Maybe you’re stuck in your house, maybe you’re staying at a friends to avoid getting someone sick, maybe you’re stuck in the hospital or maybe you’re still working in all of the madness and you just want to find some way to relax and take your mind off of things. I fully understand and I’m willing to offer you some help in the only way I can. First off, I want you to remind you to follow CDC and WHO Guidelines. Wash your hands, avoid touching you face and try to remain as calm and as kind as you can in this mess. It’s a very serious situation that we’re only going to get through together, even if we’re apart.
So the way I’m writing this article is to focus on some of the cheaper/free options out there for entertainment while you may be stuck somewhere. Naturally, the first option is to find some books or comics around your place. I’ve personally been reading The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. It’s the first book in the witcher series and it’s been great. It’s basically just a book of short stories about Geralt just being Geralt and it’s just a lot of fun to read.
Maybe you don’t have an excessive library in your room like I do…because I’m a book hoarder…but that’s an article for another time. Although I always prefer physical forms of Media whether it’s Books, Comics or Video Games but going to different stores and shops isn’t entirely conducive to most of our current situations so at this time I strongly suggest either buying some books on your phone or tablet or if you have an active account with your local library then Check out the app Hoopla. It’s a fantastic digital reader and you can basically check out the entirety of your library’s database from the comfort of your own home.
As for comics, I recently got caught up on what Jonathan Hickman is doing with the X-Men universe. It’s really good but good/bad thing is that you kinda have to read every X-Book to really get the full effect so now my next plan is to check out some of the back issues of the other series. I have #1 of all of them and they’re all pretty awesome. They’ve done a really good job of making sure every book covers a certain area of X-Men lore. I do wish they were a bit more separated though, just for Financial Constraints if nothing else since 6 books is $24 a month just for one story. It’s a bit steep considering that’s not counting what other books you get that month. That being said, it’s absolutely worth it.
Once again, perhaps you don’t have comic book boxes that resemble the leaning tower of pisa like I do because I have a problem…I mean, an exceptional collection of books! Comixology is here to help with that. It’s a mobile/online reader for comics with a massive database of back issues and an engine that is incredibly user friendly. Take it from someone who has tried to read comics online pretty much my entire life, Comixology is the best one out there. The main comixology app is what I use the most but they do have separate Marvel and DC apps if there’s a certain one that you can’t find on the main one but honestly, if you’re just looking for some great comics to read and they’re main/bigger titles then they’re all going to be on the main app. Also, if you don’t want to start shelling out a bunch of money on comics, then try out Comixology Unlimited which is basically Netflix for Comics. It’s $5.99 a month and They have a 60 day free trial to start. Also, if you don’t like it, it’s super easy to unsubscribe from. Say what you will about Amazon, but they are typically very user friendly.
I personally don’t suggest DC Universe or Marvel Comics Unlimited. DCU is not a user friendly interface at all and unless you just want to watch the shows/movies on your laptop then it’s not worth it to me. Plus, it’s really weird about which devices it can actually be on. I think it’s finally on Roku and Xbox One but it’s still not on PS4 which is weird to me. Meanwhile, The MCU(I honestly just now noticed that it’s the same acronym.) also has a very difficult user interface, constantly would crash and have bugs and worst of all was very difficult to cancel. I know that seems weird but just trust me on this. I had it for the better part of 2019 and hardly used it because it wasn’t enjoyable to read my books on it. Which was upsetting cause I was finally going to read all of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s Annihilation/Guardians Of The Galaxy Run. But hey, Half of Annihilation is on Comixology Unlimited and their entire Guardians Run is on there so now I can read them on there.
Moving on, let’s check out some Video Games! Did you know that if you have Playstation Plus account or an Xbox Live Gold Account that you get free games every month? Well I’m here to let you know about them and this month has some great ones!
First off, we’ll talk about the PS4 games that they’re offering and to start this we have Shadow Of The Colossus. It’s one of those games that helps the argument of Video Games as an art form. The designs in this game are exceptional and the music is a sweeping epic. When they re-released it for the third time on PS4, I initially thought that they were overdoing it but it looks incredible and was definitely worth the new edition. The story is fairly simple and I won’t spoil anything but basically, to raise your beloved from the dead you have to go and kill 16 Colossi, it starts off fairly basic but then it gets more difficult as the game progresses on. It’s a wonderful game and Team Ico deserves to have their masterpiece brought to a larger audience.
