It's Christmas, Carol! (Sadly not the movie, the Theater Play)

I went to Ashland recently, just the weekend from the 9th to the11th of this month in fact.  For those of you who have no idea what that is, Ashland is a small town in Oregon that has many theater groups in it.  It however denies it's a theater town, but anyway.  The point of this is I saw a play, and I'm going to review one of the two plays I saw.  This is "It's Christmas, Carol!"

What the...and this is only part of the image I cropped, people.

I should note that there's a hallmark movie of the same name, with a similar starting point but set in modern time.  Also as you might have guessed from the title, I would've preferred to watch that one.  This one is a Marx Brothers inspired version, with, as you might've guessed with Groucho there, them staring as characters, even if the original actors are long dead.

Anyway, this is also a musical.  The musical parts....weren't that bad actually, even if most of them had nothing to do with the plot and sometimes the lyrics were hard or impossible to understand.  The acting also was fine, with one exception, but we'll get there.  

One last thing: This is an exception to my usual 'No spoilers whatsoever' rule, as I will be talking about the plot in depth.  Why?  Because unlike my other reviews here, this is not something you can buy easily, you would need to be in a specific location, at a specific time, to see this.  

The play starts with a narrator talking about what The Christmas Carol story will be, if the major players were woman instead of men.  Hey, that's not a bad idea.  The titular Carol Scrooge is a noble woman who actually loves Christmas just fine.  But she only does actions that benefit her some how or stroke her vanity.  So her best friend in life, who got her hitched with a rich husband, comes back from the dead to warn her that her actions will earn her eternal damnation.  

But that's about as far as it gets, because the first ghost to arrive is in fact Groucho Marx.  And so the Marx brothers invade the play, with no regard to the story.  Hey, that's not a bad idea.

Of course there's wit and humor around, and it's mostly very good, but unfortunately most of the jokes or gags are used too much or go on too long.  

Anyway, Groucho completely derails the plot until he's given a time machine to go travel in time with.  Hey, that's not a bad idea.  And then there's dinosaurs for some reason.  And later zombie future.  Don't ask question, please, wait until the end of this.

After the first act, the plot literally stops mattering because the narrator, who is a character, says "Screw it!" and just goes along with the Marx brothers running amok.  There is no plot after that, no follow through, and not even a thread of consistency.  

But dear god are there puns, and bad puns are my jam.  I loved every terrible pun.  Seriously, I was practically raised on the Muppets and Monty Python.  I can't get enough of them.

Anyway, this is also a musical, and most musical numbers aren't that bad, even if they're obvious parody's of Christmas songs.  But the last one was just "What's it to ya" as a parody of "Hallelujah".  And it made no sense and I couldn't understand the lyrics and was just confused over how the play didn't have an ending, but just stopped with no resolution whatsoever.

Now that I (badly) talked about the play, I will say there are four major problems in it.  As I said before, one is reusing or going on too long with the same joke.  Second is the lack of a plot or any consistency at all.  Third is that while the acting was great, the actor playing Harpo had the stupidest expression on his face.  I mean, I watched the Marx Brother films at age of Too Young to understand, so Harpo was my favorite character because of all the physical gags, but his expression was usually normal or varied, not constant one of "I just got a lobotomy."  

The fourth and final major problem is that there are actually several ideas here that could work as a full play.  Female main characters for Christmas Carol?  Great!  Time machine for time shenanigans in the Christmas carol?  Awesome!  The Marx brothers crashing a play?  Brilliant!  But combine these three together, and even more I didn't mention, and you just get a confusing mess.

So the too long, didn't read version is basically just...everything was good, but the script wasn't.  I give this 2.5 stars out of 5.  Why?  Because I enjoyed it and don't regret seeing it, but I wouldn't see it again.

Anyway, see you all, next time.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

I reviewed this book awhile back, when the COVID pandemic was just in its first year.  It's an old one, but without further ado, enjoy these words.

What the-A book review?  I read books?!  When did this happen?!  I don't read anything that isn't related to video games, obviously.  Besides, nowadays I read primarily non-fiction.

...Wait, it's about dinosaurs and is non-fiction?  Well...I guess I can review it then...this is The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A new history of their Lost World by Steve Brusatte.

The front cover!  Look at the Dinosaurness!

 The cover arts good, and on my edition it claims it was a New York Times Bestseller...not that really means much, so was Twilight.  Anyway, to me I think the cover is the least important part of the book, but the words on the back, well, that's what draws you in really, at least, it does for me.

Holy crap, there's a lot of -words- back here.  Mostly other authors or organizations saying how awesome this book is.   There's also a brief blurb of the author, Steve Brusatte, who is a paleontologist at the university of Edinburgh, a graduate of the university of Chicago and Columbia, and has named fifteen new species and led pioneering field work through the world.  That's...about it, except that he would also really like you to to buy his book, but that goes without saying. 

Anyway, while the about the author blurb barely exists compared to most books I've read, the amount of people saying 'this is a good book' is astounding. The words actually describing the book also drew me in, basically saying that 'The things you learned about dinosaurs 20 years ago is now wrong and learn what people think they are now today by reading this book.' though it takes about three or four paragraphs to get that point across and in a much better way then I could've.  

I got this book as a birthday present after my mom and I stumbled across it in a shop a good...either a year ago before the pandemic really started or two years ago before that, I am unsure.  Either way, I mentioned I'd love it, left the store and forgot about it immediately.  My mother however bought it for my coming up birthday, and I read it soon after I got it.  So I'm going off memory here a lot of the time.  But I really wanted to review something and since I'm -apparently- allergic to finishing anything, I decided to review this book.

 The book starts with the Triassic period, when dinosaurs first appeared, all the way to their end and even beyond it a little.  During this book, the author talks about the proto-dinosaurs, their rivals as it were, the sauropods in the Jurassic, the tyrannosaurs in the Cretaceous , and even T. Rex, of course.  

They cover dinosaurs all over the globe, from Europe to the Americas to Africa.  Not much is said about Antarctica because, well, yeah.  It's not exactly easy to dig for fossils in frozen soil, even if it had more habitable conditions millions of years ago. 

They cover new techniques used in fossil finding and data gathering, mostly dealing with computers but said in layman terms enough that the uninitiated into dinosaurs can understand.  Honestly, I was surprised how good this book was.  I loved it, and it's easy to understand for me, at least.   

Easy to understand, gives what it says it will on the lid, and an enjoyable read filled with interesting real life people and dinos, I give this book a 4 stars out of five.  I feel slightly guilty with this, it might deserve a 4.5, but, eh. 

Anyway, that's it for now, stay safe peeps!

Monster Hunter: World

Finally!  How long have I been meaning to do a Monster Hunter Game review?  Since at least when I saw the Monster hunter live action film.  Anyway, this is Monster Hunter: World

There be dragons here.

Monster Hunter is a series of games that instead of labeling them one two three, they label them in generations.  It's...not something I really get, but World was the first Fifth generation game, and there's way more then five games. 

Anyway, Monster Hunter World has a more complicated premise then other games of the series, which is usually "You're the hunter of a small village, go fourth and hunt monsters".  Instead, the idea is that some Elder Dragons, massively powerful monsters, are making a migration from the Old World to a new landmass known simply as the New World.  The Hunters Guild investigates by following the elder dragons there, and you are part of the Fifth fleet to do this.  

The story kinda...stops mattering after that, really.  I mean it's still going on in the background, but who plays a Monster Hunter game for the story?     

I've been playing Monster Hunter games since Tri Ultimate, which was a third generation game, then played all the world wide released games after that.  if you're curious, look up the Monster Hunter wiki and scroll down to releases, but I won't list the games here.

Anyway, you start off, after the amazing opening sequence and small 'tutorial' phase, picking your weapon in a training ground area.  There are 14 weapons which are available in World, from your basics such as bow and arrow, dual swords, sword and shield, or Greatsword, to the more extreme and weirder weapons like insect glaive, switch axe, gunlance, and the bowguns.  There are three types of basic non elemental damage in Monster hunter, piercing, (made by bullets and arrows), blunt, (hammer like weapons) and slashing(swords and blades).  They do different damage to different parts of the monsters.  for example, a wing on a monster is susceptible to piercing, but not the other two, a monsters head or crest is hurt extra by blunt damage, or its legs more to slashing.  On top of this, you can damage different parts of the monster that affect how they attack or even move sometimes.

