It's not often that I'm already quite familiar with something available on the Switch emulator (at least not these days). BACKGROUND:
Not only have I played this game all the way through once before (via the 3DS Virtual Console), I've also played its 3DS remake Metroid: Samus Returns multiple times. I know exactly what I'm getting into here. SUMMARY: Set after the events of the original Metroid on NES, Samus journeys to the planet SR388 to exterminate the last of the Metroids. Yes, the entire plot of this game is alien genocide. The ending is one of the most important events in the series timeline, as the baby Metroid Samus finds after the final battle plays a role in every Metroid game since. Like every mainline Metroid title, Return of Samus is a 2D action platformer where you explore a fully interconnected map. The goal is to kill 40-something Metroids (tracked with a counter at the bottom), all of which are scattered across the map. The usual tropes of having to find suit and weapon upgrades as well as backtracking are still very much present, though SR388's map layout makes progression more linear than what you'd normally expect from a typical Metroidvania. You need to kill a certain number of Metroids to unlock the next section of the map, which is blocked by lava. The exact number is not indicated at all, but you'll know that you've done the deed when an earthquake occurs, and you backtrack to find a previously impassable area has now been drained of lava. The counter at the bottom is already a reliable metric for progress in this game, but reaching milestones in your quest to rendering a creature extinct makes that progress more tangible. Most of the enemies are forgettable, with the only meaningful encounters being the Metroids themselves. They come in different varieties (Alpha, Gamma, Zeta, Omega, plus the normal Metroid forms), though the fights boil down to spamming missiles and dodging their few attack patterns. The same can be said of the Metroid Queen, who serves as the final boss. Overall, this Metroid hunt feels quite repetitive, but there is some satisfaction to mastering how to fight the different varieties and killing them without ever taking damage. Your arsenal is mostly the same as other Metroid titles, with familiar upgrades like the Ice Beam and Morph Ball Bombs, debuting upgrades that become series staples (Space Jump, Spring Ball, Spazer, Plasma Beam), and the truly unique Spider Ball (which lets you roll across walls and ceilings to reach secrets). You also have your usual missile upgrades and energy tanks, though you won't find as many of these as you would in something like Super Metroid. Interestingly, you only get one suit upgrade in the game (the Varia Suit), and it doesn't really do anything other than reduce damage. Like I said, progression is relatively more linear in this game due to the small world, so it's actually easier to navigate this game despite the lack of an in-game map. There are a few well-hidden upgrades along the way, but you'll easily run into most of the missiles and energy tanks you need without even trying. The only real problem you may run into while exploring is how many room layouts are reused in different sections, so that could possibly result in confusion for some players. Unlike in games like Super Metroid (where beam types stack and/or you can deactivate beams at will), your weapon can only fire one type of beam at a time. If you want a different beam type, you'll have to go back to where you found the upgrade and swap out. It's not worth the hassle since the game will give you what you need along the way. VERDICT: While I had a fine time replaying Return of Samus and finishing everything in one sitting, its small scale doesn't provide much opportunity for the exploration I enjoy from the series, and fighting the same set of bosses over and over got stale eventually. Still, I thought the fact that there was one clear objective throughout the game was neat, and it's hard to ignore how important the ending of this game was for the rest of the story. Also, I've played the remake, so while the original is a decent Metroidvania experience, Samus Returns on the 3DS improves on it in every single way. I would highly recommend playing the remake over the original in this case, as Samus Returns is a step up in pretty much every aspect (more engaging boss fights, more map to explore, more upgrades to find, the new melee counter mechanic, general quality of life improvements, obviously more improved presentation). That said, there's nothing inherently wrong with this game in my view, and it's a decently short game you can beat if you have a few hours to spare. - end -
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For the first time in a while, there's a Switch Online Game Trial for a game I haven't played yet. BACKGROUND:
I read about this game back when it came out and was so captivated by the absurd concept of its gameplay. Despite having a PS2 at the time, I never actually got a chance to play it. The only Katamari game I've touched in the series is the one on PSP, and I highly doubt I finished it. I was going to eventually buy this game on a sale, but I guess I don't have to thanks to Game Trials. PLOT: The strange but powerful King of All Cosmos loses his mind one day and somehow destroys every star in the night sky as well as other celestial bodies like the Moon. He then tasks his son the Prince to replace what he broke by going to Earth and rolling a katamari (a magic ball that objects can stick to and grow larger as a result) that will substitute as the celestial object. Off the bat, the story is absolutely bananas, and the game embraces that fully. The King says weird shit all the time (like speaking in different languages for the hell of it, commenting on what you do in the game, and berating your progress at the end), most of the cutscenes qualify as a fever dream, and they go all in on the absurdity of the katamari concept (the last few missions are exemplary of this). I was quite entertained by all the wackiness from start to finish. In between levels, you get a bit of a side story centered around a family (a mom, her son, and her daughter) making a trip to see the dad. We see the perspective of a normal person as the insanity in space ensues, as the son starts noticing that, indeed, the stars have gone missing. The mom is too preoccupied to really acknowledge anything weird, while the daughter apparently has ascended as a life form as she's able to somehow to perceive the Prince restoring some of the constellations. This story and the Prince's main mission converge at the end, and the result is pretty funny. PRESENTATION: Katamari as a series has always been bright and colorful, and the first game sets that stage with cartoony cutscenes and vibrant-looking gameplay. The 3D models of the latter are relatively low-poly and don't really sport any fine detail, but the colors and the weird animations come together to compensate and give the game a quirky, charming vibe. Plus, there are plenty of weird things happening in the otherwise normal-looking environments, which adds to the surreal nature of the game. Most of the stuff you'll run into in the game is stuff that one would consider grounded in reality, so the outlandish designs of the King of All Cosmos and his kin really stand out. The scale is also quite absurd, as the King is much larger than the Earth, while the Prince is no taller than a pen. The fact the Prince is so tiny becomes even funnier when you get to a point in the game where the katamari he's rolling starts to grow a significant size, and the visual of a tiny being rolling a ball that is larger than a tree is hilarious. The game even has a dedicated view on the Prince on the bottom right, and his movements and expressions are funny and charming (no pun intended). The music is as delightful as the visuals, with many of the tracks complementing the chill gameplay and the overall cheery, goofy vibe. I liked that most of the tracks had vocals, and I was surprised by the diversity of genres they covered (from jazz, electronic, various dance music, and more). Of course, I have to mention the iconic main theme of the game, which is catchy as hell. GAMEPLAY: Katamari Damacy is all about rolling a ball through various locations to pick up objects. The idea is to find objects smaller than the katamari, as those will stick to the ball and make it grow. As you pick up more objects, the ball grows, allowing you to gradually pick up larger objects. Rinse and repeat until the ball is as big as you can get it. You control the katamari simply by using both analog sticks, tilting both in the same direction to move in that direction and tilting them in the opposite direction to turn. It takes some getting used to, but there are controls like a quick turn and the ability to shift the ball using a single control stick to help you adjust your movement. You can even charge the ball up and move in a burst of speed, which can help with slopes. It's also possible to roll over small steps, though whether you get over is dependent on how large the katamari is relative to the ledge. Going for small objects is the key to making the katamari grow, though the object's shape can affect how the ball rolls. For example, rolling up an elongated object (like, say, a telephone pole) can cause the ball to become lopsided, making it roll weird. You'll have to take that into account when moving around. This doesn't really pose a major challenge, but I'm impressed that the game even factors that in when processing the ball's movements. Colliding into large objects can cause trouble, as a big impact can knock objects off of the katamari. Getting stuck between large objects does the same, and that can be frustrating since there's no reliable way to wiggle out. Moving objects larger than you are perhaps the most dangerous, since they can also knock you off course. Particularly, animals and humans can chase your katamari down, and you'll have to roll away or maneuver around them to prevent them from messing you up. Once you're in the groove, however, the absurdity escalates, and it's hilarious. You start out small, rolling up small objects like fruits or stationery, but eventually, you'll be able to roll up larger objects like signage, books, or small animals (who try to wiggle free in vain). Eventually, it gets to the point that you start rolling up people, trees, cars, buildings, and even entire land masses. It's so satisfying to go from not being able to pick up much to terrorizing entire cities by uprooting everything you see from the ground, and the fact that people scream in terror when you roll them up makes the entire process even more hysterical. Most of the main missions simply have you try to reach a specific size for the katamari within a given time limit. None of these are tough, and you'll often have time to spare by the time you hit the threshold. At this point, you can spend the rest of the time going for the largest size you can. When the level ends, the game records your final katamari size, and you're free to try again as much as you want if you're not satisfied. If you manage to get the katamari to a specific size larger than the goal in three specific levels, you can unlock Eternal mode, which lets you play the level freely without a time limit. This mode is fun since you're not bound by a time limit, and that allows you to try and shoot for the largest katamari possible. Unfortunately, it's only available for certain levels. There are other optional missions with alternate objectives. In some of them, the goal is to pick up as many of a specific object as possible before time expires. An example is a level where you try to pick up as many crabs as possible. You're still allowed to roll up other objects, which will actually help you roll up larger instances of the objective (in the earlier example, you'll need to have a large