#2018 was a big year. Just right off the get go, it's the first official year that I launched this blog... or, okay, I launched it at the end of 2017 but truth to be told, I really pushed it for 2018. Suffice to say, there are plenty of things for me to talk about this year. Too much, but I'll just leave it around the theme of my Masterless domain. So, here goes. Looking at Cinematics, Gaming, and other MISC Stuff that I talk about in my blog.
Remembering Legends
While 2018 had a lot of positive things that came out of it, there were also news of monumental figures of my fandom who passed away. Obviously the numbers were unfortunately bigger than my list, but I can't list everyone. So without further adieu...
September introduced me to Marie Severin... whom, I had no idea was partially responsible for the creation of Spider-Woman. I know, right? She passed away and unfortunately, not a lot of people are aware of what she has done for the Marvel Universe. Rest in Peace.
June made us bid farewell to one of Spider-Man's co-creator, Steve Ditko. I don't like going into the controversies, but this man should be remembered for what he has given to the now Super Popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. The likes of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange are, of course, part of his creations. Imagine a world without Peter Parker and Stephen Strange. Rest in Peace.
Then November came and Stan Lee passed away. He needs no introduction and for anyone who just recently jumped the wagon on Comic Book history through the Marvel Cinematic Universe were all introduced to the man who made cameos. Of course, we are all aware that Stan Lee is more than just a cameo. He touched lives in ways that I'm sure he didn't even know he touched. He inspired, motivated, uplifted, and whatever other words can be said about a man being able to influence. No more words need to be said other than Rest in Peace.
Cinematic Universe
And what is my fandom without talking about the Cinematic Universe? I don't do super serious reviews or thoughts on movies but I do watch what I like and if a movie pushes me enough, I'll make a post about it. Regardless, here are the movies that I found myself going into the movie theater to (I'll list the ones I remember). I'm not listing any of these in order to rank them; just jotting them down as they pop up in my head. Oh, the last on this list is more or less a shout out. Not a Cinematic, but I still watched it fervently.
I was skeptic about a Venom movie coming out that didn't involve Spider-Man. I'm not sure if it's my low standards that I had for it prior to me watching it or maybe it just had a charm, in the end I actually ended up liking this movie. Nothing great, but hey, it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Sony got a hit with this one.
Of course there's the sleeper hit of the MCU. Black Panther was a good movie in my opinion. I don't think it was anything completely special for how well it did, but hey, it's still good and it had some themes that resonated with a LOT of people. One thing is for certain, if Marvel can make a C-list character into a household name then Marvel has a handful of characters that they can do magic with.
To be fair, Ant-Man and the Wasp was not a movie I watched in the theater. I bought the Blu-ray and watched it at home. I wouldn't have had a problem paying the money to watch it in the theater. It was good but it wasn't anything grand. I liked Evangeline Lily as Wasp. The addition of her definitely made things better for the sequel. Here's to hoping we see her and the others in the future installment.
Into the Spiderverse had some glaring topics I was going to have issues with: Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen's introduction in the Cinematic Universe. Why do I have issues with these two? Not a fan of Miles. I like Gwen, but not as the main face of the "Spider-Women Clan", that role should be given to Jessica Drew. Regardless of my qualms, this movie was pretty good, unique, and fun and has potential for the introduction of the OTHER Spider-Folks including The First and the Best Spider-Woman.
Yes I watched Mary Poppins Returns. I'm a fan of Disney and although I never watched the original Mary Poppins in full, the magic of Disney in live action form still draws me in. It was musical, silly, and it features Emily Blunt as a more abrasive and serious version of Mary Poppins. Definitely enjoyable.
I talked about Ralph Breaks the Internet and my feelings towards it. While there are some personal things that might have tangled up with the movie's theme, there are some things I didn't really know how to respond to with this movie... feels a little bit like an undoing of the first one. At the end of the day I still enjoyed it and seeing the cameos of the Disney Princesses & Queen as well as Marvel characters (Stan Lee as well) made it that much better.
Then there's Avengers Infinity War. What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said already? Yes, I LOVED this movie. I saw three times in the theater. That's all I can really say about it, honestly. Let's see how Endgame tops this off.
Season 2 of Castlevania was great. It slowed down a bit compared to last season but that's not a bad thing at all. It had a lot of context, character interaction, and that battle scene in the end.... yeah. Enough said. This may be a Netflix series but it stuck out to me.
The Gaming Life
Once upon a time I used to game A LOT. That fairytale ended when real life shenanigans took over just about every facet of my time. Regardless of that hurdle, I try my best to keep a hand on the pulse of the gaming world despite how sparse or lacking this area of my life/fandom may be. I dug into a few games this year and I'll touch base on some games that I want to get into eventually.
It should come as no secret that #DissidiaNT is a game that is big on my 2018 gaming life. Sure it's not top in many gamers' list for reasons I understand and I have addressed in my Dissdia NT Review(some if not all), but regardless of Dissidia's short comings, I still love this game. I spent a LOT of HOURS (around 300 plus hours I believe) into this game so that should show how much I love this game. If anything else, it helped me rekindle my love for Terra Branford. I see myself playing this game all the way through 2019. Maybe season 2 of DLC characters brings Rikku in? Unlikely.
I may not have done a review on Spider-Man PS4 as I said I would. Not doing so does not take anything away from this Amazing game. It is, as of right now, the definitive Spider-Man game for me. It has awesome web slinging, an open world, Spider-Man combat, great voice acting, pretty good story, standard and spectacular graphics, the photo mode, A LOT of alternate costumes (and good choices too), and most of all, it was just fun. If the City that Never Sleeps is the only DLC for the game I'll be content. Great job Insomniac Games!
While it was brief compared to the first two games, I played the rereleased Symphony of the Night in celebration of the Netflix Castlevania (have yet to finish it) It's as good as I remember gameplay wise and I'm glad to have it on my PS4 with brand new incentives (trophies). My biggest problem of the new version of Symphony of the Night is that they changed the voice over and took out I Am The Wind. That's right! No more cheesy voice acting and no saxophone epilogue music! Still, Symphony of the Night is still one of my all time favorite game! Regardless, I find myself continuing to play this through 2019.
The Neglected Games I want to Play
I played more than these three games, obviously but the time I spent on Street Fighter V, Monster Hunter, and Dynasty Warriors IX (ugh, why did I even get pulled into that game?) does not logically give them even an inkling to be remembered as 2018 games. They barely touched my PS4 that I remember them as 2017. But with me focusing only on three games (mostly on Dissidia and Spider-Man) it's obvious that I missed a few games. Here's a quick list on said games that I want to eventually play:
Soul Caliber VI: For 2B I'll try this game! Haven't played this franchise since the PS3 days! I may not be going online to do competitive mode as much but that's okay! To have more 2B is always a joy!
Darksiders III: I played the first two Darksiders way back when and I found the game and its overall delivery to be interesting. It was fun and I invested a little bit of myself into it. To know that the story continues is awesome so I have to get to the 3rd installment eventually.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey: Another franchise I haven't touched for a while. Odyssey looks promising and I'm pretty sure when I get the time I'll be jumping into this and Sparta-kick the CRAP out of people.
Red Dead Redemption 2: Another franchise that I played back in my PS3/X360 days. There's a lot of buzz about this game. Definitely have to check it out eventually!
God of War PS4: Kratos in Skyrim--Norse mythology. Yeah enough said. Have to check this out. I'm also very interested in the story and how we got here with Kratos.
On a closing note, to me, 2018 was something to really celebrate. It had a lot of good things that came out of it and I can't be anymore grateful for what I have. Fandom was spoiled, that's for sure and I'm not even done talking about all avenues in my geekdom life. I still have to do the best of 2018 for #Action_Figures and for #Commissions. Those will all have a post on their own and I will be posting them sometime within the week (hopefully). So with that said, goodbye 2018! You have been wonderful and giving! You will be remembered as one of the best years for the Fandom life!
For Auld Lang Syne!
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