"The Batman" Review

"The Batman" Review

Legends and myths, what are they? and why is humanity obsessed with them? these are the question I ask myself. For millennia we as a species have followed stories of gods and heroes, we have seen the tales of Herakles and the tragedies of Icarus.  

  

These are stories of the past; our society has grown and media with it. We have found new heroes who traded in the loincloth for spandex and full-on suits of armor. It would be easy to say that the face of this era's hero is Batman. 

  

"The Batman" is a DC film directed by Matt Reeves, who is known for films like "Cloverfield" and the modern reboot of the Planet of the Apes movies. DC Entertainment chose the right director for the story, weaving a tale like no other. 

  

We Follow Batman in his early years taking down a new villain he has not faced before named Riddler who is trying to show Gotham a new truth about a corrupt society.  

  

The Batman was jam-packed with phenomenal performances. The leading star is Robert Pattinson who plays Bruce Wayne aka Batman. Pattinson steals the show with the amount of ferocity and vengeance he has against the criminals of Gotham this iteration of Batman feels like the darkest and most brutal version to date. However, his Bruce Wayne sadly lacked a lot of the charisma shown by previous actors filling this role instead doing a deeper focus on just being the Batman.  

  

Other top-notch performances are Zoe Kravitz who plays Catwoman. She had the femme fatale charm that Catwoman is known for and worked off Pattinson's performance showing good chemistry between the two. In a pleasant surprise, Collin Farrell played the Penguin pretty seriously, and even though it's still early on in Batman's life you can tell that this is going to be a leading criminal of Gotham one to fear and be in awe. 

  

Lastly, every great hero needs a villain that pushes and challenges the very core fundamentals and beliefs he has. Riddler is a villain that has never really struck me as Batman's greatest enemy and the comics have tried to depict him in many different ways but it has never sparked a connection. 

  

That has changed, Paul Dano plays a much creepier yet realistic take on a man who wants to change society itself by cutting out what ails Gotham in his eyes. Online chatter has said this film gives off a Seven vibe, a Zodiak Killer in the mist, this Riddler in many ways does depict a psychopath but also shows that Gotham itself is on the verge of collapse if one man can cause society to fall then it is up to another to make it rise.  

  

Another massive talent on The Batman has to be the music composer Michael Giacchino, the music is very gothic, matching the tone of the film in one moment you will hear a choir playing hmms in the next you will see Batman walking down a dimly lit room hearing this creepy yet melancholy soundtrack if one thing sets the tone of the movie far beyond just the writing it's the music.  

  

The set and design are some of the best seen in the industry, taking place in multiple locations with fancy lounges, a police department, an abandoned orphanage, and much more. All of the costuming is on point Batman has the iconic suit modified to fit modern-day fashion. Also, the batmobile is such a beautiful piece of machinery that for one moment specifically it instilled the fear and actual vengeance batman holds in his heart.  

  

Finally, let's talk about what's wrong with the story, several subplots are going on throughout that you will think maybe some of them don't land. For example, the subplot for Catwoman, who is looking for a kidnapped friend almost feels emotionless due to how they handle it and what the result ended up being. Another problem is it feels slow at the start of the movie due to how the combat scenes and dialogue are placed in the film.  

  

Despite some of the problems, The Batman is such a fresh piece of mythos to the character and it shows that it's okay to be a stand-alone movie like the Joker or like the superhero films of old. I would recommend going out to the theaters and just for a brief three hours let yourself be transported to the grim and dirty city that Gotham has become watch it fall and watch it rise.  

  

Rating: 9/10 

The Gazer and The Sleep Asylum

 The Gazer and The Sleep Asylum Review

In this world lies countless stories, some told and others you can only experience to understand. Recently two short stories were released by author Peter Roy La Fleur that had the mind-boggled. Tackling subjects of people who feel let down by society. Who was ultimately left behind by our institutions.  

Before we go any further, let's delve into what exactly these short stories are. The Gazer focuses on the madness of society through the eyes of our point of view character. Who feels was ridiculed and treated as the "mad one" and feels humankind has lost its mind with the burden of knowledge.

Many believe that as our civilization advances, we lose a part of what makes our humanity as we look deeper into the well of knowledge. We lose empathy and compassion. Fleur is able to convey what lies underneath it, showing what it looks like to lose trust in our world and how it can distance you to a point where you are no longer a part of it. 

Going even deeper into our psychology is our second short story, The Sleep Asylum. Which deals with mental health, our medical institutions failing to take care of all their patients. How even those left behind due to minor issues are suffering in their mental prisons. 

They both connect through the theme of the mind. Each point of view character has to come to grips with the issue that lies deeply rooted in their brain, one feeling the world has gone mad while the other is locked in their mental asylum trying to escape the past. It might seem familiar to some who are currently hurting. Especially in today's world and how fast and quick we can change as a society. 

Because of the impact and real implications it has to tell, both stories should be examined and read. There are lessons to be taught, and the author is able to convey all of them concisely.

Metroid Prime 4 Developer Change and Delay

Nintendo gave an update to Metroid Prime 4 detailing what the situation is with the development. The game is being delayed due to development hardships and developer change.

The company felt the project wasn't living up to the series expectations, so because of this they scrapped the whole project and plan for the series creators Retro Studio to take charge of the project.
For many, this might be disappointing news but with the announcement of Retro studios taking charge, this might be for the best.

Since the launch of the Nintendo Switch people were curious about what Retro Studios had in store. rumors of them making a brand new IP to them making a new Star Fox title. We still don't know what they have been up to so its possible these projects could still be in store despite the Metroid project they just picked up. Despite all of this we can rest soundly knowing Metroid Prime 4 is in good hands and passion will lead the game forward. 


Video Link for the update
Metroid Prime 4 Update

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Nintendo Switch Review: Z-Rank

Twenty-one years ago Dragon Ball Z came over to America from Japan. However, people didn’t know that this would become one of the most famous anime shows in the west. Opening up a brand new market that most considered a niche. With the massive fan support for Dragon Ball Z, not only did it become successful as an anime but it branched out to other mediums like movies, card games and a strong following in video games. For this reason, the latest title in the franchise found a home with the Nintendo Switch about a year after the initial launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. Can this port stand on two feet or will it, stumble?

Game publisher, Bandai Namco makes some of the most famous anime fighting games ranging from Naruto to One Piece and Dragon Ball Z. Notably, their work goes as far back as the PlayStation 2 where they developed Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. Another thing to note Dragon Ball Z has been on every Nintendo console with the exception of the Wii u and that was largely due to poor sales of the console. Given these points, the company knows how to develop anime themed games and how to make good ports. This is no exception for Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, in many ways the company achieved their goal of making a fighting role-playing game, with the story feeling straight out of the anime, and the fighting being top notch it can feel like this game hits the mark on every level. However, there are problems which only increase when it comes to the Nintendo switch port.  

The first thing you will spot when starting the game is an opening anime scene which establishes the story. You get to see more anime-styled cutscenes throughout the game and this feels like an homage to the anime. Furthermore, the story centers on the main player which protects time from changing as a member of the time patrol. During the journey, you will meet companions, foes, trainers and even gods of the universe. This game offers many different levels of roleplaying to the core mechanics. Four examples are, being able to pick from 5 races and create your own character in a custom character screen which offers a variety of different looks and abilities depending on the race, picking a trainer to learn from can affect the abilities you earn although you can have multiple trainers and lastly, the leveling system offers different ways of focusing your character. Giving you 6 states to improve, HP, stamina, ki, base attacks, striking supers, ki supers. And lastly you can change cloth to improve states but it has negatives also so be careful when changing them.

Dragon Ball Z At its Finest  

The world feels just like the anime since the art style matches the franchise perfectly. However, the graphics on the Nintendo Switch don’t match to the other home consoles since the console has hardware limitations because of its hybrid nature. For many, this could be a downside but at the same time, you get to play the game on your TV or on the go since it can also be portable so it’s up to you if the inferior graphics ruin the experience for you. Another aspect of the game is the characters act and feel just like their anime counterparts which makes the game feel so much more alive since you feel a part of the universe and have a stake in what happens to everyone.

The music in this game can be mixed in some areas it can hype you up for a fight or it can kill the mood of the game for instance when you enter the hub zone you will be greeted by this track over and over and it can get annoying since the track itself isn’t that great. However, like I said when fighting the music can be really intense making the fight so much more grand and epic. As a result, composer Steve Aoki makes the game feel intense and lively but has issues landing the music just right.

The game offers a hub zone for players where they can shop, start several different types of quests such as parallel quests which battles happen in other universes usually in iconic scenes from the series but you will be set on the opposite side of the heroes. Also, battles from the non-canon series Dragon ball GT will be featured. Other types of quest, trainer quests where you learn new moves and fight opponents while working on finishing everything the trainer can teach you. And there are rift quests which will set you against a powerful opponent with 5 other players either computer or online players. Lastly, the story missions will be found in the hub zone. In addition, if you play online you will usually be on a full server with people running around the hub zone.

Gameplay is very fast paced and destructive. When starting a match you will be dropped into a large area with the enemy straight ahead coming at you with full force you’re defensive will be evasive abilities and dodging the enemy while blocking. Most of the abilities you earn in-game will need to be equipped before fighting or you will be stuck with what you have on. In addition to that, most of the abilities will be taught by the trainers. And the combos are easy enough to learn and the tutorial is pretty helpful at teaching you the mechanics of the game.

 There are a few problems that only constitutes with the switch port. Frame rates on other home consoles are at a solid 60 frames per second which allows the game to be faster or slower. while the switch port is at 30 fps unless you are doing one vs one battle, in that case, you will be at 60 fps. This can be a problem since fights can feel much slower if you just came from one of the other consoles but otherwise, if you have only played this port then it will feel natural and smooth because it has a constant 30 fps no drops so all depends on the player. Outside of combat, it is mainly leveling up characters, shopping and exploring the universe.

Multiplayer can be found in several places, first you can fight people online through challenging them in the hub zone or by going to the battle station and finding people online to fight with another form of multiplayer is through the rift quests you can go and fight bosses with other players online or locally and last of all you can do local vs matches with friends by going to the battle station. Online matches are lag free but can be a real hassle to find a fair fight since a lot of players will spam you or be overpowered with their custom characters. Although online battles can be really fun depends on the situation.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Is filled with great content but has its flaws. Multiplayer battles can be improved on if they were to make the creation characters scaled down a bit when in multiplayer matches. There is no reason for one vs one 60 fps while the rest of the game is at 30 fps it makes it feel like there isn’t a constant frame rate. And then the Nintendo switch has its own flaws Sacrificing the frame rate and graphics for portability but that can be taken as a positive or negative depending on your need for portability. Good things about the game are that the world looks wonderful for this franchise, Combat is smooth and fast offering an intense fight, Music can feel very lively and intense although it has its weak moments and the story has to be the best part of the game offering an epic tale with interesting side quests and characters. I recommend checking the game out it’s well worth the price.

Watch the Past: Trolls Review

Watch the Past: Trolls

 Everyday movie studios try to hit you with a sense of nostalgia while trying to bring in a younger audience. From Barbie to G.I Joe even the Care Bears, they have all had movies and cartoons some successes and failures but in the end, there was profit. So what franchise would be hit next, well didn't take long to figure out with the Trolls singing and dancing they're way to the spotlight. Would they shine or fade away like countless others?

