Getting tangled in solid storylines.
Well, might as well start this entry with a bang (not that kind! >_>;).
I promised about five months ago to upload some army pics because Koss in a uniform should be a funny sight. As it turns out, I was busy with lots of other things so I simply forgot to upload the pics until now. Sadly I didn't have a camera with me in the army so I couldn't take photos during actual training or free time (otherwise I would've asked someone to take a pic of me while I was performing my custom Kingdom Hearts medley with a piano in the canteen <3).
So, without further ado, here are two official photos taken during the last days of basic training (the quality isn't the best one possible, but oh well). I was quite happy with how the photos turned out.
This is the official portrait used in promotion pics and whatnot. Apart from the army's "sex killer" glasses (a slang term used for those huge glasses and whatnot) which we had to wear, I think it's a rather good, handsome pic. ;)
A photo of our unit with our corporal in the middle. I'm the second guy from the left (sitting right next to the corporal) on lower row. Sadly our group was disbanded after basic training as each member began specializing in different fields. Still, it's a rather kickass pic which brings back a lot of memories. Our unit was a good and funny one. =)
And now for something completely different... Disney pics!
While Tangled is turning out to be the third highest grossing Disney film when adjusted to inflation, I browsed through the old threads in UltimateDisney forums and found the nice bit of an earlier draft of Tangled (at that point known as Rapunzel) where there was a bigger guy named Bastion playing the role of love interest which Flynn later got. It would've been nice to see this scene on the silver screen: a big guy and a small girl, embracing. Aww, ain't it sweet? And the art is by Glen Keane, no less! Talk about romantic.
As for the other type of romance, well...
In case you're wondering wtf is going on, this lovely page has more information about that wonderful Donald pic. Gotta love these wartime cartoons and their "messages". This made my day. Seriously, I never thought I'd see good ol' Donald advertising the use of condoms! ^_^
I finally saw Tangled a couple of days ago. Despite my expectations being high (considering how successful the film has been), I was positively surprised. It's definitely one of the best films from Disney's current generation.
The story's about a kidnapped princess Rapunzel who lives in a tower with her mother figure Gothel who is in fact the one who kidnapped her. Gothel uses Rapunzel's hair's reviving powers to keep herself eternally young. One day a thief named Flynn (who has snatched a crown earlier) enters the tower, and Rapunzel convinces him to take her to see the outside world for a couple of days while Gothel is away. Because Rapunzel has hidden the crown, Flynn has no choice but to accept the offer. The two end up being chased by royal guards and their captain's hypercompetent horse Maximus who want to arrest Flynn for stealing the crown, Flynn's former brutish comrades called the Stabbington brothers who are also after the crown and revenge (because Flynn betrayed them earlier), and eventually Gothel herself when she finds out Rapunzel is gone. There's lots of backstabbing, changing alliances, moments of high adventure, romance, bittersweet twists and, of course, memorable songs. Despite what the goofy trailers might tell you, this is far from a Dreamworks-esque pop-culture comedy. Instead it fits quite close to the earlier Disney princess movies. I think the closest analogy is that the film's a combination of Disney's The Little Mermaid (the princess's plight), Aladdin (active hero and heroine), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (an emotionally abusing villain) and Dreamworks's The Road to El Dorado (a buddy comedy premise with quite a few dark elements).
*UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD!*
I really digged the character design. Sure, one could argue that some of the characters might look like expies of earlier Disney/Dreamworks films, but I liked them nevertheless. There were times when it felt that Flynn didn't quite belong to the film's world but perhaps it was because he reminded me of Tulio from The Road to El Dorado. Maximus, Pascal, the thugs, Stabbingtons and Gothel all had interesting character design, but I particularly liked Gothel who had some pretty awesome clothes and marvellous hair that nearly rivalled Rapunzel's in complex design. Maximus and Pascal were crowd pleasers in the theatre; kids and adults alike were laughing at their every scene. What surprised me, however, was that what got the biggest laugh from the audience was the tied-up Flynn trying to hit on Rapunzel who was oblivious to his charm. I wasn't expecting 4-year-old kids to get that joke, but I guess I was wrong. I personally enjoyed the pub thugs: the mime and the drunk dwarf were hilarious.
As for Rapunzel herself, I was impressed with how they managed to show all that hair in such gorgeous detail. Animating all of that must've been quite daunting. She looked quite pretty in her different incarnations, but what caught me by surprise was the brunette/short-haired Rapunzel look in the end which made her eerily resemble her voice actress Mandy Moore. That was quite a pretty look, I must admit. Rapunzel's eyes looked perhaps too big on a few occasions, almost making her look like a doll, oddly enough. However, there were moments where I forgot about her uncanny eyes, and those moments were usually those which depicted her in an Ariel-esque manner. After all, both R and A had the same lead animator: Glen Keane. Still, probably because of her resemblance to Ariel, she quickly became one of my top Disney princesses. Just gotta love that nice mix of cute and hot. And brunette... ;)
Gothel was a fascinating villainess. She had shades of Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Lady Tremaine (Cinderella) in her as well as the sinister mood of Queen Grimhilde (Snow White) and the overacting of Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians) and Madame Medusa (The Rescuers). The way she mentally abused Rapunzel while still acting like a mother figure was like a sickening mix of Frollo and Medusa, except masked under a guise of kindness. Although she cared for Rapunzel's hair and did whatever she could to keep her with her, it was also clear that she had, in some twisted way, learned to love Rapunzel as a daughter. In a way it went deeper than Frollo's quasi-affection for Quasimodo, and thus it was somewhat heartbreaking to see her finally snap when Rapunzel rejected her near the end (she said something along the lines of "Then I'll be the witch" in the Finnish dub, and I felt that was a powerful moment). Her demise was probably one of the more horrifying ones in Disney's canon; I'm surprised if it doesn't give at least one kid nightmares. One of the best moments with her was the chilling "Mother Knows Best (Reprise)" but more about that later in this review.
The animation was breathtakingly gorgeous. No wonder this is one of the most expensive films ever made. It was a delight to watch events unfold in beautiful settings, it was almost like a painting. However, I can't help but think how it would've turned out if Keane had managed to bring his vision of the world to the big screen. Would it have been even more painterly, even more gorgeous? Sadly we'll likely never know. However, considering what compromise they ended up with, I have to say I'm quite pleased with the end result. The camera moves and cinematography in general were awesome in many ways. I felt like this was really the first time in Disney's CGI history where cinematography really helps tell the story and takes the CG to its full potential. The lighting, the backgrounds, the closeups and vista shots and spins... it was all expertly done. It was a feast for the eyes. However, I felt that the 3D was mostly useless except for that scene in the end when the tear heals Flynn and we see the sun flower growing from him: that was the only epic moment which the 3D helped make even more stunning.
I have to admit that at first I was skeptical about the Finnish dub. The English voice actors had sounded awesome in trailers and clips whereas the Finnish clips weren't so encouraging. Once I went to see the film and got past the first minute or so, I realized that the voice actors weren't as awful as I had imagined. In fact, as I got to know the characters and got used to their Finnish voices, I realized that Disney was still keeping its high standards in Finnish dubbing.
