Category Archives: Reviews

Antz Review

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It’s time to look at a film about Ants. This is a pretty fun one that has some really clever dialogue hidden in there. It actually gets a little more intense than I could have figured and it’s clear that this film was ready to push the envelope a bit. While the animation may not be the strongest, I would say that the film holds up pretty well overall thanks in large part to that strong writing. This isn’t a film that will be easily forgotten or that you could mix up with a different title.

The movie starts with Z explaining to a doctor exactly why he feels so sad all of the time. He doesn’t want to be a mindless worker Ant just doing what he’s told. He wants to live a little, explore, and just do his own thing. The problem is that this is not how the ant culture works. So they hope to get him back with the program soon. One day he gets to meet Princess Bala when she breaks the rules to hang out at a bar and he is so determined to see her again that he switches places with his friend Weaver so he can be with the soldiers. This leads Z to be included on a suicide mission where everyone dies except for him. So now Z is considered to be a massive hero and that also makes him a big target as the main villain is hoping to create a new colony that revolves only around the soldiers. He would rule it of course and so the queen will ultimately need to be taken out of the picture.

Z uses Bala as a hostage to escape but now the two of them must survive out in the wilderness. Additionally will anyone stop the general or is the colony going to fall? One thing’s for sure, Z cannot let his guard down at any point. He’s already not a fighter after all so one wrong move and he’s really doomed. As you can expect he doesn’t get along with Bala much at first. She finds him to be too low in confidence, generally annoying, and someone who can never stay quiet for more than a few minutes. On the other side he just wants to be free now and leaving the colony was the best thing that could have happened to him. He does not intend to return so she will have to try and make him.

We have some decent banter here and so it’s a fun part of the movie to have them on the run. That said, the romance is definitely more on the rushed side here. Nothing happens that actually convinces you they could really be friends much less more than that. It just doesn’t seem likely especially with the rough start. He basically did kidnap her before so how do you really come back from that? He also just seems to not really be her type in general.

Bala also is a little slow on the uptake like when she outed herself going to the bar by mistake when she recognized Z. You’d think she would have been more subtle about it considering that she knew she would be in trouble for this. Ah well I guess she didn’t think that part all the way through. By the end of the film she’s more reasonable. Originally I thought Azteca was going to be the main heroine here so I was surprised to see her role be so small but she’s a fun enough character. I was also glad that Z had someone to stick up for him in Weaver. That guy was a good friend all the way and someone you could trust. Even when he was beaten and interrogated he would stay strong until someone else was in danger.

The whole plot of the ant revolution was also pretty fun. It showed how all they needed was one ant to make a big move and then they were ready. They probably should have questioned their destiny a lot sooner tbh but better late than never right? It’s still progress which is always good. It’s hard to imagine having to live such a confined lifestyle where you just do things because they’re all expected of you and you have no real free will. Of course within the film’s context it makes sense because they’re all ants but you can also say it’s a metaphor for how some people just do things without knowing the true reason why. Always stay alert and question everything!

Like I said the animation isn’t great or anything but it looks good enough. The character designs are on point and you do know what is happening all the way through. The soundtrack is a little more impressive with a fast tune that pops up early on and it stays energetic the whole way through. This is a fast paced movie that always has a lot happening and that’s absolutely one of its strengths. On a technical level the film is still good and of course like I said the writing is on point too. It’s a film that will give you a good amount of laughs and has a strong sense of humor all the way through. The film is also able to adapt and get serious when needed.

Overall, Antz is a pretty good film. I would even say that it is the complete package. It has everything you could want in a film from good characters to solid humor. The action gets pretty intense as well and we even have a real war scene. The film’s characters are just human enough where I’d say there is no real animal violence here but the body count itself may still surprise you a little bit. This is definitely not the kind of film where everyone has a happy ending. That much I can tell you for sure. I’d be interested in more films in this continuity but this one did pretty much explore everything. I don’t think it really left a lot of meat on the bone and had enough happening where it really filled in the full run time with no issues.

Overall 7/10

Gravity Review

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It’s time for a film about outer space. It goes with the very bold option of trying to have a very small cast but ultimately this was not the way to play it. I like outer space as much as the next guy but for just about any film you need a lot of banter and characters to be trying to outmaneuver each other. Most of this film is really just the main heroine trying to survive and as a result there isn’t a lot going on here.

The movie starts with Matt, an expert at this kind of thing and Ryan, our main heroine who is also an expert at least on the theory level but hasn’t really had to go into space like this before. It’s all going routinely until a big chunk of debris knocks the life out of everybody with Matt and Ryan being the only survivors but very quickly this becomes Ryan’s solo mission. She has to try and get enough systems back online to get back to Earth but it’s not easy as this was never meant to be done by one person. Can she surpass her limits right here and now or is it all over for her?

So the main problem here is basically what I said in the intro. There is only so much that you can do to fill out a whole film with just one character. It works in the anime/light novel format because you have a ton of inner monologue from the main character but in films that doesn’t usually happen. If Ryan was constantly thinking about what to do next, making plans, etc. then that would be a different story. It’s just pretty rare for you to see that in a live action film because it’s really just not the way that the stories are typically crafted. Also the genre is a bit different, it might not be super organic to see her thinking about plans and such when she’s just been thrown into this situation.

I’ll take entertainment over realism so I’d have been cool with it of course. The best part of the film is really the intro because I enjoyed Matt’s character and seeing just how hard he tries to help her out the whole time. He really did his best in a tough situation and never made her feel guilty or anything with what happens to him. So that guy was a standout character all the way. Ryan’s also a solid lead and came through when it counts but since part of the film is really about how this is her first time, she does understandably panic a whole lot more. Ironically Matt would probably make for a worse main character since he would just be silently doing everything and the film would become a silent flick real quick.

I’ve seen a few other films like this where it’s just one character for most of the film and so far they just never really work out. It’s just not a genre (Eh this would probably be considered a sub genre at least right?) that works for me. You do get some nice visuals of space of course. There isn’t much of a soundtrack since space is quiet and all but they tried hard on the technical side. The writing seemed good enough when there was dialogue as well although we just don’t get to see that for very long.

Okay here’s what I’ll say for the film. It’s a terrific writing prompt. It’s interesting to think about what you would do if you were stranded in space and how you would survive. You could absolutely make a whole book series about it as you slowly learn to grow crops/artificial food within the spacecraft, water, etc. Maybe you live for years on your own before people come to rescue you. It would really test your creativity.

It’s just that watching a film about it ends up being super boring. There’s no way around this, you’re not really given anything to wrestle with. No themes to discuss, no dialogue to rate, no fights to enjoy. There isn’t even much variety in scenery since she is stuck in the ship all the time. It just feels like too passive of a viewing experience. I need to be thinking about something, absorbing things so I can be running scenarios in my head. Otherwise it’s sort of like you’re just watching the main character walk around and it’s not super engaging.

Even the review feels a bit repetitive after a while because it’s like I’ve only been talking about one thing the whole time. Well, that’s what watching the film was like. I do want to underscore that it’s not a bad film, I’d just say that it’s not a good one either. It’s perfectly stuck right in the middle unable to move one way or the other. It’s not interesting enough to wow you or anything like that but it doesn’t commit any huge mistakes nor is it overly boring. It’s uneventful but I’ve seen some films that are truly boring and I can tell you that this one shouldn’t be considered to be in that same league.

Overall, Gravity is a film that takes an interesting concept and tries to execute it but it just doesn’t work in a movie context. I think this would be far more interesting to read as a book. If you are really into space or aspire to be an astronaut at some point then this film should hold a lot of extra value because I imagine they did consult with experts on a lot of the science so it’s more or less accurate. It’s a good idea to at least think about what you’ll do if you’re ever stranded. Me though, I plan to stay on Earth for the duration of my life. Space travel or going underwater are both things I’ve never been tempted to try and definitely would never do even if you paid me. I just need the solid Earth beneath me at all times with breathable air. The most dangerous hobby I’m into is competitive eating to be honest.

Overall 5/10

Behind Enemy Lines Review

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It’s time for a film that reminds you of just how dangerous it can be to be caught behind enemy lines. Trust me that’s not a situation that you ever want to be in. It makes for a pretty action packed movie with a lot of chase scenes and having to avoid enemy fire. I had a pretty good time with it and would recommend checking it out to anyone looking for a solid action movie to watch.

The movie starts with Chris really looking forward to his current tour ending. He had been hoping for a lot of action and excitement as a pilot but instead he’s mostly just had to do a lo of flying around empty areas. No gunfights or anything like that and he doesn’t appreciate the peace. Well one day, he ends up flying a little far out and gets shot down by the opposition. His partner is executed and he barely escapes into the wilderness. The US is in a tough political battle with this country and so with the treaty nearly here they don’t want to risk anything setting that back. So despite having a soldier on the run, the higher ups forbid Admiral Leslie from stepping in. Leslie wants to help but needs to figure out a way to do this. Will assistance be in time for Chris or is he truly on his own?

Now if this was a power fantasy film Chris would just defeat the whole army and keep it moving but of course that wouldn’t be super realistic. Best we can do for you here is have Chris be able to outrun the entire army and dodge all of their bullets. A pretty impressive feat in and of itself though. You’re going to see a lot of scenes of everyone trying to murder Chris and he’s just too fast for them. He moves through the forest like it’s his own backyard and he’s also able to use the mud to his advantage so that he can hide even while they are right on top of him. So yeah pretty impressive all around.

