Bryan Jennings

I was hyped for this game ever since the debut trailer (which featured Kero Kero Bonito so that just upped my anticipation even more). The look of the game, the style, the objective, the gameplay, the sounds, everything seemed so new and refreshing. And I think that's how I would define this game: refreshing. Each and every new discovery had me engaged, entertained, and curious. I wanted to keep finding more and more (Bugsnax, as well as residents of Snaxburg). I had such a fun time playing this, it was during a period where I felt depressed and this knocked me out of that for quite a while. One other thing that is noteworthy about this game is its heart. You can tell that the creators spent time putting their love and dedication into this game. It felt meaningful, as did the characters themselves. I genuinely felt connection from these characters, and that's saying something since they resemble puppets to a certain degree. My only wish was that there was more utilization when it came to the Bugsnax themselves. Perhaps being able to care for one, take different kinds of pictures for additional points (a la Pokemon Snap for instance), and maybe a few new items to use to catch them. I just think there is so much potential for this IP, and I am excited to see where they choose to take it!

The advertisement for this movie does not reflect the product. I went into it expecting an in-depth look at the Gorillaz (Damon and Jamie + others), the concepts, stories, production, characters, interviews, etc. Perhaps that was my fault for making assumptions. What this documentary IS, is a look behind-the-scenes of the Gorillaz Humanz' tour + The Now Now tour, with some added scenes of production between both tours. The conception of Gorillaz does not come up, nor does really any concept before Humanz. Well, even with Humanz, it is mostly showing the recording process of different singers that collaborated with them. I would have loved to see more about how the animation gets made, who does some of the voices, and where they see their characters going from here. I was super curious about the relationship between Damon and Jamie, then and now, and how the band as a whole has grown, what the animation has become and where they see it for the future but that was missing from this movie. Overall it was a pretty fun experience but I felt I was watching live videos of their songs for 80% of the movie, all of which I can easily find on YouTube.