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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Looking Glass (The Looking Glass, #1) in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
When I read the blurb to this book, I didn't really know what to expect. I liked that it dealt with mirrors and ghosts. That's what drew me in. Luckily, I found this book to be super interesting!
I do like the title of this book. It pays homage to Lewis Carroll, and even some scenes in the book do the same.
I'm not a big fan of the cover although it does have to do with the story. I would've liked to see something spooky on the cover such as Elizabeth Blackwell staring out from the mirror or something similar, but that is just a personal opinion.
I did enjoy the world building and found it to be believable. However, I was a bit confused as to why and how Alice always ended up at the hotel's swimming pool at midnight for just an hour every night. Perhaps that could've been explained better. I was also a little big confused about the fog and how it differed for the witch and for Alice, but I won't go into details as I don't want to give away any spoilers. I do like how Alice's version of the hotel is different from the actual hotel and how she sees the real world through mirrors.
The pacing was brilliant in The Looking Glass! I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting this book to instantly catch my attention from the very first page, but it did just that. From the first sentence, I was hooked and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next to Alice.
I enjoyed the plot very much, and I felt it was fairly original. (Don't worry, the next few sentences aren't spoilers). Alice dives into the hotel swimming pool and hits her head. She almost drowns and ends up in a coma. However, her spirit is stuck at the hotel where she must figure out the mystery of Elizabeth Blackwell if she's to reunite her body with her spirit. While I didn't feel that there were any major plot twists in the story, I still really enjoyed it. Oh, and don't worry. There's no cliff hangars either.
I found the characters to be very well written and likable. Alice is a very down to Earth, normal teenage girl. She was easy to relate to and had a likable personality. She is a very curious about everything, but that ultimately comes to her advantage. I also really liked Tony and how he was so willing to help Alice. He came across as a real sweetheart and a very brave person. George is another character who I wasn't really sure of to begin with but ended up liking.
I enjoyed the dialogue and felt it was appropriate for a young adult book. It flowed smoothly and never once felt forced. My favorite bits of dialogue were when Alice was thinking to herself. There's no swearing in this book, but there is some minor violence.
Overall, The Looking Glass by Jessica Arnold is a highly interesting read. The plot will keep readers very much immersed in the book. The world building is very detailed albeit some minor confusing details.
I'd recommend this book to those aged 13+ who are after a book that's a little bit scary but not too much and for those who are after a book with a brilliant story line.
<b>I'd give The Looking Glass by Jessica Arnold a 4.5 out of 5.</b>
(I received an free ebook of this title from the tour host in exchange for a fair and honest review).
When I read the blurb to this book, I didn't really know what to expect. I liked that it dealt with mirrors and ghosts. That's what drew me in. Luckily, I found this book to be super interesting!
I do like the title of this book. It pays homage to Lewis Carroll, and even some scenes in the book do the same.
I'm not a big fan of the cover although it does have to do with the story. I would've liked to see something spooky on the cover such as Elizabeth Blackwell staring out from the mirror or something similar, but that is just a personal opinion.
I did enjoy the world building and found it to be believable. However, I was a bit confused as to why and how Alice always ended up at the hotel's swimming pool at midnight for just an hour every night. Perhaps that could've been explained better. I was also a little big confused about the fog and how it differed for the witch and for Alice, but I won't go into details as I don't want to give away any spoilers. I do like how Alice's version of the hotel is different from the actual hotel and how she sees the real world through mirrors.
The pacing was brilliant in The Looking Glass! I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting this book to instantly catch my attention from the very first page, but it did just that. From the first sentence, I was hooked and couldn't wait to find out what would happen next to Alice.
I enjoyed the plot very much, and I felt it was fairly original. (Don't worry, the next few sentences aren't spoilers). Alice dives into the hotel swimming pool and hits her head. She almost drowns and ends up in a coma. However, her spirit is stuck at the hotel where she must figure out the mystery of Elizabeth Blackwell if she's to reunite her body with her spirit. While I didn't feel that there were any major plot twists in the story, I still really enjoyed it. Oh, and don't worry. There's no cliff hangars either.
I found the characters to be very well written and likable. Alice is a very down to Earth, normal teenage girl. She was easy to relate to and had a likable personality. She is a very curious about everything, but that ultimately comes to her advantage. I also really liked Tony and how he was so willing to help Alice. He came across as a real sweetheart and a very brave person. George is another character who I wasn't really sure of to begin with but ended up liking.
I enjoyed the dialogue and felt it was appropriate for a young adult book. It flowed smoothly and never once felt forced. My favorite bits of dialogue were when Alice was thinking to herself. There's no swearing in this book, but there is some minor violence.
Overall, The Looking Glass by Jessica Arnold is a highly interesting read. The plot will keep readers very much immersed in the book. The world building is very detailed albeit some minor confusing details.
I'd recommend this book to those aged 13+ who are after a book that's a little bit scary but not too much and for those who are after a book with a brilliant story line.
<b>I'd give The Looking Glass by Jessica Arnold a 4.5 out of 5.</b>
(I received an free ebook of this title from the tour host in exchange for a fair and honest review).
Alice (12 KP) rated The Temptation of Dragons (Penny White #1) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
<i>Many thanks to the author Chrys Cymri for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review</i>
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1Js">here</a href>
I was kindly offered this book by the author in exchange for an honest review and my initial impressions were "yeah this sounds like my kinda thing. Here there be dragons" ya know? Only to get more fully immersed in the book and find that I was a touch disappointed.
<i>The Temptation of Dragons</i> follows Reverend Penny White as she becomes the Vicar General of an alternate world called Lloegyr - please note that there is a heavy Welsh influence in this book coupled with an enormous religious influence - where dragons, unicorns, gryphons and more reside and coexist in relative peace.
The book starts with Penny White coming home slightly intoxicated and thinking she's going mad when she comes across a dying dragon. In true priestly form Penny gets out of her car and performs the last rites of absolution to what turns out to be a real dragon!
From that moment on Penny's life changes in so many ways - dragons exist, unicorns are real, snail sharks get drunk and gryphons are eating her garden birds. Penny is soon tasked to become the Vicar General to the citizens of Lloegyr and that includes all manner of supernatural beasties. Though expected as the main character is a priest, I didn't expect there to be such a heavy religious influence all throughout with literal verses from the Bible quoted on a regular.
Please understand that this is <b>not</b> anything against the book or against the writer and is merely my thoughts on what I considered an overly religious-toned story set in the wrong time period and the wrong world. I honestly found that the hardest part of reading this book but there were parts that I enjoyed for example: Penny White has what amounts to an obsession with sci-fi/fantasy and occult TV and movies, a lot of which were quite obscure for me (not really a TV and movie person *gasp*) I didn't get several of the references - particularly the Doctor Who ones.
Out of all of the characters my favourite had to be Moriarty - shortened to Morey for some reason - a 47-year-old gryphon with no filter. My favourite quote was from Penny about Morey:
<blockquote>"You've sent me a blue tit murdering creationist with sarcasm management issues."
"Correction. Today he's killing a starling."</blockquote>
The sarcasm and humour was rife throughout this book which was brilliant and gave it a nice light undertone to the ultimate seriousness of the book as a whole.
There was one character I didn't like and that was her brother James- I'm not 100% sure why but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. He's a free loading, insensitive toss pot and possibly a pod person.
However, despite my dislike of the heavy religious overtone and of James, I really, really liked <i>how</i> Chrys wrote the dragons and unicorns and all the other supernatural creatures and they had enough of a description without giving away too much important information; but also, on the flip side, there were away lot of unanswered questions such as how <i>exactly</i> does a unicorn use a telephone?
In all, it was a well written book with an interesting concept and some good characters and prose, dialogue was perfectly modern for Penny and a touch Olde World for a lot of the Lloegyr residents.
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1Js">here</a href>
I was kindly offered this book by the author in exchange for an honest review and my initial impressions were "yeah this sounds like my kinda thing. Here there be dragons" ya know? Only to get more fully immersed in the book and find that I was a touch disappointed.
<i>The Temptation of Dragons</i> follows Reverend Penny White as she becomes the Vicar General of an alternate world called Lloegyr - please note that there is a heavy Welsh influence in this book coupled with an enormous religious influence - where dragons, unicorns, gryphons and more reside and coexist in relative peace.
The book starts with Penny White coming home slightly intoxicated and thinking she's going mad when she comes across a dying dragon. In true priestly form Penny gets out of her car and performs the last rites of absolution to what turns out to be a real dragon!
From that moment on Penny's life changes in so many ways - dragons exist, unicorns are real, snail sharks get drunk and gryphons are eating her garden birds. Penny is soon tasked to become the Vicar General to the citizens of Lloegyr and that includes all manner of supernatural beasties. Though expected as the main character is a priest, I didn't expect there to be such a heavy religious influence all throughout with literal verses from the Bible quoted on a regular.
Please understand that this is <b>not</b> anything against the book or against the writer and is merely my thoughts on what I considered an overly religious-toned story set in the wrong time period and the wrong world. I honestly found that the hardest part of reading this book but there were parts that I enjoyed for example: Penny White has what amounts to an obsession with sci-fi/fantasy and occult TV and movies, a lot of which were quite obscure for me (not really a TV and movie person *gasp*) I didn't get several of the references - particularly the Doctor Who ones.
Out of all of the characters my favourite had to be Moriarty - shortened to Morey for some reason - a 47-year-old gryphon with no filter. My favourite quote was from Penny about Morey:
<blockquote>"You've sent me a blue tit murdering creationist with sarcasm management issues."
"Correction. Today he's killing a starling."</blockquote>
The sarcasm and humour was rife throughout this book which was brilliant and gave it a nice light undertone to the ultimate seriousness of the book as a whole.
There was one character I didn't like and that was her brother James- I'm not 100% sure why but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. He's a free loading, insensitive toss pot and possibly a pod person.
However, despite my dislike of the heavy religious overtone and of James, I really, really liked <i>how</i> Chrys wrote the dragons and unicorns and all the other supernatural creatures and they had enough of a description without giving away too much important information; but also, on the flip side, there were away lot of unanswered questions such as how <i>exactly</i> does a unicorn use a telephone?
In all, it was a well written book with an interesting concept and some good characters and prose, dialogue was perfectly modern for Penny and a touch Olde World for a lot of the Lloegyr residents.
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: Alita: Battle Angel starts in the 26th century, Dr Dyson Ido (Waltz) searching for scraps locates the remaining parts of a cyborg, who has come from the city sky, he rebuilds her naming her Alita (Salazar) and teaches her about the world. Alita wants to learn for herself which happens when she meets Hugo (Johnson) who shows him the city.
Vector (Ali) being controlled by the villainous Nova is always seeking the best fighters to send to the city above, which attracts him to Alita knowing her abilities will give him even more power. Alita must learn about her past to fight for her future to become the hero she was always meant to be.
Thoughts on Alita: Battle Angel
Characters – Alita is the name given to the battle angel, she is from an older technology, one nobody understands one from before the great Fall. She is programmed to be like a teenager learning about the world, eager to take chance, before she learns about her fighting abilities, which will see her fight to keep her freedom and for love. This is an amazingly strong character that shows just how much motivation can come from learning one’s power. Dr Dyson Ido repairs the cyborgs, he has a heart of gold willing to help many, but he has a haunted past which gives him a secret life that Alita wants to be part off. Vector runs the city, if you want to get to the sky city, you must go through him, he knows the desire to get there and plays everybody on the idea he can make it happen. Chiren is Dyson’s ex-wife, she wants to get back to the sky city and sides with Vector to make this happen. Hugo is the young man rebel that shows Alita the city, teaches her dreams and sport. He does go against what Alita believes he is, as he like many others is dreaming of getting to the sky city. Zapan is one of the hunter warriors, used as the police within the city, they are bounty hunters who will kill for credits, he is considered the deadliest of them all and clashes with Alita.
Performances – Rosa Salazar bursts onto the scene with this performance that even though the character does feel like it is CGI, manages to give emotion through every event she learns about. Christoph Waltz shines in the doctor role, he keeps everything calm which is what is required for his character. Mahershala Ali bring a calm demanding villain to the heart of this film which will show he isn’t the strongest, but the smartest. Jennifer Connelly has the largest amount to go through with her character, she gets the chance to show us that she is the real deal. Ed Skrein does seem to bring us his Ajax from Deadpool figure, which is fine, des what the film needs. Keean Johnson completes the main cast and work in his role well have strong chemistry with Salazar.
Story – The story here follows a former warrior being bought back to life to learn of a new world that she wants to fight to bring down, while trying to learn about her past. Now, this does have source material, so I can’t say who did it first, but this does feel like a story we have seen before, an unlikely hero coming to save the day after being mentored by an older figure that wished to do the same thing himself, must overcome the odds and gain a following. This is a tried and tested story formula and it works very well with this one too. My big issue with the story comes from the time passage, certain things that happen seem to feel like they could be weeks or months, but they play out like days, only they can’t have been days, this is the biggest disappointment in the storytelling process.
Action/Adventure/Romance/Sci-Fi – The action in this movie is amazing, we get fight scenes with each combatant seemingly having a different ability which opens the doors for all possibilities too. The adventure side of the film comes from following Alita as she learns about herself, the world and her place in it. When we get to the romance side of the film this could turn people off at times, but it does show how people would be willing to fight for their unconditional love for somebody. The sci-fi concepts in this film comes from the creations, both in world and the cyborgs involved, we see a future world completely different to our own too.
Settings – Onto the best parts of the film, the settings, the city created here is one of the best you will ever see in a sci-fi film, each individual part of the city seems to have details to make us truly believe we are there.
Special Effects – The special effects are just breath-taking, nothing seems out of place in this world filled with cyborgs. Everything in this film will make you want to love cinema even more than you already do.
Scene of the Movie – The world we enter is just breath-taking.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The nurse character, mostly because I felt we should have seen her do more (not the actress’s fault).
Final Thoughts – This is easily going to be the best visual film you will see in 2019, it might have a by the book story, but you will be left wanting to see more and more of this character in her battles.
Overall: Experience this on the big screen.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/02/06/alita-battle-angel-2019/
Vector (Ali) being controlled by the villainous Nova is always seeking the best fighters to send to the city above, which attracts him to Alita knowing her abilities will give him even more power. Alita must learn about her past to fight for her future to become the hero she was always meant to be.
Thoughts on Alita: Battle Angel
Characters – Alita is the name given to the battle angel, she is from an older technology, one nobody understands one from before the great Fall. She is programmed to be like a teenager learning about the world, eager to take chance, before she learns about her fighting abilities, which will see her fight to keep her freedom and for love. This is an amazingly strong character that shows just how much motivation can come from learning one’s power. Dr Dyson Ido repairs the cyborgs, he has a heart of gold willing to help many, but he has a haunted past which gives him a secret life that Alita wants to be part off. Vector runs the city, if you want to get to the sky city, you must go through him, he knows the desire to get there and plays everybody on the idea he can make it happen. Chiren is Dyson’s ex-wife, she wants to get back to the sky city and sides with Vector to make this happen. Hugo is the young man rebel that shows Alita the city, teaches her dreams and sport. He does go against what Alita believes he is, as he like many others is dreaming of getting to the sky city. Zapan is one of the hunter warriors, used as the police within the city, they are bounty hunters who will kill for credits, he is considered the deadliest of them all and clashes with Alita.
Performances – Rosa Salazar bursts onto the scene with this performance that even though the character does feel like it is CGI, manages to give emotion through every event she learns about. Christoph Waltz shines in the doctor role, he keeps everything calm which is what is required for his character. Mahershala Ali bring a calm demanding villain to the heart of this film which will show he isn’t the strongest, but the smartest. Jennifer Connelly has the largest amount to go through with her character, she gets the chance to show us that she is the real deal. Ed Skrein does seem to bring us his Ajax from Deadpool figure, which is fine, des what the film needs. Keean Johnson completes the main cast and work in his role well have strong chemistry with Salazar.
Story – The story here follows a former warrior being bought back to life to learn of a new world that she wants to fight to bring down, while trying to learn about her past. Now, this does have source material, so I can’t say who did it first, but this does feel like a story we have seen before, an unlikely hero coming to save the day after being mentored by an older figure that wished to do the same thing himself, must overcome the odds and gain a following. This is a tried and tested story formula and it works very well with this one too. My big issue with the story comes from the time passage, certain things that happen seem to feel like they could be weeks or months, but they play out like days, only they can’t have been days, this is the biggest disappointment in the storytelling process.
Action/Adventure/Romance/Sci-Fi – The action in this movie is amazing, we get fight scenes with each combatant seemingly having a different ability which opens the doors for all possibilities too. The adventure side of the film comes from following Alita as she learns about herself, the world and her place in it. When we get to the romance side of the film this could turn people off at times, but it does show how people would be willing to fight for their unconditional love for somebody. The sci-fi concepts in this film comes from the creations, both in world and the cyborgs involved, we see a future world completely different to our own too.
Settings – Onto the best parts of the film, the settings, the city created here is one of the best you will ever see in a sci-fi film, each individual part of the city seems to have details to make us truly believe we are there.
Special Effects – The special effects are just breath-taking, nothing seems out of place in this world filled with cyborgs. Everything in this film will make you want to love cinema even more than you already do.
Scene of the Movie – The world we enter is just breath-taking.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The nurse character, mostly because I felt we should have seen her do more (not the actress’s fault).
Final Thoughts – This is easily going to be the best visual film you will see in 2019, it might have a by the book story, but you will be left wanting to see more and more of this character in her battles.
Overall: Experience this on the big screen.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/02/06/alita-battle-angel-2019/
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Genshin Impact in Video Games
Apr 6, 2021
Free to play (2 more)
Gorgeous world full of beauty
Good story and fun to play
"Gacha" game, to unlock new characters and weapons the game utilizes in game currency that you can buy with real world money (1 more)
Multi-player/Co-op mode needs work
Another Example of Free to Play Done Right, Loads of Fun!
https://youtu.be/BFdBTc-vscg
Genshin Impact is a 2020 action RPG game developed and published by miHoYo and produced by Hugh Tsai. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Android and IOS on September 4th 2020 and backwards compatible for Playstation 5 in November 2020. Genshin Impact is a "gacha game" featuring an open-world environment, action based battle system utilizing elemental magic and character switching. There have been no updates as of late as to when or if the game might release for Nintendo Switch or Xbox. The game has been considered a commercial success due to it's large fan base and grossing over $1 billion dollars within 6 month of it's release.
Taking place in the fantasy world of Teyvat, Genshin Impact, is home to seven different nations, each of which is tied to an element and ruled by a god associated with it. Such as the city-state nation of Mondstadt, whose element is Anemo, the air element and worships Barbatos, the Anemo Archon and the nation of Liyue whose element is Geo, the rock/earth element and worships Rex Lapis (Morax), the Geo Archon. The main story follows a set of twins not from this world, which you can choose to be either the male or female version of. They become the one referred to as the Traveler, which is the main character of the game. They have traveled across many worlds with their twin but have become separated from them by an unknown god in Teyvat. The Traveler travels across Teyvat in search of their lost sibling with their companion, a child-like "fairy" named Paimon and becomes involved in the affairs of the other nations, gods, and the world.
This is a really great game with it's beautiful anime inspired graphics and a bunch of fun. I've been playing since around December and have probably logged in over 80 hours and I still find this game a lot of fun. . It's an open world RPG so you can pretty much go wherever you want although certain locations are going to have enemies you encounter that might be too difficult for you to fight depending on the level of your characters. Notice how I said characters, not character. You're able to have a party of four characters at one time and be able to actively switch between characters in the middle of battle to be able to utilize different attacks and combinations of skills and elements. There are 7 different elements such as Anemo (air), Geo (earth, Pyro (fire), Cryo (ice), Hydro (water), Electro (lightning/electricity), and Dendro which hasn't been revealed yet but is speculated to be nature related since the name has Greek origins and a loose meaning of "tree". The characters all use weapons in fighting and have a couple of different types like archers who use bows, mages or magic users who don't use weapons but only use magical/elemental attacks, spear users, and two different kinds of sword users, a regular size ones and a claymore or bigger sword users. You can press the attack button a couple of times for your character to do their attack action or combo or hold down the button to do a charge attack. Each character also has two unique combat skills based on their element, an elemental skill and a elemental burst. One of them, the elemental skill has a cool down period but can be used again right after and the other, the elemental burst needs to gather energy you get from defeating enemies to charge up before you can use it. Your character has a lot of freedom and can perform a lot of different actions such as running, jumping, climbing, swimming and gliding and these actions are all limited by your stamina. You can even use your elemental abilities to do things like freeze water and walk on top of it and other environment altering actions. The game is really easy to learn but has a lot of different aspects to it that can be a little complicated. For one, characters can have their strength increased with items such as artifacts that have different perks and additional ones for combining similar ones together, they can also get different weapons that also have different perks which can increase in effect by being "refined". You are able to level up your character by using items you get from completing missions and challenges as well as defeating enemies and bosses. Bosses and challenges that reward highly valuable resources are scattered throughout the world and while some bosses can be challenged weekly some challenges can only be completed once. There are also different types of dungeons that can be challenged but the bosses and dungeons take a currency called "Resin" to attempt and you only have so much of it a day until it regenerates. As your characters progress and you complete more of the story and game your Adventure Rank increases unlocking new quests, challenges, and raises the World Level, which is a measure of how strong the enemies in the world are and the rarity of rewards you get from defeating them. There are some good things that make the game a little easier or help you along the way alot too. Like the many teleportation nodes scattered throughout Teyvat that once you find and unlock you can use whenever you want to fast travel to places you have already been and also the Statues of the Seven where you can heal and revive characters. Your characters can die if their health becomes too low and they will still be in your party/group but you won't be able to use them until you revive them and you can also revive and heal your characters by giving them different food items. You can find food all over the place from hunting animals, gathering fruit and vegetables or purchasing them from a store and there is even a little mini-game type thing where you can make dishes yourself around campfires. Ingredients can even be cooked into meals that regenerate health or boost statistics like attack or defense. Items are also dropped from defeated enemies and found in treasure chests that can be used in increasing a character's strength and ore that can be used to refine and enhance weapon strength or create weapons is usually found scattered around too. There's a multiplayer mode that's pretty much a co-op mode and is useful in teaming up to defeat certain bosses and helping out your friends or maybe showing them the ropes but it's definitely lacking and needs some polish. By completing quests you can unlock five additional characters by completing the story but more characters can only be unlocked by the game's "gacha" mechanic and in-game events. This is another part that gets very complicated in my opinion. There are several premium in-game currencies obtainable by playing the game and also by in-app purchases (real money) that can be used to obtain characters and weapons through the "gacha" system. Something most people would say is very similar to the concept of loot boxes or others would say closer to gambling. There is a pity system that guarantees the player will receive rare items after a set number of draws but I hear it can be pretty ridiculous and there are plenty of people who have spent hundreds of dollars or more to get characters or weapons that they really wanted. I just stick with whatever is free and I've had no complaints but they know what they are doing because as I mentioned above this free to play game has made over $1 billion dollars in 6 months since it was released. There are characters and weapons that are only available for a limited time and if you miss out on getting them while they're available you might not get another chance to ever get them again. So like I said this game is super fun and a really great game, I definitely give it an 8/10 and it gets my "Must Play Seal of Approval especially if your a fan of Zelda Breath of the Wild or anime or "gacha" games in general.
Genshin Impact is a 2020 action RPG game developed and published by miHoYo and produced by Hugh Tsai. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4, Android and IOS on September 4th 2020 and backwards compatible for Playstation 5 in November 2020. Genshin Impact is a "gacha game" featuring an open-world environment, action based battle system utilizing elemental magic and character switching. There have been no updates as of late as to when or if the game might release for Nintendo Switch or Xbox. The game has been considered a commercial success due to it's large fan base and grossing over $1 billion dollars within 6 month of it's release.
Taking place in the fantasy world of Teyvat, Genshin Impact, is home to seven different nations, each of which is tied to an element and ruled by a god associated with it. Such as the city-state nation of Mondstadt, whose element is Anemo, the air element and worships Barbatos, the Anemo Archon and the nation of Liyue whose element is Geo, the rock/earth element and worships Rex Lapis (Morax), the Geo Archon. The main story follows a set of twins not from this world, which you can choose to be either the male or female version of. They become the one referred to as the Traveler, which is the main character of the game. They have traveled across many worlds with their twin but have become separated from them by an unknown god in Teyvat. The Traveler travels across Teyvat in search of their lost sibling with their companion, a child-like "fairy" named Paimon and becomes involved in the affairs of the other nations, gods, and the world.
This is a really great game with it's beautiful anime inspired graphics and a bunch of fun. I've been playing since around December and have probably logged in over 80 hours and I still find this game a lot of fun. . It's an open world RPG so you can pretty much go wherever you want although certain locations are going to have enemies you encounter that might be too difficult for you to fight depending on the level of your characters. Notice how I said characters, not character. You're able to have a party of four characters at one time and be able to actively switch between characters in the middle of battle to be able to utilize different attacks and combinations of skills and elements. There are 7 different elements such as Anemo (air), Geo (earth, Pyro (fire), Cryo (ice), Hydro (water), Electro (lightning/electricity), and Dendro which hasn't been revealed yet but is speculated to be nature related since the name has Greek origins and a loose meaning of "tree". The characters all use weapons in fighting and have a couple of different types like archers who use bows, mages or magic users who don't use weapons but only use magical/elemental attacks, spear users, and two different kinds of sword users, a regular size ones and a claymore or bigger sword users. You can press the attack button a couple of times for your character to do their attack action or combo or hold down the button to do a charge attack. Each character also has two unique combat skills based on their element, an elemental skill and a elemental burst. One of them, the elemental skill has a cool down period but can be used again right after and the other, the elemental burst needs to gather energy you get from defeating enemies to charge up before you can use it. Your character has a lot of freedom and can perform a lot of different actions such as running, jumping, climbing, swimming and gliding and these actions are all limited by your stamina. You can even use your elemental abilities to do things like freeze water and walk on top of it and other environment altering actions. The game is really easy to learn but has a lot of different aspects to it that can be a little complicated. For one, characters can have their strength increased with items such as artifacts that have different perks and additional ones for combining similar ones together, they can also get different weapons that also have different perks which can increase in effect by being "refined". You are able to level up your character by using items you get from completing missions and challenges as well as defeating enemies and bosses. Bosses and challenges that reward highly valuable resources are scattered throughout the world and while some bosses can be challenged weekly some challenges can only be completed once. There are also different types of dungeons that can be challenged but the bosses and dungeons take a currency called "Resin" to attempt and you only have so much of it a day until it regenerates. As your characters progress and you complete more of the story and game your Adventure Rank increases unlocking new quests, challenges, and raises the World Level, which is a measure of how strong the enemies in the world are and the rarity of rewards you get from defeating them. There are some good things that make the game a little easier or help you along the way alot too. Like the many teleportation nodes scattered throughout Teyvat that once you find and unlock you can use whenever you want to fast travel to places you have already been and also the Statues of the Seven where you can heal and revive characters. Your characters can die if their health becomes too low and they will still be in your party/group but you won't be able to use them until you revive them and you can also revive and heal your characters by giving them different food items. You can find food all over the place from hunting animals, gathering fruit and vegetables or purchasing them from a store and there is even a little mini-game type thing where you can make dishes yourself around campfires. Ingredients can even be cooked into meals that regenerate health or boost statistics like attack or defense. Items are also dropped from defeated enemies and found in treasure chests that can be used in increasing a character's strength and ore that can be used to refine and enhance weapon strength or create weapons is usually found scattered around too. There's a multiplayer mode that's pretty much a co-op mode and is useful in teaming up to defeat certain bosses and helping out your friends or maybe showing them the ropes but it's definitely lacking and needs some polish. By completing quests you can unlock five additional characters by completing the story but more characters can only be unlocked by the game's "gacha" mechanic and in-game events. This is another part that gets very complicated in my opinion. There are several premium in-game currencies obtainable by playing the game and also by in-app purchases (real money) that can be used to obtain characters and weapons through the "gacha" system. Something most people would say is very similar to the concept of loot boxes or others would say closer to gambling. There is a pity system that guarantees the player will receive rare items after a set number of draws but I hear it can be pretty ridiculous and there are plenty of people who have spent hundreds of dollars or more to get characters or weapons that they really wanted. I just stick with whatever is free and I've had no complaints but they know what they are doing because as I mentioned above this free to play game has made over $1 billion dollars in 6 months since it was released. There are characters and weapons that are only available for a limited time and if you miss out on getting them while they're available you might not get another chance to ever get them again. So like I said this game is super fun and a really great game, I definitely give it an 8/10 and it gets my "Must Play Seal of Approval especially if your a fan of Zelda Breath of the Wild or anime or "gacha" games in general.
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
More of the same
After the phenomenal success of Captain America: Civil War, the multiplexes have calmed down a little; that is until the release of X-Men: Apocalypse next week.
Sandwiched in between these two box-office behemoths is the sequel to Universal Studio’s surprise comedy hit, Bad Neighbours. But does another helping of Seth Rogen and Zac Efron’s adult humour hit the spot?
It’s fair to say that these films have a target audience firmly in mind. The first film was received best by University students and younger men according to box-office analysts and managed to gross a whopping $270m on an $18m budget – a sequel whilst completely unnecessary was as likely as an April shower.
Bad Neighbours 2 follows a very well-worn path, so well-worn in fact that it shoehorns the exact same premise from its predecessor into another 90 minute comedy, with just a few new twists and turns to stop it from being a carbon copy.
So, what are these twists and turns I hear you cry? Well, for one, Zac Efron’s Teddy Sanders is all grown up for one, returning to help Seth Rogen’s Mac, and Rose Byrne’s Kelly face-off against a sorority (instead of a fraternity) – headed by the excellent Chloe Grace Moretz.
Plot wise, that’s about it; in fact there is no plot to speak off and the real highlight in this simple film are the reams and reams of adult gags. The majority of them hit the spot; a brilliantly shot sequence at a college ‘festival’ is absolutely hilarious, and then a few of them don’t – but that’s to be expected in any comedy.
When it comes to the acting, it’s a by-the-numbers affair. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are dependable with the latter’s credentials in the genre expanding by the day. From Bridesmaids to Spy, she’s fast becoming a new comedy star, and there’s no complaint from me there.
Zac Efron is now utterly typecast but I doubt he’ll care if his movies keep packing out cinemas across the world. Despite his usual reliable performances, he’s starting to look a little older than his ‘frat boy’ characters would have you believe and if he can’t shake off that tag, he’ll end up in the bargain bins alongside Tobey Maguire. That’s a shame, as his more serious roles prove he has the acting chops to go with his good looks.
Elsewhere, Chloe Grace Moretz is the only sorority girl to make an impact and her sweet, if predictable backstory provide Bad Neighbours 2 with its only real sense of emotion.
Overall, Bad Neighbours 2 is a very funny adult comedy despite its lack of plot and the by-the-numbers casting. Returning director Nicholas Stoller has introduced a more female-orientated film that will no doubt pay dividends at the box-office. It definitely wasn’t needed, but as is the case in the film world, money talks.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/05/14/more-of-the-same-bad-neighbours-2-review/
Sandwiched in between these two box-office behemoths is the sequel to Universal Studio’s surprise comedy hit, Bad Neighbours. But does another helping of Seth Rogen and Zac Efron’s adult humour hit the spot?
It’s fair to say that these films have a target audience firmly in mind. The first film was received best by University students and younger men according to box-office analysts and managed to gross a whopping $270m on an $18m budget – a sequel whilst completely unnecessary was as likely as an April shower.
Bad Neighbours 2 follows a very well-worn path, so well-worn in fact that it shoehorns the exact same premise from its predecessor into another 90 minute comedy, with just a few new twists and turns to stop it from being a carbon copy.
So, what are these twists and turns I hear you cry? Well, for one, Zac Efron’s Teddy Sanders is all grown up for one, returning to help Seth Rogen’s Mac, and Rose Byrne’s Kelly face-off against a sorority (instead of a fraternity) – headed by the excellent Chloe Grace Moretz.
Plot wise, that’s about it; in fact there is no plot to speak off and the real highlight in this simple film are the reams and reams of adult gags. The majority of them hit the spot; a brilliantly shot sequence at a college ‘festival’ is absolutely hilarious, and then a few of them don’t – but that’s to be expected in any comedy.
When it comes to the acting, it’s a by-the-numbers affair. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are dependable with the latter’s credentials in the genre expanding by the day. From Bridesmaids to Spy, she’s fast becoming a new comedy star, and there’s no complaint from me there.
Zac Efron is now utterly typecast but I doubt he’ll care if his movies keep packing out cinemas across the world. Despite his usual reliable performances, he’s starting to look a little older than his ‘frat boy’ characters would have you believe and if he can’t shake off that tag, he’ll end up in the bargain bins alongside Tobey Maguire. That’s a shame, as his more serious roles prove he has the acting chops to go with his good looks.
Elsewhere, Chloe Grace Moretz is the only sorority girl to make an impact and her sweet, if predictable backstory provide Bad Neighbours 2 with its only real sense of emotion.
Overall, Bad Neighbours 2 is a very funny adult comedy despite its lack of plot and the by-the-numbers casting. Returning director Nicholas Stoller has introduced a more female-orientated film that will no doubt pay dividends at the box-office. It definitely wasn’t needed, but as is the case in the film world, money talks.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/05/14/more-of-the-same-bad-neighbours-2-review/
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Keeper of the Bees (Black Birds of the Gallows, #2) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<h2><strong>I enjoyed <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>, but if I had to choose between the first and the second, I loved the second so much better than the first.</strong></h2>
<em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is Meg Kassel's second novel, the companion novel to <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>. We're brought back to the world of harbringers and beekeepers in a smol town in Missouri (hey, look, my home state!) and their roles in death.
<h3><strong><em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is a bit of a villain story.</strong></h3>
Harbringers flock to where death happens and "absorb" the energy emitted. Beekeepers usually cause the death by using their bees to sting someone, resulting in them reaching their destruction (aka death). <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> tells the story of Dresden, a boy cursed for eternity, and Essie, a girl who eats peppercorn to discern real from unreal.
<h3><strong>Dresden is a precious onion with layers despite being Evil.</strong></h3>
Most villains are evil and pure evil, but Dresden is a precious little onion who is <em>cursed</em> to be evil. He doesn't <em>want</em> to be evil and <em>shows</em> that he doesn't want to be evil. Throughout the novel, he's struggling to not sting Essie despite the bees inside wanting him to do so.
<h3><strong>Aunt Bel is amazing, and I just want to hug her.</strong></h3>
Essie is part of the Wickerton family, a family with members who are cursed to lose their sanity and eventually end up at Stanton House. Essie's curse is not being able to tell what is real and unreal, at least without the help of peppercorns. Both her and Aunt Bel are in a constant battle with her father and psychiatrist when it comes to her mental health and sending her to Stanton House with other members. Aunt Bel is such a strong advocate for Essie and her Grandma Edie, and she refuses to give in to what Essie's father and psychiatrist want for Essie.
<h3><strong>Reece! Angie! References to the first novel!</strong></h3>
Do you <em>have</em> to read the first novel? Nawh, you don't have to since Kassel gives the 411 on her world for those who haven't read the first, so you're safe to dive into <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> without worrying about being totally lost, <em>but</em> you should definitely read <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em> first.
<h2><strong>Overall, <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> was a delight to read! I loved seeing from the other side of things where the supposed "villain" is in a constant battle to be a better person.</strong></h2>
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/keeper-of-the-bees-by-meg-kassel/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
<h2><strong>I enjoyed <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>, but if I had to choose between the first and the second, I loved the second so much better than the first.</strong></h2>
<em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is Meg Kassel's second novel, the companion novel to <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em>. We're brought back to the world of harbringers and beekeepers in a smol town in Missouri (hey, look, my home state!) and their roles in death.
<h3><strong><em>Keeper of the Bees</em> is a bit of a villain story.</strong></h3>
Harbringers flock to where death happens and "absorb" the energy emitted. Beekeepers usually cause the death by using their bees to sting someone, resulting in them reaching their destruction (aka death). <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> tells the story of Dresden, a boy cursed for eternity, and Essie, a girl who eats peppercorn to discern real from unreal.
<h3><strong>Dresden is a precious onion with layers despite being Evil.</strong></h3>
Most villains are evil and pure evil, but Dresden is a precious little onion who is <em>cursed</em> to be evil. He doesn't <em>want</em> to be evil and <em>shows</em> that he doesn't want to be evil. Throughout the novel, he's struggling to not sting Essie despite the bees inside wanting him to do so.
<h3><strong>Aunt Bel is amazing, and I just want to hug her.</strong></h3>
Essie is part of the Wickerton family, a family with members who are cursed to lose their sanity and eventually end up at Stanton House. Essie's curse is not being able to tell what is real and unreal, at least without the help of peppercorns. Both her and Aunt Bel are in a constant battle with her father and psychiatrist when it comes to her mental health and sending her to Stanton House with other members. Aunt Bel is such a strong advocate for Essie and her Grandma Edie, and she refuses to give in to what Essie's father and psychiatrist want for Essie.
<h3><strong>Reece! Angie! References to the first novel!</strong></h3>
Do you <em>have</em> to read the first novel? Nawh, you don't have to since Kassel gives the 411 on her world for those who haven't read the first, so you're safe to dive into <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> without worrying about being totally lost, <em>but</em> you should definitely read <em>Black Bird of the Gallows</em> first.
<h2><strong>Overall, <em>Keeper of the Bees</em> was a delight to read! I loved seeing from the other side of things where the supposed "villain" is in a constant battle to be a better person.</strong></h2>
<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/keeper-of-the-bees-by-meg-kassel/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Postsnap: The Postcard App
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Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise-4th Edition
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