This is a pretty new series that just started up and it’s got a lot of potential. It’s hitting those Madoka Magica vibes right off the bat and we’re already getting fight scenes. Mix that in with the good art and I definitely see this going places. Hopefully it becomes the next long running series with tons of volumes all over the place! I’ll have a full review for the series once it finishes but of course that could be many years from now.
Overall 7/10
Stafy is one of those classic platformers and now thanks to the Nintendo Switch Online I’ve gotten to play it on the big screen! Unfortunately they didn’t translate the game and I think this does hurt the title quite a bit because otherwise there is a whole lot of plot going on. There is a ton of cutscenes throughout the movie with text and animations running around. I would be really curious to know exactly what is going on here but I suppose in the end that’s not something I would really be able to figure out. I mean in broad strokes you get it but the details are what counts. Additionally this even has a gameplay factor to it.
See, Stafy’s not the most linear platformer out there. It’s got a lot of puzzle elements within it. Each world is made up of one massive stage that connects to various doors around the maze. When you go through a door, you will often be stopped by a character who is asking you for something but of course you don’t know what that is. So I had to brute force it by going to each door, eventually finding something that looked interactable, picking that up and trying each door until I gave it to the right person.
In that way, I would eventually get everyone everything they needed. Then I could proceed to the boss room and take him down. Doing this for each of the worlds aside from the 7th which is just a boss rush could be rather tough. With the translations it would have been real easy though. I’m not a big fan of mixing in puzzles and backtracking in my platformers either way though. Generally speaking I think the best thing to do is make things straight forward with optional collectibles for people who want them. I’d even recommend locking some secret ending and maybe even a bonus level or two behind that. It makes the serious players have to work for it while everyone else just dashes through. I think that’s a pretty reasonable way to go about things.
It might be a stretch to call this a full on collectathon of course but you definitely do have to back track a whole lot which is unfortunate. Again, it may not have been a big deal if I knew exactly what I was looking for though. The graphics are really good though, the game definitely stands out and the character models are all really good. The soundtrack is also solid enough, perhaps not a total masterpiece but it gets the job done. So on a technical level I don’t have any issues here. Mix that in with the game’s solid length and you’ve really got yourself a title here. I may not have been a big fan but I would still call it a good game.
If I was in the game stores back in the day and the game was licensed, I’d check it out. I still think the DS Stafy game I played was the best in the series and it’s going to be hard to beat that but of course I still have to get through the second and third games so it’ll be a minute before I’m done with the whole series. We’ll see how the next bosses go, this one had a lot of creative ones. They all would tend to be on the easier side but I liked that none of them were clones. They all had unique gimmicks and abilities and you had to find out how to hurt them. Once you figured that out then you were set.
There were also various minigames in the worlds. They were fun enough but didn’t help you progress in the level so I quickly stopped using them entirely. No point after a while right? If there is a minigame mode though, then that’s a pretty nice addition. the minigames were handled well and shakes up the normal gameplay so I definitely give that a thumbs up all the way around.
Overall, Stafy is a pretty classic title. It may not be on the same level as your average platformer where you get to race to the goal but it is a game where a lot of effort was put into it. The game’s length is also pretty solid for its time. You’re not going to just breeze through all of the levels in an instant or anything like that after all. If you have the Switch Online then you should definitely check this one. Do your best to just roll with the story and of course they also have the next two Stafy games on the system so you can bet that they will be having their time in the sun soon.
Overall 6/10
As soon as they announced this game I knew it was going to be hype. It’s about time that Zelda got to carry her own adventure as well. Link had his fun but even Peach has already gotten 2 games to herself. This time Zelda got her first big budget title and it’s a whole lot of fun. I would even say it’s more well polished than any of the other overhead LoZ titles. It also has one of the best portrayals of Link to date which was pretty cool. He doesn’t get shortchanged just because it’s not his game this time.
The story starts with Link breaking into the villain base and taking names. This is Link from the end of the game so he has all of his weapons and abilities and man is it a blast. He just mows everybody down like it’s none of his business. We get a terrific opening boss and then something massive happens and we switch over to Zelda. It’s now her turn to save the world from the dangerous rifts that are befalling the land. She will have to use a legendary scepter that lets her create echos of any object or minion that she defeats with it. Will these abilities be enough to stop the legions of villains that are after her? Only time will tell.
Right away you could tell that there was a whole lot of passion and heart into this project. The levels look absolutely great with a lot of solid details the whole time. The colors are vibrant and everything’s really nice. The art style works really well and it’s also very expressive for both the heroes and the villains. The soundtrack is a little limited but fortunately I really enjoyed the tunes so I didn’t really care too much. When you give me a solid tune, I don’t really worry about the rest. I just know that now I have a very solid background bgm at the ready.
The gameplay is your classic Legend of Zelda overhead style but with one big twist. Instead of always having the sword, you have the scepter and you use that to summon objects and enemies in order to get through puzzles. It reminded me a lot of Scribblenauts where you have countless ways to get past each obstacle. It all comes down to how creative you are about the whole thing. I can tell you I made sure to really be as creative as possible in most areas to get the maximum amount of fun. My go to object was definitely the bed.
You can stack it up in a lot of different ways and jump over large gaps. You can also use it to balance other items or buy yourself a few seconds when you’re trying to get objects to land at the same time. You can also use spiders to soar up to a high level, etc. I’m pretty positive that there were several areas where I cleared the obstacles in a way other than how the devs really intended but the results are really what matter right? So long as you get to the end, that’s what counts.
On the whole I would say the game is fairly easy but this does make you have to use your head a little. I really appreciated the game having a good map the whole time and always telling you where to go though. If you die, the respawn point is always super close and so you have a lot of quality of life details here. Additionally, you can sleep in the beds to gain hearts at any point. You even get the super bed later on. It is possible to miss these things though so I highly recommend scanning every object you come across. There is literally no downside to doing so after all and you’re only hurting yourself if you skip an important one.
Likewise you want to beat every enemy type at least once so that you can summon him. I got a super powerful level 3 sword fighter armored type villain early on and he was perfect for every boss fight. He has a super powerful lunge attack when you first summon him and so the trick is to summon him, let him attack, then summon him again. It results in a nonstop barrage of powerful hits that can down just about any opponent in an instant. Yeah that was really good stuff. Surprisingly the big array of summons is the only part of the game that didn’t feel fully optimized.
