Box Break: 2024 Topps Baseball Series 1 Hobby Box

 Check out the relic I pulled from this box.

Early Game Review: 'Koira'

 

A lyrical sense of innocence and altruism courses through "Koira," an endearing and fascinating indie-style game from developer Don't Nod. The game is set for release today, and is a delightful experience for all who happen upon its twisting path.

You play as an outsider who stumbles into a dark, mystery-laden forest. Early on, you happen upon a puppy caught in a trap, and forge a tight bond while mirroring one another's musical expressions. The dog becomes your companion as you solve a series of whimsical puzzles, unlock new areas and wander your way through parts unknown.

An excellent selection for younger players, as well as for parents to play through with children, "Koira" touches on themes of loyalty, trust and honor. Relying on sounds, insinuation, rhythm and critical thinking, "Koira" eschews the spoken word in favor of subtle cues.

The game wears its "The Legend of Zelda" influence on its rolled-up sleeve. Progress bottlenecks often, but solutions that allow you to advance are always fair and in plain sight. Comprehensive walkthroughs will undoubtedly surface, but you'll enrich your experience by ignoring them and using your own deduction skills to wind your way through.

"Koira" isn't as flashy or bold as some of Don't Nod's other efforts, which include "Jusant" and "Life is Strange," but it's far from a throwaway. The talented dev team channeled its considerable insight and sentiment into every pixel of "Koira," and that love and commitment shines through every moment. "Koira" has a way of sticking with you in between sessions, letting you ruminate over what you've seen and done and anticipate what's next. The game is a delightful recurring daydream that you long to come return to again and again.

Publisher provided review code.

Arizona Theatre Company Review: 'Bob & Jean: A Love Story'

Before the common mode of long-distance written communication shifted from handwritten letters and telegrams to texts and email, words were ironclad documents of fleeting experiences rather than throwaways in between emojis. The intimacy of penmanship flourishes and inserted photographs forged a theater of the mind that helped hearts take flight, as well as shatter them.

"Bob & Jean: A Love Story" is true story about a man's attempt to piece together his parents' cross-global romance through the letters they left behind. Bob (Jake Bentley Young), a Navy sailor deployed to Europe during World War II, and Jean (Mary Mattison), a USO performer and aspiring actress, forge an indelible connection via pen and paper as both face their solitary struggles. They dream, they fantasize, they bicker, they pull back and they embrace.

Although the leads always share the same stage, they are most always half a world apart. Both Young and Mattison excel at expressing their yearnings, fears, loneliness and, especially, their deepening connection.

The narrator is their son, played by Scott Wentworth, who makes wry comments about the hokeyness, stubbornness and cluelessness both characters often demonstrate. He often adds in colorful anecdotes that foreshadow future character traits both will exhibit as parents. Wentworth's warmth and charm is key to bringing the audience into the story.

The latest effort from Pulitzer and Tony-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan is a deeply personal voyage that becomes a fascinating journey of introspection. Bolstered by an elegant stage enhanced with subtle flourishes of projection, the three actors cast a transcendent spell over the audience. It's in the second act that "Bob & Jean" truly comes into its own, with a pair of scintillating monologues and a tear-jerking epilogue.

I found myself as enraptured as I was when I was less than half my current age, savoring Schenkkan's ruminations in "The Kentucky Cycle," the only play that has ever made me cry. I had to fight back tears at the end of "Bob & Jean." I sort of wish I'd let them flow.

"Bob & Jean: A Love Story" plays through April 12 at the Temple of Music and Art. Buy tickets here.

Box Break: 2023 Topps Baseball Series 2 Monster Box

 See which 1985 and foil cards I pull.

Game Review: 'Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition'

Slowly but steadily, Nintendo has managed to revamp nearly every major first-party Wii U gem for the vastly more popular Switch. It may have taken until the end of the console's life cycle, but the publisher has now revitalized the beloved JRPG "Xenoblade Chronicles X" as the "Definitive Edition."

The 2015 Wii U classic, known for sprawling landscapes roamed by gorgeously detailed monolithic enemies, blossoms to new life on the Switch. Those who keep the old console around just to plunge into the realm of Mira can now give the Wii U its deserved Viking funeral. A few hours with "Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition" and you'll find it as tough to go back to the original as it would be an old toothbrush.

Developer MonolithSoft rebuilt the stunningly immersive saga from the ground up. In addition to HD visuals, buffed-up animations, smoothed-out battle mechanics and seamless loading, the dev team took an imaginative and holistic approach to removing the old game's irritants that disrupted the flow of play.

While the 2015 product was astounding, MonolithSoft took care to listen to fan suggestions to integrate a slew of subtle improvements that make the Definitive Edition play more like something akin to a new release than a last-decade relic. Inactive party members now rack up EXP in line with that accumulated by active party members, negating the need to distribute playtime equally among your benchwarmers. A new hot menu allows you to swap out party members at any time, rather than having to track your pals down in order to make substitutions.

