Weekly Update – March 31, 2021

Good evening all and welcome to the Weekly Update for March 31st! Apologies for the lack of a post on Saturday; it was a tournament weekend for work and exhaustion had won out over writing on Saturday and Sunday. There will be a post this Saturday however I am delaying the one about VR Gaming in favor of writing about one of my favorite story-telling devices: The Rule of Cool.

Not a lot of writing was done this week so instead I’ve decided to focus this week’s update on some of the ways I’ve been passing the time! Enjoy!

Godzilla vs. Kong

Part of the reason for the late night nature of this post is because I decided to watch Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse has been one of my favorite connected film universes since its inception back with Gareth Edwards’ excellent 2014 reimagining of Godzilla for the modern day. Kong: Skull Island and King of the Monsters were both solid follow ups, but Godzilla vs. Kong is the first in the series to truly live up to its roots in Japanese film making. It feels like a modernization of one of the old Showa or Heisei era Godzilla films by keeping its focus on the adam wingmonsters and never taking itself too seriously. As for the monsters, Godzilla is excellent as always as depicting a true force of nature in the world and director Adam Wingard did a phenomenal job of humanizing Kong and making him a relatable and sympathetic protagonist. There is a third major monster in the movie as well, and that monster was awesome to watch once it was revealed, but in the interest of keeping this spoiler free I won’t reveal its identity.

Godzilla vs. Kong is definitely worth the watch and hopefully we will see some new Monsterverse projects in the works in the near future.

Monster Hunter Rise

I took a small break from writing this week while waiting for feedback on my latest pages from my mentor at Southern New Hampshire University. To fill that extra time, I picked up the latest installment of the Monster Hunter franchise, Monster Hunter Rise on the Nintendo Switch. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, you do exactly what the title implies; you hunt monsters. Rise takes a lot of the quality of life fixes from the excellent Monster Hunter World and added in the best mobility of the series so far with the inclusion of the Wirebugs and rideable Palamutes. The combat is still fantastic and engaging and takes advantage of the improved mobility, and the roster of monsters is huge including old favorites such as the Rathalos alongside some new beasties like the monkey-ish Bishaten and Arzuros. Hunts range anywhere from ten minutes to an hour and can be played with up to three other hunters online. However, as it is a Monster Hunter game, it can be incredibly daunting for newcomers to the series. There are a ton of mechanics to learn, so keep that in mind if you’re considering Rise as your first Monster Hunter game.

Attack on Titan Final Season

The first half of the Final Season of Attack on Titan has come to a close and it is some of the best story telling I have ever experienced in any entertainment medium. I, like many people, was a little worried when Studio Mappa took over the animation for Studio Wit for the final season but they have done a wonderful job of capturing the aesthetics of the prior seasons while showing the progression of time since the third season ended. The action this season has taken a back seat to the story, but when the action does ramp up it has been some of the best in the series by far. My jaw was on the floor when Eren and the scouts took on the Warhammer titan during the raid on Marley. My only real complaint is that the first half of the season ended on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait until next winter when they release the second half of the final season and finish this masterpiece!

That’s all for this week’s update! I unfortunately didn’t get much writing done this week but I am planning to have some updates on both Tuatha dé Danann and other projects next week!

What did you think of Godzilla vs. Kong? Any other Monster Hunter players in the audience? Can Eren be redeemed in the second half of the final season? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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