In this list, I will highlight the five best new-to-me board games of 2017. Sometime in the future I will go back and rank all the new to me games from 2017 from best to worse (particularly because there are several that are probably going to be added in when I play them a bit more, such as Gloomhaven). I will try to stick to 2017 releases and I have not played all the games, with the big list of games probably incorporating older games. So without further ado, here they are:
UNLOCK- An escape room in a box. There has been a few come out this year. I have not played them all, but the one I did play (Unlock) hooked me in. Space Cowboys have done a good job of app-integration, and the non-consumable nature means that you can sell this off and not have it break the bank (similar to TIME Stories). I would imagine EXIT, Escape Room in a Box, etc. would also be high up if I played them.
CODENAMES: DUET- Codenames was a good game with a couple of small problems. However, after playing Duets, it makes the original Codenames feel lacklustre for me. Things like downtime and bending rules go away. The only downside is it loses support for large number of players (realistically, you wouldn't play Duets with more than 4 at most), but what you gain in the card deduction and mechanisms more than makes up for it.
7TH CONTINENT- This game is a big sprawling world where you go around and have adventures. It is one of my most played games despite its length. Eventually, I guess world knowledge would reduce the thrill of exploration. However, I think I am still 40 or so hours away from even contemplating this.
SWORD & SORCERY- A generic name with generic classes and generic enemies. This game proves you don't need to have oddball or unique themes to be a great game. Solid mechanisms that reward teamwork without feeling forced, meaningful choices and intriguing stories. make this a compelling experience When the Kickstarter stuff becomes available I am looking forward to getting more of this.
AVENTURIA ADVENTURE CARD GAME: THE DARK EYE- A great system where there is a bunch of cards in your deck that are all good, but you must sacrifice a couple of them each turn to get mana. I don't care too much for the duelling mode, but I like the adventure mode. It is quick to setup, teach and get stuck into while giving a very lite roleplaying adventure story leading up to it, its main strengths are its intriguing card play and how fast it is. Coming back to it doesn't feel like you have to relearn allot of rules. Once I get started on building experience and deck building I imagine this is going to climb.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS- An intriguing game that is a spatial timing puzzle around resource management and area denial with some gorgeous trees. Can be a touch too mean though. Also I haven't played it enough to see if it has long term appeal.
BARENPARK- On the opposite end of the spectrum from Photosynthesis, a cool tile-laying game. However, there is a slight lack of interaction to truly make this stand-out compared to Patchwork. An expansion that increases the interaction (but without being mean) a bit would be really good.
ASSAULT OF THE GIANTS- A very assymetric game that isn't quite as assymetric as first appears. Falls into the trap of railroaded strategies for each faction to be most effective and have a chance at winning.
TIME STORIES EXPEDITION ENDURANCE- Another TIME Stories by Space Cowboys before there disappointing last couple of scenarios (Lumen Fidei and Estrella Drive). This delivered on the promise of exploring a time period, playing around with time travel mechanics and having an engrossing adventure and puzzles for the first time. I wish things from this, Prophecy of Dragons and Under The Mask get incorporated bettter in the future instead of fake difficulty and a railroaded story. The only reason this missed out is because it is technically an expansion.
Tuesday 26 December 2017
Monday 18 December 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: STAR WARS EPISODE 8- THE LAST JEDI (2017)
The second of the big movie releases for the end of the year that seems to have scared all the other movies away (with the other being Justice League), The Last Jedi had allot to live up to. With the criticisms of the Force Awakens being fresh in the minds of the new makers of Star Wars, this is a movie where it definitely feels like they jettisoned everything from Episode 7. This scorched earth approach unfortunately means that the bad bits go away, but so do all the good.
* Spoilers Follow *
The story starts off following the magnificent trio of Poe, Finn and Rey as they continue on their side plots. Against them is the ever incompetent First Order headed by Snoke and Kylo Ren and an admiral that I didn't bother to learn the name of. Each of these goes through a plot where their plkot armour is in full effect and they never have to struggle for that much.
By the end of the movie, the only interesting villains (Snoke and his Red Guard) are dead. The only interesting plot development (Luke turned Dark and tried to kill Kylo Ren) is resolved in a way that says that Luke never did anything wrong because he never succumbed. ANd the Millenium Falcon can outgun a squadron of X-Wings. And First Order captial ships drop easily to a couple of fighters and bombers (and suiciding light-speed ships, which of course leaves everyone but the main characters unaffected).
And that is really the crux of the problem. The villains continuosly fail. The heroes never feel like they are in peril. And the characters and side plot are all boring. The special effects are okay (with some really weird parts that look awful), but there is nothing special about the movie or the performances in it. While Force Awakens may have been a little too much like the original, this throws away everything Star Wars for a bunch of generic perfect action heroes outgunning the foe. This is highlighted best by Carrie Fisher surviving being in a vacuum because of the force, which had me face palming. Doubly so because this was the only part of the movie where the villain nearly completes his goal.
At the end of the day, these are all nitpicks. The biggest sin of this movie is that I looked at my watch thinking the movie was nearly ending (because it felt like a slog) and it was only 30 minutes in.
1.5 out of 5 force-awakened waffles.
* Spoilers Follow *
The story starts off following the magnificent trio of Poe, Finn and Rey as they continue on their side plots. Against them is the ever incompetent First Order headed by Snoke and Kylo Ren and an admiral that I didn't bother to learn the name of. Each of these goes through a plot where their plkot armour is in full effect and they never have to struggle for that much.
By the end of the movie, the only interesting villains (Snoke and his Red Guard) are dead. The only interesting plot development (Luke turned Dark and tried to kill Kylo Ren) is resolved in a way that says that Luke never did anything wrong because he never succumbed. ANd the Millenium Falcon can outgun a squadron of X-Wings. And First Order captial ships drop easily to a couple of fighters and bombers (and suiciding light-speed ships, which of course leaves everyone but the main characters unaffected).
And that is really the crux of the problem. The villains continuosly fail. The heroes never feel like they are in peril. And the characters and side plot are all boring. The special effects are okay (with some really weird parts that look awful), but there is nothing special about the movie or the performances in it. While Force Awakens may have been a little too much like the original, this throws away everything Star Wars for a bunch of generic perfect action heroes outgunning the foe. This is highlighted best by Carrie Fisher surviving being in a vacuum because of the force, which had me face palming. Doubly so because this was the only part of the movie where the villain nearly completes his goal.
At the end of the day, these are all nitpicks. The biggest sin of this movie is that I looked at my watch thinking the movie was nearly ending (because it felt like a slog) and it was only 30 minutes in.
1.5 out of 5 force-awakened waffles.
Thursday 14 December 2017
PLAYSTATION 4 GAME REVIEW: NEVER ALONE
Never Alone is a small title from Upper One Games that is based on Native American culture and stories. It has an interesting premise wrapped around a puzzle-platformer where two characters (which can be played co-operatively) are trying to reach there goals, with each bringing unique skills to the problems.
