Messages

51

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen

« on: May 19, 2020, 12:06:16 PM »

Just finished Castlevania season 3 (a month late). I rather enjoyed it! There are some odd points for sure, most of which are already discussed, but I think the slow roll this season was mostly interesting.

The resurrection was a success, until Big D told the living all to F-off and mind their own business. Seeing a Dracula who has found happiness in Hell, and actively chose not to return when the gate was opened, was a nice touch and left me guessing about a couple of points that might (or might not) happen later.

The Legion battle was great, although I found his motivation unclear. Was it doe to a fellow Forgemaster being attacked, or the magical enslavement of an entire city that enraged Isaac enough to risk his own path to vengeance? Enslavement and/or compulsion (whether by forces internal or external, natural or supernatural) definitely felt like a common theme in the season.

...

I agree that the Alucard story line was odd, and his descent into madness was way too fast. And the siblings (were they siblings?) were just way too peppy for what they had been through and what they were doing at the castle.

It just seemed like Ellis didn’t know what to do with Alucard. Just felt like straight stalling.

I agree with your take on Taka and Sumi. Way too chipper considering they were forced into slavery and watched countless atrocities. 🤷‍♀️

The whole Alucard plot line felt undercooked. They could've teased out some interesting ideas about Alucard's motivations (survivor guilt after killing his father, desire to live/love as part of the human world versus isolation) and contrasted them with the psychopathic behavior of Taka and Sumi. But the characterization never really materialized so the whole arc felt hollow. Still, it seemed like more of a side story or diversion from the main action... so I didn't really care.

I'll happily watch another season when it gets released.

52

General Gaming / Re: What are you playing?

« on: May 07, 2020, 11:19:59 AM »

So being stuck at home, we've gone back and are playing a lot of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort as help make gaming slightly more active. We've also thrown some Wii Play mixed in just for kicks. All are still enjoyable, and it's fun to play through these games together with my kids.

Thinking about pulling out Wii Fit again, or maybe trying Skyward Sword if the "stay home" recommendations don't let up before long.

53

Movies & TV / Re: All Things Netflix! Now you can watch on the GO, no mobile data needed.

« on: May 04, 2020, 04:36:53 PM »

Did anyone watch Midnight Gospel?  Very curious about impressions or thoughts.

I'm having a hard time parsing it myself. I'd classify about 60% or 70% of the content as garbage, with people whose views of spirituality often seemed to be influenced by a bad mix of personal philosophy influenced by hallucinogenics.... but payoff from the parts that were good might be enough justify the whole thing? There were definitely moments that I appreciated.

54

Movies & TV / Re: Star Wars Fanhouse, Chewie, we're home!

« on: May 04, 2020, 04:23:15 PM »

...
What is the whole point of Leia being Luke's sister?  Like from a storytelling perspective what does this contribute to the movie particularly since at the time this was the final film in a trilogy and I don't think they were planning anything else?  Leia does nothing of significance related to that other than saying "I can feel it" at the end.  Vader mentioning his sister causes Luke to go bezerk in their lightsaber duel but it is really not needed in the movie at all.  Leia is the backup if Luke fails but Luke doesn't fail so it serves no purpose.  What it does accomplish is make Leia kissing Luke in Empire come across as creepy after the fact.  My guess is they threw that "there is another" thing in Empire with no real plans and then had to pay it off in Jedi despite it not contributing to the plot in any real way.

Hell it isn't really much of a mystery to Luke.  Yoda tells him there is another and then dies and then 10 seconds later Luke talks to Obi-Wan who reveals his sister.  As a kid when I would demand instant gratification at all times I didn't notice this but as an adult it's pretty lame.  Like Luke trying to figure out who Yoda was talking about could have had a chance to build up throughout the film for a dramatic pay off but they just reveal it instantly.  Contrast this with Luke's father who is referenced throughout two movies before the ultimate pay off.
...

I don't really see the problem. 

In RotJ, the sibling "reveal" doesn't contribute much... but really it was a intended more as a plot device for TESB - altering some character relationships a little bit, giving an easy way to find and recover Luke on Cloud City, and building a sense of awe at how one family could become so entwined in opposing sides of interstellar politics. Having the whole Skywalker family created a sense of destiny to the original trilogy for me, and even though if Leia is the "least important" part of that having her be related to Luke didn't seem to create problems.

