So in a previous post I asked a what if question if Kratos and Dante switched weapons? In this post I wondered what the two men's favored powers from each respective pantheon would be. For Kratos his two favorite Christian powers would likely be Lust Storm and The Sins of the Father, while Dante's would likely be Poseidon or Cronos's Rage and Army of Hades.
I've been a huge fan of the hack & slash genre. I've played Devil May Cry, God of war and even famous God of war clones like Dante's Inferno and Castlevania Lords of Shadow. I've heard Heavenly Sword is also described as being a very God of war esque hack & slash game. The main difference being you play as a girl in this given title. If anyone who's played the game could please give me your honest opinion if this would be my go-to type of experience.
DMC2 is often criticized as being the weakest entry in the series (DMC Devil May Cry being in second place) and for good reason.
For starters the combat is slow and much more simplistic than the first game as Dante's movements when swinging his sword look like he's moving through water. As well as the fact that his guns are literally the most overpowered weapons in the game as you can simply juggle every enemy with them.
The story is quite lifeless and Dante's character is flat and uninteresting compared to his cocky, bad boy counterpart in the original.
The gameplay was so bland for the first two missions that I decided to start playing Devil May Cry 3 early in my HD Collection since everything that was criticized in DMC 2 was fixed in 3 and had everything that made the original so compelling cranked up to 11.
Still I might go back and play DMC 2 little by little since it is an easy and rather short game like the original, but most of my time will probably be spent playing through the legendary Devil May Cry 3 which is often considered to be the best entry in the series to date.
When I think of video game clones done right Dante's Inferno is one of the games that comes to mind. The game is a reimagining of "The Divine Comedy".
You play as a templar knight who has been killed in the holy roman war, has defeated Death and is on a quest to save his beloved throughout the nine circles of hell, while seeking to absolve himself of his many sins. The game's combat and structure are heavily inspired by God of war.
However the gameplay and level design is so sharp that I honestly could care less if it's gameplay structure is heavily modeled after a highly successful game. I've beaten the game and have to say it was an absolute blast and coming close to beating it second time around on Hellish difficulty.
I've also seen the animated movie and it's actually surprisingly good and is definitely worth a watch for newcomers who want a beginner's guide to understanding the poem, which goes into much more detail.
Overall I would say Dante's Inferno is an excellent game and would give it a solid 8.5/10. While I still wouldn't say it holds a candle to the legendary God of war 2 in terms of story, puzzles, and quality consistency from start to finish, since the malebolge trials felt like a lazy way to extend the game's short length, overall the experience is well worth the time for fans who want to experience a reimagining of Kratos's journey through the Christian Pantheon.
I've been looking for darker, anime series that tackle themes different from the usual Battle Shonen formula. Narratives that aren't about friendship, heroism, rivalry and understanding different perspectives. This is especially true for villains who often end up getting humanized through a tragic backstory that explains their motives in greater detail to the heroes. While these types of antagonists are fitting for lighter narratives, they've become somewhat formulaic throughout the anime industry.
I've been craving more narratives featuring cosmic horror, entity villains who evoke pure dread and despair into the hearts of heroes and allies. Villains who don't care about playing by societal rules, forming genuine connections with their allies and aren't spoonfed to the audience through flashbacks explaining the reasoning behind their motivations for the warped, worldview.
Before you list any recommendations, I've seen anime that feature, darker themes and entities, like Berserk, Made In Abyss, Devilman Crybaby, Dororo remake and Parasyte. If you have any other great recommendations, please list them.
Halo is perhaps the most obvious game that comes to mind that I only really play solely for the campaigns rather than multiplayer. The series gets a lot of praise for it's dynamic combat, varied level design, intricate lore, complex characters and of course the highly addictive multiplayer. While I do find things like the story to be particularly interesting (at least in the Bungie games) and the combat a lot of fun, I do find the series to be quite overrated in my personal opinion since the campaigns are fairly short. There isn't a whole lot of replay value and the fact that most of the hype comes from the multiplayer which is not my go to focus in gaming.
My money's on Kratos. If Ridley gets his ass handed to him by Samus regularly, Kratos who fights gods and titans, really won't be much better.
Let's get one thing straight. we all initially thought the protagonist was the good guy growing up. This popular misconception stemmed from the fact that we were used to consuming lighter, children's narratives that often painted the protagonist as the white knight in shining armor and the antagonist as the diabolical, evil doer.
The main reason why we tend to associate these two roles with this structure, stems from the fact that we are often drawn to narratives that provide clear moral positioning and positive conclusions, since this reflects how we want to picture the world in real life.
But do all stories need happy endings? The simple answer is no and honestly, it's a good thing that some stories end on a tragic, downer conclusion, given these stories reflect the reality that the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows.
Coupled with the fact that morality isn't black and white but exists on a spectrum, since individuals whether morally righteous or corrupt are often products of their given environment, circumstance and personal choices.
Adolf Hitler for instance is often regarded as a sociopathic tyrant of popular simplification, and while he did do many awful things, he also had a surprising number of redeeming qualities that make him far from the complete monster he's often made out to be. For starters he actually banned smoking, was against animal cruelty, (despite all the deaths he was responsible for) and the fact that he did genuinely care for his wife from what I believe.
Even if these qualities might not excuse all of the death, and suffering he caused it's a clear reminder that we all contain both light and dark.
Which is why narratives that feature morally ambiguous or even downright villainous protagonists, who's actions aren't softened by the "evil vs evil" buffer challenge our desire for clear moral positioning and our own morality.
When we see a villainous lead character's motivations explained through a tragic backstory, it makes us question (what would we do if we were in their position)? Are we really as virtuous as we like to believe or are we simply lucky to not have experienced the things that would drive us to make selfish decisions?
This also relates to the fact that while being virtuous is important it's not always ideal for every given situation. Especially in a world that prioritizes survival over selfless decisions like a post-apocalyptic environment.
I get so tired of hearing the whole handsome/human villains sell better, even though this isn't true given these figures from Seinen/Cosmic Horror anime completely contradict the marketing constraints reason.
Then again I have been getting these answers from bots and bots aren't always the most reliable since they have limitations, and each bot has their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to specific topics.
The real reason why cosmic horror/otherworldly villains are absent (or rare at the very least) from Battle Shonen is because of the fact that Shonen being a lighter series aimed at teenagers, usually has themes of hope, friendship, heroism and understanding different perspectives and inhuman villains who evoke, despair, dread, establish no genuine connection with their allies and have motives that are beyond our comprehension are too existentially heavy for Shonen anime.
This is why villains who evoke pure dread and despair are often better suited for Seinen anime that are aimed at adults, especially in a narrative where there's torture, brutality and themes that aren't about understanding other perspectives. These are my thoughts personally and I would like to hear what yours are.
I and others have been talking recently about how Ed Edd N Eddy has often ended with the Eds getting their comeuppance for their usual greedy antics, often established by Eddy who is painted by many as a villain due to his obsession with money and taking his friends loyalty for granted at times.
This is especially evident in the episode "Brother Can you Spare an Ed" where Eddy resorts to desperate measures by pressuring Ed into misusing Sarah's money on jawbreakers, while using Ed and Edd/Double D as cover to pay Sarah back, before getting his own fate at the end.
I've tried to defend Eddy for situations like this given I personally believe he gets way too much hate in this episode and while his actions are definitely much more selfish than in previous episodes, people tend to hold him to adult like standards, believing he's deliberately doing these things out of genuinely malicious behavior, when these behaviors stem from insecurity, and an obvious cry for help, due to a toxic family upbringing.
It might not excuse his given behavior but also means proper guidance and constructive consequences are needed to address troublesome behavior, which is why I always thought that Ed and Double D forcing Eddy to pay Sarah back on his own without their help, even though it's technically a parent's job to correct their child's behavior.
Plus Sarah kinda brought it on herself by entrusting Ed with her money knowing very well that Eddy would intervene, even though Tv Tropes would disagree with me on this saying Ed was initially loyal to his sister and only gives in due to Eddy's constant pressure, which while they may have a point, I still don't believe Sarah was entirely in the right given even though she knows Ed is a genuinely good hearted brother who will do anything for her, also knows he's naive and easily influenced. Coupled with the fact that giving her allowance to Ed when she knows Eddy will get some funny ideas and do anything to get his precious jawbreakers was still a bad move on her part.
Then again it doesn't really matter who's fault it is considering the fact i've come to realize that the consequences in Ed Edd N Eddy, along with other shows like Dexter's Lab, and Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy are used as moral lessons, that are played for comedic effect to teach kids about behaviors we want them to avoid in real life.
It's not like Game of Thrones where actions carry over to future seasons or Attack on Titan where Eren's actions lead to wiping out 80% of humanity's population and he ultimately becomes worse than the enemy he despises.
Plus! Eddy probably realized he was wrong in this particular episode and finally apologized and made up with his friends after learning his lesson the hard way, and the fact that getting his head slammed repeatedly into a tree is nothing, considering he's survived much, much worse like falling from space twice, unscathed, having an entire house dropped on top of him by Ed and surviving all of the Looney Tunes, esque challenges with Rolf in "The Good, The Bad, The Ed".