Episode 2 picks up where the first left off and this episode leans into the comedy a little more in my opinion. We get to see the aftermath of Jennifer saving people at the end of the first episode and how that winds up affecting her life. The scene with her parents at dinner was pretty funny and a little cliche but not in an overbearing way. I thought those moments were well done with her boss and his deadpan delivery. I think this show is going to have a cameo a week and this week Tim Roth is on deck playing Emil Blonsky, the Abomination. That back and forth was pretty good and this show also explains the aftermath of Abomination's cameo in Shang-Chi. It's starting to feel like this show probably should have come out last year just by some of the revelations that have happened in the first 2 episodes. This episode goes by pretty fast it's only 30 minutes and there is a post-credit scene that is pretty funny and if you have ever been the child that goes home after a long time you will probably relate to that way more than you think. Overall I enjoyed the episode, I like that the episodes are short and are comedies. I think it works and I'm interested in seeing more. What did you think of the episode? Leave a comment and let's talk about it. Thanks for reading and if you like the blog please feel free to share it. Until next week peeps.
So I know I'm late to the party with getting my impressions out but I've been taking my time with this game. Monolith Soft deserves major props for their world design and how they make it feel alive. Each game in the series feels like it's bigger than the last release and this game is no different. This game takes place in the world of Aionios where two warring factions, Keves and Agnus, are locked in perpetual combat. The game centers on six characters: Noah, Mio, Sena, Lanz, Eunie, and Taion, and their struggle to find out the truth of their world and why they must fight and kill one another. This game from the get-go is more emotional than other entries in the series as they go for the feels right from the beginning. Monolith lets you know people will die in this world. From a visual perspective, the game looks amazing I love the Xenoblade style of cel-shade visuals mixed with CG. I think it gives the series an anime look that I personally enjoy, seeing as how I am a huge anime fan. If you have played Xenoblade Chronicles 1 & 2 then you know what to expect from a visual and gameplay standpoint as they don't stray too far from their bread and butter so to speak.
Gameplay
The gameplay is kind of hard to describe it's kind of like a hybrid between action and turn-based styles of JRPG. It's a combat system that you have to experience to completely understand, don't worry though there are plenty of tutorials that explain arts, skills, gems, crafting, etc. There is also a menu spot where you can go back and refresh yourself if you feel you may need some more time on a particular gameplay element. That is one of the things I think is the biggest and best addition as it lets players who are not used to the series learn and understand the system without it being a basic trial-by-fire type scenario. While you don't have to have played previous entries in the series to enjoy this game, this game takes the best parts of gameplay of 1, 2, and even Xenoblade Chronicles X and uses that to make a truly versatile system. Add in the "Hero" that can be added as a 7th member of your party and you have the ability to make for some really over-the-top battles. Also returning are the Tyrant class monsters these monsters are special and can be very challenging depending on your level and loadout. Once they are defeated a gravestone appears and you can challenge them again at any time and see if you can beat your best time. This game also includes special monsters that are marked with blue wings next to their level or they have sparkles next to their level that usually indicate they will drop something rare. The chain attacks have also made a return and this time they are way easier to pull off and rack up damage. New to the game is the Oroboros form which grants the characters extra power and abilities. Also if you are able to pull off a chain attack and an Oroboros order you will be in for a great combo depending on which character it falls on. Doing the Hero Quests not only adds the hero to your party for a time but also allows your characters to learn their class and in addition some of their skills. I really think that this is the easiest and most intuitive that Monolith has ever made their Xenoblade games. One of my main complaints with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was how in the combat system it would be difficult to pull off combos and chain attacks that could rack major damage, this game resolves those issues.
Soundtrack
The music in this game is amazing. I have always found myself liking the music in the Xenoblade games and this one continues that tradition (really wish they would sell the soundtrack over here in the States, but hey). The voice acting is very well done as well, we even have some returning voice actors from the previous games back which is always a good thing. While I think the voice acting in the second game is a little better this one is not far off. Also, they fixed the weird syncing issue they had in the second game.
Overall Thoughts So Far
This game is fun so far. They deal with a lot of themes too: death, war, etc. While the themes are pretty heavy the game does have its fair share of lighter moments. The cutscenes are some of the best I have seen in a while. Everything from the combat, to the voice acting, even the music and dialogue are top-notch. If I wasn't best to a certain group of four teenage turtles this would be my hands down game of the year. Seriously though it is really good and I do hope it gets all of the recognition it deserves. Monolith Soft has been consistent for a long time and in my opinion, nobody comes close to them when it comes to open-world design. Have you played Xenoblade Chronicles 3 yet? What do you think? Leave a comment and let's talk about it. Thanks for reading and if you like what you see please share and tell your friends and family.
So right out of the gate, they set the tone that this series is going to be a comedy. One that is complete with fourth wall breaks. I don't know how other people will feel about the tone but I think it works for the character, as that's how she was in the comics in the late 90s and early 2000s. The majority of the episode we spend with Jennifer and Bruce Banner and I liked it, I think Tatiana Maslany and Mark Ruffalo have good chemistry together. They do make a tweak to her origin where in the comic she got a blood transfusion from Bruce here some of his blood got into her bloodstream after an accident. The episode does explain how Hulk's arm is healed and how he merged the facets of his personality into one (something I still don't think they should have done by the way) and the writers are able to make it make sense. The action and CG in the episode were pretty good too. There is a fight that happens that anybody who has cousins they are close with will probably like and completely understand. The episode is pretty short by Disney Plus MCU standards, it runs a little under forty minutes. The way the show appears to be set up they're going to be homages to those old-school lawyer shows of the 80s and 90s but in the Marvel Universe.
I like how different each of the Marvel shows are, this one seems like it will be more of a straight-up comedy than any of the previous entries. I don't think that is exactly a bad thing, hopefully, they will be able to find a groove and stick to it. There was one thing in the episode that may turn some people off, I didn't have an issue with it but yall know how people are nowadays. Even if they agree with the message they get upset with the messenger. There is an old saying, "Truth like rain, don't care who it falls on." My personal opinion is that this series has the potential to just be a lot of fun. We already know that there will be a lot of cameos in the show and I am looking forward to those. There is also a post-credit scene in this episode where they talk about something about Captain America that was funny to me. Have you seen the first episode of She-Hulk? What did you think? Leave a comment and let's talk about it. As always thanks for reading, if you like this blog please share it and let your friends and family know. Until next week.
So if you are familiar with the Dragonball anime series then you pretty much know what to expect from an Akira Toriyama told story. This movie brings the Red Ribbon army back into focus but uses Piccolo and Gohan at the forefront as opposed to Goku and Vegeta. I am not going to lie to you but Piccolo is my favorite character in the series and it was nice to see some respect put on his name in this movie. Having the movie focus on Piccolo and Gohan is the best thing about the film. I also hope this will start a trend of having some films/story arcs that don't always have to deal with Goku and Vegeta. Goku, Vegeta, and Broly are in the movie but they are only in it a little bit and I like what they're doing with that storyline that is kind of a holdover from the Broly movie. The first thing that I think people will notice is the animation style it's cel shade over CG, personally, I would have liked to see the same style of animation that they used for Broly but this style does work especially in the action sequences. The Dragonball series is known for its over-the-top action and this movie does not disappoint in that department. The movie is paced really well nothing really drags in the movie. There is a couple of laugh-out-loud moments in the movie especially as it pertains to Bulma and what she has been using the Dragonballs for and why she has been using the Dragonballs. They were wrong and I thought it was hilarious. The soundtrack is pretty good as well. I watched the dubbed version and I thought the voice acting was great, especially the voice actor for the Gamma 2 character. I thought they wrote some great lines for him, as that character had a lot of personality.
As much as fun as this movie was for me I do think it has some problems. First, the film's villain when the reveal happens I kinda wish they would have gone another route. It's kind of like they saw a character that they liked from an OVA that was done in the 90s and tried to mix it with a fan favorite character and it just didn't work for me. Another thing is I would have liked to have gotten a little more time with Gamma 1 and 2. I feel like there just wasn't enough time given to those characters, especially Gamma 1. This is one of those movies where I think they would have benefited from adding an extra ten to fifteen minutes to the runtime. It just feels like a couple of scenes were missing or felt out of place.
For Parents
This movie is well-paced and has a runtime of an hour and forty minutes. They get you in and get you out, the perfect movie for an afternoon. The movie is rated PG-13 and there is a lot of fighting in it but nothing out of the norm for Dragonball. I think people can enjoy it from an entertainment standpoint, but fans of the series I think they will get the most fun out of it. There is a post-credit scene that harkens back to the opening of the movie that I thought was pretty funny, however, you don't really have to stay for it.
Overall
I enjoyed the movie overall. If I had to give it a rating I would say it's a MATINEE. I like what they did with Piccolo and Gohan and while I know some of the movie was spoiled, the way certain things happened in the movie I didn't expect to go the way they did. Have you seen the movie? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and your support feel free to share with your friends and family.
Let me apologize for not having posted in a while it's been a little busy in my world lately. Hopefully, I won't have to take as big of a break as I have these past few weeks anytime in the near future. That being said let's talk about yesterday's Splatoon 3 Direct.
First off this was a weird Direct in the sense that the first 3 - 6 minutes was an overview of how to play Splatoon which I honestly believe they could have cut out and given its 5 - 10 minute video for those that have not played any of the games in the series. If you've played the first or second one then you know how the game plays. This is one of those titles that is easy to pick up, challenging to master, style of games. They did show off a couple of new weapons and specials which looked awesome and ridiculous all at the same time. I do like the new area, Splatsville and it looks like the story mode will be interesting this time around as well. We got to see some shots of Callie and Marie and that's always a good thing. The biggest takeaway from the Direct in my opinion was the introduction of the three-way battle in Turf War. That looks like it will be insane. They did spend a little time on the Salmon Run and a new little addition called Tableturf Battle which looks a lot like Tetris 99 in all honesty. There will be a lot of post launch updates as well as paid DLC and they did mention they'll be going over that at a later date. The game will be out in a little under a month so for fans it may be time to jump back into Splatoon 2 to knock the rust off and find your groove.
What did you think about the Direct overall? Please leave a comment and let's talk about it. Personally, I thought it was okay but I did think it was missing the scientists. Talk about not knowing what you have until its gone. Anyway, I will not be picking this title up day one as I have to much to play already and not enough time to play. Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out the Wingin IT Podcast on Sundays at 7pm EST.
