TV Review: Bojack Horseman

Hello Enthusiasts,

Back in 2014, I was scrolling through Netflix and saw this weird looking cartoon where an anthropomorphized horse was the main character. I watched a few episodes and thought it was funny and witty enough, but it seemed like there was another layer underneath the humor. As I watched, I discovered that this show was just as much about a character who has both everything and nothing as much as it was about the jokes. It was a cartoon that had some dark turns, and one that didn't seem to be afraid to tackle...well, everything. On January 31st, 2020, this series had its last episodes uploaded, and I can now say that I have the ability to do a series review of the Netflix cartoon, Bojack Horseman. Please note that there will be Spoilers Below, and you should probably avoid those.

The titular character, Bojack, is an over the hill 90's sitcom actor. He's angry, he abuses any kind of substances that you can think of, and he is terribly depressed. Stay with it though, this is a comedy...I think. Bojack has more money than he can seem to spend due to the royalties from his show, and he ends up spending a fair amount of that money on drugs and alcohol. As the show progresses, Bojack's emotional and psychological issues grow deeper and impact his life in more dramatic ways. Fortunately, the show's tone is kept somewhat lighthearted by its supporting characters, such as Todd, Mr. Peanutbutter, and Princess Carolyn.

I have nothing bad to say about this show. It's funny when it needs to be funny, it's serious when it needs to be serious, and it sticks the landing with every emotional beat that it makes an attempt on. The show is a deep dive into human nature (despite most of the main characters being animals) that doesn't pull any punches as it addresses mental health and the issues that people face. For all of the jokes and wittiness, it shows an incredible reverence to certain topics, like addiction. It's a show that will tell you that redemption is possible, but will also hold characters to their previous actions, which ties into its incredibly accurate continuity. For example, early on in the show, Bojack steals the big "D" from the Hollywood sign, and from that point forward everyone refers to the city as "Hollywoo".

The show's greatest strength though is the character growth that the audience gets to see with all of the characters involved. The characters that we see in the last episode are so radically different than the ones we see at the beginning, and none of that change happens quickly, or painlessly. It's a rough road for everyone involved, and they all feel like real, fleshed-out characters by the end.

I know I'm going on and on about the deeper meanings within this cartoon, but I honestly cannot think of a show that addresses these issues as well as this show did, and this was a cartoon where the main character was a talking horse that also happened to be an actor that's seemingly past his prime.

Also, special shout-out to my favorite side character in the show, Vincent Adultman, who was written out of the show pretty early on. I was desperately hoping for a cameo in the last episode, but no such luck.

Overall, I want to praise about this show all day, but if I tell you too much more about it, I might spoil something too big. Just watch it, I recommend it for everyone. It can be stressful and maybe too pretentious for some viewers, but I personally consider this to be one of my favorite shows of all time.

I give Bojack Horseman a 10 out of 10,  and I thank everyone involved for a truly remarkable show.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast

Game Review: Pokemon Shield/Sword

Hello Enthusiasts,

Pokemon is one of the most recognizable brands in gaming. While the games aren't for everyone, we all know what Pokemon is on some level. Until recently though, all of the main line games in this franchise have been limited to the GameBoy systems rather than Nintendo's primary consoles (again, main line. We all loved Pokemon Stadium, but that were outside of the main games). Now, however, we can finally say that is no longer the case, because we now have Pokemon Shield/Sword. The question I intend to explore is, do these console versions hold up to the rest of these games? Keep in mind that, while these games don't have stories that are too deep, there may still be some Spoilers Below.

So, as most of these games go, you are a young new trainer that has just gotten their first Pokemon, though this time you are in the new Galar region (which is essentially this universe's version of the UK). In this region, Pokemon in certain areas can grow incredibly large and powerful, an ability called Dynamaxing. This feature is used heavily in Pokemon gyms and tournaments. As your character goes through the region's gym challenge, you begin to uncover information about some heroes of legend that saved the region - and potentially the world - from an event called "The Darkest Day". These heroes are, of course, a set of trainers and their legendary Pokemon. You end up calling upon one of these Pokemon later in the game to help fight the monster that caused that event all of those years ago and stop it.

Again, these stories aren't too deep, as this feels 75-80% like the overarching stories from the last several Pokemon games.

The gameplay itself is fun, with several improvements on the older style of Pokemon games. As has been done in the last few games, experience is shared with every Pokemon in your party, meaning that you can level up those weak Pokemon quickly by just keeping them in the 6th spot of your party and battling in stronger areas. Story-wise, I do like what was done with the gyms. Rather than your character just happening to go through the gyms in an order of increasing difficulty, this game set up the gyms as an annual challenge, where each gym is taken on in a different order. It still doesn't make sense that the first gym leader is battling with only 3 Pokemon that are on in their teens level, but at least there's some additional level of believability. As always, the gym puzzles are cleverly designed, though they are fairly easy to beat. I also liked the addition of the camping mechanic, which allows you to set up a tent and chill with your Pokemon. You can play with them, cook for them, and have a chat with them in. They'll also get a chance to play with each other, and the whole thing gives them all experience based on what you did during the campout. There's also been an update to running into Pokemon in the wild, where random encounters are less frequent. Instead, players can see the Pokemon in the grass or environment and either select which ones to fight, or avoid them completely if you're in a rush.

Honestly though, the biggest and flashiest addition to the game is also one of the best, the Dynamax feature. In gym battles, you can only use this ability once, and it will only last for three turns, plus the gym leaders follow that same rule. So while it may be tempting to use it straight away and have your Pokemon obliterate the first few opponents, there is a level of strategy is waiting until near the end to use this ability (or use on one of the leader's Pokemon that you're finding particularly difficult).

However, I can speak all day about the added strategy needed and having the ability to train Pokemon in different ways, but at the end of the day this game's biggest weakness is how mind-numbingly easy it is to beat. With minimal grinding to level up your Pokemon, you can beat this game in just a few days if you want to. I played through the whole game without losing a single battle, and I'm pretty sure I had to use a grand total of 4 revives throughout the entire game. There's no elite four gauntlet like pervious games had (you do have to fight through a few of the gym leader's again, but you get a free rest and heal between each one), and even the team rocket (Team Yell) of this game is a joke of an enemy.

Now don't get me wrong, I did enjoy playing this game and I do not think it would be a bad buy for any fans of the series, but it was also a bit of a disappointment. This is the first time we've gotten a main-stream game in this franchise with the power of an actual console, and I guess I just expected that there would be more to it. Imagine how amazing it would have been if they had started to combine a new region with the old regions like they did a bit with Pokemon Gold/Silver, and those games came out on the GameBoy Color. There are cool new features in this game and I do see the effort that must have gone into it, so maybe I was just getting my hopes up too high. But with a game franchise that has been as enjoyable as Pokemon, I just imagined that the team would have pushed this game to be more than anything we've seen before.

I give Pokemon Sword/Shield a 7.5 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast

TV Review: The Mandalorian

Hello Enthusiasts,

Disney+ launched late in 2019 with an impressive library of older Disney - and some Fox - properties, but a definite lack of new content. One of the only pieces of new content on the streaming service was also the reason most people ended up signing up for it right away: a new Star Wars series called The Mandalorian (though I originally jumped in for The Simpsons). Today, I will be looking at this series that cemented this new streaming service as a contender. I will avoid any big plot points, but be warned that there will be some Spoilers Below (Including a casting Spoiler). 

This series takes place after the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and follows a Mandalorian bounty hunter called Mando. Mando's clever, methodical, and armed to the teeth to deal with whatever comes his way. While he isn't completely ruthless at the start of the show, he isn't too far off. That is, however, until he comes across a job that challenges his moral compass, despite how much he fights himself to just get the job done. This particular job has Mando turning over a character that he feels deserves to be free from the hands of his client, whose intentions are unclear.

You know what? You've seen the memes. It's Baby Yoda.

Spoilers I guess.