katamari to roll up a spider crab). At the end of these levels, the game counts how many of the specified object you've collected, and you will be rated accordingly. Another type of optional mission has no time limit, but challenges you to try and roll a single, specific object. In this one, the goal is to roll up the largest instance of that object you can find, so you'll definitely have to roll up other objects to do so. These levels are tricky in a fun way, because there are also tiny instances of the objective, and it is ridiculously easy to roll them up accidentally (thus ending the level). The game even fucks with you and counts representations of the objective (e.g. a teddy bear totally counts in the "roll up a large bear" level). Here, you're rated by the size of the object you've rolled up, and boy, does the King of All Cosmos shit on you if you roll up a small instance of the object. Lastly, there's one challenge mission where the size of your katamari isn't tracked, and you keep going until you think you've reached the goal size (at which point you stop the mission manually). Your ability to judge sizes is really tested in this mission, as you have to use your best judgment to determine if you're within the ballpark of the goal. This one was really fun, and I actually got somewhat close on my first try. I enjoyed all of the levels the game had to offer, but it is noticeable that they reuse the same handful of environments for each mission. I would have loved to see more varied locales, but I didn't mind some of the revisits since later missions have larger goal sizes for the katamari. This being the case allowed me to enjoy seeing larger and larger katamari wrecking the same area. I mentioned how satisfying it is to eventually pick up colossal objects in the katamari, and both the final level and the end credits give you that feeling in spades. The former gives you all the time in the world to create the largest katamari you can, while the latter turns up the absurdity to 11 and has you roll a katamari that's visible from space. I don't want to spoil much about the end credits if you somehow haven't seen it yet, but it's a really fun idea. Most of the levels have an optional collectible you can find, though you have to be larger than the gift box to collect it (and you have to make sure it isn't knocked off at any point before the level ends). Collecting it unlocks a cosmetic item that you can have your Prince wear, which is neat but ultimately inconsequential. There's also a two-player mode I haven't tried where you compete against another player to create the larger katamari. That might be fun, since I'm told it's possible to roll up the opponent's katamari. VERDICT: I absolutely adore Katamari Damacy. Everything from the absurd, satisfying gameplay, the lovely visuals and music, and the goofy humor came together for one of the most unique and enjoyable games I've ever played. The optional missions are pretty engaging twists on the normal levels, and there's decent replay value overall since it's fun to try for a higher score. After my time here, I'm itching for more Katamari, so I'm going to have to find a way to play the rest of the series. This is a definite recommendation for me across the board. Not only would I argue that this game is an "essential" gaming title (it's an unapologetically weird game that managed to become super popular), I think anyone regardless of gaming experience or genre inclinations can enjoy what this game has to offer. Go play it. Here's the game on Steam. I don't know how this will control on keyboard and mouse, so I would recommend getting a controller just in case: Katamari Damacy REROLL on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I'm doing my best to explore graphic novels outside of the publishers I'm familiar with. BACKGROUND:
I've never heard about this book at all. I just saw it was free on the digital store and added it to my library. SUMMARY: This story is set in New Orleans, right as Hurricane Katrina is about to hit. We see that the prisoners of Orleans Parish Prison aren't being evacuated under the pretense that the facility will weather the storm. In St. Bernard Parish, however, the local juvenile detention center does not share the same confidence, and has their delinquents transferred to the prison for their protection. We follow the perspective of two characters at the start. Russell Gates is a longtime inmate of the Orleans Parish Prison who's found contentment in incarceration, though he is close to being let out. On the juvie side, a young man named Sydquan has to remain in detention no thanks to the courts closing before the hurricane hit. It seems like he's in for a crime he didn't commit, though some of the delinquents in with him want revenge for it. Things get interesting early on, when the delinquents are transferred to the prison. As it turns out, Russell and Syd are father and son, although the relationship is far from smooth given Russell appeared to be absent as a dad. The two seemed content to stay out of each other's way until Russell notices that some of Syd's fellow delinquents are looking to kill Syd. Russell spends most of the book trying to keep Syd safe, though his efforts are often thwarted by the guards (some of whom are racist assholes). As the storm raged on outside, it became painfully clear that the prison wasn't equipped to handle a hurricane as powerful as Katrina. Throughout the book, the flood trickled into the prison, and eventually, the destruction becomes too much to deal with as pipes burst and the water rose to chest level. The guards try to do damage control at first, moving both the prisoners and delinquents to and fro, but it's evident that they don't really give a shit, abandoning ship when the storm gets worse. Once the hurricane starts wrecking the place, order breaks down as everyone scrambles to survive. Despite the rift in their relationship, Russell tries to keep Syd safe in the chaos, as the people trying to kill Syd are attempting to take advantage of the guards abandoning their post. Eventually, Syd resolves to break out of prison to see if his family is safe (it's important to note that he has an infant son, shown at the beginning), and Russell eventually goes to help him despite the risk to his own prison sentence. Throughout this last stretch of the story, Syd and Russell reconnect. Russell acknowledges his absenteeism head-on and tries to make amends by putting himself at risk for his son's sake. Along the way, Russell learns of Syd's family situation, and even figures out the truth behind why Syd was even in juvie. Syd is understandably not interested in meeting his father halfway at first, but he comes around when he sees Russell's selflessness, which leads to a heartwarming ending. I was pretty aware of the scope of Hurricane Katrina's destruction even at the time, but I've never really thought about how bad the prisoners must have had it given they had to be stuck there. The chaos and destruction throughout New Orleans as a whole was shown in full in this comic, and it really hammers home how devastating the hurricane was. Russell and Syd's story is equally engaging, as they both have compelling motivations. Russell knows he's screwed up and does everything he can to try and make up for something he knows he can't really make up for, while Syd is willing to risk life and limb to ensure that his own family is safe (a contrast to his own upbringing). It's really nice to see them eventually make peace with one another by the end after they come to understand each other during their whole ordeal. The art is pretty simple, opting for muted colors, subtle shading, and mostly thin linework. There's also not a lot of intricate detail, but everything looks decent, nonetheless. VERDICT: When the River Rises had both a compelling father and son story and showcased a perspective on the Hurricane Katrina disaster I never considered at the time. Both these elements made the book an engaging read, and I enjoyed seeing Russell and Syd reconnect over time as I took in the sobering truth of what the prisoners of Orleans Parish Prison likely had to deal with in 2005. I think this is a book worth reading largely because it shows something most people don't think about or have ill-informed perspectives on: that the incarcerated are people, too. I'm not one to cast aspersions on people I don't know, but I don't feel like it's unreasonable to say that most prisoners don't deserve to go through what the inmates shown in this graphic novel had to endure. Now, I don't know how much of this book is based on real-life events, but I nevertheless believe that there's merit in considering the points of view of the main characters in this book and trying to empathize with their situation. - end - The Switch Online emulators have given me a lot of opportunities to explore an era of games I wasn't around for, and this specific game is an excellent example of one major opportunity. BACKGROUND: Though I have made great efforts to explore games from before my time, I obviously can't cover all my bases. One of my blind spots is the Game & Watch series, which is a brand of handheld LCD devices with a single, very simple game you can play. These were most prominent during the '80s, and while I've handled similar devices in my childhood, I've never encountered these toys in my life. The games are represented in Smash Bros., however, so there's no way I don't know what Game & Watch is. What I didn't know, however, is that Nintendo ended up publishing collections of these old games. I was rather excited to learn that Game & Watch Gallery was a thing, because that meant I can finally see what these old-ass games were like. I'd have loved to play them on the original hardware, but I'm happy to settle for this until an opportunity presents itself. SUMMARY: As established, Game & Watch Gallery 3 collects a bunch of Game & Watch games originally conceived for the old handheld devices. I'll talk about each and every single game later on, but for now, I'll discuss what makes the collection itself notable. Every game on this allows you to play an Easy or Hard version (the latter is simply faster than the former), but some of the games also have a Modern version that not only redoes the original with new graphics, but also adds extra gameplay mechanics. Across the board, I found the Modern versions much smoother to play, which I suppose is to be expected. Your high score in every game is tracked per difficulty, and it's not just for bragging rights. Hitting point milestones in each game gives you a star for that game at your chosen difficulty, and you can get a maximum of five stars. Barring exceptions, you're awarded a star every 200 points, so if you want full marks, you'll have to get 1000. This is easier to do in some games than in others, and in my experience, getting 1000 for the Modern versions is easier than with the Classic versions. Getting maximum five stars on Hard unlocks Star Mode for the respective game, which is much more difficult than Hard. There are no extra rewards for scoring high on this mode and only serves as a major challenge for players, which is fine. All the stars you collect across the games is totaled in Gallery Mode. Getting a specific number of stars unlocks all sorts of bonus content, like a music player feature and a museum where you can get summaries of some of the original Game & Watch games. The most significant reward comes in the form of more Game & Watch games you can play. The original selection of five games at the start practically doubles, as six more games can be unlocked by getting high scores in the available games and acquiring as many stars as you can. While the grind for high scores can become a slog, unlocking more stuff to play is worth the effort (at least for me). Now, let's talk about each of the eleven games in this collection. Egg The classic version of this