Game review: Magical Forest

Once in awhile, I get an urge to play a Sims type of game. It doesn't happen to often but it does happen. This time I got the urge, I decided to try Magical Forest. It's a game where you raise magical sprites. There are different types of sprite and each one gives different coins. You use these coins to buy food or upgrade your caretakers or buy new sprites. I honestly thought this game was going to be a lot like Insaniquarium over at Pop Cap Games. In a way, it is. You are basically feeding a critter and trying to get them to level up. However, in this game, there are a ton more upgrades to your weapons and you can obtain spells to help you defeat your enemies faster. There are also more types of sprites, which you can buy and resell as you wish.

Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun playing this. I'm not sure why I enjoyed it, I just did. It's one of those unexplainable things in life. Give it a try, it's very fun.

Movie review: Stardust

I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of Stardust, a movie based on a Neil Gaiman novel. Starring Claire Danes and Charlie Cox, Stardust is the story of a young man, Tristan (Cox), who crosses a wall from his mundane world into a magical one to find a fallen star. Tristan expects to find a lump of rock. However, he finds that the star is, instead, a beautiful woman, Yvaine (Danes). Of course, Tristan is not the only person that noticed the falling star. A trio of wicked witch sisters, led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), are after the heart of the star so they can obtain eternal life and beauty. Meanwhile, three princely brothers search for their father's stone to determine which of them will take the now-vacant throne. While all my friends gave this movie raving reviews, I wasn't sure what to expect from it. Little did I know that there would be an absolutely amazing story mixed with beautiful visuals. I don't want to give away too many things but I loved the way Yvaine's glow and the witches' magic was handled. They both added a little more pizzaz to an already amazing world. I would recommend that everyone give Stardust a try.