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Reviews
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Far too over the top, but in retrospect that might've been a good thing.
So this is the movie that definitely gets the hardest time out of the entire series. It's extremely over the top, and so drastically different from the first film.. I can see how it's polarizing to many, but mission impossible 3 is almost as over the top, it just had a far better personal story. However, in my opinion BECAUSE this movie was so far off into an entirely new insane genre, I believe in the long run this paved the way for future sequels to be so diverse and versatile in whatever they aimed to be. If the series continued to be as mellow as the first film was, I don't believe we would currently be at installment 7 as of writing, with a part 8 following soon after. So yes, I believe Mission:Impossible 2 definitely laid the groundwork for the following films to be as experimental as they wanted to be, and also further reinforced how much of an elite badass the character Ethan Hunt is. He is the perfect spy, and this is also further reinforced in M:I-3 which is great! I love this series, and I think part 2 here has earned its spot in it, even if it's at the bottom of the list.
Death Stranding (2019)
Not pulling any punches just cause I'm a Kojima fan
I love the metal gear solid games, that is my favorite game series of all time with resident evil following close behind. But I'm not going to blindly praise this game like many others do just cause I'm a major fan of the creator. Anyways, I just finished Death Stranding and I can say now I understand why people have a hard time recommending this or not.. being a Kojima fan I always wanted to check this game out but honestly from the trailers it looked like it was weird just for the sake of being weird, and I hated that..sadly I was right, that's kind of what this game is, you do get explanations for a lot of these things towards the end, but it still overdoes a lot.
Lets dive deeper into the negatives shall we.
When I first played the game it didn't exactly hook me, I found it to be very. VERY self indulgent and full of itself for the first 20 hours or so. I cringed at the some character names and all of the secret hidden meanings behind all of these words and phrases like "beaches, dooms, repatriate, etc" this game thinks talking in code is so interesting but it's just not. It gets annoying quick..It's hard to find enjoyment in a game that you can't relate to pretty much at all, the way these characters talk isn't relatable, the way they act isn't, their names all being stupid also doesn't help.. like "Die Hardman"? Lmao that takes the cake for the dumbest name ever.. and again, many things being weird just for the sake of being weird..This game is also painfully repetitive, a nuisance, and a drag at times.. the BT's can be beyond ANNOYING at times, also the balance system that requires you to hold both triggers while walking also is extremely annoying and gets old quick. The results screens can be tedious as hell and having to watch the same cutscenes between actions like entering your private room and even doing something as simple as dropping a container, like I don't need to see a thank you message every time I recycle something..! The game gets interesting towards the middle to the end but my god does it drag its feet in the epilogue and bury you with exposition. I was legitimately bored for many parts of the game including the credits and had to take many breaks in between gameplay.
But enough about the negatives, let's get into some positives.
This game takes on average 40 hours to complete, my play time was actually 55 (I did take many breaks and leave the game running) that is nothing to scoff at. Yes it's a lot of repetitive stuff but if you can get past that and are someone who finds enjoyment in this gameplay, you'll truly get some bang for your buck. Compared to something like resident evil 3 which is only 4-6 hours long in campaign length (freakin disgraceful). Much like Metal Gear Solid 5, Kojima went all out for this game and really gave players plenty to do if they wish to.. Kojima if nothing else never cuts corners and gives you short, speedrunnable products. He goes all out whether that be with hours and hours of cutscenes, dialogue, or endless lore and world building. The game doesn't have much of a hook in the beginning in my opinion, but if you can give it a chance. There's plenty of good stuff that happens in the middle and the end, like I said it's very cringey and self indulgent at times.. but I found enjoyment in the gameplay once more abilities and things such as vehicles become accessible. There's satisfaction to be found in plotting your route, working together with other players and their contributions, and overcoming obstacles. This game is definitely interesting..If you can get into it like I did, you should find plenty of enjoyment in this oddly satisfying gameplay experience.