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007 First Light Review

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This was a game that looked like a blast right from the start. In a way First Light was kind of like a successor to the old Uncharted franchise. Yes this would be about James Bond but there was more of a focus on the hand to hand combat than on the gun gameplay. Can’t really say I minded that all that much. After all I love the hand to hand gameplay. Throw in a compelling story and you really have a great title here.

The game is essentially an origin story for James Bond as we start the game with him being a soldier. After one mission goes haywire, Bond ends up joining M16 and trains to become a numbered agent. Along the way he will have to deal with powerful rival agents and an information leak that could end the civilized world. Fortunately Bond is ready for all of this. He’s never been the kind of guy to shy away from a fight after all.

Bond is one of those characters that I don’t generally like. I feel like he tends to lose far too quickly in most films and gets outsmarted all the time. He’s also way too girl crazy and this comes at the expense of the mission. While those traits still exist in this game, they are certainly not played nearly as much as in the movies. Bond is much more focused here for the most part even if he still makes time for a few one night stands every now and again. That keeps him from being a great character but at least he came a lot closer here than he ever did in the movies.

The game is fairly long so you won’t beat the campaign too quickly. It’s certainly not 20 hours but is easily in the double digits and I was satisfied with the campaign. There are 10 main chapters here and there are a lot of collectibles and extra dialogue options in each level. Unfortunately the simulator mode is online only which is a shame since that part is supposed to be a whole lot of fun. I guess I will work on playing through that during a free PSN weekend or something like that.

For the gameplay, the action part has you focusing on lots of punches and grabs. Grabs are completely broken in this game. They go through any attack and you can trap enemies in unescapable combos. They only don’t work on bosses who are immune to physical attacks and you must use the environment against them. Not a problem, there are always a lot of things to throw everywhere. You also have your gadgets which can short change any fight. Each gadget can one shot the opponent standing in your way.

I think the goal was to make sure that the game is accessible to everyone and for that reason it is a little bit on the easier side. Tere are times you will die though. I definitely died in quite a few of the shootouts which are the toughest part s of the game. The stealth and hand to hand parts though? You will breeze through those.

For the stealth there isn’t much of a punishment to failing thanks to the bluff mechanics that are around. Just back up and start again or use one of your gadgets to stun the guy and walk past him. Likewise for the punching parts, if they manage to land a blow on you then you can just run away. Your health regenerates really quickly so you can go back to full health and then fight again. So if you really want a challenge then you should probably start on hard mode.

I gotta say that I approved of these mechanics though. It’s going to be hard going back to normal stealth after this since all of the bluffing just feels so satisfying. Additionally you feel the impact from every punch. The combat is super satisfying all the way around. I really don’t have anything bad to say about the gameplay. It is always consistently top tier and you have a whole lot of freedom to attack the levels in any way that you want to. I certainly have a lot of fun with freedom like that.

If I had any kind of nitpick with the game it could be that at times the story could move a bit slowly. I really enjoyed the intro, the climax, and a lot of stuff in between but then sometimes things would go a bit slowly. Walking through the villain HQ in the arctic for example was a bit on the slow side as you must maintain your cover and can’t just go in blasting. I know why we had to be subtle but I just wanted to get on with it. If anything I wish that the final part could have been longer since having to play as Bond without any gadgets or special powers was fun. It lets you see just how strong he still is even without any kind of backup like that.

I’m betting that the sequels will only continue to add new gameplay styles and gadgets to the mix so I’m sure things will only get better from here. Of course with a different game studio coming in that may not be as much of a guarantee as I was thinking. Either way I have high hopes though. This is definitely the kind of game that you should play right away. The story is still very good even if I thought it had some pacing issues. The villains also end up being quite memorable. The best boss fight in the game is pretty early on though where you have to take on two assassins at once. That was a great fight, wish we could have gotten more like that. Later on the bosses are all immune to physical attacks like I mentioned before so they are a bit more gimmicky than the usual battles.

Overall, The term “AAA” may have taken some shots over the years but this is exactly the kind of game that you would think of for this acronym. First Light feels like a game that had a lot of development time put into it and this was not wasted. Every part of the game is treated with a lot of care and dedication. The gameplay is smooth and every technical element is accounted for. There may have been one or two times where the game crashed but it auto saves constantly so you don’t lose much progress. All of the classic quality of life features are in this game as well which is another credit to its favor.

Overall 8/10

Hollow Knight: Silksong Review

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It hasn’t been super long since I played Hollow Knight so I was definitely ready to check this one out. Silksong is known as being even more difficult than Hollow Knight so I was really excited for that. There was a patch though so the gap has definitely been reduced. On the whole I think it is safe to say that Silksong may be a little more difficult….maybe. Honestly it was really close. The final boss is definitely easier though.

The game centers around Hornet, who is abruptly kidnapped from her land and taken to the mysterious Citadel. She wants out of this place and intends to slaughter everyone in her way. If anyone surrenders then that is fine but most of these creatures just want to fight it out anyway. Fortunately Hornet is no stranger to combat and I just love how aggressive she is throughout the whole game.

It’s a major reason why this one beats the first Hollow Knight for me. Hornet just has such great dialogue throughout the game and that adds so much depth to the title. The plot feels a lot more detailed as a result and she even has her own rival to deal with. A lot of the characters like to talk very vaguely like in the first game but Hornet just throws in a few threats and they cease all of that foolishness.

As for the gameplay, special attacks are much less of a thing than in the first game. You are instead using a bunch of loadouts based on your crest. There are around 8-9 different styles to use. I unlocked most of them by the end but mostly stuck to the power crest the whole time. It’s a bit slower but the downwards slash covers such a wide area. I was able to use that to successfully trounce just about every boss. The only time I had to switch was in the final rival battle where the Beast Crest carried me to victory. Each crest has its pros and cons so it will all depend on your battle style.

For example, the beast crest does not allow you to heal but you can use a primal attack that drains your opponent’s health while you fight. So it’s really risky but you do deal a ton of damage. That was key against the rival because I just couldn’t dodge her attacks consistently so trading blows was my best chance there. You also have a lot of accessories that you unlock throughout the game but they tend to be a whole lot weaker than the Hollow Knight ones. Aside from the map and collecting beads along the way, the rest of them don’t tend to do much.

I would have liked some stronger items to really incentivize you while walking through the map but I guess they didn’t want the game to get too easy. As it is, there is still a good amount of variety as you play through the game with your gear. Some abilities also tend to be huge game changers like when you get the double jump. Of course I got that after beating the final boss so it sure felt pretty late in the game.

There is a good amount of replay value to be had here as beating the game is just the stat. You will unlock a third act when you go down the true ending path which adds new bosses and such. Considering that the game was $20, this is really a steal. It’s just hard to beat that kind of a deal. The main campaign took me around 20 hours and getting the Platinum would likely be at least another 20-30.

The bosses are also well crafted. They’re all very different so one boss that might be super difficult for me might be easy for you and vice versa. It just depends a lot on your fighting style. In general I would say the best thing to do is fight slow and methodically look for counter strikes. That’s not generally how I play games but in this game it makes sense because their attacks deal a ton of damage. Just eating one attack will significantly set you back so you don’t want that to happen.

Go slow and you’ll eventually win. If I have a small nitpick it is that there should have been a few more quick travel points. Based on where you want to go, there will be times where you have to cross a long distance on foot and it’s a journey that you will have already done many times before. So you don’t really want to do it yet again. Not a big deal overall but you do start to feel the repetition a little bit by the end. Just one or two more train stops could have solved that issue.

As for the graphics, the game looks great like you would expect. The characters are really striking and the special effects are on point. I like the mini cutscenes that play every now and again as well. These are all small things that helped to pass the first game. This was really a worthy sequel. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side though so that’s one thing that this game does not have in its favor.

Overall, Silksong is definitely a game that I would recommend. It’s a great game with a whole lot of content and it was all crafted very carefully. there is a lot of replay value here and I will definitely be hyped when they announce the next big title. I know everyone is hyped for the Sea of Sorrow expansion in the meantime though. I’m sure that will be great as well but nothing beats a whole new game. Perhaps a crossover where you play as both characters or something like that. If you haven’t played the game yet and are worried about the difficulty, I would advise you to play it anyway. The difficulty level is high but it’s always in a air way. When you die to an attack, it is one that you definitely had the opportunity to dodge.

Overall 8/10

Annie Hall Review

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Woody Allen films are consistently about a whole lot of rambling and characters talking in a way that just doesn’t make sense. They fill the air but none of the lines have any real substance behind them. They’re just creating more and more problems where no character ends up being likable by the end. There’s not a whole lot of plot going on here either so the story is forced to throw in a bunch of flashbacks and third wall breaks. You’re definitely in for an adventure of some kind here.

The movie starts with Alvy reflecting on when he used to have a strong relationship with Annie before things fell apart. He has already been married twice but in both of these relationships things did not go well. Annie was someone who actually understood him and they had some fun but it seemed to be very surface level. After some time had passed, they would grow further and further apart. Wait…so we already know the ending? Yes, this is one of those films that spoils the ending immediately so the movie is about the events that take you there. I never liked that cinematic plot device but what are you going to do right?

From the start you can see why it would be hard to stay with Alvy though. He is constantly depressed and complains about everything. He tends to be a complete doomer and you can barely even tell when he is having fun because he is still finding time to complain. That’s not the kind of attitude that is really going to get him far. Alvy’s a comedian but one who lacks in confidence so he gets stage fright and panics about every little thing.

For some movies there may be a bit of a mystery on why the big romance falls apart but it’s obvious from the start here. They are just way too different. Annie is more sociable and wants to hang out while Alvy’s idea of a good time is staying cooped up indoors. While some modern couples think it makes their relationship stronger to be able to still flirt around with other people to make the partner jealous, it’s just a terrible strategy in reality. They were both friends with people who were definitely the type to mess around and that increases the chances of it happening to them as well. You become the kinds of people that you hang around after all.

Towards the end they can’t even be intimate without Annie having to get high the whole time. They just have to casually use drugs and there doesn’t seem to be anything romantic about the relationship. They satisfy their physical desires and that’s it. You’re never going to have a meaningful relationship that way. None of the side romances are any better in this film.

As for Annie, well I can’t really give her any props either. The way she and Woody meet just makes her look a bit desperate. She clearly has ambition and drive in her life so staying with someone like Woody who has already given up on his future is not a smart play. Annie also tends to be a little too scattered like how she starts seeing a psychiatrist because Woody recommended one and then takes all of the advice in without thinking about it. She starts attending school classes because Woody suggested them and that leads to meeting with the teacher and starting more drama. She kept on starting new tasks because Woody would recommend them without really thinking about it.

Needless to say, it’s hard to picture either character being a reliable friend here. They would both just be annoying you to bits the whole time. You could also rest assured that they would be talking about you behind your back right away. That’s just how they operate and again that’s not the healthiest kind of personality to be associated with. I’m sure there are people like this but these are the kinds of social circles that you want to avoid. Everyone is two faced and fake with no real sincerity anywhere.

Now that isn’t to say that the film is devoid of humor. I actually think that Woody’s fast way of talking has some appeal to it. It certainly tends to miss a lot more than it hits but there will be some fun moments in the dialogue. A few jokes that will hit or a wisecrack that feels good. I tend to like fast, snappy kind of dialogue for humor and that is what this film is going for. With a stronger writer then this could have been a good recipe for success. To be really funny you should be hitting on around half of your jokes though, not 10%.

Also the film really needed more of a plot. To me this feels like an Abbott and Costello setup. Woody Allen films I mean. They all have him being really nervous and panicking the whole time but so far without much of a plot to back it up. Abbot and Costello would be about two guys joking around with some light plot in the background but it works because they are really funny. Additionally they would also tie the plot into something throughout the movie even if it was slight. I’ve got a mystery review coming up which addresses this to an extent at least.

So if you had some cool hook like the main two were stuck on a boat or travelling to space then you would have something there. You could keep the same tone but at least there is a real story to sink your teeth into. It’s not like this would have totally saved the film or anything like that but it would absolutely be a whole lot more watchable. As it stands, the film just doesn’t have any reason to make you watch it and you are desperately waiting for the characters to get more likable but it never happens.

Overall, Annie Hall is not a film that I would recommend. It’s a bit of a dreary watch with no real end point in mind. There can be a kind of humor in the way the dialogue goes but for every laugh you will have a number of groan worthy moments. This kind of film desperately needs direction and an end point. Without that or a good romance, there is no reason to get really invested in the film. I would definitely advise staying away from this one, it’s just too mindless the whole time with a lot writing standard. I’m still waiting for Woody to deliver on making a really good film.

Overall 2/10

Poppy Playtime Chapter 5 Review

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It’s time to return to Poppy Playtime! I think the biggest mandela effect here is that it’s Poppy Playtime vs Poppy’s Playtime. I dunno I’m used to the latter version but apparently it’s never been like that. The adventure continues on here as the lead is still stuck in this facility with no way out. This place sure was huge and it looks like the journey to the end is going to get a bit longer for him. If you thought that the villains were out of cards, think again!

The game picks up where the last one left off with Huggy Wuggy about to finish you off for good. There is no escape, no way out. Only death awaits but fortunately it turns out that there was a door behind you so you escape with that. At this point it’s hard to say if there is anyone left to save so you just have to get out of the facility but there appear to be more creatures across every corner. Additionally we learn a bit more about the origins of these creatures.

Chapter 5 brings in the main gloves from the first 3 games but changes out a few of the ones from game 4 for new controls. You now have a steam hand that can be used to overload doors and push objects as well as an elemental hand that can control the powers of fire and ice. It allows the game to have fun with more puzzle variations outside of the usual hand movements. As a result this is the first time I’ve completed the game without needing to use my grabbers over 200-300 times and got that bonus trophy. So that was pretty neat.

As always there is going to be a big mix of chase scenes and puzzles. The chases tend to be my favorite as they can get legitimately difficult and force you to really memorize the map. The toughest part is always transitioning from crouching to running. I tend to get eaten a few times during the chases but the check points are spaced well so retrying isn’t a big problem. At most I can say it would be nice not to have to sit through the quotes every time you die but that’s a staple of the series.

Most deaths are also spaced after an unskippable cutscene so you don’t have to wait too long. The only exception is during a tense game of green light/red light. Although it’s not like I died a ton of times so maybe there are other tricky death points. As for the puzzles, they are consistently better than other games. Puzzles can be really hit or miss for me but most of these felt rather balanced. There are maybe a few that are super unclear but most of them you can brute force your way out of when needed.

This may be the darkest game in some respects. It’s hard to say though, maybe that should be the earlier part with the hour of joy. You get to see a lot more of what the kids and toys had to go through here. While it is done stylistically with the toys, the whole intro is pretty disturbing with the outimals. The game uses your imagination as the scare factor here which is how it can keep to a T rating. So you are given enough tools to picture what happened without seeing anything. The better your imagination, the darker it gets. All in all, nothing too crazy but the game does want to really remind you how tough things are.

We don’t have the kid in your ear trying to tell you that everything will be okay this time after all of the twists in the 4th game. So this time you have a little guy here as your moral support but he wanders off for most of the game anyway. As a result the game is a little quieter even with the various audio tapes around. This was nearly the first game where I got all of the audio tapes on my first playthrough but unfortunately I missed one which held me back. I saw the VCR and everything but could not find the tape.

The graphics have definitely improved from the last game. I would say without a doubt that this is the best looking out of the Poppy games. They’ve done a great job with the colors and designs. I would also say that the sound effects are nice and eerie for the game. There isn’t much of a soundtrack here but I’ll give it a bit of a pass given the horror vibes of the game. Not a full pass mind you since horror games should still have great music but at least I understand where it’s coming from.

The game is fairly short like most Poppy titles but does last for 5 hours which I believe does make it the longest game in the series. It’s a bit easier than some of the earlier parts but still has enough difficulty where I would expect you to lose several times during the playthrough. There is an extra trophy in it for you if you can beat the game without dying though. Getting the platinum would be very difficult in this game because of how specific the trophies are. You would need to complete the game under a certain time limit and without dying. Given the constant auto saves, it’s a bit tough to get around that but there is probably some trick to it.

Every game has a big boss and of course this one is no different. She has a fairly strong powerset even if her design isn’t quite as scary as most of the previous enemies. They’re going for more of a crazy angle with her. I’d say she leaves more of an impression than the crazy doctor from a while back and even beats Doughy but is not on the level of Huggy Wuggy or Catnap. Those bosses are definitely all time threats.

Overall, I definitely recommend checking Poppy out. There are a few glitches that will cause you to have to restart the game but that’s normal for while it is new. A patch will probably fix this. Just try not to go too fast, the glitches tend to happen if you do something before the game is ready for it. This especially happens during one of the flashbacks where you have to pick some toys up. You never lose too much progress though. As we get closer to the end, we’ll see what the main character can do to finally get a win here. He is probably going to need a full on hand gun at this point. The game ends on a pretty weak cliffhanger but I’m sure there will be a lot of fun theories to come out of this. Either way I will definitely be there once episode 6 is out.

