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Nat's TV round up - 2017 in Review

Television is an unusual beast when we discuss how great it is. The last year marked a few key notes, notably the increasingly large presence that streaming services have thanks to A Handmaid’s Tale, which went on to win Best Drama at the Emmy's, becoming the first streaming show to do so. Normally, it would be smarter to discuss television in the middle of summer when most notable series are in-between seasons. That's no longer the case, thanks in large part to streaming services, as well as basic and premium cable.

I don't have a list of every show I watched this past year and I won't be handing out a dozen awards for how great a singular show was. Instead, I'll offer up three separate awards: Best Returning Series, Best New Series and Best Animated Series. It's pretty self explanatory. Best Returning series is for shows that are in their second season or beyond. Best New Series is for shows in their first season, mini-series included. Best Animated series is simply for animated shows in general which are no longer following the strict yearly season format of live action shows.

Best Returning Show: Game of Thrones (Season 7) There really wasn't another option. Despite the season being a few episodes shorter and arriving in the middle of summer as opposed to its usual spring premiere, game of thrones remains the best show currently airing. Season 7 had a slower start, but quickly catalyzed into one grand moment after another. The thrilling seven episodes that aired featured massive battles on the water, on the ground and in the frozen wastes beyond the wall. Gone are the slow politically driven conversations that were featured in earlier seasons, only fitting and satisfying conclusions to loose ends remain.

Perhaps the only detractor for this season is the smaller episode count. While the cast is much smaller this season, the missing few hours of content would have been appreciated to once again flesh out conversations and character motivations. And while the finale promises even greater things for season 8, the wait until then is an unpleasant one. The final season probably won't see light until 2019.Game of Thrones remains the only show on tv that sends the collective masses into hysteria. Season 7 led to more “Did you catch that?” moments than any other season yet and we hope the wait for season 8 isn't too long. Perhaps some news on those spin offs would be enough to keep us from going insane? Your move, HBO.

Highlight moment: Episode 4 - The Spoils of War This episode features the single greatest battle in game of thrones yet. It's the only time in recent memory where my jaw was on the floor in awe. I actually had a fork in my hand when the scene started and by the end it had fallen to the floor. For what was only about half an hour, I was 100% drawn in with zero distractions to my television screen. It wasn't a plot twist or a satisfying end to a subplot. No, the greatest moment in television last year was something that only multi-million budgeted movies get right and it was glorious.

Other Notable Series

Stranger Things (Season 2): This is probably the closest a returning series got to beating out Game of Thrones and it wasn't even close. Stranger Things continued the story of the first season with all of its 80’s charm. This season, however, loses points for splitting up its characters too often and the pacing issues it suffers. While there is some great action and character moments (Dustin is the star of this season), it just doesn't hold a candle to Thrones.

Comedy Series (Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Modern Family, The Good Place): This is my junk food. I love comedy series and these are the four most notable ones that I keep track of. Always Sunny continues to be one of the best written shows on tv and the season finale was fantastic. Here's hoping for at least one more season from the gang. Brooklyn Nine-Nine had an excellent year notably for tackling issues like police brutality and the rights of the accused, something that would have never happened on a network comedy ten years ago. Modern Family had a decent year and here's hoping that the series reaches its conclusion soon. Some of the jokes are starting to get old and the lack of interesting new characters has made the series start to become stale. The Good Place is the most recent series on the list. I loved the twist ending to season one and the direction season two has taken so far. There's a lot of potential here.

House of Cards (Season 5): Oh how the mighty have fallen. A year ago I was so excited for House of Cards to return and now I'm ready to put it out of its misery. Production issues aside, season 5 was a bloated mess that took an idea and spent an entire season trying to make it come off as a big deal. All it left was the watering down of Frank Underwood as a character and a sloppy gateway for a sixth season. Luckily season 6 is coming so our other lead, Claire Underwood, will have a fitting conclusion.

Orange is the New Black (Season 5): After struggling to find its footing a few seasons ago, Orange is the New Black is stronger than ever, mixing comedy with real drama. Most of season five deals with the aftermath of the final episode of season 4 and the writers run with it. My only concern is the show’s main character, Piper, taking a back seat for most of the season. Here's hoping she plays a larger role in season 6.

Better Call Saul (Season 3): With it's best season under its belt, Better Call Saul remains one of the best shows on tv that unfortunately isn't garnering the audience it deserves. Season 3 picked up the pace and is slowly transforming into its own beast of a show outside of its predecessor’s shadow. While AMC isn't the Titan it was a few years ago, their commitment to this series gives me hope that its wings won't be clipped too soon as there's a lot of potential here. Please, please check this show out. It's well worth it.

Best New Series - Glow: I made it a goal in 2017 to check out new series whenever I could. While I didn't watch as many new shows as I had hoped, I found myself struggling to crown a winner for best new series. I ultimately settled on Glow, a new series from Netflix starring Community-alumni, Alison Brie. Set in the 1980’s, Glow is a show about a group of wannabe actors and wash ups, trying their hand at women’s professional wrestling. As someone who has always loved the absolute cheesiness of professional wrestling, watching a show about it is a treat. The series is a comedy with some dramatic moments, similar to Orange is the New Black. In fact, the series has a lot in common with Orange is the New Black, but wins out for having a greater sense of theming. It knows it's a comedy and plays with it perfectly.

The biggest detractor is the length. At ten episodes with a 30 minute run time, the show is over just as it really begins to get good. Netflix has renewed the series for a second season, but still at only 10 episodes. An additional 5 episodes in the season would have been perfect. It would also give the large supporting cast a chance to shine.

I'm eager to watch more of Glow and I think it has the legs to replace some of the older shows in Netflix’s line-up in the coming months. Highlight moment: Episode 10 - Money’s in the Chase The entire season is building up towards their first public performance and the season finale spends its entire run time showing us that performance. I loved this as it really feels like we're watching the show with the audience. It's full of some great twists and some absolutely corny wrestling moves. Here's hoping season 2 features more of these performances.

Other Notable series:

Ozark: My runner up for best new series. I really enjoyed this show, especially Jason Bateman as the lead. It has a similar theme to Breaking Bad, which is always fantastic. The biggest problem for Ozark is that I'm afraid it won't have the legs to last more than a few seasons. I could be wrong, but that and some pacing issues are what made me choose Glow over it for best new series.

Mindhunter: This show has an absolutely horrible pilot, but a pretty solid show follows that. I'm excited to see where the series goes from here. The pilot almost killed the series for me and hints of its problems last throughout. Poor direction, awkward camera angles and bloated writing aside, the show gets better the more you watch.

A Handmaid’s Tale: I believe I'm one of the few people out there who did not enjoy this series. It's well made and the acting is top notch. I have no major problems with the series from a design standpoint. It's the story and characters that lose me. Everything is so drab and dull. I never cared for the characters because they kept trying to keep things a mystery. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood or mind set for this show. I found the most interesting character to be on who barely appears in the show and one that they inevitably cut out entirely. I expect a season 2 for the show and hopefully it'll grab me. Until then, I would say to watch the first episode and see if it's your style. If not, it's worth skipping.

Girl Boss: There is nothing notable about this show. It isn't good. It's not necessarily hot garbage either. It can be funny, but it isn't hilarious. It's 100% average, or perhaps, mediocre. Why does that matter? Because this was the first “Netflix original series" that I experienced like this. Netflix has pumped out some garbage before, but they usually let you know in advance. Not this time. Girl Boss was hyped up to be another great series from the streaming giant and it failed to make an impact. I guess that explains why it was cancelled, a rarity for Netflix.

Best Animated Series: My Hero Academia (Season 2) If there’s one thing I watched more of in 2017 than previous years, it was anime. While it was mostly re-watching various Dragon Ball related shows, I decided to check out a new series that my friends had been raving about. That new series was My Hero Academia. I thought the 13 episode season one was good enough. It had an amazing set up for the world and the characters started to grow on me towards the end. Season 2 is fantastic. It covers three arcs from the manga in 25 episodes and really begins to put the series into perspective. I normally avoid long running series like this until they’re closer to the end, but this is my exception. Season 3 is coming sometime in 2018 and I’m excited to start reading the manga soon. This is an absolutely fantastic series with some great fight scenes, interesting characters and really well done animation.

Highlight Moment: Episode 10 - Shoto Todoroki: Origin Season 1 introduced us to a lot of new characters, but only a handful got enough time to be fleshed out. Season 2 began to fix this immediately by turning Todoroki into Deku’s (Our protagonist) main rival. The entire arcs lasts for most of the season, but it’s the fight between Todoroki and Deku that puts this show as my favorite of the year. Weaving an origin story into the series’ biggest fight yet is a major undertaking, but doing it this well is a masterstroke. Much like the massive battles in game of thrones, I was left speechless while watching this episode. What makes it even better is that the entire arc has no villain. It’s simply our heroes battling for the spotlight in one of the best made tournament arcs in recent memory.

