Tales of Hearts R (PS Vita)

Tales of Hearts R follows the grand tradition of the Tales series, with nary a must-have box left unchecked:

-Earnest male lead with sword, check
-Female lead/romantic interest, check
-Whacky supporting characters, check
-Slight tweak to the button mash-y combat system, check
-Slight tweak to the leveling up system, check
-An ancient civilization did it, check
-Love and friendship, check
-Fat jokes, check

However, predictability can be good -- for instance, the music, graphics, and voice acting (original Japanese) are top-notch, as always.

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Tales of Hearts R begins with the Hearts siblings, Kohaku and Hisui, out on their quest to revive the mysterious "Sleeping Beauty" of legend to, you know, save the world. Along the way, they encounter the main protagonist Shingu, who has recently received a "Soma" -- a weapon linked to the user's "Spiria" (spirit) that can help people who have "despir" (depression?). Events then necessitate a series of fetch quests, with lots of new characters and chatting to make the journey entertaining.

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The three elements that make Tales of Hearts R shine are:

Combat: 9/10
Rewards button-mashing and strategy! It's so much fun to get a Guard Counter right, which is when an enemy gets mad and launches a strong attack, but you block at exactly the right time and end up landing a blow instead of taking one. Also, there are Chase Links, where the player has a limited amount of time to lay into an enemy without getting hit back. A supporting character can join for a powerful finishing move, but you have to be paying attention to the character portraits to trigger it.

A sign that I might be maturing as a gamer: instead of my typical aggressive frontal assault fighting style, I favored long-distance spellcasting once my characters learned the awesome ones (e.g. Hurricane).

Playable Characters: 9/10 
No one is boring. There's hotheaded Hisui, grizzled Gall, shady Ines, straight-laced Chalcedony...heck, even Beryl stopped being annoying pretty quickly, while Shingu's naïveté is effectively played for laughs. Everyone gets a backstory that makes them sympathetic. Plus, they all kick ass on the battlefield, which is key.

AND if you happen to remember a small detail, you can change one character's entire appearance! So instead of an impractical crop-top and mini-skirt, said character shall be in imposing armor and mask! Heck yeah!

By the way, the image is of Ines, who is the most frequent butt of the other characters' fat jokes. And boob jokes, it need not be said, but there's a lot of talk about her belly.

Yep, just look at 'em love handles, how does she squeeze into that outfit.

Gameplay: 9/10
Having the characters be able to enter a person's "Spiria Nexus" (or "spiria maze" in Japanese) adds another level to the quest, because these are essentially mini-dungeons. As the game progresses, the difficulty level of the... Nexuses? Nexi? ...increases, but it's never fiendishly difficult, nor even diabolical, as any Alundra veteran will dismissively inform you. All of the other puzzles in the game are easily solved by a 12-year-old, which I assume is this game's core audience.

PLUS the overworld is a free-for-all, provided you don't try exploring areas that are for much later in the game and requires much higher levels (e.g. I tried going into the volcano pretty early on, and got stopped. Whew!).

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And now for the three things that Tales of Hearts R developers could maybe have worked on more:

Villains: 3/10
Snore. In the game, there are three "mechaknights" who stand in your way. Incarose is your standard-issue blinded-by-love-for-master-who-treats-me-like-dirt bad guy, and Chloseraph is just plain batty. He would have been more interesting if they'd spent more time on his true motivations. His twin, Chlinoseraph, is actually pretty badass, with flawless villain reasoning and follow-through. He's all, "I exist to protect my master, and the only way to do that is to kill my brother to level up enough to kill y'all, which my master won't like, but this is my programming sooooo"

Anyway, the main antagonist, Creed -- "the man with the red hair" (stop discriminating against gingers, Namco Tales Studio!) -- is the worst offender. He's a petulant man-child whose inability to control himself and his science project leads to a thousands-year cat-and-mouse game that culminates in the current crop of heroes (because there was a previous group of heroes, this is a Tales game after all). And when he finally gets his ending, dying in the arms of the woman he loves, I was like, "Dude does not deserve this, he deserves to be transformed into goop and then flushed down a toilet, a la Ant-Man." In other words: Creed sucks.

Plot: 5/10
On a scale that ranges from "Absurd" to "Everyone died so ghosts wrote this", the storyline of Hearts falls somewhere in the middle, between "No budget for story" and "How high were they?" It uses the Sleeping Beauty legend as a framework for the main conflict, and certainly does subvert expectations in a good way. For example, "ibara no mori", or the Forest of Thorns where Sleeping Beauty lies, is a giant flying whale. Didn't see that one coming. Sleeping Beauty herself is actually awake, and her conciousness is behind a number of important historical events. 

But it gets pretty incoherent after that, with the addition of ancient aliens, their mechaknights, Will artes (magic), Somas, secret villain-villains, and of course, a soul-sucking black moon. 

In the end -- surprise! -- The Aliens Learn That Love and Friendship Conquer All. Only the Tales series is this good at churning out stories that are at once derivative and weirdly unique.

Localization: WTF/10 
I mean, props to Bandai for keeping the original Japanese voiceovers and slapping on English subtitles, but their translation team took some serious liberties. Here are the examples that I remember:

Exhibit A: The first cut scene

Incarose: Mitsuketa. (Found you.) = You're mine!
(Kohaku and Hisui have a conversation as they run from her.)
Incarose: Mitsuketa. (Found you.) = Like moths to a flame.
(Kohaku and Hisui are cornered.)
Incarose: Mitsuketazo. (Totally found you!) = It's time to pluck wings off the moths.

...I mean, okay, the first "mitsuketa" definitely has the "You're mine!" nuance. And I get that just translating her repeated lines might be boring. But the translators just keep on rollin'...

Exhibit B: Shingu Meteorite

The main character clearly says his name is Shingu Meteorite. Throughout the game, everyone calls him Shingu. Somehow, the English subtitles turn this into "Kor Meteor." I understand the shortening of the last name, but how did Shingu become Kor????

Exhibit C: That's not even what he said

Shingu: Konna tsuyoi onna no hito wo mita no wa hajimete da! (I've never seen a woman this strong!) = Are all city girls like that?

Apparently it was not clear to gamers that "Kor" is a country bumpkin, so the translators decided to hammer it home a bit more. With a pile driver.

Exhibit D: That is also not what he said

Shingu: Naka naka hiroi heya da ne! (What a huge room!) = Looks like the maid's on vacation.

"Looks like the maid's on vacation?" Are you kidding me? At that point, I just stopped both listening to the voices and reading the text. And I finished the game in 36 hours; it would have taken longer if I'd listened or read, so hurray!

I just can't with this localization.

Hire me to translate, Bandai Namco!!!!

onegaiitashimasu.

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TL;DR: Fun, loopy JRPG with replay value!

This post brought to you by lentil soup!

Toddler Sleep Training

Junior is perfect except for one thing: his inability to soothe himself back to sleep. And his sonic scream when he's hungry. And his tripping over perfectly flat surfaces. Okay, maybe he's not perfect.

Sleep is a panacea -- it heals the body, helps the mind sort the day's events, improves mood, and contributes to weight loss/maintenance! (source: IIRC)

As new parents, sleep is now a mere memory for hubby and me. It's hard to parent, let alone function, without sufficient sleep. Fortunately, we perfected a bedtime routine for Junior that lets him get enough sleep (minimum 10 hours a night) and lets us relax for a couple of hours before our own lights out.

This is a four-step process, and times indicated are approximate:

Step 1: Wind Down (6pm) -- Daddy takes Junior to his room, where there's no bustle (e.g. cleaning up dinner dishes). Junior quietly plays with his toys while Daddy catches up on the news. Then Daddy changes Junior into pajamas.

Step 2: Nursing (6:30pm) -- Junior's pediatrician sternly reminds us that breastfeeding is now very, very supplementary to his diet, so nowadays, this is his second and final session for the day (the first being in the AM).

Step 3: Toothbrushing (6:35pm) -- I brush Junior's teeth with just a dab of toothpaste, and afterwards allow him to suck on the toothbrush for that minty fresh flavor!

Step 4: Story Time (6:40pm) -- Junior's favorite part. He clambers into bed beside Daddy, who has selected a book from our spawn's vast library, which contains no less than three copies of Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

And then he gets put in the crib for lights out:

In the dark times before the Empire, Junior would only sleep in three-hour intervals, which required logistical planning on our part. Who would take first watch? How would we soothe him? Daddy usually got up first, and I would be called in if the crying escalated. It was awful and we were both grumpy in the morning, while Junior played merrily.

But then one day, a bit after Junior turned one, Daddy put his foot down and said, "It's time to let him cry it out." In other words, the little one had to learn to soothe himself back to sleep, without one of us there patting his back or shoving boobs at his face. The ultimate goal was to get everyone a solid night's sleep.

And y'know what? ...It worked! Eventually, anyway. There was a lot of backsliding (by me, admittedly, I can't sleep when he's crying) in the first few weeks, but by 14-15 months of age, Junior was sleeping through the night, mostly. He would wake up, utter a wail, and then settle back down. We learned to distinguish between "I am disoriented but will be back asleep soon!" and "I am upset and will get louder and louder!!!"

Don't get me wrong -- I'm still a zombie because my sleep ledger remains in the red. I'm the grumpiest I've been since my teenage angst years (so long ago...). Hubby seems to be faring better, probably due to sheer grit, and also headphones at night.

We suspect that Junior's teething right now (molars!!!) so he's periodically been waking up fussy. Argh. They do say that sleep routines get messed up every now and then. 

But at least we have our nightly ritual that has him in bed, asleep, at 7 pm...giving us a few hours of breathing room in the evenings.

TL;DR: A bedtime routine for toddler helps with family sleep!

This post brought to you by one of those oddly warm winter days!

Game Review: Alundra (PS One)

Alundra is a PS One Classic beloved by gamers because of its insane puzzles. While its gameplay mimics The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past -- a peerless SNES game -- a major difference is Alundra’s ability to jump, which is often critical to progressing through dungeons and accessing treasure chests on the main map. The game also boasts an amazing soundtrack. As for the story, it’s your standard hero-of-prophecy must battle hidden-dark-forces. The meh-ness of the plot is easily overshadowed by the challenge of the puzzles that players must solve.

Let’s talk about each of the elements that make Alundra shine:

Puzzles: 10/10 
In the world of Alundra, there are two types of dungeons: actual physical locations (e.g. a coal mine, a reptile lair), or inside someone’s nightmare. Both types require going through locked doors to move forward, which means Alundra must find keys, or push buttons, in locations that can sometimes be described as how-the-heck-do-I-reach-that???. While this is easy enough when players first start, the dungeons become bigger and more elaborate, and there’s plenty of backtracking to do.

Jumping is an especially frustrating and yet fun aspect of puzzle-solving. There are many instances when you conclude that you must make a seemingly impossible jump, so you bring Alundra to the verrrry edge, cross your fingers, and leap! And when you get to the other side, your heart goes, “DID YOU SEE THAT? I AM A CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS!” (Now that I think about it, Alundra is so fun because it combines Zelda with Mario. Excuse me while I write a game script mixing Pokemon and Duck Hunt, somehow.)

Even though weak jumping skills make this game painful, you will eventually become a boss jumper because, as they say, “Every failure is an opportunity to improve,” and boy did I fail a lot. For me, the payoff was pride in my gaming skills. #yassss (←I do not know what this means but it seems apropos)

Soundtrack: 10/10 
Every track is perfection. I especially adored “The Shrine of the Lake,” the incredible piece for the final dungeon that evokes the ruined majesty of the place. And it was important for this piece to rock, because players will be at that dungeon for at least 30 minutes, meaning the track will have looped over a dozen times by the time the door to the final boss opens.

If you are ever on the YouTube, check out the full soundtrack uploaded by a fellow named Fresh Paprika.

Story: 8/10
While the overall plot is predictable, Alundra gets high points for its unflinching murder of NPCs. See, a character portrait on an NPC means s/he is important – and suddenly, boom! Dead. My expectations, they were subverted! Well done!

Gameplay: 7/10
Above average for so effectively adding in jumping to Alundra's range of abilities, and for the Gilded Falcon collectibles. But there are items and weapons that barely do anything. I mean, I used the bow twice, and never used the Wind Book. Plus, it ripped off A Link to the Past so much that I expected to have to chase chickens. And [spoiler alert] I didn't! WHERE IS MY CHICKEN CHASING MISSION.

