The Last Jedi

I’m not mad about The Last Jedi, I’m just disappointed.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out and boy howdy has it fractured the fan base. I’ll keep this simple as not to spoil anything right away.

PLOT

Starting almost immediately after The Force Awakens…..

The First Order slowly chasing the remains of the Resistance in a plodding space ship chase.

Finn and Rose (a lowly maintenance worker and escape pod guard) plot a mission to stop the First Order from following the Resistance fleet.

Rey has found Luke Skywalker and wants to learn more about the Force.

Kyo Ren is all worked up about not being a better Sith, he doesn’t have the respect he needs, still has parental issues and is upset about a girl besting him in a sword fight.

Supreme Commander Snoke has a nefarious plan.

Leia and Poe are at odds about what they should be doing against the First Order.

More conflict.

Action.

Final resolution.

The short and skinny about The Last Jedi.

I have seen this twice, once as a starry eyed fan and then as a guy who has been burned by a Star Wars film before.

I do recommend seeing The Last Jedi. Hell if you are a nerd you already have. If you are a casual fan go see it. If you are a hardcore fan and haven’t seen it….what is wrong with you?

If you are from the haven’t seen it camp, go in open minded. Don’t let the reviews skew your opinion. Form your own thoughts. Don’t listen to the internet prior to screening.

Now I have more to say on the film, but I’ll say it after the break.

There will be some plot talk and potential spoilers.

Go see the film.

Everyone else follow me…….

D&D Pregame 12-16-17

The days have grown shorter and the nights have grown longer and colder. Winter is slowly creeping into the realm. The sky is a near constant shade of grey as the clouds prepare to begin their yearly delivery of snow.

The paladins and crusaders of Torm, Tempus and Tyr have gone to the Dead Lands to investigate the occurrences there. They have left behind a small contingent of knights to act as reinforcements, re-supply and as a collecting station for any other holy warriors willing to join their cause.

The townsfolk are still oblivious to the events that occurred below the city just a month prior. The city guard managed to round up the remaining citizens associated with the death cult. The information garnered by our intrepid adventures was beneficial in this.

The only news that is concerning has come from lands to the South West. It seems that a band of tribal hills folk have begun to raid the local farms in that region. The collection of small forts, collection of farming communities and the one large fortified keep in the region have mobilized to respond to and stop any further raids. This is not an uncommon event before a harsh winter. The attackers will sweep in and grab food stuffs and livestock before returning to the foothills.

 

Other than that disheartening news, the realm is quite and stable again…..but for how long?

D&D motivation win!

Motivation.

When it comes to gaming where do you get it?

For me it is after finishing a book, comic, paging through a gaming manual past or present, after a movie or a long hike.

The best place to get motivation though is the players.

Right now I am running through a series of games that will eventually (hopefully) become connected. Then at the last gaming session the party tossed a curve ball my way.

They have accumulated some money like all D&D gamers do. After monthly expenses, replenishing sundries and buying any cosmetic items; they have little use for the remaining pile of coins. Well that is until the idea of starting a brewery is tossed out by the barbarian.

BY THE GODS A GENIUS IDEA IS BORN! It is so simple and yet has so many bits to make complicated!

Star Wars Battlefront II review

Alright now with all the noise out there before release I still picked up Star Wars Battlefront II.

Why?

Well it a Star Wars shooter and I like Star Wars, even though  I was a bit disappointed with the first game.

Battlefront II is still a first person shooting online PVP game. That is the biggest draw. You can play through battles from the prequels and into The Force Awakens. These fights can be 8 or up to 40 players. They can be on land with troopers or in space with star fighters. It has all the PVP one wants and needs with a Star Wars skin draped over it.

This time around there is also a single player campaign. You play as Iden Versio the leader of the Imperial special forces unit Inferno Squad. You start off during the battle of Endor and play through the battle at Jakku. One can easily guess what happens to Iden during her adventures, well unless you are dense, have never seen a movie or read book. Ever. Yup, eventually Iden joins the rebellion/ Republic and fights the remains of the Empire. It was no surprise and a twist that anyone could/should see coming. 

Story aside the single player campaign is alright. It functions a tutorial and gives you something to do for a few hours. It is short and there is little to no replay value. If this is what you bought the game for then I’m sorry. It is not long enough to be worth the cost.

Dumbest plot point in the single player.

PVP in Battlefront I

This is where the action is and where the frustration begins.

I have a love hate relationship with the PVP in the first Star Wars Battlefront. There is no balance and that is stupidly frustrating! The more you play the more you unlock abilities and weapons. This leads to opposing players being able to shoot you just a few times and kill you. While on the opposite side I could unload a barrage of shots into a player and do very little damage. You could shoot a heavy blaster into the face of an enemy and he doesn’t fall. He shoots you twice and you die. It made playing wildy not fun most of the time.

Well what about Battlefront II PVP?

Yup the same problem in PVP. I have been advancing the heavy trooper  and still can unload into an opposing player with a heavy blaster and he barley takes any damage. Then he shoots me no more than three times and I die. It makes no sense. I know I need to unlock all the fun little abilities and weapons to make my guy better, but….. if I hate playing or get 1-3 shot killed all the time why bother. I’ll never kill enough guys to wrack-up the points to unlock all the fun stuff to make my guy better.

This is my experience with the game and I know two other guys that have the same problem. Either this is just what Battlefront games are, or it is just three of us that have an issue all the time.

Shadow Run, I am trying this game again.

Instead of playing the Iron Kingdoms RPG we have now taken a break and switched over to Shadowrun.


Fantasy meets cyber-punk is fun and all that, but the rules. There are just too many rules! I like the idea of this game, but I have no idea what I’m doing when I play it. Well I know you need to roll like a bazillion D6 and hope for 5+. Once again if you stuck around long enough here from my 40K days, you know I abhor 5+ rolls. Sadly that is all Shadowrun is.


All this means, is that you need to roll as many D6 as possible to ensure even a moderate chance of success. That is the main part of the rule system, a lot of D6's and a lot of hope for 5+. Everything else is just insanely complex for the sake of complexity.


My guy

Well I had just watched Hacksaw Ridge so I thought some sort of combat medic for a character might be fun. Even better, I would play him as a pacifist. He would be a mix of Hacksaw Ridge and Lifeline from G.I.Joe. Once I mentioned this game master guy sat down with a character creator (hero lab maybe) and busted a build out for me. I had no input, but then again character creation in this game is coco-la-bonza! Looking at the rule book I had no idea where to start. Thankfully a computer program and a guy familiar with the game built a character for me. He was close enough to my idea so I didn’t change anything.

Well like this, but without all that red coloration.

Hell I don’t know what half my skills di besides guns and first aid/medicine stuff. Yeah I have a gun, a tazer and a stun baton. I’m playing a pacifist but have a gun. All the ammo is stun based so I won’t kill anyone if I need to use it. I also have a bit of cybernetic stuff to enhance brain power to make rolls better for first aid. I have some positive and negative traits to flesh out the character. Then there is a bunch of gear and med stuff that I will have to look up in a separate healing/doctor book-PDF document.

I guess this all looks good. Since this guy was built for me be a guy who knows the game I’ll use him. Plus it keeps me from having to muddle through character creation. It is seriously wonky in this game. I can see the need for a computer program when trying to make a guy. The main rulebook isn’t really too user friendly for new players.


So….yeah I’m trying Shadowrun again. We shall see if they guy survives, if he can (or even needs to try) to keep the party alive and if a pacifist can work in game where shooting to kill seems to be a mainstay.

IT the book review

……or “Cocaine is a powerful drug.”

I decided to sit down and read “It” since I have seen both movie incarnations.

A giant 1100+ page novel by Stephen King.

He started writing the book in 1981.

This was published in 1986.

These where the Stephen King booze, cocaine and pill years.

Oh yeah, I have Stephen King Alzheimer’s. I read his stuff and forget that I really don’t enjoy 90% of them. Yet I still pick up a story of his and try again forgetting everything I dislike about his writing.

PLOT

A quick hit here as everybody should have some idea by now what this is about.

Alright this is a story about an entity that awakens every 27-28 years in the small town of Derry, Maine. Once awake it feeds on kids (mostly) by turning their fears into reality. This It primarily appears in the guise of a clown  known as Pennywise, before turning into something else to attack and devour prey.

The story is set between two time periods 1958 and 1986. It follows a group of kids as they survive the killer clown in 1958 and then return 28 years later to face It again.

THOUGHTS

I.

Hate.

This.

Book.

Seriously, go see the new movie and enjoy. Don’t read this giant turd! I never say see the movie when it is based on a book. The book is always better. Well not this time. The movie hits all the fun high points and moves along rather well.

This book first is just too damn long and slow. If 700 pages were cut from this it would be a good tight story. Instead there are just pages upon pages of needless description. Entire chapters of needless information and character building that are unnecessary. There is so much unneeded world building in this book that leads to nothing.

Seriously did I need so much information about Stan Uris, how he met his wife, their lives and everything else before we get to the scene where he kills himself? NO!

Do I need the annotated histories of Derry, Maine? Maybe one quick hit that the town is wyrd and bad. Then stop!

Do I need the intricate little details of every person place and thing in this town? NO!

Do I want scary creepy wyrd stuff with a clown monster and terrorized kids? Yes!

Did I get that? Well for about 400 hundred pages sprinkled through the novel.

Just too much fat that needed to be trimmed but nobody would tell Stephen King to do that.

Shadow of War review

Played and really enjoyed Shadow of Mordor. 

You can read about it.....Shadow of Mordor review click here!

