Thursday 24 November 2016

Film Review No. 17 Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (12+)

Strong Points:
Great expansion of the Harry Potter universe
Inventive and original creatures
Clever references to the Harry Potter lore...
Nice characters
Good acting overall
British VS American wizards
A certain reveal
Many twists and turns
Dark but still entertaining
Nice colour correction
Humourous
Can watch without knowing the universe...

Weak Points:
Some of the CGI seemed off
Less wand magic, more force powers at some points
...But doesn't get bogged down in it
Seemed to forget to capture some creatures
...Although will be harder to follow

Some spoilers ahead:

Thursday 17 November 2016

Film Review No. 16 Trolls (U)

Strong Points:
Good voice acting
Nice reference to the toys
Good art style and graphics
Music's used to great effect
Humorous
Will make you happy
Self-aware of its childish nature

Weak Points:
Some parts are... questionable
So fast, you may lose parts
Some of the sweetness verges on sickening
Will make you happy
Some characters aren't developed
Cringey in parts
Opposite character traits are smoothed out randomly throughout the film to make the story easier

Friday 11 November 2016

Review No. 124 The Last Of Us: Remastered Edition - PS4 (18+)

Strong Points:
Varied gameplay
All weapons are usable and will be
Amazing graphics
In-depth character development
Superb story
Nice landscapes
Brilliant and varied characters
Deals with themes with care
Lots of collectables - give more backstory to the game
Enemy AI is great, with them flanking you etc.
Stealth sections through Clicker groups is a different twist on the stealth genre
Makes you have a huge range of emotions
Lack of music creates atmosphere
Realistic shooting mechanics and sounds
Superb voice-acting
Multiplayer is a surprisingly fun and unique gamemode
Everything is justified

Weak Points:
AI of companions was lacklustre, during stealth sections
AI just aren't noticed by enemies when moving - breaks immersion
Forced walk sections are atmospheric, not good for patience
Bushes and plants move as one sprite
Achievements are hard to get
Listening mode is never really explained
Some mechanics seem to be more like gimmicks as they are used once and never again
Multiplayer is very frustrating
Some of the environment is there purely for looks and can't help you in battle

Nitpicks:
If the world is in apocalypse why is there still food and equipment scattered around?



Some spoilers ahead:

Saturday 5 November 2016

First Impressions: Battlefield 1

Who doesn't love a good impulse buy every so often? That's what I did with Battlefield 1, the new entry in the Battlefield series by EA. If you didn't know, it's an FPS set in WWI and actually, does a pretty good job at making a respectful representation of the horrors of The War to End All Wars. Here're my first impressions on both the single player and multiplayer as well as how my PC handles the battlefield of Battlefield

Thursday 3 November 2016

Film Review No. 15 Doctor Strange (12+)

Strong Points:
Amazing effects
Clever uses of effects
Good origin story which dares to deviate...
Do I see a decent villain coming?
Nice connection to the Infinity Stones and the wider MCU
Humorous
Good acting
Backwards time fight scene is great
Different types of universes are mostly original
Scope to expand the series
Emotional weighting is good...

Weak Points:
...But is still stuck in the conventions of the genre
Humour is sometimes misplaced
The other characters are still not very developed compared to the title character
The Infinity Stone seems underpowered when it can be controlled by a human
...if uneven
Very fast action could be a bit mind-numbing

Some spoilers ahead:

Tuesday 1 November 2016

Video Game Character of the Month - November 2016 - Pyramid Head - Silent Hill

Video Game Character of the Month
November 2016
Pyramid Head
Silent Hill


Overview:
It's Halloween as I write this and I've been asked to do a Halloween inspired Video Game Character of the Month. Great. *shudder*. It's marketing I guess, but still. *shudder*, I can't speak to this guy either just like last month. At least I've got no guilty regrets it can use. Right? *shudder* *shudder* *crash* *gulp*. Maybe I'll do this part running.
And now for a bit of information on *gulp* Pyramid Head.