Archives January 2023

Path of Titans

Path of Titans

In Path of Titans you play in an open world as one of many dinosaurs like my favorites, the T-rex or the Triceratops.

Alderon Games understands that just because you are getting older you don’t lose your love for dinosaurs. They crafted an open world game where you can choose between carnivores and herbivores. In Path of Titans players start with four small dinos, two of each of the ‘vores. Of course neither are favorites but they aren’t bad either. They are some of the weaker but faster options in the game. These four dinosaurs are the only ones you will get (at this time) for free. There are multiple payment options to get new models to use. This includes packs that include them or coin purchases. We were provided a code that gave us access to the full list of dinos available to make reviewing easier/cheaper.

When playing in single player the map has animals generated to interact with (or hunt if you’re a carnivore) and multiplayer does the same but allows you to interact with other players. What else would you expect from multiplayer? Each map can have up to 200 active players in addition to the NPC creatures. Most of my time was spent in singe player and these animals were so few and far between it felt like I was wandering with nothing or no one to interact with.

The time I spent in multiplayer was not what I expected. Most games like this you usually find players that have been around longer than you dominating the map and making it difficult for newer players to get started. This was not the case. The map I was in only had about twenty players total but the veteran players were offering to place themselves as meals for the new carnivore players or to guide the new players how to ramp up their skill level quickly. I have never seen this from an open lobby in ANY game before. It was a great way to be introduced to the multiplayer version of the game. This is how I want EVERY multiplayer game to treat newer players.

Visually the attention to detail on both the dinos and world itself far exceeded my expectations. My only real complaint with the game is the lack of player base. The maps are simply too large with too few players in them (at least the ones I played). Controls are intuitive and work well with the characters. Even better is that the game is continuing to be updated with new models regularly. Despite the inactive server I have to admit I not only had a great time playing but my daughter (who is obsessed with dinosaurs) enjoyed watching and playing as well.

Chained Echoes

Chained Echoes

Take up your sword and mechs in Chained Echoes, a roleplaying game that feels like a love letter to classic RPGs like Final Fantasy.

Ark Heiral crafted Chained Echoes, styling it to be similar to the classic Role-Playing Games from the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Visually the game looks and feels like those classic games, the characters especially remind me of the early Final Fantasy games. Those were some of my favorite games and this felt like the perfect homage to them. It was only missing a Chocobo and a character named Cid. Maybe I missed them in the game? Of course one big difference is the mech pilot combat.

The game follows a mech pilot and his comrades as they try to tear down the tyrant. With the mechs though your opponents will sometimes take to the skies, allowing you to enter the mech and go after them, adding a unique layer to the combat itself. Each fight is centered around the classic turn based JRPG styles prevalent in the industry but feels less clunky than others that have adopted it.

Overall I found the game to look and feel exactly like I hoped it would. However, it’s story didn’t suck me in liked the RPGs of the past did. This could be due to my no longer hoping every game was styled like this and the fact that even in an open war the action felt a bit on the light side, leaving me wanting more from it.

CATCHING UP WITH WARNER BROS PART 15

Warner Bros

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me copies of some of their movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. Part 2 ‘twas massive and discussed V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Part 3 talked about Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah. Part 4 discussed Tom and Jerry the Movie and Godzilla Vs Kong. Part 5 was all about Wrath of Man, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Space Jam. Part 6 had discussed Mortal Kombat and Those Who Wish Me Dead. Part 7 discussed In the Heights, The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 20 Years of Movie Magic edition. Part 8 discussed A Clockwork Orange, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Shawshank Redemption. Part 9 talked about The Suicide Squad and Reminiscence. Part 10 discussed The Outsiders, Cry Macho, Malignant, the Many Saints of Newark and the Mad Max film collection. Part 11 talked about Dune, Matrix: Resurrections, The Batman, Dog and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Part 12 discussed Elvis, DC League of Super Pets, The Lost Boys and Poltergeist. Part 13 shared some classics with 8-Bit Christmas, Casablanca, A Christmas Story, Three Thousand Years of Longing, The Polar Express, Elf and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Part 14 had Don’t Worry Darling and we’ve returned for Part 15 and Black Adam!

Black Adam

This is the final installment of the current iteration of the DCCU after the changes at Warner Bros and the first to include Black Adam. Knowing how The Rock tends to play comedic roles I was expecting this very serious character to be more campy that he would be in the comics. I am happy to say this is not the case. He gave the character the look and feel we hoped for from the comics. I didn’t know much about Adam’s history other than him being tied to Shazam in some way so getting to see this in depth made the character more interesting. The story follows Adam’s return to the world as he is called to save his country from tyrants once again. With the serious tones of the story, great effects and some better acting than we normally see in a DC film I thought this one was a total win!

CATCHING UP ON MOVIES- Disney Studios pt9

Disney Studios

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. Part 8 covered Lightyear and we’ve returned for Part 9 with Strange World!

Strange World

The story starts with an adventuring father and son duo as they search to reach the other side of a mountain. Jaeger (the father) wants to continue on the mission while Searcher (the son) wants to take a plant that generates electricity back to their home as an end to the adventure. Jaeger decides to continue the mission and leaves the party. Fast-forward 25 years and Searcher has become a farmer and responsible for pioneering the future. However the plants begin to lose their efficacy and Searcher must return to the place his father left him to find out why.

The animation quality is fantastic and the world the studio created is absolutely stunning. Overall the acting was great but I’m not a big fan of Gyllenhaal and think Searcher would have been better cast with someone else. There were two things I thought were handled wonderfully by the film. The first is that Searcher’s son has a male love interest and the film treats it as they would have if it were any other heterosexual love interest without making it obvious that it was what they were doing. The second is that the dog is missing a leg and there are characters with other disabilities like one being confined to a wheelchair. Sure the dog doesn’t have a speaking role but subtle character details like this mean a lot for those that don’t normally see themselves represented and they should have the ability to seem themselves in the characters they are watching just like everyone else.

I watched the film with my youngest and once finished asked her what she thought, she said it was “meh”. I should note that she has watched it multiple times since and really enjoys it. I thought the film was great both visually and in terms of story. I was shocked by how poorly the film did in theaters and suspect it had more to do with either blatant homophobia, racism or the fact that many people these days are under financial strain and waiting for the film to hit streaming services like Disney+.

Have you had a chance to see this film from Disney Studios?