The Trolls Grand Escape

 The Trolls were originally made in 1959 by Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam. Poor around Christmas time and with a daughter, he didn't want to disappoint her so he carved a doll out of his imagination and it was the original troll. Soon other children in the town wanted their own troll and so Thomas Dam's company Dam Things started to produce plastic dolls under the name Good Luck Trolls. The dolls became popular in European countries and became a smash hit in the United States lasting from 1963 to 1965. soon after the toys lost their popularity in the United States but stayed popular in Europe. As an attempt to become popular in the United States they changed up the name to Norfin Trolls, with an 'Adopt A Norfin Troll' logo on the tags. They were not content to just sell trolls to young girls they wanted to market to young boys. 

So they made Troll action figure lines such as the stone protectors, The Original Battle Trolls, They also had deals with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which had personalized trolls and Mighty Max which made their own troll line called hairy heads. Soon after the Trolls were inducted to the Century of Toys list, a list of the top 100 memorable and creative toys of the 20th century. Trolls have had their highs and their lows but in the end, the brand was here to stay touching little girls and boys hearts. It had become a multi-platform brand having games, radio shows, and tv shows. There was only one place to go, up the silver screen.

Trolls Review

Trolls is a colorful adventure movie inspired by the original troll dolls made in 1959. It centers on the trolls, specifically troll princess Peppy Popper and Branch who has a paranoid and grumpy outlook which we find out is because he lost someone. They go out to rescue their friends from the Bergen's who like to eat trolls. Their journey is hard and they face many obstacles, they learn to never give up, to believe in them self and each other and most importantly they learn to be truly happy. As the movie goes on you learn more about the Bergen's and why they eat Trolls, you get to learn more about King Gristle and how he finds true happiness in this bleak land.

The movie has some scary elements mostly when there being chased by the Bergen's but the movies light and positive message shines through. The movie tries to teach one central message and that is to look into yourself and find out what makes you happy and to never change for someone else if they can't accept you then that is their lost. This movie surprised me originally I had thought it was just another cash grab, but as I watched on I felt the warm and happy feeling the Trolls inspire. I recommend watching the movie at least once. See if it appeals to you, plus I think kids will love this movie.

Gaming Culture In America

American Gaming Culture 

Video games have taken over the world From Japan to America. It's considered to be one of the largest entertainment industries in America. Passing Hollywood the question isn't who's playing games, it's who's getting involved, it's how are they playing games and what games are the most interesting to American culture. Over 67% percent of households in America alone has a console and with 65% percent of them having someone who plays at least an hour of games. Over 155-160 million people play games in America. The overall value estimate of the video game industry in America is over 30.4 billion dollars that's including hardware, accessories, VR, and games. As you can see gaming is huge in America and there are multiple ways to experience gaming.

Mobile: has dominated the gaming market from Candy Crush to Clash of Clans, and some console games have gone mobile like Pokemon Go and Mario Run which has helped to spread the mobile game market, The benefits of mobile gaming you can play whenever on the bus, on the train, and during work. With most games being free or under 10$ Consumers can download a game and delete the game without feeling like they lost out. Mobile gaming makes most of their money from in-game purchases such as more lives, faster time management, and character skins. according to statistics about 35- 40 percent of Americans play on their smartphones or tablets.














PC gaming: has been around from the start of the gaming industry, having text-based games to full-on RPGs before any other platform, has made it a dominant market since the 80s. Hosting game like league of legends, Team Fortress 2 and Counterstrike its cornered the Esports market creating a brand new way to experience gaming. Almost 97% of American households own a personal computer making the pc gaming market the highest available platform to consumers.

















Esports and Gaming Content Creators: have taken over traditional media, times have changed where people prefer to watch their favorite Gaming Channels and Esports team than a new show or sports team. There have been times when more people tune into Esports Championships than traditional sports finals. Gaming channels have so much content being released with a rapid-fire audience watching their content daily. Now you can probably walk down the street and ask someone who is your favorite gaming channel, almost half the time they will give you a channel name either from youtube or twitch.

Virtual Reality: has not seen success in the PC or mobile market but it is growing in popularity because of game developers putting over large games like Doom, Resident Evil, Fallout and much more. They're a haven for indie developers who want to make a game since they support developers looking to make games for the virtual reality headsets. Several American companies have created their own headsets like Google, Facebook, Steam and several other smaller companies and they're leading the virtual console race but for now, it's still nowhere near PC or mobile markets.

Console Gaming: this is where America first really started getting into the gaming industry, sure there was arcades and the ping pong machine but it didn't really reach the audience it could get. No, it didn't reach the mass audience until Atari came along and showed the world you could play at home you no longer had to leave the safety of your home. Then there was the video game crash where no one wanted to buy a home console because of the flood of poorly designed games. Nintendo came along and fixed that, people wanted to buy a console again they were reaching the kids and their parents who grew up with Atari. Company's like Sega, Nintendo, Atari, Sony, and Microsoft lead the home consoles to greatness and they still are just in their own ways. Sega and Atari are still around but are mostly third-party company's now no longer producing consoles, they are producing games still, Sony is leading the home console market with the ps4 having over 50 million units sold worldwide, while Nintendo has taken the hybrid route where they combine the home console with the mobile console, something innovative and fresh you can play at home and on the go. Microsoft is focusing on the power and tech of their console with their announcement of the Xbox one x, the most powerful console to date.














Games are bringing us together: through the years the gaming community has grown and welcomed new people to the world of gaming. May it be from gaming with friends and family to watching Esports cheering gamers on and watching our favorite video content creators, to talking to people in forums we have grown attached to others in the gaming world and really I think that's beautiful. In America, we have one of the highest populations to grow up on gaming and to keep playing games we have adopted this art form and we don't plan to let it go.

All statistics were pulled from Entertainment Software Association here's a link to learn more about their data and research http://essentialfacts.theesa.com/mobile/)

Play the Past: Kirby's Dream Land Review

                                       

Play the Past: Kirby's Dream Land

Nintendo has a vast Library of games. Spanning from plumbers saving the princess to bounty hunters on a mission for the space federation, and in that mix is a game about a pink puffball named Kirby. With the recent announcement of a new Kirby game coming out in the year of 2018 for the Nintendo Switch I felt like this would be a good time to start from where it all began. 

Kirby's humble beginnings 

In 1992, Nintendo and Hal Laboratory released a game called Kirby's Dream Land. The game was a success but many felt that it was too easy and as the franchise continued the difficulty stayed about the same. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Kirby intended it to be a simple game that anyone could pick up and play, for more advanced players there was an unlockable hard mode and you could set the lives you started with. Kirby was a smashing hit for the Gameboy selling over a million copies in its first year and in its lifetime selling 5 million copies. Kirby even spawned a wave of games for every Nintendo console since the Original Kirby, which included mainline and spinoff games. When Super Smash Bros was created Kirby was already one of the top characters Nintendo added because of popularity and because Masahiro Sakurai the creator of Kirby and Super Smash Bros wanted his creation to be in the fighting game. With all that being said Kirby became an icon, just like his counterparts Mario and Link. I am personally glad that he's around to give us a smile and a couple of laughs.

Kirby's Dream Land Review

Kirby First Adventure was over 25 years ago back in an age of discovery and creativity. Kirby's Dream Land was first introduced on the Gameboy and was an action platformer. It has a cheerful environment and music to match it and unique gameplay. The game starts in a level called Green Greens, where you fight enemies till you reach the first boss Whispy Woods. Which can take about 5 minutes to complete? The game is short 30 minutes short and there are only about 5 levels which can be beaten pretty easily which is why for many gamers out there this is a game they avoid simply because of the difficulty but I believe where this game lacks in difficulty and length it shines in the environment and tone of the game. During this time Kirby didn't have his iconic stealing powers or any of his other abilities, he was still developing his character. Kirby's first adventure is well worth it, despite its short length and simplistic game mechanics, it shines with its music and tone. Check the game out if you're a Nintendo fan or someone looking for a relaxing game to just unwind with, it's well worth the purchase on 3ds.