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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Samurai Warriors 5 in Video Games

Sep 14, 2021 (Updated Sep 14, 2021)  
Samurai Warriors 5
Samurai Warriors 5
2021 | Action/Adventure, Fighting
Revamped art style and character designs (1 more)
All new weapon system
Character animations are a bit stiff in scenes with dialogue (1 more)
Battle music can be repetitive
Fantastic Return For The Warriors Series
Samurai Warriors 5 is a 2021 hack and slash, action, "Musou/Warriors" game developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo. It is available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, with current gen consoles not featuring an upgraded version yet. The fifth installment in the series, it is a re-imagining as almost everything from art style to character designs has been revamped. The story has been redone as well, focusing mainly on Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi, up to the events of the Honno-ji incident.

 Play as the legends of the Sengoku Era of Japanese history in this epic "Warriors" game. Samurai Warriors 5 has been revamped with a new art style and an all new weapon system allowing characters to utilize any weapon in a large arsenal as you mow down hundreds of soldiers from opposing armies. Every weapon has special moves to use in combat and can be upgraded in the blacksmith menu. Characters have a simplistic skill tree and some also have ultimate moves. A stable menu is available to upgrade and train horses you acquire as well. There are two game modes: Musou Mode, which is a mission based story mode and Citadel Mode, which is an extra game mode in which you defend a base while completing different objectives to get the highest score you can.

 Utilizing new character designs and a new art style based on Japanese paintings, Samurai Warriors has never looked so good. Musou attacks look great with some ending in a character posing for a painting. Character animations are great in battle but a little stiff in scenes with dialogue, however, the cutscenes are well done.

 Battle music can get repetitive but if you love the "Warriors" series it's what you've come to expect. Classic "Warriors" style music with epic rock/metal guitar riffs are mixed with the traditional Japanese style music, although with more emphasis on the latter. Overall the music is very enjoyable. The sound design for weapon combos gives you a good sense of impact too and really makes you feel like you're doing damage.

 Samurai Warriors 5 is the tale of Nobunaga Oda, the legendary Japanese Daimyo (Lord) on his quest to unify all the lands of Japan and bring peace to it's people. This game is based off of historical records of Nobunaga's life and that of Mitsuhide Akechi with many liberties taken to romanticize real life historical accounts. The plot follows them through their lives, up to the incident at Honno-ji.

Verdict: [7/10]

 A fantastic return to form for the "Warriors" series after the abysmal Dynasty Warriors 9. The new art style is a refreshing take and gameplay innovates while simultaneously not alienating lovers of past games in the series.
  
The Outfit (2022)
The Outfit (2022)
2022 | Crime, Drama
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Smart, Intelligent and Understated
So much of the success or failure of a film at the Cineplex Box Office depends on the marketing of the film and the timing of it’s release. In the case of the wonderful crime drama THE OUTFIT (who’s release was buried in late January/early February 2022), the marketing did it no favors.

And that’s too bad, for this Mark Rylance film - which could easily be a stage play - is an intriguing SMART cat and mouse drama between some mob types and their tailor.

Yes, their tailor.

Rylance stars as Leonard, a tailor (he prefers to be called a “cutter”), who has a shop in Chicago in the 1950’s, THE OUTFIT tells the tale of said cutter who’s business is booming thanks to patronage of local gangsters (the titular OUTFIT) who not only frequent his shop for suits, but also to use it as a place to make “drops”. The intrigue of this film comes when “things get real” for THE OUTFIT and they use Leonard’s shop as a hideout. Leonard must outsmart the outfit - and their foes - if he hopes to survive the night.

It’s a smart premise made all the more interesting by the understated performance by Rylance who, once again, shows that his genial demeanor is disguising a very intelligent and fast-working brain. It is another in a long string of strong performances by Rylance (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in 2015’s BRIDGE OF SPIES).

Rylance is joined on screen by some very good performances by Zoey Deutch (ZOMBIELAND DOUBLETAP), Johnny Flynn (EMMA), Stage Actor Simon Russell Beale (THE DEATH OF STALIN) and, most surprisingly, Dylan O’Brien (THE MAZE RUNNER). They bring a Broadway stage performance sense of style to this work - and it is absolutely the right approach to this material, for the entire film takes place inside Leonard’s tailor shop.

Credit for this must go to Director Graham Moore (THE IMITATION GAME) who wrote this film with Johnathan McClain. He has a firm grip on what he is attempting to do - and he does it well. He sets up the premise and the players well and then pays off the circumstances - sometimes surprisingly - in satisfying ways. It is a strong showing by Moore and I’ll be looking to see what he does next.

Intelligent, understated, stage-like, smart…no wonder the suits at Universal had no idea how to market it.

So, I’ll market/champion this film that perfectly casts Rylance. He is in almost every scene and it is his intense and interesting performance that will pull you into his shop - and into the world of the OUTFIT.

Check it out - you’ll be glad you did.

THE OUTFIT is streaming for free for those of you subscribed to PEACOCK and can be rented (or bought) on most of the major outlets for those types of things.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
The Deception (The Secret Tales #2)
The Deception (The Secret Tales #2)
Sanna Brand | 2024 | Romance
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Patrick and Charlotte are perfect for each other!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 2 in The Secret Tales series, but can totally be read as a stand alone. I would say, as a personal point, that you will get a better understanding of the ladies of this time, and what they have to do to stay safe. It's also a stunning 5 star read, so you know, get to it!

I loved The Bond, and I loved this one too, for very different reasons!

The Bond is a slow burn, low steam book. Very much a fade to black book. And this one? Not so much! It's a tad steamier, but not explicit, at all. Patrick and Charlotte are perfect for each other, even if they were never meant to be. And I loved that difference about the two books, I really did.

I loved how Patrick deals with his injury: by not letting it get the better of him. Being confined to a wheelchair after a life at sea would be hard for anyone to deal with, but Patrick and his family set out to make his life easier, but not limiting. I gather from reading this, that injuries of this sort at that time were far more devastating than they are in this time. But once Patrick got his head round what HE needed, he got to it, and devised his new wheelchair, adapted his house to accomodate his chair. I love that his sister devised a new saddle for him to continue to ride his horse.

Lottie's forging her father's work is their only real stumbling block, but once Patrick knows WHY she does it, he understands, but makes sure Lottie knows it cannot continue once they are married. But that takes a nasty turn, and I really did not see that coming at me!

I had to giggle though, out loud! It was so funny, reading about what Lottie thought was going to happen on her wedding night. She really had no clue and it was Rose who educated her. Proper made me laugh! I loved that Rose and Rhys (since Rhys is Patrick's brother) play a huge part here, it was so lovely to catch up with them.

I wrote at the end of my review for The Bond that I thought one of Rose's sisters was the second book, but I cannot remember which one! However, Lottie is not one of Rose's sisters and one of LOTTIE'S sisters has the next book.

I love this group of ladies, and the men who fall for them and I really look forward to catching up with the supporting cast in future books, cos there are some interesting side characters!

Loved it, so it can only get:

5 full and shiny stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Shooter
The latest in the highly-popular Call of Duty series has arrived and with

it comes a bold new direction for the series that mixes the familiar with

the new.

 

Infinite Warfare is set in the future but unlike the recent Advanced

Warfare, this is a future where space travel has become the norm and the

people of Earth find themselves in an ongoing battle with a Mars based

faction who have amassed a very large and powerful fleet of warships.

Players take on the role of Lt. Reyes who finds himself forced into

command when a surprise attack devastates much of the Earth’s forces and

at the mercy of the ruthless leader of the opposing forces (Kit

Harrington).

 

Like with last years Black Ops 3 players have a staging area and the

ability to select their weapon configurations for each mission. There is

also a Captain’s room where players can view newsreels and other items

should they want to take a break from the combat and explore.

 

Players can also select which missions to take based on the recommended

story missions or they can select side missions. In my first run through I

stuck mainly to suggested missions and was amazed at how fast I got to the

final battle, so those looking to prolong their solo campaign will want to

select some of the additional missions.

 

Mission play is what you would expect from Call of Duty with missions

mixing stealth and waves of enemies for players to mow down. This time out

several missions involve space combat as players will take on fighters and

enemy ships in their fighter plane which also allows for some interesting

missions where players will leave their ship to battle in Zero-G before

resuming the attack on foot.

 

Players also will have access to energy and ballistic weapons and can pick

up weapons and ammunition along the way.

 

Using futuristic grenades that cause gravity to disrupt as well as spider

like seekers is a nice touch as is the protective shield players can

deploy when the action becomes heated.

 

Multiplayer has always been the strong point of the series and Infinite

Warfare is no exception to this trend. There are fewer modes than in the

past, but the customization and rankings that players expect are still in

place. There are also the popular kill streak rewards that can turn the

tide of any battle.

 

Although some may not like the inclusion of jump packs in multiplayer, it

did not harm Advanced Warfare and the levels where fallen players float

away in Zero-G were also a very nice touch. I did briefly think I was

playing DOOM with some of the maps set on a planet exterior at first, but

soon found myself caught up in the action. Like with Black Ops 3, a

special weapon is on a timer and allows players to deploy a wide angle

machine gun called a “Claw” which mows down enemies with ease.

The maps like the solo portion of the game are highly detailed and

stunning to behold and the composition for the game has some very

compelling music. I played the game on an NVIDIA 960 then moved to a

NVIDIA 1060 Founders Edition card and found that the game looked and ran

amazingly well even on the highest settings.

 

The real treat of the game for me was the Zombie mode set at Spaceland, an

80s themed amusement park. The mode had plenty of 80s nostalgia as well as

an 80s soundtrack of hits from the era as well as a campy tone that

invoked the best of 80s horror films.

 

The detail level was so good that you can even take a ride on an

attraction, use some rides as weapons, and use tickets you gain to gain

power ups. For me it was simply the best initial Zombie offering of any

Call of Duty game ever.

 

In the end, Infinite Warfare offers one of the best campaigns in recent

years and blends old and new to create a Call of Duty experience that is

fresh yet familiar. Fans of the series should not be put off by the space

setting and should give the game a try as it is a very enjoyable and

winning combination that is as fun to play as it is great to look at.

http://sknr.net/2016/11/08/call-duty-infinite-warfare/