I ran across this on Netflix searching for Rescuers Down Under after playing the music for an orchestra concert, and decided to watch them both again. I remembered loving both movies growing up, and I think they are highly underrated Disney classics. The opening of The Rescuers is interesting, after the initial introduction to Penny it becomes a series of still images. They're very nicely done, and something unique is that the sound design still sounds as if it's an animated sequence.
Most of the characters are very enjoyable to watch. I very much enjoyed Miss Bianca growing up, for a reason I didn't realize then. Eva Gabor lends her voice to the character, and her manner of speaking reminded me a lot of my German-Hungarian grandmother and great-aunt. Miss Bianca's character is a very kind and determined character, never giving up on accomplishing the mission that she insisted on taking. Bernard is enjoyable as well, voiced by Bob Newhart. One thing I found curious was his superstitious nature, and watching the movie again makes me wonder just what triggered it. There's never any explanation of why he is so afraid of the number thirteen. But he's very determined, and that helps save the day more than once. Penny... I found to be a bit annoying. I think it was partly from how she spoke, though now it's not as bad. It's never explained how she can speak with the mice and the orphanage cat, though it might be in the books.
There are a few villains, Madame Medusa, Mr. Snoops, and the two alligators that Medusa keeps as pets. Geraldine Page voices Medusa, and does a very entertaining job of it. It's funny to listen how she can switch very quickly from calm and charming to utterly psychotic. Mr. Snoops is the incompetant henchman to Medusa, who also has an obsession with fireworks. That both helps and hinders he and Medusa at times, and always to comedic effect. Brutus and Nero are the alligators, and their animators must have had a lot of fun with their work.
There are several minor characters, and many are very memorable. The first that come to mind are the swamp dwellers. Luke, a muskrat I think, is voiced by Pat Buttram, who also voiced the Sheriff of Nottingham in Disney's Robin Hood. Something I didn't think about when I was little was that his jug was full of moonshine. Minor, but something that makes me chuckle now. The other neighbors of the swamp are interesting in their own right, Evinrude the dragonfly serves as the engine of a boat, another reference I get now that I'm older. There's also a turtle wearing a Confederate hat, very crotchety old sort. There's an owl preacher, which strikes me odd now, given that I didn't think animals were religious. It's clear the group of swamp animals are meant to be akin to rednecks, especially in how they speak and the music when they're on screen. Orville the Albatross is pretty fun to watch as well, even if he only shows up a handful of times.
Something I noticed, again now that I'm older, was the international board of mice, and how it was done. Some are a bit strange now that I know about the wider world. One mouse represents all of Africa, rather than a few for the different nations. There's a mouse for Vienna, as well as one for Austria. And the way they're represented... is a bit interesting. The Turkish mouse is wearing a fez and dark glasses, while the Arabian mouse wears a sheikh's robe and the same sort of glasses. The Scottish mouse is in a kilt, while the Austrian mouse is wearing a Tyrolean hat. The African mouse has an afro. They aren't really offensive, just very distinctive. In my mind, it's what you would expect to see in a kid's cartoon.
The animation throughout is quite good, and there are a couple moments that really jump out for the quality. Whenever Snoops sets off fireworks, it looks quite spectacular, especially for the time. The facial expressions of the various characters are fun to watch, especially when things start going wrong for the two mice. There's a scene where Bernard and Bianca are hiding in a pipe organ from the two alligators, and it's a great deal of fun to watch.
All in all, it's still a good movie, and one of Disney's that isn't all that well known. It's definitely worth a viewing in my mind if you haven't seen it, and worth watching it again if you haven't seen it in a long time. My next movie review will be of The Rescuers Down Under, one of the best Disney sequels in my opinion. Stay tuned!
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Oops!
Sorry for leaving this go for a couple weeks, I will be doing a movie review here very soon. Had some internet issues, as well as writer's block. And I would much rather put out something good and interesting, than just something to fulfill my self set quota. Stay tuned!
Friday, August 21, 2015
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing
What is it: This is a Diablo style game with a steampunk theme, with the playing taking on the role of the son of the famed Doctor Van Helsing. It features a lengthy campaign, lots of monsters to kill, a skill system that allows for quite a bit of customization, and of course lots of shiny loot. I put about 25 hours into this game, and enjoyed almost every moment of it. More on that later.
Pros
Graphics - It's a good looking game. It has a very realistic style, something very similar to TitanQuest. The presentation of a dull, industrialized world is very well shown in the city landscapes, and the villages are nicely done, reminding me of eastern Europe. The intervening times in the wilderness and the Ink had their own style, and every area had a uniqueness to it.
Music/Sound - Very well done, I could sit and listen to this all day. There's a good variety of music, and the sound design fits the areas nicely. The sounds for the various monsters and devices works nicely and helps to round out the setting. There's a eerie sense of beauty to the music, which also suits the setting quite well.
Character Customization - This is where the game really shines. No matter which of the three classes you pick, there is a crazy amount of customizing. With the base class of Hunter, you can pick a path of guns or swords. The DLC added two classes, the Arcane Mechanic, and Thaumaturge. The Arcane Mechanic focuses on things like grenades, mechanical constructs, and various kinds of traps, while the Thamaturge focuses on magical spells of many kinds. Each class has a unique look with the different kinds of armor and weapons. The Hunter looks like a Van Helsing that just stepped out of a movie, complete with many kinds of hats. The Mechanic wears a gas mask, a chemical tank on his back, and always has something to shoot at the enemies. The Thamaturge looks the most theatrical, wearing a mask and flowing capes.
Every class also has access to auras and tricks, passive and active skills that makes the game easier. These include auras that heal you or cause more damage, and tricks that provide active heals and additional damage cooldowns. The customization even extends to your ghost companion Katatina, who has her own tree of auras and tricks to use.
Lady Katarina - Your ghostly companion is perhaps the best part of the game. Snarky and always striving to be in charge of the situation, she constantly taunts your character, but is ultimately very helpful. She can also store items for later vendoring, as well as sending her to buy potions if you run out in the middle of adventuring.
Story - It's pretty solid. Lots of interesting little points and characters to be found along the way, as well as a few references to your character's father. The theme of weird science gone mad permeates the whole story, and it becomes a battle of Van Helsing against these many elements. There are quite a number of side missions as well, and choices to be made. While they do not ultimately affect the outcome of the game, it's neat that there are a few moral decisions to be made. With Katarina commenting the entire way.
Monsters - There are a LOT of different beasts, constructs, and other things affected by weird science to fight throughout the game. In one area, you can fight at least a half dozen different kinds of enemies, each with their own behaviors and nasty tricks. There are elite monsters as well, with additional nasty skills. Something fun for me was seeing all the different kinds of monsters from mythology, such as rusalka, domovoi, and others.
Other elements - You have a lair once you hit the big city, which has a customizable maze you can set with traps. Every now and again, you get missions to defend the lair with aid from those traps. Once you finish the story, there are a couple of options for continuing the game. You can either start over at a higher difficulty, or go on special scenarios. Both will drop high quality loot.
Cons
DLC - I purchased the DLC as part of a package, but I am not sure if I would have bought it separately. Each class is $4 each, and extra skills for Katarina is another $2. While the extra classes are nice, they add no additional content or missions to the game. It feels like this should have been included content. Not a game breaker, but I would recommend getting these either on sale, or in a bundle.
Difficulty - It ramps up without any sort of warning at various points of the game, which can be very annoying. When you get swarmed by a number of elites in multiple packs, it can be very difficult to get out of.
The ending - I have to admit that I did not actually finish the game, I got stuck on the very last battle. I got frustrated, and found a video to tell me what happened. And it really wasn't much of an ending.
I would have been very upset had there not been a second game as follow up.
Gameplay - My only dislike for this category is that there is little in the way of innovation. It's pretty standard in running around and shooting, stabbing or setting monsters on fire.
Overall - It's a pretty solid game, with an interesting premise, and lot of funny moments. There's a two headed, talking cow in the first village you find, just as a hint. If you buy the DLC, there should be a class and style to suit just about anyone. To me, this one is well worth getting, and a very good start to a franchise.
Pros
Graphics - It's a good looking game. It has a very realistic style, something very similar to TitanQuest. The presentation of a dull, industrialized world is very well shown in the city landscapes, and the villages are nicely done, reminding me of eastern Europe. The intervening times in the wilderness and the Ink had their own style, and every area had a uniqueness to it.
Music/Sound - Very well done, I could sit and listen to this all day. There's a good variety of music, and the sound design fits the areas nicely. The sounds for the various monsters and devices works nicely and helps to round out the setting. There's a eerie sense of beauty to the music, which also suits the setting quite well.
Character Customization - This is where the game really shines. No matter which of the three classes you pick, there is a crazy amount of customizing. With the base class of Hunter, you can pick a path of guns or swords. The DLC added two classes, the Arcane Mechanic, and Thaumaturge. The Arcane Mechanic focuses on things like grenades, mechanical constructs, and various kinds of traps, while the Thamaturge focuses on magical spells of many kinds. Each class has a unique look with the different kinds of armor and weapons. The Hunter looks like a Van Helsing that just stepped out of a movie, complete with many kinds of hats. The Mechanic wears a gas mask, a chemical tank on his back, and always has something to shoot at the enemies. The Thamaturge looks the most theatrical, wearing a mask and flowing capes.
Every class also has access to auras and tricks, passive and active skills that makes the game easier. These include auras that heal you or cause more damage, and tricks that provide active heals and additional damage cooldowns. The customization even extends to your ghost companion Katatina, who has her own tree of auras and tricks to use.
Lady Katarina - Your ghostly companion is perhaps the best part of the game. Snarky and always striving to be in charge of the situation, she constantly taunts your character, but is ultimately very helpful. She can also store items for later vendoring, as well as sending her to buy potions if you run out in the middle of adventuring.
