
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Thanos Rising: Avengers Infinity War in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
This is a dice-rolling, card drafting game that is light on rules, heavy on teamwork, and a little longer playtime than what’s on the box if you’re doing well (from my experience). Without going too much into the rulebook, on your turn you are going to choose a sector in which you will work. Roll the two Thanos dice. They determine what he does, if he or his minions hit you and your team, and whether he gets closer to obtaining the six Infinity Stones. Then you roll your team dice to activate powers on your team’s cards, recruit more heroes to your team, or wound the minions in your sector. Thanos has three ways he can beat you and you only have one way to beat him – defeat 10 minions/bad guys. The odds are definitely stacked against you, but with the right team combos and with the willingness of your fellow players to play cooperatively, you can squeak out a win.
What I mean by this is using the bonus tokens effectively. On these bonus tokens are extra icons, extra dice to be used, healing capabilities, etc. You can hoard them all for yourself if you like, but the best way to truly beat the game is to be completely open with the bonus tokens. In fact, in the spirit of complete cooperation, I suggest everyone agree to keep bonus tokens in a shared pool so that anyone can access them. But maybe that’s just me.
I have played this game several times now and have not *technically* won a game yet. We would have won the last time we played it, but we had to cut the game short because our playmates’ kids came home with the babysitters. The other times we were completely decimated. The game is actually really hard to win. I like that. The dice are good quality, but I have my issues with the Thanos dice icon choices. It’s not enough to turn me off, but it could be way better. The cards are OK quality – nothing to write home about. I don’t feel the need to sleeve them because they aren’t really handled that much and they mostly stay on the table the whole game. The translucent cubes are fine, the Infinity Stones are really nice, and that completely unnecessary Thanos “mini” is very very cool. I have zero painting skills, or I would improve the paint job on mine for that extra level of coolness.
So I like the game a lot, but don’t LOVE the game. Maybe with even more playthroughs it will grow on me more. I have assembled all the promo cards and just need to play with them more. In all, Purple Phoenix Games finds this one really enjoyable, and we award it a superhuman score of 19 / 24.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/thanos-rising-review/

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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) in Movies
Jun 27, 2021
Kumandra was once a glorious place inhabited by humans and dragons in harmony. But when an enemy comes to ruin that, the dragons sacrifice themselves to save the humans. 500 years later the humans have learnt nothing from the sacrifice, and when greed takes hold of the tribes, the land is once again put in peril.
Essentially we're given a fantasy treasure hunt, that highlights the need for cooperation and community. That is definitely a strong point throughout the film. While it might not be based on something specific, it plays on a lot of different Asian cultures, the accuracy of which I'm afraid I wouldn't know. The different regions all had their own look and feel which I thought was a nice touch, but something felt like it needed more variety, and I'm not sure if that was something more diverse or different animation styles.
Of all the characters I actually found Raya to be the least engaging. Her eventual personality could be put down to how she''d grown up, but the choice to make her like that left me disliking her. Picking between her and Namaari was easy, Namaari's actions were consistent and she evolved in a positive way, and I really didn't feel that about Raya. I found her actions increasingly frustrating as the films went on.
The character that made this whole film for me was ninja baby and trickster, Noi. Plus her troop, The Ongis. I was roaring, and absolutely loved every scene they were in. The animation involved was so smooth and it perfectly fit their antics.
What I struggled with as I watched was the animation of Sisu. I liked the dragon style, and I liked the human style, but I didn't really like them together. Our human contingent seemed to be more traditional, and the dragons appeared to be more cartoonish in comparison. With Sisu, the mane and colours just stuck out and felt unnatural... yes, I know that's a ridiculous thing to say when talking about an animated dragon.
Voice cast in Raya and the Last Dragon was generally good, there wasn't anyone I would highlight over the others, but Sisu was the one that made me pause again. I'm growing to enjoy Awkwafina in films, but I'm not sure the pairing here was quite right.
I wasn't disappointed when I came out of the cinema, but at the same time I wasn't wowed. It didn't feel like a Disney offering, and I don't think I'll need to revisit it. There wasn't enough in it to hook my interest and keep me focused on anything that was happening. Perhaps it might have been different had Raya been a little less frustrating, but I don't think that would have given much of a boost to the film. I think what took me so long to publish this review was that I was having real trouble deciding on a score. I'm still not convinced by my choice, if I could put a shrug, I probably would.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/06/raya-and-last-dragon-movie-review.html

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