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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Gnomes & Wizards in Tabletop Games
Jan 21, 2020
I always thought that Gnomes could BE Wizards. This whole time I was led to believe that a Gnome could take on the class of Wizard and join these two houses splendidly. I did not, however, realize that Gnomes and Wizards were different species and vying for the same power crystals to fuel their magicks… until recently.
Gnomes & Wizards is an area control, map deformation, dice assignment battle game where the players are attempting to earn the most victory points (VP) at the end of the game. Players gain VP by defeating other players’ active characters (clan leaders and tribesmen henchpeople), and having the most hit points (HP) between all their active characters at game end. Sounds easy, right? Read on, my friend.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and the final components will probably be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook from the publisher’s website, purchase the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
As I mentioned in my disclaimer, I will not be explaining every rule for this one as there are quite a few little nuances that make it tick. However, I will cover the basic gameplay, and I will be focusing on a 2-player game for this preview.
To setup the game, each player receives all the components in their chosen color for their clan. A clan consists of a leader (which is represented by the cone on the board) and six tribesmen (henchpeople represented by discs with their specific icon). The board is an elaborate puzzle of triangular pieces that fit together beautifully and create a very interesting map on the table. In the middle of this puzzle map will always be the mine tiles – tiles that have pink power crystals outlining the inner icons. Each leader will have clips placed on their cards to keep track of HP and Defense, and these cards also show baseline movement speed and attack power. Once all players have completed their setup and the black dice have been rolled to determine the starting player, the game is ready to begin and the crystals are primed to be exploited.
Gnomes & Wizards is a game of dice manipulation and allocation at its core. Leaders and tribesmen will always have base movement, attack, defense, and HP, but the dice rolls can alter these. Perhaps you are a super-aggressive player and are just out to destroy the other clan(s). I have played that way and it works very well. If so, then when rolling you will want to concentrate your efforts on the move/attack die face. These add to either your movement speed or to your attack power (not both). Other die faces include defense (which raise your defense clip), horns (which can buy you an ability card OR help to call a tribe – more on this later), or collect power crystals.
Power crystals are used to charge clan abilities (printed on the clan board) and card abilities (attached to clansmen). You can earn your power crystals via die rolls or by passing through the mine tiles in the center of the board map. These power crystals, and the abilities they fuel, are very powerful and can make or break encounters against other clans.
Horns are what need to be rolled to bring more tribesmen on the board. Initially, each clan will only have the leader cones available on the board to play with until more tribesmen can be called to the fray. Rolling three horns and having a leader cone or tribesman disc on tribe-specific icon tiles will allow that tribe to be called onto the board. Did you only roll one or two horns? That’s okay, because horns are also used to draw ability cards from the deck. Draw as many cards as you have rolled horns and choose one of those to keep and the others are discarded to the bottom of the deck. You may attach certain ability cards to your clansmen to be charged by power crystals and used later, or keep certain other cards hidden in your stash to be used any time – even on another player’s turn.
The winner of Gnomes & Wizards is the player who earns the most VP by knocking out opponent clansmen/leaders and earning 1VP per HP remaining on active clansmen cards. I purposely left out a couple twists for you here. Your gameplan needs to be carried out in just 10 rounds in a normal game. So you only have 10 turns to create your all-star clan, earn power crystals, and beat up your opponents. Not enough? Okay how about this – after Round 5 each player will flip over two map tiles at the beginning of their turns – thus eliminating possibilities of calling clansmen to war because their icon is now flipped and unavailable. Each turn is incredibly important to maximize as best as possible as you only get 10 of them, and the map will begin to crumble away.
Components. Again, we were provided a prototype version of the game, so I will not comment on component quality, even though it’s already pretty good. I can see what CavernWire is trying to do here and I am very excited by the plans. The layout on the cards is great. The dice will be cool when final. The amazing power crystals will be a little fragile, so do take care of them, but the design is awesome. The best part about the components on this one – the colors. This game is so wonderfully colorful, and extremely attractive on the table. When playing at work, my coworkers all walked by the table and wanted to know what I was up to. I play games at work a lot, but this one was so vibrant and interesting that they wanted to know more – and they are all mostly non-gamers.
I find Gnomes & Wizards to be a game that I wish I could spend lots of time exploring every strength and weakness of each clan. Trying new strategies, and watching them be dismantled by newcomers. I have not seen every ability card yet. I have not played with each clan yet. But I want to. It’s a deeply colorful game with engaging mechanics (and lots of them) that I feel offers something special to a game collection. So if you are interested in grabbing a copy for yourself, head over to CavernWire’s website and hop on the Kickstarter campaign. Or purchase a copy from your FLGS or favorite online retailer. We dig it.
