The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run premieres on Paramount+ on March 4. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Who lives in a pineapple under the sea, boasts 13 seasons of kooky cartoon hijinks, and is finally fronting his third feature film? SpongeBob SquarePants! The giggling goofball with a heart of gold returns with The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run, a road trip romp that is celebrity-studded, candy-colored, and full of family-friendly humor. It's an average day in Bikini Bottom. An ever-ready SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) frolics with his pet snail, Gary, before heading to work as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab. Like clockwork, Mr. Krab's pint-sized nemesis Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) will endeavor to steal the secret recipe for the delectable Krabby Patty. As always he will fail in a way hilariously embarrassing. But change is on the horizon when this aspiring "slop king" realizes the only thing standing between him and formula is the "boob savant" behind the grill. To kick SpongeBob out of the kitchen, Plankton steals Gary and sells him to the vain and dangerous Poseidon (Matt Berry), who rules over the Lost City of Atlantic City. To rescue his beloved pet, SpongeBob teams up with his BFF Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) on a quest that will take them through wild terrains, bonkers beats, and a show-stopping musical number. Of course, Plankton, Squidward (Rodger Bumpass), Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), and Sandy (Carolyn Lawrence) will join in on the shenanigans too. This signature cast crackles, delivering the sugar-high energy that fans have come to expect from these outlandish undersea creatures. The visual gags and banter are still gleefully silly. For instance, when SpongeBob commends Patrick for his sense of "irony," the dopey starfish responds by ironing a shirt with comically smug satisfaction. Yet for all this familiar fun, there's a new look to the crew. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/2O6ClAQ] The hand-drawn animation originated by the late Stephen Hillenburg has been re-imagined in bouncy CGI. This is a cuddlier 3D aesthetic than was unfurled for the climax of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, where the gang took to land and briefly became superheroes. This time, the characters look like squishy toys that might spring from the screen to run amok around your living room. Their soft makeover pairs with a string of childhood flashbacks to serve as a backdoor pilot for the upcoming spinoff series, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years. Though these detours to the past are fun, they slow down the rollicking ride of this road trip comedy. Thankfully, a pit stop in the Western ghost town of Goner Gulch provides a wallop of welcome wackiness. In this live-action setting, a parade of celebrity cameos begins, including Danny Trejo, Snoop Dogg, and Keanu Reeves, who plays a talking tumbleweed of sage, named Sage, who is a wise sage! While some co-stars might match SpongeBob's level of zany, Reeves plays his role surprisingly straight. Tumbling after the dim-witted duo and delivering advice, Sage grows irate as they barrel into one radical mistake after another. A recurring gag is born from their irrepressible impulsiveness challenging Reeves's trademark chill, turning his grumbles into our gain. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-exclusive-movie-and-tv-series-coming-to-paramount&captions=true"] Matt Berry proves another stellar addition to the SpongeBob universe. The What We Do In the Shadows star lends his bold voice and bravado to Poseidon, swiftly establishing the immodest merman as a megalomaniac from the first boom of a petty pronouncement. Whether he's hollering at his servants or applauding a stage show, Berry brings the kind of over-the-top energy that makes Poseidon snap right into place with the rest of these wild maroons. Poseidon's kingdom is a casino metropolis under the sea, providing a dramatic contrast to the small-town vibe of Bikini Bottom. Naturally, SpongeBob and Patrick get caught up in the razzle-dazzle and sugary churros. The bright lights, big city vibe allows director Tim Hill to pack the final act with eye-popping color. Plus, this more mature location sets the stage for allusions that'll play better to grown-ups, like a tentacle parody of Kenny G or spoofs on courtroom dramas and castle-crashing showdowns. There's a healthy dose of action in chase scenes and fights, more playful than violent. Yet there's something missing that keeps The SpongeBob Movie from being great. It's just not weird enough. SpongeBob has long been defined by a brand of humor that is kid-friendly, silly, slyly observational, but ultimately unapologetically weird. The films thus far took Hillenburg's bonkers realm and spun it into wondrously WTF big-screen spectacle, like SpongeBob and Patrick riding the freckled back of Baywatch's David Hasselhoff as he serves as a human jet ski. Moments like these are so bizarre they feel like Pop Rocks are bursting in your brain. The surreal unpredictability brings a rush of joy! The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run absolutely has bizarre bits, but nothing so out there that it achieves that Pop Rocks rush. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-adult-cartoon-tv-series&captions=true"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3kxrko7
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Outriders Review in Progress: Demo Impressions

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Since seeing our first hands-on preview of Outriders last summer, I’ve been cautiously optimistic about People Can Fly’s new co-op shooter/RPG. I was disappointed by the latest delay, but as a consolation prize, Square Enix has released the first act on schedule as a demo for us to start forming impressions off of. After spending the last day or so wreaking superpowered havoc on PS5, I’m still not sure whether the final game will end up being the Mass Effect/Destiny/Gears of War mashup I’ve been hoping for, but it’s definitely sold me on the fun of its sci-fi setup.

Editor’s Note: Why Review a Demo?

While it’s definitely premature to base a full review on what’s available in a limited demo, it’s a great way to get things started. When you think about it, the entire purpose of a demo is to let you try a portion of a game in order to see if you think it’s good or not before you decide to buy it. As game critics, playing a game and deciding whether we think it’s good or not – and explaining why we feel that way – is basically our whole job description. So while we obviously won’t put a final score on Outriders until we’ve had a chance to thoroughly play the full version that’ll be available on April 1, we’re making our reviewer’s thoughts so far available for anyone thinking of diving in themselves.

- Dan Stapleton, Reviews Editor

What I find most engaging about the Outriders demo  – which covers its prologue and first chapter and has kept me going for about six hours so far – is its insistence on more closely resembling a single-player RPG than a “shared-world” shooter in the vein of Destiny and The Division. I may not be able to make huge, story-altering decisions like in a classic BioWare RPG, and they’re still yet to crack the code of making every player the story’s Chosen One simultaneously, but being able to have optional conversations with almost every NPC I interact with and seeing tangible in-world consequences to my actions – like unlocking a new merchant with a permanent discount by completing a side quest – goes a long way toward getting me invested in Outriders’ post-double-apocalypse world.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/outriders-demo-the-first-18-minutes-on-ps5-captured-in-4k"]

Though maybe “post-post-apocalytic-apocalypse” is a more appropriate way to phrase it, because while the planet our crew of survivors from “Earth that was” land on was originally full of verdant forests and bizarre fauna, by the time the story kicks off in earnest it’s become anything but. The world dubbed “humanity’s last hope” quickly goes awry for our titular customizable character and their friends, and an unexpected lengthy time jump (which is a trope I’ll admit I’m a sucker for) sends things into territory that would make even the maddest of Maxes wince.

Its writing may not win any awards this year, and cutscenes suffer from some unfortunately out-of-sync audio, but it does a serviceable job of moving the story along and endearing its NPCs to you, whether they’re novel takes on established archetypes or making good use of People Can Fly’s affinity for self-aware banter. The latter can create some clashing tones, though. This is clearly a story that wants to address serious themes like humanity’s penchant for conflict and overconsumption, but it also kicks off with a somewhat bombastic attitude that doesn’t really let up, especially in the first chapter showcased in the demo. It sort of feels like hearing someone yell “YEE-HAW” during the somber acoustic part of a country set; it’s not entirely out of place, but it doesn’t quite fit in, either.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=outriders-ign-first&captions=true"]

Similarly, the prologue (and several trailers, too) hinted at a lush and colorful world to explore, but most of what we see in the demo is the drab browns and greys of war-torn lands and refugee camps. Hopefully we’ll see more varied environments and characters in the full release, but for now the majority of the color in the world comes from the flashes of red, blue, and green as you carve your way through each early-game zone with a variety of weapons and special abilities.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Outriders%20is%20very%20clearly%20focused%20on%20the%20DPS%20side%20of%20things."]

Combat is, for the most part, some solid fun – as one would hope since it’s where 90% of Outriders’ gameplay lies. It follows the satisfying (if familiar) formula from other co-op heavy looter-shooters and adds a gory dash of time-bending elemental superpowers for good measure. Gunfights – whether playing solo or with friends – are frenzied affairs that leave battlefields literally coated in blood, and there’s something morbidly hilarious about seeing a whole-ass ribcage rolling through a skirmish like a bony tumbleweed.

