Sunday, September 11, 2016

Shakespeare meets Final Fantasy | FFXV is a Reinvented Story of Hamlet


Lately I've been seeing many posts going around in the FFXV fandom that compare the game to The Lion King, so in this (long) blog post, why not take it a step further?

There's no doubt in my mind that The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is my favorite William Shakespeare play, probably because I grew up watching The Lion King and loving the story of Simba. So how are Hamlet and Simba related? It's no secret that Disney was heavily inspired by that particular Shakespearian play; you could even go as far as saying that The Lion King is an adaptation of the Hamlet story.

And now to address the elephant in the room, where does Final Fantasy XV fit in all this?

Just like The Lion King, one could claim that FFXV is also heavily inspired by Shakespeare. In fact, back when FFXV was still known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, the early concept trailers (including the 1st trailer ever OMG) for the game took a direct quote from one of Shakespeare's plays. And that play was none other than Hamlet
"Why, then, 'tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison." -Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2, Page 11
But how could one Shakespeare play be a main theme of this upcoming game if the game itself has only utilized one quote from the play? Not to mention that this happened during FF Versus XIII days, before the game went through some dramatic changes once it was renamed to FFXV. However, this case doesn't end with just one quote. So now let's study the story and characters of FFXV and compare and contrast them to Hamlet and The Lion King.

BEWARE! THE CONTENT BELOW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Saturday, September 3, 2016

September 24th | Mark Your Calendar for Star Wars Rebels Season Three!


As the post title describes, "Star Wars Rebels" will be starting its new season on September 24th!

For my undying love of Star Wars and Rebels, I will be reviewing each new episode here at Caffeine for Nerds, so stay tuned!

In case you've been out of the loop, here's the official Season Three trailer:


And if you're an Expanded Universe fan, then you might be a happy to know that a certain EU villain will be reintroduced into Star Wars canon in this upcoming season. Get ready for Grand Admiral Thrawn!


Watch the season premiere of Star Wars Rebels on Saturday, September 24th, at 8:30 PM (PT/ET) on Disney XD! I can't wait!

As always, may the Nerd be with you!

Friday, September 2, 2016

The Hype is REAL! | Kingsglaive Final Fantasy XV Review


So if you're a gamer, you might have heard about an upcoming video game called "Final Fantasy XV". If you haven't, then you must be living under a rock because it's FUCKING FINAL FANTASY. Sorry, got a little too excited there.

Anyway, with the game's release now being delayed until November, you have plenty of time to learn about FFXV's story and characters. And thus Square Enix brought us "Kingsglaive"; a CGI movie that serves as the introduction to the game. If somehow you're not into Final Fantasy at all, then this movie, excluding its visuals, is most likely not going to grab your attention. However, if you like pretty CGI visuals, then by all means, it's your call. Now if you're anticipating FFXV's release, then this movie is some hot shit for you, and it will more than likely get you hyped for Noctis Lucis Caelum's journey.

Before I talk about the movie, it's a good idea to also explore the other bonuses that SE is offering for FFXV. There are already five free episodes of the "Final Fantasy XV: Brotherhood" anime series available for you to watch. The anime basically shows us how Noctis and his friends became close, and it also delves into Noctis' past. Aside from the anime, there are two demos. The Episode Duscae demo is only available if you purchased "Final Fantasy Type-0", though if you can't get your hands on it, there are also several let's plays of the demo on YouTube. And there is also the Platinum Demo, in which you play as young Noctis and try to find your way out of a dream world with Carbuncle as your cute little companion.

BEWARE, THE CONTENT BELOW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS!