Category Archives: Reviews

Hellboy: Web of Wyrd Review

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This is one of those games that may have been on my radar earlier if I had already been on my rogue marathon. Well, better late than never as they say. It’s pretty interesting to play a Hades styled game that’s in 3D. You can feel a lot of similar elements here from the soundtrack to the level designs and gameplay setup. It definitely feels much lower budget though with certain parts of the game really needing quality of life improvements. All that said, the game was really fun to play through.

The game starts off with Hellboy and the BPRD heading to a castle because some weird things have been happening there. One of their guys named Lucky is nearly trapped in a parallel dimension known as “The Wyrd”. He warns Hellboy that weird things are going on in there but Hellboy has to risk it. Somehow the Nazi’s have invaded the realm as well and may use that to stage an attack against the real world. If they aren’t stopped quickly, then it will all be over.

The Wyrd is the game’s way of explaining the death mechanic. Right before fully dying in the Wyrd, Hellboy’s teammates pull him out of the dimension using the tether. That way he can keep trying until he wins. As in any rogue type game, you are expected to die over and over and over again until you get strong enough to complete the game. When you die you keep your orbs which is the currency you use to upgrade your weapons or physical stats.

Right away that is one difference here since usually you would have more than one currency which would match with how many things there are to power up. This game doesn’t actually have a ton of content for that and as a result you can get nearly every trophy easily. The only tough one is getting all of the lore and that’s mainly because there is a ton of RNG at play here. Additionally the game plays the same message no matter how many times you pick up the same piece of lore so you will really have to remember which ones you got.

The platinum seems easy enough but a little too time consuming to go after it seriously. Keep in mind that every run will take you around 2 hours because of how many rooms you have to clear. You also aren’t going to be clearing it all that much faster as you power up since the differences are slight. It’s a bit excessive as titles like Hades can cram a ton into 30 minute run. That’s a lot more doable than something that’s around 2 hours.

This game is fully in 3D like I mentioned so you are mainly alternating between your punches and gun shots. For the guns the best one is easily the grenade launcher which makes sense as it’s the final one that you unlock. It can deal devastating damage so you should try to max that out as soon as possible. Then you have your punches which are strong enough. You mainly want to focus on learning when the best time to dodge or parry is. This will help you immensely as you make your way through to the game.

Every attack can be dodged and so if you play your cards right then you shouldn’t lose much. I died maybe twice so it can still happen if you don’t let your guard down. Now, while I had a good time with it, the lack of attacks does mean that you may find this repetitive if you don’t really enjoy the combat. So it will all come down to that in the end. Particularly since there aren’t any other real modes to this. You will keep bashing away at the same enemies until they have all gone down for the count.

The graphics are really good though. The atmosphere works really well for a horror type game. Everything is very eerie and suspenseful. The colors are all really strong as well with how bright the red is and how sharp the colors are in general. It’s a game that really stands out. The soundtrack is also pretty good since it is really trying to capture the rock feeling from the Hades titles. So the technical aspects don’t disappoint in these two areas.

Ultimately for the game to turn the corner and get to an 8 I would have just needed a little more content. Maybe a wider range of enemies to go up against or some more levels. Instead of making the runs so long I would have more runs that are shorter in length. I guess it would mean less opportunities for power ups and such but it just seems to fit the genre a bit better this way. You could also make the levels more linear instead of having doors that basically take you in a loop. With no map, it could be easy to waste a little time. Especially when you are also checking the ground for items and gold since they really don’t stick out.

Let me just focus more on the action and then we’re good. Without the grenade launcher, the game would definitely have jumped quite a bit in difficulty. I was effectively able to cheese it to an extent since the explosions are so powerful. Without the launcher, I’d have to go in swinging the whole time and naturally that comes with a whole lot of risks as well. If you miss a parry, you eat an absolute ton of damage.

Overall, This is a pretty good game. I do think it should have had more content or at least been able to tell you when you’ve found a new collectible. It’s the little things like that which makes a difference or the game not having a map. This feels like it just didn’t have a big production team. Still, the combat is fun which is easily the most important part. I’d definitely recommend playing through this one. It will give you a good amount of fun for as long as it lasts.

Overall 7/10

Beyond Oasis Review

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This is one of those old Genesis games that really pushed the console to its limit. It showed what was possible with these platformers and I can say that it has aged well. Now, I do think there are a certain amount of mechanics and areas that would have been really annoying if I played it without the rewind feature, but as it stands it was a fun game with these quality of life updates.

The game begins with the kingdom being attacked and the princess is captured. Her brother the crown prince has to save her as well as the world and he is armed with a powerful arm weapon. It can be used to harness the powers of the 4 legendary elemental spirits. This will give him a fighting chance at the very least. He will need to defeat the mysterious villains and reclaim the other arm weapon, but it appears to have grown sentient and evil. This will not be easy.

