So, there will be less reviews on the site this november, nothing that drastic, but due to personal issues and the other thing i’m working on for this coming season, i won’t be able to guarantee a constant (or semi-constant) stream of content, so… it’s a bummer, but we’ll celebrate soon enough and “make amends”!
I wanted to see a couple of horror movies in theathers this Halloween (and also do EXPRESSO reviews of them), but from yesterday onwards Italy’s basically on a temporary 1-month lockdown of sorts due to COVID-19. Yes. Again.
So that idea goes in the bin, because you bet cinemas are closed, and i don’t know how many will even be able to re-open for the dicember-Christmas season. Then again, Christmas wasn’t gonna be that jolly since we’re in the midst of both a global pandemic AND an economic recession.
I’ll probably see what’s up on Netflix and see if i care to bother. We’ll see.
Stay safe. Whatever that implies for you.
Sorry for the kinda clickbaity title.
I was gonna write a quick article about the PS5 showcase… that didn’t really give out many important info, but i was so un-interested about the reveals and the launch of a next-gen coming soon. I was gonna write i would probably get a PS5 (the model with disc slot) mid-2021, that i was not gonna put on much interest or any pre-order until we hear more and see the things in action.
I’ve lived through 2 console generational changes, i’ve done and seen this song and dance before, and i’m at the point that with such a huge backlog of games to tend to, not much money and not much time… i’m gonna practice the waiting game harder than before. I could have changed my mind when Disgaea 6 dropped for the PS5… but it was just revealed properly in today’s Nintendo Direct Mini, and it’s gonna be a Switch exclusive when it launches in Summer 2021.
At least this first version is gonna be, i fully expected a “complete” or “revised” edition coming to PS5 and PC eventually, but whatever, i have been waiting forever to hear about the new main Disgaea installment, and since i have a Switch already, i will sit by the river and see how it will go down before investing in the “new gen”.
I kinda envy people that are genuinely excited about it, i sure don’t feel the “hype”.
I secured a physical copy of the collection, had to move fast, because i’ve been in this hobby long enough to have seen this happen before with my own very eyes, and i didn’t want to give money to Ebay scalpers. Which are already selling copies of the game for 120 bucks. As one could expected.
Still, the fact that even the digital version is priced 60 bucks and has an expiration date of 6 months it’s fuckin absurd. Only Nintendo could pull shit like this and get away with it. I understand those who decided not to bother with this All Stars collection, given the manifactured scarcity (if this doesn’t make that abundantly clear, nothing will), all the bullshit that follows in second hand marketplaces, the price, and the absurd lack of Super Mario Galaxy 2, which i would argue was even better than the first.
I guess that for another All Stars 3D Collection containing 3 games for 60 bucks, or a full priced port-remaster-thingie with extra content like for Super Mario 3D World.
I did want the collection as a physical cartridge, so i managed to pre-order it, and i will write a review once i got my hands on the game next week, and i play for a decent amount of times the games themselves. It will be one for the books, as in most of the people who have pre-ordered it are either collectors, people who already played the games on their original console releases and want to have them on Switch as well (because it’s easier than dusting off the Wii or Gamecube, even if you still have them at hand and working), and in general the “already converted”, so to say.
Putting this out now because i would like to focus on the collection itself more than the bullshit surrouding it, which of course i will address anyway.
I expected by today to have a review up for The New Mutants, but congested shifts at work came up, so by Saturday (worst case scenario) you will see my EXPRESSO review for The New Mutants.
Later!
I teased this with my comment on the Dynasty Warriors 20th Anniversary celebration video, and – as i said in the article – that was just the tipping point, the final push to make me write down an editorial on the musou genre/subgenre, one i had been ruminating about for a couple of years.
And to do that, i will have to start not from the beginning (i will eventually do a full retrospective, in time), but from the last numbered title in the main Warriors series, Dynasty Warriors, yes, Dynasty Warriors 9.
This is a long article, ready your beverage of choice. Continua a leggere “True State Of Musou (As of 2020)”
A new chapter in the “saga”.
