I am Setsuna ps4 review

I was really excited about this game, as it reminded me so much of a game I played years ago. Chrono Trigger. Also,, anytime there is a Ps4 exclusive, I like that. But did it live up to the hype?

What I liked
For it not really changing the aesthetic all that much, the game was pretty. Well,, if you don't mind snow, as that was a constant theme. I liked the way it looked, so that is ok for me.

There is a definitely a feel of Chrono Trigger here as the battles were very quick and moved quickly.

The boss fights were challenging. I did a few times and really had to think about how to go about them a few times.

What I did not like

The game was way too easy. Random fights were just not even a challenge, and then the boss fights would be ridiculously hard. No balance at all.

I was bored most of the time. The story was so predictable and cliche that I just did not care. In an age where I have played games like Witcher 3, Uncharted 4, Gone Home, and others...this story just did not work. Yes, it is a smaller company, but good story telling is something even small companies can do.

Also the characters were not any better as they did things that made no sense at all, and I never cared about any of them.

The beginning was just bad. You are a mercenary that is "known" for how you always finish your assignment. So, when you are pad to kill this young girl you don't do it? Why. Reasons. I guess. Then she wants you to join her pilgrimage. Why? Reasons. I guess.

Lack of voice acting, but then characters would say things in japanese sometimes.

Why do games give you dialogue options that don't really do anything? This is something that should not happen now. That makes it feel like an old school game, in the worst way.

Overall
Just a disappointment as I really wanted to like this game. Bad storytelling with boring characters did not thing to help this game be anything other than mediocre.

Rating 4.5 out of 10

Movies I watched in August 2016

Here are the movies I watched last month. 

Suicide Squad
Overall, I enjoyed this movie despite some of its faults. Harley and Deadshot were amazing, and the small amount of time that Batman was in it really worked. The villain was lame, and it you could tell there were issues with the movie being made. Harley and the Joker were just amazing together and I could watch a movie with just them.

Rating 7.0 out of 10

Batman vs Superman Ultimate Cut
I will say this. The 30 extra minutes does help the movie quite a bit. Scenes were both Clark and Lois actually did some journalism really helped, along with more insight into the incident at the beginning of the movie. The things that sucked aabout the movie (jessie eisenberg, martha, doomsday), still suck. But it is a much better flowing movie now.
Rating 7.5 out of 10

The Bronze
A comedy dealing with a timely subject, the Olympics. This move was so damn bad that after about an hour, I could not even watch any more of it. I am tired of R rated movie only cursing just to try to get a laugh. You want to see how a R rated movie can be funny? Watch Deadpool.

Rating 
Could not finish

The Hateful Eight
I feel like I am the only person that is bored with Tarentino movies. It isn't that this movie bad, it was just boring. The acting was pretty good and it looked great, but I just cannot find myself able to get into his story telling at all. I kept losing interesting and had to remind myself I was watching a movie. I know a lot of people liked it, but it is not for me.

Rating 4.0 out of 10 

Kubo and the Two Strings
This was such an amazing movie. The movie was beautiful. The story was great. It is just such a shame this movie is not doing any better than did over the weekend. This may be the best movie I saw all year long at the theater, it was just that damn good. Go see it now!

Rating 9.5 out of 10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This is the Swedish version, also known as the better version. I don't normally like subtitles, as having to pay that much attention to the movie is not something I can always do. But this was such a great adaptation of an amazing book. Great cast, and just wonderfully directed. 

Rating 8.5 out of 10

The Girl who Played with Fire
The second movie in the Lisbeth Salander trilogy of movies. The stakes are raised as our heroine is accused of murder and from the get go this story hooks you. Again, it is has English subtitles, but that is ok as again the acting and storytelling is top notch. If you are a fan of these books, you should watch these movies now. 