has you control a wolf collecting eggs from chickens by moving the basket in four directions. If you drop an egg three times, you're out. The modern version switches things up by having you play as Yoshi, and instead of eggs, he's eating cookies. In addition, the modern version awards more points for eating cookies at the last possible second. There's also the added reward of charging a meter that lets Yoshi lay eggs that can hatch into mini-Yoshis that secure one of the lanes and eat all the cookies dropping down for a limited time. I enjoyed this one just fine. Having only a split second to figure out which incoming object to catch first in an avalanche of stuff coming at you is the fun kind of hectic. The controls have a bit of a learning curve, however, as the diagonal movement inputs are disorienting at first. Greenhouse Your character moves up and down the greenhouse to defend the plants from incoming spiders and grubs with some bug spray. If the critters get to the plants three times, it's game over. Like Egg, the modern version of Greenhouse has you play as Yoshi. The goal is the same, but you're defending the plants from Shy Guys and monkeys instead. They introduce a melon power-up that gives Yoshi fire breath if you collect ten of them, though it only really sees use when you burn up the ropes the monkeys climb down. This offers the same kind of twitch-based gameplay that Egg does, but I enjoyed this more given its more straightforward controls. Fun fact: this is where Mr. Game & Watch's jab in Smash comes from. Mario Bros. Not to be confused with the arcade game of the same name, Mario and Luigi instead work together to pass packages through conveyor belts onto a delivery truck. You control one brother with the left buttons and the other with the right buttons, and it's a bit of multitasking to keep both on the right lane so packages don't fall off. The modern version plays identically, though it obviously looks better. Having to divide your attention between Mario and Luigi is quite tricky, which made this game difficult, but satisfying. I wouldn't recommend going for 1000 points on this one, though. Turtle Bridge Your goal here is to hop from one cliff to another to deliver some sort of package to a person waiting on the other side, using only turtles to cross the body of water. The turtles will occasionally dive underwater to eat fish, so you'll want to time your jumps so you don't fall in. The recipient on the right also disappears at regular intervals, so you'll have to take that into account as well. In the modern version, you play as Toad, and you deliver items passed onto you by Mario to Peach, and instead of turtles, you're jumping on birds to cross a chasm. It's not much different apart from the notable addition of platforms in the middle. Said platform starts out as a secure place you can stand on, but the longer you survive, the platform changes to a timed platform that disappears and reappears after a few seconds. There are also clouds above the middle platform that you can use to grab coins for bonus points. Lastly, the indicators for when the birds will dive down are balloons they want to pop, and the color of the balloon tells you how quickly the birds dive. I found the classic version a tad slow and clunky and highly prefer the smoother experience of the modern version. Fun fact: Mr. Game & Watch's back-air is from this game. The animation where he jumps up and extends the box to pass it to the dude standing on the cliff is almost exactly the same as the move in Smash. Donkey Kong Jr. Unlike the Game & Watch Mario Bros., this game actually shares similarities with its arcade namesake. The goal is the same: rescue DK by climbing towards the cage and unlocking it. Differences include the need to grab a key before rescuing DK, the fixed layout of the stage, and the ability to drop a fruit to take out enemies. There's also no fall damage, which was what drove me up the wall about the NES version of both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. As for the modern versions, little else changes besides the graphics and changes to the original enemies (you encounter Goombas here, for instance). Once again, I prefer the modern version because it plays smoother than the original. Fire You control two firefighters holding a trampoline/safety net, and your job is to bounce people jumping out the burning building into the ambulance on the other side. This one is really fun, especially when it becomes a juggling game and you have to bounce multiple people across. Two fun facts for this one: the version of Fire in this collection is actually mirrored horizontally (the original handheld has the building on the left), and the trampoline is what Mr. Game & Watch uses as his up-b in Smash. Flagman There are two versions of Flagman you can play. The first is more or less Simon Says, and you have to repeat the number sequence the game shows you before time runs out. The other is more of a reflex game: press the indicated button as quickly as possible. It's nothing too complex, but the difficulty really ramps up for both games, as the patterns get longer and the time limit to press the button decreases respectively. Judge Here, you can either compete against the computer or a second player. The two characters hold hammers, and once the timer hits zero, a number is displayed above the characters. If you have a higher number and whack the opponent, you get points. If your number is lower and you whack the opponent, the opponent can retaliate, and they get points. Alternatively, you can duck out to avoid a potentially high attack. Successfully dodging when the opponent has a higher number awards points, while doing so for a lower number gives the opponent points. First player to reach 99 points is the overall winner. This game is pretty much just a gamble, and I wager it's more fun if you're going against a friend. Otherwise, it's a game that gets boring as you press one button every few seconds hoping you win. Mr. Game & Watch's most iconic moves in Smash is taken straight from this game, as his side-b has him use the Judge hammer. The number matters there, too, as hitting the maximum 9 is a kill move in most situations. Lion In this game, there's a cage in the middle housing two lions, and they're trying to get out. You control two tamers simultaneously (not unlike the Mario Bros. game in this collection), and you have to position them in front of the lions to prevent them from lunging forward and escaping. As you may expect, the lions move faster over time, but what makes them extra tough is how the lions can fake you out, and the fact that you can't move the two tamers simultaneously. I enjoyed this game as much as Mario Bros. for largely the same reason, though I found it easier to keep track of the action here. Grinding for 1000 points here is a terrible idea, however, as the action is much too slow. Here's another game represented in Mr. Game & Watch's moveset, as the chair the tamers hold in front of the lions to keep them at bay appears as the fighter's forward-tilt. Spitball Sparky This one is kind of a Breakout/Arkanoid clone, as your character blows air to launch the ball towards breakable blocks. I typically like Breakout-style games, but this one was hard to control for me. The combination of the finicky behavior of the ball and the trademark limited animations of Game & Watch titles made it difficult for me to aim the ball at the blocks. I wish this game was one of the ones given a modern version here. Yes, there's a Smash reference here, too. The action of the character blowing air upwards appears as Mr. Game & Watch's up-air. Donkey Kong II Serving as a sort of sequel to the Donkey Kong Jr. game I described previously, the goal is the same here: have Donkey Kong Jr. rescue DK by delivering a key to the cage at the top of the stage. The main difference apart from the unique stage layout is the fact that you have to deliver multiple keys to free DK. I have no strong preference between the first game and this one, but I like how more involved this one is since it's a multi-phase effort to accomplish the objective. You'll notice in these descriptions that nearly all of these Game & Watch games follow a specific design: do one task over and over that increasingly gets more hectic as the game throws more shit at you to think about. It's a far cry from the complex offerings we have today, but during those olden days, (mostly) single-screen games with limited controls and simple goals were all the rage. While I have my preferences in this collection, it's no secret that these games are designed for killing time in short bursts than they are for dedicated game sessions. Still, I do appreciate the simplicity of yesteryear.
VERDICT: As far as collections go, I liked Game & Watch Gallery 3's approach of rewarding you with more content when you do well in the unlocked games. It made pushing for high scores truly worthwhile, and the bonuses like the retrospective of Game & Watch titles was neat from a historical standpoint. The games themselves are really simple and aren't meant to be played for too long, but a lot of them are fun for what they are, and I found the same level of fulfillment I often do when I check out older games. Hopefully they add the other Game & Watch Gallery games so I can see more Game & Watch games. I'm willing to argue that the games in this collection are, in some way, "essential" titles worth checking out at least once. The original Game & Watch handhelds were Nintendo's very first foray into the video game industry, predating even their arcade releases. That historical significance alone merits trying these games, in my opinion. - end - The road to WrestleMania is heating up, and our next stop is Elimination Chamber. There are some exciting matches in here, so shall we talk about it?
Of the games my friend lent me during our last meetup, this was the most intriguing one. BACKGROUND:
At this point, I've gotten a good taste of mainline Monster Hunter games. The spinoffs, however, are far from my realm of knowledge, so I don't really know what I'm getting into with this game. I do know that it's a turn-based RPG, but nothing more than that. PLOT: In contrast to the mainline Monster Hunter games I've played, Stories emphasizes the narrative heavily. In this world, there exist skilled people called Riders who, instead of hunting monsters, learn to befriend them and use them as mounts to defend against threats. Your typical hunters still exist in this world, and the cultural clash between the two groups is explored multiple times throughout the story. Your character is the grandchild of Red, the legendary Rider of Mahana Village who traveled the world alongside Guardian Ratha, an equally legendary Rathalos. You yourself are still a rookie Rider, and you spend the first part of the game learning the ropes. The plot kicks off after strange lights cause monsters all over to go berserk, prompting investigations from both hunters and Riders. A fateful encounter with a mysterious Wyverian girl leads to an adventure across the world involving an egg she gives you. This egg is said to contain Razewing Ratha, a Rathalos with strange wings that is prophesized to bring ruin to the world, and you and your new friends must go from region to region in search of answers. Joining you on your quest is a weird-looking Felyne named Navirou, who I think is a prominent character in the first game. As your character is a silent protagonist, he does of a lot of talking on your behalf, which can be grating to me at times. Besides, your character emotes plenty anyway, so I'd have preferred if they could talk. As you explore the world and try to learn more about Razewing Ratha's prophecy, you'll come into conflict with hunters who are hellbent on capturing your new buddy, believing it to be the reason for all the chaos. You and your allies oppose these people, believing