Julius

May he rest in peace. It goes without saying what he did for comic books, and through his influence (and creations) television and film, is something that few creators can stake a claim to, and I hope he’s proud of all that he managed to accomplish in his 95 years — and I hope that he didn’t lose any site of his accomplishments during the troubles he had to work through in his final few years. There have been numerous reports in recent years of him being recorded against a green screen and having recorded numerous lines just for this, so I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Not to mention the potential for fitting him in other, perhaps increasingly creative ways, such as on a television in the background, in the Marvel Studios fanfare at the start of the MCU entries, etc.

The writing seems good from the trailer (though that’s not exactly a great identifier), but I’m at least partly with @Dcubed on this: some of those Pokémon just do not look right. It seems that they’ve taken the Pokkén route of making non-furry Pokémon, well...furry. Charizard towards the end of the trailer, for instance, looks like it has the texture of a thinly furred rocking horse more so than a lizard/dinosaur/dragon.

Yeah, I agree with what you’re saying. I didn’t mean that the stuff in Crait was related to what Ben said, it was more that it was an odd juxtaposition, I think: we’re made to entertain an intriguing notion which could take the story in a completely different direction, but then we end up with the typical good guy v. bad guy battles. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it just made some people sit back and go “oh, okay, so I guess we’re not doing that other thing?” Sure, his suggestion wasn’t going to happen in the space of the remainder of the film, but I do think it could have been toyed with a bit more as a concept — some doubts in Rey’s mind about the direction that a war would take the galaxy in, for instance, or how history will just repeat itself again (like it already had done at the point; the senate created a divide between Populists and Centralists in much the same way as it did between Separatists and the Republic, and happened to bring about the growth of another hidden army). The thing is, Luke was basically going to commit the Star Wars version of seppuku (his white robes in the film, worn at the end of TFA/start of TLJ and when he goes to burn down the tree, are part of a ritual for the ending of the Jedi Order), which would have ended the Jedi. It’s what he wears at the end of the film, too. But the tree burning doesn’t contribute much to that, other than in symbolism, simply because Rey already has the ancient Jedi texts stowed away aboard the Falcon. And the thing is, people keep asking for “Grey Jedi” or “Bendu”, but the truth is that the Jedi just became disillusioned, and as I’ve mentioned previously and as is implied in TLJ, this came to a head in the prequels, when the Jedi had begun sorting potential by midichlorian count, for example. I think that the Jedi are simply going to be redefined and reborn as what they were originally intended to be. And honestly, the film has a lot of messages, many of which I think were put across well. Though I do take issue with Rose crashing into Finn, as many people do. No, my problem isn’t that it was a rehash, it’s more that it was going “Hey, look guys, here’s something you’ve never seen before” to accomplish something that we have already seen before. I do think that Obi’s sacrifice and duel with Vader bought them some time - as made clear by Vader taking time to stamp on his cloak before the doors seal on him after Luke shoots the control console as he attempts to enter the hangar, or how the stormtroopers make their way over to the scene of the duel to watch, which clears the way for Luke and the group to make it to the Falcon. I don’t really take issue with Star Wars referencing itself and “rehashing” certain elements, though it was a bit jarring to hear some musical themes again - TIE Fighter Attack when down in the crystalline depths of Crait, for example, and I was completely taken out of the film when I heard The Emperor’s theme used for Snoke’s torture of Rey. I’m very interested to see how IX will perform next year. Sure, I will probably see it five times in the cinema like I did TFA and TLJ, but I think it’s the first time when the majority weren’t (immediately) fans of the film. I knew going in that we were in for a shock, and I still had to see it again a few hours after the midnight showing to help me make my mind up. Though, sure, Infinity War was more of a popcorn flick than TLJ, I disagree that you could turn your mind off during it, and it did some extremely interesting things narratively (in how it handled Thanos, for example) which we haven’t seen much of before, and it very easily has the best MCU score. I haven’t seen anything mentioned about X-XII (and I am vehemently against it: I want to see some other stories told; George’s plan was only ever for a trilogy of trilogies; it still centres around Anakin the way that Lucas wanted to; etc.), but I do think that it’s worth mentioning that III was treated much in the same way that I expect to see this film marketed: “The Saga is now complete”, etc. Plus, if Disney ever starts to go bankrupt and/or Lucasfilm needs a cash injection, then you just know that they’d bring the Saga back in a heartbeat to do so. Which I think is sad. If anything deserves an actual ending, it’s this Saga. Also, that sounds awesome. Have a great time! I agree that ROTJ has a better final act (man, that emotion up in The Emperor’s throne room), I just think RO executes the action side of things better (for obvious special effects reasons). Actually, I do believe that I read that that TIE was going to fire at Jyn, not save her, and then an X-Wing was going to swoop in and take out the TIE to save her. The reason that it was cut was largely because they thought that it was too similar to the X-Wings coming in and saving the day when those AT-ACTs were beginning to take aim at Chirrut and Baze. I do wish that we got to see the deleted footage from the original cut of the film as we saw in some of the behind-the-scenes features and trailers, like Jyn running across the beaches of Scarif with the data-take clipped to her belt. I actually didn’t mind the characters dying (though I disagree with the general notion that we would have seen or heard of them in another film, so they had to die) that much. I do think that a Chirrut and Baze TV show would be much better than a Cassian one, though, especially after the nudges and winks we got regarding their history.

The thing is, I go back and forth on The Last Jedi every time that I watch it. I think it is home to some of the best and worst moments in the Skywalker Saga, at least from a storytelling perspective, and I think a lot of that conflict stems from the film being caught in a middle ground between doing something totally new and rehashing some of the same old elements. For instance, Ben offering to do away with the Sith, the Jedi, and the Resistance had every Star Wars fans’ ears perking up, and got us asking the question of what a GFFA like that would be like; but then, not ten minutes later, we return to the typical good guys v. bad guys affair down on Crait. Another example is when Luke uses something potentially new and exciting (if a little drawn out and confusing on first viewing) in a Force Projection...only to offer his life to buy time for the few remaining members of the Resistance/Rebellion (I mean, yet another prime example: halfway through the film we switch back to calling them the Rebellion, for some reason) attempting to escape Crait, just like Ben Kenobi did back in A New Hope. I think that a lot of the criticism for the film is somewhat unwarranted (and admittedly kind of bizarre), but I do believe that it has the largest contrast between its highs and lows of any Star Wars film to date. Plus, it’s never easy to watch Mark Hamill break down in tears because he was worried that this was the wrong path for Luke to take. I’m certainly with you on missing a Star Wars film this Christmas. My birthday is next month, and for the past three years, I’ve gone to see it with my family, which has always been fun. I think that Abrams has an opportunity to do something great with IX, and my only real worry is that, if another Skywalker trilogy (i.e. X - XII) is already being talked about internally, that he’ll adhere to his mystery box methods of storytelling, which is what caused a lot of the backlash for TFA and TLJ. And, honestly, I still think that Rogue One has the best third act of any Star Wars film from the perspective of an action-centric culmination. The last forty minutes or so of that film are just perfect.

Eh...I currently don’t really care for this new show. However, if they throw in K-2 and some characters from other media (can we finally get a live-action Hera please? They seem to love passing on these chances, for the most part) then I might be up for it. My problem with this is that, once again, it’s one step forward and two steps back for Disney’s and Lucasfilm’s handling of the property. The message of The Last Jedi was clear and obvious from the film’s second trailer (and of course the film itself) — Let the past die. We’re going to start taking some risks that might not be in-line with everything that you know and love about Star Wars, but we’re going to start to freshen things up. But then the irony, of course, is that this is a sentiment which only rings true for about a minute in the film itself, and Solo — which I have now seen and quite liked, but again, didn’t really ask for — was released a few months later. Talk about some convoluted messaging to your fans: casual or hardcore. By the way, when I say that I didn’t ask for it, I don’t mean to sound like a fan who wants LFL to do everything that we want (because collectively, this fan base really isn’t the best for that), but how about giving us something that we didn’t ask for, but which is a total surprise? A Taika Waititi film about a stand-up comedian trying to make his way in the lower depths of Coruscant; a Martin Scorsese film about Jabba the Hutt’s rise to prominence in the galaxy’s criminal underbelly, spoken entirely in Huttese with the most subtitles of any film produced in the West to date; or a romantic comedy between a Kaminoan and a clone. They keep passing on these opportunities to explore more of the universe, and everything still seems to centre somewhat around the Skywalker timeline/original trilogy era. I’m super excited for Rian Johnson’s trilogy and Benioff and Weiss’ saga, but why does it just feel like we’re going to get those films and then have even more stuff deriving from the films, as opposed to making things which stand on their own legs? It’s why I’m so excited for The Mandalorian: it takes place in an era we still don’t know too much about, and apart from the odd cameo here or there, we’ll likely have an entirely new ensemble cast to find ourselves engrossed with. To bring it back around to Cassian’s show, though: if we get a unique perspective on his life as a member of the Separatists well before Rogue One takes place, then neat. If not...meh. Also, with regards to The Mandalorian, all I’ve seen is that it’s having an initial ten episode season; I haven’t read anything (I don’t think?) to suggest that there are plans for only one season.

Sure, but they weren’t introduced mid-generation alongside two competitors’ other wildly successful online services. I think that’s why there’s that expectation for Nintendo to be delivering much more relative to what Sony and Microsoft had to offer in the early days of PSN/+ and XBL. Is it particularly fair to do so? Perhaps; perhaps not. But then again, Nintendo have had plenty of time to form a plan for this service — Xbox Live has been around in some form or another for over 15 years, and PlayStation Network for over 10 — and if anything, having that time and the opportunity to look at how others have gone about it should (hypothetically) be advantageous to their efforts in constructing a worthy online service.

Urgh, don’t get me started on Sylveon...I’m still miffed that we don’t yet have a Dragon-type Eeveelution, which we really should have got in Gen VI alongside Sylveon

Yeah, there are actually quite a few references. Off the top of my head, there’s Yellow, and now these titles, serving as something of a tribute to the anime; Pikachu’s moves at the end of HGSS mirroring Ash’s Pikachu’s D&P anime moveset; Steven referencing Alain and his shiny Charizard from Mega Evolution Act II in ORAS; multiple references (through character names, teams, etc.) to characters from the anime and the films, and so on. There’s also a Gary Oak reference in X & Y in a Pokémon Centre, in which an NPC is talking about how Professor Oak’s grandson had passed through and is studying to become a professor, or something to that effect — I mean, I’m going to assume that it’s a reference to Gary as opposed to a Blue/Green reference, anyway, because I don’t remember his video game counterpart ever showing any interest in following that path. But I’ll stop there, because that last one can start the conversation about the video game timeline, which is (perhaps unsurprisingly) something of a jumbled mess I’d love if they refreshed the video game canon by effectively rebooting it in a similar way to how the films have been separated from the anime and exist in their own space. The references to the anime and movies are pretty cool, but I absolutely adore the in-universe references to the other games.

ILM are opening up a new division with a sole focus on television: Just keeping that The Mandalorian hype train rolling...

@Hero-of-Time @Ike @Glen-i

Great write-up @Glen-i! The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles hold a special place in my heart too - now that I think about it, these were probably the first remotely mature (in a storytelling sense) video games that I played growing up. Despite them clearly having sold so well, I still feel like they are - by far! - the most underappreciated Pokémon games, and I never deny myself the opportunity to urge others to play these games. It easily has some of the best characters and storytelling associated with the franchise. Game Freak should really start taking some notes... I still remember picking up Blue Rescue Team from Cex for having done well at primary school, and pre-ordering Explorers of Time with the Explorer’s Guide from GAME. I also remember that around halfway from my playthrough of Explorers of Time, I found the hinge on my first generation DS was broken after returning from a school summer fair (so probably in July?); not wanting to damage the console further, I glued the hinge in order to the game, and didn’t get it replaced until December of the following year (which is probably why I stopped taking it into school). I think I got Explorers of Sky for a birthday? I’ve actually yet to play Super Mystery Dungeon, despite it being on my shelf, so I’m curious as to what people think about it compared to the previous games. Oh, and I completely skipped the earlier 3DS entry (Gates to Infinity, I think?) because that released during my break from the series - in which I missed both it and White 2 - and those Wiiware titles which I read about in Pokémon World and on Serebii, though I guess those probably end up being Japan exclusive..?

That list is a real letdown; the only game that I would the Classic it for, really, is Metal Gear Solid...in which case I’ll just wait until I have a PS3 and purchase it digitally, or pick it up on a disc and play it on the PS1 or PS2. I think that an indicator of the problem with this lineup is that Final Fantasy VII is already available on PS4 - has been for a while - and is coming to Switch next year. Compare that with Final Fantasy VI on the SNES Classic, which I don’t believe had been released on console since the Wii (via Virtual Console). There’s just no real demand for VII to be on here over some other games other than it being as popular as it is, because everyone who has wanted to play it recently likely already has; if this were Final Fantasy VIII, then I think you’d see more people biting, because it’s still not available on current generation consoles. PlayStation really could have done so much to differentiate this from the Nintendo Classic systems, and arguably even improve on how these types of systems are done. Sure, there were more than likely licensing issues for some games, but why not do your best to accommodate every game that you possibly can? A digital storefront for the largest collection of PS1 games on a modern console might have helped them to grab some more games in this case, and allowing publishers to decide on how they price their game between a reasonable range could have motivated them to do as much as they could with regards to licensing. Perhaps even physical Memory Cards packed with a small collection of games could have been released every few months; a JRPG Collection with Final Fantasy VII - IX, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, etc., for example, could have been a great selling collection if reasonably priced. Trophy support of some manner linked to our current PlayStation accounts, I’m sure, would have helped move more units. It just feels a little half baked to me, because there’s so much more that they could have done. Instead, this is inevitably going to become a housing unit for a much greater collection of games which will be available online for free in a few weeks.

I’ve been reading through that thread, and it’s a shame that things haven’t changed all that much with regards to “fixing” things in this forum since that thread was made. A lot of the problems/arguments mentioned in the first couple of pages of that thread still crop up on a regular basis. I still consider myself something of a new member to this forum, despite joining over two and a half years ago. I originally joined because of going down the rabbit hole of trying to listen to new stuff with regards to Zelda U, listened to pretty much everything Gamexplain had on YouTube related to the game, and just so happened to end up watching an N-Europe video. I was seriously ill at the time, and going through a very rough period, and felt a sense of intimacy in reading the posts on this forum which I hadn’t seen elsewhere — likely due to how few members there were frequenting the place, in all honesty. To this day, I still don’t know any of you personally, but I was kindly welcomed despite probably starting a few threads too many... The intimacy, I feel, is one of the best and worst traits of N-Europe’s forum. On the one hand, it makes for some excellent discussions in a lot of threads here, and it really helps to have an idea of someone’s earlier thoughts on things when it comes to new conversations: “Oh, ______, I know you love _______, and I really think you should check out _______” or “_______, I’m interested on your take on _______ because _______”; it’s just a place where it feels like everyone knows each other to a degree that I think is quite rare in other forums these days. On the other hand, though, the intimacy ends up meaning that, should an argument break out, it can become incredibly destructive to the forum as a whole. Also, because of the low number of members posting, it means that, should someone respond to a post you make in the morning with ill intentions while you’re at work, for example, by the time you return, there have only been a handful of posts since then and the other person’s ill intentions (often not even that, but more commonly a misunderstanding, I guess?) seem somewhat fresh. Twelve hours might have passed since they responded, and they might have cooled off since then, but because so little activity might have taken place since then, I feel like it gives the impression that that person might (intentionally or not) still be in an argumentative mood. With regards to the thread’s topic: I certainly wouldn’t have considered myself a gamer back when I joined, and honestly have had a very rough time personally since joining, but gaming has become a touchstone for me to return to as I’m sure it remains for many of you. I wasn’t much of a gamer growing up; I was interested in and played games, sure, but I was almost always a generation or so behind, and it was somewhat rare for me to receive/buy games. Since joining this place, I spent a lot of time just reading articles and listening to podcasts - the latter really helped me when I developed some sleeping difficulties last year - because I personally felt the need to become more informed about the industry and gaming history before I could offer substantiated opinions of my own, and this year, I’ve played many more games than I would have previously because I’m comfortable now with developing and sharing my own opinions (in the same way that I enjoy developing my opinions for classical music or movies; I see it as getting to further understand my preferences). I’ve got plenty of games that I have some interest in playing, and I actually have a spreadsheet of almost all of these, with a few hundred games listed alongside their original year of release, platforms that they’re available on, their developer, and approximate game length (according to howlongtobeat). I’m not giving myself the challenge of completing all of these games by any means, but I found it useful because now, when I complete a game, all I need to do is glance at the spreadsheet and I can figure out what I want to play next. My biggest problem, I feel, was that I was jumping into gaming relatively blind and somewhat paralysed by the sheer number of games available, so this exercise helped my to get my bearings in that regard by narrowing my “pool” of interests.

That song was awesome. World of Light looks awesome. I was laughing so hard at Piranha Plant. As @Glen-i said, it feels a bit weird with it being a pre-order bonus, but with everything that’s already in this game, I don’t think anyone (here, at least) will be complaining.

Could I please get my username changed to Julius? (I've had a look around and I don't believe that it's taken) Really don't know why I decided to add the name of a salad to the end of my username originally

A lot of talk going around that Julen Lopetegui will be sacked by Real and replaced by Conte, with some rumours even suggesting that this change could be completed by the end of the day.

It’s tragic. All reports are pointing towards owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha being on board, as well as potentially some of his family and friends, but whether or not other members of the board were present is currently unconfirmed. The BBC have even suggested that Claude Puel was aboard, though this has been contested by a number of sources. One witness on BBC 5Live: It doesn’t look or sound good at all. Thoughts and prayers with those onboard and all of their family and friends.

Some new screenshots:

I won’t be picking up the game for a little while longer anyways, but don’t you think that we should wait a good while (at least until the end of this weekend) before we start assessing whether or not the game lives up to its review scores (...especially based on the opinions of strangers on a site such as ResetEra)? I don’t think that we should start questioning the opinions of some industry veterans - which by itself is perfectly reasonable - of the game at this point: most of them completed the game, and the general audience is, at best, a dozen hours or so into what I’m reading is a rather lengthy game. I’m all for citing the opinions of others, and it is interesting that users on ResetEra are expressing opinions which starkly contrast to those of many reviewers (as is often the case), but in this case, @Ronnie, I think you should just try to enjoy the game for yourself and then look into those opinions afterwards/once you’ve spent long enough with it, or just acknowledge that those opinions are out there and forge your own otherwise, you might find yourself being critical of things you might not have otherwise noticed, and have less fun with the game as a result. Like I mentioned, I won’t be picking it up for a while (nearly 60 hours into Dragon Quest XI and I’m having so much fun), but I hope that everyone who picks up the game today/this weekend/soon has a good time with it! I look forward to reading about what you all think of it

Courtesy of Venturebeat:

Guillermo del Toro will be directing, writing and producing Netflix’s musical stop-motion version of Pinocchio.

Guillermo del Toro will be directing, writing and producing Netflix’s musical stop-motion version of Pinocchio. EDIT: I’m changing my name to Daredevil.