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I like reading the odd court room drama but find they can be a little dry and lacking in excitement sometimes but The Trial isn't one of those books and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
In Rob Rinder's debut novel, he has created a veritable smorgasbord of excellent characters, a totally engrossing story with twists and turns and all written at a good pace. I particularly liked the chapters given over to conversations and messages between Adam and his mother, who is determined to marry him off to a good Jewish girl, which adds humour to the story.
Although a work of fiction, it is clear that Mr Rinder has put a lot of his own experiences into the book which added a level of authenticity and realism without it being dry and boring and I, for one, hope there is more to come as I want to know how Adam develops as a barrister and to make sure he is eating enough and/or whether he finds a nice Jewish girl!!!!
Many thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Trial.
In Rob Rinder's debut novel, he has created a veritable smorgasbord of excellent characters, a totally engrossing story with twists and turns and all written at a good pace. I particularly liked the chapters given over to conversations and messages between Adam and his mother, who is determined to marry him off to a good Jewish girl, which adds humour to the story.
Although a work of fiction, it is clear that Mr Rinder has put a lot of his own experiences into the book which added a level of authenticity and realism without it being dry and boring and I, for one, hope there is more to come as I want to know how Adam develops as a barrister and to make sure he is eating enough and/or whether he finds a nice Jewish girl!!!!
Many thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Trial.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Don't Swipe Right in Books
Jun 25, 2023
This is a debut novel for the author and, in my opinion, a pretty successful one at that.
Gwen is trying to move on after the end of a long-term relationship and she does this by throwing herself into finding a new man by using a dating app. Unfortunately, things don't work out quite how she would want with her experiencing some pretty dodgy dates but when those dates start turning up dead, Gwen comes under the spotlight of the police.
Gwen, for me, wasn't the most likeable character and she did do things that made me roll my eyes at times but I did like her sarcasm and sense of humour which made me giggle.
The plot is intriguing and engrossing, the writing is easy to read and the pace is good. There are twists and turns which kept me guessing who the murderer was until the end and it all came together very nicely.
Overall, a pretty good debut novel and one I would recommend and thank you to Aria & Aries, Head of Zeus and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Don't Swipe Right.
Gwen is trying to move on after the end of a long-term relationship and she does this by throwing herself into finding a new man by using a dating app. Unfortunately, things don't work out quite how she would want with her experiencing some pretty dodgy dates but when those dates start turning up dead, Gwen comes under the spotlight of the police.
Gwen, for me, wasn't the most likeable character and she did do things that made me roll my eyes at times but I did like her sarcasm and sense of humour which made me giggle.
The plot is intriguing and engrossing, the writing is easy to read and the pace is good. There are twists and turns which kept me guessing who the murderer was until the end and it all came together very nicely.
Overall, a pretty good debut novel and one I would recommend and thank you to Aria & Aries, Head of Zeus and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of Don't Swipe Right.
Loz Hughes (80 KP) rated The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013) in Movies
Jul 15, 2018
The panoramas (3 more)
The soundtrack
The movie's tone and message
The humour
My Antidepressant movie.
Contains spoilers, click to show
I rated this movie as a ten not because I am a Ben stiller fan per se but because of this movie's message and how I identify with the lead character.
Whilst most people will mark this movie lower, they are not wrong in their opinions, for many it may not seem anything special as such.
However I always watch this film whenever I am feeling low or life feels a bit much, because to me, it portrays that its never too late to achieve your dreams and start your adventure.
The film itself opens to an introduction of Walter (Ben stiller), an employee of Life magazine whose job has very much taken over his life, it shows his passion for his work and how he wishes very much, to be more like the adventurous photographer he chronicles. Walter is ridiculed and undermined by his work colleagues for his "spaced out" episodes where he dreams of what he would do or achieve if he were braver, smarter, more confident etc, like an alter ego of sorts.
Walter is then faced with a choice to accept failure and ridicule when he loses a negative in his care or embrace the unknown and not forsake his pride in a journey to hunt down its original owner.
Throughout the film you follow Walter in his quest to search for the missing negative and also his journey on the path of becoming the man he always hoped he would be as a teenager.
Along the way, stunning vistas and scenery set the scene and the humour keeps it from being boring.
Sure the film is a little fanciful but anyone with a good imagination and an element of Walter in them will appreciate it.
My favourite scene is when he is nearly attacked by a shark.."okay. That is not a porpoise" cracks me up every time.
I know a lot of people will mark this film lower and they wont be wrong in their opinions, it doesnt really contain many special effects, it does have a really awkward romance (but lets face it, reality is full of those moments you wish you had been more charming and less of a babbling idiot) and the storyline is a bit far fetched.
However I find it fun, uplifting, charming in its own way and enjoy the travel aspect of it.
Whilst most people will mark this movie lower, they are not wrong in their opinions, for many it may not seem anything special as such.
However I always watch this film whenever I am feeling low or life feels a bit much, because to me, it portrays that its never too late to achieve your dreams and start your adventure.
The film itself opens to an introduction of Walter (Ben stiller), an employee of Life magazine whose job has very much taken over his life, it shows his passion for his work and how he wishes very much, to be more like the adventurous photographer he chronicles. Walter is ridiculed and undermined by his work colleagues for his "spaced out" episodes where he dreams of what he would do or achieve if he were braver, smarter, more confident etc, like an alter ego of sorts.
Walter is then faced with a choice to accept failure and ridicule when he loses a negative in his care or embrace the unknown and not forsake his pride in a journey to hunt down its original owner.
Throughout the film you follow Walter in his quest to search for the missing negative and also his journey on the path of becoming the man he always hoped he would be as a teenager.
Along the way, stunning vistas and scenery set the scene and the humour keeps it from being boring.
Sure the film is a little fanciful but anyone with a good imagination and an element of Walter in them will appreciate it.
My favourite scene is when he is nearly attacked by a shark.."okay. That is not a porpoise" cracks me up every time.
I know a lot of people will mark this film lower and they wont be wrong in their opinions, it doesnt really contain many special effects, it does have a really awkward romance (but lets face it, reality is full of those moments you wish you had been more charming and less of a babbling idiot) and the storyline is a bit far fetched.
However I find it fun, uplifting, charming in its own way and enjoy the travel aspect of it.
Jodie Barker (70 KP) rated Random Minds in Tabletop Games
Dec 14, 2018
Multiple games to play (3 more)
Very funny and unique cards
As many players as you like
Fun party game
This is a very funny card game to play with friends/family who have a rude/silly sense of humour. You can play with as many people as you wish, and the more people you play with the more funny stories you make up. There are many different cards and different types of card (Action/Person/Object) so you can make a lot of unique combinations to make each other laugh. There are several different game modes you can try and even a drinking game.
I have only played a couple rounds of the normal game mode of this so far where one deck acts as your "base" cards and then you get 5 cards of each of the other decks. With your 10 cards you have to make a story including your base card from the pile you have selected. The base card is your starting point and can be anywhere within the story you create (beginning/middle/end). You can play as little or many cards as you like to make your story (10 Max) and the goal is to make your selected person laugh more than anyone else. Your selected person for that round chooses the winner out of everyone's stories and then they win the base card which acts as a point, and then you replace your used cards with new ones and the next person selected chooses the winner out of the next round. That is just one game mode and there are more that you can try out.
The only cons with this is that the instructions are not the clearest to understand, but once you figure it out and get used to it you can have plenty of fun with this game. And also even though there are decent sized decks to play with, if you have a few people playing you can go through the cards very quickly and then you could get the same cards over and over again, which isn't a problem but I hope the release new expansion packs in the future so you can get some new cards you haven't seen before.
** This is a very fun party game but it can also be offensive, rude and vulgar so it is best played with people of a certain kind of humour who will not get upset at the topics in this game.
I have only played a couple rounds of the normal game mode of this so far where one deck acts as your "base" cards and then you get 5 cards of each of the other decks. With your 10 cards you have to make a story including your base card from the pile you have selected. The base card is your starting point and can be anywhere within the story you create (beginning/middle/end). You can play as little or many cards as you like to make your story (10 Max) and the goal is to make your selected person laugh more than anyone else. Your selected person for that round chooses the winner out of everyone's stories and then they win the base card which acts as a point, and then you replace your used cards with new ones and the next person selected chooses the winner out of the next round. That is just one game mode and there are more that you can try out.
The only cons with this is that the instructions are not the clearest to understand, but once you figure it out and get used to it you can have plenty of fun with this game. And also even though there are decent sized decks to play with, if you have a few people playing you can go through the cards very quickly and then you could get the same cards over and over again, which isn't a problem but I hope the release new expansion packs in the future so you can get some new cards you haven't seen before.
** This is a very fun party game but it can also be offensive, rude and vulgar so it is best played with people of a certain kind of humour who will not get upset at the topics in this game.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Playing with Fire (2019) in Movies
Jan 9, 2020
Seeing the trailer for this I was mildly excited, this sort of daft family humour holds a place in my heart and it looked like I was going to get another film to add to the "pick me up" watchlist. But oh my, everything about this experience rubbed me the wrong way.
Jake Carson runs a rugged group of smokejumpers that swoop into action and stop fires from taking hold. On their latest callout they find a cabin about to be engulfed by flames and trapped inside are three children in need of help.
Following the rules, Jake calls Child Protective Services, but being so remote they won't be able to get to them quickly. It's now their duty to keep the three of them safe until they arrive. Four grown men, three kids... what could possibly go wrong?
Where to start? How about that humour I was looking forward to? Or perhaps the severe lack of it. Over the whole runtime I laughed more at the end credits that I did at the whole film. Keegan-Michael Key is by far the funniest thing about the film, but it still isn't a perfect part. Key's way of sliding into scenes and just taking over was excellent, it made me smile, but when these moments started he was funny with just the right amount of over the top but the script would quite often throw him over that fine line and it became tiresome.
John Cena generally isn't bad when it comes to comedy offerings, but in Playing With Fire he's very stiff even for the by-the-books character he's playing. It felt like Jake had been made too straight-laced, he needs to make the transition from uptight to more relaxed but they could have brought it down just one step and it would have been something a lot easier to watch.
Brianna Hildebrand plays the oldest of the rescued children, Brynn. She gives a solid performance and probably has the best character overall, no frustrating quirks, nothing over the top. While she manages to make a good show of it being up against the over the top nature of everything else means it gets lost in the background.
While there might be a twist on the sort of story it doesn't feel new in any respects. I'm feeling rather let down with the whole thing but thankfully we're not short of other films that do this exact thing.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/01/playing-with-fire-movie-review.html
Jake Carson runs a rugged group of smokejumpers that swoop into action and stop fires from taking hold. On their latest callout they find a cabin about to be engulfed by flames and trapped inside are three children in need of help.
Following the rules, Jake calls Child Protective Services, but being so remote they won't be able to get to them quickly. It's now their duty to keep the three of them safe until they arrive. Four grown men, three kids... what could possibly go wrong?
Where to start? How about that humour I was looking forward to? Or perhaps the severe lack of it. Over the whole runtime I laughed more at the end credits that I did at the whole film. Keegan-Michael Key is by far the funniest thing about the film, but it still isn't a perfect part. Key's way of sliding into scenes and just taking over was excellent, it made me smile, but when these moments started he was funny with just the right amount of over the top but the script would quite often throw him over that fine line and it became tiresome.
John Cena generally isn't bad when it comes to comedy offerings, but in Playing With Fire he's very stiff even for the by-the-books character he's playing. It felt like Jake had been made too straight-laced, he needs to make the transition from uptight to more relaxed but they could have brought it down just one step and it would have been something a lot easier to watch.
Brianna Hildebrand plays the oldest of the rescued children, Brynn. She gives a solid performance and probably has the best character overall, no frustrating quirks, nothing over the top. While she manages to make a good show of it being up against the over the top nature of everything else means it gets lost in the background.
While there might be a twist on the sort of story it doesn't feel new in any respects. I'm feeling rather let down with the whole thing but thankfully we're not short of other films that do this exact thing.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/01/playing-with-fire-movie-review.html
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Playmobil: The Movie (2019) in Movies
Jun 20, 2020
What can I say about Playmobil The Movie? You know how in real life Playmobil is naff when you compare it to Lego? ... Yeah.
"It's obviously a rip off of the Lego movies!" - Direct quote from my friend's son, and he's not wrong. It's basically a reverse, here people go into the fictional world whereas in the Lego movies the fictional world experiences the real world. There are many things that are reversed. Lego remembers its characters limitations, Playmobil doesn't. Lego is entertaining, Playmobil... isn't. I like daft humour so this should have been a hit with me. "But Emma, it isn't made for you." Well yes, but even I laugh at children's films, and there's definitely an aspect of it directed at adults and they don't hit either.
The beginning of the film is an experience. It opens with a musical number that doesn't have any impact at all, it's also quickly forgotten as the fun is interrupted by police officers arriving at the house. I saw with my jaw slowly dropping, this is a U rated films, they weren't really going to start it by... oh, yep, they did.
This change of mood was quite shocking to watch. It's an emergency stop of plot points, and not something that just adults would notice. A child a few rows in front turned to his mum and said "what happened?!" I unfortunately couldn't hear how she responded.
When it comes to humour, apart from one chuckle that appears in the trailer there was only one thing that I laughed at. I really did laugh out loud. It wasn't a great joke, it was verging on dad joke territory but the delivery was incredible.
I was surprisingly annoyed by the fact that at the beginning (and in the trailer) Marla doesn't know how to walk with her new Playmobil legs, yet moments later she's crawling before going back to not knowing how to walk. I don't expect a masterpiece, but I do expect at least some consistency.
Playmobil leaves me at a loss, I can't really identify anything exciting about the film. The story isn't very inspiring and the characters don't give you anything to identify with despite having the opportunity. The film also suffers from excess, storyline that goes nowhere, characters that don't get used for any real purpose... I don't think this was a particularly good attempt at bringing this toy to life, it might have been more suited to short skits in a TV series or the cutting room floor.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/08/playmobil-movie-review.html
"It's obviously a rip off of the Lego movies!" - Direct quote from my friend's son, and he's not wrong. It's basically a reverse, here people go into the fictional world whereas in the Lego movies the fictional world experiences the real world. There are many things that are reversed. Lego remembers its characters limitations, Playmobil doesn't. Lego is entertaining, Playmobil... isn't. I like daft humour so this should have been a hit with me. "But Emma, it isn't made for you." Well yes, but even I laugh at children's films, and there's definitely an aspect of it directed at adults and they don't hit either.
The beginning of the film is an experience. It opens with a musical number that doesn't have any impact at all, it's also quickly forgotten as the fun is interrupted by police officers arriving at the house. I saw with my jaw slowly dropping, this is a U rated films, they weren't really going to start it by... oh, yep, they did.
This change of mood was quite shocking to watch. It's an emergency stop of plot points, and not something that just adults would notice. A child a few rows in front turned to his mum and said "what happened?!" I unfortunately couldn't hear how she responded.
When it comes to humour, apart from one chuckle that appears in the trailer there was only one thing that I laughed at. I really did laugh out loud. It wasn't a great joke, it was verging on dad joke territory but the delivery was incredible.
I was surprisingly annoyed by the fact that at the beginning (and in the trailer) Marla doesn't know how to walk with her new Playmobil legs, yet moments later she's crawling before going back to not knowing how to walk. I don't expect a masterpiece, but I do expect at least some consistency.
Playmobil leaves me at a loss, I can't really identify anything exciting about the film. The story isn't very inspiring and the characters don't give you anything to identify with despite having the opportunity. The film also suffers from excess, storyline that goes nowhere, characters that don't get used for any real purpose... I don't think this was a particularly good attempt at bringing this toy to life, it might have been more suited to short skits in a TV series or the cutting room floor.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/08/playmobil-movie-review.html
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) in Movies
Nov 13, 2020
2014 was a damn fine year for Marvel Studios in terms of quality, their two outputs being The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. They're just a big double-whammy example of how comic book movies can get things right.
GOTG was a very niche property before hand. A bunch of little know Marvel characters galavanting around space, with revolving line ups involving inconsistent degrees of absurdity. The fact that batshit crazy characters such as Groot and Rocket Raccoon are now household names is an indication of just how effective this movie was.
James Gunn proves that he is the man for the job by melding together his own signature style (alongside his regular collaborator Michael Rooker of course) with the tried and tested Marvel formula of big action, and frequent humour. It's a toss up between this and Thor Ragnarok for funniest MCU movie for sure. Nearly every joke lands well, and unlike the sequel, the humour is never overdone. The balance is near perfect.
The cast are mainly to thank for that of course. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and the voice talents of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel make up the titular Guardians, and they are all unique and have intriguing back stories. They are well developed as the film plays out, and together make for an irreplaceable band of misfits.
The supporting cast include the aformentioned Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Lee Pace, Glenn Close, Peter Serafinowicz, Sean Gunn, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, and a first appearance by Josh Brolin as Thanos... It's another undeniably impressive ensemble cast for the MCU.
The special effects on display here are incredible. The whole film looks amazing and the big set pieces are hugely entertaining, and emotionally charged...These characters make a quick impression!
The only real criticism I have is that Ronan the Accuser, this films main antagonist, feels a little wasted. He looks great, and Lee Pace does the best with what he's given, but by the time the credits roll, he unfortunately joins the big pile of disposable MCU villains.
It's a small gripe when compared to all the good in this movie - that includes it's fantastic soundtrack by the way.
Guardians of the Galaxy is wonderful. It's proof that studios no longer have to rely on the big A-list names to make a great film, and as a result, this opened the doors for even more weird and wonderful characters to make their way into this behemoth of a series. One of my personal favourite MCU entries.
GOTG was a very niche property before hand. A bunch of little know Marvel characters galavanting around space, with revolving line ups involving inconsistent degrees of absurdity. The fact that batshit crazy characters such as Groot and Rocket Raccoon are now household names is an indication of just how effective this movie was.
James Gunn proves that he is the man for the job by melding together his own signature style (alongside his regular collaborator Michael Rooker of course) with the tried and tested Marvel formula of big action, and frequent humour. It's a toss up between this and Thor Ragnarok for funniest MCU movie for sure. Nearly every joke lands well, and unlike the sequel, the humour is never overdone. The balance is near perfect.
The cast are mainly to thank for that of course. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and the voice talents of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel make up the titular Guardians, and they are all unique and have intriguing back stories. They are well developed as the film plays out, and together make for an irreplaceable band of misfits.
The supporting cast include the aformentioned Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly, Lee Pace, Glenn Close, Peter Serafinowicz, Sean Gunn, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, and a first appearance by Josh Brolin as Thanos... It's another undeniably impressive ensemble cast for the MCU.
The special effects on display here are incredible. The whole film looks amazing and the big set pieces are hugely entertaining, and emotionally charged...These characters make a quick impression!
The only real criticism I have is that Ronan the Accuser, this films main antagonist, feels a little wasted. He looks great, and Lee Pace does the best with what he's given, but by the time the credits roll, he unfortunately joins the big pile of disposable MCU villains.
It's a small gripe when compared to all the good in this movie - that includes it's fantastic soundtrack by the way.
Guardians of the Galaxy is wonderful. It's proof that studios no longer have to rely on the big A-list names to make a great film, and as a result, this opened the doors for even more weird and wonderful characters to make their way into this behemoth of a series. One of my personal favourite MCU entries.
Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Guns Akimbo (2019) in Movies
Jan 17, 2021
Contains spoilers, click to show
I'll start by saying that 'Guns Akimbo' is not for everyone. It's an ultra-violent, stupid, no brain action/comedy movie, and it doesn't pretended to be anything else. If you've seen the picture/meme of Daniel Radcliffe standing in a street in a dressing gown and bear-feet slippers waving two guns around then you've seen a publicity shot (and in some cases the DVD/Blu-ray cover) for' Guns Akimbo'.
The films premise is simple(ish), Miles (Daniel 'Harry Potter' Radcliffe) is a programmer for a mobile games company who's main outlet it getting inappropriate videos taken down and confronting internet Trolls. One day he comes across a site for 'Skizm', a real life, ultra violent game. Skizm don't take kindly to some of Miles's comments and break into his home and drug him. When Miles wakes up he has a gun bolted to both of his hands and is told that he has to kill Nix, the current top Skizm player or she will kill him.
'Guns Akimbo' does not hold back on anything, the film is filled with violence and drug use (including comparing the use of an asthma inhaler to taking cocaine), the humour is often immature (see Miles trying to work out how to go to the loo with guns bolted to his hands) and the sound track is fast and thumping. The film is made to feel like a real life computer game almost in the same way as 'Scott Pilgrim vs the World' and, in some ways comparing Guns Akimbo to Scott Pilgrim isn't wrong, Guns Akimbo is a lot more violent but, if Scot Pilgrim is a fighting game (such as Mortal Combat) then Guns Akimbo is a Doom Style shoot 'em Up. Guns Akimbo even has Scot Pilgrim style graphics occasionally interspersed through out.
The main problem I had with 'Guns Akimbo' is that it hasn't got a U.K. release, it's been released almost everywhere else but not here and, with no information as to why or when I can only assume that it's because our all powerful BBFC won't rate it or, at the very least want too many cuts to make it 15.
So, if you want an over the top violent film that you don't need to think about and you don't mind drug use, blood and daft humour then give 'Guns Akimbo' a go. Oddly there is no sex, I think this must be because it would get in the way of the violence.
The films premise is simple(ish), Miles (Daniel 'Harry Potter' Radcliffe) is a programmer for a mobile games company who's main outlet it getting inappropriate videos taken down and confronting internet Trolls. One day he comes across a site for 'Skizm', a real life, ultra violent game. Skizm don't take kindly to some of Miles's comments and break into his home and drug him. When Miles wakes up he has a gun bolted to both of his hands and is told that he has to kill Nix, the current top Skizm player or she will kill him.
'Guns Akimbo' does not hold back on anything, the film is filled with violence and drug use (including comparing the use of an asthma inhaler to taking cocaine), the humour is often immature (see Miles trying to work out how to go to the loo with guns bolted to his hands) and the sound track is fast and thumping. The film is made to feel like a real life computer game almost in the same way as 'Scott Pilgrim vs the World' and, in some ways comparing Guns Akimbo to Scott Pilgrim isn't wrong, Guns Akimbo is a lot more violent but, if Scot Pilgrim is a fighting game (such as Mortal Combat) then Guns Akimbo is a Doom Style shoot 'em Up. Guns Akimbo even has Scot Pilgrim style graphics occasionally interspersed through out.
The main problem I had with 'Guns Akimbo' is that it hasn't got a U.K. release, it's been released almost everywhere else but not here and, with no information as to why or when I can only assume that it's because our all powerful BBFC won't rate it or, at the very least want too many cuts to make it 15.
So, if you want an over the top violent film that you don't need to think about and you don't mind drug use, blood and daft humour then give 'Guns Akimbo' a go. Oddly there is no sex, I think this must be because it would get in the way of the violence.
Worms Crazy Golf HD
Games and Entertainment
App
4/4 - “Must Have” - “Terrific fun that mixes classic Worms game play with golf, resulting in a...
Otway93 (580 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga in Video Games
Apr 26, 2022
Character Roster (2 more)
Humour
Gameplay
Character Skins (3 more)
Collectibles
Replayability
Crashing
The Force was with them...mostly.
Contains spoilers, click to show
After 2 years of waiting, it's finally here, and for the most part, we are not disappointed! As someone who was there for the release of the original Lego Star Wars in 2005, I can say things have got better, and things have got worse. It balances out pretty well.
The game allows us to play through one of the most important and popular cinematic sagas in history, never missing a moment as far as I've noticed, and not forgetting that hilarious Lego video game humour that we've come to love over the years.
With around 380 characters (kind of, I'll get to that) to unlock and play as, from the most beloved characters to the guy you forgot existed and still don't really remember from the films, you have character choices aplenty, with different skills and upgrades to keep you going for a long time.
So that's the positives, so far so good. But now, alas, some quite big negatives.
Firstly, as I mentioned, you can unlock around 380 characters to play as...kind of. The term "character" here is a bit misleading. There's plenty of characters, yes, more than you could really want, but with some characters they have multiple skins to show off their wardrobe from across the saga. Luke Skywalker for example has 17 different skins all classed as a separate character.
Secondly, the collectibles. In this game, the blue bricks that have featured in the free roam of previous games, have reached a new high in terms of quantity. Over 1,100 to be found, all can be found via a number of repetitive tasks.
Thirdly, crashing seems to be a huge issue on the PS5 version. The game for me has crashed and closed over a dozen times since day one while using the character selection. That plus the lack of a manual save feature makes for some frustrating moments and wasted time.
And finally, and perhaps most disappointingly, replaying levels. The entire game has 45 main story levels, 5 per episode, These levels are really only highlights, just the most memorable parts, you can't go back and enjoy everything from the beginning. Level 1 for example would see you instantly speeding away from the giant fish as you leave the Gungan city, while level 2 puts you straight into the Podracing.
Overall, this is a great game that I would recommend to any Star Wars fan, but it was far from perfect in terms of design.
The game allows us to play through one of the most important and popular cinematic sagas in history, never missing a moment as far as I've noticed, and not forgetting that hilarious Lego video game humour that we've come to love over the years.
With around 380 characters (kind of, I'll get to that) to unlock and play as, from the most beloved characters to the guy you forgot existed and still don't really remember from the films, you have character choices aplenty, with different skills and upgrades to keep you going for a long time.
So that's the positives, so far so good. But now, alas, some quite big negatives.
Firstly, as I mentioned, you can unlock around 380 characters to play as...kind of. The term "character" here is a bit misleading. There's plenty of characters, yes, more than you could really want, but with some characters they have multiple skins to show off their wardrobe from across the saga. Luke Skywalker for example has 17 different skins all classed as a separate character.
Secondly, the collectibles. In this game, the blue bricks that have featured in the free roam of previous games, have reached a new high in terms of quantity. Over 1,100 to be found, all can be found via a number of repetitive tasks.
Thirdly, crashing seems to be a huge issue on the PS5 version. The game for me has crashed and closed over a dozen times since day one while using the character selection. That plus the lack of a manual save feature makes for some frustrating moments and wasted time.
And finally, and perhaps most disappointingly, replaying levels. The entire game has 45 main story levels, 5 per episode, These levels are really only highlights, just the most memorable parts, you can't go back and enjoy everything from the beginning. Level 1 for example would see you instantly speeding away from the giant fish as you leave the Gungan city, while level 2 puts you straight into the Podracing.
Overall, this is a great game that I would recommend to any Star Wars fan, but it was far from perfect in terms of design.