Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line (Android)

Dragon Quest II:  Luminaries of the Legendary Line is the second in the JRPG series that was originally for NES.  This port to Android was based on the mobile remake, so it features updated graphics.  The graphics looks great since it is more like SNES level rather than NES, with plenty of detail and vibrant colors. The game is set 100 years after the first Dragon Quest.  You play as a descendent of the hero from the first game.  You can still name the protagonist anything you want and the game begins on a grim note as demons surround and destroy one of the kingdoms.  As the son of the king of another kingdom, you are tasked with recruiting your party to defeat the demon lord.  The first part of the story has the hero travelling the kingdom in order to recruit his own party to aid in the quest.  They’re all descendants of the hero from the first game as they are all royalty.

The battle system remains similar to the turn based system of the first game.  The biggest difference is that your own party, and enemies you encounter, come in multiples.  So you now need to determine which enemy to target first.  It makes battles just that bit more interesting as you prioritize who to defeat first, or who to support first.  The battle screen retains the same four options:  attack, magic, use item and flee. While you cannot select the specific enemy you want to target, but only the enemy type, the game’s AI system is clever enough such that it prioritizes the enemies with the lower health.  If your strike can one-shot kill a full-HP enemy, it will target that enemy despite another enemy having lower health.

As expected, there are random encounters and when you encounter an enemy, a battle screen pops up.  Grinding and leveling up is highly encouraged since it’s a hallmark of the series.  You gain new magic through leveling up, and even one or two levels can make a huge difference in the difficulty.  The encounter rate can seem a bit too high at times, leading to an encounter every few steps which can be annoying.

Dungeons are much improved compared to the first game.  No longer do you have to use an item to “light” up the dungeon and see your surroundings.  On the flipside, the dungeon layout is much more expansive and there are more things to find.  The risk and reward is high since you can only save at certain cities.  Trekking too far into a new dungeon can mean your death and losing out on half your gold.

You can save at each city, which is a vast improvement over the first game.  This mobile port allows you to create a quick save at any point which makes the game a lot easier, and doesn’t force you to play in long sessions.  You also get access to a quick travel spell early on, and this feels completely revolutionary for the time. The dialogue from NPCs remains in the same old English style.  While this may add to the tone and atmosphere of the game, it can make it a bit harder to understand.  Like the original, Dragon Quest II lets you loose in the world and it is up to you to explore and find your own way through the story.

The world is huge, and once you get a means to travel the rest of the world, there’s a lot to do.  While it would be lazy in most JRPGs, there are some nice callbacks to the first game’s areas and dungeons.  The game never truly railroads you anywhere, although it’ll subtly warn you such as having high leveled monsters.  The downside of all of this is that the game also doesn’t explicitly tell you where to go next and you can spend a lot of time just wandering aimlessly around.  It can be confusing at times on where to go.

Unlike the first game, having enough money can be a pain.  Equipment is very expensive.  With three party members now to outfit, if you want to afford everything, you’ll have to grind a bit.  As long as you don’t avoid enemies, and maybe take a bit of time here and there to grind, the game’s difficulty is balanced well.  There is one massive exception to this though as mentioned later on.

The last few dungeons are really annoying and filled with all the things that would frustrate you.  There are pitfalls that you cannot see that throw you back down to the floors below, dead ends, looping paths and hidden sections.  This isn’t to mention that you are battling through powerful enemies with a high encounter rate all this time.  It can lead you to be very very frustrated.

The final area is brutal thanks to extremely powerful enemies, the lack of save options, and the fact that you have to do the final dungeon within one session.  This is even after the port has made things easier; it just feels like an extremely unfair spike in difficulty.  Enemies will constantly cast party wide spells that causes massive damage, attack twice in one turn, repeatedly debuff you, likelier to do critical hits and will revive enemies.  It’s frustrating and every encounter has a 50% chance of being your last.  Up until this point, the game isn’t that bad, but this final area completely ruins the flow of the game and leaves a bad taste.  There is no excuse; this is just bad game design.  It makes it artificially hard for no reason and it is extremely disappointing that the developers thought that this was a good idea.

The game takes around 15-20 hours to complete although this will depend on how lost you get.  You can breeze through sections quickly if you follow a walkthrough but you will always need to spend some time to grind. Overall, Dragon Quest II:  Luminaries of the Legendary Line has improved a lot compared to the first game but there are too many design issues.  It was fun for most of the game, but the lack of direction as well as the trash final section, completely ruins the game and undoes all the fun.  While it may still be worthwhile to experience the second installment in the iconic JRPG series, it is still a tough recommendation.

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

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

Toy Review: Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Earthrise Smokescreen (Deluxe)

Review:  #636

Name:  Smokescreen

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  Autobot

Line:  Generations - War for Cybertron:  Earthrise

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  Deluxe (Wave 2)

Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Smokescreen transforms into a sports car that has a vibrant color scheme.  The blue plastic here just pops in real life, and coupled with the bright (but not eye searing) red and white, and this is a striking vehicle.

As part of the Earthrise line, it is an earthen inspired vehicle and is styled to the vehicle of his G1 incarnation.

Deluxes have shrunk over the years, but you still may be surprised at how small he can feel in your hands once you've gotten him into vehicle mode for the first time.  Above is a comparison against TLK Bumblebee.

Smokescreen has rolling wheels and all three of his guns can peg on top of the vehicle.  That's the extent of the play value in this mode though.

This is simply a fantastic vehicle.  The color scheme makes this one of the best ones in the line.

TRANSFORMATION:

The transformation is inspired by the Siege version of the mode but provides a few neat twists of it's own.  The arms fold out from underneath, the hood forms the chest, and the back extends into the legs.  It can be a bit tricky the first time around when you're trying to fold the robot legs back into vehicle mode but do it once and you'll get the trick.  The feet are interesting in that there is a piece that you fold down as a heelspur, and a panel from the inside that folds down to partially cover up the gap.

ROBOT MODE:

Smokescreen's robot mode is equally as good as the vehicle mode but now with the addition of black and a whole lot more white.

He doesn't have much kibble at all, and while his legs are extremely hollow, this is due to transformation and not due to cost cutting.  To be honest, as far as hollow limbs go, Smokescreen doesn't have much of that either.

The headsculpt is good and is a "fatter" version of Prowl and Bluestreak.  It is very cartoony in its aesthetic though.

Also, if you thought this was just a heavy remold of the Siege figure, it is not.  It's a completely new mold that shares a lot of the engineering design but the pieces are all different.  This is the better mold given the blockier pieces.

In terms of size, he's roughly the height of an average contemporary Deluxe.

He comes with three weapons, two shoulder guns and a handheld gun.

The two shoulder guns peg onto either side of his head and looks great there (it's actually the same position as in vehicle mode).

Articulation is where Earthrise figures are brilliant at and Smokescreen is no exception.  He has joints for his head, shoulders, elbows, fists, hips, knees and ankles.

While he can hold the gun in either hand.  His feet are absolutely amazing in its flexibility and stability.  It has such a huge range of motion whether it's side to side or front to back.

Despite the lack of additional paint in robot mode, what carries over from vehicle is more than enough to give the figure enough color.

The handheld gun can store on his back when not in use.

You can also combine all three guns into one bigger one.

A great robot mode that is equally as amazing as the vehicle mode.

OVERALL:

Smokescreen is a fantastic figure and is the definitive Smokescreen figure we've had for many years (the MP only slightly edges it out but is a lot more expensive).  The biggest negative is the small size, but other than that, he has plenty of paint, two great modes, and heaps of articulation in robot mode.

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

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)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules (2011)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2:  Rodrick Rules is based on the book series of the same name.  As the title implies, it focuses on Greg's older brother, Rodrick, and their relationship.  Unlike the first film, the plot is a lot more consistent and feels less like a series of connected (but disjointed) events.  Greg and Rodrick's relationship was always rocky, as Rodrick tends to play pranks and bully Greg.  However, through a series of events, from conspiring to host a giant party at home to serving out punishments together, they end up improving their relationship.  There are scenes lifted straight of the book and it works quite well in live-action.  The humor is great, and the things that happen to Greg is a lot less cringey.  You tend to side with Greg a lot more rather than just pity him.  Despite the inappropriate behavior that Greg exhibits from time to time, the film has a good morale that becomes apparent at the climax.  Rodrick Rules is a funny film that has a decently paced first half although it starts to feel bloated towards the end.

Toy Review: Transformers BotBots Doctor Flicker (Series 5)

Review:  #635

Name:  Doctor Flicker

Brand:  Transformers

Allegiance:  N/A

Line:  BotBots

Year of Release:  2020

Size Class:  BotBot (Series 5)

Mold Status:  new

ALTERNATE MODE:

As one of the brand new molds for Series 5, Doctor Flicker transforms into a bunsen burner, now this was an unexpected alternate mode.

The burner is on, given the flames but is otherwise fairly nondescript.

Above is a comparison against Legion Barricade and like all BotBots, Doctor Flicker is roughly half the size.

While it's not a super exciting alternate mode, the sheer novelty of it makes it a winner.

TRANSFORMATION:

It's very simple.  The bottom folds out to form the treads / legs, the panel in front folds down to reveal the fast and the left arm can be pulled out.

ROBOT MODE:

Doctor Flicker's robot mode is unorthodox as well, given that she has treads for her legs instead of feet.

Furthermore, her right arm is a flame.  However, this mode's weakness is how much it still looks like a bunsen burner.

The face is painted on and given the details, the bot is clearly a female.

In terms of size, she is very short, much much shorter than a Legion figure.

Poseability is very limited.  Only her arms can move a bit, and even then, they are restricted in movement.

OVERALL:

Doctor Flicker wins by having a novel alternate mode, and an interesting robot mode.  It's not the best BotBot in terms of play value but the sheer novelty makes it a worthwhile purchase.

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

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

The Expanse - Season 1 (2015-16)

The Expense is comprised of 10 episodes of around 40 mins each. It takes place in space, in a future where space colonization is possible. As a result, humans are living not only on Mars, but also on Ceres, a dwarf planet in the Asteroid Belt. However, what this causes are tensions between the three places, with Earth and Mars locked in a cold war. Ceres, which is the third faction, is powerless against the others as it is primarily a mining station, with its population known as the Belters, and they are reliant on Earth and Mars sending them the crucial necessities such as air and water.

The show follows three main viewpoints whose stories will eventually intertwine with each other. Before that happens, in the beginning of the season, the pacing is extremely slow and it is tough to see where the plot going. It first starts off on Ceres, when a rich person goes missing and Detective Miller is assigned to find her. His viewpoint shows off the situation on Ceres and how tough life can be on there, and also how fragile the whole system is.

Then we have the spaceship Canterbury with its crew, who are ice haulers tasked with transporting ice (and thus water) back to Ceres. A typical trip ends up being far from normal and they stumble upon an alarming situation that has significant consequences of the tensions between Earth and Mars. Finally, it follows a high ranking official on Earth as she investigates the apparent terrorism from Belters. Since she is of a high rank, we get to be privy of how the politicians react, although the show tends to focus more of her when she is alone and with family.

The crew of Canterbury is not the most likable. Several crew members perform some annoying actions, and every single one of them is hiding something. It’s hard to tell who can be trusted and what their role is. Although they are central to the plot in pitting Earth against Mars to create an all-out war. The hostility between each of the factions mirrors reality in terms of the hostility between countries. It does use its space setting to good use from time to time, although it feels a bit too easy for people to throw others out of airlock to die out in space. The political games between the three factions have some interesting tactics but they are far and few in between.

The situation starts to become clear in the second half of the season. It took a long time and the pay-off doesn’t feel quite worthwhile. We also learn of terrorists that have instigated several of these events. You would hope that the pacing would increase but that does not happen. Granted, the various viewpoints finally converge, and we get to the bottom of one of the mysteries. There are bigger things at play; it’s just that the show is very slow at showing it.

There are a lot of impossible moments that the cast survives through that makes you skeptical. The ending is intriguing, and it leads to a cliffhanger ending to the season as you’d expect. The sad fact is that it feels like the second season shows a lot more promise than this first season, but the lead up puts you off.  Overall, The Expanse is average. It started off with promise but its sluggish pace, even at its most climactic part of the final episode, lets it down. It makes it hard to keep being invested in the characters, especially when they’re not that likable to begin with.

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

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

That's You! (PS4)

That’s You! is a party game for the PS4. It uses the PlayLink system where you don’t need a controller to play the game. Rather, you download an app for your smartphone. You cannot use the DualShock 4 to play the game since it requires the functions of the smartphone like the camera and touchscreen. It is a party game for at least two people, and you can have up to six people. The reason you cannot play it solo is because the game revolves around you understanding the people that you’re playing with. It’ll ask you questions about what they would do in certain scenarios, and requires voting by each player in order to gain points. So while you can play it solo with two phones, it is definitely not fun at all this way. The minimum number of players for the game to be truly fun is three. Half the fun would be the actual atmosphere in the room rather than the game.

There is only one game mode, and the aim is to gain high scores. You gain more points when there is a consensus, aka, everyone votes for the same thing. There is a “joker” token that you can play to double the points in that round. Upon start up, you’re prompted to create a profile and customize it. This requires taking your own photo at the very least and entering your name. In order for the game to work, everyone’s phone has to connect to the same wi-fi network as the PS4, and if you encounter issues, you can get the PS4 to create a hotspot to connect to instead.

Once you start the game, you’ll play through a series of rounds. If you’re playing with two players, in each round, it will focus on one player each round and there are several “mini-games” that can be played. Mini-game is a strong word to describe it since they are all really basic and aren’t really a game at all. The most common would be asking the players to vote on how the selected player would react in a certain scenario. There’ll be other formats such as drawings and taking a selfie while attempting to mimic a pose from onscreen.

Once you have at least three players in a game, then there is a bit more variety in the round formats. You might be requested to take a photo and then have another player draw on it. Or every player except the selected player must try to complete a sentence in the way the selected player would. Throughout the whole time, there will be a narrator, throwing in a few jokes here and there. The game dictates the pace itself since there are time limits and you can’t skip anything. There are various backgrounds, and there are some options to play shorter or longer rounds, as well as removing any “sensitive” or “inappropriate” questions for younger audiences. Using the app, players can also create their own questions and their own drawing challenges.

Overall, That’s You! as a party game isn’t that bad and at least it has a novel idea. The theme of testing whether you truly know your friends is interesting and is potential for a lot of laughs and fun. Of course, the limitations of a party game remains and that is that it is no fun for a solo player, and there’s limited fun even for two players.

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

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