#would not recommend this for the plot but visual wise its very nice

[soulspark]

[thecrazyanimegirl]

Spring anime 2020

There was really a small amount of stuff we watched this seasons alongside continuations like kaguya sama, furuba or ascendance of a bookworm. A somehow empty season, but still, have what we watched and our thoughts (a mostly personal review).

{ Winter ‘18 }  { Spring ‘18 }  { Summer ‘18 }  { Fall ‘18 }  { Winter ‘19 } { Spring ‘19 }  { Summer ‘19 }  { Fall ‘19 }  { Winter ‘20 }

Arte

It’s about a girl who wants to be an artist in a time that doesn’t accept female artists. She is determined, hard working and cheerful, so it’s a good show if you need to relax and catch some good feelings, but it’s not really a must see story or anything. 

BNA  (Brand New Animal) 

A true gem this season! Not a totally furry anime like Beastars, but if you watched it and also love Trigger’s animation style, this one is for you. BNA tells the story about two species, beasts that live in Animacity and humans who don’t like them that much. The story has the perfect pace and leaves you on the edge of your chair after each episode, also every character has a good backstory and development. Akidearest said that it is really predictable, and even though that’s mostly true, the progress of the story is satisfying and the characters make up for the predictability.

Gleipnir

Looked cool, sounded cool but the overall experience is kinda... meh? The premise and plot idea are really good and the possible plot twists are also promising but it just leaves you thirsty for something else/more. The fights are okay-ish but tend to go really badly animated (one fight is an exception). The music is pretty good and has that dark vibe (kinda like Future Diaries) but there just isn’t anything going on that makes you shiver, tense or worry for the characters while you watch. We found some comments that imply that the manga is way better so it would be maybe wiser to try that instead. 

Great Pretender

This one came as a nice surprise at the end of this season. An original anime made by Wit Studio centers around con artists and their ventures around the world. The engaging plot has a nice pace and makes you guess what is going to happen next, although it gets kinda predictable. It has action, humor, semi tragic backstories, drugs and races. The animation and music are really beautiful and an additional plus goes to the cats in the ending song. All in all, I would recommend it to anyone who searches for something fresh.

Kakushigoto

When I first read the synopsis where a gag ero mangaka tries to hide his job from his daughter, I was skeptical I have to admit, and expected inappropriate jokes and such. But it really proved me wrong! And ended up being this sweetest softest story! It’s not plot heavy, but the character interactions are filled with emotions, it even brought tears to my eyes and the whole overall feeling is soft and loving! Definitely would recommend if you want some warm family atmosphere, but also have a laugh ^^

My Next Life as a Villainess

Mc dies and is born again into the last otome that she played but as the villain character, the main rival girl, and she tries to improve her relationship with the characters to avoid her doom. Don’t expect too deep of a story since she will REALLY easily convince and befriend everyone without any hurdles. Exactly what you’d expect, it’s not going to blow you off your feet, especially plot wise, but the story is well executed, the humor is on point and the characters are typically good. If you like this type of stories or just want to relax, this one is pretty well done ~

Sing Yesterday for Me

Not really my type of plot, too much awkwardness and drama, but I just really had to finish it haha I found it somehow fascinating how many edges a love polygon can have and how many unrequited loves they could fit in one anime. But if you love a slow paced romance type of story, that focuses more on each persons view and their struggles as they learn to love, flirt but also how to move on, you might like it. 

Tower of God

Yes, the favorite of the season! A really good webcomic turned into an anime! If you haven’t heard about it already, go watch it, or better yet read it. The characters, even though they are numerous, are lovable and interesting, the plot builds well (especially in the later chapters of the webtoon, the first season of the anime is basically just the prologue). I’ve seen a lot of bad comments about the execution of the anime, but somehow I’m just really happy it even got animated and got such good voice actors! Yes, some scenes were done differently, and some scenes were cut that were important, but there’s no way to animate absolutely every scene, and they stuck to the story pretty well. The music was also good, the opening and ending are done by a korean band, Stray Kids, which means that it doesn’t have the typical shounen anime feel to it, but it’s still great ^^ A good anime and an even better webtoon! 

Wave, Listen to Me!

A woman starts working as a radio host after a bad relationship. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound great and probably a lot of people will skip this instantly, just like the other two mods of this blog, BUT! I really enjoyed it. It was somehow refreshing actually having an adult main character, not only kids and teens. Maybe it’s not plot heavy, but there are a lot of relatable or hilarious scenes. Also the voice actors did a really good job I think. The story is basically based on her monologues that get pretty lengthy. I know that the first episode I was like, wow that woman can talk! Well, it’s up to you whether you want to give it a shot, but if you need something a bit different, try it.

Looking forward to in the next season because they got moved from this one: Appare Ranman (an engineer and a samurai accidentally end up in america and decide to join the cross country car race haha, the visuals are cool so far, the story and pacing is okay, not something that blew us off our feet, but it’s funny and seems promising), The Millionaire Detective (ooh definitely looking forward to this one! James Bond and the local cop save the day, or something like that, the story isn’t groundbreaking, but it makes up with humor and characters so far), RE:ZERO it’s been yearssss

Some donghua’s that we ran into: All Saints Street (very shot, but is actually great, funny and cute, has the same vibe as Non-human/Fei Ren Zai, that one was also awesome), Antidote (shounen ai with a gangster and a sheltered rich boy, also there’s a cat, so far - cute)

Dropped:  Woodpecker Detective's Office (we’ll never find out who the killer is),  Bungou to Alchemist: Shinpan no Haguruma (its cool that is has japanese writers, but the story wasn’t that engrossing), Listeners (sorry mappa) 

[tarry-a-lot]

French Musical Recommendations/review (Part 1)

It’s great seeing people get into musicals other than broadway and westend (don't get me wrong I do love westend/broadway shows and off- shows, some definitely do get less love then they deserve), I thought I’d make a list of French shows I love/ (and know about), I know most people already know these shows but I thought it would be fun ! (This is mainly based on soundtrack as I have had no opportunity to watch most of these shows)

Le petit prince (2002): I love this show, it might be my favourite based solely on soundtrack, the music is really soothing and beautiful, if you like Daniel Lavoie he has quite a few songs in here, “Le plus beau et le plus triste pays” is what made me love Daniel Lavoie’s voice, for you Mozart l’opera rock fans Laurent Ban is in here and has one song “Moi je” which is also a fun one, you should be able to find a recording and full show on YouTube last time I checked 

Le rouge et le noir (2016): the music is more rock pop (it’s a rock opera) so if that’s your vibe, I will say the soundtrack doesn’t have all the songs featured in the final developed show which is a pity because “L’amour nous désarmés” and “La sagesse est de tous les âges” are bops, you can find a recording of the full show on YouTube, or the concept concert which is just the actors singing no plot and only features the song on the album (so newer songs in the full show are missing)on YouTube as well

non-music: the plot is alright, I mean it’s based on the books of the same name, the staging is nice and simple, heavy reliance on digital screen backdrops, the costume is debatable in my opinion it’s vaguely historical and some of the blocking was strange (the horse riding scene was hilarious how they executed it), though I will say the imagery and lighting with the screens is quite lovely and can be quite effective in adding to the emotions of the acting and songs 

Mozart l’opera rock: y’all know it, it’s the rock opera about Mozart with a focus on his relationship with Salieri in the 2nd act, of course the French cast is beloved as I too really love them but here are some other casts you may want to look into as well,

the 2013 Japanese cast, sings and clips can be found on YouTube, there was a indigo and red version where the actors playing mozart and a salieri switched roles, thus two ver., I will say not all the singing is the best but I think the renditions of popular songs like l’assasymphonie are great, it is a non-replica production

there’s also a Korean cast which I’ve only heard bits of, again through YouTube, they too are very talented and I recommend, it is a replica of the French version 

I don't necessarily recommend it but there is the illegal/legal ukranian concert ver, it’s on YouTube (there’s one with the French cast and another without), I say illegal because at some point the original Mozart actor complained about it being illegal on instagram or something but later there was another concert of the Ukrainian singers with the some of the original French cast so honestly don’t know, they are good but the costumes were really... on a tight budget it seems but hey its a concert 

and the final ver that I know of is the takarazuka 2019 version, I will be honest it’s not as good as the jp 2013 version lyrically, they made changes for reasons I do understand however I think it’s still a miss for me (if anyone’s interested I can talk more about the differences) but the vocals are still good so I would still give it a listen (not sure if you can find songs on YouTube, maybe on tumblr someone posted some songs?) 

La légende du roi Arthur: this is the Florent Mothe lead King Arthur musical for those Mozart fans, though the whole cast is absolutely wonderful and deserve all the recognition, music wise it’s alright, more pop heavy, I like quite a few of the songs, has some fun wind instruments in there, the reason I don’t love it is because some songs blatantly sound like a radio song (mainly a comment on the backing track), I would still definitely give this show a listen, you can’t go wrong with the songs (my favourites are Mon combat, Auprès d’un autre, and maybe il est temps) I know there’s a Korean version (in 2019?) and a takarazuka ver in 2016 but I know very little about it but I’m sure there are others on here who are better informed, the full French show can be found on youtube

non-music: the plot seems alright, I’m a little doubtful on the ending but hey I skipped through it so maybe I just missed stuff, some of the costumes are hideous in my opinion (the red gold Arthur) and I have some complaints about props but could be a budget/ practical reasons (mother puppet, the golden cage) but it’s still quite a large and impressive show with many dancers so despite my opinions it was still a cool show to watch for the staging and visuals, the large layout with dance is similar to that of Robin des Bois, 

Romeo et Juliette: de la haine à l’amour/ Roméo et Juliette: les enfants de Vérone: this one is a classic, a bit complex to explain but there are two versions as can be seen by the change in the sub title, the first title is the original ver and les enfants is a later version with changes, I won’t go into detail but wiki and other tumblr accounts I’m sure can be helpful, this is a fun musical about r+j, If you like the play or just like musicals I think this is a good starter musical to listen to, music can be popish but the backing band?/orchestra? is lovely, 

French 2001 Original (de la haine à l’amour) full show available on youtube

French 2010 Revival (les enfants de Vérona) I just call it a revival, they add songs and I think cut parts out, stage and costumes differ from original, full show available online, there is an Asia tour version of this as well 

I was first introduced to this show through the Italian ver. (Romeo e Giulietta: Ama e cambia il mondo) which I think has some of the best costumes, all of act 1 can be found on YouTube and the soundtrack and clips should also be available, this production ran twice with mainly the same cast for both times, it is a non-replica production

 Hungarian ver.(Rómeó és Júlia), has a rap in “Les rois du monde” which I love, you’ll find it’s one of the fan favourites, I know clips and the full show is available on YouTube, it is a non-replica production

 Russian ver. (Ромео и Джульетта) was a replica production of the original French ver., full show on YouTube

 Korean ver. (로미오와 줄리엣) was a replica of the French revival ver, clips of scenes on YouTube, separately there’s a full amateur production on YouTube as well

Takarazuka ver. (has done it multiple times) One of their renditions can be found in full split up into multiple videos on YouTube, and general clips are also available, non-replica production

Japanese ver. Toho, (ロミオ & ジュリエット) the original version ran in 2011 and then 2013 (non-replica) it was then brought back in 2017 with a completely new designs and choreography and this version ran again in 2019, it’ s non-replica and clips of the new design version can be found online, has two casts, the black version cast and the white version cast

German/Austrian ver., (Romeo und Julia: das Musical) has Mark Seibert as Tybalt for you Mozart! and Elisabeth fans and Lukas Perman as Romeo, the costumes are debatable though, again non-replica production, clips and the full show (split into parts) on YouTube 

infamous English/British ver. which is awful (nothing against the cast), the lyrics were just really bad and the costumes aren’t great except for maybe Juliet’s wedding dress, had a short run, you can find the songs on YouTube

Dutch/Netherlands ver. (Romeo en Julia: van Haat tot Liefde), replica of the original French ver., full soundtrack and some clips can be found on YouTube, there was a Netherlands/Belgium tour but I assume it is the same?

Spanish/Mexican ver. (Romeo y Julieta) 2008 Monterrey, its a replica of the original French with adjustments, clips of all the songs can be found on YouTube, there are also a more smaller local production from 2019 that also has clips on YouTube (it seems to be trying to replicate the French revival costumes)

Israel ver. (רומאו ויוליה מחזמר) set is similar to the French revival but it is a non-replica production, clips available on YouTube 

Romanian ver. (Romeo si Julieta) also has the “Les rois du monde” rap part, clips on YouTube, was confirmed that it is the a replica of the Hungarian version

Slovakian ver. (Rómeo a Júlia) 2013, it’s a non-replica version, some clips are available on YouTube 

Portuguese ver. (Romeu e Julieta: do Ódio ao Amor) non-replica and clip(s?) are available on youtube, I personally quite like their “Verona” ensemble harmonies 

Have I missed anything? let me know! 

Edit: There is also a Czech ver. non-replica at the Forum Karlín in 2015, clips are available on YouTube (I recommend adding the forum name when searching), there was also another German ver. at Thun in 2015, it is non-replica and some making-of clips can be found on YouTube (adding “Thunerseespiele“ can help in finding it), and there was a Mongolian ver. though only music videos are available

I really recommend this show maybe start with the original french?

[arcaneranger]

Final Thoughts - Netflix Exclusives 2018

Oh my god you guys, I’m finally done. I’m free from the prison of 2018, just in time to actually finish my premieres for spring of 2019. But first, let’s talk!

