This is the first Hall of Greats where I've played every single game listed and enjoy most of them. So in reality, that should mean I felt very split on the candidates, right? Well, not really.

The whole concept of this is to celebrate games that the Allies love and to ask probing questions as to why a game should be held in such a regard. While Kyle's Halo presentation made me laugh at points, it's purposely hyperbolic in a disingenuous way. The cross-examination of Bioshock didn't even really have questions in it - just mostly statements that this segment of the game sucks because Kyle says it sucks. Then Ian's presentation... While it does add a slightly interesting wrinkle (voting for a game that most consider excellent despite an awful showing), it's a months long grudge carried out since Dark Souls didn't get in - despite another Souls series game being in the HoG.

To me, it feels like the Hall of Greats stream has become more of an obligation to some of the Allies than a fun segment for them to work on. While some true passion does shine through, it seems to be less and less each time and my once favorite stream is quickly becoming something I might start skipping altogether.

Such a sour taste in my mouth after watching this one.

Pretty delayed in an update on my end - things have been a little hectic in my life and in my city so we're just gonna push the update till September. Thanks everyone!

I had planned on taking this year off of fantasy but if you have an uneven number of players and need a fill-in, I'll see what I can do.

The Art of Self-Defense

This one stealthed into my life and might actually be my favorite film of the year so far. Eisenberg does such a great job with his character arc and a simple "stand up for yourself" sort of theme gets much darker and explores more interesting territories. The writing is sharp albeit not realistic in the slightest but I'm okay with that.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

My least favorite Tarantino film by a mile. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't make this a bad film at all (hell, any scene with Leo or Brad Pitt was hypnotizing) but there's so many puzzling choices here. That snappy dialogue we're used to in cars? That has been replaced with just music. Margot Robbie's character basically does nothing for the entire film. Why did we suddenly get a narrator for a few lines deep into the film? What is with all the feet? This film could have been glorious with better editing but instead, it just feels meandering and tries to tie too many things together, pretty unsuccessfully I'd say. If this would have just been a Rick Dalton/Cliff Booth buddy comedy, I'd be singing its praises right now, but it's much too bloated for my tastes.

Horizon Chase Turbo

This turned out to be much more fun than I expected. I was browsing my library with my girlfriend, trying to find something to play when it caught both of our eyes. Considering you can play all modes with extra people, that adds a lot to the experience. Some of the stages are downright beautiful too, with a strong 80s aesthetic and changing background.

DOTA: Underlords

I had tried a few other auto-chess games and never had much fun, so I decided to try out the "official" one. The in-game tutorial doesn't really prepare you for success in any feasible manner so after watching an hour long tutorial on YouTube, I felt prepared to play properly. And what do you know.. it's pretty fun. The game seems to be in some form of beta, so there's a few kinks to be worked out (and a progression system waiting in the midst) but I understand the appeal now. I still don't see this thing taking over my life, but I'm in for a few games a week.

Midsommar

Hereditary was my favorite film of last year so I went into this as my most anticipated film of the year. While I don't think I liked it as much as the former, it's still worth the watch - Aster has a way of creating oppressive atmospheres without relying on jump scares. It's even more impressive how the dread builds in this one considering its very bright palette, and some of the shots here are downright gorgeous. The ending feels much more satisfying than Hereditary - remind me to be careful if I ever visit Sweden though.

Alrighty everyone, apologies for not updating last month but here we are, halfway through 2019! My personal life has made it difficult to complete tons of games but I'm still having a good time and here's hoping all of you are too.

SabotageTheTruth - 11
iboshow - 12
Faaip - 5
Hazz3r - 7
Axel - 23
A7X458 - 1
Capnbobamous - 11
Shoulderguy - 39
Sentinel Beach - 19
Hidz - 24
Lotias - 3
tokeeffe9 - 19
DIPSET - 7
Sheria - 31
Inustar - 0
NeoCweeny - 11
Brandon_Reister - 28
Exist 2 Inspire - 22
bam541 - 10
El Shmiablo - 4
E_Zed_Eh_Intern - 3
DMCMaster - 2
DeimosClay - 1
SunPraiser - 11
Alex840 - 2
ffff0 - 24
Tearju Engi - 10
Kristen Rogers - 12
paulmci27 - 17
binarymelon - 5
bard91 - 3
FF7Cloud - 5

Between Ian and Huber, this has been a rough year of loss for the Allies. Terrible news, I know they'll both be able to pull through this though.

I know I lied last month but I'll get an update up tomorrow! Please don't make me cut off my pinky, I am sorry.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Just a quick recap on my feeling towards Spider-Man movies - I liked the Raimi ones quite a bit, severely disliked the Amazing Spider-Man films, loved Homecoming, and thought Into the Spider-verse is the best Spidey flick ever created. Now that's out of the way... I really enjoyed this one.

The first half is on the slower side but that's because I was expecting something to happen the whole time.

I knew going into this movie that the whole multi-verse idea that Mysterio was presenting had to be some sort of trick and bam, I was right! Once Gyllenhal has that turn, damn, he really steps into the role and makes it his own. I loved the scenes where he was using illusions to fight Parker, it was exactly how I wanted them to use Mysterio.

The post-credits scene is meh but that mid-credits scene sets up a third movie that is bound to be bonkers. I started clapping when a certain someone showed up to reprise their role.