Monthly Archives: August 2025

Riders of Destiny Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for one of those westerns where the main character has a reputation already. His name is Singing Sandy and I have to say that it leads up to one of the best western scenes. We have Sandy start singing as he walks towards his opponent and it felt like a Baki meme moment where everyone suddenly starts putting together who he is. The singing is just that distinctive and it was a nice touch to the film. I feel like this one would have otherwise been a lot more forgettable.

This is one of those titles where the villains are the mustache twirling types. They’re not subtle at all and basically just run over the town because there is nobody around who is actually ready to fight back. They probably should have been taken out a long time ago if the townsfolk were actually prepared for a battle and were willing to move forward. Instead they’re all doormats until Sandy shows up. I know sometimes all you need is one hero to come in and turn the tides but it does make the town look rather weak the whole time. You get the feeling that they would lose to the next gang that strolls by if Sandy ever leaves. Maybe he could teach a bunch of them about better quick draw techniques or something.

The film does make a key mistake that I haven’t seen in a minute though which is that the villains go after a horse early on and end up murdering it. You don’t really see this much beyond the horse falling but it still adds a negative vibe to the movie. They could have easily skipped that and then things would have worked out a bit better. I also think Sandy should have just taken the two crooks out at that point instead of running off. Sandy’s one of the best shots in the west and we see this in action later on. So why not just finish them off there? Would have made way more sense and saved him a lot of time.

The film has a good amount of action going on so you won’t be bored. Another solid byproduct of the runtime is that the pacing is always really good because the film is so quick. Not like there is much time for the film to drag on when it’s less than an hour long right? The romance still feels a bit rushed but that’s par for the course in these kinds of movie. The westerns always gotta squeeze in a romance somewhere even if it has no business being in the film. I guess it just works towards the wholesome ending.

Singing Sandy certainly gets to enjoy a lot of banter with the villains using his passive aggressive nature so that’s always fun. So while I would prefer an active approach, it can always be entertaining. You just have to consider the circumstance which is that the main villain owns all of the water except for the well that the heroine’s dad owns. He is trying to get that land for a full monopoly and in the meantime is ripping off all the townsfolk. Why bother playing nice with the villains at that point?

Just take them out and the town will be happy. The farmers grumble a whole lot the whole film but don’t do anything about it. This guy is going to drain them dry and eventually they’d die while being homeless. The tolerance just goes too far to crazy proportions.

It’s also different from other westerns in that the power gap doesn’t feel crazy. There are a ton of farmers running around and only a few villains in comparison. So it seems to me that it would be an easy thing for the farmers to band together instead of their daily meetings waiting for the government to send someone to help.

In short, most of the side characters almost feel like NPCs here. Even the main heroine randomly asks her father if he’s going to give into the villain’s demands after a speech and he just reminders her that (like he said about 10 minutes ago) they will be fighting against the villain to the very end.

I’ll end on a positive though that the duel between Sandy and the main villain’s top hired gun was actually really good. The singing was handled perfectly like I mentioned in the intro and there was a lot of drama here and then the lethal gunfight. Sandy’s confidence also shone through which is part of what made him a great main character. The only character who was really a good fighter.

Overall, This film probably ends up blending in with a lot of the other western titles but ultimately I would say it’s not bad. The singing angle does at least help to make it stand out a little bit. I wouldn’t say the songs/music are all that good to be honest but they do fit in with the genre at least. You hear the song and immediately think of a western film so that part is effective. Now if the film could have just had some better villains we would really be set.

Overall 6/10

Braveheart

Posted on by
2

This write-up below is based on the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a write-up for the unedited version of the film would be more negative

It’s time for one of those old war time epics. Get ready for 3 hours of violence and armies colliding. It’s definitely not my kind of film but it’s tough to do this kind of title in general since I’m not a big fan of the old days and wars usually aren’t my thing either. So mix these in together along with max edginess and it comes as no surprise that this would not be one of my top recommendations. If you aren’t too familiar with the war then this is a decent way to learn about it although you might also want to check out a book on the subject.

