Mentaculus

Game Buff

# Film Ratings: 3438

# Game Ratings: 105

Member Since: 30 Jun 2007

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA

Bio: After a fairly Lynchian childhood in an American suburb, I moved to Japan at 13, saw foreign film, and it destroyed my fragile little mind. Now forever damaged, I live in LA, have degrees in Cinema and Religion, a Masters in Information Science, and watch too many films in between writing projects. Life goals: direct a film, and see a UFO.

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85 _81%

Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988) - Rated 04 Feb 2018

In my best David Lynch voice: "There are secrets in the sand. I have found the dark universe, in a jar inside my dreams."

80 _73%

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) - Rated 04 Feb 2018

I spent whole afternoons hiding in camouflage from faceless Middle Eastern villains. I spent whole evenings one-button pushing Solid Snake beyond the brink. Frankly, Solid should have, absolutely, killed himself at the end, and invalidated all my effort. I deserve it. All of us do. The shit about the modern technology of modern warfare? Trump can currently kill me legally with a robotic drone. This is nothing less than Michel de Nostredame with a budget.

69 _41%

Ecco the Dolphin (1992) - Rated 04 Feb 2018

I found the whole thing to be an enigmatic, almost spiritual experience. Even the controls don't want to conform to what you want or think. A detour in mainstream gaming that would eventually find its ...echoes... in experiences like Flower and Flow.

85 _81%

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006) - Rated 16 Feb 2018

The kinky one. The one where when darkness falls, you turn into an animal, and a strange pubescent woman with a Master fetish rides your back and barks orders. When you reach the climax, Zelda is penetrated by evil magic and you have to wrestle both evils into submission. Let's just say that when this Link returns home to Ordon, he's now a man.

100 _99%

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) - Rated 04 Feb 2018

There are currently two eras in gaming: those before Ocarina of Time, and those after Ocarina of Time. It's like the possibilities of video games opened up just as this Link stepped onto Hyrule Field. All the better is the way the story, surprisingly lush with spiritual resonances, simply inspires - imagination, adventure, growth. Even those flaming bats can't diminish what is a landmark experience.

65 _31%

D (1995) - Rated 18 Feb 2018

D doesn't play nearly as well as it once did. But I played it too early in life, and it probably did start me down the dark, unlit hallway of these sordid horror mysteries. Early horror gaming, perhaps more than now, because of their unreliable mechanics and twisted uncanny graphics, felt like trespassing - just off the human path into some surreality. D is one of its early, best examples.

89 _86%

BioShock (2007) - Rated 04 Feb 2018

While some of the control mechanics can at times distract, there are too many moments of brilliance to completely dismiss. Its very Gnostic worldview (with its, frankly, weirdly strict good/evil character-building dualism) starts to seep into your brain like Chinese Water Torture. Whichever ending you earn, it's wholly disturbing.

75 _59%

L.A. Noire (2011) - Rated 04 Feb 2018

I do wish the game was tighter on its focus on detective work instead of sandbox shenanigans and underground gunfights - perhaps because the writing was decent. Extra points because Downtown Los Angeles is my everyday stomping ground, and the level of historical accuracy and craftsmanship was a joy. When the APB said there was a bank heist at the exact address I currently live in, I involuntarily shouted, "FUCK YEAH THERE IS!" and accepted that shit.

99 _97%

EarthBound (1994) - Rated 05 Jun 2018

Playing Earthbound as an adult is an emotional gut-punch - the equivalent of meeting your 7-year old self, and he gives you a warm, generous, uninvited hug, and tells you everything is OK. The gameplay and story of Earthbound greets the future with the wonder of a child: imagination, not cynicism; anticipation, not reluctance. It adds magic to life's real adventure. During the final battle - punctuated by the prayers of friends - I wasn't fighting Giygas, I was fighting back tears.

40 _7%

Risk (1959) - Rated 24 Apr 2018

It doesn't take a degree in International Relations to realize there is some truth to the way Risk works if applied to the real world. Roll a dice. Rural Russian provinces and Australia will survive the carnage.