Sekiro: Initial Impressions (Monday Musings 78)
Thanks to GameFly free month trial, I was able to try out Sekiro for free. I'm using the service
to sample games that I want to buy down the road. Games that may take me months to finish such as the typically long JRPGs, thus I only played Sekiro for about 20 hours or so, then mailed it, in exchange for the next game.
A major first tip that I'd recommend is to change the controls for the D-pad up = switch between your prosthetic tools, and Y/Triangle button = use items. It's a bit clunky to press D-pad up when you want to heal as opposed to a face button.
Spoilers Ahead!
I don't think I'd be so enamoured of Sekiro if it didn't have the incredible melee combat mechanics. It's very addictive to deflect (parry) which breaks the enemy's posture, and once posture bar is completely filled (i.e. you broke enemy posture), then deathblow. Another major way to kill off enemies (if you refuse to deflect), is to deplete health bar through R1/RB attack, and when it goes to zero, you press RB/R1 for death blow. Stealth is another way.
But often, it's much faster to use the deflect mechanic, which breaks posture, and once posture is broken, you instantly kill the enemy with R1/RB attack. And, the developer, From Software insist that you use deflect.
Because of this insistence, or rather fetish, I wonder if I would get tired of deflecting, and then bored of the game eventually. On the other hand, 20 hours of practice is not enough time to be able to consistently deflect, so I'm hoping that even a hundred hours later, you still need to hone your deflect skills, so that combat doesn't get stale.
It's upsetting that you are forced to play the way From Software wants you to play, as opposed to fighting the enemies the way you want to. I thought From's other game Bloodborne was very limiting, as you have to defeat enemies mainly through melee, but at least there were variety of weapons with different feels, and the weapon transform is a neat trick. Sekiro is even more limited than that. From my understanding, Sekiro's main character Wolf only has that short Katana, so your strikes will always feel the same.
Like Bloodborne, you really can't make a pure ranged build in Sekiro, and in fact, the only ranged option I noticed so far is the Shuriken prosthetic tool, of which you can only use a dozen times (though you can buy skills to increase the usage). The mantra (pun intended due to the Buddhist themes of this game) we will be repeating is deflect, deflect, deflect, but using the same boring looking weapon.
However, I was very stubborn and as a middle finger to From, I played the game the way I want to play. So, for the first few mini-bosses and the two main bosses (Lady Butterfly and the rather awful General on Horse boss), I got away with running away from them when they attack. After attack, I run back towards the enemy, whacking them once or twice. One particular whirling move (which appears to be resistant to deflect or special deflect skill called Mikiri) of Lady Butterfly, I found I couldn't run away, because I often get clipped, but found you can jump safely away from that attack.
For Lady Butterfly's phase 2, I used the prosthetic wooden axe, with the additional prosthetic combo skill that I grinded for, to stun-lock her to death, in a surprisingly easy cheese method.
As for trash mobs, I run away from enemies (Wolf has unlimited stamina), picking up items and stumbling upon the next shrine (save point). But since you can easily be swarmed by trash mob, it's best to take them out via stealth. If you whiff on stealth, because quite often, when you successfully sneak up on the enemy and press L1/LB for the backstab, that attack doesn't register, and then you alarm all of his buddies.
Inconsistently, other times, the backstab reflects (even without that red icon that means death blow). The inconsistency of stealth is a bit of a let-down, especially as stealth kills are a good way to thin out the ranks.
Once stealth whiffs, however, you're sort of forced into using the deflect method because there are so many enemies that you have to take them out very fast, and the fastest way is through the deflect/counter-attack method that Sekiro fetishizes.
I'm absolutely certain that down the road, you really have to master deflect (as well as the other special deflect skill that you can grind for, Mikiri, that breaks posture even more), so I hope the game doesn't get stale the further you progress.
Again, I don't think the game would be as stale if only Wolf can use other weapons that may have slower but stronger attacks and the like! Of course From software can continue the deflect mechanic all they want, but at least give us variety in weapons. In fact, I got excited when you can buy a hint from an NPC for a short sword (of course my heart sank, since you want a longer ranged sword), but at least it's not that same Katana. Come to find out, this sword was a prosthetic tool to my chagrin.
I wonder if the stellar combat mechanics can override all the issues I have of the game? However, before I go into the rather problematic flaws of the game, I must say that out of all the From software games post-Demon's Souls, Sekiro has the most satisfying melee combat.
The first grating issue I have is that the un-inspired looking hero Wolf has just as much personality as a blank-slate character, so it didn't make sense to not have the hero customizable. Also I wished you can change outfits, as it got tiring, even after just 20 hours, of seeing the same bland costume. Perhaps Activision may roll out costumes as micro-transactions.
At any rate, if you're going to have a character that's not customizable, please make him or her distinct such as Nathan Drake of Uncharted or Joel and Ellie of The Last of Us! As From software appears to be allergic to good writing, and committed to no personality playable characters, their heroes should be customizable. If you want the character to talk, just hire male and female voice actors.
Again, it's not as if Japan has lack of brilliant writers, so why can't From software hire a good writer? There are so many starving writers in the world who would jump at the chance to make 200K for a game script.
I harp on this issue because indeed, the story and the other NPCs you meet are equally as bland to the point where I didn't feel anything when I found out that the castle was burned down in one of Wolf's memories. In fact, I was actually annoyed that I couldn't go through the fire to the next destination as a faster way of getting to the boss, very clearly not caring about the castle's destruction, but more concerned about traversal. Adding to my annoyance is that you had to go around to the right of your mentor, even though he said to go to his left.
So, we're stuck with the same dull looking character throughout the game, same damn armor and weapon, and at least in the beginning part of the game, we have uninteresting NPCs and un-inspired story. Fine, but the combat and traversal are amazing, and the graphics lovely with almost no aliasing, so I pushed through.
The world is gorgeous, and I find the level design rather good! After using stealth and learning how to deflect better, I was able to clear out some areas to explore. There were some spots that I missed because of the verticality of the game - the traversal is wonderful as you can use grappling hook to move seamlessly through the world - as there's an item that's often hidden just below, or above you.
There are also the typical From software doors that don't open on the accessible side, or needing key, and there were two doors that I couldn't find my way to the other side! Although I wanted to play the first part of the game blind, I just had to find out how to open these doors, so I Youtube'd it. These hidden doors showcase the great level design of the game, as one door (after the Ogre mini-boss), you have to go past that area, go through a cave, climb multiple ledges, and you still can miss an upper ledge that you can grapple hook your way up, and open this door.
Even so, the issue with having a great level design, but only useless consumable items to pick up (you can easily buy or grind for them), you're not inspired to really get to know the map and the world of the game. The only items that are useful (at least in the beginning part of the game) are the prosthetic tools - and they're very easily found because they tend to be before or after the shrine save points - or you can buy them. So that doesn't compel you to explore the world for them.
The other item that is a must is the gourd seed - analogous to the estus flask - that heals you. The more seeds you collect, the more heals you can use, and they replenish every time you rest at the shrines. But these seeds are also easily seen either before or after the shrine save points, again making exploration unnecessary.
Another one is the prayer bead which you get when you defeat mini-boss and I think main boss. You need 4 to make a prayer bracelet that increases vitality. I didn't realize that you can find a prayer bead in tucked off location, but even so, there are so many mini-bosses, that I didn't find it necessary to scour the world to find 1 or 2 prayer beads, unless for trophy.
This is in contrast with Souls games, where you want to explore every part of the world because you may find cool weapons and armor that are in hidden locations, but this is not quite the case with Sekiro. But at least Sekiro seems to have complex level design and fun traversal, though you may not have as much fun exploring after getting the five trillionth ash.
At least for the first part of the game, the music was really bad. The trash mob background music was so off-putting that I turned music off. This was a shock to me as all the Souls game had incredible music. I didn't listen to the boss music of Lady Butterfly or the General on the Horse boss because I forgot to turn the music back on.
The first boss I encountered was Lady Butterfly in the Memories, and I failed horribly against her, so I decided to continue the main campaign, getting more skills, prayer beads, and Gourd seeds. But if I hadn't encountered Lady Butterfly, I would be so disappointed because the first proper boss of the game was quite bad - I feel that the General on the Horse is probably my least favorite boss in all of From's software games I played.
However, Lady Butterfly was a fantastic boss, and was very happy to cheese her in her second phase, and fighting her the way I wanted to fight her. I'm predicting that future bosses are going to be wonderful, as is the From Software trademark.
I didn't mind the lack of variety of enemies, since again, the combat is so amazing. Further, the various human enemies all have distinct attack patterns, which is a big strength of this game, so you have to be able to know when to deflect or Mikiri for a particular human.
It appears that Sekiro is not intended to be the typical JRPG that we've seen in Souls series, but more along the lines of an action-adventure game, since it greatly scales down the usual stats of Vitality, Stamina, Dexterity, Strength and so forth, but rather you level up via Prayer Beads (as mentioned above, 4 of them grant you 1 extra vitality) and upon killing bosses, I believe my attack power increased by 1. Even so, you do buy skills, and prosthetic tools also can be leveled up.
Although I love the min/max and distributing points as in the traditional JRPG, as opposed to skill trees, I completely understand why a lot of people prefer pure combat and not having to worry about leveling up. In that sense, Sekiro's combat is spectacular, and gameplay is where the game truly shines, as it makes you perfect your timing and skills, so satisfying to break posture upon deflect/counter-attack.