While the narrative of "Xenoblade Chronicles X" may lack the depth of many other games in the series, the cinematic majesty of the landscape, bolstered by its myriad traversal options, more than makes up for the thin story. Every moment is fueled with a sense of forward momentum and steady, gnawing urgency, but the tone also allows you to make yourself comfortable with the thought of taking a step back and evaluating your methods.

Customization is king here. You can adjust your avatar's gender, attributes, class and abilities. Tinkering with various Arts and passive abilities helps you formulate ideal loadouts for various objectives.

Just as in the Wii U version, there is a multiplayer aspect that adds some spice to the package, letting you recruit allies for Squad Missions or take on frenemies in antagonistic Nemesis Missions. While many insular JRPG fanatics will ignore these features, their presence enriches the experience by allowing you to share in the glory, and sometimes agony, with familiar players and anonymous passers by alike.  

I was floored by the gloriously painstaking restoration of an underappreciated classic that "Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition" turned out to be. Like a Renaissance painting reconstructed with an artistic vision that matched the precision of the original mastery, this new edition adds even more heft and majesty to one of the greatest RPGs in all of gaming. Even if you wore the old game out a decade ago, it's high time to make your introduction with the version of the game that surpasses its legendary progenitor.

Publisher provided review code.

Book Report: 'Three Stories and Ten Poems'

 

Three Stories and Ten Poems by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ernest Hemingway's first published book is a mixed bag, with plenty of impressive moments that show the promise he would one day fulfill, bogged down with inconsistency and self-indulgent scene painting that goes nowhere.

I found the poems to be largely throwaways, and two of the three stories to be worthwhile. "Up in Michigan" is a heartbreaking tale of misplaced romantic yearning that leads to crass abuse and "My Old Man" is a stirring rumination of a child's experiences in the highs and lows brought on by his father's rise and fall in the corrupt horse racing industry. The other one, "Out of Season," falls victim to Hemingway's worst qualities as a writer, and is a dense bore.

The book is so short that it's worth reading for any Hemingway fan. If you can do without the author's low points, it's skippable.

View all my reviews

Early Game Review: 'Assassin's Creed Shadows'

 

After a 15-month break, "Assassin's Creed" is back in action in glorious form with the release of "Assassin's Creed Shadows," a vibrant and rich return to form for the franchise, which makes its way to east Asia for the first time. Due out Friday, the game is a powerful saga that thrives as a riveting adventure, fascinating historical reenactment and meaningful push forward for the franchise's ongoing saga.

Set in the late 16th century Azuchi-Momoyama period in Japan, during which frayed factions are beginning to unify into a single entity, the game exists in an iconic time frame, in which samurai roam the land attempting to scrape by under the heels of bickering warlords. Gilded castles, clashing cultures and historical turning points abound, as an old way of life begins to fade into the background as firearms and Western culture begin their incursion on the old ways.

The story spins the saga of two outsider underdog heroes, Naoe and Yasuke, both who are intertwined with Oda Nobunaga. A female, Naoe is a lithe, elegant merchant of death, while Yasuke, is a tank-like force who has traversed from across the world and strives make a name and life for himself under Nobunaga's tutelage.

The usual conceit from the franchise is back. Once again, you play as a near-future person who relives and alters an ancestor's memoires through a VR-infused version of time travel. The combat is an excellent melding of swordplay, subterfuge and strategic projectile deployment. The best "Assassin's Creed" games introduce a steady diet of verticality to the tactical repertoire, and "Shadows" manages to do so in a way that should please those who found "Mirage" to be a humdrum effort. 

Style abounds in "Shadows," which will please those who found themselves fascinated by Hulu's "Shogun" or Sony's "Ghost of Tsushima." Steeped in well-researched sociopolitical tapestry, the game comes to life as a vivid recreation of its time and place. 

"Assassin's Creed" games have always flowered to life as educational tools, zipping you around the globe and timeline with the fervor of a Jules Verne fever dream, and "Shadows" is a similarly grandiose dollop of historical fiction. A timeless score by the English duo The Flight helps set the mood for each fascinating scene. Skip scenes may be skippable, but it's not the least bit tempting to zip through the gorgeously cinematic storytelling.

I adored my time with "Assassin's Creed Shadows," and am excited to talk to friends and colleagues about the similarities and differences of ways we experienced the voyages of Naoe and Yasuke. One of the key facets of the franchise's magic is the way its iterative style results in radically varied experiences that reflect the player's mindset, insecurities and drives. 

A stunning and hauntingly masterful return to top form for "Assassin's Creed," "Shadows" casts a long and looming silhouette over its chosen time and place. The dev team at Ubisoft Quebec should take pride in its luminous accomplishment.

Publisher provided review code.