As far as the gameplay goes, it’s an overhead Legend of Zelda type game. No worries though, you can jump and use an assortment of magic. The various spirits you summon can heal you or aid you in battle by attacking foes. They all have their own special abilities as well like being able to go underground or make you become intangible. This will also tie into the puzzles which can really get difficult by the end. Don’t think that you can just walk in and ace any of the puzzles with your eyes closed because it’s not happening.

I breezed through the first half of the game but then the second part really slowed me down. One reason for this is the puzzles but another is how difficult the enemies could be. If you drop a combo mid way then you are going to be eating an absolutely devastating counter that drains a lot of your health away. Additionally the weapons you have all run on a use system kind of like Breath of the Wild. So once you’ve used your sword enough then it will break. You only have one dagger that never breaks and it’s the weakest one.

Personally I would save the big swords for the boss fights but it does mean that the minions become extra dangerous. I never like it when weapons break so that is one area where I would say they should have ditched this mechanic. It is not one that has ever aged particularly well. The game does have a really good map though so that’s another example of something that the game did right. Many games completely mess up on that when it should be a fairly straight forward addition.

You do have a very small inventory of how many weapons and items you can hold onto which also makes you feel really worried about what to keep. I definitely recommend keeping some spirit summons on hand because sometimes it can be hard to find the exact element that you need. You summon spirits by blasting something made out of it. So you blast a river to summon the water spirit for example. One shortcut around this is to have an item on hand that summons the associated spirit but they are very rare. The game will make sure you get 1 per spirit so you should save that for as long as you can. The fire spirit in particular is extremely handy for boss battles because of how much damage he deals. The water spirit is also handy for her infinite health regeneration for as long as she’s active.

Technically the shadow and grass spirits are only really good for puzzles. I think the shadow one absorbs some hits for you but it seems inconsistent and the grass one attacks too slowly to be of any real help. There’s no reason to have them along for the boss fight but I suppose it’s not like they are making things worse. You can also de summon a spirit to save on magic meter as needed. It will regenerate quickly when you are outside of a dungeon or if you use an item to stock up again.

I also thought the combat got an extra boost from how you can actually land combos. That’s not something you would see so often from an older game. Usually it’s a basic slash or two, not throwing every move that you have against the opponents. You can still miss at times but it plays like those old 2D beat em ups. I appreciated the attention to detail here.

The graphics have held up extremely well. The illustrations look really good but even beyond that you have great sprites and character models. The action is always clear and then you also have a really good soundtrack to back it up. When you mix all that together, there’s just not much to worry about here. The technical areas are really good. The game is a little on the short side with around 5 hours of content but since you may get lost that helps add to the time. You also really need to factor in the sheer difficulty here too.

Overall, Beyond Oasis is a pretty good game. I had fun with it and it just has solid fundamentals around the board. It’s the kind of game that you can’t help but enjoy. I would definitely look forward to a modern remake of it someday. If you like retro games then this is definitely a great one t check out because it is considerably more polished than most other games from this era. It feels satisfying to blast through the enemies and get to the end.

Overall 7/10

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Review

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I remember seeing a lot of gifs from this film of Josee dashing around in her wheelchair. Otherwise the film itself was rarely mentioned and I felt like it never got the same attention as the other big films. Well, now I’ve finally seen it and I can say that this is a pretty good one. It’s an emotional story with a lot of ups and downs for the various characters. The romance even ends up being pretty solid even if it’s not exactly the pair that I would have rooted for.

The film introduces us to Tsuneo who works as many jobs as possible in order to earn money. He wants to study abroad and has finally got a scholarship to study in Mexico. Things are looking up for him but he can’t let his guard down in the final stretch. He agrees to look after a girl named Josee as a sort of babysitting job. They’re close in age but she is restricted to her wheelchair and so it’s always good to have the help. Josee resents him for it though and treats him like dirt right away. As they spend more time together, they begin to get close but how will Josee react to the fact that Tsuneo will be gone soon?

Josee is an old school tsundere in that she complains and attacks Tsuneo quite a lot. During the first scene when he saves her from at the very least a serious head injury, she immediately calls him a perv. Then when he is doing his best to look after her, she intentionally gives him a lot of tough jobs and makes the tasks as unpleasant as possible. She’s not above hitting him and is also not very emotionally mature so she storms out a lot. All this is to say that the romance was a very rocky one for most of the film.

Still, it avoids any rebounds here and the film takes place over a fairly long period of time so that gets rid of most of my concerns. The timing of the scenes could have been a little better though. We get a montage fairly early on of the two characters hanging out and going to a lot of places so it feels like their friendship was strong. Yet it is easily broken later on due to a series of misunderstandings. It is usually on Tsuneo to be the bigger man here and just let things go but I would have liked a bit more effort on Josee’s part. She is a part of this relationship too after all. I felt like the montage should have been later on in the film, maybe after they had made up.

Josee is definitely not one of the more likable characters overall which was a bold choice by the film. You extend some extra sympathy to her because being stuck in a wheelchair since young is really tough but she does her best to push you to your limit. By the end of the film she has finally come to terms with everything and appears like she will be a good character going forward. Better late than never.

Tsuneo has another friend named Mai who has secretly had a crush on him for a very long time. The problem is that she never worked up the courage to ask him out before Josee showed up. While I liked Mai a whole lot more than Josee, it is entirely her fault here. Mai had years to make a move and as I always say, you can’t just wait for the other party here. If you like someone then you better make your feelings known as soon as possible. If you don’t then naturally you are going to lose out.

When Mai finally does take action, it’s mainly to push Josee down in her own way of looking out for Tsuneo. Mai feels like Tsuneo will be held back due to these circumstances and in a way she’s right but it’s obviously coming from a selfish place. Hopefully things work out for Mai in the future but sometimes being a nice person just isn’t enough to win out. You also gotta be bold and upfront.

Tsuneo’s other friend Hayato is definitely solid as well. He doesn’t get quite as much screentime but we can see why he was a good friend. He helps out the lead when he’s in a rough place and always seems to be in high spirits. He is exactly the kind of guy that you want to have in your corner when the chips are down. He could stand to be a little less girl crazy though as that’s not exactly a trait that anyone is really looking for in a quality character.

As for Tsuneo, he’s a pretty patient guy. He overlooks a whole lot of disrespect that would have had other characters backing away early. It may not necessarily be a good quality when you think about it but hey it beats throwing a pity party for himself. The only time he really gets down is after a pretty big accident later on and that’s understandable because it completely changes the trajectory of his whole life. It’s hard to just roll past something like that.

The movie is fairly light hearted for the most part but definitely has quite a few somber moments between the accident and of course Josee’s whole plot. You really can’t emphasize enough how hard it is to not be able to walk. I don’t know how I would be able to pull it off and having a film like this that sympathizes with the dilemma and also giving Josee an opportunity for a happy ending is nice. Even allowing her to talk to kids and letting her make a social impact from her position was really good. It’s the kind of subplot that is nice to have in a wholesome film like this.

Overall, This was a pretty good film. It really goes by quickly and there is always a lot going on. The song may not be one of the more memorable ones for the movie but it wasn’t bad. The romance was handled well here due to the movie allowing the relationship time to progress. I do think that at times Josee could be a little too much with how aggressively mean she was, but ultimately she stepped up when it counted. I’d recommend checking this film out if you’re looking for a solid romance.

Overall 7/10

Write Before Christmas Review

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It’s time for a rare ensemble cast Hallmark film. This one has a whole lot going on with the different plots which naturally means there will be some plots that are stronger than others. I do think it ends up being weaker than the average Hallmark title but is naturally still a really good film filled with solid writing and good character work as you would expect.

The movie’s main character is Jessica who decides to write some cards to different people who have helped her in life. This includes a big time singer, a lady who taught her music, her aunt, and her brother. These letters end up helping everyone out and they all begin moving forward with their own character arcs. Meanwhile Jessica was going to be in for a rough Christmas with her getting dumped by the boyfriend but now she has met a new guy who may end up being her prince charming.

So lets get the obvious issue out of the way, the romance here is a pure rebound. Jessica has only just broken up with this guy for about a day or so before she is already getting with the next one. The relationship falling apart came as a shock to her so she shouldn’t be completely over it just yet. There was clearly a little hesitation here with how she didn’t immediately say yes to the proposal but it doesn’t really change things. She still shouldn’t be moving on this quickly and she barely even knows the guy.

Getting carried away with the Christmas spirit has its limits after all. I did enjoy her as a character though. She is really invested in Christmas and is the type of person who will always be having a lot of fun. Jessica also has a supportive friend at the music shop where she works and it always helps to have someone to vent to. From all the characters in the film, Jessca had the most fleshed out plot which makes sense.

When we get to the inevitable misunderstanding, I would also say that her situation was slightly more understandable. Her guy should have stood his ground and not been taking photos of the girl that was assigned to him as a blind date a while back. Sure he was doing his job but this girl was already shown to be crazy like when she humiliated him in the diner so he needed to cut off contact at that point. Meanwhile he walked in when she was joking with her ex boyfriend about getting the ex discount. Yeah…not the best conversation to be having.

Well things worked out but the romance wasn’t very strong anyway. Both characters could stand to be a little more mature about they handle these things. If something looks sus, you need to just walk over and start asking questions. If your worst fears are realized, well then it’s better to know now rather than finding out later right? Just walking off is the worst possible action you could make because now you will never know one way or the other what was really going on. You can suspect stuff, but won’t have that confirmation.

Meanwhile in the first subplot with the brother, he falls for another army worker over there. He does his best to flirt with her and while the attempts are mainly shaky, it ends up working out. It’s a harmless enough plot but just doesn’t have a whole lot of connection to the main story outside of the letter. Additionally it’s just too fast for much development.

Another plot is Jessica’s aunt meeting the guy who walks a dog next door. She just lost her husband two years ago and he lost his wife 3 years ago so they start flirting and it looks like things are gonna be happening. I don’t have to go into detail on why this is a crazy rebound right? I thought the dog was nice though so it was good to have a wholesome animal having fun here.