This film will have you stretching your disbelief quite a bit with how it’s handled but it does make for a very exciting movie which is always a good idea. It does come at the expense of the hype for one of the villains though. This guy is supposed to be an expert sniper, the best in the business and the film hypes him up as a huge threat. The problem for the guy is that ultimately when the chips are down he isn’t able to hit Chris. He has Chris straight in his sights and misses every single shot. Really a bad look for the guy since he’s a sniper and shooting at someone should be what he does best. It definitely had me a little confused I have to say. Just feels like the villain should have been handled a lot better.

There’s also another scene where he gets really lucky. Basically the villain who was with him steps on a land mine and asks him for help. The sniper says nah and start to walk away. The first villain should have just tried to run or make a jump for it then and blown them both up. No way you just let the other guy get away like that right? It would make no sense and just makes you look bad for accepting that. You have to keep your dignity in tact. All of the villains were on the weak side here to be sure but you can’t just take that. You have to make a move.

Meanwhile Leslie was a good admiral. He definitely did try to do the right thing throughout the whole film but it just wasn’t so easy. Every time he was being stopped on all sides by other officials. The film was definitely trying to show a lot of corruption within the government here like one guy in particular who seemed to be working with the terrorists the whole time. I was surprised at how easily he got off after it was all said and done. I guess there just wasn’t a strong enough case against him and he probably blamed it on someone else but that was unfortunate.

It was nice to see Chris actually get a little help as the film went on from the resistance. Usually it feels like nobody’s around at all and so the hero is really on his own but even just having one person makes a huge difference when you’re on the run like that. The crazy thing is that Chris could have really saved himself a whole movie if he just hadn’t yelled when they blew up his partner. I get that he was feeling pretty stressed and shocked when that happened but at the same time he really didn’t need to yell like that. The scene took so long and was so drawn out that it’s not like he didn’t see it coming. So he should have been prepared for that moment from the start.

If he doesn’t make a sound then nobody finds out and he has a really solid head start over to the extraction point. Even with the moles and traitors running around, I don’t think anyone would have had time to stop him before he escaped. So it was really a turning point in the whole movie right from the start.

Overall, This is definitely an exciting film with a whole lot of action the whole time. The pacing is on point and while the character cast isn’t huge, they work well enough. The movie is definitely at its best when it is really focusing on the thriller aspects of the title over the drama but handles them all rather well. It has a lot of fun with slow mo scenes and tons of camera cuts all over the place to really make you feel the intensity. This is absolutely more of an action film than your classic war title so keep that in mind when you’re watching it. I’ll be curious to see if any of the sequels can match this one. In theory you can just keep reusing the same plot over and over again so it’s all going to come down to the execution. Give me enough fight scenes and you absolutely have a chance after all.

Overall 7/10

LIMBO Review

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All right it’s time to look at a game that was pretty well known for a while there. It’s the year 2024 now and the veil has been lifted on T rated games. They’re all on the table and this is an interesting one to be one of the first big picks particularly as I had a Nintendo gift card with some cash to spend. The game was actually on an 80% off sale which is pretty impressive. The puzzles can definitely be tricky and the game itself is certainly going for a horror vibe but ultimately I did think the story is what holds this one back. It can get a little too disturbing.

The game starts off with a kid waking up in the middle of a very shadowy area. He doesn’t really know what’s going on but proceeds to explore deeper in. He comes across a bunch of kids who want to murder him for some reason as well as a giant spider creature. There are tons of death traps all over the island as well so whatever is going on, it seems like he isn’t meant to leave here alive. Can he possibly escape or in a way is it already all over for him?

This title’s fairly short but how short it is will definitely depend on how good you are at the games and the puzzles. I imagine the length will vary a whole lot as a result of that. Some of the puzzles definitely stumped me for a long while. I would fall for a few of the traps where the puzzle had an “obvious” answer that just didn’t work perfectly so I kept trying to force it before I realized that was the whole point. It was a red herring and then I’d solve the real puzzle.

The actual platforming itself isn’t as hard as the game’s controls are pretty precise. The puzzles are where the real meat and potatoes are but the game will also test your reaction times with the various traps. I would usually die against them at least once when they first popped up but then you’re ready on the next go around. It’s just hard to have an optimal run the first time you play the game because you just aren’t prepared for these things yet.

The graphics are intentionally going for a very retro style here. There isn’t a lot of details and most of the stages are covered in shadows so they aren’t particularly impressive. It’s a stylistic choice that works well with the horror elements though. As a result there also isn’t much of a soundtrack. There isn’t much replay value to be found here either since the game basically just loops like an old arcade game. I suppose it’s possible that it’s not a true loop and there would be some kind of new content in the second run but I didn’t really check that out.

So mainly the only issue with the game I’d say goes back to the story. It is rather disturbing with how graphic each of your deaths are as you get hit by the spikes, chomped up, etc. Even more so by the fact that you are playing as a kid so there’s not a whole lot that he can do to defend himself. The game could have dialed that back a little bit if you ask me. There was a game where you were made of shadows that was similar but it didn’t hit as hard because he wasn’t physical. That would have been a good idea here or maybe aging him up more.

It just felt a little too out of pocket having the kid get destroyed/dismantled like this. It takes away a little from the experience where you are enjoying the platforming but then feel bad every time the character gets destroyed. The death animations can also be a little on the long side as he is dragged away or slowly broken which doesn’t help matters either. The game succeeds in being suspenseful and in getting a tense atmosphere but should have kept it more in that arena than going Ham on the violence as well.

Overall, LIMBO is a very unique game but it does try getting a little too edgy at times and the very short play time doesn’t help matters much either. It is priced very low right now while on sale but at its normal full price (Which is still far lower than most games) you’re not getting a ton of bang for your buck. Games that let you sort of imagine the context and fill in the blanks while playing are fun as I like being able to flex my creativity like that but this one did end up missing a bit more than it hit.

Overall 4/10

Pikmin 2 Review

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It’s no secret that I really didn’t care for the original Pikmin and it’s part of what made it take so long for me to get the sequel. Well, that and the fact that the sequel was really overpriced but still I took the plunge and it all worked out. Pikmin 2 manages to improve on all of the issues that I had with the first title. The day system of the game just ending has been removed which is excellent and the gameplay is also a lot smoother. So the unthinkable happened and I actually had a lot of fun this time. Yes, I was just as surprised as you are and so now I’m actually ready to jump into Pikmin 3 soon after all of these years.

Well, the plot starts off with Olimar’s boss racking up a ton of debt. Unfortunately these debt collectors mean business and his life will be over if he doesn’t raise $10,000. Fortunately there is a planet nearby with a lot of treasure so Olimar gets sent over there with a rookie recruit. Can the two of them earn the money needed to save the company or is it all over? One thing’s for sure, they won’t be welcomed back until they have the cash.

So that’s the goal of the game and it’s part of the fun in how this one plays out because there are different ways to earn money. Naturally the easiest way is by finding treasure, each treasure generally gets you 100 coins. So rack up 100 of those and you will hit the $10,000. Now it’s not always so straightforward, some treasures are worth more than that and others are worth less but it roughly adds up. Some treasures end up giving you permanent upgrades as well like the ability to survive fire or electricity. Then you can also bring enemies back to your ship for money. The weakest ones will only give you one coin while others can give 10 or so.

It’s a long process but if you are absolutely stuck and unsure of how to defeat the latter worlds, you could in theory just farm money on the first few levels as much as you want with the enemies. Ultimately I didn’t do that but it does give you an extra sense of security that it’s possible. The best feeling in the game was definitely finding a new cave which is basically how the dungeons work in this game. The average cave has 7 levels in it and each level has 1-2 pieces of treasure in it. So you’re looking at around $1000 or so in the caves and they were massively helpful in getting to the end. I still had 1 cave I hadn’t unlocked yet by the time I beat the game which shows how generous they are with the treasure.

Now they are also pretty dangerous though. If you die or lose all of your Pikmin when inside of a cave then you lose all of your treasure. There’s no auto save when losing though so feel free to reset the game and try again. Of course sometimes it won’t matter because for example the exit is blocked by a gate that requires 10 Pikmin and you only have 3. At that point you just have to hold the L so always make sure you have a decent amount at the ready.

I realize I haven’t talked much about the gameplay. So basically you command a ton of Pikmin that you order to attack enemies, destroy obstacles, and carry treasure. The controls are fairly intuitive, you just point and they do the task or you can throw them to have them attack quicker. In this respect the game is even better than the original and the 3rd game as you always feel like you have total control. The Pikmin may die easily but they fight hard. The only tough part is getting them to stay single file behind you as they tend to fall into the ocean sometimes. That could always be annoying and in general water is the toughest obstacle for that reason. It can be hard to plan around that.

The most annoying part of the game has to be losing a bunch of Pikmin at once though. Like lets say you do drop them in the ocean or a boss eats most of them. It can take a full 2-3 days cycle to get your numbers back up and that feels a bit tedious. I only had a full wipeout a few times at least so it wasn’t too bad but one quality of life update I would do is making it so that as you progress through the game you actually start off with more Pikmin. Instead of only getting 1 of each type after a wipeout, maybe 5 of each type. Some kind of progression system that rewards you for playing so long.

The graphics for the game are pretty solid. I don’t know that I’d call it Nintendo’s finest work or anything like that. It doesn’t look as sharp as the Mario games but you do always know what’s going on and I like the level designs. The soundtrack is much more on the forgettable side and could be better though. You won’t be humming the tunes or anything like that. It’s a much more low key kind of adventure.

Overall, Pikmin 2 is a pretty good game. I actually don’t have many complaints with the title and I think it did a good job being a resource management type of game. Really what it’s just lacking at this point is more of a story. I think you could have absolutely had more cutscenes since we really just got an opening and an ending here. It would give you more of a reason to get invested beyond just enjoying the gameplay after all. Give me that extra boost and we’re all set. As it is the game is reasonably long and you have replay value from the post game stuff so they did put in a true effort all the way.

