Details: Published by Marvel Comics. Mostly written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Chris Bachalo.
I’ve never been a big fan of Doctor Strange. I’ve enjoyed watching him interact with other characters in the Marvel Universe, like when he was in the Illuminati or when he was god Doom’s sheriff. That changed with this series. They invoked one of my comic book weaknesses; they got Bachalo to do art.
Continue reading “Comic Book Review: Doctor Strange (2015) Issues 1 through 20”
Details: Released in 2016. Two seasons with ten episodes each. Each episode is about twenty-three minutes long.
I feel like ever since Sword Art Online came out, the genre of an anime that takes place in a Massive Multiplayer Online Game setting has exploded. There are so many of these types of anime out there nowadays. Konosuba is another one of these, though it’s almost never serious and mostly hilarious.
Details: Aired on the CW. Twenty-three episodes this season with each episode at around an hour-long, commercials included.
While not the longest running show ever, Supernatural has been on T.V. a long time. We’ve now entered the twelfth season and I think the formula of this show is well established. I like the sameness and knowing the plot beats I can expect to see, except in slightly different forms. I like this show the way it is and I do not want it to change.
Details: Originally released in 2015. Purchased through http://www.gog.com and their game client. Purchased for about $25. Played on the PC. The Game of the Year Edition comes with all subsequently released downloadable content, including the two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Spent about a hundred and ten hours in the base game, around thirty hours in the Hearts of Stone expansion, and about forty hours in the Blood and Wine expansion. Total time spent in the game: about one hundred and eighty hours.
No spoilers, as usual.
Now that I’ve played this game, I can understand why this game is so beloved. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt does not reinvent the wheel. It does not push some new kind of game. It is an open world, action role-playing game in a time with many, many similar games like Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Assassin’s Creed, The Legend of Zelda, and the Batman Arkham series. What Witcher 3 does do is that it pushes the genre of open world games forward, improving on almost every aspect of the genre and producing a game that can be considered essential if you are a video game lover.
Continue reading “Video Game Review: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Game of the Year Edition”
Details: A novel written by Patrick Rothfuss. Published in 2007. A New York Times Bestseller. 662 pages long.
A while back, a friend lent me two books to read. The first was The Way of Kings by Brian Sanderson. It was a long, but enjoyable read. The second was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Prior to these two books, the last fictional books I read were the Harry Potter books. What I’m trying to say is that people make judgment on things based on comparison with the things they know. Accordingly, while I will try to give my thoughts on this book, those thoughts will unavoidably compare The Name of the Wind with The Way of Kings and the Harry Potter series.
Details: Fiction written by Brandon Sanderson. 1258 pages.
I don’t enjoy reading for fun. Not fiction at least. To me, reading is meant for instruction; textbooks, instruction manuals, news articles, that sort of thing. In the case of this book, a friend strongly recommended I read this book… and also gave me a copy. So, since I had really no excuse not to read this, I decided to give it a try. This is my first foray into the fantasy genre, and seeing that this book is a New York Times bestseller. The last fiction book I read was Harry Potter, which I enjoyed.
This book takes place in a fantasy world with magic, knights, kings, other races, and everything you’d might expect from a fantasy book. Think Game of Thrones and you’ll be on the right track. I do feel like this book is less brutal than Game of Thrones, but, after some research, The Way of Kings is only the first book in what is likely a series of ten books that explore this fictional world.
The story centers around a few characters and is told from the first person perspective, switching perspectives between chapters. The primary characters I’ve found are Kaladin (a slave and former soldier), Dalinar (a highprince and ruler of a kingdom), Shallan (a girl from a lesser noble house who is seeking out a heretic), and Szeth (an assassin with unique powers). I won’t go further into the characters or plot for fear of spoilers. Stuff happens. Some of it is surprising.