that the bond between Rider and Monstie (a tamed monster) is stronger than any prophecy. It's an interesting contrast of world views, but over time, it's made clear that both sides have the same goal: maintaining ecological balance. The fact that hunters hold some responsibility in the world of Monster Hunter in making sure nature's balance isn't upset is a theme that's only really implied in the main games, so it's cool to see that be a main focus of this title. You'll meet other characters on your journey who have different points of view on the overall situation, from highly skeptical hunters, Riders who are cynical towards humans, and more. Some characters get an arc where they change their tune, but for the most part, what you see is what you get. Nevertheless, the diversity of perspectives across the characters is nice to see, and many of them have notable personalities. The big reveal of the truth behind all the chaos is pretty predictable, though I liked the added wrinkle of people being assholes in this world. In mainline Monster Hunter, the conflict is exclusively towards monsters that pose a major threat, so it's interesting to see factions of people who are self-serving and don't care about the welfare of others. I can't say their motivations are compelling, though. I was concerned that this game would require a lot of prerequisite knowledge on the previous installment, but thankfully, they only reference the first Stories game in ways that you don't need to have played it. PRESENTATION: Whereas modern Monster Hunter goes for the realistic style for its visuals, Stories opts to go in the other direction with a pretty cel-shaded aesthetic and anime-esque characters. It's cool to see monsters in this different style, especially since their colors stand out more. The animations are pretty smooth, and the visual effects for the attacks are quite flashy. A lot of the more powerful attacks are quite over-the-top (like Dragon Ball levels of insane explosions), which I found hilarious. Though I found myself missing the monster themes as well as Proof of a Hero from the main games, the music here is still quite good. The main theme has an uplifting vibe to it, the battle themes are upbeat, and tracks that play in villages or while exploring are pretty chill. Most characters (including nameless NPCs) get some form of voice acting, and across the board, I'd say their voices are solid. Out of all of them, it felt like Navirou talked the most, which added to me eventually getting sick of the character. GAMEPLAY: Monster Hunter Stories 2 is, as mentioned, a turn-based RPG, which is a complete departure from the real-time action of mainline Monster Hunter. I'll get into what makes this different from other turn-based RPGs, but I'll also discuss how much of the mainline experience lives on despite the genre shift. Most battles in this game have you take on monsters alongside your Monstie buddy. For the most part, you and your Monstie act independently (with the latter acting on its own), but there are ways to coordinate actions. Combat in this game heavily features a rock-paper-scissors system based on the type of attacks monsters do. They can either do power attacks, technical attacks, or speed attacks, with power beating technical, technical beating speed, and speed beating power. Your character can freely choose at the start of a turn which one of the three they can use to try and counter the opponent, while the enemy often sticks to one type. An enemy monster can change their attack type when they become enraged or via some other status change, which works like mainline Monster Hunter games. I really liked this added wrinkle, as it encourages paying attention to monster behavior. Party members targeted by a monster with a single-target attack go to a head-to-head where the rock-paper-scissors action takes place. Winners get to deal the bulk of the damage, and ties result in both sides taking damage. If you and your Monstie go for the same attack type and end up with an advantage, you perform a Double Attack that not only does major damage, but also completely negates an enemy's turn. It's a simple system, but figuring out a monster's favored attack type and countering it for a whole battle feels satisfying. Successfully landing attacks charges up your Kinship gauge, with the rate going up when winning at head-to-heads or landing Double Attacks. Either you or your active Monstie can spend the gauge to cast skills with all sorts of effects or bonuses, or you can wait for it to become full so you can use the Ride command. Doing so heals a significant portion of your health and your Monstie's health, and while riding the Monstie, you can use a powerful Kinship attack that does insane damage. Depending on the monster, you can target monster parts, just like in the main games. Each monster part has a health bar, and if you get that bar to zero by attacking, you break the part. The benefits range from disabling certain attacks or skills to even forcing a knockdown state where every hit for one turn is a guaranteed critical hit. I thought it was really cool that they found a way to implement this system into the turn-based RPG combat, though I thought it was a missed opportunity to display part damage on the monster model. Monster Hunter is renowned for its weapon diversity, though you can only use six here: Sword & Shield, Great Sword, Hammer, Hunting Horn, Gunlance, and Bow. Each one has a gimmick based on how it works in the main series (e.g. Gunlance has shell ammo, Hunting Horn has melodies, etc.), exclusive skills, and most importantly, damage type (another thing carried over from the main series). That means Sword & Shield and Great Sword have severing damage, Hunting Horn and Hammer have blunt damage, and Bow and Gunlance have piercing damage. The damage type matters when targeting monster parts, as some types are more effective than others. Again, it's cool that they found a way to make this work in this battle system. Defeating monsters rewards you with drops just like mainline Monster Hunter, and as you may guess, you turn them over to the Forge to craft weapons and armor. You can craft all sorts of weapons with varying elemental damage, buffs like the ability to inflict status, and critical hit rate. Armor is much simpler, as you craft a full set off the bat instead of having to make individual pieces, and armor skills are active out of the box. You'll unfortunately have to grind a bit to craft and/or fully upgrade your gear, but if it's any consolation, there's a fast forward button that makes battles go quicker. You can also pick up talismans which give you an additional armor skill, but acquiring them is as random as it was in old school Monster Hunter (from mineral deposits). There are alternate ways to acquire these, thankfully, and for what it's worth, optimizing armor skills in general isn't a hard requirement for success. Although you can only have one Monstie fighting alongside you in a battle, you can travel with a maximum of six and switch once at the beginning of each turn. Monsties often act on their own, though you're able to order them to use special skills instead. It's quite limited, but it's enough to deal with issues like Monsties going for a disadvantageous attack type. How do you add more monsters to your party? By visiting monster dens and stealing eggs from the nest, of course! Scattered all over the overworld are regular monster dens, rare monster dens (which have a higher chance of yielding high-quality eggs), and Everdens (special dens with a large map and special collectibles called Bottle Caps), and you can find one nest at any of these locations. Alternatively, you can force monsters you fight in the wild to retreat by fulfilling certain conditions. Doing so spawns a special monster den nearby that rewards you with an egg of that monster. This is a more reliable way of getting a monster you want, as in the other dens, what you get is random (though you can tell what monster it is based on the eggshell pattern). There's an impressive roster of monsters available in this game, with representatives from across the generations as well as a healthy serving of variants and subspecies (including Deviants). Since I've played MHGU, I'm actually familiar with most of the monsters here, but there are still a number I've yet to encounter in a mainline game, like Qurupeco, Nergigante, and a whole bunch of subspecies (like Glacial Agnaktor). I'm quite happy at how signature moves and mannerisms of the monsters were adapted to this genre, because I'd often see animations that are one-to-one with what they do in the main games. Every monster has a favored attack type they often go for in battle, and depending on the monster, they can have one of the five elements as their damage type. They also have what are called Gene Slots, where Genes that either grant buffs or allow the monster to use specific skills in battle. These are often random when you get eggs, but a mechanic called Rite of Channeling allows you to transfer genes from one monster to another to give them new skills or buffs. There's also a whole "bingo" mechanic that grants damage bonuses when you line up genes of the same color or the same symbol on the grid, which was a tad too much for me. You can also spend a turn to use items like potions and such. Most of the stuff I used involved healing or curing status ailments, but you can use Monster Hunter staples like Sonic Bombs or Flash Bombs to counter specific behaviors. In addition, you can even use traps to give yourself an opening, as well as Barrel Bombs or Throwing Knives to deal bonus damage. I really liked how the counterplay of mainline Monster Hunter was preserved through these items in some form, and I felt a similar amount of satisfaction in using these items here that I do on normal hunts. Failure isn't as punishing here, as if either you or your Monstie hits zero HP, you lose a heart. You have three hearts at a given time, and if you strike out, you're thrown back to the last place you saved at. When this happens, it's quite inconvenient, but thanks to fast travel points and various ways to restore hearts, it's not too much trouble. That said, challenging fights that feature multi-target attacks where both you and your Monstie eat shit can lead to a fair share of frustration. I don't know what triggers them, but there are occasionally quick-time events involving monsters clashing. You do bonus damage when you succeed. Exploration isn't fully open world, as each region of the world is separate (but those regions are still quite vast). Here, you can find monsters roaming around (and fights can initiate when you run into them), gathering nodes where you can get materials for crafting or selling, and even treasure chests with goodies. On occasion, you'll encounter seemingly impassable areas like cliffs with vines, bodies of water, a rock barrier, and more. In these spots, some monsters can help you, as they might have field skills (equivalent to HMs in Pokémon) that can unlock the path forward. Thankfully, these field skills aren't required to get through the main campaign, as the areas locked behind these barriers are for optional bonuses. Throughout the campaign, the game will have you be accompanied by a character based on the current story chapter. These AI-controlled characters fight alongside you in battle, and while they don't tip the scales heavily in your favor, they can provide meaningful support and take aggro. Your companion is fixed until the end of each specific story chapter, but at the end, you can freely choose your favorite companion to join you for your post-game adventures. Other things you can do include taking on subquests acquired from the various towns for rewards like materials, items, and crafting recipes, using Prayer Pots for buffs that last for a specific period of time, sending reserve Monsties on expeditions for bonus