Batman: Ninja is an animated movie set in the Batman universe. In the movie, Batman and a host of his allies and enemies are sent back through time to feudal Japan in the era of ninjas and samurai. Here, he has to conquer his villains in order to get back to his own time.
The premise alone is very interesting. Unfortunately, the movie only follows through about halfway. This was a chance to see Batman function without gadgets or against some new enemies with new abilities. Instead, about halfway through the movie, most of this has been undone with it just turning into another animated Batman movie.
The main areas this stumbles is their choice of main villain. That is, of course, The Joker. The movie had a chance to make something new or perhaps elevate a lesser known villain. Instead, it just keeps coming back to Joker being the ultimate evil for Batman.
There are other faults where it feels like the creators wanted to go further, but then got cold feet. One thing that can't be faulted is the animation and visuals, however. The feudal Japan style applied to everything and the voice acting are top notch, and make the movie visually interesting even if the story falters.
At the end of the day, an interesting premise may be enough for some people to cover the story. However, I felt that the story, while serviceable, really ended up letting the movie down.
3 out of 5 ninja'd waffles.
Thursday 29 November 2018
Monday 19 November 2018
BOARD GAME REVIEW: RESCUE POLAR BEARS
Rescue: Polar Bears is a board game that was delivered on Kickstarter a little while ago. This game is a co-operative game that has a really cool theme: you are trying to rescue polar bears and get data from the polar caps on global warming before the temperature rises too much or the polar bears get stranded.
While there are some abstractions with the theme (i.e. the time scale of temperature changes and the scales of time), the theme is very refreshing and unique. Most the actions and your goals fit the theme very well. You are moving around, saving bears, collecting data, and trying to keep a lid on the ice melting.
This isn't a co-operative game that is hard. There are some variants and modules that help to increase the difficulty, but you will win most the games on the basic game. This isn't a bad thing, as each game it feels like you have plenty of freedom on how to proceed with what feels like multiple options of what to do on your turn. You can also up your starting level to increase difficulty if desired.
This is a cool co-op where you have options and a nice theme. The components are also really good, with little bear figures and nice ships that all look different and play differently with their player powers. This is a game I would definitely recommend.
4 out of 5 polar waffles.
While there are some abstractions with the theme (i.e. the time scale of temperature changes and the scales of time), the theme is very refreshing and unique. Most the actions and your goals fit the theme very well. You are moving around, saving bears, collecting data, and trying to keep a lid on the ice melting.
This isn't a co-operative game that is hard. There are some variants and modules that help to increase the difficulty, but you will win most the games on the basic game. This isn't a bad thing, as each game it feels like you have plenty of freedom on how to proceed with what feels like multiple options of what to do on your turn. You can also up your starting level to increase difficulty if desired.
This is a cool co-op where you have options and a nice theme. The components are also really good, with little bear figures and nice ships that all look different and play differently with their player powers. This is a game I would definitely recommend.
4 out of 5 polar waffles.
Monday 12 November 2018
BOARD GAME REVIEW: SPLENDOR (2014)
Splendor is a game about collecting gems in the form of poker chips, and then trading them for cards. These cards then give you discounts to help you get better cards which are worth more points or nobles, which are worth points. First to 15 wins.
That all sounds simple and even a little boring. However, Splendor is a game near the top of its weight class. The mechanisms that drive the game are smooth, and there is enough variability with end-game point scoring between the nobles and the large point cards to make the game exciting to the very end.
The components are also really good. Obviously, the tactile nature and weight of the poker chips means that they have immediate appeal. The insert is also great to help organise the box, although they could have easily halved the box size if they compacted it a bit more. The only downside is I wish more cards had unique artwork.
It says something for a game when people are still trying to claim it has been killed 4 years later. Splendor is still going strong, with enough variability and excitement in the base game alone to still make it hit the gaming table often. It just works as a gateway game and a deeper game that plays quickly.
5 out of 5 splendid waffles.
That all sounds simple and even a little boring. However, Splendor is a game near the top of its weight class. The mechanisms that drive the game are smooth, and there is enough variability with end-game point scoring between the nobles and the large point cards to make the game exciting to the very end.
The components are also really good. Obviously, the tactile nature and weight of the poker chips means that they have immediate appeal. The insert is also great to help organise the box, although they could have easily halved the box size if they compacted it a bit more. The only downside is I wish more cards had unique artwork.
It says something for a game when people are still trying to claim it has been killed 4 years later. Splendor is still going strong, with enough variability and excitement in the base game alone to still make it hit the gaming table often. It just works as a gateway game and a deeper game that plays quickly.
5 out of 5 splendid waffles.
Saturday 3 November 2018
VIDEO GAME REVIEW: DRAGONQUEST HEROES WORLD TREES WOE AND THE BLIGHT BELOW
Dragonquest Heroes: World Trees Woe and the Blight Below has a long title, so I am just going to take the liberty of calling it Dragonquest Heroes for the remainder of this review. Dragonquest Heroes is a hero-brawler that is very much in the vain of Dynasty Warriors.
Dragonquest Heroes plot is a fairly generic and cheesy. An evil force awakens, making monsters start attacking humans. The heroes have to band together, using the power of friendship to overcome the raw power of evil. Most the twists and turns are fairly generic and easily predictable. The dialogue is also cringeworthy, even if the voice acting is passable.
Combat is a pretty standard Dynasty-Warriors-esque affair. You go around in a team of 4, slicing through hordes of thousands of monsters that are mostly cannon-fodder with the occasional boss. However, you don't have too many combos. Instead, each character gets 4 spells or abilities that they can use amongst their other attacks. This is where the main variety in the combat comes from, together with having a diverse range of characters to form your team from.
The game is certainly put together well. There is a large variety of enemies (even if some are color-swapped) but it does start to repeat itself towards the end. You know when the big enemies are coming and the tactics for getting through the big enemies don't change much. This does lead to the game starting to overstay its welcome, especially as it offers very little new to the genre as you work through the below-average story.
3.5 out of 5 questing waffles.
Played on PS4 but available on multiple platforms.
Dragonquest Heroes plot is a fairly generic and cheesy. An evil force awakens, making monsters start attacking humans. The heroes have to band together, using the power of friendship to overcome the raw power of evil. Most the twists and turns are fairly generic and easily predictable. The dialogue is also cringeworthy, even if the voice acting is passable.
Combat is a pretty standard Dynasty-Warriors-esque affair. You go around in a team of 4, slicing through hordes of thousands of monsters that are mostly cannon-fodder with the occasional boss. However, you don't have too many combos. Instead, each character gets 4 spells or abilities that they can use amongst their other attacks. This is where the main variety in the combat comes from, together with having a diverse range of characters to form your team from.
The game is certainly put together well. There is a large variety of enemies (even if some are color-swapped) but it does start to repeat itself towards the end. You know when the big enemies are coming and the tactics for getting through the big enemies don't change much. This does lead to the game starting to overstay its welcome, especially as it offers very little new to the genre as you work through the below-average story.
3.5 out of 5 questing waffles.
Played on PS4 but available on multiple platforms.
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