Posts Tagged ‘Review’
31
Mar
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: 360, big, boss, gear, ground, kojima, metal, one, PlayStation, PS3, ps4, Review, snake, solid, son, v, xbox, zeroes. 1 comment
Oh why not? Let’s do another one.
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Platform: PS3, PS4, 360, XBO
Developer: Konami
Rating: MA15+
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Big Boss has been through a LOT by now.
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Entree is served.
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Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is the kind of entertainment product that confuses on so many levels, and yet is so rewarding to experience, that it just had to have come out of Japan. A hideously overpriced mini-prequel to the ambitious upcoming game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes confounds and delights in near-equal measure, leaving me both eager to experience the full-blown upcoming game and happy to leave this one behind.
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30
Mar
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: 2, action, berandal, evans, Film, gareth, indonesian, raid, Review, the. Leave a comment
And so begins a mini-landslide of impossibly exciting movie releases.
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Starring: Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle, Arifin Putra
Director: Gareth Evans (Merantau, The Raid)
Rating: R18+
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The limited release of The Raid 2 (full name The Raid 2: Berandal) in Australia and indeed around the world suggests that not enough people saw the first The Raid movie. That’s perfectly understandable; after all it’s an Indonesian language film without any instantly recognisable Hollywood stars. The only probable way you’d have heard about it is if a friend recommended it to you. So if this is the first you’re hearing of it, please, friend, go see that film. If you like action movies for their action sequences above all else, you will be hard pressed to find a better film in recent memory than The Raid. That is the highest and most honest praise I can send its way. It is a brutal, stylishly framed triumph and several Hollywood blockbusters are already attempting to emulate its approach.
Now that I’ve said this, go track down the movie and watch it. When you’re done, come back here and read on.
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27
Mar
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, PS4. Tagged: delsin, infamous, PlayStation, ps4, punch, Review, second, son, sucker. Leave a comment
First PS4 game review! Legit-looking screenshots here I come!
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Platform: PS4
Developer: Sucker Punch
Rating: M
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The Delsin beanie you get with this edition of the game is awesome.
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Enjoy your powers.
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That’s the name given to the Platinum Trophy of Infamous: Second Son, as well as the mantra that allegedly guided powerhouse Sony developer Sucker Punch while they were making the game. It shows. Not only is the third Infamous title a jaw-dropping visual feast that truly flexes the PS4’s muscle, it’s just a ton of fun to play. It may not break the open world action game mould in any meaningful way, but I had an absolute blast exploring its fluid momentum system and suite of upgradeable powers. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the first disc-based PS4 exclusive for which a console purchase may be justified.
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5
Mar
Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Games. Tagged: 3DS, agnes, based, bravely, default, edea, jrpg, Review, ringabel, rpg, streetpass, tiz, turn. Leave a comment
Here’s a game that came out really late last year in Europe and Australia but only just hit the United States last month. It’s a pretty damn long one and I only recently finished it.
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Platform: 3DS
Developer: Silicon Studio/Square Enix
Rating: M
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Pretty bad name, lovely game.
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The new default.
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From now on, whenever a game developer attempts to craft a JRPG in the mould of classic 1980s and ’90s Final Fantasy titles, they need not look at the classics themselves. Rather, they now owe it to themselves to look at the 3DS exclusive Bravely Default. Not only does this Square Enix-published homage succeed in recapturing the magic of the epic turn-based fantasy tales of old, but it drags their spirit firmly into the current generation. It is a delectable treat for nostalgic FF fans, boasting an addictive set of job mechanics without forgetting about the importance of memorable characters and a grand story. It isn’t perfect – not by a long shot – but it is a wonderful game.
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24
Jan
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: dicaprio, Film, leonardo, martin, Movie, Review, scorsese, street, wall, wolf. Leave a comment
Oh look, here’s another one. This one only just came out yesterday in Australia.
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Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey
Director: Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, The Departed)
Rating: R18+
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I would be lying if I said I had seen all of Martin Scorsese‘s movies, or even all of the movies that piqued my interest from him. Despite how renowned the American is as a cinematic legend, and for good reason, there are certain common traits about his movies – mainly their really long run time – that have impeded my desire to seek them out. I enjoyed his secret identity gangster flick The Departed and his unexpectedly competent, beautiful family movie Hugo, but both films caught me looking at my watch more than once wondering just how much longer I would have to wait until the next story event happened. The same problem ultimately hampers his latest effort The Wolf of Wall Street – at 2 hours 59 minutes it’s even longer than any of his best-known films – even if it remains so damn entertaining throughout that it almost manages to overcome the issue.
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22
Jan
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: 47, japan, keanu, Movie, reeves, Review, ronin. Leave a comment
I saw this the same day as Saving Mr Banks. I struggle to think of a greater contrast.
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Starring: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rinko Kikuchi
Director: Carl Rinsch (Newcomer)
Rating: M
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When I was in Tokyo late last year, I was understandably surrounded by more larger-than-life advertising than I could shake a Pocky stick at. Though anime, J-Pop and fashion billboards dominated the urban landscape, the one Western film that seemed to be getting enough coverage to register amongst the madness was 47 Ronin. Such a presence is understandable, as the film claims to present a fresh, more visually appealing and more fantastical interpretation of one of Japan’s most well known and highly celebrated historical legends than has ever gone before (many, many times, mind you). Yet this latest take on the beloved Japanese tale ends up disappointingly flat despite some cool moments.
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22
Jan
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: banks, Disney, emma, Film, hanks, mary, mister, Movie, mr, poppins, Review, saving, thompson, tom. Leave a comment
Time to get started on a new year of reviews! I’ve got a double for you to start things off.
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Starring: Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell
Director: John Lee Hancock (The Alamo, The Blind Side)
Rating: PG
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Disney is currently in a position quite unfamiliar to the vast majority of the world’s entertainment media companies, let alone one of such gigantic size. Not only does the American monolith own the wildly successful Marvel cinematic universe, which surely has to be the most fruitful gamble of the movie-making decade, but its own traditional primary animation studio is in the midst of a notable renaissance of quality. They still have the very active geniuses at Pixar in their stable, and their recent acquisition of the Star Wars license has yet to boil over into significant fanboy argument (which it will, make no mistake, once Episode VII finally comes out). So for Disney to deliver a no-frills live action film as good as Saving Mr Banks right now is a little bit ridiculous. Surely they are only allowed so much good fortune at once.
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28
Nov
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: catching, Film, fire, francis, Games, hunger, jennifer, lawrence, Movie, Review. Leave a comment
Saw this one the night it came out – so much hype around it! I’ve let it stew for a week to make sure I was giving it fair thought.
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Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson
Director: Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I am Legend)
Rating: M
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After all the excitement that came along with the wonderfully realised film adaptation of the first Hunger Games book (to which I gave a glowing review last year), I find myself in a weird position regarding its sequel. The end-of-year blockbuster has done little to change my opinion that Catching Fire is the weakest of the three chapters in Suzanne Collins‘ young adult novel trilogy story-wise, but Catching Fire the movie is so cleverly made, so effectively acted and so tonally spot-on that I am forced to admit, with some degree of surprise, that it is every bit as good as its predecessor.
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30
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Games. Tagged: 2ds, 3DS, nintendo, Pokemon, Review, version, x, xerneas, y, yveltal. Leave a comment
Over the last couple of weeks, every time I thought I was ready to write and complete this review someone online would discover some other new thing within Pokemon X. But now I can finally say I’m ready to post the review having experienced enough of the whole game to make a good fist of everything. This will be a long one. Enjoy.
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Platform: 3DS
Developer: Game Freak
Rating: PG
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Not “X Version”, for some reason. Just “X”.
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Simply X-cellent.
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Pokemon X and its near-identical counterpart Pokemon Y represent several ambitious steps forward for one of Nintendo’s flagship videogame series. The first three-dimensional Pokemon adventure is a stunning audio-visual achievement that makes the 3DS sing and draws smartly from the nostalgia wells of an entire generation. But perhaps most excitingly, the game is the first in the series to admit that Pokemon has transformed beyond its creators’ wildest dreams into an endlessly deep competitive juggernaut over the last decade. The game works very clearly with this in mind, resulting in a wonderful social experience that is also more balanced than the series ever has been. It’s a must-have for most any 3DS owner.
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24
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: alfonso, bullock, clooney, cuaron, Film, george, gravity, Review, sandra. Leave a comment
I came a bit late to the party on this one, but finally saw it in 3D (not in IMAX, unfortunately) a couple of days ago.
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Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris
Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men)
Rating: M
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Fans of the Harry Potter film adaptations will likely be familiar with (and grateful for) the talents of Alfonso Cuaron. The visionary Mexican director was responsible for bringing the third chapter of that saga, Prisoner of Azkaban, to the big screen back in 2004. Many film critics are of the opinion that Azkaban is the best in the series (personally, I think only Deathly Hallows Part II trumps it) and it isn’t hard to see why when you watch the film. Since that notable achievement, however, Cuaron has been rather quiet on the feature front, with only his highly praised 2006 effort Children of Men coming out since then. Until now, of course. Now we have Gravity, a visual experience with typically ambitious Cuaron touches (I love that we can say that now). It’s very, very good.
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