Overall 6/10

Interiors Review

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It’s time for one of those dreary films where all of the characters are unlikable so there isn’t anyone to really root for. This film was really doomed on arrival as a result because I can’t really see any way that it could have turned out to be good in the longrun. There are definitely ways that it could have been a little better than the end product but not too many ways where it could have landed in the green. You at least need some humor or positive story beats other than the drama. This one didn’t really have any of that and your only chance of enjoying it is either ironically or if you also think that people are super annoying so the film wins back the realism points that it loses very quickly otherwise.

The film introduces us to Arthur and Eve who have had a very rocky marriage for a long time. Eve appears to have gone completely crazy and Arthur seems to want a fresh start. Well, it turns out that they are getting a divorce so now it is time for the three sisters to see how they can handle the situation. I can tell you that it won’t be easy because none of them are really having satisfying lives of their own either. The situation only seems to grow worse and worse so without even the possibility of a happy ending here, what can be done?

First off even though this is about the 3 daughters, the youngest one doesn’t get much of a role. It takes a long while for Flyn to even show up into the main story and nothing goes right for her there as well. She is attacked in her van by Frederick, one of the drunk villains who had a lot of red flags from the start. Aside from this being a needless scene that hurried to keep dragging the film lower and lower, it doesn’t make sense that nothing ever came of this. While the characters are all in toxic situations and seem so worldly that they may let such an attack go, the film ought to have at least addressed it.

Flyn never really gets any wins in the film and ultimately it seems like her decision to be far away from the others was probably for the best. In general if she had not come home, that would have ended up working out way better for her. There’s nothing much more to say about Frederick since being a villain is really his only role. He likes to insult everyone constantly without taking any responsibility for his own actions. He just keeps on getting more and more drunk as the film goes on and you wonder what Renata ever saw in him.

Renata is the oldest of the 3 daughters and constantly fight with her younger sister Joey. There’s always been a one sided competition here as their father only ever wants Joey’s opinion and Renata can never really seem to match her. No matter how much success Renata gets, it is ultimately used against her. Now she is in a toxic marriage of her own and so things are not looking any better. Her way of coping with these constant issues is to essentially encourage her mother in the delusions that the parents may get back together again. Not a good idea but in general no response would be very helpful there.

Joey gets the biggest role out of all the characters but does end up being one of the most annoying characters as a result. She has done her best to get close to her mother over the years but all of the attempts have been futile. She is stabbed in the back every single time so her problem is essentially the flip side of Renata’s. Clearly everybody is just in a tough situation here.

Joey’s problems are largely self inflicted though. She tends to get bored of all her jobs and so she jumps around a whole lot. Joey seems to have a lot of confidence issues and also doesn’t want to start a family with her boyfriend so that starts up a lot of fights as well. Joey just allows her mother to call the shots at all times even when it means wasting a whole lot of money. She then takes her frustrations out on the new step mom. There’s just nothing likable about Joey. You understand her actions during the story and see why she is upset but Joey always manages to handle these situations in the worst possible way.

Mike tries to be the most reasonable one around. He isn’t a pushover like Joey and the others but at the same time he does want their relationship to last so he does his best to make her happy. He just can’t seem to do enough as she always has a bunch of complaints around. I don’t see how they can possibly be happy long term but he’s trying so I have to give him some credit there. It’s definitely not an easy circumstance.

As for Eve, well I’m afraid she loses the sympathy points rather early on. She is going through a lot and that is sad but she just never stops complaining. You can see where Joey gets it from. Eve is never happy and will always find the negative in a situation. She’s the kind of character where if you helped her out 99 times but couldn’t do so once, she would always bring up that one time. She’s the kind of person you would generally try to avoid or at least make sure you weren’t in the same social circles with. So it’s no wonder that Arthur wanted to get away from her, although he is far from blameless. Ultimately Eve makes the wrong decisions all the way to the end.

As for Arthur, well the guy got tired of Eve and decided to split up. That’s always going to be the wrong decision there. I can only defend that if there is serious abuse going on, whether physical or verbal. Then to compound the issue he immediately gets married to his rebound pick and brings her over to show off. It all makes him look quite selfish. If he was going to rebound then at the very least he needs to be more discreet about it. I’m afraid the time to show her off to the family may never come but he has to accept that. For what it’s worth, she seemed fine. A lot of red flags with how Arthur would be her third husband but that’s his business.

It’s not as though the relationship seemed any weaker than the others. All of the romances in the film were quite dreadful. Meanwhile the writing is pretty bad as the characters talk a lot but don’t have a great deal to say. The whole film is just so jaded like this is how you imagine people are talking behind closed doors. There are probably some who are like this but they would be far from the majority. The film was also way too determined to be a sad drama the whole time. I get not wanting to have some humor but just a few jokes could have gone a long way.

For any film the main goal is going to be to entertain the audience. You’re not going to be entertained with this one and the pacing is much too slow. It’s also hard to feel bad for anyone because it’s hard to imagine being friends with any of the characters in this film. They would all be talking behind your back constantly and slipping insults into every sentence. The film’s ending doesn’t help matters either as it is an extremely weak one. The film just fumbled everything from start to finish. One little thing the film could have done at least as a fun little easter egg would be to have mentioned there were 4 sisters but the 4th one decided not to show up. I could have at least written a paragraph about how that was the smartest character in the movie.

Overall, Interiors is a film that I would definitely avoid. It’s much too dreary and the characters are so bad. Usually they’d just be bad in a super unlikable way but then you have Frederick who becomes an actual villain and this is never addressed. He should have been in prison by the end at the very least. There were simply no chances to enjoy the film as every moment that would even hint at being light hearted was immediately slammed down. A movie just can’t survive on those kinds of negative vibes. The characters are all written to be as unlikable as possible and that’s already a hard enough issue to get past without all of the other problems.

Overall 1/10

Ball X Pit Review

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I’m a really big fan of roguelike games at this point. As long as there is some way to get stronger while you are playing then I am definitely game. So by all accounts this one would be up my alley. To an extent that is the case and I had a good time but it does feel like the game made a few key missteps. One of them is adding in a gardening/town building mechanic. Lets keep that stuff in Animal Crossing! As far as this game is concerned, I just wanted to dive into the action.

