Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Review: “Deals with Our Devils”

Mad Mack

(This review contains spoilers!)

          After 4 painful weeks of waiting, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D has finally returned…for 2 weeks, and then it goes on winter break. Looking it up, this has been the shortest first half of a S.H.I.E.L.D season yet, with the other 3 clocking in at 10 episodes as opposed to this one’s 8. I guess the election and Thanksgiving being back-to-back are partially to blame, or maybe the second half of the season has more content overall, but I found it a little bizarre.

          Speaking of bizarre, this week picked up directly after the last episode, with Coulson, Fitz and Robbie having vanished. Nobody knows where they’ve gone, but things are starting to get weird around the base. As it turns out, the lost trio have kind of made their way to a dimension between dimensions where they still exist, but only they can see and hear themselves.

          I do have one major gripe with this episode, and that is that a lot of it felt very repetitive for a reason. In order to keep Coulson and the others involved with the story, the writers decided it was best to show a group of scenes, and then replay them with the missing characters inserted in to show their reactions to them. While this worked better the second time they did it (showing their slight influences over the world), the first time felt more like just watching the same scene replay with Coulson acting as a couch commentator.

          That was the only real issue this week, because as is the standard with this show, things were thrown into a loop and you could never see what was coming next. First and foremost, Ghost Rider escaped Robbie’s body and attached itself to Mack, leading to an insane car chase through the streets. And, sure enough, we got to see Mack turn into the flaming skull man himself. I especially liked how the visual effects artists subtly tweaked the look of the skull so it resembled Mack’s face more than Robbie’s. It’s little changes like that that really add to the overall appeal and universe that S.H.I.E.L.D is going for. Anyways, Robbie was able to chase down the Rider and convince him to reattach to his body, allowing him to return home. As the show stands right now, it seems that Robbie just wants to hunt down Uncle Eli as his last bit of vengeance, but I really hope this isn’t the case. The whole Ghost Rider storyline has been the best part of the season so far, and it’d be a shame to lose him after just 8 episodes.

          We also finally learned where Simmons was sent to last week, as she was given the task of breaking that government lady’s brother out of his terregenesis cocoon. I did find it kind of amusing how she only opened up his back and face before being escorted out, leaving the poor guy still stuck there. Overall, this subplot only really existed to give Fitz a reason not to trust Director Mace, as well as potentially set up a new inhuman somewhere down the line.

          Radcliffe and Aida returned this week as well to help May bring Coulson and Fitz back. With May having taken the Darkhold for herself, Fitz was able to influence Aida to read it, lest either May or Radcliffe become corrupted by its power. Another neat touch was how, considering the Darkhold always presents its text in the reader’s native language, Aida read the book in binary. This led to what I can only assume is the Doctor Strange tie-in, as Aida opened up what looked remarkably similar to the portals from the movie, pulling Coulson and Fitz back through.

          Going forth, though, I worry that the Aida storyline will end up exactly how I predicted it would in my review of the season premiere: she uses her newfound Doctor Strange powers to turn against Radcliffe and S.H.I.E.L.D, becoming this season’s final boss. The post-credits scene showed her creating a brain, but for what purpose is unclear. Considering S.H.I.E.L.D is especially good at breaking expectations, I hope that her storyline will go somewhere other than the tired “evil robot” plotline we’ve seen so many times before (including in the same universe S.H.I.E.L.D takes place in).

          Regardless of where it ultimately leads us (and regardless of when we get to see where it leads us, considering this insane scheduling), this episode was another fantastic installment for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s so funny to think how worried I was for the show’s future after how much I disliked the first episode of the season, when my fears were completely unfounded. With things sure to get crazy with next week’s winter finale, I can’t wait to see how this is all going to wrap up.

FINAL SCORE

9/10

Amazing

Timeless Review: “Space Race”

One small step forwards, one giant leap backwards

(This review contains spoilers!)

          The moon landing was teased in the pilot for Timeless, making me feel that they were saving it for some sort of endgame episode, or at least one that would create a major shakeup in the status quo. Instead, the moon landing was utilized as, once again, an episode that only exists to create new drama for the characters and set up things for later. Nothing of note really happened this week, which is especially disappointing to see after two stellar episodes back to back.

          The story is the same one we’ve seen before: Flynn has travelled back in time to mess with the moon landing, and our heroes have to go stop him. On their way, they meet up with a hero of history, who helps them fix up the timeline so there are no real significant changes, just minor ones. Then the episode ends as the characters reminisce about what just happened. We’ve seen this episode before, and as this show is going, I’m almost certain we’ll see it again.

          This week, Flynn and the professor who I’m sure has a name but I can’t remember it travel back to the moon landing, and Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus give chase. Surprisingly, Lucy is the best part of the episode this week, as she gives a lot of social commentary on what it was like being a woman in the late 60’s. In fact, a lot of this episode is a very pro-woman message, with the major side character of the week being a long unsung female hero of NASA. Aside from the always excellent set and costume design, the acknowledgement of the important roles women played in the moon landing was easily the best part of the episode, and it was handled perfectly.

          The rest of the episode, on the other hand…wasn’t. A lot of this week was spent with Flynn, as he met his mother before he was born. In recent weeks, Flynn has been an enormous problem for Timeless for two specific reasons. The first, and more minor of the two, ties into last week’s episode. Flynn has maintained that he’s only able to do this because Lucy gave him her journal at some point. Well, if all went according to plan last week and they remained trapped in the 18^th century, Lucy would never be able to give him her journal, resulting in him never stealing the time machine and the space-time continuum as we know it being thrown in a blender. A minor nitpick, maybe, but it really shows that not much thought is being put into the long-term writing here.