Mando elects to not hand over baby Yoda and is, therefore, on the run, as basically every other bounty hunter is hired to hunt the two of them down. This is, by the way, a very short series. There are only eight episodes, with each one coming in at under an hour. Also, despite this being a Star Wars property, it feels very much like a modern space-western.

Also, it's a great series.

The characters all feel fleshed out, even Mando, who doesn't say too much throughout the show. The show isn't afraid to pull punches despite it being on a streaming service that houses a lot of content that is meant for children. Characters die, there are mentions of slavery, and a few creepy characters show up throughout the series (mostly in just one episode). This series also has some legitimately funny moments in it as well though, especially the first five minutes of the last episode. All of these things together made me really care about what happened with the characters; I was truly invested in the outcome of the series. The effects were outstanding as well, especially for a streaming TV show, though there are moments that look worse than others. It was also great to have each episode be so short and digestible, though I was left wanting a bit more.

My only complaint with the show is an underutilization of some elements and characters. We get to see a whole squadron of Mandalorian warriors fight early on in the show, only to never see them again. The actual big antagonist for the series only shows up for one full episode (and the last 30 seconds of the episode prior), and they got Giancarlo Esposito (Gus from Breaking Bad) for that character!

Overall though, this series was enjoyable from start to finish. Yes, I was left feeling like there could have been more content, but I guess it's not a bad thing to leave your audience wanting more. Star Wars fans will likely love this series, and fans of westerns that can keep an open mind about the space aspect may enjoy it too.

I give the Disney+ series The Mandalorian a 9.5 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast

Game Review: The Outer Worlds

Hello Enthusiasts,

I remember when Fallout: New Vegas came out and got subpar reviews because it was being compared to the game it was building off of, Fallout 3. While it certainly wasn't as large of a game as the main entry into the series, I loved New Vegas and, honestly, it was the game that got me really into the series. So when its developer, Obsidian, announced that they were releasing a brand-new IP, I was excited to give it a try. Would it be another gripping experience to remember for years to come? Below is my review of Outer Worlds, though keep in mind that there will be some Spoilers Below.

The game starts with a scientist freeing your created character from a transport ship full of cryogenically frozen people from Earth, which was headed to the Halcyon colonies. There were some issues and the board in charge of these colonies decided to just leave these people frozen and drifting off into space. As you're rescued by this scientist, Phineas Wells, he tells you to find him some chemicals to wake up the rest of the ship, because the board of corporations is full of a bunch of selfish and short-sighted jerks (paraphrasing there). You're dropped onto a planet, killing your mercenary escort upon landing, whose ship you end up claiming on as your own, and thus begins your journey.

I'm leaving a lot out of my story overview because this is very much a story-driven game and I don't want to give too much away. However, I will say that my favorite story element involves the way the corporations have handled the management of these colonies, as the story writers have thought of every conceivable way that the corporations would try to get more money out of these people. These's even a point in the game where you learn that the "Spacer's Choice" company considers worker suicide as vandalism of company property, which means that they take a fee out of the rest of the worker's paychecks to cover the damages. 

Anyway, outside of the story, what are the other best parts of this game? Well, for fans of the older Fallout games, the dialogue options in this game are great and versatile. Focusing on upgrading your character's speech abilities is an easy way to avoid a whole lot of combat and uncomfortable situations in this story. However, even focusing on other elements of your character can help with dialogue, as there will sometimes be options that are based off of your characters other traits, such as knowledge in medicine, engineering, handguns, etc. The companions in this game are done well, though I found myself sticking with the same two for most of the missions. It's easy to get attached to their specific personalities (as well as enjoy the specific perks they grant your character by being in your party). Also, while it does take some getting used to, the inventory management system in this game isn't bad at all. Without raising your skills too much, you're able to break down weapons and armor for parts from your inventory rather than traveling to a workbench. Plus, there are a ton of vending machines around these colonies that allow you to sell your junk or other items for credits.

It's not all praise though, because there are some elements of this game that don't work quite as well. Unfortunately, one of my biggest knocks against the game involves one of my favorite elements, the dialogue. As varied as it is and as much as I love it, what you say often doesn't matter. There are several instances where you can tell that the NPC you're speaking to would give you the same information or response regardless. There are times when your companion will chime into the conversation as well, which is cool, but the character you're speaking with won't even acknowledge that someone else said something. I would have also appreciate some more variety in the available weapons and modifications. I ended up finding dozens upon dozens of the exact same pistol, which was great for getting additional weapon parts, but did make that part of the game a bit less exciting. Finally, last gripe here, but there should be some post-game content. The Fallout series has adjusted itself to allow players to continue their journey after they beat the main story, and it's disappointing that this game doesn't allow that. The player should be able to continue to roam the galaxy after the end of the story, but that's not the case.

Despite my grievances, this is actually a fun game. While there is room for improvement, I enjoyed my time and the worlds that the designers built into this game. If you're not into really into action RPG's, this might not be your kind of game, but I think it's worth a purchase for anyone who has a soft spot for this style.

I give The Outer Worlds a 7 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast

Game Review: Luigi's Mansion 3

Hello Enthusiasts,

I am a huge fan of the Nintendo character, Luigi. So I was understandably excited to get the new entry in Luigi's solo series, Luigi's Mansion. Does it hold up to the previous games? Below, you will find my review to Luigi's Mansion 3. 

While this isn't a heavily story-based game, still know that there are some mild Spoilers Below.

The game starts with the Mario gang arriving to a fancy hotel that they were exclusively invited to. Everything seems fine at first, but things quickly turn south as it's revealed that the whole hotel is a trap. Luigi learns that King Boo has escaped from the painting that he was trapped in and has started to get his revenge by trapping the rest of the Mario gang in paintings. Luigi escapes and now it's up to him to use the newest version of the Poltergust and save everyone. To do this, he'll need to go through the hotel floor-by-floor, defeat the ghosts, and retrieve the stolen elevator buttons to ascend further through the hotel.

I love the diversity of this game above everything else. Each floor of the hotel is unique to one another, with some floors being set aside as a gym or a mall, while others are more outlandish, like pirate themed floor that has an entire beach inside the hotel. It keeps the game feeling fresh throughout the duration of the play time, which was an issue with the previous titles. The game also benefits from its newest key feature, Gooigi. Gooigi is a goo copy of Luigi that can be used to solve puzzles in interesting and creative ways. I found some of these puzzles to be fairly difficult, especially before I got used to utilizing Gooigi effectively. There were also some difficult bosses, through more in regard to figuring out how to defeat them instead of actually pulling it off. The game also looks great, though in a more cartoony way than some of the other big titles on the Nintendo Switch.

Also, a big "thank you" to Nintendo for continuing to include local multiplayer in their games. The multiplayer mode of this game is a fun and welcomed addition to this game, though I haven't put nearly as many hours into it as I did the single player.

While the game does have a lot going for it, there are a few areas in need of improvement. One of the biggest areas for me is the control layout. It can be difficult to use some of the features on the Poltergust effectively because of where they are placed on the controller, since both joysticks are needed to aim when a feature is being used. I also wanted more items to spend the in-game money on, as I have over $30,000 in game right now with nothing left to buy. These are small issues, but they are apparent enough to get annoying.

Overall, I think this is an outstanding game. It not only continues the great things about this series, but does well in furthering the series overall. It's a definite recommend for anyone that has a Switch, though I wouldn't call it a system seller like Breath of the Wild or Mario Odyssey. 

I give Luigi's Mansion 3 an 8.5 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast

Comic Book Review: Civil War II

Hello Enthusiasts,

Marvel's comic book event Civil War was a wonderful, accessible story for readers. It brought up a point that, at the time, hadn't been explored too heavily in any major Marvel or DC events, where the government decides to force all super-powered beings to work as agents. It was creative but so obvious, because of course the government would do something like that. The event went over so well that it became the plot behind the third Captain America movie in the MCU (kind of) and Marvel decided to put together a sequel. Today, I will review Civil War II and there will be some Spoilers Below, though I will try to keep them at a minimum.

This event follows two teams of heroes, with their figureheads being Iron Man and Captain Marvel. The point of contention between these groups is a new Inhuman that has the power to see events that have yet to occur. This Inhuman, Ulysses, was actually just a regular student that ended up being exposed to Terrigen Mist, which changed him. Ulysses sees a horrific future in his first vision, an apocalyptic type of future, and eventually approaches the heroes about it. Some of his smaller, more short term visions end up coming true, and Captain Marvel's team is able to prevent some tragedies because of that. However, not everyone is on board with following this new early-warning system that the heroes have. Iron Man in particular is opposed to this idea, because the future isn't set and the predictions could end up causing more harm than good. The two sides fight it out, there are losses on each side, and there's a pretty clean wrap-up of the whole event right within the pages of this story.

There are some things that do work very well in this story. For starters, the art is clean and enjoyable. I really enjoy the work of David Marquez, and he has a history of working with Brian Michael Bendis and conveying these stories well through his illustration. I also love when these events include a lot of different heroes and series that I enjoy, since some of the other Marvel events end up having a smaller scope of heroes (Original Sin, Siege, Secret War). This event also made an effort to lay some groundwork for major changes in the Marvel universe moving forward, even though not all of them stuck. I also enjoyed a bit of the character building in this story, especially Captain Marvel. It can seem like she's being hard-headed about this whole thing and not willing to listen to any opposition on the topic, but she's taking a similar stance to Iron Man's in the first Civil War. She knows that there's some moral ambiguity with what she's doing, and she doesn't enjoy arresting the heroes that have done so much good in the past, but she feels that she is doing what's best for the world. She sees these visions coming true and takes a risk based on their previous accuracy. There are other characters who have deeper plots like this one, but I can't really go into them without spoiling major plots of the story.

While there are some positives for this limited series, there are some drawbacks that I need to rant about a bit. First of all, this was not nearly as fresh of an idea as the first Civil War. Acting on predictions from the future, arresting people that haven't committed any crimes yet, having a group that is adamantly opposed to the actions, these are ideas and plots that have been explored numerous times in the past. All Marvel adds to the worn plot is superheroes, and it's still not as strong of a story a the film Minority Report. Don't get me wrong, the writing is strong, as all of Bendis' work is, but Marvel just didn't have enough to add to this kind of story to make it feel worthwhile. It's also frustrating that some many of the threads from this book end up going nowhere in the larger universe. Sure, some of them play out for a bit, like Iron Man being put out of commission near the end of the book, which set up for Iron Heart's short series, but he's back in the game before long.

I also have a significant gripe about Iron Man's side in this. I know that a character can grow and change over time, and there are events early in this book that are impactful to Iron Man and his perception of using Ulysses power. However, Tony Stark was arresting heroes who were out risking their lives for people because they wouldn't sign up to work for the government in the first Civil War series. He locked up friends, allies that he had for years, and said that it was all worth it. Even after Captain America was killed while in custody after the events of that series, Tony still moved forward with the Avengers Initiative and spearheaded the team of government heroes. To say that he would be opposed to something preventing major tragedies because there's some grey area around whether or not the visions can be trusted feels like a bit of a stretch. He mentions that he has an understanding of time, that it is always changing and that there's an ebb and flow to it, which helps swallow the pill of his opposition a bit, but it really feels like his stance is just so we can have a powerful figurehead to oppose Captain Marvel.

Overall, this comic isn't bad, but I wouldn't call it a priority read. Yes the art is excellent and the writing is solid, but the story that Bendis was told to write for isn't as strong as it could have been. It feels less like this was an event that we were building to and more as a set up for future lines of comics. Feel free to pick it up, it's certainly not the worst book in my collection, but I can certainly recommend others before this one.

I give Marvel's Civil War II a 5 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast

Game Review: The Walking Dead (Seasons 3 and 4)

Hello Enthusiasts,

A while back I reviewed seasons 1 and 2 of the Telltale Games series The Walking Dead, which you can find here. Telltale Games has closed down since then, but the series was finished with two final seasons. Today I will be reviewing the final two seasons of the series, and know that you are in for Some Spoilers, though I will keep them at a minimum.

The third game, titled A New Frontier, switches away from being a completely Clementine focused story. The main character in this game is Javi, a former baseball player that is traveling around with a few select members of his family. He meets up with Clementine pretty early on, they find a large settlement of survivors to join, and drama ensues. It's not too long before everything goes south, and Javi must work with Clementine to survive and save those that they care about. The plot does feel pretty similar to other Walking Dead stories that can be found in the TV shows, comics, and other games, but the it's the characters that make this game enjoyable. Clementine is aggressive and understandably damaged by the world that she has grown up in. She's protecting an infant, AJ, and she could not care less about anyone else at the start of the game. She's not necessarily mean, but she is very wary of others. Javi has a deep history with his family as well, though he didn't live a perfect life before the rise of the walkers. Together they work through a difficult situation and really make the player want the best for the both of them.

The forth season, simply titled The Final Season, ran into some issues while in production. The first two episodes were released like normal, and then Telltale Games shut down with little-to-no warning for those working on the game. It looked as though it would end there, but several members of the team that had worked at Telltale Games decided to push forward with the last two episodes. These folks, who had moved on to Skybound Games, worked with their new employer to finish the final season and get it out to the fans. With all of this drama, it would make sense that the last season would be sub-par to the rest, but the final season of this series is potentially the best one in the series. It's deep, emotional, and compelling all the way through. The season follows Clementine as she raises a young AJ with the intention to help him grow into the best possible version of himself. This is wildly difficult in this kind of world that has seen so much death and destruction. It puts Clementine into a role similar to that which Lee had in the first season. They do find another compound, which is run entirely by children, and it seems like a better place for them than anything else they've found so far. Again, drama ensues, but I won't spoil anything else for the story as this is the end of the entire run.

It is difficult to convey how well these stories are told. It's gotten to the point where it feels like I have a direct connection with Clementine through these games, and that cannot happen without the wonderfully gripping storytelling that happens in this series, these two games especially. I know that I've already gone over it a bit, but these games are nothing without an interesting story, so much of their success is built on getting the player invested in the situations and having them care about the characters, and this game gets it so right. I also don't want to discount how good of a character Javi is, because it can get easy to just focus on Clementine, but Javi was great. His story was deep, a past riddled with a bit of betrayal and blame for the deaths of loved ones. I only had one game with this character, but I would have pushed for him to live above others even if I was playing as someone else. Outside of the stories and characters though, the game still has a lot of positive stuff to stand on. I didn't run into any technical issues with these two entries, though I would still die from time to time as some of the quick time events require...well...very quick timing. The final game also introduced an additional combat element where you can stun a walker by kicking out its leg. This is faster than going for the kill right away, which is needed when facing down an entire horde. I also enjoyed the added element in the final season of collectables, which made exploring the areas seem worthwhile, even if the objective in the area was obvious.

My only complaint with these two entries into the series is the same as I had previously; some of the  events and outcomes are completely locked in regardless of your choices. This isn't apparent unless you play through the game more than once or watch videos online, but it can take away some of the tension in a situation when you know that. Now some choices do greatly impact the game, so still treat all of them in such a way, but I would have appreciated some radically different outcomes based on choices.

At the end of the day, these games aren't for everyone. I know there are a lot of people who prefer the high-octane thrill of a first-person shooter like Call of Duty or the frustrating grind of a game like Dark Souls, and that's completely fine. For anyone looking to play a great story that doesn't offer as much in regards to fast-paced action, this is an absolute recommend. This whole series has been fantastic, and these final two games bring it to the next level. They're emotional, engaging, and entertaining for anyone that enjoys these types of games.

I give seasons 3 and 4 of The Walking Dead a 9.5 out of 10.

Overall, I give the entire series a 9 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast