Power Rangers - Did It Suck?

     After 10,000... no wait, a couple of years the Power Rangers reboot is in theaters. If you don't know what Power Rangers is first of all how? Second of all I'll tell you. Power Rangers is a TV franchise where a group of teenagers with attitudes are giving powers by a giant talking head in a tube called Zordon who are tasked to save Earth from evil aliens. It was Japanese footage from the series Super Sentai mixed with American footage and American actors that made 30 minutes of awesome. The series is still running after 30 years, but during the 90s it was a mega hit. I'm talking about HUGE. There were an insane amount of merchendise and toys that drove parents crazy, including my own. Now there the original story is being re-introduced to a new generation retold as an more grittier reboot. I saw it. Did it suck?

Story
You've heard the story before. Zordon recruits a team of teenagers with attitudes to become Power Rangers and save the world? The story is a bit different this time. We were promised that this movie will be a more darker and grittier reboot of the series. It wasn't darker or grittier as the movie gave the original characters from the show: Trini, Zach, Kimberly, Billy and Jason more character and backstory. It's very much teenagers with not only attitudes but with problems. Think Degrassi, with superpowers. You got a lot of character background in this movie. Billy is the nerdy outcast, Kim is the a not so popular popular girl, Jason is a football jock that once had so much promise but fucked things up by getting into trouble with the law, Zach has to care about his ailing mother, and Trini aside of a running gag of everyone getting her name wrong is basically Ally Sheedy. I think the director had the Breakfast Club in mind while making the movie. It's cute and all, but it's obvious that Breakfast Fast club had a better job with character development than Power Rangers. At least the movie in its two hours had better character development than the tv series did the original cast during their run on the show. Action did take a bit of the back burner in order for you to get to know the characters with all the serious stuff happening in the later half of the movie. The movie did have a lot of jokes. They were the saving grace of the movie which made it a lot more entertaining. It took the opportunities to poke fun at certain things not only in the movie, but the show itself, which is not a bad thing as the show itself is now considered to be camp and over the top watching it now.

Acting
Most of the cast except for Zordon, Rita, and Alpha are mostly unknown actors. When it was announced who will be the Power Rangers in the movie, we were a bit skeptical. Will they do a good job, being the characters? A matter of fact they did. The biggest surprise has to go to RJ Cyler who played Billy and Darce Montgomery who played Jason. Both actors were the break away characters in the movie. Most of the cast did a great job, well most meaning everybody except for Elizabeth Banks. Her rendition of Rita seemed off. Not the iconic screechy voice in the Tv series, off but let me using different accents in certain scenes off. This surprised me as Banks is usually good in other roles I've seen her. Brian Cranston was great a Zordon, not a surprise as this is Walter from Breaking Bad. Bill Herter did an alright Alpha that didn't turn out as annoying, like in the show.

Final Verdict
Power Ranger overall seemed to be cute. It was a nice throwback to the series and in most cases it was funny. However with it main focus which was character development, it did a good job, but there are other movies that do it better. It tried to be a superhero version of the Breakfast Club but it didn't do a morphinominal job at that. Despite that it was a good movie, not great. Good. It gets a 3 out of 5.

Where Does Breath of the Wild Fit in the Zelda Timeline?

     Breath of the Wild is simply stunning. The game all about exploring an incredibly vast Hyrule as you brave trials and formidable odds in order to save Princess Zelda and Hyrule from Calamity Ganon. You can say fans are extremely satisfied with the game, or almost. While the game is incredible, one question or you can say one quest is left for fans to explore: Where does Breath of the Wild fit on the Zelda timeline? Beware of spoilers down below.

