- DB
Severance, Season One | Batman: Arkham Knight
A Dark Knight and dark days.
MOVIES
- In a complete contrast to normal, I haven't watched or re-watched any movies in the last week, although birthday stuff and fireworks did reduce the free time available to do so.,
- However, I am planning on going to see The Marvels when released (regardless of reviews which are looking as mixed/varied as I've ever seen for any movie right now), which will be the first MCU movie I'll have watched in a cinema since Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
GAMES
- I've finished playing through Batman: Arkham Knight for a second time and, expecting the worst after not enjoying it originally, actually found myself liking it a hell of a lot.
- First off, the game is still utterly gorgeous almost a decade on from its release and wouldn't look out-dated at all if released now, remaining the last time a game's graphics (not really counting Microsoft Flight Simulator as a 'game', maybe harshly) genuinely wowed me upon its original release.
- Also, I found myself enjoying it so much that I did all of the side missions outside of Riddler's stuff, which is just tedious and uninteresting in the fourth Arkham-series game as it was in the first.
- I will admit that I don't think the story is particularly great, with a lot of conveniences and contrivances keeping it going well past where it should've ended, but it was at least good enough an experience when combined with the gameplay to keep me going to practically 100% completion (again, fuck Riddler).
- Where the Arkham series has always excelled is in making you feel like Batman, in contrast to how I felt about Insomniac's Spider-Man (I have zero intention of ever playing Miles Morales or Spider-Man 2) making you feel like that titular hero.
- The sheer number of ways you can take people out is ridiculous and allows you to really experiment and have fun with how deal with the various enemies in the game, without you ever feeling overpowered to the point of trivialising the game.
- I will also say that the Batmobile sections weren't as bad - or as numerous as I remembered - and, again, you're given so many ways of evolving how those sequences play that I never felt that they outstayed their welcome either.
- I was honestly super surprised at just how much I enjoyed playing through Arkham Knight again and, once I've dusted off the bite-sized extra stories featuring other members of the Bat-family (and Harley Quinn!), I'll be able to uninstall it feeling incredibly satisfied with the experience as a whole. [8/10]
- I'm also well into a Dark Urge bard playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 now, coming up to the end of Act 1, and I continue to be astonished at how incredible this game is.
- Obviously, what's in the world continues to be the same, but how it reacts to the different choices you make is just fantastic and I'm well aware that I haven't even seen the truly big changes that will be coming up later.
- Dark Urge death toll so far: Scratch the dog (killed in self-defence after trying to convince him his master really was dead), Alfira the tiefling bard (absolutely butchered in my sleep after joining my camp wanting to come on adventures with us), and Lae'zel (killed by Shadowheart after my bard chose not to interfere in their confrontation).
- I'm also still 'funstrated' with Marvel Snap, chipping away at Assassin's Creed Origins, and wondering what to play once finally done with Arkham Knight.
TV
- Yes, I've finally watched some TV in the form of Severance's first season on Apple TV, which I'd been wanting to watch for ages and thoroughly enjoyed.
- It's very dystopian in its outlook and I've heard more than enough bad things about American workplaces to understand exactly where the show is coming from.
- I will warn anyone interested that it is a very bleak show, so don't go in expecting happy fun times, with even minor moments of levity spread very thinly across the season as a whole.
- I really did enjoy seeing all the twists and turns unfold though, and really can't wait for the second season after how that first season finale ended even if it did mean that this season felt somewhat incomplete.
- There's also the minor issue that Severance is very 'lore-heavy', with barely any time at all spent on fleshing out the characters outside of Adam Scott's Mark outside of little drips and drabs here and there.
- It didn't bother me too much though, as I was so caught up in the central plot and what was going to happen next that I didn't even realise the relative lack of character work until I'd finished the season.
- With how the people working at Adam's company all appeared to have their minds and personalities affected of their own free will, I was reminded quite a bit of Dollhouse (which I also want to watch through again at some point), although Severance is a clear step above if not quite as 'end of the world' focused.
- I'd definitely recommend watching Severance if you get the chance, although maybe wait for the second season to release first so you don't to wait to find out what happens next! [9/10]
