Gran Turismo 7: Initial Thoughts

 

The Playstation 5 first launched over a year ago and I still haven't been able to pick one up. This has been a non-issue for me as there haven't been any major games that I've wanted to play on the system. That is about to change, however, as there are a handful of games on the horizon for 2022 that I am interested in playing on the system. The first of these games to release is Gran Turismo 7.

I've been a fan of Gran Turismo from the first edition. When the game released initially on the Playstation 1 in 1997, I had never seen anything like it. It had so many cars and configurations it was mind blowing. It was praised for its physics model and car handling characteristics. By the time Gran Turismo 5 came out in 2010 on the Playstation 3, I thought the series was getting stale. Although I thought Gran Turismo 6 was the best version of the game released at the time in 2013, the series seemed in dire need of an overhaul. I moved on to the Playstation 4 and skipped 2017's Gran Turismo Sport because it was mostly an online game. With that being said, it has been nearly a decade since I've played a Gran Turismo game. I was excited for the release of 7, and after reading a few reviews and watching a review video, I have a few initial thoughts.

First for the positives. The game is visually stunning. It looks amazing. A lot of the odd idiosyncrasies of the game are back. The weird menu system, the car cleaning, the grinding for credits, etc. A part of me finds all of this a bit annoying. However, it all is so oddly Gran Turismo that there is an element of nostalgia that makes me like it. One of the reviews I read liked the game to a Japanese RPG. I had never thought of that way before, but it kinda makes sense how you grind for credits to upgrade the cars "skills". 

Now, for the negatives. As mentioned above, by the time the series had entered the PS3 era, it felt outdated. Despite upgrades in other areas, I really felt the on-track action had remained stagnant and other series had passed it in this regard. After reading reviews and seeing the video review, my worst fears about this version seem to be true. The awful rolling starts are back. You start the race in last place, and by the time you take the green flag at the start/finish line, the lead car is half a lap ahead. At least in the video I watched, there were only 8 cars on track. There should be at least twice that many, if not 3 times as many. Multi-class races should be a thing too (I'm actually not sure if this exists in the game or not). Project Cars 2 was able to pull it off on the PS4 in 2017. Perhaps the most perplexing aspect of the game is its lack of damage, both visually and in terms of consequence for hitting another car. For a series that bases its popularity on its driving realness, it is hard not to feel like this game leans towards an arcade instead of a sim when you can just ram cars off the track with no consequence.

Despite the apparent lack of advancement of its racing, I'm looking forward to playing this game. It's at least in part due to nostalgia, but it is also because I like cars and driving games. Despite what I view as racing flaws, the game has a lot of positive qualities. So much, in fact, that I've only played one other GT racing game (Project Cars 2) since Gran Turismo 6 was released in 2013. Plus, once I'm able to play the game, I may be surprised at how it races.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

 

This movie takes place after the events of End Game and the Blip. Poor Peter Parker just wants to take a trip to Europe with his classmates and tell MJ how he really feels about her. Instead, he is handed the keys to Tony Stark's billion dollar empire, selected by Tony himself to take his position in the Avengers. As usual, trouble follows, this time in the form of a giant typhoon and fire monsters. Peter meets up with Nick Fury, who is recruiting him to join the Avengers team to save the world from the typhoon and fire monsters. Except Fury is actually a Skrull, and the real Nick Fury is manipulating the situation from a spaceship in outer space.

Jake Gyllenhaal's character Mysterio is the main villain. Mysterio is motivated to become the next Iron Man after being fired from Stark Industries. Initially he appears to be on Fury's side, fighting off the typhoon monster. However, Peter naively gives Mysterio the glasses used to control Tony's gadgets, which includes fancy killer drones that can project life-like images. Thus, the typhoon and fire monsters aren't real. They are illusions controlled by Mysterio and Stark's fancy drones (though it is unclear how Mysterio is doing this prior to having access to Stark's AI). Mysterio himself has no special powers. The entire thing is an illusion, controlled by Mysterio and his team behind the scenes, almost like special effects in a movie. I'm not sure how I feel about the Mysterio character. On the one hand, he has a unique approach to being a villain. On the other hand, he seems a bit desperate. 

Overall I enjoyed this movie, though not as much as the first Tom Holland Spider-Man. Tom, Jon, and the rest of the cast were great, as usual. Having Jackson's Nick Fury character is always a bonus, though it was at the expense of having no Tony Stark. Zendaya's (she's so cool she only has one name) MJ character was featured more heavily in this movie, which is a good thing. 

Back to poor Peter Parker. Despite the interruptions, he was able to start dating MJ by the end of the movie. As soon as they arrive back in New York, however, the Daily Bugle (which now is apparently a pod cast) releases a video of Mysterio revealing Spider-Man's identity, setting in motion the events of No Way Home, the multiverse, and the fourth phase of the MCU.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

 

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. Instead of retelling everything that happened in the earlier Spider-Man movies, this movie picks up after the Battle of New York and shows Tony Stark mentoring Peter to possibly become an Avenger. Peter still deals with typical teenage angst, and struggles with balancing being a superhero and a high school kid at the same time. He gets a date for the homecoming dance with his dream girl Liz, only to find out that her dad is the villain he is hunting down. For some reason I didn't see this coming, despite being completely obvious in hindsight. Michael Keaton's Vulture character is a disgruntled contractor or engineer of some sort, who had a job cleaning up the wreckage after the Battle of New York. When his firm was subsequently fired from the job, he takes some alien materials from the wreckage, turning it into weapons that he sells on the black market.

We knew that Tony Stark had a relationship with Peter from Captain America: Civil War, when he joined Tony's team at the airport battle. This movie tells the story of what is going on in Peter's life during that time. He is the typical friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, stopping small thefts and struggling to fit in at school. After the events of Civil War, though, he strives to join the Avengers to have a bigger impact. Tony, however, wants him to stay under the radar and continue to develop his skills, presumably because of his age. Once Peter discovers the alien weapon black market, he aims to shut it down to impress Tony and show him that he can do bigger things than stop basic robberies. This is how Spider-Man and Vulture cross paths. 

The interesting thing about this movie is that the battle between Spider-Man and Vulture takes a back seat to the relationship between Peter and Tony. Regardless of what happens between Spider-Man and Vulture, you get the feeling that the Avengers could sweep in and take care of business at any time. This is OK, however, because the bigger story is Spider-Man getting integrated into the MCU. I've been looking forward to the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies because of this integration. 

I have just a couple of random closing thoughts about the movie. Tony is still driving the awesome Audi R8, which I love. Jon Favreau is great as Tony's assistant Happy Hogan. The always great Donald Glover has a small role in the film, as does Nacho from Better Call Saul. The AI in the enhanced Spider-Man suit from Tony is voiced by Jennifer Connelly, which I only know from looking at the IMDB page. Speaking of the suit, I thought it was a cool idea and enjoyed its integration into the film. However, there was a point where I thought there were too many on-screen graphics and interaction with the suit. Tony eventually takes the suit back, saving the movie from turning into a video game.

The Book of Boba Fett

 

When I watched the original trilogy of Star Wars movies, I never payed much attention to Boba Fett. He was in very few scenes, and only had a couple of lines in the films, and I viewed him as a very minor side character. I have since learned that the character has a bit of a cult following, with a lot of people liking him. I kind of get it. He's got cool armor and a cool ship, plus he has a jet pack which is always a bonus. After a few appearances in The Mandalorian, Fett finally gets the spotlight in his own show. 

The Book of Boba Fett takes place after the events of Episode VI. He was presumed dead, but somehow survived the Sarlacc pit. The first few episodes are split between current time where he has become the daimyo of Tatooine (after Jabba died and Fortuna was defeated)  and the past immediately after surviving the Sarlacc pit. In the past, he recovers and befriends a group of Tusken raiders. The Tusken raiders are typically portrayed as scary and ruthless warriors. The trouble with the flashback scenes is a lot of screen time is dedicated showing Boba recovering and becoming friends with the raiders, only to have them killed. It seems like a lot of effort that in the end is wasted, although the killing is used for motivation in the final episode.