Conclusion: Despite all my complaints, my initial impression is that I like Sekiro because of the thrill of combat, which is breathtaking at times. I also appreciate the level design (albeit wasted due to uninspired items you find), the traversal, and stealth mechanics (although often dodgy).
I'll have to play the entire game to see if I truly love the game, to see if combat can push Sekiro past all the issues I have. It's a game that I may not want to buy at full price, but certainly when it comes out with the bundled DLC edition, at cheaper price. If you played Sekiro, what are your thoughts of the game?
The How of Happiness Review
 |
| Sekiro hero, Wolf |
A major first tip that I'd recommend is to change the controls for the D-pad up = switch between your prosthetic tools, and Y/Triangle button = use items. It's a bit clunky to press D-pad up when you want to heal as opposed to a face button.
Spoilers Ahead!
I don't think I'd be so enamoured of Sekiro if it didn't have the incredible melee combat mechanics. It's very addictive to deflect (parry) which breaks the enemy's posture, and once posture bar is completely filled (i.e. you broke enemy posture), then deathblow. Another major way to kill off enemies (if you refuse to deflect), is to deplete health bar through R1/RB attack, and when it goes to zero, you press RB/R1 for death blow. Stealth is another way.
But often, it's much faster to use the deflect mechanic, which breaks posture, and once posture is broken, you instantly kill the enemy with R1/RB attack. And, the developer, From Software insist that you use deflect.
Because of this insistence, or rather fetish, I wonder if I would get tired of deflecting, and then bored of the game eventually. On the other hand, 20 hours of practice is not enough time to be able to consistently deflect, so I'm hoping that even a hundred hours later, you still need to hone your deflect skills, so that combat doesn't get stale.
It's upsetting that you are forced to play the way From Software wants you to play, as opposed to fighting the enemies the way you want to. I thought From's other game Bloodborne was very limiting, as you have to defeat enemies mainly through melee, but at least there were variety of weapons with different feels, and the weapon transform is a neat trick. Sekiro is even more limited than that. From my understanding, Sekiro's main character Wolf only has that short Katana, so your strikes will always feel the same.
Like Bloodborne, you really can't make a pure ranged build in Sekiro, and in fact, the only ranged option I noticed so far is the Shuriken prosthetic tool, of which you can only use a dozen times (though you can buy skills to increase the usage). The mantra (pun intended due to the Buddhist themes of this game) we will be repeating is deflect, deflect, deflect, but using the same boring looking weapon.
However, I was very stubborn and as a middle finger to From, I played the game the way I want to play. So, for the first few mini-bosses and the two main bosses (Lady Butterfly and the rather awful General on Horse boss), I got away with running away from them when they attack. After attack, I run back towards the enemy, whacking them once or twice. One particular whirling move (which appears to be resistant to deflect or special deflect skill called Mikiri) of Lady Butterfly, I found I couldn't run away, because I often get clipped, but found you can jump safely away from that attack.
For Lady Butterfly's phase 2, I used the prosthetic wooden axe, with the additional prosthetic combo skill that I grinded for, to stun-lock her to death, in a surprisingly easy cheese method.
As for trash mobs, I run away from enemies (Wolf has unlimited stamina), picking up items and stumbling upon the next shrine (save point). But since you can easily be swarmed by trash mob, it's best to take them out via stealth. If you whiff on stealth, because quite often, when you successfully sneak up on the enemy and press L1/LB for the backstab, that attack doesn't register, and then you alarm all of his buddies.
Inconsistently, other times, the backstab reflects (even without that red icon that means death blow). The inconsistency of stealth is a bit of a let-down, especially as stealth kills are a good way to thin out the ranks.
Once stealth whiffs, however, you're sort of forced into using the deflect method because there are so many enemies that you have to take them out very fast, and the fastest way is through the deflect/counter-attack method that Sekiro fetishizes.
I'm absolutely certain that down the road, you really have to master deflect (as well as the other special deflect skill that you can grind for, Mikiri, that breaks posture even more), so I hope the game doesn't get stale the further you progress.
Again, I don't think the game would be as stale if only Wolf can use other weapons that may have slower but stronger attacks and the like! Of course From software can continue the deflect mechanic all they want, but at least give us variety in weapons. In fact, I got excited when you can buy a hint from an NPC for a short sword (of course my heart sank, since you want a longer ranged sword), but at least it's not that same Katana. Come to find out, this sword was a prosthetic tool to my chagrin.
I wonder if the stellar combat mechanics can override all the issues I have of the game? However, before I go into the rather problematic flaws of the game, I must say that out of all the From software games post-Demon's Souls, Sekiro has the most satisfying melee combat.
The first grating issue I have is that the un-inspired looking hero Wolf has just as much personality as a blank-slate character, so it didn't make sense to not have the hero customizable. Also I wished you can change outfits, as it got tiring, even after just 20 hours, of seeing the same bland costume. Perhaps Activision may roll out costumes as micro-transactions.
At any rate, if you're going to have a character that's not customizable, please make him or her distinct such as Nathan Drake of Uncharted or Joel and Ellie of The Last of Us! As From software appears to be allergic to good writing, and committed to no personality playable characters, their heroes should be customizable. If you want the character to talk, just hire male and female voice actors.
Again, it's not as if Japan has lack of brilliant writers, so why can't From software hire a good writer? There are so many starving writers in the world who would jump at the chance to make 200K for a game script.
I harp on this issue because indeed, the story and the other NPCs you meet are equally as bland to the point where I didn't feel anything when I found out that the castle was burned down in one of Wolf's memories. In fact, I was actually annoyed that I couldn't go through the fire to the next destination as a faster way of getting to the boss, very clearly not caring about the castle's destruction, but more concerned about traversal. Adding to my annoyance is that you had to go around to the right of your mentor, even though he said to go to his left.
So, we're stuck with the same dull looking character throughout the game, same damn armor and weapon, and at least in the beginning part of the game, we have uninteresting NPCs and un-inspired story. Fine, but the combat and traversal are amazing, and the graphics lovely with almost no aliasing, so I pushed through.
The world is gorgeous, and I find the level design rather good! After using stealth and learning how to deflect better, I was able to clear out some areas to explore. There were some spots that I missed because of the verticality of the game - the traversal is wonderful as you can use grappling hook to move seamlessly through the world - as there's an item that's often hidden just below, or above you.
There are also the typical From software doors that don't open on the accessible side, or needing key, and there were two doors that I couldn't find my way to the other side! Although I wanted to play the first part of the game blind, I just had to find out how to open these doors, so I Youtube'd it. These hidden doors showcase the great level design of the game, as one door (after the Ogre mini-boss), you have to go past that area, go through a cave, climb multiple ledges, and you still can miss an upper ledge that you can grapple hook your way up, and open this door.
Even so, the issue with having a great level design, but only useless consumable items to pick up (you can easily buy or grind for them), you're not inspired to really get to know the map and the world of the game. The only items that are useful (at least in the beginning part of the game) are the prosthetic tools - and they're very easily found because they tend to be before or after the shrine save points - or you can buy them. So that doesn't compel you to explore the world for them.
The other item that is a must is the gourd seed - analogous to the estus flask - that heals you. The more seeds you collect, the more heals you can use, and they replenish every time you rest at the shrines. But these seeds are also easily seen either before or after the shrine save points, again making exploration unnecessary.
Another one is the prayer bead which you get when you defeat mini-boss and I think main boss. You need 4 to make a prayer bracelet that increases vitality. I didn't realize that you can find a prayer bead in tucked off location, but even so, there are so many mini-bosses, that I didn't find it necessary to scour the world to find 1 or 2 prayer beads, unless for trophy.
This is in contrast with Souls games, where you want to explore every part of the world because you may find cool weapons and armor that are in hidden locations, but this is not quite the case with Sekiro. But at least Sekiro seems to have complex level design and fun traversal, though you may not have as much fun exploring after getting the five trillionth ash.
At least for the first part of the game, the music was really bad. The trash mob background music was so off-putting that I turned music off. This was a shock to me as all the Souls game had incredible music. I didn't listen to the boss music of Lady Butterfly or the General on the Horse boss because I forgot to turn the music back on.
The first boss I encountered was Lady Butterfly in the Memories, and I failed horribly against her, so I decided to continue the main campaign, getting more skills, prayer beads, and Gourd seeds. But if I hadn't encountered Lady Butterfly, I would be so disappointed because the first proper boss of the game was quite bad - I feel that the General on the Horse is probably my least favorite boss in all of From's software games I played.
However, Lady Butterfly was a fantastic boss, and was very happy to cheese her in her second phase, and fighting her the way I wanted to fight her. I'm predicting that future bosses are going to be wonderful, as is the From Software trademark.
I didn't mind the lack of variety of enemies, since again, the combat is so amazing. Further, the various human enemies all have distinct attack patterns, which is a big strength of this game, so you have to be able to know when to deflect or Mikiri for a particular human.
It appears that Sekiro is not intended to be the typical JRPG that we've seen in Souls series, but more along the lines of an action-adventure game, since it greatly scales down the usual stats of Vitality, Stamina, Dexterity, Strength and so forth, but rather you level up via Prayer Beads (as mentioned above, 4 of them grant you 1 extra vitality) and upon killing bosses, I believe my attack power increased by 1. Even so, you do buy skills, and prosthetic tools also can be leveled up.
Although I love the min/max and distributing points as in the traditional JRPG, as opposed to skill trees, I completely understand why a lot of people prefer pure combat and not having to worry about leveling up. In that sense, Sekiro's combat is spectacular, and gameplay is where the game truly shines, as it makes you perfect your timing and skills, so satisfying to break posture upon deflect/counter-attack.
Conclusion: Despite all my complaints, my initial impression is that I like Sekiro because of the thrill of combat, which is breathtaking at times. I also appreciate the level design (albeit wasted due to uninspired items you find), the traversal, and stealth mechanics (although often dodgy).
I'll have to play the entire game to see if I truly love the game, to see if combat can push Sekiro past all the issues I have. It's a game that I may not want to buy at full price, but certainly when it comes out with the bundled DLC edition, at cheaper price. If you played Sekiro, what are your thoughts of the game?
The How of Happiness Review
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Two Point Hospital Review (NSW)
Written by Jennifer O. Cuaycong
Title: Two Point Hospital
Developer: Two Point Studios
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
Price: $39.99
Also Available On: Steam, PS4, XB1
When Two Point Hospital first made waves on the personal computer two years ago, it became known as the spiritual successor of Theme Hospital, and rightfully so. It carries the genetic imprint and soul of its 1997 progenitor, a business simulation game which has become an enduring hit in the video game industry. To date, Theme Hospital has sold over four million copies worldwide, a feat that Two Point Hospital hopes to equal, if not surpass, as it ports over to the Nintendo Switch. Developer Two Point Studios does have the pedigree; producer Mark Webley was also the project leader, as well as programmer and developer, of Theme Hospital for Bullfrog Productions. Today, with designer/artist Gary Carr and programmer Ben Hymers, former Bullfrog colleagues, they're meeting the challenge head-on. Given its presence in six platforms all told, Two Point Hospital has become the second most downloaded game in terms of sales in much of the world.
If you remember playing with Theme Hospital, and remember, that was 23 years ago, you'll definitely find Two Point Hospital a familiar and comforting presence to have in 2020. It looks familiar, sounds familiar, plays almost the same BUT. The BUT is that, in 2020, Two Point Hospital is Theme Hospital on steroids, making the experience better, with fun, three dimensional graphics, seamless camera transitions, and better storytelling overall.
In Two Point Hospital, much like Theme Hospital, the player acts as an administrator and decides which patient needs are best met by the hospital of a specific area at a specific point in time. The hospital comes as an single empty shell, and the player is tasked with filling it with clinics for diagnosis and treatment, as well as the hiring, firing, and training of its employees, from doctors to nurses to assistants to even janitors. There are options for buying extra lots and erecting new buildings, as well as adding new clinics to address the area's patients. There are plenty of ways to customize the hospital, with extra features and elements that can be unlocked through progress in game levels and areas.
While the bare bones of both Theme Hospital and Two Point Hospital are the same, upgrades have been introduced to completely change the way the latter meets the challenges of this new era. For one, changes in the way characters behave, function, and work within the model hospital make this homage a better version of the original. Traditional gender roles no longer apply; both men and women can be doctors, nurses, assistants, and janitors — and, as such, emphasis is placed on qualifications and training rather than gender.
In Two Point Hospital, training is available for all personnel, thereby allowing the player's chosen medical professionals to specialize. This enables diagnosis and treatment to go much faster and with less failure. Assistants are no longer mere receptionists; they are a vital cog in the hospital manpower wheel as they perform check-in, basic triage, and even marketing. Janitors no longer just clean, maintain, and upgrade machines; they can also train others as they accumulate skill in other areas.
There are various levels to pass, and each level requires at least a one-star rating for the next one to open up. Three stars make one a superstar in that level's hospital and VIPs flock to avail of services. As the hospital's designated CEO and Board of Trustees in one, money decisions are left to the player, and if the player listens to the needs of the populace, decisions on cure, personnel, and material not only earn the hospital a good reputation but also a lot of money to do more things. There are awards to compete for, leading to extra credit for unlockable items. Fortunately, proceedings can be interrupted anytime; the player can choose to go back to previous levels without penalty in his/her last level. Features unlocked in the most current level carry over to the earlier ones so there is always room to improve the hospital, feature and strategy-wise.
As a port from the 18-month-old PC game, Two Point Hospital on the Switch does take a little getting used to, particularly when it comes to Joy-Con controls. It doesn't feel intuitive from the get-go. That said, it takes only one or two passes and practice runs on the levels to get the hang of things. There might be a couple of tweaks needed to make the menus easier to handle, but all in all, they don't take away from the beauty of the game. Frame rate drops can and do occur, especially when the screen gets busy, but, for casual gamers, it isn't really a dealbreaker. In truth, it's hardly noticeable.
There's a lot of humor and hilarity in Two Point Hospital, the same way it was in Theme Hospital, and it's best appreciated in the ingenious way sickness is named, approached, and treated. "Jest infections" never grow old, for one. But it's also sobering to note that while laughter and enjoyment can be derived from the game, it also reminds us that what passes off as a game may emulate true life and death situations. And as in real life in the time of COVID-19, hospitals that are better equipped, better managed, and better staffed are able to save more people.
THE GOOD
- Fun, funny, and, punny
- Faithful homage, but improved experience
- Engrossing
THE BAD
- Can be repetitive
- Cartoon visuals an acquired taste
- Occasional frame drops
- Difficult at first
RATING: 8.5/10
One Piece: Burning Blood - Gold Edition Free Download
One Piece: Burning Blood - is a fighting video game based on One Piece developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows.
Featuring: Set sail with the Straw Hat Crew and collect your bounty in the most epic anime fi ghter this side of the Grand Line! Use Devil Fruit abilities, Haki techniques, and punishing combos to turn the tide in the ultimate One Piece battle royale! Step into the New World with over the top head to head combat featuring all the action, drama and comedy of the world's favorite pirate saga! The Perfect Blend of Manga x Anime x Game - Taking full advantage of the rich history of One Piece, character expressions, and elemental effects.
• Featuring Devil Fruits plus Haki can be used to do Massive special Moves and take down the fiercest opponents.
• Burning Blood Game is all about style that will reheat fan's nostalgia and peak the interest of curious new pirates.
• New true-to-series pirate free-for-all Activated at will these unique abilities can increase the player's attack power.
• Perfect Blend Manga x Anime x Game taking advantage of the rich History of One Piece & character expressions.
• Plus strategize how and when to use these New Epic Special Abilities to unleash their Maximum Fighting potential.
Game is updated to portable version
2. GAMEPLAY AND SCREENSHOTS
♢ Click or choose only one button below to download this game.
♢ View detailed instructions for downloading and installing the game here.
♢ Use 7-Zip to extract RAR, ZIP and ISO files. Install PowerISO to mount DAA files.
ONE PIECE: BURNING BLOOD DOWNLOAD LINKS
PASSWORD FOR THE GAME
Unlock with password: pcgamesrealm
4. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS GAME
➤ Download the game by clicking on the button link provided above.
➤ Download the game on the host site and turn off your Antivirus or Windows Defender to avoid errors.
➤ When the download process is finished, locate or go to that file.
➤ Open and extract the file by using 7-Zip, and run the installer as admin then install the game on your PC.
➤ Once the installation is complete, run the game's exe as admin and you can now play the game.
➤ Congratulations! You can now play this game for free on your PC.
➤ Note: If you like this video game, please buy it and support the developers of this game.
Turn off or temporarily disable your Antivirus or Windows Defender to avoid false positive detections.
(Your PC must at least have the equivalent or higher specs in order to run this game.)
• Operating System: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 | 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 @ 3.70GHz or faster for better experience
• Memory: at least 4GB System RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 15GB free HDD Space
• Video Card: NVIDIA@ GeForce@ GTX 460 or faster for better gaming experience
Supported Language: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese-Br, Korean.• Processor: Intel Core i3-4170 @ 3.70GHz or faster for better experience
• Memory: at least 4GB System RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 15GB free HDD Space
• Video Card: NVIDIA@ GeForce@ GTX 460 or faster for better gaming experience
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EA Cricket 2018 Download For Free Full Version
EA Cricket 2018 Download For Free Full Version
SCREENSHOT
System Requirements Of Cricket 2018 Download Free
- Tested on Window 7 64 Bit
- Operating System: Window XP/ Vista/ Window 7/ Window 8 and 8.1/10
- CPU: 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or later
- RAM: 512 MB
- Setup size: 1.1 GB
- Hard Disk Space: 4 GB
Legion Vs. Cygnar + Musings On Oblivion And Riot Quest
I've been having an absolute blast the last two weeks and it's been a bit since I posted and I just want to talk about how the hobby has had a bit of a renaissance for me.
Riot Quest
Since I've got young kids, there was no way I'm making it to Gencon. Luckily a co-worker was going and was willing to Ninja for me. As such I've got nearly all of Riot Quest Wave 1 and the Oblivion Box.
I was interested in Riot Quest, primarily because it appeared to be something that I could use to teach my daughter to play and hopefully get something we can enjoy. I also have some other friends who aren't really down to play big games like WM/HD but would be in on Riot Quest.
This was my daughter after our first game. I'm calling it a win.
I'm looking forward to getting a bunch of the new releases and my daughter is just as excited for the new models as well. It's actually been a lot of fun just playing with her, and I should be playing with actual adults this weekend. It's absolutely great!
Oblivion
I splurged and got myself the Oblivion box. People can joke about the $60 Hermit model, but I primarily wanted it for the campaign system, though I won't lie - the Hermit is stupidly powerful and I'm glad I own him.
That said there has been one thing I've loved about getting the box: It's just nice to have an old school PP book again. I started this game by going through and reading all the rules and story in MK1 books and I loved the way the books flowed. I'm a sucker for fluff and I've slowly been reading the book at night before bed and loving it.
Playing in an Oblivion Remix
So it's been almost two weeks since Oblivion theme remixes and the dynamic update dropped. It was a great time for me since it was right before my birthday weekend.
My group of friends is having a number of people get back into WMHD again, and my birthday present was my wife watching our kids while I had four of my friends over to play games all day while drinking beer and getting some tacos.
I got to play two games. First into Ossrum in Irregulars where my Lylyth1 Jank list got crushed down. My scenario play was utterly terrible and neither of us scored well. I got up on attrition, slowly where my Archangel was about to run the table, but Lylyth just got killed. Note to self: you need a lot more bodies than what I had on the table for this match to play the new scenarios!
The second list was supposed to be a toned down list to play into my friend Russ's Cygnar to help ease him back into the game. I went with this Twins list that I ended up seriously liking:
Legion
[Theme] Children of the Dragon
[Twins 2] Saeryn & Rhyas, Talons of Everblight [+24]
- Blightbringer [32]
- Zuriel [18]
Annyssa Ryvaal [8]
Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]
Incubus (5) [0(6)]
The Forsaken [0(4)]
Blackfrost Shard [9]
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (max) [13]
- Captain Farilor & Standard [0(5)]
Blighted Nyss Raptors (max) [18]
Unfortunately for Russ his inexperience made it so that he didn't really contest scenario (he had 4 models contesting scenario as I went into bottom of 2) on Bunkers. I could have actually won the game at that point, but I had a slight error and just went 4-0, which led to some back and forth but I still took a scenario win. My take away from this was that I actually want to experiment with the Twins some. Blightbringer + Black Frost Shard staying safe behind Legionaries + Rhyas = an INCREDIBLE amount of work.
The next week Russ came back for another game, this time using mostly the same list but with Stryker1 as his caster instead of Maddox:
Cygnar
[Theme] Storm Division
[Stryker 1] Commander Coleman Stryker [+30]
- Stormwall [36]
- Squire [0(5)]
Gobber Tinker [2]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
- Firefly [8]
Stormblade Captain [0(5)]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Stormblade Infantry [9]
- Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard [0(5)]
- Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner (3) [6]
I drop Fury and Iron Flesh, moving Fury over to the Raiders, trying to go after two of the Lances without Arcane Shield and who are outside of Stryker's feat on my right. Due to bad to hit rolls I only kill one of the Lances. I do however get to aim with one Deathstalker and kill two Stormblades. The other Deathstalker gets Wraithbane and is able to walk into the forest, kill two more Stormblades and swift hunter back behind the forest.
I missed playing with Deathstalkers. So. Much.
I also managed to get a Tentacle to hit one of the Storm Lances with Arcane shield on my left, which promptly pulled it out of command of the unit and out of Stryker's feat, allowing the maw to kill it.
I move up and feat, contesting the zone with two Raptors and a tentacle. I move my Neraph to be out of the Stormwall's threat.
Russ comes back hard. Due to poor positioning on my part he realizes the Stormwall is only in threat range of one Neraph. He elects to put shots into my objective and uses a Storm pod to clear out some of my Raiders. The Lances come in and between impacts and assaults and charges kills even more, leaving me with only 4 left plus the assassin. Russ gets my objective.
Russ kills one of my Raptors on the charge and while he misses my back Raptor I have to repo out of melee range which takes me out of the zone contesting.
He then jams in the Stormblades as best he can and mini-feats with Iron Zeal. He also toe's the squire in to the back of the zone.
Russ ends the turn up 2-0. Ouch!
Feats are off the table, it's time for me to hit back!
My Raiders and Assassin kill of two Storm Lances, leaving us in a bit of stalemate on my right zone, however his cav is now nicely jammed up.
On my left I throw my Raptors in to the Lances, killing two and jamming with my repo moves.
Fyanna moves up and cycles Fury and Wraithbane on a Neraph. My Naga moves up and puts Wraithbane up on the Deathstalker again and takes a shot into the squire putting damage on it. The sorceress moves up to get my beasts into free charge ranges and spray the Squire to kill it.
My Deathstalkers do a repeat of last turn. One aims and kills two, the other with Wraithbane moves up and kills two, using swift hunter to end on the flag.
The unbuffed Neraph on my left kills the Stormblade Officer and Flag without having to spend any fury. This clears the zone allowing me to score 2 points.
I then send in the Sacrificial Neraph to get some work on the Stormwall. Between the free charge, Fury, and Wraithbane it does over half the damage. Golab with Admonition positions in the forest to finish off the Stormwall next turn.
The turn ends 2-2.
At this point we forgot to take pictures for bottom of 3.
What happens is that Russ is forced to move the Stormwall into the zone to contest it and the Stormwall kills the Neraph that attacked it. He also drops a Stormpod to kill my Deathstalker on my flag.
Russ also kills two of my remaining Raptors that were jamming up his lances, but after landing a hit with his Jr. on the remaining Raptor contesting my left zone and failing to kill it, the Stormblade Captain charges...and misses the Raptor, causing Russ to fail to clear the zone.
On my right Russ's two Storm lances kill off the rest of my Raiders, but my Assassin is still alive.
Riot Quest
Since I've got young kids, there was no way I'm making it to Gencon. Luckily a co-worker was going and was willing to Ninja for me. As such I've got nearly all of Riot Quest Wave 1 and the Oblivion Box.
I was interested in Riot Quest, primarily because it appeared to be something that I could use to teach my daughter to play and hopefully get something we can enjoy. I also have some other friends who aren't really down to play big games like WM/HD but would be in on Riot Quest.
This was my daughter after our first game. I'm calling it a win.
I'm looking forward to getting a bunch of the new releases and my daughter is just as excited for the new models as well. It's actually been a lot of fun just playing with her, and I should be playing with actual adults this weekend. It's absolutely great!
Oblivion
I splurged and got myself the Oblivion box. People can joke about the $60 Hermit model, but I primarily wanted it for the campaign system, though I won't lie - the Hermit is stupidly powerful and I'm glad I own him.
That said there has been one thing I've loved about getting the box: It's just nice to have an old school PP book again. I started this game by going through and reading all the rules and story in MK1 books and I loved the way the books flowed. I'm a sucker for fluff and I've slowly been reading the book at night before bed and loving it.
Playing in an Oblivion Remix
So it's been almost two weeks since Oblivion theme remixes and the dynamic update dropped. It was a great time for me since it was right before my birthday weekend.
My group of friends is having a number of people get back into WMHD again, and my birthday present was my wife watching our kids while I had four of my friends over to play games all day while drinking beer and getting some tacos.
I got to play two games. First into Ossrum in Irregulars where my Lylyth1 Jank list got crushed down. My scenario play was utterly terrible and neither of us scored well. I got up on attrition, slowly where my Archangel was about to run the table, but Lylyth just got killed. Note to self: you need a lot more bodies than what I had on the table for this match to play the new scenarios!
The second list was supposed to be a toned down list to play into my friend Russ's Cygnar to help ease him back into the game. I went with this Twins list that I ended up seriously liking:
Legion
[Theme] Children of the Dragon
[Twins 2] Saeryn & Rhyas, Talons of Everblight [+24]
- Blightbringer [32]
- Zuriel [18]
Annyssa Ryvaal [8]
Blighted Nyss Shepherd [1]
Incubus (5) [0(6)]
The Forsaken [0(4)]
Blackfrost Shard [9]
Blighted Nyss Legionnaires (max) [13]
- Captain Farilor & Standard [0(5)]
Blighted Nyss Raptors (max) [18]
The next week Russ came back for another game, this time using mostly the same list but with Stryker1 as his caster instead of Maddox:
Cygnar
[Theme] Storm Division
[Stryker 1] Commander Coleman Stryker [+30]
- Stormwall [36]
- Squire [0(5)]
Gobber Tinker [2]
Journeyman Warcaster [4]
- Firefly [8]
Stormblade Captain [0(5)]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Storm Lances (max) [20]
Stormblade Infantry [9]
- Stormblade Infantry Officer & Standard [0(5)]
- Stormblade Infantry Storm Gunner (3) [6]
This played into my first Fyanna2 list in Ravens:
Legion
[Theme] Ravens of War
[Fyanna 2] Fyanna, Torment of Everblight [+28]
- Golab [17]
- Naga Nightlurker [8]
- Neraph [12]
- Neraph [12]
- Succubus [0(4)]
Blighted Nyss Sorceress & Hellion [0(6)]
Grotesque Assassin [0(4)]
Strider Deathstalker [4]
Strider Deathstalker [4]
The Forsaken [4]
Blighted Nyss Raptors (max) [18]
Grotesque Raiders (max) [12]
Hellmouth [6]
Hellmouth [6]
I managed to win the roll to go first, which I quickly took because I was terrified of Russ being able to jam me hard on Turn 1, then feat on Turn 2 and just either force me to commit hard with my fast but squishy Legion things or risk just losing on Scenario. At least in this case I would get to better dictate the line of battle in terms of threat ranges.
