X-Men: Dark Phoenix: What Do We Know?

X-Men fans, I have news for you.

It has been announced that there will be an X-Men film following the Dark Phoenix story. This, of course, is not the first time this story arc has been brought to the big screen but many of us like to try to forget about that film.

This, of course, is not the first time this story arc has been brought to the big screen but many of us like to try to forget about that film.

So, what do we know about this upcoming film?

The film is titled X-Men: Dark Phoenix and will be released on the 2nd of November, 2018.

The director has been named as Simon Kinberg, who isn’t a stranger to the recent X-Men films. He worked as a producer for X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse. This will be his first time sitting in the director’s chair in his career.

Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, and Kodi Smit-McPhee are reported to reprise their roles.

Jessica Chastain, known for The Martian and Zero Dark Thirty, is said to be in talks for the role Lilandra Neramani, the Empress of the Shi’ar Empire who will be the main villain in this film.

We don’t know how closely the movie will follow the original story, or how they will portray Lilandra as this is her first time on the silver screen.

Let’s just hope X-Men: Dark Phoenix isn’t as bad as the last time this storyline was used in the cinematic universe.

Stormblood: What Do We Know?

Warriors of Light, take note.

In my last ramble, Falling for fantasy, I mentioned an upcoming expansion for FF14 called Stormblood, but I didn’t go into any detail about it. The reason for that was because I thought that it needed a separate ramble dedicated to it so here it is!

Stormblood is the second expansion for FF14 which was announced back in October of last year. It is due for release on the 20th of June.

So, what does this expansion have in store?

Firstly, the level cap will increase from 60 to 70 and the inventory will be expanded. There are also new locations such as Gyr Abania, the Ruby Sea, Yanxia, and the Azim Steppe.

On top of that, Red Mage and Samurai will become playable classes.

New additions include new primals and beastmen, a new 8-man raid, the ability to swim and dive, new dungeons, an alliance raid and a new residential district called Shirogane.

There are also going to be several changes to the battle system. For example, cross-class skills will no longer be in the game and will be replaced with “role actions” with five different types. (Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, Caster). Since cross-class skills have been removed the requirements for unlocking jobs will be altered.

PVP is also getting an upgrade. Now any job over level 30 can participate and PVP actions will now be determined by role, instead of by job.

While I am excited about Stormblood, I haven’t completed A Realm Reborn yet, let alone Heavensward so I won’t be preordering it anytime soon until I have caught up with my friends.

I know that with the release of Stormblood you can buy potions to catch up, but that feels wrong to me so I will make progress in the game the old fashioned way.

IT: What Do We Know?

Yesterday the Official Teaser Trailer for the IT remake was released to scare the living daylights out of us.

In my less than humble opinion, nope. All of the nope! I hate clowns, I am not going to go see this. Well, I say that now, but chances are my horror loving best friend will drag me kicking and screaming like she did when Blair Witch came out.

With that said, what do we know about this remake?

Let’s start off with the basics. IT is the first of two movies, as they decided to split the story into two films instead of condensing it into a single film. At the time of writing, there has not been any information regarding the release of the second film.

It has to be said, Bill Skarsgård has big clown shoes to fill. Not only is Pennywise the Dancing Clown such an icon in the horror world, but he was originally brought to life by the one and only Tim Curry. While Skarsgård certainly has a menacing presence in the trailer, he doesn’t say a single word, which doesn’t give us a lot to use for comparison.

Andrés Muschietti, the director, is no stranger to horror let alone horror centred around children. Back in 2008, he directed a short horror film about two little girls and their nightmarish mother. Sound familiar? It should. This short was adapted into the 2013 film, Mama, with Muschietti as the director yet again.

From what I can tell, a noteworthy difference between the original story and the upcoming film is the time setting. IT will now take place in the eighties rather than the fifties, this is so the second film can be set in the present.

If you have seen the original or read the book, you know what I’m talking about, if you haven’t I recommend you pick up the book or the miniseries before September.

As to be expected, the filmmakers are not revealing their hand all at once, So watch this space for more information as it comes.

It will float into theatres and our nightmares on September 8th.

Nintendo Switch: What Do We Know?

Finally, Nintendo has finally released more info on their latest console!

Now, I was not one of the gamers who stayed up late to watch Nintendo’s live stream. I couldn’t, I had work in the morning. When I woke up, I was shocked. Once the initial shock died down I began researching about the Switch.

I was going to comment on how the Switch seems like a natural progression for Nintendo, as it seemed to combine the best elements of most of their consoles, but Shinya Takahashi took the words out of my mouth. Jokes aside, I’m pretty impressed with what the Switch is offering. I mean, just look at the titles they have already namedropped for it!

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 
• 1-2 Switch
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• ARMS 
• Splatoon 2 
• Super Mario Odyssey 
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2
• Fire Emblem Warriors
• Dragon Quest X
• Dragon Quest XI
• Dragon Quest Heroes I & II
• Untitled Shin Megami Tensei game
• Project Octopath Traveler
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Untitled No More Heroes sequel
• FIFA

Before we go on, I have to voice a concern. Well, not really. Nintendo, why have you not made an official retail price for Europe? Nintendo says customers in Europe will need to contact their local retailers in order to figure out how much the console will cost in their region. Why?

The Switch will cost £279.99 here in the UK when it arrives on March 3rd. Which seems like a fair price to me, but I’m not going to get one. Not because I don’t want one, believe me, I do, but simply because I am broke. I’m sure you already know, but just to be safe, you can preorder it at Tesco, GAME and Amazon while stocks last.

I’m glad to see that for the most part, they have gotten rid of region locking. Also, they are jumping on the PS Plus and Xbox Live bandwagon. In Autumn they will release their own version which will allow players to use voice chat, online lobbies and receive a free NES or SNES game every month. I think that last part is primarily for older gamers, but I do think it is a good addition, though they have not said how much this will cost so it’s hard to say if it is worth considering or not.

Looking for any information I left out? Go to the Offical Switch Website. Also, what are your thoughts about the Switch? Let me know in the comments!