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Lampbane
Reviews
Fainaru fantajî VIII (1999)
Not the best, but certainly lots of fun...
I admit, I was a bit wary when I first heard about the features of this game... draw points? No treasure chests? Junctioning? It was intimidating and upsetting. But having played RPG's for years... some of these changes are welcome. No more spending massive amounts of money on weapon upgrades. No more worries about equipment or accessories. No more magic points. The junctioning system makes this game unique and quite a lot of fun to play. You can concentrate on the actual battles as opposed to the preparation.
Storywise... I can say I am annoyed. The game lacks balance... the traditional Squaresoft plot twist (tm) doesn't kick in until at least 20 or 30 hours into the game, so you waste time readjusting to the current state of things. But otherwise, it's pretty standard. The characters however...
I like them. They avoid cliche. It's a love story, sure. But before Squall and Rinoa fall in love... we get to see a full range of emotions out of the two... insecurity, friendship, guilt... heck, Squall almost seems to despise Rinoa at first. And the story builds off that. Even characters that could be annoying know their bounds... no one is played for comic relief. Even Selphie.
The CGI is awesome... and melds into the game play quite well. The scenes are brief, so watching them over and over doesn't get really boring. Even if they become excessive, at least they are well done. And the ending...
While it may not live up to it's full potential, the game is still enjoyable... and much better than your average RPG. After all, it is Final Fantasy.
Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)
Funnier than your average summer
I watch this movie at the start of every summer, and it never ceases to amuse me. Here the jokes are packed in near every line of dialogue, giving you more bang than the average Simpsons episode. Some of the jokes fall flat or will only elicit a slight chuckle, but others will leave you rolling and then there are those that stick in your brain... "The audience is now deaf."
The video knows it's a video, and makes no pretensions about being anything else. It's easy to sit back and let the bombardment of humor begin. A good mix of slapstick, pop culture, and tongue-in-cheek comedy ensures there's something for everybody. I was in sixth grade when I first saw this video, and I have to admit I still find it as hilarious now that I've started college.
This is a good movie to watch over the summer, much in the way you might watch "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas or "Ten Commandments" at Easter/Passover. More than that, it's just funny as hell.