Let's Talk...Avatar Legends

It is a rare series that can truly be considered revolutionary in the cultural zeitgeist. A show that can literally be the harbinger for transformation of an entire industry. A show like Avatar: The Last Airbender. Airing between 2005 and 2008, Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a world comprised of four nations each based on the four classical elements (Earth, Fire, Water, and Air). In this world, there are people known as benders who are capable of manipulating one of the four elements based on their nation of origin. Only a single individual, known as the Avatar, is capable of bending all four elements at once. The Avatar's duty is to maintain peace between the four nations and the spirit world, a realm filled wit all kinds of strange

Beyond its cultural impact, I don't think it is too much of an exaggeration to say that Avatar: The Last Airbender also had a truly transformative impact upon my family growing up. It was the one "children's" show that my entire family would watch, oftentimes on replay as we had the entire DVD collection at home. We relished in the triumphs and tragedies, the beautiful music and themes, and I personally absolutely adored the expansive world-building presented to us.

And in the past 20 years, the Avatar universe has only vaguely been explored since The Last Airbender. Of course, there was The Legend of Korra, which was controversial within the community but otherwise until the last few years, Avatar seemed an abandoned IP. Thankfully, that is no longer the case and that is where today's article will be focusing. We are going to discuss the current lineup of Avatar properties, the upcoming projects and releases, and conjecture about interesting and fascinating potential areas to explore within the universe of Avatar, now more popularly referred to as Avatar Legends.

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Green Phoenix - Building Better Backstories VIII

It's been a while since my last edition of Building Better Backstories. In the past, I've discussed literary and cinematic alterations but this edition is both a first for me and something that I'm actually quite excited to discuss.

This eighth edition of Building Better Backstories will be the first to discuss the narrative of a video game. In particular the fourth and final game in the legendary Sly Cooper franchise: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.

Released in 2013 by Sanzaru Games, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is visually and gameplay-wise, very similar to the previous entries of Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. However, where the game is almost universally disliked by fans of the franchise is in the area of story, as the fourth game in this franchise famous for well-established character-driven story moments feels almost lifeless and seems to even revel in making character twists and revelations that either hinder the games' storytelling potential and, at worst, make previous entries in the series feel shallow or worse because of the revelations.

With that in mind, I realized, after speaking with my sister who is also a huge fan of the series, that my mind had actually already come up with several solutions to this issue. So that is what I will do. I will go over the narrative problems in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time and then lay out my solutions for fixing an average game and transforming it into what I would feel is a fantastic game.

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Green Phoenix - Let's Talk...Sonic: Wonders of the World

It's time for yet another episode of Let's Talk..., where I go into a more free-form discussion about a specific subject of media or hypothesize about a specific theory or topic. Today, we actually have a request for collaboration. Cendoo is getting ready to release a new series called Video Game Classroom and he asked me to make an article parallel to his first episode. He is planning to discuss a cancelled Sonic the Hedgehog game from the mid 90s known as Sonic X-treme.

To promote his upcoming project and because of the recent Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer that just released, I felt it a fine time to discuss a tie-in movie that would've been released alongside Sonic X-Treme known as Sonic: Wonders of the World. In this episode of Let's Talk..., we will hypothesize about what this film would likely have looked like. How its plot would've likely developed, and whether the film would have been a financial or critical success, given the nature of the film industry at the time.

The answers might very well surprise you.

 

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Tempo - The Forgotten Sega Trilogy

 

Three games on 3 different Sega systems, never had much of a chance. Developed by Red Company, the same company who brought us the Bonk's Adventure series and Sakura Taisen. Tempo is a music loving grasshopper and one of my personal favorite forgotten Sega characters/series so I decided to give a brief history of his 3 games. Click "read more".

TMNT Talk: Should Venus ever return?

 

Missing since 1997

A lesser known incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is its 1997 life action series called Ninja Turtles The Next Mutation. Lasting only 1 season, the show never took off in ratings or fans and is mostly forgotten aside from a crossover with the Power Rangers In Space. However, what stood out the most about this adaptation was the inclusion of a 5th female turtle named Mei Pieh Chi or Venus for short who has not been used since the shows cancelation besides a few comic cameos. Now, I know Venus most likely will never make a full return because of marketing and lack of interest, but should she? Click "read more" for my take.

Sonic The Hedgehog Project 06 - An Amazing Effort and Fun Remake

 

An unofficial remake of the infamous Sonic The Hedgehog (2006) being developed by Ian Moris (ChaosX). One of the most impressive efforts I have ever seen from the Sonic fan community. A new updated Demo dropped known as the Silver Release dropped in April of this year, 2023, and it is beyond impressive. Truly a story of what could have been. Click "read more".

Game IPs That Deserve To Come Back But Probably Won't

 

Super Sentai - The Origins of The 6th Ranger

 

Time for a history lesson. While Tommy is famously the first 6th Ranger of Power Rangers and Buria is technically the first of Super Sentai, there are some interesting stories leading up to Buria. Click "Read More" for the full tale.

Ghost Ranger - The Possible Future of Gaming on Smart Phones

 

Gaming on smartphones has an interesting history. In the early days it was seen as the possible future because it offered tones of variety and convenience. However, once pay-to-win and ad spamming took over the bulk of game apps and most of them being the same as each other, it seemed like everything was downhill for it. But, as of late, I've been getting into a ton of Remote Playing and Android Ports that make me believe there is a much brighter future.

Ghost Ranger - Gaming on a Budget/Growing up as a Gamer

 

This is a topic I have been going over in my head for quite awhile that does not need much explaining. Much like the metaphor for life, playing video games is something we all have to do on a budget whether that is a budget of money, time, or energy/interest. Now, my only question is, what does it mean to you and how does that change? I will also take this change to tell my history of gaming. Click "read more" and let's go over it.

Do "Choices" Hurt Storytelling in Video Games?

 

Recently I have been re-playing Fallout 4 a lot and watching several guides on choices that have to be made. A common conclusion I hear in these videos is something along the lines of "it depends on what you are role playing as". That's the thing though, I don't really do strict role play, I am a completionist and try to do as much as possible in a game. This makes me think back to a lot of games that forced me to make choices I did not really want to make and wonder if they truly benefit from having them. Click "read more" for my thoughts.

Stop Asking For A Switch Pro or Switch 2

 

Green Phoenix - 2022 in Review

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

2022 has been a year of massive transformative changes for me, primarily in my personal life. At the beginning of the year, I had officially moved out of my parents house and begun fully living on my own, which has been a fantastic adventure and a great challenge for my daily life and commitments to writing and video work. But I like to think that this year has been one where I have risen to meet that challenge.

Writing for Emerald Rangers has been a wonderful exercise in maintaining my analytical mind and improving my literary credentials. While I might not always be happy with every article I release (in fact, my perfectionist mind is rarely happy with anything I release or make) I do believe that everything I release is a genuinely good reflection of my own state of mind and how the films, shows, books and games discussed reflect on the world and myself at that moment. The art of criticism is often a deeply personal and self-reflective quest and it has been a genuine pleasure in continuing that adventure over the past year, despite some of my more domestic challenges.

Below is a list of the statistics and personal indication as to how my articles are performing and what changes, in any, may be needed as we move into 2023. This article, which I always release at the first of the year, is a chance for me to see the status of my contribution to the website and plot a trajectory for the coming year.

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Calm Before The Storm...Sonic fans embrace Sonic Frontiers - will it Make Or Break Sonic Team?

 

Green Phoenix - Let's Talk...Roger Rabbit

In 1981, author Gary K. Wolf wrote Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, a murder mystery novel involving hardboiled detective Eddie Valiant as he seeks to uncover who murdered famous comic strip character Roger Rabbit, using a "doppelganger" of the former character to assist him in the investigation. From this concept, would eventually arise the 1988 Robert Zemeckis classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.

While this would adaptation would essentially change everything about the original story, it would also become an incredibly popular and influential film, propelling the character of Roger Rabbit to the upper echelon of animated legends. In the succeeding years, a series of cartoons would be developed involving Roger Rabbit and his co-host Baby Herman, and then...nothing.

What happened to Roger Rabbit? And what could've been done with his character, or what could be done now after almost two decades without any new Roger Rabbit content?

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Green Phoenix - Trailer Talk: The Super Mario Bros. Movie Teaser

In the annals of video game adaptations, few films stand quite as infamous as Super Mario Bros., released in 1993. Starring Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi, the film was bereft with strange directorial and production choices that left the film resembling nothing like its source material, an almost cursed production with terrible treatment of extras and cast-members, and a puzzingly inept interpretation of what should've been an easy narrative, all owed almost exclusively to the terrible writing and strange auteur-stylings of its married director team.

So terrible was this film that it actually turned Nintendo off from any future film adaptations of their properties until Detective Pikachu in 2019, to average but generally pleased reviews by audiences and critics. Thus when it was announced in 2018 that Nintendo was working to create yet another adaptation of their most famous property, people immediately took note, not entirely positive either.

This attention grew even higher when it was announced that Chris Pratt, the man who I have begun to refer to as the modern John Wayne (in that he only ever really plays himself in most of his films), would be voicing one of the world's most popular video game mascots. I, like the internet, was utterly shocked and befuddled by this choice, especially when Charles Martinet, the actual voice actor for Mario, wasn't even considered for the role. It left everyone anxious for just what kind of film Nintendo was willing to adapt to the screen.

Thus when the 2022 Nintendo Direct revealed the first teaser for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the internet latched on with the force of a leech. With so much excitement, how could I not make it the subject of my next Trailer Talk?

Short answer? I couldn't. So let's take a look at the trailer and see what catches my attention.

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Are Open Endings Lazy Writing?

 

Whether or not a story is better with an Open Ending or proper closure is an endless debate that is really a case by case basis. However, one thing I always wonder whenever I come across an ending left open is whether or not the writer actually has hidden meaning, or if it was done as a cop-out in order to not need to write a proper finale. No matter what you think of open endings, they are definitely easier to write because they do not require tying up loose ends or resolving all the mystery. So, is that just a writing shortcut? Or do they take more planning than we realize? Click "read more" and I will give my take.

Green Phoenix - Let's Talk...The Hobbit Trilogy

In 2001, Peter Jackson released the first part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy to near universal acclaim. Over the next two years, this ambitious project (which had never been done before) would rise to become one of the greatest film franchises of all time, not only helping to popularize the fantasy genre for blockbuster audiences (a trait the Lord of the Rings trilogy shares with the Harry Potter series) but also ensuring that the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, would become a household name.

With an expansive and immersive world, fantastic characters with beautifully realized archetypes and a true sense of focus that George R.R. Martin could only dream of, The Lord of the Rings has long become a cornerstone of the fantasy genre, almost to the genre's detriment if I'm being particularly critical. But it was not the only exploration that Tolkien took into the world of Middle-Earth. Before The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien had been working for decades on several projects including works that would eventually become The Silmarillion and, of course, the book that propelled him to popularity in the first place, The Hobbit.

Thus when the fans of The Lord of the Rings cinematic trilogy began to express their hunger for more content, The Hobbit was the clear and obvious choice. Despite this obvious recipe for success and profit, the world would not see an adaptation of Tolkien's beloved children's book until 2012, with a brand new trilogy of films: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of Five Armies.

At last after a decade of waiting, a new trilogy within the world of Middle-Earth was available for people to enjoy. And audience's collective response to this trilogy was...lackluster, to say the least. Initially, I couldn't decide if I wanted this article to be a Building Better Backstories or just a general editorial. Because of that, this edition of Let's Talk...will be something of a discussion and consideration. We will look at what worked and what did not about Peter Jackson's second trilogy in the world of Arda. I will naturally discuss my passion for the greater Tolkien mythos and ponder on what alterations might have been made to improve the overall product.

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Is Using Video Games To Escape Reality a Bad Thing?

 

Hello gang, this is going to be a short article about a topic I have been guilty of a lot these days and one I have seen being ask about on social media. Plenty of people play video games without using it as a crutch to escape their real world problems, but just as many, if not more, use it as a coping mechanism or a distraction from any number of real world problems. So, if you care to hear my take, click "read more".

Green Phoenix - Trailer Talk: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Teaser

In the last few weeks of July, we were all blessed to see San Diego Comic-Con return after a three year hiatus, now that the life-altering shitstorm that was COVID-19 is now a more normalized and managed part of our daily lives (even if it isn't gone completely). And with Comic-Con's return, we were all graced with what is absolutely my favorite part of convention season, the release of new trailers and teasers for movies and TV shows.

A good trailer can make or break a film's release. Some trailers are so designed that they kill all excitement for a film like with Megamind's trailer which spoiled every twist in the film. On the case of trailers like the original Sonic the Hedgehog, the trailer can be so poorly received that it enables the creators to completely shift the film for the better. And yet, an amazing trailer can be almost as entertaining and revolutionary as the film itself. In some cases, the trailer is even better than the movie its set to promote.

Naturally, this talk of trailers got me thinking. Why don't I write editorials where I discuss trailers, either new releases or maybe even reminiscence about trailers of the past and see why they either do or do not work. Thus was born this new editorial series Trailer Talk.

As for the first trailer to be discussed in my new series, how about we turn back to this years San Diego Comic-Con and one of the most widely regarded trailers released that weekend.

The very first teaser for Marvel Studios' next film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

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