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Cyn Armistead (14 KP) rated Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions in Books
Mar 1, 2018
Journeys, literal or otherwise, are the theme of this young adult anthology. Appropriately enough, it was conceived as the result of a book tour.
"Giovanni’s Farewell" by [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg] is a sweet, coming-of-age story of sorts. The twist is that it features a brother and sister, twins, rather than just one person. They visit Rome with a school group while dealing with major changes in their lives. There was too much background crammed into a short story, but it was interesting.
[a:Carrie Ryan|1443712|Carrie Ryan|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1343410049p2/1443712.jpg]'s "Scenic Route" is a disturbing, post-apocalyptic story set in the world of [b:The Forest of Hands and Teeth|3432478|The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)|Carrie Ryan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320633297s/3432478.jpg|3473471] about two young sisters trying to survive in an isolated cabin. The older sister keeps the younger one occupied with the planning of a road trip that will never happen, always hoping against hope that the girl won't realize what their reality is. How long can they stay isolated enough to survive? Bloody, frightening, and visceral.
"Red Run" by [a:Kami Garcia|2895706|Kami Garcia|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1289693388p2/2895706.jpg] is the story of a girl who has lost the only person she loves in the world, and the trip she takes to avenge his death. How do you hunt a ghost? Maybe it isn't fair, coming right after Ryan's story, but I didn't truly feel the main character's feelings.
[a:Jackson Pearce|2761947|Jackson Pearce|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1336840299p2/2761947.jpg]'s "Things About Love" is a sweet story involving a jinn researching love. I felt like I'd come into the middle of something, so I checked and found that she's written a novel, [b:As You Wish|6750586|As You Wish|Jackson Pearce|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1319175193s/6750586.jpg|6217232], in the same setting. While this story technically stands on its own, it would probably be enriched by having read As You Wish.
"Niederwald" by [a:Rachel Vincent|415967|Rachel Vincent|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1262900481p2/415967.jpg] is the first story I've read in her Soul Screamers series. Sabine, a macha (nightmare), takes a road trip with a human acquaintance and detours to Niederwald, Texas, home to the harpies. No, there's no way that could go wrong. Of course you know from the moment they hit the parking lot that it will go wrong, but at least it's an interesting sort of wrong.
[a:Melissa Marr|175855|Melissa Marr|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192302741p2/175855.jpg]'s "Merely Mortal" feels as though it's probably set in the same world as her Wicked Lovely series.
"Facing Facts" by [a:Kelley Armstrong|7581|Kelley Armstrong|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1199068298p2/7581.jpg] is set in her Darkest Powers universe. I read the first of those books, but obviously a lot has passed since then, and there were spoilers in this story. It really centers around Chloe and Tori, with a little Derek tossed in. Tori learns something she doesn't want to know and reacts badly, running off on her own, which is dangerous. Chloe goes after her and they get into trouble. That seemed rather predictable to me, but at least the type of trouble wasn't what I expected. Tori doesn't seem to have changed since the first book, but Chloe is coming into control of her abilities.
[a:Sarah Rees Brennan|836009|Sarah Rees Brennan|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1254149255p2/836009.jpg]'s "Let’s Get this Undead Show on the Road" is about a boy band that features a vampire, Christian. He's an unusual vampire, all alone without a nest or a sire. His journey seems to be about his identity as a vampire, although the band is on tour and has another sort of journey to make, as well.
"Bridge" by [a:Jeri Smith-Ready|56019|Jeri Smith-Ready|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1204922569p2/56019.jpg] is told from a ghost's point of view, 233 days after death. It's frustrating being a ghost, because most people can't see or hear you. There are things you have to accomplish before moving on, though, that require communication with the living. Finding a "bridge" and working things out takes a lot of effort. This was a touching story, bittersweet and well-told.
[a:Kimberly Derting|2755160|Kimberly Derting|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1229976464p2/2755160.jpg]'s "Skin Contact" nearly broke me. Rafe is looking for his girlfriend. He knows where he needs to go, and he's guided by dreams. This story nearly broke me. It's told sparingly, and something feels perfectly right about it, but it hurts. According to her author biography, Rafe was introduced in her novel Desires of the Dead.
"Leaving" by [a:Ally Condie|1304470|Ally Condie|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1325882614p2/1304470.jpg] is a very literary story, about a girl left behind after her mother dies and her father leaves. She spends the story preparing to go after her father. It's hard to describe much more than that, or to have much of an opinion. It was well-written and I think I'll probably remember it for a long time.
[a:Jessica Verday|1290625|Jessica Verday|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243816082p2/1290625.jpg]'s "At The Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show" is a darkly funny story about a girl from a family of monster hunters. She's usually the bait, but tonight she has decided to be the hunter — without backup. I'd like to read more from Verday.
"IV League" by [a:Margaret Stohl|2895707|Margaret Stohl|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1241421033p2/2895707.jpg] just didn't hit me right. It's the story of a bunch of southern vampires on a college tour, which could have been funny but wasn't written that way. The whole thing just didn't sit well with me, perhaps because the main character seemed too unrealistically out of touch for someone who obviously had access to television and the internet.
[a:Mary E. Pearson|123463|Mary E. Pearson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238978651p2/123463.jpg]'s "Gargouille" is the most touching love story in the collection. Just read it.
"The Third Kind" by [a:Jennifer Lynn Barnes|164187|Jennifer Lynn Barnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243935916p2/164187.jpg] is, on the surface, about a road trip to San Antonio. The real journey is much deeper, one of coming to understanding one's calling.
[a:Rachel Caine|15292|Rachel Caine|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1272650500p2/15292.jpg]'s Morganville is the setting for her "Automatic." I think I've read a Morganville novella, but my memory of it is dim. The Morganville Blood Bank introduces an automated withdrawal machine, essentially a soda can dispenser. Michael Glass is ordered to try it first, as a demonstration for the older, more traditional vampires, with unexpected results. His journey is one of self-knowledge. I didn't really care much about him, his journey, his girlfriend, or anything else. The setting and characters do nothing for me, but your mileage may vary.
Altogether, the anthology was worth reading. There were some low spots, but that's true of any collection. To be fair, I'm sure someone who is more enthusiastic about young adult fiction would also be more enthusiastic about the works here.
"Giovanni’s Farewell" by [a:Claudia Gray|1192311|Claudia Gray|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234643683p2/1192311.jpg] is a sweet, coming-of-age story of sorts. The twist is that it features a brother and sister, twins, rather than just one person. They visit Rome with a school group while dealing with major changes in their lives. There was too much background crammed into a short story, but it was interesting.
[a:Carrie Ryan|1443712|Carrie Ryan|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1343410049p2/1443712.jpg]'s "Scenic Route" is a disturbing, post-apocalyptic story set in the world of [b:The Forest of Hands and Teeth|3432478|The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)|Carrie Ryan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320633297s/3432478.jpg|3473471] about two young sisters trying to survive in an isolated cabin. The older sister keeps the younger one occupied with the planning of a road trip that will never happen, always hoping against hope that the girl won't realize what their reality is. How long can they stay isolated enough to survive? Bloody, frightening, and visceral.
"Red Run" by [a:Kami Garcia|2895706|Kami Garcia|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1289693388p2/2895706.jpg] is the story of a girl who has lost the only person she loves in the world, and the trip she takes to avenge his death. How do you hunt a ghost? Maybe it isn't fair, coming right after Ryan's story, but I didn't truly feel the main character's feelings.
[a:Jackson Pearce|2761947|Jackson Pearce|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1336840299p2/2761947.jpg]'s "Things About Love" is a sweet story involving a jinn researching love. I felt like I'd come into the middle of something, so I checked and found that she's written a novel, [b:As You Wish|6750586|As You Wish|Jackson Pearce|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1319175193s/6750586.jpg|6217232], in the same setting. While this story technically stands on its own, it would probably be enriched by having read As You Wish.
"Niederwald" by [a:Rachel Vincent|415967|Rachel Vincent|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1262900481p2/415967.jpg] is the first story I've read in her Soul Screamers series. Sabine, a macha (nightmare), takes a road trip with a human acquaintance and detours to Niederwald, Texas, home to the harpies. No, there's no way that could go wrong. Of course you know from the moment they hit the parking lot that it will go wrong, but at least it's an interesting sort of wrong.
[a:Melissa Marr|175855|Melissa Marr|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192302741p2/175855.jpg]'s "Merely Mortal" feels as though it's probably set in the same world as her Wicked Lovely series.
"Facing Facts" by [a:Kelley Armstrong|7581|Kelley Armstrong|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1199068298p2/7581.jpg] is set in her Darkest Powers universe. I read the first of those books, but obviously a lot has passed since then, and there were spoilers in this story. It really centers around Chloe and Tori, with a little Derek tossed in. Tori learns something she doesn't want to know and reacts badly, running off on her own, which is dangerous. Chloe goes after her and they get into trouble. That seemed rather predictable to me, but at least the type of trouble wasn't what I expected. Tori doesn't seem to have changed since the first book, but Chloe is coming into control of her abilities.
[a:Sarah Rees Brennan|836009|Sarah Rees Brennan|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1254149255p2/836009.jpg]'s "Let’s Get this Undead Show on the Road" is about a boy band that features a vampire, Christian. He's an unusual vampire, all alone without a nest or a sire. His journey seems to be about his identity as a vampire, although the band is on tour and has another sort of journey to make, as well.
"Bridge" by [a:Jeri Smith-Ready|56019|Jeri Smith-Ready|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1204922569p2/56019.jpg] is told from a ghost's point of view, 233 days after death. It's frustrating being a ghost, because most people can't see or hear you. There are things you have to accomplish before moving on, though, that require communication with the living. Finding a "bridge" and working things out takes a lot of effort. This was a touching story, bittersweet and well-told.
[a:Kimberly Derting|2755160|Kimberly Derting|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1229976464p2/2755160.jpg]'s "Skin Contact" nearly broke me. Rafe is looking for his girlfriend. He knows where he needs to go, and he's guided by dreams. This story nearly broke me. It's told sparingly, and something feels perfectly right about it, but it hurts. According to her author biography, Rafe was introduced in her novel Desires of the Dead.
"Leaving" by [a:Ally Condie|1304470|Ally Condie|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1325882614p2/1304470.jpg] is a very literary story, about a girl left behind after her mother dies and her father leaves. She spends the story preparing to go after her father. It's hard to describe much more than that, or to have much of an opinion. It was well-written and I think I'll probably remember it for a long time.
[a:Jessica Verday|1290625|Jessica Verday|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243816082p2/1290625.jpg]'s "At The Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show" is a darkly funny story about a girl from a family of monster hunters. She's usually the bait, but tonight she has decided to be the hunter — without backup. I'd like to read more from Verday.
"IV League" by [a:Margaret Stohl|2895707|Margaret Stohl|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1241421033p2/2895707.jpg] just didn't hit me right. It's the story of a bunch of southern vampires on a college tour, which could have been funny but wasn't written that way. The whole thing just didn't sit well with me, perhaps because the main character seemed too unrealistically out of touch for someone who obviously had access to television and the internet.
[a:Mary E. Pearson|123463|Mary E. Pearson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238978651p2/123463.jpg]'s "Gargouille" is the most touching love story in the collection. Just read it.
"The Third Kind" by [a:Jennifer Lynn Barnes|164187|Jennifer Lynn Barnes|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243935916p2/164187.jpg] is, on the surface, about a road trip to San Antonio. The real journey is much deeper, one of coming to understanding one's calling.
[a:Rachel Caine|15292|Rachel Caine|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1272650500p2/15292.jpg]'s Morganville is the setting for her "Automatic." I think I've read a Morganville novella, but my memory of it is dim. The Morganville Blood Bank introduces an automated withdrawal machine, essentially a soda can dispenser. Michael Glass is ordered to try it first, as a demonstration for the older, more traditional vampires, with unexpected results. His journey is one of self-knowledge. I didn't really care much about him, his journey, his girlfriend, or anything else. The setting and characters do nothing for me, but your mileage may vary.
Altogether, the anthology was worth reading. There were some low spots, but that's true of any collection. To be fair, I'm sure someone who is more enthusiastic about young adult fiction would also be more enthusiastic about the works here.
Mothergamer (1562 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Dauntless in Video Games
Jun 21, 2019
My husband Ron plays a lot of Dauntless. I did try Dauntless out on PC and I did like it, but with the arthritis in my hands it was difficult to handle the controls and it is not easy to map out a controller for Dauntless so it's not very controller friendly for PC. When the announcement was made that Dauntless would be cross platform play I was thrilled. This meant I could try out the game fully on our PS4 and play the game with Ron while he played the game on PC. I seriously counted down the days until the cross platform play launch. Launch day came and honestly there were a lot of issues. People couldn't log in, there was an infinite loading screen upon login, there were lag spikes, and sometimes people got kicked from the game altogether. I decided I would wait a week before I tried to play the game. I guess everyone was excited for cross platform play and the servers got crushed under the weight which is understandable considering Dauntless got four million people all ready to get out there and enjoy the game.
When I did get to start the game, I was excited. Dauntless is free to play and is set in a fantasy world where a cataclysmic event has ripped the world apart and released giant monsters known as behemoths. You get to play as a slayer that takes down these behemoths. The first thing you get to do is create your character. There are a variety of choices with the faces, hair, and makeup for the character creation. I had fun choosing all the things to make my slayer look the way I wanted.
Once the character is created you are logged into the game with an introduction explaining the world of Dauntless and this comes with a tutorial on how to fight the behemoths, how to use flares to signal where the behemoth is to your team, and how to stagger them. The controls for PS4 are great and the tutorial flowed seamlessly for me. When the tutorial is over you are back in the town of Ramsgate where you can pick up quests and craft items you need for hunts such as armor, weapons, and tonics. There are also a couple of adorable dogs in the game that you can actually stop and pat. I pat the dogs every time I'm in the game because I love dogs even in video games.
Dauntless can be played as a solo player or multiplayer. For me, it's more fun with friends and while sometimes it's a bit of a wait to find a hunt match it's not terribly long and once you have your team you're ready to go. Before you start, you have a chance to check your weapons and armor to make sure that they will give you the advantage you need against behemoths. Depending on what their elemental is, you will want weapons that can combat that. For example with a frost behemoth weapons with fire elements on them are your best friend and having armor that protects against ice attacks are quite helpful. As your team is getting ready, the game will show you an element guide for the type of behemoth you're fighting and will show you your weapon and armor power. When the numbers are in green it means your gear is adequate for the hunt.
The behemoth fights are pretty straightforward as you work with your team to battle them. Each behemoth not only has its own unique elements, they also have various attacks they will use. Being able to recognize their movements when they are starting their special attack is vital so that you can dodge and go in for a counter attack. Breaking off parts of the monster is important as well because you will need those parts for crafting armor and weapons. The fights are a lot of fun and when you vanquish a behemoth it feels pretty rewarding. You do get ranked on how you did in the fight and so does your team. Don't be too discouraged if your rank isn't so good when you are first starting out. As you level and improve your armor and weapons that rank will go up. Patience is key.
Depending on the type of build you want for your weapons and armor, there are specific behemoths you will need to hunt in order to get the materials needed. The great thing about Dauntless is that it allows you to try out all the weapons and experiment with them to get a feel for each one and decide which weapons suit your play style. For me, I absolutely love chain blades because they allow me to move and dodge quickly while dishing out damage. Armor crafting is important too and there are a ton of choices in armor builds. You will need to talk to the smithing NPCs in order to craft the things you need and if you have the proper amount of materials, you can upgrade them. This is where the grind comes in. You should strive to constantly upgrade your weapons and armor so you can have an easier time in behemoth hunts.
Don't like the colors of the armor? No problem. You can change the color at any time if you have the color palette unlocked. You get a set of colors for free and others you can unlock doing quests or fighting heroic behemoths. If you check the rewards for the quests and heroic hunts you will see the dye color listed. The other way of course is to buy the colors with platinum and that does cost money. If you're strapped for cash, the free way while a bit of a grind is a great way to go and worth it if you would like to change the colors of your items.
There are daily rewards in Dauntless that you get from doing things such as patrols and login rewards. You get one reward per login from the NPC Gregario Flynt and the rewards range from cores you can unlock that give you cells to add to your weapons and armor or crafting materials. If you want to change your character design a bit, you can do that in Ramsgate. Approach a mirror that is near Gregario and it will take you to the character design screen and you can change and adjust your character for a whole new look.
It is a good idea to try everything out so you get a good feel for the game. You also get rewards when you level up your mastery of weapons so it is advised to try them all out so you can work on it and get some sweet rewards for it. Make sure to take breaks so you don't get burned out on the grind because there is a lot of grinding in Dauntless. However, it is such a fun grind and there is so much to see and do in it and the cross platform play adds to the fun because now no matter what platform you play on you can enjoy the game with everyone. I am off to hunt some more behemoths. See you at the next adventure!
When I did get to start the game, I was excited. Dauntless is free to play and is set in a fantasy world where a cataclysmic event has ripped the world apart and released giant monsters known as behemoths. You get to play as a slayer that takes down these behemoths. The first thing you get to do is create your character. There are a variety of choices with the faces, hair, and makeup for the character creation. I had fun choosing all the things to make my slayer look the way I wanted.
Once the character is created you are logged into the game with an introduction explaining the world of Dauntless and this comes with a tutorial on how to fight the behemoths, how to use flares to signal where the behemoth is to your team, and how to stagger them. The controls for PS4 are great and the tutorial flowed seamlessly for me. When the tutorial is over you are back in the town of Ramsgate where you can pick up quests and craft items you need for hunts such as armor, weapons, and tonics. There are also a couple of adorable dogs in the game that you can actually stop and pat. I pat the dogs every time I'm in the game because I love dogs even in video games.
Dauntless can be played as a solo player or multiplayer. For me, it's more fun with friends and while sometimes it's a bit of a wait to find a hunt match it's not terribly long and once you have your team you're ready to go. Before you start, you have a chance to check your weapons and armor to make sure that they will give you the advantage you need against behemoths. Depending on what their elemental is, you will want weapons that can combat that. For example with a frost behemoth weapons with fire elements on them are your best friend and having armor that protects against ice attacks are quite helpful. As your team is getting ready, the game will show you an element guide for the type of behemoth you're fighting and will show you your weapon and armor power. When the numbers are in green it means your gear is adequate for the hunt.
The behemoth fights are pretty straightforward as you work with your team to battle them. Each behemoth not only has its own unique elements, they also have various attacks they will use. Being able to recognize their movements when they are starting their special attack is vital so that you can dodge and go in for a counter attack. Breaking off parts of the monster is important as well because you will need those parts for crafting armor and weapons. The fights are a lot of fun and when you vanquish a behemoth it feels pretty rewarding. You do get ranked on how you did in the fight and so does your team. Don't be too discouraged if your rank isn't so good when you are first starting out. As you level and improve your armor and weapons that rank will go up. Patience is key.
Depending on the type of build you want for your weapons and armor, there are specific behemoths you will need to hunt in order to get the materials needed. The great thing about Dauntless is that it allows you to try out all the weapons and experiment with them to get a feel for each one and decide which weapons suit your play style. For me, I absolutely love chain blades because they allow me to move and dodge quickly while dishing out damage. Armor crafting is important too and there are a ton of choices in armor builds. You will need to talk to the smithing NPCs in order to craft the things you need and if you have the proper amount of materials, you can upgrade them. This is where the grind comes in. You should strive to constantly upgrade your weapons and armor so you can have an easier time in behemoth hunts.
Don't like the colors of the armor? No problem. You can change the color at any time if you have the color palette unlocked. You get a set of colors for free and others you can unlock doing quests or fighting heroic behemoths. If you check the rewards for the quests and heroic hunts you will see the dye color listed. The other way of course is to buy the colors with platinum and that does cost money. If you're strapped for cash, the free way while a bit of a grind is a great way to go and worth it if you would like to change the colors of your items.
There are daily rewards in Dauntless that you get from doing things such as patrols and login rewards. You get one reward per login from the NPC Gregario Flynt and the rewards range from cores you can unlock that give you cells to add to your weapons and armor or crafting materials. If you want to change your character design a bit, you can do that in Ramsgate. Approach a mirror that is near Gregario and it will take you to the character design screen and you can change and adjust your character for a whole new look.
It is a good idea to try everything out so you get a good feel for the game. You also get rewards when you level up your mastery of weapons so it is advised to try them all out so you can work on it and get some sweet rewards for it. Make sure to take breaks so you don't get burned out on the grind because there is a lot of grinding in Dauntless. However, it is such a fun grind and there is so much to see and do in it and the cross platform play adds to the fun because now no matter what platform you play on you can enjoy the game with everyone. I am off to hunt some more behemoths. See you at the next adventure!
Hadley (567 KP) rated Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1) in Books
Sep 3, 2019
Great story (1 more)
Witches and supernatural beings!
A lot of inconsistencies (1 more)
Bad writing
Given the great success of the 'Harry Potter' series, witchcraft has become a prevalent theme in most books written in the last decade. 'Beautiful Creatures' may not have a wizard school, but they do have the old town of Gatlin, South Carolina.
'Beautiful Creatures,' is a witchy novel series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, that brings the family of witches (among other supernatural creatures) to life: focusing on the niece, Lena, who just came to town to live with her shut-in uncle, Macon. Readers soon find out that Lena belongs to one of the oldest families in the Southern town of Gatlin.
Yet, the main character of this book isn't Lena, but a young man named Ethan Wate; a long time resident of Gatlin who attends the local high school. When we meet Ethan, we find out that he has been having dreams of a girl and a song for some time before Lena showed up, but when he overhears Lena playing the exact same song from his dream, he's sure it's her he's dreaming of.
Suddenly, the two, are able to communicate telepathically. This part is written in a way that is not believable for the reader because Ethan has been feeling that he is going crazy up until this point: hearing the song being played by Lena caused him to flee the school, as with some other things (not to give away too much), but when he can suddenly speak to Lena telepathically, it's as if this is completely normal to him. A more believable part would have had Ethan freaking out as he did before, maybe even more so.
The story takes a dramatic turn when Ethan finds an old locket out in a garden beside Macon's house. He and Lena are quickly transported to visions of a past event that happened nearby involving that very locket. For most of the book, the two are trying to find out more about this locket and who it belonged to. Each time Ethan and Lena touch the locket together, they are transported to another event in the same vision. They soon find out that the locket belonged to the loved one of a distant relative belonging to Lena's family from 1865. And as the reader continues, this locket and it's visions hold a very important key to the story.
Throughout the story, it's hinted at that Ethan may not just be a human, but may have some supernatural powers of his own, but unfortunately, this never comes to fruition. Being that this is the first of four books, and I have only read this one, the other books may bring light to this subject. Lena, on the other hand, is about to turn sixteen, and turning sixteen in her family means you will be 'claimed.' Lena explains: " 'In my family, when you turn sixteen, you're Claimed. Your fate is chosen for you, and you become Light, like Aunt Del and Reece, or you become Dark, like Ridley. Dark or Light, Black or White. There's no grey in my family. We can't choose, and we can't undo it once we're Claimed. ' " In summary, Lena's family either become good witches (or whatever supernatural being they are) or bad witches (and such). Lena, by family, is considered a Natural at this point, where she can control the weather, write on walls without her hands or a pen,and break glass at will, so they believe she is most likely to be a Light witch, and they try to reinforce this thought into her throughout the entire book.
'Beautiful Creatures' is a great story, but it has quite a few flaws. The flow of the story is good, but when you come across so many inconsistencies, it can break the connection between story and reader, such as Lena suddenly revealing that her family had a word for what they called the telepathic communication between her and Ethan:
" 'Who knew Kelting would save my life.'
I had missed something, as usual. 'What's Kelting?'
'That's what it's called, the way we're able to communicate with each other no matter where we are. Some Casters can Kelt, some can't. Ridley and I used to be able to talk to each other at school that way, but---' ." Up until this scene, the reader is left to believe that this has never happened to Lena before, so to just bring this out so suddenly leaves us to think that this was a quick add-on to give Lena and her sister, Ridley, more of a connection,. Another time is when the popular girls at the local high school have it out for Lena, Lena lets on that she can't face them, but the very next page she's telling Ethan that she has to:
" I tried to pull her up, but she pulled me back down. She shrunk back next to the tire. 'I just need a minute.'
'Are you okay?'
'Look at them. They think I'm a monster. They formed a club.'
'They can't stand outsiders, and you're the new girl. A window broke. They need someone to blame. This is just a ---'
'Witch hunt.'
I wasn't going to say that.
But you were thinking it.
I squeezed her hand and my hair stood on end.
You don't have to do this.
Yes I do. I let people like them run me out of my last school. I'm not going to let it happen again. "
The story continues with Lena fearing that she is going to go Dark, so her and Ethan come across a locket vision of a witchcraft book that may be of help called 'the Book of Moons.' This is, personally, one of my favorite parts of 'Beautiful Creatures' because, in order for them to get the book, they have to go to a specific grave and dig it up! In this very chapter, we get to see a ghost - and this is the only chapter we see a ghost - and it is done wonderfully:
" She was only partially materialized, a mix of cloudy haze and light, fading in and out as the air moved through her ghostly form, but there was no mistaking it. It was Genevieve, the woman in the painting. She had the same golden eyes and long, wavy red hair. Her hair blew gently in the wind, as if she was just a woman sitting on a bench at the bus stop, instead of an apparition sitting on a headstone in a graveyard. She was beautiful, even in her present state, and terrifying at the same time. "
The majority of the story involves Lena's family and Ethan trying everything they can to keep her from being claimed Dark. This seems to be a nod to reality, where all of us have a choice to be a good person or a bad person, but in 'Beautiful Creatures,' the authors play off of the fear that many people have: that they are just like their family, and have no control over who they are or will be. Overall, I believe readers of the 'Harry Potter' series would like this book, but would I read this again, although I gave it a very low rating? Yes, the story is that intriguing, but the writing could use quite a bit of work.
'Beautiful Creatures,' is a witchy novel series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, that brings the family of witches (among other supernatural creatures) to life: focusing on the niece, Lena, who just came to town to live with her shut-in uncle, Macon. Readers soon find out that Lena belongs to one of the oldest families in the Southern town of Gatlin.
Yet, the main character of this book isn't Lena, but a young man named Ethan Wate; a long time resident of Gatlin who attends the local high school. When we meet Ethan, we find out that he has been having dreams of a girl and a song for some time before Lena showed up, but when he overhears Lena playing the exact same song from his dream, he's sure it's her he's dreaming of.
Suddenly, the two, are able to communicate telepathically. This part is written in a way that is not believable for the reader because Ethan has been feeling that he is going crazy up until this point: hearing the song being played by Lena caused him to flee the school, as with some other things (not to give away too much), but when he can suddenly speak to Lena telepathically, it's as if this is completely normal to him. A more believable part would have had Ethan freaking out as he did before, maybe even more so.
The story takes a dramatic turn when Ethan finds an old locket out in a garden beside Macon's house. He and Lena are quickly transported to visions of a past event that happened nearby involving that very locket. For most of the book, the two are trying to find out more about this locket and who it belonged to. Each time Ethan and Lena touch the locket together, they are transported to another event in the same vision. They soon find out that the locket belonged to the loved one of a distant relative belonging to Lena's family from 1865. And as the reader continues, this locket and it's visions hold a very important key to the story.
Throughout the story, it's hinted at that Ethan may not just be a human, but may have some supernatural powers of his own, but unfortunately, this never comes to fruition. Being that this is the first of four books, and I have only read this one, the other books may bring light to this subject. Lena, on the other hand, is about to turn sixteen, and turning sixteen in her family means you will be 'claimed.' Lena explains: " 'In my family, when you turn sixteen, you're Claimed. Your fate is chosen for you, and you become Light, like Aunt Del and Reece, or you become Dark, like Ridley. Dark or Light, Black or White. There's no grey in my family. We can't choose, and we can't undo it once we're Claimed. ' " In summary, Lena's family either become good witches (or whatever supernatural being they are) or bad witches (and such). Lena, by family, is considered a Natural at this point, where she can control the weather, write on walls without her hands or a pen,and break glass at will, so they believe she is most likely to be a Light witch, and they try to reinforce this thought into her throughout the entire book.
'Beautiful Creatures' is a great story, but it has quite a few flaws. The flow of the story is good, but when you come across so many inconsistencies, it can break the connection between story and reader, such as Lena suddenly revealing that her family had a word for what they called the telepathic communication between her and Ethan:
" 'Who knew Kelting would save my life.'
I had missed something, as usual. 'What's Kelting?'
'That's what it's called, the way we're able to communicate with each other no matter where we are. Some Casters can Kelt, some can't. Ridley and I used to be able to talk to each other at school that way, but---' ." Up until this scene, the reader is left to believe that this has never happened to Lena before, so to just bring this out so suddenly leaves us to think that this was a quick add-on to give Lena and her sister, Ridley, more of a connection,. Another time is when the popular girls at the local high school have it out for Lena, Lena lets on that she can't face them, but the very next page she's telling Ethan that she has to:
" I tried to pull her up, but she pulled me back down. She shrunk back next to the tire. 'I just need a minute.'
'Are you okay?'
'Look at them. They think I'm a monster. They formed a club.'
'They can't stand outsiders, and you're the new girl. A window broke. They need someone to blame. This is just a ---'
'Witch hunt.'
I wasn't going to say that.
But you were thinking it.
I squeezed her hand and my hair stood on end.
You don't have to do this.
Yes I do. I let people like them run me out of my last school. I'm not going to let it happen again. "
The story continues with Lena fearing that she is going to go Dark, so her and Ethan come across a locket vision of a witchcraft book that may be of help called 'the Book of Moons.' This is, personally, one of my favorite parts of 'Beautiful Creatures' because, in order for them to get the book, they have to go to a specific grave and dig it up! In this very chapter, we get to see a ghost - and this is the only chapter we see a ghost - and it is done wonderfully:
" She was only partially materialized, a mix of cloudy haze and light, fading in and out as the air moved through her ghostly form, but there was no mistaking it. It was Genevieve, the woman in the painting. She had the same golden eyes and long, wavy red hair. Her hair blew gently in the wind, as if she was just a woman sitting on a bench at the bus stop, instead of an apparition sitting on a headstone in a graveyard. She was beautiful, even in her present state, and terrifying at the same time. "
The majority of the story involves Lena's family and Ethan trying everything they can to keep her from being claimed Dark. This seems to be a nod to reality, where all of us have a choice to be a good person or a bad person, but in 'Beautiful Creatures,' the authors play off of the fear that many people have: that they are just like their family, and have no control over who they are or will be. Overall, I believe readers of the 'Harry Potter' series would like this book, but would I read this again, although I gave it a very low rating? Yes, the story is that intriguing, but the writing could use quite a bit of work.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Ghoulash: The Game of Card Calamity in Tabletop Games
Sep 3, 2019
Ghoulash! I cannot say that word without using a Dracula-esque accent nor without my tummy grumbling (goulash is a yummy traditional Hungarian dish). Anyway, lunch time hangriness aside, Ghoulash is not a new game. In fact, the original version of Ghoulash was released in 2001 under Ghoulash Games. It is a pen-and-paper dungeon crawler for 2 players that we are reviewing as well. This game we are reviewing here is a card version prototype. So how does it play?
In Ghoulash: The Game of Card Calamity (which I will shorten to Ghoulash for the purpose of this review – even though there is the OG Ghoulash as well, I think you know what I’m talking about) players are Ghoul hunters. Ghouls are monstrous green blobsters that are coming for you. You fight them by shooting Ghoo, a purply substance, at them to exploit their weak spots and vanquish them. The first Ghoul hunter to reach 10 Victory Points (VPs) will be crowned the winner!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. As this is a preview copy of the game, I do not know if the final rules or components will be similar or different to what we were provided. -T
To setup the game, shuffle the deck and place a 6×3 grid of cards in the middle of the table. This is the “floor” and will be the game board for the duration of the game. When the floor is out of cards (I will explain), set out a new 6×3 grid floor and continue play. Deal each hunter a hand of seven cards and you are ready to play!
Each of the face down cards that comprise the floor are opportunities for encounters. You, as a Ghoul hunter, will enter the floor from any border card. On your turn you may fill your hand up to your current hand limit – which changes based on whether you have taken wounds or not. Next you must move orthogonally onto a space that contains a card or an empty space, but you must move – or take your Action first, THEN move. If you move to a space with a card, you encounter the card. Depending on what type of card is flipped face up you will be taking cards into your hand, following Command instructions, or fighting Ghouls. When you have finished your turn it is the next hunter’s turn.
Should your flipped card reveal an Action or Special card, you simply collect the card into your hand. If the flipped card is an Battle card (which has Ghoo splats – like the ones pictured above on the far right), you must follow the Command instructions at the bottom of the card before collecting to your hand. And if it’s a Ghoul you will begin battle!
Battling Ghouls is mechanically simple, but the overall battle may not be. When you face a Ghoul its card will tell you what the strength of the monster is (the white number). It could have four, five, or six hit points (HPs). To vanquish the Ghoul you will need to play cards whose Ghoo value (splats) is equal to or greater than the Ghoul’s HP amount. From this point the other hunters can intervene in the battle by playing cards whose battle Ghoo tips the scales toward the Ghoul thus making it more difficult to defeat (a la the ganging up mechanic in Munchkin). As only one hunter may affect the battle in this way, it is the player’s cards whose strength is greater that wins the challenge. Now the original combatant must spend more Ghoo cards to overcome the super-buffed Ghoul. Should the hunter prevail they will collect the Ghoul card and display it in front of them to show the table how many VPs they have earned. If the hunter is unsuccessful in the battle, they suffer wounds in the amount of VPs that would have been awarded with a successful battle (the green dots at the bottom of the card). Wounds are reflected by cards in hand, so if a hunter suffers two wounds, their hand limit is now five instead of the original seven. Play continues in this fashion until a hunter has accumulated 10 VPs and earned victory!
Components. Per my disclaimer, the game that was sent to us is a prototype version of the completed game, so components may (and probably will) change or be improved as a result of further development, and/or a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, I can comment only on the components that were provided to us. The game is a deck of cards in a deck box. The cards themselves are of fine quality. The art upon them is okay. Nothing too stellar, but it gets the job done. I think the art is one thing that can be improved with development. Don’t get me wrong, the art is not at all bad. Perhaps it’s the card layout or graphic design. Something with a bit more punch would be appreciated.
Our thoughts on this one are that it needs some sprucing up a bit. Yes, it is in prototype format currently, and we know that. The card design needs to be updated a bit, but the game itself was also lacking a bit. One of the major concerns we had when playing through it was the card grid of the floor. We did not use any sort of player marker, token, meeple, or anything to mark our locations, and I really think that may have helped. We just had a hard time visualizing where our hunter was in relation to the face-down cards and how many turns it would take us to travel to them. There were several times where we just guessed as to who was actually closer and they were able to encounter the card. I am unsure how to fix that without supplying a grid or some sort of tracker. We should have maybe just played with meeples or dice for position markers. Oh heck I just thought of this: we could have also placed out dice or whatever on an x and y axis to denote where floor cards should be. Ugh. Battles were run somewhat smoothly, even though there were times where I was down to one card because I had suffered so many wounds and I could not get a First-Aid Kit to save my life (literally). The battle challenges did not work with us and we were trying to find a good way to make them happen, but our minds must not have been at their peak. We weren’t quite sure if, like in Munchkin, you could just add one card to your challenge total, or if you had to commit the entire bunch of cards you wish to play. It is not clear in the rules, so we went with our guts.
Overall, this could be a good dungeon crawler type card game. The theme is good, but for us it didn’t quite click…yet. If it sounds like something you would like to have in your collection, check Kickstarter for the campaign (if Ghoulash Games decides to crowd-fund this), contact the publisher directly, or (depending on date you read this) purchase from your FLGS. Oh, and keep the Ghoo Gone away – this time Ghoo is good for your health!
In Ghoulash: The Game of Card Calamity (which I will shorten to Ghoulash for the purpose of this review – even though there is the OG Ghoulash as well, I think you know what I’m talking about) players are Ghoul hunters. Ghouls are monstrous green blobsters that are coming for you. You fight them by shooting Ghoo, a purply substance, at them to exploit their weak spots and vanquish them. The first Ghoul hunter to reach 10 Victory Points (VPs) will be crowned the winner!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. As this is a preview copy of the game, I do not know if the final rules or components will be similar or different to what we were provided. -T
To setup the game, shuffle the deck and place a 6×3 grid of cards in the middle of the table. This is the “floor” and will be the game board for the duration of the game. When the floor is out of cards (I will explain), set out a new 6×3 grid floor and continue play. Deal each hunter a hand of seven cards and you are ready to play!
Each of the face down cards that comprise the floor are opportunities for encounters. You, as a Ghoul hunter, will enter the floor from any border card. On your turn you may fill your hand up to your current hand limit – which changes based on whether you have taken wounds or not. Next you must move orthogonally onto a space that contains a card or an empty space, but you must move – or take your Action first, THEN move. If you move to a space with a card, you encounter the card. Depending on what type of card is flipped face up you will be taking cards into your hand, following Command instructions, or fighting Ghouls. When you have finished your turn it is the next hunter’s turn.
Should your flipped card reveal an Action or Special card, you simply collect the card into your hand. If the flipped card is an Battle card (which has Ghoo splats – like the ones pictured above on the far right), you must follow the Command instructions at the bottom of the card before collecting to your hand. And if it’s a Ghoul you will begin battle!
Battling Ghouls is mechanically simple, but the overall battle may not be. When you face a Ghoul its card will tell you what the strength of the monster is (the white number). It could have four, five, or six hit points (HPs). To vanquish the Ghoul you will need to play cards whose Ghoo value (splats) is equal to or greater than the Ghoul’s HP amount. From this point the other hunters can intervene in the battle by playing cards whose battle Ghoo tips the scales toward the Ghoul thus making it more difficult to defeat (a la the ganging up mechanic in Munchkin). As only one hunter may affect the battle in this way, it is the player’s cards whose strength is greater that wins the challenge. Now the original combatant must spend more Ghoo cards to overcome the super-buffed Ghoul. Should the hunter prevail they will collect the Ghoul card and display it in front of them to show the table how many VPs they have earned. If the hunter is unsuccessful in the battle, they suffer wounds in the amount of VPs that would have been awarded with a successful battle (the green dots at the bottom of the card). Wounds are reflected by cards in hand, so if a hunter suffers two wounds, their hand limit is now five instead of the original seven. Play continues in this fashion until a hunter has accumulated 10 VPs and earned victory!
Components. Per my disclaimer, the game that was sent to us is a prototype version of the completed game, so components may (and probably will) change or be improved as a result of further development, and/or a successful Kickstarter campaign. That said, I can comment only on the components that were provided to us. The game is a deck of cards in a deck box. The cards themselves are of fine quality. The art upon them is okay. Nothing too stellar, but it gets the job done. I think the art is one thing that can be improved with development. Don’t get me wrong, the art is not at all bad. Perhaps it’s the card layout or graphic design. Something with a bit more punch would be appreciated.
Our thoughts on this one are that it needs some sprucing up a bit. Yes, it is in prototype format currently, and we know that. The card design needs to be updated a bit, but the game itself was also lacking a bit. One of the major concerns we had when playing through it was the card grid of the floor. We did not use any sort of player marker, token, meeple, or anything to mark our locations, and I really think that may have helped. We just had a hard time visualizing where our hunter was in relation to the face-down cards and how many turns it would take us to travel to them. There were several times where we just guessed as to who was actually closer and they were able to encounter the card. I am unsure how to fix that without supplying a grid or some sort of tracker. We should have maybe just played with meeples or dice for position markers. Oh heck I just thought of this: we could have also placed out dice or whatever on an x and y axis to denote where floor cards should be. Ugh. Battles were run somewhat smoothly, even though there were times where I was down to one card because I had suffered so many wounds and I could not get a First-Aid Kit to save my life (literally). The battle challenges did not work with us and we were trying to find a good way to make them happen, but our minds must not have been at their peak. We weren’t quite sure if, like in Munchkin, you could just add one card to your challenge total, or if you had to commit the entire bunch of cards you wish to play. It is not clear in the rules, so we went with our guts.
Overall, this could be a good dungeon crawler type card game. The theme is good, but for us it didn’t quite click…yet. If it sounds like something you would like to have in your collection, check Kickstarter for the campaign (if Ghoulash Games decides to crowd-fund this), contact the publisher directly, or (depending on date you read this) purchase from your FLGS. Oh, and keep the Ghoo Gone away – this time Ghoo is good for your health!
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Moonfall (2022) in Movies
Feb 3, 2022
The late ’90s and early 2000s was filled with epic, over-the-top disaster movies focusing on all methods of world-ending cataclysmic events. Alien invasions as seen in Independence Day, set on destroying all humans and snatching our planet’s remaining resources, global warming resulting in floods and freezing temperatures, even threats of asteroids crashing into the earth. While many of these movies were ridiculous and epic at times, they all focused on a singular threat facing humankind and a group of ordinary (yet somehow extraordinary) people to save the planet and ourselves. Moonfall attempts to take another stab at the formula that made these movies famous (even infamous) resulting in some mixed and head-scratching results.
Moonfall, directed by Roland Emmerich, stars Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson as a pair of NASA astronauts that are attacked by a strange mechanical swarm while performing a routine satellite repair mission from the space shuttle Endeavor in the mid-1990s. The attack resulted in the death of one of the crew members and severely damaged the shuttle. Brian Harper (Wilson) and Jo Fowler (Berry) successfully return the shuttle to earth only to see Harper take the fall for the death of his crewman and the fall guy for a coverup to prevent the citizens of earth from truly understanding what they encountered.
Fast forward to current day and a “crazy” conspiracy theorist K.C Houseman, believing the moon to be a megastructure built by aliens, discovers that the moon’s orbit is rapidly eroding. He attempts to reach out to NASA and after several unsuccessful attempts releases his findings via social media. The top minds at NASA confirm what has been identified and estimate that they have only three weeks to execute a plan to prevent the moon from crashing into the earth destroying everything and everyone. The race for the survival of the planet is quickly on which will focus on not only the NASA “team”, but each of their family members.
Let me get this out of the way first, I personally loved many of Roland Emmerich’s wildly outlandish films. I thought Independence Day was fantastic, and even though many found The Day After Tomorrow a bit to preachy and ridiculous, I still found it entertaining for what it was. So, I was excited going into Moonfall. I was ready for a fun movie that I felt would be a mindless, fun adventure which was something I had really missed in many of the movies that had come out over the past year or two. Unfortunately, my aspirations (and even the low bar I had set my expectations for) would be quickly dashed.
Moonfall is a movie that struggles throughout to find an identity. I found myself instantly comparing several of Emmerich’s films during its roughly two-hour run time. At times its reminiscent of Independence Day, with its alien destruction of earth storyline, and then quickly jumps to a disaster film about the moon crashing into the earth. It’s as though Emmerich took pages of several of his previous films and cobbled them together into some sort of Frankenstein’s monster. There are so many plots and subplots going on that you never truly know what the main threat is. It touches on everything from the birth of humanity to the overly aggressive military, to the dumbing down of NASA all at the same time. With the exception of our heroes (and of course their entire families, because why not), everyone else is just resigned to the fact that nothing can be done. Riots of course breakout, the military is quick to decide to nuke the moon is somehow going to save the planet, and no level of crazy plan is off the table.
I’m happy to forgive an outrageous plot if the actors are able to pull it off with some semblance of believability. I know none of the actions have any real-world chance of success, and I can forgive plot holes for the sake of entertainment. Unfortunately, the acting is where Moonfall really lets the audience down. Each character is portrayed in a completely over-the-top fashion, it reminded me of watching a movie that is intentionally attempting to spoof another movie. The emotions are not believable, and the lines being delivered are literally derived from popular lines of other movies. Bonus points if you can identify which movie they are from as the film progresses. The saddest part is, this movie is trying to take itself seriously, it’s not intentionally being campy, for the sake of being campy. I think the character portrayals could have been forgiven if that was the case, but it’s clearly not. It’s actually a distraction when the story of a film is already struggling to deliver.
The movie effects go from truly spectacular, to overly CGI-infused. Ironically the space shots, which you think would be the hardest to pull off are some of its best, yet the vehicle driving scenes through the snow-covered townscape are some of the worst. It’s almost as though they spent so much of their budget on the space scenes that they had no money for the earth shots, which would be fine if they didn’t literally look so bad. It’s jarring going from one area to another and makes for a very inconsistent experience the entire time.
I believe one of the biggest tragedies of the film however is the absolutely blatant product placement. Yes, I understand that product placement has sadly been a staple in the film industry since the dawn of time. Yes, I understand that when someone is using a MacBook on-screen or riding a Peloton, it’s there for a reason. Moonfall however takes this to a Hallmark movie level. If you watch a Hallmark movie sponsored by Folgers for example, there will be clear shots of the Folgers coffee on the counter, with the cast explaining how much they love Folgers’s coffee, Moonfall utilizes this very trope. Kaspersky Anti-Virus is plastered on everything, even the Space Shuttle is protected with Kaspersky Anti-virus (which some might argue has other implications, but I won’t go there), and while avoiding looters driving through the snow-packed roads, do we really need the character to explain the need for the off-road settings on their Lexus? Talking about it is one thing, but do we really need to see the dial up-close and personal? It quickly takes you from the scene to a Lexus Christmas commercial and back again.
Sadly, Moonfall is a very disappointing film. If it were released in 1998 maybe it would be a super hit and I’d feel differently about it, but the industry has moved on since then. I had gone in knowing the film wouldn’t be realistic, but I was hoping it would at least be a nice escape from what is going on in the world today. As I have stated before, I’m a huge fan of Emmerich’s films, and while Moonfall may not be his absolute worst, it is one that will quickly be forgotten. I don’t even know if it’s one I’d revisit if it premiered on HBO or Showtime. As excited as I was, I just wouldn’t be able to recommend it.
Moonfall, directed by Roland Emmerich, stars Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson as a pair of NASA astronauts that are attacked by a strange mechanical swarm while performing a routine satellite repair mission from the space shuttle Endeavor in the mid-1990s. The attack resulted in the death of one of the crew members and severely damaged the shuttle. Brian Harper (Wilson) and Jo Fowler (Berry) successfully return the shuttle to earth only to see Harper take the fall for the death of his crewman and the fall guy for a coverup to prevent the citizens of earth from truly understanding what they encountered.
Fast forward to current day and a “crazy” conspiracy theorist K.C Houseman, believing the moon to be a megastructure built by aliens, discovers that the moon’s orbit is rapidly eroding. He attempts to reach out to NASA and after several unsuccessful attempts releases his findings via social media. The top minds at NASA confirm what has been identified and estimate that they have only three weeks to execute a plan to prevent the moon from crashing into the earth destroying everything and everyone. The race for the survival of the planet is quickly on which will focus on not only the NASA “team”, but each of their family members.
Let me get this out of the way first, I personally loved many of Roland Emmerich’s wildly outlandish films. I thought Independence Day was fantastic, and even though many found The Day After Tomorrow a bit to preachy and ridiculous, I still found it entertaining for what it was. So, I was excited going into Moonfall. I was ready for a fun movie that I felt would be a mindless, fun adventure which was something I had really missed in many of the movies that had come out over the past year or two. Unfortunately, my aspirations (and even the low bar I had set my expectations for) would be quickly dashed.
Moonfall is a movie that struggles throughout to find an identity. I found myself instantly comparing several of Emmerich’s films during its roughly two-hour run time. At times its reminiscent of Independence Day, with its alien destruction of earth storyline, and then quickly jumps to a disaster film about the moon crashing into the earth. It’s as though Emmerich took pages of several of his previous films and cobbled them together into some sort of Frankenstein’s monster. There are so many plots and subplots going on that you never truly know what the main threat is. It touches on everything from the birth of humanity to the overly aggressive military, to the dumbing down of NASA all at the same time. With the exception of our heroes (and of course their entire families, because why not), everyone else is just resigned to the fact that nothing can be done. Riots of course breakout, the military is quick to decide to nuke the moon is somehow going to save the planet, and no level of crazy plan is off the table.
I’m happy to forgive an outrageous plot if the actors are able to pull it off with some semblance of believability. I know none of the actions have any real-world chance of success, and I can forgive plot holes for the sake of entertainment. Unfortunately, the acting is where Moonfall really lets the audience down. Each character is portrayed in a completely over-the-top fashion, it reminded me of watching a movie that is intentionally attempting to spoof another movie. The emotions are not believable, and the lines being delivered are literally derived from popular lines of other movies. Bonus points if you can identify which movie they are from as the film progresses. The saddest part is, this movie is trying to take itself seriously, it’s not intentionally being campy, for the sake of being campy. I think the character portrayals could have been forgiven if that was the case, but it’s clearly not. It’s actually a distraction when the story of a film is already struggling to deliver.
The movie effects go from truly spectacular, to overly CGI-infused. Ironically the space shots, which you think would be the hardest to pull off are some of its best, yet the vehicle driving scenes through the snow-covered townscape are some of the worst. It’s almost as though they spent so much of their budget on the space scenes that they had no money for the earth shots, which would be fine if they didn’t literally look so bad. It’s jarring going from one area to another and makes for a very inconsistent experience the entire time.
I believe one of the biggest tragedies of the film however is the absolutely blatant product placement. Yes, I understand that product placement has sadly been a staple in the film industry since the dawn of time. Yes, I understand that when someone is using a MacBook on-screen or riding a Peloton, it’s there for a reason. Moonfall however takes this to a Hallmark movie level. If you watch a Hallmark movie sponsored by Folgers for example, there will be clear shots of the Folgers coffee on the counter, with the cast explaining how much they love Folgers’s coffee, Moonfall utilizes this very trope. Kaspersky Anti-Virus is plastered on everything, even the Space Shuttle is protected with Kaspersky Anti-virus (which some might argue has other implications, but I won’t go there), and while avoiding looters driving through the snow-packed roads, do we really need the character to explain the need for the off-road settings on their Lexus? Talking about it is one thing, but do we really need to see the dial up-close and personal? It quickly takes you from the scene to a Lexus Christmas commercial and back again.
Sadly, Moonfall is a very disappointing film. If it were released in 1998 maybe it would be a super hit and I’d feel differently about it, but the industry has moved on since then. I had gone in knowing the film wouldn’t be realistic, but I was hoping it would at least be a nice escape from what is going on in the world today. As I have stated before, I’m a huge fan of Emmerich’s films, and while Moonfall may not be his absolute worst, it is one that will quickly be forgotten. I don’t even know if it’s one I’d revisit if it premiered on HBO or Showtime. As excited as I was, I just wouldn’t be able to recommend it.
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Halloween (2007) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019 (Updated Jun 21, 2019)
You probably already know the story of Michael Myers and the horror that took place in Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. How Michael Myers became one of the biggest slasher icons in horror movie history. Now we get to hear the story told by Rob Zombie, the man who brought us House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He gives us some insight as to why Michael Myers is the way he is by showing us some of his childhood, the environment he grew up in, and how his family was. After he's institutionalized, we see how his progress continues to deteriorate as Dr. Samuel Loomis tries to do everything he can to save this young boy. Fifteen years go by when Loomis finally throws in the towel and Myers escapes Smith's Grove. Now on his way back to Haddonfield, Myers seeks his sister, Laurie, to finish what he started almost two decades ago.
There seems to be a huge debate amongst horror fans about whether this film was good or not. The results seemed to be pretty one-sided in favor of the original horror film from 1978, but now it seems the remake has almost just as many fans. I wouldn't say it was a 50/50 ratio, but 60/40 (60% of horror fans either hate the remake or prefer the original, 40% like the remake or prefer it over the original) seems about right these days. I managed to see the work print a few years ago and I wasn't impressed. With the release of Halloween 2 at the end of this month though, I promised myself I would give this film another shot. So that time has finally come and I can honestly say that the film isn't as bad as I remembered.
A few aspects of the film are actually quite good. Tyler Mane is a great Michael Myers. He's almost seven feet tall and is built like a giant. He's a total monster and the destruction and mayhem he causes is believable given his size. The adult version of Michael Myers is spot-on for a re-imagining of the film. Malcolm McDowell also does a good job as Dr. Loomis. He's no Donald Pleasance, but McDowell's take on the character isn't bad. Scout Taylor-Compton is also a worthy mention. She slips into the shoes of a modern day Laurie Strode rather flawlessly. Moving on from the acting though, the film is pretty solid from the time Michael gets his iconic mask through the finale. The way Michael made so many masks while he was in Smith's Grove was an interesting idea and the scene where you see his room fifteen years later with nothing but masks on every wall is one of the best in the film. The cinematography is also something that is often overlooked, which is a shame since it's actually pretty exceptional. It seemed to stand out most during the scenes where Michael was stalking Laurie, especially in the abandoned Myers house at the end. There's a scene right after Michael gets out of Smith's Grove where he goes to a truck stop and winds up getting the jumpsuit we're all familiar with. While there, he runs into Big Joe Grizzly in the bathroom stall and is banging Grizzly's hand, which is holding a knife, against the bathroom stall wall. As he's doing this though, the bathroom stall is just getting demolished but with every smashing blow, the camera violently shakes. The camera just always seemed to have a knack for giving a good perspective of what the character was going through, whether it was Michael or Laurie.
The disappointing part of this is pretty much everything leading up to Michael getting his mask back after his escape is pretty terrible. The dialogue, especially in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film, is horrendous. Everything that's said between Deborah Myers and Ronnie White is just awful. The white trash upbringing just doesn't seem worthy for a horror icon like Michael Myers. It's just hard to believe that Michael Myers is the way he is because his mom was a stripper and his older sister was a whore. Logic seems to just be thrown by the way side as the film progresses. After Michael escapes from Smith's Grove, he returns to his old house where his mask and knife that he used to kill his family happen to just be lying under the floorboards. So did the police just pick up the bodies without searching the house or what? So he got his jumpsuit by stealing it from a guy taking a dump at a truck stop? Really? Hearing some of the original music return from John Carpenter's version of the film was a bit bittersweet. On one hand, it was great hearing it again. On the other, however, it just didn't seem to fit. Made me miss the original film more than anything. Giving Michael Myers a specific origin was probably Zombie's biggest mistake. The most terrifying thing about Michael Myers was that he was The Shape and had a bit of mystery to him. You knew he was going after Laurie, but other than that you had Loomis' word to fall back on. Michael was the human incarnation of pure evil. That's it. That's all you need. Humanizing the character and introducing us to his childhood only watered down the Michael Myers character.
There's a scene with Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis in Smith's Grove Sanitarium where Michael has made a mask that he's colored completely black. When Loomis asks him why it's black, Michael says that it's his favorite color. Loomis goes into an explanation about the color spectrum. Black is on one end and is the absence of color while white is at the opposite end and is every color. That's actually a great explanation of the differences between the original film and the remake. The original film would be the black segment of the spectrum. Carpenter's version leaves more to the viewer's imagination as the only explanation for Michael Myers is that he is "pure evil." While the remake would be the white segment of the spectrum as it goes into full detail why Michael Myers is the way he is and it shows every little violent and vulgar detail. Some people would say that having a little bit of mystery would be a good thing when it comes to a film like this while others like having everything laid out for them. It all depends on the viewer and which end of the spectrum they prefer. In my opinion though, that's the biggest mistake Rob Zombie made. There's no mystery left with the Michael Myers character. He's no longer The Shape, but is a psychopathic killer because he was raised by a white trash family, liked to torture animals, and whose sister didn't take him trick or treating.
The best thing Zombie can do is distance himself from the original film(s) as much as possible. To do something original with these characters. He looks like he'll do just that when Halloween 2 hits theaters on August 28th. One thing re-watching the remake accomplished was that it made me look forward to the sequel. The trailer looks really good (but to be fair, so did the trailer for the original film) and I was on the fence about it until I saw this again. The only problem I have is that Zombie seems to be telling the same story with the same initial cast with all of his films. House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, and Halloween (first half of the film) are all way too similar. Zombie needs something new to add to his resume. Will Halloween 2 deliver that? Probably not, but a guy can hope.
There seems to be a huge debate amongst horror fans about whether this film was good or not. The results seemed to be pretty one-sided in favor of the original horror film from 1978, but now it seems the remake has almost just as many fans. I wouldn't say it was a 50/50 ratio, but 60/40 (60% of horror fans either hate the remake or prefer the original, 40% like the remake or prefer it over the original) seems about right these days. I managed to see the work print a few years ago and I wasn't impressed. With the release of Halloween 2 at the end of this month though, I promised myself I would give this film another shot. So that time has finally come and I can honestly say that the film isn't as bad as I remembered.
A few aspects of the film are actually quite good. Tyler Mane is a great Michael Myers. He's almost seven feet tall and is built like a giant. He's a total monster and the destruction and mayhem he causes is believable given his size. The adult version of Michael Myers is spot-on for a re-imagining of the film. Malcolm McDowell also does a good job as Dr. Loomis. He's no Donald Pleasance, but McDowell's take on the character isn't bad. Scout Taylor-Compton is also a worthy mention. She slips into the shoes of a modern day Laurie Strode rather flawlessly. Moving on from the acting though, the film is pretty solid from the time Michael gets his iconic mask through the finale. The way Michael made so many masks while he was in Smith's Grove was an interesting idea and the scene where you see his room fifteen years later with nothing but masks on every wall is one of the best in the film. The cinematography is also something that is often overlooked, which is a shame since it's actually pretty exceptional. It seemed to stand out most during the scenes where Michael was stalking Laurie, especially in the abandoned Myers house at the end. There's a scene right after Michael gets out of Smith's Grove where he goes to a truck stop and winds up getting the jumpsuit we're all familiar with. While there, he runs into Big Joe Grizzly in the bathroom stall and is banging Grizzly's hand, which is holding a knife, against the bathroom stall wall. As he's doing this though, the bathroom stall is just getting demolished but with every smashing blow, the camera violently shakes. The camera just always seemed to have a knack for giving a good perspective of what the character was going through, whether it was Michael or Laurie.
The disappointing part of this is pretty much everything leading up to Michael getting his mask back after his escape is pretty terrible. The dialogue, especially in the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film, is horrendous. Everything that's said between Deborah Myers and Ronnie White is just awful. The white trash upbringing just doesn't seem worthy for a horror icon like Michael Myers. It's just hard to believe that Michael Myers is the way he is because his mom was a stripper and his older sister was a whore. Logic seems to just be thrown by the way side as the film progresses. After Michael escapes from Smith's Grove, he returns to his old house where his mask and knife that he used to kill his family happen to just be lying under the floorboards. So did the police just pick up the bodies without searching the house or what? So he got his jumpsuit by stealing it from a guy taking a dump at a truck stop? Really? Hearing some of the original music return from John Carpenter's version of the film was a bit bittersweet. On one hand, it was great hearing it again. On the other, however, it just didn't seem to fit. Made me miss the original film more than anything. Giving Michael Myers a specific origin was probably Zombie's biggest mistake. The most terrifying thing about Michael Myers was that he was The Shape and had a bit of mystery to him. You knew he was going after Laurie, but other than that you had Loomis' word to fall back on. Michael was the human incarnation of pure evil. That's it. That's all you need. Humanizing the character and introducing us to his childhood only watered down the Michael Myers character.
There's a scene with Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis in Smith's Grove Sanitarium where Michael has made a mask that he's colored completely black. When Loomis asks him why it's black, Michael says that it's his favorite color. Loomis goes into an explanation about the color spectrum. Black is on one end and is the absence of color while white is at the opposite end and is every color. That's actually a great explanation of the differences between the original film and the remake. The original film would be the black segment of the spectrum. Carpenter's version leaves more to the viewer's imagination as the only explanation for Michael Myers is that he is "pure evil." While the remake would be the white segment of the spectrum as it goes into full detail why Michael Myers is the way he is and it shows every little violent and vulgar detail. Some people would say that having a little bit of mystery would be a good thing when it comes to a film like this while others like having everything laid out for them. It all depends on the viewer and which end of the spectrum they prefer. In my opinion though, that's the biggest mistake Rob Zombie made. There's no mystery left with the Michael Myers character. He's no longer The Shape, but is a psychopathic killer because he was raised by a white trash family, liked to torture animals, and whose sister didn't take him trick or treating.
The best thing Zombie can do is distance himself from the original film(s) as much as possible. To do something original with these characters. He looks like he'll do just that when Halloween 2 hits theaters on August 28th. One thing re-watching the remake accomplished was that it made me look forward to the sequel. The trailer looks really good (but to be fair, so did the trailer for the original film) and I was on the fence about it until I saw this again. The only problem I have is that Zombie seems to be telling the same story with the same initial cast with all of his films. House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, and Halloween (first half of the film) are all way too similar. Zombie needs something new to add to his resume. Will Halloween 2 deliver that? Probably not, but a guy can hope.
5 Minute Movie Guy (379 KP) rated Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) in Movies
Jun 30, 2019 (Updated Sep 16, 2019)
Mad Max: Fury Road is an intense, action-packed, visually stunning, and wildly entertaining film. It's only when the action slows down that the film starts to show signs of decay.
30 years and a fresh face later, the Mad Max series makes an extravagant and exhilarating return to theaters with Mad Max: Fury Road. Mel Gibson’s iconic wasteland warrior hero Max Rockatansky has been recast with the talented Tom Hardy, who gives us a more visceral and damaged portrayal of the character. Having endured years in the Hellish wasteland, Max now acts on his sole instinct of surviving. He’s ravaged by the horrors of his past and has lost all semblance of hope in this bleak, post-apocalyptic future where water is scarce and mayhem is bountiful. Director and series creator George Miller does a masterful job in creating a remarkable and inventive world of chaos and destruction, with action sequences that are practically unparalleled. Mad Max: Fury Road is a movie that keeps its fat, irradiated foot firmly pressed on the gas pedal throughout almost its entire duration, resulting in a movie that’s intense, action-packed, visually stunning, perfectly bizarre, wonderfully inventive, and wildly entertaining. It’s only when the action slows down that the film starts to show signs of decay.
In Fury Road, we first encounter Max alone in the wasteland in what is about to be a very long and very bad day. He’s quickly spotted and pursued by a pack of deathly-pale skinhead warriors known as Warboys. Outnumbered and easily captured, Max is taken to The Citadel, which serves as the home of the film’s central conflict. The monstrously plagued Immortan Joe rules over The Citadel like a cult leader, promising eternal salvation to his army of Warboys who die fighting for him. The city is a place of great disparity, as Joe teases the peasants with water, while he enjoys the excesses of his precious resources. Even worse is that he’s enslaved healthy, young women, known as his Five Wives, for the sake of producing his children.
This predicament doesn’t sit well with the battle-hardened woman warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who serves under Immortan Joe’s command. Tired of Joe’s tyrannous ways, Imperator Furiosa betrays her leader during a routine gas run by venturing her armored war-rig offroad with the Five Wives secretly in tow. When news spreads that Furiosa is trying to escape and has taken the Wives with her, Joe and his army of Warboys feverishly follow in pursuit. This begins an epic, elaborate, and expertly crafted chase sequence that is absolutely outrageous and unmistakably brilliant.
Meanwhile, the enslaved Max ends up being inopportunely thrust into the action at full throttle, chained to the front of a car like a hood ornament. While Max’s name may be in the title, make no mistake about it, this is Furiosa’s story. Max is primarily just along for the ride, and doing whatever he can to survive. That’s not to say that Max is simply an unfortunate onlooker to the events of the film, but he is given little in the way of dialogue and backstory, and is chained up for a substantial portion of Fury Road. Though it should be said that the movie as a whole is rather thin on story and dialogue and it merely glosses over the plot to retain its focus on the action, which is where the film really sets itself apart.
The majority of the Fury Road serves as this long, impressive chase sequence that miraculously continues to escalate as the film goes on, despite appearing to throw the whole kitchen sink at you right at the beginning. It’s explosive, crazy, and jaw-droppingly awesome from the get-go, and yet believe me, it only gets bigger and better. Just wait until later when they start adding monster trucks, mini-guns, pole-vaulters, dirt bike-riding grannies, and a guitar flamethrower. It will leave you giddy with excitement. It’s an amazing, heavy-metal, end-of-the-world spectacle that you just got to see to believe. What makes it all even more incredible is that so much of the action is achieved by practical effects, with real stunts and car crashes and explosions.
Unfortunately, in the rare moments when Fury Road lets its foot off the gas and slows down the action, it sometimes sputters. Take for instance, the film’s climactic turning point when Furiosa’s dreams are spoiled. She dramatically falls to her knees in the sand, reeling in despair, and screams out into the void. This pivotal moment should be the most powerful moment of the film, but for me it fell completely flat. The problem here is that I never felt a strong attachment to the characters. While I respect Furiosa and Max for their strength in this struggle, I also feel like I don’t know much of anything about them, except that they’re adept at surviving and have battled through Hell to get to this point. So while this brief interlude drags a bit, Max thankfully turns things back around and leads us right back into the heart of the action, where Fury Road is at its best.
Charlize Theron gives a commanding performance as Furiosa, easily establishing herself among the ranks of the great female action stars. She makes for an excellent partner to Tom Hardy’s Max (though reportedly not so much on set). Hardy, on the other hand, puts in a solid performance, but I do take some issue with it. Truthfully, he just didn’t quite feel like Mad Max. His take on the character is too rugged. He’s missing the charm and likability that Mel Gibson’s Max had. His character may be cool, but he’s difficult to relate to, and feels remarkably reduced as he grunts throughout half of the movie without uttering a word. I can’t help but feel that perhaps Hardy took Max’s madness and survival instincts a little too far. The film also stars Nicholas Hoult as Nux, the Warboy that led Max into this whole mess, who expresses a much more appealing level of craziness. Whereas Nux is an energetic, lunatic cult follower, Max seems like he’s just a few bolts short of becoming a mentally-deranged hobo, which might not bode so well for future films. Lastly, there’s Immortan Joe, played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who has an exceptional screen presence by being imposing, frightening, and so over-the-top that he’s kind of funny.
Visually and artistically, Mad Max: Fury Road is a triumphant success. It’s more gorgeous than you would ever think possible for a decrepit, wasteland warzone. Considerable skill and attention to detail are demonstrated to bring beauty out of this decaying environment. It features first-rate cinematography and unbelievable creativity. You’ll wonder how anyone ever thought of this stuff, but you’ll be grateful they did. The characters all look outstanding, unique, and memorable. I particularly loved Furiosa’s appearance with her prosthetic arm and grease-smeared warpaint. More impressive still is the menacing Immortan Joe with his mask and elaborate body armor. Fury Road similarly has beautiful special effects which greatly enhance the atmosphere as well as the film’s many remarkable stunts. In all, this is sure to be one of the best looking films of the year.
Mad Max: Fury Road may not be a perfect film, but it makes for an explosive and unforgettable return to the series. It’s truly a creative tour-de-force, with ingenious action, stellar design, and stunning visuals. It features brilliantly choreographed fights and chases, and some of the coolest movie stunts I’ve ever seen. The movie doesn’t always get the emotional punch it’s aiming for, and it has its share of awkward moments, but it sure makes a lasting impression with its intense, adrenaline-pumping theatrics. It might be a little too strange and twisted for some (though it’s relatively tame for being rated R), however, those who can handle the wasteland are sure to find a film that is deserving of respect and admiration. While I have my gripes with Hardy’s portrayal of Max, I know that I, for one, still can’t wait to see what the future holds for everybody’s favorite road warrior.
(The review was originally posted at 5mmg.com on 5.19.15.)
In Fury Road, we first encounter Max alone in the wasteland in what is about to be a very long and very bad day. He’s quickly spotted and pursued by a pack of deathly-pale skinhead warriors known as Warboys. Outnumbered and easily captured, Max is taken to The Citadel, which serves as the home of the film’s central conflict. The monstrously plagued Immortan Joe rules over The Citadel like a cult leader, promising eternal salvation to his army of Warboys who die fighting for him. The city is a place of great disparity, as Joe teases the peasants with water, while he enjoys the excesses of his precious resources. Even worse is that he’s enslaved healthy, young women, known as his Five Wives, for the sake of producing his children.