Then you have the music guy who was in a slump for a while. Jessica’s letter allows him to regain his confidence and go back to making new songs. He actually doesn’t get a romance plot but I guess there was no room for one. It was nice that he even got to play his next concert nearby where Jessica could hear him. I actually thought he was going to be the one to play matchmaker but that’s not how it went down.

So this was an ambitious one with so much going on. Generally I think the film would have needed to have been longer to have really given all of these plots the screentime that they would have needed. Still, it did well enough with what was going on and the writing was good as always. While the stories may have been rushed, they will still keep your attention.

The film still succeeds at the most important factor for any movie which is that it was fun. Watching this title is enjoyable and you feel the festive vibes. If you can block out the rebound nature for a minute, it’s also just nice to see everybody having a good time. If you ever enter into a relationship, you want it to be filled with fun and whimsy like this. I would like to see Hallmark tackle more non rebound romances as well but for now this will have to do.

Overall, Write Before Christmas has a great title. The pun was particularly inspired and the film’s plot device of the letters being sent around was a good one. I generally prefer solo stories unless there is a big climax where all of the characters meet up though. Something like that would have been really cool here and I think it would have worked even if it may have seemed rushed. The film was already rushed so what’s one more scene right? While I prefer the average Hallmark film, this is still a good movie that I would recommend.

Overall 6/10

The Christmas Card Review

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It’s time for a very classic Hallmark film. This is the kind of film you picture when talking about the channel because it hits all of the classic notes. Now this does include a rebound romance so as always you’re going to want to steer away from that part of it but all the rest is on point. This is the kind of film that will leave you feeling jolly all the way forward.

The movie starts by introducing us to Cody who is serving in the army. His tour has gone mostly well but unfortunately one of his squadmates was murdered in the line of duty. Cody is forced to go on a leave of absence for a while and decides to pay a visit to a lady named Faith who sent him a card. See, there’s a program where you can send cards to people out in the army and Faith always participates. Cody may not know her personally but he wants to thank her for the gesture. Thing is, he didn’t realize how beautiful she was. Cody has fallen in love but the problem is that Faith already has a longterm boyfriend. Can Cody make his move before she gets married?

So this is where things get iffy. Some would say that as long as she doesn’t have a ring yet (Isn’t married) that it’s all fair game and you can still try to steal her away. This is only advice for the desperate though and personally you should leave someone alone if they’re already in a relationship. Even if you are able to win her over, now you know that someone else can do the same thing to you if she is so easily persuaded.

Additionally, it is going to make Faith look bad here. Now as the film goes on her boyfriend looks worse and worse. He’s rather stuffy, drinks a lot, and doesn’t know how to do manual labor. He also ignores her feelings in place of his and values work above all. So yeah he’s not great but they have been in a relationship for a very long time. She didn’t even expect to see him for the holidays since he was so busy. You need to keep this in mind because these were the expectations for their relationship.

Instead he shows up early and notices Cody around so a little rivalry begins here. Naturally as the film goes on Faith begins to waver and eventually joins team Cody. This drama takes up most of the film though as Faith even accepts her boyfriend’s proposal initially and still has an affair with Cody on the side. It’s a really bad look for all parties involved even once the boyfriend surrenders and gets out of there.

What you have to consider here is that for 99% of relationships there will always be someone hotter, smarter, funnier, cuter, etc. If you are always willing to “trade up” from your current partner to someone else, then that is a recipe for disaster. It’s the whole principle of why I’m against rebounds. You have to stick to your pick barring crazy stuff like abuse and such. So Faith shouldn’t have been wavering at all here and it’s why the romance just doesn’t work.

With a romance this bad you may figure that the film is doomed right? Well, that’s not how Hallmark rolls. It delivers a very complete product that can get past the romance. You’ve got great writing after all and a fun atmosphere. It’s the kind of film that reminds you of just how much fun Christmas can be. There is a lot of cheer going on and you get to see some baking and decorating the Christmas tree. It’s a lot of fun and the pacing is always good. Watching this makes you want to go outside and do something fun too.

The true cheat code to life is that you don’t have to wait until Christmas to have a fun time like this. You can make any day really fun if you put your mind to it. As a result this film would hold up whenever you watch it. While Faith’s father Luke was meddling a little too much, you can appreciate his devotion to his daughter. It can be hard to stay silent when you see your kid making a mistake. Especially when you “know” that it’s a mistake.

There was a good amount of banter here and the movie knows how to have a lot of fun with itself. So even if the romance misses, you still have the comedy. Now I think the film could have tried to be even lighter by not having the death at the beginning but I suppose it wanted to start with a somber tone. If the film really wanted to be perfect, it could have dodged the romance entirely and just focused on the good banter the whole time. Now that would have been a good idea, just have them be good friends.

Then the subplot would have been Cody showing Faith’s boyfriend the error of his ways and to cherish Faith now because you never know what the future will bring. Have him tie in the death from the beginning. Low key I think there’s a ton of potential there and then for the longtime Hallmark fans you would still have a solid romance going with the boyfriend becoming a better person.

Overall, The Christmas Letter is a pretty good film. It’s a very focused film that knows where the plot is going and there are no distractions. The atmosphere is nice and cozy the whole time and the pacing is on point. It’s a very easy film to watch and just makes for an enjoyable backdrop. If you have not seen this film yet then you will definitely want to change that. It’s also a reminder that even a quick act like writing a letter can really have a massive impact to someone else.

Overall 7/10

Little Women (1994) Review

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It’s time for another Little Women adaption. It’s not exactly one of my favorite stories but it’s certainly an iconic one. I believe this is the third version that I’ve seen. How much you enjoy it will all come down to how much you enjoy the antics of the main characters. Can you identify with their situation or will you just find it a little dull? Personally I don’t find any of the characters to be super likable so that does really hold things back. The romance doesn’t help.

The 4 sisters are the main characters here. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They live in a rather tough situation with finances not being very good. Their father is always out working and their mother does her best to keep things together. There are only so many ways to entertain themselves in such days but at least they have each other. Well, one day after the usual neighborhood party/dance they meet a rich guy named Theodore. He seems to have taken a liking to Jo but she’s not really in the market for a boyfriend at the moment. Will he win her over or is she going to get away?

So I can’t fault Jo for deciding that she didn’t want to mess around with romance. It’s not for everyone after all and she still wanted to enjoy her usual fun times with the gang. If she were to get a boyfriend then naturally that would end. Well, things get a bit more complicated than that as everyone else continues to move on with their lives. Theodore even decides to rebound with one of Jo’s sisters. Now Jo will have to find a man but who is left?

Ultimately Jo leaves home and by expanding her horizons she meets someone but the romance is pretty fast and not all that developed. It just never worked for me and I also think her sister Amy shouldn’t have gotten together with Theodore. Yeah, he claims that he is over Jo but that’s a bit hard to buy and even then it’s like you were the second choice. That’s how I’ve always felt about the romances in this movie and that hasn’t really changed over time.

This film also takes place in the very olden days and as a result there are all kinds of customs and such that feel dated. The girls can never make the first move, they must be prim and proper at all times, etc. Not to say that it’s all bad but a lot of these things just make them look way too passive as characters. I would have liked more direct action here, maybe in terms of trying to earn money or perhaps jumpstarting the romance on their own.

Jo is the only one who acts rather impulsively in general like selling her hair for money. So she gets more credit there. The writing is good as the old time script holds up but it doesn’t really solve the problem of the main characters not being super interesting. I don’t really know what you would do in order to change that though. Not without changing the story as a whole.

I’ve said this before but I like a good slice of life story, it just needs a touch of comedy. That is what’s missing in this one. The story is all fairly serious which is fine, but where are the scenes that will help me break a smile? There aren’t really any laugh out loud scenes here. Dreary would be the wrong word to describe the film but it just takes itself so seriously.

I guess I’d say the film is like watching a bunch of people who don’t have many hobbies hanging out with each other. It can be fairly wholesome but doesn’t really do much for you. The film also ends up being on the loner side and the pacing can be really slow. A lot of things are all going against the film here and as least one character gets a rather sad ending.

Maybe the next remake can focus a little bit more on Jo’s journey as an author. Focus on the last part of the film with her being abroad and make that a much larger part. You could also use that time to try and develop the romance with the professor but I dare say that might be a waste of time so perhaps you just focus on the writing bits. Or maybe show us what her father was doing at work and add some kind of trial there. Show why the job is so hard. Both of these plots would be immensely more interesting than just staying at the home for longer periods of time.

Overall, Little Women would have benefited from adding a few light scenes with gags and fun jokes. Something to just make the film itself a little more fun and it would also add to the replay value. Throw that all in to the mix and things would improve. Right now this is essentially a film that is lacking a hook. Of course at the end of the day that just means this film wasn’t really for me. I would say to only check it out if you want to see what life would have been like if you had grown up poor in a small town. Otherwise, you’re better off with one of the old sit coms instead.

Overall 4/10

The Stingiest Man in Town Review

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It’s time for another Christmas Carol and this one has to move really fast as a bite sized version. The length of the film is very short for example so that means the ghosts have to really run in there and Scrooge has to be convinced awful fast. Fortunately I can say that it works well and this is one of the better Christmas Carol adaptions. Scrooge even manages to defeat one of the ghosts which was real impressive. I was definitely not expecting that.

The story starts with Scrooge yelling bah humbug at the world and showing why he doesn’t believe in Christmas. Scrooge only has one master and that is the power of the all powerful profits. Scrooge is even mad that he will have to pay his partner for the day off on Christmas but the assistant isn’t very smart and offers to go without pay. Scrooge naturally accepts and that was a light spot to his day. Well, at night he is visited by his old partner who died a while back and he says that Scrooge will be visited by 3 ghosts. Scrooge is skeptical but they show up and start causing a lot of problems by working to guilt trip Scrooge on his past, present, and future. Can Scrooge stop them?