In more or less standard fashion, the four classes all boast strengths, weaknesses, and skill sets that will be familiar to anyone with some experience in classed-based action games – though where other squad shooters typically have a variety of roles for players to fill (healer, support, etc), Outriders is very clearly focused on the DPS side of things, at least based on the abilities available in the demo. Yes, the four classes each “fill a role” on the team, but aside from the Devastator’s Golem ability (which effectively just turns on “tank mode”) they’re all in service of how quickly you can reduce your opposition to a sticky red paste. That uniformity may be a turn-off for anybody who really loves to play The Healer or Buffy McBufferson, but it also allows those who opt not to team up with others to feel safe playing as any of the four classes. And there’s a very real possibility that they’ll become much more different as they level up in the full game – there was an entire skill tree that the demo barely scratches the surface of.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/outriders-demo-5-minutes-of-gameplay-with-every-class"]

I spent a decent amount of time exploring on my own as both the tank-ey Devastator and the far squishier Trickster, and found that the combat was balanced as well for one person as it is for a group – the only notable difference being that while I was playing with friends there were a lot more enemies to deal with in each encounter to scale up the challenge. The roster of enemies present in the demo is fairly limited, featuring run-of-the-mill riflemen to melee-focused berserkers and the occasional superpowered miniboss – but they provided enough tactical variety to demand some quick thinking and strategy, especially in larger groups. Aside from some floaty movement and a frustrating lack of clearly climbable (or, perhaps more importantly, non-climbable) objects, I’ve had a grand time-bending earth or using teleportation and stasis powers to chunkify hordes of nameless baddies, and there was something sadistically gratifying in seeing just how ruthlessly one set of powers could crush, incinerate, or straight-up disintegrate enemies when paired with a teammate’s if I was playing with a group.

Thus far, what I’ve played of Outriders might not revolutionize the looter-shooter formula, but it’s a solid take on it and has a good variety of upgrades and perks that mesh well with the chaotic pace of combat and promise some really interesting builds for late-game characters. While the weapons are a fairly standard array of assault rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles – with some notable inclusions like the “double gun” or more powerful Legendary-tier weapons – the inventory metagame gets more interesting as you collect rarer gear. While “Unusual” (I don’t know why they can’t just call them “uncommon” like everybody else) items have simple passive buffs like additional crit damage or armor piercing, Rare (or better) items often have special perks that can either enhance your class-based abilities or even provide new ones, like generating a protective shield with every hit.

[poilib element="poll" parameters="id=ba57199c-c8dc-4367-b332-7f53303d09e2"]

Similar to other loot grinds, it appears you can either sell or disassemble items to purchase or craft better gear, though the crafting system was offline in the demo. I’m glad that progress from the demo will transfer to the final game when it launches on April 1, though, because I’ve found a winning set: a rifle with the aforementioned shield ability and a preposterously powerful auto-shotgun that restores health with each kill. I hope I can upgrade these bad boys as I reach higher levels and world tiers (which increase both enemy difficulty and loot quality as you level up) in the full game.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=%22This%20demo%20provides%20little%20to%20no%20insight%20on%20what%20to%20expect%20from%20Outriders%E2%80%99%20endgame.%22"]

Outriders’ demo highlights a lot of what it has going for it – fun combat, both for fire teams or solo players (though it’s definitely more fun with friends so far), intriguing sci-fi plot hooks with a lot of potential, and a unique take on how co-op shooters can adopt elements of more traditional RPGs. That said, it also shows some spots where the apocalyptic space shooter is starting to stumble. Replayability is a big part of whether a not a co-op RPG shooter remains enjoyable, and while combat in Outriders is a bloody good time, I found myself yawning through my third and fourth runs of its several sample missions. Similarly, while I really enjoy some of the concepts introduced in the story, what I’ve seen so far is on a tightrope between being the first game to crack the “shared-world shooter with a good story” puzzle or another instance of mashing “skip cutscene” as fast as possible – and nothing takes you out of a story faster than buggy cutscenes.

What I don’t think the Outriders demo has done yet is really sell me on it in the long-term, and while that’s very hard to do in a few hours it’s also crucial in determining whether a game like this is worth becoming invested in. I’m definitely interested to see more of its world and unlock more nifty pseudo-magic, but I’d venture a guess that 70% of my playclock in similarly structured games takes place well after the credits have rolled, and this demo provides little to no insight on what to expect from Outriders’ endgame. Its developers have detailed a fairly robust endgame plan, but whether or not it has the staying power of other service-adjacent co-op shooters – or if that’s even the team’s goal – remains to be seen. Hopefully, it’ll keep up the fast pace of its action and decently fun, pulpy story – because I really want to level up that auto-shotgun.

[poilib element="accentDivider"]

This demo hasn’t been quite substantial enough that I’m willing to put a temporary score on Outriders yet, but I am having a good time with it and am looking forward to playing more for the full review. Look for that sometime on or around the release date of April 1.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2ZRIDXE
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Double Your Phone's Battery Life With One of the Best Battery Cases

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Having a portable power bank may be an effective way to ensure you've always got enough juice available for your smartphone and other devices, but it can be a bit clunky to carry around a second gadget if all you need is a few extra hours of battery life. A battery case for your smartphone is a slightly more elegant solution that's tailored to your phone and skips the cable management that comes with power banks. A quality battery case should do a few things. For one, it should provide plenty of extra juice for your phone. Fortunately, many have a few thousand milliamp-hours worth of energy. Since they're also cases, they should protect your phone as well. And, if you want something really phone-friendly, they shouldn't interfere with your phone's features, like NFC, nor add too much bulk. We've rounded up a variety of battery cases for the top phones on the market. Whether you've got the latest from Apple, Samsung, or Google, you should find something useful here. And, if you see a case you like but have a different smartphone model, you may be able to find multiple versions of the same case that'll work with various phones.

TL;DR – These are the Best Smartphone Battery Cases:

• Newdery Battery Case
• Alpatronix Battery Case
• Casely Power 2.0 Charging Case
• i-Blades Samsung Galaxy S21 Smart case
• Newdery LG G8 ThinQ Battery Case
• Mophie Juice Pack Connect

1. Newdery Battery Case

Best iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FNewderryBattery-Case1603913626615.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FNewderryBattery-Case1603913626615_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225f99c7a2e4b043c3d6cf02e1%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2F5yEr5%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Newdery%20Battery%20Case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Atrue%7D"]

Capacity: 4,800mAh ● Size: 6" x 3" x 0.65" ● Weight: 119g

Apple might be offering more battery life in the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro than it had in its phones from the past, but that doesn't mean you won't want a way to give your device some extra mileage away from power outlets. The Newdery Battery Case will do just that with a built-in 4,800mAh battery pack, and since the two phones have the same dimensions, you can use it with either one. The Newdery Battery Case slips over your iPhone like any other case, giving it a bit of extra protection, and it doesn't interfere with features like Apple Pay or wired headphones. When you need to top it back up, you can even throw it onto the same wireless charger you'd use with your phone.

2. Alpatronix Battery Case

Best iPhone 12 Pro Max Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FAlpatronixBattery-Case1603913676298.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FAlpatronixBattery-Case1603913676298_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225f99c7d3e4b01ef5eb1cf65b%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2F6qLm3%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Alpatronix%20Battery%20Case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

Capacity: 6,000mAh ● Size: 6.7" x 1.6" x 3.1" ● Weight: 68g

If you've picked up the iPhone 12 Pro Max, it's likely because you like things big. But, if the battery inside isn't proving large enough to keep up with your screen-time or extensive use of its cameras, then Alpatronix has the answer. The Alpatronix Battery Case matches your iPhone 12 Pro Max's size with some size of its own in the form of a 6,000mAh battery. That'll help ensure you can give your phone a ton of extra battery life. And, since this case wraps around the back and sides of your phone and includes a screen protector, it can help give your phone a longer life in general.

3. Casely Power 2.0 Charging Case

Best iPhone SE 2 Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FCaselyPower-201603913751581.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FCaselyPower-201603913751581_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225f99c81ee4b043c3d6cf02e3%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2F4vNW4%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Casely%20Power%202.0%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

• See it on Casely

Capacity: 3,200mAh

The iPhone SE (2020) is a great, little phone, especially when considering it offers so much performance and the latest version of iOS for such a low price. But, one thing it doesn't have a whole lot of is battery. With just 1,821mAh of battery capacity, it can struggle to last through a whole day if you're spending much time on it. Casely has the answer with the Casely Power 2.0 Charging Case. This case can deliver a full charge to the iPhone SE, letting you go for twice as long away from power outlets. And, when you do need to top back up, you won't need to remove the case.  You can plug the case in with a Lightning cable or set it on a wireless charger. That means no fuss getting the case on and off, and less risk to your phone when it's outside of the case.

4. i-Blades Samsung Galaxy S21 Smart case

Best Samsung Galaxy S21 Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2021%2F02%2F26%2FiBladesSamsung-Galaxy-S21-Smart-case1614358715346.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2021%2F02%2F26%2FiBladesSamsung-Galaxy-S21-Smart-case1614358715346_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%22603928bfe4b019c496f0e2aa%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2Fyq4YP%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22iBlades%20Samsung%20Galaxy%20S21%20Smart%20case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22i-blades%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

Capacity: 3,600mAh ● Size: 7.06" x 3.1" x 0.56" (0.88" combined depth) ● Weight: 125g (combined)

What if you could get a battery case for your Galaxy S21 that didn't have to add a bunch of bulk to your phone when you weren't in need of the battery? While most battery cases will stick you with a permanently attached battery that requires removing the whole case to cut down on the bulk, the i-Blades Smart Case for the Galaxy S21 is a more flexible solution. The case goes onto your Galaxy S21 more like a standard case, though it does plug into the USB-C port on the bottom of the phone. From there, i-Blades' Smartblade attachment can snap onto the back of the case, where it not only can offer an extra 3,600mAh of battery but also extra storage. The Smartblade can come with 16GB to 128GB of built-in storage, and it has its own microSD card slot for even more space. If you think you need more battery, you can carry more SmartBlades with you and swap out when one goes dry. The SmartBlades can all recharge at the same time just by stacking them, just making the solution that much more convenient.

5. Newdery LG G8 ThinQ Battery Case

Best LG G8 Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F03%2F20%2FNewderyLG-G8-ThinQ-Battery-Case1584733032036.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F03%2F20%2FNewderyLG-G8-ThinQ-Battery-Case1584733032036_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225e751b6ce4b08e237d61fcf7%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2FR5L8X%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Newdery%20LG%20G8%20ThinQ%20Battery%20Case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

Capacity: 4,700mAh ● Charging Time: 2 hours ● Size: 6.19" x 3.04" x 0.77" ● Weight: 123g

The LG G8 ThinQ has plenty of battery to power it, but if you're into some serious gaming or want to be sure you can enjoy videos with the brightness and HDR enhancements peaked, you might need some extra power. The Newdery Battery Case is designed to more than double the power for the LG G8 ThinQ, and can even fully charge the phone in about two hours. It fits around the outside of your LG G8, and you don't need to remove it when you're plugging back into a wall outlet. The case can protect you from a dead battery, but also protects the phone's back and sides from falls.

6. Mophie Juice Pack Connect

Best Battery Case for Any Phone

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2021%2F02%2F26%2FMophieJuice-Pack-Connect1614360362217.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2021%2F02%2F26%2FMophieJuice-Pack-Connect1614360362217_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%2260392f2ee4b019c496f0e2ac%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2F6q6Ek%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Mophie%20Juice%20Pack%20Connect%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Zagg%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

Capacity: 5,000mAh ● Size: 2.7" x 4.09" x 0.56" ● Weight: 126g

Having a battery case is cool and all, but once you upgrade your phone, you'll not only have to figure out what to do with the old phone but also what to do with the old case. With the Mophie Juice Pack Connect, you'll get a battery solution that works for your current phone and quite likely your next phone as well. This isn't exactly a case, as it doesn't cover your phone, but it does attach a battery to your phone. With the Juice Pack Connect, you'll stick a small anchor point to your phone or the phone case of your choosing, and then you can slip on the 5,000mAh battery pack whenever you need it. The battery itself uses Qi wireless charging, so it supports a wide variety of smartphones, and it can even be recharged wirelessly.

What to Look for in a Battery Case

You might think picking the right battery case for your phone is just a matter of picking the one with the biggest capacity, but that's a surefire way of buying something too big to fit in your pocket and end up leaving at home all the time. Choosing the right charging case comes down to hitting the right balance between battery capacity, size, and price. If you're looking for just a battery case to throw in your bag when you need it, you might as well get a portable charger. There's no point in buying something molded to fit your phone if you're never going to slip it inside of the charging case, which just leaves space that otherwise could have been used to fit more energy cells. With that in mind find a battery case that'll actually fit into your pocket without adding too much weight. Another problem with choosing the highest capacity battery is that it's often its only feature. All of the highest capacity battery cases we've seen sacrifice quick charging and Qi charging capabilities for storing more energy. That latter feature is important if you like to keep the charging chase on your phone at all times and handy for wirelessly charging both your phone and battery case at the same time. [widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=More%20Expert%20Tech%20Roundups&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=tech-roundup&count=4&columnCount=4&theme=article"] Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2SyOsVY
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Razer Kiyo Pro Webcam Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Let’s face it: we’re all spending more time at home than we’d probably like and it’s led many of us to spend a fair amount of time in front of a webcam. If you’ve taken part in many virtual meetings, you’ve surely become familiar with the “faces of Zoom.” You know the ones: The co-worker whose face you can’t see because they’re sitting in front of a bright window. The low-res friend who’s more pixel than person. The colleague mired in shadow and distorted by grainy noise. No one wants to be that person, so today we’re looking at a possible solution from Razer with the Kiyo Pro webcam. Thanks to its unique set of features, it also promises to be an exciting option for aspiring streamers. It’s a successor to 2018’s Razer Kiyo and ups the ante in almost every way. Featuring uncompressed 1080p60 video capture, HDR, and a Sony CMOS sensor with STARVIS low light technology, is this webcam worth the premium $199 asking price? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=razer-kiyo-pro-review&captions=true"]

Razer Kiyo Pro – Design and Features

The Kiyo Pro is a beastly webcam. It uses a circular design instead of the usual rectangle found on most webcams but sits even higher than the original Razer Kiyo in size. In fact, it seems designed to look like a mirrorless camera lens, complete with the knurled front ring that begs to be turned (but can’t be). It feels solid with a metal front ring, molded plastic rear, and surprisingly hefty weight. Razer went all in on sturdiness, even opting for a large Gorilla Glass 3 protective panel for the lens, and a plastic lens cap to protect even that while traveling. It’s cliche to say a product is “made to last,” but that is certainly the impression it gives. Frankly, it’s the sports car of webcams for build quality. As I would expect from any webcam, it comes with its own stand to balance on the edge of your monitor, but it’s strong enough to double as a tripod and hold the Kiyo Pro all on its own. The camera attaches to the stand with a standard ¼-20 thumb screw that also allows it to pivot and easily frame your shot. The stand also allows the camera to tilt anywhere from a slight upward angle to a full 90-degrees to point straight down at your desk. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=d59ce720-7984-4612-86d5-5b7e41786581"] There’s also a second ¼-20 thread on the bottom of the stand, so you have plenty of options to use a standalone tripod with just the camera or an adjustable mount like the GorillaPod without losing flexibility. The stand is so good, though, that I didn’t see a need to mount it on a tripod. It’s one of the best I’ve ever used due to its strength and adjustment options. The big challenge facing webcams versus larger cameras is their small sensor size. A camera that looks great in bright light can look grainy and terrible in dim lighting. The Kiyo Pro meets this challenge with a larger-than-average Sony IMX327 image sensor (2.1MP) and 2.9 micrometer pixel size, along with a wide F2.0 aperture that allows it to gather more light. Those features are nice, but probably wouldn’t be enough to make a big difference on their own, which is where STARVIS and HDR come in. Between the new sensor, STARVIS and HDR, low light performance is the name of the game for the Kiyo Pro. STARVIS is proprietary tech owned by Sony and isn’t something I’ve come across in gaming hardware until now. It has been a popular choice in security cameras for some time, however, allowing users to record in near complete darkness in full color with far less noise than a traditional camera sensor. Applied here, it means that you can stream in near-dark conditions with a far better image than a webcam has a right to. HDR, on the other hand, complements this by evening out the image for a wider range of color and exposure. When enabled through Synapse, the camera captures images at multiple exposures and blends them together in real time. What this means in practice is that Kiyo Pro can adapt much better to different lighting scenarios than most webcams today, including scenes that are too bright. In my testing, it didn’t completely eliminate hot spots if my Elgato Key Lights were too close but it performed much better than I expected in this regard. That said, HDR mode has its own share of downsides and isn’t going to be the best choice in every situation. Compared to the original Razer Kiyo, the Pro bumps the maximum resolution to uncompressed 1080p60 and this is really where the disappointments start. Compared to the original Kiyo’s 720p60, it’s a welcome bump but with the “Pro” moniker, I was really hoping to see it compete with the Logitech Brio’s 4K resolution. It’s true that streamers and virtual employees won’t use 4K but many content creators still use webcams for recording and at $199, it would have been nice to see it really compete there. I was also surprised to see that the Kiyo’s most defining feature, its built-in ring-light, was removed. In speaking with Razer, I was told that the designers didn’t feel it was necessary thanks to the STARVIS technology and I simply disagree. Particularly in HDR, the Kiyo Pro could benefit from a solid white light source as I found it very reactive to warm white lighting. [caption id="attachment_247936" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Wide[/caption] The webcam features an adjustable field of view which can be set inside Razer Synapse. At its widest, it's industry-leading at 103-degrees. This is a good fit for multi-person streams but results in a very noticeable fisheye effect. It can also be stepped down to 90-degrees, a match for the Logitech Brio and much wider than the Logitech Streamcam’s 78-degrees. The final two steps match the Streamcam and crop in further to 65-degrees for a nice head and shoulders shot. If you’re using a work machine, do note that Synapse is required to make the most of this camera. You’ll need to open it at least once to enable HDR and to enter the widest field of view. Synapse also allows you to make some basic adjustments to brightness, contrast, saturation, and color temperature, but these can all be accessed through OBS or Windows’ Camera app. If you’re planning on using this camera for its microphone, you’ll be pleased to know that it offers stereo omnidirectional microphones. They sound good and offer a full, bassy tone that’s not compressed like the Logitech Streamcam. It doesn’t offer the best noise rejection, however, so if you need to chat in a noisy environment, plan on reaching for the headset.

