A Very Alicey Day

Though of course there was a bit of BTTF too: Chapter 5 of Cinder-Marty has been posted. We're past the timeskip and into the part of the story that's actually "Cinderella." Things will really get moving next chapter.
-M: You're horrible to that other me. All three generations of Tannens in one family?-
It all turns out fine, I promise.

Anyway, as I said, very Alicey day -- when I went to CVS for lunch (they've got a Subway in there), I saw that the latest issue of GamePro had come out. I'd been previously informed via American McGee's twitter feed that this issue had an article on Alice (indeed, she's on the cover), so I bought it. Impressions on the article:
-->Most of the pictures are the same as the ones on the website, but there's a couple of new ones, including a better shot of Alice's face! Her hair remains too dark, and her eyes are now a really creepy shade of green. I'm not sure what to make of it.
-->American McGee actually worked with Will Wright's team on The Sims for a bit! And to no one's surprise, he was constantly suggesting gory ways to kill them off. XD They ended up "escorting" him out of meetings because of it.
-->American McGee says that the way Alice overcomes her obstacles sets her apart from the usual "Space Marines" plot, and is uniquely feminine. I wasn't aware butcher knives and exploding jack-in-the-boxes were feminine now.
-->Some mentions of the Alice movie and the old Oz project being in development hell. Too bad, really.
-->Some interesting info on "Bad Day L.A.," the game that I know nothing about except that it's apparently absolutely horrible -- it appears that at least part of the reason it sucked was because of culture clash. American McGee was still trying to get used to the Chinese way of developing games, so I'm guessing miscommunications and such abounded.
-->The Vale of Tears is apparently now the Veil of Tears. This rather annoys me.
-->Alice is compared to Batman. I now want to see fan art of Alice as Batman. (It's an apt comparison, though -- both ARE defined by the traumatic death of her parents.)
-->The "Veil" (hmph) of Tears is apparently indicative of the happy Wonderland Alice wants in this game. When I first read the section, I thought American meant that basic idea was being ported over from game one. I hope that's not what he means, because the Vale of Tears was a) just as depressing as the rest of Wonderland, b) full of some of the eviller sections of the game (raft riding, swimming level, that damn Duchess who teleports, THE MECHANICAL LADYBUGS OF HELL)
-->Alice gets to collect Memory Fragments in this new game -- she's apparently trying to piece together what happened the night her parents died by digging up old memories. I -- was fairly certain WE know what happened: the cat accidentally knocked an oil lamp into the fire, and things proceeded from there. Sometimes I get the feeling this game is half-sequel, half-remake. (Actually, since this game was made for console audiences in mind, I guess that makes sense -- anyone who doesn't play PC games wouldn't have played the first Alice, and they wouldn't know what's going on.)
-->Alice fights black slimes, is this Dragon Quest -- oh, no, it's Legend of Zelda. My mistake. (Seriously, Legend of Zelda is mentioned as one of the sequel's biggest inspirations.)
-->Alice has apparently looted the corpses of her old enemies from the first game, as she is now in possession of the Duchess's pepper grinder. I can't say I'm not in favor of this, having fought the Duchess recently. (Haaate her, why is the first boss a teleporter)
-->"Alice blasts one of the foes, dodges another's attack by quickly dissolving into a cluster of butterflies, and then reconstructs and finishes it off" -- WHAT WHY IS ALICE EMILY NOW I AM CONFUSED AND A LITTLE FREAKED (no, seriously, this actually does freak me out a little. I'm now half-expecting someone named Victor to pop up as a love interest. Are American McGee and Tim Burton sharing ideas now?)
-->Queensland is all about the survival horror now. AKA, that section of the game IS zombie apocalypse Wonderland. Do you see what we've wrought, Ael?
-->The Queen makes a vocal appearance, shouting "Off with her toes!" Toes? Don't you usually start at the other end?
-->Timeline of Alice works at the end -- your "Adventures In Wonderland" gets a shout-out, Ally. And the picture they show of Wonderland Heartless from "Kingdom Hearts" looks more at home in the Mushroom Kingdom.

There was also a new discovery made in the original game while I was playing it today. I suffered many deaths at one point in Hollow Hideaway due to me trying to get past a tricky section with low health while being fired on by an ant. I eventually just went back to the beginning and redid it with a better sanity bar, but at one point, when I got shot --
Alice's head exploded.
Swear to God. I got hit by a bullet, and suddenly Alice's head was gone, with a few meaty chunks flying off in all directions as her body fell over. I have NEVER seen that before. I've heard of it happening, but it's never happened to me before now. It was -- weird.
-HD: *rubs neck nervously*-
She's okay now. I've made it to Icy Reception, though not without getting lost in Herbaceous Border. That level is way too brown -- it's too easy to get turned around. On the plus side, I got my first taste of Grasshopper Tea -- I don't care if it's a fiddly power-up to use and doesn't last long enough, I still think it's awesome.
Anyway, I have other Alicey things to attend to -- mostly involving rewatching some of Helloween's videos on the game. I'd forgotten just how funny he is. :D Later!