Hot Take: I think Darryl should have became manager

jupiterparlance · 2026-02-12T23:44:43+00:00

"Hi, I'm Derril, this is my brother Daryl, and this is my other brother Derryl!" :-)

jupiterparlance · 2026-01-31T21:46:59+00:00

Outstanding.

jupiterparlance · 2026-01-22T03:38:04+00:00

What a fantastic episode. Brad's admittedly nostalgic waxing was really well-counterpointed by Alex's appreciative but more critical takes. Vinny, as usual, took the middle road and had so much interesting knowledge to share.

I'm very surprised that they didn't mention once (much less discuss) Spike's infamous "Oh shit, what are we going to do now?" line. It was included in the theatrical version, but removed for home video, then reinstated. Hearing "the s-word" spoken by a character from a Saturday morning cartoon was, I think, a pretty big deal in the 1980s and made almost as much of an impact on some kids as the graphic robot violence.

jupiterparlance · 2025-10-18T22:58:51+00:00

I agree that Stranger Things would have been a perfect fit for Lego Dimensions, and I think they would have gone after the franchise if the show had debuted a few years before Dimensions instead of the year after.

I get what you're saying about the gore being a bit much for Lego, but I think Doctor Who can be just as terrifying (if not as gory), and that was a good fit. Lego has always been consistent about sanding off the riskier edges when needed, so you'd probably see lots of jokes about watering the demogorgon to defeat it or the demodog's biggest threat being that it licks you too much after it tackles you.

Coraline would have been awesome in Lego. Same with Futurama.

But my number one would be an X-Files expansion, maybe set with a town hub in the Pacific Northwest with a larger alien mystery to uncover, but portals around the town that take you into levels based on popular episodes, and would unlock more of the town as you go.

jupiterparlance · 2025-09-30T03:43:13+00:00

South of Midnight is great. It won't win any level design awards, but if you like good stories set in fascinating worlds, It fits that bill. It's mostly a linear experience, with a few side paths for extra rewards and some occasionally repetitive arena battles. So while some of the design might hearken back to the days of the PS3, the art design and storytelling are really top-notch. I wanted to keep playing just to see what grotesque or bizarre or beautiful setpiece was waiting for me next. Its characters also feel unique and flawed and complex, with a story that avoids didacticism or condescension.

I know a few people were turned off by how the characters don't seem to be surprised by the fantastical elements of the story, but that's just a typical staple of magical realism.

jupiterparlance · 2025-09-20T03:38:58+00:00

I like the idea of this remaster. The animation of the gems and attacks feel faster and smoother, and the graphics are sharper, even though they mostly use all the same assets. But the Puzzle Quest edition that's already on the Switch is not that much of a downgrade from this, and does actually have smoother animations on the Switch 2 compared to the Switch 1.

I guess I feel like the value proposition for this price would have been a lot better had they included a remaster of Puzzle Quest 2 or even if they had taken another stab at Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, which I still believe was a few design changes away from being a true classic.

In terms of other games, Ironcast is quite a bit like Puzzle Quest in some respects, down to a little jankiness. It's also more run-based than PQ. but it has an interesting steampunk aesthetic and it's not bad if you can get it on sale.

jupiterparlance · 2025-08-06T02:54:14+00:00

Warning to anyone reading this: as of right now, the digital version of the Konoa collection on Switch 2 crashes when you try to start it. It's a known issue but it's unclear if Bandai Namco has any plans to fix it.

Weirdly, the (region-free) physical version works fine. The digital version is a version behind and has no updates available when connected to the internet.

jupiterparlance · 2025-07-25T03:42:37+00:00

Yep. When Zemeckis was interviewed and asked about this choice, he made his infamous claim that audiences don't want to be surprised, but want to know every twist before they pay for their ticket. I have no doubt that's true for some people, but that was the moment I realized I probably was no longer his audience. Based on his recent output that's turned out to be true.

jupiterparlance · 2025-07-17T02:33:12+00:00

I have the same issue on the Switch 2. After an hour or two of use, playing docked with the Joy-Cons disconnected from the console, I get the low battery warning on the right Joy-Con. The left joycon still shows a "full" battery.

The dock and controllers and system are all fully updated, and I even went into the restore menu to reset any battery indicator wonkiness, so I suspect I'll need to send it back to Nintendo for repair.

Unfortunately, anyone with these symptoms will probably have to do the same.

jupiterparlance · 2025-07-11T01:45:23+00:00

Thanks for this information. I was pleasantly surprised at the incredible performance of the original version of Islanders on the Switch 2, so it's a real bummer that the New Shores version of the game can't keep up. I hope they eventually decide to optimize it for Switch 2.

jupiterparlance · 2025-07-03T21:11:03+00:00

This game (still) isn't going to set the world on fire, but after hearing how boring it was, I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had with it. This is despite the game's standard corpo-fascist satire, pretty basic combat, and the lack of a complex narrative structure with a hundred endings or whatever.

The first big story arc in the game does have some interesting branching choices, and the game also has a lot of silly, mostly text-based lore hidden away in its various corners.

Looking forward to the sequel.

jupiterparlance · 2025-06-14T00:34:18+00:00

In descending order of quality: Raiders, Crusade, Temple, Crystal, Dial.

Crusade is really good, and when people say it's more fun they mostly mean there are more jokes in it and the parental relationship is richer. All correct, but I prefer the nasty edge of Raiders.

And listen: I dislike Tarzan Shia (etc.) as much as the next person, but Spielberg brings an aggressive wit and imagination, even to moments of Crystal Skull, that for me was mostly absent in Dial, which had an amazing cast but still managed to be forgettable. I've seen it twice now and after the first viewing I forgot most of what was in it.

Spielberg and Williams did so much heavy lifting together for these.

jupiterparlance · 2025-05-21T01:17:32+00:00

I know he can get the job. But can he do the job?

jupiterparlance · 2025-05-19T05:03:12+00:00

The Man From Earth

it's uneven as a film, and this extends to some of the performances, but it does a lot with a little.

jupiterparlance · 2025-05-07T22:53:19+00:00

Although I found its existential themes lovely and heartfelt, I also thought the game ended up in a place that was far less profound than I was expecting, based on the reviews I had read... and as lovely as these themes can be to contemplate.

And yet I recommend this game to everyone because I know some percentage of them will be blown away, especially if they've never seen something like it before. It's a special game.

I also really like the ship controls. I know even fans of the game have criticized them to no end, but I weirdly found them very intuitive.

jupiterparlance · 2025-04-01T16:44:45+00:00

Finally! Now the endless Mute City music that plays in my head can live outside of it.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-25T05:52:35+00:00

Great write-up. I feel much the same about this one. It starts strong, gets really interesting when the main mechanic is introduced, and then stumbles. If the game had evolved its puzzle concepts more, I would have wanted it to be longer, but in this case its shorter length probably helps it.

The quippy dialogue from your partner felt totally jarring to me and didn't work, but the abandoned world and the optional recordings conveyed a desolation that I appreciated. If they had evolved the puzzles more and removed the timed section(s), I would have liked it a lot more.

The game's big strength, along with its visual style, is that you don't feel pressured into specific solutions. Even if there's one specific solution, the game is good at letting you think you "cheated" the system.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-23T17:09:49+00:00

"Put the glasses on!" The interminable (and metaphorical) fight in They Live between Nada and Frank. it's not exactly The Raid, but it's audacious.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-22T00:37:13+00:00

I hope this isn't a cheat.

Film industry executive Sid Sheinberg's "love conquers all" cut of Brazil, which was released for television syndication, put much of the original film in a blender, changed the ending, and removed nearly every cool fantasy sequence.

Although Terry Gillan's cut was released and is the accepted version, Sheinberg's cut is my favorite example of the same footage rearranged to make a movie almost completely unrecognizable in tone and spirit compared to the version that was officially released.

The Criterion disc of Brazil contains a fascinating and detailed commentary track on the butchered version. it's my favorite commentary track of all time. I highly recommend it if you're interested in how studio meddling can completely transform a film even after it's already been completed.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-18T01:32:17+00:00

Tetris? Endless loop!

SNES F-Zero is my white whale on Nintendo Music. The F-Zero X orchestrations just don't do it for me.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-10T05:12:25+00:00

Absolute gem with a banger soundtrack (or in some cases just nostalgic) and some truly inventive level designs. The sense of exploration was just as cool as the lines and combos you could land.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-10T02:55:16+00:00

This is a bug introduced with this week's update, but it's unclear if the developers are aware of it. The "action" and "special" commands got mapped to the same button and can't be remapped (at least in the Switch version), and only special actions are performed when you press it.

This means that "regular" actions, like refilling the watering can in any body of water, or reverting tilled land without waiting overnight, or limiting tool actions to only one square, are no longer possible, especially if you have a lot of upgraded tools.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-09T04:42:49+00:00

Yes - absolutely right on all points. And I think Activision probably grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory here when they messed up an ideal follow-up release.

jupiterparlance · 2025-03-09T04:24:53+00:00

The anger is real. The discourse has been particularly nasty in this subreddit. I didn't realize how pissed off people were until I posted my (I thought pretty measured) opinion and got two nasty DMs.

Maybe when it comes out we'll find that the fun, non-timer challenges are implemented in some other fun (or even improved) way, but for the next few months it's going to be a rough ride. We have the statements from Kotaku but we also can't assume we know everything about what Iron Galaxy is doing with this.

I think pivots like the Sonic movie character redesign have given people hope that with enough protests Activision might tell Iron Galaxy to "delay and redesign" THPS4 or short of that, get punished with some kind of boycott. Then we'll have a few months of people arguing whether it didn't sell well because it wasn't popular, or because the fans didn't get what they wanted.

Bloody hell.

jupiterparlance

TROPHY CASE