2018 was the year that Netflix really went all-in on producing its own anime and picking up some big names, so we saw Devilman Crybaby made specifically for the service and high-profile shows like Dragon Pilot and Hi-Score Girl basically hijacked by the streaming service and delayed for months in the U.S. so that the biggest name in the game could release everything in bingeable packages. Unfortunately, bringing in an auteur like Masaaki Yuasa for Crybaby and throwing all the damn money at him worked so well that, long before any of these shows would even premiere, they decided to seemingly take any anime pitch under the sun, and wound up financing disasters like Hero Mask and B: The Beginning. Really, these shows kind of run the full gamut from garbage to god-tier, with an unfortunate tipping of the scale in the wrong direction. I haven’t gotten to see Ingress yet at the time of publication though, so we’ll have to see whether 2019 will start in a good direction.

ANYWAY.

DROPPED

WORST OF NETFLIX: Back Street Girls -GOKUDOLS-

I still don’t get how anyone thought this was worth promoting. The entire concept is offensive, and yet it was directed by a master and veteran of the medium (who is also a woman), leading me to just throw my hands in the air and resign myself to never having a satisfactory answer for why Netflix would pick this up to begin with. Dropped after 1 episode.

Hero Mask

One of the most incompetently written first episodes I’ve ever seen gave me absolutely no hope that Hero Mask was going to actualize into anything watchable or even average-looking. It was boring and unintelligible. Dropped after 1 episode.

Fate/EXTRA: Last Encore

What the fuck was Akiyuki Shinbo even doing on Fate? Did he do this at the expense of season 3 of March comes in like a lion or something? Probably not, but geez... This seems much more like someone attempting to copy his style than the genuine article, but nope, there’s his director credit. In the end, I suppose that Fate/EXTRA, despite being a very interesting game, was not ever going to be adapted well - the protagonist is almost literally a blank slate for a self-insert of the player, and their servant is also not set in stone - but I kind of would have rather had nothing than this. Dropped after 2 episodes.

SWORDGAI The Animation

Oh hey, yet another “the Animation”, it definitely doesn’t sound pretentious yet. I don’t have much to say on SWORDGAI, or at least not any more than anyone else - it’s stupid, very earnestly stupid, and doesn’t seem aware enough of that fact to be entertaining for more than a hate watch - and my hate plate is full already. Dropped after 1 episode.

Last Hope

I remember almost nothing about Last Hope other than that it was both pretentious and nonsensical, which kind of illustrates why Yoshiyuki Tomino is wise enough to stay out of anything that isn’t his beautiful Gundam baby, and it’s a shame that Kawamori (father of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross) doesn’t stick with what he knows, which is mech design. (No, seriously, he’s got a ton of credits on MAL and they’re almost all for that.) Dropped after 1 episode.

BAKI

Oh, BAKI, it’s okay, you’re a remnant from a different time. That time was right around when Mars of Destruction seemed like a good idea. It’s not that bad so I shouldn’t really mention them in the same sentence, but the hyper-violent imagery of this show is on the level of the Berserk manga. It’s unfortunate that I had to leave it after one episode because Netflix picked up a sequel that relies heavily on your pre-existing investment (just like with the Dragons TV show, for the record). Dropped after 1 episode.

A.I.C.O. Incarnation

I stuck with this one longer than any other that I didn’t drop, but in hindsight I shouldn’t have wasted my time. It’s one of the worst-looking Bones productions I’ve ever seen and the plot is a dumb ripoff of a much better science fiction series. Dropped after six episodes.

B: The Beginning

Probably the biggest waste of money on this list, B has such lavish animation that you can almost forget that you have absolutely no clue what’s happening or what the context of the story even is. It tries really hard to be both Psycho-Pass and Death Note at the same time to the point of cutting between them multiple times per scene, and it just ends up a badly jumbled mess, albeit one with really pretty colors. Dropped after 3 episodes.

Kakegurui

I still don’t have much to say here because the topic has been so thoroughly covered by The Anime Pope, so I’ll resummarize here - this is a show about gambling where the stakes seem utterly meaningless, even though it tries to impress us by showering money on the characters.

Children of the Whales

It’s so pretty, but it’s so boring. Children of the Whales succeeds in looking beautiful, but fails as a story that wants to be grim and apocalyptic but comes across as a soft-hearted small-village story that gets surprisingly violent four episodes in. This should have been the tone from the beginning, and the entire thing needed a good kick in the pants. Dropped after five episodes.

FINISHED

Sirius the Jaeger (6/10)

One that I waited a long time for after seeing the PV at Anime Central last year, and wound up pretty disappointed by in general. It looks nice (...at first), given that P.A. Works at least knows how to make a show visually appealing on a consistent basis, but the plot jumps so far into cliched stupidity by the end that, even though it had a few twists I wasn’t expecting, they couldn’t save it from being something I won’t recommend to anyone with as much anime experience as myself.

Lost Song (7/10)

(Author’s note: Yeah, apparently nobody on all of Tumblr has made a GIF of this one...)

Lost Song was a pleasant surprise that I wasn’t expecting to be invested enough to finish. One of the best of LIDENFILMS’ output, it manages to weave together a decent fantasy Symphogear AU fanfic, with interesting third-act twists peppering the last few episodes that made it memorable despite looking pretty generic. There’s a sequel due this year, too!

Hi Score Girl (7/10)

A very visually distinctive show with a neat concept that didn’t dive far enough into the heavy subjects it brings up, Hi Score Girl sits in a place where I like the presentation of it a lot more than I like the story. Don’t get me wrong, the romance is certainly cute, and I won’t begrudge a love triangle if it’s meant to be the primary conflict of a show, but the fact that it spent most of its last episode setting up for later robbed it of the chance to give us a satisfying place to leave off until the next part of this adaptation. Luckily, it got a second season, hopefully to finish the adaptation later this year.

Forest of Piano (7/10)

A good first try by a fledgling studio, but not one that lives up to what it really wants to be due to some very bad habits. I still distinctly remember the constant character shilling, and it feels like the story could have happened a little faster if not for the breaks every few minutes to heap praise upon the protagonist. Also, the mo-cap piano playing still looks weird. I’ll probably watch the sequel though, to see if it gets concluded well.

Dragon Pilot: Hisone to Masotan (8/10)

I literally just did my write-up for this one, so I don’t have much new to say here, but I’m pleased that Dragon Pilot turned out as well as it did despite not being what I quite expected from it.

Aggretsuko (8/10)

A fantastic and rather unorthodox look at what it’s actually like to be an adult in the Japanese workforce, Aggretsuko was an early darling of the year, and the only things that could have made it better were a more interesting visual presentation and a less squirrelly ending. Shame that the Christmas Special was...not good.

Devilman Crybaby (9/10)

It was so, so good...right up until the end. Yeah, that’s the only thing holding this back from a perfect score - I really, really hate the ending, and it needed to be changed. I know that, for most people, the best show of the year was either this one, or the most conspicuous work that hasn’t yet appeared on this list, though, so…

BEST NETFLIX SHOW OF THE YEAR: Violet Evergarden (10/10)

Oh God, what beautiful cry-porn. I hope that Kyoto Animation was paid well for their best show in years, and I’m kind of shocked that the two shows that made me sob the most this year both came out in the same season (thanks, A Place Further Than the Universe). I won’t spoil more than I did in my original review, but Netflix should be pushing this to literally everyone who would be even casually interested in watching it.

And that’s it! Last but not least, the last list won’t be a roundup of the whole year (since, you know, I’ve already done that in big chunks), but a list of the Class of 2018 Superlatives. Look forward to it!

[hecallsmehischild]

Recent Media Consumed

Movies

The Unicorn Store. “It’ll be mediocre at worst and pretty decent at best,” I said, in my infinite wisdom. What I got was actually a pretty good movie. It felt so surreal most of the time, but I think that was the point. Very solidly portrayed through the lens of a little girl smacking face-first into growing up. And then. Salvaging her dreams, metaphorically and literally, from the garbage heap and creating something beautiful with them. I think this one was good. Worth watching.

Gifted. This is one of those really good but hard sort of movies. The family dynamics are very painful to watch. It was very well done.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. One plot point was really confusing and not explained well (to me) but beyond that, this was a treat. Both visually and storytelling wise. It definitely exceeded my expectations.

Books

Beyond Boundaries by Dr. John Townsend. This answered some questions I had after reading Boundaries. If Boundaries felt like it was a bit too harsh, this book talks about the next step. Boundaries is for people who don’t know how to formulate them to begin with. Safe People is for people to help discern safe relationships (and diagnose unsafe ones) in their lives. Beyond Boundaries helps those who are emotionally healthier know how and when to allow people closer and how/when/with whom to be more permeable about those boundaries. I’d say these three books would be a good solid set for learning (fair warning, written with Christians in mind).

The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel. I had similar struggles with this book as I did with The God Delusion (Richard Dawkins) and for good reason. Both books tackle their topics in the language of a field (or in Strobel’s case, multiple fields) I’m unfamiliar with. Strobel is a journalist who’s interviewing experts, so he does a good job saying, “Okay whoah, back up and break that down for me,” but even so I couldn’t always follow where the experts were trying to lead. Those parts that I could follow, however, were pretty incredible. I understand the case for Intelligent Design is often mocked because its proponents sometimes come across as flagrantly vested in ignorance with “proofs” that make no sense. This is not that sort of thing. Each expert Strobel talks to has a deep passion for their branch of science and discovery, and each seems intent on finding the truth minus a bias. It’s a hard read, but worth trying to tackle.

Anime

Gurren Lagann. Tried this in college and dropped it halfway through. Tried to re-watch it on housemate’s rec’ to give it another chance. Dropped it FOUR episodes in this time. Fan-service, man. I can. Not. Deal.

Fanfiction

Mechanical Seal by Pantsless_Ghost. MSA oneshot. I wish there was more. It’s an interesting peek at the beginnings of a Selkie!Arthur AU, one of the rarer Arthur-as-a-type-of-mythological-creature types.

Flicker Out and Keep Pretending by crystalrequiem. MSA fics. The first is a story about Arthur working to recover from the cave incident, watching him plunge headlong into prosthetic design as Mystery, Vivi, and Lance try to keep him afloat. Watching their interplay and Arthur holding on ONLY for their sake… it’s a good character study. The second story is Vivi’s POV, dealing with amnesia. My favorite thing about this is the way the writer plays with font style and color to show us some of the way Vivi’s senses are screwed up now. Worth a read!

Fetch by Providendtially_Demonic. MSA oneshot. Really loving the Arthur-as-a-hidden-cryptid angle, but I didn’t think about {redacted} being anything other than what we canonically know him to be. Nice idea!

Sleeping Dogs by blazichu. MSA fic (incomplete). Even though it seems to be on semi-permanent hiatus, I can’t help recommending it. It seems like it’s leading to a really fascinating concept for Lewis’ backstory (if I’ve read the clues correctly), which are uncovered during a gang-is-back-together-and-playing-nice-paranormal-investigation. Maybe if we heap some love on it… *banks the fire*

Fine is a Four Letter Word by Providentially_Demonic. MSA oneshot. A look at Mystery’s aching over the state of his family, with some sparks of hope about its healing. A very sweet read.

Something Wicked by pitviperofdoom. MSA fic (incomplete). Again, I do wish there was more, but seems to be on semi-permanent hiatus. The gang pits themselves against a non-typical monster type, hoping to save Lewis’ sisters. Very enjoyable, right up until the cliffhanger from three years back…

[baphomet-media]

Beats and Blocks and Beats and Blocks and Beats and Blocks and - A Lumines: Electronic Symphony Review

Genre: Puzzle Subgenre: Rhythm Puzzle Developer: Q Entertainment Publisher: Ubisoft Platform(s): Vita Release Date: February 15th, 2012

Lumines (pronounced like “luminous”) is a series that holds a lot of fascination for me. I played the original game on my dad’s PSP as a kid, and while I was terrible at it, I was fascinated by the game’s mix of funky electronic music and block-busting puzzle gameplay. Many years later, I ended up picking up Lumines Remastered on Switch and loved it. Now that I have a Vita, I found out that a Lumines game was published exclusively for Sony’s doomed handheld, so naturally I had to give it a try. Does Electronic Symphony live up to the series reputation?

Story

The Lumines series is mostly a pure rhythm/puzzle game, and as such has no plot or characters, however it does have a progression system. In the original game, the player could play through the game’s main mode (called “Voyage” in Electronic Symphony) to unlock new  levels (called “Skins”), each with their own visual style and music track. This has returned in ES, but the game also has an XP system that rewards you for playing each mode by giving you progress towards new avatars.

Gameplay

Lumines is very much like Tetris in that the player has an empty grid into which colored blocks fall, and must manage their blocks wisely to clear them out and prevent any column from reaching the top. Aside from that, Lumines is very much its own beast. Each block you drop is a 2x2 square comprised of different arrangements of two colors. You can clear blocks by creating squares of 2x2 or larger of the same color, however matches are not instantly cleared. Instead, a vertical Timeline gradually makes its way across the grid from left to right. As the Timeline passes over matches, it registers them, then once the Timeline reaches the right side of the screen, all registered matches are cleared and the Timeline starts over from the left side. This creates an interesting dynamic where the player has to be conscious of the Timeline’s position when making matches, as making matches after the timeline has already passed that location means that match won’t be cleared until the next pass. This could also have a cascading effect, since blocks fall when matches below them are cleared, which could potentially disrupt matches placed after the Timeline has passed. Furthermore, the speed of the game generally increases as you progress through levels, making a slow and relaxed pace get more and more tense as you go along. Each skin has its own tempo, though, which affects the speed of block falling as well as the speed of the Timeline. As you progress through the main Marathon mode (called “Voyage”), you will find that the speed of each successive skin doesn’t increase linearly, and can jump around a bit to give you periods of intensity and relief.