materials, and encountering Royal Monsters for a chance to tame monsters way above your level. When you beat the campaign, there's a whole set of new subquests you can take on to fight Deviants, plus an exclusive area with high-rank monsters, whose drops allow you to craft endgame gear. There's a multiplayer aspect to this game that I never got to try, with a co-op mode that replaces the AI companion with a real-life player, as well as the ability to take on others in PvP combat. Rider versus Rider combat works slightly differently, as Riders can't target one another, and victory is decided by the first player to force three strikes. You at least get a taste of this style of combat in the main story as you fight rogue Riders at certain points. VERDICT: I thought the way Monster Hunter Stories 2 adapted elements I recognized from the main series to a turn-based format was really clever, from emphasizing part damage, monster behavior changing mid-battle, and even specific counterplay like the use of certain items. I also quite enjoyed the game's sizable monster roster, and for how basic the story is, I liked exploring the culture clash between hunters and Riders, as well as the added emphasis on maintaining nature's balance. I don't find the grind to optimize gear and power up Monsties as fun here, however, though that may just be because I prefer to challenge myself with games like these to beat the game while doing as little grinding as possible. I still think starting with the mainline games is the best course of action if you want to experience Monster Hunter for the first time, so I'd wait until you've tried at least one of those games before you try this one. I think one would be able to more appreciate this alternate take on the series when there's that perspective of having experienced the traditional gameplay. This game is available on Steam: Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - I know we have a huge MCU release today, but between James Gunn's reveal of the new DCU slate at the beginning of the month and the trailer for The Flash movie earlier this week, I just have to read something DC to express my renewed enthusiasm for the future of DC movies and TV. ![]() Publisher: DC Comics | Writers: Paul Kuppenberg, John Byrne, E. Nelson Bridwell, Denny O'Neil, Cary Bates, Marv Wolfman, Elliot S. Maggin | Artists: Howard Chaykin, Mike Mignola, Rick Bryant, Murphy Anderson, Frank Chiaramonte, Dick Giordano, Gray Morrow, Michael Kaluta, Dave Cockrum, Dick Dillin, Joe Giella, Marshall Rogers, Frank Springer, Carlos Garzon | Contains: Material from Superman (1939-2011) #233, #236, #238, #240, #248, #257, #266; Material from Superman Family (1974-1982) #182; World of Krypton (1979) #1-3; World of Krypton (1987-1988) #1-4 BACKGROUND:
Despite not being huge on Superman as a kid (having only come around to the character as I grew up), I know a good deal about his backstory and his lore. This book appears to be centered around his home planet prior its destruction, and while I know plenty about that already, I'm excited to see if I can learn something new here. SUMMARY: This collection is built around comics that showcased the planet Krypton before Kal-El was even born. Structurally, the book is split up into three parts: a compilation of The Fabulous World of Krypton stories (which supplemented some of the '70s Superman comics), and both the 1979 and 1988 incarnations of the World of Krypton limited series. The Fabulous World of Krypton stories aren't really connected by an overarching narrative and are instead assorted tales from Krypton's past. The early standout here, is, of course, the space flight project that led to Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van (Superman's parents) meeting, but most have little to do with Superman himself. The other stories include one about another scientist who learned of Krypton's imminent doom early but had his warnings unheeded (isn't that close to real life?), a tale about prehistoric Krypton and how a fateful meeting between two travelers led to its name (it's kind of stupid, if you ask me), the story of an overzealous scientist whose tampering with time travel leads to his own downfall, a rather dark story of how a war in Krypton led to a generation of children being deformed due to the fallout of a bomb, and how society outcast them completely for being different, an interesting one about two Kryptonian siblings happening upon alien tech, and Clark Kent telling the story of The Stranger, a figure in Kryptonian history who, through his sacrifice, helped stop another war. I didn't really expect any other DC tie-ins coming into this collection, so the most notable story for me in this section of the book was how Tomar-Re, a member of the Green Lantern Corps, was actually instrumental in delaying Krypton's catastrophe long enough for Kal-El to escape. I don't think I've ever seen the notion that the Guardians of the Universe were aware of Krypton's doom prior to it happening brought up anywhere else, so it's cool to see that it was addressed at least once. The first World of Krypton series puts the spotlight on Jor-El, and we get to see his progression from young genius to perhaps Krypton's greatest scientific mind. The experiment that led to his meeting with Lara is retold here, plus we see his hand in helping rehabilitate criminals (which led to his discovery of the Phantom Zone, an important fixture of the DC Universe), his eventual marriage to Lara, and his relentless quest to save Krypton upon finding out about the planet's instability. We also get to see his final moments with his family, as he makes a last-ditch effort to save who would go on to become one of the greatest superheroes ever known. Jor-El really shines as a character throughout this series, as his desire to use his knowledge for the greater good is on full display for a lot of what he does here. His genius is also showcased well with all the inventions he comes up with and his clever use of them in certain situations, and while it's not fully fleshed out, his relationship with Lara is nice and wholesome. A lot of elements in Superman lore that we see in other comics are shown briefly here, like how General Zod ends up in the Phantom Zone, the origins of Krypto the Super-Dog, and Jor-El's perspective during Brainiac's attack on the capital city of Kandor. Weirdly enough, Kal-El as Superman is present for some of these events interacting with his parents (without giving away the truth), but it's not explained how he time traveled to that point. I'll have to find which comics explain why he's around. For the other World of Krypton series, the focus shifts completely to a forgotten era of Kryptonian history centered around the use of mindless clones for medical procedures. It turns out every Kryptonian gets a number of clones whose parts are used to regenerate damage or reverse aging, rendering pretty much everyone functionally immortal. This is seen as highly unethical by a portion of the population, and a particularly disturbing incident involving a clone causes these individuals to become violent, leading the Kandor of that time period to be destroyed. The war raged on for centuries until society managed to move past cloning technology, but the consequences were already set in stone. A lot of this story is told from the perspective of Van-L, son of a Kryptonian noble who was more concerned for himself and didn't care much for the sentiments of the anti-clone contingent. He witnessed the aforementioned disturbing incident firsthand, and he eventually goes on to fight against the terrorist faction responsible for Kandor's destruction. Hundreds of years later, he finds himself joining forces with former enemies to stop a plot to completely wipe out life on Krypton. Early on, we find that a young Jor-El is studying the story that's being told in this series. His studies are interrupted when his father calls him in to notify him that he's to become the father of a child in Krypton's gestation chambers. More importantly, however, Jor-El exploring the story of what can definitely be called the Clone Wars leads him to the horrifying conclusion that Van-L's final mission didn't technically succeed, as the villain's plot still managed to destabilize Krypton's core (which, as we know, leads to its destruction). At that point, we know how the story goes. Kal-El's origins (plus certain details of Krypton's society) are quite different from what came before. For one, a pivotal event actually causes Krypton's destruction as opposed to it simply being something brewing in the background. The circumstances of Jor-El and Lara meeting (and their subsequent relationship) are also quite different. Kryptonians are also weirdly stoic here compared to previous portrayals, where they act like normal people with emotions. Regardless of era, the depiction of Krypton itself holds mostly the same. Kryptonian civilization is highly advanced with technology far ahead of what we have today, but despite this, the people are subject to the same folly we're familiar with (politicians ignoring scientists, self-serving individuals willing to hurt for personal gain, people turning to violence for their cause). The world itself is full of interesting locales, like a forest that burns perpetually, crystalline structures, and alien takes on familiar biomes like polar regions and the jungle. The flora and fauna are equally alien, with all sorts of bizarre creatures like crystal birds and strange plants like singing surrus flowers. I've seen and read a lot of sci-fi at this point, so it's hard to surprise me when it comes to unique settings, but Krypton definitely still has cool and notable features to it. A wide variety of artists were involved in the comics collected in this book, so it's tough for me to summarize the art in a way that does them all justice. I suppose the most I can say is the style falls in line with what I often see from comics made in the '70s and '80s: bright colors, relatively simple linework, and only occasional emphasis on fine detail. VERDICT: Krypton has often been treated simply as one of the many bullet points in Superman's story, so I really enjoyed how this collection is dedicated to exploring that world in a substantial way. Seeing how it was a highly advanced civilization yet still having the pitfalls of our own society is commentary in itself, the actual planet is full of appropriately alien landscapes and life forms, and it's awesome to learn about significant moments in Kryptonian history like the "Clone Wars". I was also quite engaged reading about Jor-El's full story, as well as seeing key details in Superman's lore from a different perspective. Overall, The Many Worlds of Krypton satisfied my world-building brain with a solid collection of comics that flesh out Kal-El's place of birth. I think this is a perfect jumping-in point if you're curious about the history of Krypton, as there's no need to know anything more than the fact that Superman is from there. Whether you just know Superman from adaptations or are a seasoned reader, I highly recommend reading this. The only caveat here is that given the collection's focus on Krypton itself, you unfortunately will only see Superman himself in brief moments. - end - Phase 5 of the MCU officially begins with this movie, which means yet another onslaught of stuff for me to watch. You sick of 'em yet? Scott Lang's life has changed ever since Endgame, as his popularity as an Avenger has risen substantially. That said, he hasn't been doing much in the superhero game since. His daughter Cassie, on the other hand, has taken an interest in both helping people and the Quantum Realm, and her tinkering with the latter sends her, Scott, Hope, Janet, and Hank into said dimension. The mission obviously becomes "get the fuck out," but a truly malevolent, powerful individual intends to prevent that while also serving his own goals.
On paper, this all sounds exciting. We get to fully explore a realm we've only seen very little of with the gang, plus we meet one of Marvel's greatest villains in the process. In execution, however, I felt like they could have done so much better with what they had here. Allow me to elaborate. The Quantum Realm itself is full of trippy visuals, which is really neat, but no time is spent exploring what makes it special (besides surface-level observations), learning about the beings that inhabit the place, or even taking in the fact that the entire concept is really fucking weird. "Style over substance" is a phrase that's thrown around a lot (sometimes incorrectly), but I'm afraid to say the Quantum Realm itself falls into that category. It's a real shame given how, in the last movie, I praised the Fantastic Four-style approach of exploring unknown worlds they did there, and they don't go all in on that here. Wakanda still remains the best example of the MCU making a location feel special, and I wish they could have taken a page out of that book in making the movie equivalent of the Microverse memorable. I feel like the characters are at their weakest in this movie. Scott doesn't really get much of an arc (the implication that he's become complacent isn't explored at all), Hope is criminally underused and only exists for action sequences, and Cassie doesn't get nearly enough to do to fully establish her personality now that she isn't a kid anymore. The first two movies put plenty of emphasis on family and all the ups and downs that come with it, but you only see glimpses of that here and there. You'd think that the five years that Cassie and Scott spent apart would be a main focus or even a cause for interpersonal conflict of this story, but nope, it's hardly addressed at all. Hank, at least, gets to participate in the action in some amusing ways, but he doesn't get much else apart from that. The standout of the ensemble is easily Janet, whose trauma surfaces after returning to the Quantum Realm, but even that isn't given time to breathe. Plus, she's relegated to exposition for a large portion of the movie, and while the backstory itself is interesting, the time she spends denying her family (and the audience) any explanation due to what she went through was noticeably long. As a whole, it doesn't feel like the returning characters carry over their growth from the previous movies, so things felt disconnected for me in that sense. I suppose it's not weird; a lot of time has passed since we last saw these characters, but I felt like they could have struck a good balance between showing that these characters have changed a lot and maintaining some of what they learned during their arcs in the previous movies. Of course, we've all been waiting for Kang the Conqueror. He's one of the greatest villains in all of the Marvel Universe, and he's being built up to be on the same caliber as Thanos. Did they do right by him? If you ask me, well... I think they didn't quite hit the bullseye on this one. Now, the actor did an amazing job getting his cruelty and menace across, and he felt proper unstoppable when he's actually fighting, but I don't feel like the rest of the movie quite does him justice. He's supposed to be a master of time who can't be beat, but his knowledge of the past and future is never showcased in a cool way. He's also supposed to be a ruthless oppressor who destroyed and subjugated countless timelines, but you don't even feel the scope and ramifications of his conquest in the very realm the movie takes place in. It's a lot of telling instead of showing, and I would have liked some time to properly showcase Kang's power. Kang's goals here are pretty straightforward, and the way Scott and co. factor into it actually makes sense. That said, the stakes don't feel dire because the threat that Kang poses isn't sold well throughout the movie. Without going into detail, that lack of build for Kang made the ending feel kind of anticlimactic. The movie also runs into the same problem Age of Ultron once did where the movie spends so much time setting up the future while neglecting to make the present story work. I obviously know from my comic reading what the MCU is building up to (and that's exciting), but I feel like they're doing that storyline a disservice by having Kang's threat feel as undercooked as it is here. My feelings on this may change once we get to that point (I look at Age of Ultron more fondly now, having seen the payoff for all the setups), but I'm not giving this movie a pass just because I might feel better about it later in retrospect. They also introduce another interesting Marvel character in this movie, and while the trailers have shown them off already, I'll keep them unnamed here. While I appreciate what they were going for with this character (between their origins and their characterization), I'm not sure the execution quite stuck the landing for me. This is definitely going to be another Mandarin/Taskmaster situation among diehard comic fans, and honestly, I get it. I feel like the action is a step down largely because we aren't on Earth anymore. A significant part of what made Ant-Man's powers so much fun to watch is seeing the size change relative to real-world objects, and in a complete fantasy world where you have no frame of reference grounded in reality, shrinking and enlarging doesn't feel as impactful. Scott, Hope, and Cassie still get to use the Pym Particles in cool ways, but nothing beats seeing those powers in sequences that involve everyday objects or real-world settings. We get two after-credits scenes, both of which I saw coming a mile away. The first one is the obvious setup relating to the big Avengers-level crisis they keep teasing, and while it was cool to see as a comic fan, I can't say the scene itself blew my mind (for reasons I can't discuss due to spoilers). The second will come out of left field if you don't follow the MCU closely, but if you do, this scene is something you've probably been wondering about already. This tease is more interesting to me since the payoff for it will be more immediate in terms of the MCU's release slate, plus I'm curious to see what role certain elements in that scene will play in the overarching story. Other minor things I'd like to note are Wasp's new and improved costume, as well as Kang's comic-accurate look. I also thought the score felt more epic than before while also maintaining the overall motif established in the first movie. Overall, Quantumania had some cool ideas and was brimming with potential, but the execution left something to be desired in my view. I really wanted to like this, but it would be disingenuous for me to say that I felt anything more than "eh." - end - It's many years overdue, but we finally got the Game Boy emulators for Nintendo Switch Online. That's more games for me to play, so brace yourselves for more of me rambling about old games. First on our list is a game that needs no introduction (but will get one anyway). BACKGROUND:
Look, it's Tetris. I love Tetris. I've said as much in at least two blog posts here. I'm not going into all that again, but it is important to note that this is the very first version of Tetris I was exposed to. When I was very young, my dad owned the original Game Boy (which I still have in my possession, albeit not in working order), and this was one of the games he had. Kid me, unfortunately, did not understand the concept of the game at four years old, and it wasn't until Tetris DS that I truly fell in love with the game. It's also imperative to point out that this specific version of Tetris is one of the most legendary titles in all of video games. The Game Boy was insanely popular in its heyday, and this game (which propelled the series to icon status) is one of the reasons why it sold gangbusters. SUMMARY: Well, what is there to say? If you don't know what Tetris is (which, as I've said many times before, is highly unlikely if you've somehow come across my blog), here's the link to the browser version. Go drop some blocks and clear some lines. If there's anything that sets apart this version from modern iterations of the game, it's the fact that it's as old school as it gets. There's no way to hold pieces, you don't see too far ahead in terms of upcoming pieces, there's no hard drop, and there's no guide to tell you where exactly in the matrix it'll drop. I definitely miss hard drop, because I like playing Tetris quickly. For me, the most significant old school element is how the sequence of pieces isn't balanced the way it is today. If you play any modern Tetris games, they'll guarantee that you'll go through one of every unique Tetrimino before you repeat. Here, there is no such balance, so there are instances where you get strings of I-pieces (I once got four in a row) or spend three agonizing minutes not seeing a single I-piece. If you play a lot of Tetris like I do, the lack of balance in the sequence generation of the pieces is immediately noticeable. Apart from a simple two-player battle mode, there are no fancy additions in this Tetris game. All you can do is select your starting speed level and survive for as long as you can. Your score is tracked in a leaderboard, but this is pointless since this was one of the many Game Boy games that did not have internal save functions in the original cartridge. While the colors of the modern Tetriminos have since become iconic, part of me loves the old sprites where the main difference between the pieces is the individual block patterns they each have. Other than that, don't expect any mind-blowing visuals. This is an early Game Boy game, for crying out loud. This version of Tetris also has the equally iconic Tetris Type-A track, which still holds up as catchy nearly 35 years later. If that's not to your liking, there are two solid alternate options you can choose before starting a game. VERDICT: There are certainly more polished versions of Tetris now, either with dazzling presentation (Tetris Effect), unique gimmicks (Puyo Puyo Tetris), or a massive emphasis on competition (Tetris 99), but none of them would exist if it weren't for the incredible success of the Game Boy version. It may not have much except for the core gameplay, but the fact that said gameplay has gone on to persist as a fixture of gaming three decades later may speak to how inherently simple yet addictive it is. As much as the lack of sequence balance for the pieces throws me off, I can still enjoy old school Tetris as much as I enjoy the newer versions I play nowadays. I already linked the browser version of Tetris above, which is good enough if you simply want to play Tetris. There's no pressing need to check out this version unless you're like me and enjoy exploring past versions of something and comparing them to what we have now. - end - The gang's reassembled for yet another one of these games! BACKGROUND:
Once again, our group of survival crafting enthusiasts have been scouting the next game to sink our teeth into, and we found ourselves eyeing this game. And once again, they have decided to gift me the game to pressure me into playing. Thanks, you crazy bastards! PLOT: An unnamed explorer (or explorers, in our case) ends up trapped in a vast underground network with surprisingly diverse biomes, an abundance of resources, and all sorts of strange creatures. Guided only by the mysterious Core (a large stone statue that can converse with you) and having only your survival skills, you're thrown into the thick of it, and it's up to you to explore the caverns for answers and for the things you need to survive. After the opening that sets all this up, the story is left to simply be in the background. The Core who guides you along doesn't really elaborate on why you're being asked to do what it requests, and the most you learn of the environment and its inhabitants can be gleaned from item descriptions and observing the locales. Some of the details are intriguing, like seeing aspects of Caveling society, and the mystery of the titans, but they aren't explored in a meaningful capacity. This has often been the case with every other game of this genre our group has played, and the lack of emphasis on narrative has never affected our overall enjoyment. PRESENTATION: Immediately, the game's retro art style stands out, as it looks like a 16-bit game from the Super Nintendo era. Core Keeper pulls off the aesthetic well enough with sprites that aren't wildly complex but still have fine details like subtler shading. Having seen a plethora of games that go for this style at this point, however, I can't say my mind is blown. The music has a more modern feel to it instead of going heavy on the chiptune, and apart from tracks that play during boss battles, there's a chill vibe that goes well with the exploration and busywork that is commonplace in this game. Of course, our group would play our own music or just talk over everything, so the soundtrack is mostly at the back of my mind. GAMEPLAY: Core Keeper is another in a long list of survival crafting games our group has played. It's played from a top-down perspective classic Zelda-style, the world is procedurally generated, and it has many of the mechanics we've come to expect from games like this. What's so special about this, then? The main thing that stood out to me at the beginning is how every main task you can do in the game levels up the more you do them. The skills are as follows: Exploration (i.e. running), Ranged Combat, Melee Combat, Mining, Gardening, Fishing, Vitality, and Crafting. Doing each task adds experience, and once you level up, your proficiency in each task improves (e.g. leveling up any of the combat skills raises your damage). Every five levels, you're awarded a skill point for the given skill. That's right: there are skill trees here. You can assign these points to gain passive buffs to further improve your proficiency, and even acquire buffs that bolster other aspects of your character. As the max level for each skill is 100, you only have a finite number of points, so unlocking every skill is pretty much impossible. There is a way to reset and reassign points, however, so you don't have to commit to a specific build. The only real drawback to this system is how it lends itself to forcing the players to grind to get the most out of their character. If you want those late-game skill bonuses, you'll have to dedicate your play to the associated task, and for some skills (like fishing), that could take an eternity. Since the game has kindly broken down its main aspects into the skills, that makes talking about it easier. Let's start with crafting, which works largely like Minecraft. You're able to craft all sorts of things such as tools, weapons, armor, structures, and even things like potions and bombs, though for a lot of these things, you'll need to venture out for resources and build specific crafting and refinery stations. Building's quite simple, as all you can really do is put down floors and set up walls to make a base. You can build bridges over bodies of water and chasms as well, which makes exploring the caverns less of a hassle. There are other structures like conveyor belts, portals, and powered devices like turrets, but those are straightforward and easy to understand. Exploration is far from a picnic, as there are enemies and hazards that can whoop your ass in all sorts of unique ways. I was impressed by the number of biomes you can run into, from lush forests, moldy caves, an expansive desert, and even a huge ocean filled with beaches. In addition to that, you'll run into various structures inhabited by the Cavelings (the main creatures you'll fight against), slime-covered areas populated with different-colored slimes, and bug-infested caves. I'm glad that the setting being underground didn't stop them from making the locales interesting. Your exploration is limited to a specific radius around the Core (which serves as your starting point) in the beginning, and while this is a decently large area, the group felt like there wasn't much else to find after a while. This feeling changed completely when, through the Core's guidance, we found a way to go past this inner circle, and I still remember the collective "holy shit, there's more game" the moment we went outside. When you take the area of the outside into account, Core Keeper's world is quite expansive. Each biome has unique resources and enemy drops, and it's absolutely worth exploring as much as you can to get everything. You'll want to dig out walls for ore, break everything in sight for things like wood or fiber, kill enemies for useful drops like scrap and slime, and whack plants for their produce and seeds. You can even get all sorts of decorations like tents and statues. There's a lot to find, and that's always fun. Mining sparkling walls is the easiest way to get ore, though depending on the wall, you'll need a higher rarity pickaxe to break them. An alternate way to get ore is to find special boulders that cannot be broken with any pickaxe. The only way you can harvest these is by using a drill, which requires electricity. We figured out a way to transport all the harvested ore from the boulder to the base with a simple network of mechanical arms, conveyor belts, and forges so they came back as ingots. You can't do redstone-level shenanigans in this game, but I thought it was cool that you can do stuff like this later in the game. There are plenty of enemies you can run into, each with unique attributes that can mess you up if you're not careful. Some inflict status ailments like poison and burn, some use projectiles to attack, and a few have scary properties like the ability to destroy structures (which led to its fair share of panic in our playthrough) or deal explosive damage. None of them are complex in terms of behavior, and combat is straightforward as a result. When it comes to fighting back, you can either opt to attack from a distance or get up close and personal, and there's nothing complicated about that, either. As of this writing, we encountered eleven bosses in the game. Barring the giant slimes (which fight mostly the same), all the bosses have different attack patterns to deal with. Brute force is certainly possible for many of them, but some of the fights caused us to reevaluate and develop specific counterplay to deal with troublesome attacks or behaviors. For how simple combat is overall, I'm happy they found a way to give us a challenge that actually forced some level of strategy. It was satisfying to counter a boss's most troublesome behavior and take them down with a combination of our wit and our onslaught of damage. Every boss has unique rewards once you beat them, like exclusive items and such. A select few have the distinction of giving your character Soul abilities, which gives your character a powerful buff. It's always nice to be rewarded for overcoming a challenge, and it's great that a lot of these rewards are pretty useful or fun. You can find or craft a respectable variety of both ranged and melee weapons, each with their own stats (damage, attack speed) and bonuses (crit rate, chance to inflict status). All you have to do is click and aim, so you can opt for just getting the biggest numbers, but combined with other equipment, you can take advantage of specific builds to do some serious damage. As for your other equipment, you have three pieces of armor, slots for two rings and a necklace, a backpack, and the option for an off-hand item. Like weapons, you can find or craft all sorts of these items, and they provide a diverse assortment of buffs in addition to armor and HP. While I can't say this system is as wild as Monster Hunter in terms of what you can build yourself to be, it's possible to do things like focus on critical hits, go all in on inflicting status, boost defensive capabilities like HP regen, and even build outside of combat by getting buffs like better mining damage. There are even equipment sets that give you an additional bonus if you put on everything from the set. Both gardening and fishing are straightforward, so if you've encountered such mechanics before, you'll know what to do. The only things I'd say are notable for gardening are the chance for golden crops and how some plants need special soil. As for fishing, I liked the rhythmic nature of the minigame, and I thought it was cool that there are different bait types you can play around with. In addition to health, you have a hunger meter to worry about. While you can eat stuff like fruit as they are, cooking is a much better way to keep yourself full. There are an impressive number of recipes you can discover simply by combining all the crops, fish, and more in different configurations. The combos matter, as each food item gives a different buff when eaten, and you can make some potent dishes that give two significant buffs in one bite. You can also craft potions which grant more effective buffs than food, but the tradeoff is that they last much, much shorter than food buffs. They're still useful in a pinch, and the healing potion remains the best option for healing. There are other things you can encounter as well, such as vehicles like boats and go-karts, special NPCs you can sell valuable items to in exchange for Ancient Coins (which you can then trade in for special items), special collectibles that you have to assemble for neat rewards (like unique gear or even an optional boss fight), and holiday events that let you craft fun decorations. For the last bit in particular, we had quite a fun time decorating the base with Christmas decor. This game is still in Early Access as I write this, and so far, I'd say the game has plenty to offer as it is. I do wonder if they'll end up building on the story in later updates, and I'm excited to see what kind of new biomes, bosses, and gimmicks they can add down the line. VERDICT: Core Keeper was a lot of fun to play with my friends. Aside from all the usual things we enjoy (working together to set up a base, coordinating resource gathering efforts, vanquishing bosses), I thought the skill proficiency mechanic was unique and particularly enjoyed the fun of cooking. Overall, I thought this game's take on survival crafting felt largely familiar, but offered enough differences that I felt like the experience was worthwhile. We'll definitely be back for more once content updates start rolling in. I think this game works much better played in co-op. I can see the skill aspect being a pain in the ass to grind solo, as the only thing that made it tolerable to me is working alongside my friends towards a goal. Other than that, I think this is a solid survival crafting experience. The game is available right here: Core Keeper on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - Valentine's Day is next week, so I thought reading a romance manga today would be appropriate. BACKGROUND:
I've heard the name mentioned before somewhere, but apart from the premise that there are quintuplets, I don't know what the story is about. SUMMARY: Futaro Uesugi is a high school student with amazing grades but an unfortunate financial situation. When a high-paying tutoring gig for a rich transfer student presents itself, he can't help but jump at the chance for his family's sake. However, it may be more than what he bargains for. Not only will Futaro have to tutor a transfer student he had a bad run-in with, he has to tutor her four identical sisters as well. And if that's not enough, none of them give a shit about grades and would prefer that Futaro fuck right off. The money is too good to pass up, however, so Futaro is determined. It's clearly going to be an uphill battle from here on out. Each of the Nakano sisters have a distinct personality that presents a unique hurdle for Futaro to overcome, and the challenge of having to juggle all of that was immediately engaging to me. How will a smart but asocial boy get through to five rich flunkies with their own issues? The potential for comedy and conflict shows itself early on, as each sister finds a way to blow off or straight up antagonize Futaro. What stood out to me about this story is that everything shown here turns out to be a flashback, as it's revealed almost immediately that Futaro is reminiscing about these days on the day of his wedding. As it turns out, he ends up marrying one of the quintuplets, but it's deliberately left as a mystery. With how completely different each quintuplet is, I was naturally curious to see which one of them eventually becomes close with Futaro, and I found myself wanting to read more. I don't have much else to say since the premise is straightforward, so I suppose I'll talk about each quintuplet. Like I said, they're all pretty distinct, and with how things start out, I'm quite curious to see how their respective relationships with Futaro change over time.
The art is solid overall, thought the standout element to me is how well the faces are drawn (especially the Nakano sisters). On that note, I love how the quintuplets are distinct in terms of how they dress as well; outside of moments when the identity is meant to be vague, you can easily tell who's who just by their hairstyle. VERDICT: The premise of Quintessential Quintuplets was fun off the bat, as Futaro having to butt heads with five very different girls who could not care less about what he's trying to accomplish leads to both serious conflict and humorous moments. The entire mystery of who he ends up marrying has me quite invested, too, as it tells me that his relationships with the sisters will change over time to the point that romance is on the table. I'm compelled to get more volumes to see how they build the mystery of Futaro's bride, because the setup is telling me that they all (not just one) eventually develop feelings for the guy. I want to see how they throw readers off the scent, and I'm extra curious to see if the sisters end up competing for his affection. There are many ways this story can go, and the first volume did a great job of getting me hooked on wanting to know. - end - Our first Direct of the year is finally here, and that means a bunch of announcements to look at. You're familiar with this dance at this point, so let's just skip ahead to my bulleted list.
Oh, you better fucking believe it's sizzle reel time:
In the least surprising final segment of all time, Tears of the Kingdom is shown off again, and we get a better sense of gameplay and a bit of setup for the story. Apart from the very concerning price increase for this game, I'm super excited to jump back into Hyrule. As far as Directs go, I doubt this is the banger-after-banger presentation most people were looking forward to, but if you're asking me personally, I thought this had some solid announcements. There's a decent mix of surprises, some long overdue arrivals, and I saw stuff that I don't know about but seem interesting to play. That said, it's hard to ignore the prevalence of expansion pass content for recent releases and the number of known quantities shown off again, so I can't say this was perfect myself. Still, I left the Direct with the usual excitement for the upcoming year of games that comes annually, so I'd say it was a net positive.
- end - Ah yes, my favorite February holiday. I've found the time to catch up with NXT's latest supercard event, and as always, I'm here with my opinions on each match. This event is special since it's the first NXT event outside of the usual NXT taping area in a very long time, so this'll have a different crowd.
I believe a chill game is in order for today. BACKGROUND:
Nope, never heard of this one, either. PLOT: Spirit of the North has zero dialogue, and there is no explicit story told. The gist (at least from what I can gather) is that the aurora borealis has seemingly been corrupted, leading to a lot of red and black goop to cover the land. This led to the demise of a whole civilization living nearby (the only exposition in the entire game shows this part of the story via drawings etched in stone). Now, a regular fox connects with a magical spirit, and the two journey up to the top of a mountain in hopes of bringing the Northern Lights back. While the mystery of the fallen civilization, the origins of the spirit, and the question of why the aurora is cursed all seem intriguing, there's honestly not a lot going on with the story. I really wish all these mysteries were explored even a little bit, and I can understand some players not finding anything engaging with regards to the plot. The story is said to take inspiration from Nordic folklore, so I went and looked up myths and legends surrounding the aurora borealis. It appears that the myth Spirit of the North is based on is a Finnish one, which tells of a fox that ran so fast, sparks lit up the night sky. It's certainly one of the coolest "explaining a natural phenomenon" myths I've ever heard. PRESENTATION: The game's visuals stand out immediately, with a beautiful art style that feels like a painting come to life. Everything from the lush forests, the rocky cliffs, and the snowy mountains looks stunning, and I found a lot of enjoyment in simply taking in the scenery. The lights (both the aurora and the various spirits you encounter) look dazzling in particular. The music is equally beautiful, with most of the tracks being melodic instrumental pieces that feature a lot of piano and violin. This combined with the visuals come together to deliver quite the serene experience. GAMEPLAY: Primarily, Spirit of the North is a 3D platformer adventure. As the fox, you'll be running and jumping around the wilderness and solving puzzles as you make your way up the mountain. The controls don't feel as smooth as they should be, primarily with the inconsistent behavior of the jumping. This is compounded by the fact that the platforms are uneven, so sometimes you have to jump from a specific spot to a specific spot to actually get across. This, along with other oddities (including weird slope interactions, tiny corners you can get stuck in, and sections where slow movement is forced, like swimming) led to its fair share of frustrations, especially in timing-based areas. If it's any consolation, you can't die in this game, but I think wasting time getting back somewhere after messing up a jump is equally vexing. The main mechanic involves the use of spirit energy, which the fox can absorb. You'll mainly be transferring this energy to the numerous stones scattered throughout the levels, and this will activate all sorts of things that open up the forward path. Spirit energy is primarily absorbed from the many flowers you'll find in the world, usually conveniently close to the thing that will require it. It's pretty straightforward (find the flowers, find the switch, move on), though many sections will have nothing else to them except this. Interestingly, you can take spirit energy back from stones you have empowered, but often, you deactivate the thing they activate in exchange. There's mostly no point to doing this at all, since you're just blocking yourself off from the forward path. However, there are certain sections where the activated barrier remains active even if you take back the energy (allowing you to keep it for a further section), and there is one section near the end of the game that actually takes advantage of the fact that you can transfer spirit energy to and from different stones. The latter is a cool idea on paper, and it's a shame that a) it wasn't utilized a lot overall, and b) the execution of the one time it's actually done in the game felt tedious. You'll also acquire a few other spirit-based abilities throughout the campaign. First is the Spirit Bark, which channels spirit energy to purify corrupted areas. It's pretty much just a glorified key and sees no other use. Next, you can do something akin to astral projection, where you leave your corporeal fox body and control a spirit fox for a short time. This is easily the most interesting mechanic in the entire game, and there are both timing-based challenges and neat puzzles that take advantage of this (the most engaging one to me is using the physical fox to weigh a switch down while you have the spirit fox do something else). Lastly, there's a Spirit Dash, and it's your straightforward horizontal dash. The world has a number of platforming and puzzle mechanics you can interact with, from seesaw platforms, geysers that launch you upwards (they're awful at getting you to where you need to go, which is annoying), barriers that only your spirit form can pass through, pressure plates, and gates that launch you into the air. These are all pretty easy to understand and nothing you haven't seen before in other games, and the most struggle you may find dealing with them may be with the actual platforming. Though the game features some vast landscapes, the entirety of the game is linear. While there is stuff to find off the beaten path, the areas being as large as they are makes progressing forward a bit of a pain, since there's often no indication where you're supposed to be going (and that is taking into account the wisp occasionally guiding you towards important areas) and there is no map. I didn't really have trouble finding my way around for a lot of the game, but in the chapters where the area was unnecessarily massive, I easily got lost (or couldn't see what I needed to interact with, or worse, what platforms I needed to jump on) and it increasingly became frustrating to play as I kept running in circles. Speaking of things to find off the beaten path, the game has two collectibles. The first comes in the form of various murals that can be infused with spirit energy like the stones you interact with. The murals don't serve purpose other than esoterically depict the history of the fallen civilization in the game, but they do look nice. The second, more significant one has you pick up staffs/crooks and return them to the corpses of shamans throughout the game. There are 28 of these across the game (some of which are well-hidden), and they're helpfully tracked as you find them. The implementation of the shamans is probably one of the biggest sticking points I have with the game. The first one you find is mandatory, as delivering the staff to this guy opens the path forward. This made me think, "oh, this is something I have to do throughout the game." Then, I ended up getting to the next chapter completely missing one shaman (as indicated by the game's tracker), leading me to believe that they are, indeed, optional collectibles (which is bizarre since there's a whole song and dance about freeing their souls or whatever). But then I find that later in the game, there are sections where returning the shaman staffs is required to move forward, just like at the beginning of the game. I really did not like the mixed signals this game sent out regarding this mechanic, since I was left guessing for most of it whether or not it was worth the trouble carrying the staff all the way through a level. Carrying the shaman staff itself is its own little bit of hassle, by the way. While holding it, you can't grab spirit energy, interact with certain switches, or go into spirit mode, so you have to set it down somewhere (preferably somewhere you won't forget), do your thing, then pick it back up. Having to do this repeatedly made me not bother to even find the shamans because the flow of the game keeps getting interrupted. Thankfully, you can easily replay chapters to deal with the collectible situation. The staffs are really the only bits you have to worry about locating, as you'll have to really explore to find some of them. Once you have them on you, they'll glow if you're close to a shaman. VERDICT: For the most part, Spirit of the North is a pleasant, casual romp where I got to run around as a fox, take in some pretty scenery and music, and solve the occasional puzzle. However, some aspects of the game prevented me from fully enjoying it (and even caused me frustration), and I'm afraid that the story wasn't fleshed out enough for me to really get into. There are elements of the gameplay that I did enjoy, but they're only implemented sparingly, and I felt like that's a missed opportunity. I had an OK time all things considered, but I have no interest in playing it again, let alone a 100% run. If you're looking for a chill game that even casuals can get into and enjoy your fair share of lovely graphics and music, this game honestly isn't a bad choice. However, if you're looking for something more in terms of gameplay or story, you may be left wanting more than the game can give. Spirit of the North is available on these platforms on PC: - end - I have one more Black Panther read in my pocket, and I saved it to coincide with Wakanda Forever's premiere on Disney+. BACKGROUND:
I read the first volume of this series a while back (talked about it here) and thought it was a fine all-ages story. I expect this to be more of the same. SUMMARY: Each of the three issues of this volume focuses on a different story, but in all of them, they reference an upcoming diplomatic event taking place in Wakanda. Said event is covered in the last issue, but we'll get into that later. In the first issue, something called an Exchange Day takes place, and that sees T'Challa trade places with a common Wakanda worker for a day. While T'Challa works a shift in a vibranium refinery, a woman named Toyin gets to go around the palace and take part in royal duties. During this exchange, T'Challa experiences a bit of culture shock as he witnesses workplace toxicity firsthand. Ever righteous, he stands up to the abusive supervisor giving the workers grief, and in the process, T'Challa learns that he must take greater efforts to listen to his people to avoid similar situations in the future. Meanwhile, Toyin shares her experiences with Shuri, allowing the latter to come to the same conclusion. Next, a battle with Batroc the Leaper and his goons leave royal aide Zuri injured. Zuri seeks traditional medicine for treatment, which Shuri scoffs at for not being as reliable as science-based treatments. The old healer administering the treatment takes the scathing remarks in stride, but after a string of bad luck befalls Shuri, she immediately assumes that the healer has put a curse on her. Shuri then seeks out the healer to both apologize and to undo the curse, at which point she's instructed to procure ingredients in the wilderness. After a fun little adventure, Shuri is then told that there is no curse, and that she just needs to not work herself to the bone all the time. Having learned not to dismiss the perspectives of others and to also relax from time to time, Shuri returns to the lab refreshed and more open-minded. Finally, we get to the day of the summit, but the event is interrupted when a group of dissidents steal a dangerous piece of tech from the lab. T'Challa and Shuri take the fight to the goons, and after questioning one of them, they learn of a plot to attack the dignitaries visiting Wakanda. T'Challa confronts the would-be attackers, who turn out to be against sharing Wakandan resources and knowledge with outsiders. Being the wise king that he is, T'Challa calmly explains the value of seeing other people as equals and the good that can come from sharing what you have, which causes one of the attackers to reconsider. The event takes place without a hitch afterwards, and the lessons learned from the previous issues are called back to in a great speech from both T'Challa and Shuri. Though there are points where T'Challa and Shuri suit up to fight bad guys, the action takes a back seat to both characters having their preconceived notions challenged. T'Challa's assumption that the commoners work as harmoniously as he assumed was proven to be incorrect during his stint as a refinery worker, and Shuri's string of misfortune makes her realize that her way of thinking isn't necessarily superior to the old ways. The day of the summit is a bit of an outlier since it's T'Challa imparting the wisdom to the dissidents instead of the other way around, but the speech at the end affirms that both T'Challa and Shuri have taken the lessons they've learned to heart. The art style definitely feels like a Saturday morning cartoon with its bright colors and overall simplicity. I don't have much else to say about it other than it's nice to look at. VERDICT: As far as all-ages comics go, this volume of Marvel Action: Black Panther impressed me by having T'Challa and Shuri deal with more adult situations (hostile workplaces, having your field of expertise questioned, an oversimplified take on the classic isolationism vs. globalization debate) and learn more than they fight. They may not get to kick ass in the stories a whole lot, but I enjoyed how the siblings were put into situations where they didn't know everything and grew from the experience. The situations themselves might not be as complex or nuanced as the other Black Panther comics I've read, but I think they work more than well enough for kid-friendly stories. While I don't think readers my age would be blown away by what this comic has to offer, I do highly recommend sharing this comic to young readers who like the characters from the movies. Both the lessons themselves and the fact that two heroes were depicted as people who still have room to grow seem like the kind of thing kids should be reading about, though I don't know if they'd be upset about the lack of superhero fisticuffs. - end - |
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