Razer DeathAdder V2 Gaming Mouse Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Razer’s DeathAdder has become an iconic mouse in PC gaming. Over the years, it’s undergone multiple revisions and refreshes to stay current with the latest trends and advancements from Razer. At the same time, it plays it safe with its design and has typically been priced to match. This month, the company is refreshing it again with the Razer DeathAdder V2. This version features a new 20K DPI Focus+ sensor, optical switches, and Speedflex cable, but is it fresh enough to buy all over again?

Design and Features

The Razer DeathAdder has always been about purpose. It’s a mouse you pick up when you don’t need masses of extra thumb buttons or fancy features that jack up the price. It’s a straightforward mouse for straightforward games – shooters in particular. It features a simple sculpted design with symmetrical buttons. It’s still made for right-handed gamers, though. Sorry, lefties! Like each version before it, the V2 is more about performance than flash, so the design is accessible and familiar, and doesn’t bother reinventing much of anything. If you’ve seen or used any version of the DeathAdder before, you know what to expect here. Its larger size is best suited for palm and claw grips, and it instantly felt right at home in my hand. Even though it looks familiar, the DeathAdder V2 is easily the best version of the mouse yet. The V2 brings a number of major improvements, but the most noticeable is how light it is. We’re not quite in ultralight territory (usually considered around 70 grams or less) but are close at 82 grams – 23 grams lighter than its predecessor the DeathAdder Elite. The DeathAdder V2 nails this middle-ground, making it an excellent choice for gamers who want a lightweight mouse but may not be sold on going as light as possible. The other thing you’re likely to notice right away are the new optical mouse switches. The clicks are magical. I previously considered Logitech to have the best-feeling mouse switches, but Razer now holds the crown in my book. They’re tactile and satisfying and just stiff enough to prevent mis-clicks. Beyond that, without any physical contacts they’re much more durable, so Razer has rated them for 70M clicks each. Razer also claims the switches are “3x faster” than mechanical switches, since there’s no debounce delay in the electrical signal. This is a known benefit of optical switches and something much touted by switch manufacturers, but it’s not the kind of improvement you’ll feel or notice in actual gameplay. Still, the switches are fast, consistent, and feel great to use. The mouse has also been upgraded with Razer’s Focus+ Optical Sensor. Along with a boost to 20K DPI, it features the company’s new Motion Sync technology. It’s an interesting idea but, like the debounce delay improvement on the optical switches, it’s about raising the bar on what’s possible versus what you’re actually likely to feel. Motion Sync functions by aligning the signals sent by the mouse with the rate your PC seeks them, so your position is always accurate. It’s an innovation that very likely does make the mouse more consistent but in practice it’s hard to tell the difference. Focus+ does bring with it a cool feature that’s long overdue: automatic surface calibration. No more needing to open Synapse to calibrate your surface for lift-off distance! It also allows you to set the height that the mouse will begin sensing again. Along with the improvements to the DeathAdder’s eye, Razer has added a number of quality of life features with this generation. You can now save five profiles to onboard storage, so you won’t need Synapse on multiple PCs. The addition of a profile-cycling button brings the button count from 7 to 8, but since it’s on the bottom, that extra button wasn’t helpful in games. The mouse also sports Razer’s excellent Speedflex cable which is super flexible and low drag for a wireless-like experience. The feet have also been upgraded to 100% PTFE for an extra-smooth glide. As you might expect from a Razer peripheral, the DeathAdder is fully customizable. Inside the Synapse suite, you can remap every button except for Left Click. Razer has come a long way with its software, and it’s both intuitive and powerful. You can easily assign macros, launch programs, create second layers, or even turbo buttons. It also allows you to control the mouse’s palm and ring RGB with preset or custom effects.

Performance

The Razer DeathAdder V2 is a performance mouse, so I put it to the test in some of my favorite performance games. I’m a huge fan of first-person shooters, so I wasted no time jumping into a match of Apex Legends. The size and shape of the DeathAdder felt natural in my hand right away, so I was able to get up to speed with Wraith in no time at all. Playing Apex with the DeathAdder really highlighted how fluid it makes high intensity gaming. The move to full PTFE feet was smart and allows the mouse to glide like a dream. I spent time on hard and smooth mouse mats as well as a bare desk and it still glides better than any of my mice with standard feet. This can make control a bit tougher, however, so I had to lower the DPI a touch when I swapped to hard surfaces. Over the last two weeks, I also spent a good amount of time in other shooters like Overwatch, Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and PUBG. The DeathAdder V2 lived up to every demand I put on it, including fast whips to catch enemies stalking from behind. The new switches felt excellent to use and saved me from sending out accidental shots while tracking enemies with my sniper rifle. The only time I felt like the mouse wasn’t a good fit was when I swapped genres and started playing World of Warcraft. The DeathAdder’s conventional button layout doesn’t lend itself to games that require lots of keybinds.

Purchasing Guide

The Razer DeathAdder V2 has an MSRP of $69 and is available on Amazon or direct from Razer.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 7, Episode 2 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This review contains full spoilers for Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Season 7, Episode 2. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here's our review for Season 7, Episode 1. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Disney+ may still be an empty wasteland as far as new, exclusive Marvel content goes, but never let it be said the service isn't giving Star Wars fans exactly what they signed up for. The second episode of The Clone Wars: Season 7 is another reminder of what was lost when this series was canceled back in 2013, and why it's such a gift to Star Wars fans that it's finally returned. If these first two Season 7 installments are any indication, the final season may be more akin to a trilogy of movies than 12 serialized episodes. The season premiere introduced us to the oddball clone commandos of the Bad Batch and set the stage for the surprise return of Echo, and this episode picks up right where "Bad Batch" left off. There is a certain sense of familiarity or "been there, done that" to the latter half of "A Distant Echo." Both episodes have focused a great deal of screen time on Rex and the gang navigating Separatist outposts and gunning down legions of droids. Even having Anakin tag along for this second mission doesn't shake up the formula as much as you might expect. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-wars-the-clone-wars-final-season-gallery&captions=true"] To be fair, that problem is definitely more pronounced watching the two episodes back-to-back rather than spaced apart. As much as the idea of Disney dropping all 12 episodes in one bingeable delivery sounds appealing, and as much as this arc is beginning to feel like a movie broken into four parts, there is a lot to be said for the weekly, serialized approach. Even if Anakin's role in the mission itself is pretty straightforward, the early portions of "A Distant Echo" really take advantage of the characters in this late, "nearly upon Episode III" timeframe. The scene with Anakin surreptitiously contacting Padme while Rex plays lookout is a real treat. There's a nice blend of comedy and tragedy fueling this scene. Seeing Padme in the uniform she wears on Mustafar and reflexively clutching her stomach while bidding farewell to her husband is a poignant reminder of the horrible fate awaiting these two lovers. It's also a reminder that, among other things, The Clone Wars has actively improved the prequel trilogy by actually making the Anakin/Padme romance feel genuine. There's a lot to unpack with this scene. When the Anakin/Padme shot first appeared in the Season 7 trailer, Padme's pose and apparent knowledge of her pregnancy made it seem like this moment was happening during the course of Episode III. That doesn't seem to be the case, given that Anakin never acknowledges what's literally staring him in the face. The hope is that this final season might find some room to explore Padme's reaction to her pregnancy and the struggle over when and how to tell her husband. Similarly, the brief Obi-Wan appearance makes it clear he knew more than we realized about Anakin and Padme's romance prior to Episode III. It would be very interesting to learn more about his thoughts on the subject, though it doesn't seem as though this season is going to be particularly Obi-Wan-heavy. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/star-wars-the-clone-wars-recapped-in-4-minutes"] Season 7 is definitely The Rex and Ahsoka Show by all appearances. Accordingly, we continue to see a lot of development for Rex as he grapples with the tragedy of losing Echo and the possibly false hope of seeing him again. Rex is easily the most fully realized clone character in the series, and this season is already doing a fine job of completing his arc and bridging that gap with Rebels. This is the other area where Anakin's presence comes in handy. This episode highlights the bond the two have formed over the course of the war, while showing us that even a clone can have trouble separating the mission from their personal desires. You have to assume the reason Anakin is so bothered by Rex's behavior is because he sees so much of himself in his faithful Captain. And if the run-and-gun mission is more of the same, at least we get ample payoff with the reveal Echo is indeed alive and being used as a tool by the Separatists. Echo's revamped character design is haunting - all pasty white skin and emaciated flesh and a pair of metal legs that look a whole lot like those of a certain stubborn Sith Lord. Echo is a tangible reminder of how the clones have been chewed up and spit out by the galactic war machine, and it'll be interesting to see how Rex and the members of Bad Batch reconcile that in the second half of this arc.

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Victrix Pro AF Gaming Headset Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Boutique esports brand Victrix makes some of the flashiest gear out there. Also, some of the most expensive. Its fight stick, the Pro FS, is the best out-of-the-box option on the market, but also the most expensive by a large margin. With the second version of its gaming headset, the Pro AF, Victrix hopes to engage a wider audience. To drop the price from $300 to $180, the new Pro AF drops the digital audio controller from the original model – now called the Pro AF ANC – and some of its high-end features, such as active noise cancelling and on-ear lighting. While the headset still looks good and has some interesting features, the drop hasn’t improved the headset’s appeal. In fact, now that it’s selling at a highly competitive price point, it’s clear that the Pro AF is not only designed for esports, it only works well in that context.

Design and Features

Like its predecessor, the Pro AF looks impressive. Combining a bold black and purple color scheme and faux-industrial look with sharp edges and exposed cords makes it simultaneously look “technical” and stylish in a “PC gaming chic” sort of way. The headband is made from carbon steel and the yolks, which hold the cups, are aluminum. Both pieces have a smooth finish, making the headset feel well-built. While we’re talking aesthetics, it’s worth noting that the Pro AF drops the purple lighting on the cups, replacing it with a plastic purple X instead. It’s a little less flashy, but still distinctive if you’re into the black and purple. All the parts on the Pro AF, both metal and plastic, feel sturdy, durable, and reliable. It feels comfortable on-head thanks to leatherette-covered “slow return” memory foam pads on the headband and cans, and forms a solid seal without squeezing your head. At 318 grams, it’s a little heavy on paper, which makes sense considering how much of it is made of metal. That said, I never felt the headset weighing me down. The Pro AF has a couple of distinctive eccentricities on its sides. Let’s start with the obvious stuff: there’s an onboard volume dial, which is oddly set in the shell of the left can – it feels like a small nub unless you handle it from the bottom, sliding it with your thumb. The dial is nicely textured and rolls well, but the design feels restrictive: Why not just set it flush on the side so players can roll it any way they like? Likewise, there’s a mic mute button, which sits high on the front of the left can, above some ornamental purple plastic. Again, the placement seems like it’s meant to force you into a specific form, where you hold the left can so your thumb is under the volume roller and your middle finger rests on mute. The problem is it renders those buttons considerably less useful, especially if you’re playing on PC and have volume controls on your keyboard. Most interesting is a pair of “venting” switches that open a gap between the plastic molding of the cans and the padding, allowing cool air into the cups and letting moisture escape. (They also allow ambient noise to get in, so you can have a conversation with someone while keeping your headphones on.) It’s a welcome feature – my ears can get sweaty, especially in the winter with the heat on – but you do need it to put time in to make it work for you. Venting occasionally as a preventative measure helped keep my ears from getting sweaty. Using them once I was sweaty though didn’t lead to any kind of noticeable relief. You need to get ahead of the curve, which can be tricky if you’re in the middle of an intense game.

Sound and Gaming Performance

The Pro AF, like the Pro AF ANC, has 50mm drivers. I found them capable and clear in games, though not quite as clear as other models I’ve tested in the same price range when watching videos or listening to music. Multi-textured mid- and high-pitched sounds, like you may find from highly produced pop and electronic music, comes through a bit muddled. This is, at least in part, because they are mixed for gaming, which leads to a very bass-heavy sound. Victrix brands itself as an esports brand, so you could say this isn’t a concern, but as someone who bounces from watching videos to listening to podcasts to playing games, I found its lack of versatility problematic. On the other hand, the Victrix’ singular focus seems like an advantage when you look at its detachable mic. The metal-coated wire boom allows for better adjustment than any mic of its kind. I tend to have trouble finding the best place to set bendy mics, and a harder time getting them to stay in position: The Victrix mic never moves unless you move it, which is far more impressive than it sounds. It also picked up my voice quite well and the sound comes through clear without any major ambient noises coming through. I’ve used the Victrix Pro AF with a variety of games, competitive and experiential, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Destiny 2, and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. For the most part, the sound in games comes through very clear. Explosions ring true. Bullets whiz. Lightsabers whirr and hum. The level of detail in those sounds, however, did not always come through as clear as I’d have liked. As I mentioned before, I found some muddy spots in the higher end of the Pro AF’s range. There were times when high-range noises like laser blasts in Fallen Order didn’t come through quite as intensely as I thought they should have. Again, it’s clear that the Pro AF puts bass first. It also seems to naturally boost in-game dialogue and, of course, voice chat so that all comes through especially clear. For a $180 headset, though, clear, crisp sound really feels like the bare minimum. Many headsets at this price range feature simulated 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound or make claims about location-based audio. The Pro AF doesn't have any of these features, which is technically fine – (I’ve paid more for headphones without them). Their absence is notable, though, especially for a product with the word “Pro” in the title.

Purchasing Guide

The Victrix Pro AF is available now for $179.99 through the company’s online store, as well as on Amazon. There's a PS4 and an Xbox One version, and both are also compatible with PC. One thing to keep in mind: Prior to Victrix announcing and releasing the new Pro AF headset, many retailers and publications referred to the Pro AF ANC as the “Pro AF.” Make sure to check the listing to make sure you’re buying the right version before putting it in your cart. If it has an inline amp and/or costs $300, you’ve got the other model!

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Wendy Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Peter Pan has long been shaping how people tell stories about childhood and growing up. It's been adapted multiple times and retold even more. The latest creator to take on this task is the Academy Award-nominated Benh Zeitlin who was last seen and heard of in 2012 with his critically acclaimed debut Beasts of the Southern Wild. Since then he's been working on Wendy, his contemporary reimagining of Peter Pan that despite the change in name, time period, and location feels very much the same as what we've seen before. Just like Beasts of the Southern Wild, Wendy begins in a Southern landscape seemingly cut off from the rest of society. The titular heroine lives with her family at their trainside diner. Her three brothers aren't excited about the prospect of spending their lives stuck in the grimy but friendly food establishment and we watch as Wendy wanders around in her diaper charming the patrons. This opening not only sets up the visual tone for the film -- "grounded and real" -- to the point of blandness but also introduces us to the more magical elements of the film. We watch out of the window with Wendy as her eldest brother absconds on a passing train after being encouraged by a figure shrouded in red. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/39652Dw] Years later we find Wendy (Devin France), her mother (Shay Walker), and two remaining brothers (Gage and Gavin Naquin) still living in the diner where the youngest daughter dreams of the "ghost train" that took her brother away and her twin siblings embrace their muddy life in New Orleans. It's a slow-burn beginning that highlights the watchability of the young cast as the trio do nothing more than listlessly wander around the diner and their house above it. The ever-present lights and noise of the trains play as an ominous hint of what's to come as Wendy waits for the return of the train and the figure who spirited her brother away. That strange figure is, of course, Peter, played here by Yashua Mack who is inarguably the star of the film. The fact that Peter is the best thing about a film called Wendy is just the beginning of where this adaptation's problems begin. Although Mack is brilliant, the script -- by Zeitlan and his sister Eliza -- and characterization of Peter muddies the waters with a choice to focus on the more Machiavellian and malicious aspects of the character, making his anti-heroic and sometimes villainous take on the character far more interesting than the allegedly "good" leads, Wendy in particular. Mack's Peter is a firebrand who is brilliant, charming, and dangerous, young, old, and ageless all at the same time. When he shows up on the roof of the train passing the bedroom window of the Darling children you never question whether or not they'll follow him, which is after all the power of Peter Pan. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-upcoming-disney-live-action-remake&captions=true"] Ironically, as Peter is the best thing about it, the film loses its way once he and the children hit Neverland. Despite the fact that their arrival begins by hinting at an intriguing representation of magical realism and what it can be on the big screen, Zeitlin seems to get lost in his own vision, with plenty of pretty B-roll and stunning locations but not much narrative and not enough strength of conviction to work without one. There maybe exists a version of Wendy that was truly committed to the atmospheric fairytale that it wanted to be, and potentially that hypothetical film was better. But once the siblings and the children that they meet are left to roam free on the isle of lost dreams, Wendy really begins to drag. There are moments of magic as the young cast wander around Neverland and most are connected to the magic that seemingly keeps them young. There's beautiful creature work which leads to a few truly stunning sequences, but Zeitlin is more interested in "the real" which means the magic of the film is often pushed aside in favor of something more grim and bland. Wendy is a movie that shouldn't feel like it needs an explanation but the interior logic of the island never works, which is inherently tied to the fact that the Zeitlan's message is unclear. Is it terrible to grow up? Or is it a great adventure? Are the children the future and the elderly a hazard to it? Or are the young trapped in their own nostalgia when they should want to grow up? These questions don't feel like a purposeful ambiguity but more like unfinished thoughts that lead the audience to nowhere but confusion and potentially nausea for those who don't have a taste for the saccharine and heavy-handed analogs the Zeitlins try to force into the final act.

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Star Trek: Picard Episode 6 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Full spoilers follow for this episode. After last week’s Picard episode gave us a team-up with our two favorite ex-Borgs, Jean-Luc and Seven of Nine, “The Impossible Box” picks up the ever-dangling Locutus thread for Picard as he finds himself visiting the Artifact… a.k.a. a Borg cube (albeit one disconnected from the Collective). And not surprisingly, it’s not an easy trip for him. This turn of events also, thankfully, finally unites the Picard storyline with Soji and Narek’s. That arc has felt played out almost since it began, with Soji coming across as eternally in the dark while the manipulative Romulan worked his charms on her. Isa Briones and Harry Treadaway have been fine in the roles, but this has very much felt like a story point that was taking way too long to get through. Now that status quo has changed. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-trek-picard-photos&captions=true"] But first, Jean-Luc. There’s a lot of business to get through before he finally makes it onto the Borg cube, with a sort of fun bit of cajoling/bribing/threatening from Raffi to an old Starfleet friend in order to get Picard diplomatic papers. I say “sort of fun” because the scene ends with Raffi stumbling back to her quarters drunk, and Picard doesn’t seem terribly concerned about his old XO’s current state of mind. At least he got those papers! Odd. When he does make it to the cube, Jean-Luc’s reunion with Hugh is everything it should be. When we first were reintroduced to Hugh a few weeks ago it was frustrating because the episode barely acknowledged him as a character from Next Generation’s past. But here, his connection with and affection for Picard is clear, and actors Jonathan Del Arco and Patrick Stewart are great together. “A new name can be the first step to a new identity,” Hugh says, referring back to how he broke free from the Borg thanks to Picard and the Enterprise crew. They even hug! It makes perfect sense that Hugh would now be doing for others what Picard once did for him. The cube also feels like a creepy place finally, even though one has to wonder why Hugh doesn’t just turn up the lights a bit. But the presence of the ex-Borg who wander the halls of the ship provides an almost ghostly reminder of what the place once was. And Picard is clearly haunted by it, and them, who perhaps remind him a bit too much of himself. He starts the episode off saying the Borg are a cancer and by the end of the hour is reminded that they are just victims, as he once was. It would’ve been nice to give this sentiment a bit more room to play with here, but hopefully the show will continue to flesh out this idea and more of Picard’s Borg issues over the rest of the season. (Indeed, it now feels like it will be anti-climactic if we don’t return to the cube eventually, which is ironic considering how the Soji/Narek story had made it kind of a drag to visit thus far.) [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/star-trek-the-history-of-the-borg-timeline"] Speaking of which, Narek determines that Soji’s recurring dream about her “father” from when she was a child is actually a manifestation of her synthetic “subconscious” trying to reconcile her true nature. Her neural pathways, he explains to his still Evil with a capital E sister, must be bumping up against her belief that she is a human being. And that “cognitive dissonance” must go somewhere… like into her dreams. It’s a pretty clever idea, both for Narek and the show’s writers. So he convinces Soji to use the Zhal Makh -- a “Romulan form of meditation” that is somewhere between Deep Space Nine’s Allamaraine walk and a life-sized board game -- to get to the heart of her dreams, and in so doing find out on what planet the rest of her Synthetic conclave is hiding. That he also reveals his true name to Soji, which we’re told is something a Romulan only gives to the person they love, feels like a genuine gesture, despite Narek’s plan to kill Soji once he gets the info he needs. Too bad (or is that good thing?) then that he messes up that plan so badly. Yes, he learns from Soji’s dream that the Synthetic homeworld is likely on a planet with two red moons and electrical storms, but why does he leave that red gas stuff to kill her slowly, knowing what she’s capable of once she “activates” just as her sister did in the premiere episode? The whole reason he’s been tiptoeing around her all season was to avoid making that happen, and then he blunders into it here at the last moment. Still, it means that Soji is now in kick-ass android mode, tearing through the floor to escape the deadly gas. And it also means that the dynamic between her and Narek has now been fundamentally changed. He tried to kill her! And whether he was crying or not about it, she knows he did. And now she’s off with Picard, who is going to fill her in on everything, including her true nature. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/picard-take-a-closer-look-inside-the-borg-ship"] That things culminate in a serious deep-cut from Star Trek: Voyager’s first season -- yes, that 40,000 light-year portal is from the all-but-forgotten episode “Prime Factors” -- is just another cool reminder that this show is as buttoned up as any Trek show can be in terms of continuity. Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• The guy who yelled “Locutus” wins this episode.
• So what is going on outside of the reclamation section of the cube? Are there still a bunch of active Borg hanging around?
• RIP the Sikarians.
• I’m glad that we’re being shown the connection between Rios and Raffi, who knew each other before this whole Picard adventure began. Raffi’s addiction issues are another matter, however. How does she swing between perfectly sober when negotiating on a viewscreen to passed out within minutes? The show doesn’t seem to be willing to fully commit to her addiction issues and uses them more as a crutch so far. Michelle Hurd deserves better.
• Picard taking a stroll down Borg memory lane in his holo-office was cool, complete with images from past Next Generation stories.
• Nice shout-out to the Borg Queen. Could she still be out there somewhere…?
• Can someone explain how Elnor was able to beam to the cube but Picard and Soji couldn’t beam off?
• Rios and Agnes? O.K…