To help you out with clutter are two special block pieces that can generate, the link piece and the shuffle piece. When a link piece is dropped, it can link with all other adjacent pieces of the same color, and cascades the effect through each linked piece, allowing those pieces to be cleared by the Timeline. This can drastically reduce clutter if used well, and can set you up for big combos by removing most of one of the only two colors on the field. The shuffle block has a similar effect, except when a shuffle piece is dropped, all cascading adjacent pieces are randomly shuffled between colors. While I found the link pieces to be immensely helpful, I mostly found the shuffle piece to be disruptive to my strategies, as there was no way to tell what it would change a large chunk of pieces into. Still, in a pinch, it can create some matches in large piles that haven’t been managed well, so it can sometimes be a lifesaver.

The game has plenty of other modes, though sadly ES has fewer than before. The modes include:

Voyage - The game’s Marathon mode where you play your way through each of the game’s skins, and unlock each skin for other modes as you reach them. If you lose, you have to start over. This is the game’s main mode, and what players will get the most use out of. I really like it, but one complaint is that runs can be fairly long. It’s difficult to just jump into, as a single run can take you around an hour or so if you’re decent at it, and a few mistakes late in the game can wreck your whole run.

Playlist - A sort of free-play mode where you can pick and choose from unlocked skins to create your own playlist. You can save and load playlists, as well. I didn’t really use this mode much, but it can be nice if you only want to play a few different songs.

Stopwatch - The game’s Time Attack mode. Select a time limit and see how many blocks you can clear within the time limit. It’s fun enough to attempt for the associated trophy, but not really interesting enough to come back to.

Master - A challenge mode of sorts, you play through five levels, trying to clear a set number of blocks in each level. Unlike Voyage, the skin is the same throughout, and the game speed drastically increases between each level. I found this mode to be the best challenge in the game, especially since you can start at any level you’ve previously beaten, but again is a bit too simple to really hold interest very long.

Versus - The game’s multiplayer versus mode. Unfortunately, the VS CPU mode from the original game is removed, so this mode is multiplayer-only. Good luck finding someone else who not only owns a Vita, but also owns this game and wants to play with you. Definitely a missed opportunity here.

The game also has a “world block” feature, which basically amounts to a number of blocks that have to be cleared in total by everyone playing around the world every 24 hours. This is an interesting feature, but eight years after the game’s launch, there’s barely anyone still playing, so the chances of anything happening with this feature are slim.

Presentation

The Lumines series as a whole is known for its quirky electronic music and flashy visuals, and ES is no exception. The vast majority of this comes from the game’s collection of skins, and ES has plenty of unique skins to go around. This time around, the collection of skins is decent, with fewer skins that I actively disliked, but unfortunately fewer that I actively liked, leaving the mix with kind of an okay middle ground. New in this game are some skins that apply a 3D art style to the blocks. While these look interesting, I found that the 3D skins are more distracting than the 2D skins, making it harder to get a feel for the state of the board at a glance.

Conclusion

Lumines: Electronic Symphony is a decent successor to the original Lumines with a solid lineup of tracks, but unfortunately has less to offer than the original, and does little to advance the series. It’s definitely a good game, and I recommend it to anyone’s Vita collection. I just feel that if Lumines Remastered didn’t exist, Electronic Symphony would have scored a lot higher. As it stands, I find it hard to recommend ES above Remastered in 2020.

Score: 7 / 10

[kamakiddos]

Us, Film Review.

Jordan Peele’s latest film, Us, while not perfect in every regard and still flawed, manages to be something wholly unforgettable and a delightful new work of modern horror. In all honesty, I can’t wait to see the film again and dissect it a bit more, but I’m fairly confident in what I have to say as is. I also have to say how wonderful it is to see how much of a buzz this film has caused both in regards of fan discussion, as there is much to unpack and analyze within it, and how much money it seems to be generating at the Box Office. Originality has been something severely lacking in many of the bigger budgeted films of late, so I hope that this film’s success sends an important message to the rest of the filmmaking world. Now onto the review itself the first parts of the film I would like to discuss are its more technical ones. This including cinematography, score, sets, costumes, props, and performances.

Visually this film is quite wonderful and filled with some genuinely great shots, especially later in the film as it seemed to gain some more confidence in itself in regards to its presentation. I especially liked a shot used during the film’s opening credits, in which a slow zoom is used to show a rabbit in a cage amongst many others as one of the best tracks from the film’s score swells. While I offer much praise to its visuals, I have to acknowledge that the same deliberate style and visual creativity isn’t kept throughout the whole film as there are plenty of moments where it becomes quite mediocre. However, these less interesting shots never took too much away from my enjoyment as they were always soon followed by another far better one. Compared to Get Out’s visuals this is an obvious step up and a welcome one. I hope that in Peele’s future works this use of visual creativity continues. Special shoutout the film’s director of photography Mike Gioulakis who’s done some amazing work on films like It Follows and Split.

In regards to the film’s score, it is rather hit or miss, as some tracks are far better than others. Three tracks from Micheal Abels’ work here called Anthem, Immolation, and Beach Walk really stand out not only in the originality of their composition and vocal work but also through how effectively they enhance the mood of the moment. They are unnerving and quite powerful, giving each moment they are placed in great strength. Sadly, much like with the film’s visuals, there are moments where it falters and becomes something rather conventional and altogether forgettable. At times it even cued in at inappropriate moments that would have been much better on their own, for example, at about the middle of the film a remix of “I’ve Got 5 On It” begins to play just after one of the film’s most outwardly violent sequences and winds up being quite distracting. At the core of this soundtrack is something really spectacular, but since the same originality present in the three tracks I mentioned earlier doesn’t flow through all of it, it winds up becoming a sort of missed opportunity. Like with the others I’ve mentioned here I am excited to see where Micheal Abels goes from here and I hope he utilizes the truly wonderful sound he is capable of creating much more in the future.

The sets, props, and costumes in the film were all pretty great. The film wasn’t a necessarily set heavy one, so it never got a chance to shine too much, but later in the film where the antagonists’ dwellings are revealed it gets a chance to really shine. I will say I loved the way the cosiness or idealistic nature of some of the interiors contrast with the horror of the film. The props in the film were pretty cool actually, especially in regards to the scissors used by this film’s antagonists. Costumes in the film never really had to be anything too spectacular and do a good job at feeling very naturalistic. I especially liked Adelaide’s (Lupita Nyong’o’s character) leisure wear that she wore for most of the film’s duration. It already looked nice on its own and when it got covered in blood later in the film wound up looking fairly awesome. Like the props, the costumes really got their chance to shine with the antagonists. Their blood red jumpsuits, bare feet, and single gloved looks are fantastic and lends them a truly intimidating presence.

Performance wise this movie is incredibly strong and most of that is due to Lupita Nyong’o’s absolutely jaw dropping work here. The way she so perfectly inhabited two vastly different and distinct characters was absolutely fantastic. Her performance was effortless, powerful, and gave so much to the film overall. It is undeniable that she is one of the best parts of this film. The other performances in the film range from very good to just okay. Not even the worst performances were able to fully break my immersion which is a very good thing. I was especially impressed with the film’s child actors. Upon seeing that they were there I was a bit nervous, so it was wonderful to see how well they did. The side characters were all fine as well. I also loved to see another fairly great performance by Elisabeth Moss and an extremely funny one from Tim Heidecker.

As I move into discussing the film’s story elements, I am sad to say that this is where a lot of the film’s issues lay. But I would like to first discuss the parts of it enjoyed. Upon seeing the trailer for this film and viewing some of the promotional material I began to construct my own idea of what the movie would be like. How the story would unfold and how it’s antagonists would function, and I’m so happy that the film completely subverted each of these. The origin of the antagonists and the ways in which they function are so greatly original and refreshing to see. The way the story unfolded and presented itself was also quite surprising. I left the theater feeling greatly refreshed over this and pleased over the fact that so much money was given to such a ludicrously fun idea. It was just a lot of fun to see unfold. However, as Peele built this world he seemingly forgot to fully figure how it would function. Now if the antagonists had been presented a bit differently, possibly more symbolically or allegorically, these plot holes could be overlooked. It’s not as though these issues are ones that are particularly hard to figure either, as even the most simple of filmgoers I spoke to raised numerous questions about how these antagonists and the world here would properly function. Now at first I was completely willing to overlook these inconsistencies, but Peele decided to introduce a big plot twist at the end of the film. This twist is cool at first, but the way in which it is presented to the audience and the weak evidence raised to support cause it to fall apart fairly quickly. The inclusion of this also harms a lot of the believability of these antagonists as a whole.

Another issue that plagued the film throughout its duration was the inclusion of light comedic elements. The same issue was present in Get Out, but their inclusion in that film felt far more natural and effective. The detriment they had was far less than with this film. The jokes to me weren’t that funny and didn’t add much to the film at all. A few moments left me laughing quite a bit, but many of them fell a bit short. Peele said that he would be remedying the “genre-confusion” many people felt with Get Out with this film, but it seemed as though he just did the same thing again and in a less smashing way. I feel as though this film would have benefited quite a bit from having a far more serious tone and using the time it took to set up such jokes developing its characters instead. One thing that bothered me about the family in this film was that their relationship felt a bit vacant. We knew they were a family because the film told us rather than showed us. This issue wasn’t so bad between Adelaide and her children as there is a sufficient amount of interaction between them, but when it came to her and her husband their was little to no chemistry at all.

All in all I really enjoyed Us and despite these issues I’ve mentioned I still loved it and can’t wait to see it again. Jordan Peele, despite a few stumbles, is proving to be a new and wonderfully fresh voice in the world of horror. As a lover of the genre myself I find a special sort of pride and joy in finally seeing black people, my people, properly represented. For so long we have been nothing but jokes or ways to get cheap kills, so to see someone so committed to the idea of representing us is so heartening. If I had to assign a grade to this film it would rest somewhere between a 75 or an 82% out of a 100 and a definite recommendation to check out for yourself. The grade would be higher if either all the technical elements had been nailed which would have made it a 85-86, or if all the story flaws had been fixed maybe a 93. The film isn’t perfect, but those flaws didn’t stop me from having a good time. I hope to see more from Jordan Peele as he grows as a filmmaker.

[otomeverything]

NIGHTSHADE

Release Date:  December 20, 2018 (North America) Developers:  Red Entertainment / LANTERN ROOMS Publishers: D3Publisher Platforms:  Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam) ESRB Rating: M (Mature) 17+

  Walkthroughs:

Goemon

Chojiro

Hanzo

Kuroyuki

Gekkamaru

Common Route

  PROLOGUE (from Nightshade’s official site) During the Sengoku Period the two main factions of ninja clans, Iga and Kōga, warred against each other for decades. In the year 1593, Nobunaga Oda started the Tenshō Iga war, decimating most of the Iga ninjas in the process. The very few that survived were absorbed into the Kōga clan, despite their past rivalries. After 17 years the Sengoku Period finally came to an end, and Japan was unified.

Enju (Protagonist), daughter of Kandō Ueno, the Head of the Kōga clan, spends her days training diligently in hope of becoming a full-fledged ninja like her peers. At long last, she is assigned to her first mission but finds herself caught in a dark conspiracy.

  ART AND MUSIC One of Nightshade’s prominent features that’ll easily make an impression among otome fans, is its art style. The game credits non-other than the famous illustrator, Teita who’s fairly popular for her other works such as Norn9, the Juuzaengi  Engetsu Sangokuden saga and the recently released visual novel, Charade Maniacs.

I wish I could say the same for the game’s musical score. The OP theme was nice but wasn’t memorable at all. The END theme (Good End) however, “Taezaru Hana”  by MIKOTO was pretty soothing that I ended up purchasing the track in iTunes. Listen to the full song below:

  Voice Acting Nightshade honestly has the best seiyuu lineup. The voice acting was, in fact, one of the major highlights of the game. The VAs really did an amazing job capturing your emotions. I was already expecting this much from their topnotch VA list, but they did more than stellar performances with this game! Every seiyuu involved were magnificent, even the side character, Ieyasu Tokugawa (voiced by Koki Miyata, who’s famous for his role as Ukyo in Amnesia), did an amazing job portraying his cunning personality.

  Hikaru Midorikawa ♥ “Goemon Ishikawa” – Tamahome (Fushigi Yuugi Suzaku Ibun), Zenya (Sweet Pool), Ayato (Diabolik Lovers), Hanate (7’Scarlet), Yutaka Nabari (Nil Admirari)

Wataru Hatano “Gekkemaru” – Asato (Lamento Beyond the Void), Lindo (Dance with the Devils), Kotarou (Hakuoki), Sakiyama Youji (Sweet Pool), Yuuto (Storm Lover)

Hiro Shimono “Kuroyuki“ – Shou Kurusu (Utapri), Senri Ichinose (Norn9), Sou Kiryuu (Harukanaru Toki no Naka De 5), Ricchie (Black Wolves Saga), Ray Blackwell (Ikerev)

Kenjiro Tsuda “Hanzo Hattori” – Chikage Kazama (Hakuoki), Soshi Amazaki (The Charming Empire), Leonardo Da Vinci (Ikevamp), Nathan Seymour (Tiger & Bunny)

Kosuke Toriumi “Chojiro Momochi” – Hajime Saito (Hakuoki), Kagiha (Psychedelica BB), Poyo-Poyo (Period Cube), Hideyoshi (Ikesen), Lawrence (Psychedelica AH), John Watson (Code Realize)

  MAIN CHARACTERS (Spoiler Free)

I must say, I love all of the characters and their routes that it was hard for me to pick a favorite. If you’re concerned with plot spoilers in your first playthrough, my recommendation would be to play the routes in the following order (from least to greatest in spoiler content):  Goemon – Hanzo – Chojiro – Kuroyuki – Gekkamaru. For enjoyability, I’d recommend playing in the same order. Goemon and Hanzo were the lighter routes, Chojiro was angst from start to finish and the brothers (Kuroyuki and Gekkamaru) had more plot revelations than you’ve expected. I would also strongly recommend saving Gekkamaru’s route for last, trust me when I say, this makes your last playthrough more worthwhile. 😉

  GOEMON ISHIKAWA

The Japanese Robin Hood

ladykiller

True to his name in history books, Goemon Ishikawa is the legendary Japanese outlaw who stole gold and other valuables from the rich to give to the poor. He’s very popular among the townspeople due to his ingenious thieving schemes. He is known to send prior notices to his targets before he robs them off their treasures. Goemon is also a highly skilled ninja who has the wit of a brilliant tactician.

