FRIENDS The Reunion

It like they never left

What is it about?
17 years after the show ended. The casts are back for one final reunion

The Good

A lot of walking back through memory lane 

Loving all the guest appearances by fan favorites

The Bad
The interview was not conducted well. It was short and they didn't ask a lot of questions 
A lot of clip shows which is just best showing it on a separate showing  

The Ugly 
A lot of artist that doesn't have anything to do with the show 

After Credits: No 

Verdict: If you love Friends. You will love the reunion 

Fatherhood

 A story about love 

What is it about?
 A single dad has to navigate life and fatherhood

The Good
This movie has it funny bits 
The baby is super cute 

The Bad
This movie doesn't show what happens after the fact. How did he juggle his work and life

The Ugly 
Nothing much

After Credits: Yes

Verdict: Its a fun movie to watch 

Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit

The prequal that started it all

What is it about?
How Jack Ryan got into the CIA 

The Good
The story is easy to understand 
The love story between the two characters is a good one 
This time Jack goes to the heat of the action

The Bad

Nothing much. This movie is very enjoyable 

The Ugly 
Nothing much

After Credits: No 

Verdict: A great popcorn movie 

The Sum of All Fears

This movie is a mixed bag

What is it about?
Jack Ryan needs to stop World War 3 

The Good
The premise of the movie is great. About nuclear war
There are some action scene which is not bad
The climax of the movie is awesome

The Bad
This movie is long winded and boring. Characters will end up doing a lot of talking without moving it forward
They are trying to make Jack Ryan the hero but this version is the weakest one among the rest 
Morgan Freeman wasn't used as much 

The Ugly 
Nothing much

After Credits: No 

Verdict: It was an okay movie 

The Hunt for Red October

Another Jack Ryan classic 

What is it about?
The American and the Russians need to find a Russian sub that is going to defect 

The Good 
The story is very interesting 
The sub combat as dark as it is. It is still viewable 
Jack Ryan in this movie is less hands on 

The Bad
Nothing much. It is an enjoyable movie. A bit too long 

The Ugly 
Nothing much

After Credits: No 

Verdict: Another fun Jack Ryan adventure

Guacamelee! 2

The sequel improves on everything 

Game no: 447
Genre: Platformer
Platform: Nintendo Switch 
Release Date: 2018

Juan the Mexican Luchador is back and this time the fate of the whole Mexicanverse is at stake. This game is basically a Metroidvania with a lot of platforming involved. I love the fighting in the game. It is just a two button combo but there are a lot of variety it in. The power button is use to unlock parts of the stages that are inaccessible yet. The best part of this game in my opinion is that the best part of it there is less backtracking needed. Everything is point out in the map of where you need to go and each new upgrade will just advance the gameplay right away. Then there is a the pollo or chicken. In the first game it was just a means to get to small to reach places but now the chicken itself is an integral part of the game. The chicken has it own set of powers and moves. The best part is the story. It doesn't take himself seriously and there is a lot of famous memes in the game that makes fun of the fact that this game is full of memes. 

There is a couple things I didn't like about this game as well. You'll end up dying a lot. There are some sections of the game that require you to memorize each different button press and of each on you get it wrong you will end up restarting the level again. Other than that this game is a great game. I manage to finish the game until the end credits. I give this game an A-rank. If you love the first one you will love the second one

Magic Sword

 A rouge like before it was a thing 

Genre: Action
Platform: SNES
Release Date: 1990

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You play as a warrior and you need to climb a tower to fight demons. This game basically you just go from one floor to floor and just try to survive. I love this game. Every floor has keys and the keys you use to open locks. The best part of opening locks is that you have companions that help you in your quest. So far I found a bald mage, white mage, ninja, archer, dragon, barbarian, bomb throwing guy, knight. Each give you projectile weapons that help with long range combat. For every 5 floors you climb up. There is a boss that you need to fight. The boss fights are challenging and fun. The problem with this game is that it gets to overwhelming at time. There are a lot of enemies on screen that it makes the game encounters slowdown. There are also some bad guy who just spam attack you a lot. I finish the game until floor 30. There are 20 floors left but I don' think I will play it again. I give this game a B-Rank. 

The Lion King

This game is freaking unfair 

Genre: Action
Platform: SNES
Release Date: 1994

Based on the Disney movie with the same name. You basically play to all the best moments from the movie. The game consist of jumping, dodging obstacles and the constant fighting against the other animals. The problem with this game is that it is so freaking hard. I think the problem was that this game was so short that the creators make some unfair obstacles to make it harder for someone to finish it. There are some puzzles that quite hard to solve. I lost this game in a certain area where there is a boulder keeps falling down and I keep on dying again and again. It is a fun game but I don't think you can finish it. 

200th Game played 

Lamborghini American Challenge

 A fun license game 

Game no: 446
Genre: Racing
Platform: SNES
Release Date: 1992

This game is about you driving a Diablo SV around the US of A to challenge other drivers to become the best racer

This game is simple. Go to an area challenge the other racers by placing bets. If you win the racer you also win the bets as well. With the money you earn you buy upgrades and there is secret car to get after you race a lot of times

There are a couple things that I don't like as well. The game is ridiculously hard without the proper upgrade. So unless you know cheats you will just end up losing. 

As for the game I finish the game until the final race. I can say this game falls on the B-Tier of games. It's fun to play. Oh and it's on PC as well.   

Halo Infinite

Is like Halo never left 

Game no: 445
Genre: FPS
Platform: PC 
Release Date: 2021

It's been 20 years since the first Halo came out for the Xbox and now Halo Infinite continues the story so far. What is the story so far you may I ask. I am not sure but from what I can tell there are two bad guys called the Banished and The Endless who are trying to activate the new Zeta Halo weapon to kill all life in the universe. To what purpose, I have no idea. Oh and now Cortana is dead but there is a new copy of her and she and the Chief will start on a new adventure.

Gameplay of Halo Infinite is the same as most Halo's before this. You are a objective point. You go to the marker, kill all the bad guys and then see a cutscene. Most of the gameplay is about that. The only different is now that Halo has a semi open world. There is a map where you can explore and complete whichever way you want. Master Chief has now a grappling hook where he can climb to high to reach places. The grappling hook provide a new sense of traversal and combat. As Master Chief you are only allowed to carry two weapons at a time but I can say that all of the weapons even the small plasma gun has it uses. As for me, my personal favorite is the Cindershot and the Sentinel Beam. Master Chief himself as a character is awesome. He talks a lot in this game than his previous game. He doesn't show emotions but when he does it is really deep. The supporting characters are also great. Each of them has their own time to shine and together they make a great ensemble. 

Even the bad guys are awesome with the boss fights provide a certain challenge to it.  

Well we all the positives I given this game, there are bound to be some negatives. This game is typical Halo. If you played a Halo before, it is the same type of experience. Not to say it is a bad thing but really you break down the components of the game there is nothing much to do and it is really a lot of repetition going on. That said there is not much you can do in a FPS. you go to a room, shoot all the bad guys and then move to another room rinse and repeat. If you are not invested in the story, you will get bored fast. Other than that I can see anything wrong with this game, newcomers or people who doesn't follow Halo lore that much will find the game confusing but the story is always second nature. What gets you going is when you hear the Halo theme and your heart start pumping 

In the end I finish the game until the end credits. I didn't feel like doing all the side missions since there is nothing making me coming back to this game. I just wanted to play Halo again and I did. I will give this game an A-Rank since it is really an amazing game you should try to play it too.

Clear and Present Danger

This is a long movie

What is it about?
Jack Ryan needs to investigate about the war on drugs

The Good
The movie is about political intrigued 
There are some action scenes

The Bad
This movie is just long like very long 

The Ugly 
Nothing much. 

After Credits: No 

Verdict: Can be avoided. 

Ghostbuters Afterlife

A movie that really caters to the fans

What is it about?
30 years after the ghost attack of New York. A new ghost adventure begins.

The Good
A lot of fan service 
The way the put in Harold Ramis in this movie is very classy 
It basically the original movie retold in modern times 
Cameo from the original cast

The Bad
It's basically the original movie retold in modern times. There is nothing that new to see
I wish the explained what happened in between. Who was egon married too
Not enough ghost catching 

The Ugly
Nothing much 

After Credits: Yes 2 after credits

Verdict: If you love ghostbusters. You'll love this movie 

YES DAY

Would I do a yes day. The answer is NO

What is it about?
Two parents have to Yes to their kids. Chaos ensued

The Good
The story has some funny moments
It fun to see the family dynamics of having 24 of Yes

The story get real at the end 

The Bad
They didn't show what happen to the husband work. 
What happens after the 24 of yes wasn't shown 

The Ugly 

Nothing much 

After Credits: Yes

Verdict: A fun movie with the family 

Tom Clancy Without Remorse

It this part of a game 

What is it about?
A guy out for revenge found out he was a small part of something bigger

The Good
Action is not bad. Typical shooter
The plot is mindless

The Bad
This movie is boring. I mean after you figure out who is the bad guy. It wasn't that much fun

The Ugly
Some scene are just too far fetch to believe. 
The rehab sequence that's unbelievable 

After Credits: Yes, it sets up for some type of franchise 

Verdict: Skip this movie 

Middle Earth Shadow of War

If you love the source material you love this game 

Genre: Action 
Platform: PS4
Release Date: 2017

Well when I first played this game I found out that this game is a sequel to another game (Middle earth Shadow of Mordor) and this follows the events after what happen in the last game. You play as Talion a Ranger (think Aragon but less good looking) where you need to stop Sauron's forces of Orcs during the battle to conquer middle earth. Look I am not LOTR fan but from what I gather that this game takes place before the fellowship of the ring where there were a lot of smaller rings and the hero is trying to find them? stop them? Really the plot is complicated since I don't know where in the timeline this game is from. 

This game is basically you are task with a objective. You complete the objective and you move on to the next objective. During your quest you encounter a lot of orcs (or uruks as they say) and they will try to stop you by killing you every chance they get. What makes this game special is the nemesis system. This system is patented by Monolith Software (makers of the game) where essentially if you kill/spare or be killed by someone they will remember it and find you again to either get revenge, be your friend or just taunt you. I really enjoyed the dialogue since it is super funny and every character is unique in it's own way. You'll never find two of the same captains which on the quest. Combat is basically like the Batman Arkham series where one button you hit, one counter and one evade. The only difference is combat is not as fast as batman since you are swinging a sword. From what I gather you are also part ghost so you have ghost powers as well. The ghost is an elf by the way which makes you have abilities like faster climbing, running, tracking and magical arrows (which sucks since you only can shoot like 5 a time). You tasks consist of stopping hordes of orcs form attacking the base. Find the captains and kill each one of them 

The thing that made me quit the game is that besides going from point A to point B there is nothing much else you are doing. The gameplay is set in a repetitive loop where if you are a fan of the game it can be quite fun. But as for me after a couple of hours in upgrading your weapons, armor and stuff you find that is just the same thing over and over again. Oh what gets me is that the menu system. This is probably the most convoluted game I have played. There are lot of things to keep track of. Each orc has their own strength and weaknesses. There are also a lot of add on to your weapons, abilities and system. It is basically one big mess of things you need to keep track on. I saw the review that a couple more hours of gameplay you have the ability to recruit more orcs and they can aid you in battle. Basically this game as a lot of sim elements and not just a simple action game. They say that this game have microtransactions but so far I haven't found any.

In conclusion that the source material didn't get me. After playing a couple of hours  I am not a fan of Tolkien work and while I enjoy the movies this game really falls on a C-Tier list. If you have the time and patience you can actually finish the game. It is fun. But again you are practically doing the same thing over and over again. So not for me I guess. 

Firewatch

First game of the year 

Game no: 444
Genre: Adventure
Platform: Nintendo Switch 
Release Date: 2016

It's been a while since I have actual write about something. So I am a bit rusty. But let's start. Firewatch a game by Campo Santo is about how running away from your problems just is not the way to handle any solutions. The story is about Henry who wanted a change when his wife who was diagnosed with dementia is left with her family and he takes a job in the remote wilderness to just run away from the situation. 

Gameplay is easy enough consist for going from point A to point B to settle any tasks that is given by the only other person that you never see, Delilah. The controls are easy enough with some light action but that is now why the game is regarded so highly. What makes the game great is actually the story between Henry and Delilah and the mystery surrounding the game itself.

The story itself is so engaging and there is a mystery surrounding the park makes you want to continue to play the game to find what happen next. The interaction between the two characters over time made you feel that you develop a real connection between the two of them. The park is also is character by itself. There is a lot to see but nothing to do. Like in real life I guess. You'll spend time walking and admiring the sights and sounds. 

The map is big and there is a lot of see. And there were the problem comes in. You'll spend a lot of time backtracking from one end to another end which makes it a little tedious because the walks are long and it is easy to get lost in the woods. Other than that the story what turned out to be an awesome mystery happen to be just a series of unfortunate events combined with coincidences that just happen to involve the two characters. What I didn't like is in the end there is any big payout of seeing both characters together. We get to hear about Delilah but in the end this game was not to fall for her or to know her story. She really just didn't exist and just was there to push us along. I think that is why the game won a lot of accolades among people. I really makes you think. As for me, open ended stories like this really sucks. But on the plus side the game is really short 

So I finish the game until the end credits and I will give it a B-Tier Rank. The game was okay and even though there is nothing worthwhile to mention. I was there for the story and that is it. 

New Review Scale

For a while my verdict for games really doesn't make sense. It was just what I thought during that time and it was never the same. So I am making a scale that match with the game I am playing right now

Tiers

S - A must play game. Can't put it down. Enjoyed every moment of it 

A - The game did what it should. Entertain me from start to finish 

B - The game has it flaws but I enjoyed it. 

C - The game is enjoyable but there is certain aspect of the game made me can't finish the game

D - Games that I Rage Quit 

E - Avoid this at all cost 

F - Why????

What's new in 2022

So another year another awesome blog. What will change this time 

• No more daily blogs. It doesn't seem feasible
• Weekly updates are gone. Now it is just one monthly update 
• Game reviews will be more of a short essay than point forms 
• Movie reviews are still the same 
• New Stuff will be reviewed after a week (or more)
• Need to start writing memories more since I am getting older 

That's about it I guess