Deployment
Top of 1
For reference: Iron Flesh goes on the Raiders, Admonition is on Golab, and Fury is on the Neraph hiding in the Forest.
Bottom of 1
Russ feels forced to feat bottom of 1 and gets up in my grill. His Storm Lances on my left hand side don't have everyone in feat range however. He manages to get some of the tentacles I had blocking up my left hand zone. Arcane shield is on the Lances to my left and on the Stormwall. Blur is on the Stormblades.
Top of 2
I drop Fury and Iron Flesh, moving Fury over to the Raiders, trying to go after two of the Lances without Arcane Shield and who are outside of Stryker's feat on my right. Due to bad to hit rolls I only kill one of the Lances. I do however get to aim with one Deathstalker and kill two Stormblades. The other Deathstalker gets Wraithbane and is able to walk into the forest, kill two more Stormblades and swift hunter back behind the forest.
I missed playing with Deathstalkers. So. Much.
I also managed to get a Tentacle to hit one of the Storm Lances with Arcane shield on my left, which promptly pulled it out of command of the unit and out of Stryker's feat, allowing the maw to kill it.
I move up and feat, contesting the zone with two Raptors and a tentacle. I move my Neraph to be out of the Stormwall's threat.
Bottom of 2
Russ comes back hard. Due to poor positioning on my part he realizes the Stormwall is only in threat range of one Neraph. He elects to put shots into my objective and uses a Storm pod to clear out some of my Raiders. The Lances come in and between impacts and assaults and charges kills even more, leaving me with only 4 left plus the assassin. Russ gets my objective.
Russ kills one of my Raptors on the charge and while he misses my back Raptor I have to repo out of melee range which takes me out of the zone contesting.
He then jams in the Stormblades as best he can and mini-feats with Iron Zeal. He also toe's the squire in to the back of the zone.
Russ ends the turn up 2-0. Ouch!
Top of 3
Feats are off the table, it's time for me to hit back!
My Raiders and Assassin kill of two Storm Lances, leaving us in a bit of stalemate on my right zone, however his cav is now nicely jammed up.
On my left I throw my Raptors in to the Lances, killing two and jamming with my repo moves.
Fyanna moves up and cycles Fury and Wraithbane on a Neraph. My Naga moves up and puts Wraithbane up on the Deathstalker again and takes a shot into the squire putting damage on it. The sorceress moves up to get my beasts into free charge ranges and spray the Squire to kill it.
My Deathstalkers do a repeat of last turn. One aims and kills two, the other with Wraithbane moves up and kills two, using swift hunter to end on the flag.
The unbuffed Neraph on my left kills the Stormblade Officer and Flag without having to spend any fury. This clears the zone allowing me to score 2 points.
I then send in the Sacrificial Neraph to get some work on the Stormwall. Between the free charge, Fury, and Wraithbane it does over half the damage. Golab with Admonition positions in the forest to finish off the Stormwall next turn.
The turn ends 2-2.
At this point we forgot to take pictures for bottom of 3.
What happens is that Russ is forced to move the Stormwall into the zone to contest it and the Stormwall kills the Neraph that attacked it. He also drops a Stormpod to kill my Deathstalker on my flag.
Russ also kills two of my remaining Raptors that were jamming up his lances, but after landing a hit with his Jr. on the remaining Raptor contesting my left zone and failing to kill it, the Stormblade Captain charges...and misses the Raptor, causing Russ to fail to clear the zone.
On my right Russ's two Storm lances kill off the rest of my Raiders, but my Assassin is still alive.
Top of 4
At this point Golab gets Fury and Wraithbane from Fyanna and charges into the Stormwall. Due to some bad dice it actually takes 3 fury to finish off the Stormwall, but Golab gets the work in.
My Assassin kills one of the Storm Lances on my right.
The Naga moves up and shoots the remaining storm Lance on my right, not killing it, but shadow binding it.
I use my Neraph to charge into the Stormblade Captain blocking my last remaining Raptor, I then sprint back to my central zone to threaten next turn.
My Sorceress moves up and sprays the Jr. hiding behind the wall, nails the dice and one shots him, knocking the Firefly inert. I jam the Lances in the left zone with a Hellmouth tentacle.
My Raptor charges the objective and I can't recall if it kills it or not, but I got my Deathstalker onto the central flag, bringing the score up to 4-2 in my favor and with Russ's lances out of commission there's nothing he can do to stop me from winning the game on my next turn.
Conclusions
This was a much better game than our last match and I feel as though I got a massive break in making it a game by winning the roll to go first. It's absolutely a much harder game for me to win if Russ got to go first with Stryker1 into this list.
Books Vs Movies 1/2: Books I Read After Seeing The Movie
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Movie: One of those movies that uses it's actors like juggling balls rather then for their talents and performances. Filled with a self-indulgent hyper-kinetic freneticism that is supposed to overawe but only makes me feel as empty as I do after watching forty minutes of Marvel movie fighting. I couldn't take more than a half hour of it.
The movie contains only the barest outline of the contents of the book (which is well over 700 dense pages).
Book: A classic, beautifully written, deeply insightful, and filled with a rich panoply of characters and events. I just don't like it. Why? Because it's filled with despair , depression, and the oppression of a soulless bureaucracy. I need someone to root for in my media, and there are no redeemable characters in the book. Anna starts out likeable enough, but soon becomes single-mindedly fixated on her adultery and filled with despair. Levin is kind of interesting as he works out the basics of communism, but hardly someone to identify with. Kitty is vacuous during the first half of the book, but she gains a few morals by the middle; unfortunately, her character just isn't that interesting.
Arrival, Ted Chiang
Movie: Quiet but phenomenal: intelligent, suspenseful, beautifully acted, scripted, and directed, and thoroughly engaging. It was only an hour after the movie ended that I figured out exactly what had been going on. One of my favorite movies of its year.
Book: A very nice short story, written in an economical style, well-plotted and thoughtful. To be honest, the movie is so good that it makes reading the story kind of superfluous. The movie contains everything in the original story (with a few irrelevant changes) and more.
Atonement, Ian McEwan
Movie: A beautiful movie with some haunting cinematography and outstanding acting. Some of the scenes and characters are haunting, and it contains some of my favorite actors. The story is clean and harsh.
Book: Very well-written, the movie is fairly close to the book. Both were enjoyable.
Bridget Jones' Diary, Helen Fielding
Movie: A very well-made chick-flick romcom that is a modern remake of Pride and Prejudice. A defining role for the fetching, sarcastic, and sympathetic Renee Zellweger. Actually a lot of fun, although kind of devolves a bit at the end as romcoms do.
Book: Slightly better than the movie, with a sharper satirical voice. The movie pretty much follows the book, but the book has its own distinctive voice.
The Chosen, Chaim Potok
Movie: A classic coming of age movie set in two Jewish 1940s Brooklyns that intersect. Contains some lessons in overcoming prejudices, making friends, and dealing with the heavy roles placed on us by society and family.
Book: As I recall, the movie is pretty much a reflection of the book, but the book is longer and deeper. Honestly, it's been a long while since I read it.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Movie: An iconic live-action Disney musical and performance by Dick Van Dyke. Very reminiscent of his overacting and production, like Mary Poppins. Fun in a nostalgic kind of way.
Book: Holds up better than the movie It is aimed at young readers and has good pictures and a simple clean writing style. The movie basically follows the book but changes several story elements to make it more child-friendly.
E.T. The Extraterrestrial, William Kotzwinkle
Movie: A classic Spielberg movie, with an absent father, cute kids, realistic dialogue that can veer from maudlin to annoying, and an incredible sense of wonder and magic. Beautiful cinematography and direction.
Book: A novelization of the movie, and I remember being thoroughly underwhelmed. The book adds some inner dialogue to the book that somehow managed to destroy the magic of the story.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Movie: A great movie, one of the three major films starring James Dean. Powerfully shot and directed, with iconic performances.
Book: A powerhouse classic novel, one of the best American novels ever written. It is large, wide and epic, as well as thought-provoking with biblical allusions, well-drawn out characters, and interesting moral questions. The movie only superficially covers about the last quarter of the book.
The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
Movie: A great movie; could be considered a chick-flick but it is so much more, with sweeping characters caught in a global war and a series of interesting character dynamics and coincidences. Beautifully shot and acted, and very engaging.
Book: The movie follows the book fairly closely, and may be slightly better, but the book is also great. A very good read.
Escape to Witch Mountain, Alexander, H. Key
Movie: I loved this as a kid. It's kind of dated and a bit hokey, but still pretty fun to watch.
Book: Aimed at a rather young audience, so very easy and quick to read. The movie and book are nearly identical.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J. K. Rowling
Movie: An interesting movie, more low key than the Harry Potter movies. Two thirds of its time is spent on the pastoral main character and his doings and only in the last third do the hinted-at dark elements come to the fore. In this way, it is actually a closer representation of Rowling's writing style than the HP movies.