While some theather chains had already reopened 2 month ago here in Italy, they were mostly showing stuff that released the week when the COVID-19 lockdown was put in place, but mostly throwing a lot of stuff from last year’s catalogue, when not even older material. Not much else you could do, really, as obviously no one was approving new releases to play in closed theathers during a sweeping pandemic.
But pretty much most theathers (even the one i usually go to) will resume proper this 19 of august, and i look forward to see the new Abel Ferrara movie, Siberia (and Onwards, honestly) not a bad way to begin a new – hopefully prolonged – “theather binge”.
I did went to see (and reviewed) The Grudge 2020 in the meantime, it was nice to go back, but it’s even better when you can choose to see movies you didn’t already saw last year…….. or 2 years ago. Continua a leggere “Cinemas fully reopening next week in Italy (plus words on live action Mulan)”
Today Koei released a compilation video to commemorate the series’ 20th anniversary, and while kinda nice, it’s also unadvertly very Koei, as they managed to cut content and recycle too much even in this occasion. XD
The trailer gives a brief compilation of cinematics and gameplay videos from all mainline Dynasty Warriors titles (and some brief logos appearances from the many spin-offs), and even the Empires and Xtreme Legends spin-off/expansions attached to those. All.. except the very first title in the series.
The real reason is because the first Dynasty Warriors wasn’t a musou, but a 1 on 1 fighter, and they clearly don’t consider it because Dynasty Warriors properly started in 2000 with what has been localized as “Dynasty Warriors 2”, but in Japan the first one was called simply “Sangoku Musou”, and to make more clear the change in direction, they called the second one “Shin Sangoku Musou”, so Dynasty Warriors 3 is “Shin Sangoku Musou 2” and so on.
Which highlight how they didn’t even bother to make another version of the video, sure, it would have been a bit odd to show a game that really doesn’t play like all the others in the series, but they also show Dynasty Warriors 9/Shin Sangoku Musou 8 (without apologizing), and it would have been correct. It also would have required more work, so of course Koei didn’t bother and uploaded it as is even on their official european Youtube channel.
It may sound petty to make such a big deal out of this, but it’s so typical of Koei’s treatment of the series that they somehow managed to make some of it’s flaws and rightfully critiqued trends (like cutting corners by not dubbing the western releases of most musou titles in english) bleed into the celebratory 20th anniversary trip down memory lane. It’s so typical it’s downright depressing and make the otherwise well meaning “thank you” message at end feel completely hollow.
And i worry, because this is indicative of the state of the series as a whole… but i’m gonna dedicate an entire editorial to that later, there’s way too much to say, and i was planning to anyway, but this video gave me the final push.
Sorry for the teasing in the title, but don’t worry, that editorial won’t be locked behind a DLC or Season Pass paywall, or squirrelled away into an Xtreme Legends expansion at full retail price.
I wanted to have a review of Masaaki Yuasa new series up by tomorrow, but there’s a lot more to say about than i expected, i thinked it over for a couple of days, and i decided that instead of rushing out a crap job (even more than usual, since i’m also working on something else for August), i’m gonna finish the series and let it stew in my brain for some days, in order to make a better review.
Also, watch Kick-Hearth, it’s the greatest love story involving masochistic luchadores , wrestling sadist nuns and orphanages that need to be saved.
Yeah, against all odds, i won’t have to wait until dicember to get back into cinemas, as i happen to live near one of the few cinemas of the Uci Cinemas chain that will be re-opening next week (with obvious safety precautions, we’re not out of this yet here in Italy, despite what we would love to believe). Pure luck, as in many other cinema chains are staying closed, and even of this specific chain, just 4 cinemas in Italy are re-opening (but more are expected to follow suite).
The catch is that since the release schedule was never updated since the beginning of March, so it mostly old movies (some ones that debutted in theathers in January, or even older) but still, it’s great just to go back to the cinema experience. And i have some unfinished business exactly because of the closure due to the COVID-19.
So, if not anything else, expect an EXPRESSO review of The Grudge (2020).
Hopefully, more, but not that soon, i fear. 😦
Wise Cafe (International) 