That said, I've never really felt like storytelling was the strong point for Star Wars. The early movies were fun, and consistent enough that any story flaws never got in the way of the adventure. But they were still family friendly sci-fi/action blockbuster movies first and foremost, not literary masterpieces.

55

General Gaming / Re: Meanwhile, Over At The Other Developers...

« on: April 30, 2020, 03:31:15 PM »

Some crunch time is probably inevitable, and not such a big deal when people are rewarded appropriately with time and money afterwards.

Continuous crunch time is a real problem though, and usually an indication that management has no clue what they are doing. Something on the project has to go significantly off-track, whether that's over-promising for content and delivery times or actual development issues that couldn't be easily foreseen.


That said, I feel like games being increasingly large and complex makes the whole development cycle more taxing. Teams are larger and more spread out, and the likelihood of unexpected problems cropping up during development are much higher also. Trying to accurately scope the time and resources that a large project will need is really difficult, and when mistakes happen it can affect a lot of people depending on how much pressure the company is under to live up to early commitments.

56

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen

« on: April 30, 2020, 12:34:46 AM »

Burning, watched via Netflix.

The movie is two and a half hours long, with very relaxed pacing. At times it feels like the plot is meandering, lacking a clear purpose or direction. There is a lot of ambiguity around some of the characters and key story points. We can make assumptions since there are plenty of hints given, but it's hard to pin down the truth even when the movie ends.

This isn't a movie for everyone... but I thought it was pretty fantastic. Maybe the kind of movie where you get out of it when you put in, though?

I'm curious if anyone else watched this one.

57

General Chat / Re: NBA Thread: Season Suspended Due To Pandemic And Gobert Dumbassery

« on: April 24, 2020, 01:06:32 PM »

Are people watching the new Jordan documentary?
It's fun.  Reminds me of being back in junior high, when we got to watch some of the old Jordan documentaries during class time.

58

Movies & TV / Re: All Things Netflix! Now you can watch on the GO, no mobile data needed.

« on: April 24, 2020, 01:03:00 PM »

Yeah, I don't regret watching it and there were plenty of good moments. For example, I liked how they would bring out minor characters in interesting ways, showing different motivations.

The show just had some weirdness too that was harder to figure out how I feel about. Some of that isn't bad - it challenges me to think about what's happening differently. Some of the sexuality in particular got weird because of the conceit of characters all being animals; but the race relationship aspects worked well with the same conceit, so it's a mix of good and... odd.

Curious if others who watched identified with the show as a (prep) high school experience? The whole thing seemed much more like what I'd expect from a college/university experience to me... although with some odd cultural differences from what I'm familiar with.

59

General Gaming / Re: TurboGrafx-16 mini / PC Engine mini / CoreGrafx mini - 7 extra games announced

« on: April 24, 2020, 12:45:20 PM »

That estimated release date could be (hopefully IS) just a placeholder though, right?

It seems crazy they would delay the release by that much, although there are a lot of crazy things happening this year.

60

Movies & TV / Re: All Things Netflix! Now you can watch on the GO, no mobile data needed.

« on: April 23, 2020, 11:25:04 PM »

Anybody watch Beastars?

new anime on Netflix, animal class society.
Carnivores and Herbivores, inter-species relationships. It gets into some deep subject matter.
It was actually pretty interesting.
..

Checked this show out over the past week. Not quite sure what to think, despite finishing the first season. It was interesting at times, but ended up being just a bit too furry for my tastes with the cross-species love story aspects? Apologies if that sounds all judgy; it isn't intended to be.

I think that I enjoyed the uber-geeky and more by-the-numbers Hi Score Girl second season more for my anime coming of age/love story.

61

General Chat / Re: Creative Outlets while we are at home to enjoy and be passionate about!!

« on: April 23, 2020, 09:42:12 AM »

Finished putting together a really cool project with my son today: Pinbox 3000.  It's basically a pinball machine made out of cardboard. We still need to add some obstacles and decoration, but it's coming along really well and is "playable" now.

As a pinball fan, these kits are really neat. They cost about $50 each, but have swappable surfaces so you can create two different layouts with each kit. The design is really solid, and goes together quite easily. They also last nicely (my daughter has one already that she built a few years ago) although you will need to replace some rubber bands over time.

Not sure if it helps people to talk about this now, since I don't know if you can order them during the pandemic or not, but it's been cathartic to build something together, and see the results. The fact that now he gets to decorate it and plan out his customized pinball machine is icing on the cake.

Eat your heart out, Labo!

62

General Chat / Re: Creative Outlets while we are at home to enjoy and be passionate about!!

« on: April 21, 2020, 07:21:52 AM »

I enjoy playing board games. Although I haven't been able to play against my friends very much, my kids have been a captive audience looking for things to do... so it's been a good opportunity to play with them (although mostly just on weekends).

There are a bunch of online options for playing board games too... but I haven't had the time/energy to try that out yet. There is something about the direct interpersonal actions that seems like it would be lost there anyway.

Minor rant, mostly off-topic so I'm going to spoiler it.

One thing that amazes me about this whole situation is how varied the situations are that people have to deal with, and how the effects on day-to-day life are so wildly altered.

For me, the stay-at-home order has left me with considerably less free time. My job can be done remotely, so has no decrease in daily responsibility; same for my wife. This is despite becoming teachers/best friends/daycare providers/etc for our kids which makes us less efficient that usual. The evening activities that my kids used to attend have mostly been replaced with online versions; this generally means I need to provide more hands-on involvement during that time to help them (sometimes with the activities, sometimes as tech support). Once they are in bed, I typically need to work again and clean up details that weren't completed during the day.

We're one of the lucky families. Money and job security aren't issues, which is awesome. But sometimes I get envious of people who complain about "too much free time". With books, video games, musical instruments, and exercise equipment available to me at home, I would love to have more free time than I do now. Since the lockdown started, I haven't spent any time with video games or music. It makes me sad to not know when that will change. And the idea of being able to focus solely on caring for my kids instead of always splitting time between them and work... what a luxury that would be!

Obviously situations are different for other people depending on their home unit (living with friends, parents, kids, etc) and employment status (working from home, working outside, not working but still getting paid, losing your job, etc). Sometimes it's hard to stay aware and sympathetic of all the ways that lives have been affected instead of focusing on my own situation.

63

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen

« on: April 21, 2020, 12:26:26 AM »

The Wandering Earth.

I don't know what to say. It's a pretty bad movie if you care about having a well-crafted plot of logic, but it's got enough action and CG set pieces to distract if shortcomings in those areas don't bother you. Large portions of the film was barely watchable for me, and having to follow subtitles made it hard to do just leave it in the background like I would often do with this kind of mindless action stuff.

Maybe I'm being too hard on it though. If you liked Armageddon then you might find this good also?

64

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last movie you've seen

« on: April 19, 2020, 09:22:15 PM »

I watched Annihilation with Natalie Portman. People were calling this a smart sci-fi movie, but I found it to be a horror movie of questionable intelligence. All in all it wasn't terrible, It's nice to see an original big budget movie from Hollywood, but if you want smart sci-fi, go watch Arrival. If you watch this film take it all as a metaphor and not reality.

time for rants:
Why not send in an all terrain robot attached to a cord to collect samples? They would have tested the DNA of the samples and figured it out early. Or even send a person 30 feet in then back out and put them in quarantine for a month while you test his blood? Did they try tunnelling under? Flying over? And the alien got taken out with a phosphorus grenade? They could have dropped a fire bomb on the lighthouse and been done with the mess.

Agree on all points. Don't regret my time watching it, but not a film that I found memorable or particularly exciting.

65

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Best of the 3DS eShop: 2013 Releases (Part 2)

« on: April 18, 2020, 10:42:12 PM »

Some brief notes and thoughts.

Own these, and think there are all pretty good:
* Mighty Switch Force 2 - good, probably an improvement over the original but for some reason (probably just because I was exposed to it first) the original left a better impression? Not bad if you like clever platforming and time trials.
* Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale - The actual gameplay isn't great, and significant portions boil down to digital paper-rock-scissors... and yet the storytelling and charming setting made this very appealing to me; totally enjoyed my play through but haven't gone back afterwards.
* SteamWorld Dig - I really like this game and have played through it several times. Available on many different systems, and I'm not sure there is anything specific to 3DS that makes it better here than elsewhere... but has often been on sale lately and is totally worth trying (on whatever platform you choose).

Some other specific comments:
* Undead Bowling - This had a demo, and it was kind of hilarious. Not sure it was good... but if you can still get the demo I definitely recommend checking it out. Wonderfully cheesy.
* Kokuga - I was really interested in this game, but it never got released in Canada so I couldn't try playing. Reviews were underwhelming, so maybe that's for the best?

I'd gladly play these if given the chance, but probably aren't going to go out of my way to download more digital software that is locked to old 3DS hardware:
* Picross E/E2 - Picross is always fun!
* Shining Force: Sword of Hayja - Shining Force games are usually fun!
* BUGS vs TANKS! - This particular game didn't appeal to me, but the Guild01/Guild02 series were mostly interesting releases... so I wouldn't have minded trying the game.

66

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen

« on: April 12, 2020, 09:29:30 AM »

No write-up needed: is it good?  Liked the first two seasons, and this is high on my "want to watch" list right now.

I have a lot of thoughts so I still want to do one. To answer your question: Yes, but it’s also the worst one. It felt like they were setting up Season 4 more than anything. Did you play Castlevania: Curse of Darkness? Season 3 continues to borrow from that game, but changes a lot. Not everything is a welcome addition. Bill Nighy is a delight as always. I’ll leave it at that in this post to avoid spoilers since you haven’t seen it yet.

Very good!  And after I do watch, I'll look forward to reading the longer post. 

67

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen

« on: April 11, 2020, 09:58:56 PM »

...
I finished the latest season of Castlevania a few weeks ago. I’ve been meaning to do a write up of Season 3. Boy, they did a number on Hector...

No write-up needed: is it good?  Liked the first two seasons, and this is high on my "want to watch" list right now.


So I started watching iZombie thinking it would be a light and mostly funny take on investigative crime show. First season or maybe two were ok... but it's gotten worse the longer it goes. Midway through season 4 now and just really not enjoying where the show has gone; kind of hate watching my way through as background when focusing on other things.

68

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXV: Metroid Dread. Game Over! Postgame Breakdown and Analysis Thread.

« on: April 08, 2020, 08:27:28 AM »

I am geninuely curious if anybody used my notes after I died?

I looked at them... but didn't do much of anything after you died.

69

Movies & TV / Re: Rate the last TV show you've seen

« on: April 07, 2020, 11:01:09 AM »

...
It's also only 7, 45-minute episodes, so you can knock it out in a few days.

That still sounds like a lot of time spent watching garbage people. I've been considering it just for the pop culture references since it's "a thing" lately... but feel like my time is probably better off spent elsewhere. My opinion of humanity has already been lowered watching how we handle the current COVID-19 situation; why drop it even further?

70

TalkBack / Re: LEGO Super Mario Launches on 8/1 - Two New Sets Revealed

« on: April 07, 2020, 09:10:30 AM »

I don't understand these sets. Although an interesting idea in theory... they are really expensive and (outside of Bowser, which I'm actually impressed by) don't have the usual "wow, that looks cool" factor that I expect from LEGO models.  Maybe it will all end up being much better than I expect though.

71

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXV: Metroid Dread. Game Over! Postgame Breakdown and Analysis Thread.

« on: April 06, 2020, 11:29:15 PM »

The members where:
Me
MASB
isanolord
Bshy
Steef
nickmitch
shyguy
and on the last 2 days
rabicle

Don't forget Mop It Up!

And me!  Oh wait...
*single tear*

72

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXV: Metroid Dread. Dead Thread.

« on: April 05, 2020, 03:37:34 PM »

Another blow to the Federation. These space pirates are out of control. Well at least I get to try out the dead thread.

It's the place to be, really.

There is so much I want to respond to right now but I will wait till the end of the game.

Same.

The only thing I can guess is that Kraid will end up being the townie MVP. Completely dominating the game at this point! 
Perhaps Mother Brain lucked into discovering Kraid's identity very early and has been helping pick targets?

73

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXV: Metroid Dread. Dead Thread.

« on: April 02, 2020, 02:42:14 PM »

An absolutely needless action that seemed necessary at the time. War does terrible things to men. Your drinks are on me!
...

I accept your drink, but only on condition that I cover the second round.
Here's to the dead!

74

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXV: Metroid Dread. Dead Thread.

« on: April 02, 2020, 01:39:22 PM »

I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did. At least there’s drinks in the afterlife.

And good riddance!  Aren't you the guy that ordered my hit?  Shame on you!

75

NWR Mafia Games / Re: Mafia LXXXV: Metroid Dread. Dead Thread.

« on: April 01, 2020, 12:25:15 PM »

...   I also think my first exposure to Metroid was the Super Metroid comics in NP leading up to the release of Super Metroid. Fun times. ...

Ooh... I remember those. A while ago we bought a book that collected the Zelda Link to the Past comics; I wish that I had the Metroid one in similar format, but don't think it was released the same way?  Probably accessible online somewhere, but I never enjoy reading books that way.