Maria Ylipää, Sari Ann Moilanen, Tommi Korpela, and, surprisingly enough, Lauri Tähkä were all great. Tähkä surprised me the most because he had been awful in the trailers but here he actually gave Flynn everything he got. He hit the exact emotional notes that I wanted to see in the character. The only thing that betrayed that it was Tähkä voicing him was when he began singing in his distinctive voice, most notably his solo in "I See the Light". Tommi Korpela was hilarious as the Stabbingtons, and Maria Ylipää really found a fitting voice for Rapunzel, being both youthful yet determined. Sari Ann Moilanen was arguably even better than Donna Murphy as Gothel, showcasing her acting talent by going from playful to sinister in a matter of seconds. The scene where she suddenly starts yelling at Rapunzel (due to a misunderstanding with what Rapunzel was trying to communicate) was shocking in how much emotion the actress put into that particular scene. I recall adults gasping at that point in the theatre.
I was also positively surprised by the plot. It was very emotional, actually had many satisfying character arcs, and also contained some interesting (if somewhat predictable) twists. The first third of the film had its merits, but I fail to see what was so "great" about it (after all, I recall John Lasseter saying that the first act of the film was apparently the best thing he'd ever seen from Disney). Don't get me wrong, though; it wasn't bad, it was in fact good, but nowhere near the first acts of films like The Lion King and Bambi. There were a couple of jarring cuts at the beginning when the story switched from Rapunzel to Flynn (particularly the first cut which leads to the introduction of Flynn). After that the story becomes much smoother as the storylines interweave. I was also impressed by how seemingly irrelevant scenes and objects (most notably the sun symbol and the crown) end up becoming really important by the third act of the film, actually impacting the plot in major ways.
The whole film had a theme of duality going on. The pub thugs are seemingly scary but end up having a golden heart and reveal their hidden dreams to Rapunzel because her youthfulness and naïve outlook reminds them of what they used to be before they became thugs. Maximus is an overachiever, constanly doing his best to do his master's bidding, but in the end all he really wanted was to be loved and accepted, something which Rapunzel offered. Flynn pretends to be a dashing rogue but is in fact an insecure orphan who adopted his favourite literary character's name to actually become a somebody and who needs the company of Rapunzel to understand what's really important in life. Rapunzel's entire life with Gothel has been a lie, and her quest for the lights ends up, ironically enough, making her "see the light" as in making her understand who she really is as well as her feelings for Flynn.
Gothel's charade is probably the most complex one of all: she raises Rapunzel as her own and keeps lying to her and yet deep down her act becomes less of an act and more of a genuine albeit twisted emotion. There are moments in the film (particularly when she discovers that Rapunzel is gone and when Rapunzel rejects her near the end) where she's not only concerned about the hair but also about Rapunzel. When Gothel's betrayed, she loses whatever affection she had and becomes obsessed with the hair to the point of doing cruel things to her once beloved Rapunzel to keep her from running away from her. Sadly Pascal and the Stabbingtons never receive that much character development, but I guess in the end it doesn't matter that much because the more major characters get it in spades.
There are scenes in the film which depict the duality angle. Gothel's glorious rise to the tower with help from Rapunzel's hair during the day, and her graphic demise by falling from said tower in the evening are two sides of the same coin. Certain words uttered by Rapunzel and Flynn have meaningful echoes in the film (most notably the heartwrenching "You were my new dream"), and the significant reprises for both Rapunzel and Gothel ("When Will My Life Begin" and "Mother Knows Best") offer different sides of said characters. I guess I could go on and on about this theme, but you get the point. It's been a whole since Disney has shown us something with so many interesting psychological nuances. It kind of reminds me of Beauty and the Beast in a way as it also depicted a person's hidden self. Heck, even the film's title (Tangled instead of Rapunzel) and trailers marketed the film as a bizarre buddy movie, but there's more to it than that. After all, at the very beginning of the film Flynn says that this isn't a story about him but about Rapunzel, so even he admits that she's the main character. So, whatever lame excuse Disney had for changing to title goes null right then and there in those opening minutes. But I guess it just adds to the whole duality theme or something.
Although I really enjoyed many of the bombastic and pretty moments like the whole lantern scene as well as Rapunzel first touching grass, I was surprised that what affected me the most were the quiet sequences, most notably the ones involving the king and the queen. By showing that short clip before the lantern scene where a tear rolls down the aging king's cheeck and the queen wipes the tear off with a melancholy look in her eyes... that was when the film's heart truly became visible. It also made it all the more satisfying when Rapunzel is reunited with her parents in the end; I don't think we've seen such a heartfelt reunion in a long time in Disney films. It was probably one of the most touching Disney endings (yes, including the film's epilogue) apart from that drunk thug at the very end with the lanterns (I think they should've cut that scene out because it was as jarring as Genie's appearance at the end of Aladdin).
As for the music, I guess you've figured out by now that I really enjoyed it. The songs, albeit not being as good as the songs from Disney's 90's renaissance, are still better than many give them credit for. "Healing Incantation" was a wonderful theme which was repeated many times in the score in both song and instrumental form: it was what held the music together. It's somewhat sad when I read an article where Menken explained that the film makers asked him to not make a thematic score so he had to limit thematic things to a minimum. Thankfully the "Healing Incantation" keeps the score at least somewhat coherent. And, as I quickly found out, Menken hadn't fully followed the directors' orders: he had slipped in a few character themes, most notably a sinister one for Gothel.
The rest of the songs are quite good. "When Will My Life Begin" is a nice folk rock type of song which represents Rapunzel even if its lyrics are nowhere near as good as other lyricists'. I believe Glenn Slater is simply not as good a lyricist as Disney's other lyricmeisters, and that's a shame because he gets the general idea but his songs have annoying anachronisms (Mozart, 7 a.m., rhino etc.) which nearly break the illusion. "Mother Knows Best" is a downright mindfuck sequence where you have a cheerful tune but sinister lyrics, and it's complemented well by a truly screwball and creepy sequence in the film. "I've Got a Dream" is reminiscent of the "Gaston" song from Beauty and the Beast but it's alright with its cheerful attitude. I'm somewhat surprised that many people claim it was the most memorable song frmo the film. "I See the Light" is, I feel, the showstopper. It's a surprisingly relaxed song which doesn't have the melodrama of some of the other love ballads. In fact it almost reminds me of the "Love" song from Robin Hood. It's a nice mix of solo and the eventual duet as well as lovely orchestral backing as it swells up in the end.
The reprises are quite good, too: "When Will My Life Begin" has an almost "Part of Your World" esque reprise when Rapunzel finally leaves the tower (it's a powerful scene, too) and Gothel has a truly sinister rendition of the "Mother Knows Best" reprise which still gives me the creeps (the sequence in the film is stunning with its camera moves, acting, and most importantly lighting) and which is one of my personal favourites from the film.
An interesting thing to note is that Many Moore's vocal range isn't quite what the songs demand. Perhaps it's her pop background but she can't muster enough strength in some of the songs and the orchestra nearly drowns her voice. Zachary Levy leaves a much better impression with his rendition of Flynn in the love duet, but Donna Murphy's performance really steals the show in a good way. As for the Finnish dub, I thought Ylipää, Tähkä and Moilanen did an admirable job in their singing, and I was glad to hear Ylipää brought youthful enthusiasm to Rapunzel's singing voice: much better vocal performance than Mandy Moore even if Mandy has a "cuter" voice overall.
The score is in my opinion Menken's most mature one yet. He uses an acoustic guitar to represent Rapunzel's isolation but it gets slowly integrated into a larger orchestral ensemble as he interacts with the world. However, there are occasional moments of despair where the guitar shines through, most notably in the sad Flynn death scene when she cries while holding him. As mentioned earlier, Gothel has quite a sinister theme in the score, which has its most notable moments in "Prologue" (when she kidnaps Rapunzel) and the booming agony in "The Tear Heals" (when she meets her demise). I've yet to listen to the OST more carefully but I'm pretty sure it has at least a heroic motif for Flynn (when he's escaping from pursuers and later when he's going to rescue Rapunzel) and a minor motif for the mime during a hilarious scene in the jailbreak sequence. Perhaps there are more, but I've yet to find them. If I have time, I'd like to make a proper track-by-track analysis of the OST.
Choir is surprisingly prominent in the score, too, really hammering the magical atmosphere in. Particularly the ending has a lovely choral sequence for a very emotional scene. A surprising highlight is the "Kingdom Dance" cue which begins in a lovely manner and slowly turns into a Riverdance-esque extravaganza. It's an awesome sequence in the film and is a wonderful moment. Anyway, the score has quite a bit of depth in its instrumental complexity even if the ambience is somewhat dry. Cues like "Flynn Wanted" suffer a bit and could've used a wet soundscape, but it's just a minor nitpick which doesn't affect the listening experience too much. It's still one of the better scores Menken has composed, and combined with the lovely songs it's a must buy for any Disney fan. It works marvellously in the film.
*UNMARKED SPOILERS END!*
All in all, I'll give Tangled 4- stars out of 5. It's definitely worth a watch for Disney fans and everyone else who wishes to see an emotional fairytale with fitting modern storytelling twists brought to the silver screen.
"We will forsake our countries. We will leave our motherlands behind us and become one with this earth. We have no nation, no philosophy, no ideology. We go where we're needed, fighting not for country, not for government, but for ourselves. We need no reason to fight. We fight because we are needed. We will be the deterrent for those with no other recourse. We are soldiers without borders, our purpose defined by the era we live in. We will sometimes have to sell ourselves and services. If the times demand it, we'll be revolutionaries, criminals, terrorists. And yes, we may all be headed straight to Hell. But what better place for us than this? It is our only home. Our Heaven and Our Hell. This is Outer Heaven." ~Big Boss
I've stalled long enough, considering I posted ages ago that I'd discuss the Metal Gear Solid saga. So here is finally what I think about it! Big Boss's epic speech above should be a good way to segue into this entry, so let's get started.
First of all, I haven't played any of the MGS games. All I know about them are the cutscenes and a few vids as well as wiki entries I've seen/read online. Why bother talking about it, then? Well, the story looked interesting so I wanted to check it out. Even though there are many games out there that I've never played, I often want to watch their cutscenes for the story. Some games have pretty interesting or at least fun stories such as Killzone and Uncharted series.
Anyways, I didn't watch the MGS vids in chronological order. It didn't confuse me, oddly enough, and perhaps even made it easier for me to understand the weirdness that runs rampant in MGS2. Here's the order in which I've watched the MGS vids: MGS4, MGS3, MGS1, MGS2, Portrable Ops, Peace Walker. No, I haven't watched any vids of the Metal Gear games that precede the Metal Gear Solid games so I'll only discuss the solid games. For reference I will be discussing the solid games in chronological order for clarity's sake.
Also, the only thing I knew about MGS games beforehand was that they had a badass named Snake, more twists than you can shake at, lengthy cinematics, some epic score tracks by Harry Gregson-Williams, huge mechas and some stealth game play.
*UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD!*
MGS3: Snake Eater.
Oh boy. This is where it all begins: Snake's journey into becoming Big Boss. A journey filled with love, hate, betrayals and truly bittersweet and heartbreaking moments. I'd argue that this is possibly the most solid (pun intended) storyline in the MGS saga simply because of its emotional arc and compelling characters. The antagonist Boss is given quite a lot of depth, and her tragic final battle with Snake (who becomes Big Boss) is so heart-wrenching that words can't really describe. "I'd give my life not for honour but for you..." like the title song says, indeed. A fight between a mentor and her greatest student, a fight that is almost like between mother and son. It's set in a very beautiful, bittersweet scene of a meadow where you'll get to show off all the CQC moves you've learned and best your mentor by using them while a beautiful track plays in the background.
The Cobra bosses are creative and actually quite sympathetic. Apart from The Boss I actually liked The End and The Sorrow. The End gives the player an epic sniper duel in a treacherous forest. The Sorrow has a truly memorable "battle": he transports you into a sort of river stuck in limbo where you'll have to deal with the vengeful spirits of all the people you have killed in the game while they accuse you of killing them. That truly hammers the idea home that war is hell. It's a great and innovative concept that I wish more games would use. The chase and subsequent battles with the Shagohod are quite thrilling, too, and Colonel Volgin is truly a larger than life villain in sheer stupidity (just watch the lightning scene and you'll see why). Young Ocelot is kinda funny, too, although he has a long way to go from his older self.
The game gives us the first chronological "torture scene", and you can't but feel sorry for Snake as he has to suffer through those (not to mention the later games' torture sequences become even more horrific). The plot, overall, has interesting twists and turns and is like a nice James Bond pastiche but with a lot more depth. The ending cinematic is quite touching, too. The game's definitely worth checking out.
MGS: Portable Ops.
The story of Big Boss continues as he ends up in a rather crappy situation and has to recruit people to his cause to oppose the "seemingly" power-mad Gene. Like any game in the series, the plot gets more complex fast with lots of twists and obligatory betrayals. Kojima apparently didn't have as much input on this game as the others, but it's still a decent entry which explores the story of Big Boss and how he recruited his army. The Ursula battle was quite heart-wrenching, I have to say.
MGS: Peace Walker.
The story of Big Boss continues. With more twists and tragic battles! It's a beautiful bookend to MGS3, exploring The Boss's motivations for doing what she did in MGS3. It also shows Big Boss finally setting the stage for Outer Heaven as well as slowly turning into the villain which he will become. While MGS3 showed the end of innocence, Peace Walker on the other hand shows how blind you become and how you fail to respect your comrade's wishes. It's quite heartbreaking to see a noble soul become a truly jaded, bitter person who misinterprets The Boss's will (even after witnessing the truly bittersweet "drowning" sequence which I won't spoil any further).
