Rayn

Fall (2022)

Two (annoying) young ladies climb a 2000ft radio tower, gets stuck and emotional. They piss from the top, fight some cgi vultures and fly a drone. 

1/5

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022, Disney+)

I might need to re-watch this to really wrap my head around it, but since I watched this three nights ago I haven't stopped thinking about it. 

The main plot is so simple it's almost silly, but that's the entire point. Two guys fight over basically nothing but as they are equally stubborn things start to get a bit out of hand as their disagreement starts to involve everyone around them. 

The dialogue is sharp and witty and at times really dark. The acting is really good, the setting is bleak and barren, almost void of colours and land marks and even though most of the characters wear black clothing, they do add the colour of this story. 

There are so many details and hidden messages in almost every scene and I'm sure I've missed a few but over all this was a heck of a journey. Can't wait to watch it again. 

5/5

11 hours ago, Kryptonian said:

Does anyone elses Microsoft Store seem to want to update every fucking day? And despite being a small update it always takes ages and/or fails. No issues with anything else.

Yeah. It seems the MS Store isn't a stand alone app, though, but rather integrated in the actual OS which is why it's so slow and 'delicate'. Why it needs updating so frequently is beyond me, though, but I'm guessing it has to do with security issues as it handles payment info. 

4 minutes ago, BubbleDragon said:

Really pleased with the recognition of Everything Everywhere after being overlooked at many of the other awards ceremonies.   

Yeah. I was recommending the movie to all my co-workers last summer and they all were a bit "hmm, interesting, maybe..." and then never saw it. Now that it got a few oscard it's the big talk in the office this morning. 

We really need more original movies, especially Hollywood which has been recycling Marvel and old ideas for nearly two decades now. 

Upload (Amazon Prime)

Season 1

In the near future, the rich and able will have the opportunity to upload their conscience to a virtual world to live on forever. The main character, a shallow, self centered alpha male dies in a freak accident and ends up being uploaded to a high end virtual afterlife, thanks to his girlfriend. Bothered by accepting to be dead on top of memory loss, it's slowly unveiled that his death might not have been an accident. By befriending one of the support employees who is working in the real world, they try and find out what happened before his upload. 

Even if the main story was a bit predictive, it was filled with a lot of funny little details and jokes. It's all very light hearted but ultimately it's a fun watch. 

You need to park your common sense and logical thinking at the door before watching, as the series explain technology in a way that doesn't make a lot of sense. 

I was able to enjoy it from start to finish. 

4/5

Season 2

Continues where the first series left off and while some questions are answered almost immediately, new questions arise. The pacing in season 2 is off, and it all seems like there are episodes missing, or scenes left out. Also, the first season had 10 episodes while the second season only has 7, and it all ends very abruptly and it seemed rushed. 
I dunno what happened during production but it wouldn't surprise me if they ran into some issues. I'm happy to learn that it has been renewed for a third season as the last episode in season 2 ended with few plot threads unexplained. 

3/5

I haven't read the entire thread so I'm sorry in advance if this already has been discussed to death.

First and foremost, I will be quick to admit I'm a huge fan of the current generation of Xbox consoles. I've one of each but use the S more than the X as the S is only used by me while the X is set up as my main console with family sharing activated. 

Overall, games looks and perform great on the S, even compared to the X but it really depends on the game. I've started to see some games where the differences between the two consoles are so huge that I prefer to only play the game on the X only.

Of the games I've played, Cyberpunk is the one with the biggest difference. Not only does the S version look like a whole generation behind in fidelity, it also performs a lot worse, to the point of being a lot less fun to play. 

Hogwarts Legacy also looks a lot more like a PS4 game on the S while it looks rather tasty on the X and even here the S performs notably worse. I really don't mind the lower fidelity aspect of the Series S version but when it performs a lot worse I'm not as forgiving. I love playing The Witcher 3 remaster on the S as it has maintained the 60 fps performance so even if it looks worse than on X it plays just as good. 

Wether the S actively holds back devs from making "proper" next gen games, I'm not sure but I doubt it. I suspect the huge install base of last gen consoles, especially PS4 and Switch have a bigger impact on devs holding back rather than the Series S but I'm basing that notion on nothing but my own inner voice. 

So Long: Fallen Dynasty

The same game as Wo Long, but after 30 attempts on the first boss had me scream SO LONG before I rage quit. 

I dunno what it is but I seem to struggle to get into the flow of the gameplay. I've tried about 15-20 times to take down the first boss but it seems I've only been able to nail his first phase. The second phase usually leaves me with only one potion and his reach is, to me, so unpredictable that I tend to dodge into his attacks. 

Generally the first phase isn't too hard when I just focus but one minor slip up can end in insta death as some of his attacks leave me stunned long enough for him to get another hit or two in before I'm able to regain control over the character. 

I really hope I'm able to overcome my frustrations as the game seems great,it's just a tad too hard for me atm  

This game wasn't really on my radar but after watching the video review by IGN I'm intrgued. I'll give it a shot on game pass over the weekend, hoping it'll fill the void left by completing Hogswarts Legacy. 

12 hours ago, Mike1812 said:

I got to 30 mins the other day for the first time. It's insane. 

Just wait for the more exciting characters and weapons to unlock about 10 hours in!

On 26/02/2023 at 01:06, Mawdlin said:

The Whale

 

Yeah, that contains a massive spoiler. Thanks a lot

Person of Interest (HBO MAX)

Season 3-5

Can't be arsed to do separate reviews for the last three seasons. After the first two seasons, which I found to be highly entertaining and quite consistent, the entire atmosphere of this show takes a turn for the darker in season 3 and onwards. While the first couple of seasons were straight forward action with some mandatory twists here and there, the latter three seasons venture over to a more suspense like territory with a higher emphasis on drama. 

It works to some extent but as a whole the show feels a bit more inconsistent and the pacing takes a hit as there are more episodes that feels like fillers. 

In the bigger picture, though, I'm very pleased with the main story arch and some of the episodes were surprisingly good, especially towards the grand finale. 

Overall, I think I'll score the last three seasons, and the series as a whole a 4 out of 5. 

I've never been a fan of the HP universe. I've seen all movies once and enjoyed them but I was a grown man when the first one was released so I guess I was never a part of the target audience. 

I bought this game based on the rather positive reviews and I am generally a sucker for open world games. 

I've played for around 8-9 hours, I'm currently lvl 15 and the last big milestone I achieved in the game was to purchase my own broomstick. 

So far I must admit I'm liking this a lot. The main castle is impressive to explore, there are secrets in every nook and cranny and plenty of stuff that's not possible to unlock yet, making it exciting to revisit whenever I aquire new skills. 

Can't wait to explore more outside the castle. 

As with most previous generations, I've bought all currently available consoles. 

Even though one of my favourite games in years is only available on PS5 (Returnal), the PS5 is my least used console so far. It's not that I don't like it, I really do, but as the majority of my gaming friends are on PC/Xbox, 90% of all multiplayer games I buy will automatically be for the Xbox. 
As I prefer Game Pass Ultimate over either of the PS Plus iterations, the Xbox as a whole gets most of my attention. 

This might change as we see more exclusives released for the PS5, but for the time being I'm rather satisfied with the new consoles as they pretty much are just like last gen, but a lot faster and quieter. 

I don't need better graphics than what we've gotten since the release of PS4. I don't mind better visuals, but I'm far more impressed with higher frame rates and shorter loading times. 

One of the other things that makes Xbox my preferred platform these days is the Series S and its ease of mobility. Whenever I've got a business trip lasting more than two days, I take my Series S with me. There's no way that will ever happen with the PS5 but  if they end up releasing a PS5 Slim that's more like the Series S, that will change instantly. I'd much rather buy a PS5 Slim over a Pro. 