Playing Goemon’s route first was a good choice since his story was the lightest among the bachelors in the game, plus I haven’t fallen in love with Midorikawa’s voice in a while, so there’s also that ha! I find Goemon’s story really refreshing due to his carefree personality and charismatic nature. Because of this, it was so easy to like this character from the get-go. Going down his route will let you discover a few revelations regarding Goemon’s past, where he came from and how he ended up as the notorious thief he is now. His route also offers  a couple of plot twists and although it was a little predictable towards the end, it was executed really well where it didn’t feel awkward nor forced. As far as the romance goes, Goemon is a straight up, ladykiller. It was fun to see his relationship with Enju develop all throughout his route. His playful teasing and his easy-going personality will have you falling for him in no time.

  HANZO HATTORI

Mr. stoic ninja

kuudere

Besides, being Lord Ieyasu Tokugawa’s personal guard, Hanzo is also the Tokugawa clan’s shinobi leader. Because of his resounding title as the strongest ninja history has ever known, he is very popular among all the shinobi clans in Japan. He is normally calm and collected but will not hesitate to become ruthless for the success of his mission.

Hanzo is the oldest among the bachelors (and I absolutely love him!) He is, I believe 33 years old, making quite an age gap between him and the heroine Enju, but LOL this is Toyotomi-Tokugawa (Edo 1600’s – 1800’s) period we’re talking about, where huge age gaps among couples are very common… But age aside, let me tell you… Hanzo’s route completely took me by surprise! I have no words! *Breaths heavily* I guess, I was already eyeing this character from the start since Kenjiro Tsuda voiced him. But I wasn’t expecting his arc to be this good that it literally caught me off guard. He ended up becoming my favorite of the entire game!

At first, he started as the very straightforward stoic kind, who’s only doing his master, Lord Tokugawa’s bidding. But after a few encounters where he teams up with the heroine and helps her survive, he begins to slightly soften up, giving us a glimpse of his true adorable fluffy nature. Both Hanzo and Enju go through tremendous character development in this route, especially the heroine. I just love seeing Enju prove herself time and again how much she wanted to make it as a true shinobi while she constantly faces hardships every step of the way (she’s freakin’ cool!) I also love seeing Hanzo unexpectedly supporting her through her struggles. It’s as if, rather than saving her all the time, he wants her to learn to depend on herself instead; and to me, this relationship was truly very refreshing, not to mention absolutely heartwarming. Expect a lot of badass back to back action scenes in this route, where Hanzo and Enju kick some ninja ass!

  CHOJIRO MOMOCHI

Big Brother

Angst! Angst! Angst!

Chojiro is the son of the late leader of Iga, Tanba Momochi . After losing his family and clan in the Tensho Iga War at the age of five, he joined the Koga clan along with the other Iga survivors. Chojiro is also the heroine’s cousin as well as her mentor/trainer. He is a man of a few words and he completely devotes himself to his missions without questions.

I made a mistake playing Chojiro’s route earlier in the game as I wasn’t ready for a sudden whirlwind of angst! At the start, Chojiro’s personality was very closed off, its almost as if he has built a wall before him to keep others away. Because of his tragic past, he doesn’t want to get attached to anyone, afraid he’d lose them at the blink of an eye just like how he lost his parents when he was young. This makes his relationship with Enju a little less intimate from the beginning. As the heroine tries her best to get a closer reach of him, he waves his feelings off because he’s conflicted between succeeding his missions as a shinobi versus his own desire to help Enju and stay by her side.

Chojiro’s route was also the most tragic in the game!😭 Ya’ll better prepare those tissues! Romantic wise, his story was not my favorite. The drama just out-weights the romance on this one. I do love the writing in his route though. It seriously gave me an emotional breakdown I wasn’t prepared for. 😅I suggest playing his route in the middle to get the angst out of the way. This, also kinda gives you more room to recuperate from the heavy drama before jumping into an even more dramatic finish as you do Gekka’s route last.

  KUROYUKI

clever, cunning

soft yand

Kuroyuki is Gekkamaru’s younger brother. Right after he was born, both boys became orphans and were taken in by Enju’s family. He was sent away on an extended mission when he was eight, by the heroine’s father Kando Ueno, who’s also the leader and head chief of the Koga clan. Kuroyuki is also the same age as Enju (16).

Not much is revealed about this character other than he is Gekkamaru’s brother who was sent on a secret mission when he was eight years old. Where did he go? What was he doing for the last eight years he was gone? It was rather questionable how his character (in other routes) always comes and goes sporadically in the plot.

I couldn’t really expound more on Kuroyuki’s arc without entering spoiler territory but going down his route will let you discover one interesting revelation about him and the game’s overarching plot. It was quite satisfying to play Yuki’s route because finally! we get to fill in some plot holes. I fell in love with his story for the same reasons some people are calling it out for. It wasn’t light nor easy-going as Goemon’s or Hanzo’s, it wasn’t tragic as Chojiro’s or Gekkamaru’s. It was dark and I probably wouldn’t have it in any other way. Kudos to Hiro Shimono for breathing extra life to this character!

  GEKKAMARU

best boi

puppy eyes

true route ish?

After losing his family at the age of three, Gekkamaru was adopted by the heroine’s parents along with his younger brother Kuroyuki. Gekkamaru was assigned to be Enju’s trusted bodyguard when they were young and has proven his loyalty and devotion through time by sticking to his role as Enju’s protector. He is wholeheartedly committed to his master (Enju) to a point where he becomes too overprotective of her.

So after going through all kinds of heaps and hooplas of playing and suffering each of the character routes in the game, I was finally on my last one, Gekkamaru. I know you can just play his route whenever but I chose to do his story last for the experience. ohoho!

…and I have no regrets!😭 Gekkamaru’s route started with pure dramatic fluff as expected. It was just so precious and endearing to see how far this man would go for the sake of the heroine. His loyalty and dedication for Enju was such a pure bliss that it even pains me to see him doing too much😭. His route was a combination of action, romance, a side of humor and a whole lot of drama as he and the heroine struggled to survive by each other’s side. I thought to myself, “This story couldn’t get any better or worse, could it?” but then angst hits the fan through plot twists after plot twists (during the last chapters) and this was where the story really picked up. I was at lost for words. I felt really sad, angry and confused. His route put me through a tidal wave of emotions, I had to pause the game for a while, sit in a corner to get my head straight and my breathing in check! lmao! Gekkamaru’s route is like a slow burn, heart-rending gut punch and I absolutely loved it.

  ENJU UENO (Main Heroine)

Enju is a strong heroine and I adore her to bits. Unfortunately, her potentiality to become an even better shinobi was wasted in some routes because of the whole damsel in distress scenarios, with the exception on Hanzo’s and Gekkamaru’s route ~ these were the only story arcs where the heroine was able to hone her skills as a ninja and show us her true strengths.

Enju Ueno was literally, thrown to the wolves when she got caught up into this despicable game of survival, out of the blue. Not only that, but the ordeal she went through of betrayal, loss, and sorrow was absolutely too much to handle for someone her age. Still, despite all the hardships, she chose to live and survive. I was thoroughly impressed by her determination which I believe was one of her strongest points. YES, this is one badass heroine right here folks!

  Side Characters

Ennosuke (Left) – The fastest ninja in the Koga clan. He’s not romanceable, and I don’t think I’d want him as a dateable character either, heh. I ship him with Kyara though. I love the chemistry with both of their characters.

Kyara (Right) – Proud, graceful, responsible, and badass on the battlefield. Her weapon of choice is a “chigirigi” which is similar to the “morning star” in medieval age weaponry. I ship her with Ennosuke. Also, Saori Hayami voices her, so this to me was a plus!

Kasumi (Center) – the cutest, most adorable ninja…ever! She’s the youngest of Chojiro’s disciples. Looks up to Enju and Kyara as her older sisters. I love her so much! *must protecc*

  SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION I purchased the physical copy of Nightshade (proxy shipped) which lets you choose three language options to start the game with (English, Chinese, Japanese). I can say, that the localization was fairly decent. I didn’t play the PC version, but I asked a few people who owned both PC and Switch copy and as far as their answers go, D3Publisher did not change the English translations for Nightshade on the Switch. They changed the fonts though! D3Publisher is known to deliver decent game localizations. They’re not the best but they’re not disappointing either. I’ve spotted a couple of minor typos in the game, but it’s NOT something that would ruin the whole experience for you.

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The Switch system was very comfortable and very easy to navigate from the jump. They even offer a “rewind” option for you to backtrack scenarios, which to me, was a saving grace. This way, making the correct save files became a piece of cake. The Nintendo Switch version also contains the game’s DLC “Special Content”. These are extra fluff episodes that happened in the middle of a character’s story. They also come with a special CG (one for each story).

  TRAILER

  OVERALL THOUGHTS? (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ It took me a total of 30 hours to finish the game, and none of these 1800 minutes spent were wasted. Yes, I loved every bit of it.

Although the story was set in the Sengoku “Warring” period of Japan. Instead of the usual cliche battleground premise that’s normally used in Sengoku themed animes and VNs. Nightshade’s story focused more on the darker side of politics during the said period. The indirect “battle royale” theme, I admit, was quite bracing and very well paced. It was something I never expected to actually work in an otome game.

Besides the Nightshade’s gorgeous artwork, I wanted to compliment the game’s stunning special effects, such as the leaves falling in the BG, flower petals scattering about  (whenever Enju uses her ninjitsu), and the moving sprites (which played exceptionally well during fight scenes). The voice acting for Nightshade blew me away and I couldn’t have wished for a better seiyuu lineup. I guess my only gripe here was Enju’s inconsistency as the heroine. In some routes, she’s badass while in others, she’s weak and very dependent. Her characteristics as a whole seem to vary depending on who’s the guy she’s with. I still love her as the main protagonist though!

While I’ve enjoyed playing all the routes in Nightshade and their respective stories, the ones that made an impression on me were Hanzo’s, Goemon’s and Gekkamaru’s. Chojiro’s was good but it was too angsty for my taste and while Kuroyuki’s story drove me to the edge of my seat, this is the route where Enju is at her weakest.

Do I recommend this game? YES This is the first ever english otome game in the Switch that I would no doubt recommend to everyone at the drop of a hat. I’m so glad I’ve waited for this port, despite all the STEAM sales that have gone by the previous years 😂 (laughs). To be honest, I was even quite sad when I finished it 😅 and wished there was more content for me to delve into. If you’re having second thoughts whether or not it’s worth shelling out 48 bux to get this game in your Nintendo Switch Library. Here’s my advice: GET IT! This one’s definitely a gem and imo, almost up to par with the big titles (like Code Realize, Hakuoki, CxM). If you want an impressive storyline and characters you can’t ever get enough of, I can’t recommend Nightshade enough!

  CHLO’S RATING: 8/10

Nightshade Review (Nintendo Switch) NIGHTSHADE Release Date:  December 20, 2018 (North America) Developers:  Red Entertainment / LANTERN ROOMS Publishers: D3Publisher…

[thelightningawardsofficial]

Review | Northern Star

Judged by Mary Seph (ArimaMary)

Category: Simple Is Best

[ Author: Tieg2001 ]

>Title 3/5: "Northern Star" does the trick. It tells the reader the story is about Fubuki. Perhaps it is merely bad luck, but I have read that title being used recently in other stories so it does not come across as impressive or eye-catching. It is an alternate ending of Fubuki's arc, so something like Rising Star or taking another step and tie the title with something referenced in the story itself (basically, using a metaphor) will make it more relevant and eye-catching, making the reader go "ahhhh" or "ohhhh "when they understand why the story was named that way.

>Plot 16/25: I have to say, it took me quite a few reads to understand what was going on. Perhaps it was the word choice or the lack of physical description that made the story feel as if the characters were floating. This caused a snowball effect that affected your other scores in its respective categories. I would say half was the plot shown in the anime, and another half was your own twist; although at the first read I didn't see any divergence as you mentioned because of the first thing I said. I judged only on the plot of your own creation. What made the story fall in this item is how these new events were handled. The beginning is interesting; it would be so much better if the word choice improves considerably. The second twist didn't quite work as well because it seems to come out of nowhere. Starting from the beginning of the story, I don't know the protocol when an avalanche occurs so I will guess it is similar to a landslide. Someone reports it, and authorities like the police and the ambulance come to investigate. It is unclear if the sirens are getting close because of the accident or because of the avalanche (which has to be cleaned of course). On another topic, it would have been interesting to have had a solid visual of the state of the scarf when it was first mentioned. Was it hanging from a branch, a piece of metal, or in the floor? How come the lady asked if it was Fubuki's and not who did it belong to? On the topic of the lady, someone definitely should have stayed by his side to get a testimony or for emotional support. I was sure it was going to be her. He's just a little boy after all!

