Hot Heart

Which class are you? Warlocks tend to have the "weakest" jump because it's a tricky to gauge glide and they don't get a double or triple jump like Hunters or a massive initial boost like Titans. In terms of the quests, I believe the main storylines are now presented as "purchasable" chains as you've noticed already. Red War was the D2 base game story line, then there was Curse of Osiris and then Warmind. Those are the free ones, and you just follow the markers on the maps (or in the quest tab). I don't know if they've made it so that's the progression, it used to say a recommended level, but it helps make the overarching story make a bit more sense/as much sense as it's ever going to make. The progression is something like (*require purchasing): Red War Osiris Warmind Forsaken* Shadowkeep*

I think there is a Mobility stat which affects both run speed and jump height.

I knew it was just the Midgar section going in and they have fleshed it out so it feels like a proper full game (although, it is stretched out rather than fleshed out at a few too many points) and I'm still happy with the experience. There is a somewhat-spoilery reason that it isn't called "part one" (which it sounds like you already know). I'm a little ambivalent on it because the characters and the environments and the combat and the music are all ace, so I'm excited to see where it's headed but the "major" changes are the ones that actually bothered me the most.

FFVII Remake Yeah boi

Yeah, heroic strikes are 350 while Osiris max was, I think, 335. Two weeks later, I've only just got to 350 (jumped all the way to 352 with a couple of milestones and infusions after). The gear you get from them is 10 levels below your max. I think heroic strikes are even harder than the nightfall because that hasn't seen a light level increase. I don't think the nightfall is easily soloable anyway and it doesn't have matchmaking, it has guided games which, admittedly, I've never tried and I don't think it's really taken off. Maybe they've changed the crucible one for participation, because it used to be kills, which I noticed because my fireteam with whom I played every game could get out of sync. Doesn't help that they also fucked up clan engrams so they're dropping at your level for a lot of people (did for me the first week) and the issue is only fixed, currently, if you wait for them to decrypt on weekly reset. Like I said, my main issue is that they've messed up all the other sources of equal level gear. I used to clear a few milestones early in the week then work on getting other gear up to scratch; now, I just get the milestones and stop.

You say "John Wick goes to a wedding" like it's a bad thing. I think his laconic style suits the material.

Those are the milestones, but you can't solo most of them. Flashpoint is the only easy one. I can get clan xp because I'm already part of a (now inactive) clan but that's something you'd need to sort. Then there's the crucible kills one (although, something tells me they adjusted it to just be matches, or at least counts assists?) which is easy enough when I can be bothered with pvp. Nightfall is endgame and even if you find two other people, it'll be tough doing that with your 345 light, I imagine. The problem is the pattern for levelling up used to be: 1. Complete milestones to get pieces of powerful gear, which tend to drop 5-10 points higher than your current power level. 2. Collect legendary engrams whose base power level has now raised slightly. 3. Use or infuse these new legendaries, install mods, etc. to help raise your overall power level. 4. Repeat. Now the pattern is: 1. Complete milestones to get powerful gear to raise your light level 2-5 points higher than your current level. 2. Collect 340-power legendary engrams because *shrug* getting the exact same drops of weapons and gear over and over again wasn't bad enough. 3. Repeat. The original way worked pretty well with a casual approach where, even if your friends had stopped playing, you could work on your weekly milestones to get the "Powerful Gear" and then collect other stuff to keep gradually improving your preferred gear sets. Didn't matter what activity you did, as long as you've done a milestone or two, you can still make at least some progress from all the drops you'd get.

Right, so the new soft cap is 340 (345 with mods) and the only way to get higher is with the milestone "powerful gear". Meanwhile legendary drops are capped at 340 and exotics drop at your level. Oh, and heroic strikes are 350 while dropping 340 gear. Basically, have a regular raid team or gtfo. Looks like I'll be done with this expansion quicker than the last one...

I think most shows usually get a full season order up front but I know, as an example, that ever since the writer's strike interrupted season two or three of Chuck, they were always chasing the full order after the season break.

It depends. Most shows go for at least 13 then hope to get "the back 9" for a more typical 22 episodes (usually the case with cartoons and sitcoms) but I'm not familiar with US networks and how they generally function, e.g. HBO might tend to do 10 episode seasons. I know that most places aim to reach 100 episodes because then you can go into syndication. Typically, US networks will always ask of any new show being pitched, "Where are the five seasons?" That's part of why S4 of Arrested Development was edited into 22 episodes; although, I'm not sure if the shortened S3 still puts it short of the 100 when S5 comes out.

The Great Wall Actually kind of enjoyed this, maybe because my expectations were so low. It's a decent enough story but what I'm really drawn to is Zhang Yimou's direction. The sets and costumes are all gorgeous with the various types of forces on the wall being colour-coded and based on different animals. So, there are black bear-themed spears and armour alongside blue crane-inspired outfits and red hawk-looking archers, etc. It's full of really cool visuals even if some of the CGI is a little ropey (but, again, not anywhere near as bad as I'd been led to believe). So, overall, I'd maybe rank it "good" but to most it's probably just okay.

Room From what little I knew about the film, I was expecting something more fantastical or possibly even sci-fi. How wrong I was. It's actually just a great straight-up drama with some brilliant performances from Brie Larson (I can see why she got the Oscar) and Jacob Tremblay; a child actor who actually has quite a lot to do and doesn't become annoying. Logan Lucky Not as full-on hi-larious as the trailers might have you believe, although, it's got lots of funny moments throughout. It's a decent mix of personal drama and breezy heist, with time for a little twist in the tale. The film even name checks Ocean's Eleven, calling this Ocean's 7-Eleven, to give you an idea of the overall approach (and probably also explains why Soderbergh was drawn to it). It does have this hilarious semi-spoilery scene in, too.

I quite liked Thor 2. The villain stuff's mostly crap but that goes for a lot of the MCU films. I'm nonplussed by people saying "it's too serious" because I just remember so many silly, fun, little moments. Can't argue that it's not the worst Thor film (although, I haven't rewatched 1) but it's nowhere near as bad as Iron Man 2.

Avengers: Infinity War I have seen this twice (kinda unplanned but grateful) and while I don't think a second viewing is an eye-opener like with some films, you definitely take in a lot more. Firstly, I will highlight all the non-spoilery stuff first so when I do go into spoilersville, there will have been enough text that anyone using the New Content tab or whatever won't inadvertently see text that is behind spoiler tags. Okay, so, it does a magnificent job of tying together so many different elements and keeping things zipping along. There are some really great scenes and setpieces, whether it's tight, moving dialogue or amazing-looking action. They make great use of the character interactions and histories and the way it's structured means it never becomes overcrowded. It also manages to throw in a few surprises helped by the old "shots in the trailer but not in the film" trick, even going so far as to fake things, which hides a running element of the story. I think there will be some interesting deleted scenes for a few characters that didn't get enough time and which were hinted at in the trailer. I also think they did a really good job with Thanos. Besides being "tough", he has that dispassionate conviction that makes him truly dangerous. They don't humanise him, but explain his convictions; even if they are mad. I'm not sure if it was mo-cap or really good CGI, but his/Brolin's performance is really well done, too. Even during dialogue-heavy scenes, it keeps you engaged and you get the little touches that really sell it. Also, it doesn't get gory or over-the-top but there are some real nasty bits of violence that surprised me. That's probably enough text before spoilers, so...

Rise of the Tomb Raider It was good. I mean, it's probably "great" if you never played the first one but it didn't feel like enough has changed since it. It didn't do any Batman: Arkham sequel type improvements. The story's merely okay and the combat gets a bit samey by the end but the environments are gorgeous and all the clambering about in the setpieces is heaps of fun.

Ha, I think you're the only other person I've ever seen use this expression. The other person got it from an old Paul Kaye ad for the World Cup in 2002. On the actual topic though... yeah, I'm intrigued. I got fed up of the original God of War right at the end so I'm glad to hear this is different. Not that I'll be playing it any time soon...

Prisoners A solid thriller from the director of Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 (among others, obviously). Certainly not his best, with a slightly too long runtime and some hokeyness in the mystery, but it's got enough to hold your attention and keep you guessing. Funnily enough, it almost feels like what Heavy Rain wishes it could have been.

This was a p good game and it had a rad soundtrack.

So, I finished a couple of seasons of shows. The Tick Didn't get back to this immediately after the mid-season "break" but it's pretty good overall. A very easy-breezy watch with a good bunch of characters and jokes. Hap & Leonard - Season 3 While this season dealt with the "racist South" element way more directly, it is both the funniest and most moving season yet. The brotherly bond between the two leads is really explored and you can see why the story keeps flashing back from a pivotal moment later on. The mystery falls a little flat, but the supporting characters, especially those returning from S2, really add to the whole thing. Real gut punch of an ending, too.

Haha. So, Bungie have been doing a roadmap for changes to Destiny 2 and they've just added more to Season 3 and 4. "Weapon Slot Changes" and "Weapon Randomization"? Along with the "Go Fast" changes (and plenty of other stuff) they'll have, uh... Destiny 1 back by September.

Been really enjoying the Hap & Leonard TV series so figured I should give the books a go. They're all pretty cheap on Kindle. Just gotta figure if I want to get ahead of the show or not, given that it's one a year and they're only just doing the third.

I was tired and bored one evening so I decided to watch Street Kings. I didn't know much about it other than it starred Keanu Reeves and sounded vaguely interesting, and I remember a co-worker 10 years ago saying it was good. "Maybe it's one of those decent films that kinda goes under the radar. Keanu Reeves has some of those, right?" NOPE. So, it turns out it's a David Ayer film based off an old James Ellroy screenplay, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Hypermasculine LAPD fetishization... mixed with an elaborate conspiracy involving police corruption. It starts off interesting as you play catch-up, seeing Keanu as an alcoholic and (seemingly?) racist arms dealer only for him to be a Dirty Harry-style Vice cop who shoots first and avoids questions entirely. The mystery stuff works okay as you're watching Keanu team up with Chris Evans (there are a few "hey, that actor" moments) but the whole conceit feels gross once the credits roll and you reflect on it. There aren't even any proper character arcs or a decent story. I'm surprised it was by the guy who made End of Watch, but it probably feels more in line with Bright and Suicide Squad.