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Bloodroots Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out While I’ve never fantasized about being a woodsman on a murderous rampage against the gang who left him for dead, Bloodroots sure makes that specific scenario a bloody great time. With a well-written revenge story as its wrapper, developer Paper Cult delivers a fast, furious, and fun action game that consistently finds new ways to surprisingly take advantage of its simple setup. Bloodroots follows in the shoes of Hotline Miami and Ape Out by presenting a seemingly straightforward premise – you, as Mr. Wolf, go through each level killing enemies with one hit while trying not to be killed yourself, also with one hit. Kills can be chained together, with grades awarded at the end of each level that frequently convinced me to give them another try in the hopes of bumping that C+ up to at least a B. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/21/bloodroots-gameplay-party-level"] What sets Bloodroots apart from similar score-chasing action games, and what Paper Cult makes great use of in each level’s design, is the weapon arsenal Mr. Wolf has at his disposal – and it includes pretty much everything. An axe with a heavy slice? Obviously a murder weapon. A light-but-deadly fence post that whacks an enemy? Murder weapon. A chain-chomp homage that slingshots Mr. Wolf through the air from one enemy to the next? Definitely a murder weapon. A flimsy carrot? The deadliest of vegetables in town. This arsenal is put to consistently wacky use level after level during Bloodroots’ three-act, roughly eight-hour campaign – that length will likely depend on how often you’re dying. Playing out like a Jackie Chan action film mixed with an art style reminiscent of Samurai Jack, Bloodroots is an unrelenting assault on the poor souls standing in Mr. Wolf’s way. New weapons, like scythes, different guns, and more pop up throughout the campaign, but recurring favorites like those I’ve mentioned and a handful of others are such a delight to master and implement in every level. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=bloodroots-screenshots&captions=true"] Most levels, unless intentionally designed otherwise, are replete with all these and more improvisational weapons, and Bloodroots always felt like it gave me the freedom to wield whatever tool of destruction I deemed worthy for the task at hand. Replaying through whole levels, or even just sections of them, usually revealed an ideal path with specific weaponry, and nailing those sequences did consistently feel empowering. But I never felt like my weapon choices were restricted in any way if I wanted to stray from that path, and the delight of its mayhem is always enhanced by some key details. Every killing blow has a certain oomph to it as blood spatters out of the pour soul you hit; Mr. Wolf’s speed, at first a bit unwieldy, allowed me to practically glide through woodland terrain like an unstoppable force meeting many moveable objects; and a death sequence highlights your final kill in any given area with a spectacular and silly little cutscene. Never has a fish slammed down on an enemy’s head in such spectacular fashion. Finding a satisfying way, if not the optimal one, to chain attacks together through a level always felt rewarding. Bloodroots can look like chaos, but it’s a controlled chaos I generally felt like I was dictating. But even when unexpected deaths came, and they did aplenty, every loss felt like a learning experience – enemy behaviors are consistent enough that mistakes almost always came because of my overeagerness or lack of planning. The only aspect that felt unfairly weighted against me was the darn icy patches. When every hit means doom, Mr. Wolf’s slipping and sliding occasionally felt brutally punishing just for the sake of it and never all that fun, rather than an experience to learn from and master. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Bloodroots%20has%20ideal%20paths%2C%20but%20I%20never%20felt%20punished%20for%20choosing%20a%20different%20tool%20of%20destruction."] Those small moments aside, Paper Cult continually finds creative ways to put its run-grab-kill gameplay to use in new and interesting scenarios. And the levels all act as great learning experiences for the fantastic boss fights that cap off each act. They put all of my skills to the test in wildly different scenarios, from an elongated chase sequence to an arena fight. Responsible for most of my deaths in the overall campaign, I loved inching my way through these ultimately satisfying battles. And even after I bested the final boss, there’s been plenty left to do apart from just trying to climb each level’s leaderboards – there are a hidden series of wolves to collect, as well as additional hats to find for Mr. Wolf so he can be Mr. Bear, Mr. Dog, and more. And beyond just cosmetic changes, these different hats offer Mr. Wolf enhanced abilities in previously played levels to keep those replays feeling fresh. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/10/bloodroots-release-date-trailer"] The entire experience is wrapped in a gorgeous, stark aesthetic. Buildings, characters, and weapons are all brought to life by vibrant blocks of color, prominent lines, and a variety of woodland, arid, and frozen climates. Bloodroots can even take unexpected left turns into a nightclub aesthetic or a more Roman coliseum-esque locale, but it all feels cohesive with the overall art direction. And each is backed by the thumping jam of a soundtrack that often acted like a renewing catalyst for my mayhem. Bloodroots, at its core, is a revenge story, and the stoic, single-minded Mr. Wolf often offers little more character in his dialogue than demanding to know the whereabouts of his prey. But his former band of outlaws who left him for dead are all distinctly despicable and interesting to learn more about, like a cast pulled straight from a Quentin Tarantino movie. Mr. Wolf’s character more comes through in what other characters tell us about him, but Paper Cult also finds inventive ways to express his mental state through the gameplay in some particularly intriguing bonus levels. And while Mr. Wolf’s story comes to a somewhat predictable, telegraphed ending that isn’t all that satisfying, the consistent thrill of its buildup isn’t squandered as a result.

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Gigabyte Aorus FI27Q Gaming Monitor Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Gigabyte came into the monitor market with a bang. The company has been big in the PC gaming scene for ages, but its first foray into gaming monitors, the AD27QD, challenged convention with game enhancing features the competition lacked. The company has had more than a year to refine and iterate, and today I’m looking at that monitor’s successor, the FI27Q. It features the same HDR-enabled, 1440p screen but has a boosted refresh rate with fewer sacrifices along the way. Is it worth the $499?

Design and Features

From the outside, the FI27Q looks identical to last year’s AD27QD. It features the same 27 inch flat panel with strikingly thin bezels and a wider chin. This makes the screen feel more spacious, which is great for gaming and especially good if you’re using more than one display. Nothing drags down a multi-monitor setup faster than thick bezels interrupting your game, so the FI27Q is a great fit for Nvidia Surround or AMD Eyefinity. It’s a popular design, so it’s only when you turn the monitor around that it really looks unique. There’s not much room for it around the front, but the rear is awash in sci-fi styling – a mix of hard angles, gloss and matte finishes, and customizable RGB that looks stunning. You won’t see any of this once your monitor is turned around though, and even with a whopping 15 lighting presets, they’re not bright enough to project onto your wall. Gigabyte missed a great opportunity to add real backlight functionality, similar to Philips Ambilight. The FI27Q also brings back the AD27QD’s excellent stand. It’s heavy and metal, so it never slid around on my desk, and offers a wide range of adjustments. You can pivot it 20 degrees either direction to share your screen with a friend, tilt it to use standing up, and adjust 130mm of height position it at eye level. If you’d rather use it vertically in a dual-monitor setup, it also rotates 90 degrees into portrait orientation. I’m a fan of it’s top handle which makes it easy to move and carry from place to place. If you’d rather mount the display on a monitor arm, the panel also supports VESA 100x100 mounting. When it comes to video inputs, the FI27Q sports two HDMI 2.0 connections and one DisplayPort 1.2. This is an important distinction because Gigabyte also sells an upgraded version, the FI27Q-P, that upgrades the DisplayPort input to 1.4. The upgrade will cost you another $100, but dramatically improves the bandwidth and allows you to have full RGB, 10-bit color at 165Hz with HDR enabled. In other words, no sacrifices. The model we’re reviewing today forces you to use 4-2-2 chroma subsampling to get that full refresh rate. With that said, as a successor to the AD27QD, the standard FI27Q is still a substantial improvement. Here, you’re given the option for 10-bit color all the way to 165Hz with the aforementioned chroma subsampling. The AD27QD limited you to 120Hz if you wanted full 10-bit color. The impact of subsampling on this panel is also very minor. Unless you’re viewing large text on a colored background, it’s going to be hard to spot. For gaming and browsing the web, I couldn’t make out any artifacts at all. The FI27Q uses an IPS panel and offers great colors. It covers 95% of the DCI-P3 color space and can be beautifully vibrant to completely flat depending on your preference, making this monitor viable for professional photo editing. IPS panels are popular with creative professionals due to their excellent color accuracy, but, until recently, have been less so with gamers due to their slower response times. That’s not the case here, as the monitor features a 1ms response time similar to TN panels used in many esports monitors. To see if it actually responded like a TN, I ran the FI27Q through Blur Busters’ UFO Ghosting Test. Unfortunately, this test showed clear examples of ghosting that were visible with the naked eye. Lagom’s LCD Test Pages showed a great response time, but again showed ghosting. I was able to reduce these by maxing out the monitor’s Overdrive setting, but that introduced its own artifacts that dragged down the whole image, so I quickly turned it back down again. Moving to the rest of Lagom’s test suite, the FI27Q fared well with solid out of the box gamma calibration and good black and white saturation. The monitor also supports HDR content. It’s certified as DisplayHDR 400 and has a peak brightness of 400 nits. The ability to display 10-bit color at 165Hz really makes a difference here, and it was a relief not to have to choose between the full refresh rate and its full color gamut. Paired with the monitor’s naturally deep colors, this makes for beautifully rich visuals. The FI27Q isn’t the brightest gaming monitor and lacks extremely high-end features like full array dimming, but I found it to be plenty bright for normal sitting distance. Like the other monitors in Gigabyte’s Aorus family, it also features Gigabyte’s suite of “tactical” features. These include things like Black Equalizer to help you peak into the shadows, Aim Stabilizer to reduce motion blur, and an on-screen reticle that you can customize with your own icon. The monitor also supports Active Noise Cancellation for your voice comms to cut out the background noise of loud roommates or cheering fans. Gigabyte also lets you pin system information to a corner of your screen, which is perfect for games that block on-screen displays like MSI Afterburner. What makes all of this especially useful is that they can all be controlled with the company’s OSD Sidekick app. The FI27Q eliminates the need to dig around in menus using the control stick and instead makes adjustment easy. It also gives you the ability to tie features to hotkeys, which actually makes them viable to use in-game. Using a macro key, I was able to turn Black Equalizer on and off when I needed it instead of being forced to leave it on all the time or dig through an OSD.