There is also trouble with the current day scenes. The biggest issue is that Boba just isn't that interesting. He tries to rule diplomatically, which seems odd considering he is a killer by trade. He has trouble gaining support among the locals. He compromises with the cities gang leaders by saying if you won't join me, just don't turn against me. How do you think that worked out? Fennec Shand is a cool character introduced in Rebels and she appeared in The Bad Batch too. She was good in The Mandalorian and I looked forward to her appearance here. Unfortunately, she spent almost the entire series as Fett's sidekick, basically a muppet on screen who never says or does much. She doesn't get much action until the very last episode, which is a shame because she is a cool character.

The first half of the series is spent with the flashbacks. Once that ends, the series does get better but not because of Boba. It becomes a Star Wars cameo showcase, with the likes of Mando, Grogu, Luke, Ashoka, and others appearing. In fact, the show doesn't really become interesting until Mando shows up. Despite also saying little to nothing of interest, he somehow is a more interesting character than Boba, especially with that awesome Darksaber. The second half of the show seems to be setting up Mando season 3 (when does that start, by the way?). Grogu has to make an important choice - become a Jedi or a Mandalorian. He appears to chose to become a Mandalorian. While this story made this show more interesting, it seems to take the wind out of the sails of Mando season 3 a bit.

It was cool to see the Pykes on screen again, and I suspect we will be seeing more of them in other series. I'm hoping Emilia Clarke returns to play Qi'ra. It was cool to see Cobb Vanth return, and hopefully that bacta tank will heal him. I also have to mention how cool it was to see Cad Bane on screen. He is such a bad ass, and I always enjoyed his story arcs in the Clone Wars. I am really hoping he didn't actually die, so that we can see him in subsequent shows.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

 

I'm glad this film told an original story, and didn't just rehash one of the Tobey Maguire movies. I was sad to see Gwen Stacy's character die. Hopefully she returns in subsequent movies. I think Andrew Garfield was good in this movie, and I enjoyed the backstory about Peter's parents. Overall, I enjoyed this movie as much, if not more than, the first Amazing Spider-Man. I want to spend most of this post discussing the villains, however.

I really liked the short back story on Max Dillon. He's a smart, quiet, under-appreciated man who just wants to be noticed and have friends. When the stereotypical comic accident occurs and he is electrocuted and turns into Electro, he doesn't want to be a bad guy. But he turns insanely jealous when Spider-Man steals his spotlight, and gets coerced by Harry Osborn to be a villain. I found his psychologically unstable character to be interesting, and Jamie Foxx plays him well. Despite this, once Max turns into Electro, I found his character to be a bit hard to digest. Especially his voice. I appreciate that his character had motivation to hate Spider-Man, and the psychological aspect was intriguing, but he was a bit much for me. I hope to see his character again, slightly altered, because I think he was a more interesting villain than Sandman and some of the others that have been seen in the Spider-Man movies.

We need to talk about Harry Osborn now. I am completely partial to the Willem Dafoe/James Franco versions of Norman and Harry. Willem's version of the Green Goblin is one of my all time favorite movie villains. I think 2002's Spider-Man did a good job of building the relationship between Peter and Norman & Harry. That relationship is really what makes them being enemies powerful. None of the other Spider-Man movies develop that relationship, despite using the Osborns (typically Harry) as a character that despises Spider-Man. This movie falls into that trap. We know that Peter and Harry are supposed to be friends, but the relationship isn't developed, and thus Harry's hatred towards Spider-Man feels shallow. Even when Harry figures out that Peter is Spider-Man, who really cares because their relationship was never really developed in the movie. I liked James Franco's Harry and felt bad for him that his father died. In this movie, we get a very unlikeable version of Harry who kills Gwen Stacy. I don't care if I ever see this version of Harry again.

The movie had an interesting ending, with Harry introducing the Rhino character and appearing to form a gang of villains, maybe the Sinister Six? While researching the movie for this post, I learned that Sony had planned to release a series of spin-offs based on this movie, starting with Venom. This makes sense, considering the number of characters that were introduced and jam-packed into this film. Three of the 6 Sinister Six have been introduced in the movies, and I believe a series or movie is upcoming that includes Kraven the Hunter, one of the Sinister Six. More to come on this, though Marvel has went a different direction with the Spider-Man character since this movie, with Tom Holland's version.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

 

This movie came out while I was in residency and thus was completely off my radar until recently when I started watching the MCU. It's a good movie, and I think Andrew Garfield is a good actor. It's considered a reboot of the series, which I guess makes sense considering it came out 10 years after the original Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi Spider-Man film. However, watching it in the context of just watching the original Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, it's difficult to understand the purpose of this movie because it is nearly the exact same movie as 2002's Spider-Man. It's a similar situation to 2015's Fantastic Four, which was nearly identical to the original Fantastic Four.  The Amazing Spider-Man goes a bit more into the background of Peter's parent's story, but otherwise tells the same story of a geeky high school kid who gets bit by a spider and develops super powers. He lets a criminal go, who subsequently kills his uncle. He feels guilty and fights crime. I've seen this movie before.

Garfield's Spider-Man is funnier than Maguire's. I actually laughed out loud during a couple of scenes, especially when he captures the car jacker. It reminded me a bit of Deadpool. Maguire's Spider-Man villains are better. I love Dafoe's Green Goblin. The Lizard character was just OK. Similar to the Sandman, he was somewhat forgettable. I thought they could have something interesting develop with Norman Osborn being mentioned as alive, but they never really developed that storyline beyond mentioning. Maybe he will appear in the next movie?

Another big difference was the absence of MJ.  She was nowhere to be found in this movie, not even being mentioned. Instead, Gwen Stacy was the main female character. This, despite telling essentially the same story as 2002's Spider-Man where MJ was the main female character. In the original Raimi trilogy, Gwen wasn't introduced until the third movie. I rather enjoyed the friction between Gwen and MJ as Peter was taken over by Venom in that movie. Substituting MJ for Gwen isn't a big deal, it's just an odd choice since the original story featured MJ. Maybe the comics influenced the decision? The big question is who is the better Gwen: Emma Stone or BDH?

City Journal: London - The Upgrade London Project

 I first built the city of London within my London region several months ago. My goal was to build the entire region, and London's city boundaries within the game's region are quite large. I wanted to just get a city started and not focus too much on the city, so that it wouldn't slow the development of the rest of the region. After finishing the inner boroughs that surround the city, it became apparent that I needed to shift focus back to London the city, as the surrounding boroughs had a higher build quality and were overall nicer. This wasn't acceptable since the city of London really is the face and namesake of the region. 

Several aspects of London were upgraded as part of the Upgrade London Project. Parks and recreation expanded, as did the planting of numerous trees. The airport and waste-water treatment plants were relocated. The city was built before I was using maps to approximate famous locations within the city, resulting in the relocation of the royal grounds and the building of the city of Westminster. The DLR, London Overground, and Underground trains were introduced to the city (though the underground is a massive project to build that will have its own City Journal entry).

Below are some pictures of the city of London before the Upgrade London Project. Note the location of the royal grounds, with the waste-water treatment plant on the bottom left side of the map and the airport. Also note the population of 216,000 and the high number of abandoned buildings.

Below are some pictures of the city after the Upgrade London Project. The population increased to 354,000. The North London Station ties in the numerous rail lines in a central location within London. The city of Westminster with its famous landmarks was built. The London Eye, Trafalgar Square, and Piccadilly Circus also appear in the city now. Overall, the project resulted in a big improvement to the city in terms of its economy and appeal. It is a much grander city, one more qualified to be the face of the region.