The next scene suffers from the recurring fault I first mentioned, unclear wording. I had no idea which soccer match it was because there were no pointers at the very beginning, grounding the scene. And it was just as hard to know who this goalkeeper was without a name--recommendations for these points are in Grammar and Style where I bring up more of these examples. The part I had the most trouble understanding was the turning point which hints a time skip, I think. Because I am still confused after thoroughly dissecting this one-shot. The change in the characters around Fubuki after this skip seemed baseless, out of nowhere. First being aggressive then supportive. Where did that come from? It needs a trigger, a strong one; and it will raise the emotions--the rising action--to swipe the reader off their feet. The ground has plenty of potential. You need to dig deeper.

>Characterization 11/20: I will be scoring the following characters: Shirou (little and teen), Atsuya, the lady, and those two characters whom I won't name due to spoilers. Firstly, Little Shirou didn't portray much of his personality save from "Atsuya. . ." which by this point is a trope. Personality is best shown through actions, and the most distinct, the more a character's psyche is exposed. With third person narrator, this is where I recommend you place your focus. Secondly, the lady seemed really cold, leaving little Shirou alone. Her dialogue seemed to be merely for plot purposes rather than anything else. I want to bring up the turning point again, the rising action, and this is a key point where Fubuki's personality would--should-- have shone. He was like clogged water where he should have risen like a tsunami and flood the reader with emotions: anger, sadness, helplessness, and hope. With a character as beloved as Fubuki which rose the popularity polls (like the wind!), it was this strong relatability and capacity to make the viewer feel empathy that he became a favorite. From the ten points of his character, I gave you five, and a two for Atsuya because, sure, the dialogue was in-character, but his personality/actions were inconsistent. The lady didn't do much, and those two characters seemed to be for plot purposes rather than having actual personalities.

>Grammar and Writing Style 11/15: Now for the good stuff. I put extra effort in this part because of the time you have been writing. I hope this can help a lot. The way you used spacing is quite messy and at times confusing--those short scenes in which extra spacing. Sadly, Wattpad doesn't quite work well with an extra space like in books. But! I just read a story which made great use of this spacing. In general, you have three options: spacing, symbols, and transition phrases. For this part, a transition phrase might work well. You need to find when to use which. But the symbols were used appropriately. Good job.

On another topic, there was some glaring use of passive voice, two clear examples being "Silence reigned, no sound was to be processed by Fubuki" and "By the use of skilled faints, the football got carried away forward by Gran." Use active voice instead. This is big. Always check for passive voice while editing. Onto style, there were instances in which some descriptions were too vague like "creature of [the] wild". "Wolf" delivers a clear and concise image in the readers head. Use clear words. I can say this the whole story. This is crucial. Fortunately, this can be easily fixed with adding sensory descriptions: the yells from the team, the grass at Fubuki's feet, the distance he feels from the match as if he weren't there. Ground the story, and you can ground a reader to it. Perhaps you are trying to sound fancy (and I apologize if those words sounded rude) but trying to make something seem bigger than it is in the narration shows the writer is trying to make something seem bigger than it is. Dialogue-wise, it seems the lack of dialogue tags in the italicized dialogue ended up backfiring, merely adding to the confusion. Save from the lines that were obviously Atsuya's, I had no idea who this person was or how to follow their lines. If you want to add mystery to the identity, you can describe their voice or throw hints about their appearance for the reader to put the pieces together, like breadcrumbs leading to a house made of candy.

You requested some analysis in your use of metaphors and I will focus on that now. One of the best metaphors was mirroring Fubuki's actions with his tears, and I will mention this again in Feels Factor. Using his tears as a starting point glued the tragedy tighter. You also compared the pure white snow with the smoke. To make this one more effective, you could add what the black smoke represents (tragedy, loss, trauma, etc) to the purity of the snow, because both are blinding but in different ways. The white snow seemed to represent Fubuki's desire to escape from reality aka the black smoke! Years passing like a blizzard was really nice too!

>Originality 8/10: I took two points for half of the one-shot being about events shown in the anime. I like you chose to show the accident at the very beginning and write about Fubuki in his best and its worst. My scoring is harsh enough so I will cut this part short.

>Feels Factor 11/15: Readability definitely seems to be the rock Northern Star bumped and fell face first on. It didn't make me feel because I was busy trying to understand what was going on, and in some moments when I felt a ripple, it was because the phrasing seemed out of place. As I said previously, clear words. "The boy with no family" would be easily replaced with "orphan boy" and be saved from a weird sense of pity that didn't quite belong there in my opinion. The events in this story are crucial moments for Fubuki as a character and a person. The readers should have felt all the emotions that flooded him: despair, helpless, sadness, anger, emptiness, and whatever else you wanted to show.

One thing that worked really well was "One tear fell. And then the boy." That's tragedy. The impact that caused the second sentence being the start of a new paragraph was so effective. Also, when he found Atsuya. I winced a little. Third person point of view is detached, but can also allow some strong imagery and description that are limited in other POVs. Tell me about the bloody snow, the smell of gasoline, the yells of Raimon, Gouenji's angry frown. I know I have said this quite a few times, but your writing reminds me of the first years I started to write. Don't lose faith, each story counts!

Total: [Raw] 60/90 [Final] 67%

[picturelockshow]

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" Review

Solo: A Star Wars Story is the surprise of the summer. It’s a miracle that the final product turned out the way that it did. I wasn’t expecting much because of the behind the scenes chaos the film production had (in short, original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired by LucasFilm with a few weeks left in production due to disagreements between them, Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter, and LucasFilm over the direction that the film should take and Ron Howard stepped in as their replacement). Since this happened, I thought this was going to be another Justice League situation where you could tell which director shot each scene, and the trailers didn’t do much to gain my confidence. Truth be told, since this had the most publicized troubles of all the Disney Star Wars films, I thought this was going to be a disaster, but much to my surprise, I was wrong on that. And this is the most fun film that Howard has directed in a very long time, and it’s up there with 2013’s Rush as one of the best films he has made during this decade.

The film covers the early days of Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), how he came to be the character we all came to love, and how he crosses path with his future co-pilot and loyal companion Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). In short, after a job goes south, Han, Chewie, and Han’s mentor Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrleson) need to repay the debt that Beckett has with gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany). In order to complete their mission, with Vos’ top lieutenant Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), someone from Han’s past in tow, they will need Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and what he considers to be the best ship in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon. 

The first thing on everyone’s mind will be, how is Ehrenreich as Han? Well, he’s a little clunky at first and somewhat stiff, but then he finds his rhythm about 30 minutes in, and makes the character his own. I enjoyed that he doesn’t try to amp up or imitate Harrison Ford’s Han, yet you can still see hints of who Han will become in the future. Glover puts in an amazing performance as Lando. Glover absolutely kills it! Whenever he’s on screen, he basically steals the film. Lando is charming as ever, showing how much he’s full of himself, while still possessing the charisma to win you over. Harrleson seems like he’s having fun playing Beckett, and it’s a nice change of pace from some of the serious roles he has taken on for the last few years. In the tradition of scene-stealing droids throughout the series, L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Lando’s droid companion, gets the job done and provides some laughs. Clarke as Qi’ra was fine in this, certainly better than some of her film roles she has taken on outside of Game of Thrones. Chewie finally gets to do something in this one unlike in the past few episodic films, and I enjoyed the chemistry that Suotamo and Ehrenreich exhibited between one another.

For the story itself, credited to Kasdan (who previously co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens) and his son Jonathan, it is serviceable enough. They pay some nice homage to the original films, and there are some fun Easter Eggs along the way. Since this is basically an origin story, the Kasdans for the most part, provide some fun answers about Han’s background. If anyone knows Han inside and out, Lawrence would be your guy. Story and directing wise, you can see the western influence that the Kasdans and Howard were going for with this film. Howard does a good job in visually depicting each of the planets that we go to throughout the film, with some help from his DP, Bradford Young (this is his first big budget film he shot after films like Selma and getting an Oscar nomination for his work on Arrival). Howard keeps the fun up, and for the cynic like me going into the screening; I will admit that I had a smile on my face from time to time. If you didn’t know about the BTS problems, you wouldn’t be able to tell which directors shot what scenes, and it felt seamless enough that nothing felt out of place. As expected, the creature and set designs were on point. For a 135-minute runtime that Solo displays, the pacing was good and it kept right along (it did seem to go by faster than Star Wars: The Last Jedi), and some of scenes were nicely edited that they had a fun rhythm to it. Finally, the music from John Powell, with some help from John Williams, might be the best-composed music yet for a Disney Wars film. Powell does a nice job in paying tribute to what we heard before, or in this case what we will hear later on, and putting a new spin to some of the classic tracks.

If there were any problems that Solo exhibited, it’s that some of the plotting felt a little too convenient at times, in that you can probably figure out what’s going to happen.  The first 15-20 minutes or so are a little clunky and rough around the edges, with the first few scenes so darkly lit that it’s a little hard to see what’s going on. The villain of the film, Vos, isn’t particularly interesting and didn’t grab me, but I wonder if this was one of the casualties of the reshoots and the switching of directors (Michael K. Williams had originally played Vos as a motion capture alien, but when he couldn’t come back, they brought in Bettany and reconfigured the character as a human). For being featured in the marketing, Thandie Newton’s Val was wasted and basically had nothing to do whenever she was on screen. Lastly, the love story that they hint at in the film between Han and Qi’ra is nothing special. Unlike Han and Leia, you never really feel it with Han and Qi’ra, even though we hear throughout the film that there’s something between them.

Overall, and I know that I said this word a few times over the course of this review, but Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun film. It starts off rocky, but once it finds its rhythm, it gets good. If you were one of those people who were disappointed with The Last Jedi, I think you will have some fun with this. This won’t change the game, but if you’re looking for something to sit back and relax for a few hours, this is a good choice. I would be open to see more Star Wars Stories in the future, since I thought this was going to be the last film in this series, after the problems that this and Rogue One had. I wouldn’t even mind seeing more films with Ehrenreich as Han, but get me that Lando spinoff film ASAP! On that note, I would recommend checking this out in the theater. If you were a skeptic like me, you might be surprised with the outcome of this.

Rating: B

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

Crash Bandicoot 4: Better Than You’d Expect (a Review)

Right, you horrible lot. I promised you a review of Crash Bandicoot 4 and, as I appear to be the last stable person and/or thing in the chaos of modern Britain, I suppose I had better deliver. I would say something about Xmas, but what with this being International Year of the COVID Virus, there sort of wasn’t one. With that in mind: Crash 4- what, why and is it any good?

As a kid, I used to really like the Crash Bandicoot games on the old PS1: the levels were beautiful and imaginative (although, to this day, the ‘Road To Nowhere’ level and its sequel in Crash 1 can fuck right off), the characters were funny and compelling and the move-set was entertainingly bonkers. Naturally, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (and yes, that is the real title) pushed my Nostalgia Button even faster and harder than I’d push Boris Johnson down and endless flight of stairs, given half a chance. It helps that it’s superbly well-made by a developer that clearly cares deeply about the games and not just the selling power of their brand name.

The game is a direct sequel to the original three Crash games and sweeps the intervening efforts from lesser developers under the great rug of history. For the most part, this is probably wise considering that their quality usually hovered somewhere between ‘sewage’ and ‘being trapped at a Beyonce concert without a cyanide pill’ (yes, Internet, I still hate Beyonce. Just because I haven’t mentioned it in awhile, doesn’t mean I’ve warmed to the catawalling bint or her irritating ubiquity on otherwise-acceptable supermarket mix tapes. That would require a frontal lobotomy and the removal of my ears, but I digress). I do think it’s a bit unfair on Crash: Twinsanity, which at least had an interesting core gameplay concept and some funny dialogue, even if it wasn’t very well-realised on the mechanical level. But ho-hum: I can nit-pick later during the loose ‘what I didn’t like’ section- these early paragraphs are meant to be mainly praise.

The actual plot concerns an escape attempt by Neo Cortex and N. Tropy, who were apparently trapped at the beginning of time after the events of Crash 3. News to me: I guess you had to collect all the hidden extras to see that ending and, while the 90s were a much slower decade, I still didn’t have time for that shit, even back then. Anyway, they break back into the timeline, in the process shattering reality itself and forcing Crash to make his way across the multiverse and different worlds at different points in history in order to stop them. There’s not a lot of complexity there, but as a justification for having the levels all be radically aesthetically different and providing a jumping-in premise for fan favourite characters, it’s a plot that does its job. Despite it’s simplicity, it’s also offered up with a surprising number of twists, fun cut-scene asides and surprising little narrative flourishes. The re-introduction of Tawna (Crash’s girlfriend from the first game who was tastefully removed after the original developers fired Kevin The Furry from their team) is kind of sweet and handled pretty neatly. And I mean that in the sense of ‘aww, that’s sweet’ not ‘Ah, sweet, bro’, just to be clear. She’s obviously not the same character from the original games, but the developers have taken care to give her enough quirks and entertaining lines that she’s not just the standard ‘Badass Action Girl’ trope made flesh. The levels that where you get to play as Cortex and get into the head of a cartoon evil genius are fun, too, even if they don’t tell us anything about the character we couldn’t have figured out for ourselves.

