Brahms: The Boy II Review

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You know that feeling when the opening credits start to play and you realize that the film is not going to be very good? It’s a rough feeling because it’s like the film made some massive mistakes in the future but the scenes haven’t happened yet so how do you know this? It’s just a gut feeling after years of watching the cinema and I’m afraid that the film could not surpass this. All of the characters act insanely illogical and it’s not even in an intentionally absurdist way. It’s just in a plain old poor writing way and that’s tough to beat.

The film starts off with Liza’s kid Jude being super annoying and pulling pranks to scare her. She’s already made it clear that she doesn’t appreciate this but he doesn’t care. Well, one day the whole crying wolf thing doesn’t go well because an intruder actually is in the house and Jude does not give Liza any kind of heads up. She is defeated by the attackers and now has some severe PTSD. They move in with her husband to a more remote location in the forest area to hopefully help them move on. Jude has been unable to speak since the incident but unfortunately he finds a doll named Brahms underground. This doll may be more than meets the eye and Jude quickly starts to get corrupted.

So one of the many problems here is of course how weak willed Jude is. He immediately allows the doll to take him over without a fight which is pretty annoying. He just follows the doll’s evil rules without any kind of pushback. So much for freewill eh? Not cool and later on he even says that he tries to keep the doll happy so it won’t hurt the others. Wouldn’t a better idea be to tell the family so they can prepare themselves? I also don’t really buy this excuse since Jude was directly the one being crazy a lot of the time.

Jude also should have been talking to the parents instead of only talking to Brahms. So yeah I didn’t like the kid and he was pretty annoying and getting in the way the whole time. Meanwhile the parents take some of the blame as well. When Jude starts talking about how they can’t have any guests anymore, they should have been more serious about telling him that he doesn’t make the rules. They should have taken away the doll a whole lot sooner as well. One instance is when Jude makes some creepy drawings about his parents being murdered. That should have been game over for Brahms instead of not really doing anything about it.

Liza and Sean just didn’t take things seriously in time. None of it feels realistic in the slightest, how are you going to let this kid be so disrespectful and crazy the whole time? Lets ignore the supernatural angle because for now it doesn’t matter. Even if it was a normal doll, it’s clear that it is having a negative effect on Jude so it should be removed. That’s basically the end of the story there. If the doll returns after being buried and burned then that’s tough but at least they’d have given it a good try so I wouldn’t really have complaints there.

The side characters are also annoying like that random cousin who is cartoonishly mean. He basically shows up just to mess with Jude and start a fight. Things don’t go well for him but the whole thing felt pretty forced. then you have the gardener/neighbor Joseph who is rather shady the whole time. He looks worse as the film goes on but yeah it does seem like a security risk to have someone who can randomly walk onto your property at any time. You really can’t let your kid just be hanging out at that point.

The film also can’t avoid the easy pitfall of having animal violence. The dog gets murdered and you’re shaking your head the whole time. Another red flag that the parents ignore in part because they have no proof it was Jude and in part because they’re just not ready for this. The film brutally attacks your intelligence the whole time. The worst part of this is that by extension it makes Brahms look rather weak. For the most part he’s not pulling off any great feats the way that Chucky would. You feel like the parents could have buried him again and if they did it right away then they would be good. After all, that’s how they found him last time. Instead that’s just not what happens here.

As far as horror stinger endings go, I would also say it was on the weak side. It was more about checking off boxes than actually creating a really interesting cliffhanger which was disappointing. I don’t think there’s a whole lot you can do to make this a great series at this point. Films about evil dolls can work but you need to do something more with it. You can’t just have an evil doll and then call it a day. That’s not going to do anything, so you need a hook in addition to that. Maybe making Brahms able to turn his owner into a doll, transforming reality, etc.

Overall, Brahms: The Boy II is definitely a pretty bad film. It’s annoying the whole way through and the parents put up with way too much the whole time. It’s less scary and more so just tiring to see the characters constantly not knowing what to do. Brahms should be more active in a future film so that he is actually causing a lot of damage and talking. Having him just do things off screen at best isn’t good enough and possession is something you can do with any villain so it’s not much of a doll gimmick. I would definitely say to give this film a skip, there’s nothing that it’s really got to keep your attention.

Overall 2/10

Sonic X Shadow Generations Review

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This game has been getting absolutely crazy amounts of hype and I am here to tell you right off the gate that it is all completely deserved. Yes, you heard it here first, this game is completely elite and an absolute credit to Sonic Team. The game may be short but just like Forces, it makes up for this with incredible gameplay and a killer story. I would even put this one above Sonic Forces as the 5th best Sonic game of all time. Ladies and Gentlemen…..we’re back!

The title includes a remaster for Sonic Generations which is pretty cool but of course I’m here for Shadow. So Shadow’s mode has a quick recap for new fans which is cool. Then the game starts out with him on the ARK looking into a mysterious life signature that GUN detected. It turns out that it’s Black Doom, the infamous demon has returned at last. His goal is unknown but Shadow will destroy him before it’s too late. Along the way he will have to fight off a lot of iconic bosses from the past like Metal Sonic and even gets to see some familiar faces from his past like Maria. This game will test Shadow as he has never been tested before.

The format is pretty similar to Sonic Generations in a lot of ways. You get to play levels from a bunch of different games as Shadow fights through his memories to get to Black Doom. A lot of times when you are close to completing a level, Black Doom will show up to throw you in Radical Highway. It’s a pretty fun gimmick and one that people have been playfully poking fun at. What can I say? It’s one of the greatest stages and Black Doom has good taste so it makes sense that he would keep bringing it back. It’s a pretty nice touch.

Each stage has 2 acts and then you play through 6 challenge levels to get to the boss. Rinse and repeat around 4 times and then you get to the final act. So the game is pretty short as mentioned, you can beat it in under 4 hours. I started it at around 5:15 and had it beat a little before 8:45. So we’re probably looking at it being a bit shorter than Sonic Forces but on that level. Pretty good considering that this was accompanying another whole game and for new players you’re getting both of them. There is also a considerable amount of play time here. I won’t oversell it or anything but it at least doubles the run time. You need to get well over 100 collectibles and have to 100% every stage if you want the Platinum trophy. I think it would be a lot of fun to really test out what you can do in every stage and go for the record.

I know a lot of people are having fun breaking the records over and over online. I doubt I would be near the top there because some of the stage runs I’ve seen are absolutely insane but getting all of the S ranks at some point would be fun. Generally I like trying to go for the platinum in Sonic games but they can be deceptively difficult. This one looks very achievable for now but I think the toughest trophies will be beating the final boss of both games without taking a single hit. That sound really tough and will take a lot of trial and error. I certainly got hit quite a few times in the Shadow campaign.

I could go on and on about how smooth the gameplay is. This is basically perfect and it’s what I think of when I’m ordering a Sonic game. I want to be running very fast like this in 3D environments. It’s just so epic, keep the boost mechanic and all of the hype platforming. Shadow’s gameplay is also unique with his various powers like the grapple, fish, wings, etc. None of them are stuff that I absolutely need to have but I definitely won’t turn them down either. It’s fun to be using the abilities and also gives you extra freedom on how you want to approach a level. Each level has so many different exits that it’s crazy. The amount of replay value built into each stage is really cool.

Meanwhile the bosses are a lot of fun and I also like all the extra details. Like in the Radical Highway stage, they modified the claws so they work the same way as they did in Adventure 2 where you had to click out to leave them instead of it being automatic. The character designs and animations are extremely good as well. The graphics are some of the best that we’ve ever seen in a Sonic game and definitely set the standard for future games. You want them to look like this going forward.

Then we have the soundtrack which is incredible! There isn’t quite as much hype as in Frontiers but we’ve still got lots of rock themes and remixes going around. The nostalgia for Shadow The Hedgehog was really cool. Right from the main menu theme you know that you’re in for a good time. The story itself is also really good. Now admittedly I would have liked more cutscenes and conversations with Maria and Gerald though. It felt like they didn’t get nearly as big of a role as I expected them to get. I suppose we got some closure there but assuming they never appear again, I guess I just wanted more.

Overall, Shadow Generations is an elite title! It may be a quick ride to the finish line but it’s a super enjoyable one all the way through. There is a good amount of replay value to keep you coming back but at the end of the day even without that I would have this one ranked super high. The top tier gameplay alone is enough for me to absolutely guarantee that. There’s a reason why Sonic is my favorite single player franchise after all and it’s because no other game series can keep up with this gameplay. At its best, Sonic will always be outdoing the competition. I eagerly await the new level in December as a reason to get back into the game and play it some more.

Overall 9/10

Dragon Ball Super Divers Review

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I’m going to miss Dragon Ball Heroes but it’s time to look at the next generation of Dragon Ball content! Divers is definitely starting off on a classic note with the first arc of DBZ. It’s a fun read but I am hoping for something a little more intense in the arcade game’s story once it really gets going. I may just be hoping for a bit too much right out of the gate but I can really feel the potential here!

The story starts with the Z fighters faced off against Nappa and Vegeta along with their Saibamen. There is a new addition to the team though, a kid who looks like a Saiyan. For some reason he is commanding the heroes and tells them who to send into battle. Unfortunately he follows the same order as in the actual manga so Yamcha and Chiaotzu get destroyed once again. Goku and the kid team up to beat Vegeta and then we get the big reveal that this was all a super realistic VR game. The kid is proud of himself and gets ready to keep on playing. So it may be going the other Heroes route with the events initially being a game within a game but eventually the stakes got high anyway. So I could see this happening here as well.

