Announcement: My third book is available now

“Maybe Everyone Is Wrong”

As we steadily enter a technocratic Dark Age and see the engineered implosion of our civilization, I know that many people will be tempted to turn to religion and especially “end times” teachings for comfort or advice, but as somebody who researched and found mistakes in all of the biggest schools of thought on the subject, I felt a need to present a more cogent, corrected view. In the Metal Gear world I’ve become known for pointing out themes and analytical layers of the text that nobody else picked up on, and this is the same kind of treatment I give to the Biblical text, making the complex symbolism simple and easy to grasp, with powerful harmony with the Gospels and the rest of the Bible. Things like the Rapture, the Antichrist, the Beast, the Whore of Babylon, and many other controversies are not only explained, but laid out with such strong logic that you’ll see why it had to be written exactly the way that it was.

Here are some brief examples of what I discovered:

• There is no Antichrist. The Bible debunks the notion.
• The Rapture is not for present day churches. The church will be killed.
• We are entering the age of the fourth horsemen, Death.
• Jerusalem will become the capital of the new post-church world.

None of this is scary if you know what to expect. And if you’re as big a fan of God as I am, get a copy and appreciate what He was trying to tell us.

Listen to the Audiobook for free

In order to make the material as accessible as possible, and as a service to my readers and fellow believers, I’ve begun creating the audiobook for Maybe Everyone Is Wrong and uploading chapters to my new podcast, The Not Done Yet Podcast, which you can find on many podcast platforms.

What I Want From Breath of the Wild 2

This article was originally featured in Issue #1 of META GEAR FILE, which you can download for free right here.

Details are currently scant for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, which is good. It means less feedback from the community, which means less chance of muddying the concept. I’ve recently enjoyed replaying the original, and it reminded me of how many things BOTW did right. This time I used a much more head-on and aggressive approach than the first time I played it, and I realized that despite being a big sandbox world with physics and trickery, it functions just as well as a hero simulator. So with that experience and the (true) ending fresh on my mind, let me explain what I want for the upcoming sequel.

The first thing I’d like is a change of tone, which is pretty much confirmed already. The original game was subdued, understated, and oddball. As a huge fan of Link to the Past for the SNES, this isn’t my fantasy of what a Zelda game should be. In BOTW I felt that the music especially was lacking for a grand adventure. The garbled, non-melodic action music for most battles did nothing for me. However, this time I really took note of Hyrule Castle itself, and how its soundtrack finally gives Zelda fans what they’ve wanted the whole time. It finally feels like you’re living up to the legend and confronting the heart of evil. They reward you with one of the best renditions of the Zelda adventure song you could ask for, to the point where I left the castle and went back into the wild with a new desire to return. I missed that heroic tone. I started to feel I should go back, that’s where my destiny is.” Hyrule Castle is where you remember that you are Link, the hero of the franchise. This gives me hope for the sequel.

My bigger gripe with the original, however, was about the quality of NPC writing, which felt way too full of modern Japanese clichés for what is fundamentally a western fairy tale world. Giving personalities to NPCs is great, but it seems like Nintendo is addicted to splashing in “quirk” where it’s not needed. Having fat MILF fairy goddesses who lust after Link, or a stereotypically homosexual architect trying to teach Link a stupid new dance for no reason shows that the developers were getting bored with their own world, and forgetting the value of “timeless” design. Nintendo properties like Zelda and Mario should always stick to straight-faced heroism and adventure, and play into the stereotypes we already know and love. Super Mario RPG was a glorious example of Square expanding the tiny conception of the Mushroom Kingdom with aplomb, turning every race into its own subculture and constantly reinforcing—not subverting—player expectations. If BOTW2 can ditch the eccentricities and stick to an earnest tone, it will be all the more satisfying.

The underworld featured in the short teaser trailer for BOTW (here) suggests a lot of tunnels and caverns, with a dark and lonely tone, obviously beneath Hyrule Castle. The last game explained that there was a deep underground system where all the ancient technology was buried, so it’s clear they were already hinting at going subterranean in the first game. That’s a good sign. I assume the whole game will take on a more Twilight Princess sort of tone as a result, where you can switch to a spooky dark dimension at will to fight hidden threats and solve puzzles that most people can’t see. Twilight Princess was the second highest selling Zelda installment before BOTW came out, so Nintendo has a big motivation to revive it. If BOTW was their callback to Ocarina of Time, BOTW2 will probably be a callback to Twilight Princess. I’m okay with that.

I’m also okay with the idea that we play as Zelda instead of Link. BOTW’s true ending, when you collect all the memories, paints a picture that she was the main character the whole time, and was meant to be leading the way. Link is just her bodyguard, and that’s what he remains after saving her. In this trailer Zelda has short hair, a cape, and is taking care of herself and her beast of burden. We see a moment where Link and Zelda are separated, however, when the ground beneath her feet collapses. That’s when Link reaches out to grab her hand, and does so at first, but this doesn’t seem to last long because his right hand becomes possessed in the trailer, glowing brightly. He’s seemingly taken over. The same ghostly arm is seen grabbing the chest of Ganondorf (or whoever the central evil dude is they find in the underworld) and I can only assume this means Link is going to be fighting off possession the whole game, while you carry on as Zelda and try to find a way to cure him.

If Zelda is the playable character, it would explain why you start weak, and why you wouldn’t have access to all of the hearts, stamina, and abilities that Link did. You could explore the same world again as a different character and it would feel fresh. If you combined this with the “dark world mode” of Twilight Princess, you could revisit all the old locations with new twists. And since the castle and the ground around it will be lifted up into the sky—as seen toward the end of the teaser—you’d have a central area that is very different and probably leads to an underground series of dungeons. That’s right, proper dungeons. I’m expecting to see full-scale dungeons leading deep underground, rather than little trials scattered everywhere. Zelda will have Goddess Hylia powers of some kind, and these will be steadily awakened to fight the darkness. Maybe a kind of flashlight to banish the encroaching darkness, a weapon of light, etc. At the very end of BOTW she bestows the Bow of Light (or whatever it was called) to Link, so she definitely has the power to create weapons of pure radiance when she’s at max power.

All of this is welcome, but it could be ruined if they don’t add a heaping variety of enemy types beyond shadow monsters, creepy insects, and freaks. The Yiga Clan was a good start towards building human enemies with interesting powers, but I want to see a more worthy assortment of foes that come out to play. Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizfalos got tiresome by the end of the first game, and now I want cool enemies like corrupt knights, wizards, and warriors. Make them zombified if you have to, in order to explain why they don’t behave like normal humans from day to day, I don’t care. Maybe Zelda can’t wear armor and carry heavy weapons like Link did, so they don’t have to worry about the concept of looting the badguys as much.

Lastly, I wouldn’t mind some kind of pocket companion or central gimmick, but the Sheikah Slate proved its worth by simply being a utility, not an obnoxious side character. If Zelda ends up being able to command other creatures, summon things, or manipulate her environment in new ways, I’ll be more than happy.

What do you want to see in BOTW2? Is there something I’m missing? Let me know at metagearsolid@gmail.com

MEAT GEAR FILE Issue #3

Click the image to download the file, or click here.

The third issue of META GEAR FILE has a high power level. First of all I kick it oldschool with a classic Meta Gear style article that will make you laugh. Then it’s a trip down memory lane for me, as I show you some amazing concept art I drew back in high school (15 years ago or something). Then I call out Nintendo for not understanding the culture of 2020, which is an important message somebody should really share with them! Then there’s a lot more, including my thoughts on a couple of classic sci fi movies, and an upcoming project that you may be intrigued by.

(Also I just realized I haven’t been updating the “Issue #” at the page bottom. I’ll fix that going forward.)

What you’ll enjoy when you download the free 11 page PDF:

• Review: Giant Bomb’s Quick Look at Shakedown: Hawaii
• Memory Lane: Fighters Unite (high school concept art)
• Why Is Nintendo Still Trying To Have Fun?
• What I’m interested in lately

Thank you to the Patreon supporters.

META GEAR FILE Issue #2

Click the image to download the file, or click here.

In this second issue of META GEAR FILE I decided to take a good hard look at what the future could look like, by reflecting back on things I love. There is an appraisal of the current console race–if we can even call it that–and a few games that remind me of a time when I looked forward to what the future of games would be. To top it off, I decided I should share some thoughts on a movie I recently watched. It’s an old movie that seems to echo in today’s world, and which will no doubt grow in relevance with every passing month. Thank you to the Patreon supporters.

Here are the excellent features you will find in Issue #2:

Retro Bowl Review (mobile phone game)
Book of Aliens, Revival or Requiem?
• The Worst Console Race in History
• Taking Notes: Wag the Dog

Download the PDF now and enjoy at your leisure.

META GEAR FILE Issue #1

Image
Click the image to download the file, or click here.

I’m very proud to introduce META GEAR FILE, a new project that allows me to publish a series of articles, updates, commentaries, and writings released in document form, that you can download. It is kindly supported by my generous Patreon supporters. New articles, updates, and features released as a PDF. To learn more, download it now. To support this project and help cover this website’s hosting costs, go to my Patreon page.

Here’s the excellent content you will find in Issue #1:

• Special Introduction
• What I Want From Breath of the Wild 2
• “This Town’s Not Big Enough…” (Book snippet)
• What I’m interested in these days
• Kojima’s canceled project?

FOXDIE x SOP nanotech in real life?

Doctor Carrie Madej has released a video explaining the possible medical and ethical dangers of technology currently being planned for mass deployment on the human population. Whatever you think of the current pandemic and the government reactions to it, this is extremely interesting and shows how the technology in the Metal Gear series isn’t so far-fetched after all.

Mass production of injection and tracking tech underway

The US Department of Defense released a statement on May 12, 2020 about new partnership plans to produce billions of RFID-enabled pre-filled syringes that will be used to aggressively inject “every man, woman, and child” a mere “thirty days after a vaccine becomes available”. They say every human in America will “likely need two to four injections” and the syringes themselves will have a tracking device to report exactly when and where the injection took place.

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