Scrolling through all of your echos by the end of the game gets rough because there are so many. It almost makes you want to keep using the same ones so you don’t have to go too far back. I still had fun switching them around though and admittedly this is a fairly small issue to even think about. It just takes more time than you would expect. Now while I would say this is easily one of the least difficult Zelda titles, you can always get overconfident and still die once or twice if you aren’t careful. The enemies deal a whole lot of damage in an instant so you want to watch out for that.
Also, the puzzles get easier the more side quests you complete which is a pretty cool mechanic. For example, when you complete puzzles in the rifts then you get more energy which allows you to summon more things at once. Let me tell you, it’s way easier to make it past a series of gaps when you can summon 8 beds vs 4. So I encourage you to knock out all of the rifts and side quests on the way. Most of them just take under a minute anyway for civilian missions and maybe 2 minutes for rifts. In exchange you will have more hearts and power.
As a final note, this is also one of Link’s best portrayals and I have to give the game major props for keeping his reputation strong as the hero. He’s not suddenly powerless without his equipment or anything like that. He helps out a great deal and show really solid reaction times all the way. He’s an absolute game changer and definitely a fighter you are not likely to forget. The climax of the game is also an absolute blast and I’d like to see more of this in the future. Echoes of Wisdom had a ton of fantastic ideas here and it also had more of a story than I’m used to for the overhead games. In short, there is absolutely a ton to enjoy here!
Overall, Echoes of Wisdom is definitely a great game. It’s the kind of title that you never really forget about and it will go down as one of the best Zelda titles. I do wish it had more of a post came though. Not that I’d have the time to play it right now but it does feel like there’s not a ton of bonus content. I beat most of the side missions and got most of the stamps on the way to beating the game. It definitely added some solid hours into the game but even with 100% I wouldn’t say this is a super long title. It’s long enough though and at the end of the day if you’re high quality enough, then that can make up for sheet length. You really don’t want to miss this one.
Overall 8/10
It’s time for the Suicide Squad show that definitely came out of nowhere. In a way it does make sense since having a bunch of villains get Isekai’d into a new world is always an intriguing idea. We’ve seen it before with King of Fighters and a few others in the past. It’s a show that definitely doesn’t mind being bonkers and for that reason I would say it tends to be all over the place. It has some really high highs but also some lows and on the whole it’s a tough balance. It’s a fun watch but I would say it doesn’t really go past breaking even.
The basic plot is that Amanda Waller sends the Suicide Squad into a foreign world. They need to take down the former squad that was sent there and also finally establish relations with the kingdom. If they don’t complete this mission then the squad will be blown off the face of the Earth. As always, Waller has put bombs inside of them and so they really have to accomplish this mission quickly. This means none of the members are particularly happy to be here and as they’re all villains, they don’t have the best teamwork skills either. Will they be able to pull this mission off?
One thing that stuck out right away was that the show got Mori Calliope on board to do the show’s ending. That was pretty hype since I remember her days of being a fairly small Youtube singer so she’s really come a long way. It’s not my favorite song of hers but it’s pretty catchy with the rhythm at least. The opening isn’t quite as catchy though. In general the ost can be a little hit or miss like the rest of the show but some of the battle themes are really quite intense. There is a good amount of variety which is important.
Likewise the animation can get extremely good at some points like when Harley fights Katana. Those moments are really spectacular. Then the rest of the fights can sometimes be downright bad or fairly low budget. The fact that there are any really high budget shots is definitely a plus though and I could definitely watch the battles again. There aren’t a ton of reactors out for the battle yet but I’ll definitely be seeking more out soon.
Now as far as the story itself goes, one thing that would have benefited the show a lot I’d say would be for the bombs to no longer be working. Having them there as a constant timer can help with the tension I suppose but it also takes away from the appeal of having villains warped into a fantasy world which is that they do whatever they feel like. They’re not heroes but they might stop the monsters just so people will praise them or because the monsters are annoying. Having to do this so they aren’t murdered defeats the purpose a bit. They aren’t actually free for the duration of the series so we don’t know exactly what they would have done otherwise.
I’d also say the Squad are obviously not that likable. It’s sort of the point to show that they’re all hardened villains and everything but with some more fun banter it could have worked better. Clayface usually had the best lines here while the rest struggled to keep up with him. At their best they would have good moments but this is a show that absolutely could feel very slow when it was not focused on the action. The action helped to mask the weaknesses pretty well.
One big kudos I can give the story is that we get some pretty big twists at the very end. That was a really good way to end the season and while you may have some questions about exactly how this would work, I would say you can explain it away pretty easily. So it’s got the right amount of mystery there and you wonder how season 2 would play out. If it ever does get a sequel, that would definitely be pretty fun but I would like to widen the cast a bit both for fight scene reasons and to increase the body count. I almost never advocate for higher body counts but in a Suicide Squad title you are expecting some members to get bumped off. That’s sort of a staple of the series but in this show they all felt safe after a few episodes. So if you had started off with double the members then it would have been easier to bump a few off.
Now as for the characters in more detail, Waller is still the big shady boss as always. She loves commanding from the shadows and does a pretty good job in her role. It’s certainly easy to talk big while you’re safe on Earth. She may be a bit easy to manipulate from the Squad’s point of view but since everything still benefits her right now, you could easily say that she’s using them. It’s a solid dynamic for now.
Harley Quinn is a big focus in the show as you’d expect. She’s wacky as ever and gets her big moments as well. She may not take things seriously most of the time but she gets some really good fight scenes. She may even look too good in close quarters at times because then she’s sand bagging in other scenes to an insane degree. The show isn’t usually interested in power levels all that much but at least she does show up when it counts.
Clayface is the most overpowered character in the series since being made of clay makes him nearly invulnerable. Usually he ends up fighting in a super sloppy way so that he can be taken out super easily. I can’t say that I appreciate that to be honest but he has a lot of fun in his role. As I said before, he’s the most likable member of the squad and he does help a lot with bringing humor to the series.
Deadshot is one of those guys who talks really tough but can’t back it up most of the time. He’s a good shot but is completely reliant on bullets so once he’s out of those then it’s over. He tends to act as the pseudo leader of the group and keeps them under wraps but yeah he needs to work on his skills a bit more. Just being a guy with a gun when everyone else has some kind of super ability is not a great match.
Just look at Peacemaker. The guy has super strength and he is great with a gun. He immediately makes Deadshot not feel quite as impressive as he could be. Peacemaker definitely feels like the most insane out of the group though. The guy will do anything to complete the mission, no matter how much of a monster it may make him. The guy definitely lost his marbles a long time ago but still thinks that he is keeping the peace.
Finally we have King Shark who has the least amount of character. He is always ready to help but naturally can’t really banter with the rest of the characters. His strength is given a lot of respect though as in the final fights he is able to easily overpower his rival and only loses once it becomes a 2 vs 1. In a 1 on 1 battle no other water fighter is going to be able to top him.
The Joker doesn’t get a whole lot to do but every few episodes we will get a quick moment with him and Harley as he explains the solution to a problem to her. You definitely get to see his experience but not really much action yet. For now the show definitely seems to be playing his romance with Harley straight as opposed to the two hating each other or being in a toxic relationship so that’s definitely a change.
Rick is here to play the straight man. He reminds the crew not to do anything crazy so they don’t get blown away and is always around to help enforce that. He has no powers and is only average with a gun so don’t expect him to do a whole lot during the fights. I would also say he’s not the most discreet when it comes to keeping secrets. He’s okay but not amazing. I will say he does have his share of good moments but I wish they could have done more with him.
Now Katana is a scene stealer. Whenever she is on screen you know an epic action scene is about to follow. Definitely the best character in the show by far. The other villains just really can’t keep up. Ratcatcher and Thinker? Weaklings who can’t really do much once you get up close and personal. At least the Thinker actually talks tough and can hold his own for a little while. The Ratcatcher is just really whiny the whole time.
Killer Croc is also so weak that you can’t really take him seriously. The guy hides behind his allies the whole time. The only good member from the other squad is the Enchantress. With her abilities she really keeps the heroes on their toes. If anything they were definitely not very considerate even when she tries to help a bit. In a straight fight I’d take her to clobber the whole squad any day.
As for the other worlders, they are okay at best. Cecil is the kind of guy who worries a whole lot. He finally comes around by the end but it definitely took him a long while to get there. Princess Fiona also spends most of the season being super timid and afraid of everything. She gets her classic courage arc so she looks good by the end of that but it’s a super long wait. At least the Queen is just openly evil the whole time but her actions tend to lack any wisdom behind them. One would think she was trying to sabotage her whole kingdom.
At this point it’s a bit of a meme that pretty much every Isekai show has the same kind of fantasy world. A medieval type place with evil goblins running around and knights trying to stop them. Well this show plays that as straight as possible so the world itself isn’t all that interesting. Give me a modern sci-fi world any day. The show can also go a bit too far in reminding us how evil the main characters are at times. Suicide Squad Isekai is a show that randomly gets super violent sometimes and it can range from being shocking to annoying. The biggest example of this is probably when Peacemaker tortured one of the villains but there are other scenes of people getting eaten and ripped to shreds.
That is again another one of the theoretical perks of making villains the main characters since they don’t have a no kill rule. I’d say the more clever way of using them is to just show how selfish they could be or how they do heroic things for their own pleasure. Dialing down the violence either way would have been a good idea or at least making them semi likable. It can be difficult to really root for anybody here. I would say Clayface is the most likable from the villains but otherwise you don’t really want the others to succeed all that much. The villains also lose their hype with the amount of times they are kidnapped.
One thing the show should have done would have been to learn into the anime element a little more. For example throughout the season they hint at the characters getting new abilities in the fantasy world but nothing comes of it until the final battle. Then they have fun with the super powers but that should have been happening throughout. That or just make Katana the villain in every episode since her scenes were always the best by a wide margin. I think a show all about her could have been an easy 8 star title right out of the gate.
Overall, Suicide Squad is a show that is definitely like a true roller coaster. It can get really epic in some moments and then sort of boring in others. It can look amazing one moment and then rather off the next. You never really know what you’re going to get with the episodes. I do feel like they really had some key misses here the whole time though. Some of the story choices like the bombs just clashed with the approach they were going for and I’d also say they didn’t nail down the “charismatic group of villains” angle as well as they could have. It’s definitely an experience and if you’re a fan of the Suicide Squad then you should check it out but it’s not really going to hold its own against the average anime.
Overall 5/10
It’s time for the next Poirot film. I’m always up for a good mystery so I was ready to see what is going on this time. The locations feel a bit reused though as part of it is on a boat and most of it is on the dessert. We’ve already covered both locations but it is fully a new story. The actual case is less interesting than the other mysteries but I would say there is still enough to make this a pretty good movie. There is little reason to watch it over the others but if you want more Poirot content then this is the way to go.
The film starts with Emily blackmailing her family’s attorney Jefferson. Jefferson has shown her that her dead husband had a new will where she was no longer the sole beneficiary. So she tells him to burn it or she will tell the world about the super shady things he did back in the day and he will be thrown in jail. Jefferson doesn’t want to pay for his crimes so he obeys and scatters off. Emily can now rule over all of the children as they have to at least pretend to be kind to her since she now controls all of the family’s vast wealth. They all go on holiday but wouldn’t you know it, Jefferson is there. Emily has to be careful because he might have some plans up his sleeve. Additionally, Poirot is around hoping to have a good time. That will be difficult though as murderous intent fills the air. Everyone wants to murder Emily but who will get to her first?
As always with these films you have a rather massive cast. There are a whole lot of suspects everywhere and the only tricky thing is that a lot of them look quite similar. Fortunately the characters are always using their names because otherwise I’d get mixed up quickly. Most of the characters are not all that likable though. They just let themselves get pushed around way too much. The film tries to give them some excuses for this like they just don’t know what to do because they’ve been used to being ultra rich but I just don’t really buy it. That’s just not good enough as far as excuses go.
One of the worst characters here has to be Nadine who is married but still has an affair with Jefferson the whole time. She basically does it right in front of her husband Lennox the whole time just to mess with him. Not really someone you want to have as an associate and Lennox should definitely try to split from her. In the meantime, I suppose it’s tough to tell if he should try to keep on beating up on Jefferson or just ignore them since there’s not much point in trying to fight for someone who has no interest in you.
Naturally Jefferson also looks really bad for this. The guy definitely has no respect and you know the relationship will be doomed. He will eventually get bored and the same thing will happen. How you get someone is how you lose them after all. The guy was already not looking good from the start when he decided to burn the will but this meant that he just kept on getting worse and worse as the film went on. The whole thing was just corrupt.
That is often a theme of the Poirot films though. Most if not all of the characters have a lot of personal issues and shortcomings going on. He will solve the case but can’t really solve the inter family dynamics. That’s just not really possible and by the time the film ends, most of the characters aren’t even punished for this. Life will go on and they all will just return to their normal lives. Some for the better and some for the worse. It can sometimes be a little anti climactic but that’s how it goes.
Poirot isn’t some kind of hero here. He only solves the case when he’s been hired to do so or it happens right in front of him. Otherwise he really tries to stay out of it and ignore everything shady that it going on. It’s just not really any of his business and that’s how he likes to keep it. He makes for an entertaining character either way though. If anything it’s part of what separates him from the other characters the whole time.
The writing is good either way although the film underestimates the audience a little too much. I thought there were way too many flashbacks to scenes that we had just watched. It felt like the movie added these in case you forgot the moments but it’s not like this is a 5 hour epic. That felt excessive like one lady saying how she never forgets anyone. The flashbacks showing new vantage points to old shots makes sense, like the kid running and our view of what actually happened. The others were not needed.
As always with these things I do have some parts that I have to stretch my disbelief for. Keep in mind that most of this is taking place in a wide open desert. It’s not a very loud environment and everything is out in the open. So when people are being murdered and such, you would usually expect someone to notice. In this case someone got all dressed up and made a move while nobody saw the whole thing. It’s not as egregious as the boat murder from a previous film but it’s definitely something that will have you shaking your head.
As for some of the other characters, you have Raymond who is pretty annoying the whole time. He likes Sarah but keeps getting stopped by his mother. Why doesn’t he just go talk to Sarah anyway? Well, he’s lacking in confidence and she even calls him out on this. It’s such a bad look and it makes it difficult for you to believe in the romance. What would she see in him at that point? None of the romances in this film are particularly convincing but I would say this has to be the weakest one of the lot. It’s all rather fast anyway even without that going on.
Sarah is mainly a solid character but gets a bit too defensive when Poirot is interrogating her. She seems to take offense to the fact that he is calling her a suspect but detective’s rule 101 is that everyone is a suspect. So why is Sarah so upset about all of this? I thought it was rather a poor look for her. Then you have Lady Westholme who is generally upset at everyone and tries to flaunt her power a whole lot. I appreciate the confidence but she would definitely be tiring to be around after a while. She constantly creates a scene so if you’re around then you’re going to be put on the spot by association.
There are a few other characters but that’s the bulk of them. So like I said, there is a going on here with a bunch of characters running around. At times the film gives the interactions more time than the actual mystery. You could almost say the mystery works more as a backdrop at times. That’s why the writing is very important and fortunately it was handled really well so it never gets boring or anything like that. The pacing is on point.
Overall, Appointment with Death goes through all of the motions but with a little less zeal than the other films. Even though the plot is quite intricate, I think it’ll end up being rather forgettable by the end. Still, it’s a pretty good movie even despite this. At the end of the day I tend to enjoy mysteries so even if this one was a little generic and didn’t try to break away from the others, it held my attention. I would say that generally speaking there aren’t a ton of big budget mystery films compared to other genres so you really want to enjoy the ones that you do get. You don’t know how long they’ll be around.
Overall 7/10
Films that involve time travel tend to be the best but films that have some kind of look into the future can also be pretty solid. It’s an ability that can be useful but I imagine in most cases it will just be annoying. After all you generally don’t know how far into the future the visions are and depending on the circumstances, it can be difficult to prove what you know. It’s an ability that you definitely have to navigate carefully and this movie does a good job of keeping things interesting. It’s a bit of a slow burn but with solid enough writing to get you through.
The film starts by introducing us to Tom who is one of the world’s greatest racecar drivers. Unfortunately he crashes out during the race because he started to see some rather odd visions. A lady yelling out some kind of address, a mysterious house, and the ocean. It was all quite bizarre but he is ready to get back into the races. At least he was hoping to do that but a lady named Michelle shows up and it turns out that his visions weren’t just random hallucinations. Something is about to go down in that house/mansion and now he has a duty to help out. So the two decide to form an alliance and head there while pretending not to know each other.
At the mansion, a lady and her daughter have just arrived because her old husband has been writing her. For a long time he was rather cold and distant but over the last few months the letters have really changed. Perhaps they can finally be a family again. Oddly enough, he isn’t there when she arrives. Instead there is just the old lady in a wheelchair who assumes he’ll be coming home soon, an odd couple that may be into drug dealing, and a rather creepy lady who always has a lot of makeup on. It’s a rather colorful bunch you might say. Is this all some kind of elusive trap and can Tom save them all?
In part I would say this plays out as a mystery since Tom is trying to find clues in order to figure out the true meaning of his visions before they come to pass. In other ways it plays out like a classic horror flick with jump scares and all of these creepy characters running around. It’s unlikely you will be scared at any point though with the happy music playing in the background. I could definitely see this being a pretty fun show because the dynamic with the main two is solid enough to carry most of the interactions. Then you’d have different issues in each episode.
Tom’s ability is also just weak enough where it is perfect to keep things from being too easy. For example at one point he sees a leaf, then later on he sees the leaf is leaking, and finally it turns out that it is being poured into a cup so somebody is about to be poisoned. It takes him a while to figure this out and ultimately the knowledge isn’t really able to help much as it’s one mystery he couldn’t solve in time. I figure this will be the case in many instances because the visions are just too vague and not always actionable. Still, he’s ready for the main mystery but he needs a lot of plot armor for it.
For example, at one point he hears someone calling for help so he chases the voice all the way down to the coast where he ends up falling into the ocean and nearly dying. Considering that he had just told Michelle he would be careful, it was definitely not the best decision. He lets his guard down a whole lot considering that he knows something foul is going on here. At least he does show up for the final fight of the film. The battle is actually rather good with a lot of back and forth. I was not expecting a big battle there so that was really a surprise. Definitely an excellent way to end things off.
Meanwhile Michelle gets a lot of credit here because she was super helpful. For starters she is the one who was pro active enough to go after Tom early on and then she did a lot of info gathering during the movie. She felt like a side kick who was truly carrying her own weight and not just being there in awe the whole time. She would also give Tom tips on how to use his abilities which was helpful more than once. It’s another reason why the duo work well together, they each have a part to play and handle their roles well.
As for the characters in this case, I felt the two suspicious people who kept driving off to town were mainly pointless. The big reveal of what they were actually doing is a bit underwhelming. It is fun to see the suspects gradually be taken off the case of course but they definitely could have been a little more relevant. Even the butcher character got more to do than these guys. That guy was also ready to hit Tom over the head with a wine bottle and seriously injure him so even with any twists I can’t exactly call him a good guy.
The daughter is the worst character in the film as she falls for the tricks way too easily. Yes, you have some magical mumbo jumbo going on with the amulet but before even putting that on she was already being naive and meeting with strangers. I don’t care who the guy said he was, you don’t go off by yourself and you definitely run home as soon as anything suspicious happens. Most of the film wouldn’t happen if she wasn’t tricked so easily.
Her mother also looks rather bad the whole time. She lets things get out of control way too easily and doesn’t take things as seriously as she should. The daughter’s 180 personality change is so drastic that it should raise every red flag in the book. I wanted her to do something serious about it. Finally the climax was her worst look as one of the villains basically tells her to sign a document that she is giving away her daughter. Instead of jumping into a rage and hitting anything that moves, the mom just yells “nooooo” and stuff like that. I understand that this is a fight that she couldn’t win, but there is nothing to lose at this point. You try to fight and do your best.
So the characters don’t always make the best decisions here but I did think the film was engaging. It has a bit of an older charm to it as this feels like one of those old school shows. It balances out all of the tones pretty well but at its heart it’s a pretty fun film that knows when to throw in a few jokes without going overboard. It’s got perfect balance all the way through.
Overall, I can recommend this to just about anyone because it feels like the kind of film that can appeal to most groups. It’s got a little bit of everything here and has a satisfying ending. The cliffhanger definitely gets you ready for that hypothetical sequel. The fact that this would have been semi plot based with fighting the same group would have been really cool. Ultimately this will probably always be a more obscure film but it definitely had some real quality to back it up.
Overall 7/10
Eh I probably could have translated Blues into Proto Man at the end but I figured I’d just keep it as is this time. It’s pretty nice to be reading a classic Mega Man story with a fully original story. It’s pretty rare since most of the manga adaptions are based on the games. It makes things a little less predictable and I’d say the manga really makes the most of it as we get a lot of battles and a ton of different bots to appear. That’s definitely a good way to handle it and while the series goes by in the blink of an eye, you will be having a good time throughout.
The volume starts with some machines going haywire again. Initially this seems like the same old situation except Wily runs in confirming that it’s not him this time. Sure, he’s lied about this kind of thing before but this time he is completely serious. Mega Man is a little skeptical but even Dr. Light is supporting Wily so the hero gives in. The government decides to give Wily their full support in stopping this robotic menace so the evil genius creates the Wily Corps. These guys will be protecting the world from the evil robots and before long Wily has bases all across the country. The only one who is not in favor of this is Proto Man and he warns Mega Man that this is all a trap. Who should Mega Man believe, Proto Man or Wily?
Now obviously Mega Man should be turning on Wily by this point. One of the blue bomber’s fatal flaws is that he’s just too nice sometimes. He should absolutely be yelling and causing a scene instead. Of course there is a reason why Light is siding with the guy and lets say it involves even more trickery. Mega Man really needs to start coming around to the idea that Wily is just not going to turn good. He’s not some lost soul who is about to have a change of heart any minute now. At this point he is just determined to keep on getting in the way and making trouble.
The fact that he has any trouble accepting that is pretty crazy. I still like Mega Man of course but he does come across as super naive here the whole time. It’s not his best look by a longshot. At least power-wise he looks really good. For the most part he crushes the competition with just a few exceptions. Punk and Enker really give him tough fights. Enker in particular was pretty fun to see. His ability to absorb moves was really handy and it took a lot of strategy to beat him. I always like when Mega Man has to put on the thinking cap on in addition to his usual buster. It helps to really cement how much of a threat the villain is.
While this is Proto Man’s big chance to appear a lot, I would actually say he doesn’t look great. He definitely looks really smart since the guy doesn’t believe Wily at all. However, in the actual fight he is soundly defeated by the Wily copy of himself. It’s particularly embarrassing since he told Mega Man that he would prove he was the real deal by winning. So that was really unfortunate. Also, how can Wily just make a fake that’s even better when Wily and Light teamed up to make the original Proto Man? I know tech continues to evolve but that just felt disappointing. Fortunately Mega Man tapped into his potential and secured the victory there.
Another element I enjoyed from the title was all of the homages to the previous games. You had Cossack and his own robot masters show up to help save the day. This meant we had 3 different factions running around and causing chaos. Naturally the battles are mainly off screen but it was still cool to see so many robots on screen. Also, while the side battles were off screen, the big fights were extended and on screen. Again, the Punk and Enker battles were really intense. Likewise the fake Proto Man battle was also fairly long.
Whenever a series isn’t afraid to have a long fight that is a big green flag in my book. It’s not something that you see every day and it’s real impressive. The art is also really good and definitely does justice to the fights. It’s clear and really tells you the whole story. You’re never lost and the big panels also means that it is very easy to read. It’s one of the better art exhibitions I’ve seen for the manga.
There’s really nothing to dislike here except for the fact that the series is so short. With 5 chapters, the whole thing ends fast no matter what you do. So it’s a great one shot but it could have been even better as a full blown series. someone needs to start a full ongoing already. I’d read a Mega Man title for however many years it can last. The possibilities are really endless here. Naturally I would hope Mega Man won’t be so easily fooled next time. Poor Roll and Beet had to pay the price here. It was pretty eerie seeing them be completely dismantled. I know they’re robots so it’s not like they felt anything but it’s still something I wasn’t fully expecting.
Overall, Mega Man: Resurrection Blues is pretty fun. Again, I really liked the idea of having a unique story here. There’s a whole lot you can do with the franchise after all. Now granted, this one was only 5 chapters so the adventure really ends rather quickly but ultimately it was a fun read. Proto Man got to get some action and we had all kinds of robots going at it. I would definitely recommend this to any Mega Man fan. You don’t want to miss out on this, especially since the franchise doesn’t generally get a whole lot of content nowadays.
Overall 7/10
It’s time for a show that I was not familiar with at all before checking it out. I can safely say that it is one of those diamonds in the rough. It’s an incredible series with top tier music and a great cast of characters. The fact that the show is able to incorporate in 5 different rivals at various points in the series and execute them all well is impressive. This is a series that will keep you at the edge of your seat for all of the big matches and shows that you really can make Golf exciting as needed.
The series follows a kid named Gawain who wants to be the longest hitter in the world. He got into Baseball because he thought that would let him achieve his dream but then it turns out that you hit the ball farther in Golf. So he gets into that sport and turns out to be a super prodigy. So he heads off to Camelot academy to really test his skills. Here he will have to face off with the best of the best. Can he rise up to prove that he is the world’s greatest talent or is he about to be destroyed? Only time will tell.
The first half is mainly to set things up and introduce all of the characters. We get to meet various aspiring golfers of all skill levels and learn the backstories of the important ones. We also get the big pre tournament and qualifiers to set up who will be representing Japan in the Camelot Cup to take on the American and Britain representatives. The second half is mainly about the big tournament between the 3 groups and we get to really see how heated things get. Naturally this is the peak of the series.
What separates Rising Impact from other big titles though is that it’s exciting long before we get to the actual tournaments. We have supernatural abilities coming into play but none of them are game breaking. I’m talking about subtle skills that help to enhance a character’s individual talents in one specific way as opposed to them being good at everything. Of course that will likely come eventually but for now the power system is pretty good. You train at everything but at max only get one super ability. Gawain has his super drive, Lancelot has his putting, and Tristan has the approach shots. It makes for a good balance.
The animation is also pretty good when it wants to be. It uses a lot of special effects for the different hits so you can really feel the power in the blows. Everyone also gets different colors at times for their big moments and it’s all very dramatic in the best way possible. It’s a show that will definitely not let you miss a shot. You’ll see the colors coming from a mile away.
Where the show really stands out is the soundtrack though. It’s a complete shame that none of the osts are on Youtube yet. I need to see if the title is different in Japanese and hopefully find it that way. There are several really intense tunes that all have very epic feels to them. It really helps to underscore the trash talking and intensity that all of the players bring to the table. Without the soundtrack the show would still be good, but this is one of the elements that helps elevate the show to being great. Because of this, Rising Impact succeeds in all areas from story to characters to technical elements. It’s exactly what you need in order to be a complete show.
The character cast for the show is really quite impressive. It manages to balance out quite a number of different rivals for Gawain to go up against as he improves. A lot of them remain skilled even to the end of the series. Of course you also have a number of random bullies and NPCs who are quickly dispatched so there is variety here. Naturally there is a true pecking order of skill and we see more of this in the final tournament but it can be hard to guess exactly where everyone will end up. It’s nice, it feels like a real sports tournament where people can place higher or lower depending on the day and their form. A win is not something that you can just take for granted as a given.
In part this is just due to how Golf works. Your score is determined by how many shots above PAR you are at by the end. That means even just one bad hole can sink you for the whole tournament. You might mis time the wind or something like that and then the ball sails away. Even the best golfer will have trouble sometimes as nobody is fully invincible. The player who is the most consistent will be the one to walk away with the gold.
Ironically the main character Gawain is the one who can hold the show back a bit. Generally speaking this is a pretty intense show. Everyone is really focused on their goals and becoming the best. Then you have Gawain who is basically just a kid. He’s got serious striking power but is a newbie at everything else which is fine but it also means he doesn’t take things as seriously. He gives us the occasional crude humor joke and turns chibi a lot. He has most of the worst scenes in the show.
We temporarily get a break from this when Gawain hits his head and that’s one of the best stretches of time in the whole show. He becomes a completely different person and it’s just a lot of fun. That serious Gawain is the one that I want to keep for the whole show. The fact that we only see him sometimes is a real shame. It’s not like Gawain is awful or anything but his silliness really stands out next to the other characters. If we get a time skip in a future season then I think he really will improve quite a bit.
For the most part the original side characters are ditched rather early but Kiria sticks around for a bit. She’s a pro player who taught Gawain all that he knows. She’s a solid person and definitely did a good deed by him there. I feel like the author maybe set her power a little too low though as she has a hard time hitting anywhere close to 300 yards and by the mid point of the series that is casual for a bunch of these players. So it seems to me like most of them would defeat her at golf rather easily which doesn’t make the most amount of sense considering that she is a professional golfer. That should really mean something right?
Then we have the prodigy Lancelot who is the best character by far. The scene where he shows up at the hero’s base and tells everyone how much better he is than them was brilliant. It’s an incredible scene and you need to have that kind of confidence. Some may call him a jerk but I’d say that’s just being realistic. He’s one of the best golfers in the world and he’s not going to pretend that he is anything lower than that. He is the guy who can hit a Put from any distance. Lancelot can literally see the line to the hole thanks to his special ability.
It’s definitely a really handy one to have, that’s for sure. He doesn’t get a challenge for most of the series until we near the end, then things get intense for him. I imagine he will only continue to get better and so I would be interested to see where his journey goes next. Either way he is a big scene stealer so you will want to keep your eye on him. His polite yet direct way of speaking is also a lot of fun since he just insults people to their face even while he is trying to act nice about it.
Of course we have the big final boss type figure of the series. Tristan is a guy who can hit an approach shot from anywhere and so of course his abilities are really intense. He’s a super well rounded player and considered the best in the world. Well, at least at this level. I’m sure we would eventually see the pros and how absolutely crazy they are. I’m expecting casual holes in one from anywhere or something crazy like that. Tristan has one of the most intense backstories in the series as well so it’s easy to root for him. Quite a few origins have some really tragic backstories going on like that guy and even Gawain although he doesn’t really know much about his past. We just know from context that things didn’t go well.
Yumiko is one of the golfers from early on who got power creeped out of the running right away. By all accounts she seems like a pretty decent golfer but just isn’t ready for these absolute monsters. It’s hard for your talent to sky rocket to such a big degree so I think it’ll be a while before she’s in there. She is a nice character though. Likewise we have Gawain’s first rival Riser who is fun but is so many leagues above the other heroes at this point. I don’t think he’ll ever be relevant again at this rate. It is pretty sad to think about but that is the destiny for most golfers. Most players of any sport really. Only the chosen few will rise to the top.
Then you have the mysterious Arthur. He’s Quester’s father and is building up his own school of all stars. They would have made for great antagonists in the sequel. We don’t learn a whole lot about him here but he seems to know something about Gawain’s parents and clearly has big ideas. Having an actual mastermind for the heroes to go up against would have been sweet. Still, he was good in his appearances here. Generally speaking all of the coaches were pretty good. Aria is the coach for the main team and she always had some good advice. If anything maybe the show could have made the heroes fail a bit more so she could have actively been helping the characters a bit more. Instead, they rare ever need to ask her any questions.
Todoin is another early rival who gets a lot of hype but quickly starts to be surpassed. It’s just how it goes but Rising Impact doesn’t totally write him out. I appreciate the fact that he became rivals with Liebel and Quester which kept him relevant for a while longer. Sure he may not be the best but he’s no slouch and definitely better than any of his old teammates. He really took the game seriously and never gave up to the end. He also has a little bit of edge to him which is good since you want the characters to be able to talk tough.
It’s my main issue with Liebel. He’s a really good golfer and one of the best on the court but the guy is just too nice. He doesn’t really stand up for himself and his gag of always being desperate for Aria’s attention gets old fast. I’d like him to lock in more and his backstory was kinda sad but still blown out of proportion. He really abandoned everyone when it counted and the fact that he then held back for years is crazy. He could have actually helped Camelot Academy’s reputation if he had been playing serious from the start.
Quester is the top player on the American side and he definitely shows why that makes sense. His shots have a ton of power and he’s the only character we’ve seen so far to have the same ability as someone else. Mika sort of has a variation of Lancelot’s power but I wouldn’t say it’s the same thing quite yet. For Quester, it really is the same power and so that opens up a lot of doors. He does get down on himself later on which does hurt the character quite a bit though. He really needed to lock in considering that this was a big tournament. If he had done that the whole way through then he would rank even higher for me.
His partner Bilford had to really hold the ship on his own for a while there. To his credit, the guy did a great job with it. He never gave up and just kept on going. Now that is some true talent right there. He may not be the flashiest player but he does get the job done. I liked Bilford more than I expected to even if I was glad Lancelot called him out at one point. Bilford tried blaming Gawain for quester feeling bad while Lancelot pointed out that you should never blame someone for being good. It’s not Gawain’s fault that Quester couldn’t take the pressure.
Quick shoutout to Charles who had the unfortunate luck of being on Gawain’s team near the end. This guy could not catch up at all and kept being called all kinds of mean nicknames. In fairness, Charles would always start it so at that point you just gotta be able to take it. The series has no shortage of bullies but Charles really stood out there. For the most part all of the bullies tend to be annoying and can’t really fight though. The characters with actual skill didn’t have time to be running around picking on the weaker players.
Then we have Wanglian who really surprised me with how good he looked. He seemed reasonably strong when he first appeared but not one of the big hitters. When the tournament started though, he showed that he could keep up with anyone. His ability to read the wind was second to none. It’s a pretty unique way to playing so I would have been really intrigued to have seen more of him. His sister also shows up out of the blue later on and is an exceptional player. The series was really setting up some fun fights.
From the old cast, Mike is probably the closest to having the skills needed to move forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if she would have made it to the next trip. I get the feeling that the series wasn’t quite done with her just yet. Finally there is Platalissa who had a minor subplot about wanting to be in the Camelot cup and we ultimately find out that it is to face off against her sister. I think the main disappointing thing for her fans will be the fact that she didn’t really learn anything.
Her sister told her for a while that she would need to stop being a copycat in order to win. Instead, Platalissa continues to try and copy her all the way until the end. It felt like she should have gotten the lesson a bit earlier. I know she means well but yeah copying someone is not the best way to win. How can you beat the original after all? Platalissa’s sister was definitely a lot meaner than necessary though. I think she could have been the bigger person and tried just talking things out a bit.
Ultimately there are definitely more characters running around but these are most of the main ones. The fact that the series can get you intrigued in so many golfers is really quite something. This is just a super well written and directed show. While some of the attempts at humor don’t really land like I mentioned before, the show generally doesn’t worry about that anyway. It’s all about the golfing plays and even if you are not familiar with the sport before watching the show, they explain it rather well. The explanations are concise and clear so you don’t get lost either.
One sad thing about the series ending so fast is I was really curious to see how the power levels would keep on escalating. By the end of this series we already got to the point where a hole in one was a very achievable thing. Gawain could do it at will once he settled into his new mode. So presumably the pros would have to do that too but then each game would be over in an instant. Only thing I can think of is making the maps a lot longer so they’re hitting 500-600 yard shots before going in the hole. That would buy some time but yeah it’s an interesting problem to tackle. Generally the series avoided going too supernatural with the special abilities but maybe that would change and you’d have someone who could control the weather or something like that. It could go full on Prince of Tennis with how crazy that title got.
Overall, Rising Impact is absolutely great and you should definitely be checking it out. It’s already become the definitive Golf title for me and it’ll be hard to be dethroned. I’m not saying that it’s impossible or anything like that but it will definitely be tough. This one really had everything and also has the first mover advantage for being the first big Golf title that I got to watch. So definitely don’t let this title stay undiscovered, you need to check it out right away!
Overall 8/10
It’s time for another app game and so you already know this is gonna be good! Pokemon Cafe is one of those titles I remember hearing about a while ago but never really checked it out. There’s a whole lot of content here and you can tell they put some budget into it but unfortunately it ends up being a little too ambitious. It tries too hard to be new and different which ends up crippling the actual gameplay style. It’s a shame because this could have been a whole lot better. Still, if you get absorbed into the game I think you will have a good time.
The game starts off with the Pokemon cafe being opened and you are here to help. Basically you serve Pokemon their favorite foods and when they like you enough, they join the cafe as well. It means your cafe will eventually be a Pokemon master! So that’s pretty nice and that’s basically it for the story so think of it as more of a premise than an actual plot. It’s not too surprising though, Pokemon mobile titles rarely have much of a story.
The gameplay style is to match objects together. The main twist is that Pokemon have super powers that they can use as well. So you can blast away at things and use type advantages. Also instead of just matching 3 of a type, you are trying to match whole armies to each other. It’s really ambitious but also feels a bit more like RNG after a point and isn’t as engaging. I would much father prefer to be doing this with some matches at a time. Forcing us into doing all of them at once doesn’t really make for as captivating gameplay.
And that’s what the whole game boils down to. I actually like the matching style of gameplay ordinarily. It has been present in some of the most addicting mobile titles I’ve ever played. I just couldn’t get behind the idea of spinning everything in the whole level into one spot. Perhaps if I had stuck around long enough then it would work but I definitely have some doubts on this. You can tell early on if a game is your speed or not. For a mobile game that is especially important because there will really just be one style. So if you don’t love the gameplay then there isn’t much point in continuing the game right? At that point there is nothing else that it offers.
There is a ton of content but not more gameplay. For example there are several different modes for baking, you can recruit Pokemon, learn new recipes, etc. There are hundreds of levels and so far no energy system that I can really see so that means you can play as long as possible. That’s really fun if you liked the gameplay. I can say this is a high effort mobile game that didn’t really cut any corners. They clearly put a whole lot of thought into this one so I can appreciate that.
It’s a bit of a tricky dilemma for any mobile title. Typically you figure the more content the better for any game but when it comes to mobile titles, sometimes less is more. Sometimes there is just so much to do that it can be overwhelming or it feels like you aren’t moving forward and that can happen at times here. If it stuck with the normal kind of matching gameplay then it all would have worked out but all of the spinning didn’t work for me. A better story also could have helped but I wouldn’t have expected that from a Pokemon baking game anyway. So you could say that all balanced out either way.
The game’s graphic already looked real sharp and the soundtrack wasn’t bad. I imagine as I went through the game more and more I would be able to find even more tracks. So the technicals definitely hold their own here as well. I will also say that while the game is very busy with modes and such, the UI isn’t bad. I generally know where to go in order to get to the mode I want to play. I’ve definitely played games with UI that were considerably worse than this one.
Overall, Pokemon Cafe isn’t really my thing but I can definitely see there being an audience for it. The foods all look pretty good after all and the matching gameplay does have some depth to it. The fact that you have to account for all kinds of Pokemon types and special abilities is really something. You really can’t just dive in here and pick any random Pokemon. I mean you can try to do that but it’s definitely going to end really badly for you. You want to get the maximum amount of stars on your first attempt or you’re going to have to end up replaying the level anyway down the road. I doubt this game will be going anywhere any time soon so definitely feel free to jump in and see what you think.
Overall 6/10
It’s time for a Football film which is always fun but we’re going all the way back to the high school days this time around. That means it’s naturally not going to be at quite the same high skill level as the other professional titles. I would also say one mistake is the film focuses less on the Football itself and more on the personal dramas. That may be the point but ultimately it does mean that the film can’t possibly keep up with the bigger sport titles. I want to see my big Football plays and feel the hype.
The main plot of the film is about the Panthers as all of their players and even the coach are feeling a ton of pressure. The town is expecting a championship this year. They have one quite a few in the past and so they need another one. Of course that is rather difficult as players constantly shift in and out as they graduate or go to other schools. This pressure also threatens to break a lot of the players and they have a hard time leading ordinary lives. When you mix this inexperience with their massive pressures you definitely have a recipe for absolute disaster.
Naturally the Football scenes that we do get are pretty fun. It’s a sport that is always super fun to watch. It’s energetic, athletic, and generally pretty awesome. How can you really go wrong with any of that right? In the final game we really see the opponents playing dirty and trying every trick in the book. Hopefully that was well documented or it would definitely come across as the writer being extremely bias here. After all he was basically alleging that the other team outright cheated in order to win and was not the better team on the field that day. It all can be true of course, I just don’t know the original events all that well to say one way or the other.
When we’re not on the Football field is when things aren’t quite as solid. For one player his drama is that he fumbles the ball constantly and so his father takes that super personally. He gets crazier and crazier as the film goes on until we reach the inevitable climax. It’s definitely one of the more intense plots to be sure. If anything that’s probably subconsciously what made him fumble more and more as he overthought it.
Meanwhile you had the quarterback who was not really thinking for himself and just doing what others told him to. Whether it meant taking pictures or being in a one night stand, he would let himself just be dragged around without thinking about if he actually wanted to do this or not. It was not really a good look for him since as the quarterback you are supposed to be the one in control the whole time. Letting yourself be controlled goes against absolutely all of that.
The film doesn’t really take much of a stance against the main characters in their daily lives but even that seemed rather morally bankrupt. Everyone was just having affairs and being all crazy because it was expected of them for being Football stars. I expected the film to have some kind of a storyline about that and how this is a part of the vicious cycle but it didn’t really go there. I would argue the whole vibe of them having to live it up and be teenagers who were really wild is another big problem.
The pressures the quarterback got to not be so mild mannered and to party hard with the rest of the characters is hardly unique to a Football town but at the same time it is a problem anywhere you go. So that would have been a real good topic to tackle as well. You could definitely drop the scenes with fanservice and use them to focus on the story more instead. It’s definitely one of those things that adds up and is why I wouldn’t put this on the same level as any of the really big sport titles. This one just isn’t quite there yet and is unable to really just rely on the writing to tell its story. I feel like it could have been way higher quality if it put in some more effort.
Now as a film based on a true story I imagine there are some things that would be hard to cut. Some things happened and you have to put a little focus on them but in the middle of that there are a ton of options on the director on what to include and what to cut. I think those are the decisions that could have been handled a whole lot better. Like I mentioned in the intro as well, I think you definitely could have put in more scenes of the actual Football games being played as well. Considering that the whole town basically lives and breathes the sport, it is absolutely central to the title anyway. So give us more of that.
Overall, Friday Night Lights really goes deep on just how tough pressure can be. Ultimately if something gets to the point where you are no longer enjoying the game then you know that it has definitely gone too far. It means that you need to really go back to the drawing board and really figure out what happened. The film has a reasonably happy ending of course but it is quite telling that none of the players ultimately stuck with Football. It does feel like such an environment would make that pretty likely. Why stick with something where you probably have a ton of bad memories with by that point? Yeah leaving and making a fresh start makes sense. If you’re looking for a Football title I would definitely recommend something like Draft Day instead.
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