Personal Post: Top Video Games of the Decade (2010-2019)

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 10:00 ET

 To think that ten years have already come and gone. As we head into the 2020’s we must take the time to reflect and plan from where we were in 2010 to where we are now to where we want to be in the future. But that’s a bit too overwhelming and philosophical for this guy so let’s instead talk about the best video games of the decade. Now this is all my list covering games that I’ve personally played that were released in the United States that year so if you don’t see your game of that year on here leave a comment and let me know how much of a non gamer I am. Also there won’t be any compilations or collections on this list so no Mega Man X Legacy Collection, Bioshock collection or anything like that. 

 Nor will I put any game on here just for the critical acclaim that they’ve received or what everybody else thinks should be on the list for that year or anything like that. If you want that go to IGN where they’ve most likely put Ocarina of Time 3DS on their list because it’s expected and everyone is a Emperor Damned Sheep. No my choices are ones that I either really do love or have a personal attachment to me as a gamer and as a person. Though to give you all hopefully some idea of what kind of gamer I am here’s the list of the runners up for their respective years.

2010 God of War 3/ Bioshock 2

2011 infamous 2

2013 Project X Zone/Bioshock Infinite/ SMT4 

2014 Persona Q Shadow of the Labyrinth/Ni No Kuni

2016 SMT 4 apocalypse

2017 Persona 5/ Pokémon Sun

2018 Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise/ Bendy and the Ink Machine (PS4)/ Ni No Kuni 2/ Mega Man 11

2019 Luigi’s Mansion 3

Now that you have a taste here’s what I consider to be the best games of the decade in the year of their release.

 Starting off with 2010 I’m going with the release of my very first non Persona SMT game Shin Megami Tensai Strange Journey. With Persona 4 I discovered my favorite franchise and fittingly enough Strange Journey was my first step into the wider SMT catalogue. The best way to describe the transition from the two was like one minute you were watching Diamond is Unbreakable and the next; a remake of Saving Private Ryan written by Alan Moore. Strange Journey introduced me to the negotiation system, a more serious story, even harder bosses, but slamming difficulty and the moral choices between Law, Neutral and Chaos that the wider SMT games are known for. Now I know that this game got remade in 2018 and while I do love it to pieces and consider it essential for your 3DS collection the original is more personal to me and while I will definitely recommend the 3DS version the original game is what I will remember 2010 for, when I took a chance, chose my unit and ventured forth into a strange and dangerous land and will carry those experiences with me forever.

 2011 however will be much shorter since honesty I would rather keep any positive comments toward Konami at a bare minimum considering how they are the pinnacle of the Japanese Hell Company and thus earns my unyielding hatred. Downpour contributing to that as well when Konami tried to release this game, Book of Lost Memories and the horrendous Silent Hill HD collection during the aptly named month of Madness. The last hurrah of the Silent Hill franchise; Downpour was the spiritual follow up to Silent Hill 2 that Homecoming tried and failed so hard to be. Though it did have its flaws with the Otherworld segments being reduced to running away from a red vortex for a few minutes to the breakable weapons the spirit of what Silent Hill should be still shined through without having to lean on nostalgia. Plus it was one of the few games that acknowledges that Silent Hill 4 existed so there’s that. So; short and sweet, this game is underrated and #FucKonami.

 Now I did say that compilations are off the list but that doesn’t mean that remakes of the same game with new original content were excluded. So that means that I can put Persona 4 Golden as my pick of 2012 no problem. Oh the poor PS Vita, a lovely little handheld that Sony sadly neglected. Before the Switch came around this was as close as we could get to having full console quality video games on the go, with the enhanced rerelease of Persona 4 being the pinnacle of that notion. With this game I will forever refer to the PS Vita as the Persona 4 Golden machine.

 Aside from that Persona 4 Gold is basically Persona 4 only portable with new content, simple as that. And if you have a problem with that (other than "please port it to a system that more than a few people own so everyone can enjoy it aside from watch let’s plays") let me know. Not much else to say but it’s Jojo’s BizzaRPG 4 on the go, what’s not to love?

 Now 2013 was a great year for the 3DS with Project X Zone introducing me to new franchises I was only casually aware of to SMT4 my first proper mainline SMT game. But for me I have to give that spot to the game that got me back to a childhood classic, Pokémon X. I skipped generations 4 and 5 simply because I was kind of bored with Pokémon by that point so seeing as I had a new 3DS and needed games for my library I figured what the heck and now I was literally back in the game. Just seeing all of the Pokémon in 3D on a proper portable console invoked the expected reaction. 

 Not much else to say except it was the game I needed at the right time, sometimes you can come home again. Except for now when Nintendo, game deal or whoever decided to do what they did with Pokémon Home, absolutely unforgivable!

 2014 however was a rough year for me personally. This was the year that I finished my one year game design course at the New York Film academy and started to get into the real world. I didn’t have a job for months so until that came around I had quite a bit of time on my hands. And after the emotional roller coaster I needed a pick me up and Studio Ghibli and Level 5 gave me that with Ni No Kuni, Wrath of the White Witch. It’s a cliche to say that certain video games are like playing an interactive movie, but it’s true Ni No Kuni gives you the chance to play an actual Studio Ghibli movie with all the tropes, proper hand drawn art style and the whimsy, wonder and magic that comes with it. 

 Now as much as I love this game I do have some problems with it. Actually completing the game is an absolute nightmare with getting all the Familiars, creating all the items from the Genie, fighting the super boss and completing the Solosseum was just too much for me to bear back then. Speaking of the Familiars I was not a big fan of that, you’re supposed to be a newly minted Wizard with your new companions yet you have little monsters to do all the work for you, sounds pretty weak to me. Completion problems aside this game and Studio Ghibli remind us that sometimes it’s always darkest before dawn, even if Miyazaki himself can be a grumpy asshole.

 2015 was one of the tougher years to pick out though that was mostly due to the lack of games that I was interested in. But there was one game that I was waiting for, the conclusion to the Arkham trilogy; Batman Arkham Knight. While I did have a fun time getting to be the Goddamn Batman one last time before my opinion of Warner Bros withered and died like the Joker. That was mostly due to me playing the PS4 version while PC users were treated to a buggy, broken disaster. Also if you knew anything about Batman history you knew who the Arkham Knight was as soon as you heard him talk.

 Now funny enough apparently the Arkham Knight caught on with someone at DC since there’s an actual Arkham Knight in the comics now. Now before you say anything, no the Arkham Knight in the comics is not Jason Todd. Back on track Arkham Knight wasn’t the only problem since Scarecrow was a boring, droning putz who took himself way too seriously. But thankfully we had the surprise inclusion of the Joker with Mark Hamill’s second to last performance as the clown prince of crime before the bellyflop that was The Killing Joke. As the conclusion to the trilogy that helped repair the reputation of Superhero games it was satisfactory but Warner Bros and WB have burned too many bridges with me to give their games another chance, and that's truly a shame.

 Speaking of licenses in 2016 we got the brilliant return of Ratchet and Clank on the PS4. Now while I never saw the movie that the game was apparently tied into (and from what I heard that was for the best) this reboot got most of what made Ratchet and Clank work right gameplay wise. The game had the proper mix of platforming, gunplay, puzzle solving and a good bit of humor in the writing. I would complain about how Ratchet and Clanks early dynamic was off from how it was originally but since this was being told from Captain Quarks perspective (aka the most unreliable of narrators) I can let it slide since he most likely didn’t pay attention to those parts. Though that does bring up a bit of a problem with that excuse; namely. 

 Plot wise this was a remake of the first game only with Dr Nefarious added in as the evil scientist working for Chairman Drek. Sure, while we didn’t re-explore every planet from the first game it did expand on some of the smaller details on the planets that we do revisit. From what I can gather the movie seems to have the same problem that the Warcraft movie suffered from, namely being too faithful to the source material that it forgets to create a story that it appeals to others outside of the established fan base. But again that’s just what I’ve heard, I could be wrong. Regardless of the movies failings the game itself is a good introduction point to the new fans while being a great trip down memory lane for the old fans. It definitely makes a better showcase for the PS4 than Knack that’s for certain.

 Now before I made my pick for 2017 I initially thought that it would be Persona 5, since it was one of my most anticipated games this generation. But when I finally played the Switch rerelease last year and knowing the development history; I have to name Cuphead as my favorite game of 2017, at least retroactively. Now since Cuphead DLC was included in Smash Bros one can assume most people know about Cuphead through research and pop culture osmosis; bit you know what they say about assuming so here’s the rundown. Cuphead is a hard as nails 2d side scrolling boss rush game in the same vein as Alien Solder on the SNES. It was made by two brothers who remortgaged their houses to keep the project alive and to capture the feel of the Fleischer cartoon style they did the animation for every character by hand! 

 Let me repeat, they put their livelihoods on the line to get their uncompromised game out into the world. Now add on the fact that Cuphead was so critically and commercially received that the game now stands among the ranks of Shovel Knight and FNAF as one of the icons of the indie game market and that would have been enough but for it to be just so damn fun and challenging with era appropriate music, creative and challenging bosses and all for at 20 bucks sets it leaps and bounds over any other game in 2017. If you haven’t played Cuphead you need to rectify that ASAP!

 Now 2018 had the exact opposite problem of 2015 for me to pick the best game since there was so many candidates I could have picked if my runners up for that year were any indication. But my ultimate pick for 2018 was the PS4 Spider-Man. Just like the Arkham games you truly got to be Spider-Man, but unlike the overexposed, multimillionaire Goddamn Batman who constantly drones on about how he touched his dead mother's breast, Spider-Man’s entire premise is being relatable to the observer. Though that’s what my draw to this game is since, honestly I can’t stand 616 Peter Parker. Mostly attributed to One More Day Into The Spider-verse also showed how 616 Peter’s life is a complete and utter train wreck not helped by the writers constantly trying to put him into the “escapist fantasy” box and other people who have the name of Spider-Man just carry it better than him, like Gwen Stacy, Miguel O’Hara, Dr Octopus and yes even Miles Morales are all just better than main universe Peter. 

 But in this game we have a similar Peter Parker but thankfully not an exact copy. He has a better relationship with the NYPD, Mary Jane knows his secret identity but their relationship is on the rocks and spoilers; this Peter Parker takes the “great responsibility” part seriously when he didn’t waste the antidote to the Devils Breath on Aunt May before it could be mass produced. That moment is what cinched it for me, because I knew that main Peter Parker would be that big of a selfish, shortsighted idiot to put Aunt May over everyone in New York if the whole deal with Mephisto was enough of an indication. Spider aside the gameplay here is some of the best I’ve come across in a long time. Sure the combat system may take a few notes from the Arkham games such as the spider sense but unlike the detective vision it’s not game breaking nor does the combat system guarantee a block by pressing a button; it still relies on your skills as a player. 

 Also yes, THE WEB-SWINGING IS THE G.O.A.T! Just the feeling of swinging around New York climbing to the top of Avengers Tower and free falling into the concrete jungle down below and swinging around like an urban Tarzan was just downright magical. But then again these are the guys behind Ratchet and Clank and they know how to make a fun and entertaining game through and through. If you haven’t played this gem, rectify that immediately!

 Now to wrap this up we have the one game that several of us were waiting 13 years for, 2019 finally gave us Kingdom Hearts 3. Now did this game have some problems when it came out regarding the difficulty, yes. Did the story wrap up the Xehanort saga while still having Tetsuya Nomura’s less beloved little writing quirks such as sequel baiting, leaving some parts of the story unexplained or not explained well enough that a whole new set of DLC was released to retcon those parts, yes. Did this game still capture that feeling of childhood wonder, excitement and hopefulness even if you’re not a major fan of most of the Disney worlds, yes. Did this game draw out the ire of some of the worst parts of the gaming community for various reasons, sadly yes. 

 But no matter what anyone says about this game at least Square recognized the criticism and actually did something about it with the free Critical Mode update and the (sadly overpriced in my humble opinion) Re:Mind DLC. Whereas most other companies would have just left it and forget it to drive their reputations into the ground “cough Gearbox” “cough Bethesda” “cough Warner Brothers.” Now as a game KH3 is still a fun old time, though in my experience Proud mode was a bit too easy and Critical Mode took this game from zero to Cuphead in just a few Megabytes which was fine with me and at least you can unlock the Oblivion Keyblade by finishing Critical so there’s that. Now while KH2 is my overall favorite game in the series KH3 as of the Re:Mind DLC is a very close second.  So that wraps up my list of the favorite games of the decade per year. 

 From the end of the PS3, the failure of the Wii U, the end of Steam Greenlight to the rise of the loot box and its subsequent need for regulation to the mistake that was the Stadia and the constant disaster of Fallout 76. From the birth of both the PS4 and, honestly the best console so far the Switch; video games have had a rather interesting and turbulent ten years. Now speaking of Decade; since we’re in the Reiwa era now I have to give my thoughts on the last of the Hesei era of Kamen Rider. If this list didn’t kill me than the next one will, oh well I beat Cuphead, The Valkyrie Queen on Give me a Challenge and Yozora on Critical within the span of three months. Bring it on!

Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey is owned by Atlus, Sega and Lancarse.
Silent Hill Downpour is owned by Vatra games and Konami Computer Entertainment
Persona 4 Golden is owned by Atlus and Sega.
Rick and Morty is owned by Justin Rolland, Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland's Solo Vanity Card Productions, Harmonious Claptrap, Starburns Industries, and Williams Street
Pokémon is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, Ken Sugumori and Statoshi Tajiri.
Ratatouille is owned by Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios and Brad Bird.
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is owned by Level-5 Games, Studio Ghibli and Namco Bandai.
Batman Arkham Knight is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Rocksteady Studios and DC Comics
Ratchet and Clank is owned by Insomniac Games and Sony Computer Entertainment.
Dragon Ball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT and Dragonball Super is owned by Funnimation, Toei animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama.
Dragon ball Z Abridged is owned by Team Four Star. 
Cuphead is owned by Studio MDHR and Chad and Jared Moldenhauer.
Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square Enix, Disney Interactive Studios, Tetsuya Nomura, and Shinji Hashimoto.

Personal Post: Top 10 monsters in fiction I can’t take seriously Part 2

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

Yep here we are with Part 2 of what might be my most controversial list in the history of this blog. So to reignite the fires of anger, here's the link to Part 1 of my list and off we go.

https://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2018/10/personal-post-top-10-monsters-in.html

Alright here's where the real hurt starts.

#5 The Ganma from Kamen Rider Ghost

 Ghost was a botched mess of a show. While it did have a moderately good opening arc it just kept dragging on the whole 99 days to collect the 15 eyecons to resurrect Takeru arc. Not helped by the Ganma, the villain faction for the series. Not only did we have to wait until the V-Cinema to actually get any backstory for them but before hand their MO was inconsistent between the series and movies. In Movie War Genesis the main bad guy was the Da Vincci Ganma who apparently was the real Da Vincci who turned evil for some reason but its inconsistent with the Advanced Ganma in the main series. 

 Not to mention the designs for them is rather, economical. It’s basically just an advanced Ganma Grunt suit with some parka style alteration, a good inversion to Ghost and Specter’s parka ghosts. But then again maybe if they had a bit more of a budget to work with these issues could have been mediated, but I wonder how that could have been resolved eh?!

 Now I’m not expecting complex backstories for every monster faction in Kamen Rider but at least have a consistent one. But with how Ghost was handled we should be grateful that it turned out at least as coherent as it was.

#4 Christabella from the Silent Hill comics.

 In the big debate between which 90’s horror video game franchise is the best I’ll always take Silent Hill over Resident Evil any day of the week. That's even in lieu of the unholy bullshit heaped upon the series due to Konami being Konami. When you think of Silent Hill monsters you think of nightmares brought to life, abominations against god, man and everything decent brought forth by an otherworldly force to torment some schlub who just so happened to wander into the titular town. Each of these creatures are manifestations of the twisted and dark psyches of the visitors to the town as either a form of punishment, judgement or what have you. All we do know is that they’re unholy monsters that will not stop until you’re dead.

 What we don’t think of is an annoying demon girl who thinks that doing her worst impression of the Angry Video Game Nerd is being scary. What we have is Christabella, a reoccurring antagonist in the dreadful Silent Hill comics written by the late Scott Ciencin. Linkara just covered the very last Silent Hill comics written by him so he can give you a general view of his Silent Hill work, in short it’s not good. 

http://atopthefourthwall.com/silent-hill-hunger/

 Forgoing any of the themes of Silent Hill Christabella is an inconsistent little brat who is either a ghost of a girl who was killed by child molesters or is a shapeshifting demon. Either way she's an overly snarky, annoying, bratty waste of ink who is the complete antithesis of the spirit of Silent Hill. Whatever Scott was going for with this character and his version of the town we’ll never know; so what we’re left with is 11 issues of this stupid demon trying to do, something while dancing around the machinations of her sociopath sorcerer sister Lauren and the even more pointless and annoying not-villain Whately. Also, no she has no relation to the Christabella in the equally bad Silent Hill movie so there, I just saved you more time avoiding bad Silent Hill content. Now if only there was a way to get rid of those Pachinko machines.

#3 The Daleks from Dr Who

 No I’m not trolling with this one, I have absolutely no idea how anyone can take these Cycloptic trash cans seriously. Now I have very little exposure to Dr Who and the Daleks in particular. What little I’ve seen is from Nash’s reviews of classic Dr Who which includes such highlights as Daleks in Manhattan, Evolution of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and the two Dr Who movies where the Daleks are portrayed as basically weaponized bumper cars. 

https://vimeo.com/radiodeadair

 Anyone who’s seen these episodes or those reviews can see why I can’t take these dumb things seriously. Yes I'm aware that these are apparently supposed to be Nazi allegories but if I wanted that I’d stick to the real deal as Alucard rips them to shreds thank you very much. Oh and I can’t really take these things seriously when I see what they really look like out of the weaponized bumper cars either. I don’t get a feeling of dread and terror I get a feeling of relief that there aren’t any Japanese High school girls nearby as well as annoyance that I don’t have an open grill, olive oil and lemon wedges. To reiterate I’m not a Dr Who fan and I don’t have a vendetta against the show I’m just calling it as I see it. And all I see is the oddest serving of Fried Calamai I’ve ever seen.

#2 Sparkly Pricks (Vampires from Twilight)

 Yeah yeah you all knew this was coming, like anyone who has a functioning brain cell I cannot take these glitter ghouls seriously. For the longest time Twilight has tainted the image of the Vampire from a blood sucking demon of the dark who turned his back on God and is cursed to stalk the night, feasting on the blood of innocents to survive to Sploosh material for a horny cougar. Yeah not exactly the best adaptation of the French classic Beauty and the Beast but hey if it makes money who cares? Though granted considering how convoluted the myth of the vampire is there’s plenty of depictions and routes for adaptation. Hell the only other thing in popular media that’s more disconnected from the source material are Ninjas. 

 But there has to be at least some standards. Not to mention these things were so influential they’ve tarnished the image of the vampire in popular culture. For those too young to remember Twilight was everywhere and of course everyone with merchandise, parodies and what have you. If you mentioned vampires you were automatically redirected to Twilight, all the classics, replaced with that tool from the fourth Harry Potter movie. Now werewolves didn’t get off so easily since they got dragged into this BS too but the vampires were the focus and thus got dragged through the mud the most. 

 Especially since the main focus was a boring plank of wood trying to save another plank of wood from getting killed every other second. Whether is was by her own doing, trying to boink a grown up Shark Boy or by being a manipulative psychopath he still wound up with one of the worst types of people you could hope to never come across. At the end of the day Twilight and its author was forgotten and for good reason. It’s a real shame that Toei did better with the concept of the Vampire in Kamen Rider Kiva (which I have no doubt was made that way to cash in on Twilight’s popularity like how they later copied Persona 5 with Lupinranger vs Patranger.) then Stephanie Mayer, just put a steak in this franchise, it’s done.

 Now for a list of honorable mentions.

The Robot Masters from Mega Man.

 I was going to put them on for the their non threatening appearances, weak powers, not being as intimidating as the Mavericks from Mega Man X and Dr wily being him. But then Mega Man 11 happened and the double gear system made that crop of Robots completely change my opinion of them, especially if Mega Man games following 11 keep up the Double Gear gimmick and make them just as hard to beat.

Monsters from Stephen King

 Now King has made some great work as well as hilarious so that’s why I cut him some slack this time. But still there’s plenty I could have chosen. Let’s see we have Tim Curry as a shapeshifting killer clown who likes to troll people, Bill Skarsgård as another shapeshifting killer clown who likes to do crazy dances, killer chocolate rum balls with chainsaw teeth who eat every second of time, killer corn, the Green Goblin’s face on a sentient truck, a modern day flowers for Algernon patient becoming Skynet, rejects from Cats, and to top it all off, Shit weasels.

Space Shogunate Jark Matter from Ucchu Sentai Kyuuranger

 Now I never finished Kyuuranger thus why this villain faction didn’t make it on the list. But from what I can tell it was just a random mishmash of aliens lead by a dumbass immortal who got beaten by a group of dumbasses lead by the worst Red Ranger in Sentai to date.

Majin Buu from Dragonball

 He’s a giant pink man child who turns people into candy with it’s antenna thing that quite frankly should be censored. He did get more dangerous when he regressed back to Kid Buu but the big pink bubble gum Jinn is still around and you can tell that Toriyama wanted to end Dragonball Z with Cell because it really does show here. But now all that leaves us is my #1 pick.

#1 Any monster by M. Night Shyamalan

 Yes of all the monsters I’ve gone over are debatable and up to everyone’s own personal standards. What’s scary for some people might be silly for others that’s totally understandable. But for the life of me I cannot think of anyone who was truly scarred of any of the monsters created by M Night Shyamalan. From the dumbass Aliens from Signs, the killer tree farts from the Happening to the, whatever it was in Lady in the water, the dumbest depiction of the lord of lies in Devil to the monsters from After Earth who were killed by a guy named Cypher Raige. Whenever Shyamalan tries to go off the beaten path he just winds up going off the rails. 

 I’ll tell you how they’re just so dumb in their own unique ways going in the order I just listed. In Signs it turns out the aliens are weak to wood and water is like acid to them. So why in the name of Jesus Paint huffing Christ did they try to invade a planet that is mostly wood and water?! Also focusing on Mel Gibson and his farm instead of major government capitals? You know you’re dumb when the aliens from Mars attacks are doing more logical military moves then you. 

 On to the trees from the Happening, apparently they can somehow make people decide to kill themselves in over the top fashion because of, reasons that make Birdemic look like a nature documentary. I mean at least Bridemic give a cause for their stupidity, this is just because the plot said so! Also Devil taught us that if you drop a piece of toast and it lands Jellyside down, you’re under the light of the Morningstar, uh huh. The lore behind the whatever they are in Lady in the Water is so convoluted and ridiculous it only could have come from the mouth of sheer, unfiltered, Kishin grade madness. As for the monsters that can only hunt by a person’s fear in After Earth, they were killed by a guy named Cypher Raige, need I say more?!

 I know that Shyamalan has been making a come back with the Visit, Split and the soon to be released Glass but we can never forget the many, many time we took a look at his body of work and just asked “what was this guy on?!” So that’s it for the top 10 monsters in in fiction that I can’t take seriously. Any thing I overlooked, got wrong or just didn’t get? Then leave a comment as we wait for next time where we cover my personal list of villains of the MCU to cap off the 10 year anniversary.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Silent Hill is owned by Konami Computer Entertainment #FucKonami
Doctor Who is Owned by BBC, Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber and Donald Wilson.
Twilight is owned by Stephanie Meyer
Megaman is owned by Capcom.
Super Sentai is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Dragon Ball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT and Dragonball Super is owned by Funnimation, Toei animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama.

Manga Review: Oriko Magica Volume 2 Part 1: Too bad its Sunday those buildings would have been full tomorrow. (Spoilers)

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

"Both are horribly crazy, loyal to their partners and are deadly with their claws. Though as deranged as Anime X-23 here is at least she won't kill the girl she loves over some deranged definition of heroism."

 So yep as I said I'm actually on schedule with these reviews of the Madoka Spin off Mangas. And just in time as the recent report of the anime and Manga Adaptations of the Japanese only mobile game Magica Record is coming next year. Whether they'll be actually good or not has yet to be seen but the story should at least be passable. Back to the business at hand here's the link to last week's review of Volume 1 of Oriko Magica. Read it, learn it, love it and move on.

http://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2018/09/manga-review-oriko-magica-volume-1-i.html

 Now let's start the wrap up of our two volume story. Our last volume opens with Kirika remembering how she distanced herself from her classmates since all she saw was vapid boring people having vapid boring conversations and thus not worth her time. She pushes those thoughts aside to concentrate on killing Mami who realizes that her attacks are far too slow to hit Kirika. Kirika says that she's starting to get bored; Mami calls her boredom childish which sets her off again into another attack frenzy. Mami manages to set up a smokescreen but it's only a stalling tactic, especially with her leg wound. 

 But she then notices that the Witches barrier is still up even though the witch has been dead for a while, leading to a realization about Kirikas magic, it's not super speed but she can slow down her enemies. With that knowledge in hand she then hatches a very risky plan. Kirika notices that the Labyrinth is starting to fade so she doesn't have much time left. She's determined to kill Mami so that nobody could track the killings back to Oriko. She finds Mami and begins her assault, however she springs the trap and is critically injured from Mami's surprise Musket blast.

 Even with her bleeding like like that Kirika is determined to keep fighting even if it means her death. But before Mami can shoot her point blank Oriko intervenes, picks up Kirika and retreats, but not before giving Mami the death stare and promising her that next time she'll learn the extent of her foolishness. The barrier dissipates and Mami collapses in tears from how terrible Oriko's bloodlust was. Back home Kirika's bleeding won't stop and Oriko is overwhelmed about what she should do. She thinks she should get a doctor but Kirika tells her a doctor won't do any good in the state she's in and that she has something to tell her.

You see Oriko, I  borrowed your ChapStick from you without asking Oh, and I tried out your nose hair trimmer too And by the way, your "diamond" ring is cubic zirconium. I killed your goldfish accidentally, just replaced it with another one. And when I told you at breakfast we were out of Rice Krispies what I meant was, that there was only enough left for me, sorry.

 No no, her real confession was that after the two first met when she helped her Kirika searched the entire town for her. But when she finally found her at a train stop she got cold feet since while she told herself she wasn't interested in other people the truth was that she was jealous, that there was nobody who would give her a second thought. And cue the Simpsons clip.

 Regardless of her errors in definitions that's when Kyubey showed up and Kirika made her wish, to become someone worthy of Oriko. Oriko tells her that she won't forgive her for her deception and that the only way she'll forgive her is that if she dedicates her life to protect her. While that may sound heartless her body language tells a different story, that she needs Kirika just as much as Kirika needs Oriko. So our chapter ends with Oriko holding a cracked Soul Gem and Sayaka, Madoka and Homura deciding to get something to eat after school.

 Chapter 5 opens with yet another flashback, this time of people praising Oriko and how she's a shining example of her school and her father. Who then killed himself to avoid questioning about falsified expense reports. So a politician turns out to be a crooked, thieving, lying scumbag, in other news the sky is blue and the grass is green. Back in the present Mami telepathically questions Kyubey about what Oriko stands to gain from the killings. The morning announcements are interrupted by the duo hijacking the broadcast. 

 On the roof Kyubey figured out what Oriko's up to and will see her dead for this. Oriko gives a speech about how there is a great evil in the world and she will do everything in her power to see it eliminated; as Madoka watches she can't help but feel that Oriko was looking directly at her as she said it. When the broadcast ends Oriko springs her trap, a witches Labyrinth starts to appear and encompass the entire school. Familiars then start to appear then proceed to kill and devour everyone in sight, including Madoka's homeroom teacher. 

O_O

Maybe she won't have so many guy problems, IN THE NEXT DIMENSION!!!

But she's already in another dimension! 

And does she have any guy problems now? No? Point Vegeta!

 The students of course panic and run leaving Madoka behind. Just as she's about to be killed by the familiars Homura shows up and takes them out. Mami in turn transforms and protects the students from the familiars while making her way to the heart of the labyrinth. After some platforming she gets caught but is rescued by Kyoko and Little Green. Kyoko says that the only reason they're there was because Kyubey told them that Oriko would be there. 

 After a little bit of banter the trio make their way to Oriko and Kirika. Homura continues to protect Madoka but she points out an understandable problem with Homura's antics. If she's so damn powerful why is she only focused on her when she could be saving other students as well, including Sayaka and Hitomi. But Homura just tells her that she's her only priority and that the others are inconsequential to her goals.

I don't know what you're talking about Madoka. Look I can see their parachutes they're ok!

 Homura tells her that she's not as powerful as she thinks and that if she can save only one person she'd make it Madoka, no questions asked. She creates a barrier for Madoka and tells her not to leave it until she gets back and heads off with Madoka telling her to make sure they go home together. Homura finally makes it to the center of the Labyrinth and sure enough Oriko and Kirika are right there waiting for her. Homura wastes no time and tries to blow the two up with her bombs and time magic, but surprisingly they managed to dodge the attack. Oriko explains that she saw Homura in her vision, of the end of the world. 

 She knows what it is and she knows how to stop it, to save the world Madoka has to die. Homura is of course not about to let that happen and keeps attacking despite Kirika managing to counter her attacks and gunfire. Mami, Kyoko and Yuma arrive to back Homura up but all Oriko can do is shed tears since they refuse to listen to her. Kirika tells her that she's out of time since she was already close enough to set up the Labyrinth. Homura knows what she's talking about and the chapter ends with Kirika releasing the spell she placed on her Soul Gem, fully succumbing to despair and becoming a witch. 

Actually not that far off but much less perverted.

 Check in next time to see how our heroes react to learning the truth about Magical Girls firsthand and if Oriko will save the world by killing Madoka.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Oriko Magica is owned by Mura Kuroe, Magica Quartet and Yen Press.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record is owned by Aniplex, F4samurai and Magica Quartet.
Friday (1995) is owned by F. Gary Gray, Priority films, Ghetto Bird Productions, Cube Vision Productions and New Line Cinema.
The Simpsons are owned by Matt Groening, Gracie Films, and 20th Century Fox Television. 
Dragon Ball, Dragonball Z and Dragonball GT is owned by Funnimation, Toei animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama.
Silent Hill Homecoming is owned by Double Helix games and Konami Digital Entertainment #FucKonami

Personal Post: Halloween List: Top 10 Favorite monsters in fiction Part 2

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain! and support me on Patreon.

Sorry but no marriage stealing demons here.

 Welcome back to those who have seen the first part of this list. Now for those who’s missed Part 1 here’s where we are so far.

#10 Kars
#9 Fnaf Animatronics
#8 Freddy Kreuger
#7 Walter Sullivan and his victims
#6 The Heartless

Moving on.

#5 The Shadows from Persona.

You know that little voice in your head that tells you just be an absolute asshole? These guys are were that voice comes from.

 While the shadows technically were introduced in Persona 2 and did serve as the primary antagonists in Persona 3 with the distinct bodies and breeds; Persona 4 was where these two incarnations were mixed together. For those who don’t know Shadows draw inspiration from the term defined by Carl Jung where they are the manifestations of a person’s negative aspects of their self. The shadows in Persona follow this principle to a more literal degree. See also “Rest and Ricklaxation” only not as slimy but just as psychotic in most cases.

 In the Persona series Shadows are physical manifestations of humanity’s repressed negative self. Their MO varies depending on which game you encounter them, In Persona 3 they devour the minds of people who are dragged into the Dark Hour leaving them as soulless husks who beg for Nyx to bring about The Fall and the end of humanity. In Persona 4 when a person enters the Midnight Channel they’re confronted by their personal Shadow who will do everything in their power to get their real selves to reject them thus causing them to assume their true form and kill their original selves to justify their own existence as unique beings.

 More recently in Persona 5 the Shadow Selves of people whose hearts desires are consumed and twisted with negative emotions such as greed, lust, despair etc have their dark desires manifested in Mementos. The most severe cases break out of Mementos in the form of a Palace centered around their personal sanctuary where their Shadows rule over and seek to fulfill their original self’s dark desires. This attracts other weaker Shadows which are enslaved and controlled by the Palace Ruler to be their personal guards to protect their treasures. The palace treasure is the symbolic form of the source of their dark desires which are guarded against any and all intruders.

 When rejected by their real selves; or in the case of Palace rulers when their treasure is at risk of being stolen from a real world confrontation of their dark actions, these Shadows transform into bizarre monstrous forms to kill their opponents. But if their real selves can accept or confront what the Shadows have to say after being pacified in battle they become Personas. But if a Palace ruler Shadow is killed then their real self will have a mental shutdown and die. The Shadows offer a truly sick and terrifying nemesis because while you may try to act the best as you can you can never escape your darker aspects, you can run from your problems but you can never hide from yourself, and your Shadow is everything you wish you weren’t but know you may want to be.

#4 The Witches from Madoka Magica

Oktavia Von Seckendorff, such a poor, unfortunate soul.

 Most people are familiar with the stereotypical depiction of Witches, black hats, brews potions, flies on broomsticks, get killed by someone accidentally spilling water on them. But the Witches in Madoka Magica are nothing like that. In this world certain girls from the approximate ages of 6 to 16 have the potential to form a contract with the alien cat creature Kyubey to have a single wish granted. The catch of course being that once their wish is granted they become Magical Girls and are charged with defeating creatures referred to as Witches. Sounds simple right, but here's the catch though, Kyubey is the sleazy used car salesman of Magical Girl mascot characters.

 I mean sure he will grant your wish and make you into a Magical Girl but he also kind of forgot to mention that if your Soul Gem, the source of your magic turns black either form overuse or if you fall into despair the hunter will quite literally become the prey. Yes aside from looking like the living nightmares of Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton Witches are actually Magical Girls who have succumbed to complete despair and are now mindless monsters who will devour people, cause them to commit suicide and various other horrible unexplained tragedies. On top of the normal Witches that hide away in their inter dimensional Labyrinths and the familiars that sometimes escape their masters to try and grow into Witches themselves there's also the most powerful Witch of them all, Walpurgisnacht the Christmas tree topper from hell who's so powerful its mere presence is enough to cause hurricanes!

 Its not even that the most weak looking witch can kill even the most experienced Magical Girl in just one shot that make them compelling it's that most of them were formerly young girls who just wanted the universe to cut them a break for once. But they all forget that you can't expect the universe to roll over and play dead without giving it a treat. Everything from their familiars to their Labyrinths are drenched in symbolism about their human selves, their wishes and their state of mind before they became these monsters. Now the Madoka Wiki does delve into the symbolism of the original series Witches but with all of the spin offs Mangas and new Video Games (that most likely won't be coming stateside) there's more to come. so in case an alien bunny cat wants to strike a deal with you just make sure you bring a lawyer to check the terms or else.

#3 The automatons from Karakuri Circus

These are the Generals of the Midnight Circus, known as Les Quatre Pionniers. The Geezer with the bird is Pantalone, the Ball Roller. The fatso with Kung-Lao's hat is Dottore the juggler. The woman with the cheap romance novel is Columbine the Trapeze Artist and last is Arlechino, the Guitarist.

  Ohh going hipster on this one since as far as I can tell not a whole lot of people know about these wind up toys from hell so I’ll summarize as best as I can. Though with this entry I'm at the mercy of fan translations as the Manga; Karakuri Circus has to my knowledge never been officially translated so if I get some info wrong you know why. The world of Karakuri Circus is plagued by a group of sentient puppets brought to life by Francine who is the creation of the deranged Alchemist Bai-Jin with a single goal, make her laugh. To that end these monstrosities have spent 200 or so years traveling across the globe in a caravan known as the Midnight Circus and spread a horrible disease called Zonapha’s Syndrome. This disease causes the victim to become biologically immortal but in perpetual pain and the only way to alleviate the pain is for the victim to make people laugh. 

 While the automatons have sentience and can fake emotions they are not real human beings thus they also seek the Philosophers Stone which can create the true Aqua Vitae, a substance which can make them fully human, thus able to comprehend the heart and thus make Francine laugh. But there are ways to put these psychotic Pinocchios down for good. Either destroy them with a specialized Puppet controlled by a near immortal being called Shirogane, overload their bootleg Aqua Vitae blood with Ki infused Qui Gong, if they run out of human blood to mix with their bootleg Aqua Vitae or if they reject their raison d’être, but no matter what they must be fought one on one without a conventional weapon otherwise their full powers can be utilized and could easily slaughter their opponents. Everything about the Midnight Circus is absurd, from their designs to their goals and even their weaknesses. Honestly these seem like what would happen if the Joker ever became a villain in a Tokusatsu show, an army of killer puppet clowns who personify the phrase “you can’t spell slaughter without laughter”, well they'd definitely be more interesting then Jared Leto. 

 Also the only people who can defeat them are master puppeteers who use gigantic puppets as their weapons? What do you know, something else ripped off by Musashi Kishimoto and let me see Karakuri Circus began publication around 1997 and Kankuro was introduced in Naruto around 2000, yep sounds right to me. As for the Automatons themselves while a majority look like clowns with insanely exaggerated features there are ones that look completely human which infiltrate human cities to steal blood and spread Zonapha’s Syndrome. So we have a bunch of deranged, sadistic carnie vampire puppets that want to become immortal so they can make one person laugh to bring back a person who has been long since dead. If that doesn’t sound like interesting monster material I don’t know what does. Forget SweetTooth, forget Pennywise (either version) these beasts are the real Insane Clown Posse and they don't give a shit about how magnets work.

 #2 The Horrors from Garo

While this one is a common Horror they're still nothing short of hell-spawn.

 While I did compare the Horrors to the Witches in my first Madoka Magica article these eldritch terrors also share some things in common with the Heartless. All three are creatures born from the darkness of humanity and will never be purged from their worlds unless darkness no longer exists, so good luck with that. As for the Horrors themselves they're beasts from the Makai World who devour the souls of evil humans and possess them so that they can consume more humans to sate their hunger. However if the human target has a desire that interests the Horror or if the two share a common goal the Horror can enter a symbiotic relationship to fulfill that desire. But the host is still technically dead and in perpetual torment due to being possessed by an entity that pure, dang, nasty evil.

 The only ones who can defend the human world from the Horrors is the Makai Order, made of the Makai Priests and their greatest warriors, the Makai Knights. Horrors are monsters in the purest sense of the word, they see humans as prey, literally feast on pure evil and look like Nightmares made flesh. But the truly terrifying part of these beings is the stone cold fact that so long as humanity has darkness in their hearts (and lets face it it's required to be a balanced person) Horrors will never go away. Hell even the Makai Knights don't actually kill them, when they're defeated their essence is just returned to the Makai World to be eventually reincarnated all over again, so yes this threat will never end. But remember this, where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns, but by the blade of knights, mankind was given hope. Now I'm just wondering if there was a Madoka Magica and Garo crossover, project for later then if I get around to it and I catch up on Garo.


Now before I get to my #1 favorite monster here's the honorable mentions.

Headcrab Zombies from Half life, while they're terrifying and the level "We Don't Go to Ravenholm" makes me crap my pants every time I play Half-Life 2 they're just Zombies with the Facehuggers' satanic cousins on their face so not much to them aside from terror. 

The Minions from Overlord, no not the servants of the blinged out Skeletor with the hot imp with the massive rack I mean the little goblin things that serve the Overlord of Evil and his advisor Gnarl. My personal favorites are the bashing browns. Unfortunately while Codemaster's Overlord franchise is dead right now thanks to the hot mess that was "Fellowship of Evil" maybe we'll see these excitable embassies of evil again soon. Just don't introduce a new Yellow Minion tribe or else I'll swear off Bananas forever.

Rachnera from Monster Mutsume, what else can I say, I like girls with a bit of snark, a dark edge and some actual depth to their character. Besides giant spiders are awesome.

The Joker Persona from Persona 2 Eternal Punishment. Less a Persona and more of a parasite this Pseudo Persona is granted to anyone who is infected with the Joker Virus which gets stronger the more the virus spreads. While it does look cooler in its more monstrous stages it just didn't make the cut.

The Bogeyman from Silent Hill Downpour. While I may be sick of Pyramid Head that doesn't mean its initial concept is dead. Bogeyman is the main stalker of Murphy Pendleton and Anne Cunningham. While Pyramid Head represented James' desire to be judged for his sins Bogeyman to me represents someone who needs to be judged. To Murphy when he sees the Bogeyman's face after defeating him in the Monastery his face flickers between his own for how badly he screwed up his life and his son's killer Patrick Napier. As for Anne she sees Murphy as the Bogeyman because she thinks he's the one who  beat her father into a vegetative state. I'd put him on the list proper but he's just a big dude with a cinderblock hammer, gas mask and raincoat. Not that it doesn't work sometimes the simplest designs are the best ones (Mario comes to mind here) but compared to other Silent Hill monsters he's a bit on the meh side, then again so are most of the monsters in Downpour so there you go. 

Alexander from Final Fantasy. I mean come on it's practically a Megazord how is this not awesome? Hell look at this scene from FF9 (AKA the best FF) standing tall against Bahamut with giant angel wings how is this not cool?! 

Songbird from BioShock Infinite. Now when I first saw this clockwork gargoyle I was psyched for the boss fight against this thing. I thought what weapon would work, what would its weaknesses be? But in the end we never actually fight Songbird in the game!

Now my absolute favorite Monster in Fiction #1 The Big Daddies from BioShock.

Yep Mr Bubbles and his many models are my personal favorite monsters.

 While there were entries on this list that had far more interesting backstories and designs I personally love these lumbering foul smelling palookas. Originally prisoners, political dissidents and Plasmid test subjects that were imprisoned in Persephone Penal Colony they were further spliced, brainwashed, had their skin and organs grafted into these diving suits and conditioned to protect the Little Sisters at all cost. And to do that these beasts were equipped with Sea Stone piercing drills, rivet guns, rocket launchers (kind of stupid considering were they are, one wrong rocket into a window and BLAM instant fish tank) and high powered laser guns.

 Just imagine everything that you were just stripped away, existing as a sleepwalking zombie whose only function is to protect a blood sucking ghoul while fighting off genetically mangled maniacs who could kill you if they gang up on you in just the right way. Honestly I think that's the most terrifying thing about the Big Daddies, the very idea that your mind, personality, everything that makes you you repurposed into this beast if you cross Ryan. Honestly that fear of the loss of self, one of many hippocratic actions Ryan permitted in his "self made paradise" is horrifying. So that's my Top 10 favorite monsters in fiction as of this list. But I'm betting you want to know what my least favorite monsters are, well that's what next year is for, so happy Halloween and now to see how the rest of this year unfolds.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is owned by Gen Urobutchi, Studio Shaft, and Studio Aniplex.
Karakuri Circus is owned by Kazuhiro Fujita and Shogakukan.
Garo is owned by Keita Amemiya and TV Tokyo.
Bioshock is owned by 2K Boston, 2K Australia, Take-Two Interactive, Ken Levine, Alyssa Finley and 2K Games.
Half-Life 2 is owned by Valve Corporation
Overlord is owned by Codemasters, Lennart Sas and Triumph Studios.
Monster Musume is owned by Okayado, Tokuma Shoten, Monthyl Comic Ryu and Seven Seas.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is owned by Atlus, arc system works and Sega.
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment is owned by Atlus and Sega
Silent Hill Downpour is owned by Vatra games and Konami Computer Entertainment
Final Fantasy 9 is owned by Square Enix
Beavis and Butthead is owned by MTV Networks and Mike Judge.