Performance and Gaming

The FI27Q delivers where it counts: high-intensity gaming. I was initially very worried that the ghosting I found in the UFO test would wreck my experience, but that turned out not to be the case. Playing Modern Warfare, I wasn’t able to make out any ghosting. I’m not sure if this is because of the extra on-screen action or that the synthetic tests make it especially apparent (or both), but I tried to make it ghost in every game I played and was never able to spot it. It was reassuring, but I’m not convinced it will never happen. The UFO Test made it clear: it can and will ghost under the right conditions. Since I never noticed it, though, it never dragged down my experience. Playing at 165Hz is a glorious experience. If you’re gaming on a 60Hz monitor, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Before testing a high refresh rate monitor, I always spend some time on my larger, 60Hz display first to get used to a “normal” gaming monitor again. Swapping back to the FI27Q, the smoothness was immediately noticeable, whether it’s running through a level, lining up an enemy, or even moving the mouse across the desktop. The extra refresh rate also cuts down on motion blur which makes picking out moving targets easier. I was able to jump back into Modern Warfare after weeks playing on console without missing a beat. I also spent some time playing Doom in preparation for Eternal’s launch next month. Fast-paced games benefit the most from a speedy monitor and it was crystal clear here. I was reminded of my first time playing Call of Duty on the PS3 and experiencing 60 FPS gameplay for the first time, while most other games were still running at 30. Everything feels so much more responsive and fluid than a standard 60Hz monitor. The only downside I experienced was with the monitor’s mic passthrough. My usual Discord friends commented about how tinny my voice sounded. Sure enough, checking into the microphones properties in Windows showed that it was locked to 16-bit, 16kHz. Windows labeled this “Tape Recorder” quality and sample recordings I made in Audacity confirmed it. If you’re planning on streaming or just care what you sound like, avoid the mic passthrough at all costs.

Purchasing Guide

The Gigabyte Aorus FI27Q is available on Amazon and Newegg for $499.

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Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This review was originally published out of Anime Expo 2019. Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution arrives on Pokémon Day, February 27, 2020, only on Netflix. [poilib element="accentDivider"] When was the last time you saw Pokemon: The First Movie? If you happened to see it as an adult, you probably won’t find this review of the 3DCG remake of the first Pokemon film all that surprising. If you’re still holding onto the fond memories you had of it as a kid, I’ll admit that I’m a little bit jealous. Taking a step back and viewing this movie through a critical lens helped me appreciate just how far some of the newer Pokemon movies have come in their storytelling. Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution is a near direct recreation of its predecessor. While the new animation style makes action scenes more flashy and there are still some genuinely funny and emotional moments, its story still starts to drag about halfway through and never quite recovers (it’s also a shame that the delightful Pikachu’s Vacation didn’t make the cut for a 3DCG remake). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/01/pokemon-the-first-movie-mewtwo-strikes-back-1999-vs-2019-remake"] If you missed it the first time around, Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution is Mewtwo’s origin story. Scientists find the mythical Pokemon Mew’s DNA, decide to try and clone it in an attempt to make the most powerful Pokemon in the world, and end up with a very mad and confused Mewtwo. This introduction to the movie is mostly good, except for every time Mewtwo questions its purpose or its origins. Unlike the rest of us, Mewtwo is actually given an answer to both rather quickly, and sure, they’re not satisfying nor are they kind answers, but they’re answers nonetheless. Mewtwo keeps asking these questions over and over anyway. I wish the writers would have rephrased Mewtwo’s questions as the situation changed while the Legendary Pokemon was working with humans to give Mewtwo a little more depth. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Their%20journey%20to%20the%20island%20is%20the%20best%20part%20of%20the%20movie."] Once Mewtwo escapes its captor, it decides to prove that it can be not only the most powerful Pokemon, but also the most powerful Pokemon trainer. This is where the classic quartet of Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock come in. The group -- along with a few other trainers -- are invited to battle on New Island by a self-proclaimed world’s greatest trainer. Their journey to the island is the best part of the movie. Ash gets a fun battle with his core first generation Pokemon set to a theme song, there are some great Team Rocket jokes, and some of the environmental challenges that test the trainers’ abilities to actually get to the island are neat before those scenes go on for a little too long. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=mewtwo-strikes-back-evolution-screenshots&captions=true"] The actual events on the island, though, don’t always make sense. The trainers make weird, rash decisions upon meeting Mewtwo and oddly serve as passive spectators during critical moments when they too have the power to do something. And while Mewtwo’s distrust of humanity is valid, its actions, goals, and ambivalence to Pokemon are odd. Some prolonged, trainerless battle scenes that lack the flair of battles that happened just minutes before get stale quickly too. The bright spot in the latter half, though, are the devious goofs Team Rocket. Their meddling provides some comic relief during the island drama that seems to move at a snail’s pace. The new animation style makes most battles and action scenes fun spectacles. Explosions are brighter, Poke Ball effects shine in a neat way, and Pokemon moves look powerful regardless of their effectiveness in battle. The world is far more detailed too. The opening scene where researchers are looking for Mew is a particular standout; the wild forest is rich with Pokemon. Most Pokemon look great in the 3DCG style too, but the clay-like features seem to limit both human and Pokemon expressions. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2014/05/09/6-saddest-pokemon-moments-what-to-watch"] Retelling the story in 3DCG is really the biggest change from the original movie to Evolution, and while I think purists could appreciate that, I do wish director Kunihiko Yuyama would have used this opportunity to strengthen the story. There was a deleted plotline in the original movie about a deceased child who was also being cloned alongside Mewtwo that could have been reworked in to strengthen Mewtwo’s motivations. We know Pokemon isn’t afraid of getting dark. Even some subtle changes to side character actions would have helped make the latter half better. Instead, we got what seemed like longer pans across battling Pokemon that diminished the impact of one of the movie's (and Pokemon’s) saddest moments.

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Netflix's I Am Not Okay With This: Season 1 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This is a spoiler-free review for Season 1 of Netflix's I Am Not Okay With This, which debuts Wednesday, February 26.  [poilib element="accentDivider"] A seemingly perfect YA storm, the moody and mischievous I Am Not Okay With This -- about a teen girl who, in a sort of Marvel mutant awakening, discovers she has destructive telekinetic powers -- is a graphic novel adaptation that comes to us from the producers of Stranger Things and the director of The End of the F***ing World. It's pretty much the "coming-of-age drama with a hook" that Netflix has perfected - from those great aforementioned shows to others like Sex Education, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Big Mouth, American Vandal, and more. I Am Not Okay With This comes off as the least special of the lot, in a way, since it's the series that feels the most like a hodgepodge of the rest - and also features a notable number of '80s elements sprinkled in, which is almost an overused decade of influence at this point (like the over-homaged films of John Hughes). It's still good, and easily digestible (with only seven chapters clocking in at 20 to 30 minutes each), but it's also unsubtly stitched together from many other teen dramedies. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=i-am-not-okay-with-this-season-1-gallery&captions=true"] Getting this monster squad factoid out of the way, the series stars It Chapter One and Two's Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff, who didn't have many important interactions character-wise in those movies but do work extraordinarily well together here. So much so that you kind of wish Lillis' Beverly and Oleff's Stanley actually did have more scenes together in It: Chapter One. Oh, and Oleff's character is named Stanley in this story too. That's apropos of nothing, really, other than it just being interesting to note. Lillis plays a young woman at the center of her own superhero origin story - the disheveled, new-in-town Sydney. After her father's mysterious suicide, Syd becomes even more of a pariah while her grief and anger (and budding feelings for her best friend Dina, played by Sofia Bryant) start to trigger unexplained events. Finding a new friend-slash-boyfriend in her clever, weed-dealing neighbor Stanley (Oleff), Syd attempts to balance her family life, spiraling emotions, and possible supernatural abilities. As stated, Gillis and Oleff are very good here, creating two nicely layered, unique teens who find a way to use each others' company to escape their glum lives in a nowhere town. Stanley develops feelings for Syd while Syd silently pines for Dina and while that's usually enough hormonal drama to carry a young adult tale, I Am Not Okay With This has the added sheen of superpowers. Not in a distracting or square peg way though - the series always makes sure center everything on Syd and her struggles. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/24/altered-carbon-season-2-who-is-anthony-mackies-takeshi-kovacs-ign-premiere"] The story ticks off some of the usual tropes, including the actual referencing of comic books as being based on real science and/or folklore (so you can add Unbreakable to the list of influences), but I Am Not Okay With This never gets too big for its britches. It never takes unearned swings. Naturally, it saves its biggest shock for the season finale, but it's a moment that's been adequately built up to. Like Syd herself, the series is kind of unassuming and humble. Overall, it focuses more on the characters than its inclusion of mind powers (as you can tell from all the marketing that makes it look like a high school rom-dram) and in doing so the "super" elements are able to play as a bit more grounded. Because of this, the show is able to hammer home the themes of trauma, loss, inherited depression, and a spectrum of other potent emotional challenges. The cast, like the story, is small and effective. As is the runtime. I Am Not Okay With This may, at times, seem as sullen as Syd, but it comes to us with no fat to trim, which is very unusual for a streaming series.

