tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51701611993752000852024-03-19T01:46:54.508-07:00JVT WorkshopA blog on MMOs, Gaming, Movies and Real Life!Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.comBlogger3552125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-86945027220641454072024-03-18T20:37:00.000-07:002024-03-18T20:37:50.525-07:00Code 8 Part II and House of Ninjas (Season 1)<p><i>Shows that are... Meh?</i><br /><br /><b>Code 8 Part II</b><br /><br />This continuation of <a href=" https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2020/10/code-8.html">Code 8</a> sees the return of actor brothers Robbie and Stephen Amell in the lead roles. Time has passed plot wise and now there are robot dogs as well? What follows is a story of corruption and witness protection which drives the plot forward faster than the original, but fights and the use of abilities is really held back for key moments (and to save on budget). Unfortunately the main person they are protecting isn't great which detracts a fair bit for me. Still, if you enjoyed the first movie you'll probably enjoy this one.<br /><br /><b>House of Ninjas (Season 1) </b><br /><br />A modern day family that are secretly ninjas are very bored in their undercover "regular" life. To that end, many of them do stupid things for fun and just as they are about to get in trouble for it a rival ninja clan reappears and they officially have to get their swords out to stop the threat. While the action parts are ok with some decent fight choreo and wire work it can take time getting there with some pretty slow moving plot and idiotic characters who don't do the obvious "correct" thing just to expand on the drama. Not great, but if it does get a season two I'll still be watching it. <br /></p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-14440822944507412572024-03-17T14:38:00.000-07:002024-03-17T14:41:54.362-07:00Aerial_Knight's Never Yield, Love, Doors: Paradox and Infinifactory<p><i>Catching up on Epic freebies!</i><br /><br /><b>Aerial_Knight's Never Yield</b><br /><br />This auto runner has the same problems as <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/ghostwire-tokyo-lost-castle-and-super.html">Super Meat Boy Forever</a> where your inputs are limited to high jump, little jump, slide and sprint and a single wrong move kills you. While the art and music are definitely better the game play itself gets old quick. Not recommended. I had toyed around with creating a similar game in the past (with worse art and music, those are decent here) and this just verifies it would have been a bad idea.<br /><br /><b>Love</b><br /><br />When your character is made up of around 10 white pixels you know that this game really doesn't have good graphics. It's a platformer where you're trying to get to each level's exit and there's a clock if you really want to time yourself. Interesting design decisions in that you can put your respawn point wherever you want, as often as you want, and it looked like you could pick any level without going through some un-locking process. While I commend those ideas its just not enough for me to Love this one. Uninstalled.<br /><br /><b>Doors: Paradox</b><br /><br />This is a very chill puzzle game about unlocking doors, and its not a first person experience. Instead the doors are like a well rendered miniature display, each level decorated by different locks. You can rotate the whole thing and zoom in on bits to pick up puzzle pieces or interact with stuff and it is surprisingly addictive. That's because the first few levels are also very easy (and regular readers know I'm bad at puzzle games). I might go back to this one, and can recommend it for puzzle enthusiasts - though you might blow through the first few really quickly!<br /><br /><b>Infinifactory</b><br /><br />This first person game starts with you being abducted by aliens and then tasked to... create production lines of boxes? Yes. You'll be putting down mazes of conveyor belts and welders to put shapes together and will feel pretty satisfied after making it through a level. I was surprised with how easy the controls are too, as to let you focus on the puzzle element and this one doesn't hold back: level one is a pretty good indication of what craziness awaits. Wayyyy to much thinking for me (I only made it to the vertical weld session) but others might enjoy it.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-74281155035775933022024-03-14T15:35:00.000-07:002024-03-14T15:36:10.164-07:00Ghostwire: Tokyo, Lost Castle and Super Meat Boy Forever<p><i>Games that focus on DEATH!</i><br /><br /><b>Ghostwire: Tokyo</b><br /><br />When supernatural entities take over Tokyo, its up to you to save everyone's souls! Despite an average story this one definitely got me hooked, as wandering around the deserted streets is super immersive and exploration and stealth game play is rewarded. <br /><br />Despite dealing with ghosts and yokai there aren't many scary sections at all which might be a negative but I really enjoyed it. The expansion mode of the Spider's Thread is more roguelike where they do expect you to die a lot though, and becomes repetitive. Way better than <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2022/03/epic-trash.html">the prelude</a> though.<br /><br /><b>Lost Castle</b><br /><br />Speaking of roguelike - this is the entire premise for Lost Castle. You get a randomly generated adventurer to see how far you get into the demon's castle, die, and unlock some mild boons for your next randomly generated adventurer. Got old quick with the below average graphics and the inability to spell "Altar" but at least there <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2023/01/rogue-legacy.html">was no platforming</a>.