Mithunraj S

Dark souls has became my most beloved game series of all time. It is a game that stands different from every other AAA titles. When you play any souls game the reasons will became pretty obvious. The differences can put down some audiences but if you are ready to embrace them this will be one of the greatest gaming journey in your life. I personally think for every game the core gameplay loop should be the most focused and interesting aspect of it. Because video games are... games. You don't need to understand or enjoy it's story or lore in order to enjoy the game. The game literally just give you a bonk stick and ask to kill gods. Dark souls 1,2 and 3 has similar gameplay apart from minor tweaks and some subtle additions on later versions. The fact is the core gameplay loop don't needed a revamp on each versions for re-playability. The game gives you a wide variety of weapons, spells and tools to play the game the way you like. So if you are playing as a heavy build with a giant hammer on first playthrough, you can play as a Hogwarts magician on your second one and the core gameplay will still feel fresh and interesting. Hence all the subtle additions on later versions helps to cement the basic gameplay loop rather than replacing it on every new installment. You probably have heard Dark souls games are tough. Yeah this can be true, but what if difficulty is part of what the game is trying to say. The game's difficulty is just a diversion to cement the story which is something that no other game have pulled off. You can exploit the game mechanics to become an overpowered god in many ways and then kick the living soul out of every boss. The fact is they are not spoon fed, rather you need to find them yourself. This is where Dark souls really excels, the gameplay features forces you to explore and use the various items that you find along your journey to beat the game. In other games and mostly in AAA titles the story is the main factor that moves the game and the reason for exploration/progression. Whether in Dark souls the story is actually a part of the core gameplay loop. Because of this the characters, lore and the world forms a connection. The story can be summarized by; there are some powerful lords who holds great souls that needed to be sacrificed to re-kindle something called "First Flame" in order to keep the current "age of fire" and prevent "age of darkness". They done this sacrifice once but refusing to do it again. And you are tasked to find them, kill them, absorb their souls and sacrifice yourself to the first flame. Hmm, this feels like a straight forward standard A->B story line, because explaining Dark souls story in words is same as me trying to impress women with my gaming skills. Because there won't be any impact on it. The story of Dark souls is completely tied to its world and gameplay and you need to play it in order to enjoy it. This is something that is rarely seen in video games and what video games should be like. Concluding, Dark souls becoming my favorite game series is something that I felt earned rather than its appeal made me feel. Because it was an uncomfortable game when I first played it and it don't have much in common with traditional AAA titles and the game don't hold my hand either. It's my decision to try and understand to see what the game has to give and that made Dark souls a sensation. While other games tries to spoon feed you what they had to offer, Dark souls doesn't do that and it doesn't need to be either.

Rating:-5/5 Dor is the remake of the Malayalam movie Perumazhakalam ("heavy rain") directed by Kamal sir, which is an exceptional artwork, winning National award for Best movie for Social Issues and other critical acclimation's. Even though the root story remains same for both Dor and Perumazhakalam but what makes Dor("pain") unique is the beauty and diversity in Nagesh Kukunoor's direction and scripting, magnificent acting by both Ayesha Takia(Meera) and Gul Panag(Zeenat Fathima) and finally blending the viewers into the beauty of Rajastan and Himachal, makes Dor itself a standalone title than a remake. The Malayalam version felt more "emotional" while Dor differs from it by giving viewers a "feel good" experience by creating a beautiful friendship bond between the two while also maintaining that emotional touch Malayalam version had. Dor also shows the punishments faced by widows in Rajastan and their sufferings. The idea portraying the character of Zenat Fathima as a strong independent woman was more appreciable as compared and the ending scene also adds an extra uniqueness and beauty to the movie, making it a more satisfying ending than Malayalam version.

A needless review for NFS Most Wanted(2005) Okay, everyone knows that NFS MW(2005) is the best NFS ever made. I am not going to suck on that here. Instead I would like to dive into the reasons behind it. Well, its half part nostalgia and half part being over the top. Basically that's it, might as well end the review here. Since no one gives give a damn about my reviews I am just going to self serve my perspectives. Over the years NFS had became better in almost every aspects. Just the next installment Carbon had better car mechanics and with a better customization options that tried its best to touch the impossible peak that underground 2(2004) created. But the aggressive police chases weren't a core part in Carbon as in MW. When you look back from 2023 NFS MW has definitely shown its age except its music tracks. Yes, no other NFS game could managed to beat the amazing music tracks that ungerground 2 and MW had. Its like the perfect filling on a Shawarma where you can enjoy both the filling and the taste of the roti that wraps it. Modern NFS tracks felt so detached from the game's setting as I couldn't emotionally attach to them. What about other aspects?. Starting from Hot pursuit 2010, NFS had great collision mechanics with a decent enough cop chase. NFS Run had decent story. Huh even underground 2, a game released one year before MW had way better car customization options. NFS 2016 kind of tried to be jack of everything that a NFS game should provide. This is where my being "Nostalgia" part comes. I knew the the latest installments will have better something. But I try to justify with something even a simple thing that MW had pulled off. Latest NFS games have better visuals but I justify it by the gloomy theming and over use of HDR that perfectly fits with the MW's theme and sound tracks which creates a unique vibe. Hot pursuit 2010 makes the car collision and cop chases more realistic but it don't have that feature where your car can bonk a SUV police ramming vehicle like it got hit by a huge truck or something and your car won't even have a dent. Customization? MW lacks that a lot and I agree UG 2 is better and I also knew that modern NFS can have only bare minimal customizations due to restrictions which car companies came up with to avoid their cars to look like from a Barbie movie. Music ? There is no argue that MW has the best track ever. If you disagree you are an idiot. Now for my second argument. The game was really being over the top. As I was mentioning about other NFS title features they were decent or just good or maybe great but never had that feeling where the whole game was crafted with love and care. But the more I analyze it was actually the mixture of everything that makes MW the best. The cringy B grade movie dialogues and setting in cutscenes that just works out, amazing music tracks, ps2 era graphics, crazy car collision and broken physics, aggressive police chases, great story, great progression system, great design of races which felt hand crafted as to just random generated in modern games and of course the sweet nostalgia. Everything gels together like a chewing gum stuck on bottom of your shoe. Other NFS titles are better at some features but they all kind of feel detached somewhere when you think those games as a whole. The cops in Carbon stands as a best example. The over releasing of too many NFS titles, competitors making various attempts, releasing a Most Wanted (2012) to cash in the title name that sucks and backfired. These later events kind of stagnated the franchise. Maybe NFS has reached its peak and Most Wanted(2005) is the best we can expect from it.

I gave the movie a rating - 4.6/5 Reason In this movie Akshay Kumar has the ability to see the next one minute of a person's perspective while staring at a photo having that person, starting the time the photo taken. An impressive concept to keep a viewer on the edge of his/her seat. To me it seems the movie lags a little but I personally felt it won't matter much considering the constant tensed experience that stands out all the way to the climax(which was little too fast as compared to the overall pace of the movie). The direction and scripting seems different and satisfying to that of other typical Bollywood titles, oh and also a fresh(maybe) fictional idea onto a market which is saturated with love-travel travel-love and 90's action. The casting seems fine and myself agreeing with Akshay Kumar as the lead actor. Also most scenes have something that makes a connection later on, so no skipping if watching online, that itself defines the thinking effort the story maker(s) put. In short the climax can be made quite better and everything except seems exciting and breathtaking to watch. P.S.:- Ayesha Takia's role was one hell of a twist, which she nailed it while also considering her cute face.

In a nutshell End game is one of or probably the best Avengers movie from Marvel studio and the best sequel to infinity war that you can't even dream't of. Even though the movie lags a little at the beginning, but eventually it takes pace and keeps up to the excitement that ends up in a war b/w Thanos army vs whole avenger's(and their army :0 goosebumps). Also I am satisfied with Marvel's investment in giving a more emotional touch which stands up to the level Civil war achieved. Lastly mentioning about the ending, it surprised me and after watching it I can't think of any better one's hmm but with some loopholes.

"GET THEM PUPPY" Steam just randomly throws this game at a heavy discount while I was checking out some other games. The cyberpunk like top-down visuals and amazing soundtracks just felt so appealing to me. The first gameplay impression wasn't great. The game felt a bit too hard and there was lot happening in between gameplay which was too difficult to track. Since there was no expectation nor hype for this game to back me up I just thought to close the game after a few more tries. For some reason it didn't happened and I don't want to close the game. I was progressing to next checkpoint after checkpoint even it takes me multiple tries to beat one. Upon each attempt I am becoming more satisfied with its gameplay loop and even more when I beat each bosses the game throws at me. The game just wanted me to go for that one more shot whenever I was beaten by the game and my dopamine levels reached so high at a point where I don't want to stop anymore. At this point I realized what Ruiner is all about. From gameplay to soundtrack to skill tree to art design to plot and even the in game achievements wanted me to keep on hooked to this game until I finish it or die from dehydration. I never even got a thought there is an option to quit, because when you die all you need to do is to press 'R' and boom you are instantly respawned back to the center of action. No loading screen or no traversal back to the point of action. So each time I die all I wanted to spam the 'R' key and then crack open the last guy that killed me with my metal pipe and own his KARMA points. All these experiences are being exemplified by amazing soundtrack by "sidewalks and skeleton" and "Zamilska". They knew what Ruiner is suppose to be and it shows. The BGM literally owns the game and it became one of my favorite tracks ever. Finally I beat the game once with countless deaths and taking 20+ hours for a small game. Am I satisfied? YES. Do I want more? "HELL YES". So I just played again and again and again from finishing its arena mode to completing the speed-run in 90 minutes and 2 deaths. At this point I realized that its not the countless deaths and retries that the game wanted, instead the dopamine rush filled madness that curb stomps everything that the game throws at me. Because I was not playing the game. The game was owning me all along.

Nice sitcom, way better than "typical" other Indian serials and sitcoms