News

Fe: A Magical, Haunting Indie Adventure

Published

6 years ago

March 1, 2018

You guys ready for a game that exists on an almost pure Zen level? Maybe it’s all the white knuckle PUBG that I have been playing, or the fact that everything on the news is a bummer nowadays, but Fe was an almost medicinal experience for me in contrast. It’s simultaneously relaxing, horrifying and thought-provoking all while being pretty dang adorable. Yea, I know. That’s a heck of a lot of traits to have but the team over at Zoink! seriously manage to pull em off effortlessly.

Fe begins in a Nordic forest where invaders called The Silent Ones interrupt the forests ecosystem by harvesting plant and animal life for their own advancement. You step into the paws of Fe, an adorable creature who acts as the voice of the forest. It’s up to you to tune yourself into the voice of the forest in order to save the day and your little adorable homies of the wild.

Where some games might beat you over the head with tutorials and direction, Fe allows players to figure mechanics out for themselves and pave their own path of exploration. The game encourages exploration at every turn by rewarding you with hidden goodies spread throughout the wilderness.

The polygon-based art style uses minimalism in fantastic ways. The world is made up of vibrant neon eye candy, changing hues as Fe moves from quadrant to quadrant. The effect is immersive and dreamlike. Ultimately, the strange and beautiful cocktail that Fe serves up make for an experience where you are at ease with just roaming around taking in the sights objective free.

There is a certain haunting brutality added by the invasion of the Silent Ones. Their H.G. Wellian appearance, and animations really do cut the image of proper villains but something about their cold methods of harshly harvesting the helpless animals of the forest is pretty mean stuff adding to the villainy. These villains remind me of something, and they are designed to… more on that later.

In order to progress, Fe is required to learn different animal’s languages. For example, to be able to get an assist from birds, you have to help a bird elder out with a certain objective. After learning that language, areas you might have missed before are now accessible to you. The more relics and old ruins you explore the more knowledge you get into the backstory.

Singing the song of the forest in different languages gets you the help of all kinds of animals each with their own unique abilities. If you ever get stuck simply singing may offer some surprises to assist in further exploration.

The entire game looks remarkable and has a special approach to character/level design and overall game play. This is EA’s first outing with its indie developer-centric “EA Originals,” and a good sign that this branch of EA might be distributing some surprisingly innovative content.

The scariest take away from such a great gaming experience is the nail on the head allegory that the game presents. Humans are obviously the Silent Ones here, presenting a quiet powerful menace. It’s a challenging narrative when put under that lens. It’s horrifying because so are we, and for a game to offer that kind of food for thought is pretty dang great in my opinion.

Fe is an elegant indie title that is powered by a evocative searing score. (I need this soundtrack on some kind of special edition vinyl right away) Past the positive propulsive message that makes up the narrative is a wonderfully, haunting 3D platformer that is equal parts Journey, equal parts Okami and equal parts its own unique little beast. It’s a refreshing title that I’m excited to revisit.

Fe is out now on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

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News

“In a Violent Nature” So Gory Audience Member Throws Up During Screening

Published

1 hour ago

May 8, 2024

Cameron McFarland

Chis Nash (ABC’s of Death 2) just debuted his new horror film, In a Violent Nature, at the Chicago Critics Film Fest. Based on the audience’s reaction, those with squeamish stomachs may want to bring a barf bag to this one.

Thats right, we have another horror film that is causing audience members to walk out of the screening. According to a report from Film Updates at least one audience member threw up in the middle of the film. You can hear audio of the audience reaction to the film below.

Audience reacting to a kill from ‘IN A VIOLENT NATURE’ during the Chicago Critics Film Fest screening of the film. An audience member also vomited during the screening.

The film, described as a slasher from the killer's perspective, hits theaters on May 31. pic.twitter.com/KGlyC3HFXa
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) May 6, 2024

This is far from the first horror film to claim this kind of audience reaction. However, early reports of In a Violent Nature indicates that this film may be just that violent. The film promises to reinvent the slasher genre by telling the story from the killer’s perspective.

Here is the official synopsis for the film. When a group of teens takes a locket from a collapsed fire tower in the woods, they unwittingly resurrect the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime. The undead killer soon embarks on a bloody rampage to retrieve the stolen locket, methodically slaughtering anyone who gets in his way.

While we will have to wait and see if In a Violent Nature lives up to all of its hype, recent responses on X offer nothing but praise for the film. One user even makes the bold claim that this adaptation is like an arthouse Friday the 13th.

In a Violent Nature will receive a limited theatrical run starting May 31, 2024. The film will then be released on Shudder sometime later in the year. Make sure to check out the promo images and trailer below.

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Movies

New Windswept Action Trailer for ‘Twisters’ Will Blow You Away

Published

4 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The summer movie blockbuster game came in soft with The Fall Guy, but the new trailer for Twisters is bringing back the magic with an intense trailer full of action and suspense. Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin, is behind this newest disaster film just like its 1996 predecessor.

This time Daisy Edgar-Jones plays the female lead named Kate Cooper, “a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.”

Twisters cast includes Nope’s Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical) and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy).

Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and hits theaters on July 19.

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News

Travis Kelce Joins Cast on Ryan Murphy’s ‘Grotesquerie’

Published

6 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Football star Travis Kelce is going Hollywood. At least that is what Dahmer Emmy award-winning star Niecy Nash-Betts announced on her Instagram page yesterday. She posted a video of herself on set of the new Ryan Murphy FX series Grotesquerie.

“This is what happens when WINNERS link up‼️ @killatrav Welcome to Grostequerie[sic]!” she wrote.

Standing just out of frame is Kelce who suddenly steps in to say, “Jumping into new territory with Niecy!” Nash-Betts appears to be in a hospital gown while Kelce is dressed as an orderly.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Niecy Nash (@niecynash1)

Not much is known about Grotesquerie, other than in literary terms it means a work filled with both science fiction and extreme horror elements. Think H.P. Lovecraft.

Back in February Murphy released an audio teaser for Grotesquerie on social media. In it, Nash-Betts says in part, “I don’t know when it started, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s different now. There’s been a shift, like something’s opening up in the world — a kind of hole that descends into a nothingness…”