Also, oddly, the PS Vita port of the game uses the back of the device as a shortcut to the menu, which made for awkward interruptions during crucial jumps whenever I gripped the Vita wrong and swiped at the danger zone.

Still, I had a blast!

***

True story: I had a copy of Alundra for the PS One back in the day, but gave up on the game because I couldn’t get past a particular puzzle. So when I saw it on the Sony Network store, I was all, “This time I’ll win! Because now there are walkthroughs! Mwahahahaaaa~”

When I eventually got to that beautiful screen proclaiming “The End” (and the only way to leave that screen is to reset!), my heart swelled with pride. Thank you, Daniel J. Garcia, aka PhamtonPain for your detailed guide!

TL;DR: A great throwback from the pre-3D gaming era. Recommended! 

This post brought to you by stroopwafels, which I just heard is sold at Whole Foods! Expedition to confirm intel scheduled this weekend!

Movie Review: Star Wars: the Force Awakens (2015)

The newest installment of the Star Wars movie series has magnificent music, thrilling action, a mysterious protagonist, and an unimpressive main villain. Its overall enjoyability helped to balance out the bad karma caused by the prequels. We watched it in IMAX, which is probably the best way to enjoy the fantastic score.

Star Wars: the Force Awakens follows the adventures of BB8, a heroic droid who possesses a map to Luke Skywalker, who went off grid between Revenge of the Sith and this movie. BB8, stranded on a desert wasteland, stoically endures all manner of hardships until he meets the scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), who then becomes the main protagonist because BB8 is tired, y'all. Rey is joined by Finn (John Boyega), a former Stormtrooper. Together, they try to escape the First Order -- the current, somehow bigger version of the Empire -- and bring the map to the Resistance -- the tinier version of the Rebel Alliance.

While Fragrant Husband -- a Star Wars geek of cosmic proportions -- grumbled about how "rushed" the movie was, at least the pacing was brisk, with plenty of butt-kicking, sneaking around, and all-out dogfighting to keep the tension high. Having the original cast play strong supporting roles was also gratifying. And the music was always there in the background, practically narrating the whole movie and offering suggestions re: emotions to accompany specific scenes (e.g. "Now she is walking down a dark corridor...*dun dun dun*...feel her trepidation!"). TELL ME MY FEELINGS, SOUNDTRACK, TAKE ME TO A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY.  

The two leads, Rey and Finn, have great chemistry, and Boyega in particular sells Finn's desperation and, later, his determination to save his friend. Meanwhile, Ridley portrays a young woman with deep reserves of strength and patience. Although her sudden proficiency with the Force, especially with zero training, is a bit of a leap, but maybe she's really good at copying others (i.e. Kylo Ren)?

AND SPEAKING OF KYLO REN. Dude was lame. He started out as a menacing masked figure with anger issues, like Anakin Skywalker at his most petulant. However, unlike Hayden Christensen's Darth Pouter, Adam Driver's ex-Jedi disciple doesn't have the "But he's so pretty!" fallback. Instead, oddly, he looks like a young Severus Snape, and acts like it, too. (Because of the hair, my sister initially thought the actor was Josh Groban, which would have been an interesting casting choice.) He and the eldest Weasley brother gave each other a lot of side eye during this film, further adding to the Harry Potter vibe. 

Obviously, this is a ploy by Disney to make me watch the movie again so I can dissect the nuances of Driver's performance. Curse you, you entertaining money-making juggernaut! 

***

Mostly I like The Force Awakens because it recalls the wide-eyed, high adventure feel of A New Hope. There's a far larger and infinitely more complex universe out there, with a ton of interesting minor players, but viewers care about the main characters because, let's face it, LIGHTSABERS. The Force Awakens needs more exciting lightsaber action, and this is where I hope the next episode will shine. 

I'm counting on you, JJ Abrams. You're my only hope. 

TL;DR: A fun space action-adventure, worthy of its origins. 

This post brought to you by Narita Airport's Sakura Lounge!

My First Airplane Ride: an Account by Fragrant Junior

The day began as it always did, with myself singing sweetly to my parents in the other room that the sun was to rise momentarily, and now is the moment to come release me from my crib so that we may enjoy it together. Mother came in (hurrah!), and gave me my pre-breakfast energy drink (double hurrah!!)

Author's note : "Double hurrah" -- get it? Because I have two, er, milkshake dispensers?!?!?! (Author's addendum: I explain for the sake of dum-dums like myself who would never have gotten it.)

After a wholesome meal of waffle and banana, I suffered myself to be changed into a fresh diaper and a set of clothes. I was then allowed to run about and play with all my new gifts from my adoring worshippers. But then I realized that I should earn my keep, especially as we were to embark on a long journey, so I called the airline:

Me: I would like to confirm our flight. Reservation code is [REDACTED]. 

Person: Yes, two seats on the bulkhead and a bassinet, that's confirmed. 

Me: A bassinet? That can't be right. What are the height and weight limits on that?

Person: The maximum weight is 10.5 kilos, sir. The bassinet is 77 cm in length. 

Me: Well, I -- I mean, the baby -- happens to be over both of those measurements, so cancel the bassinet, please. 

Person: Understood. 

***

Having done my duty, I played the part of the perfect pre-boarding passenger, waving at all the new fans I inevitably attracted. It was quite tiring to be on all the time, so I occasionally took time to re-center myself. 

When the time came for boarding and takeoff, I again pulled off a flawless performance: friendly, not too loud, and only slightly filthy from all the chocolate I'd been given. 

Author's warning: Do not make the same mistake I did. No sweets to the little one before takeoff!

***

Father seems extremely upset about not having the bassinet. He keeps telling Mother that he bought these seats specifically so we could have a bassinet. 

Oops. 

***

Good news: the flight attendants asked the passenger across the aisle to scoot over one so we could have a whole other non-occupied seat for our family of three! She (the passenger) keeps waving to me. She is very nice. I am waving back. 

***

I listened to some light music after lunch, in preparation for my nap:

But I couldn't stop my mind from wrestling with so many questions. Why wasn't I allowed to run down all the aisles? Why did Father forbid me from having more chocolate? How will world leaders enforce the resolutions of the Paris climate talks?

I eventually drifted off into sweet oblivion, cradled in the loving arms of Mother. 

***

Play, play, play:

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NO! NO! I WILL NOT SLEEP!!! THIS IS THE MOST AWFUL EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!! YOU ARE ALL TERRIBLE!!! THERE WAS SOMEONE ON THE GRASSY KNOLL!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

(repeat for three hours)

***

Fine, flight attendant, I'll have some milk in a plastic cup. Awww, you drew a face on the lid! That's going the extra mile right there. To thank you, I will have a short nap on Father's shoulder. 

***

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

(repeat for three hours)

***

We are at another airport! This one has nice floors, perfect for eating my snacks:

Ooo, we're getting on another airplane! I can't wait to...can't...can't...

SNOOOOOOORE

(For four glorious hours! On a five-hour flight!)

***

We're here! We're here!

IT'S SO HOT!!! MOMMMM, TAKE ONE LAYER OFF AT LEAST! DO I REALLY NEED THIS SANDO?

Ahhh, thank you. Slightly better. 

***

And that, dear readers, is the long version of my very first airplane ride(s). The bulleted version is:

12:30 Takeoff. Playtime. 

15:30 Nap. 

16:30 Playtime. 

18:30 Crying time. 

21:30 Uneasy sleep. 

22:30 Crying time. 

02:00 Landing. 

TL;DR: We all survived a 15-month-old's first airplane ride. 

This post brought to you by mommy and daddy time in Boracay!

This Christmas, We’ll Be Flying, Like Santa

Happy holidays from the Fragrant Family!

Tomorrow we’re off to our first family trip to the Philippines. The initial leg is 13.5 hours long, the next a mere five hours. And we have a 15-month-old toddler with us.

So, on this, Junior’s inaugural plane ride, we have prepared the following:

Image source: amazon.com

• Lots of toys: He’s got cars, stickers, blocks, books – and he’ll also play with whatever’s within reach. 
• iPad apps: Fisher Price has a Laugh & Learn series with cute animals that Junior loves. Plus I bought The Dark Crystal, which Hubby thinks is too scary for baby but I think he’ll enjoy it! 
• Lots of snacks: Three bags of graham bunny biscuits, Fig Newtons, Lara bars, granola bars, and whatever takes our fancy at the airport. 
• Lots of diapers: Like, 12 diapers and 1,000 wipes, probably. 
• Trunki: It’s a little suitcase that kids can ride! Junior’s a little too short at the moment (80 cm), but he loves pushing it around. We got the yellow one. Its name is Bernard? 

The plan is for Junior to nurse during takeoff, and since that’s around his usual nap time, he should sleep for 1-2 hours. Then we would have 5-6 hours before his actual bedtime. Planned activities during this time include playing, reading, and doing laps around the entire plane. Hopefully the engines will drown out his excited yelling, because he still can’t regulate his volume. Or his emotions. Or his limbs.

This will be so fun at 40,000 feet in the air. Santa never had to deal with this.

Obviously, no plan goes according to plan. For example, Hubby is already down with a cold. So Junior will probably spend the entire time wailing at the top of his lungs, wiggling like a deranged ferret in his father’s arms, while I doze peacefully right beside the chaos.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Tomorrow he flies like a bird!

 
This post brought to you by WHY AM I IN THE OFFICE SERIOUSLY IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 hews closely to its source material -- it grimly depicts the hidden costs of war, through the horrified eyes of the rebellion's poster child, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), aka the Mockingjay. After unbearable losses and sacrifices, the series ends as it began: with Katniss out in the wild, away from the path society set for her. But this time, she's not alone.

The film has no shortage of good actors. As always, JLaw offers a compelling performance as Katniss, and this time Josh Hutchinson steps us as the unstable Peeta, newly rescued and still suffering from the effects of torture. Donald Sutherland is as delightful as ever as the President Snow, a villain whose perception and self-awareness make him a worthy and wily foe. Jena Malone nails it again as the perpetually angry past Victor Joanna, and Julianne Moore, it need not be said, acts the crap out of the role of the near-emotionless, calculating President Alma Coin.

The movie opens with Katniss recovering from Peeta's attack. Her erstwhile co-Victor in the Hunger Games has been brainwashed against Katniss, making her more determined to personally bring down Snow. Using her charming personality (/sarcasm), she helps to rally the last holdouts so that all the Districts are now against the Capitol, poised to topple Snow -- but he's not going to give up power easily. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the rebellion's President Coin is plotting her own rise as the new leader of a free Panem, as a wary Plutarch Heavensbee (RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman) looks on.

One of the main themes of the movie, propaganda versus the reality of war, is showcased several times to underline the utter falsehoods broadcasted by either side to gain tactical advantage. Katniss' near-mythical status among the rebels is a direct result of such propaganda, although she's only invested in her image inasmuch as it helps her get closer to her goal of killing Snow. I may be reading too much into this, but Mockingjay Part 2 suggests that propaganda is already deeply embedded into our daily lives, that we are active participants in it: by showing the world only images that present us in the way we want to be perceived, we mislead others (and maybe ourselves!).

...Like I said, I may be reading too much into it.

The imperfect hero theme is also on display here. Movie-Katniss, like Book-Katniss, is deeply flawed -- she's selfish and often short-sighted -- but she is extremely determined, and frequently lucky. There are predictable contrivances, such as a rebel attack coming in the nick of time, which goes to show that Katniss is often propelled forward by events outside her own control. What makes her the hero is her consistent willingness to sacrifice herself to do what she thinks is right. It's diametrically opposed to her modus operandi in the first Hunger Games, when she was all about being the last to survive so she can keep her promise to her little sister, Prim. 

Speaking of, I sure am glad that scene played out the way it did, because I was steeling myself for buckets o' tears a la Rue. This way was more numbing and brutal, and perfectly sets up Katniss' postwar conversation with her nemesis Snow. 

Anyway. 

Final notes: soundtrack, cinematography, costumes = excellent. Love triangle side plot = meh. 

TL;DR: A faithful adaptation and fitting conclusion to the Hunger Games series. 

This post brought to you by Wachusett Green Monsta IPA! Go Pats!