Razer Kiyo Pro – Performance

I tested the Kiyo Pro head to head against its closest competitors, the Logitech Brio and Logitech Streamcam, as well as against my Lumix G85 connected with a CamLink. Like the Kiyo Pro, the Brio is also HDR enabled while the Streamcam is not. I tested each camera multiple scenarios to get a feel for how it would perform:

• Standard Lighting: Corner lamp with normal soft white bulb, 100-watt equivalent, 3-4ft away. Second light source in the opposite corner of the room. Full RGB on the PC and peripherals.
• RGB Lighting: Nanoleaf panels on the rear wall and to my right, approx. 3ft away. Elgato Key Light and Key Light Air both on. Larger Key Light at 20%, smaller just enough to light the other side of my face. Monitor/PC lighting.
• Well Lit: Both key lights on, just shy of causing clipping, tuned to “cool white” color temperature.
• Low Light: Worst case scenario. Only monitor/PC lighting, curtains drawn.

When it comes to the Kiyo Pro on its own, I was impressed by its image quality but quickly realized that it would need tweaks to really look its best. Out of the box, the image quality is good but slightly soft and tends toward warmer colors. When swapping from SDR to HDR mode, I was surprised by how effectively it smoothed out hotspots on my skin from the corner lamp. At the same time, HDR seemed to add more contrast and darkened the image overall. Enabling HDR also drops the framerate to 30 FPS. The smoothness of a 60 FPS stream is hard to go back from but in unideal lighting, it’s a reasonable trade-off for the improvement to image quality. INSERT VIDEO HERE That said, this is a camera that loves white light. When I took it to my day job under the office fluorescents, I was surprised by how good I was able to get it to look. Without adjusting anything, it’s a dramatic leap forward from your average laptop webcam, but with custom settings applied, I was able to get it looking very good. Much better, in fact, than I could with any kind of colored light in the mix. Compared to the Logitech Brio and Streamcam, the differences are fairly stark. Logitech clearly tunes its cameras for exposure and skin tones, even in warm lighting. In HDR mode, the Kiyo Pro usually came across too amber and the heightened contrast made it look underexposed on default settings on everything but the “Well Lit” scenario. As you can tell, once the cool white lights overtook my normal room lighting, everything cleared up. In fact, I prefer the colors of the Kiyo Pro to the Brio here. Swapping over to RGB lighting (my approximation of stream lighting), that amber cast returns slightly, but both Logitech cameras both over-compensated and made my face too pale. The Kiyo Pro also did a better job of preserving detail in the dark areas of the picture, like my sweatshirt. Oddly, it caused very noticeable banding across my Nanoleaf panels which none of my other cameras have ever displayed. Where the Razer webcam shined was in low light performance. Even against Brio, there was far less grain and much better colors. Grain still exists, but since the conditions were so poor, the fact that it does as well as it does proves Razer’s claims. For low light performance, it’s excellent. [caption id="attachment_247935" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Low-light comparison[/caption] Like most cameras, you can increase image quality with some custom tweaks and I consider that almost a necessity here. Surprisingly, disabling HDR made a major improvement to the amber cast and exposure almost immediately, so clearly it’s a result of the camera’s processing. If you have a lighting scenario similar to mine, you might consider running the camera in SDR mode and being done with it. The SDR image is still very good but lacks the smoothness of HDR. [widget path="global/page/imagecomparison" parameters="comparisons=%7B%22comparisons%22%3A%5B%7B%22caption%22%3A%22Razer%20Kiyo%20Productiivity%22%2C%22images%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%226038b47fe4b019c496f0e29c%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Stock%20Settings%22%7D%2C%7B%22id%22%3A%226038b487e4b019c496f0e29d%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Custom%20Settings%22%7D%5D%7D%5D%7D"] Thankfully, it’s possible to make big improvements just by adjusting the sliders inside Razer Synapse. By boosting brightness, lowering contrasting, and tweaking a handful of other settings, I was able to really improve the overall image. [widget path="global/page/imagecomparison" parameters="comparisons=%7B%22comparisons%22%3A%5B%7B%22caption%22%3A%22Streaming%22%2C%22images%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%226038b47ce4b019c496f0e29b%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Stock%20Settings%22%7D%2C%7B%22id%22%3A%226038b481e4b0b2cb591c47f7%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Custom%20Settings%22%7D%5D%7D%5D%7D"] One thing that really stood out to me, however, is that the Brio still offered the crisper picture, even after I applied sharpening to the Kiyo Pro. In fact, taken as a whole, for the same price, the Brio offers more detail, brighter exposure, better color balance, and comparable performance in all but very dim scenarios. Fortunately for Razer, the Brio still has the worst auto-focus performance I’ve ever seen on a webcam. The Kiyo Pro, on the other hand, would hunt briefly if I re-entered the scene but generally stayed locked on my face.

Purchasing Guide

The Razer Kiyo Pro is available for $199 at Amazon and direct from Razer

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3kpJ2Ka
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

WandaVision: Season 1, Episode 8 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This review contains spoilers for Marvel's WandaVision episode 8, now available to view on Disney+. To remind yourself of where we left off, check out our WandaVision episode 7 review. [poilib element="accentDivider"] With the finale in sight and the big Agatha Harkness reveal dropped at the end of its last chapter, you’d expect WandaVision to ramp up the pace for its penultimate episode. Instead it does the very opposite; episode 8 is an exercise in taking stock. It’s a series of flashbacks that feels akin to pre-flight checks, ensuring the audience is fully informed before heading into the show’s final take-off. There are a few fun twists to be found, as well as some emotional value, but for anyone fully invested in both WandaVision and the MCU, it feels like the brakes have been applied when it should have been the accelerator. It should be pointed out that episode 8’s most important reveal comes not as part of the main show, but in a mid-credits scene. It turns out Hayward was lying back in episode 5 about Wanda having stolen Vision’s corpse. Instead, he has rebuilt Vision - a nod to the White Vision from the comics - and has activated him using the Hex’s energy. This means Hayward has broken the Sokovia Accords’ rules, should you need any more evidence that Hayward is as corrupt as they come. This all presumably paves the way for some kind of zombie Vision vs clone Vision showdown in the finale. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=wandavision-all-the-marvel-and-tv-easter-eggs-in-every-episode&captions=true"] A reveal as large as that is unfortunately relegated to a post-credits due to this week’s structure, which takes place almost entirely in Wanda’s memories, and so there’s no natural room for a detour to SWORD’s base. This design, which walks viewers through key moments of Wanda’s life, acts as a catch-up on her origin story so far. For anyone invested in the MCU, this is largely an exercise in watching stuff you already know, and even those who have only seen WandaVision will have pieced together these events thanks to expository dialogue in earlier episodes. That’s not to say there’s no merit in these scenes; their key value to fans comes in their emotional weight, and how they contextualise the sitcom elements with Wanda’s childhood love of imported American DVDs. But, for much of the episode, it does feel like we’re doing revision for our final WandaVision exam, rather than learning a whole lot of new topics. Where we do learn new things is with Agatha Harkness, although it may be that Marvel overstated her impact in the last episode by suggesting it was Agatha all along. Yes, she’s definitely been up to no good, but Agatha is almost entirely in the dark about Wanda’s power, rather than being the manipulator behind it. This does neatly position her as a sort of investigator for the episode, working as a guide for the audience’s thought process as she interrogates Wanda from memory to memory, attempting to discover the root of her power. Power which, by the end of the episode, Agatha has determined is Chaos Magic. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/21/wandavision-episode-7-the-real-villain-finally-revealed-mcu-canon-fodder"] With that discovery, Agatha proclaims Wanda as The Scarlet Witch, suggesting that in the MCU the title is some kind of prophecy or lineage for witches. It’s an interesting spin on inserting Wanda’s superhero name into the show, and the whole episode helps establish that this is who she was destined to be from birth, rather than via experimentation. The scene in Hydra’s lab, in which Wanda sees a vision of herself within the Mind Stone dressed in the classic Scarlet Witch costume, was a particularly strong method of adding a feeling of legend and weight to her story. It is, though, another reveal that really only works with the benefit of comic book knowledge. There’s nothing in the episode to contextualize Chaos Magic and its sinister comic origins, nor really demonstrate how Agatha has come to identify it. Still, it’s clear that Agatha wants to at least interfere with what Wanda has, and will cruelly hold her children hostage to meet that goal. This positions Wanda between the two enemies of Agatha and SWORD for the finale, which will hopefully provide some entertaining results. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=agatha-harkness-wandavisions-other-marvel-witch-explained&captions=true"] Episode 8 certainly has its flaws, then, but there are enough components that worked to prevent itself from feeling truly unnecessary. This largely comes from Elizabeth Olsen herself, who provides a sense of heft to the episode’s emotional sequences. As ever in the MCU, it's in the fleeting, quieter moments that we see the heroes’ most interesting character traits, and for episode 8 that comes in the flashback to Wanda and Vision at the Avengers HQ. Here we see that it’s not just Vision’s death that has caused all this grief, but a life of accumulating tragedy that has “drowned” her. Olsen really conveys Wanda’s exhaustion here, and is wonderfully matched by Paul Bettany, who’s back in classic Vision mode for a lovely tender moment. Wanda’s visit to SWORD’s headquarters to reclaim Vision also showed a new perspective; Hayward’s lies had convinced us that she’d stolen Vision’s body in rage, but the truth is much gentler than that. Seeing what SWORD had done, Wanda’s depression spirals deeper rather than manifests into violence, further emphasising the sad tragedy of the story. The sequence in which Wanda arrives in Westview for the first time, and opens Vision’s heart-signed property deed for the land, is sure to wrench even the coldest of hearts.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3dQmHnU
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Tom & Jerry Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Tom & Jerry premieres on HBO Max, and in select theaters, on February 26. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Tom and Jerry, the perpetually feuding feline and rodent who've been warring for our amusement in over 160 animated Hanna-Barbera shorts (plus numerous TV shows and movies) since 1940 -- not to mention serving as the inspiration for The Simpsons' Itchy and Scratchy -- are now starring in their own big city-set, hybrid live-action/animated adventure. And it doesn't quite hit the mark. Filled with frequent flashes of fun, Tom & Jerry ultimately gets bogged down with an overload of, well, let's just call it humanity. In an effort to bring together the world of cartoons and real life, the headlining duo often feels sidelined, and supplemental to the story of Chloë Grace Moretz's Kayla and her schemes and scams to keep a job that she conned her way into at a luxurious Manhattan hotel. The cat and mouse vanish for long stretches of the film while Kayla's constant crucibles too often feel like they should exist elsewhere, in a different movie. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/17/tom-jerry-official-trailer"] The cast, which includes Moretz, Michael Peña, Rob Delaney, and Colin Jost, is a lively and fun batch of game performers, ready to dive wholeheartedly into the silliness involved with interacting with animation, pumping up their performances a bit to fit into a world that's just a little zanier than our own. Dynamic gesturing, big expressions, and a touch of heightened sitcom-iness are crucial when it comes to playing off of scene partners that only exist in your imagination. Everyone here, top to bottom, knows what the movie is and how it's supposed to feel, but the stakes often feel strange (are we supposed to root for the ultra-wealthy? Or a mouse who, let's be honest, is kind of the worst?) and the story feels a bit too weighted on one side, with too much focus given to the real people. As family entertainment, Tom & Jerry is a perfectly adequate offering, though, depending on expectations, some viewers may be bummed to find less Tom and Jerry present than the title suggests. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=17-movies-that-mixed-live-action-and-2d-animation&captions=true"] To be fair, Tom and Jerry are both non-speaking characters and it's challenging to craft a full story around that. There aren't too many hard and fast rules to this specific world, except that all animals are cartoons and, randomly, some can speak (understood by other animals and maybe some humans). It's a loose enough setting that Tom and Jerry can carry on with their chaos, with some moments nicely lifted from old routines from the shorts. There are segments of mirth that land really well but the story's a bit too choppy to maintain momentum. As both Tom and Jerry arrive in New York and begin squabbling in Central Park (from a situation that Jerry is 100% to blame for), hustler Kayla lies her way into a temp gig at The Royal Gate, a landmark hotel that's hosting a huge celebrity wedding. Kayla's frank homespun ways endear her to many, except Peña's rigid hospitality nerd, Terrence. Through Kayla's drive to keep a job she's unqualified for, and Terrence's need to expose her as a fraud, Tom and Jerry, and their penchant for punching each other, get used as pawns in larger human plots. Which is the main reason they both feel underutilized. So much of what they do isn't in service of their own story. Of course, neither one's given an abundance of internal wants or needs. Jerry desires a nice, warm home and Tom dreams of - er - playing keyboard as an opening act for John Legend? Regardless, they're the thinnest part of the movie. Director Tim Story's got some interesting elements here, filling the film with tunes from old school hip hop legends like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, and the solid choice to make Jerry a super troll, but the end result is a mixed bag of good intentions, sporadically spirited moments, and an imperfect utilization of the title characters. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=2021-movies-preview&captions=true"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3dPcuYH
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Cherry Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Cherry hits theaters on February 26, and on Apple TV+ on March 12. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Avengers: Endgame's Joe and Anthony Russo, who have now spent the majority of their filmmaking careers in the trenches of the MCU, switch gears for a sullen and sulky dive into the unwell mind of trauma and addiction in Cherry, featuring Marvel's own friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Tom Holland. But Holland's riveting, anti-Peter Parker turn here isn't enough to save Cherry from being a struggle to get through. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Nico Walker, Cherry tells the story of an introspective Holden Caulfield type, from a hard-knock area of Cleveland, who joins the army after a bad break-up only to wind up severely wrecked by his wartime experience overseas as a medic. He crash-lands back home, adorned in medals, with very few recourses other than to escape via heroin -- and then bank robbery to support that horrific lifestyle loop. The film itself is separated into named chapters, like a book, and that helps slice up the story into more digestible pieces, but it never fully prevents Cherry from falling into a repetitive rut of feelings and themes. Drug addiction is a heavy topic and films about it can be a thick wall to chisel through. Cherry doesn't offer up anything new nor does it tighten its runtime for the sake of brevity. So the end result is, well, nothing you haven't seen play out in other movies about maladjustment, anxiety, and drug use. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/25/cherry-official-trailer"] As mentioned, the acting is quite compelling here. Most of it falls squarely on Holland's shoulders as he's not only the lead but also the narrator and a fourth-wall breaker. Nothing happens here outside of Holland's scope as he's in practically every scene, and when he's not in a moment his voice still looms over it. Most of the sad-sack characters who orbit Holland's unnamed character (though he's supposed to be "Cherry") feel overly quirky and ornamental, as they're always viewed through his eyes and he's a borderline sociopath. The one exception is Ciara Bravo's Emily, Cherry's long-suffering partner who winds up meeting his madness halfway and getting torn to pieces in the process. Bravo's showing is a strong second here, but overall the film is still Holland's clunky cart to pull. The gimmicky entryway for Cherry is that it's from the directors of some of Marvel's most complicated, and rewarding, films, starring arguably the most likable MCU actor. But it's a wholly different story and the MCU star is delivering the goods in an Oscar bait-ish role that's a far cry from what most people are familiar with him doing. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ranking-the-spider-man-movies&captions=true"] Once you get through all that webbing (heh) though, there's some really good stuff in Cherry that can exist on its own merit. It can, at times, offer up quiet devastation. It's just that, all lined up, it's a slog that needs a trim down. It's ambitious, sure, but threading multiple stories together, each of which could be their own movie really makes for a lot of bad bloat. Cherry certainly has a distinct vibe to it, which is sometimes darkly comedic, and it's definitely a welcome and ambitious swerve for the Russos and Holland, as the latter says he never wants to stop playing Spider-Man but also wants to play someone other than a teenager (The Devil All the Time, Uncharted, etc), but the movie regurgitates a familiar story (several, in fact) while stretching things out to a sometimes unnerving degree.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3sumcUB
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story premieres March 1st on Crackle. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ready to level up in your knowledge of all things Nintendo? The five-part docu-series Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story is here to unlock over 130 years of behind-the-scenes secrets to reveal how a humble family business became the defining voice of the video game industry. But, hey, listen: it's not all fun and games. Written and directed by Jeremy Snead, Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story ushers audiences back to 1890 Japan, where an innovative playing card company would lay the groundwork for the Nintendo dynasty. Beloved for Lord of the Rings, Stranger Things, and Goonies, Sean Astin narrates, his friendly and familiar voice guiding audiences through the century of Nintendo history ahead of the Console Wars of the 1990s, and beyond. Interviews with an array of experts are presented. Historians recount Nintendo's earliest days and latest innovations. Big wigs in gaming--like Atari Co-founder Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Nintendo of America Ron Judy, and former CEO Sega Of America Tom Kalinske recount the heady days when gaming moved from the arcade to living rooms. Famous gamers like Wil Wheaton, Alison Haislip, and Nati "Zombi Unicorn" Casanova provide personal anecdotes and color commentary. Each of these interviewees exhibits a clear passion for Nintendo or gaming. Sadly, this excitement isn't catching because Snead's approach refuses to probe. As was the case with the documentary feature Console Wars, the voices favored in Nintendo's story all come from the American branch. The founders who paved the way for Mario Bros. to dominate American gaming are paid respect in lip service from historians and colleagues. Yet these Japanese innovators aren't interviewed. Instead, their personal and professional lives are presented as bland dioramas with plastic figures standing in for actual people. Sure, some of these Nintendo titans aren't around to be interviewed. Still, for all the praise Super Mario/ The Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto is offered in this series, you'd think they'd talk to the 68-year-old living legend himself. Without such interviews, a jarring distance develops in the first episode that persists throughout the series, keeping some of Nintendo's key players shunted to the sidelines of its narrative. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/2NMQX8a] More frustrating, Snead opts to give a glossy veneer to Nintendo, even in its shadier moments. It's undeniable that Nintendo created a monopoly in American gaming that made it incredibly difficult for any other console to compete. However, the most shocking stories and treacherous tactics laid out in the 93-minute Console Wars aren't addressed at all in 297 minutes of Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story. Rather than trying to draw tension from how Nintendo went from underdog to alpha dog, Snead races through these sections, as if complexity is the enemy. Perhaps this is why he doesn't press his interview subjects for follow-ups on curious admissions. For instance, one American exec recalls hating the name "Donkey Kong," and requesting a different title for the stateside launch. Just as swiftly as he admits he underestimated the power of this peculiar--and now iconic--brand, he says his bid for a name change was rejected. Why did he hate the name? What did he suggest instead? Why was his proposal rejected? Snead doesn't ask, so any path to tension or even the possibility to imagine a world without the Donkey Kong we know is just lost. Gold coins spilled to the brick floor. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-super-mario-review-ever&captions=true"] Instead of a deep dive into the darker realms of Nintendo's story, Snead is happy to stay on the surface and even warp-whistle through awkward bits about lawsuits and missteps. Thus, he offers a glossing-over that isn't all that thrilling. Maybe to make up for the professional tensions skirted, Snead stuffs his series with a relentlessly booming score. It's so loud and persistent that at times I struggled to focus on what was being said by interviewees. The music refused to be background. It's as if Snead were trying to make up for a lack of any dramatic tension with an orchestral score that screams at you to feel something. Not every scene is approaching Bowser. When music isn't actually building to a climax, all these crescendos move from diminishing returns of tension to outright irritating. You wait for catharsis, and instead, it's just another sloppy segment with more yowling orchestrations. This series is inexplicably paced. The layout is simply linear. Snead locks into a chronological order that robs tension because we know this humble gaming stand in Kyoto will lead to towering success. Beyond that, he structures his chapters like movie trailers, relentlessly employing montages. Here is a montage, slapping together some cultural context of popular TV shows, Oscar mishaps, or music that rocked the radio waves. Here is another, stringing together a bunch of game footage. How about another montage of giddy kids tearing gift wrap away from NES on Christmas day? Is this bone-dry section about cartridge costs per unit boring? (Yes.) How about a sprinkling of sound bites that tease what's coming up next, moments before an expert just tells us what happened next? Now, another montage of newspaper headlines! All this makes it impossible to get into the flow of the show because there is no flow. Every section feels like a pop-up ad, blaring, disjointed, and trying to sell us something. This is weird because if you're watching this show, you're already sold! Likely you've owned a Nintendo system or three. You've got a favorite character. You know their best battle move. On some level, you're Team Nintendo, so why does this whole show feel like a fevered sales pitch? [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/09/the-lie-that-helped-build-nintendo"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3pTQZsq
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Razer Naga X Gaming Mouse Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out The Razer Naga is finally tightening its belt. The new Razer Naga X officially brings the MMO mouse into lightweight territory, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been following gaming mice over the last year. It’s been a rat race to trim every spare gram, making gaming mice lighter than ever. The Naga X comes in at only 85 grams, more than 30 less than the Naga Pro. The changes don’t stop there, but at $79.99 does it do enough to warrant an upgrade if you already own a Naga? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=razer-naga-x-review&captions=true"]

