Allen Pan, who runs the Sufficiently Advanced YouTube channel, has published a new video showcasing how anyone can wield a giant anime sword with a little help from an exoskeleton.
In an approximately 13-minute video, Pan discusses how he achieved the ultimate goal: swinging a generic replica of Cloud Strife’s Buster Sword. To do this, he used his stimulus money to enlist a friend to build the sword. But how does someone pick up the Buster Sword, a comically large weapon that looks very heavy? A $900 Steadicam exoskeleton, that’s how.
The sword in Pan’s video, built by his friend at 3.6.9 Design, is 50 pounds. It’s not that heavy, but because of the way it’s picked up, Pan’s generic Buster Sword actually generates 150 pounds of torque, the same amount of force a car engine produces. This is where the $900 used exoskeleton comes in, to help offset the weight of the Buster Sword.
Inspired by Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow, Pan modifies a passive camera-stabilizing exoskeleton with additional springs to further account for the sword’s weight. He initially wanted to wield the sword just as Cloud does but was convinced the suit wouldn’t be able to withstand the force of the sword without assistance. So he went a different route: attach a ring to the center of the blade and clip that to the exoskeleton as a means to offset the heaviness.
The result was a success. Sort of.
Pan can effectively wield the sword, no problem. He can swing the blade, smashing things like coconuts and TVs, but there’s none of the grace or flare you’d expect from an anime protagonist. To compare, Pan enlisted powerlifter Chase Lee to see if he could wield the thing. Turns out, you can wield the Buster Sword with the help of an exoskeleton or a lot of muscles.
The world of Batman: The Animated Series continues to live on via new comic books. DC Comics has announced a follow-up to 2020’s digital-first series Batman: The Adventures Continue, and it’s bringing another major piece of comic lore into the BTAS universe.
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season II reunites the entire creative team from the first volume – writers Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, artist Ty Templeton and colorist Monica Kubina. Whereas the first series set about adding former Robin Jason Todd into BTAS continuity, the sequel focuses on a more recent addition to Batman’s rogues gallery, the Court of Owls.
Gotham City is changing. After Mayor Hill is killed by a mysterious assailant, Batman finds himself tracking down an ancient order that’s long been buried under the streets of Gotham: The Court of Owls. But what does this group have to gain from the death of Mayor Hill…and how can Deadman help the Dark Knight? Will the clues lead Batman to an ancient Gotham City legend?
The Court of Owls was first introduced in DC’s 2011 Batman comic, which revealed them to be a shadowy organization of Gotham elites that has controlled Gotham’s underworld for centuries through the use of undead assassins called Talons. The Court of Owls storyline was later loosely adapted for the 2015 animated film Batman vs. Robin. The group is also featuring in the upcoming video game Gotham Knights, which takes place in the aftermath of Batman’s apparent death.
As with the previous series, Batman: The Adventures Continue Season II will debut in digital form first, followed by print issues collecting two digital chapters each. Look for the first digital chapter to debut on DC Universe Infinite, comiXology and other digital platforms on May 6, with the first print issue following on June 1.
If you need a dose of BTAS nostalgia to tide you over until May, check out our IGN Inside Stories mini-doc about Batman Beyond:
In a sense, Apex Legends is not the same game that we reviewed back in February 2019–the roster of playable characters has doubled to 16, three full maps are in rotation, and several different modes (including ranked) are included. There’s also a story that’s delivered weekly via map changes and comics that have built the game’s lore. Additional features have been implemented, like clubs for players to join, cross-play support, and limited-time events. On top of all that, seasonal content introduces substantial meta changes, daily/weekly challenges, and rewarding battle passes, transforming Apex Legends into something greater.
And yet, despite these adjustments, the core of Apex Legends remains intact. It’s still a squad-based battle royale that encourages teamwork with an excellent ping system, where you begin each match picking from a roster of hero characters that possess unique abilities in order to fulfill different roles in battle. The core principles that made Apex Legends work so well back when it first launched haven’t changed over two years later.
All of which is to say, Apex Legends is still really fun and worth jumping into if you haven’t yet. And now you’re able to do so on Nintendo Switch. But just because you can play Apex Legends on Switch does not mean you should. This port works, but only in the loosest sense of the term; this is the worst way to play Apex Legends.
To the credit of developer Panic Button (a studio responsible for a dozen Switch ports, including Rocket League, Doom, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus), I’m amazed Apex Legends works on Switch at all. This is an online multiplayer game that hosts up to 60 players in a match, each of which take place on some pretty large maps. I’ve only had one crash in my five hours with the port; it was during the character selection process, and the Switch managed to reboot the game fast enough for me to rejoin my squad just as we touched down on the ground. And if I can humble brag for a second, we still went on to win that match.
None of that changes the fact that it feels like the Switch is barely making it work. On Switch, Apex Legends targets 720p resolution while docked and 576p in handheld–numbers that closely resemble the resolutions on baseline Xbox One, which also targets 720p but can fall short. However, it’s not the same, as the Switch port seemingly manages to reach those resolutions only by compromising on graphical detail, draw distance, and the speed at which assets are loaded. So on Switch, you might see a building in the distance, but it won’t have nearly the same level of graphical detail as it would in the other versions of the game. And on top of that, though the Switch port targets 30 frames per second, you can tell that it dips below that.
That’s all a very technical, gobbledygook way of saying that Apex Legends looks muddied on Switch, whether docked or in handheld, especially in comparison to playing it on Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, or PC.
Now, on a surface level, this just means the Switch port is less pretty, which has no gameplay ramifications (but still makes me sad). When first turning on the game and looking down at Kings Canyon, I couldn’t help but mutter, “Look how they massacred my boy.” But in a more substantial way, these drawbacks in resolution and frame rate put you at a disadvantage when you’re fighting against someone who’s playing on any other system–because, on Switch, it’s harder to see people from farther away and it’s more difficult to discern individual bullets. In a fast-paced battle royale like Apex Legends, knowledge is power and the ability to make split-second decisions with the information you have can be paramount for success–and that’s just harder to do on Switch, which can lead to frustrating losses when you’re put into a match with Xbox, PlayStation, or PC players.
As an example, let’s look at guns. In Apex Legends, guns that typically pack the most punch are the ones with semi-automatic fire. You’re getting a slower fire rate in exchange for increased firepower, encouraging you to take your time with aiming instead of just squeezing the trigger. This gives you options: If, say, you’re carrying heavy ammo, do you want to use the M600 Spitfire and rush enemies with a flurry of bullets or rely on the 30-30 Repeater where each individual bullet can be charged if you wait a breath between shots. But on Switch, where the frame rate regularly fluctuates below 30fps, it can prove difficult to land shots with something like the 30-30 Repeater that relies on precision, because your image isn’t keeping pace to accurately track their movement and animations, making it more difficult to line up shots. This is less of a problem at close range where pinpoint precision matters less and tracking targets is easier. But at that range, automatic weapons like the Spitfire typically excel over the 30-30.
And granted, as Phil Hornshaw points out in GameSpot’s original Apex Legends review, this game’s meta does naturally skew toward close-range weapons like shotguns, so you’ll probably be regularly fighting up close anyway. But there are situations where a mid- to long-range semi-automatic weapon is preferable. On Switch, where I’m not really afforded that option, it seems like there’s an unfair advantage to anyone else in the match who’s playing on Xbox, PlayStation, or PC.
Thankfully, you can disable cross-play, but that does limit you. The pool of players you’ll be able to match with will be significantly smaller, increasing the likelihood that the game may struggle to connect you to similarly skilled players. This could mean that every so often you’ll either have a longer wait time to get into a game or you’ll quickly get matched up with players who either won’t put up a fulfilling challenge or prove to be too frustratingly good for you to take on. And of course, if your friends are already playing on other platforms, turning off cross-play means you can’t team up with them. So although disabling cross-play is an option, it isn’t a satisfying solution to the overarching problem: that the Switch just isn’t the ideal way to play Apex Legends.
You ever play with an Octane who role plays just a little too much and aggressively jump pads towards two squads that are fighting each other when it would be way smarter to just calmly wait for an ideal opening? It’s me. I’m that Octane.
Given the fast-paced nature of Apex Legends’ fights, it can also be a bit of a struggle to play with the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers. Thankfully, I don’t have too much drift on my pair, but the analog sticks still proved to be a frustrating hassle for the game’s competitive demands, especially in handheld mode, which feels like a very unnatural way to play a first-person shooter. Motion control (which is enabled by default) does not help–in fact, it’s worse. You can’t achieve the level of precision you need for a competitive first-person shooter like Apex Legends by using your Switch or controller to move the camera. My enjoyment of the Switch port improved immensely once I started using a proper gamepad/controller (a PowerA Enhanced Wireless Controller in my case).
And on that note, I did have moments of fun playing Apex Legends on Switch. Panic Button has managed to take a game that I love and make it work just well enough on Nintendo’s hybrid console. I don’t want to keep playing it on Switch with its many technical concessions (nor do I want new players to be introduced to Apex Legends this way), but this port is–in its current state–a decent last resort. If your only way to play Apex Legends is on Switch, then you now have that option. Just know that you’re signing up for something less than ideal.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
In a sense, Apex Legends is not the same game that we reviewed back in February 2019–the roster of playable characters has doubled to 16, three full maps are in rotation, and several different modes (including ranked) are included. There’s also a story that’s delivered weekly via map changes and comics that have built the game’s lore. Additional features have been implemented, like clubs for players to join, cross-play support, and limited-time events. On top of all that, seasonal content introduces substantial meta changes, daily/weekly challenges, and rewarding battle passes, transforming Apex Legends into something greater.
And yet, despite these adjustments, the core of Apex Legends remains intact. It’s still a squad-based battle royale that encourages teamwork with an excellent ping system, where you begin each match picking from a roster of hero characters that possess unique abilities in order to fulfill different roles in battle. The core principles that made Apex Legends work so well back when it first launched haven’t changed over two years later.
All of which is to say, Apex Legends is still really fun and worth jumping into if you haven’t yet. And now you’re able to do so on Nintendo Switch. But just because you can play Apex Legends on Switch does not mean you should. This port works, but only in the loosest sense of the term; this is the worst way to play Apex Legends.
To the credit of developer Panic Button (a studio responsible for a dozen Switch ports, including Rocket League, Doom, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus), I’m amazed Apex Legends works on Switch at all. This is an online multiplayer game that hosts up to 60 players in a match, each of which take place on some pretty large maps. I’ve only had one crash in my five hours with the port; it was during the character selection process, and the Switch managed to reboot the game fast enough for me to rejoin my squad just as we touched down on the ground. And if I can humble brag for a second, we still went on to win that match.
None of that changes the fact that it feels like the Switch is barely making it work. On Switch, Apex Legends targets 720p resolution while docked and 576p in handheld–numbers that closely resemble the resolutions on baseline Xbox One, which also targets 720p but can fall short. However, it’s not the same, as the Switch port seemingly manages to reach those resolutions only by compromising on graphical detail, draw distance, and the speed at which assets are loaded. So on Switch, you might see a building in the distance, but it won’t have nearly the same level of graphical detail as it would in the other versions of the game. And on top of that, though the Switch port targets 30 frames per second, you can tell that it dips below that.
That’s all a very technical, gobbledygook way of saying that Apex Legends looks muddied on Switch, whether docked or in handheld, especially in comparison to playing it on Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, or PC.
Now, on a surface level, this just means the Switch port is less pretty, which has no gameplay ramifications (but still makes me sad). When first turning on the game and looking down at Kings Canyon, I couldn’t help but mutter, “Look how they massacred my boy.” But in a more substantial way, these drawbacks in resolution and frame rate put you at a disadvantage when you’re fighting against someone who’s playing on any other system–because, on Switch, it’s harder to see people from farther away and it’s more difficult to discern individual bullets. In a fast-paced battle royale like Apex Legends, knowledge is power and the ability to make split-second decisions with the information you have can be paramount for success–and that’s just harder to do on Switch, which can lead to frustrating losses when you’re put into a match with Xbox, PlayStation, or PC players.
As an example, let’s look at guns. In Apex Legends, guns that typically pack the most punch are the ones with semi-automatic fire. You’re getting a slower fire rate in exchange for increased firepower, encouraging you to take your time with aiming instead of just squeezing the trigger. This gives you options: If, say, you’re carrying heavy ammo, do you want to use the M600 Spitfire and rush enemies with a flurry of bullets or rely on the 30-30 Repeater where each individual bullet can be charged if you wait a breath between shots. But on Switch, where the frame rate regularly fluctuates below 30fps, it can prove difficult to land shots with something like the 30-30 Repeater that relies on precision, because your image isn’t keeping pace to accurately track their movement and animations, making it more difficult to line up shots. This is less of a problem at close range where pinpoint precision matters less and tracking targets is easier. But at that range, automatic weapons like the Spitfire typically excel over the 30-30.
And granted, as Phil Hornshaw points out in GameSpot’s original Apex Legends review, this game’s meta does naturally skew toward close-range weapons like shotguns, so you’ll probably be regularly fighting up close anyway. But there are situations where a mid- to long-range semi-automatic weapon is preferable. On Switch, where I’m not really afforded that option, it seems like there’s an unfair advantage to anyone else in the match who’s playing on Xbox, PlayStation, or PC.
Thankfully, you can disable cross-play, but that does limit you. The pool of players you’ll be able to match with will be significantly smaller, increasing the likelihood that the game may struggle to connect you to similarly skilled players. This could mean that every so often you’ll either have a longer wait time to get into a game or you’ll quickly get matched up with players who either won’t put up a fulfilling challenge or prove to be too frustratingly good for you to take on. And of course, if your friends are already playing on other platforms, turning off cross-play means you can’t team up with them. So although disabling cross-play is an option, it isn’t a satisfying solution to the overarching problem: that the Switch just isn’t the ideal way to play Apex Legends.
You ever play with an Octane who role plays just a little too much and aggressively jump pads towards two squads that are fighting each other when it would be way smarter to just calmly wait for an ideal opening? It’s me. I’m that Octane.
Given the fast-paced nature of Apex Legends’ fights, it can also be a bit of a struggle to play with the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers. Thankfully, I don’t have too much drift on my pair, but the analog sticks still proved to be a frustrating hassle for the game’s competitive demands, especially in handheld mode, which feels like a very unnatural way to play a first-person shooter. Motion control (which is enabled by default) does not help–in fact, it’s worse. You can’t achieve the level of precision you need for a competitive first-person shooter like Apex Legends by using your Switch or controller to move the camera. My enjoyment of the Switch port improved immensely once I started using a proper gamepad/controller (a PowerA Enhanced Wireless Controller in my case).
And on that note, I did have moments of fun playing Apex Legends on Switch. Panic Button has managed to take a game that I love and make it work just well enough on Nintendo’s hybrid console. I don’t want to keep playing it on Switch with its many technical concessions (nor do I want new players to be introduced to Apex Legends this way), but this port is–in its current state–a decent last resort. If your only way to play Apex Legends is on Switch, then you now have that option. Just know that you’re signing up for something less than ideal.
Click To Unmute
Size:
Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?
You’ll get by in the early going of Valheim with leather armor made from Deer Hide, but if you want to explore Viking purgatory in a meaningful way, you need to enter the Bronze Age. Bronze Armor offers a significant upgrade in protection, and you’ll need Bronze tools to access a lot of new materials. Making Bronze isn’t easy, though–which is why we’ve got a complete guide to help you find the materials you need, make the right crafting stations, and start blacksmithing.
What To Do First
To start harvesting the things you need to make Bronze, you’ll need to venture into the Black Forest biome. This is a step up in difficulty from the early game location of the Meadows, where you’ll mostly deal with boars and Greylings. The forest houses much tougher enemies, including a variety of Greydwarf types, Skeletons, and Trolls. You might run into them in the Meadows, but going into the Black Forest is a pretty big risk early on.
To handle it, you’re going to at least need Leather Armor–but if you can get Troll Hide Armor, you should. But to make the weapons needed to succeed in the Black Forest, you must first deal with your toughest early-game challenge so far: Eikthyr, the Meadows biome boss.
Eikthyr is the major impediment to smithing Bronze–you need its antler to make a pickaxe strong enough to mine Copper and Tin.
Defeat Eikthyr
The first boss in Valheim is Eikthyr, and if you can, you’ll want to attack the giant rampaging stag boss with a team of Vikings. You can summon the boss from its altar (the location of which is marked on your map when you interact with a rune at the altar where you first start Valheim) with two Deer Trophies.
You’ll want to craft a Wood Shield to block Eikthyr’s attacks and to go at him with either a Flint Spear–which allows you to melee him in between his attacks–or by peppering him at a distance with a bow. Note that you’re going to need a lot of arrows for that second approach, but if you keep moving, the boss is pretty easy to dodge.
Eikthyr has electricity-based attacks, shooting bolts of lightning at you from its antlers. It does a lot to telegraph those moves, though, so you can generally strafe sideways to avoid them. It’s possible to block his melee strikes if you stay close to him, allowing you to stab away at him with your spear until he’s handled. Make sure to bring food and eat three different food items ahead of the fight to get your health up to maximum; you should also try to sleep before the fight to get the highest Rested bonus you can.
When Eikthyr is destroyed, it drops an item called the Hard Antler. You need this to move from making items out of sticks, rocks, and leather to crafting real gear made from metal. Use it to craft the Antler Pickaxe.
Look for domes of Copper sticking out of the ground in the Black Forest. You’ll know it from the veins of bronze-colored metal running through it.
Where To Mine Copper And Tin
With the Hard Antler, you can craft the Antler Pickaxe, an essential item for moving forward with mining. The pickaxe can break up rocks and cut them into Tin and Copper deposits. These two metals are what you need to advance to the next tier of crafting capabilities.
First, you’re going to need to locate the two metals. Look for small Tin deposits poking out of the ground near waterways and around the coast; you’ll find them in both the Meadows and the Black Forest biomes. Tin will always show up in small silvery nodes, so you’ll have to hit several to get what you need–but luckily, you need a smaller amount of Tin to advance. On the other hand, Copper factors heavily into all the metal work you’re about to do, so you want to mine a lot of it.
Head into the Black Forest to find Copper and look for big bulging deposits of it. They’ll look like large boulders sticking out of the ground, and you’ll spot them from their copper-colored veins and rivulets poking through the green of the moss covering them. It’s a good idea to start marking Copper locations on your map as you explore the forests because you’re going to want to find your way back to these places.
Once you start mining these deposits, you’ll wind up with Copper Ore and Tin Ore. You won’t be able to use them in this state yet, though–you need to build two new crafting stations to get them into shape for making armor, weapons, and tools.
The Kiln and Smelter are essential for making metals you can use for crafting, but you’ll have to hunt down Surtling Cores to make the structures.
Find Surtling Cores For A Kiln And Smelter
To get the ores into shape to work them as metals, you need to smelt them, and to run your Smelter, you need Coal, which you can make with a Charcoal Kiln. To build both structures, you’re going to need 40 Stones in total–which you can mine out of the ground anywhere with your handy new pickaxe–and 10 Surtling Cores in total. These are a little tougher to come by.
You can locate Surtling Cores in Burial Mounds, those small stone dungeons scattered around the Meadows and Black Forest. They’re usually guarded by Skeletons, so proceed with caution. Surtling Cores are the glowing red and black cubes you can often find in the dungeons, and you’ll usually pull a handful from a single Burial Mound, so you’ll probably have all you need after checking two or three.
(It’s worth noting that Surtling Cores are also essential for making Portals, which you can start doing soon, so stockpile any extra cores for later.)
Once you build your Kiln, you’ll have to feed it Wood to create Coal. Put the Coal in the Smelter along with your ores, and you’ll start to get pure versions of Copper and Tin, which will open up new crafting recipes.
Your next goal is to build a new crafting table, the Forge, where you can make most of your metal gear. To build it, you’ll need a Workbench, 4 Stones, 6 Copper bars, 4 Coal, and 10 Wood, so focus on smelting Copper in the near term. You’ll need both Copper and Tin to make Bronze, but the ratio is generally two to one Copper to Tin, so plan your smelting accordingly.
You’ll need a Forge to craft metal gear–make sure to put a roof over it.
Make Some Bronze, Craft Some Stuff
We’re finally to the part where you actually achieve Bronze and start making stuff out of it. To make Bronze, bring Copper and Tin to your Forge. You can combine them into Bronze bars, which are necessary for most (but not all) of your metal gear. A few things can be made out of either Copper or Tin, like the Forge, a few items for your base, and the Cauldron crafting station, but you’ll mostly need Bronze from here on out.
Once you make Bronze for the first time, you’ll unlock a bunch of new recipes for tools and armor, among other things. One of the first items you want to make is a Bronze Axe (requiring 8 Bronze and 4 Wood), which will be strong enough to cut down Birch trees and Fir trees. Birches, found in the Meadows, yield Fine Wood–you’ll need that for Portals, a bunch of building upgrades, boats to leave your island, and the Fine Wood Bow, which is a big step up from the Crude Bow you can make from regular wood.
Next up, you’ll likely want Bronze Armor, which will make exploring the Black Forest a lot easier. The Bronze Armor set consists of the Bronze Helmet, Bronze Plate Cuirass, and Bronze Plate Greaves–each requires 5 Bronze to make, plus 2 Deer Hide. While these pieces are stronger than your Leather and Troll Hide gear, they’re also heavier and will slow your movement speed somewhat.
FX’s award-winning comedy series Atlanta will soon begin production in Europe on Seasons 3 and 4, according to Deadline. For those who need a refresher: Season 2, which aired all the way back in 2018, ended with Donald Glover’s Earn and Brian Tyree Henry’s Paper Boi on a plane to embark on the rapper’s first European tour.
Deadline is reporting that the cast is traveling to Europe on March 23, where both seasons will be shot concurrently, with a projected start date of April 5. FX Chief John Landgraf had mentioned in 2020 that Glover and his writing team benefited from an “unexpected boon” of productivity while in quarantine. Season 3 of Atlanta was originally expected to air in January 2021–but it looks like the wait will be worth it, according to Glover. In November, the multi-hyphenate actor declared on Twitter that the upcoming seasons “are going to be some of the best television ever made. Sopranos only ones who can touch us.”
Production will reportedly begin in London before continuing in Amsterdam and then Paris. All that’s known about the filming is it won’t exclusively take place in Europe.
Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Glover will be teaming with Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge for an upcoming 2022 Amazon series that will serve as a re-make and re-imagining of the 2005 Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Somewhere in Harvest Moon: One World there’s a really interesting seed of an idea for a new take on farming sims, which would be much appreciated after 25 years of very similar games. And in the right hands, turning a farming simulator series into a plot-driven, exploration-focused adventure game sounds like a brilliant idea. And yet One World fails in just about every way to do anything interesting or innovative with this new idea other than layer it on top of a deeply mediocre farming sim.
Unlike its numerous Harvest Moon predecessors and competitors, One World does not have you inherit an old farm in a dying village and spend years rebuilding them, getting to know your neighbors, and generally settling down. Rather, you’re handed a portable farm (your scientist neighbor turns up on your doorstep and says “Look, I made you a portable farm” and that’s the end of the discussion) in the first 10 minutes and sent off on an adventure across its world, through five different towns with their own climates, hazards, and problems. You’ll park your farm in one spot for a season, finish whatever local plot is in front of you, and then move on.
But the one world of One World is boring in every way. Everything looks bland, except for the named character models, which are exactly fine. Towns are dull and empty with just a couple identical houses each, the areas between them are mostly long and same-ish paths, and everything just looks flat and simple. There’s no detail, no personality – just long stretches of empty space, maybe with a tree thrown in if you’re lucky.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=There’s%20no%20detail%2C%20no%20personality%20%E2%80%93%20just%20long%20stretches%20of%20empty%20space.”]It also sometimes does not work correctly. Sound frequently sputters when you’re moving from area to area. Characters and objects appear and disappear from existence – sometimes on purpose according to their respective schedules, but sometimes just because they’re not loading in fast enough. It’s especially bad when you’re riding your horse. As much as I despise calling anything “X-era graphics,” the GameCube version of Harvest Moon was far more detailed and exciting to look at than this. (But then, that was before the original developer went off to make Story of Seasons instead).
The aesthetics of One World are not where the mundanity ends. Unlike other Harvest Moon games where you get to know a town of distinct and personable neighbors, there are few actual developed characters in One World outside of its roster of bachelors and bachelorettes and one other named character in each area. The vast majority of the cast is made up of same-looking individuals with names like “Awkward Man” or “Thoughtful Woman” whose only personality trait is sending you endless mail to ask you to bring them random items. And that’s a terrible idea because again, these characters tend to disappear completely at certain times of day, sometimes right in front of your eyes, and sometimes as you’re about to turn in a quest.
The bachelors and bachelorettes have a bit more going for them in the personality department, but are still largely pretty samey in the end. They all care about their respective towns, they need your help saving them, and they think the main character is neat. For the most part, they are distinguished almost entirely by their looks and what town they hang out in the most. Marrying one is inconsequential, seeming almost like an afterthought gated behind a lot of time spent in the extremely boring mines and, for some reason, finishing the main plot – you can’t get married until then. You can have a kid eventually too, but your offspring take after your spouse’s side of the family in that they do nothing interesting whatsoever.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Marrying%20someone%20is%20inconsequential%2C%20seeming%20almost%20like%20an%20afterthought.”]Oh, and you can’t be queer, despite Harvest Moon’s competitors Story of Seasons and Stardew Valley having recognized what year it is already. The developers say this feature was missed due to COVID-19, and that it will be present in future games, but it’s still massively frustrating when so many other games offer it. And since One World doesn’t really signal to you who is and isn’t dateable for quite a while, I spent a lot of time handing gifts to Kirsi for no reason.
With an empty world and a soulless cast, that leaves the actual farming to carry One World… and it doesn’t. The Harvest Goddess is, as usual in Harvest Moon games, absent, which has caused everyone in the world to just forget how farming and seeds work. So instead of buying seeds at the store, you have to hunt them down. Harvest Wisps scattered throughout the world will hand you one seed per day per wisp, meaning much of your ability to actually use your farm is also tied to exploring the world.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=One%20World’s%20farming%20has%20several%20interesting%20new%20ideas%20that%20might%20have%20made%20for%20an%20exciting%20new%20direction.”]And like the exploration angle, One World’s farming has several interesting new ideas that might have made for an exciting new direction had it been handled differently. For instance, each crop has certain seasons and regions of the world it grows better in. You can still plant crops off-season or in other areas, but they’ll grow more slowly – or become different crops entirely. Eggplant grown outside of its favored zone might become a White Eggplant, or a Tomato may become an Ice Tomato in the snowy region.
