This year is looking pretty good for the Nintendo Switch and console gaming in general. I am definitely going to struggle to keep up with my ever-growing backlog of games. I just saw the ad for the Persona 3 Portable & Persona 4 Golden Bundle and I am very excited. I am still busy with Fire Emblem Engage. but I will try to finish it up quickly to attempt to squeeze it in. If you are a fan of these classic titles, you can now get them on each modern console. It looks like they have upgraded the graphics and it looks pretty sick. I haven’t had a chance to play any of the persona games, but this looks like it’s a nice place to start. Grab your copy for the Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch today!
I haven’t been a fan of horror anthologies. I do not like the inconsistency, nor have I found one that can tell a decent horror story within its short format. Since watching Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, this opinion has shifted. If you like creepy narratives and don’t mind it being in anime, you should give this series a try.
Each episode focuses on a single story or theme. Some of the stories do connect, but they exist pretty independently. If you return to this series after a break, you won’t be lost or need to rewatch episodes to understand what is happening. Some episodes are better than others, but they never got so bad that I was ready to skip them. You will want to finish this series at least once for the experience, then rewatch your favorites afterward. Although there are some inconsistencies in the quality of the narrative, they are small enough that they don’t matter.
There is a lot to like about this series. The voice acting is great, the animation fits the tone, and the stories are creepy. The animation may not be for everyone, but the stories are creepy enough that it won’t matter. A few of the episodes had my heart racing from how genuinely creepy they got. I doubt it will give you nightmares, but I can appreciate a good story when I see one. This series is a great collection of ghost stories, and I love how contained they are within this format.
If you are a fan of horror, anime, or both, add this series to your watchlist. There aren’t cheap jumpscares or overdone gore for a cheap fright, just well-told stories that you can stream on Netflix.
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7 Women and a Murder is a quirky take on the murder mystery genre that I believe is worth your attention. The movie is originally in Italian, but dubbing in different languages is available. I always recommend watching it in the original language, but I get the need for accessibility. The English dubbing is fine, but I felt it lacked some of the intended charm.
Six women have gathered at a beautiful mansion for Christmas. Disaster strikes when the women find that the patriarch has been murdered. Alone and secluded in the mansion, the women must now survive the night until help can arrive. Will they find a killer amongst them, or will the killer claim more victims? Will the women make it to Christmas?
I liked this movie. I thought the story was fine, the acting was great, and the twist was interesting. It is a little slow, but it wasn’t so bad that I felt the need to turn it off. I loved how colorful this movie is. The costumes and mansion seem to have been carefully curated to create some very appealing shots. I particularly enjoyed how the mystery unravels. Each woman has a narrative or secret that they reveal, and the movie does a great job of bringing them together for the big reveal.
This movie deals with the idea of womanhood as it relates to a single man who is absent. I don’t want to ruin the mystery, but it makes valid criticism about the idealized archetypes of women by showing characters who are more complicated.
If you don’t mind reading subtitles and are in the mood for something quirky and different, watch 7 Women and Murder. You can stream it now on Netflix.
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The new year isn’t off to the best start. I just watched Kaleidoscope and I feel cheated of the thrilling heist experience I was promised. This series has been stretched out so much that it has lost all of its meaningful substance. This series was a waste of time, do not watch it.
The series starts with a man in prison who spends his day growing increasingly bitter about life and plotting his escape. A terrible diagnosis turns his plans into reality. As a free man, he gathers the sloppiest crew to pull off a heist from one of the most secure banks in New York City. Can they come together in time and make off with $7 billion? Or will this be the end of this generic showrunner?
It makes me sad to see such an excellent cast wasted on such a boring series. I came into Kaleidoscope expecting interesting characters and adrenaline-pumping heists, but instead, all I got was pointless drama. The heists are fine at best, but they are overshadowed by how boring everything else is. They could have cut this into a two-hour movie, and life would have been better.
My biggest complaint with this series is that it tries to do too much. There is too much backstory for characters no one will care about, and there are too many uninteresting plot threads to unravel. The series has an interesting gimmick where it plays with the timeline, but it doesn’t work here. The series will jump around between different characters and times, building up to its disappointing heist. Instead of experiencing the heist as it happens, you get to watch the excitement of planning, relationship problems, and its uninspired aftermath. It was a mistake to have the heist come at the end because I had already checked out long before then. Sometimes starting at the end makes a narrative interesting because you need to know what happened. Here, it made me care even less about this series.
If you like heist movies, watch one of the better ones. This series is a waste of your time. You can watch it on Netflix, but I wouldn’t.
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I finished off my year by watching Strange World on Disney+. There was a lot of negative press surrounding this movie when it was in theaters. The general consensus was this movie was bad, and no one should watch it. Well, I watch everything, and I needed to see how badly Disney dropped the ball with this movie. My consensus is that it is not as bad as people made it out to be.
Strange World is a movie about a society made utopia by a mysterious bean. The power cultivated from this bean gives this society the ability to power their homes and vehicles. The people in this society lived in this perfect utopia of unlimited energy until sickness began destroying their crops. With the foundation of their society quickly crumbling, a new team of explorers must venture into the unknown and find a cure. Will they be able to conquer the unknown and bring back a solution, or is a society doomed to fall back into the dark ages?
Strange World is fine for what it is, a generic adventure movie made for kids. The voice acting is great and the art is beautiful. I loved the colors and creatures that make up the new world. It may be a concept that has been done before, but at least it is nice to look at. This is a decent movie to watch with your kids. As an added bonus, you might even be able to convince them to watch the films this one draws inspiration from.
In recent years, Disney has made an effort to diversify its casting. Sure there are times when the attempt is a shameless money grab, but I can’t deny that I appreciate how colorful the stories have been recently. Strange World has a diverse cast with a gay lead, and although it isn’t a great story, it is nice to see the representation in the stories we show our kids. As someone who grew up watching Disney where no one looked like me, it makes me happy that Ethan looks like someone out there now.
This movie may not have been worth watching in theaters, but it is fine to stream at home. This movie wasn’t made for me, so I won’t be as harsh as I usually am. If you are looking for a decent movie to throw on during family night, Strange World is a solid option. Check it out on Disney+.
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In no particular order, I have decided to compile a list of the best movies and tv shows I watched last year. The links will take you to the respective reviews and I have separated them by streaming service.
I was sent this game as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let it sway my opinions. This will be an honest review of the game.
Maskmaker is a VR puzzle game where you explore strange worlds looking for materials and blueprints to make new masks. I played it on the Meta Quest 2, but you can find it on sale on Steam at the moment of writing this.
Screenshots taken from Presskit
You find yourself in an old maskmaker’s workshop where you have the tools to make the magical masks that will let you travel to strange new worlds. As you explore new worlds, you uncover the mystery of the old mask maker’s death. It is a pretty solid story with some fantastic voice acting. I recommend this game for the voice acting alone.
This game is a giant scavenger hunt as you search for the materials you need to get to the next leg of the story. The game runs smoothly, and the worlds you get to explore are beautiful. The developers do a fantastic job at making this an immersive experience. The distances, the sounds, and the tactile feedback you get when you pick up items make it easy to get lost in the world of Maskmaker.
Be aware that this game might give you motion sickness if you aren’t used to playing VR games. By default, the game will do some vignetting around the edges as you move through the world. I turned it off instantly because it took away from the immersion, but it might help if the motion sickness gets too bad. I could only stomach this game for small bursts before I got too sick to keep going. I eventually got my VR legs, and I recommend you work up to this point because it makes the experience more meaningful.
There are two parts to this game, mask-making, and exploration. Mask making is simple, you follow the directions on the blueprints you find, and the mask will light up when it’s ready. I found mask-making very relaxing. I loved the haptic feedback that exists when you are handling objects in the game. It makes it feel like you are actually holding items.
You explore the world by putting on different masks. Exploring the world is a leisurely trot through the strange new worlds you get whisked to. I recommend you explore everything so that you don’t miss out on items that are important to your progress.
Maskmaker runs great! Movement is fluid and everything looks beautiful. If you plan to play this game seated or with the joystick, I recommend you tweak the turning radius. I found that turning with the joystick would make me overshoot my target. I preferred playing this game standing. It didn’t require much room, and I preferred the immersion of physically turning. I also found physical turning to be more accurate anyways.
The only issue with the gameplay that I found was with the spyglass mechanic. The spyglass was annoying to focus with. I also found that I would often get stuck in spyglass mode, unable to move away. Physically moving my head back seemed to solve the issue, but it wouldn’t always work. Other than that, the game works great.
So is this game worth it? The game is on sale on Steam for $4.99 until 1/5/23. This game is a steal for $5. If you want a chill relaxing VR game that you can easily get lost in, this is a great place to start are someone who likes puzzles and scavenger hunts; this game is worth even for the $19.99 it is originally. For everyone else, I would wait for the sale. This game is an immersive, chill game that looks great and runs well. I recommend you check it out if you are in the market for a new VR experience.
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Knives Out shouldn’t have had a sequel. While Glass Onion isn’t bad, it lacks the charm of the first one. I didn’t hate this movie, but it does feel lazy and uninspired. While the first movie pokes fun at the genre, this one pokes fun at the fact that it isn’t a real mystery. Glass Onion is a murder mystery board game live play with fantastic actors and little direction. It is fun to watch at least once, but it loses what little charm it has soon after.
An eccentric millionaire has invited a group of his influential friends to his island where they will solve his murder. The game is supposed to take the whole weekend. Blanc has mysteriously been asked to join the weekend games and activities. But what starts as a game quickly turns real. There is a killer among them. Can Blanc find out who before it is too late?
The acting in this movie is great but expected from this cast. Honestly, the acting is the only reason this movie works. This movie is essentially characters reacting to a situation with a weak plot to move them through the mystery. The movie does a great job of placing clues throughout, but the mystery can be solved without them. If you are looking for a fun mystery to solve, Glass Onion won’t provide one. It even goes on a long unneeded rant about how it doesn’t.
The narrative and concept are weak, but the characters that interact within this game are where this movie’s charm lie. Whenever the movie veers away from the main cast to develop a backstory, I found it to be slow and boring. This movie is more about how characters react to a situation than the actual mystery. Unfortunately, anything that doesn’t involve these characters is boring, only serving to pad the movie’s run time. The backstory bits drag and aren’t well-acted. It was made apparent that this movie was made with characters and actors in mind but
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I am officially done with Christmas movies. I can’t sit through any more of these; I don’t have it in me. While this movie isn’t bad, it isn’t good either, and it isn’t going to be any better. I will try again next year, but I am not making any promises. I Believe in Santa may have its own charm, but I am tired and need to move on.
I believe in Santa is about a woman who doesn’t like Christmas and falls in love with the man who loves the holiday the most. I am not using any names because their only personality trait is whether or not they like Christmas. Aside from this difference, they are the perfect couple and will quickly fall in love during the course of the movie. The guy includes her in all his Christmas activities. She slowly learns to love Christmas, not because of Christmas magic, but because she loves him. It’s beyond cheesy. You have been warned.
I will no longer be doing Christmas movies because there is only so much that can be said about them. They are either cheesy in a way that is fun, so it doesn’t matter, or they are cheesy in a way that makes me hate Christmas. This one is fine, but I already forgot I watched it. The problem with these movies is that they are made to cash in on a holiday and often aren’t meant to leave a lasting impression. This one doesn’t, and I doubt any others will. I fear any further reviews on this genre will become echoes of my criticisms.
You can stream I Believe in Santa on Netflix if you need more Christmas movies to sit through. This is a great movie to throw on in the background because it doesn’t require any commitment. This movie makes good background noise, but you won’t hate the bits you accidentally sit through. This movie is dumb, predictable, and cheap, but I have sat through worse. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, but it is there if you need it. Anyways, Happy Holidays, I am off for a much-needed pallet cleanser.
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I never played any games in the Xenoblade series, but I thought it was about time I tried. The trailer sold it very well, and I was in the market for a new Switch game. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a turn-based JRP with a unique twist on the genre. Where most games in the genre let you plan your turns, this one makes you wait for cooldowns. Attacks are automatic, but you have full control of your abilities and positioning. If you haven’t played any games in this series, this mechanic will take some getting used to.
At first, combat feels very passive. I felt like I was waiting around for cooldowns, and a lot of it is, but as you start unlocking more skills and classes, it becomes more about managing your teams, builds, and abilities. If you can make it past the tutorial, this game becomes more enjoyable. I found the grind very relaxing, but I suggest you play on mute, or else you will get tired of the voice lines.
There is a strategy to this game as you build your characters and combos, Don’t be discouraged. As dumb as I am, I was able to figure it out. I just went with whatever worked with my play style, but there is ample opportunity to min-max. I am sure there are guides available to help you do so.
The game keeps combating interesting by introducing new classes, mechanics, and abilities as you get deeper into the story. You are encouraged to explore, do side missions, and play different as different characters, but it isn’t mandatory. There is a lot to do in between cutscenes, but it doesn’t get overwhelming.
The story is the main draw for this game. I loved the story, but it is a bit of an anime cliché. I didn’t mind it because the voice acting was fantastic, and I love anime. One thing to note about this game is that the cut scenes are long. The game has enough gameplay in between that I can’t count it as a visual novel, but be aware that you will have to sit through a lot of narratives. But trust me when I say, it’s a great one.
This game is a huge commitment. It takes about 100 hours to complete, more if you start doing side quests. I skipped a lot of them because I wanted to finish them while I still had free time, but I will be going back to do them on my second playthrough. I didn’t feel like I needed to do them, but they will help and add valuable world-building. It is up to you how much time you want to invest in this world, but the investment is worth it.
There is a reason Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was nominated for game of the year. The story is great, the gameplay is fun, and the art is cool. That said, this is a very niche game. I didn’t like combat at first, but I found myself enjoying it more the more I played. I found it a relaxing experience, but one that proved a challenge if I wasn’t cautious. If the gameplay is something you can sit through, then I highly recommend this game. If you want a game with a great story, add this to your collection. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is only available on the Nintendo Switch. Go get your copy today!
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