Razer Naga X – Design and Features

The Razer Naga is an iconic mouse for MMO players. It’s been a popular choice across MMORPG and MOBA communities since its original release more than a decade ago. In all that time, the core design hasn’t changed much. Today’s Naga X has more in common with the 2009 Naga than it has different, at least externally, and that’s been the case for the majority of Naga refreshes over the last decade. If it’s not broke, why fix it? [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=ae9767e6-2877-4e8e-abf9-1c5d5ec308dc"] That isn’t to say there haven’t been changes and upgrades throughout that time. The trendsetting 12-button thumb grid was pared down to a circle with 2012’s Naga Hex. In 2017, Naga Trinity introduced swappable side-panels, a design which was continued with the Naga Pro last year. We’ve seen wireless and wired versions, upgraded internals, and tweaked ergonomics. Razer even released a left-handed version last August, finally addressing an audience that’s gone unserved for far too long. But fundamentally, the Naga has been the “MMO mouse,” the online gamer’s right hand, with enough inputs to move entire skill bars off the keyboard and under his thumb. With the Naga X, Razer is scaling the Naga back and trimming it down, bringing it up with the times while also simplifying it for a more accessible price point. It features the same design as the standard Naga (or Naga side-plate on the Pro and Trinity) with its 12-button side grid and large, easy-to-palm ergonomics. It features the same dimensions as the Pro and, from what I can see and feel, the exact same contouring. By appearances, they’re very similar mice, though the Pro features a second DPI button under the mouse wheel. The biggest change is that the Naga X dramatically reduces the weight of the Pro, dropping from 117 grams to a mere 85 grams. It’s not quite an ultralight, but still feels surprisingly meager given its large size. At the same time, it’s solid shell is structurally solid, with no creaking even when I’m trying to make it happen. This slimming down is a welcome upgrade from the Pro which felt downright heavy in comparison to Razer's other recent mice. My daily driver is the Razer Viper Ultimate, which weighs in only 74 grams and made the Naga Pro feel like a brick in comparison. The Naga X finally provides an option for MMO players that want something in-line with the trends in gaming mice today and it’s good to see Razer offer something for this space. The changes aren’t limited to weight, however, and the few I noticed first were downgrades. There are no swappable panels, for one, so shifting to a traditional 6-button setup is out of the question. Razer has also changed the finish to a more gritty matte plastic that feels more grainy under the fingers. The rubber grip on the right side of the Pro is now textured plastic and really doesn’t work well to support a mouse of this size, constantly causing my pinky to slip anytime I need to lift it up. That said, this is also a much cheaper mouse and concessions have to be made. Leaving the interchangeable side panels for the higher tier mouse is an acceptable trade-off, but making the Naga X more slippery is not. Other changes are much better. The X now represents a middle-ground between 2017’s Naga Trinity and last year’s Naga Pro, featuring a new 18K DPI 5G Optical Sensor. It’s fast and accurate with a maximum speed of 450 IPS and 40G of total acceleration. Each of these is slightly less than the Pro, but other than the acceleration, all are a hefty improvement over the Trinity. Functionally, I can’t tell a difference between the two, so the scale-back doesn’t feel like a big loss. The switches are also downright excellent with a solid tactile click and 70 million click lifespan. They’re also Razer’s own in-house optical design, which means they’re theoretically faster (no debounce delay) but meaningfully less prone to failure over time since there are no mechanical contacts to degrade and cause the dreaded “double click of death.” The Naga X is wired-only but honestly doesn’t feel like it. It comes with Razer’s Speedflex cable, which offers next to no resistance and is ultra-flexible. Pair this with the same brand of PTFE mouse feet found on Razer’s highest-end mice and you have the recipe for an MMO mouse that glides like a dream, even on a bare desk.

