The Harry Potter mobile games

Wizards Unite: I got this when it released. I loved Pokémon Go and this is the same concept. I was very excited for Pokémon Go when that released but I was doubtful whether the same thing would work in the wizarding world. Wizards Unite has a sort of questline where you work for the Ministry and your job is to catch magic anomalies and return them to their rightful place. It was fun for a short while but soon felt like you were collecting stickers and not much else. I liked that there was a questline, I'm all about quests in any game I play, but fetch quests become boring and grindy in pretty much any game and this was just that. . I got to around level 12 before I stopped. In comparison I played Pokémon Go for more than a year.

Hogwarts Mystery: I started playing this game this past Sunday and it's really a lot of fun! The story is a lot more engaging than in Wizards Unite, and the gameplay is a lot more varied and fun. The only negative feedback I have is the same as what everyone else is saying: you run out of energy too quickly and then you either have to wait hours for your energy to recharge completely or pay real money to buy more in-game currency to buy energy with. And you need energy to be able to complete classes, and you need to get the House points from doing the classes to get the items needed to complete sidequests... It all goes in circles. I'm almost done with Year 1 at the time of writing this and so I have a whole lot more gameplay to do, but I'm actually looking forward to it! Let's see what this game has to offer.

Watching old, old movies part 11

Going through this list and here are my previous entries :)

31. The Uninvited (1944)
Another haunted house! With special effects that are still pretty good for being 70+ years old! This movie was a classical haunted house tale, which unfortunately meant that it was very, very predictable. Even the twist at the end didn't come as a surprise to me. But that's really on me for having watched too many haunted house tales and not on the movie. It has aged pretty well and I did enjoy watching it. This movie is apparently based on a book so I'll be looking into that. I still really dislike the whole notion of "We met two minutes ago but now I love you and want to spend my entire life with you" that's so prevalent in old movies, and this isn't an exception. But unusually enough they do make the effort to get to know each other on screen rather than just falling into each other's arms and proclaiming marriage. Overall I liked this movie. It gave me that whole creepy-cosy feeling that I like.

32. The Body Snatcher (1945)
Every movie where Boris Karloff has a major role is a joy to watch! This movie, based on the novel by Stevenson, stars Karloff as the titular body snatcher. The movie takes place in Edinburgh some years after the whole graverobbing mess of Burke & Hare was finished. I actually squealed when the camera panned of the Castle in the beginning. Karloff is just as imposing and creepy as always and his voice is so chillingly smooth. I love watching him play his part. This movie also has some skillful foreshadowing in a way that you don't realise it's foreshadowing until it happens. Every movie I've seen starring Karloff has had me glued to the screen and this is no different. The Black Cat remains my favourite Karloff movie, but this one isn't far behind.
Oh, and Bela Lugosi (a.k.a Dracula) is also in it.

33. Isle of the Dead (1945)
This movie was strange. We're in Greece and it's during the 1912 war and there's also a plague going around. The General of the troops go to an island to visit his wife's grave and an American correspondent go with him. On the island the General discovers that his wife's grave has been vandalised and the body stolen. They walk over to the only house on the island (I assume the home of the keeper?) and meet a bunch of people who are also visiting his home. The old woman is ofc superstitious and tells the General that the young woman in the house is a sort of mythical vampire creature because the woman in her care keeps getting sicker and weaker. The plague arrives at the house and they self-isolate (that's hitting pretty close to home atm) and try different approaches to stave off the plague that kills two of them before the climax of the movie. Which then reveals that yes there was probably (possibly, potentially?) a vampire-like spirit among them, but not the one they suspected. I didn't like this movie, because it was totally uneventful and extremely slow. I enjoyed seeing Karloff ofc, but it seems like the script for this didn't give him much to work with.

Locke & Key

I've heard of the graphic novel that this show is based on before but I haven't actually read it. But when I saw this name on Netflix along with all the raving reviews everybody kept giving the show I knew we had to watch it.

And it was amazing. We were both in awe of the house and the keys. And as the mysteries unfolded we became even more invested in seeing it all play out. Sure, the plot had some issues and there were instances of the characters making really stupid decisions just to make the plot move forward, but all in all it was an exciting story. Pretty simple, but exciting, which makes it both entertaining and easy to watch.

We both agreed that we'd really like to have the Head Key.

Really looking forward to a second season.

Playing Skyrim quest mods: Blackreach Railroad

It's been four years since I last played Skyrim properly. I blame Nate for making me pick this up again. Just like the last time I played through this I decided to get into a bunch of quest mods. Last time I played through Moonpath to Elsweyr, Forgotten City, Falskaar, Following Mercer and Pit Fighter.

The first mod I completed my playthrough of this time around is a nice little possibly lore-breaking thing called Blackreach Railroad. Basically you can find the railway station in the Silent City inside Blackreach and then you get a quest to get the train up and running again, which turns into a quest to clear all the stations throughout Skyrim.

I really, throughly, enjoyed this mod. There's something of a steamtrain fan in me (I just love old things) and this mod spoke directly to that part. I also love all things Dwemer. The quest also gives you a proper Dwemer to talk to, fully voice acted, and he has the most hilarious story to tell about how he became a literal part of the railroad.

The questline to clear the stations throughout Skyrim ends with a badass freaking boss battle that had my heart pumping so fast ♥

Stranger Things

We're probably the last people to join the party on this one. Toni discovered Netflix in January this year (even though he's had his own user on my account since I got my account like three years ago). We started watching Stranger Things a couple weeks ago. Both of us had heard great things about this show and it didn't disappoint.

I loved Mike and Eleven in the first season. Eleven was so cute and Mike was so patient and friendly and caring. I loved the whole conspiracy theory angle they had for the story and how the kids made sense of it using D&D material. The nerd in me greatly approves. I also loved seeing Nancy grow from the shy and somewhat dorky girl into pure girlpower. And seeing Steve grow up from a douchebag teenager to a young man was just perfect. And I loved how they defeated the demogorgon :)

Second season was not as strong as the first season imho. I adored that Hopper got to adopt Eleven. That was perfect, but for the most part this season was a bit slower than the first one. I wasn't as much fan of possessed Will as I was of kidnapped Will. However, I did adore seeing Dustin with Dart :3 And Max is a pretty cool girl. Seeing Eleven close the gate was so frickin epic I was just on the edge of my seat.

Third season is omg yes! I loved seeing Eleven become a real girl. I loved watching the kids turn into teenagers and everything that meant. I loved seeing Steve with Robin and helping him get over Nancy even if he'd never get more than friendship from Robin. I hated that Eleven lost her powers though, even though I loved that Joyce took her into her family after Hopper disappeared. I also hated that they moved away from Hawkins, although it's understandable.

After we finished the third season we watched the teaser for the fourth season. None of us understand the outcry that fans made that it was a spoiler to show Hopper alive. After the credits of the final episode of the third season they show Russians in Siberia talk about an American locked in a cell. It was a pretty obvious hint that they had Hopper there. The season four teaser just confirmed it. Not a spoiler.

Really, really looking forward to the fourth season!!! :D