The story is a relatively simple but conversely quite confusing. The main story is that a bad man comes into the main characters village looking for something. She then runs from him until she is forced to confront him. There are also blizzards which started happening. The story may have been based on Alaskan culture, but the storyline doesn't really provide much cohesion. It feels like a bunch of random tasks and puzzles thrown together, especially at the end of the game.
This may have been saved if the gameplay was good. Unfortunately, the platforming is mediocre. The movement and environmental effects is very loose and quite buggy. You can do the same jump twice and have it come with two different outcomes for unknown reasons. Not only that, but the Bola shooting mechanic is frustrating and unnecessary (considering the wealth of buttons that have no bindings assigned to them).
So while the game is an interesting premise, the mediocre platforming and non-sensical story leaves allot to be desired. The game is short, which is its only blessing as it doesn't overstay its welcome too much. However, this would be a recommended pass.
1.5 out of 5 lonely waffles.
Friday 1 December 2017
GAME REVIEW: CASTLEVANIA- LORDS OF SHADOW- MIRRORS OF FATE
Castlevania Mirrors of Fate is a flawed game that had allot of potential. It is based on the classic Castlevania style system that has you exploring a castle and working towards facing Dracula.
Mirrors of Fate is a 2D platformer with 3D elements and backgrounds. This doesn’t really work compared to the plain 2D environments. Sometimes it is confusing to see what is in the background compared to the foreground. Also the close-ups of the characters look pretty horrendous.
The combat is pretty good for the most part. You control multiple characters but they all end up feeling the same with no cool abilities of their own. There are some different combos and enemies have varying attacks which keep things fresh, and the bosses are pretty good. However the camera feels far too close into the action for allot of combats to make you use the environment during combat.
The story is perhaps the biggest misstep of the whole game. This doesn’t feel like a standalone game in the series. Enemies, characters and plot points really don’t work unless you have prior knowledge of the series. For example the toy maker shows up as a protagonist but you never face or interact with him.
All in all this game is a miss in the Castlevania series. The graphics and story aren’t very good and the combat feels okay although you don’t have too many cool abilities or standout combat moments.
2 out of 5 bloodsucking waffles.
Wednesday 15 November 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: THOR RAGNAROK
Major marvel movie releases have a baseline level of quality (ignoring their television shows) that seems hard to break. When your biggest criticism of a movie is that it is too fun in some minor places or the trailers may have revealed a bit too much, then you know that it has been a real winner.
Thor Ragnarok follows the story of Thor after the end Avengers: Age of Ultron. He is out searching for the infinity stones and along the way has to fight Hela, the goddess of death. In all fairness, the infinity stone plot doesn’t really feature too much in the movie with the main focus being on saving Asgard.
Thor feels allot like Guardians of the Galaxy or Iron Man. It is a movie that doesn’t take itself overly seriously with each character having a stack of wit and personality about them. Yet there is an underlying seriousness about it that when things are thought about, you realise they make sense.
I thought the trailers may have given away too much and, in some parts they have. Some of the best surprises have been tarnished by the trailers, although things don’t resolve the way you think for allot of them. There is definitely a bit of misdirection in the trailers.
The only other criticism is that occasionally the movie doesn’t take itself seriously enough. However this is a minor complain int and only really relevant in one or two scenes. Otherwise the story is great, the movie looks great, and the characters are awesome. This is definitely a movie to go see.
5 our of 5 Sparking Waffles.
Sunday 5 November 2017
BOARD GAME REVIEW: 7TH CONTINENT
The 7th Continent is a game that was on Kickstarter. It took around 2 years to complete after it funded successfully. The goal of the game was to recreate a choose-your-own-adventure style game on a big sprawling map.
And was it worth it. The answer is a resounding yes. Although not a perfect game, it achieves exactly what it sets our to do. It is a cleverly done game where the designers have. Pearly thought through allot of it.
At the heart of the game are two mechanisms. The first is the interconnected cards that form the map. Each card has different events and symbols as you explore around it. The second is the series of action cards that are also your life pile. There is also a crafting and inventory system on top of all this.
And all this comes together awesomely. It is a game system of a choose your own adventure. Sometimes it is unclear where you have to go for your mission (called a curse) and you may waste a session not getting to the end. Sometimes if you miss an obvious clue you can get stuck exploring things unrelated to your curse. But for the most part it works great.
This is a game that tells a story where the mechanisms serve to help tell the story. On top of all this, the mechanisms are pretty simple and the game is pretty easy to learn. It raises the bar for story games and is a great Kickstarter success story (even without miniatures).
5 our of 5th Continent Waffles.
Saturday 21 October 2017
PS4 GAME REVIEW: DOOM (2016)
Doom is a reboot/relaunch of the popular first-person shooter series by Bethesda. It is a game where you are a death-machine, running and gunning your way through hordes of demons, collecting weapons and power-ups in your quest to, well, kill allot of things.
Doom eschews many of the more modern trappings of first-person shooters. Gone are things such as regenerating health and taking cover for reloading, replaced by health pick-ups and highly mobile enemies. It is not a mistake that the player character is faster than most demons, with the speed being intended to be used both for defense and offense.
The Doom story is also there, but it is definitely not at the front. Much like other games (such as Dark Souls) the story is just in the background. There are item descriptions and environmental clues about the backstory, but you can just as easily ignore it and blast your way through hordes of Demons.
All this comes together in a very good package. The single-player experience is a nice rush of circle strafing and shotgun-blasting people. There is also a glory kill system where you can finish off staggered demons for more ammo. The iconic chainsaw is also used to help replenish your stocks and the BFG is great for boss fights or in a tight spot.
The only criticisms are that the level design occasionally calls for some precision platforming. Although not too unforgiving, trying to judge your jumping or position in first-person is never easy. Similarly, although the levels are well designed for the most part, a couple of the levels can get quite confusing. And finally, some of the glory kills are a bit slow (considering they are mini-cutscenes) and stop the pace of a high-paced gunfight.
At the end of the day, these are quite small critiques as the platforming is mostly quite forgiving, the levels are mostly well designed and clear, and the glory kills are an overall positive mechanism. This is definitely a game worth checking out.
5 out of 5 gore-stained waffles.
Doom eschews many of the more modern trappings of first-person shooters. Gone are things such as regenerating health and taking cover for reloading, replaced by health pick-ups and highly mobile enemies. It is not a mistake that the player character is faster than most demons, with the speed being intended to be used both for defense and offense.
The Doom story is also there, but it is definitely not at the front. Much like other games (such as Dark Souls) the story is just in the background. There are item descriptions and environmental clues about the backstory, but you can just as easily ignore it and blast your way through hordes of Demons.
All this comes together in a very good package. The single-player experience is a nice rush of circle strafing and shotgun-blasting people. There is also a glory kill system where you can finish off staggered demons for more ammo. The iconic chainsaw is also used to help replenish your stocks and the BFG is great for boss fights or in a tight spot.
The only criticisms are that the level design occasionally calls for some precision platforming. Although not too unforgiving, trying to judge your jumping or position in first-person is never easy. Similarly, although the levels are well designed for the most part, a couple of the levels can get quite confusing. And finally, some of the glory kills are a bit slow (considering they are mini-cutscenes) and stop the pace of a high-paced gunfight.
At the end of the day, these are quite small critiques as the platforming is mostly quite forgiving, the levels are mostly well designed and clear, and the glory kills are an overall positive mechanism. This is definitely a game worth checking out.
5 out of 5 gore-stained waffles.
Tuesday 26 September 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: SAUSAGE PARTY
Sausage Party is an animated film that takes a simple premise: have a Pixar-like animated movie but with "adult" themes. The story is that a bunch of food items in a supermarket are sentient and believe humans take them to heaven when they pick them up (not knowing they just get eaten).
The movie is just a vehicle for Seth Rogen and company to make crude, sex-themed jokes throughout in an effort to make it "mature". Sometimes this works. However, in this case, it definitely doesn't work. The overall story is too weak and seems to rely on the crutch of deliberately thinly-veiled religious and racial characters to try to make any of its narrative interesting.
It is an interesting contrast comparing this to Pixar. Pixar often uses child-like things to tell a mature story. Here, the use of more crude jokes is used to try to make an animated movie that is "mature" and touches on current events. This approach worked allot less successfully than many other Pixar (or for that matter, other good animated movies) approach.
This movie is a hard pass for me. They should have spent more time working on a compelling story than trying to take shots at society and religion to make this more appealing.
0.5 out of 5 stars (simply because the animation looks okay).
The movie is just a vehicle for Seth Rogen and company to make crude, sex-themed jokes throughout in an effort to make it "mature". Sometimes this works. However, in this case, it definitely doesn't work. The overall story is too weak and seems to rely on the crutch of deliberately thinly-veiled religious and racial characters to try to make any of its narrative interesting.
It is an interesting contrast comparing this to Pixar. Pixar often uses child-like things to tell a mature story. Here, the use of more crude jokes is used to try to make an animated movie that is "mature" and touches on current events. This approach worked allot less successfully than many other Pixar (or for that matter, other good animated movies) approach.
This movie is a hard pass for me. They should have spent more time working on a compelling story than trying to take shots at society and religion to make this more appealing.
0.5 out of 5 stars (simply because the animation looks okay).
Friday 8 September 2017
BOARD GAME REVIEW: 7th CONTINENT (2017) INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
7th Continent is a new board game that was released on Kickstarter and has surged up the board game rankings. It is a game that aims to take the old Fighting Fantasy Games or Choose Your Own Adventures of old and translate them to a board game set on a sprawling map. This is just must my initial impressions and I will update this later.
The aim of the game is to break a curse on your character after they returned from an expedition to an unknown land (the titular 7th Continent). You complete this by exploring the land and hoping to work out the mystery before your life-force (deck of action cards) runs out.
The game is played over a set of numbered cards split between maps and events. Each revealed card related to a number and uncovers the map and events that you can interact with. These are resolved through a push-your-luck mechanic with your action deck, with more cards drawn increasing your chances but also using up your time more.
The game is amazingly fun. It builds on your knowledge between games as you know where and when to explore and what are red herrings for your current curse. There are multiple curses and the map is quite large. The only concern is with replayability as the map doesn't change, but each of the curses starts you in different locations.
Everything in this game comes together well. The sense of exploration and choices as you uncover the map and work out the mini-puzzle that each curse gives. The life deck introduces a push-your-luck mechanic. And that isn't even going into how the exploration and the item crafting is implemented and how it interacts with the map.
Overall, this is a hearty recommendation. If you like story-driven games or exploration-type games, this is nearly a must-get. A new Kickstarter is coming for another module for the game and will offer the base game if you don't feel like paying secondary market prices.
5 out of 5 Continental Waffles
The aim of the game is to break a curse on your character after they returned from an expedition to an unknown land (the titular 7th Continent). You complete this by exploring the land and hoping to work out the mystery before your life-force (deck of action cards) runs out.
The game is played over a set of numbered cards split between maps and events. Each revealed card related to a number and uncovers the map and events that you can interact with. These are resolved through a push-your-luck mechanic with your action deck, with more cards drawn increasing your chances but also using up your time more.
The game is amazingly fun. It builds on your knowledge between games as you know where and when to explore and what are red herrings for your current curse. There are multiple curses and the map is quite large. The only concern is with replayability as the map doesn't change, but each of the curses starts you in different locations.
Everything in this game comes together well. The sense of exploration and choices as you uncover the map and work out the mini-puzzle that each curse gives. The life deck introduces a push-your-luck mechanic. And that isn't even going into how the exploration and the item crafting is implemented and how it interacts with the map.
Overall, this is a hearty recommendation. If you like story-driven games or exploration-type games, this is nearly a must-get. A new Kickstarter is coming for another module for the game and will offer the base game if you don't feel like paying secondary market prices.
5 out of 5 Continental Waffles
Wednesday 23 August 2017
TELEVISION SERIES REVIEW: SUITS (SEASON 1)
Suits is an interesting show. It starts with an interesting premise, appearing to be a slick-version of Law and Order. You are following the suave dealers and lawyers as they navigate there jobs and the high-end law firms.
Into this, you throw Mike. Mike is a genius but can't go to Harvard (and apparently no other law school exists) because he was caught by the headmaster or something. By circumstances, he ends up working in a law firm under Harvey, apparently being the only person who impresses him in interviews with his quick-thinking and intelligence. So they pretend he is a graduate and he is his underling.
However, the show quickly wears out its welcome. By halfway through the season the formula is already quite stale. Mike, for apparently being the only smart person that impresses Harvey, constantly does dumb things and is constantly outsmarted. For someone who is meant to be so smart and having a photographic memory of all the laws, he makes mistakes and errors constantly. And he never does anything to really show he is smart.
Similarly, the formula is a pretty standard show formula. It builds up to a mid-show climax, appears to be resolved, gets a twist, and then has the big resolution. Somewhere in this Mike has speech about being ethical to Harvey, Harvey has a speech about growing up to Mike, and Mike freaks out about his past.
And then there is the incompetent rival in the firm (Luis) who keeps stuffing up and stuffing people with no consequences or come-uppance. If done right, this may be done interesting. However, here it isn't done right and just feels grating.
So yeah. A show with allot of potential. There are 6 seasons, but I lost interest after this one. I won't be seeking out the next seasons to see if improves. This feels like a generic show that squanders all its potential.
2 out of 5 generic lawyer waffles.
Into this, you throw Mike. Mike is a genius but can't go to Harvard (and apparently no other law school exists) because he was caught by the headmaster or something. By circumstances, he ends up working in a law firm under Harvey, apparently being the only person who impresses him in interviews with his quick-thinking and intelligence. So they pretend he is a graduate and he is his underling.
However, the show quickly wears out its welcome. By halfway through the season the formula is already quite stale. Mike, for apparently being the only smart person that impresses Harvey, constantly does dumb things and is constantly outsmarted. For someone who is meant to be so smart and having a photographic memory of all the laws, he makes mistakes and errors constantly. And he never does anything to really show he is smart.
Similarly, the formula is a pretty standard show formula. It builds up to a mid-show climax, appears to be resolved, gets a twist, and then has the big resolution. Somewhere in this Mike has speech about being ethical to Harvey, Harvey has a speech about growing up to Mike, and Mike freaks out about his past.
And then there is the incompetent rival in the firm (Luis) who keeps stuffing up and stuffing people with no consequences or come-uppance. If done right, this may be done interesting. However, here it isn't done right and just feels grating.
So yeah. A show with allot of potential. There are 6 seasons, but I lost interest after this one. I won't be seeking out the next seasons to see if improves. This feels like a generic show that squanders all its potential.
2 out of 5 generic lawyer waffles.
Monday 7 August 2017
COMPUTER GAME: ROCKET LEAGUE (2015)
Rocket League is a game where you are driving around in a rocket-powered car. This car can perform jumps, barrel roles and other maneuvers inside an arena. The goal of this is to play a game of football, hitting a ball around until it goes in the other teams goal and scores your team of 3 cars a point.
At its core, Rocket League is simply a fun game. You are driving around, boosting and jumping to get the ball in cars that look crazy. There is a variety of different arena's with obstacles arranged differently (pits, columns, etc.) to challenge you as well as some different game modes. There are no paywalls, with only cosmetic items being available for purchase (although you unlock one every couple of levels). And there is a wide variety of cosmetic levels and bodies. If everyone is of the same skill level, it can be a fun experience.
The downside is when matchmaking pits you against people of different skill levels (or even your friends, if you don't advance equally in skill). This can be frustrating as they do trick shots and keep getting the ball in no-win situations for you (or vice-versa). Also, the servers lately have been filled with games where players appear to be running bots just to get experience.
Overall, this game is definitely good. A more beginner friendly atmosphere and better matchmaking would help it allot. But it does what it sets out to do- be a fun car-sports game that is a good time. It is also a shame that the game has microtransactions (even if they are just cosmetic) considering Steam still sells it for $20US.
3 out of 5 Rocket Waffles in League.
At its core, Rocket League is simply a fun game. You are driving around, boosting and jumping to get the ball in cars that look crazy. There is a variety of different arena's with obstacles arranged differently (pits, columns, etc.) to challenge you as well as some different game modes. There are no paywalls, with only cosmetic items being available for purchase (although you unlock one every couple of levels). And there is a wide variety of cosmetic levels and bodies. If everyone is of the same skill level, it can be a fun experience.
The downside is when matchmaking pits you against people of different skill levels (or even your friends, if you don't advance equally in skill). This can be frustrating as they do trick shots and keep getting the ball in no-win situations for you (or vice-versa). Also, the servers lately have been filled with games where players appear to be running bots just to get experience.
Overall, this game is definitely good. A more beginner friendly atmosphere and better matchmaking would help it allot. But it does what it sets out to do- be a fun car-sports game that is a good time. It is also a shame that the game has microtransactions (even if they are just cosmetic) considering Steam still sells it for $20US.
3 out of 5 Rocket Waffles in League.
Wednesday 26 July 2017
VIDEO GAME REVIEW: SUPERHOT (2016)
I recently received a steam key for Superhot as part of the Kickstarter for the board game. I have recently spent a little bit of time with it and have mostly found it to be fun although it is occasionally frustrating.
The main game is a first person shooter where 1 hit will kill you (and 1 hit will mostly kill the enemies as well). The main hook of the game is the art style, which is featureless polygons. The other hook is that time only moves when you move (which includes looking around). You go through a series of levels and a meta-story about playing a hacked game while you do this.
The game is fun in that each level is like a mini-puzzle with weapons and enemies lying around. The mechanic of time only moving when you do lets you assess situations and takes a normally frantic game type (first person shooter) and makes it nearly turn-based.
However, the frustrating part is that it is a puzzle and it does still rely on reflex. On some of the larger levels, it can get quite tedious to go through the same first slow-moving part of the level before you puzzle out a solution. This is particularly true if you are completing a difficult section of the level and than a stray bullet catches you, meaning your pinpoint timing has to be repeated.
Most the levels, however, are too short and fast paced for this to be a worry. Overall, I found Superhot to be a very enjoyable game which has a novel take on the first person shooter genre. It is definitely worth checking out.
4 out of 5 smoking-hot waffles
The main game is a first person shooter where 1 hit will kill you (and 1 hit will mostly kill the enemies as well). The main hook of the game is the art style, which is featureless polygons. The other hook is that time only moves when you move (which includes looking around). You go through a series of levels and a meta-story about playing a hacked game while you do this.
The game is fun in that each level is like a mini-puzzle with weapons and enemies lying around. The mechanic of time only moving when you do lets you assess situations and takes a normally frantic game type (first person shooter) and makes it nearly turn-based.
However, the frustrating part is that it is a puzzle and it does still rely on reflex. On some of the larger levels, it can get quite tedious to go through the same first slow-moving part of the level before you puzzle out a solution. This is particularly true if you are completing a difficult section of the level and than a stray bullet catches you, meaning your pinpoint timing has to be repeated.
Most the levels, however, are too short and fast paced for this to be a worry. Overall, I found Superhot to be a very enjoyable game which has a novel take on the first person shooter genre. It is definitely worth checking out.
4 out of 5 smoking-hot waffles
Wednesday 19 July 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: SPIDERMAN HOMECOMING (2017)
Spiderman: Homecoming is a Spiderman film set in the Marvel Universe. In case you missed the promotional posters, Iron Man is present in the movie. Or if the posters are anything to go by, it may be Iron Man starring Spiderman.
Those fears are unfounded. Spiderman is very much his own movie. Tony Stark is there as a mentor to Peter Parker and someone he is trying to impress as he tries to go through life after Civil War. This story really focuses on Peter Parker and having to juggle responsibilities, including doing the right thing with his powers even if it hurts him.
Tom Holland plays a really good Spiderman. He is younger looking and more naive-sounding than Tobey MacGuire, and they own that by casting him as younger. The rest of the supporting cast is kind-of a miss. Liz (the love interest) is one dimensional, there new Flash (an Indian nerd who resents Peter's intellect) doesn't really have any pay-off, and Ned (the computer geek friend) is also grating. Michelle is the only hit out of them and probably the only one they should give a big part to in the next movie.
Where this movie really shines are the villains. It seems that they finally put a bit of time investment into establishing the villains and there motivations. It also helped that they brought the villains motivations back from taking over the world/killing the president/etc. which worked well in Civil War. Here, the Vulture specifically wants to stay below the radar of the big guys (because Vulture can fly; Iron Man can fly and has Tank Missiles) and so it leads him to mostly selling salvaged weapons and heisting them without people finding out.