Gnomes & Wizards is an area control, map deformation, dice assignment battle game where the players are attempting to earn the most victory points (VP) at the end of the game. Players gain VP by defeating other players’ active characters (clan leaders and tribesmen henchpeople), and having the most hit points (HP) between all their active characters at game end. Sounds easy, right? Read on, my friend.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and the final components will probably be different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook from the publisher’s website, purchase the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
As I mentioned in my disclaimer, I will not be explaining every rule for this one as there are quite a few little nuances that make it tick. However, I will cover the basic gameplay, and I will be focusing on a 2-player game for this preview.
To setup the game, each player receives all the components in their chosen color for their clan. A clan consists of a leader (which is represented by the cone on the board) and six tribesmen (henchpeople represented by discs with their specific icon). The board is an elaborate puzzle of triangular pieces that fit together beautifully and create a very interesting map on the table. In the middle of this puzzle map will always be the mine tiles – tiles that have pink power crystals outlining the inner icons. Each leader will have clips placed on their cards to keep track of HP and Defense, and these cards also show baseline movement speed and attack power. Once all players have completed their setup and the black dice have been rolled to determine the starting player, the game is ready to begin and the crystals are primed to be exploited.
Gnomes & Wizards is a game of dice manipulation and allocation at its core. Leaders and tribesmen will always have base movement, attack, defense, and HP, but the dice rolls can alter these. Perhaps you are a super-aggressive player and are just out to destroy the other clan(s). I have played that way and it works very well. If so, then when rolling you will want to concentrate your efforts on the move/attack die face. These add to either your movement speed or to your attack power (not both). Other die faces include defense (which raise your defense clip), horns (which can buy you an ability card OR help to call a tribe – more on this later), or collect power crystals.
Power crystals are used to charge clan abilities (printed on the clan board) and card abilities (attached to clansmen). You can earn your power crystals via die rolls or by passing through the mine tiles in the center of the board map. These power crystals, and the abilities they fuel, are very powerful and can make or break encounters against other clans.
Horns are what need to be rolled to bring more tribesmen on the board. Initially, each clan will only have the leader cones available on the board to play with until more tribesmen can be called to the fray. Rolling three horns and having a leader cone or tribesman disc on tribe-specific icon tiles will allow that tribe to be called onto the board. Did you only roll one or two horns? That’s okay, because horns are also used to draw ability cards from the deck. Draw as many cards as you have rolled horns and choose one of those to keep and the others are discarded to the bottom of the deck. You may attach certain ability cards to your clansmen to be charged by power crystals and used later, or keep certain other cards hidden in your stash to be used any time – even on another player’s turn.
The winner of Gnomes & Wizards is the player who earns the most VP by knocking out opponent clansmen/leaders and earning 1VP per HP remaining on active clansmen cards. I purposely left out a couple twists for you here. Your gameplan needs to be carried out in just 10 rounds in a normal game. So you only have 10 turns to create your all-star clan, earn power crystals, and beat up your opponents. Not enough? Okay how about this – after Round 5 each player will flip over two map tiles at the beginning of their turns – thus eliminating possibilities of calling clansmen to war because their icon is now flipped and unavailable. Each turn is incredibly important to maximize as best as possible as you only get 10 of them, and the map will begin to crumble away.
Components. Again, we were provided a prototype version of the game, so I will not comment on component quality, even though it’s already pretty good. I can see what CavernWire is trying to do here and I am very excited by the plans. The layout on the cards is great. The dice will be cool when final. The amazing power crystals will be a little fragile, so do take care of them, but the design is awesome. The best part about the components on this one – the colors. This game is so wonderfully colorful, and extremely attractive on the table. When playing at work, my coworkers all walked by the table and wanted to know what I was up to. I play games at work a lot, but this one was so vibrant and interesting that they wanted to know more – and they are all mostly non-gamers.
I find Gnomes & Wizards to be a game that I wish I could spend lots of time exploring every strength and weakness of each clan. Trying new strategies, and watching them be dismantled by newcomers. I have not seen every ability card yet. I have not played with each clan yet. But I want to. It’s a deeply colorful game with engaging mechanics (and lots of them) that I feel offers something special to a game collection. So if you are interested in grabbing a copy for yourself, head over to CavernWire’s website and hop on the Kickstarter campaign. Or purchase a copy from your FLGS or favorite online retailer. We dig it.
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Shazam! (2019) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Growing up I was a regular viewer of the Shazam and Isis “Super Power Hour” on television. Back before the days of mega-budgeted Super Hero movies; we had to content ourselves with cartoons and low budget television offerings which did their best to capture the look and action of comic characters within the budget and technology limits they had to deal with.
Warner Bros. has brought their latest DC hero to the big screen with “Shazam!” and it looks to launch a new franchise for the studio and build on the success of “Wonder Woman” and “Aquaman” following some earlier disappointments with their planned hero franchise films.
