Sword of the Stranger Review

Posted on February 28, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for an anime film that got pretty well known back in the day. A lot of people definitely heard of this one before too long for all of those big action scenes. It’s definitely a movie that goes hard as a thriller and there’s always a lot going on but it does go a bit too far on the violence. It’s just so excessive after a point and distracts from what is otherwise a pretty engaging film even if the lead takes too long to really start fighting.

The film starts with a kid named Kotaro and his dog managing to survive out in the cruel world with their wits and speed. They steal food and keep on moving because they are being pursued by many powerful adversaries. For some reason the government themselves seem to want him. He is attacked by an assassin but saved by No Name just in the nick of time. This guy doesn’t really want to get involved but Kotaro says he will pay No Name if he can safely get the kid and his dog over to a certain temple where they should be safe. The dog got poisoned trying to protect No Name so he agrees. What he doesn’t realize is that this will be a much bigger/more dangerous mission than he had ever suspected. Does he have what it takes to survive?

No Name is clearly skilled with a blade and can fight with the best of them but he’s really tried to leave that life behind him. We get a flashback showing what happened but you can probably guess early on since it is a fairly popular trope for wandering swordsmen like this. Perhaps not the exact same circumstances but always something very much like this. He’s a good guy at the end of the day who will protect those in front of him though. It would just help if he would go all out from the start and he probably could have saved more lives that way.

For example, one of the big villains Luo-Lang bumps into him at one point and tries to pick a fight but No Name refuses to draw his blade. It would have created a scene but imagine how different things would be if he had taken that guy down? Then in the climax, No Name misses most of it and only shows up at the very end. The heroes really could have used him there. Although when I talk about the heroes I’m really just talking about Kotaro and the dog. There aren’t really any other heroic figures here when you think about it.

There is a lot of internal strife going on between the Japanese and Chinese forces here. Basically China has started to slowly take Japan over by bringing more and more of their fighters here and the corrupt people at the top of the Japanese foodchain don’t really care as long as they get some profits. So there ends up being some betrayal on both ends. The climax is mainly those two groups fighting each other while No Name has to make it in time to prevent Kotaro from being sacrificed.

What I was surprised about was that the Japanese side actually does pretty well. Luo-Lang and his squad are hyped up as being supremely powerful so you expect them to shred everybody but they actually have their share of losses. I suppose in a way you could just say this is a fair way for thing to play out though. As skilled as they were, they were heavily outnumbered. It was something like 300 against 10 people. So each of the fighters took a ton of warriors down but would eventually succumb. By the time No Name gets there, there are maybe 2 fighters left.

Fortunately the Luo-Lang vs No Name fight definitely lives up to the hype. It is a great action scene with a lot of good choreography all the way. I also liked the intro fight between No Name and the first assassin. Beyond that, there aren’t many more close fights like that. There are a ton of massacre scenes of everyone being destroyed of course but those aren’t so much fights as one sided stomps most of the time. It’s why I give some credit to the climax where the ordinary soldiers actually start getting some wins. I really would never have guessed that this would have happened.

Despite all of the hype and action though, the violence does drag the film down a lot as I mentioned. It’s extremely excessive with characters being tortured and ripped apart. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen this level of violence happening during the fights. If it wasn’t bad enough to see the actual battles like that, they also had to rope the horses in. Part of the problem with films that take place in the past like this is that most of the fighters are all riding horses who get hit in the crossfire. A ton of horses get destroyed along with the human fighters here.

The dog also gets injured early on which is what triggers most of the plot. At least for that one they didn’t go too far with it and you knew he’d be okay but the horses are another matter. That’s definitely something that should have been cut. Even with that the general violence would have probably kept this from being too high either way but it definitely adds another layer.

I will say that the ending itself is really solid. You can interpret it different ways but I would say it’s a pretty happy ending. I think things turned out well and that’s good since No Name is a solid main character. Kotaro is a bit on the annoying side. He’s a kid so that’s to be expected but it would have been great if he could have helped out a little more. The dog was super impressive with how fast he was and how he could grab the weapons in mid air though. That’s not something that most dogs could pull off.

As for the villain side, I generally thought all of the Chinese fighters were fairly cool. I liked the outfits and they were definitely all down to business when the fights started. Luo-Lang stands out the most though for obvious reasons. He’s the most powerful and gets the big fight in the end. He at least has some kind of honor code and wants to win fair and square. The guy just wants to be the strongest no matter what so he won’t claim a fraudulent victory. You need a good villain like that to really keep things interesting.

Overall, Sword of the Stranger has a pretty good plot. The concept is a little better than the execution though. I’m still surprised at how No Name doesn’t get more action scenes with the sword. I really would have changed it so that he had to go through the castle and take out all 10 members on his own. Would have been a great way to show off his skills over a longer period of time. Of course the film would still need to tone down the violence a lot and cut out the horses to really be successful but these are some things I would have done. If the intensity doesn’t bother you then I definitely recommend checking this one out but otherwise you’re better off watching the Kenshin anime.

Overall 3/10

Dr. Stone Season 3: New World Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at the latest season of Dr Stone. The crew’s really been on a lot of adventures at this point but their story’s certainly not coming to a close just yet. I feel like this season was a bit weaker than the first two though. The cast isn’t really able to hold up their scenes as well as in other big Jump titles so you’re really counting on the story here which is solid. There’s just nobody on Tsukasa’s level quite yet.

In this season Senku and friends get a mysterious message from WHY-MAN. The strangest part is that he sounds a lot like Senku himself. Is it possible that the main character has been the villain all along? Well he’s going to have to get to the bottom of this quickly and so the crew sets off for the next island. Unfortunately it is ruled by the emperor Ibaru, who commands a weapon that can turn people into stone. This may be the biggest clue into what happened to Earth yet, but it is a very formidable weapon to go up against. Not to mention that this guy is also a genius intellect like Senku. Senku will need one of his crew members to step up in order to beat this guy.

The season is mainly all for this arc. There’s a little bit at the beginning and a bit at the end that might not be part of the direct saga but for all intents and purposes this arc is about the island. It’s a bit of a slow start though because at first the heroes just aren’t able to deal with the weapon. So most of them get turned to stone and then they have to prepare a counter attack. While the heroes have some fighters on their team, they also aren’t very confident that they could walk in and dominate the opponents so for the most part they have to rely on run and gun type tactics.

One strategy they have to infiltrate is to have Kohaku and Ginro pretend to be maidens in waiting for Ibara to take onto the island. It’s almost like a fashions how kind of thing where he picks who he wants to be his next bride. Naturally Ginro is annoying about it the whole time but in general I can never support these kinds of plans because the risk is just way too high. At any point the heroes could be stabbed and then it’s all over. Yeah if they’re turned into stone then there’s still a chance but even that is a massive gamble all the way through. So if you ask me, you need to really come up with something a bit better.

I’d say just storming the island would have been your best bet. Moz is tough to be sure but a gun can take care of him. Where it gets a bit tougher is that Senku’s team doesn’t really want to injure anyone. I get not wanting to murder anyone of course but injuring is going a tad bit too far if you ask me. There’s no real way around that, at least if you want to win. Instead the heroes have to use a lot of convoluted plans in order to stand a chance and by the end I’d argue they basically have to rely on luck. That wouldn’t have been a problem if they had just dashed in guns blazing from the jump.

The climax is solid as always though. Once the final battle starts then we get some solid back and forth with Senku and Ibara. A lot of plans and counter plans are put into motion as they face off. I always like a good mental battle and this one definitely takes advantage of both of their high levels of intellect. That’s what I would like to see for more of the season since there’s a whole lot of potential right there. This really isn’t an action show for the most part so there’s not always a lot of time for it but increasing that just a bit would be good.