Story - It's pretty solid. Lots of interesting little points and characters to be found along the way, as well as a few references to your character's father. The theme of weird science gone mad permeates the whole story, and it becomes a battle of Van Helsing against these many elements. There are quite a number of side missions as well, and choices to be made. While they do not ultimately affect the outcome of the game, it's neat that there are a few moral decisions to be made. With Katarina commenting the entire way.
Monsters - There are a LOT of different beasts, constructs, and other things affected by weird science to fight throughout the game. In one area, you can fight at least a half dozen different kinds of enemies, each with their own behaviors and nasty tricks. There are elite monsters as well, with additional nasty skills. Something fun for me was seeing all the different kinds of monsters from mythology, such as rusalka, domovoi, and others.
Other elements - You have a lair once you hit the big city, which has a customizable maze you can set with traps. Every now and again, you get missions to defend the lair with aid from those traps. Once you finish the story, there are a couple of options for continuing the game. You can either start over at a higher difficulty, or go on special scenarios. Both will drop high quality loot.
Cons
DLC - I purchased the DLC as part of a package, but I am not sure if I would have bought it separately. Each class is $4 each, and extra skills for Katarina is another $2. While the extra classes are nice, they add no additional content or missions to the game. It feels like this should have been included content. Not a game breaker, but I would recommend getting these either on sale, or in a bundle.
Difficulty - It ramps up without any sort of warning at various points of the game, which can be very annoying. When you get swarmed by a number of elites in multiple packs, it can be very difficult to get out of.
The ending - I have to admit that I did not actually finish the game, I got stuck on the very last battle. I got frustrated, and found a video to tell me what happened. And it really wasn't much of an ending.
I would have been very upset had there not been a second game as follow up.
Gameplay - My only dislike for this category is that there is little in the way of innovation. It's pretty standard in running around and shooting, stabbing or setting monsters on fire.
Overall - It's a pretty solid game, with an interesting premise, and lot of funny moments. There's a two headed, talking cow in the first village you find, just as a hint. If you buy the DLC, there should be a class and style to suit just about anyone. To me, this one is well worth getting, and a very good start to a franchise.
Friday, August 14, 2015
My first movie review! - Beauty And the Beast (1991)
I decided to sit down and watch this again as I am in an orchestra, and
we're playing a suite of the music from the movie for a Disney concert. It has long been one of my favorite Disney movies, mostly because I related to Belle quite a bit as a child. I much preferred my books to being around people. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the animation still holds up very well, and the introduction looks as beautiful as I remember. The stained glass in the animation is still one of the prettiest things I remember seeing in a film.
The second thing I loved then, and still do, is the music. Watching it now, I appreciate the orchestral background music a lot more, since it sets the atmosphere with sound. The moment where Belle finds her father's hat in the castle's courtyard is very nicely done with the music. The songs are still fun to listen to as well, Gaston's song is perhaps one of the most cheerful villain songs I've heard. When Belle is exploring the forbidden west wing, there's a wonderfully creepy vibe to the music, but it's not spooky in a way that makes you want to draw your eyes away. There's an almost curious air to the whole scene.
The voice actors and actresses are also still enjoyable. Belle comes across as a young woman, her father as the quirky old inventor, Gaston as the complete macho ass. The Beast is interesting, as his voice is able to convey quite a bit of emotion in a short amount of time. Especially when he has a moment of kindness, then seems to remember his beastly appearance, and changes his voice to match. Or when he throws one of his temper tantrums.
One thing that I was also pleasantly surprised about are the bits of humor still come through very well. There were still many moments that made me chuckle. The line "flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep..." from Cogsworth when the Beast asks when he can do for Belle can hit a bit close to home, but it's still an amusing point.
The Major Characters
Belle - One of my favorite Disney princesses, she doesn't spend the whole movie screaming, crying, or being generally useless. That's something that's always bothered me in a lot of cases of Disney movies, even when I was younger. I was waiting for some of them to just get up and DO SOMETHING! She didn't annoy me as much as some could, especially Cinderella as an example. She doesn't change a whole lot through the movie, though she does have moments of developing, like when she stands up to the Beast after the chase through the woods. A bit flat perhaps, but still an enjoyable character to watch. I thought it was really interesting where she turns away and almost rides off after the wolf attack. She seems to consider leaving him to die for a few moments, but her kindhearted nature changes her mind. When Belle threw the snowball at the Beast in the courtyard, that was a nice way of showing that she's capable of mischief too, which doesn't come up very often.
Gaston - The funny thing about this character is he has a great many of the same characteristics as the hero in other Disney movies. If it wasn't said at the beginning that he intended to marry Belle against her will, there's a good chance he would have been a possibility as the hero. He's charming, handsome, charismatic, and popular with the villagers. This is especially noticeable near the end when he rallies the villagers to attack the Beast's castle.
