Mr. GOH!

The only reason Doctor Strange isn't in the second tier is that the story is in many ways a re-skin of Iron Man 1 and RDJ is more fun than Cumberbatch. Ant Man had potential but wasted it; Edgar Wright's version would have likely ranked higher. Captain America 1 was really fun and different and its heart trumps its shortcomings and also it features Haley Atwell.

Elite Tier: Winter Soldier GotG Ragnarok Spider-Man Good fun tier: Iron Man 1 Avengers Civil War Captain America Meh Tier: Doctor Strange GotG Vol II Iron Man 3 Ant-Man Age of Ultron Garbage Tier: Iron Man 2 Hulk Thor Thor: the Dark World

Just bought an x900e sony bravia TV. 65 inches, my friends. This will replace the 42 inch shitty insignia TV I bought six-ish years ago. https://www.sony.com/electronics/televisions/xbr-x900e-series

I'm in.

Justice League is very terrible. It's like a shittier version of a generic Marvel movie. Snyder's version would have been just as bad as what actually ended up on the screen, except with less humor. Everything is forced, the backstory (behold the epic past!) is on par with that of a Transformers movie, and the CGI is universally terrible. The movie also feels like it was shot entirely against a green screen in 2004. "Mother box" is a stupidly hilarious term and it's funny every time a character says "Mother box" with a straight face and serious tones. the only thing funnier is how horny Steppenwolf seems to be for Mother and Mother boxes, almost as if he worships them. Very Freudian, I guess, worshipping mom's box and all. Steppenwolf's plan is never explained; he just appears to want to magically convert everyone into parademons (which Steppenwolf seems to not ultimately control) that "feed on fear" for the hell of it and because Mother wants it. In competent hands, a story about how Batman deals with villains who feed on fear would be interesting since his whole bat schtick is about causing fear. But the parademons end up being annoying character-less bug things much like the Chitauri in Avengers, but at least the Chitauri had those weird space fish vehicles that were kinda cool-looking. Steppenwolf's main motivation is revenge for not conquering the Earth some untold thousands of years ago, although why he wanted to conquer it back then remains a mystery. I could go on, but I've wasted enough time thinking about this bullshit. Zero stars out of five. Edit: I did not notice any weird upper lip stuff on Henry Cavill, which is weird since everyone I know who's seen it definitely was creeped out by his weird upper lip.

No thanks, I know how to make myself barf for free.

Well, that will be utterly stupid.

The elections last night bode well for 2018 if folks can keep the momentum going and turn out the vote. Seems like even apathetic Americans detest Trump enough to come out in a very off-year election.

Thor: Ragnarok. Super fun, although the basic plot outline is also standard Marvel fare to the point of being predictably boring. Taika Waititi's comedic take on everything elevated the movie, as did the Hemsworth's very funny performance. Highlights: Lowlights:

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen. I finished my first WotC campaign last night after putting it down to play Divinity and then Shadow of War. Figured I should wrap it up before getting too deep into Wolfy 2 or AC: Origins. I loved it. Every addition makes the game better and more rewarding. The only part that doesn't quite work is that the end game is the same, albeit with a few tougher enemies in the final mission. It would have been nice to redesign the final few missions to take the Chosen or their defeat into better account. As it was, the missions were super easy with my ranked-up soldiers and their Chosen gear. Spoilers for the victory movies and hints of Xcom 3

It's better than earlier AC combat, for sure. Still has a ways to go to be great.

The leveling is pretty quick, initially. I don't know what the cap is, but I've leveled to 12 in the time I've played. I know damage increases each level automatically, and I believe HP does as well. You also get a skill point per level, and I've just about run out of skills I can buy with a single point, aside those tied to items like bombs and darts that I don't have access to yet. The skill tree is sp[lit into three branches: stealth/ranged, melee combat, and gadgets & traps, with some overlap. The skills themselves are a mix of classic assassin's creed stuff (take down two dudes at once) and new things based on the changed combat system (pull arrows from your shield to replenish your ammo). it's all very easy to understand to anyone who has played open world games in the past five years. Weapons and armor have level requirements, and it's important to have a weapon close to your level. You can pay a blacksmith a small sum to upgrade any weapon or shield to your current level. You cannot equip weapons that are above your level. You can also craft universal damage and defense upgrades outside of your particular weapon and shield ( which is also the only equipable armor there is, I think). That is, you can craft upgrades that increase all melee or ranged damage, as well as upgrades that increase your defense and HP, if I remember correctly. The craftable upgrades are in a sequence; you go through upgrade 1, then 2, then 3, and so on as you get enough crafting ingredients.

