Overview Back in February 2014 Koei Tecmo released Toukiden: Age of Demons in the West and while it did have a few issues here and there, I found it to be an enjoyable title worthy of a sequel. Now a little over a year later and we have not quite a sequel, but an expanded and enhanced release in the form of Toukiden: Kiwami. Filled with extra content and bumped up to the PlayStation 4 alongside the original’s release on the Vita, is Toukiden: Kiwami worth picking up?
Story It is worth noting that Toukiden: Kiwami contains the entire campaign and storyline of the original Toukiden. This means that players who have either not played the original game, or chose not to import their save file from the Vita, will need to start from scratch before reaching the storyline events that begin in Kiwami starting at the eighth chapter.
That being said, demons, or as they are called in Toukiden, Oni, are a constant threat to mankind. Humanity has been struggling against these powerful enemies and only the elite Slayers are capable of defeating these monsters and purifying the land. Players take the role of a fresh Slayer that is assigned to protect the small town of Utakata, one of the last bastions of defense for humanity that is right on the front lines.
While the original story already did a surprisingly solid job of keeping the player engaged by providing their fellow Slayers backgrounds and quite a bit of development throughout the game as the story progressed. There were plenty of high and low moments but despite never taking becoming the central focus it was always intriguing and now that the story continues past its previous ending point, there is even more to enjoy.
Toukiden: Kiwami starts three months after the previous events of the storyline and as the fight against the Oni grows more difficult, a number of forces from the North are driven back and forced to take refuge in Utakata Village. With the appearance of new forces, also comes a new threat worse than ever before and it is up to the player, their allies, and a number of new characters that are all given quite a bit of development, including a rather interesting woman wielding a firearm, to put down this threat, adding even more content to what is already an impressive offering.
Gameplay Now it is worth noting that the basics of combat remain the same in Toukiden: Kiwami as they did in the first game so I will not go into length in that regard, though you can read about it in my previous review here. As far as a base summary goes, players will still be using Utakata Village as a home base where they can interact with NPCs, purchase and forge new equipment, take on missions, and more before venturing into combat where they will need to eliminate numerous small Oni and tackle larger Oni by slicing off various limbs and purifying them.
While most of the changes and enhancements can be found on the battlefield, Koei Tecmo has made sure to provide plenty of additional resources for players to take advantage of. There are now even more Mitama (trapped souls of historical and mythological figures) to collect and equip to weapons to further customize their character for a certain opponent or to fit their playstyle as well as a number of new abilities that come with these additional Mitama. There are also plenty of new weapons and sets of armor to collect and craft, adding an additional challenge for those who want to try and have a complete set of everything.
Now once you take the battlefield not only will you find that all of the previous weapons are still in the game, but they are now joined by a spiked club, a naginata, and a rifle. While the previous weapon types were fairly balanced, the club serves as a heavy hitting but slower weapon that is capable of easily countering enemy attacks and dealing massive damage, the naginata serves as a bit of a slower but more damaging polearm, and the rifle is a more complex variant of the bow and arrow system. In fact, of the new weapons, the rifle gives players the most interesting and unique role on the battlefield as the weapon can be armed with six different bullet types including explosive, piercing, and even buffing types allowing the character to play multiple roles on the battlefield while also sniping at enemy weakpoints from a safer distance.
If you happen to be playing offline or in the single player modes, players now also have the ability to command their NPC allies in combat by telling them to either attack, defend, aid one another, or have free reign. Ally AI was already very helpful in the past title and in Toukiden: Kiwami they have been improved to the point that players can generally rely on them to perform on their own but this does help with certain bosses. It also is worth noting that a new team attack can be performed whenever the “Unity Gauge” is filled up. These team Slayer attacks can deal massive damage capable of slicing off numerous limbs from an enemy Oni in a single strike.
The player’s Tenko can continue to be sent out to gather items while the player is on a mission but this time not only can players give the Tenko various items and equipment to improve the items they find, but if you happen to be exploring the same map that the Tenko has been sent to, there is a very good chance that you’ll meet up with it on the battlefield. If you are traveling with your Tenko then it will support the player by trying to purify Oni limbs and reviving any fallen Slayers.
While playing single player is fun on its own, the real enjoyment comes from playing with three others in a team of four. Toukiden: Kiwami excels in the multiplayer side of things. Not only are the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions able to cross-play with one another but the whole experience is as seamless feeling as possible.
Now it is worth noting that while the new weaponry, new foes to face off against, and slew of new content does add a lot of extra value to the package, the main flaws in the first game carry over into Toukiden: Kiwami. This means that while players have more options than ever to customize their fighter and take on challenges, the core gameplay is still very repetitive. Thanks to item drops and the crafting system players will constantly need to be grinding through specific areas in order to obtain items required to create a certain piece of equipment and, although the new weaponry does add variation, the standard combos remain fairly limited and repetitive throughout the course of the game.
Visuals & Audio Now it is worth noting that Toukiden was first released on the PlayStation Vita and it does show in some areas despite being upgraded to the PlayStation 4. The environment textures are rough looking at times but I must say that the character models have benefited greatly from this upgrade. The character designs of returning and new characters in Toukiden: Kiwami are memorable and nicely detailed while the creatures are as stunning looking as ever but it is worth noting that the game does suffer from slowdown at times and relatively long loading times.
The voice work remains Japanese only which is fitting thanks to the setting of the game as well as to the fact that the voice actors have done a fitting job with the cast. The soundtrack is also a real highlight as it mixes up plenty of heated rock tracks as well as plenty of songs featuring traditional Japanese instruments to fit the setting.
Overall The upgrade to Toukiden: Kiwami adds a lot of new content to an already meaty experience in the form of new weapons, new allies, new Oni to take down, and a lot of extra story content. However this upgrade does very little to change repetitive nature of the game nor does it make a smooth transition to the PlayStation 4. That being said, Toukiden: Kiwami is certainly an exciting title featuring fast paced group combat that is absolutely amazing when playing with others and is still a great experience even for those who want to hunt down the Oni alongside the intelligent ally AI.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
To the surprise of no one and to the delight of fanboys and girls across the globe; Creative Assembly have finally confirmed that they are working on a Warhammer entry in their Total Warseries. The game has been titled creatively; Total War: Warhammer, will be published by SEGA, and has a new trailer which can be seen below.
From the looks of things in the trailer, there are going to be x races in the game with the Greenskins, Undead, Dwarves, Chaos (corrupted humans), and the Empire (plucky humans) all making an appearance. Furthermore, it appears that specific heroes and characters will be making an appearance in the game as Karl Franz appears to be in the trailer riding his gryphon ‘Deathclaw’. Mannfred Von Carstein might have also made his animated debut as the vampire count in the trailer, but it could just as well have been another bald vampire (but how many could there be?).
The Total War series is well known for melding turn-based grand strategy and real-time tactical battles and you can read our review of the most recent installment here. Warhammer is a tabletop strategy game with an IP owned by Games Workshop and which features a distinctive dark fantasy universe where the various factions are in near constant state of war. Many fans of Total War and the Warhammer universe have long fantasised about the two being combined with fervent speculation reaching a new high when it was announced that Creative Assembly had bought the rights to the Warhammer fantasy IP in 2013.
No concrete details have been released as of yet, but we’ll keep you informed of the coming WAAAAGH! as it unfolds…
When Dark Souls II first released, I was hooked. As a longtime fan of From Software’s work I am always immediately sucked into the worlds that they create and the stories they tell, although I was disappointed that I had to play it on last-gen hardware when I had an Xbox One sitting in my cabinet begging to be played. Well Namco Bandai and From Software have rectified this issue by bringing Dark Souls II, as well as its three Lost Crowns Trilogy DLC chapters and a few extra upgrades to the current systems with Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin. While new visual improvements and a new quest line really do give this game a new lease on life, there just isn’t all that much new here for players who have “been there, done that.”
Story
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin comes with the complete Dark Souls II story. As with the original, the game’s narrative is told through cryptic descriptions and obscure references that force the player to piece it together on their own. In addition, Scholar of the Fist Sin includes the Lost Crowns Trilogy, and with it comes the expanded history of Drangleic that those extra chapters provide.
While the Lost Crowns story adds a bit to the game’s lore, the real crux of the story comes from the new NPC; Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin. As you encounter Aldia through the course of the game, you will learn more about the world of Drangleic and the curse of the undead that afflicts the player character. Interestingly enough, this new questline seems to give the most information about the world and its history than anything else.
Combining the Dark Souls II base game, Lost Crowns Trilogy and Scholar of the First Sin gives players a comprehensive look at the world of Drangleic and the past and future of the land. It is pretty cool to see the whole world unfurl and develop like that, even after having played through the original game so many times.
Gameplay
At its face, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin is the same basic game that you know and love from the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC but with the included Lost Crowns DLC and a brand new quest line – Scholar of the First Sin. For a more in-depth look at the combat and game mechanics of Dark Souls II, check out our original review here.
The new First Sin content included with the game changes some enemy placements around the world’s map. I’m not going to lie – these new enemy placements make the game a bit harder, especially during the opening few areas. The new dragon enemy was certainly a shock when I encountered it, and it promptly reduced my warrior to ash. Making an already challenging game even more difficult was admittedly something I really liked about Scholar of the First Sin, as it gave me a little incentive to play through it again to see what was different.
In addition to the original base game, Scholar of the First Sin includes the entire Lost Crowns DLC trilogy, which up until I played Bloodborne was by far the most difficult challenge that I had ever faced in a From Software game. The three DLC areas are available during your first run through the game, but you need to reach certain points in the story for them to become available to you. As is typical with Dark Souls, you aren’t told specifics as to where and how to get to these new locations, and it is left for you to decipher it for yourself. These areas are insanely difficult, with bosses that will challenge you to the point where you will just want to give up. You wont have to beat these areas to complete the game, but any Dark Souls fan wont let themselves give up without thwarting the bosses that lie within.
Video & Audio
I’ve said before that remakes and re-releases seem to be flooding the market a bit lately, and while I stand by that – I cannot deny that the visual upgrades to Dark Souls II are a very welcome upgrade. I’m not even talking about the visuals themselves so much as the frame rate (although some of the new backdrop changes are really beautiful). Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin now runs at 1080p, 60fps and the difference is quite noticeable. Considering this is a game that is based around precision attacks and pin point accuracy, having the extra frames really helps you get into position quicker and make the perfect strike.
Overall
I love just about everything that From Software releases. Demons Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Bloodborne, you name it and I really enjoyed diving back into the world of Drangleic all over again, but that’s just it – I was doing it all over again. I had already bought all of the Lost Crowns DLC for my Xbox 360 copy of the game, and the new Scholar of the Lost Sin content had been added to that version weeks ago. The new visuals and frame rate adjustments are a nice touch and the enemy placements made it a bit of a challenge to get used to again but really if you already own the original, there just isn’t all that much here to warrant a second purchase. However, if you haven’t gotten onto Dark Souls II before, then Scholar of the First Sin should absolutely be your next game purchase.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Tywin Lannister was a powerful figure on Game of Thrones, making cold, calculated, and ruthless actions cherished works of actor Charles Dance’s career. Now, Charles Dance will be playing Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard, in CD PROJEKT RED‘s upcoming fantasy RPG, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Dance shared some insight into his character and the broadening worlds of fantasy fiction and video games in a video from CD PROJEKT RED. Check it out below:
If the video and Dance’s character description are any indication, Emhyr var Emreis looks to be right up Charles Dance’s alley.
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis complete and slated for release on May 19, 2015 for Windows PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
After binge-watching Marvel’s Daredevil and finishing it in a day, I like many of you out there were disappointed. Not in the show, which exceeded any and all expectations but in the fact that we were going to have to wait until after the Defenders crossover series in 2017 (or possible even 2018) to see the Man Without Fear once again.
Thankfully, Disney, Marvel, Netflix, ABC Studios and everyone else involved with the project have announced that we wont have to wait that long! Daredevil has already been renewed for a second season, which is currently slated for released next year!
Now, Daredevil only premiered on Netflix less than two weeks ago, so this is an absolutely phenomenal announcement. All of the positive buzz and viewership has Disney and Marvel seeing dollar signs in the sky for sure!
We are still reeling from the epic 13-part series, and are trying to pick our exploded brains off of the carpet for a review which will be coming soon, but in the mean time let us know what you thought of the series and the news that it has already been renewed.
“What’s Bloodborne?” “Oh it’s like Dark Souls but with werewolves instead of dragons.”
That was a conversation I had with someone when I first loaded up From Software’s latest action RPG, and while it is great starting place for a conversation, it is far from accurate. The spiritual successor to Dark Souls, Bloodborne takes a lot of those mechanics and elements that fans around the world have loved for years and polished, tweaked and changed enough to give a brand new experience that may just very well be the best game on PS4.
Story
Like the Souls series of games that preceded it, Bloodborne’s story is told a little more cryptically and subtly than many other games. Instead of long, wordy cut scenes that are filled to the brim with exposition, Bloodborne tells its tale through the actions of the player character, the NPCs of the world and the items you find along your quest. In this way, it helps to immerse you into the game’s world in a very natural way. When you move to a new city you likely won’t know all the landmarks or the lives of its residents straight off the bat and Bloodborne integrates that feeling of unknown right into the game.
What we do know from the outset is that you are a hunter who has been tasked with ridding the city of Yharnam from a plague, and to find its origin. You aren’t the only hunter present however, as many others have joined in on the crusade, but very few are your allies. Bloodborne does a great job of making the player feel isolated and alone, even more than Dark Souls ever could.
Gameplay
Bloodborne is the spiritual successor to Demons Souls and the Dark Souls franchise, and as such it shares a lot in common with these games. The controls are almost exactly the same as they have been since Demons Souls first launched in 2009, which will give longtime players of the franchise a leg up in getting used to the controls. However, there are some notable differences from the previous games that really help Bloodborne stand apart from its predecessors.
Firstly, Bloodborne is a far more aggressive game than any of the three Souls instalments. Instead of holding up a shield and watching to attack, you will be jumping, ducking and weaving your way through enemies in order to try and bait them out so that you can finish them off. At the same time, the enemies themselves are more wild and aggressive than I had come to expect from a From Software game. The most standard of enemies can and often will push you to your extremes. The focus on combat and aggressiveness also means that Bloodborne is a fast game. The pace never seems to slow down and there is hard,y ever room for a breather.
Another major different is that the weapon (and armor) selection are slim in contrast, but everything operates in a unique and different way. Instead of finding the best longsword in the game, you will find the weapons that suit your play style and work from there. The melee weapons also feature the ability to transform, which offers a different mode and means of attack. One of the starting weapons (and my personal favourite) was a sword cane that operated like a short sword, but once transformed became a whip that was excellent for clearing out crowds of enemies.
