Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - The Town of Rougeport

Hello, for today’s entry, I wanted to briefly talk about a video game that I had played recently, moreso some things I noticed and really liked about the game’s structure. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door would be the name of that game, and I suspect some of you may be familiar with it. For those who don’t know much about it, the Paper Mario series is one famous for a simple RPG gameplay system,  fun deep worlds with lots of intricate characters, and a nice simple 8 (or 9) chapter structure that the game follows. For this game, I wanted to discuss 2 things; it’s beautiful central hub setting, and it’s possible 3 act story structure. Today I will discuss its central world, and after that will move on to my 3 act theory. 

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The 4 Elements - Volume I

 “Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.”
                                                                                                                                                -Iroh, Bitter Work (S2E9)

A Bastion Analysis - Part 2: Structures, Symbols, and Metaphors

Hello everyone, and welcome. This is part 2 of my two part write up of a video game I recently played and completed that goes by the name of Bastion. For the first part, I focused on the ending of Bastion, and how that fit so well with its entire story and video game format. For this part, I wanted to focus on Bastion’s entire story and characters, and point out some theories and key things I noticed about its narrative. I will be discussing its structure and how it might all flow together, and also take a look at each of its characters; seeing what they might represent with respect to the story, and its important choices at the end. So without further ado, let’s dive into Bastion’s magical world again, and explore its many wonderful pieces that I just can’t stop thinking about.

A Bastion Analysis - Part 1: The Power of an Ending

Ending

“The point in a journey in which there appear to be no more ‘directions,’ in which you can move ‘forward’.”

Stories, stories are all around us. Some long, some short, some emotional, some humorous, but all stories have their differences, and likewise, all stories have their similarities. Similarities, that which all stories share, those that are needed to craft a great narrative tale, things that you can find in each and every one of them. As an example of two of these qualities, all stories have a beginning, and all stories have an ending, and today I will be talking about one of those, the ending.

When it comes to stories, while the sum of its pieces and whole is important, and making every part as good as can be is essential, the endings of a story have always been my favorite part. The ending is what you see last, what sticks with you the most, and is what wraps up everything and concludes the entire tale.

But, this article/essay/something isn’t about why I love endings so much, this is about a video game. A game I played recently, that goes by the name of Bastion, and a game with one of the most unexpected endings I’ve ever seen. And as someone who loves endings, Bastion’s ending gave me the best final impression it could have given for the whole product. As a result, despite me not really being into the game, not greatly enjoying it, and somewhat forcing myself to get through for the majority of it, after I beat it, the curiosity and passion in my heart ignited like a fire, and I just had to do something about it, which led to this write up.

Not only that, but after completing the game, I went on to read so much about it online, its world, its characters, and I even went on to play through it a whole 2^nd time, and maybe even a 3^rd. Bastion as a game really represents why I love endings so much, because even if I wasn’t huge on the game before it, the result of that ending being so great had me fall head over heels in love with not just the ending, but the entire tale. When it comes to stories, the ending is always what comes to my mind first, because it is generally the part that the whole story was leading up to. So now, with the perfect example of this in Bastion, I’m going to talk about Bastion, and its entire tale, but more specifically, its ending, and why I loved it so so much, and won’t be forgetting it for a long long time.

As a result, the following is very spoiler heavy. Do not reading the below if you have not played and completed Bastion, as spoilers are everywhere. Part of what made Bastion such a great experience for me was how unexpected the entire narrative was, so I implore you to play through the game before reading the below, you will not regret it.

A Look at Some Characters from Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

So I’ve been watching the series titled Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and just finished my 2^nd watch of the series, my first being about half a year ago, though I first encountered it much earlier in manga form. Regardless, I noticed a few things about this series upon this rewatch, and grew to like some characters much more than I did the first time. So now that I’ve watched the series while more calm, and able to pick up on many little things, I thought I’d talk about characters whom surprised me and I grew to really love on this rewatch, and what I noticed about them that drew me so much to them.

Paper Mario and Shy Guys - The World of Children

Last time I spoke of Paper Mario, I touched upon the intricate ways of the Shy Guy characters, and talked briefly about their world in the 4^th Chapter of the game. Today I would like to expand on their world a little, talking of things I noticed and loved about the world, and thought lots about.

Friendship is Magic: The Cycle of Character Growth

I’ve been thinking a lot lately…..well….I’m always thinking, but I’ve been doing a special kind of thinking, with regards to My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. And this time I thought I would share my thoughts, as I found them very intriguing. I was thinking about the characters of this beautiful show, and their differences in each Season, and why that was, and then I got to thinking about the friendship reports, and how they related to the characters, and how they differed from Season to Season. Let’s take a moment to talk about the friendship reports actually, while on the subject.

The friendship reports are a huge staple of the series, and my personal favorite part of the show. These came at the end of every episode, displaying a moral or message that was (usually) the central theme of the story that had just been told. They tend to involve the main character in some way, and tend to have some sort of lesson that they learn, but…..has it always been like that? And is it still like that? Let us begin by taking a look at the friendship reports from Season 1, to Season 2, to Season 3, look at how they affect the characters, and how they and the characters have changed over the course of the show.