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The Flash: Season 6, Episode 13 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Warning: this review contains full spoilers for The Flash: Season 6, Episode 13. If you need a refresher on where we left off, here's our review for Season 6, Episode 12. Also, in the interest of transparency, we should note that Jesse is related to one of the co-writers of this episode. That relation had no bearing on the content of this review. [poilib element="accentDivider"] It's one of the great tragedies of the Arrowverse that we'll probably never see a full season of The Flash built around Gorilla Grodd. Grodd certainly has the potential to be more than just an annual guest star, but it's really not practical from a time and budgetary standpoint. On the other hand, the benefit is this forces the series to make the most of those annual appearances when they do come along. "Grodd Friended Me" keeps the hot streak going, even if it is a much smaller-scale Flash vs. Grodd story. This episode flips the script by casting Grodd as a sympathetic protagonist trying desperately to win over an incredulous Barry Allen. Coming in the wake of both Crisis and a series of episodes where Grodd attempts to take over Central City, this plays like a logical and even necessary shift for the character. There's only so much that can be accomplished with Grodd as an annual, one-and-done antagonist. At some point the series either has to find a new angle or just retire the character. This episode's greatest strength is in creating a sense of a cohesive arc for Grodd over the course of six seasons. He may only appear once or twice a year (plus that recurring role on Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3), but there has been a clear progression as Grodd has evolved from pitiful lab specimen to power-hungry villain and now homesick ARGUS prisoner. Thanks in no small part to David Sobolov's grave vocal performance, Grodd's transformation feels both genuine and earned. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-flash-grodd-friended-me-photos&captions=true"] The actual story fueling Grodd's redemption and unlikely alliance with Barry is disappointingly spartan. It's literally a case of two characters moving from one isolated spot to another and trying to run through a portal. It's hard not to wish the series had given its other subplots a rest for a week and focused more fully on Grodd's return. As it is, Grodd only appears in the flesh in a handful of scenes, with the rest taking the economical approach of having him assume the forms of other Team Flash members. Still, the visual of Grodd and Barry merging to form "Brundleflash" is neat, and at least this pairing hits the right emotional notes despite the overly straightforward narrative. We'll see how Grodd's apparent redemption plays out in the recently greenlit Season 7, but for now its most immediate impact seems to be in giving Chester his official induction into Team Flash. Chester and Kamilla are both seemingly being positioned as Cisco's replacements, which raises the question of what happens when Cisco returns and whether that character is being gradually phased out. Chester doesn't immediately click in his new role as junior tech support trainee. Regardless of the series, the Arrowverse tends to cast all of these characters from the same mold. They're impossibly brilliant yet annoyingly quippy and chatty. The Flash doesn't need a Cisco Lite. Fortunately, Chester shows signs of more depth than that. The character really starts to click during his heart-to-heart with Caitlin, as he reminisces about being a young African American student learning the hard way that there's no room for screw-ups or second chances. That moment of introspection tells us more about the character than we've learned all season. There's a refreshing honesty and candor to the character that the series would do well to lean into going forward, rather than the usual fast-talking tech geek shtick. Even if more Grodd content would have been nice, there is something to be said for this episode's ability to keep the Mirror Master storyline moving along. Here we catch a glimpse of the true villain lurking beneath Eva's befuddled facade. It'll also be interesting to see how much damage Mirror Iris does to Iris' personal life and relationships by the time she's done. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/26/superman-red-son-review"] Finally, the series continues to struggle on the Nash/Allegra front. As I've said before, the idea of a Harrison Wells pining for an estranged daughter just isn't compelling enough to be rehashed all over again, even with the added complication of Allegra being a doppelganger. This episode does nothing to change that view, even as Allegra uncovers the truth about her "father." It's a disappointing shift for a character who showed plenty of promise in the first half of the season. Why isn't Nash's guilt over Crisis enough of a story catalyst on its own? We do get a major swerve at the very end of the episode, as Sherloque resurfaces to deliver a dire warning about the return of Reverse-Flash. This could potentially be what the series needs to get back on track with all things Wells. On the other hand, it wasn't all that long ago that Eobard Thwane made another surprise return. Will this be another case of The Flash rehashing familiar beats too often? Thawne's presence wasn't enough to salvage Season 5, and with Season 6 improving so dramatically, this time The Flash may not actually need him at all.

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My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising opens in theaters across North America on February 26. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Movies for hit anime series like My Hero Academia have a difficult balancing act to pull off: they must be mostly understandable for a completely new viewer, still offer something relevant and interesting to fans of the show, and be exciting but find a way to not have any significant lasting impact on the show. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is animation studio Bones’ second attempt at achieving all three, and it does an excellent job. Heroes Rising is just one awesome explosion of action after another. It doesn’t quite nail the landing on its biggest moment and the villain is a bit boring, but that doesn’t take too much away from the excitement of seeing the entirety of Class 1-A push themselves to their limits. Heroes Rising takes place sometime during Season 4, although the chronology is never established. Heroes like Rock Lock appear, the League of Villains are still up to no good, and a certain pivotal item from Season 4 makes an appearance. That being said, Heroes Rising is a prime example of effortlessly utilizing information from the show's past to contextualize the events of the movie. Flashbacks are mostly used at unobtrusive moments and important information is naturally written into conversations. If you’re not caught up with at least the beginning of Season 4, you do run the risk of some mild thematic spoilers, but a majority of the movie smartly distances itself from current events in the anime series. Much like the first My Hero Academia movie, Two Heroes, the students of U.A. High School’s Class 1-A find themselves busy on a faraway island in Heroes Rising. The resident hero has retired, and in an effort to give some of U.A.’s top students’ additional training, they’ve been sent to fill in for the recent retiree without the supervision of any pro heroes. That last part is a bit questionable, given they’re only high school students tasked with running a hero business without supervision, but the setup works wonderfully and gives them space to shine when villains eventually attack. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-anime-of-the-decade-2010-2019&captions=true"] As the series has progressed, we’ve understandably seen less of Class 1-A and Heroes Rising excitingly amends that. Everyone, even characters like Koda and Shoji, gets a chance to shine. While the nature of their work on the island is mundane, it’s still exciting to watch because of Class 1-A’s fun personalities and the creative ways we get to see them use their quirks. From helping an old woman who threw out her back to organizing an intense assault on a foe while evacuating townspeople, Heroes Rising is a great showcase of their current abilities. New supporting characters Mahoro and Katsuma are two cute kids who stir up the long-running theme of questioning what it means to be a hero in a world where that revered title is just another profession. Heroes Rising doesn’t dig too deep into it, but that theme serves as a good frame for when Deku and Bakugo get their time in the spotlight together. Heroes Rising is ultimately about their relationship and their own valid but different brands of heroism, but again, it does a fantastic job of balancing their screen time with the other 1-A students. Part of that comes about because they’re still students, and standing up against the four new adult villains in Heroes Rising isn’t a simple feat. My Hero Academia's practicality with the students’ general disadvantage against experienced villains has always been one of its strengths, and it's good to see that mostly carry through in Heroes Rising. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/2TjoNAT] The villains Class 1-A go up against in this action-packed movie have bland motivations, but their run-of-the-mill brand of evil largely works here. Fights aren’t bogged down with monologues and are instead peppered with effective villainous quips. The villains' quirks aren’t exactly counters to the students’ but their raw power and flashiness go a long way. And, since the students are on this island without support from professionals, we really get to see their tactics and teamwork shine. The animation in the fights is generally excellent, save for some awkward CG clouds that roll in every now and then. For all the power and fun Heroes Rising brings, it’s a shame it fumbles the presentation of its biggest moment. The insane, well-animated final fight edges close to fever dream territory and is presented with odd, sentimental music that doesn’t fit the intensity of what’s happening on-screen. Certain moments of the battle -- which is one hell of a fight to watch -- also have serious implications for My Hero Academia canon, and the way Heroes Rising goes about brushing them aside isn’t quite satisfactory.

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Superman: Red Son Movie Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Note: this is a spoiler-free advance review of Superman: Red Son, which will be released on Digital HD on February 25 and on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on March 17. [poilib element="accentDivider"] DC has an entire brand known as Elseworlds, one that explores the many ways in which tiny changes to history can have huge effects on the stories of iconic heroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Several of these Elseworlds stories like Superman: True Brit and Superman: Speeding Bullets ask the same basic question - what would happen if Kal-El's space pod crash-landed somewhere other than Smallville? What happens when the Last Son of Krypton is raised by another set of parents under a different culture? That's a question 2003's Superman: Red Son set out to answer, and now Red Son is a competent, albeit somewhat flawed, addition to DC's animated movie library. In the alternate DC Universe of Red Son, Kal-El's pod landed not in Kansas, but on a Ukrainian collective farm in 1938. Instead of embodying Truth, Justice and the American Way, Superman becomes the most powerful symbol of the Soviet Union, one that completely alters the course of 20th Century history. In this world, Lex Luthor is the US government's last, best hope of stopping the spread of communism, Wonder Woman is a Themysciran ambassador enamored with the Man of Steel's vision of a better world and Batman is a terrorist hellbent on tearing down everything Superman has built. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=superman-red-son-movie-images&captions=true"] The original comic by writer Mark Millar and artist Dave Johnson is an inspired choice of source material. For one thing, the comic is just the right scope and length for the rigid 70-ish minute format of these movies. Poor pacing is one of the most common problems with these projects, with many either stretching limited material past the breaking point (as with Batman: The Killing Joke and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) or trying to distill too much plot into one film (as in The Death of Superman and its sequel Reign of the Supermen). Red Son is able to offer a tightly paced story that manages to lend a fair amount of depth to most major characters in between the major action sequences. The concept is certainly fascinating, shining a light on just what aspects of Superman's character are immutable versus those that are shaped by his upbringing. Like most DC animated movies, Red Son skews in a darker direction, even to the point of depicting Superman and Batman as killers. It's a risky storytelling choice that winds up working in this particular context. Where something like Injustice: Gods Among Us never fully succeeds in justifying a murder-happy Superman, Red Son uses that plot point to its advantage. Superman's entire arc in the film is built around the question of whether the ends justify the means. Confronted with the grim reality behind the ideals of Soviet collectivization, Superman becomes obsessed with making his vision of utopia a reality. How much killing is justified in the name of utopia? Is a better world with no free will or room for dissent truly a better world at all? Part of the novelty of Red Son is that it's a superhero movie where the conflict doesn't involve clearly defined factions of good and evil. Superman may be the main protagonist, but he's not necessarily the hero of the story. Similarly, it would be reductive to label Lex Luthor as the villain. While Lex shows all of his usual arrogance and casual disregard for those he deems his lessers, he's also painted as a man trying to save his country from an existential threat. This is one of the more enjoyable takes on Lex in a DC movie in quite some time. The movie mostly avoids falling into the usual East vs. West pop culture tropes and even has quite a bit to say about the dangers of xenophobia on all sides. Wonder Woman is the only truly heroic figure in this story, as she embraces Superman's ideals but becomes disillusioned with the barbarous world of men. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/24/superman-red-son-now-or-later-exclusive-clip"] Even though Red Son is paced better than most DC animated movies, there are certain characters who feel a bit under-served by the story. It would have been nice to see more attention paid to the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane, with the two only really sharing one important scene together. Batman could also have benefited from additional character development leading up to his climactic confrontation with Superman. But to be fair, there's only so much ground the movie can cover in the course of 70 minutes, and the comic itself is guilty of those same problems. Red Son is largely a very faithful retelling of the original story, following a very similar structure and merely streamlining certain elements here and there. Occasionally it even manages to improve upon the comic, especially when it comes to Wonder Woman's characterization. Unfortunately, Red Son's most significant deviation is also its greatest misstep. The ending falls completely flat. It's abrupt and simplistic to a fault, losing sight of the nuanced themes driving the conflict up to that point. It's all the more frustrating given that the comic shines best at the very end, as Millar and Johnson celebrate the enduring power of Superman. But whether or not you've actually read the comic, the movie's ending is a disappointingly safe way to end an otherwise daring take on the Superman mythos. Visually, Red Son sticks to the same house style as the vast majority of these animated movies. It gets the job done, but Red Son hardly stands out in that regard, much less replicates the bold style of Johnson's artwork. Given the period setting, it's a shame the movie couldn't have opted for a look more inspired by the classic Fleischer Studios animated serials. As it is, in most scenes Red Son barely even looks like a movie set in the past. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-10-best-dc-comics-elseworlds-stories&captions=true"] The voice cast is rock solid, however. Red Son wisely doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel with most of these characters, instead relying mostly on a cast of DC animation veterans like Jason Isaacs (Superman), Diedrich Bader (Lex Luthor), Vanessa Marshall (Wonder Woman) and Roger Craig Smith (Batman). Isaacs actually has a fair amount of experience playing Russian characters thanks to films like Hotel Mumbai and The Death of Stalin, experience which serves him well here. He's able to convey the humanity and self-doubt in this version of Superman even with the thickly accented dialogue. For whatever its faults, Red Son places a priority on ensuring viewers understand and empathize with this very flawed version of Superman.

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses Expansion Pass DLC Review

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Every so often, great animes will get a movie that takes place outside of the events of the main series.  They can be fun and entertaining, but they’ll almost certainly never bring up the main story, and you may end up wondering if these extra adventures ever really happened at all. Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ Expansion Pass DLC feels very similar to those movies. While most of the seven new missions that make up its modestly-sized side story are engaging and fairly challenging in their own right, the way they are woven into the original plot doesn’t feel fully thought out, even if the new characters it brings along are a welcome addition to the cast.

The Expansion Pass is made up of a bunch of scattered elements – extra items and new costumes for Byleth (so you can finally run around the Monastery without your sleeves flapping about), a few new auxiliary missions, a recruitable fan favorite merchant named Anna, and the ability to invite other characters to join you in a sauna (which is thankfully way less creepy than it could be). None of these features are really must-haves, but they do sprinkle in some fun variety, especially for those in New Game+ looking to try out another route.

The side story Cindered Shadows is the real meat of the Expansion Pass, but the way its implemented can be a bit confusing. On one random night at Garreg Mach Monastery, Byleth and their friends chase a mysterious figure deep underground to a hidden and forgotten refuge known as Abyss. Rather than taking place during (or even after) the events of the main story and its separate routes, Cindered Shadows is accessed outside of your normal save file entirely. The strange side effect of this is that its handful of missions give you a preset group of characters (including Byleth and all the house leaders) to fight with, all as specific advanced classes at a predetermined level. Since the side story doesn’t follow the month-to-month format of monastery life, you aren’t really able to customize your team – it’s understandable, but also disappointingly limits replayability.

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Cindered Shadows really shines best as a grueling gauntlet of battles. With limited funds, weapons, and units, these missions offer a healthy amount of challenge even on normal mode. Several of the fights even feature objectives beyond just routing an enemy force, which I was very happy to see since inventive battle parameters were something that the main story was sorely lacking. One such mission has you retreading a map seen earlier, but in a vastly different context. Where previously you were slowly battling up narrow corridors, this time you’re being chased by overwhelming odds, and must dash through several gates with all of your units before they close.

By turning the tables on my expectations for how to overcome enemies, I was constantly kept on my toes, excitedly changing my entire strategy multiple times to solve problems I didn’t think I’d be facing. That said, I do wish the tail end of Cindered Shadows didn’t rely on re-using maps we’ve already seen in the main story quite as much, given how good its new maps turned out. Luckily, the final fight (avoiding spoilers) helps make up for this by taking the battle somewhere I’ve always wanted to fight in.

Is the Expansion Pass Worth its Weight?

Nintendo has been leaning into the season pass DLC model a lot recently, but compared to something like Breath of the Wild Expansion Pass or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s first Fighter Pass, the content and missions you’re getting in Fire Emblem’s feels decidedly sparse. However, it’s not that simple, as most of this Expansion Pass is deliberately designed to unlock items, costumes, facilities, and characters that can be easily accessed across all save files – and that can definitely breathe new life into a New Game+ run for one of Three Houses’ many routes, or even give your first run more features to check out.

The Cindered Shadows side story provides some good content, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg for what you’re getting access to in the longer run. The ability to add several new characters to my roster - all of whom have lost items to find, skill to learn, tea parties to attend, and support conversations to unlock - had me genuinely excited to revisit the main story once again to experience these new elements.

The secret shanty town called Abyss also felt like a bit of a let-down in some regards. It tries to act as a mini Garreg Mach to explore between missions, but since there’s no activity points to spend or time to study, you really can’t do much aside from talking to the four new recruitable characters known as the Ashen Wolves. In order to find new activities, you’ll have to swap from the side story to the main story and revisit Abyss, and then unlock new facilities from an “Influencer” using in-game currency. These new activities - like viewing how your characters’ stats have progressed, or recycling unwanted items for something other than gold - aren’t exactly ground-breaking, but they do provide some nice quality of life additions for when you want to maximize your potential.

I ended up enjoying the new characters far more than I thought I would, as the side stories do a great job of showcasing their diverse personalities and their combat prowess alike. Balthus, Hapi, Constance, and Yuri each bring something different to the table, both in the stories they reveal and in the way they utilize their personal abilities and the four new classes they level up into. Both the War Monk and Trickster classes give a lot more love to hybrid melee classes that can heal in a pinch, while the Valkyrie and Dark Flier give more magic-friendly options on a mount. Sadly, the fan-favorite Dark Flier class no longer gains the ability to move and attack again after defeating an opponent on your turn, which I was sort of looking forward to.

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I particularly enjoyed chatting and fighting alongside the group’s leader, Yuri. He feels like the fully realized shrewd-yet-mischievous schemer that Fire Emblem tried to make Claude out as (nothing against Claude, he just turned out to be too nice of a guy to fill that role), and Yuri’s ability as a Trickster to warp and change places with another unit make him incredibly valuable for getting units where they need to go. Meanwhile, the odd and sometimes silly personality quirk of Constance makes her either stronger indoors or more guarded outdoors, and is even disturbingly reflected in how she acts when having tea outside!

Cindered Shadows manages to be entertaining enough in the story it tells, even if it raises more questions than it answers. It was also nice to see it tie into Byleth’s backstory, though considering the results of the adventure, I found it surprising and a bit disappointing that characters like Jeralt and Sothis had absolutely nothing to add to such a personal tale. Just like so many of those anime movies, its events feel unnaturally walled off, never to be mentioned again.

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Completing this side story does translate into unlocking characters, classes, and activities for all of your main story save files, but I never felt like this was handled as well as it could have been. For starters, you’ll be able to unlock the four characters to potentially be recruited in the main game. This can be done as early as Chapter 2 even though the events of Cindered Shadows seem to take place right after Chapter 4, and if all of your save files are already in part two of the campaign then they won’t appear at all.

What’s more, the first time you talk to each of them, they’ll have no recollection of ever meeting you – or even the events of Cindered Shadows – but will also have somehow heard all about you and have no qualms joining you if you’ve completed enough missions. Similarly, everyone else at Garreg Mach seems to have nothing to say about you bringing up some random exiled kids from the dungeons to train up and go to war with you. It doesn’t make recruiting them any less fun, but it does make an otherwise engaging story come off like some sort of hallucination.

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Razer Seiren Emote Microphone Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out In the world of streaming, gameplay is only half the game. You also need great audio if you want to stand out, but even that may not be enough. Recently, Razer unveiled the Razer Seiren Emote (see it at Amazon), a condenser streaming mic with a built-in LED grid that displays animations for your stream. It’s made a number of other improvements from the original Seiren X, but does the LED grid and new hypercardioid pattern justify the $179 cost?

Razer Seiren Emote – Design and Features

By appearances, the Seiren Emote is nearly identical to the Seiren X. The design remains simple with only a mute button and volume knob on the mic’s face. The look is enhanced with glossy rings above and below the grille protecting the capsule. Apart from the stand, the grille is the only part of the microphone that’s not plastic, which is surprising at this price. The Audio-Technica AT2020USB and Blue Yeti are both cheaper and feature durable metal frames which makes the Emote feel cheap in comparison. Moving downward, the bottom of the mic features a headphone jack for zero-latency monitoring. The Emote also acts as a sound card and passes through all of your PC audio while streaming. It works great for keeping an ear on your levels but since there is no gain or sidetone control, I was forced to alt+tab out of my game whenever I had to make an adjustment. The stand has been improved from its predecessor and now gives the much-needed option for more height. It features a tiltable ball-head for adjusting to the proper angle and you can attach a 1 ¼ inch adapter or a five-inch gooseneck. Each piece is metal and solidly built but the base is too small for big adjustments. Tilting the ball-head and adjusting the gooseneck more than a touch in that direction causes it to tip, so there are no hard angles here. Thankfully, the ball-head provides a plentiful amount of adjustment on its own and should suit most streamers. Despite featuring a foam pad on its bottom, the base also falls short in isolating the mic from noise traveling through your desk. Setting a drink down comes through loud and clear. I found the Emote best suited for use on a boom arm where it can be isolated from these sounds and better positioned near your mouth where it also sounds the best. The gooseneck is definitely an improvement from the X in terms of positioning, but I still had to lean over to get the best capture from it. The big selling point of the Emote is the LED array behind the rear grille. It’s made up of an 8-by-8 grid, essentially giving it an 8-bit, pixel art aesthetic. Using Razer’s Streamer Companion App, you can link the Emote to your Twitch or Mixer account, allowing it to automatically display graphics based on stream events. These are completely customizable based on the event, so if you earn a new subscriber you can choose exactly what’s displayed. In my case, I might choose to make it display the “fire” icon. You can also configure these to react to chat emotes, giving a layer of interactivity There are dozens of emotes to choose from. A good number of them animate, too, like the scrolling “LET’S GO” text. The Streamer Companion App also gives you the ability to create your own emote or background icon that can display when an emote isn’t being displayed. You can even import custom GIFs, provided they’re only 8 by 8-pixels. With a quick Google Image search, I was able to find and import a neat candle-flame GIF, shrink it down in Photoshop, and make my Emote flicker with a custom fire animation. All that said, the Emote suffers from some critical limitations. The worst of these is that the colors just aren’t very good. Reds often look pink and yellows are tinted green. At the moment, the software doesn’t allow you to create your own animations, just static pictures, and shrinking a GIF to 8x8 often makes it too blurry to use. The mic also sat too low to easily get in frame in my normal desk setup. Even if it didn’t, your graphic may be hard to make out if your facecam is in the corner like most streamers. Mounting it on an arm is a solution but only if you keep the mic vertical. Otherwise, you’re stuck using sideways emotes or having to go through and rotate every emote you plan to use. The 8-bit display is a cool idea in theory, but in practice, I’m left to wonder who the Emote is actually for. Traditional stream graphics are clearer, higher resolution and can accomplish the same sort of reactions, emotions, and viewer interactions for much less money.

Razer Seiren Emote – Performance

In terms of actual vocal capture, the Seiren Emote is a big improvement over the Seiren X.  Whether I was using the built-in VOIP in Apex Legends or chatting with friends over Discord, I was consistently heard and understood. For most of my side-by-side testing, I ran sample recordings in Audacity and listened back to hear the quality coming from the mic itself, without any compression from being sent over the internet. It’s clear that Razer tuned the new Seiren to provide a fuller, more natural sound this time around. Compared side by side with my HyperX Quadcast, it features the same full low-end that adds bass and presence to your broadcast. Likewise, the mids and highs are also well represented and made my voice sound crisp without being sharp. In fact, compared to my tried-and-true Blue Yeti, the Seiren Emote sounds more natural because of that response curve. Spec-wise, it’s very similar to the Seiren X. Both mics feature the same 16-bit bit depth and 44.1/48 kHz sample rate. In simple terms, these ratings are a bit like the resolution on a display. The higher the bit depth and sample rate, the high resolution the audio becomes. Compared to other mics in this price range, it’s wholly standard except for the slightly more constrained frequency response range of 100 Hz - 20 kHz, which has no meaningful effect on vocal capture. More important is the polar pattern and how Razer has tuned the actual condenser microphone capsule. Unlike the Razer Seiren X, the Emote features a hyper-cardioid polar pattern, which means it focuses in on a tighter, heart-shaped region in front of the mic and tries to block out off-axis noise. Back to back tests show the recording region feels about the same, but off-axis rejection is much better. Positioning the mic in front of your clacky mechanical keyboard will actually quiet it down for your viewers with the Emote. The noise floor has also been improved, so white noise is less audible during quiet moments on your stream. What I most appreciate is just how well-rounded the Emote is compared to the X. The prior Seiren sounded thinner in the low end and S-sounds often had an unpleasant sharpness to them. In short, it sounded like the entry-level mic it clearly was. The Emote nicely rounds out that sharpness and widens the low end for a much more broadcast-worthy presentation. The Emote also sounds much better over distance. Using it close to your mouth is still the best way to get a great sound thanks to the proximity effect, but if that’s not possible, you can easily use it set back on your desk with just a bit of extra gain. Unlike many mics at this price range, it doesn’t lose its body until it’s a good couple feet away, which is impressive.

Purchasing Guide

The Razer Seiren Emote has an MSRP of $179 but you can find it going for $160 at Amazon.

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