Review ~ Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Saddest sentence ever.

I'm a big fan of the Ace Attorney series - I've played all three Phoenix Wright games as well as the Apollo Justice title. Miles Edgeworth has always been my favorite character, so when I heard they were making a game all about him, I knew I was going to be all over it. Who else can pull off a fuchsia suit and a caveat and still be awesome?

This game is not like the other games in the series - you are never actually in court. Instead, Edgeworth, Gumshoe, and a cast of new and familiar characters cracks cases by investigating and taking testimony out in the field.

Gameplay - You're investigating crime scenes now, and you actually get to move around. No more just pointing to stuff on the touch screen, unless Edgeworth decides to go in for a closer look. As you can see from my above screencap, you still get the sprites and all their amusing quirks. You can still shout objection if you so choose. And you're still presenting evidence and pressing people when their testimony doesn't quite add up. What's new is the "logic" feature. As you investigate, Edgeworth will occasionally come to a conclusion that will be added to the "logic" section you can access in the upper left hand corner of the screen. You can then put two together and come to a conclusion that pulls you further into the investigation. The new features in the game aren't much of a departure from past titles, and I feel it's much better then that perception crap you had to do in Apollo Justice where you basically got up in someone's face to see if they were slightly sweating on one word. Ugh. Hated that. Logic is an easy system, both to use and figure out. There's not too much mystery when you're trying to put two and two together.

Characters - Edgeworth, obviously, is the focus of this game. You're accompanied most of the time by your old pal Gumshoe, who I always enjoy seeing. There are a bunch of new characters in the game but there are also a lot of familiar faces as well. I was happy to see what characters came back for a spin in this new game. But if you're expecting to see Phoenix...don't get your hopes up.

Story - I would have to say this is probably the weakest part of the game. That isn't to say it's bad by any stretch, but compared to past games, it's a little lacking. There are five cases in the game, and they're all tied together. You kind of jump around taking on the cases out of order, which can make your mind spin a bit. The storyline is clear and enjoyable, but not particularly engaging like in past games, even though all the cases are related in this case. I found many of the cases were pretty short, except for the last one. In the true tradition of an Ace Attorney title, the last case goes on and on and on with no end in sight. And by the end you're screaming at your DS. Fun times.

Graphics and Touch Screen - The graphics are the same as they've been for the other titles. Touch screen use is pretty much the same too. You can use it to advance dialogue or move (or you can use the control pad) and you use it to access your evidence and sometimes make a response or too. You can also interact with specific pieces of evidence by zooming in and turning them around - but we've seen this in past games already too. There's really nothing new to report. Unfortunately there's no cool luminol or other crime scene tests like we've enjoyed sporadically in the past.

I really enjoyed this game - but I think I enjoyed it more because I'm such a huge Edgeworth fan. If you're a fan of the Ace Attorney series though, regardless of whether you're an Edgeworth fan or not, I think you'll enjoy it. Yes, it's a little different and I did miss being in court a little bit, but overall it's more of the same enjoyable experience with a few new twists.

8 out of 10 (The fact that Edgeworth was the main character jumped the score about half a point)

I (heart) Netflix and Broadway

More trip report will be coming up in the coming days. But I needed to take a break from that for a bit.

I signed up for Netflix awhile ago, and after the free trial was over I kept it. I have the cheapest plan - one DVD and unlimited streaming. I use the streaming the most. Between the PS3 and our Netflix enabled Bluray, it's really handy to have so many movie and TV shows ready to watch whenever I want. The streaming library grows all the time - just today I discovered they have Into the Woods! Into the Woods!! Really?! That isn't exactly a common movie to have. When it comes to musicals their selection leaves a lot to be desired, but there are a couple of good choices and I'm sure there will be more as time goes on. (Where is Show Boat?! I know it's old as hell and probably never came out on DVD, but come on! Find a way!)

I've been on a bit of a Broadway kick lately, which is evident in what I've watched on Netflix streaming lately:

Stagedoor - A documentary about the musical theater camp in upstate NY. It was interesting, and a quick watch.

Life After Tomorrow - This was an interesting and slightly disturbing documentary about the girls who were in Annie during the 70's and early 80's on Broadway and on tour. (Including Sarah Jessica Parker - totally forgot she was in that.)

Broadway: The American Musical - this was a six part series that originally aired on PBS, I believe. Hosted by Julie Andrews, it chronicles the history of Broadway from the turn of the century until like 2004. Very interesting and entertaining.

Singin' in the Rain - Can you believe I had never seen this before? It was really good - Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. Man. Stars don't have talent like that these days. And Gene Kelly was like 40 when that movie came out and he's dancing all over the place.

Besides being on a musicals kick, I'm also on a old movie kick. I plan to watch a bunch in the coming weeks... I'm sick of new movies. Most of them suck. Why can't people write a story any more? It seems to be we're just relying more and more on special effects and computers to tell our stories for us...which is impossible.

I have seen two new movies lately - The Hangover and Zombieland. Both were good. The Hangover was amusing and entertaining but not the non stop laugh-a-thon people make it out to be. I only laughed out loud a handful of times. (I do, however, finally get what's so hot about Bradley Cooper. Yum.) So over hyped, but still good. Zombieland was amusing, the perfect length and not very gory for a movie about zombies.

That's about it for now - FYI, if you set up a station on Pandora Radio for Wicked (Original Broadway Cast) you mostly seem to get music from Rent, Disney movies and Glee. (And Wicked, of course!) That's what I've been getting with my latest station, anyway.

Review ~ Up

I always enjoy Pixar movies. Some more than others, but I've enjoyed them all. Still, when I first heard about Up and saw the trailer, I wasn't too excited about it. An old man floats his house using a bunch of balloons? Seriously? It seemed rather far out to me - and it is. But by the time you're done watching, you won't care.

Up is the story of Carl Fredrickson, a retired balloon salesman who lives in what was once a beautiful residential area, but is now a construction zone. Carl dreamed of being an explorer as a child, and rather than be dragged off to a nursing home, he attaches his house to a bunch of balloons and takes off to finally follow his lifelong dream. Only he discovers Wilderness Explorer (think Boy Scout) Russell has accidentally stowed away. And then there's this bird named Kevin. And a taking Dug named dog. And it's an hour and a half of laughs, tears and entertainment that will have to riveted from beginning to end. 

It's hard to talk about the movie without giving much away, but it really is a touching story and it kind of tells an important lesson. Carl may seem like a cranky old man a lot of the time, but you'll find yourself rooting for him all the way. Kevin the bird never says a word but will have you laughing anyway. And Dug is quite possibly the cutest and most darling Pixar character ever. You can't help but love him. Even if he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

The voice acting and animation in this film are both top notch, of course, but the important thing is this movie is not all pretty pictures and clever one liners. Pixar knows how to tell a gripping and emotional story, and they've proved it again here - big time. In fact, I'll be bold enough to say that this might be the best story they've told thus far. (And that is some high praise coming from me - especially on the heels of last year's WALL-E.)


So if you haven't seen this movie yet, you're doing yourself a disservice. You will enjoy this movie, I promise. If you don't, I'm sorry, but you  have no soul.

Review ~ Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time

This Ratchet and Clank game has been a long time coming – and with the rumors that it’s the last game (though I’ve heard that before…) this game has a lot of hype to live up to. Does it? Well…

First – graphics. Well, it’s a PS3 game, so of course it looks pretty. The in game movies are especially attractive. The environments in the Ratchet and Clank series have always been lush, and this game is no exception.

Story has also been a huge component in this series. This game picks up where Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty left off. Clank and Ratchet are still separated, and Ratchet (with the assistance of the bumbling and always amusing Captain Quark), is looking for him. Along the way, both learn more about their pasts and battle that devious droid Dr. Nefarious. While the story in the game is solid (and often very funny and heartfelt), I didn’t feel it was as strong as some past titles – mostly because it still leaves many questions unanswered. It also seems much shorter than past games, and there are far less planets to explore, but I’ll get into that more later.

As far as sound goes, voice acting has always been a prominent feature, and once again there’s wonderful voice acting here. The game is fully voice acted, but of course you have the option of turning on subtitles if you wish. The music is fine, but not particularly memorable. But you’re not playing this for the music.

Now for the main event – the gameplay. As there are many aspects to the gameplay in these titles, I’m going to break this down into categories:

WEAPONS: Weapons have always been a HUGE part of Ratchet and Clank games. Over the years we’ve seen all sorts of wacky weapons, and in more recent titles we’ve been able to upgrade them. After such a rich weapons history, I was somewhat disappointed with the weapons in this game. Of course, you have your basic weapons, but many of the funkier options – like the gun that turns enemies into monkeys – are just variations of weapons we’ve seen already. (Remember when you could turn enemies into chickens?) This isn’t such a big deal, really – how many different effective weapons can you dream up before you start repeating yourself? But what disappointed me the most was the amount of weapons I found to be kind of useless. Too many spots on my quick select were taken up with weapons that merely incapacitated enemies. A gun that temporarily freezes enemies comes to mind.

I’d say that about half of the weapons in the game I either used very rarely or not at all.

You get most of your weapons by purchasing them from vendors – a few others are won. The vendor this time is called GrummelNet, and whenever you purchase a new weapon from them you’re treated to a cute video about it featuring a cartoon Ratchet.

As in some past titles, your weapons level up. 5 is the max level, and it’s really not hard to level your weapons up to the maximum. In some of the past games you were able to upgrade your weapons further by giving them customized features. Well, in this game you can find upgrade packs on various planets and moons which add enhancements to certain weapons. These upgrades are free, and you can switch between them as often as you like. There are several upgrades that affect shots, range, power etc. These enhancements are pretty good, but not nearly as powerful as past games. Also, these upgrades are only available on 4 of the weapons, which I found disappointing. While all the weapons transform into a new weapon at level 5, this doesn’t really make up for the lack of customization.

Gadgets also used to be a big part of the game, but not any more. Aside from the grind boots, which come standard on Ratchet’s shoes nowadays, there are only four gadgets in this game. FOUR. And considering you start the game with swingshot again, and another gadget never requires Ratchet to use it, there’s really only two. While it’s easy to access these gadgets on the fly (just press up, right, down or left on the D-pad – each corresponds to one) only having a small amount of gadgets was a huge disappointment. I fondly remember the old days where you had to use several gadgets just to get through an area – not so much the case any more. And with the tiny gadget selection comes the absence of minigames where you unlock doors or solve other puzzles (Those aspects aren’t totally missing, but I’ll get there.)

Ratchet levels up in this game, too. And as his level rises his nanotech does too. You can also buy armor upgrades, but there are no wrench upgrades here.

There are crates a plenty – and once again bolts are not in short supply. I had no trouble affording anything ever.

There have always been sections in past games where you play as Clank, but it’s never been as much as it is in this game. Clank has long sections to himself, and while he does fight, a little, mostly he solves puzzles involving copying himself and using these copies to push buttons and open doors so he can progress further. Clank also has a minigame that I thought would play a bigger part (and is kind of a spoiler to explain) but you are only required to play it about 3 or 4 times. Neither of these aspects were tons of fun, but they weren’t horrible. Despite that, whenever the game switched to Clank, I couldn’t wait to get back to Ratchet.

Space battles have been a large part of the last few games, although this time there are far less missions and I found the battles easier in general. Your ship is upgraded as you find various Zoni scattered across the galaxy. This gives you better armor and weapons. I liked that system, but I didn’t really care for the new navigation system. Instead of going directly to the planet, on your first visit you must first go to the solar system and fly to the planet yourself. (On subsequent visits you can go directly to the planet.) Each solar system has 1, 2 or 3 major planets/ships to visit – these locations are where the story happens. Each solar system also has various moons where you can find Zoni/gold bolts/upgrade packs. These moons take the place of the multiple paths you used to find on the planets. Each planet pretty much has only one direction to go in now, and in all honesty I missed having multiple objectives on each planet. Most of the moons involve either killing a certain amount of enemies, or platforming elements that lead to your prize. There is no environment to these moons, and they’re pretty uninspired graphics wise. You also cannot warp directly to the moons – you must fly to each one yourself every time.

There are additional missions you can do in space to gain extra bolts. Most of them are very easy and take only minutes to complete. For many of them I felt like I was being paid more bolts than I deserved for the work I was doing. …Not that I’m complaining.

Gold bolts are a staple in Ratchet and Clank games, so of course they’re back. But, in continuation with the trend you’re probably noticing, most of them were very easy to find. Lots of them were in plain sight. In past games the gold bolts were often tucked away in hard to reach areas. Not so much here – I found many without much effort.

Skill points are also an expected feature that has returned. Skill points unlock cheats and other additional content. They range from easy to difficult and they involve completing skills you wouldn’t normally perform during the course of the game. The difficulty range in this game is on par with past titles, but I felt there was less of them this time around. There is also trophy support. You get most of them just by progressing normally through the game. If you’re looking to get rewarded for doing tough stuff, stick to the skill points.

This review was based on playing on medium, and I found the game to be pretty easy compared to past game. I had no problem affording anything I wanted to buy, ammo is plentiful and I didn’t find myself being slaughtered by enemies (even bosses) very often. Makes me wonder how easy the easy version is. (And yeah, I really think the game is easy – I haven’t become a better player.)

Overall I’ve been pretty down on this game during this review. The story and graphics certainly held up to Ratchet and Clank standards. But the game as a whole was too short. I didn’t feel like it had the depth of previous installments. There were fewer gadgets and too many useless weapons. There wasn’t as much to do. Not as much customization. Gold bolts are not hidden as well. The degree of difficulty is also kind of low. But even after all that, it was still a very good game. The thing is, despite all that negative stuff, Ratchet and Clank games are always so excellent that even one that isn’t quite up to par is still a fun, engaging experience. I’d definitely encourage everyone to play – but fans of the series, don’t expect the best one ever. This game is flawed, yes, but it’s still way better than a lot of other games out there. Not every game can be a masterpiece, after all. 

8 out of 10

Movies On Base

So, with baseball season coming to a close, I've had a yearning to watch some baseball movies. Enter Netflix. After a simple internet search, I created a list of movies I wanna watch having to do with America's favorite pastime. Some of these are movies I've seen before. But most of them I haven't seen.

Here's the list:

bold - watched it since starting since project.
italics - seen it before


Mr. Baseball
Field of Dreams
61*
The Natural
Cobb
Major League
Major League 2
Angels in the Outfield
The Sandlot 
The Rookie of the Year
The Babe
Pastime
Bang the Drum Slowly
The Bad News Bears
Bleacher Bums
Bull Durham
Eight Men Out
For Love of the Game
Damn Yankees
Everyone's Hero
Fear Strikes Out
Mickey
The Winning Season
The Life and Times of Hank Greenburg
Finding Buck McHenry
A League of Their Own
Hustle 
The Pride of the Yankees
The Rookie
The Scout

So yeah, I've only watched one movie so far, Mr. Baseball, which is from the early 90's and stars Tom Selleck as a fading major leaguer who goes to play in Japan. It's a comedy, and I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It's pretty funny. Plus, Tom Selleck is just plain awesome. Also, it has the guy from those State Farm commercials. A good start to my project.


Next on my list? I'm not sure. I have a bunch of the movies waiting for me from Netflix, plus I actually own a few. I'll probably watch either Cobb or The Natural next.

Review ~ Final Fantasy IV DS

Okay, this game is a little old. Well, technically the game itself is a LOT old, but this incarnation isn't so bad.

So on Saturday I finally beat the game, which I had previously complained about here and here. 


(Oh, and this review contains no crappy iPhone photos taken in a car.)


Let's get down to it.


Final Fantasy IV originally came out for the Super Nintendo a number of years ago. It has been reincarnated several times since, and I'm pretty sure I own all of those efforts. However, this version of the game was improved with new graphics, cut scenes and junk, which refreshed it a bit. After starting and stopping this game so many times, I was determined to finally beat it. (Success! Yay!)


Story: In the early days, Squaresoft (remember those days?) was obsessed with crystals, apparently, because it seems like the story of all their early titles revolves around them in some way. This game is no exception. An evil guy is stealing all the crystals in the world for an evil purpose and it's your job to stop him! OMG! To the 16bit airship! Okay, so the story isn't going to win any prizes, but it's really not bad as far as early RPG's go. There's a clear purpose and actually plenty of twists and turns along the way. What more do you need, really?


Characters: At most points in the game you have a 5 character party. A what? Yeah, it's worth repeating. 5 CHARACTERS. IN YOUR PARTY. AT THE SAME TIME. We can only dream of that in this gaming era, but the fact is you kinda need every last character you can wrangle into your band of misfits. But more on that later. As far as the characters themselves go, aside from Cecil, your main dude, and to a lesser extent Kain, his pal, there's not too much character development. They all have their own personalities though: Rosa, the annoying homemaker wanna be; Rydia, the mysterious one; Edge, the brash one; Yang, so full of pride and honor; Palom and Porom, the vivacious kids; Tellah, the old guy; Edward, the sissy; Cid, hardworking and determined - you get the idea. You don't get to pick and choose what characters you want to use at any point in the game. You use who you have and you deal with it. Characters rotate in and out of your party, but unlike most other games, they don't usually come back. It kind of makes it hard to power level, because there's a good chance you'll be losing a character or two in the not too distant future. One of the characters you finish the game off with doesn't show up until the final few hours of gameplay.


Battle System: There's really nothing special here. It's pretty basic for an old school RPG. Each character has a set job they're forced into. It comes with various abilities. You learn new spells and the like by leveling up. You can't see what spells or abilities you're going to learn, nor can you choose or control it in any way. There's no skill to learning stuff except grinding. However, there was a new augment system added into this version that reaps pretty good abilities - but if you don't understand how this system works, as I didn't, you'll miss out on a lot of good stuff. The game never really explains how this works. Once your character learns an augment they can use that ability. Some are battle abilities that you can add to your menu to use on the field, but others are default abilities you just have all the time. I strongly suggest using one of the good guides you can find at Gamefaqs if you want to get all the augments. It's worth it. Because a lot of them are pretty awesome.

Gameplay: Battles move fast in this game, even when you don't have the ATB set to active. (If you're not a gamer, that last sentence will mean nothing.) I found several bosses to be very difficult to defeat, despite being over leveled. (And there were even a few random encounter enemies - dragons, mostly. WTF is with the crystals and the dragons?! - that slaughtered my ass.) I was over level 70 and still had a hard time with the last boss - something I never have a problem with in Final Fantasy's newer installments. Cecil was the only one with decent HP when it finally fell. Another character had 2 HP and everyone else was KO'd. So you remember when I said you'd need every last character? Yeah. But there's more to this game than level grinding. Many of these bosses and enemies require good strategy to go down. Not just brute force.



Graphics: The updated graphics are pretty, if kind of cutesy. You even kinda wanna cuddle armored Kain. For a DS game, though, it's fine. The game has voice acting in most of the cut scenes, which really isn't a lot, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. The new graphics and updating really does a lot to make this game fresh, but at the same time proves that older games can stand the test of time.


Sidequests: The older Final Fantasy games aren't really known for their side quests - but there a few. Most of them involve getting better summon or equipment and can be completed later in the game. There's also the obnoxious Namingway side quest, which I never finished and don't feel about. If he wants to wait forever for that stupid pudding, so be it. You also get items for map completion, which I thought was a nice touch and really had me going into every nock and cranny of the dungeons in order to reap the rewards - which were pretty decent, especially towards the end of the game.


Overall: Great classic RPG with good story and characters, solid gameplay and appropriate, enjoyable updates. Fans of both new and old school RPG's will have fun with this one - I know I did. It really does stand the test of time.


93 out of 100

Fox Sunday Line up Premieres - Review Time!

So, last night was the premiere of FOX's "Animation Domination", their animated Sunday night line up which kicks off with The Simpsons, then the premiere of the new Cleveland Show, Family Guy, and finally American Dad, which I don't watch. But here are some quick reviews of the other 3.

I love The Simpsons. I've been watching the show for many of the 20 years it's been on the air. Yeah, not every season has been great, but I think it's recently started to find its stride again. So I was excited for the season premiere. 

The episode was co-written by, and co-starred comedian Seth Rogen, who I greatly enjoy in his various film roles. So I guess my expectations of this episode were a little higher than they should have been. Don't get me wrong, the episode still had plenty of funny moments - mostly because I'm a nerd and all the nerdy humor involving Comic Guy appealed to me - but it wasn't hilarious from start to finish. There was no secondary story, which was a little strange, and aside from Homer the Simpson's family didn't play much of a role. The beginning of the show was definitely the strongest part of the show - once Rogen's character, a Hollywood trainer to the stars, showed up, the show went downhill a little bit. The character he played was amusing, and they did a pretty good job of poking fun at Hollywood (they usually do), but they simply couldn't keep up the momentum they had built up at the beginning of the episode. 


What got me was the line that was bleeped out of the show - I think that's a Simpsons' first, if I'm not mistaken. It wasn't just the curse that bleeped out, but the whole rest of the line. I guess the FOX censors didn't want to take any chances with the FCC. It was odd, but still hilarious. There were also some great sight gags, of course, mostly involving some movie posters.


Overall, it was a solid episode. Entertaining, but not fantastic.

When I first heard about this show, I was like, "They're giving Cleveland a show? He is the most boring character on Family Guy!" Needless to say, my expectations were low. I just didn't see how they could create an entertaining show with such a dull secondary character.


Well, the show was about as boring as I anticipated. The show started off with some scenes with the Family Guy characters back home in Rhode Island before he left town intending to head for California, but once Cleveland and his son packed up their car and drove off they left the humor behind. I did enjoy how they used the Cleveland in the bathtub joke one last time - also, Stewie's line: "He's getting his own show?" probably summed up the thoughts of most viewers. I know it did mine.


What started with weak, lame theme song, continued with fifteen minutes of lame, boring characters and lame, boring attempts at humor. Maybe there's some potential with his red neck neighbor across the street, the other two neighbors, including a bear named Tim, just seemed uninspired sidekicks. As for the family, they were pretty dull - and I already can't stand the foul mouthed kindergartner. Also, what the hell happened to Cleveland Jr.? He goes from hyper-active 8 year old to fat 14 year old? He was another character that had me checking the clock, waiting for the show to end. 


The only laughs in the show aside from the beginning scenes were some the Family Guy like flashbacks.


So I guess in the end my expectations were met - The Cleveland Show was a boring show centered around a boring character. I know I'll be tuning out in the future.

That leaves Family Guy, which has been, in my opinion, declining in recent seasons. It tries to be cutting edge and offensive sometimes, going more for a shock than a laugh. Last night, however, the show was the clear winner, as the episode where Brian and Stewie found themselves in a variety of different universes was funny from beginning to end. I normally complain when a show uses certain characters too much - and that's certainly the case with Stewie and Brian, but in this case I don't mind. They interact so well, and are always entertaining to watch.


There was something to make me chuckle in each dimension the duo visited in the episode - including a dimension where Brian was a real dog and Stewie a real baby. There was also a dimension where everything was drawn Disney style - the animation was great, as was the accompanying song about pie - but I kept waiting for the scene to end badly and couldn't really enjoy it too much. Sure enough, it ended horribly, making me cringe. But that's Family Guy for you. Can't have an episode of Family Guy without it.


But overall I'm looking forward to what lies ahead for The Simpsons and Family Guy this season. As for Cleveland, I wonder if he'll stick around. And if not, will he return to Family Guy? I hope so. That'll always be his home to me.

Review ~ "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown

Say what you want about Dan Brown - the man can write a gripping and fascinating tale by weaving in art and architecture and history. Since I love all those things, I really loved both "Angels and Demons" and "The DaVinci Code". (I slightly prefer "Angels and Demons".) Anyway, when I heard his newest book was finally coming out, I snatched it up, hoping for another fast paced adventure that was hard to put down.

In "The Lost Symbol", Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor from the previous 2 books, finds himself running around Washington D.C. Someone is in trouble, and apparently Robert is the only one who can save him. It's hard to give a decent synopsis without giving too much of the book away.

The book was good. But I didn't like it anywhere near as much as I liked his previous 2 efforts. Since I'm a big American history buff, I thought a book set in our nation's capitol would appeal to me. But sadly the book does not really infuse art, history and architecture as much as the previous 2 efforts - instead it focuses mainly on the history and workings of the Freemasons, which is a famous organization I'm sure you've heard of. Well, they play a huge role in this book, and while there was still interesting history, art and architecture tidbits, it just wasn't much. It just wasn't the same. 

Aside from that, I found that while I cared about what happened in the book, I really had no trouble putting it down. Unlike the other 2 books, which I quickly devoured, I kind of read this one leisurely, over the course of a week. The story is good, but it's not quite as fascinating as the other two books. There are shocking moments, but I have to say only one really got me. The others didn't really do much to affect me emotionally.

And while all of this books have moments where you step back and realize how absurd the whole thing is, I've always been able to kind of overlook that in the other books. In this one, however, I found that much harder. I even found myself rolling my eyes a couple of things at the actions of Langdon and his comrades. And I didn't really care for the ending either.

I know it sounds like I'm being really hard on the book - if you're a Dan Brown fan, I still suggest reading it. It's more of the same, but I don't think it's up to the same standards. I was disappointed. In the end, I was hoping for more than the book delivered. But I think he had a lot to measure up to based on the success of his previous two books. It's not easy to always live up to the hype. He still manages to weave a good tale, and his use of mixing history with fiction is still pretty strong. 

If you've never read one of his books, though, I wouldn't start with this one. I'd start at the beginning - read Angels and Demons. Save this one for when you've got some time to kill.

Squeal of Glee

So I finally sat down and watched the 2 episodes of Glee that have aired so far. I've heard many great things, and I thought the show looked great from the commercials, so I was really expecting to love the show.

I'm happy to report, I was not disappointed.

Usually I don't like shows right off the bat. Usually they have to have at least half a season (if not a whole one) under their belt, because it takes me a few episodes to warm up to the characters. This is true with a lot of shows that I love: The Office and Arrested Development come to mind. But I found myself attracted to the characters. 

A big thing about Glee is that it's so different - it's not just another sitcom. It's not really laugh out loud funny - but it's thoroughly entertaining because it's smart. It's not some stock characters and a laugh track. The characters are real but quirky at the same time. They're truly endearing. And have I mentioned that the music is fantastic? (As is the cast.)

I definitely suggest everyone give this show a try. If you're looking for something on TV that's different from the usual crap - you've got it right here. I'm really looking forward to see where the show goes over the rest of the season.

Glee airs Wednesday nights @  9 EST on FOX.

REVIEW ~ Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

 The best observation this detective ever made.

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

I very much enjoyed the first Professor Layton game, so when I heard about the sequel, I was stoked. I expected more of the same - puzzles, mystery, a guy in a huge ass hat - and I wasn't disappointed. Plus there were a few improvements along the way.

(You must excuse my blurry pics - most were taken in a car with an iPhone. I did the best I could. I actually went and retyped the dialogue so it would be easier to read.)