What I’ve realized about the fantasy genre is that on of the primary goals of the book is the creation of this fantasy world. Accordingly, I found a lot of the text kind of wordy and extraneous. This is probably because I don’t normally read fiction novels and these very lengthy descriptions of… everything are likely the norm in fictional literary works. Or maybe not. Either way, expect a lot of in-depth descriptions that mostly add color to the world, even if I found them a bit much.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but my first foray into fantasy novels will likely be my last. It’s just to time consuming. I recognize that part of the appeal is to immerse yourself into this world and it’s characters and lengthy text do a great job to facilitate that. I couldn’t help but feel like I was wasting time every time I sat down with this fiction. While books of this length and subject matter may not be to my liking, if you like reading fiction, especially books like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, then I thoroughly recommend this book.
Score: 6.5/10
Details: Over two hours long. Stars Felicity Jones and Diego Luna.
The first thought I had after watching this movie was… why did they make this movie? I know it’s obviously for money. Disney paid a billion dollars for the Star Wars franchise so they have to milk that cow, but I don’t think this movie needed to be made. It didn’t tell a story I needed to hear.
The premise is this: Jyn Urso is found by the rebel alliance and sent on a mission to find her father who has information on the empire’s new super weapon. In the overall Star Wars timeline, this takes place after Revenge of the Sith and before A New Hope.
I felt like this movie should have been a book or a comic book, not a full fledged movie. It’s just a side story that doesn’t push the overall Star Wars narrative in any direction. I feel like nothing was accomplished here.
I can see that they were trying to achieve a grittier, more realistic, more personal story. Unfortunately, there are so many characters we barely get to know anyone. I think in genres like science fiction of fantasy, character development is the crux of these types of stories. Character development was severely lacking here and I didn’t feel anything when bad things happened to the characters.
The actors give fine performances. The weakness of this film was just the story. The whole film felt like one big wink wink, nudge nudge towards existing Star Wars fans with constant references to the other movies. This movie is fan service. Unless you are a hardcore Star Wars fan, I probably wouldn’t recommend this movie.
Score: 5/10
Score: 8.2/10.
I recently played this game, a long time after it was originally released. Visually, the game still holds up. I love the art style and the design of the characters. They look slightly cartoon-y, but still realistic. Face animations during dialogue are also great. Skin is textured real good. The design of the world is also full of details and great to look at.
Gameplay is your standard massive multiplayer online RPG style, which is that you run around, number keys apply to different spells, and mouse 1 does your normal attack. It’s somewhat fun. They should’ve adopted final fantasy-esque ultimate or something, to break up the monotony of battle.
Another element of gameplay that’s worth a mention is the War Council. It’s basically a click on a quest, then wait in real time for it to complete on it’s own, then get bounty type of thing. Kind of pointless and unnecessary in my opinion.
An element of the gameplay that was not pointless and I wish there was more of was the Sit In Judgment. In these optional parts of the game you get to judge a character you fought against and captured prior. It’s fun and adds a little more to the story.
Music is fantastic. Classic orchestral stuff you expect for the fantasy genre.
And in regards to the strongest part of an role playing game — the story — Inquisition has a great story with a number of very big decisions. You still generally walk down a preordained path set by the game developers, but there are sufficient options to make it feel like your decisions matter. Dialogue is the real shining point of Inquisition.
Noteworthy story elements that I am a fan of are the romances, humorous moments (Iron Bull), character development, and someone trying to assault the castle with a goat.
The DLC’s were better than I thought. With the exception of Trespasser, they are generally unnecessary and you don’t miss out on much if you skip them. I did find them fun regardless.
Finally, a common complaint I read online was about how many of the side quests were fetch quests and this lowered the quality of the game. These complaints arose during the release of the Witcher 3 and quests which were more meaningful in the opinion of many. Personally, I don’t hate that this game was loaded with so many fetch quests. Yes it is kind of tedious and turns the game into a kind of checklist rather than an immersive narrative experience. However, I’d much rather they keep this content rather than throw it out. It’s an issue of boring content versus no content, and I will also side with having content even if it’s not as exciting as the main story. Additionally, I enjoy collecting stuff so it was fine for me.
