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God of War
God of War
2018 | Action/Adventure
The most gripping and emotionally engaging narrative in years. (2 more)
Combat is brutal and satisfying.
The one take camera is an astonishing achievement.
Side missions lack the same wonder as the main story. (0 more)
Powerful Playstation Epic.
Back in 2015, gaming hit its peak, and the new generation really came into full effect. Bloodborne, MGS V: The Phantom Pain, Rise of the Tomb Raider, just some games to hit the same year, but what really made me question just how incredible video games could become, was The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Since then, I found games that reached similar levels, but never peaked as much as that. Until God of War.

God of War engaged with me so much because at the time I was trying with my other half to have a child, and persistent family issues meant I no longer spoke to my father. Following the story of Kratos and Atreus really hit home, and I've never felt so gripped and emotionally attached to fictional characters. Every beat of the narrative is put there to for purpose, and to carry weight along this epic journey with a father and son. It packs so much intensity at times it becomes enthralling, almost addictive to continue its 25 hour length. This, I suppose, you could say is it's one part of two contained within the game.

Of course, there are levels upon levels to examine within this masterpiece, but simplifying it within two aspects seems the most appropriate way. The second is the combat.
 God of War is brutal, bloody, bold. The simplicity to master the move sets is so brilliant and often bonkers. Throwing your trusty Leviathan Axe, and calling it back never, ever gets boring, and pushes you to become more intelligent with its system. The more the game enters its next stage, a curveball hits you, and you have to learn what you know already, and add even more creativity. By the end, you should be an expert. That is until you meet the Queen Valkyrie. That's all I'll say.

God of War is a masterpiece. Sure, there could of been a little more meat on the bone when it came to the endgame, more side mission content. But the story is so perfect, so masterful, it deserves every bit of praise it gathers.
  
Saw: The Final Chapter (2010)
Saw: The Final Chapter (2010)
2010 | Horror
9
6.1 (14 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
This is it, the Final Saw film (it's not), It even says it in the title, Saw: The Final Chapter (but it's really not.)
After escaping the reverse bear trap placed on him by Jill in the previous film, Detective Hoffman is out for revenge, whilst also running another game or two (Where does he find the time?)
I think this may be the most outrageous Saw film yet, Jill is having nightmares about being ripped apart, there is a Jigsaw survivor group and Hoffman goes over the top with the traps and then decides it's easier to just go on a killing spree. Honestly if he'd decided to do that two films ago we could have saved ourselves a lot of time.
As usual, the traps are interesting and gory with three 'games' played this time (maybe four or even five, depending on what you class as a game) although I'm not sure about the machine gun.
There isn't the backstory in the same way as the other films, not until the end of the film anyway as 'The final chapter' concentrates on the new player of the game and Hoffman's hunt for Jill and yet 'Saw: The final Chapter' still manages to bring the story full circle, with the help of another of John's recruits.
If it's possible I think that this is the most violent of the Saw films (up to now) as we not only have three main games but Hoffman's killing spree and the machine gun and the return of the original bear trap.
For a film that calls itself 'The Final Chapter' it leaves itself quite open, there seems to be an increase in the 'pig' population as well as the return of an old character as a new (old) disciple.
I do like the fact that Jigsaw (John) died in the third film and was never brought back (or faked his death) and the ways that the new disciples are weaved (retconned) into the back story, I think bringing John back would have been a mistake.
Anyway now I've finished the Saw films it's time for, Oh Jigsaw because films don't know the meaning of the word final (especially as there is ninth film out this year (2021)) oh well, on with the gore.
  
A Tábua de Esmeralda by Jorge Ben
A Tábua de Esmeralda by Jorge Ben
1974 | Pop
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This one is an old classic: it's my foundation. Each song is a wonder. Each song tells a story. What sums it up for me is that if I'm happy I put it on and I'm even happier; if I'm sad I put it on and it makes me much happier. It has the ability to lift my mood or enhance a good mood. There's a quality of light and darkness, this association which I find really powerful and very impactful on my soul. It's a record to laugh to and to cry to. There's so much beauty. I find the string arrangements so moving. It goes so far into my being when I listen to it. It's a very big favourite and as I say a foundation to everything that I love, that hybrid. That's what is so attractive in Brazilian music: the fusion of cultures creating a new thing. That's really fascinating. It was in 2009 I think that I went on a hunt for this record, and bought it. I'd only heard certain songs; someone put some songs on my iPod a number of years ago, and then one day I realised that they were all part of a full album, which I bought when I visited Brazil some years ago, the first time that I played Brazil solo. And of course with Stereolab we were already cultivating that bit of land before we knew that it had already been cultivated and had a name and an identity. It's just an attraction, and you can't really explain them. They're doing the same thing in different parts of the world, or sometimes some things become so strong they go through your DNA somehow and you have them in your blood and they're not to be contested: they're there. But for me music has been the transformational tool. I know I've listened to records and I was one type of person before listening and after I find myself being transformed. It's the same with going to certain gigs: I walked in as one person and I walked out a different person. And I love that about music. You can't touch it, it's just there. There's a bit of a mystery behind it that makes it even more powerful."

Source
  
The Inheritance Games
The Inheritance Games
Jennifer Lynn Barnes | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have read and enjoyed countless YA books, and The Inheritance Games was no exception. It’s touted as a rags-to-riches, Cinderella type story, and there is most certainly a fairytale feel to this. I like fairytales. They’re a gateway drug in to fantasy as a child, I think. Or at least they were for me.

Avery Grambs wants more from her life than living hand to mouth, as she seems to be doing with her sister. Her mother has died, she has no contact with her father. She decides that the best way to change her life is to get a good education at a very good college, with the help of a scholarship. Indeed, she does seem to be very clever.

And then a young man comes to her school, and tells her that she has inherited some of the fortune of Tobias Hawthorne - a man she has never met and knows nothing about. In order to keep her inheritance and deprive the rest of the Hawthornes from getting their hands on the money, Avery has to live for a year in the Hawthorne mansion. Sounds easy, but it’s not. It’s a sprawling, maze-like place, with secret corridors and countless rooms. And the Hawthorne grandsons, on the whole, don’t seem to be hugely keen on her living with them, and neither does their mother.

No-one, including Avery, can understand why she should inherit the Hawthorne fortune. Tobias Hawthorne has one last Rick up his sleeve - a treasure hunt of sorts, that he set before his death for his grandsons and Avery. Just the thing to bring them together - or is it?

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Yes, it’s a bit far-fetched, but who hasn’t wanted to become the equivalent of a billionaire? To never need to worry about money? To have the house version of the Tardis?! This last bit, actually, would totally do it for me - as long as I could cleaners!

I think this will be the first in a trilogy, and I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll be reading the next one. YA isn’t just for the kids, you know!

Many thanks to the Pigeonhole for making sure I read another one of my NetGalley books, and the publisher for an ebook copy.