Just like in the previous game, Professor Layton and his "apprentice", Luke, set out to solve a mystery. This time they're trying to find out of this box really killed Layton's mentor. (I will not make a joke... I will not make a joke...) This time they get to explore several different areas and once again meet a slew of colorful characters. Along the way you solve puzzles to move the game along. (There are 138 in the story, but you don't have to solve them all to beat the game.) There are also a few minigames you'll want to complete, but we'll get to that.

You don't have to play the first game to enjoy this one - it will help, because there are several characters that carry over, but if this is your first adventure with the Professor, you will not feel like a kid who starts coming to class in the middle of the semester.

The great thing about the game is the story draws you right in from the beginning and it's hard to put down. Once the Professor and Luke start adding up the mysteries, you won't want to put the game down until "SOLVED" is stamped across all of them. The gameplay operates as it did before - point and click to move and talk to people. It can't possibly be more simple.

Animation, music, voice acting - all great. I wish there was a little more voice acting, but there was a decent amount of cut scenes, and they are limited by the size of a DS cartridge.


The puzzles are pretty diverse. You might be moving blocks or pancakes, filling every piece on a chess board, finding the area of a garden, dividing estate or answering a riddle. You won't get bored with the variation. Once again you'll find hint coins scattered around that you can spend for a clue if you need one. The hints aren't always the best, but for the most part they steer you down the path to the answer.


My complaint only really complaint concerning the puzzles is that I wish there were less that involved math. To me, a puzzle that asks me to find the radius of a circle, and then use that to find the area of this weird quadrangle area is way too much like school for my taste. If I need more than a simple calculator to figure out the answer - forget it. This is a video game, not a final exam. (Can you tell math was never my best subject?) I'd also like to see an "undo" feature - that would have helped me quite a few times. Sometimes all you want to do once in awhile is take back a move instead of starting the whole puzzle over.


New to this game was the memo feature you could activate during a puzzle. Although it's not really a lot of space to write, it was usually all you needed to jot down a thought or a number. What I also liked was that you could go back to look at the puzzle and then return to your scribblings - whatever you wrote on the memo screen didn't disappear unless you cleared it.

 

Using the memo feature for something totally nonconstructive.

Were there a few puzzles that I thought were kind of ridiculous? Yup. But those were few and far between. I wouldn't say it affected the game at all.


There are 3 mini games that you can access throughout the game. You don't really have to do any of them, but 2 are definitely worth completing. The other...eh. We'll get to that.


The first involves putting a camera back together. You find pieces as you do puzzles. Once you put the camera together, you can take pictures of certain locations and find the differences between the actual location and the picture you took. Once you find three, you'll be able to find a hidden puzzle. I thought putting the camera together was interesting, but finding the differences in the photos was certainly a highlight.


The second involved playing personal trainer to an overweight hamster you get to name. (I named mine Rocky.) As you solve puzzles you get various toys you use to lead your hamster around the board, trying to get him to take as many steps as possible. As he meets his goals, he slims down and once he's lost all his excess flab he'll be a big help to you. The only drawback to the hamster is his voice - he sounds like some cranky stereotypical New Yorker. (I can say that, because I'm from New York.) I cringed every time I heard his voice, but otherwise I thought the training was pretty fun and definitely took some planning and thought.

 

Youz guyz betta go easy on me, or you'll be swimmin' wit' the fishes!

Finally...there was the tea. Oh, the tea. First of all, who carries around a full tea set? Second of all, where the hell are they heating up this tea? I'm scared at the amount of equipment Layton is making Luke haul around. I hope he'll be willing to spring for the chripractor.

So, as you solve puzzles you get tea ingredients. You can mix 3 and try to create one of 12 different tea recipies.

This part of it is okay, if you can overlook the logistics I pointed out. It does get frustrating to create cup after cup of "bad tea" that the characters then passive aggressively mock you for.

I think Layton is covertly brewing poisons, judging by the skull and crossbones.

Trust me. That whole crying thing isn't even the worst of it. I think the game's goal was to get you to cry. Anyway, once you finally concoct a blend that's not gonna kill anyone, people around town will starting whining about various problems. Tea is apparently Layton's drug of choice, 'cause he's pushing it like he's makin' a profit. (To even get someone to request tea, you often have to enter and reenter areas numerous times. It wasn't so bad that you were waiting several minutes or anything, but it was kind of annoying.) Anyway, you'll next have to choose which kind of tea you want to serve them. And it better be the right one.

I found that often it was kind of hard to choose exactly what tea the person wanted, and had to try several before I chose one they wouldn't throw back in my face. And if you want to unlock every puzzle in the game, you better like to play tea time. Because you'll have to serve a successful cup to everybody in order to unlock them all. I just found this whole game silly and often frustrating. The logic behind the whole thing was also just too much for me to accept. Seriously - Layton's investigating something kind of important here. I understand a gentleman is always nice, or whatever, but come on. You don't have time to be brewing tea for everybody in town - especially if you're building a fire to boil the water, which is the only marginally reasonable explanation I can think of - especially when you're pulling out the cups and crumpets in the middle of a forest. Also, I don't know where Luke's parents are, but I don't think they'd want their son to be your tea toting pack mule.


Now that I've torn that mini game apart, I feel better. That's really the only gripe I have with the game, and it's not even a big one, really. There's so much to like about this game that one low light really falls into the background. Even after you complete the story there are more puzzles to solve - you can even download a new one every week by connecting to the online network. 

So I highly recommend this game if you enjoy a good puzzle and a good story...perhaps with a nice cup of tea. I just hope you actually have a stove.


My rating: 88 out of 100.

Fat Plumbers Can Fly

So I just beat Super Mario Galaxy. Finally.

Just a warning - there are some minor spoilers in here, if you give a damn.

I got this game for Christmas the year it came out (2007, I wanna say) and played it shortly thereafter. And I played a good size chunk of it. But then it happened. I got distracted. Time went by, and the game sat there, half finished and forgotten. And the status dropped from "game I'm playing" to "game I'm half way through" to "game I really should finally finish". But the problem is, half the time when you get to that last stage, it's too late to pick up where you left off. You can't remember what the hell's going on, or the controls have become a fuzzy memory. So you know what that means - you have to start over. And it's just so sad, isn't it? Looking at the old file, seeing those 10 hours you sunk into a game you're now abandoning for a fresh start. That's 10 hours of your life down the toilet, basically. It's not easy to take.

And sometimes that second try doesn't go too well either. The distraction cycle starts all over again. And now it's 20 hours down the tubes.

Luckily for me I actually continued through this time, and finished the game. I didn't finish having gotten all the stars I would have liked to get, (not all of them, by any means, but most of them) but I knew with so many games coming out soon that I was likely to get taken over by "the distraction" (suddenly I've decided it's its own entity) and forget about it. Again. So since I was already at the end anyway, and could leave freely at any time to kick Bowser's ass, I did just that. He fell into lava, but of course, he's fine. That's old hat for him. He probably takes baths in the stuff by this point.

Now you don't really play a game like Mario for the story. It's pretty predictable. Good vs. Evil. Fat plumber loses pink clad Princess, fat plumber saves pink clad Princess. Oafish brother says he's gonna help but then ends up being more work. Mushroom head people cry and whine and get in the way. Giant evil lizard creature sends his child into harms way. Tiny stars commit mass suicide. Typical stuff.

I normally like Luigi, but he was completely stupid in this game. First you have to save his ass. Fine. He's saved you before - that one time, so fine. Then he offers to help you - he's gonna find some stars, he says. Great! You go do that. I've got like 100 to go. Way to be helpful, brother! You're the best. Then he finds a star all right. But he gets stuck/lost. And he's crying for you to come save him. Again. So his "help" just ends up being more work for you. This happens 3 times. And then he gives up. He's "tired" he says. And he crashes with the toads, who are probably doing shrooms or god knows what else. Meanwhile Mario's running around 24/7 shooting from galaxy to galaxy finding star after star and he's not complaining he's tired. Meanwhile Luigi, the brother who appears to be in better shape and not at risk for type II diabetes, has given up. Way to help. Just take up space with the rest of the toads, why don't you. Why don't you find that creepy doctor guy from Luigi's mansion and Super Mario Sunshine? I'm sure he could invent something out of a cardboard tube and a flashlight in 3 seconds that would be more useful than you.

But overall it was a fun game and I really enjoyed it. The platforming was great. Really inventive, if frustrating at times. I have a lot of experience with platformers since I've been playing them for over 20 years, so it takes a lot to challenge me. This game definitely brought it. But at the same time it wasn't ridiculously impossible, which I also hate. Nintendo knows how to make a platformer. And they know how to keep things fresh - there were plenty of elements I had never seen before. But this is no surprise.

People complain that Mario titles are all the same. Okay, story wise they have some ground to stand on, but really - who cares? Mario isn't about the story. It's about familiar characters you enjoy and great gameplay. And on those fronts, it's never disappointed me. Can't wait for Galaxy 2. Bring on Yoshi, because I seriously missed him in this game. Also, please don't have him dissolve into blobs of goo and die if he should touch water like what happened in Sunshine. Because that greatly disturbed me.

But having beat this game...it got me wondering... Could I make a list of every game I've ever beaten? Could you?

Well, I'm on the quest to find out. Stay Tuned.

The Flix

So you know what's awesome? Netflix. Before you used to practically have to strap me down to get me to watch a movie at home. I just feel like I'm wasting my time if it's on DVD and I can watch it later. I bet I have something more important to do NOW. Like sit on this couch. Yeah.

Anyway, so now that I'm paying for these DVDs I'm more inclined to watch them. Here are quickie reviews of everything I've watched so far. And don't judge me - Netflix seriously screwed up at one point and sent me random movies that were WAY far down on my queue, saved for a rainy day where I felt like watching something brainless. I'm not making this up - I have a witness.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno ~ I enjoy Seth Rogen, I must admit. And while this movie was funny, I wouldn't put it in the same humor category as 40 Year Old Virgin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up or Step Brothers. The movie was entertaining but not particularly memorable. A solid rental, though. Worth a watch.

Marley & Me ~ If you're not a dog lover, don't bother. But I think dog lovers like myself will definitely get something out of this movie. (Including a tear or two.) It's a really enjoyable movie - not to the point that I would buy it, but I recommend it. Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson have a great chemistry. Definitely worth watching.

Stranger Than Fiction ~ An odd movie... I enjoy Will Ferrell, but this is not one of his best. The story really teeters on being unbelievable - you'll really have to get your brain a rest to enjoy this one. Once was enough. I don't think I'd watch it again. If you like Will Ferrell you should watch it just to see him do something kind of different.

Milk ~ A solid biopic, but not my favorite. A little slow in parts. Good and solid without being great. Definitely worth seeing, but I wouldn't buy it.

Ghost Town ~ Based on the trailer I thought I would love it. But it's not as funny or clever as it could have been. An enjoyable movie, and while I'd recommend it, it's not with much enthusiasm. Paced oddly.

Charlie Bartlett ~ Another movie that looked promising based on the trailer. But it too was not as funny/clever as it could have been, and was also paced poorly. Just okay. If you wanna see a lot of the kids from Degrassi, I swear they shoved them all in a bus and drove them over to the set.

Definitely, Maybe ~ A cute romantic comedy starring the always entertaining Ryan Reynolds. Sweet without being sappy. I wouldn't buy it, but I enjoyed it. Definitely an different kind of a romantic comedy, which was refreshing.

Hamlet 2 ~ Another movie where the trailer was better. While a few moments were funny, most of the movie was weird and AGAIN not paced well. (Who is editting these movies? The same guy?) Just okay. There are much better comedies out there.

And this is where Netflix kind of decided to do it's own thing.

Bee Movie ~ Cuter, funnier and more entertaining than I thought it would be. Though at times it is ridiculous, it never takes itself seriously, which only adds to the charm. I actually really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it - if you like animated movies and you like Jerry Seinfeld, you should definitely give this movie a look. I would actually consider buying this one.

Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa ~ Even more medicore than the original. If I have to hear "I like to move it" one more time... There were a few laughs, but otherwise there have been much better animated movies made. If you haven't seen the first one, forget it all together. If you have, it's worth watching if you're bored. The penguins, as always, steal the show.

Uptown Girls ~ A fluffy chick flick all the way. It's a very stereotypical romantic comedy, but it's good enough that you won't want those minutes of your life back - if you like these kinds of movies. Dakota Fanning is cute. Made me wonder what the hell happened to Brittany Murphy.

13 Going on 30 ~ Okay, this movie was really cute. Far from being anything groundbreaking, but it was just an enjoyable hour and a half. Jennifer Garner is entertaining to watch. I'd watch this one again.

Role Models ~ Who doesn't love Paul Rudd? This movie isn't as hilarious as some of the other movies he's done recently, but it's still an enjoyable comedy that's worth a watch. Not too many laugh out loud moments, but you'll be entertained.

Okay, I'm done. Count how many times I used the word 'enjoyable'. I bet it's a lot.

Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction ~ Review (Spoiler Free)

I’ve always been a big fan of the Ratchet and Clank series. They’ve always been solid platformers that had interesting stories, great characters, clever dialogue and fun gadgets and weapons. So needless to say I was quick to pick up the newest installment, especially after being quickly hooked by the demo.

Gameplay – Gameplay is similar to the past games. The game is still a platformer with RPG elements. Ratchet still gains nanotech from killing enemies. So in a sense he ‘levels up’. The weapons also level up with continued use. Ratchet comes with some of the old gadgets you’ve become used to in the older games. (Can’t get around without that swingshot and grindboots!) You can still buy armor and weapons from vendors. The quick select is expanded into pages, so you can basically have all your weapons and gadgets at the tip of your fingers. The controls, as always, are perfectly suited for the game mechanics.

But this game is no carbon copy of the past titles. You can also buy devices from a separate vendor. These do various things, such a leech bomb which steals your enemies’ HP for you. I haven’t really found a use for these items yet. Raritanium is featured in this game as well, only here it levels up your weapons instead of your ship. You can do this at the armor vendor. Each weapon has a grid and each space on the grid levels up a different feature of the weapon. There are spaces that increase damage, cause the enemies to drop more bolts, and increase the rate of fire, among other features. Each space costs a different amount of raritanium to upgrade. This varies greatly depending on the weapon and what you want to upgrade. The weapons you get early in the game don’t need too much raritanium to level up, but as you get farther into the game the weapons require more and more. Each weapon also has a ‘?’ space that you have to unlock by purchasing all the upgrades around it. This then turns into a special addition for the weapon that basically serves to increase damage.

Space battles are back, but this time your controls are different. You control the ship itself with one analog stick and control your aiming with the other. Sometimes you also switch to Clank at a gun turret, where all you do is aim and shoot. I’m not a particularly huge fan of the ship battles. To me the controls are kind of difficult to use, but then again I’m no fan of piloting games in general.

This game also makes use of the motion sensor in the PS3 controller. There are several instances (including one of Clank’s devices) which require you to tilt the controller in order to complete a task. I found this kind of control sort of difficult at first (and this is from someone who owns a Wii), but I’m getting the hang of it. It certainly does add a different dynamic to the game.

As usual there are also portions of the game where you control Clank. Only this time he has different powers, including levitation and the ability to slow down time. It’s certainly much more interesting than the usual fare of ordering other robots to do your bidding.

I’ve read other reviews that said this game was easy. Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I will admit that there are certain aspects that do make your journey a bit simpler. For one thing, unlike past Ratchet and Clank titles, money is not that difficult to come by. I haven’t found myself short on cash yet. Also, the raritanium to update weapons is not hard to come by. It is not in abundance, and you will have to pick and choose your upgrades wisely, but upgrading as a whole is not something that happens rarely. Also, weapons vendors seem to be everywhere. That’s not only good because it allows you to frequently purchase ammo, but also because it actually heals you!

Story – The story is interesting as always. Once again you’re up against an evil, but unintentionally humorous, villain. The dialogue is also as funny as it’s ever been.

Graphics – Well, it’s the PS3, so I wouldn’t expect anything less than great. The environments are extremely detailed and expansive. Ratchet and Clank themselves also look great. You can even see the hair on Ratchet’s face.

Sound – The voice acting is top notch as usual. All the old voices you’ve come to know and love are back. The music is enjoyable.

Overall I’ve been extremely pleased with the game. The changes keep the game fresh, but at the same time it retains the same aspects that made the past games so enjoyable. This new installment will please not only fans of the series but new fans as well. Hopefully we haven’t seen the last of Ratchet and Clank.

Total score: 8.5 (9 on Gamefaqs. They don't allow 1/2 scores)