DIII Expansion Complete

I finally finished Reaper of Souls.  Actually, I'll admit, this was a while back.
No in depth review cause I missed the boat, but I can say I did have a good time.  I really did.

When I reviewed Diablo III Classic, I only played until the beginning of Act III.  I didn't know how rushed or unpolished the last 2 Acts felt, but my brother said it was kind of meh.  Truthfully, I didn't find it so bad.  Maybe there were changes between the expansion and the initial launch.  Or, it's because I'm a bit of a fan boy.  Moving on,

Who did I pick as my nephalem?

Of course...

Took my sweet time to enjoy all 5 Acts playing the Crusader (Crusaderess?) on normal difficulty, and had fun running around in Sanctuary.  After finishing the final boss, I cranked the difficulty up in adventure mode, but after 2 weeks of hard looting, playtime steadily decreased.  I still drop in for a quick smack and smash here and there, but it's more or less for a casual run.

Overall - 8  Feel good changes / updates and feels more polished as a single player game.

Looking back Into Darkness

Unboxing

Nice!
Love the packaging

The transparent jacket is always a plus in my books.  Something about it gives it a classy touch.  Just like the old school Underworld DVD starring Kate Beckinsale.

<3 <3 <3

The rest of the unwrapping reveals a pretty straight forward package.  One case and two optical discs.  I'm happy with the minimalist approach.

I won't be staring at the dics anyays.

Grab the popcorn.  Wait!
Before we fire up the reel, I gotta say something.

As you may have figured out.  I am a huge Star Trek fan.  I loved it way back during a time when admitting you watch TNG, arguably the most mainstream one, would get you picked on, made fun of and stuffed into your own locker.  Attending a Star Trek convention was an outright death sentence when you got back at school.  Unlike now where posting your Comic-Con photos would get you chicks (well, no, not really, no).

Why all the drama?  I want to give a little background and put this into context so we have an understanding.  I liked Star Trek before it was cool.  I earned my geekdom.  I happily watched TOS on TV with a guilty shame.  Borrowed all my second cousin's feature films, and watched them holding my hand made Enterprise model on red alert.

I'm rambling now...just
Grab the popcorn.


The Film (Spoilers)

James T. Kirk.  Already disobeying the Prime Directive from the first scene.
Spock.  Always with the rules and regulation.
John Harrison.  He's WHO?  Mind blown!

I was fortunate enough to have been living under a rock, so I had no idea about the character reveal.  Totally got duped.  Even the cameo took me by surprise.

Overall, this is an enjoyable movie and the gaping plot holes brought to my attention after the fact didn't ruin it.  It's exciting, keeps good pace and is tense at the right moments.  I love the battles and the visuals were great. What does a star ship look like rising from the ocean?  Wow!  Yes!  I can indulge in a little VFX eye candy even if it makes absolutely no logical, technical, prepositional sense.

As large as the stakes are, I did find some flashes of personal moments.  Spock and Uhura's relationship.  "What is that even like?"  Spock and Kirk bromance.  Best friends forever!  Yes,  Spock and Khan's rage fueled fight to exact revenge.  "My crew is my family!  Is there anything you would not do for your family?"  All in all, thumbs up.

There were moments, however, that lost me.  There is enough online regarding the impossible physics, technicalities and trashed up continuity, so I'll just mention a few things I warrant a thumbs down.  Scotty, for some reason didn't feel like a complete character to me.  I had troubles tying together the super genius, chief engineer, theoretical physicist and booze hound.  On paper, it's what James Doohan's brought too, but somehow, Simon Pegg's seems a little disconnected.

Also, and I'm going to kick myself for asking this, did Carol Marcus have to be there?  No, no, no, don't get rid of Alice Eve that's not what I'm saying man.  My question is how do you draw a line from microbiologist to weapons specialist science offier?  Is this a misguided case of fan service?  It could very well have been Elizabeth Dehner purely through resemblance.  But...that's another can of worms messing with continuity.

While the overarching intent to mirror Wrath of Khan's themes and lines is noble, it started to get predictable.  Whatever the original Kirk said, new Spock would repeat.  Perhaps undetected by viewers unfamiliar with the original, but not the initiated.  Curse of the hardcore fan.

I love Leonard Nimoy, but this cameo felt out of place.  We've already seen old Spock break from his hard line of not interfering with the timeline in the previous movie.  Does this cameo lead to another and another?  Is old Spock going to hold young Spock's hands though every conflict?  Imagine the damage to Spock's legendary legacy.

While very fulfilling after watching it in the theatre (a 40 foot Alice Eve in her underwear has nothing to do with it) and again now on Blu-Ray, it feels a little bit like it's cashing in some nerd cred.  By asking fans to look over some flaws in exchange for some eye candy and Spock / Kirk role reversals, it scratches an itch but leaves wanting to more forward.  The film does end with the beginning of the 5 year exploration mission.  It has potential.  It's a fitting start.  I'm optimistic.

Special Features

If you're into "the making of" type documentary, this one is for you.  It goes in depth into how a different sets came together with director, cast and crew commentary sprinkled in.  One of the things that impressed me was how much practical effects were used.  Definitely more than I suspected as science fiction films often lends itself to rely heavily on CGI.  Fascinating.  Lots of movie making magic, but I found myself wanting to see more of the cast's personal thoughts.  Doesn't necessarily have to be a formal sit down interview, but on even spot interviews and casual conversations on set would have added a special touch.


Final Thoughts

To be sure, it's a fun ride but if or when the 3rd movie comes out, I hope it'd be thought provoking.  I'd like to see some deeper character insight or growth.  How this crew is different from the original.  We've explored the reflection off Wrath of Khan.  It's time for the next adventure.  No need to Search for Spock.  Right?


Random thoughts

Nice subtle layer of fan service.  Tribbles, Section 31, Harry Mudd's shuttle, foreshadowing Klingon war.

You know who would have made a great Khan? Javiar Bardem!  Evil, smart, creepy.  Especially with a little Spanish flare like Ricardo Montalban.


4 stars out of 5
Live long and prosper

Not the Bravest

My brother and I play XCOM Enemy Unknown.  So we had a good kick seeing this:

It's funny cause its true.  LOL

Now we got that out of the way, I'd like to copy and paste an epic email about Final Fantasy All the Bravest.  FYI, I sent him a link with an unfavourable review.


===

For a $4 iPhone game, this seems to be a "You get what you pay" type of situation.  I don't think I'd want to do any serious gaming on a Smart Phone simply because of the power level, so from my perspective, I think this review lets people know what they're going to get.

Having said that, if I need to wait 5 minutes for a friend, I'd be happy to pull this out and waste time with a low-substance game with nostalgic and familiar elements.

I can easily see how this is quite a lacking game that's more a cash grab than anything else, but if you removed the Square Enix elements from it, and just had a bunch of characters fighting monsters, I think this would be a hilarious game to play.

Personally, I think the author is expecting a bit too much from a $4 game, and it's emphasized because it's from Square Enix.

My complaint, however, is that it's $4 for a LOT of reused and rehashed materials.  Music, sprite art, and concepts have have existed in the FF World for so long - I'm not convinced that the game system is worth $4 of design/implementation/programming/marketing.  I'm not comparing it to a $70 game, because realistically, this would sell more copies since more people have $5 and a Phone than $70 and a Console.  I think at $2 or $3, this would be more reasonable, but like Hello Kitty, add a special name, and you can charge more.

===


Other review's are equally if not more scathing.

PWND!!

Diablo III : Review

Story time.

Long ago, my brother and I got fired up over a little game called Diablo II.  When the expansion came out, we were equally, if not more excited.  What made it even more special this time, was we got to play together over our brand spanking new home network.  Unfortunately, we wouldn't get very far before the game crashed over and over again due to an overheating issue (voodoo 3).  His solution?  Take the side panel off and blast a fan into the case.

It totally worked.

Such was the dedication for that game, he was willing to play sitting funny with a crooked spine.  And also me in my room, where the temperature rose high enough easily to bake a medium pizza.  Now that Diablo III has come out, what’s it going to be like now?  Expectations were high.

Predictably, it was exactly as I expected.  Not that it’s a bad thing, since I set the bar so high.  Great polish, straightforward gameplay, and the animations had a simple yet attractive charm to it.  I rolled my monk character and punched and kicked my way into the first tutorial.  I was in Sanctuary again, and it felt good.

How I feel,

Pacing was good.  Nothing to scare new gamers, and not so boring as to turn off anyone hardcore.  It gets progressively more and more complex as the game progresses, but still retains an easy learning curve.  The hack and slash is intuitive to control and you eventually start turning over dead corpses as naturally as breathing.  Sweet.  Noobs unite!

... and how I look.

As I played more and more, a familiar feeling crept up.  Was it a nostalgic blast from the past?  Am I playing Diablo, too?  Actually, no.  It started feeling a lot like Torchlight.  WHAT?  Now, it makes sense since the dudes who made Diablo II, well uh, jumped ship and made Torchlight.  But I don't want this review to be a comparison to another game, so I’ll try to carry on.

When I played Diablo II, it felt like a sequel.  I was playing the next game after Diablo I.  A different game.   But definitely in the same franchise.  Diablo III felt familiar enough, but it almost felt like I was playing on the fringes of the franchise.  Much of that is due to the change in gameplay and game mechanics I think, but maybe that's like comparing a DOS game to a Windows game.  Right?  You have to advance and move on, right?  A successful band cant realease 20 CDs that sound the same.  I digress.

Overall, its not bad.  Its not bad at all.  I love the cinematics.  I care about the characters, there's a story, and  most important, its fun.  It's fun to play again.

Art - 8  Thought not as dark as the first 2 games, still great polish and refinement
Cinematics - 9  Awesome visuals.  Nice blend with the 2D artwork.  Brief flashes of the uncanny valley
Sound - 7  Good sound effects
Music - 7  Good tracks and textures.  Really wanted to hear the Tristram theme more
Gameplay - 8  Fun, and easy to pick up.  Checkpoints a bonus so parents like me can jump in and out
Overall - 8  Great diving in to play, but not soul sucking addictive like Star Craft.  Maybe that's a good thing

***

I miss my pet from Torchlight.  I named my dog Wong Choy and he carried my sellables back to town and came back with gold.  I wish you can send your companion to sell your goods.

***

Lots more inventory space now.  No need to play chain mail tetris as much

***

I chuckle ‘cause the Lyndon in the game is totally not like the Lyndon I know in real life.  HA!