Breakpoint is substantially better than it was at launch. The cover system is still a bit too sticky, and clipping continues to be an occasional issue, but the game is much improved regardless, and pretty fun overall. I’ll probably wrap it up over the next couple days.
*Actually, wrapped up Breakpoint and all the expansion missions. Other than random Outcast missions and special items, which I didn’t fully collect, mostly because holy hell are there a lot of them. Yeah, enjoyed it overall.
In the meantime,
Wheel of Time
I was a bit disappointed that there was only three episodes to begin, but I’m also interested to see how the every Friday new episodes turn out.
For me, it was so in line with the book, that it was easy to almost narrate while watching it, and some of the casting decisions were pretty spot on. The rest worked out despite taking a minute to adjust my expectations based on my memories of the characters in book, to who they are in the series. Which really didn’t take long at all. Very well done.
Enjoying it so far.
Sweet Tooth
I had no real expectations going in, and it’s a bit dramatic, but still a fun enough first season, and a lot of the dialogue is surprisingly topical to modern world events. Will be curious to see what season two brings.
I can see it being a more difficult watch for someone who hasn’t enjoyed the books before. Personally though, the fact that I can narrate each new episode speaks to how diligent they are in reproducing the actual story.
As far as the magic goes, the idea is that it’s slower to develop, which is why they have Warders to keep enemies off them while their magic builds up. When the Trollocks attack Twin Rivers, it does a good job of showing the Aes Sedai/Warder relationship in battle.
Aes Sedai can see the physical traces of the weave, generally speaking. That’s what they’re trying to convey. They can’t see the mens channeling though, which scares them since the channeling also drives men mad due to the Breaking of the World. ;)
Interested to see your perspective on the WoT show as a book reader!
Wheel of Time TV Show spoilers ahead:
I found the first three episodes of WoT a struggle to get through. I’ve been excited about a new fantasy TV show as well.
As someone who hasn’t read the books, it felt like a weird combination of:
• LotR: Beginning introduction voice over - run from the shire, travel..
• Legend of the Seeker, Merlin and CW shows: The bright costumes, appearance and production values
The plot as someone not familiar with the books is a bit generic. The dragon means nothing to me, as we have heard there was a dragon, but there is nothing visually, or even told well, of why its so important. The TV show seems to be going for a mystery on who the dragon is, but by casting alone you can tell it will be Rand(is that his name? Ok googling names for the rest of this haha). Also some weird gender divide which is kind of iffy. Also a bit confused on the 4 potentially being the dragon when there seems to be a different kind of magic for men and women. I’ve probably missed something here!
The magic felt very uhh.. inefficient? I felt like someone with a bow could have easily beaten Moiraine in episode 1. It was also not the best graphically so looked a bit comical to me. I’m guessing the weaving(?) light show is more just to show us stuff is happening and doesn’t actually have a physical presence?
Cast/character wise, I hope Michael McElhatton gets more of a role. He is awesome. I’m liking Mat’s actor and character - he somehow feels more realistic. The whole going out to rescue his sisters makes him the only character I really care about so far. Perrin I’m not really sure about yet. Egwene seems alright so far, Nynaeve as a character seems a bit weird, as it feels like a random character detached from the story somehow?? Rand I really am not liking at the moment..
The only time I started to really pay attention was with the bartender at the end of episode 3- I don’t know but her acting and the story at the end there was pretty fun.
So I’m going to give it a few more episodes just because I really want to like it. But there’s a lot that I think they are assuming people know already, so casual viewers are just left with a weird cliche chosen one story (that is a dragon reborn… I’m guessing a powerful mage type person, but who knows) with a cast that look to perfect to be in the environment they are in. (Rand is the most obvious - looks like he came off a runway with perfect hair, entirely too clean).
As a book reader, are there changes you can see so far that have kind of changed the story?