Now the sequel  Shadow of War is out and I grabbed it since I really loved the first game.

Shadow of War

 

The game takes up again with Talon and his Celebrimbor wraith buddy that lives inside him.  They have forged a new ring of power and are on the way to stop Sauron and save Gondor, Talon’s home.

Well that is until everything goes sideways. Well more sideways than creating a new ring of power that is identical, but not corrupt like Sauron’s.

The second One ring to rule them all!

Shelob decides to get involved since she has an axe to grind with Sauron and is still a power player in Mordor. Plus she is a woman and has the ability of foresight. Yeah she can shift from big creepy stupid spider to a long dark haired version of Cersei Lannister with future seeing powers.

Wait! This sounds stupid?!

Well yes it is and it the plot only get sillier after this a ton of Middle Earth history is cast aside for a bunch of crazy shit.

Now she wants your ring in order to help you defeat Sauron so you toss it over because why not.

Now we jump to the last Gondor held city in Mordor, Minas Ithil. This is where Shelob sets your path for revenge to start. Why here? Well because the city is besieged by orks and you have to save it since you are Talion! The Gondor ranger who loves his country!

This leads to a plot that has you once again killing the forces of Sauron only to build an army out of said forces of Sauron so you can then go fight the forces of Sauron.

Wha?!

The three main characters in Shadow of War.

-You have to (sometimes) team up with Galadriel’s elf assassin, Eltariel,  to fight the Nazgul that are set loose in Mordor.

-You help a giant female talking tree-plant lady fight the dark menace that is invading Mordor. A tree-plant lady who is not an Ent, but some elder nature spirit thing or basically Middle Earth Gaia. Blerg!

-There is a quest chain to stop a ork who can raise the dead, like zombie dead. You know magic like that is nowhere in the Middle Earth history. Plus wouldn’t Sauron or anybody either nab this dude or stop him since he could raise a giant army of undead. This seems like an ability the Dark Lord would want to have or squash.

Orc necromancer? In Middle Earth? Wha?

-You have to save Minas Ithil but of course you can’t since it has to become Minas Morgul, but that takes place now instead of thousands of years earlier.

-You also are tasked to hunt down the 9 Ringwraiths and the Witch King. Of course you have to kill a few of them…I mean banish them. The worst bit being that you are tasked with fighting the Witch King of Angmar and defeating him.

-You know since you can defeat him being a dude and all that. Lore be damned!

-Also the 9 wraiths are not wholly comprised of the original 9 kings of men that were given rings of power. Nope. Isildur and Helm Hammer hand are tossed in as members of the 9. Lore be damned!

-Oh yeah! None of these characters are cannon. The events of the Hobbit haven’t happened yet. We all know the Hobbit and Lord o’ Rings story. This makes anything you do in this  game essentially pointless. You should know the ending before you even play this. There is this attempt to make you think you are changing the course of Middle Earth history. Spoiler! You are not doing that at all.!

This is Bruz. he is awesome!

GAMEPLAY

Shadow of War plays just like Shadow of Mordor.

It is Middle Earth Assassins Creed clone with a fantasy RPG element.

You start off as drek in combat again and have to kill your way through enough orks and missions to gain XP to bolster your abilities. Abilities that are on a makeshift skill tree, albeit sideways and not vertical like a tree.

Once you add enough points to combat skills, then you can become a quasi-undead wraith infused nigh unstoppable death machine!

You can once again ride giant cat wolf lizard monsters, giant not troll trolls and there are even drakes to mount. Mordor is littered with drakes during this era. Hell you can even climb on the new Ologs, which are intelligent smaller looking cave trolls. That are a new larger grunt enemy that just appeared after the first game.

There is a healthy stealth element still because this is fantasy Assassins Creed.

You have quest chains to help Gondor, stop Nazgul, help Mordor Gaia tree lady, search for various bobbles and Shelob secrets to hunt down for personal gain and XP.

There is an online element to attack other players castle/forts they have. There are also little persona vendetta missions to kill orks that have previously killed other players. I guess doing a lot of these gives you gear and such, but I was too busy grinding through to pay these much attention. I tried them both and get why people might find this fun, but it looked like it would get repetitive. There would be enough time for repetition later.

There is the same Nemesis system here again. You might kill ork or get killed by one and it leads to having a new enemy to pester you throughout your travels. It is fun once to have an enemy after you. However, after the third or fourth ork that survives death to hunt you, it becomes tiresome. Sometimes you just want a goon to stay dead and not return to give a speech about how they survived and how you are going to die by their hands.

Yup orcs die and and don't stay dead. This is fun like twice and then is nothing but irritation after that.

This is the majority of the game’s first couple of Acts.  Then they toss in a feature to capture and control castles in four different regions of Mordor. This is fun at first and then it becomes something different. It becomes the game’s attempt to keep you from completing it through tedious tiresome repetitive castle sieges.  Also known as……