Cody Ray Miller

I thought “Smile” was rather boring, frankly. The plot had major potential but it never seemed to catch its stride. The pacing was off, in my opinion. Dr. Cotter went a bit too crazy too fast. That killed the suspense for me. Acting was decent, not great. The actor who played her fiancée, in particular, was rather spotty in his delivery. I didn’t sense any chemistry between him and Cotter, either. There were no major twists. I knew exactly what was in the birthday box before it happened and I’m not usually one to guess those sorts of things. In summation, the whole film just felt a bit “off.” It wasn’t firing on all cylinders and didn’t develop some of its more intriguing ideas as well as it could have.

I’ve been playing Pokémon games since I was kid (started with Pokémon Blue on Game Boy). I was so excited for the release of Scarlet and Violet but… the game has a lot of problems. First, there are performance issues. I was playing docked on a Switch OLED and experienced quite a few stutters. The graphics are also quite terrible—low-res textures, for example, in accessible areas. These aren’t textures that are far away, where users might not be expected to notice or go. I mean, there are doors in the city that you can walk right up to that are pixelated beyond belief. NPCs pop in and out of existence everywhere. Shadows look like something from a Sega Dreamcast game. Animations often look like they are running at 5 frames per second. I don’t need the best graphics around in order to enjoy a game. In fact, I play a ton of retro games and enjoy the heck out of them! The issue for me with Scarlet and Violet is that the graphics are inconsistent. Sometimes, things look okay, and then suddenly you are confronted by an awful, out of place, strange looking model, animation, or texture. It gives me the impression of an early access game that is still in development. Bottomline: This game was not ready for release yet. Either Nintendo forced Game Freak to release it before it was ready or else Game Freak thinks players will just accept this garbage without complaint. For everyone saying, “It was their first attempt at an open world game; cut them some slack,” I would say that they should have just pushed back the release. I mean, Legends Arceus and BDSP came out very recently. It isn’t like we’ve been waiting half a decade for a new Pokémon game. Releasing this and charging $60 for it is, in my opinion, a slap in the face to Pokémon fans everywhere. I requested a refund (something I NEVER thought I would do with any Pokémon game ever) and Nintendo obliged. Maybe I’ll buy the game later on if they patch it. Sad.

The game has its moments but overall I’d say it is pretty mediocre. The plot is too simple. I never developed any connection to the region, characters (except Marnie, personally—I liked her), or conflict. This feels like Game Freak just had to hit a deadline, in my opinion. It’s still Pokémon! So that gives it a couple of stars right there, and when it did shine, well, it really shines. But these moments were, for me, few and far between, unfortunately. In one word: underdeveloped.

Pokémon Emerald adds many nice features to the core mechanics of the Pokémon series. The graphics are enhanced compared to the previous 2 generations, music is pleasant, and battles are “snappy” (that is, they don’t drag on with slow text or animations). The “berry” system introduced in generation 2 is further developed, including the addition of “PokeBlocks,” which can be made by blending different berries together. The player can now run, thanks to special shoes, by holding down B. This makes getting around a lot faster. As in previous generations, bikes are available for speedy travel and exploration. With the new HM “Dive,” players can explore underwater areas for the first time. The game also adds a weather system. One major disappointment for me was the abandonment of the day/night cycle, introduced in the previous generation. Also, I didn’t find myself falling in love with the new Pokémon found in this region, nor did I want to explore many areas. At times, I had no idea where to go in order to complete the main story. Still, I enjoyed the game and would recommend it to any Pokémon fan as a fun way to pass the time.