Techwright

I missed it in the theaters, I'm not adding another subscription channel (especially just for one movie), and I'm not buying a film outright just to watch it, so I'll have to take the (probably) long slog waiting for Amazon to add rental option, rather than just selling it outright. I'll get to it eventually, even if just to see Keaton in the cowl again.

So no drop? That is odd. I've only played ice on range strikers, never melee (well, not since 2005), but everything flying that freezes drops to the ground or platform below them.

Possibly two of the lightest, cleanest views of this island I ever saw. I always hated that this island in particular had a seedy run-down look.

Theme song...hmmm....I'm thinking....I'm thinking....yeah, I got nuthin'.

I've said it before, but clipping (cutting? I'm always forgetting the word for it) of head components is actually a boon in this game and lends itself to some great looks. Glad you figured that out because that's a great helmet. The whole outfit is awesome.

I went through the credits on episode two and was surprised to see the following list just casually down in the stacks: Robin Atkins Downes is a prolific voice actor, known in Star Wars as the voice of the animated Freedom Fighter Cham Sindula, Hera's dad. But I first encountered him as live action Byron on Babylon 5. Sam Witwer is a Star Wars legend. He's one of the few able to correct Dave Filoni (and has, to the shock of all) as his knowledge of the franchise is nearly as great as Dave's. He's possible best know as the face and voice of Starkiller, from the non-canonical games of The Force Unleashed. However, he's become known for voicing the animated Darth Maul, and has played several other animated roles (and some live cameos?) including voicing Emperor Palpatine for a time. Matthew Wood is the voice of pretty much every Clone Wars era droid, and even the voice of the cyborg general Greivous in all works, live an animated. He briefly played the role of Bib Fortuna, Jabba the Hutt's major domo and replacement. He's also one of the lead sound designs in Star Wars back to the Prequel Trilogy. Due to his volume of contribution, he also ranks in the "legends" category. Helen Sadler has become the voice of Rey in all animated and game productions for Star Wars. I learned something interesting about Ahsoka's villains. Not sure if it will have any bearing on the story, but I'll put it out there anyway:

I've been (occasionally) asking for this for a couple of years now. While I don't have an underlying medical cause, I don't get much enjoyment in large events like the Mothership Raid or a Nemesis invasion because the close-quarter fighting overloads the visuals with all the effects. In the end, due to the white-out (or perhaps light-out) conditions, I end up guessing where my opponents are. Perhaps now that a medical need has been stated, something will be done. Anyone remember that is exactly what happened, in spades, when we were first given color options for powers? It seemed most players went for high-intensity colors and didn't understand the concept that subtle is more. The overload was such that it was making me nauseous, something that previously only happened if I played in 1st person perspective. I nearly quit the game then, until somehow some sanity began to return to the population, and the intensities were changed. Mostly.

Episode 2 is down: Yeah, This episode surprised me by making one big stride forward in connecting the dots between Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy:

Just finished episode 1. Haven't seen episode 2 yet, but after I write... The non-spoiler bits: This was some of Filoni's best work. I truly hope the series holds to the end. Not only from great storytelling, and a great cast, but even details like the use of light and shadow (especially on Lothal), and the willingness to both have moments of silence and slower pacing, in essence, letting it "breathe". I know he recieved counsel from his Mandalorian directors, and it seems to have really paid off. Combat seems improved from the Mandalorian episode "The Jedi". Responding to previous comments, then may add one of my own: And one thought of my own before Episode 2:

I'm going through another batch of game demos, mostly games still in development, so I take the not-quite-there-yet feel of them into account. So far this year I've found a handful I'm keeping an eye on: 1. Farewell North - first up is a demo I just finished. It's more of a story game, but has mild puzzle and platform elements, at least the demo does. Perhaps the full game will have harder challenges. The art and unfolding story are absolutely beautiful. The use of alternating color and monochrome (as well as solid/whole vs. ethereal/fractured) as symbols of emotional turmoil really work in context, and the game really connects on the nature of dogs as emotional anchors for their humans. 2. New Cycle - City Builder, Survival, Post-Apocalyptic. In this case, the apocalypse was a massive change in the sun causing a massive solar flare that wiped out our highly-dependent technological future, and set the survivors back almost to the stone age. The focus is on rediscovering our path to at least the late industrial age while designing a future that takes the changes of the sun and weather into account. No zombies anywhere (at least, not in the demo, nor hinted at.) Most of the demo is man-vs-nature, or rather a nature badly distorted by the change in the sun, and threatened by future re-occurrences of what happened. There are, however, strong indications that the full game will have greater interaction with the world around including other settlements, either friendly or hostile. I'm intrigued by the use of A.I. for key NPCs. While the system is currently very clunky by the creators' own admission, I found that I could converse more fluently than other games in dealing with these key NPCs. That is, when the system was working. The demo version only offers the tutorial, but it's clear from what is currently blocked in game that there are many other functions and environments, several of which will likely be quite challenging to conquer. 3. Aloft - taking Pandoria to a whole 'nother level. Well, at least the floating islands. Navigate the skies both by gliding flight and by converting small islands into essentially floating sailing ship with the included ability to raise or lower depending on your target's elevation. There's gathering, crafting, farming, as well a secrets hidden in crazy, sometimes challenging-to-reach places. Fighting is simplistic at first but grows ever more challenging. There's been quite a bit added since I first played this lengthy demo earlier this year. 4. Quilts and Cats of Calico - I can't believe I actually enjoyed this competitive puzzle game. Actually, I can't even believe I downloaded the demo, but I did and yeah, I did. Even crazier since I avoid cats due to severe allergies, so most references to them have no interest to me. The craziness of the theming aside, this is at its core a competitive puzzle game, taking turns against a human or A.I. opponent, each trying to create a high-scoring "quilt" according to the rules of the game. In a sense, it has elements of other games I've played in the past. Probably a similar comparison would be Scrabble: pulling components from a grab bag, and trying to fit what is in your hand to the board for maximum points. Saying it is matching colors and patterns is an understatement to the challenge, especially by the time the game teaches you all rules. I only played against the A.I. but I could see playing this against a friend. It probably takes about as long as a good game of checkers. There is a mild campaign mode, with some really odd characters and dialog, but I chose to ignore them and focus on the challenge their level of the campaign offered. 5. Dreadful River - This has since moved on to Early Access, but as the free demo remains available, I'll include it in my list. I first played the demo early this year. The game has grown hugely in 7 months and shows no sign of slowing down. The basic concept reminds me of the old fantasy adventure games of the 1990s, but instead of wandering the countryside, this tale is done on a river and the lands adjacent to it. Protect a king whose kingdom has been usurped as you travel a hostile river in search of the components needed to empower a McGuffin to in turn empower his fight against the usurper. You start with a small band on a humble raft. As you gather resources from river and land, you'll eventually trade enough to upgrade the raft, several times, increase your fighting force, as well as bring different classes to the fight, and arm them better. But the enemy is out hunting, and they're getting faster and better as well. More explosive, too. There's ruins, dungeons, and river caves to explore, and the growth of the game has brought in wild animals and supernatural creatures including river monsters. At the moment, my fighting force is far down the river and numbers 30 on the raft and includes archers, crossbows, spearmen, berserkers, priests and a mage, as well as, of course, the king.

It's already happening. Just...um...google it.

And for this we use Villains? 😉 Space station is good. Not sure we can get zero-g unless it is a variation on hover. Space station overrun is really good. First thought that came to mind was the Alien franchise. Imagine clearing a space station that has broken equipment, low lighting with flickering lights, creepy creaky metal, environmental control damage with reduced temperatures (permanent minor cold effect), and darting, jump-scare aliens. I'd very much take my characters into that. Can we give the aliens slime effects? Would love to see it used for hold and loss-of-traction effects.

Computer-wise, I've no recommendation. Hopefully someone else does. Board-wise, my late father taught me using the wonderful Educator Chess Set. The pieces are somewhat stylized beyond the basics, but the pedestals are fantastic: wedge-shaped to allow printed icon instructions for each piece. Mine came with a basic instruction book as well, but that was 5 decades ago. I'm not sure what the current one has. I've seen it under different names. Here, for example, is The Chess Teacher from Lakeshore. There are copies of the original 1972 one still being sold with collector prices on them.

Scott has also been portrayed as having eye gear that allows a dialed strength setting to his optical blast. That's something that, last I knew, we simply couldn't duplicate in the game. One could always create a character that was an amalgamation of the three Summers brothers. I believe Gabriel radiates the energy from his hands.

I'm curious: did you find English to be strongly similar to German? I hear all the time that English is actually a Germanic language, but I see it more as a hybrid between Germanic and Latin languages (with many bits and pieces from others). I've multiple friends who were German teachers who point out the similarities, but I took 4 years of Spanish (a Latin language), and I was able to understand maybe 90% of the words because they had a strong similarity to an English one with the same or similar definition.

I'm not a big fan of the broken terrain. Cool to look at, a pain to navigate. I've also no reason to go to maybe 80% of the floating islands. (The other 20% or so have the forts.) The layout per island may be different, but their contents and function are all the same. I'd much prefer if each island had its own unique identity, or more likely, a cluster of islands near each other shared a unique concept or look. The space between them is dead, too. If we have to be making these journeys, why not keep things interesting? Agreed with others on revamping the TFs.

I can't say as it would give you everything, but what about an energy attack with a function similar to what the dual-wields have? You know, the standard, fire, ice, and poison bullets? Wizard player clicks on Fire, lighting, ice, maybe one other, as interpretations of their powers, and receives a minor/modest bonus in that type. There'd be power looks for each type in the tailor's power sections, so that swapping would activate each look, or again, just do it like the gunslingers. An arcane hold and confuse could be separate powers from that arrangement.

Why not request a "magic" bubble over the platform? Akin to the mothership bubble. Something that pushes/teleports all player characters out of range. Have it activate 10 minutes after Adamaster falls, and drop the moment he is available again.

Thanks for the spoiler-free endorsement and the heads-up on the credit scenes. Did they have Jim Lee make a Stan-Lee-esque guest appearance?

Not really Dial of Destiny news, but the news broke that they named a newly-discovered species of snake after Harrison Ford. "Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?" 🐍 🤣 While I thought this was a gentle ribbing at his Indiana Jones character, it was actually done in honor of his years of environmental work.

Hellions I find to be something of a "one trick pony": occultic, plays with fire. I could wish for greater depth. Skulls have improved. I like the two story arcs with them in Kings Row. I could wish for more, but I'm not sure what direction is left, unless it is an attempt at underlings rising to command. Outcasts have potential beyond Frostfire. Loved Frostfire back in the day, haven't played enough of his second arc. I've mentioned it elsewhere, but I'd like to see either a task force or an arc where we see a small council of archvillains running the show, one per power set. Maybe a rotational head of the council: "Earth powers is acting head this next year. Fire will be after that." I'd like to see additional elemental powers added to their ranks. They've ice powers, but last I knew they didn't have water powers. Would like to see that added either as a subset to an ice leader, or it's own division. Storm powers too, perhaps under the electrical leadership. One possible TF or story arc: Outcasts, seeking to rise greater than a lower-level gang, begin science experiments to make the rare dual-elemental powers, like Frostfire, become standard in the ranks. The TF might cause that to fail, but not completely, leading us to getting a few surprise dual-powered Elite bosses appearing seemingly at random, much like quantum gunners occasionally appear when a Keldian is on the team. Trolls: another "one trick pony". Rage, superstrength, invulnerability. Again, add to their ranks. New story arc where an experimental batch of superdyne has a new mutation effect on some Trolls leading to unpredictable power changes and less stability than they've retained. These rarer Trolls would not have a clear second powerset, but would rather have a few random powers with seemingly no pattern. This may cause Atta a lot of headaches as they are perceived as a new elite within the Trolls, and an attempted coup is tried. Warriors...not much to say understanding that changes have been in the works in the background. The next ones may not fit everyone's definition of "street gang", but the various Mafia type gangs: The Family, Mooks, Marcones all seem pretty generic to me. It's been a while since I interacted with the red-side ones so perhaps I've forgotten some key stuff. The Family's Underbosses and Consigliers are slightly more interesting, and way back at the beginning a bit unnerving, but otherwise the guys on the street are pretty stock. Not sure what, but they could use an update. Tracksuits maybe? 😉 What I know of the Frost family backstory I like though. The problem is that we never (as far as I know) get to take on Sebastian Frost. He's kidnapped on a red-side mission and seen in the Mot storyline. I'd really like to see what he and the uppermost tier of The Family are like fueled by the pure Superdyne.

I honestly don't remember him prior to the 1990 show, but I didn't get to read many comic books of the Flash. Thanks for the correction. Clearly the information given me was off.

Joker before Joker. The episode premiered February 1991, and the animated Joker that Mark Hamil has become legendary for premiered November 1992. My guess is he did the vocal work around the same time as the live acting. I strongly suspect one role caught someone's eye, or ear as the case may be, and created the other, but I've not heard the backstory. I did hear, a long time ago, that the producers of The Flash wanted the Joker, but were not allowed to have the character, therefore created the Trickster, so I strongly suspect they heard his Joker recording and tried to recruit him for the Joker. It works out fine in the end. He got to portray the Trickster again in the new The Flash series, and all performances were scene-chewing, over-the-top fun. EDIT: forgot to add that Mark was even given the chance to voice act the Trickster in Justice League: Unlimited, again with a scene-stealing moment despite being a cameo.

Responses:

Couple of thoughts: