Arrow Season 3 Episode 21 - Al Sah-him Review

Arrow Season 3 Episode 21 – Al Sah-him Review

So many twists, so little time.

 

Episode 21 followed Team Arrow as they try to contend with Oliver being gone after joining the league. Meanwhile Oliver returns to Starling in order to eliminate the one threat to his reign, Nyssa.

 

I really enjoyed this episode. Episodes with a lot of Nyssa are always good and this one was no exception. She’s a great character, one who’s not really in the show enough for my liking. It’s interesting to see a complex character who for her whole life has only known one thing is suddenly thrust into a new situation. She is badass but also interesting as we see her struggle between doing the right thing fear of Ra’s and her right as heir to the Demon. It’s strange that daughter of the Demon would be so honourable. Also I must say that the scene with the milkshakes with Laurel was really funny.

 

Speaking of Laurel she has truly won me over. I prefer her like this, she seems happier and more upbeat which means when things get serious we care more about what happens to her. While it is strange to think she has become the voice of reason I like that she has become string and loyal. This is the sort of character I expected Black Canary to be. Furthermore I really enjoy her friendship with Nyssa, it builds on Nyssa’s humanity as well as adds to Laurels character, both as the Canary and the person under the mask. I do also appreciate being shown how Laurel has suddenly become so good in a fight.

 

Al Sah-him is menacing. Stephen Amell did a great job with the subtleties of showing very slight glimpses of Oliver Queen behind the mask of Al Sah-him. I also enjoyed watching Oliver in full flow this episode with the fight scene. We haven’t really seen that for a while on Arrow and it was great to see him fighting. The fight with Diggle was my favourite, we all knew there was no way Diggle could possibly win but at the same time seeing these two guys who are practically brothers fighting to the death was very powerful. One other thing was just a little thing in the opening, My Name Was Oliver Queen. That set the tone perfectly.

 

Arrow does a great job with its powerful scenes and this episode was no exception. For me the best in the episode was the one when Diggle and Felicity confronted Laurel and Nyssa over freeing Lyla. It’s very rare we see Diggle lose it but he slammed her into that wall with such a rage. I love that Diggle is being bought back to the forefront towards the end of the series, he’s such a strong and all around great character as we all know. He’s like the glue that holds both the team and really the whole show together and when for that brief moment I thought he was dead my heart sank. Plus how funny was it when he told Felicity no costume? Maybe I’m just easily pleased but that cracked me up.

 

Thea is an interesting character for sure, she went from whiney to awesome back to sort of whiney and now is awesome again. She was really enjoyable in this episode, I love the determined and almost aggressive Thea. It’s like Malcom said, she’s a warrior and there is some real fight in there. I really liked her moment when she shot the arrow at Oliver and I thought it was great when she talked to Malcom who by the way makes every scene he’s in infinitely better. This is the Thea I want to see in season 4 when she will likely be more of a focus. Strong sure but the cracks are still there and she’s certainly hurting and not as hardened as some of the others.

 

While I thought Thea was great I do want to address something and that’s the so called negative side effects of the Lazarus pit. It’ll probably be more of a focus next season but so far she’s been different for about 30 minutes and I was really hoping to see some conflict and problems come from a supposedly warped mind. The writers did this well with the Mirakuru plot and I thought they were doing something similar here. They probably will, it just seems like something to mention.

 

In these reviews I always have my time to moan about how the flashbacks aren’t very good but this time I won’t simply moan about the flashbacks. I’ll say Katana is really cool … and now moan. They just don’t work as well as last season, they feel kind of disjointed and they barely relate to the main plot. I will be really disappointed if the whole point of the flashbacks was to introduce the virus and kill Akio. I won’t go on too long, the flashbacks just take me out of the really interesting present day plot.

 

Now to talk about the big twists. I hear wedding bells. The look on Oliver and Nyssa’s faces said it all, I was NOT expecting that. It’ll be interesting to see where this is going, obviously they’re not going to get married but it does pose quite the conundrum. Also Ra’s wanting to kill everyone in Starling City is an interesting development. Very reminiscent of Batman Begins, it seems likely this will be the thing that is too far for Oliver and bring him back to himself. Finally Oliver was perfectly willing to kill not only Nyssa but Diggle too. Without Thea he would have stabbed Diggle through the chest. This for me was a big moment and perhaps the moment team Arrow lost faith in him. It was like watching another character, one who would kill his brother.

 

I really enjoyed this episode, not only for its good character development and powerful scenes but it had some great action and set up the rest of the season for a fantastic climax. Can’t wait for next week!

What should happen in the Five Nights at Freddy's Movie?

What should happen in the Five Nights at Freddy’s Movie?

I don’t want a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. I thought I should make that perfectly clear. I’m a fan of the series, I enjoyed every game and love delving into the lore but will it translate well into movie form? Probably not but I hope the movie can at least be watchable. What do I in my humble opinion think should be in the FNAF movie? I explain below.

 

As we all know video game movies are terrible. I’ve always thought the best thing to do would to be setting a movie in the universe of the certain game franchise without centring on the plot of an actual game. This would give the writers and developers chance to do what they want to while still remaining loyal to the setting and franchise. For the FNAF movie I think it should be set in one of the Pizzeria’s we’ve never seen in a game. Setting the movie before 1987 and FNAF 2 or even as a spinoff that doesn’t relate to the events in the games would allow the writers some free will and not make the movie too restrictive. It would also allow a brand new story and thus a setting unrelated to the pizzeria’s in the game series I think would be a good idea.

 

The lore is perhaps the most interesting part of the entire franchise. First things first, I will be very unhappy if the movie just reveals everything that we have to speculate about. Apart from that it’s important for the movie to be for fans of the series but equally the movie has to try to bring in newcomers to the series. Take FNAF 1 as an example. There was some interesting backstory subtly laced in but it wasn’t all explained in one go or made too complex too quickly. A similar thing needs to happen with the movie’s plot. It’s because of this I think it’d be preferable to have a separate plot from the games. FNAF 3 briefly mentions sister locations. Something like this I believe would be ideal as you could still capture the essence of the games while not being tied down by heaps of lore and backstory.

 

FNAF is subtle in its story. This is a big reason why I don’t think it’ll work as a film, most of its story isn’t shown. A movie needs to show more due to the medium itself however the films focus I think needs to be on the character in the Pizzeria. The film cannot just take place in the Pizzeria and what time we spend outside will hopefully be used to build a complex and interesting character. This is strange considering the characters in the game are merely vessels to play, however this is not a game. A likeable character is important otherwise we’ll just be watching a boring horror with cardboard characters waiting for them to die.

 

There’s a catch however with what I just said. Too much time cannot be taking place outside the Pizzeria. This seems obvious however would you really be surprised if we spend ages with some random idiot and their boring life? Maybe showing the character in the Pizzeria during the day would be good as it would set the scene and start building the creepy atmosphere of the twisted place. Whatever they do none of us want to see a FNAF movie where most of the time is spent outside a Freddy Fazbears Pizzeria.

 

Another thing I hope happens is that out main protagonist is alone in the Pizzeria. The games made you feel incredibly isolated and this added to the tension and fear. This means that with the main character in the Pizzeria there needs to be no friends, no love interest and definitely no wacky black sidekick. If a little group goes in and a black guy dies first I may leave the cinema. With what I’ve said so far it sounds a bit like I just want a scare fest with an interesting character. This isn’t true, the Pizzeria’s always have a dark secret behind them and this should be no exception. I think it would be good if the protagonist would gradually discover some sort of conspiracy or mystery behind the Pizzeria as he tried to survive. I just think it needs to leave somethings left unanswered and be subtle about what’s going on, not just throw everything at us.

 

Horror films need to have horror. Let’s think about what makes FNAF scary. I’d say the suspense and tension as the animatronics move around the Pizzeria and you never know when you’re about to be attacked. I’ve never thought it’s just jump scares. There are very well crafted jump scares, but what makes the jump scares terrifying is the build-up. The atmosphere and tension alone makes the game scary even if you aren’t killed once. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this, for the movie to be scary and not just full of jump scares then it needs to use creepy sets and build the tension and suspense of the situation of being in a dark Pizzeria full of killer animatronics. Obviously there will be jump scares and they will be effective like they were while playing the games if they’re well-crafted amongst the good build-up and atmosphere.

 

Let’s not have a gore fest. Please movie makers, don’t do it. Don’t get me wrong, if we see one person get violently stuffed into an animatronic suit I wouldn’t be disappointed. While I am quite strange I think maybe in the intro we could see this happen to someone, it would build the stakes as well as show newcomers to the series what these animatronics are capable of. But this shouldn’t be a regular occurrence, it’s not what FNAF is about.

 

The film needs to as I said earlier introduce new people to the FNAF franchise as well as be faithful for the fans. This makes throwing in all the many animatronics we’ve seen over the games seem a bit silly. How much would a newcomer be confused with the original 5, the toy versions, balloon boy, the puppet, spring trap, shadow animatronics and phantoms? I think the ideal situation would to be to use the 4 main animatronics from the original FNAF as the main antagonists. This should please both parties as it won’t be overcrowded for new comers and as a fan myself I would be very pleased seeing the classics on screen. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy are perfectly capable of being terrifying antagonists for the film and keeping it to 4 for most of the movie would avoid the film feeling over crowded. I would however like to see a cameo from Golden Freddy, not only is he my personal favourite but I imagine all the fans would love to see his ghostly presence. He doesn’t need to play a big role, just a cameo, even just a glimpse would be great.

 

I really want the FNAF movie to be good. I am a fan of the franchise, I will go and see it and I can’t wait for FNAF 4. I’m not exactly confident but let’s hope this is an actual good video game movie. But nevertheless I’m curious, what is everyone else hoping to see in the movie? I’ll end this post now, the power on my laptop has nearly run out …

The Hero of Kvatch vs The Dovahkhiin - Who Would Win?

The Hero of Kvatch vs The Dovahkhiin – Who Would Win?

Tamriel is a land plagued in war and conflict. This great land has birthed many heroes across the eras but two of the most identifiable are the hero of Kvatch, the playable character from the Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and the Dovahkhiin, the playable character from the Elder Scrolls V Skyrim. In a fight to the death in a neutral arena and no outside assistance you who win in a fight to the death? Let’s find out.

 

Firstly I should mention this is based on gameplay and not lore. Judging lore is extremely difficult as we can’t actually see it. The power of dragon shouts for example is described as powerful enough to shout down cities in the lore surrounding Talos but they are far more modest in game.

 

Firstly I should mention this is based on gameplay and not lore. Judging lore is extremely difficult as we can’t actually see it. The power of dragon shouts for example is described as powerful enough to shout down cities in the lore surrounding Talos but they are far more modest in game. It also seems fitting for them to fight it out in the Imperial City’s arena. So onto the battle.

 

A good place to start seems to be weapons and armour. According to the internet the best unique weapon in Oblivion in the sword Umbra while the best in Skyrim in the sword Chillrend. As for non-unique weapons the strongest the hero of Kvatch has access to are Deadric weapons. The Dovakhiin also has access to Deadric weapons, however he can also obtain Dragonbone Weapons which have a higher damage output. Therefore strictly on weapons power the Dragonborn has more powerful damage output from un-enchanted weapons. The Dragonborn can also improve his weaponary though smithing. Both combatants can enchant their weaponry too, however the Dragonborn also has the advantage here as thanks to the enchanting skill tree he can create stronger enchantments. He can also place two enchantments on one weapons.

 

Armour is a similar story. Both have Deadric as their strongest armour here however the Dragonborn can improve the armour further through smithing as well as create better enchantments through the enchanting skill tree. This also implies to Jewellery which can be enchanted futher, however it should be noted the Hero of Kvatch can wear two rings while the Dragonborn can only wear one.

 

The key factor with the enchantments however is due the restoration potion loop the Dragonborn can raise their enchanting skill to essentially infinite. If you don’t know about this loop then advise looking it up but you can keep boosting the level of your fortify enchanting levels. You can then enchant fortify alchemy gear and keep repeating until you have potions to the level you want. Then simply create fortify enchanting and smithing potions and boom, you can create weapons far more powerful than what the game intended. You can create potions that fortify your enchanting by millions of percent making the Dragonborn capable of creating weapons as well as gear far beyond what the Hero of Kvatch can. On equipment the Dragonborn is the obvious winner.

 

The Dragonborn has a far more varied set of skills in the form of the perks from skill trees. While the Hero of Kvatch can move faster and jump around more with Athletics and Acrobatics and the Dragonborn does not have a hand to hand skill tree, there are some notable perks in Skyrim that make certain styles far more powerful. A good example is the impact perk in destruction magic. While not technically a skill, shouts are available to the Dragonborn and while they are as I mentioned earlier quite modest in comparison to the lore and shouts are mainly used for our own amusements (Using unrelenting force to throw Lydia off the Throat of the World for example) some still are useful for combat. Unrelenting force is always good, Dragon Aspect is a good addition and many others could be used such as become ethereal and slow time. Additionally the Dragonborn has more powers such as benefits from black books.

 

It may sound like I’m saying the Dragonborn completely outclasses the Dragonborn. This is far from the case. The thing that stands out for me in favour of the hero of Kvatch is the spell creation mechanic. The Dragonborn’s spells do not compare to what the hero of Kvatch can create in the spell creation centre. Advantage to the hero of Kvatch.

 

So far we’ve determined the Dragonborn can hit people with stuff better and get hit with stuff better while the hero of Kvatch can shoot pretty lights at people more effectively. The last thing to talk about is how the combat mechanics themselves factor in. Due to the change in combat the hero of Kvatch has another advantage. This is partly due to the wielding system in Skyrim, while I really liked it as a gameplay mechanic it does prevent the dragonborn from wielding a weapon, shield and spell, while the hero of Kvatch can due to magic being selected similarly to powers in Skyrim. Therefore the hero can wield a sword, shield and spell or a two handed weapon and a spell. Archery is pretty similar however due to Skyrim attempting to be more realistic and streamlined the Dragonborn swings a weapon more slowly and moves more slowly, especially factoring in the athletics perk the Hero of Kvatch is faster. It would therefore be easier to move around the arena giving the hero of Kvatch another plus over the Dragonborn.

 

So who would win? The strange thing none of the above actually matters. With the right selection of armour and jewellery it is possible for one of these combatants to have a combination of 101% reflect damage, 115% magic resistance and 100% resistance to poison, disease and paralysis. The combatant is … the hero of Kvatch who because of this is the winner here. The Dovahkhiin could use the loop to inflict enough damage with an attack to kill 50 of the hero of Kvatch stood in a line, it doesn’t matter. The 101% reflect damage and 115% magic resistance fully protects the hero of Kvatch. The weapon used is irrelevant, an iron dagger could be used. Sure it would take ages but eventually the hero of Kvatch would win. The only way I can think the Dragonborn could possibly win is using Mehrunes Razor, the Deadric artefact of Mehrunes Dagon. It has a small chance to insta kill any enemy it attacks, however it is unlikely to happen and we’ve already discussed that the hero of Kvatch can move around quickly and should be able to avoid being attacked enough times for the insta kill to take effect. The winner is the Hero of Kvatch.

 

Arrow Season 3 Epsidoe 20 - The Fallen Review

Arrow Season 3 Episode 20 – The Fallen Review

So many emotional goodbyes.

 

The Fallen followed the consequences of Thea being killed by Ra’s al Ghul. Team Arrow head to Nanda Parbat as Oliver trades his life for Thea’s and agreed to become heir to the demon.

 

This episode was phenomenal, I really enjoyed it. I’m going to say it, Ra’s al Ghul has reached the same level as Deathstroke in terms of being awesome. He’s such a great villain but for entirely different reasons. Ra’s is like a master chess player, everything he does is methodically thought out and he always knows exactly what to say and do. He also however has depth and we heard a little of his backstory but more importantly he thinks he’s doing what’s best for the world. He’s not just a mindless killer he thinks the world is cruel and wants to change it for the better and he managed to break Oliver into becoming irrational. He has such a presence whenever he’s on screen, he’s a delight to watch.

 

Nanda Parbat itself has a great atmosphere to it. It’s fun to have a little change from Starling City from time to time and the atmosphere to Nanda Parbat really fit the mood. I also really enjoyed the ritual scene with Thea coming back to life. It felt really intense and the chanting made the situation seem a whole lot bigger. I also appreciated being told about the origin of the word assassin.

 

This was an episode that revolved heavily around the relationship between Felicity and Oliver and I do think it was done well. They have been building up to this for a very long time and I think it was a good way to send them off in different directions. I really enjoyed the scene with Felicity talking to Ra’s, it highlighted that strong character we’ve all known over the seasons and showed us as Ra’s said the fire within her. I liked how even with the emotional goodbye while getting all the necessary emotion across she still made Oliver chuckle slightly, for me that’s what her character is all about. Also is you’re an Olicity fan then you can rejoice in happiness now. I’m not an Olicity fan as being an 18 year old guy I’m far too pretentious and uber masculine to appreciate romance but I do think they have good chemistry and they’re talks are good to watch.

 

Speaking of talks there were a lot of them in this episode and they all hit the mark. All the deep one to one conversations got across the tone and purpose they were trying to. It makes us feel sorry for characters and it makes us respect them more. In particular, Felicity talking to Ra’s as I’ve already mentioned but also Diggle talking to Maseo and the rather fitting farewell scene towards the end. Diggle talking to Maseo was a real eye opener in terms of why Maseo is where he is and how great Diggle is. A lot happened in this episode and I’m glad they integrated Diggle in so well. Diggle is great as that wise older brother type character and I loved how he picked on the weakness of a mighty assassin. I thought it was great how a talk with Diggle is what convinced Maseo to let Team Arrow go. The farewell scene was very touching, not only with Felicity but with Diggle too.

 

Finally for the good stuff, Malcom Merlin is such a badass. His actions scenes were great but more than that every time he’s on screen you take notice.  He is acted excellently and he’s such an interesting character to see progress.

 

Negatives time. Flashbacks … yeah, they’re not good anymore. In season 2 they all linked in to what was going on in the present with Deathstroke and Sarah. Now they don’t really connect to what’s going on in the present, the pacing is a bit off and it doesn’t really feel like a connected ark. I think they’re getting to something but it feels like multiple paths that will eventually overlap rather than one continuing arc. I won’t carry on complaining about the flashbacks but it was worth mentioning.

 

I wanted them to go into the effects of the Lazarus pit on Thea a bit more. There was that bit where she jumped out and attacked Oliver but other than that she barely had a line. I realise they will go into the side effects of being resurrected more later on and in the next season but they could’ve had a bit more to it.

 

Finally the lack of Laurel bugged me. I really think she should’ve had some sort of goodbye to Oliver and the small glance we saw of her comforting Felicity and her acting calmly to console her friend despite how awful she must have felt really highlighted how far she’s come as a character. On the bright side she had some great scenes with Cisco on the Flash, she was really quite charming and fun which is far away from the Laurel we all remember from seasons 1 and 2. She was enjoyable, had some funny lines (Especially when she said she’d kill him) and that photo was hilarious, the look on Cisco’s face was priceless.

 

I’ve gone of topic so overall what did I think?  This was a brilliant episode I thought, it really tied together some of the plot threads created this season as well as set up Arrow for the future with Oliver becoming a member of the league of assassins. I really look forward to seeing where they go with this and whether he returns to Starling for the start of season 4. Yep so overall great episode and I’ as excited as ever. Now I’m going to sit here … and wait around for next week for The Flash and Arrow … I should get some friends or something.

Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back - Review

Star Wars the Empire Strikes Back – Review

After the trailer we all saw a few days ago I was really in the mood for Star Wars. It’d been way too long since I had watched the Empire Strikes back and I was curious to see whether it’s as good as I always think it is.  When asked my favourite film I would always proudly admit it was the Empire Strikes back so how was it now? Let you be warned there will be spoilers although let’s face it, everyone in the universe knows what happens in this film.

 

The Empire Strikes Back follows the aftermath of the Rebellion destroying the Death Star. A good film needs a good plot and this film definitely has that. The first film set a great foundation and Empire really ups the stakes. It would have been very easy to unite the same crew as last time and send them all off but instead after a short time our main protagonists get separated. This was a great move as not only did it allow more locations and thus show us more of the world that was being created but also meant the characters had new challenges to overcome.

 

If plot is the bread then characters are the butter and a sandwich with butter is a dry and thirsty experience, so how were the characters? We’ll start with our main protagonist Luke. A bit of a tangent here but when you think of the prequels what is one of the main things that sticks out? For me it’s how irritating Anakin was. I am not criticising the actor, honestly considering what tripe he had to work with I think he did a decent job. This is especially apparent in scenes with no dialogue but the point is he was whiney and stuck up and perhaps most importantly for this kind of story, completely unreliable. Luke could be whiney at times but it was never annoying because we could kind of see what he was saying. He reacted to how many people would but he was still brave and determined and all those good things you want in a hero. Unlike what the prequels did with Anakin, Luke was written to kind of stray the border at times with good and bad and it wouldn’t be unfeasible to see him go either way but at the same time we wanted to see him succeed.

 

The other two main leads, Han Solo and Princess Leia spend a lot of time together throughout the film and take up a lot of screen time so if they had no chemistry this would be a huge problem. Luckily they’re really enjoyable to watch. I’m a huge fan of Han Solo, he’s the kind of character I’d like to think I was similar too even though I know it’s definitely not the case. He’s if nothing else, really cool. More than that though he was a character I enjoyed seeing the growth of. He started out in the first Star Wars as just in it for the money and let’s face it, a bit selfish. He develops though from the guy who shot first into a genuinely good guy, one you could always rely on. He never loses that swagger and bravado that makes him such a great character to begin with.

 

Leia doesn’t quite have such an arc, she doesn’t change anywhere near as much as Luke or Han but that doesn’t mean she’s not interesting. She is strong and she holds her own and she doesn’t need to be rescued all the time. I also like the chemistry between Han and Leia, they do bounce of each other well and again unlike the prequel it is like a real romance. You do believe what’s happening, you don’t just have to assume they’re in love because George Lucas says so.

 

Now I need to talk about Darth Vader. Right. Do villains get any better? I doubt it, Vader was a powerhouse in this film. Like everything else he really stepped it up for the Empire Strikes Back. He was far more evil here and while we saw him do a few cool things in the first film we really get an idea of his power here. He executes people by choking them, he throws stuff at Luke and the lightsaber duel is superb, it really highlights how easy Vader finds it to block Luke’s assaults. Vader is powerful but he’s also complex and while his character isn’t explored that much there are subtle moments with him that I absolutely love. I loved it when we saw the back of his head and how it was all scared and I like seeing him bow to the Emperor. Little moments like that I thought did a great job of showing us a bit more without having to spell it out to us.

 

Of course there are so many great supporting characters it’s hard to fit them all in to one blog post. Yoda was a fantastic mentor character, we are always aware there is more to him but it never just gives it all away and equally we are shown how wise he is. Chewbacca has great interactions with Han, C3PO has some good lines (I especially like it when Han is making his move on Leia and runs charges into the room exclaiming about some random sci-fi gibberish). Lando is like more awesome cool smuggler character and Boba Fett for all 12 seconds he’s there is just plain awesome.

 

There are some amazing scenes in this movie, I’ve already mentioned the show down with Luke and Vader, the chase through the asteroid field is great, the battle for Hoth was cool and one of my favourite ever movie scenes is in this movie. It’s where Han gets frozen in carbonite and it’s a fantastic scene. The line I know was so fitting and such a great way of emphasizing the moment.  The music is perfect and then we see Vader’s helmet through the smoke! I love that scene.

 

There’s so much more I could talk about and I could go on for pages and pages but instead I’ll answer the question of is the Empire Strikes back as good as it has been in my head. Absolutely, the film is a masterpiece and if you’re one of the 3 people on earth who hasn’t seen it then I highly recommend you do.

Is there Life after Death?

Is there Life after Death?

It is likely that you have both asked this question and been asked it yourself during your life. There are so many different ideas and beliefs on the subject but are we just looking for reasons not to fear death? I hope to put a few discussion points forwards here.

 

Let’s start with the very well-known belief of Heaven and Hell.  Some people believe that when we die we go to a place that exists as a type of spiritual realm. It is seen to be as a reward for being either righteous or faithful to a given deity and being eternally happy in a wondrous place. The opposite is Hell, a place of eternal damnation and a punishment for your sinfulness.

 

Another common religious belief is reincarnation. It is believed by some that our soul or spirit will leave our body and enter another physical body. Reincarnation takes the actions of our previous life into account. Better known as Karma, our current life is believed to be consequence to our actions in a previous life. This gives very good incentive to be a good person in this life if you believe in reincarnation.

 

Like with most religious idea’s science has tried to prove or disprove whatever they have to say. The afterlife is a conundrum that has puzzled science probably for as long as science has existed. There are many scientific theories about what happens after we die, one I find particularly interesting is how we enter an almost dream like state, with plenty more evidence attempting to disprove the religious ideas but as with many ideas, nothing can be proved. It’s equally as possible after all that after we die we have no feeling or sense and everything is gone, it’s not like we can ask someone who has passed on what happens when we die. The point of this post isn’t to theorise however, it’s too discuss.

 

Death is a strange and let’s face it, terrifying concept to try to understand. Think of what I said above, imagine that all that awaits us when we die is an empty void, nothing but emptiness. Close your eyes, shut them tight. You can still hear, still feel. Imagine having none of that feeling at all, there’s just nothing. It could very well be what awaits us when we die. Death is such a difficult thing to comprehend, honestly it makes me personally feel cold and almost empty just thinking about it. Nothing ever again, not even the smallest ray of light is a terrifying concept and I don’t care who you are, it scares you. The afterlife, in whatever way you may believe is clearly a better alternative.

 

I should point out I in no way mean to bash any religion or say any person is wrong in their beliefs of the afterlife or their faith in general. However I would argue that it is more than likely that some people have fabricated their beliefs out of a fear of death. No one wants to believe that after everything we go through in life in a split second it all ends. Is this why we look for an answer to the question of life after death? Because we’re afraid. Its common knowledge that people are afraid of the unknown, what’s more of an unknown than what happens after we die. More than that it’s something we will all experience eventually.

 

So do you believe in your idea of the afterlife because you fear death? You know what, it doesn’t matter. If you believe in Heaven or reincarnation or anything else for that matter it doesn’t really matter what actually happens after we die. Your beliefs are yours and if they are strong beliefs that you genuinely believe in then they are to be respected. If you read through this whole thing and shook your head when I talked about the emptiness then good for you. No one will ever be able to prove what happens when we die and you cannot be wrong about something that no one will ever know. Perhaps more importantly though you lived your life believing in yourself and your ideals. I don’t think there’s a better way to live.

 

There is something else to this discussion however. There is absolutely nothing wrong with fearing death, just don’t use that fear to dread death, rather to enjoy life.

Arrow Season 3 Episode 19 - Broken Arrow Review

Arrow Season 3 Episode 19 – Broken Arrow Review

Oh man the feels.

 

Broken Arrow followed the aftermath of Roy falsely confessing as the Arrow. We see his experiences in prison and follow Oliver team up with Ray to take down a Meta Human known as Death Bolt.

 

So wow they poured emotion into that episode and it worked incredibly well. I’ll naturally start with Roy and I have to say how much I’ll miss him on the show. He went from a kind of annoying guy in earlier seasons to the guy who ultimately stepped up to save Oliver. I don’t mention acting performances often but big props to Colton Haynes for this performance.  These were some really powerful scenes, the one with Thea in particular was gut wrenching. His fight scene was also great and you could really feel his intentions and understand what he was going through. It seems like he is finally at peace with himself. The evolution of his character is extraordinary and I’ll really miss having him around. It was a fantastic way to send him off. The bromance was strong in this episode.

 

Speaking of bromance I really should mention how great the Oliver Queen character is. I don’t often, I think we all take it for granted but this is one interesting character. You really feel his conflict and inner turmoil and you can see how everything begins to weigh on him. It’s almost like everything is closing in on him, limiting his options and he’s great. It’s like Felicity said, he’s given up everything to be the Arrow. His interactions with Ray were also a lot of fun, it makes an interesting contrast. His seasoned and stoic tone compared the hopeful and optimistic Ray Palmer is a joy to watch.

 

Ray Palmer is a lot of fun, I’m glad he’ll be in the spin off, I’d love to see him be more focussed on. So many of his lines are funny but he’s not just a big joke, he is determined and heroic. I like how he took on Death Bolt, first time he got wrecked but second time even without Oliver he stepped up like any good hero should. It was like another step taken to becoming a hero. There was a problem however which I‘ll get to later.

 

While there wasn’t much to Death Bolt in this episode, he wasn’t really the focus. Ra’s al Ghul however steals every scene he’s in. He has such a presence and such authority. I love how he has everything planned out and he’s so methodical as well as being a total badass. His fight with Thea was so well done. It really got across how powerful he is and he’s losing a fight to no one. He’s incredibly menacing and yet incredibly calm and dignified with it as shown at the end.

 

There were other positive aspects, Captain Lance was enjoyable, his bitterness and determination as well as his obviously not thinking clearly made him really get to the characters. Diggle is Diggle, no more needs to be said and I liked how Felicity wasn’t too much of a downer and her scenes with Ray are a lot of fun to watch. Now however I’m going to talk massive spoilers. We knew someone was meant to die. I thought it was going to be Roy and I have done for a long while. I was feeling very justified along with distraught as he was stabbed in the prison. That scene took such a great character and made him look so powerless to avoid his fate, it was great. The switch u and seeing him alive was such a massive relief and at the same time done so cleverly I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted it too happen. It was a great twist and after a touching scene when each member of team Arrow says goodbye to him in a completely fitting way we got another even bigger WTF moment. Thea’s death at the hand of Ra’s al Ghul made my jaw drop about 50 feet. After a very well done fight scene I was thinking maybe he was just messing with her or maybe he’s take her hostage. I was absolutely gobsmacked when he killed her.  This was a great twist as you would think it would open many doors for the end of the series. It seems almost certain she’ll go in the Lazarus pit and be resurrected but will it send her insane. She doesn’t know Roy is still alive after all. It also seems to open a way for Oliver to take Ra’s al Ghul’s place and they can do so much with this it really excites me to see what happens.

 

Negatives time. I enjoy Ray Palmer a lot but let’s face it, he does not suit the tone of Arrow at all. Some of his lines made me laugh a lot and it was hilarious seeing him high five Oliver but sometimes the changes in tone can be a little too jarring. It’s necessary to have lighter moments but sometimes he take things a little too un-seriously for what’s going on. This isn’t a big complaint however as I did enjoy his presence and he does make a nice contrast to Oliver’s brooding. I almost like him for similar reasons I like the Flash TV show. He’s light hearted in comparison to Arrow but still has his serious moments and doesn’t go as far as to be camp and silly. It is worth mention however that for me at least the shifts can be a little too jarring, at least for me.

 

The other issue is the flashbacks. This was an odd one as while a lot happened it still felt very slow and even a little dull. The flashbacks in previous series were constantly intense as well as building on Oliver’s character to give us a better understanding of him in present day. Now however they don’t really seem to be going anywhere. Even when it does reach the climax I don’t see it really wowing us. Hopefully I’m wrong but the build up at least has not been very interesting at all and now it looks like they’re cutting out Amanda Waller, the best part of the Hong Kong flashbacks. I should mention that I liked seeing her in a weaker state, she’s always been powerful and I enjoy seeing such powerful characters with such presence at their weakest, similar to when we saw Malcom Merlin’s fear of Ra’s al Ghul.

 

Next week’s episode is called The Fallen and will likely see Oliver and the gang head to Nanda Parbat to use the Lazarus pit on Thea. It looks promising and I can’t wait to see how Thea reacts after coming back to life.

 

Broken Arrow was a fantastic episode and one I heavily enjoyed. It did a good job of really setting up where the rest of the season will go and did a fantastic job of setting a character on his way who I think we’ve all really grown fond of. A great episode and a great finale to who has become a great character.

 

What should happen in the Elder Scrolls 6?

What should happen in the Elder Scrolls 6?

 

It’s been five whole years since Skyrim. There have been many ups and downs in video game land during that time but soon you would expect it to be time for the huge up in in the form of a new Elder Scrolls game. What should The Elder Scrolls 6 be like? This is my spin on the topic.

 

First point of discussion would be where the game takes place? Many people want to return to Morrowind, many want to go somewhere new and I’m part of that second group. More to the point I’d like to see the game take place in both Valenwood and Elsweyr. Looking at this realistically Skyrim is a similar size to the combined Valenwood and Elsweyr meaning it should be do able for Bethesda. On top of this the two provinces would supply a lot of new and interesting environments to explore. Valenwood is primarily forest land. This would be a good environment and the lush wildlife could supply a plethora of new wildlife and plant life. I would also like to see the Wood Elf civilisation in the treetops. Elsweyr meanwhile being home to the beast race of Khajit consists mainly of jungle and desert, however being home to a race of feline people there could also be a large plethora of strange and never seen before features. Similar to Morrowind your first visit to Elsweyr could be a completely new experience unlike anything you had seen before. On top of this having to provinces would supply a hug variety in landscapes and civilisations. It would also be interesting to see a smaller amount of human characters as well as seeing how they survive and fit in in these lands that are in no way catered to them.

 

I liked the skills in Skyrim however I think a few more should be added for the next game. I would like to see acrobatics return but I would like to see it incorporate dodging and movement skills. This way a nimble archer or assassin could manoeuvre around a battle quickly and precisely rather than just getting smacked in the face by a big burly orc with a Warhammer. This would add more diversity in different character builds, a warrior with heavy armour and a two handed weapon would not be as agile as a thief with light armour. I also would like unarmed combat to become its own skill once again to make it a more viable playstyle.

 

Of all Skyrim’s existing skills I think speech needs the most change. It would be great to see speech have a bigger impact with other characters with more options for persuasion and intimidate. Rather than just affect the prices in shops it would be good to see your speech skill have a greater impact on your relationships with npc’s without having to do the boring conversation mini game from Oblivion.

 

The other skills that I think should be changed slightly are the magic skills. I really liked Skyim’s magic system, particularly the dual wielding system, I would just like to see an increase in the number of different types of spells. More types of destruction, more conjurable creatures, really all the magic skill tree could do with an increase in types of spells. The conjuration tree for example has a small number of summoned creatures and while Dragonborn was a good addition with ash creatures even more should be added for the next game. Perhaps you could learn unique conjuration spells from different areas to reflect the landscape and inhabitants. I would also like to see spell crafting see a return to really personalize your arsenal of magic. Skyrim had a very good magic system, I feel the next game just needs to add more spells rather than change the system.

 

Finally I would like smithing to be more than making the same things over and over again. I would like to see you be able to make customizations to your armour in smithing for each race or just to your taste. This could be something like choosing what shape to form your sword in when you make an iron sword at the start of the game (From a basic sword to a katana to a scimitar) or simply changing the groves on a pair of gauntlets.

 

Items and gear are of course very important in Elder Scrolls games and should be a big focus for the Elder Scrolls 6. I’ll start with armour and weapons. First a nit-pick, it bothers me than Orcish armour is better than Dwarvern armour so I would like to see that change. With that out of the way I don’t just want to see more types or armour but rather unique armours from the different provinces and for different races. Armours should look different when worn by each race and it would be fun to be able to make small customizations to your armour, whether that be when you make it or just add some small trinkets.

 

For more weapons I’d like weapons to cater to hand to hand characters such as knuckle braces as well as throwing weapons such throwing knives or shurikens. However the biggest change I would like to see is a change in staves. While I would like you to be able to create your own with a far bigger variety of effects than the Dragonborn staff maker provides I also want them to be wielded differently depending on the character preference. If you were playing as an older wiser mage it could act like a walking stick and not used in battle as you fire you powerful magic through your hands. However staff could also be wielded like a bow staff, for some agile combat to protect yourself when your enemies get close to you. Spheres could also be added and used to a similar effect, except they’re thrown instead of being used to cast a spell.

 

Some smaller things could also be tweaked to good effect. A wider range of jewellery to choose from and craft would be appreciated as would an added importance to food and eating. Maybe a hunger and survival mechanic could be implemented into higher difficulties. However the biggest change needs to be to unique items as in they should actually be unique. Some are such as Deadric artefacts but how often do you do a quest for a unique item and it’s just a normal item you could find yourself with an average enchantment. All unique items should be unique and thus worth finding. Powerful items such as Deadric artefacts should not only look unique but be unique to other items and actually worth using and not outclassed by a random thing you craft and enchant yourself. Make them powerful but hard to obtain, that way it’s worth the effort.

 

I’d like to see bigger cities where appropriate in the Elder Scrolls 6. Oblivion did cities very well, it had big cities when it needed and smaller towns when they were more appropriate. In Skyrim outside of Solitude I found some cities to be way too small. Whindhelm and Whiterun in particular seemed more like towns than grnad cities and while there obviously should be smaller towns, large settlements should actually feel large and full of people and activity, like the Imperial city did.

 

Having a follower was great in Skyrim and for the next game I’d like to see followers have more personality. Serena and Teldryn Sero were a good start but for the next game I’d like to see full conversations with followers and to develop a real relationship with the person you’re trekking the land with. They could have set ideals such as religion but traits you could change such as morality and racist prejudice through talking with them and travelling with them. A lot of games do this well such as Mass Effect and it’d be great to really care about your follower. Ideally it would get to a point where you would do something you wouldn’t normally do because your follower wanted you to, it could be like you genuinely care. Perhaps if you disagree with a follower too much or do things they don’t like they could get annoyed or even leave you while if you earn their respect and do good things for them they could really care for you. This could lead into marriage which was extremely shallow in Skyrim. In the next game you could have to earn that trust from your character and actually form a connection in the game rather than finding just them a sword then slapping on a necklace. Hopefully this would make interactions with npc’s more interesting and be more like talking to a real person as appose to most of them just spouting random trivia at you.

 

Elder Scrolls games always have great quests and to expand I’d like more guilds to join. However you shouldn’t just to be able to join them all, there could be multiple warrior type guilds that rival each other and each have unique quest lines that impact the other guilds opinions of you. The same could apply to other guilds and they could appear in different places, for example a grand magic college in a large city but a cult of necromancers would be hidden away. A pack of werewolves would live away from society while a guild full of honourable warriors would be welcomed in the cities. It would be cool to see rivalling factions such as different bloodlines of vampires or fighting warrior factions, for the thieves’ guild to have a larger reach and influence and to not have the entire Dark Brotherhood die at the end of the quest line. I’ve only scratched the surface with guilds here but an increased number where your actions impact the others would be a perfect evolution of what we have in Skyrim.

 

This leads onto you actions having more consequence. Maybe with entire guilds or maybe just followers, this would make the world seem much more like a real living world that will continue to exist after you leave. Maybe your actions would eventually catch up with you or maybe you’d be pleasantly surprised later on when you were rewarded for that good thing you did. Either way it would be s superb addition.

 

The last thing I want to mention is the main quest line. The obvious thing is the Thalmor and this would suit the locations I have chosen ideally. We could see more into their ambitions and intentions as well as discover more about the Aldmeri Dominian as not the whole Dominian are supporters of the Thalmor’s extreme ideals. There is so much possibility with using the Thalmor as the primary antagonists with possible rebellion from Khajit and Wood Elves as well as an internal conflict amongst the high elves or conflicting ideals or different families and groups.

 

More addition to the vast numbers of books to expand the lore would be great and I’m sure we will get this but I hope they don’t reveal too much about mysterious Dwemner, Black Marsh or Elder Scrolls. It may have sounded like I bashed Skyrim a lot in this post but I really do think Skyrim is a great game and it’s a fantastic game to build on to bring us all a spectacular game. What do you think Bethesda should do with the Elder Scrolls 6? Leave a comment and of course remember the most important thing … make sure Mai’q the Liar returns.