All in all, this movie is a definite hit. The hero is good, the villains are good and the action is good. One complaint is allot of the big action beats are ruined by the trailers so it would've been good to have a bigger sense of wonder and the supporting cast doesn't really hit as well as it should (which, for a movie that spends allot of time with Peter Parker in school, should be a bit better). Despite that, it is a very hearty recommendation.
4 out of 5 web-swinging waffles
Those fears are unfounded. Spiderman is very much his own movie. Tony Stark is there as a mentor to Peter Parker and someone he is trying to impress as he tries to go through life after Civil War. This story really focuses on Peter Parker and having to juggle responsibilities, including doing the right thing with his powers even if it hurts him.
Tom Holland plays a really good Spiderman. He is younger looking and more naive-sounding than Tobey MacGuire, and they own that by casting him as younger. The rest of the supporting cast is kind-of a miss. Liz (the love interest) is one dimensional, there new Flash (an Indian nerd who resents Peter's intellect) doesn't really have any pay-off, and Ned (the computer geek friend) is also grating. Michelle is the only hit out of them and probably the only one they should give a big part to in the next movie.
Where this movie really shines are the villains. It seems that they finally put a bit of time investment into establishing the villains and there motivations. It also helped that they brought the villains motivations back from taking over the world/killing the president/etc. which worked well in Civil War. Here, the Vulture specifically wants to stay below the radar of the big guys (because Vulture can fly; Iron Man can fly and has Tank Missiles) and so it leads him to mostly selling salvaged weapons and heisting them without people finding out.
All in all, this movie is a definite hit. The hero is good, the villains are good and the action is good. One complaint is allot of the big action beats are ruined by the trailers so it would've been good to have a bigger sense of wonder and the supporting cast doesn't really hit as well as it should (which, for a movie that spends allot of time with Peter Parker in school, should be a bit better). Despite that, it is a very hearty recommendation.
4 out of 5 web-swinging waffles
Wednesday 5 July 2017
BOARD GAME REVIEW: CHAMPIONS OF MIDGARD
Champions of Midgard is a game published by Grey Fox Games that has had no shortage of love. Featuring glowing reviews from the Dice Tower and featured on an episode of Tabletop, it grabbed my interest when it was described by Wil Wheaton as a mix of Lords of Waterdeep and Stone Age. These are both games I really like and, add to that the new expansions that are available for it, I decided to see how it would compare.
In Champions of Midgard, you are trying to earn the most glory over 8 rounds. Glory is earned by building up the village (resources), defeating monsters and fulfilling destiny (or goal) cards. This is done by a combination of worker placement and dice-based combat resolution against monsters threatening your village. The game feels quite tight, with only 8 rounds and normally only 3-4 workers per round meaning you have to focus on what you are doing.
Because Champions of Midgard feels so tight, allot can be dependent on the dice roles (especially when fighting the bigger monsters). The more you want to mitigate them, the more actions you need to spend to earn re-roll tokens. This is probably the biggest detractor from the game, as you can fluff key dice roles (even if you re-roll them) meaning you have lost out on allot of resources.
This is a shame because allot of the other mechanisms are quite nice. The way blame for not defending the village is assigned is what all semi-co op games should aspire too when trying to determine lose conditions (i.e. just punish the people not helping). The worker placement and collecting of dice resources feels nearly copied from Lords of Waterdeep, which isn't a bad thing (why shouldn't designs feel iterative) and collecting resources to send out for raiding feels quite thematic.
However, Stone Age has the advantage of not having each individual roll feel as critical and having the ability to stock up on tools and cards to mitigate this. Lords of Waterdeep is a very tactical game (except for those stupid Mandatory Quest Cards, which should just be reworked into negative points if uncompleted) where you aren't leaving huge scoring opportunities to chance. Compared to these, Champions of Midgard may be average to good, but won't often be a game I would choose to play above these or a bunch of other worker placement games such as Russian Railroads or Ancient World.
On a side note, it appears that the Valhalla expansion addresses most of my main issues with this game so perhaps that will elevate the game into the regular rotation for me.
2.5 out of 5 non-horned Waffles
In Champions of Midgard, you are trying to earn the most glory over 8 rounds. Glory is earned by building up the village (resources), defeating monsters and fulfilling destiny (or goal) cards. This is done by a combination of worker placement and dice-based combat resolution against monsters threatening your village. The game feels quite tight, with only 8 rounds and normally only 3-4 workers per round meaning you have to focus on what you are doing.
Because Champions of Midgard feels so tight, allot can be dependent on the dice roles (especially when fighting the bigger monsters). The more you want to mitigate them, the more actions you need to spend to earn re-roll tokens. This is probably the biggest detractor from the game, as you can fluff key dice roles (even if you re-roll them) meaning you have lost out on allot of resources.
This is a shame because allot of the other mechanisms are quite nice. The way blame for not defending the village is assigned is what all semi-co op games should aspire too when trying to determine lose conditions (i.e. just punish the people not helping). The worker placement and collecting of dice resources feels nearly copied from Lords of Waterdeep, which isn't a bad thing (why shouldn't designs feel iterative) and collecting resources to send out for raiding feels quite thematic.
However, Stone Age has the advantage of not having each individual roll feel as critical and having the ability to stock up on tools and cards to mitigate this. Lords of Waterdeep is a very tactical game (except for those stupid Mandatory Quest Cards, which should just be reworked into negative points if uncompleted) where you aren't leaving huge scoring opportunities to chance. Compared to these, Champions of Midgard may be average to good, but won't often be a game I would choose to play above these or a bunch of other worker placement games such as Russian Railroads or Ancient World.
On a side note, it appears that the Valhalla expansion addresses most of my main issues with this game so perhaps that will elevate the game into the regular rotation for me.
2.5 out of 5 non-horned Waffles
Wednesday 14 June 2017
BOARD GAME REVIEW: MYSTERIUM
Mysterium is an English reprint of a game about a bunch of psychics trying to read visions sent to them from a ghost. It is a fully co-operative game, with one player as a ghost and the others looking at cards passed out by him.
The aim of the game is for each psychic to guess who in the past they are psychically connected to, and then which one of them murdered the ghost. It is a bit like Cluedo, but the ghost controls the information from a hand of 7 beautifully illustrated abstract-style cards.
This game is a really fun social game that has a low barrier to entry in terms of rules and knowledge/past game experience. However, it looks nice and can draw people in from the artwork. That and it is always a blast to figure out things or have a surprising guess be correct.
The downsides of this game is the final guessing round. It feels far too random and lucky for all the effort spent to get there. I have no solutions off the top of my head. Of course the other problem is that it may be too light for people who like heavier games.
In the end, Mysterium is just allot of fun. The assymetric roles, the beautiful cards and the solid mechanisms make a really good time. The climax leaves a bit to be desired, but you can't fault the rest of the game.
4 out of 5 spooky waffles.
The aim of the game is for each psychic to guess who in the past they are psychically connected to, and then which one of them murdered the ghost. It is a bit like Cluedo, but the ghost controls the information from a hand of 7 beautifully illustrated abstract-style cards.
This game is a really fun social game that has a low barrier to entry in terms of rules and knowledge/past game experience. However, it looks nice and can draw people in from the artwork. That and it is always a blast to figure out things or have a surprising guess be correct.
The downsides of this game is the final guessing round. It feels far too random and lucky for all the effort spent to get there. I have no solutions off the top of my head. Of course the other problem is that it may be too light for people who like heavier games.
In the end, Mysterium is just allot of fun. The assymetric roles, the beautiful cards and the solid mechanisms make a really good time. The climax leaves a bit to be desired, but you can't fault the rest of the game.
4 out of 5 spooky waffles.
Thursday 1 June 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: APPLESEED ALPHA (2017)
Appleseed Alpha is an animated movie set is a post-apocalyptic future. In it, there is a women and a former cyborg soldier who hire themselves out as mercenaries. However, on their last mission, something goes wrong and they end up protecting another girl and her cyborg protector. These new survivors may just hold the fate of the world in their hands.
Appleseed Alpha's story is not interesting. It is highly predictable, leaning very heavily on the tropes of the past and not bothering to change any of them. The innocent girl who bonds with them. The disgruntled soldier. The loveable former thug who repents. The death to raise the stakes after a final speech.
And that would be okay if there were other things the movie offered. Instead, what we have are female characters in plenty of poses and cleavage drawn for the male gaze. Even if this were not the case, the action scenes and environments are quite bland and uninspiring.
So in the end, I can't really recommend Appleseed Alpha. It is competent but boring. Considering that this is meant to be for entertainment, competent is simply not good enough.
1.5 out of 5 Apple Waffles
Appleseed Alpha's story is not interesting. It is highly predictable, leaning very heavily on the tropes of the past and not bothering to change any of them. The innocent girl who bonds with them. The disgruntled soldier. The loveable former thug who repents. The death to raise the stakes after a final speech.
And that would be okay if there were other things the movie offered. Instead, what we have are female characters in plenty of poses and cleavage drawn for the male gaze. Even if this were not the case, the action scenes and environments are quite bland and uninspiring.
So in the end, I can't really recommend Appleseed Alpha. It is competent but boring. Considering that this is meant to be for entertainment, competent is simply not good enough.
1.5 out of 5 Apple Waffles
Sunday 14 May 2017
TV SHOW REVIEW: BOYS OVER FLOWERS
Boys Over Flowers is a Korean television drama series. It follows the story of a young Korean high-school student and the cool clique of school, of which the coolest and richest is trying to be her boyfriend. It also has things such as lost memories, kidnappings and the like.
The show isn't good. It has allot of problems stemming from the main characters and how she is written to interact with everyone around her. For a start, she is presented as the only person in the school willing to speak her mind and stand up to the traditions and stereotypes of the school.
And then of course, this means that most the men in the show like her. Well, not most of them. Just the richest, popular and handsome of them. They do things such as close a whole mall just to give her a shopping trip. And when she goes to a new city with no plans, she instantly makes friends with the richest woman there. Of course all their wealth is inheritance as well, otherwise they may have to take a break from fawning over her to actually work.
And that is about it. A clear author-avatar character is sitting there going through life. Every challenge that comes up for her feels contrived and multiple characters have to take the idiot ball to keep the plot going. This is definitely one to skip.
1 out of 5 Flowering Waffles.
The show isn't good. It has allot of problems stemming from the main characters and how she is written to interact with everyone around her. For a start, she is presented as the only person in the school willing to speak her mind and stand up to the traditions and stereotypes of the school.
And then of course, this means that most the men in the show like her. Well, not most of them. Just the richest, popular and handsome of them. They do things such as close a whole mall just to give her a shopping trip. And when she goes to a new city with no plans, she instantly makes friends with the richest woman there. Of course all their wealth is inheritance as well, otherwise they may have to take a break from fawning over her to actually work.
And that is about it. A clear author-avatar character is sitting there going through life. Every challenge that comes up for her feels contrived and multiple characters have to take the idiot ball to keep the plot going. This is definitely one to skip.
1 out of 5 Flowering Waffles.
Tuesday 2 May 2017
BOARD GAME REVIEW: ENDURE THE STARS (2017)
Endure the Stars is the first game out by Grimlord Games. It is a game that has a bit of an identity crisis. By the same token, it is also a game that encompasses the worst aspects of Kickstarter.
Endure the Stars is a space-themed dungeon-crawl type game. In the game, you and your team are on board a spaces station where something has gone wrong. The corridors are teeming with alien monsters, deadly machines and crazed cultists (depending on which scenario you play). Each scenario gives you some objectives to complete to get through, with multiple scenarios capable of being stringed together as a campaign.
The identity crisis comes because the game doesn't know what it is trying to be. Originally, it looks like it may be a survival horror. It even has some mechanics to support that (resolve checks, noise generation, diceless damage from the monsters). However, it then plays out more like a light dungeon crawler where you get your items and chuck some dice to kill stuff. And it is where these two mechanics merge where the problem lies. There isn't enough mechanics to make searching and then moving out with the best weapons a negative, but so many enemies spawn and move that without doing this or exploiting certain rules, you quickly get overwhelmed.
The worst part of the Kickstarter come with the rules. There is already a 3 page FAQ and 1.1 rulebook out that adds a couple of rules and changed. However, the added rules do not appear to be well tested. Similarly, a lack of playtesting (particularly blind testing) is apparent in how some rules and mechanics did not work. And for a game that was this expensive on kickstarter, it just isn't worthwhile.
You definitely get plenty of component bang for your buck inside the box, with nice tiles and miniatures and a variety of heroes to choose from. With maybe another 3 months of solid development and proper testing, this could've been a real gem. They should also have doubled down on a certain theme and modified the game to suit (i.e. survival horror with stronger but fewer monsters, limited searching and weak items but diceless; or dungeon crawl with no noise mechanic, constant minion spawning and unique starting items for each character and no searching). At the moment, it just feels like a bit mess. Which is a shame because it feels like it is about 80% of the way there, but so many other games in both genres are 100% (Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition; Dungeons and Dragons series of games).
2 out of 5 Enduring Waffles.
Endure the Stars is a space-themed dungeon-crawl type game. In the game, you and your team are on board a spaces station where something has gone wrong. The corridors are teeming with alien monsters, deadly machines and crazed cultists (depending on which scenario you play). Each scenario gives you some objectives to complete to get through, with multiple scenarios capable of being stringed together as a campaign.
The identity crisis comes because the game doesn't know what it is trying to be. Originally, it looks like it may be a survival horror. It even has some mechanics to support that (resolve checks, noise generation, diceless damage from the monsters). However, it then plays out more like a light dungeon crawler where you get your items and chuck some dice to kill stuff. And it is where these two mechanics merge where the problem lies. There isn't enough mechanics to make searching and then moving out with the best weapons a negative, but so many enemies spawn and move that without doing this or exploiting certain rules, you quickly get overwhelmed.
