Post-Apocalyptic Bones

Hello wastelanders and welcome to post-apocalyptic-bones! I'm Bones and I'm here to bring you all types of content relating to apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic media. We're talking gaming clips, factoids, movie reviews and recommendations, and more! So fasten your seatbelts and grab your favorite bandit whacker and let's do this!

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I'd like to take this opportunity to add to my mission statement and include post-post-apocalyptic content into the list of possibilities that my social media accounts will be exploring. Hence I will be referring to my focus as falling under the umbrella of all media relating to the apocalypse and beyond. I will be elaborating on my reasoning momentarily but first I'll add some basic definitions so that we're all on the same page.

Post-apocalyptic media is any creative work that explores life after an apocalypse. An apocalypse is a cataclysmic event that destroys or fundamentally changes civilization in some way. Post-post-apocalyptic is a newer term that started seeing widespread usage somewhere around the 2000s to 2010s. The term post-post-apocalyptic is used to differentiate works that focus on the more immediate aftermath of an apocalypse from works that focus on events occurring long after the apocalypse. Post-post-apocalyptic works are recognizable by a few key features. Post-post-apocalyptic works are set in a period where humans are able to focus on more than simple survival. In these works civilization has significantly healed with large thriving communities, kingdoms, or nations springing up from the ashes of the ones destroyed in the apocalypse.

I have chosen to focus on all media relating to the apocalypse in any way. This includes apocalyptic (during the apocalypse), post-apocalyptic, post-post-apocalyptic, and at times pre-apocalyptic (just before an apocalypse) media. The reason I have decided this is because although my original aim was to cover post-apocalyptic media solely I discovered that the strictness of that aim would exclude entire portions of what are primarily post-apocalyptic tales. Take the 2011 Planet of the Apes reboot for example. The first movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes covers the apocalypse as it is happening. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an apocalyptic movie, not post-apocalyptic. However, multiple subsequent films in the 2011 reboot series are deeply post-apocalyptic as are the original films from the late 60s and early 70s. Ignoring a single film in a franchise just because of where it sits in the stories' timeline does not sit well with me. A lot of people may not know but the first film in the Mad Max franchise, one of the most notable and recognizable post-apocalyptic franchises of all time was actually not post-apocalyptic at all, it was pre-apocalyptic. The Fallout franchise a highly successful post-apocalyptic video game series contains entries that could be categorized as post-post-apocalyptic. The game Fallout New Vegas features many advanced communities and micro nations that are clearly thriving. Fallout is referred to as post-apocalyptic by many people to this day. A lot of fans of the post-apocalyptic subgenre do not differentiate between post-apocalyptic and post-post-apocalyptic as it is still a relatively new concept. Personally I acknowledge the distinction but am also deeply interested in both so I am including them both in the scope of my social media channels.

One last thing I would like to add is that there is a common misconception that there is a relation between post-apocalyptic media and the level of technology featured in a work. I fully believe and maintain that this is false. The video game Elden Ring is a dark fantasy game that features a world that has been devastated by multiple apocalyptic wars. Civilization in the featured "lands between" have either crumbled or are crumbling. It is true that Elden Ring is a dark fantasy game however, it is also a post-apocalyptic game by definition. Let us not forget that a work can fit into more than one subgenre. On the opposite end of the spectrum the 2004 reboot of Battlestar Galactica features space travel, humanoid robots, and starships. Battlestar Galactica (2004) can be confidently referred to as a space opera, it is also a post-apocalyptic story. Battlestar Galactica (2004) is about a small group of humans who survive a nuclear holocaust that destroys the 12 colony planets they previously resided on. Relentlessly pursued by the race of robots that destroyed the 12 colonies, the surviving humans do have a small semblance of a community. The human survivors of Battlestar Galactica have a president and a military even however, humanity is barely clinging to survival. Each episode of Battlestar Galactica is about resource management or decision making in which one mistake could lead to the extinction of an already crippled human race. That is why despite highly advanced technology that far surpasses that of our modern day, Battlestar Galactica (2004) is firmly a post-apocalyptic story. I just want to make that clear. A story doesn't have to feature rusted cars and leather outfits to be considered post-apocalyptic.

Code Vein is often summed up as an anime version of Dark Souls. Some may say this summary is reductive but at its core that's exactly what it is and I don't find anything wrong with that. It's not that anime Dark Souls is all there is to it, it does do some new and different things, but that's the easiest and quickest way to describe it. If you like Dark Souls gameplay mechanics and Japanese anime art styles there's a good chance you'll like Code Vein.

My sister was actually the first one in our family to purchase Code Vein. She had told me a little bit about it but I didn't really know much. She offered to let me play it one day and one of my very first impressions was "Oh, this is like Dark Souls."

Another thing I noticed very early on is that Code Vein's character customization is extensive. Seriously, I've spent hours tweaking characters trying to make them perfect. My most recent character is BB, pictured below.

Now in comparing Code Vein to Dark Souls I'm not saying that the game does nothing different or unique. To the contrary Code Vein has a few interesting mechanics that aren't strictly Souls-like mechanics.

For starters when you level up, your HP, stamina, weapon damage, and Gift power (spells) all go up simultaneously. Your other stats are actually determined by your "Blood Code" which is essentially a character class. Your Blood Code can be changed pretty much at any time, the one big exception being during active combat. You can switch Blood Codes even mid exploration, so long as you aren't actively engaged in combat. What this means is you can change strategies and play styles on the fly without ever having to deal with any sort of respec systems. Your level ups give stat increases every build can use and specific play styles are formed via a combination of Blood Codes (class), Blood Veils (armor), weapons, and chosen spells. This is a very welcome change for me. It simplifies more common level up systems and allows players to quickly and easily adapt to various situations and scenarios.

Another notable feature of Code Vein is their persistent companion system. You get an a.i. companion pretty much off the bat and can have one with you pretty much at all times. You can summon and dismiss them at "Mistles" Code Vein's version of bonfires. Their usefulness can vary but overall they tend to make the game a fair bit easier than other Souls-like titles. Companions even have the ability to revive you from time to time under the right conditions. For players who prefer things more challenging it appears you can play without a companion for at least most of the game.

My biggest complaint so far is some irritating map designs and enemy placement. Specifically Code Vein often features bottomless chasms, narrow paths, and large long reaching enemies all in the same spots. My character has perished due to falling in pits, ravines, and chasms more than I'd care to admit.

Another thing that seems off to me is the variance in difficulty as the game has progressed. The first boss was pretty easy but that can be appropriate for a first boss. The second boss in the game's main story path is significantly more difficult and could be jarringly so for some players. Then you get to the third boss and they're significantly easier than the previous one. The difficulty level spikes up and down hard between the first three bosses. That said I've only fought three bosses so far.

Another part that hasn't quite grabbed me so far is the story. Unlike most souls-like games that tend to use item descriptions and environmental story telling to drip feed clues to the player about what has happened in the game's settings, Code Vein goes for more traditional cutscene cinematics. This isn't really a problem for me however, the plot is very melodramatic. I don't feel very connected to the story or characters so far. While the story isn't the most terrible in the world it is pretty lackluster in my opinion. The theme of the game is interesting however. You play as a revenant, a vampire like creature in a post-apocalyptic world where humans and by extension blood is rare. Those parts I like even if I'm not very engaged with the main narrative.

I'm still fairly early into the game but despite some obvious flaws I'm really enjoying it so far. My overall impression is good. It's an easier Souls-like with an anime aesthetic and a couple of new ideas. It's not perfect by any means but I think a lot of people will enjoy it if they give it a chance. Hardcore gamers may not prefer it due to its lower difficulty when compared to similar titles. However, gamers who like the Dark Souls formula but struggle with the difficulty may end up having a good time with it.

Twisted Metal (Peacock)

Hello wastelanders! Let's talk Twisted Metal!

My first memories of Twisted Metal go way back to grade school, playing split screen on a PlayStation 1 that, if memory serves me correctly, was my grandfather's. So that was a very distant memory for me. We're talking 20 plus years ago. The only thing I really remember was driving and shooting cars, so any deviations from the source material between the games and the show I'm only aware of because I've seen other people talk about them. I'm judging the television series based solely on how much I personally enjoyed it, and let me tell you, I've enjoyed every single episode so far. It has two seasons with a third on the way. I enjoyed both seasons very much, with my only complaint being that a certain character in season two looked a tad goofy even for my tastes, but not even that couldn't detract from the pure joy the rest of the show delivered for me. I'm not saying you should get Peacock just to watch Twisted Metal, but I'm not not saying it either.

For the uninitiated, Twisted Metal is about a post-apocalyptic delivery driver named John Doe. John's goal is to deliver a package across post-apocalyptic America for an opportunity at a better life. Along the way John will encounter corrupt lawmen, a serial killer clown named Sweet Tooth, and a whole host of eccentric and dangerous characters. It's an over-the-top gory action comedy adventure.