Julius

Episode 4 of Attack on Titan Season 4 is another awesome episode. So far it's been all killer, no filler, and I'm loving it. Cannot wait for next week, really enjoying keeping up with the weekly release of new episodes, because there hasn't really been any redundancy in what we've had so far this season. Strong pacing, great animation, stellar soundtrack, and always an awesome tease for what's next. Loving it!

Going to preface what I'm about to say about 4-1 with this: I'll be totally honest, I'm getting to a really weird spot with this game, and it's something I haven't felt when playing a game before. While I'm enjoying it when I'm playing it, I don't find myself in the mood to return to it often, nor do I actively look forward to picking it up. It's a totally different type of tension to something like TLOU, where, even though that game was tense, the story kept pulling me back. Even TLOU2, which might have been even worse, I pushed on, because there was something outside of the gameplay - the story - which kept pulling me back. I have nothing but praise for the atmosphere and gameplay Demon's Souls offers, and I think I finally understand why there are so many fans of these games having played through these early parts, but...maybe it's just not for me. Dreading going back to the game and actively putting off playing a game is something I never do, even when I'm not enjoying a game, and here's a game that I do enjoy when I play it, but dread the thought of returning to. Is it because this year has been bleak enough as it is, and it's just pushing me over the edge a bit? Maybe. Is it because I'm off from work for a week, and the thought of playing this for the next week and the real possibility of not having finished it just depresses me a bit? Maybe. To clarify, it's not the thought that I need to finish this before I get back...but it's not exactly a great way to relax during a break from work, and it still not being done by the time I return and potentially having not enjoyed it during my week off is what I'm getting at. It might just be that I'm in the mood for something lighter right now, and maybe I'm forcing myself to play this instead, seeing as I normally only play one game at a time. I don't want to say I'm dropping it, because I do want to see this game through to the end, but I might see how my next session with it goes. If I'm still not feeling it, it might be worth me putting it on hold, at least until I've played something a little lighter? And then I might give it another go, and then if I'm still not feeling it, then...yeah, I might shelve it. I'll see. Anyways, 4-1: 4-1 Got to the boss at the end of 4-1 after a few attempts, it's definitely a level which can be quick to breeze through once you know what you're doing. Taking out the Vanguard Demon was good fun, using Soul Arrows a lot more on this level than others, given just how many enemies are probably best to take on with it (the manta ray things and the golden - ? - skeletons with the larger swords in particular). They haven't caused me too much trouble since the first two attempts where I got killed by them, but now I know a bit more about the strategy to take when facing them, they're not too bad. Those black skeletons though? Screw those things. The one in front of the fog door before the boss in particular, whoever decided to put one there is on a list of developers I never want to meet got to the end just to be killed by it three times, the time I beat it was attacking it with Soul Arrows and running in circles. I fell off a cliff with it targeted, got carved to pieces because the staircase it's on isn't long enough at my level to take it out with just magic, etc. And my one attempt at the boss wasn't fun at all either. Peered through the hole in the floor to get a look at what I was facing, locked on...and got whipped by something through the floor. And then when I went to heal immediately after moving out of the way, I got whipped through the floor again (I was in the corner and had a clear view that it came up through the floor) the sort of jank I really hate in games, where it makes the game seem a little on the unfair side (of the opinion jank should only ever favour the player, or developers will never hear the end of it). Experienced this back on 1-2 as well, when a guy put a spear through me when he was on the other side of the wall. I know it's a faithful remaster/remake, but I do feel like being hit through walls/floors is something they could have cleaned up, because it's a clear sign of the game showing its age (or lack of work after QA? You get what I mean). So, going to be giving 4-1 another go in the morning. Got some 40k souls left by that boss now...going to be pretty hard to not think about those when getting back there!

That's good to hear then! I was coming from it more of the perspective that it has less subtle, "adult" visual humour in it (the hooker toy in Toy Story, or Lightning getting flashed in Cars comes to mind) and rather more planned bits clearly aimed at adults (which still might even fall flat for some; I know I was looking up Andrew Jackson afterwards) and more evident, physical comedy, which as you said, is lighter in tone. And yeah, I guess it depends on the age of the child to some degree too. If I watched this at 3 I probably would've enjoyed it, because like you said, it's colourful and has a lot of physical comedy. But if it came at 5 or 6, after I'd had my first existential crisis? Probably not Do agree that the plot was fairly predictable, though I still had a good time with it in the end. Don't think it's one I'll be in a rush to return to, though, and even though I enjoyed Onward earlier in the year, it's the same with that for me too. Don't know if it's just me getting older and not being at the age where falling in love with one film in particular happened a whole lot, or if Pixar films just aren't as strong as pulling the audience back in for further viewings?

Adding the Tower of Latria to the list of places I never want to return to in a video game. The sense of dread and tension in this game is already insane, never mind the fact we've got tentacle-headed dudes and places which are so dark you're questioning whether to crank the brightness way up Beat 3-1 on my third attempt at the level, and the Fool's Idol boss on my very first try! Probably the first and last time I'll be saying that, but I'm proud of it The first couple of deaths in the level were down to the Mind Flayer and figuring out what my attack strategy was going to be, on 3F the first few times you encounter them. Pretty much just turned into me slicing them up once I'd drawn them into walking towards a corner and giving them the jump, and the few times that didn't work just needed me to roll away to get a bit of space. Quite a few stabs in the back too, they totally deserved it. Freed Freke and ran into some other guy, Rydell I think? No idea what I need to do to save him, but something nearby mentioned world tendency...so probably not something I'll go back to do speaking of which, I got invaded for the first time just before the doors to the boss fight. Is that always supposed to be there? I walked around as much as I could, so killed the guy up top who told me to trust him (I trust no-one in this game so he's dead now), and then yeah, someone with a short sword and crossbow was trying to take me out. Was taken by surprise and a bit frustrated (I'd only just got to where I imagined the boss was, and now there's someone else trying to kill me!). Took it slow, kept my distance to make them use the crossbow, then rushed them with some slashes of my sword whenever they went to change to their short sword. Also, would just randomly change from shield to my Wooden Catalyst, and still holding L1, would immediately cast a Soul Arrow at them, so stunned them and rushed them again. Way too tense to have that happen to the first time just before I reached the boss! Going to start throwing my boss fight encounter descriptions in spoilers from this point, I'll probably drop names once I'm a little deeper in too. Just because I want to avoid spoiling it for anyone, the boss fights are a good chunk of the fun! Great atmosphere to 3-1, quite enjoyed the boss fight, and thought the track for the fight itself was cool. A lot of choir in this game though? Looked up the original and gave it a listen, and I do feel that taking away the choir definitely offers an entirely different tone, more malice and pure horror than with the addition of the choir, which seems to be trying to make it sound a bit more epic? Think I might give the original OST a listen once I've finished the game, because based on this track at list, some of the remake's OST seems to starkly contrast against the tone of the original. Anyways, onto 4-1!

Sucks to read your were having those issues @Ganepark32, is it sorted now? Had my own issues today with the PS5 when returning to Demon's Souls. Took the disk out the other day to watch a film, put it back in today, press 'Play', and I get the error reading "Can't start game or app. Please delete the game and reinstall.", etc. Didn't even get an error code, and it still showed as being installed in my system storage. So got to copy the game over again and wait for the update to install. I know it's a small thing, but still, it takes enough to be in the mood to play this game normally anyways!

Here's mine: I'll be honest, I'm surprised it's even that high. Can definitely see the Animal Crossing (~50 hours of play) and Xenoblade (~70 hours of play) bumps, though! My Switch is in such a weird place. I really enjoy what I do play on it, but I feel like I'm way more selective when it comes to playing things on it when compared with my PlayStation. There are long stretches where it gathers dust, even when there are things I want to play on it. Got to imagine being stuck at home because of COVID probably takes a chunk of time away from it that I might have spent playing it outside...maybe. Guess my unofficial aim for 2021 is to get over that hump and play more Nintendo games

Just finished watching Soul, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I enjoyed Onward earlier this year as well, so hopefully this means Raya turns out well too! Something I do have to say about Soul, though, is I think it might be the least child friendly Pixar film so far? Deals with heavy topics like purpose and the concept of souls, and while it does have some funny parts, most of its comedy is referential (and specifically aimed at North America, a couple of times where the jokes went over my head too!). I feel like a lot of it might go over a younger viewer's head, or make them worry a bit (I know a film discussing things like this when I was younger might have distressed me a bit). Pretty much the opposite of a normal Pixar affair in that way, where it's normally aimed at children with a good message, and there might be some more subtle comedy for adults watching with them. Just might be something to consider for any parents who are thinking about watching it with younger children?

Merry Christmas all

I got to the end of 2-1 on Saturday, lost to the boss once, and then called it a night. It was quite late! But I got back to it today, and yeah, Armour Spider is now down! had a similar issue with Tower Knight (...though for nowhere near as long) where I kept locking on and finding myself in weird positions, or too slow to react. It might be the new camera for the remake now that I think about it too? But anyways, first attempt back on Saturday, I got in close and then was pushed to the side by it's pincers, trapped in some webs, and got doused in oil before being set on fire. Fun. First few attempts today I didn't use as many healing items, to give myself a better idea of what I'm up against (getting over losing Souls has really freed me of the burden of dying), and got used to timing some of the dodge rolls. Final attempt I didn't lock on unless I was backing away, either from the sea of flames or when in close getting some attacks in, but had a blast just dodge rolling into attacks (pincers, fire balls, and webs), the only real issue I had when in close to the thing was avoiding it's body slam (would kind of lose my bearings a bit because of the camera). Really enjoyed the boss fight in the end! Much easier to say when it's over, mind you Really liking the atmosphere and visual storytelling in this game so far, the little description of the level before jumping into an Archstone, and then seeing it all in action, really just makes this game feel so grand and epic in scale. The lighting has been phenomenal too, the yellow eyes of the miners piercing through the darkness, the occasional fire lizard dude pouncing down from above and lighting the place up (as well as setting me ablaze once or twice too!). I did a little bit of grinding and farming at the start and end of my session today, mainly because I remember I didn't find many healing items in 2-1 when I last played, so made the decision to hop back to the end of 1-2. This game is weirdly fun to farm items in, considering that you're put in a position where sneaking up on guys who gave you trouble before, and stabbing them in the back, is a very real option to go with. Got quite a bit of grass now, should do me for a little while, but it's a nice way to familiarise with the controls again. Also upgraded my sword a couple of times, so now returning to the end of 1-2 definitely let's me play out the power fantasy of annihilating those blue-eyed knights and archers who gave me troubles before Busy the next couple of days (for obvious reasons!) but then off for a week from work, so I can finally sink my teeth into this. No rush to it, but I would like to have it completed by the time 2021 rolls around; I'm enjoying it, but it's so damn tense!

Time for Beastars Season 2 news! New OP looks great, though I'm definitely going to miss the stop motion we got in the first OP. Also been confirmed that the series will be releasing on Netflix Japan on 6th January 2021, whereas the international release is being saved until July 2021. Quite the wait, but I'm sure it'll be worth it! EDIT: totally forget to link the trailer for it

Also, just to clarify, The Mandalorian Season 3 isn't going to be releasing next Christmas; The Book of Boba Fett is what Kathleen Kennedy was referencing when saying that the next chapter would release at that time. Looks like you were right, @Ronnie Bit of a shame in my opinion - and that phrasing they used for an Investors Meeting seems risky at best! - but doesn't seem like we'll be waiting too long after then, seeing as the show's already in pre-production. I'm thinking we probably get it somewhere between late Q1 and early Q2 2022? That year is going to be stacked. We could then get Cassian in late Q2/early Q3, Obi-Wan Kenobi firmly in a summer blockbuster position in Q3, and then Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic later that year too, if they wanted to fill that year up completely, and not to mention we'd probably be getting a second season of The Bad Batch - if they plan to do one - in that time too.

Yeah, totally agree, and think this makes the most sense. He's the most recognisable face and name at Nintendo (think that goes without saying), and for investors and the board, I would have to imagine he's the guy with the most clout on the international stage, so he's the guy they'd be pointing at to give such presentations outside of their usual sphere. Think it was a similar justification for why he was a pretty big part of the promotion for Super Mario Run (and Switch) with his appearance on The Tonight Show, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he played a role in the promotion of the films currently in the works too.

The Book of Boba Fett officially announced on the Twitter account, with the show's logo:

Episode 3 of Attack on Titan Season 4: easily my favourite of the season so far. Really, really looking forward the next episode! Also, My Hero Academia Chapter 295...

This is exactly where my mind went first too! So this is what became of Pikmin 4...

He's back

Season 5 of My Hero Academia is starting on 27th March 2021! I know it's just a promotional video, but from the little we see here, the animation is a big step up from Season 4. Looks like having dedicated teams for the films and TV series is already starting to pay off, because Shoto's Flashfire First looks awesome! We also got a look at the art for the characters' winter costumes: Really hope the animation is how it looks here when the season drops, it'll give me a lot more confidence in them animating some of the upcoming arcs. Not too long a wait!

Took a break since Tuesday and got back to the game today; it's definitely something which when I sit down to play it, I want to give it all of my attention. Imagine I might be playing it until the end of the year I stuck with 1-2, and a couple more hours later, I've finally beat Tower Knight! That might be the proudest trophy pop I've had. I decided to stick with 1-2 mainly because I had become so familiar with the level and didn't want to move on, and of course I wanted to see if I could get on the inside of Tower Knight. First time I got to him today, decided to start drawing him in to use his shield slam, step back when he starts the animation, deselect the heel I was targeting, sprint around and behind, centre the camera (but not target), let him react while staying behind him, and then target the heel and start slashing away. I think my problem before was trying to roll around his attacks with very little stamina, but sprinting right at and then around definitely worked. @LazyBoy thanks a lot for the advice - I tried to heed it when returning to the game today! Was careful to remain calm and not get carried away, figuring out attack patterns, and, in some cases, cheesing it a bit Other than Tower Knight, my biggest hurdle to overcome was the two blue-eyed knights just before the fog door. The first one is within range of some archers I wanted to take out to avoid being stunned, and the other is in a tight corridor, so I started drawing them out to the bridge far enough for the red dragon to swoop in and burn them (it backfired one time where I was on the wrong side to sprint away, and the last time I took them on before beating Tower Knight, the first one got toasted but then the red dragon didn't seem very interested in the second! ). On Tower Knight himself, once I figured out how to get on his inside, the main issue I had was actually with the space around me - I noticed I kept getting cornered against walls, and so would end up in awkward spots where I couldn't make an easy getaway. Once I noticed this, started waiting at the bottom of the stairs to draw him over, ran half way up for him to throw one of his blue magic spear attacks my way, and sprinted back down and around him to start attacking again. I'm really enjoying it now. I know I'm only 2 levels in, and I imagine there are many tougher enemies to come, but learning the level layout and how to handle different enemy encounters...is it weird to say it really reminds me of 2D Mario games, specifically the castles at the end of the world, in a pretty great way? You learn the level layout, if you lose a life you're sent back to the start (or the last checkpoint) and your learning of the layout is reinforced by dying, and then there's a boss who might send you back to the start/the last checkpoint at the end. It's a really hard loop of play to peel yourself away from! Worth mentioning I had one crash today, but what I love is that because this game is constantly autosaving after encounters, I lost only maybe two or three seconds of actual gameplay once I booted it back up. Even though the game is difficult, and I'm definitely still learning, it's surprisingly fair when it comes to this and enemy encounters. It just wants you to spend time learning it, and I'll be honest, other than a few times in JRPG's where I'll find myself underlevelled and purposely refuse to grind because I want to see if I can overcome something without levelling up, it's been quite a long time since I've found myself stuck on a level and a boss like this! It made me feel like a kid, in a super weird way, in that I appreciated the frustration and just stuck with it. The other great thing is that even if I did end up looking up strategies (quite proud I didn't!), it wouldn't really matter, because, unless it's something which might make it an easier encounter - a lot of the messages were saying to use ranged weapons and magic, so I imagine that's one way for Tower Knight I guess? - it so heavily relies on your skills and reactions to make your way through. Anyways, now that I have some idea of what I'm doing with my souls, I finally spent some on increasing some of my stats. I'm playing as a Knight so invested a bit in Vitality and Endurance, fingers crossed that's what I need to be investing in Time to take a break, and then it's onto 2-1!

I didn't mind looking it up, seeing as it'll be a while before I get back to it, and so will likely forget by then anyways! Don't think I came across any spoilers anyway From what I've read, it does look like all side quests can be done after completing the main story

Second volume of the Season 2 OST, covering Chapters 13-16, is up: In case you missed the first volume, which covered Chapters 9-12: I have my new set of headphones arriving soon, can't wait to test them out digging into this!

Yes, it's so good! I had them playing in the background while responding to some emails earlier, I had to stop when the new arrangements came on Besides Aerith's Theme, think my other favourite new arrangement is the Main Theme; I've got so much love for what they did with it, it's pretty much exactly what I was hoping for! high tempo and energy, and a choir to boot! I know Final Fantasy isn't for everyone, and Sephiroth being the newly revealed character isn't something everyone was over the moon about, but man, if this means more people not familiar with the game can still end up appreciating the gold mine that is the FFVII soundtrack for what it is, then I'll take it

Finished Mob Psycho on Tuesday and finished Mob Psycho II (and the second OVA!) last night. I was expecting some goofy comedy with some witty lines, I did not expect the journey or introspection on society and friendship which I ended up with. This show is absolutely not what I thought it was going to be, but it is something I genuinely think people should watch, because it's got some really important messages. Such likeable and well written characters - I knew it was held in high regard, but again, I really didn't expect it. Just the interactions between characters is awesome to see, everyone has their own motivations, and it just feels right. I mean, is there really a more likeable bunch of guys than the Body Improvement Club? Excellent OP's too: This show bowled me over. I enjoyed One Punch Man for what it was, but this is on a whole other level of enjoyment for me. The animation is hilarious in its simplicity at times, and overall variety, whereas it's gorgeous in its fight scenes - genuinely has Akira vibes at times, down to all the psychic stuff I guess, but it's not afraid to get dark and go big either. The OST really surprised me too, I found myself humming along to quite a few tracks! Favourite is absolute Special Training Montage, because, well, it feels like 80's action movie training music, and it's awesome. Favourite use of it, and favourite fight, definitely has to be in... Absolutely loved this show. I know the first OVA is just a recap of season 1, but it's from Reigen's perspective, which means I'm definitely going to watch it this weekend speaking of, his special attacks had me rolling Strong recommendation from me. Only thing I would be wary of is the first three episodes or so of S1 being a bit slow, but once it finds its feet and you start to get a feel for the show and what it's about, it's really hard to put down. Now to just hold out hope that the next few arcs end up animated! UPDATE: Yeah, didn't take that long for me to get to it. It was hilarious for a recap with how Reigen made himself the protagonist (and just about every other character who says or does something cool), and way more than I'd normally expect from an OVA. And when he just edits himself over the characters he's replacing himself with!

Yeah, I think this is a really good point, and probably the main one. When was the last time Bethesda Softworks gave anyone the impression that they gave a damn? The lead up to Fallout 4 maybe? It's been a whole lot of smoke and mirrors since then, at least that's how I feel. Let's not forget the cheering squad at E3... Still a little odd it's still not pulled from the Xbox store, curious to know why that might be. I wonder if, as @Hero-of-Time suggested, it is to do with their marketing deal, maybe they're having issues figuring out how that would be impacted by this? It can't be easy to pull a bunch of ads on such short notice telling people to go to Xbox to play the game, only for them to not find it on the store. It's a weird one. Regardless of what happens next, like I said before, I just really hope CDPR learn what they can from this. They've worked their team into the ground for this, so I hope developers have the security to walk away from the company now if they want to.

So, Chapter 16. That's a thing. That was a solid episode. Make sure you stick around for the credits music, we get a new orchestrated arrangement of the show's main theme and I think it's awesome...and also because, well, look at how many minutes are left when the credits start So yeah, season 2, that was a thing! Now we get hyped for season 3, because anyone who's watched any of the other Star Wars shows Filoni is part of knows that's where it really gets good!