The Beast - He changes the most as the movie progresses, even letting the one person capable of lifting his curse go so she can save her father. He definitely comes across as a spoiled rotten brat at the beginning, especially with all the temper tantrums when Belle doesn't do what he wants. But there's still a hint of humanity there, especially when he goes after Belle and saves her from the wolves. From that point, it's as if he reminds himself that he is human under it all, and he acts like it.
There are only a couple of points that I would nitpick at now that I've grown up, but they don't bother me all that much for the sake of the story.
All in all, this is still a very good movie!
The second thing I loved then, and still do, is the music. Watching it now, I appreciate the orchestral background music a lot more, since it sets the atmosphere with sound. The moment where Belle finds her father's hat in the castle's courtyard is very nicely done with the music. The songs are still fun to listen to as well, Gaston's song is perhaps one of the most cheerful villain songs I've heard. When Belle is exploring the forbidden west wing, there's a wonderfully creepy vibe to the music, but it's not spooky in a way that makes you want to draw your eyes away. There's an almost curious air to the whole scene.
The voice actors and actresses are also still enjoyable. Belle comes across as a young woman, her father as the quirky old inventor, Gaston as the complete macho ass. The Beast is interesting, as his voice is able to convey quite a bit of emotion in a short amount of time. Especially when he has a moment of kindness, then seems to remember his beastly appearance, and changes his voice to match. Or when he throws one of his temper tantrums.
One thing that I was also pleasantly surprised about are the bits of humor still come through very well. There were still many moments that made me chuckle. The line "flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep..." from Cogsworth when the Beast asks when he can do for Belle can hit a bit close to home, but it's still an amusing point.
The Major Characters
Belle - One of my favorite Disney princesses, she doesn't spend the whole movie screaming, crying, or being generally useless. That's something that's always bothered me in a lot of cases of Disney movies, even when I was younger. I was waiting for some of them to just get up and DO SOMETHING! She didn't annoy me as much as some could, especially Cinderella as an example. She doesn't change a whole lot through the movie, though she does have moments of developing, like when she stands up to the Beast after the chase through the woods. A bit flat perhaps, but still an enjoyable character to watch. I thought it was really interesting where she turns away and almost rides off after the wolf attack. She seems to consider leaving him to die for a few moments, but her kindhearted nature changes her mind. When Belle threw the snowball at the Beast in the courtyard, that was a nice way of showing that she's capable of mischief too, which doesn't come up very often.
Gaston - The funny thing about this character is he has a great many of the same characteristics as the hero in other Disney movies. If it wasn't said at the beginning that he intended to marry Belle against her will, there's a good chance he would have been a possibility as the hero. He's charming, handsome, charismatic, and popular with the villagers. This is especially noticeable near the end when he rallies the villagers to attack the Beast's castle.
The Beast - He changes the most as the movie progresses, even letting the one person capable of lifting his curse go so she can save her father. He definitely comes across as a spoiled rotten brat at the beginning, especially with all the temper tantrums when Belle doesn't do what he wants. But there's still a hint of humanity there, especially when he goes after Belle and saves her from the wolves. From that point, it's as if he reminds himself that he is human under it all, and he acts like it.
There are only a couple of points that I would nitpick at now that I've grown up, but they don't bother me all that much for the sake of the story.
All in all, this is still a very good movie!
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
Well, this is a big one. As an avid player of World of Warcraft, I have enjoyed the game on and off since launch, and I've bought every expansion. Every one of them has had its ups and downs, and Warlords is definitely no exception. People either seem to love or hate it, and I've noticed that this expansion seems to draw out very strong feelings. Given that the announcement for the next expansion will be released on 8/6, I wanted to post this review before then.
What is it: Warlords of Draenor is the fifth expansion in the long running game World of Warcraft. Once again, you take on the role of a hero of Azeroth, sent into an alternate timeline 30 years or so in the past to ensure disaster does not ensue. Along the way, you meet many familiar faces, and get to know some new ones as well.
Pros:
Leveling: The leveling experience is fantastic. I had an absolute blast working through the storylines, and seeing the new areas. I've leveled a few Horde characters, and one Alliance. The starting areas were both fantastic, and a great introduction in the world of Draenor. The leveling was pretty smooth, and I enjoyed that there tended to be several quests in an area, rather than one, move on, another move somewhere else, and do one or two more. The movement through the zones was good too, I think there were only a few times you didn't see most of the zones.
The Zones: Each zone looked amazing. I've always loved snowy areas, and Frostfire Ridge did not disappoint in the least. It becomes the Blade's Edge Mountains that we see in Outland, and there are certain similarities. Shadowmoon Valley is absolutely gorgeous, and a complete contrast to what we see of our own Shadowmoon Valley. I think this zone showed the most contrast between the Burning Crusade and Warlords version, and I wanted to see this place the most. It was amazing to see the designers' vision of the original Shadowmoon Valley, as well as Karabor Temple. Gorgrond feels very primal and dangerous, which I think became another part of Blade's Edge. Talador is beautiful, and this was another zone I was very excited to see in its original form. I was not disappointed. The Spires of Arak looked amazing, and I really enjoyed exploring this place, as it showed more about the Arakkoa. It is also the only zone that did not have an Outlands analog. Nagrand looked beautiful again, and I loved seeing my favorite Outland zone once more. Tanaan Jungle looked very interesting as well, and I found points on the map that corresponded well with Hellfire Peninsula.
The flightpoints were well laid out, and I had very little trouble getting from point to point.
Garrisons: This has been a long time coming, and I love the concept of having a home base that I could customize to what my character could use. Each building is very useful, and upgradeable to be even more useful. I loved having the Barracks, which grant the ability to have a bodyguard that follows you around through Draenor. Another favorite is the Salvage Yard, as it unlocks a unique transmog set for each class.
[It was at this point my computer had a freakout, so please bear with me as I remember what I can.]
Raids: The raids that we did get are fantastic, even if some of the lore on them seems to be a bit weird. The mechanics of the fights were all a lot of fun from what I experienced. I raided all of Highmaul with my guild, and my favorite fight there was the Twin Ogron, it was chaotic, but a hell of a lot of fun. Even once you learn the fights, you still have to pay a decent bit of attention in order to finish them off. Blackrock Foundry was pretty cool as well, the Gruul fight made me chuckle as I raided his Lair in Burning Crusade. Hans'gar and Fraznok is pretty amusing as well. Though I only saw the Blackhand fight on LFR mode, it was still very enjoyable and entertaining. Finally, we have Hellfire Citadel. I haven't had a chance to finish this yet, but all the fight so far have again been a lot of fun. The Gorefiend fight has a touch of C'thun to it, and you see a few familiar faces from questing, as well as from the Black Temple. I have not progressed passed Velhari yet, but hopefully I will have a chance soon.
Now for the cons...
Garrisons: Okay, I know that this was also on the pros list, but give me a moment. One of my big problems with garrisons is that they completely wrecked gathering professions. Everyone with a garrison can do mining and herbalism without actually having those professions. I would have much preferred to be able to switch one of those out for something useful to me, which also goes for the fishing shack and the pet building.
Apexis Dailies: There are just way too many of these, and they feel way too grindy and necessary. I did them, mostly for something to do. The ones in Tanaan are better, though it's still a ton of grinding. People didn't like them at the start, and people didn't like them very much more in 6.2.
Patch 6.1: Also referred to as the Social Media patch by many, I could only really shake my head. Two of the biggest features were Twitter integration, and an in game selfie camera. Really? Blood elves FINALLY received their model tweaks, something that should have been completed a long time ago along with the other models. There were only two things that I liked about this patch, the heirloom tab, and the daily visitors to the garrison with new profession recipes and quests.
Dungeons: The dungeons themselves are mostly fine... other than there are not enough of them. Instead of adding in new ones, Blizzard decided that they would add timewalker dungeons instead. In short, they returned old expansion dungeons for people to run. They also have two additional levels of difficulty, which is only more difficult from my understanding in that the numbers are bigger.
Content: A lot of content was cut. Tanaan was supposed to be a leveling zone, Farahlon was supposed to be added in as well, and it feels like there are other things missing. It also leaves people who have finished leveling with little to do. Basically... you have Apexis dailies, and LFR. If you like pets, there's a certain amount of pet gathering that can be done. But my druid rarely leaves her garrison now that she's completely all of the Tanaan content. I have little motivation to complete the zone on any of my other characters, and I've not been logging on very much over the last week or so. Also... 6.2 is supposed to last until the next expansion. I just don't see that happening. There is also a HUGE lack of raids. In vanilla WoW, we had 4 raids, Burning Crusade had 8 raids (with some of the best looking gear in the game to this day), Wrath of the Lich King had 9 (though a few only had one boss), Cataclysm had 6, and Mists had 5. In Warlords, we have 3, which is less than the base game. I find that very disappointing.
Shipyards: The idea itself sounds really cool. What we got was another mission table. I wanted to be able to jump on a ship and help complete a mission, rather than looking at the pretty ships while they are sitting in the harbor. Also, the shipyard is necessary for completing the legendary questline, which is a bit annoying if you have difficulty getting it upgraded.
Reputations: While some of the rewards are pretty cool... it is just not worth it. There are no quests for the original Warlords reputations, making them a complete grindfest. I saw this, and it really made me shake my head. The rep grinds in past expansions were much better, I did not mind doing the daily quests, especially when some of them added to the lore of the particular faction. The new ones in Tanaan are better... though there was a lot of room for improvement. The Saberstalkers is probably the worst, especially if you want any of their rewards. They have their own currency, which does not have a very good droprate.
Overall opinion: This expansion makes me sad, truth be told. It had so much promise, and I did not hesitate to buy it after I got to play in the beta. It started out so well, but the subscription numbers reflect the community's feeling. Just today (8/4/15), it was announced that another 1.5 million people have left, which puts the number of people playing back to the days of Vanilla WoW. I am not a fan of PvP, but from what I have heard, nothing has been added for people that do enjoy it. We also paid more for this expansion than the previous ones, and some regions also experienced raises in their subscription prices. I was also very amused at the whole issue of flying. It was something introduced in the first expansion, and something that we have gotten in all the expansions that followed up until now. It was announced that there would be no way we would have flying, and basically "tough shit" was the answer. Then Final Fantasy MMO announced they were adding flying, and the forums went nuts. It wasn't too long after that flying was announced, which was one of the fasted about-faces that I've ever seen.
To be quite frank, I'd have a difficult time recommending this to anyone in its current state, unless they plan on doing nothing but raiding.
What is it: Warlords of Draenor is the fifth expansion in the long running game World of Warcraft. Once again, you take on the role of a hero of Azeroth, sent into an alternate timeline 30 years or so in the past to ensure disaster does not ensue. Along the way, you meet many familiar faces, and get to know some new ones as well.
Pros:
Leveling: The leveling experience is fantastic. I had an absolute blast working through the storylines, and seeing the new areas. I've leveled a few Horde characters, and one Alliance. The starting areas were both fantastic, and a great introduction in the world of Draenor. The leveling was pretty smooth, and I enjoyed that there tended to be several quests in an area, rather than one, move on, another move somewhere else, and do one or two more. The movement through the zones was good too, I think there were only a few times you didn't see most of the zones.
The Zones: Each zone looked amazing. I've always loved snowy areas, and Frostfire Ridge did not disappoint in the least. It becomes the Blade's Edge Mountains that we see in Outland, and there are certain similarities. Shadowmoon Valley is absolutely gorgeous, and a complete contrast to what we see of our own Shadowmoon Valley. I think this zone showed the most contrast between the Burning Crusade and Warlords version, and I wanted to see this place the most. It was amazing to see the designers' vision of the original Shadowmoon Valley, as well as Karabor Temple. Gorgrond feels very primal and dangerous, which I think became another part of Blade's Edge. Talador is beautiful, and this was another zone I was very excited to see in its original form. I was not disappointed. The Spires of Arak looked amazing, and I really enjoyed exploring this place, as it showed more about the Arakkoa. It is also the only zone that did not have an Outlands analog. Nagrand looked beautiful again, and I loved seeing my favorite Outland zone once more. Tanaan Jungle looked very interesting as well, and I found points on the map that corresponded well with Hellfire Peninsula.
The flightpoints were well laid out, and I had very little trouble getting from point to point.
Garrisons: This has been a long time coming, and I love the concept of having a home base that I could customize to what my character could use. Each building is very useful, and upgradeable to be even more useful. I loved having the Barracks, which grant the ability to have a bodyguard that follows you around through Draenor. Another favorite is the Salvage Yard, as it unlocks a unique transmog set for each class.
[It was at this point my computer had a freakout, so please bear with me as I remember what I can.]
Raids: The raids that we did get are fantastic, even if some of the lore on them seems to be a bit weird. The mechanics of the fights were all a lot of fun from what I experienced. I raided all of Highmaul with my guild, and my favorite fight there was the Twin Ogron, it was chaotic, but a hell of a lot of fun. Even once you learn the fights, you still have to pay a decent bit of attention in order to finish them off. Blackrock Foundry was pretty cool as well, the Gruul fight made me chuckle as I raided his Lair in Burning Crusade. Hans'gar and Fraznok is pretty amusing as well. Though I only saw the Blackhand fight on LFR mode, it was still very enjoyable and entertaining. Finally, we have Hellfire Citadel. I haven't had a chance to finish this yet, but all the fight so far have again been a lot of fun. The Gorefiend fight has a touch of C'thun to it, and you see a few familiar faces from questing, as well as from the Black Temple. I have not progressed passed Velhari yet, but hopefully I will have a chance soon.
Now for the cons...
Garrisons: Okay, I know that this was also on the pros list, but give me a moment. One of my big problems with garrisons is that they completely wrecked gathering professions. Everyone with a garrison can do mining and herbalism without actually having those professions. I would have much preferred to be able to switch one of those out for something useful to me, which also goes for the fishing shack and the pet building.
Apexis Dailies: There are just way too many of these, and they feel way too grindy and necessary. I did them, mostly for something to do. The ones in Tanaan are better, though it's still a ton of grinding. People didn't like them at the start, and people didn't like them very much more in 6.2.
Patch 6.1: Also referred to as the Social Media patch by many, I could only really shake my head. Two of the biggest features were Twitter integration, and an in game selfie camera. Really? Blood elves FINALLY received their model tweaks, something that should have been completed a long time ago along with the other models. There were only two things that I liked about this patch, the heirloom tab, and the daily visitors to the garrison with new profession recipes and quests.
Dungeons: The dungeons themselves are mostly fine... other than there are not enough of them. Instead of adding in new ones, Blizzard decided that they would add timewalker dungeons instead. In short, they returned old expansion dungeons for people to run. They also have two additional levels of difficulty, which is only more difficult from my understanding in that the numbers are bigger.
Content: A lot of content was cut. Tanaan was supposed to be a leveling zone, Farahlon was supposed to be added in as well, and it feels like there are other things missing. It also leaves people who have finished leveling with little to do. Basically... you have Apexis dailies, and LFR. If you like pets, there's a certain amount of pet gathering that can be done. But my druid rarely leaves her garrison now that she's completely all of the Tanaan content. I have little motivation to complete the zone on any of my other characters, and I've not been logging on very much over the last week or so. Also... 6.2 is supposed to last until the next expansion. I just don't see that happening. There is also a HUGE lack of raids. In vanilla WoW, we had 4 raids, Burning Crusade had 8 raids (with some of the best looking gear in the game to this day), Wrath of the Lich King had 9 (though a few only had one boss), Cataclysm had 6, and Mists had 5. In Warlords, we have 3, which is less than the base game. I find that very disappointing.
Shipyards: The idea itself sounds really cool. What we got was another mission table. I wanted to be able to jump on a ship and help complete a mission, rather than looking at the pretty ships while they are sitting in the harbor. Also, the shipyard is necessary for completing the legendary questline, which is a bit annoying if you have difficulty getting it upgraded.
Reputations: While some of the rewards are pretty cool... it is just not worth it. There are no quests for the original Warlords reputations, making them a complete grindfest. I saw this, and it really made me shake my head. The rep grinds in past expansions were much better, I did not mind doing the daily quests, especially when some of them added to the lore of the particular faction. The new ones in Tanaan are better... though there was a lot of room for improvement. The Saberstalkers is probably the worst, especially if you want any of their rewards. They have their own currency, which does not have a very good droprate.
Overall opinion: This expansion makes me sad, truth be told. It had so much promise, and I did not hesitate to buy it after I got to play in the beta. It started out so well, but the subscription numbers reflect the community's feeling. Just today (8/4/15), it was announced that another 1.5 million people have left, which puts the number of people playing back to the days of Vanilla WoW. I am not a fan of PvP, but from what I have heard, nothing has been added for people that do enjoy it. We also paid more for this expansion than the previous ones, and some regions also experienced raises in their subscription prices. I was also very amused at the whole issue of flying. It was something introduced in the first expansion, and something that we have gotten in all the expansions that followed up until now. It was announced that there would be no way we would have flying, and basically "tough shit" was the answer. Then Final Fantasy MMO announced they were adding flying, and the forums went nuts. It wasn't too long after that flying was announced, which was one of the fasted about-faces that I've ever seen.
To be quite frank, I'd have a difficult time recommending this to anyone in its current state, unless they plan on doing nothing but raiding.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
-blows the dust off-
Okay, just a brief update for now!
I am truly sorry for letting this lapse, mostly due to real life issues. I'm back on focus now, with a plan to bring a new written review every two weeks. I am also planning on adding a movie review on the off weeks for my readers! These will be spoiler-rific, so be forewarned.
I have a list of games I've been working through, and plan to finish shortly, so keep an eye out.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, I, II, and III
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
Tropico 5
Never Alone
Sunless Sea
I also have a list of movies that I want to review. Some are personal favorites, others are those that made me shake my head.
Inside Out
Jurassic World
The Dark Knight Rises
The Golden Compass
My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding
Batman and Robin
That's all I have for now, and I'll have my review of the first Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing posted soon!
I am truly sorry for letting this lapse, mostly due to real life issues. I'm back on focus now, with a plan to bring a new written review every two weeks. I am also planning on adding a movie review on the off weeks for my readers! These will be spoiler-rific, so be forewarned.
I have a list of games I've been working through, and plan to finish shortly, so keep an eye out.
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, I, II, and III
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
Tropico 5
Never Alone
Sunless Sea
I also have a list of movies that I want to review. Some are personal favorites, others are those that made me shake my head.
Inside Out
Jurassic World
The Dark Knight Rises
The Golden Compass
My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding
Batman and Robin
That's all I have for now, and I'll have my review of the first Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing posted soon!
Friday, June 6, 2014
Review: Transistor
What is it: Transistor is a sci-fi adventure using an isometric perspective. If you've played Supergiant's previous work Bastion, then it's the same perspective. If you haven't played Bastion, stop reading this now, and go buy it. In Transistor, you take on the role of Red, a singer in the futuristic city of Cloudbank. Things quickly start going bad, and you set off through the city to make them right. The ending of the story is beautifully bittersweet, and had me in tears. I don't remember the last time that happened. It took me about 7 hours to complete the story, and I loved just about every moment of it.
Pros
Graphics: Holy shit, this game is beautiful. The design of Cloudband is breathtaking, even where things are going horribly wrong. The colors are rich, and the style is unique. There are a few points where you use elevators to move to another part of the city, and the rides there are gorgeous too. The still scenes for the cuts are very nice as well, and only add to the game.
Music: Once again, Supergiant has wowed me with the music. I have the Bastion soundtrack on my mp3 player, and the Transistor soundtrack will be joining it shortly. I cannot listen to the final track (Paper Boats) without getting teary eyed. The tracks fit the city and situations beautifully,
Characters: You only run across a few characters. Red, the Transistor, and the members of the Camerata. But each is distinct. Red is a singer who has lost her voice, and is trying to get some revenge. The main voice of the Transistor obvious cares for her, and you find out just how much as you go further into the game. Now, the fun part comes in the various abilities that you find. Each of them is based on a person that the Transistor absorbs. As you use the abilities in each of the three different ways, you learn more about that person. It's a really cool system of adding lore into the game that doesn't complicate the game any.
Gameplay: I used the mouse and keyboard to play this, and had no issues what so ever. The Processes you gain through leveling are very unique. Every new ability you gain can serve three purposes. It can be a direct attack, it can augment a direct attack, or it can give a passive bonus. As you earn experience, you can unlock upgrade slots, and memory to build ever more complex Processes. If you take too much damage though, you lose the use of the direct attack until you visit a certain number of access points. I really like this idea, as it makes you pick and choose the abilities and try them out. If you get locked out of one thing, you can try something else.
There are two ways of dealing with combat. You can run around and smack things about, or you can use strategy. You can actually pause the battlefield and plan your moves. Which I love, it's really neat being able to plan out what you're wanting to do, and to take on multiple enemies.
Cons
Gameplay: The Processes isn't exactly an intuitive thing to learn. I had to play around a bit with it before I figured it out. Is it game breaking? Not really. A tutorial wouldn't go amiss though. Some of the functions act a little weird at times. Jaunt (an ability that lets you dash around the map) can be hard to aim, depending on what obstacles are in the way.
There's also something of a lack of replay value. You can go back and play it through again, but there are no choices to make, as with Bastion. It's the same story again. You can go back for achievements, more lore about the Processed characters, and to make your character more powerful, but that's about it.
Length: It's a bit short. It could have used another act, I think. Another member of the Camerata to fight perhaps, and there are a few questions I still have to resolve.
Overall Opinion: If you like sci-fi games, get this. If you like isometric games with gorgeous art, get this. If you like a good quality game, GET THIS. It was totally worth the $20, and I went ahead and purchased the soundtrack as well. Even with the criticisms, I loved this game, even with the bittersweet ending.
Pros
Graphics: Holy shit, this game is beautiful. The design of Cloudband is breathtaking, even where things are going horribly wrong. The colors are rich, and the style is unique. There are a few points where you use elevators to move to another part of the city, and the rides there are gorgeous too. The still scenes for the cuts are very nice as well, and only add to the game.
Music: Once again, Supergiant has wowed me with the music. I have the Bastion soundtrack on my mp3 player, and the Transistor soundtrack will be joining it shortly. I cannot listen to the final track (Paper Boats) without getting teary eyed. The tracks fit the city and situations beautifully,
Characters: You only run across a few characters. Red, the Transistor, and the members of the Camerata. But each is distinct. Red is a singer who has lost her voice, and is trying to get some revenge. The main voice of the Transistor obvious cares for her, and you find out just how much as you go further into the game. Now, the fun part comes in the various abilities that you find. Each of them is based on a person that the Transistor absorbs. As you use the abilities in each of the three different ways, you learn more about that person. It's a really cool system of adding lore into the game that doesn't complicate the game any.
Gameplay: I used the mouse and keyboard to play this, and had no issues what so ever. The Processes you gain through leveling are very unique. Every new ability you gain can serve three purposes. It can be a direct attack, it can augment a direct attack, or it can give a passive bonus. As you earn experience, you can unlock upgrade slots, and memory to build ever more complex Processes. If you take too much damage though, you lose the use of the direct attack until you visit a certain number of access points. I really like this idea, as it makes you pick and choose the abilities and try them out. If you get locked out of one thing, you can try something else.
There are two ways of dealing with combat. You can run around and smack things about, or you can use strategy. You can actually pause the battlefield and plan your moves. Which I love, it's really neat being able to plan out what you're wanting to do, and to take on multiple enemies.
Cons
Gameplay: The Processes isn't exactly an intuitive thing to learn. I had to play around a bit with it before I figured it out. Is it game breaking? Not really. A tutorial wouldn't go amiss though. Some of the functions act a little weird at times. Jaunt (an ability that lets you dash around the map) can be hard to aim, depending on what obstacles are in the way.
There's also something of a lack of replay value. You can go back and play it through again, but there are no choices to make, as with Bastion. It's the same story again. You can go back for achievements, more lore about the Processed characters, and to make your character more powerful, but that's about it.
Length: It's a bit short. It could have used another act, I think. Another member of the Camerata to fight perhaps, and there are a few questions I still have to resolve.
Overall Opinion: If you like sci-fi games, get this. If you like isometric games with gorgeous art, get this. If you like a good quality game, GET THIS. It was totally worth the $20, and I went ahead and purchased the soundtrack as well. Even with the criticisms, I loved this game, even with the bittersweet ending.
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