It’s fair to say that Scrooge is on the back foot right from the jump though. He is scared right away when the ghosts show up and quickly realizes the error of his ways. The only time he shows real resistance is when he murders the first ghost by extinguishing his flame. It was actually a really impressive moment and showed how Scrooge could think on his feet. He clearly didn’t become rich by being the kind of guy who didn’t know how to take action. It made absolute sense that Scrooge would be jumping into action. That’s just the kind of guy that he is.

I would have liked to have seen more of that but this is meant to be an uplifting story filled with hope. Adding too much violence and Scrooge messing everyone over may not have gone over very well with the audience. The writing is pretty good either way. Everyone seems rather happy and of course by the end Scrooge can be counted among those folks as well. He is the kind of guy who may grumble and tumble a lot but now with his money he can make the world a better place.

I would have liked the third ghost to have done more since he is always the coolest one but in this special he doesn’t have much time. One of those time constraints and all. Even little Timmy gets a little less to do this time but you can still feel his impact. It’s a film where you can infer everything from what you already know about the story and it would be interesting to see what one would think if this was their first version.

Like I said, I enjoyed it quite a lot but I do think subconsciously I likely plug in a lot of my former knowledge from the other versions of the story. The animation helps give this one a bump as well though because I really enjoyed the expressions here. The film looks really good and the characters are a lot of fun. You can’t help but grin as you watch the film and it’s something that a cleaner style would be lacking.

I should also mention that there are a number of songs in this one and for once it actually worked. I tend to be rather harsh on musicals as the songs usually aren’t all that good but in this case that was not true. The songs were actually really sharp and catchy. I had a good amount of fun with them and they fit the vibe really well. They felt less like forced musical songs and instead were actual Christmas songs that had a solid level of quality. So that really helped the overall experience as well.

So if I had one complaint it’s that I would have liked to have seen Scrooge fighting back more. If anything he set the bar too high by taking down the first ghost. Sure, he got scared by the doorknob at the very beginning of the film but this had been a good rebound. I absolutely think it should be possible to make Scrooge very combative without taking away from the film’s overall message. I just need a writer to really take the risk and make this happen at some point.

Overall, Stingiest Man in Town is a pretty good film. It works as an abridged version of the Christmas Carol for people who want to get to the meat of the story but don’t have 90 minutes to spare. So in that case this is really the film for you. The pacing is fast but it still hits all of the big details. The writing is good and on the whole the film has no big weaknesses. I can recommend this to anyone looking for a fun Christmas film. Additionally, the hand drawn style has just aged really well.

Overall 7/10

Astalon: Tears Of The Earth Review

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It’s time for another Metroidvania and this time it even has rogue elements! You can’t go wrong with that, at this point it’s safe to say that I love rogue elements. Throw those into every game. For those who are not familiar, it basically refers to any game where you can obtain permanent upgrades once you die. In essence, every death gets you closer to completing the game. I like when you have something to show for your efforts. It is also why I really enjoy RPG titles because that’s how level ups work. If it were up to me, you would be able to do this in every game.

The game starts with a party of 3 approaching a tower. They need to stop the villains here because right now the waters are all being poisoned and people are dying. Just about everyone in their village was destroyed as well. A mysterious Black Knight stands in their way as well as a legion of Gorgon monsters. It’s unknown exactly how they will get past them but they haven’t died yet..or have they? Well, it turns out that the spellcastor made a deal with an evil deity of death where he can be revived along with his two comrades every time they die. Only he will remember though and once they have conquered the tower, he will surrender his soul.

It’s essentially a classic deal with the devil but the mage felt that there was no other way and it’s easy to see why. They die many times in this tower so without the deal they would all be dead and the world would be over. Your soul is naturally an absolutely huge price to pay but in a story like this it’s hard to say how you could succeed otherwise. Additionally this is how the story explains all the power ups so the party literally gets stronger at all times.

The gameplay differs depending on who you are playing as. You have the swordsman who is good for classic hack and slash gameplay. He’s basically average in every way. Then you have the archer who is extremely quick but she also ends up having low defense. Her double jump is immensely handy for platforming too. Then you have the mage who is slow but packs an absolute punch. His energy blasts can go through walls and hit enemies from a distance. The game will have you constantly switching between the three of them as you go through the game to solve each of the puzzles.

Metroidvanias will be good or bad all depending on how you handle the world at large. Is it easy to travel? Are there any quick travel points or shortcuts? Do you actually feel stronger as you go through the map? These are all absolutely critical pieces of the puzzle and I have to admit that a lot of games surprisingly mess this up. It really shouldn’t be hard but I suppose it might be a case where this is easier said than done.

