Silent Mobius Part 3 Episodes 10-14

Katsumi reaches her breaking point as the burden of destiny becomes too much.  As she finds comfort in the arms of police officer Roy De Vice, the rest of the AMP must find a way to keep Katsumi on their side, not just for her power but for her friendship as well.  However, it is Rally Cheyenne, the AMP’s enigmatic section chief, who might be the key to keeping Katsumi on the force.  For she has information Katsumi has long sought: the truth behind the Silent Crisis that nearly destroyed humanity.  Will this revelation drive Katsumi away for good?  Or will it fuel her desire to end the Lucifer Hawk threat once and for all?

As I enter week three of covering this series, my hopes for Silent Mobius rising to meet its true potential keep moving further and further away.  From the beginning, this show has been hampered by a number of problems.  The story moves to quick and provides no clear context.  The cast is huge and barely given any time to shine.  The AMP feels totally outmatched and barely able to keep up with the enemy they’ve been created to fight against.  And the animation is only getting worse, I didn’t even think that last part was possible.  By the time I finished this set, I know I have to accept that few of those aforementioned issues might never improve.  Every once in a while a glimmer of hope shines through.  But then the show takes five steps backwards to mess itself up.

In truth, the first two episodes of this set could easily be skipped and nothing important would be lost.  That’s sad because when it comes to characters getting their time in the spotlight, only Kiddy has managed to be truly memorable.  Lebia and Yuki both got boring episodes, though Lebia’s might be the more criminal because it squanders potential (like much of Silent Mobius), while Yuki’s episode is generic and content to play itself with minimal cliché dialogue with lots of Esper Aniem themed tropes that have been done to death (raised in a lab, tried to escape, escaped former friend comes looking for revenge, etc.).  Lebia could pretty much be the Motoko Kusinagi of the AMP.  She has the ability to tap into all manner of tech using her five senses, almost mystically.  It’s a cool idea but Lebia comes off as a second rate Motoko than her own strong character.  It also isn’t helped that the main cause of the Cheshire Cat virus that hit Tokyo was a massive bluff for a pointless, rage inducing reason that made me so mad with this show for a second (nearly sacrificing lives for something as trivial as “hey remember your dads bday? I sure do, let’s turn the lights back on and celebrate).

Most of this weeks set took the time to focus on the events that shaped the present day conflict with the Lucifer Hawks.  Rally, Katsumi and the past all got their own separate, yet interconnected episodes.  Rally got to flex her esper muscles and take on her evil sister Rosa, who dropped the bomb to the whole team that she, Rally and Katsumi all are offsprings of people with Lucifer Hawk blood.  The revelation that Rally and Katsumi have Lucifer Hawk blood in their veins feels a little too “Darth Vader” to me.  The fact that everyone kind of accepts this is another example of rushed storytelling.  And, at last, Rally begins to fit the Syllia role from Bubblegum Crisis, a person with exteremly deep ties to the battle that she keeps from her subordinates and expects them to just trust her.  Thankfully, Rally never comes off as psychotic as much as she is just plain cryptic, and she can handle herself in battle…and yes she is a gorgeous boss.  Still, her being a bad ass would not be enough to simply let me accept things at face value, I’d need to let the news simmer before making a final decision to remain with the AMP. 

Katsumi’s reaction to the news that she and her sexy boss are both offspring of the enemy is handled both well and not so well.  Not so well in that, for whatever reason, Katsumi suddenly accepts the LH’s as her people and refuses to fight them…why?  If anything, the proper reason for getting Katsumi to potentially quit the AMP is Rally keeping this from her as long as she has.  The Lucifer Hawks have been straight evil from the get go and there’s no reason for Katsumi to suddenly sympathize with them.  The only reason I think she handles the news well is because she isn’t quick to let Rally off the hook like everyone else does.  Granted, she’s the only one of the five members who has to deal with having the blood of the enemy, I doubt that’s an easy pill to swallow, and if it is somehow just accepted and moved on from, well that’s just bad storytelling.