I suppose my one issue here is how the changes didn’t really seem to matter. Why have the kid go inside the game and make his moves when he’s just going to preserve the status quo? It made no sense not to warn Yamcha about the explosion ahead of time and for some reason the kid looks super shocked. There are two possible explanations here and they both make him look really bad. The first is that he forgot what happened because he is a super casual DBZ fan and hasn’t read the books in a while. That one would just be pretty terrible since that’s such an iconic moment. The other explanation is that he wanted to keep the story as close to the original version as possible, in which case I would say that’s just a boring way to go about it. The point of VR adventures like this is that you can actively change things and create a better tomorrow. So why wouldn’t you just do that?

The fun appeal of what if storylines to me are that they can really go all out. There is so much you can do when you are outside the confines of the main story and it feels to me like this arcade game is playing it too safe for now. I’m hoping they change that sooner than later because reliving the old arcs sounds fun enough but this is their chance to really have the new character make a difference. Also there is only so much time in just a single chapter so that’s another valid reason for making this one a bit more small scale. I can accept that as the reasoning if that’s what it was.

The artist did a really good job of emulating the classic Dragon Ball Z look. The character models are on point and the action scenes really flow naturally. I definitely didn’t have any real complaints on that. A clean artstyle like this one definitely goes a really long way because not only is it pleasant to read but it actively enhances the story as well. The writing was good too and of course the whole arcade game backdrop has potential. We just gotta see where it goes from here.

It’ll take a while to really surpass Dragon Ball Heroes in terms of how much of a spectacle that was by the end but so long as this one is very good then we’ll be satisfied. It’s also nice for fans of the original characters like Yamcha to see their guys get in on the fighting even if it’s super brief and ultimately doomed for defeat like in the original. You just can’t escape your destiny here!

Overall, Dragon Ball Super Divers was a pretty good oneshot. It really goes by very quickly so there’s not a whole lot to talk about here. It does its job of being a preview for the upcoming game though which is the important part. The art is on point and the action scenes are good. For all of my complaints on the lack of ambition, it is a fundamentally sound story. There is a good amount of action here and it’s always fun to see Goku and friends getting some fights. Hopefully at some point they come up with an ongoing manga for this one because you can never have too much Dragon Ball content. In the meantime this is a story you should check out.

Overall 7/10

Vampire Survivors Review

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Now here is a game that takes me back. I’ve never played it before but I used to see it on streams all the time and it looked like a lot of fun. I like the idea of a survival game like this where you are surrounded by never ending legions of enemies. You really have a lot of decisions to make each time with the power ups and win or lose, it feels like it was all on you. It’s also a unique title that you can completely play with just one hand which is also cool. You could be texting while playing, watching a tv show, reading a book, etc. You’ll probably die quickly if you’re too distracted but it’s just such a novel idea.

So like I said, the idea is to survive here. You start out with a whip or an energy blast scepter. (You can buy other characters with your gold) When the game starts, there are only some enemies at first. You blast them and level up which lets you upgrade your default weapon, select a new one, or upgrade one of your other weapons. As the levels up continue, you have to make hard decisions. Do you boost all your attacks by 10%, unlock a 4th weapon or strengthen the original? I would say a good thing to do is try and craft a strategy. Pick the build you want to create based on what you start with. Like I love having a scepter/garlic build because it lets me shoot tons of energy blasts while I also have the garlic to protect me up close. This is the strategy that finally let me survive the full 30 minutes and effectively beat the game. That being said, there is no guarantee that I get the garlic option.

It’s why you can’t be too stubborn about the build you want. If the garlic never comes up, you will have to pick something else up and if garlic shows up too late in the game then it might not even be worth picking. A level 1 garlic won’t be doing much once you’re already level 20 after all. So definitely keep that in mind. It’s also fun to be experimenting with all kinds of different decks anyway. That’s how you really have a lot of fun. The game will take you a very long time to complete anyway. I finally made it to the 30 minute mark where I fought the super demon who destroys you in one hit. I heard there is actually a way to get past him which sounds crazy but I would consider that to be the end of the game.

Of course if you own the game and want to continue then this is amazing because it adds a ton of replay value. You will have to really trin properly there. Fortunately this is a Rogue title which means that you will gradually get stronger in every playthrough. While you fight off the legions, you want to grab as many coins as possible since that is how you unlock more characters and permanent upgrades. So if you just play long enough, you’ll eventually be starting off with 10% increases in damage, speed, and exp. Things like that make a massive amount of difference the more that you play. Personally I really like the EXP one. That’s how I made it to level 50 on the run where I finally survived the 30 minutes. Without that I would have definitely died earlier.

One big thing to remember during gameplay is to always defeat the sparkling enemies or any enemy that looks very different from the others. Why? Because those guys will drop treasure chests which always have at least 100 coins in them. They also drop an extra level up upgrade bonus so you really want that. These enemies are absolutely more durable and can be a royal pain to destroy but they are still worth it 100%. You can’t just think about the current run after all, you have to factor in your future runs and this is where those chests come in handy. So just keep on earning those coins, trust me there are so many power ups that it’ll take ages to get every power up anyway.

The graphics look pretty good. I’m impressed that the game can handle so many enemies on screen at a time even without a bigger budget. There is no lag or anything like that, the game run really smoothly. It’s super nice to see and of course all of the action is clear at all times. So the graphics are good and I also really like the main theme of the game. It’s catchy and definitely fills you with energy right out of the gate. It works perfectly with the gameplay to further enhance the game.

Overall, Vampire Survivors absolutely elevates this genre of game. I haven’t played any other title quite like this one and apparently it got so big that other games like this are named after it as Survivors now. I’d be curious to play more games like this one but I’ve heard that so far there has never been another game even close to this one. That’s a shame but I suppose it would definitely be really hard to stop. The game has a ton of replay value and is incredibly filled with content for the price. This is a game that I could absolutely recommend purchasing even at its normal price. You are bound to have a whole lot of fun with this game and it will be hard to tear yourself away from it. It’s why I say that games with a power up system where you feel yourself getting stronger are absolutely awesome.

Overall 8/10

F-Zero Climax Review

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It’s time for a classic F-Zero title although I would say this one feels a little more barebones next to GP Legend. It jumps you right into the game but really the only thing to do is play through the stages for a little while before you start to get bored. Now the racing gameplay is good but for F-Zero you are expecting a little more. Perhaps that is unreasonable since a number of the games are just purely racing titles without a big story in-game but it would have been cool to have had a little more depth. Either way it’s a fun time though.

I figured I would switch things up here a bit so I played Captain Falcon for the first tournament and then started switching it up. Only problem is I don’t remember who I played after him. Pico maybe? I know I looked for Skull and didn’t see him so I had to pivot quickly. The game itself is definitely very short though. After you play through the 3 tournaments, the credits start rolling so that’s about it. I have to assume that there are more secret stages out there though. I remember how in F-Zero GX about half of the cups were hidden and as a kid it was a blast unlocking them all. I have to assume that Climax probably functions in a very similar way with that although I suppose I don’t really know that for sure.

You still have the iconic spin move that the series is famous for so I had a blast knocking opponents off the ring. Boosting was very risky in this title though because you move so quickly that you can easily just fall off the stage entirely. Definitely something you should be careful of if you can help it. At the same time, you won’t reach the top spot without it so just try and learn the stages. I didn’t play long enough to truly master any of the levels but I imagine you could definitely do that before long. My average placings weren’t great here.

It definitely continues to be the harder alternative to Mario Kart. The stages really take time to master and of course the opponents also just keep coming. There are plenty of places to fall off the stage and you can also be directly blown up by the opponents which instantly takes you to last place. It’s a very unrelenting game in every respect so you must not take it lightly at all. There is also time attack mode so I should mention that as another way to have some fun. Try and beat your existing records to really see just how good you are. In a lot of ways this is really the right mode to start with as you hone your skills before getting into the battles.

Once you have a full grasp on exactly how the controls work, then you will really be in shape to do well. At least that’s the way I see it and while it may feel a little weird at first, racing games are the kind where you very quickly adapt. It may feel hard but after a few races you unconsciously start to turn with the right timing. So don’t give up and you will be leaving the CPU in the dust before long. I would also say as tempting as the spinning is, you should keep it to a minimum. It’s very hard to actually destroy an enemy vehicle and it takes up time to spin so every time you miss it’s rather rough. It’s probably not something that you should be completely spamming. Wait until you’re super good at the timing and then use it strategically.

There’s not a whole lot more to say about the game because it’s so basic though. This is exactly why you want to have a story mode since that is the ultimate cover up for any title. It can mask just about anything because the story will end up being memorable. It will end up being something that pushes you forward and you will have more incentive to clear every race if it takes you to the next stage. Even a super lazy text box only story will give you incentive that you just wouldn’t have otherwise and that’s why it can be a game changer.

Overall, F-Zero Climax is a good game. I think it could have been better but I suppose for its time it wasn’t bad. I cut it a little less slack though because by the GBA days I feel like games were advanced enough to really have full stories and such like that. I don’t think it would end up being an unreasonable ask at that point right? The character roster is rather small and likewise for the stage count although I assume there are more out there. It just doesn’t feel like you get a ton of bang for your buck with this title, especially when Mario Kart is also on the GBA with all of the usual bells and whistles. If you have the Switch Online then you should check this out but otherwise give it a skip.

Overall 6/10

A Little to the Left Review

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It’s time for a puzzle game and you know those can be very hit or miss for me. For these types of games I either want a good story or I want something that’s just a lot of fun and really addictive like gem matching. That’s where it’s at but this game unfortunately doesn’t seem to have either. There are a lot of levels so I can’t knock the game in terms of content but the puzzles themselves really aren’t very fun to play and that’s really a big deal. Ultimately I would even say that it’s a game breaking deal.

There isn’t really any kind of preview of build up when you start the game. You are thrown right into the mix. The puzzles are divided into around 5 chapters. Each chapter has over 20 puzzles and you try to solve them until you win. If you are totally stuck you can ask for a hint or skip the puzzle and return to it for later. The puzzles are generally about organizing things. For example, putting everything into a basket, lining up books from smallest to largest, etc. You’re mainly going things like this until you get to the end of the game. As you go on, the puzzles naturally get a lot tougher to figure out.

The toughest part here is that outside of asking for a hint, you are given no context to the puzzles whatsoever. You have to try and use deductive reasoning here which is an interesting idea in concept, but I don’t think it really works. I would like to at least have a basic idea of what I’m doing here. Some are self explanatory like with the books as you try to sort them from smallest to largest. Others are a lot trickier like where you have 3 paintings. It seem like you have to try and tilt them a little but I don’t get the logic of that one and the tilts didn’t seem to stick. I should mention now that there is also no tutorial on how the controls work.

You are just thrown into the mix and have to try and work it out. Again this could work depending on how the puzzle goes but this game was definitely not up to the task. I think one of the reasons for this is also how silent the game is. It could have really used a hype soundtrack. Even just 4-5 different songs that cycle through would add a whole lot of life to the game. Without that, it just ends up being completely forgotten and you will have soon left it in the dust. The fact that it’s not free by default was also a bit surprising for me.

Sometimes games just don’t click though and that’s just how it goes. Believe it or not I’ve still played worse games than this one. As negative as this one sounds, at least it is a very basic title that manages your expectations right from the jump. It could absolutely be wayyyyy worse than that. I guess if there was ever a sequel to this one, I would say it should add some kind of a basic plot even if it’s only through text. Maybe every puzzle you complete lets you learn about 2 paragraphs worth of new information. Some kind of hook right?

I’m not sure if there’s a post game here but with the large amount of puzzles the game has, it is already plenty long. It’s hard to picture anyone just flying by the game because of how varied the puzzles are. There will surely be some of them mixed in there that will give you a little trouble here and there. Those are the ones that you will definitely need to watch out for and while you can skip them, I assume you need to complete all puzzles to truly complete the game. Not that there is likely to be any kind of story ending though but maybe they did sneak a secret cutscene in at the end. Technically speaking, there’s no reason to assume that would be impossible right?

Overall, A Little to the Left is not a game I would recommend. There’s just not enough detail to it so it really ends up holding itself back. The controls are pretty simple yet sometimes not very intuitive. I could see this working as a mobile game between subway stations to buy yourself some time but as a full fledged video game I don’t see there being many reasons to pick this over something else. At least for people who really do enjoy the game, there is a lot to do here. For everyone else, yeah it’s time to go back to Professor Layton or something like that instead for the quality puzzle gameplay. That also has the added benefit of having a full fledged story mode with it as well. How do you top that?

Overall 3/10

The Legendary Starfy 3 Review

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Starfy returns for some more hype in this last installment from the Switch Online. It continues to operate at a high level and show that even platformers can have a deep plot as needed. Unfortunately none of it is translated so it is left up to your imagination on just what is going on. The cutscenes are clear enough but it would have been really nice to know exactly what was happening. Hopefully Nintendo decides to translate this one day for future gamers although alas it would be too late for me since it’s rare to have enough time to really replay any game. There are always new titles on the horizon to check out instead after all!

The plot basically loops again as the main villain escapes except this time he is working for a powerful cosmic lord. This guy holds all the cards and may be the strongest threat that Starfy has ever encountered. He will need the help of his friends even more than usual. This is also the first time that you have a secondary main character in the pink star. I think that’s his sister but it could be his best friend. It’s hard to say without the translations… but it’s an interesting gameplay mechanic. She is limited to the abilities he had in the first game so it’s almost like a classic mode. A lot of levels will have you shifting between character several times to unlock switches and then they meet up in the end.

The formula for the levels is pretty solid. You basically have 2 acts and then a boss in each world. There are 10 worlds which is definitely a very good amount. As you can immediately tell, the level count is far shossssssssrter than the second game but the fact of the matter is that it still excels far above the average platformer. So that’s pretty impressive all the way. The levels have a lot of variety to them and each world has a fun theme. You can’t really cheese the levels by gliding but the abilities still take you very far. The levels tend to be more straight forward than in previous games. You won’t get lost at all which is great. There will be times when the levels can even be reasonably difficult so it’s not a game that you can beat while keeping your eyes closed.

The graphics are also good as always. The bright and colorful artstyle really works well for the game. It’s the kind of style that will always age well which is why I encourage games to use it. A live action-esque title will get dated much quicker than one that is so fantastical like this. The soundtrack is decent although that’s one area where the game could stand to use a little improvement. You aren’t likely to remember any of the tunes all that well by the time you complete the game. They’re not bad or anything but making them a little more memorable would have absolutely been a good idea.

