Television – Page 3 – Savior Gaming

Superman: Brainiac/ Superman: Unbound

Superman had always known of the fate of his and his cousin, Kara Zor El’s, homeworld of Krypton. What he didn’t know was the massacre and eventual capturing of the city of Kandor at the hands of Brainiac; Kara, scarred by the horrors of watching her family being blipped away by the biomechanical tyrant, has never forgotten. When Superman comes upon a lonely probe, Supergirl fears the worst- Brainiac is coming. Hosting knowledge from throughout the universe garnered from billions of conquered species as well as an army of drones and a devastating mother ship connecting to his body, can the duo save Earth from the same fate as so many others?

I have to admit, I always loved Brainiac so I was glad to read the story as well as watch the movie based off of the book. They follow pretty closely but if I have to choose, I like the movie Unbound better than the book. There is a lot of action and characterization in the movie and I feel like Superman and Supergirl’s character arcs are realized much better in the film. The book feels blunter and to the point. Regardless I do love how cold and menacing Brainiac is portrayed as and I do love that he is shown to rightfully be one of Superman’s biggest threats. How he is defeated is also pretty creative and satisfying. I really like Supergirl; in the movie, I like that she has a pretty badass streak and I like how a lot of her story is about overcoming her fear of Brainiac. For the movie, the animation and voice acting are top notch; as for the book, it’s written fine and the artwork is really good at points but the pacing feels off and because of that, you don’t get everything the movie offered. In the end, it’s a really good story but I much more recommend the movie Unbound vs the book Brainiac. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Tokyo Ghoul: √A (season 2)

We pick up right where Tokyo Ghoul (season 1) left off, the 13th district has become a warzone as the radical Ghoul terrorists of Aogiri Tree clash with the human Doves of the CCG openly. Kaneki, though free, has changed. No longer timid and quite harmless, after awakening his true powers he’s become a truly brutal force. He leaves his friends of the Ghoul sanctuary Anteiku in pursuit of power, knowing g he needs more to keep his friends safe in the growing war- joining Aogiri to do it. Kaneki faces his own horrors as his body starts changing and his urge to kill dramatically increases as he becomes the scourge of human and ghoul alike, but can he stop the war to come before losing everyone he loves?

I adored the first season with all my heart and still do but all my friends warned me the series gets…different to say the least. Admittedly this season is a hard call. Overall I like it but I think it’s definitely a mixed bag. Overall I’m ok with the story but some parts of it really do feel like you’re watching fanfiction then a part of the series; characters do things that make no sense and sadly you really don’t get as much of the Anteiku group but more of the Aogiri group which I was nowhere near as interested in. There are great fights but the pacing overall feels bloated even though the season is only 13 episodes. The animation and score are great but I don’t really like the new opening theme ( I do love that Unravel returns for the very end.). In the end, I get if you liked or hated this season so I urge you to keep an open mind after season 1. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Crystar Nintendo Switch Review

As always I like to take a minute to give a huge shout out to NIS America for tossing me a review copy of this one and also take a moment to apologize to you guys for this one being a little bit later than usual.

The Switch version of Crystar is simply the newest release of a game that’s already been available on PC and PS4 for a bit already,and unless you simply want a version to play on the go there and really isn’t a big reason to pick this one up. It doesn’t offer much in the way of anything new.

That being said if you haven’t played it this isn’t a bad place to start. Graphically the game does a great job of catching the dark and depressing world Rei finds herself in as she searches for her sister Mirai and her soul that is lost in purgatory. She becomes an executioner of sorts for a couple of demons that give her a contract and promise to give her the power to revive her sister if she does as they need her to do.

The story is pretty straight forward and has no world saving implications really and it does a pretty good job getting Rei’s pain and struggle with depression and sadness across. The battle system however felt repetitive and lackluster to me and even the extra playable characters didn’t do much to change this.

Crystar isn’t a bad game, but it is definitely one you want to pick up on sale. It is a decent 6/10, it’s pretty original but original doesn’t always mean great. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Wonder Egg Priority (season 1)

Ai, Neiru, Rika, and Momoe are four lonely girls dealing with depression, loneliness, guilt, and the traumas of experiencing suicides in their lives. What they have in common is finding a seemingly normal egg, an egg that opens another world. From that egg spawns the tortured soul of a suicide victim and it’s up to the girls to slay the monstrous tormentors of the victim to free, with the promise that enough freed victims will return their own loved ones. In the acts of battle, the girls find friendship and the strength to move on but are they willing to face the costs of a second chance?

Seeing the sunny exterior in the horror section of the Funimation catalog intrigued me; if it hadn’t been for When they Cry I would’ve cast this deep series as a miscast. This show beautifully covers some really bleak subjects and does them with genuine humanity and depth. I loved the four main characters and their own private struggles; I love the main theme of using dark fantasy to combat the real traumas of the world as well as mental illness. The artwork and score are fantastic. One of my only real complaints is I found it really hard to gauge if the series if merely over or meant to return in some way. There are a lot of unanswered questions I have and I feel like Frill was set up to be a great antagonist that we didn’t get a full conclusion to and Ai was a heroine we didn’t get a full resolution to either. I really hope we get another season so I don’t have to feel the ache of Deadman Wonderland all over again. In the end, I highly recommend checking this series out on Funimation. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ms. Marvel trailer

I actually really liked Kamala Khan in the comics so this trailer hurts. Why Disney felt the need to change her powers and make her a Green Lantern knockoff is beyond me. I’m kind of flabbergasted about who the villain is supposed to be and I’m kind of shocked how cheap everything looks, especially being a Disney MCU show to boot. I’m really not looking forward to the show now but I’ll keep an open, if not ultra-cautious mind. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Obi-Wan Kenobi teaser trailer

So I got to say, of all the Star Wars stuff coming out, this is what piqued my interest. Mainly it comes down to Ewan McGregor returning as Obi-wan but I’m glad to see the darker tone. I’m kinda excited o see the Inquisitors in live action, though the makeup on the Grand Inquisitor looks iffy to me. This one I’m pretty pumped for and either way, I know it’ll be good to have Ewan McGregor back. May the Force be with us all.

How I Met Your Father Impressions

How I Met Your Father is a spin off of one of my favorite shows of all time, How I Met Your Mother. So clearly going into this I had low expectations it would be something I enjoy but very high hopes.

It’s a fine line to walk honestly, you need enough of a connection to make people coming back to say hey this is familiar enough to make me want to watch but new enough so they don’t say hey this is a rip off cash grab.

You also need it to be just be a copy and paste because let’s be honest here, if How I Met Your Mother came out in 2022, it would have gotten destroyed. It’s been off the air since 2014 and already Barney Stinson would probably be canceled as a rapist and Robin as being abusive to Ted. And don’t even get me started on Marshal and Lily. Even towards the end the show was acknowledging how messed up the group was.

Honestly that was half the charm of the original and much of that is missing here. Most of us knew a toned down version of all the people from HIMYM. One of the characters from HIMYF however is a very rich British guy (Charlie) that ran away to be with another character ( Valentina) and a third (Sid) legitimately owns the bar they all hang out at.

The main character,Sophie, (Hillary Duff) is equally as unrelatable, while she struggles with dating in the world of Tinder and hangs out with her friends she mostly whines about turning 30 and not knowing what to do with her life, even tho she already has a career.

That’s not to say the show isn’t entertaining, the show is actually quite entertaining. It has it’s laughs and I enjoy that the first episode they out right tell you that’s how she met the father even tho they never tell you which character it is. Some of the characters also live in the same apartment from the original that they got off an older married couple (clearly meaning Lily and Marshal)

The show is by no means bad, it just lacks much of the character of the original. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, both best friends of the now former Captain America are having a rough time adjusting to the world since Thanos and the blip. Sam refused the mantle of Captain America, leading the government to choose military darling John Walker as his successor; Bucky is trying to heal after decades of trauma as the Winter Soldier trying to make amends. Things go South when a radical terrorist cell called the Flag Smashers rises, armed and formed by rogue super soldiers. Its up to Sam and Bucky to uncover the mystery of these new super soldiers as well as uncover sins of the past if they plan on making a better future.

This one is tricky. The first few episodes didn’t grab me at first and it wasn’t until the later half I really got invested in. The action scenes are well done and overall the actors did a great job. US Agent was always one of my favorite Caps so I was happy to see him debuted in the MCU; I also loved Isiah Bradley from the comics as well and I loved his story arc in this as well. Baron Zemo’s return maybe my favorite in the show, he’s way more clever and has way more character than he did in Civil War. Sam’s Cap outfit at the end is spot on and looks really badass. There are some problems though. I felt like the pace of the show was somehow slow, despite the fact there wasn’t much down time. I also respect the themes the show was addressing but I feel a few times it got heavy handed and preachy. In the earlier episodes, some of the banter felt forced and while I loved Sam and Bucky til this point, I found them pretty unlikable for the first few episodes. In the end, the show was fine- maybe would have been better as a movie instead- but still worth watching. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Wandavision

The picturesque town of Westview just got a new whacky couple comes to town, Wanda and Vision. As we join the newlywed Avengers in their shenanigans, all may not be as it seems. A suspicious neighbor, an impossible pregnancy, and reality-bending to Wanda’s shattering psyche as we discover how far Wanda will go to hide the pain of her losses and the true depth of her mysterious powers as she becomes the fabled Scarlet Witch.

Fun Fact, Wanda was my first big Marvel crush as a kid and seeing her in full costume at the end was a huge treat. Wandavision is a great character study of Wanda Maximoff and a look at a shattered woman coping with a life of loss and tragedy. Olsen, Bettany, and Hahn steal the show as Wanda, Vision, and Agatha. I loved Agatha as a villain and I can’t wait to see more of her in the MCU. I loved the visuals and how well the sitcom spoofs were done. Going in I didn’t know what to expect but I can say Wandavision is a unique way to begin the 4th phase of the MCU and I can’t wait to catch up with the Scarlet Witch in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Airborne Kingdom (Xbox Series S Review)

As always, huge shout out to my new friends over at The Wandering Band and Freedom Games for hooking me up with a review code for this game. It is always a pleasure to check out a new game and the one was no exception.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to build a flying kingdom? This game will let you find out, and before we go any further I highly suggest you try building everything on one side of your kingdom to see what happens when you tilt it all to one side. I’m not saying anything does or doesn’t happen, Just give it a go. Maybe don’t do it during a serious attempt tho.

With that out of the way, the game tells the story of you trying to bring back a floating kingdom by rediscovering and making alliances with all the other Kingdoms, twelve in total.

The game is beautiful, as you watch the sun rise and set on your floating city.

You can see the love poured into this game from every angle. The resource management is also quite well done, at no point did I feel like the game was unfair but I came dangerously close more than once of running out of the things I needed to stay afloat.

The sound is another place where this game is great, but it isn’t where it shines. Where it truly shines is where all city builders are made or broken.

Is the game addictive? And the answer is absolutely. I was constantly redesigning things to make sure I had enough lift and propulsion to keep the place afloat or people in work. And I love making sure I had enough resources to make sure I could make it to my next area of exploration since not every biome would have the same resources in the same quantities.

This game is honestly absolutely amazing, and while it isn’t exactly challenging it doesn’t truly need to be, it is just a lot of fun. Definitely recommended for fans of the genre. Solid 8/10. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.