Category: Editorials

Guest Editorial: Final Fantasy XII: A Long-Belated Intermediate Gameplay Perspective (Part 2)

On By BFC AdminIn EditorialsLeave a comment

This is part 2 of a guest editorial by michaias. His blog can be found on steemit at https://steemit.com/@michaias

In my last post on Final Fantasy XII, I hated on Vaan a lot. Then, I discussed that entry with a friend (check out his amazing pop culture blog in which he argues for, among other things, improved dinosaur representation in media), and he told me he always viewed Vaan and Penelo as Shakesperian-esque witness characters who are present to bear witness to events that don’t really involve them; Ashe and Basch are the real main characters. I can get behind that idea. It doesn’t make me like Vaan any more, but I like that reading of the story.

I don’t regret all my vitriol for Vaan, but I should also confess to a grave error that didn’t help matters. As soon as that fancy Zodiac job wheel popped on-screen for the first time, about an hour or so into the game, I was so distracted by the shiny that I couldn’t figure out how to spin it, so I just blasted through the in-game text prompts and kept right on jamming on that “X” button until I had made Vaan’s primary class into the default job the wheel starts on: white mage. God shitting damn it.

Continue reading “Guest Editorial: Final Fantasy XII: A Long-Belated Intermediate Gameplay Perspective (Part 2)” →

Guest Editorial: Final Fantasy XII: A Long-Belated Intermediate Gameplay Perspective (Part 1)

On By BFC AdminIn EditorialsLeave a comment

This is a guest editorial by michaias. His blog can be found on steemit at https://steemit.com/@michaias

The year was 2006. I was sitting in my Japanese I college course, trying to pay attention and cram phrases like “Ii otenki, desu ne? (The weather is nice, isn’t it?)” into my head, crossing my legs, recrossing the other way, fidgeting, counting off the seconds on the clock on the wall while the only phrase that whipped around my skull on repeat was “Otearai wa doko desu ka? (Where is the bathroom?)” According to my painfully accurate count, class was supposed to end exactly one hundred and seventeen, eighteen, nineteen seconds ago, and according to my overly-full bladder, I was approximately twelve, eleven, ten seconds away from demonstrating for my nice, but garrulous, Japanese instructor exactly what the idiom “piss like a racehorse” means.

Continue reading “Guest Editorial: Final Fantasy XII: A Long-Belated Intermediate Gameplay Perspective (Part 1)” →

Hot Takes: The Spiciest of Opinions

On By Frank EslingerIn EditorialsLeave a comment

I just left the theater and I’ve gotta say *movie title*  was just the worst thing I’ve ever seen.

I just finished playing *new video game* and it was an unmitigated disaster.

Your game stinks. That movie you like is horrible. How could you be so stupid as to like that thing you like? How dare you not see things my way! You can’t silence me because these are all my opinions.

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A Mesozoic Proposal: Making Dinosaurs Relevant Again

On By Frank EslingerIn EditorialsLeave a comment

Alright I have to ask the most important question, but first let me point something out:

Dinosaurs ruled the Earth for around 200 times longer than we have. They came in all shapes and sizes and survived in every type of environment. Some were as big as a Boeing 747, and some could fit into the palm of your hand. They shared our planet with some of the largest and most fascinating marine creatures to ever swim the oceans, while incredible flying reptiles glided through the skies above.

So that brings us back to my question:

Why do we have to suffer through the 500 trillionth zombie apocalypse movie or TV show when there’s literally 200 million years of awesome dinosaurs to pull from?

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Brent’s Top 10 Games of 2017

On By Brent JohnsonIn EditorialsLeave a comment

2017 will be remembered as a very strong year for gaming. The Nintendo Switch came out and planted itself firmly as the console to beat and the Playstation 4 brought a selection of software reaffirming Sony’s games first mentality; and Microsoft put out a nuclear reactor in console form in the stunningly beautiful Xbox One X. No matter where your allegiances lie whether it be to one company or to gaming as a whole everybody had something to be supremely proud of this year.

Summing up my top 10 games of the year was a harrowing task as this year had some of this console generations best games released one on top of the other. There are multiple games that it pains me won’t make this list and even more than won’t make it as I just never had the time to play them. This is the internet however and games must be listed, so here is my list of the top 10 video games of 2017!

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Quake logo - Photo credit: Bethesda, id Software

‘Quake’ Will Always Have A Place

On By Joseph SoltisIn EditorialsLeave a comment

First-person shooters are a dime a dozen now. Most gamers know what they are and everyone developer and publisher wants to create that one franchise or series to capture a fan base like Activision’s Call of Duty or Valve’s Half-Life. However, the game that got me into shooters is one that was released in 1996 called Quake.
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“I Will Show You The Dark Side:” The Complexities of Kylo Ren

On By Matthew CourserIn EditorialsLeave a comment

One of the first characters revealed for Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the new villain Kylo Ren.

We were introduced to this tall, masked figure in the first teaser for the film. With his fiery red lightsaber and cloaked in black, Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, had big shoes to fill.

Coming off classic villains like the menacing Darth Vader and devilish Emperor Palpatine, Kylo had a lot of expectations thrown his way. Some of them fair, others not. Though some of the expectations may seem unreasonable I believe Kylo Ren is the character Anakin Skywalker should have been.

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Band Reunions: All the Rage in the Post-Hardcore Scene

On By Joseph SoltisIn EditorialsLeave a comment

In the early 2000’s, I got into the sub-genres of punk and alternative music. Bands like Thursday, Underoath, and Thrice were all the rage in my life. I remember going to the store and being excited to spend the little money I had to buy the CDs I wanted. I was always stoked to see CDs of the punk music I liked available at Wal-Mart and other big-box stores. It reassured me that the music I listened to maybe wasn’t as crazy as I thought it was.

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What’s the Point? Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

On By Matthew CourserIn EditorialsLeave a comment

Since its acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney has released revitalized interest in the Star Wars brand with a steady stream of movies, television shows, books and comics. There’s so much Star Wars I hardly know what to do. Every morning when I get dragged out of bed by my kid I wonder “How is Star Wars going to affect my life today?”

It turns out that everywhere I go there’s Star Wars. “May the Fourth Be With You” (May 4th) is basically a national holiday. We are now “blessed” with the prospect of a Star Wars film every year, with main saga and side-stories alternating every year.

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