Entry #10: Running off into the Sunset (and also into the fog of Silent Hill)

     Well, this is it. The last blog post that will be made on this blog. Its been fun for these last four months, writing about topics in my own personality. We talked about how to build a PC, the Nintendo Switch, Elon Musk and Twitter, Kingdom Hearts, hashtags, and even liminal spaces. I could have made this blog short and sweet, but I wanted it to be more. So in this final blog from me, I will talk about another one of my favorite game series, Silent Hill, but specifically Silent Hill 2.     

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    I mentioned it very briefly in the Kingdom Hearts blog, but Silent Hill is a recent game series that I got into. I knew about the game series for a while, but I never thought of playing it. It was just a game series that I thought I would never play, but when I was able to buy Silent Hill on my Xbox (It was on the Silent Hill HD Collection, which is considered the worst version of the game, but it ran fine to me) during a sale, I was able to finally play it. I was pretty excited to play it since I was watching some videos about the games (with no spoilers of course) and the fact that Silent Hill is represented in Dead By Daylight, a horror game that I played. After playing through Silent Hill 2 and 3, while 3 was also really good, I REALLY loved Silent Hill 2. It was one of the most unique games that I played in a long time. Despite it being a PlayStation 2 game, the game still holds up to this day. 

              "In my restless dreams, I see that town. Silent Hill."

                                                    

                                                                                            

 Silent Hill 2 starts off with a man, a man name James Sunderland. He just arrived at Toluca Lake in the small town of Silent Hill. As he exits the bathroom, he stares off to the lake and looks at the letter his wife Mary gave him. Seems innocent, right? Well the problem with this is that Mary is dead. She's been dead for three years because of a disease. James, wondering how he could have gotten this letter from her, then sets out to explore Silent Hill to find her, not knowing the monstrosities that are within the town. As he explores, he will find other people who don't seem they are mentally there along with monsters conjured by James's mind. The game creates a setting that isn't really scary, but uncomfortable. The atmosphere of Silent Hill gave me a mysterious but anxiety-filled mood as it is covered by the thick fog. The soundtrack also gives off a unknown vibe, which sets the mood for the game. The fact that you are alone most of the game with some people here and there also gives it a liminal feel to it. Empty streets, dark corridors, and the dilapidated buildings that look like they haven't been used in a while add to this feeling. The monsters hiding within these places are twisted human-like creatures that follow James as he goes on his journey, and sometimes he has to get his hands dirty and kill them, whether it being with a wooden plank, a iron pipe, or even a handgun. Even with these factors, James still pushes on, as he is determined to find Mary. 

    The gameplay of Silent Hill 2 is a survival horror game, which is a horror game that has items in limited quantities. Items like medicine and ammo for guns are not that abundant, so do not expect to run and gun. There are also puzzles, and these puzzle make you actually think a bit. They can be in riddles or just based on common sense (I'm not going to say anything because these puzzles are good). Movement-wise, you control James with tank-controls, which is when movement is controlled relative to player position instead of the camera perspective. Its hard to use at first and it might feel outdated, but eventually I got used to it, and honestly it adds to the game as the camera swerves around when you run around. It especially makes it nerve-racking when you are running away from something and the camera changes angle, which messes you up. In terms of saving, like most games from this generation, you have to manually save by finding red squares scattered around the town. These squares are usually found in calm spots, like some kind of intermission. I highly recommend saving during specific times if you want to achieve the requirements for certain endings, which there are about six endings to the game. 

     I never expected this game to be one of my favorite games of all time, but here it is. Silent Hill 2 is a psychological horror journey that I recommend that you play. The story is really good and there are some tense moments. The soundtrack is eerie yet calm, and in some cases it feels like a vibe. The atmosphere will make you nervous that something will pop out of the fog or darkness. Its really a shame that most people won't be able to play this game  unless you either buy the Silent Hill: HD Collection on Xbox (like I said, it's not the recommended version to play), or you shell out a lot of money to buy a physical copy of the game on eBay. Thankfully, there is a remake of Silent Hill 2 coming soon, so this will let people play one of the most acclaimed games of the 21st century. 

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    Well, that's the end of the last blogpost. I hope you enjoyed my long summary of Silent Hill 2. Also, thank you for reading my ramblings on video games and other subjects, it was nice to read the comments to see others' opinions. Anyway, I'll see you later!

Entry #9: Today's Media: A Mixed Bag with A Lot of Bad Apples

     After researching for this last essay about the "Power of Media", it didn't really change my view on media. In fact, what I researched was what I was expecting since media in different forms has been going on a degrading path for the past couple of years. For examples, for what I've been researching, entertainment media has been going "woke" and trying to diversify anything, which isn't bad unless its not implemented well. Especially in established shows, movies, and games, well-known characters have had their race changed or they are now considered gay. Companies blatantly make it obvious that they just want to get brownie points for inclusivity instead of making a good piece of media. They could make a new character that fits their inclusive criteria and make it mesh well, but they don't. We all hear of the joke that Netflix has to put the "obligatory gay character" that only has the personality of being gay. It dehumanizes the person in question and it just seem lazy.  Along with that, these forms of media aren't good most of the time since many heads and directors play it safe. There don't want to do anything outside the box, it is very contained. This can also relate to being safe, but companies also rely too much on existing properties, sometimes even beloved ones, to make the big bucks. For example, Disney now pumps out Marvel content every year, and as each movie comes out, the quality of it goes down (Just look at Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness, or She-Hulk). It seems like companies now  either leech off of nostalgia to make a quick buck or make something that isn't notable and is mediocre. There can be a good piece of entertainment, but finding it at times can feel like a island in a sea of mediocrity.  

     When I was researching for my essay, I found some Twitter links for a show (specifically Lord of The Rings: Rings of Power), and I decided to look at them for a bit. Now, I don't have Twitter and I have heard all of the rumors of Twitter being a really unenjoyable place, and I can say this: its pretty much true, but I will assume it depends on the topic. Looking at the comment section, it was very toxic and divided. I thought to myself "Why are people like this? Why do they feel the need to start a digital fight JUST for a TV show"? Even though I am not researching about social media specifically, I wanted to point this out. I grew up during the rise of social media, and I never saw a point to it other than to communicate to other people. When I see what people say and do in these comment sections, I feel like a divide is growing in our communities and even the U.S based on certain events. Especially, during the BLM riots of 2020, people on both sides were being disrespected based on their opinion of the situation. People can't have a opinion that isn't the majority opinion, because if you do, then you either get shut down or cancelled. It's really stupid, because every persons' opinions count. They might have some valid criticism or arguments, but that gets overshadowed by bandwagoners and people following a trend. Politics especially are something that divides Americans, whether it is on social media or not, but I'm not going to get into that. That's a WHOLE other can of worms. The whole point is that social media makes people take sides, and I really hate that, and the fact that future generations might grow up in this environment is frightening. Not all social media is bad though. You can meet so many people around the world, with their own interests and hobbies. They can cosplay their favorite character, show off a collection of something they collect, the sky's the limit. That's the social media that I really like, but I feel like that gets overshadowed by the negatives sometimes. 

 

    I know that this blogpost seemed like a rant, but to me, media now makes me sad. Entertainment isn't really something to look at as companies just care only for money, and the fact that social media isn't really the magical place that the future said it would be. There needs to be a change to media, because otherwise society and the people within will start to get ugly and nasty with each other. 

Entry #8: A Simple and Clean Intro to Kingdom Hearts

     It's rare for a game series to be considered part of my top favorites. It is always reserved for the games that impacted me in some way, emotionally or gameplay wise. Kingdom Hearts used to be a series that I have not touched in a while until recently of this year, and after playing through ALL of the games, I have made this one of my favorite game series of all time alongside Halo and Silent Hill. Its story was very intriguing, the gameplay was really satisfying, and the music was masterful. Before that, I remember buying Kingdom Hearts 2 for my PlayStation 2, and playing up until the midgame, in which I stopped playing, not because it was hard, but because I had no idea what to do next. Eventually I got the first Kingdom Hearts game, and played even less than KH2 because I couldn't defeat a boss that was hard for me at the time. After that, I hadn't touched the games until I bought the entire series on Xbox, and let's just say that I went on a journey, an emotional journey of friendship, loss, and the battle between light and darkness. 

    With that out of the way, let me introduce you to what the games are about. Kingdom Hearts, in concept, is the idea of "What if Disney characters interacted with Final Fantasy characters?" Pretty weird idea (Fun fact, the whole idea of Kingdom Hearts was conceived in an elevator ride with Disney and Square Enix employees, since they shared they were located in the same building)but it did work out, so much that it has become one of the most iconic game series of all time. As of this time, there are thirteen games. They consist of the main story and side stories that take place during or even before the main storyline. Even though the side games don't seem like they matter, they actually do, so you actually need to play them in order to understand what is going on (thankfully, the series is more accessible with the existence of the collections on current platforms). 

    

    The first Kingdom Hearts game was released all the way back in 2002 on the PlayStation 2. In the debut game of the franchise, we follow the story of Sora, a boy who lives on the Destiny Islands with his best friends Riku and Kairi. They are in the middle of building a raft to sail off to new worlds together, but then one night the islands are coated in darkness, and Sora goes to investigate. He then sees these dark creatures known as Heartless, and as he is about to get attacked, a Keyblade appears in his hand and he is able to kill them. He also sees that Kairi gets kidnapped and Riku is acting strange in an evil way. After the confrontation between Riku and Sora, Sora is then swept away by a vortex, where he ends up in a new world, a place called Traverse Town. Its at this point where he meets Donald and Goofy, and together they set off to find Sora's friends in different Disney worlds while fighting off the Heartless. It's a pretty simple story but it was a good start for a new franchise. It helped introduce concepts like the Heartless, Keyblades, and other things that would be relevant in the future.  

    Even though this game is called Kingdom Hearts 2, its technically not. The actual second game would be Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (Yeah, I know it must be confusing, and this is a trend for most of this series), but anyways, more on that later. Kingdom Hearts 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. It introduces many new characters, new Disney worlds, and a great plot that kept me at the edge of my seat. The soundtrack is amazing, so much so that from time to time, I listen to some of my favorite songs from the soundtrack. The combat is also perfected in this entry, with its very fast paced combos, along with the introduction of forms like Valor and Wisdom forms, which create variety in the way you play. Even though I really love this game, it does have its faults, because everything has to have a negative. I didn't explain any plot for this game just because if you guys want to try it out.

    One of the things that keeps people from playing the game is the storyline and the way Square Enix handled it. As I mentioned before, the way Square Enix orders the games is confusing. For example, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is the actual sequel to the original, not Kingdom Hearts 2, and like I said before, this affects the rest of the series. This is why some people would get confused with things like when a character from a side game was introduced into the main storyline. Along with that, before the collections were a thing, in order to get the whole story, you would have to own six systems, which was ridiculous. The solution to this problem were the collections released for current platforms that had all of the past games. This makes getting into the franchise much better for newcomers, and it was especially helpful for me to understand what is going on. In my humble opinion, the Kingdom Hearts storyline is not confusing, its pretty straightforward. Some parts lore wise to the Kingdom Hearts universe might be confusing, like certain concepts, but other than that, it's pretty understandable. 

   To conclude this very in-depth but understandable intro (I hope), the Kingdom Hearts series is a game series that I was never expecting to play again, and when I did, I told myself "Why didn't I play these games earlier?!" Because of that, I consider this one of my favorite game franchises and I will remember these games for a long while. I hope you enjoyed my long but detailed blog about a Disney game with anime characters sprinkled in. 

  
   

Entry #7: The Digital Tic-Tac-Toe Board

     The hashtag is something that I barely use unless I want a post that I made to be seen by more people, but even then, I just started to use hashtags a couple of months ago. Basically, a hashtag is a way to connect your many social media posts to different topics. For example, say that you are into shoe culture. In order for your post about the new Air Force drop that you received to spread around Instagram, you would use hashtags like #shoeculture or other related terms that the community uses. Some of the popular hashtags that people use throughout social media include #love, #fashion, #memes, and #art. Even though the whole use of a hashtag sounds tame and kind of mundane, it is also used for serious topics, like world events or certain movements. For the Russian/Ukraine War, people on Twitter would use the hashtag #ukrainewar or #stopwar to protest their feelings towards the matter. For movements, a well-known one is the hashtag #FakeNews, which is used on posts that either are fake news, or used on posts that protest the abundance of fake news all around the internet. Now that you have understood what hashtags are and the power that they hold, here are some tips to help effectively use them. Something to take note is that the less wordy a hashtag is, the more people will use it. Why use a long hashtag when you can use a short and sweet hashtag? Another tip is that you should make the hashtag memorable to the users. Remember #Maythe4th? While it was used when Star Wars: The Force Awakens was announced, the hashtag is now used to commemorate a dedicated Star Wars day (it also sounds like May the Force so it's pretty catchy, even though it's a pun). The final tip for this post is to not add hashtags into EVERY single post you make. It makes you sound pushy. Use them when you feel like it would benefit or create value for you. Hashtags is such an interesting little symbol. Who knew that a tic-tac-toe board would be used for world issues someday?

 

  

Entry #6: A Fall into a Liminal Space

     During my time on the internet, there have been many forms of uncanny media that have been done, from creepypastas (basically online horror stories) to analog horror (horror that tells its stories through VHS tapes to give it an uncanny yet nostalgic feeling). One part of this section of the internet that I find interesting yet weirded out by is the concept of liminal spaces. To most people it looks like this; a room with no people in it. Seems kind of odd, right? Why are people interested or obsessed with this? Well, there's more to it than meets the eye. What makes liminal spaces "creepy" is the fact that the pictures are of places that are usually filled to the brim with people, say like a school or a mall. These pictures get those locations and take them out of their desired context. Basically, imagine a mall at 4AM. Nobody is there, everything is quiet. It's eerie, looks unnatural, and feels otherworldly. 

     Besides showing a location at an odd time, they are also supposed to give the people looking at these images a sense of nostalgia and familiarity . Most of the pictures that are considered liminal spaces look like they were taken either from the 90s to the early 2000s.  When I look at some of these pictures, for example, I feel like I've seen these places somewhere in the past (The mall on the top reminds me of when I went to Metro Center back when it was popular and when Sears still used their old logo). Even then, pictures of these liminal spaces are subjective. Some people might think they are unsettling and nostalgic, others might see it as just a room.

     Liminal spaces are just one of the many interesting pieces of internet media. They show how places that are normal to the human eye can be made unsettling and uncanny with the right conditions. The absence of people along with the obscure times makes it look like a location might be frozen in time, while giving off a nostalgic effect. 
    

                        

Entry #5: Ducey's Solution to The Arizona Graduate Drought

    After reading Ducey: Why Arizona needs more college grads, I felt more relieved that the Doug Ducey and the Arizona government are doing more for education and helping people get into college or some sort of higher education. Compared to other states, Arizona is one of the lowest educated states in the country, so it's great to hear that the AZ government gave K-12 education $142 million in the state budget. The program "Achieve60AZ" is a goal that states that, according to Ducey, " By 2030, at least 60 percent of working age adults with a college degree or career training" (Ducey 3). He also stated the potential results if "Achieve60AZ" is attained, and the goals are pretty decent (Less poverty is something that should be a priority, so I agree with that goal). Ducey tells the state of Arizona that as a father, he wants his children to succeed in the future along with all of the children in Arizona, and I agree with that. When I have kids, I want them to be able to be able to get through school successfully and go to whatever secondary education that they want to go, whether it being university or a trade school. When I was in school, even though I was trying my best to get the best grades I could get, it seemed like people felt that school wasn't important and they would slack off. That and the fact schools here don't get a good budget for supplies made me feel that education wasn't prioritized, so I'm glad that there will be a change for the better. 

Entry #4: Nintendo's Brave Little Toaster: A Nintendo Switch Review and Personal Retrospective

    Launching in March 2017, the Nintendo Switch has been a very successful console, so much so that it is part of the top 5 best-selling game consoles ever. It's a very popular, and there is a reason why that's the case. Nintendo's console isn't just only playable on the TV; you can also play it anywhere. You can play it in your bed, your office at work, and even the toilet if you are so inclined (but I HIGHLY suggest you don't do that. That's gross). Along with this, there are many Nintendo games that are very popular with players everywhere, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and loads of more high quality games made by Nintendo. 

    I remember getting my Switch in Holiday 2019 (Which was a good thing to do considering what happens in March 2020). After eyeing it for a while and thinking if it was worth it, I finally caved in and bought it at Costco (If you, the reader, get a Switch on Christmas, I highly recommend buying it at Costco, if you have a membership). This was my first Nintendo home console that I bought in a long time (last one was the Wii), so I was pretty excited for it.  The first games that I got were Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (one of the main reasons why I bought the thing in the first place) and the Switch port of Dead by Daylight. I had my fun with both games, especially with Smash Ultimate, but I didn't get another Switch game until March 2020, in which I bought Animal Crossing New Horizons. I preordered the game a couple of months before, and I was eager to play the game because I played the previous game on my 3DS when I was younger and I liked it a lot. What I didn't expect during that month was the beginning of quarantine from COVID-19 and the fact that a LOT of people started to get Switches just to play Animal Crossing, which resulted in a scarcity of the console for a while. Later, I got Super Mario Odyssey, which I thought was a very high-quality platformer, I sunk a lot of hours trying to get all of the Moons in the game because it was very satisfying finding each one. After that, I started to play some games on the console here and there, but not as much as before. 

    The Nintendo Switch is a very neat console to have. The portability of the console is probably the best part that I can point. I don't have to lug a bunch of wires to use it anywhere else (unless you plan to use it on docked mode at another place, then you would have to carry more). I brought it to many places, including friends' houses and school. The battery life is also long-lasting. I remember using it during a road trip and it lasted for the entire trip (this depends on what version of the Switch you get, because newer Switches have longer battery life). The Switch is also very accessible to people who haven't played too many video games, so everyone can have fun, which is something that I appreciate a lot. I have some nitpicks, however. Even though the console is the cheapest console in the current market, it is also the most expensive console. Let me explain. While other console exclusives that are on Xbox and PlayStation get discounted after a year or so or have really good discounts (like 40% or more), Nintendo games BARLEY go on discount. Most of the time, they are always at $60 and even if there is a sale, it's still pricey (They can be $10 or $20 off at times). Third-party games (games that aren't made by Nintendo), while priced decently, cost more than other platforms. Minecraft on Xbox and PlayStation, for example, costs $20, while on the Switch it costs $30. Another thing to consider is how powerful it is. The Switch is as powerful as an Xbox 360, which by today's standards is kind of outdated. Some games run well but there are some games that don't look too hot. This is the reason why I don't get a lot of third-party games on Switch. If I can have a better experience plating a game on my Xbox, which is more powerful, I would rather play on that. The controllers, also called Joy-cons officially, are the first controllers that I believe are only good in certain situations. They are good for games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Animal Crossing, but not good for FPS games or games that require precise aim. Clicking down on either joystick feels off, like you aren't supposed to do that. If you get a controller for the Switch, get a Pro Controller. It is modeled after an Xbox controller and it will make most if not all games play better. 

    Overall, the Nintendo Switch is a interesting piece of tech to have. While it may not be the most powerful console compared to competitors, it compensates for that by having a great library of first-party exclusives and being portable.