No Man's Sky finally gets updated - but does anybody care?

© Hello Games

No Man Sky is finally stepping up to some of its promises that it made back before its release, with its release of update 1.1, the biggest one to come to the game yet.

The patch introduced three new game modes to the controversial game, adding a creative base-building mode and a survival mode, promising a much more challenging experience according to developers.

However, the update may have come far too late to redeem the players who waited so eagerly for the release of the game. Becoming one of PS4’s biggest selling games upon release, it was soon realized by players that the game was not what they expected. Promises made for the game turned out to be missing, and players soon realised that the game was nowhere near expectations in what is described as an “PR disaster”, with many asking for refunds for the triple-A priced title.

So, what else has this update actually done to help redeem the now dead fan base? The most notable updates would be the level of fixes made, as well as UI tweaks as well as plant distribution amongst all terrain types. Also included are more resources and technologies, along with many new things found here.

The big question is whether this will do any actual good between the bond between gamers and developers Hello Games. There seemed to be irreparable damage done when Hello Games pretty much disappeared from the face of the earth following the release of the game, with the mainly negative reviews causing discussion that they described as “intense and dramatic.” They also promise more in the future of the game, saying: “This update will be the first small step in a longer journey.” Whether people actually follow them into the future though is another question.

There is also still discussion on the main point that sold players in the first place, being massive multiplayer gameplay that allowed players to interact on the many plants within the game. However there still seems to be no mention of it, so whether that’ll actually come is still in doubt.

So is it too late for one of the biggest disappointments of the year? Let us know in the comments below! 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Is it really that fantastic? 

When it was first announced that Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them (FBWTFT) was going to become the next edition into the majorly successful Harry Potter universe, it’s safe to say I was a little bit skeptical

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I thoroughly enjoyed the Harry Potter series, growing up with it made it near on impossible not to enjoy it. However hearing that a side book that JK Rowling wrote (for charity, no less) was becoming its own his film, it raised a lot of flags.

How would this little book which only describes the many beasts within the wizard world make it onto the big screen? How would they manage to make a film that would compare to the original eight? Would it end up being as Fantastic as they want it to be?

It’s safe to say, the film was pretty fantastic and pretty much blew my expectations out the window. Don’t get me wrong, the film does have its faults, but it’s a pretty decent addition to the already great wizarding world.

Just an FYI, I’ll keep the spoilers out of the review until the end, but I’m sure you’ll notice the major warning I’ll place there.

Eddie Redmayne, who plays the titular character and author of the book FBWTFT Newt Scamander, puts in a pretty good shift and the boyish nature of the Oscar winner was a great pick for the Hufflepuff representative. It felt almost uncomfortable sometimes watching the lovely Brit struggle around with the fast paced 1920’s New York City, with Scamander still keeping a careless and lovable approach while dealing with his problems (well, maybe not careless when it came to his beasts) in the city.

Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander

He was joined in a very star-studded cast with Colin Farrell taking the role of Percival Graves, an auror in NYC who seems to have a bit of power to his name, however he didn’t seem all too convincing playing an almost ‘bad cop’ kind of character (oh I wonder why). He was joined by Ezra Miller playing the super-awkward Credence Barebone, the son of a mother who has some kind of hatred and belief of witches and wizards in NYC.

Newt Scamander and Graves, played by Colin Farrel

Being a fan of the level of superhero content coming out, all I could think of when Ezra came on playing the hunched over teenager was him attempting to play a cheery, joking Flash in the future Justice League movie. It does display the acting ability of Ezra himself, however it still kept me distracted.

Also part of the cast was Samantha Morton as Tina, which in my opinion was one of the weaker characters within the film. Playing a major part in the journey with Scamander, Tina is supposedly meant to be some kind of interest for the magizoolist, however I wasn’t entirely sure what she was there for, besides being a failed auror and looking super awkward the majority of the time, along with the one part she plays further in the film (more on that later).

Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski and Alison Sudol as Queenie

The final main character of the story is Jacob Kowalski, a ‘No-maj’ that accidentally gets dropped into the magic world and joins Newt on his adventure. Played by Dan Fogler, he’s easily the reason why this film ends up being far better than expected. The chemistry between Kowalski and Scamander is brilliant to watch, as a carefree wizard and a wannabe baker end up stealing the show with their almost dosey antics that surprisingly make a good team. The character was played brilliantly and it pretty much elaborates on what somebody would be like if they had somehow ended up in a world filled with more than they ever imagined.