The worst part of the Kickstarter come with the rules. There is already a 3 page FAQ and 1.1 rulebook out that adds a couple of rules and changed. However, the added rules do not appear to be well tested. Similarly, a lack of playtesting (particularly blind testing) is apparent in how some rules and mechanics did not work. And for a game that was this expensive on kickstarter, it just isn't worthwhile.
You definitely get plenty of component bang for your buck inside the box, with nice tiles and miniatures and a variety of heroes to choose from. With maybe another 3 months of solid development and proper testing, this could've been a real gem. They should also have doubled down on a certain theme and modified the game to suit (i.e. survival horror with stronger but fewer monsters, limited searching and weak items but diceless; or dungeon crawl with no noise mechanic, constant minion spawning and unique starting items for each character and no searching). At the moment, it just feels like a bit mess. Which is a shame because it feels like it is about 80% of the way there, but so many other games in both genres are 100% (Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition; Dungeons and Dragons series of games).
2 out of 5 Enduring Waffles.
Thursday 27 April 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy. Based in the Marvel cinematic universe, it picks up where Guardians of the Galaxy left off in following the adventures of Starlord and company through the Galaxy.
This time around, the plot centers around how the Guardians are going to stay together when half the galaxy has a bounty of there head. They don't help matters when they make some new enemies. They get a break when they meet Starlord's dad.
This time around Guardians feels like a very chilled ride. For approximately two and a half hours, we follow along with them as they interact with old and new characters and their various adventures. Although it is pretty obvious who the big bad will end up being, it takes its time getting there and never feels like it needs to get somewhere.
And that is what makes it so great. It never feels like it needs to rush or shove in some action to keep people interested. It is definitely more a character piece, despite being a blockbuster super-hero movie. The opening is also great, looking like it will be a bait-and-switch and then not being.
The only criticism is that it falls into the trap of trying have too much humor in some stages. One or two jokes less in the movie would've gone along way. It feels like the writers saw how much people liked the Guardians humour, so they tried to force humour where it doesn't belong. While Guardians felt a very natural, here it feels a bit forced.
I do have another criticism. Gamora's acting sometimes comes across as a whiny sitcom teenager. This is a very small issue in a couple of scenes, but it stands out as the rest of the acting is really good.
At the end of the day, this was an awesome time. The small criticisms are just that- small. The action is awesome, the story is chilled and yet ramps up nicely. The new and old characters are well done, even adding some new wrinkles to old characters. Definitely worth checking out.
4 our of 4 Living Waffles
This time around, the plot centers around how the Guardians are going to stay together when half the galaxy has a bounty of there head. They don't help matters when they make some new enemies. They get a break when they meet Starlord's dad.
This time around Guardians feels like a very chilled ride. For approximately two and a half hours, we follow along with them as they interact with old and new characters and their various adventures. Although it is pretty obvious who the big bad will end up being, it takes its time getting there and never feels like it needs to get somewhere.
And that is what makes it so great. It never feels like it needs to rush or shove in some action to keep people interested. It is definitely more a character piece, despite being a blockbuster super-hero movie. The opening is also great, looking like it will be a bait-and-switch and then not being.
The only criticism is that it falls into the trap of trying have too much humor in some stages. One or two jokes less in the movie would've gone along way. It feels like the writers saw how much people liked the Guardians humour, so they tried to force humour where it doesn't belong. While Guardians felt a very natural, here it feels a bit forced.
I do have another criticism. Gamora's acting sometimes comes across as a whiny sitcom teenager. This is a very small issue in a couple of scenes, but it stands out as the rest of the acting is really good.
At the end of the day, this was an awesome time. The small criticisms are just that- small. The action is awesome, the story is chilled and yet ramps up nicely. The new and old characters are well done, even adding some new wrinkles to old characters. Definitely worth checking out.
4 our of 4 Living Waffles
Monday 6 March 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: MOANA (2017)
Moana is a 2017 animated film following the adventures of a young girl, Moana. She is a girl who doesn't feel like she belongs in her tribe and has an urge to go exploring. However, her father wants her to stay in the tribe and take over the role of chieftain from him. Add to this a legend saying that a demigod, Maori, has to restore the Heart of Ishta to stop the land dying, and you have the makings of a grand adventure.
Without going into too many spoilers, Moana meets Maori and they travel on their quest together. That is all I really want to say about it as the twists and turns are best left to be seen and thought through on there own. Suffice to say, the story plays out exactly as expected but still has a few cool twists and turns thrown in.
The animation is beautiful and vibrant in this movie, which is on par with big studio productions these days. However, the story and music really come together, creating several cool songs. The songs in here don't feel like they come out of nowhere and are really good (so much so that I put a couple on my playlist). It all comes together as a really good package.
Overall, this is a really good movie. It has good characters and a good story where the characters grow to the world around them. The animation and music really set the whole thing off and make this an animated movie that shouldn't be missed, by both children and adults alike.
5 out of 5 tattooed waffles.
Without going into too many spoilers, Moana meets Maori and they travel on their quest together. That is all I really want to say about it as the twists and turns are best left to be seen and thought through on there own. Suffice to say, the story plays out exactly as expected but still has a few cool twists and turns thrown in.
The animation is beautiful and vibrant in this movie, which is on par with big studio productions these days. However, the story and music really come together, creating several cool songs. The songs in here don't feel like they come out of nowhere and are really good (so much so that I put a couple on my playlist). It all comes together as a really good package.
Overall, this is a really good movie. It has good characters and a good story where the characters grow to the world around them. The animation and music really set the whole thing off and make this an animated movie that shouldn't be missed, by both children and adults alike.
5 out of 5 tattooed waffles.
Thursday 2 February 2017
BOARD GAME REVIEW: SHADOW HUNTERS (2005)
Shadow Hunters is a weird game for me. I didn't really like it, but it took me awhile to pinpoint exactly why. When I did, it was so obvious that it took me awhile to accept that I didn't see it sooner. At its heart, Shadow Hunters is a dice chucking, social deduction game.
In Shadow Hunters, players are secretly assigned one of three factions and are either on the team of the Hunters, the Shadows or a Neutral (sort of like individuals). They then roll dice to move around a board, pick up random cards from there location, and then roll dice to attack. In amongst all this, players are trying to figure out who is on who's team to eliminate them for there team to win.
And that is my problem. There are so many elements of the game where the game feels like it is playing you, and not much way to gain more control. Your options are often to either attack or don't attack, A certain dice roll and 2 locations give you options of what to do, otherwise it is mandatory to play the card you draw. And you can reveal your character to activate your power.
So this ends up being a social deduction game where the main thing clouding peoples judgement is random chance. Other games have things such as alternate objectives (i.e. Dead of Winter) or potentially choosing from bad choices after trying to help (Battlestar, Dark Moon), but this feels much more random. This effectively just makes the start of the game extremely slow as people draw random cards to help determine who the opposing player is.
