If I had a nickel for every time I read a Black Panther comic that I could actually tie in with big comic book news on the same week, I'd have two nickels. It's not much, but I'm surprised it happened twice. BACKGROUND:
I was surprised to hear this was a thing, and it goes without saying that I'm excited to read a crossover with a typically serious character and fucking Deadpool. SUMMARY: Deadpool has fucked up majorly again during a fight with the Wrecker, and for once, he feels a need to fix his mistake. However, he needs some vibranium to do so. I think you know where this is going. T'Challa has zero patience for Deadpool's antics, and in the first fight, he uses some new technology he's been developing against the Merc with a Mouth. He manages to neutralize Deadpool's healing factor with it, and that reveals a key caveat to how Wade's powers actually work. As he forces Deadpool to retreat, he discovers the implications of this, and there is a bit of moral conflict that arises with what he could do with it. Not to be deterred, Deadpool breaks into Wakanda a second time (causing some loser trophy hunters in Azania some grief in the process), which greatly annoys T'Challa. The two fight again, but it's interrupted when they find that Jack O'Lantern (it's unclear which version of the character it is) has caused an incident where Deadpool just was. Here, you get the stereotypical "heroes in disagreement put aside their differences to fight a common enemy" moment (which Deadpool himself calls out). The way Deadpool handles himself after the fight against Jack O'Lantern enrages T'Challa, forcing the latter to imprison him back in Wakanda. Through some dumb luck, Deadpool manages to escape, and he makes a break for the Great Mound of vibranium. In his attempt to mine the little bit he needs, however, Deadpool manages to screw up again royally. T'Challa is forced to confront Deadpool one more time, but after creating a situation that causes Deadpool to self-reflect, T'Challa relents and actually helps him with the initial incident that prompted Deadpool to go to Wakanda in the first place. Learning to give people a chance to change (something he comes to terms with as he grapples with the earlier moral conflict he faced), T'Challa lets Deadpool off the hook, and the two go their separate ways. As expected, the contrast between T'Challa's serious commitment to duty and heroism clashes perfectly with Deadpool's irreverence and irresponsibility. Deadpool's humor is in full force as well, as his twisted morality, violent antics, and fourth-wall breaks (some of which I found hilariously clever) come out in nearly every panel he appears in. T'Challa's moral conflict is poignant, too, and there is something quite funny about him resolving his conflict all thanks to Deadpool's horseshit. The art style stands out with its animated facial expressions (which have a rather cartoony quality to them), a "rough" quality to a lot of the art (with an abundance of linework and splotches to give most elements a noticeable texture), and even the use of the iconic Ben Day dots to add shading. The action looks dynamic, and the use of old-school onomatopoeias works really well with the art. VERDICT: Black Panther vs. Deadpool is as ridiculous as I expected it would be, and both its leads really shine as their personalities (and weapons) clash. I was pleasantly surprised that both T'Challa and Deadpool get meaningful character moments, and a lot of the jokes and absurd moments landed for me. I figured this would be a really fun read, and I'm glad I was right. Do you like both characters, and do you enjoy the batshit nonsense that happens in Deadpool stories in particular? Well, this comic is absolutely for you! - end -
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Doing my best to keep things diverse as I continue to clear my comics backlog. BACKGROUND:
I'm coming into this knowing absolutely nothing about the comic. Hooray for new experiences or whatever. SUMMARY: Cryptocracy has a hell of a premise off the bat: the entire world is under the control of the Nine Families, who have been manipulating entire nations for millennia and keeping innumerable secrets (including its very existence), all for supposedly guiding humanity to a better future. It's established that many historical events (like both World Wars) were orchestrated by the families, that they have powerful politician and businessmen under their thumbs, and that they have access to unimaginable technology. They are even aware of the existence of cryptids like the gray aliens and use them for their own ends. It's pretty much the idea of the Illuminati mixed with Men in Black turned up to 11, except with the added layer that each of the Nine Families are at odds with one another, constantly fighting one another for full control. For so long, the Nine Families have existed without ever being divulged. However, when one of the families is attacked by a mysterious figure, they are finally faced with an enemy who knows all their secrets. The story mainly follows the perspective of Grahame, a Senior-level member of the Mars Family, as the Nine Families are thrown into complete disarray. He's as loyal as they come to the rituals and methods of the families, but as he discovers that even someone as deep into the conspiracy as he is doesn't know everything, he finds himself questioning everything. Grahame is far from a saint (much like most members of his freaky cult of manipulators and killers), but I have a bit of sympathy for his situation considering he was clearly indoctrinated into this mess. It was interesting to see his faith waver as the very institution he thought ran the world is targeted by a seemingly unbeatable enemy, and that his superiors have been keeping secrets. His brotherly relationship with Jason (a foul-mouthed bugbear turned agent for the family who has a bit of a tragic backstory) is also endearing. Other prominent characters include Temple (Grahame's stepsister and fellow Senior), Nick (the Elder of the Mars Family), and Bela (a "conspiracy theorist" who hosts a podcast). Temple is mostly the kind of shithead you'd expect to be in a twisted organization like the families, as she is ruthless and power-hungry, but her resentment of Grahame being treated like a son by Nick (who is her actual father) adds an interesting wrinkle to the character. Bela is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a big part of the plot as she gets caught in this massive web of conspiracies, but it appears she also has a personal stake in her quest to find the truth. Nick is kind of just there and is unfortunately more of a plot device by the latter part of the book. There's a whole lot of world-building, from the structure of the Nine Families, some backstory for a few characters, and even how most of the cryptids came to live under the Nine Families. It's a hell of a lot to digest, and every new piece of information was exciting to me. The comic doesn't explore everything, however, and there are plenty of elements that go unexplored, and some burning questions are left unanswered even at the end. These unresolved threads include: a tease about what happened to Grahame's parents, any substantial characterization of members of the other Nine Families, and people somehow not uncovering the truth about a major death. Even the ending is one big cliffhanger. All throughout, they tease who is behind all the attacks and how their all-out war on the Nine Families will bring the world to ruin (more than the Nine Families already do themselves, apparently), but there is no clear answer on the true nature of the mastermind or what their endgame is. It also seemed like they were setting up Grahame and Temple to have much larger roles in the aftermath. I was left with a weird feeling after I finished reading, because I looked up whether there was a second volume to the series, and there wasn't. Now it feels like they laid a lot of groundwork for a bigger story that will seemingly never come to pass. At the end of each chapter is a B-plot in the form of a journal written by Lord Farrel Fain, a British official who was brought into the fold of one of the Nine Families during the 1900s and was involved in their orchestration of the events of WWI. His letters provide insight on how long the families have existed, the scope of the power they hold even back then, and how the world's myths may not be as farfetched after all. His shock at how deep the rabbit hole goes is palpable, and yet he resolves to expose the families through his writings. It's never explicitly stated how his attempt goes, but I think I have a good guess. I found the art style to have a cartoony quality to it, especially when I look at some of the faces and at the non-human characters. I think it looks solid overall, though I observed that the level of detail can vary greatly from panel to panel. VERDICT: Cryptocracy set up a really intriguing world filled to the brim with history-shaping conspiracies, cryptids, secret wars, and ties to mythology and the occult. I was hooked from the start and wanted to really dive into the world the comic was building, but the book doesn't really end in a way that answers the biggest questions in a satisfying way, and the main story itself seemed like it was only getting started. I really wish there were more issues of this to read, because I want more of the world-building and I want to see the story conclude properly. I'd recommend this book for people who are intrigued by conspiracy theories (but not in the harmful way), because there's a lot of that to go around here. This, of course, comes with the caveat that both the story and elements of the lore do not get definitive resolutions, so you may be left wanting more (but never getting it). - end - There are still a couple of games on my Ubisoft account that I have to beat before I can banish the Ubisoft Connect launcher to the Shadow Realm (until another free game for it comes out, at least). BACKGROUND:
I've talked about my experience with the Splinter Cell series in my blog entry discussing the first game. The only things I can add are a) I got this for free, and b) I heard that this particular title in the franchise is a fan favorite. PLOT: Sam Fisher's back at it again doing sneaky spy shit for the NSA's Third Echelon, and once again, he must do so to prevent yet another war from breaking out. The story starts out when an associate of a character from the first Splinter Cell is abducted, and Sam is sent to locate him. Said character has dangerous intel on weaponized computer algorithms (which was used to cripple the US's military in the first game), and most of the game is about Sam trying to untangle the web of conspiracies surrounding who intends to use these algorithms to start World War 3, and racing to stop their use from causing untold casualties. I liked this story a bit more than the first game, since it felt more like you were gradually piecing stuff together through every mission you complete. I enjoyed how intel gathered from the previous mission led into the next, and the stakes felt pretty big with how many times the algorithms Third Echelon is chasing after are weaponized to spread geopolitical chaos. Everything felt like a full-blown conspiracy, too, with the likes of war criminals, rebel leaders, private military outfits, and even government officials getting involved in the mess. Apart from that, this is your usual spy thriller. Sam gets to be more of a character here. He still shit-talks people during interrogations (there are some really funny lines throughout the game), and now he gets added bits of character like his banter with Third Echelon hacker Anna Grimsdottir (she likes to mock Sam for being old), his willingness to save people despite the protests of his superior Col. Lambert, and even a bit of inner conflict when an old friend of his appears to be involved in the grand conspiracy. Other than that, there's not much else, and a lot of the villains are standard fare in terms of motivations and personality. PRESENTATION: Although Chaos Theory is from the same console generation as the first game, this one boasts improved visuals overall. The 3D models look much smoother and the textures are more detailed; that said, this is still a game from nearly 20 years ago, and while I think it looks fine overall, the age does show itself in certain respects (one of the more notable examples of this is the rough-looking faces for the generic NPCs). The levels are decently varied here as well, and you get to sneak around in some novel locales like a cargo ship, a Japanese bathhouse, and even a literal warzone. Much like the first game, however, few areas stuck out in my memory since I was too preoccupied sneaking around and most places are poorly-lit anyway. Once again, music takes a backseat to make way for the sounds of the environment (which is handled pretty well), but I did notice there were a few more tracks than before. In sections where there is no immediate need to pay attention, some chill tunes will play that really fit the cool spy thriller vibe. And like before, there's plenty of voice acting, with decent work from the main cast and throwaway NPCs getting to talk. GAMEPLAY: Like its predecessor, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a third person stealth game. Most of the basic mechanics and concepts are the same as the first game, and as I've talked about that at length in the blog entry I linked above, I'm not going to waste your time repeating myself. Here, I'll just note updates and additions to the established gameplay. Most of Sam's loadout and skills are the same, but there are plenty of additions to spice things up. First is the combat knife, which gives Sam close-quarter options when facing enemies, and is the main way Sam threatens people in interrogations. It can even be used in special interactions, like puncturing the gas tanks of generators to disable power, or cutting through canvas/similar material to create an opening. You can't throw it, unfortunately, but it's quite handy otherwise. The silenced pistol gets a surprising new feature: if you aim it at certain electronics (e.g. computers, security cameras, lights) and press alt fire, you can disable them (some permanently, others temporarily). I thought this was a really neat mechanic, though I only really used it to mess with cameras (since you can't simply shoot them in this game anymore). The main rifle still has all the functions of the original (scoped fire, alternate nonlethal ammo), and pretty much all of the nonlethal ammo returns here (and they're still a ton of fun to use). Not only is there a new nonlethal option in gas grenades, you can now equip different attachments to the rifle to give it more options. There's the foregrip attachment to assist with accuracy, the shotgun attachment (for close-range action), and the sniper attachment (the opposite). I didn't mess around with these attachments too much since I wanted to go as nonlethal as possible, but I appreciated the variety they introduce for the more aggressive play style. You still have access to night vision and thermal vision (both still quite useful), and now there's an additional vision mode for detecting devices that run on electricity. It's good for seeing if there are computers or cameras in the area, but not much else, unfortunately. There's also the sort of replacement on the laser mic which has been expanded to detect electronics that can be disabled with your pistol. Rounding out the new arsenal is the addition of flashbang grenades and smoke grenades. Both are self-explanatory and are incredibly useful. Before every mission, you actually have the choice to choose your loadout. There's the recommended loadout (which balances nonlethal and lethal options), stealth (which reduces your firepower in favor of more nonlethal options), and assault (which gives you more bullets and ordnance instead). I really like that you're able to choose how you want to play in this sense. In addition to all the new toys, Sam can pull off a bunch of new moves and interact with the environment in new ways. In the case of the former, you can snap people's necks with your legs while suspended or yank people off ledges while shimmying right below them. As for the latter, you can do all sorts of cool things like shoot a fire extinguisher to knock someone out, or aim a sticky shocker round into a puddle to zap a group of people standing on it. The stuff you could do before was plenty to me, and I'm quite happy they added more creative ways to render people unconscious. Most amusing to me is how Sam can now whistle to distract enemies. It's incredibly useful for luring enemies in challenging spots to places where you can more easily dispatch them. They also added hacking to this game, because of course they did. The minigame itself is straightforward (and totally not accurate to real life), but the act of hacking is rewarding since you can simply skip over finding keypad combinations, not bother with dragging officers to retinal scanners, and you can even find secret emails that give you juicy intel. What I found extra neat is that you can hack stuff remotely to deactivate traps and such. Gameplay itself has been expanded outside of what you can do in missions. One very welcome improvement is the addition of a sound meter to go along with the light meter from the original game. This meter not only tells you how loud the sounds you're making are, but it also indicates how loud the ambient noise in your surroundings is, allowing you to gauge how much noise you can get away with. Sound felt much more important thanks to this one addition, and I'm quite happy about that. Mission objectives are still tracked in the pause menu like before, but now the game gives you the chance to tackle extra tasks apart from the primary and secondary objectives that are meant to push the story forward. Each mission has opportunity objectives, which are optional tasks that you can tackle and are often the type of mission where you have to find multiple instances of an interactable in the level and interacting with all of them. I thought it was cool that you can take on extra missions that (apparently) help with the big picture, but I personally wish that completing them had a bigger impact in the story or in gameplay (nothing changes whether you complete the tasks or not). There are also bonus objectives that are completely hidden (or are only mentioned in passing by your team) and can only be revealed if you happen to interact with the right thing. Again, neat, but they don't change anything if you do them. The end of each mission now shows you a scoreboard, which shows you all the objectives you did or did not complete, and tallies various stats (like enemies knocked out/killed, civilians knocked out/killed, times detected, and more). The game then gives you a percent rating based on how well you did. I liked being able to see such stats at the end, though I found that one's percent rating really tanks if you favor killing over the nonlethal approach. While I prefer playing nonlethally in this game anyhow, I thought it was super odd that the game frowns upon you killing despite it being a completely valid (and sometimes cooler) approach to beating levels. If they wanted to encourage players to take up the challenge of going full nonlethal (which, in my view, is a fun but tough endeavor), I don't think lowering your score is the way to do it. I also liked that nearly all the levels are a bit more open in terms of their design. You're not going to get Skyrim-level open worlds, of course, but I noticed that there are plenty of alternate paths you can take as well as extra interactables you can take advantage of apart from the obvious stuff that you'll run into normally. I also noticed these elements long after I'd thought of my own way of clearing an area, and I think that speaks to how much freedom you have as a player to take on these missions in your own way. That open-endedness was one of the main things I enjoyed about the first game, and I'm quite happy this one is more open when it comes to your in-level options. The alarm system has also been changed in certain ways. I learned that for the first game, the game simply does a check and sweeps areas you left for bodies left out in the open, then raises an alarm if you didn't hide them well enough. Here, another person or a camera must actually spot a body for alarms to be raised, which is more logical than the old approach of nonexistent guards magically finding bodies in an area where you've definitely knocked everyone out. I'm kind of ambivalent with this change; on one hand, the new approach is fairer and more logical than what they did before (I almost failed missions in the first Splinter Cell because of a body I misplaced five areas ago raising an alarm). On the other hand, there's now less incentive to hide bodies properly because it's easier to go for the "no one will notice if there's nobody around to notice" approach. Another change to the alarm system is how enemies gear up when the alarm level goes up. When things get heated, they start equipping gear like vests (so body shots are less effective) and gas masks (making them effectively immune to your nonlethal gas weaponry). I only ran into these beefed-up enemies in mandatory encounters, and they're plenty tough to take down nonlethally since they're extra alert and can spot you even at your most quiet or even if you're in good cover. Learning that these enemies pop up if I raise the alarm enough times made me glad I barely triggered any alarms in my entire playthrough. Speaking of enemies, they're a bit smarter now, and they can even notice stuff like you being in the reflection of a mirror. I'd still say that the AI overall is still not perfect, as while little things like that are taken into account, stuff like a very audible automatic door opening doesn't raise any suspicion from anybody. But like I said regarding the first game, any observations of mine to this effect are just nitpicking and don't really ruin the game for me. Some stuff remain mostly unchanged from the first game. I found that shooting was still not as accurate as it could be (sniping is still a pain in the ass), and the platforming elements in the game's levels were barely used (in fact, it felt like there were less opportunities to jump or climb around). I will say that the map in the pause menu is more usable than the one in the first game, though. Oh, this game apparently has multiplayer, but I obviously didn't have the opportunity to try it out in any capacity. It looked like there's both a co-op campaign and a few versus modes, so I guess that's neat? VERDICT: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory gave me more of the stealth gameplay I thoroughly enjoyed from the first game and expanded upon it in ways that gave me even more leeway to tackle missions however I saw fit. I liked all the new additions to Sam's arsenal and skillset, more options and interactables within each level, and I was more engaged with the story than I was last time. I still think some aspects of the game were missed opportunities, but apart from that, I had a blast putting motherfuckers to sleep throughout my time playing. The game only lightly references things from the first game, so you could probably get away with starting here if you're new to the series. The only caveat is that unlike the first game, you aren't put through a tutorial level, so if you're a new player, you'll have to watch the game's training videos to figure things out (which doesn't even teach everything). Whether you go for Splinter Cell 1 or Chaos Theory, my recommendation still stands that this is an "essential" game series that must be played at least once whether or not you're into this genre of game. Check out the game on Steam: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory® on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - At this point, you're probably wondering: do I really have enough Black Panther comics to last me until the premiere of the movie? Yes. Yes, I do. BACKGROUND:
This is definitely the first I've heard of Agents of Wakanda. I haven't read any of the comics that show the team's formation, and I don't know if the team is seen again after this run. SUMMARY: The Agents of Wakanda are a rotating team of superheroes put together by T'Challa to help with the never-ending crises popping up across the world everyday. In this series, the agents take on a variety of missions, each spanning two issues. The roster changes each arc, and it's a really interesting mix of characters. T'Challa and Okoye are the mainstays through most of the missions, naturally, but they are joined by a wide variety of heroes. You have recognizable heavy hitters like the Wasp and Mockingbird, pre-Silver Age deep cuts like Doctor Nemesis and Gorilla-Man, niche but notable characters like Ka-Zar and Man-Wolf (AKA J. Jonah Jameson's son John), and simply obscure pulls from across the decades like Fat Cobra (a chi-empowered Immortal Weapon like Iron Fist), Broo the intelligent Brood alien, the Navajo hero American Eagle, and former SHIELD agent Roz Solomon. The team also calls in support from the likes of Thor and team up with Deadpool (unwillingly) in a couple of arcs. There's not really much time to see the dynamics between characters develop since the roster swaps out each mission, but I was nonetheless entertained by having such an oddball collection of characters in one place. Okoye questions T'Challa over the necessity of the team in one of the issues (in particular, she wonders about the point of enlisting outsiders for this mission, and her place in the team), and his response shows that he respects what each agent brings to the table. Apart from that, you get only brief character moments from the other agents, like Mockingbird questioning where she fits in the world. The four missions the agents go on throughout the series vary greatly, and the real delight to me is how each conflict calls on a variety of characters that's as varied as the team's roster. In the first arc, the team investigates an onslaught of creatures that prey on emotional vulnerabilities, and at its center is one of the most powerful beings in Marvel. In the second, they check out weird shit happening on the Moon, and it apparently involves an Elder of the Universe. The third arc blew my mind, as it sees the team uncover a derelict SHIELD facility with a shocking secret (and it involves some seriously deep cuts and a dash of LMDs). The last arc of the series appears to be a straightforward conflict with Makluans (the alien race of space dragons, the most notable member of which is longtime villain Fin Fang Foom), but with a funny yet also oddly wholesome twist. Although the missions themselves are straightforward, I absolutely enjoyed the variety of characters involved (both the team and the source of the conflict) and the smorgasbord of references to other comics. We have references to major events like War of the Realms and Avengers: No Surrender, callbacks to more minor series (like the Drax solo comic, of all things), and even a major feature for the Livewires (a super-team so obscure I'm pretty sure this was their only other appearance since their initial debut). This whole series feels like the writers were having fun pulling characters from all over the Marvel Universe and mashing together weird combinations to make some short but fun adventures, and I loved it. The art is solid throughout, and there's a decent amount of detail in terms of the shading, textures, and muscle definition (especially for T'Challa). The style itself isn't anything drastically different from what I usually see in modern comics (a style I still have trouble describing as a whole), and there are also some panels that look simpler (flat colors, less detail) than others. VERDICT: It doesn't have epic sagas for storylines and doesn't really spend much time building on its characters (let alone making its title character a main focus of the stories), but Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda had a winning formula for me. I liked the short form, episodic "mission of the week" format with a rotating roster of interesting characters (the variety of which deeply impresses me), as well as using all manner of past comic storylines and an equally interesting selection of guest characters or antagonists to give the team a problem to solve. I had a ton of fun with this series, and I kinda wish there were more issues. I don't know if I'd recommend this to casual readers since most of the characters on the team are likely not well-known (and you don't really get to know them), but if you don't mind not knowing 80% of these people and just want some simple superhero adventures, you can't go wrong with this one. It's also not really the kind of book I'd recommend picking up if you're here specifically for Black Panther, as he's only part of an ensemble here and you don't spend any time in Wakanda at all. On the flip side, this is a pretty decent book to check out if you want to see just how deep Marvel's pantheon of characters goes. - end - Look, I'm reading more manga! BACKGROUND:
I haven't heard anything about this manga, or if it was ever adapted into an anime. That seems to be the usual occurrence for me, eh? SUMMARY: The story focuses on a high school girl named Ririka, who lives with her father after her parents divorced. She's living an otherwise normal life until Hino, a young salaryman moves into the apartment next to theirs. Ririka is notable in that she doesn't really think about her love life, but the arrival of this mysterious individual has her thinking about it for the first time. Off the bat, very loud warning sirens are sounding off in my brain. They're setting up a romance with a high schooler and an adult (Hino is explicitly referred to as an adult throughout the story); that red flag is blood red. The age gap is probably not that pronounced (it's stated explicitly that Hino had only recently graduated college), but I'm already weirded out by a three-year age gap, so this does not make me feel any better. For the sake of this conversation, however, let's put this thought to the side for now and talk about the other aspects of the story. Ririka is intrigued by Hino early on, and she takes the opportunity to get to know him by inviting him to dinner with her dad. Her attraction to Hino is near-instant, and she gets quite flustered when Hino does things that she construes as romantic or says things that she misinterprets as him disliking her. Hino, who is established as rather absent-minded, is oblivious to all this, though he's quite appreciative of Ririka's friendliness. The rest of the volume builds on this initial meeting, as Ririka navigates her feelings and gets more opportunities to interact with Hino. She deals with the feeling of Hino (who is a working adult who has responsibilities) not replying to her messages, shares a meal with him at a restaurant, and even gets to spend some time with his coworkers (who comment on how rare it is that he joins in the gatherings, and some of her female coworkers even chime in on how his cool, mysterious vibe makes him attractive). Things get interesting when Ririka asks Hino whether it looks like the two are on a date, to which Hino says no. That leads Ririka to wonder how Hino is as a significant other (what kind of women he dates, how nicely he'd treat them, and how nice the idea sounds to her). In the last chapter of the volume, Ririka has a rather bad day due to some unfortunate circumstances, and wouldn't you know it, Hino swoops in to make her feel better in a genuinely touching moment. Though he shows it in other moments throughout the book, it's here that Hino shows how much of a caring person he is despite his seemingly reserved, absent-minded disposition. If there's one thing that stands out to me about the manga's art style, it's that it has a notable softness to its lines and shading. It's most evident to me with the closeups of Ririka's face, as the soft quality makes her eyes and blushing stand out (the tension she feels is palpable with how it's depicted here). Speaking of faces, Hino gets his fair share of closeups, too, and the art really tries to sell you on how effortless looking hot is to him. VERDICT: In its first volume, My Darling Next Door is setting up for a standard but otherwise reliable romance formula: charming girl is captivated by mysterious but sweet boy, and their dynamic develops over time as one comes to term with their feelings and the other is oblivious. If I wasn't so unnerved by the front-and-center age gap being a major focus of the story, I would have enjoyed it just fine, but it's impossible for me to shake off that dark cloud. I do think everything else about it is decent apart from the one thing that weirds me out, though I don't see myself reading more of this because of that one thing. If the age gap thing is as much a deal-breaker for you as it is for me, I wouldn't recommend this story. If not... I guess you have a romance story waiting for you? I have no idea how to go about recommending this. I feel like I'll get in trouble for doing so. - end - This is one of my most anticipated games of this year. Shall we? BACKGROUND:
Splatoon has quickly become one of my all-time favorite Nintendo franchises ever since its introduction in 2015. The debut trailer for the first Splatoon immediately hooked me on its unique shooter concept, and that game ended up being the sole reason I bought a Wii U. I've since put close to 1000 hours across both Splatoon 1 and 2, and I'm looking to add to that worrying statistic with this game. PLOT: Splatoon's universe is set in a world of anthropomorphic sea creatures who have evolved to exist on land. The main beings here are the Inklings, humanoids who can transform between kid and squid. These Inklings enjoy two things: wearing fresh fashion and participating in Turf Wars, where two teams of four compete to cover a map with as much of their team's ink as possible. It's a pretty creative setting, though as I'll explain later, there's more to it than just a marine twist on the human world. At first glance, Splatoon 3's single player story mode appears to have the exact same story as the previous two: someone has stolen the Great Zapfish (the creature that powers the main city), the Octarian army is attacking again, and your player character must team up with the Squidbeak Splatoon to save the day. However, it's established early on that we're facing off against a completely new threat. This is immediately apparent when the good guys fall into an undiscovered world beneath the Earth overrun by a deadly substance called Fuzzy Ooze. I was concerned that the campaign would be a rehash of the previous games, but my concerns were assuaged pretty early on. The only things I'd say feel like a repeat is the use of the Octarians as the regular enemies and the role the Squidbeak Splatoon plays in the story. Everything else is pretty unique, from the setting, the main villain, and the introduction of more characters (most notably the new idol group known as Deep Cut, who are utilized in a pleasantly surprising way). In the previous games, the world of Splatoon is revealed to be a post-apocalypse that saw humanity completely wiped out and sea creatures eventually gaining dominion. Whereas Splatoon 1 and 2 built on this lore with optional collectibles and DLC expansions, this game actually makes this world-building more accessible by having the lore slowly unlock as you beat levels in the campaign. I appreciated this approach to uncovering the story (it rewarded you for simply playing as much of the game as you can, and it isn't out of the way), and it's great to have the surprisingly dark backstory of this otherwise colorful children's game established definitively. You're not going to get much in the way of complex characters, but most of the characters in this game (some returning, some new) have silly lines or notable personality traits going for them at the very least. This is a definite majority opinion amongst fans, but I quite enjoy Big Man the manta ray, who only says AY! like he's Groot or something. PRESENTATION: Just like the first two games, Splatoon 3 is cartoony and colorful with its character designs (which, again, are anthropomorphic sea creatures), absolutely vibrant ink colors, and its wide variety of stylish outfits for the Inklings/Octolings. The locales (from the main hub and the game's various stages) otherwise feel like normal locations you could easily imagine existing in real life, like a bustling commercial district, the underside of a bridge, a resort, and a supermarket. I've been playing Splatoon for so long that the stages don't really register in my head anymore as full-on locations (so it's hard for me to appreciate where the action is taking place), but one thing I always enjoy about the game visually is being able to paint otherwise normal-looking (sometimes drab) places with striking colors. The customization options for your character have greatly expanded, from the added selection of hairstyles, a bunch of new clothing options, and the ability to select between Inkling or Octoling from the very start (the ability to play as an Octoling was DLC-exclusive in Splatoon 2). There's more outside your actual avatar, too, as you can now get all sorts of things like player banners, titles, badges, and even victory poses to make yourself stand out before a match starts and after it ends. There's even a feature where you can deck out your locker with decorations, your in-game gear (weapons and clothing), and stickers. It takes some effort to unlock all these new things, but I quite enjoy the additional ways to make yourself stand out in the game. As before, the music is stellar, with a lot of catchy, high-energy tracks to accompany the fast-paced action. Splatoon's soundtrack is unique that almost all of the songs actually have vocals, but they're distorted to match the gibberish that the Inklings/Octolings speak. The soundtrack has covered a decent assortment of genres across the series, including (but not limited to): J-Pop, hip hop, and rock. In terms of visual fidelity, Splatoon 3 does feel like it's a bit of a step up from the previous game (which was also on Switch), but that's only really apparent in the finer details. It honestly didn't look all that different to me (since the art style is more or less the same) until I looked closer at things like how the character models looked during victory poses. GAMEPLAY: The core gameplay of Splatoon is very much alive and well in the third installment. You control your inkling in third person shooter combat and shoot your team's color ink with your weapons, covering the ground, walls, and other valid surfaces with it. With a press of a button, you're able to change from kid form to squid form, and this will allow you to swim through your color ink much faster than you would walk, allow you to scale or cling to walls covered in your ink, hide from enemies if you hold still, and recharge your ink meter so you can use your weapons more. On the flip side, your movement is severely hindered by enemy ink, and getting hit enough times by enemy fire results in you getting splatted (don't worry, you respawn after a few seconds). It was this core mechanic that drew me into the game to begin with (it was completely unlike anything I've ever seen at the time), and it's as enjoyable as ever here. The main mode is called Turf War, and as I said earlier, it's all about covering the most ground in your color ink. You have three minutes to do this with your team and prevent the others from doing the same, and while getting kills is helpful, it is secondary to the main objective of controlling space. I appreciate a shooter that's more than just killing enemies, and Turf War is up there as one of the most unique concepts for an objective out there. After seven years, I still enjoy playing this mode. Once you've leveled up enough by playing a lot of Turf War, you'll unlocked the ranked modes (called Anarchy Battles in this game). Ranked rotates between four game modes: Splat Zones (keep a specific section inked in your color for longer than the opponent), Tower Control (escort a moving tower to the enemy base), Rainmaker (bring the Rainmaker, a powerful grenade launcher, to the enemy base), and Clam Blitz (collect Power Clams and throw them into the enemy goal). These modes do a lot to differentiate themselves from regular Turf War (kills make more of a difference, and ranked games in general take much longer), but the principle of controlling space by inking ground is still critical to a team's success. The ranked modes are largely unchanged from their Splatoon 2 iterations except for Rainmaker, which adds checkpoints. This mode used to be a mad dash to the goal, and the checkpoints help make one-minute beatdowns less frequent (they can still happen, though). One of the most notable changes to ranked in general is how rankings work. In Splatoon 2, the rankings were split between each specific mode (i.e. your rankings for Splat Zones and Rainmaker are different), but they've decided to roll back to the Splatoon 1 way of having all modes contribute to a singular ranking. Getting promoted and demoted is still based on points, though they've done away with the system in Splatoon 2 that prevents a rank down if you lose a set number of times but hit a certain point threshold. Another change to Ranked is the addition of Series mode. In Series mode, you go into the trenches and try to win five ranked matches in a row. If you lose thrice, you're out, but if you manage to get by without losing that many times, you're awarded points contributing towards your ranking based on your performance at the end. It's a great way to get a lot of points, but it obviously takes some time, and you have to pay with your rank points to enter. If you don't have the time, Open mode is available, and that allows you to get a single Ranked match in (though map/mode rotations for Series and Open are always different). Speaking of stages, the launch version has twelve of them, and the maps rotate every two hours for a nice variety. Five are brand new stages, four return from Splatoon 2, and three return from Splatoon 1. The new stages feel more compact compared to older stages, and pushing to the enemy side is trickier since there's no quick way through mid in a lot of them. The Splatoon 2 stages are mostly unchanged from how they were before, but the stages they brought back from the first game are radically different in terms of layout. Overall, it's a nice selection, but you won't get too many wacky gimmicks if that's what you're after. Every weapon class from the previous game is back. You have your standard Shooters (which function like typical guns), the Rollers (paint rollers that you can use to fling ink, or you can roll them along the ground to paint faster/run enemies over), the Brushes (basically faster rollers), Blasters (like shooters, but have explosive shots), Chargers (the sniper equivalent, but you have to charge your shots), the Splatlings (think of them as chainguns that you have to wind up), sloshers (buckets of ink that you throw; great for vertical inking), Dualies (like double pistols; has exclusive access to the dodge roll), and Brellas (function like shotguns, but holding a button opens up an umbrella that blocks some enemy fire). Each weapon class has an assortment of specific weapons that have unique properties and loadouts, so there's a ton of variety. In addition to all the returning weapons, this game adds two new weapon classes. First is the Stringer, which is more or less a bow. You can shoot these normally for a short-range spread shot, but charging the weapon allows you to concentrate your fire for more damage and hit from further away. The other new weapon is the Splatana, which you swing like a sword and shoots out a wave of ink wherever you're facing. You can also charge this weapon for a more powerful and far-reaching attack. These are neat additions that come with their own play style and effectiveness across modes, but the variety within each class needs improvement (there's only a couple of Stringers and Splatanas you can actually choose from). Weapons in Splatoon are a package deal, and each main weapon has a specific sub-weapon and special weapon tied to them. Sub-weapons are essentially your alternate fire, and these can range from bombs, support items like Squid Beakons (points your teammates can jump to), and more. The selection of sub-weapons is mostly unchanged from the second game, but there are a couple of new ones (like the Angle Shooter, a creative new way to mark opponent positions). Special weapons, on the other hand, are equivalent to what you would call ultimates in other games, and you have to ink a lot of ground to charge your special meter and use them. There's a decent variety of these as well, ranging from powerful attacks (like the Trizooka, which is a three-shot rocket launcer), support (like the Tacticooler, which grants your teammates buffs), and utility (like the Wave Breaker, an AoE attack that doubles as a way to mark enemy locations). Most of the special weapons in Splatoon 3 are brand new, but a number of them return from Splatoon 2, and a few are completely reworked versions of old Splatoon 1 specials. The new ones are pretty fun, especially the Zipcaster (which is like a grappling hook). If PvP isn't your thing, Salmon Run, the cooperative PvE mode from the last game, is back. This mode is all about surviving the Salmonid horde and killing boss Salmonids in order to collect their Golden Eggs, and you have to collect a certain quota across three waves. Salmon Run is mostly the same as it was before, but with a number of new changes. First, the mode is available 24/7, and thank goodness, because in Splatoon 2, there are regular intervals when it was straight up unplayable. Next, they add a bunch of new boss Salmonids to kill, and the variety they provide (both in terms of defeating them and the ways they can kill you) is nice. Also, there's now a chance that you can encounter a raid boss-style showdown after the third wave of the run, and while extremely challenging, it's a thrilling fight. Salmon Run was easily my favorite new addition from Splatoon 2, and I'm so glad it's back with new stuff. Lastly, Salmon Run also adds the ability to throw eggs. It doesn't seem like a massive addition, but it is an absolute game-changer since it's now much easier to get eggs closer to the basket. It's a seemingly small but massively significant addition that coordinated teams can really take advantage of. Other small but meaningful changes to the core game include new mobility options (the Squid Surge, which allows for quick traversal over inked walls, and the Squid Roll, a good retreating/strafing options) and a completely reworked spawning system. In previous games, you spawn/respawn from a fixed point, but here, you can choose to jump anywhere within a small area on your side of the map. This change doesn't seem like much, but it's actually great in Turf Wars since you can see where your teammates want to jump, and you can adjust accordingly to cover as much ground as possible. Gear works much the same as it did previously, as each piece you can purchase in the stores (headgear, top, shoes) has ability slots that give you buffs in combat and the ways to unlock and modify slots are unchanged. The only notable change to me is the easier method to add more slots to gear pieces that have less than the maximum of three. It's not really required to think too much about your gear (I rarely built optimally, yet I get by just fine even on high ranks), but the buffs the abilities can grant are definitely not negligible. You normally buy new weapons with the same cash you earn from completing the multiplayer modes, but they changed it here such that you pay with Licenses instead. You get these licenses by leveling up your character and using your unlocked weapons often (and raising their Freshness rating, which is just a fancy way of saying "ink a lot of ground with this weapon"). I suppose the only benefit this gives is allowing you to buy certain weapons early (because weapons are unlocked depending on your current level) at the cost of more licenses), but other than that, the grind is still the same. If multiplayer's not your cup of tea, the game has a solid single player mode where you can take on a wide variety of levels. This time around, the story mode has a healthy mix of old school Splatoon levels (which combine some Mario Galaxy-style "get-to-the-end" platforming with the game's shooter combat) and a smorgasbord of challenge modes similar to the levels in Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion DLC (these range from hitting all targets, limited ammo/weapon runs, and more). You're also able to select which weapon you want to use for most levels, which is nice, but it doesn't quite match up to Splatoon 2, which opens every level to every weapon class. There aren't as many boss battles this time around, however, but the final boss in particular is a delightful spectacle. The real challenge comes in when you try the post-game level, which is a gauntlet of difficult challenges in a row. Playing the game's various modes and spending money in the shops can get you all sorts of neat rewards, including items to customize your locker with. Customizing your locker serves no real purpose other than to give other players browsing something to look at, but I thought it was fun to decorate mine with stickers and other silly trinkets. You can also customize your player banner with a variety of designs, give yourself a funny or cool title with an assortment of preset phrases, and decorate the banner with badges that tell others that you've achieved something in-game (like beating the story mode). You can even change your victory pose that you see on the win screen, which is awesome. It may not seem like much, but being able to showcase more individuality in multiplayer with these things is really neat. Interestingly, this game has a mechanic equivalent to a battle pass called the Catalog. All you have to do is participate in the game's various multiplayer modes and you get points. If you level up, you get all sorts of rewards, from customization options to gear. The Catalog has a ton of levels (I'm told it goes up to 100), but it seems you have a lot of time to complete it (this launch Catalog goes until December, which is three whole months). I'm just glad you don't have to pay extra for this. If you need a break from all the normal game modes, Splatoon 3 has a new minigame called Tableturf Battle, which is its card game take on Turf Wars. This game takes place on a grid of squares, and the idea is to cover as many squares as possible with your color in twelve turns. You do this by playing cards that have a specific configuration and number of tiles, and there's a lot of strategy in terms of cutting of your opponent, surrounding special tiles in colored ink to build special (which can be used to have your cards cover opponent turf), and playing lower-value cards to override opponent plays. It's a surprisingly deep minigame, and I got quite addicted to it early on. I do wish it had online multiplayer at launch, but Nintendo has said that that'll come in a future patch. This game also adds some much-appreciated quality of life changes, like having a lobby where you can do stuff while waiting for a match (Splatoon 1 had a minigame for this, but Splatoon 2 took a step back and had literally nothing apart from the wait screen), the ability to have the announcement of map rotations play in the background instead (these used to be unskippable), and the ability to save gear + weapon loadouts. You're also able to leave a lobby now, but the function seems to be limited to very early on in the queue. Like before, SplatFest events will become a regular occurrence throughout the game's lifespan, where the playerbase can vote on a team they want to support and try to win as many Turf Wars as possible to lead the team to victory. This time around, they've changed things from the traditional 1v1 to a three-way team battle, which I thought was an interesting choice. They've also added Tricolor Turf Wars to the event, which sees three teams fight in one map, but from what I've tried in the initial demo for this game, it doesn't seem balanced for the team leading in the SplatFest. In any case, I look forward to all the silly SplatFest themes they'll come up with over the next two years. VERDICT: On the surface, Splatoon 3 feels like an incremental update to its predecessor, and while that's true for a lot of aspects, I feel there's enough to differentiate this one. The story mode is a breath of fresh air in many respects, there are new weapons and loadouts to try, stuff like Ranked has been changed, there are new maps and customization options, and there's even an addictive minigame to try. Personally, I would have been content with them simply polishing the core shooter gameplay with only a few new additions to the game, because I already thought what they had before was already great. However, there's more new stuff than I thought there would be, and that's a really pleasant surprise. Now, I'm aware this is my bias speaking, but I will strongly argue that anyone who has the chance to try this game owes it to themselves to do so even once. The first game was the shot in the arm the shooter genre needed at the time in terms of unique concepts (in my eyes, anyway), and for that alone, this franchise deserves recognition. I think people who typically don't play shooters can get into this game easier (since painting your surroundings takes precedence over kills most of the time), and those experienced in the genre will find themselves pleasantly surprised at the different kinds of challenge and depth this game can provide. If you want to see me play this game's story mode, I recorded everything and compiled it into this YouTube playlist. Or, if you want a better sense of the main multiplayer gameplay, here's my gameplay of the game's demo two weeks before the release. - end - As of now, we are eight weeks out until Wakanda Forever premieres, and I must say that reading Black Panther weekly has really helped with the wait. BACKGROUND:
I read the first volume of this groundbreaking run quite a while ago (here is the blog entry for my thoughts on it), and I know nothing of how the series progresses after that point. Needless to say, I'm interested to see how the story goes. SUMMARY: Despite having survived an attempt at a violent revolution, Wakanda's troubles are far from over. Wakandans from all over sense that their gods have seemingly abandoned them, and now, the Originators, beings from Wakanda's ancient history, are invading the nation in droves. Naturally, it falls to T'Challa to figure out what's going on, but he and his allies find that the situation is a little more complicated than they thought. As the heroes try to make sense of what's going on, we learn some interesting tidbits of Wakanda's ancient history, long before the nation went by that name. The most notable reveals to me are the supposed origins of the Wakandan gods, the true history of the Originators (and what happened to them), and the questionable circumstances on which Wakanda was built. The last part was most interesting to learn, especially taking into account T'Challa's reaction to it and Wakanda's known history up until this point. The main plot itself has its own fair share of twists and turns, as we learn that Klaw has resurfaced and once again assembled a team of villains to help him steal vibranium, a schism amongst Wakandans cause some to start believing in a different set of gods, and an ancient enemy is behind all the Originator nonsense. Klaw's angle this time around is interesting, as it's not just revenge or conquest he's after; his mission is tied to a tragedy in his past, which I didn't expect. T'Challa is less troubled than he was in the last volume and carries out his duty in the changed Wakanda with some newfound confidence and conviction. It's great to see him back in full force, and I loved his moment with Thunderball of the Wrecking Crew (who is in cahoots with Klaw); without giving anything away, it's a great showcase of T'Challa's honorable character. Storm is back, and more than ever, this book plays up the fact that before she joined the X-Men, she was worshipped as a goddess across Africa who blessed the skies with her weather powers. I loved the exploration of what makes a god in the Marvel Universe through her, and I liked the next step in her relationship with T'Challa. Here, it's addressed that T'Challa dragged her into a situation she wasn't comfortable with when she became queen of Wakanda, and that despite T'Challa annulling the marriage, their love for each other never faltered. Though not as big a focus in this volume as before, Shuri is still a big part of the story, and her newly-developed ability to channel spiritual abilities from her ancestors and acquire knowledge from the Djalia is on full display throughout the comic. The fact that a lot of Wakanda's ancient history is forgotten or shrouded in myth makes Shuri invaluable in their quest to find answers for the Originator crisis. Other characters also show up, like Zenzi and Tetu (the main antagonists of the previous volume), Manifold (who has been working alongside the Wakandans as of late), Ayo and Aneka (the main Dora Milaje), and even Zawavari (a character I never thought I'd see again after the 2008 series). On the villain side, Klaw has a unique mix of allies once again, like the Fenris twins and Doctor Faustus (among others). Another surprising return comes in the form of locales, as Azania (a nation featured in the 1988 Black Panther limited series) is featured. Perhaps the one gripe I have with this comic's story is how the actual mystery of where Bast and the other Wakandan gods went is never truly explained. At no point is it revealed what actually happened, so I was left wondering if it's a story for the next volume or if it was never meant to be answered. The societal upheaval Wakanda experiences in the last volume takes a bit of a backseat, unfortunately, but that's offset by the fact that a bit of systemic change within the government appears to have taken effect by this point in the story. The main trouble Wakandan society is facing this time around is that of a crisis of faith more than political unrest, which is an interesting crisis to explore. An assortment of artists worked on the many issues in this volume, so the style varies across the board. Some issues had more intense shading than others, the level of detail varies from issue to issue, and even stuff like the linework and the brightness of the color palette sees some variety. Though my eye for 2D art is far from refined to really pick the comic apart visually, I can safely say that each style had something I found pleasing to look at, and there are plenty of splash page moments where they shine. VERDICT: Although the very mystery of Wakanda's missing gods never gets a definitive answer, I still enjoyed how that development led into the story of this chapter of Wakanda's story. It was awesome to learn more about the nation's forgotten history, it's cool to see the main characters hit their stride again (especially Storm), and I was pleasantly surprised with certain story elements like Klaw's motivation and Thunderball's involvement. I highly recommend reading the first volume before this one mostly because I think that book is excellent, but it is otherwise not required reading to fully enjoy this story (unless you want full context on who Zenzi and Tetu are, or you're curious as to why Shuri has access to all these fantastical abilities now). - end - The D23 Expo took place last weekend and with it came some great news for the MCU. There were a lot of interesting reveals, from The Leader's grand return after 14 years as a loose end, the lineup of the Thunderbolts, and trailers for both Secret Invasion and Werewolf by Night. Some upcoming projects got the short end of the stick, however, and this edition of Five Comics is in honor of one of those projects. THE THEME: Although the most we got for the new Fantastic Four movie in terms of news was the confirmation of its new director, I'm still very excited for it, so for today, here's five comics featuring Marvel's first family (or characters directly linked with them). THE COMICS: ![]() FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Alan Davis Artist: Alan Davis "The End" comics show readers a possible distant future for the characters involved, and this one is no different. Here, humanity has evolved far beyond what they were in present day, living among the stars and having functional immortality. It's one of Reed Richards' greatest accomplishments, but the feeling is hollow because the Fantastic Four have all gone their separate ways ever since Reed and Sue's kids were killed in a final battle with Doctor Doom. It's an interesting future, and the comic teases that there are those who oppose the utopia that came about. ![]() FANTASTIC FOUR (1998-2012) #570 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artist: Dale Eaglesham This issue features a standard Fantastic Four adventure where the family defeat the Wizard's latest messed up scheme, but there's a big reason why this comic is iconic: it is here where the Interdimensional Council of Reeds (a multiversal group of Reed Richards variants who banded together to make the multiverse a better place with their inventions) was first introduced. And yes, the Council of Ricks from Rick and Morty were inspired by this group. ![]() FF (2010-2012) #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Jonathan Hickman Artists: Steve Epting, Rick Magyar This series saw the debut of the Future Foundation, a group founded by the Fantastic Four composed of brilliant young minds with a mission to shape a better future. The Fantastic Four themselves face an interesting status quo due to the apparent death of Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and they've recruited Spider-Man to serve alongside them (and he gets his awesome Future Foundation suit here, too). Things get interesting right off the bat, as AIM tries to break Wizard out of prison, and Valeria invites a shocking recruit to the Future Foundation. ![]() FUTURE FOUNDATION (2019) #4 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Jeremy Whitley Artist: Alti Firmansyah After Secret Wars, the Future Foundation was tasked to travel the multiverse and restore it, but now their mission has changed to retrieve Molecule Man's fragments. Unfortunately, the kids have run into the Maker (the Ultimates version of Reed Richards, who is super evil), and now they have to confront him. Features Rikki Barnes, the granddaughter of an alternate version of Bucky, who is one of many heroes who've carried the name Nomad. ![]() THE THING (2005-2006) #1 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Dan Slott Artist: Andrea DiVito Here's a solo comic featuring one of the founding members of the Fantastic Four. In this comic, Ben Grimm is living a lavish lifestyle after acquiring a fuckton of money, and while he's enjoying himself, it seems he's alienated some of his old friends in the process. The fun is looking short-lived, however, as a high-class party he attends is hijacked by a big-time whack job villain. The Fantastic Four are one of the most historically significant superhero teams in the entire history of comics. Not only was their original series Marvel's first entry into the Silver Age of Comics, the series itself also ended up introducing a myriad of now-iconic Marvel characters (including, but not limited to: Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, Galactus, Annihilus, the Inhumans, Black Panther, and so much more). I'm really hoping third time's the charm for the Fantastic Four movie and we get one that is awesome across the board (I say this as someone who has a soft spot for the 2000s movies, mind) and captures the "explorers of the unknown" vibe that I most enjoy from the comics. PANEL(s) OF THE WEEK: - end -
There was no E3 this year, and Nintendo skipped their usual June Direct, so we've been waiting quite a while for this bomb to drop. Like before, I make note on every announcement and share my thoughts on each one.
Sizzle reel time:
Though I felt like this particular Direct leaned a little too heavily into one genre, I thought the presentation overall had a lot of cool things to offer. We got reveals for new installments for high-profile Nintendo IPs, a number of ports of popular games, a bunch of interesting remasters, some intriguing titles I've never heard of, and fucking GoldenEye 64. I was satisfied with what they showed here, though my budget is screaming in agony.
- end - I'm quite late to this party, but I've finally caught up with NXT Worlds Collide, a notable event in the brand's history since it effectively marks the end of NXT UK thanks to three title unification matches. Here are my thoughts on each match.
Fortunately for me, some of the games on my backlog are quite short, which means I can cross them off quite quickly. BACKGROUND:
Didn't have a clue what this was when it went free on EGS. I just saw the words "puzzle platformer" in the description and went "you son of a bitch, I'm in." PLOT: You play as a boy who, upon going to sleep, ends up in a terrible nightmare. Thankfully, it's at least a lucid nightmare, so the boy has some agency within the realm of dreams and can make an effort to evade the horrors trying to take him away. There's not much focus on the story overall, and the ending, while intense, is a bit esoteric for my taste. I didn't really mind that I didn't know what was going on most of the time, though; "I'm in a freaky nightmare dimension" was more than enough for the experience to be effective to me. Some players who want a bit more meat in their story may feel differently, however. PRESENTATION: Off the bat, the game's art style was memorable, with everything in moody grayscale and the dreamscapes striking a balance between realistic settings and surreal visuals. It has a Tim Burton vibe to it, especially when you look at the main character's design (who's lanky like Jack Skellington and has a striped outfit like Beetlejuice). The 2.5D perspective made for some surprisingly far backgrounds and foregrounds, but the levels being mostly restrictive corridors and the dim lighting come together to make things feel claustrophobic. The music leaned more towards ambient, and I spent a good amount of the game listening to relative silence broken by the occasional creepy sound effect. I probably wouldn't have noticed much music anyway since I was too engrossed by the gameplay. GAMEPLAY: As stated, Darq is a puzzle platformer, which means walking around and solving puzzles to get to the next thing. Immediately, Darq looks to set itself apart with its main gimmick. While you can do the usual stuff (walking, running, interacting with objects), Darq's core mechanic has everything to do with manipulating your environment. The first way to do this is the wall walking mechanic, which allows you to walk on an adjacent wall and rotate the entire world 90 degrees. This is used a lot, and while you mostly do it to find your way around, there are some clever uses for it (like wall walking to alter where gravity is pulling down). You can manipulate your environment in certain sections via switches, and I found this really cool. Some switches rotate sections of the world (revealing new places to check, or even revealing walls you can wall walk on), while others have you jumping to and from the foreground and background. I've always enjoyed this sort of mechanic where you reshape the world around you to move forward, and I like that Darq's take on it was distinct from other similar puzzle platformers I have played (like Munin's more straightforward rotation mechanics or The Bridge's trippy M.C. Escher take). As you explore the dream world (which features some creepy locales like a neighborhood at night, the inside of a train, and even a hospital), you'll find all sorts of puzzles to solve in order to acquire key items or unlock a path forward. There is an astounding variety of puzzles overall, ranging from classics like simple slide puzzles or the Tower of Hanoi problem, puzzles that require correct input of a sequence (most notable of which is the music-based one), a few physics-based puzzles (mostly involving gravity), and a bunch of trial-and-error kind of puzzles that are hard to describe. Truthfully, many of these puzzles have little to do with the game's core gimmick (I was hoping there'd be more of that), but I found many of them engaging (albeit not too difficult) nonetheless. A good amount of the puzzles make use of the main mechanic of shifting the environment, but I found many of these to be less of puzzles and more timing-based challenges that require you to interact with stuff quickly. I liked it in the sense that you really have to pay attention to your surroundings (and all possible configurations of it) to succeed, but I can see how having to be quick can be frustrating to some players. Some other mechanics I found notable include one level where you have to puppeteer a certain object to activate interactables for you, and how many of the levels have items that are used in multiple places. Overall, the items that end up in your inventory have straightforward and intuitive uses, but I appreciate when they're not just one-and-done items and can be picked up again for use in another area. I also liked how some of the items seem useless, but by virtue of the dream world, their purpose changes (one early example of this is a seemingly useless handheld item growing in size to become a bridge, which I found amusing). There was also one case where you manipulate the configuration of a certain key item so it can work in different places, which is really cool. The dreamscape is not without its dangers, and there are a few sections where you have to be stealthy in order to proceed (note: you have no way to defend yourself). These are pretty basic: toggle sneak to advance quietly, then interact with hiding places to let the nightmare creatures pass. Such stealth sections aren't common within the game overall, so I didn't find this element particularly remarkable. However, despite most of your time will be spent solving puzzles with no impending danger, there are a few jump scares and creepy changes in the foreground/background that may startle you. A couple of sequences see you be actively hounded by a terrifying freak, and they're pretty jarring next to the rest of the game since unlike the puzzles, you can't really tackle them at your own pace. One has you solve a maze while the camera goes absolutely haywire, which was mildly frustrating and unpleasant to the eyes. The other is in the finale, which is a straight up chase, and you have to occasionally react to hazards that you can't really tell are coming. I found these sections to be odd ducks next to the rest of the game, but they were otherwise manageable. The game is pretty short, with only seven main levels that took me around two to three hours to beat. I often found myself going "wait, that's it?" every time I'd finish a level, even if I otherwise found the puzzles engaging. Thankfully, the Complete Addition includes two additional DLC levels, and while two levels isn't a lot, I found the time it took to beat them to be longer than the base game levels, and that was more to my liking. There are also optional collectibles (one in each level), which are very well-hidden. There isn't really a point to getting them other than for the satisfaction of doing so, however. VERDICT: Though a bit short for my taste, I found Darq to be a solid puzzle platformer with a memorable art style, a cool main mechanic that lent itself to outside-the-box exploration, and a wide variety of puzzles that included clever use of the available assortment of items. I do wish they pushed the puzzle-solving potential of the environment shifting to its limits, and I would have preferred longer levels (perhaps swapping out the non-puzzle platformer sections with more puzzles/exploration), but apart from that, I'm pretty happy with the brief time I spent playing this. Perhaps the price point may be too steep for folks who care about their playtime being proportional to what they pay for, so it might be good to wait for a sale if you like this game. Outside of that, if you're in a mood for a puzzle platformer with a horror vibe (but not too frightening) in the same vein as titles like Limbo or Little Nightmares, this might be worth checking out. Darq: Complete Edition is available on the following for PC players: - end - One of the biggest mysteries going into Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the identity of the new Black Panther. People have their guesses, and today, I'm reading a comic focusing on who appears to be the most popular choice. BACKGROUND:
I read the first volume of this solo series earlier in the year (thoughts on that here), and I've been sitting on this second half until I could do this weekly Black Panther comic thing I've been doing. The last part of the first volume teased that the alien threat Shuri encountered is far from resolved, so I'm interested in how that story plays out. SUMMARY: Shuri is still on the hunt for the strange alien that attacked Wakanda in the previous arc, but first, her search takes her on a detour to Brooklyn. There, she finds a kid who constructed gloves that can generate a black hole, which in itself presents a threat. Shuri runs into Miles Morales and the two team up to find the kid after he runs away, and the chase takes them to Jersey City. The chaos draws the attention of the villain Graviton, and with the help of Jersey City resident Ms. Marvel, the heroes take care of the threat. It's a fun team-up, and I liked how the kid's motivations were sympathetic (and Shuri makes note of that when the story ends). After resolving the situation in America, Shuri returns to Wakanda to find that the alien she's been pursuing has surfaced again. With the help of both Storm and "Muti" (the mysterious hacker Shuri befriends in the first volume of the series), Shuri is able to corner the creature. It seems like the creature is unbeatable until Shuri channels her ancestral powers (some of which have disappeared since the alien's appearance) and solves the problem in a cool way. I enjoyed how central the Djalia (and the ancestors of Wakanda) ended up being to the story, and I liked how the dynamic between Shuri and Muti progressed during the debacle. During her return, Shuri finally becomes the Black Panther again after her initial reluctance. That reluctance is replaced by confidence, and that confidence is reinforced by the end of the series. Despite the mystery of T'Challa's whereabouts (at least within this book), Shuri holds hope that her brother is fine and wears the mantle with more pride than she ever did the first time. Unfortunately, her solo series ends with this volume, so there's not really an opportunity to explore her leadership this time around. The art for the first mini-arc is different from that of the second. The former stands out to me with the more cartoony proportions of the characters and visual effects mixed in with detailing that otherwise leans towards realistic. The latter leans closer towards realism with its style and boasts rather vibrant colors to boot. VERDICT: The second volume of this Shuri series doesn't have as wild guest characters, but I still enjoyed it overall. I thought the first arc in America was more than just a fun team-up with Marvel's younger heroes, because it features both a villain not often seen and a sympathetic character at the heart of the conflict. The second arc sees the alien business finally resolved, and I loved that despite her affinity for gadgets, Shuri ends up solving the problem by channeling her powers tied to the ancestral plane (whose significance in the story I was a huge fan of). I do wish the series went on longer so we could see how Shuri handles being the Black Panther a second time, but I think the series ended nicely otherwise. This series overall might take some getting used to for new readers (Shuri's new powers will come out of left field for people who don't closely follow comics), and I still think Shuri's first run as the Black Panther is the better jumping-in point for people interested to see her as the Black Panther (since that series actually spends time seeing her in the role). That said, I don't see much problem checking this run out if you just want to see Shuri in some straightforward but fun adventures and read about a version of the character that is closer to her depiction in the movies. - end - There simply was a ton of great wrestling last weekend, and it was difficult to find time to watch all of it. I finally got through the entirety of AEW's latest PPV, and as usual, I ramble about each match below.
I make it a point to read as many comics from outside the Big Two publishers as I can, not only because I love exploring the medium, but to hopefully bring more eyes to them. THE THEME: Today, my five comics focus on the hero known as Bloodshot, one of the most well-known characters in Valiant Comics. I've read the first volume of the Bloodshot run from the initial reboot of the Valiant Universe (more on that here), but for this edition of Five Comics, I did my best to also feature comics from '90s Valiant. Semi-related: I still need to see the Bloodshot movie, which was what I was planning to watch in theaters until the pandemic happened. I'll probably talk about that whenever I get around to it. THE COMICS: ![]() BLOODSHOT (1993-1996) #1 Publisher: Valiant Comics Writer: Kevin Vanhook Artists: Don Perlin, Bob Wiacek This is the original incarnation of Bloodshot, and while the broad strokes of his story are still the same as the modern version (super soldier created by Project Rising Spirit, rebelled against his creators, is on the search for his identity), his actual origin isn't. Here, he used to be a guy named Angelo Mortalli, and he's chasing leads in organized crime to figure out who he really is and who made him this way. ![]() BLOODSHOT (1997-1998) #1 Publisher: Valiant Comics Writer: Len Kaminski Artists: Sal Velluto, Jeff Albrecht In this new Bloodshot series (published during the Acclaim Comics era), the titular character is now closer to the modern incarnation (Bloodshot was supposedly Ray Garrison, and was a military officer), but the interesting twist is that he's searching for Angelo Mortalli (the "original" Bloodshot). I liked the early bits of this comic where Bloodshot's prowess is described via police interviewing eyewitnesses to a crime scene, and I thought Bloodshot's internal dialogue was awesome (as it demonstrates him able to process information at a higher level than most people). ![]() BLOODSHOT REBORN: THE ANALOG MAN (DIRECTOR'S CUT) #1 Publisher: Valiant Comics Writer: Jeff Lemire Artist: Lewis LaRosa Set in a somewhat distant future (and depicted in striking, intricate grayscale art that makes everything look drawn in with just pencils), this comic shows readers a dystopia overrun by nanites more advanced than the ones in Bloodshot's system, and Bloodshot himself being the only hope of survival for a settlement of survivors. We get a decent sense of how shit went south, get a few nods to other notable Valiant characters, as well huge stakes for Bloodshot. There's a hell of a surprise at the end, too. ![]() BLOODSHOT SALVATION #1 Publisher: Valiant Comics Writer: Jeff Lemire Artists: Lewis LaRosa, Mico Suayan Here, Bloodshot is Bloodshot no more and is living as regular Ray Garrison, completely free of Project Rising Spirit. He's even got a nice family now with a wife, daughter, and a dog. But trouble eventually finds Bloodshot no matter how hard he tries to get away, and we get some flash forwards of how dire the situation becomes for his wife Magic and his daughter Jessie. Plus, we get a tease of the shady nature of Magic's parents. The art here is spectacular, with sequences in present day feeling painterly and having an impressive amount of detail, and the flash forwards feeling closer to modern comics. ![]() BLOODSHOT RISING SPIRIT #1 Publisher: Valiant Comics Writers: Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler, Kevin Grevioux Artists: Ken Lashley, Ryan Winn, Brian Thies, Oliver Borges This is a prequel to the modern series that started in 2012 and shows the Bloodshot that preceded the one that we follow in the comics. Here, we see Project Rising Spirit's earlier attempts at creating the perfect super soldier, including the implanting of false memories that is eventually used to great effect on the main Bloodshot. The coolest part to me is how the false memory they try to implant on this old cyborg is that of Angelo Mortalli (the name of the very first Bloodshot), and that the memories themselves are an altered version of his origin in the original '90s series. I had a lot of fun with this reading list, as covering multiple eras of Bloodshot and seeing how the modern incarnation has evolved really helped me appreciate this character's storied legacy. Like a lot of enduring comic book characters, I always enjoy seeing older incarnations, comparing them to what I grew up with or read today, and noticing how later series call back to the old stuff. I got to do that today, and with a character that isn't as well-known as the likes of Spider-Man or Superman. Hopefully this edition of Five Comics piques your interest in Bloodshot (or Valiant Comics in general), because I think he's a really cool character. PANEL(s) OF THE WEEK: - end -
