Review: Onward

A Wizard did it.

Okay, lets talk Onward, by Pixar. I saw this on Sunday, and I really think it took a few days before I could talk about it. This movies is another original tale, and has one of the more often ignored modern fantasy settings. The trick to this modern fantasy setting is that unlike there being humans and a masquerade that needs to be maintained, there are no humans and this is a fantasy setting where technology evolved and supplanted magic. We will circle back to that in a bit. Ian and Barely Lightfoot have magically summoned the bottom half of their father back to life for twenty four hours. They go on a quest to find another magic gem they can use to finish the spell so they can talk to him before the spell ends.

Lets talk Infinity Train

Back in the last decade, (Because saying four years ago doesn't give this show the gravitas it has earned.) The pilot episode got You-tubed, and went viral. Here is the link, or if you are just a bit lazy I have got it posted in full below the break. The animation is delightful and the characters are complex and well written. We are still only talking about the pilot too! I literally don't have the words to explain how well I liked it.

In fact the only reason I'm still putting words on the page is to make the page look better. Because I want this art over here on the page bumper for the main site. Seriously, look that over. If you aren't enthralled by it, then you can probably skip this whole thing and save yourself some time.

In any case, the Pilot got greenlit within a month of being posted online. I am super hopeful that more pilots are handled in this fashion. Put online, and then your prospective audience can tell you directly that the show is good or bad.

Review - Cannon Busters!

From Top to bottom: Philly the Kid, Sam, Casey Turnbolt

Cannon Busters just came out on Netflix recently, and by recently I mean August 15th 2019.  Holy Cow! I'm only a week late and a dollar short. You might ask, wouldn't this reach more people as a video review on you tube like all the everyones are doing now? And I might reply; Look, video reviews cost money to make and I have mostly just have time. What was I doing? Oh, Right. Review time.

Forever Late Review! - No Man's Sky

This is a thing you can do.

I've been playing No Man's Sky finally. Does that means its time for another Forever Late Review?
Of course I haven't ever done one of these by name, but since I never seem to get around to buying and playing games when they are new... this sounds like a plan. To be fair, I've only picked it up in the last week and a half. So new to me, right? Okay, Lets go!

Trogdor: The Board Game - Review!

Behold in all its glory.

Okay team, My copy of Trogdor: The Board Game arrived in the mail yesterday. I have gotten a couple games in, so lets dive in and look this thing over.

This game is a Co-op only game that runs for 30 to 45 min for 1 to 6 players. There are two main versions, the regular and the deluxe. The regular has wooden meeples as pictured to the right, and the deluxe also has plastic pre-painted figures in addition to all of those. Both sets are quite nice, though I went with the deluxe version. Seriously, I'm not sure I'll ever not use the minis.

Board Game Review - Endogenesis

Okay, so I recently got my Kickstarter copy of Endogenesis in the mail. In Endogenesis each player plays as a formless Spirit in a new universe. You are competing with the other players to become the king/queen of the pantheon of the gods when the universe kicks off. It runs from 1 to 5 players, with 1-2 players having a different game mode. The run time is anywhere from 30 to 120 minutes. As a personal aside, the Kickstarter went off about as perfectly as a Kickstarter can. The designer David Goh has earned a look from me on all of his future projects.

So, if the above description doesn't perk your interest...

Legend of Signum Review Pt 2!

So, If you haven't read review part one, you can do so Here. Its been a bit since the previous review, but I have had a chance to play a few games with the system and it seems to be fairly solid. Lets start with a run down of the regular turn / some basic rules. Each turn you get a money, draw a card, and then get the option of adding to your city. The city is your source of Mana (to borrow from Magic: the Gathering), and each card needs up to three buildings either specific, or generic. I would even hazard that the build order for your city is the primary learning curve of the game.

Legends of Signum Review! Part 1!

Okay Team! So, my kickstarter for this game has come in the mail. Lets break this thing down.

Legend of Signum: Battle for Vallor is a 2 player game that is approximately 50% Collectible card game, 50% miniatures war game. The decks range from 20 to 40 cards and must comprise at least 50% creatures. These are summoned to the battle field where they move and attack in a miniature format. Most of the cards needed to play are purchased in a CCG format, with 7 cards per pack with a normal scale of rarity. Common, Rare, Legendary, and Mythic. there are 6 commons and one Rare, and then there roughly 1 legendary in every 8 packs. Mythics are not in normal packs, but are going to be like promo cards, and prizes. Also, some packs will have a building/terrain card in addition to the above. The characters are purchased in blister packs, and come with all the cards needed to play with.

Time Breaker - Review!

Okay, So got a copy of this game yesterday. Its a game where you are a time cop trying to catch someone screwing up time, before the other agents do. Lets go over the basics:

• 2 to 5 players
• 10 to 40 min play time
• Card game with Tile board
• high quality Meeples

Played a few games and 

Captain Marvel

So I got a chance to see Captain Marvel Last night and for those who are in need of speed, it was really good. The acting was good, the cinematography was good, and the sound was really good. I could have done with more Clark Gregg. The ties into the larger universe were pretty well handled and while it does cause some weird plot wholes from movie to movie, its not a very big deal. Oh, and the Stan Lee bits are going to punch you right in the feels.

I am positive this will be considered the gold standard of female super hero movies going forward. People might argue that Wonder woman already broke that ground, but this movie was more what do you do when you are systematically told what you can and cannot do. Also, its nice to see Marvel break away from a hero's starter villain having the same power set except beefier. The De-aging CG used in this film for everyone was better than been used in previous Marvel movies, but it still felt a little weird to me. It gets better every movie, but I think it could still use more work.

Ralph breaks the Internet

So, I saw Ralph Breaks the Internet last night, and enjoyed it pretty well.

Taken in a vacuum the show comes off endearing, mostly well thought out, with some pretty good morals/ life lessons being thrown in. However, It does not compare as well to Wreck it Ralph as I wish it did. It hits many right notes: Making fun of Disney, Internet Culture, showing off the duality of how the Internet can be both used and misused. Showing how it brings us both together and apart. More so it does all of this without even hinting about Adult content out there.

The movie throws enough Internet culture out there that almost anyone can find some meme they like. The crew clearly know what buttons to push to show "we know this culture and we can show it off." Again, it does better in a vacuum as it felt a bit more forced and used as advertising rather than a homage like it did in Wreck it Ralph.

The show does take some liberties with how the Internet works, but it makes for a very good primer for what you should and shouldn't do while on the Internet. More Spoilery points below the break.

Beware!

Keyforge Review

Taken from Fantasy Flight Games Website
used without permission

So, Spent some time playing Keyforge since the pre-release this weekend at my local Brick and Mortar. It was fun, we played a sorta tournament thing and I ended up undefeated over 4 games. Turns out with some games later this week I still am. So that almost never happens. My track record with card games like these is normally weak deck building so this might be a place where I really shine, who knows. But lets get into some immediate thoughts on the game.

First, some info: The game is played with pre-constructed decks built by computer algorithm. The whole process happens at the factory, and each deck gets a custom generated name and card back as well, to enforce the not changing decks. The game play spends quite a bit of time finding ways to do common things card games do and doing them absolutely opposite. I and most Magic players will find they are always doing things the wrong way, for instance: