PlanetBuster 552

To some of you (especially the top comment) saying this game is dull and uninspired “as an avid Zelda fan who’s played all the games,” I hate to be that one person but I’m inclined to disagree. I’m new to Zelda games for the most part (Played Ocarina of Time on the 3DS as a kid but never got anywhere with it.), but this game is a genuine challenge in some places. Easy overall, but the Link fights, some of the enemies you face in enclosed rooms, and many of the bosses were unexpectedly hard. They would be a nightmare for, say, folks from a younger audience to face, that’s for sure. If you folks think this game is “unoriginal”, then go right ahead; return it to the store you got it from, get your money back, and move on. Or you can take this game for what it’s worth - both the first solo outing of Princess Zelda where we’re at the helm and a puzzle-solver with lots of dungeons and unique ways to approach any situation - and get creative with what you’re given. Facing a difficult enemy or platforming section? Exercise your brain a little! Think outside the box! If you don’t think you can pull it off with the tools you currently have, use the built-in teleportation system and leave the level to go get the tools you desire before going back. The “game over” system is extremely forgiving too, making you want to hop right back into the fray even after dying to the enemy and knowing you will have to restart that fight. It’s also very hard to die to lava or get softlocked, and falling into a void doesn’t get the game over screen, with them instead taking the approach lego games do to dying in that manner. The expressions on Zelda are also priceless, with different idle animations and facial expressions depending on the environment you’re in or what you’re doing. 10/10 would play again.

Absolutely terrifying satanic thriller. The protagonist is an FBI agent with a dark past which comes back to haunt her. A delusional doll-maker, who turns out to work for the devil, visits her days before her ninth birthday with a doll that resembles her. But this seemingly-innocent gift from an otherwise crazy man who belongs in a mental asylum harbours a dark secret within it’s well-crafted body. This has been done many times to many different targets. The doll is a specially-designed trojan horse which allows Satan to influence the families of whoever’s house it is in into killing each other. The doll also appears to take the form of a child in the target household. They put the doll in, poising it as a “Gift From the Church”. Satan takes care of the rest from inside the doll. If these doll-makers or their assistants who place the dolls are caught, they say “Hail Satan” and commit suicide by whatever means are available to them. The protagonist is eventually forced to stop a satanically-possessed father from killing his own daughter and her own mother, who is also in the room and happens to be an accomplice of a doll-maker (same one that appeared during her ninth birthday) and is also possessed by Satan, from finishing the job. She tries to destroy the doll that caused the mess in that room but fails. Apparently there will be a Part 2 at some point in the future. 7.5 - 8/10.

While I have no idea if this film, and by extension this franchise, is based on a book or something, even if it wasn’t it is still pretty good. A Quiet Place: Day One will take you back to the day everything went down and most of humanity was killed. You see the movie from the perspective of a terminally-ill african-american woman who was dying of something and saw most of the world die before her. She is “saved” from her gloom and from the nihilistic environment she now resides in by an englishman who was attending law school in the United States. He ultimately gives her hope and she, in turn, gives him a voice to soothe his mind when he starts going mad. They make a nice duo. My only gripe is that the terminally-ill woman was not “miraculously cured.” and committed suicide in the final scene of the movie. That character deserved to live. While I suppose that’s realistic, it’s not like this world hasn’t had it’s fair share of revelations…