Love Yourself

i'll be honest, from the onset, i hate this movie. i'm so, so tired of filmmakers portraying men as these evil, monstrous people, and women as these innocent victims. 1 in 7 men are victims to domestic abuse, and quite frankly, that number is probably low because many men wouldn't report it. yet when was the last time we saw a movie with a wife that hits, shoves, manipulates her husband? women cheat more than men -- how often is the man portrayed as the objectifying sexual predator? there's *never* an excuse to physically harm someone, but from the beginning of the movie, we see a man get physically violent seemingly bc he didn't get fellatio. but it implies that there is a historicity of him wanting physical affection from his partner but not getting it. however he is immediately the toxic person, when it could of explored what it's like to be in a relationship with someone who wants to be a stay at home gf and be taken care of but can't be bothered to show affection in the way straight men best receive it, and how undervalued and underloved that can make ppl feel. no you don't *owe* your partner sex, but then perhaps you shouldn't be in a relationship. at that point you're just using him. so already the tone is set as man-hating, and it goes from there lol. it's so boring, no scary moments. i think they expected to make a movie and it ride the coattails of "toxic masculinity." no real effort or artistic vision. we will call this trend toxic hollywood.

i genuinely don't know why people are giving this such low scores lol. I'm baffled. I've seen the original.. i found Exorcist: Believer to be scarier (though admittedly i didn't see the original when it was the zenith of CGI etc, haha. so of course in modern day it's not scary) But i have to assume ppl are giving it a negative score because they're comparing it to the original instead of just letting it stand alone. Or even comparing it to scary movies released in 2023.. it's really top notch? not to be a spoiler, but the ending is NOT a happy one per se, and i was left really unsettled tbh. they did a good job paying homage to the first one as well (minus the backwards crab walk -- that was a missed opportunity). there weren't jump scares, no. but i mean, if there were, people would complain that the movie relied on jump scares lol. people are just never happy. watch it for yourself and decide for yourself :) look at all the 5 stars and 1 stars. clearly there's something more in play than objective reviews

i don't know if a 2 is fair. I'm so confused by this game. I WANT to like it so damn badly, but people aren't lying about the performance issues. and worse, i don't even understand why it does perform so slowly because it's not the most graphically impressive game. it's very bizarre. but performance aside, my biggest gripe is that combat feels very flighty. there's no hard targeting, so who you attack is entirely up to the character's janky decisions. and the physics don't feel impactful. when i'm pulling back a bow, i should feel resistance, either through sound, time, stamina depletion, SOMETHING.. but nothing. when i hit something with a big great sword, it shouldn't feel like i'm in a pillow fight. it's just so floaty and bizarre. that said.. once the performance issues are fixed, i will probably play the game. and i'll probably even greatly enjoy it. i'm just upset atm because critics and streamers really upsold something that is mediocre at best currently. if you're thinking about getting it, definitely do! but maybe when it's on sale. it's not worth the $70 price at the moment. It's a $40 game at best.

SUCH a fantastic game. if you love customization and theory crafting and deep character play, definitely don't miss this. the story is intriguing, the premise is good, but the customization is unparalleled. invariably games with customization still have stifling things (like you can't use this weapon or that skill with this weapon, etc.), but this game was clearly made by people who wanted you to feel like your character is yours! I love making a spellblade, and my first thought was "I hope i can dual wield." And wouldn't you know it, that's a talent you can get. BUT there are also talents for if you use a two-handed weapon. Same with shaman. Talents for if you use axes, or if you dual wield, etc. My point is, no matter how you wanna play your character, each of the skill points and talent trees feels so rewarding and i get so damn excited every time i level up or level up a skill. Also how they handled crafting and legendaries etc is fantastic. by end game, with runes and scrolls etc, you'll be able to modify your perfect piece of gear for whatever your playstyle is. It's so freaking good. Get this game. If you are reading negative reviews, it's by either 1) blizzard stans who don't want to see another arpg succeed, or 2) people who didn't play the game past level 10, or 3) people who are impatient - bc yes, the game did have server issues when it was first released. but those are fixed now, and it's running beautifully.