Other Notable Series:

Attack on Titan (Season 2): I watched the first season of AoT back in 2015 and fell in love with the series. I dropped it after catching up on the manga, however. With Season 2 releasing in the states finally, I picked the series back up and I’m in love once more. Season 2 has better pacing than season 1, but suffers from a shorter episode count (12 episodes vs the 25 from season 1). Because of that the story can feel a bit uneven especially with a major plot reveal happening at the very end of the last episode. The animation is still top notch though, perhaps even better than season 1. And thankfully, season 3 will be airing sometime next year. No more half decade wait times. Rick and Morty (Season 3): Speaking of wait times, thank god Rick and Morty is back. I was considering giving this my best animation series award, but it came up short compared to My Hero. I had a blast with season 3 however. It was laughing the entire time, even if some of the episodes weren’t as funny as others. Bob’s Burgers, South Park (Season 21) and Bojack Horseman (Season 4): I guess this is like my catch all category? Regardless, I enjoy all three of these series and felt like each of them had a somewhat decent 2017. Bob’s Burgers is basically my junk food cartoon show, even if it’s starting to wear a bit thin. South Park had a decent season; one that I enjoyed more as I watched it while playing the latest south park game. And of course, Bojack came around for a fourth season. It wasn’t quite as good as season 3, but I still enjoyed it.

That wraps it up for my favorite shows of 2017. I mentioned quite a few shows that I’m looking forward to in 2018 before, but I’ll give special mention to Westworld which is returning for its second season soon. I should also mention that there are a few shows from 2017 that I’ve been meaning to catch up on, but haven’t had the time. It mostly includes seasons released in December and I’ll get to them eventually. If I feel the need to discuss them further, I’ll write up a separate piece.

Until next time. Continue enjoying the new year and stay beautiful.

[beautifulboycast-blog]

Nat's Video Game Playlist - 2017 in Review

Welcome to the first ever blog post from The Beautiful Boys as well as the first editorial for our look back at the year 2017 in entertainment. We'll have a handful of articles in the coming weeks that will culminate with our first ever Beautiful Boy Awards.

I was lucky enough this year to play a few more games than I did last year. I started the year off my trying to catch up on all the big 2016 hits I had missed and then went into a marathon of platformers, Wii U games and hidden gems. My summer was mostly spent playing newer titles and in late July I began a second marathon, this time covering the persona series. Afterwards it was back to playing newer releases for a total of 46 games beat.

I won't reveal my Game of the Year for 2017 just yet, but I'll give out an honorable mention to the best game I played this year that didn’t come out in 2017. That award goes to Persona 4: Golden. I really enjoyed the game even if it does have its fair share of pacing issues. While I won't be able to cover Persona 5 for our upcoming Game of the Year awards, I am looking forward to playing through it sometime in 2018. I guess you could say I'm a casual persona fan now.

I'll have more coverage of 2017 games and entertainment soon. Thanks and have a happy New Year!

2017 Games Played List Played - Games with no real ending, games that I already beat or games that I didn't finish for whatever reason.

Superhot (PC)

Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 (PS4)

Overwatch (PC)

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game (PC)

Zombi U (Wii U)

Rock Band: Unplugged (PSP)

Sonic and All-stars Racing Transformed (Wii U)

Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)

Killing Floor 2 (PC)

Mario Kart 8: Deluxe Edition (Switch)*

1 2 Switch (Switch)*

Bloodborne (PS4)

Persona 4: Arena (PS3)

Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Vita)

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (Wii U)

Super Smash Bros for Wii U (Wii U)

Ed, Edd and Eddy: The Mis-Edventures (PS2)

Fortnight: Battle Royale (PS4)

Prey [2017] (PS4)*

Mass Effect: Andromeda (PS4)*

Cuphead (PC)*

Hollow Knight (PC)*

Invisible Inc. (PC)

Super Mario World (SNES)

Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

Beat

Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4)

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (PS4)

Owlboy (PC)

Hitman 2016 (PC)

Hyper Light Drifter (PC)

Fire Emblem Heroes (Mobile)*

Oxenfree (PC)

Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U)

Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)*

Sonic Colors (Wii)

Sonic Generations (PC)

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (Wii U)

No More Heroes (Wii)

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)

Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii)

Freedom Planet (Wii U)

Pikmin 3 (Wii U)

Yoshi’s Wooly World (Wii U)

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Wii)

Lego City Undercover (Wii U)

Sonic: Lost World (Wii U)

Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (Wii U)*

Fire Emblem: Echoes - Shadow of Valentia (3DS)*

Nier: Automata (PS4)*

Yooka Laylee (PS4)*

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)*

Splatoon 2 (Switch)*

Sonic Mania (Switch)*

Persona 3 (PS2)

Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)*

A Hat In Time (PC)*

Persona 4: Golden (Vita)

Persona 4: Arena (PS3)

Persona 4: Arena Ultimax (PS3)

Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Vita)

Super Mario Run (Mobile)

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)*

Fire Emblem: Warriors (Switch)*

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4)*

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider (PS4)*

Pokemon: Ultra Sun (3DS)*

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Switch)*

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - The Champions’ Ballad (Switch)*

South Park: The Fractured But Whole (PS4)*

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (PC)*

* 2017 Release

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Jamie's Top 3 Games of the Year - 2017 in Review

As we move forward into 2018, I'd like to take a few moments and look back at my top 3 games of 2017. These 3 games are ones that particularly stood out to me as some of the best that 2017 had to offer, and are in no particular order. As a result, I won't be revealing my personal Game of the Year until Episode 4 of the Beautiful Boycast.  But before I get into it however, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this. It's hard to believe that in the final months of 2017 that I'd begin a podcast with three of my best friends and that we'd start an associated blog for it. As 2018 continues, look forward to much more exciting content from us! Well, let's get to my top three games of 2017!