The main character is not a fighter, but a nurturer, which is quite an unusual choice for a movie that seems, superficially, to be more about action. It was well shot, had quirky characters, but was perhaps a bit slow. And then there was a battle sequence which went on too long, or at least with too much monotony. But it was enjoyable, all the same.
Book: Has nothing to do with the movie; it is a small fictional encyclopedia, which will eventually be written by the main character of the movie. You can skip it.
The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
Movie: An adult story set in New England mostly Maine) about loneliness and mediocrity, the movie is pretty good, although it doesn't really have a lot to say. The main characters are not all that sympathetic, but its a decent watch.
Book: A more fleshed out and sympathetic portrayal of the story, the main character transforms and grows by the end of the book. It is written solidly and a good read. Scenes that were flat in the movie are richer in the book since we can see can experience the characters' inner struggles. I enjoyed it more than the movie (and that feeling is only exacerbated by knowing what we now know about Kevin Spacey).
Movie: One of those movies that uses it's actors like juggling balls rather then for their talents and performances. Filled with a self-indulgent hyper-kinetic freneticism that is supposed to overawe but only makes me feel as empty as I do after watching forty minutes of Marvel movie fighting. I couldn't take more than a half hour of it.
The movie contains only the barest outline of the contents of the book (which is well over 700 dense pages).
Book: A classic, beautifully written, deeply insightful, and filled with a rich panoply of characters and events. I just don't like it. Why? Because it's filled with despair , depression, and the oppression of a soulless bureaucracy. I need someone to root for in my media, and there are no redeemable characters in the book. Anna starts out likeable enough, but soon becomes single-mindedly fixated on her adultery and filled with despair. Levin is kind of interesting as he works out the basics of communism, but hardly someone to identify with. Kitty is vacuous during the first half of the book, but she gains a few morals by the middle; unfortunately, her character just isn't that interesting.
Arrival, Ted Chiang
Movie: Quiet but phenomenal: intelligent, suspenseful, beautifully acted, scripted, and directed, and thoroughly engaging. It was only an hour after the movie ended that I figured out exactly what had been going on. One of my favorite movies of its year.
Book: A very nice short story, written in an economical style, well-plotted and thoughtful. To be honest, the movie is so good that it makes reading the story kind of superfluous. The movie contains everything in the original story (with a few irrelevant changes) and more.
Movie: A beautiful movie with some haunting cinematography and outstanding acting. Some of the scenes and characters are haunting, and it contains some of my favorite actors. The story is clean and harsh.
Book: Very well-written, the movie is fairly close to the book. Both were enjoyable.
Movie: A very well-made chick-flick romcom that is a modern remake of Pride and Prejudice. A defining role for the fetching, sarcastic, and sympathetic Renee Zellweger. Actually a lot of fun, although kind of devolves a bit at the end as romcoms do.
Book: Slightly better than the movie, with a sharper satirical voice. The movie pretty much follows the book, but the book has its own distinctive voice.
The Chosen, Chaim Potok
Movie: A classic coming of age movie set in two Jewish 1940s Brooklyns that intersect. Contains some lessons in overcoming prejudices, making friends, and dealing with the heavy roles placed on us by society and family.
Book: As I recall, the movie is pretty much a reflection of the book, but the book is longer and deeper. Honestly, it's been a long while since I read it.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Movie: An iconic live-action Disney musical and performance by Dick Van Dyke. Very reminiscent of his overacting and production, like Mary Poppins. Fun in a nostalgic kind of way.
Book: Holds up better than the movie It is aimed at young readers and has good pictures and a simple clean writing style. The movie basically follows the book but changes several story elements to make it more child-friendly.
Movie: A classic Spielberg movie, with an absent father, cute kids, realistic dialogue that can veer from maudlin to annoying, and an incredible sense of wonder and magic. Beautiful cinematography and direction.
Book: A novelization of the movie, and I remember being thoroughly underwhelmed. The book adds some inner dialogue to the book that somehow managed to destroy the magic of the story.
Movie: A great movie, one of the three major films starring James Dean. Powerfully shot and directed, with iconic performances.
Book: A powerhouse classic novel, one of the best American novels ever written. It is large, wide and epic, as well as thought-provoking with biblical allusions, well-drawn out characters, and interesting moral questions. The movie only superficially covers about the last quarter of the book.
Movie: A great movie; could be considered a chick-flick but it is so much more, with sweeping characters caught in a global war and a series of interesting character dynamics and coincidences. Beautifully shot and acted, and very engaging.
Book: The movie follows the book fairly closely, and may be slightly better, but the book is also great. A very good read.
Escape to Witch Mountain, Alexander, H. Key
Movie: I loved this as a kid. It's kind of dated and a bit hokey, but still pretty fun to watch.
Book: Aimed at a rather young audience, so very easy and quick to read. The movie and book are nearly identical.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J. K. Rowling
Movie: An interesting movie, more low key than the Harry Potter movies. Two thirds of its time is spent on the pastoral main character and his doings and only in the last third do the hinted-at dark elements come to the fore. In this way, it is actually a closer representation of Rowling's writing style than the HP movies.
The main character is not a fighter, but a nurturer, which is quite an unusual choice for a movie that seems, superficially, to be more about action. It was well shot, had quirky characters, but was perhaps a bit slow. And then there was a battle sequence which went on too long, or at least with too much monotony. But it was enjoyable, all the same.
Book: Has nothing to do with the movie; it is a small fictional encyclopedia, which will eventually be written by the main character of the movie. You can skip it.
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
Movie: Cute but disappointing. The characters were nice, the message was upbeat, but it was mostly predictable. The movie had a particularly bad misstep by setting a romantic scene in The Anne Frank House (ugh) and one particularly good scene near the end in a car. The rest was fine, occasionally charming, but too tame and pedestrian.
Book: The movie very closely follows the book. The book is slightly better, but has basically the same flaws.
Movie: Cute but disappointing. The characters were nice, the message was upbeat, but it was mostly predictable. The movie had a particularly bad misstep by setting a romantic scene in The Anne Frank House (ugh) and one particularly good scene near the end in a car. The rest was fine, occasionally charming, but too tame and pedestrian.
Book: The movie very closely follows the book. The book is slightly better, but has basically the same flaws.
Freaky Friday, Mary Rodgers
Movie: Here I refer to the original movie with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, I suspect that it is now pretty hokey, like many made for TV Disney films, but may still have some charm. I remember find it very funny and entertaining when I was a kid. The remake with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan was watchable but often over-produced and dumbed down. I think I might try to find the original again.
Book: Has several major differences from the movie, as I recall, as it follows almost entirely the point of view of the daughter in the mother's body. I don't remember it, although I remember my brother owning a copy. It was aimed at young teens.
Movie: Here I refer to the original movie with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, I suspect that it is now pretty hokey, like many made for TV Disney films, but may still have some charm. I remember find it very funny and entertaining when I was a kid. The remake with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan was watchable but often over-produced and dumbed down. I think I might try to find the original again.
Book: Has several major differences from the movie, as I recall, as it follows almost entirely the point of view of the daughter in the mother's body. I don't remember it, although I remember my brother owning a copy. It was aimed at young teens.
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
Movie: I saw this in high school and wasn't ready for it. It's pretty grim. Well made, but not really entertaining.
Book: A well written classic, and far more expansive than the movie. The movie covers most of the book, but skips the first few and last few chapters and glosses over a lot of the middle. The book is also grim, but the good writing brings the characters to life, and it is more engaging.
Movie: I saw this in high school and wasn't ready for it. It's pretty grim. Well made, but not really entertaining.
Book: A well written classic, and far more expansive than the movie. The movie covers most of the book, but skips the first few and last few chapters and glosses over a lot of the middle. The book is also grim, but the good writing brings the characters to life, and it is more engaging.
Heaven Can Wait, Leonore Fleischer
Movie: Another somewhat dated movie (1978). While the special effects are hokey and the timing and performances of the actors are sometimes a bit off, it still holds up pretty well. I really enjoyed it when I was young.
The Hours, Michael Cunningham
Movie: Another somewhat dated movie (1978). While the special effects are hokey and the timing and performances of the actors are sometimes a bit off, it still holds up pretty well. I really enjoyed it when I was young.
Book: Actually, the movie is based on the 1941 play Here Comes Mr. Jordan by Henry Segall. This is the novelization of the above version of the movie. It wasn't that bad, just a straightforward telling of what you see on the screen. Not worth seeking out.
Movie: A beautiful, thoughtful movie about three women in three different realities, connected by visual clues and emotional eddies. Perhaps a bit heavy handed on cinematic allusions, the directing and production are nevertheless solid, as are the magnificent performances by several incredibly talented actors. Emotional and hopeful.
Book: Was a disappointment after seeing the movie. It's not a bad book, but it is pedestrian in comparison. The movie essentially follows the book, with some cinematic licenses.
The Hunger Games (1), Suzanne Collins
Movie: I loved this movie so much that I immediately bought the entire trilogy of books knowing nothing about it. The performances are fantastic and the story and execution is beautiful. It's a great movie. Even so, the movie glossed over certain side themes and characters. It tried to both denounce the games while at the same time glorify them on screen, which didn't really make sense.
Book: The book is phenomenal, an instant classic, beautifully written with evocative characters and settings. The book presents the correct balance of despair and terror that the movie glosses over.
The second and third books are just as good or even better, while the subsequent movies got progressively worse.
Movie: I loved this movie so much that I immediately bought the entire trilogy of books knowing nothing about it. The performances are fantastic and the story and execution is beautiful. It's a great movie. Even so, the movie glossed over certain side themes and characters. It tried to both denounce the games while at the same time glorify them on screen, which didn't really make sense.
Book: The book is phenomenal, an instant classic, beautifully written with evocative characters and settings. The book presents the correct balance of despair and terror that the movie glosses over.
The second and third books are just as good or even better, while the subsequent movies got progressively worse.
John Carter (A Princess of Mars), Edgar Rice Burroughs
Movie: Roundly condemned for being boring, disjointed, and derivative, it was a huge box office bomb. I liked it. It was quirky and even daring in certain instances, and the plot, while somewhat far-fetched, was easy enough to follow. The characters and plot were shallow, but not boring.
Book: From 1912, the book is pre-golden age of science fiction, which explains its bizarre far-fetched plot. It is a decent read. The movie follows the book fairly closely, but expands on the text and plays with the start and end in order to provide a more compelling explanation of how the protagonist travels to Mars. Neither book nor movie are amazing, but they are both entertaining enough.
Movie: Roundly condemned for being boring, disjointed, and derivative, it was a huge box office bomb. I liked it. It was quirky and even daring in certain instances, and the plot, while somewhat far-fetched, was easy enough to follow. The characters and plot were shallow, but not boring.
Book: From 1912, the book is pre-golden age of science fiction, which explains its bizarre far-fetched plot. It is a decent read. The movie follows the book fairly closely, but expands on the text and plays with the start and end in order to provide a more compelling explanation of how the protagonist travels to Mars. Neither book nor movie are amazing, but they are both entertaining enough.
Julie and Julia, Julie Powell
Movie: A fun Nora Ephron movie about blogging, New York City, marriage, and cooking. Amy Adams is cute as Julie the blogger who decides to cook through Julia Childs' fat-laced Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Meryl Streep is delightful (of course) as a young Child as she first learns to cook. The fact that, in present time, Child acknowledges Julie only to dismiss what she does as a stunt is disconcerting but somewhat telling.
Movie: A fun Nora Ephron movie about blogging, New York City, marriage, and cooking. Amy Adams is cute as Julie the blogger who decides to cook through Julia Childs' fat-laced Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Meryl Streep is delightful (of course) as a young Child as she first learns to cook. The fact that, in present time, Child acknowledges Julie only to dismiss what she does as a stunt is disconcerting but somewhat telling.
Book: The movie is actually based on Powell's book Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously as well as an autobiography by Child from the same year. Powell's book corresponds to the Julie scenes in the movie, and is written well enough. I can't really recommend the book: it's okay, but the author has some questionable morals.
Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton
Movie: An iconic, fantastic Spielberg movie that still works so well that you don't even mind the just ever-so-slightly off effects (except for when the girl says "It's a UNIX system!" which elicits a groan of pain from me every time). Has the usual daddy issues and cute, precocious children. Wonderful, magical film, with a great cast especially Goldblum), superb action and humor, and even a timeless message.
Book: The movie pretty much follows the book, which is also excellent. The book leaves out some of the great lines from the movie, but goes deeper into the characters, science, terrain, and so forth, and has a slightly darker more ominous tone, especially the ending.
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Movie: A stunning work of cinematography, with a good story and good acting. This was one of my favorite movies of its year.
Book: The movie pretty much follows the book, but the movie is more fun to experience.
Movie: An iconic, fantastic Spielberg movie that still works so well that you don't even mind the just ever-so-slightly off effects (except for when the girl says "It's a UNIX system!" which elicits a groan of pain from me every time). Has the usual daddy issues and cute, precocious children. Wonderful, magical film, with a great cast especially Goldblum), superb action and humor, and even a timeless message.
Book: The movie pretty much follows the book, which is also excellent. The book leaves out some of the great lines from the movie, but goes deeper into the characters, science, terrain, and so forth, and has a slightly darker more ominous tone, especially the ending.
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Movie: A stunning work of cinematography, with a good story and good acting. This was one of my favorite movies of its year.
Book: The movie pretty much follows the book, but the movie is more fun to experience.
Me Before You, JoJo Moyes
Movie: Shallow and predictable. Its assets are the impossibly perky Emilia Clarke as Lou and the handsome and winning Sam Claffin as the wealthy but paralyzed Will. Everything else were just devices to have the main characters interact, trade barbs and glances, and share hearts. During the movie, when it appeared to be leading to a tragic ending, the realization of its inevitability evoked some emotion out of me, but that was its only real good point. When it ended I suspected that the book would be better.
Movie: Shallow and predictable. Its assets are the impossibly perky Emilia Clarke as Lou and the handsome and winning Sam Claffin as the wealthy but paralyzed Will. Everything else were just devices to have the main characters interact, trade barbs and glances, and share hearts. During the movie, when it appeared to be leading to a tragic ending, the realization of its inevitability evoked some emotion out of me, but that was its only real good point. When it ended I suspected that the book would be better.
Book: I was happily surprised to discover that the book is not only better, but it is excellent, well worth the read. The book goes deep into the poverty and struggles of Lou and her family, the dynamics of Will's parents and sister, the ethics of suicide and assisted suicide, and the lives and struggles of quadriplegics. The book takes its time and is well researched. Even Lou's boyfriend is more interesting in the book: in the movie he is one dimensional and you know he will be kicked to the curb a few seconds after he shows up on screen; in the book, he is still an ass but more well-rounded and sympathetic. I recommend the book.
After you read the book, you can enjoy the movie more, because you now know the back stories of the characters that were glossed over by the movie. Or you may also be even more disappointed in the movie for cutting the heart out of the book.
Message in a Bottle, Nicolas Sparks
Movie: Not a bad chick flick, it is solid but also not particularly daring. Paul Newman steals all of the scenes he is in.
Book: It's Nicholas Sparks: the plot is simple and fun, the writing is good enough to tell the story and not much more. The movie pretty much follows the book.
Movie: Not a bad chick flick, it is solid but also not particularly daring. Paul Newman steals all of the scenes he is in.
Book: It's Nicholas Sparks: the plot is simple and fun, the writing is good enough to tell the story and not much more. The movie pretty much follows the book.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
Movie: A fabulous movie about a strange teen and his mysterious problems and the odd friends he makes in high school The movie is beautifully scripted with several concurrent themes running through it, some serious and some light, and they all work together Great performances and music, too. Inspired me to read the book as soon as possible.
Book: Also great, a longer and more complex version of the movie. The movie managed to portray most of the book's major plot elements, but the book makes them more gripping with an attention to details and events more fully realized. Worth the read.
Movie: A fabulous movie about a strange teen and his mysterious problems and the odd friends he makes in high school The movie is beautifully scripted with several concurrent themes running through it, some serious and some light, and they all work together Great performances and music, too. Inspired me to read the book as soon as possible.
Book: Also great, a longer and more complex version of the movie. The movie managed to portray most of the book's major plot elements, but the book makes them more gripping with an attention to details and events more fully realized. Worth the read.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Bryan Lee O'Malley
Movie: A fun, wacky and engaging movie that inspired me to read the comic series as soon as possible. The movie is so random in some ways, and yet it cohesively uses video-game semiotics to metaphorically convey the main character's reality, while the main plot is its own metaphor about making a relationship work while dealing with the ghosts of past relationships. I loved it.
Book: My joy of the movie was lessened after reading the powerhouse that is the graphic novel series. Scott Pilgrim the six part comic series is incredible and incredibly deep, funny, original, cute, cool, and so much fun. The movie more or less covers book 1, some of book 2, parts of book 3, a teeny bit of book 4 and 5, and then nearly entirely rewrites book 6. The plot ends in a totally different place, and so much of the important story, character development, metaphors, depth, and life lessons from the last four books are absent from the movie. The movie is just a shadow of the incredible book series. I still enjoy the movie, but do read the series.
Movie: A fun, wacky and engaging movie that inspired me to read the comic series as soon as possible. The movie is so random in some ways, and yet it cohesively uses video-game semiotics to metaphorically convey the main character's reality, while the main plot is its own metaphor about making a relationship work while dealing with the ghosts of past relationships. I loved it.
Book: My joy of the movie was lessened after reading the powerhouse that is the graphic novel series. Scott Pilgrim the six part comic series is incredible and incredibly deep, funny, original, cute, cool, and so much fun. The movie more or less covers book 1, some of book 2, parts of book 3, a teeny bit of book 4 and 5, and then nearly entirely rewrites book 6. The plot ends in a totally different place, and so much of the important story, character development, metaphors, depth, and life lessons from the last four books are absent from the movie. The movie is just a shadow of the incredible book series. I still enjoy the movie, but do read the series.
The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
Movie: An adult story set in New England mostly Maine) about loneliness and mediocrity, the movie is pretty good, although it doesn't really have a lot to say. The main characters are not all that sympathetic, but its a decent watch.
Book: A more fleshed out and sympathetic portrayal of the story, the main character transforms and grows by the end of the book. It is written solidly and a good read. Scenes that were flat in the movie are richer in the book since we can see can experience the characters' inner struggles. I enjoyed it more than the movie (and that feeling is only exacerbated by knowing what we now know about Kevin Spacey).
Slumdog Millionaire (Q and A), Vikas Swarup
Movie: A highly-praised movie, and well deserved. It manages to be funny and yet still explore some of the dark areas of Indian poverty, child abuse, and crime. Great acting and sets, and an engaging plot.
Book: Definitely better than the movie, well written and more satisfying. The book contains background information, relationships, and even entire scenes that are skipped over by the movie, so that many of the characters and their motivations make more sense. Not a long book, and worth the read.
Movie: A highly-praised movie, and well deserved. It manages to be funny and yet still explore some of the dark areas of Indian poverty, child abuse, and crime. Great acting and sets, and an engaging plot.
Book: Definitely better than the movie, well written and more satisfying. The book contains background information, relationships, and even entire scenes that are skipped over by the movie, so that many of the characters and their motivations make more sense. Not a long book, and worth the read.
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
Movie: The movie that introduced me to Kristen Stewart, it is a neat, quiet, but powerful little teen drama about an event that is hard to speak about. It is very well done, almost a classic teen movie.
Book: The movie essentially follows the book. It is something like two different people telling the same story - all of the plot elements are there, but the coloring and which parts are given weight is slightly different in each telling. A very good teen read.
Movie: The movie that introduced me to Kristen Stewart, it is a neat, quiet, but powerful little teen drama about an event that is hard to speak about. It is very well done, almost a classic teen movie.
Book: The movie essentially follows the book. It is something like two different people telling the same story - all of the plot elements are there, but the coloring and which parts are given weight is slightly different in each telling. A very good teen read.
Star Wars, George Lucas (Alan Dean Foster)
Movie: Not much to say here, I think.
Book: A novelization of the movie, adding only a bit of interior dialogue. It was nothing special. Foster went on to write the first sequel to Star Wars - Splinter of the Mind's Eye - even before The Empire Strikes Back came out. As a result, that book doesn't entirely adhere to the SW universe; it was a pretty good book, however.
Superman III, William Kotzwinkle
Movie: Superman was a little soporific, but also iconic in many ways. Superman II was pretty great; from today's perspective, its timing, some effects, and some of the dialogue is off, but it's still a good watch. Superman III tried to be a comedy with Richard Pryor, but it wasn't funny. It was pretty tiresome to watch, and its computer elements were as ridiculous as they come in movies. Some scenes with Clark Kent fighting his evil instantiation were okay.
Book: Like E.T.'s novelization, this book was pretty awful, robbing what little interest the movie held with poor cutesy prose. I hardly remember anything from it except that I didn't like it.
The Sword in the Stone, T. H. White
Movie: One of the minor Disney efforts, it's a barrage of meaningless, psychedelic, and silly visuals and jokes. The move has only passing reference to the book's form, missing nearly all of the rich descriptions, all of its important concepts, and all but the last, major plot point.
Book: The movie glosses over the first book of a five book series on the Arthurian legends. The first four are collected under the title The Once and Future King. The first book, rather like The Hobbit, is the juvenile entry of the series; the other four are more for adults. The entire series is a must read, an absolute classic of English literature, on par with The Lord of the Rings. Yes, it's that good.
Movie: Not much to say here, I think.
Book: A novelization of the movie, adding only a bit of interior dialogue. It was nothing special. Foster went on to write the first sequel to Star Wars - Splinter of the Mind's Eye - even before The Empire Strikes Back came out. As a result, that book doesn't entirely adhere to the SW universe; it was a pretty good book, however.
Superman III, William Kotzwinkle
Movie: Superman was a little soporific, but also iconic in many ways. Superman II was pretty great; from today's perspective, its timing, some effects, and some of the dialogue is off, but it's still a good watch. Superman III tried to be a comedy with Richard Pryor, but it wasn't funny. It was pretty tiresome to watch, and its computer elements were as ridiculous as they come in movies. Some scenes with Clark Kent fighting his evil instantiation were okay.
Book: Like E.T.'s novelization, this book was pretty awful, robbing what little interest the movie held with poor cutesy prose. I hardly remember anything from it except that I didn't like it.
The Sword in the Stone, T. H. White
Movie: One of the minor Disney efforts, it's a barrage of meaningless, psychedelic, and silly visuals and jokes. The move has only passing reference to the book's form, missing nearly all of the rich descriptions, all of its important concepts, and all but the last, major plot point.
Book: The movie glosses over the first book of a five book series on the Arthurian legends. The first four are collected under the title The Once and Future King. The first book, rather like The Hobbit, is the juvenile entry of the series; the other four are more for adults. The entire series is a must read, an absolute classic of English literature, on par with The Lord of the Rings. Yes, it's that good.
The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
Movie: Certain movies, like this one, just work, and you can tell that from the first ten minutes. This is a lovely romance movie, which uses its science fiction element as an allegory (as all good works of science fiction do). Heart-warming and captivating, but very much an emotional roller coaster. It falters a bit when it veers into trying to explain things scientifically, and then certain story elements aren't exactly explained well (like how their time traveling daughter can possibly survive, at a very young age, the same kinds of experiences that the protagonist went through as an adult).
Book: Like Perks of Being a Wallflower, the movie is a condensed version of the book. The book gives a richer tapestry of the events, including expanded scenes and an ending that are more satisfying than the movie. A beautiful read, good to read together with a loved one.
Movie: Certain movies, like this one, just work, and you can tell that from the first ten minutes. This is a lovely romance movie, which uses its science fiction element as an allegory (as all good works of science fiction do). Heart-warming and captivating, but very much an emotional roller coaster. It falters a bit when it veers into trying to explain things scientifically, and then certain story elements aren't exactly explained well (like how their time traveling daughter can possibly survive, at a very young age, the same kinds of experiences that the protagonist went through as an adult).
Book: Like Perks of Being a Wallflower, the movie is a condensed version of the book. The book gives a richer tapestry of the events, including expanded scenes and an ending that are more satisfying than the movie. A beautiful read, good to read together with a loved one.
Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
Movie: Not bad, although it also somewhat shallow. Like The Time Traveler's Wife, the central fantasy is a metaphor about sexual tension between an older boy and a minor girl, but it is also an action movie. It doesn't quite successfully juggle both elements, and Kristen Stewart doesn't give us much character depth, but that is more the fault of the screenwriter and director than hers. The movie is aimed at tween girls, and they like it, so that's that.
Book: Somewhat better than the movie, still aimed at tween and teen girls. Again, it's not bad, and certainly more original than the hundreds of similar books that it inspired and that came after.
Movie: Not bad, although it also somewhat shallow. Like The Time Traveler's Wife, the central fantasy is a metaphor about sexual tension between an older boy and a minor girl, but it is also an action movie. It doesn't quite successfully juggle both elements, and Kristen Stewart doesn't give us much character depth, but that is more the fault of the screenwriter and director than hers. The movie is aimed at tween girls, and they like it, so that's that.
Book: Somewhat better than the movie, still aimed at tween and teen girls. Again, it's not bad, and certainly more original than the hundreds of similar books that it inspired and that came after.
The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum
Movie: A wonderful movie that, amazingly, hasn't lost its charm. Full of great moments, great quotes, and great characters, and some very funny and scary moments you always seem to forget.
Book: Called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I was never able to get into it. The author's writing is not as good as the author's imagination. Dorothy is someone who things happen to, rather then someone who does things. The movie really makes the story shine.
Movie: A wonderful movie that, amazingly, hasn't lost its charm. Full of great moments, great quotes, and great characters, and some very funny and scary moments you always seem to forget.
Book: Called The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I was never able to get into it. The author's writing is not as good as the author's imagination. Dorothy is someone who things happen to, rather then someone who does things. The movie really makes the story shine.
Wonder, R.J. Palacio
Movie: I anticipated this being a boring movie with a straightforward story about a disfigured boy who goes to school, is bullied, makes a false friend and then a true friend, finally wins over the school, etc, blah blah. Actually, half of the book is about that, but the other half is told from the point of view of others in his life, and those stories are more interesting. Some of these side stories don't even revolve around the boy, which make the whole thing a richer experience. So I enjoyed the movie, although the main plot was somewhat shallow. I anticipated that the book would contain things left out of the movie.
Book: But the movie nearly exactly follows the book, even the structure of telling stories from the perspectives of the different characters. The book and the movie are essentially the same, so, while the book was also fairly enjoyable, it was not much more than that.
Movie: I anticipated this being a boring movie with a straightforward story about a disfigured boy who goes to school, is bullied, makes a false friend and then a true friend, finally wins over the school, etc, blah blah. Actually, half of the book is about that, but the other half is told from the point of view of others in his life, and those stories are more interesting. Some of these side stories don't even revolve around the boy, which make the whole thing a richer experience. So I enjoyed the movie, although the main plot was somewhat shallow. I anticipated that the book would contain things left out of the movie.
Book: But the movie nearly exactly follows the book, even the structure of telling stories from the perspectives of the different characters. The book and the movie are essentially the same, so, while the book was also fairly enjoyable, it was not much more than that.
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