The film starts by showing us how England violently captured Scotland and began to put barbaric laws on them. They did their best to completely break their spirits and kept on murdering all of the greatest warriors. Well, one day they murder William’s wife and so he decides to finally fight back. He gets some people together and destroys a bunch of soldiers. After that he begins to win more and more fights to the point where a war may actually be something he can pursue. It won’t be easy as they are extremely outnumbered but if he keeps on chipping away then at least he will be closer to a free Scotland.

The movie’s length certainly allows it to build up a lot of the characters over time and then also set you up for betrayals. It’s the kind of movie where you really can’t trust anyone. Most people can be bought for some price or threatened with something or someone that they value more than their life. It’s not enough to just assume your friends will be with you at all times. Then Scotland itself isn’t 100% united either. You have a bunch of characters all with their own goals and ambitions. Some think that they should stop fighting while they are ahead and cut a deal, others want to make a play for power, etc. It makes things really tough on William since he has to deal with drama on two fronts.

Additionally, England made clear in the opening scene that they could not be trusted. So, it sounds like a really bad idea to William when England asks for peace and some people actually entertain it. It shows that some people just don’t learn and will keep on falling for the same tricks over and over again. Not a very impressive moment there. Still, they press on and keep fighting over and over in all of the battles that appear.

The movie is pretty direct about what it’s going for here. You’re going to have loads and loads of fights and it’s going to be very violent. A lot of films at least try to spare the horse but unfortunately not this one. There are a lot of them getting stabbed and murdered amidst all the fighting. The animal violence is through the roof here and of course so is the human violence. It’s all very graphic and detailed, then you’ve got the sheer volume of it which is another story as well. It all adds up to a rather relentless film.

Film based on real life also don’t tend to be able to give you a super happy ending either since that’s not how things usually go. There will be a whole lot of sacrifice and setbacks. Often times the main player doesn’t get to see the ending himself either. This film is no exception although it tries to make the ending as light as possible. It’s a cold comfort to those who are already in the grave but at least it’s something.

I’d say the only way to save a film like this would have been to have cut out a lot of the details. We don’t need to see every grisly death or see every barbaric law placed on the Scottish people. It certainly sets up the rage that they felt but that kind of negative feedback loop doesn’t make for a very fun viewing experience. This is the kind of film that doesn’t have very many happy moments at all since they all inevitably get tainted by the scenes that will be following them shortly afterwards. Death is always right around the corner here.

Although if you play a lot of Fire Emblem, you will have a good time recognizing all of the war terms. In those games you always have to decide where to carefully place your archers, infantry, and calvary. The movie also deals a lot with tactics and that is usually where the Scottish people had the big edge. They were able to outmaneuver the big armies and their endless supply of men with really good strategies. In a war, strategy is absolutely key on any battlefield. A single mistake will cost a whole lot of troops.

Overall, If you are definitely okay with all of the crazy violence here then you might like Braveheart. After all, that is 90% of what’s going on in this film anyway. If you are not big on violence, well then you’re probably watching the wrong film. History is often dark and violent. So many crazy things went on that it can be hard to fathom. At the same time, that can be said of the current days as well. There is always a lot going on around the world here as well. Not a minute goes by on Earth without a tragedy going on and watching this film gives you a way to see into some of that.

Earth Girls Are Easy Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a rather rough romantic comedy. This is the kind of film that comes to mind for most people who aren’t really into the genre. It’s super cheesy and none of the characters are likable. The romance is super rushed and the whole film will make you cringe a whole lot. There just isn’t much here to really enjoy. I appreciate that the film is really having fun messing around here and there is a lot of energy to the film but unfortunately it never quite makes the leap to being good.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Valerie who is currently in a rather frustrating relationship with Ted. He seems to have grown bored of her and pays her 0 mind whenever he is around. She doesn’t realize that he’s been cheating on her for a while now but ends up catching him in the act. She kicks him out and is wondering what to do next when she ends up bumping into a trio of aliens who crash landed in her pool. The main one is named Mac and he quickly takes a liking to her. Well, all 3 are desperate for a girl and like her but Mac ends up being the only one with a serious sideplot. Will Valerie rebound with this alien or will she take Ted back?

