Infamous Second Son (PS4)

Infamous Second Son is a sequel to the first two PS3 games and stars a new protagonist. The story isn’t a direct sequel so it is newcomers friendly. It was released exclusively for the PS4 and was one of the first big PS4 exclusives at its time of release. It was released early in the PS4’s lifecycle and so while it is definitely a step up from Infamous 2 in terms of graphics, it is not mindblowing. The character models seem a bit light on detail but that is made up by the environmental detail.

The new protagonist is Delsin. Instead of electric powers, he now has smoke based powers. Unfortunately, the early game, and to be frank, for all of the game really, he has very similar abilities to Cole from the original Infamous and so smoke doesn’t feel that much different to electricity. Delsin can still launch high up into the air, hover and shoot projectiles. Second Son is a third person action adventure game with third person shooter elements. It is a run and gun type of game since Delsin cannot use cover. It can be somewhat overwhelming and rage inducing when you have heaps of enemies shooting at you and you cannot go behind cover to help alleviate some of the damage you are receiving.

The enemies are constantly moving. Since you are fighting against other humanoid enemies, this can make the aiming quite difficult if you are not used to it. There’s no aim assist and it can get frustrating with the faster enemies. The focus on run and gunning, when you can’t even get a breather in between boss’s attacks to aim is frustrating and annoying. The game also has weird lighting where a lot of the time, it is somewhat too dark to see enemies properly.

Upgrades to Delsin’s powers are tied to the collectibles, so you’re kind of forced to do at least a portion of them. Upgrades give you more useful powers and whilst not compulsory, it makes the game easier and gives it a lot more variety. The climbing mechanics definitely feel worse than previous games or compared to other games. Delsin seemingly gets stuck whenever there is a slight protrusion and cannot get a grip. It’s quite annoying when you just want to scale the buildings to quickly travel across he map and Delsin takes ages to get up to the roof of a building.

During the story, Delsin is portrayed to be immediately unlikeable. He is supposed to be a petty criminal, just on the wrong side of the law for graffiti. However, he is shown to be unreasonable and at times, idiotic. He argues against reason and does illogical things. The story feels too story and as a result, truncated. Nothing interesting happens; it’s just Delsin finding other conduits to absorb their powers before tackling the villain. It’s straightforward and a lot of the supporting characters shows up for limited amounts of time before disappearing again, so there’s almost no character development. The game takes less than ten hours to complete a playthrough and this is inclusive of spending time tackling mundane side activities.

There are a lot of little things about the game that makes it annoying to play. From the dragging out of the graffiti collectibles, to frequently respawning enemies that disrupt your exploration of the city of Seattle. Additional abilities and powers come in batches. You’ll get one, and then there’ll be a mission to get additional moves before you move on. The game tries nothing new and everything has been done before, so it becomes predictable and repetitive.

There are limited boss battles but all the bosses have at least one terrible element. Bosses can drag on because they are bullet sponges. They can be gimmicky and can stunlock Delsin since he stumbles whenever he is even slightly hit. This means that he’ll get hit with a chain of attacks before you even recover and gain control back. The game encourages a second playthrough due to its Good and Evil routes. The routes have little difference in terms of story since they share most of the same missions, including nearly all of the same cutscenes. It feels like a cheap way to encourage the player to play the game twice to see each side… when so little effort to put into differentiating them.

Overall, Infamous Second Son is a game that doesn’t try anything new or experiment too much. The various powers sounds great on paper but the way they are executed means that there are a lot of similarities between them. The game feels rushed but it is still enough fun to deserve a playthrough if you are a fan of the series.

------------------------------------------

For other game reviews, have a look at this page.

Fukushima: Robots in Hell (2016)

Fukushima:  Robots in Hell is an one-hour long documentary detailing the recovery efforts of the Fukushima nuclear disaster that happened in 2011.  A perspective of time is given, due to the high difficulty of such a radioactive site, the recovery efforts are performed over a period of years, and is still ongoing.  It gives us a quick rundown of the events that led to the disaster, and then some explanation on what happened to the nuclear fuel and why it is so dangerous.  It tries to give an idea of how dangerous the radioactivity is, but doesn't quite get there.  The highlight, and the most interesting sections, are the robots that were deployed.  From the beginning where speed was of the essence and a pre-existing designed robot was used to survey the damage, to later robots specifically designed for the situation, it is impressive to see what could be achieved.  It brings home the severe limitations and makes you wonder if we did not have access to such technology, how would the disaster be managed because it seems impossible.  The narration is good and there is a lot of dramatic music punctuated through every scene which can seem distracting.  Provided that you were already interested in the subject matter, it's a solid documentary to the insight of nuclear technology and its risks.

Toy Review: Transformers BotBots Halloween Knight (Series 2)

Review:  #615

Name:  Halloween Knight

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  N/A

Line:  BotBots

Year of Release:  2019

Size Class:  BotBot (Series 2)

Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

As you can tell from the first part of the name, Halloween Knight is Halloween themed and transforms into a jack-o-lantern.

This is definitely a unique alternate mode and very cool, especially with the painted eyes and mouth.  As a BotBot, she is pretty small, above is a comparison against Legion Barricade.

While there are some transformation panels seams, this is a great and immediately recognizable alternate mode.

TRANSFORMATION:

Halloween Knight cheats a little bit in this area as you can the top and front off as one piece to form the shield.  Then you pull the arms out from the sides and flip down the feet.

ROBOT MODE:

The robot mode is inspired by the second part of the name, and she has a knight theme as indicated by the helmet-inspired mouth and the shield.

She still retains most of the round pumpkin shape, although some effort has to made to give is a more unique outline including the horns.

The face is painted purple.  There a giant hole between the eyes since that is the hole for where the shield attaches.

Halloween Knight is very short as you can expect, above is a comparison against Legion Crosshairs.

The shield can peg onto either arm, the only thing missing a sword but that would be tougher to justify on the budget of such a small figure.  Articulation is only limited to the swinging of the arms, but despite that, this is an awesome robot mode.

OVERALL:

Halloween Knight is definitely a unique figure in an already unique line.  Both modes lack flaws and both are really cool in its theme.

------------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page.

Isekai Quartet 2 (2020)

Isekai Quartet 2 is the second season of the crossover anime feature the isekai anime KonoSuba, Overlord, Re;Zero and The Saga of Tanya the Evil. It is once again comprised of twelve episodes, with each episode being around eleven minutes long. It now adds two more series to the mix, being guest appearances from The Rising of the Shield Hero and a cameo from Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious. The basic premise of the show remains the same. Characters from the various worlds are mysteriously summoned into this world, where they must attend “school”. It focuses on comedy through their various interactions with each other, and a chibi aesthetic is used to unify their looks. The chibi look makes all the characters super cute and adorable. The way that the new characters from Shield Hero and Cautious Hero get transported to this world due to a random red button appearing is equally as amusing as the original.

The first episode has to spend a short time to introduce the new characters. At the same time, it shows off how the existing characters are getting used to this world. They have a good idea of each other’s personalities and so can anticipate their antics. With the huge cast of characters, it focuses on a specific set of characters in each episode. This is a departure from the first season where it tries to incorporate more characters within the episode.

A lot of the jokes and gags only work if the viewer is familiar with each of the characters’ personalities, their worlds, and also their experiences. Thus it is essential to have watched those anime (up to the latest season at the time of its release, preferably) in order to fully understand all the in-jokes. This is a high barrier of entry but it is definitely worth it. While the humor doesn’t quite peak to the same level as the previous season, some of the best parts are the funny background events.

The anime keeps the cast in character, even mingling with others from all the different anime. Tanya is feared by all, and when she offers to help Aqua study, Aqua just outright rejects the offer. While Ainz is constantly mistaken for being omnipotent and amazing by everyone. And finally Aqua just being Aqua. It’s always interesting to see who each of the characters choose to spend time with. Tanya and Ainz get along really well, while Subaru and Kazuma understand each other’s plights.

Despite six series being featured in the anime, it is still very much a quartet as the bulk of the focus is still placed on the original four anime. It’s actually a bit of a disappointment at how little Shield Hero and especially Cautious Hero were featured. It just felt that Naofumi and Seiya weren’t properly mingled with the core cast that much. There were already a lot of supporting cast from each of the anime in the first season, and this season continues to add to that number. This leads to a few surprising new appearances. These moments are always the more enjoyable moments when a character you know but don’t expect turns up.

The themes of each episode are school related things such as rule breaking, detention and tests. There are some very fun episodes like the characters going all out with their powers while playing dodgeball. It continues on with these slice-of-life high school elements such as performing plays and participating in school festivals. It feels kind of… normal at times. There is a one scene tease of a reason behind pulling all the characters from their worlds into this school. Apart from that one thing, there is but nothing else in the season alluding to that. It tries to wrap up the season with a climax and boss battle but it doesn’t have the same shock factor, or epic factor, as the first season’s finale and feels too much like a retread.

Overall, while Isekai Quartet 2 is good, it doesn’t quite compare to the first season. This is partially due to the concept not being as fresh anymore, but more so due to the fact that the humor and jokes just aren’t as fun. Likewise, the theme songs are not as catchy, the characters feel underutilized and there are less amusing moments from the cast interacting with characters outside their anime.

----------------------------------------

For other anime reviews, have a look at this page.

Toy Review: Transformers Generations Studio Series 86 Scourge (Voyager)

Review:  #614

Name:  Scourge

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Decepticon

Line:  Generations - Studio Series 86

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  Voyager (Wave 11)

Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

As part of the 35th anniversary of The Transformers:  The Movie, comes a new mold Scourge, who transforms into the hovercraft looking spaceship as seen in the movie.

It's fairly nondescript to be honest but faithful to the design and does look pretty sweet.  The center, like all Scourge toys, is formed by the robot head.  The robot legs do stick out from the back but molded to look like thrusters.

In terms of size, Scourge is fairly decent for a Voyager, above is a comparison against Titans Return Optimus.  Scourge is more flat and wide, and noticeably, he is quite smooth so can be slippery during transformation when pushing the pieces together.

The weapon effects part can attach to any of the three points, while the gun can peg onto the side.

This alternate mode is designed to be sleek, even the robot wing panels on the bottom curve to help preserve the look.

This is officially in the instructions but you can pull the head up to make it visible, it uses another slot to have the panel peg into so it all stays together solidly.

This is a great alternate mode that's faithful of the design from the Movie.

TRANSFORMATION:

Unfortunately, Scourge is a massive shellformer.  The legs store in their entirety without any change (other than pegging them together) in alternate mode, while the arms just folds down to peg onto the legs.  Most of the fiddling around is to do with the panels.  The alternate mode basically splits into two which folds to the robot's back, and then you unfold the wings, before folding the rest in an attempt to compact it.

ROBOT MODE:

The robot mode looks awesome, especially with the wings formed from the alternate mode, and this makes the shellforming nature of the figure easier to forgive.

That being said, he has a lot of things on his back, basically the whole shell of the alternate mode.  It doesn't fold up and compact as much as you would like so it just hangs there awkwardly.

The headsculpt is amazing and beautifully painted as well.

In terms of size, Scourge may look bulky but he hides his hollowness well as they are not visible (you can only tell from the lighter weight in comparison to what you'd expect).  Above is a comparison against Studio Series Optimus.

As part of the Studio Series, he comes with a cardboard stand.

The stand depicts the scene in which the Insecticons were reformatted.

What makes Scourge really good is how his color scheme of two different shades of blue work so well with everything.  His fingers are also painted pink.

Articulation is great, with joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees and ankles.

He comes with a gun and an effect part that pegs onto the gun.

Naturally, he can hold the gun in either hand.  Some of note is that while his right hand is molded as a closed fist, his left hand is molded open.

The only negative here is the slightly restrictive nature of his hips.  The molding of the thighs gets in the way of his waist skirt.

The weapon effect part can peg onto the end of the gun to simulate it firing.

Otherwise, the alternative is holding it as a club, which works better than expected.  It molded from soft plastic though so it'll probably warp straight out of packaging.

If you don't want to use the gun then it can peg onto his back using the same slot as alternate mode.

This is an amazing robot mode and does the character justice, being far more accurate than the previous Generations figure.

OVERALL:

At the time of his release, this is the definitive Scourge figure.  He looks great in both modes and isn't hampered by any gimmicks, he just focuses on being a good Transformer.  Despite being a shellformer, his transformation is still satisfying.

--------------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page.

Purchase from Amazon using this link.

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Freefall: Flight 714 (1995)

Freefall:  Flight 174 is a made-for-TV film based upon the real events of Air Canada Flight 174.  As you can gather from the title, it is a fictionalization of a plane that runs out of fuel and "freefalls".  It tries to build up the suspense but doesn't quite get to that point.  For a made-for-TV film, it is pretty enjoyable, even though it drags out the second half for too long.  The build up was at a good pace but once the problem happens and the pilots finds out about about the lack of fuel, more of the half the film is remaining.  The special effects that are used are poor quality, so it is a good thing that there aren't too many of those scenes.  Given that it is based upon a brand new airplane debuting in the 1980s, the cockpit and jargon about the brand new computers can make it feel dated.  At the same time, it highlights the fact about what could go wrong with all the technology that it packed into a plane.  It is interesting to see how a pilot would have to adapt to a variety of problems and how they find solutions to it.  Overall, Freefall:  Flight 174 is an enjoyable film.