Hitman (2016) - Episode 41 - Rube Goldberg's Revenge

Welcome once more to sunny Sapienza, where we take on Landslide.

The more I play both these Bonus Episodes and Elusive Targets, the more impressed I am with how effortlessly IO Interactive re-contextualizes the same maps from the story missions in ways that still feel fresh, new, and interesting. Even though I played the Sapienza map countless times since it's initial release in Episode 2, Landslide adds enough new/remixed content that it feels almost like a new map.

Out of all the bonus episodes, I'd say this one is easily my favorite of them. The target for Landslide speaks to me in a "I want to murder you so badly" kind of way that the targets in the Summer Bonus Episodes just didn't. I almost felt bad for those sad saps, but the mafioso deserves no sympathy.

It also feels like this bonus episode comes with many more interesting opportunities than the other two. Not only is Priest 47 just a delight to see, but there are many more hilarious and/or karmic opportunities just in the plaza (and even more if players take the time to explore the town).

Episodes like these make me all the more excited to see what can be cooked up once it's time to release the second season of Hitman.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Heart 2 - Episode 8 - Your Army Sucks!

We start the Disney worlds... and the parts not really relevant to the primer.

First things first, I said that Eddie Murphy did the voice of Mushu here. That was completely wrong. It's a soundalike.

Sam and I have talked for a very long time about how we're going to tackle these Disney worlds. In a series where our goal is to comment on and explain the main story of Kingdom Hearts, these Disney worlds, especially in Kingdom Hearts 2, are mostly filler.

I'm also really annoyed that the world scenarios are, more often than not, straight up rehashes of the movies they are "inspired" by. The only real difference is that Sora, Donald, and Goofy are added to it in ways that read like bad fan-fiction.

Bottom line, these worlds just weren't fun to comment on, and not much happens that pertains to the main story.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 7 - KH and the Sunken Cost Fallacy

Finally, we have arrived at the game proper.



I must say, as someone who has played this game countless times, I really appreciate the scenes they added in the Organization XIII chambers for Final Mix.

In the original release, most of the Organization members hardly get any screen time before Sora starts to slaughter them one-by-one. While this is still true even with these scenes, they help to introduce players to these characters so that there's something resembling a buildup to the boss fights against them.

It's not much, but it's a needed addition that goes a slight way towards establishing our villians.

Hitman (2016) - Episode 40 - Getting Outside Help

It's too dangerous to go it alone...

Outside of the complications I had in finding the location of the thumb drive, there's no much to this target. Honestly, I might have even been able to get Silent Assassin if I had been more careful in walking out without getting spotted by the staff manager.

The worst part of this mission is that I didn't really have any way (that I know of) to find the thumb drive aside from brute force. It was essentially a game of guess-and-check until I lucked out with the correct room.

Kinda boring, otherwise. 

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 6 - The Boy Who Cries Inside Me

Roxas's last day of summer vacation has come and gone, so now we go some tutorial bits with Sora. :)



It makes sense that we would have some sort of introductory sequence for Sora since there's a change in protagonists. That said, since we already had a 3 hour long intro as Roxas prior to that, as a player I can't help but feel frustrated at how long it takes for the game to get moving.

The strange thing about video games is that their interactivity gives players a higher tolerance for this amount of front-loading, since it can be broken up through gameplay segments, and players aren't likely to go through it all in one session.

But at the same time, the fact that players do wish to play and interact with the game, instead of watching a bunch of cutscenes, means that it is often smarter to get right into the action. This is largely why In-Medias-Res is such a popular plot device for video games.

That's why I have such mixed opinions about how long this intro sequence is b/t Roxas and Sora combined. I can appreciate how important it is to perform setup for the story and plot of the game. Even when that's considered, this process takes entirely too long, and could have easily been abridged in numerous ways.

It's not the intro that's the problem, it's the aggressive length of it.

Hitman (2016) - Episode 39 - Doing A Murder

Today, we look for a deceptively simple solution to the problem of The Blackmailer.



This was a lesson in how to be more effectively experiment with NPC routines without openly exposing yourself to unnecessary danger when performing Elusive Targets. Even with the single attempt, it is important to do some basic scouting to figure out where the target is at their most vulnerable.

That said, since player death means that a contract is failed, a little more creativity is required when looking around. I pulled my gun out a couple of times not because I wanted to shoot anyone, but just to see who would detect suspicious activity. If the vision cones start appear when my gun is in my hand, then I know that it's not safe to take out the target where I'm standing.

Though certainly an easier target than average, this one required some thought. It's easier than it seems to break his routine and isolate him. Spacial awareness is, and always has been, king in Hitman. Knowing the map is the key to succeeding, no matter who the target is.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 5 - ROXAS SMASH!

Five episodes in, and we're finally finished the intro to the game. Good thing we aren't playing, or that might have been another five or so episodes.



I've said it before, but I really feel that a lot of the anger people have for Roxas has much more to do with the overly long intro than anything about his character. As much as the character needs this kind of introduction, there's no denying that most people playing Kingdom Hearts 2 were starting to get annoyed by the time the dual keyblade boss fight with Axel came around.

It's such a shame because he is one of the most interesting characters in the series. The Nobodies in general pose interesting philosophical questions about what it means to be a part of a person, divorced from the whole. If that half were to develop it's own personality and feelings, essentially it's own self, would they want to merge back into who they once were, or would they want to be their own person.

Roxas is the body and soul that Sora left behind when he became a heartless. But unlike other nobodies who yearn to be whole, Roxas has no interest in going back with Sora. He hates that his very existence is fundamentally tied to someone else. There's a lot of good sources for drama there, and they aren't capitalized on as much as I would like.

That said, this is a topic better discussed in 358 Days/2, so I'll table this discussion for now.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 4 - Rivals With Destiny

We question our life choices while Roxas investigates the seven wonders of... oh thank god.



Not much to say here as most of this episode consists of filler, nonsense, or retreading old ground.

Still, we made some bad jokes in the meantime. That's almost worth it. :)

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 3 - The Belt That Strangles Nomura's Head

Today, we watch teenage children beat the stuffing out of each other in a legally sanctioned blood sport.



We erroneously say it's been two years since the events of Kingdom Hearts 1. This is a lie, it has actually been 1 year in Kingdom Hearts time.

Aside from that, we spend most of this episode talking about the Struggle, and trying to get Sam up to speed on the many Ansem's of Kingdom Hearts. To recap:

• There's the original Ansem: Ansem the Wise. This man was the person who ruled Hallow Bastion with benevolence.
• He took an apprentice, who would betray him and take his name, becoming the heartless known as "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness" that Sora fought in Kingdom Hearts 1.
• When "Ansem, Seeker of Darkness" became a heartless, he left behind a nobody, who would take the name Xemnas.

Confused yet? Don't worry, that's normal.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 2 - Eyes Can't Lie

I don't have the budget to render an introductory paragraph.



One of the fun things about doing this Primer series with Sam is that even when I'm telling the complete truth about what's going on or the reasoning behind some character's actions, the answers can often be so outlandish that he still won't believe me.

This primer series is definitely intended to help people understand what's going on in Kingdom Hearts. That said, it's also been great for me because doing it with Sam has been a great way to uncover a lot of the common hangups, expected and unexpected, that make it difficult to parse through.

I still firmly believe that the overall plot is pretty basic, but a terrible job was done in presenting that plot. The confusion comes more from presentation and mistranslation than anything else.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Episode 1 - Blood Sport

This is the big one, ladies and gentleman. For most of you out there, this is where Kingdom Hearts jumped the shark. Fortunately for you, Sam and I are here to explain the plot, make some bad jokes, and occasionally let a good joke or two slip into the mix.



It's really tough to go through this tutorial/intro segment of Kingdom Hearts 2. As I said in the primer, for the story Square Enix wanted to tell with this game, it was necessary to introduce Roxas in a low-impact, mundane way, and do it early. That said, this is, was, and has always been a really rough segment of game to go through.

Not because it's particularly difficult. It's the tutorial, and generally pretty easy. However, it's 3 hours long and unless you know what's going on in the lore through outside sources, not much here will make any degree of sense to you.

It's disorienting, and I understand that it's intended to be. But for people who just wanted to play as Sora again, the anger they must have felt makes sense.

A shame really, because Roxas is easily one of my favorite characters in the series once we get into who he is and what motivates him.

Kingdom Hearts Primer - Kingdom Hearts 2 - Trailer

It's that time again. Once again, Sam and I are delving back into Kingdom Hearts to help solve the mysteries within.



This is going to be the big one, taking up most of the run-time for the Primer series. At the same time, now that a lot of the big ideas and concepts are out there for discussion, this is where Sam and I can also truly begin to start hacking away at what most confuses most people about Kingdom Hearts.

I hope you guys enjoy what you are about to experience. :)