achievement (including Arenas) until 100 hours later. In that time the way I played the game changed significantly and irreversibly at least 3 times. This is the closest a video game has ever come to the experience of refining a martial art. When you first beat the game, if you're anything like me, you'll only be using around 35% of your moveset. By the time you beat the game on Master difficulty you'll be using most of it. But if you want to get 3 stamps on 'Facing Liming Hui' in Arena mode, you'll need it all!

Bibliography

GAMERANT (2022). [Online] Available at: https://gamerant.com/sifu-john-wick-club-fight/

NME (2022). [Online] Available at: https://www.nme.com/guides/5-things-i-wish-id-known-before-playing-sifu-3158779

ARTSTATION (2022). [Online] Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/G86yYd

IGN (2022). [Online] Available at: https://www.ign.com/wikis/sifu/The_Museum

CULTUREDVULTURES (2022). [Online] Available at: https://culturedvultures.com/sifu-jinfeng-boss-guide/

PLAYSTATION. [Online] Available at: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/sifu/

DAILYGRINDHOUSE. [Online] Available at: http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/devil-2010/

SCREENRANT (2021). [Online] Available at: https://screenrant.com/sifu-game-ps5-oldboy-hallway-fight-martial-arts/

IMDB. [Online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/mediaindex

GQ. [Online] Available at: https://www.gq.com/story/ryan-gosling-drive-jacket

SCMP (2022) [Online] Available at: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3172743/how-bruce-lee-film-game-death-became-cynical-project-cash

[spnreactionblogging]

DESPAIR

SPOILERS BELOW / tw suicide sort of

ah the title really does sum this up. I am filled with such dread going in. I know cas gets sent to super hell, I know the destiel shippers are declaring it canon (but then, when haven't they), and I've heard from a reliable source that the show officially as of just now is queerbaiting for real by making it vague and easy to ignore it instead of actually confirming anything. plus nobody seems to give a fuck about jack, as usual, and sam didn't get to say goodbye? god how can this get better???? I hope buckleming got to fucking murder castiel! that would really improve this for me!!! the cherry on the shit sundae for real so okay here goes. ugh. I have this angel's envy bourbon at 1PM, oops. I feel like I will need it for this one more than the others I also am ensconced in my castiel trenchcoat + "be super good" shirt, and cas, crowley, and sam the q-pals are joining me. dean is banished to remain in the tote bag they live in. god I want to scream. this fucking synopsis "With the plan in full motion, Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jack fight for the good for the common goal." oh the plan to use Jack as a suicide bomb???? great idea. lol I hate this. whose "common good"????????? ah but yes dean runs a dictatorship right. no wonder chuck butts heads with him dean looks so fucking smug in the amazon prime video app, hovering over the episode where cas will die horribly. fuck. there is nothing that can emotionally prepare me for this episode the show is going to end with sam and dean because it started with sam and dean and chuck/the IRL writers are bitter about it I guess??? delete fucking everything god, very fucking cute of dean to be like WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!!! you fucking piece of shit you forcememed this to go as quickly as possible because you want Jack fucking dead, don't pretend you care god. fuck. jack apologizing for dying, to the empty. I hate everything so much ah, so that's why the opening title screen has been that. gross. horrible. a jack singularity is that it? really? jack's dead? just like that. okay. awful. oh he's MAYBE dead. reassuring. I see that briana buckmaster and jim beaver will be joining us my cat is sitting in front of the TV trying to prevent me from watching this, trying to save me from myself oh and felicia day oh this one's written by robert berens, I mostly trust him I think sam should've photocopied the book first oh hey RSJ directed this one I'm glad to have rachel miner back in any capacity that's... alpha/omega on the side there? makes sense I hope it's a fake book god I love sam sitting on the like. what is that, weird equipment panels? more confirmation sam is queer, you heard it here what leverage does dean even think he has cool jack's just getting tortured now "the boy is still useful" at least billie isn't pretending to care about him. oh she left the book thank fuck cas goes to him right away, please hug this child alcohol is not gonna help you guys sleep oh here's dean's half-assed apology. "sorry not sorry that I just couldn't stop, I couldn't help it, I just wanted to get what I wanted, and now that I didn't get what I wanted, sowwy uwu I guess" "you've snapped me out of worse" yeah don't minimize this, sam oh yeah michael exists. I notice dean refers to him as michael and not including adam. way to go I notice that sam does not drink right away "to somehow" those eggs look great "no guns at the table" is a solid rule not only for how miserable that is, but because everything surrounding firearms is a carcinogen and doesn't need to be near food please love yourself charlie please eat good eggs am I supposed to know stevie, was she part of the alternate universe, I still like never watched most of 10-13 oh we're gonna kill MULTIPLE queer characters in this episode, awesome. we gonna kill charlie AGAIN??????? we brought her back just to kill her off, AGAIN? LIKE KEVIN? and bobby I guess?? can I just say how much I hate the concept of a "final boss fight" like why is it always ending in a fight, why is violence always the answer, and why do we feel like one final violent action will solve all the problems huh charlie's shirt looks like a tycho album cover okay so I didn't forget stevie, she was brand new? maybe? I love cas and jack :( feels strange because this all sucks there's no such thing as destiny, jack don't fucking die for sam and dean and 'the world' damn right, cas, he doesn't need "absolution" well that's true for you, cas, you care because he's him. dean just wants to use him cas and jack are good. charlie this was so not your fault. as usual this is the winchesters' fault. tell 'em charlie!!! get 'em!!! you're not sorry, dean. "What now?" is a huge fucking mood, dean oh, greg! our old friend! greg was a real one (but not anymore) yeah eileen's screwed. this includes sam too. and dean i guess. sam is a good person who cares about people despite dean's best efforts to stop him I can't see who he's texting. are cas and jack in the back? poor eileen :( god poor sam having to basically get eileen in front of eyewitnesses who can attest that she disappeared cas and jack are in the backseat yeah I wish he'd tell her she's never gonna reply now yeah she's gone. interesting use of technology that they couldn't've done earlier in the series, to show she was typing but then stopped god that's awful. fuck. "If I let myself go then I'll lose my mind. I can't, right now." that's a huge fucking mood sam let's just postpone all that grief for later. gotta shove it down. huge fucking mood. god I'm so sorry somewhere central... the... bunker? don't split everyone up dean, fuck yes revenge is definitely the answer. killing things is the answer. "not having a choice" is obviously the answer. you fucker we get a sam and dean hug but where's the one for cas. you can like... see it in sam and jack's eyes that they are worried they're never gonna see them again. I'm horrified that cas isn't getting to say goodbye to jack nor sam. I can't handle this. I guess this scene is where they took that last group photo that misha posted back in march? RIP :( oh hey donna jack, that feeling is TheDepression oh gas-n-sip sam's sweet to try to give jack some autonomy here instead of having him just... being shuffled around like baggage. is that eileen's car then this music is intense don't burn the fucking library also wow dean with the reaper blade again is oof. wow. yikes. dean is become death, destroyer of worlds for real. jesus that is fucking horrifying to see. aren't you, dean? aren't you a bringer of death. remember when you hated doing that back in season... 4? 5? later? dean has learned nothing. sam's been trapped in a silo before hasn't he. or that panic room or something. donna is sweet. jack is good. jack deserves better. sam :( donna is very kind I like hearing jody and garth mentioned even if they're not in this episode (?) oh hey charlie sam at least knows how you feel, charlie I like this set god I've missed jim beaver is jack going around with spraypaint? I'm like oh god there's no ventilation. I guess it's a paint bucket but still the fumes are bad. better than being evaporated though I guess big man on campus. RIP stanford sam at least there's a bucket. praeses magna. "president large"? thinking about how it would be impossible to have extras for episodes 19 and 20 I like watching jack paint RIP that plant. apparently he has his powers dean walks around way too comfortably with the reaper scythe. oh but the plan has changed. did billie leave that book and nobody read it?????? dean you don't have friends, bud. yeah how did you tink you would even stand a chance, dean. this is the worst plan ever I'm so tired of seeing cas get tortured. I don't want to see billie get hurt either. is "billie" actually the empty or something "Has virtutes conliga. Eas integra. Eas firma. Nos omnes serva." = "These virtues bind. Those infected. These are strong. We keep them all." idk google translate, I feel like that may not be "infected" but more like integrity I like the effects they did on the wardings there yeah pretty much you can't stop god oh I'm real sad about that couple who vanished together :( bye charlie bye bobby. :( bye donna??? oh that like gold paint gossamer looking shit going on with billie's arm is cool god I'm glad billie smacked him in the face, dean deserves it. I just rewound it to see dean get clocked again, it's so worth it so they went back to the bunker... for what? billie can just go there. sam and jack are gonna have such a rough fucking day. all those double cheeseburgers are back for revenge on dean billie's right actually. dean always thinks the rules don't apply to him because he thinks he should be making the rules. castiel should be with jack, not with dean. fuck. can't cas still heal people the scythe on the wall is a good visual. I really like lisa berry, she does an amazing job is this the same room with the ma'lak box always happy to bleed for the winchesters. christ. fuck. even with dean's pocketknife. cas I'm so sorry. sweetheart you don't deserve this. 7B? so Jack was trapped in 5B, this is a different room but probably the same actual setpiece just rearranged do you just... have to wait her out yeah yeah dean you suck. correct, you never should've left sam and jack. wow I feel zero sympathy for dean at all. you do it to yourselllllf you do, that's what really hurts. oh baby don't summon the empty please :( I'm so glad to know that cas never told them about how he saved jack, it's none of their business yeah it would be with jack, cas. you should be with him man this is shitty. this is like a bad fanfic for real. wow these shots are like, when it cuts between them it's so obvious these were not the same camera lmao fuck. how many takes was this god i hate dean. he has not done this for love. dean is a spiteful person. "you're the most caring man on earth" literally kill me. I want to die. jesus fuck. i want to be dead this is awful this sucks this actually really hurts. this sucks so much. dean you squandered this angel's life. now jack has no father. i hate you dean winchester. i hate you. you don't deserve cas loving you jack knows, jack can feel it. I hate hate hate hate hate hate that jack is left alone with the winchesters. i hate this. jesus fuck i hate this so much i hate this jack sweetheart I'm so sorry dean you fucking ass please pick up the fucking phone. please answer sam. i hate you god dean i hate you fuck dean you are the worst. fuck my life. fuck all this. fuck this show. i'm so angry castiel deserves so much better than this. fuck i'm so mad. why wasn't his moment of happiness knowing that JACK WASN'T GOING TO DIE. i hate this. I'm so upset. fucking shit-ass writing. and it's still not fucking canon you morons at least uh they don't have to have extras for the last two episodes? did they add that footage after? is that what got changed up? everyone's gone huh. god just. dump the show right into the trash. bye. also for fuck's sake nobody gives a fuck about jack like I didn't even know he survived. nobody cares. "sam didn't get to say goodbye" FUCKING JACK DIDN'T GET TO SAY GOODBYE fuck this so much. fuck, is dean just chuck's OC? made in his image and furious that his mini-me isn't acting the way he wants? is that why he gets exonerated at every turn? "all the evil shit you did is fine dean you're the MOST LOVING AND THE BESTEST EVER!!!" fuuuuuck

[sqgt-blog]

Classic Sonic Levels Ranked: #69 - 61

69. Lost Labyrinth - Sonic 4: Episode 1

It stands to reason that Sonic 4′s take on Labyrinth Zone would be godawful, but ironically, it’s for completely different reasons. Acts 1 and 2 are completely devoid of water! You instead have to wade through some of the most terrible gimmicks in the series. Act 1 is a very long gauntlet of boulders that suddenly appear behind you, drop over pits, and the worst ones of all: the ones that you have to keep balance on as they roll over bottomless pits. Act 2 is different depending on whether you’re playing the console or mobile version. The mobile version is the infamous gimmick minecart level, which is tilt controlled. You basically tilt right to win and occasionally jump. The console version’s Act 2 is thankfully a regular platforming level, but one filled with blocky torchlight puzzles, and not the fun kind. On top of that, you get to ride a button controlled minecart in some sections. Act 3 is the only one similar to Labyrinth Zone, and the only act in the game with water. It’s an even worse version of Labyrinth Zone, now with segments where Sonic randomly curls up in his ball form and somehow floats in the water, and you have to tilt the level to force a block out of the way without tilting Sonic into some spikes. It kills the little flow the level already has. The boss is at least the most original in the game. The first phase is the same as the original Labyrinth chase, but then Eggman engages you in battle with crushing pillars. These are actually well enough telegraphed where it isn’t too hard of a boss.

68. Labyrinth - Sonic 1

I honestly don’t mind Labyrinth much but it is a slog of a level. To be fair, this was the first water level in a series with unusual gameplay so I probably would have made the same mistakes back then. What Labyrinth screws up is that the level is 100% blocky platforming and is almost entirely underwater, filled with dangerous traps. There are also almost no alternate paths. It doesn’t play to any of Sonic’s strengths at all. Later water levels in the series would use the water as a punishment for failing to stay above it, but would always let you recover and reach the surface, eliminating Labyrinth’s biggest sin. Not helping things is the boss, which is just chasing Eggman up a flooding tunnel full of spears. The game designers probably figured no boss they could make would be as difficult as Labyrinth Zone, and they were right!

67. Wacky Workbench - Sonic CD

I considered ranking this level last, but unlike Labyrinth Zone, there is one saving grace: with skillful play you can avoid the shitty gimmick. Wacky Workbench is designed around an electrifying floor, and if you touch it, it bounces you extremely high up, usually into a vertical shaft that you have to climb back down to make any progress again. The badniks and electric cables are also very annoying and placed in some cheap spots. Also, Act 1′s robot generator is hidden in a super cheap spot. Turns out those crushers aren’t crushers, but are warp tubes, and one of them takes you to the robot generator! Almost as an apology, Act 2′s is right at the beginning of the level. The boss is actually pretty cool: Eggman drills through the ceiling, and to follow him you need to climb up some blocks that the floor bounces up to reach the next level. It’s a pretty decent challenge and is very creative.

66. EGG Station - Sonic 4: Episode 1

Like every zone in Sonic 4 Episode 1, EGG Station picks a zone from Sonic 1 or 2 to rip off. The final zone thus rips off 2′s Death Egg. Here, you fight every boss again, now with less health but already in pinch mode. This is made incredibly aggravating by the choice of music, the boss pinch theme which is a five second loop. The boss rush is capped off by another Death Egg Robot, with some key differences. This time you get three rings to fight him, and he doesn’t have wonky hitboxes this time, making him much easier; until you hit him 16 times, upon which he shields himself with electricity and stops pulling punches. He rockets them instead, forcing you to knock his hands back at him to temporarily lower his electric shield. His third and final phase only takes one hit, but failure to hit him after he jumps and lands will cause him to destroy the floor, killing you instantly. He’s actually kind of a decent boss, he just overstays his welcome, and his not-Death Egg Robot theme is pretty lame.

65. Metropolis - Sonic 2

Metropolis is the most hated level in Sonic 2, and with good reason. Every enemy in this zone is out for your blood. Whether it’s the punching crab Shellcracker with his unfair hitbox, the exploding Asteron placed next to the vertical screws where he will knock you all the way down, or the dreaded Slicer who can snipe you anywhere on screen with his boomerang scythes, all of these badniks are placed in the worst possible spots imaginable. The worst part, however, is that Metropolis is three acts long instead of two. On top of being super cheap, it also overstays its welcome, a cardinal sin for Sonic levels. The boss is also pretty hard to not get hit by, thanks to the hitboxes on his orbiting balloons and how close he circles them around him. With rings he’s still pretty easy, but I couldn’t imagine fighting him without any rings.

64. Oil Ocean - Sonic 2

The first six zones in Sonic 2 are an absolute joy to play through and never get old. Unfortunately, Sonic 2′s level design takes a massive dive in quality after Mystic Cave and never recovers. Oil Ocean is the seventh zone and is marks the point where I don’t feel like playing anymore. Oil Ocean is one of the coolest looking and sounding levels in the series, a surreal oil refinery with Arabian music. It’s also a tedious maze where you never feel like you’re making progress. The fans from Star Light Zone return to keep you from running forward, usually right after you exit one of the fifty elevator shafts. You also wind up going backwards a lot. There are also cannon setpieces that are cool for about two seconds before they overstay their welcome, as they drag on forever and tend to place you further backwards in the zone. At least the oil slides are fun.

63. Marble - Sonic 1

Sonic 1 has amazing gameplay, and levels that do not take advantage of said amazing gameplay. Marble Zone, the second zone, is one of them. Thankfully it isn’t hard (though it is a spike from Green Hill Zone). It is, however, a massive killjoy. Marble Zone is almost entirely devoid of slopes and alternate paths, the two key things that make a Sonic level, and is instead filled with very slow paced and blocky platforming. Like Labyrinth Zone, it is the complete antithesis of what makes Sonic fun, but it’s much easier and doesn’t have water which makes it that much more tolerable. Still though, placing it as the second level was not a good idea.

62. Wing Fortress - Sonic 2

This is the final regular level in Sonic 2, and the hardest one by far. What the level lacks in badniks it makes up for in dickish level design. There’s a lot of cool gimmicks in this level like propellers that you can hover above, wall panels to cling to, floor boosters (which are unfortunately very glitchy and will probably kill you). It feels climactic but doesn’t really feel that fun, just kind of brutal. Thankfully, it’s really short, on top of being a one act level. The boss is the hardest in the game too, and this is right before the two final bosses fought with no rings. It’s a laser in the ceiling that you can only hit by climbing on some small platforms with spikes on the bottom. It isn’t too difficult, but if you aren’t too careful it can be easy to get hit since the spike platforms fly right over each other.

61. White Park - Sonic 4: Episode 2

White Park is the most original zone in Sonic 4, and unfortunately the most tragic. Act 1 is the only act that feels well designed. It’s a pretty fun winter level with some cool gimmicks, and makes cool use of the Rolling Combo to plow through snow. Act 2 is visually the best level in the game and has an awesome roller coaster theme. It’s also the series’ most hold right to win level yet. Literally the only change of pace in this level comes from automatic spring segments and some crushing walls here and there. Act 3, however, is why White Park is ranked so low. It is the single worst level in 2D Sonic history, with nothing redeeming about it. Act 3 is a cave almost entirely underwater where you have to use the Swimming Combo to narrowly dodge sea lion badniks that freeze gigantic portions of the water. The worst part is at the very end, where you have to quickly swim through a gauntlet of these sea lion badniks or they’ll trap you, forcing you to kill yourself by drowning or nearby spikes. Even the music is complete garbage. Thankfully the boss redeems things a bit. It’s a cool battle with Metal Sonic on top of the roller coaster tracks in Act 2. He can homing attack the tracks to destroy them, make lighting walls to fly over, and other attacks. He can be very cheap but this is a genuinely cool battle.