There's also a big shock/asspull about the true final boss when it turns out the sweet girl you've had with you is in fact the diabolic mastermind who uses the Metal Gear you've built to attack you. That was a low shot because it needed more development, but I understand it had to be done so that Big Boss would find out about Zero's shenanigans, which would set up their conflict which spands to later MGS games. Now that I think of it, I believe the biggest flaw the series has is not giving enough screentime to Zero and how he and Big Boss turned into bitter enemies. The transition from hero to villain is just too stark in Zero's case, and I truly hope that possible future MGS games will explore Zero's descent in game rather than just in briefing files because that subplot has potential.
MGS1: Twin Snakes
This is where shit hits the fan. We're introduced (well, sort of: he was the protagonist of the original Metal Gear games which I won't discuss here because this deals with MGS, not MG) to Solid Snake, the hero for the rest of the saga. A clone of Big Boss who has to stop his nemesis Ocelot and various other "bad" villains from doing evil stuff (which might not be so evil after all thanks to a bunch of twists). This is where people were introduced to the series's cinematic storytelling with very long, melodramatic cutscenes, the overall good voice acting and twists... lots of twists. And there's the stealth gameplay too, of course.
Among the most memorable scenes in this game is the boss fight against Psycho Mantis where he actually breaks the fourth wall by seemingly causing the game to reset etc. and the only way to beat him is to switch the controller to another port. No wonder he's often voted as one of the best boss fights. Kojima sure can screw with the player (although this is only a prelude to the insanity in MGS2 but more about that later).
All in all, a somewhat revolutionary game which didn't seem that crazy to me despite reviewers saying otherwise. I liked the melodrama and the cutscenes which weren't too long, IMHO. Twin Snakes remake definitely improved vanilla MGS in many ways (from what I've seen and read) and I welcomed the updated graphics which made the cutscenes more emotional thanks to better character design. There's also a nice twist at the end (which involves the president of USA, no less, and is a sequel hook).
MGS2: Sons of Liberty
This is probably the most controversial MGS of them all. Thanks to false and clever advertising, gamers thought they'd play as Solid Snake. However, after the tanker prologue is over, they're introduced to an entirely new character named Raiden who isn't as manly as Snake etc. Cue fan outrage. However, I never found Raiden that annoying (at least in cutscenes). Sure, he has relationship problems with his girlfriend and stuff, but he was rather competent in battle nevertheless. The basic plot is that terrorists have kidnapped the president of USA, and Raiden is sent to rescue him after Snake seemingly died in the tanker incident. As every MGS, the plot quickly becomes much more complex, but this time Kojima really spares no expense making it as mind screw-y as possible.
You keep wondering why Kojima bothered with Raiden at first, particularly once you find out that Snake is alive. The bosses you face also share traits with the bosses from MGS1. However, Kojima turns it all upside down when it's revealed that Raiden's girlfriend and the colonel advisor are in fact AI constructs which have been manipulating Raiden all this time. This is quite a heartbreaking and chilling twist, particularly once a virus hits the AIs and turn them into downright madmen/women who spit out incomprehensible stuff and who keep mocking Raiden (and thus the player) for being a dupe.
The whole mission in MGS2 is based on the meme theory and whether any soldier who is put through the same shit that Snake went through can become a supersoldier like Snake; it's the AI's master plan of creating an army of supersoldiers. In essence, this is a postmodern idea: Raiden is the expy of the player, and it turns the whole "I want to be as badass as Snake" idea around. The game has manipulated you, the player, and then mocks you for it. That's both brilliant and scary, and I believe it's the most successful thing in the whole mess that is MGS2.
It's also nice that the villains (the AI constructs known as the Patriors) and the actual terrorists are at odds, and you end up in between their struggle. The game also punches the player emotionally by killing a sympathetic girl who you've been escorting in certain parts of the mission. The game is also heavily symbolic: you could arguably say that when Snake goes after Ocelot in the ending and leaves Raiden fighting by himself, Snake frees himself from the game's control to pursue his own destiny. Lots of interesting theories have been written about the game's deep storyline. By the time the "main" villain reveals that he murdered Raiden's parents etc., you're unsure whether to even care anymore or just end the mindfuck already.
To be fair, the game isn't that difficult to understand. I figured out the main gist rather quickly, and even the mindfuck parts weren't that confusing. It requires paying attention, and I suppose some players just don't have that kind of motivation so no wonder they were enraged by the whole game. However, if you look at the game's merits and postmodern ways of revolutionizing game stories, it's a rather intelligent and quirky game with lots of potential.
MGS4: Guns of the Patriots
This is the supposedly final chapter in Solid Snake's story. It has the task of making sense of the complex plots of MGS1-3 while also tying all the loose threads together into a meaningful ending. I think it succeeds admirably: the whole Patriot, meme, Big Boss, Ocelot etc. things are explained and resolved, and basically the whole game is one big tribute to the series as a whole. If you think that the Beauty & Beast corps weren't shoutouts to past bosses of the MGS saga (speaking of which, am I the only one who thought that those psycho girls were really creepy, particularly Laughing Octopus?), then revisiting Shadow Moses Island (from MGS1) and the final battle against Ocelot (which plays all the four games' memorable tunes in succession while changing his tactics to suit the game the song is referencing) will certainly trigger nostalgic feelings.
The graphics look great, the music is quite fitting (even though some of it is quite droning; I prefer the more emotional tracks), the storyline has good things going for it, the voice acting is handled well, the game design has improved a lot with some great variety, and it has some chilling level design (most notably the microwave corridor which forces Snake through a corridor which slowly drains his health while cinematics play in top screen about his friends' impending demises). And then there's the emotional epilogue where Snake finally gets to reconcile with his dad, Big Boss, at the Boss's (from MGS3) grave, no less. It's a fitting end to the saga as a whole (even if its cutscenes get ridiculously long; not that it bothered me, though, because I enjoyed the story).
*UNMARKED SPOILERS END!*
Watching the Metal Gear Solid videos turned out not to be a waste of time. They showed some interesting, thought-provoking storylines and memorable characters and showcased that it's possible to go post-modern even in games like these. For anyone wanting to experience an epic story (which seems to be still ongoing because a few new games are already in the making), I suggest you take a look and never turn back.
I decided to have some fun with some of the tGA character portraits and modified a few Fire Emblem sprites to make a portrait for younger Waldheim. The pic resembles his old self quite a bit, which is a feat in and of itself considering that I'm not that good at sprite editing. You can see the result below:
Old and Young Waldy
Is it just me, or did young Waldheim actually turn out rather, umm, hot? I'm straight, but still... xD I'm very happy that I managed to give his younger self an arrogant look because mages tend to be arrogant pricks whereas his older self has a mysterious smile as he's gained more knowledge. I used the silver-ish and green colours which his older self has but I also gave some visual hints to something else by giving him golden and curly hair. Gotta love custom sprites which one can modify. Whoever made the original young pic base (couldn't find info on that, sadly) had some interesting views on a mage's look, and it surprises me how little it had to be changed to suit Waldy's personality. ;)
The success with Waldy's pic almost gave me the urge to try to make a portrait for Omaroch's younger self too. That would be fun but it'd also take a lot of time, considering I'd have to make Omaroch resemble his sons Refan and Kareth a bit... then again, challenges are there for one to overcome, right?
Yours,
Mikko
I promised about five months ago to upload some army pics because Koss in a uniform should be a funny sight. As it turns out, I was busy with lots of other things so I simply forgot to upload the pics until now. Sadly I didn't have a camera with me in the army so I couldn't take photos during actual training or free time (otherwise I would've asked someone to take a pic of me while I was performing my custom Kingdom Hearts medley with a piano in the canteen <3).
So, without further ado, here are two official photos taken during the last days of basic training (the quality isn't the best one possible, but oh well). I was quite happy with how the photos turned out.
This is the official portrait used in promotion pics and whatnot. Apart from the army's "sex killer" glasses (a slang term used for those huge glasses and whatnot) which we had to wear, I think it's a rather good, handsome pic. ;)
A photo of our unit with our corporal in the middle. I'm the second guy from the left (sitting right next to the corporal) on lower row. Sadly our group was disbanded after basic training as each member began specializing in different fields. Still, it's a rather kickass pic which brings back a lot of memories. Our unit was a good and funny one. =)
And now for something completely different... Disney pics!
While Tangled is turning out to be the third highest grossing Disney film when adjusted to inflation, I browsed through the old threads in UltimateDisney forums and found the nice bit of an earlier draft of Tangled (at that point known as Rapunzel) where there was a bigger guy named Bastion playing the role of love interest which Flynn later got. It would've been nice to see this scene on the silver screen: a big guy and a small girl, embracing. Aww, ain't it sweet? And the art is by Glen Keane, no less! Talk about romantic.
As for the other type of romance, well...
In case you're wondering wtf is going on, this lovely page has more information about that wonderful Donald pic. Gotta love these wartime cartoons and their "messages". This made my day. Seriously, I never thought I'd see good ol' Donald advertising the use of condoms! ^_^
I finally saw Tangled a couple of days ago. Despite my expectations being high (considering how successful the film has been), I was positively surprised. It's definitely one of the best films from Disney's current generation.
The story's about a kidnapped princess Rapunzel who lives in a tower with her mother figure Gothel who is in fact the one who kidnapped her. Gothel uses Rapunzel's hair's reviving powers to keep herself eternally young. One day a thief named Flynn (who has snatched a crown earlier) enters the tower, and Rapunzel convinces him to take her to see the outside world for a couple of days while Gothel is away. Because Rapunzel has hidden the crown, Flynn has no choice but to accept the offer. The two end up being chased by royal guards and their captain's hypercompetent horse Maximus who want to arrest Flynn for stealing the crown, Flynn's former brutish comrades called the Stabbington brothers who are also after the crown and revenge (because Flynn betrayed them earlier), and eventually Gothel herself when she finds out Rapunzel is gone. There's lots of backstabbing, changing alliances, moments of high adventure, romance, bittersweet twists and, of course, memorable songs. Despite what the goofy trailers might tell you, this is far from a Dreamworks-esque pop-culture comedy. Instead it fits quite close to the earlier Disney princess movies. I think the closest analogy is that the film's a combination of Disney's The Little Mermaid (the princess's plight), Aladdin (active hero and heroine), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (an emotionally abusing villain) and Dreamworks's The Road to El Dorado (a buddy comedy premise with quite a few dark elements).
*UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD!*
I really digged the character design. Sure, one could argue that some of the characters might look like expies of earlier Disney/Dreamworks films, but I liked them nevertheless. There were times when it felt that Flynn didn't quite belong to the film's world but perhaps it was because he reminded me of Tulio from The Road to El Dorado. Maximus, Pascal, the thugs, Stabbingtons and Gothel all had interesting character design, but I particularly liked Gothel who had some pretty awesome clothes and marvellous hair that nearly rivalled Rapunzel's in complex design. Maximus and Pascal were crowd pleasers in the theatre; kids and adults alike were laughing at their every scene. What surprised me, however, was that what got the biggest laugh from the audience was the tied-up Flynn trying to hit on Rapunzel who was oblivious to his charm. I wasn't expecting 4-year-old kids to get that joke, but I guess I was wrong. I personally enjoyed the pub thugs: the mime and the drunk dwarf were hilarious.
As for Rapunzel herself, I was impressed with how they managed to show all that hair in such gorgeous detail. Animating all of that must've been quite daunting. She looked quite pretty in her different incarnations, but what caught me by surprise was the brunette/short-haired Rapunzel look in the end which made her eerily resemble her voice actress Mandy Moore. That was quite a pretty look, I must admit. Rapunzel's eyes looked perhaps too big on a few occasions, almost making her look like a doll, oddly enough. However, there were moments where I forgot about her uncanny eyes, and those moments were usually those which depicted her in an Ariel-esque manner. After all, both R and A had the same lead animator: Glen Keane. Still, probably because of her resemblance to Ariel, she quickly became one of my top Disney princesses. Just gotta love that nice mix of cute and hot. And brunette... ;)
Gothel was a fascinating villainess. She had shades of Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Lady Tremaine (Cinderella) in her as well as the sinister mood of Queen Grimhilde (Snow White) and the overacting of Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians) and Madame Medusa (The Rescuers). The way she mentally abused Rapunzel while still acting like a mother figure was like a sickening mix of Frollo and Medusa, except masked under a guise of kindness. Although she cared for Rapunzel's hair and did whatever she could to keep her with her, it was also clear that she had, in some twisted way, learned to love Rapunzel as a daughter. In a way it went deeper than Frollo's quasi-affection for Quasimodo, and thus it was somewhat heartbreaking to see her finally snap when Rapunzel rejected her near the end (she said something along the lines of "Then I'll be the witch" in the Finnish dub, and I felt that was a powerful moment). Her demise was probably one of the more horrifying ones in Disney's canon; I'm surprised if it doesn't give at least one kid nightmares. One of the best moments with her was the chilling "Mother Knows Best (Reprise)" but more about that later in this review.
The animation was breathtakingly gorgeous. No wonder this is one of the most expensive films ever made. It was a delight to watch events unfold in beautiful settings, it was almost like a painting. However, I can't help but think how it would've turned out if Keane had managed to bring his vision of the world to the big screen. Would it have been even more painterly, even more gorgeous? Sadly we'll likely never know. However, considering what compromise they ended up with, I have to say I'm quite pleased with the end result. The camera moves and cinematography in general were awesome in many ways. I felt like this was really the first time in Disney's CGI history where cinematography really helps tell the story and takes the CG to its full potential. The lighting, the backgrounds, the closeups and vista shots and spins... it was all expertly done. It was a feast for the eyes. However, I felt that the 3D was mostly useless except for that scene in the end when the tear heals Flynn and we see the sun flower growing from him: that was the only epic moment which the 3D helped make even more stunning.
I have to admit that at first I was skeptical about the Finnish dub. The English voice actors had sounded awesome in trailers and clips whereas the Finnish clips weren't so encouraging. Once I went to see the film and got past the first minute or so, I realized that the voice actors weren't as awful as I had imagined. In fact, as I got to know the characters and got used to their Finnish voices, I realized that Disney was still keeping its high standards in Finnish dubbing.
