Editorial: Is "Veggietales In The House" A Hit or Miss?

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

Big Idea (under DreamWorks now) had recently released a series on Netflix called Veggietales In The House.

I saw the show through Netflix (Obviously... Where else can you see the show? (And don't say Youtube!)); that's one of the shows that's apparently trending right now. From what I've heard and saw from social media, people had mixed reviews on this show. Some people say that the show is okay; others complained about it. But what do I think about the show?

So, first, we have to discuss the one thing that people are mostly complaining about: the character design.

Why did Veggietales need to get a new look? What was wrong with the old design?

In the original series, the animation had little to no problems at all. The character designs were just enough to be called credible. Here, in this new show, they have the characters looking like something out of a Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network cartoon.
-I mean, who's idea was it to use animation that's just as cartoony and wacky-looking as the show Fanboy and Chum Chum?
-Plus, who knew that Larry the Cucumber had red eyes?
-Plus, why does Archibald's head look more inflated than the rest of his body? A big head with a small body is almost always as wacky as [fill in your own punch line here].
Anyway, there's a slew of Youtube videos that say that the new design is out of Big Idea's league.

Now, for the show itself: the show is surprisingly good. I mean, so far it's spawned at least 5 episodes on Netflix.
-Wow! That's pretty good.
But is it insultingly good? I mean, with the new character design and everything, the show was sure gonna get mixed reviews no matter what.

Overall, the show isn't so bad. I mean, the decision to make the characters look and feel different was risky, because in the original series, there was nothing wrong with the old design. But if you like the new design, good for you. I mean, it's kind of like the new design of the animatronic characters from the Five Nights at Freddy's series, in comparison to its original game: we just had to get used to the new design, whether we wanted to or not.

Whatsoever Critic
Sources:
Veggietales In The House
Veggietales
Five Nights at Freddy's
Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Courtesy: Big Idea and Scott Cawthon

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2 Glitch Confirmed! (A.K.A.- I'm Not SeeingThings!)

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

In my previous blog post on Five Nights at Freddy's 2, I mentioned seeing what looked like a glitch at the end of the game, when you got caught by one of the animatronics. I wasn't sure if anyone else got that same glitch or not. So, I went digging on the Internet and came across a Youtube video that somewhat backed up my claim.

The video showed the normal gameplay, and then it got to the glitch. The glitch had the same red rolling bars as mine did, and it made the same "Uh... uh..." sounds as mine did, and the animation was the same retro-looking animation as mine; but the only difference was that there was a square containing six kids and Freddy Fazbear himself walking to each of them, while there was a caption below the screen saying "Take cake to the children."

Of course, my glitch was a different picture, with Freddy Fazbear surrounded by colorful curved objects that, I guess, is supposed to resemble the other characters. But there were the same animation, the same sounds, and the same red rolling bars. So, I was right in some way.

And just recently (yesterday 11/24/14), I was playing Five Nights at Freddy's 2 again, and my game had a glitch again with the same type of animation and the same "Uh... uh..." sound, but it showed a different picture, which (Thank God) I had the sense to get pictures of this time!

This time, it showed Freddy Fazbear in the middle, holding what looks like a cupcake. Above him was what looks like a kid (or baby).

The kid looks like he's crying, because of the tears running down his face.

Behind him, a purple car drives up.

Suddenly, the Jack-in-the-Box makes a jumpscare; and then the game abruptly cuts to its main menu.
-Sorry for the glare in these photos, but I felt that it was my civic duty to shed light on something that needed to be addressed.

With that said, I may have some theories on what the glitches can mean:
Theory 1:
Scott Cawthon promised us that the sequel would be scarier than its original game. Well... HE MADE GOOD ON THAT PROMISE!!!
Theory 2:
Remember "The Bite of '87" story that was first mentioned in the first Five Nights at Freddy's game? The recent glitch I had showed a kid crying and standing not far from a vehicle.
-Maybe the kid was trying to escape?
Maybe this was some kind of reminder of the Bite of '87- like a twisted flashback.

Well, those are my theories. In fact, no one really knows whether this was Cawthon's intention or not. If you haven't seen the Youtube video that I mentioned earlier, check it out on Youtube.

I was worried, because I thought I was the only one seeing this glitch.

Whatsoever Critic

Sources:

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

"Five Nights at Freddy's 2 GLITCH!!!?" video

Courtesy: Scott Cawthon; All Shafts Fall (Youtube Channel)

CHARACTER ANALYSIS #6: Mario from the "Super Mario Bros." Video Game Franchise

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

ANOTHER CHARACTER ANALYSIS!!!... which will be a brief one, you guys, because many people know this guy, especially most gamers: Mario from the Super Mario Bros. franchise.

What's likeable about him? And what are his shortcomings? Well, I'm here to shed light on this character through this analysis. So let's get started!
-And just to let you know, I will not be including the Super Mario Show franchise in this analysis. I know that he started in spin-off shows, but they're just so forgettable.

Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong in the 80s. Afterwards, his fame started to grow. And then, there came the usual formula that still exists today: Princess Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser;

Mario is called in to save the day; Mario and Bowser duke it out; Mario saves Peach; and the end.
-And yes, in the future, I'll be doing a Character Analysis on Bowser, because I got a lot to say about him.
Also, Mario is in the Mario Party franchise, which is pretty impressive.

-I know I've played Mario Party 7, Mario Party DS, and Mario Party: Island Tour. Wow! The franchise must be that popular!

Now as far as personality goes, it's basically stayed the same throughout the years: He's smart, loyal, friendly, has a moral compass, and possesses a good heart. He's especially like that around Princess Peach, because hey: they make it obvious that they belong together.

Mario also has a brother named Luigi.

-Funny story: At first, I thought Luigi was older than him, but after playing some of the games and reading about them on the Internet, it's Mario that's the older brother, and Luigi the younger brother, even though Luigi is taller.
That's the only known family that Mario has, and that's his brother Luigi. The relationship between him and his brother are great. Sure, there can be friendly competition and Luigi's not-as-daring-as-Mario attitude, but the relationship is still strong.
-And yes, in the future, I'll probably do a Character Analysis on Luigi.

As far as abilities go, Mario is only known to jump,

fly in raccoon costumes, ground-pound Bowser's minions, have super abilities after eating a red mushroom.

So where does Mario fall flat? Well, I don't think he falls flat, because his character maintains its credibility throughout the years. However, he just fell flat in the spin-off cartoons, because of sloppy animation and plotless episodes.
-I know I said I wouldn't mention the TV show, but I had to point it out here.

Anyway, that was my Character Analysis on Mario from the Super Mario Bros. franchise.

Tune in next time for another Character Analysis, and for more reviews!

Whatsoever Critic
Sources:
Mario Party series
Super Mario Bros.

Courtesy: Nintendo

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S 2- My Verdict

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

So in yesterday's video, I posted that I had heard about Five Nights at Freddy's 2 having being released recently.

Yesterday I was scrambling to buy the game on my mobile app.

Afterwards, the first thing I did was play it.

I'm not sure how long I played the game (seeing that I only made it to Night 2), but it's a lot harder than the first Five Nights at Freddy's. Why? Well...
1. More cameras that you have to keep track of

2. A music box that you have to wind up AND keep track of every once in a while
3. Not four animatronic characters but a total of 7

(featuring newbies: the Balloon boy, the Jack in the Box, and the kind-of female version of Foxy (what is that?!)) that you have to keep track of
4. A flashlight that can run out of power if you don't use it wisely... THAT YOU HAVE TO KEEP TRACK OF!
5. A Freddy mask that you can wear to ward off some of the characters (excluding the fox and... some others)
-I mean, seriously! This game is really banking up on having us keep track of things, isn't it?

I played this game last night, and the fox got me.

-Now, for those of you that don't know yet, but I have this game on my iPad, so it's the iOS version. So, some of this may be different from the PC version.

I played it again this morning, and got a rude awakening. Here's how it went down:
I played this game twice this morning.

Attempt 1:
I was on the first night. I hear the guy on the phone talking and saying things in his usual nothing's-wrong attitude. I'm checking each of the cameras, and when I return to looking at the office, a shadowy figure of Freddy Fazbear himself is at the left-hand corner of the office. What happened next was that the game froze. I only assumed that the app had crashed. So I exit out of the game and reopened it.

Attempt 2:
Now for this attempt, this was where weird things happened.
I was playing the game like normal with no crashes. As I predicted, I only made it to Night 2, with Foxy getting me. But that wasn't the weird part; the weird part came after the jumpscare.
After the game had cut to the usual TV-losing-signal black-and-white image, there came red horizontal bars running up and down the screen. Next, instead of the "Game Over" credit, what pops up is a bunch of colorful figures appeared. They looked like something that one would see in games like Pacman or other retro games like it. And I saw a retro-looking Freddy Fazbear in the middle of the screen surrounded by other figures that were shaped in curving shapes. All you could hear was someone going "Uh... uh..." in a deep baritone voice.
I wanted to have gotten a picture of some of this on my phone, but (stupid me) my phone was turned off and charging somewhere's; so there was no way that I could've documented it.

So, what's my verdict?

It was okay. I mean, it's more creepier than the first one. Plus, we're dealing with more characters than the first. Also, this game expects us to work harder than the first.
However, what was up with that weird thing that happened at the end of the game? I'M NOT KIDDING!!! I don't know if that was a glitch or not. I'm not sure if anyone came across that or not. If so, please leave a comment or a shout-out just so to make sure that I'm not the only one that got that kind of glitch in the game or not. I'm not sure if that was Scott Cawhorn's intention or not, but this had to be something huge! And, like I said before, I have the iOS version of the game, so I don't know if that glitch appears in the PC version or not.
I'm telling you: that was the creepiest thing to have come up in Five Nights at Freddy's 2... AND IT WASN'T ANY OF THE JUMPSCARES!!!!

Whatsoever Critic
Source: Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Source: Scott Cawhorn