Rating 8.5 out of 10

Best movie: Kubo and the Two Strings. One of my favorite movies of the year. 
Worst Movie: The Bronze. It is god awful. 
Biggest Disappointment: The hateful 8. I honestly don't get why people love his movies so much. 
Biggest Surprise: Batman v Superman the ultimate cut. It improved the movie quite a bit.
Best Performance: Nooomi Rapace. She did such an amazing job as Lisbeth Salander in both The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire. 

What I am reading/watching/playing in September

So, here is what I plan on doing in September.

Reading
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Touchstone by Melanie Rawn
The Accidental Sorcerer by K.E. Mills
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisen (for book club)
Marvel Runaways graphic novels (have reaad the first few)
Various Star Wars comics

Playing on my PS4
I am Setsuna
Divinity: Original Sin
Until Dawn
Resident Evil and may Resident Evil 4

At the movie theater
Morgan
The Magnificent Seven
Deepwater Horizon

Renting
Jungle Book
TMNT Out of the Shadows
The Nice Guys
Huntsman: Winter War

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child spoiler review

So, this is a very spoiler full review of this, so if you have not read the book stop. You HAVE been warned.

I went into this, not really knowing what to expect. Yes, J.K. Rowling did write it, but as a screen play. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that as I am someone that loves the theater, but I just didn't know.

Wow, what a story. I was stunned as to how emotional this story was as there were so many connections with the prior books and I was just floored.

So, let's get this out of the way. It is a script for a play and it does take a bit to get used the simple nature of that. Not a lot of description, and it really puts a lot weight in the dialogue. Luckily, the dialogue (for the most part), is just great.

You are introduced to two new characters. Albus Potter, and Scorpius Malfoy. First of all, having them be friends is something that was an interesting choice. We all know the history between Harry and Draco, and having their children be best friends was something I really liked. Combine that with that fact that Albus and Harry have such a bad relationship, and Harry just not really knowing how to connect with his son just made for amazing dialogue. Albus despises being Harry’s son and it makes him surly and angry all the time. Ginny is frustrated with Harry as he cannot just accept Albus and that he cannot just show Albus that he loves him. Ginny is not a HUGE part of this story, but she has a few great moments.

The kids idea to go back in time to save Cedric in the Tri-Wizard tournament was both amazing and such a kid thing to do. It set the book in a pace that I loved and Scorpius being in a world where Voldemort killed Harry at the battle of Hogwarts was just phenomenal.

Things I liked:
Mean Hermione. She is the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher and is bitter and angry. Just so bizarre seeing that.

Snape. I have to admit, seeing Snape again hit me kind of hard. As Scorpius convinces Snape, Hermione and Ron he is from the future. In this world Voldemort killed harry and they are the only ones left that try to fight him. Hell, Umbridge is a professor at the school! The fact that the three sacrifice their lives so Scorpius can escape was amazing. This is a scene that will stay with me for a long damn time.

Umbridge. Just her being in the book at all made me so happy. I hate her so much as she is just such a great character.

Harry is also interesting throughout as he struggled being a father, and especially connecting with Albus. He doesn’t understand his son, and falls into the trap of doing what he thinks is best for his son, instead of talking to him. He and Draco are cordial to each other, but Harry falls into old prejudices and tries to keep Albus from being friends with Scorpius. This is fascinating as it is obvious that he doesn’t know how to handle his son and it even causes friction between Harry and Ginny.

The last bit where you find out the girl that was manipulating Albus and Scorpius was actually Voldemort’s daughter was interesting. I knew from the start that she was not who she claimed to be, but I never made the connection to her being Voldemort’s daughter. So when they are trying to stop her in the past, it is just a surreal and amazing scene. Harry having to watch Voldemort killing her parents, and having to allow it to happen? Wow.

What I did not like.
Ron is not utilized at all. He runs the joke shop and raises the children. I have no issue with that, but considering how important he was in the other books. There was a cool scene her or there, but overall not really important. Also, overly goofy.


Overall
Wow, did I love this book. Took some getting used to at first, but once the kids ran off and tried to save Cedric, things really took off. I did not expect to see Snape again and that broke me a bit. I mean that was just so great and sad and everything I could have wanted. Such a fun read.

Rating 9 out of 10

Things to come on the blog

So, I have been pretty lazy for a while. I have not spent a lot of time writing anything on here and I finally reached the point where I want to do something about it. I miss writing, and this is a way to get me back into it.

A few things I plan on writing about.

Harry Potter-As I am a huge fan of these novels/movies, I plan on writing a post about each one. Thoughts on each story, and where they stand with the rest. Talking about both the novels and the books. I have read and watched the first six in the series, leading up to me reading Harry Potter the Cursed Child sometime this week.

Movies-One thing I am trying to do each month is to watch at least 8 new movies each month. Especially trying to watch movies that I may not normally watch as I usually love things with magic, lasers, or superheroes.

Star Wars-I want to talk about a few different Star Wars topics leading up to Rogue One coming out this year. My first one is about diversity in the new canon.

Video games-Lord knows I play a few of these. So thoughts about certain games or maybe even a review here and there.

Television-Lord knows tv seems to be getting better all the time. I just watched Mr. Robot and Stranger things, and may want to talk about them a bit.

Video games-I have thought about doing short Youtube videos talking about some of these things. Not sure I want to do that or not yet.

Why Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is so important

Everything amazing has to have a beginning. 

I remember when these books first came out and how quickly they were dismissed by a lot of people (including myself), as "children's books". As if there is anything wrong with that. But back then, there was not A LOT of these type of stories that were mainstream. Yes, you could read The LotR or Chronicles of Narnia, but I don’t remember there being a lot of new stories that people were reading. This was before the Hunger Games, and even before that pile of garbage Twilight. This book is almost 20 years old. It can almost vote at this point. Crazy. 

I went on a date with someone and she wanted to see this movie. I was like, why? But as I said above, I was convinced it was just a kid’s book. The movie opened my eyes to something that I was not expecting. I was hooked and I went out and immediately bought the first four books (which were what had been written at the time). 

This started the resurgence of fantasy novels for young readers, which is something that cannot be understated in its importance. Yes, there were other stories, but the Potter phenomenon was insane.

But to the story itself. We are introduced to Harry Potter, a young child that somehow survived the attack by the most notorious wizard in the world, Voldemort. Years later he his living with his only surviving relatives the Dursley's. They treat him pretty poorly as they hate anything that comes from that "world". Everything changes when he receives a letter a school called Hogwarts. 

So, in the first book we are introduced to this world. So, there is a lot of setup for the reader as you get acclimated with the setting and everything that comes with that is something to remember as the series goes on, cuz I love this book, but it is one of the weakest in the series. That isn't meant as an insult as this book was clearly written for children and is the most safe. I have no issue with that as I said above, there was a lot of setup in this book. Which is handled brilliantly by J. K. Rowling. 

The Four Houses, the different types of classes each kid had to take due to the different types of magic, Quidditch, and Hogwarts itself are just a few of the things she did such an amazing job introducing you to. These things are improved upon by later books, but she did an amazing job in this book of setting up the world. That isn't an easy thing to do and she nailed it. 

Theme is another important part of this book. You have a child that has his parents murdered when he was a baby, and grew up in a household where they treat him poorly. He lives under the cupboard for heaven's sake. Now to defend the Dursley's they did take him in, fed him, and gave him a home. But they were not friendly, and although Harry did not have a pleasant childhood leading up to his 11th birthday, he made the best of it. Somehow he was a normal kid, and that in itself is amazing. 

One of the reasons both children and adults connected with this book is that we all remember what it was like to be that age. Trying to fit in and figure out who you are. These are things that we all understand and were able to relate to. I find that an amazing thing as making books that both a 5 year old kid could love, and a 45 year old man (like myself) can love, is a very hard thing to go. But people of all ages, sex, race, etc...love this book. 

But the biggest importance (in my opinion), is that it turned whole new generations into readers. That isn’t to say that there may not have been other books that could have done this in a smaller way, but this book (and the rest of the series) grabbed children’s heart and just would not let go. You hear so many stories about how so many people grew up with this series. Not to mention all of the young adult books that came out after it. Some of them being great, and others just trying to capitalize on the new craze. I am looking at YOU Eragon. Must be nice to have parents that are publishers. 

But the love and passion children had for this book was crazy. You could not go ANYWHERE without seeing children reading it. That also goes for adults, as they were also reading this book quite often. This became even more evident when I moved to NYC in 2003 and started taking the train. At that point Order of the Phoenix had just come out and that book was EVERYWHERE on the subway. It was kind of surreal to see all of these people reading something so…nerdy. 

But as the opening of a series, this was a great book. Not my favorite by far in the series, but that is ok as well. The twist ending? The relationship between Harry, Ron, and Hermione? Snape? Malfoy? So much awesome in this book and it sent me and others on a path to something we will forever love. 

I would rate the book 7 out of 10
I would rate the movie also 7 out of 10

Movies I watched in July 2016

So, I saw a good amount of new movies this month. 8 in total, and I have to say most of them were really good.

Thirteen Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Wow. A Michael Bay movie that did not make me want to smash my head into the wall? I have to admit that I did not have too high of hopes for this, and it turned out to be a good movie. It probably helps that it was based on actual events and he coulud not mess with that. But overall, a story of soldiers that do what it takes to save people in a bad situations. Still a few Bay things about the movie, that made you roll your eyes, but overall pretty good.

Rating 7 out of 10

Room 
Wow, what an amazing movie. I remember Brie Larson as the ex-girlfriend in the Scott Pilgrim movie. But wow, she was amazing in this movie. The movie was so intense as she and her son Jack were in a horrible situation, and the long journey to recovery afterwards. But man the relationship between her and Jack throughout the movie. They had such chemistry and it just told such a great story. This is a move everyone should watch.
Rating 9 out of 10 

Eye in the Sky
Holy shit. What a great movie. What a horrible decision to have to make. You have two suicide bombers about to leave a house, and up to almost possible deaths that could occur. So the brits, and the americans try to determine if they can do a drone strike killing the terrorists. The problem a young girl is right outside there house selling bread and would likely die from the blast.
So, the question is this. Is one child's life worth possibly saving countless others?
This was tense and well done. I don't know the answer to this question, but the movies does a great job of making you feel the tension and pressure of it.
Rating 8.5 out of 10

Ghostbusters
This is a tough on as the original GB is one of my favorite movies ever. Overall, the four Ghostbusters were amazing and did a wonderful job. They were funny and up until the last 30 minutes, the movie was quite enjoyable. Sadly, the last part of the movie was borderine awful, and it brought the movie down. The cameos did not do anything to help the movie and it makes me wonder if this should have ever been remade. Still, an enjoyable movie overall.
Rating 6 out of 10

Midnight Special
This movie was boring as hell. I wanted to like it as I was looking forward to it, but nothing ever really happens in the  movie and they do nothing to really explain why the kid has powers. Not horribe (and the acting was great), just kind of boring. No, really damn boring.
Rating 4 out of 10

The Clone Wars
I cannot believe I have never watched this considering how much of a Star Wars fan I am. But I have heard that it was awful, and that is pretty much true. It felt like a disjoined and boring version of a Clone Wars tv episode. I can see how people would not like liked Ahsoka at first as she was really annoying in this movie. Which is a shame considering she is one of my favorite SW chracters.
Rating 3.5 out of 10

Star Wars Beyond
I am not a Trekkie, but I have always had enjoyed the movies for the most part. This movie was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed all the crazy and unbelievable things that happened. But the crew has a lot of chemistry and the action was on point. It was a bit corny, but so is the rest of Star Trek for the most part. It was really sad seeing all of the crew in the final shot and knowing Anton Yelchin will never be in another movie due to his tragic death.

Rating 8 out of 10

Attack the Block
Wow, was this movie fun. A bunch of street punks in London fighting aliens from another world? Why not? It sounds ridiculous and it kind of is...but in the best way. It has John Boyga (from Star Wars), and it was just a pleasure to watch. The alien creatures were actually kind of terrifying and the movie was a lot more tense than you would think it would be. Overall, a lot of fun..

Rating 8.5 out of 10

Overall: A great month of movies as I watched things outside of my box a bit, and it paid off.

Best movie: Room. This movie was amazing and creepy and I loved it.
Worst movie: The Clone Wars movie. As much as I love Star Wars, this was awful.
Biggest disappointment. Ghostbusters, but only cuz I wanted it to be better. It was ok.
Biggest surprise: 13 Hours. I assumed it was going to be another Michael Bay shitfest.
Best performance: Brie Larson in Room. She was amazing and I can see why she has won an oscar.

Uncharted 4 review (SPOILERS)

I am going to be spoiling the hell out of this game, so be warned. 

Wow, this was a great ending to the Uncharted series. First of all, the game is the best looking game I have ever seen on a console. It is just so gorgeous. I had to stop occasionally to just look around at all of the beauty. Also, with emotions on their faces. Doubt, disbelief, anger, laughter, etc. All were awesome. 

Some people do not like the pacing of this game, but I loved it. There was a lot going on in different timelines of the story, but it made for such an incredible beginning to the game. Slow? Yes, but in the best possible way. 

Whether you enjoy this game may be whether you connect with Nathan and Sam as brothers. They spend a lot of time together and if you don’t like that, the game may not work for you. I loved it. Getting to know how they get together in the game was handled well with a few flashback scenes. Those flashbacks to them when they were children were just so interesting and cool. Along with a few twists along the way, their relationship was handled very well. Yes, there was the expected (at least to me), betrayal, but it was even done with a cool misdirect. 

The downside was that you did not get as much of Sullivan as usual. He was in the game, just not as much and that was a small complaint. 

Then there is Elena, who may be the best character in this series. First the scene where she and Nathan were playing Crash Bandicoot to see who did the dishes was both unexpected and just amazing. Made me tear up as I realize how much I grew to love these two as characters. I enjoyed them in previous games, but it really hit me here. 

I was a little worried playing the game that Elena was not in it enough, and then suddenly she was. Also, the interaction between her and Drake was very sweet, and at times heartbreaking as usual Drake being the bonehead he is, lied to her about the “job”. So, she had no idea what he was doing, that he even had a brothers, and where was. So, that came to a head and she was hurt and angry and you spend time in the game wondering if they lived, if their marriage would last. It was handled so well and even though she did not leave him, for a moment you thought she might. 

Then to the villains. I really liked Rafe and Nadine. He was obviously a bit of a nut job, but the flashbacks did a lot to explain his relationship with the Drake brothers. Nadine was cool too as she spend her limited time in the game just beating the hell out of anything with the last name Drake. The last fight between Nathan and Rafe was pretty awesome as well. 

The voice acting was amazing, all across the board. Just amazing. 

The only real downside to the game was the introduction to vehicles to the game. This was only cuz I sucked at it.  Although driving the crew off a cliff was kind of funny. There was one scene where I was being chased and I kept dying cuz I was not handling the driving well at all. That more on me than the game though. 

The epilogue was amazing. It sets up future games with their daughter Cassie if they so choose. But it was just so damn sweet as she walked around their house and you can see the Nathan and Elena were still out doing the things they loved. I love the symmetry of her coming across the same items that Nathan did early on in the game in the attic. Just a lot of sweet moments and the perfect way to end the game. 

Rating 10 out of 10. One of my favorite games of all time and very slightly under the Last of Us.