Next up for this month is Sonic Forces. Now I have to admit that I haven’t actually played this one myself but I’ve heard some decent things about it. Some people didn’t really care for it but I think that’s largely due to it being the follow-up to the Modern classic that is, Sonic Mania. Either way, It’s free and worth checking out. What I’ve seen of the game showcases some of the 2D side scrolling levels as well as going back to the 3D aspects. The level I watched seemed to mix it pretty seamlessly so hopefully the entire game is as tight as the gameplay I watched.
Those games will be available for free until April 6th and then on the 7th you’ll be able to get Uncharted 4 : A Thieves End and Dirt Rally 2.0. I can go into more details on those in a later article if you would like. Let me know in the comments!
Next up, We’ll talk about Xbox Games With Gold. Our first selection is Shantae : Half-Genie Hero. Shantae is a Arcade Style platformer with an adorable cartoonish art style, upbeat music and some pretty challenging levels. It’s one that’s easy to learn and difficult to master gameplay is something that will delight and challenge gamers of all ages. This is available until April 15th and would be a great pick-up for anyone.
Next up is Batman : The Enemy Within. The Telltale Batman games are some of their best work hands down. I personally haven’t tried this one but WiseSage gave it a glowing endorsement and we both loved the first one in the series. If you want a strong story driven Batman game then this is it. Plus, it’s great to play and discuss with friends to see how different your stories were. This game is available for Free until March 31st so don’t miss out!
Next up is a game that I’ve become addicted to and that’s Apex Legends. It’s available on PS4, Xbox One and PC.(Sorry Switch lovers, don’t worry your part’s coming up.) For all of the Free to Play Battle Royale’s out there, H1Z1, The newly released Call Of Duty : Warzone or the behemoth that is Fortnite, I honestly haven’t been that impressed. Then, I tried out Apex Legends and something just clicked. It’s a great game with really tight controls and a host of characters that all manage to play differently even though it’s a battle royale game. I’ve really enjoyed trying everyone out and seeing who’s abilities fit into my playstyle. Respawn Entertainment is a great company and this is a game that deserves at least a few rounds.
DC Universe Online is a game that’s available for every console and it’s just a fun Action-RPG to lose yourself in. You create your character, decide what powers you’re going to have, create your costume and decide which hero or villain is going to be your mentor. It’s a lot of fun and is a bit more of an action oriented RPG but there’s still a lot of fun to be had even if you’re more of a traditionalist. My only real complaint is that some of the powers are locked behind DLC and paid DLC always annoys me if I have to buy something like an ability. But hey, DCUO is still a lot of fun to play.
Now we’re getting to our Switch segment and I love the Nintendo Switch so much and as of right now, there’s a bunch of great titles on sale for you to check out on the Nintendo EShop. But once again, maybe you’re looking for some free options and I don’t blame you. I’ve got 2 great ones for you as long as you have an active Nintendo Online account. First up is Tetris 99. Now, a Battle Royale version of Tetris might just sound weird and look, I get it cause I was concerned about it at first too but let me tell you, you will lose hours to this game if you’re not careful. “Just one more game.”, “I can do better on this next one” and “Oh, I should’ve put that there instead!” are constant phrases after you start this one up. Cause it’s so simple : It’s just Tetris…but the last one standing is the winner. You vs. 99 other people. Got what it takes?
I was gonna talk about Animal Crossing but I wanted to play a bit so that’s coming soon…
Next up, we got some shows to watch and I’m excited because 4 out of the 5 shows I’m about to talk about are things I’ve been meaning to write about anyway. So let’s get started.
First off is My Hero Academia. You can catch the entire series on Hulu and Crunchyroll right now. Now this is a show that I’ve written about before but honestly this is a perfect one to start off with even if you haven’t watched any other Anime before this. Very accessible and it only has 4 seasons right now…compared to some of the 700+ Episodic Series that are out there.(Nothing against them, just a bit daunting for some.) The basic premise is that 90% of the world has superpowers/quirks and they have to figure out how to live with them. Some are heroes, some are villains and some people just have fairly normal powers/quirks that they live with. Our story follows the students at the top school for kids with Quirks. It’s basically the X-Men without the bigotry and prejudicial overtones. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t drama because trust me. This show gets real very quickly. It’s a great starter Anime for anyone interested in getting into the genre or anyone who loves Superhero Comics.
Continuing with our Anime output, is Trigun. Once again, available on Hulu and on Crunchyroll. Trigun is an older series and that’s very prevalent in it’s art style and the pacing of the show. Please, don’t take this to mean it’s boring and doesn’t look that good because neither could be further from the truth. Trigun is about Vash The Stampede, the situations he gets thrown into and the Insurance reporters who follow him around. That’s the basics of it and the story just gradually builds from the idea of is this quirky, donut loving guy really the famous gunman that has a massive bounty on his head? You’re gonna have to watch the series to find out. The secondary characters are some of the best in any series and honestly the only issue that I have with the series is that they cut out some things from the Manga that were rather important to the story as a whole. It’s wonderful and is absolutely worth your time.
Continuing with our love of Anime, we get to a show that isn’t necessarily considered an anime but is very clearly inspired by their style and action set pieces. The show I’m talking about is none other than Castlevania. Castlevania is a Netflix exclusive that just released it’s third season, which wasn’t quite as good as Season 2 in my opinion but it was still incredible and set up a lot for future seasons of the series. The series follows the last of the Belmont family as he travels across the land of Walachia. The Belmonts were monster hunters and now that the evil of Dracula has been unleashed upon the land, it’s time for Trevor Belmont to decide if he is to remain nothing more than a stumbling drunk or to take up the mantle that his ancestors set forth. The voice acting is top notch, the storylines are brilliant and the series as whole just works so well whether you’re a newcomer to the franchise or have played Castlevania Games for years. I highly suggest starting this show, it’ll take no time at all to get caught up on. That being said, As much as I love this show, just a heads up that it is decidedly not for all ages. A lot of violence, a lot of language and as of season 3, a pretty intense sex scene. This would be a good one after sending the kids to bed.
Another great Netflix exclusive is The Witcher. It’s loosely based on the first two books of the series which I mentioned earlier. It tells the story of our three Protagonists : Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri. Their three main stories are all told in different time periods.
- Yennefer is roughly 250-200 years ago.
- Geralt is about 30 years ago.
- Ciri’s is current.
The three storylines converge at the end of the series when everyone comes together and apparently people didn’t understand the different time periods and some people said it was hard to follow because of this. I personally didn’t have any issues with this and thought that it was told incredibly well over the 8 episodes. I really enjoyed this first season and I do think it’ll only get stronger with Season 2 since they’ve already said that the story will be more singularly focused. I’m excited to see more and I think anyone would enjoy checking this out for their fantasy fix. Once again though, this one is probably worse than Castlevania when it comes to the content warning. Definitely not one for the kids to enjoy with you.
We’ll end on one that the kids can absolutely enjoy with you! Star Wars on Disney+! You have the Clone Wars series which Red Lanyard is currently doing episodic reviews as they come out every Friday. So I’ll leave that part to him but I will say that the show is great and it’s definitely worth a viewing if you just need more of the clones, droid and Jedi action. But what I wanted to focus on was our favorite bounty hunter turned father, The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian is a phenomenal series that is just a powerhouse of storytelling and acting within the Star Wars universe. It’s also great that it’s something that is completely separate from The Skywalker Saga and even from the central planets that we typically recognize. I don’t want to spoil a lot of things if you’ve missed this series…which if you haven’t then you at least know that Baby Yoda is a thing but if you managed to miss that then I have to ask, “How?” What I will say about this show is that it manages to be this mix of a Spaghetti Western and a space saga and it’s just perfection. I love all of the side characters and Pedro Pascal is able to do more acting with a full mask on his face than a lot of actors can with hours of facetime. This is one that you won’t want to miss.
That’s it for me guys. I love you all and I hope you guys are doing alright. Be Kind, Be Safe and Be Wise. I’ll see you all soon.
