Author: Clark

I love gaming so much, I wrote a book about it.

A Hat in Time Review

A Hat in Time

I frequently went from loving this game to hating it. The thing is, A Hat in Time is a fantastic 3D platformer… when it’s actually trying to be a 3D platformer. But more often than not, you get caught up in the game trying to be different and zany. And so we end up with really frustrating boss battles, annoying stealth missions, and one-off scenarios that attempt “cleverness” by putting you in a murder mystery or parade. These genre departures simply don’t work, though, and those were the moments where I was really not enjoying myself.

On the other hand, there are plenty of other sections where A Hat in Time is pure platforming gold that sees you scaling beautiful cliffs, effortlessly swinging across lava pits, and using newfound hat skills to discover rewarding secrets. World 4 in particular was a delight, because it was very open-ended and took place in a gorgeous setting reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda. Had the game been more of that instead of, say, World 2 (where you alternate between movie sets), this would have ranked as one of my all-time favorite platformers.

I get why the developers pushed so many new ideas into their project, though. Had they not, they would have risked A Hat in Time being labeled as yet another generic Mario or Banjo-Kazooie clone. It’s not like classic 3D platformers are a rarity anymore, with solid games like Poi and Yooka-Laylee already out in the wild. I’d rank A Hat in Time just below those two, but if you’re a long-time platformer fan, you’re still gonna find a lot to like about this one. Unfortunately, you’re also gonna find a lot to hat. I mean hate…

Jack Ryan – Season 1 Review

Jack Ryan

I like John Krasinski, but I don’t think he was the right person for this role. He excels at being the lovable goof or put-upon smart guy, which is why the scenes of him in the CIA “office” worked, but as soon as they shoved him into the field, gun in hand, it was hard to take him seriously. I get that that’s kind of Jack Ryan’s thing, balancing office smarts with tactical know-how, and that there’s inherent, internal conflict that comes with that. However, I didn’t really see it in Krasinski’s performance and, in his defense, the writing, either. Jack Ryan wasn’t so much a person as he was a crutch to move the plot forward.

The story is somewhat oddly structured, though. For many episodes, the good guys are simply too close to capturing their terrorist target, deflating some of the intensity that you would get in a show like 24 where the terrorists are always one step ahead. Here, it’s pretty obvious they’re gonna get their guy. It’s only in the last few episodes that things heat up, but part of that heat-up is because we’re really rushed through the final stages of Mousa Bin Suleiman’s evil plan. I criticize Netflix a lot for having overlong seasons, but Amazon could have really benefited from 1-2 more episodes.

That, or cut out the sub-plot with the drone pilot. I kept waiting for this to tie into the bigger story, but it just never paid off. It ended up being a really weird thing to include. The plot I did like, though, was getting to watch Suleiman’s wife become disillusioned with what was going on and try to flee with her children. It was nice to get that human glimpse into the “other side” instead of the usual “Muslims hate America” rhetoric, though there’s plenty of that, too. The show loves to remind you that 9/11 happened (and could happen again), but I suppose it handles these topics with a little more grace than you might have seen 5-10 years ago.

Disenchantment – Season 1 Review

Disenchantment

I’m glad that Matt Groening finally got to work on something other than The Simpsons or Futurama for once, but Disenchantment is easily the weakest of the Groening trifecta. And, yeah, that’s not very fair to say this soon, because his other works took a while to find their footing. I think Disenchantment has the potential to turn into something really funny and charming, though. Much like Futurama’s sci-fi setting, a fantasy landscape is perfect for random, zany adventures. Plus, with the story taking place in medieval times, that means no obnoxious “celebrity of the week” cameos. That’s already a huge improvement over modern-day Simpsons.

The problem with the show in its current state is that it feels so small-scale and empty. Bean and her two sidekicks aren’t intriguing enough to carry each episode on their own, and the supporting cast is pretty limited and seldom seen. John DiMaggio as King Zog is great, of course. John DiMaggio is great in everything. But he’s really the only side character that stands out and doesn’t always—and maybe to good effect—get much screen time. Nat Faxon as Elfo, on the other hand, is fun in small doses but is in the show a little too much. If they can find the right balance with their characters, then I think the jokes will start to fall into place and feel more natural. As is, I’m interested… but not a fan yet.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Review

Mario + Rabbids

Well, this was an unlikely combination. Not only did the world not need a Super Mario / Raving Rabbids crossover, but you would have never guessed that either franchise would become a turn-based strategy game. And yet it oddly… works. Many people have compared it to XCOM, which I haven’t played, and that may be a good thing, since Mario + Rabbids most likely dumbs down the gameplay quite a bit. There’s not a lot of depth to the battles, but they do feel kind of puzzle-like as you try to juggle your characters’ strengths, weaknesses, and positions on the map. Later enemies also change the rules a bit, forcing you to experiment with lesser characters, which I actually appreciated.

The battles are definitely the highlight of the game, though I could see it getting pretty monotonous if it was just battle after battle after battle. So I understand the design choice of having an overworld with secrets to find and additional puzzles to solve. Unfortunately, 80% of the treasure chests you come across contain nothing but music and artwork, the lamest of video game rewards. And 80% of the overworld puzzles boil down to pushing a box or a button until something finally slides or rotates into place. It’s really not that interesting, and after a while, I dreaded these downtime moments and just wanted to jump right into the next battle. Like the name of the game itself implies, it’s a weird mash-up of ideas that doesn’t always blend well.

Crazy Rich Asians Review

Crazy Rich Asians

Full disclosure, I’m a white dude married to a Chinese immigrant. A lot of things in this movie should have resonated with my wife, but halfway through, she leaned over to me and said, “I’m bored…” There just isn’t a lot going on in this movie, less so than your normal rom-com. The central conflict is that our main character’s boyfriend’s family is super rich while Rachel is only kinda rich. I mean, she’s a professor at NYU, so it’s not like she has it rough or anything. It’s hard to enjoy a movie where everyone’s lives are varying degrees of perfect. Even Rachel’s college roommate, who she later meets up with in Singapore, is really well-off. Just not crazy well-off like her boyfriend’s family.

With the first half of the movie being nothing more than watching rich, super rich, and kinda rich people meet, eat, and party, it’s admittedly not that entertaining unless you like food and designer porn. The class disparity needed to be a bigger issue and needed to be an issue much sooner in the movie. Yes, the mother-in-law eventually says she doesn’t want Rachel to marry her son, but that conflict is too slow to boil and too quickly resolved. If this was supposed to be a Cinderella-like story, we really needed more Cinderella and less Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

So my wife and I left the theater feeling somewhat conflicted. On one hand, we’re happy to support an Asian-centric Hollywood movie, but on the other hand, we don’t want to support the idea that that alone gives it a pass. Yes, the production values were there. Constance Wu was a delight in the lead role. And Awkwafina as the obligatory loud, zany friend was actually pretty funny and arguably the best thing about the movie. Even though Crazy Rich Asians subscribes to a lot of rom-com clichés, it at least does them well. Unfortunately, the story was pretty thin and “boring” overall. But if this marks a new trend in Hollywood diversity, then so be it.

Fire Emblem Warriors Review

Fire Emblem Warriors

Of all the Warriors-style games I’ve played (One Piece, Hyrule, Orochi), this one was probably the weakest. A big part of that is because I’m, frankly, not much of a Fire Emblem fan. But you gotta admit that these aren’t exactly unique/iconic characters, anyway. Many of the characters look pretty similar. Gameplay-wise, they also play similarly. It’s kind of annoying to have two characters with the exact same skills and moves. On top of that, several characters are horseback riders who feel out of place and simply aren’t as fun to control. So when all is said and done, there were maybe 5-6 characters I actually enjoyed using.

To be fair, though, those six were pretty damn cool. I liked that you could switch between characters mid-battle and pair up with different support characters or even give those support characters marching orders. It just wasn’t intuitive at first how to swap out who’s going into battle with you or how to play local co-op. There’s a lot to be desired here, a definite need for better menus, voice acting, and a map that isn’t so frustratingly difficult to read. But I’m a sucker for hack ‘n slash RPGs, and once I got into the game—past the halfway point of Story mode, unfortunately—I had fun and expect to continue with the extra History mode for a few more hours, at least.