Well, this one pulls it off as long as you can find these things. For example, the quick travel key is found in a random room on the map. I found it fairly quick but it easily could have taken me a long while. Same with the portal key and every other quality of life key. The fact that the game made each quality of life feature a physical item in the map was pretty fun. It helped make the place feel rather massive. Like at first you have to find a campfire to switch between party members and eventually you get an item where you could do that at any point.

For most of the game you have to die in order to access the shop and then later on you are able to access the shop from different points on the map. There are also a lot of secrets in the game that I didn’t fully understand. I recommend holding down the attack button as the mage because attacking invisible things seems to work sometimes. Some switches are invisible for example and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Later on you will end up finding a statue that wakes up when you blast 8 randomly glowing skulls throughout the hub world.

I don’t know what it does yet because I only found 5. The map is so huge that by the time you beat the game there will still be around 20% unexplored. This is because you need a bunch of blue key to unlock the white/red keys and then you use those to find more blue doors and then you need more blue keys. Every room has tons of secrets and while it can be a little overwhelming, it’s also fun because you know this way that there are always more ways to get stronger.

Whether it is in finding health items, magic items, or even just beating more enemies to put into the bestiary, you are always doing something. There are enough elevators and your speed is high enough where that is all really fun throughout. The game really feels smooth the way that a modern game should. I was really satisfied with the gameplay and I ended up making the mage my best fighter. He seems to easily do the most damage so you can just run up to a boss and really beat the health out of him.

There are a lot of different power up options to choose from when you die. I recommend grabbing the one offs first like being able to see all secrets on the map and getting the description ability. You can also buy 3 extra cutscenes which shows you the whole history for the main villain. After that, you should focus on only one character and max him out. I went with the mage of course but you can power up the others once you have beaten the game. You want one solitary fighter who can be the best.

I gotta admit that some of the things to buy are a little too vague. I feel like the game should give you descriptions when you buy items instead of just having to go by the title. Personally I got the wrong impression of the item on a few different occasions as a result of their being so vague. I suppose it’s meant to work well with the fact that the game is super vague in general but there are limits to that. Let me see what I’m buying!

The artstyle is really good. It’s got that retro look but stays very colorful and I also appreciated the rare illustration like right when you are about to fight the final boss. It looks really good all around and the game has to load a bunch of villains at all times with no real lag. The processing within the game is on point. The music is also good enough. It’s not super notable but works with the story.

The game’s story will probably take you around 8-10 hour or so. Then if you want to get the platinum that’ll probably take longer still. It’s a game that has a good amount of bonus content and that comes with more story and lore details. So I’d say it’s definitely worth it and I guess many agree with me because nearly half of all players got the 100% ending. That’s super impressive and I’ll have to go for that at some point because right now I’ve got an E rank in the game even after beating the campaign. Now that’s surprising!

Overall, I definitely recommend this game! Rogue elements go hand in hand with a Metroidvania experience like this and make the whole thing better. The game was a real blast and it’s why from the Christmas batch I had to jump into this one right away. If they ever make a sequel to this one then I will definitely be ready to play it. You really can’t go wrong here so even if you aren’t a big fan of the vania style, I recommend trying this one.

Overall 8/10

Tonic Trouble Review

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This is a game that I was not particularly familiar with and that’s surprising because it seems to be a fairly big game that was well thought out. It’s a 3D platformer that can hold its own with all the big guns. I had a lot of fun here and while the game is a little on the short side, I thought it worked well. It made sure that the collectathon parts never got to be too overbearing or anything like that. Fun was the priority here and I appreciate that. You do need to have a lot of orbs to access the final boss but none were hidden away too crazily like they were trying to stump you.

The story starts with the main character making an oopsie and a chemically powered drink lands on a nearby planet and infects everything. He needs to go and clean things up but unfortunately a local viking lord took the serum and has now become extra huge and powerful. Defeating him will not be easy so our lead is going to have to lock in! Fortunately there is a genius inventor who can help you. He will need a lot of orbs and relics in order to create a final instrument of destruction though.

So that’s the format for what you will be doing. Each world has a number of collectibles to be obtained and a bunch of enemies trying to stop you. The game is light on actual bosses though so a lot of the platforming is really about solving puzzles and using a whole lot of athletics. Nothing that you haven’t contended with before though. What I like about this game right off the bat is how fun the hub world is. It’s colorful and big without being a chore to get through. It’s fairly quick to run from world to world as well.

At times it may take you a little while to get it all memorized though. The main menu is also a great way of keeping track of how many collectibles you are missing. The quality of life features are really on point here. The developers did everything they could in order to make this a fun experience. There are still a few puzzles that will give you some trouble and one that I never figured out but you don’t need literally all of the collectibles in order to beat the game. So just get enough of them and you will be all set.

The graphics have aged really well. Like I mentioned, the artstyle is really colorful which fits the game really well. Then we have the soundtrack which is good. There aren’t any tunes in particular that really stood out for me but they all did their part in enhancing the overall experience. This was very well balanced on all sides. While there isn’t really a post game, you can grab all of the collectibles. Maybe that would at least get you a bonus scene at least.

