Tag Archives: Back to School 2024

Digital Playground

A Noob’s Guide to Echoes of Wisdom

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Introduction

My history with Legend of Zelda goes back a long time. I remember going to my mother’s family’s house for Christmas one year. Surprisingly, even though , or perhaps because, they made me feel awkward and out of place, I remember a lot from those visits. They formed several core memories, to borrow a phrase from the Inside Out movies. In any case, whenever a new Zelda game comes out, I pay attention. While a bit late, I’m finally bringing you A Noob’s Guide to Echoes of Wisdom.

In this particular memory, I attempted to assuage some of the weirdness by walking through the house to find someplace that jibbed more with my vibe at the time. Like now, that generally means on the darker side, with few people, and hopefully a cat or dog or two. As I searched, I stumbled on a room with a Nintendo Entertainment System. The game? The original Legend of Zelda. Remember when I said that my parents eventually caved and bought us an NES? The seed for that planted on this day as I watched the person play the game and thought it the most beautiful game I’d ever seen.

Look at the colors. The sprites. The dungeons.

The Announcement Trailer

I will start with the TLDR.

Even though Noob’s Guide to Echoes of Wisdom comes three months too late, true to our style, we release within a week or so of the game coming out.

0:00 – We open on a dungeon with a blue cloaked figure and three guards wearing bat eared helmets. The figure approaches, draws his sword, and strikes at one of them. The guard deflects that blow, but the figure spins with his sword and defeats them all.

0:11 – A princess (Zelda) is trapped in a pink crystal, held captive my some monstrosity. Our hero enters and throws off his cloak. Link! To the rescue! The monster charges. Link leaps and counter attacks. The monster casts fireball! Link returns the flame for a second hit. Link closes, spins, and defeats the monster.

0:33 – The monster vanishes, leaving behind a magical staff. As Link approaches to save Zelda, a darkness spreads out from the staff. It quickly overtakes him and sucks him down into the ground. As a last resort, he pulls out a crossbow and strikes the crystal.

0:42: Link disappears into the floor completely and the crystal shatters. Zelda falls to the ground where the darkness hasn’t yet spread. After considering her freedom, she must run from the spreading darkness. It chases her out of the fortress.

0:50: Zelda falls. The darkness creeps closer. What now of our princess?! The darkness stops and we can breathe a sigh of relief. Away from the darkness, a wondrous land unfolds before Zelda. The title appears in the upper right hand corner at 1:10.

Introduction and Initial Gameplay Thoughts

1:15 – Fade to black and back in on Eiji Aonuma, producer of the series. He explains the concept of the game. Link has vanished and now Zelda is the protagonist of the series! Will she fight with a sword?

2:00 – Long story short. Let’s see what this video tells us about the game. Rifts appeared across the land. So, this is not an isolated event. Zelda meets a fairy named Tri, who gives her the “mysterious” Tri Rod. One of the powers of the Tri Rod gives Zelda the ability to create an imitation of objects. In this example, she learns the echo of a table. Big deal, right? Well, now she can place tables anywhere on the map. This allows her to build stairs to reach otherwise unreachable heights! Other echos include boxes, beds, and water blocks. Interesting one, that.

What About Battles?

3:14 – Well, they’ll look different. By creating an echo of a rock, you can throw it at the monsters.

3:25 – Wait, what?! You can also create echos of monsters that will fight by your side? Okay, that sounds and looks awesome. Each monster grants a different ability that helps depending on the situation.

3:44 – A series of short and quick videos showing other aspects of the game. Jumping, winding up some kind of bomb thing (?), throwing acorns (?), using a monster to fly across a river of lava, meeting (and defeating) friends (and enemies), and dungeon crawling.

4:00 – Back to Mr. Aonuma asking, “How was that?” followed by more vignettes of game play. He assures you that there will be plenty of puzzles that need to be solved in a variety of ways when the game launches September 26.

4:40: There’s a special edition Switch Lite for the game. Guess I should have waited to pick mine up. Oh well, that’s always the way for me.