That glimmer of hope I mentioned came from what happened next.  Katsumi was given a bit of “Days of Future Past” treatment where psudeo new big bad, Ganoza, showed Katsumi a future where she was hunted along with other Lucifer Hawks because she was a Category IV, a LH/Human hybrid.  We got to see Katsumi happy at first, having left the AMP to live with Roy and find true love with him.  I was a little confused with the sudden time jump of 6 months.  Somehow that gave me the idea that this wasn’t all going to be a new status quo. Also, try as they might to show us a sympathetic Lucifer Hawk, one who tried to save Katsumi from rogue Lucifer Hawk hunters, I never believed the creatures good guy act.  Still, it was a good “what if” scenario to show Katsumi and give her a little more to chew on until Roy came in and reassured her that his feelings for her are more reality than anything in her life right now, it was cute seeing them together.

Lastly, we closed on the long awaited look at the “Silent Crisis” that started all of this…and it should have been two episodes.  We get a host of new faces, spend little time with any of them besides Giggelf’s annoying protégé we saw in the first episode, and the episode kind of ends without anything being revealed except for…well Giggelf’s kind of stupid.  It’s true, thinking energy from a dark dimension could save the Earth from…insert environmental message of the week (it’s never made truly clear), does that ever sound like that’s going to work…EVER?!  We also only got vague tidbits of Giggelf having Lucifer Hawk blood in his veins, hence how Katsumi got her own.  But we still don’t know where Rally and her sister Rosa got their powers from and, after all that build up, we never got to see the Silent Crisis in full.  The only take away from this disappointing time trip are the images Fuyuka received of Katsumi in garb similar to what Rosa and Ganossa were both wearing from Nemesis.  Looks like our heroine is headed for the Dark Side at some point.

Silent Mobius is…constantly disappointing and yet I want it to work so freaking badly.  It’s like little to no thought has gone into pushing this series to fulfil it’s true potential.  It’s there, it’s all there, the elements for a truly legendary classic.  And yet the series flounders in terrible animation, cliché backstories and rushed/cryptic storytelling, almost as if the production staff just wanted to get it over with and earn their paychecks.  It’s been a while since I reviewed an Anime with this many problems and it’s only reached the halfway mark.  But I doubt this show is going to pull off a legendary winner of an ending like Code Geass Season 2.  I may not be psychic, but I cant imagine this show getting a very high score in a couple of weeks…and I really hope I’m wrong.

Blade Runner 2049

Los Angeles 2049.  During a routine retirement of a Replicant, Blade Runner Officer K discovers a long buried secret that could change the destiny of humanity forever.  His investigation uncovers dark secrets from decades prior, putting him in the crosshairs of the Wallace Corporation and its Replicant assassins.  K’s only lead is tied to Rick Deckard, a former Blade Runner who vanished thirty years ago.  As the line between what is human and what is not blurs even further, K and Deckard will be forced to confront their own origins to discover the keys to their separate futures.

This is…a tough one.

A couple years back when it was announced that Warner Bros. was officially going ahead with a sequel to the 1982 scifi masterpiece, Blade Runner, I was upset.  As you might have noticed in my Blade Runner review a couple of days ago, I love that movie quite a bit.  It was a visual marvel with ideas and concepts that still resonate with me today and with other filmmakers of all genres.  Expanding on it, or touching it, in general felt like treading on sacred ground.  After all, how often do we get sequels to films decades later that actually are any good?  Well, the first trailers came out and…I began to ease up.  It looked like Blade Runner.  It felt like Blade Runner.  Could it be Blade Runner?  Part of me really wanted that answer to be “no.”  After the colossal failure of Ghost in the Shell earlier this year, a film based on an Anime heavily influenced by Blade Runner, I was prepared to be disappointed, ready to hate with every fiber of my being.

And…

I wasn’t disappointed?

Nope.  It might not be the great 10/10 many advance reviews have been claiming, not for me anyway.  Still, Blade Runner 2049 somehow manages to be something I didn’t think it could be, or wanted it to be in a way…it’s a very strong sequel that sometimes matches, sometimes surpasses its predecessor…and…well let’s get into the details a little bit.

From the thundering sounds of the introductory music track to the panning shots of a mistier, less glamorous 2049 Los Angeles, the beginning of the film solidifies that this sequel isn’t out to recreate the magic of the first film.  It can acknowledge it but it’s goal is to build on it and slowly become its own thing.  Here is succeeds.  Blade Runner 2049 is a vastly different film from Blade Runner, both in story and in aesthetic.  Director Denis Villeneuve shows us a Los Angeles that might now be beyond its glory days.  Even without the knowledge I gleamed from Blade Runner Blackout 2022, you can tell that time has not been kind to this city, which is bleaker, greyer and less kind than the overcrowded, colorful soup that was presented in the first film.  And yet, it is still freaking GORGEOUS.  A mix of model and CG work, this still feels like Rick Deckards future but evolved and expanded.  Heck, even the old Tyrell Pyramids are still present, despite now being in the shadows of the massive Wallace Corporation megastructures.  Villeneuve knows how to let the visuals do much of the storytelling without everything being explained outright, from the abandoned outskirts of a nuclear wasteland to skyscraper sized hologram commercials.  Don’t get me wrong, Ghost in the Shell had good visuals as well.  But it could only wish it was as good looking as Blade Runner 2049.  I especially liked the dark and hellish backdrops of the Wallace Corporation interior and ill get to the why in a moment. 

So yeah, the film looks good, does it have a good cast and story to compliment?  Yes to both.  Ryan Gosling isn’t “ahem” replicating Harrison Ford from the first movie.  He is his own tortured soul as K, a tough guy who can only be tough for so long before he breaks under the pressure of his tough case.  Harrison Ford plays a much older, far more weary Deckard, a far cry from the bad ass he was long ago.  It actually takes us a bit to get to Deckard but when we do, it’s so good to see him again.  Ford and Gosling play well off of each other, two generations of Blade Runner who have seen and done things that have left them losing bits and pieces of their humanity, K faster than Deckard it seems.  Ana de Armas is one of my personal favs as K’s beautiful hologram lover, Joi.  I actually like their chemistry and their love story, I think it’s stronger than the “love story” shared by Deckard and Rachel in the previous film.  Joi may be holographic but there’s a wisdom to go along with her beauty that manages to keep K grounded and connected to something.  Plus, cant say this enough sorry, she’s so freaking beautiful.  Dave Bautista has a very short but very dramatic turn as Sapper in the beginning of the film.  It’s good to see the big guy flexing his dramatic muscles while getting in some good action.  We have a nice dose of female bad ass in the form of Robin Wright as K’s boss, Madame Joshi (two roles of leadership for Princess Buttercup in the same year, go girl).  There’s also Sylvia Hoeks as Luv, Wallace’s Replicant Assistant.  This girl is the TX from Terminator 3 done right, a heartless beast with no qualms about getting her hands dirty while doing her job and she makes for a nice rival for K.  And then there’s Wallace, played by Jared Leto.  He’s one of the most interesting characters in his stark contrast to Tyrell from the original film.  Tyrell might have had a heavenly setting for his office, the idea that he is God of this world of synthetics but I never got the God complex vibe from him like I do from Wallace.  Tyrell was more interested in the science and complexity (as shown in his conversations with Deckard and Roy Batty).  Wallace is a far more sinister figure, a man with a God complex so obvious he sounds like his own personal preacher spouting his own gospel.  As I said about his choice of décor for his offices, theyre dark, watery, almost underworld like than heavenly.  It’s both creepy and fascinating, like many parts of this movie.