     For those who don't know most of the games in the Legend of Zelda series have been disputed exactly where they fit and relate to each other and theories of where they fit in a timeline have been one of the biggest mysteries in gaming, with few clues given, until Hyrule Historia officially revealed a map of where everything fits. There is a line where a few games are pretty linear like Skyward Sword happening before The Minish Cap. It gets funny when it gets to Ocarina of Time where there are three branches which is no wonder as that game deals largely with time travel. The three branches are a timeline where Link is returned to as a child at the end of the game (The Child timeline), the timeline that takes place after the events of the game (The Adult timeline) and a paradox timeline where Link fails to save Hyrule (The Fallen timeline).
    Like games before, Breath of the Wild gives sorta vague clues. In the game you do experience not only the ruins of the Temple of Time, but ruins of Lon Lon Ranch so this indicates that the game takes place after Ocarina of Time. Narrowing things down? Not really. Most of the games take place after Ocarina of time. Some fans have indicated that maybe the game takes place in the Fallen timeline as Link in this game has failed and has to be put to sleep for hundreds of years and the Master Sword is in the Lost Woods like A Link to the Past which is in the same timeline. While the former might be obvious, the latter could also be just a decision of visual artistry as the image of it resting in the Lost Woods is an iconic moment in the game. You do have things like certain creatures existing like Koroks and Ritos in the game which existed in other timelines, but that doesn't mean much as the series have done thing like put certain characters in other timelines as well.
    One theory is that the game takes place far in the future past the other games and is in a convergence time where the branches are rejoined. An example of this is where it has been stated that the Sacred Beasts in the game have fought Ganon 10,000 years years before and again 100 years and in during the final battle where Zelda has stated that Ganon, in his primal form has been tired of being reincarnated and that his final form in the game is his rage of doing so.
     So, let's get down to the nitty gritty. Does Breath of the Wild fit in the adult timeline? Not really. Even though it references a lot of stuff and creatures in that timeline according to the events in Wind Waker, Hyrule is under attacked by a somehow unsealed Ganon which causes it to flood and later on in the game Hyrule is forever in the bottom of the ocean, where the Temple of Time and Lon Lon Ranch is. It is most likely that it is in the Child timeline or the Fallen timeline, more so the Fallen timeline since what happens in the game seem to have a scenario where Link and Zelda fails and does have to restore Hyrule to its glory. Of course nothing is certain until Nintendo officially reveals where it is and shocks us all once again.

What are your thoughts?

Should Nightwing Be A TV Series?

     Warner Bros, while trying to make sense of not only the entire DC universe but the recent Batman movie fiasco, is apparently making a Nightwing movie in the future. No release date or news or who's on board for the movie has not been revealed other than it is being made by Chris McKay from the Lego Batman movie and it is being written by Bill Dubuque who wrote The Accountant. For those who don't know who Nightwing is he's Dick Grayson, the first Robin, deciding to be the JC Chasez to the Justin Timberlake Batman-led dynamic duo an venture off into a solo super hero. While a movie may be cool and all, there are some things that question Warner Bros' decision to make it a movie and maybe making it a TV show might work better.
     First of is the obvious, we have no fucking idea what is going on in the DC movie universe most importantly the Batman part. Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad hasn't really established a clear map of when things have taken place. We do know that there was a Robin, but one he's dead and two it's Jason Todd not Dick Greyson. BvS is suppose to be when Batman and pretty much every other hero aside from Superman are brand new and things that we know in the comics haven't happened yet. There's no clear indication when Batman went through already two different Robins before he started fighting crime, especially when we haven't even gotten a full story on Batman yet.
     Maybe a TV series can help explain things by taking place a few years after whatever may come from the upcoming Batman movie? There is a possibility that the Batman movie and maybe even the Justice League movie might give a better story about Jason and Dick, but a show doing that would probably go smoother than anything the movie universe might try. There could even with a Jason Todd/Red Hood storyline that might play out better than it would in the movies.

What are your thoughts?

The Pewdiepie Problem: Now What

     For the people who have been in a coma for the past few weeks, you have missed a major scandal involving mega internet superstar and YouTube Jesus Felix Kjellberg a.k.a. Pewdiepie. So here how it went down. Pewds made a video about a website named Fivrr that, by giving five dollars they will do anything you want. While discussing the company, he decided to make a couple of jokes by having two people holding up a sign saying Death to All Jews, subscribe to Keemstar and having a guy dress up as Jesus say Hitler did nothing wrong. Funny? Not according to Wall Street Journal who saw this and decided to make a story accusing Pewds of being a nazi. This has sparked outrage and led to probably one of the biggest internet celebrity scandals of the year, so far.
     The scandal has led to the company he was signed with, Maker Studios who is owned by Disney, to drop him, the cancellation of his upcoming show on YouTube Red, and YouTube to demote him by removing his premium ad service. Pewds have been silent for a few days until he made a video addressing the video and apologizing for the joke.

“I'm sorry for the words that I used as I know they offended people, and I admit that the joke itself went too far,”

He continues on to say:

"I do strongly believe that you can joke about anything, but I also believe that there's a right way and not the best way to joke about things. I love to push boundaries, but I would consider myself a rookie comedian and I've definitely made mistakes like this before. But it's always been a growing and learning experience for me. And it's something that I actually learn to really appreciate. And I think this whole situation has definitely been that for me, and it's something that I'm going to keep in mind moving forward."

