027: Down the Rabbit Hole #1

Welcome to my new feature, Down the Rabbit Hole! This will be replacing my previous recurring feature The State of the Fandom Address. (I’m not saying for sure that that series will not return. If I get enough requests, I’ll consider it.) Consider this the next evolution. A bit of an experiment. I’m trying out something new to see if you’ll enjoy it. Also to see if I enjoy writing it.

The idea behind this feature is sort of an info dump. Sometimes there are multiple things going on or coming up that won’t fit into a post of their own. But I still want to talk about them, so need some place to throw all my thoughts down. This will be a little less structured than my other posts, more freeform. As to why it has the title it does… you’ll see.

Back in my last State of the Fandom Address, I talked about how the pandemic has pushed a lot of our entertainment to the side. Things are starting to move again. Marvel is back to a more-or-less regular printing schedule, catching up on the issues they held back. Mario is having his 35th anniversary, a fact that is being celebrated by several games, including Super Mario Bros 35, which is being featured as a limited time free download. This is an online competition game where the last Mario standing wins.

Happy birthday Mario. (Credit: Nintendo)

Nintendo is also releasing remastered versions of older Mario games for the Switch, some fun Mario-themed stuff for Animal Crossing New Horizons, and more. No new main series game yet, which is disappointing. But it is what it is. I’ve already played through Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine with 100%, and have Mario Galaxy for the Wii, so I’m skipping the 3-D All Stars release.

Star Trek Discovery is back, and so far it’s even better than before. Star Trek Lower Decks is out, the newest cartoon set in the Star Trek universe. I haven’t watched it yet, but I plan to give it a try. The Mandalorian Season Two is coming up soon. (I’m still planning on doing a SoraRabbit Watches post on Season One.) We got a trailer for WandaVision, the first Phase 4 installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe… and the first on Disney+. We got an epic trailer for the upcoming Dune movie. The next Fantastic Beasts movie is filming now. (If you’re into that sort of thing… I’m going to rein myself in a bit here so that I don’t go off on too much of a tangent. But I will say that I don’t agree with Rowling’s very vocal crusade and it’s getting somewhat difficult to separate the artist from the art in her case. This is something that I went through recently with Scott Adams. He ended up on the losing side and that’s a whole other tangent. I know this post is meant to be about tangents, but I would prefer to stay cheerful.)

Another thing we got recently is Bill & Ted Face the Music, the final installment in the epic decade-spanning Bill & Ted series. I loved it, so much. I felt it was a worthy continuation and conclusion to the series.

Be excellent to each other. (Credit: Orion Pictures)

But, really, the most exciting announcements for me (not that these other things aren’t exciting— they very much are!) is the info we got about the PlayStation 5. It’s coming out in two versions, digital only, and standard with a disk drive. Many people online have complained about the drastic aesthetic change the PS5 is sporting compared to the PS4. I like it. It’s bold, new. It stands out from the previous blocky, all black consoles.

At my heart I’m a Nintendo guy, But I do love Sony’s consoles. I’ve had a long history with PlayStation. I was introduced to it by one of my exes. She had a PS2. I was doubtful… I’d been strictly Nintendo for a long time. But she convinced me to try it out. After Resident Evil 2, Silent Hill 2, and the first Spyro the Dragon game, I was converted. I still love Nintendo, but Sony has some amazing franchises. (Hello… Kingdom Hearts?)

When her and I split I eventually got my own PS2, the tiny, slim, stripped down cheapo version. It was nice to have my own, and I built up my game library. I knew one day I would get a PS3, but I was in no hurry thanks to the steep price tag.

Then the unthinkable happened. My brothers all teamed up to buy me a PS3 for Christmas! I was thrilled. It was my favorite, most valued possession for the longest time. Not just because it’s a solid system that I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment out of, but because it was a really thoughtful and generous gift.

Years passed and the PS4 came out. Again, I was in no hurry. I knew all the next big games would be coming out for it, but I had always been a procrastinator on consoles. Besides, I had so many PS1, 2, 3, and Vita games I hadn’t gotten around to playing. (I had bought a Vita also, the Sony handheld system. Since I hadn’t gotten around to the PSP, I figured I needed one of their handhelds.) But then Cocoashade convinced me to go half and half on a PS4 with her for Valentine’s Day. I jumped at the chance, and have been enjoying the console ever since. (Even though the controllers drain too fast, sometimes it locks up, and the noise of the fan really worries me some days.)

And now yet another console is coming out. I wasn’t planning on getting it yet. Really. I’m trying to start a YouTube channel, after all. I could use that money on lights and a mic. And all the other stuff I need. But then I saw the trailers for Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Final Fantasy XVI. I was utterly lost.

His costume looks amazing. (Credit: Sony, Insomniac, Marvel)

I have a history with Final Fantasy that predates my history with PlayStation, and everyone who has read anything by me or spent any time hearing my fanboy gushing knows I love all things Spider-Man. I have not yet gotten around to playing 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man— a fact that surprises everyone, including me— but I’ve heard it’s fantastic. After watching the trailers and reading some articles about the specs, my excitement for the new system rose from about a 10 to 100 in moments. I still wasn’t sure on the money aspect, but Cocoa again encouraged me to get it. The tipping point was when I showed her the trailer for Final Fantasy XVI and she— not, incidentally, a Final Fantasy fan— decided she wanted to play it too.

I’m sure someday I’ll do a post about Final Fantasy and my long history with it, but for now I’ll just say I’ve played the first 10 games, 10-2, 4-2, most of XII, and several side games. Some of them I’ve played multiple times. Final Fantasy IV may possibly rival Silent Hill 2 for the distinction of the game I’ve played through the most times. But I truly feel— as much as I will always love Final Fantasy IV— that each Final Fantasy game improves upon the last. Yes, by necessity this means that I enjoyed Part 8 more than Part 7… unpopular opinion, I know. (There are some truly vehement FF7 fans out there.) I liked 7 but I feel it’s highly overrated and uneven. The differences in graphics from one moment to the next are jarring, and the story had some flaws. In my opinion Part 8 improved on it in every way.

One thing of note— I refuse to count Final Fantasy 11 or 14 as actual installments in the series. No offense to those who play/have played them… but I very much believe the online installments should never have been numbered with the rest of the series. They’re a drastically different gameplay experience and open-ended. They should have started a new series. Just a long-held and passionate opinion of mine. It bothers me that I cannot say I’ve won all 16 Final Fantasy games. I will never be able to say that thanks to bad planning… or more likely, a marketing decision to sell more copies.

Anyway, bitching aside, Part XVI has me pretty excited. Usually I play games in order, even when it’s not necessary, like in the case of the Final Fantasy series, where each game is a standalone affair. But in this case I will definitely play 16 before the others I haven’t gotten around to yet. I dropped off of part XII when I was a strict completionist and could not finish a massive dungeon that I forget the name of. I lost focus and wandered to other games. Instead of going back to it, I started back with Part 1 and worked my way all the way back to Part VIII before getting distracted by more Shiny Things.

Becoming less final with each installment… (Credit: Square Enix)

But enough of that rabbit hole. I was talking about deciding to get the PS5. That same night, coincidentally (or not?) pre-orders were going up on Walmart’s website. I was ready to go. But then… sold out in about a second. Ouch. This was a real problem with the PS5 release. I heard similar things happened with the new XBox, but with the PS5 it was disastrous. Retailers started their pre-sales ahead of schedule and the supply was nowhere near the demand. Not to mention bots sniping orders. It could’ve been handled better all around.

This story does have a happy ending, though. The next day one of my brothers texted me to offer to preorder it directly from Sony’s website. The stars aligned and my preorder was snagged! So once again my new PlayStation is thanks to a loved one. It’s an interesting symmetry.

One big impact this has had on me is with my game list. If you missed it, on my News page and on Twitter I’ve talked about my Game List 2020. Inspired by similar lists my brothers have made, I decided to prioritize some games I’ve been procrastinating on in an effort to slim down my backlog a bit. I have an unfortunate habit that many lifelong gamers develop… I get distracted by Shiny Things. As a result, I start games, enjoy them for a time, and then jump over to newer, shinier games, never getting back to the previous games. It’s only gotten worse as the years go on, and I feel like I’m missing out on many enjoyable experiences. So my game list was a way to try and combat that. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as well as I had hoped. One major thing got in the way of my Game List 2020… 2020 itself. Several circumstances led to me leaving my long-time employment, and then my new employment. I became a stay at home dad/house husband right as the quarantine started. Trying to make myself feel useful around the house, focusing on my blog, and then falling into the tantalizing world of Animal Crossing New Horizons all conspired to keep me from crossing games off my list. I also got briefly distracted by The Sims and much more heavily distracted by The Binding of Isaac and various older Animal Crossing games. As a result, I only managed to complete 7 of the 20 games on my list. My bonus game— my reward for finishing all 20— was to be Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Well, seeing as how there was (at the time) only three months left in the year and both Miles Morales and Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memories had both been preordered, I knew I had to break the rules. (Also I have a secret game I needed to play so I could write a post about it in time for Halloween… hint hint…) So, for a couple of weeks I focused solely on Kingdom Hearts III, finishing my critical run and diving right into the re:Mind DLC. Now that I’m as done as I can be for now (long story) I have less than a month to start and finish Spider-Man and the City That Never Sleeps DLC. Taking time out, of course, for the surprise October game… any ideas what it might be? (Hint… it just may be an October tradition, but you wouldn’t know it yet since you’ve only been blessed with my blog for one October so far.)

So futuristic!

So anyway, that’s a long-winded way of saying that I’m getting a PlayStation 5 and have been gaming a lot more than I have been as of late. It’s been nice. I immersed myself back into the Kingdom Hearts universe for a few weeks and worked on that post. It’ll be a big one when I’m done with it. (I’ll also explain in there why I have to take a break on the DLC. All I’ll say right now is Limit Cut is BRUTAL.) I am taking the time to enjoy the journey, a luxury I didn’t give myself fully on my first playthrough. After waiting 14 years for this game, I needed to see how the story all came out.

I really love this title screen. (Credit: Disney, Square Enix)

I did take an hour off from my gaming prep to download and try the demo for Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory. Like I mentioned earlier, I did preorder it. I was very tempted to get it for the Switch, but ultimately I decided I would get the PS4 version so I could have another game to play on my shiny new PS5.

I am NOT a fan of rhythm games. Whenever there is a mechanic in a game requiring specific or randomized button presses, I do terribly. (It took me ages to finish Legend of Dragoon. The combos in that game are very much rhythm-based.) I am not good at Rock Band, although I have had some fun playing it at my brother’s game nights, but that’s more for the social aspect of it, I think. However, I knew I would love this game. It’s Kingdom Hearts after all, and every single game in the series is important to the overarching story. Also, the Kingdom Hearts series has fantastic music.

So, yes, judging by the demo, this is going to be a very enjoyable and challenging game. I tried the levels on Normal mode, and I can tell it’s going to take some practice before I can even attempt Proud mode.

Wheeee! (Credit: Disney, Square Enix)

I’m certainly excited for Melody of Memory, but I would say I’m more excited for Miles Morales. I’m planning on starting it the day I get my PS5. Miles is an awesome Spider-Man. I read his comic every month, and Into the Spiderverse is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Speaking of Spider-Man, there was a rumor going around that really troubled me, so I’m going to go into a bit of detail with you all about my thoughts and fears. Apparently Jamie Foxx, who played Electro in Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 is coming back as the character in the MCU’s Spider-Man 3. Fine… I can live with that. Especially if he’s not blue this time. Foxx was fine as Electro in that over-stuffed, over-plotted movie. (I was hoping for Kraven as the villain, but that may not happen…) That’s not what bothered me. The rumor that got me is that the previous two Spider-Men would come back too.

Opinion time again— take it for what it is and please don’t attack me. I know each film incarnation of Spider-Man has its fans. I, for one, did enjoy Maguire’s take on Spidey. But I cannot accept Garfield as Peter Parker. I tried. I just… can’t. No offense to those Garfield fans out there. It’s cool… you do you. I never shit on anyone for their own opinions or tastes… that’s not what the SoraRabbit Hole is about. I just personally did not like him as the character. I felt he didn’t fit. Plus he couldn’t keep his damn mask on. (Ugh, so annoying. You’re wearing a mask for a reason, bro.) The Amazing Spider-Man movies had things they did fine. (Their casting of Captain Stacey and Gwen Stacey, the costume, some of the effects.) But I spent all of ASM1 bored silly and rolling my eyes at this dude who was pushing thirty playing a teenager. (He was the “coolest” social outcast ever!) I spent all of ASM2 thinking of all the ways they could have done it better. There were so many missteps in that movie and I think it was mostly the fact that they weren’t so much doing a sequel as setting up a series. I won’t subject you to all these thoughts, I just wanted to clarify a little of why I was anxious about the rumor.

What I will subject you to is my fanboy whining. I am hoping against hope that they don’t ruin Spider-Man 3. They could potentially destroy the entire MCU and no I’m not being overly dramatic with this. I can understand Sony wanting to jump on the wagon and make more money… this is why they claim Venom and Morbius are part of the MCU when they clearly are not and the MCU crew had nothing to do with them. But forcing outside movies into the MCU movies is a risky move. The MCU was carefully crafted over years and dozens of movies. There is a singular vision at work here. Rumors are circulating that the plan for Phase 4 is to use the Multiverse concept as a way to bring in the previous two Spideys… Venom… Morbius… possibly even Fox’s X-Men. Please don’t. Just… don’t. Introducing too many foreign elements would act as a virus, killing the host. This is an epically bad idea, if this is where they’re going.

It’s not nice to point. (Credit: Marvel, Sony Pictures Animation)

But SoraRabbit, how else are they going to get X-Men into an established ecosystem where they’ve very carefully avoided all mention of Mutants? Easy. Scarlet Witch can “House of M” them into existence. No, I’m not going to explain that. Google it.

Sigh, okay, I’ll briefly explain it. In the comics, SW went nutso and used her magic Mutant powers to recreate reality in her own image. Yes, she’s that powerful. Yes, she’s also a Mutant, at least in the comics. And yes, I’m convinced that’s what WandaVision and Doctor Strange 2 is setting up... her mental break, accessing her latent potential, and changing the Marvel Universe forever. (I’m very excited to see her reach her full potential.) Another theory I recently came across is that the Mutants are a byproduct of Thanos’s Snap… I could see them going that route too.

But anyway, I’m hoping they don’t ruin Spidey. Cocoa could tell you… she was with me for Civil War and for Homecoming. My eyes were lit up like a kid at Christmas seeing such an accurate portrayal of one of my favorite fictional characters. In my opinion, Tom Holland IS Spider-Man. Don’t ruin my Spider-Man. (I think what bothers me most is that I seem to be the only one bothered by this. I’ve read so many people online excited about the possibility of the other two returning. Am I alone in this?)

Carefully stepping down from my soapbox and taking a deep breath, I admit that these are rumors, and Marvel has (sort of) squashed them without really denying it. Time will tell. The MCU has not let me down before. Not even with The Inhumans. They almost did with Agents of Shield a few times, but I got over it. (Ignoring the Snap was a horrible creative decision on their part, though. They broke something there I doubt they can fix, although I still have two seasons to watch.) I have to calm down and have faith that Marvel is still heading in the right direction. We’ll get a Phase 4 that will take things to new places. Probably X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Kang the Conqueror. I feel like they’re heading towards Secret Wars and the Beyonder, but we’ll see. And besides, even if Spider-Man 3 is a fail, there is still the Spiderverse sequel and the Spider Women movie, both of which will be fantastic and I will see multiple times.

Speaking of Spider Women (are you starting to see the reason for this post’s title yet?) those of you that follow me on Twitter likely saw my lament that Ghost Spider/Spider Gwen’s comic has ended. For the first time since February of 2015, Gwen doesn’t have her own title. She’s been guesting in the last couple storylines in Amazing Spider-Man, but it’s not the same. She needs her own comic again. She deserves her own comic. They left sooo many plot threads dangling and I’m going to be disappointed if they don’t pick them back up. Basically what happened was her universe (Earth-65) saw the introduction of two new hero/villains in their versions of Johnny and Sue Storm. They essentially blackmailed her into leaving her home universe and they’re dangerous. Killing their own mother and murdering freaking Doctor Doom level dangerous. Gwen needs to go back and kick their super powered asses ASAP. And find the Bodega Bandit’s hamster.

GWENOM! (Credit: Marvel Comics. Art: Ken Lashley)

Still, I feel like they’re heading somewhere with her. Somewhere big. She’s playing a role in Amazing Spider-Man right now. She was pivotal in the Sins Rising storyline and appears to be mind-controlled in Last Remains. And they recently revealed that Gwenom (Gwen’s moniker when she gives in to her rage and lets her symbiotic costume take the lead) is going to battle Carnage in the upcoming King in Black event. This is going to be a great miniseries. I feel like something serious is happening to her costume (they’ve been hinting at it for years) and honestly I was surprised it’s stuck around this long. I don’t think they’re going to stay bonded much longer. Hopefully she still retains her powers after it’s gone.

In other comic book news, Umbrella Academy has a spinoff. The Rise of Ultraman (which I did a Short Hop on!) is going strong. Batman/The Maxx has finally returned after a year and a half wait. I’ve just finished reading My Inner Bimbo, which was brilliant, thought-provoking, exhausting, and the most Sam Kieth thing that has ever been put to print. I loved it and I hope someday he returns to the Mysterious Trout series. (I really want to read My Favorite Lie, so Sam, if you’re reading this, first off, wow you’re reading my stuff and secondly, please get back to the Troutverse!)

This is what I look like when I’m working on my blog. (Credit: Oni Press. Art: Sam Kieth)

Work has been slow so I’ve finally been plowing through my huge stack of unread comic books that I should have gotten through during quarantine but somehow didn’t. This week I’m reading Spider-Man: Life Story, which is incredible. It tells the story of Spider-Man from the beginning in real time, rather than the slowed time of the actual Marvel Universe.

My time outside of work is being taken up by my son’s schooling (we kept him home this year so he’s schooling remotely) and getting through video games like I mentioned in prep for my next post and the PS5. I took an evening off with Cocoa to play Night Trap, which was featured in High Score, a great video game documentary on Netflix. (You should check it out. It’s entertaining and informative.)

Those damned Augers. (Credit: Sega, Digital Pictures)

Night Trap is a fun game. If you’ve never heard of it, it was featured in the 1993 United States Senate committee hearing on violent video games, which is probably the only reason anyone even remembers it. The gameplay consists of cycling through cameras in a surveillance system and setting off traps to stop vampire-type creatures named Augers from killing a group of teens. The gameplay is frustrating and repetitive, but it made for an entertaining evening with Cocoa and I taking turns manning the traps, trying to get further each time. The game was much more challenging than we expected, due to the random nature of the Auger’s invasion and the periodic changing of the access code for the traps. We have yet to reach the first checkpoint in the game. We got tired of getting yelled at by our boss and called it a night.

Life has been pretty busy with work and school, getting back into shape, learning about YouTube, and stalling on my latest entries. I’m doing my best to balance everything, and I feel like I’m getting better at it. I have a lot of work to do before the end of the year to set up an epic 2021 for the SoraRabbit Hole. I have a lot of great things planned.

Speaking of which, I should get back to these great things. This was a fun little experiment, and I will likely do it again. Let me know if you enjoyed this trip through the rabbit holes of my mind.

Until next time, keep hunting for those treasures!