Score: 8.2/10 Spent over one hundred hours in the game. Great game. Great visuals despite its age.
Details: Played on PC for about twenty eight hours.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is an action, role playing game released back in 2011. The Enhanced Edition was released in 2012.
As I played through the game, it was clear that the developers tried to create something many games try to: they tried to create a large, complex story that gave the player choices with real consequences. They also tried to make it so that there were no correct choices. Whatever you choose, there will be consequences both good and bad. Consequences will not be what you expect them to be. In this regard, the Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is a resounding success and wonderful adventure.
That’s not to say there aren’t flaws. The primary flaw is unfortunately related to this games greatest accomplishment: its story. There is just so much story and the Witcher 2 does not spoon feed you its lore or its story. It instead throws you into the deep end head first. So many names and countries come your way that it is easy to get lost and to feel apathetic to everything going on. You really have to try to care and remember what things are and — if you do — you will be rewarded with a deep story and a detail oriented world. I did not play the first Witcher game, but I imagine that would have also helped in immersing myself in this world. There are also a series of books the game is based off of if you want even more immersion.
With that said, the story is pretty great. It’s all very Shakespearean/Lord of the Rings-y/Game of Thrones-esque with all the blood, guts, nudity, and sex you’d imagine. There are numerous choices which branch out in meaningful and distinct ways. One decision in particular during the first act/chapter drastically changes the whole story for the rest of the game. To truly get the full experience from this game, you would have to play through at least twice so as to make both decisions and see how they play out.
It’s an impressive and daring way to design a game. Most games of this genre often have choices in them, but build into the game a canonical story line. This is sometimes called the “true,” the “complete,” or the “perfect” story line which the player only achieves if he makes the “right” choices and completes all the necessary quests provided in the game. The Witcher 2 does away with that by creating a story line where bad and good things happen regardless of the choices you make. There is no right choice in this game, no “perfect” course of events and that is an amazing things. When I played this game I played it a little like real life; I made my choices to the best of my ability and I lived with the consequences. Some players might play the game twice so that they can see everything, but I did not. I treated my choices and this story with respect because the game treats the gamer with respect. There is no definitive right or wrong in the world of Witcher 2 and no matter what you choose, things often don’t turn out the way you expect.
Also worth mentioning is that this isn’t an open world game. This is a linear story and you travel to new locations as you progress through this story with no option to return to prior locations. There is some element of exploration, but it is very minor.
As for gameplay, the Witcher 2 is an action RPG somewhat reminiscent of Dark Souls/Bloodborne. You run around, swing your sword, do a dodge role, cast magic, lay traps and throw bombs. It’s all very fun and maybe a little simplistic. There is certainly some difficulty involved and the player is expected to treat the combat like they would treat the story: with respect. With that said, all I really did was hit the dodge button, roll around, attack, rinse and repeat. The gameplay could use some tweaking.
The graphics and art direction are amazing. Easily the best part of this game. It is a very detailed, gorgeous world and pleasure to look at. The only thing that bothered my were the shadows. I thought something was wrong when I saw them but, after searching the internet, it turns out they were intended to look that way. They look kind of cross-stitched at times. I mostly forgot about it as I progressed through the game.
The music is wonderful. Large orchestral pieces as expected of the fantasy genre. The more action-y parts were well scored, too.
Score: 8/10 Great game. Hyped me up for The Witched 3: Wild Hunt. I will probably get Witcher 3 sometime in the future, after the two expansions are released.
Details: Played on the PC for at least a hundred hours.
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls is an expansion to the action role-playing game Diablo 3 which was released years ago. Diablo 3 had much controversy and in the time since Reaper of Souls was released, the general consensus on the internet is that Reaper of Souls fixes everything wrong with Diablo 3.
I’ve played a substantial amount of time on the game and my conclusion is this: it’s not worth more than $20. Currently prices are from $25 to $40, which means I don’t think it’s worth purchasing or playing.