Believe it or not, my PC backlog also covers games outside Steam and Epic Games Store. BACKGROUND:
I've only played the first Rayman for the PS1, and I have extremely vague memories of doing so. I've been interested in getting back into the series ever since I learned about this game and Rayman Legends (the series was dormant for a while), but I was too preoccupied with other games. Good news for me: this game was made free for a limited time, but the caveat is that it's only free on Ubisoft Connect (Ubisoft's own game launcher). Not to be deterred by having yet another game launcher on my machine, I made a Ubisoft account, downloaded the launcher, and redeemed the game. PLOT: Rayman and his buddies are chilling at the Snoring Tree, but their snoring annoys the shit out of a resident of the Land of the Livid Dead. In retaliation, she unleashes an army of evil creatures to cause chaos all over the Glade of Dreams. Rayman and co. are captured, and upon their escape, they find that the world has been plunged into chaos. Now, our heroes must journey across the land to free it from the clutches of evil. It's overall pretty basic stuff, but I was amused by the twist at the end that reveals who orchestrated the events that kick off the game. PRESENTATION: The art style is immediately eye-catching, as it's this nice-looking cartoony aesthetic with bright colors, fun character designs, and over-the-top animations. I know I use this comparison a lot, but it feels like a modern kids' animated series in game form. The music is equally pleasant, fitting the whole fun adventure vibe of the game quite well. I was rather impressed by the variety of genres the tracks cover; there's some chill ukulele tunes for the jungle levels, a jazz track that's reminiscent of the James Bond theme, something that I thought sounded like something a lounge singer would sing, and more. I also liked the inherent silliness of some tracks, since some of them feature the mostly gibberish voices you'll hear throughout the game. GAMEPLAY: Like the original, Rayman Origins is a 2D platformer. Run, jump, get to the end. You know how this goes. Rayman's abilities are mostly standard fare. You can attack, jump, ground pound, wall jump, and sprint. You also have a hover that slows your descent, the ability to wall run on curved slopes, and the curious ability to shrink or grow when entering funnel-shaped entrances. I found the last one odd since it's not so much something you do to get past obstacles as it is something the game forces on you with its level design. I wish it had been more than just a situational gimmick, but for everything else, I have no complaints. For the most part, I thought the game controlled just fine, though I did find certain aspects a bit odd and I had brief trouble adjusting to them. In particular, I thought that my aerial momentum completely stopping when I hit attack was weird, and hovering or swimming can be a tad too slippery at times. I've probably just played too many platformers that I can start to pick apart the minutiae like this. The main goal in most levels (of which there are 10 worlds' worth, which I thought was plenty) is to get to the end and free the Electoon creatures from their cage. Think of these Electoons as equivalent to the stars in Mario 64 in that you need to collect a lot of them to unlock the path to the next world. Many of the levels also have two hidden Electoon cages you can break if you look hard enough, and while I like that there are secrets in the otherwise linear levels, most of these hidden cages actually aren't that hard to find. Strewn about every level are the collectible Lums, glowing yellow creatures that you might liken to coins in Mario or rings in Sonic. There are various ways to acquire these, whether by collecting the ones simply floating around, killing enemies, whacking receptacles, or spawning them by walking past/standing on specific spots. You can also pick up Lum Kings that double the value of free-floating Lums, as well as Skull Coins, which are worth 25 Lums a pop if you can collect them (they have a delay before it counts as collected; get hit during this and the Skull Coin won't collect). At the end of the level, you see the grand total of Lums you collect, and passing certain score thresholds will reward you with bonus Electoons (the max is two). If you manage to reach a specific total, you're rewarded with a medal that doesn't actually do anything. Beating levels also unlock Time Trials, which you can access by revisiting said level. You activate the time trial by punching the floating clock, and you must reach a certain point in the level within the given time (thankfully, you don't have to do entire levels for any time trial). Making it within the minimum time rewards you with a bonus Electoon, while going much faster than that gives you a special trophy that, again, doesn't do anything other than tell you that you did a great job. You can get through the game quickly just focusing on the main objective (plus a few extras), but I found it worthwhile to get as many Electoons as possible. I mostly skipped the time trials, but it was always fun (and easy) to look for the hidden cages. As for the Lum collection, the difficulty of getting both bonus Electoons can vary greatly. Some levels are generous with Lums, while others require you to be close to perfect in terms of collecting everything. This usually means killing as many enemies as possible, collecting every Lum you can with the Lum King multiplier active, and grabbing every Skull Coin (many of which are actually challenging to get or otherwise easy to miss). Collecting the Electoons primarily opens up the next world, but there are other rewards. Hitting milestones will unlock palette swaps for the playable characters, and collecting many Electoons will unlock bonus levels on each world. Other than that, there's no real reward for getting 100% (let alone getting all the medals and trophies), but hey, I'm a "collect them all just for the satisfaction of it" kind of person. The bonus levels are special since completing them will net you special Skull Teeth. Collecting all the Skull Teeth and giving them to a specific NPC will unlock an incredibly challenging bonus level. This is by far the most worthwhile completion reward, and I always love when the game rewards you with more game for getting all the collectibles. Like I said, there are ten worlds total (plus one if you include the bonus level I mentioned), but a few of late-game worlds simply reuse visuals from previous worlds. That aside, I liked the variety of locales visually, and I appreciated how unique some of them are. In particular, I'm a big fan of the desert full of musical instruments, the food-themed levels (which alternate between an ice world with fruits and a fire world with chili peppers), and the steampunk level in the sky. I found the level design to be mostly enjoyable, as there are plenty of neat gimmicks (like bouncy platforms that you can ground pound on, slippery ice that is actually used for something other than to annoy you, underwater levels where you have to stay in lit areas), a variety of hazards to contend with, and a level of challenge that is respectable, but I feel is approachable even for less experienced players. I don't think the game quite reinvents the wheel in terms of its platforming mechanics per level, but I had a fun time, and the presentation does a great deal to make things feel fresh. That isn't to say I didn't have my share of frustrations. I found that some sections can be strangely unforgiving in terms of the precision that it asks of the player. This is especially rough in auto-scroller sections (of which there seemed to be more than I was comfortable with), which forces you to maintain a certain pace. It seemed like if you slip up even a split second, you're as good as dead. I also found specific sections to be not lenient in other respects. One example of this is a few annoying trial-and-error sections that only end up that way because you have no earthly idea what obstacles are ahead of you. Some sections even blindside you with hazards that don't give any prior indication that they're there, which is irritating. I have no problem with difficult platforming that requires me to try and try again (it is the kind of game I play all the time, after all), but I would prefer the kind that doesn't border on unfair. Despite all these small gripes, I never really found platforming sections I disliked truly infuriating. That's thanks in no small part to the game's lives system.... or lack thereof. Sure, you die in one hit to anything (or two, if you manage to pick up a heart), but even if you die, there's no actual penalty other than being sent back to the last checkpoint, and most checkpoints in this game are generous. You do encounter enemies in this game, but they mostly serve to get in your way or be used as unsuspecting platforms as opposed to foes you have to take active effort to vanquish. Interestingly, hitting them turns them into bubbles, which you can pop for bonus Lums, or jump on top of to get up somewhere. Bosses are more engaging, since a lot of them are over-the-top encounters that have you platform across some inventive set pieces, but they operate on the classic "rule of three" (expose and bop the weak point three times) and are easy to figure out. For as quick as the fights can be, though, I thought they were pretty entertaining. Aside from the regular platforming levels and the occasional boss levels, you also have levels where you ride a mosquito and go into a Gradius-style shoot-'em-up. This is pretty self-explanatory: fly around obstacles and shoot stuff in your way. I thought these levels were fine, but nothing special (apart from the fact that you can vacuum enemies and ricochet your regular shots; those were neat). The bonus levels where you get the Skull Teeth are also slightly different in that they're speedrun-style platforming levels where you chase a treasure chest, and I thought those were a fun challenge. You can play as other characters aside from Rayman, and from what I checked, they have pretty much the same abilities just with different animations. I saw no need to play them, and they probably see more use in co-op play. VERDICT: I don't think Rayman Origins is breaking new ground with its gameplay, but I thought its spin on the tried-and-true side-scrolling platformer formula came together to deliver a really solid experience that had me going for 100% (or close to it, anyway). Finding secrets was fun even if they were obvious, it was refreshing to collect the equivalent to coins and have them actually mean something, and I enjoyed the more challenging levels (especially the treasure chases) despite minor issues I had with some aspects of the level design. I liked this game a lot, and I hope that Rayman Legends expanded upon the things they established here. This is definitely worth checking out if you're in the mood for a 2D platformer that is approachable but gets challenging as you go along. I don't think it'll impress you if you're looking for innovative mechanics or a complex story, but if it's just a pleasant romp with pretty visuals you're after, this might be the game for you. Check out the game on Steam: Rayman® Origins on Steam (steampowered.com) - end - |
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