The film follows the story of young Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who has grown up in and fled several Foster Homes after being lost at a Carnival years earlier and unable to find his mother. Billy has never stopped trying to find her and even takes extreme measures to try to find her that has gotten him in trouble with the law.
While trying to stick up for a family member at his latest Foster Home; Billy is forced to flee from some local goons and finds himself facing an ancient Wizard (Djimon Honsou; who tells him he will now have superior powers when he speaks his name as he is now a guardian against the forces of evil.
Billy does not believe this but upon uttering the name; he transforms into a powerful hero in adult form. Zach Levi plays the title hero and soon finds himself eager to test his new powers and his Super Hero obsessed Foster Brother is more than happy to mentor him and make all sorts of viral videos of his efforts and training.
Their efforts soon draw the attention of an evil individual (Mark Strong), who covets the power Billy has for himself as along with the Seven Deadly Sins; he looks to become an unstoppable force for evil and sets out to destroy all that stands in his way.
The film is aimed more for a younger audience as much of the humor is squarely focused on Middle School level jokes. There are more than a few references to “Big” along the way which does sum up a good portion of the backstory as when he is in hero form; the young boy without a family is a popular and dynamic adult.
In many ways this was one of the more odd aspects of the film. Billy is a dour and untrusting individual most of the time; however when he is hero form he is a jovial and goofy individual who acts like a teenager. I could see an increase in confidence but it is odd considering that they are the same person.
Levi is very energetic in the part and goes all in and he does a great job of conveying a kid in a man’s body. The biggest issue with the film is that there is mostly a lot of humor aimed at a much younger audience and large gaps with minimal action which made sitting through numerous childish antics a bit tedious at times.
Despite this; the film was entertaining and one of the better adaptions of a comic. The door is wide open for future adventures and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
http://sknr.net/2019/03/23/shazam/
Warner Bros. has brought their latest DC hero to the big screen with “Shazam!” and it looks to launch a new franchise for the studio and build on the success of “Wonder Woman” and “Aquaman” following some earlier disappointments with their planned hero franchise films.
The film follows the story of young Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who has grown up in and fled several Foster Homes after being lost at a Carnival years earlier and unable to find his mother. Billy has never stopped trying to find her and even takes extreme measures to try to find her that has gotten him in trouble with the law.
While trying to stick up for a family member at his latest Foster Home; Billy is forced to flee from some local goons and finds himself facing an ancient Wizard (Djimon Honsou; who tells him he will now have superior powers when he speaks his name as he is now a guardian against the forces of evil.
Billy does not believe this but upon uttering the name; he transforms into a powerful hero in adult form. Zach Levi plays the title hero and soon finds himself eager to test his new powers and his Super Hero obsessed Foster Brother is more than happy to mentor him and make all sorts of viral videos of his efforts and training.
Their efforts soon draw the attention of an evil individual (Mark Strong), who covets the power Billy has for himself as along with the Seven Deadly Sins; he looks to become an unstoppable force for evil and sets out to destroy all that stands in his way.
The film is aimed more for a younger audience as much of the humor is squarely focused on Middle School level jokes. There are more than a few references to “Big” along the way which does sum up a good portion of the backstory as when he is in hero form; the young boy without a family is a popular and dynamic adult.
In many ways this was one of the more odd aspects of the film. Billy is a dour and untrusting individual most of the time; however when he is hero form he is a jovial and goofy individual who acts like a teenager. I could see an increase in confidence but it is odd considering that they are the same person.
Levi is very energetic in the part and goes all in and he does a great job of conveying a kid in a man’s body. The biggest issue with the film is that there is mostly a lot of humor aimed at a much younger audience and large gaps with minimal action which made sitting through numerous childish antics a bit tedious at times.
Despite this; the film was entertaining and one of the better adaptions of a comic. The door is wide open for future adventures and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.
http://sknr.net/2019/03/23/shazam/
Mothergamer (1521 KP) rated the PC version of Fallout 4 in Video Games
Apr 3, 2019
I just finished my first play through of Fallout 4 on the PS4 and my overall impression is that it was amazing. I truly had fun playing it especially when I got to run around in power armor. We'll get to all that in a minute. First you start with the usual creation of your character. You can play as male or female. I chose female and let's just say the hairstyle choices were interesting. Again I ask, why were there several types of bald? At least there were some long hair choices, but I went for a fancy updo. There are a lot of choices for the face also and you can add scarring if you want or different facial features.
Once that was done, I started the story and the world seems like it's a nice place, you even get a cheerful talking robot by the name of Codsworth out of it. Then the Vault-Tec rep shows up at your door informing you that you and your family are approved for entry into Vault 111. A few minutes later a news report warns of a nuclear attack forcing you and your family to rush to the vault and as you're waiting to go in a nuclear bomb detonates in the distance causing even more panic. The platform you're on then lowers everyone into the vault and everyone is put into cryosleep. Years later, events cause you to be awakened and then your adventure in Fallout 4 begins.