     Is anybody in the wrong? Are things being too PC? Is Pewdiepie a nazi? This scandal, and whole ordeal has been an example of certain media outlet sensationalizing certain things just to cause a scandal and most importantly to get views and clicks. For those who don't know what sensationalism is, it's basically when media takes something and completely run away with giving bogus and untrue stories just for attention. It is unethical and goes against journalistic morals. Not all media do this and this isn't a caution to distrust all media outlets. I am however shocked that out of all places, Wall Street Journal is responsible of this.
     Pewds is of course not a nazi, unless he is a part of some secret club and that's a probable as me winning the lottery. He did however got himself in this situation and Wall Street Journal saw an opportunity to pounce and they did just that. As for Disney and YouTube, they did want was logical and you can't be really mad at that as they saw a potential problem and scandal and protected themselves and their money. It what corporations do.
     The question is now what is to be done after the interwebs have shitted itself and threw it at the nearest fan? Well, Pewdiepie did what he was suppose to do. He acknowledged the issue with his joke and apologized and set the story out. He should also be aware that this will not be the last of it and there will be a target on his back. I think he has learned a lesson not to give people ammunition to attack. As for Wall Street Journal, they did what they sought to accomplished, not what he said as a attack to get him, but get their story and get their views. Other news sources who do nothing but sensationalize will be out to do the same and how this thing exploded will give just enough reason to do so.

What are your thoughts?

Pokemon Duel: Does It Suck?

     Pokemon Go was the breakout mobile game of the summer. It got a lot of to venture outside to discover dead bodies, get hit by cars, and most importantly discover their neighborhood by discovering Pokemon. So, what happens when you make a hit game? Try to make another hit game with Pokemon Duel. the Pokemon Company did a surprise release of the new game but, is Pokemon Duel any good? Will it be as big a Pokemon Go was?
     Unlike Go, Duel focuses more of battling Pokemon instead of capturing them. This time around instead of battling with actual Pokemon you battle with Pokemon figurines. Unlike most games in the series, Duel's is more strategic.

    Most duels involve you and an opponent battling on a board and your objective is to move your Pokemon figurine to the end point of your opponent's side of the board. It's basically a game of checkers as you have to not only think of where to move your figurines, but how are you going to win either by cornering your opponent's figurines or make a route straight to the end.
      Battling has more of a rock-paper-scissors aspect as when your Pokemon figurines fight, there is a roulette wheel that will draw on you and your opponent's moves. The roulette wheel is made up of four kinds of colors: Blue, Purple, Red, and White. Blue are defense moves that beat purple and white moves, Purple are status moves which beats white moves.  White are the offensive moves which again, who has the highest number wins the match, Reds are misses and are beaten by other colors. There are no type advantages/disadvantages like the other games. Instead the the color system determines who win with Blue being the highest class, Purple, White, and then Red (Miss). You also have boosters that can be purchased by gems, which you earn in events.
     Pokemon Duel overall does seem like it is a solid game. It's not a bad concept overall and it is another unique spin on the the series just like Pokemon Rumble was. Despite that it doesn't feel like it won't be something you'll play in the long run. It doesn't have the draw that Go had and eventually you'll get bored playing it in probably less time. If there's one thing it has above Go is that its launch was smoother and less server problems. It get a three and a half out of five.

Does the Nintendo Switch Need More Exclusives?

     Last week we got a bit more information about the upcoming console for Nintendo, The Switch. We also got to see a ton of games that are coming out around launch. We finally got an insight of the new Mario game, we saw some huge surprises like Skyrim, Ultra Street Fighter II, I Am Setsuna, and Sonic Mania are going to be playable on it, and we saw more of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is never a bad thing.
     While we do have an abundance of games coming out, few of them are exclusive to the console. About 14 out of the 65 confirmed titles announced. Not even the biggest title they have at launch, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is not exclusive to the Switch as there will be a Wii U version as well. This might worry some Nintendo fans or people in general that either may want to buy the switch and may not be completely sold on it because there are not so many games that are just for the console. You want something that will absolutely get to to buy the console, instead of just buying a copy for the game for the PS4 or Xbox One. But does it really need more exclusives?
     Already it has a ton of good games and a solid lineup of launch titles. It is a big improvement from the Wii U which while it also didn't have that many exclusives, it also didn't have a impressive lineup of games that didn't get people to be sold on the Wii U and in turn didn't help sell the console. Personally, I feel that with the games the has Switch not only at launch, but until the Christmas season right now is impressive enough that it doesn't matter if they don't have as many exclusives. To me it has already have me considering buying it and maybe others too based on hearing what they're offering right now.
     Let's also remember that more titles will be announced later on this year. Just making sure that we are not in a game drought, like the Wii U may be the plan this year and more exclusive titles may be the plan for the next or following years. Despite it not having as many exclusives people are excited as pre-orders have already sold out at Gamespot. We'll see how everything turns out in the future or if whether exclusives are critical when it comes out in March. 3

Games We Probably Want to See in 2017

2017 is here and there are promises to be made. No, not that promise to lose weight and quit smoking? Promise game developers, and companies promised to give us great game this year! These are so games that we either would like to play or at least hear more of this year.

Yooka-Laylee

We we're suppose to get this game last year which was a bummer. If you didn't know about it or haven't heard about the game, Yooka-Laylee, made by Playtonic, is suppose to be a spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie series that was on the N64. It is a 3D platformer that is pretty much its predecessor was and that make me really excited to finally get my hands on it. The reason it was delayed, again, was that they wanted it to be on the upcoming Nintendo Switch. Hopefully we will play this sometime this year, hopefully.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Another game we were supposed to get in 2016, Breath of the Wild is not your typical Zelda game. It is huge on the idea of scavenging and exploring the incredibly vast land of Hyrule to make food, and weapons that will help you on your quest to save it from Ganon. It is a huge call back to the original Zelda where things are not linear and it's all about you discovering secret trials and dungeons. We seem that we're going to get it soon when the Switch comes out. Let's hope that this is true.

Prey

The first Prey was pretty cool. This one is both a sequel and and an enhanced remake of the original. You are a character on a space station that, according to creative director Raphael Colantonio, every event that happens in the game is continuous instead of it being broken up in levels and missions. Instead of going to spirit form in the original, you will acquire the powers of various alien enemies giving a different spin to gameplay. I can't wait to see how this works out and how the whole thing plays and looks.


Allison Road

When we heard their was going to be a Silent Hills Game made by Guiellermo Del Toro we were excited. When we heard it was canceled we were devastated. Luckily we had P.T. which wowed us. Allison is considered to be an homage to P.T. and is basically have similar gameplay. It was quickly cancelled for a while and it is now back in production. So even though we might not gotten Silent Hills, but it is nice that we get to have something that came from it and hopefully it comes out some time this year.

Red Dead Redemption 2

We haven't gotten much news or saw anything about Red Dead 2 other than a teaser image of some guys in a sunset.  The series is basically the wild west version Grand Theft Auto. Hopefully we see something soon because the other games in the series were amazing. Especially if they still want to cash in on the Westworld hype that is still going on.

Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania is a much waited return to the classic 2D Sonic games. This is a real throwback. Not a enhanced version like Sonic 4 or some anniversary thing like Sonic Generations. A back to basics thing that is chock full of nostalgia and tons of easter eggs from the series. Sonic games have been pretty hit and miss, mostly miss but this looks very promising.

God of War

What do you do when you killed all the Greek gods? Kill the Norse ones. That is not the only new thing as they redone the gameplay completely from the ground up. There are more RPG elements as you build more knowledge points for weapons meaning that you'll be more skilled at using them as well a a newly revamped rage ability. We saw this at E3 last year we were blown away. We want more.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

We love the Mass Effect series so another installment is something good. The concept of Andromeda seems to be to give the players more meaning that you get to explore a more vast open world than the past Mass Effect games and have the player create characters with a complete free reign of skills to obtain.


Friday the 13th: The Game

We've seen the beta of this and everything looks wonderful. You can play as probably horny but terrible acting teen counselors of Camp Crystal Lake try to survive or Jason himself and hunt down everybody in a not so senseless blood bath, because they did neglect and drown you were were a kid while they were trying to bone. Anyway this looks great so it will be nice to see what the finished game will look.

Resident Evil 7

It seems that we have a lot of games that are going back to the basics on this list along with Resident Evil 7. This time around Capcom is scaling back with the action-horror elements and is doing pure survival horror with 7. You're roaming around a large mansion solving puzzles much like the original Resident Evil. While their might not be zombies there are monsters and the Baker Family you will need to fight off. The demos look promising so hopefully it delivers.

Kingdom Hearts 3

We haven't heard anything about this in a couple of years, but we've gotten multiple remixes and 2.5s and 1.8s and whatever. Square, just hurry up and release it. We're waiting for this and we are impatient.

Any games on this list that I missed and you can't wait to see or play?