In general the animation looks pretty solid but they don’t tend to go all out on the fight scenes as much as you would expect. To me this is a very standard looking show. It’s not bad by any stretch and it has some good cuts but it’s not going to stand out. This would look more like a 2013 type of show than something in the 2020s. It feels relatively low budget where it looks just good enough where it’s not missing frames or anything but on the other hand it just doesn’t go as high as you would would want it to be. It puts more pressure on the writing and story.

The soundtrack is okay but more on the forgettable side. The openings are also more on the sub par side. So yes the technicals are not backing the show up at all. The story is still good like I mentioned and the cast is reasonable but they just don’t shine enough to completely carry the story on its shoulders like that. It needs at least some level of backup that just isn’t there right now. That’s the difference between a great show and a good one.

Of course Senku is a good main character as always. He stays focused on the missoin and always has a plan at the ready. He may not be the most athletic person on the island but he makes up for that with his quick wit and resourcefulness. He’s definitely not someone who will quit early on or put in half the effort. He goes full speed ahead at all times and tends to come away with good results.

Kohaku is a solid heroine as well. She still has her fighting spirit and is always ready to jump into action. Unfortunately she is often told to stay back and her abilities do tend to get surpassed when the going gets tough. It would have been nice to have her get some training and then beat Moz later on but again this isn’t exactly that kind of show. She’s always ready to infuse the characters with some confidence though so I appreciate that.

The old crew of Taiju and Yuzuriha don’t have a whole lot to do here. Yuzuriha is still really good at putting the broken people back together again which is really handy and Taiju provides some muscle but he’s too much of a pacifist to really fight. I wish he would go back on that at least just to help the heroes from time to time. Chrome has a big role though and is a true main character as he comes up with some plans of his own and really helps. He’s done a great job of keeping up with Senku and his knowledge is always growing so fast. He definitely has the next generation in a great place to succeed if he can keep this up. I also just enjoy having him around, there’s something to be said for being a genius who’s most emotional the whole time.

Kinro doesn’t have a huge role here although he does get to show off his spear skills a bit. It’s mainly to hype up Moz but at least the guy tries. As always I don’t like Ginro though. He’s always causing trouble, being comic relief and just not manning up when it’s time to fight. The only good moments he gets tends to be ones that are luck based. If it was up to him then he would already be gone and that’s pretty unfortunate. At the end of the day you need to step up at some point and this kind of character tends to always rank very low for me.

Suika isn’t my favorite character but she is always trying to be helpful. You can absolutely count on her at all times to put in her best effort and really try to take down some enemies. I absolutely respect that all the way through. Gen still has his mind games at the ready but as always I feel like more people see through them than not. The guy is the weirdest worf effect user as I don’t think he ever really got to shine before everyone surpassed him. At this point the power creep has really surpassed him and in a non action show that seems pretty weird to say.

Kaseki doesn’t get a ton to do in particular but he’s always around to help. I like that he just gets the job done with no complaining. Magma gets more of a role than you might figure. Yes he is outclassed by the villains in terms of muscle but he gets a gun at one point and he is useufl in slowing one villain down. He’s like the class bully trying to be a good person now so you appreciate the effort even though he always seems outclassed.

Ukyo doesn’t do a ton but he is able to use his super hearing to help in at least two critical situations. So that’s quality over quantity right there. Nikki is generally supportive throughout the operation as well. Yo actually gets a big role with his gun but I wish he could have ended a bit better. He severely lets his guard down at one point in such a sloppy moment that you have to do a double take. No way he should have lost when he had the complete edge the way that he did before. That was a really low moment for him.

As for the latest member of the crew Ryusui, he’s great as always. We finally have a hero who can really compete on Senku’s level with good ideas and being generally helpful. Not only is he a strategic genius but he has true piloting skills. Ryusui became a relevant character right away and is easily one of the standout characters. He’s a guy with a strong personality which enhances any scene that he is in. Yeah that’s definitely the sign of a good character.

I guess if we’re being technical a hero who is even more recent is Soyuz but I never really cared for the guy all that much. He never remembers anything until it’s too late to be helpful and he spends a lot of the time panicking and sweating. He’s not the man you want to have your back because he just doesn’t have the confidence for it. Now lets talk about the villains since there are quite a few of them around.

First up is Oarashi who is basically the strong man. He’s very skilled in close quarters combat which compensates for the fact that he’s not all that smart. He uses his might to make right and well it’s been a winning strategy for him all these years so why not keep it up right? He’s not all that likable but he’s okay. Then you have Kirisame who gets a fairly big role. She is very talented in a fight after all as she keeps up with Kohaku.

She is strong enough to defend herself and seems reasonable but at the end of the day she works for the villains and doesn’t try to change anything. So she is a villain all the way through but a fun one who you look forward to seeing. Moz is the biggest villain here in a lot of ways, at least on the battlefield. His skills are so good that none of the heroes are able to keep up with him. It would have been interesting to see him fight Tsukasa because otherwise I don’t see how anybody could hope to keep up. That said, the guy does like women a bit too much which is a character trait that will always end up holding you back when it counts. So I appreciate his abilities but don’t really care for him.

The same goes for Ibara. I respect how calculating the guy is. He’s a worthy adversary for any fighter but at the end of the day…..nah he’s not that cool. The anime has fun really showing how scary he can be with different shots though. He tends to turn into some kind of a monster which is really intense. The guy absolutely was prepared all of the time and to be fair, only plot armor is what saves the heroes from him. This guy’s plan really was close to full proof.

Finally for two miscellaneous characters, we have Amaryllis as an extra hero. She has to put up with a whole lot by living on the island but she doesn’t complain. She’s in it for the long game to finally take down Ibara. You feel bad for her because she doesn’t have a lot of options but she doesn’t feel bad for herself. Finally there is Hyoga who was a big villain back in the day. He gets some good moments here and easily the best fight. It’s rough when the power creep shows up but he does hold his own for a while which is impressive in itself.

There are more characters but those are the main ones. It’s actually impressive just how huge the main cast is by this point. It’s why the heroes always have to separate because otherwise there are just so many that they wouldn’t all fit on the ship at one time. The cast will only continue to grow from here so we will see who gets left out and who continues to play a big role.

Overall, Dr Stone is a fun show as always. I’m looking forward to the America arc as that was one of the best parts in the manga. You can expect a whole lot of action there and certainly one of the best villains in the series as well. Yeah that definitely makes for a really potent combo for any franchise If you like adventure and some action then you should have a good time with this one. It would be a bit of an odd jumping on point though. And if you’re already a fan then this delivers with more of the same so it should be a full win all the way. In the end we technically didn’t learn much more in this season but you can bet that will change as we get deeper into the story.

Overall 6/10

Wolverine: Snikt! Review

Posted on February 27, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to check out a Wolverine comic that has a very distinct look to it. That’s because it’s drawn by the guy who did Blame! and right away you can definitely see the resemblance here. I’d even say it feels like a crossover to a point because some of the villains have the same designs. That future dystopia is also so massive that you could in theory have all of this happening without it going against the canon but I’m not expert enough in the timeline to really be able to say for sure if that’s accurate or not. Either way it’s a pretty fun comic with a lot of action everywhere.

It starts off with Wolverine just minding his business when he is approached by a girl who asks him for help. He’s not exactly sure what is going on and before he knows it, she has taken him decades into the future. The human world has been conquered by the technological machines that they created and humanity’s final pockets are about to be exterminated. The only thing that can hurt these creatures is Adamantium which is in short supply at the moment. They only have one soldier left with a cannon that can even injure these guys and they can no longer make any more ammo for it. Wolverine is like a living weapon since his bones are reinforced with the stuff so he is their last hope. He doesn’t really appreciate how abruptly he was brought here but at the end of the day Wolverine is still a hero and so he will do his best to save the day.

Like I mentioned there is a whole lot of action here. Once Wolverine jumps into the fray that’s pretty much the ret of the comic. There is the occasional break to quickly go over the lore and objectives but otherwise it’s Wolverine against a bunch of these robots. He doesn’t have to hold back this time and as the fighting goes on you can see how he’s even enjoying it a bit. Wolverine likes a good fight after all and with the odds against him like this he can really show off a bit.

The art is pretty solid all the way through. The robots definitely look very sinister and it captures the spooky atmosphere very well. Wolverine himself is the only character that takes a bit of getting used to at first since he does look really different in this style. I think it’s the face but either way that’s just a character design thing. The action is what we’re here for and it’s pretty satisfying to have Wolverine diving into the fray and really taking names the whole time. The last soldier from the future side is also able to deal some damage and get one last win in so I was happy to see that as well.

The characters in the future are nice enough although there is no real time to develop them all that much. Once Wolverine is in the future and the story is established then it’s time to jump right into the action. Can’t say I have any complaints with that though, for a compact story you have to move fast. It is probably a bit hard to believe that the future would ever turn out quite this way though. Surely some heroes would still be around to stop the machines right? In the end I think the easiest thing to do here is just imagine that this is a parallel future. It’s not one that will ever happen to the main universe but it happened to someone else’s.

With the main girl’s ability to travel through time, she does seem to be the equivalent of a modern day mutant. Whether it’s the exact same thing or not is hard to say but in a way it doesn’t matter all that much. She has some special abilities and can use those to save her future. I wonder as a last resort though if she could have just brought everyone back to the past. That would have its own share of issues of course but at least would get her out of harm’s way. It feels like they wouldn’t have had much of a future left anyway if Wolverine had failed in his mission after all.

As for the robots, they make for pretty solid antagonists. They’re more on the mindless side but they do tend to strike back pretty hard with sheer numbers. Even for Wolverine and his healing factor it can be difficult to wade through that many enemies. I’m a little skeptical on his getting knocked out during the first fight but the characters mention that his healing factor may have been a little slower due to time travel messing up his system. It is at least an explanation so for now I can use that. I’m glad it was at least addressed since otherwise I would have had more questions there.

I’d definitely be game with more titles like this with Marvel heroes entering the Blame! type of future. The stronger ones of course could really just dominate but others on Wolverine’s level should have a decently tough time with some of the opponents. Wolverine was fortunate in a way that he broke into the main lair so quickly and got to avoid the stronger types of enemy units. Those would have really given him a tough time all the way.

Overall, Wolverine: Snickt is a pretty good comic. It definitely delivers on the action all the way through and the artwork is solid. This story works really well as a stand alone and quickly sets the stage so there is a real plot. I think this could have even gone on for much longer with more and more storylines/characters thrown in but not everything has to be an ongoing. I would definitely recommend checking this one out whenever you’ve got a chance. It’s good fun and shows how unpredictable the life of a hero can be. One moment you are just relaxing and the next you are back off to battle!

Overall 7/10

65 Review

Posted on February 26, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a film involving space and dinosaurs. An intriguing mix to be sure but ultimately it just didn’t work out. With dinosaurs it can already be hit or miss depending on how that plays out and then this film made the mistake of having a very small cast. The problem with this? There just isn’t a lot of dialogue or character dynamics to go through. It means that we are absolutely sunk because the film goes by very slowly.

The movie starts off with Mill getting ready to go on a 2 year journey. This one’s so long that he will really get to miss his daughter growing up and it’s rough because she’s already quite sick. Unfortunately the family does need the money so he goes aboard the spaceship. Everyone dies after an asteroid strikes the craft and Mills lands on a planet infested with dinosaurs. He has his energy gun which can take them all out but he also has to look out for a girl named Koa. Turns out that someone did survive after all. Unfortunately she doesn’t speak the same language that he does so communicating is difficult. Can they survive long enough to get off of this planet?

So you already see the dilemma here with there only being two characters and they can’t even communicate with each other. It means there are a ton of silent scenes as the characters walk around and their conversations can’t go beyond anything too basic or they can’t understand each other. It’s an original dynamic but not one that is going to be super interesting which is the main problem here.

At least Koa is a lot more likable than the average kid in these films. She is fairly resourceful and doesn’t panic all the time. Yeah Koa does have a few times where she breaks down and slows everyone up but it doesn’t happen too often. I can allow for it to happen a little bit. She’s still not a great character or anything but she’s not too bad. Meanwhile Mills is a decent lead but he gives up awful quick. He was about to end it all early on and I felt like that moment was a bit rushed. There were still more options and exploring to do surely. You only throw in the towel like that when you’re really on your last legs and don’t want to die a slow death of starvation or being eaten by dinosaurs. Yeah the last one isn’t super slow but it would definitely be painful.

One of the mistakes the film makes early on is that it just isn’t very fun. This is a very dreary film of the heroes wandering through the jungle and shooting up a bunch of dinosaurs. Occasionally there is a joke thrown in and the characters get to have some fun but this doesn’t happen often and it fades quickly. The backgrounds and areas don’t have much variety and so that doesn’t really help matters. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the soundtrack either.

Of course the big thing here is all of the violence against the dinosaurs. Whether this is the same as animal violence or not tends to depend on how realistic the effects are and how much the creatures look like animals. In this case they definitely look like animals all the way so seeing them get shot or pounded with blunt objects is never any fun. I would also argue that the gun is way too overpowered in this film. One shot can murder almost any of the dinosaurs in this film so there’s not even a lot of danger. The whole time you know that he can definitely secure the win if he just takes out the gun. That’s all he needs to do and it takes away from the survivor angle.

So now that’s weakened and without the gun there would be less dead dinosaurs as well so that would be a plus as well. Look, the dinosaurs have been on this planet for a long time and are just defending their turf so it’s rough to see them all getting mowed down the whole time. This is not how it was supposed to go. So there aren’t many positive aspects of the movie to think about once we’re done with all of this. I will also say that the film gets a bit needlessly grim in what happened back on the home planet while Mills was gone. Is there really any point to the final twist there? It feels like the film just wanted to make sure that there wasn’t almost anything to be happy about by the end.

There was only one avenue to success for this film and the downside is that it could possibly get a bit boring. Redo the film except there are no dinosaurs. So it’s just about the two characters bonding and learning how to communicate without talking. Then you have the humans show up as part of the rescue mission, except they want to murder the kid so our hero has to protect her. It would be a much more engaging film once the opponents show up and the first half can maybe get by on being wholesome. That’s how I would pitch it at least.

Overall, I suppose the film isn’t too long so that’s a good thing. In the end I would say that it just doesn’t deliver on being a really fun summer blockbuster kind of film. There’s no real reason to rewatch it and other dinosaur films like Jurassic World are better. Unless they make a sequel about aliens and cool battles or something then I think this franchise is basically doomed. There are many better sci-fi films for you to check out so I recommend going ahead and doing that instead. This one can definitely wait.

Overall 3/10

Ghost Rider Review

Posted on February 25, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for an old school superhero game. This one’s not trying anything fancy and is really just focused on letting you smash as many demons as possible. This works out well though and while the game could maybe use some polish in some areas, it always keeps up a fast pace so you are bound to have a great time here.

The game starts off with Ghost Rider being told by Mephisto to destroy a bunch of demons or the main heroine is going to be taken out of the picture. So Ghost Rider will reluctantly be helping Mephisto to stop Blackheart but if the demon lord lets his guard down for even a moment then it’ll be all over. Ghost Rider is a being of vengeance after all, he will never relent and he will never stop. His abilities are simply too powerful.

The story’s really just a cover to start on the beat em up gameplay. It’s technically about as thin as they come, particularly for a newer console like the PS2. The cutscene are still a lot of fun but the sound gets real low for those which is a really odd decision. I would have the volume in the 20s for the gameplay, then I’d quickly have to shoot it up to the 30s for the cutscenes. It was a lot of back and forth there and there’s no subtitles option.

Now the gameplay is where this one really excels. You have your standard attacks, power moves, jumping attacks, shotgun, super attack, and super mode. You have to carefully decide which moves you want to use when taking the enemies down. Shotgun, and Supermode use the same energy. Personally I would say to stick with the mode since it lasts a while so it’s way more useful than the gun. The shotgun is only good to use if you ae fighting one of the enemies who is protected by a barrier that won’t break until your combo level is high enough. Those guys can be annoying but the shotgun does help with that. See your combo meter goes up by switching up your attacks rather than a total number of blows.

A good tip for that though is to use your super move. If you have it properly leveled up then it automatically raises your combo level enough to destroy any barrier. The game is also extremely generous with the EXP. Trust me you’ll be blasting through the levels like it’s nobody’s business so you’ll have maxed out all of the abilities early on. From there it’s really a breeze. I would say the game is on the easier side. I died like 2-3 times total and they were all because I fell off of the stage. There was one tricky elevator ride where the edges always got real close real fast. Beyond that I didn’t have a problem with the enemies.

Mainly just make sure you jump a lot since the jumping combo is super handy and don’t worry about saving energy. You earn it so fast that you should just focus on blasting away at any enemy that stands before you. Then you keep it moving. Your super attack is also so good that it can take out a clean 1/3 of even the final boss’s health bar. Not bad right? It’s why you want to level these attacks up real fast.

If you let your guard down or get too sloppy then you can still lost some lives here. When I say that the game is easy, I’m certainly not saying that it’s a cakewalk or anything like that. It will still take some effort here and good planning but as long as you fight carefully then you should be okay. The game has 30 levels but the overall length is fairly short at around 4 hours or so. The longest levels can go up to 12 minutes but the shortest ones are under 2 so it really depends on the stage. Around half of them are the racing levels which tend to always be on the short side. I did enjoy the gameplay a lot with those though. The motorcycle controlled really well the whole time and the shotgun did work wonders while here.

Of course I always like beat em up gameplay so the combat levels were also really solid. You had takedown throws and everything. The way you recover health is to stand next to fire which I thought was a pretty interesting way to go about it. Meanwhile one of the highlights here is the rock music. There is nonstop rock music in just about every level in the game. When you’re fighting just about any kind of demon it shows up and really gets the blood pumping. The game properly understood that when you’re playing as Ghost Rider you want to feel that special intensity since you’re such a powerful force. It’s safe to say that this really helped elevate the game up further. It was so good.

The visuals were more on the standard side. They were good and all but definitely could have popped out a little more. I like all of the fire everywhere and the character designs are on point so that’s what counts. Blackheart even gets to show his true demonic side this time which was really nice to see. Ghost Rider really needs to get another game at some point, there’s a lot you can do with him.

Overall, Ghost Rider was a pretty good game. You can tell that it is a movie cash-in in some ways but on the other hand I don’t think it was totally phoned in. You do get to use Ghost Rider’s chain a lot and the moveset really does a good job of working out the way you would expect it to for this fighter. There’s enough content to keep me entertained all the while here so I really have no complaints there. You can get it for a really good nowadays too. So if you haven’t played this game yet then you should definitely change that!

Overall 7/10

B’T X Neo Review

Posted on February 19, 2024 by dreager1

Kind of like Magia Record, it’s time to check out a sequel that was a lot shorter than the original. It was always going to be interesting to see how Neo fared because there were still a ton of villains left but not a whole lot of time to get to them. I will say that this one can be a little rushed at times with some villains having to go down fast but it’s still a great ride all the way through. It’s another title that is basically action all the way through and that’s always a win.

The sequel picks up right where the last one left off as Teppei and the team are still heading to the villain’s main base. Teppei is there to save his brother Kotaro while the others are going for their own reasons. Fou wants to see if the Empire really is evil, Hokuto is a bit of a wild card but he’s generally there for the same reasons and Ron really wants to make sure that he hasn’t been manipulated. So this isn’t quite a united team just yet but hey at least they’re all heading over. The villains may have lost a lot of generals already but they still have Juggler, the dark generals, and the 8 higher ups. I forget their team name but that’s a lot of fighters for 14 episodes to deal with. Plus the heroes will still have to fight Raphael, the ultimate monster/robotic hybrid creation that the villains have been working on.

One thing I appreciated about Neo is that it did keep up the normal pacing for as long as possible. For example you may figure that Neo has to hit the ground running with all of the villains coming up but it still gives 3 whole episodes to the first fight where Fou deals with his old friend Quattro. It was really important that they take this time because narratively that’s a really big fight. We finally see the full details behind Fou’s backstory and I do have to say that he messed up there. Basically the reason Quattro is so mad at him is because when their mutual friend was dying, Quattro begged Fou to encourage her so they would have a chance at saving her. Instead, he basically just told her that the religion they all followed was fake and there was no real hope. So she died and Quattro holds a grudge there.

Yeah, she probably would have died anyway but Fou didn’t have to say it the way that he did. There is a big difference between being honest and just being unnecessarily brutal when talking to someone. He did the latter and that was too bad. He’s come a long way since then but it’s understandable why Quattro has such a big grudge. Again I disagree with Fou in the present for basically deciding that it’s fine to let Quattro murder him as a way to atone. At the end of the day that’s never the way to do it.

Fou is still one of my favorite characters though even if this was a rough start for him. He protects the kids from the villains and has generally been a great guy since then. He actually learned from his mistakes and I can always appreciate that. Meanwhile Quattro was a really good villain. He still is a bad guy all the way but I always appreciate having a villain with motivations that you can really understand like this. He ended up being really memorable as a result.

As always Teppei is a great main character here. By this sequel he already has a great bond with X so the two aren’t really bickering much anymore. They’re able to fight really well as a team and keep the enemy forces at bay. Teppei still needs to get a little stronger by the end to handle the main threat but he hangs in there until it kicks in. He does remind me a lot of Seiya with his resilience and he always keeps a good attitude up. Meanwhile I also enjoy X a lot and it makes a good difference to have a pair of main characters who are likable like that. He was also there to support Fou when the guy was having a lot of doubts.

Meanwhile Kotaro still gets a big role here but I really wish that he could have gotten some cool abilities to fight with. The smarts is good and all but you feel like he is always destined to be on the sidelines when it counts as a result of not being able to fight. He’s constantly in danger in the underground and just can’t do much about it. He does make some allies there and is crucial to the climax but only as a supporting character. Karen finally gets to actually show up here and while I’d like her role to have been a bit bigger, she’s a lot of fun. We know that in the past she was one of the top fighters and it’s clear that in the present she still is. I would have liked her to have flexed a little more but as it is the franchise was getting ready to end so there’s only so much that can happen at once. Regardless I expect you’ll be pretty happy with her role.

Aramis and Metal Face get a role here as well. I always liked Metal Face as a good underdog kind of character. He was never quite ready to deal with the top tiers and so he takes a lot of Ls in the series but the guy never gives up. I could respect his determination and it made the guy really memorable. Sure he was never a threat but he still got his own character arc and that’s more than you can say for most villains. Aramis also gets a lot to do but I take more shots at her because she lacks determination.

By the end of the first series she already had serious doubts about the Empire and here she is still getting crushed by Misha and the other villains. It would have been good if she could have defected a lot earlier and taken a stand against Raphael. Especially since it turns out that she really is quite skilled as a fighter. I mean she takes on Juggler and actually does great which automatically puts her near the very top of the verse. This is why you should never just mindlessly obey orders. Imagine what she could have been doing this whole time.

Misha is a super annoying villain though because he just seems petty and overconfident the whole time. He’s the kind of character where you could warn him that the heroes are approaching and he would just sit back and eat a sandwich. He doesn’t proactively make moves except to yell at his underlings to take care of things. The guy is no strategist and if he was then I dare say the war would be over. You have to consider just how badly the heroes were outnumbered for the whole series. We’re talking 100-1 and it’s not like the villains are super weak. In season 1, Teppei was having a ton of trouble with the random generals.

Yeah he got a lot stronger since then and is on Fou’s level now but even the top 4 generals are shown to have trouble with some of the other villains. So if you sent everyone right away then the heroes would have definitely been finished. You can’t claim this is just gameplay mechanics since it’s an actual story here. Misha just didn’t take any real steps to stop them which was his big mistake.

Now if you want to talk about a great villain, lets talk about Juggler. This guy absolutely dominated whenever he was on screen to the point where I dare say he set the bar way too high. I was expecting every member of the villain’s elite ranks to be as strong as him but in the end he really outshined them all. Purely in feats and portrayal at least I don’t think anyone came close. When Juggler was introduced he acted as if he could take the heroes group all at once and I believed him. Well, at least I believed that he would make it a great fight which is already crazy impressive. The guy had charisma and was quite the merciless villain. He really leaves a lasting impression on you.

Meimu is probably the next most impressive from the 7 shadow warriors because this guy also gets a few episodes to himself. He’s also not trying to compete with Juggler in terms of physical power. This is one of those guys who uses a lot of shadows and mind games to get into your head. He’s strong and gives Teppei a good run for his money. By this point in the show you do have to get a little worried though because we’re already halfway through and that’s only taking care of 2 out of the 7 shadow warriors. I still say it’s a positive that the show took its time in the first half to give the characters their time to shine but yeah it does hurt the other villains a bit.

Even the heroes to an extent. So for example Fou got a lot to do but what about Ron? Even in the first series Ron got to appear the least since he was the last member. Well, here he does get more action. For example he’s the first one to reach the villain’s base and start fighting since he went on ahead. He looks good in the action against the random minions but against the named fighters he can’t do as much. Again I think the problem here is that he just didn’t have enough time. Ideally you would want him to beat a few generals before pairing him up with Raphael where he would lose to show just how powerful the final boss was. That’s not exactly how it plays out since things are sped up but I still did like Ron as the gruff team member. He could have been even better but I’ll still give him his props. It is at least hinted that he is the strongest of the 4 generals in pure combat power.

Hokuto is probably the most bland member of the 4 and it’s more of a by default I suppose. The guy is a super genius and his B’t is a defensive type which means that he isn’t running in and dealing a bunch of damage. That’s not really the way that he fights. Thing is, we already have Kotaro as the genius character which eats into Hokuto’s hype a bit. There’s just not a ton of room for two characters with similar personalities even though Hokuto could actually fight. Also the two don’t really get to interact much and I think that’s where the show could have had some interesting moments. Hokuto even gets his own origin story later on but it’s so late in the game that it feels too late.

When it comes to the climax of the series, I will say that it doesn’t quite beat a lot of the top battles here. For example, the battles with Quattro and Juggler were more fun. The real problem here is that Raphael is too huge. The villain is absolutely massive and while he can put up a fight as a super durable tank, there’s not much more to him than that. He’s practically mindless for most of the battle and the fight really revolves around the heroes attacking, he tanks it. Then he attacks and they dodge, rinse and repeat. It’s why it can’t touch the more intense close quarters battles.

The soundtrack is pretty good here. There are a lot of fun tunes and they fit the sci-fi genre fairly well. The action themes are tense and the adventure themes are fast paced. A lot of good effort was put in here and the animation is also pretty smooth. I wouldn’t say it’s absolutely top tier or anything like that but the choreography is good and it’s always easy to follow along with what’s going on.

In general I liked the series aesthetic. It could have easily fallen into the bland desert trope but instead this actually feels like an alternate planet where everything is just a bit different. The world is still high tech even if they don’t always show that part off. I also still like the idea of the villain base being divided into a ton of squares that serve as territories and each one is guarded by a villain. It’s why this series could have gone even longer so we could have had more bosses. The show was smart to never show us a map though so you couldn’t tell how close the heroes were until they actually made it to the base. I think we could have gotten more of a reason why the B’ts don’t work in Misha’s room though. It felt like a cheesy way to try and make him a slight threat near the end.

Overall, If you liked B’t X then you will definitely like B’t X Neo. It continues the saga seamlessly with a ton of fights and a satisfying ending. The animation here is solid and in the end there’s just nothing to really dislike here. It’d be cool to see this one get a modern remake or another sequel at some point. We sort of jumped right into the world ending stuff here so there wasn’t a lot of time to explore the world and I feel like there is a ton of latent potential there. I still remember how the first episode of B’t X started out fast with those robot assassins. Realistically it feels like this is a franchise that has been forgotten but you can never say never.

Overall 8/10

Magia Record Season 3: Dawn of a Shallow Dream Review

Posted on February 19, 2024 by dreager1

All right it’s time for the end to the Magia Record saga! Season 2 was top tier elite and could easily hold its own with even the main title. I was super impressed and the big question was if season 3 could match it. Well, the season is a lot shorter so season 2’s definitely got the win but it’s still an elite ending. I will just say the way that the old characters were written out was extremely lazy. Did they not realize that more enemies were still around? Leaving just felt odd and it’s the only reason the villains last as long as they did.

So Iroha has to continue going to the enemy base to put a stop to the evil magical girls once and for all. She has to rescue her friends and find out why they went down such a dark path. Along the way we finally see the villains motivation for why they are doing this in the first place and the first episode is a good way of seeing things from their point of view. With any villain that is the make or break point. Will the backstory make you feel sympathetic or will it just be forced and you’re laughing all the way?

With a title as good as Magia Record it’s not surprising that the backstory is pretty good though. Touka is probably the most sympathetic because she was kept in the dark the whole time on exactly what was going on. Her memories weren’t complete and so she was fighting to save the day but without knowing the risks and a certain important figure regarding who the witch was. Ultimately I do think she would have chosen to keep fighting though so Nemu definitely should have confided in her. Touka is super forgiving so it works out but that could have definitely been a friendship ender.

Nemu is a little full of herself which holds her back next to the other villains. At the end of the day as the big mastermind I have to put most of this on her. She may be trying to save everyone in the end by stopping the cycle of witches but after a point when you’re murdering so many people, you’re just not being the hero you thought you were. I get the argument of slaughtering a few hundred to save untold billions because in a logical sense it makes sense but it’s hard to ever get behind that idea even if you were to think it had a 100% success rate.

Because I should say right now that I still think the plan was going to fail. The whole plan revolves around using their super witch to defeat Walpurgisnacht but the problem with this? It never looks like it even has a shot of pulling that off. Walpurgisnacht is known as the ultimate witch with unlimited power for good reason. It took Homura hundreds and hundreds of tries to even get close at beating it and even then she wasn’t ready to deal with this threat in the end. This witch may be strong as well but the heroes are able to land some damage so I don’t think it is durable enough to survive the onslaught or powerful enough to really resist. No matter how you slice it Walpurgisnacht is not going to lose to any other witch no matter how powered up it gets.

So with the plan being a bust, it means that the villains really don’t have a leg to stand on for their defense. They should have found another way or brought Iroha into the fold earlier to try and help. That way she could have talked them out of it. So the whole story is pretty emotional here as they go for a good redemption arc and how these girls were trying to help make things better but in the end they made things so much tougher on everyone that it just isn’t good enough as an excuse.

One character you do feel bad for is Kuroe though. She was mainly roped into situations that were just too big for her. She does deserve a level of blame for choosing the villains over the heroes but even when she was ready to come back, her inner darkness was too powerful by that point. For a while there she was really a villain completely against her will so I’ll naturally be a lot more sympathetic to her plight at that point.

Of course this season only has 4 episodes so with using a full one on the villains, we have to hit the ground running on the others. The whole season is like one big climax though so it works out well. The animation is still absolutely stellar here and we get some pretty cool combo attacks. It will be cool if they can keep this unity feature in for the main series as well. I always like the idea of merging energy into a big super attack. Also with the animation budget as high as it is, the new characters even feel stronger than the old ones at times.

By the end of the series I don’t feel like it really addressed why the new characters are able to use their witch hybrid forms the way that they do though. This still feels like a new concept that just wasn’t a thing the first time around. I can write it off as this timeline being slightly different so it’s possible but it’s a bit weak. So retroactively if you have Homura and friends using witch moves in the next movie/season that could change things but for now it’s a bit odd. Still makes for really great fights though.

It’s a bit lazy that season 3 doesn’t have its own opening though. It makes this really feel more like season 2.5. Even if it was a low budget, rushed last second kind of opening I would have liked to have had something new here. It would have helped the season stand out more. I think the best way to look at this one is like a movie to be honest since it really fits in with the runtime that way. Of course the fact that it’s basically all nonstop action is part of why the series tracks so high. Opening aside, I did enjoy the soundtrack a lot. A lot of very grand themes are playing the whole time.

One last thing I’d say is the third season is short enough where a lot of characters don’t get a big role this time around. Yachiyo for example has been a huge character throughout the series but takes a big step back to Iroha this time around. She does help a lot during the climax in one of those cool combo attacks I was talking about but for the most part isn’t a focus this time. As for the rest of the friend group, you can really forget about them. They help a bit in the background here and there but that’s about it. I’d say it’s a good idea though given the length. if the season was longer then I would want them around but with 4 episodes you get that not everything can happen at once. You do get to see them try to stall the final witch so that’s enough of a role.

I would have liked my favorite villain to have done more. I still remember her having that amazing cliffhanger in season 1 were she revealed that the plan was to fight Walpurgisnacht and she has an interesting ability where she can use paint to create huge barriers and amp up the villains but she doesn’t get a true 1 v 1 fight the way that most of the other characters did. I feel like she would probably end up being one of the top fighters but we never got to really see that for sure.

While you could be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of info drops and characters running around here, it is impressive how the show ties everything together. Don’t forget that the show started off as part mystery on why nobody remembers Iroha’s little sister who used to be in the hospital with the other girls who turned evil. The natural assumption is that she was the price for one of the magical girls since there is always a cost that you have to pay but then you need to figure out who would have made that the cost. This season finally wraps up that mystery along with the mini Kyubei.

The very ending I would say is still a bit ambiguous on where this takes place in the timeline though. Of course you know my theory from the start is that this is a failed timeline, one of many where Homura could not save Madoka and so it doesn’t exist anymore. I still stand by that one but it would have been nice if the show had went into this with a bit more detail. Whether as a yes or a no I’d have been curious there.

Overall, This was a great end to the Magia Record series. I’m ready for the main cast to return but these characters really held their own rather well. I was impressed at how high quality the title was all the way back from season 2 and season 3 really kept up the momentum all the way. I would highly recommend checking this show out. You probably want to at least watch season 2 for context though. The quality writing and messages work well even without context but you won’t get the full impact. You wouldn’t have seen the struggles they all went through after all. This is Madoka of course so there is plenty of tragedy just in this season of course. The heroes can never catch a break.

Overall 9/10

Spy X Family Season 2 Review

Posted on February 18, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a pretty fun set of adventures with the Forger family. Season 2 adapts what I consider to still be the best arc in the manga so it’s going to be hard to beat this one. For the most part I would say the season is fairly low stakes aside from that adventure but it’s a really hype one to throw into the season. In general we don’t get to see as much of Yor at her job compared to Loid so it’s fun to see some action there. The show goes by really quickly at 12 episodes long.

Since most of the episodes are one shots, I’ll just go through them as I review the season. Real quick in case you don’t know the basic story of the show, here’s a recap. Loid is a professional spy with no equal and Yor is the world’s greatest assassin. Loid’s latest mission is to get closer to the Desmond family and find out what they are up to and for that reason he needed a family with a kid to infiltrate the school. So he adopted a kid named Anya (Who can secretly read minds) and married Yor (Who found this marriage to be convenient as her cover as well). They even got a dog (Who can see the future) and as they all live together they’ve quickly become a real family although Loid and Yor can be hesitant to admit this even in their thoughts.

You can see how this will play out on a large scale so for now the fun is in seeing how long they can keep the pretenses up before one of them gives away the secret. The first episode has Yor getting poisoned after one of her missions and so she’s working through it but the problem is that Loid’s taking her on a date to get her spirits up. Now she has to try and get through this adventure without him suspecting anything but since she can’t even sit, it won’t be easy. When you stop and think about it, most dates involve sitting at some point whether it be for watching a movie or eating. So as you can bet there are a lot of shenanigans going on here.

It’s a fun way to start the season off and you get to have a lot of Loid and Yor interactions which is always nice. It underscores how difficult it is to live this double life as well. It would be easy if they knew each other’s secrets after all and until the secret is revealed eventually in a last season or something, these misunderstandings will just continue to occur. Anya even gets to contribute a little here so she wasn’t left out of the premiere or anything like that.

The second episode is a bit on the weaker side and as you will quickly notice, the best episodes are the ones about Loid and Yor or at least one of them. When it’s about the side characters then it doesn’t stand quite as tall. This episode has two main segments. One is about poor Bond (The dog) seeing a future where Yor’s cooking takes him down so he has to find Loid and fast. Along the way he gets to help out on a mission which is fun enough but I feel like the dynamic with Bond can’t have as much variety almost by definition since he can’t talk. The other half is about Damian who has been working too hard. To take his mind off of studying, he is taken to the lake to fish and get to act like a kid for once.

Damian’s not awful or anything but you don’t really care much about these kids so the whole time you’re just waiting for one of the main characters to return. At least for me that’s my primary thought the whole time because they’re the ones who really get the plot going. The first segment with Bond had some action though so I’ll give it some props there. In general the show does a good job of moving quickly and the technical aspects like animation are always solid so it goes by quickly enough. Side characters are just side characters for a reason.

In episode 3 we get a Yuri segment which is always fun. We get to see him taking down a spy who was smuggling photos. The guy is very good at his job and while he is way too obsessed with Yor, he definitely cares about family a lot. That theme naturally ties into the case as well. There are also two mini segments involving Anya but those are on the weaker side. Anya oversleeps and then she gets the wrong message from the Bondman show. Actually, saying it’s the wrong message isn’t quite accurate, I’d say the show itself is just a bit busted. Yor definitely carried this episode.

In episode 4 we get to see Franky being desperate and making a fool of himself as always. Look, if you’re only extra nice to someone because you’re hoping to ask her out then you shouldn’t bother. That’s not being authentic in the slightest and so you’re rooting for Franky to fail. The other segment was a bit more fun with the kids fighting over snacks. We get to see Damian trying to be a nice guy in the end. Despite the tough talk, he does let Anya win when it counts so that speaks well to his character. Franky brings this one down but the first short is solid so it’s still able to tread water.

Episodes 5-9 are about the Yor arc and from the size alone you can tell that this is the big one. Yor is given a top priority mission to protect a lady and her baby while on a cruise. She needs to get her safely off the ship near the end of the voyage but the problem is that the information leaked an the cruise is packed with assassins of varying skill levels. Additionally, Anya actually won a raffle to the ship so she and Loid are going to be aboard. Yor’s cover involves a business deal so they can technically see her but she can’t afford to get distracted and if they see her fighting then it can be all over. Will she be able to save the day?

There are a lot of reasons why this arc is so good. For starters we’re back to the high stakes here. Each of these assassins are actively trying to murder her. This is not fun and games and we see how she mercilessly takes care of them as well. We usually see the more clumsy/happy side of Yor but she’s all business when it comes time for the fights. It’s also not a walk in the park and the various assassins get to really show off their techniques. This feels like a battle Shonen for a while there and the animation did good here. I liked the effects for the electricity and in general all of the hand to hand moves were good.

Since we had several episodes to the arc, there’s time for some good cliffhangers as well. As always Loid and Anya do get a bit of a role so they aren’t totally written out. Loid gets to diffuse some bombs and Anya helps with one of the weapons but for the most part this is Yor’s show and that’s good. Up until this point Loid has had his share of action and Anya is always around but this is the first full mission we’ve had for Yor. I hope we get more of them someday but I will be satisfied with this for now. It absolutely elevates season 2 as a whole and has a ton of replay value.

After that episode 10 is partially an epilogue of sorts as the family finally reunites and Anya gets to brag about the trip a whole lot. Leave it to Anya to get herself into trouble since nobody’s gonna believe that. I’ll cut her some slack since she is a kid and I could absolutely see a kid doing that…but it’s why she can’t really keep up with Loid and Yor yet. Once they all know each other’s secrets, hopefully they can teach her how to fight and be more ready in the field. It’s a low key episode but one that puts on the finishing touches to the arc rather well.

Episode 11 is really about how charming Loid is and how the ladies can’t stay away from him. The first half is about how Becky has a secret crush on him. It’s too bad because she’s otherwise a high quality character but I guess everyone has their weakness. Obviously she’s just a little kid so the whole thing is more of a joke to the other characters. Yor is nice about it and Loid does his best to just excuse himself. I assume this will be a very rare kind of running gag as Becky should get over him quickly. The second half is about Fiona who is still trying for Loid and she’s way more desperate since she’s a full adult pining after someone who is married. You know how I feel about rebounds so I can’t root for her in the slightest.

She just needs to focus on her missions and stop trying to sabotage Loid. If she has a crush on him that’s fine as long as she tries to get over him but she’s gotta keep that to herself. You just can’t let anyone find out and you gotta bury those feelings. When you try to fight for someone who’s already taken…well that’s just sad. The episode is entertaining enough but not the most exciting to be honest. I wouldn’t want Becky or Fiona to be main characters for too many segments.

Finally we end the season with a Bond adventure which was an odd pick. I feel like this didn’t make a whole lot of sense for the final episode. Basically Loid tries to train him some more but different events keep happening where Bond has to save someone to avert a bad future. The problem? By averting the future, it never happened so to Loid it just looks like Bond is going crazy. That’s definitely the worst part about seeing the future since you can’t really prove it or anything. Still, props to Bond for trying his best and hanging in there the whole time. By the end he does perform a rescue good enough that Loid does notice it.

So it’s a wholesome episode but I would have picked a story that focuses on all 3 of the characters a bit more. Well, either way that wraps up season 2 and it was a fun set of adventures. 12 episode titles like this sure do fly by very quickly. The Yor saga carries the season but even without it, this would still be a quality slice of life title. The Yor saga just adds on the action genre which to me is always important and stacks the deck against season 3 because it’ll be tough to top this one now.

As mentioned earlier, the animation is definitely solid here. It’s all very streamlined and while the animators don’t get to show off too often, it’s clear that a lot of hard work went into this one. The soundtrack isn’t as memorable though. The opening song is fairly catchy though and special shoutout to the opening’s animation because it really went crazy there. I like how fast everything was moving and nowadays there are enough openings of people just stretching or jumping up and down that getting so much full movement is really appreciated. I’m betting the frames in that opening are about as much as the average episode with how much was going on.

Part of what makes the show work is that the character cast is good. A slice of life is only as good as the characters and their interactions after all right? Loid and Yor are solid as I mentioned. They’re both hard workers and they really care about their family and being nice people in general. Anya may be immature but she still tries and has some entertaining moments. Franky and Bond admittedly don’t help much but the characters can’t all be winners. Yuri is entertaining and adds some danger to the group dynamic while Becky is the only kid who actually seems mature and loyal in the kids group. Damian may be nice when it counts but he’s still not someone who helps you out in the day to day. The cast is actually rather large when you think about it.

Overall, Spy X Family continues strong with season 2. As a whole I think I’d give the edge to season 1 for more consistently high quality stories but none of them individually touch the Yor boat fights. I really hope the series goes down the action route more in the future because it’s clear that there is a ton of potential there. The main characters can all fight after all so the natural outcome should be to get these battles in there right? Maybe make it so that the Desmond family has a ton of powerful bodyguards on retainer or something. Either way this is a solid show that I can recommend to everyone as a safe product for fans of slice of life or action.

Overall 7/10

Safe Review

Posted on February 18, 2024 by dreager1

This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

All right it’s time for a classic action thriller kind of a film. That said, it does take a while to get going so you would actually think it’s more of a tragedy drama for the first half. Once the two main characters are united then we are in business with a lot of big action scenes though. I liked how the film had a ton of different players and factions involved which helped make the whole thing feel very grand but on the other hand the film just doesn’t stand out a lot. So it was good but I think a lot of it is gonna be fairly forgettable pretty soon.

So first up we have the plot with Luke. He used to be a cop but stuff happened and now he competes in underground boxing fights. Unfortunately his opponent was really weak so by mistake he won the fight with a single punch when he was supposed to lose. So the mafia retaliates by murdering his family and have decided to make his life a living hell until he destroys himself. Luke does his best to hang in there but they are true to their word and keep murdering anyone he talks to. Just when he decides to check out, he notices shady figure chasing after a little girl and decides he needs to help her first.

This takes us to our second main character, Mei. Mei is a super math prodigy with a photographic memory for numbers. She never forgets a number once she has seen it and so the villains want her so she can remember debts and their books. This way there’s no real evidence and it also makes shaking down the local businesses very efficient. Mei doesn’t want to do any of these things but she has no real choice and in the meantime they also use her mother as leverage although she dies early on and Mei finds this out. Still, what can a kid really do? One day she is able to make a break for it and then she bumps into Luke.

The idea of bringing the two characters together is pretty fun so I give the film credit there. Additionally, it’s not just one generic mafia group running around. We have the Russians, the Japanese, and then a corrupt group of cops who play ball with both of them. It helps keep things interesting because the different villain groups get in each other’s way in addition to the heroes trying to stay away from them. Ultimately Luke may even need to team up with one to stop the others and buy some time to get out on top.

I don’t think the film fully takes advantage of this angle though. I would have liked some more actual fights between them. We have the climax but for the most part each group does move on their own. The best scene of the groups actually interacting in a way was when both of them were on the line with the corrupt cop at the same time trying to outbid each other. That was really fun and is exactly the kind of interaction that I’m looking for here.

This is one of the few films where the actor playing Luke isn’t running around beating 20 guys with ease and showing off more martial arts. Luke can fight here but he’s not some kind of master level black belt. He’s a bit more humble this time around. I would have liked to have seen more action scenes to be honest but the ones that we got were fun. At the end of the film it’s heavily implied that he would have actually lost to his opponent so Mei had to step in. I think she made the right call there. Luke’s a fun lead and he does a good job but he doesn’t always make smart decisions. There are so many times in the film where realistically he should have died but the villains didn’t finish the job. In some cases it was intentional which is fine but in others we’re talking a bit of plot armor here.

It’s also why the first half isn’t as fun though. I was ready for the exciting chase scenes and all, not watching Luke just be super depressed as the villains mess him over and he doesn’t do much to stop them. What I thought was a real shame is that at the end he’s given the chance to avenge his family and doesn’t. Look….I know they’re going for the hero play here but Luke’s no hero and the way his family went out practically begs him to avenge them. I think he really should have taken the villain out, he’s come too far to stop now. Not anything drawn out mind you, it’s not like he should become a villain or anything. Just go in with a quick gunshot and then it’s all over. That’s absolutely what should have happened if you ask me.

Meanwhile Mei is a fun character. A lot of times the kids in these films can be annoying but she was actually helpful at times and she was also quick on the uptake. She knew that giving the villains too much info would mean that she was expendable so she did her best to strategize. She helped Luke out in the fights and in general wasn’t a burden. So she’s definitely got a thumbs up in my book as a quality character and I could see the two of them being a good duo in a future sequel.

While the film wasn’t always firing on all cylinders, the ending is pretty fun. For a film like this you do want some kind of happy ending and it’s even slightly sequel bait you could say. I think a sequel for this film would go over fairly well. The writing is on point and while the first half is slow, the second has good pacing. It does have to struggle a bit with utilizing all of the characters though. I was looking forward to seeing more action from Alex. He doesn’t really do anything until the closing minutes but apparently he’s a really top tier fighter. The scene of him taking down a whole squad was super impressive. The way he goes out is funny but he should have gotten another fight or two. This is where I go back to the issue of the film not properly utilizing all of the factions. Alex and the Mayor should have had a bigger role which could have led to more fights.

Overall, Safe is a good film. I have my share of issues that keep it from being pretty good like the really slow beginning. The film can also be a bit violent and torture happens but in general it’s got a fairly light tone. The film doesn’t dwell too much on the darker elements which is good. I’d also say it has good replay value because of how much is going on at all times. There’s a lot to absorb and at the end of the day it can be pretty fun. I’d recommend checking this out if you’re looking for an action title you haven’t checked out yet.

Overall 6/10

Granblue Fantasy: Relink Review

Posted on February 17, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a pretty top tier RPG that came out a little while ago. It’s a pretty long game so there is plenty of time to squeeze in a bunch of storylines, hype characters, and lots of action. The levels also get rather difficult so you definitely have to make sure you level up and beat a bunch of enemies or it’ll catch up to you at the worst possible time. You can’t let that happen or it’s all over. This game definitely surpassed my expectations and really ended up being a standout hit.

The general plot has the main character sailing the skies with his friend Lyria and the rest of the crew. They are still trying to get to the final island at the edge of the skies similar to what Luffy is doing on the waters but along the way they always end up helping people in different villages. Lyria is linked to the lead with their souls so if one dies then the other will too. So they both have to do their best to stay strong and throughout their adventures they have learned how to tame giant monsters and really fight as a team. Well their biggest threat is here now as a mysterious group wants to kidnap Lyria for nefarious purposes. This group is incredibly powerful…can they be stopped?

The game sort of starts you off right in the middle of the journey but even if you haven’t played the other games or watched the anime I would argue that it’s fairly new player friendly. You quickly get an understanding of the team dynamics and personalities and their goal is simple enough. Meanwhile you have the villains jumping in and getting in everyone’s way which makes enough sense. The game is stand alone enough for this to all be easy while still connecting to the overall plot by the end. So yeah there’s really a good story here all the way and Gran really has to work on getting stronger if he wants to keep on protecting Lyria.

You have a good amount of twists, betrayals, and hype moments scattered throughout the game. Another reason why I really enjoy RPGs is because in general they are long enough to get all of that content in. If a game is short then there’s only so much that you can do with the story after all. The character designs are on point and things even get rather high tier by the end. These characters are definitely not messing around.

The gameplay is a 3D action title where you go in and smash away at your enemies. You have 4 different special moves per character and you choose which ones you want to use from the menu. You learn so many different ones that it can be hard to decide on just 4. Additionally as you level up you can keep on adding to your character tree. There’s no way to power everything up and all of the characters share points so you can choose to put everything into one character and make him a beast in combat or you can keep it fairly equal and distribute the whole time. It’s really up to you. I went ahead and gave it all to Gran since I played as him the whole time. I figured I should give myself the best possible chance to win and I’d rather trust myself than the A.I.

I suppose you could make that same case in favor of powering up your partners since they’ll need the stats more than I might but in general I like being strong enough to take on the boss as needed. The gameplay mechanics aren’t all explained very well so there’s some stuff I learned rather late in the game. One is that you die for good when your team’s danger meter goes all the way up. I thought I just had to revive people before the meter went out but every death adds onto the total which is why sometimes it would seem like my team died for no reason. Also you can speed up your revival by smashing the control stick in each direction. So I highly recommend doing that because every minute seriously counts.

For what to power up on the tree, I just did that randomly. It’s probably better to have a plan but you get so many power ups that it just felt more efficient to be throwing them all around. I’d be pretty strong either way. There’s even more to the gameplay after all of this but have fun exploring it as you play. There’s so many different ways to tackle a level and you can keep on switching characters in your party which is cool. The game has some very occasional platforming which feels a bit out of place but it’s pleasant enough. Just know that you will be mainly focusing on the battles either way.

The sheer amount of content in the game is super impressive though. Aside from the story which is already really long, you have a ton of side quests, missions, post game content, character stories for every character, etc. Getting the platinum trophy for this game and clearing everything probably will take you at least 60 hours if not longer. They really went all out on this game and I appreciate it. No corners were cut and it’s clear that the developers put a lot of care into this one. The boss battles are spectacular and the whole thing is really a lot of fun.

The graphics are super good as you would expect. There are even a few battles mid cutscene which are always a lot of fun. Then you have the soundtrack which is pretty good as well. On the technical side the game definitely does not disappoint. When you are solid all across the board like that then there is really nothing that can stop you. This is a game that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon and definitely deserves a lot of praise. I’m really going to have to keep my eye out for more Granblue games when they come out now.

Overall, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is definitely an excellent game. It’s really got everything you could want here from great gameplay to a compelling story. It’s no small potatoes either how there is so much voice acting in the game. It always helps to make a game feel newer and this one feels like it’s got a bit of everything. Even 20 years from now, this game will still look and feel really good which is why it excels. The quality of life features are all intact and there are no real pain points here.

Overall 9/10

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