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Everyone can now watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max and judge for themselves which they prefer of the two incredibly different versions of the film that now exist. Fans can also now start thinking about all the tantalizing possibilities that the four-hour, two-minute-long new iteration dangles before our eyes. Many viewers are no doubt wondering, will there be a Justice League 2? The short answer is, no. And yet…
The Snyder Cut ends on an open note, a cliffhanger promising a coming war between the armies of Apokolips and the heroes of Earth. The epilogue introduces us to new heroes, enemies and some strange alliances. But will we ever see it? Snyder himself didn’t sound terribly optimistic about it during an interview at IGN FanFest. “That’s very hypothetical,” he said when asked if he would return to do a Justice League sequel. “I think that I would say I would believe it when I see it, and happy to cross that bridge when I see it approaching.”
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In an interview with the New York Times this week, Snyder sounded even more definitive. “They are 100 percent moving away,” he answered in response to a question about whether Warner Bros. is putting distance between the Snyder-verse and their current DC films. “They consider the theatrical cut of Justice League as canon. That’s their decision. I wish them all the best…”
But what if HBO Max sees blockbuster viewing numbers – a definite possibility – for Zack Snyder’s Justice League? What if, just as with the #ReleasetheSnyderCut phenomenon, the drum-banging for more of this version of the DC mythos becomes too loud for studio executives to ignore? What could/would we see?
Let’s delve deeper into what the potential/possible/probably-never-going-to-happen-but-who-knows-these-days Justice League sequel(s) would be about.
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Snyder has said the story of Justice League 2 would be largely centered on the “Knightmare” world that is a key part of the final moments of the Snyder Cut. This is the same post-apocalyptic setting first glimpsed in the dream sequence in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. “It’s the fall of Earth, when Superman succumbs to Anti-Life,” Snyder said to the Times. “And then sending Flash back in time to change one element so that doesn’t happen. And then the big battle where we beat him.”
The story element about sending Flash back in time sheds some important light on things. We know from the conversation between Batman and Jared Leto’s Joker in the epilogue of the Snyder Cut that Darkseid’s takeover of Earth is tied in part to the death of Lois Lane. That connects back to the moment in BvS where Batman glimpses the Flash in a dream, and Barry Allen screams, “It’s Lois. Lois Lane… she’s the key!” What happened to Lois, and how it leads to Superman falling victim to the Anti-Life Equation, appears likely to have been the key story thread of the first sequel, the middle chapter of Snyder’s planned Justice League trilogy.
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Snyder recently told Vanity Fair that in the sequels, when Darkseid arrived on Earth Superman would’ve asked Batman to guard Lois. Lex Luthor, meanwhile, would team up with Darkseid and tell him that “the key to Superman’s weaknesses is killing Lois Lane.” Batman would eventually fail in protecting Lois, leading to Superman’s falling under the thrall of Darkseid. Aquaman and Wonder Woman would die in the ensuing battles of Earth, while the now evil Superman, under the spell of the Anti-Life Equation and Darkseid, would become committed to finding Batman and taking his revenge for Lois’ death.
One thing that isn’t made clear by the Justice League Snyder Cut epilogue is where the scene lands in the Knightmare timeline. It ends with Batman and his motley crew of heroes and villains being discovered by Superman. Does this occur before the Knightmare scene in BvS, where Batman is captured and Superman confronts him? Could that scene actually be meant to take place after the epilogue here? Perhaps even in the third JL movie?
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There have been rumors circulating for several years about a second Justice League chapter. Kevin Smith, always in the know on DC matters, said in 2019 the movie would have had the League taking the fight to Darkseid on Apokolips, leading to an Infinity War-like ending that would set the stage for the climactic third installment. The Green Lantern Corps, who aside from two brief glimpses don’t have a role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, were reportedly part of that cosmic throwdown.
In the interview at Fan Fest, Snyder noted that his Justice League was always meant to set up not one, but two sequels. “It hints, as you would, at a potential other world. I’d plant the seeds as I had wanted to of what would come in the later films,” Snyder said.
Of course, once Snyder left the original production and Joss Whedon took over, resulting in the 2017 theatrical cut of the film, plans for any sequels were put on hold at Warner Bros. But then again, the Snyder Cut itself was hypothetical as well not that long ago…
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The epilogue in the Snyder Cut is packed with surprising reveals. An escaped Lex Luthor meets with Deathstroke on a yacht, because when you’re Lex, even when you’re a wanted fugitive, you go on the run in style.
This scene is different than the post-credits moment in the theatrical cut of Justice League. Here, Lex reveals to Slade Wilson that Bruce Wayne is Batman. This would seem to be a set up for what was supposed to be a central storyline of Ben Affleck’s abandoned Batman solo movie. According to Joe Manganiello, the actor playing Deathstroke, that film would have seen the mercenary out to destroy both Batman and Bruce Wayne for his own reasons. Manganiello described the project as having “David Fincher vibes.” He told Yahoo! last year: “It was really cool, really dark and really hard. I was very excited for it.”
That’s what makes seeing him work alongside Batman in the Snyder Cut epilogue so surprising. The Knightmare scene at the end makes up the bulk of new footage Snyder shot once he got the greenlight from Warners to complete the film. In it, Deathstroke is sporting a mohawk in the scene and it’s clear he and Bats have settled their differences. They are part of a team that includes Mera, Flash, Cyborg and… the Joker.
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Jared Leto’s appearance in the film was a new element for this version, simply because Snyder didn’t want to end his tenure in the DC universe without having Batman and his arch-enemy meet. “[I] always wanted him to be in the Knightmare reality, and so it was a great opportunity,” Snyder told IGN. “When I talked to Jared and he was interested in doing it, I just felt like, okay, this feels like a thing I can’t pass up.”
Snyder said in that Vanity Fair interview that the studio didn’t want this additional Knightmare sequence initially. “They didn’t want me to suggest more films to come. They wanted me to cul-de-sac it as much as I could,” he said. He convinced them that the comic-book genre can’t just “end the story, regardless if we ever make [another] one or not.”
Then there are the two new members of the team we meet. The first is Ryan Choi. After Silas Stone, Victor’s father, dies, Choi became head of S.T.A.R. Labs’ nanotech division. If we’re following the comics, he’ll eventually become the Atom, one of the all-time great Justice League members.
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We had already gotten a glimpse of the Martian Manhunter earlier in the film (when he visits Lois Lane), but the shapeshifter finally reveals himself to Bruce Wayne after he awakens from his latest Knightmare. Just before the film concludes, the classic Justice League member (also known as J’onn J’onzz) tells Bruce, “I’m sure you know Darkseid is not finished with Earth. The Anti-Life Equation is here somewhere and we need to find it before he does. There’s a war coming and I’m here to help.”
That war would likely have included not just Darkseid but a host of other characters familiar to readers of the Fourth World saga that was created by Jack Kirby for DC (and expanded upon over the years by other creators). Indeed, in the final moments of the Snyder Cut’s climactic fight scene, we see Darkseid and his minions on the other side of the teleportation “Boom Tube.” Standing next to him are DeSaad and Granny Goodness, of Fourth World fame. Snyder said in another recent interview with YouTube personality Wonder Meg that his plans for the conclusion of his Justice League trilogy called for the third film to be “a New Gods invasion movie.”
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Snyder has said that ultimately the Flash’s time-travel abilities would’ve been how the League saves the world from the Knightmare future, with him traveling back in time to warn Bruce Wayne about Lois’ impending death. Of course, that’s what we saw in the dream scene in BvS, but the Flash had arrived too far back in the past there.
But by the final film in the trilogy, the Bruce of the past would’ve gotten the message and sacrificed himself to save Lois, thus averting Superman’s fall and the dark future. And the new Batman who would take his place years later would’ve been… wait for it… Superman and Lois’ son. (We do see Lois take a pregnancy test in the Snyder Cut.) “He doesn’t have any powers, and then he was going to end up being the new Batman,” Snyder told Vanity Fair.
We actually know much more about these hypothetical sequels than we do an actual, confirmed DC movie. The Flash solo film starring Ezra Miller is due out in 2022, and precious little is known about it outside of some killer casting news. OG Batman Michael Keaton is reportedly returning to serve as Barry’s sort-of mentor, in a Nick Fury kind of role. Also, Ben Affleck is said to be returning, which leads us to believe the “Flashpoint” storyline is in play (involving alternate timelines and the multiverse).
The Snyder Cut of Justice League goes a ways toward setting up a Flash sequel, if not necessarily this Flash sequel. There’s been quite a bit of upheaval behind the scenes with the first solo film to feature Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), with a variety of creative teams coming and going since it was first announced. But Snyder definitely sets up elements of whatever the plan was for Barry when his version of Justice League was in production. Kiersey Clemons is here as Iris West, who is saved by Barry in one scene. And Billy Crudup shows up as Barry’s dad, Henry. Both actors were meant to appear in the Flash movie at one point, though last we heard Crudup will not be back (and Clemons has re-signed to return).
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Additionally, originally Ray Fisher’s Cyborg was expected to return not only in the Flash film but also for his own solo film. Unfortunately, his very public battle with Warner Bros. has reportedly led to his not appearing in The Flash. And his solo film has long since disappeared from Warner Bros.’ schedule, despite his character having a much stronger and substantial arc in the Snyder Cut.
But given the nature of Flashpoint, what if the Flash movie is designed to undo the DC Snyderverse? Barry’s ability to rewind time helped Cyborg save the day at the end of ZSJL. Could his messing with the timeline in his own adventure be the way Warner Bros. puts a pin in the world Snyder created? Perhaps his Flashpoint adventure will simply alter the history of the DC Extended Universe in such a fundamental way that the events we have watched unfold since Man of Steel was released in 2013 simply aren’t DCEU history anymore?
In the end, it’s truly remarkable we know as much as we do about the likely-never-to-happen Justice League 2 and Justice League 3. Maybe the reason Snyder has been so generous with details about his hoped-for sequels is because he knows they’ll never happen, so why not let people hear about where he intended to take the story? Or, maybe, just maybe, he knows that by planting these seeds, he can mobilize his legion of fans into action once again.
#SnyderCutSequel, anyone?
While May 25 is the official release date, those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition will get access to the game on May 21, four days earlier than the standard edition.
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The Digital Deluxe Edition will cost $69.99 USD and will give players to such bonus content as the option to play as Devil May Cry’s Dante. The full list of extras is as follows;
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Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster is a modernized version of the PS2 classic from 2003 with remastered 3D models and backgrounds, additional difficulty settings, the ability to save wherever you’d like, both Japanese and English VO, an alternate branch featuring Raidou Kuzunoha, and other fixes that will improve the original game.
For more on Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster, check out more about Dante’s addition to the game and an explainer on the new Merciful Mode.
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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Developer People Can Fly has released an Outriders update addressing a glitch that wipes players’ inventories. The patch is now live on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Publisher Square Enix said the issue should be prevented going forward. Those affected between March 16-19 (and after) are told to reply to this Reddit thread or this Twitter post; the studio may reach out to further resolve any problems.
Square said that any players whose inventory has been wiped due to the glitch will see their items restored soon. An exact date for inventory restoration is still to be determined, but the publisher hopes to have the issue ironed out in time for Outriders’ April 1 launch. Not all items will be restored; Square noted that only Legendaries will be recovered.
People Can Fly and Square are investigating other problems as well. This includes hiccups with disappearing accolades, the PlayStation’s touchpad sensitivity being too high, “further optimizations to multiplayer connections,” and improvements and bug fixes planned for the full game that weren’t possible to implement in the demo period.
The demo was patched earlier this month, which smoothened the gameplay experience by letting PC and PlayStation players toggle motion blur on and off. That toggle has been added to Xbox platforms in this latest update.
Outriders is the newest game from People Can Fly, the Polish studio that co-developed Bulletstorm and Gears of Wear 3 with Epic Games. Though it launches on April 1, Xbox Game Pass subscribers may want to cancel their Outriders preorders. The game drops on Xbox Game Pass the same day it launches on other platforms.
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.
A new Best Buy weekend sale just kicked off, offering three days of discounts across tech, gaming, and more. As usual, the Best Buy sale has brought a slew of deals on TVs and laptops, but you’ll also find markdowns on cheap gaming monitors and even some solid game deals. The sale ends this Sunday, March 21, so here’s a look at the top deals worth grabbing before then.
In terms of worthwhile game deals, the selection at Best Buy right now is small, but there are a few things worth calling out. There’s a limited amount of time left to buy Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which is disappearing from physical and digital storefronts after March 31. Best Buy currently has the collection for Nintendo Switch on sale for $10 off. If you’re looking for new fitness games for working out indoors, Ring Fit Adventure is down to $70 and Fitness Boxing 2 is on sale for $40. Finally, you can grab new games for PS5 on sale, including The Pathless for $42 and Hitman 3’s Deluxe edition for $60.
An excellent gaming laptop is $250 off in the weekend sale at Best Buy: You can get the Asus ROG Zephyrus M15 for $1,300. This 4K laptop is equipped with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card, a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 mobile processor, and 16GB of RAM.
While one of our top TV picks for PS5 and Xbox Series X, the LG CX 65″ OLED TV, has a great deal over at Newegg this weekend, those looking for a budget 4K TV option have another solid option at Best Buy. LG’s 65″ NanoCell 81 Series 4K TV is on sale for $750 (down from $1,000). Though it lacks HDMI 2.1 ports for gaming in 4K at 120Hz, the LG NanoCell is still a great option for both gaming and streaming entertainment for the price.
If you’ve been looking to pick up the Nintendo Switch’s smaller handheld-only model, the Switch Lite, now’s a great time to do so, as you can get a $20 Best Buy gift card with your purchase. We rarely see outright discounts on the Switch, so promotions like this are about the best deal you can find. Plus, there’s another limited-time promotion that gets you a seven-day free trial for Nintendo Switch Online with your purchase.
This pair of noise-canceling headphones from Beats by Dr. Dre is $130 off at Best Buy right now. Available in dark blue, light blue, and red, the Solo Pro headphones feature active noise cancellation and a Transparency mode that helps you stay aware of your surroundings if you’re walking around outside. These headphones also have up to 22 hours of listening time and can provide three hours of playback from a 10-minute charge.
LG makes great budget gaming monitors, and its UltraGear 27-inch monitor is even more worth it for $250 this weekend. The 27-inch monitor boasts a 1080p IPS display with a 144Hz refresh rate as well as FreeSync and G-Sync compatibility to reduce screen tearing and stutter.
Another one of the best deals at Best Buy right now, Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 3 with 256GB storage capacity is $400 off, dropping it to less than $1,000. The Surface Laptop 3 is lightweight at less than 3 pounds and is powered by a 10th Gen Intel Core processor. Though its battery life has taken a hit with the newer model, the Surface Laptop 3 feels like a luxury laptop and now has a USB-C port as well. (See CNET’s Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 review for more.)
We’re going to explain Demon Slayer’s story, the characters, who the demon slayers are, why demons need to be slain, the main villain, what’s the deal with the dude in the boar mask, and more. (You can watch a video breakdown of this material in the player above.)
If you haven’t already, check out the dubbed trailer for Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train below:
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And if subbed is more your style, you can peep that version of the trailer here:
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Warning: Because this article is designed to catch you up on everything you need to know to watch the movie, so we’ll be fully spoiling Demon Slayer Season 1!
The story of Demon Slayer revolves around Tanjiro Kamado, a young man who has his life changed forever when he returns home from an errand to find nearly his entire family brutally murdered by a demon. Only his little sister, Nezuko, appeared to survive the attack, though as a result, she turned into a demon herself and tried to attack Tanjiro.
Despite the vicious attack, it’s clear to Tanjiro that Nezuko is still somewhere in there. Which is why when he gets saved by a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, he pleads with them to spare his sister, taking responsibility for both her own well-being as well as the safety of those she comes into contact with.
To that end, Tanjiro seeks out Sakonji Urokodaki, a former Demon Slayer, and trains under him. Over the course of his training Tanjiro strengthens his body, mind, and learns a special breathing skill that allows him to use gorgeously animated sword techniques. (Seriously, check out the Demon Slayer Season 1 trailer below for a taste of what to expect!)
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Once he’s trained up, Tanjiro puts his sister in a box that he straps to his back so she doesn’t melt in the sun, as demon’s tend to do, and sets off on a journey to restore Nezuko’s human form and find justice for his family. This is the basic premise for the show that drives all the action.
And speaking of action, that leads us to…
As you’d expect, the Demon Slayer Corps is an organization devoted to slaying demons; one that isn’t officially recognized by the government, but is nevertheless the only group capable of bringing them down. Tanjiro ends up in their ranks after surviving through Final Selection, a grueling trial that had him survive for seven nights on a mountain teeming with demons trapped there by the Demon Slayers themselves.
It’s… not a fun test, and in fact very few demon slayer candidates actually live to tell the tale, let alone become demon slayers. After defeating a grotesque demon that had eaten Urokodaki’s previous disciples, Tanjiro passed along with three others, Genya, Kanao, and Zenitsu. Thus, he officially became a demon slayer and got a cool color-changing sword for his trouble.
Among the Demon Slayer Corps is an elite group of warriors known as the Hashira. They remain largely shrouded in mystery, but some key Hashira that you should know about are: Giyu Tomioka, the water Hashira who saved Tanjiro at the beginning of the series; Shinobu Kocho, the insect Hashira who plays an important role in Tanjiro’s training; and Kyojiro Rengoku, the flame hashira, whom Tanjiro is looking to speak to to find out more about his family’s own fire breathing technique.
Kyojiro is also on the poster for the movie (in the upper left-hand corner) and will no doubt play a huge part aboard the Mugen Train.
The rest of the Hashira will definitely get some time to shine in the forthcoming second season, but for now, just know that they exist, they’re extraordinarily powerful demon slayers, and Sanemi, the Wind Hashira, was a big ol’ jerk to Nezuko. Boo this man.
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Tanjiro and Nezuko’s journey is not one that they go alone thankfully, and over the course of their journey they’re joined by two major companions.
First up, we’ve got Zenitsu. Zenitsu is… well he’s loud, he’s whiny, he’s got zero confidence and always expects death to be right around the corner. But when he gets backed into a corner and has no choice but to fight, he has a tendency to pass out and let another self take over, which is where his true dormant strength is shown, and it is just about as impressive as anything else we’ve seen so far in Demon Slayer. He’s also got it bad for Nezuko, a romantic pursuit that’s going… not so great.
And then on the flip side of that is Inosuke. While Zenitsu has very little faith in his own abilities, Inosuke has supreme confidence in his strength and will charge forward to challenge just about anyone in his way. He wears a hollowed-out boar’s head which masks his ironically pretty-boy face and wields two razor-sharp swords that he intentionally breaks in by smashing them against rocks in order to get that jagged look. Despite initially wanting nothing more than to kill Tanjiro, thanks to his immense bloodlust against anyone he deems a worthy challenger, eventually Inosuke is won over not only by Tanjiro’s strength, but his kindness and warmth, something that Inosuke has never really experienced before in his life.
Zenitsu and Inosuke eventually tag along with Tanjiro to complete missions as fellow Demon Slayers, and over the course of their time together and especially the oh so harsh training they endure, they end up becoming close friends. There’s a really fun dynamic between the trio with Tanjiro being the level headed big brother figure, balancing out the huge emotions that come from both Inosuke and Zenitsu.
Now that we’ve talked all about Tanjiro’s friends, it’s time to talk about his enemies.
Muzan Kibtsuji is the main villain of Demon Slayer. He’s both the target of Tanjiro’s revenge and his only hope to return Nezuko back into her human form. He is essentially the progenitor of the demon, as was the first human to ever be turned into a demon more than a thousand years ago. Thus, within him resides the blood that is able to turn humans into demons, and presumably the knowledge of how to turn a demon back into a human.
Much to Tanjiro’s surprise, Muzan has been living casually among humans, and even has a human wife and child. In the first and only time the two have crossed paths, Tanjiro openly declared war on Muzan, prompting Muzan to stealthily transform an innocent passer-by into a demon to create a distraction and escape without having his true identity revealed to either his family or those around him. The resulting encounter infuriates Muzan, and Tanjiro’s unique hanafuda earrings cause some bad memories to surface regarding another Demon Slayer from the past who also wore the same earrings. Needless to say, after this moment, Tanjiro shoots up to the top of Muzan’s hit list.
And that’s not a place you want to be because at Muzan’s disposal are the 12 Kizuki, twelve powerful demons ranked in order of their power. Tanjiro has fought only one so far, the fifth ranked of the lower six, in what is arguably the best fight of the show up to this point, and if you ask us, a contender for one of the top anime fights of all time.
Upon Rui’s defeat, Muzan becomes enraged at the weakness of the lower six, and begins to question why they even exist in the first place. So he eliminates them all, with the exception of one, a creepy man named Enmu, who impresses Muzan with his resolve, and instead of getting murdered, he receives a powerup in the form of an infusion of Muzan’s blood, with the promise of more if he’s able to eliminate Tanjiro and the Hashira.
So to recap: Tanjiro’s family gets murdered by demon’s, except for his sister, who is now a demon that lives inside a box and is all kinds of adorable; in order to get strong enough to kill the person responsible and turn Nezuko back into a human, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps, and makes some quirky friends; there’s a bunch of cool sword fights and absolutely beautifully animated water effects, and the final episode ends with Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Rengoku, and the newly super powered up Enmu all aboard the titular Mugen Train from the movie, which is no doubt a recipe for impending disaster.
Now you should be (mostly) caught up with Demon Slayer in time for the inevitable western release of Mugen Train, which will likely lead directly into the second season. But obviously, there’s nothing quite like watching it yourself, so take our recommendation and go check out Demon Slayer.
For more anime, check out all anime coming to Netflix in 2021 and the top 10 most anticipated anime of 2021.
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Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. Follow him on Twitter @JurassicRabbit.
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Created, directed, and co-written by Fede Álvarez (Don’t Breathe, 2013’s Evil Dead) — and based on a French series by Timothée Hochet — Calls is a bare-bones, no-frills creepy treat that harkens back to the days of radio dramas (which still exist today, many in podcast form). The Apple TV+ drama is complete with a capable, all-star cast fully committed to bringing a Twilight Zone-style audio series to life. It fizzles and fumbles slightly at the finish line, but overall it’s an unsettling delight.
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As primarily an audio experience, and as one of the more interesting projects to emerge from 2020 quarantine, Calls unfolds through a series of phone conversations. The series’ nine episodes tell one story, though it takes a few chapters to get into the groove and realize the connective tissue. It all scarily builds, and ramps up, over the course of the season while still providing a cool episodic quality that allows for freaky short-form tales of terror. In fact, a few of these episodes could be plucked out of the narrative entirely and just exist on their own as little pockets of horror.
Not everything lands just right, however. The narrative sort of spins out in the final lap, particularly in the finale, “Leap Year Girl.” Calls, which hits us big with an “in media res” opening and then backtracks to fill in all the gaps and steps that led to such a bizarre and apocalyptic beginning, definitely plays at its strongest when things remain a mystery. The more questions it answers, the softer its bite gets. Calls would have remained a grander work, overall, if it didn’t go so full-tilt with hard answers, but ultimately it’s still a haunting series that, more often than not, pulls off some brutal, bone-chilling tricks.
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At first, with a new format for many to get used to, and perhaps more focus than usual needed for dialogue, viewers (listeners?) might be tempted to pick out some of the famous voices. Fortunately, the story grabs you quickly and in no time at all, it’s possible you won’t care who’s voicing who because you’ll be in the clutches of a cool, cosmic calamity. Pedro Pascal, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nick Jonas, Ben Schwartz, Karen Gillan, Rosario Dawson, and Aubrey Plaza are just a few of the names shuffled up in the deck and most of them blend and weave nicely into the drama without being distracting. It takes a lot of things going right to pull off this type of purely conversational storytelling. The dialogue has to feel natural and the acting has to seem real to buy-in. There are a few moments, particularly in the finale, when a few of the performances feel heightened and character-y and it sort of rips you out of the saga.
The visuals of Calls are sparse, but they work to dial this up a few notches above a straight podcast. Waving colors and geometric shapes work to help us keep track of who’s speaking, their mental state, and also even some of the more out-there happenings occurring. As each story spirals out of control in its own crazy and traumatic way, so does the “light show.” So attention was surely paid to the design of what’s happening on the screen and that acts as a sort of stealth hero for the series in the end.
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Calls features infidelity, betrayal, theft, and murder crashing head-on with a chaotic series of seemingly random metaphysical craziness. Sometimes it plays like an alien invasion, sometimes a haunting ghost story. But once you begin to see the larger picture, and the bigger fable at work, it all becomes even scarier. It’s a shame that the ending feels a touch too tidy, but the journey is worth it.
Developer Red Candle Games has released a small snippet of what its next game will look like. The developer says that the video is of a work-in-progress build, so the game could end up looking quite different. For now though, it looks like a 2D action game with an incredible style.
Red Candle Games teased that it was working on something new when talking to me about Devotion and the studio’s future. “After developing two horror titles, our team felt like taking a break from horror games and making something different,” the developer told me. “Thus for our next project, we are now experimenting on a different genre. As an indie studio, we are still trying to experiment on different ways of game design to implement immersive and interesting playing experience.”
During that interview, the studio said that it would consider returning to horror in the future if a member of the team came up with a brilliant idea that would only work in a horror setting, but that’s not the focus right now. That’s certainly something you can tell in the clip that the developer released–it tonally looks very different from horror games Detention and Devotion.
Red Candle Games recently made the news with Devotion finally going back on sale, following its takedown from Steam in 2019, mere days after it had launched. You can now buy the superb horror title from Red Candle Games’ own store–and you very much should, considering it’s just so freakin’ good with how well it tackles the terrifyingly intriguing implications of when a person’s faith is pushed too far. If you missed out on grabbing this game back in 2019, you owe it to yourself to buy it now.
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Okay, yes, the Trials of Osiris has been disabled for the last few weekends in Destiny 2. But Bungie says it has fixed the mode, and it’s live right now, with one of the best guns currently available in the mode ready to claim for just three wins. You should definitely log in and grab it (you don’t even have to win to earn it)–here’s what map you’ll be facing and what other rewards you can hope to claim.
There’s also a whole lot of new gear in Trials this season, including new armor and weapons and even a few cosmetics. This weekend’s Trials event actually continues to the Tuesday weekly reset on March 23, so you’ve got a little extra time to earn rewards and spend tokens with Saint-14.
If you’ve been hesitant about Trials in the past, this is a good weekend to dip in, even if you’re not a great PvP player. Igneous Hammer, the three-win reward, is a very good gun, and this is the easiest chance to nab it. You don’t even have to get wins, because the End Game bounty from Saint-14 will give you the three-win reward just for playing Trials in general.
The Trials of Osiris is Destiny 2’s super-tough weekend competitive multiplayer event, which takes place from Friday to Tuesday every week, and it represents some of the highest-level challenges and rewards in the game. Your goal is to rack up as many victories as you can before you suffer three total losses, which forces you to reset your Trials run, or Passage. You’ll earn loot along the way as you rack up more and more wins, but the best rewards in the event come when you go on a winning streak of seven matches in a row–a “Flawless” run.
If you can manage to go Flawless, you’ll visit the Lighthouse, which is only available to Flawless players, where you’ll get some exclusive rewards. Opening the chest in the Lighthouse now gets you an “Adept” weapon, which has extra stat boosts you can’t get almost anywhere else.
But as mentioned above with the Igneous Hammer, even if you don’t go Flawless, you can still get a lot out of playing in the Trials of Osiris. Loot is doled out for notching three, five, and seven wins in total, even if you have losses–so you don’t have to be a PvP god to get something out of the event. Once you lose three matches total, however, you’re forced to restart your Trials run from the beginning. To access the Trials, you’ll need to see Saint-14 in the Tower to purchase a Trials card.
You’ll also earn Trials tokens as you play in the event and complete Trials bounties, which you can spend with Saint-14 in the Tower’s Hangar for more loot. However, Trials tokens expire at the end of each Trials event, so you have to spend them during the weekend you earn them. Double-check that you’ve spent them all before you stop playing.
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