Favorites - Ranked Dragon Age: Inquisition Companions

Well, I did say I’d be done with Dragon Age Inquisition by Christmas, and that was partly true. Still, when you have a wife, toddlers, a job, and other interests, you can usually push these playthroughs indefinitely… and I still ain’t done. I got sucked into doing the DLCs for the game and actually fought those blasted dragons. I actually have just the rest of "Trespasser" to finish up and then I can call it quits on Dragon Age for a while. Still, I’ve played at least 100 hours of this game to get this written.

If you want a nice overview of the game, just check out my old review because it’s pretty much the same. In fact, I think I’ve fallen for this game more the third time around. It’s as good as I remember it. Each DA installment brings something unique, and this is no different. DAI is definitely a return to form after DA2’s adventures in Kirkwall. You’re back and forth between Fereldan and Orlais in trying to stop Coryheus from destroying the world. Oh yeah, “Cory” still sucks as a villain. That was one thing that hasn’t changed with me. Even though I did complain about the vast emptiness of the world, I kinda got used to it this time around.

The gameplay still rocks with you and your companions dishing out loads of destruction to your enemies. This time, I was a Rogue Inquisitor with the twin daggers, and that was so much fun. The graphics are good, but this was one area I kinda struggled with especially with my character. At least Veilgard has added more black hairstyles… but I’ll get to that someday. Weapons and customization are also pretty dang good. The DLCs were also pretty good and added a lot to the game... including a full ending/epilogue... EA, why are you like this?

I tried to do my hair right... they needed a bigger afro and some curly hair options.

Our companions are good as usual. We get 9 companions this time, and they all range from okay to pretty dang good. I will say that some of their personal missions don’t stack up to the ones from Origins and even Dragon Age 2. I’m not sure if it was that there were too many companions or that there wasn’t as much thought put into their personal missions. Either way, I still think the companions help make the game awesome. So, with that out of the way, here’s my ranking of all the companions from DAI. I’m also adding the advisors (Cullen, Leliana, Josephine, and a surprise) in this as well. You don’t fight alongside them as much, but their presence and stories are right alongside the other companions. 

Quick Thoughts #7 - "Dang, that Animated G.I.Joe Movie Was Weird!"

At the end of the year, I was thinking about trying to get back into some regular blogging. It's like I can't do crap for the first half of the year, and then I decide to churn out something before the year ends or something. Anyway, I thought a post a week would be good, but then I realized that I don't like talking all that much to begin with. Still, I think I can do a little more than 8 posts a year. 

While I was doing some New Year Cleaning, I thought I'd check out Tubi for some random watching and found the G.I. Joe animated movie there. Now, I'm a casual fan of the franchise. I've really only seen a few episodes of the original TV show. I've actually passed some time by watching old episodes on Tubi last year with the boys. I also own the one good live-action movie (Retaliation which also isn't that good), got G.I.Joe Renegades on DVD somewhere, and tried checking out those Energon G.I. Joe comics that Image Comics is putting out. With all that said, I had the movie playing while I did slew of other things around the house. As I watched this, one thing scratched at my head: 

HOW DID I WATCH THIS AS A SEVEN YEAR OLD?

This is probably one of the funniest moments in the movie. Cobra Commander's wiggin' out, and Road Block channels his inner Denzel ("Get you $$$$$$ hands off me!).

Weird Trek Episodes - SNW's Shuttle To Kenfori aka "Don't Call them Zombies! It Just Not Nice!"

M'Benga: I just can't believe it... we're in an episode that doesn't focus on Spock's love life.
Pike: I didn't realize how much that would be a thing either, Joseph.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds just wrapped up airing its 3rd season, and I gotta say that I'm kinda underwhelmed with this outing. It wasn't a bad season but compared to an almost perfect first season and a good second season, it does feel like the boat's a bit adrift. I think only having 10 episodes a season isn't helping. Also, I think someone misses Lower Decks way too much. Maybe someone needs to make sure the crew hasn't been drinking too much Romulan Ale. That's stuff's illegal, ya know?

Weird Trek Episodes - The Alternate aka "That One Where Odo Turned into a Goo Monster"

Mora: What does it say, Odo?
Odo: It says that you're one overbearing father figure. Apparently, my people had those too!

Why did I get away from doing these? Not only are they easy to write, but they can provide some nice Trek entertainment. I was planning on talking about the episode around Halloween since it's kind of a monster feature, but that didn't happen. "The Alternate" was from the second season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This was one of the few DS9 episodes I found recorded on a VHS along with some X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons from when I was younger. At this point, DS9 was still kind of in its learning phase, but they did have a better grasp of what they wanted to do with the show. Today, it's an Odo episode.

In the episode, Odo's "dad" comes to the station. Mora Pol, a Bajoran scientist, was the one who realized that Odo was a sentient life form and tried to foster him a bit. While Dr. Mora's come to visit Odo, he also comes with news that he may have found Odo's home world in the Gamma Quadrant. Even though their relationship is a bit fractured, Odo's curious, so he accompanies Dr. Mora, Commander Dax, and another scientist to the planet. All they find there is a statue, a lifeform similar to Odo, and volcanic gasses emanating from the ground.  The gas affects all of them except for Odo who's able to transport them outta there.

This is Halloween 5 - The Blade Trilogy

 

Well, it’s about time I talked about the Daywalker. I think I was going to do this years ago because I had the DVD set of the whole trilogy and the Spike TV series. “Had” is the key word because I think someone took it from my collection. I originally was going to talk about Blade: Trinity in the last post, but after watching Blade 2 as well on Hulu, I knew it was time to talk about these movies.

Now, I’m probably a casual fan of Blade at best. I’ve really only been exposed to his movies, that Spike TV series (yes, he had a TV show and it was weird), his guest appearances in cartoons, and a few comics like Mighty Avengers. I haven’t really read any of his solo work, but that should change soon. For those who don’t know, Blade first appeared in 1974 in Tomb of Dracula as a black vampire hunter who wasn’t a half-human/half-vampire hybrid yet. That came in the 90’s where Marvel started to use him more. The first time I saw him was in the 90’s Spider-Man cartoon where Spidey was going up against Morbius.

New World Pictures got the rights to do Blade in the 90’s when Marvel was selling off film rights for money. David Goyer took on the writing duties for all the films. As for Blade himself, Wesley Snipes took up the challenge. Blade was eventually released in 1998 and was well received. I remember seeing this play a lot on TBS back then. Blade 2 came in 2002, and Blade: Trinity was released in 2004. I vaguely remember that the VHS for Blade 2 was jacked up, so I missed out on part of it. As for Blade: Trinity, I think I saw it  on MTSU’s Movie channel or I rented it from the Hollywood Video down the street. I was sad when they closed up. So, how do these three hold up?