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Harley Quinn Season 2, Episode 12 Review

So, after getting some actually helpful advice from the Joker of all people, Harley Quinn made up her mind about Ivy. She’s not going to give up on her love for Ivy or their friendship. However, Dr. Psycho continued to be a royal pain as he manages to mind-control Ivy and orders her to fight Harley to the death in a deadly lover’s quarrel. Man, that is evil.

Lover’s Quarrel Does Heavy Lifting

Some people think that the season finale to a show is going to have to carry the most weight. However, in my experience, it’s the second-to-last episode that’s most important. It’s the one that has to tie together all the plot threads together for a clean finale. And “Lover’s Quarrel” delivers in the most epic, and hilarious, fashion.

Firstly, there’s the fact that this episode sees the DC Trinity of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman fighting as one. Whenever they’re all on screen, things are going to be badass. The Parademons and Harley’s friends are no match for them. At least, until Psycho sics Ivy’s love potion on them. After that, they’re useless.

Do you know who’s not useless in this episode, though? Syrus Borgman! In a surprise twist, it turns out Sy survived as a digital program. And after transferring himself onto the Internet (I think), he teaches Kiteman how to build a device that will cancel out Psycho’s powers. If he’s now a computer program, then that could make him a way bigger help to Harley in future seasons.

The Heart of the Show

Speaking of Harley, it’s her relationship with Ivy that remains the heart of the episode. I daresay, it’s the heart of the show as a whole. Despite Psycho’s mind-control forcing Harley to fight her best friend, she chooses to gamble on their love for each other. Which leads us to the next big kiss of the season!

It’s a common cliche in fiction: an act of true love to save the person you care the most about. I’ve seen it done to death in countless stories. And yet, I never seem to get tired of it in the end. What makes this moment even more important is that Kiteman already tried this tactic on Ivy, only for it to fail. The evidence is clear: Ivy doesn’t love Kiteman as much as she thinks she does. And after kicking Psycho’s butt and sending Darkseid home (impressed with her ruthlessness), Harley makes her offer a second time.

But then, just to be a jerk, Psycho reveals what Harley and Ivy did at her bachelorette party. To everyone in Gotham!

Whatever happens in the finale next week, it’s going to be crazy. I can’t wait to see it. And then, I’m cancelling my subscription to DC Universe and switching to HBO Max. That’s where its at!

I Give “Lover’s Quarrel” a 4/5

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This just in! Months after the success of Jedi: Fallen Order, EA’s attempting to keep the gravy train going with the next Star Wars game to be published by them. After years of waiting for the next genuine dogfighter in a franchise where that’s 40% of the appeal, we’re getting Star Wars: Squadrons. Here are my initial thoughts on what we’ve learned so far.  

Taking place after the events of Return of the Jedi, you play as two pilots on opposite sides of the war. On one side, you’ve got Vanguard Squadron with the New Republic; on the other, Titan Squadron with the Empire. As the Galactic Civil War reaches its zenith, you’re in the cockpit as you square off against the best pilots in the galaxy to shape the fate of the war. That’s all we know about the story mode so far, and if you ask me, it sounds pretty promising. But the story is only part of a successful game.

The Ships

As of right now, there are a total of eight ships that we’ll be able to fly, four on each side: fighters, interceptors, bombers, and support ships. Each ship comes with a detailed cockpit with instruments and sensors to keep players up to date and enhance the sense of realism.

So, it’s basically the Star Wars equivalent of a combat flight simulator, like Ace Combat. Or, for me, X-Wing Alliance.

Here’s the best part, though. We’ll be able to play the entire game in VR! This alone is going to crank the realism factor up to eleven. While this will likely give some people headaches and sore necks, I think it will be worth it to feel like you’re flying an actual X-Wing or TIE fighter.

Customization

A lot of games these days are about giving players the freedom to customize to suit their game styles or cosmetic interests. According to the gameplay trailer, we’ll be able to give our ships custom paint jobs, and change the appearance of our pilots. But the real appeal is the components mechanic. You can add upgrades to your fighters to change their power, ammo, and durability. Perfect for players who want to push their gaming to the limit.

The Multiplayer Mode

Now, for the meat of the game, the multiplayer. Right now, there are two modes that will be available in the game: Dogfight and Fleet Battles. Each mode will let players work in teams of five against AI or other players. Dogfight’s as it sounds: a full-on dogfight. Fleet Battle is where the fun begins; a multi-stage battle where players have to fight their way to the enemy flagship and destroy it.

This Looks Promising

I know that EA hasn’t had the best track record with Star Wars in recent years. Their reboot of Battlefront irritated players with its lack of single-player and need to be connected to the Internet. Then Battlefront II gave us a lackluster story, and outraged everyone with its blatant use of micro-transactions. Thankfully, Squadrons will have neither of those. Which is awesome.

Overall, I think that this game’s got a lot of promise. An immersive, combat flight simulator in the Star Wars universe that works with VR is the stuff of dreams! I am genuinely hoping that EA will have learned its lessons from its past screw-ups and give us more games like this. They may not be able to wipe away the stain of their past, but at least they can make up for it.

I’m probably going to get this game and follow in the wings of Luke Skywalker.

Click here to learn all there is about Star Wars with Wookiepedia, the Star Wars Wiki.

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Maneater Review

Forty-five years ago today, Stephen Spielburg helped invent the Summer Blockbuster with the movie Jaws. Since then, people have learned to fear the sight of a shark-fin in the water. Therefore, it feels appropriate for me to put up this review for a game that embodies the spirit of Jaws. Everyone, get ready to experience the terror of the deep all over again in Tripwire Interactive’s game, Maneater.

Set in the fictional gulf city of Port Clovis, you play as a bull shark who’s out for revenge on the shark-hunter that killed your mother and maimed you as a pup. Small and alone, you’ve got to fight and chomp your way up to the top of the food chain by eating anything you can come across. By doing so, you’ll grow from a pup to an adult, and finally, into a long-extinct Megalodon. As in, the super-sharks that went extinct almost 2 million years ago. If you thought the shark in Jaws was scary, then a Mega is the stuff of nightmares!

Gameplay wise, the whole thing’s pretty straightforward. You have to eat everything you can and avoid getting eaten yourself. The more you eat, the bigger you get. And when you eat certain prey, you’ll get nutrients to give yourself upgrades to make your shark even more powerful. And there are a lot of cool upgrades. They range from being able to survive longer on land to covering your shark in bones to protect them. By the time you’ve reached the end, our shark will be the most dangerous fish in the ocean.

As far as stories go, there really isn’t a need for one, and the developers know it. Thus, they decided to frame the game in this in-game reality show called Maneaters vs. Sharkhunters, hosted by Chris Parnell. Chris gives the game much of its humor through his very snarky commentary, never missing a beat. Not even when you jump onto the beach and devour beachgoers. Or when you’re ripping apart trigger-happy sharkhunters.

The game doesn’t take that long to finish; I got done in about 16 hours. If that’s not going to sell you on it, the game’s also filled with a lot of easter eggs and pop culture references. Off the top of my head, I found references to Titanic, Spongebob, Castaway, Finding Nemo, Cthulhu, and Godzilla. If you’re looking for a short, hilarious game to break in summertime, I recommend Maneater. It’s a real steal at on $30.

I Give Maneater an 8.5/10

Click here to see my Let’s Play of Maneater

My Five Favorite Summer Cartoons

Okay, so there’s a global pandemic that’s making a lot of summertime plans really hard to follow through on. However, today’s the Summer solstice, and I’m not COVID-19 ruin that for me. So, to keep my spirits up, I thought I’d take a stroll down memory lane. Here are some of my favorite cartoons set during the kid-friendly season that is summer.

For this, I’m focused on shows that are set during summer time or summer vacation for the majority of their run. Shows with episodes that focus on summertime activities may get another post, but no promises.

Camp Lazlo

The Bean Scouts used to be a peaceful group of campers who spend their summer days obeying the rules in an orderly fashion. Then Lazlo arrived and turned everything upside down.

Premiering in the summer of 2005, this hilarious take on summer camp antics was the brainchild of the creator of Rocko’s Modern Life, Joe Murray. In fact, a lot of the voice actors, writers, and other staff from Rocko reunited with Murray in order. As a result, this quirky show about the titular monkey in a rundown summer camp inheirted much of Rocko’s appeal. While I was too young to remember Rocko, I adored Camp Lazlo as a kid, and still look back on it with fond memories. I never went to an actual summer camp as a kid, but when I think of one, I think of Camp Lazlo’s Camp Kidney.

Camp Camp

In hindsight, this next entry from the minds at Rooster Teeth seems like the reverse of Camp Lazlo. Like the previous entry, Camp Camp is set in a rundown camp run. Unlike Camp Lazlo, though, the roles of the main adult and kid are reversed. Here, the main child character, Max, is the cynical one who (initially) hates the Camp, while the main grown-up, Dave, is the wide-eyed idealist.

I haven’t really watched the show since season four, but I still think it’s a pretty good cartoon. It’s made by the people of Rooster Teeth, who are known for having a lot of talented voice actors, animators, and writers working for them. However, to sweeten the deal, several recurring characters are voiced by prominent voice actors like Yuri Lowenthal, Dante Basco, and Travis Willingham, to name a few.

Ed Edd n’ Eddy

If you’ve paid any attention to my blog, then you should know how much of a fan I am of Ed Edd n’ Eddy. One of the most successful and most enduring cartoons that Cartoon Network ever put out, this hilarious cartoon captures the childhood misadventures of our childhoods. Then it throws in the slapstick genius of The Three Stooges to create moments so hilarious that I almost busted a gut at them.

And before you say anything, I’m well aware that the final season took place during the school year. The majority of it, though, took place in the summer, so it counts.

Gravity Falls

How could I forget to put the modern-day classic that is Gravity Falls? I’d have to be crazy to do so! If you’ve been living under a rock, then allow me to tell you about the cartoon that would set the standards to which we now hold Disney cartoons. It’s about two twins, Dipper and Mabel Pines, who get sent to spend the summer with their great-uncle Stan in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. While that sounds boring, the town proves to be one of the craziest places on Earth. Thus, the two spend their summer uncovering the many mysteries and weirdness behind the town.

Calling this show legendary is an understatement. It’s probably one of the most influential cartoons of the last ten years. Even years after the show ended, it’s still got a large fanbase. One of the best fanfics I’ve ever read had the cast of Gravity Falls play a big part in it. And Disney’s new hit shows, Amphibia and The Owl House, were created by people who worked on Gravity Falls. In conclusion, it’s an awesome show.

Phineas and Ferb

The legend itself, I hold Phineas and Ferb among one of the best cartoons I’ve ever seen, period. Not to mention its one of the best cartoons that Disney’s made in the 21st century. Debuting back in 2008 (God, that feels so long ago,) this show follows the titular brothers as they strive to make every day of summer vacation the best day ever. Whether it’s building the world’s coolest rollercoaster, traveling the world in a single day, or meeting their counterparts in another dimension, this show never ceased to amaze me. Also, it has some of the best songs I’ve ever heard in a cartoon.

Enjoy Your Summer, Everyone!

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