This is essentially an endless runner in terms of gameplay except there is an ending so that’s not quite right. Basically you start off with your baseball that you shoot at enemies automatically. It will bounce off of the enemy based on the angle and then go back to you. You will want to catch the Baseball and then send it right back at the enemies. This will save you a few seconds per throw. As you progress into the level you will get level ups and new powers. They all reset once you lose or complete the level but you keep some permanent stat boosts through the XP that you got at the very end. Each level is around 10-15 minutes in length.

I got to play this game thanks to the Nintendo Game Trial which is a super cool feature. It’s not something they do super often but it’s always great to see and makes a real difference if you are unsure about a game. Or in my case, if it’s something where you can play the game enough to do a review without having to buy it. This game makes sense for a trial since it is virtually endless but without a story there wasn’t a reason for me to keep going. I made sure to eventually beat level 1 after about 15-16 tries and then I was satisfied.

Once you beat a level, you cannot move to the next one until you beat it with a second character which means a lot of rinse and repeat there. Based on the icons for the next levels this would grow each time. So soon you would have to beat the level with 4 characters for example. It’s an interesting mechanic that forces you to try everyone out. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a mechanic be mandatory though.

Let me not make it sound like I’ve played a ton of these though. I’ve played Vampire Survivor and a Justice League mobile game which had the same concept. Both of those were vastly superior to this game though. The movesets were more fun and the games had a lot more variety. It feels like the budget was a bit lower on this one and so the repetition becomes more obvious. It still takes a lot of strategy and memorization though so this game isn’t for the faint of heart.

Yes, you have permanent power ups so eventually you will win without a doubt. That’s the appeal of the genre but how quickly you progress is really up to you and your talents within the game. You’ll gradually see which power ups are worth obtaining and which ones aren’t. There are a lot of different weapon and ability combinations as well and I imagine those you will have to learn through classic trial and error.

So why don’t I like the building aspect? Well for starters it is throwing another grind on top of the main game’s which is already considerable. You have to find logs and stones in order to make houses which allow you to unlock new characters. You then have to play a pinball minigame to break the houses and can only play it once per run. It all just feels like a distraction from the main game. For this genre the most enjoyable part is just getting into the action. The building parts feel a whole lot clunkier.

If you’re going to do it, there shouldn’t be a pinball game. Just let me make the houses and watch them grow over time. That would be so much more satisfying and would just make for a better form of side content in the long run. The main gameplay is pretty fun as it is and the title could stand up with that alone. I would remove the need to beat every stage with every character though. I feel like the game should just put some good rewards to make you want to do that without forcing you into it. Then down the road I would do it and the game wouldn’t feel as repetitive.

The graphics are fairly decent. Nothing as good as the cover art/promotional images for the game which are incredible. Still good though, you won’t lose yourself in all of the explosions or anything like that. The developers clearly have a flair for the dramatic which works well for this kind of title. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though, nothing like Hades. I feel like more Indie games should invest in having a great soundtrack or some customizable music options. It would really help to support the gameplay quite well.

Of course you can’t knock this one for a lack of replay value. The stages being at 10-15 minutes long in length is great for replaying. You will be going through them a lot after all so having the levels be 20+ minutes or anything like that would have been a mistake. This feels like the right amount of time and it’s also clear that the game has hundreds of hours of content in it. If you want to beat everything then it is going to take you an extremely long time to get there. This game gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

Overall, I feel like this game is entering a heated market right now with the genre being so popular. It is unfortunately not going to be up to the task of conquering its rivals but I do think this is a fun game. It is a title that I would play a lot more if it was free. If it had a real story, I dare say that I would have purchased it on the spot. Alas that wasn’t meant to be. I would definitely recommend picking it up if you are looking for a fun game to play on the side though. It is the perfect palette cleanser.

Overall 6/10

Dragonite and the Special Delivery Review

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It’s time for a fun little Pokemon short. They’ve made a decent amount of these so it’s always fun to see another one come out. Dragonite was always a well known Pokemon for being one of the first ever pseudo legendaries. I would even say that in the present day he still lives up to the hype. This special doesn’t have him fighting or anything but is a fun enough adventure.

The short begins by introducing us to a mail system where Dragonite delivers mail around the world. He can deliver throughout any kind of weather situations and at great speeds so he is the perfect Pokemon for the job. A girl named Hana would like to be out there making deliveries along with him but she was hired as a cadet and has to go through some training first. She finds this training to be absolutely boring but can’t convince her supervisor to make an exception and let her get out there early. It’s all quite depressing but when a letter gets rejected for not having an address listed, Hana realizes that she has a chance to stand out. This is her moment and nobody will be able to keep this from her!

So we see Hana searching the town for a while and eventually she does stumble upon the sender and his sad story. Ultimately Hana realizes that she doesn’t have the power to save the day on her own and needs Dragonite. So it makes for a pretty wholesome story that doesn’t need a bunch of twists and turns. Hana does what she needs to do and we get the happy ending. I do feel like the dilemma was a little forced in a Pokemon world though.

Basically there is a kid who wanted to send a card to his father but didn’t tell his mother ahead of time and so he messed up. That whole thing could have been avoided with a proper address. Additionally though, how come the father can’t travel over there? We have many Pokemon who can learn teleport, others which have hypersonic speeds, etc. This guy also seems to be a big shot in the world of science so it’s not like he would be without the resources to do so. It may be a bit beyond the scope of what the special was all about but I had to think about these things during the adventure. Either way the adventure is fun though.

Hana isn’t the most likable protagonist with how impatient she is but you can tell that she is a nice kid overall. Hana learned a whole lot during this adventure so I don’t think she will take the mail duties for granted anymore. Now she knows that all of the duties are quite important. Meanwhile Dragonite was awesome as always.

On the technical elements, the special holds up. The animation is solid and the pacing is good on the whole. I wouldn’t say that there is a memorable soundtrack but this is a very short adventure so there is only so much you can do on that front. There are pros and cons to having such a short adventure. One pro is that the adventure isn’t likely to drag itself out or make many mistakes but a con is that there isn’t much of a chance to show off either. So this adventure isn’t one that will end up being very memorable but I can easily recommend it to anyone.

Overall, It’s always good to see more Pokemon adventures. Small scale stories like this one also help to flesh out the world and environment as a whole. You can see how day to day tasks like delivering the mail gets handled. A capable writer could easily take this concept and make a nice ongoing series about it. So I’d say to watch this with the mindset of it being a pilot episode and that adds a little fun to it. Regardless I would say to check this out whenever you’ve got about 10 minutes to spare. It’s also a good reminder for any kids watching to make sure your mail has an address on it because the mail office isn’t psychic.

Overall 6/10

Rayearth Review

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It’s time for another journey into the world of Rayearth! It’s a really chaotic adventure this time as they have to squeeze in a whole lot through only 3 episodes. The episodes are around double length but that’s still a tall order. While it’s certainly not as good as the full length TV shows, I thought this was pretty fun. It’s a very different take on the series and one that really isn’t bad. Sort of like watching an abridged version with everything compressed as much as possible. I’d like to have more alternate universe adventures like this.

Rayearth starts with a mysterious fairy appearing on Earth. It heralds the beginning of the end as a bunch of space invaders show up. They want to destroy everyone on Earth in some crazy attempt to save their home world of Cephiro. Only three girls can stop them, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu. They have the qualifications to become defenders of humanity by enacting a pact with 3 legendary deities. This will be very risky though as they are still outnumbered and have no real way to practice for this fight. They will have to learn on the job and their only ally is Master Mage Clef, a man of unbelievable power in theory but never in reality.

Right away you can tell that the vibe is a whole lot different than the TV show. It’s less fantastical and more dread filled. You never know when the next casualty is going to arrive and quite a few people are wiped out. I know by the end of the OVA they make sure to mention that there were surprisingly few casualties but it doesn’t feel like that in the intro. Additionally there was a lot of destruction across the whole city so repairing it all will take a while. The members of Cephiro may not all be evil but they are definitely willing to wipe out all of the humans so you’re not going to be coexisting with them.

There is also much less time for Hikaru and her friends to try talking of peace with them. The only option is to go on the offensive right away. Hikaru is really the leader of the group like always and does well. She is the first hero to enter the fight and while she ultimately isn’t able to take too many Ws before being taken down, the bravery is what counts here. She wasn’t going to back down without a fight and her confidence never wavers.

There isn’t a whole lot of time to delve into her character but that was always going to be the case with how short this title is. Hikaru’s a very direct person so you get what the series is going for here. Meanwhile her friend Umi does really well. She won her fight with the greatest amount of ease not counting some resurrection shenanigans. While she was not brave enough to help Hikaru in the past, she made up for it in the present. She even had time to save Fuu from her opponent so Umi made the most of her screentime.

Fuu looked like the weakest as always but to balance that, the OVA made her the strongest of heart. She’s not the most outgoing kind of person but still got up the courage to reach out to Hikaru back when she was ostracized at school. She also still fights to the end like the other two. Ultimately all of the characters were pretty solid there. The most annoying hero would probably be Master Mage Clef because the guy just seems a little too helpless. I would have liked him to have actually fought back at least one of the villains. He spends most of his time giving up or telling the girls to run.

The villains tend to suffer a bit more from how fast paced everything is though. Initially you have some of the villains talking about how they love tormenting weaker opponents and all that but later on it seems like a bunch of this is dumped as just being due to their queen’s dark influence. I’m definitely more than a little skeptical of this. I just wouldn’t have done the redemption arc for Fario here, let him stay on the side of the villains.

Eagle was a really big villain here even if Lantis could have taken him out at any point. Letting him hang around definitely backfired with how close he came to destroying everything. It was fun to see him as a true threat though. As a hero he was a really difficult mastermind to deal with so it makes sense that as a villain he would be just as dangerous. Then Lantis works well as a guardian type figure who is ready to help. You do feel like he probably could and should have helped out sooner though. Aside from not taking out Eale, he had the speed and teleportation needed to take down any of the other villains.

I think he probably just couldn’t force himself to hurt these former friends but you have to take big steps when they are this far gone. Lantis still gets the MVP throughout the OVA for being the reason that the heroes won though. Without him, the heroines would not have had a chance. His sword was critical and he was the only one able to fight off the evil spirits. The deck was really stacked on the side of the villains before and Lantis was the only one who was able to start balancing those scales.

Emeraude ends up looking rather mindless for most of this series though. She can’t stop singing but is also trapped within her own mind. She was not able to handle the present situation and so that’s why she retreated. It’s all a really bad look for her. By the very end of this saga she has finally woken up but man did it take her a long while. I don’t think it would be possible to forgive her by that point. Of course there is no tie to go into the pillar system in this version but it would definitely be another strike against it.

The animation is definitely pretty good here. I wouldn’t say that it is flat out better than the main TV series per say but it does have a very theatrical feeling to it. I like the way that the colors look and of course taking place in a big city is a big win. It gives the fights more weight to them and that sense of danger is always all the way up. The colors and attacks are all striking while still giving you that ominous feeling that the villains could be around any corner. The soundtrack is less memorable though as it is a big step below the show. It can sound rather dramatic but a lot of the music tends to sound more like public domain themes than anything really striking. Still, it’s enough to keep you on the edge of your seat here.

The way the deity fusions work feels like it was changed to add in a bit of fanservice for no real reason. It’s nothing crazy though and only stands out because of how different the transformed forms are. In terms of violence, there definitely tends to be a bit more blood with how the magical girls feel every injury from their deity form. Alcyone also ends up getting the worst end from the characters but none of it is all that bad. It’s just enough to keep up the serious atmosphere of the heroes being in trouble without going too far in any direction.

A final complement I have to give to the OVA is how it throws you into the action without overly explaining a lot of things. You’re really left to your own devices to figure out what’s going on and that’s a good thing. They don’t make a whole lot of these nowadays. The quick story beats you get within the episode just have to be enough and I’d say that they are. You can reason out the rest and then just follow the adventure. It feels a little more like a mystery box this way.

Think of it like you’re one of the main characters. You don’t really need to know the whole story, just enough so that you can fight off the invaders. The primary concern here is about protecting Earth and so it would be nice if Master Mage Clef would at least be able to share some weaknesses with you. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen but I suppose in this case the villains maybe didn’t have many real weaknesses. Mix that in with having the strongest Deities around and it’s no surprise that they have had so much success up to this point.


Overall, This was a fun watch. It’s nothing that’ll change your life but I would recommend giving it a whirl. I’d even think of it more like a quick anime movie than a full on OVA since the 3 episodes combined would roughly get you to that point in terms of length. Everything moves very quickly here so you don’t need a whole lot of context here. There will be a lot of unanswered questions but that can be left for a sequel someday…maybe. This works as a stand alone and the heroines could essentially be called Magic Knights with how they mix spells and physical abilities. The ending is a bit rushed but it’s a worthy price for having a lot of nonstop action scenes.

Overall 7/10

Mosaic Review

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It’s time for another old school superhero film. Although in a way it may be more apt to call this one a mystery thriller that would have led into a superhero sequel. There isn’t quite as much action as in the Condor but you do have a whole lot of characters running around and setting up plots for the future. There is a good amount of world building in here and it would have been nice to see what kind of expanded universe we might have had. I guess that’ll have to be something that you can only dream about for now though.

The film starts by introducing us to Maggie who is finally achieving her dream of being a big actress. Her father is skeptical of the career though and wants her to keep studying in school so she can get a real job. Unfortunately his career as an interpol agent is quite dangerous and he is defeated by a mysterious shapeshifting alien. Maggie is also inadvertently blasted with the powers of the chameleon during a thunderstorm so now she can turn invisible and shapeshift.

A crisis rarely comes when you expect it and so now she will have to do her best to master these powers and stop the alien threat. She meets a guy named Mosaic who will help her out but he has the same powers and may not be trustworthy. Maggie will end up learning the truth behind these “aliens” and these truths threaten to change the course of human history itself.

Like I said, there’s a lot of world building here. We learn a whole lot about these chameleon creatures and all of the events that lead up to the present. We also get a quick reference to the Condor and other heroes running around. It’s a big world that just got a whole lot bigger but there isn’t a whole lot of time to get into that.

The main adventure is really about Maggie getting used to her powers and making sure that these villains can’t target her father again. Her abilities are really handy all around. Who wouldn’t want to be able to shape shift or turn invisible right? This gives her a big advantage over the average crook even if it doesn’t help as much in this one since everybody has the same abilities. Hers are slightly heightened in that she can tell when someone else is a shapeshifter as well though.

Maggie is a nice character and an easy main character to root for. She knows when it is time to take action into her hands and throw caution to the winds. Sometimes you have to do that in order to save the day and plunge ahead. The government actually seems to mean well in this story so far but it would take way too long to explain everything to them so I completely understand why Maggie had to plunge on ahead without worrying about any of that. Getting out of the Interpol chief’s car and making a break for it was the right move. The film also explained how she went out of her way to learn a lot of fighting styles so it makes sense why she is able to get into the action so easily.

Meanwhile her best friend Stephan is secretly in love with her. The problem is that the poor guy can’t bring himself to tell her this and so he always lags behind and allows himself to be in the friend zone. He either needs to say something or just be honored to be her friend. The secret crush always ends up making one party look bad because it’s sort of spoiling all of the friendship moments. Maggie really thinks that Stephan is her friend and so she is able to share her excitement at being cast in the shows and all without any reservations. If Stephan confesses and she doesn’t like him like that, well it’s going to get awkward.

I’d also argue that the film goes out of its way to show that she considers him as just a friend with how she acts around Mosaic. Mosaic is one of those very suave characters who seems to have a way with the ladies and is also an excellent agent on the side. That said, he is a lot weaker than you’d expect. You could say that most of his fight scenes weren’t really fair but honestly I could only give him so many excuses before I had to shake my head. He is just not star material.

There’s one scene where he gets effortlessly knocked down, then he gets up only to be combo’d back to the ground. Mosaic then gets up for a third time before they just hold him down. I appreciate the resilience but you have to have some kind of a plan. Not just getting up to be knocked down once again. I wasn’t super impressed with Mosaic as you can guess but they did have to move fast to get him out of the way. If the film was longer then he would have definitely had more hype scenes.

Meanwhile Maniken worked well as the main villain. He’s definitely got a real intimidating design all the way through. He is also strong and has a very specific plan so it’s not like he’s just trying to destroy the world. I was satisfied with having him as the big boss at least. Maggie’s father actually put up a decent struggle against him at first. He just made the classic mistake of forgetting that being invisible doesn’t mean you’re intangible in most cases. I feel like you should just start firing all around or throwing punches. Instead characters always freeze up while the invisible menace just walks over and finishes the job.

That’s why I’m giving a special shoutout to the cop at the very beginning of the film who actually kept his calm and fired the gun at Maniken. He was even able to get the magic gem away from him as a result. Usually the cops in these films miss every shot and never even get close so this was a real nice change of pace. The Interpol chief also looked good and was trying to be supportive. Down the road I could see her helping Maggie out but there will probably always be some tension since you never know when the gov will turn you in for testing.

The animation was solid enough. The character designs are good and the action is on point. I liked the invisibility effect and all in all the animation was very streamlined. There weren’t big chunks where you were wondering what happened to the budget or anything like that. The soundtrack is a bit more on the forgettable side. Nothing to write home about anyway.

Overall, This was a good film. I don’t think it will go down as being super memorable though. I didn’t have any specific issues but it is a little slow paced so on the rewatch that may hurt to an extent. The characters are always looking around because of how many people are actually alien shapeshifters. I enjoy that kind of tension but naturally it won’t hit as hard the second time around. The sequels would have been in a great place now that Maggie is confident in her powers though, maybe they will at least do a comic sequel to it someday. In the meanwhile I would recommend this one, it’s a fun watch.

Overall 6/10

Mercy Review

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Mercy is one of those films that has an amazing concept right out of the gate. People finally had enough of the crazy crime rates and so an A.I. was created to serve as judge, jury, and executioner. All criminals are presumed guilty unless proven of innocence. This is a film that feels like it could have been a Twilight Zone episode. I’ve also been playing a lot of Ace Attorney lately so this was really timely. Generally I tend to be on the side of the prosecution and this film is really no different. Can the main character actually prove his innocence?

The film starts off with Chris being strapped into his seat at the A.I. Mercy courtroom. He is accused of murdering his wife a few hours ago. The trial would have been even sooner but they had to wait for his alcohol levels to drop off. Things are not looking good for Chris, footage at the scene of the crime shows him having a fight with his wife and being the last one to leave her place. Their marriage was not in a good place and Chris was known to have severe anger issues. He was also an alcoholic. Judge Maddox seems to have an ironclad case against him. Can Chris stop panicking long enough to prove his innocence or is it curtains for him?

One thing I have to say right away is that Chris is super annoying the whole time. You really have a hard time rooting for him. The first 5-10 minutes are basically him trying to break out of the chair and yelling a lot. This just isn’t the time to panic like that and it gets worse when you find out that he is one of the main guys who pushed for the Mercy system. He even helped capture the first person to be put to death by the system. That means Chris should understand more about what’s going on than the average person and so I would also expect a certain amount of composure.

You don’t really get any of that here though. Then as we learn more about the case, we see that he really wasn’t a good guy. Now it is always important to separate the person from the crime. Just because you’re not a good person, that doesn’t mean that you are guilty. I think it is also why I tend to be more on the prosecution’s side though. They are always fighting for the guilty plea and the evidence is going to be on their side. The defense has to try and save their client even when they know that they are guilty. That’s always been much tougher for me to square in my head.

Neither side is ever always on the side of justice but I’d say that the prosecutors have a higher batting average. Additionally, Judge Maddox just does a terrific job. She calmly analyzes the facts and constantly makes sure that things are going the way that they should be. It’s a giant contrast to what is going on with Chris as he just panics and panics. He throws a whole lot of personal attacks her way while she doesn’t stoop to his level.

I will say that the film does go in a bit of a cheesy direction with her character though. I would have liked for her to have stayed far more decisive and calculating than how it actually went down. I don’t understand her getting so emotional within such a small time frame. I would have liked for her to have stayed fully neutral. Still helpful depending on the circumstances but never giving you the vibe that she was on someone’s side. she was still the best character in the film though.

As for Chris, well you’ll just have to see if he is guilty or not. One thing we can say for sure though is that he messes up a lot. We find out how he was trying to drink in secret without his wife knowing and then he went totally crazy when she found out. He tried fighting off a whole group of police officers which was a terrible look for him. At one point he even pretended to give up, only to grab a chair and start swinging at them. That’s a really underhanded move even in the best of times but for here it’s another demerit against him.

You are meant to feel sympathetic for Chris by the end but I can’t say that I ever really got to that point. The film just went a little too far in making him as unlikable as possible. Of course this still doesn’t excuse the subplot where his wife is fooling around with someone else. You get a divorce first and then you can hit the market again. Doing that while married is just as bad and so the supporting characters quickly get annoying here. The rebound guy is real smug and likes to hear himself talk but you don’t want to really hear what he has to say either. He’s not a good guy either.

The film did already explain that there was a huge crime wave so in some ways it does make sense why everyone is so unlikable. It doesn’t make them any better but the film did lay some groundwork there. I do think the film had to stretch its own logic a bit for the final plot twist though. Given how much power Maddox has with A.I. and all, I don’t see how she would have missed some of the evidence here. I guess you could say that she just won’t look into things as much unless the accused is fighting back but that doesn’t totally track for me. So the final twist felt a bit forced and could have used more of an explanation. In general I’d say that’s true even for the main case to an extent but a lot more time was spent on that one so there aren’t any true plot holes there. Still some parts I’d be skeptical of but nothing absolutely insane.

The general action climax tends to run into some of these issues because it feels like this shouldn’t be so easy in the future. Shoot out the wheels for the truck at least right? Felt like there wasn’t enough security and then all of the officers kept crashing their cars into the truck. Not saying it should be super easy or anything like that but that was absolutely a skeptical moment for me. The villain’s plan seemed to rely on way too many things going right in too many different directions. Realistically I feel like his plan should have been doomed way before he got to the point he was in during the climax. Maybe I’m overestimating the surveillance I guess.

Overall, I thought this movie would be pretty good as soon as I saw the trailers for it and this one did not disappoint. Generally I always tend to enjoy court room films. This one may have a different setup than usual but still follows the main beats. There is a good amount of suspense here and you will definitely be eagerly awaiting each and every twist. The pacing is good and the concept is also a really good one that just makes you think. Would you be able to use the A.I. tools to prove your own innocence in such a situation? Chris had to get real creative here in order to find an angle and that’s really how it always is for using these tools. Some plot developments may get a bit weaker as you watch them but that’s the nature of a thriller. I would definitely watch a sequel if that ever came out and I’d recommend this film.

Overall 7/10