If you need an explanation why then read on.
The expansion doesn’t add all that many changes. There’s a higher level cap for heroes. There’s a new Act for the story campaign. There’s a new hero, the Crusader (my personal favorite).
The biggest change is the inclusion of bounties and Nephalem Rifts, which fundamentally changes the endgame. I will try to explain why…
Diablo 2, the predecessor of Diablo 3, was a much beloved game that fans spent hours playing. The main attraction of the game was the constant grind of redoing quests from the story campaign in hopes of finding better equipment and items in hopes of becoming more powerful. Like in most role playing video games, when you kill an enemy, they drop items (swords, armor, etc.) which can be equipped by the player. Thus, players were encouraged to kill as many enemies as possible in hopes they would drop powerful items. It’s a mentality similar to the elderly who are addicted to slot machines. Keep doing this repetitive task and maybe you’ll get a reward. Like slot machines, I think most fans will agree they loved Diablo 2. Collecting all these powerful weapons and armors also gave players a sense of earned progression.
Diablo 3’s biggest problem was that the method used to determine whether or not loot would drop was made much more stringent. They lowered the chance powerful items would drop so that most players were stuck with crappy items, if that. It was like playing a slot machine that never won, not even small prizes. Furthermore, the developers of the game exacerbated the situation by creating the auction house; a place where players could sell their items to other players for real money. This made Diablo 3 feel more like a game of Candy Crush versus a game that rewards time and effort. Why would anyone whose not rich purchase and waste time on this game if all you needed to do was spend money to be powerful? The answer was, you wouldn’t. You’d either focus on making more money in real life or play another game.
And that’s what a lot of people did. Since most people didn’t have money/time to burn, most people hated this. Accordingly, the developers of the game have spent all their waking moments trying to fix a game that is arguably broken.
Reaper of Souls is another attempt at that. They’ve removed the auction house and bound the most powerful items to the player that finds and equips that item, thus forcing players to earn their progression as they used to and removing the possibility of “pay[ing] to win.” They’ve increased the drop rates of powerful items so that your playing of the game is positively reinforced more often.
They’ve also created bounty quests and Nephalem rift quests. After you finish the story campaign, you can switch over to Adventure Mode. Here, you do random quests (“kill x and y”) and collect items which let you open rifts. Rifts are higher level areas where you need to clear (“kill x and y again”) and get an item where you can open greater rifts. Greater rifts are a higher level that scales with how powerful your character is. Each higher level yields a higher chance of more powerful items. You can also increase the difficulty in the options menu. The longevity of the game depends on how many times you can endure grinding out dungeons before you tire of the gameplay.
As you can tell, it’s a repetitive, uninspired system. However, it’s what fans want. At least it’s what fans wanted before they left the game in droves. At the present time, barely anyone plays Diablo 3 now.
Score: 4/10 A boring game that mainly appeals to those with addictive personalities. Reaper of Souls doesn’t last long and isn’t worth it’s purchase price. Avoid this game.
On a side note, in order to play this game, a constant internet connection is required. This wasn’t the case with prior games in the franchise and, in my opinion, is a depressing step down. Clearly, Blizzard Entertainment is worried about piracy and this is one way to stop it. However, Valve’s Steam platform has already introduced a way to protect intellectual property without requiring a mandatory, constant internet connection. That Blizzard has not adopted a similar method shows how primitive and slow the company is. With the money grubbing nature of the auction house and the necessity of a constant internet connection (and this is not even going into the micro-transaction laced Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm), it’s not hard to realize that the upper management of Blizzard Entertainment care more about making money than making a satisfactory product. It’s sad to see what was once a great company with a collection of beloved, unique franchises degenerate into something like Electronic Arts. This isn’t to say that Electronic Arts is a bad company, it’s to say that Blizzard Entertainment used to be better. Now, based on their decisions for new projects and game designs, I see little difference between the two. All that likely matters to them is the bottom line (i.e. money, $$$).
Muse Bank 