Add to this that it is effectively a dice chucker, with some hilarious final encounters sometimes when 2 players can't seem to land in the same location, with extremely swingy combat, and the fighting misses (when you get around to it). The game definitely gets too long for what it is. Especially with more than 5 players and the lack of player agency here.
Overall, Shadow Hunters is a good concept. However, it is let down by substituting a good set of rules for what is effectively role and move. The luck based combat that can be extremely swingy and the social deduction just serves to draw the game out. It is extremely dependent on luck to even achieve any agency by the end of the game. Overall, it is just alright but definitely prefer allot of other games.
2 out of 5 Shadow Stepping Waffles
In Shadow Hunters, players are secretly assigned one of three factions and are either on the team of the Hunters, the Shadows or a Neutral (sort of like individuals). They then roll dice to move around a board, pick up random cards from there location, and then roll dice to attack. In amongst all this, players are trying to figure out who is on who's team to eliminate them for there team to win.
And that is my problem. There are so many elements of the game where the game feels like it is playing you, and not much way to gain more control. Your options are often to either attack or don't attack, A certain dice roll and 2 locations give you options of what to do, otherwise it is mandatory to play the card you draw. And you can reveal your character to activate your power.
So this ends up being a social deduction game where the main thing clouding peoples judgement is random chance. Other games have things such as alternate objectives (i.e. Dead of Winter) or potentially choosing from bad choices after trying to help (Battlestar, Dark Moon), but this feels much more random. This effectively just makes the start of the game extremely slow as people draw random cards to help determine who the opposing player is.
Add to this that it is effectively a dice chucker, with some hilarious final encounters sometimes when 2 players can't seem to land in the same location, with extremely swingy combat, and the fighting misses (when you get around to it). The game definitely gets too long for what it is. Especially with more than 5 players and the lack of player agency here.
Overall, Shadow Hunters is a good concept. However, it is let down by substituting a good set of rules for what is effectively role and move. The luck based combat that can be extremely swingy and the social deduction just serves to draw the game out. It is extremely dependent on luck to even achieve any agency by the end of the game. Overall, it is just alright but definitely prefer allot of other games.
2 out of 5 Shadow Stepping Waffles
Tuesday 24 January 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: WAR DOGS (2016)
War Dogs follows the story of David and Efron. Former high
school best friends who drifted apart, they get back together at a high school
friends funeral. After catching up, they become business partners in selling
guns to the war in Iraq.
While things start out smoothly enough, things get more complicated
when they land bigger contracts. The movie then follows them as they get more
involved as things keep going from bad to worse and they discover that the
world of arms dealing isn’t as safe as when they first started.
Predictably, some deals go wrong. David learns a valuable
life lesson about how exciting isn’t always good, and the friend everyone warns
him about ends up being a jerk. So this is a standard morale story that tries
to inject some Wolf of Wall Street into it.
At the end of the day, this is perhaps its biggest and most
unforgiving flaw. It follows the most boring character to tell the most generic
story. It takes no risks and wraps everything up with a “what lessons did we
learn here?” final tag in the closing scenes. And somehow everything kind-of
ends up okay for David.
This movie might have been more interesting if it followed
Efron and left an audience surrogate behind (or confined to voice-overs, like
Wolf). It is the equivalent of if Wolf of Wall Street followed one of
Leonardo’s junior employees. Doesn’t quite sound very interesting, does it.
At the end of the day, it was an interesting premise. It was
definitely better than the DC worst-of series this year. But it has to have a
hard pass for being too generic for its own good. If you want a pretty generic
story done extremely well, Kubo and the Two Strings is worth your time much,
much more.
1.5 out of 5 dog-eared waffles.
Sunday 1 January 2017
MOVIE REVIEW: GHOSTBUSTERS (2016)
Ghostbusters is a movie that seemed to come around with allot of controversy. And most of this controversy seemed to be for controversy's own sake, as most people I talked to weren't too concerned about it being made with a bunch of female protagonists. As it turned out, the movie actually turned out to be pretty good.
The movie is about a bunch of scientists who go around capturing ghosts. One of them starts as being reluctant (not because of skepticism, but because of the damage to her career in academia it may cause), but becomes part of the group after she encounters a ghost. After forming the group, they get an office, find a fourth member (a non-scientist subway worker), hire a sexy dumb male intern (Chris Hemsworth, looking like he was born for comedy), and start capturing ghosts.
This is a pretty standard Ghostbusters movie. And it is a good one at that. It constantly goes around with tongue-in-cheek-style humour in its approach to situations and lets defined characters (in the ghost busters) react to situations in a believable manner. The only stumbling block this movie has is the ending or the more dramatic moments. Here, the movie stumbles. When the movie tries to get too serious, it doesn't work.
Unfortunately, the climax (involving someone killing themselves to set-up a master plan, to let you see serious) feels like it drags for the sake of having a big ghost battle climax (ala Marshmallow Man). Chris Hemsworth, despite being a good thing, is also over-used. It is like they realised how good he was and then doubled the length of all his scenes so the joke is slightly overblown as opposed to being appreciated.
While not as good as the original, this movie is definitely worth a watch. The comedy and characters are really good, the story is good and the effects are good. It did stumble by putting a bit too much a good thing in and also not nailing the change from comedy to serious well, but still highly enjoyable.
And the only reason I remember the Chris Hemsworth actor is because he is an Avenger.
3.5 out of 5 Ghosted Waffles
The movie is about a bunch of scientists who go around capturing ghosts. One of them starts as being reluctant (not because of skepticism, but because of the damage to her career in academia it may cause), but becomes part of the group after she encounters a ghost. After forming the group, they get an office, find a fourth member (a non-scientist subway worker), hire a sexy dumb male intern (Chris Hemsworth, looking like he was born for comedy), and start capturing ghosts.
This is a pretty standard Ghostbusters movie. And it is a good one at that. It constantly goes around with tongue-in-cheek-style humour in its approach to situations and lets defined characters (in the ghost busters) react to situations in a believable manner. The only stumbling block this movie has is the ending or the more dramatic moments. Here, the movie stumbles. When the movie tries to get too serious, it doesn't work.
Unfortunately, the climax (involving someone killing themselves to set-up a master plan, to let you see serious) feels like it drags for the sake of having a big ghost battle climax (ala Marshmallow Man). Chris Hemsworth, despite being a good thing, is also over-used. It is like they realised how good he was and then doubled the length of all his scenes so the joke is slightly overblown as opposed to being appreciated.
While not as good as the original, this movie is definitely worth a watch. The comedy and characters are really good, the story is good and the effects are good. It did stumble by putting a bit too much a good thing in and also not nailing the change from comedy to serious well, but still highly enjoyable.
And the only reason I remember the Chris Hemsworth actor is because he is an Avenger.
3.5 out of 5 Ghosted Waffles
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