7.26.25 report from the nowhere man

Another month gone means another blog post here! This month, I realized that the Deltarune article that I was working on (and teased in my last post) would be better suited for another format considering how a lot of what I'm covering is more on the speculative and subjective side and I don't want to make it look like I have the whole game figured out before it's complete. Expect to see some if not all of the article out sometime soon depending on how I would want to release it and how much free time I allow myself to have to work on it. Anyway, let's get to loggin'!

It's a pretty simple puzzle-exploration game with a meta story that's at its most emotionally effective if you suspend your disbelief hard enough, which luckily I did, resulting in a very impactful first playthrough with fascinating worldbuilding, therapeutically atmospheric music and a strong endgame. I'll admit that the writing kind of falls apart if you choose to do the alternate Solstice path after completing the game's main story, introducing new characters who mainly serve to overwhelm the player with way too much exposition for them to have engaging personalities, but the faith I already had in the game's main protagonist was strong enough to keep me weeping in front of my computer screen when it was over.

Finally I know how to gamble. I have yet to win an entire deck though, as I keep getting stuck around antes 5 or 6. The enticing gameplay loop gives me more of a reason to come back to it fortunately. Favorite jokers are Misprint, Fibonacci, Abstract, and Supernova. Stackin em multis baby.

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Pure cinema, the original version of one of my favorite childhood games. Admittedly, the DS version benefits from having more streamlined menu controls on the touch screen, especially in the more collectathon-oriented Great Cave Offensive and Milky Way Wishes campaigns, though the actual worlds of the game remain fun to explore with the combat and boss battles being especially engaging to speed through in this charming series of classic adventures.

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Took me a bit of time to get to this one, but I'm glad I did! Some breathtaking and catchy proto-Polachek electronic art pop that sounds like the 2000s yet still holds up in the 20 years since its release. This album embodies the kind of emotional and mystical production magic that I come to expect from any of my favorite pop records.

Fav Tracks: Headlock, Have You Got It In You?, Loose Ends, Hide and Seek, Clear the Area, The Walk, Just for Now, I Am in Love With You

Very energetic house record with a first half that feels more varied in style than its second half. It's still a fun listen all the way through, especially with the video game-esque framing device and sound effects that persist throughout the record.

Fav Tracks: saving flowers, lift off!, maybe it's u, system

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I wasn't able to get into Two Shell's self-titled record from last year because I feel like approaching it as a seamless mix of tracks made every track sort of blend together in my mind. While this new record seems a little more divisive among fans as far as I'm aware, I was able to enjoy the glitchy beats on here a little more since they were each given space to stand out from each other. I might come back to the self-titled one day to see if there was anything I was missing there, but for now, I think IIcons is a pretty fun if slightly forgettable album.

Fav Tracks: Clutch, Doom Culture, Moving Shadow, finding my spirit, w a k e u p

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While I remember enjoying the original Cunk on Earth series, this really didn't do it for me after 30 minutes. I don't know what they are trying to do with Philomena Cunk as a character. One moment her ignorance is treated as endearing and the next she's treated as hidden wisdom. It's inconsistent in a way that kind of infuriates me. The Netflix parody segment was especially insufferable in its performative self-awareness and played-out sarcasm that I'm tired of in most 'subversive' mainstream comedies. I'd rather be listening to 90 minutes of unrelated Belgian techno anthem "Pump Up the Jam" than suffer through this special again.

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A mostly straightforward satirical comedy from Joe Dante that assumes that you know where its leading before hitting you with a twist that adds a surprising amount of depth to its commentary on suburban paranoia, taking aim at the exploitation and fearmongering involved in said paranoia rather than just the dismal nature of suburbia that leads the characters into insanity. A great manic performance from Tom Hanks and some pretty fun set pieces make it a worthwhile entry to Dante's filmography even if it's more of a sleeper hit.

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I expected this to resemble Hot Fuzz more that it actually does going in, though there is still a lot of clever cinematography and dry humor that makes Shaun of the Dead share its DNA with that film beyond its director and lead cast members. It's definitely more focused on character drama than Hot Fuzz, which kind of makes the lead-up to its climax feel a little less exciting, but on its own merits, it's a pretty good realization of its general premise of 'romantic comedy trapped in zombie thriller.'

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While its general aesthetic may be overused and corporatized today, the expressiveness of the environments and characters in this film remain very endearing today despite their limited movement. The fact that a lot of animation is very standardized to a handful of familiar art styles today makes me wish that something a little more off-the-wall and purely surreal like this could make its way into the mainstream someday. Also, watching this film convinced me that "Only a Northern Song" is a solid contender for best Beatles song in my eyes.

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Very by-the-book Marvel-esque execution of its sci-fi premise complete with cheesy quips, needle drops and way too much exposition. I know they wanted it to seem like someone could feasibly survive on Mars in real life, but all this technobabble and general audience-friendly quipping kind of gets in the way of any emotional stakes this film has going for it. I don't hate this one, but I can't see it as anything other than empty calories.

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That's all for this week! See you next month (or whenever I get that full Deltarune post out)!