<br /><br /><b>Super Meat Boy Forever</b><br /><br />This sequel to <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2014/08/super-meat-boy.html">the punishing original</a> is just as gory but turned me off right away as a lot of control has been taken away from the player to be an "auto runner" type where your controls are only along the lines of jump, jump twice to attack or duck. You need to hit a "change direction pillow" to go the other way. Clearly designed for a mobile device this button mashing iteration is just not for me.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-20490414372798134792024-03-13T14:40:00.000-07:002024-03-13T14:40:03.054-07:00Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 1) and YuYu Hakusho (Season 1)<p><i>Netflix live action adaptations.</i><br /><br /><b>Avatar: The Last Airbender</b><br /><br />When the Fire nation decides to conquer the rest of the world it falls upon a recently returned child protagonist Aang (played by Gordon Cormier), to bring balance to the world. Hang on a minute, hasn't this <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-last-airbender-live-action-movie.html">already been made into live action</a>? <br /><br />Yes, but this series is better in that it has more time to develop characters, fix some pacing issues and show off more fight scenes. There's also some good martial arts in there behind all the "elemental bending" but overall I'd still rank this behind the live action <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2023/10/one-piece-s1-and-fate-winx-saga.html">One Piece</a> series as the characters and script there are a clear step up.<br /><br /><b>YuYu Hakusho</b><br /><br />A rough delinquent is given a second chance to defend the world against invading spirits, and holy hell is it super entertaining. Amazing wirework assists with the very physical confrontations in a no-filler plot that makes this five episode story (yep, that's all that's in season one) very binge worthy.<br /><br />Just like Avatar (above) and One Piece I've not seen the source content but this is currently the clear winner among those three, even if some props are hilarious. Recommended! <br /></p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-7408415587946356042024-03-12T14:51:00.000-07:002024-03-12T14:52:36.888-07:00Doom Eternal<p><i>Doomguy exalted.</i><br /><br />This FPS follows on from all the <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2023/03/waiting-for-duviri-frightening-fifth.html">previous Doom</a> titles and like those continues the trend of you fighting horrible demons in violent encounters while exploring a map for secret passages and power ups. As you are able to climb and swing off things there is an added jumping puzzle element here but that's very minor. The biggest difference is in the combat, as based on what you do to your enemies you might be generating ammo (chainsaw), health (melee gory kill), or armor (set them on fire then hurt them) or all the above.<br /><br />As most major combats take place in arenas now you need to get really good at doing all the above (which by default means you can't be too far away) while under pressure. Enemies have their own weak spots too: the shoulder launchers for revenants, arm cannons of mancubi, tail for pinkies etc - just to keep you on your toes as you fight a more and more mixed bag of enemies with your ridiculously large arsenal of weapons, most of which have two modes of fire which you can switch mid battle as well as upgrade! All up a very solid entry to the Doom franchise. <br /></p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-12167619944058803592024-03-11T15:15:00.000-07:002024-03-11T15:15:06.450-07:00Orphan Black: Echoes and The Vow<p><i>A pale copy and a slow film.</i><br /><br /><b>Orphan Black: Echoes</b><br /><br />In this single season series continuation of <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/04/old-tv-reviews-chuck-lost-black-orphan.html">Orphan Black</a>, cloning is still highly illegal and yet here come more clones! While it may have been an OK series on its own, the fact that it basically covers the same ground as the original without being as good already puts problems on it. I do applaud them for finding a way for lead actress Krysten Ritter to not have the insane work load Tatiana Maslany had in the original but I feel they really needed to be more trigger happy in offing characters. The fact that it got cancelled while ending on a cliffhanger just solidifies my recommendation to skip this pale immitation of the original. As an aside, this must win one of the worst opening songs ever.<br /><br /><b>The Vow</b><br /><br />After a car accident, the marriage of the victims (played by Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams) is tested as the wife loses all memory of her time with the husband - gravitating towards the different person she was before they met. You can already imagine what complications that could entail and I'd say 80% of the first things you may think of happen here. There are few interest grabbing segments in a sea of a glacially paced drama which makes this an easy skip, even if you like the premise, genre or actors. <br /></p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-85591546403034073732024-03-10T16:41:00.000-07:002024-03-10T16:41:41.342-07:00Baldur's Gate 3: Obliteration<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />The party group up with Gortash to head to the elder brain's lair and try re-establish control of it with the netherstones. This ultimately fails as the brain has evolved into a netherbrain which power word kills Gortash. The D20 warps the party out of there as the brain begins to float up to the city, turning the many infected people into mindflayers while also summoning more nautiloids from realm space to take over the world. To combat this the D20 manifests itself as a mindflayer too and suggests one of the heroes also goes mindflayery. <br /><br />Karlach volunteers, turning into a cute squidface. They then manage to meet up with their allies: Councillor Florrick who offers three soldiers, <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-trading-up.html">three vampire hunters</a>, Volo and Sarevok (those last two just give passive buffs) before heading into a massive battle against pretty much everything they've fought up to this point but it is Varanna who is the MVP with her bow and a lot of exploding arrows (which she can shoot multiple times per turn apparently). <br /><br />In the end it is Gale who is the hero though, climbing up onto the brain as it hovers far above Baldur's Gate and self detonates his bomb - obliterating it from existence. This causes fatal headaches to the enemy flayers and giving the citizens the upper hand against the invaders. Karlach and the D20 then go into hiding, Varanna returns to working for the guild, and Catharina (who went against Bhaal's wishes of dominating the brain) quickly degrades into a killer flesh puppet for the god of murder. <br /></p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-17938096695668567682024-03-09T13:22:00.000-08:002024-03-09T13:22:11.779-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Trading Up<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br /><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-making-alliances.html">The trap</a> is not a very good one and the Stone Lord is revealed to be... Minsc!? Didn't he <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-cursed-looking-and-unseeing.html">die in some sewers before</a>? And he's here with Jaheira no less. Seems the worm guys have wormed these two as well. At this point Catharina's patience is wearing thin so she just annihilates them all and the thieves guild thanks her by loaning out their highly skilled hireling Varanna to join the crew. Catharina then locates a hidden Bhaal Murder Tribunal run by <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-cursed-sarevok.html">Sarevok</a> (whom Catharina killed before) and the ghosts of other Bhaalspawn as well! <br /><br />They are quite pleased with Catharina's actions thus far - giving her directions to the underground temple of Bhaal, deep down past the grease filled sewers. The place is well guarded by other Bhaal cultists who manage to push poor Kerz into a yawning chasm of instadeath. Beyond is Orin who duels with Catharina (in slayer form) and Orin is literally ripped a new one as Catharina forcefully removes her netherstone then loots that sexy blood armor of hers.<br /><br />Before going back to Gortash the team visits Cazador, Astarion's vampire master, who it seems was expecting him as he immediately yanks the assassin into being part of the helpless sacrificial victims that explode into giblets when Cazador completes his ascension ritual. Catharina isn't impressed as even the ascended vampire can do little against her slayer form and her friends. Wtih all the vamps dead, the vampire hunters are happy and offer their aid when the time comes, which will be <i>real</i> soon...</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-60587118140240540062024-03-08T15:52:00.000-08:002024-03-08T15:52:39.040-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Making Alliances <p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />Arriving at <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-transformers.html">the outskirts of Baldur's Gate</a> the team is greeted by a welcome sight - people aren't mindflayers (yet), though there are numerous refugees flooding the area for the safety of Lord Gortash's Steel Watch - giant guard bots also powered by infernal engines, making him a popular guy in town. Orin on the other hand outs herself early as a shapeshifter, leaving ambushes for Catharina almost everywhere, like the circus. Gotta get those evil clowns in somehow! Orin murders Halsin in one of these.<br /><br />Gortash meets with the party and offers a truce, joint rule over the brain provided they can deal with the clearly unhinged Orin and take her stone. Karlach is upset Catharina accepts this, but it does mean an easier time navigating the streets with all the now non-hostile robot guards around. While this is happening Astarion sneaks into the dungeon and frees Councillor Florrick who had opposed Gortash, a useful ally for the future perhaps?<br /><br />He also runs into a band of vampire hunters who ask him to deal with his master Cazador. Surprising they don't just attack Astarion immediately but maybe they sense some good in this assassin after all? The local thieves guild are more neutral, but are willing to help if the party helps them deal with a new gang following The Stone Lord. They've set a trap for those guys in the local bank (which they run, lol) so that's next on the agenda.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-57232554122043754542024-03-07T13:47:00.000-08:002024-03-07T13:47:54.978-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: The Transformers<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />Deeper in the hive the <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-turning-to-shit.html">remaining party members</a> witness an elder brain be controlled by three individuals: Thorm, Gortash (whom Karlach hates), and Orin who is rocking a murderous sexy vibe. While Orin, Gortash and the brain warp elsewhere Thorm stays to fight, transforming into an avatar of Myrkul - Lord of the Dead, best symbolized by a giant skeleton (<a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2021/08/dark-souls-cards-catacombs-of-abyss.html">High Lord Wolnir</a> is that you?). <br /><br />Halsin gets the KOed Nightsong back into the fight which ultimately kills her while Catharina transforms into the six limbed slayer demon as a child of Bhaal (she remembered how!) for an epic showdown, the end of which sees Karlach pulling Thorm's netherstone out of him - killing him for good. It sounds as dirty and painful as it is. <br /><br />With no time to waste the team hurry on to Baldur's Gate before the brain turns everyone there into mindflayers but first, some time wasting as Gith monks ambush the team at camp. Who knew unarmed opponents in D&D could be so troublesome!? Afterwards the D20 speaks to us, calling itself "The Emperor", suggesting we let the parasites evolve to make us stronger for the upcoming fight. Catharina talks Gale and Karlach into doing just that, making them pseudo-flayers with black eyes and purpling skin in exchange for some power. Catharina doesn't need it herself since she can already transform into a monster at will. <br /></p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-65804317993452237402024-03-06T13:53:00.000-08:002024-03-06T13:53:49.957-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Turning to Shit<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br /><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-its-just-hobby.html">Raphael's lead</a> is fruitful as the party finds a tomb that serves as the Gauntlet of Shar, the goddess whom Shadowheart worships. After a trial of traps and combat against numerous undead and a few demons they then enter a pocket dimension of Shar where they find the Nightsong, the artifact giving the bad general immortality, is actually an imprisoned angel. Shadowheart goes full zealot and wants to kill her so Karlach swipes the D20 protection device from the cleric and her off into oblivion.<br /><br />Nightsong is freed and regains her powers almost instantly which she uses to take flight and take the fight to the no-longer immortal Thorm at Moonrise Towers. The party chases after her and on the roof already find her kicking butt until a giant tentacle busts out from one of the towers, knocking Jaheira out, and dragging the angel and the enemy below.<br /><br />The group jumps down in pursuit and finds a large flayer hive hides beneath Moonrise. Fighting past intellect devourers and mind flayers they come across Wyll's patron, Mizora, inexplicably trapped in one of their pods. She pleads to be set free, reminding Wyll that should she die he will turn into a Lemure (a weak shit fiend) and sent to the infinite meat grinder of the Blood War. Catharina takes that choice out of his hands and presses the button to "Annihilate" Mizora so Wyll turns into a shit before their very eyes before falling through a portal to hell.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-1911687650157991882024-03-05T14:55:00.000-08:002024-03-05T14:55:52.668-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: It's just a Hobby<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br /><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-training.html">Jaheira</a> warns the group that Thorm, Lord of the nearby Moonrise Towers, is immortal so it would probably be wise to scout things out first. The party thrashes more shadows in the ruined city en route to the tower and then use tadpole-magic to trick their way in again where they see first hand that yes, that dude <i>is</i> immortal. <br /><br />His minions aren't though! So after he retires to the roof there is a lot of quiet murder that happens until the tower is devoid of enemies. They then scour the ruined city to find the thing making him immortal, beating a Gith-ambush in the process, and returning to the Last Light Inn to rest, recover, and for Catharina to murder the cleric casting the shield (damn that murderous hobby)!<br /><br />With no protection, everyone there except Jaheira and Raphael not only dies - but has to be killed again for the party to escape. Jaheira joins the squad because Catharina is so good at not getting caught, no one but Astarion is the wiser (and he approves)! Raphael on the other hand just tells them to go look in the graveyard then blinks away to watch from his home in the hells.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-89762159394775955632024-03-04T14:04:00.000-08:002024-03-04T14:05:51.893-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Training<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />Despite <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-wrong-way.html">not being on the itinerary</a> the party investigates the temple finding it to now be home to drunk kobolds and magical cats. Underneath it however is a Githyanki training facility which the team end up wiping out, especially when it is revealed they are after an artifact (looks like a D20) Shadowheart has been holding this whole time - and the reason they've not yet undergone ceremorphosis (turn into mindflayers). <br /><br />The Gith-lich queen, only present via magical hologram, swears vengeance but is unable to really do anything. It occurs to them afterwards that the Gith might have the means to remove the parasites, being sworn enemies of the Illithid and all, but having failed to ask any of them about that Wyll just gambles on one of their devices which nearly makes his head explode. The device breaks, and his tadpole remains.<br /><br />With a sigh the party returns to the shadow-cursed lands and after beating a shambling mound find their way to a magically shielded inn known as the Last Light, protected by a squad of Harpers led by Catharina's old acquaintance Jaheira! I guess that dragon at <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-cursed-suldanessellar.html">Suldanessellar</a> didn't melt her to death after all! Also present is a blacksmith who tunes up Karlach's infernal heart to make her live again and the devil Raphael who loans them his assassin vampire servant Astarion, for the lols. Councillor Florrick is also here briefly, but runs off to try "get reinforcements from Baldur's Gate". Yeah - that's not coming.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-36136927822542813582024-03-03T13:53:00.000-08:002024-03-03T13:53:08.523-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Wrong Way<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />Despite his startling <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-interesting-condition.html">revelation</a>, the team vote to keep Gale in the party which is a good call as his spells and ogre mercenaries come in handy in wiping out the duergars and their idiotic dark elf leader. While their ogre allies are slain, the enslaved deep gnomes (including the same one from the goblin's lair) are saved and show the team the way to the shadow-cursed lands near Moonrise Towers. <br /><br />Conveniently, Elminster is here waiting for them to give Gale's bomb a "tune-up" so that he no longer needs to devour magic items and instead can self detonate at will. Does the great mage then join the party to stop this impending world-ending doom? Nope, he buggers off as usual to do something else.<br /><br />Anyway, the shadow-cursed lands are aptly named as anything that doesn't have light takes damage in the darkness and anything dead (unless its a briar plant enemy) turns into a shadow zombie thing. It's an annoying area to traverse at the start due to all the hidden "shadow" enemies but clearing them out improves the situation. Eventually the team find their way up to a mountain pass and outside the cursed lands and, after fire walling some undead idiots, spot a huge ruined temple in the distance. Could this finally be Moonrise Towers? Halsin says no, they're going the wrong way.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-87832364693801017992024-03-02T23:45:00.000-08:002024-03-02T23:45:28.409-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Interesting Condition<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />The warlock Wyll meets the team at <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/03/baldurs-gate-3-left-or-r-yeah-were.html">the entrance to the Underdark</a> to try slay Karlach on orders from his patron, the cambion Mizora, but is convinced not only to stand down but to join the party instead. For this he is turned by hellish magics to look a bit more devilish but it doesn't seem to bother anyone much. Especially not the minotaurs, hook horrors, duergar or really annoying bullette that attack the party members equally.<br /><br />Luckily there's a friendly Myconid colony nearby and a big shroom guy named Glut helps the party clear out this zone until he is slain by a spectator (beholder type thing) near the end, but the team is free to take a rowboat down to the duergar controlled Grym Forge and again via parasite-psionics trick them into being allies for now. <br /><br />Deciding to explore first the team completes the jumping puzzle to get to the forge itself, fighting animated armors on the way but it is a lava mephit ambush (and the fact they explode on death) that kills Karlach on the steps leading down to it. They opt to back off for now, which is the perfect time for Gale to reveal that his "condition" is worsening, and that he's a living bomb.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-64289804369935322482024-03-01T15:24:00.000-08:002024-03-01T15:24:06.138-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Left or R... Yeah, we're going Left<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />Back at the druid camp the team are welcomed as heroes since <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/02/baldurs-gate-3-buffet.html">Halsin</a> turns out to be their leader! Halsin does pass that role off to someone else though so that he can accompany the team to Moonrise Towers, where he believes the solution or cure for the tadpoles resides. Volo first wants to try his hand at removing a tadpole and fails, removing Catharina's eye instead but replacing it with a machine version that lets her see invisible things. A decent upgrade!<br /><br />Volo then waves them good bye as they set off and en route they find the berserker and ex-soldier of Zariel named Karlach who has an infernal engine for a heart and joins them after they help her defeat some evil paladins hunting her down.<br /><br />One gnoll warband later they also rescue Chancellor Florrick and a few other Flaming Fist soldiers from a burning tavern en route to the mountain pass that leads to Moonrise Towers, only to find that an entire Gith patrol AND their red dragon block the way. As they don't look like they'd be leaving anytime soon the team decides to try out the second path - via the Underdark. Because that sounds MUCH safer right?</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-37204332577737589332024-02-29T14:52:00.000-08:002024-03-01T15:48:04.831-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: The Buffet<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]</p><p>The team opt to try quietly handle the rest of <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/02/baldurs-gate-3-goblins-lair.html">the goblins</a> in what turns out to be a very humorous and fun sequence which involves a lot of pushing guards off high ledges into the yawning Underdark below (insta-kills). The drow leader suffers the same fate while the hobgoblin leader gets his minions exploded via volatile barrel (hilarious) and then is bear food when his throne is wrecked out from under him, leaving him prone and vulnerable to Halsin's fury.<br /><br />With the leaders gone, Halsin promptly evacuates with the other captive: Volo (master at getting himself into trouble). Lucky Kerz, a half orc paladin prisoner decides to help out, especially since Lae'zel has a brainfart and tries to murder Catharina while they rest. Catharina obviously kills her first.<br /><br />The team murders their way out of there with Gale recruiting some ogre mercenaries in the process before he reveals he has a condition that requires him to consume magic items or "something bad will happen". In regular D&D this would be annoying or even dangerous. Here, there's a literal buffet of things to keep him satiated.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-83264218660686531142024-02-28T14:09:00.000-08:002024-02-28T14:09:04.550-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Goblin's Lair<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br />The bard Alfira joins the team at camp for one night and Catharina gives in to the urge to murder her in her sleep, hiding her crime from her companions as they continue their journey in the morning - straight into a goblin base! <a href="Baldur's Gate 3: Goblin's Lair">The tadpoles</a> psychic influence prove useful in coercing the guards to let them pass unmolested, but that's exactly what Lae'zel wants to be when she approaches the goblin priestess for help in the parasite removal.<br /><br />While the others check out the traveling slavers wares, Lae'zel is isolated and is convinced to take a tonic to put her to sleep. When she wakes, she finds herself imprisoned, chained, stripped and branded: a new scientific project for the goblin priestess to cut into. Lucky for her a hooded assassin saves her ass and kills the priestess and her guards to boot. Upon rejoining the team her savior's patron appears to the party - a devil named Raphael.<br /><br />He tells them that he can remove the parasites but it will come at a cost, and it can't be now. Typical devil, he's such a tease. In a separate dungeon they find some goblin kids meanly torturing a bear, so they let the bear out and help it kill the goblin jailors nearby. Turns out the bear is a shapeshifting druid named Halsin and he wants help in wiping out the goblin leadership.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-51505441148627612372024-02-27T13:56:00.000-08:002024-02-27T13:59:29.451-08:00Baldur's Gate 3: Little Tadpoles<p>[<i><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-cursed.html">Part of the Cursed story line</a></i>]<br /><br /><a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-cursed-charming-lady-of-murder.html">Catharina</a> wakes up with a jolt as she stumbles out of the Illithid pseudopod with the horrible realization that there was now a tadpole in her brain, ready to transform her into a mind-flayer at any moment. Why it wasn't doing so, or how she got here in the first place is all a blur to her... where is "here" anyway? Some beach where the nautiloid ship crashed.<br /><br />Another tadpoled survivor, the cleric Shadowheart, is nearby and they decide to stick together as they fight through a few injured intellect devourers (brains on feet) and rescue the wizard Gale from a minor black-hole situation as well as the Githyanki warrior Lae'zel from a more mundane trap - both of whom are equally tadpoled. The quartet make their way inland and witness a goblin raid fail against the walls of a druid encampment. Rather than going in they opt to skirt around as Lae'zel claims to know of a way to remove the tadpoles from their brains - a usually fatal operation.<br /><br />En route to Lae'zel's solution the team happens on old lady Ethel being bullied by two guys whom they deal with. As thanks, Ethel invites them to her nearby tea house where she reveals herself to be a hag, offering to remove the tadpoles for the cost of an eye. Shadowheart agrees, but after losing one eye is still left with the parasite as Ethel's magics are useless against its Netherese protection. Instead, the witch gives a single use buff item and sends them on their way.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-85856475461736268442024-02-26T14:18:00.000-08:002024-02-26T14:18:45.247-08:00Treason and The Silence<p><i>Shows where silence is important (but broken anyway)!</i> <br /><br /><b>Treason</b><br /><br />"An ok story with dumb characters" is not the line I wanted to type for this currently single season (five episode) spy show starring Charlie Cox, but here we are. After the MI6 boss is taken off the board it is up to his deputy (Cox) to fill his shoes but alas he and his family are some of the stupidest people in the universe and get played like fiddles pretty much right till the end. The idiot-ball aggravation and lack of comeuppances at the end make it a hard one to recommend. Should you watch it? Only if there isn't anything else on.<br /><br /><b>The Silence</b><br /><br />When cave spelunkers inadvertently release dangerous predatory swarms of giant bat-gremlins (who probably shouldn't have survived living in an isolated cave) the USA hilariously falls apart pretty quickly, especially those who aren't able to keep quiet. Yes, its like <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2023/01/a-quiet-place-i-and-ii.html">A Quiet Place</a> with bats in stead of aliens. This one focuses on a family (whose patriarch is played by Stanley Tucci) trying to get out of the city who have the advantage(?) of having a deaf daughter thus all of them know sign language. While it's an alright setup there are just a few too many scenes of contrivance, from "we need to keep quiet but we brought a dog" all the way up to "the film needs a villain so lets just throw one in there". Is it a bad film? No. Is it a good film? Also no. It's just entertaining, but I wouldn't watch it again.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-32157526391985470282024-02-25T13:52:00.000-08:002024-02-25T13:52:48.395-08:00Ovation of the Seas <p>We were fortunate to go on a short eight day cruise last month on the Ovation of the Seas and it was quite the experience! Boarding was really fast as you deposit your heavier luggage early on which will just appear next to your cabin later, and the beds are cleverly tall enough to fit your luggage underneath so you don't have to squeeze around your bags - there's enough closet space so you don't live out of your bags all the time anyway.<br /><br />There was no chance we'd be going hungry either with all the options on board but what we found was breakfast at the Solarium was the best, while lunch at Windjammer (provided you sit all the way past the food where it is quieter) offers more options, and the main dining for dinner is great. If you change those around it is less good in that Solarium dinner is repetitive, main dining breakfast is too little and Windjammer is very busy in general. <br /><br />It's also interesting that the waiters (outside main dining) really get rotated around even from the pay-to-eat places (Chops Grille, yum) but there is alot of upselling especially when you first board and on shore days where they walk around to try get you to eat at wherever they are spruiking.<br /><br />Of the snacks options, the Two70 cafe is a bit weak again in options (potato soup was good though), at the Doghouse hotdog thing you should just ask for two dogs per bun, and the Fish and Ships near the pool will require maybe three or four of their little servings to be satisfied. Sorrento's (nearly) infinite pizza is the highlight though. Just be aware that after the evening shows this place fills up really quickly!<br /><br />There's always stuff happening for you to participate in too, and a handy schedule is available in the mandatory app as well as the daily ship news in your cabin TVs. Trivia, dance lessons (we danced on every dance floor we could find), competitions - and that's not even counting the sportsy / poolsy and gaming stuff near the top deck. I got my step count up (around 14-16K a day) doing the search for nations scavenger hunt where you collect signatures from staff from different countries, some of whom are really tough to find as the ship is massive.<br /><br />While I only got third place I did feel that I got to see a LOT of the ship - including the beautiful gym, spacious spa, multi-roomed childcare, and pretty much every bar because bartenders are an excellent resource when finding people (apparently that's not just in the movies). Did spend a fair bit on shopping too though AND the casino - both of which are only open when the ship is out at sea. After attending an intro to gambling course (free ship activity) I finally tried my hand at a blackjack table. It went as well as you might expect (>_<), but by golly is it fun and super addictive!<br /><br />For shore excursions (visiting ports) there was a bit of a line for both disembarking and re-embarking but neither took very long possibly because all the ones we visited we could walk off the ship / didn't have to be ferried off the ship. An interesting caveat here though, while you can buy food and bring it on board no food items are allowed to leave the ship! That nixed our idea of getting chocolate as a bday present for someone. We still bought and ate the chocolate though!</p><p>Disembarking was also pretty quick - we just chose to tag and leave our bags outside the cabin the night before, keeping basically just hand carry for whatever was left. There was no line for us and by the time we got back on solid ground our stuff was already there. All up a nice experience, with only one slightly rougher sea day where everyone was walking funny. That said as nice as being on that ship was, we were quite ready to get off it come disembarkation day. <br /><br />Would I do it again? Maybe, but not anytime soon. It's also pretty expensive. :P</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-338528997046957082024-02-22T13:52:00.000-08:002024-02-22T13:52:22.771-08:00The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes<p><i>Threw out the old formula</i><b> </b><i>and it didn't go so well.<b><br /></b></i></p><p><b>Mocking Jay (Part I and II)</b><br /><br />After the events from <a href="https://josephskyrim.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-hunger-games-and-hunger-games.html">the last movie</a> the rebellion against the Capitol is now in full swing but at the same time our main heroes are now "protected" and must do everything (mainly promotional/inspirational videos) far from the front lines. The effects are actually upped for these two movies but it does feel like a few primary actors just sat on their laurels this time around.<br /><br />Script wise I don't like that they left their tried and true formula or worldbuilding and then action so it's not as good for me, but hey if you want to finish the story you'll need to watch these anyway. Possibly sped up. :P<br /><b><br />The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes</b><br /><br />This prequel to the Hunger Games spends its time dropping names and focusing on how our new protagonist saved the Hunger Games from being abolished many years before Katniss' time. Honestly its a pretty decent story but does two major things wrong - and these tie into each other. First, it runs way too long. Second, they made it a musical? Almost a musical?<br /><br />I know songs had their part in the original movies but here they really got a lot of attention which is fine if you're here to watch Rachel Zegler sing, but it does draw out the film as there are many parts that just focus on her singing instead of advancing the plot. Alas that puts this in the not recommended pile for me, unless you watch it first before the other movies. Your mileage may vary.</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-45795923144480721152024-02-21T13:57:00.000-08:002024-02-21T13:58:39.805-08:00The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire<p><i>Equal parts world building and action.</i><br /><br />Since both these movies follow the same format I'm not going to be talking about them separately. On this world the ruling Capitol forces a "mandatory viewing" televised fight to the death from randomly drawn participants taken from previously rebellious districts. One of these is Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who ends up unintentionally stirring the flames of rebellion once more. <br /><br />I know I'm late to this movie series but I was quite surprised at how effective it was spending nearly half the run time on simply world building, to give the audience the same helpless anger the protagonists (and basically almost all the characters) feel towards the Capitol - even before the killing starts! That said the killing is pretty quick and decent fights are few and far between but that doesn't matter since it's the surviving that counts. Good script, decent acting and nice effects leave both of these as entertaining and enjoyable movies. Recommended!</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-14436154911141924662024-02-20T13:39:00.000-08:002024-02-20T13:39:31.509-08:00Masters of the Universe: Revelation & Revolution<p><i>Because He-man never dies! Oh, wait...</i><br /><br />This Netflix animated series continuation of the old He-Man TV show and is pretty well animated, nicely violent and opens with the question "what if both He-man and Skeletor got killed right off the bat?" <br /><br />It's an interesting opening premise though that does make the early part of this plot very female character focused with Teela taking the lead, but it's absolutely fine especially since it isn't shy killing off and/or giving character arcs to others while they're at it. <br /><br />I didn't have high hopes for this one but I was pleasantly surprised so you might like to give it a try, starting with Revelation which has two seasons followed by Revolution which is currently one season, but it would be pretty easy to add more. <br /></p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5170161199375200085.post-56167531982938075952024-02-19T14:38:00.000-08:002024-02-19T14:39:20.257-08:00Gyeongseong Creature (Season 1) and The Dry<p><i>Investigations into monsters.</i><br /><br /><b>Gyeongseong Creature (Season 1)</b><br /><br />In this Korean made series set during the Japanese occupation of Korea 1945, a well connected pawn shop owner and a pair of sleuths tasked with locating missing people find clues that lead them to the local hospital where it just so happens the Japanese are conducting some monstrous experiments. While there are horror/monster aspects to the plot it isn't the bulk of the story, with heavy focus on the drama / love segment of it instead with some really colorful segments. That's not a bad thing but it certainly slows the pace down a bit, and I'm not sure I would have made it if we weren't watching at 1.5x speed. Entertaining enough to watch but I'm only going to be recommending it to K-drama lovers. Season 2 is already confirmed.<br /><b><br />The Dry</b><br /><br />This Australian made movie focuses on a Federal Agent (played by Eric Bana) who returns to his home town for the funeral of his childhood friend thought to be involved in a murder/suicide. Obviously he is asked to investigate but to complicate matters his history with the little town is spotty at best from a murder that took place in his youth. These two events really drive the two timelines that this story follows which nicely depicts rural Australian life. Basically, it's an Aussie whodunit and it is bloody good mate - she'll be right! Recommended!</p>Joseph Skyrimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08734014925489857811noreply@blogger.com0