The Legend of Ochi premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. This initial review was timed for its world premiere embargo.A child befriending a creature everyone else thinks is too dangerous to befriend is the backbone of many memorable coming-of-age stories, from Free Willy and The Black Stallion to E.T. and How to Train Your Dragon. Its the ultimate fantasy for young people: just getting a strange, misunderstood, unique creature in a way no one else can.A24s almost-fantasy-adventure, almost-family-drama movie The Legend of Ochi, from writer-director Isaiah Saxon, follows in that vein. The creature in question is an ochi, an apelike animal unique to the film and native to the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe. And the child is Yuri (Helena Zengel), a lonely teenage girl whos still dealing with the aftermath of a family tragedy.While some moments of the movie spark the same magic and sense of connection as the classic movies in this very specific movie subgenre, the family drama and the creature plotline never quite click together. While these elements often go together like Hiccup and Toothless, they end up undermining each other in The Legend of Ochi.[Ed. note: This post contains setup spoilers for The Legend of Ochi.]The Legend of Ochi takes place in a remote Carpathian village, where the ochi, mythical creatures that look a bit like yeti-ape hybrids with sharp teeth, roam the mountains and forest. Yuri feels isolated from her father, Maxim (Willem Dafoe), whos made it his mission to recruit the young men of the village in hopes of driving the ochi out. Maxim blames the ochi for his failed marriage, because his wife left him after they lost their son to ochi attacks.Yuri butts heads with both Maxim and Petro (Stranger Things Finn Wolfhard), an orphan Maxim took in and is raising to be a seasoned ochi hunter. After Yuri finds a baby ochi, she decides to run away and return the creature to its home in the woods. She bonds with the creature and also comes face-to-face with her mother (Emily Watson), who now lives alone in an isolated cabin and studies the ochi, much like Hiccups lost mother, Valka, in How to Train Your Dragon 2.The relationship between Yuri and the baby ochi is the strongest thread of the movie. The creature is adorable, and Saxons use of puppetry to bring it to life makes their interactions more tactile and believable. Its charming when the ochi communicates in little murmurs and growls, and even more so when Yuri begins to understand what those sounds mean. Zengel does a great job of acting against the puppet, and really sells Yuris almost bullheaded conviction that she can bond with this creature and march safely into ochi territory to take it home, even when her mother warns her that it would likely mean the babys death, because the adult ochi will reject it.While Yuri and the ochi are captivating, Saxon doesnt spend nearly enough time with them. Nor does he spend enough time on the messy family dynamics that motivate Yuri to run away in the first place. That latter lack ends up undermining the movie the most. Yuris family has supposedly been broken apart by the ochi, but viewers dont get much sense of what their family was like before the attack, and their current motives feel unclear and contradictory.When a family movie splits up the family for most of the run time, its important to make sure the audience still understands who these characters are and what they mean to each other. But Saxon doesnt take time to establish them as people before sending Yuri off on her adventure, and the rest of the movie only has a few interactions between them.Still, the actors pull off a few small, touching moments quite well when they are together. Yuris mom gently braids her hair while Yuri rests after getting hurt. A late conversation between Yuri and Maxim is a lovely throwback to their first interaction, one that feels genuine, as father and daughter try to relate to each other in the movies endgame. But there arent enough of these moments to really sell the family story.Given that Saxon doesnt spend enough time either with Yuri and the ochi or with Yuri and her family, the movies two biggest emotional arcs never fully come together. The ending, which is supposed to bring them together in a big cathartic moment, doesnt feel earned. Theres a slight twinge of relief, but its immediately muddled by a sense of Wait how did this even happen? because there isnt enough meaningful buildup. All the threads are there, and theyre even looped in and out of each other. But theyre never pulled tight or tied together enough to hold the story together.The Legend of Ochi hits theaters on April 25.

