Image by María Prieto from Pixabay
I don’t know where to start with this movie, but it is hard to talk about because it didn’t leave much of an impression. This is a well-intentioned film that tried something unique, but it has too many issues holding it back that make it impossible to recommend. Even if you like experimental horror movies, there isn’t anything noteworthy to this film. I suggest you skip it.
Alone With You is a psychological horror movie about a woman trapped in her apartment. Her night starts out normal as she waits for her girlfriend to come home from a trip. Strange things start to happen to her as time passes. Charlie finds herself trapped in a sinister loop of memories and thoughts as she becomes more desperate to escape this nightmare. She hears voices, sees visions, and keeps reliving bad memories about her relationship. Will she ever be able to leave, or will the insanity that binds her to the apartment keep her trapped there forever?
Nothing really happens in this movie despite it frantically jumping between memory, reality, and delusion. The main problem with the movie is that the lead isn’t good enough to carry the film. Sure there are some neat visuals, but there isn’t anything to hold the audience’s attention. A movie like this needs a lead that can create the tension required to make this movie work. This movie needed disorienting tension that builds to the big reveal at the end, but there isn’t much here. The big reveal is incredibly obvious, I figured it out before the horror even started. I wouldn’t mind this knowledge if the movie were entertaining, but it is not. It goes without say, but the acting is bad, and the story suffers for it.
Just skip this movie, I am sure you have better things to do with your time. But for those who don’t believe me, you stream it on Shudder.
Game Review: Tower of Fantasy
The new Gotcha MMO Tower of Fantasy has just been released and if you are thinking of trying it out, now is a good time because of how many rewards they are throwing at their players.
For those not familiar, this is a Genshin Impact clone that is trying to make its place in the genre. For the most part, I think it’s succeeding. Full disclosure, I am not an expert on the game and will be speaking about this game from a casual perspective. If you are someone looking for the best strategies to optimize your gaming experience, there are tons of YouTube channels dedicated to the subject.
Tower of Fantasy is playable on Android, IOS and PC. It is cross-platform, and I was able to play it on both PC and mobile. As far as the art goes, it is fine. It isn’t too busy, but I do prefer the dreamlike art style of Genshin Impact slightly better. There is character creation to this, but I can’t speak on how detailed it can get. I tend to randomize my appearance, but I liked my character. Not that character creation matters because you can roll for playable characters later on through the game’s Gotcha mechanic.
As far as Gotcha games go, Tower of Fantasy doesn’t feel very predatory. I got a healthy amount of in-game currency and was able to pull a couple of the chased characters. Most importantly, I found a character I love playing without spending any money on the game.
The game has a story, but it isn’t very good. You go from town to town completing chores and learning about the world’s lore. There is voice acting in this game, but it is very inconsistent. Some voice actors are great, but there are some bad recordings. I guess we can be grateful that there is voice acting, but some of the cut scenes are a chore to get through. The NPCs aren’t very memorable unless you want to play as them. I didn’t care enough about the story to care about many of the characters.
The gameplay is like any open-world MMO. There is a map you are encouraged to explore, tons of enemies to fight, and real people you can play with. Exploration is fun. You get a mount early on and other movement abilities that make traveling across the map interesting. Sometimes the movement abilities feel clunky and don’t work as intended, but the game just came so I can forgive it for now. The game encourages exploration by hiding treasures and secrets across the map that offer in-game currencies or items.
Combat is my favorite part of this game. You carry three weapons that you must switch between to maximize your damage. You work towards combos and ultimate attacks by fighting, switching weapons, and dodging properly. I never felt like the combat got stale because there is always a different combo to pull off. You have to level up your gear to keep up with the mob levels by feeding your equipment materials you find in the world. I got a steady amount of supplies to keep up with the content by only playing casually.
I’ve played this game on PC, iPhone, and the iPad. While I much prefer the PC experience because it runs smoother and my big fingers don’t get in the way, it runs fine enough on mobile. I will say that it felt especially clunky, and I encountered the most crashes on my iPad 8.
Tower of Fate has had a solid launch. I’ve encountered a few bugs and crashes, but nothing that would ruin the experience. It honestly comes down to taste. If you like the art style, go for it. If you are on the fence, try it out, it’s free. This is a very casual friendly game, especially if you only have an hour a day to play your games.
You can find out more information on the game’s official website.