Category: Opinion

Black Panther: Power

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Allegedly it’s been said that Black Panther 2 will introduce Namor, The Submariner into the MCU. Personally, I love the idea and it would be a great way to introduce the pivotal anti-hero as well as potentially be a way to introduce the idea of mutants as well. So reading this book is perfect timing.

T’Challa, the king of Wakanda and Black Panther, has been crippled and taken out of commission. Shuri, his little sister, inventor, and one of his greatest confidants has taken the mantle in both of her brother’s positions.  The transition is far from smooth as the an unknown foe is trying to have her killed, controlling mercs armed with Stark tech as well as rarities. Meanwhile, T’Challa goes on a dark request to bring his physicality back that may just destroy his good heart and soul. All the evidence points to Namor being behind the attempts, leading Shuri to fight a foe feared by much of the Marvel universe, while a patient Dr Doom waits and watches…

This book is a good example of why I love Black Panther. I love the politics and spiritualism of Wakanda. Shuri is a fine replacement and I admit has some awesome fights; the fight against Namor is great and indeed my favorite part of the book. The plot can get a bit confusing a political action thriller but I found it relatively easy as a fan of the character. This is a brief overview in the beginning which is always welcome to set the stage. In the end, I recommend this book but not as a first Panther read. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon snap

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So the other day, walking down memory lane, I covered Hey You Pikachu and decided today why not cover an unusual Pokemon game that actually works. Again, much like Hey You Pikachu, this game was a cool concept: go on expeditions through various locales taking pictures of the native Pokemon that inhabit the region. It was a cool concept done surprisingly well. The camera was fluid and the expeditions were pretty fun; I remember a volcanic area full of fire Pokemon which were some of my favorites at the time. An unexpected bonus was how much fun it was playing with a friend, seeing who could photo bomb more Pokemon and who could get the cooler shots. Violet and I had a ton of fun doing this as kids. I feel if replicated today, the modern game market would abuse the hell out of this game, adding who knows how many DLC packages and micro transactions which makes me sad a bit. In the end, it’s a simple, wholesome game I recommend for Pokemon fans or families with younger kids. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Terminator: Resistance trailer 1

I’ll be the first to admit, Terminator should have ended with Judgement Day. This game I have to say looks freaking amazing as far as what I’d want for a game. I love that it feels like the war scenes in the classic two movies. I’d say the game looks worth keeping a look out for. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Hey You Pikachu

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I can’t lie, until randomly at my job that isn’t the blog, I forgot this game pretty much existed. Once I recalled it, I had to think to a time way back to when there were only 151 Pokemon and Pokemon: The First Movie was THE movie in my school and news of Pokemon 2000 was the equivalent of Star Wars hype. But, I digress… Hey You Pikachu was a game for the Nintendo 64 with a lot of ambition. Requiring a special microphone attachment for the N64 controller, you talked to Pikachu and had him to command and essentially lived your own little Pokemon fantasy. As far as I’m aware of, there was no battling, so there goes a huge chunk of that fantasy. I have to be 100% honest, I’ve never seen this game in person actually really work. Talking to Pikachu became ultra frustrating super quickly because the controller itself was nearly useless and the entire game was trying to talk. When you’d get Pikachu to follow your instructions it was so cool, but then enjoy the 15-20 minutes it took for his next command to register. I’ve seen people pitch hissy fits and whip there controllers over this game. Simply put. I can’t recommend this game to anyone. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Black Christmas 2019 trailer 1

When I first heard about this, I thought it was a joke. It’s no joke. I’m honestly wondering if this movie isn’t even a remake of the classic. There’s nothing that really feels like the classic. Overall it looks like a typical holiday slasher movie that I ain’t too pumped for. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Borderlands 3 first impressions

bl3 characters  Like many I’ve been wild with anticipation over the release of Borderlands 3; I sold most of my hard copy games just to afford the $100 edition. So far, I’ve put roughly 10 hours into the game with Moze and about 3 hours with Zane.

In terms of raw gameplay, 3 is the biggest leap since Borderlands 2 from the original Borderlands and the strongest feature of the game. There’s a lot of small changes that welcome like the ability to power slide, being able to climb ledges, being able to customize vehicles more and the addition of alternate fires on some weapons. Speaking of customization, there is a huge amount of customization when it comes to your characters skill trees. For Zane as an an example, you can chose between 3 different skills to choose from, that you can switch up at anytime; each tree is dedicated to a skill and there are augments available to pump them up. It’s a bit to get used to but well worth it. Combat is much more intense because the enemies are smarter and you take damage much quicker. Guns also handle much better and feel crisp. It’s undoubtedly the best shooter I’ve played in a while.

So what’s the drawback? Sadly the story. After the awesome opening, the game hits a stagnant patch for much of your stay on Pandora. It tries to be funny but comes out flat a lot of the time. The Calypso Twins aren’t terrible as main antagonists but they get annoying when you figure out they are pretty much evil Twitch streamers. A change I didn’t like was getting rid of the Badass rank and replacing it with Guardian rank that you can’t access until you beat the story. Also, if you take too long to figure something out, the game will pester you until you figure it out at certain times.

Overall, it’s a awesome game so far and the review will be out soon. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Empire In Ruins Beta

As many of you know I am a big supporter of this game an the guys over at https://twitter.com/EiR_TD. They are a great bunch and always make time to answer any questions anyone has. So when I got a message saying hey you want to check out the latest beta you guys know I was going to give it a go.

The idea behind this game is pretty interesting. They took a 4X and a tower defense basically and just tossed them together. The graphics are beautiful and the sounds amazing. Personally, it contains one of my favorite songs in gaming, and I don’t mean just on the indy scene, I mean anywhere. Plus baby Savior dances to it and leaves me alone so that is a huge bonus.

The game does tower defense well, it isn’t easy but at no point did I feel like it was unfair. I lost a few battles and realized pretty quickly how it was my own stupidity. All the menus on the mao can be a bit daunting at first but they do an excellent job explaining things I thought. I do have to be fair, I do play games like Stellaris and Imperator Rome so maybe that gave me some advantage.  Regardless it won’t be long before you are making decisions about if you want to help build more food to keep people happy or try to fortify the defenses. Do you want to try to talk those rioters down, or just be a tyrant about it? The choice is obviously yours.

The story tho is where it is at for me. I appreciate Sgt. Hans Heimer and his need to save his booze and wanting to stick it to the system a bit. The dark humor really set this game apart for me from what I am used to playing. The loading screens alone made me laugh, which I have included some screenshots of a couple so you can see what I mean.

The only real issue I ran into while playing I can truly complain about. It is a beta and it easily could be my PC. Occasionally while playing the game would force close at loading screens. I never lost any real progress from this and was just more annoying than anything else but I do feel obligated to point this out tho I am confident this won’t be an issue by the time the game releases assuming it isn’t just my PC being a pain in the..well you get it.  So head over to https://store.steampowered.com/app/604510/Empires_in_Ruins/ and wishlist this bad boy and get in on the early access. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you brandy and glory.

5 Best Written Characters on Television

As always with my list, they aren’t in any real order. They simply get tossed on here in whatever order I feel like putting them on here. For me to get tossed on this list they just have to be characters I enjoyed that seem either realistic or just all together interesting.

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Al Bundy of Why Married With Children Wouldn’t Work In 2019 is easily on this list because he comes across as an everyday man. He works at a shoe store, his wife and kids annoy the hell out of him. He more or less reminds you of a lot of older guys you know that are just generally sick of life, except much more exaggerated.

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Lucifer Morningstar of Lucifer Season One is possibly my favorite on this list because he represents a side of the bible many people never stop to think of. That may be the devil (who is an angel himself) isn’t so evil as he is simply misunderstood. He is given a personality but it isn’t perfect, he is, for example, egotistical and oblivious much of the time. He is not only well written he is also quite unique.

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Norm Peterson from cheers is another character I always loved simply because of how realistic he is. Come on, let us be honest. We all know at least one functional alcoholic that goes to the bar and everyone knows him and probably has a favorite seat. That is actually a good chunk of my family weirdly.

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Angel (Season one) is another character I always enjoy because of how well he grows from his time on Buffy until the end of his own show Angel. His character growth is just always fun to watch and while maybe not the best show ever his character itself is worth checking out.

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Lorelai Gilmore is possibly my favorite on this list if I am being honest. Her relationship with Luke alone is worth watching the show for, and she is also another great example of an exaggerated figure that we all know. She is a silly and crazy single mother that loves her coffee a little too much that can kind of a be a bitch. She also happens to be pretty hot so that helps.

So what do you guys think? What are some of your favorites? Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.