As with the original games, the worlds and levels have a really idiosyncratic and stylish look. Just looking at the scenery is a blast. My personal favourites are a level clearly based on New Orleans in the middle of Mardi Gras, the planet Bermagula and basically all of the levels set in a Crash-ised version of Feudal Japan.

As nice as the levels are to look at, they’re mostly pleasant to play through, too, with a staggering variety of different gameplay elements coming together to create intricate challenges. That said, I should stress that the phrase ‘mostly pleasant’ comes with a massive, throbbing caveat, which brings us neatly to the designated gripes and nitpicks section of this review.

You see, while the levels are mostly well-designed, there are individual platforming challenges that just lump too much together for any normal person to keep track of and then demand that you solve them at speed and they break the delicate, wafer-thin boundary between ‘fair challenge’ and ‘taking the piss’. Actually, the incidents of this phenomena towards the start of the game take the piss. By the later levels, they’ve graduated to demanding other bodily fluids, too, such as tears and blood. I feel like the developers were a bit too in love with the original games’ reputation for punishing difficulty and got into a bad habit of opting for design choices that emulated it over design choices that were fun.

I also feel that, considering the game takes place across a time-shattered multiverse, the levels might have been a bit more varied. Don’t get me wrong, there are some gorgeous and brilliantly creative worlds on offer in Crash 4, and every level is a visual blast. However, with the single, solitary exception of Bermagula, every alternate universe you visit is ultimately a reflection of something familiar from our own world or culture. N. Sanity Beach is… well, it’s just a tropical beach with generically tribal ruins a bit further inland. The Hazardous Wastes are just an off-brand post-disaster planet Earth that owes more than a little to the Mad Max franchise and where you’ve definitely seen every individual component before (even if they’ve never been assembled in such a Crash-y way until now). Then there’s the made-entirely-of-pirate-tropes world, the Japan-but-not-really world, the Inevitable Fucking Ice World (which keeps getting included in games despite the fact that uncontrollable sliding is even less fun in precision platformers than it is in real life) and the Generically Futuristic City world, because the old Crash games had them so this one has to as well. None of these worlds are bad- like I said, I enjoyed all of them, and the others that didn’t quite merit an honourable mention besides. It’s just that I feel like greater flights of fancy could have been taken: we could have seen some truly alien geography and architecture; viewed whole of evolutionary timelines, all through the lens of Crash’s brilliantly slick, cartoony art-style. The only truly ‘out there’ world we visit is Bermagula, which takes up precisely one fucking level, then that’s your lot: it’s back to Crash-y versions of Earth locales.

I’m also not a big fan of the ‘gems’ system. Yes, it’s great that developers chose to use the gems that were such a big part of previous games to unlock funky little cosmetic bonus costumes for the playable characters. On the other hand, the outfits you unlock should be tied to the number of gems you have overall, not your ability to collect certain numbers from specific levels. That way, your wardrobe would be a measure of your general skill at the game, not of which levels’ platforming challenges you were most willing to put up with for multiple play-throughs.

I’m tempted to compare all this to the superlative one-two punch that was Rayman: Origins and Rayman: Legends- two of the best platforming games ever made. With the exception of a couple of fuck-off unreasonable boss fights, the platforming challenges in those games were perfectly, legitimately fair. Insanely tough sometimes, but fair. Their level and world design also nailed the ‘weird-as-fuck flight of fancy’ vibe as well. Even the Inevitable Fucking Ice World in those games had the decency to throw in some giant cocktail umbrellas and slices of lemon to make you feel like you were ice-skating your way through the world’s biggest Martini while a fucking dragon in a chef’s hat tried to bit a mountain in the background. They also tied cosmetic unlocks to overall performance.

None of this is to say that Crash 4 isn’t good, it’s just that it doesn’t quite measure up to the gold standard set by the Rayman: Origins and its sequel. If it helps, think of it like comparing The Talos Principle to Portal. Yes, the former is good, but it’s never going to outshine the latter’s star. I recommend Crash 4, but if the last platformer you played was the undeniable high water mark of either of the Raymans, just remember to adjust your filters going in.

Before I go, does anyone else find it funny that these games have such colourful, kiddy-friendly aesthetics and characters yet demand a level of competence and coordination that’s usually only achieved by more seasoned, grown-up gamers? I mean, there are challenges in Crash 4- admittedly optional ones- that might one day be completed only if a being comes into existence that has the reflexes of a supercomputer crossed with a surprised feline and is made entirely out of thumbs.

And on that horrifying mental image, I must say goodnight. Tune in next time for my usual end-of-year roundup.

[tarry-a-lot]

French Musical Recommendations?/review (Part 3)

This is a mix between recommendations and shows I don’t like and shows I just know exist but don't know a lot about. Even if I’m not too much a fan of some of the show I would still check these shows out for the fun of it, maybe its not my cup of tea but it is for someone else. Again my French is lacking so if the lyrics aren’t great I wouldn’t really know unless I sat down and read them which I didn’t do.

Robin des Bois (2013): 

what to say about this show... I’ll start with the summary: Robin Hood and Marianne break up pre-show and have their own groups going on. Marianne also has a son with robin but robin has no idea about him. Sheriff of Nottingham starts attacking so Marianne asks robin for help. Also the sheriff figures out about robin’s son and so he imprisons the kid and surprise! there a romance between Nottingham’s daughter and Robin Hood’s son. 

Yep, haven’t seen the show, really don’t mind the plot sounds interesting enough. I’ve only listened to the soundtrack once and all I got to say is that it’s not great. The cast is lovely and look really sweet and friendly with each other, but all the songs really just sound like basic pop. To be clear without understanding the lyrics and just listening to it with not visuals, I found the soundtrack quite boring, so maybe I’m just missing something. My favourite songs are “Le flèche et la cible,” (the piano makes it sound like an anime opening or something, liked the drums too, and the vocals are nice) and “On est là” (it’s a really weird one, I couldn’t put my finger on it but after playing it for someone I got the decisive answer of it is very 80′s, the instrumentals really threw me off but hey it’s catchy). Also some songs had a bass line that also threw me off, just wasn’t expecting it. like the one in “la Providence,” maybe it’s just me. And one last thing about the songs, what the hell is ”Notting hill Nottingham” like that title is also the chorus and I’m just?? maybe if I understood the rest of the lyrics it would make sense? aside from the debatable chorus line, the drums are a blast in this song. Clips and music videos available on YouTube along with a behind the scenes two part video on the official musical’s channel.

Non-Music: well the costumes are ok, don’t love them but don’t hate them either, though friar tuck’s is debatable, from the bits I’ve seen most of the background is done with a screen which is fine, it’s more of a concert style show anyway, I’m a big fan of the ladder trees though, the dancing and acrobatics is probably the highlight of the show (again only saw bits but it looks good)

Dracula l'amour plus fort que la mort (2012): This is different from the Frank Wildhorn Dracula musical, Dracula: A chamber Musical and the Swedish Dracula musical. Unsurprisingly this musical is based on Stoker Dracula telling which I never read so I don’t know how much it follows that text. It was also inspired by the 1992 Coppola film (which again I have never watched). I won’t be too helpful about plot summary but it follows the general novel plot with Jonathan Harker engaged with Mina Murray goes off to Dracula’s castle for work. Things happen, the issue with Lucy occurs then Mina is targeted by Dracula and Harker with the Dr. Seward and Helsing go to kill Dracula to save Mina. There also seems to be a subplot where Mina was Dracula’s lover in a past life, which is shown through dance sequences throughout the show.Music wise it’s mainly rock pop which is up my alley. Personally, just based on music and not lyrics I like “Encore”, “Elles”, “ Le Ciel et l'Enfer” “ La Dernière danse” and maybe “L'Amour et son Contraire”.  The full show is available on YouTube.

Non-music: This show goes hard on edgy imagery. I personally quite liked the general over the top modernish gothic vibe. The dancers are great and quite liked some of the limited palette scene. The opening shadow puppet scene was cool. The only part I really had issue with is maybe the CGI 3d video scene. It was cool at times but the CGI is not great which is not their fault, but kind of distracted me. Also if you watch it there is this scene where Harker is laying in a large Pieta statue (minus the Jesus) and it’s just great. Like edgy church imagery with vampires? sign me up. There’s also this Vampire dream sequence in a bed because of course every vampire musical needs one (Tanz der Vampire if you know what I mean). Harker is in bed and vampire women come out from the bed (the bed itself is a hollow prop where dancers are hiding within and pop out from the holes hidden by the puffy bedding), the bed itself could have been more decorative with posts (like tanz) but still a really cool scene, Almost forgot, Mina and Dracula are played by dancers so they don’t really sing, especially Dracula he does not speak at all. Costumes are fun to look at, some are the best but I appreciated the general look of the show so I’m not that bothered. I strangely grew to like the spiney Dracula costumes, I think the fact he didn’t talk and just danced helped me like the costume more.

Overall, fun show so if pop rock is your vibe this show you should check it out.

Cindy Cendrillion (2002): This show is not good, but I had a blast laughing about it as I watched it so I recommend it. Let me clarify, my dislike is not due to the cast, in general I thought singing and dancing and all that were really good, what gets me is how dated it is now (it is really early 2000’s vibes and some of the plot is debatable). Show is available split into two acts on YouTube.

So the plot is pretty much a retelling of the Cinderella story in a modern early 2000′s setting. Cindy (Cinderella) is the daughter of an recently disappeared Irish pilot. and she lives with her step mother and sisters who are mean to her. She has a passion for dancing the jig, I’m assuming they are referencing Irish step to a certain degree. She goes out in night to dance but her step-mother threatens to kick her out if she doesn’t come home before midnight. A super star named Ricky (Prince Charming) has a Birthday ball and sees Cindy and falls in love. Also Ricky had a model Fiancée Judy who he breaks it off with to pursue Cindy. Spoilers now... Ricky writes a song where one can dance “the jig” to so they hold a competition to find a dancer for it, guess who wins? Cindy.. they fall in love... but Judy realises it’s all over for her and Ricky ands faxes him so mean message then commits suicide by overdosing on drugs. Cindy gets scared and leaves Ricky to Ireland. Ricky tracks her down and they fly away in a spaceship?! honestly this plot is just sure something.

Okay.... um if you read the spoiler section of the summary you’ll know how wild this show is. For those who haven’t warning there is an suicide by overdosing on drugs in the show. Music wise it’s alright, I watched the show but all the songs are quite forgettable because I was so distracted by the plot. Again the vocals are nice so perhaps I just need to listen to audio only, though I’m unsure about some of the lyrics. 

Non-Music: I have so much to rant about this show. First off it’s just weird that her Irish pilot dad keeps appearing in like spiritual form. Also Cindy is not spectacular at dancing, which is hilarious during the jig dancing competition you have actual dancer ensemble members doing cool moves and in general good dancing but at the end Cindy comes stepping around and twirling a bit, the same choreography she does every time she danced the jug in the show and then wins the competition. Honestly, they should of just done full Irish step dancing and had the actress trained in it or to be more practical had a double for Cindy that was obscured to trick the audience into thinking this double was Cindy. The actress was lovely and maybe she can dance but “the jig” choreography was so pathetic compared to the ensemble’s part, even the ensemble part was weird.. maybe I just don’t understand what “jig” dancing is. Also the ending was so random to me, maybe it’s because of my lacking French, I get there were references to space throughout the show but WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING. Well stage wise it was interesting at parts. I like the large center column piece that had platforms on it that moved around the pillar. Cindy’s love song to Ricky with her in front of a large Ricky Magazine and two screens showing zoom ups on Ricky was weird. Finally, costumes, really dated and tacky but I think they were quite fun. The only complaint I really have is Ricky, he wears this half tank top half leather jacket look, and it’s really a single tiddy out look.

Starmania (1979): Let me start by saying I DON’T hate this show I just know little about it. I’ve watched bits a few years ago and only really recall one song. It’s one of THE French musicals, I mean I wouldn’t know for certain but you’ll see it’s quite popular and covered by newer musicals cast member (like Mozart L’Opera Rock). The photo is from a more recent production which is different from the original costumes. As a show it’s set in a futuristic society so there is some surreal techno outfits and set pieces, which are actually quite cool. It’s pretty much about a gang called the Black Stars who are trying to rebel against a billionaire turned politician Zéro Janvier. There is romance plots, the wiki has more info on that. In general, the singing is great and from the parts I’ve seen it looks interesting despite the show aesthetic being really not my thing. Full versions of the show are available on YouTube, the production done in English is also posted on YouTube. I would say if you are trying to get into French Musicals this is a good one to listen to as well as it’s kind of a classic but I hesitate as the visuals look a bit weird due to the futuristic element (kind of remind me if starlight Express when it comes to costume) but if this isn’t you cup of tea there are plenty of other shows as well.

Résiste (2015): It’s a French Jukebox Musical. It’s one of those one artist jukebox musicals, so all the songs were originally sung by France Gall and written by Michel Berger. It’s about five friends (I think they’re friends), two of whom are sisters. The sisters work with their dad at the family bar/night club. The plot revolves around something tragic happening and the five friends trying to deal and grow from it? (probably something to do with the night club)I haven't seen it so I have no idea what the tragic event is. I didn’t know any of the songs before this musical but it’s quite catchy and fun. Clips of the show and songs are available on YouTube.

[sciencevsromance]

2018 Index: Film

I usually hold off on these for a couple weeks into the year to allow myself time to catch up, but it turns out that I saw almost everything I needed to before the end of the December. Since then, with few exceptions, my ranked list remained very stable since about mid-November. 

In general, I think 2018 was a very good film year. I saw and liked a whole lot of movies. However, it might speak less to the quality of 2018 than to the exceptional slate of movies in 2017 to say that I honestly don’t know how many of this year’s favorites would’ve found a spot in last year’s top twelve.

Below, lightly edited versions of things I’d previously written, posted, or tweeted about the dozen films at the top of my charts.

Roma: Alfonso Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical recollection of his nanny in a well-off home in the titular district of Mexico City is shot-for-shot the most cinematically gorgeous movie of the year. Although this is one of Netflix’s showiest acquisitions and may soon be available on your televisions, it deserves to be seen and heard on the biggest screen and most exceptional sound system you can find. Working without his usual cinematography collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki, Cuarón shot the film himself in lustrous black and white. Each frame bursts with life, both from the compositions and from the tremendous performances, in particular from newcomer Yalitza Aparicio. I’ve seen this twice and feel like I could watch it dozens of times. In that respect, I guess that it’s nice that it’s sitting there on Netflix waiting for me whenever I want to dip back into these rich waters. 

The Rider: I can’t begin comprehend how this movie is so good. Chloé Zhao found something truly special out west with Brady, his family, the horses and the gobsmackingly beautiful landscapes. Elegiac, yet vibrating with life, sorrow, and hope. By the end, the confrontation with these real lives and their tough choices was deeply moving; and I’m not even that much of a horse- (or people-) person.

Free Solo: Free Solo captures, in vertiginous detail, Alex Honnold’s superhuman attempt to summit Yosemite’s legendary El Capitan. Walking into this movie at Telluride, I naively imagined that climbing a 500-foot summit was itself the impossible challenge. But I quickly came to understand that Honnold was going to try it alone. Without any climbing ropes. Panic and stress weeping ensued, with the following 90 minutes among the most anxious I have ever been in a movie theater. The only things that kept me from fleeing the scene to avoid a massive anxiety attack were a beer and the knowledge that (spoiler) Alex at least survived to be in town to promote the film. Aside from the stunning footage documenting his preparations and climbs, co-directors Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi also document his budding relationship, friendships with other climbers, and interrogate the ways he weighs the very serious risk of certain death that would result from one missed foothold. It is an utterly thrilling film and deeply satisfying to watch with a crowd. 

If Beale Street Could Talk: No one films people looking at each other quite like Barry Jenkins. This adaptation of James Baldwin tries and does a whole lot, but mostly it just sings.

Paddington 2: Last year’s The Shape of Water left me cold. Throughout it’s Oscar run, I felt like a monster for never really finding myself invested in Sally Hawkins’s fishman relationship, but now I’ve seen her mother a bear and maybe everything’s OK with my internal emotions processing systems. This is nose-to-tail the most charming movie of the year. Hugh Grant is a delight with disguise work. No you’re crying through PADDINGTON 2. Who am I and how did this happen to me?

The Favorite: Like his previous films, this court drama is wickedly funny, off-kilter, visually arresting, strongly acted, but it’s also maybe the first Yorgos Lanthimos joint that I have felt comfortable recommend widely without fear of reprisal.

Shoplifters: Kore-eda Hirokazu won this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes with a deeply compelling investigation of the meaning of family. The film opens with a father-son duo performing a cute-ish bit of supermarket thievery to supplement the menu for their very crowded multi-generational household on the outskirts of Tokyo. Things become more interesting when the group rescues an abandoned young girl from the neighborhood on a cold evening. In turns meditative, insightful, and surprising, the humanistic portrait is ultimately a revelatory achievement. 

Cold War: Loosely about music shaping identity—traditional, national, personal, romantic—Cold War is a bit light on plot, but with images, songs, and performances this strong it really doesn’t matter. Pawlikowski’s camera sure adores Joanna Kulig; her ambitious rise through the state music system and romance with Tomasz Kot, spans decades and countries, all in ravishing black and white. 

Eighth Grade: First time director Bo Burnham captures an early-teen sense of isolation and loneliness with such earnest specificity that I was squirming with recognition as breakout lead actress Elsie Fisher bravely forges her way through a last regret- and nostalgia-filled week of middle school, filming motivational YouTube videos for an audience of none (or rather, herself), constantly scrolling through Instagram, and navigating the minefield of a charity invitation to a popular kid’s pool party. This could’ve gone wrong in so many ways, but none of the (many) cringes are played for cruel laughs and the sincerity is brilliantly calibrated. I suppose all of that explains how I feel such residual fondness for something that made me want to chew off my own face out of sympathetic anxiety as the slim ninety minute running time felt like decades. 

Leave No Trace: In her follow up to Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik again focuses her lens on families struggling to survive in the face of poverty. This time, it’s an ex-military father with PTSD (Ben Foster) and his daughter (outstanding newcomer, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) who have illegally set up camp in wild and wooded public park the outskirts of Portland like a realer, poorer, less insufferable version of Captain Fantastic. I expected something that would be hard, but rewarding, to watch. I was right, but not in the ways that I suspected. A story like this could’ve been filled with melodramatic external obstacles — creepy people in the park, cruel indifference of social workers, or any sorts of dire jeopardy. Instead, the wise and insightful script is one in which almost all of the conflict that they face is internal. The daughter is generally well cared for, incredibly smart, and as well-adjusted as you could ever expect from someone raised in the woods and always on the move. The people they encounter along the way are almost universally kind and generous within reason. All of this serves to emphasize the harsh reality of the utter insolvability of her father’s unspecified PTSD that has kept them essentially hidden from society for much of her life. The resolution is both heartbreaking and a tiny bit hopeful.

Support the Girls: Easily Andrew Bujalski’s very best film. Regina Hall is a wonder as an over-subscribed, too-invested, manager of a Hootersesque bar on a particularly rough day. 

Burning: Of the films in my top 12, Burning is among one I saw (second) most recently. When I initially logged it on my ranked list, it was somewhere on the edge of my my top 40. Yet each time I tinkered with the ordering, it moved up little by little, the indelible images and mysterious plot refusing to let go, increasing my esteem for it with each passing week. I think I know what’s going on, but its a testament to Steven Yeun’s supporting performance that I may never know whether his character was just a wealthy chill techbro or Korea’s answer to Patrick Bateman.

[momobage]

Fire Emblem Heroes Review: Did you ever know that you’re my hero?

Fire Emblem Heroes (ファイアーエムブレム ヒーローズ) is a Japanese tactical role-playing game (RPG) developed by Nintendo. The goal of the game is to gather heroes through summons (gachas) and strategically battle against computerized opponents and players from around the world. With a four-person team, the player makes decisions based on characters’ skill level, weapon type, and positioning. As you defeat opponents, you gain items, unlock story chapters and event paralogues, and uncover the reason for the war between the Kingdom of Askr and the Emblian Empire.

I absolutely love the Fire Emblem Series. I use to watch my older siblings and cousins use Roy and Marth when playing Super Smash Bros. Melee on GameCube. I had also already played Fire Emblem: Awakening, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, and Fire Emblem: Conquest. So, unlike other mobile games, I was excitingly anticipating the release.

P.S. My Brother just bought me the Official Artbook for Fire Emblem: Awakening! It’s so pretty and the process work is amazing!

Main gameplay: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥♡

The main gameplay for Fire Emblem Heroes is easy and addictive. You form teams from characters won from the summons and battle against computerized opponents or other players in the “Arena.” If you win, you can receive items that help increase skills and maximize a character’s potential power. Since this was one of Nintendo’s first mobile games, there was a large amount of hype from fans and other gamers. I was one of them! Unlike most mobile games, it is available in a wide range of languages such as English, French, and Spanish; however, the language voicing for characters is only in English or Japanese. This makes it very easy for players from around the world to play without struggling against language barriers or trying to find tutorials. At first, I played in Japanese because some of my favourite voice actors were in the game, like Miyano Mamoru, Kaji Yuki, and Junichi Suwabe. However, I started struggling trying to read the missions and stories, so I switched to English. The English voice dubbing isn’t my preference but it could be a lot worse; at least the dubbed voices suit the characters.

The game is very straightforward and well-developed. Although it incorporates many heroes from various Fire Emblem games, it isn’t necessary to play any of the previous games to understand the stories or the characters. It does help having experience playing the other games, since the system is similar. But even for beginners, navigating through is a piece of cake! However, if you want to know basic info, need help, or want to chat with other players, I would recommend looking through the Fire Emblem Heroes Wiki and the Fire Emblem Heroes Reddit. Or you can watch Pheonixmaster1 on YouTube who does Arena duels, tries new summons, and reviews new characters.   

This game is free to play, but uses an in-game currency called Orbs. During the first few months after the initial release, Nintendo gave out many free daily orbs as a celebration gift. You can easily obtain orbs by completing stories, paralogues, and missions. Obtaining free orbs can be a bit difficult once you’ve finished everything though, but new chapters, special maps, and missions release every month or so. However, a common annoyance in mobile games are gachas and having no luck. Although the percentage rates for a five-star character are higher than other games, the chances of winning one are quite slim. Especially since you only get a maximum of five characters, when other games have a maximum of ten. Thus, some hardcore players buy hundreds of orbs trying to summon their favourite characters, but either end up with none or only one copy. Surprisingly, I have only spent a total of $35, a new low record! I’m honestly not sure why I’ve spent so little, even though I have no self-control for other mobile games. But I guess this means I’m getting better with spending! … Just kidding, I think I’m getting worse due to another game I play, but more information on that next time.

Overall, the gameplay is fun and simple for anyone to enjoy. It isn’t necessary to play the previous games or to spend money if you use your orbs wisely. I recommend checking the summon rates daily if you really want a new or a favourite character because the rates can increase a little bit before the summon ends. I think there will always be frustrating times, like losing a battle or not getting a five-star character, but I really enjoy playing 

Fire Emblem Heroes 

for its easy gameplay, beautiful character art, and nostalgic feeling.

Characters: 4/5 ♥♥♥♥♡

There are a variety of characters from different series within Fire Emblem Heroes. The entire concept of the game is to be able to summon heroes of different worlds to fight against the Emblian Empire. The game will feature more characters later, but, for now, characters including Olivia, Ike, and Lukas (above photos) are popular fan-favourites. Many other popular characters are from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, and Fire Emblem: Archanea Series.

A unique feature about Fire Emblem Heroes is that a different artist draws each character. This doesn’t happen often in games since they usually want the characters to look consistent and harmonious. But to emphasize the collecting of multiple heroes across multiple games, they show it through the variety of art styles: from painted styles to watercolour and cel-shading to comic book. However, a part of me wishes the drawing style was more uniform. I understand that a cute anime style wouldn’t work aesthetically for every character, but if the style were more consistent, I feel like it would help me get to know all the characters equally, rather than just liking the ones drawn in a cuter or prettier style. Still, perhaps it’s better the way it is. Plus, if there is an artist I end up liking a lot, I can find their name and become a fan.

Compared to other mobile games, it is difficult to like every character, since many of them are from different series. Although it is nice to include old heroes, especially to appeal to the younger generations, I usually do not know enough about the characters to decide if I like them or not. Until I play the other games, I can only judge based on their appearance, voice and statistics, which feels a bit shallow. But, within the Fire Emblem games I have played, I will always have a special place in my heart for Stahl and Takumi.

(Left: Official Stahl Artwork, Right: FE: Awakening in-game sprite)

Stahl is a kind and gentle cavalier with a big heart. He is scatterbrained and forever hungry, but he will always support his friends, even to the point of sacrificing himself. When I first saw Stahl in Fire Emblem: Awakening, I immediately thought, “I’m going to marry him.” which is possible. Nintendo introduced a support feature which allows players to marry a character (of the opposite gender) to form a better relationship. After any of the female characters marry, a new prologue appears where you can recruit the character’s child. Regardless of the player’s gender, after marriage, there will be a prologue to recruit your child, Morgan. This support feature can also be used to bond with other members in your team and boost your skills during battles. Sadly, I wasn’t aware that you could automatically marry Chrom if you had a good relationship by a certain chapter. So, I had to play the game through again before I could marry Stahl. In Fire Emblem Heroes, he has that same calm and attentive personality that I love so much. I do have him as a four-star character, but I don’t use him that much. I think training a character here is quite different compared to the other Fire Emblem games so I get lazy and lose interest.

(Left: Official Takumi Artwork, Right: FEF: Birthright in-game sprite)

Takumi is the third sibling of the Hoshido family from Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright. He feels constantly overshadowed by his talented older siblings and always trains himself to become stronger and useful. His personality is quite different from Stahl’s, as he is more cautious, serious and a bit arrogant. But he loves and respects his family, friends, and other fellow allies. The first time I saw Takumi I loved his serious and stubborn personality. I think the difference between Stahl and Takumi is that Takumi is the type of character you don’t start loving until you get to know him. When I heard his story about how he wants to improve himself, to get stronger to protect his family and not feel useless and depressed, it really made me feel connected to him. I could relate because of my own troubles and worries. In Fire Emblem Heroes, Takumi is one of the strongest and rarest character available. He still has the same personality, but since the game is meant to be a short glimpse at the characters, I don’t feel that emotionally connected with him here. I think this lost deep connection makes you only see what characters look like and what they can do. 

Story: 2/5 ♥♥♡♡♡

The overall story for Fire Emblem Heroes is interesting but not good as their previous games. Since this is the first mobile game for the Fire Emblem series, how they set up the game makes the story quite short. Each chapter only has a brief visual element and then goes into the gameplay. Compared to the previous games which had about twenty-five story chapters that helped build the plot and drama, this one seems kind of boring and simple. I wish they could implement the support function they used in Awakening and Fates because it would help players build relationships with characters they are unfamiliar with. However, I understand that since the characters are from a variety of games, they could never properly or realistically interact. The lack of story doesn’t discourage me from playing the game, but it makes me feel like there should be a better plot keep it exciting.

