__Hello, and welcome to the next compilation of Twitter-length reviews of what I've been watching and playing over the past month.
__This one actually begins with a movie I saw at the cinema, something that hasn't happened for almost a year! I never considered watching Black Widow on Disney+, because I only subscribe occasionally for one month at a time to watch a number of movies, and I didn't think it was worth it for just one movie. (Once I get around to some TV shows on Disney+, my subscription will be more long-term.) Plus, I suspected Black Widow might be locked behind the premium paywall on top of that (and according to Wikipedia, it looks like I was right), so I decided the cinema would be easier, and probably cheaper as well. So what did I think?
The core idea is a solid one: Nat receiving closure by confronting her past, both her brutal training and her family. However, it's marred by excessive action scenes with little to no context. Not bad, but far from one of Marvel's best.
__Next up, a few more movies, divided into three pairs, although I'm only forming first impressions for four of the six.
__The first pair was two movies getting sequels this year: Sing and The Hitman's Bodyguard, only one of which I was seeing for the first time.
__Next came Serenity, because I'd just finished watching Firefly. I liked the show, but wasn't overly upset that it got cancelled. Regardless, I decided to see if the movie spin-off delivered something closer to a proper conclusion. I paired it up with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I'd watched several other Pooh movies as part of a huge marathon the previous month, but I didn't include Many Adventures in that because it's by far the best one; it would absolutely eclipse all the others. Still, the set felt incomplete without it, so I decided this would be the perfect excuse to revisit it.🙂
__And then I finished it off with a couple of recent movies.
It touches on our obsession with talent shows, and how manipulative producers can be. I like its take on the "liar revealed" cliché, but the characters and their dilemmas are barely given any attention at all. So it's quite fun but very shallow.
My rating: 60%.
Much like the show that precedes it, it's fun but not mind-blowing. It sheds light on some unresolved mysteries from the show, like River's past and the truth about the Reavers, making for a decent conclusion with a remarkably intense climax.
My rating: 75%.
The central relationship is very believable – Charlotte's husband is apathetic towards her and Mary takes better care of her than he ever did – but much of the film is awkwardly quiet, and Mary Anning's influential career is all but ignored.
My rating: 55%.
It has some interesting time travel ideas, but the script is trite, and judging from the performances, the actors realise it. The worst part comes near the end of Dan's time in the future: I found his rationale pathetically illogical.
My rating: 45%.
__And finally, the video games that have continued to occupy my days.
__Among this month's lot are Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith and Half-Life: Opposing Force, two titles that are technically expansion packs for Dark Forces II and Half-Life respectively. Today, they'd be included with the main games as DLC, but Steam counts them as separate titles that don't require the base game to operate, and I assume that's also how they were sold back in the day. I'm still in two minds about counting them individually myself, but as they're self-contained stories separate from their progenitors' events, I might as well. (Well, that's not entirely true in Opposing Force's case, but whatever.)
__Also, there were a couple of other games that I started – Chrono Cross and Driver – but I very quickly gave up on both. In Driver's case, I couldn't get past that infamous training level in the car park. And Chrono Cross discouraged me because I found the combat system perplexing, and unlike its predecessor Chrono Trigger, the story did nothing to immediately draw me in. Much like Final Fantasy two and three (or four and six), I think I'd rather watch a blind Let's Play instead, but I don't feel like doing so just yet.
__So, with that said, let's move on to my thoughts on the games I did see through to the end.🙂
It follows the same format as Link to the Past – a three-stage quest before the story truly begins – and while I still prefer that game by far, this one does have its own highlights, like the Z-targeting system.
My rating: 85%.
The story (addressing issues like the tolls of war and one's purpose in life) isn't really my thing, but it does have its share of twists and emotional moments. Its true strengths, though, are the music and pioneering cinematic design.
My rating: 90%.
I got stuck almost immediately and defaulted to watching a longplay, and the gameplay is so tiresome and the navigation so convoluted that I ended up fast-forwarding through most of it. The story is flawed, too.
My rating: 45%.
The graphics and move set have taken another step up, with crawling and sprinting and major upgrades to the fire and water effects. But it's all for a story that's nowhere near as interesting as the first two.
My rating: 60%.
You collect items to unlock more stages, à la Banjo-Kazooie. I like when it imitates something from a Looney Tunes cartoon (especially Captain Hareblower), but not the controls or the random order in which stages unlock.
My rating: 55%.
It retains the original game's exceptionally fun gameplay, but adds several new features. I usually defaulted to the Desert Eagle when I wasn't sure of what was ahead, and I never thought I'd be using a barnacle as a tether!🙂
My rating: 90%.
It opts for a multitude of individual quests instead of a flowing narrative, which I'll gladly take over a tediously bloated story. Plus, the amazing music and delightful graphics make this my second-favourite Mana game after Secret.
My rating: 85%.
The world of Omikron isn't remotely interesting, partly because more than half the game is wandering around aimlessly. The idea that you're really controlling people in a parallel dimension leads to some goofy and even horrifying notions.
My rating: 45%.
I never found the plot all that interesting, but the atmosphere is where it truly shines. The Otherworld looks amazing even by today's standards, and the sounds from the radio in the presence of enemies are far more unsettling than any music.
My rating: 80%.
Despite a more compelling plot than game three, it sacrifices the prior games' varied vibrant environments for one dull desert setting, and the levels are so intricate that I can't see how they're solvable without a guide.
My rating: 65%.
I found it awkward to control (like a lot of these early third-person 3D games), and nearly all the stock Buzz lines are incongruous, but it's fun to explore the levels and complete the various tasks in any order.
My rating: 65%.
__Toy Story 2 happens to be the last game on my list from 1999. Funny to think that I'll be starting on games from the new millennium now.🙂
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