Razer Naga X – Software

With a mouse like this, programming is more important than ever. Assigning skills, abilities, and macros is done through Razer Synapse, exactly as I described in my review of the Pro, as is lighting (minus the palm lighting zone which was removed). Razer makes setting up the Naga easy, including choosing popular shortcuts from a preset list. In my use, though, I found it best to stick to the standard number pad keymap with only small changes thrown in.

Razer Naga X – Performance

I have long been a proponent of MMO mice, even if you don’t play MMOs. That sounds counter-intuitive, but as someone who used only MMO mice before the last few years, believe me when I say that it’s hard to come back from the versatility they provide, especially for first-person shooters. In the previous section, I mentioned that I found it best to stick to the standard numpad keymap. That’s because most PC games keep important commands on the number row, which allows them to automatically be mapped to the Naga X’s thumb grid. In many games, it also allows you to combine them with keyboard modifiers to double, triple, or even quadruple your keymaps. In World of Warcraft, for example, I was able to map my skill bar to 1-12 (-, =) and then three other ones all to the thumb grid by combining shift, ctrl, and alt with each of those numbers. That’s 48 keymaps, directly accessible under my thumb, all without giving up a key to HyperShift. Playing World of Warcraft with the Naga X felt great. The light weight really does make a difference in how airy it feels to use. More importantly for MMOs, it allowed me to keep my hands on WASD and keep all of my attacks right under my thumb. As a mage, being able to run, drop an AOE on a crowd, Blink out of harm’s way and straight into a new rotation was freeing in a way that a normal mouse just can’t be. The Naga X also gave me a profound advantage in competitive first-person shooters. The Naga X, like the Naga Pro before it, is the Scuf controller of gaming mice. Smartly mapping weapons and positions to the number pad makes them faster to access than even a normal keyboard because your thumb is already touching those buttons. In Call of Duty: Cold War, mapping prone to 5 allowed me to score more drop shots than I’ve ever been able to with a normal keyboard. In shooters, milliseconds matter and being able to quickly pop out a pistol or leap behind cover can literally make the difference between a win and a loss. Shooters are also where the other upgrades come into play. The improved sensor felt pixel perfect. I wasn’t able to get it to spin out or lose tracking no matter what I tried. Just as importantly, the improved weight and glide let the mouse fade away and become an extension of my arm. The only drawback was the slipperiness of the right side which forced me to give it an extra grip anytime I needed to lift the mouse. Like all Nagas, there is a learning curve but Razer has done a good job of mitigating the time it takes to learn the position of each of its thumb buttons. Each row is uniquely angled to make it easy to identify without having to take your eyes off the game. The bottom row remains quite a stretch, however. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-gaming-mice&captions=true"]

Purchasing Guide

The Razer Naga X is available for $79 at Amazon, Best Buy, and direct from Razer's web store.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3pVty1A
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Bravely Default 2 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

When it comes to JRPGs, I enjoy them as JRPG as possible: long, complex, and grindy. Seeing as Bravely Default 2 is about as JRPG as they come in 2021, I'm really into it. Its novel twists on traditional turn-based battle and job systems, the gorgeous watercolor art style of its many locations, and the sheer amount of game that’s crammed into such a tiny Switch cartridge is just what my old-school Final Fantasy-loving brain craves. The amount of grinding that it demands can be a tough hill to climb, but there are plenty of smart features in play that make those long repetitive stretches about as easy as they can be without losing the feeling of accomplishment.

The good news is that if you’re returning to this world after playing Bravely Default and its story followup, Bravely Second: End Layer, you’re in for a familiar treat; the better news is that total newcomers won't be at a loss because the story of Bravely Default 2 is set in the same world but on a different continent, so you don’t need to dust off your 3DS to get caught up on the details. Instead, Bravely Default 2 connects to the original stories in an interesting way that might be a little surprising (though not jaw-dropping) to those invested in them. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/the-first-12-minutes-of-bravely-default-2-gameplay-demo-version"] Either way, Bravely Default 2’s roughly 60-hour story is like a refrigerator magnet poetry set of Square Enix cliches: you control a team of heroes out to save the world from calamity using magic elemental crystals – the group is even called The Heroes of Light, and you’re not just fighting evil, you're fighting the ultimate evil. I'm selling it a little bit short with that summary, because there are a few surprises I really enjoyed that diverge from its otherwise well-trodden JRPG trail, particularly near the end. But if you're picking this up expecting some deep storytelling, I'm here to dash those expectations against the same rocks our main hero's ship crashes into at the start of Bravely Default 2. (You know, where he washes ashore on a land in need of a hero? With only the vaguest recollection of how he got there?) And besides, while it might be a formulaic, light and breezy tale, that’s pretty much just what I want from a classic-style JRPG – especially one with such great gameplay mechanics underneath. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=You%E2%80%99re%20not%20just%20fighting%20evil%2C%20you're%20fighting%20the%20ULTIMATE%20evil."]The battle and job systems are where I found most of my joy while playing Bravely Default 2, but those don't diverge much from the tried-and-true formulas of the previous games. Remember: the odd name of the series refers to the battle system itself, which lets you either set a character to "Brave" to gain extra moves during your current turn, or "Default" to adopt a defensive stance while you build up extra turns to use with Brave later on. Knowing when to bank and when to let it all loose is crucial to your success in battles, and there is no one-size-fits all strategy right for every fight. For example, it can be a literal lifesaver when three of your four party members lay defeated on the battlefield: rather than just raise one back with a Phoenix Down and hope they survive to the next round, I could Brave the turns I needed to raise them all at once, but only if I had been smart about banking turns with Default before then. Not only does striking that balance make me rethink tried-and-true turn-based tactics, it saves some battles from becoming frustrating. As is the case in most (maybe all?) JRPGs, certain bosses have moves that would otherwise end your run – but here that’s mitigated by the ability to get multiple party members back in the fight. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20103494&captions=true"]

Bravely Default’s excellent job system also returns to add another layer of complexity to battles. Unlike a lot of RPGs, where each character is locked into a class from the outset, this job system lets you make them whatever you want, adding onto their abilities and strengths accordingly from each character's base stats. Characters gain job levels outside of normal experience points, and as you level them up you’ll unlock new abilities, including passive ones that can be assigned to that character regardless of their current job. These range from simple things like magical and physical buffs to more game-changing abilities like letting your magic attacks score critical hits as the Red Mage, or even the Monk's bare-knuckle combat ability that turns a character's fists into powerful weapons. Jobs from previous games, like White Mage, Thief, and Freelancer return, but (without spoiling anything) it’s a slight disappointment that there aren't as many jobs as in Bravely Second: End Layer, which had 30.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=My%20inevitable%20defeat%20would%20send%20me%20back%20to%20excitedly%20experiment%20with%20reorganizing%20my%20party."]There’s a lot of fun to be had in mixing and matching passive abilities with ones only available to a certain job for combos that are greater than the sum of their parts. You can set one of the abilities to guard a teammate when they're low on health, for example, and then add the chance to automatically counter-attack with another passive ability. Granted, there’s a fair amount of trial and error involved; there were a few boss battles where, after a few minutes, I'd realize I'd planned terribly for the task at hand (for example, not having a dark magic job like the Pictomancer equipped against a boss with dark magic weakness). However, my inevitable defeat would send me back to excitedly experiment with reorganizing my party to exploit those weaknesses before trying it again. The auto-save system is really generous, and saved me from having to redo my progress when I walked right into a boss' lair without stopping off at the nearby save-point beforehand. Definitely appreciated.

What We Said About 2013's Bravely Default

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2014/01/31/bravely-default-video-review"]"Bravely Default offers a handful of modern twists on what is otherwise a fairly traditional JRPG, albeit one that is exceptionally refined, characterful and well-made. It’s no revolution, and if random encounters and turn-based battles turn you off, you won’t find anything to change your mind here. But fans and open-minded newcomers will enjoy a substantial adventure that proves the JRPG is alive and kicking." - David Evans, posted December 5, 2013

Score: 8

Read the full Bravely Default review

Bravely Default 2’s boss battles are particularly great as well, especially some of the more challenging ones. For the most part, you start off the first half of the campaign finding and fighting bosses who hold items that unlock different jobs. Some of them are extremely tough, too – I spent over an hour fighting one, mostly due to being a bit under-leveled and not having a good loadout equipped going into it. But even if I had gone into it at exactly the right strength, it still would have been a challenge due to the nature of the fight. It almost felt like a puzzle: the boss had several minions who all buffed each other and attacked my party. I'd make serious progress only to have it undone by a healing spell from a minion, one who was in turn protected from attack by the boss' buffs. It was pretty arduous, but the satisfaction of beating the tougher bosses always made the struggle feel worth it. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20satisfaction%20of%20beating%20the%20tougher%20bosses%20always%20made%20the%20struggle%20feel%20worth%20it."]The bosses aren't just relegated to the main path, either: there are "rare monsters" scattered about the world you can take on as you see fit. They're hyper-powered versions of regular monsters, and the first time I tried my hand at battling one my party was absolutely crushed. The first of these bosses is presented right near the start, but I was about 30 hours into the story (roughly halfway) before I was able to best it. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/bravely-default-2-final-trailer-teaser"] Even beyond that, there are other bosses to fight in Bravely Default 2's many optional sidequests (including a late-game quest with one of the most irritating boss fights I think I've ever experienced, though the frustration it caused was the exception rather than the rule). Both the sidequest bosses and the rare monsters reward you massively with experience, but the equipment they drop isn’t nearly as exciting. As great as the job system is, it sort of unsatisfyingly takes the place of equipment rather than adding another facet of character customization. There is no ultimate sword of everlasting holy light to excitedly discover; there are powerful weapons, that's for sure, but they never feel like they're impacting the way your characters might fight like they do in other RPGs. They're just kind of there because... how else can you fight a monster? [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20overwhelming%20majority%20of%20the%20sidequests%20are%20slight%20variations%20on%20fetch%20quests."]Another gripe I have with the sidequests is the overwhelming majority of the ones I came across were just slight variations on fetch quests: collect four hides from a certain enemy and bring them back. Find five types of flowers and bring them back. Set out into the wilderness to collect three item types by defeating specific enemies and... bring them back. They're not all like that, but the majority are. However, there are some pretty excellent rewards for some of the side quests, and some of the jobs themselves are unlocked this way, so they’re usually worth putting up with. Make sure to ask around when you're in a town. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-top-25-switch-games-fall-2020-update&captions=true"]

As great as the boss fights are, the dungeons leading up to them aren't nearly as notable. They're all quite pretty, but each one is essentially just a different take on a classic maze-like layout. I found myself getting turned around more than once, but not in a way that ever got frustrating or anything. It was always fairly easy to get myself on the right track, but thinking back after the fact, none of the dungeons have any unique mechanics or obstacles that could make them stand out from each other beyond one being set in a steampunk-inspired magician's laboratory and another being set in crystalline mine, for example.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20overworld%20and%20many%20of%20the%20towns%20you%20visit%20are%20jaw-droppingly%20beautiful."]On that note, Bravely Default 2's watercolor visual style is a double edged sword. Its overworld and many of the towns you visit are jaw-droppingly beautiful – the upgrade to the Switch has lost a little of their charm from the tiny worlds of the 3DS, and each location is stunning in HD. Salvalon, the flooded desert city you might recognize from the demo, is an Earth-toned oasis for the eyes, while the ice-encrusted locale of Rimedhal blends blues and greys to exude a gorgeous sense of wintery majesty. The character and monster design, on the other hand, is less appealing. There's a plastic sheen to everyone and everything in the cutscenes and battles that looks a little off in a way I can't quite put my finger on. I loved the similar character style of the 3DS games, but that look hasn’t translated well for the Switch’s higher resolution and larger screen. As a result, they look out of place among the otherwise gorgeous watercolor backdrops. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-modern-rpgs&captions=true"]

Meanwhile, the voice acting for Bravely Default 2 is great. I have no qualms with it whatsoever, other than the quips made during battles lack variety after just a few hours. You can also swap between English and Japanese at any time you're not in battle, which is a welcome touch. I played the majority of Bravely Default 2 with Japanese voiceover and English subtitles, because I find it easier to read through the text at my own pace when I don't understand the words being spoken. Plus I'm a huge dork.

Back on the Grind

If you're turned off by the thought of grinding experience in a JRPG, then Bravely Default 2 might be a hard sell for you – but for me, a fan of notoriously grindy classics like Final Fantasy 6 and the Dragon Quest DS ports, there was an almost relaxing delight to leveling up my party with battle after battle. (Many years ago I had basically written off my lifelong love affair with JRPGs because I’d lost patience for the grind, but when I started playing JRPGs on handhelds, oh baby did that change.) I spent some of my time with Bravely Default 2 grinding in handheld mode while watching YouTube videos or right before bedtime, making it feel like a positive time-waster rather than time wasted. But if you’re less inclined than I am to enjoy turning off your brain and watching the numbers go up, be warned that grinding is definitely required here.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Be%20warned%3A%20grinding%20is%20definitely%20required%20here."]Grinding levels and grinding jobs are two different things, and I quickly developed strategies for doing either one optimally. For levels, I would find the hardest enemies I could stand and just fight a bunch of them. For jobs, the "JP" (or job points) that are tied to advancement don't require you to seek out harder and tougher enemies, so you can grind up your job levels on easier foes instead. (I personally recommend the desert, with bait equipped, and try to battle Wiki-Wikis.) I really like how the JP system isn't tied into difficulty because that made it easier to level up my jobs without feeling like I was risking death by taking on wave after wave of tough foes. By the end I had earned a passive ability that made it even easier, and it still felt fun. In fact, I was so overpowered it felt like I was exacting revenge on all those enemies who had given me such a hard time early on. Take that, stupid Undines and your healing abilities! [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=9dccfff4-0a23-4bd9-b5f2-a7d18d71031b"] I ran into a few bosses and dungeons where I was quickly defeated, often because I didn't have the right job leveled-up for the task at hand. Thankfully, Bravely Default 2 gives you abilities that make that easier as you progress. On top of passive abilities like the freelancer's "JP Up," which gives you a boost to your earned job points and the option to turn battle speed up to a ludicrous four times the regular pace returns from the previous games. I got so used to playing at 4X speed that it would feel like time itself had slowed to a crawl whenever I dropped it back down during boss battles. Tools like this don’t eliminate the grind, but they do help ease the time investment leveling will take. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%20was%20really%20happy%20to%20see%20some%20sort%20of%20community%20integration%20carried%20forward%20into%20the%20Switch%20era."]Speaking of quality-of-life features, one of my favorites from the Bravely series on 3DS was the ability to turn up, or off, random monster encounters. I liked having the flexibility of limping back to a town with the encounter rate off, or turning it all the way up to grind even quicker. However, since battles in Bravely Default 2 aren't random (they’re structured more like Dragon Quest with monsters wandering the overworld,) those options are gone. But the good news is you can now easily avoid them if need be – in fact, if you're overpowered, they'll flat-out run away (as more video game enemies should when they see someone out of their league approaching, frankly). And if you do want to grind and fight more enemies, you can use bait to attract certain types to you, even fighting consecutive waves with increasing rewards. As worried as I was about losing out on a feature I really liked from the original games, I'm happy to say the new system works just about as well. Another helpful system that seems like an attempt to fill the gap that the Switch’s lack of StreetPass has left involves sending a ship off to meet with other players while your system is asleep. You can let the ship sail for a maximum of 12 hours, and when you check on its progress you get a rundown of which other players it met on its journeys and which treasures it discovered. Many of the treasures are XP- or JP-boosting, so it's in your best interest to put your Switch to sleep once in a while. It's not as great as the StreetPass features of the earlier games because there's no way to summon those random strangers to help you out of a pinch, but I was really happy to see some sort of community integration carried forward into the Switch era. And the people you meet on your ocean voyages do eventually matter, but once again, the specifics fall into some spoilery territory. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/bravely-default-ii-a-brave-new-battle-trailer"]

I also appreciated that you can swap between Easy, Normal, or Hard difficulty at any time if you run up against a tough battle or if grinding becomes so easy it’s boring. You don't even need to back out to the menu and restart, you can just decide "I'm going to take it easy for a while" and flip the setting over at will (not that I, a very manly gamer man, would ever do such a thing). While I stuck with Normal for nearly the entirety of my playthrough and found it to be pretty well balanced, I did test out the Easy against that annoying boss I mentioned earlier and it made a little bit of a difference without reducing it to a total cakewalk. It didn't appear to affect my XP and JP, either – so if you just want to play and enjoy an easier experience, who am I to judge?

Regardless of difficulty, there’s no shortage of things to experience: Bravely Default 2's story, along with stopping to smell the occasional sidequest, took me about 65 hours to complete. It definitely has its ups and downs in that time and the total number of hours is significantly padded by grinding, but it maintains a comforting familiarity throughout, and (avoiding spoilers) the way it all played out at the end left me both smiling and a little surprised. After all of that, I still have plenty more I want to do too, with new bosses and more job-related secrets to uncover that will keep me busy far past the credits (and that’s not even including the New Game+ mode that unlocks after getting there). Like I said, there’s a lot of JRPG here.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3qUKlU1
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming