Way of the Samurai. Get it. Now.
Went to EB today with an armful of dvd's and ps1 & 2 games. Mostly classic stuff, and movies from the beginning of the year. I didn't expect much. Expected more than $25 lousy bux in trade-in value tho. Thus EB makes yet another game's butt raw. So, I got way of the samurai because I heard it was a good game from some reviews I stumbled across while googling. Get home with it, and nearly 4 hours later, I finally come up for air to write this blog. THAT, my friends is how good it is. Video game crack in it's most potent form. For those few of us who new and appreciated BUSHIDO BLADE, it is like that, mixed with some soulcalibur, yojimbo and just a dash of anime thrown in. I will refrain from reviews, or description, since that's been done already. All I WILL say is that as I play the game, visions of my fav samurai flicks dance through my head, and I can actually act like my favorite character (I liked Sanjuro) Anyhow, its a free system, which means you can do whatever you want, good guy, villian, etc. You can try being crafty, brave(and foolish), disinterested, whatever. Be warned, you will die many, many, many times in this game....it encourages you to die like a "real" samurai, bloody, but true to your principles, or not, depending on how you play it.
Other news: Saw part of the Battlestar Galactica remake today. All the reviews were right, it sucked. The 15 minutes I saw was mostly people whining. Not in fear for their lives....just....whining. "Our planet blew up, this sucks!" seemed to be the attitude. No one was grief stricken, it was like watching spoiled brats reluctantly reciting their lines. No shock, no horror, no togetherness. This shit is NOT Battlestar Galactica.
Back to the samurai stuff. While playing that game, I came to the conclusion that the "way of the samurai" isn't dead. See, the "samurai code" was just like our ethics and cultural mores of today. It didn't mean that all folks of the samurai class followed it, it was a summary of beliefs that everyone thought was the "right way" to live their life. Much like "good people" today pay their taxes, obey the law, and don't kill in anger. (yeah, right) In 1878, the way of the samurai had become pretty much illegal. The gov. had decided to shed their feudal ways and become a republic. If you were a samurai at that time, you either clung to your old ways, or you started anew. Anyhow, to kill a ramble of potentially epic proportions, I believe that my friends and I, twenty something college grads (or at least folks of college grad age) are our generations version of samurai: Upon graduation, or at least striking out to start our own lives, we lose the patronage of our "house" Our parents/family no longer care for us/are responsible for us. We must make our own way in the world. Do we embrace anarchy and bite, backstab, claw our way to whatever fate we get with ruthless abandon? Do we try to stay true to our own "warrior code" and value honor and integrity in a world seemingly chaotic and turned upon it's head? How do we live? What do we do? The last samurai (no I haven't seen it yet, dammit) of the late 19th century had to decide what they were going to do with their lives. In this age, with economy going crazy, prices, values (both monetary and psychological) in constant flux, there does indeed seem to be a parallel. In short, one has to choose to either FIGHT the monster (within?) or BECOME the monster. One must either help, hinder, or GTF out of the way....