Once you pick your weapon, you hunt big monsters.  There are usually three on any of the large open roam-able maps in World, and no more then three.  It might sound crowded, but these maps are BIG for monster hunter games, the largest at the time, I think they're surpassed by Rises, the newest monster hunter game as of this writing, but they're still big.  My only complain is that in World the monsters that roam are usually much higher, we'll go with 'level' or difficulty, then the starting player character.  So quick tip, Don't fight anything you haven't fought before or the quest you picked up tells you to fight.

Once you fight a monster, you get its parts as a reward which you can craft into armor at the hub city zone, Astera.  You get more cooking ingredients to gain a boost to hunting powers during hunts, unlock places that grow plants or insects so you don't have to constantly harvest things on quests, among other different services, all unlocked as you progress through the story missions.

Monster hunter is split into two or three different levels, in the base game of World, just two, Low rank and High rank.  As you might expect, High rank is harder, and unlocked after you finish the story in Low Rank.  I might as well add that difficulty wise Monster hunter World was fairly easy for me up until the end boss fight in High Rank.

One thing I almost forgot to mention, you can bring on special hunting partners, who you can equip with gadgets that modify what support behavior or abilities they have!  What are these hunting partners?  fellow hunters?  Don't be so droll, no, they're cats!  Palicos! ...yeah get ready for unending cat puns.

Look at his little goggles...!

I give this game a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I'll admit, if I was a new player to Monster Hunter, I would not give this such a high score, since it is a difficult game to get into blind.  But since I've been playing  for awhile, and it filled in my dream of a PC monster hunter game, I loved it.  Compared to monster hunter games in the past, it's a major improvement in almost all areas, even if there weren't a lot of monsters in the base game, but they were all enjoyable to fight, and the maps, including one of my favorite thematic maps in Monster Hunter history, are all great to explore.

I will add that Iceborune, the only expansion to World, is a similar yet also somehow vastly different experience.  It adds the Master Rank, an even harder rank for all old monsters and new, which is difficult enough I called on my online friends to help several times.  If your not good at monster hunting, like me, then, you really need to up your game by learning all the tricks in this game to damage and survive monsters.  But I give Icebourne 4 out of 5 stars.  The only reason it doesn't get the base games rating is because I feel like after awhile your gear plateaus while monster skill and strength keeps growing.  So, yes, I never finished it...

Anyway, see you all next time.

Muppet's Haunted Mansion

This is another old review I never posted.  About a year, so this was seen last Halloween.  Or  was it two years ago...eh, times a weird soup.  anyone, onward!

Why do I do this to myself.  it's a cheaply made Disney movie.  Are muppets really that important to me? to go through this?

The answer is yes, this is Muppet's Haunted Mansion, a Halloween special based off...the Disney amusement park ride.  Why.

*Sobbing noises*

Found on Disney+, Disney's new online streaming service, I actually saw an ad for this on youtube, and was happy just to see the Muppets again. 

I love the muppets.  I first started watching the muppet show as a kid, (from DVD's or VCR tapes, no, I'm not that old.) and have grown extremely fond of these characters.  I'll admit they're....extremely strange entertainment, especially since these were meant for adults as well as kids.  

Anyway, the premise behind this special is that Gonzo and Pepe le Prawn go to the titular Haunted Mansion on halloween to stay one night in it, with Gonzo knowing full well it's haunted, but he...forgot to inform pepe for some reason.  It's also the place where the great magician...The great...Look, he's called Macguffin the Great and they're looking for him, okay?  I hope I don't need to explain why I cringe whenever I hear that name.

As much as I love the muppets, I do question why pepe is the second main character here.  He's a mild to moderate lech, and that's about it.  Can you imagine if Rizzo the Rat was in this special?  Where is he Disney?  WHERE IS HE!?

...Anyway, the film has musical numbers in it, including a variation of grim grinning ghosts.  The...songs aren't great, in either performance or writing.  But they're...not...okay they are bad.  A few are okay.  

There's also -a lot- of guest starts in this, but most are in it for just one scene or even just one line.  The main one is the Host who invited Gonzo over, played by the Canadian comedian Will Arnett.  Who, honestly, I enjoyed watching.  Maybe it's becuase his lines were the best, maybe it's because he had the best jokes, but I got the impression he enjoyed the role he was in.  I could be totally wrong though.