You don't automatically lock onto enemies and auto-hit as you did in the previous games. Instead, even when you manually lock onto enemies, you have to gauge your weapon length and your relative position in ways you did not have to in earlier AC games. It's similar to how combat works in Dark Souls, Bloodborne (I assume), and the Witcher 3. Your weapon selection plays a large role in your reach, speed, and damage and you have a much larger variety of weapons to choose from, from fast dual short swords to massive maces. Each weapon has a level and rarity and may have special abilities. You change your weapon loadout way more than in previous AC games. Enemies are also much more liable to come at you all at once instead of waiting for you to kill each of them in one-by-one duels, which is good. I think it's a step in the right direction from the generally bland combat of previous AC games overall.

Origins is Assasin's Creed: Wild Hunt. This is not a bad thing at all, and I really like the open world aspect more than in any other non-Black Flag Asscreed. The storytelling has been weirdly presented so far. It does not do a great job of establishing your character or his motivation immediately. It starts in media res and then flashes back over the first section to show you why your character has taken on a mission of vengeance, which you seem to blaze through pretty quickly. I get the sense, though, that, at 8 or so hours in, I'm just about to begin the "real" story and that the questing for your first ten or so levels is more of an extended tutorial, as is common in many open world games. The combat is very different than in previous Asscreed and feels like Dark Souls Lite, which is fine, though it takes getting used to. I have not yet seen any firm indication of a recruitment or team system, but I suspect it's in there in some fashion, just not yet. Minor spoilers: I will post more as I progress. So far, it's my favorite AC game after Black Flag and 2 + Brotherhood.

The Kinect is dead, hallelujah! https://www.fastcodesign.com/90147868/exclusive-microsoft-has-stopped-manufacturing-the-kinect

I beat Shadow of War, in the sense I made it to the Shadow Wars by completing the main story. It's really fun, but the story is kinda terrible and what it does with the canon is almost unforgivable. I really want to see a nemesis system in a game based on a different IP because I think the Tolkien world really limits what sorts of enemies can appear and where the story can go.

lolwut. There are all sorts of lazy jokes to make about my taste in games, but one about how I don't play mainstream games doesn't make any sense. I don't really preorder these days but I'm probably gonna get the new Assassin's Creed game and Wolfenstein; the New Colossus next week. I'm also seriously thinking about getting ABttlefront next month based on my good experience with the beta. I'm also interested in the next Far Cry game.

@PojoDinnerWithTheInlaws Congrats on the home purchase! Being a homeowner is both freeing and nerve-wracking, but very much worth it!

I bought Shadow of War and it is super fun.

Divinity: Original Sin 2. Great game, although the fourth act is kind of underwhelming. The combat, writing (though not the overall story), and world design are so much better than in the first game. The amount of reactivity is pretty interesting, too. I'll probably play through it again with a different main character at some point, but I'm kind of burned out after a ridiculously difficult final battle (it was difficult due to my lack of preparation, I think).

Blade Runner 2049 I loved it, but I understand why it may not be everybody's cup of tea. I'm a sucker for movies that revolve around philosophical musings in interesting ways, I love the grand sweep of visual world-building and storytelling, and I really dig the trappings of sci-fi noir. I thought most of the performances were pretty great and even though it was long, there was not much that I would cut; every shot is a piece of the storytelling puzzle. It is slow, like the original, but it features a very interesting character arc and has an actual plot in which things happen, unlike the original (which I like, don't get me wrong). Every shot, line, and musical cue contributes to the exploration of the film's ideas beyond just being cool. The amount of care the production team put into the movie is fucking astounding. There are few plot holes, although many folks will miss crucial information to filling in seeming plot holes because this movie is content to let images and actions tell a lot of the emotional story rather than regurgitating the plot for audiences (outside of the opening text). It's a beautiful film and I am unsurprised that more folsk didn't go to see it.

I loved the book series, which seemed almost unfilmable to me, but this looks like it will be pretty interesting. With this and Blade Runner coming up, it looks like a good time to be a fan of smart sci fi movies.

It was better than Interdimensional Cable 2 and consistent with this season's exploration of the Rick-Morty relationship's breaking points.