So there is a decent amount of replay value here. Also for platformers you are generally playing them to just have a good time so this definitely works in that respect. I’m surprised they didn’t make a bunch of Tonic games, I guess in general people were less impressed with it than I was. It had good gameplay and a solid amount of cutscenes so you know that would in me over right away.

Aside from smacking your opponents, you also have a little gun at the ready. It’s really useful and for that reason it has limited ammo until the final world begins. You can hit enemies from really long distances and of course it also works on various traps that are out of range. I recommend using this as often as possible. Then you eventually learn how to glide which is super useful. You will quickly wonder how you ever played without it.

It’s another basic, but important fundamental of the game. After each world you will learn a new skill which allows you to reach more locations. The game doesn’t force you to backtrack as often as other titles though. Generally you can reach around 80-90% of the collectibles on your first visit to a location. Then you would go back to grab the very last ones. This is exactly how this kind of game should play out. It’s how you make collectathons fun.

Then in one of the last levels you get a marathon of classic puzzles. For example arranging blocks into a specific image is one of them. Another is connecting lights together where each switch activates all adjacent spots. I always like these brain teasers so those are fun puzzles to go with. They are puzzles that always feel fair as it’s just up to you to logically make your moves. There is also a reset option for all of these if you want a fresh slate.

I’m not saying the game is a walk in the park either. It’s not the most difficult platformer I’ve played but I did die a number of times. I also did use the rewind a bit when falling to save time. So you can’t exactly close your eyes and play this one. Still, I thought that the difficulty was fair the whole time. When you die, it’s generally because of something you did. Only exception is an occasional camera angle that’s kinda wonky.

Overall, Tonic Trouble is a fun game to play through. It’s a very old school platformer and yet it’s one that has more quality of life features than some modern games. It really felt like the devs were thinking of the player the whole time and I appreciate that. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should play this game asap. It’s not one that you will want to keep on the backburner for long.

Overall 7/10

The Bell Rings in the Holy Night Review

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It’s time for a very short story but with only 20 pages it manages to properly develop two different romances. I would highly recommend this to any aspiring writers out there and naturally it’s a blast to read through as well. You won’t look at other romance titles in the same way after this one and you almost wish they could have made a whole series out of this.

The story starts on Christmas Eve with Ken preparing to assassinate a big crime lord on orders from his boss. He definitely doesn’t really want to do this but at the same time he feels trapped. He is basically out of money and feels like he’s never proven himself as a man. Ken hasn’t even been able to give his girlfriend Meg an engagement ring yet. Well, she’s not okay with this idea at all. Ken is a minor so he figures he would only go to jail for 5 years and then they could be together but Meg fears that he will have lost a part of himself. Fortunately an older man named Joe shows up and warns Ken not to go through with it.

See, Joe was in the same position 40 years ago and he actually succeeded in murdering his crime lord. What happened is this ended up making it so that he went to jail for far longer than 5 years. He was on the run for a long time even after that and couldn’t bear to show himself to his girlfriend. They had agreed to meet in front of the chapel on Christmas Eve but it took him 40 years to actually make it. He figured that the girl had forgotten all about him by now but it turns out that she had waited all the way until her dying day. Her grand daughter still goes there every year to pass on the message.

So Joe realizes that he really made a mess and wants to make sure that Ken doesn’t make the same mistake. Ken takes this message to heart and ultimately doesn’t sacrifice himself. It’s a really emotional scene and a reminder to never take the shortcuts in life. It’s the kind of message that hits hard because Ken was only a few minutes away from making a decision that would have ruined his life forevermore. That’s a tough pill to swallow.

Meg gets a lot of credit here too for telling Ken that this was a bad idea from the start. She knew that the easy money wasn’t going to make them happy and that turned out to be correct. While we don’t see much of Alice, I appreciated how loyal she was. She didn’t run around looking for a rebound or anything like that. There’s noting more romantic than hanging in there no matter what. They can have eternity in the future even if it didn’t work out in the present.

That’s the true spirit of romance, to never waver and remain together until the end. Even if things don’t work out the way you hoped like one person dies tragically young, you just keep on going with the memories and then make it to the end. I have high hopes that Ken and Meg will last as well since their devotion already appears to be very strong.

The art is really strong. You can see how similar it is to the Saint Seiya series and can imagine how good the fights would be. The artstyle is very expressive which works well for a story like this. Additionally the characters are all really likable. This is just a complete story and the pacing is also on point. It’s really impressive how much ground was covered in a mere 20 pages. It’s a reminder that you can really do a lot and can execute on an excellent story with even a limited page count.

Overall, I would recommend checking this story out. It’s a really good title for Christmas and is how you want to write a steady romance without needing to build it up for 50 volumes. You could believe in the bond here through the characters’ actions. Maybe one day they will make a short animated special of it or something like that. I’d definitely check it out and of course there are enough plot elements to make this into a movie if you really wanted to do that. You’d probably just expand on Joe’s story and we see how everything plays out in real time.

Overall 8/10