With the large and great cast (that also includes Ron Pearlman and a rather surprising controversial figure right at the end…), the visual effects were also top notch. The giant beasts look far better than those that appeared in the previous Potter films, and it’s undoubted that Warner Bros. have snatched themselves a hell of a profit in toys for the monsters in the future.

Now for the story itself. This WILL contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it, don’t read on.

So it starts of basically telling us where the series is going to go. Starting off a very Harry Potter like time jump going through a montage of papers detailing the destruction of Grindelwald as he rampages through the UK. The fact that Grindelwald is only documented ever so slightly in HP it was a bit weird seeing this, and it clearly states that the next couple of films will not be based on fantastic beasts but instead explore the rise and fall of Grindelwald, with it being safe to say the next couple of films will be heavily based on Dumbledore.

The film then proceeds to split into three stories all together. One following Newt Scamander, who is then rather easily apprehended by Tina and almost brought in straight away, one following Graves looking for a destructible force and one following a weird, witch-hunting group named the New Salem Philanthropic Society. It was a bit annoying how the entity that was wreaking havoc on New York was barely explained or acknowledged until later on in the film, just when it was most acceptable for the blame to be pinned on Newt for it. Though, the way that it’s managed to be tied in was believable enough, with Credence Barebone being the creature called Obscurity that was destroying the city.

Graves and Credence Barebone, played by Ezra Miller

Though on the topic of Credence, it was ridiculous how Tina managed to reveal the world of wizardry purely because she saw him being beaten. A kid being beaten in the 1920s? Scandalous. It’s partly her fault that all of this happened and why there was some anti-witch group on the hunt and hell-bent on causing havoc in New York. Sure it can be assumed that in the end it’d still come to the same conclusion, with Grindelwald attempting to win over the obscurity, but really? Revealing yourself and losing your job for that?

Grindelwald was a good touch to the series though, with there being many little subtle hints to Graves being the evil wizard. From the same slicked back hair first seen at the beginning of the film, to the Deathly Hallows symbol that was hanging in his pocket the entire time before it was given to Credence. How he didn’t figure out that Credence was the obscurity earlier is a bizarre one, with the whole ‘is it isn’t it his sister’ game that went on that was clearly and obvious ruse.

Now onto the big reveal at the end. With Credence being killed off for being the obscurity (why was Scamander so calm about it in the end though? He just saw a kid he was trying to save killed in front of him!) along with the mass destruction of New York (sure, everyone’s memory was wiped, but what about the amount of people who were clearly killed in the wreckage?) it was then reveal that Graves was in fact the notorious Grindelwald. How Scamander was so cool and confident about Graves being Grindelwald is another question, but the big question is: why Johnny Depp?

The controversial actor is clearly being set up for a run as the big bad in future additions to the series, however how they came to casting him is another question. For such a small amount of screen time it’s sure that it must have come after his midlife crisis and divorce, and is a very questionable casting. Also, if you’ll remember, Grindelwald in the Deathly Hallows film was a youngish, baby-faced criminal who stole the Elder Wand, not somebody who clearly thought Johnny Depp looked good in that moustache from Mordecai with eyes that look like they’ve been ripped straight from David Bowie’s skull.

Overall though, despite the odd bizarre things that felt a little forced at time, along with the plenty of fun times watching Scamander hunt his beastly, adorable creatures while they terrorised NYC, the film was an overall enjoyment and is a pretty solid edition to the wizard universe, and somehow managed to stay within said universe without feeling like a total sell out for the HP series. I’d highly recommend seeing it for the entertainment value, and with the few hints to future films (Lena Lestrange should be a good one, plus a young Dumbledore) it’s bound to be a good series. Though it is clear that Eddie Redmayne won’t be a big name in the future ones, with Newt Scamanders story being way too small to be the main focus of future films, which is a bit sad to be honest. However, it should be highly interesting to see how they all play out.

In the end, I’d give the film a solid 7.5 out of 10.

All photos © Warner Brothers Pictures