The story is both a continuation and a decent stand alone tale, though I would recommend some knowledge of Blade Runner lore before entering.  As I said above, Deckard doesn’t come in until much later in the film.  This is K’s story for the most part and for that same most part, it’s a tale I never got bored with.  Many of Blade Runners themes of identity and reality vs. fantasy are back and played up in different ways.  The more we get to know K and how he handles his day to day life, the more we know this guy is beyond damaged, more so than the Replicants he retires.  He has questions he only seems to confide in with to Joi, who in turn offers little answers but a lot of faith.  To go deeper into what the main story is would spoil the film itself and I don’t think this is a movie that should be spoiled.  Any theories you had after watching the first film will be well rewarded and even given new levels of curiosity to explore, furthering my opinion that this is a natural expansion rather than a rehash as many might have feared. 

I suppose it couldn’t be avoided, me looking for ways not to score this film 10/10.  Seeing as how I love the first film so much, it couldn’t be helped but my nitpicks might be minimal.  The biggest one is the runtime.  As I said, I was never bored by 2049, I was entranced a lot.  Still, clocking in at almost 3 hours in length, you will begin to feel it eventually.  The pace is about the same as the first film as well with little action in between long periods of story and character development.  I wont say it dragged, I just wonder if it could have been cut down by half an hour or so.  I do wish we had gotten to Deckard a bit sooner and I wanted more time with him and K.  Lastly, the soundtrack has some really good moments and it fits the atmosphere…it’s just not the 1982 Vangelis score.  That seems petty but Vangelis crafted something that I don’t think has been matched in cinema since (though I feel Yoko Kanno has been doing a good job learning from it with Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex).  I feel kind of bad writing that as Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch do give us some very appropriate tunes.  I do think the score was at its best harkening back to the original film.  There is one piece used in a key scene that made me come close to tears…to say more would spoil why.

Is it a 10? No.  Is it a 9? Yes, it is a very, very, very strong 9 for me.  And really, I never expected to rate it that high.  Blade Runner 2049 brings back much of what made Blade Runner work in the first place and forges its own path to greatness, greatness I never thought was possible.  The story will keep you guessing and yet not caring you might not get exact answers cause its so enthralling.  The old guard and the new guard gel really well.  The visuals and set designs feel like expansions than exact replicas.  This movie is Blade Runner, returned after a lengthy absence with aged appeal and fresh new ideas to captivate a both a new audience and old fans alike.  Maybe with future screenings I might be able to give it a 10.  For now a 9 seems right for me but it’s not out of spite.  I didn’t want to like this movie, I was ready to hate it.  But as I start closing out this review, part of me is relieved I was wrong.  This movie surpassed every one of my low expectations.  If you liked the first film, I’d definitely recommend checking out this film.  In a way, if I likened the first Blade Runner to Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner 2049 is definitely the Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence of the duo.  It’s prettier, grander, asks the same questions in addition to new ones…and more than earns the right to stand alongside a movie I think fondly of as a dear old friend.

Congratulations Blade Runner 2049…you’ve proven me wrong and I’m so happy you were able to.  I thought “I’d…seen things you people wouldn’t believe.”  Turns out, I hadn’t seen anything yet.

9/10

Katsuhiro Otomo's Memories

From the director of Akira comes three tales that push the boundaries of the imagination.  In “Magnatic Rose”, a salvage crew follows an SOS into a dark region of space.  Here they come face to face with an ancient memory that threatens to destroy them to preserve its legacy.  In “Stink Bomb” a hapless Medical Researcher ingests a pill that he hopes will cure his cold.  He doesn’t expect to become the ultimate bio weapon that the Japanese Military will stop and nothing to eliminate.  Finally, in “Cannon Fodder” we follow the day in the life of a family living in a city that thrives on building and firing large weapons of war at an unseen enemy.  Enter the mind of Katsuhiro Otomo.  It’ll change the way you look at Anime forever.

The other night, I had the opportunity to check out Katsuhiro Otomo’s Memories during an Anime Night Revival series.  It had been a few years since I’d seen this little anthology but I remembered liking it.  Coming out of the screening, I still do.  My thoughts on a couple of entries might’ve changed but overall, if you liked Akira and Steamboy, chances are you’ll enjoy these short stories from the man who helped put Anime on the map in a bit way in the states.

Of the three stories, it’s most often said that Magnetic Rose is the best of the bunch and it is hard to argue with that assesement.  Written by Satoshi Kon, the master of psychological Anime thrillers, and with a score by the Queen of Anime Soundtracks, Yoko Kanno, herself, Magnetic Rose is almost a titan compared to the other two stories.  The story is a throw back to dark science fiction films, especially Ridley Scott’s Alien.  Eva Friedel’s ship is massive but filled with as much darkness as it is lavish sets, enough to make you feel terrified the deeper Heinz and Miguel enter the vessel.  Of the three stories, Magnetic Rose is the only one to emphasize the “Memories” title, as the thought of an indestructible memory threatening to destroy everyone around you is pretty damn terrifying to think about.  But overcoming those painful memories can be just as great a challenge and in doing so, you can find a strength to overcome anything…even a beautiful psycho opera singer.  The last few minutes are amazing, a perfect mix of chaos and Yoko Kanno’s rendition of Madame Butterfly created the ultimate crescendo that almost makes you wonder why this had to lead off the set rather than finish Memories off.  There are a few ways one could have reorganized the three features in Memories, but no matter what, Magnetic Rose would probably still win out a battle between all three regardless.

That’s not to say Stink Bomb and Cannon Fodder aren’t also great, theyre just not as good as Magnetic Rose.  Stink Bomb is considerably more comedic than the prior chapter, which can be a bit off putting following such a serious story.  However, for me, Stink Bomb is at its best when you see the full might of the Japanese Military, looking like it’s trying to take down Godzilla, gathered for maximum overkill against a clueless sap on a moped.  The reason behind Nobuo’s increased powers, including being nearly indestructible, gets a bit out of hand at times.  Sometimes I feel like even Otomo didn’t know how to fully explain his new abilities like being able to EMP tanks and missiles.  Still, Stink Bomb is good for a chuckle and a fun little romp from a guy who enjoys over the top violence.

Finally, we have Cannon Fodder.  I feel like this is the entry with the most to say in this anthology and is the most unique and creative.  The animation is very un-Anime, if anything it looks very European, which is fitting since the city we spend the entire episode in looks like something out of Fullmetal Alchemist.  The overall commentary is strong and can be interpreted in many ways: a city made for nothing but war; inhabited by citizens who have spent their whole lives doing the same routine day in and day out; a young boy who dreams of firing the cannon but has no idea who he is shooting at.  It’s the shortest of the three entries, but Cannon Fodder is deep and very thought provoking.  The story is also told in an almost single shot manner with very few cuts and edits.  This is also part of the episodes downside in that we spend maybe a little too much time seeing everything play out step by step, especially during the big loading of the gun before it is fired sequence.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s Memories might not be as groundbreaking as Akira, then again I don’t think anything the man does might ever top that legend.  But it’s still a good way to see a creative mind stretch its legs and tell the stories it wants to tell.  Some succeed beautifully like Magnetic Rose.  Others might be choppy but still enjoyable like Stink Bomb.  And then there’s the avant garde pieces with interesting concepts, artstyles and ideas like Cannon Fodder.  No matter what, these are still three quality tales that im glad to say I got to watch.  They’re epic, they’re unique, they are Japanese Anime baby and that’s why I watch, to open my mind and see where the wide multiverse of Anime will take me next.

8/10

Blade Runner Blackout 2022

Los Angeles, 2022 AD.  A new breed of Replicants, the Nexus 8, finds itself hunted, but not by Blade Runners.  The general public has found a way to identify any Nexus 8 and begins laying waste to them in a brutal manner.  Unable to stomach the death and malice brought to their people, two Replicants band together for what anyone would describe as a suicide mission.  But to prevent the savage end of their kind, no price is too high.  It’s the end of an era for the Age of Replicants, and the beginning of an uncertain future.

To help promote the upcoming release of Blade Runner 2049, Director Denis Villeneuve commissioned three short films to cover events in the 30 year time gap in the history of Blade Runner.  While the two live action shorts focused on characters who will have central focus on the film (Jared Leto’s Wallace and Dave Bautista’s Sapper), Blackout 2022 answers a key piece of historical mystery that has always been on my mind since the first trailers for 2049 debuted.  What exactly has happened to Los Angeles and why does it look worse than it did in 2019?  Blackout 2022 doesn’t answer that entirely, but still you can feel the ramifications of what happens here and how they’ll come into play in 2049.

This short is directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, who most of us know as the director of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Space Dandy.  He’s a novel choice to go to for a project like this.  Much of the diverse neighborhoods and cityscapes of Cowboy Bebop, especially in Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, feel influenced by the classic Blade Runner film.  Here, he brings his A-Game as always.  The animation feels a lot like the kind he contributed to the shorts he did for the 2003 Animatrix anthology.  The combination of CG, hand drawn centerpieces and characters gel together pretty well, the short film never felt like a mess because of the fusion.  Throughout it all, Watanabe has even found ways to make nods to the original film itself. The pan up over Los Angeles with the flame trail is dead on what we saw in the opening sequence of the 1982 film.  Trixie’s boyfriend even quotes Tyrell’s thoughts on Replicants being “More human than human” to show his admiration and trust in Trixie.  Best yet, Edward James Olmos makes a welcome return as Gaff, Deckards partner from the original film.  He sounds a bit on the Aramaki side but it’s still good to hear his “city speak” once again.

In the short span of 15 minutes, you can easily relate to the plight of Replicants Iggy and Trixie.  Things have only gotten worse for their kind since 2019 and now it’s no longer just Blade Runners hunting them down, but humanity in general.  It’s scary to see the world devolve into such a land of hate.  Thankfully, there’s Rem, Trixie’s Replicant sympathizer love interest, who doesn’t get a lot of screen time actually, who gives you some hope that humanity isn’t all totally gone.  Trixie I feel left more of an impression than Iggy, thanks to her amazing combat skills and cute looks.  She’s very much the Anime equivalent for Priss from the original film, a pleasure Replicant with kick ass capabilities.  That’s not to say Iggy isn’t cool in his own right.  His philosophies and mindset continue much of the themes originating from Blade Runner and never feel rehashed or recycled, but fresh all on their own.

If anything, Blackout 2022 made me wish we had an Animatrix style anthology of Anime shorts based in the Blade Runner universe.  You could go all sorts of different directions from the making of a Replicant to Batty’s off world combat missions to Deckards days in the Blade Runner unit or a spin off tale with Gaff.  The possibilities are there and endless as far as im concerned.  In a way, Blade Runner Blackout 2022 feels like an “it’s about time” piece of entertainment.  As I said in my earlier review of the film, Blade Runner, unintentionally or otherwise, paved the way for a lot of the Scifi Anime we’ve seen in the last thirty years.  It only feels right that Anime decided to give back to the source for once.

9/10

Friday comes judgement day.  Ive been hearing nearly unanimous praise but haven’t read any reviews yet.  Could Blade Runner 2049 really be the Mad Max: Fury Road of 2017?  Brace yourself, the review will be up and ready to read on Friday morning.

 

T5W#112-Top 5 Most Memorable Resident Evil 4 Moments

Well we’ve finally arrived at the month of ghouls and monsters and other scary things.  As it so happens, I just completed another playthrough of a classic.  Resident Evil 4 first arrived for the Nintendo Gamecube back in 2004 and quickly changed the game for both the “kiddie” console and the Resident Evil franchise as well.  The story centers on hero Leon S. Kenndey, who is tasked with retriving Ashley Graham, the Presidents daughter, from a cult of fanatics hellbent on unleashing a new breed of evil.  Adding in new scares, new controls and a greater sense of excitement, Resident Evil 4 has been hailed as one of, if not the, greatest entries in the franchise and set the course for the Resident Evil series for a while, for better or for worse (Resident Evil 6).  Ive played the game multiple times across multiple platforms, beginning with the Gamecube in college, and own it for 3 separate systems (PS2, Xbox 360 and Xbox One).  It’s just one of the all time awesome games you can come back to and still get a thrill out of.  So to kick off October, Ive decided to look back at my Top 5 Most Memorable Resident Evil 4 Moments.  Not everything is scary but that doesn’t mean the game isn’t good at what it does.

 

#5-Say “Ahh” Salazar

During my first playthrough, and continuing to this day, getting to fight the games second major boss looks daunting at first.  Ramon Salazar, the 20 year old fossil with tempertantrum issues grows from 4 foot nothing into GIGANTIC sized bio weapon from hell.  So many claws, that giant eye, Salazar slapped right behind it.  This looks like an impossible battle…and then I realize I haven’t used that rocket launcher I found in that display case a couple of levels back as ive been saving it for an emergency.  All I needed to do was get Salazar to show himself once and “say Ahhhh”…instant one hit kill and thirty minutes saved that will no doubt be spent on tougher challenges to come (you’ve still got a third of the game to go).

 

#4-The B in the Red Dress

Ada Wong.  RE4 was a gateway title for many new fans and Ada no doubt helped get them interested  Beautiful looks, killer legs and the ability to deal with the hordes of monsters in a very sexy red dress and high heels.  Is it a wonder she’s become such a fan favorite.  Her presence in the main plot is both important but minimal.  Luckily, many versions of the game released post Gamecube would include extra features that would be considered DLC by todays standards.  There are two bonus game modes for Ada: one that’s kind of just a string of mini missions and another that follows her side of the Resident Evil 4 story so you can unleash her fury on just about everything, even tangoing with a couple of the main campaigns bosses.  She may have her own agenda and not be the least bit trustworthy but dammit, you can never get enough of this hottie in the red dress (or her other outfits which, while not as stylish, she can rock like the model she is).

 

#3-Luis’s Death

It wouldn’t be a good video game campaign without appropriate stakes.  Characters get thrown into tough trials and some don’t always make it out the other side.  While not a playable character, Luis Serra was a charming bit of comic relief wrapped in a mystery tied directly to the Las Plagas threat itself.  He kept his reasons for helping you to himself but he still helped, especially in the well done house defense level.  So when Saddler guts Luis, raising him in the air with his hidden monster tail and throws him into a pool of his own blood, it’s a gut punch for sure.  Of all the characters you’d want to make it out of the game…why couldn’t it have been Ashley who bit it here?  WHYYY!!!???? LUIS NOOOOO!!!!!

 

#2-Quick Time Events

One element of RE4 that caught peoples attention was the use of quick time actions during cutscenes.  One lapse in attention and not pressing the right button on time could result in instant death and restarting a level from a spot that would just piss you off.  Most infamous is the nail bitting knife fight between Leon and Krauser.  Sure there was a check point but you can skip any dialogue and the button choices were always random.  One slip up and Leon was sliced, stabbed or worse.  The inclusion of quick time events gave the game your assurance that you were going to be paying attention or it would make you regret it.

 

#1-Regenerators

These guys still terrify the hell out of me.  That chilling breathing, their posture as they walk.  And the fact that if you don’t find that infrared scope, you are going to need a serious miracle to take these things out as they live up to their name.  The Regenerators can recover from almost an serious wound thanks to a crap ton of Las Plagas in their bodies.  You can empty half your collected ammo into them trying to find these bastards, located on their front and on their backs too, but you’ll never know until their top halves explode.  As I said, there is an infrared scope hidden in a freezer unit that can enable you to see the parasites with your sniper rifle.  It makes these guys far easier to deal with, plus you can collect the nice bit of money that comes with their death.  Still, the first time I played through, I didn’t know the scope existed…and im surprised I still managed to finish it.