Maria Ylipää, Sari Ann Moilanen, Tommi Korpela, and, surprisingly enough, Lauri Tähkä were all great. Tähkä surprised me the most because he had been awful in the trailers but here he actually gave Flynn everything he got. He hit the exact emotional notes that I wanted to see in the character. The only thing that betrayed that it was Tähkä voicing him was when he began singing in his distinctive voice, most notably his solo in "I See the Light". Tommi Korpela was hilarious as the Stabbingtons, and Maria Ylipää really found a fitting voice for Rapunzel, being both youthful yet determined. Sari Ann Moilanen was arguably even better than Donna Murphy as Gothel, showcasing her acting talent by going from playful to sinister in a matter of seconds. The scene where she suddenly starts yelling at Rapunzel (due to a misunderstanding with what Rapunzel was trying to communicate) was shocking in how much emotion the actress put into that particular scene. I recall adults gasping at that point in the theatre.
I was also positively surprised by the plot. It was very emotional, actually had many satisfying character arcs, and also contained some interesting (if somewhat predictable) twists. The first third of the film had its merits, but I fail to see what was so "great" about it (after all, I recall John Lasseter saying that the first act of the film was apparently the best thing he'd ever seen from Disney). Don't get me wrong, though; it wasn't bad, it was in fact good, but nowhere near the first acts of films like The Lion King and Bambi. There were a couple of jarring cuts at the beginning when the story switched from Rapunzel to Flynn (particularly the first cut which leads to the introduction of Flynn). After that the story becomes much smoother as the storylines interweave. I was also impressed by how seemingly irrelevant scenes and objects (most notably the sun symbol and the crown) end up becoming really important by the third act of the film, actually impacting the plot in major ways.
The whole film had a theme of duality going on. The pub thugs are seemingly scary but end up having a golden heart and reveal their hidden dreams to Rapunzel because her youthfulness and naïve outlook reminds them of what they used to be before they became thugs. Maximus is an overachiever, constanly doing his best to do his master's bidding, but in the end all he really wanted was to be loved and accepted, something which Rapunzel offered. Flynn pretends to be a dashing rogue but is in fact an insecure orphan who adopted his favourite literary character's name to actually become a somebody and who needs the company of Rapunzel to understand what's really important in life. Rapunzel's entire life with Gothel has been a lie, and her quest for the lights ends up, ironically enough, making her "see the light" as in making her understand who she really is as well as her feelings for Flynn.
Gothel's charade is probably the most complex one of all: she raises Rapunzel as her own and keeps lying to her and yet deep down her act becomes less of an act and more of a genuine albeit twisted emotion. There are moments in the film (particularly when she discovers that Rapunzel is gone and when Rapunzel rejects her near the end) where she's not only concerned about the hair but also about Rapunzel. When Gothel's betrayed, she loses whatever affection she had and becomes obsessed with the hair to the point of doing cruel things to her once beloved Rapunzel to keep her from running away from her. Sadly Pascal and the Stabbingtons never receive that much character development, but I guess in the end it doesn't matter that much because the more major characters get it in spades.
There are scenes in the film which depict the duality angle. Gothel's glorious rise to the tower with help from Rapunzel's hair during the day, and her graphic demise by falling from said tower in the evening are two sides of the same coin. Certain words uttered by Rapunzel and Flynn have meaningful echoes in the film (most notably the heartwrenching "You were my new dream"), and the significant reprises for both Rapunzel and Gothel ("When Will My Life Begin" and "Mother Knows Best") offer different sides of said characters. I guess I could go on and on about this theme, but you get the point. It's been a whole since Disney has shown us something with so many interesting psychological nuances. It kind of reminds me of Beauty and the Beast in a way as it also depicted a person's hidden self. Heck, even the film's title (Tangled instead of Rapunzel) and trailers marketed the film as a bizarre buddy movie, but there's more to it than that. After all, at the very beginning of the film Flynn says that this isn't a story about him but about Rapunzel, so even he admits that she's the main character. So, whatever lame excuse Disney had for changing to title goes null right then and there in those opening minutes. But I guess it just adds to the whole duality theme or something.
Although I really enjoyed many of the bombastic and pretty moments like the whole lantern scene as well as Rapunzel first touching grass, I was surprised that what affected me the most were the quiet sequences, most notably the ones involving the king and the queen. By showing that short clip before the lantern scene where a tear rolls down the aging king's cheeck and the queen wipes the tear off with a melancholy look in her eyes... that was when the film's heart truly became visible. It also made it all the more satisfying when Rapunzel is reunited with her parents in the end; I don't think we've seen such a heartfelt reunion in a long time in Disney films. It was probably one of the most touching Disney endings (yes, including the film's epilogue) apart from that drunk thug at the very end with the lanterns (I think they should've cut that scene out because it was as jarring as Genie's appearance at the end of Aladdin).
As for the music, I guess you've figured out by now that I really enjoyed it. The songs, albeit not being as good as the songs from Disney's 90's renaissance, are still better than many give them credit for. "Healing Incantation" was a wonderful theme which was repeated many times in the score in both song and instrumental form: it was what held the music together. It's somewhat sad when I read an article where Menken explained that the film makers asked him to not make a thematic score so he had to limit thematic things to a minimum. Thankfully the "Healing Incantation" keeps the score at least somewhat coherent. And, as I quickly found out, Menken hadn't fully followed the directors' orders: he had slipped in a few character themes, most notably a sinister one for Gothel.
The rest of the songs are quite good. "When Will My Life Begin" is a nice folk rock type of song which represents Rapunzel even if its lyrics are nowhere near as good as other lyricists'. I believe Glenn Slater is simply not as good a lyricist as Disney's other lyricmeisters, and that's a shame because he gets the general idea but his songs have annoying anachronisms (Mozart, 7 a.m., rhino etc.) which nearly break the illusion. "Mother Knows Best" is a downright mindfuck sequence where you have a cheerful tune but sinister lyrics, and it's complemented well by a truly screwball and creepy sequence in the film. "I've Got a Dream" is reminiscent of the "Gaston" song from Beauty and the Beast but it's alright with its cheerful attitude. I'm somewhat surprised that many people claim it was the most memorable song frmo the film. "I See the Light" is, I feel, the showstopper. It's a surprisingly relaxed song which doesn't have the melodrama of some of the other love ballads. In fact it almost reminds me of the "Love" song from Robin Hood. It's a nice mix of solo and the eventual duet as well as lovely orchestral backing as it swells up in the end.
The reprises are quite good, too: "When Will My Life Begin" has an almost "Part of Your World" esque reprise when Rapunzel finally leaves the tower (it's a powerful scene, too) and Gothel has a truly sinister rendition of the "Mother Knows Best" reprise which still gives me the creeps (the sequence in the film is stunning with its camera moves, acting, and most importantly lighting) and which is one of my personal favourites from the film.
An interesting thing to note is that Many Moore's vocal range isn't quite what the songs demand. Perhaps it's her pop background but she can't muster enough strength in some of the songs and the orchestra nearly drowns her voice. Zachary Levy leaves a much better impression with his rendition of Flynn in the love duet, but Donna Murphy's performance really steals the show in a good way. As for the Finnish dub, I thought Ylipää, Tähkä and Moilanen did an admirable job in their singing, and I was glad to hear Ylipää brought youthful enthusiasm to Rapunzel's singing voice: much better vocal performance than Mandy Moore even if Mandy has a "cuter" voice overall.
The score is in my opinion Menken's most mature one yet. He uses an acoustic guitar to represent Rapunzel's isolation but it gets slowly integrated into a larger orchestral ensemble as he interacts with the world. However, there are occasional moments of despair where the guitar shines through, most notably in the sad Flynn death scene when she cries while holding him. As mentioned earlier, Gothel has quite a sinister theme in the score, which has its most notable moments in "Prologue" (when she kidnaps Rapunzel) and the booming agony in "The Tear Heals" (when she meets her demise). I've yet to listen to the OST more carefully but I'm pretty sure it has at least a heroic motif for Flynn (when he's escaping from pursuers and later when he's going to rescue Rapunzel) and a minor motif for the mime during a hilarious scene in the jailbreak sequence. Perhaps there are more, but I've yet to find them. If I have time, I'd like to make a proper track-by-track analysis of the OST.
Choir is surprisingly prominent in the score, too, really hammering the magical atmosphere in. Particularly the ending has a lovely choral sequence for a very emotional scene. A surprising highlight is the "Kingdom Dance" cue which begins in a lovely manner and slowly turns into a Riverdance-esque extravaganza. It's an awesome sequence in the film and is a wonderful moment. Anyway, the score has quite a bit of depth in its instrumental complexity even if the ambience is somewhat dry. Cues like "Flynn Wanted" suffer a bit and could've used a wet soundscape, but it's just a minor nitpick which doesn't affect the listening experience too much. It's still one of the better scores Menken has composed, and combined with the lovely songs it's a must buy for any Disney fan. It works marvellously in the film.
*UNMARKED SPOILERS END!*
All in all, I'll give Tangled 4- stars out of 5. It's definitely worth a watch for Disney fans and everyone else who wishes to see an emotional fairytale with fitting modern storytelling twists brought to the silver screen.
"We will forsake our countries. We will leave our motherlands behind us and become one with this earth. We have no nation, no philosophy, no ideology. We go where we're needed, fighting not for country, not for government, but for ourselves. We need no reason to fight. We fight because we are needed. We will be the deterrent for those with no other recourse. We are soldiers without borders, our purpose defined by the era we live in. We will sometimes have to sell ourselves and services. If the times demand it, we'll be revolutionaries, criminals, terrorists. And yes, we may all be headed straight to Hell. But what better place for us than this? It is our only home. Our Heaven and Our Hell. This is Outer Heaven." ~Big Boss
I've stalled long enough, considering I posted ages ago that I'd discuss the Metal Gear Solid saga. So here is finally what I think about it! Big Boss's epic speech above should be a good way to segue into this entry, so let's get started.
First of all, I haven't played any of the MGS games. All I know about them are the cutscenes and a few vids as well as wiki entries I've seen/read online. Why bother talking about it, then? Well, the story looked interesting so I wanted to check it out. Even though there are many games out there that I've never played, I often want to watch their cutscenes for the story. Some games have pretty interesting or at least fun stories such as Killzone and Uncharted series.
Anyways, I didn't watch the MGS vids in chronological order. It didn't confuse me, oddly enough, and perhaps even made it easier for me to understand the weirdness that runs rampant in MGS2. Here's the order in which I've watched the MGS vids: MGS4, MGS3, MGS1, MGS2, Portrable Ops, Peace Walker. No, I haven't watched any vids of the Metal Gear games that precede the Metal Gear Solid games so I'll only discuss the solid games. For reference I will be discussing the solid games in chronological order for clarity's sake.
Also, the only thing I knew about MGS games beforehand was that they had a badass named Snake, more twists than you can shake at, lengthy cinematics, some epic score tracks by Harry Gregson-Williams, huge mechas and some stealth game play.
*UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD!*
MGS3: Snake Eater.
Oh boy. This is where it all begins: Snake's journey into becoming Big Boss. A journey filled with love, hate, betrayals and truly bittersweet and heartbreaking moments. I'd argue that this is possibly the most solid (pun intended) storyline in the MGS saga simply because of its emotional arc and compelling characters. The antagonist Boss is given quite a lot of depth, and her tragic final battle with Snake (who becomes Big Boss) is so heart-wrenching that words can't really describe. "I'd give my life not for honour but for you..." like the title song says, indeed. A fight between a mentor and her greatest student, a fight that is almost like between mother and son. It's set in a very beautiful, bittersweet scene of a meadow where you'll get to show off all the CQC moves you've learned and best your mentor by using them while a beautiful track plays in the background.
The Cobra bosses are creative and actually quite sympathetic. Apart from The Boss I actually liked The End and The Sorrow. The End gives the player an epic sniper duel in a treacherous forest. The Sorrow has a truly memorable "battle": he transports you into a sort of river stuck in limbo where you'll have to deal with the vengeful spirits of all the people you have killed in the game while they accuse you of killing them. That truly hammers the idea home that war is hell. It's a great and innovative concept that I wish more games would use. The chase and subsequent battles with the Shagohod are quite thrilling, too, and Colonel Volgin is truly a larger than life villain in sheer stupidity (just watch the lightning scene and you'll see why). Young Ocelot is kinda funny, too, although he has a long way to go from his older self.
The game gives us the first chronological "torture scene", and you can't but feel sorry for Snake as he has to suffer through those (not to mention the later games' torture sequences become even more horrific). The plot, overall, has interesting twists and turns and is like a nice James Bond pastiche but with a lot more depth. The ending cinematic is quite touching, too. The game's definitely worth checking out.
MGS: Portable Ops.
The story of Big Boss continues as he ends up in a rather crappy situation and has to recruit people to his cause to oppose the "seemingly" power-mad Gene. Like any game in the series, the plot gets more complex fast with lots of twists and obligatory betrayals. Kojima apparently didn't have as much input on this game as the others, but it's still a decent entry which explores the story of Big Boss and how he recruited his army. The Ursula battle was quite heart-wrenching, I have to say.
MGS: Peace Walker.
The story of Big Boss continues. With more twists and tragic battles! It's a beautiful bookend to MGS3, exploring The Boss's motivations for doing what she did in MGS3. It also shows Big Boss finally setting the stage for Outer Heaven as well as slowly turning into the villain which he will become. While MGS3 showed the end of innocence, Peace Walker on the other hand shows how blind you become and how you fail to respect your comrade's wishes. It's quite heartbreaking to see a noble soul become a truly jaded, bitter person who misinterprets The Boss's will (even after witnessing the truly bittersweet "drowning" sequence which I won't spoil any further).
There's also a big shock/asspull about the true final boss when it turns out the sweet girl you've had with you is in fact the diabolic mastermind who uses the Metal Gear you've built to attack you. That was a low shot because it needed more development, but I understand it had to be done so that Big Boss would find out about Zero's shenanigans, which would set up their conflict which spands to later MGS games. Now that I think of it, I believe the biggest flaw the series has is not giving enough screentime to Zero and how he and Big Boss turned into bitter enemies. The transition from hero to villain is just too stark in Zero's case, and I truly hope that possible future MGS games will explore Zero's descent in game rather than just in briefing files because that subplot has potential.
MGS1: Twin Snakes
This is where shit hits the fan. We're introduced (well, sort of: he was the protagonist of the original Metal Gear games which I won't discuss here because this deals with MGS, not MG) to Solid Snake, the hero for the rest of the saga. A clone of Big Boss who has to stop his nemesis Ocelot and various other "bad" villains from doing evil stuff (which might not be so evil after all thanks to a bunch of twists). This is where people were introduced to the series's cinematic storytelling with very long, melodramatic cutscenes, the overall good voice acting and twists... lots of twists. And there's the stealth gameplay too, of course.
Among the most memorable scenes in this game is the boss fight against Psycho Mantis where he actually breaks the fourth wall by seemingly causing the game to reset etc. and the only way to beat him is to switch the controller to another port. No wonder he's often voted as one of the best boss fights. Kojima sure can screw with the player (although this is only a prelude to the insanity in MGS2 but more about that later).
All in all, a somewhat revolutionary game which didn't seem that crazy to me despite reviewers saying otherwise. I liked the melodrama and the cutscenes which weren't too long, IMHO. Twin Snakes remake definitely improved vanilla MGS in many ways (from what I've seen and read) and I welcomed the updated graphics which made the cutscenes more emotional thanks to better character design. There's also a nice twist at the end (which involves the president of USA, no less, and is a sequel hook).
MGS2: Sons of Liberty
This is probably the most controversial MGS of them all. Thanks to false and clever advertising, gamers thought they'd play as Solid Snake. However, after the tanker prologue is over, they're introduced to an entirely new character named Raiden who isn't as manly as Snake etc. Cue fan outrage. However, I never found Raiden that annoying (at least in cutscenes). Sure, he has relationship problems with his girlfriend and stuff, but he was rather competent in battle nevertheless. The basic plot is that terrorists have kidnapped the president of USA, and Raiden is sent to rescue him after Snake seemingly died in the tanker incident. As every MGS, the plot quickly becomes much more complex, but this time Kojima really spares no expense making it as mind screw-y as possible.
You keep wondering why Kojima bothered with Raiden at first, particularly once you find out that Snake is alive. The bosses you face also share traits with the bosses from MGS1. However, Kojima turns it all upside down when it's revealed that Raiden's girlfriend and the colonel advisor are in fact AI constructs which have been manipulating Raiden all this time. This is quite a heartbreaking and chilling twist, particularly once a virus hits the AIs and turn them into downright madmen/women who spit out incomprehensible stuff and who keep mocking Raiden (and thus the player) for being a dupe.
The whole mission in MGS2 is based on the meme theory and whether any soldier who is put through the same shit that Snake went through can become a supersoldier like Snake; it's the AI's master plan of creating an army of supersoldiers. In essence, this is a postmodern idea: Raiden is the expy of the player, and it turns the whole "I want to be as badass as Snake" idea around. The game has manipulated you, the player, and then mocks you for it. That's both brilliant and scary, and I believe it's the most successful thing in the whole mess that is MGS2.
It's also nice that the villains (the AI constructs known as the Patriors) and the actual terrorists are at odds, and you end up in between their struggle. The game also punches the player emotionally by killing a sympathetic girl who you've been escorting in certain parts of the mission. The game is also heavily symbolic: you could arguably say that when Snake goes after Ocelot in the ending and leaves Raiden fighting by himself, Snake frees himself from the game's control to pursue his own destiny. Lots of interesting theories have been written about the game's deep storyline. By the time the "main" villain reveals that he murdered Raiden's parents etc., you're unsure whether to even care anymore or just end the mindfuck already.
To be fair, the game isn't that difficult to understand. I figured out the main gist rather quickly, and even the mindfuck parts weren't that confusing. It requires paying attention, and I suppose some players just don't have that kind of motivation so no wonder they were enraged by the whole game. However, if you look at the game's merits and postmodern ways of revolutionizing game stories, it's a rather intelligent and quirky game with lots of potential.
MGS4: Guns of the Patriots
This is the supposedly final chapter in Solid Snake's story. It has the task of making sense of the complex plots of MGS1-3 while also tying all the loose threads together into a meaningful ending. I think it succeeds admirably: the whole Patriot, meme, Big Boss, Ocelot etc. things are explained and resolved, and basically the whole game is one big tribute to the series as a whole. If you think that the Beauty & Beast corps weren't shoutouts to past bosses of the MGS saga (speaking of which, am I the only one who thought that those psycho girls were really creepy, particularly Laughing Octopus?), then revisiting Shadow Moses Island (from MGS1) and the final battle against Ocelot (which plays all the four games' memorable tunes in succession while changing his tactics to suit the game the song is referencing) will certainly trigger nostalgic feelings.
The graphics look great, the music is quite fitting (even though some of it is quite droning; I prefer the more emotional tracks), the storyline has good things going for it, the voice acting is handled well, the game design has improved a lot with some great variety, and it has some chilling level design (most notably the microwave corridor which forces Snake through a corridor which slowly drains his health while cinematics play in top screen about his friends' impending demises). And then there's the emotional epilogue where Snake finally gets to reconcile with his dad, Big Boss, at the Boss's (from MGS3) grave, no less. It's a fitting end to the saga as a whole (even if its cutscenes get ridiculously long; not that it bothered me, though, because I enjoyed the story).
*UNMARKED SPOILERS END!*
Watching the Metal Gear Solid videos turned out not to be a waste of time. They showed some interesting, thought-provoking storylines and memorable characters and showcased that it's possible to go post-modern even in games like these. For anyone wanting to experience an epic story (which seems to be still ongoing because a few new games are already in the making), I suggest you take a look and never turn back.
I decided to have some fun with some of the tGA character portraits and modified a few Fire Emblem sprites to make a portrait for younger Waldheim. The pic resembles his old self quite a bit, which is a feat in and of itself considering that I'm not that good at sprite editing. You can see the result below:
Old and Young Waldy
Is it just me, or did young Waldheim actually turn out rather, umm, hot? I'm straight, but still... xD I'm very happy that I managed to give his younger self an arrogant look because mages tend to be arrogant pricks whereas his older self has a mysterious smile as he's gained more knowledge. I used the silver-ish and green colours which his older self has but I also gave some visual hints to something else by giving him golden and curly hair. Gotta love custom sprites which one can modify. Whoever made the original young pic base (couldn't find info on that, sadly) had some interesting views on a mage's look, and it surprises me how little it had to be changed to suit Waldy's personality. ;)
The success with Waldy's pic almost gave me the urge to try to make a portrait for Omaroch's younger self too. That would be fun but it'd also take a lot of time, considering I'd have to make Omaroch resemble his sons Refan and Kareth a bit... then again, challenges are there for one to overcome, right?
Yours,
Mikko