Category / KattheLadyNerd

by WetheGeek

A Twist on Normal Streaming

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Back in December, the popular Netflix anthology series Black Mirror added another strange tale to their ranks. Bandersnatch is a standalone film that brings choose-your-own adventures to a whole new level. The story surrounds a young videogame designer, Stefan, in the 1980s who is attempting to adapt his favorite choose-your-own-adventure novel into a visual medium. It’s a psychological thriller that causes just as much chaos for the viewer as the protagonist.

In the beginning, you make a series of seemingly insignificant decisions to get the feel for how the film lays out the plot. Without providing any serious spoilers, there are many different ways to make a poor or detrimental choice that takes you to a less-than-ideal ending. But it’s what the film’s algorithm does that’s the best part. When you get that early ending, it takes you back to the scene before the “bad” choice, and let’s you choose the other option as a way of correcting the mistake and allowing you to see the rest of the story and every possible ending.

It wouldn’t be a classic episode of Black Mirror without several secrets and plot twists that leave you scratching your head wondering, “What the *bleep* just happened?!?” Why would the Bandersnatch creators make the viewer choose the story if there wasn’t any real interaction between the audience and the characters? That’s right. You guessed it. A fourth wall break. Stefan, the guy you control the decisions of, figures out he’s being manipulated by an outside force to make these decisions. So to be a smart alec, it’s a choose-your-own-adventure novel within a choose-your-own-adventure game within a choose-your-own-adventure film. Does that mean our very human existence is a choose-your-own-adventure universe? Mind blown.

Unfortunately, a project as well-received as this doesn’t come without backlash. According to an article from TheVerge.com, the publisher of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, Chooseco, is suing Netflix for trademark infringement at the amount of at least $25 million. Their main reasoning is since Bandersnatch is so dark and geared toward adults, it will ruin Chooseco’s reputation for publishing family-friendly entertainment. Netflix is such a large entity in the industry, the chances of them losing this battle are very slim. Chooseco can try though.

Netflix has been on fire with their Originals lately. From Stranger Things to Tidying Up with Marie Kondo to Orange is the New Black to The Seven Deadly Sins, there are nearly limitless options available on this legendary streaming platform. The next time you’re scrolling through your watch list, just pick a Netflix Original. The worst that could happen is that you’ll hate it and have to pick another one. Eventually, you’ll end up sucked into an intense show you just can’t stop binging…like Black Mirror.

Well, you know where I’ll be.

-KatTheLadyNerd

by WetheGeek

Cowboys ride again

The third installment in the ​Red Dead​ series dropped on October 26th and gamers everywhere were freaking out, including me. For those who aren’t familiar with this title, the original ​Red Dead Redemption​ was released in 2010 by Rockstar Games and is the second in the series following ​Red Dead Revolver ​from 2004. This series overall is a Western-themed, open-world, action-adventure with an easy-to-follow story that lets you live your dream of being a cowboy/outlaw in the late 1800s to early 1900s. To be honest, it’s ​Grand Theft Auto​ with horses.

The premise for ​Red Dead Redemption 2​ is similar to the previous titles, in that you play as an outlaw trying to choose between the gang and himself, killing as many (or as few) people as it takes to achieve mental clarity for your character. ​Redemption 2​ plants the protagonist, Arthur Morgan, right in the middle of Dutch Van der Linde’s outlaw gang, which was the same group John Marston left and was tasked with taking down in ​Red Dead Redemption​. Due to the presence of Marston as an active member of Van der Linde’s gang, ​Redemption 2​ is actually a prequel and not a sequel, as the number “2” would imply. Enough about the story, let’s get into the mechanics.

I’ve been playing every day since the release, and I can safely say that this game is outstanding. The graphics are phenomenal and the environment is beautiful. Not many games can pull off different climates and weather fronts well, but wow, these developers put forth some intense time and effort to perfect the environment. Not only is the setting majestic, it is more than deadly. Your character and horse will take damage if you get caught in extreme weather which makes it even more immersive. It takes the ease of traversing an open world and makes the player have to think about how they proceed in the environment, which increases the challenge. The weapon wheel, inventory menu, and pause menus are easy to navigate and separate every aspect of your character’s needs appropriately. Another mechanic Rockstar does well in all their games is assisted targeting. I will admit that I am terrible at aiming in-game weapons with my console controller, so I rely heavily on assisted targeting when provided to me. ​Redemption 2​ delivers four assisted targeting options for a wide spectrum of gameplay options.

All in all, ​Red Dead Redemption 2​ has lived up to the majority of the hype. It was a long-awaited addition to the ​Red Dead​ franchise that will become a classic, as did the previous two titles. I give this title an 8 out of 10 rating, taking the lack of fast travel into account. Unfortunately, this is as close as we will come to Westworld…for now.

-KatTheLadyNerd

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