I thought long and hard about how to word my experiences with the actual gameplay of this game, and the best description I can come up with is; soul crushing. Bloodborne will break you, there’s no ifs and buts about it. The very first area is probably the most difficult that I have ever experienced in all of my years of gaming. Thrown into a city that is over populated by manic infected townspeople and given a weapon that is better suited to spreading butter than hacking off limbs makes for an incredibly tiresome starting area.
Playing Bloodborne will push you to your utter limits and challenge everything you think about yourself as a gamer. All hope is not lost though. Because the fact that the game kicks your ass for hours on end just lights that fire inside us all and makes us get up, find the strength to keep going and finally overcome. Then when you do finally beat that boss or run that gauntlet of enemies, you get that feeling of satisfaction and euphoria that almost cannot be described. After finally beating the game’s second boss, I actually jumped up and screamed “f*** yeah! Suck my f***ing d***!!” I was just so overwhelmed and excited about my accomplishment that obscene profanity seemed to be the only way to properly express myself.
Video & Audio
Unlike its predecessors, Bloodborne moves away from the fantasy world of dragons and castles, and i stead is set in a Victorian-era, gothic horror inspired city. From the moment you load up the game, the entire world feels different to anything that has come before. The game’s first area is designed so that you have multiple different paths you can take to make your way through the city streets, while at the same time those paths feel closed off and narrow.
While the setting has changed, the attention to detail has not. Bloodborne’s landscape is littered with tiny little intricate details, that if you ever have a moment where you aren’t being hunted down by plagued townspeople, are just impressive to look at.
The audio here, as in most From Software games is very subdued. The quiet ambient noises work really well with the setting and game’s method of storytelling to make the player feel like they are truly alone In the middle of a nightmare. The soft sound effects are broken but by the screams of the infected as they try to turn you into mincemeat.
Overall
Bloodborne is the most challenging, frustrating and downright difficult game I have ever played, and I cannot get enough. The level of difficulty means that the reward for overcoming a wave of enemies or a giant grotesque boss is a feeling beyond compare. From Software have done an amazing job in taking the mechanics that players had become all too familiar with in their Souls games, and tweaked them just enough so that the gameplay, while reminiscent of those past titles, feels fresh and new. While the difficult of Bloodborne is likely to turn off many, those who persevere will find an incredibly rewarding experience that is not only the best that the PS4 has to offer, but might be the best game available on current gen consoles.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Sentai Filmworks has just announced that they have acquired the home video distribution rights to the first season of the harem series Hayate the Combat Butler. Season three, subtitled Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on April 28.
The series follows “Hayate Ayasaki, a good guy who’s down on his luck and desperately trying to alter his fate. One day he runs into a girl named Nagi Sanzenin, and his life is changed forever.”
Keiichiro Kawaguchi directed the adaptation of Kenjiro Hata’s manga series, which has been published in Weekly Shounen Sunday since 2004. The music was composed by Kotaro Nakagawa, who may be known by anime fans for his music in many other works including the popular Code Geass series. Jun Watanabe was the sound director for this season. Masaaki Sakurai was the chief animation direcor, and Osamu Horiuchi was the character designer. Synergy SP handled the animation production for this season.
The 52-episode DVD and Blu-ray box sets will be available on August 18, 2015. On-disc extras will include the textless opening and ending animations.
I almost forgot about Splatoon until the recent surge in promotion from Nintendo. The squid covered shooter is ready to make a splash on the Wii U next month, and a new trailer has been released featuring a very excited narrator and a lot of beautiful HD visuals to get us ready for its release.
But wait! There is more. Best Buy has exclusive rights to a new bundle for the Wii U that will feature the game inside, and will be priced at $299.99. Now no matter what, as long as some of these units come off the shelves, we should be able to see some sales rack up for the hopeful new IP. Check out the trailer below and prepare for the release of Splatoon and this bundle next month.
No matter what your perception is of the world, one thing we all seem to agree on is that no one truly wants any good thing to end. In the video game universe, controller connoisseurs cried foul quickly regarding the last stage of Mass Effect, which in my opinion is the most realized story that had ever graced a console at the time. Who can forget the controversy where millions of fans sent hate and anger across the web, just to get more depth and understanding from a 120+ hour adventure? On the music front, acts such as The Rolling Stones and Tina Turner have made careers out of “One Last Tour” announcements, giving their dedicated, lifelong fans one more chance (or hope, if you will) to see and hear their favorite performers before they pull the plug and retire. As we know by now, there isn’t ever a “last tour” for both of the performers I’ve mentioned, but it’s that thought of a full stop that sells tickets to sellout level proportions.
Television is a beast in and of itself when it comes to pop culture. This is a medium that people follow, and no matter how good or entertaining your show may be, the plug can be pulled at any moment due to ratings or a contract dispute. Nothing sucks more than having your favorite show cancelled prematurely, and while the ending is usually tainted, several sitcoms have been better for not having an ending. Take a look at Gilligan’s Island and the Brady Bunch. Both shows were created by Sherwood Schwartz, and both are constantly in rotation on some channel (even as I type this) as their legacy wasn’t made by a final moment, just a journey that just seems to loop infinitely in the minds of fans due to a chain of memorable episodes that have become timeless to viewers of all ages. I honestly imagine that both of these programs would have ended in a terrible way if they stayed on the air, as if you have seen the made for TV movies and specials that followed…well, they were shit.
This isn’t about the cancelled television shows or any one sitcom that was pulled early. This edition of Pop Capsule is about the end, and with that, we need to get back on track and start the conversation. For the record, I am only considering shows that had an episode labeled as a “series finale” at its original airdate.
Oh yeah, be ready as SPOILERS are obviously ahead…
In my own lifetime, no televised comedy had more hype surrounding those last minutes than the story of six lives that intertwined daily, Friends. I find it funny that just typing the title “Friends” places that famous Rembrandts’ theme song in my brain while a small smirk crosses my face. Friends was a show about life and dealing with the transition into adulthood, and during its run, became one of the most beloved comedies of all time. Friends was successful for a lot of reasons, but the true key to its success wasn’t Rachel’s hair or any other random pop culture phenomenon it bestowed, but instead an ensemble cast that worked off each other’s chemistry.
It is very rare when any television show that lasts more than five or six seasons retains its cast throughout its entirety, but due to some dedicated actors and NBC’s deep wallets, this show went the distance and lasted for ten whole seasons. Hell, even Gunther (the barista at Central Perk) managed to keep his job for ten years. I clearly remember that every year after 2000, every single entertainment news show would do stories daily on “Will Friends Return?”, or “Is this the last season?”, and while the show didn’t end until 2004 – that should easily give you an idea of how important Friends was to its audience. After all that time of watching Monica, Ross, Rachel, Joey, Phoebe, and Chandler live their lives, it finally came time for the fans to let go.
For the Friends’ series finale, many expected all of the stops to be pulled out. Guest stars out the ass, references galore, and a non-stop celebration to take us into that final curtain call. Sure, we wanted the world, but that isn’t what we got. Instead, Friends ended by ending in a very literal sense. Monica and Chandler were finally ready to start a life of their own and were moving out of the apartment across the hall and into a new house due to their newly adopted twins. Rachel and Ross finally decided to be together, and Joey and Phoebe just kind of existed, supporting their friends as they always did and standing as a six-piece unit until the last shot of the framed peep-hole on the apartment door faded to black. There was no death. No hidden messages, no random fan service. This ending is fantastic nevertheless though, as Friends finished by allowing its characters to finally move on in life. For a sitcom, ten years is honestly pushing it as so many “jump the shark” by trying to add characters or death or cheap storylines into the plot. This show will live on in history because it never needed to do any of that, as the ensemble of characters were so rich in terms of personality that even during a dull story arc, there were still laughs and people that we, as an audience could relate to and laugh with, during the good times and the bad. It sucks to move on, but there comes a time when you have to make that choice. Friends picked the perfect moment to make its exit and did so in a manner that was both fitting and eloquent, cementing itself as a ratings juggernaut while giving us one last chuckle out the door.
I don’t just want to focus on the best finales here, by any means. Sure, this is about series finales that had an impact, but what if the impact you had just wasn’t enough? The Office was Friends’ non-official successor. NBC tried for years, even during the early years of The Office to replace Friends with another ensemble.
Sadly, every show for the next year or two ultimately failed.
Through their failure however proved that fans were ready for something different, and the U.S. version of The Office was just what the doctor ordered (damn, that sounded cheesey). Before I start speaking about The Office I first must address the little shits who are out there, and I know you’re out there as you interrupt me in real life when I speak about this show, thinking in your head or saying it out loud regarding how much better the British version was. I don’t care how great it was as I am not referring to that version and you can jump on the Mayflower and ride back to England to go give Ricky Gervais a stapler sized fluffing for his work, as we are speaking solely about the Steve Carell-lead sitcom that had a fantastic run for nine seasons.
The Office was a show about a small group of people that were being filmed for a documentary that captured their day to day lives working in a paper supply company. When it started, the focus was really only on a young associate by the name of Jim, a secretary named Pam, an intern, a suck-up, and their eccentric boss, Michael Scott. As time progressed, we got to know all of these characters, and the once background faces became more relevant to the story, making for yet another large ensemble cast in a televised sitcom. It was and still is a hilarious show that had a great number of talented writers who used details and quirks to define the characters within the show. Sure, I liked Michael Scott fine, but as I watched the show I began to get behind so many other characters that seemed like they would just be filler when the show debuted.