Entering Vault 111
Things are not as your sole survivor remembers in their little town. Signs of war, desolation, and destruction are everywhere. You do run into your old pal Codsworth and he becomes your first companion. This also gives you a tutorial on the game controls and the crafting aspect of it i.e. rebuilding settlements. The controls are fairly easy to manage and you can go back and forth easily. Of course the big thing is to loot everything everywhere you go because salvaging things like metal and copper are important to building many things such as water pumps that give you purified water or radio beacons for recruiting settlers.
The old homestead isn't what it used to be.
After the tutorial is out of the way, you're instructed to head to Diamond City as part of the main story quest. Of course, you can explore other areas as you go which leads you to new characters and companions one of the first after Codsworth being your canine companion Dogmeat. There are 12 companions in all to find in Fallout 4 as you progress in your adventure. There are also 4 different factions that you can join and do a ton of quests for, but bear in mind that as part of the main story you are going to have to pick one and this affects your relationship with the remaining factions.
Just a sole survivor and their dog.
There's a lot to do in Fallout 4 with the various faction quests and radiant quests. There are also side quests from various cities and settlements which can keep you busy while doing the main story quest. Factor in the quests that you can do for your companions and there's at least 100 hours of game play or more. There are a ton of dangers while exploring the world of Fallout 4 like Queen Deathclaws, Super Mutants, and Raiders just to name a few. The SPECIAL (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) system is here too and it's quite streamlined in the way your abilities are managed and each skill requires a higher rank to unlock as you progress via the perks chart.
Taking out some raiders.
The power armor was a great plus for me because it's like running around in a tank and kicking lots of ass and it was awesome! And while I liked the first power armor set I found, the best one to me was the X-01 power armor I found while doing a quest and it was a complete set too. This thing could stand up to all kinds of things even suicider Super Mutants. Walking away from explosions virtually untouched in the X-01 power armor was all kinds of amazing.
One of the first power armors I found.
Behold! The X-01 power armor in all its glory!
There are glitches of course, but not a lot. I only experienced a couple. One was with being stuck in the elevator in one building and the only fix was to reload my last save and start over. There was another one where I was floating above the ground and the game froze completely. Again, reloading my last save seemed to do the trick. Another thing that bothered me was all the radiant quests mainly from The Minutemen leader Preston Garvey because after a while they become tedious especially with the kidnapping ones when it seemed like the same NPC settler got kidnapped three times. I started to think that perhaps they were getting kidnapped on purpose just to screw with me. I also wish there had been a way for the factions to work together against the scary villain instead of forcing you to pick one and depending on your actions, the other factions would become your enemies. I wish there had been a varied path with some options instead of you had to be on this set path and there's no other way around it.
That being said, I enjoyed Fallout 4 a great deal. There's lots to see and do, tons of things to build, and plenty of adventure to be had. It's worth checking out and definitely worth having in your gaming collection.
Once that was done, I started the story and the world seems like it's a nice place, you even get a cheerful talking robot by the name of Codsworth out of it. Then the Vault-Tec rep shows up at your door informing you that you and your family are approved for entry into Vault 111. A few minutes later a news report warns of a nuclear attack forcing you and your family to rush to the vault and as you're waiting to go in a nuclear bomb detonates in the distance causing even more panic. The platform you're on then lowers everyone into the vault and everyone is put into cryosleep. Years later, events cause you to be awakened and then your adventure in Fallout 4 begins.
Entering Vault 111
Things are not as your sole survivor remembers in their little town. Signs of war, desolation, and destruction are everywhere. You do run into your old pal Codsworth and he becomes your first companion. This also gives you a tutorial on the game controls and the crafting aspect of it i.e. rebuilding settlements. The controls are fairly easy to manage and you can go back and forth easily. Of course the big thing is to loot everything everywhere you go because salvaging things like metal and copper are important to building many things such as water pumps that give you purified water or radio beacons for recruiting settlers.
The old homestead isn't what it used to be.
After the tutorial is out of the way, you're instructed to head to Diamond City as part of the main story quest. Of course, you can explore other areas as you go which leads you to new characters and companions one of the first after Codsworth being your canine companion Dogmeat. There are 12 companions in all to find in Fallout 4 as you progress in your adventure. There are also 4 different factions that you can join and do a ton of quests for, but bear in mind that as part of the main story you are going to have to pick one and this affects your relationship with the remaining factions.
Just a sole survivor and their dog.
There's a lot to do in Fallout 4 with the various faction quests and radiant quests. There are also side quests from various cities and settlements which can keep you busy while doing the main story quest. Factor in the quests that you can do for your companions and there's at least 100 hours of game play or more. There are a ton of dangers while exploring the world of Fallout 4 like Queen Deathclaws, Super Mutants, and Raiders just to name a few. The SPECIAL (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) system is here too and it's quite streamlined in the way your abilities are managed and each skill requires a higher rank to unlock as you progress via the perks chart.
Taking out some raiders.
The power armor was a great plus for me because it's like running around in a tank and kicking lots of ass and it was awesome! And while I liked the first power armor set I found, the best one to me was the X-01 power armor I found while doing a quest and it was a complete set too. This thing could stand up to all kinds of things even suicider Super Mutants. Walking away from explosions virtually untouched in the X-01 power armor was all kinds of amazing.
One of the first power armors I found.
Behold! The X-01 power armor in all its glory!
There are glitches of course, but not a lot. I only experienced a couple. One was with being stuck in the elevator in one building and the only fix was to reload my last save and start over. There was another one where I was floating above the ground and the game froze completely. Again, reloading my last save seemed to do the trick. Another thing that bothered me was all the radiant quests mainly from The Minutemen leader Preston Garvey because after a while they become tedious especially with the kidnapping ones when it seemed like the same NPC settler got kidnapped three times. I started to think that perhaps they were getting kidnapped on purpose just to screw with me. I also wish there had been a way for the factions to work together against the scary villain instead of forcing you to pick one and depending on your actions, the other factions would become your enemies. I wish there had been a varied path with some options instead of you had to be on this set path and there's no other way around it.
That being said, I enjoyed Fallout 4 a great deal. There's lots to see and do, tons of things to build, and plenty of adventure to be had. It's worth checking out and definitely worth having in your gaming collection.
Ross (3282 KP) rated Super Mario Run in Apps
Nov 8, 2017
The game is great - a clever little variation on standard Mario games whereby Mario automatically runs along and all you have to do is jump (should really have called it Super Mario Jump), cutting down on the complexity of controls.
You can play the first round of levels (I think 6 levels) but to play after that you have to pay £9.99. While I know apps are not developed without profit in mind, this is the first time I have seen a game of this profile have this. I don't mind apps where you can buy extra lives or power-ups but to ask people to pay for the game which was supposed to be free is a bit of a cheek.
There are other game modes - one where you race through 10 very short levels to progress through levels to rescue Peach, and one where you play against other players, looking to collect the most coins, but these both get old quick.
After finding out how little of the game I could play, and getting bored of the free content, I deleted the game. The lure of collecting things to build a little town wasn't enough for me.
But it was fun while it lasted.
You can play the first round of levels (I think 6 levels) but to play after that you have to pay £9.99. While I know apps are not developed without profit in mind, this is the first time I have seen a game of this profile have this. I don't mind apps where you can buy extra lives or power-ups but to ask people to pay for the game which was supposed to be free is a bit of a cheek.
There are other game modes - one where you race through 10 very short levels to progress through levels to rescue Peach, and one where you play against other players, looking to collect the most coins, but these both get old quick.
After finding out how little of the game I could play, and getting bored of the free content, I deleted the game. The lure of collecting things to build a little town wasn't enough for me.
But it was fun while it lasted.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Shazam! (2019) in Movies
May 14, 2019 (Updated Dec 15, 2019)
A refreshing, and often humourous entry into the otherwise troubled DCEU
Contains spoilers, click to show
I went into Shazam! with low expectations, after not being particularly taken with the majority of past DCEU films.
I left feeling pretty positive about the whole goofy experience.
As with most DC material, the film starts on a fairly dark note, introducing us to a young Dr Sivana (a truly old school super villain, dating all the way back to the late 30s).
After a bit of back story as to why he gets all villainy, the movie wastes no time introducing us to Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and the rest of his foster family, and the movie succeeds in making all of the younger characters likable.
After a bit of comic book magic, we're eventually acquainted with the true power of Shazam!
Zachary Levi absolutely shines as he clearly relishes in playing this goofy, excitable teenager trapped in the body of a God. He bounces back and forth with Jack Dylan Grazer pretty well, and for the most part the relentless stream of jokes land nicely.
The film starts to waiver slightly towards the end, as the story hurtles towards a standard comic book movie CGI showdown, with a by the numbers comic book movie performance from Mark Strong, and some sketchy CGI cloud monsters, but it's hard not to grin with the surprise introduction of the Shazam! family (something I would surely expect from a sequel).
Shazam! also struggles at times to balance it's humour with it's more serious beats, but for the most part is an enjoyable origin story that the whole family can enjoy.
I left feeling pretty positive about the whole goofy experience.
As with most DC material, the film starts on a fairly dark note, introducing us to a young Dr Sivana (a truly old school super villain, dating all the way back to the late 30s).
After a bit of back story as to why he gets all villainy, the movie wastes no time introducing us to Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and the rest of his foster family, and the movie succeeds in making all of the younger characters likable.
After a bit of comic book magic, we're eventually acquainted with the true power of Shazam!
Zachary Levi absolutely shines as he clearly relishes in playing this goofy, excitable teenager trapped in the body of a God. He bounces back and forth with Jack Dylan Grazer pretty well, and for the most part the relentless stream of jokes land nicely.
The film starts to waiver slightly towards the end, as the story hurtles towards a standard comic book movie CGI showdown, with a by the numbers comic book movie performance from Mark Strong, and some sketchy CGI cloud monsters, but it's hard not to grin with the surprise introduction of the Shazam! family (something I would surely expect from a sequel).
Shazam! also struggles at times to balance it's humour with it's more serious beats, but for the most part is an enjoyable origin story that the whole family can enjoy.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Changeland (2019) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
An outright blast - a revitalizing, unfiltered tonic through-and-through. Would pair perfectly with 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘺 (2013) in elite-tier escapism pieces that so vividly believe in the curative power of getting away and living in the moment. Definitely one of the most depressing movies to watch during the COVID-19 pandemic in that it features some of the most beautiful location cinematography I've ever seen, a fucking *smashing* soundtrack + Patrick Stump score, and an absolutely infectious sense of healing and bliss delivered through an affable cast who fit spotlessly together. Reminded me a lot of something like 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘈𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦 in the best way. Just people coming together and having a good time, impossible not to fall in love with - one of the ultimate hangout movies there ever was. Huge props to Seth Green, who this was an obvious passion project for. I can't lie and say that the story here is super compelling, it isn't really - it isn't bad by any means either, but it's effectively 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 for people who don't hate themselves (minus the towering quirk). But it's clear he feels for this material so deeply that it shows through bigtime in the final product. What could have been some cheapoid DTV shrug instead comes across as a full-bodied experience because of the chemistry onscreen and belief in the picture. And of course I'm just a sucker for late-career Macaulay Culkin, who in this gets blind drunk into a Thai boxing ring wearing a pair of his signature bunny ears. Oh and also Randy Orton gives an inspirational speech. I loved this film deeply.
Dana (24 KP) rated The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2) in Books
Mar 23, 2018
The Dream Thieves, the second book in The Raven Cycle series, was not what I expected. I assumed there would be a lot of romantic tensions between the characters (especially since that is so prevalent in these kinds of books) but there wasn't which was so refreshing!
I loved how the characters interacted and how their relationships evolved with the actions of the previous book. It was cool to see them all starting to grow into their own roles in their quest to find Glendower.
The first few chapters that the Grey Man narrated were jarring. I was not used to his voice, so it seemed very slow. They did become more interesting as we were given more information on him throughout the book.
One thing I wish was more obvious was the distinction between who is speaking as the narrator at any given time. They all have very similar voices, so just a bit more differentiation would make it easier to read, at least in my opinion.
I loved how we got more information about Ronan, his gift, and his background. (Spoilers ahead for the rest of the paragraph. You have been warned.) Also, I am giddy over how, though Ronan's sexuality is (finally) shown to be not straight, his entire character does not revolve around that! It is mentioned, and I assume is going to be explored more in the future books. I am so happy!
I am excited to see more of the magic and more of the background of the other characters and of Cabeswater itself. I want to see more of how Adam and Persephone will have their relationship grow and evolve with their newfound commonalities in their power.
I am super excited to be able to read the next book (but I have to buy it first, lol)!
I loved how the characters interacted and how their relationships evolved with the actions of the previous book. It was cool to see them all starting to grow into their own roles in their quest to find Glendower.
The first few chapters that the Grey Man narrated were jarring. I was not used to his voice, so it seemed very slow. They did become more interesting as we were given more information on him throughout the book.
One thing I wish was more obvious was the distinction between who is speaking as the narrator at any given time. They all have very similar voices, so just a bit more differentiation would make it easier to read, at least in my opinion.
I loved how we got more information about Ronan, his gift, and his background. (Spoilers ahead for the rest of the paragraph. You have been warned.) Also, I am giddy over how, though Ronan's sexuality is (finally) shown to be not straight, his entire character does not revolve around that! It is mentioned, and I assume is going to be explored more in the future books. I am so happy!
I am excited to see more of the magic and more of the background of the other characters and of Cabeswater itself. I want to see more of how Adam and Persephone will have their relationship grow and evolve with their newfound commonalities in their power.
I am super excited to be able to read the next book (but I have to buy it first, lol)!
Robert Eggers recommended Mary Poppins (1964) in Movies (curated)
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) in Movies
Aug 23, 2021
The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has arrived with “Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings”.
The film introduces audiences to Shang Chi (Simu Liu); an easygoing San Francisco resident who spends his time parking cars and hanging out with his friend Katy (Awkwafina) and her family.
Life is steady if unspectacular until he is accosted on a city bus by a group looking to take a pendant his mother gave him. When Shang Chi shocks Katy and the occupants of the bus with his martial arts abilities; he attempts to find his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang); who runs an underground fight club. While Xialing is estranged from her brother; their father Wenwu (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) has conspired to bring them and their pendants before him.
Their father uses the power of sacred devices known as the Ten Rings to rule for over a thousand years and destroys all who would oppose him thanks to their power and the army he has gathered over the centuries.
Wenwu wants to revive their long-dead mother as he is convinced that she is calling to him and he wants to be with her as he was able to be a better man and forsake the power and abilities the rings offered him.
When it is learned that Wenwu plans to go to a mythical realm that their mother came from and free her or burn the place to the ground; Shang Chi must make some hard choices between family and doing what he believes is right.
What follows is an action-filled thriller with plenty of mysticism and humor. The film has a very engaging visual style that combines Asian and Western cinematic styles which results in some very engaging visuals as well as action sequences.
What really sets the film apart from many Super Hero films is that the characters have a solid base to them as they have a complexity to them in regards to their past and their motivations. Their relationships with one another are key to the film as family, honor, and justice are key elements to the film but they are not given lip service but are developed well along with their characters.
While the final act may be a bit FX heavy for some; I found it in keeping with the story and the characters and the great Sir Ben Kingsley provides some very welcome comic relief in his return as Trevor.
Awkwafina is also great as she provides some very laugh-out-loud moments but is not afraid to mix it up when the situation calls for him. Simu Liu was very enjoyable in the lead role as he performed the physical aspects of his character well but added a restrained sensitivity to his character as he is a complicated individual who is conflicted by choices he made in his youth and the ramifications of them now as an adult.
There are bonus scenes that set up future adventures well including one that will no doubt have Marvel fans heatedly debating when the film premieres.
Once again Marvel has shown why they have had such a sustained success with their films as they have done a great job again of introducing a new character to the Cinematic Universe but also connecting him to their cinematic past and future.
4 stars out of 5
The film introduces audiences to Shang Chi (Simu Liu); an easygoing San Francisco resident who spends his time parking cars and hanging out with his friend Katy (Awkwafina) and her family.
Life is steady if unspectacular until he is accosted on a city bus by a group looking to take a pendant his mother gave him. When Shang Chi shocks Katy and the occupants of the bus with his martial arts abilities; he attempts to find his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang); who runs an underground fight club. While Xialing is estranged from her brother; their father Wenwu (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung) has conspired to bring them and their pendants before him.
Their father uses the power of sacred devices known as the Ten Rings to rule for over a thousand years and destroys all who would oppose him thanks to their power and the army he has gathered over the centuries.
Wenwu wants to revive their long-dead mother as he is convinced that she is calling to him and he wants to be with her as he was able to be a better man and forsake the power and abilities the rings offered him.
When it is learned that Wenwu plans to go to a mythical realm that their mother came from and free her or burn the place to the ground; Shang Chi must make some hard choices between family and doing what he believes is right.
What follows is an action-filled thriller with plenty of mysticism and humor. The film has a very engaging visual style that combines Asian and Western cinematic styles which results in some very engaging visuals as well as action sequences.
What really sets the film apart from many Super Hero films is that the characters have a solid base to them as they have a complexity to them in regards to their past and their motivations. Their relationships with one another are key to the film as family, honor, and justice are key elements to the film but they are not given lip service but are developed well along with their characters.
While the final act may be a bit FX heavy for some; I found it in keeping with the story and the characters and the great Sir Ben Kingsley provides some very welcome comic relief in his return as Trevor.
Awkwafina is also great as she provides some very laugh-out-loud moments but is not afraid to mix it up when the situation calls for him. Simu Liu was very enjoyable in the lead role as he performed the physical aspects of his character well but added a restrained sensitivity to his character as he is a complicated individual who is conflicted by choices he made in his youth and the ramifications of them now as an adult.
There are bonus scenes that set up future adventures well including one that will no doubt have Marvel fans heatedly debating when the film premieres.
Once again Marvel has shown why they have had such a sustained success with their films as they have done a great job again of introducing a new character to the Cinematic Universe but also connecting him to their cinematic past and future.
4 stars out of 5
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Knack in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
Launch titles are often subject to some very harsh scrutiny by gamers and the new Playstation 4 game Knack is just one such example. The game was created by Sony’s Japan Studio to be a launch title for the new system and in an ironic twist, is not schedule to release in Japan until late Feb 2014.
Players play as Knack, a shape changing creation that was created by a professor using powerful and ancient relics. The relics are used as power in the societies of the world and when the Goblin race breaks a longstanding truce with new and powerful weapons of war, humanity finds itself needed to answer the threat.
A wealthy industrialist named Victor wants to use his army of robots to answer the Goblin threat but the Doctor who created Knack convinces the leaders that his creation is a more capable solution to the problem and as such is assigned to investigate and resolve the Goblin threat.
The game is divided into chapters and sub chapters and playing as Knack players must travel through caves, temples, fortresses, and other locales in missions which combine platform jumping, fighting, and puzzle solving. Players can locate hidden objects that when combined offer power ups such a relic finder and many other options that will help with the completion of the game.
Knack grows and regains health when relics are found and in time will learn how to add rocks, ice, and other substances to his matrix which in turn will allow him to be gigantic in nature for some of the games bigger battles. I will admit to taking some fiendish delight in swatting aside smaller enemies like gnats when I was able to bulk Knack up to a massive size. The game limits when Knack can reach gargantuan size as it keeps his scale in check with what the level requirements are.
There are also sun crystals that Knack can obtain which will allow him to unleash some super moves. Players can store up to three such power ups and once used, several crystals are needed to replenish what was used.
While the gameplay is fairly basic in that jumping, fighting, climbing, and avoiding enemy attacks there is some frustration with the at times repetitive nature of the levels and in game combat. While fun, it at times became boring as the game went along and it was also hampered by some of the camera angles in games that often made me resort to trial and error. This is frustrating as the game uses a checkpoint save and respawn system as once I was able to get through a tricky part of the game, I went over a cliff and had to replay a large portion of the game. This was frustrating as the camera only gave me an over the shoulder view and I could not see how much space was ahead of me. Other chapters cut to a cut scene in a similar situation but this one required me to inch forwards carefully to trigger the cutscene.
While the game does allow you to continue if you quit, I find myself having to re-watch tons of animation and replay several early stages of a level to get back to where I left off.
While the voice acting and story are nothing special the game is fun to play for what it is and I did enjoy several parts of the game despite the frustrations I mentioned earlier. The graphics are solid and while not showcases for the power of the system provide an interesting and engaging setting for the game and the numerous enemies and traps players will face.
The game has received some negative press to date which I think is highly unfair. Many people in my opinion are judging the game for what it was not rather than what it was. While it could have been a better game, it is a fun and enjoyable game for those who have more moderate expectations and would be ideal for younger players who are looking for something to play on the Playstation 4 that is age appropriate.
http://sknr.net/2014/01/26/knack/
Players play as Knack, a shape changing creation that was created by a professor using powerful and ancient relics. The relics are used as power in the societies of the world and when the Goblin race breaks a longstanding truce with new and powerful weapons of war, humanity finds itself needed to answer the threat.
A wealthy industrialist named Victor wants to use his army of robots to answer the Goblin threat but the Doctor who created Knack convinces the leaders that his creation is a more capable solution to the problem and as such is assigned to investigate and resolve the Goblin threat.
The game is divided into chapters and sub chapters and playing as Knack players must travel through caves, temples, fortresses, and other locales in missions which combine platform jumping, fighting, and puzzle solving. Players can locate hidden objects that when combined offer power ups such a relic finder and many other options that will help with the completion of the game.
Knack grows and regains health when relics are found and in time will learn how to add rocks, ice, and other substances to his matrix which in turn will allow him to be gigantic in nature for some of the games bigger battles. I will admit to taking some fiendish delight in swatting aside smaller enemies like gnats when I was able to bulk Knack up to a massive size. The game limits when Knack can reach gargantuan size as it keeps his scale in check with what the level requirements are.
There are also sun crystals that Knack can obtain which will allow him to unleash some super moves. Players can store up to three such power ups and once used, several crystals are needed to replenish what was used.
While the gameplay is fairly basic in that jumping, fighting, climbing, and avoiding enemy attacks there is some frustration with the at times repetitive nature of the levels and in game combat. While fun, it at times became boring as the game went along and it was also hampered by some of the camera angles in games that often made me resort to trial and error. This is frustrating as the game uses a checkpoint save and respawn system as once I was able to get through a tricky part of the game, I went over a cliff and had to replay a large portion of the game. This was frustrating as the camera only gave me an over the shoulder view and I could not see how much space was ahead of me. Other chapters cut to a cut scene in a similar situation but this one required me to inch forwards carefully to trigger the cutscene.
While the game does allow you to continue if you quit, I find myself having to re-watch tons of animation and replay several early stages of a level to get back to where I left off.
While the voice acting and story are nothing special the game is fun to play for what it is and I did enjoy several parts of the game despite the frustrations I mentioned earlier. The graphics are solid and while not showcases for the power of the system provide an interesting and engaging setting for the game and the numerous enemies and traps players will face.
The game has received some negative press to date which I think is highly unfair. Many people in my opinion are judging the game for what it was not rather than what it was. While it could have been a better game, it is a fun and enjoyable game for those who have more moderate expectations and would be ideal for younger players who are looking for something to play on the Playstation 4 that is age appropriate.
http://sknr.net/2014/01/26/knack/