Deponia: The Complete Journey

You are your biggest enemy.

This point and click adventure follows the adventures of Rufus on his junk home planet and is actually three games rolled into one (Deponia, Chaos on Deponia, and Goodbye Deponia). The art style is great, and so is the humorous story along with the short musical interludes. There are also various mini games peppered in which helps keep things fresh.

Some memorable characters for sure!

That said, it is also hard, despite the clues that you can spot in hind-sight, as some puzzles verge into trial and error. Chasing an animated toothbrush in the first room gives you a taste of this. Later on there's a part where you need to turn down the in game music volume in game because the protagonist keeps getting it in his head while trying to remember a different tune. Good luck working that out!

On top of that, Rufus is a selfish prick which doesn't really make it easy to root for him - especially since his antics often put everyone in jeopardy. An amusing game but one I definitely needed breaks while playing, I give it 3 petting zoos out of 5 and only recommend it to fans of this genre.

Avengers: Endgame

There is only one way to win.

In this continuation of Avengers: Infinity War, the heroes band together once more to "avenge" what happened previously. It's safe to say you probably want to watch Infinity War first despite the decent Hawkeye opening that fills in what happened for new comers.

Like the previous movie, there are a lot of characters here and all but the main ones get very few lines or do one move then leave the scene especially at the end. I didn't mind it, and was quite entertained by the high budget "everything" that we've come to expect from the Avengers movies.

The gang's all here!

I did feel that there needed to be a higher body count though, especially on the good guys side. I guess everyone is wearing plot armor? Or perhaps they couldn't really dismember people (one exception that was sort of take backsies) viscerally on screen in a Disney backed film? Whatever the case, that weakened it a bit for me, and that bit where all/most of the female heroes manage to group up mid fight was literally bull-cheese. As if Captain Marvel needed back up anyway... lol!

All up I give this 4.5 power stones out of 5 and highly recommend to watch it (provided you've at least seen Infinity War). I'll definitely want to see it again. :)

The Cursed: Sarevok

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The team appears in the thieves guild, which is odd, but the residents helpfully point out that Sarevok ran down through the maze below so the girls follow fighting through middling monsters and traps with ease. After Durlag's tower, everything is easy in comparison.

It eventually leads to a large underground ruin populated by lesser undead. Inside a skull themed temple they find Sarevok waiting so Catharina cloud kills him from a distance. To her surprise he aggros and charges! Lu Lingqi gets in his path and despite Elizabeth's best healing, she dies to his blade.

Sarevok's allies then start arriving but it is too late as Catharina finishes him off with magic missile, killing her step brother. The remaining foes flee as Sarevok's corpse crumbles into dust, ending the story of Baldur's Gate.

Game over man.

Insight: Magic missile is one spell that is always better cast rather than using a wand. The reasons are two fold. One it is pretty fast to cast naturally so it's rare to get interrupted, and second a wand fires one missile while higher level mages launch multiple missiles by default.

The Cursed: Fool's Crown

[Part of the Cursed story line]

After breaking out of prison (again), the quartet head for the Iron Throne headquarters and find it in shambles with the remaining people furious at Sarevok for taking their funds to become the next Grand Duke. Only one Sarevok loyalist is found and killed, holding proof of his treachery.

The girls then use the sewers to avoid the guard patrols but instead run into an assassin pair employed by Sarevok, who have already killed Scar and Duke Eltan. The assassins are defeated and their invites to his coronation ceremony looted from their corpses. These trump being wanted apparently as the guards at the palace just wave the party through.

Sure enough, Sarevok is there wearing the same armor he used when killing Gorion. Half the audience shift into doppelgangers and attack the other lords but the party manages to save one of them who then looks over the evidence gathered and agrees that Sarevok is an asshat. The mighty Sarevok then runs away (via gate) like a little bitch but the duke manages to divine his location through his god (holy sheet!) and teleports the party in pursuit.

Because clerics can be bad ass too.

Insight: This is the only time you need to make sure you hang onto those important documents as they actually come into play.

The Cursed: Secrets of Candlekeep

[Part of the Cursed story line]

With all things Durlag finally out of the way, Catharina, Elizabeth, Lu Lingqi and Party Girl return to Baldur's Gate where Scar introduces them to Grand Duke Eltan who sends them immediately (via gate) back to Candlekeep to investigate the Iron Throne leadership. Wait... so the bad guys were there the whole time? Lol!

Back to the beginning!

Despite a cameo of said guys, Catharina is distracted by the presence of doppelgangers within the walls, finding out via letter from Gorion that her real father is actually a dead, murderous god and her blood brother Sarevok (same guy leading the conspiracy) is acting out a highlander style, "there can be only one" deal.

The team is soon arrested and convicted of the murder of those Iron Throne guys (framed) but manage to escape using some doppleganger filled tunnels. To speed things up, Catharina just turns everyone invisible and walks past them all escaping easily only to then wind up right back in prison when they return to Baldur's Gate and are arrested by the flaming fist.

Insight: You actually run into Sarevok here, but can't kill him since he's immune to damage.

The Cursed: Durlag's Legacy

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The team returns to Ulgoth's Beard to return a knife taken from the demon knight. Alas, they are jumped by a band of cultists who put up a decent fight. While this group is slain, one of them does manage to steal said knife and escape.

Turns out this knife holds the soul of the greater demon Aec'letec, whom Durlag had defeated long ago. Party Girl tracks the cultists to the arch mages home and after dealing with the guards, Catharina (while invisible) finds the remainder performing a summoning ritual in the basement.

Greater demons still can't see invisible things though!

A cloud kill deals with the last of the cultists but it is too late - Aec'letec (also magic immune/resistant) comes forth. Fortunately he doesn't see Catharina slip by invisibly to prep her team upstairs. Using the same plan that defeated the demon knight, the team engages and slays the mighty demon - though Sir Erland gives his life in the process.

Insight: These cultists were actually bad news, as they had hidden back stabbers! Remember to use cover when you can to lower the dps of enemy archers and mages. As for the hidden guys, they are opportunistic and go for who they can reach so keep your weaker members in the center of your formation.

The Cursed: The Depths of Durlag

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Taking stairs down from the chess chamber, the party ventures through a large labyrinth of surprisingly more manageable traps and monsters. The focus here is to answer historical questions about Durlag, which isn't too hard since the material is easily accessible on this floor and the floors above.

Passing all the tests, Durlag's spirit opens a door to the deepest part of the tower. There the team finds the last surviving member of another adventure group - this one losing her allies to the demon knight and his magical mirror. Apparently it makes evil duplicates of whoever looks at it.

A chair is important when waiting for heroes.

Sure enough the demon knight waits in the next chamber, and he can't be cheesed as he is magic immune. Catharina opts for the next best thing then, casting haste and invisibility on the party. This lets the heavy hitters close distance safely and in a fast but intense confrontation the demon knight and Yeslick lie dead on the floor. Thankful for their service, the ghost teleports all the survivors out of the tower.

Insight: Haste is an amazing buff for fighters as it increases their attack rate. Useful for encounters such as this where direct spell damage is less effective.