This predicament doesn’t sit well with the battle-hardened woman warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who serves under Immortan Joe’s command. Tired of Joe’s tyrannous ways, Imperator Furiosa betrays her leader during a routine gas run by venturing her armored war-rig offroad with the Five Wives secretly in tow. When news spreads that Furiosa is trying to escape and has taken the Wives with her, Joe and his army of Warboys feverishly follow in pursuit. This begins an epic, elaborate, and expertly crafted chase sequence that is absolutely outrageous and unmistakably brilliant.
Meanwhile, the enslaved Max ends up being inopportunely thrust into the action at full throttle, chained to the front of a car like a hood ornament. While Max’s name may be in the title, make no mistake about it, this is Furiosa’s story. Max is primarily just along for the ride, and doing whatever he can to survive. That’s not to say that Max is simply an unfortunate onlooker to the events of the film, but he is given little in the way of dialogue and backstory, and is chained up for a substantial portion of Fury Road. Though it should be said that the movie as a whole is rather thin on story and dialogue and it merely glosses over the plot to retain its focus on the action, which is where the film really sets itself apart.
The majority of the Fury Road serves as this long, impressive chase sequence that miraculously continues to escalate as the film goes on, despite appearing to throw the whole kitchen sink at you right at the beginning. It’s explosive, crazy, and jaw-droppingly awesome from the get-go, and yet believe me, it only gets bigger and better. Just wait until later when they start adding monster trucks, mini-guns, pole-vaulters, dirt bike-riding grannies, and a guitar flamethrower. It will leave you giddy with excitement. It’s an amazing, heavy-metal, end-of-the-world spectacle that you just got to see to believe. What makes it all even more incredible is that so much of the action is achieved by practical effects, with real stunts and car crashes and explosions.
Unfortunately, in the rare moments when Fury Road lets its foot off the gas and slows down the action, it sometimes sputters. Take for instance, the film’s climactic turning point when Furiosa’s dreams are spoiled. She dramatically falls to her knees in the sand, reeling in despair, and screams out into the void. This pivotal moment should be the most powerful moment of the film, but for me it fell completely flat. The problem here is that I never felt a strong attachment to the characters. While I respect Furiosa and Max for their strength in this struggle, I also feel like I don’t know much of anything about them, except that they’re adept at surviving and have battled through Hell to get to this point. So while this brief interlude drags a bit, Max thankfully turns things back around and leads us right back into the heart of the action, where Fury Road is at its best.
Charlize Theron gives a commanding performance as Furiosa, easily establishing herself among the ranks of the great female action stars. She makes for an excellent partner to Tom Hardy’s Max (though reportedly not so much on set). Hardy, on the other hand, puts in a solid performance, but I do take some issue with it. Truthfully, he just didn’t quite feel like Mad Max. His take on the character is too rugged. He’s missing the charm and likability that Mel Gibson’s Max had. His character may be cool, but he’s difficult to relate to, and feels remarkably reduced as he grunts throughout half of the movie without uttering a word. I can’t help but feel that perhaps Hardy took Max’s madness and survival instincts a little too far. The film also stars Nicholas Hoult as Nux, the Warboy that led Max into this whole mess, who expresses a much more appealing level of craziness. Whereas Nux is an energetic, lunatic cult follower, Max seems like he’s just a few bolts short of becoming a mentally-deranged hobo, which might not bode so well for future films. Lastly, there’s Immortan Joe, played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who has an exceptional screen presence by being imposing, frightening, and so over-the-top that he’s kind of funny.
Visually and artistically, Mad Max: Fury Road is a triumphant success. It’s more gorgeous than you would ever think possible for a decrepit, wasteland warzone. Considerable skill and attention to detail are demonstrated to bring beauty out of this decaying environment. It features first-rate cinematography and unbelievable creativity. You’ll wonder how anyone ever thought of this stuff, but you’ll be grateful they did. The characters all look outstanding, unique, and memorable. I particularly loved Furiosa’s appearance with her prosthetic arm and grease-smeared warpaint. More impressive still is the menacing Immortan Joe with his mask and elaborate body armor. Fury Road similarly has beautiful special effects which greatly enhance the atmosphere as well as the film’s many remarkable stunts. In all, this is sure to be one of the best looking films of the year.
Mad Max: Fury Road may not be a perfect film, but it makes for an explosive and unforgettable return to the series. It’s truly a creative tour-de-force, with ingenious action, stellar design, and stunning visuals. It features brilliantly choreographed fights and chases, and some of the coolest movie stunts I’ve ever seen. The movie doesn’t always get the emotional punch it’s aiming for, and it has its share of awkward moments, but it sure makes a lasting impression with its intense, adrenaline-pumping theatrics. It might be a little too strange and twisted for some (though it’s relatively tame for being rated R), however, those who can handle the wasteland are sure to find a film that is deserving of respect and admiration. While I have my gripes with Hardy’s portrayal of Max, I know that I, for one, still can’t wait to see what the future holds for everybody’s favorite road warrior.
(The review was originally posted at 5mmg.com on 5.19.15.)
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria in Tabletop Games
Jan 5, 2022
As you’ve read in our previous reviews, we are BIG fans of the Valeria-verse games. Whether we have to recruit adventurers for quests, build a thriving village, or traverse the lands to protect its people from various Monsters, we are all about this realm. For this newest installation in the series, the tables have been flipped on us – because doesn’t it get tiring always being the ‘good guys’? Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria allows players to embrace their inner dark side and fight back against these ‘heroes’ to reclaim dominance over the lands. Sometimes, it just feels good to be bad!
Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria is a game of worker placement and dice drafting/pool building in which players are trying to amass the most VP by the end of the game. Played over a series of rounds, players will take turns moving their Warden, drafting dice, and performing various actions. To setup, place the main board in the center of the play area. Shuffle and place the Battle Plan deck, Award cards, and Champion decks in their corresponding locations. Fill the dice bag with the requisite number of dice for your player count, and draw/roll/place the listed number of dice in each of the 5 Shrines (areas) of the main game board. A specified number of Gems are placed in the appropriate Shrine, and each player places their score marker on the 0 space of the score track. Each player receives a player board, random Campaign Map, Warden and Conquest Markers in their chosen color, as well as markers for Gold, Influence, and Magic. Choose a starting player, and the game is ready to begin! The setup for a 2-player game is pictured below.
On your turn, you will move your Warden from its current location to one of the other 5 locations on the board. Whichever location you choose dictates what actions you may take this turn, and are as follows: Gem Shrine, Magic Shrine, Champions Shrine, Gold Shrine, Tactics Shrine, or your own Camp. When placing your Warden at any location (with the exception of your own Camp), you will first select one of the dice found at that Shrine and place it on an open space of your player board. You may not move to a Shrine if it has no dice! After taking a die, you may perform the action associated with your chosen location. The Gem Shrine allows you to take 1 Gem, which can be used to manipulate dice in future turns. At the Magic Shrine, you may gain 2 Magic or claim 1 Award card. Magic can be spent in the game to manipulate dice or partially refresh the Champion/Battle Plan decks, and Award cards give you VP and can be claimed once you have met their requisite conditions. The Champions Shrine grants you the opportunity to buy a Champion card. Champions can provide either Immediate, Ongoing, or End-Game effects. The Gold Shrine allows you to gain Gold (used to purchase Champions and Battle Plans), and the Tactics Shrine allows you to buy a Battle Plan to be placed in your reserve on your player board.
The final location, your own Camp, is on your player board. When you place your Warden here, you are committing to perform a Battle. To do so, select which Battle Plan you wish to complete (either from your reserve, or pay Gold to buy directly from the Battle Plan line), and place it on your player board. All Battle Plans have certain dice requirements that need to be met in order to be completed. Select and manipulate which dice you want to use for your chosen Battle Plan, and add up your total Strength. Compare your Strength to your Influence marker – the lower of the two will be your total strength for this battle. Check the chart on your player board to find the number of VP you earn for the total Strength level achieved in the Battle, and immediately move your score marker the appropriate number of spaces. After performing a Battle, you get to level up your player board. During the game setup, each player receives 10 Conquest Markers that are housed on their player board, blocking/locking certain bonuses, abilities, and dice slots. After a Battle, you may remove 1 Conquest Marker from your player board (granting you a new bonus/ability for future turns), and place it on your Campaign Map. Campaign Maps have nine different slots that will grant you differing rewards. Once you have moved your Conquest Marker, return all dice used in this Battle to the dice bag, and move your completed Battle Plan card to the side of your player board. Your turn then ends and the game moves to the next player.
The game continues in this fashion, with players moving their Wardens, collecting dice, and performing actions, until one player has completed their 7th Battle Plan. The round continues until all players have had an equal number of turns, and then players add up any remaining VP. The player who has accumulated the most VP is then declared the winner!
It really should come as no surprise to you that I love this game. Beyond just the Valeria-verse theme, though, the gameplay is more strategic than I originally thought. Yes, it’s a worker placement and dice drafting game, but the underlying strategy is really what makes it great. You see, the dice in the game have 3 different elements that affect your strategy. First is the color: each color matches a Faction, and different Factions are required to complete specific Battle Plans. Next, is the actual die value: you want higher numbers to get a higher Strength, which equates to more VP when completing Battle Plans. And lastly is the discount: depending on the face value of the die, you will receive a discount towards purchasing Champions, Battle Plans, or collecting gold. The lower the face value of the die, the higher the discount, and vice versa. So yeah, maybe taking a 1 value die won’t really help in the Battle Plan, but the amount of gold it allows you to collect might be worth it. You have those 3 things to consider for dice alone! And that doesn’t even take into account which Champions you might want to buy, or what Battle Plans would be beneficial to you.
Another neat strategic element are the Conquest Markers on your player board. Everyone starts with the same number/placement of Conquest Markers, but as the game progresses, players may resolve them in various ways. There is no ‘correct’ order in which to move Conquest Markers – it all comes down to your strategy. Maybe you want more dice right off the bat, so you remove those first. Or maybe you want to be able to reserve more than 1 Battle Plan at a time, so you go for that one. It’s going to be different for every player, and it’ll be different every game. It all depends on the layout of the main board, and which dice and actions are available to you at any given time. There are so many strategic considerations throughout the entire game, and it keeps all players actively engaged.
Components. No surprise here, but the component quality is great, which is to be expected of Daily Magic Games. The cardboard is all thick and chunky, the wooden tokens nice and sturdy, and the cards are easy to manipulate and clear to read. The artwork is, in my opinion, one of the greatest things about the Valeria games, and Shadow Kingdoms is no exception. When getting the game set up, sometimes I find myself just looking through the cards and really appreciating the artwork. So all in all, great production quality here.
Does Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria climb the ranks to my favorite Valeria game? Not quite, but I have to say honestly that it’s getting there. The gameplay is solid and straightforward, the strategic implications are vast, and the components make the game feel awesome. And to get the Monster perspective in this universe is a neat twist that I otherwise would not really have thought of. If you’re a fan of the Valeria games, definitely check this one out. Or if you’re just a fan of worker placement, with some unique elements of drafting, then I highly recommend this one as well. Purple Phoenix Games gives it a mighty 5 / 6. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria is a game of worker placement and dice drafting/pool building in which players are trying to amass the most VP by the end of the game. Played over a series of rounds, players will take turns moving their Warden, drafting dice, and performing various actions. To setup, place the main board in the center of the play area. Shuffle and place the Battle Plan deck, Award cards, and Champion decks in their corresponding locations. Fill the dice bag with the requisite number of dice for your player count, and draw/roll/place the listed number of dice in each of the 5 Shrines (areas) of the main game board. A specified number of Gems are placed in the appropriate Shrine, and each player places their score marker on the 0 space of the score track. Each player receives a player board, random Campaign Map, Warden and Conquest Markers in their chosen color, as well as markers for Gold, Influence, and Magic. Choose a starting player, and the game is ready to begin! The setup for a 2-player game is pictured below.
On your turn, you will move your Warden from its current location to one of the other 5 locations on the board. Whichever location you choose dictates what actions you may take this turn, and are as follows: Gem Shrine, Magic Shrine, Champions Shrine, Gold Shrine, Tactics Shrine, or your own Camp. When placing your Warden at any location (with the exception of your own Camp), you will first select one of the dice found at that Shrine and place it on an open space of your player board. You may not move to a Shrine if it has no dice! After taking a die, you may perform the action associated with your chosen location. The Gem Shrine allows you to take 1 Gem, which can be used to manipulate dice in future turns. At the Magic Shrine, you may gain 2 Magic or claim 1 Award card. Magic can be spent in the game to manipulate dice or partially refresh the Champion/Battle Plan decks, and Award cards give you VP and can be claimed once you have met their requisite conditions. The Champions Shrine grants you the opportunity to buy a Champion card. Champions can provide either Immediate, Ongoing, or End-Game effects. The Gold Shrine allows you to gain Gold (used to purchase Champions and Battle Plans), and the Tactics Shrine allows you to buy a Battle Plan to be placed in your reserve on your player board.
The final location, your own Camp, is on your player board. When you place your Warden here, you are committing to perform a Battle. To do so, select which Battle Plan you wish to complete (either from your reserve, or pay Gold to buy directly from the Battle Plan line), and place it on your player board. All Battle Plans have certain dice requirements that need to be met in order to be completed. Select and manipulate which dice you want to use for your chosen Battle Plan, and add up your total Strength. Compare your Strength to your Influence marker – the lower of the two will be your total strength for this battle. Check the chart on your player board to find the number of VP you earn for the total Strength level achieved in the Battle, and immediately move your score marker the appropriate number of spaces. After performing a Battle, you get to level up your player board. During the game setup, each player receives 10 Conquest Markers that are housed on their player board, blocking/locking certain bonuses, abilities, and dice slots. After a Battle, you may remove 1 Conquest Marker from your player board (granting you a new bonus/ability for future turns), and place it on your Campaign Map. Campaign Maps have nine different slots that will grant you differing rewards. Once you have moved your Conquest Marker, return all dice used in this Battle to the dice bag, and move your completed Battle Plan card to the side of your player board. Your turn then ends and the game moves to the next player.
The game continues in this fashion, with players moving their Wardens, collecting dice, and performing actions, until one player has completed their 7th Battle Plan. The round continues until all players have had an equal number of turns, and then players add up any remaining VP. The player who has accumulated the most VP is then declared the winner!
It really should come as no surprise to you that I love this game. Beyond just the Valeria-verse theme, though, the gameplay is more strategic than I originally thought. Yes, it’s a worker placement and dice drafting game, but the underlying strategy is really what makes it great. You see, the dice in the game have 3 different elements that affect your strategy. First is the color: each color matches a Faction, and different Factions are required to complete specific Battle Plans. Next, is the actual die value: you want higher numbers to get a higher Strength, which equates to more VP when completing Battle Plans. And lastly is the discount: depending on the face value of the die, you will receive a discount towards purchasing Champions, Battle Plans, or collecting gold. The lower the face value of the die, the higher the discount, and vice versa. So yeah, maybe taking a 1 value die won’t really help in the Battle Plan, but the amount of gold it allows you to collect might be worth it. You have those 3 things to consider for dice alone! And that doesn’t even take into account which Champions you might want to buy, or what Battle Plans would be beneficial to you.
Another neat strategic element are the Conquest Markers on your player board. Everyone starts with the same number/placement of Conquest Markers, but as the game progresses, players may resolve them in various ways. There is no ‘correct’ order in which to move Conquest Markers – it all comes down to your strategy. Maybe you want more dice right off the bat, so you remove those first. Or maybe you want to be able to reserve more than 1 Battle Plan at a time, so you go for that one. It’s going to be different for every player, and it’ll be different every game. It all depends on the layout of the main board, and which dice and actions are available to you at any given time. There are so many strategic considerations throughout the entire game, and it keeps all players actively engaged.
Components. No surprise here, but the component quality is great, which is to be expected of Daily Magic Games. The cardboard is all thick and chunky, the wooden tokens nice and sturdy, and the cards are easy to manipulate and clear to read. The artwork is, in my opinion, one of the greatest things about the Valeria games, and Shadow Kingdoms is no exception. When getting the game set up, sometimes I find myself just looking through the cards and really appreciating the artwork. So all in all, great production quality here.
Does Shadow Kingdoms of Valeria climb the ranks to my favorite Valeria game? Not quite, but I have to say honestly that it’s getting there. The gameplay is solid and straightforward, the strategic implications are vast, and the components make the game feel awesome. And to get the Monster perspective in this universe is a neat twist that I otherwise would not really have thought of. If you’re a fan of the Valeria games, definitely check this one out. Or if you’re just a fan of worker placement, with some unique elements of drafting, then I highly recommend this one as well. Purple Phoenix Games gives it a mighty 5 / 6. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Mothergamer (1562 KP) rated the PC version of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey in Video Games
Apr 3, 2019
I love the Assassin's Creed series as past Mother Gamer blogs have shown. While there were a couple I wasn't so thrilled with, I have always enjoyed the stories and exploration the games have offered. The recent Origins definitely captured my heart with all the incredible ancient Egypt history and lore. When Odyssey was announced I was pretty excited because it was going to be set in ancient Greece and I could not wait to play it.
Odyssey is a bit different from its predecessors. The story is set at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war; an ongoing struggle between Sparta and Athens for dominion over Greece. This opens up a lot of interesting places to explore and dialogue options. At the beginning of the game you can choose which Misthios (mercenary) you want to play as; Alexios or his sister Kassandra. It really doesn't matter who you choose because the story is essentially the same for both so it's just a matter of whether or not you prefer to play as a man or a woman. For my first playthrough I went with Kassandra.
Kassandra starts her adventure.
Right from the start, Odyssey hooks you in with an action filled introduction and sets the scene for the story. After that you meet the character you chose; in my case Kassandra and you get a brief tutorial on how the gaming controls work. You also get a mount with this and those controls are pretty easy to navigate. Once you have the hang of it, you can get started on your journey with the main story and the vast amount of side quests.
This is where Odyssey differs a bit. There is more of a role playing aspect to the game with you being able to select different dialogue options while talking to people. You can choose to be cutthroat, a mercenary with a conscience, or ridiculously flirty. Yes, with some of the NPC characters be they men or women Kassandra could have flings with them. Don't worry, nothing overly graphic is shown, but it is definitely heavily implied. Your weapons are different as well. There is no assassin's blade here. You have a precursor artifact weapon in the form of a spear and the options of daggers and swords. You also have a bow and arrows which are quite useful for fighting at a distance.
Have a horse for your travels!
As you level up, you gain ability points which you can use to unlock certain skills to enhance your fighting and stealth from the following three categories in the skills menu: Hunter, Warrior, and Assassin. It is beneficial to unlock these because they are incredibly useful in battles against your enemies. There are also ship battles which bring back memories of Black Flag. The ship battles are challenging, but they are so much fun. You can upgrade your ship to make it a force to be reckoned with. Upgrading the hull is definitely a must so you can ram the heck out of other ships and take little to no damage. You need a crew also of course and Odyssey has an ability where rather than assassinating targets, you can knock them out and recruit them to join your crew.
Unlock abilities in the skills menu.
The running theme for your protagonist is all about family. This is where you are introduced to the mysterious villains, The Cult Of Kosmos who have a hand in much of the conflict in Greece all for power. You have to travel all over the world map to find clues about each cult member in order to reveal their true identity and the location of their main hideout. Once you have those, you can find them and take them out. Be wary however, some cult members are heavily guarded and quite the challenge to fight. This is where Odyssey's notoriety system comes in. The more crimes you commit i.e. murder (come on, you know that's what assassination is), the more likely it is that someone will put a bounty on your head. Then you find yourself relentlessly hunted by bounty hunters with very colorful names. The bounty hunters are no joke and if you do not plan out your strategy and tactics, they will end you. There were some who had lions and they would tag team the crap out of me which could be more than a little frustrating, but that's part of the challenge. Two ways around this are offing the person who put the bounty on your head or paying off the bounty. If you have the coin, you can pay the money and the bounty will go away.
Besides the main story, there are a ton of side quests and conquest missions to do. Sneaking around and taking out guards in a fort can be difficult, but rewarding as you take everyone out and diminish that nation's power. Looting the treasures, burning the supplies, and taking out the captains completes that area and will show you a meter with their power depleting. Once you have completely drained their influence, you get a conquest battle option. You get an epic battle between Spartans and Athenians and you have to take out all the captains during this battle in order to win the conquest. There were times where I totally screwed up and a guard saw me and then I had to brawl my way out among five or six of them. That was a whole other adventure in itself. It definitely raises the stakes when that happens and makes Odyssey feel like a whole new game.
Getting caught by guards sucks. Time to brawl my way out!
My favorite thing to do in Odyssey was exploring. I loved discovering new areas and hanging out in ancient Greece. Climbing up to the tops of high buildings, cliffs, and statues just to synchronize the map and see the view from a high vantage point was pretty fantastic. No two areas were alike and there was always something new to see. Some of the small side quests were hit or miss at times, but I was never bored at all. There was always something to see or do.
An eagle's eye view of ancient Greece.
There are a variety of armor and weapons choices in Odyssey. As you progress, you can upgrade to better armor, weapons, and crafting materials. If you have a favorite armor set, when you upgrade you can glamour the armor to look like the favorite set. Again, this adds a role playing aspect where you can actually gather materials and craft weapons and armor in the game. This is also true for your ship. You can choose a variety of sails, ship designs, and even tailor your crew with characters from past Assassin's Creed games as your lieutenants.
If you're looking for more challenge with your challenge, there are legendary beast and mythological monster fights you can do. The locations of each legendary beast is marked on your world map. With the monsters, you happen upon some of them doing certain quests. This was how I accidentally discovered the fight with Medusa. These fights are insanely hard and Medusa seemed to be the hardest one of all. I got my ass handed to me quite a few times before I finally won. It is vindicating when you do win because they are so difficult and you have to be constantly thinking about your tactics and theirs. The fights absolutely keep you on your toes, but man what a thrill!
Medusa fight is crazy!
When you see the world map, it can be a little overwhelming with how vast it is. Areas you have already explored will be highlighted and areas that are not unlocked are grayed out. The map will also show you what level each area is so you can level grind and plan accordingly. I had fun unlocking the areas and receiving contract quests and bounties which offered lots of drachmae and sometimes item rewards such as armor.
The world map is huge. Get out there and explore!
While I loved Odyssey, there were issues with the game. One of the big things was I was one of the unlucky people who got the game breaking bug of the game dropping frames and freezing completely in enemy fort areas. I had wondered if it was just me so I looked up the issue and found that many others had this issue with the game also. The solution Ubisoft offered was to close the game completely and restart the game. That's more than a little irritating. While the voice acting is good, there were strange audio issues with the voices being off sync and delaying at times. In spite of those issues, I still had fun with Odyssey and loved the game. Even after the main crux of the story is finished, there's still so much left to do with legendary hunts and searching for precursor relics and the upcoming DLC. Odyssey is slightly different from the games before it, but it is lots of fun. Now, I'm going to get out there and do more exploring. See you at the next adventure!
Odyssey is a bit different from its predecessors. The story is set at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war; an ongoing struggle between Sparta and Athens for dominion over Greece. This opens up a lot of interesting places to explore and dialogue options. At the beginning of the game you can choose which Misthios (mercenary) you want to play as; Alexios or his sister Kassandra. It really doesn't matter who you choose because the story is essentially the same for both so it's just a matter of whether or not you prefer to play as a man or a woman. For my first playthrough I went with Kassandra.
Kassandra starts her adventure.
Right from the start, Odyssey hooks you in with an action filled introduction and sets the scene for the story. After that you meet the character you chose; in my case Kassandra and you get a brief tutorial on how the gaming controls work. You also get a mount with this and those controls are pretty easy to navigate. Once you have the hang of it, you can get started on your journey with the main story and the vast amount of side quests.
This is where Odyssey differs a bit. There is more of a role playing aspect to the game with you being able to select different dialogue options while talking to people. You can choose to be cutthroat, a mercenary with a conscience, or ridiculously flirty. Yes, with some of the NPC characters be they men or women Kassandra could have flings with them. Don't worry, nothing overly graphic is shown, but it is definitely heavily implied. Your weapons are different as well. There is no assassin's blade here. You have a precursor artifact weapon in the form of a spear and the options of daggers and swords. You also have a bow and arrows which are quite useful for fighting at a distance.
Have a horse for your travels!
As you level up, you gain ability points which you can use to unlock certain skills to enhance your fighting and stealth from the following three categories in the skills menu: Hunter, Warrior, and Assassin. It is beneficial to unlock these because they are incredibly useful in battles against your enemies. There are also ship battles which bring back memories of Black Flag. The ship battles are challenging, but they are so much fun. You can upgrade your ship to make it a force to be reckoned with. Upgrading the hull is definitely a must so you can ram the heck out of other ships and take little to no damage. You need a crew also of course and Odyssey has an ability where rather than assassinating targets, you can knock them out and recruit them to join your crew.
Unlock abilities in the skills menu.
The running theme for your protagonist is all about family. This is where you are introduced to the mysterious villains, The Cult Of Kosmos who have a hand in much of the conflict in Greece all for power. You have to travel all over the world map to find clues about each cult member in order to reveal their true identity and the location of their main hideout. Once you have those, you can find them and take them out. Be wary however, some cult members are heavily guarded and quite the challenge to fight. This is where Odyssey's notoriety system comes in. The more crimes you commit i.e. murder (come on, you know that's what assassination is), the more likely it is that someone will put a bounty on your head. Then you find yourself relentlessly hunted by bounty hunters with very colorful names. The bounty hunters are no joke and if you do not plan out your strategy and tactics, they will end you. There were some who had lions and they would tag team the crap out of me which could be more than a little frustrating, but that's part of the challenge. Two ways around this are offing the person who put the bounty on your head or paying off the bounty. If you have the coin, you can pay the money and the bounty will go away.
Besides the main story, there are a ton of side quests and conquest missions to do. Sneaking around and taking out guards in a fort can be difficult, but rewarding as you take everyone out and diminish that nation's power. Looting the treasures, burning the supplies, and taking out the captains completes that area and will show you a meter with their power depleting. Once you have completely drained their influence, you get a conquest battle option. You get an epic battle between Spartans and Athenians and you have to take out all the captains during this battle in order to win the conquest. There were times where I totally screwed up and a guard saw me and then I had to brawl my way out among five or six of them. That was a whole other adventure in itself. It definitely raises the stakes when that happens and makes Odyssey feel like a whole new game.
Getting caught by guards sucks. Time to brawl my way out!
My favorite thing to do in Odyssey was exploring. I loved discovering new areas and hanging out in ancient Greece. Climbing up to the tops of high buildings, cliffs, and statues just to synchronize the map and see the view from a high vantage point was pretty fantastic. No two areas were alike and there was always something new to see. Some of the small side quests were hit or miss at times, but I was never bored at all. There was always something to see or do.
An eagle's eye view of ancient Greece.
There are a variety of armor and weapons choices in Odyssey. As you progress, you can upgrade to better armor, weapons, and crafting materials. If you have a favorite armor set, when you upgrade you can glamour the armor to look like the favorite set. Again, this adds a role playing aspect where you can actually gather materials and craft weapons and armor in the game. This is also true for your ship. You can choose a variety of sails, ship designs, and even tailor your crew with characters from past Assassin's Creed games as your lieutenants.
If you're looking for more challenge with your challenge, there are legendary beast and mythological monster fights you can do. The locations of each legendary beast is marked on your world map. With the monsters, you happen upon some of them doing certain quests. This was how I accidentally discovered the fight with Medusa. These fights are insanely hard and Medusa seemed to be the hardest one of all. I got my ass handed to me quite a few times before I finally won. It is vindicating when you do win because they are so difficult and you have to be constantly thinking about your tactics and theirs. The fights absolutely keep you on your toes, but man what a thrill!
Medusa fight is crazy!
When you see the world map, it can be a little overwhelming with how vast it is. Areas you have already explored will be highlighted and areas that are not unlocked are grayed out. The map will also show you what level each area is so you can level grind and plan accordingly. I had fun unlocking the areas and receiving contract quests and bounties which offered lots of drachmae and sometimes item rewards such as armor.
The world map is huge. Get out there and explore!
While I loved Odyssey, there were issues with the game. One of the big things was I was one of the unlucky people who got the game breaking bug of the game dropping frames and freezing completely in enemy fort areas. I had wondered if it was just me so I looked up the issue and found that many others had this issue with the game also. The solution Ubisoft offered was to close the game completely and restart the game. That's more than a little irritating. While the voice acting is good, there were strange audio issues with the voices being off sync and delaying at times. In spite of those issues, I still had fun with Odyssey and loved the game. Even after the main crux of the story is finished, there's still so much left to do with legendary hunts and searching for precursor relics and the upcoming DLC. Odyssey is slightly different from the games before it, but it is lots of fun. Now, I'm going to get out there and do more exploring. See you at the next adventure!
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Space Kraken in Tabletop Games
Jul 22, 2021
The overall story is not unfamiliar. Scientists create a genetically-modified creature to help solve a global problem, creature is somehow mutated through radioactive exposure, creature poses a threat to mankind, mankind must eliminate the creature. Now take that monster to space and BAM – we’ve got the origins on Space Kraken. Humanity has been forced to space in search of a new inhabitable planet. But alien races await you in the vast unknown, and the Space Kraken is always lurking…
Disclaimer: We were provided with a demo version of Space Kraken. The gameplay is that of the full version, just with a shorter storyline and fewer variations. What you see pictured below may not be identical to what will be received in the finalized version. Also, the game can be played solo or with multiple players – this preview will be covering the solo-only mode of play. I do not intend to cover the entire rulebook, but rather provide an overview of the mechanics and gameplay. -L
Space Kraken is a sci-fi dungeon crawler encompassed in a spiral-bound book. The only additional components you need are 2d6, 1d20, and a pencil with a decent eraser. To start a new game, you will first get set up for the campaign. There are 6 Flights (game modes) to choose from and you select one with which to play. Different Flights affect the start of game conditions, which will affect the overall gameplay. For example, one Flight might offer bonuses to your ability scores, while another could give you stronger weapons right from the start. Once you’ve selected your Flight, you will then set up your Story Lines. These will help dictate the story of your overall campaign, and will be influenced by your strategies and decisions along the way. From crucial plot points to opportunities for ‘side quests,’ the Story Lines work to drive the narrative. The next step is to create your crew. You choose 3 heroes to start with, and will ‘build’ them by giving them attributes, equipment, and skills. The specific parameters are detailed in the rules. After the crew is created, the game is officially ready to begin!
A game of Space Kraken is played over a series of turns, broken down into 5 phases. The first phase of a turn is to Activate Story Lines. These are tracked across a series of 4 tables of coordinates. Find the coordinate on the appropriate table for your Story Line, and proceed as necessary. Some coordinates link to Events that require you to make decisions, roll dice, execute commands, while other coordinates will just link to a new coordinate to be used next turn. Once you have Activated and resolved all your Story Lines for the turn, the game moves to the Ship Construction phase. At the start of the game, you will most likely skip this phase, but as the game progresses and you earn funds, you will be able to upgrade and modify your spaceship during this part of the turn.
The third phase of a turn is to Perform Your Own Action. You can choose to either: Initiate Space Flight, Land at an Already-Discovered Location, or Activate a Story Line Again. Initiating space flight gives you the opportunity to explore different regions of space, discover/explore new locations, and sometimes even engage in space combat. You could choose to land at an already-discovered location, which allows you to visit many of the ‘dungeons’. Or you can activate a story line again, which lets you advance one of your story lines forward. After you perform your own action, phase 4 begins – Quick Visit a Shop, Ammo Dealer, or Quest Master. This one is pretty self-explanatory. You can trade or purchase goods from locations you have visited, or you could visit the Quest Master for ‘side quests.’ And then finally the last turn phase is Quest Timer. Any quests you have that were not advanced in this turn get a mark for Lost Time – after 5 marks they are erased! So prioritize wisely when it comes to your quest completion. A new turn now begins, following the same phase structure as detailed above. The game continues until either you have defeated the Space Kraken, or your entire crew and/or ship has perished.
At first glance, Space Kraken is kind of daunting and intimidating. There’s a bit of a learning curve as you figure out this gameplay system before you can really dive in to play. That being said, once you understand how the different aspects work – Space Flight, Combat, Story Lines, Dungeon Exploration, etc. – it will all click together. This isn’t a game you just pick up and decide to play on a whim, it’s one that takes focus and dedication to complete a play-through. Just something to keep in mind! As with most campaign-style games, the question of replayability is always in the forefront, and I think that Space Kraken really handles it very well. The Story Lines alone offer a range of variability that ensures no two games will be the same. How you build your crew and ship could influence decisions made with regards to Story Lines, which in turn leads you down a unique path with a plethora of opportunities. The mechanic for generating new locations to explore (the dungeon crawling element) also provides a variety of places to explore, alien races to interact with, and physical elements like atmosphere. The chances for generating the exact same location more than once are pretty slim, I would say. All of these elements just add to the replayability of Space Kraken and keep it fresh and unique for each play-through.
Guiding the overall gameplay are your dice. Some Story Lines offer 2 solutions, and you will roll the dice to see with which one you end up. To generate a new location, you roll the dice a number of times, looking at the corresponding tables in order to build the map for your current foray into space. Obviously, combat, either in ships or on the ground, will use dice to help dictate the flow of battle and the outcomes of said fights. That is how you can get so much replayability from this game – dice rolling. The range of Story Lines and locations coupled with dice rolls really create a one-of-a-kind gameplay experience, no matter how many times you play through. You’ll never play the same game twice….well, unless your dice results are the exact same for every roll as they were the previous game.
Let’s touch on components for a minute. As stated above, this is only a demo version of the game. That being said, the game is encompassed in a spiral-bound book, and that is what the complete game will be like too. The only things you need to play besides the book are a couple of d6, a d20, and a pencil! I think it’s neat that so much gameplay can be packed into a single book. Between sessions if you’re not able to leave the book on your table, simply mark your page, fold everything back into the book, and you’re good to go! What do I mean by fold everything back into the book? Several of the pages in this game have fold-outs of additional materials to be pulled out when necessary. I really like that if you don’t currently need a page, it doesn’t need to be showing. It helps keep the game a little more focused, visually, in my opinion. My only complaint is that a couple of times, a fold-out section may overlap another fold-out section, meaning that you have to end up flipping pages anyway. A small price to pay for an all-in-one game book! My other qualm is that as you play, you will write in the book. After you complete a play-through, you can go back and play again – just erase everything and start over. My concern is that with repeated erasing on the pages, the quality will wear down and could be unusable after a certain number of plays. Maybe that’s not a problem for other gamers, but that is something that jumped into my head when playing this.
Overall thoughts? Space Kraken is pretty cool. There is a bit of a learning curve as you delve into the new system, but once you’ve got the general mechanics/gameplay down, the rest is pretty straight-forward. The fact that the entire game is encompassed in one book is a neat element too. It allows you to ‘save’ your progress and come back to it without the hassle of setting up a million components. Having only played the solo version of the game, I’m curious to see how the multiplayer side works, so that may just be my next play-through! If you’re in the market for a campaign-style game, without requiring tons of table space and eons of time to play through, consider checking out Space Kraken. It successfully funded on Kickstarter and the late pledges are now open!
Disclaimer: We were provided with a demo version of Space Kraken. The gameplay is that of the full version, just with a shorter storyline and fewer variations. What you see pictured below may not be identical to what will be received in the finalized version. Also, the game can be played solo or with multiple players – this preview will be covering the solo-only mode of play. I do not intend to cover the entire rulebook, but rather provide an overview of the mechanics and gameplay. -L
Space Kraken is a sci-fi dungeon crawler encompassed in a spiral-bound book. The only additional components you need are 2d6, 1d20, and a pencil with a decent eraser. To start a new game, you will first get set up for the campaign. There are 6 Flights (game modes) to choose from and you select one with which to play. Different Flights affect the start of game conditions, which will affect the overall gameplay. For example, one Flight might offer bonuses to your ability scores, while another could give you stronger weapons right from the start. Once you’ve selected your Flight, you will then set up your Story Lines. These will help dictate the story of your overall campaign, and will be influenced by your strategies and decisions along the way. From crucial plot points to opportunities for ‘side quests,’ the Story Lines work to drive the narrative. The next step is to create your crew. You choose 3 heroes to start with, and will ‘build’ them by giving them attributes, equipment, and skills. The specific parameters are detailed in the rules. After the crew is created, the game is officially ready to begin!
A game of Space Kraken is played over a series of turns, broken down into 5 phases. The first phase of a turn is to Activate Story Lines. These are tracked across a series of 4 tables of coordinates. Find the coordinate on the appropriate table for your Story Line, and proceed as necessary. Some coordinates link to Events that require you to make decisions, roll dice, execute commands, while other coordinates will just link to a new coordinate to be used next turn. Once you have Activated and resolved all your Story Lines for the turn, the game moves to the Ship Construction phase. At the start of the game, you will most likely skip this phase, but as the game progresses and you earn funds, you will be able to upgrade and modify your spaceship during this part of the turn.
The third phase of a turn is to Perform Your Own Action. You can choose to either: Initiate Space Flight, Land at an Already-Discovered Location, or Activate a Story Line Again. Initiating space flight gives you the opportunity to explore different regions of space, discover/explore new locations, and sometimes even engage in space combat. You could choose to land at an already-discovered location, which allows you to visit many of the ‘dungeons’. Or you can activate a story line again, which lets you advance one of your story lines forward. After you perform your own action, phase 4 begins – Quick Visit a Shop, Ammo Dealer, or Quest Master. This one is pretty self-explanatory. You can trade or purchase goods from locations you have visited, or you could visit the Quest Master for ‘side quests.’ And then finally the last turn phase is Quest Timer. Any quests you have that were not advanced in this turn get a mark for Lost Time – after 5 marks they are erased! So prioritize wisely when it comes to your quest completion. A new turn now begins, following the same phase structure as detailed above. The game continues until either you have defeated the Space Kraken, or your entire crew and/or ship has perished.
At first glance, Space Kraken is kind of daunting and intimidating. There’s a bit of a learning curve as you figure out this gameplay system before you can really dive in to play. That being said, once you understand how the different aspects work – Space Flight, Combat, Story Lines, Dungeon Exploration, etc. – it will all click together. This isn’t a game you just pick up and decide to play on a whim, it’s one that takes focus and dedication to complete a play-through. Just something to keep in mind! As with most campaign-style games, the question of replayability is always in the forefront, and I think that Space Kraken really handles it very well. The Story Lines alone offer a range of variability that ensures no two games will be the same. How you build your crew and ship could influence decisions made with regards to Story Lines, which in turn leads you down a unique path with a plethora of opportunities. The mechanic for generating new locations to explore (the dungeon crawling element) also provides a variety of places to explore, alien races to interact with, and physical elements like atmosphere. The chances for generating the exact same location more than once are pretty slim, I would say. All of these elements just add to the replayability of Space Kraken and keep it fresh and unique for each play-through.
Guiding the overall gameplay are your dice. Some Story Lines offer 2 solutions, and you will roll the dice to see with which one you end up. To generate a new location, you roll the dice a number of times, looking at the corresponding tables in order to build the map for your current foray into space. Obviously, combat, either in ships or on the ground, will use dice to help dictate the flow of battle and the outcomes of said fights. That is how you can get so much replayability from this game – dice rolling. The range of Story Lines and locations coupled with dice rolls really create a one-of-a-kind gameplay experience, no matter how many times you play through. You’ll never play the same game twice….well, unless your dice results are the exact same for every roll as they were the previous game.
Let’s touch on components for a minute. As stated above, this is only a demo version of the game. That being said, the game is encompassed in a spiral-bound book, and that is what the complete game will be like too. The only things you need to play besides the book are a couple of d6, a d20, and a pencil! I think it’s neat that so much gameplay can be packed into a single book. Between sessions if you’re not able to leave the book on your table, simply mark your page, fold everything back into the book, and you’re good to go! What do I mean by fold everything back into the book? Several of the pages in this game have fold-outs of additional materials to be pulled out when necessary. I really like that if you don’t currently need a page, it doesn’t need to be showing. It helps keep the game a little more focused, visually, in my opinion. My only complaint is that a couple of times, a fold-out section may overlap another fold-out section, meaning that you have to end up flipping pages anyway. A small price to pay for an all-in-one game book! My other qualm is that as you play, you will write in the book. After you complete a play-through, you can go back and play again – just erase everything and start over. My concern is that with repeated erasing on the pages, the quality will wear down and could be unusable after a certain number of plays. Maybe that’s not a problem for other gamers, but that is something that jumped into my head when playing this.
Overall thoughts? Space Kraken is pretty cool. There is a bit of a learning curve as you delve into the new system, but once you’ve got the general mechanics/gameplay down, the rest is pretty straight-forward. The fact that the entire game is encompassed in one book is a neat element too. It allows you to ‘save’ your progress and come back to it without the hassle of setting up a million components. Having only played the solo version of the game, I’m curious to see how the multiplayer side works, so that may just be my next play-through! If you’re in the market for a campaign-style game, without requiring tons of table space and eons of time to play through, consider checking out Space Kraken. It successfully funded on Kickstarter and the late pledges are now open!