On 02/02/2023 at 17:05, gooner4life said:

 

Horribly under powered, 30fps, low res, hardly any storage, it's an indie game machine, you won't have a good experience playing any next gen AAA title on it.

I'm not entirely sure what your expectations of what a console should, and should not, be but I'm having a hard time following your logic. 

I've always bought most consoles since the SNES days, mostly because I enjoy gaming and owning all main platforms has meant that I've been able to purchase what games I've been interested in playing. 

I've also owned a PC for gaming since the early 90s, always making sure I've got a PC powerful enough to play most, if not all, new games with high settings. 

Fast forward to this gen and the Xbox is my most played platform, and even if I own both the Series X and the Series S it's the latter I'm using the most. The Series X is, ofc, the most powerful of the two but the S is far from a shit console. 

I was fully aware when I bought it that it wasn't as powerful as the Series X/PS5 or even a moderately cheap gaming PC but that's beside the point. The Series S is perfect for the bedroom and having a job where I travel quite a bit, bringing it with me to hook up to hotel TVs is great. While it's entirely possible to bring any other console, the Series X and PS5 are just too heavy and big as traveling companions. 

If I ever feel the need to sit down and play a game solely based on output, then I prefer to play the games on the Series X or PS5 but as an option to be able to play from my bed, either at home or on travels, it's a great bonus to be able to play my games wherever and whenever I like. 

Also, a lot of older games as well as less demanding games run great on the S, lately I've been playing through a few last gen games on the S with the benefit of better visuals and rock solid 60 fps performance, something I can't do on my PS4 Pro or Xbox One S (in most cases). As a console to play last gen games with better performance than last gen consoles were able to (in general, doesn't apply to all games) and still be able to play current gen games at the cost of visual fidelity and frames, it's nothing short of an essential piece of hardware to me. 

Given its form factor and build quality, the Series S is in many ways my favourite console of the current ones on the market but whenever I want to sit down and have the very best experience, I do so from my favourite chair hooked up to my rather expensive TV and home theatre sound system and Series X or PS5. 

You claim we won't be able to have a great experience playing any AAA titles on the Seies S, but recalling my journey through Elden Ring, I managed to complete large chunks of the game on the Series S, including the very last boss and I enjoyed my time on it just as much as I did when playing it on the Series X. 

Review embargo is lifted at 12 today. So what are we guessing? 

I'm afraid there'll be a lot of politics in some of the reviews, focusing on stuff not directly tied to the actual game. 

Based on what I've seen from the game so far, I'm not thinking it'll end up a modern classic, it seems to have loads of invisible walls and quite some limitations to the exploration, especially when using the broom. 

My gut feeling tells me we're going to see a meta score around the lower 80s, anything above that would be great though. 

Is it Ghostbusters 2?

1 hour ago, SteveH said:

One of my favourite duos were the Chinese brothers in the U.S one. That dragon they built in episode one was awesome. Sadly, one of them was a bit too arrogant for my liking and they focused far too much on always trying to have a Chinese theme. I do think they were robbed of the overall win though. 

Yeah, the dragons they made for the parade theme was excellent and head and shoulders above any of the other builds in that particular episode. 

58 minutes ago, Gotters said:

has to be the fox in the snow globe ?

Oh yes, that one blew me away for real. 

With The Last of Us seemingly being a huge hit with both fans of the game, newcomers and critics, I was toying around with the idea that we probably have quite a few gaming IPs that could work as a TV show if given the right treatment. 

If you could choose one franchise to be given a proper treatment for a TV show, what franchise would you pick and what would the format be (self contained mini series, seasonal, 25 minute or 1h eps etc)?

I think there are many gaming franchises that could work, even for a non-gaming audience (just like The Last of Us) and I'd love to see quite a few of them. 

Overall, though, I think my first pick would go to Silent Hill. I just love the general vibe the games has, the atmosphere and the various wtf moments. 

I'd love to see it made as a Horror/Mystery show, 10 episodes running at 1h each with a conclusion at the end. I'd be open for multiple seasons but I'd rather each season was its own thing. 

I've watched quite a few versions of Lego Masters and I personally rank the Australian one the highest and the US one lowest. 

While I generally like Will Arnett, it's the american format I dislike. Over the top commentary, a lot of screaming and generally a bit too shallow for my liking. I'm also not a fan of the way the US version animates the contestants' builds before judging, it kinda takes the magic and imagination away. 

While I'm not a huge fan of the Australian main host, his constant jokes and skits is generally too much for my liking, I need to remind myself that this is a family show and the kids seems to like his shenaningans very much. The australian brick master, however, is the best there is. If I ever got the chance to sit down and have a couple of beers with someone I don't know, he'd be a good pick for me. 

The Swedish one was also rather good and a bit surprising they went for a host with no experience in TV at all, they basically picked a young youtuber who was known (in Sweden) for his food reviews. Some of the builds in the swedish version are among the best I've seen overall. 

My favourite duo, so far, across all seasons and countries has to go to the guys who ended up winning S3 of the Aussie one, they had two builds in particular that blew my mind and are possibly the two best Lego builds I've ever seen. 

17 hours ago, Mallet said:

I would get the system and use it before deciding to buy more storage, I have personally never felt the need for more storage yet.

I've got the 1tb expansion card and wouldn't be without it but that's mainly down to the series x being set up in the main room with other family members using it and each have their own games they prefer. 

It is a good suggestion to just get the system first, though, as the cloud gaming feature is excellent if you've got a game pass sub. A lot of the games on there play just fine via the cloud with no need for a local install, which saves you a lot of space. 

I've been a gamer since my first home console clone of Pong back in '79 and have owned almost every popular console ever since. I've always loved gaming and found something to love in all genres but I've found out that popular games aren't always games I like personally. 

From the top of my head, popular games/franchises I wish I liked but don't/didn't: 

Sonic The Hedgehog: Never got along with this series, neither the classic 2D ones nor the 3D Aventure ones. Run full speed to get to the goal as quickly as possible and miss out on secrets and loads of rings or take your time and explore and lose a life because the time runs out. Not for me. 

Tomb Raider series: On paper it's right up my alley and technically the first couple of games blew me away (PSone) but stiff controls, weird shooting (and the worst gun popping sound ever, for TR1 and 2 at least) and bullet sponge enemies are just some of the things I disliked. One of the worst cameras in 3D games ever too. 

Halo series (campaign mode): While multiplayer Halo has always been fun, the campaigns never did much for me. I love FPS games, I love sci-fi and I love a challenge but the Halo campaigns did little to hold my interest going for more than 30 minutes at a time. Endless corridors that all look the same, the same few enemies throughout the game and a art style that's pretty boring (to me). I've completed Combat Evolved on Legendary and did enjoy parts of the campaign, especially The Silent Cartographer, The Library and the final race on the surface of the big space ship but as a whole there were big chunks of the game I found a chore to waddle through. 

I put in about 10 hours of this over the weekend and I'm playing it as if it's my first playthrough. I completed a rather rushed playthrough of the vanilla game back in 2015 but this time I'm exploring every nook and cranny and delve into as many side missions I can find. It really is a beautiful game and while it does start to show its age, being a little stiff and the combat system leaves a lot to be desired the story, lore and atmosphere is where it's at. 

Another thing I've learned playing the remake over the weekend is how Ubi has pushed the open world action rpg forward with their Assassins Creed games since this game released. There's no denying they had a long and hard look at The Witcher 3 when they made AC: Odyssey as there are loads of things they've copied and while they didn't make perfect games they actually pushed the actual open world aspect forward. I'd forgotten about the map in W3 being divided into chuncks. Also, the combat in Odyssey and Valhalla is miles better, for me at least, but I do prefer the lore and atmosphere in the Witcher universe.