It wasn’t just about the characters in the main credits. It was about the interactions of an entire workplace. Have you ever went into work only to be around your co-workers? That is what The Office felt like. On top of the decent main story with Jim, Pam, Michael, Dwight, and so on, we had these once little characters that actually stole the spotlight in nearly every episode. Kelly Kapoor was the pop culture fantastic who was quick to gossip and judge. Toby Flenderson was the awkward older guy that everybody ignored. Stanley was the disgruntled soul who was ready for retirement. I could go on and on, but there was indeed a large cast at work that were a blast to follow due to their larger-than-life personas. I get frustrated when so many people run down this show for its last few seasons. Sure, Michael Scott left, but by removing him we got to see more characters in the spotlight and that made the show even more interesting. It’s like when you get a new employee at work and you hate them by default, and then get to know them and realize that they are human, and then it’s not so bad.
The critical reception of those later seasons is not an easy thing to ignore, and while I felt season 7 and 8 were fine, the season that lead up to the end (9) was actually a mixed bag. We got two new characters who were made to be close, but not exact replicas of Jim and Dwight by the name of Clark and Pete (I had to google Pete’s name just now, he was that forgettable). Andy also changed, going from a lovable oaf to a complete dick who was unfunny – even when the joke was on him. Jim and Pam also went through a marital crisis, and Kelly and Ryan moved away. The show just was not as much fun to watch, as it tried to be serious and then funny and then serious again, as if it was switching directions after each episode during the last season. There were even themes of a potential affair. Really, you’re going to make me watch two people fall in love for eight years just to tease that? Right before the finale hit, those wrinkles got ironed out rather well and the show patched itself back together, just in time to end completely.
The finale took place after a time jump of a year. The documentary was finished, a few employees moved on (or got fired), and we got to see a lot of the past cast members reunite as they spoke of the past few years to cameras for the special features of their documentary DVD. I know I didn’t like the last season much, but the finale was honestly perfectly fine thanks to a few moments. Dwight and Angela finally got married, Pam decided to move the family for the sake of Jim’s dream job, and the rest seemed to all find their little place in the story to go out on a high note (for the most part, anyway). Erin, who had been a main cast member since the middle of the show’s run took the emotional moment from the finale, finally being reunited with her parents. That was one of the brilliant takeaways from The Office though, as little things that are serious to one person become just another story when you’re in that setting amongst everyone else. Erin’s moment was the most important as throughout her time on the show she wasn’t a main face, but remained memorable. She was quirky, light, and innocent, and would playfully speak of her parents or being an orphan for a quick laugh. During that moment where she was reunited, it was finally relevant for the show to be serious as someone who always took the backseat got to carry some weight in the biggest episode of the series. Call it a promotion of sorts.
Michael Scott didn’t even get that honor, as while present, he kind of faded to the background as the finale rolled along – allowing the cast that carried the show to its final point to get their last hoorah. Many say the show ended when Michael left. I understand that sentiment completely as he was a huge character, but displaying that opinion undermines how well The Office was actually written for most of its tenure. It wasn’t about Michael, nor Dwight, nor Jim, nor Pam. It was about Dunder Mifflin, a paper company where people were employed, and we as the viewer got to watch.
For the third sitcom, I guess I will write about the one that hit closest to home. It is rare when I ever find a sitcom that is often relatable, as hell – most are of families that are what we should aspire to be. That is the point, right? Leave it to Beaver, Happy Days, and all of the rest had this cookie cutter image about what a family should be. Up until more unconventional sitcoms started, such as Family Ties, we never got a chance to have a varied cast in a primetime slot that featured a family. In the late 80’s, Roseanne changed everything.
I should start speaking about Roseanne by saying that there is nothing wrong with displaying happiness on television. That seems to be a theme that more and more writers of these modern shows are trying to shove in our faces. You know, the whole…
LOOK HOW DIFFERENT THEY ARE!
I never liked Modern Family because it came across as way too forced, pasted together for cheap laughs. Sure, that family is diverse, but in Roseanne it just felt natural. Everyone started on the same page but as the kids grew, they became individuals with personalities. Roseanne was a sitcom about a family that were not well off (or blue collar, if you will), but that wasn’t really the point. Roseanne was about one woman who dealt with shit every day that we all experience. A crappy boss, disrespectful people, social ignorance, and so on. As the show progressed it seemed to try to push boundaries by including cultures that had not been featured on television. We saw main characters come out of the closet, domestic abuse, adultery, and death, all mixed into a formula where the audience would laugh along by the time the credits ran. It was smart television that could appeal to the lowest common denominator without sacrificing its intelligence.
By the last season, the sunset was already in the clearing. The show still had strong writing, but these characters were starting to age a little too much, and let’s be honest…no one wanted to watch DJ go through his teenage years. The Conners won the lottery after just facing a near-fatal heart attack with Dan, and everything got confusing real fast. Suddenly, Dan left Roseanne for another woman, Roseanne was traveling the country with Jackie going to spas and so on, and the kids that we spent years getting to know faded into the background. Many call the final season of this show the worst for good reason. To any viewer who didn’t stick around until the end, it was convoluted, confusing, and not funny at all. I personally found it to be fun, even if some of the charm was dimming just a bit. When the last episode aired however in two parts, we got to see a lot of those loose ties mend together. Did it make up for the mess? Well, yes and no.
The last scene of Roseanne is appropriately set at the dinner table, with the entire family (including Nancy, Leon, and several other familiar faces) gathered in one setting, sharing that social experience that greeted us for years through the opening credits. Everyone is laughing, joking, and so on – right before Roseanne begins to narrate. She goes from person to person, detailing that what we, as the audience had seen over the years were not all true events, as everything was actually Roseanne writing a story of her life in a fairy tale fashion. Whatever she disliked, she changed in her writing to make life finally go her way. For instance, David was actually Becky’s love interest, while Mark and Darlene were a couple because she thought they fit better the other way around. Her mother never became a lesbian, but her sister Jackie was. I know what you’re thinking, that is a bit to chew on. It keeps going for around a minute before all is revealed. Roseanne slowly looks over at Dan, only for the camera to pan to an empty seat. The background soon goes black and all we as the viewer see is Roseanne, giving an empty look as the narration continues.
As it turns out, the Conner family never won the lottery. Dan died of his heart attack and the whole last season was just her trying to write away the pain by creating happy situations that could never happen. It’s a painful scene to watch and one that I have viewed time and time again as at first, it didn’t make sense (I was ten after all during the original airing). Over the years though I feel like I have grown to love this finale up and down, as the last few minutes made a huge impact while still remaining eloquent and in line with the concept of the show’s premise. It isn’t the moment that Dan’s death is revealed that remains memorable, but those that come after when you hear a woman talk about her human vulnerability and pain, as she went sentence by sentence over all of the emotion she felt. The last bit of dialogue is by far some of the most powerful lines ever stated in a sitcom, as they hit hard when I was young but came back even harder when I went through the same sort of pain myself when my mother died.
As I mourned during those first few weeks, this scene kept popping up in my head, and let me tell you that fiction or not- that moment where Roseanne turns her head at that empty chair is as real as it gets. It’s a feeling of emptiness and being completely helpless, and I feel like even though this was a television show and completely fiction, I have never related more to an experience on television until the same event occurred in my own life. I was a kid who watched a lot of shows, old and new with my mom (including Roseanne and Friends). She was my rock, and losing her turned my life into a roller coaster that is simply trying to find an even field to ride on. That is what makes sitcoms great though. No matter how fucked up our lives are, we can still laugh and relate with the same characters every week and re-watch the same show until every line and moment is stapled to our brain. I am not saying that Roseanne or any other piece of entertainment made anything better, but it did make me feel less alone as it taught me that I was not the first to feel that kind of hurt and that I too would be “ok” due to some fantastic writing. Some may say that Seinfeld’s ending was brilliant and that I should have listed it, but I never felt any sort of connection with that show as while it had some funny episodes, I was the wrong age at the wrong time and never got a true understanding of the characters.
Other shows shot themselves in the foot before ending, even after long runs. Look at Family Matters. It started out as an amazing family sitcom that was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers. Add in a lovable yet annoying neighbor named Urkel and the show became unstoppable. After about three or four seasons however, the gimmickry kept going and going with the show becoming a true work of ridiculous fiction that wasn’t even fun to watch anymore. I also loved All in the Family which was before my time, but when the spin-off killed off Edith, it kind of tainted the reruns in general for me. Boy Meets World however had an amazing finale, but due to the fact that is was more a coming of age show rather than your by the book sitcom, I feel like that is for a completely different piece in the future.
It’s hard to find a place to make a full stop when your purpose is to make an audience forget about their own problems and chuckle at a screen for thirty minutes a week, but with the right writing and finesse, we can see a finale from a sitcom that makes us remember the end as well as the journey in-between. Sure, we may not remember the last moments of legendary players and believe me, there were a ton of simply “fine” endings I left out, but when it comes to being memorable, I think the three I listed above will have a longer shelf life and overall greater legacy because of their attention to detail and quality up until that last minute.
The movie we have all been waiting for is here. Avengers: Age of Ultron has hit the silver screen and while a few of the movies since the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes first outing in 2012 have gotten a bit of a mixed reception, fans all over the globe have been eagerly awaiting the return of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and the rest of the gang. So let’s start with the important question: does Avengers: Age of Ultron deliver? Yes. yes it does.
Story
Avengers: Age of Ultron once again brings together the biggest names in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (and some of the smaller names too) in an epic team-up event that absolutely delivers on all fronts. Comedy, drama, action, love, witty banter – Age of Ultron has got it all. The film opens up with the team already assembled, hunting down Loki’s lost scepter which had fallen into Hydra’s hands after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. (as shown in Captain America: the Winter Soldier, and expanded upon in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) After a cool opening action sequence, we are given what appears to be the end of both the HYDRA/S.H.I.E.L.D. and Chitauri invasion story-lines that guided a lot of the MCU since the first Avengers movie.
The cast this time around is absolutely jam-packed. The big-hitters; Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) retun, and are joined by characters like War Machine, Falcon, Maria Hill and Peggy Carter. In addition, the cast is filled out with newcomers Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (played by Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen respectively) and Vision (Paul Bettany) which combined result in what is by far the biggest ensemble cast that Marvel has put together on screen in one film.
With so many characters, I was worried that the film would feel bloated or that some characters would be put by the wayside in terms of importance, but surprisingly everything fit together perfectly. Screen time is shared amongst all of the main cast, with Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Maximoff twins edging out the rest of the team. Every character gets their own well-defined story arc through the course of the movie, and these help to further flesh out these characters and in many ways help them feel more vulnerable and human than ever before.
Tonally, Age of Ultron is very different from what I expected. A lot of the trailers and promotional materials had painted a picture of a very dark, brooding and intense movie. However, while far more serious than its predecessor, there is still a lot of lighthearted fun to be had. The banter between all of the Avengers is snappy, on-point and definitely Whedon-esq. Even Ultron himself, who appeared to be a cold, calculating, homicidal maniac was sprouting one liners as often as he could – which helps link him to his “father” Tony Stark.
Ultron is perhaps one of the most fleshed out movie villains that we have seen in the MCU. He is a very three dimensional character that could go from Tony Stark-like humor to straight up evil villain in the blink of an eye and that’s what made him so terrifying. A lot of that boils down to Spader’s incredible voice performance, which really brought gravitas to the character. Not only that, but Ultron suffers from an almost Shakespearean character flaw in that he believed what he was doing was what was right.
Part way through the movie, after an incredible multi-set battle between Ultron and the Avengers, and then amongst the Avengers themselves, we are introduced to the Vision, an android that was planned to be a perfect body for Ultron but is given his own thoughts and personality. Whereas Ultron has a flawed, warped perception of peace (based in no small part by his creator’s own thoughts and fears), Vision is more of an idealist and an optimist. He values all life and wishes no harm to anybody, but at the same time sees that Ultron must be destroyed if humanity is to survive. Paul Bettany’s soft voice and eloquent, almost poetic speeches about life and the world really help to showcase the contrast of ideals between the two androids.
The original Avengers movie felt like a bookend to Marvel’s first phase of cinema, grabbing all of the story threads and tying them together in a neat and downright awesome package. However, Age of Ultron feels almost the exact opposite. While some of the key plot points and character developments from Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: the Winter Soldier, and even Guardians of the Galaxy are all present, this movie feels more like it is more about setting up the ground work for what’s to come. We learn that Thor has to travel back to Asgard to face an unknown threat, Tony and Rodgers have a bit of a falling out (setting up for Captain America: Civil War) and we hear more about the Infinity Stones and how they will affect the future of the MCU. Don’t get me wrong, they executed this to near perfection and have made me eager to see where all these new plots lead, but I was a little disappointed that this movie felt like the beginning of Phase 3, rather than the epic conclusion of Phase 2.
Visuals and Audio
Marvel films by their very definition need to use a lot of CGI to make things work and Age of Ultron is no exception. One thing to note however is the fact that Marvel do this REALLY well and allow you to create that suspension of disbelief and completely immerse yourself into the story. Characters like Ultron, Vision and Iron Man flying through the air looked as real and natural as ever before (if not more so) and unless you go actively looking for faults, the CGI and live action all blend together to create a visual spectacle. One thing I will say is that to me, Paul Bettany’s Vision just looked a bit… off when standing among his peers, but I can’t quite put my finger on why that was.
At its core, Avengers is still an action movie and it does action really well. I know a lot of people loved the single following shot in the first movie, and if you were one of them (I know I was) the. You’ll be thrilled to know that is basically how Age of Ultron opens up! From the very outset of the movie we see our heroes in action and in such a way that we are hooked. Fro. There it’s giant battles on rusty cargo ships, and the highly anticipated Hulkbuster Iron Man vs Incredible Hulk battle through a populated city and three or four other hugely impactful set piece battles.
The Avengers and their robotic adversary do a lot of globe trotting i. This film, but there is hardly any time to check out the scenery before a battle is tearing it up. At one point I was a little worried that they would be heading down a path similar to Man of Steel where entire cities are absolutely levelled, but (and this may be a deliberate poke at DC and Man of Steel’s criticisms in particular) the Heroes are always trying to lead the battles away from innocent people, checking their surroundings and always ensuring that the safety of everyone around them is their top priority. It was cool to see these giants and gods caring about the people around them and placing their life as a higher priority than stopping the enemy. Like the rest of the MCU, Avengers: Age of Ultron is presented in a variety of formats, including IMAX, and 3D (which is really all the rage nowadays isn’t it). While some films can be greatly enhanced by the extra dimensions, AoU is not one of them. In fact, just a few minutes into the movie and I had completely forgotten that it was even being presented in 3D.
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