There’s a lot of potential here for fun experimentation with where you put your farm and what you grow and when, but it’s never realized. The problem with all this is that nothing is ever really explained. After 20+ hours into One World, with the Harvest Goddess resurrected and the main story finished, I’m still not entirely clear how they work. There’s no real log that indicates exactly how to get which mutations even after you’ve already obtained them, and even if you plant the same crop in the same region at the same time, it doesn’t always seem to mutate. I’m sure there’s a trick here I’m missing, and while mutations are largely inconsequential (I’ve been able to find seeds for all the mutations I’ve made so far separately as well), it’s really frustrating if you’re trying to grow, say, an Asparagus from regular Asparagus seeds for a quest, but keep getting Purple Asparagus instead and have no idea why.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Even%20if%20you%20plant%20the%20same%20crop%20in%20the%20same%20region%20at%20the%20same%20time%2C%20it%20doesn’t%20always%20seem%20to%20mutate.”]One World lacks clear instruction throughout, often placing you into frustrating situations without a way out. One later quest that’s critical to the story wanted me to gather four of a certain kind of sheep wool… but there were only three slots in my barn at the time and they were already taken up by a cow, a horse, and a regular sheep. No matter what, I would need to purchase the special sheep required to get this wool and wait multiple in-game weeks for it to become an adult and produce the wool. But I would also either have to get rid of one of my other animals to make space for it in my barn, or expand my barn – which I had no idea how to do at the time. Barn expansion turns out to be gated behind a long series of fetch quests that give no indication building expansion is at the end of them.
That was just one example, but this obtuse quest and upgrade design became a frustrating hindrance repeatedly throughout One World, with many progression quests requiring specific seeds or tool upgrades and no hint at all as to where those might be found. Your best bet, outside of a guide online, is just to talk to everyone constantly and repeatedly and do every single quest possible until you accidentally stumble over the thing you’re looking for.
[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Why%20can’t%20my%20dog%20go%20outside%3F”]I haven’t yet mentioned all the many small annoyances that cropped up as I played, none of which are worth a paragraph on their own but all contributed to my growing ball of frustration with One World. Why can I not have more than one stack of a single item in my storage or inventory at a time? Why does my stamina drop constantly just from walking around? Is there any point to giving gifts to random nameless NPCs? Why can’t my dog go outside? Why does keeping my animals happy seemingly do nothing at all, and why do they drop dead after a year or so automatically?
The best I can say about One World is that it’s fine – something you can mindlessly play on mute with a podcast on and feel not-horrible about. That said, with two Story of Seasons games out within a month of this and Stardew Valley’s 1.5 update on top of that, I can’t think of a reason why anyone who loves the Harvest Moon tradition should play One World. It’s lacking just about every possible forward-moving feature any similar games have, and its attempts at doing something new with the series are half-baked and frustrating.
Here’s a rare thing: Apple Watch SE is on sale for $20 off at Amazon right now. This is the first meaningful discount we’ve seen so far this year on the mid-tier model of the company’s smartwatch. For many people, the SE hits just the right balance between features and price. Apple Watch SE typically starts at $279, but right now you can grab most colors and sizes on sale at Amazon for $20 off.
Feature-wise and price-wise, the Apple Watch SE sits in between the high-end Apple Watch Series 6 ($399 and up) and the still-available Apple Watch Series 3 ($199 and up).
The SE has the S5 chip, which Apple says is up to 2.5 times faster than the chip in the Series 3. It has most of the same sensors as the Series 6, including an accelerometer, gyroscope, and altimeter. It also has fall detection. It includes a pixel-dense Retina display, as well as the same design as the Series 6.
Apple Watch Model Feature Comparison
For a closer look at the difference in features between the three models that are currently available, see the above chart pulled from Apple’s Apple Watch page. As you can see, the main features the more-expensive Apple Watch Series 6 has that the SE lacks are the always-on display, Blood Oxygen app, and ECG app. If those features are important to you, you can save $25 right now on a Series 6 at Amazon.
Alternatively, if you don’t mind a slower device with fewer features, you can pick up a Series 3 on sale for $169 at the moment. But for me, I think the SE hits the sweet spot between price and features.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.
2001’s animated classic Shrek is back in the news, as Universal has announced the movie will release on 4K for the first time when it arrives for video-on-demand on May 11. It will also release that day on 4K Blu-ray and DVD. This is all happening to celebrate Shrek’s 20th anniversary.
Included with the new version are more than four hours of bonus material, including 10 shorts and a separate disc that comes with five episodes of The Adventures of Puss in Boots TV series. The bonus features also include deleted scenes and commentary from directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson. You can see the full rundown of extras below.
Shrek won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, beating out Monsters Inc. and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius that year. The film features the voices of Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow as the main characters. Chris Farley was lined up to voice Shrek, and even recorded voiceover, before he died from a drug overdose in 1997.
Three sequels would follow in the main Shrek series, while the franchise overall would go on to explode with multiple TV series, video games, theme park rides, and countless other merchandising opportunities.
The latest movie in the Candyman franchise hits theaters later this year. It’s a direct sequel to the classic 1992 supernatural chiller, and is produced by Jordan Peele.
The original Candyman was an adaptation of the short story The Forbidden, by Hellraiser and Hellraiser creator Clive Barker, and directed by Bernard Rose. The film focused on the legend of the Candyman, who was originally the son of a slave but grew up as a successful businessman in the late 19th century, before his relationship with a white woman led to horrendous death at the hands of a mob. Many decades later, the vengeful, hooked-handed, bee-summoning ghost can be conjured up by anyone who dares to say his name five times into a mirror.
The movie was only a moderate success, but nearly 30 years later, it stands as one of the best horror films of the decade–an intelligent, scary, and beautifully-made chiller that has stood the test of time. Two sequels followed–Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) and Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)–but they were inferior follow-ups that contained little of the original’s mix of scares and powerful social commentary.
In 2018, it was announced that a new Candyman movie was on the way. The film was originally scheduled for release last summer but like almost every big movie due in 2020, it has had its release date pushed several times. The film is now set to arrive in August, so while we wait for it to finally be released, here’s everything we know to date about Candyman.
When will Candyman be released?
Candyman hits theaters on August 21, 2021. This is the film’s fourth release date. It was originally scheduled for release in June last year, and was subsequently moved to September and October, before being pushed back an entire year.
Who’s the director?
Candyman is directed by Nia DaCosta. This will be DaCosta’s second movie as director, following 2018’s thriller Little Woods, which starred Tessa Thompson and Lily James. She also directed two episodes of the British TV drama Top Boy. In August last year, it was announced that she will helm the Captain Marvel sequel for Marvel, which has a November 2022 release date.
Who are the producers and writers?
Get out and US director Jordan Peele is one of the main producers of Candyman, through his production company Monkeypaw. He’s producing with Win Rosenfeld (Hunters, Blackkklansman), and the pair have written the script with DaCosta.
Is there any footage or images?
Since the movie was only three months from release when it was first delayed, a trailer had already been released. This first trailer revealed the basic plot alongside lots of scary imagery. Even more impressive was the promo released in June, which was a short animated film that told the tragic backstory of Candyman using shadow puppets. The third trailer followed a few weeks later, which mixed footage from this video with new footage from the movie.
What’s the story?
Candyman isn’t a remake of the original movie, but a direct sequel, which ignores the two earlier sequels. 30 years later, the previously deprived area of Chicago’s Cabrini Green has been gentrified and turned into a desirable and expensive place to live. The movie focuses on visual artist Anthony McCoy, who appeared as a child in the original film, and sees him return to the area with his girlfriend Brianna. An encounter with one of Cabrini’s older residents leads Anthony to start investigating the legend of Candyman as inspiration for his work. But inevitably things start to get very scary when the hooked-handed ghost makes his return.
Who’s in the cast?
Aquaman and Watchmen actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II takes the lead role as Anthony, with WandaVision star Teyonah Parris as Brianna. The cast also includes Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits) as Brianna’s brother Troy, and Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) as William, the older Cabrini Green resident. There are also a couple of actors returning from the original film–Vanessa Estelle Williams as Anthony’s mom Anne-Marie, and of course, Tony Todd as Candyman himself. Todd is yet to be seen in the trailers, but they do feature his distinctive–and scary–voice.
What has DaCosta said about the movie?
One of the most impressive aspects of the original film was the way it weaved a strong social commentary into a scary ghost story. Unsurprisingly, the new movie will also deal with some heavy themes alongside the horror. “It’s so much about identity and about what violence can look like,” DaCosta told Slashfilm last year. “It’s not just this very graphic lynch mob, it can also be the force of gentrification, or the micro-aggressions inside of trying to negotiate what your next art piece is going to be. It has many forms, so that’s part of what we wanted to talk about in this film as well. And that’s a big reason why [Anthony] fits in the art world, because he can really show that in an interesting way. Our points of view are about the multilayered ways that violence can take form and can kill in America, and that’s where the film will be.”
