Bad at Words

[tomfooleryismypassion]

About this blog...

This is a place where I'll be sharing my thoughts and analysis regarding movies and media I consume. I'm mostly doing this as a personal project to get all my thoughts out in one place, but comments and asks are always welcome.

[tomfooleryismypassion]

Miraculous Ladybug would be good if it was good.

[tomfooleryismypassion]

Endacopia [Spoilers]

Oh my god what a game. PLEASE if you haven't played it yet then skip reading this and go in blind.

I did not think this would be a horror game. The horror elements were incorporated very well. The pixel art was bomb. The music was also a huge treat. My favorite song had to be the one going into the industrial area. Very unexpected and was gone before I could really sit and enjoy it.

Timesville was such a shock to me. The dichotomy between this cutesy town and the history/jumpscares really caught me off guard. I sort of expected the hide and seek jumpscare, but it was very clear that something was wrong and I appreciate the anticipation.

I really enjoyed how well the space was used in the game. Sections that don't seem important at first are recontextualized and incorporated seamlessly into the puzzles. I like that all the solutions are hidden in plain sight/hard to miss. Timesville was a littttle iffy on some of the puzzles since everything was so spread out and was a tad frustrating.

The combat was also a little hard, some of the blocking imputs wouldn't go through so it felt needlessly difficult at times. I appreciate the pacifist options though, being able to optionally skip most of the fights is really nice.

Alsooooo I actually don't usually like when games have multiple endings that rely on super specific choices since it can be scary to trust where the game is headed without looking things up. BUT. I'm VERY glad I went in blind since the way to get the good ending is the most intuitive choice. The secret ending is super convoluted but I'm glad it only gives major lore answers. Probably the best way to do a secret ending tbh. It always suckksss when the "true/best" ending is barred behind a bunch of nonsense.

The recontextualization of the title had me gasp so hard too. Like. Of course the nonsense name has a meaning. Mellow is shown from the very start to make very basic mistakes when reading signs and we experience everything through his senses. It feels so obvious in retrospect.

I could sing the praises of this game all day but if you still haven't played it like. What are you doing?? I was somewhat vague on purpose so people who ignore the spoiler warning can still go in fresh. Go play it.

Overall 9/10

[tomfooleryismypassion]

The Backrooms Movie [Spoilers]

Here's my first thoughts about the movie after just watching it:

WOW

The themes presented were all very interconnected and strong, and all the pieces of the film work together really well to execute them

I felt genuinely terrified

To elaborate on that point, I was not expecting much from the camcorder sections, but the scene where it's picked up by "someone" and lifts allllll the way up really sold the camera POV as an integral aspect of the movie. Chills. I think the implied horror is really strong and the fact that we don't see Kat and her reaction behind the wall sells it 100%

While I did get spoiled for the Captain Clark reveal, the way it's inserted into the movie had me gasp so hard

I reallllly hope other people get the parallels to Ai. The inherent horror that comes from something that can't ever understand what it's remembering

The parallels between how Clark sees Mary as his ex wife and how she sees him like her mother

Trauma blah blah blah

Pacing issues, the slow bits were done really well but a few of the sections felt like they didn't have enough of a buffer in between to process

Oh my god that ending killed me (in a horrifying, good way). I have a couple interpretations so far but it's so open ended

Maybe I will elaborate, maybe not. Good movie.

Overall 8/10