Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx

Special thanks to the GameMill team for providing us with this game. It's the perfect game to present on Halloween because it's like a cosplay holiday!

Headline: Be Strong...Be Brave...Be Miraculous!

Paris needs a hero! Once again, the city of lights is in trouble as it faces a new menace--the most threatening sentimonster ever created is about to take control! As you take on the personna's of the globally renowned superheroez Ladybug and Cat Noir, you'll need to unveil the diabolical plan hatched by archvillain Hawk Moth--and squash it! Immerse yourself into the magical world of Miraculous and level up your superpowers as you embark on your biggest journey yet!

Miraculous gives you the option to play 2 player local co-op, and when you aren't in battle you are able to explore the streets of Paris as Marinette and Adrien as you uncover the story behind their alter-egos.

This game is rated E10+ for everyone 10 and up, which fits. The gameplay is simple, but you're able to unlock various moves, boost health, agility, and even access alternate paths based on skills you've unlocked. I found that I was able to use certain areas in a stage to access certain platforms, but you have to truly unlock skills in order to access certain things.

To the target demographic, Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx should be a pretty immersive experience they will enjoy. I found it frustrating to have as much dialogue as the game has, but if you're a fan of the Miraculous franchise it is part of the storyline that you love. It could have been an easier experience to tolerate if there were voiceovers, but its none existent beyond the cutscenes. 

Miraculous: Rise of the Sphinx is available now! In celebration of Halloween festivities, this gameplay is the perfect fit.

For me, I give this game 3 out of 5, but young fans may give it 5 out of 5.

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We Baby Bears: The Magical Box... Reviewed!

Grizz + Panda + Ice Bear are back... in We Baby Bears: The Magical Box. Shout out to the team over at Warner Bros for getting a copy of this show over to us. My opinions are my own.

It was cool of the We Bare Bears team to give the franchise almost a reset by taking the bears back to their... diaper days. It gives viewers more insight into what molded the cuddly trio into the bears we know today.

Story: We Baby Bears: The Magical Box... is a story about the baby versions of We Bare Bears, and the adventures they take in a magic box... while in search for a new home. It delivers a variety of adventures with a good chunk of comedy tucked in (and of course music).

The first episode shows how they got into this situation to encounter the magical box... after they were tossed out of their home. This is what set them out on their adventure to find a new home. I won't say how they came in contact with the magical box, but the adventures are certainly out of this world. Episode one "The Magical Box" covered their first potential home where they were put in a situation with... fairies. All was going well until they were blamed for bringing... economic collapse to the fairies (yeah... WTF!? in a good way). 

If you think "Kids show" when you see this cartoon, you're kinda sorta mistaken. Kids can totally watch this with you, aside from a couple of episodes I'd throw up a red flag on. Those specific episodes are "Meat House" & "Baba Yaga House" because a character appears in these episodes who wears a coat that he opens on occasion revealing his undies... and it screams... flasher without saying it. If that's enough to keep the show to yourself... I understand, but you're welcome to check it out before they view it and then select episodes from there. 

As far as the comedic value, you will likely get the majority of the humor before your children will anyway. For example, (going back to) the initial episode, one thing led to another... resulting in the baby bear's backs being up against the wall, and the only thing that set them free was... K-Pop that sent the fairies running for the hills to get away from it.

You will get a different adventure in each episode... with the exact same mission of finding a home, and the show doesn't lose steam. Even though I liked all the episodes, for the most part, my faves were:

Fiesta Day (nachos were eaten soon after this episode)

Bug City Sleuths

Bears in the Dark... was pretty cool, and actually featured rapper Young M.A. in a really creative way. It made a play off of her hit song titled "Ooouuu", and I think kids would be able to appreciate this episode based on little things shown in the episode that revealed the dark not being as scary as they may think. It actually makes things in the dark seem silly when revealed.

The Magical Box

Boo-Dunnit

Pirate Parrot Polly

Baby Bear Genius

Hashtag #1 Fan... is totally one of those episodes that helps the baby bears grow, based on something that occurred (and put the fun-loving trio on someone's radar).

I won't run through every episode, but... you get a complete experience in this package that shows the backstory of why We Bare Bears are as close as they are today via this cool well rounded show.

Visuals: When it comes to visuals, the show is very vibrant, and I love the art style. The intro is action-packed and would certainly send kids scrambling to join you for the show. Although We Baby Bears are a representation of the older We Bare Bears, the look is slightly different (more cutesy... but the personalities are still there). We Baby Bears more so has an anime art style.

As you see, the bears look

Audio: In terms of the audio, the sound is clean with plenty of sound effects and music to avoid a flat audio experience, We Baby Bears features Dolby Digital as well. (I did not utilize surround sound during my review.)

Price: Price-wise, We Baby Bears: The Magical Box... comes in at $19.98 SRP. Of course, you can use our link to grab it for less, but even at $19.99, you're getting 229 minutes of quality content that's worth the money. In total, you get 20 episodes to enjoy, and if you're a fan of animation... this is a worthwhile addition to your collection just based on the variety and how episodes play out. It can also help those on the path to animation with an idea of how an episode can flow, and how to maintain the overall story even though episodes are Champloo-like.

An actual collector's edition that had the DVD inside a box that was more like a statue with the We Baby Bears in it... would've been freaking awesome.

Story 5

Visuals 5

Audio 5

Price 5

5 out of 5 Cool Points

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Indie Showcase: Shadow of the Guild

We got a request to cover this indie title and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to showcase the game... and speak on indie dev projects like this.

Shadow of the Guild is described as an epic tale of the Rain Merchants Guild. In this side-scrolling beat-em-up adventure, you play as Yaran, an assassin with a powerful combination of mage and warrior skills. You're able to perform stealth attacks, cast spells, and use combos for a variety of attacks.

Features:

• RPG: 3 skill trees to follow the path that suits you best: Warrior, Mage, and Assassin
  
• Beat 'em all: Dynamic fights where you can mix your skills in epic combos
  
• Items: Consumables, throwing weapons and a whole bunch of runes to give you new skills
  
• Exploration: Side quests, special items, secret passages

I like what I'm seeing in this game. As you've heard in the first 30, I understand that the road of indie development is challenging... and there are a lot of indie games that never get this far. There are projects that come to a complete halt based on a lack of time and resources, so it's good to see those that break through. 

Shadow of the Guild, launches on November 10th (2022), so I'm not sure what the release date's build will look like... but from what I've seen and played, it certainly has room to grow.

If the team plans to continue updating the game past launch (which we don't know what that version looks like but), I see a number of things supporters can look forward to. One of the biggest things I see them updating is the art and animations, just fleshing them out more (because a number of assets look like concept art/placeholders). 

I wouldn't normally post these... but the team gave me the green light to proceed, so shout out to them. If you're a dev team on the road to release and your game is playable, I think there's a bit more grace for an indie dev versus a bigger studio.

If the game is playable with the finishing touches being minor (or other things have to be implemented), consider early release. It makes sense, especially if the bugs aren't game breakers because... it can help fund the rest of the project or put more wind in your sail to get it released. I say this because of what I've mentioned with some projects coming to a halt, if you can avoid that and deliver a great game... early release could be the route for you and you can update it moving forward. Just make sure that you follow up with the updates so that the efforts don't go to waste as a result of burning supporters.

As far as Shadow of the Guild goes, I enjoyed the gameplay, and the stealth kill scenes. The stealth kills are brutal... so (parents) keep in mind that the mature content will likely get it an "M" (for mature) rating. I don't know what else they have in store... I know that there was a warning + the First 30 showcased some of it, so just keep that in mind when it comes to your kids.

Anyway, the game definitely reminds me of Prince of Persia + Mark of the Ninja, but when it's all said and done... I hope it stands on its own as a memorable title.

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Ingbelle Digital Drum... Reviewed!

Shout out to the Ingbelle team for sending over this product for review. My opinions are my own.

So I've spent about a week with the Ingbelle Digital Drum set, and I'd have to say that it's a solid + useful + fun product. What makes it solid + useful + fun? Glad you asked, let's jump in!

Quality: The durable rubber base is solid enough to take on more than a few jam sessions, but... with a high sensitivity level for the sound plates they don't require you to lay in on them. Once you find a designated spot for this digital drum, the chances of even affecting the brain of the product drop's down to over 90%... because it's not falling or slipping off a base unless the table flips over or something. Even then the system is sturdy enough to take a light drop (a 2 or 3-story drop might be a different story but why would... anyway).

In terms of the buttons, they give you a nice clicking sound so that you know the button press was made, and as far as the OFF/ON switch + the MP3, Phones, Pedal, and USB/DC5V ports go... there are no loose ports. I mention all this because it's a solid design that doesn't give off a cheap flimsy feel.

Then we come to the foot pedal add-on which are super light and feel like a cheap addition to give the complete drum kit feel. Don't get me wrong, they work, but... with them being light... on our wood floors, they slide also. Perhaps a tougher grip would work (may buy some and place below them), or... just use them on a carpet or a rubber mat. On that note, I believe that foot pedals of better quality can be connected to this device as long as they can connect to the port.

Sound: In terms of sound, the built-in speakers get the job done. I know the company says the speakers are high-quality, and they don't sound bad... but... without the specs of the speakers... I can't give you the specifics.

As far as the sounds go, the onboard sounds are clean. These sounds include snare, 3 toms, crash, ride, hi-hat, and a bass drum. If you press the Kit button, the instruments also switch up. One thing I noticed while using headphones is that the sound is even richer, I can't say that for all headphones, but the ones I used... made me appreciate this product even more.

In the box + Features: In the box, you get the Digital Drum (duh of the day), storage bag, drumsticks, line-in cable, foot pedals, and USB/DC5V cable.

Features include dual speakers, a metronome function to help you find your rhythm, portability so you or your little musician can rock out on the go, and includes a rechargeable 2400 mAh battery so you can play up to 10 hours per charge.

Going back to the line-in cable, if you want to record your drum session, connect your digital drum to the line-in port. If you aren't familiar with what it looks like, here's info from HearthStats:

Port for connecting a line

External audio equipment like CD players, musical instruments, and microphones are connected to the Line-in port. Any of the following symbols may be used to represent a line-in port:

If you need to enable line-in, just follow these instructions.

A plus would've been some sort of software that allows the user to customize the sounds or place custom ones in the product.

As a digital drumset, you won't get the various sounds from the same bass drum based on where you hit it (i.e. hitting the drum closer to the sign gives a different sound than towards the middle), as long as you understand that... you should be good with the product. 

Before I forget, this type of drumset is a plus for parents who want to get their children a drumset... but don't want to hear it. Just get some volume-limiting headphones and let them rock out.

Price: Pricewise, the Ingbelle Digital Drum comes in at $54.99, which... is actually a solid price. It's portable (you don't need anything connected to it), it's fun, can allow for a variety of uses (parties, group activities, etc) and it's actually useful for recordings. I like the price because when comparing it to some of the toys out there in a similar price range, they don't have a feature that also makes them useful in terms of recording sessions and things of that nature. Motivating your little musician to form a band wouldn't be a bad idea if this product.

Quality 5

Sound 5

In the box + Features 5

Price 5

5 out of 5 Cool Points

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