The Hubble Space Telescope is still trucking along more than 30 years after its launch, observing the universe and sending home images for us to marvel at. This week, NASA and ESA highlighted an image captured by Hubble of the highly productive Tarantula Nebula (officially named 30 Doradus) in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and its a sight to behold.The Large Magellanic Cloud may be only 10-20% as massive as our Milky Way galaxy, but it boasts some of the most impressive star-forming regions in the nearby Universe! 1/3 pic.twitter.com/juulDT44mD HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) January 23, 2025 The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and most productive star-forming region in the local universe, with stars roughly 200 times as massive as the sun at its center, according to NASA. This Hubble view gives us a look at the outskirts of the nebula, revealing layers of colorful gas and stars. The Tarantula Nebula sits within the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy.While the final result we see is filled with brilliant colors, Hubbles images initially come back in grayscale. As NASA has explained, scientists can create a composite color image by taking exposures using different color filters on the telescope, assigning a color to each filter that corresponds to the wavelength of that filter, and combining the images. The new image of the Tarantula Nebula doesnt just represent visible light, but ultraviolet and infrared too. In such a case, colors are assigned to those wavelengths we cant normally see.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-and-esa-share-a-breathtaking-hubble-image-of-the-tarantula-nebulas-outer-edge-202349788.html?src=rss

A proposal document viewed by CNBC, which was shared with ByteDance and prospective new investors, detailed the creation of a new U.S. holding company, "NewCo."

Behind the visual effects by Imageworks for Red One.On Jake Kasdans Red One, Sony Pictures Imageworks visual effects supervisor Chris Waegner oversaw a range of CG characters, effects and unique environments. These include snowmen henchmen who confront the heroes in Aruba, the witch Gryla, human characters being shrunken down into a snow globe, and a dynamic final battle high above the North Pole involving Gryla and the massive sleigh dubbed Red One.Here, Waegner, who worked with production visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen, breaks down the sequences for befores & afters.b&a: Lets start with the snowmen battle. What did you decide with production about how that would be accomplished?Chris Waegner: Well, the snowmen have several unique characteristics to them. Theyre magical snowmen to begin with. Theyre conjured up as snow assassins or henchmen for the witch Gryla in the movie. Each snowman brandishes their own unique weapon: spear, sword, throwing stars, daggers, things like that. Its not enough that these magical weapons are made of ice but whatever they touch freezes into a solid block of ice. Theres one particular moment in the movie where Jack (Chris Evans) is frantically swimming away from a snowman, the snowman sees this and sticks his spear into the swimming pool, freezing the water solid, trapping Jack on the other side of the pool.The snowmen characters went through several design iterations early in post- production. Originally, they had more of an ice ninja look but as animation testing progressed, they evolved into more of a traditional snowman design. Each one then developed design characteristics unique to a classic snowman like a top hat, corncob pipe, carrot nose, etc. What was unique about the Aruba fight sequence was the visual juxtaposition of a tropical beach location with these frosty snowmen characters.When creating a real snowman out of fresh snow, they tend to have this soft fluffy composition but after theyre out in the cold for a few days, the snow tends to become very hard and icy. Early in the design phase, the snowmen started off with a very hard compact snowy look, this helped establish them as formidable foe but it didnt really work well when designing the fight choreography. We finally settled on the look of a freshly made snowman which allowed for various creative opportunities. For example, during a fight when one of our heroes hits a snowman, bits of snow and ice crystals fly through the air creating a rainbow-like effect when the sunlight passed through these bits creating a snowbow.Overall, it was quite an endeavour for the team to figure out what these snowmen would look like in tropical beach location like Aruba. Theres literally no practical visual reference to rely upon because snowmen dont exist in hot tropical locations, so the film makers really relied on us to realistically envision the Aruba sequence.RED ONE. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studiosb&a: What did you decide in terms of behaviour and movement of these snowmen? Is it pretty much what the stunt performers did, or were they sort of lumbering? Were they fast? Im also curious about facial animation. They dont have too many details in their face, but there are some things that you could lock onto, obviously. Chris Waegner: Thats a great question. Early on, the snowmen concept was more of an ice ninja design smaller with a leaner physique allowing them to be more nimble and quick. As the animation team began exploring this early character design, it became apparent the ninja design wasnt really working for our filmmakers. Animation testing continued using plate photography and the snowmen design slowly evolved into a more traditional look with them becoming larger in scale and more formidable foes.As far as facial performance goes, we built a full facial rig in each snowman but as we explored their performances within shot context, it became clear that less is more facially with these characters. The extensive animation testing led us to determine that if they emoted too much, they actually started looking cartoony and less threatening. We decided to propose more of a deadpan stoic look with subtle facial movements which matched their menacing physical attributes. In the end, their stoic look with very little facial expression resonated with what Jake Kasdan and Jerome Chen had envisioned and I think it was a successful choice.Jack OMalley (Chris Evans) in RED ONE. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studiosb&a: You mentioned the fact that theyre on this beach, theyre in full sunlight. It also seemed like a really big challenge to have both super close-up shots where you can see almost the crystals, and then further away ones. How you did end up dealing with surfacing and just the look and feel of them in the end?Chris Waegner: The distance of the snowmen to the camera played a big role resulting in the need for several different visual setups. The multiple setups were necessary because they are not composed of entirely pure white fluffy snow but rather snow, chucks of ice, dirt debris and fine ice crystals. As they progress through the sequence, they start accumulating dirt, debris and little bits of their environment sticking to them. We also incorporated a subtle crystalline light scatter and deep snowy subsurface look that helped establish their unique exterior surface look.b&a: How did you approach the shots of Jack and Dylan when theyd been shrunk down to snow globe size?Chris Waegner: The filmmakers envisioned a camera setup which was essentially a macro lens at the snow globes scale resulting in lots of depth of field. At times, this camera is within the snow globes and sometimes just outside the globes which resulted in an interesting look. Finding the correct visual balance for this emotional sequence was key for our director. We wanted the audience to feel like they were inside this macro world, trapped with Jack and Dylan and feeling their emotions.During principal photography the crew set up these giant acrylic half domes for the actors to perform within. This became a great reference point for our digital team, but it was actually too perfect and didnt have any glass abnormalities typically found in snow globes. Our team embarked on a journey to try and create this macro snow globe environment that looked realistic and not perfect. Varying the glass thickness, adding glass wobble, scratches, finger prints, fine glass imperfections, etc all added to the macro-photography of the snow globes. Without all these subtle details the audience subconsciously knows somethings amiss and can be taken out of the emotional moment shared between Jack and Dylan. Once we started layering in all these tiny details and incorporated aspects of macro photography it all came together.Another aspect of this sequence that was relatively challenging was the constant falling snow inside the snow globes. There was no performance photography of our actors with practical snow, so the snow within the snow globe had to be digitally created. Since our characters are moving around within their globe environment the FX team had to create digital snow that was advected by their performances, could stick to them if needed and piled up around their feet as they paced around trapped withing their globes. The digital falling snow also had to match the spirit of snow globe snow, meaning it couldnt just fall straight down, our digital snowflakes required some initial motion which was generated by a fluid sim within the confines of their globes.b&a: Theres the stealing of Santas sleigh and the transformation of Kiernan Shipka into the giant witch Gryla. Tell me first about dealing with Santas sleigh.Chris Waegner: Well, Red One, the sleigh, is about the size of a bus. On set, it wasnt the type of thing the film crew could move around very easily, resulting in physically moving cameras to imply the sleighs speed. The sleigh is also being pulled by eight giant reindeer with lots of interactive FX snow. As the sleigh races down the runway, kicking up snow as it goes, visual continuity of the snow becomes very important direction of falling snow, reindeer snow, sleigh tracks in the snow, snow footprints, etc.Jack OMalley (Chris Evans) and Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson) in RED ONE. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM StudiosThe sequence starts with Gryla stealing the sleigh, charging down the runway. She believes shes gotten away but our heroes make it to the sleigh just in time. Our heroes engage with Gryla who ends up getting ejected off the sleigh, believing they have saved the day. Part two of this sequence, Gryla transforms to her true self, an 18-foot-tall ogre type creature from Icelandic folklore. She climbs up to the top of the runway, and then we have an epic battle for Santas freedom.There were many challenges with this sequence, one in particular that comes to mind was establishing the correct eyelines with our actors. For this, we put actress Kiernan Shipka in the scissor lift 18 feet in the air. Our actors could then perform their dialogue, reacting to her as if she was 18 feet tall. We also were able to capture Kiernans facial capture performance while she was on the scissor lift performing. The physical battle between our heroes, Cal and Jack, and the 18-foot-tall Gryla had its own set of challenges requiring a lot of rotomation, live-action plates augmentation, and live-action to digital double transitions which is relatively standard these days. But this was all taking place during a snow storm, high above the North Pole City and on a narrow runway. So even though we started off with live-action plates we needed to account for digital falling snow, digital background enhancements, digital ground snow continuity and it seemed like digital everything else.b&a: For Gryla as a witch in particular, was there any kind of need to do a facial capture session with Kiernan, the actress?Chris Waegner: We incorporated a head-mounted camera setup on Kiernan Shipka to capture her performance. We found that the most important thing for our Gryla character was capturing the essence of Kiernans performance, and then determining the correct balance required for the shot. The structural differences between Kiernan and giant Gryla was quite vast and while it was great to have the head-mounted facial capture from set, it was the animation team who helped define these performances. Throughout the sequence animation was dealing with the subtle difference in Grylas performance, balancing her calm and confident moments against the angry and furious moments each dictated by the shot requirements.b&a: She seems like a character with lots and lots of CFX challenges. Tell me about some of those.Chris Waegner: Well, she was another character that went through a visual evolution of design. Shes unique in the sense that shes 18 feet tall with distinctive decrepit hunched over appearance, and two Minotaur-type legs. One challenge the animation team had to overcome was making her a formidable adversary to our heroes with her decrepit posture. We used her tails as a physical counterbalance to her posture and the tails themselves became prehensile weapons which can used as whips or have the ability grab things.When she first appears, she seems very old and decrepit but intimidating mostly due to her size, but then you realize that shes also quite spry and agile with the ability to move very quickly during battle. As the sequence evolves our heroes have to change their battle strategy when they realize how quick and nimble she is.As far as her costume and CFX goes, she had this mane of wiry coarse hair that was always blowing in the North Pole wind. Her shawl and cloak costume is made of a heavy burlap type material, acting like a long winter coat. The CFX teams had their hands full with her costume due to the physical interactions with our live-action and digital heroes. At one point her costume catches fire and in a fit of rage Gryla rips off a portion of the costume.b&a: You mentioned the North Pole City. I just want to make sure I give a shout-out to your environments team that I imagine made quite a complex build there.Chris Waegner: We did share the North Pole asset with another vendor on this film. Both facilities were running parallel but since our North Pole sequence showcased mostly the runway, North Pole Tower and surrounding Tower locations, it became manageable, not to imply it was easy. Our environments team focused attention on high altitude city views, looking down upon the city below and wide vista type shots. We had our own customized version of the North Pole City specifically designed and catered to our shot needs. Of course theres specifics to our shots like digital snow continuity, sleigh tracks in the snow, icicles hanging down off the runway, all very unique and particular to our camera angles. There was also the constant visual balance with the other vendor while trying to make the North Pole look realistic and magical. Jake and Jerome had a very specific vision for their version of the North Pole city and it was up to us to create something that audiences could identify as what the North Pole might look like. Its colourful, fanciful and magical, but its not cartoony.RED ONE. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studiosb&a: Is there anything else about that particular sequence that you wanted to mention?Chris Waegner: Like many films these days, for our sequences, we incorporated many modern film making techniques each with its own set of challenges filming in various set locations, filming in soundstages, utilizing drones, incorporating motion capture and various handheld camera techniques. For example, in one sequence we start off with eight giant digital reindeer pulling a huge sleigh and trailer high above the North Pole city in a snow storm and end with an epic battle featuring an 18 foot all ogre. Thats huge Its a real testament to all the dedicated artists who were able to help visualize our filmmakers goals.Sometimes there are little moments in a sequence. One such moment is when Jack gets thrown off the sleigh and he falls into the reindeer team. He has to navigate his way from the front reindeer team back toward the sleigh. Its reminiscent of those classic Western films the stagecoach charging full speed and our hero is stuck within the horse team. That sequence of shots was so much fun to work on and it became important to our filmmakers in the sense that they too saw an homage to the classic western films. Instead of a dry desert with horses and dust its the North Pole, giant reindeer and snow. It also became a hero moment for Jack, its so disorientating at times, snow everywhere with silhouetted glimpses of Jack against these large dangerous hooves kicking all around him. Its a short moment within this larger sequence, but its a great action moment where youre right in the middle of the chaos.b&a: I really like the idea that visual effects, as youve said there, is adding to the story by being the place where that kind of stuff can be worked out. Because, as you say, its shot on set, and you need to widen that world, but also introduce the freneticism. And I think the general public doesnt always realize that visual effects is often in there to helping do those things, invisibly.Chris Waegner: Oh yeah, yeah, I 100% agree. The term invisible visual effects has been coined before. Thats exactly what it is when we do our job right.The post Snowmen in the sun, and other incredible effects appeared first on befores & afters.

The Grammys are exactly a week away, and the air is already buzzing with anticipation. Whether youre rooting for Charli XCXs Brat winning Album of the Year or cringing at the idea of Espresso winning the Best Song because it was plastered all across social media, the Grammy statuettearguably one of the most iconic trophies in music historywill soon take center stage. Shaped like a vintage gramophone, this gleaming golden award has been synonymous with excellence in music since its debut in 1959. Now, thanks to LEGO enthusiast _ironman, this piece of music history has been reimagined in an entirely new way: as a LEGO set.In true LEGO Ideas fashion, the design captures the essence of the real Grammy awarda gramophone frozen in time, its brass horn glinting with a sense of pride and tradition. But what makes this build more than a miniaturized tribute to the Grammys is its intention. According to _ironman, the project was inspired by a desire to encourage kids to chase their dreams, even in the face of adversity. One day, Ill get one of these, is the thought this LEGO set aims to inspire, especially for children who may be dreaming of making music their career. Its a powerful idea wrapped in a clever, brick-built package.Designer: _ironmanStanding at 16.6 x 19.5 x 31 mm, this LEGO Gramophone shows off a minimalist design that doesnt skimp on details. With 207 pieces, including four golden records tucked away in a gold box, it strikes a balance between elegance and accessibility. The build isnt overly complex, making it a perfect project for music lovers of all agesLEGO newcomers and seasoned builders alike. Theres even a blank nameplate that you can add your name to, just as the ultimate manifestation!The idea of merging LEGO with cultural icons isnt new, but this project feels especially poignant. Music has a way of uniting people, and the Grammys are a celebration of that universal connection. By recreating the Grammy award in LEGO form, this set becomes a bridge between two art forms: music and building. Whether youre someone who loves constructing MOCs (My Own Creations) or simply admires the rich history of the Grammys, this project has something for you.As we countdown to Grammy night, this LEGO Gramophone reminds us that creativity knows no bounds. While not everyone will walk away with an actual Grammy, the dream to reach that pinnacle begins somewhere. And sometimes, it starts with a handful of bricks, an idea, and a spark of imagination. So, if youre as inspired by this as we are, head over to the LEGO Ideas website to vote for _ironmans project, and lets make this golden dream an official box set. After all, even the longest musical journey starts with a single noteor in this case, a single LEGO brick.The post This LEGO Grammy Trophy Replica Turns an Iconic Award into a 207-Brick Collectible first appeared on Yanko Design.

Richard Mille is generally known for fascinating timepieces that are apparently robust and intriguingly complex. This time, to kickstart the new year, the brand has launched a brutalist architecture-inspired RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat, which is a modern take on the RM 016, Richard Milles first rectangular automatic watch, an embodiment of ergonomic perfection and minimalist aesthetics.If there is one architectural style that has influenced watchmaking more than others, it has to be Brutalism. Since its buildup in the 1950s, the brutalist style characterized by blocky forms and geometric shapes has found its way into the best of watches including a Patek Philippe, a Vacheron Constantin, and even a Richard Mille. The RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat reflects on the architectural style, while staying aesthetically within the RMs signature style: so apparently what we get is a rectangular-shaped, skeletonized watch that resembles Ariadnes thread, by an intricate maze on the dial.Designer: Richard MilleEven though the fit and ideology of the original RM 16-02 are upheld, the new iteration of the watch excels in its interpretation of the rectangular shape and the complex, skeletonized dial that screams with brutalist boldness. Richard Mille has made the new RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat available in two vibrant colorways: Terracotta Quartz TPT and Titanium Creamy White Quartz TPT.Made in about 10 percent smaller size than the original RM016, the new RM 16-02 measures 36mm in width, 45.64mm in length, and 9.5mm thick. Retaining its curvature reminiscent of Richard Mille watches, it comprises a full-grade 5 titanium case in the first model, while its the interesting new Terracotta Quartz TPT model that catches the eye, not only because its a first for RM but also for its process of achieving the color. The unique color is achieved by infusing 45 microns of thin silica threads in a colored matrix and then subjecting them to high temperature and pressure.Of course, both the color variants of the 2025 RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat captivate with their aesthetics and rectangular cases, their story is not limited to appearance. The watches are powered by a new in-house CRMA9 calibre skeletonized automatic movement with hours and minute hands on the dial. The movement measuring 26mm wide, 31.25mm long, and 4.12mm thick specially made for the watch helps maintain the RM 16-02s slim profile and provides it with up to 50 hours of power reserve. Richard Mille watches, we have come to understand, dont sell for affordable rates. Somehow the company has tried to keep the RM 16-02 watches within the range of affordability for most collectors. To ensure that, RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat Terracotta Quartz TPT is priced at $156,000 and Titanium White Quartz TPT is retailing for $134,000.The post Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Winding Extraflat is brutalist take on vibrant watchmaking first appeared on Yanko Design.

Month-end price cuts are in effect on Apple's latest MacBook Pro with an M4 chip, as Amazon's on-page coupon drops it to $1,399.99.Grab Apple's M4 MacBook Pro for $1,399 - Image credit: AppleThe $1,399.99 price at Amazon is thanks to a $150 instant rebate stacked with a $49.01 on-page coupon, bringing the total savings to $200 off MSRP. With the standard M4 model now including 16GB of unified memory compared to the M3's 8GB of RAM, the Late 2024 14-inch MacBook Pro offers additional value for the price.Buy for $1,399.99 Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

BioWares Dragon Age: The Veilguard became the topic of discussion again after Electronic Arts revealed that it reached 1.5 million players, missing projections for Q3 fiscal year 2025 by about 50 percent. However, a slump for EA Sports FC 25 also heavily contributed. Reuters has since followed up by reporting that shares dropped by 15 percent, with the publisher slated to suffer an almost $6 billion loss in market value.Ultimate Team is vital to EAs annual bottom line, so it makes sense for any setbacks to have a profound impact. As MoffettNathanson analysts stated, Ultimate Team has come to be viewed as a near Swiss clock of interactive media bookings growth. If it is stagnant, it puts enormous pressure on EA to fill the void. As such, the publisher confirmed a mid-single-digit percentage decline in live service bookings despite projecting a mid-single-digit increase.Jefferies analysts also noted the mixed player reactions at EA Sports FC 25s launch, though a recent update brought sweeping changes. Of course, Dragon Age: The Veilguard still suffered from weak spending and couldnt make up for the football titles underperformance.EA has since revised its fiscal year 2025 bookings to $7-$7.15 from $7.5-$7.8 billion. CEO Andrew Wilson remained confident in our long-term strategy and expect a return to growth in FY26, as we execute against our pipeline. Stay tuned for more updates, especially on February 4th, as EA reveals more detailed results.

Extraction shooters are quite easily the latest big trend in multiplayer gaming that companies are trying to hop on to in the wake of the success seen by titles like Escape From Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. Few titles, however, have managed to have enough staying power to boast success, with most new games in the genre seeing small but dedicated audiences. Bandai Namcos Synduality: Echo of Ada is the latest extraction shooter that is seemingly gunning for one of the top spots of the genre, and in order to do this, the game has its own unique twist on the gameplay and setting.What sets Synduality: Echo of Ada apart from its contemporaries is, first of all, the fact that it is a mech-based game. While this might seem like a superficial observation from the get go, the fact that youre not in direct control of a human character, and are instead piloting a mech referred to rather grimly in the game as a Cradlecoffin means that the title plays differently from just about any other extraction shooter out there. Interestingly, Synduality also has a smoother learning curve than many of its contemporaries, including the excellent looking The Forever Winter.There is a certain vibe that Synduality goes for which feels like it was heavily inspired by the entire medium of anime. Aside from the previously-mentioned grim name for mechs in the universe, players also have AI buddies that they can customize the look for, complete with new outfits to make them look more unique. The mechs themselves lend themselves to more Japanese design sensibilities, looking more like sleek battle machines and less like the clunky bi-pedal tanks that you might see in a western title like MechWarrior 5: Clans. Visually, however, aside from a few fun quirks here and there, Synduality: Echo of Ada tends to look incredibly bland."Synduality also has a smoother learning curve than many of its contemporaries"Unfortunately, just about every bit of unique design and flavour in Synduality is kept to the games various menus. Even the AI buddy youre partnered with is relatively bland, being yet another anime character in a medium that is filled to the brim with, you know, anime characters. Even the design of the Craddlecoffins tend to feel quite bland and derivative of other IPs in the mecha genre, bringing in a mix of designs that range from being inspired by older mecha anime like Gunbuster, to some of the sleeker designs we see in modern-day Gundam.The environments themselves also feel quite uninspired. While the color palette is okay most of the time, with several zones being easily identifiable thanks to the color theming that went into designing them, its difficult to have things in the games two maps stand out because of how generic they can feel. Things seldom get more interesting than ruins of cities and military buildings, and the small bits of forests or mountains that fill out the gaps between these locations tend to often feature some of the more unique opportunities for varied combat. Of course, it also doesnt help that even important things in the game tend to look either slightly blurry, or washed out, and this includes your own mech.While combat is where Synduality hopes to truly shine, unfortunately, it often feels a bit too simplistic to offer anything really new. Sure, the fact that every player is controlling a mech should, theoretically, add a new dimension to battles, especially since these mechs are much more agile and easy to control than a player character would be, unfortunately, things never really evolve much beyond players circle-strafing each other or the PvE enemies while blasting them with weapons. The weapons themselves are relatively quite simple; you get the usual array of guns youd expect from a shooter, ranging from SMGs to shotguns to rifles. While these weapons are split between two categories depending on the type of ammo they use energy or live rounds this seldom comes up in fights."While combat is where Synduality hopes to truly shine, unfortunately, it often feels a bit too simplistic to offer anything really new."Another aspect of the combat is that you get to pick the type of companion you bring with you, which in turn also affects what special abilities youll have access to. While some of these abilities can end up having some effect in fights, like the multi-targeting missile barrage, the build-up and cooldown on these abilities is too long for them to have too much effect on battles. Its often just faster to go in guns blazing and trust your own reflexes in effectively dodging attacks.Credit where its due, Synduality: Echo of Ada at least has some of the best onboarding Ive seen from the genre. Rather than being thrust out into a cold and unforgiving world where failure means losing everything you were carrying (including your own weapons and equipment), the game at least gives you a much better time in the early game than other titles in the genre. Unlike Escape From Tarkov, which is known for its brutal difficulty, Synduality will ease you into its general gameplay loop. In fact, PvP is outright impossible to engage in without progressing through some of the games early objectives, which revolve around you setting out into a PvE-only zone to kill monsters and find materials that will allow you to build up your base to a reasonable level.The game also does a decent job introducing its mechanics gradually, with a key example being a set of early objectives that revolve around setting up a crafting room in your home base. Through these objectives, the game teaches players to set out and fight things, and how various materials can be used to not only build up their base, but also that players can unlock better item stocks in the games stores, and eventually even craft their own specialized equipment."In fact, PvP is outright impossible to engage in without progressing through some of the games early objectives"The tutorialisation does tend to go too far sometimes, however, with the game finding it difficult to occasionally shut up and allow the player to figure some things out themselves. In fact, the early game has constant interruptions where either your companion or a mascot character will try to be helpful by over-explaining various aspects of the game. Some of the help offered by these characters feels like the game thinks that youve never played a video game before.When it comes to the story itself, theres not really much to write home about. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a dangerous type of rain started wiping out the entire human population. Players are Drifters, who set out in the dangerous rain-filled world to get their hands on AO Crystals, which are the new energy source that is allowing humanity to bounce back after their near-extinction. There isnt really much more to the story beyond this basic setup, which provides an adequate reason for players to set out to take on creatures known as Enders and occasionally even rival Drifters. The story is never really expanded upon aside from giving you vague hints about some of the factions being up to no good, and theres never really a big payoff regarding the ultimate fate of humanity.Unfortunately, Synduality: Echo of Ada feels like an early idea that never really got expanded on. Superficially, it has some interesting ideas, and its easier early game objectives are definitely a great step in the right direction for the genre. Sadly, the game is quite lacking when it comes to actual depth; the combat seldom evolves beyond circle-strafing and shooting, and even the progression system is quite basic. Add on top the rather bland and generic anime aesthetics, as well as the fact that the story never really goes anywhere, and you get a title that might just not be around long in the future.This game was reviewed on PC.

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