Minecraft movie, Iron Diamond, Astalon
Apr. 24th, 2025 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkCatching up on reviews:
The Monday after it came out I went to watch A Minecraft Movie with six friends. I really wanted to watch it relatively early because I know I am bad at avoiding spoilers, and the plan mostly worked. I had a fun time! Was it a fantastic movie, eh, but was it entertaining, definitely, and it was a lot of fun to see so many Minecraft things as live action.
I was surprised we spent so long on Earth at the beginning and tbh I think most of it was unnecessary and/or didn't really work. I didn't catch the cameos of Mumbo and Lizzie even though I knew to expect them ^^ I did catch the Techno cameo, of course, that was sweet. (I was wearing my Techno shirt, too.)
I was disappointed by Dawn and Natalie's part of the plot. Natalie is much too skinny for me to believe her suddenly turning into a fighter, we never actually saw them build anything before they showed up in an entire mushroom cabin, and Dawn barely had a role at all.
My favorite parts were the action sequences, especially with the elytra, and the ender man. Ender men making you hallucinate your fears is new but I was unsurprised to immediately see "we can make Life series angst out of this" on Tumblr afterwards ^^ The iron golems were also very cool, and fine I guess they can make a flying super iron guardian if they want ^^
I also enjoyed Mumbo's video about his consulting work on the movie, with all of the unused ideas. And Scar and Grian interviewing the director during the Hermitcraft charity event (timestamp) and the director being so enthusiastic about Mumbo's work. Tall drink of water indeed.
Back in February I played Iron Diamond, a game that I saw recommended on r/metroidvania as "not very long, very good exploration, colorful, and cheap (especially on sale)," and all of that was true. The map and upgrades were great. The boss fights ranged from fun to too easy (to be fair I was playing on casual) to dumb (stupid yeti), the story was okay, the controls took me a while to get used to and I still didn't love them by the end, but overall I had a good time. The graphics weren't the best but that didn't really bother me.
I got to the end credits at 85% completion in 11.5 hours.
More Astalon: Tears of the Earth:
After beating the second gorgon and recruiting Zeek I made my way through the Phantom Halls. The bell made a lot of things easier, though it took some time to get used to it. I misunderstood the hint about the banishing spell and thought I would find it in this area, so it was only a while later that I went back to the Gorgon Tomb and got it. First I eventually got the Griffon claw for Kyuli and then beat the area boss, again quite easily with Algus.
I briefly entered the next area, but it seemed quite difficult so instead I decided to backtrack and look for secrets I could reach now. Some I could, some not, and then I found the Catacombs underground and realized I could have accessed them way earlier ^^ But they were of course easier now. I finally found a bow upgrade for Kyuli, and with that I could meet the old man for the third time and Algus awakened his homunculus, nice.
Unfortunately I didn't figure out how to get to the boss in the catacombs. Instead I finally realized how to get the banishing spell and then with that got the cursed ring to alert me to secret entrances, hopefully that will be useful in the future.
About half the map explored. Next step: Ash ruins.
Instead the next day I gave in to temptation and looked up how to get past that one room in the Catacombs. Turns out I needed to kill a ghost there, which I now could because of the banishing spell, yay. After a brief detour getting a key I needed I finally made it to the Catacombs boss, the Gemini Gordon, and beat it on my second try with Algus. Being powerful feels good. From there I found a fifth party member! Bram the gorgon slayer from the frozen north who was captured instead of slain by the gorgons for mysterious reasons, hmm. He's fighting with chains, his moveset doesn't seem that appealing yet but I suspect he'll be able to destroy the golden blocks eventually and that'll be super convenient.
I continued to explore the Tower Roots, but eventually got stuck and decided to go back to the Ash ruins after all.
I'm at around 65% map completion. And now I have to stop and go do chores and study. No more playing for me today. (Unless I am very good and deserve a little playing as a reward...)
The Monday after it came out I went to watch A Minecraft Movie with six friends. I really wanted to watch it relatively early because I know I am bad at avoiding spoilers, and the plan mostly worked. I had a fun time! Was it a fantastic movie, eh, but was it entertaining, definitely, and it was a lot of fun to see so many Minecraft things as live action.
I was surprised we spent so long on Earth at the beginning and tbh I think most of it was unnecessary and/or didn't really work. I didn't catch the cameos of Mumbo and Lizzie even though I knew to expect them ^^ I did catch the Techno cameo, of course, that was sweet. (I was wearing my Techno shirt, too.)
I was disappointed by Dawn and Natalie's part of the plot. Natalie is much too skinny for me to believe her suddenly turning into a fighter, we never actually saw them build anything before they showed up in an entire mushroom cabin, and Dawn barely had a role at all.
My favorite parts were the action sequences, especially with the elytra, and the ender man. Ender men making you hallucinate your fears is new but I was unsurprised to immediately see "we can make Life series angst out of this" on Tumblr afterwards ^^ The iron golems were also very cool, and fine I guess they can make a flying super iron guardian if they want ^^
I also enjoyed Mumbo's video about his consulting work on the movie, with all of the unused ideas. And Scar and Grian interviewing the director during the Hermitcraft charity event (timestamp) and the director being so enthusiastic about Mumbo's work. Tall drink of water indeed.
Back in February I played Iron Diamond, a game that I saw recommended on r/metroidvania as "not very long, very good exploration, colorful, and cheap (especially on sale)," and all of that was true. The map and upgrades were great. The boss fights ranged from fun to too easy (to be fair I was playing on casual) to dumb (stupid yeti), the story was okay, the controls took me a while to get used to and I still didn't love them by the end, but overall I had a good time. The graphics weren't the best but that didn't really bother me.
I got to the end credits at 85% completion in 11.5 hours.
More Astalon: Tears of the Earth:
After beating the second gorgon and recruiting Zeek I made my way through the Phantom Halls. The bell made a lot of things easier, though it took some time to get used to it. I misunderstood the hint about the banishing spell and thought I would find it in this area, so it was only a while later that I went back to the Gorgon Tomb and got it. First I eventually got the Griffon claw for Kyuli and then beat the area boss, again quite easily with Algus.
I briefly entered the next area, but it seemed quite difficult so instead I decided to backtrack and look for secrets I could reach now. Some I could, some not, and then I found the Catacombs underground and realized I could have accessed them way earlier ^^ But they were of course easier now. I finally found a bow upgrade for Kyuli, and with that I could meet the old man for the third time and Algus awakened his homunculus, nice.
Unfortunately I didn't figure out how to get to the boss in the catacombs. Instead I finally realized how to get the banishing spell and then with that got the cursed ring to alert me to secret entrances, hopefully that will be useful in the future.
About half the map explored. Next step: Ash ruins.
Instead the next day I gave in to temptation and looked up how to get past that one room in the Catacombs. Turns out I needed to kill a ghost there, which I now could because of the banishing spell, yay. After a brief detour getting a key I needed I finally made it to the Catacombs boss, the Gemini Gordon, and beat it on my second try with Algus. Being powerful feels good. From there I found a fifth party member! Bram the gorgon slayer from the frozen north who was captured instead of slain by the gorgons for mysterious reasons, hmm. He's fighting with chains, his moveset doesn't seem that appealing yet but I suspect he'll be able to destroy the golden blocks eventually and that'll be super convenient.
I continued to explore the Tower Roots, but eventually got stuck and decided to go back to the Ash ruins after all.
I'm at around 65% map completion. And now I have to stop and go do chores and study. No more playing for me today. (Unless I am very good and deserve a little playing as a reward...)
no subject
Date: 2025-04-27 11:44 am (UTC)Astalon: Tears of the Earth sounds like fun! And I feel you on the "no more time for games today (unless I deserve a reward...)". I've had to put so much fun on hold due to work these past four months and getting even a little break with a fun game or a good book feels like a glorious victory at this point.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 08:47 pm (UTC)(Good thing that I've finished it now though and I will definitely not start a new one before my exam is over.)
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-05-07 10:29 am (UTC)