The Verdict

Having not played the game yet, and watched no other game play videos, that’s all I have for Noob’s Guide to Echoes of Wisdom. From what I’ve seen there, I need to play this game as soon as possible. I love the graphic style. The addition of the echo system feels very much like Minecraft but with more of a purpose to how you use everything. As I saw some write recently, “it will be fun to finally play as Zelda, even in a chibi style.” I say, bring on the chibi. I loved Wind Waker and I’m sure to love this one, too.

Get the game and a few others while you’re at it. Not an official partnership. Just love the games.

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Marvel Comics September 2024 Part 1

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Introduction

It took until October, but I finally started to finish the September comics with Marvel Comics September 2024 Part 1. As you know, I adjusted my comics review schedule to give me more time to read and review the comics in a more reader friendly way. That pushed the bulk of the books (Marvel at 12) into the end of the month and the beginning of October.

I now find myself further separating that lot of books into 3 groups of four for this week. That’s why this one goes by the name Marvel Comics September 2024 Part 1. I suppose that one positive is that now there is no lag as far as comic content goes. You get reviews every week of every month now. Hey, this really is working out for the best.

Avengers 17 (Legacy 783)

Writer: Jed McKay, Artist: Valerio Schiti

Quick Synopsis: The Avengers debrief after the Blood Hunt. While some think her judgement too harsh, Carol considers their response a failure. When they adjourn, Tony goes to speak with her. As her sponsor, he warns her against trading one addiction for another (guilt). Meanwhile, someone drops off a USB drive and a gold nugget as payment to deliver the drive. T’Challa apologizes to the Impossible City for allowing it to be overrun by the vampires. Wanda visits Vision, who shows her his garden and that he can’t help but agree with Carol about their failure. Sam visits his friend, Storm, for an outside opinion and asks her to join the team. The USB drive contains a message from Hyperion that gives the Avengers no more time to feel sorry for themselves as they need to prepare for this invasion.

My Verdict: I enjoy Jed McKay’s take on the Avengers. I liked them since the first issue. This issue shows one of the reasons why. He deals with the vulnerability of super powered beings in a way that few people explore in modern comics. I like my super humans to be humans at their core and that’s one of the reasons that it took me so long to get on board with Superman. But, McKay gives us a good look into everyone’s soul after they won but got their butts handed to them. The art is a little too simplistic for my tastes and looks an awful lot like anime. Not bad, mind you, just a bit jarring. Good.

Captain America 12 (Legacy 762)

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski, Artist: Jesus Saiz

Quick Synopsis: Cap and the crew start off the issue by laying out the plan to get into New York City. They need to fly part of the way and then ride in the rest of the way. When someone inquires why they ride instead of flying the whole way, Cap simply says that it’s risky with death literally waiting for them there. Death then takes some time to tell his side of the story in anticipation of the showdown. Cap’s crew takes one last chance to pull themselves together and heads into the city. They arrive to a city decimated and an army determined to stop them.

My verdict: I don’t usually think of such supernatural happenings as this when I think of Cap. Doctor Strange, obviously, sometimes Thor and Loki, Hulk now that they redefined the character as horror, and even the Avengers once in a while. But, the stand alone Cap title usually deals with more standard super hero stuff. That being said, I don’t hate it. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it. As I wrote during my review a couple of months ago, it’s grown on me. I think the main thing keeping me interested is Saiz’s art. He contrasts the light and the dark, the human and the mystical in such a seamless and, frankly, cool way. Good.

Doctor Strange 18 (Legacy 444)

Writer: Jed McKay, Artist: Pasqual Ferry

Quick Synopsis: Strange gave up the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme at the end of Blood Hunt. This issue deals with the aftermath of that decision. First, he realizes that without that power, he must be more careful. Mordo helps him with that realization by showing up to kill him once and for all. Clea helps and they discuss the decision to surrender the power to Doom. That leads Strange to follow up by confronting Doom. He is ignored and ends up back in the company of Clea. As Jed McKay wrote in his editorial at the end, Strange lost his power, but gained the love of his life. With that, another of my favorite books recently ends this current run.

My verdict: McKay also said something about Strange being a perpetual sidekick. I never saw him that way. In fact, growing up, he was always one of my favorite characters. Then again, I always gravitated towards the odd balls of the group during that time of my comics collecting. Anyway, with this and Avengers, McKay does bittersweet better than anyone out there right now. “The End” on the last page shocked me and made me a bit sad. Then, I read the editorial and thought, “He’s right. That’s really all we can ask for.” So, for now, Dr. Steven Strange lives in peace and happiness. Ferry’s art always tickled me on this title. He gives it just the right amount of ethereal that a title about magic as might needs. Great.

Fantastic Four 24 (Legacy 717)

Writer: Ryan North, Artist: Carlos Gomez

Quick Synopsis: The FF fight against an alien life form. Much of the issue deals with this battle. After they think they might have lost it, Reed finds, confronts, and continues the fight with the being. When it looks like all is lost, a force of warmth that feels like home comes to rescue Reed and ensure that he fights another day. Doom comes and his family need him. The issue closes out with Johnny cuddling another being that looks like the one they fought and assuring it that it’s safe and will be loved.

My verdict: When I wrote about She-Hulk and Rainbow Rowell as the perfect writer for that book, I also mentioned this book and Ryan North as another example. He brings such an old school vibe to the title that I hope they are able to channel for the movie that’s coming out. When I read this book, I can imagine myself as a young child or teenager in the 60s and 70s reading the old stories of love, hope, and family. Sometimes they struggled with that in the recent iterations, but I’m glad it’s back now. And the art brings the same fun bright colors and happy vibe that completes the whole package. Great

Final Verdict

So far, I don’t regred ordering 15 (!) Marvel books. Even though I split it up into pieces and only reviewed 4 books in Marvel Comics September 2024 Part 1, the books I read are all fantastic. If I had more money to throw at comics, I could follow up on some of the other smaller titles that Chris recommends and even check out a few more DC books. Then again, if anyone wants to sponsor me and throw me a few bucks, I wouldn’t say no to that, either.

Images taken from the mothership.

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Pour One Out for She-Hulk

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Introduction

If you followed the page for any length of time, you know that I loved Rainbow Rowell’s run on She-Hulk. Actually, loved might even be an understatement. I adored it. I looked forward to every new issue and couldn’t wait to read them. More than once, I think I called it the perfect marriage of creator and character. And, now, with Sensational She-Hulk 10, that run comes to an end. So, let’s pour one out for She-Hulk.

What Makes the Book So Great?

It came at a time when Marvel peaked as far as putting together comic book writers who understood the characters inside and out. Avengers, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, and She-Hulk all brought the old school flavor of their characters with modern touches that enhanced the books in a way that I haven’t witnessed since the Civil War era of Marvel. Heck, not even Nick Spencer’s run on Spider-Man came close to what they assembled (pun intended) with these four books. Two of them now, ingloriously ended. However, we get Lanzing and Kelly on Nyx. And, McKay writes for both Avengers and X-Men now, so I look forward to an epic crossover there.

But, honestly, Rainbow Rowell on She-Hulk may never be topped. She brought a light and buoyant energy to a title that too often strayed into self pity before she came along. I laughed at her attempts to retain some level of normalcy as a giant green behemoth. I cried when her relationship always seemed to go sideways. In this issue, I cheered because everything finally came full circle and set the character up for the future.

Only 12 issues short of 200. That’s the other tragedy here. Whoever takes over, when they do, they’ll get a chance to celebrate that milestone. Hopefully, Marvel invites Rainbow Rowell back to write a story for the big two-oh-oh. Thankfully, in the meantime, we can still read her in DC Comics. But, I miss the hell out of a new She-Hulk book to look forward to every month. It just won’t be the same not being able to read about the super heroine who tries to have it all.

Bittersweet Farewell

I’m terrible at saying “Good bye”. If this article didn’t prove that to you, I wanted to reiterate it there. Granted, I have all of the issues of the run to look back on. But, as I said, it just won’t be the same as experiencing it all for the first time. And, so, we pour one out for She-Hulk. Marvel-616 won’t be the same without you.

Took the image from Marvel.com

On the Tabletop

Noob’s Duskmourn Prerelease

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Introduction

A couple of days ago, I wrote an article about my impressions of Duskmourn, the new Magic the Gathering set that just released. In that article, I also started a short story in the setting. I promised to continue it in this article, Noob’s Duskmourn Prerelease. Unlike other events in the past, I simulated this one on DraftSim. As kids get older, it becomes easier to do things on your own. But, I find they’re not as satisfying as when we all went as a family.

Maybe next time I will order a few of the packs and we can put on our own event here at home. Only thing about that is that they’re like 25-30 bucks each and that’s a lot of scratch just for the ability to put together a deck and play a few games. Especially when I could easily simulate the packs again and proxy the cards, or import them into xMage and play that way. Wizards keeps pricing out players. Oh well, back into the story.

Into the Unknown (Noob’s Duskmourn Tale II)

The circle of light from the lantern fights against the encroaching darkness, barely winning the battle. You know from experience that this darkness stems not only from the setting sun, but also from the land itself. The spirit of Duskmourn lives off the night and tries to suffocate any warmth and light that dares to infringe into its territory.

Off in the distance, something lets out a low growl. The swamp bubbles and pops, releasing more of the foul ichor and stench into the air. Against all good judgement, you must remove your goggles to wipe the mess off of them. The flame of your lantern flickers and goes out for a moment. You need to be moving as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, someone erected a makeshift bridge over the swamp. Just wide enough for your horse, the animal dances momentarily before taking a tentative step onto the bridge. It groans under the weight. You kick your heels into the horse’s haunches to bring the speed up to a canter. The bridge splinters on the sides. While wide enough for the horse, you now regret not testing the weight.

Thankfully, though, you make it across without major incident. The thing growls again, this time closer and more menacing. You realize now that the real threat exists outside of the swamp and you might be marching right to it. You swear an oath to whoever might be listening. Keeping a watchful eye on darkness just beyond the light, you continue.

In due time, the ring of light reflects off something and back to you. You slow the horse to a crawl as the growl comes from that direction, louder and more menacing than ever. Placing your other hand on your sword you see a wrought iron gate swinging free on a single hinge. You breathe a sigh of relief and enter the grounds. So far, the trip has been mostly uneventful. But, who knows what horrors await here.

Noob’s Duskmourn Prerelease Deck

Sorry to end on another cliffhanger, but at this point, I have no choice. I actually haven’t invented the horrors that await you just yet. I know I promise this often, but maybe I’ll release more parts of the story during our celebration of Spooktober next month. Remind me if I forget.

Anyway, after opening the packs, I consulted a guide for Duskmourn limited. As I looked through the cards, I considered building a blue-white deck. Unfortunately, the packs didn’t contain enough of those cards. Instead, I pivoted to white black reanimator. That one came together like a dream.

I got several of the biggies in Emerge from the Cocoon and Shroudstomper. Innocuous Rat can build up the graveyard with other big fatties like the Excrutiator and Glimmer. Attack-in-the-Box just provides recursive attack after recursive attack. I question how effective such a strategy can be with a 40 card deck, but it just looks like fun.

The spells strictly work in the reanimator theme. As long as you get the spells and bin the right monsters, you’re in for a fun time. I played around with the deck some on Moxfield and it never quite came together the way I wanted, but that’s par for the course. I swear, if they gave a prize for most unlucky MtG player, I’d win it in a landslide. Back to the deck, though, add in a Terramorphic Expanse and Valgavoth’s Lair for some mana fixing and I’m ready to play.

The Verdict

I only constructed this one deck. However, I reloaded the packs a few other times. And, I must say, I enjoyed my time exploring for Noob’s Duskmourn Prerelease. I know part of that is simply because I enjoy the limited format so much and never get a chance to actually play it. Who knows? Maybe I’ll load up a draft or two on Arena.

The Deck

Duskmourn Prerelease

Creatures (18)
2 Appendage Amalgam
1 Attack-in-the-Box
1 Balemurk Leech
1 Doomsday Excruciator
1 Fear of Lost Teeth
1 Fear of Surveillance
1 Fear of the Dark
1 Friendly Ghost
2 Innocuous Rat
1 Lionheart Glimmer
2 Patched Plaything
1 Possessed Goat
1 Shroudstomper
1 Spectral Snatcher
1 Unsettling Twins

Spells (4)
2 Emerge from the Cocoon
1 Rite of the Moth
1 Split Up

Land (18)
7 Plains
9 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Valgavoth’s Lair
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Marvel Legacy Issues September 2024

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Introduction

With my new commitment to making the page more reader friendly, I spread my comics reviews out over the month instead of trying to finish them all in one week. Even so, with all of the new X-Men titles, I need to read and review over a dozen Marvel books. So, I split them up this week into two categories. Lucky for me, one of those categories included Marvel Legacy Issues September 2024.

The Amazing Spider-Man 950 and The Immortal Thor 14 (Legacy 775. Okay, I guess we’re celebrating quarters now. Fine.) both arrived in my DCBS order this month. And, still, even if I review those both in this article and give Sensational She-Hulk the send off she deserves, that’s still twelve books to read and review. I should look at that as a good problem to have. So, I will.

The Amazing Spider-Man 950

Writer: Zeb Wells (Oi), Artist: JRJR.

Quick Synopsis: We open on a flashback where Kingpin and Tombstone are on a safari. Kingpin points out a lion who took over a pack and killed a baby because resources are scarce. Power and something something, you get the point. In the present, Spidey breaks up an arms deal and attempts to keep the illusion alive that he’s working with Tombstone. Something something, tenuous grip on power. Tombstone pulls up while Robby and Peter are talking and “invites” Peter into the limo. Something something and they’re now fighting. The fight gets interrupted by She-Hulk and Luke Cage (Peter’s lawyer and the mayor?) and they take Tombstone into custody. The issue ends with the opening of Tombstone’s trial. There are also two short stories that I only skimmed. One shows how Peter retained She-Hulk’s services. The other mentions Wayep, so yeah.

My Verdict: While not a great issues, this one is decent. It’s not as bad as the worst of Wells. So, I give him credit for a mostly fun story in this landmark issue. I still refuse to read any more of what’s he’s done. Chris told me that it’s been up and down, but I guess I only saw the down. Also, Spidey is my favorite super hero of all time, so you don’t do him dirty and expect me to forgive you any time soon. JRJR’s art has absolutely evolved in a good way over time. While still distinct and blocky and not quit on the level of dear old dad, I don’t mind it as much on this book right now. Decent and that’s saying something from me, a know drinker of “Zeb Wells Amazing Spider-Man” haterade.

The Immortal Thor 14 (Legacy 775)

Writer: Al Ewing, Artist: Jan Bazaldua

Quick Synopsis: This, too, opens with some background. Rhea seeks the wisdom of Gaea to help keep her child alive. Because of Gaea’s actions, the child is doomed to be devoured by Chronos. Chronos arrives, takes the child, but spares him. That child grows up to be Zeus, who fulfills the prophecy of Gaea. In the present, Thor and Hercules wander through the dark realm that they were banished to. The book is billed as Thor the All-Father vs. Zeus the Skyfather and it doesn’t disappoint. A fun story and battle steeped in Norse mythology. It ends with Thor defeating Zeus and taking his power. Hercules isn’t so sure he likes the new Thunder God, but Thor tells him not to worry.

My verdict: I admit to not getting the first couple of issues of this book when Al Ewing took over. The whole Roxxon thing turned me off a bit. I know that it has deep roots in Marvel Comics history. However, it just didn’t work for me. I knew that Ewing would figure it out. He always does. But, after his masterful run on The Incredible Hulk and great stories on Venom, I just found the whole thing weird. I’m not familiar with the artist on this one, but they bring the head (well, lightning) in the fight without going overboard. I mean, they could be forgiven as it is two gods fighting for supremacy, but they show restraint. And, the more introspective scenes are painted with a deft hand to bring some balance to the story. Great. I love the mythology piece and the fight really was awesome.

The Verdict

We knew going in that Marvel Comics Legacy Issues September 2024 might be a bit of a mixed bag. I hoped for a decent Spider-Man story and got that. I didn’t know what to expect from Thor both because it’s such a weird milestone to celebrate but also because the Roxxon story still lingers in the back of my mind. But, I loved this issue.