Overall 7/10

Fit for Christmas Review

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It’s time for a very classic kind of romantic comedy film and this one really executes on what’s otherwise a fairly simple plot. At the end of the day I’m going to keep on calling this the Hallmark formula and so of course it’s filled with a romantic rebound and a lot of good burns being dished out by both of the main characters. The path that the story follows may be generic but you’ll have a good time as the film slowly takes you there.

The film starts off with Audrey heading back to her old hometown for the first time in a while. She’s on a “break” from her boyfriend after he decided to cancel their wedding at the last second. Well, this gives her more time to re-open her dancing/fitness classes back up and it’s almost Christmas so this’ll be fun. Unfortunately the town is about to get in the middle of a crisis because a giant corporation has decided to move in. They’re going to be building new places, fresh eateries and improving the quality of life in the town by 1 billion percent but it will likely lose that old town vibe as a result. Audrey has decided to stop this at all costs but it’s difficult since most of the people in the town seem to be on board with the idea. Even worse? The guy representing the company is a man named Griffin, one of the most eligible bachelors of all time! She will have to try and resist his looks, charm, and money but can she pull this off when everyone is rooting for them to get together?

Right away one thing I like here is the banter between Griffin and Audrey before they get together. He really embraces the villain role while always taking the high road. She jumps in with a lot of insults and everything right out of the gate while he takes it all in stride and at least acts nice on the outside. He did a good job of bluffing through his lack of Christmas knowledge during her quiz while they were doing the fitness routine and he did manage to make friends with everyone in the town. That’s impressive since they all started out not wanting to like him since he was a part of corporate.

Griffin is clearly very good at his job and it shows. I’m glad that he wasn’t incompetent or anything like that. You could make the case that he was a step ahead throughout the whole film and ultimately the spirit of Christmas is what it took to stop him. He definitely could have stood to be more confident when talking to his father though. That was absolutely his weak point. Particularly since as we see his father is very reasonable the whole time. I think he would have supported Griffin’s change to the plan right from the start and so we didn’t need all of the secrecy or anything like that.

The characters were all written rather well and realistically. The antagonists were not too far gone. At most you could just say that the romance was really rushed the whole time and that’s definitely true. They’re moving way too fast considering that Audrey was really close to marrying the last guy. It’s always been one of my biggest problems with the concept of the rebound. If you were so close to being married to the point where she would have been had he just said yes…then is her love for Griffin really the real deal? If your feelings can change so quickly then I have doubts on just how deep they are. It’s just not how these things work and you’ll have a very hard time convincing me of anything else.

In general though the instant you have to take a “break” in your relationship then it’s as good as over. A break is never needed for the person that you really love. Audrey was on the fence about this longer than she should have been. The other guy seemed decent overall but the fact that he wasn’t ready to commit is a dealbreaker. You just can’t really come back from that, at least not easily. The movie randomly tries throwing in another romance subplot which was more on the weak side though. Particularly since this guy’s wife was dead which was the main reason he didn’t want to get back into the dating scene.

It’s a super valid reason but it’s just brushed aside the whole time with the whole “She’d want you to be happy.” Yeah maybe but sometimes she actually would want her husband to just stay loyal to her, particularly since he’s rather old at this point anyway. I know the phrase is til death do us part but you can sometimes stand to stretch that out until both people are dead you know? You don’t have to just move on like that every time.

Well, romance aside, the rest of the film was a blast though. The fitness scenes were actually pretty good since it does feel like that would give me a good workout. I liked the sets and it was nice seeing the whole town come together. The fact that Griffin was nice to everyone even while working for corporate was great because it makes the ending less cheesy and more realistic. There are no hatchets to be buried or grudges to get past because everyone was on the same page from the start. It’s an extremely refreshing thing to see here.

Overall, Fit for Christmas is a very well made movie. At its core it’s a super enjoyable film and of course that is the most important part for any title by far. You have to be a blast in order to be remembered as a super solid title and this one really holds its own there. It has a lot of replay value and would stand as one of the stronger Hallmark styled films that I’ve seen. I always love good banter and this film definitely delivered with that. So in the end I really have no major complaints with this one and would recommend it. You’re bound to find a lot of scenes that make you smile.

Overall 7/10

Pokemon Concierge Review

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It’s time to look at a really quick Pokemon show that came out and trust me I’m not kidding when I say that this one is really short. The whole series combined is not much longer than one normal episode. It’s a pretty interesting experiment with the stop motion although I have to admit that it’s not really my style. Me personally? I just prefer hand drawn and really fast paced animation that gets you pumped but this was still an interesting enough experiment.

The story starts off with Haru having the worst week of her life. Her boyfriend broke up with her, her shoes got ruined, and she lost her job. Fortunately she has been accepted for a job as a Concierge over at a really intense Pokemon Resort. She is determined to make this work out and arrives, prepared to a hectic first day! Instead she find that life on the island is a lot calmer and more at peace than in the big city. Here everyone believes in taking life one quarter mile at a time and just having fun. That is even Haru’s first task, to just wander around and have a good time. Unfortunately this just stresses Haru out even further because she’s not sure what she is expected to do. What can she even do about this??

The character cast here is really small too with only 4 main characters. You have Haru’s boss who seems nice enough. She wants to give Haru a real fair shot at this and also help get her out of her shell a little more. A difficult task to be sure but one that she is up for. She’s nice enough and Haru is lucky to have her. Then you have the yoga instructor who has really mastered the art of being chill. He doesn’t do a lot here but does gradually help get Haru to be at ease as well.

Then you have another employee who seems to do a bit of everything. She paints the tents and helps out with the general Pokemon operations as well. She’s a lot more confident than Haru and tries to get her on that path as well. It’s definitely good to have so many people ready to help here but at the end of the day they are all more likable than Haru. Haru’s not a bad character of course but her whole character arc is about getting braver so she can stop being so timid all the time and of course that means for most of the series she is on the back foot.

I tend to like when my leads are really confident and/or powerful. The latter doesn’t really matter in this context but her being more assertive would have been really nice. As I mentioned earlier this is a really short series all the way through so it means that Haru only has a few minutes to really be bold. So if we ever get a sequel then I’m sure she will look a lot better but in the meantime she couldn’t keep up.

Meanwhile the animation is pretty sub par. I’m sure it’s pretty good by stop motion standards but I’ve seen animation from close to 80 years ago that looked way better. It’s why the style will never win against the big guns if you ask me. As an experiment I get wanting to try out different styles but it’s why the series should switch animation techniques for any possible sequel. I think a different approach would help the series stand out more. As it stands it does have one solid song that plays for the opening and works well as an insert song in the final episode.

Ultimately though what does hurt the series a bit aside from the animation is that it’s not terribly exciting. By that I mean it can actually get a little bit boring. There’s no real stakes here and the series is aiming really young. So it’s more of a slice of life where you get to see the characters as opposed to anything deeper than that. The main problem? There aren’t many characters here like I said before. Slice of life titles with no stakes come out all the time and I happen to like a lot of them. The main problem is that this one just can’t hold its own because it needs more dynamic characters or witty dialogue to get it across to the next level.

Without that there just isn’t anything to keep you glued to the screen. We need more human characters interacting and some kind of rival or bully could have helped to spice things up a bit. Think of it like a slice of life without the slice of life elements that make it a success. I dare say I’d almost take some romance in here to shake things up. Ah well, there’s still nothing particularly bad about the series. It’s also very short so it’s not like it drags on either and as a result that’s why I would put it right in the middle. It’s not strong enough to get a positive score but it’s also certainly not weak enough to get a negative one. It ends up surviving right in the middle which isn’t a bad place to be.

Overall, Pokemon Concierge is definitely a very different kind of Pokemon special. The animation may scare a lot of people away right out of the gate but if you stick around you may have a decent time. It’s not particularly long so it’s not like you’re giving up a lot by watching it. I would say that’s probably even the best argument in favor of it. That can feel like a backhanded complement as well though. At the end of the day if you’re a massive Pokemon fan and want to watch every kind of content with it then it’s time to check this one out. Otherwise you can really just skip this one and I don’t believe that you will regret it at all.

Overall 5/10

Override: Mech City Brawl Review

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This game didn’t make too many waves when it came out to be honest. It was around and then just as quickly as it came out, everyone forgot about it. The main problem is that it just didn’t really have a big hook to it. No singular reason why you would play it over some other mech game or anything like that. Still, the sequel brought in Ultraman so I figured…okay let me give this one a shot so I can go play the sequel soon and in the end it was pretty good.

The game actually does have a brief story mode even though there really isn’t much to it. Basically you have to help protect the world from alien invaders that are trying to take over. The only way to beat them is with your giant mech suit that has a ton of power at its disposal. Sounds easy enough, but you are outnumbered. You’re also a rookie so nobody takes you seriously yet. Can you defy the odds and save the world?

You’ll have the game beaten in a matter of hours so don’t worry about any of that. This is definitely not what I would call a really hard game at all. Just keep on punching the enemies away and the game will be over before the difficulty can really spike up at all. Considering that this is a PS4 title I do think they could have done more with the voice acting and budget to make this feel like a modern game. Because otherwise it just doesn’t really feel like it unlocked all of the latent potential. You could have made this game on the PS2 and it would be about the same.

The gameplay itself is fairly basic. You have your standard hits, power blows, and a super attack. Some attacks are so weak that you will never use them though. For example the main character has an energy blast, but it is slow and short range. What’s the point of an energy blast that is short range? I play long range fighters in fighting games for the spamming potential. That’s what I live for but if I can’t even do that then I’m absolutely going for the close range fighter all the way. There wouldn’t be much point in doing anything else at that point.

The gameplay can also be a bit slow. I’d say that using robots isn’t really an excuse for that either because I’ve seen plenty of faster ones. This game definitely could have stood to speed things up a notch but this is starting to sound negative for the gameplay so let me just clarify that the gameplay is still solid. I did have a good time with it because in general I love combat gameplay. You really can’t go wrong with it. It may not hold up against some other titles but I was still having fun. The game is also so cheap nowadays that it makes the value go up.

What this title really needed though was a larger cast, more modes to play, and a longer story. Throw those elements in and we’re talking about a whole new adventure at this point. If I bought this on opening day then I’d be super sad but buying it now, well it works out pretty well. The graphics are pretty decent. Nothing amazing but they’re fun and remind me of the old Godzilla Gamecube title. I also like how you can destroy just about every part of the city just by walking around. It helps show you the true scale of just how absolutely massive these robots are. Everything in their way is basically begging to be destroyed. The soundtrack’s more on the forgettable side though so don’t really worry about that.

In terms of replay value, this is mainly a multiplayer game so of course right off the bat that’s a ton of replay value. Just find some friends who enjoy the game and you can have fun playing against them for a while. Additionally you can work on getting the Platinum. I didn’t really look into how difficult that would be though. It all depends on if they included any online trophies or not but without a doubt it will add onto your overall playing time too. It’s why I still love trophies as a concept.

Overall, Override Mech is a pretty fun game. It’s not particularly ambitious nor does it have the sheer volume of content to compete with most mech titles but it’s a quality title. I always like seeing a new IP try to get out there and survive. This one at least does that and evidently did well enough to get a sequel. Unfortunately that one got rid of the stakes in the story although I’m very early on so that could change. At the end of the day if you like mecha fighting games then you should definitely pick this one up. Trust me you won’t regret it. This is the kind of game that you need to dive into especially when you see the low price.

Overall 7/10

Sin and Punishment Review

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It’s time to play a game that was really well known back in the day. I mean it still is as a legacy title of course but I’m betting most people probably have not heard of it at this point if you ask someone down the street. It’s why people need that big remake or reboot already. The sequel on the Wii was a lot of fun though. This game definitely has a very retro feel to it that you just don’t see nowadays though and it’s aged really well.

The game sort of just throws you into the story with some kind of resistance fighting some kind of alien invasion and an alien girl is around manipulating everyone. As the game goes on you get more and more context on what is going on but it’s also left vague enough to be part mystery all the way through. It works really well and definitely sets the stage for what you can expect here. It actually reminds me of Blame! a whole lot with the characters designs and story going on. There’s a lot of creepy visuals going on here and you have to keep your guard up at all times. The stakes get really high by the end and it even feels a bit meta at times.

The gameplay is pretty good to keep up with that. TO an extent it’s like a first person shooter. You do see your character but can only move side to side so I’d say it counts. You have to blow up all opposing forces before they can get to you and deal damage. What this means is that you need to try and go full throttle all the time. Predicting where an enemy will go and firing it a great way to stay ahead of the curve and prevent yourself from getting overrun. The game starts off rather easy but let me tell you that when the difficulty ramps up…it really ramps up! It hits you suddenly.

There was one boss in particular that I died to quite a few times where you’re fighting a spinning alien trash disc of sorts and then a giant robot shows up and stabs you. I couldn’t figure out how to dodge this thing and it turns out that I had to defeat the monster before it could hit me. So it’s a speed trial level and I didn’t realize that for quite a while. Not that it would have helped me much since it turned out that I also needed to use my sword on the object near the end.

I never fully mastered the controls. It seems like there are 3 gun settings and they change as you use the A button but that’s also the button you use to move to the right so I just wasn’t totally sure what was going on here. Sometimes I would switch settings accidentally when I was just trying to move. I do think there was some kind of a tutorial but…I didn’t click on it. So yeah no complaints on this end, I didn’t quite do my due diligence but that’s how it goes sometimes. The important thing is that the controls are still very smooth except for that and so the design is on point. Just go to the tutorial and you’ll have an easier time of things.

The game is fairly short although that’s to be expected for a shooter title like this. Generally in games where the level moves and you try to shoot your way to the end, the story will be short. I’m thinking it’s because it probably takes a lot of processing power to load up all of the levels and enemies. It’s just a guess of course but I think it makes a lot of sense because this feels really advanced especially for back in the day. The graphics may not be the best here but it’s hard to tell how much of that is on the tech and how much of it is stylistic. I do think to a degree the game is trying to look rough around the edges after all but I’m not sure and either way I gotta call it out all the same.

The soundtrack is definitely really good. It’s got that full sci-fi feel to it and the themes are always fairly quick. They match the tempo of the levels. The characters are good and the story is high quality at all times so I have no issues there either. This is a game that really had a lot of good effort put behind it which I really appreciate. It has no weakpoints, at most you could just say that it could stand to be longer. Still, it’s enough for you to have fun and the gameplay is solid which is the important thing. As a nitpick I do think they should have made movement be with the L and R buttons or something though just because having one button be for moving as well as for changing weapons can be a little confusing.

Overall, Sin and Punishment is a pretty fun game. I definitely had a good time with it all the way through. It does really finish in a flash but each level was well made and there was a lot of plot involved in it at all times. It’s what makes this game be a step above a lot of competitors. They definitely should have made many more games in this franchise already since the potential is absolutely there. If you have the Nintendo Switch Online then you should definitely play this game as soon as possible. It’s right there and ready for you to start playing it after all. You just need to dive in and have a good time. Keep your guard up and you’ll be fine.

Overall 7/10

Bomberman Generation Review

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It’s time for the return of Bomberman and this has to be the most plot focused one that I’ve played in the series. I definitely appreciated that the game’s story took itself rather seriously this time and Bomberman was allowed to do what he does best which is blow up his opponents. No comic relief characters are around to slow him down or anything like that. As a result we have a very solid story all around and the gameplay is definitely solid. The difficulty level of this game is fairly sizable though.

The game starts with Bomberman being called in by the doctor to recover the bomb elements from around the universe. A villainous group intends to use them for nefarious purposes but Bomberman isn’t about to let this happen without a fight. He will have to go through many different obstacles and use every technique at his disposal but he is ready to do this. Nobody will be stopping him.

The gameplay is a little different from the other Bomberman titles. Yes, you are still running around the map and planting bombs but instead of blowing up boxes and being in a limited space, you go through full platforming levels. You are running, jumping, and activating different switches and stuff in order to get to the goal. Along the way you will use little creatures that can fight each other and change the abilities of your bombs. You can even change your bomb element like from water to fire, etc. For the most part the elements won’t come into play until the end of the game but it’s good to get used to them in the meantime.

Now the only dicey part in the game is the collectathon elements. You will need certain items and power ups in order to clear the obstacles. The game misleadingly only shows you when some collectables are missing but not where others are. That means without an online walkthrough you will need to just search through every level to find them and the levels can be rather large. As much as you can you should try to check every portal in every level but it’s definitely not easy. Sometimes you will miss one so just hope that it isn’t one of the mandatory ones.

I’m not really sure what the point of the monster battles part of the gameplay was though. It’s completely luck based as the computer controls both fighters and there’s just not much to it. It sort of feels like it’s just here to be here but the game’s development focus was definitely on the main gameplay so it probably should have stuck to that. There are only a few battles in the game so it’s not a big deal but in a way that just makes them even more jarring because of how sudden they are.

As for the bosses, a lot of them are tough so definitely tread carefully. I would say to try and memorize their attack patterns first and then worry about hitting them. You don’t have much health after all so just a few good hits and you’re out. Online I saw people with tons of hearts while I only had 3 so there are probably power ups somewhere that increase your hearts but I just didn’t come across them.

The most useful creature is one that lets you detonate your bombs at any time. It makes it a lot easier to lure an enemy to where you have a bomb and blow him up. It’s also quicker since you can throw a bomb and immediately blow it up compared to waiting the timer down with the normal ones. Once you get the super versions of the monsters you can even use two abilities at once which is really good. The toughest boss in the game would have to be this giant machine that keeps slamming the ground. The reason it is difficult is that the slam automatically blows up any bombs you have set down so that made my favorite one irrelevant. You basically have to place a bomb and then immediately kick it or you will be caught in the crossfire. It does not grant you any mercy, that’s for sure!

I would say I beat that boss with half luck. I just tried kicking as fast as possible and eventually it all timed perfectly where I dodged the slam and got it through the window while the slot was open. Trust me when I say that it’s hard to do that on command. So you do feel pretty proud of yourself once you have conquered the game. Meanwhile the game has full voice acting which is really cool. It really helps to immerse yourself in the game more. I do have to deduct some points for there not being an ability to skip cutscenes though. So when you die you have to watch the whole thing over again.

You can dodge that by continuing after a loss instead of exiting to the main menu but if you do that then you lose all power ups and upgrades so I’d say that’s not worth it. Maybe you can do that a few times to learn how the boss moves and fights of course but after that it’s definitely time to go back to the main menu to start at full power again. Once you are used to moving at full speeds it is really hard to get used to being back at level 1 after all.

Overall, Bomberman Generation is a pretty fun game. It really does a lot with the Bomberman series and ends up being one of the most memorable installments in the series. It’s always nostalgic going back to the Gamecube era as well since that was still the peak of all gaming experiences. One of these days I will definitely need to get the other Bomberman gamecube title. In the meantime I would recommend searching this one out, it’s a good time and the length is pretty decent. The difficulty alone will likely help add some time to this.

Overall 7/10