This is a really, really fun Marvel show. The acting sometimes feels … odd? But the colors and vibrancy and energy more than compensate. People are not wrong when they say the script and acting feels forced or cringe. (But, I’ll add that the same happened for Dr Strange and Multiverse of Madness, for me. The jokes made me go, like, “Heh.” So maybe this is the direction Marvel is going haha.) But the 1 star bad reviews are unsubstantiated. They’re mostly from traditionalists and comic book loyalists who are upset that Ms Marvel obtains her powers differently from the comic book. But they had a good reason for the change, and comic books and tv shows are different modalities: they can’t always be exact as the source material. I LIKE the change. Stretchy appendages would have been borderline goofy in live action, and getting her powers via bangle — instead of being an inhuman — allows the writing to situate itself around her relationship with her family and her culture while balancing her new abilities. It’s smart to change it from the comic books. Also, Bruno mentions the powers are coming from inside her — the bangle just helps facilitate. So, essentially, she is inhuman. Also I like this version of her powers MORE. Being stretchy is kinda goofy. Making objects out of hard crystallized light is cool as hell. Other reviews say it’s childish. Hello? She IS a child lol. It’s all from the perspective of a child who wants to be a hero. It’s cute. One episode isn’t enough to review a show so badly. (And almost everyone says they won’t continue watching.) I’ve never seen a tv series in which the acting was fantastic from episode 1. People need time to adjust and feel their character, etc. i bet the show picks up pace, etc., but all these people won’t know. Also I don’t find it to be coincidental that so many non-South Asians are saying it’s offensive to South Asians…. And that’s all I’ll say about that lol. It’s very unfair for people to be review bombing this show, affecting its future and its actors, just because they have no self awareness.

I really enjoy this game. I've played Pokemon since release, and one qualm with the franchise has always been difficulty. Temtem is like Pokemon for adults, haha. It requires real thought and strategy, and that's nice. I love the types, the combos, and I think making all battles double battles really ramps up the challenge, because it necessitates more strategy and thoughtfulness. My only two gripes about the game are 1) the artstyle, but that's highly subjective. Many people i know love the artstyle. And 2) your temtem follow your character around. In a single player rpg, that doesn't matter much, but in an mmo -- I quite literally saw the fully evolutionary stage of my selected Temtem before i even left the first town lol. I know that isn't a "spoiler," because you would have seen it anyways (in a battle with an npc, etc.), but it FEELS like a spoiler, and so i wish there were a setting to turn it off. I am unsure of how this game will do on Switch, too. On the ps5 it has some lagging issues.

ppl get so offended when you suggest they just don't like the game bc the protagonist is a black woman, but then their 1-star is justified by things like "bad script." A bad line of dialogue is worth 1 star? There are other bad reviews that literally say, "It's weird to play as a girl." Even though 47% of rpg players are women, and they don't give bad reviews having to play males. Which is almost always, by the way. The game is freaking FUN. The parkour system, getting around the world is so much fun. The level of customization in the abilities and their visual and particle effects are spectacular. The graphics are quite beautiful, and some hours into the story, I'm genuinely interested in this world and what is going on in it. It is open world with the same elements that make up other open world games (Skyrim, Elden Ring, Witcher, etc.) I'm not comparing them, necessarily. Since Elden Ring has 0 story, and for some reason it gets a pass. The difference in reviews (from 1 star to 5 star) isn't reflective of the game: it's a social commentary. Get the game. It's fun. Who cares if you're playing a black woman ffs.

If you can get past the completely un-original and uninspired man-hating overtones, it's actually a rather poignant message regarding the human condition. What's it like to deal with anxiety and trauma, how we can comfort ourselves or destroy ourselves, how love can be both unparalleled and lifting or suffocating. The "horror" aspect exists really only in a few jump scares. I would call it a drama faster than I would a horror.

I’m so tired of review bombs. Ppl giving it a 0 bc it’s a PS5 exclusive. Will you grow up? A review is of a game you’ve PLAYED. Anyways, I’m level 35. I’m unsure how many hours into it, maybe ~30. I estimate I’m just about halfway through. I will admit until the first pivotal story moment, I was a tad, dare I say, bored. But after that first pivotal moment (around hour 15), boy did I fall hard. The combat continues to pick up, and now (after unlocking 4 eikons), it’s SOOOO fun. And allows for a lot of customizations bc you can, eventually, assign eikon abilities to different eikons. The eikon battles are literally the coolest fights I’ve ever seen in a video game, and each one is better than the last. The story is fantastic. The Game of Thrones influence is apparent lol. Very disturbed at times, lots of shock factor. The music.. man. Some music is a tad slow, bit boring. But most of it is gorgeous or really bombastic and gets my blood pumping. I love the music for Hunts!! Get this game. Get it! So far my only real complaints are that I wish I could use other weapons besides a sword, and I wish I could give commands to my party members (a la 15). That’s pretty much it. It’s such a good game. The critics are giving it great reviews because it DESERVES THEM. I guarantee you the 1 star reviews saying the combat is boring did not play more than 10 hours, maybe not even the demo. The very fact that they say its “two buttons” is stupid. The combat is incredibly engaging and well done, with a stagger system, juggle system, each Eikon stance has its own special feature 5+ abilities to pick from, etc. it’s ridiculously fun and I haven’t even unlocked all the eikons yet. I really wish people would mature up and not review a game they clearly didn’t bother playing. I don’t know why gamers are the freaking worst, but they are. The devs put so much love and attention into this game and it isn’t fair that people are giving it 1 star when they clearly did not play more than 2 hours.