Meanwhile the different gameplay styles were all good which was a plus since the animal summons would be an easy way for a game to mess up. The horse is plenty fast so it’s a nice change of pace, the pogo stick has well thought out mechanics, etc. It’s clear that the whole game got a lot of polish and not just the main gameplay style which is definitely not something that you can say for just any game. The fact that this one can say that is definitely something worth remembering.

I will also give kudos to the boss fights like with the first two games. Each boss has a different moveset and you have to beat them in original ways. There is a boss in every world so that’s 10 different bosses without any reskins or clones. That is good and a lot of games could learn from its example. In a platformer, one of the best parts are the boss fights after all. They do a good job of shaking things up from the levels after all and in general are just a lot of fun. This game never forgets that and even gets pretty hype for the final boss. Things really go cosmic in scale.

For those of you who are playing this for the first time, my main gameplay advice would be to always hold down the run button. Every platforming challenge is easier when you have a running start and it gives you just a little bit of an extra boost which is extremely handy. Without that then you’ll be falling a lot. The button can be rather sensitive on the Switch though so definitely be prepared for some early deaths that will feel like they would have otherwise been rather preventable but that’s what the rewind button is for.

Overall, Starfy 3 is definitely a very good game. I had a fun time with it and there is a lot of value to this title. Not a lot of replay value as there isn’t really a post game but not every game need a post story. It would be nice to have but as long as the main campaign is long then that’s all that matters. That’s the part that you’d be spending the most time on anyway. If you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check this one out. It’s not a title that you should miss out on.

Overall 7/10

Something Wicked This Way Comes Review

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It’s time for another story about resisting temptation because the short term fun will quickly be taken over by something grim. It’s a pretty interesting concept but one that is slightly wasted by this film. I like the idea of someone sinister showing up in a small town and granting everyone’s wishes at a great cost. It’s just hard to really get the full scope of this when the main characters are kids so they can’t really do much about this. It would be a lot more effective otherwise. Still, it’s not a bad film.

The movie starts by introducing us to Will and Jim who have gotten in trouble at school again. It’s not easy for these two kids to live in such a boring town. There’s really just nothing to do except cause trouble at this point. Everyone in town has some issues that they deal with, one one guy missing an arm, one lady being really old, etc. Still, people do the best that they can. One day a strange old guy shows up and gives one of the kids a lightning rod. Seems like a dangerous thing to have at home, but eh the price was pretty good. Everything changes when a mysterious circus/carnival comes into town led by Mr. Dark. His shady name is already an indicator of things to come. He seems to have the ability to make your wish come true. The price? Well, he’ll come to collect that in short order.

Naturally you’d think it would be easy to just say no to the guy and run off but honestly Dark is rather smart about how he handles this. He’s not just cackling on a throne telling people to give up their immortal souls. He just strolls around and creates miracles in a rather low key way. It’s one of the few times I don’t totally blame the random locals for falling into his traps. On the surface the guy doesn’t seem all that crazy although the miracles are a red flag but it’s almost all like one big dream.

The character I do blame for this? Jim. Jim knows what is going on to a much larger degree than the others and yet he really wants Mr. Dark to grant his wish to become older. He is jealous of being a few hours or days younger than Will. That has to be one of the most petty things I’ve heard in quite some time now. He’s also quite ready to beat up Will over this despite the two of them being close friends. I thought that was really crazy! You don’t just betray your best friend on a whim like that. I couldn’t look at him the same after that.

In comparison, Tom had it rough because the guy was actually tortured by Dark for information. This guy never cracked no matter what he was put through. This is where the more interesting plot is at play with what’s going on here. The battle happening in the shadows so to speak so it is annoying when we have to continue following the kids who are out of their depth. There’s probably a TV trope for this but it’s when you are following the B plot while the A plot happens in the background. I feel like there’s a whole other movie in here that we are completely missing out on because the kids can’t handle what is going on.

They’re also way too passive like when one of the guys is de-aged to a kid and is pretending to be the teacher’s nephew. Maybe you don’t tell the teacher because she has no reason to believe you but you definitely handle the kid. Instead they ran off like chickens which was not a good move at all. Charles at least does good since he’s the only grown up to really be in the mix the whole time but the problem is that he’s really old. He can’t hold his own in a fight and at best is able to talk tough verbally to Mr. Dark. I still give him credit for that at least.

I don’t really have many issues with the film but the problem is that the one issue I do have is a pretty big one. The film can just be a little bit on the boring side. We see the process of everyone in town getting their wishes granted and all but after that we are missing out on most of the action because the kids can’t handle it. It feels like a strong opening without much of a payoff. The climax is decent but with adult or even teenage main characters you could have squeezed in a whole lot more action. I’d like to see a reimagining of this film some day because I definitely see the potential.

I’ll throw you out an idea right here, make Tom the main character next time. Lets explore more of what he knows about this and his ultimate plan about it. You could even choose to make a prequel instead. Usually I’m against that but in this case it could really work and I think it would instantly be more exciting than this film. Just something to think about but it would solve the protagonists issue right out of the gate.

Overall, Something Wicked This Way Comes is a very interesting film where the payoff doesn’t quite match up. The title is certainly a descriptive one and makes sense for the movie. The setting and backdrop is all there as well as a solid atmosphere. The decision to have the two main characters be kids is ultimately what buried this one though. You need leads who can fight, not kids who will just stay in the back the whole time getting dominated. I suppose kids need some stories where they can see protagonists their own age running around but it doesn’t really do anything for me. If you are really in the mood for a fantasy title and have seen most of the others already then you should check this one out. Otherwise, there are far better ones out there that you should watch instead.

Overall 5/10

Sonic Dash Review

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It’s time for another Sonic mobile game. It’s really impressive just how much mileage Sega has gotten out of the Dash series. You’ve got the Sonic Forces version, Sonic Boom, Sonic Prime (Which I haven’t played yet) and of course this one as the main version. I think there is even a premium version on Apple Arcade. Well, I can safely say that this might be the best out of the main Dash titles. It’s a lot of fun and has a great deal of characters although from what I’ve heard it used to be even better before a recent update that happened several months ago. Well, I never got to know what the old version was like so in a way I suppose it doesn’t affect me as much.

Basically the concept is that you are always running. You keep on running in a straight line until you lose. You lose by falling into a pit, bumping into something, or getting hit by enemies when you have 0 coins. Otherwise you can theoretically play for hours since you won’t die, but the game is reasonably difficult so that’s hard to picture. You can change which aisle you are in while running as well as jumping up and sliding down. The controls are basic which is the point here. You also gain different items as you are playing like temporarily doubling your score or a magnet that pulls in nearby items. Both power ups are super handy so grab every item you can find. Every enemy you defeat also awards you little animals that you can use to unlock more maps which helps you get red coins and characters.

As you level up, you start with higher score multipliers. For example if you are level 15 then you earn points at 15X the normal speed. Some people are already at level 200+ so their scores are absolutely crazy by this point. It’s a pretty fun way to incentivize you to keep on playing more and more so that you can build up high scores like that. Your levels are easy to increase since just about every action increases them. Powering up your fighters, completing daily missions, etc.

As an endless runner there is endless content to be had here. You can just keep on playing. Some things are limited per day like red ring prizes and daily missions but you can always keep on getting cards (which unlock characters and let you power them up) and coins which are needed for pretty much everything. You will see cards on the course as you run through and you get more by doing tricks in the sky as well. During special events, some character cards will show up more often than others. For example I joined during a Super Shadow event so I unlocked him and then an Infinite/Mephiles event started so I unlocked those guys.

I unlocked 20 characters during my short stint with the game so you unlock them pretty quickly. I think there’s something like 100 characters in the game though so it would take a while to unlock them all. Generally speaking I like the way you unlock characters though so that seems fun. I have heard that one downside is you will eventually start earning cards for characters you have maxed out which sounds annoying. If you ask me those should be removed from the pool so that sounds really odd. Ah well, I can’t verify that anyway.

The graphics are definitely pretty sharp here. The character models are really clear and the stages are vibrant. Sometimes it can be hard to dodge an obstacle because a card is in the way which is a slight pet peeve but on the whole, as expected the game really does look quite nice. Meanwhile the soundtrack is also good. A bit limited but the Sonic music is clear and as always it’s pretty energetic so it works well in an endless runner. I already spoke about the unlimited replay value so you don’t have to worry about that.

It does have one of my big annoyances though which is a mandatory video ad every time you lose in a stage. The reason it isn’t game breaking though is apparently the game doesn’t have as many advertisers now. So as you’re playing, you’ll notice very quickly that the ads stop popping up and if you try to click on one, it says that there are no more ads available to view. So that’s pretty cool, then the gameplay really does become quite seamless. You can also permanently remove ads by buying anything in the shop, so maybe the $1 coins bundle but of course I don’t spend money on mobile games. Pokemon Go was the one exception to that.

Sonic Dash is hardly perfect, but I would say it is a very good open runner. The menus are all very clear and your objectives are also easy to understand. The game completely understands what it is here to do and isn’t trying to trick the player. What you see is what you get and I like that about the game. I do tend to enjoy open runners quite a lot. None of them have matched up to Miraculous which has the best game in this genre but Sonic gives it a good fight. Now all I need is an open runner with some kind of story mode and I would really be set! Surely they’ll come up with something like that eventually.

Overall, It’s time for another app game to be uninstalled but this was a pretty fun one while it lasted. I can definitely say that Sega knows what it is doing with these titles. Sonic Dash had a lot of heart to it and quickly becomes very addicting. If you are looking for a game to play for a long while then this is definitely the one for you. Hopefully they announce a new Sonic mobile game at some point, I’ll definitely be there. In the meantime, it’s back to Pokemon Go being the center of attention as per usual.

Overall 7/10

Night Swim Review

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It’s time for a film about the horrors of swimming pools. I’ve got to admit that the premise does make you smirk a bit. Hey, with the right directing you can probably make anything scary, but why pick a swimming pool? That doesn’t seem like a great idea and in the end it didn’t really work out. It does beat some other horror films to be sure but it’s not going to be an all star hit or anything like that. No sirrrrrrrrr.

So the movie starts with a little kid swimming in the pool when a monster drags her under and she dies. We fast forward to the present where a family is moving in. Ray was a big baseball player but an injury forced him to leave the game for a while. His doctor recommended water therapy and so having a pool is a big help. It’s begun to heal his injuries really rapidly, abnormally so. Unfortunately weird stuff continue to happen with the pool and Ray is also acting erratically…almost as if he is possessed. Is the pool to blame or is something else going on here?

The pool demon is fortunately not all that tough though. Basically it can control water, using it to choke you or teleport within it and try to physically overpower you. It’s not all that tough and has low stamina so you can usually overpower it. The things that are tougher to get around is when it launches a sneak attack by making you trip using the water or by spilling glass everywhere. If you drink the water or let any of it go inside an open wound, then you’re basically dead at that point. So it has weaknesses at least but it’s still hard to get around since the pool water connects to the foundations beneath and so it can spread to a lot of water sources from there. You definitely want to watch out.

It appears to be a demon that revels in turning people against each other. For example, making a deal to save one of your kids if you sacrifice another one kind of thing. Aside from the fact that making a deal with a demon is always a bad idea, naturally this also only works if you actually trust the demon and why would you right? Also, sacrificing anyone is crazy right out of the gate. One character makes a deal in a flashback and that definitely didn’t go well. It shows just how evil some characters really are.

For a horror film, this one actually isn’t super violent at least. Some characters get sharp wounds and there is blood but it’s not all that excessive. So I would say it is fairly tame all things considered. If you are afraid of drowning then of course those scenes will be a lot more tense. It is definitely one of the worst ways to go so you can feel their fear there. The thing is, the film still had a hard time really keeping up the tension here. The movie just feels really slow paced with how long it takes for things to happen.

The shapeshifting water monster is also just not that impressive. A better core design would have been a good idea there. Also, the main characters are okay at best. The two kids Izzy and Elliot don’t really have anything going for them here. Eve at least has a fairly big role here as she keeps noticing weird things going on with the pool. Ultimately it’s one of those things where she isn’t really able to prove anything about it for quite a while but she’s sort of playing the detective here. Gathering the clues and learning about the shady history from the neighbors so that we have the answers for the ending. She is proactive about trying to stop the monster though and gets points there.

Ray loses the points for the most part here since he is constantly losing to his dark impulses. The monster takes him over rather easily and has him mind controlled for large parts of the film. I will always take shots at a character who is manipulated this easily, particularly when it is against his own family. You just can’t let that happen, at the end of the day your biggest duty is to protect your family and so if you can’t do that then it’s over. He should have found some way to keep on going or at least get away from the pool. The fact that he couldn’t is a big knock against him.

The rest of the town was pretty reasonable at least. The one family didn’t press charges despite Ray acting pretty crazy and the Baseball team seemed fun. I could have had fun seeing more practices and sports happening. There is a mild romance plot with Izzy that feels completely pointless though. The whole marco polo scare sequence was really stretched out and it’s a huge suspension of disbelief. When someone’s not playing the game properly then you just end it. You don’t keep your eyes closed and just wait forever. Also, how could she not tell that his voice dropped so hard into a deep, mysterious voice? The monster sounded nothing like him and yet she could not tell the difference at all. If it was meant to sound like him and that was just for the movie audience then that’s not particularly good writing on the film’s part.

The characters definitely don’t make the smartest moves here at all. Also, the scene where Ray nearly drowns the one kid by not moving is also super weird because he was just playing a game with another family. The pool is also absolutely packed with a ton of people in it. It’s a big pool, but it’s not huge. How did nobody notice until it was so late? A guy who wasn’t even in the pool was the first to jump in and help out which is crazy. At most you would have needed to show the monster was using reality warping to move everyone away or something. Some weird time displacement but that isn’t implied so it just seems like a weird issue. This film definitely wasn’t always focused on the writing that’s for sure.

Overall, I think this film probably would have been more interesting without the horror stuff. Remove the monster and just make it a movie about Ray rehabilitating his injury and coming to terms with the fact that he isn’t a top player anymore. Along the way Izzy would learn not to be having shady relationships in secret and Ray’s son would learn how to gain some confidence in playing Baseball because none of those mild subplots really went anywhere in this film. It feels like there would have been enough content for a slice of life movie like that instead of all the generic monster stuff.

Overall 4/10