This film also tugs on nostalgia hard.  Ridiculously so.  every major and even minor muppet is included, even if just for a few seconds, and they even make a ghost version of the muppet show.  I...can't say I didn't enjoy this film but it made me think about the fact that Disney owns a huge amount of entertainment companys, and that with no competition, at least at there level, they don't need to compete.  Just watch star wars 4824, we're just selling to nostalgia now.  

Anyway, the film's writing is....not good.  at all.  I almost walked out several times due to how bad it was.  But it's 'barely adequate', so good enough.  If you like the Muppets, anyway.  I did, however, enjoy the moments where they broke the fourth wall, but I'm sucker for those kind of jokes.

I give this...a 2.5 stars out of five.  That's with the addition of Muppet appeal, so yeah.  I'd only see it if you really like the Muppets, and if you haven't seen them before....just watch the Muppet Christmas Carol.

Anyway, that's all for now, see you all, next time.

The Muppet Movie (1979)

I apologize for the four month gap, I like doing it once a month, but, sadly depression is hitting me over the head for the past four months and probably more.  Anyway, moving right along to the review!

I love the Muppets.  Yet somehow, when the 2011 Muppet movie came out, I never saw it.  No idea why I didn't, looking back now.  But I plan to fix that.  But first, I watched the first Muppet movie because...uh...well my mother forced me to.  But anyway!  Let's move right along, because this is the Muppet Movie, 1979!

This movie seems to have a lot of ham in it..

For those who have no idea who or what the muppets are, they are a creation of Jim Henson.  Muppets, both the word and the various characters, are combination of Marionettes and Puppets.  I would go more into the history of them but I know absolutely nothing.  So we'll move right along.

The movie starts off with the muppets...watching there own movie.  It's only going to get weirder from there, since the movie often references and makes fun of the fact it's a movie.  I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say the script of the movie they're currently in is used at one point.  

The muppets and rare human character, which are mostly cameo's of famous 1970 actors, are great.  Sure, the jokes are dumb, but it's dumb in a clever way.  

However, it's not just the jokes, the musical numbers are fantastic.  Written by the great Paul Williams, I've loved every single song not just in this film, but all that I've heard from Paul Williams.  I'll, admit I haven't heard LOTS of them, but, still.  He even makes a cameo in the film.  But moving right along

Jim Henson, was a mad genius.  He did not mess around.  I will say a small spoiler, there's a giant, building sized mupet at one point.  That is not a special effect.  That is a real giant muppet.  I'd like to believe they left it there in the desert but it was probably sadly dismantled. 

Anyway, the Muppet Movie is a great one for muppet lovers of all ages.  And Just a good movie to boot.  The songs are fantastic, the message inspirational, the acting and jokes awesome, and it's just so good.  I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.  Yep, my first 5 out of 5 for a movie, and second of all time.  

See you all, next time.  Also, for those who are curious why I said move right along all the time, this song from the Muppet film is why:

Children Of Morta

I love pixel art.  Sure, there's nothing like realistic graphics to bring a game to life, but sometimes a nice pixel look brings more charm to a game then anything else could.  This is definitely true with today's game I'm reviewing, Children of Morta.

I would like to point out there are only two literal children warriors in this game.  It's still awkward.

Uh, okay, so the title card for the Steam Store isn't very impressive, it's more confusing and messy in my opinion, but the game really is pretty!  It's also a rogue-like hack and slash RPG.  For those of you who don't know what any of that means, I'll explain.  Rogue-likes mean that the game is hard and generally levels are randomized, as well as dying in a run then continuing at the start is part of the genre as well.  As I explained to my mother, dying is part of the learning process in Rogue-likes rather then an game over. 

Hack and slash are generally 2-D games where you, uh, hack and slash enemies, sometimes shoot them too.  Self explanatory, really.  RPG's stand for Role Playing Game, and generally includes the ability to customize your characters skills and level them up as you play the game.  

Gameplay wise Children of Morta is great, with fluid controls, and as you level up you gain new abilities as well as additions to old skills, but there's not enough to be overwhelming, nor are there too few that you can't change how you play.  In between dungeons, you can spend gold to make your classes, all of them at the same time, hit harder or take more damage or move faster and the like.  There are 7 playable classes or characters, and you can play as any of them in a dungeon.  You can be an archer, a fire mage, a sword and board tanky warrior, a sledge hammer wielding brute, a hand to hand fighter, a sneaky dagger using theif or a warrior healer from a distant land.   

Despite being pixely, it looks amazing.

Each character would not be, well, a character if not for the story, and the basic premise is that the Bergsons, a family of heroes, is investigating and fighting off the Corruption, a strange purple goo that can turn normal people into monsters.  I won't go into more, that's spoiler territory, but the story is well written, well narrated by a story teller like narrator, and takes some turns I did not expect.  The ending unfortunately just confused me and left me wanting more, but it did not ruin the experience for me.

Before I wrap up this review with a score and everything, I will say the aesthetic is great.  Not to give spoilers away, but while there's obviously magic in this world, some of the 'enchanted' or 'magical' things seem to look more like something you would expect to find in a sci fi game, at least in appearance.  And god damn, do I love that look.  One last thing; This game is still being added onto by the developers, meaning while a complete experience, more stuff is planned to be added. 

Anyway, I give this game a 4 out of 5 stars.  It's relatively short, fun, challenging, and the story is interesting and made me really want to continue playing.  I'll admit if the ending was better it'd probably be a 4.5 star rating.  If you like rogue-likes or rpgs or both, definitely pick this up.

Anyway, I apologize for this review being late, time and depression got away from me.  See you all next time.

Encanto

Disney, we meet again.  I see you have another animated film that looks good.  Is it though?  This is Encanto, on Disney+.

I would make a joke or comment here, but god damn is this pretty.

 The basic premise of the movie is that in the wilds of Columbia a refugee woman with her (about to die off screen)husband and three babies, and that they had a miracle when they were searching for a new home.  A magical house  and valley appeared for them to make there home in, and now, two generations later, the family Madrigal kids all have magical powers...except for one, the main character, Mirabel, who never got a Gift on her fifth birthday like all the others.  Oh boy, and it's a musical too! 

As you might suspect from the fact one family member has no magic gift and all of the others do, this movie plays heavily on the themes of belonging, acceptance, obligations and what those three things have to do with family.   And boy does it play those to great effect.  I can't discuss much without making spoilers, but the themes are great, and something I think everyone can relate to.  Who hasn't wanted to belong to something but never felt like they could?

The graphics, animations, and style are also...I mean holy crap, it's one thing to see them in a still image, but seeing them in motion is honestly an even better experience then what Raya and the Last Dragon provided.  The 'look at how pretty our animation is' scenes are honestly a joy to watch.

The characters and writing are also way better then Raya and the Last Dragon. While Mirabel is the most complex character, none of the main ones are just set pieces or two dimensional.  Another thing is that movie doesn't follow a predictable story, at least for Disneys usual patterns.  I can't say more, but, I was expecting a typical Disney movie and got something much better.

There are only two major downsides to Encanto.  One is the songs.  About one third of them are good, one third are okay, and the other third are mediocre.  And possibly because of the songs, most of the movie feels...not exactly rushed, but very quick paced.  Oh, and another problem is that while the musical scene visuals are FANTASTIC, I'm not sure what is actually happening during these.   Are they just talking?  Are the visuals just happening in one of their heads?  Did one of the characters really just take over the town with spiky plants in five seconds?  Anyway, each one left me mildly confused over just what exactly happened and did not happen.

I give this film five out of five stars.  Why?  Because I've changed the rating I've given this film three times, for the reason of I can't stop listening to the music or stop thinking about the film itself.  It's a brilliant film, so I had to give it five out of five.  Also there were rats in it.  I like rats.

See you all next time.

Raya and the Last Dragon.

Holy crap, this movie is a work of art.  I mean, wow.  The visuals are amazing, the character and creature design fantastic, the landscapes living paintings, and the animation gorgeous.  This movie feels alive in a way far more then James Cameron's Avatar ever did to me, and it really comes to life watching it.

Shame the writing tries it's best to kill that feeling dead, though.  This is Raya and the Last Dragon.

Oh dear god, what's wrong with that dragons face?!

The premise is that in the land of Kumandra, an area of land that follows a dragon shaped river, was ravaged by evil spirits known as Druun, 500 years ago.  The last dragon not turned to stone by the Druun managed to use a concentrated magic gem that banished the Druun and turned the people back to normal but not the dragons.  

All of the above and what comes next is basically just backstory; in present day in the movie, 5 warring tribes in Kumandra are fighting each other and trying to gain control over the Dragon Gem, which is being guarded by the tribe slash village known as Heart.  However, a plot by the tribe Talon is revealed that they were trying to steal the Dragon gem at a feast for the five tribes, the aforementioned feast in an effort to stop the fighting.  When this plot was discovered, the other four tribes came in, and started fighting over the dragon gem, which gets broken and releases a Druun(or possibly creates it?).

The druun, which multiples itself quite quickly, turns Heart's people to stone but has an aversion of water and the gem pieces, which quite conveniently is shattered into 5 pieces, so one for each tribe is taken.  The main character, Raya, who is just a child at this time, is saved from the Druun by her father, the father having been turned to stone, and NOW the plot starts with a 6 years later message and Raya trying to find the last dragon to stop the Druun once again.

Wow, that took quite awhile to type out.  Now, I'm sure such a long set up, including some things I didn't mention, would take a good 30 minuets to...wait...you mean it only took ten or fifteen minutes in the film from all that?!  The film is a total of an hour and 54 minutes, with at least fifteen or twenty being the credits of other languages.

So yes, the intro is rushed, but otherwise I did not notice rushed or prolong padding for most of the film.  aside from a few pointless 'look at how pretty the animation is!' scenes that are ironically the least good looking in the film.

Now, as I said, the film is beyond gorgeous, there is in particular one scene where Raya is saved by the Last Dragon from the villain, and that scene is...wow.  I mean, I cannot describe it, but I want that entire 30 second scene framed.  I don't know how you would frame 30 seconds of animation, but man, I want it.

Unfortunately, the plot is rather thin, the dialogue rather stilted and bad, and some characters act like set pieces instead of living breathing people.  While watching it with my mother, there were several times I almost left because the writing was so poor, but I was already hooked by the visuals.

That being said, I am a fan of apocalypses, and having most people be turned to stone definitely counts as one, so I loved the setting and world.  Also the theme of the film is something I truly, really do believe in, and unfortunately can't say because it's kind of a spoiler.  

Also if you've seen the film, the last scene before the proper ending of the film really got to me because of the visuals and the message it was sending.  So I admit I cried.  Admittedly it doesn't take much to make me cry anymore. 

I give this film, a 3.5 stars out of 5.  Why?  Well, it earns 3 for visuals alone.  An extra 0.5 stars for the theme, which I'll admit is a personal thing.

Anyway, see you all next review!

Lost Ember

I'm sure you're all familiar with the saying 'more then the sum of its parts'.   if your not, then it simply means something is better then it's individual combined parts.  I mean, I kinda get it when applied to, say, a car engine or a digestive tract.  Individual organs or parts of the engine would do little on there own, but when combined, you get a thing that does amazing things.  

I get it less when applied to something like a game or even worse, a story.  This is a review of Lost Ember, a game that is most definitely more then the sum of its parts.

The game is bloody beautiful.

The games premise is simple: You're a wolf with a spirit guide investigating the world and trying to find more about both your and your spirits guide former human lives.  To do this the wolf is gifted an ability to possess other animals, and uses these to travel and solve very simple puzzles.

That's it gameplay wise.  It's pretty much a walking, flying, and swimming simulator.  The levels are fairly linear, but there's collectables in the form of artifacts and special mushrooms to find. There are also very rare quick-time events, roughly three in the entire game that require you to just press the same button five times in a row.

So it's just you walking through the ruins of a post human world, in many different forms, including wombats, moles, and hummingbirds.  You learn more about the cultures and certain people in the past, but really the story boils down to the journey of a young woman across the land and her interactions with people.  That does not sound like something that would keep my interest, in either gameplay or story.

And yet it did. 

Now, full disclosure, I did not in fact play this game, but watched and guided my mother through it, and had a more active role in it then just watching despite what you may think.  But both her and I were mesmerized by the game and played it for weeks (She plays for half an hour each day, or tries to).

While the story gets more complicated in Lost Ember then what is just said, and there's several twists and turns in it, I got really intrigued by it and I loved how it went.  The ending sadly faltered slightly from the rest of the story, but, it was still a very enjoyable ride.  

Overall, I give Lost Ember 4 stars out of 5.  Yeah.  I -really- enjoyed it.  Yet, the description I would've given it of 'walking simulator about discovering more about an ancient person', would not have interested me, and I am still baffled by how it managed to.  But hey, I'm very glad I bought it for both me and my mother.

See you all next time.