          The second and far more significant problem with Flynn is how the show is trying to treat him as a morally gray and even sympathetic villain. Now that’s all fine and dandy, and I feel the actor is doing a great job of portraying him. The problem is that you can’t feel sympathetic for this guy when the episode opens with him killing two innocent bystanders. What!? With the emotional crux of the episode focusing on the villain and his interactions with him mother, you can’t start us off seeing him drop bodies like nobody’s business! That immediately ruins any and all sympathy we may have for him, because as soon as the villain of the story kills someone, they immediately get a black mark on them that’s hard to remove. Think back to Scar from The Lion King. What if, after killing Mufasa, we had a lengthy scene that tried to make us feel sympathetic for Scar as he struggles being king? It wouldn’t work, because there was no way we would feel for this guy after we watched him commit a murder. It’s the same story here.

          The rest of the episode doesn’t really give me much to talk about. It’s a lot of talking and waiting for a payoff that never really comes. The real meat of the episode lies in the last fifteen minutes or so. In a battle with the professor, Rufus kills one of the NASA workers, leaving him wondering what these missions is doing to his psyche. Later on, we get the reveal that Flynn saved his half-brother from dying due to a bee sting allergy. I liked the reveal that Flynn was hanging out with his mother, but why couldn’t the kid just be a younger version of him? That’d be much more interesting than them pulling the “oh yeah he had a dead brother” trick. I guess it’s because of the rule that you can’t visit a point in time where they already exist, but they’ve already stretched that and other rules enough as it is. It was a fine reveal for what it was, but it could’ve been done far better.

          I really, really want to love this show. I want to look forward to watching it every week like I do the other shows I review on here. But the lousy characterization and boring, repetitive plots are keeping me from enjoying it the way I enjoy Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D or a really good anime. The set design continues to be stellar and the pro-female message kept this episode from being the absolute bottom of the barrel, but for an episode that was teased in the pilot I expected far better.

FINAL SCORE

4/10

Mediocre

Editorial: What is the superior Smash Bros game?

What is the superior Smash Bros game?

          Ah, now there’s a topic that sparks debate! Despite only having 4 installments, Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series has sparked debate over which installment is the best: the original on N64, GameCube’s Melee, Wii’s Brawl, or Smash 4 for Wii U?

          Oftentimes when this question comes up, the 4 combatants are cut down to 2: Melee and Smash 4. While influential, the original game doesn’t exactly hold up against its more refined sequels, and although Brawl has a lot of great exclusive features, the heavy random elements prevented it from surviving in the eSports scene. Personally, I think all 4 games are fantastic in their own right, but for the sake of this article, I’ll mostly focus on comparing Melee to Smash 4.

          To an outsider, it’s a no brainer which game is better. Smash 4 has more characters and stages, it’s the only game in HD, and it supports up to 8 players. Why would anyone prefer the game with half the content?

          The answer is surprisingly easy. In terms of controls, Melee is still the most advanced of the games, with several complicated move strings and exploits that professional Smashers use to fly around the stage at near supersonic speeds. Those who claim Melee is the best game in the series say so because on a purely strategic level, Melee is the much more refined of the two, taking much more professional skill and hand-eye-coordination to master.

          But that, to me, is what truly sets the two apart. There’s ultimately no real winner here, because people prefer the two games for entirely different reasons. Smash 4 is such a hit because it is the perfect example of a game you can sit down and have a good time with. Gather a few friends, choose your character, play with items on or off, the works. And while Melee can be enjoyed the same way (I myself played the game for years with no knowledge of wavedashing or L-cancelling), Smash 4 is the true king of the casual party because of the significantly more content it has over Melee. I’m sure there are those who’d argue with me over that, but at least with me that example has rung true.

          But again going back to the competitive scene, while there are Smash 4 tournaments just the same as there are Melee tournaments, the Melee tournaments are the ones that get hugely publicized for the same reasons I mentioned earlier: anyone can pick up and play Smash 4 and learn it, but it takes a professional to truly master the ins and outs of Melee.

          Ultimately, both games are superior to the other in their own way. In terms of the competitive scene, Smash 4 cannot compare to Melee, but in terms of just having fun with friends, I prefer Smash 4 over its older sibling. Both games also excel at what the other does best, but neither can catch up to the other one.

          But this is where the other big question comes in: considering Masahiro Sakurai and the other developers currently working on the Smash series want the games to be accessible to all players regardless of skill, it’s likely Melee will continue to rule the roost when it comes to competitive Smash for a lot longer. So, at least for hardcore Smashers, Melee will never fade into obscurity. But the same cannot be said for Smash 4. Eventually, regardless of how long it takes, Smash 5 will come along, and at that point, will Smash 4 be able to keep up?

          We’ve all heard the rumour that Smash Bros on the Nintendo Switch will just be an updated version of Smash 4, and Smash 4 will be the base game from now on. But considering Nintendo themselves haven’t said anything on the matter yet, I’ll just ignore that for now. After every Smash game, Sakurai continues to say that each of them will be his last one. He wanted Melee to be the final game, until he made Brawl, and for a while Brawl was to be the last one, but then Smash 4 came along, and we’re seeing it happen again with the Switch on the horizon. Smash 4 is only 2 years old, but people are already looking to what the future will hold for Smash. That doesn’t bode well for Smash 4.

          In terms of liveliness, Smash 4 won’t be long for this world once Smash 5 comes along. I know I haven’t touched Brawl since Smash 4 came out, and in terms of the casual scene it’s been almost a decade since Melee was relevant. When Smash 5 eventually comes along (and believe me, it will), Smash 4 will become obsolete, while Melee will likely continue to be the go-to for professionals should Smash 5 continue to choose to appeal to the casual crowd over the more niche crowd.

          So does that mean Melee is the superior Smash game? Well, in terms of timelessness, yeah. Living in a time when many games get replaced by their sequels as soon as the new one comes out (especially in the shooter market), Melee has continued to survive against all odds 15 years after its release. And although Smash 4 is my personal preference over the two, there’s no denying that it won't last, should the next game one-up it.

          In the end, though, it doesn’t really matter as long as you’re having fun. Both games are hugely enjoyable, because at their cores they’re both Smash Bros games. Whether you love Melee’s fast-paced strategic gameplay, Smash 4’s flashy graphics and huge content, or you prefer the original game or Brawl, there’s always a good time to be had when playing Smash.

Song of the Week

          I think every gamer has heard the opening theme from Smash Bros Melee at least once, but you may have missed the live orchestral version from the Smashing…Live! CD. Included as a freebie in Nintendo Power, Smashing…Live! included classic tracks from Melee such as Jungle Japes and Fountain of Dreams performed live by an orchestra. My personal favourite is their take on the classic Opening theme, which is music to the ears of any longtime Smash fan.

Moana Review

The turning of the tide

(This review contains minor spoilers!)

          If there’s two things I love, its Disney animation and Polynesian culture. I don’t know why or where it came from, but I’ve always had a fascination for the mythology and gods of Polynesia and Hawaii over their more famous Greek and Egyptian counterparts. I’ve always felt that the mythos would go hand in hand with Disney’s storytelling prowess.

          I was right.

          Moana is, without a doubt, the best Disney movie in years, and that’s saying something considering their recent catalogue (Tangled, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia). If there was one word I could use to describe the entire experience, it would be “spellbinding”. Disney veterans John Musker and Ron Clements (they also directed Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules among others) have crafted a fully realized world, filled to the brim with memorable characters, fantastic songs, and gorgeous visuals.

          Speaking of the visuals, let’s talk about those first and foremost. I say without any exaggeration that Moana is the most beautiful piece of CGI animation I’ve ever seen. Having visited places like Bahamas myself, the filmmakers have perfectly captured the ocean perfectly in the animation, right down to the correct hue of the colour. The rest of the island world is rendered in incredible detail, from the trees and jungles of Moana’s home to the boiling hot magma home of villain Te Ka. Similarly to Doctor Strange from earlier this month, this is a movie that needs to be seen in theatres to fully appreciate just how beautiful it is.

          The rest of the movie lives up to its gorgeous visuals, with a stellar and original story, fantastic characters, and songs that I’m sure will become instant Disney classics.

          The tale of Moana begins Moana herself, a girl who literally befriends the ocean. Years later, as she is training to become the chief of her tribe, the ocean calls to her with a mission to locate the demigod Maui and use a magical stone to stop the islands from growing corrupted. While it does have its tropey moments, the story overall is enthralling and wonderful, being both very funny and very heartfelt.

          This is very much thanks to the fantastic characters and cast. Moana is played by newcomer Auli’I Cravalho, but you’d never be able to tell this was her first major role. I kid you not when I say she gives most, if not all, the previous Disney princesses a run for their money. And yes, that includes Frozen’s Elsa. She’s goofy and quirky, but never becomes annoying. She has a lot of serious moments, but never feels stone cold. Her struggles of deciding whether to follow what her father wants and become chieftain or risk her life to protect the ocean are extremely relatable, and you find yourself rooting for her within the first 15 minutes of movie.

          The other characters don’t quite reach Moana’s heights, but each are welcome additions to the Disney pantheon. Dwayne Johnson’s Maui is a lot of fun, and while he falls mostly into “big strong guy who’s full of himself but has a heart of gold” route, Johnson puts all of his charm and fun into the voice, and you wind up endeared to him. Alan Tudyk’s role as idiotic rooster Heihei doesn’t give him much in the way of dialogue (his ability to cluck in many different ways is remarkable), but the poultry immediately joins the ranks of loveable Disney animal sidekicks by stealing the show whenever he’s onscreen. Prior to release, the directors called Heihei “the dumbest character in the history of Disney animation”, and I feel they fulfilled on that.

          Of course, it wouldn’t be a Disney musical without some great songs that will inevitably be played in car radios for the next year, and Moana doesn’t disappoint either. Written by Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda, the songs for the most part give Frozen’s legendary tunes a run for their money. The main theme, Moana’s solo “How Far I’ll Go” is very Let it Go-ish, a ballad of empowerment about the ocean and sailing. That’s not to say it’s a direct rip-off of Frozen’s signature song, but rather an improvement on the foundation Let it Go set. There’s also lots of songs sung in both Polynesian and English languages, fitting the atmosphere perfectly. My personal favourite, however, would have to be Maui’s song, “You’re Welcome”. A bouncy and joyful song, it definitely resembles the excellent Disney sidekick songs of the past, but Johnson is able to give it his own flair that allows it to stand on its own. The backing music is also fantastic, with lots of heavy percussion to really give it that Hawaiian feel. The one problem with the songs comes in the form of the villain song, as sung by a giant crab with the voice of Jemaine Clement. It’s very different from previous Disney villain songs, to say the least, feeling more like a hip-hop tune than something like Be Prepared or Mother Knows Best. Now that’s all fine and dandy, but it feels extremely out of place in Moana’s tribal island environment. It honestly broke my immersion, but it thankfully is over fairly quickly. It’s not a bad song, per se, just one that’s incredibly out of place.

          But in all honesty, one bad song isn’t going to stop Moana from being a masterpiece of animation and storytelling. In a year that’s already had one good Disney movie and one good Pixar movie, it just feels like they’re spoiling us at this point. Moana is beautiful, heartfelt, funny, sad, empowering, and just plain incredible. I’d highly recommend checking this one out, because it’s Disney at their absolute best. You’ll thank me later. And when you do, I’ll say you’re welcome.

FINAL SCORE

10/10

Legendary

Magical Girl Raising Project Episode 9 Review

Mo’ dropouts, mo’ problems

(This review contains spoilers!)

          There’s something awfully poetic about seeing that bright pink splash screen that displays each episode’s title fade into a shot of exploding cars. Magical Girl Raising Project continues the threads started last week that suggest the end is nigh for our colourful crew, and only the strongest will survive from this point on.

          We pick up right where we left off last week, with Calamity Mary causing a ruckus to attract Ripple and Top Speed back to her. Much of the episode is focused on the ensuing fight, with the rest of it tying together the loose ends left behind from last week. Unfortunately, the fight between Mary and Ripple is a little less enjoyable than previous battles. I think it was animated a little differently, because there were some parts where the action would go into slow-mo without much reasoning, messing up the pacing of the battle.

          As for the ultimate result, I have to give myself a pat on the back for predicting not one, not two, but three things that happened this episode: both Calamity Mary and Top Speed were killed, and the reason behind Top Speed’s 6 months was that she was pregnant. The way they did it, however, was amazing. I’ve complained in the past about how Magical Girl Raising Project likes to telegraph who’s next on the chopping block a little too much, and although Top Speed is the latest victim of the flashback curse (we saw her home life last week, after all), there wasn’t a huge crazy fight scene she was destined to lose. She was stabbed in the back by Swim Swim, and that was that. Simple, yet effective.

          Speaking of Swim Swim, she continues to be an excellent villain. Her monotone expression as she continues to plot and murder her way through the competition is nothing short of terrifying, especially considering she’s still following orders of the same lady she performed a coup d’état on early in the series. This is also thanks to her voice actress, Inori Minase, who you may recognize as Rem from Re:Zero and Yuki from Gakkou Gurashi. She continues to be behind the most three dimensional and interesting characters in anime, and Swim Swim is no exception.

            I’m also happy that Snow White’s uselessness from the early episodes is being utilized in a great way! Now, her uselessness makes her a prime target for bloodthirsty magical girls, as we saw the Peaky Angel and Tama fail an assassination attempt on her. While you could still see this as a negative (the best part of her character is how vulnerable and useless she is), I’m just happy the main protagonist is doing main protagonist things instead of talking to her friend on a radio tower all night.

          In Fav’s words, more and more girls continued to “drop out” this week, because in addition to Calamity Mary and Top Speed, Winterprison’s death ultimately spelled the end for Sister Nana, who committed suicide. Frankly, I would’ve preferred to see her go out in a blaze of glory, preferably against Swim Swim, but this way was much more emotional in terms of the story. Nana was always a beacon of hope and light in the show, and now with her gone, things are sure to get a lot darker.

I guess I should predict who’s going to drop next. 7 girls remain of the initial 16, but aside from Snow White and Ripple, we haven’t seen much of the home life of the other 5, meaning that this one’ll be more of a shot in the dark. My gut is saying next will be either Swim Swim, Tama, or the last Peaky Angel. The episode ended with Swim Swim contemplating taking on Cranberry, but as we’ve seen before Cranberry is ruthless and more than a little overpowered. While the final shot suggests they may take another course of action, taking on Cranberry is sure to get one of them killed, and it’s likely to be whichever one gets a flashback next.

          The air of mystery surrounding what’s going to happen next as well as Fav deciding that 3 more girls need to die (he’s going to reduce the number to 1 in the end, mark my words) continue to ramp up the stakes as we approach what I assume to be the final 3 episodes of the show. But that’s all speculation. This week was another great installment in the series, as we lost three major players and continue down the path to ultimate destruction.

FINAL SCORE

8/10

Great

Pokémon Sun and Moon Review

Welcome to the Ohana

(This review contains minor spoilers!)

          If you’ve been living under a rock, you may have missed that it’s the 20^th anniversary of the Pokémon series this year. In celebration of this, The Pokémon Company has pulled out all the stops, releasing loads of content under the Pokémon name, and for the most part it’s all been of high quality. It all culminated with Pokémon Sun and Moon, the first ever releases in the seventh generation of the main series Pokémon games. But with all that hype, do the games stand as a new franchise pillar, or join the ranks of the more forgettable releases?

          Right off the bat, you can tell that Sun and Moon is trying to distance itself from several franchise hallmarks, while still keeping more fundamental elements around to create a Pokémon experience that, while ultimately very traditional, is able to stand out on its own. You play as a young trainer who has just arrived at the Hawaii-inspired Alola region, ready for adventure, excitement, and new pocket monsters galore.

          The most noticeable change from previous installments is the eschewing of the tried-and-true gym badge collection. Replacing this is the Island Challenge, an all-new series of trials that each behave differently. The challenge works similarly to the gyms in that you travel around Alola, meet each Trial Captain, complete their specific objective, defeat a final boss Pokémon, and receive your victory spoils. The objectives vary from trial to trial, from a wild Pokémon battle gauntlet, to a hidden item search, to even a spot the difference minigame. When you have completed all the trials on one of the islands (of which there are 4 in total), you square off against the island’s kahuna in a final battle. While the trials end up feeling pretty similar to one another towards the end of the game, they are each unique enough that you don’t grow bored like I often seem to when reaching the end of my gym badge runs in the other games.

          Another welcome change, and one that longtime Pokémon fans have been clamouring for for years, is the removal of the Hidden Machines, or HMs for short. For those who don’t know, HMs were a mainstay in all other games in the main series as moves that were necessary to teach to a Pokémon in order to progress in the game. They were, for the most part, extremely weak in battles and you could only remove them with the assistance of a Move Deleter NPC. Sun and Moon does away with the HMs once and for all, replacing them with rideable Pokémon that do the job for free. Need to fly somewhere? Call on a Charizard and you’ll get there. Need to get across water? Call a Sharpedo. Need to push a heavy rock? Machamp’s your guy. This, as well as a few other additions, allow Sun and Moon to become the most streamlined and accessible Pokémon games in years, and allows the franchise to grow as a result.

          Alola itself also feels much differently from other Pokémon regions before it. It’s clear that the developers and artists working on the game really did their homework on Hawaii and Polynesian culture, because playing the game almost feels like taking an island vacation yourself. From pristine beaches to lush jungles to the Pokémon themselves, this is the best looking handheld Pokémon game yet.

          And yet, these updated graphics come at a significant cost. Although it can be played just fine on a standard 3DS, it is made very clear through the gameplay that Sun and Moon would prefer to be played on a New 3DS. I played the game exclusively on a standard 3DS XL, and while it’s far from unplayable, there’s a lot of significant slowdown and lag at certain points in the game. Specifically in a double, triple, or one of the all new Battle Royals, the game slows to below 30 frames per second, making everything look choppy.

          Onto the gameplay itself, how is it? Well, despite what the advertising for this game may have you believe, aside from the introduction of the Island Challenge, Sun and Moon are still standard Pokémon games through and through. This is especially evident in the first few hours of the game, which is paced painfully slowly. First impressions are very important, especially in video games. Sun and Moon’s introduction and subsequent tutorial are a complete chore to get through, and left me worried about what the rest of the game would be like.

          My worries were thankfully unfounded, as Sun and Moon only get better and better the more you play them. Once the game stops handholding you and allows you to play at your own pace, it shows its true colours as one of the best Pokémon games in recent years.

          Starting off with the new Pokémon, there are a grand total of 80 new critters to capture and train, bringing the total number up to 802. That’s not even counting the returning Pokemon from previous installments, or the all new Alolan forms of some Generation 1 favourites, giving new life to classic Pokemon such as Grimer, Meowth, and Vulpix by changing their designs and types. When playing Pokémon games I tend to find a team of 6 and stick with them for the entire game, but with Sun and Moon I found myself shuffling my team around a lot to accommodate all the cool new designs. Some new favourites of mine include Grass-types Fomantis and Lurantis, Ground-types Mudbray and Mudsdale, and all 3 of the new Starter Pokémon as well as their subsequent evolutions.

          The other reason I tended to change my team around a lot was that Sun and Moon have upped the difficulty from previous installments. While it’s still easy enough that any kid worth their salt could beat the game no problem, it’s a far cry from the cakewalks that were Pokémon X and Y and Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. I actually lost a few of the more difficult battles in this one, particularly one of the later kahuna battles that gave me an especially tough time.

          Of course it wouldn’t be a Pokémon game without battles, and Sun and Moon don’t disappoint. The good folks over at Game Freak have refined the battle system even further, adding a new toggle you can use to check your Pokémon’s stats at will, including any changes that may have occurred during combat. Catching Pokémon has improved too, as you can now choose to switch your newly caught monster with one already in your party instead of being forced to make the trek all the way back to the Pokémon Centre to pick up your new partner.

          The other major addition to the battles are Z-Moves, which essentially replace the Mega Evolutions from the previous two installments in the series. You activate a Z-Move by giving one of your a Z-Crystal that matches the same type as at least one of the moves in their party. Once per battle, you can select to use a Z-Move instead of one of the 4 other options, unleashing a comically destructive attack that’s almost always a one-hit knockout, especially if it’s super effective. As fun as the Z-Moves are to use, they do feel more than a little broken, as even some of the Elite Four’s strongest Pokémon went down in just one hit thanks to a well-coordinated Z-Move. But the part of them is knowing when in the battle to use them, as you only get to use one per match. Plus, collecting all the Z-Crystals is a lot of fun, especially when you get one that matches up with a major member of your team.

          In terms of the story, I do feel that this is the one thing Sun and Moon does that’s been done better by a previous game in the franchise. The overall story in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is much better than Sun and Moon’s story. That’s not to say Sun and Moon’s story is bad by any means, though. There are some really good new characters, the evil team is a lot of fun, and while it’s not exactly memorable, it’s one that you’ll enjoy watching unravel while you play.

          Pokémon Sun and Moon feel like, if anything, a celebration of how far the series has come in the last 20 years. In streamlining the battle system, removing some of the more loathed burdens from previous games, increasing the difficulty, and introducing loads of new and cool Pokémon, Game Freak has created a new installment in the Pokémon pantheon that can be enjoyed by fans young and old alike. However, the excruciatingly slow start and occasionally low framerates when playing on a standard 3DS may turn away more impatient gamers. Nonetheless, Pokémon Sun and Moon is an excellent game that only reaffirms the series’ status as a gaming mainstay, because for the first time in a while it feels like Pokémon has truly evolved.

FINAL SCORE

8/10

Great

Timeless Review: “Stranded”

Lost in time

(This review contains spoilers!)

          Last week, Timeless made its first real big step since the pilot, adding in internal conflict between the characters, background to the villain, and continuing what the show already excelled in in terms of the overall visual design. This week’s episode, Stranded, continued to build on what happened last week, but also suffers some clear mishaps that continue to keep the show from reaching its full potential.

          I think I can say without hyperbole that the first half of Stranded may very well be the best we’ve seen of Timeless so far. There’s action, character interaction, humour, tension, and Timeless’s trademark excellent set design and costumes. It’s everything I wanted the show to be when I first heard the synopsis.

          When the time machine is sabotaged by Flynn’s goons, Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus are all trapped in the 18^th century. They attempt to return home by means of Rufus leaving a time capsule for the home base crew to dig up, as well as rebuilding the time machine. On the way, they continue to squabble about the revealed secrets from last week, as well as run into a tribe of natives and some very angry Frenchmen.

          The best part about this episode is, again, the continued threads and character conflicts that started last week. After four episodes of nothing but filler, it’s so nice to finally have something that makes Timeless feel more than episodic. Plus, with the added tension of the destroyed time machine, things actually felt really intense this week.

          It also helped that the set designers, makeup artists, costumers, prop designers, and everyone else working in the visuals department really gave it their all this week. They created a pitch-perfect 18^th century environment, and everything in it really reflected that, creating an immersive world that placed you right into the time period and made you want to learn more.

          The other thing done right this week was that we got more time with the crew back at home base. I’ve felt that we really haven’t seen much of them yet, but this week we saw their side of the story quite a lot, as they worked hard to bring the main trio home. I really like this! The writers took what could’ve felt like a distraction used to fill time and utilized it so that it actually became just as interesting as the stranded team themselves.

          Unfortunately, the episode’s biggest problem comes in the form of the entire ending. Yes, all of it. I can forgive Rufus being able to find everything he needs to fix the time machine in the 18^th century (you can make the claim they built it so it could be easily fixed in a situation like this). The thing is, in order to get back to the base, the people back in home base need to coordinate the landing themselves, otherwise they could end up literally anywhere else. How do the home base team learn this? Why, through the most asinine deus-ex machina I’ve seen in a very long time. I tend to watch these shows in a group, and we were all rolling our eyes at how exactly they were able to make it home safely.

          The other thing that frustrates me about the ending is that, aside from the Writtenhouse and Flynn stuff (of which there was little to none of this week, but it ultimately didn’t really have a place in this episode), all the conflicts that started last week seem to have been wrapped up nicely. Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus are all friends again, and all seems to be forgiven. I know they weren’t going to be fighting for the rest of the season, but I would’ve liked the discord between the three to last a little longer. Just because they’re a team and have been on several missions together doesn’t mean they’re immediately best friends who would forgive anything. The implications that Lucy is working for Flynn or Rufus is working for Writtenhouse seem like they’d have more impact than just one episode’s worth. And as we see here, it works really well! Adding an overarching conflict makes Timeless much more interesting than when it’s an episodic tour through American history.

          This episode came so, so close to being fantastic. The story, set design, characters, everything was done so well this week, and it added more to the already good episode from last week, but the awful ending and cheap cop-outs continue to make the show suffer plotwise. With 10 episodes remaining in the season, I really hope Timeless can fix the problems it’s been having and give us a second half worth getting excited about.

FINAL SCORE

7/10

Good

Editorial: November Warfare

November Warfare

          Thanksgiving is upon us (if you live in America, that is). A time for reuniting with family and friends, enjoying meals, and giving thanks to all that’s been good to you this year.

          And then the day after that all bets are off as Black Friday sweeps the nation once again! I could go on about how insanely stupid some people can get on Black Friday, but I’ll just leave it at this: don’t hurt yourself or someone else in the name of consumerism.

          Speaking of consumerism, the video games industry continues to roll out game after game after game at this time of year, with recent big-name releases including Dishonored 2, Watch Dogs 2, and Pokémon Sun and Moon. Today, however, I’d like to talk about the ever-popular multiplayer shooter genre, and how the annual battle to be the one game that makes it onto the most Christmas lists can be twice as brutal as the wars depicted in the games themselves.

          Let’s start by looking at the major players we’ve seen in the last few months: Gears of War 4, Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. There’s also some released earlier in the year, like Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 and the ever-popular Overwatch. That’s 6 options in total, and that’s not even including some I may be forgetting or releases from previous years that have yet to be graced with a new installment.

          So why is this so important to talk about? It’s become commonplace to expect a tidal wave of games in the first person shooter genre to be released just before Thanksgiving. Well, this year I felt it was necessary because it seems like the corporations have decided the best way to make sales is going for the throats of other games. Namely, EA is going after Activision, although EA also seems to be also busy fighting with itself for some reason.

          On the day of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s release, we were graced by this tweet, courtesy of the official Titanfall Twitter account:

          The tweet links to the IGN review of Infinite Warfare, where the reviewer called the campaign, you guessed it, “mostly slow and plodding”. Now, it’s not really my place to pick sides here, especially considering I haven’t played Infinite Warfare. But I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a game take a shot at another game using a less than positive review against it, least of all on launch day. Respawn’s official Twitter account clarified that they had nothing to do with the tweet and they have nothing but support for other developers, but somebody had to give that tweet the go-ahead to post. We live in a world where Nintendo of America is congratulating the 15^th anniversary of the original Xbox on their Twitter, and yet over in the shooter bloodbath we have whoever’s managing Titanfall’s Twitter taking potshots at Activision’s goliath franchise.

          But in all honesty, Titanfall 2 could use the extra press. While I and several other critics lauded the game, sales haven’t been great, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. The game was released in the exact same week as Infinite Warfare and EA’s own Battlefield 1. Considering that Call of Duty and Battlefield are both much more credible and renowned names than Titanfall, it’s easy to see that consumers who only play a couple of games per year would rather buy those over a series that’s only had one prior release to date, a game that, in retrospect, wasn’t super successful in the long run.

          So it’s unsurprising that Titanfall 2 couldn’t quite keep up with the big boys. But as I mentioned before, the game was released only a few days after Battlefield 1. What’s confusing here is the common factor between the two: both are published by EA. Granted, Battlefield was developed by DICE and Titanfall by Respawn, but EA is the one who gives the final word on when these games are released and how they are marketed. EA has come out and said that they had hoped the two different games would appeal to two different audiences, but in the casual crowd that’s just not a thing that happens. In terms of entertainment, if presented with a new installment to a name they recognize and something all new, they’ll typically go with the new installment, especially if money is a factor in this equation. Why would someone pay to play a game from an untrusted IP when there’s a brand new Battlefield coming out at the same time? There’s also the issue that most people don’t have the budget to play everything that’s released, which results in stuff like Gearbox’s Battleborn not being able to keep up with Blizzard’s Overwatch, with rumours floating around that it’ll go free-to-play before the end of the year.

          So where does that end us up? The same place we stared, honestly. EA is doing what it does best, being completely clueless about how to market its products and cannibalized its own game as a result. Someone at Respawn went after Infinite Warfare using a slightly negative review against it (really, the IGN review gave Infinite Warfare a 7.7/10, but in IGN terms that basically means it’s literally unplayable). In all honesty, we’re probably going to see the same thing happen again next year with whatever the next Call of Duty is going to be and whoever decides to compete with it in the 2017 holiday market. Rushing to get games out in time for Thanksgiving is what results in unfinished messes like Assassin’s Creed Unity, unsatisfying experiences like Star Wars Battlefront, or a great game like Titanfall 2 being crushed under the weight of all the big names coming out at the same time. And using Titanfall 2 as a warning sign is just plain sad.

Song of the Week

          Given the Titanfall theme this week, I felt it was only proper to go with the Titanfall 2 Main Theme. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I’d highly recommend giving it a rent over the Thanksgiving weekend (I mean, if you can still rent stuff wherever you are). I hope everyone has a safe Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and again, be kind to people instead of pushing them down.

Magical Girl Raising Project Episode 8 Review

The beginning of the end

(This review contains spoilers!)

          At this point, I’m seriously confused as to how I started off my review of the first episode of Magical Girl Raising Project with “Attack of the cute”, because at this point the show is anything but.

          The number of magical girls was cut down from 12 to 10 this week, with the death of both Winterprison and the older of the two Peaky Angels in the first 10 minutes of the episode. As I predicted last week, Winterprison fell victim to the flashback curse, following in the footsteps of the 4 characters we’ve lost before this. The Peaky Angel death, on the other hand, was a first in that it came out of completely nowhere. 

          With this episode, the angel twins, Tama and Cranberry are the only characters we’ve yet to see the home lives of. Speaking of Cranberry, I did notice something a little bizarre this week that you had to be quick to catch. Before and after what I assume to be where the commercials would go, there are quick flashcards detailing the power of each magical girl and what they’re like in real life. This week we saw Cranberry’s card, but in place of what her human life is like we got a blurb about Fav. That’s very peculiar, but as Cranberry continues to be one of the least explored characters, one has to wonder if it’s going to go anywhere.

          After the opening bloodbath at Swim Swim’s place, much of this episode focused on Calamity Mary, detailing how she became a magical girl. In real life, she was an abusive alcoholic husband and mother, only becoming a magical girl after her family left. In direct contrast to this, we finally got a look at Top Speed’s home, which seems to be a very happy domestic life complete with a loving husband. I’m still convinced that the reason she maintains she’s fine with dying as long as it’s not before the next 6 months is due to her being pregnant, and this look at her life pretty much cemented that for me. But because of this, there’s no way she’s surviving to the end of the series, so I’m bracing myself for the worst.

          The real highlight this week was the result of last week’s proposed meeting between Calamity Mary and Ripple. Surprise, surprise, Calamity Mary’s out for blood, but after Top Speed allows Ripple to escape on her broom, Mary decides to lead them back to her rather than give chase. How does she do this, you ask? By blowing up cars all over the freeway, attracting the attention of basically all the other characters (save for Sister Nana, who I can only assume will return in a quest for Swim Swim’s head on a silver platter later on). The best part of this is that finally, finally Snow White is going to have something to do aside from mope and apparently be really cool off-screen! Plus with most of the other characters gathering in one place, I think next week we’ll see our first real showdown between all the remaining girls.

          Same as last week, I’ll be giving my predictions as to who’s next to kick the bucket. Right now, my money’s on either Calamity Mary or Top Speed next week. Top Speed is an easy guess considering the recurring flashback curse, and if Calamity Mary makes it out of this disaster alive, I’ll be shocked (plus, Mary has the flashback curse looming as well).

          As things continue to heat up for everyone and the number of characters continues to dwindle, Magical Girl Raising Project is continuing to prove it knows how to make a great thriller with excellent and memorable characters. Seriously, the last time I was able to remember the names of every single character in a show was Space Patrol Luluco from earlier this year. If that’s not a testament to how good these characters are, I don’t know what is.

FINAL SCORE

10/10

Legendary

Steven Universe Review: “Gem Harvest”

A giving of thanks

(This review contains spoilers!)

          When you hear the words “Gem Harvest, a half-hour Steven Universe special” a lot of things can come to mind. The only half-hour special before this was Bismuth, arguably the best episode of Steven Universe save for Mr. Greg. The word harvest has also been used in the show before by Peridot in Catch and Release (“Oh my stars, you’re going to harvest me!?). But in all honesty, after episodes like Hit the Diamond and Last One Out of Beach City wound up having pretty down-to-earth plots, an episode about farming isn’t exactly a surprise.

          Peridot and Lapis have begun farming at the barn, just in time for Greg’s long lost cousin Andy shows up, demanding that they leave his family’s barn. So Steven, Greg and the Gems all try to win him over by cooking him a not-Thanksgiving dinner.

          Just getting this out of the way first and foremost, unless Andy returns in a future episode, Gem Harvest really has nothing to do with the overall plot. In fact, I’m not even sure why it’s a half hour special. I feel the exact same plot could be conveyed in the standard 11 minutes. So it’s not that. On the other hand, it is a fun episode with really good character interactions and a great lesson for kids behind it all.

          Gem Harvest never really takes itself too seriously until the end. A lot of the humour in the episode is in the Gems not understanding human tradition, similar to an early Season 1 episode. Peridot and Lapis continue to be the highlight of the show for me, as their dynamic has come a long way in just a few episodes. Their reaction to Lapis’ mirror joke at the dinner table compared to everyone else’s was downright hilarious.

          As for the new character, Andy, he’s a decent addition to the cast and is basically the crux of the plot for this episode, but I doubt I’ll be disappointed if we never see him again. He showed up, acted really angry for most of the episode, was on the receiving end of this episode’s lesson, gave Peridot and Lapis his blessing, and that was about it. He wasn’t super memorable or interesting, but I did like him for what he was.

          Again, Steven Universe proves that, in addition to already having a fantastic plot, it holds a lot of good lessons for kids. Gem Harvest pushes the point that trying to make everything stay the same and fighting against change will only make you upset, as we see with Andy. As someone who spent a lot of his life doing this exact thing, I feel that this is a really good lesson to teach kids.

          My one complaint with Gem Harvest is that there continues to be no elements of the overarching plot in the show. While on its own this episode is good, after nearly 8 episodes with little to no update or additions to the overall story of the series, I’m starting to get a little frustrated.

But in all honesty, that’s criticizing the episode for what it isn’t rather than for what it is, and for what it is, it’s a good watch and an episode I don’t recommend skipping. Gem Harvest will get you in the Thanksgiving mood, and remind you that sometimes spending time with family is the best thing you can do.

FINAL SCORE

7/10

Good

Editorial: Why Twilight Princess is my favourite Zelda game

Why Twilight Princess is my favourite Zelda game

          With the 10^th anniversary of Zelda: Twilight Princess on Saturday, I wanted to take a look at exactly what this game meant to me and why I considered it to be the best in the Zelda series thus far.

          I actually didn’t really get into playing the Zelda games until my teens, although I was still a fan of the franchise. I dealt with a lot of attention deficit problems as a kid, giving me very little patience for the lengthy dungeons or more complicated puzzles in Zelda games. Heck, I watched my dad play through Wind Waker when it came out instead of play it myself because I couldn’t get past the first trip to the Forsaken Fortress.

          So one summer, I decided I was going to play through all the major 3D Zeldas to catch up on what I missed. I finally beat Ocarina of Time for the first time ever at 16 years old, and I do consider it to be a masterpiece of video gaming, even all these years later. I went through Majora’s Mask and Wind Waker, and then came to playing Twilight Princess.

          I’d owned the game for years, but I’m pretty sure I never even got past the tutorial segment because of, again, my attention and distraction issues. But playing it with a mature mindset and far more gaming experience, I found a game with a great story, wonderful characters, excellent gameplay, and to this day some of the best worldbuilding I’ve seen out of Nintendo.

          The game as a whole really feels like a fantasy epic, almost like a Tolkien story brought to life as a video game. Dashing across sprawling plains as a wolf or riding across them on a horse really makes you feel like a hero, especially in the HD version on Wii U where the graphics are far crisper. The story as well is the most engaging in all of Zelda if I do say so myself, taking the typical “save Hyrule from Ganon” to the next level with a large and memorable cast of characters. The most significant of these characters is Midna, a diminutive, sarcastic imp who acts as Link’s guide and companion throughout the adventure. Ever since playing the game I’ve used Midna as my avatar for nearly everything I do online; I enjoyed her character that much. She doesn’t feel like she’s just there as a tutorial like Navi, nor is she incessant in her handholding like Fi. She has a major role in the story and the world around Link, and helps the player enough without being a burden.

          The dungeon design in this game is, again, the best in the series in my opinion. As much as I love Ocarina of Time, the dungeons always felt a little generic to me. There’s a giant tree, a cave, a belly of a whale, and so on. In Twilight Princess, the dungeons fit fluidly into the world Nintendo built, like a mineshaft used by the Gorons, a mansion out in the snowy wilderness, and even what appears to be the ruins of the infamous Water Temple. They connect with the world, adding a cohesiveness that allows Twilight Princess to stop being a simple Zelda game and become something much stronger than the sum of its parts. Twilight Princess is also home to what is arguably the greatest Zelda dungeon ever, that being Arbiter’s Grounds. A ruined desert prison with nods to adventure movies like Indiana Jones and The Mummy, you fight past monstrous beetles and the walking dead to find the best Zelda item ever: the Spinner. A Beyblade-like contraption that allows you to ride on walls, it is later used against the dungeon’s boss, the massive fossil Stallord, as you jump from wall to wall in a battle both laughably ridiculous and undeniably fun.

          Being a Wii launch title, the game used the Wii’s motion controls to its advantage, but never getting in the way of the core game. To swing your sword, you swung the Wiimote like you were playing Wii Sports Tennis, and you aimed your bow using the motion controls as well. Granted that the game was a GameCube title at heart (and was easily remastered for the Wii U with motion controls gone) they weren’t really a major part of the game, but they were significant enough that when I got around to playing Skyward Sword, I found myself wishing for Twilight Princess’s more simplistic controls as opposed to Skyward Sword’s overly sensitive nightmare.

          The game isn’t without its flaws, and I’ll be the first to admit that. While the story is fantastic while stuff is happening, there are long stretches of time when nothing progresses whatsoever. And while Link’s wolf form is really cool, it can become cumbersome when used for too long, especially in the early stages when you’re forced into wolf form for a lengthy amount of time. Twilight Princess HD rectified this problem by shortening those segments, but the damage on the original game was done. The original is also showing its age in more ways than one, and it’s not unthinkable to believe the Wii U version will do the same in the coming years.

          But despite this, I still adore Twilight Princess. Everything about it, from the story, to the gameplay, to the characters, to even the sometimes muddy graphics of the original and the occasionally MIDI-like soundtrack are fantastic to me. I love how it feels like the most epic Zelda quest to date, but I love how at the same time it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I love the fantastic dungeon design. I love the enormous Hyrule Field. I even love the lengthy tutorial segment at the beginning of the game in all its goat-herding glory. Twilight Princess is my favourite Zelda game for all these reasons and then some, and if you haven’t played it yet, I urge to do so.

Song of the Weekend

          Considering we already had a Song of the Week with the Ubisoft editorial on Monday, here’s our first ever Song of the Weekend. I’ve chosen my favourite composition from Twilight Princess: Midna’s Theme. This song defines Midna’s character perfectly, with her bouncy and mysterious nature, with a slight bit of tragedy mixed in. It plays both when you first meet her and when she explains her past in-game, but you can find its motif hidden away a lot in the game. Next time you play, listen closely in cutscenes that have a lot of Midna in them, and you’ll be surprised how often it pops up.