Overall: 3.33/5 ♥♥♥♡♡

Fire Emblem Heroes is a fun and straightforward game that anyone can play. The graphics and illustrations are wonderful. I really respect all the artists and developers who worked on this project. Although the story is not as interesting as it could be, I think there is still potential to continue developing it into something more complex and praise-worthy. However, for any beginner who wants to play a simple RPG, I’d recommend this game as a good introduction. If you end up loving it, you can start playing the other Fire Emblem games. Since I’m invested in the series, I do also feel a bit more hypercritical of this game compared to others. But regardless, I can’t wait to see which character Nintendo will introduce in the future.

[itsfurty]

Here we are in July. Hope everyone has been having a great half of the year and a good summer! Things are exciting in my end with a new job starting soon and will be having me moving halfway across the United States once again. As I prepare my move I figured I'd do another set of reviews. This one has less indie focus than previous entries but I think it'll be just fine. If you want to catch my last post just click here and hopefully my gibberish thoughts and opinions are of some interest. Also I changed these posts to be called Quick Thoughts since my posts aren't really in depth reviews. We'll see if I stick to it.Steamworld DigI’ve already played Steamworld Dig when it came out on the Wii U but I decided to pick it up for the Switch considering how much I enjoy the series and especially its sequel. Well I gotta say, the sequel is better in every single way after replaying this one but I do think the original is still worth your time. The basic premise is you dig. You dig for gems and power stones to upgrade your character so that you can dig faster and through tougher stones. There is a very simple plot with characters that have some personality but it isn’t much to be honest. The visuals are also just okay. To its credit the game was originally a 3ds game and then ported to other platforms. The style looks fine but it gets massively improved upon in future entries. Really the hook here the aspect of digging and gaining new skills as you unlock equipment in test rooms. You’ll unlock a double jump, power drill, and dynamite amongst other skills and items as you play. The test rooms are honestly some of my favorite parts of the game as it makes for some fun quick puzzles and platforming outside of the regular digging you will do. I should mention you will encounter some foes to bash with your pick axe but the combat is just all about holding “A” and dodging any attacks. You will also have to watch out for toxic water, spikes, and some other surprises the deeper in you go.The biggest thing holding the game back is the length and lack of replayability. You can easily clear this around 2 hours and that’s with doing all the test rooms you come across. There are some secret gears to collect in the rooms but it doesn’t add that much extra play time to go through and collect them. Honestly you can skip Steamworld Dig and just go into its sequel. But if you really want to play the game 10 dollars is a decent price but I’m sure during the holidays there will be a decent sale for a more reasonable price.Still it isn’t a bad game, it’s just too little of a game without its truly own identity since it plays so much like the old flash game Motherload. Now if only a sequel to Steamworld Heist would get announced!Price: $9.99 Time played: Less than 3 Hours Verdict: Wait for a sale Flint HookDamn. I really wanted to like Flint Hook but too many aspects just had me wondering why play it over the (personally) better roguelikes out there. I mean visually the game is outstanding. This is the same team behind Mercenary Kings so the pixel art and animations are top of the line. Its colorful, charming, and just fun to look at. The music is also outstanding. The main theme when the game starts up gets me pumped to do a run and has me forgetting all the reasons I didn’t enjoy this game but then I start playing it... The biggest hurdle I thin this game has is it should not have been a rogue like. The dig draw in this game is you have a grappling hook that can pop bubbles or grab onto certain locations to have you zip around really tiny levels. Already the bigger focus is on movement and platforming as you avoid cannons, lasers, spikes, spike balls, motion detection enemies, regular enemies, ghosts, fire, and so much more. This should have been a platformer with carefully crafted levels right from the beginning rather than what feels like an attempt to chase the indie roguelike genre.Just consider the actual content in the game. The way it works is you pick a boss bounty and and complete a few ships (levels) to get to the boss. During this time you will retread very similar rooms with no interesting abilities unlocked. Most are passive like more health, more gold, higher critical chance hits, or faster movement. Nothing that makes you excited to pick up and encourage multiple replays since these are minor passive change ups with no major adjustments to gameplay. The worst part is the obvious hook is the grappling hook but only 1 or 2 abilities you can find changes how it works. It’s like the devs made a really cool mechanic but didn’t know what to do with it. Also, the shooting and combat was clearly an after though as the majority of enemies stand still and do not move. Some don’t even attack and could just be replaced by targets that need shot. The ones that do shoot back have really basic attack patterns. The bigger challenge is moving around the screen with your hookshot and avoiding stage hazards. I honestly had way more fun traversing the maps in the game than fighting any enemy. That should have been the focus. Anyways, back to the content. The bosses you fight will always be the same no matter what. Attack patterns are the same and you will always fight the same boss when you reach the end of a run depending on the bounty. It makes runs feel like there are only 5 variants, one for each boss, as opposed to nearly limitless mix ups.The game contains a lot of collectibles in the form of lore and relics. Neither of which effects the abilities of the layer but rather add background to the game. I found these uninteresting as I do not find reading text on the screen about a watch exciting or a good way to provide purpose to a game’s universe. Relics at least offer XP to your character so that you can unlock new starting skills but again the skills are just not interesting that I did not care about this aspect. I know this mini review negative and disappointing but that is just how I felt when playing Flint Hook. It is a game with great visuals and charm but lacks in gameplay department. It isn't terrible but I think Gungeon, Isaac, Don't Starve, or a Robot Named Fight are way more interesting in what they offer. I really thought I was going to love Flint Hook but it just didn't mesh with me like I had hoped. Price: $14.99 Time played: 15 Hours Verdict: Wait for a sale Splatoon 2 with DLCSo Splatoon 2, it's good, really good. If you’re following Nintendo then you know this game is great. It has risen to being one f Nintendo’s big franchises. I mean this game has so much going for it. It is colorful, some great music, and such an interesting gameplay mechanic I can get my friends and family, that don’t play games, into a match and they’ll have a blast. While at the same time playing ranked can create an incredibly stressful few minutes. So obviously the multiplayer is excellent but single player wise can lease a bit to be desired. I love the hub world where you explore and select the next level to jump into. The traversal of the world by spraying ink is the best part. The enemies don’t really do much of anything in the base game that I’d rather for larger more interesting levels. Plus, the story is pretty simple and doesn’t offer that many exciting moments. Sure the boss fights are a highlight but there aren’t any character moments unlike the dlc, which i’ll get into. Overall with the base Splatoon 2 game the multiplayer is the main draw with the single player offering a decent one time though experience. Sure, you can replay levels with different weapons but nothing major changes that I wouldn't recommend it unless you are a huge fan of the single player.Splatoon 2’s DLC somewhat fixes a lot of the complaints I have with the base game. While it does not offer larger levels, instead smaller for focused challenges, this is still much better than the base game. These focused challenges (I think 80 or so?) levels are a lot of fun. Some will have you reaching a goal with no items, fighting waves of enemies, escorting a ball, shooting shapes out boxes, flying in a jet pack, and so much more. These are great bite sized missions that are vastly better than the single player missions. Sure, they aren’t large open levels to explore like I wish but they’re still great in their own way. The other big fun aspect of the dlc is how much character interaction there is. Pearl, Marina, and Cuttlefish, have a lot of dialogue between each other and they are swimming with personality. They’re a joy to read and watch as they interact with one another. Plus the ending sequence has an actual cutscene which adds a nice cinematic quality to the game. It makes me really excited with where Nintendo takes the single player.Splatoon 2 is a no brainer when it comes to the Switch. I didn't even get into Salmon Run which I have poured tons of hours into. This is easily my most played multiplayer game and maybe my most played game in general. Both the base game and DLC are well worth picking up. Price: $59.99 | DLC: $19.99 Time played: 140 Hours Verdict: Recommend Ys 8Ys 8 is the first game I played in this series and I gotta say I’m impressed. You play as Adol, the silent protagonist, who’s ship is mysteriously destroyed at the the beginning of the game. You wake up on a deserted island and have to reunite with other castaways to find a way off the island. I liked the aspect of finding survivors as they would be added to your base camp which would grow in size as you played. It has a nice sense of progress the more you play and the deeper you explore the island. Sometimes the base camp will come under attack and you will have to fight waves of monsters so be ready to have to travel back from time to time. The story and pacing however is pretty strange. It starts of with a nice hook of ending up on an island and a strange side plot about a mysterious girl who lives on the island. But by the halfway point the story kind of just disappears and you just gather survivors with the vague plot of “find a way off the island” is your only goal. There is no real antagonist throughout the game until the very end. This is where you are hit with heavy exposition and everything comes together and makes sense. It just would have been better if it was better spread out through the game rather just appearing at the very end.While Ys 8 might falter a bit around the plot department the gameplay is a high point. It is all real time and unlike most JRPGs you do not enter a battle arena upon fighting an enemy. You can attack as you please with no transitions and this makes combat fast. You attack with a single button to perform very simple combos but can perform a magic attack with on of the 4 face buttons. You’ll gain a lot in the game so there is a nice variety of moves you’ll perform. For example by the end my main moves for Adol were a vertical arching slash, magic tornado, a spinning air dash, and a long automated ground combo for heavy damage. There are tons more you unlock but that is just what I chose to use by the end. You can have up to 3 party members active at once and you’ll want to switch between them (this is done by pressing “Y”) to fight certain enemies as many are only weak to one type of attack which a party member will fall under (Air attack, smash, or slash). You’ll upgrade armor and weapons as you play but in order to change the visual appearance of characters you’ll need to trade for costumes ( as there is no currency in the game since you’re on an island) which I found disappointing. It did not feel like I had as much control over my character’s visual appearance which I really enjoy doing in these types of games. The last bit of gameplay is exploring the island which is somewhat metroidvania like. You’ll find new tools to let you get through swaps, climb vines, or double jump. Oh, and there is fishing which can be fun to get supplies.The soundtrack to Ys is solid albeit nothing amazing in my opinion. Only a few track really stood out and the rest sot of blended in with that jrpg electric guitar generic sound but nothing out right terrible. The only bad aspect of Ys is sometimes the frame rate and resolution can really dip. Grassy areas are hard on the eyes especially in handheld mode but it is still playable and there are varied environments that you can move to other parts of the game. Also, the translation is sloppy at times with some misspellings or forgetting words in sentences. It’s sloppy but I wasn’t too bothered, although for 60 dollars you’d expect a bit better. If you hate turn based jrpgs then this game might be what you’re looking for as long as you can deal with some anime tropes. There are a few in this game that had me cringe and feel mildly uncomfortable but overall not too bad. Definitely a fun game though and way better than I was expecting. I hope future entries release on the Switch.Price: $59.99 Time played: 40 hours Verdict: Recommend Wolfenstein 2Wolfenstein 2 is another technical marvel ported to the Switch thanks to the devs at Panic Button. Visually it is obviously going to be the weakest compared to the other platforms but it still is quite a game to look at. There were compromises to make it possible to run however. Frame rate is capped at 30 fps, textures can be blurry at times, motion blur is mandatory, and there is a subtle haze to limit the field of view. Still, the game has some great visuals considering the Switch’s limitations. In case you aren’t familiar with Wolfenstein 2 the premise is Nazis won WW2 and it’s time to start a revolution. You will kill a ton of Nazis and it is glorious. You’ll fight inside ruined American cities, Nazi airships, subs, secret bases and other locations. The story is really enjoyable with a great mix of absurdity but also a serious somber tone. There are only a moment or two I felt out of place but over all the game does a great job at setting up characters and moving the plot along. The game is not very long maybe about 10 hours but it’s a quality 10 hours.The weapons, while not as varied as I’d hope, control very well and provide excellent feedback and sound as you dual wield shotguns blasting Nazis to bits. Running and gunning is not the only thing you’ll do as there is some simple stealth in the game. In many situations you can sneak around with a hatchet and knives so you can eliminate Nazis without any hearing a sound. If spotted it just means reinforcements are called in on your area. Now when the game originally released I heard it was deemed to hard and maybe it was changed for the Switch but I’d say normal and hard are perfectly enjoyable experiences. Hard mode will have you hiding behind cover a bit more but it never reached a point where I was frustrated. Gyro aiming is also in the game which is great for fine tuning shots when aiming down sights. I do wish the game had more varied enemy types similar to how Doom does as encounters can sometimes feel too samey at times.In terms of extra content there are extra missions you can play that take place in levels you have already beaten. These are harder than the first time you play these and task you with eliminating a high ranking Nazi in the area. I have not beaten them all but from what I’ve played you have no checkpoints and need to beat it without dying. I wish there was a more arcadey mode in its place where you can just run around killing waves of Nazis as the game feels great and I’d rather just be able to jump in to play rather than having to select one of thee bonus levels but that’s a personal preference. Even with that small complaint Wolfenstein 2 is an excellent game and definitely should be played. If you only own a Switch I fully recommend it. If you have a PC, Xbox, or PlayStation pick it up there as it is cheaper and has better performance. But either way, play this game and enjoyable the world. Also, don’t forget to kill as many Nazis as you can.Price: $59.99 Time played: 10 hours Verdict: Recommend That finishes this set of games. Next time I do one of these I'll be in a new state so I don't know when I'll actually get around to it. I don't think it'll be too long but I'm not sure how many people will actually be missing me haha. Either way, take care and enjoy the rest of the summer months! via /r/NintendoSwitch