1. The Evil Within 2

As the sequel to 2014's The Evil Within, a game that I thoroughly enjoyed, I was extremely excited to see this announced at E3 2017. Upon release, Tango Gameworks impressed me with the major step up from the original that this game truly is. This sequel takes the formula of the first game and dials it out into an open world environment to great degree, reminiscent of what you'd expect to find in Silent Hill.

In my almost 30 hour playthrough, I spent a good chunk of that time scavenging the large environments and tackling the various side missions in the hopes of finding some ammo or precious green gel to upgrade my abilities. While the emphasis of the game is on survival, you may find yourself wanting to crank the difficulty a bit higher, as resources are quite plentiful on the normal difficulty setting and the game is much more forgiving than it's predecessor.

One criticism that I (and many others) leveled against the first game was that the story felt a bit disjointed. Tango listened well and delivered a more nuanced, and personal story about main protaganist Sebastian Castellanos' search for his presumed dead daughter Lily. I won't spoil anything here, but the conclusion to this story was one that I genuinely liked.

The Evil Within 2 is a rare game, in which it's a sequel that surpasses the original. I found myself overjoyed at how this game turned out. Should Tango Gameworks return and do an Evil Within 3, I'll gladly buy it day one. Because this is one horror franchise that deserves your attention.

2. Persona 5

In what was one of my most anticipated games of 2017, we have Persona 5. A JRPG with an overwhelming sense of style and depth. Persona 5 is a monster of a game. With minimum playthroughs clocking in at the 90 hour mark, P5 is truly something you can spend a lot of time with. It's also a game that deserves the time.

Anyone familiar with the series will know what to expect from the basic gameplay. You attend school during the day, but in the afternoon you spend your time exploring dungeons and hanging out with your teammates. Previous entries had you exploring randomly generated dungeons, but P5 changes this with hand crafted dungeons each with their own distinct personalities. The hand crafted dungeons feel considerably better to explore than previous games, mainly because there is design with a purpose here. I was always eager to find a Save Room or see what enemies awaited my party.

When not exploring the various dungeons, or fusing various Personas together to create stronger ones (an addiction in and of itself), you spend time with your teammates to deepen the bonds you have with them. These bonds, appropriately named 'Confidants', yield many benefits. From letting an ally perform a follow up attack, to unlocking special skills for the main character, or even dating one of your allies, everything adds a sense of progression for your young group of phantom thieves.

Now feels like an appropriate place to discuss the story. Intriguing and full of twists, P5 spins a very interesting story. Due to the nature of the story and how easy it is to spoil, I'll only touch on it lightly. Arrested and charged with a crime, our protagonist finds himself relocated to the city. From there the story begins in earnest as the main cast comes together over various wrongdoings over the course of the game. Not necessarily as strong, or emotional a story as Persona 3 or Persona 4, P5 still manages to get the job done and deliver a well crafted story alongside a likeable group of protaganists.

3. Horizon Zero Dawn

Ah, the final game of my top three. A game that surprised almost everyone with its announcement, Horizon is a fantastic game. Centered around main character Aloy, you begin a quest to discover her lineage and combat an ancient threat from the past. Horizon features a very well crafted story, I didn't expect myself to become so interested in Aloy or her journey. As a result, the conclusion left me eager to see what adventures await Aloy in a potential sequel.

The action focused gameplay of Horizon is another aspect that really drew me in. Combat is fast and frantic. When the large machines start to show up, it even becomes fairly challenging. I found myself carefully planning out the best approach to take down the massive Thundermaws, an enemy that towers over Aloy. Using all the tools at my disposal led to interesting combat scenarios. Freezing an enemy to knock its components, or even weapons off with arrows was extremely satisfying when I finally slayed the machine.

Another aspect that I happened to fall in love with, is that the world of Horizon is beautiful and full of collectibles to seek out. The beauty of a world in which nature has begun to retake what used to be cities and roads helps add to the mystery of Horizon. Meanwhile, finding the various collectibles took me to out of the way areas I'd have otherwise not have seen. Most of which were beautiful to look at, especially the vantage points.  While some compare Horizon unfavorably to Ubisoft open world games, I don't mind. The wheel isn't reinvented here, but what Horizon does, it does very well. Great combat, a well written story, and a very likable main character earns Horizon Zero Dawn it's spot in my top three games of 2017.