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Saffy Alexandra (89 KP) rated Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Books
May 26, 2019
Don't be so sirius ...
As much as I say I can't choose one of the Harry Potter books as my favourite ... this one possibly takes the biscuit! The humour, the mystery and of course the introduction of two of my (everyones?) favourite characters: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
The way Rowling manages to make us all panic and worry for Harry the entire way through the book to end up actually rooting for the 'bad guy' is probably one of her many talents (no spoilers but read the last book people).
The introduction of the Dementors who are supposed to 'protect' the school and pupils was chilling - no pun intended - and the actual meaning of them for Rowling's own depression was a real interesting twist to these 'childrens' books. Just adding more and more layers to these fabulous books. Introducing a concept such as 'depression' to young readers is a very difficult thing to do and Rowling achieves this with grace and tact. Introducing something as big as depression to young readers, she has managed to crack through the metaphorical glass roof in the way of mental health. Showing children that any person (Wizard or Muggle) can be effected by depression but there are ways to help combat it is something that is done beautifully in this book.
One of the main things I loved about this book was that she made a werewolf, in which horror has made us fear and distrust, into a character we all root for and adore. His backstory of how he has been mistreated by society and basically pushed to one side is respondent to what has happened to certain people in our society. Again, these are meant to be children's books - Rowling manages to put these points across in such a informative but almost gentle way for children to understand without directly shoving it down their throats. I believe in this way Rowling has managed to help the readers who grew up with these books understand the issues in our society and has helped people grow up to want to help end the stigma attached to certain groups and help make equality in our society.
Not bad for children's book.
The way Rowling manages to make us all panic and worry for Harry the entire way through the book to end up actually rooting for the 'bad guy' is probably one of her many talents (no spoilers but read the last book people).
The introduction of the Dementors who are supposed to 'protect' the school and pupils was chilling - no pun intended - and the actual meaning of them for Rowling's own depression was a real interesting twist to these 'childrens' books. Just adding more and more layers to these fabulous books. Introducing a concept such as 'depression' to young readers is a very difficult thing to do and Rowling achieves this with grace and tact. Introducing something as big as depression to young readers, she has managed to crack through the metaphorical glass roof in the way of mental health. Showing children that any person (Wizard or Muggle) can be effected by depression but there are ways to help combat it is something that is done beautifully in this book.
One of the main things I loved about this book was that she made a werewolf, in which horror has made us fear and distrust, into a character we all root for and adore. His backstory of how he has been mistreated by society and basically pushed to one side is respondent to what has happened to certain people in our society. Again, these are meant to be children's books - Rowling manages to put these points across in such a informative but almost gentle way for children to understand without directly shoving it down their throats. I believe in this way Rowling has managed to help the readers who grew up with these books understand the issues in our society and has helped people grow up to want to help end the stigma attached to certain groups and help make equality in our society.
Not bad for children's book.
TRUE_REVIEW (8 KP) rated Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition in Video Games
Feb 19, 2018
Amazing Graphics (2 more)
Captivating Storyline
Repeat Playability
A Visually Epic Tale of a Future Dominated By Machines
Horizon Zero Dawn tells the tale of Aloy, an outsider in a future ruled by machines who needs to find her place in the world. A story which reaches from her younger years to adulthood and leads us through interweaving story arch from tribe acceptance to standing side by side with royalty.
Take down an array of machines with just a bow and arrow or create multiple strategies using an armoury of inventive weapons. The combat is sleek, often offering multiple ways of achieving your goal. The storytelling is deep and rich with a cast of hundreds of characters, each with their own interesting backstory to be discovered. Controls are superb, rarely limiting your ability to interact with the environment. Graphically stunning (I played this on a standard PS4 but there are significant improvements to be had if you own a PS4 Pro).
For the collector in you there is plenty to find here albeit easy enough to complete with the maps available for purchase.
This version of the game comes complete with The Frozen Wilds DLC which opens up an additional region to the north of the map with new, deadlier enemies to tackle as well as an entirely new story arch to discover. You can also unlock New Game + which (once the base game is complete) allows you to restart the game with all the weapons, armour and collectibles you have found already. New Game + increases the difficulty significantly bringing new challenges to an already discovered map (which in itself is vast to say the least).
All in all, Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition is an incredible story of survival in a hostile world. One of the top games of 2017 for me (if not the best). Certainly deserves all the awards it received and thankfully paves the way for a sequel through multiple unanswered questions. I award Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition 9/10 and a must have for any PS4 owner (exclusive to PS4).
Review Setup Used:
PS4: Standard 500 gig base model
TV: LG 50PZ570T
Audio (interchanged): LG 5.1 Surround BH7440 OR Turtle Beach Wireless PX4 Headphones
Take down an array of machines with just a bow and arrow or create multiple strategies using an armoury of inventive weapons. The combat is sleek, often offering multiple ways of achieving your goal. The storytelling is deep and rich with a cast of hundreds of characters, each with their own interesting backstory to be discovered. Controls are superb, rarely limiting your ability to interact with the environment. Graphically stunning (I played this on a standard PS4 but there are significant improvements to be had if you own a PS4 Pro).
For the collector in you there is plenty to find here albeit easy enough to complete with the maps available for purchase.
This version of the game comes complete with The Frozen Wilds DLC which opens up an additional region to the north of the map with new, deadlier enemies to tackle as well as an entirely new story arch to discover. You can also unlock New Game + which (once the base game is complete) allows you to restart the game with all the weapons, armour and collectibles you have found already. New Game + increases the difficulty significantly bringing new challenges to an already discovered map (which in itself is vast to say the least).
All in all, Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition is an incredible story of survival in a hostile world. One of the top games of 2017 for me (if not the best). Certainly deserves all the awards it received and thankfully paves the way for a sequel through multiple unanswered questions. I award Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition 9/10 and a must have for any PS4 owner (exclusive to PS4).
Review Setup Used:
PS4: Standard 500 gig base model
TV: LG 50PZ570T
Audio (interchanged): LG 5.1 Surround BH7440 OR Turtle Beach Wireless PX4 Headphones
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Condemned: Criminal Origins in Video Games
Oct 24, 2019
Scary Spooky
Condemned: Criminal Origins (known in Europe as Condemned) is a first-person survival horror video game, that is very good but underrated.
Condemned: Criminal Origins places an emphasis on melee combat and puzzle solving, including searching for fingerprints and gathering evidence. Lets talk more about the crime scene's, and gathing evidence.
Condemned directly involves the player in crime scene investigations, offering the ability to, at the press of a context-sensitive button, call upon a suite of forensic tools to find and record evidence. The player character is linked to an FBI lab via his mobile phone throughout the investigation, allowing (almost immediate) remote examination and analysis by his support worker, Rosa. Crime scene evidence can be used to solve puzzles, allowing the player to pass previously impassable barriers, and provide clues to the overall mysteries of the story.
Examples of evidence include fingerprints, footprints, fibers, fluids (such as blood or chemicals), particles, residues, markings/etchings, material, imprints, wounds, small objects, documents, and body parts.
The player character is gifted with the instinctual ability to detect when forensic evidence is nearby, allowing players to bring up the detection and collection tools when appropriate. However, the "instincts" of the character only vaguely highlight the area in which the evidence resides; it is up to the player to methodically sweep the scene and catalog any findings.
Lets talk about the plot: Condemned: Criminal Origins is set in the fictional American city of Metro. The player takes on the role of Ethan Thomas, a crime scene investigation agent with the FBI's Serial Crime Unit, as he traverses the seedier sides of the city. His journey takes him through a number of condemned buildings as he searches for the one who framed him for murder, the evasive Serial Killer X. Along the way, Ethan must use his investigative intuition and technology to examine evidence left behind by SKX, all the while fighting off the violently psychotic denizens of Metro City, who seem to be driven to such madness by a mysterious, yet seemingly extraneous force.
Their are two different ends: but really its the same ending.
If you do like psychological, crime solving horror games than you will like this one.
Condemned: Criminal Origins places an emphasis on melee combat and puzzle solving, including searching for fingerprints and gathering evidence. Lets talk more about the crime scene's, and gathing evidence.
Condemned directly involves the player in crime scene investigations, offering the ability to, at the press of a context-sensitive button, call upon a suite of forensic tools to find and record evidence. The player character is linked to an FBI lab via his mobile phone throughout the investigation, allowing (almost immediate) remote examination and analysis by his support worker, Rosa. Crime scene evidence can be used to solve puzzles, allowing the player to pass previously impassable barriers, and provide clues to the overall mysteries of the story.
Examples of evidence include fingerprints, footprints, fibers, fluids (such as blood or chemicals), particles, residues, markings/etchings, material, imprints, wounds, small objects, documents, and body parts.
The player character is gifted with the instinctual ability to detect when forensic evidence is nearby, allowing players to bring up the detection and collection tools when appropriate. However, the "instincts" of the character only vaguely highlight the area in which the evidence resides; it is up to the player to methodically sweep the scene and catalog any findings.
Lets talk about the plot: Condemned: Criminal Origins is set in the fictional American city of Metro. The player takes on the role of Ethan Thomas, a crime scene investigation agent with the FBI's Serial Crime Unit, as he traverses the seedier sides of the city. His journey takes him through a number of condemned buildings as he searches for the one who framed him for murder, the evasive Serial Killer X. Along the way, Ethan must use his investigative intuition and technology to examine evidence left behind by SKX, all the while fighting off the violently psychotic denizens of Metro City, who seem to be driven to such madness by a mysterious, yet seemingly extraneous force.
Their are two different ends: but really its the same ending.
If you do like psychological, crime solving horror games than you will like this one.
Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated 1917 (2020) in Movies
Jan 11, 2020
Poor Wayfaring Stranger
1917 is magnificently filmed, teeth clenchingly tense and emotionaly draining from start to finish. A journey film of a two men but unlike any war film thats come before it both visual wise and in regards to story telling. More about the trek, land and character progression rather than focusing on gun fights and combat 1917 gains your complete attention and focus right away from its gorgeous opening. What follows is a series of about 7 seemingly one take expertly designed and pulled off tracking shots which are simply breathtaking to whitness. These shots are a joy to experience and not only seem seamlessly tied together but ensure we never lose sight of our heros helping us to really feel like we are beside them as they face numerous obstacles/perils on this tough expedition. Theres alot of tree/growth metaphors here which makes sense since the two lads start off as mere boys given a mission so seemingly impossible that death seens inevitable forcing them to grow up, learn and mature into men if they want to even survive. Sets are fantastic each one is magnificently vast/epicly sprawling and these wastelands are littered with debris/bodies depicting the aftermath of previous skirmishes and desruction. Its actually insane the amount of storytelling/detail going on constantly in the surroundings and the way this helps give extra weight to the world and over all story is staggering as well as visually breathtaking/impactful. See terrain is just as much an enemy here and seeing these lads battle mud, water and building collapses really emphasis that the mission is just as much about survial as it is time constraints. Great messages about how strong the power of hope can be even when the odds are severely stacked against us theres always something beautiful, magical or meaningful that keeps us pushing on or that makes us find the courage to go beyond what we thought we were ever capable of. A brilliantly acted, flawlessly filmed, epic scale journey of an intense character struggle accompanied by a heart pounding adrenalin inducing score and beautiful cinematography make 1917 is a truly stunning and absolutely fantasic experience.
Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated Impact Wrestling in TV
Apr 5, 2020
Hard to Kill
2002 - the beginning
Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the company was known as TNA it was officially changed to IMPACT (the company's weekly named staple show) in 2018.
Beginning as NWA/TNA Total Nonstop Action being associated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), though not as a merged promotion.
In 2004 the company dropped the NWA co. Branding & ran soley as TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships in agreement with the NWA.
2007 - Becoming their own
both parties parted ways and the company created the TNA World Heavyweight and TNA World Tag Team championships. The promotion was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017 and, in March of that year, was fully rebranded under its current name after its main television series.
Falling on hard times -
From its inception, the promotion had been considered the second-largest in the United States behind WWE.
Impact was viewed by some to have fallen behind longtime rival Ring of Honor in 2017, with the loss of their U.S. television contract with Spike in 2014, as well as monetary and personnel issues, being noted as factors to their decline.
2017 - Anthem sports & entertainment purchase TNA!
January 4th 2017, Anthem sports announced they had bought Majority interest in TNA & had formed Anthem wrestling exhibitions LLC. Having already owned Fight Network, a 24/7 multiplatform service dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, TNA was a perfect fit that was sure to attain more attention.
Soon after, the TNA name was dropped & the promotion would simply be known as IMPACT WRESTLING!
2018 - Rebirth
Impact has since made a fantastic recovery & although has not quite reached the height of it's earlier Glory days, it has sustained an international television distribution with Anthems majority purchase of AXS TV, which subsequently began carrying Impact programming.
Though, with the formation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) that year, and that promotion's high-profile U.S television deal with TNT (which is seen in more households than AXS), Impact is still viewed as a smaller promotion by comparison.
Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the company was known as TNA it was officially changed to IMPACT (the company's weekly named staple show) in 2018.
Beginning as NWA/TNA Total Nonstop Action being associated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), though not as a merged promotion.
In 2004 the company dropped the NWA co. Branding & ran soley as TNA (Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, but continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships in agreement with the NWA.
2007 - Becoming their own
both parties parted ways and the company created the TNA World Heavyweight and TNA World Tag Team championships. The promotion was purchased by Anthem at the beginning of 2017 and, in March of that year, was fully rebranded under its current name after its main television series.
Falling on hard times -
From its inception, the promotion had been considered the second-largest in the United States behind WWE.
Impact was viewed by some to have fallen behind longtime rival Ring of Honor in 2017, with the loss of their U.S. television contract with Spike in 2014, as well as monetary and personnel issues, being noted as factors to their decline.
2017 - Anthem sports & entertainment purchase TNA!
January 4th 2017, Anthem sports announced they had bought Majority interest in TNA & had formed Anthem wrestling exhibitions LLC. Having already owned Fight Network, a 24/7 multiplatform service dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, TNA was a perfect fit that was sure to attain more attention.
Soon after, the TNA name was dropped & the promotion would simply be known as IMPACT WRESTLING!
2018 - Rebirth
Impact has since made a fantastic recovery & although has not quite reached the height of it's earlier Glory days, it has sustained an international television distribution with Anthems majority purchase of AXS TV, which subsequently began carrying Impact programming.
Though, with the formation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) that year, and that promotion's high-profile U.S television deal with TNT (which is seen in more households than AXS), Impact is still viewed as a smaller promotion by comparison.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Detroit: Become Human in Video Games
Jul 30, 2019
Leaves Heavy Rain in the dust
The only other Quantic Dream game I have played is 2010s 'Heavy Rain' - a game that I kind of enjoyed, but to me always felt like it was in the cusp of being so much more.
Detroit: Become Human is that 'so much more'.
Detroit follows the narrative of three playable characters - Kara, Markus, and Connor - all androids living in a not too distant future. Androids exist purely to make life easier for humans. They are treated like slaves in a lot of cases and generally mistreated, causing some models to deviate from their programming, and develop free thinking.
These characters stories follow different parts as an Android revolution for equal rights picks up pace.
With all the issues our real world faces at present, a lot of the storyline seems apt, as a subtle social commentary is weaved throughout, without ever slapping you over the face with it.
The different narratives flow perfectly alongside one another, and it becomes clear very quickly, that even the smallest choice you make can drastically effect the route your story takes. It makes for some thrilling an intense moments, where someone you've grown to care about could be snatched away from you without warning.
The graphics and motion capture are breathtaking. It's a gorgeous looking game that emits pure quality, showing off just how much effort has gone into it.
The gameplay ranges from slower detective work, to furious chases, to combat wrapped in QTE. It stands apart in that respect as the moments where the often dreaded QTE sections are deployed, the situation is usually so tense that it feels more urgent - the stakes are always high, as one slip up could cost you dearly.
(The mission aboard Jericho in the latter stages of the game had me legit stressed!)
And to top it all off, Detroit has a wonderful musical score, that compliments the well written script perfectly.
I can't recommend Detroit enough - I can't fault it in any way. I'm already excited to dive back in to pursue more of the many endings the game has to offer!
Detroit: Become Human is that 'so much more'.
Detroit follows the narrative of three playable characters - Kara, Markus, and Connor - all androids living in a not too distant future. Androids exist purely to make life easier for humans. They are treated like slaves in a lot of cases and generally mistreated, causing some models to deviate from their programming, and develop free thinking.
These characters stories follow different parts as an Android revolution for equal rights picks up pace.
With all the issues our real world faces at present, a lot of the storyline seems apt, as a subtle social commentary is weaved throughout, without ever slapping you over the face with it.
The different narratives flow perfectly alongside one another, and it becomes clear very quickly, that even the smallest choice you make can drastically effect the route your story takes. It makes for some thrilling an intense moments, where someone you've grown to care about could be snatched away from you without warning.
The graphics and motion capture are breathtaking. It's a gorgeous looking game that emits pure quality, showing off just how much effort has gone into it.
The gameplay ranges from slower detective work, to furious chases, to combat wrapped in QTE. It stands apart in that respect as the moments where the often dreaded QTE sections are deployed, the situation is usually so tense that it feels more urgent - the stakes are always high, as one slip up could cost you dearly.
(The mission aboard Jericho in the latter stages of the game had me legit stressed!)
And to top it all off, Detroit has a wonderful musical score, that compliments the well written script perfectly.
I can't recommend Detroit enough - I can't fault it in any way. I'm already excited to dive back in to pursue more of the many endings the game has to offer!
Great Big War Game
Games and Entertainment
5.0
Rate It
App
▶ GAME OF THE YEAR, WINNER !! (Mobile category, Game Dynamo 2012) ▶ STRATEGY GAME OF THE YEAR,...
Math's Journey
Education and Stickers
App
Welcome to the magical world of mathematics! Math's Journey helps children aged 3-6 learn the basics...
Teenage Safari: A South African Conscript in the Border War in Angola and Namibia
Book
A wide-eyed South African conscript relates his small share of the war in Angola and Namibia in the...
Helmand to the Himalayas: One Soldier's Inspirational Journey
David Wiseman and Nick Harding
10.0
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Book
"From the war torn valleys of Afghanistan to the frozen peaks of the Himalayas, David Wiseman's...