Clark | Definitely Opinions

The Tomorrow War Review

The concept of this movie is pretty interesting. I like the idea of needing to go back in time to recruit soldiers since the current/future population has been mostly wiped out. Of course, this brings with it your usual time travel issues that don’t hold up to scrutiny. At least they had the foresight to only recruit people who would be dead in thirty years, anyway, to avoid creating a time paradox. Again, the “future war” aspect of it has a lot of potential, so it’s really weird that they destroy the time travel device halfway through the movie. It basically feels like a second movie at that point (doubly so given the overlong runtime). Needless to say, the latter half of the movie is not as good, doing little to differentiate itself from other alien invasion blockbusters.

The first half of the movie isn’t perfect, either, but more on that in a moment. First, I want to at least say that you do get thrust into the action pretty soon. There’s a lot of initial intensity to draw you in. The aliens are also pretty scary, though the CG effects sometimes don’t look great. The movie has a strange, oversaturated color palette, which might have been their way of easing the alien effects into the real world. It’s also a bit disappointing that the movie sets up a ragtag team of heroes played by actors like Sam Richardson and Mary Lynn Rajskub only to abandon/kill off a lot of them in favor of a “father and daughter do science” storyline. Once that starts to play out, The Tomorrow War loses momentum that it never manages to recover.

It Takes Two Review

Developer Hazelight has a knack for mixed gameplay co-op games. I’d played their previous game, A Way Out, not that long before It Takes Two and was really impressed by the variety of gameplay mechanics. The game overall, though, was kinda lackluster in its story and co-op elements. It Takes Two feels like the game they wanted to make but they had to appease EA’s mature marketing first. That’s not to say It Takes Two is childish, because it does tackle adult themes like divorce and has a few grim scenarios like when you have to throw a stuffed animal to its death. But the game is very whimsical, which justifies the huge shifts that take place in the gameplay.

If you thought A Way Out had variety, It Takes Two triples it. The game is still a 3D platformer 95% of the time, but it frequently drops gimmicks altogether and introduces new ones that could have been their own complete indie game. And it’s all done with co-op in mind, so the two characters rarely have the same capabilities and need to work together. My only complaint is that there are just a few too many boss battles that almost always overstay their welcome. The best chapter in the game was the snow level, because, thematically, it was about the two characters having fun again, and the total lack of boss fights helped solidify that for the players as well.

Search Party – Season 4 Review

I really didn’t like this season in the beginning and was about ready to abandon the show halfway through. Watching Dory’s captive torment play out was not fun. It was too much of a regression for her character considering where she was headed in Seasons 2 and 3. Sure, she probably deserved what she got and needed to be “put back in place.” The other issue, though, is that Alia Shawkat’s performance didn’t sell it for me. I can’t pinpoint it, exactly, but something felt off. Maybe it was too difficult to effectively act against Chip, who was an incredibly annoying character. I didn’t mind Chip at first, but once it became clear that he was here to stay, his whiny brainwashing antics grew really tiresome.

The only reason Season 4 is worth watching to the end is that you still get some great material with the rest of the cast. I do like the irony of Dory being a legitimate missing person, but only Elliot, Drew, and Portia care enough to try to investigate. It just takes way too long to get to the point where they realize she’s in trouble, and then they find her way too easily. Those few episodes in between are pretty fun, though. Even the Chantal-centric episode is good, and I normally hate going off on tangents with side characters. In summary, Dory was the worst part of the season, and the fake-out death at the end didn’t do her any favors. It would have been pretty crazy if they went through with it, but maybe Season 5 will redeem her somehow. Knowing how tonally different this show can be from season to season, I’m still interested in where they go next.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Review

I thought the first Yooka-Laylee game was a good (not great, but good) tribute to Banjo-Kazooie style 3D platformers. So I’m surprised they went with a 2D approach for the sequel. I can understand why a developer like Krome Studios needed to “downgrade” Ty the Tasmanian Tiger from 3D to 2D, but Playtonic doesn’t seem to be cutting costs here. The production value for Impossible Lair is really high, and the game is still technically 3D. The levels are all modeled in 3D, and the overworld plays out like an isometric platformer. So going 2D for the main levels was a conscious choice.

To clarify, I do like a good 2D platformer. I just don’t think this is one of the good ones. The controls are too limited. I kept waiting to unlock a double jump or wall jump or something that would make the platforming feel better, but the tonics you can find and apply are more aesthetic than helpful. The platforming is made worse by the fact that you can only get hit twice, but you lose Laylee after the first hit and become useless without her, thus guaranteeing you’ll get hit again. Checkpoints are also unevenly spaced, often placing a mundane stretch right before the trickier part that you’re actually stuck on.

It’s not a total wash, though. The thing is, I really like how the overworld is built. The overworld is filled with secrets to find and puzzles to solve while being a much more laidback experience than the main 2D levels. I would love an entire Yooka-Laylee game done in this style. I also think it’s pretty cool how adjustments you make in the overworld change the 2D levels. Like, you can flood a field, which then spills into the level entrance and totally changes how that level is played. I always looked forward to seeing what else the overworld would do. I just dreaded having to play the 2D levels to open up more of that world.

Bee Simulator Review

The word “simulator” gets thrown around a lot in games, so I wasn’t expecting a true bee simulator here. I don’t mind that this took a more child-like, story-driven approach. I actually think the world they built is pretty cool. There’s a very realistic sense of scale as you—a tiny bee—fly through a park, zoo, amusement park, and lake. What holds the game back is its missions. They’re all extremely dull and repetitive, boiling down to three types: fly through rings, repeat a directional pattern, or perform quick-time events as part of a fight sequence.

The fact that every mission is a cheesy mini-game ruins any sort of magic this game had going for it. Why go through the effort of building such a huge, believable world if you’re just going to populate it with the most basic gameplay mechanics? The same can be said for the advertised “co-op” mode. The story is not co-op. Rather, playing with friends means flying around a fenced-off part of the main game, looking for missions of the same variety mentioned above. There is just so much wasted potential here. I can only hope the developers use this engine for something more engaging next time.

The Real Tuesday Weld – Blood Review

To be completely transparent, I was asked by a PR representative to review this one. My earlier praises for Tape Five tipped them off, though Blood is not the same bombastic type of electro swing. In fact, the only song on Blood that has even a remotely similar energy is its third track, Poker Face. I normally hate swingified covers of pop songs, but this is a pretty decent version. The swinginess feels more natural and creates a fun, somewhat darker tone for the song.

However, it’s the preceding song, “Too Much Too Soon,” which is probably the album’s best. Its funky instrumentals are a delight to listen to. At five minutes long, I still always feel like it ends too soon. Unfortunately, after “Too Much Too Soon” and “Poker Face,” the album starts mellowing out a little too much. Some of these mellower songs are okay, like “What Happens Next” which totally reminds me of Pink Floyd’s “The Trial.” By Track 8, though, I’m ready for things to pick back up. Tracks 6-9 work as background music for a speakeasy but are a bit of a slog when the music is the focal point.

I power through, though, because the album is jolted back to life in the end by the last song, “Killers.” This is a beautiful, mostly instrumental track with some goosebumps-inducing vocals. It reminds me a lot of Boogie Belgique, which is pretty much my highest compliment in the world of swing. So Blood is kind of a mixed bag overall, which… might have been the point? There’s definitely something in here for everyone, but you’re probably not gonna like the whole thing.