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So, That Happened…(Part One)Or: Brain Trust
Category Archives: Commentary
EDF World Brothers 2: It’s Just Up The Block A Bit
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| Square Earth is Back! EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2 Set for September 26 Release Date |
| Destroy a Horde of Voxel Space Monsters All Over Again When the Next Entry in the Pixelated Spin-off of the Hit Series from D3PUBLISHER Returns this Fall with Pre-orders Available Now on PlayStation |
| OAKLAND, CA – Feb. 29, 2024 – D3Publisher Inc., a leading Japanese games publisher, is excited to announce that EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: WORLD BROTHERS 2, the second installment in the voxel-spinoff of the popular third-person shooter series, EARTH DEFENSE FORCE, will release on Sept. 26, 2024, on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, for a MSRP of $49.99, €49.99, and ￡39.99 for the Standard Edition and $74.99, €74.99, and ￡64.99 for the Deluxe Edition. The title will also launch on the Nintendo Switch™ system at a MSRP of $39.99, €39.99, and ￡29.99 for the Standard Edition and $64.99, €64.99, ￡54.99 for the Deluxe Edition. EDF: WB2 is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB, PEGI 16, and USK 16. Pre-orders for the title are live now for PlayStation users in North America and Europe, with Nintendo Switch pre-orders in North America and Europe coming soon. PlayStation Plus subscribers who pre-order will also receive a 10% discount and several additional characters as an additional reward. EDF: WB2 builds upon its predecessor by introducing elements from Earth Defense Force 6 including the Wing Diver Shooter class, more than 100 unique characters, and over 100 missions! |
| EDF: WB2 tells the story of what happened to the voxel (cube) Earth after the events of the first installment. Brothers from across the world reunite to face an unprecedented threat brought about by an all-new enemy that threatens to tear the Earth apart all over again. To restore peace to the voxel Earth, the EDF has been dispatched for an emergency mission the likes of which no one has ever seen before! Featuring a unique voxel art style, epic 4-player team battles, and filled with more love for the EDF series than ever before, players must stand together to save the world once more. EDF move out! |
| Key Features: The Voxel World of Square Earth: Unlike the original EDF series, which is portrayed in a photorealistic style, EDF: WB2 uses bold voxel graphics for a distinct look. Get ready to blast hordes of monsters into pixel oblivion! Build Your Very Own EDF Squad: EDF members are struggling in isolated locations around the world. Rescue and assemble a unique Earth Defense Force team to save the cube Earth. Each mission is tackled by a 4-member team that players mix and match to maximize their abilities and lay waste to their enemies. Legends Assemble: Classic soldiers, characters, and weapons from the first game, THE EARTH DEFENSE FORCE, up to Earth Defense Force 6, and various EDF series spin-offs return in voxelated form! Longtime fans of the series are in for a serious dose of nostalgia, while those who have never played an EDF game before can enjoy EDF: WB2 as an introduction to the series. Enemies of Generations Past Reborn: The invaders who attacked Earth and caused mass destruction countless times before are returning in full (voxelated) force. Many enemies, giant weapons, and huge monsters from past EDF games are back and bigger than ever! What hell-spawn will show up next? Fully Voiced in Multiple Languages: Like its predecessor, EDF: WB2 features English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean voiceovers, so an even greater audience can get in on the action! For additional information on EDF: WB2, please visit the official website, follow the game on Twitter, and D3PUBLISHER Inc. to keep up with upcoming content and news. |
Yes, it’s on the way in 2024, which means we get two Earth Defense Force titles this year, folks(https://fanboydestroy.com/2024/02/12/delay-of-game-edf6-becomes-a-summer-2024-baby/) Yep, It’s already been pre-ordered in this house (since last year!). Here’s a peek at the announcement trailer:
Looks fun, right? If the first game is any indication, this looks to be quite a bit of much needed goofiness in this year of seemingly non-stop bad news. Sandlot is on a roll with this series and I hope more will take the plunge into their voxel-packed world this September. Yes, it’s hip to be square again- just don’t fall off the edge of the planet (too much!)
-GW
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Delay Of Game: EDF6 Becomes a Summer 2024 Baby!
The only other game I’ve preordered this year gets a slight shift in its release date window, as developer SANDLOT and D3Publisher’s upcoming title has moved from a Spring to Summer 2024 release.
“D3Publisher Inc., a leading Japanese games publisher, has announced that Earth Defense Force 6, the latest entry in the popular action-shooter series, will now be released for PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, and PC via Steam in summer 2024 for Western audiences. Previously announced for a spring launch window, developer SANDLOT and publisher D3PUBLISHER have decided to extend the launch window to add finishing touches and finalize preparations for its Western launch.“
As a long time fan of the series since 2003, I don’t mind the date shift at all if it gives the game a bit more of what it’s well-known for: chaotic solo or co-op action, mass destruction on a huge scale, the offbeat humor of the AI squadmates and the storyline that gets increasingly more dramatic and doom-filled as things get worse for humanity. It took me close to a year to complete the last installment, (EDF5), a game I still revisit every so often when I need that fix. The rather huge amount of weapons for each character makes for plenty of on the fly strategy as each level requires learning the ins and outs of your chosen loadouts.
This will be the first time I’m not picking up the import version first because the game’s DLC won’t be compatible on PS4 or PS5, but I love going into things cold.
YouTuber cenorexia even put together a really great English translation of the first mission/tutorial that’s well worth checking out:
-GW
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Some Things You Might Have Missed (Games Division, Part 1)
Question:
1: How many video games are released in an average year these days?
THOUSANDS.
You read that right, pals. There are games released on every platform pretty much every day of the week (which is what wish lists are for) and yes, it’s just overwhelming beyond belief when you realize some days all you want is for time to slow down just so you can play and complete more games (well, that’s just me). In any event, here’s a very short list of a few titles that kept or are still keeping me occupied in 2023:
Marvel’s Midnight Suns (PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series S/X)- This took a while to get to, but I’m glad I finally decided to take the plunge. Admittedly, the whole licensed costume hero genre has played itself out, but once in a while, some developer gets it right and in a surprisingly well-done manner. Firaxis Games (Civilization XI, among other great titles) made a fun turn-based tactical game that got somewhat ignored at retail, but is worth a look just for the things it does somewhat excellently. It’s not for everyone, but I’m betting that people that don’t normally play these types of games will be surprised when they try it and see how well it all works together.
Wanted: Dead (PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series S/X)- Basically, this is the Binary Domain of PS4/PS5 releases, and if you’re grinning at that reference, good. This somewhat gory M-rated squad-based action game from developer Soleil has its quirks (lots of them), but it’s also a chunk of awesome, surreal fun once you roll with it and just play what’s here. The game feels like one of those funky PS2 titles like X-Squad, or a team-based State of Emergency mixed with goofy but awesome PS1 games such as Crisis Beat or Crisis City where more modern-ish Unreal 4 rendering techniques outstrip the core gameplay, which has loads of complexity under the hood once you discover it. Controls can be a bit wonky and death comes almost too easily in spots, but I’m having a blast with this one so far. Granted, this more of a “cult classic”, but if you want a game that’s surprisingly deep and equally insane, here you go.
That and the game may actually get you to gain a few extra pounds this holiday season:
Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (PC, Consoles!)
OK, so you’re a frog with a magnifying glass, a sticker covered notebook AND a 2nd best detective of questionable quality (but, somehow always able to solve every case you get for reasons). Anyway, this compilation of all three adventures makes for a great gift for kids as well as adults looking for a no-stress, non violent way to spend an hour or two (or longer if you get into part three’s scooter riding sections and lose track of time (oops).
For all its simplicity, this is one of the the purest and most enjoyable titles of the year in my book. (Just don’t tell Lobster Cop).
Undernauts: Labyrinth of Yomi (PC, PS4/PS5, Switch)
Yes, it came out, what? Two years ago, but it’s never left my play stack in all that time. Developers Experience, Inc and Poppy Works have cooked up a hefty throwback to the classic Wizardry games with a 1979 Japan setting with a few twists to the formula that keep things fresh. While it can get incredibly tough at times, there’s always the feeling of “Just one more floor” as you navigate the labyrinth and all its various hazards. While I wish the character creation was a lot deeper, there are enough options to form the perfect party and the plot has more than enough twists and turns to keep you entertained. I’ve been taking my time with this because it’s so well made, yet so familiar…
Sword of the Vagrant (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox Series S/X, Switch)
Sure, the PC version came out in 2017, but I’d never heard of this game until earlier this year when a friend suggested I give it a shot. Yup, it hits almost every mark right from the start and even at a discount, comes highly recommended. Taking cues from Vanillaware’s classics as well as other side-scrolling RPG’s. there’s a pick up and play sensibility at work here along with pretty hand-crafted visuals you can pore over in the included digital artbook before you even start the game. It’s not 100 percent flawless, but it’s pretty much all enjoyable.
Alright, Let’s put a bow on this one and go post it. I’m going to go watch a movie and (of course) play a game after, but I’ll be back with another list shortly. It’s been a busy year and I may as well do this again (or more frequently).
-GW
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Slight Change of Plans (Slight Return)
Hey, you know that stack of Severin Films DVD’s* I have here to give to some cinematically deprived soul out there? Yup, they’re still here, all boxed up and ready to go get shipped out anywhere in the US. Instead of picking a subscriber from a list, we’re changing that to whoever (and yes, you still have to live in the US!) replies to this post and is willing to let me be that not so Secret Santa who might have had a few too many Egg Nogs. Anyway, I have to go out for a few hours and will return later this afternoon, so you know what to do (I hope!)
*Note: there’s at least one Blu-Ray in the stack, Maybe Santa will slip up and add another? Who knows?
-GW
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Win Free Stuff (Or Else!)
Alrighty, I haven’t done a giveaway in a LONG while, but I was going through a huge pile of movies here and found a stack of sealed duplicates that I picked up from a Severin Films sale last year when they were clearing out their DVD section, so I ended up with a dozen or so extras. Anyway, I like surprising people at random, so yep, I’m going to gift ONE lucky reader with these discs and that person has to do nothing but wait for the box to arrive. Of course, there’s a catch or two:
One, you have to be a subscriber to the blog. Two, you need to be a US resident. Sorry about that last part, but it’s far easier and a lot less expensive to just ship a box of movies almost anywhere in the US than to deal with customs forms and the package being delayed, opened and inspected by overzealous types out there.
SO, what IS inside the box, you ask? Well, let’s just say it’s a mix of genres and leave it at that. I think there’s one kid friendly film on the mix, a few horror films, a trailer collection and other strange stuff. Everything seems to be out of production from the distributor or rights have changed hands, so jump into the pool, if you’re able to. I’ll randomly pick someone off my subscriber list and shoot an email out to that person asking if they want the movies (say yes, please) and I’ll ship out your box around the end of the week. OR, you can reply in the comments without giving out personal info and if you’re chosen, we can work out the details via email. NO, I won’t sell your info to some shady company or send you those Sea Monkeys you ordered back when you were a kid. I guess it’s just me trying to be more human than “social” or something. An experiment, if you will. Humor me and be rewarded in the process. Good luck!
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Early to Bed…
So, my post for the blogathon below is all done and scheduled, but WordPress weirdness mucked up the header I wanted to use and you all just have to wait until the end of the week so I can yell at the sky and attempt to re-edit the piece. (Some of you know how this goes, I hope.)- I’m taking a few days off to sort out some health issues, but I’ll pop in and throw a few sentences together just to liven the place up a bit. Have a great week or just a good one, for that matter.
-GW
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Now It’s Dark. (Part 1. Maybe)
(Trigger warning: this may get loud. Por ejemplo) :
Life is indeed, sometimes far stranger than any fantasy. Actually, it’s 1:10pm and my brain is a bit too pooped out. Just plain tired. Like a blissful kid walking away from an empty gumball machine with a sackful of Dubble Bubble after emptying the family piggy bank, I am all spent. (I guess that makes some kind of sense?) However. I’ll admit I’m also a few pennies short of of a full roll. Brain, current time, please. (VCR fast forwards) Stop. Thanks, pal. My brain sloshes around smiling. (Yes, I know I’m talking to myself, but it’s how I’m dealing with this). Yes, I’ve got… a whole lot more issues than a planet full of comic shops.
It’s now 3:22pm (!) and I spent that time poring over my 809 subscribers to see if a certain person (a relative) was in my readership list (Nope, and I went though that list six times just to be sure. Long story short: (and it’s a very, VERY long story). (Brain: Narrator mode, ON (*click*): For full details, please send four self-addressed stamped envelopes to: Brain! (“upstairs”: Yo!) Me: Just keep it down, please, I’m trying to finally get more work done here. (Brain: ) Today, Brain is doing a Goofy impersonation and a pretty good one). At 4:00 (Brain: 4:04!), I turned the the TV off and it was just the fan spinning, (Brain: And me?), I just wanted to simply liven things up a bit and soon found myself hunting and pecking around cable as I also poked around a bit online while gathering assorted clips and images for this post.
At around 3:27 PM, my younger brother, came out of his room, took a shower, dressed himself and went out. I didn’t ask where he was headed, but I was a bit concerned about him and where he was going. In any event, he only went grocery shopping and returned about half (hour or so later Brain: 49 minutes!) *(Note: This will be the subject of a much longer future post, but I’ll get to that a few weeks from now).
Brrrain?(I roll my r’s), Brain:Yup? I know you’re doing Goofy, but that bit above, You’re also channeling Jack Webb, right? (I see in my mind, Brain is wearing a frilly Elizabethan collar(Shakespeare?), but also wearing a Deerstalker hat (no pipe, as I don’t smoke). I blink and it’s now wearing six different fedoras from a bunch of film noir classics. (Brain: Er, well…it seemed appropriate?)… I sigh and quickly imagine whatever people actually are or will be reading this will all disappear faster than the Great Gazoo once I hit that Publish button). But today, I’m letting the chips fall wherever they land.
Moods: more like this (although, that Ramones song below is from their LP Halfway to Sanity, which is quite ironic. To me, at least.)
Let’s move on. Brain plays (on a huge imaginary music box) bits of: The Movin’ On theme, The Jeffersons theme, the One Day At A Time theme and a few more vintage TV tunes. My grey matter is bubbling and blazing through these clips so fast, I can’t keep up. From “upstairs”, I hear “You were thinking I should speed things up a bit because it’s getting late and you haven’t had dinner yet… Uh, hey. Can I come downstairs and watch that moo-vie with you? An idea for a segue pops up and I ask Brain to take over for a bit while I edit and add a few more videos and pictures. I think I can trust him.
(Why a music box, you ask? Back in February, I wanted to buy my mother one for her birthday and I went online and looked at quite a few before realizing I was falling into a rabbit hole over this. I just got her a card and some small gifts. Hey, I can always pick one up for Xmas)
Without warning,my playlist drops the needle on another Ramones tune:
(Brain: Um, I’m kinda hungry, Feed me! Me: fine, give me a minute.
Okay, Audrey III! (Brain looks like a cross between a Guiana Chestnut, a Pachira plant and the carnivorous plant from 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors). I’m hungry as well.
I stopped writing, went to the fridge and took out the ground imported Wagyu I bought yesterday along with a few other ingredients. 14 minutes later it was a nice and done. Sitting down for the meal, my eternal playlist pumps out a few tunes as “we” eat: Trouble by Lyndsey Buckingham, Problems (Sex Pistols) What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye) and Help (The Beatles). After the meal, Brain burps a little and continues the story for a bit. There’s a slight time jump.
(Brain:)
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 6:20 PM.
We were watching a random action film on cable, but it was just for the noise filling the room. I mentioned TCM might have something to watch and we quickly changed the channel. Psycho was on, and the scene where Marion is selling her car was playing out, We watched the rest of the film, had a small can of iced coffee and left the television on. Hmm. Time to wrap this dead fish up while it was still relatively fresh.
In short, I’ve got a few medical woes to take care of, but I’m sure Monday’s doctor visit will be a start of my eventual longer journey to some sort of recovery. I’d initially written much more (Brain: 9146 words), but I spent most of this week pruning that into what you’re reading today. I feel fine overall, but I’m also feeling incredibly creative. This post seems to be a “result”. so there will a few more at some point. Don’t worry about things too much. I think I’ve got a handle on this particular door.
-GW
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It’s A Bullhorn, Butthorn! (& Other Possible Probabilities)
Oh, Hi.
No, this isn’t written from the great beyond (note the date, please). I’ve just been a bit (way, no, really, WAAAAAAAAAY) too occupied, is all. I’m sure you all know the drill these days. Life, being the completely unlicensed steamroller driver it is, runs you over, then backs it up, flashing lights and all, to finish the job. Which it then repeats, no matter which street you’ve decided to cross the next day. I’ve learned to mentally carry a few hastily scribbled cartoon sound effects around for such emergencies, but it seems if if every day. SOMETHING is happening to SOMEONE and it’s less likely to be good (or even good-adjacent) news.
To add to that, all that extra baggage can (and will, trust me) lead one to be all that more under-prepared for those times when the mental load needs a required respite from the other 23.9 hours of lousy news one receives when using “social” media these days. “Socially diseased” is more like it (zing!). On one hand, all one supposes is that all one needs to do is constantly “think positively” and/or just be around to angelically post endless inspirational/motivational platitudes to combat all that negativity. Which more than likely on the other hand, just won’t work realistically with most people living online in their separate, but still shared with too many who desire you stay as miserable as they are individuals and groups. Cue segue, please? (taps fast forward button).
I remember quite a long while back, my mother rolling out some sage commentary that went as follows: “Just because something is popular, doesn’t mean it’s good”. Now, if I recall, she was talking about one of my favorite TV shows at the time and I was feeling a little bit personally insulted by this at the time, as you can imagine. But I soon realized this was a healthy discourse and the internet wasn’t around to convince me otherwise. No moral here, other than wisely take a little break from things before they get too far out of hand and outside of your control. No one will miss you (much) and you get to return when you like and feel somewhat more refreshed. OK. maybe some rinsing and repeating in involved, but as they say, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Back later with more but less moralizing on this end- I almost forgot I even had a blog for a minute until the renewal notice popped up via my inbox!
-GW
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Review: Once Upon A Time In The West
An intentionally slow moving, deliberately paced epic “western opera”, Sergio Leone’s now classic Once Upon A Time In The West wasn’t exactly a huge hit back during its 1969 North American release. The film, which was edited for some content (since restored) was probably still somewhat lengthy for audiences of the era and the film’s somewhat glacial pace will be a bit much for some new and impatient viewers.
Interestingly enough, the film is a sweeping and meticulous love letter to the western genre, featuring major and minor visual and aural tips of the hat to many previous westerns. It’s also Leone doing remarkable work with his camera using carefully crafted sets and locations in Spain and some prime locations in Monument Valley to grand effect. There’s also spring loaded tension throughout, such as the brilliant opening sequence where three duster-clad gunmen wait impatiently for a late train to arrive just so they can kill a man (Charles Bronson). Leone uses some humor here to break that tension, having a common fly and dripping water torment two of the men as they wait.
The would-be assassins fail, save for wounding their target and the film cuts to a man named Brett McBain and his young son hunting birds before taking their catch back home to a ranch named Sweetwater, where the entire McBain family is in turn brutally dispatched by a man named Frank (Henry Fonda!), Then we move to Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale) arriving via train to the town of Flagstone, where no one is there to meet her (thank to Frank and his men). After the buggy she’s hired to take her to her new home makes an unscheduled stop, we then meet Cheyenne (Jason Robards), an outlaw who’s just escaped from jail and ends up at that spot where he meets his gang. Cheyenne meets a recuperating Bronson, who he dubs “Harmonica” upon seeing and hearing him play while wondering if he can shoot as well. Harmonica initially thinks Cheyenne sent his three of his men to kill him earlier because of the dusters they wear, but he’s soon convinced otherwise. Jill eventually makes it to her new home where we see the bodies of the family laid out and a small group of neighbors waiting to give her the sad news. Before the funeral, evidence of Cheyenne’s involvement in the murders is revealed, but Frank is actually responsible.
It turns out Frank is working for a very wealthy man named Morton, who’s got a disability and travels in a specially customized train. Morton admonishes Frank for killing the family instead of scaring them off, to which Frank coldly replies: “People are only scared when they’re dying”(ouch). Morton wants Sweetwater for its proximity to the railroad and its water source, both of which will add to his wealth, but he doesn’t realize Frank also has his own plans for the property. Meanwhile, Jill is the sole owner of Sweetwater now that her family has been killed and yes, Frank has plans for her as well. Both Cheyenne and Harmonica figure out what Frank is up to, but both men have their own plans for dealing with him and fate also drops into the picture. The theme of water plays so heavily here that I thought of Chinatown for a moment once the overall story was finally revealed. This is a film that takes its sweet time to fully display its plot, using Bronson’s character as the near-silent observer/detective and his reason for being a bit vengeance minded is finally revealed after a trio of initially hazy flashback sequences are spread throughout the film that eventually tell a tragic tale.
There’s a lot more, but we’ll talk instead about how Leone’s superb attention to detail in everything from the sets to costumes to his work with composer Ennio Morricone that make this a film worth watching. The scope of the film is constantly amazing down the finest details to the dozens of extras in full costume for a single scenes. Jill’s arrival in Flagstone goes from crowd shot to crane shot to show of the dusty non-splendor of the growing railroad town and as expected, Leone gets in some truly outstanding closeup shots. Morricone has a theme for each of the four main characters and there’s a few uses of sound design in lieu of score, like how the film opens using a mix of insects, a constantly squeaky windmill and other amplified bits. The film stretches scenes and can be deliberately confusing in spots, but that’s Leone wanting viewers to figure out things out as Harmonica does.
In other words, take the time to watch this and you’ll be surprised at how well this film works not only as western, but also as a homage to other past westerns. Hey, if you sat through a three hour Batman film, this will be a cakewalk, right? Cheyenne says make a fresh pot of coffee and have it handy (you’ll get the reference from watching the film). by the way, this post is part of The Foreign Western Blogathon hosted by Moon in Gemini. Pop on by and take a peek at the other submissions for other genre faves!
-GW
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 