GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
AND
TOKYO GHOST RESEARCH
NO SPOILERS for the movie!
I'm definitely going to have a lot more to say about both of these in the days come but I wanted to get out my initial thoughts while they are fresh in my mind.
Firstly, the newest film in one of my all time favorite franchises, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which I saw earlier today...
Professional film critics have generally panned the movie, giving it a rather low score on Rotten Tomatoes and not having positive words about it for the most part. This is because they are film critics and not fans of Ghostbusters. They are also film critics not filmmakers. Lastly, it is distinctly possible many of them were high when they went to see.
The film is entertaining with a capital 'E'! It is action-packed, funny, and has a lot of heart. It also expands the franchise's universe in a few ways. A number of interesting elements were introduced, though unfortunately not as fully explored as I would have like. Adding them to my kitbashed RPG and exploring them there is definitely something I am looking forward to.
It isn't perfect but if the original 1984 film is given 5 stars and Afterlife is given 4 1/2 stars, I'm personally giving Frozen Empire 4 stars. I might be in the minority here but I'd absolutely put it ahead of Ghostbusters II. Other than The Real Ghostbusters animated series, that's all we've had to go on up 'til now.
I said that's All We've Had. Ahem.
Now on to Tokyo Ghost Research...
Tokyo Ghost Research is a free Japanese Doujinshi Tabletop Roleplaying Game by Seiji Nakata of Story Engine Lab that revolves around the idea that you (the player and by association your PC) are an employee of a company that investigates and removes paranormal phenomena. Sound familiar?
The business in question, called Tokyo Ghost Research, is not portrayed as a Ghostbusters-like 'Mom and Pop' operation but a mid-size corporation with Japanese Salaryman types, problematic bosses, and inconvenient budget cuts. It's a very Japanese company culture take on supernatural investigation and elimination and I am here for it!
I've had the game for over a month now and have pretty much translated the whole thing. I'm going through the process of editing it and hope to test it out soon. The rules are very simple but there are enough theme specific bits to give both the players and GMs (called Managers or MGs in the game) something to sink their teeth into. Sort of. The game's one weakness is that there don't appear to be any stats provided for the strange entities or events you might encounter. It is completely up to the Manager to determine what the weirdness is and what it can do.
The more I think about it the more I'd like to discuss this game in more detail and I'm even pondering a way to combine it with my Ghostbusters material. I want to finish my next 31/31 entry but man oh man, I am really getting excited about this new idea I'm forming...
Ghostbusters: Tokyo Ghost Research!
Maybe.
AD
Barking Alien
A bit of trivia - In Japan, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has been retitled Ghostbusters: Frozen Summer. Personally, I kind of like that better.
Wow, that RPG looks interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I enjoyed Afterlife -- I very much expect to enjoy this latest incarnation.
Have you played InSpectres?
ReplyDeleteInSpectres is tagged 35 times on this blog. It is one of the components of my kitbashed Ghostbusters RPG. So yes, I've played InSpectres. 😉
DeleteVery much looking forward to Frozen Empire. Incidentally, I met a co-worker for the first time yesterday. He said I looked familiar and asked me if I had attended any comic cons recently. I haven't, but he said I looked exactly like someone he met who was cosplaying as Egon Splengler. (I wish!) The co-worker belongs to a local Ghostbusters cosplay group that raises money for charities. (I'd consider joining, but I'm nowhere close to having the money to make an accurate Ghostbusters costume... yet.)
ReplyDeleteTokyo Ghost Research sounds very interesting. It's yet another thing that makes me regret not continuing my informal studies of Japanese.
Tokyo Ghost Research IS very interesting and has an atypical means of task resolution (or judgement as many JTRPGs say) that I find quite fun, especially after recently playing a game that has the opposite feel.
DeleteWhat is that feel? Tune in to my next post where I will expand further on my newest idea. (Oh the suspense!).