I would say the first problem here is how much of a doormat Valerie is. She catches Ted cheating on her and then all it takes is a few nice words from him and she is ready to take him back again? Just a really bad look on her part. You’ll be shaking your head the whole time. This happens multiple times mind you. He yells at her about how the wedding is off and makes a huge scene with the cops…then he acts nice and she takes him back yet again. It’s just such a bad romance.

Of course the goal is to make Ted look as shallow and fake as possible, but the problem is the way that it was executed also makes Valerie look really bad. It’s a lose lose situation as a result and that’s the real problem here. They should have had her not take him back at all and throughout the film he is trying to win her over/take down the aliens. That would have made a lot more sense and wouldn’t have destroyed Valerie’s character as well.

Additionally, the rebound with the alien also doesn’t do her character any favors because it seems like she just doesn’t really know what she wants. She’ll basically take any guy who will give her attention and that’s not how you write a good main character. Her best friend is also able to easily influence her, so it further shows that Valerie doesn’t really have a whole lot of strength of will. She can just be blown away by the tide. That’s true for most of the girls in this film to be honest so it’s not like any of them looked all that good. Her best friend was nice enough but certainly not responsible in the slightest. The kind of person who will always get you into trouble because none of the fun is really planned ahead. The friend just goes off of vibes and instinct which is a recipe for disaster.

The aliens are unfortunately annoying as well. The film decides to go the route of their being brainless. The problem is that this doesn’t really make sense since in the initial scene they seemed normal. Desperate of course since they were talking about girls right from the jump but at least they did have some reason. Once they crash land, they may as well be mindless brutes with how they play around with all of the objects. Them not knowing Earth customs is one thing but they didn’t know anything. They eat Valerie’s fish, make a mess of the whole house, etc. They were super annoying and naturally this meant they were on my bad side from the start.

The film actually tries to give Mac a serious romance plot as well which will also have you shaking your head. It just doesn’t make any kind of sense. The ending is trying to be wholesome but you can’t take it seriously and that is how the whole film plays out. None of the jokes are particularly funny. The only thing I can really say in the film’s defense is that it has quick pacing. There is always a lot going on and it’s not like you are ever going to get bored.

On the flip side, the film does resort to fanservice very often. It’s clear that the writers were not super confident in their own product so they had to go low-brow for most of the film. It feels like a Charlie’s Angels experience at times. Not a good recipe for easy laughs, if anything it just shows you how desperate the film is. It certainly did not win the movie any points and by this part of the film, it’s not like it could really afford to lose any either. All around, a rough time here.

Overall, While the review may sound harsh, this movie just tripped into all of the possible issues it could land on with a rom-com like this. The most important thing you have to do in order to make this film a success is to be funny and unfortunately this one was not funny. The next most important step is to at least have a decent romance and we didn’t get that either. This is the kind of movie that serves as a warning on what not to do in this kind of experience. I would definitely recommend you to stick away from this film, especially if you disagree with the film’s title. I guess if you believe it, the film makes a strong case for this though. The aliens have every girl wanting to be with them even though they can barely talk or do anything. It makes all of the girls in this film look really shallow.

Overall 3/10

Cardfight!! Vanguard Divinez DELUXE Arc Review

Posted on by
Reply


Cardfight is back with another top tier title. It’s no surprise that this one would be good either because the entire anime arc is a single tournament. This means that every episode is filled with action. You’ve got everyone trying to be the best and the tournament isn’t even over when the season ends. Only the first phase, then finals will be the next season. It’s a pretty fun way to go about it. Now technically I’d have preferred to open things up a bit and get more combatants here in a bracket system instead of the whole round robin thing. Still, this works out well enough and it’s nice to be seeing every character duking it out at the top of their abilities.

The show starts out with a bunch of fighters being invited to the next Deluxe tournament. You’ve got a mix of old and new fighters trying to prove that they are the most powerful in the world. Akina is ready for this and hopes to have a good time. He is shaken up though when a new guy shows up Kagetsu and he’s awful close to Akina’s mentor Nao. Akina needs to get to the bottom of this and crush this guy but before he can do this, Akina will have to learn the true reason behind why he plays Cardfight in the first place. Without that answer he will be lost.

There won’t actually be a lot to talk about story-wise compared to other seasons since again, this is all just one big tournament. So I’ll spend most of the time here talking about the 12 contestants. They all have had a lot of character development in order to get to this moment after all so it makes for a good tournament. Of course the new characters do have to spend a little time getting introduced but they still did go through their share of struggles off screen. The stakes are also pretty high because out of the 12 fighters who are kicking things off, only 6 will move on to the finals. The final 2 slots of the top 8 will be filled out from good ole America.

So lets start off with Akina. This guy is the main character after all and he’s got some good skills. He has grown a lot more confident over the years but this season does bring up some of his insecurities like with how he reacts with Kagetsu shows up. By the end of the season he does finally come to terms with this and even makes a speech involving Nao. It’s definitely a big scene even if it’s sort of putting her on the spot there. He does have the worst lyrical song out of all the combatants but you can’t win them all.

I think the main character will always be at a disadvantage to the extent that you have seen his deck and heard his song far more than any of the other combatants. So it only makes sense that it won’t be as exciting as the others. Akina is a well written character either way and while I am not rooting for him to win the tournament, it is nice to see him doing well.

Then we have Mirei who is one of the fun wild cards here. She was the big bad several seasons against the original main characters so now she gets to test her skills one last time against the new fighters. She still has tremendous abilities so it’s good to see that she hasn’t been completely phased out. It’s hard for me to picture her winning the whole thing, but she looks better than I expected she would. Mirei still has a lot of confidence about her although she doesn’t talk smack as much as almost any of the other fighters. She prefers to win in a rather graceful way and even her cards feel rather ordinary next to the others. She doesn’t appear to have any kind of killer card to seal the doubt but her abilities are still enough to take her to the next stage.

After that is Erika, the one I am rooting for to win this tournament. She has had to go through a whole lot during the series. Having to live through an incredibly dark timeline, then nearly getting erased, and finally having to give up her family. I’d say it’s about time something went right for her. Her deck is extremely powerful so I’ve been surprised to see her struggle so much. Perhaps I shouldn’t be, these are all some of the best fighters on the planet. I’m sure she will adapt and continue to fight well though.

She has a fun personality and while she can be overly defensive in just about every conversation, you get why she would be on guard after everything that happened in her past. I’d give her a pass on that. At least she still gets a few scenes to hang out with Akina, they may not be able to reveal that they’re family anymore, but no reason they can’t hang out as friends.

Then we have Nao who of course gets a really big role here. She may be Akina’s mentor but she hasn’t gotten a very large role over the last few seasons. This is her chance to make a big return. I will say that despite her aspirations to be the strongest pro and even getting to that level, her deck has never struck me as being very impressive. So this is a good chance to see more of it, although like Erika she struggles a lot here. She definitely deals with a lot.

I can give Nao full credit for always being a good mentor to Akina though. Even when she’s at her lowest in this series, she still manages to congratulate him and put on a brave face so that he doesn’t worry. It’s the hallmark of a great character to be able to do that instead of panicking or having an emotional outburst. I already liked her character quite a bit, but I can say that she ended up going even higher here.

Megumi is one of the original characters so it’s nice to see her return. In the original series she lost a whole lot and always took the back seat to the others. Now that Danji is an eternal old man and the old main character has vanished off the face of the Earth, this is her turn to shine. She definitely does well in the fights and proves herself to still have a lot of ability. In a way it would be fun for her to win the tournament as a way to prevent a passing of the torch. Show that the old generation can still fight and all that.

I wouldn’t be opposed to her winning it all. Megumi has a fun personality and is definitely a passionate cardfighter. You absolutely need those traits in order to keep up with the energy that the others put out. Perhaps this could also allow her to have one last rematch with Danji and finally take that elusive W. As the current head of Blackout, she could pull this off.

Suo was a big villain a while back so now that he is a hero, can he really hold his own? The series plays up how awkward he is around people but the important thing is that he is always trying to improve. I definitely admire that about him even if I preferred him as a villain. Maybe we just have too many heroes at this point but this isn’t the kind of series where people stay villains so I suppose it makes sense. To me this guy would be a bit more of a waste to win the whole tournament, but hey it would show that his skills really did not diminish at all. He also does have his own character arc since one of the new characters parallels the old him.

Raika was the previous tournament winner so of course he is back but the power creep is real. I think Raika’s main problem is his arrogance. To an extent the series always tries to show that he’s not that crazy but I dunno. The actions just don’t really reflect it. He always comes across as real stuck up to me in how he talks to everyone. He may plan out thoroughly for every character and never hold back, but he just makes it so easy to root against him. When a guest star character barked at him through text I couldn’t help but smirk. Raika is strong but he is sure good at losing.

Kuon shows up for this tournament but lets just say he is mainly used to show the power creep here. Yeah he’s strong but part of the point here is that he’s just not on the same level as the others. He needs more time and experience to really build up his skills. As far as the characters go I would also say there is just less to him than the others. I expect most people would pick him as one of their early exits from the tournament if you had to select one. Nothing personal to the guy but that’s how stacked the cast is.

Gui is in a similar boat. The guy is an incredibly powerful A.I. and was one of the top tier threats but ultimately he hasn’t adjusted and continued to improve compared to the others. This means he will be left in the dust next to the others. I also think there is less chance for banter compared to the other characters so less reason for the writers to keep him engaged. I preferred him as more of an antagonist too since as a hero he’s a little boring. Getting him out of here was probably the right move.

Kagetsu is one of the new hype characters so you can bet that he is getting a lot to do here. He was so good that he essentially got bored of Cardfight…or is that the reason? We learn more about his past later on and it’s a bit more petty than that. He is still a solid fighter though and shows the logic of “there is always someone stronger” very well. This guy is treated as an absolute beast and then we find out there is someone even stronger than him and by a fairly wide margin. I think it will be tough for this other character to live up to the hype but I’m still really interested in how that plays out. We’ll also see if Kagetsu is able to push past his limits here.

We have Michiru from the American branch who is still a prodigy. He’s in a bit of a weird position though because he’s always been treated as a nearly untouchable character but rarely felt like it. Gui messed him up a while back and then Danji also gave him a hard fight. We’ll see how well he performs in the next season but from the big fighters, he may be my least favorite. I don’t mind if he gets bumped in round 1 to hype up a different character.

The other American fighter is a new character named Ruka. She seems to be a very powerful fighter who is sort of like Saitama from One Punch Man. She is a Cardfighter for fun. Ruka isn’t in this for fame or glory. She just likes Cardfighting and that kind of character can always be a great foil to the others. Akina was basically told that this is not a satisfactory answer and yet Ruka is living this philosophy out to great effectiveness. I’ll enjoy seeing how she interacts with the others.

Senka returns as one of the powerful fighters from the recent seasons. I like her confidence and how outspoken she is all of the time. A good attitude to have in this intense world of Cardfighting. That being said, I feel like there isn’t much going for her character at this point so it won’t be particularly surprising to see her not do well here. She’s the kind of underdog I would root for a lot, knowing that she won’t be going very far. That’s just how it goes sometimes though.

Finally we have Suzune. She feels a lot of pressure to win because her family honor is on the line. She isn’t really even allowed to have fun playing the game because a single mistake reflects on everybody. I enjoyed her character but naturally you are expecting some changes by the end. It would have been nice if she could have been a bit more powerful but the show did well in showing how toxic this kind of mentality would be. It would be absolutely suffocating in practice. We’ll see how skilled she can be in the future once that level of stress is lifted.

There are a few supporting characters running around like Danji but for the most part this is about the combatants. Masanori is still around to act shady and at this point I’ve just accepted that he probably won’t be facing any justice for being a constant villain. I would have liked to have seen more guest stars if this is really the last big tournament within the Cardfight saga but the show did still branch out across the seasons so I can’t be too greedy.

The animation is really excellent as always. The colors are striking and I definitely enjoyed seeing how dynamic the cardfights were. The show is always very energetic. Likewise the soundtrack is excellent with a whole lot of lyrical songs. The opening isn’t one of the strongest ones but it wors well enough. The soundtrack as a whole easily gets 5 stars here. The technical elements never let the show down at all.

Overall, This was another great season. While I may miss some of the end of the world stakes, a good tournament arc is a close second place for the kind of stories that I enjoy. It’s great being able to see the characters just enjoy their battles with no asterisks. The season also moves at breakneck speeds the whole time as it has to cover a lot of battles in just 13 episodes. Naturally this does mean that some fights do have to be rather rushed but all of the big ones get a solid amount of screentime. I definitely recommend checking this one out and it’s really impressive how long Cardfight has been going on for at this point. It’s a true rival to Yugioh.

Overall 9/10

Puppet Master II Review

Posted on by
Reply


The Puppet Master is one of those films where you know it’s going to be bad right out of the gate. The question becomes, just how bad is it really? If it’s only normal levels of bad then it could be a lot worse but if it’s terrible like the first film then you’re in trouble. Well, I can safely say that this one is in the terrible category. There isn’t much good to say about the film and ultimately it doesn’t justify the purpose of having a sequel in the first place. There aren’t really any new ideas and once again the characters are all losing to a bunch of tiny puppets. A true skill issue if you think about it.

After the events of the first film, the puppets go and bring the original Puppet Master back to life. Unfortunately this guy has now become looney after his death and thinks that the reincarnated version of his wife is here. We then cut to a bunch of researchers who are at the murder house to find out if psychic phenomenon is real or not. The psychic they hire definitely thinks that this is the real deal and prepares to leave but gets bumped off by the puppets. The rest of the group are also in danger now and may be picked off as well if they can’t find a way to take these puppets down. Can they actually defeat them though?

Now one thing you have to remember is that the puppets are not very powerful. They are small and weak, while also lacking any kind of true offensive capabilities. All they can really do is rely on sneak attacks. There is one exception, which is the Darth Vader looking puppet which has an active flamethrower. With this firepower it can easily destroy any opponent. Whenever a human would lose to this guy I would them a little slack. The other puppets are all much weaker though so you should be able to defeat them rather easily. Even the flamethrower isn’t too tough if you are expecting it, but the real tricky thing is if you don’t know that the weapon exists in the first place. In that case, it is definitely fair to fall beneath its overwhelming might.

The humans are all rather unlikable once again though so that’s a shame. In some ways they may not be as bad as the psychics from the first film who were all really looney but these guys can’t manage to stay focused for long either. There is a lot of flirting right out of the gate and the main characters don’t really know how to stick together against the villains. As soon as the first puppet is found (shortly after murdering someone) they should have all been on high alert. Yet, they still split up a lot.

A very mysterious guy in bandages shows up and while the heroes think he is weird, they are not overly concerned. This is now a murder scene so surely anyone who claims to live here should be a massive suspect right? I dare say that a citizen’s arrest should even be in order here. Don’t give this guy any kind of freedom or you will end up regretting it later on. The characters here aren’t the brightest but at least they aren’t actively tying each other up like in the first film so that is some progress.

A big problem that they all make it taking too long though. Like when the psychic finds out that the place is evil, she doesn’t immediately leave and instead plans to go either late at night or in the morning. Plenty of time for the puppets to take her down and unfortunately, she was unable to put up enough of a struggle to get the others involved.

Then you have the next door neighbors who are rather mean for no reason. The lady does pretty well for a little while there but then of course she ends up getting overconfident and makes a big speech before going down. This is the kind of film where you know that resistance is futile and so it does take away from the struggles. While that may be true for a lot of horror films, it is the movie’s job to try and get you to feel like there is at least some kind of chance. If you don’t think that there is any chance…well that takes the fun out of it right?

As you can expect, most of the murders are rather violent. Since the puppets are small, it takes a lot of hits to finish off the main characters and usually that means the kills are really dragged out. You’re just waiting for the film to mov on to something a bit more creative but it doesn’t happen. That’s because the movie isn’t trying to do anything too creative or subversive. It’s just going through the motions in a rather soulless way. No quality writing to help you out here.

I think if the series wants to have any chance of being better, it needs to move beyond the house in the next film. Yes, we had the next door neighbors up the road, but that barely counts and naturally the cattle started dying for the main villain’s plans which didn’t help matters. Have the puppets go into the city and then we get a war against the army. Sure it would be rather campy but that’s the case for the main movie as well. At least this could give the film some entertainment value because as it is now, it’s not even funny.

Overall, This is your average slasher from start to finish. It’s really violent with most of the characters existing only to get bumped off. It was nostalgic seeing some of the puppets from the first film but it’s not like they have grown much stronger since then. It’s still hard to take them seriously as villains at all. The whole time you are just shaking your head. I would definitely recommend giving this one a skip. There is no real reason you need to watch this movie and I doubt the sequels are really going to raise the bar all that much anyway.

Overall 2/10

Shadow Labyrinth Review

Posted on by
Reply


Pac Man is a legendary icon within the gaming space and the idea of a horror game involving him was certainly interesting. An animated episode was released which tied into the game and it weakened the hype but I was still ready for the game. Well, in the end it is a pretty good game but I would say it’s best to ignore any knowledge that it relates to Pac-Man. Think of this more like a general Namco tribute as you have characters with names relating to Galaga, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Pac-Man, and others. They have no real relation beyond the name but it’s still a nice homage.

The game starts with someone being warped into a strange world where a ball named Puck asks for his help. The world is on the brink of destruction with powerful forces making different moves across the universe. The main character has total amnesia now and has basically lost any sense of self so he goes along with everything. Now begins our journey into the darkness where everyone keeps their knowledge to themselves in order to keep this as cryptic as possible. Very niceeeeee.

We do learn more about the story as the game goes on and it’s a reasonably interesting story about war. I think it would have been more interesting as a straight forward narrative though. The cryptic, mystery type of story only really works when it is super carefully crafted and I don’t think this one prepared something with enough of a payoff to really warrant this. The ending is still satisfying and leaves solid room for a few sequels but the game would have done well to have had more story early on. Additionally I would have liked some voice acting. This is a modern 2025 game after all.

The gameplay is that of a 2D slasher as you strike away at your opponents in order to get orbs. These orbs can be used to buy items or improve your sword/energy meter. You can also get upgrades based on monster materials and can win Pac Mazes for other perks. The game made sure to stuff the title with a ton of collectibles and power-ups. I appreciated that because the map is absolutely massive in the game and so you will get lost quite a lot. This at least ensures that you are always accomplishing to an extent.

Some mechanics are not really clear and you have to stumble into them though. Several enemies can only be defeated by bombs and then you have to grab them quickly in order to get a rare item. Some of the puzzles can also be really crazy. The game’s difficulty is quite high but typically it is in a fair way. I had no problem with how difficult the final boss was for example as you just need to get good and defeat him. Likewise for any of the human trials. Where it gets tricky is absolutely the Pac-Man gameplay.

At times it just didn’t make sense to me. I still don’t know how you’re supposed to win some of the side content within that game and the rewards for the bonus mazes were bad enough where I couldn’t be bothered to go back. The controls are a bit too slippery and not polished the way that it should be. In some ways this still feels like a beta version of the game. The lack of a convenient quick travel feature is also crazy for a game like this. It’s expected that there will be a lot of back tracking but the game is really lacking in quality of life features. Even if you buy the quick teleporters, your old teleport spots start to deactivate later on so you have to go back and re-energize them. It’s just bad game design.

There are also smaller things like not being able to hit enemies from below even though you can clearly reach them. Ah well, at least I do like the core gameplay. You’ve got the parry system, air dodging, and a lot of ways to attack. It’s really a very versatile moveset which I like for this genre because it keeps things interesting. You also do feel noticeably more powerful as you go through the game so running through all of the old levels isn’t nearly as tedious as it could be.

That is what separates the good Metroidvanias from the bad ones after all. It’s like how in Castlevania you eventually learn how to fly so you get to easily blast through whole worlds because you fly above all of the enemies. Same with Xenoblade Chronicles X even if you really should not call that one a Metroidvania. I actually think this game should have added flight since it is the ultimate end game ability and a testament to your resolve.

Overall, Shadow Labyrinth is a pretty good game. It’s got a whole lot of action to it and the difficulty is refreshing. You don’t get a lot of crazy hard games like this nowadays. Being able to keep your progress when you die is also great. There are a number of bugs and questionable game design features which keep this one from being great though. They really If you are having trouble with a boss, go explore and get stronger. The company ultimately squandered the game when it counted here because this had all of the tools needed in order to be great. I’ll still be in interested in a sequel but I hope the developers take all of the criticism seriously. The next game needs to clean things up and then it will really be ready to take over.

Overall 7/10

Mario Paint Review

Posted on by
Reply


Mario Paint is one of those games that you never forget because it’s just so bad. The game had some real potential initially but unfortunately it could not live up to that. The biggest issue here are the controls which are some of the worst that I’ve played with. It decides to turn your controller into a mouse and so you have to click on things as if you’re playing on the computer. It takes away all the potential for a smooth gameplay experience and turns it all upside down. A massive mistake if you ask me.

The game has 3 main modes, the paint, the music, and the fly swatter game. The painting part lets you make fun little pictures with a lot of tools that the game presents you with. There are a good amount of options to be sure but good luck using them without clicking on the wrong things multiple times. No matter how many times you try to grab something, the mouse will fail you. In a way it’s like the original version of motion controls so it is every bit as clunky as you might have expected.

Then you have the fly swatter minigame which is an interesting concept. I’d rather be swatting robots or something but it does take a lot of skill here. Thanks to the controls, I would even say that it is ultra hard. It’s going to take you a long while to take down all 100 flies and odds are that you will die before beating 30 of them. Conquering this mode would really be a feather in your cap.

Finally you have the music mode which was my personal favorite one. Basically you get to put different icons onto the music sheet and Mario will play them out for you. It’s pretty fun and gets you used to composing your own music. You can slow down and speed up the tempo as well to really get the exact sound that you want. So it all works out pretty well but I will say that you will still run out of content very quickly.

That’s probably the second biggest problem with the game after the lack of a good control setup. Even if you did really enjoy the game, there just isn’t a whole lot to keep you busy for very long here. The game will really only serve as a brief distraction and then after that it is time for the next title. So that will keep this game in the backseat for quite a while until they ever announce an update with more content.

The soundtrack isn’t bad at least. There isn’t much in the way of music but in the music portion all of the sounds are very familiar. That part feels very inviting at least. Meanwhile the graphics are good as well. It’s the Mario that you remember and it’s not like it suddenly looks low quality. So I have no negatives on that front but at the same time, it would be hard to mess up on a small game like this.

No replay value will also end up hurting this game bigtime as well. There just isn’t a whole lot for you to do here. I’m not even sure that this game would be something you could use to distract your kids since they would get bored too. I have high hopes that Mario Teaches Typing will not disappoint me the way that this one did. It’s no stretch to say that this is one of the weakest Mario games that I have ever played and that’s saying something!

Overall, Mario Paint is not quite the experience that I thought it would be. It is okay at best and unfortunately never manages to get beyond that. It’s not the kind of game that you will likely play for more than one hour unless you’re on a dare. If you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check it out since you will have access to this title. That said, you can really do a lot better with virtually any other Mario game. It’s no wonder why this one is so unknown. It just doesn’t have that usual 5 star seal of quality from Nintendo.

Overall 3/10